diff --git a/data/part_1/0004134595.json b/data/part_1/0004134595.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd8d57e655da922fc157ec3e7c104a226eb66046
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0004134595.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"733495da499d35db03b96b384dcb4ce9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55baf33c-817c-4ab9-af05-d48aeb022fc7/retrieve","id":"1051973006"},"keywords":["Livestock development","Dairy","Ex-ante impact assessment","Environmental sustainability","Cost-benefit analysis","Decision-making Communicated by Luis Lassaletta"],"sieverID":"aab01b4d-44f7-4776-8e0d-a2dee5b3150b","pagecount":"14","content":"The gap between milk demand and domestic supply in Tanzania is large and projected to widen. Meeting such demand through local production of affordable milk presents an opportunity to improve the welfare of producers and market agents through the income and employment generated along the value chain (VC). Efforts to maximize milk yields, production and profitability need to be balanced with long-term sustainability. We combined environmental and economic ex-ante impact assessments of four intervention scenarios for two production systems in the Tanzanian dairy VC using the CLEANED model and an economic feasibility analysis. Intervention scenarios propose increases in milk production through (i) animal genetic improvement, (ii) improved feed, (iii) improved animal health and (iv) a package combining all interventions. Results show that economically feasible farm-level productivity increases of up to 140% go hand-in-hand with increased resource-use efficiency and up to 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities. Absolute increases in water, land and nitrogen requirements in mixed crop-livestock systems call for careful management of stocks and quality of these resources. An overall rise in GHG emissions is expected, with a maximum of 53% increase associated with an 89% increase in milk supply at VC level. The CLEANED tool proved effective to evaluate livestock interventions that improve incomes and food security with minimal environmental footprint. Here, our simulations suggest that due to current low productivity, the greatest efficiency gains in combination with relatively low increases in total GHG emissions can be made in the extensive agro-pastoral dairy systems, which represent the majority of herds.East Africa (EA) is endowed with immense livestock resources representing the largest proportion of Africa's livestock population (FAOSTAT 2015). The livestock sector is a source of livelihoods, and provides food, income and employment for many millions of people in the region. This is particularly the case in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which are home to a vibrant smallholder dairy sector. In many East-African countries, livestock production is an important contributor to the gross domestic products (GDP) and foreign currency export earnings (AU-IBAR 2015). Although the livestock sector is expanding in EA, the rate of growth does not match the increased demand for livestock products being experienced in the region and beyond. Low livestock productivity is one of the principal reasons for the inability of domestic production to meet the demand for livestock products.In Tanzania, agriculture employs about 75% of the total labour force and contributes one-third of the country's agricultural GDP (URT 2013), and in turn about one-third of this is from the dairy sector (URT 2011). The annual domestic milk production of 1.8 million litres (FAOSTAT 2015) is estimated to meet only about \"two-thirds\" of the milk demand and this supply gap is projected to continue to widen in the near to medium future (Kurwijila et al. 2012;Michael et al. 2018). The income and employment that could be generated by affordable local dairy production, processing and marketing to meet this unmet milk demand presents an important opportunity for improving the welfare of producers and their market agents (Omore et al. 2019). Unlike most agricultural enterprises, benefits propagated throughout the dairy VC are generated daily rather than seasonally. Dairy production is, therefore, considered to be one of the most promising agricultural pathways out of poverty and for inclusive development, especially in instances where women retain control over milk income (URT 2015). This is in line with African Union's Livestock Development Strategy, which envisions a transformation of the sector from the prevailing subsistence livestock production systems into vibrant market-oriented systems with an enhanced contribution to socio-economic development and equitable growth (AU-IBAR 2015).Despite the opportunities and benefits that increased livestock production could bring to the Eastern African Region, it is widely observed that livestock systems are key drivers of global environmental degradation (Foley et al. 2011), including increased nutrient loads, GHG emissions, water use, grassland degradation and land-use conversion (Steinfeld 2006; de Vries and de Boer 2010; Godfray et al. 2018). Thus, the predicted demand increase for dairy products poses a danger that the necessary rise in livestock production could become environmentally unsustainable, particularly as many ecosystems in the EA region are already under heavy pressure.Efforts to maximize milk yields, production and profitability thus need to be balanced with long-term sustainability and environmental stewardship. It is therefore important to assess potential environmental impacts before embarking on largescale development projects geared towards livestock production intensification and VC transformation (Notenbaert et al. 2016a). We developed an indicator framework for ex-ante assessments of environmental impacts of development interventions in livestock VCs, i.e. the Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment and sustainable Development (CLEANED). It estimates biomass, water and nutrient flows and assesses three dimensions of environmental impacts across different spatial and temporal scales: (1) water use, (2) soil health and (3) greenhouse gas emissions. The CLEANED framework is intended to support decision-making and to help prioritise the development action of governments, donors, NGOs and farmer organisations in data-scarce environments (Notenbaert et al. 2014).In this paper, we take a consultative approach, soliciting input from local stakeholders and experts, to assessing the impacts of four production-enhancing intervention scenarios for two dairy production systems in the Tanga Region, Tanzania: (i) introduction of improved dairy breeds, (ii) improved feed availability, especially during the dry season, (iii) improved animal health, (iv) all three technology interventions combined together. We describe and compare the scenario outputs in three ways: (a) their impact on productivity and total milk supply to the market, (b) their economic feasibility, (c) their environmental impacts in terms of land requirements, water use, GHG emissions, soil erosion rates and soil nutrient balances. Finally, we discuss the opportunity of simultaneous appraisal of different impact dimensions to support evidence-based discussions on environmentally sound intensification pathways for the Tanzanian dairy VC.Our study follows the concepts and guidelines of the CLEANED framework as described in Notenbaert et al. (2014). It is an indicator framework for ex-ante environmental impact assessment. It has been operationalised in an excel model, CLEANED-X, which focuses on three environmental dimensions: water use, soil health and GHG emissions. In addition to the assessment of environmental impacts, a simple enterprise-level cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is carried out to assess if the proposed intervention scenarios make economic sense for livestock keepers.CLEANED does not assess the impacts associated with the full farm but is limited to the livestock enterprise only. It estimates the impacts associated with crop productionsuch as land requirements, nitrogen (N) balance and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from soils-from the feed production areas only and does not include impacts associated with other crops potentially cultivated on the farm. On the farm input supply, the only environmental externalities included are those associated with fertilisers used for feed production. Although potential changes in transport, both from input and to output markets, might be associated with important changes in environmental costs, they are excluded from the analysis. The assessment is therefore not a full VC assessment in its true sense. Apart from considering losses along the VC, the model only takes pre-farm gate activities into account.The CLEANED framework prescribes a stepwise procedure for carrying out an ex-ante impact assessment. In a first step, the study area is defined, and different types of livestock enterprises characterised. For each of the livestock enterprise types, baseline assessments are run and the potential impacts of different intervention scenarios estimated so that the potential impacts can be compared against the baselines. In a last step, an overall VC-level impact is calculated (Fig. 1). The following sections summarize how each of these steps and sub-steps was operationalised in the dairy VC in the Tanga region of Tanzania. More detailed information about the actual calculations can be found in the supplemental information.The study focuses on the Tanga region of Tanzania. The area is home to the largest milk processing plant in the country (Tanga Fresh Ltd) which handles about 60,000 l daily (Cadilhon et al. 2016). Several development projects have been involved in supporting dairy production in the Tanga region. The Government of Tanzania and several national and international development partners are spearheading operation \"Maziwa Zaidi\" (\"more milk\" -https://maziwazaidi. org/) to increase milk production in the country, including in the Tanga Region (Cadilhon et al. 2016). The region is located in the coastal humid to semiarid climatic zone (FAO 2012), characterised by erratic rainfall patterns and large spatial and temporal variation in accessible surface water for agricultural or domestic use. In general, both crop and livestock production are fully reliant on rainfall in this area.The dairy sector in the Tanga region shares characteristics with the main dairy production systems identified in Tanzania (Kurwijila et al. 2012). In our study, the characteristics, scale and spatial extent of the Tanga dairy production systems were captured using participatory mapping exercises during a multi-stakeholder workshop organised in Lushoto in June 2014 (Morris et al. 2014). In this data-gathering approach, issues being assessed are discussed and mapped by the local stakeholders, so that the knowledge produced is rooted in the local community and is spatially explicit (Cinderby et al. 2011). This information was validated and further refined by triangulation with existing spatial and household data (Mangesho et al. 2013;Omondi et al. 2018;Silvestri et al. 2014), field visits and expert knowledge.The participants of the workshop in Lushoto identified four broad categories of livestock production enterprises: (i) ranching, (ii) intensive zero-grazing, (iii) semi-intensive and (iv) extensive agro-pastoral. The ranching system is rare, with only two known ranches in the region, with both entirely focusing on beef production. This system was excluded from further analysis. The differences in management and feeding practices between the intensive zero-grazing and semiintensive systems were too small to produce significantly different environmental impacts. Thus, for further analysis, these two systems were combined and labelled \"mixed crop-Fig. 1 Conceptual figure showing the workflow of CLEANED ex-ante impact assessments. The enterprise-level changes in environmental footprints are summed up to estimate the changes in environmental footprints at study area level. Impact indicators include land requirements for feed production, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) associated with feed and milk production, water used for feed production and nitrogen balances in the feed producing areas. At value chain level, the loss of milk is taken into account to express these impact indicators per unit of milk consumed instead of per unit of milk produced livestock systems\". The detailed description and characteristics of the two systems included for analysis, (i) extensive agro-pastoral systems and (ii) mixed crop-livestock systems, can be found in the Supplemental Information (SI).As part of the \"Maziwa Zaidi\" program in Tanzania, sixteen village-level innovation platforms (IPs) were established in Tanga. These IPs are designed to bring together different agents in the VC, including farmers, traders, food processors, researchers and government officials, to provide a useful space for local stakeholders to jointly identify constraints, opportunities and devise and implement solutions. Further information about the innovation platforms can be found in the Supplemental Information. Their advantage over conventional methods, e.g. surveys and VC analyses, is that they can rapidly identify key constraints and opportunities by drawing on extensive local knowledge. Furthermore, local people are more likely to take ownership of the solutions they have actively identified, increasing their likelihood of success (Homann-Kee Tui et al. 2013). In May 2014, these IPs developed \"site-specific plans\" focusing on relevant interventions for dairy VC intensification (Twine et al. 2017). We carefully examined the 16 site-specific plans and extracted four distinct scenarios of production-enhancing technological interventions. For the purpose of this study, each of these intervention scenarios was described in terms of changes in relevant system characteristics, according to literature review and expert opinion. The four scenarios (A-D) are briefly described below. We refer to table 2 in the SI for a more detailed description of changes in input and parameter values. (A) \"Animal genetic improvement\": This scenario represents the historically most preferred strategy for driving productivity improvements within the region, whereby more exotic animal genotypes are introduced, often through cross-breeding (Wilson 2018;Marshall et al. 2019). Within the mixed crop-livestock system, this results in increased live weight of cattle but restricted milk yield increases due to the limiting effects of diseases, such as mastitis and other infections. Within the extensive agro-pastoral system, the changes towards more exotic genetics are expected to go hand-in-hand with a reduction of herd size to compensate for restricted sturdiness of the animals and reduced reproductive function, but at the same time with an important increase in milk yield per animal due to significantly increased genetic potential. No changes in feedmix are assumed in this scenario, only increased feed quantity. (B) \"Improved feed\": This scenario increases nutrient provision to the cattle herds within the two systems. Livestock feed baskets are altered to demonstrate the inclusion of legumes and improved forage preservation for use during the dry season when energy deficit limits milk yield. Within both systems, increases in milk yield and live weight are expected to correspond to an increase in metabolisable energy availability for the well-nourished and thus stronger animals. These increases are, however, quite limited as they are assumed to be hampered by health status in the mixed crop-livestock and by genetic constraints in the extensive agro-pastoral system. In addition, the herd sizes are assumed to increase. (C) \"Improved animal health\": This scenario represents an increase in veterinary interventions, both prophylactic and dynamic care, promoting reduction in production limiting diseases. In this scenario, the intensive mixed crop-livestock system exhibits increased live weight, increased milk yield and increased herd size, following improved calf survival rates; limits are still imposed by nutritional restriction and breed characteristics. Within the extensive agro-pastoral system, the scenario implies increased milk yield and live weight and a more significant increase in herd size resulting from the greater impact of reduced calf mortality and greater reproductive health. (D) \"Combined interventions\": The last scenario combines all three separate interventions into a situation where animals with higher genetic potential are subject to better animal health care and improved seasonal feed availability. This is assumed to result in increased animal live weight and higher milk yield because limitations imposed by health status, lack of feed or genetic potential are reduced. In the mixed systems, a significant increase in herd size is expected due to reduced calf mortality and adequate feed availability. Also in the agro-pastoral systems, the herd sizes are assumed to be quite large, though less than the current local herds, due to limiting reproductive function of the improved breeds.We set up simple minimum-data calculations to estimate the following environmental footprint indicators (Mukiri et al. 2019;SI).1) Productivity (kg Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM), kg FPCM/ha) 2) Land requirement (ha, ha/kg FPCM) 3) Soil loss (kg, kg/ha, kg/kg FPCM) 4) Soil nitrogen (N) balance (kg N, kg N/ha, kg N/kg FPCM) 5) Water use (m 3 , m 3 /ha, m 3 /kg FPCM) 6) GHG emissions (kg CO 2 -equivalent (CO 2 -eq.), kg CO 2eq./ha, kg CO 2 -eq./kg FPCM)The environmental indicators are all expressed as absolute values as well as intensities, on a per area as well as per product basis, i.e. per kg Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) consumed. Comparisons with the baselines were expressed in percentage change.In addition, we adopted a simple economic feasibility analysis that comprises the comparison of annual values of production (VOP) and the calculation of the change in gross profit (GP) based on the estimated costs of scenario implementation (see SI for more details).The assumption underlying the out-scaling is that agricultural strategies are likely to have the same relevance for all enterprises of the same type and that the estimated enterprise-level impacts can be widely applied across the study area. Regional impacts were calculated based on an estimated attainable level of adoption of the respective scenario's technologies and the importance of each of the enterprise types in the area. For the Tanga region, we assumed that the total number of enterprises remained unchanged, and that 20% of them would adopt the intervention scenario. This percentage lies within the range of observed adoption of technologies in the East-African Dairy Development program (Kiptot et al. 2015). We assumed that the potential increase in milk supply would be fully absorbed by the market which is a realistic assumption given the high local demand. In order to calculate overall VC-level impact figures, the environmental footprint indicators of the individual livestock enterprises were multiplied by one-fifth (20%) of the estimated number of such enterprises and weighted averages calculated for the intensity indicators.The dairy enterprises in Tanga are estimated to provide about 135,000 tons FPCM to consumers in the region (Table 1). The feed for the herds producing this amount of milk is grown on marginally less than 600,000 ha. About 24% of the land used for feed production is associated with rainfed mixed croplivestock farms, which are producing 27% of the local milk consumed at a productivity of 525 FPCM/ha. About 73% of the milk is produced in the more extensive agro-pastoral systems (195 FPCM/ha), bringing down the average productivity in Tanga district to 235 FPCM/ha.Due to large off-farm grazing areas, the total amount of soil lost in an agro-pastoral farm is about 20-fold the amount lost from a mixed crop-livestock farm (Table 2). When expressed in soil loss per area, on the other hand, the agro-pastoral systems lose less than the mixed crop-livestock systems. This is not surprising, as the agro-pastoral livestock production is typically taking place on flatter land with less rainfall. This, together with the continuous grasscover, compensates for the more erodible Fluvisol soils found here as compared to the annually tilled Andosols in the mountainous area of the mixed crop-livestock farms. Due to a higher stocking rate and animal productivity in the mixed crop-livestock systems, the amount of soil lost per kg FPCM is less than half of the loss per kg FPCM in agro-pastoral farms.The soil N balance for livestock production in the mixed crop-livestock farms is negative, mostly because of the removal of feed biomass with only limited input of fertilisers, indicating that nutrients are mined at an average of about 58.5 kg N per hectare per year. Through manure collection from the stable and subsequent application to non-feed crops, about 51 kg N per ha is exported from the livestock to the crop enterprise. The agro-pastoral system exhibits a less negative N balance. Nitrogen losses, through grass and crop residue removal, leaching, gaseous losses and erosion, are partly compensated through recycling of feed-N back to soil through the urine and manure production of the relatively big herd. About 35% of this manure is assumed to be deposited during grazing in the off-farm grazing areas and none of the manure is assumed to be re-directed to the crop enterprise. As the milk productivity in the agro-pastoral enterprises is lower than in the mixed crop-livestock enterprises, the N losses per kg FPCM are estimated to be almost 65% greater.The estimated water use per kg FPCM ranges from 1100 l in the mixed crop-livestock systems to about 2600 l in the agro-pastoral enterprises (Table 3), which is in line with the estimates by Sultana et al. (2014).The dairy production from the ~9000 extensive agropastoral and 31,000 mixed crop-livestock enterprises (see SI) in the Tanga region is estimated to produce GHG emissions totalling to more than 400 thousand ton CO 2 -eq. The agro-pastoral \"farms\" exhibit a higher GHG emission intensity (GHGe/unit of produce) than the mixed crop-livestock farms, mostly because of the lower quality of the animals' diet, the low milk yields and the substantial influence this has on methane (CH 4) -efficiency of enteric fermentation. Higher stocking rates of bigger and more productive animals result in an estimated doubling of GHG emissions per hectare in the mixed crop-livestock systems.Based on the assumed changes in per animal production and herd sizes and composition, the total milk supply is projected to increase under all scenarios. The largest relative supply gains would be made in the mixed crop-livestock farms and mostly so if the genetic, feed and animal health interventions were combined. The milk production increase in those farms is projected to go hand-in-hand with big increases in land requirements for feed production and associated increases in absolute soil loss. Under unchanged fertility management systems, these would be accompanied by an increasing negative N balance.The land productivity (kg FPCM/ha) is expected to increase across livestock production enterprise types and scenarios. The only exception is the genetics scenario in the mixed crop-livestock enterprises. Under all scenarios, the live weight of the animals is assumed to increase and more beef would also be produced. Similarly, all envisioned intervention scenarios, apart from the genetic improvement, would have a positive impact on soil loss and N efficiency in the mixed crop-livestock systems, i.e. result in lower losses per kg FPCM and to a lesser extent per hectare. In the agro-pastoral systems, the impact on amounts of soil lost and N balances would be mixed. Impacts on soil erosion are mostly positive, apart from the absolute value under the \"combined interventions\" scenario. The same scenario is also projected to negatively affect absolute N loss and N loss per hectare, while efficiency in terms of N loss per unit milk produced improves across the scenarios.In the mixed crop-livestock systems, the absolute total water use is expected to increase under all intensification scenarios due to larger feed requirements. In the agro-pastoral systems, only the combined intervention would be accompanied by a slight increase in water use. The water appropriated per unit of milk would however decrease across scenarios and production enterprise types. The only exception is the improved genetics scenario in mixed farms, as the land productivity is estimated to decline in that scenario.All intervention scenarios, apart from the improved genetics, assume larger herd sizes with bigger and more productive animals. These herds are estimated to cause higher GHG emissions. In contrast to the generally higher total GHG emissions, we often see lower emission intensities, especially when expressed per unit product.Applying an observed farm gate price of 0.38 and 0.30 USD per kg milk (see SI) in the mixed system and agro-pastoral systems, respectively, the baseline value of the total milk production in the Tanga region is about 42 million USD per year. This is expected to increase by between 6.7 and 105% under the genetics and combined intervention scenarios, respectively (Table 4). Considerable extra benefits can be expected from increasing live weight gain and manure production associated with the dairy intensification scenarios. Under the \"combined interventions\" scenario, for example, and applying a price of 0.060 USD and 0.0025 USD per kg manure, i.e. the prices farmers receive in the mixed crop-livestock and agro-pastoral areas respectively (see SI), the extra manure produced is estimated to be worth about 7 million USD.The costs associated with the implementation of the intervention scenarios are listed in the SI. In addition to these costs,  an opportunity cost of 52 and 25 USD per ha per year was applied to the changes in land requirements for feed production in the mixed crop-livestock and agro-pastoral enterprises, respectively. The resulting changes in GP after 5 years were positive for each of the intervention scenarios (Fig. 2). The value of the extra milk and manure production outweighed the investments, maintenance costs and opportunity costs associated with implementing the interventions. From the perspective of a mixed crop-livestock enterprise owner, it appears to make economic sense to invest in a package of combined genetics, feeds and animal health interventions. In contrast, for an agro-pastoralist, the highest returns may be expected from a feed or an animal health intervention. Due to the low primary productivity of the grazing lands upon which these systems depend, the increased milk production in the combined scenario, with its large amounts of feed required for energy and protein provision, results in large increase in land requirement. The projected increase in milk production does not outweigh the associated increase in land requirement.The study shows that there are large environmental footprints associated with the different types of dairy production systems in the Tanga region of Tanzania, which is in line with global assessments (de Boer 2003;Capper et al. 2009;Gerber et al. 2010;Guerci et al. 2013;Sultana et al. 2014). Yet, from the baseline situation of both pastoral and mixed crop-livestock systems, increases in productivity (up to 89%) may outweigh expected increases in GHG emissions (53%). These findings corroborate the claims (e.g. Boadi et al. 2004;Martin et al. 2010;Thornton and Herrero 2010;Cederberg et al. 2013;Gerber et al., 2013;Rojas-Downing et al. 2013; Herrero The types of dairy enterprises studied in the Tanga region differed in productivity, natural resource use and environmental footprints. The productivity of agro-pastoral dairy production was low as compared to more intensive production in the mixed crop-livestock farms. The differences in productivity to a large extent reflect the intrinsic agricultural potential of the locations where the different types of production are taking place. Pastoralist dairy enterprises in the low and more arid areas cannot be expected to be as productive as the mixed systems in the highlands with their more favourable soil, water and climatic conditions. Taking these local conditions into account, we do not consider a transformation of the agropastoral systems into intensive mixed systems based on zero-grazing to be feasible. It also needs to be noted that agro-pastoral enterprises typically also supply considerable amounts of beef and live animals to the market. The total live weight gain of a typical agro-pastoral herd of 50 adult animals and 20 calves is estimated to be about 2500 kg per year compared to the production of about 10,000 kg milk per year. If a biomass-based allocation of environmental footprints between beef and milk were applied, it would reduce the reported milk footprint by about a quarter. Additionally, as people in the more marginal lands have often limited access to banks and other financial services, their animals are used to store and manage wealth and offer an important buffer in times of crisis (Siegmund-Schultze et al. 2011).In addition to the multi-functionality of keeping livestock, which is especially important in the agro-pastoral systems, the milk production in these systems is taking place on land that is much less suitable for growing food crops. While the mixed dairy enterprises in the highlands might thus exhibit higher productivity, they also exhibit a higher opportunity costs for the land, as this land is highly suitable for food crop production (Van Zanten et al. 2016). A similar logic applies to the water appropriated per kg FPCM, where the mixed systems appear to perform much better than the agro-pastoral systems. Biomass growth on marginal lands, with sparse vegetation and a large fraction of soil evaporation, the water use per unit feed cultivated or biomass grazed is often several magnitudes higher than on more suitable lands. This is one reason behind more water-efficient livestock production in mixed systems. Our model does not yet include such suitability perspective, as proposed by, e.g., Van Zanten et al. (2016) and Ran et al. (2017), which would make it possible to appraise alternative water use options. It is, however, important to keep this difference in opportunity cost and multi-functionality of livestock in mind when comparing dairy productivity. The sole focus of the current study on milk production is an important limitation, as the calculations of environmental footprints change depending on the functions included, an argument echoed by, for example, Weiler et al. (2014).The negative N balances are in line with the findings from Kihara et al. (2014). They are likely to lead to nutrient mining and could have an impact on future yields (Bindraban et al. 2000). This can mostly be attributed to the removal of N through the feed crops and food crop residues which is not compensated for by N input, be it from chemical or organic origin, nor by N fixation by leguminous crops. The N losses per hectare are estimated to be larger for the mixed croplivestock systems than the agro-pastoral systems. This is in line with the findings of Snijder et al. (2013) who argue that the transition from traditional herding of cattle in communal grasslands to sedentary husbandry systems based on homegrown forages has a negative effect on net nutrient balances. They recommend importing nutrients into the system in combination with a radical improvement of manure management technology. The negative soil N balance associated with the livestock enterprises in the mixed crop-livestock systems does provide a co-benefit to the farmers in the form of manure redirected to crop production on the same farm. On many farms, this is seen as an important function of livestock as the purchase of mineral fertilisers is, in general, low and expensive (FAOSTAT 2018) and frequency of manure application has been shown to be associated with higher yields (Kihara et al. 2014).In terms of GHG emissions, the low productivity of the dairy production systems in Tanga is associated with GHG emission intensities well above the global average of 2.4-2.8 CO 2 -eq. per kg of FPCM associated with milk production, processing and transport (Gerber et al. 2010;Opio et al. 2013). The relatively lower productivity in the agro-pastoral systems was associated with higher emission intensities per litre of milk than the ones in the more productive mixed croplivestock system. The higher emissions are mainly explained by high levels of methane produced by enteric fermentation. This finding is in line with FAO's global assessments of sources of dairy-related GHG emissions (Gerber et al. 2010(Gerber et al. , 2013a, b), b).All modelled scenarios resulted in agro-pastoral enterprises emitting less GHGs per unit of product, with emission intensity reductions ranging from five to 40% (Table 3). Also in the mixed crop-livestock farms, improvements in emission intensity are expected. They are projected to be smaller than in the agro-pastoral farms. The only exception was the improved genetics scenario in the mixed farms, where body weight of the animals is assumed to increase-and thus also energy requirements for maintenance-while their increased genetic potential in terms of milk production is not met because the feeding regimes are not adapted accordingly. The introduction of such intervention resulted in a projected 6.5% increase in emission intensity. Productivity-enhancing interventions would all result in large increases in absolute GHG emissions and GHG emissions per unit of area (Table 3). Other tradeoffs between environmental impact categories include a growing demand for land and water for feed production in all productivity-enhancing interventions in the mixed farms. It is important to note that the expected expansion of land use for feed production could have several negative side effects. If feed crops replace food crop production, this might have trade-offs in terms of overall food security. If nonagricultural land would be converted, negative impact on biodiversity could be expected. A key limitation of this study is that we cannot identify where the extra feed cultivation will take place and what land use it will replace. This influences the location-specific erosion, nutrient and water change estimates and the implications of those changes.Under current assumptions, the genetics scenario is of general concern in the crop-livestock systems. Through singular trait selection without the associated infrastructure of artificial insemination, quality nutritional provision, disease prevention and treatment, the perceived effects of improved genetics could conceivably present as negative. Genetic improvement in the mixed systems will benefit from the growing interest in the use of genomic approaches and for developing new breeds that have the adaptation and resilience of indigenous breeds combined with the productivity of exotic breeds (Marshall et al. 2019). In addition, they will need to be complemented with feed and animal health interventions and advice on appropriate animal husbandry, fertility and manure management.In general, the environmental indicator assessment results in this study corroborate previous findings (e.g. Thornton and Herrero 2010) that intensification in the mixed crop-livestock systems mostly goes hand-in-hand with absolute increases in resource use. Gains were however possible in terms of efficiency, expressed as resource use or GHG emissions per unit of production. As Tanzania has included mitigation through livestock systems in their Nationally Determined Contributions (URT 2015), pursuing such reduced GHG emission intensity is a relevant climate strategy and also in line with the recommendations of the Livestock Master Plan (Michael et al. 2018).The interventions also make economic sense for livestock keepers. Combined interventions were estimated to be more environmentally friendly than isolated technologies. This is in line with the findings of, e.g., Cortez-Arriola et al. (2014) and Mayberry et al. (2017) who found that packages of interventions rather than single interventions are required to bridge existing dairy yield gaps. Future work and inclusion of more scenario analyses allowing the elucidation of the marginal effects of each of the interventions could provide more detailed insights to this effect. In addition to the more sophisticated technology scenarios brought forward by the stakeholders, simple improved husbandry interventions such as the provision of water ad libitum, better-designed housing and udder hygiene will also affect the animal health status and productivity and could be included in the promoted intervention scenarios too. The fact that the intervention scenarios, and most notably the genetics improvement one, exhibit differential impacts in different systems clearly points to the importance of careful context-specific planning. This was also concluded by, e.g., Giller et al. (2011) and is one of the important recommendations in FAO's guidelines on climate smart agriculture (FAO 2013).This study set out to demonstrate that ex-ante environmental assessments can help unpack complexities across interventions and potential impacts to inform environmentally sound investments in the livestock sector. Choosing the most beneficial (least negative impacting) interventions is challenging because different objectives are often dynamically interconnected, and trade-offs might be experienced in the pursuit of multiple, sometimes competing, goals (Klapwijk et al. 2014;Salmon et al. 2018). Quantitative estimates of the impacts of potential interventions can inform the choice of interventions (e.g. Noltze et al. 2012). The current evidence base is, however, considered to be inadequate to support effective decision-making, and largely inaccessible to decision-makers at the national and local levels (Lipper et al. 2014). Policymakers, scientists and extension educators urgently need examples of how to identify technologies and visualize their relative performance across multiple domains (Snapp et al. 2018). This study demonstrates that rapid ex-ante assessments of alternative intervention scenarios can provide such information. Through applying the CLEANED assessments, we provided information about different impact dimensions simultaneously to inform discussions of development pathways in the Tanzanian dairy VC.This assessment only looks at a limited number of indicators of sustainability, focusing on four environmental dimensions complemented with a simple calculation of economic feasibility at farm level. The social dimension of sustainability is not included in the assessment. In terms of environmental dimensions, changes in ecological resilience, water quality, pollution and biodiversity are also likely to occur. If interventions are, for example, narrowly focused on increasing productivity through increasing input and management requirements, there is considerable potential for losing much of a system's resilience (Salmon et al. 2018). Indigenous livestock breeds, for instance, are generally considered be better adapted to challenging local environments (Berman 2011). It is important to note that the tool was conceptualised as a rapid user-friendly assessment tool with limited data requirements. This informed the limited number of environmental dimensions considered and the choice of simple mathematical equations for impact quantification, thereby losing some of the inherent complexity in agricultural systems and the critical feedback loop with changes in natural resource stocks. We thus recommend the use of the tool for a quick first-step evaluation of the potential impacts of a wide range of interventions, to identify sub-sets of promising specific interventions for evaluating using more detailed quantitative information, to estimate aggregated impacts in certain regions, or to link them to global and regional change models (Notenbaert et al. 2014). The complexity of agricultural systems also brings about the need to consider not only environmental but also social, human and economic aspects (Loos et al. 2014;Smith et al. 2017). The interventions are, for example, likely to have significant impacts on social relations, labour requirements and employment along the value chain, nutrition and market dynamics. For livestock keepers, one of the main incentives to move towards more intensified systems is to achieve higher income, especially where land or labour is scarce (Salmon et al. 2018). Our results suggest that all intervention scenarios would make economic sense for livestock keepers. The longterm economic benefit for livestock producers, however, relies heavily on the market demand and the opportunity to sell all additional produce now and in the future. Also, how the extra income is allocated within the households and how this could influence intra-household power relations and control over resources is equally not assessed. Another element missing in our study is the inclusion of local substitution effects, such as potential changes in land-use allocations and people's dietary choices, and the potential off-site impacts in terms of loss of markets and income in the countries or regions where milk is currently being imported from. This shows that the environmental assessments in themselves are useful and interesting, but that they are even more powerful when carried out alongside non-environmental assessments (Notenbaert et al. 2016a). Thus, we see the application of the approach illustrated in this paper not as a stand-alone activity but as complementary to other processes and assessments carried out in preparation for livestock sector development.In terms of process, we have to take into account that behavioural uncertainties can affect the practical value of predictions from quantitative analysis (Swim 2009). To ensure that the results and insights of the assessments are taken up and contribute to more-informed planning, it is important to integrate them in decision-making processes through early involvement of stakeholders. This raises awareness, creates support for the issue and its solutions and increases the likelihood of the recommendations being implemented. Engagement in the evidence-generating process is often at least as important as the actual information produced (Notenbaert et al. 2016b). We thus recommend anchoring the analysis in the real-life context through stakeholder engagement starting from the design and data collection stages. Finally, there is a need to set up appropriate monitoring and evaluation processes and the provision of timely feedback for validation and improvement of the analysis.Food security, poverty and nutrition are high on the global development agenda. Improving agricultural yields and farmer incomes are often seen as priorities, and development actions are thus designed with these specific aims in mind. The results of the case study presented here show that reduced emission intensity and N losses associated with improved animal genetics, feed and animal health interventions can be synergistic with productivity increases and increased incomes. Combined interventions are estimated to be more environmentally friendly than an isolated one-technology focused approach. The current emphasis on genetic improvement in the mixed systems needs to be carefully revisited and complemented with feed and animal health interventions and advice on appropriate animal husbandry, fertility and manure management.Due to the current low productivity of the agro-pastoral dairy herds, greater gains in efficiency in combination with relatively low increases in total GHG emissions can be made in these types of enterprises than in the mixed crop-livestock systems. In addition, estimations of large absolute increases in water, land and nitrogen requirements in the mixed croplivestock systems point to a need for careful management of stocks and quality of these resources. Moreover, an overall rise in GHG emissions is expected, with a maximum of 53% increase associated with an 89% increase in milk supply at the VC level.The CLEANED tool was developed to support the design of actions to improve incomes and food security in livestock VCs have a minimal environmental footprint. Strengths of the method include the relative ease of use and limited data requirements, in combination with multi-disciplinary impact quantification along different environmental dimensions (in absolute as well as relative terms) and economic feasibility.The target audience for the framework is decision-makers at different levels such as donors, government agencies and NGOs. It aims to provide them with a rapid ex-ante assessment highlighting potential positive and negative environmental impacts and the trade-offs between them. Specific uses include evaluation of project proposals by donors and providing input in investment decisions of local implementers, both in the private and public sphere.","tokenCount":"6675"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0006170511.json b/data/part_1/0006170511.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..410a9d3a16f6a5646d4c43bf32387abeb9a4fc95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0006170511.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e9e16ac70733982b431114c8a909a65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1e44ca40-1432-4773-83a6-756e348e47d0/retrieve","id":"2132351290"},"keywords":["Burkina Faso","Nom du village : Ouda","Coordonnées GPS : 11°42'51.9\"N ; 1°02'41.6\"W Thème 1 : Ressources Communautaires Thème 2 : Cadres Organisationnels Thème 3 : Réseaux d'Information"],"sieverID":"069cab75-c0c8-42b4-b184-5a9c29e5a7e1","pagecount":"44","content":"Le secteur agricole au Burkina Faso est de plus en plus affecté par les effets du changement climatique, ce qui constitue une menace pour la sécurité alimentaire. Dans le cadre du Programme « Technologies et Innovations Agricoles pour l'Accroissement de la Résilience des Systèmes de Production et des Exploitations Familiales en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre (TARSPro) », une étude de base a été conduite dans le village de Ouda, dans la Région du Centre Est. Le but ultime de cette étude était de définir la vision du futur de la communauté à l'horizon 2030, en se basant sur l'état des ressources communautaires actuelles. Les discussions se sont déroulées sur trois jours et ont concerné les thématiques sur i) les ressources communautaires du village, ii) le cadre organisationnel et sur iii) le réseau d'informations. Les discussions sur chaque thématique se sont déroulées en une journée chacune, avec des focus groups d'hommes et de femmes constitués de quinze personnes par groupe. Les participants aux échanges ont été choisis aléatoirement en se basant sur la liste des ménages du village. Au terme des discussions, quatre grands types de ressources ont été énumérés à savoir les terres agricoles, les rivières, les ressources ligneuses et les infrastructures. A l'exception des infrastructures qui ont connu une bonne évolution dans le temps, les ressources naturelles ont connu une nette dégradation avec le temps. Les résultats sur le cadre organisationnel du village de Ouda ont montré que la communauté villageoise est accompagnée dans ses efforts de développement par une diversité d'organisations intervenant dans la sécurité alimentaire, l'assistance lors des crises alimentaires et dans la gestion des ressources naturelles. Au total dix-huit (18) organisations intervenant dans le village ont été répertoriées parmi lesquelles celles intervenant aux niveaux régional et national sont des principalement des institutions étatiques comme la SONAGESS ou des partenaires au développement tels que Plan Burkina, l'Association Zaak-la-Yilguemdé et Farm Sahel. L'Association Zaak-La-Yilguemdé, l'Association Wendsongdo et l'Association Natigmbzanga ainsi que les services techniques déconcentrées en charge de l'agriculture, de l'élevage et de l'environnement pourraient constituer des portes d'entrée pour la mise en oeuvre des actions/activités dans le cadre du TARSPro Les résultats sur le réseau d'informations ont révélé que la communauté bénéficie d'informations variées sur les itinéraires techniques, les informations météorologiques, le prix des engrais et sur l'élevage. Au regard, des nombreuses ressources et des potentialités dont dispose le village, il définit la vision du futur d'ici à 2030 par un retour de la fertilité native des terres agricoles, une augmentation des rendements des cultures et par une évolution de l'ensemble des infrastructures. Pour ce faire, la mise en place d'un village climato-intelligent pourrait être une réelle opportunité pour la population à travers les paquets technologiques qui seront promus au cours du projet.A cet effet l'équipe pays de mise en oeuvre du projet TARSPro du Burkina Faso a bénéficié au même titre que les équipes des autres pays d'une formation sur l'approche AIC animée par l'ALLIANCE au Sénégal suivie d'une autre formation sur l'approche VIC au Bénin. A la suite de ces sessions de renforcements de capacité au cours desquelles une feuille de route a été établie, une concertation a été organisée par l'équipe pays du Burkina Faso sur la conduite de l'étude de base pour la mise en place du VIC. Au sortir de cette rencontre la Commune de Bindé dans la région du Centre Sud a été proposée à la suite des analyses pour abriter le VIC du Burkina Faso pour les raisons suivantes : (i) Après la collecte des données, l'équipe s'est assurée de leur qualité et a apporté les compléments en se référant aux notes prises afin de procéder à l'analyse et à l'élaboration du présent rapport. Après un retour sur la méthodologie de collecte de données, le point des résultats de l'étude est analysant l'état et l'évolution i) des ressources communautaires du village, ii) du cadre organisationnel y intervenant et iii) du réseau d'informations de la communauté pour leurs différentes productions. Le rapport se termine par une conclusion et des recommandations.La commune rurale de Bindé dont relève le village de Ouda est située entre 11,9057° et 11,6784° de latitude nord d'une part, et 1,8207° de longitude Ouest d'autre part, au nord de la province du Zoundwéogo, dans la région du centre-sud du Burkina Faso, sur l'axe Guiba-Garango RN17 (Figure 1). Elle est située à environ 100 km au sud de la capitale Ouagadougou à partir des routes nationales N5, N29 et N17. Ouda est accessible à partir de Bindé avec la route nationale N17 jusqu'à Kaibo-Centre d'où le village situé au nord est rallié par une piste rurale.Au plan climatique, la commune de Bindé est située dans la zone climatique Nord-soudanienne (GUINKO, 1984), caractérisée une longue saison sèche de novembre à mai et une courte saison hivernale de juin à octobre marquée par des orages avec de forts ruissellements. Les pluies sont généralement abondantes mais mal réparties dans le temps et dans l'espace. Les sols, en majorité propices à l'agriculture, sont de divers types (tableau 1) :  2021) Les sols peu évolués d'érosion régosolique sont les plus dominants en termes de surface occupée. La végétation est caractéristique de celle du plateau central avec la particularité de l'impact d'un réseau hydrographique assez dense. De façon générale, les principales espèces rencontrées donnent à la commune les formations végétales suivantes : La savane parc, la formation rupicole, la forêt, la savane arborée et la savane arbustive. Dans les parcs agroforestiers, les principales espèces comestibles ou utilitaires épargnées par les agriculteurs sont Vitellaria paradoxa, Parkia biglobosa, Lannea microcarpa, Balanites aegyptiaca, Acacia sp, etc. La strate herbacée est constituée d'une variété d'espèces mais les principales qui sont d'un intérêt pour les populations sont essentiellement : Andropogon pseudocarpus (mossaolgo en moré) et surtout Andropogon gayanus (pitou) etc. Ces espèces sont d'un grand intérêt pour les populations car elles entrent dans la construction des toits de chaume et des greniers pour le stockage des récoltes. On les retrouve un peu partout dans la commune mais surtout dans les espaces non cultivés et où la pression animale est moins importante. Le réseau hydrographique est constitué par le bassin-versant du Nakambé. En dehors de ce fleuve qui est plus ou moins pérenne, tous les autres cours d'eau sont temporaires ; leurs eaux tarissent sitôt la saison hivernale finie (confère figure n°3 ci-dessous). L'hydrographie se caractérise également par la présence de quelques plans d'eau, qui servent à l'abreuvement du cheptel, la production horticole et aux usages domestiques. Le territoire communal de Bindé est occupé à environ 75% par une zone agricole car l'agriculture constitue la première source de production de richesses. Le système de culture extensive et la coupe du bois (déboisement) à des fins agricoles et pastorales sont caractéristiques des pratiques courantes des populations. Selon les données du rapport provisoire du 5 ème recensement général de la population et de l'habitat (RGPH) réalisé en 2019 (INSD, 2022), la population de Bindé est estimée à 42 769 habitants avec 20 064 de sexe masculin soit 46.92% et 22 705 de sexe féminin soit 53.08%. C'est une population majoritairement constituée de mossis. Il y a aussi les peulhs et les Bissa. Malgré les irrégularités pluviométriques de ces dernières années, on observe depuis 2016, une tendance générale à l'augmentation des quantités produites. Les tableaux ci-dessous renseignent sur les productions et les superficies emblavées dans la province du Zoundwéogo pour la période allant de 2016 à 2020. De plus en plus, nous constatons que les terres cultivables se font rares. Cela est dû au bradage des terres par les communautés qui en sont propriétaires.  2021) D'une manière générale on note au cours de ces cinq (5) dernières années, une amélioration de la productivité agricole ; amélioration qui tient non seulement compte des conditions pluviométriques favorables de ces dernières années, mais aussi de l'amélioration des pratiques agricoles avec le temps (pratique CES/DRS, utilisation de semences adaptées, mécanisation progressive, etc.). L'élevage constitue la seconde source de production de richesses de la commune. Cette activité est pratiquée de façon traditionnelle de type agro-pasteur avec des potentialités relativement appréciables. Dans l'exercice de leur activité pastorale, les éleveurs bénéficient de l'appui des services techniques de l'élevage que sont le Poste Vétérinaire de Bindé (Kaïbo), la Zone d'aménagement pastorale de Sondré-Est et la ZATE de Bindé. Les autres activités concernent le commerce, le transport, l'artisanat, etc. La Région du Centresud en général et la commune de Bindé en particulier sont reconnues pour la qualité des agrégats dont elles regorgent. L'exploitation de ces agrégats constitue une source de revenus non négligeable pour une bonne frange de la population. La dégradation du sol qu'elle entraîne s'accentue avec les ruissèlements en saison des pluies. D'autres activités telles que la collecte du bois mort par les camions, la préparation et la vente de bière locale (dolo), etc. contribue à la vie de la commune grâce aux taxes prélevées par la régie des recettes.Au Burkina Faso, l'étude de base communautaire pour la mise en place du VIC a été conduite du 23 janvier au 10 février 2023. L'échantillonnage des participants aux différentes discussions de groupe s'est appuyé sur la liste exhaustive des ménages du village dressée par le Président du Conseil Villageois de Développement (CVD). Ainsi, 30 personnes (15 hommes et 15 femmes) ont été tirées de façon aléatoire sans remise avec le tableur Excel (Fonction ALEA) pour le 1 er et le 3 ème jour et 30 autres personnes (15 hommes et 15 femmes) ont été choisies pour le 2 ème jour. Des lettres d'invitation ont été adressées à chacun de ces participants pour les convier aux sessions d'échanges de groupe. La collecte de données qui s'est déroulée sur trois (3) jours, a consisté en la conduite de focus group de discussion genrés réalisés en s'appuyant sur le canevas de debriefing. Les sessions ont été animées suivant trois (3) thématiques (sur les ressources communautaires, l'environnement organisationnel et le réseau d'information). A l'issue de chaque journée de collecte de données un debriefing était réalisé au sein de l'équipe pour faire le point et harmoniser les points de vue sur la façon d'aborder la prochaine journée de collecte. En prélude à la phase de collecte de données, un certain nombre d'activités ont été réalisées dont (i) une mission exploratoire qui a permis de rencontrer les acteurs locaux en vue du choix du site du VIC, (ii) le recrutement et la formation des preneurs de notes et de la traductrice, (iii) la mobilisation du matériel et des fonds nécessaires.La visite a commencé par une rencontre de l'équipe avec les autorités villageoises de Ouda dans ledit village et précisément sur le site retenu pour abriter les essais de démonstration des technologies entrant dans le cadre de l'AIC à mettre à l'échelle. La délégation villageoise était composée de six (06) personnes. Une brève présentation du projet TARSPro ainsi que les activités de l'étude de base sur la mise en place du VIC a été faite par l'équipe de l'INERA. Des précisons sur la logistique ont été apportées par le Comité Villageois de Développement (CVD) notamment le lieu de la tenue des séances de travail avec les groupes de femmes et d'hommes et l'organisation de repas communautaires. Ces précisions ont été suivies de la visite du lieu devant servir de cadre d'échanges durant les trois (03) jours de travaux. Au matin du premier jour des travaux, une assemblée générale publique a été tenue avec toutes forces vives du village de Ouda. Cette assemblée a permis à l'équipe du projet de présenter le projet TARSPro, l'approche VIC et ses objectifs et le mode d'échantillonnage des personnes devant prendre part aux discussions de groupes. Pour finir, l'agenda des travaux a été présenté et adopté à l'unanimité de la communauté par acclamation. Au total 134 personnes dont 82 femmes (soit 61%) étaient présentes à cette assemblée. Deux jeunes (un garçon et une fille) du village ont été choisis et formés à la prise de vues avec des appareils photos. Ils ont pris des photos deux jours durant, des ressources du village qui sont apparus importants à leurs yeux. Les discussions de groupe ont été faites dans deux salles à l'école rurale du village à raison d'une salle pour le groupe des femmes et une autre pour le groupe des hommes. Chaque jour a correspondu au développement d'une thématique précise :-Le premier jour, chaque groupe a procédé à l'inventaire des ressources du village et à leur analyse suivant le canevas de du document de Débriefing ; -Le deuxième jour, chaque groupe de discussion a procédé au recensement des organisations qui interviennent dans le village de Ouda en termes d'appui au développement relatif à la sécurité alimentaire, à la crise alimentaire et à la gestion des ressources naturelles ; -Le troisième jour, le point des types d'informations recherchées par les acteurs du village pour l'implémentation de leurs activités agricoles et les canaux de transmissions de ces informations a été fait par chacun des groupes de discussions. Aussi, une vision future du VIC a été définie dans chaque groupe de discussion puis consolidée pour le village. Cette journée a pris fin avec l'assemblée publique finale qui a connu la participation du chef du village et ses notables. Au cours cette assemblée, le bilan de la collecte des données a été présenté, amendé et adopté.L'après visite a été consacrée à la finalisation du document de debriefing et à l'élaboration du rapport de l'étude de base.L'animation au sein de chaque groupe de discussion a été assurée en langue locale mooré par une équipe constituée d'un facilitateur, d'un preneur de note et le cas échéant d'un traducteur. Ainsi le groupe des hommes a-t-il été animé par Sodré Etienne (facilitateur) et Sawadogo Soumaïla (preneur de notes) tandis que le groupe des femmes a été animé par Bandaogo Alimata (facilitatrice), Yerbanga Ivette (preneuse de notes) et Bouda Edwige (traductrice). Les travaux dans les deux groupes ont été supervisés par le Chef d'équipe, Tassembedo Boureima. Les sessions se sont déroulées en plénière et de façon participative. Elles ont été ponctuées d'exercices pratiques qui ont amené les participants à s'investir pleinement pour apporter toutes des informations réelles nécessaires à l'étude. Les sessions ont duré en moyenne 8 heures par jour ponctuées par des pauses-santé et une pause déjeuner.Les discussions dans cette thématique ont consisté à faire le point de l'état actuel des ressources communautaires en comparaison avec leur état passé pour analyser les facteurs de changements et définir une vision future souhaitée de ces ressources par la population.  • Principaux changements dans l'état des ressources La comparaison de l'état des ressources du passé au présent dans le tableau 5 montre une dégradation de la forêt ou même de sa quasi-inexistence selon les hommes. Selon ces derniers, ces forêts ont été remplacées par des arbres agroforestiers qui, cependant rencontrent quelques difficultés pour leur entretien et leur régénération. Les terres agricoles ont aussi évolué négativement dans le temps en perdant leur fertilité native, ce qui a engendré une baisse de la productivité des cultures, constituant une menace pour la sécurité alimentaire au sein de la communauté. Le groupe de discussion des hommes a également mentionné la non disponibilité des champs de brousse dans l'environnement actuel. Les infrastructures quant à elles ont connu une bonne avancée avec la construction de nouvelles écoles (collège), de lieux de cultes, marché, forages et puits, la construction du pont sur la rivière et l'élargissement de la route. Néanmoins, le centre de santé publique existant dans le passé est à présent non fonctionnel.• Facteurs de changement L'analyse du tableau 5 indique que les principaux facteurs de changement au niveau des terres agricoles sont principalement induits par la pression démographique et le phénomène de la vente des terres qui a amené les propriétaires terriens des villages voisins à retirer les champs de brousses. On note également la mécanisation, l'utilisation des pesticides, l'érosion hydrique, l'utilisation des engrais chimiques et la non application de la fumure organique parmi ces facteurs de changements au niveau des terres agricoles. • Echanges sur les principales difficultés et opportunités (selon le genre) L'analyse du tableau 7 indique que des difficultés persistent pour l'atteinte de la vision du futur due à l'arrêt de la jachère, l'absence d'animaux chez certains agriculteurs, la présence de maladies et la pénibilité de la réalisation des techniques de CES/DRS, notamment chez les hommes. Pour les femmes, l'insuffisance de la fumure organique est la principale difficulté qui pourrait entraver la productivité des terres agricoles. En ce qui concerne les ressources ligneuses, les principales difficultés résident dans l'insuffisance des pluies, l'absence de jeunes plants forestiers et agroforestiers pour le reboisement, la mortalité inexpliquée des arbres comme le karité et la tenure foncière ne permettant pas la mise en place de certaines technologies selon les hommes. Les femmes quant à elles estiment que les feux de végétation, la coupe de bois, le manque de moyens financiers et matériels et l'indisponibilité des moellons constitueraient des contraintes majeures au développement agricole. Quant à la mise en place de certaines infrastructures, les deux parties s'accordent sur le fait que le manque de moyens constitue la principale difficulté. A cela, les femmes ont également ajouté le manque de technicité. Néanmoins, il existe un bon nombre de potentialités dans la région qui pourraient être utilisées pour apporter des solutions à ces difficultés. Il y'a entre autres, l'utilisation des ressources en eaux (rivières), la disponibilité d'information climatique et sur les itinéraires techniques, l'information dans les lieux de cultes et au marché et l'accompagnement des organismes locaux, régionaux et nationaux.• Interprétation/Discussion des résultats et discuter selon le genre (hommes et femmes) Les discussions avec les groupes de personnes dans le cadre de l'étude ont montré que la population était confrontée à six (06) facteurs abiotiques et biotiques (raccourcissement des pluies, sécheresse, inondation, vents violents, tempêtes de poussière et ravageurs). Ces six facteurs ont été tous mentionnés par les hommes et les femmes n'en ont cité que quatre dont la sécheresse, les vents violents, les ravageurs et les inondations (Tableau 7). Parmi ces facteurs, les inondations, les vents violents et la sècheresse sont les aléas climatiques qui affectent le plus, les ressources avec respectivement des scores totaux de 38, 37 et 36. Les deux groupes ont aussi trouvé que les terres agricoles étaient la ressource la plus affectée par les aléas climatiques avec un score de 20,5 et 19 respectivement pour les hommes et les femmes. Elles sont suivies par les ressources ligneuses et les ressources en eaux pour les deux groupes. Ces résultats s'expliquent essentiellement par les variations climatiques qui entrainent des modifications dans le régime des pluies ce qui engendre de plus en plus des inondations affectant les terres agricoles. A cela, s'ajoute le fait que l'agriculture dans la zone est exclusivement pluviale ce qui la rend particulièrement vulnérable au manque d'eau et aux ravageurs.Tableau 7 : matrice de la vulnérabilité aux aléas climatiques (hommes et femmes)    • Organisations oeuvrant dans le domaine de la sécurité alimentaire Les échanges de groupe selon le genre sur les organisations intervenant auprès de la communauté de Ouda dans le cadre de la sécurité alimentaire ont permis de les matérialiser sur des graphiques de paysages à trois niveaux ainsi que les liens qui les relient le cas échéant (Photo 33a et 3b). • Organisations oeuvrant activement dans les moments de crise alimentaire A la suite de la sécurité alimentaire, l'exercice de répertorier les organisations et de les placer sur un graphique de paysages à trois niveaux avec les liens qui existent entre elles a été fait pour les situations de crise alimentaire (Photo 4et 4b). • Insérer le Feuillet/graphique sur la gestion des ressources naturelles pour hommes et femmes, y compris les liens Des graphiques de paysages à trois niveaux sur les organisations intervenant dans la gestion des ressources naturelles ont été réalisés par le groupe des hommes (photo 9) et celui des femmes (photo 5a et 5b)Il ressort des graphiques que l'environnement organisationnel de gestion des ressources naturelles est relativement très pauvre. La principale organisation qui y intervient soulignée aussi bien par les hommes que les femmes est l'association Natigmbzanga. Cette association a réalisé des reboisements dans le village. Pour les hommes, en plus de cette association, il faut noter la présence de pépiniéristes dans le village de Ouda qui produiraient des plants d'espèces locales et exotiques qu'ils commercialisent avec les acteurs qui en demandent. Il y a aussi la ZAT qui intervient auprès de l'association Natigmbzanga et des populations en passant par le CVD pour les former aux bonnes pratiques de reboisement et d'entretien des ressources ligneuses.• Implication/participation des organisations Le Tableau 1111 fait la synthèse des organisations impliquées dans la gestion de la sécurité alimentaire, des crises alimentaires et des ressources naturelles à Ouda. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 141 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Utilisation des aliments 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Crise Alimentair e 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 2 2 2 0 23 GRN 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 8 Autres 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Ces organisations ont de très fortes capacités de mobilisations des communautés qui pourront être mises à profit dans le cadre de la mise en oeuvre de TARSPro. Aussi les associations de femmes pourront constituer une base pour dérouler certaines composantes de l'approche AIC dans le village notamment l'amélioration de la plus-value des PFNL. La collaboration avec les organisations évoquées va certainement nécessiter un renforcement de leurs capacités sur l'approche AIC afin qu'ils puissent se l'approprier et accompagner à la mise en oeuvre des activités entrant dans son cadre.Il est question dans cette section de mettre en exergue les informations recherchées par la communauté de Ouda et de la diversité des canaux utilisés pour accéder à ces informations. Il ressort du Tableau 1212 que le groupe des hommes a identifié cinq thèmes pour lesquels ils ont besoin d'informations ou d'appui/conseil que sont :• Variétés améliorées (cycle court) ;• Informations météo (Début de campagne et régime des pluies) ;• Entretien des sols (Techniques de travail du sol et de CES/DRS et amendements des sols) ; • Itinéraires techniques sur la culture du riz ;• Campagne de vaccination des animaux. Le groupe des femmes a quant à lui, recensé cinq différents thèmes à savoir :• Informations météo (Début de campagne et régime des pluies, inondations)• Itinéraires techniques (Bonnes pratiques culturales) ;• Alimentation et entretien des animaux ;• Information sur les prix des intrants agricoles ;• Période de collecte des graines de balanites. En résumé, les groupes de femmes et d'hommes ont identifié communément les besoins en informations météorologiques, en itinéraires techniques de production agricole et en entretien des animaux. Seuls les hommes ont identifié les variétés améliorées tandis que les femmes ont mentionné l'intérêt pour les prix des intrants agricoles et la période de collecte des grains de balanites. La synthèse des données collectées montre que certains leaders locaux constituent des canaux d'informations. Il s'agit entre autres du chef du village, du chef de terre et d'autres leaders villageois (Conseiller villageois, président de jeune, présidente des femmes).  Le projet TARSPro a permis à une équipe de l'INERA, en collaboration avec l'Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, de conduire une enquête de base communautaire en vue de l'installation d'un village climatique face au climat. L'objectif de cette étude était de dégager la vision du futur de la communauté de Ouda dans la commune de Bindé situé dans la région du Centre-Sud du Burkina Faso en s'appuyant sur l'état des différentes ressources communautaires.Les résultats sur l'analyse ressources communautaires montrent que les hommes et les femmes qui ont pris part à l'enquête ont indiqué que les moyens de subsistance provenaient essentiellement l'exploitation des ressources naturelles. ","tokenCount":"4035"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0035077120.json b/data/part_1/0035077120.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9ed80d3d676ecac816c8c31f883fbdaf4453020d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0035077120.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91a10a28ae129f1c1d80967eb5a580ad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/07548572-1a6a-4343-af02-a57fad5131bc/retrieve","id":"-815301692"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"883192d0-e8a4-4b4c-ae5f-e1bbaff35b1b","pagecount":"6","content":"In 2010, the CGIAR requested proposals for programs on seven key development themes. These programs would represent a new way of working, the hallmarks of which would be research integration, strong partnerships, and sharp focus on development impact. Given its broad mandate related to food security and climate change research, CIAT is actively involved in research partnerships in several CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs). The Center's researchers are substantially involved in the CGIAR Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) and the CRP on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). CIAT contributed significantly to several proposals, and now plays central roles in the two programs already under way.We look forward to further strengthening the Center's partnership with BMZ/GIZ and aligning some of our initiatives more closely with their priorities. In addition, we welcome continued efforts to identify opportunities for research and institutional cooperation with our German partners engaging in developing countries, interaction with the private sector, biotechnology groups, and German Universities to fight against poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and better understand climate change and its impacts.CIAT staff Period US$ Results member (in '000s)• This project will integrate new forage hybrids to intensify agriculture and to mitigate climate change through regulation of nitrification in soil. It will contribute to developing climate-smart crop-livestock systems for smallholders in the tropics.• Quantified the impact of climate change on coffee in Guatemala, Brazil, Tanzania, and Vietnam. The analyses and results serve as the scientific base for implementing partnerships between GIZ and public and private sectors on coffee and climate change.• On-station seed increase of grasses and legumes initiated in collaboration with KARI in Kakamega, Kenya, and the NARO-Bulindi ZARDI partnership, Uganda. • Quantified the impact of climate change on coffee.Results will form the scientific base for implementing the GIZ project on farmers' livelihoods and climate change. The methodology was adopted for other crops in other regions.• Field studies on the adaptation of common bean revealed important drought-resistance mechanisms and aluminum (Al) resistant genotypes. Two elite bean lines were tested under drought in Rwanda and released as varieties. A variety, highly resistant to Al toxicity, and lines with resistance to multiple stresses (drought, low P, Al toxicity, and acid soils) were obtained. Some lines also showed excellent yield potential under intermittent drought stress. Interspecific progenies are being tested in Rwanda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. • Seven Brachiaria forage-grass hybrids with high root vigor and higher levels of Al resistance were identified. These hybrids also combined some degree of resistance to major pests (e.g., spittlebugs) and are therefore suitable for integrating into crop-livestock systems in the tropics. Cultivar Mulato II was selected by farmers as the most preferred Brachiaria variety in Rwanda because of its adaptation to drought and acid soils, and production of green forage. • A total of 21 journal articles, 2 book chapters, and 6 articles in conference proceedings were published, together with 37 oral and poster presentations at international and national conferences and workshops.• Originally designed as post doctorate work for Dr. Peter Lentes, the project's outputs were subsequently revised.• Research confirmed that intervening entities can catalyze the learning-selection processes with forages, beginning with simple technologies such as forage germplasm and often finishing with more complex technologies such as silage and hay. Once the technology is accepted, farmer-to-farmer dissemination allows scaling-up, which continues, both among small farmers and institutions, after the project finishes.• Farmer-led seed enterprises were facilitated. They continue to function, gradually expanding into other business areas such as producing forage-based concentrates.• Five studies: one ex post analysis from Latin America, three ex post analyses from Southeast Asia, and one ex ante analysis from East Africa. They indicated that more than 80% of all grass seed sales in Latin America are for Brachiaria cultivars. Ex post impact of adopting Brachiaria grasses was estimated in four countries.Brachiaria currently accounts for 90% of seed sales in Latin American markets. Associated improvements in milk and beef production helped generate increases in net farm incomes (32% in Guatemala; 177%, Nicaragua; 238%, Costa Rica; and 288%, Honduras).Returns to family labor increased by as much as 2.5 times, depending on the country. • Studies in Southeast Asia indicated major livelihood benefits from using forages, measured in terms of improved benefit-to-cost ratios, higher productivity, higher incomes, and reduced labor. Case studies included fish farming in Vietnam, cow-calf systems in Vietnam and Indonesia, and short-term cattle fattening in Vietnam.• Technology developed to confirm cases of gene flow by pollen transfer between cultivated and wild beans. Morphological traits and molecular markers for which inheritance was known were used. Direction and intensity of gene flow could therefore be defined for materials suspected to be products of natural introgression. • Because Costa Rica was selected for field studies, three sets of activities were performed in this country:(1) all populations of wild beans (and cases of possible introgression) were surveyed; (2) gene flow between modern cultivars was measured on the experiment station (showing low levels of introgression); and (3) gene flow between landraces and wild forms was measured under farmers' conditions (showing slightly higher levels of introgression). • Other cases of introgression between landraces and wild forms (identified since 1985 and kept in the genebank) were then screened, using the marker technology developed, across the geographical range, from Guatemala through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to Argentina. These cases were confirmed. • In Costa Rica and Colombia, some natural hybrids apparently involved species closely related to the common bean. These cases were confirmed, using molecular markers. This kind of gene flow, however, is of limited consequence in beans as progeny does not survive beyond the second generation (F 2 ). ","tokenCount":"933"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0052075467.json b/data/part_1/0052075467.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4203b4bf74702e5420f748266d95d4226c41297b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0052075467.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c371afc311711d6020e1a8f7bd868100","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/918b8c02-0e8a-4736-8012-78ef90c43362/retrieve","id":"-1537617605"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8eeb290c-abc3-4ca8-8d11-76de1f1795e7","pagecount":"4","content":" Methane emission factors at the provincial scale range from 1.08 to 7.7 kg CH4/ha/day, depending on soil type, submerging condition, and cropping season. In most provinces, the methane emission factor in the summer-autumn season is higher than in the other seasons. This compilation of emission factors is derived from the data of Vo et al. ( 2018), but will need updating once more emission rates become available in the future.Rice production was recognized as a major source of methane (CH4) emission (Wassmann and Aulakh 2000). In Vietnam, rice production is estimated to contribute more than 50% of total emissions from the agriculture sector annually (MoNRE 2014). The largest CH4-emitting region in Vietnam is the Mekong River Delta (MRD) where more than 23 million tons of rice are produced annually accounting for about 55% of the Vietnamese rice production (GSO 2017).The Mekong River Delta (MRD) can be divided into five agro-environmental zones with different characteristics influencing methane emissions from rice production: (1) alluvial zone, (2) acid sulphate zone, (3) saline zone, (4) deep flood zone and (5) elevated zone (Fig. 1). A map of the agro-environmental zones was generated based on the soil map of MRD at a scale of 1:250,000 (Ton That Chieu et al. 1989) and the flooding map of the delta simulated for the middle of a flooding season in a normal flooding year under the CLUES project (Phong et al. 2016;Wassmann et al. 2019).1. The alluvial zone is located in the middle of the delta. Soils in this zone were generated from deposited alluvial materials of the Mekong River. This zone comprises the bulk of the favorable rice fields along the river branches. Land use in this zone is intensive with two to three rice crops per year.2. The zone dominated by acid sulphate soils covers the area surrounding the alluvial zone. Acid sulphate soils are used to cultivate one or two rice crops per year. In acid sulphate soils with shallow sulfidic materials (0-50cm), special soil and water management practices must be applied to avoid oxidization of the topsoil. The sulphuric material can influence methane emissions. Rice cultivation in soil with deep sulfidic materials (>50cm) can be practiced similar to what applies to alluvial soils.3. The deep flood zone is located in the northern part of the delta, mostly in the provinces of Long An, Dong Thap, and An Giang. Water level in this zone may rise above 1.5m during flooding season (August to November). This strongly influences rice cultivation practice, as well as cropping calendar and GHG emissions.However, a large area of this zone is used for double or triple rice production.4. The saline zone covers the coastal area of the delta. Rice production in this zone is often affected by salinity intrusion, especially during the dry season (December to April). The zone is dominated by rice-based systems such as ricecash crop or rice-shrimp. Shortage of irrigation water is the main challenge for agricultural production in this zone. Methane emissions, though, are often low in this zone.5. The elevated zone includes disconnected elevated fields in the north of Dong Thap and Long An provinces, close to the Cambodian border. Cropping rotation in this zone is mainly rice-rice-cash crops. Soil in this zone belongs to the degraded soil group.Field experiments were conducted in four out of five agro-  The area and distribution of rice land in the MRD in 2016were extracted from a high resolution land use map of the Lower Mekong Region (Servir Mekong 2019). The spatiotemporal information obtained from analyzing time series of satellite images from 2015-2016 using the PhenoRice method (Boschetti et al. 2017) was used to estimate the seasonal EFs (kg/ha/day) of MRD provinces for the three cropping seasons (Table 2), including winter-spring (2015/16), summer-autumn ( 2016) and autumn-winter ( 2016). The values for provinces differ because each province covers more than one agro-environmental zone.In this regard, the EFs have been weighted by the respective share of total rice area per zone and season.Overall, seasonal EFs in the winter-spring season are lower than in other seasons, varying from 1.08 (Ben Tre) to 2.65 kg CH4/ha/day (An Giang and Dong Thap). The EF in the summer-autumn season is the highest in 9 out of 13 provinces. For provinces covering the deep flood zone, especially An Giang and Dong Thap, EF in the autumn-winter season is relatively high, reaching values higher than 7 kg CH4/ha/day. In principle, the EFs could further be disaggregated to district level. This data base, however, is not included in this info note due to size constraints.  The data used in this analysis were based on measurements conducted during the CLUES project (2011-2015) described in Vo et al. (2018). In turn, the data base only represents a 'snapshot' corresponding to the information available by the time of publishing the info note, that is, mid-2019. This data base will need to be updated once additional GHG data become available.Due to the nature of this calculation, these EFs will undergo some inter-annual variations because the areas planted with rice may vary on a yearly basis. Regardless of these small uncertainties, the presented data on EF represented a good basis for calculating 'baseline emissions' in the MRD.","tokenCount":"865"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0060739985.json b/data/part_1/0060739985.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f93ac388ffd1a480379c62fe947d35bc7605b612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0060739985.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3da8d1511a4f201c2c4dea51e5a5b5b1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1f2eaeda-66e1-4eb4-927a-c527ff4f180b/retrieve","id":"-2019793088"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8416b8c0-aee8-4a57-9a2b-b8b3f7dbe74a","pagecount":"116","content":"A beef cattle production model developed at Texas A&M University was applied to the traditional production system and an improved ranching system in Botswana. The potential contribution of mathematical modelling as an aid to livestock production research and related development problems was demonstrated and additional problems were identified where further applications of modelling techniques could assist research and development in Botswana.Vast areas of Africa are used for beef cattle production systems which are often extremely complex in terms of the interactions which occur between the plant, animal and human components. The complexity of these systems is compounded by the highly variable productivities encountered at different levels. Throughout Africa, the research to date on these systems has been piecemeal, usually empha sizing a few of the key bio-technical relationships . Yet these livestock systems are now the target of substantial development activity. Research, if it is to be of value, must provide promptly the information necessary to design competently this devel opment activity. Furthermore, research should lead to the quantification of those key aspects of production systems on which development efforts will have an impact, so that the probable consequences of development are clear and explicit.Modelling is a research tool which can be applied to beef cattle production systems in order to use research information more effectively. While only a limited number of production systems or alternatives can be examined experiment ally, modelling offers the possibility of examining large numbers of alternatives under different conditions. Prerequisites to the use of this research tool are the existence of appropriate models and sufficient quantitative information to produce valid results.The animal science systems group at Texas A&M University (TAMU) has developed a computer-based beef cattle production model for use in tropical countries. This model can be used to predict animal and herd productivity under a variety of management regimes in diverse environments. Economic analyses can then be made, based on these predictions. Since 1970, field research in range livestock production in Botswana by a multidisciplinary team has yielded a con siderable quantity of detailed information. However, the pressure on extension services for immediate advice has indicated many unanswered research questions.It is difficult to set priorities among these questions, and the resources required to conduct all the research needed are beyond the economic capacity of the national government. ILCA, therefore, sponsored the application of the TAMU model in Botswana with the objectives of introducing computer-based modelling techniques to simulates the existing ranch production systems, but the results of the validation runs for cattle post conditions are not so satisfactory. However, since one objective of the study is to illustrate the methodology by applying it to a real system, rather than to produce results of immediate practical value, it is con sidered appropriate to undertake initial studies with the model on both ranch and cattle post systems .These initial studies are summarized in Chapter 5 by presenting the results of five sets of simulation runs. Four groups of production alternatives feasible for introduction at the individual herd level in Botswana were simulated. Simulation of alternative weaning ages illustrated an innovation requiring only a change in husbandry practice; introduction of controlled breeding, weaning and use of reserve pasture illustrated a compound experiment where innovations can be examined individually and then in combination; use of Leucaena leucocephala as a dry-season forage plant illustrated the introduction of a new technology; and simulation of hand milking in a Tswana herd illustrated the examination of an area of potential devel opment. Production under a different sequence of environmental conditions was also simulated to demonstrate the importance of assessing productivity over several years. These simulation runs demonstrate the utility of the modelling approach and the range of production alternatives which can be examined. The discussion in this chapter focusses on the biological responses of the systems to the various interven tions. An economic interpretation of selected results is presented in Chapter 6.Chapter 7 identifies further possible applications of the modelling methodology to the livestock production systems in Botswana. These additional applications are grouped according to their data requirements and the suitability of the existing TAMU model. Included are summary specifications for additional runs which follow directly from the preliminary results given in Chapter 5.The potential contribution of mathematical modelling as an aid to livestock production research and related development problems has been clearly demon strated for any situation in Africa where sufficient production information exists. Mean annual rainfall varies from 700 mm in the north-east, dropping to 400 mm in the east and 200 mm in the southwest. The rain falls in the summer months from October to April and fluctuates widely between and within seasons . The beef cattle industry is based on the use of the natural pasture produced by this environment. Botswana has a human population of about 800 000, giving the high ratio of cattle to human population of 3. 75 : 1 which is unique in Africa. Exports of ani mal products from Botswana, mainly in the form of fresh meat, account for 17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and almost one half of the value of exports . Before the recent expansion in the mining industry, the livestock sector was even more important to the economy .The success which has been achieved in beef marketing is due largely to a history of effective disease control, particularly foot and mouth disease, and the absence of rinderpest and pleuropneumonia. Tsetse flies carrying trypanosomiasis are limited to part of the Okavango swamp area, and there is no limiting tick-borne disease such as East Coast fever (theileriosis).Beef Cattle Production Systems. Two broad cattle production systems are practiced. The first is the traditional cattle post system where cattle are grazed on unenclosed, tribally administered land with no individual security of land tenure and a traditional right to grazing of unlimited cattle numbers . The second is a freehold farming system with fenced ranching. The traditional system has changed through time; undoubtedly there have been radical changes in the comparatively recent past, particularly due to the opportunity to exploit ground water resources by mechanical bore-hole drilling and consequent extension of the grazing area. This process has been accelerated since the Second World War and has been responsible in part for the increase in the cattle population. The exten sion of grazing areas and the widely held fear of degradation of the range resources from overgrazing has led to the introduction of the national tribal grazing land policy (TGLP). The aims of tribal grazing land development are to stop overgraz ing and degradation of the rangeland, to promote greater equality of incomes in the rural area, and to encourage growth and commercialization of the livestock industry on a sustained basis (Botswana, 1975).Grazing in the tribal cattle post areas is communal, but some farmers have drilled their own boreholes and have acquired an individual right to the borehole water. Cattle are penned at night when they are near cultivated areas and when there is danger of stock losses from predators . Stock theft is rare in Botswana, hence herding is rarely practiced during the daytime. Animal management stan dards are low, and it is difficult to introduce innovations such as the weaning of calves or the controlled use of improved bulls .On the ranches, fences are used to control breeding herds, to separate young stock and to retain standing hay for the dry season. Disease control measures are applied, and mineral supplementation is provided to combat phos phorus deficiency. The ranch cattle also have perennial, adequate water supplies available within a reasonable distance.History of Animal Production Research. The history of animal pro duction research in Botswana is similar to that of many former colonial territories .Government farms were established during the colonial area to investigate and demonstrate improved methods of husbandry. These were run by the Veterinary Department as the government agency responsible for animal husbandry. Much of this past research was carried out in isolation, or in separate operations which were not part of any particular production systems. Not only were the research results not adopted by cattle producers, but the research failed to provide many aspects of basic production data. In animal breeding, for example, the paucity of information on the performance of indigenous cattle throughout southern Africa has been noted even up to the present time (Maule, 1972). Experimental design was frequently deficient, which made comparisons of the performance of different breed types impossible. In 1970, the few breeds of cattle maintained on 12 govern ment ranches were each isolated on a different station under different conditions, rendering comparisons of breed performance impossible (Trail and Fisher, 1971).Range research was initiated in Botswana in 1936 at Morale. However, when this long-term research was reviewed there was found to be insufficient conclusive evidence to permit the formulation of management recommendations (McKay, 1968). The only other range research results available are surveys of the grazing resources (Blair Rains and Yalala, 1972;1973).As a result of this pattern of research, there was little concrete information available to extension advisers or economic planners when Botswana achieved independence in 1966. The advice given was essentially of an ad hoc nature, based on results and experience from other countries and from casual observations in Botswana. Much of this advice was undoubtedly sound, and the development of the cattle industry in the country is indebted to these workers, but it has been seriously hampered by the lack of more comprehensive research results.Integrated Research Approach. In 1970, the Ministry of Agriculture formed an Animal Production Research Unit (APRU). Although one of the preliminary objectives was to evaluate beef cattle breeds and crosses, it was quickly realized that a multi-disciplinary approach would be necessary to cover the many aspects of beef production. The programme which has developed covers three broad areas :-1. the measurement of animal productivity from the range areas,the measurement of what the rangeland can supply to the animals, and 3. the measurement of the effects of animal productivity on the rangeland.The objectives of this integrated programme in Botswana are to provide reliable da ta on which politicians, economists and planners can assess the potential value of development proposals, and to provide reliable information to extension workers and producers, demonstrated in an acceptable ongoing production system.To these ends, the APRU plans and supervises all technical aspects of a net work of 17 ranches, totalling 40 000 hectares and carrying over 5 500 cattle. It also co-operates with commercial ranches and other organizations, involving a further 10 000 cattle. As positive research results must be fed continuously into the production system for demonstration to extension workers and producers, extensive data handling facilities have been set up for rapid collection, analysis and use of beef cattle performance records (Trail and Rennie, 1974;McNamara et al., 1975).The detailed research programmes being undertaken and the results to date can best be summarized under four main headings. These are animal productivity results from the two beef cattle production systems; range productivity and im provements; nutrition and animal productivity; and breeding and animal pro ductivity.Productivity under Traditional and Improved Management. Studies on the two main beef cattle production systems in Botswana -traditional cattle posts and improved ranches -began in 1970 (Rennie et al. , 1977). At that time, 92 percent of the cattle were maintained under a traditional management system on unenclosed grazing (on cattle posts). These herds produced approximately 85 per cent of the cattle slaughtered for export. The remaining 8 percent of the cattle were maintained under a fenced system and produced 15 percent of the slaughtered animals (Botswana, Ministry of Agriculture, 1970).In productivity studies, reproductive performance, growth and viability have Large-scale grazing trials were then initiated in 1974 in an attempt to en courage the better species and to determine if improved cattle performance would follow. Four grazing treatments were examined; continuous; one-herd threepaddock; four-day grazing, 32-day resting rotation; and seven-day grazing, 56day resting rotation. Stocking rates of 1 LSU : 10 ha and 1 LSU : 8 ha were adopted in the first and second years of the trials respectively. After two years, no significant differences have been detected among treatments in terms of total yield of dry matter, dry matter of good species, botanical composition or cattle performance.Removal of bush cover by chemical treatment of cut stumps is also being exam ined, and the changes in the grass species composition monitored. Results three years after treatment showed significant but small increases in dry matter yields from cleared areas and a general improvement in botanical composition (Botswana, Ministry of Agriculture, 1978). Work on range fertilization has just commenced, as has the examination of introduced legume and grass species, with some promising results, although establishment costs appear formidable.Nutrition and Animal Productivity. Factors of considerable economic importance in any beef production system are the reproductive performance of breeding cows and the length of time taken by growing animals to reach slaughter weight. In semi-arid areas such as Botswana, with variable summer rainfall and a prolonged winter dry season, nutritional deficiencies in the natural pasture limit both reproductive performance and liveweight gain. Deficiencies of phos phorus, crude protein and energy in the natural pastures of southern Africa have long been recognized, and the beneficial effects of phosphorus supplementation have been demonstrated repeatedly. For phosphorus supplementation, the basic recommended policy is to allow cattle access to a 1 : 1 mixture of bonemeal and salt at all times.1. One LSU is equivalent to one mature bovine weighing 500 kg.As mentioned earlier, the range research programme in Botswana has determined that under natural grazing conditions crude protein rather than energy is the major limiting factor. Several supplementary protein feeds containing non protein nitrogen (NPN), often referred to as rumen stimulatory licks, are available commercially to offset the deficiencies in the natural pasture. A series of trials has been carried out to investigate the effects of these licks on the reproductive performance of breeding cows and the liveweight gain of growing cattle (Capper et al. , 1977). The trials involved 1 375 breeding cows at five artificial insemi nation centres, and 360 breeding cows and 269 growing stock under ranch conditions.The licks increase the percentage of pregnancies in cows under lactation stress by up to 20 percent, but have no effect on the reproductive performance of dry cows or cows with a calf older than five months. In growing animals, the provision of rumen stimulatory licks increases live-weight gain by an average of 12 percent. Since 1970, performance tests have been carried out on all male and female stock on a network of 13 government ranches. Superior performance-tested males are thus available as artificial insemination (AI) sires or as bull replacements for the government ranches. The remaining superior males are sold to farmers, while inferior males are castrated and eventually slaughtered. Superior females are selected for herd replacements.The breeding programme was planned to cover three main areas:.the evaluation through performance testing of major types to determine their qualities,the continued performance testing of superior types for further improvement, and 3. the exploitation of heterosis effects through crossbreeding.The ongoing breed studies are carried out mainly under fenced ranch con ditions, but evaluations of crossbred cattle under traditional management conditions in the communal grazing areas have also been made. Production is entirely from natural pasture with the exception of phosphate supplementation. Sufficient stand ing hay is retained for dry season grazing. The traits examined are calving per centages, weights at birth, weaning and 18 months, and calf mortality, Over a three-year period, the calving percentages of Africanders, Tswanas and Tulis were 64. 5, 70. 6 and 85 percent respectively (Trail et al. , 1977). Mor The use of Tuli sires on Tswana cows is therefore now recommended for all management conditions. The use of Brahman and Simmental sires on Tswana cows also produces superior growth under both ranch and cattle post conditions. An evaluation of mothering ability and reproductive performance of first cross females is now needed. The indications are that a criss-cross breeding system for Brahman and Tswana will be valuable, with the Simmental breed substituted for Brahman under improved management conditions.The critical researcher is constantly aware of the many interacting com ponents in the beef systems under study and the difficulties of simultaneously evalu ating their implications. However, even with the involvement of many disciplines, the formal research approach will only allow the examination of particular facets in isolation. Because of this, innovations which initially appear most favourable may interact with other components of the system in such a way as to significantly weaken their overall impact.To date, the integrated research programme has been successful in indi cating some specific recommendations for the extension services (Botswana, Ministry of Agriculture, 1976b). However, many further extension needs have been identified during the early implementation stages of the tribal grazing land policy. For animal production, extension recommendations are needed in the areas of animal management, nutrition, breeding, milk production and the impact of drought.These topics are outlined briefly below.Animal Management. Cattle productivity levels are lower in the tra ditional system than on ranches, but it is still not possible to quantify the incremen tal advantages of adopting different components of the ranch management package.To date this problem has not been studied, as it has been assumed that piece-meal adoption of individual components of the package will have little effect. Examples are improving water supplies in the absence of grazing control, urea supplementa tion when forage is severely limited, and early weaning without adoption of a breeding season. However, the need to study these questions is now urgent in Botswana with the introduction of the tribal grazing land policy (TGLP) and the implementation of the Second Livestock Development Project (Botswana, Ministry of Agriculture, 1976a). This project meets the aims of the TGLP in that it seeks to create the infrastructure needed for the development of sustained profitable pro duction systems suitable to communal and commercial grazing areas, and for the marketing of livestock products . The development of improved management at cat tle posts will, in most cases, be a gradual process, and producers will require sound advice from the extension services on the best development sequence to be followed. In 1974, when prices were favourable, feedlot finishing of cattle appeared attractive and feedlot performance trials were conducted. Supplying sufficient cattle to the feedlots would involve the removal of significant numbers of animals from the herds. This would have an important effect on grazing pressures and would increase the grazing available to the remainder of the herds. Such effects are difficult to measure but must be estimated before the overall effect on the production system can be evaluated. This problem will assume importance if price ratios again become favourable to feedlot operations . A system can be defined as a collection of elements that are interrelated and that interact with one another. All the elements which contribute substantially to its inputs and outputs are included in the system. It has physical and conceptual boundaries which vary according to the objectives of those who are studying it. A systems approach to a problem is one which defines the problem in relation to some system. It differs from a process -oriented approach which is concerned typically with understanding some process and not with how such understanding might be used to influence the system of which the process is a part.To date, the process-oriented or analytical approach has been fruitful in many areas of research, and particularly in agriculture. However, in developing countries, where the outcome of a development process is so dependent on the inter action of many socio-economic and physical factors, this traditional approach has limi tations.To overcome these limitations, emphasis on the functioning of whole systems rather than on particular processes is required. The major advantage of the systems approach to a problem is that it can synthesize the existing knowledge on components of the relevant system and permit study of their interactions and combined effects.For research on livestock production systems, application of the systems approach will not replace traditional research, but it will assist in identifying those areas where further research would be most beneficial. The capacity of the systems approach to address this issue will assume increasing importance over time as research funds become more restricted relative to development needs. The devel opment of holistic models of production systems is at the core of the systems approach. While quantitative models can be used to identify the appropriateness of a particular task, or the importance of a particular component in relation to a whole system, it is not necessarily appropriate that such models always be applied. In some instances it may be sufficient to prepare a descriptive model of the system.Irrespective of the class of model which is formulated and other classes of models are possible besides quantitative and descriptive models the application of the systems approach involves a step-by-step, interactive process. The sequence of steps outlined in this section applies to the case where a quantitative model of a system is to be developed.a.Problem definition: The objectives of a study must be defined rigorously.These determine both the boundaries of the system (i.e. , those relation ships and variables inside and outside the system) and the level at which the system is to be modelled (e. g. at the level of the cell, animal,herd, farm, national economy). The modelling must be conducted at a level which cap tures the essence of the system and with sufficient detail to meet the objectives of the study, but at the same time it must simplify the system sufficiently to be manageable.Quantitative formulation of the model: A detailed mathematical representation of the model is required which accurately reflects the knowledge available.This representation must also be consistent with the objectives of the model.For example, if an objective is to examine the consequences over time of particular changes in the system, then the model will need to have the capacity to simulate time-related effects. The outcome of the work at any of the above stages can lead to a return to earlier stages. For example, during experimentation with the model it may be come apparent that the model specification is inappropriate to the task at hand, so the researchers must respecify part or all of the model. This would in turn require a repetition of the verification and validation steps before further experi ments could be conducted.In the field of animal production, measurements such as weaning weight, growth rate or mature weight usually reflect only one segment of the production system and are thus only partially related to the system's overall efficiency.Furthermore, such measurements alone do not make it possible to identify improve ments in productive efficiency of whole systems. The research group at TAMU recognized the need to consider multiple inputs and outputs in evaluating beef pro duction systems and tried to account for them on an additive basis (Joandet and Cartwright, 1969). These early models were expanded to include some variable, non-linear functions but still required a priori specification of animal performance and the subsequent computation of nutrient requirements (Long et al. , 1975;Cartwright et al. , 1975;Fitzhugh et al. , 1975).By 1972, the need became evident to model the interactions between genotype and environment and management practices in order to predict animal productivity.At about this same time, USAID recognized that a systematic, comprehensive approach was required to increase the productivity of tropical cattle. It accounts for the interactive effects of genotype, breeding system, nutrition, reproduction, growth, milk production and nutrient intake. The lack of a feedback effect from the cattle herd to the grazing resource is a major limitation of the model in its present form. However, it can still be applied with advantage to situations where this effect is important so long as the results are interpreted taking this limitation into consideration, as for example when the predicted stocking rate under a production strategy exceeds reasonable limits. The Ebini and Rupununi areas of Guyana served as the first tropical testing grounds for the model (Davis and Cartwright, 1976). Data to characterize the resource base at both locations were limited, and it was necessary to rely on sketchy experimental results and personal observations to describe the variation in quality of forages consumed throughout the year.The Ebini area is an isolated part of Guyana with poor quality forage and no livestock production at present. Simulation results predicted that cattle production in this area would not be viable without supplementary feeding. This result was limiting factor. Following this, a run was made assuming cows on a higher plane of nutrition derived from longer use of improved pastures. Under these conditions it was indicated that a productive herd could be maintained with a reasonable level of offtake.Cattle production was also simulated for the Rupununi area which currently  (Sanders, 1977). This approach has proved highly efficient. Topics researched with the model include the effects of forage quality on the productivity and profitability of cow-calf feedlot management systems and the comparative efficiencies of a number of beef cattle cross-breeding systems (Notter et al. , 1978a(Notter et al. , , 1978b(Notter et al. , , 1978c).The computer model, described in detail by Sanders (1974Sanders ( , 1977) ) and Sanders andCartwright (1978a, 1978b), consists of a main segment and a number of The intake of cows more than eight years old is adjusted downward by three percent for each year of age over eight. The nutritional requirements to achieve potential levels of performance are also calculated. Intake is set at the minimum of these three limits (from equations (1) to (3) ) if this minimum is below the calculated re quirement. If the minimum limit is above the calculated requirement, intake is set halfway between the two levels .Nutrient requirements (of digestible dry matter per day) for maintenance, activity, milk production, lean tissue growth and fat deposition, based on genotype, size, sex, condition, pregnancy and lactation status, are calculated for each animal in each month. The following equations are used:where AC is an activity coefficient particular to each situation (in the range from The nutrient requirements calculated by equations ( 4) to ( 8) are summed. If total nutrient requirements are less than calculated nutrient intake (from equations for each application. It is recognized that the value of these other parameters may not always be applicable or may later need to be modified for African cattle breeds.The derivation of the two specified parameters is given here.  4.1. This date is at the end of the wet season when all animals tend to be in the best condition after several months of sustained growth. This section summarizes the procedures used to validate the model and presents some selected results of the validation runs made, using the input data described in the previous section. available for the real system only over a two-year period at several locations and for an above-average rainfall sequence. Additional output data are available for about a seven-year period, but are not matched by corresponding input data. For sophisticated models of complex systems, the complete data sets which would be desirable for formal validation are seldom available, and this particular model is no exception. In such cases, subjective considerations become relatively more important. When greater reliance is placed upon subjective criteria for validation, minor differences between outputs can be detected with less confidence, and this decrease in confidence becomes even more important as the number of parameters by which an output is being evaluated increases.The model is considered to be validated for conditions in Botswana if it satisfied the following three criteria :-  The data from the ranches are pooled according to the methods described in   growth achieved every year until the onset of the dry season which is followed by a period of significantly reduced growth and even weight loss. Although the values simulated are, in most instances, slightly above the recorded weights at the corresponding age, the phasing of changes in the growth rates corresponds suf ficiently well for this validation criterion to be satisfied.The data presented here are the most important of the parameters used to  2. The field data available for the cattle posts are less complete than the detailed data available for the APRU ranches. Thus coincidence between the cattle post data which are available and the simulation results does not necessarily imply that the model is validated for application to these production systems. In this case, subjective factors are relatively more important in determining the acceptability of the simulation.The model predicts higher calving percentages on both cattle posts than have actually been reported. The model assumes that phosphorus in the diet is not limiting for reproductive performance, while research results from southern Africa indicate that calving percentages are in fact very significantly reduced if the phosphorus intake is inadequate (e.g., Van Niekerk, 1974). Another factor that makes the comparison of survey data and simulated results more difficult is that in the model heifers are not joined until 28 months of age, while on the cattle posts the individual joining age is often earlier. Also the model does not make allowance for the impact of infectious disease such as brucellosis which may depress calving rates on the cattle posts below those predicted.In Herd productivity depends on relationships among variables whose values are determined both within and outside the system (endogenously and exogenously).The herd manager has varying degrees of control on the exogenously determined variables. For example, complete control over weaning age is a practical possi bility, but only limited control is possible over the forage regime on offer to the animals, and no control is possible over the weather.In a model, all parameters corresponding to both the endogenously and ex ogenously determined variables are controllable and can be set at any desired value. In this way a validated model is used to investigate the likely impact on the real system of changes in the level of any set of variables. The values of vari ables can be reset at particular levels and the model can then simulate operations through time and predict the changes which would occur in the real system being modelled. The model is then operating as a high speed 'if-then' calculator. In this report, when parameters have their values set at levels other than those used in the validation runs, the corresponding computer simulation run of such a pro duction alternative is defined as an intervention. These simulation runs can be designed so that they correspond to real-world experimentation.For any production system, it will be useful to test This can be examined by simulating adverse environmental conditions with the model.The greatest amount of information is ohtained from the simulation of pro duction systems when the results from the runs within a set of experiments are comparable. For example, while the model predicts animal performance in re sponse to the forage regime on offer, it does not relate performance to land area.The simulated forage quality and quantity available per animal does not decrease as the herd size increases as it might in practice for a real herd on a specific area of 2 land.Therefore Cow reproductive performance has been considered the production trait of primary importance, thus the management has aimed at giving cows the best opportunity to reproduce. Optimum calf treatment has been considered of secondary importance.Seven months was thought to be the lowest age at which calves could be weaned safely on all the ranches.The present simulations compare five-and nine-month weaning with the seven-month standard. These are simulated under the Masiatilodi/Matlolakgang ranch conditions, as five-month weaning might well be feasible in the relatively favourable environment of this area. A summary of the simulated performance of the system under the three weaning strategies is given in Table 5.1. The values in that table are the solution values after the effects of introducing the different weaning ages are assimilated. This presentation recognizes that, while the wean ing age can be changed in a particular year, the effects of such a change will be evident in the system's performance only after several years. Column 1 of this table repeats the results simulated for the validation of the model for this  The results indicate that the effects of weaning age are retained to some extent for seven years. At five months, the average calf weaning weight of 160 kg is only 70 percent of the weaning weight under the nine-month strategy. By one year, calves weaned at five months are 31 kg, or 13 percent lighter than one-yearold calves weaned at nine months. By two and one-half years of age, however, this difference falls to 20 kg, or four percent. At three years of age, cows that have been weaned at five months are still 18 kg, or four percent lighter than those weaned at nine months. However, the effect on the cows of suckling a calf for five months rather than nine months is such that, by five years of age, the cows under the five-month weaning regime recover this four percent disadvantage. At seven years of age, they are 39 kg, or nine percent, heavier.The later the weaning age, the greater the number of breeding cows which can be carried when the herd size is scaled to a total herd consumption of 1 800 tons of dry matter per year. This reflects the lower number of calves produced.The calving percentage is markedly reduced by extending the weaning age, while calf survival from birth to weaning remains approximately proportional to the weaning age.One index of biological efficiency appropriate to a grazing herd is the total amount of dry matter consumed by the herd per kilogramme liveweight sold from the system. In terms of this index, the five-month weaning regime is four percent more efficient, and the nine-month regime is 13 percent less efficient than the standard seven months . The total liveweight of animals sold -steers plus surplus heifers and cull cows -is substantially lower when calves are weaned at nine months. The total liveweight sold is 391 kg per cow in the five-month system and 294 kg per cow when the weaning age is set at nine months .These results are simulated assuming that average forage conditions are constant from year to year. The calves under the five-month weaning regime are weaned from mid-March to mid-June at a time when the quality of the available forage is declining progressively before recovering in September-October. In years of below-average forage quality, it could be anticipated that the modest advantage of five-month over seven-month weaning might be reduced or even elim inated by inadequate fodder during this period. To test this hypothesis it will be necessary to carry out simulation experiments under a number of nutritional regimes, including random sequences of above-average and below-average years.non-protein nitrogen (NPN) supplementation to calves in the early post-weaning period. Before making any extension recommendations, these simulations will need to be run under conditions corresponding to the different major ecological zones in Botswana, as there may be regional differences in the appropriate weaning strategy.Although weaning would be the simplest form of management practice to evaluate by physical experimentation, since only a single parameter in the system is deliberately varied, such experimentation would require a considerable commitment of time and physical resources. Any conclusions from such field ex perimentation would only be reliable if the environmental circumstances encoun tered during the experimentation period included unfavourable years. For such research situations, a simulation model can be of major use, as different environ mental sequences can be specified readily. Testing the hypotheses with a simu lation model would be considerably less expensive than testing them by physical experimentation and the results would be available much more quickly. Seven-month weaning, if introduced without other changes, increases the calving rate from 56 percent to 64 percent (Column 2, Table 5.2). This reflects the reduced stress on the cows and the resulting shorter average calving interval.The average calf weaning weight decreases by 16 percent to 142 kg. This weaning effect is still partially reflected in three-year old cows which are slightly lighter than those from the natural weaning regime. However the mature cows are heavier, as a result of the reduced lactation stress when calves are weaned at an earlier age. Overall, the total liveweight sold and the composition of the sales from the two systems are similar. The change in herd composition caused by introducing seven-month weaning is modest. The major difference is the increased number of steers carried as a result of the higher calving rate.By contrast, the introduction of a three-month breeding season without any change in the weaning policy (the cattle post weaning average of 10 months being used in the simulation) reduces the calving rate from 56 percent to 50 percent (Column 3, Table 5.2). The average weaning weight increases from 170 to 188 kg, as a higher percentage of calves are born at the more favourable time of the year (October -December). Slightly more cows are carried for the total herd consump tion of 1 800 tonnes of dry matter, but overall a smaller herd can be carried because average cow weights are higher. Calf survival to weaning at 10 months is slightly lower when the breeding season is controlled, as this innovation when introduced alone tends to concentrate the weaning near the end of the dry season.As fewer calves are born, the cull cows comprise a higher fraction of the liveweight sold from the herd. There is no significant change in overall biological efficiency as given by the index of total kilogrammes of dry matter consumed per kilogramme of liveweight sold.The third single intervention considered is the provision of a reserve pasture during the dry season for calves from weaning to one year of age (Column 4, Table 5.2). For the simulation, the reserve pasture is made available to the weaners from July 15 to December 14. Overall biological efficiency is reduced slightly by adopting this strategy. Fertility changes insignificantly and weaning rates remain constant. The average weight of three-year-old animals increases substantially, reflecting the use of the higher quality reserve pasture from weaning to one year of age. However, with breeding all through the year, a considerable fraction of the calves are weaned at a time that does not permit them to use the reserve pasture before they reach one year of age. As in the basic cattle post simulation at Kweneng, crop stover (from maize) is available to the main herd in the first month of the dry season (July). In the model, however, the weaned calves on the reserve pasture are not given access to the crop stover as this is considered likely to be outside the fenced reserve pasture area. This assumption undoubtedly reduces the impact of the reserve pasture; the results will be more favourable if the crop stover is made available to the weaners. The total dry matter consumed by the weaned calves on the reserve pasture is 2.4 percent of the total diet of the herd. This is equivalent to about 150 hectares of land for a cattle post area of 6 400 hectares.If both seven-month weaning and three-month breeding are adopted (Column 5, Table 5.2), the results can be compared relative to the baseline run or to the runs simulating the introduction of each of these innovations singly. The introduc tion of seven-month weaning combined with three-month breeding gives a lower reproductive performance than the introduction of seven-month weaning alone, but a slightly higher performance than the introduction of three-month breeding alone.The combined changes produce a herd which is slightly more efficient in terms of the conversion of dry matter to saleable liveweight.The addition of a reserve pasture for weaners, combined with a seven-month weaning period, increases average calf survival from 77 percent to 91 percent (Column 6, Table 5.2). This is mainly due to a marked reduction in calf mortality for the younger cow groups because of their significantly higher body weights. The resultant increase in lactation stress among these younger cows in turn reduces the overall calving percentage. The reserve pasture contributes 3.7 percent of the total dry matter in the herd diet when seven-month weaning is practised, an in crease from the 2.4 percent contributed when the reserve pasture is used with traditional 10-month weaning. This difference simply reflects the extra three months during which the calves are using the reserve pasture. About 250 hectares of reserve pasture are required to provide 3.7 percent of the total diet for the herd.The combination of a three-month breeding period and reserve pasture produces the lowest calving percentage, with less than 50 percent of the cows calving each year (Column 7, Table 5. The combined introduction of a seven-month weaning period, a three-month breeding season and a reserve pasture for the weaned calves increases the overall biological efficiency of production and produces the greatest liveweight sales of all the alternatives simulated (Column 8, Table 5.2). The weaning weight of 170 kg is the same as in the baseline cattle post simulation but is achieved in seven rather than ten months. Young cows are heavier but mature cows are approximately the same weight. The total number of animals in May is higher in the baseline run than predicted with the combination of innovations. This favours the innovative system, as the forage demand during the dry season is then lower. While 31.3 percent of the total dry matter intake is required during the five-month dry season under baseline conditions, only 27.8 percent of the total demand is during this period when the three management modifications are introduced together. This gives an increase in the ratio of wet season to dry season demand from 2.2 : 1 to 2.6 : 1.This management regime requires that 4.8 percent of the dry matter intake is available from the reserve pasture. This is equivalent to about 300 hectares on a 6 400 hectare cattle post. Liveweight sales per cow are 10 percent higher than in the existing baseline systems but, overall, the biological efficiency of these combined interventions is only five percent greater than that of the baseline cattle post.which can usefully be performed with a validated cattle herd model. They do not address all the issues which would be involved in actual cattle post development, such as the differential performance or changes in the ranking of these alternatives if operated in a variable environment. Nor do they indicate conclusively whether slight modifications of these interventions will not have a more favourable impact on the performance of the overall system. For example, it was suggested at the workshop that given the poor forage regime of the cattle post, a three-month breed ing season from February to April might be preferable to a January-March season because during the later period the nutritional status of the cows would more 4 likely be rising, giving higher conception rates.Such alternative specifications were designed following the workshop and will be simulated. Thus the initial runs have served as an aid in formulating hypotheses about the 'best' development strategy.of the herd relative to the baseline situation. The combined introduction of all three management innovations produces the greatest improvement in biological efficiency, but it may not be warranted from an economic point of view as the gains are only modest. The economic gain would be greater if the changes in manage ment also resulted in improvement over time in the forage quality. Thus it would be useful to test these same innovations using simulations specifying a steady im provement in the quality of the available forage over time and reaching the quality of forage available on the ranches in, say, five or ten years.Simulation runs will also be necessary to test the impact of different se quencing of the introduction of innovations to ensure the earliest possible payoffs from the investment made. The runs will then need to be replicated using different environmental sequences, to be certain that the development strategy will be viable when implemented in the real world of uncertain climatic conditions. Such exper iments with the model will help to quantify the risks undertaken by individual pro ducers embarking on the suggested development strategy. Credit facilities and other related development activities can then be designed to help the producers meet such risks.Introduction of a Dry-Season Forage Plant. In Botswana, the quality of forage for cattle drops markedly in the dry season. Providing higher quality dryseason forage will improve overall herd productivity, but whether the investment necessary to achieve the improvement will be economically justifiable is not known.On a ranch, the introduction of new fodder plants is one of several ways of alleviat ing a dry-season forage deficit. Although the initial capital cost of plant introduc tion may be considerable, it has an advantage over food supplements brought to the farm in its substantially lower recurrent costs. Research work from neighbouring Malawi suggests that a promising fodder plant to introduce in Botswana is Leucaena leucocephala. This plant has not yet been studied in Botswana to determine either the best establishment methods or yields in different areas under different environ mental conditions. However, it is likely that the plant can be grown, although perhaps at considerable cost.Research in other parts of the world provides basic information on its use by cattle (Hill* 1971;USNAS, 1977). Leucaena cannot exceed 30 percent of the dietequivalent to about 3 kg of dry matter per head per day -for an extended period without causing mimosine toxicity and its attendant problems. This upper limit on its intake can be specified easily in a simulation model. Therefore the impact of leucaena on cattle performance in Botswana can be predicted using the model. The Lesego-Impala ranch is used for the initial investigations as this area has the lowest overall forage quality so that introduction of a plant such as leucaena could be expected to be of particular value •In the model, leucaena is specified as being available each year for the three months from August 15 to November 14. Thus it is not specified for use as drought reserve fodder, but as a routine part of the ranch's annual grazing programme.With the constraint of maximum leucaena intake, the composition of the overall diet in these months improves from approximately 38 percent digestibility and 3.8 percent crude protein to over 46 percent digestibility and 8 percent crude protein.The leucaena could, in practice, be made available to any class of cattle at any time within this three-month period. For purposes of illustration, however, only two feeding regimes are examined. The first regime provides the leucaena to all animals in the herd. The second restricts access to leucaena to cows which are lactating and/or pregnant. These are the animals under greatest stress whose performance is expected to be most responsive to the availability of high quality forage. Both these feeding regimes are practical management alternatives.The impact of the leucaena supplementation is summarized in Table 5.3.Column 1 repeats the baseline validation run for the Lesego-Impala ranch, against which the effect of leucaena is gauged. When leucaena is provided to all animals, the weight of young cows increase by 15 percent and of mature cows by 3 percent.The overall calving rate increases from 67 percent to 83 percent in response to the improved nutritional status of the cows . Calf survival from birth to weaning does not alter significantly. Together, the increased calving rate and the higher animal weights imply a higher dry matter consumption per cow when leucaena is supplied. A total of 313 cows can be supported with a herd consumption of 1 800 tonnes of dry matter in the baseline system. When leucaena is introduced and the system is again in equilibrium, only 263 of the heavier and more productive cows can be supported by the same level of dry matter consumption for the herd. Using the weight of dry matter consumed per kilogramme of liveweight sold as an index of biological efficiency, the provision of leucaena to all animals increases efficiency by almost 7.5 percent. Total liveweight sales increase by over 8 percent while the liveweight sales per cow increase by over 28 percent from 262 to 337 kg per year.This regime requires 1 902 animal months per year of grazing on leucaena, with the special-purpose forage contributing about 9.5 percent of the total annual dry matter consumption by the herd.The alternative specification examined is the provision of leucaena only to pregnant and/or lactating cows. Only 621 animal months of grazing on leucaena are required per year, or about one-third of the number necessary when all animals are supplemented. In this situation, leucaena accounts for 3 percent of the total herd consumption. Providing the supplement only to the cows under stress pro duces an increased calving percentage approaching that of the strategy of feeding the entire herd. Also, more calves are born annually under this feeding regime than with the 'all herd' feeding strategy, reflecting the slightly higher stocking rate possible when the animals are all marginally lighter.The biological efficiency of the more limited supplementation regime is slightly lower than when fodder is provided to all animals. However, an economic appraisal of these two feeding regimes is presented in Section 6.2.1 which shows that the provision of leucaena to all animals is less favourable from an economic standpoint than providing it only to the females under stress.Milking of Indigenous Cows . Botswana annually imports considerable quantities of milk and milk products . An important development question is whether the indigenous Tswana cattle can be used to substitute for these imports without impairing their performance as producers of meat. In areas with good road or rail access, milk can be taken to the consumption centres without spoilage, and at an economic price. Although such areas are of limited extent, they are considered by some to be adequate to provide substantially for the needs of the country . The simulation model is used to carry out initial investigations into this aspect of devel opment to determine production potentials, but economic evaluation of the inter ventions would be necessary before final recommendations could be made.Two milking strategies are simulated using Kweneng as the test location.Cattle posts at Kweneng have reasonable access to a milk market and cows can graze high quality crop stover during the dry season (crop stover is not available on cattle posts in the Serule area). An additional reason for basing these initial experiments on the Kweneng area is that milk sales provide a cash income which may facilitate the transition of a cattle post to a ranch-type operation. The two strategies examined are milking with and without feed supplementation for the milking cows .Decision rules are specified in the model to determine whether an individual cow is to be milked, and the same rules are used for both milking strategies. Only cows in their fourth year of age or over are milked, and these are milked only if the calf will still gain at least 300 grammes per day if one quarter of the milk is taken. A maximum of one half of the cow's milk can be taken (by milking two quarters of the udder), if the calf is still left with sufficient milk to gain 300 grammes per day. The indigenous Tswana is specified in the model as having a milk potential of 11. 25 litres per day at the beginning of lactation. Milk taken from the cows can be consumed by the herder and his family or sold.Column 1 of Table 5.4 repeats the results of the validation run for the Kweneng cattle post. Columns 2 and 3 summarize the simulated status of the herd in the fifth year after the introduction of milking without and with supplementation respectively. The solution values for the Kweneng cattle post (as given in Column 1) are used as the starting point for these other two simulations . The initial conditions as given in Column 1 are scaled to give a total herd consumption of 1 800 tonnes of dry matter.Although five years of milking are simulated beginning with the baseline equilibrium situation, there is evidence in the simulation results that the new equilibrium status of the herd is not reached in that time. This is most evident for the run in which milking is carried out without supplementation. In that run, the December weight of open four-year-old cows immediately post partum averages 333 kg for the first three years of the simulation, decreasing to 323 kg at the end of the Values in Columns 2 and 3 are from the fifth year of simulation starting from the baseline conditions summarized in Column 1.fourth year and to 307 kg at the end of the fifth year. This time series, and others which can be taken from the model output, indicate that the effect on the cow herd only becomes evident in the last two years of the run when the calves born within the milking system themselves reach maturity . This overall decline in herd pro ductivity can be expected to continue for some years before the new equilibrium status of the herd is reached. Emphasis in this discussion is on the performance of the herd in the fifth year after milking is introduced.When the cows are milked and not given supplementary feed, the total dry matter consumed by the herd decreases from 1 800 to 1 500 tonnes by the fifth year (Column 2, Table 5.4). This mainly reflects the reduced numbers of herd followers (steers and surplus heifers) due to increased calf mortality and the lower weights of the young cows being introduced to the herd in the later years of the simulation.Whereas there are 142 replacement heifers in the herd in the baseline situation, this number is reduced to 48 after five years of milking. Fewer heifers are avail able for sale when calf survival is reduced by the milk deprivation of the calf caused by milking, and the same number is needed to replace the cow herd after mortalities and culling. While 198 calves are weaned annually in the baseline run, only 166 are weaned in the fifth year of milking. The herd status indicated by Column 2 is for a transition year between two equilibrium states, with herd per formance declining. This gives the upper limit for survival of calves born in the 5 fifth year of 69 percent (calculated as 166/247).By the fifth year of milking, the total liveweight sales from the herd are reduced from 73. 8 to 52. 7 tonnes. This is equivalent to a drop in liveweight sales per cow from 173 kg in the baseline situation to 122 kg in the fifth year with milking. The liveweight sales per cow of steers and surplus heifers fall from 131 kg to 80 kg per year. Cull cow sales comprise 24. 5 percent of all sales in the baseline situation, increasing to 34.5 per cent in the fifth year under the milking regime.The 242 calves born in that year will be weaned partly in the year and partly in the next year of the simulation. This is a 10-month weaning system with year-round breeding. Some of the 165 calves weaned on the fifth year are born in the fourth year, which has a marginally more favourable maternal environment than the fifth year. The sixth year will be even less favourable, resulting in still lower calf survival.Without supplementary feeding of cows, the average weaning weight of calves declines from 170 kg to 132 kg, a reduction of 22 percent from the baseline value.Correspondingly, the average weight of three-year-old cows is 278 kg in the fifth year, versus 319 kg in the baseline situation. Liveweight sales are reduced by almost 29 percent through the introduction of milking. Mlk is a joint product under this regime, and 70 598 litres are extracted. This is 44 percent of the total milk produced, with the remainder consumed directly by the calves. The amount extracted is 165 litres per cow in the herd, or 286 litres per cow which calves in the year.The index of biological efficiency, expressed in total kilogrammes of liveweight sold per kilogramme of dry matter consumed, drops by over 16 percent when milking is carried out without feed supplementation, compared with the base line situation. When the quantity of milk extracted is converted to liveweight equivalents using a conversion factor of 9 : 1 (constructed from values given by Dewry, et al. , 1959), the index of efficiency of this milking strategy improves from 28.47 to 24.78. This approaches the baseline index value of 24.39.An important aspect of this milking strategy is that the producer loses some flexibility to respond to drought conditions by manipulating stocking rates. The herd (as indicated by the mid-May inventory) is composed predominantly of cows, so the producer has only a limited number of non-breeding stock which can be sold in below -average or drought years. One alternative to manipulating stocking rates in this way is to sacrifice herd productivity (particularly fertility) in poor years and compensate for this loss by improved productivity in the above average years.Such alternatives can readily be investigated by the appropriate specification of experiments with the cattle herd model.Table 5. 5 presents the distribution of milk production at Kweneng over the year during the fifth year of the simulation. The highest monthly production in January is 7.3 times the lowest monthly production in September. Monthly yields show a steady decline from January through June, with an increase in July when the cows graze on maize stover. The milking decision rule specified for this simu lation limits milk offtake to 50 percent of the production in any month, but this equilibrium after five years, the output from the model indicates that the equilib rium level of production under this strategy will be closer to the baseline situation than when the milking cows are not given a supplement. In practical terms, this means that the adoption of milking with supplementation on a cattle post will not affect the herd as markedly as when the cows are not given a supplement.  not have a clear advantage over their current practice, particularly in poorer production years. Furthermore, when an intervention is considered likely to have a substantial effect on the system, it may be necessary to follow its impact over a number of years to avoid drawing conclusions based only on short-run gains, as undesirable consequences may occur in the longer term. Properly specified simu lation experiments with a validated model can overcome these particular difficulties.As many different environmental sequences as necessary can be specified, and the model can run for sufficient simulated time to make clear the long-term changes This section illustrates the impact on herd performance of variables out of management control, using a change in the forage regime as an example. The onset of the annual wet season is assumed to be delayed by two months, reducing 7 the length of the growing season by the same period.The runs are conducted with the model for Senile cattle post. The present model is deterministic but it can be modified to a stochastic mode by specification of distributions for key parameters which are variable in the real system. An example of such a parameter is the quality of forage on offer each month. In the stochastic mode the model would produce distributions of outcomes through simulated time as repeated runs are made with the same initial conditions and randomly selected values of the stochastic variables. The deterministic formulation of the model is used in this report as the objective is to illustrate the modelling methodology rather than to provide operational answers to research questions.Interpretation of output from a stochastic model is more difficult. Further more, where, say, 50 repeats of each particular intervention are necessary, the cost of operating a stochastic model is much greater. A composite approach is therefore often advantageous . The deterministic model is first used to identify promising interventions, and then this subset of interventions is investigated using the model in a stochastic mode.The impact of drought would be specified by a much more severe reduction in forage supply and quality. The forage seasons starting at the end of Years 3 and 4 are normal, as is the season beginning just before the end of the run in the fifth year simulated.This phasing of normal and late forage seasons is presented schematically in    These results show that even modest changes in the forage supply have important lagged effects, even when followed immediately by two normal years.The impact of this modified forage regime will still be evident in the performance of the system several years later. Furthermore, the changes in the forage regime specified for these runs are modest compared with the changes which do occur from year to year in Botswana. At present the model does not allow for tactical responses to such factors as the impact of disease, different environmental circumstances or the condition of the herd in relation to the forage supply. For example, to examine the impact of a drought on the herd it will be necessary to include a decision module to simulate the actions of producers when confronted with such a situation. Such a decision module could be incorporated into the model to take account of the herd status in absolute terms and in relation to environ mental circumstances. feeding leucaena to all animals results in higher cow weights, calving percentages, total liveweight sales and biological efficiency than providing it to pregnant and lactating cows only. However, it must be kept in mind that numerous alternative management regimes could be specified for the use of leucaena and neither of the above two regimes specified here is certain to achieve the maximum biological efficiency.Both leucaena feeding strategies increase meat sales from the ranch. At a price of 0. 70 pula per kg cold dressed weight (CDW) and assuming a 50 percent dressing out percentage, the ranch yields total sales of 28 700 pula for 82 000 kg g liveweight without the special purpose forage (cf. Table 5.5).Providing the forage to all animals increases total liveweight sales by 6 600 kg per year and farm revenue by 2 310 pula. Supplementing only pregnant and /or lactating cows, a more restrictive feeding strategy, raises revenue by 1 435 pula for the extra 4 100 kg liveweight sold. The grade of meat sold is assumed to be the same in all cases.However, extra annual costs are incurred if leucaena is used. Since the area must be well fenced, a fence maintenance cost must be included. Maintenance of the leucaena is also necessary. The annual fence maintenance cost is estimated to be 10 percent of the capital cost of the fencing, while maintenance of the leucaena is costed in the budgets at 10 pula per hectare per year.Based on experience elsewhere in the world, the annual yield of leucaena under Botswana conditions can be expected to range from two to eight tonnes of dry 8.All calculations assume meat prices constant across years and months within years and across all classes of cattle.matter (DM) per hectare, with the most likely average yield in the region of five tonnes. Under favourable conditions, the cost of establishment for nursery prop agation might be as low as 120 pula per hectare, but if the plant proves more 9 difficult to establish the cost per hectare may be as high as 260 pula. Table 6.1gives a breakdown of these estimated costs. At this time, researchers in Botswana consider that the plant will be difficult to establish and, therefore, that the cost of establishing it will likely be high. Propagation from a nursery is budgeted, as seed germination is expected to be poor even in prepared seed beds. For the evaluation of mutually exclusive development alternatives to be financed from a given budget the use of present values is formally the correct method. Since in this case no budget optimization is necessary this complication can be neglected.For this feeding strategy and yield and investment cost, the incremental invest ment in leucaena yields an annual IRR of 17.9 percent.   As shown in Table 6.3, if leucaena is fed to the whole herd each year and the dry matter yield is two tonnes per hectare per year, the internal rate of return is negative over the range of investment costs considered. At a yield of four tonnes the IRR is about nine percent at the lowest establishment cost con sidered of 120 pula per hectare, but is negative if the establishment cost is higher than about 260 pula per hectare. Under the most favourable, but unlikely, circum stances of an annual yield of eight tonnes of DM per hectare and establishment cost of only 120 pula, the IRR is 24 percent. If an establishment cost of 200 pula per hectare applies and the opportunity cost of money in Botswana is in the region of 10 percent per year, then a sustained annual yield of more than six tonnes per hectare is necessary for this investment to be economic.Leucaena is a deep rooted plant and its yield losses in below-average rain fall years will be less than for other pasture species. Thus, over several years the internal rate of return calculations presented here will tend to underestimate its average contribution. The simulation model can be specified to examine the incremental benefit due to this differential performance in dry years . This benefit will depend, of course, upon the relative frequencies of years with above-average and below-average rainfall.The calculations in this section illustrate a method of evaluating the economic desirability of introducing leucaena to livestock production units when only limited cost and productivity data are available. These preliminary results suggest that additional simulation runs should be made to investigate the contribution of leucaena to both ranch and cattle post systems in Botswana. Also it would be desirable to augment these computer-based studies by field trials directed toward the determi nation of yield and establishment cost.Milking Indigenous Cows. The summary of the simulation runs to examine two alternative milking strategies in the Kweneng cattle post area is pre sented in section 5.5. That discussion indicates that substantial quantities of milk can be extracted from a cattle post herd when cows are milked both with and without supplementary feeding. This section discusses the economic merit of milking without supplementary feeding.Farmers in this part of Botswana receive a farm-gate price for milk of approximately 0. 15 pula per litre, with on-farm milking costs of 0. 05 pula per litre, giving a net price of 0.10 pula per litre. Although the price varies through the year, rising in the dry winter months, an average price of 0.10 pula per litre is used here, as the objective is to illustrate the method of economic analysis rather than to be prescriptive. When cows are milked without supplementation, the producer does not need to purchase any additional inputs other than those already accounted for in the net price assumed above.It was indicated in section 5. 2.4 that five years of milking is not a sufficient time for the impact of milking to be fully expressed in the system's performance.In the fifth year the herd is still in transition from one equilibrium state to another.The interest here is in the economic evaluation of the milking intervention from the viewpoint of the individual producer. The changes in herd performance over time following from the introduction of an intervention are important in such an evaluation, as economic gains or losses can result in the short or long term. The phasing of these gains and losses is a key determinant of the attractiveness to the producer of an intervention. If the herd performance is simulated for a short time, say five years, and the equilibrium status is significantly different from the initial conditions, these conditions will influence the outcome. The influence diminishes as longer-run simulations are made. This parallels the performance of the real systems being modelled where the status of the herd at any time can only be related confidently to immediately prior events. Different initial conditions will thus produce different time paths of variables as the status of the simulated herd moves toward the equilibrium state. The initial conditions used for the simulation run of the milking strategy are the baseline values for the herd at Kweneng cattle post when no milking is carried out.Defining Year 0 of the simulation as the last year before milking is intro duced, the model then simulates performance for five years, defined as Years 1 to 5. Table 6.5 gives the livestock and milk sales from the herd for the five-year period. Assuming a meat price to the producer of 0.  While Table 6. 5 indicates that an increase in income is achieved in the first three years of milking, this is obtained at some expense in terms of the value of the livestock (herd) capital used in production. Table 6. Together, the inventories of two-and three-year-old females decline in value from 9 740 pula to 8 796 pula over the five-year period, a drop of almost 10 per cent. The value of the steers and excess heifers together drops by 45 percent from 25 360 pula to 13 869 pula. While there is some reduction in the numbers of animals in these two classes, most of the fall in the value of the inventory is attributable to the lower average weights .  initially to simulate many more runs in each of these sets but, as with real-world experimentation, the examination of a system's performance for each additional variable incurs extra costs. It is usually more cost-efficient to conduct runs with the model in a stepwise manner, with the results from each set of runs used to identify subsequent simulations. The specifications for a second series of runs requiring no additional field data are as follows :a.Alternative weaning ages. The preliminary runs made to examine the ranch performance under different weaning regimes indicated that a change from sevenmonth to five-month weaning may be warranted as it improves reproductive per formance (Section 5.2.1). In this situation, post-weaning supplementation given to calves during the dry season, and particularly in drier than average years, could be advantageous. The series of five runs shownin Table 7.1 addresses this question.All parameters not included in the table are set at the values used in the baseline validation run.  ","tokenCount":"11725"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0062416604.json b/data/part_1/0062416604.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4d1f6ce5f2d5a4604cbe944aecf6825a533e862c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0062416604.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f4fee50cdae9971b9313a943b147a3ac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H018329.pdf","id":"234668603"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"85a98876-4296-44a6-b8f5-82ca61457bc5","pagecount":"8","content":"In most places in the hills of Nepal, and to a somewhat lesser extent in the Tarai, the low elevation plains of southern Nepal, wherever the potential for irrigation exists, farmers have already made efforts to irrigate at least part of the potential command area. The command area is defined as the cultivable area that could be irrigated by a given canal if there were sufficient water available. Estimates suggest that farmer-operated irrigation systems provide 93% of the irrigation in the hills and 74% in the Tarai (Water and Energy Commission, 1981). Some irrigation systems were built hundreds of years ago under the direction of local rulers. Other systems, including some recent ones, have been developed entirely by local farmers' initiative and resources. The size of farmer-managed irrigations systems is normally determined by the hydraulic boundaries of an individual diversion and canal. Systems in the hills vary from several hectares to about 100 ha, the size being constrained largely by topography. In the Tarai, farmer-managed systems of more than 5000 ha have been observed (Pradhan et al., 1988). The term \"farmer-managed\" in refers to irrigation systems operated by the irrigators with little or no input from the government or other outside agencies. This type of irrigation system is also referred to as community-managed irrigation, peoples' irrigation, communal irrigation, and simple irrigation.The description of farmer-managed irrigation presented in this case study is based primarily on a 1982-83 study conducted by the authors on 25 systems in the hill area of the Western and Far Western Development Regions of Nepal. In eight of the systems, intensive field measurements, farmer interviews, examination of the organizations' records, and participation in meetings of the organizations were carried out over a period of one and a half years. Information concerning the remainder of the systems was obtained through rapid appraisals conducted by a team, including the authors. These systems were well-organized and managed, making possible intensive agricultural production. More recent work undertaken in Nepal's Central Development Region by the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat of the Ministry of Water Resources with the assistance of the International Irrigation Management Institute has revealed farmer-managed irrigation systems with less sophisticated management organizations and less intensive agricultural production than those reported here.Wherever there is existing irrigation, there is also an organization to carry out the primary tasks of an irrigation system: construction of the civil works, allocation of water entitlements, water distribution, maintenance, and management of conflicts arising among members. To carry out most of these tasks, the organization must have a means of mobilizing both human and financial resources.A broad diversity of organizations and means to carry out these irrigation system tasks have been developed among farmer-managed systems in Nepal. Some farmer irrigation organizations are informal, while others exhibit a high degree of formality with scheduled meetings, designated functionaries, written rules, accounts, lists of members and their water allocation, and a register of members' attendance at work. In the hills of Nepal, the amount of organization required and the formality of the organization is, to a large degree, a function of how much labor must be mobilized to maintain the system to capture and deliver the available supply of water as needed. If little labor is required, the organization tends to be much less formal and vice versa.Even though there are frequently a series of canals-which may even cross each other-delivering water from the same stream to a contiguous area, each canal has a separate organization for its operation. A given plot of land within the command area usually has water allocated to it from only one canal. All farm operators receiving water from a given canal are usually considered members of the organization that operates that canal system. A farmer is a member of several irrigation organizations if he cultivates several plots of land which receive water from different canals.Nearly all of the irrigation organizations have some recognized functionaries. They are usually selected at a meeting of all the members. Typically one functionary is responsible for organizing and supervising work on the system, and another keeps the accounts, minutes of the organization's meetings, and a record of members' attendance at work. Depending on the nature of the system, other functionaries may be appointed. In larger systems there may be several tiers or levels of organization with officers selected to represent different areas of the system at different levels. The performance of these functionaries is usually reviewed annually, and they may continue or be replaced depending on members' satisfaction with their performance. While functionaries may be responsible for specific tasks, major decisions are made only at meetings of all the members.Groups of farmers have worked hard to develop their water resources, investing large amounts of their labor and, in some cases, cash. Some have constructed long canals through jungle, hard rock, and along the face of cliffs. Often they have hired workers from other villages who are skilled in cutting canals and tunnels through hard rock. Until very recently all materials used were from the local community, though now cement, steel, and plastic pipe brought from outside have become quite common. Flows in excess of 300 liters per second have been measured in canals constructed by farmers in the hills, and flows of over ten cubic meters per second have been observed in systems in the Tarai.An irrigation system must somehow allocate entitlement or rights to the water among the farmers. This is typically based on either of two basic principles. The most common principle used is to divide the water in proportion to the area of land irrigated by each farmer in the command area. Thus, if a farmer cultivates one-twentieth of the irrigated land area, he is entitled to one-twentieth of the water in the system.The other approach to water allocation is to sell shares in the system to the members. There is no relationship between land ownership and water ownership in this method of water allocation. In one system the total water supply is divided into 60 shares, and the 105 members each own from one eighth of a share to four shares. If one farmer has more water than he needs for his land and another has less than desired, the one can sell water to the other. One year, ten additional shares were added to this system and sold for a total of Rs 28,000 (about $2,000 U.S.). The money was used to make improvements to the main canal so that more water could be delivered to serve a larger area. It is important to note that this principle of water allocation by purchased shares offers both an incentive for efficient use of water and a mechanism for expanding the area irrigated.Water Distribution. In a well-functioning irrigation system, water is distributed to farmers' fields in the amount to which each is entitled by the allocation scheme. Three methods of distributing the water for monsoon rice cultivation have been observed.One method in the systems studied is through the use of proportioning weirs called saachos. A saacho is made from a log with two or more notches of equal depth but varying widths cut into the top. It is installed in the canal so that all the water flows through the notches, causing the flow to be divided in the same proportions as the ratio of the widths of the notches. In some systems these saachos are used only to divert a portion of the flow from the main into secondary canals, while in others they are used right down to the individual field level.Another common method for distributing the water according to the allocation is by a timed rotation. Each fanner takes water from the canal for a specified length of time. The length of each farmer's tum is calculated to provide him the proportion of the flow to which he is entitled by the allocation. In some systems in the Far West of Nepal intermediate storage tanks are used to collect very small flows. The tank is then emptied by periodically opening the outlet and allowing a high discharge to surge down the canal to individual plots.The third method of distribution observed is by contract. Here the members of the organization pay one or more persons to deliver the water to all the fields. The contractors adjust the flow throughout the command area so that all fields are covered as adequately as possible. This method of distribution is especially suitable when the fields are a long distance from the village where most of the fanners live.Water distribution for wheat and maize tends to be much less precisely regulated. Usually the farmers decide among themselves when each will irrigate his fields, and then each farmer will be allowed to take water until his fields are fully irrigated. Since water is relatively scarce at the time of maize planting, an appointed functionary of the organization may be in charge of distributing water so that all members are able to plant at least some of their maize at the optimal time.Maintenance. The critical period for maintenance of most farmer managed irrigation systems is prior to and during the monsoon season. Most organizations have a meeting of the members in May where plans are made for the major annual maintenance which is done prior to land preparation for rice planting.Generally, the maintenance is done by the members, and they contribute labor in proportion to the benefits they receive from irrigation. Some organizations give a contract to one or more members for this work, and all members contribute money to pay the contractor. Cash may also be raised in this way to purchase tools and cement.An important element in the operation of a hill irrigation system is a method for early detection of any problems at the intake, landslides that block the canal, and leaks in the canaL During the monsoon, usually two people patrol the canal every day. The members may do this tum by tum, or two people may be hired to do this on contract. The persons patrolling the canal do minor repairs and alert the rest of the members if more labor is required. If they report an emergency, the leader will call all members to report immediately for work. Work may be carried out continuously night and day until water flows again.Conflict Management. Irrigation organizations inevitably experience conflict. After all, they distribute a limited resource among many members requiring their cooperation for operation and maintenance. Some members may try to steal more than their allotted share of the water, or may fail to contribute their required share of the labor and cash to maintain the system. To function well, irrigation organizations must have an effective way of managing conflicts when they arise.Persons who are caught stealing water are usually fined, may be physically punished, and frequently are denied water in their next tum. One organization exacted a public confession from a member caught stealing water, and recorded it in the organization's minute book. Most organizations levy cash fines against members who are absent from work. Since the enforcement of sanctions is in the hands of the members who benefit from the proper adherence to the rules and who control the distribution of water, they have both the incentives and the means to enforce the rules.In all of the farmer-managed irrigation systems we have observed, the organizations have, over time, improved the canals and expanded the area and number of farmers served. Most improvements have been accomplished by mobilizing resources from the members. Money has been raised to pay persons especially skilled at cutting canals and tunnels through rock, and to purchase cement. Recently, irrigation organizations have been turning more to government resources for the improvement of systems, and over half of the observed systems have received some assistance from the government. Sources of government assistance have been the Irrigation Department, Ministry of Panchayat and Local Development, and the district panchayats. Nepal's government structure until 1990 was made up of elected \"panchayats\" or governing councils at different levels. The smallest or local unit of government is the Village Panchayat, of which there are more that 3,000. There are 75 District Panchayats.When applying for and receiving government assistance, the local irrigation organization gives up some control over what work is done and how it is carried out. In some cases it appears that the organization's efforts are becoming increasingly focused on pursuing external resources. \"Grantsmanship\", i.e., efforts to secure government grants, is occupying more of the organization's efforts than \"self-help\", i.e., the mobilization of resources from within the organization.An irrigation organization must be able to command labor and material to accomplish the irrigation system tasks described above. The ability to mobilize resources in a timely fashion is the major factor distinguishing a well-operating irrigation system from an ineffective one.In systems where water is allocated in proportion to the area irrigated, members are usually required to contribute labor and cash according to their land area served. For instance, in one system a person with 0.5 ha of irrigated land is required to provide one laborer every day that routine maintenance work is done. A person with only 0.25 ha has to supply one laborer every other day. In another system, cash was raised at the rate of Rs 160 ($8.89 U.S.) per hectare to pay a contractor to do the maintenance.Farmer irrigation organizations which allocate water in proportion to purchased shares of water also mobilize labor and cash contributions on this basis. One laborer must be provided each day of routine maintenance for each share of water owned. Several years ago, one organization with 105 members irrigating 34 ha, raised cash at the rate of Rs 250 (about $18.00 U.S.) per share for a total of Rs 15,000 ($1080 U.S.) from 60 shares to improve their canal. This cash was in addition to their regular maintenance expense.Another basis for resource mobilization is in proportion to the productivity of the irrigated land. In one case, each member's irrigated land is rated by measuring the yield of rice. A volume measure approximately equal to 50 kg of unhusked rice is used. Both labor and cash are contributed in proportion to the number of volume units each person's land yields.When emergency maintenance is necessary, most organizations require all members to work, irrespective of the number of shares owned or the size of the land holding irrigated. At times, work will continue at night by the light of kerosene lanterns and flashlights.The resources fanner irrigation organizations mobilize are significant. Several systems with command areas of 30 to 50 ha regularly mobilize more than 2000 man-days of labor in a year. One organization with 55 members raised Rs 70,000 (about $5,000 U.S.) in one month's time to install a pipe to bring additional water from a source across a major river.To mobilize these resources, an irrigation organization must have means of enforcing its rules and assessments. Most organizations keep written records of members' attendance at work, and people are fined if they do not work as required. Fines are set at about the same level as the local daily wage rate. If a person refuses to work or pay the fine, the organization can deny that person water. Several organizations have reponed that when a member has refused to pay, a group of the members has gone to that person's house, taken his pots and pans and threatened to sell them. The person then paid the fine, and all the members observed how serious the organization was about enforcing the rules.Farmer irrigation organizations have successfully mobilized substantial resources to construct and operate their systems. This in itself is a major accomplishment. However, evaluation of farmer-managed systems should ultimately be based on the agricultural productivity achieved by the irrigation.In most of the systems observed. triple-cropping is practiced with cropping intensities of nearly 300%. Average yields from sample crop cuts in four mid-hill systems ranged from 3.0 to 3.5 metric tons/ha for rice and 2.0 to 2.5 tons for wheat. Maize yields are similar to those for wheat. resulting in approximately eight tons of grain production per hectare per year. Given the infrequent use of management-responsive varieties and fertilizer. these figures are quite remarkable. and demonstrate the effectiveness of these systems.Several important lessons emerge from the study of farmer-managed irrigation systems in NepaL These points, which have important implications for irrigation development, are summarized below:1. In most locations where the potential exists, farmers have already developed the water and land resources to some extent. Thus, local experience with water management and irrigated agriculture already exists. Wherever farmers must work together to bring water to their fields some degree of organization has developed. This existing organization should provide the starting point for a users' group, and farmer knowledge and experience should be tapped whenever government provides assistance to an irrigation system or plans new irrigation development in the area. 2. Farmer-managed irrigation systems are effective in managing the water resources to achieve improved agricultural production. The organizations are capable of: a) timely delivery of water; b) allocation and distribution of the water; c) labor mobilization for maintenance of the system; d) raising cash to pay for maintenance of the system; e) supervising and carrying out construction; and t) identifying the most serious problems in the physical structure and setting priorities concerning what should be improved first. 3. Farmers use an incremental approach in irrigation development. This allows the accumulated knowledge and experience of each undertaking to be utilized in the next improvement or expansion. By undertaking one segment at a time, there is minimum disturbance of the existing irrigation supply and work can be fitted to slack periods in the cropping cycle when labor is available. 4. The principle upon which water allocation is based can influence the efficiency of irrigation management and the expansion of the area irrigated. Water allocation by purchased shares provides financial incentives while allocation in proportion to area irrigated provides no such incentives. 5. \"Ownership\" of the system greatly affects farmers' attitudes and behavior.The users \"own\" the farmer-managed systems, and they take full responsibility for its operation. The performance of the system is a direct result of their efforts, and they provide the resources-labor and cash-to operate it effectively. The farmers in these systems have both the incentive and means to enforce compliance with the rules formulated for efficient and equitable operation of the system.","tokenCount":"3065"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0066856126.json b/data/part_1/0066856126.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c7d03efdf71bed73f7e9f09fd7911bb93a93070b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0066856126.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac645d5d604b392d3b5f1a4cf4ac8377","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2b591bb7-fba4-497a-8fee-bfbe789a9ef0/retrieve","id":"-837349139"},"keywords":["Cooperatives","smallholders","Bolivia","Laos","value chains","commodities"],"sieverID":"50aef2f6-ff30-40fc-b548-11340b193e75","pagecount":"6","content":"Smallholder farmers grow a major share of the food consumed around the world and preserve rich, biodiverse landscapes. 1 But despite their fundamental importance, many small farmers lead lives of deepening vulnerability -caught between subsistence strategies threatened by ecological degradation and commercial food systems that devalue them as cheap labour. Alternative agricultural models are urgently needed. One long-running movement still shows major untapped potential: that of agricultural cooperatives. These can enable smaller food producers to band together and access markets without losing control of their land, livelihoods, or food sovereignty. Cooperatives have been expanded in various developing countries where smallholders face diverse pressures, including from international markets. Today, about a billion people are involved in cooperatives -many of them successful agricultural businesses combining values and principles of fairness and ecological sustainability. 2 But more must be done.• Smallholding family farmers grow most of our food, but do not enjoy the deserved economic fruits of their labour. In today's global \"commodity\"-oriented food systems, other \"value chain\" actors like traders, food processing firms, and retailers capture most of the profits.• Agricultural cooperatives can strengthen small farmers' economic position by bringing them together in a shared enterprise.Emphasizing joint ownership and democratic control, cooperatives can enable small farmers to access markets while mitigating risks.• The cooperative model has yet to realize its full potential for small farmers and agricultural labourers. Needed improvements include expanding the role of cooperatives in value chains and linking them more directly to stable consumer bases.• Policymakers should create an enabling environment for cooperatives with tax and legal incentives, direct subsidies, trainings, awareness-raising efforts, and preferential trade terms for sustainably produced goods (including processed items).The research featured here is focused on Bolivia and Laos.Photo: S. Jaquet export markets bear significant risks, owing especially to speculation-enhanced rollercoaster price dynamics and arguably unfair distribution of risks and profits. The examples of quinoa, a recently popularized \"superfood\", and coffee, a still-growing global mainstay, are illustrative of key issues.In the case of coffee, smallholders constitute over 80% of growers in developing countries, 4 but they are largely left out of the wider value chains (e.g. processing or retail) and resulting profits. 5 The situation has worsened significantly in recent years: coffee prices have fallen by two-thirds, and coffee farmers' earnings have halved in real terms since the 1980s, despite ongoing retail market growth. 6 Overall, the capture of global agricultural value chains by big multinational firmsincluding hedge funds, commodity traders, large-scale food processing firms and retailers, and related conglomerates -has financialized our food systems and relegated smallholders to the role of cheap producers of raw goods. 7 These smallholders' socio-economic vulnerability further increases if they abandon traditional practices of subsistence and crop diversity, which enable them to feed themselves and maintain livelihoods when markets fail.The dependence of smallholder farmers on volatile global crop prices can also have serious ecological consequences on the ground -even, or especially, during market \"booms\". Worldwide price spikes can cause uncontrolled expansion of agricultural frontiers, deforestation, and soil degradation 8 as local smallholder farmers scramble to compete and grab tiny crumbs of the global profit pie. 9Prices for quinoa, grown mainly in Peru and Bolivia, began soaring about a decade ago in response to heightened global demand -especially from Europe and North America. In Bolivia, the so-called quinoa boom spurred a massive increase in production and farmers involved. Between 2004 and 2013, Bolivia's land area under quinoa cultivation nearly quadrupled, from 38,000 to 147,000 hectares. Smallholders were responsible for much of the increase. 10 In 2014, however, quinoa prices began falling about as fast as they had risen.No longer able to break even, much less make a profit, many small producers were forced to quit their farms and take up other jobs -sometimes in neighbouring countries. 11 Coffee-farming families worldwide currently find themselves in a similar situation, with slumping prices -on average earning them less than a cent for every cup sold -that often fail to cover even the costs of production. These \"commodity\" price crises recur time and again. They can push smallholders into persistent poverty, debt, and worse 12 -suicides among smallholder farmers are a tragically common occurrence in both the global South and North. 13 Reducing such vulnerabilities among smallholders while feeding growing populations requires more than technological solutions emphasizing productivity gains. 14 It also demands social and economic solidarity-focused approaches that strengthen small farmers by bringing them together. 15 Agricultural cooperatives -building power, sharing gains Agricultural cooperatives are one such approach. Their aim is to build worker power collectively, pool resources, and better distribute benefits, in line with the broader cooperative movement. 16 Their emphasis on worker ownership of businesses distinguishes them from unions. Founded in 1895, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) defines cooperatives as people-centred enterprises jointly owned and democratically controlled by and for their members to realize their common socio-economic needs and aspirations. 17 Different types exist. Some focus on obtaining supplies or credit, others on production of goods, marketing and sales, or various combinations. 18 In today's globalized economy, cooperatives offer smallholders a way of banding together and accessing volatile, competitive regional and/or global value chains without losing all their power and autonomy. By enabling smaller -often family-owned -farm units to survive and operate in concert, agricultural cooperatives can realize the benefits of both small-scale cultivation (e.g. maintaining biodiversity) and economies of scale (e.g. reduced costs). This offers farmers a vital alternative to \"surrendering\" and becoming wage labourers on large-scale commercial monocultures or abandoning farming altogether.Pooling of resources. Cooperatives can increase their members' power in specific food sectors by leveraging their combined resources, including land, machinery, goods produced, savings, and more. In Laos, the coffee sector is split between small private growers, large companies, and a handful of new cooperatives. Most small growers must sell their coffee crops to middlemen as relatively cheap red cherries or dried beans. But new cooperative members in Laos successfully expanded their role in the value chain with collective investments: they established their own wet-processing facilities that enable them to sell their combined output to external buyers as higher-quality, higher-priced green coffee. In Bolivia, some of the first cooperatives were founded in the 1970s to enable small farmers to purchase and share expensive assets like tractors. 19   31 Later, when global quinoa prices crashed, cooperatives were able to maintain members' livelihoods by diversifying and increasing their role in value chains. The cooperative SOPROQUI, for example, invested some of its boom-era earnings in equipment to make bread and pastries from quinoa flour, successfully marketing it to local school breakfast programmes, while the \"mother\" cooperative ANAPQUI began making and selling quinoa-based pasta.In Laos, recent CDE research on the state-supported Bolaven Plateau Coffee Producers Cooperative, or CPC, 32 comprising several coffee producer groups in this fertile arabica coffee-growing region, 33 highlights how catering to specialty markets has benefitted cooperative members. Shortly after its foundation, the Laos coffee cooperative obtained fair trade and organic certifications in the European (EU), Asian (IFOAM), and North American (NOP) coffee markets. This, and investment in common coffee-processing facilities, has enabled members to fetch premium prices for their high-quality coffee. 34 In 2019, the government of Laos applied for an official Geographical Indication marker for Bolaven coffee to further raise its profile. CDE researchers (Jaquet et al. 2018) also produced several short films on the project (https://bit.ly/3dDmWQD).Stabilizing farmers' incomes and distributing profits fairly. Overall, operating strategically as a group strengthens cooperative members' economic resilience. Equitable sharing of farm equipment and marketing infrastructure lowers members' upfront and ongoing business costs. And putting everyone's crop yields together in one large pot enhances members' bargaining power vis-à-vis buyers or processing companies. In Bolivia's post-boom period, when global quinoa prices were fluctuating wildly, cooperatives managed to secure consistently higher prices for their members -up to twice as much as market prices offered by local retailers, in some cases. 21 In Laos, cooperatives guarantee a minimum price for the coffee at the beginning of the year -no such guarantee is offered by conventional big buyers.Linking producers to certified markets. Key to cooperatives' success in obtaining better prices has been their strategy of producing goods for certified specialty markets, such as organic or fair trade.Farm goods marketed under internationally recognized certification labels -such as Max Havelaar or Bird Friendly -enjoy increasing popularity. Growing numbers of \"conscious consumers\", especially in the global North, appear willing to pay more for labelled goods that fulfil clear, trustworthy standards of sustainable production. In Bolivia, between 2013 and 2019, market prices for certified organic quinoa compared to conventional quinoa were 17%-46% higher. 22 In Laos, cooperatives selling value-added (e.g. wet-processed or roasted) niche-market coffee can capture as much as 80% of the final product's value. 23 Ecological and social synergies. As these certification examples suggest, cooperatives readily lend themselves to more ecological and socially acceptable modes of food production. In Laos, much of the coffee produced by cooperatives comes from biodiverse systems, in which coffee is cultivated beneath (e.g. fruit) trees and sometimes alongside vegetables. In Bolivia, unique synergies between quinoa cooperatives and traditional community authorities -based on overlapping or complementary social rules and norms -were found to produce more sustainable governance of natural resources 24 : for instance, traditional rules on land inheritance and cooperative rules on plot sizes reinforced each other to prevent uncontrolled growth of cultivation areas. Notably, women workers also tend to fare better in cooperatives than in comparable private enterprises, receiving more training and chances for advancement. 25 Keys to 'sustainable' cooperatives Nevertheless, current cooperative models have yet to reach their full potential for farmers. Several areas merit attention:Improving affordability and local anchoring of certification. Notwithstanding their benefits, dominant certification schemes (e.g. organic) can and should be improved. For one, the higher crop prices they offer farmer cooperatives do not always translate into higher net revenues for producers. The process of obtaining and maintaining labels from external certifiers -who are typically for-profit enterprisescan be long, administratively demanding, and ultimately expensive. This, and the enhanced (e.g. labour) costs of sustainable production itself, can eat away at cooperatives' shared bottom line -and even prevent especially vulnerable farmers from joining such movements at all. 26 Multiplication of sometimes redundant external labels is another problem. 27 In the future, local identity labels with transparent self-defined sustainability criteria and mutual low-cost certification may be a better option for agricultural cooperatives. Steps in this direction have been made with new peer-managed Participatory Guarantee Systems (https://bit.ly/2Rel5bx).Adding value at home and linking directly to stable consumer bases. Despite gains in different areas, too many agricultural cooperatives remain stuck in lower value-added stages of production (e.g. crop growing). They could strengthen their economic sustainability by deliberately capturing more of the value chain and networking with one another. This means significantly branching out and diversifying their activities to take over stages like processing (e.g. drying or roasting), packaging, delivering, and even retail of finished goods -anything that brings them closer to end consumers, also locally. The Bolivian cooperative El Ceibo, for example, currently only exports 30% of its cocoa beans (formerly 100%) because the majority is now sold domestically as finished chocolate. Notably, cooperatives should also actively seek, in advance, to identify and cultivate stable consumer bases for their value-added productswhether roasted coffee, pasta, chocolate, flour, dried fruit, or washed and delivered fresh fruits and vegetables. 28 Public procurement programmes and new regional/ domestic markets appear to bear vital potential for cooperatives in the global South, if properly nurtured and linked.Strengthening egalitarian functioning and governance. Finally, though pledged to democratic principles and worker empowerment, farmer cooperatives can still reproduce social inequalities (e.g. patriarchy, ethnic discrimination) in local settings -just like any other human system or small community -if not embedded in more broadly ambitious rights-based frameworks or shared visions. 29 Further, problems of corruption and competences can also arise. Cooperatives can struggle to find skilled, stable leadership. To address these issues, it is crucial that governments support high-quality education, ongoing rights-based sensitization, and legal/administrative training in rural areas. 30 ","tokenCount":"1996"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0069912081.json b/data/part_1/0069912081.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1166566db16114e3a0b6b9dfa80daca490843c85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0069912081.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"66fb226cd6ea92ca7cef0e8a71d9ebe0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/df9fa487-bc0e-43e7-8a6f-57413cf58bbf/retrieve","id":"609216912"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0abd4c33-2b2d-4ec8-8e06-1c2acb9a465e","pagecount":"17","content":"A better understanding of the factors that contribute to low cassava yields in farmers' fields is required to guide the formulation of cassava intensification programs. Using a boundary line approach, we analysed the contribution of soil fertility, pest and disease infestation and farmers' cultivation practices to the cassava yield gap in Kongo Central (KC) and Tshopo (TSH) provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were obtained by monitoring 42 and 37 farmer-managed cassava fields during two cropping cycles in KC and one cropping cycle in TSH, respectively. Each field was visited three times over the cassava growing period for the observations. Logistic model was fitted against the observed maximum cassava root yields and used to calculate the achievable yield per field and for individual factor. At field level, the factor that led to the lowest achievable yield (Y up(i)1 ) was considered as the dominant yield constraint. Cassava yield loss per field was expressed as the increase in the maximal root yield observed per province (Y att -attainable yield) compared to Y up(i)1 . Y att was 21 and 24 t ha −1 in TSH and KC, respectively. With the cassava varieties that farmers are growing in the study areas, pests and diseases played a sparse role in the yield losses. Cassava mosaic was the only visible disease we observed and it was the dominant yield constraint in 3% and 12% of the fields in KC and TSH, respectively. The frequent yield constraints were suboptimal field management and low soil fertility. Cultivation practices and soil parameters led to Y up(i)1 in 47% and 50% of the fields in KC, and in 47% and 41% of those in TSH, respectively. Individual soil parameters were the yield constraint in few fields, suggesting that large-scale programs in terms of lime application or recommendation of the blanket fertilisers would result in sparse efficacy. In KC, yield losses caused by low soil fertility averaged 6.2 t ha −1 and were higher than those caused by suboptimal field management (5.5 t ha −1 ); almost nil for cassava mosaic disease (CMD). In TSH, yield losses caused by low soil fertility (4.5 t ha −1 ) were lower than those caused by suboptimal field management (6.5 t ha −1 ) and CMD (6.1 t ha −1 ). Irrespective of the constraint type, yield loss per field was up to 48% and 64% of the Y att in KC and TSH, respectively. Scenario analysis indicated that the yield losses would remain at about two third of these levels while the dominant constraint was only overcome. We concluded that integrated and site-specific management practices are needed to close the cassava yield gap and maximize the efficacy of cassava intensification programs.Despite several efforts, mainly in terms of dissemination of improved genotypes and integrated pest and disease management, cassava productivity in African smallholder's farming systems is below the optimal level, although some increases in yields have been observed (Rusike et al., 2010;Zinga et al., 2013). Average cassava fresh root yield increased in Africa from 6 to 10 t ha −1 over the last 50 years but it is still much lower than the current average yields of 22 t ha −1 in Asia (FAOStat, 2015). In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), cassava yields under research management fields are most often larger than those under smallholder farmer management fields. In East Africa for instance, Obiero (2004), Ntawuruhunga et al. (2006) and Legg et al. (2006) recorded cassava fresh root yields of 60 t ha −1 under experimental conditions, while Fermont et al. (2010) observed 6-17 t ha −1 of cassava fresh root yields in Kenyan and Ugandan farmer fields. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the yields of cassava genotypes in research-managed systems are at least twice as those in farmer-managed systems (Unpublished data). In this context, reducing the gaps between cassava yields under research-and farmer-managed systems is a crucial concern in Africa, especially as cassava is moving from a subsistence crop to one of the major commercialized crops and appears to be one of the promising crops to mitigate drought resulting from climate change.To reduce the yield gap, a better understanding of the factors contributing to low cassava yields is needed, as this can help to design intensification programs and prioritize the interventions in the context of limited available resources. While there is agreement on low cassava productivity because of poor crop management (e.g., late weed control and cassava planting at low density) and pest and disease infestation (Albuquerque et al., 2014), opinions differ on the response of cassava to inherent soil fertility. Compared with many other crops, cassava is generally perceived as tolerant of low soil fertility (Howeler, 2002). Most farmers believe that cassava can restore the fertility of degraded soils and it does not need external nutrient inputs to soils (Leihner, 2002). This explains why many farmers grow cassava on marginal land or land that is about to be abandoned to natural regeneration (Hillocks, 2002;Saïdou et al., 2004;Adjei-Nsiah et al., 2007). In almost all cases where soil fertility was cited among the limiting factors of cassava productivity, the authors emphasized on soil exchangeable K as cassava removes more K than other crops (Howeler et al., 1987;Howeler et al., 1991;Carsky and Toukourou, 2005). Other soil fertility related constraints, such as imbalanced nutrient contents and high content of undesirable nutrients (e.g., zinc and aluminium) may also reduce cassava productivity (Cassman et al., 2002;Ezui et al., 2016).Boundary line analysis has been used to assess the relative contribution of individual factors to yield gaps of cereals, banana, coffee and cassava (Casanova et al., 1999;Shatar and McBratney, 2004;Fermont et al., 2009;Wairegi et al., 2010;Wang et al., 2015). Boundary line analysis consists to properly describing the maximum yields versus each production factor and then use the calibrated versions of the model to simulate at the plot level and for each factor the upper boundary yields. The factor that leads to the lowest upper boundary yield at plot level is considered as the most yield limiting factor in that plot, according to one of the Liebig Laws. In the case of cassava, Fermont et al. (2009) identified at the plot level only the most limiting factor of cassava yield gap in farmers' fields in Kenya and Uganda. The identified limiting factors varied strongly among sites and years, suggesting that cassava yield limiting factors cannot be generalized across a larger area or over time. For factors changing slowly over time (e.g. soil pH, carbon and nutrient contents) it is useful to identify at the plot level several limiting factors and classify them by their severity (i.e. dominant and latent). This makes sense for two main reasons: (i) a factor that does not change dramatically over time but is the dominant limiting factor during a cropping season was certainly latent limiting factor during the past cropping seasons (no spontaneity phenomena) and (ii) as soon as the dominant limiting factor is overcome another factor (previously latent) will become most limiting.The objective of this study was to analyse the contribution of soil fertility, pest and disease infestation and field management to the cassava yield gap in two provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Kongo Central and Tshopo).The study was conducted in Kongo Central and Tshopo provinces of the DR Congo (Fig. 1A). Rainfall is bimodal in the two provinces, allowing two planting seasons a year (Fig. 1D). In Kongo Central, the 1st rainy season is from mid-February to May while the 2nd rainy season starts in mid-October and ends in mid-January. The 1st rainy season is followed by about 5 months of dry season (June to mid-October) and is less suitable for cropping than the 2nd rainy season, which is followed by about 1 month of dry season (mid-January to Mid-February). In Tshopo, rains are suitable for planting from March to November, with some days/weeks of dry season in July or August (Fig. 1D). The 1st and 2nd planting seasons start in March and September, respectively. In Tshopo, the 1st rainy season is more suitable for cropping as it is followed by the shorter dry season. Furthermore, during the 2nd season in Tshopo rains may be excessive from September to November. On average, 36% of the total annual rainfall occurs during these months (Fig. 1D). Total annual rainfall is lower in Kongo Central than in Tshopo (Fig. 1E). In Kongo Central, vegetation, rainfall and soil fertility are decreasing from the north to the south.Data were collected by monitoring 42 and 37 cassava fields of small households during two cropping cycles in Kongo Central and one cropping cycle in Tshopo, respectively (Fig. 1B and C). Households were randomly selected with the aim of having at least three representative fields per agro-ecological area. Based on the presence of a research station and visual observation on the gradient of rainfall, vegetation and soil fertility, we considered in Kongo Central three agroecological areas: Gimbi (research station nearby) were 23 farmer fields were monitored, and Lukula and Muanda (far from the research stations) where 11 and 8 farmer fields were respectively monitored (Fig. 1B). Cassava fields monitored in Tshopo were selected around Yangambi (research station) and in three other areas far from the research station: Bambole, Bamanga and Bakumu (Fig. 1C). The monitored cassava fields in Tshopo (15, 4, 8 and 10 at Yangambi, Bambole, Bamanga and Bakumu, respectively) were planted during the 1st rainy season in 2014. In Central Kongo, the fields monitored at Lukula and Muanda were planted during the 1st rainy season in 2014, while those ) in the sampled soil was obtained by spectrophotometric analysis after chromic acid digestion (Heanes, 1984). Total soil N N content (g kg −1 ) in the sampled soil was obtained by colorimetric analysis after wet acid digestion (Buondonno et al., 1995;Anderson and Ingram, 1993). Exchangeable cations and available P Exchangeable K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ (Cmol+ kg −1 ) and available P (mg kg −1 ) were extracted from the sampled soil using the Mehlich-3 method (Murphy and Riley, 1962 monitored around the Gimbi research station were planted during the 2nd rainy season in 2015.We interviewed the household head and recorded his/her socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, educational backgrounds, land tenure and income sources). One of the cassava fields that the household had early planted during the concerned season was visited three times over the growing period for the observations as listed in Table 1. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd visits were conducted between 1 and 2, 4 and 5 and around 12 months after cassava planting, respectively. Periods of field visit were chosen with the aim of: (i) avoiding that farmers forget some of the conducted activities, (ii) sampling soils before eventual fertiliser applications and (iii) coinciding the observation with the periods when major pest and diseases prevail and can be easily observed in the study area (beginning of rainy season and medium cassava growth stage for CMD, towards cassava maturity for Brown Steak). During the 1st visit, the household's socio-economic characteristics and the initial cultivation practices in the selected cassava field (e.g., land preparation, field size, type of association, planting date and mode, eventual fertilizer application, weeding periods and methods, etc.) were recorded. Cultivation practices that could be directly observed (e.g., planting density, patterns and intercrops) were recorded in the field. Those that could not be directly observed (e.g., planting date, eventual fertilizer application or cassava leaf harvest, weeding dates, harvesting of the associated crops) were recorded by interviewing the farmer. During the first visit, 3 squares (5 m × 5 m) were randomly delimited in the cassava field, in which we sampled soil and recorded pest and disease infestation. Soils were randomly taken in five places per square at 0-30 cm depth and mixed into one composite sample per field/household. Pest and disease infestation was scored on all plants of each square, using scoring rate ranged from 1 (no infestation) to 5 (highest infestation). During each of the following visits, all crop management practices that the farmer had conducted since the last visit were recorded. Pest and disease infestation was again scored. At the last field visit, cassava was harvested in the squares and the roots were weighed to calculate the yield.In the present study, we analysed data on cassava yield, soil fertility, cultivation practices and pest and disease infestation. Data on the household's socio-economic characteristics were not analysed as they do not relate directly to yield gap.The contribution of soil fertility, farmers' cultivation practices and pest and disease infestation to the cassava yield gap was analysed using three levels of cassava root yields: the attainable root yield (Y att ), actual root yield (Y obs ) and the upper boundary yields (Y up(i) ). We considered Y att as the highest cassava fresh root yield obtained in the monitored fields within each province (Waddington et al., 2010;Wang et al., 2015). Tittonell and Giller (2013) defined Y att as the maximum yield achieved by implementing the results of local research or the combination of best practices as determined from local research. Therefore, the Y att used in the present study should be lower than that Tittonell and Giller (2013) defined, as it would be rare to have the farmers who apply all the best practices. Actual cassava root yield (Y obs ) of an individual field was the average of cassava root yields measured in the three sampling squares per field. Y obs is lower than or at the most equal to Y att . The way we estimated the upper boundary yield for a factor \"i\" (Y up(i) ) depended on whether the factor is categorical (e.g., tillage and no tillage for land preparation) or continuous (e.g., soil C content or plant population). For categorical factor, Y up(i) for each field that received or benefited from a given level of the factor was the highest yield obtained in any field that received or benefited from that specific factor level within the province. Y up(i) corresponds theoretically to the cassava root that the field could have been yielded if the production would only have been limited by the factor \"i\". For each continuous factor, Y up(i) were calculated by calibrating a boundary curve along the maximum yields obtained by a series of factor values. Boundary curves were calibrated by fitting these maximum yields against continuous values of the factor, using the general logistic model as formulated by Kintché et al. (2015a) (Eq. ( 1)): The candidate factors for yield gap explanation were selected by calculating the correlation coefficient (r) between the actual yields and values of each factor. Factors for which, the correlation coefficient was almost nil were not considered. While some factors were highly correlated (absolute r value > 0.5), only one of them was used in the boundary line analysis and considered as the proxy of the other factors with whom it is correlated.For each field, Y up(i) of different factors were arranged in ascending order as in the following list: {Y up(i)1 , Y up(i)2 , Y up(i)3 , …, Y up(i)n }; where Y up(i)1 is the lowest Y up(i) and Y up(i)n the highest. According to Liebig's Law, the factors that led to Y up(i)1 and Y up(i)2 were respectively considered as the dominant and first latent limiting factor of cassava root productivity at the concerned field. We stopped the iteration at two levels of factor severity because Y up(i)3 were significantly higher than Y up(i)2 (Y up(i)1 and Y up(i)2 were not significantly different; p < 5%). At the provincial level, we calculated the percentage of fields where each factor was the limiting factor and then estimated the distribution of limiting factors across the area.The explained yield gap per field (Y G1 ) was estimated as the increase in the attainable yield (Y att ) compared to the lowest upper boundary yield of the concerned field (Y up(i)1 ); i.e. the gap due to the dominant limiting factor. Y G1 was interpreted as the yield loss caused by the dominant limiting factor in the concerned field (Wang et al., 2015). We compared Y G1 of the fields where soil parameters, farmers' cultivation practices and pest and disease infestation were the dominant yieldconstraint and then measured the magnitude of yield loss attributable to constraint types. The unexplained yield gap (Y G2 ) was estimated as the increase in Y up(i)1 compared to Y obs . High value of Y G2 means that there are other important limiting factors that were not considered in the analysis and/or the model did not perform well in the concerned field as it does not address factor interactions (Shatar and McBratney, 2004).The size of the monitored cassava fields ranged between 0.1 and 0.98 ha in Kongo Central, and between 0.2 and 4.4 ha in Tshopo. About 33% of the fields in Tshopo had a size larger than the maximal size recorded in Kongo Central. Cassava fields monitored during the 1st cropping cycle-2014 in Kongo Central were planted during the first three months of the rainy season (February-April), with 60% of the fields planted in March (Fig. 2A). Early plantings ocurred mainly at Muanda while the latest plantings were more pronounced at Lukula (Table 2A). During the 2nd cropping cycle-2015 in Kongo Central and the 1st planting cycle-2014 in Tshopo, cassava planting started from the 2nd month of the rainy season and was completed after 4 and 5 months in Kongo Central and Tshopo, respectively (Fig. 2A). The latest plantings occurred at Bakumu and Yangambi (Table 2A).Irrespective of the area, cassava plant density varied widely within and among fields (Fig. 2B). Compared to the first sampled square, cassava plant density in the two other squares of the field was more than 25% higher or more than 25% lower, indicating high density heterogeneity within the field (Fig. 2B). Average plant density varied between 2000 and 15,200 plants ha −1 among the fields in Tshopo, and between 2400 and 11,600 plants ha −1 among those in Kongo Central. Cassava plant density was at a lesser extent related to the planting period (Fig. 2C). Half of the fields planted during the 3rd month of the rainy seasons had plant density higher than that of 70% and 80% of the fields planted during the 2nd and 4th months of the rainy seasons, respectively.Improved cassava varieties were more widely cultivated in Kongo Central than in Tshopo (Table 2B). About 60% of the households in Tshopo cultivated exclusively local cassava varieties, compared to less than 10% of the households in Kongo Central. In both Tshopo and Kongo Central, none of the interviewed households cultivated exclusively improved cassava varieties. Among households cultivating both local and improved varieties (40% and 90% in Tshopo and Kongo Central respectively), those in Kongo Central allocated large areas to improved varieties (Table 2C). About 40% of the households cultivating both local and improved cassava varieties in Kongo Central allocated more than 75% of the cultivated area to improved varieties, and this was more pronounced around the Gimbi research station (65% vs. 10-17% for the other areas). In Tshopo, all households cropping both local and improved cassava varieties allocated less than 75% of the cultivated area to improved varieties. In that province, the cultivation of local cassava varieties and the allocation of small areas to improved varieties were more pronounced around the Yangambi research station than at Bamanga and Bambole.Both in Kongo Central and Tshopo, the monitored cassava fields were weeded one, two or three times. In Tshopo, 69% of the fields were weeded three times compared to 20% in Kongo Central (Table 2D). In Tshopo, three weed controls over the cassava growing period was conducted in 89% of the fields around the Yangambi research station, compared to 29-67% of the fields in other areas within the province. One weed control over the growing period was exclusively conducted at Bamanga. In Kongo Central, the proportions of the fields weeded three times did not differ clearly among the agro-ecological areas, but large proportion of the fields around the Gimbi research station were weeded twice (Table 2D). Although a smaller proportion of the fields in Kongo Central were weeded three times, some fields were weeded early as compared to the fields in Tshopo (Fig. 2D). All fields in Kongo Central were weeded for the first time before the 3rd month after planting (MAP) ended. Within the same period in Tshopo, about 10% of the fields (33% and 6% at Bamanga and Yangambi, respectively) were not yet weeded; they were weeded for the first time during the 4th MAP (Table 2E and Fig. 2D). By the end of the 2nd MAP, about 20% of the fields in Kongo Central were weeded for the second time, while within the same duration in Tshopo none of the fields was weeded for the second time (Fig. 2D). In Tshopo, the second weed control was conducted in 40% of the fields during the 3rd MAP and was delayed until 9th MAP in some fields, compared to Kongo Central where all fields were weeded for the second time before the 7th MAP ended. The third weed control was conducted between 4th and 7th MAP in Kongo Central, compared to Tshopo where it was conducted between 5th and 12th MAP (Fig. 2D).Cultivation practices, such as manual weed control, low or no fertilizer application in cassava fields, cassava intercrops, biomass burned before cassava planting, etc., were common practices both in Tshopo and Kongo Central. Weeds were manually controlled in all monitored fields. Biomass was burned before cassava planting in all fields in Tshopo and in 90% of those in Kongo Central. Both in Kongo Central and Tshopo, cassava was intercropped in more than 90% of the fields and planted with no pattern in about 80% of the fields. Farmers applied manure in 12% of the fields at Bakumu (Tshopo) and 11% of those at Gimbi (Kongo Central) (Table 2F), without being able to estimate the applied amounts. In Kongo Central, soil was not tilled in all fields at Gimbi but it was tilled in 25% and 71% of the fields at Lukula and Muanda, respectively. In Tshopo, all fields at Bakumu were not tilled while 5-25% of the fields in other areas were tilled (Table 2G).The cassava fields monitored in Kongo Central were between 15 and 203 m above sea level (masl), thus at lower altitude than those in Tshopo (362-1522 masl). Contrary to the four study areas in Tshopo, soil fertility indicators varied widely among the agro-ecological areas in Kongo Central (Fig. 3). In Kongo Central, except for the silt rate and exchangeable K content, soil parameters differed significantly across the agro-ecological areas. The worst soil fertility indicators were observed at Muanda, except for soil available P that was high but widely variable within the fields. Fields at Muanda had the i) lowest organic C and total N contents, ii) the highest sand rates, and iii) were among the fields that had low pH and exchangeable cation contents. Compared to Lukula, fields at Gimbi were more acidic (low pH and high Al content) but they had the highest C and N contents and the lowest sand rates. For the areas in Tshopo, only soil organic C, exchangeable K and C/N ratio were significantly different (Fig. 3B, E and H). Exchangeable Al in half of the fields at Bambole was higher than 2 Cmol[+] kg −1 , while all fields in the other areas had Al content lower than that value (Fig. 3J).Cassava mosaic disease(CMD) was the main disease observed in the monitored fields. Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) was only observed in 3 of the 37 fields in Tshopo, with severity scores < 3. CMD infestation was more severe in Tshopo than in Kongo Central. All fields in Tshopo were infested by CMD during the early (1-2 MAP) and medium (4-5 MAP) cassava growth stages. The severity scores ranged between 2 and 4 at early stages, and between 2 and 5 at the medium stages. In Kongo Central, CMD was found in about half of the fields with severity scores < 3 both at the early and medium growth stages.In Tshopo, CMD severity depended on the agro-ecological areas and the planting period (Fig. 4). At the early growth stages, CMD severity scores did not exceed 3 in the fields at Yangambi and Bambole, but it was 4 in 25% and 63% of the fields at Bamanga and Bakumu, respectively (Fig. 4A). The same occurred during the medium growth stages (4-5 MAP), where the severity scores ranged between 2 and 4 at Yangambi and Bambole but between 3 and 5 at Bamanga and Bakumu (Fig. 4B). Cassava fields planted during the 3rd month of the rainy season (May) were less infested by cassava mosaic virus than the fields planted before (April) or after (June/July) this period (Fig. 4C and D). At the early growth stages, CMD severity was at the lowest level (score 2) in 86% of the fields planted in May compared to 9-29% for the fields planted before or after this period (Fig. 4C). At the medium growth stages, similar contrasts in CMD infestation and severity were observed between the fields planted in May versus those planted earlier or later (Fig. 4D). The attainable cassava root yield (Y att ) was 21 and 24 t ha −1 in Tshopo and Kongo Central respectively. The actual root yields (Y obs ) averaged 13 and 14 t ha −1 in Tshopo and Kongo Central respectively and varied widely among the agro-ecological areas within the province (Fig. 5). In Tshopo, the lowest Y obs were obtained at Bambole where the maximum yield was 9 t ha −1 (Fig. 5A). At Bamanga, Bakumu and Yangambi all fields yielded at least 9 t ha −1 . Average actual yield at Yangambi (15 t ha −1 ) was statistically similar to that at Bakumu (13 t ha −1 ) but significantly higher than that at Bamanga (11 t ha −1 ) and Bambole (7 t ha −1 ). In Kongo Central, Y obs varied from 7 to 15 t ha −1 at Lukula, 8 to 22 t ha −1 at Muanda and from 5 to 24 t ha −1 at Gimbi (Fig. 5B). The average actual yields at Gimbi (15 t ha −1 ) and Muanda (14 t ha −1 ) were statistically similar, but significantly higher than that at Lukula (11 t ha −1 ). Cassava root yield varied widely within the field (Data not shown). Root yield measured in some squares was almost twice of that measured in other squares of the same field.Cassava root yield depended on the number of weed control conducted over the growing period and the time between consecutive weed controls (Fig. 6). Fields weeded only once produced significantly lower yields (average of 12 t ha −1 ) than the fields weeded two or three times (16 t ha −1 ) (Fig. 6A) in both provinces. On average, fields weeded thrice did not yield more than those weeded twice. Cassava root yield depended also on the number of weed controls conducted at a given period of the crop cycle. In Kongo Central, fields in which the first weed control was conducted before the end of the 1st MAP yielded significantly higher (15 t ha −1 ) than those fields where the first weed control was conducted after this period (13 t ha −1 ) (Fig. 6B). In Tshopo (Data not shown), fields where the first weed control was conducted during the 1st MAP yielded on average significantly higher than fields weeded for the first time during the 2nd MAP (15 vs. 13 t ha −1 ). Similar contrasts among the cassava root yields were observed for two or three weed controls over the crop cycle. In Tshopo for instance, fields that were weeded thrice before the end of the 6th MAP, yielded on average higher than the fields weeded twice at this moment, although the average yields of the three-time weeded fields did not differ from that of the two-time weeded fields when the weeding period is not considered (Fig. 6A).There were satisfactory relationships between the cassava upper boundary yields (Y up(i) ) and the time that separated planting date from the first or last weed control (Fig. 6C and D). Both in Kongo Central and Tshopo, Y up(i) values were lower than the attainable yield (Y att ) in all fields where the first weed control had been conducted after the 2nd MAP (Fig. 6C). Yet, in some fields where the first weed control had been conducted before the 2nd MAP, Y up(i) values were equal or similar to Y att . Because of the effect of other factors on cassava root yield, most fields yielded lower than the Y att although they had been weeded before the 2nd MAP. Y up(i) values were lower than Y att in all fields where weed control was stopped before the end of the 5th and 6th MAP in Kongo Central and in Tshopo respectively. Some fields weeded after these periods yielded however equal or similar to Y att (Fig. 6D).Cassava root yield depended on the planting period, mainly in Tshopo (Fig. 7A). The average yields in fields planted in May (16 t ha −1 ) was significantly higher than the average yields obtained in fields planted in April (11 t ha −1 ) and June/July (14 t ha −1 ). In Kongo Central, yields did not differ among the fields planted at different times within a season. However, average cassava root yield in the fields planted during the 2nd rainy season-2015 at Gimbi (15 t ha −1 ) was significantly higher than that in the fields planted during the 1st rainy season-2014 at Muanda and Lukula (13 t ha −1 ).The cassava root upper boundary yields within individual squares were related to the plant density (Fig. 7B). The highest cassava root yield per square was about 26 t ha −1 in Tshopo and Kongo Central, and was obtained in some fields with plant density higher than 5000 plants ha −1 . All squares with plant density less than 5000 plants ha −1 yielded lower than the maximal yield. Nonetheless, there were many other squares which yielded lower than the maximal yield, although they had plant density higher than 5000 plants ha −1 as other factors affected the yield.Cassava root yields were affected by soil tillage and to a lesser extent by the presence of intercrops (Fig. 7C). In Tshopo, the tilled fields yielded on average significantly lower (8 t ha −1 ) than the no-tilled fields (13 t ha −1 ). In Kongo Central, average yields did not differ significantly when the soil was tilled or not. In a few sole cassava fields, average yields were slightly higher than those of the intercropped fields (14 vs. 13 t ha −1 in Tshopo and 16 vs. 14 t ha −1 in Kongo Central).In Tshopo, the infestation of cassava mosaic virus during the early growth stages reduced cassava root yield (Fig. 8A). The fields that were infested by CMD with severity scores of 3 or 4 during the first two MAP yielded significantly lower (11-13 t ha −1 ) than those where the severity score was 2 during this stage (15 t ha −1 ). Conversely, CMD infestation during the medium growth stages in Tshopo and during the early and medium growth stages in Kongo Central did not have clear effect on root yields (Fig. 8A and B). In Tshopo, yields were not significantly different between severity levels at 4-5 MAP. The same was true in Kongo Central during all growth stages.Individual soil parameters were poorly correlated with the actual yields (Y obs ). Ratio of the sum of exchangeable Ca and Mg per exchangeable K ((Ca + Mg)/K) had the strongest correlation with Y obs (r = − 0.20), followed by exchangeable Al (r = −0.13) and C/N ratio (r = 0.11). Y obs were correlated with soil available P, exchangeable K and pH with a coefficient of 0.09, 0.03 and 0.006, respectively. Correlation coefficient was 0.05 for soil C or total N and almost nil for the other soil parameters (silt, exchangeable Ca and Mg). The upper boundary yields (Y up(i) ) increased with increasing contents of C, available P, exchangeable K, C/N ratio and pH but decreased with increasing exchangeable Al and the (Ca + Mg)/K ratio (Fig. 9). Both in Kongo Central and Tshopo, the Y up(i) values were lower than the Y att in all fields with a soil C content lower than about 14 g kg _1 (Fig. 9A). Y att was reached in some fields with a soil C content higher than 14 g kg −1 . However, because of the effect of other factors (field management, pest and disease and other soil parameters) on cassava root yield, many fields yielded lower than the attainable yield although soil C content was higher than 14 g kg −1 . This result indicates that the critical soil C contents (i.e. soil C contents with which the attainable yield could not be achieved) were lower than 14 g kg −1 in Kongo Central and Tshopo. The critical values were < 4.6 for soil pH, < 1 g kg −1 for total soil N and < 5 mg kg −1 for available P and they did not differ between the provinces (Fig. 9B, C and D). The critical values of exchangeable K and C/N ratio were slightly lower in the fields in Tshopo than those in Kongo Central (0.08 vs. 0.14 cmol[+] kg −1 for exchangeable K and 12 vs. 14 for C/N ratio) (Fig. 9E and F). In Kongo Central, Y up(i) values were lower than Y att in all fields with exchangeable Al higher than 1.8 cmol[+] kg −1 (Fig. 9G), indicating that the critical levels of exchangeable Al were the contents higher than 1.8 cmol[+] kg −1 . In Tshopo, the boundary line did not reveal critical levels for exchangeable Al, but regular decrease in the upper boundary yields with the increasing soil Al contents (Fig. 9G). In Tshopo, Y up(i) values were lower than Y att in all fields with (Ca + Mg)/K ratio higher than 30, indicating critical levels ≥ 30. In Kongo central, the critical levels of (Ca + Mg)/K were the values ≥ 40 (Fig. 9H).Both suboptimal field management, low soil fertility and cassava mosaic virus infestation limited cassava root productivity. Cultivation practices, soil parameters and CMD infestation led to the lowest upper boundary yields (Y up(i)1 ) in 47%, 41% and 12% of the fields in Tshopo and in 47%, 50% and 3% of those in Kongo Central, respectively. This result indicates that suboptimal field management and low soil fertility were the dominant yield-limiting factors with similar frequencies across the fields. They were more frequent than the CMD infestation. In Tshopo, among the cultivation practices that were the dominant yieldlimiting factors, late or early cassava planting over the rainy seasons was the most widespread (21% of the fields) (Figs. 10 A and 7 A). It was followed by more than two months between the first weed control and cassava planting and soil tillage (9% of the fields for each practice) (Figs. 10 A, 6 C and 7 C). In that province, no single soil parameter was the dominant and widespread yield-limiting factor: 9% of the fields for low soil pH and less than 6% for each of other soil parameters (Figs. 10 A and 9 B). In Kongo Central, the cultivation practices that were the dominant and widespread yield-limiting factors are: (i) more than two months between the first weed control and cassava planting (16%), (ii) less than two weed controls over the growing period (13%) and (iii) no weeding after the 5th month of the cassava cycle (11%) (Figs. 10 B and  6 A-D). Among soil parameters, low C/N ratio was the only one that limited cassava root yield in a large proportion of the fields (21%) (Figs. 10 B and 9 F). In Kongo Central, suboptimal field management was the latent yield-limiting factor in 61% of the fields compared to 37% for low soil fertility. The reverse occurred in Tshopo, where suboptimal field management was the latent yield-limiting factor in 32% of the fields compared to 68% for low soil fertility. Contrary to suboptimal field management and low soil fertility, CMD infestation limited cassava root yield only in some areas within a province (Table 3). In Kongo Central, CMD was the yield-limiting factor only at Muanda, while suboptimal field management and low soil fertility were the yield-limiting factors in all areas. In Tshopo, CMD was the yield-limiting factor at Bakumu and to a lesser extent at Yangambi but suboptimal field management was the yield-limiting factor in all areas and low soil fertility in three of the four areas. The type of the cultivation practices and soil parameters that limited cassava root yield differed also among and within the provinces (Table 3). In Kongo Central, the ratios of C/N and (Ca + Mg)/K were respectively the dominant limiting factor in 42% and 8% of the fields at Lukula but in none of those at Muanda. Soil C or N content was the dominant limiting factor in 14% of the fields at Muanda but in none of those at Lukula and Gimbi. Soil acidity (low pH or high exchangeable Al) was the dominant yield-limiting factor at Gimbi only. Similar contrasts were observed within the study areas in Tshopo both for the dominant and latent limiting factors (Table 3).The explained yield gaps differed among the types of the limiting factors. In the fields where cultivation practices were the dominant liming factors in Kongo Central, the maximum explained yield gap was 9 t ha −1 (Fig. 10D). The explained yield gap was higher than 9 t ha −1 in about 13% of the fields where soil parameters were the dominant liming factors. This indicates that, in Kongo Central, the yield losses caused by low soil fertility in some fields was higher than that caused by suboptimal field management. Yield losses averaged 6.2 and 5.5 t ha −1 in the fields where low soil fertility and suboptimal field management were the dominant limiting factors, respectively (almost nil in few fields where CMD was the dominant limiting factor). In Tshopo, yield losses averaged 6.5, 6.1 and 4.5 t ha −1 in the fields where suboptimal field management, CMD infestation and low soil fertility were the dominant limiting factors, respectively (Fig. 10C). Irrespective of the limiting factor type, the gaps between the attainable yield (Y att ) and the lowest upper boundary yields (Y up(i)1 ), were up to 48% and 64% of Y att (averages of 22% and 25%) in Kongo Central and Tshopo respectively (Fig. 10E and F). The gaps between Y att and Y up(i)2 (i.e. the obtained lowest upper boundary yield without considering in the iteration the dominant limiting factors), were up to 29% of the Y att with an average of 14% in Kongo Central and up to 35% of the Y att with an average of 16% in Tshopo. The average gaps between Y att and Y up(i)2 were about 64% of the average gaps between Y att and Y up(i)1 . This indicates that, because of the factors that are currently latent, the yield loss would remain at about two third of the current level when only the dominant limiting factor was overcome. Average gaps between Y att and Y up(i)3 was about 50% of those between Y att and Y up(i)1 , indicating that the yield loss would remain at about half of the current level when the dominant and the first latent limiting factors were overcome. Unexplained yield gaps were higher in Kongo Central than in Tshopo (Fig. 10G and H). The unexplained yield gaps averaged 4.3 and 2.8 t ha −1 in Kongo central and Tshopo, respectively, and were mainly higher in the fields with low actual yields.Our results indicate that suboptimal field management, low soil fertility and CMD infestation constrained cassava root productivity in the study areas (Fig. 10). Contrary to suboptimal field management and low soil fertility that were the dominant yield-limiting factors in almost all the study areas, CMD was the yield-limiting factor only at Bakumu (Tshopo) and Muanda (Kongo Central). During the past years, suboptimal field management and pest and disease infestation were reported as the widespread and severe cassava productivity constraints but only pest and diseases have received attention in the intervention programs (Briant and Johns, 1940;Fargette and Fauquet, 1988;Chapola, 1981). Suboptimal field management and low soil fertility received little attention since cassava is perceived to be more than other crops tolerant of low soil fertility and erratic rainfall conditions (De Tafur et al., 1997;El-Sharkawy, 2006). The present study indicated that, with the cassava varieties currently growing by farmers in Tshopo and Kongo Central, pests and diseases played a sparse role in the yield losses. The frequent and severe contributors to the yield losses were low soil fertility and suboptimal field management. Fermont et al. (2009) reported similar results in Ugandan and Kenyan farmers' fields. They observed that low soil fertility and weed management constrained more severely the cassava yields than pests and diseases. The cassava root yield losses simulated in the present study were similar with those measured in farmer's fields in DR Congo and elsewhere in Africa (Thresh and Cooter, 2005). Concerning the individual factors, results indicate that late or early planting, and late and sparse field weeding were frequently the yield-limiting factors. This suggests that large-scale programs in terms of cassava planting at the right time and proper weed control may improve cassava productivity in many fields. Conversely, regulating the soil pH by liming may have sparse efficacy since low soil pH constrained cassava root yield in few fields only (Vanlauwe et al., 2010;Vanlauwe et al., 2015). Variable cassava root yield responses to mineral fertilizer have been observed in Africa, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam (Ogbe et al., 1993;Howeler, 1991;Lema et al., 2004). Similarly, a large-scale recommendation of the blanket fertilizers would have sparse efficacy because the yield-limiting nutrients were field specific. Ezui et al. (2016) have shown an increased nutrient use efficacy and higher cassava yields emanating from balanced nutrition. In the case of cotton in West Africa, the application of blanket fertilizers led to variable yield increases across farmers' fields and were inefficient over time (Kintché et al., 2010;Kintché et al., 2015b). The fact that the yield-limiting factors differed between and within the provinces (Table 4) reinforces the sparse efficacy that may result from large-scale programs. To mitigate cassava productivity constraints, mainly those related to soil, site-specific programs are needed although the approach may be expensive.Late or early planting was one of the dominant and widespread constraints of cassava root productivity in Tshopo, and this may partially be explained by the relationship observed between planting time and CMD infestation. In Tshopo, cassava fields planted at the onset of the rainy season were more infested by CMD than the fields planted during the third month of the rainy season (Fig. 4C and D). Okogbenin et al. (1998) and Adipala et al. (1998) reported that early planted cassava fields were highly infested by CMD because of the vector abundance (whitefly) at the beginning of the rainy season. The severe CMD infestation observed in the cassava fields planted late (June and July) can be explained by the whitefly moving from the older fields to younger fields due to the whitefly preference for the youngest plants (Leite et al., 2003;Sseruwagi et al., 2003). Although the yield limitation by CMD in Tshopo could be explained by whitefly presence, the common use of contaminated local cassava varieties most likely led to increase CMD incidence. On the other hand, our results indicated that only CMD infestation during the early growth stages reduced the yield (Fig. 7A). This result is in line with that of Briant and Johns (1940) and Fauquet and Fargette (1990) who reported that early CMD symptoms were infestation from planting material and resulted in more yield losses than the late symptoms caused by whiteflies.As in the present study, poor weed control is reported as one of the most widespread cassava yield constraints (e.g., Albuquerque et al., 2014;Weerarathne et al., 2016). Our results contrasted however some previous results on the optimal number of weed control. In Kenyan and Ugandan farmer fields, Fermont et al. (2009) reported increasing cassava root yields with weeding events up to 6, while we observed that three weed controls did not increase cassava root productivity compared to two weed controls. Even if an increasing number of weed control can sustain cassava root productivity, two or three weed controls would be sufficient when properly conducted at the right periods. Results indicate that all fields where the first weed control was conducted after the end of the 2nd MAP or where weed control was stopped before the 5-6th MAP, yielded lower than the attainable yield (Fig. 6C and D). This suggests that, when the field is dominated by weeds that grow slowly, one weed control before the end of the 2nd MAP and another one after the 5-6th MAP may be sufficient to sustain the cassava productivity. For the fields dominated by the weeds that grow rapidly or when rain excess facilitates weed development during the early cassava ages, one additional weed control between the 2nd and 5th MAP may be required. Field weeding after the 5th or 6th MAP is necessary to sustain cassava productivity in Tshopo and Kongo Central because, irrespective of the planting season, the medium plant stages coincide with another rainy season (Fig. 1D). Low cassava planting density is often considered as one of the causes of low root yield observed in farmer fields. The present study does not support that assertion. Plant density was barely the yield constraint and results indicated that some fields with plant density lower than the research recommended density (10,000 plants ha −1 ) achieved the attainable yield (Fig. 7B). The attainable yield was not, at all, been achieved when plant density was lower than half of the research-recommended density. Eke-Okoro et al. ( 2012) reported higher cassava root yields when planted with space of 1 m × 1.5 m (i.e., 6666 plants ha-1 ) than when planted with the research-recommended density (1 m × 1 m). The effect of soil tillage on cassava root yield differed among the provinces (Fig. 7C). In Kongo Central, cassava root yields in the fields where the soil was tilled were similar to those in the fields where the soil was not tilled. In Tshopo, fields where the soil was tilled produced less cassava root than the fields where the soil was not tilled. Ohiri and Ezumah (1990), Hulugalle et al. (1990), Howeler et al. (1993) and Aiyelari et al. (2002) reported no effect of tillage when growing cassava in sandy loam soils, but Lal andDinkins (1979), andEzumah (1983) reported in DR Congo Oxisol low cassava root yields in the tilled soils compared with untilled soils. Our result contrasted however that of Ezumah and Okigbo (1980) who observed that tilled soils produced more cassava root than untilled soils. Tillage effect on cassava root yield depends on soil type, site history and climate conditions during land preparation and cassava planting (Howeler et al., 1993). Moreover, Ofori (1973) and Okigbo (1979) reported that ploughing increased cassava root yield compared to superficial hoeing. This suggests that, since farmer fields we monitored were manually tilled, cassava root development may occur in soil layers deeper than those were reached by hoes, and then led to limited effect on cassava root yield.The choice of the study areas within the province was guided by the presence of research station, as farmers living nearby may practice (by imitation) the best cultivation technologies. This consideration reflected in the practices conducted by farmers around the Gimbi research station. Compared to Muanda and Lukula, large proportion of farmers at Gimbi cultivated or allocated large areas to the improved varieties. Most of them conducted at least two weed controls and some farmers who applied unknown fertilizer amounts were in that area (Table 2). The presence of research station in Yangambi reflected more on good weed control, rather than on the utilization of the improved varieties. Compared to Bamanga and Bakumu, more farmers in Yangambi weeded 3-time their monitored cassava fields and conducted the first weed control before the end of the 2nd MAP (Table 2). However, most farmers in Yangambi cultivated local varieties and allocated small areas to the improved varieties. Both in Kongo Central and Tshopo, the highest cassava root yields were obtained around the research stations but they remained lower than the yields often reported in researchmanaged systems, as none of the farmers conducted properly all the cultivation practices that constrained the productivity. The observed cassava root yields in the present study were however higher than the FAO estimates (FAOStat, 2015).The current study indicated that the attainable yields were obtained in some fields with high soil C/N ratio (Fig. 9F). Fields with high soil C/ N were some of the fields recently cleared of fallows or woodlands, and then should be characterized by higher microbial activity because of the no-mineralised organic matter that entered the soil during fallowing period (Kurzatkowski et al., 2004;Six et al., 2004). Although it was not clearly demonstrated in the case of cassava, soils with good microbial activity seem to sustain the productivity of tuber crops. This is well known in the case of yam and explains the empiric position of yam crop at the beginning of crop rotations. Yam is cropped after about 20-year fallowing and one of the elements often used to identify lands suitable for yam productivity is worm excrements (i.e. soils with intensive microbial activity). Studies from areas where land availability was not a production constraint, reported that cassava was preferentially cultivated after fallow or woodland clearing (Silvestre and Arraudeau, 1983;Fresco, 1986), and this is in line with the hypothesis on positive effects of soil microbial activity on cassava root productivity. However, the place of cassava in the rotation varies among areas and changed over time because of the land pressure due to growing population and the general perception on cassava ability to tolerate more than other crops poor soils (Hillocks, 2002;Saïdou et al., 2004;Adjei-Nsiah et al., 2007;Fermont et al., 2008). Soils with high C/N ratios are considered as less sustainable for cropping because of N immobilisation. In the present study, this phenomenon seems having a neglected effect and this is in line with the fact that cassava crop can tolerate more than many other crops N deficiency (Kaweewong et al., 2013). Therefore, soil N content was barely one of the yield constraints in the monitored fields. Soil exchangeable K constrained cassava root yield, not only because of low contents as often reported (Howeler et al., 1987;Howeler et al., 1991;Carsky and Toukourou, 2005), but also because of imbalanced K versus exchangeable Ca and Mg (Fig. 9 and Table 3). High (Ca + Mg)/K ratio was the yield-limiting factor in 20% and 11% of the fields in Bambole and Gimbi, respectively (Table 3). This suggests that, since cassava removes from the soil more K than Ca and Mg (Putthacharoen et al., 1998), continuous cassava cropping would increase soil (Ca + Mg)/K ratio and then constrain over time the productivity. To sustain long-term cassava root productivity, soil (Ca + Mg)/K ratio should be kept as low as possible and K inputs to the soil is one the realistic alternatives. The critical values of soil exchangeable K and available P observed in the present study were similar with those Howeler (2002) and Fermont et al. (2009) reported. However, the observed critical values of soil pH (< 4.6) and organic carbon (< 14 g kg −1 ) were slightly different from that Fermont et al. (2009) reported (< 5.2 and < 9 g kg −1 for soil pH and C, respectively).The cassava root yield losses were high and scenario analysis indicated that the yield losses would remain high (about two third of the current levels) when only the dominant limiting factor was overcome (Fig. 10E and F). This result suggests that, because of multiple factors that are currently latent, the program aiming to solve only the dominant limiting factor would fail. Even by eliminating the dominant and first limiting factors, yield losses would remain at about half of the current levels and this is in line with low cassava yields usually observed in farmer fields even with improved genotypes. Success in reducing cassava root yield losses would require a combination of the best practices (integrated programs) and they must be site specific. Fermont et al. (2009) reported increasing cassava root yield with increasing combination of the best agronomy practices, but the results varied strongly within sites as the tested management packages were not site specific.The unexplained yield gaps were higher in Kongo Central than in Tshopo (Fig. 10G and H), indicating that the boundary line analysis performed less in Kongo Central as compared to Tshopo. Wairegi et al. (2010) and Wang et al. (2015) reported high unexplained yield gaps in the case of banana and coffee crops. This result suggests that the study may have excluded some severe cassava yield constraints in Kongo Central. El-Sharkawy (2004) reported that, to achieve maximum yields, cassava requires high solar radiation, high mean day temperature, good rainfall distribution during crop establishment and possibly a dry period before harvesting. Moreover, the fact that a boundary line does not consider the interaction between factors is often pointed out as the artefact of the model (Shatar and McBratney, 2004) The present study aimed to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to low cassava yields in farmers' fields to guide the formulation of cassava intensification programs. A contribution of soil fertility, pest and disease infestation and cultivation practices to cassava yield gaps was analysed in farmer-managed fields in two provinces (Kongo Central and Tshopo) of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We found that, with the cassava varieties currently growing by farmers in the study areas, pests and diseases played a sparse role in the yield losses. The frequent and severe contributors to the yield losses were low soil fertility (pH, Al, nutrient contents and ratios) and suboptimal field management (late/early planting, late/sparse weeding and soil tillage). Cassava root yield constraints varied between fields, suggesting that large-scale programs (as did in the past) mainly in terms of lime application or recommendation of the blanket fertilisers would result in sparse efficacy. Compared to the observed maximal yield, the yield losses were high and scenario analysis revealed that, because of the multiple factors that are currently latent, the yield losses would remain at about two third of the current levels when only the dominant constraint was overcome. We concluded that integrated and site-specific programs are needed to close the cassava yield gap and maximize the efficacy of cassava intensification programs.","tokenCount":"9160"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0072207516.json b/data/part_1/0072207516.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cfdb8b9be5d725f32f3345bbd299bb20a9306d05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0072207516.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b24cf8027b8d1508924b5cae1f1f59ac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34281ca6-cbc5-4ae4-9293-5f74d3e09fb2/retrieve","id":"913137524"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"18df78f3-2ba1-4918-9cff-e6e0c308fcac","pagecount":"11","content":"and environmental projects and activities. Diversity is most for advancing agriculture development, however, modern agriculture has accelerated the replacement of old age crop diversity. Agrobiodiversity index and measures are commonly used and estimated for crop and animal species, landraces and sites. These are useful for locating sites, crops and custodians of agrobiodiversity. Agrobiodiversity includes crop and plant; livestock and fish, insect and microbial genetic resources that are cultivated, semi domesticated or wild. Diversity are necessary for a long-term basis to secure the food and nutrition in the world. Among the three conservation strategies (ex-situ, on-farm and insitu), on-farm conservation strategy is farmer led and least cost strategy to manage total agricultural genetic resources. Within on-farm conservation, there are many approaches and methods being applied in Nepal. Agrobiodiversity in any area should be estimated properly that leads to choose the conservation approaches effectively.The scientific community has developed a wide range of methods of measuring various dimensions of agrobiodiversity, which is often referred as agrobiodiversity index (Boversity International, 2017;Sthapit et al, 2017). Diversity is measured and explained at different levels eg ecosystem, species, landrace and gene levels. Within genotypic diversity, there are functional, molecular, use value and nutritional diversity (Figure 2). Based on the data types, objectives and objects, different measures are used to estimate and compare the diversity (Table 2). These are diversity indices and measures used to quantify the diversity in a particular site. Diversity indices can be used to allow comparisons within and between different populations at species, landraces and genetic levels. Some of these are further used to classify the landraces and species in different categories. For examples, areas and number of household are used in four cell analysis to group available landraces under four cells (patterns of landrace occurrence). Measuring patterns of landrace occurrence is the simplest basis for measuring the population structure of a particular species. Classification of landraces is common and easy based on growing areas and number of growing household. These two measures classify each landrace according to whether or not it is widespread (occurs in more than a few fields) versus localized (restricted to a few fields), and secondly whether it is common (here defined as grown at least on some farms, in large numbers, in above-average field sizes) versus rare (in small fields only).Diversity changes over time and space are also estimated using different diversity measures. Both spatial and temporal changes are important for monitoring and applying appropriate methods of conservation. The average of the squared differences from the mean. the average difference between the arithmetic mean and the value of each observation in a data setThree strategies ie breeding, in-situ and on-farm are considered at local level for overall conservation and utilization of agrobiodiversity. Different methods and approaches for on-farm conservation are given in Figure 2. All or any of these are applied and among them community seed bank is very common for management of crop diversity. In all these approaches, local and native genetic resources are considered. Farmers, communities, farmer groups and local stakeholders need to actively participate.Advantages Many options (simple to complex) to measure and monitor agrobiodiversity Any level (crop, plot, farmer, village, etc) can be considered for estimate Useful to compare diversity among crops, village and districts  ","tokenCount":"539"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0090997200.json b/data/part_1/0090997200.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..06f4994815b4913b0ff375e4c14d03dff45c30d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0090997200.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7cd8378b78ef3eb50b3486d505747933","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/57a0a837-643f-44f7-b809-af998147ec52/retrieve","id":"446716534"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37c92f2c-cc15-4c3e-b8d1-9113c4e7d84d","pagecount":"36","content":"The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.The continuous monitoring of hydrological and meteorological variables is a prerequisite for informed water resources management. However, in many developing countries, such as Ethiopia, observational networks remain very scarce.Even those in existence are rarely adequately maintained and many have deteriorated over the past decades. One possible way of enhancing monitoring networks is through the active involvement of local stakeholders and communities. This report describes the development of hydrometeorological monitoring networks in three watersheds in the highlands of the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia: Dapo (18 km 2 ), Mizewa (27 km 2 ) and Meja (96 km 2 ). The aim of establishing these networks was to provide high-quality data to inform rainwater management strategies that will help to improve the livelihoods of farmers. In all three watersheds, relevant stakeholders and communities participated in the planning, installation and management of the networks. The networks were designed and installed between May and August, 2011. Both local people and national experts participated in this by providing information on equipment design, methods of installation, and good and potentially poor locations (e.g., in relation to flooding) as well as information on the best sites in terms of access and safety.Manual and automatic data collection commenced immediately after installation of the networks. Local communities were involved in the collection of much of the manual data, obtained daily. More frequent, hourly and even sub-hourly measurements were obtained using automatic instruments. Insights derived from the research were fed back to the communities through 'learning alliances' developed in each of the three watersheds.This participatory approach proved to be beneficial for several reasons. First, it instilled trust and goodwill amongst the communities. Second, it provided the opportunity for local people to gain insights into the hydrological regime of their locality, which in turn contributed to a better understanding of the likely impacts of different rainwater management strategies. Third, it contributed to the establishment of a conducive atmosphere for the flow of knowledge between researchers and the communities, and vice versa.Currently, discussions are ongoing with four universities (Addis Ababa, Ambo, Wollega and Bahir Dar), in conjunction with regional agricultural research centers and the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), to transfer the monitoring networks and maintain community monitoring activities sustainably in the future.The monitoring of hydrological and meteorological variables from watersheds is one of the principal tasks of hydrology and water resources management. Hydrological and meteorological data are the basis of hydrological science (Rodda 1995;Vorosmarty et al. 2001). High-quality hydrological data are also needed to support decisions on rainwater management strategies and water allocation practices (Gomani et al. 2010).Despite the recognized importance of hydrological and meteorological data, collection and sharing of data are not straightforward. Both technical and financial constraints hamper data collection and sharing efforts. Technical constraints relate to the size of the watersheds being monitored, type of monitoring equipment used and availability of skilled labor. National hydrometric networks tend to focus on larger river basins (> 1,000 km 2 ) which, whilst being appropriate for water resources assessment, are inadequate for hydrological research. To gain insights into hydrological processes, monitoring at much greater resolution (i.e., typically catchments < 100 km 2 ) is necessary. Financial constraints relate not only to the capital cost of sophisticated monitoring equipment, but also to the ongoing costs of maintenance, often in remote locations. These problems are exacerbated in developing countries, such as Ethiopia, where both the financial and human capital needed to establish and maintain good monitoring networks are in short supply. V e r y o f t e n , i n v o l v e m e n t o f t h e l o c a l community and other stakeholders is neglected in the establishment of hydrological monitoring networks. Most research institutions engaged in biophysical research tend to pay little attention to the engagement of local communities and other stakeholders in research design and implementation (Kongo et al. 2010). Yet, the involvement of these people in establishing and contributing to such networks, and indeed any management intervention at a watershed scale, is key to their reliability and a prerequisite for longterm sustainability (Gomani et al. 2010).Past studies have reported several constraints to establishing hydrological monitoring systems (Meirovich et al. 1998;Mul 2009). The most commonly reported problems are (i) installation of equipment in catchments where little is known about the catchment characteristics, (ii) theft and vandalism, (iii) post-installation damage due to floods or other natural events, and (iv) institutional and policy barriers that hinder operation and maintenance of monitoring stations.These problems arise, in part, due to the lack of local stakeholder involvement in the establishment and operation of hydrological monitoring systems. Monitoring is usually a task carried out by specialized agencies such as the National Hydrological Services (NHS). These agencies have their own technicians, staff, and procedures for network design and implementation. In addition to a lack of perceived relevance, documented reasons for failure to establish community involvement in monitoring networks are complexity of the technology, conflicting information, institutional factors, lack of flexibility, the transaction costs (both financial and human capital) of involving communities, and incompatibility with other aspects of local farming and livelihood objectives or management (Sturdy et al. 2008).In recent years, there have been some successful examples of data collection at watershed scale, with the involvement of various stakeholders (e.g., Gomani et al. 2010;Kongo et al. 2010;Laurent et al. 2010;Munyaneza et al. 2010;EFLUM 2011;STRI 2011). In places where the hydrological monitoring activities were undertaken, local communities were consulted and involved in both the establishment and maintenance of the networks. These efforts are deemed to have been effective, in part, because a number of different stakeholders were consulted and they contributed in a useful manner to the monitoring activities from the commencement of the work.The study reported here focused on the establishment of monitoring networks in three watersheds in the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia. These networks were established to provide data to assist in the design and implementation of rainwater management strategies. Three districts, which are administrative subdivisions encompassed within regional administrations, were selected to represent different locations and dominant agroecological zones. A watershed was selected from each district to conduct biophysical research. The objectives of establishing monitoring networks in the three watersheds were to:• monitor a wide range of hydrological and meteorological processes, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the hydrological regime of the watersheds;• establish, in collaboration with various stakeholders, capacity to assess, monitor and manage water and environmental resources in the local communities; and• provide an opportunity for future hydrological research and capacity building.In the current study, several stakeholders were engaged in the collection of both hydrological and meteorological data from 2011. In this report, 'stakeholders' refer to people from the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), National Meteorology Agency (NMA), three universities located in proximity of the watersheds (i.e., Bahir Dar, Ambo and Wollega), regional research institutes and local communities. 'Local communities' are people who live in the watersheds and come from a range of backgrounds: farmers and their households, agricultural extension workers, farmers' representatives, tradespeople, local government officials and administrators, and other professional people as well as those involved in non-farm activities.studies of the establishment of watershed monitoring networks through a community participatory approach. Not much experience exists outside of Europe and North America, in particular (Fagerström et al. 2003;Gomani et al. 2010;Kelkar et al. 2008;Kongo et al. 2010;Nare et al. 2006Nare et al. , 2011;;Sang-Arun et al. 2006; Participatory research focuses on a process of sequential reflection and action, carried out with and by local people. Not only are the knowledge and perspectives of local people acknowledged, but they also form the basis for research and planning (Cornwall and Jewkes 1995). In the available literature, there are only a few case Souchère et al. 2010;Sturdy et al. 2008;Uysal and Atis 2010;Welp 2001).In a few countries, such as Zimbabwe and South Africa, government policies and legislation encourage stakeholder participation in research design and implementation (Nare et al. 2006(Nare et al. , 2011)). Participatory approaches help stakeholders to share their views about the project, describe its relation to their environmental conditions (Sang-Arun et al. 2006;Souchère et al. 2010) and understand the principles of improved water resources management. It also helps to improve farmers' awareness of environmental problems and solutions as well as to link local and scientific knowledge (Fagerström et al. 2003). Communities can be engaged in several ways, ranging from conducting face-to-face discussions to understand stakeholder perceptions, to full engagement in the design and implementation of research projects.Establishment of a hydrological monitoring network in a 2,780-km 2 watershed, located in the tropical climate region of Tanzania, involved local communities in the installation of equipment and data monitoring (Gomani et al. 2010). Monitoring included weather and streamflow data.T h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a h y d r o l o g i c a l monitoring network in the Potshini watershed in Bergville District of South Africa was initiated in early 2004. The work involved smallholder farmers and other stakeholders from the initial preparatory stages to the actual construction of the various structures and instruments as well as their involvement in monitoring activities. The work was conducted in two nested watersheds, with areas of 1.2 km 2 (manually monitored) and 10 km 2 (automatically monitored). The network monitored streamflows, overland flow from experimental runoff plots, sediment load, shallow and deep groundwater bodies, volumetric soil moisture content, crop transpiration rates and meteorological variables (Kongo et al. 2010). Also, in the Bergville District in South Africa, but in the Okhahlamba Local Municipality, a participatory approach was adopted to facilitate farmer-driven gardening experiments. The experiments were conducted in an area of 2.5 km 2 covering 400 homesteads. A range of equipment (i.e., rain gauges, wetting front detectors, nested watermark sensors and capacitance probes) was placed in the gardens of the six farmers that were chosen for the detailed case studies (Sturdy et al. 2008). The farmers recorded daily rainfall, irrigation timing and quantity, and wetting front detector activation events. This information was supplemented with laboratory-generated soil analyses and in-field soil hydraulic characterization tests. Data were used to estimate changes in water balances for different designs of garden beds over the summer. The data were also used to provide farmers with information on the optimal times to irrigate, and the amount of water that should be applied during irrigation events for the various designs of garden beds and irrigation methods chosen for the experiments.The approach allowed farmers to systematically assess the value of the innovations they chose to implement while providing researchers with an avenue for learning about socioeconomic as well as biophysical influences on farmers' decisions. Also, this approach improved farmers' confidence and they were better able to explain innovative approaches to others. Similarly, researchers in the district were able to use farmers' manually collected data and observations to supplement laboratory-generated and electronically-recorded information on soil-water dynamics, in order to better understand water balances. It was reported that farmers who participated in the research and experimental process became proficient in gardening systems (Sturdy et al. 2008).Conducting participatory workshops has been found to be a successful means of capturing perceptions of local communities regarding soil erosion in northern Thailand (Sang-Arun et al. 2006). The use of indigenous knowledge to improve existing practices and design a better water quality monitoring network was found to be successful in the Mzingwe watershed in Zimbabwe (Nare et al. 2006). In another example of participatory monitoring, the sharing of modeling results of surface runoff, soil moisture, lateral runoff and groundwater recharge was found to be an effective means of tracing past developments that have impacted the lives and livelihoods of people in the Lakhwar watershed in Uttarakhand State of India (Kelkar et al. 2008). Krishanan et al. (2009) used the wisdom of well drillers to construct digital groundwater databases across the Indo-Gangetic Basin.The development of a community-based river monitoring system in a sub-humid region of Mexico proved to be useful in monitoring suspended sediment yields (Duvert et al. 2011) ). The study concluded that, to strengthen linkages between local groups, management authorities and researchers, it is necessary to promote the development of community-based monitoring of catchments in Mexico and elsewhere in the world (Duvert et al. 2011).There are issues and constraints as well. Out of the six farmers who were provided with rain gauges and encouraged to conduct their own monitoring and experiments in Bergville District in South Africa, only three were given the entire set of technical instruments. The other three failed to take notes and maintain records. Their failure was attributed to their involvement in other social activities and local employment (Sturdy et al. 2008). Hence, the participatory approach should be viewed as a developing paradigm or method in which there is a need for strong commitment from both researchers and stakeholders, and a need for good regular communication in order to ensure greater acceptance by the stakeholders concerned (Quinn et al. 2003;Sturdy et al. 2008).This study focused on three watersheds that are located in the highlands of the Blue Nile (known locally as the Abbay) River Basin. The Blue Nile River Basin is characterized by considerable spatial and temporal variability in hydro-climatic conditions. Within this wider basin, rainfall varies significantly with altitude and is, to a large extent, controlled by the movement of air masses associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). There is considerable inter-annual variability, but rainfall increases from about 1,000 mm near the Sudanese border to between 1,400 and 1,800 mm over parts of the upper basin, and exceeds 2,000 mm in some places in the south (Awulachew et al. 2010).The three watersheds (Figure 1; Table 1) were selected as sites to study the dominant h y d r o l o g i c a l p r o c e s s e s a n d b i o p h y s i c a l characteristics of the highland areas in the Blue Nile River Basin. The watersheds represent a gradient of farming types, land degradation and varying socioeconomic conditions. The following watersheds were selected for this study:(i) Dapo watershed (18 km 2 ) in Diga District.(ii) Mizewa watershed (27 km 2 ) in Fogera District.(iii) Meja watershed (96 km 2 ) in Jeldu District.The three study watersheds are characterized by high annual rainfall, but with considerable seasonal and inter-annual variability. Each year, the rain falls within a very short period of time (typically 4 months). Communities experience significant water shortages during the dry season as a result of poor and ineffective rainwater management practices (Ayana 2011;Megersa 2011;Taffese 2012). A description of the three watersheds is given below.  topography with gorges and Barley and teff are also valleys. common.Slopes up to 80 degrees are Crop rotation is also practiced under cultivation. Accelerated within the year, with the land soil erosion due to slope left fallow every third year. steepness. Farming system: Mixed crop-livestock system.Dapo watershed (Figure 2) is located in Diga District, which lies in the southwest of the Ethiopian Blue Nile River Basin. It is one of the regions that receives the highest level of rainfall in the Ethiopian Highlands. In some places, mean annual rainfall exceeds 2,000 mm. The altitude in the area varies from 1,200 to 2,342 meters above sea level (masl) and comprises two agroecological zones: the lowlands and midlands (Table 1). The midlands are steep, formerly forested, terrain which is rapidly being cleared of trees. Large areas of forest have been cleared in the last 10 years. Scattered communities tend to cultivate the tops and bottoms of slopes, because the slopes themselves are steep. However, the increasing cultivation of the slopes is leading to problems of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. In some places, all the topsoil (sandy clay loams and sandy clay) has been lost. Once the productivity declines too far, farmers simply move on and clear more forest. The lowland, bordering the Didessa River, is less steep than the midlands and comprises more rolling terrain. In recent years, there has been a large influx of people into this lowland area.The selected watershed is drained by the Dapo River, which is a perennial river. However, in recent years, scarcity of water for livestock and people during the dry season has become an increasingly common phenomenon. Local experts attribute the water scarcity to: (i) population pressure, (ii) lack of soil conservation measures to reduce erosion, (iii) deforestation, and (iv) overgrazing.Table 2 provides details of the hydrological and meteorological stations installed in the Dapo watershed.There is a large potential for irrigation, particularly on the flatter terrain of the lowland areas. Traditional biological and physical land management interventions (e.g., strip c r o p p i n g , c r o p r o t a t i o n , i n t e r c r o p p i n g , conservation tillage, and mulching or crop residue) are being exercised by a few farmers to improve cropland productivity. However, these attempts are insufficient to overcome the problem of land degradation and loss of soil fertility (Megersa 2011).Mizewa watershed (Figure 3) is located in Fogera District, which lies in the northeast of the Blue Nile River Basin, to the east of Lake Tana. The watershed is drained by the Mizewa River, which is a perennial river and flows approximately from south to north with two main tributaries: (a) the main Mizewa River, which has a drainage area of 19 km 2 ; and (b) the Ginde Newur River, which has a drainage area of 8 km 2 . The principal crop grown in the catchment is maize. In the watershed, most of the communities remain food-insecure and are extremely poor. A few local farmers have protected their farmland using stone bunds and practice contour plowing to reduce upland erosion. However, most farmers do not undertake sustainable agricultural practices, and they lack effective land and rainwater management practices (Taffese 2012). The communities complain of water shortages in the dry season, attributed to upstream pumping of water and the planting of eucalyptus trees.Table 3 provides details of the hydrological and meteorological stations installed in the Mizewa watershed.There are at least three locations within the watershed where water was pumped for irrigation. This was reported to result in the drying of the Ginde Newur tributary in the dry season. The communities also stated that already constructed rainwater harvesting (RWH) ponds were failing for a variety of 'unforeseen' reasons. Meja watershed (Figure 4) is located in Jeldu District, which lies in the south of the Blue Nile River Basin to the northeast of Ambo town. The major river draining the watershed is the Meja River, a tributary of the Guder River, which flows approximately from south to north. The river originates just outside Jeldu in the Ginchi District in a place locally referred to as the Galessa Hills.Most communities live on the ridge tops, but cultivate the steep valley sides. Slopes of up to 80 degrees are being cultivated. The area has been heavily deforested in the last 10 to 20 years and soil erosion is a major problem. Both slope slumping and gullying are common phenomena in the watershed.Table 4 provides details of the hydrological and meteorological stations installed in the Meja watershed.Within the Meja watershed there are not many interventions related to soil water conservation or rainwater management strategies (RMS). Farmers plant eucalyptus trees (currently occupying approximately 10 to 15% of the watershed) along gully lines and on degraded areas to mitigate gulley expansion and generate cash. In the district, some farmers believe that productivity has 'halved' in recent years. People living in the watershed are food-insecure and face seasonal water scarcity. There are some traditional water diversions for irrigating potatoes. However, water scarcity prevails during the dry season, and there are severe problems of land degradation, soil erosion, and low crop and livestock productivity (Ayana 2011).Detailed descriptions of the hydrological features and further physical characteristics of the three study watersheds are presented in Zemadim et al. (2011). In common with most places in Ethiopia, the major soil and water conservation interventions that have been practiced in the watersheds are soil bunds, stone bunds and grass strips. These are intended primarily as conservation structures to reduce soil erosion, although they may also conserve water in-situ (Alem 1999). However, to date, they are limited in extent and have not brought significant change to the livelihoods of the rural communities.  Note: * FG -Flow Gauge, RG -Rain Gauge, SM -Soil Moisture.In this study, two basic approaches were combined in the establishment and operation of the monitoring networks. First, a participatory approach involving both the local community and other stakeholders. Second, a scientific approach entailing the application of scientific and engineering principles in the design, construction and installation of the component structures and equipment that comprise the monitoring networks.The design of the monitoring networks established in the three watersheds was based on expert judgment and experience, as well as lessons learned from literature review of previous projects (Gomani et al. 2010;Laurent et al. 2010;Kongo et al. 2010;Munyaneza et al. 2010;EFLUM 2011;STRI 2011). In addition, local expert knowledge was utilized. Overall, a six-step process was adopted, with the participation of a range of stakeholders at all stages:(i) Inception of the idea and identification of stakeholders.(ii) Designing the networks.(iii) Installing the networks.(iv) Monitoring and maintaining the networks.(v) Collating, quality control, archiving and use of data.(vi) Communication and feedback.During the inception phase of the project, c o n s u l t a t i o n s w e r e h e l d w i t h s e v e r a l stakeholders to determine the detailed design and specific needs of each of the monitoring networks. The primary objectives of the monitoring were identified as: i) determining the magnitude of different hydrological fluxes, ii) 'closing' the water budget for the watersheds, and iii) providing baseline data for modeling. Several stakeholders and different research groups, including regional research organizations (e.g., Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute [ARARI] and Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources [EIWR]), were identified, and efforts were made to bring them together to interact and learn from each other. The involvement of local communities was initiated at this stage. In the local communities, district government officials and community elders were initially approached, and the objectives of the research and the monitoring were presented. The nature of the planned research was explained and they were made aware of the objectives. The project team explained the benefits of conducting the research, and how it would benefit the community in terms of local capacity building and an increased understanding of the hydrology of the watershed as well as the contribution the monitoring would make to the wider project. In later discussions, the possibility of engagement and possible community responsibilities (e.g., safeguarding the equipment) were discussed. These discussions usually took place on a Sunday, after the local people returned from church (Figure 5).Establishment of the monitoring networks in the watersheds started with identifying possible locations for monitoring sites. An initial survey was conducted from August 04 to August 11, 2010 (Zemadim et al. 2010), with the local communities. Subsequently, more detailed surveys were conducted, involving stakeholders from government institutions (i.e., MoWE and NMA), to identify the type of monitoring stations and more exact locations for possibly establishing stations. The intention was to ensure that the equipment installed in this project should, in future, contribute to existing national hydrometric networks. Hence, where appropriate, equipment (e.g., rain gauges and flow gauges) was chosen to meet national standards.Several factors were considered in designing the networks. Local and expert experience of the hydrological characteristics of the watersheds, such as high and low flow regimes, precipitation patterns, vegetation types, topographic variations and agronomic conditions, was collected. Similarly, information on elevation range, watershed outlet locations, major tributary lines and local knowledge on flood-prone areas was also obtained.Expert knowledge was important to identify the most appropriate locations for installing the equipment, based on, for example, river morphology, river bank stability, stream crosssection, various land use and land cover conditions, and flow directions. Local knowledge was also used to identify flood markings, and to assist with identifying flood-prone areas and locations used for cattle herding. In addition, advice was obtained from local communities to try and ensure the safety of equipment. To the extent possible, equipment was located in places where regular observations could be made by farmers.The monitoring networks were installed between May and August, 2011. Some of the equipment (e.g., stands for bank-operated cables and bracings for stage boards) was made by local craftsmen and local people assisted with the installation. These people initially assisted by providing labor for installation, but many were later given training on how to be observers for manually read hydrological and meteorological monitoring equipment. Local people also constructed fences to ensure that the equipment was protected from damage by livestock.To facilitate the collection of data with a high temporal resolution, automatic equipment is required. However, there are risks associated with using highly technical equipment in isolated locations in developing countries. For instance, maintenance is not easy and if the equipment fails, for whatever reason, it may be hard to repair. There is, therefore, the risk that data collection may cease for long periods of time. Hence, in such circumstances, building redundancy into monitoring networks is a sensible precaution. Manual gauges provide a backup to the data collected by automatic gauges and help to minimize losses that may occur due to equipment malfunctioning or vandalism. In this project, financial constraints also limited the amount of expensive automatic equipment that could be installed in the study watersheds. Consequently, the networks comprised a mix of highly technical automatic equipment and less sophisticated manually read instruments.The following equipment was installed in each study watershed:• Automatic weather stations (one in each study watershed).• Manual rain gauges (distributed across altitude and space) to record rainfall data and read by local residents.• Pressure transducers to measure river stage (converted to flow using a rating e q u a t i o n , d e t e r m i n e d f r o m c u r r e n t meter measurements), maintained and downloaded by local residents who had studied at university.• Stage boards at the catchment outlet and in the sub-catchments to enable manual measurement of stage, read and collected by local residents.• Soil moisture profiles (determined using a Delta-T probe) arranged in a number of transects perpendicular to the drainage line of the main stream.• Shallow groundwater depth (determined using pressure transducers and manual dip meters), located close to the soil moisture transects.In addition, selected residents were provided with cameras to photograph stage boards and changes in land use in the watershed.To study the water fluxes and water use systems, monitoring stations were installed at locations on rain-fed farmland, irrigated farmland, grazing areas, and inside or near eucalyptus plantations. The location and approximate elevation of all equipment was determined using handheld global positioning system (GPS) units. The locations derived from the GPS units were overlaid on a digital elevation model (DEM), and watershed boundaries and the geographic locations of monitoring stations were mapped (Figures 2 to 4; Tables 2 to 4).The involvement of local people in the installation process helped to build trust with the individuals, who in turn informed their families and friends of the activities being undertaken and helped to create awareness of the project. Local people also benefited from the small payments they were given as compensation for their assistance in the field. The involvement of local artisans and the use of workshops close to the watersheds as well as, where possible, local construction materials, helped to minimize the cost of equipment installation.Details of the type of equipment, methods of installation and measurement techniques for all the monitoring equipment used are presented below.Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) from Campbell Scientific, Inc. 1 , were used to monitor the following variables at a resolution of one hour: rainfall, average air temperature, minimum and maximum air temperature, relative humidity, net radiation, corrected net radiation, solar radiation, wind speed, wind direction, soil temperatures at two depths, and barometric pressure. Data were recorded in a data logger and downloaded approximately monthly using a computer.Ordinary metallic rain gauges (Figure 6(b)) were produced at the NMA workshop (to meet the national standard design) and installed in networks around each catchment to cover a range of altitudes and different agroecological zones. Local community members were trained to read these gauges manually each day (Figure 6(c)). By doing this, local people appreciated how rainfall was recorded.Measurement of stream water level was undertaken manually using Shelley Signs 2 stage boards and automatically using SEBA 3 pressure transducers. The researchers also used staff gauge boards manufactured locally by MoWE. Staff gauges were installed after identifying suitable locations in terms of river bank stability and accessibility (Figure 7(b)). Manual measurements were taken twice daily (at 06:00 and 18:00). Automatic water level measurements were taken hourly. Discharge measurements were made using current meters over a range of flow conditions, to establish rating equations (Figure 7(c)). These were used to convert water level measurements into discharge.Soil moisture was measured using Delta-T profile probes called PR2/64 . These probes measure the soil moisture at six depths down to 100 cm below the ground surface (Figure 6(a)). Plastic access tubes were installed in augered holes and profile probes were inserted into these to take the measurements. In addition to the profile probe, near surface soil moisture was measured using an ML2 5 ThetaProbe sensor, which measures the soil moisture to a depth of 10 cm. Soil 2 See note 1.3 See note 1.4 See note 1.5 See note 1. moisture measurements were taken manually approximately weekly.In the study watersheds, there were no shallow groundwater observation wells. Consequently, it was necessary to auger shallow wells for groundwater-level observation (Figure 8(c)). Measurements were taken both manually and automatically in the augered wells. The wells were located along transects, and strategically installed at sites where they would not interfere with farming activities. Manual groundwater level measurements were taken daily using a dip meter. In selected wells, pressure transducers and SEBA 6 data loggers were used to obtain data every hour.The watershed monitoring networks have been operating since the beginning of August, 2011. Details of the monitoring regime and frequency of data collection are summarized in Table 5. For monitoring activities, the project employed local gauge readers who lived in close proximity to the networks. Five, seven and eight 'gauge readers' were employed for the Dapo, Mizewa and Meja watersheds, respectively. These gauge readers collected data on a daily basis and also provided security to individual pieces of equipment. They were trained by the project team to read water level data from staff gauges and record rainfall using rain gauges (Figures 7(b) and 6(c)).  In addition, they collected soil moisture data and recorded groundwater levels in shallow wells. Each reader was paid a small monthly stipend to compensate for their time.To enhance the amount and quality of data collected in the watersheds by the local community, graduate level researchers from Ambo University, Bahir Dar University and Wollega University were engaged as 'watershed coordinators'. The watershed coordinators spent a great deal of time in the field each week. They were involved in the following activities:• Assisting with the installation of hydrological a n d m e t e o r o l o g i c a l e q u i p m e n t , a n d subsequently attending to routine operation a n d m a i n t e n a n c e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f the instruments.• Supervising the gauge readers, quality control of the data, and converting the hard copy format of the data to soft copy (spreadsheets) which was then forwarded to the IWMI East Africa and Nile Basin office in Addis Ababa.• Participation in the local Innovation Platform (IP) (see section, Communication and Feedback).The watershed coordinators were financially compensated for their efforts and they reported directly to the field hydrologist, who was located at the IWMI office in Addis Ababa.Mechanisms for manual data collection and archiving from each of the study watersheds were based on standard data collection and archiving protocols of MoWE and NMA. For example, MoWE supplied a standard booklet that provides details on manual data collection of stream water level from staff gauges. Similarly, protocols of the NMA were adopted for daily rainfall collection from ordinary rain gauges.Automatic data archiving was based on downloading data recorded in data loggers. Even though some of the automatic gauges had data transmission capabilities, the lack of telecommunications network coverage meant that it was not possible to use these facilities in the study watersheds. Thus, data were downloaded monthly from the loggers. The temporal resolution of the data from automatic sensors ranged from hourly to daily.Once data were collected by local observers, the initial data quality checking (i.e., identification of any possible data gaps and outliers) was undertaken by the watershed coordinators. Regular communication between watershed coordinators and the gauge readers helped to identify erroneous recordings and explain data gaps. The watershed coordinator converted all hard copy data into spreadsheets prior to sending the details to the IWMI office in Addis Ababa each month. Once received by the IWMI office, the data were further quality controlled. This involved the plotting of time series to identify possible outliers that may have been missed by the watershed coordinator. Data collected by the automatic instruments were compared with the manually collected data. In instances where discrepancies were identified, the IWMI field hydrologist discussed the matter with the watershed coordinators to try and resolve them. Finally, a clean 'master' dataset was stored on a computer server to be used in analyses.A l l t h e d a t a c o l l e c t e d , i n c l u d i n g photographs, have been made available to graduate students, researchers and others working directly on the project, and have been shared with NMA and MoWE on a regular basis. In future, data will also be stored on IWMI's Water Data Portal (http://waterdata. iwmi.org) and will be freely available to anyone who wants access to it.Within the current project, data obtained from the three study watersheds were used in conjunction with computer models (e.g., the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)) to determine water use and water productivity in different parts of the landscape, and to evaluate the possible implications (including downstream impacts) of scaling up possible rainwater management strategies (Schmidt and Zemadim Forthcoming).A participatory learning process must involve a feedback mechanism where continuous updating and responses are integrated into the learning process. Such feedback mechanisms should accommodate the opinions and ideas of the various stakeholders as much as possible (Gomani et al. 2010). As part of the broader CPWF project, Innovation Platforms (IPs) were established in each study landscape to communicate the research findings, and provide a forum for discussion of project concepts and learning. The watershed coordinators were part of the established IPs, and reported on the status and progress of the hydrological and meteorological monitoring activities. This helped to inform the local communities of the main research activities and progress made in data collection. It also helped to provide a greater understanding of the ongoing research and enabled the communities to better appreciate their contribution to the project. In future, IPs will be used to obtain ideas from the communities about what sort of RMS they would like to adopt and this can be integrated into the learning process.In addition, there are plans to organize 'field days' to discuss results with local communities and seek their insights into the implications of the findings, specifically in relation to their farming practices and to the management of land and water resources. Similarly, there is also a plan to organize a field day at each site for university students and national research organizations. This will focus specifically on the instrument networks and their value for hydrological research. The involvement of local communities in monitoring activities and the protocols adopted will also be discussed.The monitoring networks are appreciated by many who are carrying out similar activities, both in Ethiopia and elsewhere. As a result, there have been many requests by national and international institutions, and individual researchers, to utilize the data obtained from the networks. The requests were mainly from those seeking biophysical data. In some instances, proposals have been made to increase the network density through the installation of additional instrumentation and monitoring stations. For example, EIWR has installed three more automatic rain gauges in the Mizewa watershed. This improved data resolution both in time and space and helped to increase the reliability of data recording. It is an indication of the perceived value of the monitoring network and its sustainability.The participatory approach has contributed positively to the establishment and operation of the hydrometeorological monitoring networks in the Ethiopian Highlands. At the beginning of the project, the close cooperation between multiple stakeholders through meetings and visits to field sites helped in the identification of suitable research catchments in the three districts. Later, discussions held with the government, bilateral development institutions and local communities helped to identify appropriate instruments and locations for installation of monitoring networks. The equipment was purchased only after discussion of the requirements with NMA and MoWE, which ensured that it was appropriate for the Ethiopian context. Multiple stakeholders, both technical experts and those with local knowledge, assisted in the installation of equipment and continued to assist with data collection and maintenance of instruments. Summary details of the role of different stakeholders involved in the watershed monitoring programs are presented in Table 6.In the three study watersheds, the discussion held with local officials, village leaders and f a r m e r s h e l p e d t o a v o i d u n n e c e s s a r y misunderstandings about the project. At the beginning of the project, some villagers thought that the research was being conducted with a view to identifying land suitable for purchase by foreign investors; a valid and unsurprising concern in a country where foreign direct investment in land is increasing. Understandably, the villagers were reluctant to cooperate. However, after the initial discussions and once the objectives of the research were explained, farmers participated willingly and, generally, without problems. For the most part, farmers were willing to have instruments installed on their land, and this equipment was well maintained and looked after.However, maintenance of the hydrometric networks was not completely trouble-free. Despite the involvement of local communities, vandalism was an issue. This related primarily to the automatic flow gauging stations, located on road bridges at the outlet of each watershed. In two of the watersheds, these gauges were deliberately damaged and items of equipment were stolen. Initially, in each case, it was assumed that the local community was responsible for the damage caused and the incident was reported to local government officials. Later, discussions were held with the officials and communities, and it transpired that the equipment had not been vandalized by local people. Rather, it was by people from other communities who were unaware of the purpose of the instruments, but who used the roads to commute between towns and villages. All incidents of vandalism occurred on market days, when many people travel on the roads on foot. Also, it was speculated that people under the influence of alcohol on market days may have had a role to play in these incidents. After these incidents of vandalism, the damaged equipment was replaced and local observers took the initiative to guard not only flow gauging stations installed on the bridges but also other monitoring stations that could be seen by outsiders.Another problem, despite efforts to avoid it and advice from MoWE, was flood damage. The three watersheds are located in highland areas with steep slopes. In these areas, rainfall occurs rapidly in short-duration intense storms. It can take less than an hour for flash floods to reach the watershed outlets. Associated with the flood flows are logs and boulders swept along by the river water. These have damaged the gauging stations that were installed on the bridges in all the watersheds (Figure 9(b), (c)). This damage is largely unavoidable.  However, stage boards which were bolted to the concrete of the bridge piers withstood the flooding (Figure 9(d)). Following the damage caused to the flow gauges, observers were requested to make more frequent manual measurements and, consequently, daily and sub-daily readings were obtained throughout the periods that the automatic flow gauges were inoperable. Although not ideal, this highlights the value of having manual measurements in conjunction with those from automatic recorders.Examples of the data gaps that were created due to vandalism and malfunctioning of equipment, and flood damage, and the actions taken to minimize the loss of data are presented in Table 7.A sense of ownership of the monitoring equipment was created amongst the local people. They were the first to report any malfunctioning equipment. This minimized delays in taking appropriate corrective measures. However, the use of local observers for monitoring created another challenge. The involvement of a relatively small number of people, who were financially compensated for their efforts in the collection of data, created some tension with others in the community. However, discussions held with local government officials and village elders together with the community, to some extent, eased these tensions.The main outcomes of using a participatory approach for hydrometeorological monitoring in the three watersheds can be summarized as follows:(i) Identification of appropriate sites for hydrometeorological monitoring.(ii) Reduction in the cost of installation and maintenance of monitoring equipment.(iii) Provision of security for the instrument networks.(iv) A sense of ownership of the monitoring e q u i p m e n t , c r e a t e d w i t h i n t h e l o c a l communities.significant step in bringing about community support for research activities.• There is a need to minimize over-expectation within the community. It is important to be clear what can be expected from the project (i.e., what it will and will not deliver).• It is important that key figures within the local community (i.e., village elders and government officials) appoint people from the community to work on the project (i.e., as local observers). In this case, those who are not selected may feel that they have missed out on an opportunity. However, they cannot attribute the decision of not being selected to the project itself.It is clear that a successful participatory approach requires constant effort and, as such, is associated with high transaction costs. However, these costs can be minimized, if appropriate institutional and social arrangements are put in From this project, some of the lessons learned about the process of participation include the following:• The various government officials at all levels expect recognition and respect. It is important to consult these people or arrange short meetings and brief them regularly on the process and progress of the work undertaken.It is also important to build long and lasting relationships with key individuals in the government institutes.• There is a need to identify key individuals who can influence the community. These individuals tend to gain respect from the community because of their dependable character and innovative ideas and decisionmaking skills. In the local context, these people are referred to as 'community model farmers'. If such people are seen to be in favor of the monitoring networks, it is a place at all levels with the full range of stakeholders. This will also help to ensure that conflict is minimized, and researchers, local people and other stakeholders benefit from the participatory approach. Within the current project, the monitoring activities will continue to the end of 2013, at which point the monitoring activities will be reviewed with the intention of deciding on how best to continue. Project activities could possibly continue as an addition to the national hydrometric network or as study watersheds supported by the local universities. Currently, discussions are ongoing with the three universities located in close proximity to the study watersheds, regional research centers and MoWE on how best to transfer the monitoring networks and maintain community monitoring activities, including the associated costs. It is anticipated that the monitoring stations in the Mizewa watershed may be transferred to Bahir Dar University and ARARI. Similarly, it is anticipated that the monitoring stations in the Meja and Dapo watersheds could be taken over by EIWR of Addis Ababa University in close collaboration with Ambo University, Wollega University and the Hydrology Directorate of MoWE.This report has described a participatory approach for establishing hydrometric networks in rugged and difficult locations in the Ethiopian Highlands. The monitoring networks were installed as part of ongoing research for a development project. The objective of the research was to gain an insight into the hydrological processes that may affect the viability of rainwater management practices. All monitoring networks were installed in areas where there was no hydrological and meteorological infrastructure previously.The four major benefits of the participatory approach can be summarized as shown below:• I n c r e a s e d r e s i l i e n c e a n d e n h a n c e d sustainability of the monitoring networks, as a consequence of several factors: local knowledge was used to ensure that equipment was installed in the best possible locations; a sense of community ownership was created and meant that, to some extent (though not totally), equipment was protected from vandalism; and a combination of measurements were taken from automatic recorders and manually collected data, which meant that there was a 'backup' of many observations.• Greater cost-effectiveness was achieved, because as much equipment as possible was manufactured locally and local observers were used for data collection, which meant that less costly automatic equipment was needed. Also, having local observers on the ground meant that additional information (e.g., taking photographs of land-use change, and recording of activities such as gravel extraction from riverbeds and flooding events) could be collected for only a marginal extra cost.• Recommendations were made for rainwater management interventions that are believed to be both more suitable and more effective as a consequence of the two-way flow of knowledge between researchers and the communities and vice versa.• Increased awareness was created of the importance of the management of water and natural resources within local communities through the established IPs.In conclusion, although problems related to equipment vandalism and flooding remain, the inclusion of local communities and other stakeholders in the data collection efforts has been largely beneficial. The monitoring networks are perceived to be of value by local universities and national research institutes, and will hopefully be integrated into the national hydrometric networks in the long-term. The high transaction costs associated with the approach are warranted by the trust garnered within communities, the assistance that they provided and the increased likelihood that the findings will prove to be useful to the communities. To ensure that the findings are utilized successfully, participation of local communities and a range of stakeholders should continue to be encouraged, and similar approaches should be promoted elsewhere in the country.","tokenCount":"8053"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0099518723.json b/data/part_1/0099518723.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9083e879667cc6768b5e9683c5fed1f3a9a1d0f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0099518723.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73e8600034ceb50effd684d82df49a87","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/26cf0a7f-033e-4a1a-a8cb-2739c67f036a/retrieve","id":"-483791957"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ff5cf80f-4100-47de-bd37-441b68806fa7","pagecount":"17","content":"Dr. Bhandari opened his welcome address by narrating the history of rice production in Bangladesh. During the 1970s, the country was considered a mere bottomless basket. Since then, rice production increased by 3.5 times, transforming the country into a role model on agriculture and development. However, rice farming still faces many challenges, including rice scarcity. Water management is becoming an important issue as well. With these challenges, no \"one-size-fits-all\" solution can be made. Bangladesh needs location-specific ones.IRRI's innovative technologies are part of the solution. Their AWD technique demonstrates a 30% reduction in water use and no yield loss, presenting an increase in profit. However, adoption of this technique has been slow. Dr. Bhandari hoped that this workshop would promote large-scale AWD implementation.Several advantages of using AWD include:• reduces water demand for irrigation;• reduces GHG emissions by 50%;• and presents a low-cost implementation.Dr. Salahuddin added that the primary approach of the project was to work with NW-FAN.Initially, the implementors chose the pump owners they would want to work with. Afterwards, they talked to the chosen pump owners and gave them orientation and training.The trained farmers then disseminated the technology to their fellow farmers. IRRI and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) helped them in the technology dissemination.With the assistance of Network members, the farmers mapped the types of irrigation being applied and the areas where AWD could be implemented.Dr. Salahuddin added that there are 1,612,613 tube wells around Bangladesh, among which they have identified 1,400,000 wells that could adopt AWD technology. From the policy perspective, the AWD technique can contribute in at least 5 Farmers initially wanted to know whether they were actually reducing water usage or saving electricity or diesel. Whole catchment areas were mapped for potential points of AWD pipe establishment, including the level of land and the area of farm lands. Data were collected and eventually analyzed at the Hazi Danesh Institute.In the first phase, 17 shallow tube well owners started using AWD. In the second phase, 19 shallow tube well owners in 11 upazilas were included, covering 152 acres of land. By the final phase, 50 pump owners in the 11 upazilas were providing water to 800 farmers across 337 acres of land. The major goal was to connect all farmer organizations to mobilize and implement the AWD technique. Mr. Rashid added that this network could potentially turn into a union of AWD farmers. It is equally important to mobilize local governments and district irrigation committees as they provide licensing and other services to tube well owners. Encouraging agricultural entrepreneurs to use AWD technologies for agricultural crops other than rice is also essential.Dr. Salahuddin, Consultant, IRRI Dr. Salahuddin facilitated the video presentation session. Farmers in the video testified to the benefits of AWD technology, including reduction of water input. IRRI trained farmers on the use of irrigation devices and the technique, but what was especially important for the success of the project was the collaboration between farmers and pump owners.Dr. Salahuddin, Consultant, IRRI Dr. Salahuddin opened the floor to farmers and pump owners for them to share their experiences on the benefits of AWD and what they wanted IRRI to know going forward.Md. Motiar Rahman, a pump owner from Rangpur RDRS, shared that farmers were initially reluctant to use the technique. However, once they saw the benefits, they felt that it was a sustainable farming technique for generations to come.Md. Shajahan Ali, a farmer from Rangpur RDRS, shared that his yield has doubled since he started using AWD. His tiller has increased, and now he uses less water for irrigation, saving around 300 taka. Since using the magic pipe, he does not need to weed his fields as often as before. Pump owners and other farmers in the nearby villages saw his success with the AWD technique and were encouraged to adopt it.Kishory Mohan Roy, a pump owner from Rajarhat RDRS, said that 18-20 farmers from his village attended the meeting on AWD. The 18 farmers who decided to use AWD received a total of 16 magic pipes. They were initially confused as to why they had fewer pipes than other farmers, but then learned they had enough based on the landform. They were surprised at the increased tiller and yield while their water dependence decreased. The farmers tracked their progress and frequency of irrigation and compared their results with those who did not adopt the AWD technique. They found that they irrigated 6-7 fewer times and saved on diesel fuel needed to run irrigation pumps. Roy promoted AWD and convinced two more farmers to adopt it.Md. Kazi Jikrul, a pump owner, shared that farmers were initially hesitant to adopt the technology. When farmers learned that they would save on irrigation costs using AWD, they collaborated with pump owners to map out pump locations and install magic pipes.Dr. Samsuzzam gave a background on FAN and how it was conceptualized for North Bengal as a platform for organizations to work together. To confront \"monga,\" BRRI and IRRI took the lead to provide the expertise in the platform. He went on to introduce the work NIDS has been doing in Rangpur, especially in supporting this project.Dr. Samsuzzam highlighted the key benefits of AWD projects. Rangpur and Dinajpur farmers who have adopted this practice has seen high tillering. In some cases, farmers had experienced a 10-11 percent yield increase. They have reduced their frequency of irrigation, which has lowered the burning of diesel in pumps. AWD then lowers their dependence on water. On scientific terms, tiller has increased the overall rice yield. Moreover, alternate periods of drying had lowered the use of fertilizer as rice plants absorb nutrients better when paddies are not flooded.He added that AWD worked this time around under IRRI due to FAN collaboration. Knowing the benefits of the technology, he said that they should look for a way forward to sustain its benefits and ensure long-term partnership. One sustainable solution is incentivizing pump owners and the farmers. As stated in the Article 8 of their National Agriculture Policy, AWD was tried and tested already, generating fruitful results. They should ensure its popularization then. To allow more farmers to adopt AWD, Dr. Samsuzzam suggested to cap the amount of irrigation water. He cited the case of Rajshahi, where a prepaid card system is practiced to avoid the overuse of water by the farmers. He advised that they could adopt the system in the north west and license the irrigation system to ensure more stakeholders would join to save water.Dr. Salahuddin, Consultant, IRRI Dr. Salahuddin opened the floor for FAN members attending the workshop to share their feedback on AWD and their experiences.Underground water levels are decreasing every day. To keep them stable, farmers should reduce at least 30 percent of their water uptake. Farmers who practice AWD need 36 percent less water for irrigation, making it a viable solution. Furthermore, using less water is beneficial because some nutrients become available when the land is dry. Less fertilizer is required, and more tiller is produced. Overall, using less water is beneficial to produce and maintain underground water levels.To make AWD more effective, implementation of the technology should be specific. It is necessary to know the main stakeholders, farmer demands, coping systems, and the location. Clarifying AWD with pump owners is critical to ensure farmers disseminate the technology in a sustainable manner.Alauddin Ali, Udayankur Seba Sangstha, Nilphamari When we organized, there were several challenges. First of all, people wanted to use their traditional ways of farming and put too much water, as much as 3000 liters for 1 kilogram of rice. They believed that putting more fertilizer and pesticides would be better for their yields. However, if they keep going in this manner, they will not have drinking water. Farmers also do not want to reduce their water use because they are paying for a certain amount anyway.Better communication and mobility are now allowing people from one part of the country to know what is happening in another part of the country in terms of water and agricultural problems. The challenge is to change people's behaviors in the villages.To prevent farmers from blaming AWD for pests and crop losses, which occur naturally, it is important to have multiple stakeholders, such as pump owners, supporting the technology.The difference between the first time AWD was implemented and the attempt now is our approach. Now, we included more stakeholders. Alongside this, farmers were trained on the technology, generating much better results.Dr. Saiful Huda, Professor, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University AWD works well but the implementation and strategy have some issues. There is a law stating that by 2030, 20% of farmers will use the AWD technique, which will increase tiller, reduce irrigation and pests. We need a positive approach and more funding going forward.Abdul Al Mamun, Director, RDA, Bogra Mr. Mamun strongly believes that social engineering is a crucial method for dissemination of AWD technology. He added that mechanization of farming is essential in saving water.We should be concerned with how much groundwater is being recharged and how much water can be saved. Each district of Bangladesh is different and so are their agricultural needs. We need multiple technologies alongside AWD for a sustainable solution.When we lack data, securing funding for projects that would benefit agriculture is difficult. We need more information on the emission reduction potential of our projects, as well as their capacity to decrease pesticide and fertilizer use, to attract international funders. We need a cost-benefit analysis and coordination among local level stakeholders and the government. A long-term plan needs to be worked out rather than a project-based implementation of AWD.We must develop a mechanism to encourage farmers and pump owners to adopt AWD.Groundwater is a national asset; use should be rationed. Industry uses significant amounts of groundwater alongside agriculture. However, AWD cannot be used everywhere in an upazila. Third party independent evaluation is crucial to assess the effectiveness of AWD. We need more clarification on the benefits of the technology as economic incentives are the most attractive to farmers. Volumetric pricing over area pricing of water for irrigation is important in preventing overuse.AWD is a proven technology, yet our farmers are not willing to adopt it. A conflict of interest between farmers and pump owners has created a barrier. We have to find a mechanism to sustain AWD. Creating a pump rental system in which farmers pay for the amount of water they use with their own electricity or diesel can be a solution.Due to conflict of interest, a community-based approach to implement AWD will be more sustainable.A total of 31,200 AWD pumps have been distributed by BADC since 2009-2018. To encourage more farmers and pump owners to collaborate, they held motivational training sessions on AWD techniques. She also highlighted that land use patterns are not similar in all the areas of Bangladesh; therefore, the AWD technique has some limitations. A monitoring committee that will supervise the proper implementation of AWD technique in the field is necessary.Land leveling using a remote sensing system is important to distribute water evenly in the field, preventing accumulation in certain areas.Dr. Khaled Kamal, Chief Information Officer, AIS When a project is implemented, people tend to work with AWD, but once it is over, farmers do not continue the practice. Pump owners do not cooperate and farmers do not see the benefit. Community mobilization is then crucial to ensure the benefit of the technology persist even after the project ends.Muyeed wanted to know if there was GHG quantification on AWD versus non AWD systems in Bangladesh. He was particularly interested in methane and nitrous oxide emission and carbon sequestration levels. If so, this information should be made accessible to people.Dr. Sander addressed the queries of Dr. Muyeed. He said that there have been hundreds of studies on emissions around the world. However, there are only two in Bangladesh. They need more data. Nonetheless, it is clear how much they can save with AWD: roughly 50%. Dr. Md. Nasiruzzaman appreciated the statements made by the participants and the experience shared by farmers and pump owners. He added that reducing the amount of water used is important because groundwater levels are decreasing while salinity intrusion and vulnerability to earthquakes are increasing. Those who use groundwater will have to move when it runs low. Farmers still use too much water because they have to pay for a certain amount to pump owners up front; financially, it does not make sense to reduce consumption. If farmers had a prepaid meter system to access water instead, they would have to think more deeply about the amount they would need to farm their land.Right now, 50,000 farmers are targeted to adopt AWD, but this is not enough. More should be taught. If they learn it once, they can take that knowledge wherever they go. Why farmers do not continue or adopt the AWD technique should be researched and each Upazila Committee and pump owner should be trained on AWD and its importance. Lastly, excess use of fertilizer is another issue. Quoting granular and pill urea amounts is important in preventing too much consumption.Dr. Md. Enamul Kabir, Executive Director, RDRS Dr. Enamul Kabir started his speech by thanking all the discussants and panel members for all the great inputs and knowledge sharing. He presented his speech from the perspective of water, sanitation and hygiene as he has a long track of working in this sector. He mentioned two things, one of which is the necessity of available data. Even if it is one of the significant resources in decision making, they often lack accessible and quality data.Dr. Kabir also shared that BMDA has been performing a major role in irrigation as reflected in the 11 million tube wells that were set up in the villages. The United Nations Children's Fund had first pointed out the problem of depleting groundwater supply. Compounding this problem is the high volume of water being wasted.Aside from this challenge, he discussed about his one research where he studied 16 upazila and how many areas in them were suffering from groundwater depletion. He found out that only two upazilas were challenged with groundwater recharge problem; others were having automatic recharges. Building from these results, he thought that water recharge problem could have been controlled already if they were consuming water appropriately.He also acknowledged that Bangladesh would face the severe impacts of climate change. Emitting relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide, the country must then focus its emission reduction efforts on methane. It can be the reason why Bangladesh can be tagged as a methane contributor worldwide. Dr. Kabir reiterated the critical role of water saving technologies to address this problem.Before ending his speech, Dr. Kabir noted that various challenges and opportunities may still hamper their large-scale implementation efforts. In the next phase, they should work with more stakeholders such as upazila committees, unions, and standing committees, among others, to sustain the whole ecosystem and the human lives within it.Chowdhury, the former Agriculture Minister, any further establishment of deep tube wells was stopped. Mr. Hossain thought that this was a wrong step and only kept them from utilizing their water supply. He cited the large amounts of water from the Himalayas that are not being used by farmers in Rangpur district. The supply could have helped in increasing the groundwater levels instead of just allowing it to flow to the sea.Illegal shallow machine connection is another severe problem in different areas. The numerous illegal connections pressure the water underground. It decreases the water supply and affects soil heath.Mr. Hossain also shared an incident of women's deaths due to illegal wiring (\"Phata Tar\") of shallow machines. During his visit to the women, he was informed that only 2 pumps were set legally while 6 pumps around the original shallow machines were illegally connected. In many cases, people cut the connection of legal pumps and close their outlets. As a response, he discussed the situation with the local chairman and asked for the detection of illegal connectors and forbid them. However, this situation may continue if proper steps are not taken.Mr. Hossain mentioned holistic approaches that integrate soil types in different regions. It is also important to consider soil health improvement practices. Farmers must build this kind of mindset to protect their lands and improve soil quality. To complement this mindset, he shared various low-water hungry crops invented by BRRI and other organizations, which could be used to reduce the water usage.Nonetheless, among many problems, groundwater recharge would emerge as a severe issue in the future. Rainwater harvesting techniques will be crucial in supplying water in the farms. There are various rural-based techniques that can also be scaled to recharge groundwater. To supplement these water-saving techniques, carbon and methane emissions from the croplands must be quantified. Finally, he recommended to recruit young farmers to implement the new techniques.Dr. Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD Dr.Saleemul Huq thanked all the participants, including the chief guest, special guest and guest of honor, for their valuable inputs. He stated that Bangladesh may be one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, but it does not share the same risks as other countries. \"Medicines are not the same for all diseases,\" Dr. Huq said as he emphasized country-specific initiatives for their agriculture sector. A few initiatives he noted were the development of rice varieties that require less water and technological solutions for a sustainable agriculture.He brought up GOBESHONA network, which has been generating researches on climate engineering, social science, and climate change adaptation and mitigation, among others, over the last 5 years. Around 2500 articles are currently available at the Network. It also conducts an annual international climate change conference every January, where many researchers in and out the country are provided platforms to present their work. Two major objectives of the Network were to improve the accessibility of technical knowledge to the general public and the sustainability of projects.Dr. Salahuddin from IRRI would hold a session on AWD technique next January. He proposed to explore climate financing opportunities from global donors and see if they could quantify the methane gas emissions to \"sell\" in the global market. He also suggested to the Government of Bangladesh to revisit and revise, if necessary, the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP).Dr. Huq said that steps would be taken to include AWD and methane gas emission plans in the revised BCCSAP to accelerate broader implementation. He finally stated that unless we adopt a coordinated plan, it would be hard to reach a goal. It is then crucial to follow a coordinated approach in the climate change sector to obtain sustainability in farming.Bjoern Ole Sander thanked everyone for their kind participation in making the workshop successful. On behalf of IRRI, Dr. Sander expressed his gratitude to the chief guests, panel members, partners, government organizations and the farmers for their significant contribution in the implementation of the project.","tokenCount":"3153"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0102978856.json b/data/part_1/0102978856.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8c8732c66850665d1106cfdfad11fe458cea3b7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0102978856.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca1586b6c9cc1057299c69a2c6236ace","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/674efe9d-f54d-4be5-804b-21f2f6f04d93/retrieve","id":"766314587"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db9a557f-e4d3-4596-aee9-7ca870ddc0de","pagecount":"34","content":"The One Health approach recognizes the interconnections between the health of people, animals, and their shared environment. This initiative will generate evidence and develop tools enabling the redesign of food systems to improve human health based on One Health principles.• Increased frequency and severity of infectious diseases (including Covid-19) as people encroach on wildlife habitats and livestock and fish production systems intensify. • Animal production systems are reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, which are responsible for 60% of human communicable disease cases• Antimicrobial Resistance AMR causes 700,000 deaths annually and is projected to kill 10 million each year by 2050 • Foodborne disease takes a toll comparable to that of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, but receives a small fraction of the investment from international donors • Solving these challenges requires a One Health approach• Leverages unique CGIAR capacity on One Health in food systemsProtect human health through the improvement of the detection, prevention, and control of zoonoses, foodborne diseases and AMR in LMICs, by:• Generating evidence to enable risk-based prioritization of geographies, pathogens, AMR genes, and exposure pathways, for surveillance, risk mitigation, incentivization of stakeholders, and regulatory enforcement.• Evaluating impacts of technologies, tools, and approaches to identify and control zoonoses and AMR, and improve food safety and water quality.• Integrating innovations into government partners' policies and programs and disseminate knowledge for further scaling. Reduce the burden of foodborne disease with a focus on animal-source and other perishable foods, including in informal and traditional food systems, through simple technologies and non-punitive governance approaches implemented along food value chains from production to consumption.1. Support of value chain actors to improve food safety through training, certification and promotion of consumer demand, and of governments in the development of feasible, non-punitive approaches to regulatory enforcement.2. Simple, context-specific physical (e.g. color-coded surfaces and containers for raw and cooked foods) and behavioral technologies (e.g. nudges) to facilitate food safety practices by food system actors throughout the value chain.Pre-empt emergence and spread of zoonoses with epidemic and pandemic potential at the interface of wildlife, livestock, and people through surveillance, identification of high-risk behaviors and geographies; reduce incidence of zoonotic pathogens associated with poverty.Reduce selection and spread of AMR from livestock, fish and crop production systems through reduced and bettertargeted AMU, surveillance of AMU and AMR in animals and animal-source foods, improved manure management, and a better understanding of the environment as a reservoir for AMR.1. Evidence on how livestock and fish production and farm profits are affected by reducing antimicrobial use while implementing alternative herd and fish health approaches.2. ICT-based tools to enable farmers, agrovet dealers, and/or veterinarians to address livestock diseases without the use of antimicrobials.Improve land use and water management for the reduction of health risks, with a focus on pollution from agriculture and aquaculture, including zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial residues and genes, and high-risk wildlife-livestock-human interfaces.Test effects of capacity building, incentives, and monitoring on behavior of value chain actors and government personnel providing support or oversight for relevant sectors through randomized evaluations. Model economic impacts of epidemics and control measures.","tokenCount":"505"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0137947543.json b/data/part_1/0137947543.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b73e1dd29f242eb6c1977d4c8d42f6fe657b1a6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0137947543.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"867f3b3e6a158effffa69cb0a87d4bfe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42ec4244-55f4-4a55-aa75-5da581afab08/retrieve","id":"-793409990"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1d3be0af-a054-4d81-b73e-029861da3d1f","pagecount":"80","content":"Previously published material. The \"Micronesian files\" section of the Library of the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) comprises the most comprehensive central source of useful publications in RMI. The Ministry of Resources and Development (R&D) and its Economic Policy, Planning, and Statistical Office (EPPSO), along with the USDA Land Grant Program Library and the personal library of the consultants were also important sources. Various reports published in the local newspaper, the Marshall Islands Journal (MIJ), and on the Internet also provided relevant material. Interviews with pertinent government officials, heads of NGOs, copra makers, farmers and retailers of local produce. Email contact with knowledgeable people. For some people, even local ones, this proved to be an efficient means of communicating.This report has been commissioned by the CTA to enhance its monitoring of information needs in ACP countries. CTA does not guarantee the accuracy of data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof. The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of CTA. CTA reserves the right to select projects and recommendations that fall within its mandate.   This study was undertaken to assist the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and its various national and regional partners in providing the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) better access to sources of information for agricultural development.Prodigious agricultural efforts in the Marshalls have neither met aspirations nor been cost effective. It is therefore notable to have been chosen as a state of interest to ACP/CTA.The report presents a general overview of the Marshall Islands with emphasis on the current status of agriculture, fisheries, and communications. Environmental and socio-economic conditions that restrict agricultural potential are described and a limited range of opportunities for agricultural information initiatives that CTA services may be able to provide is suggested. Potential institutional beneficiaries are identified and their requests for information noted.to identify agricultural information needs of key actors / beneficiaries for CTA products and services; to identify needs of potential actors / beneficiaries of CTA activities and services in terms of building capacity for information and communication management; to identify potential partners / beneficiaries for CTA activities and services; to develop some baseline data to facilitate subsequent monitoring activities.1. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) came into being in 1983 through the Lomé Convention between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU) Member States.2. CTA's tasks concern developing and providing services:to help improve information access regarding agriculture and rural development; to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries; to produce, acquire, exchange and utilize information in this area.3. CTA works primarily through intermediary organizations and partners to promote agriculture and rural development. Through partnerships, CTA hopes to increase the number of ACP organizations capable of generating and managing information and developing their own information and communication management strategies. The identification of appropriate partners is therefore of primordial importance.4. Traditionally, the Pacific and Caribbean regions have not received sufficient attention in CTA's programme and activities. Six new Pacific member states have recently been admitted and not much is known about them. CTA needs to develop an intervention strategy and provide relevant assistance to these new member states, in part by elaborating criteria for decision-making with regard to the choice of partner organisations and beneficiaries. In addition, various national and regional partners with whom CTA has had a long-standing relationship have requested the current study in the expectation that it may assist them in providing better targeted assistance to their beneficiaries.5. The objectives of this study are:to identify agricultural information needs of key actors / beneficiaries for CTA products and services; to identify needs of potential actors / beneficiaries of CTA activities and services in terms of building capacity for information and communication management; to identify potential partners / beneficiaries for CTA activities and services; to develop some baseline data to facilitate subsequent monitoring activities.6. The study should assist CTA, its three operational departments, and its local representatives to improve and better target interventions and activities aimed at their potential partners and beneficiaries (i.e., women, youth, private sector and civil society organizations). This study also should give provide an informed picture of their needs and thus aid in the elaboration of a strategy and framework of action.7. The study should specify which organizations and institutions have specific needs for CTA's products and services thereby enabling improvement in the delivery of same. In addition, the study should identify and/or update priority agricultural information themes that will feed into a possible future Pacific priority-setting exercise.8. Information in this report was drawn primarily from the following sources:Previously published material. The majority of this was found within the Micronesian files of the Library of the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI). Other sources of material were through the Secretary of Resources and Development, the USDA Land Grant Program Library and the personal library of the consultants. Various reports regularly appeared in the local newspaper. Internet searches for relevant material were also done. Both recent and older reports were utilized; some information was included to indicate trends. Face-to-face interviews with pertinent local people. Road travel to the other end of the atoll was necessary for some of the interviews.Email contact with knowledgeable people. For some people, even local ones, this proved to be a more efficient means of communicating.A thorough survey of small businesses, restaurants, and roadsides produce stands on Majuro. Over one hundred such retailers were surveyed. 9. The work was done from Majuro but also draws upon the experiences of all the members of the team when they lived or worked on, or visited the various outer atolls. For much of the year, winds are fairly strong from the East quadrant and can carry salt-laden spray from breaking waves up to 50 meters inland along leeward lagoon shorelines and even further inland along windward, ocean shores. Tropical cyclones occasionally strike the atolls, damaging crops and fresh water supplies. Powerful typhoons have washed over entire islets and islands. During El Nino periods the atolls may experience severe droughts, with stunting or death of some vegetation and survival-threatening intrusion of saltwater into an island's freshwater lens. 20. The southern atolls are wetter (4500 mm average rainfall) and have richer soils and vegetation. Because of extremely low rainfall on the northern atolls (1800 mm average), agriculture potential is very limited or non-existent (Fosberg 1949: 92). On northern Bikar Atoll, coconut trees grow but do not produce normal nuts during dry periods (Weins 1962).The northernmost atoll of Bokak is so hard that even turtles cannot nest there 1 .21. The population of the rural atolls of the Marshalls, currently estimated at 18,000 persons, is heavily dependent upon subsistence agriculture. According to the most recent survey (1988 National Census), 83.6% of these households reported they are engaged in subsistence agriculture, 84.3% in copra production, and approximately 68% kept chickens and pigs for their own consumption, with 57% involved in making handicrafts (MIOI 1991). (See Table 1, Annex 2.1.1.) In the more rural areas of urbanized Majuro, a substantial portion of households is involved in some level of subsistence or semi-subsistence agriculture and some keep pigs and chickens.22. Copra had been the major industry of the Marshall Islands since the 1860s but began a precipitous decline in the 1980s that has heavily impacted household economies in the outer atolls. Nevertheless, copra producers remain the largest single occupation group in the RMI in 1999 -with 24% of all non-public sector people employed in copra making (MIJ: June 11, 2004).23. The typical landholding (weto) is a narrow strip, averaging about 100 meters wide and stretching from the lagoon to ocean shores of the island. With the exception of an area near the dwelling where edible crops grow, most rural wetos are planted with coconut palms. Even in the urban sections of Majuro, a few productive coconut palms, pandanus and breadfruit trees may be found between houses and businesses.24. Most agricultural activity in the Marshalls takes place on the outer atolls. There it is concentrated in the leeward areas of the family dwelling, typically requiring only casual tending of plants such as banana, papaya and pumpkin rather than intensive cultivation of garden plots. Breadfruit trees are found further inland where they may tap the freshwater lens while pandanus thrives even very close to the lagoon shore. Pigs and chickens are generally allowed to range freely. Commercial agriculture on large plots of land is unknown in RMI except on an experimental farm funded by the Republic of China (ROC) in Laura Village on Majuro Atoll.25. Land in the Marshalls is poor and unsuitable for normative farming. The soil is largely derived from coral and coralline material, providing an unusual chemical mix, extremely alkaline and often extremely high in phosphorus, low in nitrogen and almost entirely lacking in potassium and iron (Stone et al 2000: 1, 9). 'Arable land' is estimated to be 3000 hectares.(See 1 It is, however, a marvelous haven for sea birds, and has received special protection as such in the past and recommendations for World Heritage protection as a total reserve. (Thomas et al 1989) 27. There is growing concern in the outer atolls that land is being lost to erosion at an accelerating rate. The perception is that the rate of flow of currents through and around the atolls is increasing, along with the size and frequency of very large ocean waves, and that these two factors combine to erode shoreline, resulting in a net loss of agricultural land. At Katiej Island, alongside a major pass on Ailingaplap Atoll, dozens of coconut palm and pandanus trees, along with a mighty 100+ year old lukwej or beautyleaf tree (Calophyllum inophyllum) have been lost over the past 20 years from shoreline erosion. The airfield serving Loen Island at Namu Atoll was abandoned several years ago due to erosion. The airfield at Ailuk Atoll was similarly endangered but was saved by construction of a US$80,000 seawall. Other examples abound.28. Subsistence. Subsistence crops consumed on the rural atolls are estimated to account for US$2.7 million in value annually (US$1100 per household) and livestock for US$0.2 million (US$82 per household). Many families in Majuro tend at least some traditional crops and livestock for their own consumption, with an estimated valuation of US$0.5 million annually. Dollar value of all subsistence agricultural activity in RMI is therefore estimated to be US$3.4 million annually or about 3% of GDP. (See Table 3, Annex 2.1.4.) 29. Copra/Commercial. Between 1999 and 2003, gross income from copra production averaged 0.7% of GDP or US$0.85 million annually (US$375 per household), more than US$2 million less than the inflation adjusted 1964-1998 average, due primarily to falling prices. 30. Commercial: retail. About 75 Majuro households currently grow garden vegetables, a portion of which are marketed. Estimated valuation for this category is US$0.2 million annually (<0.2% GDP). The Republic of China (Taiwan) funds and operates the Taiwan Technical Mission at Laura, which in 2003 produced close to 13,600 kg. of produce, approximately two-thirds of which was for market. This venture is highly dependent on foreign aid and far from being self-supporting. The Taiwan farm sells about US$0.2 million (<0.2% GDP) in commercial agricultural product annually. (See Table 6, Annex 2.1.5.)31. Most major crops are ones that are well suited to the atoll environment with a long history of being grown successfully in the Marshall Islands (Ae'a 1863;Okobe 1941:6;Spoehr 1949: 28;Pollock 1996:3). Over the centuries, attempts have been made to introduce many different crops into the Marshalls. A few of these have grown reasonably well. Types and quantities of crops and livestock consumed and estimates of their cash values on the outer atolls and urban areas in 2003 may be found in Table 5, Annex 2.1.5. 32. While husbandry of domestic ducks, geese, turkeys, goats, and other livestock species have been attempted, only pigs and chickens have proved viable. For the most part, these are raised in a haphazard manner as the primary source of meat on festival occasions and are allowed complete freedom to roam as they please (Mason 1952: 6;Robinson 1973: 498). Free-ranging pigs have been the demise of many private attempts to garden. Commercial chicken production, for either meat or eggs, thus far has not been profitable because it requires importation of costly imported feed. 2 A few small piggeries exist in Majuro, including one at the Laura Farm.33. Because of cultural values, food produced on the outer atolls is rarely sold locally, though a pig may sometimes be purchased for a special occasion. Outer atoll crops are rarely marketed at the urban atolls because of seemingly insurmountable problems in transportation and lack of a reliable mechanism for payment. (See Annex 2.2.3: Access to Urban Markets for Outer Atoll Products.) Urban relatives sometimes request that a pig, a bunch of bananas, a cluster of pandanus, lobsters, crabs or other shellfish be sent to them depending on availability of transportation. These are not tendered for a particular cash value but are 'paid for' under the cultural tradition of reciprocity among Marshallese.34. The principal methods of marketing foods produced locally in Majuro are at roadside stands, 'take-out' stores, major retailers, the Laura Farm, and at the monthly Farmers' Market. (See Annex 2.1.4 for a description of these various enterprises.) 35. Copra from the outer atolls is shipped to Majuro for processing by the Tobolar Copra Processing Authority, which has the exclusive right to purchase copra in RMI. Raw copra is converted to oil and shipped aboard tankers to foreign ports. Copra cake, a by-product, is also sometimes exported. A portion of copra cake production is purchased locally as fertilizer.36. Total estimated annual value of agricultural activity in RMI is approximately US$4.66 million, of which consumption of subsistence crops and livestock accounts for 73% (3% GDP), copra production for 18% (0.7% GDP), and commercial agriculture for 9% (0.4% GDP). (See Table 3, Annex 2.1.4.) 37. Outer atoll copra production averaged 3600 metric tonnes over the five years 1999-2003 and 4800 metric tonnes over the previous 35 years, with average inflation-adjusted prices ranging from a low of US$.24 per kg (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) to US$0.62 per kg . Per capita income from copra in the outer atolls declined 80% between these two periods, from $267 to $59. (See Table 7 and Figure 1, Annex 2.1.6.) Since 1987, the Government of RMI has subsidized the price of copra. In some years this subsidy has comprised well over half of the cash value paid for all copra in RMI.38. As the price of copra drops, production tends to decline and reliance on subsistence agriculture to increase. To compensate for lowered copra income, current consumption of subsistence crops is estimated to have increased by 35% over the period 1992-96. The capacity to tap into subsistence resources has enabled outer atoll dwellers to maintain normative calorific intake despite loss of cash income as copra price has decreased (Bolt 1997: 6;Sisifa 2002: 8).39. The principal government agency involved in agriculture is the Division of Agriculture (DoA) under the Ministry of Resources and Development (R&D). DoA's goal is to 'optimize the generation of food crops, food security, helping the population to achieve an adequate diet, and provide income for farmers.' With a staff of only six, most of its activities are in Majuro. DoA's FY2003 budget was less than US$200,000, comprising 30% of R&D's budget, the smallest of any government Ministry (EPPSO 2003: 4 th Quarter Stats Bulletin). 40. Formerly, DoA's extension agents occasionally made visits to the outer atolls to promote new crops and techniques. The size and significance of DoA has gradually diminished over the years, due perhaps to lack of successful outcomes for its programs, but also to the widely held perception that the Taiwan Technical Mission and the Enewetak Food and Agriculture Program. are better qualified to fulfil most agricultural needs in RMI. R&D was the only agency identified during the course of this study with a previous relationship with CTA. 41. Early in the 1990s, the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) established an experimental farm known locally as \"the Laura Farm\" on Majuro Atoll as part of its assistance program for RMI. The purpose of the Farm is to determine what specific vegetable crops and livestock are suitable for the Marshalls and to train farmers in how to cultivate and manage them. It maintains a small piggery to improve breeding stocks and sells piglets locally. A chickenfarming project for egg production was abandoned in 2003 as unsustainable. TTM holds training sessions several times a year at the Laura Farm for Marshallese interested in home gardening. It also sponsors extension services to the public high schools on Wotje and Jaluit Atolls, and to Kili Island. About 2/3 of its agricultural products are sold through retail stores in Majuro, the remainder being distributed as gifts. (See Table 6, Annex 2.1.5 for list of crops grown at TTM.) 42. The Enewetak Food and Agriculture Program was established in 1993 by USDA/Land Grant to restore Enewetak Island, which had been cleared of all vegetation in the 1940s when it was appropriated as the base camp for the nuclear testing program there, to its natural condition. The US Department of the Interior took over management and funding responsibilities in 1997 with a budget of about US$0.5 million. The Program, having employed a full time atoll agriculturalist since 1996, is scheduled to close in August 2005, its goals having been achieved. Principal research benefits to agricultural enhancement on other outer atolls are organic composting techniques and cultivation of varieties of breadfruit and pandanus that bear throughout the year.International Airport and at Ebeye, does limited inspection of ships and has done some pest monitoring and control working in cooperation with SPC. 46. The notion that information and communication management (ICM) systems may play a key strategic role in enhancing performance was not unknown to the heads of most agencies surveyed. There was uncertainly, however, about how an ICM system suited to their needs should be designed and implemented. At present, collaboration and coordination among agencies engaged in agriculture is very informal. Neither personnel nor structures are in place through which the ICM concept could readily function effectively.Environment 47. The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of RMI is 2.13 million sq km, 11,770 times larger than its land area (181 sq km). Most local fishing, however, is done in the lagoons (10,300 sq km) and within a few kilometers of the atolls' ocean reefs. Foreign fishing vessels are licensed by RMI to fish within its EEZ, however, but are prohibited by law from fishing within 8 km of atolls. Traditional taboos restrict or prohibit fishing on certain reef areas of most atolls.46. Nearly 90% of outer atoll households engage in subsistence fishing. In general, men do most of the fishing while women may harvest shellfish, octopus and other reef-bound species. A smaller portion of urban households, perhaps 20-25%, also do some subsistence fishing. Fish and marine animals from the lagoons and the ocean provide about 90% of protein in the subsistence food diet of the outer atolls (Shaw 1994:19).47. Licensed foreign fishing vessels engage in long-line, purse-line, and pole and line fishing for yellowfin, bigeye, and skipjack tuna. Licenses issued for shark long-lining were revoked recently due to allegations of poaching near outer atoll reefs and other violations, survey data indicating that stocks are declining. Various attempts, both privately and government funded, have been made to establish local commercial deep sea fishing fleets over the past 15 years but none have succeeded.48. The most common local fishing methods are gill/throw-netting, bottom fishing, ocean and lagoon reef pole and line, spearfishing and trolling. There is limited harvesting of octopus and lobster, mostly for personal consumption. Sportsfishing clubs are active on Majuro and Kwajalein Atolls. No local fishing licenses are required for RMI residents.49. There is a private hatchery/farm for baby giant clams for the aquarium market in Majuro. A small, privately owned black lip pearl farm has been in operation at Arno Atoll for several years. Shark fin is purchased by a Majuro buyer and on at least one outer atoll. A feasibility study for growing seaweed has been proposed for Majuro Atoll. Limited collection and export of live reef rock has also occurred from time to time. 50. Of seven outer atoll fish bases built with Japanese funding, six supply limited quantities of fresh reef fish to Majuro and Kwajalein Atolls and to Kili Island. The base on Arno Atoll sells significant product to Majuro because of its proximity. Due to local concerns about overfishing at Arno, Japan has funded a stock assessment program there.51. Fisheries initiatives on the outer atolls include commercial lobster gathering, beche-demer processing, smoked-dried fish production, black lip pearl farms and giant clam mariculture. Trochus shell has been harvested for short periods in the 1980s and 1990s but lack of effective means for controlling quantities taken has resulted in serious stock depletion at all but two of the seven atolls where the resource exists. (See Tables 9 and 10, Annex 2.1.6.) Marketing 52. Foreign vessels catch more than 90% of the total fish tonnage caught in RMI. This fish is exported to Japan and Southeast Asia for processing.53. On Majuro and Kwajalein, local commercial fishermen usually have existing arrangements with various retail stores or restaurants to purchase their catches.54. Contribution of all types of fisheries activity in RMI is estimated to have averaged US$6.2 million between 1996 and 2001 (5.5% of GDP) (see Table 4, Annex 2.1.4), with foreign fleet licensing and transshipment fees contributing an average of US$3.3 million to this total. The balance consists of subsistence/local commercial fisheries, valued at US$2.9 million. (Note that amounts given in paragraph 17 for licensing and transshipment fees are averaged over the period 1998-2004.) 55. Subsistence fishing on the outer atolls is estimated to yield 3000 metric tonnes annually, valued at US$2 million (US$800 per household); fishing for household consumption in the urban atolls of Majuro and Kwajalein has an estimated value of US$0.6 million (US$125 per household) from 225 metric tonnes of catch. The value of limited local commercial fishing at the urban atolls and at several outer atoll 'fish bases\" has not been surveyed but is estimated to generate US$0.3 million annually.56. Licensing fees for foreign fishing vessels are based on species and quantities of fish caught in a given year and therefore vary widely according to fishing conditions in RMI's EEZ. Between 1998 and 2001, average of fees paid for fishing rights was US$2.3 million and average tonnage caught was 48,860. (See Tables 8 and 9, Annex 2.1.6.) Majuro Atoll has served as a transhipment port for Asian purse seiners since 1998 on a per use fee basis. Annual fee payments to RMI for both these licensed categories are estimated to have averaged US$4.2 million over 1998-2004. 57. Export value of ornamental and aquarium fish averaged US$0.5 million in the early 1990s, but increasing market competition, problems with reliability of air transport and retirement of the principal involved have diminished production significantly. 58. A fish loining plant established in Majuro in 1999 generated US$2.5 million annually in export value and employed over 500 local workers but closed early in 2005 due lack of profitability.is the primary agency tasked with management of fisheries and related enterprises and is the licensing agency for foreign vessels. It is charged with the implementation and enforcement of regulations, provides training for observers aboard foreign fishing boats, and supervises management of several outer atoll fish bases. 60. The RMI Environmental Protection Authority is also charged with coastal management and enforcement of environmental regulations.Environment 61. Early settlers of the Marshalls converted portions of indigenous forest to subsistence agroforests of important introduced food trees such as breadfruit. Traditional agroforestry practices in the Marshalls achieved an ecological balance with their low coral island environments. One of the most important functions of this agroforestry has been in controlling salt spray intrusion and soil erosion along shorelines. Population growth in the urban atolls has dramatically affected the mutually supportive relationship between atoll environment and traditional agroforestry.62. Nearly all outer atoll men engage in building houses and some, canoes. All women do some weaving, most make handicrafts, and some concoct local medicines. Recently, some outer atoll men have become involved in handicraft production.63. In the urban atolls, large areas of vegetation have been cleared to provide for dense home and business construction, roads and public buildings. On Ebeye Island, where Marshallese workers at the Kwajalein test site are housed, only a few scattered coconut palms remain standing. Military activity during World War II, and later nuclear testing, has altered the variety of plant life on large areas of some atolls.64. Coconut palms are by far the most prevalent tree species in RMI. Large areas of land were cleared during German and Japanese administrations to plant coconut palms because of the once-high value of the copra they yielded. Areas of outer atolls and islands under coconut plantation range from 42.1% to 99.8% with an overall average of 65.5%. (See Table 2, Annex 2.1.2.) 65. There is negligible logging in RMI. Certain species of existing trees are utilized for house framing and canoe construction and to make local medicines. Some varieties of leaves and fibers are used to make mats, baskets, medicines and handicrafts. Dead or fallen branches are used for firewood in the outer atolls.No official estimate for value of overall forestry products exists. Over the 10-year period 1991-2000, handicraft production contributed an average of 0.4% to GDP. In the past few years, it is believed that handicrafts may account for up to US$0.7 million or 0.6% GDP. Increase in handicraft production began in response to copra price decline and continues to grow rapidly as efficient marketing strategies developed by Majuro/outer atoll women's groups improve. Agencies 67. The Agriculture Division of the Ministry of R&D ostensibly has responsibility for forestry projects in RMI. The USDA Forestry Service, in cooperation with the Agriculture Division, recently began sponsoring several small projects in urban forestry, community nurseries and documentation of pandanus species. Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI), a long established NGO that coordinates most of the 300 other NGOs, mainly women's groups in the outer islands, helps with the promotion and marketing of handicrafts. 73. Since there are only three post offices in RMI, two in Majuro and one at Ebeye, Kwajalein, mail service to the outer atolls is informal. Typically, a letter or parcel is given to a passenger boarding a plane or ship to hand-deliver to the addressee at his destination. CMI will send letters and packages as 'airfreight' (US$.50 per pound, minimum charge of US$5) to its agents on the outer atolls, who are then supposed to deliver same to addressees. Mail sent via 'airfreight' from the outer atolls is held at the AMI office at the airport until addressee claims it or someone is tasked to take it to the Post Office.74. Lack of postal service and data communications to the outer atolls, in addition to problematic voice communication, are serious impediments to general development there.75. Nearly all useful knowledge about agriculture has long been and still is learned by children working on family land under the tutelage of their elders. Division of Agriculture currently produces no public information in either written or broadcast form.76. The Marshalls Islands Journal (MIJ), an independent weekly newspaper published in Majuro, often contains articles about fisheries in RMI and less frequently, about agriculture.77. Some pamphlets and books on agricultural topics, mainly dealing with coconut production, have been produced over the years in Marshallese but these are 'out of print' and could be found only in the files of CMI Library or serendipitously in certain offices.78. A few government entities, the Ministry of Health, the RMI Environmental Protection Authority and the College of the Marshall Islands, have at various times produced their own newsletters that sometimes include agriculture-related topics.79. According to the 1999 census, 87% of households owned AM radio receivers. 82. HF-SSB and CB radios provide a vital link between people living in the outer atolls and the urban centers. (See Annex 2.3.2 for details).83. Twenty percent of outer atoll households reported that they had a 'two-way' radio in the 1999 census. All but a few percent of these were CB units (no license required) costing less than US$200, while HF-SSB radios installed may cost more than US$2000.  2003: 12;per. comm. Kuniyuki) The University of the South Pacific has its own private satellite system for providing lectures to students, as well as its own email service.86. In the mid-nineties, the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for keeping track of fishing boats was introduced to RMI. The system is comprised of an integrated GPS satellite transceiver using Inmarsat, by which the position of a ship can be determined at any time by polling the transceiver. Either local (RMI Sea Patrol) or international (Forum Fisheries Agency, FFA, in Honiara) agencies can do this polling (per comm. M. Ferris, FFA).87. VMS has the potential to facilitate enforcement of marine regulations. Ships have poached extensively within the restricted limits around the various atolls. The impact on local food supply and land-protecting reef integrity is unknown. Even VMS, if fully enforced, would likely not totally protect the high value marine resources found near the atolls.88. In the process of compiling this report, an impressive amount of written information was found. Unlike other areas described by Walton (2000: 201), the bulk of the information written on agriculture and related matters in RMI has already been classified and stored in the Library of the College of the Marshall Islands, where it is accessible to researchers. Much of the written material is of little relevance to RMI, however, and some of it is utterly inappropriate. CMI currently is striving to maintain its accreditation. Should it be unable to do so, US funding will be lost and CMI may be forced to close.89. None of the administrative agencies surveyed maintains a coherent library for ready public access, though department heads will try to provide information requested to researchers. Ordinary people in the Marshalls, however, are not accustomed to seek information about agriculture or fisheries from libraries, but rather rely upon the advice of persons or institutions with acknowledged status and expertise. 90. Information disseminated must be relevant, accurate, consistent, useful, and in the Marshallese language. Much of the information presented over the years has not been relevant to the special needs of the tropical atoll environment and therefore of little or no use. Too many proposals for agricultural initiatives in the past have often not been sufficiently tested but nonetheless have been acted upon with disappointing and sometimes undesirable consequences. Inconsistent advice has generated uncertainty and confusion. Other consequences of inappropriate information have been environmental damage and the introduction of unwanted species.is essential. There is concern about how to control or exterminate invasive species of insects and plants that are attacking local crops and animals. The atolls had been relatively well insulated from invasives until recent years, but increasing commerce from foreign ports, coupled with lack of effective quarantine controls, have resulted in the introduction of numerous new species. Their impacts on breadfruit and poultry production and on edible land crab populations on many atolls have ranged from mild to debilitating. Having little or no previous experience with invasive species, Marshallese have been slow to appreciate their threat, but awareness is growing, as are requests for information about how to deal with them. Since no personnel from Division of Agriculture or EPA are normally present on the outer atolls, these agencies usually are unaware of what invasive species exist there or of the damage they may be doing. No well-defined system for communicating with these Majurobased agencies from the outer atolls has been established.92. Because people do not fully understand the importance of quarantine, they often try to circumvent inspection. The most effective way of educating people about its importance is through public radio programming, distribution of pamphlets and inclusion of the subject in school curricula.93. Outer atoll people are concerned about the consequences of apparently accelerating erosion of the shorelines of their islands and would like information about what kinds of trees or shrubs could be planted to prevent or contain this.94. Too often, proposals for new products or for exploitation of existing ones have been made but with no consideration given to marketing strategies.95. Information about new ways to utilize native species, lesser known products, and recently introduced crops would be helpful. People surveyed were intrigued by the thought that some native plants familiar to them, especially those requiring little or no maintenance, could provide an easy food source. These include not just food crops but marketable marine products as well. There is limited interest in how to prepare new kinds of food for personal consumption. Instruction on how better utilize such products is often given through agriculture workshops, with separate nutrition workshops on how to prepare them for eating, but this knowledge is rarely communicated to the general public.96. Many of the persons interviewed asserted that ways to protect the local environment and preserve traditional knowledge should be not be neglected in any information disseminated or programs undertaken.97. Agriculture programming should be sensitive to certain cultural themes about what sort of food, including some garden vegetables, is considered inappropriate for humans to eat, a notion repeated by various people interviewed. This aversion may be rooted in the tradition of making medicines from certain undergrowth plants having an undesirable taste and/or that plants growing close to the ground are regarded as food for animals only.98. Given the distances between atolls and difficulty in distributing written materials there, the government AM broadcast radio station V7AB is perhaps the most effective medium in RMI for enhancing public knowledge of agricultural and fisheries-related questions. 101. Collaboration and coordination among agencies and other entities engaged in agriculture are informal or personal. The notion that information and communications management systems may play a key strategic role in enhancing performance was not unknown to the heads of most agencies surveyed. There was uncertainty, however, about the need and about how a suitable ICM system could be designed and implemented. At present, the technical expertise required to create such a system is not readily accessible locally and neither personnel nor structures are in place through which the ICM concept could readily function effectively.102. Not only is the existing network of HF-SSB radios cumbersome to use, but also there are no clear protocols in place, either in Majuro or on the outer atolls, for relaying critical information on agriculture or fisheries between the two locations. Foreign vessels have often been observed fishing well within the coastal limit but no local action has been taken because no one knows who should call Majuro with such information or to whom in Majuro the information should be transmitted. RMI needs to establish a more effective system for communication between the outer atolls and agencies in Majuro.103. The primary capacity concern of many interviewed, similarly to previous studies, was the need for reliable transportation of goods, which would enable outer atolls to access markets in Majuro and Kwajalein.104. Many of the capacity building needs addressed in other regions of the world, such as how to maintain equipment and develop strategies, seemed of little concern among those surveyed since they believed sufficient knowledge is already available locally.105. The outer atoll people of the Marshalls continue to prosper relative to the millennial past, still gathering what is needed from their improbable islands and surrounding waters in an equilibrium with natural limitations. Atoll dwellers were not practitioners of 'agriculture' as such, but did eke from the land what food it was capable of yielding, artfully preserving seasonal crops of breadfruit and pandanus. Marshallese concentrated their resources on seafaring, building ingenious outrigger canoes from the scant materials available and navigating them over long distances, feats for which they are now famed. With these highly honed skills, they fished the lagoons and ocean and had relatively easy access to islands where they could find supplemental food. It was aboard their voyaging canoes that they sometimes migrated, seasonally, to friendly atolls where food was more plentiful. Chiefs could lead fleets to wage war, expeditions often motivated, in part at least, by the desire to acquire food security as tribute.106. The question of whether the practice of agriculture as it is normatively understood could generate benefits in RMI commensurate with effort required given soil condition, precarious freshwater supply, salt air content, lack of mechanization and access to markets, coupled with a strong tradition of gathering rather than planting food, would candidly be answered in the negative by most long-term observers.to ways of improving their living conditions, particularly since they have recently learned of the material conveniences of other societies and desire some of those amenities for themselves. However, a recurrent theme in most of the interviews conducted was that traditional farming could be relied upon to yield productive results. There is a common perception that application of new techniques or introduction of new species, though promoted with high promise, almost always has failed. At present in RMI, there is scepticism about proposals to enhance agricultural productivity since great effort and expense, along with memorable frustration, have been devoted to this goal over years past with negligible benefit.108. Those living on the outer atolls have a real need for enhancing food security since income from copra has declined so significantly in recent years. Population there has more than doubled since the post-World War II years, and though standard of living has improved on certain dimensions, per capita income has declined. Thus far, the only reasonably successful remedy for this problem has been to continue to apply traditional agricultural wisdom and subsidize copra at the minimal politically acceptable level.109. An important and often overlooked reservoir of agricultural information is the local knowledge and cultural wisdom that has been passed down through generations. Solutions to most problems are widely known but sometimes are considered so obvious and mundane that when questioned about them by foreigners, a local person may have a hard time appreciating the import of what is being asked.110. Importation of foreign foods to the Marshall Islands began with the copra industry. Native taro, breadfruit and pandanus were gradually neglected over time as reliance on imports grew. Twenty years of decline in the price of copra has raised questions about alternative sources of value to the outer atoll economy. Tourism is being highly promoted by the government. More intense cultivation of native crops would regenerate surplus yields lost from neglect, storms, droughts and erosion and help mitigate future losses during periods of ecological crisis.110. Protect, support and enhance established agriculture: rather than experiment with new techniques or attempt to grow new crops, many people surveyed stated they would like to learn more about proven traditional practices and how they might be improved. Given frustrations with a manifold of former initiatives and concern about the diminishing value of copra, expansion of existing subsistence agricultural resources as a policy goal could have measurable success.111. Create and distribute instructional materials that are relevant, consistent and useful. Practical instructional material written in Marshallese was repeatedly mentioned by persons interviewed as being of value in educating people about agriculture, particularly in the outer islands. Pamphlets, posters, and cookbooks were the primary media suggested. Their rationale was that without electricity and not much written material, whatever is provided is kept by the people and widely read, at least over a certain time interval.112. Utilize AM broadcast radio to disseminate information. Given the distances between Majuro and the outer atolls and the lack of postal service and libraries there, the most effective means of disseminating information about agriculture and fisheries is via the government radio station, V7AB. Since this station is the only one in RMI that reaches all the atolls, most people listen to it closely.113. Assist agencies in establishing standardized data categories for agriculture and fisheries and in improving data collection techniques. EPPSO, R&D and MIMRA could benefit from developing standardized categories of agricultural, fisheries, and forestry data that would be the most useful to researchers and policy-makers. Optimal formats for describing these activities and recommendations about how these types of data could best be collected and summarized would be helpful.114. Assist Ministry of R&D in developing an appropriate ICM system that will enable agencies it supervises (Division of Agriculture, Quarantine Division and MIMRA) to communicate and share information more efficiently and to interface more effectively with other related entities (NGOs, Taiwan Technical Mission, CMI Library, Ministry of Education, etc.).The These operational departments are supported by Planning Corporate Services (P&CS) which is charged with the methodological underpinning of their work and monitoring the ACP environment in order to identify emerging issues and trends and make proposals for their translation into programmes and activities. This current exercise, therefore, falls within the mandate of P&CS.CTA works primarily through intermediary organizations and partners (non-governmental organisations, farmers' organisations, regional organisations, …) to promote agriculture and rural development. Through partnerships, CTA hopes to increase the number of ACP organisations capable of generating and managing information and developing their own information and communication management strategies. The identification of appropriate partners is therefore of primordial importance.The \"Evaluation of the Implementation of the Mid-Term Plan (1997 -2000)\" emphasised the need for CTA to develop a more pro-active approach and elaborate criteria for decision-making with regard to the choice of partner organisations and beneficiaries. Based on this evaluation, the \"Strategic Plan and Framework for Action -2001 -2005\" identifies strategic issues for CTA being: improved targeting (including partnerships and beneficiaries), geographical coverage, decentralisation, regionalisation and thematic orientation. The Plan also expresses concern about: the extent to which CTA's activities are relevant to and reach the poor, gender awareness and how to identify potential partners especially in the independent sectors.Besides partner identification and selection issues, the observation has also been made that, traditionally, the Pacific and Caribbean regions have not received sufficient attention in CTA's programme and activities. This is, for example, highlighted in the statistics on the number of individuals and organisations which receiving CTA publications or participating in workshops and training courses. Furthermore, the admission of 6 new Pacific member states under the Cotonou Agreement means not much known about them, hence the need to develop CTA intervention strategy and provide more targeted assistance.Finally, various national and regional partners with whom CTA has had a long-standing relationship have requested the current study in order to provide more targeted assistance to their beneficiaries.The objectives of the study are as follows:to identify agricultural information needs of key actors / beneficiaries for CTA products and services; to identify needs of potential actors / beneficiaries of CTA activities and services in terms of building capacity for information and communication management; to identify potential partners / beneficiaries for CTA activities and services; to develop some baseline data to facilitate subsequent monitoring activities.The study should assist the three operational departments of the CTA as well as its local representatives to improve and better target interventions and activities aimed at potential partners and beneficiaries (including women, youth, private sector and civil society organisations); to have a more informed picture of their needs and aid in the elaboration of a strategy and framework of action. The study should also highlight where there are specific needs for CTA's products and services thereby enabling improvement in the delivery of the same.The consultant will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative rapid appraisal methods including: the desk review of available literature and information sources including the findings of programme evaluations; the conduct of face-to-face interviews with relevant stakeholders / concerned parties; the limited use of questionnaires.The rapid appraisal approach will allow a general overview of the key issues and company / organisational profiles on a per country 5 basis and may give rise to more in-depth studies as and when needed in the future.One main report per country not exceeding 20 pages according to the following It is also expected that the results of this study will lead to identification / update of some priority agricultural information themes which will feed into a possible priority-setting exercise in the Pacific in 2004.The country reports will not exceed 20 pages (excluding annexes). The annexes should include a list of acronyms, of persons/institutions interviewed with addresses, phone, fax numbers, e-mail addresses (if any) as well as bibliography.Draft final report is to be submitted within two months after contract signature by CTA Final report due two weeks after receipt of comments from CTA.The overall coordination will be carried out by Ms Christine Webster, Deputy Head, Planning and Corporate Services CTA, assisted by Mrs Lola Visser-Mabogunje, Project Assistant.Mr. Peter Walton will ensure the regional coordination and lead a team of local consultants to be identified per country: In consultation with the Regional Coordinator, draft questionnaires Provide relevant background documents to the Team Draft budget and discuss contractual obligations with the Team Overall responsibility for the supervision and implementation of the studies Appoint the Regional Coordinator and the ACP Local Consultants Bear the agreed costs of expenditure in respect of the evaluation (economy class tickets for approved visits to CTA's Headquarters, hotel accommodation and subsistence allowances during briefing meeting, or during agreed and specified field visits) In conjunction with the Regional Coordinator, prepare the overall report taking into account the findings and recommendations of all the Pacific country reports (table of contents to be agreed by 31/01/04). ____________________________The last survey of agricultural population was conducted during the 1988 census and is believed to be reasonably representative of current conditions. Only purely 'outer atoll' households were surveyed.  1991;Local Government Development Plans (1991/1992-1995/1996); tabulated by VVTS. n/a = percentage not availableEstimating land use, agricultural area, etc., in RMI is complicated by the lack of an accurate current survey. Inconsistent criteria about how rural areas of urban atolls are defined and whether habitable areas of nuclear-affected atolls are included in calculations does not present a consistent picture of land use, as the following quotes and table reveal:Estimated land use indicates that 9,300 hectares are planted with coconuts and other atoll crops and 4,730 hectares are not planted due to non-use (e.g. fallow), use for airstrips and other infrastructure, or unsuitability for agriculture. The amount of agriculture land available per rural household falls within the average range of 2.6 to 5.9 ha and an overall average of 3.8 hectares (Bolt 1997: 3).The agricultural area of all the inhabited atolls/islands is estimated at just under 8,200 ha. or 53% of the dry land figure. The outer atolls (excluding Majuro and Kwajalein) account for almost 7,800 ha., or 95% of the total. Agricultural area per outer atoll household averages 4.9 ha. with 3.8 ha. as average for all inhabited atolls/islands (Shaw 1994: 8,9). Agricultural activity in RMI can be differentiated into three basic classes that overlap somewhat. These are, in order of economic importance: Subsistence: Households gathering food for their own consumption.Copra/Commercial: Households producing copra for sale; all households making copra are members of the set of subsistence households. Commercial: A small number of urban atoll households that sell the surplus portion of food produced on their land; the Taiwan Technical Mission farm is the only organization in RMI that grows and sells a measurable amount of produce although its primary function is to demonstrate to others how to grow those crops.Subsistence agriculture, including livestock, comprises 73% of the value of total agricultural product in RMI. Copra production accounts for 18% with other commercial agricultural produce valued at 9%. Subsistence agriculture in the outer atolls constitutes 80% of total agricultural valuation if copra production is included. (See Table 3, Annex 2.1.4.)Reliable estimates of the value of domestic products are very hard to find. Many of the numbers in Table 4, such as values given for copra, are grossly in error when compared to actual Tobolar figures. Livestock values are much higher than researchers such as Shaw, who actually spent time on outer atolls conducting his survey for ADB, have found. Calculations of such quantities in RMI often rely on old or forgotten data sources; new numbers are merely punched in each year without checking them against present reality.  The following description of how locally produced agriculture products in Majuro are marketed is included because it indicates the scale of commercial agricultural activity in RMI:i. Roadside stands. These are undoubtedly one of the most efficient means of marketing farmers' produce. Along the main road of Majuro, farmers simply set up a small table (often nothing more than an old sheet of plywood set on top of a five-gallon bucket) and there place small quantities of local produce, such as drinking coconuts, breadfruit, and pandanus. No one actually tends the goods but when a car stops, the driver seeks out the seller and buys the goods. There are no set hours, no set days and the stands will appear and disappear according to availability of crops or the desire of the farmers to earn some extra money. Usually all produce is sold out by the end of the day. ii. Small retailers. There are numerous small retailers who operate what are called \"take-outs\".Many of these are small roadside buildings with a limited selection of canned and other goods.Our team surveyed the majority of these. About 25% of these stores sold food grown from their own land and a few sold products from some of the outer atolls. Again, what is sold and when is often dependent upon the when crops are available and the desire of the farmers for extra income. iii. Larger retailers. Larger merchants, such as Robert Reimers Enterprises and Payless Market, like to carry produce from farmers, keeping their mark ups less than normal to help out the farmers. Inventories of locally grown foods for sale by major retailers are not consistent, largely depending on what excess produce farmers may have at any given time.iv. Taiwan Technical Mission (\"Laura Farm\"). This experimental agricultural enterprise is funded by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and produces about 11 varieties of vegetables and fruit. About 2/3 of production is sold the retailers or individuals in Majuro. v. Farmer's market. A monthly farmers market is held on the grounds of the Majuro Atoll Local Government building. Often by noon, food offered has sold out. Expanding the market to more than one day per month is being discussed (per. comm. J. Rellong). vi. Commercial buyers, local market. Some Majuro restaurants have standing orders for produce from the Laura Farm. Tobolar uses some of its coconut oil to make body lotion for local consumption. The Ministry of R&D is working on marketing local produce to personnel living at USAKA. vii. Commercial buyers, export market. Robert Reimers Enterprises prepares pandanus juice for sale to visitors at its hotel. The major exporter of agricultural products is Tobolar, the copra processing plant, which buys all copra from the outer atolls, then processes it into copra oil and cake for export. viii. Special order. Often if a person stops at a roadside stand and asks for a readily product that is not set out (such as sprouted coconut), the farmer will, on the spot, go and get some. Most of the roadside sellers interviewed indicated that they will take special orders for their goods. Some were even willing to deliver into town.   Copra: Copra remains the only and the most important agricultural export product of RMI despite its plunge in value in recent years. Table 6 below shows the relationships between population size, production in metric tonnes and price, gross outer atoll income from copra and per capita income from copra since 1964. 'Population: atolls producing copra' does not include Bikini, Enewetak, Majuro, Kwajalein and Rongelap Atolls and Kili Island since negligible or no copra produced on them. Dollar amounts have been adjusted for inflation to US$2003 in Table 7 and US$2001 in Figure 1.  $500 $600 1 9 5 5 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 5 1 9 7 0 1 9 7 5 1 9 8 0 1 9 8 5 1 9 9 0 1 9 9 5 2 0 0 0 In 1999, an estimated 20% of the population was living below the US$1 per day poverty line (Prokop 2003: 33).        This division is meaningful because it reflects distinctive differences in their internal economies and standards of living. Because the 'nuclear-affected' atolls receive special compensation from the US for damages from its testing program, they are economically closer to the urban atolls than to the 'outer atolls'. Figure 2 compares the percentages of households with selected amenities in these three economies in 1999.There is a significant urban market for surplus agricultural production on the outer atolls, especially for seasonal crops such as breadfruit and pandanus. Lack of suitable transportation, telecommunications, postal and financial services on the outer atolls, however, have defeated efforts to access them successfully. A recent ADB study, though focusing on marine resources, analyzed the problem of marketing them to the urban atolls. The analysis is equally applicable to agricultural products.It is unfortunate that projects that can succeed in Majuro are unrealistic to undertake in the outer atolls. The reality exists, however, that some projects requiring relatively sophisticated technology, such as those based on ornamental fish or live clams, can survive and even prosper in Majuro but will not work in the outer atolls. That these activities are able to succeed in a more urban setting despite the limited natural resources available has as much or more to do with access to necessary services as it does to the specific commodities they produce. In addition to generally reliable electric power and other basic utilities cited in the resource evaluation section of this report, transportation costs at rates the market can absorb (air freight in particular), international telecommunications, and easy access to postal services and commercial banking enable the products to be efficiently produced and effectively marketed.The foregoing is perhaps easy to comprehend and understand. It may not be so easy, however, to understand that even relatively non-perishable products in the outer atolls are not a secure basis for economic development under current conditions. The larger part of the problems associated with utilization of resources in the outer atolls are the very ones that have been solved in Majuro: access to markets through reliable cost-effective transportation, access to telecommunications that would enable timely marketing and follow-up, postal services that could enable ordering of spare parts and supplies as well as serve as a marketing channel, and an assured secure and prompt system of payment to producers through banking services, to name a few (McCoy and Hart 2002).Population shifts in the Marshalls have been mostly to urbanized Majuro and Ebeye, Kwajalein, because of enhanced economic conditions and social services at those locations relative to the other atolls. The nuclear testing program and contamination that followed forced residents of Bikini, Enewetak and Rongelap to other locations, some of which Marshallese had traditionally considered uninhabitable. Most Bikinians now live on Kili Island and in Majuro. About 900 Enewetakese have returned to reside at two islands on their atoll deemed safe for habitation. Rongelapese were evacuated from their atoll to an island in Kwajalein in 1987 but are expected to return to parts of Rongelap in a few years when a new village infrastructure is completed.Under the Compact of Free Association, Marshallese are allowed to enter the United States without visas to live, work, or study for as long as they choose without restriction. Estimates of the number of Marshall Islanders currently residing in the US range from 15,000 to 17,000 persons. There are no statistics on how many Marshallese leave each year to reside in the US. A common assumption is that emigration will continue but thus far there is no data on its rate.  The only local newspaper is the independent weekly, the Marshall Islands Journal, having an average distribution of about 2,500 copies per issue, with 87% of sales on Majuro, 13% on Ebeye and the remainder sold in Honolulu or as foreign subscriptions.The newspaper is not sold on the outer atolls but some individuals send copies to relatives there, with an estimated readership there of less than 8% of households. Estimated average readership runs nine times the number of copies sold or 22,500 persons (EPPSO 2002: 191). In recent years, many government agencies have chosen to disseminate information through the Marshall Islands Journal rather than to publish  NTA provides voice communications to the main outer atoll villages the through a network of HF-SSB radios. Establishing voice communication through this system is usually cumbersome and time-consuming. If an urban party wishes to speak to someone on the outer atolls, he usually pays in advance for an announcement (US$1 each) over V7AB for the person to contact NTA Majuro via HF-SSB at a particular time. If the urban party has no telephone, he waits at the NTA office for the caller. An outer atoll party wishing to speak to an urban one may do so through HF-SSB only if the urban party has a telephone. International calls can be relayed to the outer islands via the HF-SSB network. The Ministries of Health and Education maintain HF-SSB radios at most outer atoll schools and dispensaries that are linked to their Majuro offices. There are a small, unknown number of privately owned HF-SSB radios on the outer atolls, usually belonging to businessmen who typically have a partner radio/operator, usually a relative, through whom they can conduct urban-rural voice conversations. CB radios have become common on the outer atolls, especially the larger ones, with 20% of households estimated to have them. They are used for intra-atoll communications and to relay messages received over HF-SSB from Majuro and Ebeye to those on the outer atolls who do not have access to HF-SSB.Computers are numerous on the urban atolls. In 2002, 425 units were in use in education 20 used by health services, other government agencies owned 461 PCs, and 238 were privately owned for a total of 1143 (EPPSO 2003: 192). The public secondary schools of generator-electrified locations at Jaluit and Wotje Atolls and the Likiep Atoll solar power system provide instruction in them. Use of computers on other outer atolls is extremely limited and there are no known Internet users there.NTA currently claims 825 subscribers to its Internet service (per. comm. A. Muller). It maintains 'Internet cafés' at its facilities in Majuro and Ebeye, Kwajalein. Standard Internet access is US$10 per month and US$0.06 per minute of use (NTA 2004: 9), but is notoriously slow at about 46 KBS. High Speed Internet service is also offered for US$2,000 per month for 128 KBS, US$3,000 per month for 256 KBS and US$5,000 for 512 KBS. The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) utilizes PeaceSat for Internet access. The University of the South Pacific (USP) has its own satellite system.","tokenCount":"9828"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0140275560.json b/data/part_1/0140275560.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..14c3c2c1078e56b3d66928479873055ca3adea6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0140275560.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f542f7fd189ac7a7a04e907b759fa054","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://awm-solutions.iwmi.org/Data/Sites/3/Documents/PDF/publication-outputs/learning-and-discussion-briefs/supporting-smallholder-private-pump-irrigation-in-ssa.pdf","id":"-89315422"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5311e1a6-23d8-47b4-b3ba-b0e7ada7d264","pagecount":"9","content":"Smallholder private irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provides millions of poor farmers with additional income when they need it most. Those with access to irrigation have substantially higher incomes and better food security than those who solely depend on rainfed production. In particular, vegetable cultivation during the dry season sold on the local market is very profitable. Consequently, smallholders increasingly engage in dry season, high value crop production using motorized pumps to draw water from a variety of sources (rivers, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, canals and groundwater).While smallholder private irrigation has existed for decades, particularly in South Asia, it received enormous impetus from the availability of small, cheap motorized pumps manufactured in China and, increasingly, in India. As a result, the sector is growing, financed primarily by smallholder farmers with little or no outside support. We estimate that the sector employs more than a million smallholders in SSA 1 . In Ghana alone, our surveys suggest that about half a million smallholder farmers are engaged in irrigated vegetable cultivation, which is 50 times more than farmers in public irrigation schemes. And the scope for further growth and poverty reduction potential is substantial.While small private irrigation is spreading spontaneously, is relatively low-cost and has positive impacts on smallholders' incomes, its unchecked and dispersed proliferation can result in equity, environmental and efficiency challenges. Generally wealthier farmers have better access to information and technology than their poorer counterparts who face several hurdles including absence of, or lack of, access to proper financing tools, lack of information to move into new crops/cropping systems (e.g., shifting to high value, dry season crops), and limited access to necessary information to make the right investment and marketing choices. Our research shows that this is particularly true for women farmers.Further, unchecked proliferation of pumps can lead to a decline in water quantity, unauthorized use of protected lands, loss of soil fertility, and pollution due to over, or inappropriate, application of agro-chemicals. In some cases conflicts between different water users occur due to competition between public and private schemes and/or upstream and downstream users. These risks are aggravated by the individualistic nature of smallholder private irrigation, which makes it more difficult to control and regulate.Lastly, there is room for improvement along the value chain. The equipment supply chain is poorly developed, the quality of available pumps questionable and choice in specifications very limited. Moreover, output markets are often dominated by middlemen and are prone to cartel forming due to a lack of supporting institutional frameworks.With appropriate support, smallholder private irrigation using motorized pumps can fully realize its poverty reduction potential while avoiding adverse social and environmental impacts.Supporting smallholder private pump irrigation means leveraging farmers' initiatives and their own investments, so that it becomes accessible to a broader range of smallholders, in particular women, while minimizing resource conflicts and environmental concerns. Millions of smallholder families throughout SSA stand to benefit.• Substantial increases in farm incomes will lead to poverty reduction for millions of smallholders in SSA • Achieving the potential market of a few million motorized pumps in SSA will benefit those involved in the equipment supply chain: manufacturers, retailers and local dealers • Technological innovation in motorized pumping-particularly in the area of alternative energy pumping-will benefit other smallholders in the future.To address the opportunity while addressing efficiency constraints and minimizing adverse social and environmental impacts, the project is exploring the following strategies:1) Enhance knowledge flows 2) Improve the value chain 3) Ensure technology access for all 4) Rethink energy policies 5) Adopt a watershed approach In other cases they take the equipment available in the nearest store and pay a price that exceeds the quality they get; they purchase pumps that are ill-suited to the size of their land and end up with high operation and maintenance costs. Action points:• Train local dealers and farmers on technical aspects, brands and price ranges of pumps.• Train dealers in better marketing and after-sales service provision. Support dealers in setting up demonstration plots where farmers can try out a variety of technologies before buying. • Build on the existing NGO network and marketing skills to market a broader range of technologies. • Develop illustrated, local language manuals on pump characteristics, irrigation use, maintenance, and repair. • Support governments and national institutions in collecting and improving datasets and their dissemination.Import duties and taxes (both formal and informal) can substantially add to local pump prices, sometimes up to 40%. Where pumps are exempt from duties or taxes, exemption procedures are sometimes unknown, long and/or cumbersome. Spare parts are often not included in exemptions. In many countries pump markets are poorly developed and immature and many low quality pumps enter the market. There is no quality control, and price-quality configurations differ by an order of magnitude without obvious reasons other than the lack of competition between dealers.• Review import duties and exempt small pumps from sales taxes. Simplify exemption procedures.• Develop pump registries: a registry of pump dealers can help farmers locate nearest shops, get an idea of prices and available options in the market. It can be a tool to disseminate relevant information on innovations, new developments and technical events. A pump registry can also serve as a mechanism to establish warranty systems and after sales services. • Provide credit to dealers, sometimes available from wholesalers and manufacturers as an incentive for dealers to keep larger and more varied stock.Awareness of and interest in motor pumps is high. However, for many smallholders the purchase price and running costs remain the biggest obstacles. Micro-credit facilities and financing options are absent or non-accessible. Nearly all pumps are financed from personal savings. Hence, only betteroff farmers can afford to buy pumps, and female ownership of motor pumps is very low due to lack of access to appropriate credit facilities.Case study example, Zambia: One of the major obstacles to smallholder private irrigation is the high cost of equipment. Most irrigation equipment is imported because local manufacturing capacity is limited. Duties, taxes and high transport costs add to the price of small pumps putting them out of reach of small farmers. High transaction costs prevent new importers from entering the market. In 2009 the Zambian government exempted agricultural equipment from VAT and import duty. However, importers and dealers lack information on exemption procedures and pump prices vary by an order of magnitude depending on location and dealer.Case study example, Tanzania: Small private irrigation in Tanzania, primarily for horticulture and flowers, is growing. It provides a vital additional income to smallholders in the dry-season. Based on surveys among 335 farmers we estimate that watering by hand is the most common (88%) irrigation technology, followed by motor pumps (10%) and treadle pumps (2%). All smallholder farmers indicated their preference for motorized pumping but were held back by the high upfront costs and lack of finance at the beginning of the season. This constraint was particularly felt by women.Action points:• Explore and pilot financial instruments specifically designed for the purchase of pumping equipment and other necessary inputs. • Pilot an \"irrigation service providers\" concept where entrepreneurs (either pump owners or people without their own farmland) go from farm to farm with small motor pumps to provide the service of irrigating smallholders' lands for a fixed fee per hour, day or season. • Explore and pilot different rental arrangements, based on existing pump sharing systems (e.g., around small reservoirs in Burkina Faso).Energy costs are already high and rising oil prices reduce the economic viability of motor pumps for smallholders. Small motor pumps tend to be energy inefficient.Greenhouse gas emissions from motorized pumping in SSA are negligible now (see below), but this could change depending on the number of motor pumps, the type of energy used to run the pumps, as well as through increased use of fertilizers and market transport.A study on the potential impacts of motor pump adoption in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia suggests that in contrast to India the emissions from irrigation pumps are not likely to become a significant proportion of carbon dioxide emissions in each of the five countries. The emissions from pumps in 2010 were significantly less than 1% of each country's current agricultural sector emissions. Even with the development of a hypothetical scenario in which every smallholder uses a pump, the resulting carbon dioxide emissions are still less than 1% of current agricultural sector emissions. Although the impact on carbon dioxide emissions is small, cross checking the water abstraction rates for these pump numbers suggests that the limited amount of water resources (using the renewable national water resources as an indicator) is more likely to become a problem, especially at the local level. Suggestions to improve these estimates are to ensure better monitoring of pump adoption rates, and consideration of ways to improve pump efficiency and affordable alternative energy solutions (e.g., solar, wind). This would benefit both the farmer and the environment. A shift to other energy sources, such as electricity derived by coal or hydropower, could change (up or down) the estimated carbon dioxide emissions.• Stimulate development and use of alternative energy sources: pilot and evaluate affordable solar voltaic and solar thermal systems in farmers' fields. Evaluate cost aspects and test financing options. • Develop energy efficient pumps suitable for small landholdings.• Stimulate innovation by competitions among local inventors, or local universities.• Assess broader rural development benefits when considering electrification of pumps in electrification plans.Taking water from its natural course for irrigation nearly always has impacts on downstream users and the environment. But many small dispersed points of water extraction are more difficult to control and regulate than a few large users. The risks of conflicts over resources and environmental problems are aggravated by the individualistic nature in which smallholder private irrigation spreads.Regulation is often absent or difficult to enforce.In a study of four watersheds, improved access to pumps was associated with positive livelihood impacts (equity, gender and poverty reduction). However, these issues need to be balanced with environmental concerns related to water quality, quantity and the natural resource base. In all cases, understanding and strengthening existing formal and informal institutional networks to manage the positive and negative externalities could present real opportunities to safeguard resources and ensure local mechanisms to balance benefits and manage trade-offs.The watershed is already affected by poor water quality from agricultural intensification with local, periodic water scarcity which reduces people's livelihood and income opportunities. Thus, more pumps and extractions must be balanced with institutional space to negotiate trade-offs. Action points:• Consider multiple-versus single-AWM interventions (e.g., combining water management measures with changes in cropping patterns, fertilizer use and/or marketing and infrastructural support). • Examine the existing formal and informal institutional networks active in the watershed and opportunities to bridge institutional gaps. • Assess water resources availability, address possible environmental impacts and its consequences on incomes and livelihoods of agricultural and non-agricultural communities. • Recognize and support social structures that can address potential emerging resource conflicts.Within this solution pathway, an important opportunity for investors lies in supporting functioning stakeholder management forums that are established and managed in coordination with relevant national policies and private enterprise developments. The project has identified a local demand for such forums, with many informal structures upon which to build, and existing national policies to support the process. The challenge is to appropriately synergize the demand with the existing formal and inform al institutions.","tokenCount":"1887"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0147043235.json b/data/part_1/0147043235.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..38e9812850224af70db45d0dd8efd8097d950f3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0147043235.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a5c4cf5d7db39f4b4e2e8a0b775e8d1b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/531480f7-4b4c-4865-b2c9-04a55b3bba8a/retrieve","id":"-936422823"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91491def-c3a4-4e01-a58d-316dbb864976","pagecount":"19","content":"During 2023, researchers from Work Package 2 (WP2) of the Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT) initiative conducted three linked surveys to learn more about micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that currently supply foods within urban, peri-urban, and rural locations in Viet Nam and devise ways to foster their supply of sustainable nutritious foods (SNFs). The surveys had three linked goals-to better characterize the business environment in which MSMEs operate; to understand any constraints they face in selling more SNFs; and to help inform interventions with scaling potential that could increase the availability of SNFs for consumers.The first survey consisted of a listing exercise (or the \"short audit\"), the second survey was a longer survey targeting outlets from the listing that had a higher chance of being MSMEs and could potentially modify their food offerings, and the third survey was targeted at suppliers of those MSMEs, with the objective of identifying any potential constraints at the supplier level for expanding the offering of SNFs. The sample for the third survey was derived from the MSME sample. Ceballos et al. (2023) describe in detail the data collection efforts conducted, including sampling strategies, overall sample composition, and implementation of the three surveys. This document presents selected results from these three surveys, with a focus on the second MSME survey. The next section describes the typology of outlets enumerated in the different surveys, and the final outlet groupings used in the analyses in this note. The MSME survey results section discusses the main findings from the MSME survey in terms of general ownership characteristics, employment patterns, business skills and access to finance, food offerings, and nutrition knowledge and interest in offering more SNFs to clients, distinguishing across outlet groups and vendor clusters. The Supplier survey results section presents the main findings from the supplier survey, in terms of food offerings, the composition of their client portfolio, their level of formalization, business skills, and credit use, and their interest in selling more nutritious foods. The final section summarizes the findings and concludes.MSME Survey. 2 It is important to note that these outlet types overall represent more than 94 percent of the outlets listed during the short audit, and thus capture almost all of the food environment in the sampled wards of these districts. Around 40 percent of outlets interviewed during the MSME survey are tabletop food and beverage stalls, with other important categories being tabletop food stalls inside a toad market (14 percent), convenience stores that are not part of a chain (12 percent), and restaurants that are not part of a chain (11 percent). On the other hand, only seven bubble tea stores were interviewed during this survey, representing less than half a percentage point of the total sample.Source: Authors' calculations from the Short Audit and MSME surveys conducted in Viet Nam by the SHiFT initiative. In column 1, the sum across outlet types is not equal to the 'Total' row, since a few outlets in the Short Audit were categorized as belonging to two different outlet types and are thus included in two different rows. Overall, the numbers differ slightly from those in Ceballos et al. (2023) since some outlet types captured during the Short Audit were updated after visiting them a second time for the MSME survey.For clarity of exposition, we group these outlet types into four groups, as indicated in the last column of Table 1. Vendors, generally defined, comprise almost two thirds of the outlets selling food in the selected wards. However, these are usually specialized, selling only a narrow set of related foods, so we rely on cluster analysis to divide them into identifiable groups. To do this, we first calculate the number of food items sold (as captured in the short audit) across five aggregate food groups, each including a set of food groups defined in the short audit as follows:-Fruits and vegetables, legumes, roots, and tubers: Roots and tubers; Fruits; Vegetables; Legumes -Meats: Fish and shellfish; Poultry; Meat -Eggs and dairy: Eggs; Dairy; Oils and fats -Grains and nuts: Grains and baked goods; nuts and seeds -Packaged goods and beverages: Packaged snacks; Ready-made foods; Beverages; Sweets/ice cream Next, we calculate the share of food items sold across the five aggregates for each individual outlet. We do so to avoid size effects (in terms of the total number of items sold within a category) from influencing the clustering. Finally, four vendor clusters are identified through a K-means partition-clustering algorithm; the number of clusters was chosen to balance the within cluster variation, which declines with the number of clusters, and the between cluster variation, which increases with the number of clusters. The K-means analysis only considers vendors and includes all available outlets in that group interviewed during the short audit.Table 2 presents the results of the cluster analysis, showing the minimum, average, and maximum share of a given food aggregate sold among all vendors assigned to each of the four clusters in the first column.The names in the first column are intended to characterize the three distinct groups that arise from the data: vendors selling mostly fruits and vegetables, legumes, roots, and tubers (heretofore referred to as \"F&V vendors\"), vendors selling mostly Meats (\"Meat vendors\"), and vendors selling mostly packaged goods and beverages (\"Packaged foods vendors\"). A fourth cluster, \"Other vendors\", comprises vendors with varied food offerings across the food group aggregates, including many selling mostly eggs and dairy or grains and nuts. A 5 th vendor cluster, \"Prepared food vendors\", is manually defined to include all remaining vendors who do not sell any food items in the food aggregates above and sell at least one prepared food item. Overall, F&V vendors represent a large fraction (40 percent) of vendors in the food environment, with prepared food vendors second in importance representing almost a quarter of the interviewed vendors. Table 3 shows the total number of outlets in each outlet group (top panel) and vendor cluster (bottom panel), in both the Short Audit and the MSME survey. The MSME survey -the main object of interest of this document-includes 1,627 outlets, including 184 restaurants, 130 coffee shops and bubble tea stores, 296 convenience stores and specialized food stores, and 1,017 vendors, of which 441 specialized in F&V and 233 in prepared food. This distribution, however, looks quite different by district. The density of outlets is much higher in Dông Da -the urban district-than in the other two districts, with almost two thirds of the outlets in the MSME survey located there. In Môc Châu, the rural district, we find considerably more stores (i.e. convenience stores and food stores) than in the other two districts, while in Dông Anh, the peri-urban district, we find much fewer restaurants than in the other districts, and the food environment seems to be dominated by vendors (comprising almost 90 percent of the total outlets). In Dông Da, we find most of the coffee shops (i.e. coffee/fresh juice shop and bubble tea stores) and an overall more balanced distribution across outlet groups. In terms of vendor clusters, while Môc Châu and Dông Anh show a prevalence of F&V vendors (at around 60 percent), in Dông Da these represent only 30 percent of vendors, with prepared-food vendors slightly more common (but still at 30 percent) and packaged goods vendors third in importance, representing 20 percent of all vendors.Henceforth, the analysis follows the same categorization of outlets shown in Table 3. Note that the summary statistics presented for the vendor clusters (bottom panel) are simply a disaggregation of the one presented for the Vendors group (last row in the top panel). We refrain from disaggregating the analyses by district, except where important patterns are noteworthy.     Table 6 focuses on general outlet characteristics. Column 1 shows the percentage of outlets that report having some cold storage infrastructure (including either a refrigerator, a freezer, refrigerated shelving, or a walk-in cool room). Not surprisingly, restaurants and coffee shops are much more likely to have cold storage than stores or vendors. Vendors are the least likely to have cold storage, though they are more likely to have it if selling packaged or prepared foods. Column 2 shows the average percentage of customers that are adolescents, as reported by each outlet. Only a small fraction of outlets' customers are adolescents, at 12 percent, with a slightly higher percentage among stores and prepared foods vendors (close to 20 percent).Column 3 in turn presents the percentage of outlets that allow customers to buy goods on credit, at a surprising 62 percent overall, and highest among stores and vendors. Column 4 shows the percentage of outlets reporting having a delivery option in the short audit, either by phone (column 5) or by app (column 6). As expected, restaurants and coffee shops have the highest rates offering delivery, but still only around half of the interviewed outlets do. Somewhat surprisingly, 18 percent of prepared-foods vendors offer delivery options to their client. Most outlets have a phone delivery option, and a lower though significant fraction offers delivery through apps (except for vendors). Finally, columns 7 through 10 report the level of payment digitalization of interviewed outlets, in terms of the percentage of outlets that accept credit cards and mobile money, and the average percentage of customers who use either of these options. While credit card penetration is extremely low overall, almost two thirds of outlets accept mobile money for payment, and almost a quarter of customers make use of this option. 3 These rates are highest among restaurants and coffee shops and lowest among vendors. Table 7 shows the level of formalization and financial skills of interviewed outlets. Only 17 percent of outlets have a tax registration number (column 1). Formalization is highest among coffee shops and stores, though still at only about 40 percent, and lowest among vendors (6 percent). That said, vendors within wet markets pay fees to the market and therefore are formal in some sense, which is not the same as tax registration. Columns 2 through 6 indicate the percentage of outlets that declare signing written contracts with employees, recording sales and purchases, knowing the costs of their main products sold, reviewing the business' financial performance, and saving for emergencies. Overall, financial skills (as captured through these dimensions) are quite low, e.g. only 13 percent of outlets record their transactions, around one third review financial performance, around 30 percent are unaware of the cost of their main products, and 40 percent save for emergencies.The last three columns in the table show measures of credit access. The fraction of outlets having an outstanding loan with either a formal or an informal source is very low, at 5 percent in both cases. However, around 40 percent of outlets (slightly higher among vendors) can finance their working capital by purchasing on credit from their supplier, indicative that they can use the value chain to finance their stock, if not the capital they might need for the business. To give a sense of the size and financial standing of outlets, columns 1 through 3 in Table 8 show, respectively, the median monthly revenues, costs, and profits among all outlets in a given group. We interpret revenues as a proxy of an outlet's financial size. Overall, the median outlet reports monthly revenues of 30 million dong, or around 1,250 U.S. dollars, a level of revenues representative of the typical MSME in our sample. The median restaurant, however, is double that size at 60 million dong, and, the median meat vendor has the largest monthly revenues, at just over 100 million dong. The smallest revenues are among packaged goods vendors, who only reported 6 million dong of revenues at the median.Costs and profits follow relatively similar patterns. Reported costs imply that stores, coffee shops, and vendors report monthly profits between 7 and 9 million dong, and restaurants and meat vendors report profits close to 12-15 million dong. In terms of profit margin (column 4), however, meat vendors report the lowest margins, at 17 percent of their costs, while stores and packaged goods vendors report the highest margins, at 85 and 238 percent of their costs, respectively. Columns 5 and 6 give a sense of variability in terms of both size and profitability, by showing the difference between the 75 th and 25 th percentiles for both revenues and profits. Meat vendors seem to show the largest dispersion, implying the presence of very large and very small outlets in that cluster. In comparison, coffee shops are more homogeneous in size, with a relatively low dispersion in revenues and profits. Finally, column 7 shows the percentage of outlets within each group that reported being profitable, as in their revenues being equal or higher than their costs. Overall, almost 90 percent of outlets seem to be profitable, with coffee shops showing the largest percentage of non-profitable outlets (at 18 percent). It is important to note, though, that owners' labor was not considered in the calculation of costs; the profits, then, should be thought of as the returns to the owner's labor and capital, which may be quite low in some cases relative to prevailing wage rates. Next, we illustrate the relationship of outlets with their suppliers. Table 9 presents the different sources from which food outlets purchase their main SNF offerings. 4 Overall, wholesalers are an important food source for retailers in northern Viet Nam, with 55 percent of outlets declaring purchasing at least one of their food offerings from there. The next most common source is purchasing directly from producers, at 27 percent; however, this figure is higher among vendors (31 percent), and lowest among coffee shops (13 percent). Many source foods directly from markets (21 percent), particularly restaurants (26 percent) and coffee shops (50 percent). If we combine collectors and distributors, we find 26 percent reporting obtaining foods that way; this percentage is higher among coffee shops and stores, who report buying from these sources in 44 and 47 percent of cases, respectively. In sum, we find that the way SNFs are sourced is complex; from an intervention perspective, it might be difficult to encourage businesses higher up the value chain to sell more SNFs, as some of them are simply producers, and a relatively large proportion of food outlets are buying directly from the market rather than from wholesalers, collectors, or distributors. Source: Authors' calculations from the MSME survey conducted in Viet Nam by the SHiFT initiative. Dropped \"other\" category as it was only 1 percent of responses, for expositional purposes; therefore, row percentages may not sum to 100 percent.Table 10, in turn, shows the strength of ties between outlets in the food environment and their suppliers, by describing the different services that outlets report obtaining from their suppliers. The main service received from suppliers is transport, with 47 percent of outlets overall mentioning it, though this service is most important among restaurants, coffee shops, and stores. This finding relates to the results in Table 9, which suggests that those outlets source more products from collectors and distributors. The second service in importance is purchasing goods on credit, as discussed above in the section on access to credit, followed by quality control services, with, respectively, 40 and 38 percent of outlets reporting receiving this service from at least one of their suppliers. 5 Around a quarter of the interviewed outlets report receiving market information from suppliers, and a very small fraction receive processing or storage services. 43 percent of outlets report receiving no service from their suppliers. It is worth noting that, while differences between outlet groups exist, these are usually small. Finally, the MSME survey inquired about aspects of respondents' nutritional knowledge and their interest in offering more nutritious foods to their clients. Columns 1 through 4 in Table 11 report the percentage of respondents in each outlet group that answered correctly a multiple-choice question on which food option was high in Sodium, Vitamin A, Iron, or Calcium content. While nutritional knowledge on the highsodium food is relatively good, less than half of overall respondents were able to correctly answer the knowledge questions on the other nutrients, and this percentage was lowest among vendors. Column 5 indicates the percentage of respondents who answered being altogether unaware of what a given nutrient was, with 9 percent of outlets doing so, again mostly driven by vendors. When asked whether they would be interested in offering more nutritious foods to their customers (column 6), almost half of the sample agreed, particularly among restaurants and coffee shops, but still with a relatively high percentage among other outlet groups. Interestingly, little to no challenges were reported for selling more nutritious foods, with only one out of 5 outlets reporting perceiving low demand for nutritious foods (column 7) or high price being a constraint for demand (column 8), only 12 percent reporting any sourcing challenges (column 9), and 40 percent indicating no challenge at all (column 10). These findings indicate that, despite showing low levels of nutritional knowledge, outlets in the food environment are overall receptive to the idea of expanding its offerings of more nutritious foods, and few perceive obstacles in doing so. The supplier survey enumerated 268 businesses based on referrals from the MSME survey. 6 Respondents were asked to characterize their businesses as either producers, collectors, distributors, wholesalers, processors, or retailers. Almost all respondents gave two or even three answers, and almost every respondent characterized their business as a \"wholesaler\" (261 of 268). Meanwhile, only 5 called themselves a distributor, while many called themselves retailers (203 of 268). We therefore examined the data to develop a more precise categorization of suppliers. First, we note that processors play a differential role in agri-food value chains, as they add value to food rather than just moving and/or storing it. Thus, we use any business declaring themselves a processor as a first category. Second, we classify any remaining businesses declaring themselves as producers or collectors as a second category, since these are businesses closer to agricultural production. Third, we define exclusive wholesalers, who are businesses exclusively identifying themselves as wholesalers (or wholesalers and distributors). Finally, we create a \"retailers plus\" category, which are businesses on the retail end of the value chain. The revised categorization is illustrated in Figure 1, together with the percentage of businesses in the sample belonging to each category. The two main categories are producers/collectors (39 percent of businesses) and retailer plus (34 percent), followed by processors (19 percent) and, finally, by exclusive wholesalers (at only 8 percent).Source: Authors' calculations from the Supplier survey conducted in Viet Nam by the SHiFT initiative. The survey recorded the 'business type' as a multiple-response question, resulting in suppliers reporting more than one business type in the data. Businesses were thus recategorized as described in the text.Next, we describe the client profiles of interviewed suppliers in Table 12, by presenting the share of businesses in a given category that declared selling to different outlet types (as defined in the previous section). Perhaps not surprisingly, a majority of suppliers sell to restaurants or food vendors (57 and 66 percent, respectively). This is of course influenced by the way the supplier sample was generated (largely from restaurants or food vendors). A smaller share of suppliers sell to convenience stores or other food stores (39 percent), though that share is higher among producer/collectors and exclusive wholesalers (51 and 61 percent, respectively). Fewer businesses sell to supermarkets, chain stores, or restaurants; and only producer/collectors or processors tend to sell to other businesses that do not sell directly to consumers (i.e. other suppliers). Finally, a remarkable share of suppliers sell directly to consumers-with around three quarters of producer/collectors or processors selling directly to this segment.  Source: Authors' calculations from the Supplier survey conducted in Viet Nam by the SHiFT initiative. The survey recorded the 'outlet types' to which a given supplier sells foods as a multiple-response question, with most suppliers reporting selling to more than one outlet type in the data. Therefore, row percentages do not sum to 100 percent.Table 13 explores the foods offered by each of the supplier categories. Notably, suppliers seem to be largely specialized, where only a very small percentage supplies food items in a given food group. Moreover, we observe some important differences between the food groups offered by different supplier categories. Naturally, producers/collectors are most likely to supply farm products such as eggs, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and poultry. Processors in our sample concentrate on supplying meat (49 percent) and poultry (20 percent), together with (probably animal-sourced) oils and fats. Wholesalers provide a more varied selection, although they seem to be an important source for dairy products (29 percent) and nuts and seeds (19 percent). The retailer plus category is perhaps the most balanced of the four groups, selling a bit of all 11 food groups enumerated. These data reflects the diversity and specialization of suppliers in the Viet Nam food environment, with specific types catering to particular market segments in their food offerings. Table 14 provides an overview of financial indicators and business practices across different supplier types. On average, 26 percent of the overall suppliers possess a tax registration number, which is higher than the rates found in the MSME survey (17 percent). Exclusive wholesalers seem to show the highest levels of formalization (44 percent), with producers/collectors showing the lowest (15 percent). Formal contracts with employees are relatively rare, at 14 percent overall, though again a much higher percentage of exclusive wholesalers report doing this (42 percent). In contrast to the data from the MSME survey (Table 7), the majority of suppliers keep financial records (57 percent) and a larger percentage relies on either formal (20 percent) or informal (14 percent) credit.Columns 6-9 of the table provide insights into the financial standing of businesses in the different supplier categories. The overall median revenue across all suppliers in our sample is 180 million dong, or approximately $7,380 per month. Exclusive wholesalers, however, are considerably larger in this regard, with median revenues more than twice that amount (at 416 million dong), with processors coming closely behind (300 million dong). These figures are lower among producer/collectors and retailers, but still larger than the businesses interviewed in the MSME survey in terms of revenue. In terms of profitability, we estimate that 78 percent of the overall suppliers were profitable in the month previous to the survey, with median profits across supplier categories ranging from 12 million dong (around $500), among \"retailers plus\", to 30 million dong (around $1250), among exclusive wholesalers. These figures are again higher than those found among businesses in the MSME survey (Table 8). Finally, during the supplier survey we asked the same questions as in the MSME survey regarding their interest to offer more nutritious foods to their clients. Column 1 in Table 15 shows that only about a quarter of the overall supplier sample showed any willingness to expand their SNFs offering, a much lower percentage than among outlets in the MSME survey (closer to 50 percent, see Table 11). Among suppliers, retailers (those closest to end consumers) show the largest interest in doing so (29 percent), followed by producers/collectors (20 percent), despite the latter selling mostly nutritious foods as seen in Table 13. Among those who are interested, the most significant challenge seems to be a perception of low demand, reported by 33 percent of suppliers overall. High prices and sourcing issues were also noted as secondary constraints by 19 percent of interested suppliers, and, notably, storage issues were mentioned by the few exclusive wholesalers interested in selling more SNFs. These findings indicate a sharp contrast between willingness to offer more nutritious foods between suppliers and MSME outlets, potentially due to having a higher degree of separation with end consumers, to having starker perceptions about a weaker demand for these products, or to being more aware of the specific storage or cold-chain challenges faced in providing these products. This is an interesting avenue for future research. This document presents the main findings from the MSME survey and the linked supplier survey conducted during 2023 in Viet Nam, as part of the WP2 activities for the SHiFT initiative. The MSME survey included a random sample of outlets in the food environment more likely to offer SNFs, while the supplier survey focused on suppliers of the same outlets interviewed during the MSME survey.For the purposes of the MSME survey analyses, we aggregate outlet types into four groups: Restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and vendors. Since vendors comprise almost two thirds of the outlets selling food in the selected wards, we conduct a K-means partition-clustering exercise to identify four distinct clusters: F&V vendors, meat vendors, packaged goods and beverages vendors, and others; in addition to a fifth group defined ad-hoc that includes all remaining vendors selling prepared foods. Overall, F&V vendors represent a large fraction (40 percent) of the vendors in the food environment (and almost 25 percent of the overall outlets), with prepared food vendors second in importance representing almost a quarter of the interviewed vendors.Overall, outlets in the Viet Nam food environment show low levels of formalization, financial skills, and credit use, though most outlets report being profitable. Despite the lack of formal credit use, however, we observe high rates of buying on credit from suppliers. Payment digitalization is relatively high among the MSME sample as well, and it may have increased since the survey took place given current trends. Outlets selling foods do not seem to be an important source of employment (with an average of around one employee per outlet, excluding owners) and youth employment is quite low and mostly associated to part-time jobs. This feature of the food environment is an important finding in relation to the broad CGIAR goal of promoting youth employment, as it does not appear such objectives can be achieved by focusing on MSMEs that face consumers alone, at least in Viet Nam.We also observe important differences between outlet groups in the MSME survey. Restaurants are larger in terms of revenues, show considerably higher levels of employment, and have owners that are mostly male and with a higher level of education. Vendors, representing the large majority of outlets offering foods, are considerably smaller (except for meat vendors, who are typically even larger than the average restaurant) and show lower levels of education and financial skills. Coffee shops and stores are somewhere in between these two extremes. In terms of the vendor clusters, F&V vendors are mostly female-owned, smaller, with lower levels of education and lower levels of formality. Meat vendors, in contrast, are much larger in terms of revenues, show higher levels of formality, use more credit (mostly informal), and seem to have better business skills.Importantly, we find nutritional knowledge to be low, especially among vendors, with a considerable fraction of respondents declaring not knowing what the inquired nutrients were. However, we find substantial interest in selling more nutritious foods to their customers, with little to no reported challenges for doing so. These findings open the door for potential interventions that target nutritional knowledge and encourage expanding the offer of more nutritious foods.The document concludes with the synthesis of key insights from the supplier survey, which complements the MSME survey by investigating suppliers to the MSMEs. Almost all the 268 enumerated suppliers from the survey self-identified as wholesalers, with a significant number also recognizing themselves as retailers. To better understand their roles, we redefined categories, distinguishing processors for their value addition and grouping the rest of the sample into producers/collectors, exclusive wholesalers, and retailer plus categories.We find substantial similarities between the suppliers and the outlets enumerated in the MSME survey, though suppliers tend to be larger and slightly more formalized on average. A large share of interviewed suppliers sell directly to consumers as well as to other businesses, and offer a large variety of different SNFs, though seem to be quite specialized. In terms of their financial skills, suppliers are much more likely than MSMEs to keep records and slightly more likely to be formal. Their revenues and profits are both larger as well. However, the survey also points to limited credit usage, indicating a potential area to strengthen supplier operations through, for instance, providing them with support in finding credit. Finally, and in contrast to MSME outlets, many suppliers declare not being interested in selling more SNFs, pointing at a perceived lack of demand and potentially sourcing and storage issues in doing so. This aspect of the value chain might represent a constraint for retailers willing to supply more SNFs ahead of potential interventions. ","tokenCount":"4753"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0177582089.json b/data/part_1/0177582089.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82c974d1fb9337851616d509588b96f7dc202e70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0177582089.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7ca2ff8b91e3d0fb015f43834c3f776a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/495b2f43-ae99-4547-9543-4cf4cda4c8b6/retrieve","id":"-739762885"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ffa59909-16ad-4ebf-b98e-50a6a0f6b02e","pagecount":"2","content":"• A PPP approach to overall project implementation • Applying PPP methods to provide demand-driven support services to project partners, farmers and seed enterprises • Capacity criteria for reference-based recruitment • Targeted technical and business training for the production, processing and marketing of seed • Identification of market opportunities, distribution outlets and B2B linkages • Continuous on-site support/mentoring.Networking and market linkages• Seed business entrepreneurs trained • Twenty companies that produce and sell forage seeds established• Ten successful and sustainable seed enterprises established• Large number of poor livestock keepers trained in seed and forage production• One business incubator created• Various PPP approaches piloted to start scaling up forage seed system models.Piloting climate-adaptive forage seed systems in Ethiopia • At least 100 additional seed businesses trained and mentored• At least 60 additional successful forage seed businesses established• At least 20 new or existing seed cooperatives producing seeds and forage seeds for their portfolio of crop seeds• By year five, at least 150 tonnes of forage seed per year produced by seed companies• At least 150,000 poor livestock-keeping households trained in seed and forage production• At least 100,000 poor livestock keepers having bought seed and produced forage• At least 1,250,000 livestock-keeping household members having provided their livestock with improved feed• Improvements in seed quality brought about by a certification program• At least 50% of livestock-keeping women trained in forage seed production and marketing.Pilot project outcomes so far:• Forage seed system/demand scoping study and policy brief prepared• Thirty seed entrepreneurs identified, trained and started forage seed production, processing and selling• Twelve enterprises sold ten varieties of improved forage seeds for USD 200,000 during 2014/2015• Training-of-trainers workshops provided to 153 extension experts who trained 2,000 development (extension) agents• A total of 5,000 farmers trained by project partners  ","tokenCount":"292"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0186565976.json b/data/part_1/0186565976.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4b7b6c87fd15ce2c40f73d335b36657abd12a17b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0186565976.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c5bb734033637293b94106fa810c3a21","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a83dedb0-c271-49ae-87ea-7c9eb4199015/content","id":"890960200"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f419317-46ca-4be8-9b71-be5b215a0957","pagecount":"53","content":"La publicacion de este documento foe financiado gracias al apoyo de la Secretaria General del PL-480 Titulo ill.Figura 1. Mapa del Departamento de Chuquisaca, Bolivia, mostrando las localidades donde se realiz6 el sondeo.Figura 2. Precipitaci6n mensual media en dos localidades del norte de Chuquisaca. (17 afios).Figura 3. Precipitaci6n total anual en Tarabuco en el periodo de 1975 a 1993Figura 4. Efecto de altitud sobre el nivel del mar, y el riesgo de heladas y sequia sobre los cultivos sembrados en el norte de Chuquisaca.Figura 5. Causas de! problema de erosion hidrica en las areas trigueras de las Provincias de Y amparaez y Zudafiez, Chuquisaca.Figura 6. Causas del problema de estres hidrico en el cultivo de trigo 28 en las Provincias de Y amparaez y Zudaiiez, Chuquisaca.Figura 7. Causas del problema de estres nutricional de! cultivo de trigo en las Provincias de Y amparaez y Zudafiez, Chuquisaca.Figura 8. Causas de! problema de baja poblaci6n de plantas en el cultivo de trigo en las Provincias de Y amparaez y Zudafiez, Chuquisaca.Figura 9. Causas bi6ticas del problema de dafio por helada en el cultivo de trigo en las Provincias de Y amparaez y Zudafiez, Chuquisaca.CHUQUISACA, BOLIVIA.En 1993 hubo 21.500 ha de trigo sembradas en el Departamento de Chuquisaca, lo cual dio una producci6n de 15.100 TM (INE, 1996). En los ultimos allos el Departamento ha sido el segundo en area sembrada y producci6n de trigo, superado solamente por el Departamento de Santa Cruz.El rendimiento promedio reflejado en los datos de producci6n de 1993, es de apenas 700 kg/ha. Esto demuestra que hay grandes Jimitaciones a la productividad, y sugiere que el impacto de la investigaci6n agricola no ha sido muy marcado.Es importante que los servic1os de investigaci6n agricola entiendan la problematica de! agricultor y definan cuales son los problemas que ofrecen oportunidades a la investigaci6n agricola. Aunque hay limitaciones politicas y sociol6gicas en la producci6n y productividad de! cultivo, estas no ofrecen oportunidades a los investigadores, aunque deberian tomarlos en cuenta en el analisis de tecnologias propuestas. En el caso especifico de limitaci6nes de indole politico, los investigadores pueden ayudar a resolverlos asegurando que la infonnaci6n de! impacto de estas limitaciones en la productividad de! trigo llegue a los encargados de la politica agricola.El Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) estableci6 un proyecto de agronomia de trigo a principios de 1994, con financiarniento de PL-480 Titulo 111/USAID-B. Ademas, durante 1994 se prepar6 un Plan Quinquenal de Producci6n de Trigo en Chuquisaca, el cual se inicio al final de! allo. Para asegurar el exito de estos dos proyectos, fue importante establecer los problemasl de los productores de trigo y las causas de estos problemas, detenninando las prioridades entre problemas y definiendo oportunidades para la investigaci6n y posibles soluciones a las problematicas prioritarias. Armados con esta informacion, los investigadores estaran en posicion de organizar un programa de investigacion eficiente.El sondeo se hizo durante el periodo de! 24 al 29 de abril, 1994, usando metodos establecidos de diagnostico rural rapido (Tripp y Woolley, 1989), para integrar conversaciones semi-estructuradas con productores, observaciones en el campo y revision de datos secundarios, para identificar los problemas principales limitando la productividad de! cultivo de trigo dentro de 1.1n concepto del sistema de produccion. El grupo de entrevistadores incluyo investigadores, transferencistas y estudiantes de! Programa de Cereales de IBTA, junto con dos investigadores de CIMMYT (Anexo 1).Por razones sociologicas, se decidio contactarse con los agricultores antes del sondeo para planear las entrevistas, y, debido a esto el Ing. Luis Zegada organizo con anterioridad las entrevistas con los dirigentes de los sindicatos en las diferentes comunidades. Se planeo tener una reunion con la comunidad en general, seguida por entrevistas a los agricultores en sus respectivos lotes.Informantes calificados proporcionaron la informacion basica para definir las areas para las encuestas. Aunque la Provincia Oropeza, alrededor de la ciudad de Sucre, tiene la mayor area sembrada al cultivo de trigo en el departamento, la mayoria del cultivo esta en parcelas muy pequeii.as y en condiciones precarias y dispersas. Basada en esta situacion se decidio confinar la encuesta a las Provincias de Y amparaez, Zudaii.ez y Tomina, las que siguen a la Provincia Oropeza en area de trigo sembrada, ademas de la Pampa Lequezana del Departamento de Potosi, colindante con el norte del Departamento de Chuquisaca. Al final se tuvieron que suspender las encuestas en la Provincia Tomina y en la Pampa Lequezana debido al bloqueo de caminos. Las entrevistas se realizaron en tres zonas del Departamento (Figura 1) en las siguientes comunidades y provincias: Cada dia se formaron tres o cuatro grupos ( dependiendo de! numero de entrevistadores ese dia) para entrevistar a los agricultores. Los grupos estaban compuestos de dos a tres personas y cada grupo us6 un listado de temas de una sola hoja para guiar sus conversaciones con los agricultores. Generalmente mientras una persona conversaba con el agricultor, la otra tomaba notas. Ademas se tomo nota de las caracteristicas principales de los lotes donde se hizo la entrevista (Anexo 3). Finalmente, se revisaba entre los entrevistadores que se hubieran cubierto todos los puntos, y se hicieron preguntas adicionales para aclarar alguna informacion donde fuera necesario. Las entrevistas se enfocaron en entender que factores motivan la toma de decisiones de! agricultor. Aunque el sondeo se enfoco mas hacia el cultivo de trigo, se pretendi6 cubrir todos los aspectos dentro de! sistema de producci6n que interactuan con este.En general se tuvo una entrevista con toda la comunidad, y luego se procedi6 a visitar algunos campos y a entrevistar a los productores. Debido al problema de! inminente bloqueo de carninos, se cancelaron las visitas a Tomina y a la Pampa Lequezana, y se adelanto la visita a la zona de Y amparaez. Como no estaban preparadas las visitas para ese dia, los grupos solamente entrevistaron agricultores que se encontraban en sus campos.Cada tarde despues de las entrevistas el grupo se reunio para discutir los resultados de las encuestas de! dia. Durante estas discusiones se preparo un resumen de las entrevistas. Ademas se identificaron las areas donde hubo necesidad de mayor conocimiento de los sistemas productivos de los agricultores y otros aspectos que necesitaban mas clarificaci6n. Estos puntos se enfatizaron en las encuestas de los siguientes dias. Finalmente se prepar6 un listado de los problemas identificados por los agricultores o los entrevistadores durante el dia. Este form6 la base para la discusi6n final de los problemas en el area triguera del Departamento de Chuquisaca.Los agricultores reportaron las unidades de peso en terminos locales 1 , las cuales fueron convertidas a unidades mas utilizadas por los investigadores. En el texto se ha mantenido el uso de la medida del quintal ( qq = I 00 libras = 45.4 kg.) dado su uso extensivo en la zona andina.Durante los tres dias se entrevistaron 3 8 agricultores. En cada lote se tomaron muestras de suelo para el analisis de las propiedades quimicas del terreno, ademas se hizo un estimado del rendimiento y se tom6 notas sobre variabilidad, pureza varietal, poblaci6n de plantas, y la pendiente del terreno.El clima de la zona es monz6nica seca a semiarida, con lluvias concentradas entre noviembre y marzo, periodo en el cual cae el 80% de la precipitaci6n anual (Figura 2). La precipitaci6n anual media en el area triguera es alrededor de 550 a 600 mm, aunque los ultimos aiios han sido relativamente secos (Figura 3).Los promedios mensuales de los principales datos meteorol6gicos de dos localidades representativas de la zona encuestada, Tarabuco y Redenci6n Pampa, se adjuntan en el Anexo 3. 300\"-+--+-+-t-+-+-+-+-t-+-+-+-+-t-+-+-+-+' 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 Ano Figura 3. Precipitaci6n total anual en Tarabuco en el periodo de 1975 a 1993 Sondeo de Prot!uctores de Trigo -Chuquisaca 7Segiln la clasificaci6n de la F AO, los suelos de la region son principalmente luvisoles cr6rnicos, con predorninio de litosoles. Los suelos de los valles son principalmente cambisoles. En grandes areas hay la presencia de un fragipan superficial (10-40 cm.). Segiln la clasificaci6n taxon6rnica de la USDA, los suelos son principalmente Typic ustorthents, ustochrepts y durustalfs.Durante el sondeo se tomaron muestras de suelo de los totes visitados para hacer el analisis quirnico y textural (Anexo 3). La gran mayoria de los suelos son francos y franco-arenosos, casi neutros, y generalmente con niveles muy bajos de materia orgilnica (media= 1.0%) y f6sforo (media = 4 ppm). Los niveles de potasio (media = 0.94 meq/lOOg) y calcio (media = 11.26 meq/1 OOg) fueron adecuados en todos los casos. En algunos suelos los niveles de magnesia fueron bajos ( < 0.5 meq) yen la mayoria de los suelos la relaci6n Ca:Mg fue muy amplia (media= 8.5).Los agricultores tenian multiples terrninos para describir sus suelos, complicando el entendirniento por el hecho de que algunos usaban terminologia quechua, y otros terrninologia castellana. Estos terminos se referian a la aptitud productiva de los terrenos, pero a texturas ligeramente diferentes en las diferentes zonas.Tu'u Jallpa = Arenoso -Francos -Limo -Arenoso Chuawa Jallpa = Limo arcilloso Huasa Toq'o = Franco -Arcilloso, limoso poca profundidad (Capa de Llink'i) Laka Jallpa = Franco -Arcilloso, limoso, profundo Sumaj Jallpa = Alli Jallpa = Barria! = Buena tierra, profunda, productora, negra (no necesariamente arcillosa) Llink'i T'uru = Fragipan = Arcilla dura = Barro de arcilla Chajhua Jallpa = Suelo ripioso, no cultivable Laja = Suelo con piedras grandes Yana Jallpa = Suelo negro Gredoso = ArcillosoUn aspecto importante en su pos1c10n: si el suelo se encuentra en una \"hondonada\", mantiene mas humedad, o en una \"Joma\", retiene menos humedad.El agricultor tiende a usar sus mejores suelos para la siembra de papa. Evita Jos suelos muy pesados ( arcillosos) y los suelos muy arenosos y \"amarillos\". El suelo preferido para la papa es el \"Barrial\". A pesar de esto, el pequeiio agricultor sin mucho terreno pone la papa en el suelo de que dispone, no importando la textura.Existe una tendencia en distribuir los cultivos entre los varios campos que puede tener el agricultor. No pone toda su papa ni todo su maiz en el mismo campo, aunque los confine a campos que tienen menor riesgo de heladas. Esta distribuci6n reduce el riesgo de heladas y granizo.El sistema de produccion Cultivos Los principales cultivos en las areas encuestadas son Papa, Maiz, Trigo y Cebada, aunque el orden de importancia de estos difiere de zona a zona. La precipitaci6n media anual es mayor de 500 mm en toda la zona, aunque este aiio ha sido muy seco, con una precipitaci6n total menor a 400 mm en muchas partes. A pesar de esto, es la precipitaci6n media, o esperada, (y el riego cuando hay disponibilidad) lo que define los cultivos que siembra un agricultor, asi que creemos que los patrones que se observan corresponden a condiciones normales y no a las de este aiio solamente.La importancia de los cultivos en las cuatro areas se presenta en el Cuadro 1. Ademas de los cuatro cultivos principales, se observaron areas pequeiias de haba, quinua y arveja. Los cambios en la importancia de los cultivos observados entre agricultores y localidades dentro de estas areas fueron resumidos segiin las condiciones climaticas y geograficas. Un diagrama de este resumen aparece en la Figura 4. Cuadro 1. Orden de importancia de los cuatro cultivos principales en cuatro areas de Chuquisaca.  Ademits de las condiciones fisiognificas y climitticas, la presencia de proyectos de fomento u organizacion en las areas tiene un efecto sobre los patrones de cultivo. La preponderancia de cebada en Tarabuco parece estar mas asociada a un programa de fomento de la Cerveceria Boliviana Nacional (CBN) que de las condiciones climitticas en si. En otras areas, por ejemplo la Pampa Lupiara en el mismo Canton Tarabuco y no muy alejado de la pampa de Tarabuco, donde hay tambien riesgo de heladas, el trigo es el cultivo principal debido a que la Cerveceria no extendio agresivamente su programa a esta area, y que ACLO, una ONG, tiene un programa de apoyo para la produccion de semilla de trigo para Santa Cruz. Dado que los dos cereales, trigo y cebada, producen bien en la zona alta, futuros cambios en la estructura de precios, y credito efectivo ( semilla, fertilizante, etc.) proveido . por los programas de apoyo, tendril un efecto muy grande sobre la distribucion e importancia relativa de los dos cultivos.El area de papa que siembra el agricultor depende de su disponibilidad de capital, y sus apreciaciones sobre como van a ser las lluvias del ciclo. Si el ciclo empieza seco, reducen su siembra de papa, debido a que su inversion en este cultivo es mayor.Ademits de los cultivos principales existen areas menores de otros cultivos para el consumo de la familia. Estas incluyen haba, quinua, arveja, otros tuberculos, y, en la zona alta, maiz (es un cultivo principal en la zona baja).El Destino del Producto El destino prioritario de la cosecha de todos los cultivos es siempre para autoconsumo, seguido por la retenci6n de semilla, y la venta de! excedente. El autoconsumo de cebada es la pequeiia cantidad que asignan los agricultores para la alimentaci6n de sus animales. La cantidad de un cultivo vendido depende de la cantidad sembrada y cosechada pudiendo exceder a la cantidad consumida por la familia. Aim asi, la prioridad de! agricultor es de cubrir primero sus necesidades de consumo, y s61o vender el excedente.En Pampa Lupiara y Trigo Loma (Redenci6n Pampa) los agricultores manifestaron que venden el excedente de su cebada a la CBN, aunque no estan dentro de su programa.Los agricultores de Pampa Lupiara que siembran trigo para la producci6n de semilla para Santa Cruz, siembran tambien pequefias areas de las variedades tradicionales (con la calidad deseada) para cubrir sus necesidades de consumo y paja para forraje.Aunque el agricultor piensa rotar sus cultivos en un campo, no parece una rotaci6n fija, y las decisiones de distribuci6n de los cultivos se toman cada afio dependiendo en sus apreciaciones de c6mo va a ser el ciclo de lluvias, su disponibilidad de capital, y, en menor grado, de la cantidad de la cosecha que tiene almacenada del afio anterior.La papa tiende a ser la \"cabeza de la rotaci6n\", y los insumos, especialmente fertilizante, son aplicados preferentemente a este cultivo. A pesar de esto, norrnalmente la papa esta sembrada en un area mucho menor que la que se asigna a los cereales, asi que la rotaci6n es complicada. El agricultor describe sus rotaciones como si la papa ocupara una proporci6n de terreno igual a la de los otros cultivos, lo cual deja la impresi6n de que el area sembrada con papa es mayor de lo que es en realidad.Despues de sembrar la papa en un campo existe la tendencia (en varios casos) de seguir con cereal es hasta que \"no se dan\", regresando a papa o descanso cuando los cereales han aprovechado toda la fertilidad residual de! cultivo de la papa. La practica de dejar en descanso el terreno tambien se esta disminuyendo debido a la presi6n causada por el minifundio. Algunos agricultores manifestaron que solamente las personas con mas de 10 ha pueden ten er terreno en descanso. Animal es En general los agricultores dicen que sus animales mas importantes son las ovejas, seguidos de los bovinos (normalmente bueyes), burros, cerdos y aves. En dos comunidades los bovinos son los mas importantes para los agricultores porque se quedan en la finca durante todo el afio, y su estiercol queda disponible para los cultivos. En la mayoria de los otros casos, los bueyes son llevados al monte, a estancias alejadas de la finca, donde hay alimentaci6n, pero donde no se puede aprovechar el estiercol.Los cerdos y aves son de importancia secundaria, pero importantes dentro de! sistema porque consumen cebada.Hay una tendencia a la reducci6n de los animales, especialmente los de tracci6n y carga, reemplazandolos por tractores y carniones. Ademils por los largos aiios de sequia se estil reduciendo el numero de animales ( especialmente ovinos) por falta de area de pastoreo y forraje.Todo el estiercol es aplicado a la papa, excepto por pequefias cantidades que se aplican a otros tuberculos y el haba. Eventualmente, puede \"sobrar\" un poco de estiercol en algunos afios en la zona baja, y en ese caso lo aplican al maiz.En promedio, los agricultores aplican alrededor de 7.500 kg/ha de estiercol a la papa, aunque hubo un rango amplio en los niveles aplicados, desde 500 kg/ha hasta 15. 000 kg/ha. La mayoria de los agricultores manifestaron que la cantidad de estiercol que tienen no es suficiente. Algunos compran estiercol si es que pueden, y la mayoria lo mezclan con abono quimico. No se capt6 informaci6n sobre la cantidad de fertilizante quimico que se usa en todas las areas, pero fue notoria la diferencia en uso entre diferentes areas. En el area de Pampa Yampara y Pampa Lupiara, 85% de los agricultores mezclaron abono quirnico con el estiercol, y aplican en promedio de 87-100-2 (N-P 2 0 5 -K20 kg/ha) mientras queen Redenci6n Pampa y Yacambe este afio un 38% de los agricultores utilizaron, en promedio, 27-31-0, aunque la mayoria de los agricultores dicen que aplican abono quimico a la papa cuando pueden.La paja de la cebada es mas palatable para los animales, asi que cuando guardan forraje para sus propios animales, los agricultores guardan preferentemente paja de cebada. En la Provincia de Y amparaez hay una demanda para la compra de paja, y los compradores pagan igual para trigo y para cebada, asi que los vendedores venden primero el trigo y guardan la cebada para sus animales. El mercado de forraje es para las explotaciones lecheras de Y otala, donde se mezcla la paja de trigo o cebada con otros forrajes.La paja de cebada se destina enteramente para forraje, la cual es utilizada dentro de la finca o vendida. En cambio la paja de trigo se usa principalmente para forraje ( consumo y venta), pero tambien para adobe y techado, y cama para los animales en el corral. En solo dos casos, los agricultores regresaban el rastrojo al campo en una especie de compost.En la region de Redenci6n Pampa la mayoria de los agricultores dejan la paja en la era, donde los animales la pueden comer, utilizando lo que sobra de los animales para otros fines.El rastrojo que queda en el campo es pastoreado por las ovejas. Por observaci6n, estos pastorean preferentemente la carretilla (Medicago spp ). Segtin los agricultores, luego comen la hoja caida de trigo o cebada, y finalmente, si no hay otra cosa, comen la base de los tallos.Hay muy pocas diferencias entre el manejo del trigo y el manejo de la cebada. En la mayoria de las localidades la unica diferencia es en la fecha de siembra, dado que la cebada se siembra mas tarde que el trigo. Ademas, en Y acambe y Pampa Lupiara donde se fertiliza el trigo, no se fertiliza la cebada.En el Canton Tarabuco los productores no hacen una preparacion del suelo para el trigo o la cebada. Siembran al voleo sobre la superficie sin labrar y luego tapan con una rastreadora. En el canton Y amparaez la metodologia es similar aunque varios agricultores usan la \"melgueada'', donde marcan el campo en franjas antes de la siembra o despues de la tapada, usando el arado y haciendo surcos especiales de 0. 8 a 1. 2 m. Las razones para la melgueada no son claras, y diferentes agricultores dan diferentes razones, incluyendo:-A yuda para distribuir la semilla Drenaje y control de erosion Captacion de agua, etc.En contraste con el resto de! Canton, en la comunidad de Alcantari del Canton Y amparaez, se acostumbra una preparacion de la tierra con una pasada de! arado. No se logro entender porque se labra mas el suelo en esta localidad.En el Canton Mojocoya, normalmente se labra mas el suelo que en las otras localidades. Solamente en la comunidad La Poza se encontro que despues del cultivo de la papa el agricultor no prepara el suelo. En todas las otras situaciones el agricultor usa una rastreada (yunta o tractor) o una cruzada de yunta antes de sembrar. De nuevo, algunos agricultores melguean antes de la siembra y algunos despues de la tapada. Ahi tambien los agricultores mencionan que cuando hay un problema de malezas gramineas (grama = Cynodon dactylon, o pasto blanco = Pennisetum villosum), hacen mas labranzas antes de la siembra. Como hubo en general mas incidencia de infestaciones de gramineas en Mojocoya que en los otros Cantones visitados, esto podria explicar las diferencias en labranza.Hay pocos tractores en la region, pero existe un incremento en la demanda de ellos. Los factores que inciden en si un agricultor usa o no un tractor son:-El suelo no es muy pedregoso Hay dinero disponible Hay tractor disponible La pendiente no es exagerada Variedades Trigo El listado de las variedades encontradas se muestra en el Cuadro 2, junto con una indicaci6n de su frecuencia en las diferentes areas visitadas. Es de interes notar que no se encontraron trigos duros (T. durum) en esta parte de Chuquisaca, en contraste con Cochabamba. De estas variedades, Saguayo, Tarata 80, Chane, Redenci6n y Agua Dulce son (en orden de lanzamiento) variedades semienanas \"modemas\". Las otras variedades son tradicionales y altas, generalmente de procedencia desconocida.Es evidente en el Cuadro 2 que existen diferencias en la adopci6n de variedades nuevas en las diferentes areas. Mientras que en Laja, Pampa Lupiara y, a menor grado, Redenci6n Pampa las variedades nuevas son las mas importantes, en las otras areas de Tarabuco y Y amparaez no han incursionado variedades \"modemas\".Hubo una gran diferencia en las variedades de cebada sembradas en la Provincia de Y amparaez y las sembradas en la zona de Redenci6n Pampa (donde no hay mucha cebada). En Yamparaez la gran mayoria de los agricultores siembran Zapata o IBTA 80 (tambien conocida como Grignon por los productores, el nombre original de la variedad en Francia, y el nombre que fue utilizado en Peru). Solo dos agricultores siembran una variedad criolla, la cual debe ser susceptible a roya amarilla, y no es aceptada por la Cerveceria. En Redenci6n Pampa se siembra San Benito, y una buena proporci6n de la variedad criolla distica llamada Cebada Negra o Grano Negro. Esta se usa solamente para forraje. Cantidad de Semilla En todas las areas encuestadas (menos las comunidades de Pampa Yampara, Quirawani y Alcantari) los agricultores siembran 2 qq/ha, tanto de trigo como de cebada. En las tres comunidades diferentes mencionadas, por alguna raz6n hay una variabilidad grande en la cantidad de semilla utilizttda desde 0.5 qq/ha hasta 4 qq/ha. Ninguno de los 4 agricultores en estas comunidades siembran una cantidad parecida a 2 qq/ha. A pesar de discutir mucho este punto con estos agricultores, no fue posible entender porque en esta zona las densidades de siembra son tan diferentes en comparaci6n con otras regiones, aunque aseguran que sus densidades de siembra son adecuadas (hasta el punto de apostar con los investigadores que su metodo saldra mejor que una parcela sembrada por los tecnicos con la densidad recomendada!).Todos los agricultores siembran el trigo y la cebada al voleo.En general los agricultores guardan y usan su propia semilla, tanto de trigo como de cebada.En Tarabuco, antes la Cerveceria daba la semilla, pero ahora han dejado esta practica. Dada la sequia este ailo, varies agricultores manifestaron que este ailo la Cerveceria va a tener que proporcionarles la semilla de nuevo, porque muches agricultores no van a cosechar ni lo que invirtieron como semilla.Las ONG en la zona han jugado un papel importante en la diseminaci6n de las nuevas variedades. En Yacarnbe (Mojocoya), Agua Dulce y Chane fueron traidas por CARITAS y Redenci6n por PROAGRO. A la vez, en Pampa Lupiara, la semilla•de Agua Dulce provino de ACLO, quien organiza a los agricultores en la producci6n de semilla para Santa Cruz.Los niveles de fertilizaci6n en trigo difieren entre comunidades y parece ser que esto se debe tambien a la influencia de las ONG trabajando en la zona, e, inicialmente por lo menos, en el apoyo y credito que dan. Toda la fertilizaci6n se realiza al voleo en el memento de la siembra.En la provincia de Yamparaez, nadie fertiliza el trigo (ni la cebada) excepto por los agricultores de Pampa Lupiara que trabajan con ACLO y producen semilla para Santa Cruz, quienes usan 2 qq/ha de 18-46-0 y 1 qq/ha de urea. Este nivel de fertilizaci6n ( 41-46-0) esta muy cerca a la recomendaci6n general del Programa de Trigo de IBT A de 40-40-0.En las tres comunidades entrevistadas en Redenci6n Pampa, muy pocos agricultores fertilizan el trigo, aunque algunos dijeron que si el ciclo de lluvias empieza bien, entonces si fertilizan. En cambio en Y acambe, una comunidad bien organizada, hay una historia de mucha fertilizaci6n al trigo. El numero de agricultores que fertilizan el trigo ha ido disminuyendo con los ailos de sequia. Hace cinco ailos, 80 familias fertilizaron su trigo mientras que este ailo solamente 15 familias fertilizaron su trigo con solo 21-23-0, (I Sondeo de Prot!uctorea de Trigo -Chuauiaaca qq de 18-46-0, y 0.5 qq de urea). En general, Ia comunidad dijo que cuando tienen plata y llueve bien, fertilizan.Las principales malezas encontradas en las varias zonas estan listadas en la Tabla 3. Estas malezas no necesariamente son problemas para la producci6n de Ios cereales de grano pequeiio, pero fueron evidentes al final del ciclo. En general, no hubo muchos problemas con malezas en los campos visitados aunque no se sabe si esto se debe a poblaciones bajas de malezas o a un control eficiente.La carretilla (Medicago spp.) tambien ocurre en la mayoria de las zonas, pero no parece competir con el trigo, y mas bien parece el alimento preferido por las ovejas.El control de malezas es principalmente en forma manual en la Provincia de Yamparaez. En la zona de Tarabuco, dos agricultores habian aplicado 2,4-D para el control de malezas de hoja ancha. Manifestaron que usan control manual a menos que el campo esta plagado de malezas, y estas van ganando al cultivo. En es ta situaci6n si aplican herbicida. De los productores de semilla en Pampa Lupiara, tres usaron herbicida ( 40 ml. 2, 4-D en 20 1 de agua) y tres usaron control manual. En Redenci6n Pampa y Yacambe, a diferencia de Tarabuco y Pampa Lupiara la mayoria de los agricultores usan 2, 4-D para el control de malezas si hay humedad, aunque algunos hacen un control manual y aprovechan la maleza para alimentaci6n animal. Enfennedades La evaluaci6n de enfermedades en campo fue dificil ya que la gran mayoria de los campos visitados habian alcanzado madurez fisiol6gica. Este afio bubo poca infestaci6n de enfermedades de trigo o cebada posiblemente asociado con la baja precipitaci6n. En Tarabuco y Y amparaez, la roya amarilla (Puccinia Striiformis) es la enfermedad mas comun en trigo, aunque parece que el nivel de dafio no llega a ser importante. Los agricultores de Mishka Mayu reportan una nueva enfermedad que no conocen. Es posible que esta sea Septoria que fue importante en ensayos de trigo en Tarabuco este afio. En Redenci6n Pampa, a menor altitud, existe mas roya de la hoja ( especialmente en Chane) y los agricultores reportaron roya del tallo pero solamente en Totora 80 y en otros afios. Los encuestadores no podrian averiguar en que etapa del ciclo el cultivo muestra infecci6n ni la importancia de este en reducir el rendimiento.En Pampa Lupiara y Tarabuco hay una nueva enfermedad de la cebada (ch' ejchi = mancha de la hoja). Hasta el momenta no se sabe que es pero muestras enviadas a San Benito no permitieron una identificaci6n positiva.Ningun agricultor usa control quimico de enfermedades.En general no se reportaron muchos problemas con insectos en cereales menores en las areas encuestada. En la zona alta (Yamparaez, Tarabuco) hay problemas muy ocasionales con pulgones, y a veces con gusanos que comen el grano y tallo.Los problemas son mayores en la zona baja (Mojocoya). Hay mayor incidencia de pulgones, y este aiio un agricultor los contro16 con Curacron. Tambien hay problemas con La k'ato (gallina ciega) y Juth'us Khuru (Spodoptera sp. ), y ocasionalmente con langostas.La cosecha de trigo y cebada es toda manual. Se cosecha I hectarea con aproximadamente I 0 dias-persona.La trilla es principalmente en la era, afuera del campo, con caballos o con tractor. Generalmente se trillan lotes pequeiios con caballos y lotes grandes con tractores. Para trillar el trigo de I ha se necesitan 8-10 caballos-dia y 8-10 personas-dia, mientras que el tractor cuesta Bs. 60-70/ha 2 . Un tractor puede trillar I hectarea en I a I. 5 horas.Hay una trilladora en Trigo Loma y otra en Redenci6n Pampa. Los agricultores prefieren la trilladora por su velocidad (limpia el grano ), aunque existen unas pocas maquinas, no abastecen a la demanda para su uso.Cada dia se hizo una lista de problemas y la fuente de informacion que se uso parra incluir el factor como un problema. Al final de las encuestas se juntaron las listas de los tres dias (Cuadro 4) y se calificaron cada uno de los problemas en base a la proporcion de! area de! norte de Chuquisaca afectada por el problema, la frecuencia en aiios que el problema se presenta y su efecto sabre la productividad. Todos los problemas analizados fueron del tipo que afecta la productividad del cultivo en lugar de aquellos que afectan la eficiencia de los recursos invertidos en ello. Obviamente, los valores de area, frecuencia y efecto sabre rendimiento son estimados, basados en la experiencia de! grupo.Cuadro 4. Listado de los problemas encontrados en el norte de! Departamento de Chuquisaca, y las fuentes de informacion que se uso para su definicion. A base de los valores estimados de area, frecuencia y efectos sabre productividad, se calculo un valor de Perdida de Productividad (Sub-) Departamental Anual (PPDA) (Cuadro 5) que se uso para priorizar los problemas donde el valor mas alto de PPDA indica mayor prioridad. Despues de calcular los PPDA, el grupo formulo diagrarnas de flujo con las causas de! problema para cinco de los seis problemas mas importantes: (Figuras 5 a 9).No se hizo un anitlisis de las causas de la mancha foliar en la cebada dado que todavia no esta identificado el agente causal.Es evidente en las Figuras 5 a 9 el alto grade de interligacion entre los problemas, especialmente los tres problemas principales de erosion hidrica, I Sondeo de Prod11ctores de Trigo -Ch11quisaca 25 estres hidrico y estres nutricional. Obviamente los primeros dos de estos estan muy relacionados, dado que el agua que no entra al suelo es perdida para el cultivo, incrementando la frecuencia y severidad de sequia, y a la vez, esta agua escurre, causando Ia erosion hidrica. Igualmente en la preparaci6n de las Figuras se ha usado el protocolo mostrado abajo para distinguir entre problema y causas. Con frecuencia se encuentra que las causas de diferentes problemas son comunes, y en este caso se indica esto en la figura ( caja rayada) y solamente se demuestra todas las causas secundarias de esto en la primera figura donde ocurre. Tambien se demuestra sombreado las causas que el grupo marc6 como oportunidades para investigaci6n.  La etapa final de esta parte inicial de! diagn6stico continuo en el norte de Chuquisaca es un analisis a las posibles soluciones de las causas de los problemas principales, seguido por una planificaci6n de las acciones, tanto de investigaci6n como de transferencia de tecnologia, que el Programa de Trigo y Cereales Menores (PTCM) debe seguir para proveer soluciones adecuadas a los problemas. Este analisis de las posibles soluciones se hizo con los integrantes del PTCM en julio de 1994, para planificar las actividades para el ciclo 1994/95. A pesar de esto, los analisis presentados tambien deben formar la base para futuras actividades de planificaci6n.En el Cuadro 6 se demuestran las principales causas de los problemas prioritarios, que a la vez ofrecen oportunidades para la investigaci6n agricola, junto con sus posibles soluciones. A las posibles solucitmes se les ha agregado una prioridad basado en la importancia del problema que causan, y la probabilidad de exito de afectar la productividad de! cultivo, quitando esa causa especifica del problema o problemas. Las decisiones sobre la conformaci6n del programa de investigaci6n fueron tomadas basadas en estas prioridades y en la division disciplinaria del grupo de investigadores.Sondeo de Productores de Trigo -Chuguuaca 31 Cuadro 6. Causas de las principales problemas que limitan la productividad de! cultivo de trigo en el norte de Chuquisaca. Las causas listadas pro vi en en de las Figuras 5 a 9, y son I onnrtunidad.es rui.ra la investieaci6n amco a.Posible Solucion Surcado eo direcci6n de la Cuantificar efectos de sembrar con surcos en el contomo, y nendieote demostrar beoeficios Siembra en pendientes sin fuvestigar los beneficios econ6micos de terrazas de fonnaci6n estructuras para controlar lenta, incluyendo el uso de barreras vivas y cultivos en franjas el escurrimiento Remoci6n de residues Investigar efectos de regresar residues al campo despues de la vegetates de! campo cosecha Prornover la oferta del servicio de cosecha con cosechadoras combinadas en areas relativamente planas.Evaluar especies altemativas para forraje, con alta forraies alternatives oroductividad v meior calidad aue la ..,;a de trigo Falla de equipos Conseguir y probar pequeilos equipos (tracci6n animal y adecuados para la siembra motriz) para la siembra directa. directa Falla de ruptura de Labrar la superficie de! suelo durante el inviemo para romper capilaridad de! suelo la capilaridad. (Ojo. El grupo decidi6 que esto no seria recomeodable debido al riesgo de erosion e6lica.) Riesgo asociado con el uso Ideotificar factores que puedeo reducir el riesgo de! uso de de fertiliz.antes quimicos fertiliz.antes, y recomendar Ideotificar niveles de fertilizaci6n auimica mas seguros.Evaluar los beoeficios de rotaciones que incluyan cereales y leonm;nosas en la rotaci6n le011m1nosas. Competencia con malezas Buscar altemativas reotables y eficaces para controlar las nrinci..,les malezas Deficiente metodo de tape Ideotificar mejores metodos de siembra y tape (Ligado con de la sernilla siembra directa v manutenci6n de residuos) Sernilla de baja calidad Demostrar el beoeficio de una buena poblaci6n de plantas. Promover el uso de sernilla de meior calidad Falla de variedades Buscar variedades precoces con resisteocia a eofermedades y precoces con calidad buena calidad.   ","tokenCount":"5659"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0192393327.json b/data/part_1/0192393327.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3150d4dac7a63f194bf63e894d7ad317fd1aabe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0192393327.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9ce78768478bc429e458094908a57980","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0bc4f68b-2f6f-4e36-8afa-fb1ff435361f/retrieve","id":"-1002931843"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f7ce64c2-d760-4404-88ca-71ece78042c6","pagecount":"25","content":"Biodiversity is essential to food security and nutrition locally and globally. By reviewing the global state of edible plants and highlighting key neglected and underutilized species (NUS), we attempt to unlock plant food resources and explore the role of fungi, which along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, could help support sustainable agriculture while ensuring better protection of the environment and the continued delivery of its ecosystem services. This work will inform a wide range of user communities, including scientists, conservation and development organizations, policymakers, and the public of the importance of biodiversity beyond mainstream crops.As the world's population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, humanity is increasingly facing a double burden of malnutrition, comprising of a shortage of calories (hunger) at one end of the spectrum and excess at the other one (obesity; Abarca-Gómez et al., 2017;Alexandratos & Bruinsma, 2012;FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO, 2019). Addressing these challenges will require an increase of food production globally, which cannot be achieved by simply expanding industrial agriculture through land conversion to the detriment of the surrounding environment and already declining biodiversity (Jacobsen, Sørensen, Pedersen, & Weiner, 2013;Padulosi, Heywood, Hunter, & Jarvis, 2011;Sunderland, 2011), and a shift to healthier diets (Abarca-Gómez et al., 2017;FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO, 2019). In addition, around 36% (by calorific value) of arable crops such as wheat, maize, and sorghum are consumed by livestock and this requires one-third of the total area currently utilized for arable farming (Cassidy, West, Gerber, & Foley, 2013;Herrero et al., 2013). Overall, 26% (3.4 billion ha) and 4% (0.5 billion ha) of the Earth's ice-free surface is used for livestock grazing and livestock feed production, respectively (Foley et al., 2011). This is a complex situation, as there is a need to ensure the sustainable production of safe and nutritious food, while protecting biodiversity, to allow the delivery of other goods and ecosystem services, which are directly and indirectly critical for human well-being. Furthermore, it is necessary to facilitate societal adaptation to climate-driven environmental changes that can disrupt food production and people's livelihoods (Alae-Carew et al., 2020;FAO, 2019;Jacobsen et al., 2013).Of the thousands of plant species that have been cultivated since agriculture began around 12,000 years ago, only about 200 have been extensively domesticated, leading to dependence on a narrow range of genetic diversity of crops (Meyer, Duval, & Jensen, 2012;Vaughan, Balazs, & Heslop-Harrison, 2007). Together, wheat, rice, and maize alone provide almost half of the world's food calorie intake, making our food supply extremely vulnerable (Reeves, Thomas, & Ramsay, 2016). Plant-breeding programs narrowed the focus to large-seeded, high-yielding varieties of crops (Gruber, 2017), whose global production intensified (higher yield by unit of land area) during the Green Revolution of the 1960s-1980s. This period of crop intensification was also aided by developments in the use of chemical fertilizers, irrigation techniques, and pesticides (Pingali, 2012). Although the intensification of agriculture led to reduced pressure on natural ecosystems (Godfray et al., 2010;Green, Cornell, Scharlemann, & Balmford, 2005), it created multiple unintended environmental consequences such as water pollution, soil degradation, agrochemical runoff, increased susceptibility to pests and diseases, and biodiversity loss (Pingali, 2012). Crop intensification also decreased dietary diversity along with food cultures, and many traditional crops that were important sources of critical micronutrients (such as iron, provitamin A, and zinc) for poor communities were lost (Webb & Eiselen, 2009). However, there is now increasing recognition given to the importance of biodiversity for food and nutrition security, local livelihoods, and sustainable development (Bala, Hoeschle-Zeledon, Swaminathan, & Frison, 2006;FAO, 2019). Consequently, the benefits of using underutilized traditional crops, and exploring more sustainable production methods to grow mainstream crops, are being widely promoted (FAO & WHO, 2018).Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) include wild, domesticated, or semi-domesticated plants, whose potential to improve people's livelihoods, as well as food security and sovereignty, is not fully realized because of their limited competitiveness with commodity crops in mainstream agriculture. Nevertheless, they are locally important to people and often adapted to unique climatic and environmental conditions (Padulosi et al., 2011). Bringing NUS into mainstream agriculture could strengthen the resilience and sustainability of food production systems (FAO, 2018;Padulosi, Cawthorn, et al., 2019;Raneri, Padulosi, Meldrum, & King, 2019). In addition, NUS often provide benefits beyond food, by virtue of being multipurpose. For instance, they often yield other useful products such as timber, fibers, or medicines, and contribute to safeguarding biocultural diversity (Cámara-Leret et al., 2019). Increasing the inherent value of wild species as NUS and the ecosystem services that native species can provide to surrounding environments (such as food sources for pollinators and birds, maintenance of water supply and soils, and control of pests and diseases), will support biodiversity protection and provide cultural services (Díaz et al., 2020). Many Funding information the Swedish Research Council; the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation ex situ. However, at least 11% of those species recorded are threatened. We highlight multipurpose NUS of plants from different regions of the world, which could be key for a more resilient, sustainable, biodiverse, and community participation-driven new \"green revolution.\" Furthermore, we explore how fungi could diversify and increase the nutritional value of our diets. NUS, along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, offer a largely untapped resource to support food security and sustainable agriculture. However, for these natural resources to be unlocked, enhanced collaboration among stakeholders is vital.crops, ex situ conservation, fungi, livelihoods, minor crops, neglected and underutilized species, plant diversity, sustainable agriculture NUS are referred to as \"minor\" or \"orphan\" crops because of their limited role in larger agricultural production systems and have been \"neglected\" by agricultural researchers, plant breeders, and policymakers alike. Some have been major crops in the past, but are now displaced by modern commercial varieties and this is especially the case for many millets (which is a common term for a group of cereals in the Panicodeae and Chlorideae grass subfamilies) and less wellknown pulses such as lablab (Reed & Ryan, 2019). Many of these varieties and species, along with a wealth of traditional knowledge about their use and cultivation, are being lost at an alarming rate (Díaz et al., 2020). Access to NUS is also important because domesticated legumes (Fernández-Marín et al., 2014), cereals (Hebelstrup, 2017), other crops that contribute to food security (Tamrat et al., 2020), and fungi (Stojković et al., 2013) can vary in their nutritional, antioxidant, and other chemical content. This has potential implications for human health, which could be positive or negative, as for example on the diversity of the human intestinal microbiome (e.g., Albenberg & Wu, 2014).As global biodiversity is rapidly declining, limiting our possibilities of finding new food sources (Díaz et al., 2020), and considering that most analyses lack information on the entire spectrum of food resources consumed across the world, an assessment of their current distribution and conservation status to inform science-based policy making has become urgent. In addition, the adverse impacts of climate change on biodiversity, agricultural production, and food security have made the conservation of food diversity and associated traditional knowledge a global priority (Corlett, 2016;Maxted, Ford-Lloyd, Jury, Kell, & Scholten, 2006;Vincent et al., 2013). Finally, as intact habitats come under pressure from the increased demand for cropland worldwide (Tilman et al., 2017), ex situ plant conservation measures need accelerating (Larkin, Jacobi, Hipp, & Kramer, 2016), as promoted in the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 2.5 (https://susta inabl edeve lopme nt.un.org/).In this article, we (a) consider the global state of edible plants, their taxonomic diversity, uses, distribution, and conservation status; and (b) explore untapped plant and fungi resources, by reviewing the role of multipurpose NUS that could be adopted as potential future food crops under a changing climate.To assess the global diversity of edible plants we used the \"World Checklist of Useful Plant Species\" data set, produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Diazgranados et al., 2020). This data set includes 40,292 species with at least a documented human use and was redacted by compiling plant uses and reconciling species names using the taxonomic backbone of Kew's Plants of the World Online portal (http://www.plant softh eworl donli ne.org/) from 13 large datasets, listed in Diazgranados et al. (2020). Species with \"human food\" use in this list were extracted and analyzed in this review as \"edible plants.\" Crop wild relatives, although included in the list and analyzed in this review, were not treated separately, as several studies are already available on their richness, global distribution, and conservation, for example in Castañeda-Álvarez et al. (2016) and Milla (2020). Species from Diazgranados et al. (2020) that were also listed in Annex 5 of FAO (2015) were identified as \"major food crops\" in this review. Plant uses were classified according to the Level 1 of Uses of the Economic Botany Data Collection Standard (Cook, 1995), simplified to 10 categories, as in Diazgranados et al. (2020).Depending on authority, the total number of edible plants in the world varies from 100s (Van Wyk, 2019) to >30,000 plants, including infraspecific taxa (French, 2019). These differences in numbers are based on multiple factors, such as taxonomic rank (e.g., counting infraspecific taxa), accuracy (e.g., using reconciled taxonomy), and precision (e.g., using a unique taxonomic backbone), as well as the types of consumers and their diets. For example, using a conservative approach based on reported uses, RBG Kew has recorded to date 7,039 edible species, in a broad taxonomic sense, from 288 families and 2,319 genera, including 7,030 edible species of Bryophyta, Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, and Tracheophyta (Diazgranados et al., 2020). Many more edible species are expected to be identified in the future, as under-documented regions, for example, tropical America and New Guinea, are better characterized (Cámara-Leret & Dennehy, 2019;Cámara-Leret, Paniagua-Zambrana, Balslev, & Macía, 2014). Recognizing variation within species (subspecies, landraces, etc.) is equally important. While Brassica oleracea is known to cover nine crops, the level of plant diversity in use can be obscured by the widespread use of a common name (e.g., \"beans\" apply to at least 17 genera, 30 species, and thousands of varieties).Vascular plants (Tracheophyta) are the most important for human food, encompassing 272 families, 2,300 genera, and 7,014 known species, that is, 2.0% of the total angiosperm species diversity (347,298 accepted species;WCVP, 2020). Sixty percent of the vascular plant families include edible species, covering almost all the major phylogenetic clades (Figure 1). The most diverse orders are Fabales (640 edible species), Malpighiales (550), Sapindales (465), Gentianales (444), and Rosales (395). The richest families (see Figure S1) are Fabaceae (i.e., beans, 625 edible species), Arecaceae (palms, 325), Poaceae (grasses and includes cereals, 314), Malvaceae (mallow family, includes cacao, okra and durian, 257), and Asteraceae (sunflower and lettuce families, 251). With at least 100 edible species, Ficus (figs) is the richest genus, followed by Diospyros (52), Solanum (51), Garcinia (48), and Grewia (46). Most of the edible plants (97%) correspond to flowering plants, with 245 families, 2,235 genera, and 6,828 species. However, there is substantial variation in the proportion of edible plants among non-flowering plant groups, for example, 0.5% (six species) of Lycopodiopsida, 1.0% (109 species) of Polypodiopsida, 3.9% (13 species) of cycads, 7.5% (47 species) of Pinopsida, 8.9% (10 species) of Gnetopsida, and 100% (one species) of ginkgo.To understand the taxonomic distribution of intensively used food plants, we mapped the major food crop species listed by the FAO (2015) onto the phylogeny (Figure 1). Only 417 (5.9%) of edible plant species from Diazgranados et al. (2020) or simply because it was not needed (e.g., high abundance of mangrove trees in the Rhizophoraceae, which provide food among other uses, may be sufficient for the local demand). Some families, such as Acanthaceae and Phyllanthaceae, have a few species under cultivation but these are not used as food (e.g., as ornamental plants).Lastly, 77 plant families have one or two edible species which are not crops.Edible plants often have additional uses, which may differ in the world as part of the existing cultural diversity. The most frequent use is medicines (70% of species), followed by materials (59%), environmental uses (40%), gene sources (i.e., wild relatives of major crops which may possess traits associated to biotic or abiotic resistance and therefore be valuable for breeding programs; Cook, 1995;32%), and animal food (30%; Figure 2a). The same general trend F I G U R E 1 Phylogenetic distribution of edible plants from Diazgranados et al. (2020), and major food crops also listed in FAO (2015). A phylogeny of 448 vascular plant families was derived from the Spermatophyta supertree inferred from sequence data of 79,881 species by Smith and Brown (2018) by keeping one representative species per plant family. Presence/absence of edible plants and major food crops per family was drawn at the tips of the phylogeny using the R-package GGTREE (Yu, Smith, Zhu, Guan, & Lam, 2017). The rectangles at the tips of the phylogeny denote the presence of human food plants (orange) and major food crops (brown) in each family. Major plant clades are color-coded, except for clades with just a few families, indicated with numbers: 1. Chloranthales (1 family); 2. Ceratophyllales (1); 3. Proteales (4), Trochodendrales (1), Buxales (1) and Gunnerales (2); 4. Dilleniales (1 fam.); and 5. Berberidopsidales (2). Please see Figure S1 in the Supporting Information for the detailed tree with the names in the tips for all families was identified for species of major crops, with 83% also reported as \"medicinal,\" and with \"gene source\" having higher weight (70%) than in the full list of edible plants (Figure 2b). The link between food and medicine is well documented (e.g., Iwu, 2016), and already demonstrated for plant-rich diets, such as the traditional Mediterranean diet (Willett et al., 1995). Livestock and wild animals can also make use of the medicinal properties of plants to improve or maintain their health, for example, to control internal parasites (Villalba & Provenza, 2007;Villalba, Provenza, K Clemensen, Larsen, & Juhnke, 2011). Indeed, the boundaries between foods, including functional foods, medicine, and nutraceuticals are often blurred, attributed to certain phytochemicals in edible plants that have mechanistic effects relevant to human health, independent of fundamental nutrition (Howes, 2018b;Howes et al., 2020;Paradee et al., 2019).Certain edible plants and their constituents are associated with a reduced risk of some diseases. For example, there has been interest in the role of cruciferous vegetables and turmeric (Curcuma longa) to reduce cancer risk (Howes, 2018a), while Perilla frutescens nutlets have been evaluated to provide protection against oxidative stress in some hepatic disorders (Paradee et al., 2019). This concept extends to livestock and there is emerging evidence that the phytochemical composition of animal feed can enhance meat and dairy products, which may reduce the incidence of some diseases in humans (Provenza, Kronberg, & Gregorini, 2019).We found the native distribution of the large array of edible plant species documented in Diazgranados et al. (2020) to exhibit a clear latitudinal gradient, with food plant species richness decreasing from low to high latitudes (Figure 3a), similarly to general patterns in total plant diversity (Kier et al., 2009). Although a major hotspot of plant species richness, tropical Americas is under-represented in terms The native distribution of some of the major food crop plant species from FAO (2015; Figure 3b) generally maps over Vavilov's centers of diversity (Vavilov, Vavylov, Vavílov, & Dorofeev, 1992), that is, the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Central Asia (for wheat, lentils, peas, artichokes, apples), Ethiopia/Eritrea highlands (for teff, Arabica coffee, enset), India (for aubergines, pigeon pea, mangoes), East Asia (for soybean, Asian rice, oranges, peaches), Mesoamerica, and the Andes (for maize, chillies, common bean, tomatoes, potatoes). However, there is a relatively low species richness in major food crops from the Malay Archipelago and high edible species richness from parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Additional centers of origin have been proposed in recent years based on new archaeological evidence, such as West Africa for pearl millet and cowpea and Eastern Sahel for sorghum (Fuller et al., 2014;Harlan, 1971;Purugganan & Fuller, 2009).There is a geographical spectrum to food plant domestication, with total food plant richness mostly in the tropics and major domestication events more scattered at mid-latitudes, following a global pattern associated with environmental and historical factors (Diamond, 2002). The proportion of highly domesticated species increases from species-rich, forested, warm, and wet areas to drier climates, rugged terrains (i.e., mountainous areas exhibiting high heterogeneity in environmental conditions), and large human settlements developing agriculture (Lev-Yadun, Gopher, & Abbo, 2000;Meyer et al., 2012;Vavilov et al., 1992). In contrast,  2020) and (b) species of major food crops also listed in FAO (2015). The dendrogram represents a hierarchical clustering of the uses: clustered uses indicate closer proportion pattern, using the Euclidian distance for building the distance matrix and the \"Complete-linkage\" method for the hierarchical aggregation of the dendrogram wild, species-poor, cold, and flat areas of high latitudes contain few highly domesticated plants. However, humans are now changing these spatial patterns in food supply, demand, and cultivation by homogenizing the distribution of both agro-biodiversity and biodiversity in general (Baiser, Olden, Record, Lockwood, & McKinney, 2012;Khoury et al., 2014).Understanding better the global distribution of edible plants offers an opportunity to identify future crops that are better adapted to present and future climatic conditions, and whose plant material is locally accessible. This could improve food security by increasing the cultivation of \"climate smart\" crops with fit-for-purpose seed lots (Castillo-Lorenzo, Pritchard, Finch-Savage, & Seal, 2019) that will produce food despite changing growing conditions (Borrell et al., 2020;Díaz et al., 2019;Pironon et al., 2019).Previous studies on the comprehensiveness of the conservation of useful plants have highlighted that they are currently highly underconserved, both ex situ and in situ (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;Fielder et al., 2015;Khoury et al., 2019). However, when the collections housed in botanic gardens are included, we find a substantial representation of edible plant species conserved ex situ worldwide (Table 1). These results were achieved thanks to the joint efforts of the international CGIAR genebanks (https://www. cgiar.org/), botanic gardens (https://www.bgci.org/), and international plant conservation networks, such as Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (Liu, Breman, Cossu, & Kenney, 2018). However, some food species might be missing from ex situ collections due to incomplete data sets, geographic rarity, and having recalcitrant (i.e., desiccation sensitive) seeds, such as some tropical fruit trees (Li & Pritchard, 2009) and some priority crops on Annex 1 of the \"International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture\" (FAO, 2009). More work is also needed to understand and evaluate the functional and genetic diversity of ex situ collections, their potential for reintroduction efforts (Hay & Probert, 2013) and adaptability to future climate change (Borrell et al., 2020;Fernández-Pascual, Mattana, & Pritchard, 2019).The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (IUCN, 2020) includes species-level global conservation assessments for at least 2,108 (30%) edible species listed in Diazgranados et al. (2020) and 1,811 of these (86%) are conserved ex situ (Table 2).Although most species (78%) are identified as Least Concern, at least F I G U R E 3 (a) Global species richness per country of 6,959 out of the 7,039 edible species from Diazgranados et al. (2020). (b) Global species richness per country of 171 out of the 417 major food crops also listed in FAO (2015). While edible species richness decreases with increasing latitude, high richness in major food crops is mainly found in centers of domestication at mid-latitudes. Maps include species for which an IPNI ID (https://www.ipni.org/), as well as countries and sub-countries distribution data from the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCVP, 2020), were available 234 species (11%) are considered at risk of extinction (i.e., extinct in the wild; critically endangered; endangered; or vulnerable). The Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) ThreatSearch database (https://tools.bgci.org/threat_search.php) lists conservation assessments at global, regional, and national level for at least 3,893 (55%) of the species in our list, with most species (76%) identified as \"Not Threatened\" (Figure 4). Many major food crop species are widespread; therefore, it is likely that their extinction risk will be relatively low. Nonetheless, specific plant populations, including landraces, which may have unique climatic and environmental tolerances, and upon which human communities may depend, might still be threatened. Therefore, future conservation priorities should reflect assessments at the global level, and, for narrow distributed species, at the national level (Forest et al., 2018;Liu, Kenney, Breman, & Cossu, 2019).Beyond habitat destruction, many NUS are at risk of disappearing because of changing cultural views and lack of documentation (National Research Council, 2008). Promoting their role in food security calls for coordinated approaches across plant science and food systems, from local to international levels (Baldermann et al., 2016), as actively promoted since 1988 by the International Centre for Underutilized Crops (Tchoundjeu & Atangana, 2006). However, consolidated attention to NUS has really only emerged in the last decade, as the fight against climate change and the need to make agricultural production systems more diverse and environment resilient has accelerated (see Table S1 for a selection of projects/initiatives). The same trend is also evident for the limited pool of human and animal food crops, for which the challenges of feeding a growing population with a limited pool of crops have been highlighted (Lee, 2018;Lee, Davis, Chagunda, & Manning, 2017).There are many incentives and subsidies that tie countries into the production of major crops (Hunter et al., 2019;Noorani, Bazile, Diulgheroff, Kahane, & Nono-Womdim, 2015) and which potentially hinder conservation efforts (Kahane et al., 2013). Addressing NUS conservation and their sustainable production is critically important if they are to compete in the marketplaces dominated by a few commodity crops. An integrated conservation approach combines ex situ, in situ and on farm methods and ensures the effective maintenance and use of genetic diversity, the knowledge associated with this diversity and its transmission to future generations (Padulosi, Bergamini, & Lawrence, 2012). The primary challenge is the prioritization of model species for impact, to make the best use of limited resources. Species selection should be driven by shared priorities in terms of nutrition, climate adaptation, income generation, cultural   (FAO, 2018). This bottom-up approach will help develop innovative methods and tools of wide applicability that could be applied to other NUS. Success and failures in promoting \"new\" crops can be found across many regions, for example the effective establishment of lupin cultivation in Australia (Nelson & Hawthorne, 2000), or the negative social and environmental impact in the Andes caused by the quinoa boom (McDonell, 2018). To strengthen the self-sufficiency of food and production systems in terms of climate resilience, agroecological benefits (e.g., soil improvers and species' enhancers), food and nutrition security (e.g., species and varieties that build resilient, more nutritious and healthy diets), and income generation (e.g., diversity to build economic resilience), there is a need for both sustainable promotion and integrated conservation. Sustainable promotion makes diversity a central feature of the food system (at both intra-and inter-specific levels), thereby potentially avoiding what has happened in the Andes with quinoa, where global demand is being met by a few mainstream varieties, while hundreds of others are being marginalized (Zimmerer & Carney, 2019). Low levels of funding for the promotion of NUS, like yams, amaranth, Bambara groundnut, or African leafy vegetables, represents a major challenge for most countries interested in their promotion. Economic incentives and subsidies to private companies for producing local crops or certification schemes to recognize biodiversity-rich products, should be actively pursued and include the establishment of an international \"NUS Fund\" specifically dedicated to supporting their development (Padulosi, Cawthorn, et al., 2019).It is with this vision in mind that we provide a selection of highly promising NUS of plants (wild, domesticated, or semi-domesticated) from different regions of the world (Table 3), which have been targeted by major projects, international agencies (Table S1) and researchers (references in Table 3). We highlighted (in bold text in Table 3) those which are not currently listed as major food crops by the FAO (2015), for example, the mesquites in the Americas, morama bean in Africa, Akkoub in Asia, rocket in Europe and Pindan walnut in Oceania (Table 3).In addition, considering the differences in nutritional properties of the organ types (Guil-Guerrero & Torija-Isasa, 2002), we also reported the edible parts of each species. When comparing the taxa listed in Table 3 with those reported by Diazgranados et al. (2020), we found an average of five uses recorded per taxa, and a peak of 24 taxa with seven uses (Figure S2). Examples of NUS with many uses include the baobab in Africa, which is known as the \"tree of life,\" whose leaves, flowers, fruit pulp, and seeds are used as food and to make beverages; the bark, roots, and seeds are medicinal; the bark is used for making rope, roofing material and clothing; and the hard husk of the fruit is used as calabash (Chadare, Linnemann, Hounhouigan, Nout, & Van Boekel, 2008;National Research Council, 2008;Ngwako, Mogotsi, Sacande, Ulian, Davis, et al., 2019). The taro, originally from Asia and also cultivated in Oceania, has edible leaves, flowers, and roots; the roots are also medicinal and used as an additive to render plastics biodegradable (Arora, 2014;Linden, 1996).Therefore, NUS of plants, as well as many edible species of fungi (see Box 1), represent potentially low-hanging fruit for a more resilient, sustainable, biodiverse, and community participation-driven new \"green revolution,\" equitable and fair to the environment and all members of society.In the coming century, major challenges to agriculture and biodiversity will be dominated by increased climate variation. Hence, research needs to increase our knowledge on the biology and ecology of many NUS to be able to synthesize the future impact of climate F I G U R E 4 Conservation status for 3,893 edible plant species from Diazgranados et al. (2020), according to the BGCI ThreatSearch database (https://tools.bgci.org/threat_search. php). One assessment per species was selected, giving priority to the most recent assessment with highest risk. Records without an assessment year were excluded TA B L E 3 Selection of neglected and underutilized plants (NUS) that have been recommended in scientific papers or targeted by collaborative projects, networks or international agencies. Species in bold are not listed in FAO (2015). Scientific names are ordered alphabetically and according to Kew's Plants of the World Online portal (http://www.plant softh eworl donli ne.org).  ported that iron levels in beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) decreased, while levels of protein, zinc, lead, and phytic acid increased. This study also revealed that bean nutritional quality and yields were reduced under future predicted drought conditions, leading the authors to conclude, with supportive data from crop modeling, that current bean growing areas in south-eastern Africa could become unsuitable by 2050. Given the predicted impact of future drought conditions on crops and, as 66% of people live with severe water scarcity for at least one month of the year and humans use 70% of available fresh water for agricultural purposes, the monitoring of water irrigation systems is a recommended strategy to help conserve water (Green et al., 2018).Although future drought conditions have been suggested to increase protein levels in the legume species P. vulgaris (Hummel et al., 2018), in contrast, increased CO 2 levels were found to reduce protein levels and increase omega-3 fatty acid levels in mung bean (Vigna mungo; Ziska, Epstein, & Schlesinger, 2009). Environmental factors may also impact on the nutritional quality of edible nuts, including almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. For example, in 29 different cultivars, protein, phytosterol, and mineral content were affected, suggesting that climate change may also compromise  (Dong, Gruda, Lam, Li, & Duan, 2018). Furthermore, flavonol and anthocyanin levels in fruits may be increased by changes in expression of hydroxylases in response to environmental conditions, including water deficits and UVB radiation (Martínez-Lüscher et al., 2014).The impact of emerging environmental stresses on biologically active chemicals of edible plants is important from the perspective of human health. For instance, extreme environmental conditions (late season cultivation) have been shown to increase phenolic and vitamin C content in some broccoli cultivars (Vallejo, Tomas-Barberan, & García-Viguera, 2003). Higher CO 2 levels also increased vitamin C and antioxidant capacity in lettuce, celery, and Chinese cabbage, although other nutrients (micro-and macro-) decreased (Leisner, 2020). Thus, certain phytochemicals relevant to health in crop plants may be positively influenced by environmental changes, while levels of some essential macro-and micro-nutrients may be negatively affected. In view of the emerging research that suggests that certain environmental factors could negatively impact on the nutritional quality of food, the potential consequences for human health in the long-term are concerning, particularly against the backdrop of the global scale of malnutrition, which includes protein-energy, vitamin and mineral deficiencies (De Onis, Monteiro,Beyond the few species that are used in biotechnology for the production of pharmaceuticals, industrial enzymes and plastics (Howes et al., 2020;Prescott et al., 2018), the vast majority of fungi are underutilized. However, those in mainstream agriculture have an estimated annual market value of more than US$62 billion by 2023 (Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence LLP, 2017). As edible fungi are sources of fiber, selenium, potassium, copper, zinc, B group vitamins, and are one of the only non-animal sources of dietary forms of vitamin D, a deficiency of which is a risk factor for rickets in children (World Health Organization, 2019), the potential future use of neglected fungi is considerable. Indeed, during their growth stage and post-harvest, mushrooms exposed to sunlight or controlled levels of UV radiation had increased concentrations of vitamin D 2 (Cardwell, Bornman, James, & Black, 2018). The impact of UV radiation on the vitamin D content of mushrooms could be evaluated further as a strategy to enhance availability of dietary vitamin D, especially in regions where rickets or osteomalacia are health risks.Around 2% of fungi form mutualistic mycorrhizal relationships with plants (Suz et al., 2018). Within these mutualistic relationships, the plant provides sugars in exchange for minerals and nutrients from the fungus. While some mycorrhizal fungi are often the most desirable fungi for consumption, they elude efforts, with a few exceptions, to be cultivated commercially (Boa, 2004). These desirable mycorrhizal species are instead foraged from the wild, based on distinct cultural practices. However, it is unknown if the impact of foraging on wild populations can be sustained into the future, where harvesting is likely to increase. Currently of concern is the Kalahari truffle (Kalaharituber pfeilii), which is sold in local markets in southern Africa, with a rapidly increasing commercial harvesting (Mogotsi, Tiroesele, et al. (2019) and references therein). In contrast, saprotrophic fungi are well suited to commercial myco-culture, and up to 200 species are known to be cultivated around the world. Over 85% of cultivated mushroom species belong to just five genera: Agaricus (button, portobello, and chestnut mushrooms), Lentinula (shiitake), Pleurotus (oyster mushrooms), Auricularia (jelly and wood ear fungi), and Flammulina (Enokitake; Royse, Baars, & Tan, 2017).The cultivation of fungi represents an opportunity to develop valuable new crops that require low resource inputs, create little waste (SureHarvest, 2017), are sustainable, and can be tailored to local cultural preferences. Cultivation can be at the domestic and community level (Martínez-Carrera et al., 1998) and has the potential to be scaled up commercially (Zhang, Geng, Shen, Wang, & Dai, 2014).Importantly, new species are being brought into cultivation (Rizal et al., 2016;Thongklang, Sysouphanthong, Callac, & Hyde, 2014) and these have economic potential beyond the value of a few internationally grown strains (Hyde et al., 2019). For example, within the genus Termitomyces, species such as T. microcarpus and T. clypeatus are consumed across Africa and Asia (Boa, 2004) and bringing species from this genus into cultivation could be a desirable cash crop for local communities. Myco-agriculture is most diverse in China, with over 100 species of the 1,789 reported edible species already in cultivation and around 60% in commercial production (Fang et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2014).Finally, mycorrhizal fungal associations can also improve the nutritional quality of the edible parts of plant crops. For instance, mycorrhizal fungi inoculation of strawberries can increase the levels of anthocyanins and phenolic compounds, and in tomatoes can increase the levels of P, N, and Cu and flavour compounds (Torres, Antolín, & Goicoechea, 2018). More research is needed to understand the promising role that mycorrhizal fungi play in the nutritional value of edible plants, including NUS, particularly in the context of strategies to produce nutritious crops in a changing climate.Akré , & Glugston, 1993;Green et al., 2018; https://www.who.int/ news-room/fact-sheet s/detai l/malnu trition). While biofortification could be one approach to mitigate the impact of climatic changes on food nutritional status (Green et al., 2018), more extensive scrutiny of the nutritional quality of crops, including NUS, in the context of predicted environmental challenges, should be aligned with other strategies for food security. In circumstances where saccharide levels increase in edible species in response to climate factors (Dong et al., 2018), the consequences should be considered in the context of providing energy as a source of calories in both undernutrition (such as in wasting and being underweight) and obesity, with the latter associated with increased risk of certain non-communicable diseases (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheet s/detai l/malnu trition).Potential strategies to ameliorate the effects of climate change on food security in the future include greater understanding of the global distribution of edible plants and by creating more diverse and climate-resilient agricultural production systems (see Table S1). In addition, improved knowledge of naturally stress-resistant plants and their broader cultivation would enable agriculture, and the human diet, to be diversified as one strategy for global food security in the changing environment (Zhang, Li, & Zhu, 2018), especially when aligned with methods to maintain the genetic diversity of crops (e.g., seed banking; Borrell et al., 2020). More research on elucidating the genes and processes that underlay the mechanisms for climate-resilience of edible species could also underpin future strategies to mitigate environmental challenges that threaten food security (Dhankher & Foyer, 2018). Indeed, a multi-faceted approach integrating physiology, genomics, and climate modeling has been proposed as important to develop a sustainable future food supply considering global climate change (Leisner, 2020).To address the impact of climate change on nutritional security in the future, a model has been described (Fanzo, Davis, McLaren, & Choufani, 2018) to increase net nutrition in the food chain under climate change. This model encompasses agriculture practices to cultivate improved varieties, and new production locations to minimize loss of biodiversity, through to processing, distribution, marketing (including promotion of food benefits), and consumption strategies to maximize nutrition availability for vulnerable groups. A positive correlation between high agricultural diversity and high nutrient production, irrespective of farm cultivation size, has been suggested from global examination of food commodities (Herrero et al., 2017), indicating that one strategy to protect availability of nutrients may be through promoting agricultural diversity, and therefore, dietary range to support health.Emerging evidence shows climate change impacts not only on food quality, nutrition, safety (Borrell et al., 2020), and cost, but also on the ability to transport food from \"farm to fork,\" thus, for many communities, restricting their access to an adequate dietary range (Fanzo et al., 2018). These factors combined will limit the availability of nutrients with potentially serious consequences for the health of humanity.In this article, we provide an overview of the global state of edible plants, highlighting their diversity, and distribution among vascular plant families from around the world. We emphasize that this diversity stands in striking contrast with the few hundred food crops, originating from main domestication centers, that mainstream agriculture currently relies on. By integrating the other uses, we also highlight the additional ecosystem services these plants provide that are important for people's livelihoods and wellbeing (Díaz et al., 2020). While more work is needed to assess the actual conservation status of edible plants, ex situ conservation (and particularly seed banking) is already playing an important role in preserving them. However, information on the functional and genetic diversity of stored seed collections is limited and alternative ex situ conservation approaches, such as cryopreservation, need to be developed for those species with non-bankable seeds (Li & Pritchard, 2009).We highlight key NUS of edible plants with the potential to improve the quality, resilience, and self-sufficiency of food production, while deploying a more sustainable local food supply. We also consider the importance of fungi, which could enhance the nutritional value of foods, through the provision of beneficial vitamins and minerals, and which have potential to be developed into valuable and sustainable crops.However, before NUS can become successful crops of the future, many knowledge gaps need to be filled relating to their biology and ecology. In addition, research efforts are needed on understanding the impacts of climate change on NUS, to enable the development of effective and sustainable agricultural practices for future climate conditions (Turner et al., 2011;Ulian, Pritchard, Cockel, & Mattana, 2019). Although methods and tools developed by farmers and researchers for the cultivation of major crops can be easily adapted to improve the cultivation of NUS, these should be integrated with local traditional knowledge on uses and practices to help protect the environment and promote the conservation of biodiversity (Casas et al., 2016;Horlings & Marsden, 2011;Patel, Sharma, & Singh, 2020). To further aid the development of NUS as future crops, research programs need to be strengthened and the necessary research infrastructure put in place, including addressing shortages in relevant fields (FAO, 2019). This will require improved mechanisms for exchanging information rapidly and effectively, as well as increased awareness of the importance of crop diversity among and between stakeholder groups. One way this could be achieved is through participatory decision-making processes (Padulosi et al., 2011) and by putting in place effective legal and policy frameworks (FAO, 2019;Noorani et al., 2015) that are accompanied by economic incentives and subsidies to support the development of NUS (Padulosi, Cawthorn, et al., 2019).Biodiversity offers a largely untapped resource to support our planet and improve our lives and has the potential to \"end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture,\" as articulated in the UN SDG 2, through the development of climate-resilient crops and the more widespread use of localized crop species (Antonelli, Smith, & Simmonds, 2019), such as the NUS plants highlighted in this article. However, in order for these natural resources to be unlocked, strengthening, and developing collaborations between producers, researchers, local communities, NGOs, \"influencers,\" media, and governments are key factors for success.The authors and trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and ","tokenCount":"6368"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0226589657.json b/data/part_1/0226589657.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..064e350b4990b78bb21fdcb21f26966eb7640de3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0226589657.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"88241aa80f3a4f244820ff296fce2c94","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1be5b670-941b-4e52-ad90-16d8f21a1a73/retrieve","id":"-527861080"},"keywords":["Tanzania","experiment","nutrient management","tillage","maize","yields"],"sieverID":"51db1633-049a-4f98-88a2-39fa71b595e1","pagecount":"15","content":"The Crop Nutrient Gaps project (full title: Bringing Climate Smart Agriculture practices to scale: assessing their contributions to narrow nutrient and yield gaps) is funded by CGIAR-CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security), Wageningen University & Research, the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) and Yara (in-kind), and also collaborates with CIMMYT and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It runs from 2016-2019.Large parts of land suitable for agriculture in Tanzania are currently not under cultivation, presenting both threats and opportunities. In places where agriculture is practised, yields are low because of low fertility, low use of costly inputs and unpredictable weather (very narrow planting window). As a result, actual farmers' yields are usually 20% or less than what is the potential under rain fed conditions (www.yieldgap.org). A field experiment was set-up addressing the farmers' dilemma by introducing demonstration on reduced tillage, and proper, efficient fertilization. Visits for farmers and stakeholders were organised.The objective of the (large-scale) experiment is to test crop nutrition and tillage practices in maize and their potential to close the yield gap and analyse nutrient use efficiencies and other agro-environmental aspects (e.g. GHG emissions), and to use it as demonstration and discussion object.The experimental location is on the Ilula Orphan Program (IOP)'s Farm, Ilula, Iringa Region, in Tanzania (7°38'51.4\"S 36°04'05.0\"E) (Fig. 1). IOP is a non-governmental organization in Tanzania dealing with impact mitigation to: 1) determine the root cause and help to uproot the most vulnerable children (orphans from extremely poor families, children from poor single mothers or single fathers); 2) empower the elderly; 3) empower young mothers and the youth through training. IOP owns a modern commercial farm, named Farm for the Future Tanzania Ltd (FFF) that started operation in 2018, which is also used to as a training centre. It is a registered Farm aimed to generate income, empower single mothers through training (socio-economic and agriculture) and encourage school children (kindergarten all the way to secondary school) to develop love for the agriculture by providing visits and activities that will stimulate them to grow with a positive image of this number 1 employer in Tanzania. This trial experiment is part of the FFF. Four nutrient management options were combined with two tillage options, resulting in a total of eight different treatments (Table 1). The trial has a split-plot design with tillage as main plots and the four fertilizer treatments as split plots (Fig. 2). There are four replications of each treatment with a plot size of 10.4 m by 10.8 m (16 rows at 65 cm, and 36 planting holes placed at 30 cm apart, resulting in a plant density of 5.13 plants/m 2 ). Net plot (harvesting) size is 9.75 m x 10.5 m, equivalent to 102.375 m 2 . Liming was not required since former soil analysis shows an average pH of 5.5 (4.6-6.3). Yw is the water-limited potential yield, and is estimated as 7.0 t/ha, the yield target is 70% of Yw which is 4.9 t/ha (85% dry matter).Fig. 2 Trial set-up and treatments. CT = conventional tillage, RT = reduced tillage, F1 -F4 are the fertilizer treatments (see Table 1)The fertilizer treatments include a control treatment (F1) without any fertilizer application, which is required to assess crop response to fertilizer application and to calculate fertilizer use efficiency. The unfertilized control is also close to prevailing farmer practice in the region in particular if formerly barren land is cultivated for the first season as it was in this case. The F2 and F3 treatments supply N, P, and K at a rate that could accommodate NPK uptake of maize at 70% of its water-limited yield potential identified for the site at IOP Farm. Based on the GYGA and expert judgement the water-limited yield potential was estimated at 7 t maize grain per ha (at 85% dry matter), i.e. resulting in a target yield of 4.9 t/ha maize yield. We assumed 20 kg N uptake per t of grain, which resulted in 98 kg N/ha application rate (see Table 1). P and K rates were determined by the N-P-K ratio of the recommended fertilizer product YaraMila Cereal (used in F3). The F3 treatment investigates the potential benefit of applying the additional plant nutrients sulphur (S), magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn), knowing from previous soil analysis that these nutrients are frequently in deficiency. This treatment also represents the current Yara recommendation for maize grown in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The fourth fertilizer treatment (F4) includes the use of organic material (composted manure) assuming to replace 50% of the mineral fertilizer.All fertilizer treatments were combined with two different tillage practices, (1) conventional (CT) and (2) reduced tillage (RT). Conventional tillage represents common farmer's practice. At IOP Farm this means using a disc plough on the whole field. Reduced (or conservational) tillage means for this experiment using a ripper instead of a disc plough and ploughing only the planting lines, leaving the remainder of the field untouched. This minimizes soil exposed to the vagaries of weather (reduces erosion), minimizes destruction of soil flora and fauna (hence encouraging a richer biodiversity). It ensures exact placement of fertilizer (in the furrow), and hence better use of the fertilizer by the plant, leading to, presumably, bigger harvests. It reduces the use of fossil fuel, hence a cleaner environment and cheaper farming operations (fewer runs than when whole field is tilled). Ripping results into better water harvesting and storage due to least soil exposure (no inversion/turning of the soil) and the deep strips that are formed collect and store more water. In the long run, this might enable minimum use of herbicides and tillage.At the start of the experiment soil samples were taken (32 samples at 0-20 cm; 32 at 20-40 cm).Afterwards land preparation (tillage), trial set up, seeding, herbicide application, application of well decomposed manure and fertilizer and trial fencing out activities were done.In a second stage of the experiment the following management activities were performed: weeding, fertilizer top dressing, herbicide application.In a third stage of the experiment the following management activities were performed: foliar top dressing, pesticide application, leaf sampling (32 samples).Finally, the maize plants in the trial experiment were harvested and soil samples (32 samples at 0-20 cm) were taken.  Reduced tillage (RT) resulted on average in a 11% higher yield compared to conventional tillage (CT), but this difference was not significant (P=0.38). However, there were significant differences between the fertilizer treatments. If no fertilizer was added (F1) this resulted in the lowest yields, while the highest yields were obtained with the addition of NPK to target 70% of Yw (both the treatment with (F3) and without micronutrients (F2)).CT-F3 RT-F4Fig. 4 Photos from some of the different experimental treatments during the growing season. See Table 1 for explanation on the treatments.Overall, the lowest maize yield was obtained under conventional tillage without fertilizer application (CT-F1), and the highest with reduced tillage and NPK fertilizer to target 70% of Yw and the addition of micronutrients (RT-F3) (Fig. 5). Interestingly, reduced tillage resulted in an increase of almost 2 tonnes per ha when no fertiliser was applied (F1). Reduced tillage did not significantly increase maize yield when fertiliser was applied (F2 to F4)The amount of fertilizer applied was aimed to target 70% of Yw, but in all cases it resulted in yields which were higher than the target, and in several cases ca. 100% of Yw was reached (Fig. 5). One reason for the higher yields than expected could be the well distributed and sufficiently high precipitation during the growing season.A more detailed evaluation of the data will follow when lab analyses and further information (e.g. on applied organic material) are available. The experiment is repeated (with addition of one extra fertiliser treatment) in 2019.dashed line indicates the estimated water-limited potential yield, and the red continuous line is 70% of the water-limited yield.Combining Commercial farming and Training is a completely new approach in Tanzania. Involving children is very much hailed by the regional authorities as the right way forward. The experiment at the IOP farm supports creating a knowledge base on nutrient management and tillage options to improve maize yields.A number of field visits by farmers were organised to the experiment in 2018. Village leaders were requested to come with at least 20 farmers each, divided equally between male and female (it actually meant 10 household members, a man and his wife to consolidate learning) to an inaugural meeting where they were introduced to the IOP and Farm for the Future philosophy, then to the tillage-fertilizer Visitors unanimously agreed F1 (Control) gave the worst performance in both treatments followed by F2 in Conventional Tillage OR followed by F4 in the Conservation tillage system. The best performance came from F3 (in Conv. Tillage sometimes in both tillage systems) OR F4, mainly in Conservation tillage.On 28 May 2018 the Tanzania Uhuru Torch made a stop at the trial, to recognize the importance of the training tool for farmers. During this festive day, Village leaders, Region and District level leaders, large and influential farmers as well as single mother young farmers were in attendance. The young single mothers offered the explanation of what was happening and made up their fertilizer regime of their choice, which was undoubtedly F4 followed by F3. This was recorded and broadcast for all Tanzanians to see. This year farmers are also attending to the trial and there will be a jointly (SUA_WU_Yara_FFF) organized Farmer's Field Day around 3 May (date to be confirmed in the near future). Additionally, the Uhuru Torch will make a stop at the main FFF cultivated field (some 210 odd hectares) to view what happens when a full fertilization is accorded to a crop. ","tokenCount":"1607"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0236273469.json b/data/part_1/0236273469.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ac6af51687ff16640a6863792813e7c452de50e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0236273469.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6aa3d0d070f96eef6195b3ec2590de85","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6553c87d-bfc0-45c2-84b5-84d1562f0c9e/content","id":"-914563091"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bd8c54c7-5d5b-4ad8-a054-0b89639c1a1d","pagecount":"8","content":"This brief is based on a value chain survey carried out on the maize and legume seed sectors in Tanzania. The results showed that the majority of maize farmers in the surveyed districts are still using recycled seed. An important development is that the seed sector has opened up in recent years and there is growing private sector participation. Nevertheless, inefficient supply chains and low purchasing power were the two main challenges of seed markets in Tanzania. In the long-term, increasing the supply of these key inputs through greater participation of the private sector players is important. Second, strengthening the role of the public sector by focusing on the issues of sector governance, training, and research and foundation seed production will be crucial for success. On farmers' weak purchasing power, a strong credit system is inevitable. Innovations to deliver such credit to smallholder farmers are needed.The smallholder sector remains largely a low technology and subsistence affair. To increase production, incomes, and employment opportunities, Tanzania's smallholder farmers need to address these issues to move from subsistence to more commercially oriented farming. Noteworthy is that smallholder sector is the backbone of maize production and constituted 95 percent of maize producers on 3 million hectares (ha). Yet yields are generally low at 1.2 tons/ha on an average farm size of 0.7 ha. Comparatively, on the larger farms, yields (estimated at 5.5 tons/ha) are nearly five times those on smallholder farms. Legumes are an important category of crops in Tanzania. Pigeonpea in particular is growing in importance and predominates in the northern zone (Babati district), central zone (Kondoa district) and southern zone (Mtwara and Lindi districts). Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) constitute the most important pulse crop in terms of supply of plant proteins, calories and farm income. Consumption of common beans has steadily increased without a corresponding increase in production. Common beans is largely grown and marketed by smallholder farmers, mostly women. Therefore, maize and legumes are an important group of staple crops that are central to food, nutrition and economic security of many people in the country. Access to high quality seeds of good varieties is important as part of the intensification of maize-legume intensification farming in Tanzania. In 1976, a major milestone was the release of an OPV maize variety called Tuxpeno targeted at the low lying production areas.Hybrid H6302 suitable for the highlands released.Hybrid H614 suitable for the highlands released. Three OPVs-Kito, Kilima, and Staha released.OPV varieties, TMV 1 and TMV2 released.In 1989, during a period of major economic reforms the space was opened up for private seed companies' participation in the seed sector. Research and production of foundation seed: The breeding activity in Tanzania is largely a public sector affair typical of many seed sectors in Africa apart from South Africa. National Agricultural Research Organisatios (NAROs) have the mandate to conduct crop research aimed at the development of varieties suitable to different agro ecological conditions. Apart from producing breeder (basic) seed, NAROs also have the role of providing agronomic package to the public.Governance and oversight: The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) has a primary oversight role in the seed sector in the country. The main functions of TOSCI include seed quality control and certification, which involve variety testing and registration. TOSCI carries out control analysis of varieties to be released by conducting Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) tests. Furthermore, it carries out seed testing in the laboratory before issuing certificates permitting the seeds to be supplied to the Agricultural Seed Agency (ASA) for production of foundation seed.Production of foundation seed: After quality control tests by TOSCI, the breeders from NAROs are responsible for the supply of breeders' seed to ASA, which is involved in foundation seed multiplication and distribution to private seed companies for seed multiplication.Seed multiplication: Seed multiplication is done by private seed companies and farmers. The primary function of these actors is seed multiplication and distribution (both hybrid and OPV). The seed is sold either through regional or zonal seed companies' offices or in some cases through input dealers. ASA also participates in seed multiplication and sale. Such sales are made directly to famers, agrodealers and other players. Farmers are given foundation seed by ASA to produce Quality Declared Seed (QDS). Seed designated QDS are quality certified although to be used as seed although not derived from a formal varietal breeding process.Seed distribution -Agro-dealers/seed dealers: Agro-dealers/seed dealers act as the links between farmers and seed supply from the public and private companies.The Directorate of Research and Development (DRD) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Sokoine University of Agriculture, are the key players in bean research in Tanzania. Research institutes from the respective zones (ARI Selian-Northern Zone, ARI Uyole-Southern Highlands, ARI Maruku-Lake Zone), develop breeder seed and recommend bean varieties suitable for their respective zones (Bean Based Technologies BBT). Production of breeder seed is done by breeders from research institutes and SUA. The breeder seeds are sent to ASA for production of foundation seeds.Production of foundation/certified seed: Foundation seed is mainly produced by ASA and these are then used for seed multiplication. ASA also participates in seed multiplication. Production of Quality Declared Seed (QDS) at farmers' fields has been tried but is limited by low capacity for sufficient quality and quantity.Seed distribution: ASA, Agro-dealers, stockists and farmers are the main players for seed distribution. Agro-dealers or seed dealers form a link between farmers and seed supply from the public seed sector. They also supply the retail seed industry in the farming communities across the country and cover large areas through both formal and informal seed networks.x Box 1: Seed Supply Chain: Actors and their roles in maize seed value chains in Tanzania Box 2: Demand and supply scenarios for legume seeds Farmer-level information on maize and legume seed useIn well-developed seed markets and where farmers have the purchasing power, the recommendation is to plant fresh hybrid seeds each season. In Tanzania, recycling of hybrid seed has been estimated to be up to three years in some cases. Results indicate that farmers recycle both maize and legumes. In terms of the predominant varieties, the data collected in 2010-2011 on seed type use in Tanzania showed that OPVs (Staha) and hybrid (SC 627) have equal market share of about 30 percent each. Most farmers were found to recycle Staha with a 61 percent frequency. However the hybrids, SC 627 and DK 8031 are for the most part procured from agro dealers (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). Jesca bean variety appears to be the most known in Karatu and Lyamungo 85 and 90 series in Mbulu (Fig. 3). Similar patterns are repeated in the data about usage (Fig 4). Still, about 10 percent of hybrids are still recycled. For the legume crops, the main source of seed is from seed saved from previous harvest (Fig. 5 and 6). One of smallholders' major impediments to commercial oriented farming in Tanzania is lack of access to reliable and lucrative markets. Local rural markets are small, and trading in distant urban markets is not profitable due to high transportation costs. Smallholder farmers also face challenges of gaining access to credit, high-quality inputs, improved technology, information on good agricultural practices, and business development services. Lack of infrastructure also prevents farmers from accessing markets even when there are buyers.In the SIMLESA project sites, household surveys done in 2011 showed that the average walking distance to the nearest village market was about 6.6 km. The average distance to the nearest village market was farthest in Mbulu (8.7 km) and shortest in Karatu (4.4 km). The average transport (one way) cost to the village market was higher in Mbulu than any other district (TSh. 489) compared to TSh 229 in Karatu district. Another indicator of the ease (difficulty) of market access was that the main means of transport to the local markets was walking (46 percent) and use of bicycles (11 percent), while just a few (3.1 percent) respondents reported using a vehicle transport.The average walking distance to the main market for the four districts was about 15.5 km reflecting diversity in infrastructure and market access, these distances were 18.5 km in Karatu, 17.8 km in Mbulu district and lower in Kilosa (13.4 km) and Mvomero (12.3 km). The majority (57 percent), considered their road condition to be of below average/poor quality and 38 percent of the respondents reported to having a road of average quality and 5 percent reported having a very good road to the main market. On average, the road to the main market is passable to trucks for about 9.5 months within a calendar year. However, there is no information on whether the two bad months when the road is not passable occur in the middle of the marketing season when farmers need to take produce to the market. This brief outlines the main features of seed value chains in Tanzania. The aim was to produce an overview of the seed value chains and identify some constraints to these value chains to inform some possible policy and agribusiness actions. The results suggest that although the seed sector has opened up in recent years and now there is private sector participation, seed supply and use remain inconsistent with many maize farmers in using recycled seed.In terms of seed sector business development, purchasing power and limited infrastructure are some of the constraints. While seed costs are typically estimated to be modest, a hectare would require between 20-25 kg of seed, which can cost about US$25/ha for open pollinated varieties and US$50/ ha for most common hybrids. In an environment of US$700 annual per capita income, seed expenses for one hectare would easily constitute the equivalent of one month worth of income for a farming household. This weak purchasing power calls for a strong credit system. Innovations around microfinance to deliver such credit are certainly called for. In the long run, increasing the supply and competition in seed markets to make more seed available to many farmers at prices they can afford represents one of the most sustainable solutions.A hectare requires betweenIn an environment of US$700 annual per capita income, seed expenses for one hectare would easily constitute the equivalent of one month worth of income for a farming household. ","tokenCount":"1704"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0240988930.json b/data/part_1/0240988930.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0ca0ed7db307867be2610b5c484ac3cd38a2e342
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0240988930.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a808891fa62a930ab151dbb10141073e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf8763f6-a4c5-41a0-8e55-27abf139ab13/retrieve","id":"1094252476"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4f1892f7-9b37-4ae6-b200-02d85ce63d1f","pagecount":"20","content":"Según el Banco Mundial (2016): Nicaragua sigue siendo uno de los países menos desarrollados de América Latina. La pobreza, aunque ha disminuido de manera constante en los últimos años, sigue siendo alta. Más del 80% de los pobres en Nicaragua residen en áreas rurales, gran parte en comunidades remotas donde el acceso a los servicios básicos es un reto diario.Desde sus orígenes, el desarrollo de la sociedad nicaragüense ha contado con el aporte de las mujeres en sus diferentes ámbitos: económico, político, social, cultural. Sin embargo, esta contribución sólo se ha puesto de manifiesto en determinados momentos, a través de mujeres poetas (Gioconda Belli, Michelle Najlis), comandantes guerrilleras (Dora María Téllez, Mónica Baltodano, Leticia Herrera) o una presidenta (Violeta Barrios de Chamorro); pero en el ámbito productivo, por lo regular la mujer ha quedado considerablemente relegada e invisible.Por otra parte, la condición de las mujeres ha sufrido modificaciones a lo largo de la historia de Nicaragua; una historia marcada por dos claves interconectadas: la dificultad interna -referida a las diferencias sociales-y la tendencia a la violencia. Así por ejemplo, la conquista del sufragio femenino en Nicaragua, al igual que en el resto del mundo, enfrentó obstáculos relacionados con el pensamiento y modelo patriarcal, pero se logró el 3 de febrero de 1957 (Montenegro, 2012), pues si bien para la clase política criolla no era prioridad, para las sufragistas nicaragüenses, tener derecho a votar era vital para ejercer la ciudadanía plena.Por otro lado, con el proceso revolucionario gestado por la disparidad entre la extrema pobreza de la gran mayoría y la riqueza de una minoría marginal, la situación económica tuvo un efecto particular en las mujeres de Nicaragua. Las mujeres eran una gran parte de la fuerza laboral y muchas veces eran el sostén de la familia cuando el marido las abandonaba por integrarse a la guerrilla. Con el triunfo de la revolución sandinista aunque gran parte de los cargos de liderazgo estuvieron en manos de los hombres, la participación de las mujeres en la lucha fue parte de una tradición en el movimiento sandinista y así se hizo posible empezar a dar pasos en la abolición de la discriminación de la mujer desde el punto de vista político, social, económico y cultural. En la actualidad, los avances en legislación a favor de las mujeres son significativos, pero todavía hay espacios en el ámbito productivo que es necesario ganar.Dada la importancia que tiene la mujer como actora en las áreas rurales y la necesidad de incorporar todo su potencial de gestión productiva, intelectual y social en el desarrollo territorial, el Programa de Proceso de elaboración de cuajada. Grupo de mujeres Fuente de Bendición.Comunidad Los Lirios, Telpaneca.• 8 Grupos de mujeres organizados.• Inversión en infraestructura por US$122,17 (US$91.151 aportados por PROGRESA; US$17.406 aportados por las organizaciones cooperativas; y US$13.640 aportados por los grupos de mujeres).• US$455.069 (el 18% de la inversión total del proyecto en capacitación) destinados al fortalecimiento de capacidades de las mujeres a través de talleres en diferentes temas técnicos, socio-organizativos y empresariales.Gestión Rural Empresarial, Sanidad y Ambiente (PROGRESA) incorporó el componente de género como apuesta para lograr su principal objetivo: que 4.700 familias de los departamentos de Matagalpa, Jinotega, Madriz y Nueva Segovia mejoren sus medios de vida, aumenten su productividad y expandan el comercio de sus productos.PROGRESA tiene una duración de tres años y es financiado por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA, por sus siglas en inglés), fue creado en conjunto con un grupo de socios del sector privado, cooperativas, organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) y agencias del gobierno nicaragüense. El enfoque de desarrollo de PROGRESA reconoce la importancia de trabajar con equidad de género, no solo evidenciando y reconociendo las desigualdades existentes entre hombres y mujeres, sino también identificando oportunidades para disminuir esas desigualdades e impulsar el empoderamiento de productoras para que asuman un rol más activo, tanto para que ellas se integren a actividades productivas, de agregación de valor y comercialización dentro de las cadenas que apoya el Programa, como también para que asuman cargos directivos que les permitan participar en la toma de decisiones a diferentes niveles en las organizaciones a las que pertenecen, y a la vez sean reconocidas como actoras clave en el desarrollo de sus familias y de sus comunidades.Con esta finalidad se han destinado fondos específicos para la implementación de 8 iniciativas de negocios con mujeres como actoras directas en las cadenas de valor de ganado y hortalizas en los municipios de El Jícaro, Jalapa, Palacagüina, Telpaneca, Ciudad Darío y la Concordia, con el acompañamiento técnico de Cáritas Estelí, Cáritas Matagalpa, FIDER, la Cooperativa La Unión y ASDENIC.Históricamente la cultura nicaragüense está orientada a que los hombres son los que tienen mayor acceso a recursos y toma de decisiones en sus hogares y el trabajo, situación que los posiciona con mayor poder y capacidad económica para desarrollarse como personas y emprender proyectos personales o grupales.Al inicio de la ejecución del Programa el mayor problema que se encontró fue que las mujeres rurales mostraban poco interés en desarrollar negocios en las cadenas de valor de hortalizas y ganado, y esto se debía a que en la mayoría de los casos ellas fueron formadas bajo la cultura y la mentalidad de que el único proveedor de lo necesario en el hogar era el hombre; además, ellas carecían de conocimientos referidos a sus derechos y condición de mujeres, e igualmente desconocían las oportunidades que brindan algunos programas de desarrollo como PROGRESA.Esta situación, unida al hecho de que ellas, por su condición de mujeres, carecen de recursos propios (tierras, implementos, efectivo) para tener acceso a créditos, o financiamiento para desarrollar actividades o negocios propios en sus comunidades, imposibilitaba su integración al desarrollo de actividades con enfoque de negocios.Una vez que se logró identificar esta problemática, se analizó el nivel de conocimiento de las mujeres en los diferentes rubros de las cadenas que apoya el Programa. En relación a la cadena de ganado se observó que las mujeres tenían experiencia en el procesamiento de la leche a nivel artesanal, sin embargo existía desconocimiento de las técnicas de procesamiento y transformación de la leche (manejo de materia prima, equipos, procesos para cada producto), así como también desconocían la diversidad de productos lácteos que demandaba el mercado y las normas para la manipulación de alimentos y/o prácticas de manufactura que permiten darle valor agregado a la producción, mejorar la conservación de alimentos en las comunidades y así poder ofrecer a los consumidores un mejor producto.En cuanto a la cadena de hortalizas, las mujeres se integraban a las actividades productivas (siembra, recolección, entre otras), formaban parte de la mano de obra en procesos de acopio y también en comercialización; sin embargo su participación en los eslabones de la cadena de valor no aseguraba que fueran beneficiadas con una distribución equitativa de las utilidades que se generaban de su trabajo, porque generalmente los puestos de toma de decisión en cuanto a las utilidades, estaban ocupados por hombres.En vista de la situación encontrada, PROGRESA le apostó a aprovechar la oportunidad que había para las mujeres de participar directamente con el desarrollo de ideas de negocio que permitieran fortalecer su inserción en las cadenas de valor.Grupo de mujeres de la cadena de valor de ganado, durante la elaboración de su plan de negocio.La propuesta de implementación de las acciones con grupos de mujeres fue diferenciada para cada cadena de valor. En el caso de la cadena de hortalizas, consistiría en la producción de plántulas bajo invernaderos, como tecnología adecuada para este fin, que les permitiera a los productores que demandan este servicio en las zonas de intervención del proyecto, aumentar los rendimientos productivos de hortalizas. Esta situación era muy conveniente para las mujeres tomando en cuenta que ellas no contaban con la tenencia de tierra para la producción de hortalizas. En el caso de la cadena de ganado, la propuesta consistiría en la instalación de pequeños centros de acopio y procesamiento de leche para su posterior comercialización a nivel local.En la implementación de las iniciativas de negocios participaron personas de diferentes organizaciones vinculadas al programa PROGRESA. En relación a las organizaciones socias, a través de las personas responsables del área de Desarrollo Empresarial, se aseguró la facilitación de todo el proceso en campo.Por su parte, las organizaciones de productores participaron a través de miembros de los consejos de administración en la promoción de la participación de las mujeres como beneficiarias de PROGRESA, así como también asumiendo, en algunos de los casos, un rol de cofinanciadoras de las iniciativas y apoyando aspectos de manejo administrativo.Las acciones también involucraron a personal de asesoría técnica de PROGRESA para facilitar procesos de sensibilización frente a la importancia de las iniciativas empresariales con mujeres, y acompañar todo el proceso, incluyendo la orientación de aspectos técnicos de las infraestructuras a construir y la facilitación de un análisis de la rentabilidad de cada negocio propuesto.El proceso en general implicó la implementación de las siguientes actividades:Cada organización socia del programa PROGRESA estableció algunos criterios de selección en cuanto a los posibles sitios en los que había condiciones apropiadas para promover las iniciativas de negocios con grupos de mujeres.Entre las condiciones que se establecieron se encontraban:• Respaldo organizativo. Se estableció como requisito que los grupos de mujeres tenían que contar con el respaldo legal de una organización ya establecida.• Apertura o disposición de la organización para trabajar con enfoque de género y apoyar las iniciativas.• Potencial de la zona para impulsar la iniciativa de negocios en cada rubro seleccionado.• Análisis de oferta y demanda, tomando en cuenta la existencia de otros negocios similares para minimizar el nivel de competencia.Gira del grupo Mujeres Unidas por el Progreso, para aprender sobre el proceso de producción de plántulas en invernadero.• Existencia de recursos (suelo y agua) suficientes para el desarrollo de los negocios.• Aprobación de las propuestas por parte de los directivos de las organizaciones a participar.Las personas encargadas del área de Desarrollo Empresarial de cada organización socia convocaron varias reuniones con las mujeres asociadas y los directivos de las organizaciones de productores que las respaldaban (cooperativas y asociaciones de productores),inicialmente para dar a conocer aspectos generales del programa PROGRESA y explicar con más detalle las intervenciones orientadas a promover la participación de las mujeres y generar oportunidades para su acceso a recursos económicos, capacitación y mejora de sus ingresos.En estos espacios se planteó el proceso lógico de las inversiones en pequeños negocios con grupos de mujeres, la modalidad de manejo de los recursos económicos (financiamiento, intereses y plazos), los requisitos a cumplir y las responsabilidades que tendrían las mujeres, las organizaciones de productores a las que estaban asociadas, y la organización socia que las asiste. En consecuencia, tanto las organizaciones socias como las organizaciones de productores, asumieron el acompañamiento en todo el proceso garantizando la información diagnóstica inicial, la organización del grupo, la formulación del plan de negocio y la presentación de los documentos soportes solicitados para asegurar la claridad de las normas de operación del negocio, y la legitimidad de los derechos de las mujeres a la inversión y a gozar de las utilidades que generaría la iniciativa.Las responsabilidades asignadas a las mujeres fueron básicamente: mostrar voluntad para organizarse, capacitarse, participar en la conformación de una junta directiva, en la elaboración del reglamento interno del grupo, en la construcción del plan de negocio y en su implementación. El Programa aseguró el financiamiento para la implementación de cada negocio, el asesoramiento técnico y el seguimiento al desarrollo de todo el proceso. A continuación se muestra un resumen de las actividades que incluyó el proceso:Una experiencia muy particular en este proceso fue la vivida por la organización socia CONAGAN, quien tenía previsto desarrollar dos ideas de negocios con grupos de mujeres, pero después de realizar el diagnóstico rápido, identificó que las ideas de negocio para acopio, producción y comercialización de lácteos (una con la Cooperativa Divino Tesoro, ubicada en el Municipio de Yalí y otra con la Cooperativa de Mujeres Lirio de los Valles, ubicada en la comunidad de Maleconcito del municipio de Wiwilí, ambas del Departamento de Jinotega), no eran factibles, debido a que la materia prima para trabajar el proceso lácteo era relativamente poca, además de que no contaban con terreno propio ni recursos económicos para comprarlo y construir allí la infraestructura. Esto dio pautas para que CONAGAN redireccionara los fondos de estas ideas de negocios hacia otras inversiones a nivel de fincas.Después de todo este proceso se conformaron 8 grupos con iniciativas de negocios, 4 de ellas en la cadena de valor de hortalizas y 4 en la cadena de ganado.• Grupos de mujeres en la cadena de valor de ganado (acopio, transformación y comercialización de leche y derivados):• Grupo de mujeres de El Jícaro.• Grupo de mujeres de Palacagüina.• Grupo de mujeres de Telpaneca.• Grupo de mujeres de Wiwilí.• Grupos de mujeres en la cadena de valor de hortalizas:• Grupo de mujeres de Jalapa. Producción de plántulas de hortalizas bajo invernadero.• Grupo de Mujeres Las Delicias. Producción de hortalizas bajo agricultura protegida.• Grupo de mujeres de Palacagüina. Producción de plántulas de hortalizas bajo invernadero.• Grupo de mujeres de La Concordia. Producción de plántulas de hortalizas bajo invernadero.Es importante mencionar que en el contexto local existían algunas oportunidades que facilitaron la organización de los grupos para el desarrollo de estas ideas de negocio; una de ellas fue la existencia de actores locales que promovían el empoderamiento filosófico de las mujeres, como el Programa Mundial de Alimentos (PMA) que estuvo abierto a incluirlas en actividades productivas y en procesos de toma de decisión a través de la participación en los cargos directivos de las estructuras organizativas, así como a facilitarles el acceso a recursos económicos mediante créditos. Esto contribuyó en gran medida al cambio de actitud y facilitó un poco más la decisión de las mujeres de formar parte de un grupo, establecer un negocio y llegar a ser emprendedoras en sus comunidades.Paralelo a las actividades organizativas antes mencionadas, las integrantes de los grupos participaron en un proceso de fortalecimiento de capacidades técnicas y de administración del negocio. Los temas de la capacitación fueron seleccionados de acuerdo con el tipo de negocio a implementar. Los grupos de mujeres con pequeños negocios lácteos fueron acompañados por PROGRESA en los siguientes temas:1. Procesamiento de productos lácteos 2. Buenas Prácticas de Manufactura 3. Costeo de productos lácteos 4. Mercadeo 5. Administración del negocio (elaboración de planillas, facturas, recibos, registro de ingresos y egresos e informes de estados contables), impartido por las organizaciones socias.Por su parte, los grupos de mujeres con pequeños negocios de producción de plántulas participaron en un proceso de capacitación en temas asociados a los diferentes cultivos en los que venden productos o servicios. Dicha capacitación incluyó talleres, demostraciones prácticas, pasantías y giras de aprendizaje donde se abordaron los siguientes temas:1. Elaboración de sustrato 2. Producción y manejo de plántulas bajo condiciones de invernadero.3. Manejo de plagas y enfermedades en tomate (Lycopersicum esculentum) y chiltoma (Capsicum annum) bajo agricultura protegida.4. Administración del negocio (elaboración de planillas, facturas, recibos, registro de ingresos y egresos e informes de estados contables).De igual manera, formó parte del acompañamiento en este proceso, la participación de las mujeres en la estructuración de su plan de inversión para el negocio que en consenso habían decidido emprender.Un elemento clave para velar por la sostenibilidad de las inversiones fue asegurar la claridad de las normas para la operación del negocio, y la legitimidad de los derechos de las mujeres, como dueñas del mismo, a la inversión y a las utilidades, ya que en este tipo de iniciativas en muchas ocasiones sucede que los grupos de mujeres son utilizados por organizaciones más desarrolladas para recibir gran parte de las utilidades y/o beneficiarse de las inversiones, y al final apropiarse de las infraestructuras que se establecen. Siendo este uno de los aspectos que ponen en riesgo la seguridad y sostenibilidad de las iniciativas en manos de mujeres, se desarrollaron una serie de acciones con la participación activa de las diferentes personas involucradas, para garantizar la existencia de documentos de respaldo que minimizaran dicho riesgo. Tales documentos que acompañaban las iniciativas de negocios fueron, entre otros:• Plan de negocio y análisis de la inversión.• Reglamento interno del grupo que norma las actividades básicas de operación del negocio.• Escritura del terreno donde se establecería la infraestructura, la cual debía estar a nombre del grupo de mujeres dueñas de la idea de negocios. Si el terreno no era propio, las mujeres tenían que presentar un documento legal que las adjudicara como arrendadoras por un determinado tiempo, de acuerdo al tipo de negocio.• Acta del Consejo de Administración que exprese estar de acuerdo con el grupo de mujeres en la implementación de la iniciativa de negocio y detalle su forma de apoyo a ellas.• Ficha ambiental, que muestra las medidas de mitigación ambiental a desarrollar.Para el caso de los negocios en la cadena de ganado, hubo necesidad de presentar los siguientes avales adicionales:• Aval del Ministerio de Salud (MINSA) que garantizara el cumplimiento de las condiciones higiénicas y sanitarias para iniciar el negocio.• Aval emitido por el gobierno municipal que facultara el establecimiento de la infraestructura.Una de las mayores dificultades en esta parte de proceso fue la demora para obtener el aval por parte del gobierno municipal, pues hubo necesidad de que las mujeres realizaran la gestión en varias ocasiones para poder obtenerlo.La ejecución de los presupuestos planificados para las inversiones en el plan de negocios de cada grupo se llevó a cabo a través de las organizaciones socias de PROGRESA, a quienes se les desembolsaron directamente los fondos. Con ellos, además de la ejecución del plan de negocio, se financiaron reuniones para asegurar la participación consciente de las mujeres en el grupo, elaborar el mismo plan de negocios, fortalecer las capacidades de las mujeres en contabilidad básica y hacer giras de intercambio con otros grupos para que conocieran más del negocio. Posterior a esto se realizaron las licitaciones pertinentes para la selección del oferente de servicios (contratista/constructor) que se contrataría para la construcción de las obras físicas (invernaderos y centros de acopio y procesamiento de leche).Es importante aclarar que los recursos requeridos para implementar el plan de fortalecimiento de capacidades de las mujeres, enfocado en la producción del bien o servicio que ofrecería cada negocio (abordado previamente en el punto 3), fueron un apoyo directo de PROGRESA, adicional a los presupuestos destinados para las inversiones.En la cadena de valor de ganado se dotaron 4 grupos de mujeres, cada uno con una pequeña estructura de acopio y equipamiento básico de leche que garantizara un proceso más limpio y acorde con los estándares sanitarios que exigen las instancias rectoras, como el Ministerio de Salud. Cabe aclarar que a 3 grupos se les dotó con la infraestructura completa y a 1 grupo solo se le realizaron mejoras en la infraestructura que ya tenía.De igual manera, en la cadena de valor de hortalizas se dotó a 3 grupos de mujeres con invernaderos para la producción de plántulas, y a 1 grupo con 3 macro túneles para la producción definitiva (siembra y cosecha) bajo el sistema de agricultura protegida.Así pues, aunque inicialmente se tenían programados presupuestos similares para que cada grupo de mujeres implementara sus ideas de negocios (se tenía planificado invertir US$64.000 en ocho grupos -8.000 por grupo-), durante el proceso se previó que, de un lado, los presupuestos asignados no serían suficientes (tomando en cuenta que las ideas de negocio contemplaban la construcción de infraestructuras pequeñas y la dotación de herramientas y equipos que en su mayoría son importados y relativamente costosos en Nicaragua); y del otro, cada iniciativa requeriría un monto diferente de inversión. Esto hizo que en el transcurso del Programa se ajustaran los presupuestos de acuerdo a las realidades de cada grupo, y que al final se contabilizara una inversión total de US$91.951.Las inversiones fueron diferentes para cada iniciativa de negocio, lo cual estaba relacionado con la idea de negocio, el tipo de infraestructura y el equipamiento necesarios para asegurar la operatividad. En este punto, cabe mencionar que uno de los grupos (Las Delicias) se encuentra en proceso de certificación en Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA), lo cual aumentó la inversión inicial prevista hasta por un monto de US$1.250, destinados a la instalación de una bodega de agroquímicos, área de clasificación y empaque, área de mezcla, filtros para aguas de residuos químicos, letrina y lavamanos. En adición a la inversión del Programa cada uno de los grupos, de acuerdo a sus condiciones económicas, hizo coinversiones hasta por un total de US$13.640, y tres organizaciones de productores aportaron a igual número de grupos US$17.406. A continuación se muestra un cuadro resumen con todas las inversiones:Durante el proceso de establecimiento de los negocios, en la mayoría de los casos las acciones se realizaban una después de otra (primero era la visita del asesor de infraestructura y posteriormente la legalización del terreno); sin embargo, en algunos momentos se desarrollaron acciones en paralelo. Por ejemplo, mientras el abogado o la abogada estaba asegurando el documento legal del terreno, las mujeres estaban elaborando su reglamento interno.Grupo Renacer, trabajando en su plan de negocio y en la propuesta de ampliación y mejoramiento del centro de acopio.A pesar de la cultura de la sociedad nicaragüense -en la que el machismo hace más difícil la participación plena de la mujeres-y la existencia al inicio del Programa de factores del contexto comunitario y socio-organizativo que limitaban la participación de la mujer y su acceso a servicios y beneficios (falta de fondos y políticas de crédito ajustados a las condiciones de las mujeres asociadas, falta de servicios técnicos y oportunidades para mejorar conocimientos), se puede asegurar que las oportunidades brindadas y los cambios generados con la implementación de iniciativas empresariales con mujeres, han sido muchos.Así por ejemplo, se ha asegurado asistencia técnica dirigida a mujeres, se han brindado capacitaciones en temas diversos vinculados al manejo y la administración del negocio, y se ha dotado a los grupos de infraestructura para la producción y el procesamiento (en el caso de lácteos) en donde las mujeres son las protagonistas.Durante la ejecución del Programa se ha promovido la participación de las mujeres en diferentes niveles. De un lado, las mujeres representan el 21% del grupo meta del proyecto, y el 40% de ellas participa en los procesos de capacitación. Es así como del total invertido en capacitaciones (US$2.528.163) el 18% (US$455.069) ha sido destinado al fortalecimiento de capacidades de las mujeres a través de talleres en diferentes temas técnicos, socio-organizativos y empresariales. Estas acciones de fortalecimiento de capacidades han favorecido también la integración de otros miembros a nivel familiar, y han promovido un mayor respeto y apoyo entre la pareja (la mujer y el hombre como jefes de familia), pues al inicio los hombres no se integraban a estos procesos de capacitación con mujeres.Por otra parte, la definición del proceso organizativo y de fortalecimiento de capacidades realizado, unido a las experiencias vividas en él, dieron las pautas para que 4 grupos de mujeres estén desarrollando las ideas de negocio sobre acopio y procesamiento de la leche, mientras que 3 grupos más están desarrollando negocios sobre producción de plántulas en invernaderos, y un grupo está produciendo hortalizas bajo sistemas protegidos.Fueron muy positivos la coordinación y el apoyo recibido por parte de los líderes de las organizaciones de productores, quienes le dieron importancia a ofrecer un espacio para que las mujeres fueran dueñas de sus propios negocios, de la infraestructura y de las utilidades que estos generan. Fue así como se aseguró la legalidad de los terrenos para instalar las infraestructuras y los concejos de administración se comprometieron a apoyar a los grupos de mujeres mediante actas formales.A nivel de las organizaciones de productores son notorias las mejoras en sus competencias organizativas, ya que hay más claridad sobre el esfuerzo que puede realizarse para apoyar a las mujeres asociadas en lo relacionado con el acceso de ellas al trabajo, fortalecimiento de sus capacidades, liderazgo y participación en actividades propias de las cadenas de valor, así como la intervención de ellas en la toma de decisiones y su acceso a otros beneficios.Grupo Mujeres Unidas por el Progreso, mientras trabaja en el centro de producción de plántulas.En general, el apoyo que han brindado las organizaciones a los grupos de mujeres es una muestra de que tienen una percepción diferente de los beneficios que esto trae, lo cual se manifiesta en las contrapartidas que la mayoría de las organizaciones aportó a las inversiones iniciales previstas por el Programa; y en la actitud positiva para hacer mejoras a sus políticas de crédito o elaborar sus propias políticas de género encaminadas a la institucionalización de acciones de género en la organización.Actualmente el Programa, a través de sus ocho organizaciones socias (Cáritas Estelí, Cáritas Matagalpa, ADDAC, ASDENIC, FIDER, INPRHU, CONAGAN y la Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples La Unión R.L) se encuentra promoviendo la inclusión de género mediante el proceso de sensibilización para la elaboración de políticas de género en todas las cooperativas que atiende, e incluyendo acciones como la realización de nuevas inversiones que beneficien a mujeres desde las cooperativas.De forma particular, los diferentes eventos de capacitación ejecutados por las distintas organizaciones socias han contribuido al fortalecimiento de las capacidades y habilidades de las mujeres para el manejo de sus negocios. Ahora las mujeres saben cómo analizar sus costos de producción y la importancia que esto tiene para que puedan establecer los precios de sus productos; lo cual también viene a fortalecer sus competencias para valorar si lo que están haciendo es rentable y tomar decisiones oportunas, ya sea para reducir costos o realizar una mejor negociación con sus compradores en el mercado local.Las mujeres con negocios de producción de plántulas actualmente ya elaboran el sustrato para la siembra de las semillas de hortalizas, y manejan el control de plagas y enfermedades con mayor seguridad. Ahora conocen cómo cargar una bomba de mochila y realizar las aplicaciones fitosanitarias; igualmente hacen manipulación de todas las herramientas y equipos cumpliendo con las orientaciones técnicas estipuladas en el Informe de Evaluación de Pesticidas y Plan de Acción para su Uso más Seguro (PERSUAP 1 , por sus siglas en inglés), y asegurando su salud e integridad física.En el caso de las mujeres con negocios lácteos, ellas ahora hacen uso del vestuario y equipo apropiado 1 Documento normativo de uso seguro de plaguicidas elaborado por PROGRESA.2 1 mz (manzana) es igual a 7.026 m 2 .para garantizar la inocuidad en los procesos, también tienen más capacidad para elaborar productos diversos que demanda el mercado (queso ricota, yogur, leche agria); esto, sumado a la participación que han tenido en ferias y expoventas promovidas por la Asociación de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN) y la Feria Nacional del Queso, les ha permitido atreverse a buscar mejores precios y otras opciones de mercado para sus productos.También se puede mencionar al Grupo de Mujeres de Las Delicias, ubicadas en Ciudad Darío (que forman parte de la Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples COPRAHOR, atendida por el socio Cáritas Matagalpa). Este grupo ya está comercializando sus vegetales frescos (chiltoma Nataly, chiltoma criolla y tomate) en mercados formales, como los supermercados Walmart y La Colonia.Un aspecto para destacar ha sido la responsabilidad mostrada por las mujeres ante la necesidad de llevar registros de todos los movimientos del negocio, lo cual les ha facilitado el análisis de costos, la fijación de precios para cada producto y también la determinación de las utilidades para las integrantes del grupo. Incluso se destaca que 7 grupos de mujeres poseen su propia cuenta de ahorros, la cual es manejada por ellas mismas para un mejor control y transparencia en el manejo de sus recursos económicos.El resumen de ingresos y egresos para los grupos es el siguiente: Aunque en un inicio las escasas relaciones de cooperación con algunos gobiernos municipales limitaron la gestión para la instalación de los negocios, al final del proceso se logró un mayor acercamiento a organizaciones gubernamentales, (como el MINSA y el Ministerio de Economía Familiar Comunitaria, Cooperativa y Asociativa (MEFCCA), que no eran aliadas para el desarrollo de estas iniciativas, pero respondieron de manera positiva para apoyar a las mujeres.5 En el proceso socio-organizativo las mujeres se organizan en grupos, en los que discuten y definen qué negocios van a establecer, cómo los van a desarrollar, quiénes serán los acompañantes, quiénes van a estar al frente de cada grupo y de qué manera se hará la representación ante el Programa.• La participación de las mujeres en la definición de los criterios de financiamiento conlleva a una mayor apropiación de estos procesos. En el caso de PROGRESA, cada organización socia que administró los fondos para la instalación de los 8 negocios con mujeres, definió sus propios criterios de financiamiento con la participación de mujeres integrantes de los grupos, con el objetivo de darles la oportunidad de tomar conciencia de la seriedad de la inversión y motivarlas a ser responsables en el negocio, lo que dio excelentes resultados: los grupos de mujeres estaban muy apropiados y entusiasmados para desarrollar y administrar sus ideas de negocios.• La apertura al cambio por parte de las mujeres y el apoyo de sus familias es indispensable para el desarrollo de estas iniciativas de negocio. El proceso socio-organizativo 5 realizado por PROGRESA antes del establecimiento de los negocios facilitó que tanto hijos como esposos se involucraran en los procesos productivos. Entonces, en las familias hubo apertura para que las mujeres destinaran tiempo a talleres y reuniones para aprender sobre el uso de las tecnologías, el manejo de los productos, cómo llevar la contabilidad de sus negocios, entre otros.• Es importante que los proyectos identifiquen oportunidades de negocios específicas dentro de las organizaciones de productores que puedan ser manejadas y administradas por las mujeres. Esto permite generar mayor equidad en el acceso a las oportunidades que se ofrecen a socios y socias, y generar mayores ingresos a las familias. Adicionalmente, las organizaciones de productores deben estar comprometidas con la promoción de la igualdad y equidad de género invirtiendo recursos técnicos y económicos para su aseguramiento.• Para definir una idea de negocio con grupos de mujeres es importante considerar las capacidades y experiencia inicial con que cuenta el grupo, para así garantizar éxito en el desarrollo del negocio y la sostenibilidad del mismo. Esto no excluye la necesidad de formación; por el contrario, las mujeres además deben integrarse a un proceso de fortalecimiento de capacidades a fin de que manejen elementos claves como las características y bondades del producto a ofertar, los recursos económicos con que cuentan, el segmento o nicho de mercado al cual quieren orientar sus productos o servicios, la competencia, y la rentabilidad económica del negocio. En particular, es de vital importancia el fortalecimiento de las capacidades de las mujeres para el manejo administrativo contable. Esto les permite mayor seguridad para la toma de decisiones en el negocio, y también asegurar transparencia en el manejo de los fondos suministrados por el Programa.Integrante del grupo Mujeres Unidas por el Progreso en labores de producción de plántulas.• Esta experiencia ilustró que el reglamento interno del grupo de mujeres es una herramienta que permite contar con orientaciones claras de los roles y funciones de cada participante para el manejo interno y la administración de los recursos; y que debe ser elaborado con la participación de todas las mujeres, como muestra de su interés de mantener el orden y la administración eficiente de los recursos que han sido entregados por el Programa.• El acompañamiento técnico desde las organizaciones debe ser eficiente y oportuno como estrategia fundamental para el éxito de cualquier idea de negocio que se proyecte con grupos de mujeres. Por lo tanto, es indispensable destinar tiempo y recursos para que el personal técnico pueda dar seguimiento y evaluar en el mediano y largo plazo el desempeño de los negocios, y los resultados e impactos que están teniendo en las familias beneficiarias.• El personal técnico de las organizaciones acompañantes de este tipo de procesos debe conocer y manejar el tema de género y estar comprometido con la importancia de impulsar acciones que mejoren las condiciones de las mujeres (conocimiento, acceso a recursos, mejora de ingresos) y su posición en las organizaciones a las que están asociadas (liderazgo), porque de ello depende que las organizaciones continúen apoyando estos grupos como aliados estratégicos para el desarrollo socioeconómico de las familias y las comunidades.• La ejecución de inversiones con grupos de mujeres debe estar respaldada con documentos legales que aseguren la propiedad de las mujeres y la sostenibilidad del beneficio recibido por parte de ellas. Este es un elemento clave, ya que en este tipo de iniciativas es común que los grupos de mujeres sean utilizadas por organizaciones más desarrolladas para recibir gran parte de las utilidades y/o beneficiarse de las inversiones y apropiarse de las infraestructuras. Esta es una de las mayores limitantes para la seguridad y sostenibilidad de las iniciativas en manos de mujeres.","tokenCount":"5476"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0247565747.json b/data/part_1/0247565747.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c430ba5490ed53549fe162fefe227dc4a61d6bdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0247565747.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a2630b8dfe5053f3180542d8daeecdbe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/da71bd68-3958-44c5-ba44-c5eff166d20f/retrieve","id":"1029197848"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"11cf7dd7-ff5f-4c16-ab7d-0781a5562685","pagecount":"32","content":"The Future Harvest Centres comprise 16 food and environmental research organizations located around the world, which conduct research in partnership with farmers, scientists and policy-makers to help alleviate poverty and increase food security while protecting the natural resource base. The Centres are principally funded through the 58 countries, private foundations, and regional and international organizations that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.The System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP) joins the genetic resources programmes and activities of the Future Harvest Centres in a partnership whose goal is to maximize collaboration, particularly in five thematic areas. The thematic areas -policy, public awareness and representation, information, knowledge and technology, and capacity-building -relate to issues or fields of work that are critical to the success of genetic resources efforts. The SGRP contributes to the global effort to conserve agricultural, forestry and aquatic genetic resources and promotes their use in ways that are consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity. IPGRI is the Convening Centre for SGRP. The Inter-Centre Working Group on Genetic Resources (ICWG-GR), which includes representatives from the Centres and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, is the Steering Committee.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was established in 1975. IFPRI's mission is to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting food needs of the developing world on a sustainable basis, with particular emphasis on low-income countries, poor people, and sound management of the natural resource base that supports agriculture; to make the results of its research available to all those in a position to use them; and to help strengthen institutions conducting research and applying research results in developing countries. IFPRI is one of 16 Future Harvest agricultural research centers and receives its principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of whom are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.The 11 CGIAR genebanks have grown considerably in size over the past few decades. They now conserve over 660,000 accessions (plant or seed samples) of crops grown mainly by poor people (such as cassava, millet, sorghum and cowpea), staple food crops grown throughout the world (such as rice, wheat and maize), and tree species used in agroforestry systems. This collection accounts for a sizeable share, perhaps 30 to 40%, of the unique entries in genebank collections worldwide. Conserving germplasm is a very long-term, if not in perpetuity (i.e., from now to eternity), proposition, and so the mismatch between the mainly annual funding support for this conservation effort and its very long-term nature and intent is a serious concern. An endowment or trust fund, the earnings from which would assure a funding stream to conserve this genetic material for all future generations, would judiciously match the duration of the funding commitments to the duration of the conservation commitments.Our best estimate of the annual cost of conserving and distributing the genetic material presently held in the CGIAR genebanks is US$ 5.7 million per year. A commitment to underwrite these core genebank services for the benefit of all future generations could be met by setting aside a fund of US$ 149 million (invested at a real rate of interest of 4% per annum). Of this US$61 million (40 % of the total) would underwrite the CGIAR's current conservation activities in perpetuity and US$88 million (60 %) would maintain the distribution activities that provide germplasm to breeders, scientists, farmers and others worldwide.These annual and in perpetuity estimates are sensitive to a number of factors, including the crop composition and size of the holdings, the number of samples distributed annually from the genebanks, the technology of germplasm storage, the rate of interest used to calculate the present value of distant future costs and various conservation protocols (especially the frequency with which aging seed samples are tested for viability and regenerated when necessary to maintain the vigor and size of the sample). The US$ 149 million conservation fund represents our best estimate, but with plausible variations in two key factors (interest rates and regeneration cycles), the size of the fund needed ranges from US$ 100 to US$ 325 million.This funding is sufficient to support only core conservation and distribution activities currently undertaken by the CGIAR Centres. A key constraint to the effective use of genebank accessions for crop improvement and other purposes is the lack of information about the agronomic and genetic characteristics of the accessions. Although we have addressed the economics of this issue from a theoretical standpoint in another study, precise estimates of the costs are not available at this time. Nevertheless, a prudent strategy would be to complement the conservation fund costed here with comparable additional resources for characterizing the CGIAR collection to increase its value to plant breeding.Throughout the course of this work we received a lot of valuable assistance from a lot people. Many CGIAR colleagues went out of their way to provide us with the information and data required to conduct the five genebank costing studies that are drawn together in this report. We would especially like to thank Paula Bramel, Daniel Debouck, Mike Jackson, Kameswara Rao, Bent Skovmand, Suketoshi Taba, Jan Valkoun and Eric van Dusen for their help in conducting these studies, and Samy Gaiji, Robert Guei, Jean Hanson, Geoffrey Hawtin, Quat Ng, Willy Roca, Suzanne Sharrock, Tony Simons and Jane Toll for providing additional data and reactions to earlier drafts of this paper.This work was funded by the CGIAR System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP), with in-kind contributions from CGIAR Centres and additional support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).Genebanks are a recent institutional innovation. For most of agriculture's 10,000-year history, it was farmers who saved seeds from one season for planting in the next. The idea of setting aside seeds from around the world in special facilities for future use by breeders and others did not really take hold until the early 20 th century. Much of the credit for this idea and its implementation goes to the famous Russian biologist Nikolai Vavilov. During three decades of travel over five continents he amassed the largest collection in the world (at that time) of species and strains of cultivated plants and developed theories on how to use this material for breeding improved varieties (Reznik and Vavilov 1997). This collection formed the basis for the genebank now maintained at the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry in St Petersburg, Russia.Long-term germplasm conservation facilities are an even more recent phenomenon. Pistorius (1997, p.4) credits the National Seed Storage Laboratory (NSSL) at Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, created in 1958, as being the first such facility. Since then, a sizable investment has been made in collecting and conserving landraces (farmer-developed varieties) and wild and weedy species of crops in genebanks around the world. Motivating these investments were concerns that the genetic basis of agriculture (be it for commercial or subsistence production) was narrowing globally for many agricultural crops as genetically more uniform but superiorperforming varieties developed with scientific breeding methods spread worldwide at an accelerating pace beginning in the 1960s. 1 Since the 1970s, the 11 genebanks now maintained by the CGIAR (or CG for short) have become a pivotal part of a global conservation effort, currently holding over 660,000 accessions (plant or seed samples) of crops grown mainly by poor farmers (such as cassava, millet, sorghum and cowpea), staple food crops consumed worldwide (such as rice, wheat and maize) and tree species used in agroforestry systems. Of these 660,000 accessions, nearly 515,000 accessions are held in trust under agreements with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Having built this collection over the past three decades, the financial basis for conserving the material for all future generations is now being addressed.At present the CG genebanks, like the CG generally, are financed from short-term (often year-by-year) pledges of support to the system and its centres by its members and from project funds with limited lives (sometimes five years, but often three or less). Germplasm conservation is a very long-term, if not in perpetuity, proposition, and so the mismatch between the short-term nature of the financial support and the long-term nature and intent of the effort is a serious concern. This paper describes our best estimates of the annual funds required to support the core conservation and distribution services provided by the CG genebanks, and uses these cost estimates to determine the size of endowment fund required to underwrite these core conservation services in perpetuity, along with the distribution efforts that ensure this material remains available on demand to breeders, scientists and others worldwide.The basis for estimating the resource requirements is a series of detailed costing studies led by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) over the past several years in close collaboration with colleagues at five CG genebanks. These five genebanks accounted for 87%1 Concerns about 'genetic erosion' (loosely, a narrowing of the genetic resource base used by farmers or breeders for improving crop varieties) were raised by NRC (1972) and Harlan (1972), among others. Using data for the past three decades (and especially the 1990s) on area-sown-tovarieties in developing countries (except China) and various metrics of 'genetic diversity' based on varietal pedigree information for CIMMYT-related spring bread wheats, Smale et al. (2001, p.25)  conclude that \"The data are not consistent with the hypothesis that the genetic base of CIMMYT germplasm has tended to narrow over time.\" This may in part reflect the extensive use CIMMYT breeders and their collaborators have made of landraces and other material collected from all over the world, precisely the same type of genetic material that is conserved in genebanks.of the CG's germplasm holdings. Results from these studies are summarized in this report, together with the extrapolations made to develop a complete costing of the entire CG conservation and germplasm distribution effort. 2 The unique aspect of this study is that we developed an estimate of the current costs of conservation and used a set of plausible technical assumptions (based on present conservation practices) to derive the in perpetuity costs of conserving these seeds. The sensitivity of our baseline estimates to variations in key elements of the costing are also reported as a basis for setting targets for an endowment or stewardship fund to underwrite the CG's conservation effort over the very long run.INTRODUCTION 2 Extrapolating costs was not straightforward given the substantially different types of accessions held in the CG centres not directly costed, compared with those conventional crop accessions that make up most of the holdings in the centres we directly costed.For this costing analysis, we grouped the genebank operations into a set of three main services: q conservation services q distribution services q information services We take conservation services to include conserving agricultural genetic diversity in the form of a 'base collection' held in controlled environment conditions to maintain the stored plants (or plant parts) and seeds for use in the distant future. To fulfill this function properly requires maintaining healthy (free of disease) and viable germplasm in long-term storage, periodically checking the viability of the stored material (via germination tests) and regenerating it when required (planting the aged seeds and storing their progeny) and maintaining duplicates of the collection at other locations for safety reasons.The distribution activities are geared to making accessions available upon request for current utilization. This typically involves maintaining an 'active collection' of germplasm in a mediumterm storage facility from which samples of seed (or in vitro plantlets of crops that are usually vegetatively-propagated, such as cassava) are disseminated to researchers, crop breeders, farmers and other genebanks. Material stored in active collections typically requires more frequent regeneration than that in base collections because the environment in medium-term storage facilities is not as conducive to germplasm longevity (typically the temperature and humidity are not as low or as stable as in long-term stores because of more frequent access to retrieve samples for distribution) and germplasm sample sizes are eventually reduced as samples are shared with others to the point they must be replenished.Basic conservation and distribution activities also require keeping track of the size and condition of each holding and documenting so-called passport data that indicates the source of the seed samples (for example, obtained from another genebank, institution or a field collection expedition) and their physical attributes (including plant height, seed characteristics such as size, colour, and shape, and evident pest and disease susceptibility). Much of this agronomic information is collected when the seeds are grown out in greenhouses or the field for disease screening or regeneration. There are additional information services that generate useful and reliably accessible information about each accession to expedite the use of material for crop-improvement or other research purposes. Some of this information is obtained by purposefully screening the genebank collection for accessions with resistance to certain pests and diseases (often by planting out samples in the field and exposing them to certain pests or diseases or other stresses like too much or too little water at certain stages of growth). Increasingly, modern biotechnology tools are also being used to collect data at the molecular level, identifying the genetic basis for certain traits and other genetic information deemed desirable in breeding programmes.The demarcation between genebank and breeding functions is not always clear-cut. In some settings (such as in the CG centres, where the genebank activities form part of a more comprehensive research operation), some of the information services emanate from cropbreeding programmes. In other cases, some of the pre-breeding (e.g., molecular characterization) activities typically done as part of a breeding programme fall within the ambit of a genetic resource or genebank programme. To facilitate meaningful cross-centre comparisons that span a consistent set of core conservation activities, we confined the scope of our costing exercise to those functions that are essential for fulfilling the conservation and distribution demands placed on a genebank. Table 1 provides an overview of the functions that may form part of a genetic resource programme and identifies the subset of those activities included in our costing exercise. Notably, some management aspects deal with genetic resource issues not directly included in the conservation and distribution activities we costed. Thus only a share of the total management costs were included in our calculations.Table 1. A categorization of genebank operationsActivities not costed Management 1 Management 1 q q q q q Administrative tasks q q q q q Administrative tasks q q q q q Data-related activities 2 q q q q q Data-related activities 2Information provision q q q q q Acquisition (including basic q q q q q Characterization (additional morphological and passport data) morphological and molecular) q q q q q Long-term storage q q q q q Evaluation q q q q q Safety duplication q q q q q Pre-breeding q q q q q Viability testing q q q q q Other research q q q q q Regeneration Distribution Other services q q q q q Medium-term storage q q q q q Germplasm collection q q q q q Dissemination q q q q q Training q q q q q Viability testing q q q q q Regeneration 1 Some management activities pertain to functions other than the conservation and distribution activities encompassed by our estimates. Based on advice from genebank managers around 80% of these costs were shared among conservation and distribution activities and the residual was attributed to other functions not costed here.2 Excludes system-wide documentation and dissemination of data (e.g., CG SINGER)3 Average annual storage costs can be calculated as the total costs of storage in any year divided by the number of accessions in a storage collection. The marginal costs of storage would be the increase in total costs of storage that are incurred when an additional accession is added to the collection. See Pardey (1999 and 2000) for an elaboration of marginal costs in this context.To structure the costing exercise we considered the genebank operations within a production economics framework, wherein inputs such as labour, buildings, equipment and acquired seeds are processed to produce outputs in the form of stored and distributed seeds and the information that accompanies them. Properly stored seeds and related information can be disseminated on demand for current use, or held in storage as use options that can be exercised, repeatedly if necessary, in future years. We also partitioned total costs into their variable (both labour and operational), capital (buildings and durable equipment) and quasi-fixed (senior scientific staff) components. Costs in each class were then summarized in terms of average and marginal costs. 3 In our framework quasi-fixed inputs include the 'human capital' costs of the skilled labour and the scientific expertise such as the manager of a genebank and laboratory researchers. Technicians and temporary workers, or those paid on a daily basis, are treated as variable labour inputs. As a practical matter, we identified variable inputs as those that are sensitive to the size of the operation, capital inputs as those that are not and quasi-fixed inputs as a group of inputs that are neither fixed nor variable but 'lumpy.' A quasi-fixed input is lumpy in the sense that it is a discrete, indivisible unit that cannot be adjusted easily to match marginal changes in the extent of genebank operations; it is variable in that it is more easily adjusted (in discrete increments) than a capital item such as a building.A premium was placed on collecting and assembling the cost data in ways that were consistent in scope and treatment among centres. To do so meant addressing several conceptual and practical issues.Evolving protocols. During the period over which data were gathered, most genebanks were restructuring and reorganizing their operations, with consequent changes in some of their conservation protocols. In many cases these changes were stimulated by the findings of the 1995 SGRP review of the centre genebanks (SGRP 1996), in some other cases they represented plans put into practice by individual centres. For example, one genebank was reconfiguring its storage space across crops to more efficiently manage the space; another was building new structures to accommodate expanded operations. Cost profiles during a transitional period can be quite different from the structure of costs when operations are being managed in a steady state. 4 For this study we sought to compile and analyze the data for a 'representative' snapshot year, abstracting from the effects of abnormal one-off events and assuming away technological changes when projecting these representative costs forward to simulate costs incurred in future years.Jointness/divisibility. The genebank is but one of many programmes in a CG centre. Typically, some of the services required for operating a genebank are provided centrally and shared with other programmes. For example, seed health testing units, field operation units and engineering units usually supply services to various programmes within a centre, thereby realizing economies of scale and other efficiencies. A genebank operating as a stand-alone facility would have to secure each of these services independently, leading to higher costs than those reported here assuming cost-sharing arrangements. This study treats the costs of the shared operations as being divisible among programmes and they are partially allocated to the genebank based on the genebank's share of the overall operation. The costs of other centrally provided services (such as security, building maintenance and library) that cannot be allocated in this way are included as prorated parts of overhead costs.The issue of jointness also arises within the genebank operation. When accessions are regenerated due to either low viability or low stock, the general practice is to regenerate enough seeds for both the medium-and long-term storage, even though the purpose of the regeneration is to replenish seed stocks in only one part of the storage facility. This study assumes that the regeneration is performed for both purposes and the total costs of regeneration are allocated equally between conservation and distribution functions. Similarly, when seeds are packed after cleaning and drying, all the packing for different purposes (e.g., long-and medium-term storage, safety duplication, repatriation, distribution and so on) is done at the same time. Again, this study assumes that the packing is divisible and allocates the packing costs to different operations according to the amount of material and labour required for each purpose.Quality of operation. The FAO/IPGRI (1994) genebank standards manual lays out two sets of conservation standards. 5 One is an 'acceptable standard' considered to be a minimal but adequate standard, at least for the short term. The other is a 'preferred standard' that describes the basic conservation conditions (based on scientific criteria) that give a \"higher and thus safer standard\". The funding realities are such that most CG genebanks have insufficient resources to satisfy all the criteria required to meet the preferred standard. Thus genebank managers are forced to continually juggle priorities, meeting some aspects of the preferred standard for some parts of the collection, implementing the acceptable standard for other aspects of the conservation effort and, in some instances, making do with less than acceptable standards. 6 Meeting the preferred standard clearly costs more than maintaining the holding in acceptable condition. 7 Taking cost data at face value is thus tricky. A comparatively high cost for a certain operation in one genebank does not necessarily imply that this operation is being achieved with less efficiency than the same operation at a lower cost genebank. It might simply indicate a higher standard of operation. Because quality standards vary among centres and within centres over time, comparing costs on the premise that all-else-is-equal (including the quality of operations) can be quite misleading.Capital costs. To estimate the annualized 'user-cost' of capital, we compiled information on the purchase price of each capital item and combined that with notions of the service profiles of each item 8 and the real rate of interest. Past capital purchases were made on different dates, so they were inflated forward using the most applicable price index series to express them in a set of base-year (taken to be the year 2000) prices. We also assumed a depreciation profile in which the capital good survives intact until the end of its life and then disappears all at once. 9 Annual depreciation costs are constant under this profile and so the annualized cost is easily calculated using the interest rate and service lives of each item. Equation (3) in Appendix A was used to derive the annual user cost of a capital item.Dynamic costs and life-cycle considerations. The costs of some operations such as storage are incurred annually, while the costs of other operations such as regeneration are incurred periodically, say every 20 to 30 years, and the viability of a sample is tested every five years or so. Thus the conservation costs of a sample in any particular year depend on the time in storage and the status of the sample. Figure 1 illustrates an example of the profile of conservation costs incurred during the life cycle of an accession from introduction, expressed in present-value terms with a positive discount rate. When an accession is newly introduced into a genebank at time zero, it is typically regenerated and tested for viability and health, and the costs of conservation in that year are especially high. During a normal year when an accession is simply held in storage (such as time t A in Figure 1), the conservation cost consists of only the long-term costs of storage. When an accession requires regeneration after failing a viability test, the costs in that year (time t B in Figure 1) are higher than the cost at time t A . Year t C represents a year in which a sample successfully passes a viability test and requires no regeneration. Appendix A provides the formulas we used to calculate the present values of cost elements that are incurred repeatedly but at varying intervals. The present value of the costs of conserving an accession in perpetuity is obtained by summing all the areas (irrespective of their shading) of the bar graph in Figure 1.   2) -about 10% of the estimated six million accessions held in genebanks worldwide (FAO 1998). 10 Beginning in October 1994, the CG centres collectively agreed to place the genetic material held in their genebanks under the auspices of an 'in-trust' agreement with the FAO, with the intent of maintaining the collection in the global public domain. About 77% of the material held in the genebanks is now conserved under the terms of this in-trust agreement. 11 Material designated as part of the in-trust collection is made freely available, but with the stipulation that recipients agree not to seek intellectual property protection on any of the in-trust material obtained from CG centres.As the world repository of germplasm for the poor, CG genebanks mainly hold landraces and wild species of crops (73% of their total holdings) that are especially important to people in developing countries, such as cassava, yam and chickpea, and crops grown worldwide, such as rice, wheat and maize. As the amount of material held in genebanks worldwide grew markedly in the past few decades (with new and expanding genebank collections drawing in accessions held elsewhere), the number of duplicates began to proliferate. FAO (1998) claimed the number of unique accessions held in ex situ collections worldwide in 1996 was between 1 to 2 million. Thus given the high proportion of landraces and wild species in the CG collection, the percentage of the world's unique ex situ accessions held in CG genebanks could be much higher than its share of the global ex situ collection (600,000 out of 6 million accessions).Storing seeds and other plant material. Most of the accessions that produce storable seeds are placed in packets or small containers and stored in medium-term storage facilities (maintained at 0 to 5°C and 15 to 20% relative humidity) as an active collection. Most of this material is also kept in long-term storage facilities (held at colder temperatures, often in the range -18 to -20 °C) as a base collection. The expectation is that most seed samples (but, perhaps, not all, and so the need for monitoring) will remain viable for 20 to 30 years in mediumterm storage and for up to 100 years in long-term storage, depending on the species, the initial seed quality and the specifics of the storage environment. Seed samples are checked for viability every 5 to 10 years and regenerated if the viability drops below a threshold level.Vegetatively-propagated species (including crops such as cassava, potato and banana) are conserved as whole plants in field genebanks. They are also kept as live specimens, often maintained on a special growth medium in test tubes stored under warm, lighted conditions (23°C and 1500 to 2000 lux) in so-called in vitro genebanks. Plants in field genebanks can be readily characterized and evaluated but are susceptible to environmental variations and are increasingly difficult to distribute internationally due to increasingly stringent phytosanitary restrictions. In vitro genebanks store plants in controlled environments with less risk of natural disaster and facilitate the distribution of disease-free materials internationally. Another option that may become economically attractive for long-term conservation is to use cryoconservation techniques, conserving plant material (and even seeds for that matter) at extremely low temperatures (-196°C maintained with liquid nitrogen); some material is already stored this way. However, protocols for cryoconservation for many species (and even some genotypes within a species) are not fully elaborated and remain under active investigation.The protocols used by ICRAF for conserving and distributing tree germplasm are quite different from the protocols generally used for crop species throughout the rest of the CG. Some tree species are kept as seed in cold storage (much like other crops, with the exception that the amount of material stored per accession is often vastly larger than for other crops), but other material is conserved in field genebanks and the bulk of the distributions are made from seed harvested from 'nuclear or catalyst stocks' maintained at various locations throughout the world.Shipping seeds and other plant material. Complementing the conservation services, another important service provided by CG genebanks is to disseminate seed and other plant samples free of charge upon request. Samples for ready dissemination are maintained in medium-term storage as active collections, which require more frequent viability testing and regeneration than do long-term collections. Table 3 provides details on the material shipped from each CG genebank in the past seven years. The figures indicate the total number of samples distributed (i.e., including the samples shipped to those outside each centre as well as samples used for breeding and other purposes within each CG centre). From 1994 to 1999, over half a million samples were shipped by the CG genebanks (averaging more than 88,000 samples per year), of which more than half the samples were disseminated to breeders and other scientists working within each centre.Most of the samples held in the CG genebanks are landraces and wild species. 12 This material is an important source of genetic diversity (and a potentially valuable source of novel and useful traits), but it is presently less amenable to ready utilization in crop breeding programmes. Demand for this type of material is thus lower than that for well-characterized and better-known breeding lines. While a very substantial number of samples have been shipped, the number of samples per se may not accurately indicate the utilization of this material. More complete information on the impact of this germplasm on crop-breeding efforts globally (as sources of new, desirable traits) and various other uses is needed to reasonably assess the use value of the material held in the CG genebanks.The structure of conservation costs critically depends on (i) the type of crops being conserved, (ii) institutional differences such as cost-sharing arrangements within each CG centre, and (iii) the local climate and general state of the infrastructure (such as electricity supplies, communications and international shipment options) available to each genebank. For example, regenerating cross-pollinating crops (such as maize, sorghum and pearl millet) or wild and weedy species is typically more complicated than regenerating self-pollinating cultivated species. 14 Vegetatively-propagated species maintained in vitro as clones and in field genebanks are much more expensive to conserve than stored seeds. Besides these crop-specific aspects, differences in wage structures and the composition of labour (which are affected by local labour laws and practices) also have significant impacts on the overall costs. Moreover, if the local climate is inappropriate for regenerating some accessions, it may be necessary to plant them out at other locations.Our basic approach was to estimate a representative set of baseline costs per accession in ways that would make it possible to evaluate the sensitivity of these baseline costs to differences in key crop-, location-and institution-specific factors. To systematically address these diverse factors within a reasonable timeframe, we conducted cost studies of five CG centres, standardizing as much as possible our treatment of the data to facilitate meaningful comparisons. The five centres are CIMMYT, CIAT, ICARDA, ICRISAT and IRRI, constituting nearly 90% of the total CG-held collection (578,742 out of 666,080 accessions, Table 2). Using the annual budgets for each genebank during 1998 and 1999 reported in SGRP (2000, Table 3, p.16), these five genebanks constituted about 55% of the total budget of the 11 CG genebanks (US$ 3.8 million out of US$ 6.9 million). But the scope of activities (and hence the functions funded from each genebank budget) varies from one genebank to another.The case studies were conducted over several years-1996 data were used for CIMMYT, 1998 for ICARDA, 1999 for IRRI and ICRISAT and 2000 for CIAT. To control for the effects of inflation, we expressed all costs in year 2000 prices using a weighted average of the producer price index for the G7 countries constructed from data obtained from OECD (2000) and World Bank (2000). 15 Appendix Table 1 presents a breakdown of the baseline, per-accession costs for each operation, for each crop, for each centre. Some interesting comparisons are possible. For most crops at most centres the differences between medium-and long-term storage costs are much smaller than the differences in regeneration costs among crops, the general pattern being that cross-pollinating species (such as maize at CIMMYT and pigeonpeas at ICRISAT) and wild species (such as wild groundnut at ICRISAT or wild rice at IRRI) are much more costly to regenerate than other types of crops. The costs associated with vegetatively propagated crops (such as cassava at CIAT) are also comparatively high due to the intensity of labor required for subculturing. There are also significant locational-cum-institutional differences in the costs of regenerating crops; for instance wheat at CIMMYT versus ICARDA, forages at ICARDA versus CIAT, and chickpeas at ICRISAT versus ICARDA.Table 4 reports the average costs of conserving (and distributing) an accession for one year. 16 Clearly the annual average cost depends on the crop in question and the state of the sample, including its time in storage, time from last regeneration or viability test, and the like. If an existing sample is known to be viable, it costs little to hold it over for one more year-less than US$ 2 per accession for most crops. However, if the sample requires regenerating because it failed a viability test, the holding costs increase substantially with the additional viability testing and regeneration costs. If the accession is newly introduced into the genebank (so that health testing is also required), the cost jumps even further and the variation in costs among crops increases. The structure of the distribution costs are similarly revealed in the two righthand columns of Table 4. 14 It is crucial to regenerate material in ways that minimize the genetic drift from the planted to harvested sample. In promiscuously out-crossing plants like maize, this requires fairly elaborate procedures, like hand pollinating each plant and isolating the pollen of each plant by placing a cover over its tassels. 15 The index was formed by taking a weighted sum of the national producer price indices for the G7 countries where the weights were the respective country shares in the seven-country GDP total. The index was 100.9 in 1996, 101.4 in 1997, 100.6 in 1998, 101.2 in 1999 and 104.4 in 2000. 16 In this and all subsequent tables we opted not to round off our estimates to facilitate cross-referencing, but this should not be construed as implying any false precision.  Table 5 provides a representative snapshot of the total annual conservation and distribution costs incurred by each of the centres. The estimates for CIAT, CIMMYT, ICARDA, ICRISAT and IRRI were obtained directly and used as the basis for estimating the costs for the remaining six CG centres with active conservation programmes. 17 These costs include all the labour and operational costs incurred to provide core conservation and distribution services for one year, and an estimate of the annualized cost of the recurrent capital expenditures required to build and equip the genebanks. Based on the assumptions that underlie these estimates, the total annual cost for the CG genebanks is US$ 5.7 million. Table 5 illustrates that the number of accessions per se is not an especially good indicator of the comparative costs of conservation. There are many other factors-some intrinsic to the crop in question, others relating to locational and institutional aspects-that affect these costs.Table 4 refers to the costs of conserving an accession for one more year, with the notion that decisions can be revisited the following year. However, the presumption is that the CG collection is being held for safe keeping for an indefinite future, so that an in perpetuity (i.e., from now to eternity) perspective on costs is more appropriate than a one-year perspective. Indeed the notion that the CG is guaranteeing safe keeping of these genetic resources for the common good, for both current and all future generations, is implicit in its in-trust commitments to the FAO. The cost of such a guarantee depends on a host of factors, not least the state of future conservation technologies, input costs (including the rate of interest used to calculate the present value of an indefinite future stream of costs), storage capacity vis-à-vis the size of the holding and regeneration intervals. Table 6 reports the present value of the average costs of conserving an accession in perpetuity, assuming per accession costs are constant over time 17 In section 4 below we sketch the basis for extrapolating costs to include all 11 CG genebanks. Source: Authors' calculations. Note: These estimates of annual total costs were based on the in-perpetuity costs given in Table 7. This method provides an annual average costs that implicitly takes account of differences in the long-term structure of the recurrent capital purchases for each of the genebanks and also recognizes that only a fraction of each centre's total holding is regenerated in any given year. Thus these costs are also sensitive to assumptions about the rate interest (here taken to be 4 % per annum) and the length of the regeneration cycles, among other things. All costs are denominated in year 2000 US dollars. a Material in other centres mainly consists of vegetatively-propagated species, and we used the costs of maintaining cassava at CIAT as the basis for costing this material. Thus, some crop-specific characteristics of the vegetatively-propagated species may not have been considered here. The costs of conserving and distributing agroforestry material was based on data provided by the manager of the ICRAF genetic resources programme. in real (i.e, inflation-adjusted) terms and baseline conservation protocols are maintained throughout the entire period. 18 Here the present value represents the value of the stream of time-discounted future costs, recognizing that with positive interest rates a dollar expensed in the future is less costly than a dollar expensed today (because today's dollar could be invested and return more than a dollar in the future.)For cassava, the present value cost of cryoconservation is lower than either in vitro conservation or a field genebank, implying potential cost saving from using this type of conservation method. The table also shows that the present value of distribution costs are generally higher than the present value of conservation costs. This is due to the more frequent regeneration and viability testing of seeds held in medium-term storage (from which distributed seeds are drawn) as well as the high 18 The baseline assumptions for seed storage are (i) accessions in the medium-term storage are conserved for 25 years and those in the long-term storage for 50 years, (ii) viability testing is done every five years for seeds in medium-term storage and 10 years for those in long-term storage, (iii) an accession is disseminated once every 10 years and (iv) the presumed real interest rate is 4%. We also assume that all accessions are held both in medium-and long-term storage. For in vitro conservation of cassava, we assume that subculturing is done every 1.5 years. For cryoconservation, the storage life is assumed to be 100 years and the interval of viability testing is 10 years. The present values of the costs for each operation are calculated using the formula in Appendix A. COSTING THE CG GENEBANKS cost of dissemination per se. The right-hand column of total costs in Table 6 indicates the presentvalue cost of conserving an accession forever and maintaining the current average rate of dissemination for each accession over this same period of time. The crops conserved at CIMMYT represent the upper and lower bounds of the present value of total costs for all the crops in our study-US$ 62 for each accession of wheat and US$ 690 for each accession of maize.Figure 2 compares the costs of conserving an accession for one year (panel a) with the present-value costs of conserving an accession in perpetuity (panel b). Simply holding a seed sample for one year (in which the sample requires no special treatment) costs less than US$ 1.50, except for maize, which costs US$ 2.16 per accession, and cassava conserved in vitro, which costs US$ 11.98 per accession. These storage costs consist mainly of the costs of electricity and the annualized capital cost of the storage facility, with a small expense for maintaining the storage equipment. The storage costs of crops at ICARDA are comparatively low due to its cheap labour and electricity costs, while costs are higher at ICRISAT, where electricity is expensive. The comparatively high cost of storing maize is due to its comparatively big seed size (less seed fits in a given storage space and more costly containers are required).However, considering storage costs in perpetuity (which also include viability testing and regeneration costs) changes the ranking of costs. For example, the costs of forage conserved at CIAT and wild rice at IRRI are now higher than those of chickpeas or sorghum at ICRISAT due to the higher costs of regenerating forages and wild rice (repetitive costs that mount up over the longer term). As a rule, wild and weedy species and cross-pollinating crops that are relatively expensive to regenerate are more expensive in present-value terms when costs are cumulated over the long term.     The present value of costs in perpetuity represents the amount of money that would need to be set aside (at, say, a 4% real rate of interest) to underwrite genebank activities at their current levels over the long term. We used the costing evidence in Table 6 as the basis for calculating the size of an endowment fund that would assure the conservation of the CG holdings for all future generations. To do this we presumed a particular correspondence between the per accession costs for crops we did directly cost and for those CG crops not included in our centre studies. 19 This method of extrapolating costs based on per accession cost might bias down the conservation costs for smaller genebanks since it may understate the costs of some indivisible capital equipment and facilities that are required regardless of the size of genebanks.Because of the substantial differences in conserving and regenerating tree compared with conventional crop species, we relied on annual budget data and informed estimates from the manager of the ICRAF genetic resource programme to generate a proximate but representative estimate of the annual conservation, multiplication and distribution costs incurred by ICRAF. To maintain a headquarter operation (which includes a medium-term storage facility and ancillary buildings) and a wide network of on-farm conservation and regeneration sites in 10 countries around the world, the estimated total annual operating cost is about US$ 800,000, of which 80% was allocated to the conservation and distribution functions of ICRAF that were included in this study (and split 4:6 between these two functions).Baseline estimates. Table 7 presents our best baseline estimates of the centre-specific and CG-wide endowment fund that would be sufficient to underwrite the CG's basic conservation and distribution functions at their present levels of activity into the indefinite future. Based on our assessment of the relevant costs, a US$ 149 million endowment invested at a real rate of interest of 4% per annum (or a nominal rate of, say, 7% if inflation is expected to average 3% per annum over the long run) would generate a real annual revenue flow of US$ 5.7 million, sufficient to cover the costs of conserving and distributing the current holdings of all 11 CG genebanks in perpetuity. About 20% of the endowment funds (nearly US$ 30 million) would be needed to underwrite the on-going purchases of equipment and genebank buildings as they need replacing. The rest would need to be set aside to meet the recurring non-capital costs.Figure 3 illustrates the estimated centre-specific shares of this overall endowment fund. The conservation and dissemination activities undertaken by the five centres we directly costed (and that collectively conserve 87% of the CG's current germplasm holdings) could be supported with 66% of the total endowment fund, with the remaining 34% underwriting activities at the six centres we did not directly cost. These estimates indicate that 13% of the genebank holdings account for 34% of the total costs. This is because the vegetatively propagated material that constitutes a large part of the IITA, CIP and IPGRI/INIBAP collections and the tree species conserved by ICRAF are intrinsically costly to store and regenerate. CIAT and CIMMYT constitute 17 and 18% respectively of the total costs. Both centres are located in comparatively advanced developing countries in Latin America, where wage rates are comparatively high by developing country standards; they also maintain sizable holdings of crops that are intrinsically costly to conserve-specifically vegetatively-propagated cassava at CIAT and cross-pollinating maize at CIMMYT.19 Specifically, we used CIAT's costs of conserving and distributing cassava as indicative of the corresponding costs for the root and tuber crops held at CIP, the Musa (banana) stored at INIBAP and the bananas, cassava and yams kept at IITA. Since the methods used to conserve these crops differ among centres, we used the in vitro and field genebank costs for the corresponding material held at CIP and IITA, and the in vitro and cryoconservation costs for the bananas stored at INIBAP. Rice costs at IRRI were deemed indicative of rice costs at WARDA, CIAT's forage costs were used to represent forage costs at ILRI, ICRISAT's chickpea costs were treated as equivalent to IITA's cowpea costs, while CIAT's bean and forage costs were treated as equivalent to IITA's soybean, miscellaneous legumes and wild vigna costs respectively.      Sensitivity analysis. Our baseline cost estimates build on a number of assumptions made explicit above. Here we explore the sensitivity of the overall costs (in present-value terms) to changes in those elements of the costing framework thought likely to significantly affect the final figure.Because the endowment fund represents the present value of the in-perpetuity costs it is designed to support, significant cost elements that repeat at regular intervals are likely to have a large effect on the estimated size of the endowment fund. Appendix Table 1 makes it clear that regeneration costs represent a significant share of the non-capital costs. Thus regenerating material at longer or shorter cycles will lower or raise costs accordingly. Interest rate is also a key component of any present value calculation; lower rates tend to raise the present value of future costs.We tested the sensitivity of our best endowment fund estimate (US$ 149 million) to changes in these two elements by re-estimating the fund figure using the regeneration cycles given in Appendix Table 2 and several rates of interest. In scenario A, the storage lives are comparatively short, requiring more frequent regeneration and viability testing. For scenario C, the storage lives are much longer, and the cycles of regeneration and viability testing are thus less frequent. Scenario B represents a medium (and seemingly most plausible) regeneration cycle used to form the baseline estimates in Table 7. Figure 4 shows that with this combination of key assumptions the size of the endowment fund could be as low as US$ 100 million (under scenario C with a high, 6% rate of interest) or as high as US$ 325 million (under scenario A with a low, 2% rate of interest).     In setting a target for a conservation fund there are other things to consider; some that would decrease the size of the endowment compared with our best estimate, others that would increase it. Improvements in storage efficiencies due to technical change would likely lower costs in the future (but then again other techniques may reduce the risk of loss but increase costs). The costs presented above are based on data collected during a time of structural and operational changes for some CG genebanks. We tried to abstract from the cost implications of these changes, but on balance we are likely left with an upper-bound estimate of the relevant costs if the genebanks were to be operating in steady state. Pardey et al. (2001), using data from CIMMYT, illustrated that savings through potential economies of scale and size may be realized from consolidating genebank facilities.There are some factors that would raise the endowment target. Our cost estimates were based on a steady-state continuation of the present level of activity into the distant future. Increasing the size of the collection or the number of samples distributed annually would obviously increase costs and the amount of funds required to support them. Conserving genetic material is a labour-intensive undertaking. If structural changes in developing-country labour markets cause local wage rates to rise the endowment fund would need to grow accordingly.Moreover, our cost estimates include only those core activities required to conserve and distribute the CG holdings now and forever. Wright (1997) pointed out that the general lack of evaluation information on stored germplasm has severely limited its use in crop breeding and thereby curtails the demand for genebank material. Tanksley and McCouch (1997, p.1066)  described how modern molecular biology techniques could be used to tap the 'wide repertoire of genetic variants created and selected by nature over hundreds of millions of years [that are] contained in our germplasm banks in the form of exotic accessions.' Costing the characterization activities that provide the molecular basis for modern breeding efforts and thereby greatly enhance conventional crop-breeding techniques is a tricky exercise, depending in part on the state and nature of the rapidly changing biotechnologies and the timing of their use (Koo and  Wright 2000). In the absence of further detailed study, we believe it is prudent to match the resources devoted to conservation purposes with a comparable sum for their characterization and evaluation. This will greatly enhance the contribution of the conservation effort to the cropbreeding efforts of future generations worldwide.Using germplasm conserved by the CG, crop breeders developed improved crop varieties that were taken up by farmers the world over. The result has been unprecedented increases in crop yields in the past several decades with benefits in the tens of billions of dollars for developing country producers (through increased productivity and lower costs of production) and consumers (through lower food prices and improved grain quality) (Alston et al. 2000). The benefits to the rich countries have been substantial too (for example, see Brennan and Fox 1995 and Pardey  et al. 1996 for Australian and United States evidence respectively). There is no reason to think the flow of benefits will diminish any time soon: with little land left to bring into agriculture and a projected 3 billion increase in world population by 2050 (almost all occurring in poorer countries) yields must, and can, continue growing. This study provides a firm empirical basis for putting the CGIAR's conservation efforts on a firmer financial footing. If the future is anything like the recent past-and every indication is that it could be-setting aside $200-300 million to underwrite the CGIAR's genebank conservation and distribution efforts into the very distant future is a small down payment compared with the billions of dollars of benefits flowing from continued access to and use of this germplasm.  For example, if regenerating an accession costs US$ 100 and it is done every 20 years from year 20, then the present value of the cost of regenerating the accession in perpetuity is US$ 83 at 4% interest rate.  As a practical matter, conserving cassava in a field genebank is more properly thought of as a medium-term undertaking, but we included it here under long-term storage to reflect its conservation intent. Most cassava is distributed in the form of in vitro samples. A few samples are distributed locally as cuttings direct from the field genebank, and the associated costs are subsumed in the storage costs reported here.","tokenCount":"8582"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0261027764.json b/data/part_1/0261027764.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..54ab504a071866da5dc584da9106ac7a4af90a1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0261027764.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4a2c6ee3ce1fdba9d6a8a9fce01609eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/58f41c2f-73d3-4794-9a10-72fc10e635db/retrieve","id":"1507823604"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"227bc587-e1e5-4e95-8c2b-d133b648804b","pagecount":"127","content":"The European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR) is a collaborative programme among most European countries aimed at ensuring the long-term conservation and facilitating the increased utilization of plant genetic resources in Europe. The Programme, which is entirely financed by the participating countries and is coordinated by IPGRI, is overseen by a Steering Committee (previously Technical Consultative Committee, TCC) composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries and a number of relevant international bodies. The Programme operates through ten broadly focused networks in which activities are carried out through a number of permanent working groups or through ad hoc actions. The ECP/GR networks deal with either groups of crops (cereals, forages, vegetables, grain legumes, fruit, minor crops, industrial crops and potato) or general themes related to plant genetic resources (documentation and information, in situ and on-farm conservation, technical cooperation). Members of the working groups and other scientists from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme.The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IPGRI or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these participating organizations.European Malus Database and Project EC 1467/94 Multicrop Passport Descriptors List for data exchange Minimum Descriptors List for characterization Opportunities for including evaluation data in the Database The role of Non-Governmental Organizations in local and national conservation of Malus and Pyrus germplasm Safety-duplication of fruit tree accessions at European level Updates on country collections and recent collecting activities of Malus and Pyrus programmes approved by this Committee. One of the projects, the Lamb-Clarke Historical Apple Collection, funded in 1996 is relevant to this meeting. He mentioned that the Department of Agriculture is continuing to fund part of this work again this year and wished Professor Hennerty and Ms Hayes every success with this important work. D. Feeley mentioned also the following projects to which the Advisory Committee have provided funding for conservation activities:• a Lolium perenne Core Collection project which involves a collaborative effort with 17 other European countries • conservation of old Irish cereal varieties • conservation of the Galway sheep breed • conservation of Kerry cattle breed.He pointed out that national activities of this type are fulfilling Irish obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and implementing the Global Plan of Action as agreed in Leipzig in 1996. The Department of Agriculture is playing an active role in protecting the environment generally and conserving threatened species of plants and animals in particular.Before concluding, D. Feeley commented briefly on the Department of Agriculture's experience and cooperation with NGOs in Ireland in the area of conservation of genetic resources. This involvement to date with NGOs relates to the Irish Seed Saver Association and the Irish Genetic Resources Conservation Trust. He said that this experience has been a positive one, since the Seed Savers are efficient and effective, operating at low budget costs and capable of working within frameworks provided by the Department of Agriculture. He said that Prof. Hennerty, representing the University sector, may share these sentiments. In conclusion he wished all the participants a very successful conference and an enjoyable stay in Dublin.Michael Hennerty, Head of the Department of Crop Science, Horticulture and Forestry, University College Dublin (UCD), welcomed the group to Ireland and University College Dublin and wished the participants a successful and rewarding meeting. He considered appropriate the choice of Dublin for the first meeting of the ECP/GR Working Group on Malus/Pyrus, because it has ancient associations with the apple. He explained that about 50 km from here is the Boyne Valley which contains enormous and mysterious monuments, such as the one at Newgrange, which were built in 5200 BC by people we know little about. Inside some of these monuments, in a prominent position, apple trees, which had been cut off at the base of the trunk, were found standing upright. Obviously the apple tree was of some significance to these people. An ancient mummified apple was recently found at Haughey's Fort in County Armagh, the major appleproducing district in Ireland. This apple has been found to be about 3000 years old. It is now being DNA-tested to determine if this was a cultivated, rather than a wild apple. If it proves to be cultivated, he said, this will be the oldest example of its type in existence. St. Patrick converted the Irish to Christianity in the 5th century and the dietary instructions he gave to his followers are still available. Apples were an important dietary component, but it is unclear if these apples were wild or cultivated. Recent research at the Viking settlement at Dublin, which is over 1000 years old, has also found evidence that apples were a major Consultative Committee (TCC) in Nitra, Slovakia in September 1995. It was also at this meeting that the constitution of a Working Group on Malus/Pyrus was decided. The new structure of the Programme, which is composed of cropspecific Networks and thematic Networks, was presented and the type of activities carried out within each of these was illustrated. He summarized the most recent ECP/GR events, such as the Documentation meeting in Budapest (October 1996) and the participation of non-EU countries in EU-funded projects (EC 1467/94), such as the projects on Prunus and on Vitis genetic resources. The existence of a Web site for ECP/GR was mentioned, as well as the preparation of a prototype Internet Information Platform on Crop Genetic Resources. 1 This will be the framework to interconnect and provide on-line access to the European Central Crop Databases. The imminence of the end of Phase V of ECP/GR (at the end of 1998), was mentioned, and the opportunity to formulate recommendations for the future of the Malus/Pyrus Working Group to the Steering Committee was emphasized. L. Maggioni informed the participants that this committee will meet during the summer of 1998 and that a first draft strategy for the implementation of the Global Plan of Action in Europe, through the activities of ECP/GR, has been circulated to members of the Steering Committee.1 As of June 1997 the European Information Platform on Crop Genetic Resources can be consulted at the following URL: http://www.cgiar.org/ecpgr/platform European Malus Database and Project EC 1467/94 Project EC 1467/94 T. Swinburne, coordinator of the project proposal on Malus genetic resources to the EC, reported on the outcome of the submission. The proposal was unsuccessful, although it received some good comments, such as the presence of many participating countries. On the other hand, its approach was judged insufficiently scientific. It was perceived by the coordinator that work for the construction of the Malus database was insufficiently advanced, when compared with the status of projects successfully submitted. Another problem seemed to have been the size of the funding requested. In view of a potential resubmission of the proposal, T. Swinburne suggested that descriptor data should already be included in the database, and that a further request for funding should focus on the introduction of evaluation data. He therefore stressed the need to define a set of priority characters of common interest for evaluation during this meeting. In the discussion it was also suggested that special emphasis be placed upon the screening of genetic material, with the purpose of identifying varieties suitable for different uses such as juice extraction, as well as for pest-and disease-resistant environmentally friendly cultivation.The Group agreed with this interpretation of the reasons why the project was rejected and welcomed the offer of T. Swinburne to coordinate a new project proposal along the lines suggested, in view of the third call of proposals. L. Maggioni informed the Group that this call is expected for the autumn of 1997 and that a deadline for the presentation of proposals is likely to be three months after this date. 2 The option of also presenting a similar proposal for Pyrus genetic resources was taken into consideration. The Group acknowledged that a Pyrus project could be more appealing for EU funding, since this crop has received less attention in Europe so far and, differently from Malus, it does not present an overproduction problem. M.F. Tarbouriech will look into the possibility of a French institute undertaking the coordination.The Group recommends that ECP/GR continue the approach of facilitating the participation of non-EU countries in EU-funded projects, such as in the cases of Allium, Beta, maize, potato, Prunus and Vitis projects.The CORE-STORE for Malus database has been developed by Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne and Wye College, University of London under a contract from the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for use in the UK National Fruit Collection (NFC). The database was designed to meet the specific curatorial requirements of the NFC, but possesses features which will be central to the functioning of the European database.R. Janes demonstrated the database, emphasizing both features specific to the NFC and those essential to the European database:• Individual accessions -Passport data -Germplasm use records -Horticultural management recordsT. Swinburne confirmed that Wye College is willing to accept the commitment of filling the CORE-STORE database with the data from the European Working Group partners, as a necessary step towards the implementation of a Malus European Database. The Group agreed to provide the agreed multicrop passport data to Wye College by November 1997 and that Wye College would make the database available as a diskette or CD-ROM and eventually on Internet. R. Janes will contact other national Malus database managers in the near future to request accessions data.Opportunities of establishing a Pyrus database were discussed and the Group agreed that this would be welcome. It was considered appropriate that the same structure of the Malus database be adopted in this case. Wye College would prefer not to commit itself with the hosting of a second database, but suggested that it might be possible by negotiation to utilize the CORE-STORE structure for this purpose. Marie-France Tarbouriech explained that the French national database already includes some descriptors for Pyrus accessions and the Group suggested that this could be the embryo for a European Pyrus database. M.-F. Tarbouriech accepted to consult the French National Coordinator as to the possibility of France taking on this commitment. N. Braniête expressed the availability of his institute to assist in the task. M. Lateur mentioned that his institute may be able to become responsible for the European Pyrus database. He will check on the feasibility of this with the full support of the Malus/Pyrus Working Group.Multicrop Passport Descriptors List for data exchange L. Maggioni summarized how the production of descriptors lists by IPGRI (and formerly by IBPGR) was a dynamic process in continuous evolution. He explained that this led to a situation in which some common descriptors are defined in different ways and that this is complicating the documentation, especially in cases where genebanks are dealing with multiple crops. The development of a core list of passport descriptors that would be standard for all crops was recently undertaken by IPGRI and FAO. The resulting Multicrop passport descriptors list was presented to the European database managers during the ECP/GR Documentation workshop in Budapest 1996. An agreement was reached there to adopt a slightly modified list as a standard format for data exchange.The final version of this list was presented to the Group that decided, after some debate, to adopt it with minor modifications (see Appendix I). Two extra fields were requested entitled 'Plant Use' and 'Parentage'. These will be defined as follows:The coding scheme proposed can be used at two levels of detail: either by using the global codes (1 or 2) or by using the more detailed coding (e.g. 1.1). 1 Mutant -(a vegetative mutant of a known cultivar) 2 Open-pollinated -(only the mother is known) 3 Controlled cross -(both parents are known) 4 Seedling/unknown origin -(no information regarding parentage is known)The opportunity to add more fields may be considered in the future. The inclusion of a field for 'Collector's name' was considered irrelevant, since this information is unknown for the majority of the accessions. It was also considered unnecessary to create a passport field to note mutant accessions (sports), since this information could be included in the parentage data. A clarification was made that, as a general guideline, the database would include modern cultivars with registered names or after passing the UPOV tests for distinctness, uniformity and stability, old varieties and wild species. Only a limited number of genetic stocks, such as breeding material under test or breeders' lines, should be included where these have formed part of published research programmes.R. Janes presented a proposed list of Minimum Descriptors for Malus. This is detailed in Appendix II and was based on the following sources of information: • UPOV Guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctness, uniformity and stability -Apple TG/14/8, 1995.In the discussion it was concluded that the proposed list was too long. However, as fruit characters were more generally useful, and also easier to record, the number of floral characters proposed could be reduced. The following characters were then selected:• Season of flowering It was agreed that as far as possible the methods used should follow existing guidelines such as those used by UPOV. R. Janes, in consultation with M. Lateur and A. Lean, agreed to compile a set of procedures, relating to the agreed list of characters, from the existing guidelines, which will be circulated to Working Group members to be accepted by the end of 1997.Opportunities for including evaluation data in the Database Introduction T. Swinburne pointed out that potential users of plant genetic resources require more information on accessions than is provided by passport data or botanical descriptors. The previous EC proposal focused on the basic components for a database, but having almost achieved this stage, the Group should now concentrate on the acquisition and inclusion of evaluation data. This work should form the basis of any future proposal to the EC programme.The highest priority characters for evaluation to be included in the European Malus Database were the following:• Scab resistanceSince a standardization of the procedures is essential, five subgroups accepted the task of defining draft standard protocol by the end of August 1997. This will be forwarded to the Chair and distributed to all members for a round of comments.The subgroups for standard evaluation protocols are the following:T. Swinburne and M. James Choiseul described the establishment of the new Lamb-Clarke Apple collection, derived from the material relocated by the Irish NGOs, Irish Seed Savers and Armagh Orchard Trust. Cultivars were characterized using floral morphology and flowering time, supplemented with historical research. In the immediate future it is planned to determine the virus status of the accessions and describe the fruit. Medium-term plans include biomolecular characterization, production of virus-free stocks via meristem culture and disease-resistance evaluation.Evica Mratiniº informed the Group of the existence of some NGOs in F.R. Yugoslavia, mainly formed in recent years. They contribute on a voluntary basis to the conservation of the plant genetic resources.L. Maggioni reported on the Italian experience of the NGO Association Pomona, which is collaborating with Universities and local administrations in an effort to trace old fruit tree varieties, rediscover their heritage and preserve them by transfer into private or public areas or natural parks. A project in the province of Piacenza was successful in discovering several old apple, pear and cherry varieties with local names. A large diversity was found in the surroundings of a medieval monastery in Tolla, where monks used to plant varieties with different harvesting times and storability, in order to offer fruits in every season to the pilgrims on their way to Rome.Markus Kellerhals reported on the collation efforts between the Federal Research Station Wädenswil and the NGOs Fructus and Pro Specie Rara in Switzerland. The two NGOs are preparing data on addresses of collections and single-tree holders (on-farm conservation), passport and pomological data and site information.R. Janes reported on a project to establish a UK Network for Malus. Many initiatives have been developed in recent years to address apple conservation in the UK, coordinated by either non-governmental organizations such as Common Ground or by governmental bodies such as the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). Many botanic and heritage gardens possess extensive collections of apple species and cultivars, as do nurserymen and individual enthusiasts. However, there is no National register of collections and their holdings in the UK. This proposal is designed to redress that deficiency.The apple collection held at Brogdale as part of the MAFF National Fruit Collections contains the largest number of authenticated cultivars on a single site in Europe. This collection is funded by a joint research commission to Wye College, University of London, and the Brogdale Horticultural Trust and they have a national and international responsibility to ensure Malus germplasm conservation. However, although the collection currently contains over 2000 accessions, Wye College recognizes that these only partially span the genetic diversity contained within apple cultivars and species held in the UK as a whole. Wye College aims to set up a UK Network for Malus to identify the full extent of Malus genetic resources in Britain, and to compile a National register of collections. Hence, it would be possible to assess accurately which cultivars are rare or threatened, or indeed if enough duplicate collections exist in the UK to ensure long-term safety for apple diversity. Wye College intends that the Network complement and support the work of other apple conservation projects, and not conflicts with them. The Network will be coordinated by Wye College, with the full support of the Brogdale Horticultural Trust, Common Ground and MAFF. It is envisaged that with the increased awareness of the importance of conservation at a local level, Wye College will be increasingly supportive of in situ programmes in the future.T. Swinburne asked the participants whether in their respective countries they had some relationship with non-governmental organizations. M.-F. Tarbouriech described the collaboration between formal and informal sectors in France. The communication is sometimes difficult since NGOs' interest is primarily social and cultural, while curators and breeders place the main attention on the potential use of the genetic resources. T. Swinburne confirmed the existence of the same type of conflicting priorities in the UK. These would need to be resolved by understanding mutual interests at a time when reciprocal collaboration is sought for the development of a European database. M. Lateur gave the example of his collection receiving several accessions from individuals and NGOs and reaffirmed the value and the potential of a collaborative approach, although this is not always achieved.The Group was pleased to learn of the existence of valuable examples of collaboration between the formal plant genetic resources community and the NGOs. It was acknowledged that the advantages of looking into possible means of collaboration can be invaluable, since voluntary associations can find the time and the appropriate way to identify rare and threatened genetic material as well as its cultural and historical heritage. On the other hand NGOs can benefit from the empowerment and the assistance with long-term conservation that the formal sector can offer. An enhanced preservation and accessibility of genetic material should be the result of this interaction.The Group therefore recommended to actively seek to assist, help and foster this kind of useful collaboration. A step in this direction is the compilation of a list of NGOs involved in the conservation of Malus and Pyrus in each country. Members of the Working Group will prepare a national list and forward it to the ECP/GR Coordinator for inclusion in the present report by the end of September 1997 (see Appendix III).L. Maggioni introduced a discussion about the concept of safety-duplication, i.e. the duplication of an accession for safety reasons. He mentioned how safetyduplication is essential for ensuring sound conservation, with a minimized risk of losses and that this is also beneficial for the rationalization of collections, since accessions that are accessible and are safely duplicated once do not need to be conserved as multiple duplicates in many places. As an important criteria for safety, he quoted the conservation managed by financially stable institutions as well as the need to establish formal agreements for safety-duplication. Such agreements, preferably undertaken between different countries, would strengthen the mutual trust and the sharing of responsibilities. The formality of the agreements would ensure official recognition to the safety-duplication and also that emergency situations could be dealt with according to pre-established procedures. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Nordic Genebank and the Institute of Biology, Latvia, was presented as an example suitable for seed germplasm of safety-duplication agreement with a 'black-box' type of arrangement. In the case of fruit trees, a slightly different model of agreement should be developed, to take into account the different problems involved with the transfer of graft material and with the maintenance of bulky and demanding specimens.The Chair asked the Group how they deal with the problem of safetyduplication. M. Hennerty reported that in Ireland three sites are dedicated to duplicating fruit trees and a fourth site is used in Northern Ireland. E. Bratberg said that NGB has made arrangements to safety-duplicate in two sites distributed within the Nordic Countries. M. Lateur reported that in Belgium only some accessions are present in more than one site. M. Kellerhals mentioned that in Switzerland they have started to multiply accessions in more than one site within the country and that in situ conservation is considered as a valid option. M. Fischer said that no duplicates are prepared at the moment in Germany and that an agreement with botanic gardens is foreseeable in the near future for safety-duplication. This would be badly needed, especially considering the risky low temperatures reached during the winter at Dresden-Pillnitz. T. Swinburne admitted that the UK National Collection is not formally duplicated elsewhere.Manfred Fischer informed the Group of the current emergency situation at Maikop, Russian Federation, where the apple trees of the Vavilov collection are severely endangered and require duplication elsewhere. He also informed of the agreement under stipulation between IPGRI and the Vavilov Institute, based on which he would use US$ 5000 of emergency funds to go and take scions of unique wild species for safety-duplication in Germany. This would be accompanied by a reciprocal duplication of German wild species at the Vavilov Institute.During the discussion that followed, the concept of 'European collection' was generally outlined by L. Maggioni. This would be a decentralized collection comprising the apple and pear accessions that European genebanks would agree to maintain on behalf of all member countries of ECP/GR. Main objectives of this collection would be:• to formalize the sharing of responsibilities for the conservation of European Malus and Pyrus genetic resources• to ensure the safe conservation of these accessions • to ensure the continued access to these accessions to all ECP/GR countries • to reduce the workload for each country and encourage more effective and efficient conservation.A workplan for the establishment of a European collection has been developed by the Secale Group and the Forages Working Group of ECP/GR and these can be taken as reference for the future by the Malus/Pyrus Group.The Group agreed that the definition of European Malus and Pyrus Collections concept is reasonable and will have to be pursued. However, for the present time, considering the early stages of the Central Malus Database, it is considered too early to make decisions in terms of a practical commitment.The Group acknowledged the validity of ensuring the safety-duplication of the accessions within framework agreements, although duplication of trees in different countries may sometimes be impractical owing to phytosanitary and climatic constraints. The Group recommended that IPGRI look into the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding between countries specifically adapted to the transfer of fruit tree propagating material.The estimated total number of apple accessions being 36 000, the Group considered it very important to speed up a mechanism by which the database could be used to identify accessions repeated in multiple copies and to especially highlight those unique at European level. This could be the first step towards a well-informed reduction or prioritization of the collections. In order to do that, the Group agreed to send a list of all the names and numbers of the accessions maintained to R. Janes by the end of May 1997. Cyrillic characters will have to be sent after the respective database manager has translated them into Roman characters.3 Belgium Marc Lateur focused on Pyrus collections in Belgium, which are estimated to contain about 3580 accessions, including some 20% Belgian cultivars and 10% landraces. He indicated that problems of duplication and identification remain in most collections, and that the collecting of unique material, mostly landraces, is not yet finished.Vassiliy Djouvinov provided the following information on Bulgarian collections: Other collections ( in situ) have also been registered and their number is increasing, mostly in the northern part of Poland.Nicolae Braniête described the National collection of fruit germplasm and the activities of conservation and evaluation, which are coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Genebank of Suceava. Currently about 1500 accessions of apple and pear have been inventoried. Ex situ collections of apple are located in Voineêti and Bistriïa, while pears are conserved at Piteêti and Cluj stations.Vladimir Ponomarenko presented an overview of the collecting expeditions of VIR and illustrated with a slide show the geographic distribution of wild Malus and Pyrus species in the territory of the former Soviet Union. Malus sieversii (Lodeb.) M. Roemer was shown to be a species displaying a very high diversity, with fruits ranging from sweet to acid, to very bitter taste and weighing up to 200 g. The importance of focusing research on wild species and enabling access to them was stressed. Markus Kellerhals informed that mainly three organizations are involved in the conservation and characterization of Malus and Pyrus genetic resources: the Federal Research Station Wädenswil, financed by the Federal Office of Agriculture, and two private NGOs, Fructus and Pro Specie Rara. The main collections of Fructus are located at Höri (190 Malus, 43 Pyrus accessions) and Aubonne (90 apple and 94 pear accessions). Pro Specie Rara follows a decentralized approach with in situ conservation (on-farm) of about 500 Malus accessions. Fructus and Pro Specie Rara are working with coordinated databases on Filemaker including all information on collecting sites and in situ collection. The database of Pro Specie Rara is partly accessible in German on the Internet at the following address: http://www.dainet.de/genres/psr/psr.htm. The information system allows the detection of accessions which are threatened with extinction. A so-called 'red list' is being established. The Federal Research Station Wädenswil is preparing an Access database that will be connected with the other two. This is essentially being developed to test modern cultivars and includes evaluation data from field trials. After the conferences of Rio and Leipzig, the Swiss government is also increasing its commitment in the conservation of fruit genetic resources in Switzerland.Evica Mratiniº summarized activities carried out in Yugoslavia since the 1970s to inventory apple and pear local varieties. Several institutions are currently engaged in ex situ conservation, description and evaluation of autochthonous accessions, introduced varieties and wild species, such as Malus sylvestris Miller, M. dasyphylla Borkh. and M. florentina (Zuccagni) C. Schneider, Pyrus communis L., P. amygdaliformis Vill, P. nivalis Jacq. and P. elaeagnifolia Pall. A slide demonstration of unique local varieties was shown and she described the disruption of this field research with the onset of war within the former Yugoslavia.A new project for the use of apple genetic resources in a breeding programme (M. Lateur) A research project on fruit trees genetic resources and disease resistance started in 1975 at Gembloux, Belgium. Since 1990 a breeding programme has focused on apple scab polygenic resistance, using the better-performing old cultivars screened in the collection. During the last 5 years, around 80 old apple cultivars have been used as parents in different combinations with the view of testing their ability to transmit their polygenic resistance characters for scab and for mildew.Institute at Dresden-Pillnitz (M. Fischer) Resistance to scab, mildew and fire blight were studied in cross-combination programmes at Pillnitz, Germany, using various sources of resistance. PCR techniques were also used to ascertain the resistance to fire blight. To discover new sources of resistance, more than 700 cultivars were analyzed over a 4-year period, revealing that only a few varieties have not been infected by scab and mildew. The more resistant varieties will be more heavily used in future resistance breeding programmes. Studies were also conducted on the breakdown of the monogenic scab resistance of Malus floribunda Siebold, ex van Houtte and its progenies with a spectrum of scab races, showing that in Pillnitz race no. 3 has apparently been responsible for the contamination of otherwise resistant forms. A list of cultivars with multiple resistance is given on page 89 of this report. The durability of scab resistance of new cultivars was studied on cultivars with different genetic background. Project on 'Development of the European Apple Crop, by integrating demand for high quality, disease-resistant varieties suited to regional circumstances, with advanced breeding methods' (M. Kellerhals) This project, funded from 1993 to 1996, was a shared-cost research project under the EC Framework III programme in research and technical development for Agriculture and Agro-Industries (AIR). The activities and disciplines involved in this project ranged from basic molecular biology through genetics and breeding to all sciences related to characters selected in apple breeding, such as plant pathology, entomology, analysis of fruit quality and tree habit. In addition the project was focusing on the economic and social aspects of apple production. A major effort was devoted to the development of the Apple Store database. The aim of this database was to store genetic data, phenotypic data and analytical results and make them available in a user-friendly way to all researchers. The European Apple Project has fostered collaboration among research teams in different European countries and brought interesting results: markers for scab and mildew resistance genes, aphid resistance and further characters have been developed and will partly be applied in marker-assisted breeding. A European Apple Genetic Linkage Map was constructed.Psylla pyri L. (V. Djouvinov) In 1995 and 1996 the Bulgarian pear collection, over 20 years old, was violently attacked by Psylla pyri. In this collection each accession was represented by five trees. Susceptibility was determined using a scale from 0 (resistant) to 4 (high susceptibility). Most of the accessions were graded 3 or 4, and only a very small part from 0 to 2. In the two successive years only the cultivar Liatifa from Azerbaijan was absolutely resistant, and the local Bulgarian cultivar Karamanets and Pyrus betulifolia Bunge had very low susceptibility. The cultivars resistant to P. pyri -Liatifa and Karamanet -were included in the breeding programme for 1997.assessment of allelic diversity in Malus genetic resources (G. King) HRI developed and used a range of Simple Sequence Repeats markers (SSRs or microsatellites) for Malus which are capable of distinguishing between closely related apple varieties. The results of preliminary allele surveys based on reproducible SSR markers are presented (see page 104 for details). In example A, 46 diverse Malus accessions scored with two SSR markers reveal differences in level of polymorphism; in example B, a survey of 7 markers reveal 69 alleles; in example C, survey of a locus from the linkage group containing Sd1 aphid resistance scored over 160 cultivar accessions reveals unequal distribution of six alleles. These results demonstrate that SSRs are amenable to comparison and collation of data from different laboratories.The Group welcomed the idea of developing a bibliographic list of references of interest for Malus and Pyrus genetic resources. Members were encouraged to compile, in collaboration with other interested institutions within their countries, a national list including especially ancient books and articles as well as grey literature, such as internal reports or other unpublished material. This list will be forwarded to the ECP/GR Coordinator by the end of 1997 for further assembling and distribution to the Group.In the evening of 14 March 1997 M. Hennerty accompanied the participants to visit the Lamb-Clarke collection at the University College of Dublin.The participants reviewed the Section Discussion and Recommendations of the report of the meeting and accepted it after some corrections.The meeting was seen as an important way of securing the genetic resources of Malus and Pyrus and as a good forum for the exchange of ideas. The participants strongly recommended that the Group continue to meet as frequently as ECP/GR can afford during Phase VI. The future of the collections was seen as linked to the future of this Group.Terry Swinburne was elected to chair the Group until the end of next meeting, which was tentatively planned for late May 1999 (note: this date may be affected by the initiation of Phase VI of ECP/GR).The new Chair also wished to thank especially Anita Hayes of the Irish Seed Savers for her tremendous work carried out in organizing the meeting and reminded the group that this task had been undertaken without the aid of stable funding arrangements. He thanked as well R. Janes and L. Maggioni for their activity in the preparation of this meeting.An exploratory study was carried out on common Malus cultivars in four European countries in 1995 and 1996. The aim of this study was to pinpoint highly heritable, easily identifiable Malus cultivar characters, which did not widely vary between European sites, and which could be used to help compile a standard minimum list of descriptors.Collection holders in four European countries took part in the common cultivars study:• Belgium: Marc Lateur and Christophe Wagemans • France: Francois Laurens • Italy: Fabrizio Grassi • United Kingdom: Helen Case, Carol Bazeley and Rachel Janes.The following list of cultivars common to most collections was selected, which were also known to be contained in many other collections in Europe:Three lists of standard descriptors to be measured by all four participating countries were supplied by Wye College; one each for flower, leaf and fruit descriptors. Most of these were very close to the descriptors described in the IBPGR Descriptor List for Apple (1982) and the UPOV Guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctness, uniformity and stability -Apple TG/14/8 (1995). In total, approximately 75 descriptors were assessed. The study was carried out in 1995 and again in 1996.Results were compiled in the UK and analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. Here only preliminary results from 1996 are reported. Some data were missing or difficult to analyze because of problems such as lack of flowering/fruit set, variation in how certain characters were measured between countries and also queries to the validity of some of the character scores (see other contribution by R.A. Janes, Appendix II). Such data have been excluded from the analyses.It must also be noted that this type of analysis carried out on a mixture of scored (i.e. state 1, 2 or 3, etc.) and actual (e.g. measured in mm) characters may result in the importance of the actual measures being underestimated. This is due to actual data inherently containing more variation than scored data.A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of the data was carried out. This involved using forward selection to establish which of the descriptors were most important in discriminating between the cultivars, but did not involve separating out variation due to covariables, i.e. the country in which the measurement was taken.The following descriptors were found to be important (listed below by decreasing importance):• position of petal margin When covariables (i.e. country) were included in the analysis, it was apparent that the selected characters listed above were measured consistently in all countries.A CCA was again carried out using forward selection, but no covariables. There were, however, far fewer descriptors measured in this part of the study than in either fruit or flower and there was a lot of missing data. Therefore, no firm conclusions could be made.A CCA was again carried out using forward selection, but no covariables. Many of the characters measured had been found to be unreliable in the field or difficult to ascertain. Therefore characters such as those relying on russeting, lenticels or eye aperture were discarded form the analysis.The following descriptors were found to be most important (listed below by decreasing importance):• fruit shape • over colour coverage • fruit over colour • tube size• crowning at apex.The fruit results are displayed in Figure 2. Similarity between cultivars based on their fruit characters is displayed by distance on this diagram. How near individual characters are to a cultivar on the diagram indicates how important the character is in separating out this cultivar.Again, when covariables were included in the analysis, it was apparent that the selected characters listed above were measured consistently in all countries.Multivariate analysis is a useful tool in assessing the importance of individual descriptors in discriminating between Malus cultivars. The descriptors which were suggested by the analyses were all consistently measured among countries, indicating that these characters meet the criteria suggested above for ideal descriptors.The Irish Seed Saver AssociationThe Irish Seed Saver Association is a voluntary organization dedicated to the location and preservation of heritage varieties of fruit, grain and vegetables. The Association maintains a seed bank for the distribution of these non-commercially available vegetables and potatoes. We pass the various seed materials on so that others can learn to save them and in this way ensure a living agricultural legacy. One of the goals of the Irish Seed Saver Association is to bring Ireland's cultural and genetic heritage into the hands of ordinary people. One of the unique aspects of seed-saving networks, which exist all over the world, is the opportunity to share in the responsibility and joy of conserving the planet's diminishing genetic resources in a real and practical manner.The Irish Seed Savers Native Apple Project grew out of this ethos. When we began the project 4 years ago, there was no official governmental or academic programme dedicated to native apple conservation in Ireland. Recognizing that time was of the essence with regard to the age of the people with traditional knowledge, we began our work without any formal support of any kind. We were, however, very fortunate to have as a resource the wisdom and knowledge of Dr Keith Lamb, a retired pomologist who had performed the only field research on the native apple nearly 50 years ago.Our work began in a very systematic but simple manner. Through various publications and posters, a copy of which is supplied here, we attempted to reach the older rural populations who might remember the names and locations of the apples they stole as children (an honoured children's pastime long ago). Slowly, but surely, individuals contacted us with information that led to the location of native apple varieties that were thought to be extinct. Several individuals became inspired to work on the project, within their own communities. This method of gathering information brought us into forgotten byroads and mountain villages all over Ireland. When we located something of interest, apples were collected and brought to Dr Lamb who was able to confirm or deny their identity.Once we realized that this work could indeed prove fruitful, we began to search for a collaborative partner within the scientific community. We were very fortunate to form this with Dr Michael Hennerty, Head of the Department of Horticulture at University College Dublin and a pomologist himself. As we continued our field work, Dr Hennerty was able to work through the Department of Agriculture to re-introduce apple material that was restricted for importation into Ireland through normal channels. His ability to provide the expertise and proper isolation conditions convinced the Department of Agriculture to allow us to reintroduce 27 native varieties that were held at the Brogdale National Fruit Collection. Many of these cultivars were sent to Brogdale by Dr Lamb in the 1940s and 1950s.Peadar MacNeice of the Armagh Orchard's Trust, another non-governmental organization, was doing similar work in rural communities in Northern Ireland. He has also contributed many Ireland apple varieties to the National Apple Collection which is now housed at University College Dublin. This cooperation of North and South, young and old, scientific and NGO has resulted in a successful national collection, now recognized and supported by the Department of Agriculture and launched at its official opening by President Mary Robinson in February of 1996.What struck me most deeply, doing the field research, was that the people who held this precious local knowledge were mostly very elderly and very surprised that anyone would travel far to listen to their stories of how life used to be long ago. It took many many hours, cups of teas and rainy afternoons to locate perhaps the last tree of its kind, long neglected in the back garden. Many older people were embarrassed to even show me these old trees, because of their state of decline. If I had not come to them without an introduction from a respected local neighbour, there would have been very little chance that I would have been invited into their homes and lives. This very fine thread between preservation and extinction was demonstrated to me again and again.Another lesson that was demonstrated to me time and time again was the pool of knowledge that goes untapped among the elders of our communities. Horticultural and cultural knowledge of great depth was revealed to me in the simplest of settings. I also was reminded that we forget to ask the elders in our scientific communities as well as lay communities for their experience, advice and support, all to the detriment of our efforts at conservation.NGOs have very real skills to offer to the conservation efforts worldwide. We have time to work within our own communities in ways that \"outsiders\" cannot and a deep passion for our work that is motivated by a desire to preserve a cultural legacy as well as a botanical one. We NGOs need scientific support to assist us in our field work, test our findings and bring our work to its full potential benefit. I think as well that the scientific communities need our freedom of investigation, to go forward where the conservation need is great, but where a policy or economic decision has prohibited academic investigation. The areas that might divide us need to be explored and lessened through open communication.Our children and our children's children demand no less from us .In a time of increasing standardization we realize how true it is that variety is the spice of life. It is being realized also that there are sound reasons for preserving variation in living things, for scientists are concerned at the loss of local breeds of domestic animals and local varieties of food crops. This concern arises from the loss of potentially valuable genetic characteristics, so that we may have too small a genetic base for the future breeding of animals and plants.Half a century ago we were still largely self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables. In those days if you did not grow your own apples you maybe did without. This led to the development of cultivars of purely local fame, only some of which became more widely known.It was well-nigh 50 years ago that I undertook a survey of local Irish apples, with the encouragement of Professor G.O. Sherrard, Ireland's first professor of horticulture. In those days there was a country-wide network of county advisers in horticulture, many of whom had extensive local knowledge. Valuable sources of historical information were the Statistical Surveys of the Counties, published in the opening years of the 19th century. Several of these listed the apples grown in those days.With this information and assistance, visits were paid to old orchards up and down the country. When the same name was applied by the owners to an apple in different locations this was taken as a strong indication that the name was correct, especially if it was recorded in the appropriate Statistical Survey. In addition, a few early accounts of Irish apple were traced, e.g. that sent to the Horticultural Society of London by John Robertson of Kilkenny in 1820.In all, some 70 apples of Irish origin were found as living trees. Today, with the advent of the chain saw, how many survive? Should they be preserved? To mention one aspect alone, it was noted that many of them appeared to be disease resistant. In those days, there was none of the \"spray it with…\" philosophy, so a cultivar subject to disease just was not grown. My survey results, with full descriptions of the apples, were published in Vol. 4 (1951), Economic Proc. of the Royal Dublin Society.Although fruit collections in Northern Ireland, England and the Republic contain some Irish varieties, there has been to date no comprehensive reference collection of the native apple. The Irish Seed Saver Association, working in cooperation with the Armagh Orchards Trust, are attempting to locate, identify and conserve what native varieties remain. This work is happening at a crucial moment in Irish history. In a time of massive, sweeping social and cultural change, it is of critical importance to record the irreplaceable local knowledge of the older persons in our communities. Working from the named varieties and locations recorded by Dr Lamb, Irish Seed Saver members have been working in their communities to relocate these valuable varieties. The Red Brandy, a scabresistant Kilkenny variety, was recently relocated by Joy Daniels and the Ballyvaughn Seedling, a once common Clare apple, was relocated by Genevieve Tenthorney.Our efforts have many purposes, to conserve genetic material, preserve local history and to bring biodiversity back into our own lives in a practical way. This is work that will not wait and this work can only be accomplished through our cooperative efforts. If you would like to help, please contact us for information on how you can participate in the Native Apple Project.The ancient laws of Ireland, the Brehon Laws, classified the apple as a sacred tree, with a fine of five cows for cutting one down.James W. Choiseul, Project Coordinator Dept. Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University College Dublin, Ireland My association with the Lamb-Clarke Collection began in March 1997 when I was invited to do a Post-Doctorate on the apple cultivars currently housed at UCD. The objective of the project is to update J.G.D. Lamb's thesis (1949) entitled 'The Apple in Ireland; Its History and Varieties', and incorporate into it old Irish cultivars located since its publication.I would firstly like to describe the procedure we follow when we receive a new cultivar for the collection. Scion wood, from whatever source, is upon receipt at UCD refrigerated at 4°C. If we consider the cultivar to be a desirable addition to the collection, it is grafted onto M9 rootstock. A desirable cultivar is one which is recorded as being of Irish origin or potentially of Irish origin owing to its absence from the standard lists of cultivar names. However, the Lamb-Clarke Collection contains a number of foreign cultivars, mostly from England, which are included because they are rare in an Irish context and may, in the future, be useful for comparative or cross-reference purposes with other collections. The use of the word 'rare' is not based on any national survey of apple cultivar frequency as no such work exists. Rather, it is based on the expertise of pomologists and individuals working in the apple industry.After grafting, the plants are potted up and placed in a glasshouse. We have found that the glasshouse environment leads to a higher percentage of successful graft unions and also produces stronger, more vigorous plants, than planting in a nursery. In the year following grafting, accessions are planted out into the nursery area or if strong enough, into the orchard proper. We conserve three specimens of each cultivar at UCD, the remaining plants being used to establish a sister orchard in Co. Clare in the west of Ireland. The accessions are labelled with the year of planting, rootstock and name (and synonyms) of the cultivar. The year and location of the earliest written record for the cultivar are also included. This latter information is included as it is felt that the general public should have access to the collection and therefore there is a requirement for some information to be available in situ.There are currently 132 accessions in the Lamb-Clarke Collection, 47 planted in the orchard, 56 in pots in the glasshouse and the remainder in the nursery. Some of these cultivars are widely distributed, such as Irish Peach and Ecklinville Seedling, whereas many, such as Ballyvaughan Cooker and Cavan Wine, have never been recorded before.As the plants in the orchard are only 1 year old, there are limitations on their usefulness for scientific evaluation. Assessments for disease resistance for example, based on immature trees are of little use. Similarly any measurements which are destructive by nature are not possible. We have therefore limited our initial evaluation to observations on the flowering time and floral structure of the plants. The floral characters which were found most useful included style pubescence, style fusion, relative lengths of style and stamen, length and shape of pedicel, petal shape and petal attachment.A second aspect of the project involves historical research on the cultivars in the collection. There are three principal sources of information. Firstly, sources such as horticultural texts and journals have been the primary source of information on the origin of the cultivars. Secondly, UCD houses the National Folklore Archive which has also been examined for information on apples. Unfortunately this source has not yielded significant quantities of information. Lastly, miscellaneous sources such as ordinance surveys, nursery catalogues and travel logs provide some information on old cultivars, their distribution and use.The remainder of 1997 will be dedicated to completing two tasks. The first of these will be to establish the virus status of the Lamb-Clarke Collection with the intention of producing virus-free stock at a later date. The virus status will be established using double-stranded RNA analysis. The second objective for 1997 will be to make botanical descriptions of the fruit of the apple cultivars. This will confirm the identity of the cultivars against existing records, eliminate from the collection duplicated cultivars and allow heretofore unknown cultivars to be described for the first time.In the long term, it will be a priority to propagate virus-free stock using meristem culture. Fortunately the Dept. Horticulture at UCD has a longestablished expertise in this area.It is also our intention to characterize the cultivars in the collection using biomolecular methods such as isozyme analysis and/or RAPDs. Finally we would hope to commence some cultivar disease assessments, possibly using innovative in vitro methods.Isabella Dalla Ragione Associazione \"Archeologia Arborea\", Perugia, Italy Research and informal conservation is a very heterogeneous field, which cannot always be easily defined. There are different levels, roles, interests and reasons for involvement in this sector. There is unfortunately also division and poor coordination among the different initiatives and there are only few examples of collaboration between the informal and formal sectors. In the past, efforts were made to set up a coordination network, all of which failed because of organizational problems and lack of funds.The data provided in this report are also the outcome of independent, voluntary collection of data carried out by Dr M. Rosaria Perna and partly by Dr Stefano Tellarini.However, even a simple inventory of germplasm collected and conserved and of the large amount of data available throughout Italy as a result of the different activities, would be extremely useful for this sector to identify possible areas of collaboration between the two sectors. It is possible to identify and group together the various people and institutions from the informal sector who carry out research and conservation activities in the fruit growing sector. For each group that tends to be more or less homogeneous, I have identified one or more focal points, i.e. associations, agencies, corporate organizations, consortia, that could be useful for a future collection of data with a wider scope. There should, however, be a single point of reference for the data collected and this role could perhaps be played by IPGRI.Some older farmers, particularly those working in marginal hilly and mountainous areas, still conserve local varieties for sentimental reasons, even though these plants are no longer of economic importance. These farmers keep their old plants, but do not reproduce them because they themselves have grown old and their children do not work in the family business. Moreover, they are the last to know the traditional customs and uses, but they have no one to pass their knowledge on to.To map out, region by region, the individual farms that conserve genetic material, one must rely on corporate organizations, regional and suburban agricultural offices or on extension workers in agricultural development agencies. In certain regions, such as Veneto, Emilia, Marches and Latium, there are already technicians who are aware of this need.Regulation 2078/92 promotes the cultivation of varieties threatened by genetic erosion. Unfortunately, however, it has only been implemented in a few regions and does not directly support the conservation of stock plants on the individual farms. Some farmers have made an official request to receive funds for the cultivation of trees threatened with genetic erosion. This may be considered a good starting point for in situ conservation and the reintroduction of local varieties. In this case, data can be easily accessed by referring to the implementation of Regulation 2078/92.Organic and biodynamic farmers are now open to the conservation of biodiversity and cultivation of local varieties, but often they are farmers new to the job or foreigners that in any case know little about the traditions and the local varieties. Others have started farming too late to inherit the old local varieties and knowledge about them. The following is a partial list of these associations:• La terra e il cielo, Senigallia, Ancona. This is a consortium of organic farmers who have reproduced and conserved certain varieties of apple and vine, as well as cereals and some vegetable varieties. • Coordinamento per l'Agricoltura biologica di Lecco, offered to the Mountain Community of Triangolo Lariano to establish for them a nursery for the reproduction of old fruit tree varieties. • L'albero della vita, Triest, reproduces cereal and vegetable seed with biodynamic methods and even have some fruit tree species and varieties. • Agrinova Soc. Coop., Catania is relaunching traditional apple varieties resistant to scab (Mela dell'Etna, Gelato cola and Cola). • Nuova Ricerca Cooperative Borgo Tossignano, Bologna is a large cooperative which for a number of years has been researching and working on varieties of maize and pulses, but also on fruit tree varieties.Local and regional institutes As these do not fall exactly within the informal sector, they are not considered to be part of the official network. They could, however, be considered a bridge between the formal sector and the farmers because of their even distribution throughout the country.In recent years, some development agencies, such as Ente di Sviluppo Agricolo delle Marche, have started research and conservation activities. Thanks to the presence of technicians working on the subject of conservation of genetic resources, since 1984 this particular agency has collected numerous apple accessions (Rosa marchigiana, Rosa stellata, Verdona, etc.). It is also very active in popularizing productive cultivation of some of these varieties for the market.Other development agencies, mentioned below, popularize the conservation of agricultural biodiversity:• Ente di Sviluppo Agricolo del Veneto • Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l'Innovazione in Agricoltura del Lazio. Another interesting event is the research activities being carried out by some of the mountain communities who hold fruit tree collections (apple and pear).• Comunità Montana Valli Gesso Vermenagna Pesio, Robilante, Cuneo has a rich collection of approximately 50 varieties of apple and pear. It has a collection of local material found in the area, including 15 varieties of apple, 8 of pear, 5 of cherry and 5 varieties of plum. These are also tested in small field trials on different rootstocks and they are compared with standard varieties. The work that could be and is carried out by the professional agricultural institutes also must not be underestimated, e.g. Istituto Tecnico Agrario di Spilimbergo, Pordenone, Istituto Professionale Agrario di Cussanio, Cuneo, Istituto Professionale per l'Agricoltura e l'Ambiente di Pieve S. Stefano, Arezzo, who all have collections of various fruit tree varieties and who actively disseminate information regarding the conservation of genetic resources.An unusual initiative was carried out by E.C.A.P. (Ente Confederale Addestramento Professionale), Ravenna, which, in collaboration with Comune di Casola Valsenio, Ravenna, set up a project entitled \"Rediscovering forgotten fruits\". It is a territorial development project for the rediscovery and exploitation of resources and marginal agricultural cultivation in hilly areas. By \"forgotten fruits\", they mean medlar, sorb-apple, arbutus berry, cornelian cherry, pomegranate and also Mela della rosa and Pera volpina. They have produced a large quantity of information sheets and in October the annual trade fair dedicated to forgotten fruits will be held in Casola Valsenio.Many small and large initiatives fall within this sector which moreover should be well sustained because in many cases they have made up for the shortcomings of the public sector and they have often worked without financial aid. Nurserymen A few years ago, nurserymen started producing old varieties of fruit plants for selling. In some cases they have a collection of interesting material, even though they often follow market trends rather than favour the conservation of genetic material.• Vivai Dal Monte, via Casse, 9, 48013 Brisighella, Ravenna has a production line called the \"Antico pomario\" in which they produce many varieties of apple, pear, cherry and apricot of Romagna region. For a certain period they also kept an organic nursery. How did Hardenpont obtain his superior pears? It seems that he was a pioneer in the controlled pollination of pears, long before Knight (1759-1838) who is reputed to have been the first to practise controlled breeding of apples.Hardenpont soon had many imitators in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. One of the most famous was a Belgian pharmacist and physician, Van Mons (1767-1842), who produced over 400 new pear varieties. In 1874, the pomologist Gilbert recorded 146 Belgian amateur breeders who had bred more than 1100 pear cultivars during the 18th and 19th centuries but he made no reference to the numerous pear landraces which existed on farms (Gilbert 1874).The great American pomologist U.P. Hedrick wrote in 1921: \"The pear was improved more in one century in Belgium than in all the centuries that had past\", and further: \"Now, mostly owing to the work of the Belgians, the buttery pears predominate\". Populer (1979) made a review on the Belgian pears and apples that he had collected in Belgium.In fact, Belgium may be considered as an important secondary centre of diversification for the cultivated pears and an astounding number of varieties bred in other countries have Belgian pears among their ancestors.A rapid survey of Belgian pear collections shows there is presently a lack of information on duplications and identification problems in most collections. Many of the identification errors in old collections come from inaccurate synonyms, mis-spelling, mis-labelling or from the interstock having overgrown the variety. Most curators have no time for evaluation or characterization. The data presented in Table 1 are therefore a first approximation which should be revised in the future.The collecting work of unique material, mostly landraces, is not yet finished at the Station de Phytopathologie but proceeds at a slower pace, as an increasing amount of time is devoted to the management and evaluation of the collections and to development activities in the commercial nursery and fruit-growing area, in connection with the old fruit varieties re-injected in the trade by the Station. Furthermore, BRG (Bureau des Ressources Génétiques), a governmental institution, aims to incite various partners to manage genetic resources more efficiently, and to develop, in collaboration with the different partners involved, a national agreement for the genetic resources of all species collected in France. No specific funds have been allocated to achieve this task. BRG asked M.-F. Tarbouriech to manage the apple and pear network.For apple and pear, the principal short-term objectives are:• to create and manage a national database • to develop a policy for material exchange • to achieve a more efficient management, i.e. detect accessions planted in too many sites, duplicate unique accessions. Two different databases have already been developed: • one database contains INRA's accessions (Informix Unix) • the other, for AFCEV's data, has been developed by the 'Conservatoire National de Gap Charance' (Hyperfile software).Descriptors entered in the database are essentially the accession name, the accession code and the code of the donor institute. AFCEV and INRA proposed a list of 90 characterization descriptors including flowering time, picking time, fruit characterization (attractiveness, taste), tree habit, vigour, resistance/susceptibility to major pests and diseases. The structure of the Malus and Pyrus Database is shown in Figure 1. It illustrates the relations between the different objects: one object \"genotype\" includes passport data and descriptors common to apple and pear; one object for apple-specific characterization descriptors; and one for pear-specific descriptors.AFCEV, INRA and all partners involved in conservation of Malus and Pyrus are working together to manage genetic resources more efficiently. The first step of this work is currently being implemented: a national database is being designed. It will lead to an official list of accessions planted in France. The next step will be the characterization of all this material with the minimum list of descriptors mentioned above, and its management. The final step will be the selection of 100 to 200 accessions representing the genetic variability of Malus and Pyrus germplasm in France to create a core collection. But all partners, whether working in governmental or non-governmental organizations, or amateurs, encounter the same major problem: finding funds.Reference Laurens, F. 1996 The further evaluation of wild species of Malus and Pyrus will include:• morphology and phenology for clarification of last taxonomic problems,• time and density of flowering (yearly)• fruit set • presence and percentage of apomixis • finding of different sources of scab and mildew resistance donors by evaluation of the natural infection without fungicide spraying • finding of fire blight resistance sources by artificial inoculation tests • support of the scab resistance selection in apple breeding by collecting and analysis of the races spectrum of the scab fungi population in the field of the Malus species collection.For the cultivars the following will be evaluated:• phenology • morphology • time and density of flowering (yearly)• fruit set and yield (yearly)• fruit quality and storability • scab and mildew infection (yearly) -this year without fungicide spraying, normally under a very low fungicide spraying programme to find donors for polygenic resistance • other damages, this year winter frost injury and spring frost damages.A special programme will be carried out for the evaluation of populations of Malus sieversii (Lodeb.) M. Roemer from Kazakstan, in cooperation with the Cornell University of Geneva, NY, USA. For the evaluation we use the special form which was presented at the ECP/GR workshop on European Malus germplasm held at Wye College, UK, in June 1995.All passport data and the evaluation data for morphological, phenological and agronomical characteristics will be computerized within the framework of the German EVA project.6 This constitutes a good source for a further project for an international Malus database. At present we are preparing an accession list of all fruit cultivars of different institutions and NGOs of Germany. This list contains so far 10 131 accessions of 4373 fruit cultivars, including 5526 accessions of 1861 apple cultivars and 687 accessions of 338 pear cultivars. We plan to make this list available on the Internet.Progress report on the Hungarian genebank for apple and pear species Types of material Material maintained in the genebank is listed in Table 2. Data acquisition Data recording for each item found in the genebank is started in the first year of fruit production (see below for list of characters recorded). Knowledge of the date of flowering, ripening, characteristics of the fruit and growth characteristics of the tree allows identification of varieties and duplications. The identification of accessions is difficult because of shortage of funds and staff. We think that it is necessary to preserve accessions in two sites. We have already taken steps to implement this in the case of pear. Most of the pear varieties can also be found in the west of Hungary, at Keszthely. There are multiple copies of several accessions in the collection. This is because the information which accompanied the scion wood for each was inconsistent and it was decided to retain each in order to establish if they were distinct cultivars.The accessions now planted in the orchard are divided into dessert and culinary cultivars. Non-Irish cultivars are also planted at the same location but are grouped together away from the Irish cultivars.This report will try to give an update with respect to the article presented in 1995 at the European Malus germplasm workshop (Grassie et al. 1996), and an inventory of the Pyrus germplasm present in ex situ collections in Italy. In addition, the subsequent work on the evaluation, utilization and valorization of old fashioned Italian cultivars will be discussed.At present, Italy does not have a formal national conservation strategy for fruit tree germplasm, even though the Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura (ISF), belonging to the Ministero per le Politiche Agricole, since 1993 has begun an informal coordination activity on deciduous fruit tree germplasm including Malus and Pyrus. The ISF carried out in 1993 an inventory of all the fruit tree germplasm present in Italy. The document was published by the Institute and is still available upon request. The accessions included not only Italian cultivars, but also foreign ones. In this report, it was considered appropriate to discuss mainly the material reported to be of Italian genetic origin. Furthermore, traits of particular interest, like quality, disease and pest resistance have been reported for some of the most interesting obsolete and old cultivars.Italy's apple production, like that of the rest of the world, is based on two cultivars, Delicious and its sports and Golden Delicious with recent expansion based on their seedlings Gala, Mutsu, Jonagold from Golden Delicious and Empire and Fuji from Delicious (Hokanson et al. 1997).Nonetheless, certain territories still base their production on old local cultivars. Two examples of this tendency are the ancient apple cultivars Annurca and Decio. The first was cited by Plinio, in the Imperial Rome, with the Latin name Orbiculata and locally called Orcola. It is still commonly grown in the Campania region (south Italy), and it is particularly appreciated for its peculiar flavour and crispy flesh. The second was grown in Roman times and was probably singled out in the gardens belonging to the Decio noble family, in the Latium region.Considering the pear industry, the number of cultivars grown commercially is very limited and breeding programmes throughout the world have not changed substantially the pear cultivar scenario, which is still based upon few and very old cultivars. An example of an old pear cultivar still very appreciated is Spina Carpi, described by the pomologist Gallesio (1800), which corresponds to the ancient pear Picena dei Romani (Morico et al. 1997). This cultivar is used in breeding programme projects for its resistance to Psylla pyri and for its good quality.Regarding apple, both the total production (2 017 000 t in 1996) and the cultivated area slightly decreased in recent years (Table 1). An important aspect of the new orchards is that some of the cultivars used are resistant to apple scab. Up to now, the most-used cultivar resistant to Venturia inaequalis (Cke.) Wint. is Florina, bred in France, but Golden Lasa introduced by the ISF, Section of Trento, will be one of the most-planted cultivars in Trento district to replace Golden Delicious.The percentage of the apple production of the main cultivars is reported in Figure 1. It is interesting to see how the old cultivar Annurca still represents 4.5% of the total Italian apple production.The pear industry seems to be more stable than the apple one and the total production in 1996 has been 999 000 t (Table 1). The varieties grown are mainly of foreign origin, the few Italian cultivars significantly grown commercially are Coscia, Spadona Estiva and Santa Maria (Fig. 2).  The first National Congress on fruit tree germplasm, held in Alghero (Sardegna) in 1992 at the conclusion of a 10-year-old project funded by the National Research Council (CNR), aimed at recovering, collecting, inventorying and conserving the main fruit tree species.From then on, the activity on the conservation and valorization of the indigenous apple and pear cultivars, performed by the various research institutions, has steadily increased.The results of such activity can be easily seen throughout the country by consulting the nursery catalogues and the promotional commercial activities linked with obsolete apple and pear germplasm, adapted to specific pedoclimatic regions.All of the Research Institutions that took part in the project, collected, evaluated and described the local regional material. Particular attention was paid to the selection of this material for horticultural traits such as quality, spur and compact habit, wildness, pest and disease resistance and fruit shelf life (Table 2). The aim of this exercise was to identify cultivars that could satisfy several main categories of utilization:1. Single out particular positive horticultural traits that can be useful in breeding programmes. 2. Study the possibility of using successfully modern orchard management techniques on obsolete cultivars, to overcome the inconveniences manifested by these cultivars, such as late bearing, small fruit size, alternate bearing, short shelf life, etc. 3. Cultivars that can satisfy consumers' requests for home garden production and for ornamental purposes (weeping, compact and dwarf habit, flowering trees, green edges, etc.). An example of this is the double-purpose pear cultivar Scipiona, of the Emilia-Romagna hills, used both as a garden hedgerow and for its production. 4. Cultivars suitable for integrated pest or biological control management, thus reducing both the environmental impact and the production costs, objectives that cannot be easily achieved by growing modern and homogeneous bred cultivars. In fact, the wildness (less susceptibility to biotic and abiotic stresses) that belongs to most of these cultivars has been the main reason for their diffusion in ancient times.(28.5%), 602 of which are considered at risk of extinction. The numbers reported do not take into account the duplicate accessions present, so it is reasonable to consider the number of distinct accessions to be certainly smaller. In fact in the census made in 1993 the total number of distinct apple and pear accessions accounted respectively to 1438 and 718 (Morico et al. 1993).The data collected on pear germplasm show that nearly 50% of the total accessions are of Italian origin. The total pear accessions are 887 (Table 3). The production is based on very few old cultivars introduced between 1700 and 1800. This phenomenon has largely contributed to the loss of unique local cultivars. A survey carried out in Italy reported that 285 pear cultivars (most of which of local origin) have already disappeared, and with them many precious characters (Bellini and Scaramuzzi 1976).Because of the extremely slow evolution of the varietal assortment and the market need to have uniform products, production has concentrated on a few old common cultivars, thus causing a progressive and uncontrolled loss of Italian pear germplasm.The main cause of apple genetic erosion, on the other hand, is the everincreasing varietal turnover and to the market need to have a standardized and uniform product.Collecting, characterization, evaluation and utilization of old local cultivars, adapted to difficult and different environments characterizing the Italian peninsula, can potentially provide a rich and useful genetic variability, especially for resistance and quality traits. Furthermore, this genetic variability also allows us to diversify the production to meet the consumers' increasing demand for a healthier and better-quality product. In accordance with the worldwide accepted concept of a more 'friendly agriculture', Italian ancient cultivars can contribute to a more ecological way of production.Quadretti, R., M. Ventura, C. Buscaroli and S. Sansavini. 1996 Observations and measurements were made on the following characters: phenology; morphology of woodcuttings, buds, flowers and fruits; tree habitus; yield; winterhardiness; scab resistance; canker resistance (230 cultivars investigated); apple blotch resistance (30 cultivars investigated).The Malus collection contains almost 600 accessions (Table 1). More than 70% of them are of foreign origin, others are old local cultivars or were created at the Institute (cultivars and hybrids). There are 38 cultivars resistant to apple scab (genes Vf, Vm) and 49 accessions with columnar habitus in the apple collection. During the 1950s and 1960s the main purpose of the introduction and cultivar evaluation was finding cultivars for commercial cultivation. The main purpose of the apple breeding programme was to create winterhardy, precocious apple cultivars, with excellent fruit quality and high storage potential. Donors of apple scab resistance have been used in breeding since the 1970s. Besides the abovementioned traits the new apple cultivars are distinguished by dwarfness or semidwarfness and a compact crown. The donors of these traits started to be introduced and used in the apple breeding programme.National programme activities related to Malus/Pyrus have been carried out since 1980 with a short break at the beginning of last decade, when existing collections were not well financed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Besides apple and pear collections, held in good conditions at the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, there is a Malus collection (in situ) in the Botanical Garden in Powsin near Warsaw. The collection is sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture. It contains about 250 accessions, which are evaluated systematically according to UPOV descriptors. The main task of the collection is to maintain the primitive autochthonous cultivars of Polish origin.Other collections (ex situ) existing in Agricultural Academies in Poland have not been financed and they are not developing now. Collections (in situ) within the ecological community have also been registered and their number increases constantly, mostly in the northern part of Poland, depending on the financial support.We record the blossoming and ripening date every year. Crop productivity of trees and quality of fruit are also measured. In addition, the growth of trees, shape of canopy and occasionally the resistance to main pests and diseases is evaluated. Some accessions are used in the special breeding programme conducted at the Research Institute of Pomology at Skierniewice.Data management includes the European Malus/Pyrus Database. In the apple collection, 40% of passport data have already been completed and 80% of accessions have photograph documentation of the fruit. Malus and Pyrus sp. evaluation has systematically been completed.Coordinator, Fruit Research Institute, Piteêti -M²r²cineni, Romania Romania, by its geographical location in Europe and thanks to its temperatecontinental climate which is favourable to the cultivation of many fruit species, owns a rich genetic fund created both by natural selection and by the introduction of foreign cultivars. The first concern for identification, description and classification of local and foreign genetic resources goes back to 1877 when 1075 cultivars were described and collected in a farm near Cenad (Arad district) by Maté Bereczki.Presently, fruit germplasm conserved in situ or ex situ comprises nearly 6000 accessions as follows: The National Collections for each genus and species can be found in one or two 2 outstanding locations which have favourable climatic conditions for growing and highlighting the specific traits of cultivars (Fig. 1). The total area of ex situ collections is 65 ha but this will be reduced because of low financial support. The same is true for the plant material in the botanical gardens or that identified in situ.At the national level, there is a Committee for Plant Genetic Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, which together with the Gene Bank Suceava coordinates the activity for preservation and evaluation of fruit germplasm in Romania. Fruit genetic resources are managed by 15 research stations and they are included in the national research project which at present is poorly financed.The organization on a scientific basis of the national collections was initiated in 1970 and has continued ever since, involving the genetic resources in the breeding programmes.Simultaneously, the cultivars were evaluated using UPOV European descriptors so that after 1990, more than half of accessions were computerized in a database. The utilization of some cultivars present in the collections as parents gave more than 200 new valuable cultivars and rootstocks, grown commercially. To highlight the activity in this field, international symposia on plant genetic resources were organized at Suceava in 1993 and 1996.The favourable ecological and climatic conditions linked to the quick introduction in the Cantabrian coast of Malus domestica Borkh. and its hybridization with Malus sylvestris Miller on one hand, and the mode of multiplication of apple (sexual and vegetative) on the other hand, have led to the appearance of a large number of varieties that are suitable for cider and other apple by-products. The major part of these varieties have a local distribution, although some of them, which are interesting as dessert apples, are more widely spread.The National Apple Germplasm Bank (CIATA Asturias) and the Regional Apple Germplasm Repository (Galician, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, Navarra y Zaragoza) are located in the north of Spain. Among the regions of the Cantabrian coast, Asturias has the higher diversity of genetic resources of apple, and it can be considered as a secondary centre of genetic variation. These genetic resources are of great interest for breeding, particularly now that the race 6 of Venturia inaequalis (Cke.) Wint. has overcome the resistance of the Vf system (which has been used during the last 45 years in breeding programmes). This fact strengthens the interest to associate a polygenic resistance character (which is already present in 39.5% of the Asturian apple varieties studied) with major genes, such as Vf or Va genes.The CIATA of Villaviciosa has carried out exploration and collection of local cultivars of the Cantabrian coast, mainly the Asturian ones. Since 1986, intensive work on characterization and evaluation, focused on the selection of apples of interest, has been developed. The main objectives considered were:• resistance to diseases and pests • production: precocious, high and regular bearing • organoleptic and technological quality. Since 1989, the CIATA has been developing a genetic improvement programme of cider apple varieties, through the crossing of Asturian cider apple varieties of agronomic and technological interest with some varieties or hybrids possessing important characteristics such as Vf scab resistance character, high fire blight resistance, relatively late ripening, and one fruit per inflorescence (kindly provided by INRA Angers, France) (Table 1). The main breeding aims are:• resistance to scab + tolerance to mildew, canker, fire blight and rosy apple aphid + technological characters • regular bearing (good tree habit) + resistance to scab + technological characters • resistance to scab + tolerance to fire blight and rosy apple aphid + fruit quality (eating apple).In addition, for the improvement of scab polygenic resistance and technological characters a programme of crosses betwen Asturian cider apple varieties is being carried out (Table 2). Mangas, J.J., E. Dapena, M.S. Rodríguez, J. Moreno, M.D.Gutiérrez and D. Blanco. 1992  The rather decentralized approach of variety conservation requires good data management. Fructus and Pro Specie Rara are working with coordinated databases on Filemaker including all information on collecting sites and in situ collection (see below, part B).The information system allows detection of accessions which are threatened with extinction. A so-called 'red list' is being established with the following categories:• accession on less than 5 sites → threatened accession → red list • accession on 6 to 30 sites → rare accession • accession on more than 30 sites → safe accession.Pro Specie Rara Rétropomme Obstgartenaktion Schaffhausen Obstbauverein Mittelbünden Sortensammlung Hofen etc.Actually two red lists of the apple and pear varieties exist: one for original Swiss accessions and one for all known accessions. The Swiss accessions on the red list are now being multiplied with highest priority and subsequently distributed to collections or collaborating farmers.Based on several national and regional fruit exhibitions, it was possible to photograph and describe a considerable number of apple and pear accessions, mainly through the activity of Fructus. At the moment pomological description of about 500 apple and 300 pear accessions is completed and most of these descriptions are already included in the database.Fructus and Pro Specie Rara are jointly preparing a CD-ROM with pictures and pomological descriptions of about 500 apple and 300 pear accessions. It should be ready for the next common fruit variety exhibition which will take place in October 1998 in Burgdorf near Bern.Until now the Swiss government was almost not involved in the conservation of fruit genetic resources in Switzerland. Private activity was predominant. However, following the conferences of Rio and Leipzig, there are initiatives to increase the government's commitments in the conservation of plant genetic resources. A report was recently prepared which gives a good summary of the current situation concerning plant genetic resources in Switzerland, targeting gaps and proposing solutions to fill these gaps. It is obvious that in the area of fruit genetic resources there are still considerable gaps to fill, mainly in respect to stone fruit. We hope that decisions will be taken during this year.The Research Stations of Wädenswil and Changins are closely collaborating with Fructus and Pro Specie Rara. These stations are involved in apple and pear breeding programmes respectively. As there are no official government-funded genebanks for fruit species this collaboration is very important. It is hoped that through the progress in the characterization of the fruit genetic resources they can be considered more frequently in the breeding programmes. A broader genetic base is required in many modern fruit breeding programmes and it is obvious that in this context the fruit genetic resources play an important role.1 , Monica Goerre 1 , Peter Enz 2 and Martin Bossard 3 1 Swiss Federal Research Station, Wädenswil 2 Fructus, Botanical Garden, Zürich 3 Pro Specie Rara, Sortenzentrale, KöllikenBoth NGOs are working with Filemaker 2.1 and 3.0 databases. These databases include three main parts:• addresses of collections and single-tree holders (on-farm conservation)• passport and pomological data that also can be used for determining varieties • site information: quality and security of the site, age of the tree, number of trees.This relational database is being established at the Federal Research Station Wädenswil on MS-Access. It will be connected to the Fructus and Pro Specie Rara Databases. This database is essentially developed for testing modern cultivars. However, the pomological descriptions of fruit genetic resources will also be included.• annual evaluation data from field trials.The characters on this level can be defined individually with the help of a mask for different character types. All the defined characters of the variety descriptions are also included.* literature (mainly older varieties or very new ones) * results of our own trialsThe characters in the variety description have been fixed. Apart from biological and genetic information such as parents, resistances, ploidy level, virus status, they consist of pomological characters, of measured characters such as sugar content, acidity and firmness and characters related to tree performance. For the daily use there are also data about breeders, partners of experimental contracts, date of importation, variety rights and variety protection.The results of our own field trials can be automatically read into the variety description sheet. The possibility of manual correction is provided.Regular meetings with the partner institutions are envisaged for discussion and adjustment of data.Most of the characters are evaluated as ratings. Two rating scales can be used: either 1-9 or 0-100. The results can be shown on either scale. Some characters are evaluated by a choice of descriptive adjectives. Others consist of measured values.It is possible to search for any defined character of the variety description.Presentation forms are not yet finalized. A star diagram and a time diagram for a choice of key characters of one or several varieties together are already available.The database is designed for use in four languages. The translations, however, have not yet been made.Import facilities for data being gathered on other programmes:• Addresses are already dealt with on a Filemaker database.• One partner (Fructus) was already using Filemaker for variety description of old varieties. So it was a condition to provide regular importation of these data. • For field data we use a programme called Widas (compatible with Excel).• Calibration data are also entered from Widas via Excel.In the future, networking with other institutions worldwide and data exchange are envisaged.Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade, F.R. YugoslaviaInvestigations were performed on apple and pear varieties and their wild relatives. During the period 1976-79, T. Van der Zwet of the United States carried out the project Studies of Autochthonous Varieties of Pear in the Territory of the Balkan Peninsula. With the help of researchers from Yugoslavia (Stankoviº, Ristevski, Paunoviº, Jovanceviº), Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, he inventoried 279 varieties, including 225 varieties from the territory of former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia). These varieties can be found in collections in the United States today. Bell and Stuart (1990) subsequently carried out further investigations of the mentioned varieties and concluded that the following autochthonous varieties of pear from the territories of Serbia and Montenegro were highly resistant to Psylla piricola Först.: Jeribasma, Karamanka, Smokvarka, Mednik, Obi¹an vodenjak and Zelenika. During this research, they established that Smokvarka was in fact a hybrid of Pyrus communis L. and Pyrus elaeagnifolia Pall.During the period 1985-88, the Belgrade Faculty of Agriculture, led by Evica Mratiniº independently began the project Inventory of Autochthonous Varieties of Apple and Pear in the area of Mt. Kopaonik. Research was carried out with financial assistance from agricultural organizations of this area. On that occasion, researchers recorded, marked and described 90 varieties of apple and 53 varieties of pear in in situ conditions.In 1987, the S.F.R. Yugoslav government financed a study of the possibilities for setting up a bank of Yugoslav plant genes, as a federal institution. Within this study, in the period 1989-91, the S.F.R. Yugoslav government financed the project 'The Setting up of a Bank of Plant Genes of Yugoslavia' and within this 'The Setting up of a Bank of Fruit Tree Genes of Yugoslavia'. This project was implemented with the participation of 18 institutions (institutes, faculties) from all over former Yugoslavia, and 137 scientific researchers. Investigations were carried out on 13 varieties of fruit trees.To study and isolate genotypes of fruit trees in situ, the corrected or supplemented descriptor list of the IBPGR was used for apple, pear, plum, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, almond and olive, and a new descriptor list established according to the IPGRI (IBPGR) method for myrobolan, vineyard peach, walnut, hazelnut and raspberry. On that occasion, 145 varieties of apple and 134 varieties of pear were studied.This project was to continue in the next period as well, when the already registered genotypes would be moved from in situ to ex situ conditions, and registering and studies of new genotypes would also continue. Moreover, the work undertaken on the establishment of a federal Yugoslav bank of plant genes (buildings and collection gardens) would be completed. Unfortunately, the project was interrupted by the events which took place in the territory of former Yugoslavia in 1992 and the following years.The following institutions (faculties and research institutes) contribute to the preservation of Malus and Pyrus germplasm today:1. The Belgrade Faculty of Agriculture During 3 years of work on a joint project 'Setting up a Bank of Yugoslav Plant Genes' and 'Setting up a Bank of Fruit Genes', financed by the Yugoslav federal government, the above institutions registered and described 89 autochthonous varieties of apple and 83 autochthonous varieties of pear in in situ conditions. About 90% of the registered Malus and Pyrus gene fund which is found in situ has been transferred to the ex situ state (active collections) over the past 5 years (without financial assistance of the government) by the researchers participating in the project. This number of genotypes, financed under the project, was determined on the basis of funds made available by the government at that time. It is just a small part of the exceptionally large number of autochthonous varieties of Malus and Pyrus in Yugoslavia.Autochthonous varieties of Malus and Pyrus are found in Yugoslavia mostly in hilly-mountainous regions, on individual farms, where fruit growing is extensive. There is a great possibility that certain genotypes will disappear owing to the abandonment of agricultural practices and to ageing of orchards. Bearing this in mind, many researchers continued to work on registering and collecting autochthonous varieties of Malus and Pyrus, either individually or within the activities of the institutions where they were employed. These activities were conducted with the objective of preserving the existing gene fund without any financial assistance from the government. These individual investigations were carried out primarily thanks to the great enthusiasm and personal commitment of the researchers, as well as financial assistance from agricultural organizations in the field.Table 1 presents autochthonous varieties of apple and pear whose study was financed by the government, as well as the total number of autochthonous varieties studied and collected in situ and ex situ in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Studies of introduced apple and pear varieties are carried out within a project financed by the Yugoslav federal government and the republican governments of Serbia and Montenegro. The preservation of these varieties in ex situ collections is not sufficiently financed by these governments. In addition to the collecting of autochthonous and introduced varieties of apple and pear in Yugoslavia by the Faculty of Agriculture of Belgrade, work has also begun on the rich populations of wild species of apple and pear. Malus species found in this area in natural populations have been determined, as well as their distribution. They are: Malus sylvestris Miller, M. dasyphylla Borkh. and M. florentina (Zuccagni) C. Schneider. Malus florentina is especially interesting as a species endemic to the Balkans. It is found in Yugoslavia (southern Serbia), Macedonia, Greece, Albania, and southern Italy.The following species of Pyrus are found in natural populations in Yugoslavia: Pyrus communis L., P. amygdaliformis Vill, P. nivalis Jacq., and P. elaeagnifolia Pall.Work continues on selection, in situ investigations, and collecting of the economically most interesting genotypes. This research is also being carried out without any financial assistance from the Yugoslav government.Genotypes in active collections are evaluated according to the most important phenotypic and pomological characteristics in order to determine their importance for horticulture and breeding.Each genotype (accession) in the collection is represented by five trees and its characteristics are evaluated according to the IPGRI descriptors list. The following characters are evaluated in apple genotypes: trunk thickness, time of blossoming, time of maturation of fruit, productivity, fruit size, basic and additional colour of epidermis, firmness of fruit, fruit quality, resistance to the pathogens Podosphaera leucotricha (Ell. & Ev.) E. Salmon and Venturia inaequalis (Cke.) Wint., and ecological factors (frost and drought).The following are evaluated in pear genotypes: trunk thickness, time of blossoming, parthenocarpia, time of fruit ripening, productivity, fruit size, epidermis colour, fruit quality, resistance to the pathogens Psylla pyri L., Venturia pirina Aderh., Psylla piricola, and Erwinia amylovora (Burril) Winslow et al., and to ecological factors (frost and drought).All these apple and pear genotypes are interesting for different purposes:• to create new varieties • for commercial cultivation • for cultivation in gardens • for ornamental use or for revegetation of bare mountainous areas • as rootstocks • for fresh consumption • for processing.Reference Bell, R.L. and L.C. Stuart. 1990. Resistance in Eastern European Pyrus germplasm to pear Psylla nymphal feeding. HortScience 25(7):789-791.In 1975 a research project on fruit trees genetic resources and disease resistance began. A collection of old fruit tree cultivars has been set up progressively and has now reached 2550 accessions of which 1250 are apples. The material is continuously evaluated for disease resistance and agronomic characters in experimental orchards (Lateur and Populer 1996).The first few crosses were made in 1988 with the initial aim of studying the pollen intercompatibility (Lateur 1996). Since 1990 started a breeding programme has focused on apple scab polygenic resistance, using the better-performing old cultivars screened out of our collection. Thanks to new funding, the programme has been operational since the beginning of 1996 (Lateur and Wagemans 1996;Lateur et al. 1997). It is the second way of valorization of our genetic resources, after the direct re-introduction of some old fruit cultivars through commercial nurseries (Lateur and Populer 1996).1. Selecting from the evaluation of our genetic resources :• new sources of polygenic scab resistance, mildew resistance and Nectria canker resistance • sources of fruit quality (taste, firmness, conservation, etc.) and hardiness 2. Selecting the parents with the best combinations of good diseases resistance and good agronomic characters. 3. Developing specific methods for testing the polygenic scab resistance of young seedlings by: • standardizing all parameters: soils, inoculum, quantitative inoculation, temperature, RH, etc. • developing a quantitative assessment key • controlling the consistency between the greenhouse scab test and the plant resistance in the field. 4. Selecting the best parents which transmit their good characters to a sufficiently large proportion of their offsprings.The general crossing scheme is given below. During the last 5 years, around 80 old apple cultivars have been used as parents in different combinations to test their ability to transmit their polygenic resistance characters for scab and for mildew. Table 1 shows the average cycle of selection based on preliminary results. Through the preservation, evaluation and utilization of the existing genetic diversity, fruit breeders have promising chances to develop new cultivars adapted to the future conditions of fruit growing.1 , Christa Fischer 2 and Rolf Büttner 1 1 Genbank Obst Dresden-Pillnitz des IPK-Gatersleben, Dresden, Germany 2 Institut für Obstzüchtung Dresden-Pillnitz der BAZ Quedlinburg, Dresden, GermanyFruit breeding is heavily dependent on the constant use of old and new varieties as well as on the use of different wild species. This is especially important for the introduction of disease and pest resistance, as well as of stress tolerance. Besides the collecting and conservation of fruit collections, their evaluation for later use in breeding work is of great importance. Therefore we give priority to the collecting and conservation of varieties and species which show significant properties and express them under different ecological conditions.For each kind of cultivated plant, related wild species are an important genetic source. These sources contain genetic information -in this case especially resistance traits -that can be transferred to the cultivated form. The genetic pool of wild species collections reveals what is actually possible with regard to resistance. This means that a certain completeness of a collection of wild species should be aimed at. An analysis of the resistance features supplies information for evaluation of the manifold plant forms. This means that high demands have to be placed on the quality of these analyses if they are to correctly convey the genetic resistance background. Without going into further details, we would like to point out the difficulties encountered in analyzing resistance features that are dependent on environmental conditions.Resistance to scab, mildew and fire blight plays a major role in the breeding of apples today. Table 1 shows the scab and mildew resistance of our Malus wild species collection.For breeding purposes it is a distinct advantage that, with the exception of apomictic polyploids, wild species of apples can be crossed with cultivated apples without limitations. This means that to determine the genetic background, resistance carriers can be combined with cultivated varieties at all stages. In crosscombination programmes at Pillnitz the following species and cultivars were used:•  Following initial information about a possible breakdown of the monogenic M. floribunda scab resistance, it became necessary to consider further sources of resistance. Since 1994, 18 highly scab-resistant Malus species have been crossed with cultivated apples and subjected to an early selection in a prebreeding programme with the Institut for Fruit Breeding Dresden-Pillnitz. Likewise, it was attempted to transfer the good mildew resistance of Malus sylvestris Miller to cultivars. The results will be evaluated in the coming years.A valuable aid in identifying sources of resistance has been the marking of the resistance genes by PCR techniques. To ascertain the resistance to fire blight, numerous Malus species were screened in cooperation with the Phytopathological Institute in Aschersleben, Germany. The results revealed that the northwestern American species Malus fusca possesses complete resistance.The evaluation of the apple cultivars of the Fruit Genebank is also a decisive help in discovering new sources of resistance within this collection. The discovery of carriers of polygenic resistance that are decisive for the stability of resistance in the field is of prime importance. By crossing these varieties a limitation of the genetic diversity in apple populations can be avoided. In the last few years it had been feared that this could occur because only a few high-quality apple cultivars had been used in breeding programmes. An analysis of more than 700 cultivars over a 4-year period revealed that only a few varieties remain that have not been infected by scab and mildew. The varieties not affected by these pests were Alkmene, Hibernal, Kardinal Bea, Remo, Rote Sternrenette, Roter Eiserapfel, Peasgoods Nonsuch and Schlesischer Lehmapfel. The cultivars Boskoop, Rewena and Discovery showed only slight damages due to mildew in one year. These varieties will be more heavily involved in future resistance breeding programmes, especially since their fruit quality is considered to be quite unproblematical.In recent years there have been numerous indications of the breakdown of the monogenic scab resistance of Malus floribunda and its progenies. For 3 years now, usually unaffected M. floribunda origins in our assortment of wild species have also been diseased by scab. The spectrum of races has been investigated and it was discovered that in Pillnitz the scab race no. 3 has apparently been responsible for the contamination of otherwise resistant forms. As a result of this research and in order to permit a considerably tougher selection process, all seedlings from the scab resistance programme of the Breeding Institute will also be infected with this aggressive racial spectrum stemming from the Fruit Genebank since 1996.The rate of susceptibility in the populations is higher than by using the natural scab inoculum as before.In the first step of the resistance breeding work in Pillnitz, the selected cultivars possess only one resistance source. It is important to note that the first varieties of the Re-series include cultivars with different bases of scab resistance:Remo, Retina, Rewena, Rene, Reanda, Relinda, Releika, Resi, Rebella, Regine, Renora Vr Realka, Releta, Remura, Regia, Reka Va Reglindis.In the following steps the first high-quality clones with two scab resistance sources are in the last field testing:Va + Vf 17 breeding clones Va + Vr 3 breeding clones Vr + Vf 6 breeding clones Vf + Vf 4 breeding clones.Some scab-resistant cultivars, especially with the Vf gene, proved to be mildew resistant. These are Remo, Rewena, Reanda, Rebella and Resi. Other named cultivars are only weakly susceptible to different degrees. We found this in the Vrcultivars, a few of which were susceptible to mildew. The same problems with mildew in the field were found in Jonafree, Freedom, Liberty, Florina and Priscilla.Commercial trials carried out over 12 years without fungicidal sprays have demonstrated that the Pillnitz resistant cultivars (Vf, Va and Vr) have up to now a durable resistance to scab and sufficient levels of resistance to mildew. Fungicides can be reduced by at least 80% for these cultivars. It was very encouraging to note that diseases caused by other fungi were also absent in these trials.Breeding material with mildew resistance obtained from both oligogenic and polygenic sources (M. × robusta Persicifolia, M. × zumi Calocarpa, cultivars) are being tested in the field.Fire blight resistance is very important because there are no efficient bactericides registered for use in orchards. Donors of alleles for resistance have been found in progenies involving M. × floribunda and some cultivars. Progenies of Clivia, Golden Delicious, Alkmene and Pi-A 44,14 produce a good percentage of seedlings with a high level of resistance. Varieties resistant to fire blight are Remo, Rewena, Rene, Rebella, Reanda and Realka.The cultivars Remo, Rewena, Rebella and Reanda possess triple resistance to scab, mildew and fire blight. Parents with triple resistance transmit a high degree of resistance to their progenies. The best combination, Pi-AS 44,14 × Rewena produced on average one triple-resistant plant for every seven seedlings tested.The resistance levels of different Pillnitz Re-cultivars ® are listed in Table 2.The following investigations were carried out to examine the durability of scab resistance of new cultivars. The tested cultivars were chosen out of a number of resistant cultivars with different genetic background: M. floribunda (Vf), Malus pumila Russian Seedling 12740-7A (Vr), Malus micromalus (Vm) and the cultivar Antonovka (Va). The resistant cultivars were compared with a few non-resistant commercial cultivars. Simultaneously, different Malus species and resistant parents of the resistant cultivars were included in these tests.Shoots of the grafted test plants in a greenhouse were i noculated with scab suspension, at a concentration of 1 x 10 9 cfu. The scab-infected leaf material was taken from different M. floribunda accessions of the Fruit Genebank (named AWS). The control suspension derived from a mixture of scab-infected leaves of nonresistant cultivars in the orchard at different locations without fungicide spraying. Two lines were received from Ahrensburg (KRÜGER), from COOP 8 and 5002 (Vf). These four different scab inocula were able to infest various resistant cultivars to a distinctive extent (Table 3). The non-resistant cultivars were heavily infested.The Re-cultivars from Pillnitz and the cv. Ahra from Ahrensburg showed resistance characters without symptoms and hypersensivity. Liberty, Baujade and Delorina were strongly infested by M. floribunda-AWS-inoculum, and Priam was infested with slight sporulation. With the exception of Karmina the resistant Czech cultivars showed heavy scab infestations by the inoculum from M. floribunda-AWS. Rosana and Vanda were slowly infested also by the control inoculum. The three AWS types of M. floribunda including M. floribunda 821 showed heavy symptoms after inoculation by M. floribunda-AWS (Table 3).The Vr-resistant cultivars based on the resistance of M. pumila R 12740-7A were found with resistance characters in different levels. The resistant cultivars derived from Antonovka ( Va) showed various symptoms of scab infection, Reglindis a slight sporulation with the 5002 inoculum, and Angold a strong sporulation with the M. floribunda-AWS-inoculum.The results of natural infection in the field showed heavy infestations on cv. Golden Delicious and on host for race 3 and also on M. floribunda 821, but the differential host for Va showed only slight sporulation. The genotype Evereste was completely resistant without symptoms. After the test of the differential hosts for the scab races which were involved in the experiment, we conclude that the scab races 1 and 3 predominate in the natural scab population in the region of Dresden-Pillnitz and we consider race 3 as responible for the infestations of the Vf genotypes.These results can be summarized as follows: 1. Strategies to increase resistance stability must be applied in apple breeding programmes. A number of distinct genes for scab resistance should be combined in one cultivar (Vf × Vr, Vf × Va, etc.). The different resistance genes must be identified by molecular markers. 2. Resistant cultivars bred under different ecological conditions are to be tested at the breeding site for their degree of resistance. 3. Evaluation of the resistance has to be carried out with highly virulent scab inocula. 4. Resistant cultivars and clones must be tested against all five or six races of scab, and at different locations. This is a good project for fruit genebanks cooperation and using the evaluation results. Whilst genetic diversity of the genus Malus is wide, commercial apple cultivars have a narrow genetic base (Noiton and Alspach 1996). Of the 10 000 cultivars which are documented (Way et al. 1990), only a few are grown on a large scale. Furthermore, the tendency of breeders has been to derive new cultivars from these few: Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Red Delicious, Cox's Orange Pippin, McIntosh. But the apple breeder needs genetic diversity because the larger the diversity within his breeding population, the more efficient will be the selection.The situation for pear is very different. Most of the commercialized cultivars are quite old and a lot of old cultivars are currently included in the hybridization strategies.Various studies have been developed at INRA Angers on old cultivars of apple and pear. We will not put emphasis on the characterization of all the cultivars planted in INRA's orchards; unfortunatley these data have not yet been computerized. We will just highlight three recent studies which illustrate different research activities performed on genetic resources:Analysis with 16 enzymatic systems (25 polymorphic loci, 109 alleles) was applied on 36 wild species, and 179 cultivars (18 cider and juice cultivars, 18 rootstocks; 68 old French cultivars, 43 old foreign cultivars, 25 recent commercial cultivars; 7 scab-resistant hybrids) (Coutant 1996).Multidimensional analyses show a large polymorphism in the wild species group. Local cultivars show a tendency to pool according to their geographic origin. This fact could confirm the climatic adaptation of the cultivars or highlight the fact that the geneflow is bigger between two different countries than within the same country.Quantitative analyses of variability show that allelic diversity has been affected by selection. However, in the cultivated apple, enzymatic polymorphism is still high: all cultivars can be distinguished (Table 1).This study should be continued by using molecular markers. Testing resistance As mentioned before, disease and pest resistance is a major objective of the apple and pear breeding programmes. Various sources of resistance are checked in order to enlarge the variability of the potential genitors. Old and local cultivars are often tested to find durable resistance. Two examples of such screening will be given. Thibault and Lelezec (1990) tested the resistance to fire blight of 76 apple cultivars and 83 pear cultivars. The experimentation took place between 1981 and 1986 in an orchard at Dax (south of France). Resistance/susceptibility behaviour was assessed after artificial inoculation on shoots and leaves. This study shows a great variability in the resistance of the tested cultivars. The same results could be pointed out for apple and pear: among the old cultivars, very few are resistant: Beurrée Alexandrine Lucas, Beurrée Giffard for pear; most of them are very susceptible: Passe Crassane, Doyennée du Comice, Alexandrine Douillard for pear; James Grieve, Reine des Reinettes for apple. A recent screening  performed in glasshouse conditions after artificial inoculation on old cultivars of pear showed a high amount of susceptible and highly susceptible plants among the old cultivars tested.Large scab resistance screening tests were performed in 1996 and 1997 on 120 old apple cultivars from various French regions. Head curators of conservatoires (=repositories) selected the cultivars which were the most resistant to scab in their orchards and sent budwoods to INRA. Grafted trees were inoculated in glasshouse with different scab strains: race 1, race 6 and other strains collected in Europe.First results showed a wide variability of behaviour among accessions. Some of them, which seemed very resistant in the field, were very susceptible in the glasshouse. Others showed specific resistance with some strains and were highly susceptible to others. A few accessions showed resistance symptoms whatever the tested strains. These latter accessions could be very useful as durable sources of resistance to be incorporated in breeding programmes. This study will be completed next year.At INRA Angers, some of the cultivars released from the dessert apple breeding programme derived from old or local cultivars. They have been used for various characteristics: good fruit taste, resistance, etc .Chantecler was released in 1977 (Lelezec 1990). It was obtained by crossing Golden Delicious and Reinette Clochard, a local French cultivar which transmitted a very good taste.Baujade, released in 1991, is scab resistant. It has in its pedigree Reinette du Mans, an old French variety which gives flavour to Baujade (Lespinasse et al. 1992).A recent hybridization programme has been developed in collaboration with the Conservatoire Nord Pas de Calais in the north of France. Cultivars selected by this conservatoire have been crossed together and with seven hybrids coming from INRA's breeding programmes and carrying the Vf gene. We faced problems for the scab screening in glasshouse compared with tests carried out usually in our breeding programmes on the progenies involving only the Vf gene. Therefore new scab-screening processes adapted to this type of material (lower inoculum concentration, adapted assessment scale, etc.) were developed.At INRA Angers, pear breeding programmes involved a lot of old local varieties. A new pear hybrid will be released in 1997. It is originated from a cross between Doyennée d'hiver and Doyennée du Comice. It is a late-maturing variety which could replace Passe Crassanne because of better fruit quality and longer storage ability. Furthermore it is less susceptible to fireblight and has no secondary blossom.These three examples -characterization of the diversity, screening for resistance and hybridization -illustrate part of the research activities involving germplasm which are carried out at INRA Angers.To achieve an efficient selection, the breeder needs the largest variability. A broad germplasm range is very useful to breed all the characters. But the breeder encounters several difficulties in including old cultivars or landraces as parents in the breeding programmes:• usually, this material brings on one hand some very interesting characters but, on the other hand, it could also transmit undesirable traits which are very difficult to eliminate through the selection; i.e. unattractive fruits, biennial bearing, low productivity, short storage ability • generally, no genetic data are available on them; only phenotypical data or subjective observations.It is therefore necessary to collect and conserve a large number of accessions in germplasm orchards but their characterization and evaluation are crucial for an efficient use in breeding programmes. This is what we are trying to achieve with the Malus/Pyrus germplasm network in France, in collaboration with all partners involved in the conservation of these two species. These populations consist of 812 trees in total and were replicated onto M27 rootstock and subsequently distributed to project partners in order to correlate the phenotypic data with the molecular data. It was decided to use the J family as the primary mapping population.The activities and disciplines involved in this project ranged from basic molecular biology through genetics and breeding to all sciences related to characters selected in apple breeding such as plant pathology, entomology, analysis of fruit quality and tree habit. In addition the project was focusing on the economic and social aspects of apple production. A major effort was devoted to the development of the Apple Store database. The aim of this database was to store genetic data, phenotypic data and analytical results and make them available in a user-friendly way to all researchers.There are three main groups worldwide working towards detailed genetic linkage maps for apple: the European Group; Cornell University, USA, and the New Zealand Apple Gene Mapping Programme. All three groups are aiming to accumulate molecular markers to the major genetic components of interest to apple breeders.The European Apple Project has produced interesting results which are reviewed in a large number of scientific and popular publications. Markers for scab and mildew resistance genes, aphid resistance and further characters have been developed and will partly be applied in marker-assisted breeding. A European Apple Genetic Linkage Map was constructed, based on the J population. The project has fostered collaboration among research teams in different European countries and we hope that a new collaborative project coordinated by INRA-Angers and recently submitted at Brussels will be approved.A range of molecular marker technologies is currently available. Until recently there have been limitations in the ability of existing markers (both isozyme and DNA) to be used for practical management and assessment of genetic resources. This has been due to high cost, low reproducibility or low polymorphism. The development of DNA Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs or Microsatellites) offers many advantages for genetic, breeding, pedigree, fingerprinting and genetic diversity studies of plants. They are amenable to accurate and absolute size determination, and possess the requisite level of polymorphism for the information content, provided they are relatively easy and inexpensive to use. In the longer term, the assays are amenable to automation and locus multiplexing, where the SSR primers are fluorescently tagged and analyzed on standard DNA sequencing instruments. However, the costs of development are often prohibitive.At HRI, we have developed and used a range of SSR markers for Malus which are capable of distinguishing between closely related apple varieties. We are continuing to locate these marker loci on the European Apple Linkage Map. There are several advantages to using mapped SSR markers. Choice of marker loci from different linkage groups will maximize genome coverage. Where markers are linked to known agronomic traits or introgressed regions, then these may be targeted to identify conserved chromosomal segments among groups of accessions.• testing hypotheses relating to SYNONYMS and HOMONYMS • Testing seven loci over 10 varieties and selections used in mapping studies revealed between 5 and 11 alleles per locus. • Restricting the range of genotypes tested has reduced the number of alleles observed. • Some markers represent more than one locus, and this is reflected in larger mean number of alleles per (diploid) accession Most SSR markers selected to date for mapping studies represent one locustwo alleles are typically resolved per Malus genotype (homozygotes are relatively rare). Triploids are commonly detected through the presence of three alleles (Table 1).Example C. Survey of a locus from the linkage group containing Sd1 aphid resistance scored over 160 cultivar accessions reveals unequal distribution of 6 alleles See Table 2.• The presence of common alleles in progenitor and half-sibling progeny demonstrates that SSRs may be used to corroborate or exclude pedigree relationships. • All documented pedigree relationships appear to be consistent with the distribution of alleles. • One may infer the presence of alleles in lines which have not been tested.• The presence of common alleles (e.g. allele 2) in modern varieties suggests narrowing of the genepool and allelic redundancy. • Possession of a combination of relatively rare alleles is likely to reflect greater genetic diversity, and may guide resource managers. Prima ----+ -------------+ ---+ ----+ Fiesta --+ ---------------+ ----+ --+ -3762 M. robusta -------+ ------------+ --+ ----SA572/2 -----+ ----------------+ ---+ -Crimson Spy --+ ----------+ --------+ --+ --Double Red Northern Spy --+ ----------+ --------+ --+ ------------+ ----+ ------+ ----+ Starkspur Golden Delicious --+ -+ -----------------+ ----+-------------+ -+ ------+ ----+ Gloster 69--+ ----------+ --------+ ----+ Ashton Bitter -------+ ---+ ----------+ ----+ Bramley Bittersweet --+ --------+ ------+ ----+ --+ + Dabinette -----------+ ---+ ------+ ----+ Ellis Bitter ----+ --+ -------------------+ Michelin -----------+ ---+ ----------+ + Jonathon + -+ -------------------+ ---+ -Wagener --+ ------------+ -------+ -+ --Idared --+ ------------+ -------+ --+ -Cox ---------------+ --+ -------+ + Blenheim Orange ------------+ --+ ------+ ---+ + Ribston Pippin ---------------------+ ----+ Margil ---------------+ --+ ------+ -+ Florina + -+ -----------------------+ -Nova Easigro --+ -----------------------+ + Priscilla ----+ --------+ -----------+ -+ Sir Prize --+ -+ -----------------+ ----+ 9A R2 T128 M. micromalus --+ ------------+ ------+ --+ --9A R2 T196 M. micromalus --+ -----+ -----------------+ + A1706 M. zumi calocarpa -+ ------------+ ----+ -+ ------A1990 M. baccata -----+ ----------------+ ---+ -A1992--+ ----+ -----------+ --+ -----A2041 Russian --+ ------------+ ---+ --+ -----A2048 M. sikkimensis ---------+ ---------+ ----+ -+ -M. floribunda 821 -+ -------------------+ ---+ --M. floribunda emla -+ -------------------+ ---+ --M. floribunda excellens -+ -------------------------M. floribunda fli -+ -------------------+ ---+ --M. hopa ------+ ------------+ -------+ M. hupihensis --+ + ---+ -+ ----------+ + -+ ---+ M. platycarpa -+ --+ ----------+ ---+ --+ -----M. pratti ---+ ----+ ----------------+ + -Antonovka Grammovaya --+ -----+ ------------+ -+ ------------+ ---------+ --+ -+ -----------+ + ----------------+ -+ Niedzwetzkyana Derivative -------+ -------+ ---------+ -+ targeting the gene families in the Rosaceae most likely to be involved in such mutations in order to develop highly specific allele-specific markers. This work will be presented in more detail in a future refereed publication. This work was funded by the UK Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and the CEC (AIR-3 programme). HRI has also developed similar SSR marker systems which are effective for Pyrus, Prunus spp., etc.Enquiries to: Dr Graham King, HRI, Wellesbourne; email: Graham.King@hri.ac.uk 16. Donor institute code (DONORCODE) Code for the donor institute. The codes consist of the 3-letter ISO 3166 country code of the country where the institute is located plus number or an acronym as specified in the Institute database that will be made available by FAO. Preliminary codes (i.e. codes not yet incorporated in the FAO Institute database) start with an asterisk followed by a 3-letter ISO 3166 country code and an acronym.(DONORNUMB) Number assigned to an accession by the donor. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system)(OTHERNUMB) Any other identification number known to exist in other collections for this accession. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system). Multiple numbers can be added and should be separated with a semicolonThe remarks field is used to add notes or to elaborate on descriptors with value \"99\" (=Other). Prefix remarks with the field name they refer to and a colon (e.g. COLLSRC: roadside). Separate remarks referring to different fields are separated by semicolons.The coding scheme proposed can be used at two levels of detail: either by using the global codes (1 or 2) or by using the more detailed coding (e.g. 1.1). The proposed list of minimum descriptors for Malus presented below was compiled using:• List A (see p. 98)• the results of a study carried out on selected common cultivars in UK, France, Belgium and Italy (see p. 24) • International Board for Plant Genetic Resources -Descriptor List for Apple (Malus), 1982 • UPOV Guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctness, uniformity and stability -Apple TG/14/8, 1995The following accession characters were accepted as common descriptors for Prunus at the extraordinary meeting of the ECP/GR Prunus Working Group and the first coordination meeting of the project GEN RES 61 in Rome, October 1996. It may be useful to consider them here in the context of Malus and/or Pyrus. The next few pages contain more detailed tables regarding these suggested flower and fruit characters. ","tokenCount":"19727"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0276123198.json b/data/part_1/0276123198.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..90a450964770ab29c333515ffb3e6eb19c402760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0276123198.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2d689c95eaebe4df5f97069448a0bf60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a002993-1e99-4970-915c-8083e6186742/retrieve","id":"-453276734"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4cdedc6d-8978-466b-87ab-67607e57a6ec","pagecount":"16","content":"We analyze rural households' purchases of food (cereals and non-cereals) in Sub-Saharan Africa using nationally representative data with 65,000 observations covering 7 countries over a decade. We distinguish between three strata of countries: lower stratum in income and urbanization, middle stratum, and upper stratum. The paper breaks ground by the breadth and time length of the sample. We find that purchases form the majority of rural food consumption whether in favorable or unfavorable agroecological zones and over country and income strata and for most food products. Rural nonfarm employment (as a cash source) plays an important role in household food purchases across all study countries and food products. Policy implications include the importance of food purchase markets and supply chains to and in rural areas as well as nonfarm employment.In this paper we present detailed evidence of the importance and determinants of purchases in food consumption of rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This adds to a debate about how, and from what sources, farm households get the food they consume; and adds to a literature, and a fragmented evidence base that has been growing in developing regions for decades. Our contribution is a systematic analysis of this phenomenon over heterogeneous rural areas in widely differing countries, agroclimatic zones, food product types, and over the span of more than a decade (see Table 1).There has been a surge in interest in and importance of the topic of rural food purchases in SSA because of controversies in policy debates during COVID-19, with many taking a position that rural households are insulated from food price hikes because they rely little on purchases from food markets and can just grow their own food and wait out the crisis. This position harks back to a long-standing view of SSA rural households as autarchic, subsistence households. But recent evidence such as Maredia et al. (2022) showed for five SSA countries that COVID-19 effects on incomes and consumption were similar between urban and rural areas, suggesting that rural households depend on purchases from food markets.There has been a parallel surge of interest in rural food purchases in the nutrition debate, such as Sibhatu andQaim (2017, 2018) and Olabisi et al. (2021) showing that diet product diversity is not or only weakly correlated with crop diversity of rural households. This suggests that these households rely on purchases from markets.The above two recent debates dovetail with a long-term debate in the development literature about whether, how much, and where purchases take place (Barrett et al., 2022). Here we briefly review the evolution of the literature on this theme and point to the gaps that we address.A first strand of relevant literature was the farming systems literature in the 1960s and 1970s that emphasized the autarchic or subsistence character of the SSA rural households. It examined farmers' strategies to minimize cereal output variation, store and redistribute cereals, and supplement cereals with fruits and vegetables and animal products through home gardens, livestock holdings, and hunting and gathering (Eicher and Baker, 1982;Toulmin 1986).A second strand of literature emerging in the 1970s and 1980s focused on the exceptions to autarchy when, for example, droughts strained a village or a household's farm production. Households then \"cope\" with the shock by buying grain (this literature focused on foodgrains) either with cash from migrant earnings or sales of livestock or by doing farmwork for households who had grain stores and could pay for the work in-kind in the form of grain (e.g., in Mali, Toulmin, 1986;in the Gambia, Haswell, 1975;in Burkina Faso, Reardon et al., 1988).A third strand of literature emerged in the 1970s and 1980s and intensified in the 1990s/2000s; we call it \"development of structural purchasing.\" Rather than occasional purchases, structural changes in the rural household segment and the rural economy led to persistent purchasing. Three structural cases are noteworthy: a) Broadening of cash cropping induces households to buy food. An example is Kennedy and Cogill (1988) showing sugarcane farmers bought food (and had better nutrition than subsistence farmers). b) Persistent land poverty that causes rural households to be net food buyers. An early example of this is in research on pastoral households in SSA (Little et al., 2014 in the Horn of Africa). In Asia, Mellor (1976) contended that the Green Revolution would drive down rural food prices and help the rural poor because many small Indian farmers and landless are net buyers of food and thus food price increases hurt the rural poor and helped only the net seller minority. Weber et al. (1988), Barrett (2008), and Masters et al. (2013) underscored for Africa Mellor's India point. Part of the early African work literature contended that farmers undertake \"forced sales\" wherein they sold at low prices after the harvest and then ran out of food and had to purchase at high prices in the hungry season. This theme was revived in the 2000s and tested empirically (e.g., for Kenya, Stephens and Barrett, 2011;Renkow et al., 2004). We do not address this theme in the present paper. c) The rise of rural non-farm employment (RNFE) provides cash for food purchases by African households (Toulmin 1986;Reardon et al., 1988Reardon et al., , 1994)). As RNFE has grown quickly in developing countries, including in SSA, to form nearly half of rural incomes, RNFE as a cash source for food purchases has been increasingly recognized in the literature on food purchases (Haggblade et al., 2010). Studies (e.g., Sauer et al. (2021) in Tanzania) have shown that RNFE drives rural purchases of processed foods as women undertaking RNFE seek to save time home-processing and preparing food.The result of the above trends has been the rise of rural households' purchases of food in SSA. Various studies have documented that rise. Most of the studies have focused on individual countries and years; a number of these studies have shown that purchases have attained major shares of rural food consumption (such as Faye et al. (2023) for fruits and vegetables consumption).However, there is a gap in the literature: there is a need for a more comprehensive analysis across years and countries and agroecological zones to reach a systematic and comparative understanding of rural food purchases in Africa. To address that gap, we test for the diffusion and persistence of food purchases associated with variables we hypothesize to affect purchases: (1) macro and meso variables such as the level of development of the country, the agroecological status of the zone (whether it is favorable or unfavorable for crop production) and the rainfall level (good and bad rainfall years); and (2) micro variables such as farm size, RNFE, and other cash sources. These hypotheses have not yet been tested across countries and across years. Our evidence covers seven countries that range from upper to medium to lower developmentlevel country strata based on income and urbanization characteristics; the data span favorable and less-favorable agroclimatic zones; the data cover a wide set of food products; and our evidence documents change over a decade leading up to the present.The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 discusses data and definitions. Section 3 presents descriptive statistics. Section 4 presents the regression model and its results. Section 5 concludes with implications for food security policies and strategies.We analyze nationally representative panel survey data from nearly 65,000 rural households from 7 countries in SSA: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. The data are from the rural household sub-sample of the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), except for Ghana. These surveys were conducted by the country national statistical institutions in collaboration with the World Bank's LSMS team. For Ghana, we use the rural sub-sample of the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS), the only nationally representative panel survey for Ghana. For some of the Ghana analysis we complement the GSPS with data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), an LSMS-type nationally representative repeated cross-sectional household survey that has comparable samples covering a longer period  than the GSPS. The LSMS-ISA surveys have comparable sample designs and questionnaires, albeit with some variations across countries. As much as possible our key variables are constructed from similar, and in most cases identical, questions across the countries.The surveys span various years but are mostly between 2010 and 2020 (Table A1, appendix). They have a two-stage sampling design where enumeration areas or clusters were drawn at the first stage for each stratum. Within each cluster, a listing of households was done to construct a sample frame from which a random sample of households was drawn. Because the samples are not self-weighting, we use sampling weights provided in the datasets to account for the complex survey design. This generates nationally representative statistics from the samples. The sample weight for each household is calculated as the inverse of the probability of being drawn from the frame given the sampling design. Most of the panel surveys ran for three waves and then introduced 'refresh' samples, and in some cases only a small sub-sample of the original panel was maintained. To ensure the integrity of the panel and have sufficient statistical power for our empirical analysis, we utilize the available data in various ways. For each country, we construct the longest possible panel but with sufficient observations to be representative of the rural population. For some countries, we do the analysis using more than one sampleone with a relatively short panel but with higher statistical power, and then another with a longer panel but fewer observations per wave. In some cases, we also utilize the latest cross-section where there is a new baseline to get more information. Table 1 provides a summary of the rural sample used for each country. To understand changes occurring for the same households over time, we use only the balanced samples for the panel data regression analyses, mostly dropping observations that appear in only one wave. Panel attrition rates across the samples range between about 2% for Ethiopia and 9% for Ghana. Note.The purchased shares are all in value terms. a GDP per capita is retrieved from World Bank (2021) and is averaged over the last three most recent years for which data is available (i.e., 2017-2019).A key variable in our analysis is shares of purchases in food consumption, for food overall and for various product categories. This share is food consumed (overall or of product i) that is purchased, divided by the value of total food consumed. The latter is the sum of food consumed from purchases, own-production, and food gifts and payments received in-kind. We calculate that share over food groups including: (1) cereals;(2) roots & tubers; (3) pulses; (4) edible oils; (5) fruits and vegetables; and (6) animal proteins.Over the period of the panels, some food items were added to the list in some countries. However, in all countries except Ethiopia, about 98% of the food items were consistently covered over the period of the panels. For all countries, we use the list of food items for which we have data over the entire period of the panels.We valued all foods consumed that were not purchased at the cluster or community median price if there were sufficient observations at that level. Otherwise, we use the median price at the next level of aggregation such as the ward or local government area, depending on the country.In the regressions, we will show the correlations between the share of purchases in consumption and various income sources. We define the latter here. There are two functional categories of income: (1) cash income, from both earned income (from agricultural sales, selfemployment in rural non-farm income (RNFI) enterprises, and wage and salary employment) and unearned income (most of which is remittances); (2) in-kind income, formed by addition of the imputed value of in-kind income received as gifts and in-kind payments (either selfvalued or imputed using cluster median prices) and the imputed value of own-produced agricultural production less the costs of own agricultural production. There are two sectoral sources of income: (1) farm income (income from crops and livestock); (2) RNFI (all other income, cash or in-kind, earned though the supply of household labor to manufactures or services undertaken in rural areas including in rural towns).While remittances can in theory be in cash or in-kind (such as a sack of grain sent from the city to the rural household) and can be from the farm or non-farm sector, most of the remittances are in cash and from household members undertaking non-farm activity in cities, although some are in other farm areas. We count remittances as unearned income; we lump with them pensions which are a minor source of transfers: on average across all the countries, migrant remittances make up 85% of this source of income (98-100% for Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Niger).We expect purchases of food by rural households to be correlated positively with the GDP per capita of a country and negatively with the share of rural population in total population. In turn, GDP/capita is positively and the rural share of population is negatively correlated with overall economic development and transformation (Timmer, 1988).Table 2 shows the study countries' GDP per capita in current USD purchasing power parity (PPP) terms as an average of the three most recently available years from the World Bank (https://data.worldbank. org/indicator), 2019-2021. The table also shows the share of the rural population in total population in 2021 from the same source.The countries roughly divide into three sets which we will call upper, middle, and lower country strata based on the above indicators. Upper includes Ghana and Nigeria, with an average GDP/capita of 5488 USD and rural population share of 49%; middle includes Tanzania and Uganda, with GDP/capita of 2564 USD and rural share of 69%; lower includes Ethiopia, Malawi, and Niger, with a GDP/capita of 1760 USD Notes: Authors' computations using the datasets described.and a rural share of 81%.For each country, we grouped households into those living in favorable and unfavorable (or less-favorable) production zones based on rainfall distribution. The favorable zones tend to have bimodal rainfall distributions (and thus weak seasonality). The less-favorable zones have unimodal rainfall distributions (and thus sharp seasonality). Just due to the geography of the selected countries, in many countries the favorable zone was southern and the less favorable more Northern.Food constitutes the largest share of rural African households' total consumption, accounting for more than 60% of the household's budget in 6 out of the 7 countries, on average, over the survey periods (Figures A1-A3, appendix). Consistent with Engel's Law, Figure A4 shows that, in general, the poor spend a higher share of their income on food. Also, we observe in all countries a pattern consistent with Bennett's Law which states that as household income rises, the share of the food budget devoted to grains falls (Figure A5, appendix) while fruits and vegetables and animal proteins' shares of the food budget rise (Figures A6 and A7,appendix).The rest of this section focuses on patterns in food purchases of sample households, and cash incomes and other characteristics of households that can help to understand how households fund and why they make food purchases. This is further explored with regressions in Section 4.3.1. Food total and food categories purchase shares in rural areas of the three strata of countriesTable 2 shows sample households' shares of purchases in rural food consumption overall and by food product category. The following points stand out.First, on average over the 7 countries the majority (58%) of all food consumed is purchased; the share is more than 50% in 5 out of the 7 countries. As expected, the shares differ (statistically significantly) over the country strata, increasing with income and decreasing with rurality, with 44% in the lower stratum (Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger), 51% in the middle (Tanzania and Uganda), and 72% in the upper (Ghana and Nigeria). Niger is the exception in the lower stratum, with a share of 70%, probably because its unfavorable farming conditions push rural households to buy food.Second, over the 7 countries, there are substantial shares of purchases in consumption of basic staples (cereals, 51%, pulses, 61%, and roots/tubers, 51%). These findings are at odds with a long tradition in the African debate of the assumption that farmers grow their own staples and rely little on food markets; this point of view was much in evidence in the African policy debate during the years of COVID-19 such as in Nigeria (Liverpool-Tasie et al., 2021). The results are similar over most of the countries, with two sets of exceptions: Ethiopia and Malawi where the shares of purchases in cereals dip to a quarter and a third (with the other countries being above a half), and Uganda and Tanzania where the share of purchases of roots and tubers dip to a third and a quarter. The cereals exceptions can be explained by the high incidence of remote poor grain farms in those countries. The roots and tubers exceptions can be explained by these products being bulky and costly to transport and their being often grown and consumed mainly in remote mountainous areas (such as in Northwest Tanzania).Third, a large majority of non-staple products are purchased, and this is consistent across all country strata: the purchase shares are over 70% for edible oils (79%), fruits and vegetables (74%), and animal products (72%). The purchase shares of edible oils are very high across all 7 countries because it is common for the import share of these oils to be high. More surprising is that the share of purchases in rural consumption of fruits and vegetables is around three quarters in both high and low strata countries; even in the middle stratum, more than half is purchased. This flies in the face of the common image of rural households growing their own vegetables in home gardens for sauce and backyard mangoes for seasonal treats. These findings corroborate country-specific findings such as Faye et al. (2023) who show for rural Senegal that 76% of fruit and vegetable consumption is purchased.. These purchases are supplied by relatively long supply chains from a few commercial horticulture zones to penetrate all around the Senegal, in rural and urban areas.Also surprising is the high share of animal proteins purchased in high and medium strata countries, 87 and 77% respectively. The share is somewhat lower in low strata countries, 52%, but this masks the fact that Malawi and Niger have shares of 80% and 78%, like the upper strata countries, while Ethiopia's purchase share is only one third. This latter low share of purchases may be due to the importance of milk in Ethiopian hinterland rural diets and farmers often having their own milk cows mainly for subsistence (Minten et al., 2020). Table 3 shows shares of purchases in food consumption of rural households by country and over time by product group. The following points stand out.First, for overall food, for the upper stratum countries, there was little change in the purchase share over the decade of the 2010s. For the middle stratum, the share increased by about 10%. For the lower stratum countries by contrast there was a sharp rise: 30% for Ethiopia (from 33 to 43%), and for Malawi, also 30% (44-58%). The findings suggest that the upper stratum is already at stability or \"maturity\" of about three-quarters of food being purchased; in the middle, Tanzania and Uganda are gradually rising toward that share at a modest convergence rate. By contrast, Ethiopian and Malawian rural areas are rushing toward convergence with the middle. This pattern of advanced countries in stasis, middle in gradual climb, and lagging areas in rapid change, mirrors a common pattern of \"convergence\" such as described for the industrial revolution by Gerschenkron (1962). The rate of transformation of food consumption habits in Ethiopia and Malawi is remarkable, showing how malleable food habits are and how change can sweep a countryside only recently thought highly traditional.Second, in the lower stratum countries the jump in the purchase share of cereals consumption in the 2010s was two times faster than for overall foods (in Ethiopia, 20-32%, and Malawi, 28-44%). This shift from \"self-reliance\" for grain consumption contradicts the traditional image because it is often thought that while some households might buy what may be considered as luxuries beyond basic grains, they depend only on their own grains (and tend not to sell their grain) due to what was long held as a missing or constrained rural market for foodgrains for African rural areas (Liverpool-Tasie et al., 2021).The share of purchases in cereals stayed below that in overall food, but even in the poorest countries the data show that is changing quickly: the share of purchases in cereals at the end of the decade is close to the share of purchases in overall food at the start of the 2010s. In the upper and middle strata countries, the shares of purchases in grain consumption rose at about the same rate as in overall food and the shares do not differ much from those for overall food, implying that for all but Ethiopia and Malawi, the shift to purchasing cereals happened before the 2010s -perhaps well before but we do not have the data to explore that.Third, in all countries but Ethiopia the great majority of edible oils were purchased. The Ethiopia case is striking: in just a decade the share of purchases of edible oils leapt from 29 to 57%.Fourth, there is a moderate (7-10%) decline in the purchase share of fruits and vegetables in food consumption in the upper stratum countries, dropping down to three quarters purchased. In the middle stratum, the shares in Tanzania and Malawi rose 7%, while Ethiopia's stayed stable at 90%, higher than other countries.Fifth, the share of purchases in consumption of animal proteins shifted a bit in most countries but stayed high. It dropped 10% (but still to a high 82%) in Nigeria and rose slight in Ghana from 81% to 84%. Tanzania's rose 11%-78% to converge with Uganda's 79% and Malawi's 81%. The outlier was Ethiopia, both much lower overall, and with a decline from 36% to only 30%. This may be because Ethiopian rural households' own production of livestock is nearly double the average across study countries; this reinforces the image of the rural hinterland \"pocket\" being more substantial in Ethiopia than the other countries.Table 5 shows shares of purchases in food consumption of rural households by country and over time by favorable versus less-favorable zone, and per zone, by harvest versus lean season. The following points stand out.First, for the upper and middle strata countries: (1) there is not much seasonality in the purchase share, with the less-favorable zone having just a slightly larger increase in purchase shares between the harvest and lean seasons; (2) controlling for the season, there is not much difference in purchase shares between favorable and less-favorable zones.Second, by contrast, in the lower stratum countries even in the favorable zones the lean season has higher shares of purchases than in the harvest season. In the final survey year, in Ethiopia's favorable zone, the lean season's purchase share is 10% higher than in the harvest season, and in the less-favorable zone, 15%. The pattern is similar in Malawi.Table 2 shows salient characteristics of the households that have probable influences on the shares of food purchases of the households. The patterns are used to form hypotheses that are tested in the regression section. Note that household assets and demographic characteristics are discussed in the Appendix.First, on average across the countries, 53% of total household income comes from own-farming. The share varies sharply and inversely with the country stratum: with a low in Nigeria (38%), highs in Ethiopia (79%) and Niger (78%), and near the average in the other countries. As unearned income is minor (around 5% on average across all countries), most of the non-own-cropping income is RNFI. RNFI averages 43% of rural household income across all countries and is higher (58%) in the upper stratum countries and lower in the other two strata (around 40%). This is similar to findings in Haggblade et al. (2010) from diverse household data in Africa. Ghana is an outlier with an RNFI of only 36% and an own-farm income share of 53%; this is because there is a lot of cash cropping in Ghana. The low own-farm income shares and high RNFI share in Nigeria may be due to a high urbanization rate and many small and medium towns creating linkages to rural areas. While urbanization rates are also high in Ghana, the link to the rural economy is seen more though the higher share of income (11%) from migrant remittances, which when added to RNFI raises the non-own-cropping share to 47%. 1  Moreover, cash income in total income (with the complement being the imputed value of own-farm production that is home consumed, i.e., not sold) is on average 68% of total income across all countries: SSA rural households are highly \"monetized\" in all three country strata.RNFI is the most important component of cash incomeits share in total cash income averages 53% over all countries. Among the upper stratum, RNFI's share is lower in Ghana (44%) than in Nigeria (67%), again because cash cropping is particularly important in Ghana. 2 In the other countries the RNFI share of cash share is 60-70%, except for Ethiopia with only 26%.Figs. 1-3 show shares of cash income in total income by zone type. Overall, in all three strata of countries (with Mali being an outlier) rural household income is mainly composed of cash in both favorable and less-favorable agroecological zones. In all but Ethiopia and Niger the share of cash in total income was relatively close between the two zone types. The following specific points stand out.First, in upper stratum countries, the cash share in favorable zones exceeds that of less-favorable zones by only 11% for Ghana and 6% for Nigeria. The shares were relatively stable over the decade except for the less-favorable zone in Ghana where the share rose from 57 to 78% probably due to road improvement in northern Ghana that helped the zone integrate more into the national cash economy. The modest difference between favorable and less favorable zones can be attributed to pull factors (like agriculturally linked RNFE in the favorable zones) balancing the push factors (like the need to compensate for a poor resource base in the less-favorable zone).Second, in middle and lower strata countries (except for Uganda and Malawi where the difference is not significant statistically), the cash share is higher for the less-favorable zone than the favorable zone by 11% in Tanzania and Ethiopia and 28% in Mali. We surmise that these results differ from those of the upper stratum because push factors in the less-favored zone (such as rainfall risk) are stronger in the middle and lower strata countries and drive households to undertake more coping and risk management via undertaking RNFE to compensate.In some countries the cash share climbed quickly, such as in the lessfavored zone in Tanzania where the share climbed from 62 to 76% over the decade; in Malawi and Ethiopia the share jumped from 55% to 71%  in the favorable and from 50% to 78% in the less-favorable zone. Ethiopia showed a more \"expected\" pattern, with the cash share 20% higher in the less-favorable zone (presumably because of \"push factors\"). But even in the less-favorable zone in Ethiopia, there was a jump in the cash share of about 34% in the less-favorable zone.Table 4 shows shares of farm, RNFE, and unearned income in total cash income and total income (cash income plus the imputed value of own-farming output in gross terms).First, farm output sales only constitute 31% of household cash among the upper and middle strata countries, averaging over the decade (with Ghana's higher than the average at 43% and the rest around 30%). But this share changed over the years of the decade. Middle stratum countries saw a rapid decline in Tanzania (from 49 to 32%) and a rapid rise in Uganda (from 21 to 35%).By contrast, farm output sales form 58% of rural cash incomes in lower stratum countries. But this high share was driven mainly by Ethiopia which averaged 69% over the period, steady over years; Malawi's cash crop share in rural incomes was only 23% (and dropping fast from 32 to 14% over the years. Niger's bounced from 9% in 2012 to 24% in 2015, a situation that driven by poor rainfall in 2011 relative to 2014.Second, the great majority of cash outside farm sales is from RNFE in upper and middle strata countries where RNFE forms 65% and 58% of cash, respectively (averaged over years). The RNFE share of cash is also high in the lower income countries of Malawi and Niger (averaging 70 and 71%) but less than a third (26%) in Ethiopia (an outlier).Third, unearned income (mainly remittances) is only 6% of rural cash incomes and 4% of total income across all countries. Unearned income shares are particularly low in Nigeria (3%), Ethiopia (5%) and Malawi (7%), and higher in Uganda (11%), Tanzania (14%) and Ghana and Niger (13%). These findings dovetail with findings from detailed income surveys reviewed in Haggblade et al. (2010).Table 6 shows shares of purchases in overall food consumption by household farmland holding, commercialization, and income characteristics. For each country, we categorize rural households as having above or below the average of farmland per capita, of the commercialization rate (the ratio of farm output sales to total output in value terms), and of RNFI share. The following points stand out.First, for upper and middle strata countries, the food purchase share for below-land average households is about 7-10% higher than that for the above land-average households. In lower stratum countries, for Ethiopia, they differ by 13% on average over years, but only by 6% in Malawi and 5% in Niger. Thus, for 6 of 7 countries, the difference between the below versus above average landholders does not exceed 10% points. This is explained by the importance of RNFE for both low and high land groups, and the strong correlation of crop sales and farm size in all countries except Niger.Second, the upper and middle strata countries show purchase shares that are only 5-9% higher for the low commercialization households compared with high commercialization households. By contrast, in two of the three lower stratum countries (Malawi and Niger), the high commercialization households have higher purchase rates, particularly in the poorest country, Niger (around 19% higher). We interpret this as meaning that in the upper and middle strata countries, the commercialization rate has a weak effect on the food purchase rate, presumably because RFNE is the dominant cash source for food purchase. In the poorer countries, the RNFE factor is less strong and having cash from crop sales has a much stronger effect.Third, the \"Non-farm income share\" column of Table 6 shows RNFE is strongly positively correlated with the share of food purchased, and that effect is highest in the middle and low income countries. The effect is present but weaker in higher income countries, perhaps because the distribution is tighter around the non-farm average. In the upper stratum countries, the above-average RNFE share households have a 15-16% higher share of purchases in food consumption, averaging around 77% over the years and countrieshence only 23% of their consumption is coming from their own farming, versus 61% for the RNFE-belowaverage household. In middle-income countries, the shares are 64% versus 41% for high-and low-RNFE. The story is similar in lower stratum countries with Ethiopia's and Malawi's high-RNFE households having 20% and 22% higher share of purchases in food consumption. Niger is an outlier in terms of the high food purchase shares for both below and above average RNFE earning households which might be because of the unfavorable farming conditions that require even households with lower non-farm cash sources to still buy a large share of their food.To identify the correlates of the share of purchases in food consumption, we use a panel data model that allows us to account for unobserved time-invariant household-specific characteristic as expressed in Equation ( 1):where foodpurchaseshare it is the purchased share of foods consumed for household i in time t and X it is a vector of covariates expected to explain the variation in purchased share of food consumed by households. Thus X it includes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of household i at time t such as household composition, literacy of the household head, household assets, income shares from RNFE and unearned income, livestock wealth (in tropical livestock units, TLU), and farmland owned. X it also includes covariates such as distance to markets, 3 agroecological zone (which affects household production capacity and/or access to markets), and seasonality dummies. 4 c i refers to time-invariant unobserved household-specific heterogeneity that could be correlated with the observed covariates and purchase share in food consumption. δ t are year fixed effects which we control for using time dummies. β is a vector of parameters (associated with the various covariates) to be estimated. 3 We used geospatial data collected in the LSMS survey on household distance to the nearest major market or \"key market centers\" in kilometers (km). 4 We constructed a seasonality variable that is a binary indicator of the period of the year when the survey collected data on food consumption. This variable takes on the value one if the consumption data were collected during the lean season (i.e., the months prior to the main crop harvest season), and zero if the consumption data were collected during the harvest season (i.e., during harvest and the immediate periods afterwards). For each country, we used information obtained from the \"global information and early warning system on food and agriculture country brief\" for each survey year to determine the survey-yearspecific lean and harvest seasons (www.fao.org/glews).Panel data allow us to control for time-invariant unobservable household-specific effects (c i ) such as the farmer's innate ability, which are expected to be correlated with the explanatory variables (Hausman and Taylor, 1981) and food purchase shares. If we assume that households are optimizers and aware of these household-specific factors in their decisions, then the unobserved household effects in the error term will be correlated with several covariates (particularly those such as income shares from various sources) resulting in a bias in standard ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation.The correlated random effects (CRE) estimator provides an approach that allows for correlation between the unobserved time invariant household specific factors c i and included explanatory variables. We use the CRE model developed by Mundlak (1978) and Chamberlain (1980) that models the distribution of the unobserved household-specific variable conditional on the means of the strictly exogenous variables instead of treating it as a parameter to estimate. To operationalize the Mundlak-Chamberlain approach within the context of our fractional dependent variable (i.e., the purchase share in food consumption which ranges between 0 and 1), we use the CRE fractional probit regression model (Papke and Wooldridge, 2008). We ran a pooled regression of our dependent variable on the explanatory variables, including the means over the survey years of the time-varying explanatory variables (X 1i ) as additional regressors:where X it = [X 1it , X 2i ] distinguishes between time-varying covariates (X 1it ) such as income shares, assets, market access, and household composition on the one hand and time-invariant covariates (X 2i ) such as agroecological zone dummies and gender. Given the complex survey design described earlier, all our point estimates and standard errors are adjusted for the effects of sampling weights, clustering, and stratification.The results of the CRE fractional probit regressions of the purchased share by category (for all foods consumed, and for grains, roots and tubers, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and animal products) are shown in Tables 7-10. Table 7 shows regression results for all foods taken together; Table 8, for grains; Table 9, for fruits and vegetables; and Table 10, for animal proteins. Appendix Table A2 shows results for roots & tubers; and Table A3, for pulses. The following are the main findings that are statistically significant.First, Table 7 shows that the share of non-farm income in total income has a strongly positive effect in all the countries, consistent with our descriptives above that non-farm income is a major source of cash income. The effect is stronger in lower income countries (except Ethiopia) compared with the upper and middle income study countries. The effect in middle income countries is also stronger than in the upper income countries. We tested (and rejected) the hypothesis that the coefficients are the same across the country strata using cross-model hypothesis testing. Moreover, while unearned income only accounted for about 5% of total income, the share of unearned income has a positive effect (similar to that of non-farm income) in middle and lower income countries (see Table 8).Second, Table 7 shows that food purchase shares decrease with farmland per capita, as expected, but as farms get big enough the farm cash income effect increases food purchases, especially of items not grown on the farm. As expected, purchases shares are high among the landless. Fig. 4 shows that bigger farms tend to be more specialized, and often in non-food cash crops as Dzanku et al. (2021) also show for Ghana. However, in all countries, only a small fraction of households (between 1% in Nigeria and 5% in Malawi) have farmland per capita above the threshold at which the effect turns positive, so the negative effect dominates.Appendix Figures A8-A11 explore heterogeneity in the non-linear relationship between farmland per capita and food purchases by agroecology and seasonality, and how this might further be nuanced by type of commodity, i.e., non-perishables (grain staples) versus perishables (fruits and vegetables). Across agro-ecological zones of all the countries, the U-shaped relationship tends to hold, but the positive purchases tend to generally increase more with landholding in favorable zones than in less-favorable zones, showing the cash crop specialization effect. The exception is Ethiopia.Third, space and time affect purchases. Given the zone, distance to market has a negative effect on food purchase shares. Purchases also differ over zones in ways that are conditioned by the season. Relative to the lean season (LS) in the less-favorable zone, food purchase shares are lower in the harvest season in either zone and in the lean season in the favorable zone. Thus, in most of the countries, households in the worst situation (season and zone combination) have to rely most on purchases to smooth consumption. Figure A3 (Appendix) provides details of pairwise comparisons of all seasonality-agroecology differences among the study countries.Fourth, for overall food, female-headed households tend to have a lower purchase share in the lower and middle strata countries but higher shares in upper strata countries. The latter may be because in Ghana and Nigeria, rural female-headed households tend to have higher participation in non-farm employment, higher shares of unearned income, and smaller farm sizes than do male-headed households.Fifth, socio-demographic variables have some surprising results. As expected, households with older heads tend to have a lower purchase share while the number of adults of either gender does not have a clear effect on food purchases. This might be because households with older heads have a predisposition to higher investments in the traditional home farm enterprise compared to younger households. Such a predisposition is likely to have more of an impact on household purchases than the composition of the household. However, surprisingly, the number of adults of either gender does not have a clear effect on food purchase shares. The dependency ratio reduces the food purchase share, perhaps because families with more children focus on starchy staples provision and postpone buying more expensive non-grains. Finally, literacy is positively correlated with the purchase share in upper and middleincome countries, but not in lower income countries except Niger. The reasons might be that literate households live closer to markets and know to diversify their diets with purchases.The results for Tables (8-10) and Tables A2 and A3 showing shares of purchases in specific product categories are similar in sign but with fewer significant results to those for total food consumed (Table 7). The following are the significant results from the product-specific tables.First, the share of non-farm income in total income is associated with purchases of all food groups except for animal proteins in middle and lower income countries; rural households in the latter countries tend to consume from their own flocks and herds. Across the country strata, the effect of the share of non-farm in total income on grain purchases exceeds that of all other food categories in the lower income countries but not in the other country strata. This can be explained by Bennett's Law, whereby the poorer depend more on grains and would be more likely to buy grain with available cash.However, the effect of the share of non-farm in total income is greater on the share of purchases in roots and tubers and pulses consumption in Ghana and Nigeria than for the other food components. This is because processed cassava, cowpeas, and peanuts are mainly purchased rather than laboriously home-processed and these crops are central staples in the diet although they are not grown by all households.Furthermore, surprisingly, the effect of the share of non-farm in total income on the share of purchases in fruit and vegetable consumption is less than that for food in general, for starchy staples (grains in drier countries and roots and tubers in humid zone countries), and for animal products. This lower effect on horticultural purchases appears to suggest that persons depending more on non-farm income prioritize staples purchases perhaps with a view to \"basic food security\" (controlling for their farm size hence their ability to grow their own food).Second, whereas unearned income was not important (relative to farm income shares) in driving overall food purchases in the upper income countries, they increased the purchase share of roots and tubers consumption. In the lower income countries (particularly Malawi and Niger) unearned income strongly affected the share of purchases in grains consumption.Third, in the upper income countries, the seasonality-agroecology interaction effects on the purchase share of roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables, and animal products tell a similar story to that of overall food purchasespurchase shares are significantly higher during the lean season for households in the less-favorable zoneswhile those of grains and pulses differ sharply from it.Relative to the lean season in the less-favorable zone, the lean season in the favorable zone is associated with a higher share of purchases in grains consumption in Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. Rice is mainly imported into these countries and has attained a major role among the staple grains consumed including in rural zones. In the favorable zones during the harvest season, roots and tubers and fruits and vegetables are less purchased than grains. For example, in Ghana and Nigeria, farm households tend to grow nongrains in year-round gardens in the humid zones while grain mainly comes seasonally from the drier Northern zones. The rural households in the favorable zones are also relatively well off, and tend (more than do the poorer households in less-favored zones) to buy rice and wheat which are luxuries and more expensive than the traditional foods (roots and tubers and millet).In the lower-and middle-income countries, being in the harvest season in the less-favorable zone reduces the purchase share, as expected. By contrast, in Ghana and Nigeria, being in the harvest season (not just in the lean season as expected) in the favorable zone is correlated with a higher share of purchases (compared with the intercept   term of being in the lean season in the less-favorable zone). This can be explained by the strong presence of cash cropping and non-farm income in linkages with the strong agriculture sector in the favorable zone in these upper stratum countries.Comparing the results in Tables 7-10 with those in Tables A2-A7 (Appendix) shows that most of the correlates of purchase shares in food consumption differ over the years in terms of statistical significance and effect size. Several points stand out.First, except for Tanzania, the non-farm income share effect magnitudes are larger for the latest waves of the surveys. For some products an effect was absent for the early waves of the period, usually a decade of data, and then emerged only recently, such as non-farm on purchase shares of fruits and vegetables in Ethiopia and animal products in Uganda, and unearned income on most food groups in Nigeria. It appears that the jumps were mainly due to increases in the share of cash income in total rural income, especially in the less-favored zones of most countries, over the decade, as shown in Fig. 1.Second, a similar inversion between the early and late years of the survey data occurred with respect to the effect of the distance of the household to the main food market: this was negative at the start and then its significance disappeared later, particularly in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. This suggests that market access may have generally improved over time such as from road improvements.Third, the negative effect seen in earlier years of the survey rounds of the household being female-headed lost its significance in later rounds in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Malawi. In Ghana, the effect did not change over time but was even shown to be positive in the regression using the Ghana LSMS data that span 1992-2017 (Table A2).While the literature on rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa has observed purchases of food and in particular areas and years shown their importance, the literature has not yet had a systematic analysis of these purchases over countries of different incomes and rural population shares, over different agroecological zones favorable and less-favorable, over a series of years and high and low seasons, over food product categories, and as a function of apparently important drivers like rural nonfarm employment (RNFE). We used nearly 65,000 observations in 7 countries over about a decade in rural Africa to examine the patterns and determinants of food purchases. The following are the key findings.First, food purchases were found to be a substantial share of total food consumption in all three country stratalower, middle, and upper. The purchase share was consistently the majority of food consumed.Second, while the share of purchases was somewhat higher in lessfavorable zones in the low season, fitting the traditional view of purchases as just occasional \"coping\" with low own-production of food or depleted stocks (Liverpool-Tasie et al., 2021), this was only the case in the lower-stratum countries. It was, importantly, not the case in upperand middle stratum countries. In these latter, the purchase share was similar over seasons and agroecological onesmeaning it has become \"structural\". The latter we found to be due to the spread especially of RNFE in most countries, as the main/majority cash source, and in a few places, like Ghana, from the spread of cash cropping. Early work finding that cash cropping does not need to reduce nutrition or constrain food consumption (von Braun and Kennedy, 1994) finds further support in these findings where these sources of cash are important to food purchase including of nutrient-dense foods.Third, while the literature had focused mainly on purchases of grain, we found that shares of purchases of both grains and non-grains were substantial, and even higher for non-grains than grains. Rural households across the countries were buying the great majority of their fruits and vegetables and animal products from the market, not relying mainly on own-production. Our literature review showed that in various places these products were not being bought from the local area's production but from areas far away but in the same country, such as in Senegal (Faye et al., 2023). That underscores the link between long supply chains from specialized areas of horticultural and animal product production to consuming areas all over the rural (and urban) areas, a point we emphasize below in implications.Fourth, purchases are not a luxurythey are not done only by the upper income consumers, nor are they the last resort of the poor who cannot grow their food and have to buy to cope. Of course, both these cases occur, but in the main we found that purchases are done by all income terciles. They are fueled by widespread participation in working off the farm for various reasons, push and pull, and using the cash to buy food, not just grains, but non-grains too. Less common but also occurring (in Ghana) is non-food cash cropping driving these purchases and paying for them.The food security strategy and policy implications of these findings are the following. First, food markets as a source of purchases, and often, supply chains plying between rural zones and urban and rural areas, are important to the food security of rural areas. This is not just in poorer areas but over a variety of zones, well-watered and dry, richer and poorer, in many countries. This points to the importance of infrastructure for supply chains such as roads and wholesale markets in rural towns.Second, we showed the importance of rural non-farm employment for these purchases thus again highlighting the need for policies and programs that help that employment to grow and be equitably accessible (Haggblade et al., 2010). The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.","tokenCount":"8203"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0286200654.json b/data/part_1/0286200654.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..669adbab61dab944734705a9910a23854fefa44d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0286200654.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b5a65bc197ba4b339e9ec325db68d3ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7212da23-4a64-4ca9-b689-a11908b385cb/retrieve","id":"1512901809"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8aac2afd-c473-40be-92de-e2a462096677","pagecount":"28","content":"Cereal crop GHG emissions• Globally rice, wheat, and maize provide similar amounts of calories and protein• Yet rice emits significantly more greenhouse gases • Produced by bacteria in flooded conditions• High Global Warming Potential (28x more harmful than CO 2 )  Priority for mitigation• Other GHG: N 2 O (mostly from fertilization, GWP of 265)• Carbon sequestration?Net emission is methane plus nitrous oxide minus C sequestration • This is mostly due to the traditional method of paddy farming, where flooded fields release methane and other greenhouse gases through anaerobic decompositionHowever, the relative mitigation potential for rice (36%) is much higher than that of livestock (9%), and croplands (3%) (Roe et al., 2021;EPA, 2021) Promising options for rice!In the entire agriculture sector, paddy rice production offers one of the most promising options for reducing absolute emissionsCurrent emission baselines are high, particularly in Asia, but:• Many established emission reduction practices available -new ones 'in the making'• Multiple outscaling approaches with both public and private sector parties   • Minimum size of a C credit project for economic viability?• Pay-out modes? How do farmers benefit?• Accuracy?• Mitigation options beyond watermanagement?• Carbon credits vs. countries' NDCs? ","tokenCount":"192"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0294760780.json b/data/part_1/0294760780.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c552a405c4211e1b7a9ad84cb3e931206c1b9e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0294760780.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"173ec5a941f53e55fdfb36ca65767cff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f096c09e-bff8-4d8b-80f5-84f037b3c9ad/retrieve","id":"583949422"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"21f92ac5-5c71-4ddf-8e84-80a050e4246a","pagecount":"4","content":"Marketing transactions take place in an environment where information is shared and exchanged among and between sellers, buyers and middlemen. It is argued that traders and middlemen have a competitive advantage over producers in negotiating for prices, because the former have access to prices in both primary and terminal markets, while the latter only have limited access to prices in the primary markets. This Research Brief highlights the situation regarding access to livestock marketing information by producers in pastoral markets of Kenya. Results show that livestock marketing information was not accessible to producers from September 2004 to September 2005, and hence did not play a significant role in influencing market prices. Subsequent analyses also show that producers consider a number of attributes when pegging prices to their animals, and that these tally with the categorization system developed by the Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS) project. Further findings suggest that past efforts to develop livestock marketing information systems have been dogged by limited capacity to provide information that is accurate, timely, reliable, and spatially coherent. This has been exacerbated by failure to effectively use existing media and complement these with emerging information communication technologies to disseminate the information. LINKS has since responded to these factors through improvements in geographical coverage, accuracy, reliability and timeliness in the overall livestock market information system, as well as through improved information dissmination systems; improvements that have strenghted LINKS, allowing it to function as the foundation for the National Livestock Marketing Information System in Kenya.Research has shown that livestock marketing information plays a significant role in improving the performance of pastoral production and marketing systems (Ndikumana et al. 2000;Aklilu et al. 2002;Mbogoh et al. 2005). More timely, accurate and reliable livestock information can lead to increased commercial livestock offtake and increased producer prices. These studies (ibid) hitherto have focused on the broad aspects of livestock markets in Kenya. Very little attention, however, has been given to examining specific aspects of livestock markets, such as what constitutes viable livestock marketing information.This study was undertaken to analyze the factors that influence beef cattle marketing behavior in pastoral areas of Kenya, with emphasis on the role of livestock marketing information. For instance, although traders have indicated their considerations for some quality attributes in beef cattle sold in pastoral areas, these are not well documented. Moreover, there have been no precise estimates to quantify the value of these attributes. Specifically, the present study consists of three main components: 1) Identifying the existing sources of information and extent of their use by producers; 2) Identifying the physical attributes of beef cattle considered while selling animals; and 3) Evaluating the importance of these attributes in determining prices of animals offered for sale.Information derived from the study will provide inputs to designers of livestock marketing information systems to improve their information formats to make them more effective and efficient in terms of having the capability of transmitting relevant, accurate, reliable, accessible and useful information. In addition, it provides information on attributes of beef cattle that are demanded by traders, an important factor in livestock marketing for pastoralists, should they have to respond to the needs of the market.The study used two sets of data. The first set was sourced from a cross-sectional survey conducted using a questionnaire administered to 135 pastoral households from Garissa and Isiolo Districts. The second set was a 1,233 transactional survey data set collected between September 2004 and September 2005 from three livestock markets in Kenya: Nairobi, which is the main terminal market in Kenya, and two other pastoral markets (one in Garissa in the northeastern rangelands and one in Isiolo in the eastern rangelands). The samples Data from the cross-sectional survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics to generate frequencies. Results indicated that a majority of the respondents (73%) had access to radio, while 28%, 11% and 10% had access to a cellphone, newsprint and television respectively.To obtain information on livestock marketing, 75% of the respondents relied on their neighbors and their own personal visits to the market. On the need for price information from other markets, 77.8% of the respondents expressed a strong need, and out of these 32%, 54%, and 9% desired to have the information on weekly, monthly and quarterly basis respectively, while 5% were indifferent about the frequency. A total of 96% of the respondents preferred to sell their animals within markets in their region citing distances to other markets, security, volume of sales and unfamiliarity with distant markets as the major factors influencing the decision, in that order. The study found out that over 75% of the pastoral households used visual assessment to peg prices to their animals before sale. This corroborates findings in Kaitho et al. (2004). As a followup step, pastoralists were asked to rank the attributes they considered when selling beef cattle. Table 1 summarizes these results by frequency.The results from the transactional data, analyzed using regression analysis, are given in Table 2. Almost all the attributes were negatively correlated to the price, class, sex, volume, castration, grade and market. Other reported items, such castration and breed type were not significant. This could have been associated with the uniform/single breed available in each market. The analyses for the individual attributes indicate the relationships given below.Class. The class of beef animal was used as a proxy for age (mature, young, immature), which showed that mature animals fetched higher prices than immature ones. The coefficient for class variable suggested that class had the largest negative influence on cattle price as indicated by the highest negative coefficient. Price decreased by 0.53% for a 1% change in class.Sex. The results on the sex variable (male, female) showed that males fetched higher prices than females by a premium of 0.4% on average. This corroborates results of previous studies by Sieff (1999) which showed that males usually fetched higher prices than females. The positive correlation coefficient observed for sex showed preference for males.Males are bought for both breeding and slaughter purposes.Their demand was expected to exceed that of female cattle, which are mainly required for breeding purposes. Males were also thought to yield more meat than females.The market variable has a negative coefficient (-0.149) and standard error of 0.012. The negative coefficient indicates that prices in Nairobi are higher than prices in other markets of Isiolo and Garissa. This is reasonable given that Nairobi is the terminal market.Grade. The variable grade (grade 1, 2, 3, 4; the higher the grade, the poorer the body condition) is used to reflect the influence of the cattle body condition scoring method (a proxy for meat quality and weight) as developed by LINKS, and emerged as a significant explanatory variable. It has a negative coefficient (-0.147) with a standard error of 0.009. Animals available for sale in the markets were mainly grades 2 and 3. Grade 2 fetched a higher price than grade 3.Volume. Volume was the other factor affecting prices.The volume had a standardized coefficient of -0.235. This corroborates well with the theory of standard demand which states that the lower the supply (volume) the higher the price. In this case it indicates that a 1% increase in volume decreased the average price by approximately 0.235%.Breed. The breed variable (Boran, Zebu, Mixed) had a positive coefficient of 0.037and standard error of 0.010. This indicated that mixed breeds (crosses) commanded higher prices than the local breeds such as Boran and Zebu.Castration. Castration yielded a negative coefficient, -0.026 and standard error of 0.016. This implies that noncastrates fetched higher prices than castrates because they were in high demand both for breeding as well as slaughter purposes and were therefore regarded as premium animals.The results, however, were not significant at the 1% level.The overall regression model explained about 82% of the total variation in the dependent variable. The regression model on factors influencing commercial offtake rates showed that market information had a positive response to livestock offtake rate; the response was significant at the 10% level with a coefficient of 0.074 and standard error of 0.007. Other significant variables determining offtake rate were household size, dependency ratio, cattle birth rate, cattle purchase rate, off-pastoral income and mortality rate. At the time of the study, market information provided by LINKS had just started diffusing to producers, and respondents felt that improved accuracy and reliability of market information would be useful for informing marketing decisions for pastoral households. Research findings (Aklilu et al. 2002;Mbogoh et al. 2005) show that information can indeed improve marketing performance in pastoral areas if it can be availed efficiently and in good time.The results indicate that livestock marketing information was not accessible to producers from September 2004 to September 2005, and hence did not play a significant role in influencing market prices. Subsequent analyses also show that producers consider a number of attributes when pegging prices to their animals, and that these tally with the categorization system developed by LINKS. LINKS has since responded to these factors through improvements in geographical coverage, accuracy, reliability and  The GL-CRSP Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS) project developed from the GL-CRSP Livestock Early Warning System (LEWS) project established in 1997. The LEWS project developed and applied a suite of information communication technology to provide a regional decision-support framework for livestock early warning. The LINKS project is placing LEWS technology inside a broader livestock information and analysis system that is designed to improve livestock markets and trade, thereby enhancing the well-being of pastoralists in eastern Africa. timeliness in the overall livestock market information system. Therefore, the challenge to develop a flexible, demand-driven system that is easy to maintain and that allows the input of contents with maximum efficiency as envisaged by Kaitho et al. (2004) is right on course. The integration of this system in livestock markets across Kenya will provide a national livestock marketing information system (NLMIS: see Kariuki et al. 2008) tailored to meet the needs of livestock producers.Dissemination of information through media that are easily accessible to most producers will enhance information flow to pastoral communities, eliciting the desired response in livestock marketing. It is therefore prudent to explore ways of using the existing delivery media, such as the popular radio broadcasts and the growing mobile telephony and Internet gateways across most towns in the remote areas of Kenya, to accomplish this feat.","tokenCount":"1715"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0301436306.json b/data/part_1/0301436306.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c83136e88790d621229c272ff7744acd27b3bc84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0301436306.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2b748c1c77c4cd80fc043dbd9db1182c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/470ed853-7efb-4800-bf82-ef1d61dea095/retrieve","id":"124916830"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"872b9733-b060-4e08-a316-aae15fc88c64","pagecount":"24","content":"The five day event included sessions on: The workshop methodology included participatory presentations using PowerPoint, as well as group discussions, guided by a step-by-step process of discussing, reviewing and building consensus on the different areas of focus during the workshop. This report summarises the discussions and conclusions as well as recommendations from the workshop. In general, the following recommendations came from the workshop:  Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for the program is seen to largely focus on outputs and less on the process  With respect to capacity development there is need for skills in facilitation, needs assessment and action planning for all partners  There is need to develop a plan around identifying and engaging partners so as to establish who and why we are selecting partners  There is a need for more specificity around work on gender that is planned in the value chain countries  There is need to evaluate the Livestock and Fish value chain tools from a gender perspective  There is need to strengthen accommodative approaches in our research as we move towards GTAs Posters and presentations from the workshop are online at: http://livestockfish.wikispaces.com/genderwg_oct2013Kathleen Colverson, the Livestock and Fish program gender and learning theme leader opened the workshop by welcoming the participants, and facilitating an introductory exercise, during which each participant was provided with one-half of a photo and they were supposed to locate the person having the matching half of the photo to introduce themselves. While highlighting the capacity development activities in the Livestock and Fish program, Kathleen expressed that 'change will not be achieved by individuals and organizations in isolation' and hence the need for gender capacity building targeted at all of CG, partner organizations and VC actors. She reiterated that here is a great need to influence and inspire partners to integrate gender and not mandate its inclusion in projects and programs.In conclusion, Kathleen expressed the need to focus on Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs), an initiative which needs more funds to implement and realize results. Literature review for this effort is ongoing and the gender network is planning a future meeting to discuss the next steps.What is gender by definition?Gender is about socially constructed roles by societies, relationships, and it can change with time and place. It was also defined as having a focus on the marginalized community, frequently women and children. It was emphasised that the focus on gender issues is about \"how we work, not who we work with\", and \"how we approach other people and what social constructions we come up with to inform our work.\"Scientists working with the program from, Froukje Kruijssen and Emily Ouma's presentation gave an update of the output on the gender strategy which focuses on the value chain development theme. In her introduction, Froukje mentioned that a value chain (VC) toolkit development has been developed and will be reviewed for its ability to collect and analyse gendered data, and identification of gender equitable interventions.Froukje reported that the tool had been applied in value chain analysis in Uganda for the pig VC, Tanzania for the dairy VC, Ethiopia for the small ruminants VC, and India for the dairy VC.In Nicaragua, plans for VCA for the dual purpose VC were in progress. She also mentioned that VC benchmarking had been done in Tanzania through a pre-write shop, in Botswana through field testing and application in the Smallholder Competitiveness project, and there were preparations for this to start in Ethiopia.Froukje mentioned that the next steps will involve reviewing the usage and usefulness of the tools, followed by the development of a database and guidelines for training, implementation analysis and review. In addition, she highlighted that it is necessary to address the issue of tool 'harmonization', so as to identify what common themes are emerging as the tools are adapted. She emphasized there is a great need to discuss and agree on prioritization processes for identifying best-bets interventions & ex ante analysis.In her conclusion, Froukje articulated that some of the challenges facing the program are on how the tools relate to the IDO's and M&E indicators. There is also a need to establish if the tools capture the proposed gender M&E indicators, and if not, how to address this. It is also necessary to have clarity on what impact assessment methods and approaches will be used to assess the impact of the program (overall and for each VC and theme). She further mentioned that there is a need to assess if the current level of communication among the program value chains is sufficient to foster learning as they progress with their respective work plans.Emily Ouma discussed the experiences from the Uganda pig value chain on application of the VCA tools at district and village levels. She highlighted the differences observed in the men's and women's activity clocks. Women face time constraints and need interventions that address these constraints, to improve their productivity and create time for other activities such as trainings. Emily pointed out that the toolkit was quite detailed and therefore has the potential to obtain a lot of engendered information. She also mentioned that the toolkit was lengthy, requiring about six hours to implement with both mixed gender parallel and plenary sessions. She concluded that it is essential to use the gendered information to ensure inclusiveness in the design of technologies and institutional interventions.In response to Emily's presentation, participants were interested in the concept of \"ownership\" of the pigs and gendered decision making. Emily indicated that each person in the household has a number of animals, and where women own more animals they have more control over the decision making related to the pigs. Questions arose on the issue of ownership; \"Did you have a common definition of ownership and control?\" Emily responded that \"ownership\" means different things to different people, and further research was needed on this topic as it relates to gender decision making.It was concluded that the tools are very generic and hence field testing is crucial because it creates opportunity for feedback on whether the tools are applicable in the particular context. There is need for a training manual to ensure consistency in all the value chains when using the VC toolkit.Presentation by Paula Kantor Paula Kantor gave an update of the GTAs as one of the outputs captured in the program strategy. Paula reiterated that the objective of this output is to promote 'strategies and approaches that increase women's and marginalized groups' entitlement to access markets and control resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work'. She mentioned that it focuses on wider social context within which a value chain functions, looking at how well it enables equitable participation and control over the benefits. In her presentation, Paula emphasized that entitlement is key in three dimensions:-own sense of entitlement;-recognition by others of women's and other marginalized groups' capacities and claims to engage in markets;-translation of society's recognition into the way formal and informal institutions allocate opportunities and resources While highlighting the achievements and actions in 2013, she mentioned that tools for integrating GTA's in value chain analysis had been drafted and preparations were underway for these to be field tested in 2014. Additional plans involve writing a paper on the social embedding of value chains and relevance of GTAs to value chain performance, as well as distribution of outcomes. She concluded by emphasizing the need to consider more fundraising ideas for GTA's and including a focus on gender, risk and technology adoption studies.There is need to harmonize the tools and create one toolkit for value chain analysis. To achieve transformation within systems, it is necessary to adopt a strategy that will involve the identification of champions from within to influence the change that needs to happen.Stuart observed that the institutional mandate was missing for this output. He highlighted that a partnership analysis should be conducted to identify the research and development partners to engage in GTA's. We need to demonstrate the knowledge and evidence which the program generates around GTA's and how that will contribute to the output.Partners presented on gender mainstreaming efforts within their organizations and their experiences in developing gender capacities on the first day. While highlighting the gender mainstreaming efforts at the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Regional Africa (ASARECA)-a regional organization, Yeshi Chiche highlighted that gender mainstreaming efforts began in 2003, and tremendous progress has been made with the establishment of a gender mainstreaming unit in 2013. This unit is in charge of identifying (Figure 1)The LIVES project is Livestock and Fish program aligned project in Ethiopia. Ephrem Tesema, gender scientist from LIVES, discussed the proposed areas of intervention that target women from female-headed households who have land for vegetable production to engage in input supply systems like fruit tree nurseries, pullet production, feed block preparation. The project will involve women and women groups in value addition/processing (for example juice and honey processing).Margaret Mangheni, Makerere University, shared her research that is engaged in gender Presentation by Dr. Alessandra GalièThis ILRI project has been funded by IDRC and CIDA with an overall objective of improving nutrition and income security. Among its specific objectives, the project seeks to \"analyze impacts (productivity, environmental, gender and empowerment, food security and nutrition) of integrating improved goat breeds with sweet-potatoes and cassava into an agro-pastoral farming system\" working with ILRI, the project partners include Sokoine University in Tanzania and University of Alberta in Canada, for the period 2011 to 2014.Data from the mid-term review points out that decision-making about goats and milk is mostly with men. Gender trainings are effective in raising awareness of gender-based labour contributions and gender equity is a key emergent property of the system. The project includes a gender strategy which determines whether gender is integrated in all project activities and evaluations. However, the findings from the mid-term review indicate that the strategy does not explain the rationale behind the need for empowerment, and does not address how to enhance empowerment for women. Future plans include the development and implementation of a gender empowerment framework which will assist with working with local realities to achieve equity of development. To do this, the project will adopt a methodology that involves the participatory assessment of women's and men's vision of their empowerment and development goals in 10 years, and hindrances to achieving them.The methods will include single-sex focus groups discussions and envisioning future empowerment scenarios.In relation to the participatory development of indicators, what kind of borders/tests have been done with the community? This has not yet been done with this project, but has been done in other projects with good effects. It was indicated that a \"pathway\" could be constraining, thus it would be good to talk about \"processes\" as opposed to pathways.Alessandra responded by stating that \"process\" is a vague term, and difficult for the community to understand while \"pathway\" is more self-empowering and easier for the community to use in identifying problems and solutions. It is important to adopt a 'Gender Action Learning System' where each member of the household is asked what they envision for themselves and where they want to be in the future.Presentation by Paula KantorPaula's presentation focused on 'Improving Employment and Incomes through the Development of Egypt's Aquaculture Sector' (IEIDEAS) Project. This project is oriented towards enhancing numbers and quality of employment, particularly for poor women and youth. In the aquaculture sector, rising costs and unstable prices have put the aquaculture industry under threat. There is a need to enhance the sector by improving productivity, increasing the profit margins, and value addition products. Since its inception in 2011, main activities undertaken by the project have included:• Dissemination of the 'Abbassa strain' of genetically improved tilapia• Development of Best Management Practice(BMP) guidelines followed by BMP training• Support for women retailers (managed by CARE)• Expansion of aquaculture in Upper Egypt (CARE)• Improving the policy environment for aquaculture A retailer survey focusing only on women in the five governorates in which the IEIDEAS project operates, found that fish retailing is considered an occupation of last resort. Women retailers face many challenges including: lack of regular supply of fish, handling and storage, lack of space to vend, lack of market information, and limited economic data as most of the retailers do not keep records.Paula highlighted that this project has additional challenges, including the volatile environment and political context of Egypt, which affects the ability to form sustainable organizations that advocate for change and work on gender equality. Future activities and areas of potential research include developing a tank aquaculture system that will work for catfish, and further research on gender, risk and uptake of the new tank aquaculture technology. Paula suggested that Egypt and Bangladesh (both Livestock and Fish VC countries) consider securing DANIDA funds for value addition and market expansion.Additional research could focus on conditions under which fish retail can be transformative for women, as well as and employment in the aquaculture sector and testing GTA VCA tools.Participants were interested in knowing how the project has positioned itself to respond to the aforementioned challenges. Paula recommended gender trainings and the inclusion of a budget for incorporating a gender focal point within the partner organisations specifically for the project. Participants also observed the importance of public-private partnerships in fostering innovations, and recommended the need to adopt an approach which would enable the women retailer committees to partner with the government for more opportunities.Elizabeth presented on lessons drawn from the Gender Asset Gap Project, (GAAP), in which assets are defined as Natural, Human, Physical, Social, Financial and Political. The study was carried out in Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. In Bangladesh, training was provided to dairy farmers' groups in livestock production and health. Groups were linked to markets by the provision of bulking and chilling facilities, thereby enhancing the natural, human, financial and social assets. In Kenya and Tanzania, irrigation pumps were bought by farmers, increasing both the physical and financial capital. In Mozambique, high yielding cows were freely distributed to farmers who also received training on production and health, increasing the natural, financial and human assets. The impacts from the interventions were positive across all sites. All countries reported increased household production, income and assets (including pump ownership by women). In addition, there was improved wellbeing in terms of access to more nutrients, better hygiene (Bangladesh and Mozambique), education and healthcare. Elizabeth articulated that there was enhanced self-esteem for women and men (especially women on dairy hygiene and animal health).However, she mentioned that negative impacts were also recorded whereby women's work load increased disproportionately to the increase men's workload. For example in Mozambique, men paid additional labourers to do the extra work and women delegated house and other work to children and existing servants. She also pointed out that women's and men's crops were redefined differently, especially in Kenya and Tanzania, where men owned one-off harvest and sale crops like green maize, cabbage and tomatoes, and women became owners of repeated harvest green leafy vegetables such as kale, amaranth, and spinach. The results also indicated that women's control of income and assets were equally affected negatively. In Bangladesh, women's control declined, while joint control increased.In Kenya, women (from male-headed households) could not openly claim pump ownership.In conclusion, Elizabeth emphasized that a woman buying an asset, having it registered in her name and owning it, does not signify control of use of the asset or income and the benefits accrued through it. What needs to be transformed is the actual access to, and control of benefits accruing from the asset. Empowering women to know their rights and having them protected by the law discourages dispossession of assets from women.Presentation by Isabelle BaltenweckIsabelle mentioned that EADD had gone through the first phase of implementation, and is now in the second phase. Lessons learned from the first phase indicate limited attention was paid to gender in the original plan; and staff were not equipped to address gender based constraints. A gender strategy was developed in 2009 using baseline survey results and Focus Group Discussions with key staff. Isabelle highlighted that the gender strategy in EADD is a two-fold approach with a separate and cross cutting focus on gender to ensure that supporting outputs and activities are included fully in the project design. A gender work plan was integrated, performance targets formulated, and budget allocated moving forward.Isabelle mentioned that the proposed gender activities in EADD aim to increase access to assets that women require to participate fully in project activities. Increasing returns to assets by increasing productivity and/or improving access to market and reducing risks and vulnerability should enhance the women's productivity. Proposed strategies include training of the women on bargaining and negotiation skills, especially for those participating in informal markets. Creating business opportunities along the value chain for youth as milk transporters in Uganda is also proposed. The project will also consider introducing innovative modes of payment through mobile money technology to allow women increased access to financial services. To reduce risks and vulnerability, EADD's proposed strategies include regular introduction of improved breeds and providing linkages with financial service providers.In conclusion, Isabelle emphasized that phase one of EADD conducted gender analysis at the baseline, but phase two would focus on gender analysis at various levels of the value chain.Attention to gender and youth will be increased in phase two with a provision for gender mainstreaming in all objectives, and a specific objective on gender and youth empowerment.Michael articulated that the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) theme of the Livestock and Fish research plan is formulating a strategy which includes how the program's MEL activities will be implemented. This strategy will provide a structured system of program monitoring for learning and innovation, and is based on assumptions from the research plan's theory of change and impact pathway. Michael's presentation reviewed key questions for integrating gender in the MEL frameworks, including:• Why and how should we develop these gender indicators?• Which MEL framework will these indicators be part of? Presentation by Barbara Szony Barbara's presentation focused on the 'Safe Food Fair Food' project whose objective is to \"protect the health of poor consumers and safeguard the livelihoods of poor livestock keepers and other VC actors\". The study focuses on looking at risks to food safety and nutrition within the sheep and goat VC with an ultimate goal of ensuring adequate intake of safe and nutritious foods.In a summary of gender-related consumption patterns, it was reported that although food preparation is exclusively done by women, men are given better meat cuts. Consumption of raw meat and milk by women was reported, a practice which poses a great risk to both mother and fetus. In some areas, it is considered a cultural taboo for women to drink milk, with claims that it would make women crazy and difficult to handle, and would also cause an early onset of puberty in girls. There is also preferential feeding of red meat and liver to pregnant women, and women are more likely to consume butter in addition to using it as a cosmetic.Barbara articulated that there is low level of consumption of Animal Source Foods (ASF) due to economic constraints and religious as well as cultural practices. As a result, the major risks in the sheep and goat VC are nutritional deficiencies of protein, iron, zinc, vitamins A and B12. In her conclusion, Barbara mentioned that gender roles may have large influence on health and nutrition risks, and there is need for further research on this area.The workshop included a \"share fair\" for participants to showcase additional research During this session, Jo Cadilhon facilitated several iterations of a \"world café\" with small groups of participants to gather expert advice on a gendered dairy value chain assessment report for the Mulukanoor women's dairy cooperative in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Mulukanoor women's dairy cooperative in India asked ILRI to gather evidence to help make decisions on expanding its development, an activity which is being spearheaded by JoCadilhon and is captured in this blog.The objective of this session was to share tools with participants and get feedback on three main issues: Participants were divided into four groups, each of which was provided with copies of one tool to discuss and provide feedback on the tool in terms of its usefulness from a gender perspective.In general, participants liked the tools, with a few recommendations including redundancies in the tools related to questions, language being too complicated or jargonistic, the need for inclusion of visuals to capture participants' interest, specific gender questions to be included that were lacking, and provision of specific guidelines for facilitators. ","tokenCount":"3428"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0310612472.json b/data/part_1/0310612472.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..58e8fec55199cf31a1968bf90995ab6c45e8a586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0310612472.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0477616c40205a1b966806bb5a7c1a19","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/16d74b11-6946-440f-8a87-f119becda023/retrieve","id":"-355566615"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3d0e570f-7b59-44e1-9f7e-a1700d5db32c","pagecount":"9","content":"Vision: an inclusive and sustainable development of the dairy value chain by 2023 (remains same)Development Goal: Improve livelihoods through milk.• By promoting rural commercialization to boost productivity and economic viability of smallholder dairying by and for the poor (ASDP-2 Component 3) • Leverage new experiences and learning to promote small-scale agribusinesses and strengthen their linkages to overcome market barriers in smallholder dairy value chains • Upscale lessons on adapted market hubs approaches without collective bulking and marketing • Conduct research within the agribusiness development project• Improve access to and use of inputs and services including credit among precommercial producers• Increase participation of smallholder male and female farmers in output markets• Improve enabling environment for production and consumption of milk and facilitate new linkages between value chain actors and public and private services to generate innovation• Catalyze private and public investments for the incorporation of milk into national and community dietary systems and empowerment for improved nutrition particularly in women of child-bearing age and young children.Initial targeting by researchers who then hand-over leadership to an agribusiness development while the latter plays a 'knowledge partner' role (MLE and targeted studies)• How can new dairy technologies & approaches be profitably leveraged by agribusinesses to deliver increased income for pre-commercial producers and better nutrition for poor consumers at scale?• New knowledge on opportunities for upscaling and sustaining inclusive gender-equitable participation• Improved and validated approaches and technologies in different contexts, and how to integrate them into existing institutional mechanisms for delivery of inputs and services• Lessons for sustainable market hub models and related agribusinesses captured for different contexts and recommendations for further scaling out developed and disseminated.(Generated within the agribusiness dev project)• Identify and target priority locations and producer groups for development• Identify \"crystallizing agents\", typically existing product and service delivery agents around whom multiple activities can coalesce• Support the strengthening of research-extension linkages and provision of extension services in a commercially viable way• Promote access to and use of ICT as a way of increasing access to critical information• Enhance local capacity of producers, other value chain agents and extension workers to operate within hubs and multi-stakeholder alliancesWork in progress, mainly questions at this point• DDF -Quo vadis? Added value to driving the industry• ASDP -2 Context (LMP already integrated)• Role of AR4D within the ASDP-2 context? Potential areas from LMP• An agri-food systems approach for income and nutrition?• A project like MoreMilkiT that other projects can leverage would be ideal The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world.This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.The program thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR system","tokenCount":"471"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0334841902.json b/data/part_1/0334841902.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d6300259b1a65b613029cb0bf007b29a38899a43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0334841902.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d536c0c5472318111714b636dcb897c0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a079db1a-37d4-4ec2-90f9-20eb4ccefaee/content","id":"-1984884567"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5b13ebca-50a2-40dd-928a-d85996facb61","pagecount":"10","content":"One way to meet growing food demand is to increase yields in regions that have large yield gaps, including smallholder systems. To do this, it is important to quantify yield gaps, their persistence, and their drivers at large spatio-temporal scales. Here we use microsatellite data to map field-level yields from 2014 to 2018 in Bihar, India and use these data to assess the magnitude, persistence, and drivers of yield gaps at the landscape scale. We find that overall yield gaps are large (33% of mean yields), but only 17% of yields are persistent across time. We find that sowing date, plot area, and weather are the factors that most explain variation in yield gaps across our study region, with earlier sowing associated with significantly higher yield values. Simulations suggest that if all farmers were able to adopt ideal management strategies, including earlier sowing and more irrigation use, yield gaps could be closed by up to 42%. These results highlight the ability of micro-satellite data to understand yield gaps and their drivers, and can be used to help identify ways to increase production in smallholder systems across the globe.Food production may have to increase by up to 70% by mid-century to achieve global food security 1 . One way to increase yields is to close existing yield gaps, which are defined as the difference between current yields and the potential yields that could be achieved under ideal management 2,3 . Closing yield gaps is particularly important in smallholder systems, where yield gaps are large 4 and food demand is likely to increase the most over the coming decades 1 . Correctly estimating yield gaps and their drivers is challenging in smallholder systems due to a lack of agricultural production data, particularly at the field scale 5 . Conventional methods of collecting field-level yield estimates, such as crop cuts, are time and cost intensive 6 . Satellite data have been shown to be a valuable tool for estimating yields, and quantifying yield gaps and their drivers at the landscape scale [7][8][9] . Yet, historically available imagery, such as Landsat (30 m) and MODIS (250 m), which have primarily been used to map yield gaps in smallholder systems 10,11 are likely too coarse in spatial resolution to map individual field-level yields 12 .Over the last five years, new micro-satellite data have become readily available and have shown promise for mapping yields at the field scale 5,12 . Despite the availability of such data since 2015, to date microsatellite data have not been used to map yield gaps and their drivers over multiple years. Yet, understanding the persistence of yields and yield gaps through time provides insights into the possible drivers of yield gaps 9 . For example, if yields are persistent, this suggests that there may be some consistent infrastructural (e.g., irrigation access) or biophysical (e.g., soil type) factors that largely explain yield gaps in these systems. On the other hand, if yields are not persistent, meaning that different fields have the largest yield gaps in different years, this suggests that there may be some time varying factor, such as weather (e.g., inter-annual rainfall variability) or management (e.g., sowing date), that primarily explain yield gaps 13 . Such analyses can provide critical information about what potential interventions may effectively close yield gaps at the field scale in these systems 14 .Here we show that microsatellite data are able to accurately map field-level yields, and quantify yield gaps and persistence, at regional scales and over multiple years in smallholder systems. We also show that these data can also be combined with ancillary data on management, weather, and biophysical factors to identify which factors are the most important in explaining field-level yield gaps over multiple years. We focus our study in wheat systems in eastern India, where yield gaps are large and field sizes are especially small 10,15 (< 0.3 ha). We specificallyuse SkySat and PlanetScope data (~ 3 m resolution) to map field-level yields from 2014 to 2019 and assess the magnitude of yield gaps and their possible drivers. Using this information, we then assess how much yield gaps can be closed under ideal management conditions, providing invaluable insights for how much yields may be able to increase over the coming years. While our study is focused on wheat systems in eastern India, our approach can be used to quantify yield gaps, yield persistence, and their drivers in smallholder systems across the globe.Study area. We conducted our study in Arrah district, Bihar, India (25.47 • N, 84.52 • E), which is in the eastern portion of India's main grain belt, the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) (Fig. 1). Our analyses are focused on an 8 × 16 km 2 area where we had access to SkySat and PlanetScope imagery over multiple years. The region is dominated by smallholder farms (< 0.3 ha) 12 and over 80% of the land area is under agriculture. Most farmers in the region follow a rice-wheat cropping system, with rice planted during the monsoon (kharif) growing season and wheat planted in the winter (rabi) growing season. Our analyses focus on wheat as previous studies have shown that yield gaps for wheat are large in this region and are expected to increase given the negative impacts of warming temperatures on wheat yield 4,10 . The wheat growing season spans from early November to mid-April, and wheat management varies widely across farms resulting in significant across-farm heterogeneity in yield 12 . For example, wheat sowing dates vary from early November to early January and farmers also vary the number of irrigations applied throughout the growing season (ranging from 1 to 3 irrigations 12 ).Field data collection and processing. We collected crop cut data from 271 randomly-selected wheat fields from 2014-15 to 2018-19, with the number of fields ranging from 36 to 79 in a given year (details provided in Table S1). Crop cuts are considered to be the gold standard for yield estimation, and are widely used to estimate crop yield on the ground 16 . It is important to note that different fields were visited in different years, meaning that repeat samples were not collected for the same field through time. To collect crop cut data, the field team visited each of the 271 fields at the time of crop harvest (in the month of April) and randomly selected subplots to harvest from each of the farmer's fields (details in Table S1), as randomly selected subplots have been shown to approximate full-field crop cuts well 17 . The team harvested the crop from these subplots, threshed the sample, dried the sample, and weighed the grain on site. We then averaged the yields from each subplot for each field to estimate the average yield per hectare for the full field. In addition, the field team collected five GPS points, one from the field's center and four from the corners of each field. For years 2014-15 and 2015-16, we also conducted a survey about farmers' management practices in the field for that year in December (close to the timing of planting) and in April (after crop harvest). The survey included questions about management factors shown to be important for explaining wheat yields in the previous literature, including sow date and the number of irrigations throughout the season. This work was considered exempt for Human Subjects Research by the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board (HUM00156479, HUM00128955, HUM00120778). All the methods reported below were performed according to the relevant guidelines and regulations.To derive field polygon boundaries from the five GPS coordinates for each field, we used the rgeos 18 and sp 19 packages in R Project Software Version 4.1.0 20 . We overlaid all field polygons over high-resolution imagery from Google Earth (https:// www. google. com/ earth/), and adjusted field polygons to match field boundaries that were visible in the high-resolution imagery 12,21 . We then linked all associated yield and management factors with each polygon, and used the resulting shapefile for all subsequent analyses.  S2). We assessed image availability by searching the PlanetScope API (www. planet. com) for all available images for our study site (Fig. 1) from November 1 to April 15 for each year's growing season. We then visually inspected all available images and selected only those images that were cloud free. Since multiple tiles encompassed our study area, we mosaicked tiles into one image that covered the full study area extent using histogram-matching of overlapping areas in ENVI Software. SkySat imagery were provided as top of the atmosphere reflectance, so we corrected imagery to surface reflectance by stretching histograms to match distributions of each band as seen in cloud-free, surface reflectance corrected Landsat 7 and 8 imagery obtained from Google Earth Engine 22 (GEE). Specifically, images were matched to cloud-free Landsat scenes from the closest available image date, and if a cloud-free Landsat scene was not available within two days of a given SkySat scene, we used a date-weighted average of the histograms from the two closest Landsat scenes before and after each available SkySat date (more details provided in Jain et al. 12 ). All PlanetScope imagery were provided as surface reflectance corrected data, and thus all images were used directly without additional corrections.SkySat and PlanetScope have blue (450-515 nm, 450-515 nm), green (515-595 nm, 500-590 nm), red (605-695 nm, 590-670 nm), and near infrared (NIR, 740-900 nm, 780-860 nm) bands. Using these bands, we calculated the green chlorophyll vegetation index for each image (GCVI) (Eq. 1) as previous studies have shown that GCVI has a linear relationship with the leaf area index for wheat 23 .We then extracted the mean GCVI for each field polygon for each image date in all years, and these mean GCVI values were used to create our yield estimation model. We predicted yield using random forest regressions, where each year's crop cut data were used to train individual random forest models for each year (Eq. 2)where crop cut yield (kg/ha) is the observed yield estimated using crop cuts for each polygon, and GCVI 1 to GCVI n are the mean GCVI values for each polygon for each image date (n) within a given growing season. For each year, the estimated random forest model was used on the stacked GCVI raster layer for the respective year to predict yield values. Through previous work, we have found that the models that lead to the highest yield prediction accuracies are the ones that use GCVI data throughout the growing season 10,12 . In particular, it is helpful to have images from the early growing season and near the timing of peak greenness 10 . We used a similar approach in this study, where we used GCVI from all available image dates (stack GCVIs) to predict yield and get similar accuracies to those that we have found in our other yield mapping papers. Though GCVI values from different dates were correlated in some models (Table S3), this does not impact our results. This is because random forest regressions are robust to multicollinearity, particularly for prediction, and we were not interested in identifying the relative importance of each GCVI value, which is more likely to be impacted by multicollinearity 24 . Furthermore, though random forest is robust to overfitting, we ensured that our models did not overfit the data by running a fivefold cross validation analysis where we used 70% of the data for training and 30% of the data for testing. We find that prediction accuracies are similar between training and test datasets (Table S4), suggesting that our models are not overfitting the data. However, the random forest yield prediction values did not fall consistently on the one-to-one line when plotting predicted versus observed yield values (Figure S1). Furthermore, percent bias (PBIAS) was not equal to zero (Figure S1), suggesting that there is systematic over or underestimation of yields in each year. Thus, to correct for this systematic bias, we conducted a second step, where we regressed the observed crop cut yields on the random forest estimated yields using a linear regression (Eq. 3).where crop cut yield (kg/ha) is the observed yield estimated using crop cuts for each polygon, RF estimated yield (kg/ha) represents the mean predicted yield for each polygon derived from the random forest model from the first step (Eq. 2), and ε represents the residual error. To calculate mean satellite yield, we took the mean value of all pixels within each field's polygon. We then applied the coefficients from Eq. 3 to the full raster stack to correct predicted random forest yields at the pixel scale across the study site. It is important to note that this correction (Eq. 3) was conducted separately for each of the five years. We validated our satellite yield estimates at the polygon scale by comparing estimated yields after the two-step approach with observed crop cut yields at the field scale (Fig. 2). Accuracy was evaluated using R 2 and root mean squared error (RMSE) on the full dataset also used for training, which is a common approach in satellite yield estimation when there are a small number of crop cut samples available 5,12 .To estimate yield gaps (YG), we subtracted the mean yield (Ymean ) for each polygon from yield potential (Yp) for each year (y; Eq. 4).where YG y equals the yield gap (kg/ha) for each polygon in year y, Yp y represents the yield potential (kg/ha) for all polygons in a given year y, and Ymean y represents the mean yield (kg/ha) for each polygon in a given year y. We defined Yp y as the 95th percentile yield value found in each year's satellite estimated yield raster for the study region after masking out non-cropland pixels using land cover classes from the Global Land Cover product 25 . Previous studies have suggested that such empirically estimated Yp better captures realistic economically-achievable yields that consider real-world infrastructural, management, and economic constraints, which are not well accounted for in modelled estimates of Yp 9 . We calculated Ymean using the mean satellite estimated yield for each polygon for each year, as crop cut yield values were not available for each field in each year.We measured yield persistence in two ways. First, we estimated how consistently fields were relatively high or low yielding by conducting a decile analysis developed in Lobell 9 . Specifically, all 271 fields were categorized intoone of ten deciles based on their yield rank using 2014-15 satellite estimated yields. Keeping each field within its original categorized decile from 2014-15, we plotted boxplots of all yields seen for all fields across all remaining years (2015-16 to 2018-19). If yields are persistent, we would expect there to be little overlap between boxplots across decile values, as the lowest yielding fields would always be low yielding and the highest yielding fields would always be high yielding. However, if there is a large amount of boxplot overlap across deciles, this suggests that there is variability in yield through time. Second, we quantified the percent of yield variation that was persistent through time using methods from Lobell et al. 26 . Specifically, for the highest yielding decile of fields found in 2014-15, we calculated the fields' average anomaly from the study site mean yield in 2014-15. For these same fields, we then calculated the fields' average anomaly compared to the study site mean for all subsequent years (2015-16 to 2018-19). By comparing yield anomalies from 2014-15 with yield anomalies for all remaining years, we gain an understanding of the amount of yield persistence from 2014-15 across later time periods.To understand which factors most influence yield gaps, we conducted random forest regressions where we regressed yield gap estimates for each year on a suite of management, weather, and biophysical variables that have been suggested to be important drivers of yield gaps in the previous literature (Eq. 5). Specifically, for management variables we considered wheat sowing date and the number of irrigations applied, for weather variables we considered average temperature and total rainfall within each winter season, and for biophysical variables we considered soil nitrogen and soil organic carbon.where YG y represents the yield gap (kg/ha) calculated for each year for each field (from Eq. 4), DOS y represents the sowing date of wheat (days since November 1) for each field in each year, Irrigation y represents the number of irrigations (ranging from 1-3) applied to each field during the wheat growing season in each year, AvgTemp y represents the average temperature (°C) for each polygon in each year, Tot_Rain y represents the total amount of rainfall (mm) for each polygon in each year, Nitrogen represents mean soil nitrogen (cg/kg) for each field across all years, Soil_Org_C (dg/kg) represents mean soil organic carbon (SOC) for each field across all years, Plotarea represents area of the field, and ε represents error. We calculated variable importance for our random forest  regression (Eq. 5) by examining the mean decrease in accuracy (%IncMSE) over all out-of-bag cross validated predictions when each variable was permuted.We obtained sowing date and irrigation information from management surveys that were conducted in 2014-15 and 2015-16. Given that we only had management variables available for these two years, we restricted our analyses (Eq. 5) to only these two years. We calculated average temperature using temperature data from Terra Climate 27 ; specifically we calculated mean temperature for each month (November to April) for each year (2014-15 to 2018-19) using the mean of monthly maximum and minimum temperature. We calculated total rainfall as the sum of monthly rainfall from November to April using monthly precipitation data from Terra Climate 27 . Finally, we calculated soil nitrogen and SOC using World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) global raster data 28 . Weather and soil raster data were extracted as the mean value for each polygon using the raster package 29 in R Project Software 4.1.0 20 . More details about each dataset, including their source and resolution are included in TableS6.Finally, we ran simulations to quantify how much yield gaps could be closed if all farmers adopted optimal management strategies. For this analysis, we focused on the two management variables considered in our analyses (Eq. 5), sowing date and number of irrigations applied. To identify what management values were optimal, we examined the partial dependence plots of sow date and irrigation and identified which values were associated with the smallest yield gaps. Partial dependence plots show the marginal effect of each feature on the predicted outcome from our random forest analysis (Eq. 5). Based on the partial dependence plots, we found that a sowing date of November 12 and three irrigations were associated with the lowest yield gaps. In our scenario analysis, we therefore altered all sowing dates to be November 12 and all irrigations to equal 3, and we predicted what yields would be for each field using our random forest model (Eq. 5). To estimate how much yield gain could be achieved, we quantified the difference between this predicted yield value under optimal management and Y mean y . All analyses were done using the Random Forest 30 and partial dependence plot 31 packages in R Project Software 4.1.0 20 .Accuracy of satellite estimated yields at the field scale. Overall, we find that micro-satellite data can accurately map yield at the field scale across multiple years. While accuracies varied from year to year, all years resulted in moderate to high validation accuracies (R 2 values range from 0.68 to 0.85), suggesting good fit with observed yield values (Fig. 2A-E). RMSE values were also moderate, ranging from 272 kg/ha to 410 kg/ha across the five years.Magnitude and persistence of yield gaps. We find that overall yield gaps are large, with an average value of 985 kg/ha across all polygons and all years. This is equal to 33% of mean yield values. The average yield gap varies from year to year, ranging from 543 to 1579 kg/ha (Fig. 3). Considering persistence, we find that yields are somewhat persistent through time and the level of persistence likely varies for low versus high yielding fields. Specifically, we find that there is high overlap in our decile boxplot analysis, particularly for lower decile values (Fig. 4A). This suggests that fields that are the lowest yielding in 2014-15 are not consistently low yielding across the timeframe of our study. There is, however, a positive increase in yields across decile values, and less overlap in boxplots for higher decile bins, suggesting that there is some yield persistence across time, particularly for higher yielding fields. Considering the amount of persistence that occurs for the highest yielding fields, we find that 17% of yield anomalies persist from 2014-15 to later time periods (Fig. 4B). To provide an overview of the yields per year, we have provided the descriptive statistics of yields per year at the field level in Table S5.Drivers of yield gaps and the ability to close yield gaps with ideal management. When considering which biophysical, weather, and management factors drive yield gaps, we find that weather and management variables are the most important factors explaining variation in yield gaps (Fig. 5). Our model shows that amongst all variables considered, sowing date is the variable that explains the most variation in yield gap. Weather variables and plot area are also found to be important explanatory factors of yield gap, with average temperature and total rainfall explaining similar amounts of variation (Fig. 5). These results are robust to the use of disaggregated climate data, specifically monthly GDD and monthly precipitation values (Figure S2). Considering partial dependence plots of the management variables considered in our study, we find that later sowing dates are associated with larger yield gaps (Figure S3A) and November 12th is the sowing date associated with the lowest yield gap. Furthermore, yield gaps decrease as more irrigations are applied, with the lowest yield gap seen with three irrigations (Figure S3B). Inputting these ideal management factors (November 12, three irrigations) into our scenario analysis, we find that yields could be increased on average by 414 kg/ha across all fields, which is 42% of the estimated yield gap in this region (Fig. 6). Shifting only the sowing date to November 12 could close the yield gap by 25% and only optimizing irrigation could close the yield gap by 18% (Fig. 6).We find that microsatellite data can accurately map field-level yields in smallholder systems, and these data can be used to understand the magnitude of yield gaps, yield persistence, and the drivers of yield gaps at the landscape scale. This is exciting given that previous remote sensing studies that have focused on yield gap and persistence analyses in smallholder systems have relied on coarser resolution imagery (e.g., Landsat) that are unable to resolve yields at the field scale 12 .Using micro-satellite data, we find that yield gaps are large on average (985 kg/ha), though the magnitude of yield gaps vary from year to year (Fig. 3). Our yield gap estimates are mostly smaller than those found in previous studies for the region, likely because we used an empirically derived estimate of economic yield potential (Yp). Specifically, by using the 95% percentile observed yield as our estimate of Yp, we are identifying the highest yielding field that exists given currently available inputs, soil health, and management practices. Previous studies have largely used crop model simulations or yields obtained from on-farm trials to estimate Yp [32][33][34] . When using crop model simulations or on-farm trials, ideal inputs and management practices are used (e.g., ideal sowing date, ideal input use), leading to a much larger estimate of Yp. For our study region, previous studies that have used modelled estimates of Yp find yield gaps that are about double those found in our study, ranging from 1500 to 2000 kg/ha. Yet such estimates of Yp do not account for existing economic and/or infrastructural constraints in the system that are difficult to alleviate, and thus represent long-term, idealized potentials. It is important to  note that by calculating yield gaps for each year, we are examining the magnitude and causes of yield gaps while controlling for inter-annual variability in weather.Our yield gap estimates are similar to those found in a previous study 10 that used Landsat satellite data to map wheat yield gaps across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). This is likely because this study used a similar approach to quantify Yp and associated yield gaps. Considering yield persistence, we find that yields are 17% persistent in this region, and yields seem to be more persistent for fields with higher-than-average yields. This suggests that systemic factors that consistently vary across farms, such as differences in soil quality and farmer skill, will also need to be addressed to close yield gaps in this region, particularly for the highest yielding fields.When analyzing the drivers of yield gaps, we find that sowing date, plot area, and weather are the factors that most explain variation in yield gap in our study region. Plot area is likely capturing the effect of improved management in larger fields that are typically owned by wealthier farmers 35,36 . The importance of sowing date has been highlighted by previous studies 10,37,38 , with farmers who sow earlier experiencing higher yields. This is because wheat is one crop that is particularly negatively impacted by heat stress that occurs at the end of the growing season during the time of grain filling 39 . If farmers are able to sow their wheat earlier, allowing the crop to mature prior to heat stress at the end of the growing season, negative yield impacts can be reduced 40,41 . We find that if farmers are able to sow their wheat earlier, they will be able to close yield gaps by 25% (Fig. 6). Furthermore, if farmers are additionally able to increase the amount of irrigation they use to three irrigations, yield gaps can be closed by 42%.While this is a substantial amount of the yield gap, it must be noted that the adoption of these ideal management strategies may not be possible for all farmers. Previous studies have suggested that while farmers are aware of yield gains associated with earlier wheat planting, they are often constrained on when they can plant based on irrigation availability, monsoon rainfall patterns, and decisions made in the prior monsoon growing season 38,42 . Several policies may help advance sowing and increase irrigation use across farmers. The first is providing farmers access to low-cost groundwater irrigation, possibly through the promotion of solar pump technologies 43 . There is scope to sustainable increase groundwater use in this region, but farmer use of groundwater is limited due to the reliance on costly diesel pumps 38 . Second, the use of zero tillage has been shown to advance sow date by up to two weeks in the region, and policies that enhance the uptake of zero tillage, such as increased subsidies and the promotion of service providers, could help farmers advance sowing date 38,44,45 .While our study is, to our knowledge, the first to map yield gaps and persistence in this landscape using microsatellite data, there are several important limitations. First, crop cuts were collected using different data collection protocols in each year (Table S1) and the same fields were not re-measured year after year. This is because we used data that were collected for several different research projects that were managed by different field teams and had different goals. We tested, however, if the method of crop cut used influenced our satellite yield estimates and find that there is no significant effect (Table S7). Second, our study examined a limited number of management variables that may influence yield gaps, namely sowing date and irrigation, and future work would benefit from including additional management strategies that have been shown to be important in the literature, such as sowing method and fertilizer use 21,44 .In conclusion, our study highlights the ability of microsatellite data to map yield gaps, yield persistence, and the drivers of yield gaps in smallholder farming systems at the field scale. We show that our yield gap estimates are for the most part smaller than those reported in previous studies, as we are able to better capture economic yield potential using empirically driven estimates. We find that yields are somewhat persistent in the region, and that yield gaps can be closed by up to 42% if farmers are able to adopt ideal management strategies. To our knowledge this is the first study where microsatellite data have been used to assess yield gaps over multiple years in smallholder systems. While our study is focused in one region of India, we believe that microsatellite data can be similarly beneficial for yield gap analysis in other smallholder systems across the globe. ","tokenCount":"4779"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0348030823.json b/data/part_1/0348030823.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..acf39084740eb2a44ce840109e3a7311aaefb533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0348030823.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"700c55e97865ca0073b17b95afee966a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/884f2043-587f-478c-94f9-d2277dc778de/retrieve","id":"1940894540"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f8a2c79f-0daf-4cab-b06c-6f423a5ce505","pagecount":"19","content":"Como parte de la iniciativa \"AgriLAC Resiliente: Sistemas de innovación agroalimentaria resilientes en América Latina y el Caribe\", en el marco del paquete de trabajo 1, \"Dando forma a las 'mejores apuestas' socioecológicastecnológicas (SET) sensibles a la nutrición\", se ha priorizado el fortalecimiento de las capacidades comerciales y técnicas de los socios y actores clave dentro de la cadena de valor agrícola. Esta contribución tiene como objetivo no solo mejorar la producción, sino también asegurar la sostenibilidad comercial a largo plazo para las asociaciones locales.En este contexto, los paquetes de trabajo 1 y 3 de la iniciativa unieron esfuerzos para dar continuidad a las acciones desarrolladas por el proyecto SLUS, financiado por la Internationale Klimaschutz Initiative (IKI). Estas acciones se enfocaron en la recopilación y análisis de información, así como en el fortalecimiento de capacidades comerciales de dos asociaciones de cacao: Asproabelén, ubicada en Belén de los Andaquíes (Caquetá), y Asoproagro, en La Paz (Cesar). El objetivo principal fue mejorar su potencial para la transformación y comercialización en el mercado.Para ello, se desarrollaron talleres que permitieron a los productores tener una visión integral sobre los procesos de agregación de valor y la comercialización de los productos transformados de cacao en Colombia, así como también se profundizó en los desafíos y las oportunidades para incursionar en nuevos productos y mercados.En esta etapa se concluyó que una de las principales barreras para ambas asociaciones era el desconocimiento y la falta de capacidades técnicas y de infraestructura para la transformación del cacao. En este sentido, nació la idea de darle un valor agregado a la producción a través de un proceso de maquila y un producto con cacao de origen para ser comercializado en principio localmente.En este caso, se decidió elaborar una barra de chocolate con un 60% de cacao, destacando su equilibrio entre sabor y beneficios para la salud. Esta elección responde a las tendencias del mercado que favorecen snacks saludables y sostenibles. Además, se incorporaron sabores locales como la mora y el asaí para resaltar las cosechas propias de las regiones. Por último, las asociaciones recibieron asesoría para definir el precio de venta del producto, así como herramientas de comercialización que les permitieron identificar mercados potenciales y desarrollar estrategias de venta.En consecuencia, para este segundo año de trabajo la iniciativa se dio seguimiento a las prácticas actuales de comercialización de las barras de chocolate, para conocer los avances y desafíos en cuanto a la aceptación del producto, las ventas y las posibilidades de mejora. Esto con el objetivo de evaluar la viabilidad y rentabilidad del negocio.La identificación de las dinámicas actuales para comercialización de las barras de chocolate se realizó de la siguiente forma:• Definición de los objetivos: Identificación de información clave requerida tal como: canales de distribución, clientes, precios, el perfil del cliente, la competencia y las estrategias de marketing.• Diseño de herramienta de recolección: se definió trabajar sobre una herramienta cualitativa para explorar percepciones, comportamientos y estrategias subjetivas de los productores.• Recolección de datos cualitativos: se realizaron reuniones con los miembros de la asociación para indagar sobre aspectos claves de la comercialización de las barras de chocolate.• Análisis de la información: de acuerdo con la información recolectada se establecieron unas acciones que se deben llevar a cabo y que estarán plasmadas en el desarrollo de este documento.La asociación Asproabelén (Asociación de productores agroforestales alternativos de Belén de los Andaquíes) se encuentra ubicada en el municipio de Belén de los Andaquíes en Caquetá y cuenta con alrededor de 53 asociados, 39 hombres y 14 mujeres. Tienen una capacidad de producción de 15 toneladas de cacao seco en grano donde cerca del 30% de la producción es de origen orgánico.Dentro de sus principales desafíos en el año 2024 se encuentra mejorar los rendimientos en la producción, puesto que en este último año han sido muy bajos, y a pesar de que en el mercado se presentan buenos precios de compra, no existe suficiente cacao para la venta.En el 2023 el precio de cacao seco era de COP$ 14.000/Kg y en el 2024 el cacao seco ha alcanzado los COP$ 35.000/Kg. Así mismo la asociación presenta dificultades en el proceso de beneficio, poscosecha, y trazabilidad del cacao. A pesar de que algunos productores cuentan con infraestructura de finca para poscosecha no se ha logrado la estandarización en la calidad del grano de cacao. Este último aspecto es fundamental, en especial si se quiere continuar con los clientes extranjeros con los que la asociación había logrado establecer acuerdos de compra de cacao especial, para noviembre de 2024 se espera el envío de 2 toneladas de cacao especial a una empresa chocolatera en Francia.La asociación Asoproagro (Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios Los Encantos) se encuentra ubicada en el municipio de La Paz y San Diego (Cesar) legalmente constituida desde el 2019. Está conformada por 60 productores, 24 hombres y 36 mujeres, dedicados al cultivo de cacao, el 20% cuenta con certificación BPA. Además del cacao también tienen establecidos otros cultivos complementarios como el plátano, el aguacate y el café Se estima que el área destinada para la producción de cacao es de 1,5 a 2 hectáreas por productor, la siembra se realiza bajo Sistemas Agroforestales (SAF) y se cuenta con una oferta amplia de materiales de cacaos criollos y clones como ICS 39, ICS 60, ICS95, San Vicente 41, FEAR 5, CNCH 12 y CNCH 13, entre otros. En este último año la producción de cacao especial alcanzó las 24 toneladas.Respecto a la comercialización, se efectúa principalmente con dos empresas, la primera es la Compañía Nacional de Chocolates (CNCh) quien compra entre 6 a 8 toneladas de cacao al mes y paga en promedio COP$ 32.495/Kg de cacao corriente.Por otro lado, se encuentra la empresa colombiana Cacao de Colombia S.A.S o Cacao Hunters aliada comercial desde 2022; que demanda cerca de 4 toneladas mensuales de cacao seco especial y paga en promedio COP$ 35.000/Kg por este. Cabe señalar, que muchas veces los productores prefieren venderle su cacao a la CNCh puesto que, para ellos implica menos trabajo en las labores de poscosecha y el precio de compra diferenciado es mínimo entre el cacao especial y el cacao corriente.En la dinámica de venta de las barras de chocolate, se destacó la importancia de la comercialización y las acciones necesarias para posicionar este producto en el mercado local. Para ello, se diseñaron estrategias de marketing que abarcaron desde el producto hasta su promoción. El producto fue creado pensando en un nicho de mercado conformado por consumidores interesados en opciones de alimentación más saludables, con preferencias por sabores intensos. Este segmento valora los productos artesanales, orgánicos o de origen y está dispuesto a pagar un precio diferencial por la calidad y por conocer el origen del cacao.En cuanto a la fijación del precio de venta, se identificaron todos los costos asociados al proceso, incluyendo maquila, diseño, empaques y transporte desde las asociaciones hasta la empresa transformadora. Finalmente, para la plaza y promoción, se seleccionaron sitios estratégicos con un alto flujo de turistas y visitantes, con el fin de exhibir y comercializar los productos de manera efectiva.Después de seis meses de haber iniciado el proceso de comercialización de las barras de chocolate y tras el seguimiento, se identificaron una serie de brechas que han ralentizado el desempeño del negocio. A continuación, se indica las brechas y las oportunidades que presentan para cada una de las asociaciones: Los miembros de la asociación manifiestan ser tímidos y con pocas habilidades de venta, esto limita atraer a nuevos compradores y cerrar negocios. Además, es una desventaja que el porcentaje de jóvenes que participan del proceso de comercialización de las barras de chocolate es bajo, por lo que la comercialización se realiza por medios tradicionales.Identificar personas que tengan disposición y habilidades comerciales para construir un discurso de venta que pueden empezar a practicar en diferentes espacios como ferias y eventos, además fomentar la participación de los jóvenes de la asociación en el proceso de la comercialización de las barras de chocolate, así mismo gestionar la capacitación en manejo de plataformas, fotografía y creación de contenido para redes sociales que permita incrementar las ventas en mercados especializados.A pesar de las recomendaciones iniciales sobre el lugar y la temperatura ideal para la conservación del chocolate (entre 16 y 19ºC), las barras fueron almacenadas en una nevera convencional y en mal estado que hizo que el empaque se humedeciera y se dañara, en total se perdieron 500 cajas.Coordinar con la empresa maquiladora la venta de 500 empaques. Además, encontrar un espacio fresco, seco y alejado de olores que pudieran contaminar las barras de chocolate para su almacenamiento, de ser posible gestionar (con las ganancias de la venta de las barras) la compra de una nevera con regulador de temperatura que permita conservar la calidad del producto.A los eventos que ha asistido la asociación se evidencia la falta de material publicitario para dar a conocer a los clientes interesados más información sobre el producto y detalles de contacto para adquirir el producto. También hay falencias en cómo exhibir el producto en las ferias.Adquirir material para exhibir las barras de chocolate como estantería o mostrador y cajas display para el producto, además crear material publicitario como Flyers o plantillas para redes sociales. En este componente se cuenta con el apoyo de la oficina de emprendimiento del municipio de la Paz.A pesar de encontrar una serie de desafíos, la asociación se encuentra motivada para continuar con el proceso de la comercialización de las barras de chocolate, entre las acciones que han implementado, se destaca la creación de un comité de ventas, conformado por 4 personas, encargadas de la promoción y distribución. Hasta el momento este comité esta activo y está interesado en capacitarse para superar las distintas barreras.En la actualidad, el valor de las ventas supera $1.5 millones de pesos COP, este presupuesto es administrado por el comité y existe un fondo donde se va ahorrando todo el dinero generado por la comercialización de las barras de chocolate. El precio actual de una barra de chocolate es de COP$ 5.000 al por mayor y de COP$ 7.000 por unidad. El empaque actual no refleja completamente la identidad del producto de cacao del Caquetá, carece de información clave para la comercialización como números telefónicos de la asociación para realizar pedidos, esto podría limitar el atractivo y recordación en el mercado. Otro elemento para modificar es el tamaño del logo de Asproabelén, es muy pequeño respecto al resto de elementos gráficos.Buscar asesoría para la reestructuración del diseño del empaque que considere incluir elementos gráficos alusivos a la flora y fauna del departamento y colores que representen la identidad del producto, así como información clara y relevante.A pesar de que existe un comité para la venta de las barras de chocolate (4 personas), en la actualidad solo 2 integrantes están involucrados en la comercialización del producto, lo que limita el alcance y la distribución eficiente del chocolate en el mercado.Incluir a más productores, en especial mujeres y jóvenes, en el proceso de comercialización para diversificar los esfuerzos de venta, aumentar el alcance del producto y mejorar la eficiencia del negocio.En principio se limitó a vender la barra de chocolates entre los mismos productores o entre los familiares, estos se quejaban por el alto precio del producto.Por otro lado, se comercializan en dos tiendas en el aeropuerto (demandan un promedio de 40 barras/mes). No se ha realizado acercamiento a mercados diferenciados como hoteles o restaurantes gourmet para ofrecer el producto y establecer ventas formales y estables.Explorar nuevos canales de comercialización que incluyan mercados diferenciados a nivel regional y nacional para aumentar las ventas y posicionar mejor el producto.En el caso de Asproabelén es importante resaltar que, en los avances encontrados también se conformó un comité de ventas, el cual tiene la función de dinamizar la comercialización de las barras de chocolate y llevar el control del dinero generado por las ventas. En este proceso participan 4 personas, que fueron voluntarias para ejercer este rol. Sin embargo, al momento de evaluar la participación y compromiso se evidencia que solo 2 personas están cumpliendo las funciones del comité.1 Mariana Marines 2 Sandra Patricia Joven 3 Yaneth Andrade 4 Esnever Castro Un aspecto positivo, que ya se considera una ganancia para la asociación, fue la adquisición de una nevera especial para almacenar las barras de chocolate, la cual tuvo un costo de COP $1.930.000. Además, se pagaron COP $980.000 a la asociación por el cacao procesado al inicio del proyecto, todo esto producto de la comercialización de las barras.Es importante señalar que toda la mercancía que se tiene en inventario son ganancias ya generadas para la asociación, además se ha determinado que los recursos generados serán reinvertidos para maquilar un segundo lote. El precio de venta actual es de COP$ 7.000 por unidad y se ha establecido que por compras superiores a 20 barras de chocolate sea de COP$ 6.000 la unidad.Por último, dentro de otros aspectos positivos se encuentra la comercialización de las barras de chocolate en un café de la ciudad de Cali, que hasta la fecha ha realizado dos pedidos con 50 unidades cada uno. Con este cliente se ha dado la facilidad de pago por consignación (pago a 20 días) como estrategia de posicionamiento del producto en el local y para mitigar de alguna manera los gastos en que debe incurrir el cliente por el transporte del producto. Otra de las satisfacciones para la asociación es la puesta del producto en 2 tiendas del aeropuerto, con quienes también hay un acuerdo de pago por consignación.La identificación de las principales brechas que limitan la competitividad comercial de las barras de chocolate permitió reconocer las oportunidades de mejora para las asociaciones Asoproagro y Asproabelén. A continuación, se muestra las estrategias y acciones dirigidas a atender los cuellos de botella definidos por los mismos productores de las asociaciones, en especial por aquellos que hacen parte del comité de ventas para mejorar los índices de ventas, posicionar el producto y tener clientes fijos en mercados especializados.Estrategia 1-Producto:Posicionar la barra de chocolate \"Encanto del Perijá\" como una marca reconocida a nivel regional y nacional que transmita la esencia y autenticidad de su origen, destacando la riqueza del paisaje y biodiversidad del cacao cultivado en esta región. Esta estrategia busca atraer nuevos clientes mediante una propuesta única que resalte los atributos distintivos del cacao local, respaldada por un compromiso constante con altos estándares de calidad y prácticas de manufactura sostenibles y responsables.Continuar con la maquila de producto en Bogotá con una empresa diferente que la escogida en la etapa inicial.Mejorar el almacenamiento de las barras de chocolate.Diseñar cajas contenedoras, ej. 12 unidades.Buscar asesoría para revisar el proceso de registro de la marca de la barra de chocolate ante la cámara de comercio.• Mejorar diseño de empaque e incluir: información de contacto, elementos que representen la asociación y la biodiversidad de la región, también aumentar el tamaño del logo de la asociación.Segundo lote de barras de chocolate.• Espacio adecuado y contenedor especial para guardar las barras de chocolateCajas contenedoras y exhibidoras para eventos.Información sobre los requisitos y pasos necesarios para completar el registro de la marca de la barra de chocolate ante la cámara de comercio, incluyendo la documentación requerida y los costos asociados.Nuevo diseño de empaque.Estrategia 2 -Precio:Implementar una estrategia de precios ajustada que contemple la venta según los costos de producción y el tipo de cliente (al por mayor o al detal), asegurando un margen competitivo y adecuado. Esta estrategia permitirá captar un público amplio y diversificado, maximizando el volumen de ventas y fidelizando distintos segmentos del mercado.Actualizar costos de producción para establecer precio de venta.Implementar precios diferenciales ofreciendo descuentos atractivos a clientes que realicen compras al por mayor, y precios competitivos y accesibles para los clientes que compren en menor cantidad.Nuevo costo unitario de las barras de chocolate.• Control de elementos asociados al costo de producción, es decir, la materia prima, maquila y distribución.• Implementación del esquema de precios diferencial.Estrategia 3 -Plaza:Diversificar y optimizar los canales de comercialización para ampliar la presencia del producto en puntos de venta clave y en canales online para captar distintos segmentos del mercado, aumentando la visibilidad y facilitando la adquisición.Esto permitirá Incrementar las cifras de ventas y conseguir nuevos clientes diferenciales en el mercado regional y nacional.Identificar los mercados para la venta, ej. hoteles boutique, tiendas de artesanías, restaurantes y tiendas de productos naturales.Crear directorio de clientes y agendar visita para presentar el producto.Acuerdos comerciales formalizados con clientes diferenciales.Reunión con gerentes de espacios como hoteles, tiendas de artesanías para ofertar el producto.Estrategia 4 -Promoción:Visibilizar la barra de chocolate \"Encanto del Perijá\" a través de degustaciones en tiendas, eventos y ferias gastronómicas. También diseñar contenido para publicitar en redes sociales destacando los atributos del producto y beneficios para la salud.Participar en ferias y mercados campesinos. Realizar un análisis detallado de los costos de maquila y materia prima en los últimos meses, incluyendo el transporte y otros gastos asociados a la logística de distribución.Definir los precios diferenciales de venta de acuerdo con el tipo de cliente (mayorista o minorista) y frecuencia de venta.Precio de las barras de chocolate actualizado en función de los costos de producción.• Definición de precios diferenciales para mayoristas y minoristas.Corto plazo -2 meses Estrategia 3 -Plaza: Ampliar los canales de comercialización incorporando clientes potenciales de la región y aprovechando medios digitales para promocionar las barras de chocolate, destacando sus características de calidad y valor añadido. Esta estrategia permitirá resaltar las cualidades diferenciadoras del producto, fortalecer la conexión con los clientes y aumentar la probabilidad de fidelización en el mercado.Realizar una lista de clientes potenciales en la región que incluya hoteles, tiendas saludables y tiendas típicas de la región para establecer contacto.• Buscar a través de socios estratégicos como Fedecacao la alianza con mercados potenciales de la región o a nivel nacional para ampliar el portafolio de clientes.Contacto, visita y presentación del producto con clientes potenciales.Alianzas con potenciales clientes a nivel regional y nacional.Corto plazo -6 meses Estrategia 4 -Promoción:Potenciar las ventas de la barra de chocolate en el mercado regional y nacional a través de experiencias gustativas y activación de redes sociales para resaltar la calidad y origen del producto, esto para ir ganando reconocimiento de los consumidores.Participar en ferias, eventos y mercados campesinos para aumentar la red de distribución y ventas.Realizar o llevar degustaciones a sitios estratégicos como hoteles y restaurantes gourmet.Reactivar las redes sociales de la asociación para que Después de realizar el ejercicio de actualización de la comercialización de la barra de chocolate, ambas asociaciones ratificaron su compromiso e interés por continuar en el tema de la transformación y comercialización de productos elaborados con cacao. Para el primer caso la asociación Asoproagro acordó reactivar el comité de ventas y dinamizar sus funciones, así como también se propuso la compra de una nevera contenedora para guardar las barras de chocolate y conservar su calidad. Por otro lado, con el apoyo de la cámara de comercio se busca el rediseño y la mejora del logotipo de la asociación y del empaque y con la oficina de emprendimiento del municipio de la Paz se está a la espera de exhibir las barras de chocolate en su vitrina de productos locales.Entre otros aspectos que se visionan, se encuentran en primer lugar el fortalecimiento de capacidades, esto dado el interés de varias mujeres de la asociación en capacitarse en transformación de cacao para poder elaborar otros productos como chocolate de mesa que ha sido muy solicitado entre la población local, para ello se está buscando con el SENA un curso complementario para transformación de productos a base de cacao.En segundo lugar, la asociación ha visto otras opciones de maquila de barras de chocolate más cercanas, inclusive se encontró una opción con una asociación de cacao en la Jagua de Ibiricó, sin embargo, no se cuenta con la calidad del producto actual, por lo que se decidió continuar con la maquila en Bogotá, pero con otra empresa chocolatera, debido a que la pasada empresa maquiladora incumplió con los tiempos de entrega y la comunicación se tornó difícil.Por último, en este corto tiempo se identifica como una oportunidad para continuar fortaleciendo el tema de la transformación de cacao, la formulación y gestión de proyectos para la adquisición de maquinaria. En este sentido, la asociación Asoproagro presentó ante la Agencia de Desarrollo Rural (ADR) un proyecto para la elaboración de barras de chocolate, este incluyo maquinaria para la transformación, tales como: tostadora, refinadora y una prensa para extraer manteca de cacao. A su vez, la asociación ha identificado con el SENA la oferta de cursos relacionados con la transformación de cacao, por lo que se planea enviar una solicitud formal para impartir esta formación y que beneficie en especial a mujeres y jóvenes de la asociación.Como segundo caso, después de realizar el balance de la comercialización de las barras de chocolate, la asociación Asproabelén enfatizó en que existe mucho potencial para la venta de este producto, esto debido a la buena aceptación de la barra entre los consumidores. En este mismo ejercicio, también se resaltó la importancia de posicionar la barra de chocolate a nivel regional, puesto que visibiliza el trabajo y la calidad de las cosechas de los cacaocultores de Asproabelén.Entre las acciones a implementar a corto plazo se encuentra la maquila de un segundo lote de cacao, sin embargo, al igual que la asociación Asoproagro se está considerando la idea de cambiar la empresa maquiladora, aunque existe el temor de que cambie la calidad o característica de la barra, por lo que se está indagando sobre que otras empresas en Bogotá presentan buenas calificaciones y recomendaciones en el proceso de maquila de productos de cacao.Por último, el comité de ventas de la barra de chocolate de Asproabelén entre sus acciones prioritarias planteó el acercamiento con los gerentes de los hoteles Caquetá Real y Andinos para presentar el producto y ver la posibilidad de colocar en un sitio estratégico del hotel (ej. en la recepción) un exhibidor con las barras para promocionar y facilitar la comercialización de estas, en este aspecto ha sido clave el apoyo brindado por el programa Rutas PDET. Así mismo se resaltó la importancia de la participación de los jóvenes de la asociación para capacitarse y formarse en temas de transformación de cacao y de marketing, esto como estrategia de integración y de generar nuevas formas de empleo en el sector del cacao de la región. Finalmente, los productores reafirmaron su interés en diversificar su producción y comercialización, no solo enfocándose en barras de chocolate, sino también en una variedad de productos derivados del cacao, como bombones, productos cosmeticos, o bebidas artesanales. Además, han expresado su intención de incursionar en el turismo experiencial, ofreciendo servicios de recorridos por las fincas cacaoteras, donde los visitantes puedan vivir de cerca el proceso de cultivo, cosecha y transformación del cacao. Estas iniciativas representan una oportunidad para agregar valor a su producción y fortalecer el vínculo entre los consumidores y las raíces culturales del cacao en la región.Línea de tiempo para implementación de acciones Asproabelen• La comercialización de las barras de chocolate se configura como una alternativa de diversificación del negocio, que, si bien hasta el momento no representa la principal fuente de ingresos de la asociación, es un comienzo de valorizar la producción de cacao. Además, se destaca la motivación e interés de los productores por incursionar y capacitarse en la elaboración y comercialización de productos transformados de cacao.• Es importante mencionar, que para el caso de la asociación Asproabelén ya se presentan ganancias por la comercialización de las barras, así entonces se ha propuesto reinvertir el dinero para continuar con el negocio. Por el lado de Asoproagro es positivo ver como algunos jóvenes de la asociación han comenzado a interesarse e integrarse a la comercialización y promoción del producto, dado que es un tema innovador y les despierta curiosidad las distintas formas de transformación del cacao.• En este periodo de tiempo en el ejercicio de la comercialización de las barras de chocolate, se evidencia una falta de capacidades en temas de marketing y discurso de venta. El desconocimiento del manejo de las redes sociales y sus funciones de venta limitan la comercialización a otra escala y otro tipo de consumidores. Ante esto se recomienda integrar y reconocer a los jóvenes que tienen capacidad y de alguna manera les gusta el proyecto productivo de cacao para que puedan formarse en herramientas digitales y creación de contenido que pueda contribuir a la comercialización del producto.• Para ambas asociaciones, es necesario fortalecer los comités de venta para que cumplan eficazmente con sus funciones. Para garantizar su funcionamiento y eficiencia es fundamental mejorar los procesos de registro y contabilidad. Actualmente, el registro se realiza de forma manual y carece de rigor, lo que dificulta llevar un control exacto de la trazabilidad de las ventas. Además, es importante que algunos miembros del comité asuman la responsabilidad de dar seguimiento a los inventarios y coordinar con los clientes actuales, asegurando un abastecimiento continuo del producto. Esto ayudará a evitar las quejas que se han recibido en ocasiones por problemas en este aspecto.• Hasta el momento la comercialización de las barras de chocolate se ha dado de manera muy territorial, ejercicio que ha sido muy interesante, puesto que entre los mismos productores se está educando sobre el consumo de cacao y sus transformados, inclusive para muchos ha sido impactante descubrir el verdadero sabor del chocolate, puesto que por tradición y por la oferta del mercado estaban acostumbrados a un mayor contenido de azúcar en las barras de chocolate.• Entre las muchas sugerencias hechas por los consumidores y clientes de las barras de chocolate se resalta la importancia de incluir un número telefónico de contacto para hacer pedidos, por esta razón se llegó a la conclusión de ajustar el diseño del empaque para consignar esta información y hacer otros ajustes como incrementar el tamaño del logo de las asociaciones e inclusive cambiar el nombre del producto como es el caso de Asoproagro por presentar posible duplicidad en el registro del nombre. Para ello, las asociaciones buscan apoyo en las oficinas de emprendimiento de sus municipios y con la cámara de comercio, la cual brinda acompañamiento y reforzamiento de emprendimientos en etapa de inicio.• Finalmente, es importante que las asociaciones diversifiquen sus actividades productivas, y una manera de hacerlo es incursionar en temas de transformación de su materia prima con valor agregado, y que además a un mediano plazo puedan contar con su propia maquinaria e infraestructura para la transformación de cacao. Por esta razón es importante, capacitarse de forma constante e integrar a los jóvenes y mujeres para generar capacidades y nuevas formas de empleo que contribuyan a mejorar la calidad de vida de los cacaocultores.• Al igual que no se debe descuidar la parte productiva, porque finalmente será la base para producir y elaborar productos terminados de calidad, así mismo se debe continuar y reforzar las capacidades de comercialización, en especial de los miembros pertenecientes al comité de ventas, para que puedan generar nuevos canales de comercialización en especial en mercados diferenciados, donde es apreciado este tipo de productos realizados por pequeños agricultores. ","tokenCount":"4516"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0351951349.json b/data/part_1/0351951349.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f833ba5f508d4aa8b5c61dfd9cef272a37818be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0351951349.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cb67496988587a83519d5abb44ac862d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cc06a62e-846d-48d2-a6e0-18e42477a428/retrieve","id":"125475960"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a3d59b9-909d-40e1-b6b3-f68feed70a5a","pagecount":"1","content":"Estimate the potential market for new hybrid forages of Urochloa and Megathyrsus maximus, which are being developed by CIAT, for East Africa.Of the six countries with the largest dairy herd in Africa, five are in the east of the continent. They are home to about 32 million cattle (FAO, 2022).Hybrid forages adapted to cut-and-carry systems are necessary for the productive systems that prevail in Africa (Maass et al., 2015).Adoption of improved materials is still very low in the region (Creemers et al., 2021).The prevalence of severe food insecurity in East Africa is 27.7%, which is above the African average of 24% (FAO, 2022).Thus, new forage hybrids being are a real alternative to face food insecurity and, in general, to provide livelihoods for the most vulnerable population.Secondary data on cattle heads, geographic information systems, and commercial prices of forage seeds produced by companies such as Grupo Papalotla (FAO, 2022;Oliphant et al., 2019;Grupo Papalotla, n.d.).Through production assumptions consulted with experts, geographic profiling of forage areas, and geometric averages of seed prices, potential market sizes (ha) and values (US$) of hybrid forages were estimated. This was done for two forage species, namely interspecific Urochloa and Megathyrsus maximus hybrids.  ","tokenCount":"195"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0353984987.json b/data/part_1/0353984987.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..94397ea38fc106e10bd075929d0cfe11fe5082ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0353984987.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b7a62cb263d304aecfab3f8c20ebbd1d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/358b4ab3-3f92-40f2-a9ba-806284b59029/retrieve","id":"-1330970641"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a304995f-d11c-4a85-b6fe-c403c0e8b0c1","pagecount":"4","content":"Governments and donors have challenged crop breeding programs led by CGIAR and national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) to show the opportunity for impact from investments. Building evidence on the opportunity for impact requires data and insights on the two sides of crop breeding: the business viewand the biological view. Read More →In Kenya, most farmers produce maize under rain-fed conditions and purchase hybrid maize seeds on an annual basis. Two factors are especially important in their decisions on which seed to acquire: where the production takes place (i.e., level of rainfall and altitude) and when it takes place (i.e., long-or short-rains season). Read More →Agnes Gitonga, Clare Mukankusi A key factor that in uences common-bean farmers' decisions on which seeds to acquire and grow is consumer requirements for color and size. In the eight criteria used by Market Intelligence for seed product market segmentation, color is a criterion and size attributes are recognized in the consumer use criterion. Read More → ","tokenCount":"163"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0365255203.json b/data/part_1/0365255203.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6ec851a2972278d3408f8a60514c09539a0f2c0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0365255203.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5bc419d65fb781167d67b457465bbfa7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1714283b-c7d0-4498-9012-0d0b14382518/retrieve","id":"-649907358"},"keywords":["Workshop participants and Rabat. Credit: Bioversity International/I.L.Noriega","M.Halewood Bioversity International Headquarters Via dei Tre Denari","472/a 00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino) Workshop participants. Credit: ICARDA/A. El-Mansouri"],"sieverID":"d019fe04-f177-4de0-8c44-128efe549bc1","pagecount":"15","content":"We deliver scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security. We work with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural and tree biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and climate change adaptation.Bioversity International is a CGIAR Research Centre. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future.The workshop was designed to increase participants' understanding of how international laws promoting the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources and benefit-sharing can apply to the day-to-day management of genebanks, plant breeding programs and other forms of agricultural research and development. Given the direct relevance of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Report on the 'Workshop to strengthen the capacity of scientists from CGIAR Centres and NARS to deal with genetic resources policy issues ', 27-30 November 2017, ICARDA, Rabat, Morocco. 4 Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) to these activities, the workshop focussed on boosting participants' capacity and confidence to proactively engage in the ITPGRFA's multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing, and to use the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) as both providers and recipients of genetic resources and related information. Because it is also true that national laws implementing the Nagoya Protocol may govern some activities of genebanks and breeding programs, the workshop sought to increase participants' appreciation of how to comply with Nagoya Protocol, and when the ITPGRFA or the Nagoya Protocol applies in different situations. Another, related objective of the workshop was to promote mutually supportive implementation of the ITPGRFA and the Nagoya Protocol at national levels, in ways that provide much needed policy support for genebankers, breeders, farmers and agricultural research and development more generally. Where relevant, the workshop sought to clarify the differences in how the ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol apply to CGIAR Centres, national agricultural research organizations, farmers and companies.The first session of the workshop was dedicated to building-up participants' common understanding of a range of 'baseline' issues, including the rational for the development of the ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol, and their current state of implementation. This session also provided an overview, in very general terms, of how the ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol apply to the work of national agricultural research organizations and CGIAR Centres as they conserve crop, forage and tree genetic resources, and engage in plant breeding and other forms of agricultural research and development. Information was shared about the ongoing discussions for the reform of the ITPGRFA's multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing. There were presentations from representatives of the Secretariat of the ITPGRFA and the CBD, and National ITPGRFA Focal Points from Benin and Morocco.The second, third and fourth sessions of the workshop focused in more detail on how the ITPGRFA, Nagoya Protocol and related national laws can support or create challenges for the daily operations of genebanks, plant breeders, and researchers in CGIAR Centres and national agricultural research programs. These sessions also considered the complementarity and interplay of access and benefit-sharing laws with the CGIAR's own Guiding Principles for the Management of Intellectual Assets, and with the standard operating procedures that CGIAR Centres' genebanks are developing as part of their Quality Management Systems. In this context the workshop focused considerable attention on how CGIAR Centres and national organizations transfer and receive so-called Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture under Development.Each of these three sessions started with presentations by genebank managers, plant breeders and/or research managers about how their work was being impacted by relevant laws and policies. They also identified situations where they were uncertain how the laws applied, and how to make practical decisions. These presentations were followed by lively question and answer sessions wherein participants compared experiences, raised more questions, and worked toward common understandings of outstanding issues.The participants were divided into small groups to work through pre-scripted scenarios. The scenarios were designed to 'tease out' practical ways to address uncertainties about how the ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol could apply to genebanks, breeders, and farmers when the access, use or transfer plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The participants compared and discussed the results of their small group analysis results. Expert resource persons provided guidance where the small groups raised unanswered questions.The fifth session of the workshop was dedicated to looking at the interplay of ABS laws, and national intellectual property and seed laws and the CGIAR IA Principles when national research organizations use improved lines received from CGIAR Centres for the development and release of new cultivars.The final session focused on how the work of national agricultural research organizations and CGIAR Centres can promote farmers' rights as articulated in Article 9 of ITPGRFA.Throughout the course of the workshop, the resource persons introduced published background materials, decision-making tools and fact sheets in French that the participants could use in the future when faced with similar sorts of 'real life' scenarios in their daily work.It was really useful to have this workshop in French. Most of the CGIAR meetings about the genebanks and genetic resources policy are in English, so lots of us who are not English mother tongue don't ever fully understand all of the concepts. This is the first time in years I really have full clarity about many of these policy issues.Amy Bodian, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles-Ceraas/Coraf, Thiès (Senegal)A lot of time we do our jobs without fully understanding the international policy framework. I have a much better understanding about those laws and policies now, and am confident I will be able to direct our operations in future to be in compliance and advance the goals of those agreements in ways that also support our mission.Fatimata Bachabi, AfricaRice, Cotonou (Bénin) I wish that in the coming years, we will have a website we can go to that includes all possible scenarios addressed by experts. That would really help our decision making.Jilal Abderrazek, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Rabat (Morocco)Inspired by their experiences working together, the participants decided to form a network to share questions, experiences and resource materials over the years to come. Furthermore, the small groups' answers to some of the practical exercises will be used to develop additional 'scenarios' to be included in future editions of Mutually supportive implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and the Plant Treaty: Scenarios for consideration by national focal points and other interested stakeholders that has been developed by Bioversity International, the ABS Capacity Development Initiative and the Secretariats of the ITPGRFA and the CBD.The workshop agenda, list of participants, scenarios addressed by small groups, and resource materials shared during the workshop are included in annexes to this report. This is one of a series of workshops organized by the Genebank Platform Policy Module for scientists and research managers from CGIAR Centres and national agricultural research and development organizations.Photo: Amy Bodian (Ceraas/Coraf), Sanogo Diaminatou (Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles), Catherine Ky Dembele (ICRAF). Credit: Bioversity International/M. Halewood It was a good opportunity for us, tree scientists from ICRAF and national research organizations, to understand how all the relevant laws and policies affect our daily work on tree resources conservation and distribution. ","tokenCount":"1184"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0365758969.json b/data/part_1/0365758969.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6f34b94f1f23f663f40d47e26b7590341806d03d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0365758969.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a27df18ef2e083838c64ea0540c2878","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dfa3ec9d-3d49-4598-a557-1b86f1b7dbe6/retrieve","id":"-658139952"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f11db0b2-4b8b-4002-97f0-3609fad6fe6a","pagecount":"76","content":"Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, and the Agroecology Coalition led the co-design and engagement process to develop this document. It is intended for use by authors and partners to stimulate discussion about critical issues related to food systems transformation through agroecology and biodiversity, and to help guide collective action. Authors have chosen to make it available to the broader community to contribute to the discussion about sustainable food systems reform, and for use by governments looking to incorporate sustainable food system practices into their national biodiversity strategies. It constitutes the work of independent authors; any views expressed in this document do not necessarily represent the views of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food members.Figure 1.1 -Structural drivers of biodiversity loss linked to unsustainable food systems Figure 1.2 -Agroecology: An approach for sustainable and equitable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition Figure 1.3 -How agroecology contributes to (agro-)biodiversity conservation across different components of farming system Figure 1.4 -How agroecology contributes to biodiversity conservation across diverse landscapes Figure 2.1 -How agroecology intersects with the GBF targets Figure 3.1 -Post-GBF NBSAPs (January 2023 to July 2024) Figure 4.1 -Agroecology intervention areas to achieve GBF national targets Figure 4.2 -Aligning targets related to agroecology and pesticides in the CBD and GFC Figure 5.1 -Means of implementation: Five cross-cutting levers Tables Table 1.1 -Linking the FAO Council 10 Elements of Agroecology and HLPE 13 Principles of Agroecology Table 2.1 -List and definition of 18 nature's contributions to people (NCP)• Chapter 1 is the starting point for those new to agroecology. It provides an essential introduction to agroecological principles and their relevance to biodiversity conservation, setting the stage for more in-depth discussions. If the reader is well versed in the concept and its background, we suggest moving to subsequent chapters.• Chapter 2 builds on the understanding of agroecology and elaborates on the connections of agroecological approaches and the GBF. It bridges the gap between agroecology and GBF targets, demonstrating the advantages of using this approach within NBSAPs.• Chapter 3 offers a detailed guide for mainstreaming agroecological thinking into the NBSAP mission, vision, biodiversity assessment, and formulation process.• Chapter 4 introduces intervention areas to support a food system transition through the mainstreaming of agroecology in NBSAP actions.• Chapter 5 highlights the enabling processes that facilitate implementation of the agroecological transitions to achieve NBSAP national targets.Food systems are closely connected to biodiversity, and the realization of many of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets depends on transforming food systems. When designed well, food systems can simultaneously contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, accelerating conservation and restoration of degraded land and water ecosystems, ensuring diversity of genetic resources, and maintaining and enhancing agrobiodiversity to bolster climate change adaptation and resilience.There is increasing recognition that agroecology offers a promising integrated and holistic approach to designing and implementing food systems that work for biodiversity. Indeed, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 directly recognized the importance of agroecological food systems by including it in GBF Target 10: Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry. This has also been reflected in the political and technical prioritization of parties in the update of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs); as of August 2024, 9 out of 13 post-COP15 NBSAPs submitted to the CBD explicitly include agroecology within their national objectives.These developments reflect how addressing food systems has emerged as a frontier for policy action over the past decade to overcome siloed, sector-specific approaches. Yet, the integration of agroecology in NBSAPs is not straightforward, and the following questions arise:• How do the linkages between agroecology and the GBF go beyond Target 10?• How can countries systematically integrate agroecology within their NBSAPs?• Which intervention areas and concrete measures can be leveraged to reinforce national biodiversity action through an agroecological transformation of our food systems?• Which means of implementation need to be considered to successfully deliver results across these intervention areas?This Guidance aims to provide policymakers and food systems advocates with answers to these questions.Agroecology, as an approach based on the agreed 13 Principles of Agroecology and 10 Elements of Agroecology, 1 offers a comprehensive pathway for countries to fulfill their commitments under the GBF and to realize the CBD's vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050. Agroecology's emphasis on the whole food system (rather than solely production) and on social values (including farmer agency, rights, and livelihoods equity) arguably makes it the most transformative food system approach. The GBF and agroecology also share foundational principles, as both frameworks underscore the importance of participation, governance, fairness, and transparency. Targets within the GBF, including Target 13 (Fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources) and Target 18 (Reduce harmful incentives), resonate with agroecology's call for more sustainable and equitable food systems.This Guidance outlines three critical opportunities for policymakers developing NBSAPs:1. Embrace a food system approach and mainstream agroecology across the entire NBSAPsThe full benefits of agroecology can only materialize if countries mainstream it as a food system approach throughout the formulation of their NBSAPs. More concretely, this means formulating mission and vision statements that articulate a future where food systems are major contributors to the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity. These statements also are an opportunity to recognize the importance of agroecology in delivering on multiple GBF targets and co-benefits on nutrition, health, economic stability, climate mitigation and adaptation, and environmental sustainability. NBSAP assessments of the current state of food systems and biodiversity action must be holistic, recognizing both direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, namely industrial food systems that heavily rely on synthetic inputs, monocropping, excessive tillage, and have limited connection to local food practices. In addition, the active participation of various food system stakeholders -including agroecology actors, rights holders, suppliers, producers, consumers, financial institutions, and other relevant parties -is essential to ensure NBSAPs are the fruit of co-creation and transdisciplinarity.Agroecological interventions cover various aspects of food system transformation, from production to consumption, including supply chains, processing, and market incentives. These interventions not only support countries delivering on Target 10 but also help address all three official target clusters of the GBF:• Target cluster 1: Reducing threats to biodiversity -Agroecological measures can maintain, conserve, restore, and enhance the ecological and social processes that underpin ecosystem integrity, for example by transitioning from agrochemical to biological inputs and natural cyclesbased farming.• Targetcluster2:Meetingpeople'sneedsthroughsustainableuseandbenefit-sharing -Agroecological interventions empower farmers and food providers to protect, nurture, and enhance biodiversity and be rewarded fairly, while also promoting circular economy principles and strengthening regional food systems.• Target cluster 3: Tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming -These efforts prioritize marginalized groups -such as smallholder farmers, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities -who are pivotal in biodiversity conservation. Additionally, agroecological approaches promote sustainable, healthy diets and consumption, and foster knowledge co-creation and exchange.To support agroecological interventions, policies should establish incentives for profound and systemic changes, as well as redirect food system actors away from harmful practices. Policies can also facilitate knowledge exchanges and transfers, support market development, and balance equity and efficiency outcomes, among other important enabling factors. However, for these policies to truly drive impact, strengthened financing models are essential. Transformative financing for biodiversity and agroecology must not only increase funding flows but also address issues of justice, historical legacies and ecological debt that shape financing institutions, flows, and arrangements. Institutional capacity for designing, implementing, and monitoring NBSAPs is another key lever for success. In practice this means strong institutions, skilled personnel, and the right tools and methodologies to plan and execute comprehensive biodiversity strategies.Inclusive processes are equally important, ensuring vital food system actors are actively involved throughout the NBSAP journey. Last but not least, to track progress effectively, NBSAPs' national indicators should be adapted to reflect the elements and principles of agroecology and show how they contribute to the GBF headline and component indicators.As countries update their NBSAPs, this Guidance is a call to action for Parties to the CBD to develop sound and comprehensive plans that leverage agroecology's ability to address the biodiversity crisis. An agroecological approach enables synergies across a range of national commitments, including to the Rio Conventions (CBD, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change -UNFCCC, UN Convention to Combat Desertification -UNCCD), the SDGs, and national pathways to sustainable food systems. By embracing agroecology, countries can align their food systems to yield co-benefits for climate adaptation and mitigation, food security, health and nutrition, ecosystem resilience, sustainable livelihoods, social cohesion, preserving cultural heritage, and protecting human rights.Tackling biodiversity, climate, and ecological collapse requires a laser focus on transforming food systems -from production to consumption -and now is the moment to do so. We hope this Guidance helps to do just that.Development of a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAPs) that integrates an agroecological food systems lens begins with understanding agroecology, the principles of agroecology and how these relate to food systems, biodiversity, NBSAPs, and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets. Part I of this Guidance introduces agroecology, its main benefits for biodiversity (Chapter 1), as well as the many synergies that can be leveraged by Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) parties when updating and implementing their NBSAP to align with the GBF (Chapter 2).AGROECOLOGY: A TRANSFORMATIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY1 -WHAT IS AN NBSAP?An NBSAP is the primary instrument for achieving implementation of the CBD. Parties to the CBD are obliged to develop an NBSAP to reflect a country's ambition and related plans to achieve the objectives of the CBD at the national level. The primary objective of an NBSAP is to integrate consideration of the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources into national decision-making, and mainstream issues across all sectors of the national economy and policy-making framework.In 2022, Parties to the CBD committed to revise their NBSAPs to align with the GBF. For more information on NBSAPs, see CDB's website and Article 6 of the Convention.\"By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.\"The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15), held in December 2022, signified concerted action to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis and its significant consequences for the planet. Parties adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a comprehensive package of goals and targets aimed at reducing biodiversity loss, transforming societal relationships with nature, and supporting the 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature. To meet the objectives of the GBF, parties committed to revising their NBSAPs to align with the 23 targets of the GBF. As such, NBSAPs serve as the principal strategic planning document for outlining national biodiversity conservation objectives and the actions necessary to achieve them (see Box 1.1).Food systems are closely connected to biodiversity, and achievement of many of the GBF's targets depend on their transformation (see Box 1.2). Existing food system models that take an industrial approach (monoculture crops, reliance on chemical and other inputs for maintenance, limited connection to local food practices and/or food culture, etc.) are a primary driver of ecosystem collapse, biodiversity loss, soil pollution Chatham House defines \"food systems transformation\" as fundamental changes to: food production (in terms of what is produced, where it is produced, and how it is produced); food consumption (both in terms of changing how much is consumed and what is consumed); food loss and waste (in terms of substantial reductions at all stages of the food system); market incentives (to align with fundamental shifts in production and consumption); and food trade stipulations (to align with fundamental shifts in production). 3 In addition, food processing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and retail are all important components of food systems transformation.Industrial agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity loss through land conversion and harmful intensification processes (e.g., heavy reliance on synthetic inputs, monocropping, excessive tillage, etc.), but also indirectly through increased climate vulnerability and land degradation. 4 According to IPBES, 75% of the planet's land surface is significantly altered; 66% of the ocean has experienced serious negative impacts; and more than 85% of wetlands have been lost. Furthermore, the global industrial food system is responsible for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions and uses 70% of fresh water. 5 At the species level, current agricultural systems are a threat to 86% of the 28,000 threatened wildlife species worldwide, 6 whereas agricultural biodiversity is also in decline. In the last century, we have lost most of the world's crop and animal genetic diversity. Currently, only 12 plants and 5 animals make up 75% of the world's consumption, with just 3 crops (wheat, rice, and corn) accounting for more than half of the world's staple foods. 7 The expansion of industrial agricultural systems has been driven for more than 50 years in the Global North, and in past years increasingly in the Global South, through \"visible,\" \"hidden,\" and \"deep\" systemic drivers. For example, Agroecology offers the innovative and synergistic approach needed to effectively implement the GBF. Among many benefits, it supports ecosystem resilience, 9 protects and enhances ecosystem function and services, 10 supports climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, 11 maintains and enhances agrobiodiversity, 12 and protects and restores soils. In addition to conserving and maintaining biodiversity, evidence from around the world has shown that agroecological transitions yield many social, environmental, and economic co-benefits for sustainable development. They result in a cascade of positive impacts to food systems for producers and consumers that range from stabilizing yields, improving crop resilience, generating higher incomes and improving livelihoods to promoting equality and social cohesion, the inclusion of traditional food practices, and improving nutrition and food security. 13 Agroecology directly supports the right to adequate food and the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.An agroecological policy approach enables synergies across a range of national commitments, including to the Rio Conventions (CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD), the SDGs, and national pathways to sustainable food systems. 14 through policies and economic structures aiming at producing more food at ever-lower costs. This has created so-called \"lock-ins\" (e.g., land tenure models, heavy investments in mechanical infrastructure, dominance of powerful actors along the food value chain), making a transition to sustainable approaches, such as agroecology, increasingly difficult. 8 The FAO defines agroecology as \"an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems. It seeks to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment while taking into consideration the social aspects that need to be addressed for a sustainable and fair food system. 15 Agroecology is \"integral to FAO's Common Vision for Sustainable Food and Agriculture\" and \"is a key part of the global response to this climate of instability, offering a unique approach to meeting significant increases in our food needs of the future while ensuring no one is left behind. 16 It addresses the need for socially equitable food systems within which people can exercise choice over what they eat and how and where it is produced. 17 10 BOOSTING BIODIVERSITY ACTION THROUGH AGROECOLOGY * See 163rd session of the FAO Council document and its official approval.There are many converging points between agroecology and other concepts/approaches, such as regenerative and organic agriculture, permaculture, biodiversity-friendly practices, natural farming, naturepositive and climate-smart agriculture, nature-based solutions, and conservation agriculture. However, agroecology emphasizes the whole food system (rather than solely production) and social values (including farmer agency, rights, and livelihoods), which makes agroecology widely recognized as a truly transformative food system approach. 19 The FAO Council, reflecting approval from 197 member states, recognized the importance of agroecology in 2019 at its 163rd session, where it approved the 10 Elements of Agroecology as a living document. * In the same year, the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) elaborated a consolidated list of 13 Principles of Agroecology, 20 which complement and are highly aligned with the 10 Elements of Agroecology (see Table 1.1). Both frameworks are widely used to guide agroecological actions and transitions.-Declaration of the International Forum for AgroecologyAccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Agroecology Knowledge Hub, the agroecological approach encompasses \"a science, a set of practices, and a social movement and has evolved as a concept over recent decades to expand in scope from a focus on fields and farms to encompass the entirety of agriculture and food systems. It now represents a transdisciplinary field that includes the ecological, socio-cultural, technological, economic and political dimensions of food systems, from production to consumption.\"  Farm, agroecosystem 6. Synergy. Enhance positive ecological interaction, synergy, integration, and complementarity among the elements of agroecosystems (animals, crops, trees, soil, and water).Farm, agroecosystem 7.Economicdiversification. Diversify on-farm incomes by ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater financial independence and value addition opportunities while enabling them to respond to demand from consumers.Secure Social Equity/Responsibility 8.Co-creationofknowledge. Enhance co-creation and horizontal sharing of knowledge including local and scientific innovation, especially through farmer-to-farmer exchange.Food system Food system 10. Fairness. Support dignified and robust livelihoods for all actors engaged in food systems, especially small-scale food producers, based on fair trade, fair employment, and fair treatment of intellectual property rights.Food system 11. Connectivity. Ensure proximity and confidence between producers and consumers through promotion of fair and short distribution networks and by re-embedding food systems into local economies.Farm, agroecosystemStrengthen institutional arrangements to improve, including the recognition and support of family farmers, smallholders, and peasant food producers as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources.Farm, agroecosystem Food system 13. Participation. Encourage social organization and greater participation in decision-making by food producers and consumers to support decentralized governance and local adaptive management of agricultural and food systems.Source: UN Committee on World Food Security, High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE), Agroecological and Other Innovative Approaches.The 13 Principles of Agroecology can be organized into different incremental or transformational levels (see Figure 1.2), can be applied at different scales from the farm to the field (see Table 1.1, right column), and can be clustered around three overarching values of sustainable food systems:1. Improvingresourceefficiency: Principles Recycling (1) and Input reduction (2).Principles Soil health (3), Animal health (4), Biodiversity (5), Synergy (6), and Economic diversification (7).Principles Co-Creation of knowledge (8), Social values and diets (9), Fairness (10), Connectivity (11), Land and natural resource governance (12), and Participation (13). The Elements and Principles are meant to be a comprehensive guide for policies and practices, rather than applied individually or selectively. For example, an exclusive focus on the principle of Input reduction without equal consideration of the principles of Co-creation of knowledge or Fairness may lead to inequalities in supply chains.There is an increasing cognition of the need to transform our food systems and that agroecology holds so much promise and potential to do so. The United Nations Summit on Food Systems (UNFSS), held in September 2021, focused attention on the need for concerted action to rethink food systems. This resulted in the creation of the Agroecology Coalition. Building on the ever-growing agroecology movement, the Coalition was set up with the objective of accelerating the transformation of food systems through agroecology while addressing multiple challenges simultaneously, including biodiversity loss. The Coalition currently includes more than 50 national governments, 2 sub-national governments, 3 regional commissions, and more than 250 organizations from different stakeholder categories (e.g., NGOs, farmers organizations, research centres, philanthropy, donors, international and UN agencies, SMEs, etc.). Across the supply chain, from production to consumption, food systems generate enormous impact on our natural environments and on planetary health. * The evidence has clearly established that agriculture and land-use changes are main drivers of biodiversity loss 22 and climate change. 23 Furthermore, it is well known that the current global food production model shapes access to food, the quality of nutrition, and food behaviours in ways that contribute to unhealthy diets and malnutrition in all its forms. 24 Public health challenges from food systems are astounding -billions of people suffer from a form of malnutrition, lack access to a healthy diet, and suffer from overnutrition. 25 The FAO estimates the annual hidden costs of the global agrifood system -in terms of emissions, water use and pollution, land-use change, unhealthy dietary patterns, undernourishment, and poverty -are a staggering USD 12 trillion (or USD 35 billion per day). 26 While industrial food systems are driving biodiversity loss, biodiverse small-scale farms and landscapes managed by Indigenous Peoples, smallholders, and traditional communities are at the forefront of conserving and sustainably using agroecological principles in practice. 27 At the same time, they produce the majority of the world's edible food working with nature rather than against it (see Case 1.1). Diversity of plants, animals, and other living organisms is the lifeline of our food system and key to resilience in climate change adaptation. It is these local communities who safeguard sophisticated knowledge and practices of agricultural biodiversity in situ -that is, in their fields, landscapes, pastures, seeds, forests, and waters. They play significant roles particularly in protecting the heterogeneity and variety within species (also known as \"intra-specific biodiversity\"). This intra-specific diversity is crucial because it provides the genetic resources needed to adapt crops and livestock to changing environmental conditions, pests, and diseases. 28 Biodiversity thrives when it is sustainably used. Through their practices, experience, and innovation, these local actors nurture and sustainably use, produce, and support food systems containing biodiverse resources that provide energy, fodder, medicine, shelter, and livelihoods for their communities while supporting food security and climate adaptation efforts. 29 Innovative approaches that synergistically support climate change adaptation, food system resilience, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and health and nutrition are essential. Climate change exacerbates existing challenges with food systems and nutrition-related disease. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that climate impacts on food \"will affect everyone\" and projects more than seven distinct nutrition and food safety risks resulting from changes to agricultural productivity and CASE 1.1 -THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF AGROECOLOGY: CSHEP KENYA Agroecology goes beyond principles related to the biophysical aspects of food production and is practised through social initiatives such as the Community Sustainable Agriculture and Healthy Environment (CSHEP). CSHEP is a community-based organization (CBO) that focuses primarily on training and capacity-building for smallholder farmers, especially women, in Kaijado and Kiambu counties in Kenya. CSHEP's main goal is to educate, train, and support farmers to use sustainable, organic, and bio-intensive * gardening and farming techniques to improve production and earnings, to become food secure, and to safeguard the environment. CSHEP's long-term goal is to encourage smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, to take decisions and actions based on a full understanding of the synergies between livelihoods and the environment. The aim is to foster holistic community development and well-being. Ultimately, CSHEP envisions a farming society able to control, use, and manage local resources prudently for their environmental well-being.• To ensure food sufficiency and security at household level with balanced gender participation;• To protect the environment by promoting ecologically sound farming practice;• To boost income for the rural smallholder farmers through small projects and sale of surplus produce; and• To promote healthy, home-grown diets for the farmers' households and high-quality nutrition for all, including sick and vulnerable children.Local solutions such as the community-based approach implemented by CSHEP is at the core of the social dimension of agroecology, and is crucial in the maintenance of agrobiodiversity.* Biointensive agriculture is defined by the FAO as \"a sustainable organic farming system based on working with the basic elements needed for life -soil, water, air, and sun -to achieve maximum yields while increasing biodiversity and soil fertility.\"Source: CSHEP.compromised food safety. 30 According to the WHO, the \"role of food systems in driving climate change -and in increasing vulnerability of other ecosystems to climate change -needs to be addressed as a public health concern.\" 31 In 2022, the WHO identified agroecology as one of the important principles for future workstreams on food and agriculture under the UNFCCC. NBSAPs are an important vehicle for aligning food system objectives and targets across environmental agreements and global health plans.  34 At the same time, livestock keepers, pastoralists, and family farmers have bred 8,800 different varieties of animals and birds used in food and agriculture. 35 In contrast, 60% of dietary calories produced by our industrial dominant food system are derived from genetically uniform varieties of rice, maize, and wheat, resulting in nearly 1 in 3 people suffering from some form of malnutrition. 36 Through agroecology, farmers tailor farm practices -such as diversifying field sizes and integrating trees -to enhance overall plant and animal diversity, continuously optimizing biodiversity impacts and outcomes (see Figure 1.3). Agroecology also contributes significantly to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem health beyond individual farms by enhancing ecosystem functions within agricultural landscapes. The agroecological approach integrates natural habitats, reduces habitat fragmentation (e.g., edge effects * ), and minimizes leakages and runoffs to sensitive areas like aquatic ecosystems. It also preserves essential ecosystem processes such as pollination and nutrient and water cycling. Agroecology bridges and integrates landscapes across spatial scales, by enabling ecological fluxes of nutrients, water, seeds, and animals. In this way, it promotes wildlife corridors and effectively supports human-wildlife coexistence (see Case 4.1). Figure 1.4 summarizes some of the benefits to biodiversity that agroecology provides across diverse landscapes.** The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa defines \"food sovereignty\" as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.Importantly, agroecology promotes food sovereignty ** as a way to build resilience and social cohesion by supporting the rights of family farmers as custodians of the world's agricultural biodiversity, grounded in Indigenous and traditional knowledge (see Case 1.2). Agroecology also incorporates socio-cultural values and political factors into planning, such as the biocultural norms of Indigenous communities, which are critical to strong and sound biodiversity conservation efforts.Numbering over 476 million worldwide, Indigenous Peoples living across over 90 countries and 7 sociocultural regions often reside in sites of impressive biodiversity and possess rich biocultural diversity and knowledge that has been preserved for generations. Biodiversity conservation is an inseparable element of Indigenous cultural diversity, language diversity, spirituality, and cosmogony, and thus their food systems are embedded in a biocentric approach that is intimately tied to nature. 37• Increase overall biodiversity dimensions (e.g., species richness and abundance, as well as ecosystem connectivity)• Increase landscape complexity and suitable habitat for species of local and global importance• Support pollinators and insectivorous communities that are currently in decline• Support ecosystem restoration efforts by improving soils and vegetation cover• Increase connectivity between conserved landscapes• Support food security of communities in buffer areas around these landscapes (e.g., through agroforestry)• Support alternative livelihood options such as ecotourism that can direct more funding toward conservation• Support the sustainable use of species associated to these landscapes by increasing diversity within farming systems * A mosaic landscape is a type of landscape composed of different types of land uses and ecosystems arranged in a patchwork or mosaic-like pattern. This diversity within the landscape includes various elements such as forests, agricultural fields, wetlands, grasslands, water bodies, and human settlements, which are interspersed throughout the area.• Reduce edge effects in natural habitats within the landscape• Support species movement and dispersal through the landscape Peru's Potato Park (Parque de la papa), situated in the Cusco region, exemplifies a unique approach to sustainable land-use and biodiversity conservation. Managed by six Quechua communities, this 10,000-hectare biocultural conservation initiative is a living laboratory for agroecological practices and traditional knowledge. The park is dedicated to the cultivation and conservation of native potato varieties, with over 1,300 distinct types of potatoes grown in the region. This practice not only preserves genetic diversity but also sustains local agricultural traditions and livelihoods. This is in contrast to the enormous genetic erosion led by industrial agriculture, which specialized in a dozen varieties only. By utilizing traditional farming techniques and crop rotation, the communities maintain soil fertility and ecosystem health, ensuring long-term sustainability.Traditional and in-situ conservation of biodiversity in the Potato Park demonstrate that sustainable use areas can effectively contribute to biodiversity preservation. The holistic management of the landscape, integrating agricultural use with biodiversity conservation and traditional knowledge, offers a viable alternative to conventional conservation strategies. This approach ensures that biodiversity conservation is not only about protecting species and habitats in isolation but also about maintaining the cultural and ecological fabric of the landscape.Source: A. Argumendo, The Potato Park, Peru.19 BOOSTING BIODIVERSITY ACTION THROUGH AGROECOLOGY-COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action Support for agroecology through policy, funding, research, and capacity-building has expanded over the last decade. International organizations have increasingly advocated for agroecological approaches, 38 while a wide variety of countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Mexico, Senegal, and Vietnam, among others, have launched or renewed agroecology-related policies and strategies. At the same time, countries in East Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania have launched or are working on their national and sub-national strategies. 39 State-level programs are also taking off around the world. In India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the state government has been supporting the transition of hundreds of thousands of farmers to more agroecological approaches through a program known as Community Managed Natural Farming. Officially launched in 2016, the program now works with more than 600,000 farmers across the state. 40 Funding and international cooperation has improved, including through support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Global Environmental Facility, the European Commission, and private philanthropic institutions such as the Agroecology Fund, which pools funding from more than two dozen donors and many other foundations around the world. In 2023, 25 philanthropies aligned with the Global Alliance for the Future of Food to announce a shared goal of catalyzing a transition to 50% regenerative and agroecological systems by 2040, and to ensure that all agriculture and food systems are transitioning by 2050. 41 This builds on a prolific network of research centres and projects, and a web of thousands of civil society organizations dedicated to promoting agroecology. The Agroecology Coalition, created in 2021, now comprises almost 50 national governments, 2 sub-national governments, 3 regional commissions, and approximately 250 organizations from different stakeholder categories (e.g., NGOs, farmers organizations, research centres, philanthropy, donor, international and UN agencies, SMEs, etc.). 42 Despite significant systemic barriers to mainstreaming and scaling up agroecology (e.g., vested interests that influence policy-making and regulatory environments), momentum continues to build for agroecology in local, national, and international policy-making.NBSAPs.The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) takes a systems and whole-of-government approach that emphasizes the societal dimensions of biodiversity action and human rights, and is highly synergistic with agroecology. This chapter provides pathways for governments to achieve GBF targets using a comprehensive agroecology approach within a food systems perspective.Section 2.1 maps agroecology to the GBF, and Section 2.2 expands on the linkages between agroecology and GBF Target 10 (Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry).Food systems are broadly related to the GBF as well as its component targets. When designed well, food systems can simultaneously contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, accelerating conservation and restoration of degraded land and water ecosystems, ensuring diversity of genetic resources, and increasing agrobiodiversity to bolster climate change adaptation and resilience.Food systems play a direct role in GBF Section I: Reducing threats to biodiversity (Targets 1 to 8). The design of food systems influences spatial planning, conservation, restoration and management of species, chemical inputs and outflows, and the potential to buffer the impacts of climate change.Food systems also play an explicit role in GBF Section II: Meeting people's needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing (Targets 9 to 13). Food systems impact the management of wild species, agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry, and overall nature's contributions to people (NCP), * which includes ecosystem services from air, water, soil, and natural products. Further, food systems have a direct role in the use of genetic resources, digital sequence information, and traditional knowledge. Food systems play an important role in GBF Section III: Tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming (Targets 14 to 22), including for: decision-making, business, consumption and waste (including food loss), biosafety and biotechnology, harmful incentives and financing, capacity-building, access to knowledge, fair participation, and gender equity.Moreover, the GBF aligns closely with the 13 Agroecological Principles identified by the HLPE. 43 Figure 2.1 presents selected elements within each GBF target, as identified by the parties and guidance from the CBD secretariat, and highlights direct linkages to relevant elements of agroecological principles. This correspondence underscores the potential of agroecology to contribute to a majority of GBF targets if integrated by countries within their NBSAPs. Please note that the displayed connections are non-exhaustive. Connections of Target 10 ( ) are not displayed for simplicity, as this target is interlinked to all agroecological principles.    The vast rice-growing areas of the Lower Mekong region harbour aquatic biodiversity that use water bodies and shallow flooded areas embedded in the landscape for shelter, breeding, and food. Through agroecological approaches, rice cultivation and wild fisheries are combined to a \"rice field fisheries\" food systems approach that uses the diverse wild fish, aquatic animals, and plants as a food source. This combined rice-growing and aquatic food harvesting system is prevalent in the rice-growing areas around the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia.Rice field fisheries are particularly important for food security and income of impoverished and landless households, as they are a common-pool resource available to any fisher during the flood season. This has been recognized and included in Cambodia's National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition. 44 Policies such as Cambodia's that support the presence of wild aquatic species in agroecosystems can benefit local food systems, economies, and environments. The sustainability of rice field fisheries in Cambodia requires ongoing engagement between policymakers, investors, and practitioners. To enhance productivity of these rice field fisheries, Cambodia's Fisheries Administration began establishing community fish refuges (CFRs), a year-round aquatic habitat protected from fishing and connected to adjacent rice fields, in 1995.From 2012 through 2016, the international organization WorldFish conducted interventions to strengthen management capacity and practices at 40 of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia, and conducted biological, catch, and consumption surveys to study the contributions of rice field fisheries and CFR management to aquatic species diversity, fisheries production, and local food security. The results revealed that at least 150 wild aquatic species live in the rice field landscape of Cambodia's Tonle Sap Region, including finfish, snakes, frogs, bivalves, prawn, crab, turtle, waterbirds, insects, and aquatic plants. 45 Most of these species are used for food, and harvests can provide more than 60% of the fish and other aquatic animals consumed in local farming-fishing households, and one-third of total inland fish catch nationwide. Wild aquatic plants also contribute indirectly to livelihood and food and nutrition security through their use as feed for livestock. The harvests are processed into food products that can be stored for the future.The Cambodia Fisheries Administration has now established 1200 CFR, and the impacts of continued interventions made from December 2020 to March 2024 measured by WorldFish showed a 14% improvement in fish biodiversity and a 30% increase in fish species, as well as a 20% jump in fish harvested, 46 leading to improved food security and well-being, and demonstrating the strong links between biodiversity and social, human, and economic outcomes.Source: WorldFish, Cambodian Rice Field Fisheries Project.Agroecology can directly and simultaneously contribute to multiple targets. For example, the agroecology principle on land and natural resource governance aims to strengthen institutional arrangements, including the recognition and support of smallholders', family farmers', and food producers' rights as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources. This principle supports the implementation of GBF Target 1 (Plan and manage all areas to reduce biodiversity loss) and GBF Target 22 (Ensure participation in decision-making and access to justice and information related to biodiversity for all). Case 2.1 demonstrates how agroecology can be used to achieve several GBF targets at the same time.Habitat creation and maintenanceThe formation and continued production, by ecosystems, of ecological conditions necessary or favourable for living beings important to humans  Note: NCP highlighted in yellow are supported by agroecological systems.There is a high level of alignment between agroecology and the GBF targets. For example, agroecology principles specifically support 13 nature's contributions to people (NCP  Parties to CBD COP15 directly recognized the importance of food systems in standalone GBF Target 10:Agriculture, aquaculture, forests, and fisheries are the heart of food production systems. This target contains wording that is directly connected to agroecology, and is supported by its principles and practices, namely:• Managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity. See Section 1. • Biodiversity-friendly practices (to increase the positive impacts and decrease the negative impacts of food production on biodiversity). See Figures Agroecology as an approach, based on the 13 Principles of Agroecology and 10 Elements of Agroecology, leads to more sustainable food systems and benefits for biodiversity, as shown in Chapter 1 and Section 2.1 of this document. As such, agroecology connects directly to Target 10 of the GBF and provides an enabling framework for the target's implementation.Achieving GBF Target 10 will contribute to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of food production systems, and to food security, as well as conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature's contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services. At the same time, applying agroecology and using a food systems framing when developing NBSAPs will have impacts beyond Target 10, extending also to support most other GBF targets. Moreover, NBSAPs reinforced with agroecology approaches support implementation of national commitments across the Rio Conventions, especially objectives of the UNFCCC Global Goal on Adaptation. 48 Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity-friendly practices, such as sustainable intensification, agroecological and other innovative approaches contributing to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of these production systems and to food security, conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature's contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services.-Report of the Secretary General, UN Food Systems Summit +2Part II of this Guidance aims to assist National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) focal points and food systems and agroecology actors to develop and implement NBSAPs from a food systems perspective that centres on agroecology. The information provided in the following chapters is derived from peer-to-peer dialogues, discussions at SBSTTA events, and expert interviews (see \"About this Guidance\"). This Guidance outlines how to integrate the 13 Principles of Agroecology into an NBSAP.Part II has three main components: 1) key components of NBSAP development (Chapter 3); 2) intervention areas to achieve GBF national targets (Chapter 4); and 3) cross-cutting levers for implementation (Chapter 5).General information to guide NBSAP development has been compiled in the Appendix.PART II:A quick scan of 43 post-COP10 NBSAPs available online reveals that only 10 countries explicitly mentioned agroecology as a key approach for their biodiversity goals. * These NBSAPs generally focused solely on food production aspects, and on promoting isolated agroecological practices rather than taking a systemic approach. For example, Brazil's 2017 NBSAP revision included agroecology in key actions on various national targets, such as \"expanding the state agriculture-prone area under agroecological practices\" and \"providing incentives for the implementation of projects that apply agroecological practices in Indigenous lands.\" 49 * Based on an online scan conducted by the Agroecology Coalition Secretariat in November 2023.This chapter focuses on incorporating agroecology during NBSAP development in three instances:1. When defining the mission and vision;2. When assessing biodiversity status, trends, threats, and contributions; and3. When designing the process and methodology for formulating and updating.These activities, which can be approached iteratively, are important for identifying specific actions, defining stakeholder roles, and fostering cross-sectoral collaborations necessary for effective target-setting and implementation that can ultimately make our food systems work for biodiversity and people.In national contexts and circumstances where political will is high, the explicit inclusion of agroecology as an approach in an NBSAP is advisable, striving for the highest adherence to each of the 13 Principles of Agroecology (as opposed to only selected individual principles). In some national contexts and circumstances the agroecology concept may not be a good entry point, in which case it is advisable for governments to focus on mainstreaming the 13 Principles of Agroecology within actions and GBF targets related to food systems. For example, support for the development of an organic sector to reduce dependencies on external chemical inputs and increase self-sufficiency could be included in GBF Target 10 as well as under Target 7 (Reduce pollution to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity). Recognition of specific agroecological practices and measures in an NBSAP can enable agroecology actors to receive support for their programs and activities.In post-COP10 NBSAPs, many more countries (52) mention practices that align with agroecological principles, such as promoting agroforestry, integrated pest management, diversification and agrobiodiversity, organic farming, and permaculture. For example, Burundi's 2013-2020 NBSAP includes an action for the \"establishment of systems for safeguarding traditional knowledge of agro-pastoralists to support biodiversity and ensure food security,\" 50 which supports a national target on the preservation of genetic diversity of crops, livestock, and wild relatives.As of August 2024, 9 out of 13 post-COP15 NBSAPs submitted to the CBD explicitly include agroecology as an approach, with some incorporating it into specific goals (see Figure 3.1). Each of those 9 newly include agroecology for the first time. Still, 8 of those are NBSAPs from EU countries that have aligned their measures related to food and agriculture to the EU common policies on agriculture and food, which set explicit targets on agroecology. This is a promising sign, and perhaps reflects how food systems thinking has emerged as a frontier for policy action over the past decade to address the shortcomings of siloed, sector-specific approaches.  To incorporate agroecology, the mission and vision statements of an NBSAP should:• Articulate a future where food systems are major contributors to/enablers of the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity;• Champion a transition to sustainable, resilient, healthy, and equitable food systems as the basis for these contributions;• Identify biodiversity actions that deliver on multiple targets of the GBF, and aim to improve the livelihoods and well-being of actors involved in food systems (from producers and suppliers to consumers and waste managers); and• Recognize the importance of agroecology in delivering on multiple GBF targets and addressing current and future challenges in nutrition, health, economic stability, climate mitigation and adaptation, and environmental sustainability.• Long-termvision: Outline a long-term vision for the relationship between biodiversity and food systems in the country.• Strategic coherence: Align this vision with other national development plans and international commitments that focus on nutrition, health, economic development, financial investment, climate change, food security, food sovereignty, and human rights.• Food system resilience: Emphasize the need to increase resilience of food systems -by diversifying food production and supporting knowledge holders -to counter growing societal, economic, ecological, and political challenges (e.g., recent disruptions in international supply chains, and extreme weather events such as prolonged droughts and flash floods).• Comprehensive and transformational mission statement: Develop a mission statement that envisions biodiversity flourishing across all regions and ecosystems in the country; that emphasizes the urgent need for transformative approaches like agroecology to accelerate strategies for sustainable use, protection of biodiversity, and food system resilience; and that are fostered by local communities.• Integration of agroecology: Integrate the 13 Principles of Agroecology and 10 Elements of Agroecology, and consider the 5 Levels of Transition (see Figure 1.2) to craft a comprehensive vision that considers the multiple and holistic aspects for achieving sustainable, biodiverse food systems.• Multisectoral and multidimensional frameworks: Move away from sectoral frameworks to multisectoral and multidimensional ones, recognizing the role of all food systems actors, including consumers. Recognize that systems' shifts, structural changes, and connections across different sectoral frameworks are needed for a true transition.• Multidimensional approaches: Steer implementation of multidimensional approaches that deliver on multiple objectives and commitments at the national level, including Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans, and National Development Plans, and foster collaboration across agriculture, environment, health, finance, planning sectors, etc. Agroecology is a multidimensional approach to food systems transformation.• Locally contextualized solutions: Encourage actions and solutions that are adapted to local landscapes and seascapes, including their ecological, cultural, social, and economic characteristics, and that promote local adaptive management of agriculture and food systems.• Social processes and resilience: Elevate and champion social processes that enhance sustainability and resilience in food systems, such as co-creation and community-based resource management.• Indigenous knowledge and traditional practices: Recognize, value, and support the fundamental contributions that Indigenous communities make to the sustainable use and protection of biodiversity. These contributions can be promoted through agroecological practices.• Supportfordignifiedlivelihoods: Advocate for dignified and resilient livelihoods for all actors in the food system, ensuring fair trade, fair employment, fair treatment of intellectual property rights, and gender equality. Recognize and support the needs and interests of the most vulnerable and marginalized food actors who play a key role in the sustainable use and protection of biodiversity, such as family farmers, smallholders, traditional food producers, Indigenous Peoples, and traditional food market traders.• Access to diverse, healthy, and sustainable diets: Strengthen the sustainable use of diverse and local products through agroecology to improve the quality and access to healthy diets, especially for those who are more food insecure. An NBSAP should link nutrition, food security, and biodiversity.Assessments of the current state of food systems and biodiversity action must be holistic, recognizing both direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and the interrelationships of food systems with these drivers. The assessment should identify root causes, pressures, and threats while also highlighting multifunctional co-benefits of agroecology.• Connections between biodiversity loss and food systems: Identify the root causes, structural drivers, pressures, and threats perpetuating ecosystem destruction and degradation, and map their relationship to the food system. Understanding how food systems and biodiversity loss are related helps identify when agroecology could provide solutions and when it might not. See Figure 1.1 to understand how agroecological interventions can address root causes and where the limits are. For example, agroecological systems cannot address drivers of deforestation caused by non-food systems, such as logging for valuable hardwoods, pulp, and paper, even if the land is later repurposed for agriculture.• Impact of food systems on biodiversity: Provide information on how the food system impacts biodiversity at the national level, such as effects on genetic diversity, the status of wild relatives, rights and access to Indigenous seed varieties, ecosystems from hazardous agrochemicals, and nutrition. For example, policies focused on economic growth through agricultural commodities for domestic or export markets may lead to habitat destruction, pollution, and overexploitation of resources.• Agricultural landscapes as ecosystems: Include agroecosystems, and not just natural ecosystems, in assessments related to GBF targets on spatial planning, restoration, and conservation. This includes threatened biodiversity-rich agroecosystems, or agriculture landscapes providing critical habitats, including for specific wild species or acting as corridors.• Map Indigenous and traditional food systems and agrobiodiversity (where relevant), including existing knowledge and holistic governance structures, current practices, seed and crop diversity, livestock diversity, nutritional potential, etc. Use tools such as an agrobiodiversity index in these assessments. 51 • Consumption patterns and diets: Evaluate how food culture patterns and trends (e.g., consumption of high ultra-processed foods and industrially produced meat) drive deforestation and habitat loss due to intensive or monoculture crop farming and agro-chemical use. Identify how these same trends impact public health (e.g., exposure to chemicals, imbalanced nutrition). Consider how diets and local foodways, in the context of national circumstances and culture, can reduce pressure on land and water resources, supporting biodiversity's sustainable use and protection, and create actions that support an increase of dietary diversity, nutrition, and food security.• Roleandcontributionofdifferentsectors: Map and coordinate the responsibilities of ministries and sectors to identify areas for collaboration and joint input. For example, if wetland pollution in a particular context is caused mainly by both agriculture and urban waste, actions are then required from both food systems actors and urban waste management sectors. This will be important to set realistic targets and expectations about food system transitions.• Evolution of an NBSAP: Reflect on the evolution of the approach to food systems in previous NBSAPs, including challenges, and shifting or emerging priorities. For example, the inclusion of measures leading to changes in consumption and nutrition aspects, and how agroecology or individual agroecology principles have been incorporated.• Food systems policy and legislative frameworks: Summarize current policies, legislations, measures, and actions at national and subnational levels, as well as institutional barriers related to implementing the GBF with an agroecological approach. For countries with specific agroecology policies, referencing these policies and highlighting their connections to NBSAPs is vital.• Food system actors: Evaluate the level of inclusivity, participation, and protection of the rights of food system actors in relation to biodiversity governance, in particular those actors in vulnerable conditions such as Indigenous Peoples and women in rural communities. Ensure diverse participation from food and health knowledge holders, including those in public health nutrition and health professions.• Scaling up: Assess priority areas for scaling up agroecology within a national context, for example, the organic input sector, agroecological markets, financial investment in agroecology, and institutional and research structures and funding, or gaps in curriculum and training. Summarize reference documents or frameworks that review agroecology in a national context.The participation of various stakeholders -including agroecology actors, rights holders, suppliers, producers, consumers, financial institutions, and other relevant parties -is essential to developing an NBSAP, and a comprehensive agroecological approach at the national level. This process follows the principle of co-creation and the transdisciplinary approach of agroecology.• Understanding agroecology: Raise awareness of agroecology, the 13 Principles of Agroecology, 10 Elements of Agroecology, and their contributions and potential to address biodiversity loss. Share resources across government sectors, including high-level decision makers, and include them in capacity-building activities.• Stakeholder engagement: Engage key agroecology actors across all relevant sectors in consultations, dialogues, and drafting and identification of priorities; in particular, enable the participation of groups with high vulnerability or that have been historically marginalized but often hold vital knowledge of biodiversity, such as smallholder organizations and knowledge holders, including women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Use structured engagement approaches and methods that foster actual and inclusive participation rather than mere consultation. Prioritize holistic co-production and co-design, where possible.• Entry points for participation: Identify appropriate entry points for food system actors who have yet to engage in biodiversity action. These entry points may include innovation, youth entrepreneurship, gender equality and responsiveness, and rights to food and to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.• Inclusive participatory platforms: Consult national and/or subnational participatory platforms such as multistakeholder platforms or communities of practice that can provide key policy insights in relation to the scaling of agroecology. These platforms can facilitate the active participation of agroecology actors in NBSAP formulation and implementation.• Co-creationprinciple:Emphasize co-creation, a core principle of agroecology, throughout the NBSAP development process. Apply this principle to co-design NBSAP development processes, such as identifying national targets for food systems that deliver on biodiversity outcomes. There is often low integration and participation of agroecology and agrobiodiversity actors in NBSAP processes. Ensure that the NBSAP process includes participation mechanisms that are inclusive of all food system actors, from suppliers and producers to consumers and waste managers, as well as health knowledge holders such as those in public health nutrition.• Interministerial collaborations: Connect and exchange with relevant focal points in other ministries to foster inter-ministerial collaboration, specifically those leading agroecological policy efforts in ministries of agriculture, livestock, and/or fisheries, or those key to enabling the implementation of agroecological strategies such as ministries of local governments, finances, or central development agencies. Inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral collaboration is not only important in the integration during drafting of NBSAPs or agroecological policies, but also pivotal in the effective scaling of holistic, transformative approaches such as agroecology.• Policy coherence: Identify existing frameworks such as national agroecology strategies and food systems pathways (or equivalent), and co-design a process to integrate them with NBSAP actions. Identify policies or other incentives that may be incoherent or that undermine each other. Establish dialogues with other ministries and sectors to increase coherence across different policy packages (this can be an area of action or a national target itself).• Implementation planning: Discuss not only the drafting of actions to be included in an NBSAP but also the means of implementation. Consider institutional arrangements, responsible sectors, concrete milestones and timelines with corresponding budgets, and spatial scales for implementation, ensuring they align with agroecological principles and prioritize local and community-based processes and solutions.The primary objective of this chapter is to support the mainstreaming of agroecology in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) by highlighting agroecological intervention areas relevant to the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) (see Figure 4.1). The intervention areas cover various aspects of food systems transformation (see Box 1.2), from production to consumption, as well as market incentives and are organized around the three official target clusters of the Kunming-Montreal GBF:Here the Guidance focuses on agroecological intervention areas that contribute to maintaining ecosystem integrity across various scales and landscapes.The Guidance explores agroecological interventions that enable sustainable use, access, and equitable sharing of biodiversity benefits, and can support viable agroecological systems through fair supply chains, vibrant territorial markets, and thriving local economies.The Guidance addresses opportunities to strengthen equity, rights, governance, changes in consumption, knowledge-sharing, and raising awareness to support agroecology in enhancing biodiversity conservation.For each of these clusters, we provide examples of interventions that can help countries achieve their NBSAP national targets. Additionally, we indicate the relevant GBF targets these interventions contribute to, equipping users with essential information to facilitate alignment with the GBF. In addition, please note that these policy options address and support mainstreaming many elements of GBF Section C: \"Considerations for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.\" See the Appendix.The intervention areas and policy options presented in this chapter are the result of an inductive process that incorporated insights from peer-to-peer dialogues and expert inputs, and that drew on alignment with existing agroecology strategies, such as Tanzania's National Ecological Organic Agriculture Strategy 52 or the strategy of the Agroecology Coalition. 53 While we have focused on presenting the most relevant interventions to the GBF, it is important to note that this chapter does not provide an exhaustive list of policy options within each area. See the Appendix for broader resources on food system policy options.• Agroecological farming: on-farm practices across soil, water, and integrated pest management Source: Authors.There are two primary ways to integrate agroecology into your NBSAP:1. Developaspecificnationaltargetforbringingagroecologytoscale. For example, direct support to agroecological farmers should be complemented by efforts across a range of interventions (as comprehensible as possible) to ensure systemic change, such as strengthening markets for agroecological products as well as local supply chains.For example, for a national target aimed at securing ecological corridors that connect forest ecosystems, the area under agroforestry systems within and around such corridors could be expanded and the number of contextually suitable tree species with high-quality germplasm and appropriate management systems could be increased.Both scenarios for alignment should include multiple intervention areas to ensure a holistic and impactful integration of agroecology within NBSAPs. In the Kavango-Zambezi landscape of Southern Africa, WWF works with local partners and communities on agroecology in three countries, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, to increase the resilience of communities and ecosystems, and to improve connectivity of wildlife habitats through food security, income diversification, and habitat conservation.The project is based on collaborations with local communities, organizing farmers into seed cooperatives that specialize in locally adapted seeds. These seeds mature earlier and exhibit greater resistance to drought, diseases, and pests than genetically modified seeds from commercial breeders, which often result in sterile harvests. This sterility forces farmers to purchase new seeds each season, leading to dependency. By participating in these cooperatives, farmers reduce their reliance on intermediaries, thereby breaking a cycle of debt associated with buying seeds on credit.In addition to using locally adapted seeds, the farmers implement sustainable agricultural practices, such as minimum tillage. This involves creating small planting basins filled with animal manure and crop residues, which enhance soil fertility and promote the formation of rich topsoil. A few grains of crops like corn, sorghum, or peanuts are then added to the plating basins, which have improved germination rates with the enriched top soil. The open basins also collect water, boosting the soil's water retention before being covered.The farmers now employ intercropping, a method that optimizes nutrient capture and benefits from nitrogen-fixing crops, thereby reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. They also practice crop rotation to avoid the accumulation of pests and diseases that occur with the repeated planting of the same crop. This, combined with intercropping, helps minimize pest and disease attraction and spread. Additionally, using plant waste as mulch helps control weeds and retain soil moisture.BOOSTING BIODIVERSITY ACTION THROUGH AGROECOLOGYInterventions in this cluster aim to use agroecology to maintain, conserve, restore, and enhance the ecological and social processes that underpin ecosystem integrity. In this way, agroecology can be applied to reduce threats to biodiversity across ecological scales and for different landscapes (see Figure 1.4).We propose interventions that:1. Integrate agroecological approaches into conservation and restoration. For example, agroecological principles applied in synergy with ecological infrastructure (hedgerows, semi-natural patches, etc.) can enhance ecological connectivity while reducing the negative impacts of conventional agriculture on species mobility and potential human-wildlife interaction and conflict (see Case 4.1). This section also includes options to recognize agroecological areas as a conservation management category with value for biodiversity conservation.2. Mainstream biodiversity in food system practices. This includes biodiversity from intra-varietal genetic diversity, agro-biodiversity, habitat diversity through small-scale structures, and ecosystems diversity. In addition, in communities that live close to wildlife like herds of wild elephants and lions, the project promotes human-wildlife coexistence through agroecological methods. Alongside improved farming techniques, farmers use bomas or kraals -locally constructed enclosures made from canvas material and steel poles. These structures last longer and thus reduce tree cutting for poles while protecting livestock from predators. The use of mobile bomas, which can be moved across the fields, spreads nutrient-rich manure over a larger area, naturally enriching the soil and enhancing its fertility. These mobile bomas also prevent cattle from grazing on young shrubs and trees, allowing the vegetation to mature. The protection provided by the bomas has led to a reduction in predation and, as a result, fewer retaliatory killings of predators like lions, thus supporting biodiversity and maintaining a natural ecological balance.Source: WWF, KAZA ARISE project: Food Security and Habitat Protection in KAZA (unpublished).The following interventions can be selectively or comprehensively added into an NBSAP based on national circumstances and capacities. • Identify and apply agroecological and biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices in soil, water, and integrated pest management to enhance ecological functions (e.g., composting, farmyard manure application, agroforestry, biopesticides, multi-cropping, crop rotation, cover crops, terraces, multistorey gardens, mulching). See the report written by Kuria et al. 54 for an assessment of some of those practices.• Include agroecological practices in restoration and climate change adaptation plan.• Promote soil health management (e.g., through cover cropping, crop rotation, composting, and reduced tillage) to improve soil organic matter, enhance soil biodiversity, and increase water infiltration and retention.• Utilize agroecological practices to control the spread of invasive alien species (e.g., by using native tree species in agroforestry systems), contribute to the conservation of rare and endangered species on agricultural land (e.g., endangered birds in organically managed farms), and conserve genetic resources (e.g., through the protection of local crop and animal varieties and wild relatives).• Incorporate agroecological principles into watershed-management plans to protect water quality, reduce runoff and erosion, and enhance groundwater recharge.• Develop and/or strengthen policies to increase conservation of biodiverse, sensitive, and threatened agroecosystems at landscape level, through community-based actions and appropriate governance modalities.• Designate other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) outside protected areas that involve agroecological food production, ensuring collaborative co-design with local communities.• Recognize Indigenous and local food systems in the territories and areas traditionally governed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, 55 such as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs), 56 and in biocultural protocols that utilize traditional and customary knowledge and use.• Integrate agroecological areas into spatial planning and recognize their contribution to ecosystem functions and services (e.g., zoning of agroecological areas to reduce pollution or erosion).• Develop and/or strengthen measures to phase out export, import, and use of hazardous and highly hazardous chemicals and pesticides in agriculture. 57 • Develop a high-quality biological input market for agroecology, ensuring its safety and efficacy.• Develop fertilizing strategies based on biological alternatives that support soil fertility, biological activity, and plant growth by stimulating natural nutrient cycles to avoid dependence on chemical fertilizers.• Models of conservation: Promote community-based conservation that aligns with agroecological principles in food-producing landscapes. Community-based conservation allows Indigenous Peoples and local communities to protect their lands, exercising their knowledge and power. This \"conservation through use\" approach, also known as inclusive or convivial conservation, emphasizes community rights and resources, fostering harmony with nature and supporting direct access and shared benefits, closely adhering to agroecological principles. **• Integration of scales: In line with agroecology, think along wider spatial and temporal scales in planning and implementation. The territorial *** scale is particularly suited to understanding the synergies and trade-offs between various land uses and to design coordinated actions by policymakers and other actors.• Equity: Recognize that both agroecological principles and the CBD emphasize the importance of equity. Link area-based conservation to distributional equity (equitably distributed benefits and costs to key actors); procedural equity (decision-making is fair, transparent, and accountable); and recognitive equity (respect for rights, knowledge, identities and values). 58 • Agricultural productivity: Apply agroecology to improve productivity while reducing pressure on land, ecosystems, and ecosystem services. Agroecology has the potential to enhance productivity in many areas of the world 59 as well as to produce numerous co-benefits for people and nature (such * A biological input is a living organism or element of biological origin (e.g., nettle manure), as opposed to elements of synthetic or mineral chemical origin, introduced to an agricultural plot in order to participate in the optimization of the production (as defined by the Dictionary of Agroecology). ** For a comparative analysis of conservation models, see The recently established Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) complements CBD Target 7 (Reduce pollution to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity) and Target 10 (Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry), as well as several agroecology principles (particularly input reduction, soil health, and animal health). These synergies can be utilized and amplified to improve and strengthen implementation and the application of agroecology in environmental management. GBF Target 7 aims to reduce risks from pesticides together with phasing out highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), which dovetails with GFC Target A7 on phasing out HHPs, and GFC Target D5, which commits countries to shift from supporting hazardous chemical inputs to supporting agroecological alternatives to pesticides.Hence targeted actions on HHPs will be key to deliver on GBF Targets 7 and 10, as well as to mainstreaming agroecological practices and integrated pest management. Policies and plans to implement GFC Target A7 and D5 should be explicitly integrated into NBSAPs and national reporting under the CBD.Moreover, beyond GBF Target 7 additional links to the GBF can be leveraged to reduce the use of pesticides. These include Target 15 on curbing harmful corporate practices; Target 18 on reorienting subsidies and tax breaks that harm biodiversity; Target 16 on promoting sustainable consumption; and Target 14 on a whole-of-government approach.According to the GBF Target 7 indicators methodology on aggregate total applied toxicity, actions with the most significant results in the short term should focus on phasing out of HHP (in accordance with GCF Target D7) while planning for an agroecological transition (GCF Target D5) over the mid to long term.The GBF and GCF targets on pesticides also coincide with the efforts of the World Health Organization to address impacts of chemicals, including HHPs and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. 60 as enhancing crop and animal diversity and soil health), and to support ecological and social (livelihood) resilience to natural hazards and climate changes.• Scaling up and expansion: Promote a widespread adoption of agroecological practices by providing support for small-scale producers to transition from conventional farming methods, including support for research, extension, and subsidies. This leverages synergies across UN frameworks and commitments, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, and Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) targets (see Box 4.1), among others, and can serve to optimize resources for this transition. Delivering A7 would make a critical contribution to achieving GBF 7Source: Pesticide Action Network UK, Leveraging NBSAPs Beyond the CBD.Agroecological interventions in this cluster aim to support farmers and food provisioners to conserve, nurture, and enhance biodiversity through utilization and ensuring fair and equitable sharing of benefits ensuing from their use.Sustainable use of biodiversity and circular economy principles are central to agroecology and supporting long-term viability and resilience of food systems while contributing to food security, livelihood, and local economies. These positive impacts depend on the existence of vibrant markets for agroecological products and fair supply chains, including with diversity of seeds and crops, benefit-sharing, territorial markets, nonmarket mechanisms, and value additions.At the territorial scale, agroecological markets and supply chains can strengthen regional food systems and support the transition to agroecology in all its aspects -ecological, economic, political, social, and cultural (see Case 4.2). For example, territorial markets provide farmers with opportunities for direct sales, higher profits, and closer connections with consumers. 61 They also focus on using agroecological approaches to foster collaboration among various stakeholders, linking urban and rural areas into a cohesive food system and developing specific value chains that are crucial for financing sustainable food systems (GBF Target 19).  • Promote locally adapted diversity within crop species (i.e., intra-varietal and intraspecific diversity) through in-situ conservation, community seed banks, farmer-led participatory research and recognition, and protection of local knowledge (including Indigenous and traditional knowledge). *• Support and strengthen farmer-managed seed systems (FMSS) to ensure seeds stay under the control of farmers. For example, remove barriers and legislation prohibiting the saving, exchange, and re-use of farmer-managed seeds.• Support the production and consumption of Indigenous, under-utilized, and native crops through policy incentives. For example, support areas and territories governed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their food cultures and foodways; promote local procurement, local food assistance, and local nutritional guidelines; and incorporate agroecology into consumer education and participatory guarantee systems.• Ensure agriculture policies reflect farmers' rights related to seeds (as enshrined in the FAO Plant Treaty) and recognition of traditional knowledge of IPLCs (as enshrined in CBD Article 8j on traditional knowledge, in the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, and in the FAO Plant Treaty).• Ensure full rights, access, and fair sharing of benefits of the utilization of genetic resources for agriculture to the communities who utilize and conserve agrobiodiversity, including policy and legal measures for the equitable sharing of benefits from commercialization or other applications. *** * CBD Article 8j places particular emphasis on the critical role of traditional knowledge, together with the CBD Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity. ** Biocultural norms, such as Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs), are instruments that set out clear terms and conditions to governments and the private, research, and non-profit sectors for engaging with Indigenous Peoples and local communities and accessing their local resources and knowledge. *** As outlined in the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.• Utilize biocultural community protocols and customary use practices to uphold and recognize the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and their conservation and use of wild and uncultivated foods.• Strengthen the connections between wholesale markets and traditional food markets (including public, municipal, open-air, wet, street, temporary, mobile, and farmer's markets 62 ) and agroecological producers. This implies incentivizing investment in their infrastructure, operations, and logistics to better gather, store, and trade agroecological products.• Promote farmer-to-consumer practices such as Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) using agroecology to strengthen local food systems, including urban food systems and short value chains.• Capitalize on new (low cost) technologies for innovative marketing, which can promote youth engagement and employment in the agricultural sector. For example, the use of apps on mobile phones for local digital marketplace platforms or better access to market information for farmers.• Develop procurement programs using locally produced food for public institutions such as schools, hospitals, and other educational institutions, as well as for other food assistance programs.• Support and subsidize agroecological sourcing for food banks, community kitchens, and other food distribution programs.• Support innovations that optimize local value-addition processes and entrepreneurship and are adapted to the local context (e.g., locally produced biological farming inputs and organic processing, transformation, and packaging).• Promote impact investment in agroecology social enterprises by incentivizing the application of agroecological principles among private sector actors. 63 • Create bioregional designations that connect producers and consumers in a region or territory to safeguard and strengthen local food cultures, regional food systems, and circular economies. These also build community, trust, and producer-consumer relationships. 64 • Develop biotrade initiatives in agroecologically produced high-value foods, both nationally and internationally, to increase farmer incomes and livelihoods.• In-situconservation:Emphasize \"conservation through use\" as crucial for agroecological transition. Agroecological practices sustain a type of in-situ (on site) conservation that occurs in farmers' fields or in Indigenous territories and waters. When biodiversity is sustainably utilized, it can grow. \"Socio-biodiversity products\" in the context of Brazil refers to goods and services derived from the country's rich biological diversity that are produced in a manner that promotes social inclusion, cultural preservation, and sustainable development. These products often come from traditional communities, such as Indigenous Peoples, quilombolas (descendants of African slaves), and small family farmers. The concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of social and environmental dimensions, recognizing the value of traditional knowledge and practices in conserving biodiversity and promoting sustainable livelihoods.Even though socio-biodiversity products have been extensively used by traditional communities and Indigenous populations in Brazil, and many projects have experimented with local biodiversity value chains, comprehensive policies to support them only began to take shape at the federal level in the 2000s. Before this period, efforts were fragmented and lacked a cohesive framework. The 2000s marked a shift as the government recognized the importance of these products, leading to structured policies that enhanced market access, fair trade opportunities, and institutional support while also benefiting traditional communities and promoting biodiversity conservation.The main institutional framework that supported these was the National Plan for Promoting the Chains of Products from Socio-biodiversity (PNPSB), established in 2009. PNPSB \"has the objective of developing integrated actions for promoting and strengthening the economic chains of products from socio-biodiversity, aggregating value, and consolidating sustainable markets, in addition to promoting and accelerating actions to reduce poverty and social inequalities in rural areas (including gender, race, and ethnic inequality), through a strategy of sustainable territorial development.\" 66 Supporting the PNPSB, a Minimum Price Guarantee Policy for Socio-Biodiversity Products (PGPMBIO) also launched in 2009, ensuring price supports to stabilize farmers' incomes and to promote market access. This is supplemented by institutional procurement of socio-biodiversity products through other policies such as the Food Acquisition• Managing the tensions of use: Sustainable use can be a point of contention between communities, such as between livestock keepers, hunter-gatherers, fishing communities, farmers, and other actors who have conflicting needs. Navigating such conflicts requires creating inclusive spaces for dialogue, as well as capacity-building for the actors and institutions involved. In addition, taking a landscape approach that respects biocultural norms and a rights-based approach can help governments and community leaders co-construct arrangements and governance mechanisms for sustainably using and equitably sharing the benefits from common agricultural resources.• Sub-nationallevel: Collaborate with government administration at sub-national levels where possible, leveraging their resources, capacities, and networks, to strengthen joint actions on agroecology and biodiversity conservation at territorial scale.• Re-balancemarkets: A focus on territorial development can open up questions about the model of economic development most suited to a country, and at times position agro-commodities for export against local crops for local needs. However, blended approaches exist, and policies can encourage a more diverse mix of agricultural production that entails strong actions to strengthen local food production and territorial food system resilience while supplementing with high-value crops for export, as in the case of Peru (see Case 1.2). 65 Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos/PAA) and the National School Feeding Program (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar/PNAE), which also involved market development. 67 Following government changes a revival of policies supporting socio-biodiversity products has taken place, driven by a renewed interest in integrating these products into a broader bioeconomy strategy. This approach emphasizes the sustainable use of biological resources, biotechnology innovations, and the development of eco-friendly products and services. The renewed focus aims to explore new market opportunities, foster technological innovations, and create value-added products, aligning socio-biodiversity initiatives with economic and environmental goals.  Agroecological interventions in this cluster focus on tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming that reduce inequities in the food system, promote sustainable, healthy diets and consumption, and foster knowledge co-creation and exchange.Agroecology is grounded in principles of social justice, with a focus on supporting groups disproportionately affected by inequalities, such as smallholder farmers, women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Key interventions include ensuring fair access and control over land, water, trees, productive resources (such as seeds and farming inputs), as well as financial resources and services. Additionally, these interventions emphasize including underrepresented actors in decision-making processes to strengthen their role in managing territories beyond individual farms.Other interventions of this cluster focus on creating a consumer environment that supports agroecological products, leading to benefits beyond biodiversity, such as improved human health. Lastly, both co-creating and sharing knowledge are critical for raising awareness about biodiversity and environmental issues. Interventions in this area involve transforming how knowledge is developed and shared, including through research, education, communication, and public awareness efforts. • Strengthen fair access and local control over food production resources, such as water, soil, and land, and identify and address other power imbalances within the food system.• Recognize land tenure and rights to territories, waters, genetic resources, and other productive resources, drawing on collective rights instruments, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Living and Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), the Right to Adequate Food, and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 68 • Design and apply market and non-market incentives that work for all to accelerate transition to agroecological practices (e.g., ensure that credit and insurance schemes are accessible to smallholders or support transition periods when agroecological farmers are more vulnerable to reduced income).• Recognize and promote strong local governance of food systems to strengthen community food sovereignty and harness co-benefits for biodiversity and for people.• Enshrine the principle of free prior and informed consent (FPIC) in all engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.• Establish safeguards and legal recourse mechanisms to ensure the safety and protection of biodiversity defenders and local communities seeking to protect their land rights and personal safety from environmental degradation.• Recognize intergenerationality and include youth in the agrifood sector (e.g., implementing programs that employ youth in agroecology, improving attractiveness of the sector for young farmers (access to capital, training), dedicating funding for inclusive innovations along the value chain, and providing support for intergenerational knowledge exchange on biodiversity and agroecology, such as mentorships.• Host national and sub-national stakeholder platforms that bring together key actors from government, civil society, research, and donor agencies for coordinated multisector input into policies at all stages (development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation). In addition, support peoples' platforms and processes to strengthen policies, and the capacity of civil society organizations to effectively engage in their implementation and monitoring. See for example, Senegal's DyTAES platform (Dynamique pour une transition agroécologique au Sénégal; see Case 4.3) and Kenya's ISFAA (Intersectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology).• Strengthen labour regulations to better protect agricultural workers rights and safety.• Recognize the role and rights of women in food systems (e.g., in organizing markets) and their extensive knowledge of seed and animal varieties as well as wild and uncultivated foods. Supporting agroecologically produced foods in markets can strengthen the agency of women, whose vital role in biodiversity is often overlooked. Women's knowledge of food diversity and nutrition is also critical in ensuring dietary diversity and health.• Foster women's collective action, supporting and strengthening association and cooperatives for agroecological production, as well as stronger inclusion and participation of women in food systems governance platforms.• Promote women's empowerment and entrepreneurial opportunities in biodiversity-based value chains. * Women4Biodiversity presents a series of resources on gender dimensions of each GBF Target, and women's importance in NBSAPs.• Raise attention of the importance of quality food environments ** for consumers that support local biodiversity and food systems (e.g., infrastructure for farmer's markets, integrated nutritional and environmental information education, taxes, and other regulatory measures to disincentivize highly processed food).• Promote consumption of native, under-utilized, and Indigenous crops and other diverse agroecological products with subsidies, labelling, and public education campaigns.• Ensure that the most food insecure have access to these diverse agroecological products.• Implement strict regulations to control business practices that harm biodiversity, such as the use of pesticides and monocultures, while encouraging practices that promote biodiversity, such as sourcing local and diverse food ingredients.• Harness existing and mobilize new public support and consumer demand for local, biodiverse foods that are rich in nutrients, especially if the products are agroecologically grown without chemical inputs. Health benefits and \"buying local\" are strong motivators for consumers to reconnect with producers, invest in biodiversity, and contribute to local economic development.• Support participatory research and peer-to-peer knowledge co-creation and sharing to improve the availability and uptake of agroecological and biodiversity-friendly practices.• Invest in research and development of transdisciplinary, intercultural agroecology in higher education and national research institutions (e.g., new curricula and pedagogy methodologies; promoting holistic perspective in science and research; following international protocols for ethical transdisciplinary research; transferring investment in research and development from staple crops to other under-utilized, native, or local crops that have been marginalized or neglected in academic and scientific agendas; and supporting curriculum on biodiversity within nutrition programming).• Reform agricultural extension facilities and advisory service systems, promoting and enabling farmerto-farmer sharing of agroecological practices and knowledge through established co-learning methods (e.g., farmer field schools, farmer-to-farmer extension, exposure visits, demo farms, living labs/learning landscapes).• Improve recognition and application of biocultural and customary knowledge in biodiversity conservation initiatives related to food systems.** Turner et al. describe food environments as \"the spaces within which food acquisition occurs, and the series of arket-based opportunities and constraints that influence people's food acquisition and consumption,\" representing a \"range of foods that can be accessed in the context where people live and can enable or restrict healthy dietary choices\" (as per the FAO). According to the Committee on World Food Security's High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE), food environments are considered healthy when they \"enable consumers to make nutritious food choices with the potential to improve diets and reduce the burden of malnutrition.\"• Raise awareness of the benefits of biodiverse agroecology to human and planetary health, including through enhancing communication and education campaigns.• Include information on biodiversity in consumer labels, nutritional guidelines, and through food assistance programs, food procurement, and food educational programs, to empower consumers to make more informed decisions on agroecologically produced foods, their connection to healthy diets, biodiverse and sustainable food systems, and local economic development.• Recognize diverse forms of evidence that value Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of knowing, including on the environment, biodiversity, and food practices.• Gather and disseminate evidence from a broad range of stakeholders on the transformative potential of agroecology, boosting its legitimacy to decision makers.• Meaningful engagement and funding: Consider long-term funding strategies to enable meaningful participation and engagement of rights and knowledge holders in food system design and monitoring. Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women, youth, farmers, pastoralist, and fisher communities should be effectively included in the conception, development, implementation, and monitoring of NBSAPs.• Food sovereignty: Develop a vision and approach for food sovereignty in territories, including by supporting local producers' rights and supporting local markets. This is also useful for strengthening the resilience of food systems to volatility and disruptions on global markets while supporting livelihood diversification and food security.    1. The legal recognition and implementation of Farmers' Rights is in Article 9 of the International Seed Treaty, though these are subject to national laws. However, international recognition is provided through the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP), and other people working in rural areas, adopted in 2018. Article 19 and 20 of the declaration recognize the collective rights of \"peasants\" (including family farmers, Indigenous Peoples, livestock keepers, fishers, forest people, and local communities) to the use of their seeds and agricultural biodiversity.2. CBD Article 8j recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their innovations, skills, and practices. This is further supported by the UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which recognizes, in Article 31, Indigenous Peoples' right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their seeds and their right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their intellectual property over associated traditional knowledge about their seeds. This second cross-cutting lever aims at strengthening sustainable financing models for agroecological investments. The costs of current industrial food systems globally represent almost 10% of global GDP, most of which is borne by the public sector and society. 69 With these numbers in perspective, investments in agroecology are cost-effective once all co-benefits are considered.Financing biodiversity is challenging both in terms of finding the resources necessary for the magnitude of changes needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss as well as reorienting the existing financial architecture to serve these goals. Meanwhile, an estimated USD 635 billion in annual global agricultural subsidies prop up the current industrial food, USD 385 billion of which are considered distortive and result in harmful environmental outcomes. 70 Transformative financing for biodiversity and agroecology must not only increase funding flows but also address issues of justice, historical legacies, and ecological debt that shape financing institutions, flows, and arrangements.• Increased: Work across the existing finance ecosystem to catalyze new investments and shift from incremental investments to more transformative, long-term investment. This applies both to direct finance approaches that robustly and positively impact biodiversity, ecosystems, public health, and social inclusion and also to reducing opportunities for practices with minimal biodiversity gains that are often promoted for greenwashing purposes. Increasing resources requires exploring other sources of funding, such as climate and development finance, that can be aligned in conjunction with agroecology and biodiversity goals.• Incentivized: Reorienting and repurposing subsidies, when combined with measures for economic justice such as tax reform and debt cancellation, represents a significant opportunity for developing countries to secure finance for biodiversity action. 71 Additionally, the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), can play a pivotal role in this transition if provided with the right incentives and policy support. Other sources of flexible funding, such as philanthropic investments grants, can be catalytic if aligned to unlock private investment and repurpose public funding, including public procurement programs, for example.• Flexible: Remain flexible to changing conditions on the ground and the dynamic nature of agroecology. Financial institutions are more and more aware of the associated risks of biodiversity loss for their investments, which is increasing their interest in investing in agroecology. These projects often face challenges in setting baselines, measuring impact, and relying on market mechanisms, such as voluntary carbon markets. The delivery of long-term sustainability and resilience can be a critical investment edge, allowing funding to be more effectively directed. The agroecology community should view NBSAPs as an opportunity to attract funding by highlighting the unique advantages of agroecology over other biodiversity interventions.• Grounded: Ensure appropriate financing means by directing funds to where they are most needed and effective, including through non-market approaches as highlighted in GBF Target 19(f). This includes grounded funding using appropriate mechanisms and modalities that support, and directly reach, women, family farmers, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and other underfunded groups. It is crucial that funds be directly controlled or be commensurate with those groups ability to absorb, use, and leverage the funds they receive, strengthening their collective action. Adequate funding for NBSAP development is essential for enabling inclusive and meaningful consultations, national and subnational agroecology platforms, and community-based monitoring.\"Transformative change will happen only when we reorient subsidies. And offsets and credits are also a form of perverse subsidies.\"-Civil society organization participant at SBSTTA26Capacity for designing, implementing, and monitoring NBSAPs is the third cross-cutting lever. Capacity is linked to strong institutions, skilled personnel, and the necessary tools and methodologies to plan and execute comprehensive biodiversity strategies. The GBF proposes a long-term strategic framework for capacity-building and development 72 to ensure interventions that are robust, coordinated, and systemic. It aligns with the Guidance below, though building capacity for engaging with agroecology entails an even more strongly considerable shift from conventional to systems thinking, and acquiring the holistic understanding that agroecology requires.• Strengthened: Strengthen capacity on agroecology through the availability of financial resources and the establishment of supportive policies. Adequate funding ensures that institutions have the means to train staff, develop and deploy necessary technologies, conduct research, and engage with stakeholders on agroecology. Effective policies provide the framework and guidance needed to support capacity-building.• Informed: Support data-gathering, research, and assessment on agroecology. Existing robust tools to measure agroecological progress can support this, namely the Agroecology Assessment Framework developed under the aegis of the Agroecology Coalition and anchored on the 13 HLPE principles, 73 aligned with the 10 FAO elements of agroecology and the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE). 74 This ensures coherence among different data and research initiatives. Additionally, assessing the risks and benefits of emerging food technologies is crucial, ensuring they address social and environmental challenges without generating negative externalities.• Collaborative: Retool national agriculture extension services to facilitate horizontal knowledgesharing and co-creation among diverse stakeholders. Foster active involvement from governments, civil society, and educational institutions and promote shared learning and co-creation.T10. Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry T13. Increase the sharing of benefits from genetic resources, digital sequence information, and traditional knowledge T20. Strengthen capacity-building, technology transfer, and scientific and technical cooperation for biodiversity T21. Ensure that knowledge is available and accessible to guide biodiversity action T22. Ensure participation in decision-making and access to justice and information related to biodiversity for all Governance, the fourth cross-cutting lever, sets out the decision-making process and structures that can support agroecological transformation. It involves both the design of \"who sits at the decision table,\" the process by which they collaborate, as well as how to manage pressures that can undermine bold, ambitious actions. The goal is to avoid contradictory and conflicting policies, maximize resource efficiency, and strengthen policy impacts. This coordination ensures that commitments are synchronized and that policies are effectively mainstreamed across multiple sectors.• Coordinated: Take a whole-of-government approach to agroecology by ensuring coherence and alignment among various branches and levels of government. Different policy areas and strategies must be jointly articulated, divergent interests and objectives need to be acknowledged and possibly balanced, and conflicts, trade-offs, and negative feedback loops should be recognized.• Inclusive: Mobilize existing or newly established coordination mechanisms that comprehensively scope the themes of agroecology and include the diversity of actors needed for successful andT14. Integrate biodiversity in decision-making at every level T15. Businesses assess, disclose, and reduce biodiversity-related risks and negative impacts T16. Enable sustainable consumption choices to reduce waste and overconsumption T17. Strengthen biosafety and distribute the benefits of biotechnology T18. Reduce harmful incentives by at least USD 500 billion per year and scale up positive incentives for biodiversity T19. Mobilize USD 200 billion per year for biodiversity from all sources, including USD 30 billion through international finance T22. Ensure participation in decision-making and access to justice and information related to biodiversity for all T23. Ensure gender equality and a gender-responsive approach for biodiversity action-Peer-to-Peer workshop participant equitable NBSAP implementation. Recognize the diversity in production systems and address tensions to move beyond the conventional agriculture versus agroecology polarization.• Appropriate: Determine the most impactful scale and timing for actioning agroecological considerations by engaging with different levels of government -including provincial, municipal, and Indigenous authorities -and aligning associated bioregions and biocultural protocols. This ensures that policies are tailored to local realities and longstanding knowledge and consider current administrative and operational capacities.-Peer-to-Peer workshop participantThe fifth cross-cutting lever involves three components: 1) adapting NBSAP national indicators to be relevant to agroecology, ensuring they consistently reflect elements and principles of agroecology; 2) aligning these national indicators on agroecology with the GBF headline and component indicators (i.e., showing how they contribute to GBF indicators); and 3) setting up an ongoing, inclusive monitoring, evaluation, and learning process with clear modalities to ensure continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement.In terms of indicator development, CBD Decision 15/5 75 suggests an approach that can be built into comprehensive monitoring frameworks encompassing baselines, headline indicators, complementary indicators, and sub-indicators. However, much of the interpretation and application of indicators fall under the jurisdiction of national governments and must be tailored to fit the specific national context. This is an opportunity to build indicators specifically for agroecology, involving actors who can contribute to shape those.According to CBD Decision 15/5, Target 10 could be monitored with two headline indicators: 10. Community-based biodiversity management is an approach that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at the local level, and focuses on increasing the decision-making power of local communities and organizations to secure access to and control over their natural resources.For example, the Ogiek of Mount Elgon, Kenya, play an active role in the management of their natural resources.Numbering more than 3,000 people, they live in an ecologically diverse and rich environment that includes montane forests, bamboo belts, and high moorlands, which are home to a variety of globally threatened and endemic species.They engage in sustainable activities such as gathering honey, mushrooms, vegetables, and medicinal plants, and grazing cattle, sheep, and goats. Their livestock are grazed in the high moorlands and lower forest areas during the dry season, ensuring that the land is not overexploited. Community-based monitoring safeguards local food system sustainability and acts as a sentinel service for food system resilience.Community monitoring is a vital tool in their environmental governance system because it increases the transparency of local management of natural resources, including biodiversity, and allows communities to demonstrate their management to the outside world. It can also inform decision-making.Sources: J. Kenrick, T. Rowley, and P. Kitelo, We Are Our Land, and Forest Peoples Programme (2024), From Agreements to Actions: A Guide to Applying a Human Rights-based Approach to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.management. Component indicators for 10.1, nevertheless, fall short of clearly indicating how these will be measured, ultimately leaving it to national governments to address how to define and measure those. Similar adaptation will be needed for all other targets relevant to agroecology.The following Guidance can assist both the development of achievable and adaptable indicators that reflect elements and principles of agroecology as well as a due process to ensure stakeholder accountability and continuous improvement.• Achievable: Develop or adopt indicators that ensure achievable measurement and transparent reporting (e.g., from the Agroecology Coalition's Assessment Framework). 76 Consider how operationalization and data collection can be applied at scales that directly inform effective decisionmaking or action for landscape biodiversity and ecosystems.• Adaptable: Tailor approaches and indicators to the sub-national and local level, and seek the guidance of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, which ensures that data reflects local and territorial circumstances. Consider adjustments based on feedback and emerging data, and as new methods, trends, challenges, or changes in national and international policies emerge.• Accountable: Emphasize accountability in monitoring and evaluation processes that reinforces the transparency, credibility, and effectiveness of monitoring of agroecology elements and principles. Support community-based monitoring and information systems (see Box 5.2). Increase participation through stakeholder engagement in planning and monitoring. In the context of agroecology, these can build a more active and engaged set of actors better attuned to capturing the nuances of agroecological transition and preventing greenwashing claims.An agroecological approach to the management of biodiversity and ecosystems is critical to food systems transformation and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)'s vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050. It is also essential for strengthening resilience to climate and other global environmental changes and reducing disaster risks and associated costs.Agroecological approaches are a tool for integrating progressive food policy and ecosystem management, and will simultaneously support achievement of multiple targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) that take an agroecological approach will also advance implementation of the SDGs, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and objectives of international food policies, including the UN Committee on World Food Security and the UN Food Systems Summit.This Guidance aims to provide readers with an understanding of the advantages of agroecology, the connections between agroecological principles and the GBF targets, the processes for integrating agroecology to NBSAP development, the intervention areas for agroecological food system transitions, and the enabling processes to facilitate implementation and achieve NBSAP national targets.We encourage Parties to the CBD to take up this Guidance to develop sound and comprehensive NBSAPs that leverage agroecology's ability to address the biodiversity crisis and provide multiple co-benefits for climate adaptation and mitigation, food security, health and nutrition, ecosystem resilience, sustainable livelihoods, social cohesion, preserving cultural heritage, and protecting human rights.For support, additional resources, or questions, please contact any of the authors.","tokenCount":"15631"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0369173396.json b/data/part_1/0369173396.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82ee64b901cb18bb1ee5a6c01ab942821fb3de7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0369173396.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91d65ae7fbebb6ef7631c3c3aedd6f5f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf1f2b24-6456-4a2d-8616-cc81ca894add/retrieve","id":"1301428403"},"keywords":["CIAT","ICARDA","WorldFish"],"sieverID":"e5fce136-50ac-4002-a28e-ac5ddd854bf1","pagecount":"30","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish aims to increase the productivity of small-scale livestock and fish systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and fish more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together four CGIAR Centers: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; WorldFish with a mandate on aquaculture; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; and the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants. http://livestockfish.cgiar.orgThe Program thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund.A. Key MessagesThe vision of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish is for the health, livelihoods and future prospects of the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, to be transformed through consumption of adequate amounts of meat, milk and fish and through benefits from improved incomes and livelihood by participating in the associated animal source food value chains. The program seeks to achieve this vision by increasing the productivity of small-scale livestock and fish production systems and improving the performance of their associated value chains.The program proposed a new model for enhancing the relevance, urgency and impact of its research. It is designed to bring together collective capacity within CGIAR to demonstrate how research can develop appropriate solutions as integrated interventions for pro-poor transformation of selected value chains and work towards their implementation at scale by development partners. Through this focus on transforming selected value chains, the program is committed to stimulating large development interventions that will translate our research into impact at scale. The process also defines longer-term research to prepare the future breakthroughs that will be needed to ensure the continued viability and growth of these value chains.This model is a new way of working for the CGIAR and requires reorienting capacity, mobilizing new resources and establishing new types of partnerships to engage effectively in the selected value chains. The program officially began in January 2012 and this first year has been devoted to establishing the institutional and scientific frameworks within which this reorientation is taking place. The program has benefited from a large body of pre-existing research relevant to its mission, and the program has continued to maintain this pipeline, generating a number of exciting results during the year.Momentum has been quickly achieved in three of the nine selected value chains. 1 Bilateral-funded projects in the value chains for smallholder dairying in Tanzania, smallholder pigs in Uganda and aquaculture in Egypt have enabled the program to begin deploying its value chain-based approach. These projects have allowed the program to engage with partners and stakeholders and create support for a joint pro-poor research and development agenda targeting the selected value chain, consolidating related research activities and undertaking a value chain assessment process. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) also initiated an associated assessment of the public health dimensions in each of these value chains.The value chain approach requires new methods and scientific rigour to demonstrate its value. A toolkit of rapid value chain assessment instruments was successfully developed in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) and is being adapted to each species and value chain. The instruments guide researchers and development practitioners in a comprehensive characterization of the technical and institutional dimensions of the value chain which describes the baseline situation and permits preliminary identification of opportunities for improving its pro-poor performance. Already reflected in the toolkit is the mainstreaming of gender analysis, which is one of the main objectives defined in the program's gender strategy. The strategy defines a gender agenda that includes both an 'accommodative' approach for developing gender-sensitive technologies and development strategies, and exploring a 'transformative' approach to address the more fundamental inequities that constrain women's full participation in value chain development.The program's agenda on technology research concentrates on the three main technical drivers of animal productivity: health, genetics and nutrition. These have been the core of the research undertaken in the past by the four partner centers, and much of the existing pipeline of work in these areas is being aligned to support improving productivity in the program's selected value chains.To maintain this momentum and orient it to have even greater impact in the selected value chains, the program is aspiring to better integration across the partner centers with shared capacity and understanding for the value chain approach and working towards interventions at scale. Progress was made in 2012 through joint planning to identify the teams and articulate the program implementation strategy. Developing a common evaluation framework in 2013 will be key to consolidating this progress.A.2 Two most significant achievements/success stories Lack of quality seed is a major constraint to both aquaculture productivity and production. WorldFish and partners have successfully used selective breeding approaches to develop the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), now widely used throughout Asia in countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, China and Malaysia. To replicate the successes of GIFT, in 1999 WorldFish and Ghana's Water Research Institute (WRI) initiated a program for the breeding and selection of indigenous Nile tilapia for faster growth in Ghana. After multiple generations of selection, a new fast-growing strain, the Akosombo strain, was produced and recently made available to farmers. The Akosombo strain grows about 30% faster than other farmed tilapia in the region, enabling fish farmers to harvest after six instead of the usual eight months. The Akosombo strain, which also has a higher survival rate, has rapidly gained acceptance by fish farmers and hatchery managers in Ghana. In 2008, WorldFish, WRI, FAO and partners began to work towards extending the benefits of genetically improved tilapias to other countries in the Volta Basin e.g. Burkina Faso. By the end of 2012, there were about 15 medium to large-sized hatcheries and approximately 540 farmers in Ghana using the Akosombo strain. Supply of the Akosombo strain is currently struggling to keep pace with demand. Results from a similar program in Egypt for the Abbassa strain is noted elsewhere in this report. The success of the fish breeding program in Ghana and elsewhere clearly illustrates the significant contribution that selective breeding programs can bring to improving aquaculture value chains for the benefit of poor producers and consumers. The Livestock and Fish Program is seeking how to best support its partners in further developing productive fish strains and in scaling out dissemination to farmers.The second significant achievement is an early success in preparing for impact in the dairy value chain in Tanzania. As work has been initiated there, the focus of the first phase of engagement has been to establish strategic partnerships and align stakeholders to support the program's value chain transformation agenda. In this case, this initial engagement was able to build on ongoing policy collaboration to improve milk safety in The Results Strategy Framework for the program defines intermediate development outcomes (IDOs) based on program logic as outcomes relating to increased productivity, more and better quality food supplies, improved incomes-especially for women, more of the nutrient gap met by animal source foods, lower environment impacts, and a more enabling policy and investment environment. Over a 12-year horizon, the program commits to ensuring these outcomes affect at least 500,000 households in the target value chains: during 2013, an exercise will be conducted to develop more detailed projections by value chain. The IDOs are continuing to be refined as part of the Consortium-wide harmonization effort and as the program's evaluation framework is developed.Two main impact pathways are envisaged. The first pathway is through a process of deliberately orienting research that lead to actionable packages of pro-poor technologies and strategies in each of the selected value chains, to be subsequently implemented at scale as development interventions. This process involves engagement with stakeholders and partners-including development partners, assessing the pro-poor performance of the value chain, identifying and testing potential technical and institutional strategies for upgrading the value chain, and generating an evidence base to attract the development investment needed to take it to scale as an intervention. These interventions will target poor rural households who keep livestock or derive their livelihoods by providing input or market services, together with poor rural and urban consumers and nutritionally vulnerable women and children. Two types of progress will be measured: (i) whether the technologies and institutional strategies being proposed are translating into measurable improvements in the performance and distribution of benefits of the selected value chain to the targeted beneficiaries; and (ii) whether the process just described for the program's value chain development approach is on track and likely to achieve its objectives. Measuring progress on these two levels offers methodological challenges, some of which will be subject of program research, such as methods for monitoring the physical, economic and welfare performance of a value chain. An objective of the ongoing development of program's evaluation framework is to define relevant and feasible indicators for what we are able to measure at present.The second impact pathway seeks to influence practices and policies globally so that research results from the program are taken up more widely outside of the program sites and value chains. Here, key indicators relate to the visibility the program is able to create for its results to foster an enabling environment and enhance their ability to attract investment for their deployment elsewhere.Definition of the IDOs and associated impact pathways has confirmed the need to increase attention to two areas that had not been sufficiently envisaged in the activities described in the Program proposal; these relate to assessing environmental implications of value chain development and better nutritional targeting of the animal source foods produced.The program is currently recording two types of baseline data, which may evolve as the evaluation framework is defined. These include situational analyses for each value chain that describe the current status of the target value chain with measures based mostly on secondary data related to the IDOs, and household and market surveys that provide a snapshot (but are not likely to be generalizable or necessarily appropriate for impact assessment at some later point) of specific indicators.As the various Consortium evaluation frameworks are still under development, the program is relying primarily on tracking its planned activities and milestones to evaluate it progress. It has attempted to respond to the Consortium indicators where possible and will be working to develop its own framework and indicators and to set targets for the Consortium indicators during its planning process in 2013.The program held a series of planning meetings for the Themes and value chains. These meetings were critical for identifying the cross-center teams, developing together detailed implementation plans and longer-term strategies, and agreeing on initial work plans. These planning processes faced considerable challenges, however, due to the ongoing organizational transition within each center to adapt to their participation in the various CGIAR programs. In addition, to align itself with emerging guidelines from the Consortium, the program streamlined its structure, reducing from the original 3 Themes divided into 9 Components to a new structure of 6 Themes without Components. As the result, the planning process was not fully completed in 2012 and establishment of the Program Participant Agreements delayed.As highlighted in Section A, the program was able to begin directly deploying the value chain approach in three of the selected value chains: Egypt, Tanzania and Uganda. The aspiration was to initiate the value chain approach in all nine value chains, but given the structure of funding for the program, fully implementing this approach in a value chain requires first mobilizing adequate bilateral project funding. In the three countries cited, funding had already been secured in 2011 in anticipation of the program, so activities could be initiated immediately. This has encouraged rapid formation and engagement of the cross-center teams responsible for the development of the methodologies supporting the value chain approach. Within the three value chains, the teams have begun close collaboration with strategic research and development partners and the process of stakeholder engagement while implementing the initial assessment activities, including a site selection process and situational analyses of the target sector (e.g. dairy sector in Tanzania). Lower levels of activity have been initiated in the remaining value chains based on existing legacy projects as bilateral funding is sought for more comprehensive activities. In the case of aquaculture in Uganda, a more rigorous re-assessment of the potential for significant growth and impact led to the decision to withdraw, demonstrating the evidence-based nature of decision-making adopted by the program.Establishing a flagship value chain project in each focus country is demonstrating benefits in attracting and creating synergies with complementary restricted projects and other CGIAR Research Programs to address the full range of research that can be applied to value chain development. In Tanzania, for example, the flagship dairy research-fordevelopment project funded by Irish Aid has been able to add value to and benefit from integration with a feed market research project funded by Theme 1 -Animal healthThe objective of this Theme is to generate data and materials to improve the pro-poor management of animal health and food safety in the selected value chains. As part of its initial focus to improve control of the commonly perceived major disease constraints in the value chains selected in sub-Saharan Africa, advances were made in supporting the delivery of the live East Coast fever (ECF) vaccine produced by ILRI through a packaging innovation and genomic tools.This Theme is developing improved strains and breeding strategies that sustainably improve animal productivity in emerging small-scale market-oriented livestock and fish production systems. Research to develop genetically improved fish strains culminated in 2012 with documentation and dissemination of improved strains developed from local populations in six countries: in the selected value chain in Egypt, but also in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Malawi and Malaysia. In Egypt, the improved Abbassa strain of Nile tilapia G9 was provided to five brood stock multiplication centers in three major aquaculture governorates during summer of 2012 to be reproduced and their offspring used on fish farms during the 2013 growing season onwards. The improved Akosombo strain of Nile tilapia in Ghana is demonstrating potential for uptake in other countries of the Volta River Basin.Within three of the target value chains, initial rapid assessments for improved genetics were completed. To support efficient and sustainable sheep and goat breeding strategies in Ethiopia, a new partnership with EMBRAPA generated initial results in adapting EMBRAPA's tailor-made web-based data recording and management system (DREMS). In Asia, capacity was established in four countries to systematically document national genetic resources to inform future improvement and conservation strategies.This Theme is focusing on developing superior feed and forage options that respond to current and evolving demands to increase meat, milk and fish production while reducing the ecological footprint. An initial activity established a joint Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) network to strengthen the program's capacity for feed quality analysis. Partners were trained in use of the technology and NIRS equations were established for standardizing analysis of crop residues (sorghum, pearl millet, rice, wheat, maize, cowpea, groundnut, chickpea, pigeon pea, lablab), forages (sorghum, pearl millet, Napier, pigeon pea), agro byproducts (bran, oil cakes, hulls and husks, sweet sorghum bagasse) and mixed fodder market samples using open source software and equipment.Using existing feed resources better requires a simple, rapid, but robust diagnosis of feed resources available on-farm and from the market that relates to livestock needs. Support is then needed in deciding which technical options to apply to improve the use of those feed resources. Two tools for feed resource assessment and feed intervention prioritizing to address these challenges were tested and the feed interventions identified were successfully tested in Tanzania, India and Ethiopia. Materials to support their wider dissemination are under preparation. Options for and the economics of improving or supplementing on-farm feed resources through feed and fodder purchase were investigated by a range of fodder market value chain studies completed in India, Nigeria and Mali. It became clear that formal and informal fodder markets play a key role in supporting intensification of livestock systems and there are opportunities to improve their efficiency.Good progress was made towards providing more feed of higher quality from forages, crop residues/agricultural byproducts and new feed ingredients. Analyses demonstrated that selection of crop cultivars with superior fodder quality in the stover, straws and haulms will result in price premiums at fodder markets of between 10 to 25% and the response in meat and milk production is of a similar order. In addition, it was learned that small differences in fodder quality of crop residues of 3 to 5% units in digestibility result in large difference in prices and in livestock productivity due to the additive effect of higher fodder quality and higher voluntary feed intake.CIAT's two Brachiaria breeding programs successfully released 3 new forage varieties for dissemination. With BMZ funding, field testing of alternative forage legume-based feeds generated evidence that pigs can tolerate well up to 33% of Vigna, for instance, with similar live weight gain compared to a conventional diet and at lower cost.The Theme works to develop methods for assessing value chains, identifying and testing technical and institutional opportunities to improve their productivity, efficiency and ability to generate benefits for the poor, and translating proven opportunities into development interventions at scale. This requires the development of an integrated approach that considers the target food commodity system as a whole and the interactions, both biophysical and socioeconomic, between the different parts of the value chain. Cross-center multidisciplinary teams of researchers were formed and began working together in 2012, both to address the cross-cutting methodological challenges and to begin engaging within each of selected value chains. The engagement process in each value chain is critical to cultivate local ownership of the approach and to establish the strategic partnerships among research and development actors to implement it. Stakeholder events to introduce the program have accordingly been organized in each of the selected value chains and the program has established or strengthened project offices in Egypt, Tanzania and Uganda.The initial task has been to develop an integrated toolkit for rapid value chain assessment that adequately captures the range of relevant technical and economic dimensions of the value chain. A generic version is now available, and it has been adapted and tested in several of the value chains. Rapid value chain assessments were completed in Tanzania and Egypt and initiated or planned in the remaining value chains. A key component of this toolkit is a situational analysis that describes the national macroeconomic and sectoral context in which the value chain operates, including the policies, other competing value chains, and auxiliary value chains for inputs and services, and identifies trends likely to influence the viability of the target value chain. These studies provide both a baseline from which changes affecting the value chain can be monitored, and the basis for developing an agenda for policy analysis and engagement to create an enabling environment for pro-poor value chain transformation. Situational analyses were completed in Tanzania and Uganda, and are being prepared for publication.The program is looking to move quickly to test and validate best-bet technologies and institutional strategies to serve as the basis for value chain interventions. In Egypt, Uganda and Tanzania, identification and testing of a number of candidate strategies was initiated, and related legacy activities continued in Nicaragua.Theme 5 -Targeting for sustainable interventionsThe Theme ensures that the program focuses on the appropriate value chains and beneficiaries to have the most impact. It also took on responsibility to assess environmental implications of the value chain development promoted by the program. In 2012, the Theme oversaw an evidence-based selection process to determine the sites in each country where the program will focus its fieldwork. A methodology protocol was produced, analyses conducted using GIS data, and stakeholders were consulted to ground truth the GIS assessments, which was followed by a site evaluation exercise on the ground. This process was applied in all of selected value chains and summarized in reports. The team also began developing the program's environment agenda by initiating collaboration with FAO on a pilot dairy development carbon-credit scheme and preparing a proposal to develop an ex-ante value chain environmental impact assessment framework.Theme 6 -Gender and learningThe principal focus in 2012 was preparation of the Program's gender strategy, the finalization of which was delayed as the partner centers were strengthening their staffing in this area. One of the initial research activities undertaken by the gender team was to mainstream gender into the rapid value chain assessment tools. In Egypt, the program worked with CARE and formed a number of women retailer organizations for fish marketing to empower their members and secure more equitable benefits.The program devotes science to generating novel technologies and effective strategies that support pro-poor livestock and fish value chain development. The following are key research outputs that were generated in 2012: A protocol for producing the ECF vaccine in smaller dose straws will support the delivery of the live ECF vaccine produced by ILRI by facilitating its uptake by owners of smaller dairy herds. DNA sequences for selected genes and other defined genomic sites in a range of T. parva strains were generated. These permit rapid differentiation of strains and isolates, and together with a genomic fingerprint for the live ECF vaccine, provide the basis for cost-effective vaccine quality control and field investigation of vaccine failures, should they occur, to determine if the failure is due to the vaccine not inducing a sufficiently broad immunity. The methods and capacities established to support improved tilapia breeding strategies from local populations were documented in nine major publications. The Domestic Animal Genetic Resources Information System (DAGRIS) was customized for Asian four countries and capacity established in each country to use it to document national genetic resources. FEAST, a feed resource assessment tool, and TechFit, a feed intervention prioritizing tool, were successfully tested. It was shown that the FEAST tool describes accurately overall feed resources and yet is context specific enough to detect differences in feed resources within apparently similar conditions, say neighboring villages in the same agro-ecological zone. CIAT released three new forage varieties for dissemination: Brachiaria decumbens x B. brizantha x B. ruziziensis: Mulato 1 and 2 and Cayman. A package of best aquaculture management practices was delivered to 648 farmers in Egypt; their impact will be monitored. An evidence-based site selection protocol produced and applied in six selected value chains. The program's gender strategy was prepared. The strategy is inspired by the earlier ILRI and the Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) research program gender strategies, and benefited from inputs and guidance from the Consortium Gender Initiative and Network. It includes a commitment to mainstream gender throughout the program's activities, as well as a research agenda ranging from an accommodative approach, i.e. recognizing and addressing the gender implications of the technology development and value chain research, to experimenting with a transformative approach which tackles the fundamental rules and norms of the society that determine women's participation and ability to benefit from the selected value chain.A number of the outputs being achieved by the program or from previous related activities at the partner centers contributed to research or development outcomes during 2012.Two specific outcomes were achieved in promoting the uptake of ECF vaccination in East Africa. ILRI responded to requests to provide 178,000 doses of the Infection and Treatment Method (ITM) vaccine to distributors in Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Kenya. This is an indication of increasing uptake of the vaccine and brings the total number of doses from the current vaccine batch produced by ILRI which have been released in the region to 705,000. Also, a critical requirement for more widespread commercial uptake was met by successful registration of the vaccine in Kenya. Kenya is considered the most important market for the vaccine in the region and key to ensuring sustained provision of supplies to the rest of the region.The Southern Agricultural Research Institute in Ethiopia secured public funding and began their own independent program to scale out community based goat and sheep breeding schemes in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region that follow the prototype scheme developed jointly by ICARDA and ILRI. The program is targeting 1,578 households (of which 98 are female-headed) across 14 communities.Tools to assess feed needs and appropriate feed solutions -FEAST and TechFit -reported in the preceding section were already being taken up and used by development actors in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda independent of program activities.Adoption of lines from the Brachiaria breeding programs at CIAT has been extrapolated through seed sales and supported with periodic impact studies. The results indicate that over the last 10 years, 400,000 to 500,000 ha have been sown with Brachiaria hybrids originating from CIAT; figures for 2011 are estimated at 50,000 to 75,000 additional hectares, with 2012 pending, following a trend of exponential increases over time. Several international (ICRISAT, CIMMYT, IRRI) and national crop improvement programs (sorghum and millet in India, maize in Ethiopia) with support from the Theme started to mainstream phenotyping for straw and stover fodder quality traits in breeding, selection and new cultivars release programs. This means that new crop cultivars released and promoted will be expected to have superior fodder traits in their residues on a larger scale.Selection of study sites during 2012 has followed an evidence-based process in consultation with stakeholders in each target value chain. This approach is enhancing awareness and ownership of the program's efforts in each country which will improve subsequent uptake and scaling out of the intervention strategies under development.The program began developing its theory of change and impact pathways, and expects to complete the process in 2013. The theory of change for the program will help identify the means by which the program's outputs and outcomes are expected to lead to different types of impacts, and this will inform strategic studies to be undertaken by the program to validate the impact pathways.Previous studies by the Asian Development Bank and the Norwegian Government have established the enormous impacts of earlier breeding programs on productivity and the growth of tilapia aquaculture in Asia; similar studies are ongoing or planned for the strains developed more recently and disseminated in 2012 in Africa.Integration of gender is given prominence in the program under its Theme on 'gender and learning. To contribute to the impact pathway on gender and to build consensus among the program partners, a Gender Strategy was created to define key outcomes and outputs in addition to providing a work plan on deliverables for the next 5 years. This strategy is unique with its shared focus on gender accommodative and transformative approaches and working as a team across the four partner centers to expand and deepen this agenda. The first collaborative meeting was held in December 2012 to establish a shared vision and outputs around gender for the program. The strategy includes key research areas related to women's access and control of resources in the selected value chains, gender equitable technologies of both partners and CGIAR centers, as well as new research in gender transformative approaches, and promises synergies with the evolving agendas of other CGIAR research programs. It also aligns with ILRI's current gender strategy to build capacity among both ILRI staff as well as partner organizations.Gender equality targets for the value chain countries will be set as the evaluation framework for the program is developed. Indicators will be identified with partners that align both at the CGIAR Consortium and program levels.Across the program's partner centers, the main challenge identified is lack of staff with gender expertise. At ILRI and WorldFish, hiring of full-time gender scientists is ongoing, and centers are using gender consultants to achieve outputs. Proposals are also being prepared to secure additional funding and opportunities are being explored for working through other funded proposals that align with the agreed gender outputs.Gender mainstreaming is occurring in value chain countries by gender scientists reviewing all existing and proposed projects related to the Program. Gender scientists are participating in developing value chain assessment tools and contributing to capacity development of staff collecting data. They will also be involved in reviewing and analyzing data from value chain assessments to determine key leverage points to achieve Gender Strategy outputs. Process indicators will also be developed during the first half of 2013 in conjunction with the final gender indicators and impact pathway.Effective partnership is a coalition of the willing around livestock development that unlocks the potential of others. At the second Global Conference on Agricultural research for Development, the Program and potential collaborators formulated a list of 7 critical success factors that have formed the basis of our partnership strategy. These state that partnerships must be based on development issues, clearly allocate roles, operate as a team, build enabling culture, share reward for results, learn together and frequently review performance and satisfaction.The program has placed value chain issues before national stakeholders as a basis for alliances for action that can inform research processes. To boost research capability, the program has initiated discussions with two European universities to form strategic partnerships that will serve to fill capacity gaps in value chain and tropical livestock system productivity research. We seek joint applied research programs at apex and country level. In countries of operation, efforts were initiated in 2012 to leverage capacity among research and development collaborators to deliver livestock value chain solutions and test best-bet options.In 6 countries, we have joined forces with national agricultural research systems and ministries. In Tanzania, with partners we have helped establish a Dairy Development Forum to gather private and public stakeholders into a dairy development process. Here, opportunities are being explored to develop collaboration with SNV and Land O'Lakes within the anticipated expansion of the regional Bill and Three major risks that may hinder the expected delivery of results by the program include:1) Mobilizing sufficient restricted project funding: The program relies on securing restricted project grants to fund two-thirds of the overall program budget, especially those portions supporting operational costs. As the program began in 2012, the partner centers had only secured roughly half of the restricted project funding needed to implement the approved program, and had only modest success in mobilizing additional funds during 2012. This means that activities could be initiated in a meaningful way in only a subset of the target value chains and in only a subset of the technology research areas. To address this risk of a continued shortfall in restricted project funding, the program is developing a more targeted resource mobilization effort that builds on the strengths emerging from the first year of research: the early results being achieved in certain value chains and research areas are now providing a stronger basis for attracting additional funding. Also importantly, the program has initiated a request to the Fund Council that would permit the program to access additional W2 funding commitments it is attracting from its members.2) Poor alignment among partner centers: During the first year of implementation, the four partner centers have begun to develop a shared understanding of the program and its value chain approach. Many of the activities in this first year, however, have reflected legacy projects and commitments and so have limited the opportunity to implement the value chain work consistent with the program approach. Effective alignment among the partner centers to the value chain approach will become evident as they propose new activities, identify new funding and allocate their resources. To enhance alignment and integration within the program, it is anticipated that the PPMC, with support from the Science and Partnership Advisory Committee, will take a more direct role in reviewing proposed activities and performance of the center teams implementing the program.3) Weak program management systems: Existing management systems across the partner centers have found it difficult to respond to the needs of the program in terms of providing the types of information needed for timely planning and monitoring, especially with respect to budget and staff time allocation. The development of the CGIAR 'one corporate system' (OCS) is expected to address this challenge, and the program has been engaged in advising on implications of program needs for the OCS design.The indicators reported in Table 1 are derived from detailed data presented in the various background reports, which cite the supporting evidence. The evolving definition of the indicators, however, may contribute to some variation in their interpretation.During 2012, each of the teams for the Themes and the target value chains held planning meetings to begin developing their respective implementation plans. The plans maintained the research directions described in the approved program proposal; no significant changes were made. However, several gaps in capacity among the partner centers were identified that will need to be addressed before the full research agenda can be implemented; in several cases, the partner centers are strengthening their staff resources in the needed areas. These include: gender, herd health and husbandry, macroeconomic and policy analysis, innovation systems, systems analysis, and evaluation.During the program's proposal approval process, it was recommended that a component on environmental issues be developed. This agenda is being pursued mainly in terms of work on the methods to assess both positive and negative environmental impacts associated with the development of the target value chains, and has been incorporated into the 'Targeting sustainable interventions' Theme. Similarly, the program has recognized that to be consistent with its intended impact pathway and theory of change, it will be important to address more directly how increased availability of animal-source foods can translate into nutritional benefits. A strategy for nutrition-related research will be developed in 2013 as part of the 'Gender and Learning' Theme.The program began developing an evaluation framework and will work to finalize it based on the evolving system-wide evaluation framework and definition of Intermediate Development Outcomes. As the result, the indicators have yet to be fully internalized within the program and are only now being benchmarked for the first time.Qualitative reporting for the first year of implementation has made evident significant variation in the program's ability to engage and initiate activities in the various target value chains, largely due to differential success in mobilizing the needed restricted funding. The program is adapting to this reality by focusing its attention on full implementation of its value chain approach in an initial set of value chains where sufficient momentum is being achieved; it will continue to implement a much lower level of preparatory activities in the remaining value chains as efforts are undertaken to mobilize the resources for the full program there.The financial reports are attached as Annex 2.Annex 1. Program Indicators of Progress ","tokenCount":"5774"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0395436829.json b/data/part_1/0395436829.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ba7ef59fca90efe13282a5929b8f213334ba3717
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0395436829.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3914571bfd2e6b1b7a6b7a0ff64c19ba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1e298a50-131f-411b-8b0a-ada44991c671/retrieve","id":"-1425772892"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c2446a90-5557-40be-91e6-c6bc19a1c55e","pagecount":"52","content":"Statement from the Board Chair For the year ended December 31, 2015The year 2015 was the second year of the five-year strategy for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The Institute continued to implement the strategy as well as the change management initiatives that were initiated in 2014 to deliver on the outputs and products envisaged in the strategy. Some of the themes implemented in 2014 were reorganized based on initial feedback and a changed external business environment. This was the first year of the new performance management system to ensure linking of individual goals with that of the Institute.As the lead center for the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), IWMI witnessed an exciting year as the Institute, under the guidance of the WLE's Steering Committee, implemented the new Innovation Fund and Focal Region Initiative that was fully integrated into WLE. A total of 35 out of the originally approved 36 projects were implemented within an integrated research design to be funded. These projects comprise a portfolio of different initiatives, and represent a robust and comprehensive program of research that will further the agenda of sustainable intensification of agriculture based on an ecosystem service-based approach. The majority of these projects have been led by non-CGIAR partners and each project is obliged to allocate a fixed percentage of funds to other partners. The Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) review was conducted in 2015. The review was positive and the constructive suggestions made were included in the WLE phase II planning which started this year.At consortium level, the Center Management and the Board continued to engage in various initiatives, such as areas related to governance, financing plan, Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) and the second round of CRPs, resulting in considerable investment of the management's time. We look forward to the positive outcomes of these initiatives, which we hope will address some of the most pressing issues in the system and bring much-needed stability.Financially, the changes to the earlier approved financing plan resulted in significantly lower than expected funding to WLE. This, together with the Board's decision to ensure adequate funding to the Innovation Fund and Focal Region Initiative, resulted in a lower funding allocation to IWMI. In 2014, the Board allowed additional funding from the reserves, in order to cover the shortfall due to reduced WLE funding and to ensure research objectives are met. A total of USD 4.45 million was drawn down from the reserve to cover the shortfall. Based on the ongoing funding crisis, the Board asked the management to take steps to reduce costs and this is being implemented in a phased manner. The Board reviewed a new reserves policy in 2014, which requires the Institute to maintain a minimum of 105 days of undesignated reserves and the Institute's current reserves are around this threshold. The Institute's liquidity and reserve levels remain above the CGIAR recommended benchmarks.Although IWMI's financial situation remains stable and its prospects look promising, the Institute is not immune to new financial or operational risks as a result of a reduction in funding. The Board takes an active role in monitoring the Institute's risk management strategy, not only from the perspective of financial elements, but also with respect to research strategies and issues. The Board has adopted a risk management policy that has been communicated to all staff together with a detailed management guideline. The policy includes a framework by which the Institute's management identifies, evaluates and prioritizes risks and opportunities across the organization; develops risk mitigation strategies that balance benefits with costs; monitors the implementation of these strategies; and reports, in conjunction with finance and administration staff, and internal audit, on results to the full Board annually. The Board is satisfied that the organization has adopted and implemented a comprehensive risk management system.The key external risks going into 2016 relate to the outcome of deliberation on the second round of CRPs, the uncertainty around the outcome of the governance issue, and the volatile funding environment and its impact on future funding stability. With regards to internal risks, they relate toThe Board of Governors has the responsibility of ensuring that an appropriate Risk Management Process is in place. Identification of significant risks which can affect the achievement of IWMI's business objectives and alignment with CGIAR principles are an essential part of this Risk Management Process.The Board of Governors has reviewed the Risk Register and the proposed mitigation actions. The Board endorses the current risk ratings based on the analysis provided in the Risk Register.The ongoing change in the Funding Environment, especially with the decrease in CGIAR funding, has significantly changed the business environment as well as the risks within which IWMI operates. These risks include operational, financial and reputational risks. The ongoing change is changing the risks on a regular basis and therefore requires additional measures to manage risk as a whole rather than in parts. Considering this, the Board of Governors has reviewed and approved a Risk Framework in order to further enhance Risk Management and to ensure that mitigation of risks happens for IWMI as a whole rather than addressing specific areas of challenge.Risks include: 1. Misallocation of scientific efforts away from agreed priorities. 2. Loss of reputation for scientific excellence and integrity. 3. Increased competition from non-CGIAR competitors leading to a reduction of resources for IWMI to undertake key priorities. 4. Change in funding channels leading to a reduction in source of funds that IWMI can apply for. 5. Business disruption and information system failure. 6. Liquidity problems. 7. Transaction processing failures. 8. Loss of assets, including information assets. 9. Failure to recruit, retain and effectively utilize qualified and experienced staff. 10. Failure of staff health and safety systems. 11. Failure by the Consortium to execute legal and fiduciary responsibilities. 12. Withdrawal or reduction of funding by donors due to the financial crisis. 13. Subsidization of the cost of projects funded from restricted grants and/or partial non-delivery of promised outputs, due to inadequate costing of restricted projects. 14. Failure by the lead center to comply with the terms of the agreement and/or not delivering on the agreed outputs. 15. Non-prioritization of Natural Resource Management in the CRPs due to lack of funding.The process draws upon risk assessments and analyses prepared by staff of IWMI's business unit, internal auditors, Center-commissioned external reviewers and the external auditors. The Board of Governors has approved the new Internal Audit Charter and the Audit Asia unit has been initiated in order to further enhance the Risk Assessment process. IWMI's Risk Mitigation strategy which includes implementation of internal controls are preventive in nature. Internal control includes having the appropriate infrastructure, controls, systems and people in place. Regular business environment scans, implementation of clear policies and procedures, implementation of transaction approval frameworks, regular financial and management reporting, and the monitoring of metrics designed to highlight positive or negative performance of both individuals and business processes are the key aspects of the internal control system.The design and effectiveness of the risk management system and internal controls is subject to ongoing review by IWMI's internal audit service, which is independent of the business units and reports on the results of its audits directly to the Director General and to the Board through its Finance and Audit Committee.The Board also remains alert to the impact of external events over which IWMI has no control over, except to monitor and, as the occasion arises, provide mitigation measures.Chair, Board of Governors, IWMIThe accompanying financial statements of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), for the year ended December 31, 2015, are the responsibility of the management. IWMI's management also claims responsibility for the substance and objectivity of the information contained therein.IWMI's financial reporting practices follow the 'CGIAR Accounting Policies and Reporting Practices Manual -Financial Guidelines Series No. 2' as amended in February 2006, and the Annual Advisory Note issued by the CGIAR Consortium Office for 2015 financial statements. IWMI maintains a system of internal control designed to provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded, and transactions are properly recorded and executed in accordance with the management's authorization.A system of reporting within IWMI presents the management with an accurate view of the operations, enabling it to discern risks to the assets or fluctuations in the economic environment of the Institute at an early stage and, at the same time, provide a reliable basis for the financial statements and management reports.The Board of Governors exercises its responsibility for these financial statements through its Finance and Audit Committee. The committee meets regularly with the management and representatives of the external auditors to review matters related to financial reporting, internal controls and auditing.Director General   The accounting policies on pages to 21, notes on pages to and supplementary information on pages to form an integral part of the financial statements. The accounting policies on pages 11 to 21, notes on pages 22 to 36 and supplementary information on pages 37 to 48 form an integral part of the financial statements.For the year ended December 31, 2015 The accounting policies on pages 11 to 21, notes on pages 22 to 36 and supplementary information on pages 37 to 48 form an integral part of the financial statements.The In the process of applying IWMI's accounting policies, the management has made the following judgment, apart from those involving estimations, which has the most significant effect on the amounts recognized in the Financial Statements.IWMI reviews all receivables at each Statement of Financial Position date to assess whether an allowance should be recorded in the Statement of Activities. The management uses judgment in estimating such amounts in the light of the duration of the outstanding value and any other factors the management is aware of that may indicate uncertainty in recovery.The key assumptions regarding the future and other key sources of uncertainty of making estimations at the Statement of Financial Position date, which have a significant risk of causing material adjustments to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year, are discussed below. The respective carrying amounts of assets and liabilities are given in the related notes to the Financial Statements.The cost of defined benefit plans -severance, gratuity and leave encashment -are determined using actuarial valuations. The actuarial valuation involves making assumptions about discount rates, expected rates of return on assets, future salary increases and mortality rates. Due to the long-term nature of these plans, such estimates are subject to significant uncertainty.Accounting Policies (Contd...)Financial Statements -December 31, 2015 13The financial statements are presented in United States Dollars (USD), which is IWMI's functional and presentation currency. All financial information presented in USD has been rounded to the nearest thousand, unless otherwise indicated.IWMI has consistently applied the following accounting policies to all periods presented in these financial statements.Transactions denominated in currencies other than the presentation currency are translated to USD at the exchange rates prevailing at the beginning of the month in which the transaction took place. If the variation in the rates at the beginning and middle of the month is more than 2%, such variations are adjusted in the accounting system in the middle of the month. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than USD are translated to the functional currency at the exchange rate at the reporting date. Non-monetary items denominated in a foreign currency, which are carried at cost, are reported using the exchange rate prevailing on the date of the transaction.All exchange gains or losses resulting from such translations are treated as other revenues and gains in the Statement of Activities.Revenue is the gross inflow of economic benefits during the period arising in the course of the ordinary activities of a CGIAR center, where those inflows result in increases in net assets. The major portion of a center's revenue is derived through the receipts of donor grants -either 'Unrestricted' or 'Restricted'.Unrestricted grant revenue arises from the unconditional transfer of cash or other assets to IWMI.Restricted grant revenue arises from a transfer of resources to IWMI in return for past or future compliance related to the operating activities of the Institute.Gross inflow of economic benefits includes amounts collected on behalf of the principal and do not result in an increase in the net assets, which are treated as 'Agency Transactions' and are not recognized as revenue.Grants are recognized as revenue when the outcome of a transaction involving the rendering of services can be measured reliably. Revenue associated with the transaction is recognized by making reference to the stage of completion of the transaction at the reporting date. When the outcome of the transaction cannot be estimated reliably, revenue is recognized only to the extent of the expenses that are recoverable. Unrestricted grants are recognized as revenue upon unconditional transfer of cash or other assets by donors. Such revenue is recognized in full in the financial year for which the grant is pledged.Accounting Policies (Contd...)As a Lead Center, grants received for the CRPs are recognized in the full amount of grants received from the CGIAR Consortium (Windows 1 and 2), including the amounts passed on to other centers and spent by them. Disbursements to another CGIAR center by the Lead Center are recorded as an 'Account Receivable' until an expenditure report is received from the other center, and the expenditure amount is then liquidated from the advance.Revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable. Fair Value is the amount for which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability settled, between knowledgeable willing parties at an arm's length transaction.(a) Cash grants are recorded at the face value of the cash received or the USD equivalent.(b) Grant revenue, including non-monetary grants at fair value, is recognized when there is reasonable assurance that the:i. organization will comply with the conditions attached to them; and ii. grants will be received.(c) Grants are recognized as revenue over the periods necessary to match them with the related costs, which they are intended to compensate, on a systematic basis.Other revenues and gains are recognized in the period in which they are earned. IWMI discloses the amount of exchange differences included in the net profit or loss for the period under Other Revenue and Gains.Expenses are recognized when a decrease in future economic benefits, related to a decrease in an asset or an increase in a liability, has arisen that can be measured reliably. Expenses are recognized on the basis of a direct association between the costs incurred and the earning of specific items of revenue. IWMI presents, on the face of the Statement of Activities, an analysis of expenses using a classification based on the function and nature of expenses within the Institute.Research Expenses: These are the costs incurred for the activities that result in goods and services being distributed to beneficiaries, project proponents and members that fulfill the purpose of a mission for which the IWMI exists.CGIAR Collaborator Expenses: This is the total expenditure incurred by other CGIAR centers in collaborative research undertaken by them.General and Administration Expenses: These are the expenses incurred for activities of IWMI other than Research Expenses. These expenses are also referred to as 'Governance and central support functions', 'Institutional costs' or 'Administrative costs'. The 'Management and Administration' costs are collectively referred to as indirect costs and include expenses of IWMI's Board of Governors, office of the Director General, Finance and Human Resources departments, internal and external audit costs, Information and Knowledge Group (IKG), and the unrecovered part of services.Direct costs are charged, in particular, to the programs benefited. Indirect costs are allocated to programs based on the total direct cost. The costs of providing the programs, management and general activities have been summarized on a functional basis in the notes. Accordingly, certain costs have been allocated among programs and other services, management and general activities.IWMI is exempt from income tax under the provisions of Section 7 of the Inland Revenue Act No. 10 of 2006 of Sri Lanka, and amendments thereto. The Institute is also exempt from USA (United States of America) tax under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America, as an organization described in Section 501(c) (3).Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash in hand, balances with banks, and short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with original maturity periods of 3 months or less, and which are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.Investments acquired with the intention of disposing the same within 1 year or less from the acquisition date are classified as current investments. Investments classified as current, as distinguished from cash equivalents, are those that are acquired with original maturities of more than 3 months, but not exceeding 1 year.Investments are initially recorded at their cost. Interest or gains related to short-term investments are reported in the Statement of Activities under Other Revenue and Gains.The short-term investments represent time deposits with banks that are collateral against national staff loan schemes and term deposits with original maturities of more than 3 months.All receivable balances are valued at their net realizable amount, i.e., gross amount of receivable balances minus, if applicable, allowances provided for doubtful accounts.Accounting Policies (Contd...)Allowances for doubtful accounts are provided in an amount equal to the total receivables shown, or reasonably estimated to be doubtful of collection. The amount of the allowance is based on past experience, and a continuous review of receivable reports and other relevant factors.When an accounts receivable is deemed doubtful of collection, an allowance is provided during the year the account is deemed doubtful.Any receivable or portion of accounts receivable judged to be uncollectible is written off. Write-offs of receivables are made while making allowance for doubtful accounts after all efforts to collect such amounts have been exhausted.Accounts receivable from donors consist of amounts due from restricted grants that have been negotiated between the donor and the CGIAR center. It also pertains to claims from donors for expenses paid on behalf of projects in excess of cash received.Accounts receivable from employees consist of advances made to officers and employees for travel, benefits, salary, loans, etc.This includes advances made to other CGIAR centers.Under the CRPs, disbursements to another CGIAR center by the Lead Center should be recorded as an 'Accounts Receivable' until an expenditure report is received from the other center, and the expenditure amount can then be liquidated from the advance.Accounts receivable from others consist of advance payments to suppliers, consultants and other third parties.Prepaid expenses comprise of deposits and advances to suppliers. These are future expenses that have been paid in advance. The amount of prepaid expenses that have not yet expired are reported in IWMI's Statement of Financial Position as an asset.Inventories are held in the form of materials or supplies to be consumed in IWMI's operations or in the rendering of services. Cost of inventories is not directly expended at the time of purchase, and these are not held for sale in the ordinary course of business.Net realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business minus the estimated costs necessary to make the sale. Inventories are valued at whichever is lower of acquisition cost or net realizable value, and charged when used. The acquisition cost includes the purchase Accounting Policies (Contd...)price plus cost of freight, insurance and handling charges. Cost is determined by the weighted average method. Provision is made, where necessary, for obsolete, slow moving and defective items.Property, plant and equipment are defined as tangible assets, which are: a) held by IWMI for use in the production or supply of goods or for administrative purposes; and b) expected to be used for more than one accounting period.An item of property, plant and equipment is recognized as an asset when: (a) it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the asset will flow to IWMI; and (b) the cost of the asset can be measured reliably.All individual tangible assets having costs in excess of USD 500 or its equivalent, with an estimated useful life beyond 1 year, are treated as fixed assets and designated as property, plant and equipment. Gains or losses arising from the discontinuation or disposal of property, plant and equipment are determined as the difference between the estimated net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset, and are recognized as revenue or expense in the Statement of Activities.Property, plant and equipment are initially measured at cost. Subsequent to initial recognition as an asset, property, plant and equipment are carried at cost minus any accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. The cost of an item of property, plant and equipment comprises its purchase price and all other incidental costs in bringing the asset to its working condition for its intended use.Depreciation of property, plant and equipment is calculated on the straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows: Accounting Policies (Contd...)Property, plant and equipment acquired through the use of grants restricted for a certain project are recorded as assets. Such assets are depreciated at a rate of 100%, and the depreciation expense is charged directly to the appropriate restricted project.Leasehold property and improvements thereon are amortized over the lease period or, if shorter, the useful economic life of the property or improvement concerned.The initial lease agreement between IWMI and the Government of Sri Lanka is for 25 years commencing in 1991. IWMI has the right to negotiate for an extension of the lease period under the lease agreement upon expiry of the current lease.Capital work-in progress represents the accumulated cost of materials and other costs directly related to the construction of an asset. Capital work-in-progress is transferred to the respective asset accounts at the time it is substantially completed and ready for its intended use.Accounts payable are amounts due to donors, employees and others for support, services and materials received prior to year-end, but not paid for as at the Statement of Financial Position date.This includes amounts payable to donors in respect of any unexpended funds received in advance for restricted grants.This includes unpaid salaries and bonuses, leave credits and pension entitlements.These include all other liabilities IWMI has incurred and has been billed for, which remain unpaid as at the Statement of Financial Position date.This amount comprises accruals made for suppliers, for which invoices were not yet received as at the reporting date.A provision is a liability of uncertain timing or amount. A provision is recognized when:Accounting Policies (Contd...)(a) a center has a present obligation as a result of a past event;(b) it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation; and (c) a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.The amount recognized as a provision should be the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the present obligation at the reporting date. Provisions should be reviewed at each reporting date and adjusted to reflect the current best estimate. A provision should only be used for expenditure for which the provision was originally recognized.An employee may provide services to an entity on a full-time, part-time, permanent, contract or casual basis. Employees include directors and other management personnel. Employee benefits are all forms of consideration given by IWMI in exchange for services rendered by employees. Employee benefits include the following:(I) Short-term employee benefits -Salaries, paid leave, bonuses and non-monetary benefits for current employees. These benefits are expected to be settled in full within a year in which the employees render the related services.(II) Post-employment benefits -Pension, other retirement benefits, post-employment life insurance and medical care. IWMI has a 'Defined Benefit' pension plan for its national staff based at its headquarters. This plan was closed in 2004 to new employees. The assets and liabilities of the Plan are valued annually by a qualified Actuary, and the resulting liability is provided in the books.(III) Terminal benefits IWMI's net obligation in respect of severance, gratuity and leave encashment, which are defined benefit plans, are determined based on an actuarial valuation carried out by an independent qualified actuary and are accrued at the reporting date. The liabilities are not externally funded.In accordance with the terms and conditions of recruitment, internationally recruited staff members are entitled to terminal benefits referred to as 'Severance' on the completion of three full years of continuous service. The present value of a defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated cash flows based on the actuarial valuation carried out by an independent qualified actuary.Payment is made for gratuity benefits under IWMI's personnel policies to nationally recruited staff. Nationally recruited staff qualify for a gratuity payment on completion of 5 years of continuous service with the Institute. The present value of a defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated cash flows based on the actuarial valuation carried out by an independent qualified actuary.Accounting Policies (Contd...) The present value of a defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated cash flows based on the actuarial valuation carried out by an independent qualified actuary.In accordance with the terms and conditions of recruitment, internationally recruited staff members and their dependents are entitled to repatriation benefits on completion of the contract period.Provision is made for repatriation payable to all international staff members based on the estimated cost of airfare, relocation and freight charges.Net Assets are the residual interest in IWMI's assets remaining after liabilities are deducted. The overall change in net assets represents the total gains and losses generated by the Institute's activities during the year. Net assets are classified as either undesignated or designated.(a) Undesignated -the part of net assets that is not designated by IWMI's management for specific purposes.(b) Designated -the part of net assets that has been designated by IWMI's management for specific purposes.Property, Plant and Equipment: This is the net book value of property, plant and equipment as at the Statement of Financial Position date.Events after the reporting date are those, both favorable and unfavorable, that occur between the reporting date and the date when the financial statements are authorized for issue. Two types of events can be identified:(a) Those that provide evidence of conditions that existed at the reporting date (adjusting events after the reporting date); and (b) Those that are indicative of conditions that arose after the reporting date (non-adjusting events after the reporting date).Adjusting events after the reporting date: IWMI adjusts the amounts recognized in its financial statements to reflect adjusting events after the reporting date.Accounting Policies (Contd...)The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. However, IWMI doesn't prepare its financial statements on a going concern basis, if the management determines that it intends to cease operations or it has no realistic alternative but to do so after the reporting date.The Statement of Cash Flows has been prepared using the 'indirect method'. This is the method whereby a surplus or deficit is adjusted for the effects of transactions of a non-cash nature, any deferrals or accruals of past or future operating cash receipts or payments, and items of income or expenses associated with investing or financing cash flows. The Statement of Cash Flows for a period shall report net cash provided or used by operating, investing and financing activities, and the net effect of those flows on cash and cash equivalents during the period, in a manner that reconciles the beginning and ending cash and cash equivalents.Accounting Policies (Contd...)   Recovery of overhead costs represents the amount recovered from restricted projects based on the rates agreed on and as stated in the grant agreements. Net assets include both the designated and undesignated reserves.Undesignated: Undesignated reserves represent the accumulated surplus of revenue over expenses.Property, Plant and Equipment: This is the net book value of property, plant and equipment as at the reporting date.Capital Acquisition Reserve: This is the reserve for replacement of property, plant and equipment.This reserve is set aside to ensure smooth operations and/or transition in the event of any exigencies arising in regional offices and/or headquarters. This reserve will also cover any unforeseen fluctuations in staff liability arising from the defined pension plan for Sri Lankan national staff and long-term payables which are provided for based on actuarial valuation.Reserve: Funds designated to this reserve will facilitate strategic investment in research which is in line with IWMI's Strategic Plan for which funding may not be available or uncertain or expand its operations into new regions.Notes to the financial statements continued on page 32Notes to the Financial Statements -As at December 31, 2015 (contd.)No events have occurred from the reporting date to the date the financial statements are authorized for issue, which would require adjustment to, or disclosure in, the financial statements. Notes to the Financial Statements -As at December 31, 2015 (contd.)There are no commitments and contingent liabilities at the reporting date.The following The carrying values of financial instruments not carried at fair value are a reasonable approximation of fair values, due to short-term maturity, hence the fair value hierarchy does not apply.Notes to the financial statements continued on page 34Notes to the Financial Statements -As at December 31, 2015 (contd.)25b. Financial Risk Management Overview i) Risk Management Framework IWMI's Board of Governors has overall responsibility for ensuring that an appropriate risk management framework is in place. The management is responsible for the Institute-wide implementation of the risk management system to ensure that risks are identified appropriately, assessed and acted upon in accordance with IWMI's policies. The risk management system and policies are reviewed regularly to reflect the changes in the market conditions and the Institute's activities.IWMI ensures minimum risk either by exercising a high degree of control or not being involved in certain high-risk activities. The Board of Governors takes an active role in monitoring the Institute's risk management strategy, and financial aspects, as well as research strategies and issues. The Board of Governors has adopted a risk management policy that has been communicated to all staff together with a detailed management guideline. The policy includes a framework by which the Institute's management identifies, evaluates and prioritizes risks and opportunities across the organization; develops risk mitigation strategies that balance benefits with costs; monitors the implementation of these strategies; and reports, in conjunction with finance, administration and internal audit staff, the results to the Board, on an annual basis.The annual statement from the Board Chair addresses the Institute's risk management strategy, and identifies key areas of risk and processes in place to mitigate such risks.The Institute has exposure to the following risks from its use of financial instruments:1. Credit risk 2. Market risk 3. Liquidity riskCredit risk is the risk that occurs when a counterparty will not meet its obligations under a financial instrument or donor contract, leading to financial losses and arises principally from the Institute's cash and cash equivalents, investments and accounts receivable.The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure.The Institute is not exposed to any material concentrations of credit risk other than its exposure to various donors. Donor receivables are reviewed on a monthly basis and regular follow-up actions are carried out to recover the balances due. Receivable balances are monitored on an ongoing basis and provisions are made where necessary for doubtful accounts. IWMI's exposure to non-recoverability is insignificant.Notes to the financial statements continued on page 35Financial Statements -December 31, 2015Notes to the Financial Statements -As at December 31, 2015 (contd.)Cash and cash equivalents are held with reputable local and international financial institutions with good credit ratings. Investments are made as per the Investment Policy of the Institute. Accordingly, short term investments, cash and cash equivalents are invested in a portfolio to safeguard the funds and with an investment objective of maximizing the returns. IWMI's investment policy defines the maximum exposure to a single financial institution, in order to ensure diversification of investments. The policy also states the types of instruments in which the funds can be invested and the types in which investment is not permitted.However, the requirement for impairment is analyzed at each reporting date on an individual basis for grant agreements. Market risk is the risk that occurs due to changes in market prices, such as interest rates and foreign exchange rates, which will affect the Institute's income or the value of its financial instruments. The objective of market risk management is to manage and control market risk exposures within acceptable parameters.Currency risk is the risk that occurs when the value of a financial instrument fluctuates due to changes in foreign exchange rates. IWMI's exposure to the risk of changes in foreign exchange rates primarily affect the Institute's operating activities (when revenue or and expense is denominated in a different currency from the Institute's functional currency) and bank accounts held in different currencies. In order to mitigate the foreign exchange risks, the Institute matches the currency of payment with the currency of donor funds received, wherever possible.Notes to the financial statements continued on page 36Notes to the Financial Statements -As at December 31, 2015 (contd.)The following table demonstrates the effect of a reasonably possible change in the US dollar exchange rate, with all other variables held constant, on the net surplus.(US$ '000)10% 77The movement on the net surplus effect is a result of the cash and cash equivalents denominated in currencies other than the functional currency, (US Dollar). If the US Dollar had strengthened /weakened by 10% against the major operating currencies, with all other variables held constant, there would have been an increase/decrease in the surplus for the year.Liquidity risk is the risk that occurs when the Institute may encounter difficulties in meeting the obligation associated with its financial liabilities that are to be settled by delivering cash or other financial assets.One of the investment objectives of the Institute is to manage liquidity, which is to ensure, that it will always have sufficient liquidity to meet its liabilities when due, under both normal and stressed conditions.December 31, 2015 (in US Dollars) ","tokenCount":"5633"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0408050610.json b/data/part_1/0408050610.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..267375c6b8b35bd189135ce1cd864a39426fea16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0408050610.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"afd98920b612565ad24bc52bbc35fe47","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ff6e8c66-6f6e-4d67-9f85-4fe2eff0304c/retrieve","id":"-2001959353"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02042f6f-6631-486f-a299-e727344302c0","pagecount":"29","content":"Lesson 8• FEAST Data Template -A customized Excel spreadsheet designed to help users quickly and accurately enter data collected from focus group discussions and individual farmer interviews, then produce charts and graphs to inform development of livestock feed intervention strategiesLesson 8 • What do we do with all the data we collect from focus groups and interviews?• How will this data help smallholder farmers improve their livestock feed resources?Discussion Question #1Lesson 8Discuss the following question with one or more of your fellow participants. Be ready to share your thoughts with the class:• How might the data we collected be useful in our efforts to improve the community's access to quality livestock feed?Discussion Question #1 (cont.)Lesson 8Possible Answers:Data collected helps us to:• Assess proportion of high-quality vs. low-quality feed in animal diets• Identify under-utilized sources of feed• Identify and rank the main constraints to feed production. 3. Merge qualitative and quantitative output in final report. Summarize, interpret and make recommendationsFrom FCD Report to implementation • The FEAST Data Template is a set of electronic forms based on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.• Designed to help users quickly and accurately: Numbers and other data in spreadsheets are stored in cells, which appear as boxes in a grid. ","tokenCount":"203"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0454108712.json b/data/part_1/0454108712.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..08f34cbea212d481d7a5b3d09b56606d9597784a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0454108712.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3546a59980c36c1beca7894bd77b6a08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b8f6f607-f8f0-42a6-b86c-93fc75d61a1b/retrieve","id":"867029222"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d87ef7a4-654a-4960-b683-fa701ca2a9e3","pagecount":"24","content":"Climate change is exacerbating the challenges of smallholder agriculture in Africa • The farmer is the general manager of the farm business• Makes decisions after analyzing the information available to her/him.• The farmers considers climate information/agro-advisory as part of his/her risk management decision making.What is agro-advisory?• Agro-advisory is the delivery of actionable information to users that are relevant to make critical agricultural decisions• Who uses agro-advisories?An opportunity for digitalization of the extension system in particular and agriculture in general.Types of climate agro-advisories Example of Seasonal Forecast (2020 Main season)• Complete land preparation for the main planting season as soon as possible.• The chance of long-dry spells is minimal across the country, and therefore farmers need to plant as soon as the rains start. • Except for some pockets, most areas will receive normal or above-normal rainfall.Hence, farmers are recommended to grow high-yielding varieties that can produce more under favorable rainfall conditions. • The end of the season is also within the expected range, so that farmers need to follow recommended varieties and crop management practices • Farmers in the northwestern part of the country where below-normal rainfall is projected should not be worried about the rainfall conditions as the areas normally have high rainfall conditions. The lower rainfall conditions may be even favorable as it reduces excess water and runoff conditions. • Farmers need to be encouraged to follow the short-term advisories that will be given during the growing season. • In order to exploit the favorable projected seasonal conditions, concerned offices, input suppliers, and dealers need to make sure that agricultural inputs such as seed and fertilizers reach the farmers as early as possible. • DAs rarely update their knowledge and skills (most of them in remote areas)The opportunity of using digital tools is limited (e.g., mobile apps)• Less-versed in using professional tools compared to social media apps.DAs are not well-versed in the use of climate information for agricultural decision making• Need for strong capacity buildingConsiderations in the Training of DAs   ","tokenCount":"332"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0476920293.json b/data/part_1/0476920293.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..56abe2ca1c393b3eb1c3e3866cf23205ca797135
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0476920293.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c42f2792bdd6c3f615d98af0861a5a95","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0f863d06-b16d-4aea-9d43-c72c1f74d098/retrieve","id":"-1808656304"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8f011d09-2828-420a-8055-18e76f468ffe","pagecount":"20","content":"Chương trình Biến đối khí hậu, Nông nghiệp và An ninh lương thực (CCAFS) Đông Nam Á do Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Nông nghiệp Nhiệt đới (CIAT) chủ trì, với những nhà nghiên cứu hàng đầu thế giới về khoa học nông nghiệp, nghiên cứu phát triển, khoa học khí hậu và khoa học trái đất nhằm xác định và giải quyết các mối quan hệ tương tác, tổng hòa và cân đối giữa biến đổi khí hậu, nông nghiệp và an ninh lương thực. www.ccafs.cgiar.org Tài liệu này là bản dịch có sửa đổi từ bản gốc được Viện Nghiên cứu Tái thiết Nông thôn Quốc tế (IIRR) biên soạn. Các quan điểm được trình bày trong tài liệu này không được coi là các quan điểm chính thống của CGIAR hay Future Earth.Tài liệu này cung cấp những thông tin cơ bản về mô hình \"Cộng đồng ứng phó thông minh với biến đổi khí hậu\" hay \"Làng Nông Thuận Thiên\" cho các cán bộ địa phương và đối tác Việt Nam.• Tại sao cần xây dựng mô hình làng/bản ứng phó thông minh với biến đổi khí hậu?• Tại sao lại gọi là mô hình \"Làng Nông Thuận Thiên\"?• Tại sao các nhà khoa học, cộng đồng địa phương và nông dân đóng vai trò chủ chốt trong việc xây dựng mô hình Làng Nông Thuận Thiên?• Các yếu tố cơ bản của Làng Nông Thuận Thiên là gì?• Biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH) đang diễn ra và tác động ngày càng tiêu cực đến sản xuất nông nghiệp và cuộc sống của người dân.• Nông dân đã và đang cảm nhận rõ ràng và đối mặt với những biến động bất thường của thời tiết và thay đổi của khí hậu: mưa bão ngày càng khó dự báo, mùa mưa ngày càng ngắn, hạn hán xảy ra thường xuyên, kéo dài và khắc nghiệt hơn…• Có thể nông dân không gọi tên những sự thay đổi trên là \"Biến Đổi Khí Hậu\" nhưng họ đang thực sự phải chịu đựng tác động tiêu cực của BĐKH và tìm cách thích ứng với nó.• Nỗ lực đơn lẻ của một người dân sẽ không đủ để ứng phó với BĐKH và các rủi ro liên quan đến khí hậu. Việc này cần sự chung tay của cả cộng đồng. • Mạng lưới nông dân ứng dụng công nghệ nông nghiệp thông minh.• Tổ chức các \"ngân hàng\" hạt giống và cây giống thức ăn gia súc.• Dịch vụ thông tin thị trường Không nên thay đổi tính thống nhất của mô hình Làng Nông Thuận Thiên -một đơn vị cơ sở của nghiên cứu và phát triển.Cần lưu ý rằng:• Nhân rộng mô hình là một tiêu chí quan trọng của Làng Nông Thuận Thiên.• Các hoạt động thích ứng thông minh với BĐKH được áp dụng phải đưa ra được những bằng chứng rõ ràng. • Khuyến khích người dân từng bước đổi mới, thử nghiệm và điều chỉnh các thực hành nông nghiệp thông minh tại cộng đồng cho phù hợp với điều kiện thực tế.• Những cộng đồng nào đã có kinh nghiệm trong quản lý thích ứng thì thường thích ứng tốt hơn với những thay đổi trong tương lai.• Trong một Làng Nông Thuận Thiên, chúng ta cần phải luôn tự hỏi: ai cần việc ta đang làm?• Mục tiêu giảm nghèo, nâng cao khả năng phục hồi, cải thiện sinh kế và dinh dưỡng nên được coi là những quan tâm chính. Bài báo, báo cáo chỉ được coi là các sản phẩm phụ mà thôi.• Cuối cùng, việc xây dựng mô hình Làng Nông Thuận Thiên không phải là làm kinh tế!","tokenCount":"622"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0495718776.json b/data/part_1/0495718776.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1fad86131cb4b5d41e40f67c349aea178cf1d121
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0495718776.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a2dfb373f8124b7eee842c90d2a7480f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1eadb767-691a-4da0-85cc-bd33dd4302a8/retrieve","id":"-1453224055"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"62040911-8c54-437e-a69d-c9d80e2a82e4","pagecount":"83","content":"Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore our work at aiccra.cgiar.org aiccra.cgiar.orgThis report reviews trends and availability of sex-disaggregated data on various aspects of gender and CSA, including agricultural innovation, decision-making, time use and access to resources. It uses data collected by the CGIAR and other organizations to analyse gender trends at global, regional and national levels. In sub-Saharan Africa, customary laws, cultural values and norms, restrict women's access to agricultural inputs and assets (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017;Huyer, 2016). In Mali and Senegal, it was found that although more than 70% of women are engaged in agriculture, just 5% and 13% of them have access to land (Dankelman et al., 2008;UNDP, 2012). In Bangladesh, women were found to be less likely to buy micro-insurance than their male counterparts because of financial or resource constraints and less access to information and extension (Kumar and Clarke, 2015). Addressing gender inequalities in the agricultural sector is a global challenge that require evidence-based policy decisions towards equality. Global policy milestones and development agenda such as the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) place emphasis on the collection of gender indicators to monitor the achievement of gender equality in all sectors including agriculture. According to Doss et al. (2018), Goal 2 of the SDGs explicitly mentions the need to address the challenges and constraints faced by women farmers calling for the collection of sex disaggregated data on CSA. This is crucial in the quest to identifying research gaps and building the necessary evidence for scaling gender-transformative CSA technologies and practices that can transform and reorient agricultural systems 1 .Data were collected from multiple sources including databases, websites and summarized from project reports (see Table 1). The databases provide information on the structure of research on gender and climate adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture context. Additional data were collected from internet searches and consultation with the scientific literature dealing with climate change and agricultural data.1 See Huyer, 2023b.  Sex disaggregated data collected at the household level is prone to bias, not least because of men's and women's differential understanding of survey questions, but also due to their different roles, responsibilities and influence over on-and off-farm activities. Men and women will have an inherent difference in understanding of the effects of climate change and mitigation simply due to their interactions with different tasks. Various resources presenting considerations for mitigating discrepancies between men's and women's survey responses exist, such as those from the UN Statistics Division (2016) as follows:• Consider the ownership status of agricultural parcels as women are more likely than men to have holdings that are not registered • Lower holding size limits exclude parcels owned by women disproportionately to men, and excludes the economic activities carried out by women on small parcels that are likely to be gendered in nature• Consider intrahousehold surveys to understand labour divisions as opposed to female vs male-headed households as this better represents the experience of women within the household • Employ female survey enumerators to survey women and separate men and women during the survey • Consider all steps in value chain production to account for the different responsibilities of men and women in production.Most available gender data in agriculture is disaggregated by the sex of the household head, making it difficult to assess gender dynamics in households and other aspects of community production. The CCAFS Household Surveys record the sex of respondents and it is possible to disaggregate responses using these data; a useful tool, given the small sample sizes of female headed households in the climate-smart villages. Tables 14 and 15 list the sample sizes for these datasets and while in some cases there is a large sample size for female headed households (e.g., Nicaragua: FHH=70, MHH=350), there is still a statistical disparity.Intrahousehold analyses, such as those conducted in the CCAFS Household Survey Monitoring datasets, allow for more similar sampling sizes. The Monitoring set was conducted using the GeoFarmer app, which collects data directly from farmers and allows for better sex disaggregation.Many sources on gender and climate adaptation and mitigation in agriculture (refer to Appendices A and B) provide sex-disaggregated data, which help to build a cohesive picture of women's constraints to agricultural innovation, decision-making, time use and access to resources. In addition, several databases provide information on the gender-climate change nexus in the agriculture sector. For instance, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Gender Data Portal currently provides data on gender indicators for all countries in Africa. Data on 79 gender indicators from national surveys, statistical estimates and other robust sources are available. The AfDB is leading the production of sex-disaggregated data to assess gender gaps and develop responses. The Data are used by policy makers, development institutions, civil society, and private sector as an important tool to engage in evidence-based policy dialogue and action on the ground. Another database was compiled by Gender and Social Inclusion Unit of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), a list of CCAFS publication containing sex-disaggregated data on climate-smart agriculture. Over 100 publications are categorized by region of data collection. The database covers global data on agricultural issues, access to climate services, climate adaptation/CSA, gender patterns in mobility and agricultural production, including workloads, motivations to change, negative perceptions/give up on adaptation strategies/CSA etc.A review of practical resources also identified several guidance documents and practical tools/methods in the field of gender, agriculture, and climate resilience. There are more guidance resources available in the form of Info-notes and working papers than practical resources including toolkits and methods. Most of the resources adopt quantitative methods, with some mixed methods approaches, and fewer qualitative and participatory approaches.More resources are focused on thematic areas 3 including mapping vulnerability and resilience, evaluating specific agricultural practices, and highlighting opportunities/barriers for innovation. For instance, Table 2 lists the resources for mapping causes and patterns of gendered vulnerability and resilience to climate shocks and stressors, in relation to agriculture. On the other hand, few resources exist on analysing the enabling environment, understanding agricultural research and extension systems, or assessing gendered outcomes (Table 3). For instance Gender and Inclusion Toolbox for Participatory Research in Climate Change and Agriculture (CCAFS, ICRAF, CARE, FAO) (Jost et al, 2014) is a resource at district and landscape level which can support the analysis of the gender dimensions of climate change and agriculture research and extension. This tool is also a useful resource for analysing opportunities, barriers,3 Theme wise list of resources is presented in Appendix A.preferences, and decision-making regarding climate change adaptation innovation and interventions at the household, community, and landscape level. In addition to the above, tools, methodologies and frameworks have also been identified across journal articles. The gender and climate hotspot mapping methodology, for instance, identifies hotspot areas for gender and climate risks. It can be utilised for identification of gender and climate risk hotspot at the sub-national (district) level to enable prioritisation for CSA or climate change and gender focussed interventions. Other usages include identification of subnational hotspots of gender, climate risks and poverty in Nepal. The latest usage of the methodology highlights hotspots of areas where machine-transplanted rice can potentially reduce women's labor in India. The hotspot methodology is a practical tool that can be used by all stakeholders as a first step for prioritising interventions geographically. However, usability of the methodology may be limited for organisations without the required technical skill set (GIS software and experts familiar with GIS) (Chanana-Nag and Aggarwal, 2018, Khatri-Chhetri et al., 2019, Gartaula et al., 2020).Another tool that can be useful to assess the gender impacts of CSA is the \"Gender Empowerment Index\" (Huyer, 2023a;Tesfaye et al, 2021). The index uses both quantitative and qualitative data to measure empowerment levels for men and women farmers at interhousehold and intra-household levels. It is based on sub-parameters covering four major measurable indicators-political, economic, agricultural, and social. Another index, 'the decisionmaking index' has been used as a tool by (Van Aelst & Holvoet, 2018) to highlight how adaptation decisions in Tanzania are affected by women's participation in intra-household decision making.A number of frameworks have been presented that can be useful in assessing and analyzing different outcomes of gender and CSA. For instance, based on literature review and field experiences from Zambia and Mexico, (Beuchelt & Badstue, 2013) present a conceptual framework highlighting pathways for enhancing gender and social equity in nutrition-and CSA projects. Similarly, (Wong, 2016) provides a gender lens to the 'contextual-proceduraldistributive' equity framework, to assess the effectiveness of the implementation process and outcomes of key climate-finance targeted intervention in CSA from a gender equity perspective.The framework can enable stakeholders, especially researchers and policymakers to adopt an inclusive approach by understanding various context-specific challenges of gender equity for implementing CSA. Khalil et al (2020) propose a framework for 'informed autonomous adaptation'. It uses local context understanding and adaptation action to support a range of outcomes through female contributions to the mobilization and acquisition of local knowledge, social capital and network building with the help of outside aid actors, such as NGOs, for grassroots innovation.There is no database platform or data repository on the association between gender and climate change perception. However, climate change perceptions and their individual-level determinants have been extensively studied, with sex-disaggregated data. Perceptions about climate change are mostly determined based on responses to changes in rainfall and temperature patterns witnessed over several years (often beyond 20 years). Generally, evidence from the literature reveals increased awareness of climate change among both men and women as well as its implications for agriculture productivity, food security and livelihoods (Partey et al., 2020;Lawson et al., 2020;Assan et al., 2020). Climate change is often perceived as increased frequency of droughts, changes in rainfall patterns (late onset and unpredictability of rains); increased flash floods, increased strong winds; increased evapotranspiration and spontaneous bushfires (Diarra et al., 2021;Partey et al., 2020;Sanogo et al., 2017;Nyantakyi-Frimpong and Bezner-Kerr, 2015).The literature also attests to the fact that perceptions of men and women about climate change are normally based on experiential knowledge accumulated over 20 years (Partey et al., 2020).Generally, gender differences in climate change knowledge and perception are very context specific. Some studies have shown that women may be typically more likely than men to believe that climate change is happening (e.g., Hornsey et al., 2016;McCright, Dunlap, & Xiao, 2013); worry about its effects (e.g., McCright, 2010;McCright and Sundström, 2013); perceive more climate change risks (e.g., Brody et al., 2008;Hamilton, 2011;van der Linden, 2015); express more knowledge about climate change (e.g., McCright, 2010); and perceive global warming as posing a threat within their lifetime (Hamilton, 2011). Moreover, women are less likely than men to endorse denialist beliefs about climate change (e.g., Feygina et al., 2010;McCright and Dunlap, 2011) and express skepticism about its existence on social media (Holmberg & Hellsten, 2015).In Africa, climate change perception was found to be ungendered (Sraku-Lartey et al., 2020;Assan et al., 2020); except in a few cases such as Sanogo et al. ( 2017) who found that in the Koutiala, and Yanfolila districts of Southern Mali, men were more likely to perceive climate change better as they are the main actors in rainfed agriculture. In Eastern Uganda Kisauzi et al. (2012) reported that male and female farmers' perceptions of climate change did not differ significantly on all the parameters investigated except on frequency of droughts, with women more likely to perceive increased drought frequency compared to men (Table 4). In the same study, it was found that a high percentage of men (63%) and women (53%) expected climate change effects to become more severe, which is consistent with the IPCC predictions.In the Pra River Basin of Ghana, Bessah et al. (2021) found that farmers' observed trends of climatic events in the previous 20 years were similar for men and women. In addition, both sexes had similar sources of weather information (Figure 2). Similarly, Assan et al. ( 2020) found similarities in climate change perceptions between men and women, and rising temperatures, shortened cropping season, and increasing erratic rainfall as the main climatic stressors. Lack of money and inadequate access to labour among women, and inadequate access to extension and old age or poor health among men were the major constraints to mitigating climate change impacts. In Nigeria, women had less access to information and training (Nnadi et al, 2022). Meanwhile, a systematic review by Haque et al. (2023) revealed female farmers tend to be more concerned about climate change. This necessitates the need to understand climate change from a cultural standpoint to assess the level of informed decision-making for adaptation. While climate change perceptions are comparable between men and women in Africa, men's greater engagement in agricultural activities can make them perceive more long-term changes in climate than women. In the 2012 CCAFS/IFPRI/ILRI Gender Survey conducted in Senegal, most respondents stated that they had observed a change in weather patterns over the course of their lifetimes, with changes in drought and rainfall being the most highly reported change in all for both sexes (Table 5). Heat, fire and cold spells were least reported. From the survey, there are clear indications that in predominantly, climate change perceptions do not differ significantly between men and women, except in some cases of perceptions of long-term changes. However, adaption measures may be different. In Asia, studies revealed no significant differences between men and women on climate perception in India (Palanisami et al., 2015), Thailand and Vietnam (Waibel et al., 2018). In Vietnam, male respondents reported that climate variability is due to human and non-human activities at 33% and 44%, respectively (McKinley et al., 2016). Females' responses were similar but with more emphasis on humankind activities. Female respondents reported that climate variability is due to human and non-human activities at 41% and 43%, respectively. There appears to be consensus among the respondents that temperatures are increasing and becoming more variable, precipitation is decreasing, and sea-level rise is not presently a concern in their respective regions (McKinley et al., 2016) (Figure 4).With increased awareness of climate change and its impacts on agriculture and livelihoods, one would expect men and women to show the same or similar level of response to minimizing climate-related risks. However, available research reveals gender disparities in the vulnerability and impacts of climate change. The state of vulnerability and adaptive capacity are influenced by factors such as the ownership of/access to land, access to financial credit, level of education, access to employment, wages/income, and decision-making rights. The literature reveals women are normally disadvantaged in relation to these areas, constraining them from adopting agricultural innovations that improve farm productivity and diminishing their adaptive capacity to climate change (Diouf et al., 2019;Huyer et al., 2021).In developing countries, women make up 45% of the agricultural labour force, ranging from 20% in Latin America to up to 60% in parts of Africa and Asia (FAO, 2016) but they often lack substantial access to agricultural inputs, financial credits, labour and land, which are critical for their activities and livelihoods (Doss et al., 2018;Ali et al., 2020). This situation poses as a major threat to food security due to the substantial contributions of women to food production at multiple scales. As in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, customary laws, cultural values and norms, and the role of women in the household are often cited as the major contributors to increasing gender inequalities in access to agricultural inputs and assets (Sheahan and Barrett, 2014;Huyer, 2016;World Bank, 2012). In Mali, the productivity gap between male and female agricultural plot managers in Mali is 20.18% (Singbo et al, 2021); in one site in Tanzania, females made up 25 percent of the sample, had 6 percent lower productivity, provided 64.70 percent onfarm labour and had 0.32 hectares less land compared to males (Nchangi et al, 2021). In respect to access to land, it is reported that traditional laws on inheritance (such as the patrilineal system in most of West Africa) and intra-household dynamics restrict women's access to lands (Agana, 2012;Glazenbrook 2011;Whitehead and Tsikata 2003). Studies also indicate that lands apportioned to women can be lower in quality and lack water sources for irrigation (Agana, 2012). With high aridity and sporadic rainfall patterns, women farmers especially in the Sahel of West Africa become more vulnerable to droughts and suffer high risks of productivity failure due to lack of irrigation facilities. In Table 6, Olaniyan (2017) presents reasons reported by female-led farming households in The Gambia as to why they produce less than their male counterparts. Table 6 Factors responsible for low production in some female-led households in The Gambia (Olaniyan, 2017) Increased gender disparities also exist in employment and wages in developing countries (Heintz and Pickbourne, 2012). In Northern Ghana, Whitehead (2009) reported that women earn about one-third to half of men's wage. In the Fonseca Gulf of Honduras, it was reported that even though women make up to 93% of the labour force of cashew processing companies, they earn on average 68% less than men (Muriel et al. 2020). With comparatively higher wages and access to properties, men are able to meet the collateral requirements of financial institutions to access loans. In addition, the higher income of men mean they can invest in alternative livelihoods that can serve as important safety nets to alleviate risks posed by climate change. In addition to their limited access to assets and agricultural resources, increased workloads as a result of climate impacts increase women's vulnerability to climate change (Jost et al., 2016). For example, women in West Africa invest a great deal of their time in taking care of children, collecting fuelwood, cooking, fetching water, shopping from local markets and indulging in daily running of other household-related responsibilities. In nomadic communities of West Africa where men often migrate with livestock in search of grazing pasture, women must manage activities traditionally handled by men. Limited access to extra labour, means such workloads overburden women and affect the time available for their agricultural activities (Djoudi et al., 2013). Studies show such roles coupled with limited access to agricultural inputs and financial resources also limit women's ability to participate in farm decision-making and adopt innovative technologies for improved adaptive capacity and increased productivity (Jost et al., 2016;Huyer et al., 2021;Murray et al, 2015). Ayilu et al. (2016) reported that despite the dominance of women in fish trading in West African countries such as Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, gender inequalities limit their participation in strategic decision-making pertaining to fisheries management, fish processing and cross-border trade.In contrast to conventional knowledge, Andersen et al. (2017) found that female headed households in Brazil, Mexico and Peru were slightly less vulnerable and more resilient than male headed households even though the former usually have lower education levels. Vulnerability and resilience indicators were measured by a combination of the level of household incomes per capita and the degree of diversification of these incomes. Households which simultaneously had incomes below the national poverty line and were poorly diversified (Diversification Index below 0.5) were classified as highly vulnerable, whereas households with highly diversified incomes above the poverty line were classified as highly resilient. As an example, Table 7 shows the probability of being highly vulnerable, by household type (%), in Peru. Sex disaggregated data are extremely limited on climate impacts. A review by Goh (2012) provides some evidence on how men and women are impacted by climate change in relation to their agricultural activities, water and energy resources, climate-related disasters etc. (Tables 8 to  13). Generally, the literature reveals that men and women feel the impacts of climate change, but the impacts are local specific. It takes adaptive capacity to minimize climate-related risks and impacts. Where women have adequate farm resources, decision making powers, access to land etc., impacts are minimal than when they do not.    Between the CCAFS baseline and midline household surveys, it is evident that changes to climate have increased as a driver to agricultural crop or land management in male and female-headed households, as seen in Figure 5. Overall, male-headed households reported higher responses to climate drivers in all cases except for markets. Male-headed households reported higher drivers from pests and diseases in the midline survey, however, the percentage of female-headed households reporting this driver did not change much between surveys but was still higher than male-headed households in both surveys. Female-headed households reported much lower incidence of driving change in response to interventions or external projects between the two surveys while male-headed households reported a slightly higher response to this driver.The most common adaptation changes cited by both men and women in the CCAFS/IFPRI/ILRI Gender Surveys were related to crop production, but responses also included soil and water conservation, changes in crop varieties or types, changes in planting dates, and tree planting, as described in Table 14. Table 15 shows common reasons to not implement changes, the most common being that respondents didn't know what to do or didn't have the money to implement changes. Table 15 Top five most common reasons given by men and women for why changes were not made (percent of those who reported not making an agricultural, livestock, or livelihood change in response to climate change) in four locations (Source: Twyman et al, 2014) Generally, the CCAFS Household Surveys reported changes to crop patterns as indicated by responses at the household level. Table 16 shows the types of changes adopted by female and male-headed households in the 15 countries included in the study. The changes that were made the most were introduction of new varieties, planting drought tolerant varieties or planting higher yielding varieties. A major caveat to this dataset is that there were very few femaleheaded households included in the survey. In only seven of the countries (Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Uganda) did female-headed households reach 10% of the number of male-headed households surveyed. In these cases, female-headed households adopted changes at a rate of 10% higher than men only in the case of planting drought-tolerant varieties in Uganda. Otherwise, the number of households making changes to crop patterns was fairly even, or male-headed households adopted more changes more female-headed households. In some contexts, such as Costa Rica and Kenya, female-headed households did not adopt several changes made by male-headed households.In Figure 6 the analysis in Table 16 is presented in graphical form to highlight regional trends. Unlike in West Africa, male-headed households appeared to have made more changes to crop patterns than females in East Africa, Latin America and Asia (Figure 6). In West Africa, femaleheaded households responded to climate shocks by introducing new varieties of crops, planting higher yielding varieties, high quality varieties, improved seeds, disease resistant varieties and short cycle varieties of crops. The regional analysis reveals that adoption of adaptation measures in male-headed compared to female-headed households may be context specific. Figure 6 suggests that female-headed households are making fewer changes to their cropping patterns than male-headed households, with the exception of introduction or testing of new crops in West Africa. This exception should, however, be treated with caution as there were only 27 female-headed households included in the study compared with 664 male-headed households; the biggest discrepancy of the four regions listed. Figure 7 suggests that families are focusing their energy on fewer changes on the farm because they will likely have found specific practices which they like and are invested in, rather than trying a lot of new things (Ouedraogo et al., 2019).  In Figure 8, countries are grouped by region and the same analysis as Table 17 is presented in graphical form. This is an attempt to increase the sample size of female-headed households, however there is still a major discrepancy between female and male-headed household sizes in this caseObserving trends from East Africa and Latin America, which have the closest sample sizes, the general trend is that changes to crop patterns occur at a similar rate in both regions, but there is a tendency for male-headed households to adopt changes more than female-headed households to a higher degree than the inverse. In both regions the most adopted changes are planting new varieties and higher yielding varieties, while East Africa also has a high rate of adopting drought-tolerant varieties.Table 17 presents the climate-related reasons that influence households' decisions to change their crop patterns. It is evident that nearly all households reported changing their crops because of more erratic rainfall. Differences were evident between male-headed and femaleheaded households. For most female-headed households in Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua and Uganda, less overall rainfall was the key driver for changes in crop patterns. Meanwhile, male-headed households in Mozambique reported higher reasons for changes for all changes except erratic rainfall (which was 100% of all households in the survey). All other countries which reported higher sex-disaggregated rates of climate-related reasons for changing crop patterns should be investigated individually to take context into account.Consistent with Table 17, Figure 9 shows that most decisions to change cropping in the last 10 years were rainfall related. Erratic rainfall appears to be the greatest factor influencing crop changes in the last 10 years. Decisions influenced by erratic rainfall were comparable for maleand female-headed households in Latin America and East Africa. In Asia and West Africa, however, decisions to change crops were predominant in male-headed households. P l a n t i n g h i g h e r y i e l d i n g v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g b e t t e r q u a l i t y v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g p r e -t r e a t e d / i m p r o v e d s e e d P l a n t i n g s h o r t e r c y c l e v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g l o n g e r c y c l e v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g d r o u g h t t o l e r a n t v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g f l o o d t o l e r a n t v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g s a l i n i t y -t o l e r a n t v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g t o x i c i t y -t o l e r a n t v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g d i s e a s e -r e s i s t a n t v a r i e t y P l a n t i n g p e s t -r e s i s t a n t v a r i e t y    Figure 10 shows factors influencing changes in livestock production, disaggregated by sex and by region. The sample sizes of female-headed households are very small in Asia and West Africa so that results are not reliable. In East Africa, factors reported are high in all areas and comparable between male and female headed households, but male-headed households reported factors relating to projects and policy at notable higher levels. In Latin America, similar trends are seen between male and female-headed households, but market and productivity factors are reported at greater rates by male-headed households. Table 18 shows changes to agricultural practices made by female-and male-headed households in the 10 years prior to the household surveys undertaken by the CGIAR. The sample sizes of female-headed households are low in Asia and West Africa but more comparable in Latin America (20%) and East Africa (42%). In the latter two regions, the rate of reporting reasons for  changing crops between FHHs and MHHs were generally similar with some exceptions. In Latin America, men reported changing crops due to pests and diseases more than women, and in East Africa, having sufficient labour to make changes as well as government/project intervention and resistance to pests and diseases were reported more by MHHs than FHHs. No significant difference (<5% difference)Women more than men reported this reason Men more than women reported this reasonFigure 11 shows some income sources of households in the CCAFS Household Surveys (baselines), disaggregated by region. In all regions except for West Africa, female-headed households received significantly more remittances than male-headed households. None of the households in these regions received significant payments for environmental services. Women receive fewer loans from formal sources in all regions except Latin America, but in the case of informal sources, women consistently accessed fewer loans.Between the baseline and midline household surveys, the households surveyed by the CGIAR reported changes to their off-farm income (Figure 12). Male-headed households obtained paid employment more than female-headed households, but in both cases the percentage of households reporting this income source decreased between the baselines and midlines. The inverse of this is true for business other than farm products. Female-headed households reported receiving remittances or gifts to a much higher degree than men in both surveys, but male-headed households received payment from projects/government significantly more than female-headed households. Additionally, male-headed households received loans significantly more than female-headed households. Education and household size play an important role in the number of income sources a family has. Table 19 shows the results of a multiple regression analysis to determine how important these influences are. The regression also included the sex of the household head, though this was not found to be a significant factor in any case. The highest level of education in a household was the most commonly significant factor.  Receiving assistance in response to a loss from a climate-related shock helps families get back on their feet. Table 20 shows intersections between marital status and decision-making power of households and their support networks. Divorced, single or widowed male-headed households have poor support networks in this dataset in that they are not accessing sources of assistance.Table 21 shows the group activities that enabled households to recover from shocks; however rates of group membership were low. Collective savings and credit were the most helpful group activities. Data show that female-headed households receive more information from friends and family (Figure 13) than male-headed households, but they have less access to extension information.  Figure 14 clearly shows that more female-headed households receive no climate forecasts than male-headed households, especially in West Africa. Though Figure 15 shows more information being relayed to both men and women, especially with respect to rain forecasts, men are still much more likely to be the sole recipients of forecasts.  Figure 16 shows changes in recipients of weather-related information in Ghana, with both women and men receiving more information except for the 2-3-month weather forecast. In all cases, however, women are more frequently the sole recipients of forecasts, even if only marginally.  At the regional level, Figure 17 still shows trends in receiving weather/climate forecasts being more favourable for male-headed households or being of a near equal degree to female-headed households. Female-headed households do not receive more forecasts in any case. Female headed-households report receiving more forecasting information in the midline CCAFS household surveys than in the baseline survey (Figure 18) across the Ghana, Kenya, India and Nepal sites. In fact, more female-headed households reported receiving this information than male-headed households.   (2010)(2011)(2012)(2019)(2020) In the CCAFS/IFPRI/ILRI datasets, in Kenya women made the most use of weather forecasts, but men received more information in Uganda. In Senegal, the ratio of access to weather forecasts and acting on them is quite evenly distributed between men and women (Table 22). In Table 23, men were receiving the most information from different sources in Nyando and Rakai. Women accessed a comparable amount of information from different sources in Wote, but in Kaffrine there was no particular pattern. Table 22 Percent of men and women who have access to and make use of different types of weather and agricultural information (Source: Twyman et al, 2014) Table 23 Percent of men and women reporting access to different information sources (Source: Twyman et al, 2014) The percentage of female-headed households who accessed information on crops was higher than for men (Figure 19) in the CCAFS monitoring dataset, especially in West Africa. This is likely an outlier due to the small number of female-headed households there. A higher percentage of households didn't access any information, or otherwise accessed it but didn't use the information.Figure 20 explores reasons why users who accessed agricultural management advisories didn't use the information. The most notable pattern is that female-headed households consistently did not implement the CSA option more than male-headed households because they did not understand the information provided by the advisories. This pattern is also true for households responding that they didn't know what decisions to make, with the exception of surveyed households in West Africa. Figure 21 shows the same information as Figure 20 with results disaggregated by the sex of the respondent. In this case, the main patterns were that women reported not understanding the information more than male respondents, and male respondents reported not trusting the information as a reason they were unable to use climate forecasting in all regions. More men reported not having the resources to use forecasting information and more women reported not knowing what decisions to make in response to forecasts in Latin America and West Africa. The inverse was true in East Africa.  With climate projections pointing to economic damages in agriculture, forestry, fishery, energy, and tourism (high confidence), and decreased water availability and other eco-system effects (IPCC, 2022), addressing climate impacts will require considerable changes in agricultural practices to improve adaptive capacity and sustain food security.Varying results of CSA preference and adoption among men and women are reported in the literature under different contexts and geographies. As CSA adoption is influenced by needs and interplay of factors, it may be difficult to develop a unified set of gender-responsive CSA practices and technologies across and within regions. Differences in the adoption of CSA practices and technologies between men and women may be related to factors such as state of climate vulnerability; agricultural production system (e.g. livestock, crop, fisheries); profit (return on CSA implementation); awareness of CSA options; access to labour, land, irrigation, social capital; essential inputs (e.g. improved seeds, fertilizer); and access to credit (Partey et al., 2018).As with any innovative agricultural technology, men and women may be confronted with different needs, opportunities and challenges in implementing CSA (Kristjanson et al., 2017;Jost et al., 2016). It is these needs as well as expected benefits of CSA options and ease of implementation (based on available resources) that are paramount in determining CSA adoption.The available scholarship shows that women and men may need similar CSA options based on crop type, livestock, challenges (e.g. drought, low soil fertility, erosion, limited feed etc.) and expected outcome (e.g. increased income, improved yields, animal growth etc.). However, what normally creates the difference is the financial resources needed to acquire inputs and access  land. In The Gambia for instance, Olaniyan (2017) found that both men and women viewed vaccination of animals, restricted grazing, and domestication of fast-growing small ruminants as climate-smart options for improving the resilience of their livestock systems. However, women were constrained from implementing these CSA options because of limited financial resources. In Northern Benin, Yegbemey et al. (2013) reported that even though CSA options such as crop diversification strategies, revised farming practices and farming calendar adjustment are the most common adjustment of both men and women, women usually do not have the resources for implementation. In Togo, Ali et al. (2020) reported that women's access to credit, membership in farmer association, access to extension and training increased their likelihood of adopting technologies that improve the production of soybean and adaptation to climate change and variability. It was evident from the study that women could lose about 0.3% of soybean revenue for non-adaptation to climate change (Ali et al., 2020). In Southern Africa, women combined CSA adoption with increased manual labour to make up for lower levels of resources (Mutenje et al, 2019). In the Upper East Region of Ghana Kumasi et al. ( 2019) found that most CSA practices were common to men and women. Some such as changing herd composition and fertilizer/pesticide application were male dominated, while water harvesting was female dominated (Table 24). Ouedraogo et al. ( 2018) reported gender differences in the prioritization of CSA options in the Lawra and Jirapa districts of Ghana. Among the top ten ranked CSA options, they found four -(a) use of drought-tolerant/short cycle variety, (b) use of improved seed, (c) use of composting and (d) weather information) were common to both men and women. Meanwhile, farmer-managed natural regeneration of trees (FMNR) was ranked by men only while earth-bund was ranked by women only. These differences were attributed to the different needs of men and women.Similarly, because of their access to degraded lands, women farmers in Kampa-Zarma, Niger adopted zaï techniques for the production of cassio tora and cowpea. This practice markedly improved land productivity and empowered rural women to participate in community resources management (Ouedraogo et al., 2018). As clearly demonstrated in the literature, those women who are able to access land, are often allocated marginal lands (Amigun et al., 2011;Patel et al., 2014), closer to the homestead. This may push them to adopt soil and water conservation practices. In Nigeria, Oyawole et al. ( 2020) found the probability of women adopting soil restoring CSA practices such as green manure and agroforestry was higher than for men. It was however also found that due to their access to land, male plot managers were more inclined to adopt crop rotation practices.Figure 22 Awareness of CSA practices among men and women in Senegal (Kristjanson et al. 2015).Gender trends in awareness of CSA also affect adoption of climate smart practices. A household survey conducted in Senegal, by Kristjanson et al. (2015) found that awareness of men and women differed repecting some CSA practices (Table 25). Men were more aware of CSA practices such as crop residue mulching, improved high-yielding varieties, composting, water harvesting, improved feed management etc.In the CCAFS/IFPRI/ILRI Gender Surveys from 2012, men were more aware of CSA practices than women, especially in Kaffrine, Senegal. Table 26 shows this, with the exception of Nyando, where men and women indicated similar awareness of CSA. In the cases that women are more aware, they are more likely to adopt CSA practices as shown in Table 27. This could be because their access to information is much less than men's overall, and so their benefits from one source could be greater (Abdur Rashid Sarker et al., 2013; Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund and University of Reading, 2014).Table 25 Awareness of CSA practices among men and women in Senegal (Kristjanson et al. 2015).Table 26 Percent of men and women aware of various CSA practices in each site (Twyman et al, 2014) Table 27 Percent of men and women adopting CSA practices in each site (of those who are aware) (Twyman et al, 2014) In the monitoring dataset for the CCAFS Household Surveys, the most common motivation for implementing CSA options was listed as being 'because of learning or training' (Figure 23). Climate-related drivers are the next most motivating factors, with few gender differences. Figure 24 shows the main reasons households stopped implementing CSA options, with labour inputs constituting a major factor, especially in West Africa. Climate change is affecting farming practices and driving farmers to adopt Climate-Smart Agricultural practices to mitigate the effects. Table 28 shows the options adopted by male and female respondents from a CGIAR monitoring survey using the GeoFarmer app. Most practices are site-specific, accommodating the needs of the communities, but agroforestry, improved varieties, water and soil conservation and water harvesting were practiced in all regions. Few practices were characterised by significant gender differences.  The factors affecting women's use of CSA are illustrated through a set of sex-disaggregated databases that help to build a cohesive picture of constraints for women to agricultural innovation, decision-making, and access to resources, as well as constraints related to their daily activities and time use.Reliable decision-making data are very difficult to obtain due to perceptions from respondents influencing their answers. Some studies have tried to quantify this. Table 29 lists some examples where these data are present. Some country/site specific projects exist to quantify the decision-making power of men and women in the agricultural sector. Figure 25 shows one example of this from the Madhya Pradesh Climate-Smart Village in India, where men are reported to have more autonomous decisionmaking power than women over all crop and livestock-related decisions. However, households reported sharing decision-making responsibilities in the majority of cases. As discussed in the methods section of this report, it is very difficult to obtain reliable and unbiased data on decision making at the household level. In the literature, men are thought to have more powers in household decision making due to their control over financial resources and readily access to land and farm resources (Kristjanson et al., 2017;Jost et al., 2016) while women tend to report \"joint\" decision-making in the household more frequently (Liaqat et al., 2021). One notable inclusion in availability of decision-making data is from the African Development Bank. Figure 26 shows the sex-disaggregation of agricultural holders in 24 African countries with the year of latest data availability. The FAO defines the term 'agricultural holder' as a person or group who exercise management control and makes major decisions over an agricultural holding (FAO, 2015). In the case of the data from the African Development Bank, there are significantly fewer female than male agricultural holders in all countries listed except for Cabo Verde.Figure 26 Agricultural holders disaggregated by sex in 24 African countries and most recent year of data availability. Source: African Development Bank (1990Bank ( -2012) ) b) Access to resources Access to and ownership of resources is a major constraint to women's ability to adopt agricultural innovation. Household-level data exists to attempt to quantify this, some examples of which are in Table 30. In most developing countries, women have limited access to land, financial credits, labour, improved seeds etc. (Jost et al., 2016). For example, in West Africa patrilineal systems of inheritance restricts allocation of lands to women (Agana, 2012). Moreover, lands normally available to women may be characterized by low fertility and may be located far from water sources (Quan et al., 2004).  The Asian Development Bank published data on agricultural land ownership in 2017. Figure 27 demonstrates men own more land than women in the three countries listed (Georgia, Mongolia and Philippines). This is also characteristic of the trend in Africa where farmlands is predominantly male owned. The World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study-Plus (LSMS+) presents individualdisaggregated survey data collected in low and middle-income countries, including sexdisaggregated data on landowners without rights to sell or bequeath. Data in four countries in Africa shows that overwhelmingly when women are landowners, they tend not to have the ability to sell or bequeath rights to the land (Figure 28). Table 31 shows a summary of women's participation in integrated water resource management by region, compared with community participation. In 5 of the 7 regions listed, women's participation is lower than user/community participation. Considering their role in household  In terms of land management and irrigation, little data exists on the total area managed by women and men, though some studies (such some of those listed in Table 30) list irrigation as a household resource that is included in household-level studies.Across low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), 81% of women now own a mobile phone compared to 87% of men (GSMA, 2023). Even though 60 million additional women owned one in 2022, 440 million still do not (compared to 290 million men). Growth in mobile ownership for both women and men has remained relatively flat and the gender gap has seen little change as a result. Women are currently 7% less likely than men to own a mobile phone, which translates into 130 million fewer women than men owning one. This gender gap in mobile ownership varies significantly by region (Figure 29).For example, the gender gap is 2% in East Asia and Pacific, but 13% i For example, the gender gap is 2% in East Asia and Pacific, but 13% in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia still has the widest gender gap in mobile ownership at 15%, but this has narrowed significantly over the past five years, down from 28% in 2018. Of all the countries surveyed by GSMA in 2022, Pakistan recorded the widest gap in mobile ownership at 35%, followed by Ethiopia at 27% (Figure 30). According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023, more women in low-and middleincome countries (LMICs) are using mobile internet than ever before, but their rate of adoption has slowed for the second year in a row. While 61% of women across these countries now use mobile internet, only 60 million women started using mobile internet in 2022 compared to 75 million in 2021. Men's rate of adoption also slowed in 2022, highlighting that progress on digital inclusion for all has stalled across LMICs. This gender gap has seen little change since 2017 and the 440 million women who still do not own a mobile phone are proving difficult to reach (Figure 31). As revealed by the report, gender gaps in mobile internet use are wider than gender gaps in mobile ownership in all markets. Even in countries with relatively small gender gaps in mobile ownership, such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and India, the gender gap in mobile internet use can be substantial. For example, in Ghana, women are 7% less likely than men to own a mobile phone, but 26% less likely to use mobile internet (Figure 30).The GSMA survey cited affordability; literacy and digital skills literacy; and relevance as the top barriers to mobile ownership for men and women. In rural Africa, the cultural settings and women's limited control of household financial resources are cited as potential barriers (Partey et al., 2018). In rural Kenya, Krell et al. (2020) such barriers including limited technical literacy as constraints to women's patronage of mobile services for agricultural activities. Women are therefore likely to have limited access to extension services and agricultural information delivered through mobile phone platforms and hence stand higher chance of facing climaterelated risks.The cultural setting of rural Africa and women's limited control of household financial resources are cited as potential barriers (Partey et al., 2018). In rural Kenya, Krell et al. (2020) such barriers including limited technical literacy as constraints to women's patronage of mobile services for agricultural activities. Women are therefore likely to have limited access to extension services and agricultural information delivered through mobile phone platforms and hence stand higher chance of facing climate-related risks.ITU figures are somewhat older but provide useful information on access to internet through different digital technologies. Internet access is gendered where men are more likely to use the internet than women. In Figure 31, this is the case for most of the countries listed, with a significance of p<0.05. In the case of broader regionality, such as those presented in Figure 32, the internet is used more by men in most contexts, but the comparison is very small in the Americas, Small-Island Developing States and in Developed countries. The gap is highest in developing countries. Table 32 shows the sex wage gap data available from 2009 to 2020 for workers in skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery. These data indicate that the wage gap is positive, meaning that women make less than men, in all countries listed except for Argentina, Belarus, Belize, Brunei, Dominican Republic, Israel and Russia (7/22 countries). With comparatively higher wages and access to properties, men are more able to meet the collateral requirements of financial institutions to access loans in many countries. In addition, the higher income of men mean they can invest in alternative livelihoods that can serve as important safety nets to alleviate risks posed by climate change.   Recently-published (2021) data from UN Women show that, in all countries listed, femaleheaded, small-scale producers earn less income than their male counterparts. None of the exceptional countries from Table 34 were listed for comparison with these results which are shown in Figure 33.Financial capacity is explored in the Global Findex Database, where Figure 31 shows income sources such as (a) saving money, (b) borrowing money, and (c) receipt of payment for agricultural products disaggregated by sex and by country income level. In this dataset, women save less money, borrow less money are receive less money from agricultural products than their male counterparts at all levels of country income. The data on borrowing are mirrored in the results of Table 34 which shows female-headed households using less credit than their male counterparts in Kenya. Another source of potential income rather than selling agricultural products is in renting assets.In Table 35, the percentage of female and male headed households renting assets shows that male-headed households are renting their assets more. These data, however, do not include information on the amount received for renting which would be a valuable descriptor.  Control over income is another highly gendered issue in agricultural households. Figure 35 shows the breakdown of income control based on votes from household-level surveys in Bangladesh. The only avenue in which women have comparable control over income is in income in livestock in this case, but women otherwise have significantly less control over income in all other areas in this context. Reliable sex-disaggregated data are critical for understanding the community and intrahousehold dynamics of how individuals respond to climate change. The ability for small-scale farmers to adapt to climate change is contingent upon several variables which are highly gendered including access to resources, decision-making power and prevailing gender divisions of labour and responsibilities.This review has synthesized available data and presented the current state of available data on the nexus between gender, agriculture, food security and climate change. In order to advance the gender agenda, further research needs to be conducted to fill data gaps and ensure the representation of all people in all contexts and at all socio-economic intersections.Gender intersects with other factors such as age, marital status, intrahousehold dynamics and education. It is an important aspect for understanding women's access to environmental services and participation in climate change mitigation. Acosta et al. (2021), for example, describe the relationship between education level and use of climate forecasts as conditional on age. In other climate-related sectors, quantitative indicators can provide robust evidence of gender disparities such as disaster recovery time or sex-disaggregation of time spent on activities which are disaster-related, but not many examples of this exist. Simelton et al. (2021) conducted a multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship between income, sex and plot-level data on disaster recovery time, and this work could be taken further. Not many disaster datasets exist, and they are most often highly generalized at the country level and not sex-disaggregated.The EM-DAT disaster database tracks natural, technological and complex (health) disasters from 1900 to the present across the world, however there is no associated understanding of the effect of these disasters on agricultural productivity.Some platforms are available which track sex-disaggregated data (Table 30) but there are still gaps that need to be addressed to fill gaps in agriculture and climate change mitigation. By observing surveying techniques that allow respondents to feel comfortable and accurately represented, as well as standardizing survey collection that focuses on the individual rather than household representation, more robust and reliable sex-disaggregated data can fill in the research gaps and lead to better representation of gender dynamics in climate change mitigation.Time-use information that is quantitative and comparative within and between households remains an important gap (e.g. time spent on tasks performed by female vs male household members; time and labour distributions throughout the day; focus on time-poverty and improving time-saving practices). Time-use could be used to better understand gendered resource ownership, access and gender norms. Quantifying income from same tasks instead of listing tasks is another approach to highlighting gender differences in agricultural production.  (Gumucio et al., 2018) Using natural areas and empowering women to buffer food security and nutrition from climate shocks: Evidence from Ghana, Zambia, and Bangladesh (GCAN, IFPRI) (Cooper, 2018) ","tokenCount":"8801"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0503490104.json b/data/part_1/0503490104.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82d7285c6e51ec460f0c16b2532b79ee5a38fb24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0503490104.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"53dadd4cf3981956b43d132d15c04cae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5c285d1d-91ef-49ee-a68f-4aae6e83ede0/retrieve","id":"2013613019"},"keywords":["Seasonal forecast","Climate services","PICSA","Communication"],"sieverID":"dd12eb0b-45d0-4992-a806-bff151bdd19a","pagecount":"22","content":"CCAFS Workshop Reports aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.The training program (Appendix 2) was organized around a workshop process that has been developed by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) and employed to help groups of farmers in several countries (Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania) understand and use fully probabilistic downscaled seasonal climate forecasts (Hansen et al. 2004(Hansen et al. , 2007(Hansen et al. , 2015;;Ndiaye et al. 2013;Njiru et al. 2015). The main steps are: defining and discussing key concepts, understanding and time-series graphs to develop probability-of-exceedance graphs, interpreting probability distributions, using El Niño as a basis for understanding how seasonal forecasts shift probabilities, and presenting and discussing the current seasonal forecasts. A final component of the workshop was action planning for the communication and use of seasonal forecasts for the upcoming September-December 2016 agricultural season (2017 Season A).The workshop began with an introduction to downscaled forecasts in probability-ofexceedance format, and discussion of plans to make these forecasts available through the Meteo-Rwanda maprooms. The new format has several advantages over the more commonly used tercile maps for presenting seasonal forecasts. First, it matches local historic climate variability and hence the information that decision makers would use in absence of forecast.Second, it provides probabilities associated with any threshold (e.g., minimum rainfall to meet crop demand) that might be relevant to management options. Third, it conveys the accuracy and uncertainty of forecasts in a clear, transparent manner. Finally, well-developed participatory methods make it feasible for farmers and other agricultural decision-makers to understand and apply probabilistic forecasts in this format. The project plans to integrate the approach used in this training into the PICSA curriculum.Five key concepts about seasonal climate information were explained, and their equivalent terms in Kinyarwanda were discussed (Table 1). The translation of key concepts in Kinyarwanda was meant to make sure that facilitators or trainers understand the terms and use the words/terms that match what farmers have in mind. Using graphs to understand rainfall variability and probability  Second, on a blank graph with quantity (e.g., seasonal rainfall) on the x-axis and frequency (e.g., \"Years with at least this much rain\") on the y-axis, participants sorted the time series of observations into frequency, sorting from lowest to highest (if using probability of exceedance). Changing the y-axis from \"number of years…\" to percentage results in a probability distribution, in probability-of-exceedance format (Fig. 2).Involving participants (farmers or intermediaries) in a hands-on process of developing graphs seems to help them understand the graph formats. Once farmers have gone through the process of deriving a time series and probability-of-exceedance graph based on the past five years of data, they can understand computer-generated graphs that incorporate more years of data. Interpreting probability-of-exceedance graphsTrained intermediaries are expected to be comfortable interpreting probability-of-exceedance.Following instruction on this, participants were divided into their four home districts, provided with historical October-December rainfall probability-of-exceedance graphs for their districts, and requested to answer a set of questions, designed to reinforce their ability to interpret probability-of-exceedance graphs:1. The median is the middle of the distribution, meaning that 50% of years are wetter and 50% of the years are drier (for the September-December season). Find the median rainfall.2. Suppose that the risk of a particular crop disease greatly increases, and fungicide application is recommended, if seasonal rainfall is more than 400 mm. What is the probability that this will happen?3. Suppose that yields of a high yielding bean variety are likely to fail if seasonal rainfall is below 250 mm. What is the probability that this will happen?4. Seasonal rainfall forecasts are sometimes expressed as the probability of experiencing \"below normal,\" \"normal\" and \"above normal\" rainfall. \"Below normal\" refers to the driest 1/3 of years, \"normal\" is the middle 1/3 of years, and \"above normal\" is the wettest 1/3 of years. What is the range of September-December rainfall that would fall in the \"normal\" category?Participants agreed that the answers (Table 2) reflected key differences in the climates of the four districts. Using El Niño to illustrate seasonal forecasts as a probability shiftA discussion about El Niño was used to introduce the concept of a seasonal forecast, build confidence that there is a physical basis for seasonal forecasting, reinforce the probabilistic nature of seasonal forecast, and prepare participants to accept the new seasonal forecast format. Prior experience in Kenya and Tanzania suggests that most farmers have heard of ElNiño, and that it can therefore be used to illustrate how knowing something about sea surface temperatures-widely used directly or indirectly in seasonal climate prediction-can shift the probability distribution of rainfall during an upcoming season.A globe was used to explain that El Niño refers to warmer-than-normal surface temperatures over a large portion of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. By highlighting past El Niño years in a rainfall time series graph, participants recgnized that El Niño shifts the probability distribution towards wetter conditions (Fig. 3). Showing a probability-of-exceedance graph for El Niño against the probability-of-exceedance for all years confirmed this, as seen in the case of Nyanza (Fig. 9). Although the seasonal forecasts that Meteo Rwanda prepared, with IRI technical support, are not based only on El Niño-related sea surface temperatures, the shifted probability distribution shown in Figure 4 is close to the new format for the seasonal forecasts that the project introduced.  Training activities up to this point were designed to help intermediaries understand the concepts and format of the downscaled seasonal forecast, and a process they can use with farmers. Then, forecasts of total rainfall for the September-December season (2017 Season A), downscaled for one location in each of the four target districts (Siebert et al. 2016), were presented and discussed (Fig. 5). The forecasts show a weak (Burera, Ngororero) or moderate (Nyanza) probability shift towards dryer conditions, except for Kayonza where the forecast aligns closely with the historical probability distribution. The presentation of the current forecast was followed by a discussion of the approach that was presented in the workshop, how the forecast system performs, and how to present the historical and forecast information to farmers. Participants agreed that the new format is more useful than the conventional tercile seasonal forecast maps. Most participants agreed that a time series would be easier to understand by farmers if presented as a bar graph rather than a line graph. Participants from agricultural extension recommended using large format printouts instead of computer-based projections when bringing climate services information to farmers.Participants agreed that hands-on involvement of farmers in developing graphs, based on a small (~5-year) subset of recent data, would help build their understanding, trust and confidence.Participants from Meteo-Rwanda and from farmer organizations offered differing perspectives about presenting farmers with time series graphs of hindcast and observed rainfall. Participants from farmer organizations argued that they could increase farmers' trust in the forecasts, while participants from Meteo-Rwanda expressed concern that the hindcast time series could be misunderstood and lead to confusion.In the plenary discussions, several questions were raised about bringing the historic and seasonal forecast information to farmer end-users in the form of probability-of-excellence graphs. Participants noted that probability-of-exceedence graphs are initially difficult tounderstand, yet are very useful. The response from farmers to the use of graphs, in the PICSA process so far, has been overwhelmingly positive. Participants recommended developing explanations for the probability-of-exceedance graphs and related concepts, in Kinyarwanda.They also proposed developing a plan to train intermediaries at least to the Sector Agronomist level, and potentially the Farmer Promoter level, to understand and interpret these graphs.The question of whether farmer end users should be trained to understand historic and forecast probabilities, in the form of probability-of-exceedance graphs, was raised but not resolved. One suggestion was to focus on shifts in the probability of exceeding climatic thresholds associated with particular management options, but not the graphs, when bringing the information to farmers. However, the training facilitator (James Hansen, who is also project leader) noted that farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Senegal have been able to understand and make use of historical and forecast probability-of-exceedance graphs, and that Rwanda farmers have consistently responded well to the graphs used in the PICSA process.Noting that farmers consistently identify climate variability as their greatest concern, participants recommended including information about the timing of rain, and timing of planting, and rainfall distribution and intensity, in addition to seasonal rainfall totals. Short, intense rain is not as good as rainfall that is evenly distributed throughout the growing season. Participants agreed that information about dry spells could capture part of this concern. The facilitator noted that the project plans to expand the existing Meteo-Rwanda maprooms to include these additional information products.Action plans for communicating and using the seasonal forecastsThe session on developing action plans around the seasonal forecast began with a quick refresher on the PICSA process, and how PISCA is being integrated into the existing Twigire Muhinzi agricultural extension approach led by RAB. Participants reviewed the main management options that farmers discussed during earlier training activities (in July) for each of the pilot districts: Kayonza (maize, beans and cassava), Nyanza (maize, RAB provision of hybrid seed as a statutory condition), Burera (potatoes, beans and wheat), and Ngororero (maize, potatoes, beans and tea).Although the objective of the session was to develop action plans for rolling out the new, downscaled seasonal forecasts with farmers engaged in the PICSA process, the discussion covered several other aspects of planning in the target districts. This included a request todevelop plans to roll out the PICSA approach to more farmers in the four pilot districts.Sector Agronomists were requested to put in place rain gauges in each sector and supervise the data collection, to contribute to the validation of forecasts provided by Meteo-Rwanda.Agronomists were also encouraged to contribute to districts plans by providing timely information on seasonal forecasts and crops requirements. Participants recommended packing climate information with agronomic advisory information (e.g., types of inputs, seeds, mineral and organic inputs, pesticides).In the final closing remarks, Moussa Senge spoke on behalf of participants to thank the facilitators and to remind everyone to always think of the farmer and find ways to give them right information on climate. Participants committed themselves to always provide climate or weather forecast information to farmers to help them improve their livelihoods.The workshop involved a core group of intermediaries who had been involved in previous was some debate about how much detail about probabilistic seasonal forecasts should be provided to farmers, and whether probability-of-exceedance graphs of seasonal forecasts should be packaged with time series of hindcasts and observations.The workshop only partially achieved its objective of producing action plans for rolling out the new, downscaled seasonal forecasts with farmers engaged in the PICSA process.Planning discussions touched on extending the PICSA process to more farmers in the four initial pilot districts, providing rain gauges in each sector to help validate forecasts, bringing climate information into district planning, and packing climate information with agronomic advisory information.","tokenCount":"1818"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0506957557.json b/data/part_1/0506957557.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dfb694e761d80fe5f2c4ea9bde0d006ec0e26d4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0506957557.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3b1cea46d95f1fc64f7782d8426709ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e596ec4b-85a4-4f97-b20c-03ec4a3132b2/retrieve","id":"403140558"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6f58c564-7340-44cd-94b6-e42556cd9c81","pagecount":"2","content":"between animals and humans), research on livestock for development is central to some of the most important challenges facing us today. determining how to balance different objectives and needs in livestock livelihoods, and how to do so equitably and sustainably, requires research by many different kinds of scientists and the engagement of many different parts of society.Holding back livestock development in poor countries are inappropriate policies, scarce livestock feeds, devastating diseases, degraded lands and water resources, and poor access to markets. research by iLri and its partners is helping to alleviate these problems by developing new knowledge as well as technological and policy options.PoVErtY FocuS iLri's strategic intention is to use livestock as a development tool, one that widens and sustains three major pathways out of poverty: (1) securing the assets of the poor, (2) improving smallholder and pastoral productivity and (3) increasing market participation by the poor. iLri conducts research in three themes-improving market opportunities; Biotechnology to secure livestock assets; and People, livestock and the environment-and two cross-cutting programs-Sustainable Livestock Futures and Poverty, gender and impact. iLri also coordinates the Systemwide Livestock Programme of the consultative group on international Agricultural research (cgiAr). goVErnAncE iLri is guided by a board of trustees comprising 12 leading professionals in relevant research, development and management issues. the institute is supported by the cgiAr, an association of more than 60 governments and public-and private-sector institutions supporting a network of 15 agricultural research centres working to reduce poverty, hunger and environmental degradation in developing countries.Funding iLri is funded by some 80 private, public and government organizations of the north and South. the institute's expenditure for 2008 was uS$41.31 million. Some donors support iLri with core and program funds; others finance individual research projects. in-kind support from national partners such as Kenya and Ethiopia, as well as that from international collaborators, is substantial and vital. this mix of generic, specific and in-kind resources is essential for the partnership research we conduct.international Livestock research institute Better Lives through Livestock the international Livestock research institute (iLri) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality science and capacity-building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. iLri works in Africa and Asia, with offices in eastern (nairobi, Addis Ababa), western (ibadan, Bamako) and southern (Maputo) Africa, South Asia (new delhi, Hyderabad, guwahati), Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Jakarta, Vientaine, Hanoi) and East Asia (Beijing).iLri is a non-profit-making and non-governmental organization with headquarters in nairobi, Kenya, and a second principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We employ nearly 700 staff from about 34 countries. About 80 staff are recruited through international competitions and represent some 30 disciplines. More than 600 staff are nationally recruited, largely from Kenya and Ethiopia.All iLri work is conducted in extensive and strategic partnerships that facilitate and add value to the contribution of many other players in livestock research for development work. iLri employs an innovation systems approach to enhance the effectiveness of its research. We believe fundamental change in culture and process must complement changes in technologies to support innovations at all levels, from individual livestock keepers to national and international decision-makers.WHY LiVEStocK rESEArcH For tHE Poor? Farm animals are an ancient, vital and renewable natural resource. throughout the developing world, they are means for hundreds of millions of people to escape absolute poverty. Livestock in developing countries contribute up to 80 percent of agricultural gross domestic product; nearly 1 billion rural poor people rely on livestock for their livelihoods. globally, livestock are becoming agriculture's most economically important subsector, with demand in developing countries for animal foods projected to double over the next 20 years. the ongoing 'livestock revolution' offers many of the world's poor a pathway out of poverty.Livestock not only provide poor people with food, income, traction and fertilizer but also act as catalysts that transform subsistence farming into income-generating enterprises, allowing poor households to join the market economy.Livestock sustain most forms of agricultural intensification-from the Sahelian rangelands of West Africa to the mixed smallholdings in the highlands of East Africa and the drylands of southern Africa to highly intensified wheat production in South Asia and rice production in Southeast Asia.Because domesticated animals of one kind or another are a vital resource of poor people practicing virtually every farming system in every agro-ecological zone in the world, and because animals play a key role in such global issues as climate change (largely through their production of methane, a greenhouse gas) and disease transmission (more than 60% of all human diseases, and 60-75% of all emerging human diseases, are passedSecuring assets to reduce vulnerability Where to go?How to get there?Innovation systems, impact assessments, gender analysisIncreasing productivity ","tokenCount":"772"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0521096248.json b/data/part_1/0521096248.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a193e2365616192185b2bbbbe5c4b27d50b59e6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0521096248.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5fbc4e09fdc2473e65891659dd7e1aae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/aa0a180b-8b20-46bf-8d16-12aa62a27d22/retrieve","id":"115712141"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6776632c-ce00-4059-94b6-98048a8b5bb7","pagecount":"4","content":"Rangelands and pastoralism must be valued and supported for their contribution to achieve local and global goals -particularly towards reaching Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)More than half of the world's land mass is rangeland -and yet these landscapes and the people who inhabit and manage them have been largely neglected. They are a main source of food and feed for humanity, and yet they are also the world economy's dumping ground. It is time to shift perspective -from 'a rangeland problem' to 'a sustainable rangeland solution'. It is time to commit globally to halt indiscriminate rangeland conversion, to pass judicious policies and laws. It is time to reach a global consensus to upgrade rangelands, set stronger LDN targets and allocate funding.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has designated 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026) to enhance rangeland management and the lives of pastoralists. With this declaration, UN Member States are called upon to invest in sustainable rangeland management, to restore degraded lands, to improve market access by pastoralists, to enhance livestock extension services, and to fill knowledge gaps on rangelands and pastoralism. This brief summarizes the findings of a comprehensive science review undertaken by a team of experts from the IYRP International Support Group, a coalition of more than 320 organizations worldwide, to determine key issues to address in rangelands and pastoralism and targets to set in the LDN work proposed by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to maintain or enhance the world's land-based natural capital.Rangelands occupy more than half of the Earth's land surface. Pastoralism has been practiced for millennia on rangelands as a way for communities to adapt to climatically highly variable environments with a great diversity of natural resources. More than two billion people today depend directly or indirectly on pastoralist livelihoods, value chains and foods. Pastoralism remains the most viable way to manage rangeland ecosystems for the benefit of both people and the environment. In addition to producing nourishing milk, dairy products and meat from livestock herds, pastoralism on rangelands and farmlands provides essential ecosystem services by enriching soils, capturing carbon, dispersing seed, shaping landscapes, protecting downstream areas from floods and drying up of rivers, and conserving biodiversity, including the many endangered wildlife species that make rangelands their home.The main threats to the world's rangelands and pastoralism are conversion to land uses other than grazing and degradation of the remaining rangelands. Increasing human pressures and climatic stressors are together forcing millions of traditional rangeland users to cope with livestock production losses, water and forage scarcity, land use conflicts, displacement, sedentarization and poverty. The major drivers behind this suite of problems are poor governance and institutional weaknesses, policy neglect, underinvestment, and large knowledge and technology gaps. In some countries, the encroachment of mining activities and of poorly planned largescale renewable energy interventions are damaging pastoralist livelihoods and rangeland health, and compromising pastoralists' access rights. Worldwide, policies prioritizing the industrialized livestock sector are undermining sustainable pastoralist practices. A persistent lack of appreciation for pastoralism as a viable and sustainable land use that contributes to many ecosystem services, has left rangelands and their pastoral stewards marginalized and overlooked in global agenda setting. If continued, this deteriorating situation will have dire consequences for pastoral lands and peoples and for the whole planet.Despite these significant threats, implementation of many innovative policies and good practices has enhanced the wellbeing of rangelands and pastoralists in different parts of the world. Those demonstrable successes inform our calls to action below. These eight calls to action demand a shift in view -from regarding pastoralists and their livestock as part of 'the rangeland problem' to seeing them as part of a time-honored and nature-based solution for the health of rangeland agro-ecosystems.A similar level of global commitment is needed to halt indiscriminate rangeland conversion as there has been for halting deforestation. LDN as a global commitment and tool must increase attention to rangelands through stronger targets, action, and funding.Judicious policies and practices for sustainable rangeland management and restoration can go far in meeting national and global commitments to mitigating climate change, to meeting the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Managing rangelands sustainably is a commitment many countries have made to reach LDN. Achieving LDN as defined by UNCCD is keeping the balance between the amount of land being degraded and the amount being restored or improved. #3 Innovate and implement beneficial economic policies and technologies: Re-assess economic policies that harm rangelands and pastoralists. Replace subsidies for supplemental feed that lead to rangeland degradation with economic alternatives, such as support for ecotourism and environmental services, livestock insurance and mobile abattoirs. Lift market barriers, encourage animal diversity, livestock health and locally adapted breeds. Support decentralized and small-scale renewable energy production and access. Set up legal frameworks for organic certification of pastoral products.#4 Promote integrated, multifunctional land use: Employ sustainable rangeland management practices and policies that seek integrated objectives, such as silvopastoralism and other agroforestry schemes, wildlife-livestock integration and eco-tourism to achieve multiple sustainability benefits through multifunctional land use.#5 Strengthen participatory land governance and equity: Incorporate pastoralists in all decision-making on the use and management of rangelands and ensure they have well-defined legal and customary tenure and access rights. Support participatory governance practices that recognize pastoralists are at the heart of rangeland stewardship. Build on traditional pastoralist knowledge and promote equity by facilitating the participation of marginalized pastoralist groups such as women, youth, elders and indigenous peoples.#6 Increase rangeland and pastoral projects under the LDN Fund by 30%: Invest in rangeland restoration and traditional rotational movement, transhumance and other cost-effective and sustainable rangeland management practices, by calling on the LDN Fund to increase its support to rangelands and pastoralist projects by 30% by 2026, year of the IYRP.  ","tokenCount":"953"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0532390080.json b/data/part_1/0532390080.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..84ce0cc24bb55890024eac86f735bbd415fc995f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0532390080.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"628c2d664386ee59c4d9c3452d61413f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f55ce3a-c039-42bd-9925-7c8db903d74b/retrieve","id":"765227873"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ebdbdc9d-0707-459c-882e-01065e629194","pagecount":"4","content":"Participants were introduced to a farming-as-a-business simulation game, which encompassed a wide range of topics vital for effective farm management. These topics included identifying investment opportunities, business modeling, planning and budgeting, strategic decision-making, profit and loss analysis, cash flow management, and understanding the three key financial statements: the income statement, statement of accounts, and balance sheet. This module equipped farmers with the skills to approach their farming activities from a business perspective, enabling them to maximize profitability and ensure long-term sustainability.The managing climate resilience module focused on techniques to mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural operations. Farmers were taught to adopt appropriate farming methods, practice environmental protection and soil conservation, and utilize weather reports to make informed decisions.The training also emphasized the importance of Conservation Agriculture (CA), which includes minimal soil disturbance, crop rotation, and maintaining soil cover as essential strategies for building resilience against climate variability.As part of addressing climate change, farmers were encouraged to adopt climate-smart technologies in their operations, such as producing and using Kafue Soybean Seeds, known for being drought-tolerant and highyielding. Additionally, they were trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for soybean production, covering topics such as quality seed selection, early planting, the use of inoculants, fertilizer application, weed management, and harvesting technologies.","tokenCount":"210"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0561056410.json b/data/part_1/0561056410.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5fbe2dd4e8b531c3bb82fdcdcef1e6743dadfbc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0561056410.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3826685ae093a53aeef746198144e8c6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/32dc79e4-1988-4266-93ff-b5a2d171bee6/retrieve","id":"-1368134059"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e30994c7-d845-4e54-b94e-9fb66400690f","pagecount":"93","content":"Smallholder chicken production manual: A farmers' training and reference manual to inform day-to-day production decisionsLevels of market orientation of chicken farming  This manual is a reference and training resource that is primarily for the following target audiences to use.These may be men and women already raising poultry or who have shown interest in poultry production but who require further knowledge.• Farmers already engaged in chicken production can use the manual as a reference to help them make day-to-day/ timely decisions to run their farms.• Farmers already producing chicken can upgrade the performance and market-orient their chicken enterprise by applying the technical knowledge in the manual to uplift their farms to a higher level.• New farmers going into the chicken business can get information on what they need to know to run a successful chicken production business.• Types of farms: This manual provides fundamental guidance for emerging market-oriented chicken farmers, focusing on semi-intensive farms rearing 500-2,000 chickens. It is not aimed at subsistence-based backyard production that is expected to be upgraded shortly, although many principles in the manual may apply.The technical content is also a guide to help development practitioners, including government extension agents, development partners, non-governmental organizations and others interested in helping develop chicken production and, thereby, the livelihoods of communities. These actors can use the manual as a:• Training resource: The technical content can be covered at the Training of Trainers (ToT) level and down the ladder to chicken farmers. Trainers trained at the ToT level can use it to train chicken farmers, who will use the knowledge and skills gained to modernize and market-orient their chicken production businesses.• Coaching guide: The manual can help provide continuous technical support and monitoring of progress.Topic 1.2. Principles, structure and relevance of the reference/training manualThe manual covers various subjects that can be customized based on the producer's needs. It serves as a reference and training for farmers in different chicken production segments. It aims to balance brevity and simplicity while addressing diverse chicken farming issues. It is organized into 10 modules, each describing contents and expected outcomes. Technical content is presented in topics within each module to guide farmers in assessing their practices and creating development /improvement plans.Module 1. Overview: Describes objectives, outcomes, target audience, structure, and recommendations for using the manual.Module 2. Chicken production business: Focuses on smallholder chicken farmers' livelihoods, market orientation, and considerations in starting a small-scale chicken production business.Module 3. Housing and equipment: Covers the basic requirements of a chicken house, types of housing systems, site selection, construction, cleaning and disinfection. It also includes descriptions of different equipment used in chicken houses.Module 4. Chicken breeds: Describes different chicken breeds for various production objectives/systems and the importance of using appropriate breeds.Module 5. Chicken feeds and nutrition: Focuses on types of chicken feed categories, characteristics of a good chicken diet, buying feeds, home mixing, feed storage and feeding management for optimum efficiency.Module 6. Chicken health and disease prevention: Covers disease prevention measures such as biosecurity, vaccination and dealing with disease occurrence.Module 7. Management of different classes of chicken: Describes the management of chicks, pullets, layers and other classes of chickens.Module 8. Marketing chickens and chicken products: Focuses on the marketing of chickens and chicken products such as eggs, chicks, pullets and spent hens.Module 9. Handling and transportation of chickens and eggs: Covers appropriate handling and transportation of different classes of chickens, as well as handling, storage and transport of eggs.Module 10. Records and record-keeping: Describes the importance of records and record-keeping as a management tool in chicken farming for monitoring, evaluating and improving the business.Appendices: Provide additional technical details and information as checklists for routine activities, problem identification and remedial action.The manual is intended to serve as a training and reference manual for different actors associated with chicken production.The manual as a training resource• Master trainer training: Master trainers can use the technical content of the manual to train ToT trainers, along with facilitation skills.• ToT trainer training: Master trainers can train ToT trainers, who will then train farmers.• Farmer training: Trainers who have completed ToT training can use the contents to train chicken farmers.The contents can be tailored to the needs of each beneficiary based on the problem to be addressed/need. It can also be packaged by selecting technical content for a target group. For example, farmers focusing on chick rearing may not need training on pullet or layer management, egg handling, etc. Topics directly relevant to chick rearing can, thus, be packaged and delivered to this group.This manual can also serve as a practical reference tool for different categories of beneficiaries. Target users and the support they can obtain from the manual include:• Chicken farmers and value chain stakeholders: Informed day-to-day management decisions and planning for farm improvements/upgrades.• Extension workers and development practitioners: Backstopping, technical support and coaching for chicken farmers.Manual as a guide for short-and long-term farm improvements/upgrades• Short-term improvement plan:• Technical contents help farmers identify challenges and develop improvement plans.• Appendix 2 includes a list of common mistakes, a troubleshooting guide for early problem identification, and recommended remedial actions.• Farmers can create individualized development/improvement plans and prioritize actions to upgrade their operations using improvement/development plan templates presented at the end of each module.• Long-term development plan:• Farmers can use the manual to plan upgrades/shifts in farm operations, from extensive backyard to semiintensive scavenging, small-scale intensive and large-scale commercial. At the end of each module, personalized improvement/development plan templates are provided for farmers/trainees. These plans are designed to assist them in tackling farm-related challenges discussed in the module. Farmers are encouraged to utilize these templates for planning and implementing farm improvements. The plans should be consistently used, allowing farmers to address priority challenges first and prepare for additional categories of challenges.The manual can be condensed into smaller versions in local languages. These abridged versions can be printed pocket-size for easy reference, decision making and prompt action. Additionally, using durable materials for the paper and cover can ensure the manual lasts longer.Module 2: Chicken farming as a businessEstablishing a successful chicken production farm business requires careful planning, efficient management and a solid understanding of the industry. This module provides valuable guidance on setting up and managing a farm, emphasizing the importance of business principles and market demand. Its objective is to raise awareness among current and potential chicken farmers about the profitability of the business. The module covers essential considerations, including farm planning, required skills and choosing the right starting point (eggs, chicks or pullets).Upon completing this module, training participants and chicken farmers will be equipped to make informed decisions based on business knowledge and technical skills. Ultimately, they can start a chicken farming business at an appropriate location and size based on market demand rather than subsistence operations.Topic 2.1 Chicken farming in household livelihoods and as a business ventureProtein deficiency is a major problem affecting weight, height and cognitive learning, particularly in children.Inadequate protein and other nutrient intake in children can cause physical and mental retardation, stunting and increased susceptibility to diseases. Chicken products, such as meat and eggs, offer high-quality protein sources that can improve human nutrition and food security. Eggs, for example, contain all vitamins except vitamin C, and incorporating an egg and some chicken meat into the daily diet can address the protein requirement of growing children. Nutrients in chicken products are also highly bio-available, and as small, consumable units of high nutritional value, these can effectively supplement plant-based diets and improve overall family nutrition.• Chicken production generates self-employment opportunities for household members and contributes to diversifying household economic enterprises.• Chicken development offers unique opportunities for women, as promoting chicken production can be particularly beneficial and empowering for women at both the family and societal levels. Income from poultry often serves as one of the few significant sources of income for women.• The chicken production business has the potential for high profitability when given the right inputs and attention.Market orientation/commercialization of chicken farming for wealth and job creationVillage/backyard chicken farming is a subsistence production system with low inputs and outputs. However, there are economic opportunities in commercializing chicken production and transitioning farmers to higher-value production under more intensive modes. This can be achieved through upgrading to semi-intensive/improved freerange (level 1), small-scale specialized chicken production (layer, broiler) under intensive management with a focus on market production (level 2), and higher vertically integrated production (level 3). See Table 1 for a summary of the three levels of the market-oriented output.• Level 1: Improved free-range/semi-scavenging/semi-intensive system: Farmers fence their birds in an enclosed area, where they can access forage plants and insects, supplemented with forages like alfalfa. This reduces chicken mortality and improves performance, increasing income for smallholder farmers.• Level 2: Intensive system level: Specialized hybrid chickens are managed in a confined system with a complete diet supply and standard management.• Level 3: Vertically integrated level: Farms integrate with other value chain actors, running their entire production process from production to marketing and selling products directly to vertically integrating firms. This creates conditions for higher production and cost minimization for farmers. Topic 2.2 Chicken production as a business ventureThe attractiveness of smallholder chicken production as a business ventureChicken production provides significant business opportunities and can be conducted at large and small scales, accessible to different types of producers, including jobless youth, women and interested investors. It is suitable for market orientation/commercialization/job creation because:• Initial start-up costs are relatively low, making it reasonably accessible to most small-scale producers.• The chicken business can be lucrative with the right inputs and attention and appropriate market development and linkages.• Chickens require minimal space and labour for production, and adjustments can be made for different climatic conditions (e.g., the type of housing).• It can be a year-round income source and generate revenue faster than other livestock enterprises.• Chicken meat and eggs are in high demand and will continue to be so due to fast population growth, urbanization and a shift towards white meat due to its lower impact on climate change.• Housing and other structures can be built using locally available materials.• Chicken production complements other farm enterprises, contributing to improved overall farm efficiency.• Chicken production contributes to local economic development in rural areas by creating employment opportunities, stimulating local markets and contributing to the overall economic growth of the community.Both business and technical skills are valuable to establishing and running a chicken farming business:• Good management skills and flexibility to quickly respond to changes.• Interest and readiness to engage in the chicken farming business and love for birds.• Experience and skill in farming chickens.It is good to start small to get the necessary knowledge, experience and skills and expand as you gain confidence. You can also get experience and expertise through the following:• Engage workers that have prior training and/or experience if you want to start larger farms.• Work with others that have had experience, possibly in a joint venture.• Get targeted training, closely work with professionals, and read support materials to make informed decisions to enhance production and meet market demand.It is good to know the following features and be prepared to succeed in the business:• Chicken production requires daily attention and corrective action.• Chickens are sensitive animals that require soft handling and care.• Chickens have unique feeding habits and capacity that has implications for their management.• Chickens are vulnerable to diverse diseases requiring close preventive care.• Small mistakes in management can have devastating consequences.It is helpful to have the following skills: farm management, management (personnel, resource, etc.), chicken production technical skills, planning skills, financial management skills, product procurement and marketing skills, decision-making skills, and risk management skills.A well-thought-out farm plan is essential for guiding the establishment and growth of your chicken production venture. Setting up a sustainable and profitable chicken farming venture requires careful consideration and information gathering. Farmers need to ask and answer important questions before investing time and money.Often, farmers have an interest but lack information when starting or upgrading a chicken production enterprise on a commercial or semi-commercial scale. Consider all of the following steps and elements in your farm plan.Clarify your production goals, target market and desired farm size. Decide why you are raising chickens: business (profit), family nutrition, etc.? What product are you targeting: eggs, breeding stock, pullets, etc.? Making the following initial assessment will help you to answer the questions.• Assess market outlets and requirements. The results will help you to:• Decide on the type of product to produce (egg, meat, 3-month-old chicks, pullets, etc.).• Identify any seasonality of demand for your products around which you will need to plan your production.• Identify special requirements of the market, e.g., yolk colour.• Decide on the farm size to establish, i.e. how many chickens you will have. This will depend on:• Capital available, including the possibilities and types of business financing (credit, etc.).• Market: Farm size depends on the volume of products you can market.• Experience: Commercial chicken production requires knowledge, experience and skills. It is advisable to start small and expand with increasing expertise.• Land available: Determine the size of the envisaged farm area. Large farms can be established on a small area of land using high-tech systems, e.g., the cage management system.• It is useful to know the competition to be faced, e.g., the numbers of chicken farmers and types of products targeting the same market, and the volume of products available.• Before you start, it is helpful to get a chicken/egg production business/feasibility plan based on the previous assessments and the following:• Technical feasibility: Suitability of climate of the area; availability of inputs such as chicks, feed, medicines, etc.; technical norms; infrastructure available for veterinary support; marketing; training and experience of the beneficiary.• Financial viability: Cost and loan requirement; input costs for chicks, feed, veterinary services and other overheads; output costs, i.e., the sale of eggs, culled birds for meat, manure, empty gunny bags, etc.; income-expenditure statement and annual gross surplus; cash flow analysis; repayment schedule, i.e., repayment of principal loan amount and interest.Choose a suitable location for your farm. The location of a chicken farm is crucial for the business's success. The following are the primary considerations:• Infrastructure: Transport for input supply and product marketing; power and water supply; market availability; sufficient space for the housing of the chickens and subsidiary structures.• Labor availability: Numbers and skill level are important considerations depending on the operation size and level of technology use.• Climatic conditions: Temperatures above 30°C can negatively impact productivity and/or require additional investment for climatic control.• Presence of other farms: It is advisable to locate your farm as far away from other chicken farms as possible for biosecurity.Choosing the optimal chicken value chain segment for your farm will maximize benefits from your effort and investment. Options include focusing on input supply (such as day-old chicks, feed or pullets), egg production or service provision (such as vaccination or veterinary services). Considerations for selection include:• Skill and previous experience in the value chain segment like input supply, production, marketing, processing, etc.• Locational and related advantages you may have.• Access to resources: land, capital, etc.• Feasibility of the enterprise to your situation/objective realities.Deciding what stage to start from (eggs, chicks, pullets, start-of-lay pullets)After selecting the type of chicken enterprise, you can choose what stage to start from. This depends on the choice of enterprise. If you, for example, want to engage in layer/egg production, you will have different options to start your farm. The strengths and weaknesses of each option are described here to help you make a knowledge-based decision.• Start from hatching eggs: This is an option if you have the possibility of hatching on the farm and a source of fertile eggs (own or other).• Start from day-old chicks: This is probably the most economical and practical way to start for the following reasons.• Chicks are less likely to carry disease and parasites than older birds, especially if you buy them from a reliable hatchery.• Chicks from local or external sources can be transported to the farm within 24-48 hours of age.• You don't have to guess how old the birds are.• There may be a possibility to order sexed chicks. Under such circumstances, it is possible to purchase female chicks only, which is desirable for an enterprise targeting egg production.• For many chicken farmers, chicks may not be the best way to start due to the following limitations.• Chicks require special brooding care and facilities. They must be kept warm and protected, especially during the early production period.• Chicks need time to mature. If you want chickens for eggs, it will be at least five months before chicks grow and begin to lay eggs. You will need to be patient and have the resources to spend before getting income.• Start from 21-day-old chicks/young pullets: Some chicken farmers raise chicks and sell at about 21-dayold chicks or young pullets of three months of age. You may choose to start from such birds, but consider the following.• It is difficult to know how old they are. Many chick rearers misinform about the age of growers.• They may have been exposed to more diseases and are more likely to have parasites than chicks.• They may have been poorly managed. In most cases, poor management will manifest after the start of lay (proper management at an early age has implications on lifelong productivity).• You may still have to wait for some time before you get revenue from your enterprise.• Start from start-of-lay pullets: You may worry that baby chicks will be too difficult to raise, or you may want egg production immediately. In these cases, your best bet is to start with adult birds (start-of-lay pullets Deciding on the system of production to follow Determine the production system based on your chosen enterprise. Various production systems and their management are outlined elsewhere in this manual.Select the appropriate breed based on your chosen enterprise. Some breed options are outlined in the manual's breed section.Profitability is a crucial factor in choosing a business enterprise. People typically start a business to support their families and cover expenses such as education and healthcare. Therefore, profitability should be a primary consideration when selecting an enterprise. The following steps are necessary to ensure profitability.• Identify cost components or expenditures: Record all expenses related to the business, including:• Start-up costs and capitalization, such as land, housing, equipment, permits and licenses required to start up the business.• Operating expenses like input purchases, rent, transportation, salaries and other day-to-day costs associated with running the business.• Estimate revenue and profit projections: Based on market demand and production capacity, project the expected revenue and profit of the business.• Identify sources of income (sales revenue). Determine the income generated from various farm products, such as eggs, composted litter, spent hens and extra males.• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis. Calculate the enterprise's profitability by subtracting the production cost from the sales revenue.Profit = sales (income/revenue from the chicken business) -cost of production (expenses incurred in the production process)Regularly performing this analysis requires keeping records. It helps assess the viability of the business, make informed investment decisions and take timely corrective measures when needed.Tips for increasing profits (cost saving and income enhancement strategies)Because profits equal revenue minus expenditure, to increase profits a business must decrease costs and increase sales. Farmers need entrepreneurship skills to plan, select enterprises, budget and analyse costs and benefits. Accurate record-keeping is essential. Seek help from development agents for professional assistance.• Cost saving measures: These include reducing or avoiding some costs.• Avoid wastages, e.g. of feed.• Use the right breed for the type of management you are using. It is better to use specialized layer breeds for intensively managed production and use the appropriate inputs and management for optimum efficiency. Using dual-purpose chicken for this type of management (or vice versa) will not be as efficient.• Apply appropriate biosecurity and disease prevention measures to reduce mortality losses and low production due to diseases.• Income enhancement strategies: Income-enhancing measures will also improve profit margins.• Produce good-quality products that you can sell at better prices.• Promote your products for selling at better-paying markets.• Reduce your marketing costs, e.g., transport.• Reduce product loss, e.g., egg breakage and similar losses.• Management of finances: Efficient financial management practices are crucial for the economic sustainability of your chicken production farm. Consider the following guidelines.• Keep an accurate daily record of your finances. This record will track where the money comes from and where it goes. In addition, this record (called a cash book) will help you to know how your business is doing. Without records, you can never know whether you are making a profit or a loss or make informed financial decisions.• Regularly analyse production costs to identify areas where you can reduce expenses and improve efficiency. Monitor costs such as feed costs, labour costs, veterinary services and energy expenses. Explore opportunities to optimize resource allocation and negotiate better prices with suppliers.• Put money in savings regularly. You should not wait till the end of the month to start saving. Instead, try to set aside a small amount each day. This becomes very useful during emergencies.• Minimize selling your products/services on credit and allowing too many long-standing debts. Some farmers fear losing the sale if they do not give credit -but it is not a sale until it is paid for. When you give so much credit to your customers that you do not have enough cash to restock, the customers will go to other enterprises, and your business will fail.Money owed to you by people is yours, and you need it to support your business. You need to set your terms up front and plan to collect the payment if you have to sell some of your products on credit.List your priority challenges for upgrading your chicken farming business to a higher level. Indicate the action(s) required to address them and the date you commit to completing the action/activity. After completing this module, participants/farmers will be able to:• Understand the essential needs of chicken housing.• Choose the appropriate type of chicken housing based on their requirements.• Select a suitable location and site for constructing a chicken house.• Manage chickens comfortably by maintaining optimal environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, light and ventilation/airflow, and controlling ammonia and dust levels.• Determine the minimum floor space, feeder, drinker and laying nest requirements based on the type and age of chickens.• Familiarize themselves with various types and options of chicken equipment.• Understand the proper steps for disinfecting a chicken house.• Maximize production, productivity and profitability in their chicken business.• Develop and implement an actionable plan to address housing and disinfection challenges.Basic requirements for a good chicken house• Economical and durable construction.• Maximizes the genetic potential of chickens and reduces production costs.• Provides sufficient space for movement.• Is suitable for local agro-climatic conditions and ensures proper micro-climate for the birds.• Includes adequate lighting, ventilation, temperature control and protection from drafts and rain.• Ensures good health, biosecurity and welfare of the chickens:• Allows for easy cleaning and efficient operations.• Prevents entry of rodents and wild birds.• Maintains an appropriate distance from other buildings.• Protects against predators.Site selection considerations for chicken house construction• Elevated and well-drained with sandy soil preferred.• Sufficient space for all planned structures and potential expansion.• Prevailing wind direction avoids flow towards residences or chicken entry points.• Availability of necessary infrastructure like water, power, telephone and road access.• Small farms only require one house and don't need specific layouts.• Medium and large farms need careful planning for building placement.• Visitors and outside vehicles are prevented from approaching the birds.• Houses should be arranged so fresh air flows through the brooder shed first, followed by the grower and layer sheds, to prevent diseases from spreading.• The egg store, office and feed store should be near the farm entrance to minimize movement around the chicken sheds.• The disposal pit should be constructed at the far end of the site.• Use locally available, durable, easy-to-clean and cost-effective materials, avoiding sharp-edged objects to prevent injury to chickens and humans.• Orientation: Orient the house with the narrow sides facing east and west and the long sides facing north and south for reduced direct sunlight and solar heat and increased bird densities (Figure 1).• Length: A rectangular shape provides better natural ventilation, with the length determined by the number and age of chickens and available land.• Width: The width should not exceed 9 meters for adequate natural ventilation, especially in hot weather.• Roof height: The roof should be 2.5-3.5 meters above ground, or higher in warmer climates, and split in very hot temperatures (25° and 40° angles).• Foundation: This should be made up of solid concrete blocks or bricks, set 30-45 cm below and above ground level.• Floor: A concrete floor is preferred for disease control, easy cleaning and prevention of insect, rodent, worm and seepage issues. Extend the floor base 45 cm outside the wall to deter rodents.• Sidewalls: At least two sides should be open, with the lower portion solid and the upper part fitted with smallgauge (½ inch) wire netting to prevent the entry of birds, cats and rodents. Providing openings or low-built walls, about 1 meter in height (maximum of 1.5 meters), will provide sufficient ventilation without exposing the chickens to draft at bird level. Open sides can be closed with a suitable material during colder periods.• Roof and overhang: The roof should be rainproof, thatched for small farms or made of iron sheets and wood.Eaves should extend 1-1.25 meters out from the roof, or longer in areas with heavy rainfall (as a rule of thumb, half the window height).• Lighting: Lighting should be hung from the ceiling at 220-250 cm above ground level. Incandescent bulbs should have a distance of 300 cm, while fluorescent lights (tube lights) should have a gap of 450 cm between them.Figure 1. A typical chicken house for tropical environments (orientation, standard features, dimensions, etc.).• Accessory structures for the chicken house:• Entrance/change room for attendants to change clothing, disinfect shoes and wash hands before entering the house.• Feed store with enough space for one week of feed for the chickens.• Washbasin for cleaning equipment like drinkers with proper closed drainage.The housing and equipment required depend on the production objectives, the number of chickens housed and the production system used.• Extensive chicken houses: A system where chickens can access outdoor areas to forage and exercise. These houses provide shelter and nesting spaces for the chickens but allow them to roam freely and scavenge for feed in a larger designated area. The outdoor area may be enclosed with fences to protect the chickens from predators. This system promotes natural behaviours and is often used for organic or free-range production.• Semi-intensive chicken houses: House types that combine free-range and confinement housing (Figures 2-6).• Run system: Enclosed area with fences (1.5-2 meters high) for scavenging and exercise, with egg nests, feed and water provided in the shed/house. The top can be covered with mesh wire or local materials for protection.• Moveable house: Low-cost shed that accommodates free-range chickens and provides night shelter. It is equipped with nests and perches. Birds can access surrounding fields during the day for scavenging. It is suitable for peri-urban areas and integrated into cropping by moving chickens around within blocks of open land.  • Intensive chicken houses: Housing where chickens are confined indoors for their entire lives. These require more investment in housing and facilities. The type and degree of technology use depend on the climate and available capital (Figures 7-8).• Open houses: Houses with two open sides and a roof overhang to protect chicks from rain and sun. They use wire mesh for the sides in warm/hot areas.• Open front houses: Similar to open houses but have only one side open. Suitable for temperatures ranging from 15 to 30°C.• Curtain houses: Houses with adjustable curtains on both sides, allowing for climate control. The maximum opening of the curtain depends on the local climate -ideally 1.5 meters in warm areas and 0.3-0.6 meters in cold areas. Housing/rearing systems An intensive rearing system is commonly practiced for hybrid chickens, requiring careful attention for optimum production. Two types of intensive housing/rearing systems are available: deep litter/floor rearing and slatted floor system (Figure 9).• Deep litter/floor rearing system:• Chickens are reared on a floor covered with 5-10 cm of clean litter material.• Linear or round feeders with 10 cm of space per 12-15 birds should be provided.• Drinker space can be half the feeder space, with a long basin for 35-40 birds and water guards to prevent spills.• Nests with clean materials should be placed in the darker part of the house, with one nest for 5-6 birds.• The type of litter depends on availability and should absorb water while being kept dry.• Slatted floor system:• Similar to a deep litter system, but with a raised, cleaner and more hygienic floor.• The floor is made of wire or wooden slats/platforms approximately 60 cm above the ground.• Chicken droppings are collected below the slats, and the floor can be removed for cleaning.• Slatted floors are more expensive but minimize issues with wet bedding and coccidiosis.• Slats can be full (covering the entire house) or partial. Environmental conditions impact the well-being and health of humans and birds. Respiratory, digestive and behavioural disorders are more likely in substandard climatic conditions.• Measuring and assessing temperature: Birds are reliable temperature indicators; observe them at rest for accurate assessment. Measuring temperature is a common and inexpensive method to evaluate the house climate. Place thermometers close to the birds for accurate readings. Optimal temperatures for layers are between 20 and 24°C; higher temperatures affect eggshell quality and weight. Birds require an additional 1.5 g of feed daily for every 1°C below 20°C.• Relative Humidity: Maintain house humidity below 70%. Chicks require humidity between 75% and 80% to prevent drying out. Measure relative humidity to identify respiratory disorders caused by high or low humidity.• Ventilation/air movement: Ventilation improves air quality, removes heat, excess moisture and harmful gases, and reduces dust. Ventilation in open-sided houses can be managed by adjusting curtains based on temperature. Construct houses to utilize prevailing winds for natural ventilation. Houses with a width of 9 meters or less and high-pitched roofs provide good natural air movement.• Lighting: Lighting intensity and duration influence chick growth and egg production. Layers benefit from approximately 14 hours of light per day. Artificial lighting can be used to extend the day.• Litter management: Litter condition affects chick intestinal health and profitability.• Spread litter (e.g., wood shavings, rice husks) to a 5 cm depth on the floor.• Ensure litter remains dry; rake it thoroughly at least twice a week.• Monitor wet litter conditions, especially during cold and rainy seasons and near watering utensils. Wet litter releases toxic gases like ammonia, impacting bird health and promoting disease. Remove dirty, wet or caked litter and replace it with fresh litter.Clean the house immediately after evacuating the birds to prevent the accumulation and spread of disease-causing agents. Follow these steps for effective cleaning and disinfection of the chicken house.Step 1: Remove organic matter• Take out all the litter from the entrance of the chicken house.• Dispose of the litter as far away from the houses as possible.• If the litter is used in the fields, work it into the soil to prevent recontamination.• Remove all feeders, drinkers and equipment. Wash and disinfect them. Soak the feeders and drinkers in disinfectant for a few hours, then rinse them with water and expose them to sunlight.Step 2: Perform dry cleaning• Make necessary repairs to the house and equipment.• Start by dusting down the roof, walls and floor in that order. Then sweep the chicken house.• Carefully wipe off any dust from the lighting after the light bulbs have cooled down.Step 3: Wash with a detergent• Use a detergent to wash all surfaces of the house thoroughly.• Ensure that the water drains out of the chicken house and entrance.Step 4: Disinfect• Clean the entire house using a suitable sprayer and a registered disinfectant proven to kill chicken pathogens.• Seek professional advice on selecting appropriate disinfectants.• Prioritize safety when using disinfectants:• Follow the recommendations of professionals.• Wear safety materials such as coveralls, goggles, rubber gloves, rubber boots, a waterproof hat and a respirator/mask to protect your whole body. If these items are unavailable, use local alternatives like plastic bags (Figure 10).• Begin with weaker chemicals and gradually increase strength according to the disinfectant producer's recommendations. Read the label and instructions before application.• Allow the house to dry and remain closed for as long as possible (two weeks or more) before introducing new chickens.• After one day, apply lime to the floor and short walls of the house.• Place foot baths/boot dips containing disinfectant at the entrance of each chicken house. All individuals entering must dip their footwear every time.  Brooder guard made of bamboo Brooder guard made of bamboo mat; note the incandescent bulb as a heat and light source. Photo: NIAS Vietnam• Heat sources: Different types of heat sources can be used depending on availability and size of operation (Figure 13).• Bulbs/lamps:• Infra-red (IR) bulbs/self-reflecting bulbs: Efficient heat sources for brooding chicks. They emit no visible light and can achieve the desired temperature with lower wattage. No reflector is needed. Choose between 150-watt or 250-watt bulbs based on the number of chicks.• Incandescent bulbs: Economical and effective. These bulbs provide both heat and light. They emit visible light and may require higher wattage. Select bulb wattage (60-250 watts) based on brooding area size and chick quantity. A 100-watt bulb suits small areas with up to 10 chicks, while a 250-watt bulb is suitable for larger areas with up to 50 chicks.• The bulbs should be suspended 45-60 cm above the chicks using chains or similar means. Adjust the bulb height to regulate brooder temperature based on chick comfort. Always use multiple bulbs to ensure chicks have heat even if one burns out.• Gas brooder: Connected to a natural gas supply. This type of brooder is hung 8-12 cm above the chicks and equipped with canopy-type reflectors to direct heat toward them.• Electrical heaters (heating rods or coils): These brooders have heating elements, pilot lamps and sometimes a built-in thermometer to monitor the temperature.• The temperature in all heat sources can be adjusted by varying the height of the heater as needed. • Plastic container drinkers: Consist of a 3-4-litre plastic container placed upside down over a plastic saucer. A small hole in the water container allows water to flow into the dish. Larger sizes (12-30 litres) are available for older chickens (Figure 14).  Choose feeders of different sizes, designs and shapes. They should be constructed and positioned to prevent feed spillage or wastage into the litter. Install them at the appropriate height (or adjustable height) based on the average height of the back of the birds in each chicken class, and provide sufficient space for feeding. Ensure all chickens, including the timid ones, have ample opportunity to feed.• Chick feeders: Tray-shaped feeders designed for feeding chicks during the early brooding period. They are easy to use but not very hygienic, as chicks can walk and defecate in them. Long/linear plastic chick feeders with a top cover help minimize feed wastage caused by kicking. The red colour of chick feeders appeals to the chickens' natural instinct to peck, encouraging immediate feeding (Figure 17). • Tube feeders: These cylindrical tubes with a pan are commonly used and efficient feeders for adult chickens. However, the tube feeders should be raised as the chickens grow older (Figure 18).  A horizontally adjustable feeder made of PVC tubes PVC feeders fixed on a wall; feed is added from the top, and the feed moves down the pipe as the chickens consume itUsing red-coloured drinkers and feeders is recommended as it has been observed that chickens are particularly attracted to the colour red or shades close to it, which encourages them to drink and feed. That is why commercially available chick drinkers and feeders often come in this colour. On the other hand, it is important to avoid using slippery metal trays for chick feeders as they can lead to leg problems. Use rough-surfaced plastic trays instead.Layers in a floor management system require laying nests for egg-laying. Laying nests help minimize floor eggs, maintain cleanliness and reduce breakage. A sufficient number of nests, at least one nest for every five layers, should be provided to minimize waiting time and reduce fighting among the hens and/or to laying eggs outside the nest.Nests should be appropriately sized, measuring about 35 cm on all sides, with a nest floor area of approximately 0.1 square meters. Nest boxes may have one, two or three tiers/levels. Nests above the floor level should have a perch in front to assist layers in safely climbing to and entering the nest.• Individual laying nests: Designed for one hen to lay at a time (Figure 22). One-tier individual laying nests placed on the floor Two-tier laying nests mounted on a wall; note the perches to help the chicken easily climb to boxes at the higher levels Two-tier laying nests made from plastic jerrycans• Communal nest boxes: Allow two or more hens to sit simultaneously (Figure 23). However, communal nests carry a higher risk of egg breakage and a higher proportion of dirty eggs.Figure 23. Communal laying nest.• Management of nest boxes:• Place nest boxes in the chicken house's dimly lit and quiet areas. Cover the nest boxes and consider positioning them under windows rather than opposite them. Using dark-coloured paint or materials for the nest boxes can also create a suitable environment. Nest boxes can be placed on the floor, raised with supports or attached to the walls.• Close nest boxes at night to prevent birds from defecating in them.• Line the nest boxes with fresh bedding materials (such as hay, straw or wood shavings). Fill the nest box about one-third with litter material for hen comfort and to prevent egg breakage.• To avoid hens all preferring the same nest, ensure that all the nests are the same size and colour and provide them with a similar level of darkness.• Collect eggs frequently to prevent excessive breakage.Chickens naturally prefer perches over lying on the floor. Perches are used by chickens to rest at night, reducing pests, diseases, pecking and fighting. Bamboo or rounded wood that matches the size of the chickens' feet can be used as perches (Figure 24). The perch should be about 1 meter high. The perch space recommended is 1 meter for five birds, and perches should be placed at a distance of 35-40 cm apart. Treating the perches with used engine oil or kerosene helps deter parasites. Good planning and strategic equipment arrangement are necessary to create an optimal environment in a chicken house. Consider the chickens' needs, ease of cleaning and maintenance, and a comfortable environment. Arrange the equipment for convenient access for each bird to feeders, drinkers, nests and other essentials while minimizing travel distance. Also ensure convenient movement for attendants. Here's a suggested arrangement for an ideal chicken house:• Housing structure: Ensure a durable, weatherproof, predator-proof chicken house with enough space for your chickens.• Nesting boxes: Place nesting boxes in a quiet, dark corner to provide comfort and privacy for egg-laying.Have one box for every five hens, easily accessible for egg collection.• Roosting bars/perches: Install roosting bars off the ground to satisfy chickens' instincts. Allow enough space for birds to roost comfortably.• Feeding and watering equipment: Ensure sufficient feeders and waterers are accessible throughout the chicken house, making refilling and cleaning convenient while preventing contamination. Scatter drinkers evenly, alternating them with feeders throughout the house. Adjust the heights gradually as the birds grow, aligning the top lip of the feeder with their backs to minimize spillage and promote efficient feeding.• Lighting: Install appropriate lighting to simulate natural daylight, supporting healthy growth and egg production.• Ventilation: Ensure proper ventilation through windows or vents, promoting good air quality and preventing harmful gas buildup. Position them high to allow fresh air exchange without causing drafts at ground/bird level.• Heat source: If needed, provide a secure heat source, such as lamps or radiant heaters, for young chicks. Ensure safety and prevent fire hazards.• Litter/bedding: Cover the floor with ample bedding (e.g., straw or wood shavings) to absorb droppings and maintain cleanliness. Regularly monitor the litter to keep it dry and free of excessive moisture.• Access: If your chicken house has a run, ensure the access point is easy for chickens to enter and exit and secure against predators. Fence the run and provide a cover for shade and protection. Include perches and enrichments for bird activity.• Dust bath area: Designate a corner in the house or run for chickens' dust baths. Use a box filled with sand, soil and diatomaceous earth.• Egg collection area: Set up a specific area for collecting eggs to keep them clean and prevent breakage. Place egg trays or baskets conveniently within the chicken house.• Storage: Allocate a separate area for storing feed, bedding, cleaning tools and supplies. Consider a small cupboard or secure bin inside or near the house.• Security measures: Install appropriate security measures like sturdy fencing, secure doors and locks to protect against predators and unauthorized access.Remember to tailor your chicken house to your needs, considering factors like the number of chickens, climate and available space. Observe your chickens' behaviour for any signs that may indicate necessary changes.Common mistakes related to housing and equipment• Wrong location and/or orientation of the chicken house:• Inadequate distance from other facilities: Being too close to other farms, chicken houses on the same farm or residences.• Improper orientation: Being prone to drafts, which can cause significant stress to the birds.• Poor ventilation and inadequate lighting in the houses.• Overcrowding birds: Overcrowding can lead to stress, feather pecking, and cannibalism (Figure 25).• Inadequate and/or inappropriate feeding and drinking equipment:• Insufficient number of feeders and drinkers for the number of chickens.• Use of feeders/drinkers that are not appropriate for the age/size of the chickens (Figure 26).• Leaky feeders/drinkers resulting in feed wastage and wet litter.  • Heating: Failure to prepare for heating alternatives during power outages, such as standby generators or charcoal, leading to inadequate warmth for the chickens.• Inappropriate drinker and feeder height: Failure to raise the drinkers/feeders to an appropriate height above the floor results in contamination, clogged water flow, feed wastage and the spread of diseases (Figure 27). Lack of access to water reduces feed intake and growth.• Drinkers/feeders should be gradually raised from the floor as the chicks grow (Figures 28-29).• The base of the drinker/feeder should align with the bird's chest in the early stage, and the bird's back in the later stage.• Platforms or ropes can be used to elevate the drinker/feeder if needed.   • Inappropriate feeders for the age/size of chickens:• Using small feeders for large-sized chickens leads to significant feed wastage as the birds scratch the feed onto the floor.• Contamination of feed with droppings can occur, increasing the risk of disease.• Smaller feeders should be replaced with larger ones as chicks grow to accommodate their increased size. For example, the flat feeder trays shown in Figure 26   By completing this module, chicken farmers/training participants will be able to:• Distinguish between purebred and commercial hybrid chicken breeds and their characteristics and requirements.• Select the most suitable chicken breed for their specific management system and production objectives.Topic 4.1 Importance of using appropriate breedsThe suitability of various categories of chicken breeds for different production systems, production goals, market demands and environmental factors is described as follows to help you make the right breed choices.• Indigenous chicken breeds: Indigenous chicken breeds are highly valued in Vietnam and Cambodia for their unique characteristics and nutritional value. They contribute significantly to smallholder extensive free-range chicken production. Despite their slow growth rates, these breeds hold cultural significance and are prized for their flavourful, high-quality meat.• Modern specialized chickens: Hybrid chickens bred for commercial production exhibit specific traits based on their intended purpose. They can be categorized as layer-type, meat-type and dual-purpose chickens, with the following features:• Layer-type chickens: If your primary focus is egg production, select chicken breeds known for their high egg-laying capacity (Figure 34). These breeds have been selectively bred for their egg production traits, such as the number of eggs laid per year, egg size and shell quality. These breeds start laying at 5-5½ months of age and produce over 300 eggs annually under good management. Commercial layers are capable of year-round egg production.Figure 34. Typical layer-type chickens, 'boat-shaped' with a solid straight back.• Dual-purpose chickens: Consider dual-purpose chicken breeds to produce meat and eggs. Dual-purpose chickens have moderate growth rates and respectable egg-laying capabilities (Figure 36). They are costeffective, disease-resistant and efficient in meat and egg production. Some also possess desirable traits of indigenous chickens, including colourful plumage, adaptability to various environments and less intensive management. Popular improved dual-purpose breeds like Koekoek and Sasso can reach weights of 1.5-2.0 kg within three months and produce 120-180 eggs per year under smallholder conditions.Figure 35. Dual-purpose chickens with a form in between that of layers and meat-type chickens.Female Sasso Male Sasso Koekoek• Broiler-type chickens: If your primary focus is meat production, select chickens specifically bred for meat production (Figure 35). These have rapid growth rates, reaching a body weight of 2-2.5 kg within six to eight weeks, consuming approximately 4 kg of feed.Figure 36. Typical broiler-type chickens with strong legs and developed breast muscles.• Layer-type chickens:• Lohman Brown: Produces up to 360 eggs annually in commercial conditions (around 300 in backyard conditions) with low daily feed consumption of 110 grams.• ISA Brown: Exhibits exceptional feed conversion and lifelong production of 500 high-quality eggs. Adapts well to different climates and management systems, with optimal egg size, strong shells and consistent laying.• Bovans Brown: Highly adaptable and vigorous breed known for high peak production, top-quality dark brown eggs and excellent persistency. Thrives in various climates and management programs.• Broiler/meat-type chickens:• Arbor Acres, Ross 208, Ross 308, Ross 508, Avian, Lohman, Cobb 707, Hubbard: Commonly used broiler breeds in Vietnam and Cambodia. These fast-growing breeds are suitable for intensive management and achieve optimal performance when following recommended practices.• Dual-purpose chickens:• Sasso: Hardy, free-range and scavenging chickens suitable for eggs and meat. Thrives in rural smallholder farming with endurance and adaptability to extreme climates. Requires less health care than many commercial breeds and can be kept in various systems.• Koekoek: Dual-purpose chicken with laying capabilities and a large structure for meat production. Maintains good egg production even with poor feeding conditions. Suitable for medium input or semi-scavenging production systems, laying approximately 196 brown eggs per year with an average weight of 56 g under intensive management.Based on the target products, chickens in commercial production are selected for eggs, meat or both. Choosing the right breed for the specific production system, environment and market is crucial. Intensive management is necessary for specialized layer-type and broiler-type hybrids to meet the demands of egg production and growth. They are not suitable for extensive or semi-intensive systems. Conversely, dual-purpose chickens perform well with less intensive management, scavenging feed efficiently and showing better meat and egg production than indigenous breeds.Rearing dual-purpose breeds under semi-scavenging management can significantly improve farmers' livelihoods.Focus areas for breed selection• Select specialized hybrids developed for meat or egg production in intensive systems.• For egg production, choose specialized layer-type breeds.• Go for specialized meat-type/broiler hybrids for meat production in intensive systems.• Dual-purpose chickens are suitable for semi-scavenging management systems.• Using dual-purpose or pure-line chickens for intensive egg production, which may not yield as many eggs as expected.• Providing sub-optimal management, failing to utilize the potential of high-yielding hybrid layers and broilers.Improvement action plan to apply knowledge/skills Module 5: Chicken feeds and nutritionProper feeding practices and access to affordable and safe chicken feed are essential for the profitability and growth of chicken production. Feed costs make up a significant portion of production expenses. Therefore, efficient feeding systems that meet chickens' nutritional needs promote productivity and profitability. This module focuses on understanding chicken nutrient requirements, feed sources, feed quality and practical feeding methods for different management systems and production objectives.• Recognize the importance of proper feeding for success in chicken production.• Apply feeding management principles to optimize feed utilization efficiency.• Conduct a basic assessment of feed quality.• Calculate feed budgets and understand important considerations for purchasing, handling and storing feed.• Implement appropriate feeding practices for running an efficient chicken production business.• Develop an actionable plan to address feed and feeding challenges.• Improve chicken product supply, income and nutritional status for farmers.Topic 5.1 Chicken feeds and feeding• Optimizes genetic potential and improves efficiency in chicken production.• Saves feed and reduces production costs, which account for about 70% of expenses.• Enhances disease resistance and reduces mortality/morbidity losses.Types of feeds suitable for chicken feeding• Scavenging feed resources: In free-range/semi-scavenging systems, chickens find feed by scavenging insects, grains, leftovers and vegetation.• Energy sources: Make up 75% of a chicken diet.• Grains: Corn, rice, etc.• Alternative sources such as cereal screenings (rice bran, grain screenings, etc.), roots and tubers (cassava/manioc roots and their by-products, sweet potatoes, etc.), molasses and fats (e.g., coconut oil, animal fats).• Protein sources: Make up about 20% of the diet.• Animal protein sources: Meat meal, fish meal, bone meal, blood meal.• Legumes: Soybeans or soybean meal (cooked or heat-treated).• Oilseed meals: Canola, peanut, sunflower, safflower, sesame, etc..• Peas and beans.• Brewers' by-products.• Maggots and worms.• Minerals: Make up 3-4% of the diet.• Macro-minerals from limestone, oyster shells, bone meal, etc.• Micro-minerals from wood ash.• Vitamins: Less than 1% of the diet.• Obtained from premix, yeast, green fodder, alfalfa meal and dairy by-products.• Confined chickens may require additional vitamins from purchased premixes, while supplementary vitamins are usually not required when chickens are left to scavenge.• Feed additives• Medications and pigments.• Non-conventional ingredients like seaweed, insects, duckweed, silkworm pupae and earthworms.A balanced diet contains ingredients that meet the nutrient requirements of specific chicken breeds in different production systems and ages.An adult layer hen consumes approximately 125 grams of feed and 250 ml of water daily. For example, if you have 1,000 chickens, they will consume 125,000 grams or 125 kg of feed per day. This means you must purchase 1,000 kg of feed every eight days (125 kg per day × 8 days). Using this example, you can calculate the feed requirement for any number of days or chickens.To ensure a continuous feed supply, placing another feed order immediately after receiving your current one is advisable, as delivery delays may occur.Physical evaluation provides a rough measure of feed quality. This requires experience and acquaintance with the typical characteristics of the feedstuff being evaluated to identify deviations. The following are physical indicators of feed quality.• Colour: Colour changes indicate storage conditions, toxins or contamination. For example, a black-coloured fish meal may indicate rancidity.• Size: Smaller grains have lower metabolizable energy values due to a higher proportion of hulls.• Homogeneity: Check for contaminants like other grains, husks, broken grains or weed seeds.• Smell: Different smells can indicate deviations. A musty odour suggests fungal contamination or insects, while a petroleum odour indicates excessive pesticides or fungicides.• Taste: Changes in taste, such as bitterness in grains or oilseed cakes, may indicate the presence of mycotoxins. Salt levels can also be detected by tasting the feed.Consider the following factors for successful feed buying.• Animal type: Certain feedstuffs may have limitations for different classes or ages of chickens. For example, cottonseed meal should be avoided in layer rations due to its impact on egg quality.• Price fluctuations: Feed ingredient prices are lowest during the harvest season. Therefore, buying during this time can be advantageous, provided proper storage facilities exist.• Associative effects: Mixing different protein sources can improve chicken performance.• On-farm production: If possible, consider producing feed ingredients on the farm.• Moisture-free basis: When purchasing feeds, especially grains, buying based on a moisture-free basis is advisable. Price comparisons should account for differences in moisture content.• Transportation: Compare prices based on the cost at your farm gate, considering variations in transportation costs from different suppliers.• Storage: Maintain a sufficiently low moisture level in feed ingredients for safe storage. For example, grains should be below 14% moisture.When purchasing compound feeds for hybrid chickens, consider the following desirable characteristics.• Well-balanced to meet the nutrient requirements of the target animals.• Contains a variety of feeds in the ration.• Processed and prepared appropriately.• Will positively influence the quality of your animal products.For different classes/types of chickens, different specifications should be considered when buying compound feeds. These specifications are explained below.• Layer-type rations:• Chick starter ration: 20% protein for layer-type chicks fed up to 8 weeks of age.• Grower ration: 18% protein for growing pullets from 8 to 17 weeks.• Layer ration: 16-18% protein for hens after 22 weeks or when they start laying eggs. Higher calcium and mineral levels are required for laying hens.• Broiler-type rations: Broilers require fast growth and efficient feed conversion. They should have ad libitum/ free choice feeding. The typical feeding program includes two phases:• Broiler starter ration: Day-old to 3-4 weeks, 3,000 Kcal (12.5 megajoules)/kg of metabolizable energy and 22% crude protein.• Broiler finisher ration: 5 weeks to market age, 3,200 Kcal (13.5 megajoules)/kg of metabolizable energy and 20% crude protein. On average, 2-2.5 kg of feed is required per kg of weight gain, with a total consumption of 3-5 kg per marketed broiler.Small-scale farmers often face the challenge of expensive feed, limiting their ability to expand. The following actions can help decrease feed costs and improve the profitability of chicken production.Mixing 'concentrates\" obtained from feed mills with energy-rich ingredients like grains can result in complete chicken feed. The proportion of 'concentrates' and high-energy ingredients depends on the nutritional needs of the chicken breed, growth stage and production objectives. Therefore, it is essential to follow the blending instructions provided by the feed mill.Home mixing involves selecting the right combination of feed ingredients to create a balanced ration and reduce reliance on expensive purchased feeds (see Figures 37-38). This requires a basic understanding of animal nutrition.Home mixing requires knowledge of ration formulation or access to feed formulation software and/or consulting a poultry nutritionist to calculate the proportions of various ingredients needed to achieve the desired nutrient levels in the feed. Factors to consider include the age and type of birds, locally available feed ingredients, cost effectiveness and ingredient quality.Table 2 below provides a guide on the proportions of different ingredient types for home mixing chicken diets.  Using feed efficiently• Use appropriate feeders for the type and size of chickens to eliminate wastage.• Enhance feed utilization efficiency by controlling parasite infestations and by selecting the right breed for the management system and target product.• Avoid sudden management changes that can decrease feed utilization efficiency:• Gradually introduce changes like the type/size of feeders/drinkers to minimize stress in birds, especially young chicks.• Transition to a new feed type (e.g., from chick starter diet to grower diet and grower to layer diet) by gradually increasing the proportion of the new feed while mixing it with the previous feed until the transition is complete.Minimize loss of feed quality and quantity by doing the following:• Avoid buying more feed than can be appropriately stored and used within a month.• Store feed away from potential contaminants like gasoline, oil and pesticides.• Stack bags of feed on a pallet, elevated above the ground and away from walls. Place a protective layer at the bottom to prevent access by mice and rats (Figure 39).• Stack different feedstuffs separately and prioritize 'first in, first out\" usage.• Clearly label micro-ingredients to prevent mix-up and toxicity.• Conditions of storage: Maintain proper storage conditions to prevent deterioration (Figures 40-41).• Heat, humidity and fat in the feed accelerate spoilage.• Dry feeds should have lower than 14% moisture content before storage.• Ensure good ventilation to prevent mould, excessive heating and fire hazards.• Length of storage: Storage length depends on ingredient origin and perishability.• Ingredients available at any time require shorter storage periods.• Ingredients from long distances or uncertain supply can be stored for 2-4 weeks.• Perishable feeds should not be stored for extended periods.• Mixed feeds spoil faster: Therefore, store feeds as individual ingredients and mix in quantities usable withi  Feed is stored on a pallet to protect it from direct contact with the floor; note the corridor between different types of feed A barrel with a lid can be used to store feed in a chicken house Topic 5.5 Applied/practical chicken feedingFeeding in the semi-intensive/semi-scavenging management system• Dual-purpose chickens like the Sasso are housed in an enclosed area where they scavenge with supplementation instead of a fully balanced diet.• Chickens find most of their feed by scavenging in the surroundings, which varies based on seasons, climate, geography and farming systems.• Supplemental feeding is necessary after confining the birds, providing access to forage plants such as cowpea, alfalfa, cabbage and sesbania.• Hydroponically-grown fodder, rich in vitamins and protein, can be produced from sprouted grains through hydroponic culture as an excellent alternative ingredient to increase dietary vitamin supply and digestibility (Figure 42).Figure 42. Hydroponic fodder, grown in a few days to the size shown here, can be an excellent supplement.• Regular watering, care and optimal feeding ensure higher profits in this model.• Chickens receive supplements like alfalfa, cabbage, sesbania and hydroponic leaves, providing vitamins, proteins, etc. (Figures 43-44).Figure 43. Scavenging Sasso chicken. Figure 44. Neem (left) and cabbage (right) as hanging green supplements, a strategy that also helps keep chickens active, relieving them from becoming bored and pecking each other.• For concentrate supplements, provide half in the morning and the other half in the evening when birds return.Feeding in the intensive management system• Confined chickens require a balanced diet for efficient production.• Feed form (mash, pellets, crumble) and particle size vary for different types of chicken: layers often receive mash, while broilers receive pellets (Figure 45). • Feed amount: Depends on the chicken's age and breed. Table 3 shows layer-type chicken feed requirements at various stages. • Feeding methods/systems: The following are systems of feeding farmers can practice.• Free choice feeding: Unlimited access, ensuring constant feed availability.• Restricted feeding: Supplying specific amounts of feed at designated times for control of weight gain and better feed efficiency.To increase feed efficiency and lower costs, it is crucial to minimize feed wastage. There are two types of feed wastage:• Direct feed wastage: Involves spillage, excessive feed in the trough, feed theft and contamination, mould development, etc. To address this, appropriate raised feeders should be used, which are designed to minimize animal access. Sufficient feeder space helps prevent competition, fighting and spillage.• Indirect feed wastage: Occurs when feed utilization is reduced due to factors like illness or high ambient temperature. These issues are harder to detect.Chickens prefer rounded, bright-coloured particles. Recommended particle sizes for different chicken types are as follows:• Chicks: 0.7-1.0 mm.• Pullets: 1.0-1.5 mm.• Layers: 1.5-2.0 mm.Specific rations should be provided during different stages of a chicken's life. Chicks should be fed chick mash for the first eight weeks. This should be followed by growers' mash up to two weeks before they are expected to start laying. At that point, the flock should be switched to layers' mash until the end of the laying period. When transitioning between diets, it is recommended to mix the previous feed with the new one in increasing proportions until the transition is complete. Vitamins can be provided during this period to reduce stress.Similarly, when making changes, such as introducing new feeders or drinker types, it is important to do so gradually. Abrupt changes can be stressful to the chickens and affect their performance.Water consumption is generally twice that of feed. Layers require 200-250 ml/day, which increases in high temperatures. Provide water freely without restriction.• Underestimating the value of high-quality feed.• Feeding unbalanced rations:• Some farmers opt for cheap feeds, but long-term profitability lies in high-quality options.• Adulterating formulated feed reduces protein, vitamins and minerals, resulting in poor chicken performance.• Feeding mouldy feed risks organ damage and neurological issues.• Feeding the wrong feed, like giving young birds a layer ration, negatively impacts their growth and wellbeing.• Poor feeding management.• Infrequent filling of feed troughs leads to chicks picking on litter, causing an 'off-feed\" condition.• Overfilling feeders leads to wastage through spillage.• Inadequate/inappropriate feeding and drinking equipment in terms of size and leakage.• Improper feed storage.• Poor storage attracts rodents, causing feed loss and disease transmission.• Moisture exposure leads to mould development and mycotoxin formation, causing internal haemorrhages, stunted growth and immunosuppression.• Inadequate water supply. Infrequent filling of drinkers reduces water and feed intake.Feeding, water, and feed storage-related improvement plan: List at least three challenges you may have related to feeding, watering and feed storage. Indicate the action(s) required to address it, the barriers to acting, and the time you commit to completing it. • Exposure to impure water, including surface drainage water.• Presence of rodents, wild animals, insects and free-flying birds.• Contamination from feed, feed bags and delivery trucks.• Transmission through contaminated premises via the soil or old litter.• Infection through hatching eggs.Figure 46. Sources of diseasesRegular inspection and early detection are crucial in minimizing the impact and spread of chicken diseases. Delayed recognition often leads to untreatable conditions.• Timing of inspections: Conduct inspections at least twice daily, assessing behaviour, droppings, feed intake, mortality rates, etc. Additional observations should be made during routine activities like feeding, water supply and egg collection.• Characteristics of healthy and unhealthy chickens: Refer to • Stays on the roost or hides in a dark corner;• Less active than usual, drowsy or weak appearance, inability to walk, reluctance to move around, sitting on the floor at night when the bird normally roostsMakes normal sounds and movements• Strange sounds and actions;• Moves slowly/sluggish; • Pasted, clumped feathers around vent (anal area);• Vent area sore, swollen or distendedFeeds and drinks normally • Does not eat or drink much -may sometimes stop eating altogether;• Drop in feed consumption;• Weight lossLays eggs normally • Reduced egg production or stops laying eggs;• Sudden drop in egg production;• Many poorly shaped or coloured eggs in layers The saying 'prevention is better than cure\" holds in chicken health care. Preventive measures are more cost-effective and help avoid losses due to mortality, reduced production and high treatment expenses. Moreover, diseases can result in mass culling or even the closure of an entire poultry farm, emphasizing the importance of preventing pathogen transmission.Biosecurity describes any practice designed to prevent the entry and spread of diseases onto the farm. Poor biosecurity can undermine vaccination, medication and overall management. Effective biosecurity plans should encompass the interrelated measures of isolation, sanitation, human traffic control and flock management (Figure 49).• Isolation: Isolation is the confinement of chickens within a controlled environment while keeping all other animals out. This is achieved through the following.• Use fences to confine chickens and keep other animals out.• Ideally, have one chicken house per farm. Alternatively, maintain a 15-30 meter distance between houses and keep one age group per farm.• Maintain a distance of 300 meters from roads and adjacent properties.• Practice all-in-all-out chicken management, filling and disposing of houses all at the same time.• Prevent access to rodents, wild birds and stray chickens using wire nets and avoid feed spillage outside the chicken house.• Store bulk feeds away from production houses, preferably 30 meters or more, and hold short-term supplies per house to reduce disease transmission.• Sanitation and cleanliness: This includes disinfection of materials, people and equipment entering the farm and the cleanliness of the personnel on the farm.• Ensure cleanliness and hygiene at the farm and flock levels.• Disinfect materials, people and equipment entering the farm.• Clean and disinfect chicken housing at the end of each production cycle.• Clean drinkers daily and refresh water supply regularly.• Provide and wash clothing, footwear and cleaning facilities for staff and visitors.• Install footbaths with disinfectant at the entrance of each chicken house for footwear disinfection (Figure 50). Prevention of pest problems:• Regularly inspect the house for signs of pests and take appropriate control measures.• Store feed properly in insect-and mouse-proof containers.• Keep feeding areas clean and dry, removing spilled feed promptly.• Eliminate hiding places for rodents and clear vegetation around the house.• Prevent the nesting of wild birds inside chicken houses.• Traffic control:• Chicken workers should wear clean, disinfected footwear and clothing, ideally using different gear for each house.• When visiting chickens of different ages, start with the youngest flock and visit sick flocks last.• Limit farm visitors and avoid visiting other chicken farms.• Only essential staff should enter the house.• Flock hygiene management: Hygiene management is a set of measures to reduce the number of pathogens (infection pressure) on the farm and prevent transmission between farms, houses and chickens. Hygienic measures can be applied at three levels:• Farm level: Prevent pathogen entry by considering the following:• Farm layout, location and isolation (distance from other farms, wind direction).• Implementing fencing.• Changing footwear at the farm entrance.• Selling eggs/chickens outside the farm.• Disposing of manure and carcasses properly to avoid infection transmission (Figure 51). Dead chicken burial pits should be at least 1 meter deep and well away from water sources such as wells and rivers. Hands and clothes should be washed or boiled after dead birds are handled.• Avoiding bringing unsold live birds from the market back to the farm.Figure 51. Dead chicken disposal by burying and/or burning• Flock/house level: Measures to prevent transmission of pathogens from one chicken flock (house) to another include:• Implementing an all-in-all-out system.• Maintaining distance between houses.• Using separate footwear and equipment for each house.• Ensuring wild bird-proof housing.• Maintaining ventilation.• Practicing proper cleaning and disinfection.• Controlling rodents.• Considering feed storage per house.• Animal level: Measures to prevent transmission of pathogens from one animal to another include:• Avoiding overcrowding.• Maintaining a good climate and dry litter.• Cleaning drinkers daily.• Providing high-quality feed and water.• Vaccinating birds.• Monitoring and controlling ectoparasites.• Taking appropriate treatment or culling measures in case of disease.Vaccination is crucial for preventive health care in chickens, as it helps prevent or minimize the effects of specific diseases by enhancing the bird's immune system. Effective vaccination requires proper management, good chicken nutrition and adherence to biosecurity measures.• Importance of timely vaccinations: Timely vaccinations are vital for maximizing benefits. Ensure the availability of appropriate doses and types of vaccines when vaccination is due.When purchasing and storing vaccines, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturers. Consider the following general recommendations.• Buying vaccines:• Purchase vaccines from reliable suppliers who maintain the cold chain and offer professional advice.• Transport vaccines in well-insulated cool boxes with ice packs.• Check the vaccine type, dose, expiry date and seal on the packaging.• Storage:• Store vaccines refrigerated between 2°C and 8°C in a cool and dark place.• Avoid freezing, extreme heat and intense light.• Regularly check the refrigerator's temperature and ice formation.• Minimize opening the refrigerator door and avoid placing hot or large quantities of warm products inside.• Position the vaccines deep within the fridge to reduce temperature fluctuations when opening the door.• Avoid unnecessary removal of vaccines, as temperature fluctuations can harm live vaccines.• Vaccination:• Follow professional advice and vaccine instructions when administering vaccines.• Vaccinate during cooler periods of the day, such as early morning or late evening.• Ensure sufficient doses are available for the flock, and check the birds' health before vaccination.• Administer vitamins before and after vaccination, avoiding mixing vaccines and vitamins.• Avoid vaccinating during stress, high heat or ongoing antibiotic treatment.• Limit drinking time to three hours for vaccines administered through drinking water, followed by discarding the remaining water, cleaning the drinkers and providing fresh water mixed with vitamins.• Record all vaccination information and procedures for future reference, including serial/batch numbers, expiry dates and vaccination dates.• Properly dispose of any unused vaccines following professional advice.• Vaccination methods: Vaccinating chickens involves various methods. Each vaccine requires a specific approach. The two main ones (Figure 52) are:• Eye-drop vaccination:• Accurate dilution of the vaccine is crucial.• Calibrate the eye droppers before use.Ensure the droplet disappears quickly before releasing the chicken.• Vaccination via drinking water: This is a suitable method for mass vaccination when appropriate.• Use plastic drinkers instead of metallic utensils to administer vaccines.• Avoid using disinfectants to clean the drinkers, as they can inactivate the vaccine.• Accurate mixing following vaccine administration instructions is crucial.• Properly distribute drinkers in the area.• Avoid using water with disinfectants or detergents; opt for clean, unchlorinated water or add skimmed powdered milk to tap water.Use the reconstituted vaccine immediately (within 2 hours).• Deprive birds of water (but not feed) for 13 hours to make them thirsty.• Increase light and the number of drinkers to encourage drinking.• Supply fresh feed to stimulate consumption.• If vaccines remain unused, discard them by adding hot water and disinfectant and burying the mixture, including the vaccine containers.• Never discard unused vaccines in the chicken house to avoid contamination.• Dispose of drinking water, wash drinkers and provide fresh water.• Wash hands with soap and water afterward.Administer vaccines as recommended.• Implement the correct vaccination program.• Records and monitoring: Maintain detailed records of flock health, including vaccinations, treatments administered and abnormal observations. Regularly monitor individual bird health and behaviour, body condition, weight, comb colour, egg production and overall flock performance. Analyse trends and seek professional advice if any abnormalities are noted.For small-scale chicken farmers, it is important to know what steps to take when observing ill health in the flock, even without specific knowledge of individual diseases. Here's what farmers can do:• Emergency preparedness/response plan: Develop an emergency response plan, preferably in consultation with a veterinarian. This plan should outline procedures for disease outbreaks/emergencies, including all of the below actions.• Promptly remove dead chickens, ensuring proper disposal by burning or burying them deep away from the chicken house. Minimize contamination of the premises to prevent further disease spread.• Immediately isolate suspected chickens and then proceed with other measures.• Seek professional veterinary assistance at the first sign of ill health. Professionals can assess whether treating the affected flock is worthwhile and guide the best action. For example, it may sometimes be necessary to eradicate the entire flock, thoroughly clean the premises, and wait until it's safe to introduce new birds.Common mistakes contributing to disease spread and poor flock health include:• Sourcing day-old chicks: Sourcing chicks from unreliable sources that may carry diseases.• Inadequate biosecurity measures, such as lack of hygiene and sanitation:• Failure to follow proper cleaning order.• Insufficient cleaning and sanitization of houses and equipment (Figure 53).• Wearing the same farm outfit inside and outside the farm.• Unrestricted access to people.• Delayed removal of wet, mouldy litter.• Absence of footbaths or failure to replenish disinfectant.• Insufficient separation of birds in controlled environments:• Mixing different ages of chickens in the same farm or house (Figure 54).• Sharing equipment and supplies among houses or farms.• Renting chicken transport crates without proper sanitation.• Inconsistent adherence to an all-in-all-out rearing system.• Poor control of rodents, birds and insects:• Creating conducive breeding grounds for pests.• Inadequate protection of chicken houses against wild birds.• Uncontrolled access to pets (cats, dogs, etc.) (Figure 55). • Insufficient downtime between flocks: Failure to allow at least 14 days for proper cleaning and disinfection of the chicken facilities.• Delayed disposal of sick and dead birds:• Neglecting regular inspections of the chicken house and birds.• Inability to recognize signs of illness.• Improper disposal of dead birds, increasing disease spread.• Mistakes related to vaccine use and administration:• Failure to follow manufacturer's instructions for vaccine use.• Improper vaccine formulation, storage or handling.• Use of expired vaccines or vaccinating infected birds.• Incorrect administration route or timing of vaccination.• Failure to promptly address health issues: Lack of early detection and treatment leading to losses and decreased flock performance.Preventive healthcare-related improvement plan: List one priority challenge you have related to biosecurity on your farm, one related to vaccines/vaccination, and another related to internal and external parasite prevention and control. Indicate the action (s) required to address it and the time you commit to completing the activities. *Continue identifying and prioritizing other/additional challenges and plan actions for improvement using the examples at the end of the previous modules.Use the troubleshooting guide in Appendix 2 to identify your activities.Module 7: Applied chicken managementProper husbandry and management practices are essential for the overall well-being, productivity and profitability of your chicken farm. This module emphasizes the essential care required for chickens at every stage of rearing and production. It covers various aspects, including pre-arrival and arrival management of chicks. It addresses challenges during feeding, watering and transport; establishing culling standards; identifying and managing poorquality chicks, pullets and unproductive layers; investigating causes of decreased egg production; and dealing with behavioural issues like cannibalism and egg eating. Additionally, it guides managing transitions such as feed and equipment changes.• Effectively raise chicks and replacement pullets by implementing appropriate feeding and lighting programs.• Manage transition periods to prevent performance decline.• Perform necessary management practices, including culling underperforming birds.• Develop and execute actionable plans to overcome challenges in chicken management.• Enhance overall performance in layer production through efficient and effective management techniques.This unit covers the management of various age groups and types of chickens. A detailed checklist for daily management routines is provided in Appendix 3 for farmers and development practitioners seeking more comprehensive information.Chicken management involves monitoring poultry health; maintaining suitable conditions in the poultry house for brooding, rearing, growing and laying; administering recommended vaccinations; and implementing appropriate feeding programs. Figure 56 shows chicken management factors that affect performance. Chick rearing requires careful attention even before the chicks arrive. The following are important activities:• Create a circular brooding area using brooder guards to prevent crowding and suffocating chicks in corners.Gradually expand the guarded area as chicks grow.• Install reliable heating equipment and distribute feeders and drinkers evenly as the brooding area expands.• Provide dry bedding material in the brooder area, such as wood shavings or straw. Avoid materials that can be ingested or cause respiratory issues, such as sawdust or sand.• Cover the bedding with newspaper or similar material to prevent litter consumption by chicks during the first few days (Figure 57). Remove the newspaper after approximately five days to avoid leg problems.• Do not use slippery metal trays as feeders. It can cause leg problems in chicks (Figure 58). • Maximum of 500 chicks in one brooding ring.• Approximately 75 chicks per drinker and feed plate.• Long feeders with at least 2.5 cm of eating space per chick.• The brooder guard height should be between 35 and 45 cm.• The bedding should have a thickness of about 5 cm.• Density on day 1 should be 50 chicks per square meter; on day 7, 25 chicks per square meter.• Pre-arrival/pre-placement preparation: Ensure heaters, temperature, relative humidity probes, ventilation, drinkers, feeders, etc. are prepared and checked before the chicks arrive.• Prepare the brooder area, including constructing a brooder guard at least 24 hours in advance.• Turn on the brooder heaters at least 6 hours before the chick arrival.• Check the house temperature and ensure the environment, water and feed are at the appropriate temperature.• Arrival of chicks, chick placement and stocking density:• Carefully transfer the chicks from transport vehicles to the brooder house.• Check the chicks for uniformity, alertness, activity and signs of deformities or infection.• Place the chicks under the brooder hovers as soon as possible.• Provide lukewarm (about 18°C or slightly above) water with an 8% sugar solution (dissolve 80 grams of sugar per litre of drinking water) and multivitamins for the first two hours to reduce transport stress and mortality.• Fill feeders after 30-60 minutes to allow the chicks to consume water first and rehydrate before feeding.• Introduction of chicks to feed and water:• Place the chicks under the brooder and observe if they are actively drinking.• Assist weak chicks by gently dipping their beaks in the water. Hold each chick next to the water container and gently dip its beak in the water. Just dip -don't hold the chicks' beaks in the water for too long! Chicks are often dehydrated during shipping and need water more than feed. This taste of the water will encourage them to drink. Spending extra time checking chicks not drinking and dipping their beaks can get your chicks started right. If you still have a chick that looks weak and doesn't stand on its own, try to get just a drop or two of warm water into its beak and then place it under the heat source.• Chicks copy each other, so you can relax after a few are drinking and eating. The other healthy chicks will soon follow their lead.• Check on the chicks frequently, especially during the first few hours of placement, ensuring they can reach the feed and that the water temperature is not too warm (it should not feel too warm to the touch).• Dead chicks in the first few days are normal, but if there are ongoing deaths after a week, investigate possible causes.• Lighting and heating management of chicks:• Regularly monitor the temperature in the brooder area, installing thermometers at the chick level.• Maintain the desired temperature by reducing it by 2°C every week.• Follow the temperature guidelines provided in Table 5 for optimal chick comfort and development.• After two hours of placing the chicks, check their comfort level and make necessary adjustments to the temperature by:• Increasing ventilation.• Raising or lowering the heat source.• Changing the size or wattage of the heat source. • When using heat lamps, hanging two different-sized light bulbs in the brooder allows for quick adjustments to significant changes in day and night temperatures.• Note that infra-red lamps may not register accurately on a thermometer as they are designed to heat the chicks, not the air. Observe the behaviour of the chicks to assess if they are warm enough.• With experience, you can gauge the right temperature in the brooder without relying on a thermometer. Observe the chicks' actions and sounds to determine if the temperature is too hot or cold (Figure 59).• Temperature too high: Quiet chicks, panting, drooping heads and wings, and chicks moving away from the heat source.• Temperature too low: Chicks huddling under the heat source and making distressed sounds.• Chicks huddled in one corner of the brooder guard: Indicate a need for investigation. Possible factors include drought, uneven light distribution or external noises. Chicks may be trying to avoid darker areas or drafts.• Temperature correct: The desired condition is when chicks are evenly scattered throughout the brooder area, exhibiting contentment through their behaviour and noise level.  Place feeders and drinkers in a circle for easy access by chicks. Avoid placement directly under the heat source.• Provide clean, fresh and easily accessible water for chicks at all times.• Maintain 10-12 drinkers per 1,000 birds at the appropriate height.• Clean drinkers daily and prevent spillage and wet litter.• Ensure the water temperature is slightly below the environmental temperature.Additional factors include water quality, mineral content and drinker height.Drinkers should be placed at a higher level to avoid contamination by bedding material and to prevent wetting of the bedding.Upon arrival, ensure that chicks easily find clean, fresh water. If possible, refresh the water several times a day, or at least once a day.Feed and feeding management:• Fill feeders only one-third full to minimize spillage and wastage.• Provide a constant supply of feed for the chickens.• Ideally, use 20-30 tube feeders per 1,000 birds positioned at a comfortable height.• Use high-quality and safe feed free from mycotoxins.• Farmers often underestimate the value of good-quality feed, and use lower-quality feed because of its cheaper and more accessible availability.• Some farmers reduce the quality of feed supplied to their chickens by using unbalanced rations and adding ingredients to formulated feed with the wrong intention of lowering feed costs.Improper feed management can lead to issues such as feed wastage, reduced feed intake and growth, and the development of mycotoxins. Common mistakes include:• Overfilling feeders.• Infrequent filling.• Improper storage, which results in visible and invisible losses, impaired gut health, poor feed utilization, poor growth and increased susceptibility to diseases.Monitoring body weight and uniformity is crucial for managing the growth and development of the flock. Weekly weighing of a sample of chicks, starting from the first week, helps track their growth rate.• Body weight monitoring: Initially, collective weights can be taken in batches of 5 or 10, and later individual weights can be recorded (Figure 62). To ensure accurate data, weighing the birds consistently on the same day and time each week is important.• Uniformity monitoring: Besides body weight, assessing uniformity within the flock is essential. Uniformity is measured by calculating the percentage of individual weights that fall within ±10% of the flock average. The target is to achieve at least 80% of the body weights within this range, indicating normal flock development. Identify and remove inferior chickens from the flock to reduce production costs and disease incidence and create more space for productive birds. It is best to cull these birds as soon as they are noticed.During placement, cull or remove pullets that are small-sized, underdeveloped, weak, crippled or diseased. Consider available space in the laying house when determining the number of birds to cull. However, it's important not to be overly critical as some good laying hens may mature late. Give them a chance to develop if they show potential.Follow specific rules regarding lighting during different stages (Table 6):• Do not increase the day length during the growing phase (8-14 weeks).• Do not increase day length when the flock's average body weight is below 1,250 grams.• Do not decrease the day length after the start of lay. Transfer pullets to the layer house at around 16-17 weeks of age, before the onset of egg production. To minimize stress during transfer, complete vaccinations and deworming one week earlier. Increase light intensity to encourage water consumption and maintain a temperature similar to the rearing period.Roosters are not necessary for egg production intended for consumption. Hens typically start laying eggs between 20 and 22 weeks of age.• Identification of good and poor layers: Before the laying period, you can further select the hens to identify those suitable for egg production. Hens with fewer feathers are often good layers, as their energy is focused on egg production. Conversely, hens with beautiful, well-feathered plumage may indicate lower egg-laying capacity. Such hens can be culled or sold for meat. Table 7 provides a comparison of features between productive and unproductive hens. • The degree of pigment loss in different body parts of laying hens indicates their stage of egg production. The bleaching order is as follows:• Vent.• Eye ring, earlobe and beak (corner of the mouth to the tip of the beak).• Bottom of feet, entire shanks, hock and top of toes.• When a hen stops laying eggs, the pigmentation returns in the reverse order but at a faster rate. Figure 63 shows the loss of pigmentation from different parts of a layer's body.  Such habits are often a result of poor farm management, particularly in feeding methods. Some common disorders include:This destructive behaviour involves birds attacking and eating each other. The two photos on the left side of Figure 66 show this vice. Cannibalism can occur at any age and cause injuries such as feather plucking and vent, head, wing, intestine and toe picking. It is usually triggered by poor management practices that stress the birds.• Causes of cannibalism include nutrient deficiencies, poor ventilation, overcrowding and the presence of pests.• Preventive measures include addressing nutrient deficiencies, improving environmental factors, providing adequate feeder and drinker space, reducing light intensity and considering beak trimming.Egg eating can become a habit among laying hens, leading to significant losses. The rightmost photo in Figure 66 shows the egg-eating habit. To prevent egg eating, it is important to:• Minimize egg breakage by ensuring strong eggshells and reducing stress levels.• Provide proper nutrition and collect eggs frequently.• Identify and cull egg-eating hens from the flock to prevent the habit from spreading. Farmers can effectively address and mitigate these management disorders and promote better flock health and productivity by implementing these preventive measures.Inspection, monitoring and troubleshooting in chicken houses are crucial for maintaining the well-being of the birds. Farmers should recognize signs of trouble, diagnose the causes and take corrective measures to minimize losses. It is important to focus on key areas of concern.Extra care and attention are required during the first few days of a chick's life. Regular visits and observations, including evenings, should be conducted without disturbing the chicks. Move quietly and slowly to avoid accidentally harming them.Carry a checklist/to-do list of activities and actions while conducting observations and routine activities in the poultry house (Figure 67). Appendix 3 provides a guide to routine activities for different circumstances, which can be used to develop a personalized checklist. Observe the behaviour of the chicks or chickens using all your senses. Their behaviour often indicates if any changes need to be made.Here are some key aspects to focus on during the observations:• First, look through the windows to see the flock's condition without disturbing them.• Look at how the birds behave: Observe their distribution throughout the brooding area or house. They should be evenly scattered.• Sudden management changes: Abrupt changes in management routines can cause stress, particularly in young chicks. Transition times should be appropriately supervised.• Poor labour management: Effective management of farm staff is crucial. Some common mistakes include:• Inadequate staff training.• Unclear roles and responsibilities that can lead to confusion and inefficiencies.• Poor communication channels that can lead to misunderstandings, errors and missed opportunities for improvement.By recognizing and addressing these common mistakes, chicken farmers can improve their management practices, minimize losses and optimize the health and productivity of their flocks.Chicken management-related improvement plan: List at least two challenges you may have related to the management of chicks, growers/pullets layer hens. Indicate the action(s) required to address it and the time you commit to completing it. Module 8: Marketing chickens and chicken productsEffective marketing is crucial to running a profitable chicken farming business. While farmers often focus on production, it is essential to recognize that the market drives financial success. Understanding market requirements allows farmers to make informed decisions about what, when and how much to produce. Therefore, a basic knowledge of marketing concepts is essential for success in the chicken business. By answering key questions such as the demand for their products, how to reach potential customers and how to deliver goods to the market, farmers can develop effective marketing strategies. This module provides valuable techniques to help farmers market their chickens and chicken products for maximum profitability.By implementing the skills and knowledge under this module, training participants/chicken farmers will be able to:• Implement effective marketing strategies for eggs and spent hens.• Market chickens and chicken products efficiently and effectively.Topic 8.1 What is marketing?Marketing in chicken farming involves producing high-quality products (such as eggs, chickens and chicken meat) and selling them to targeted customers at a profit. Here are key points to understand about marketing:• Customer orientation: Marketing requires understanding and meeting the needs of your customers.• Profit focus: Marketing aims to generate revenue and profit from selling to customers.• Relevance for all businesses: Marketing is important for businesses of all sizes, not just large ones.• Cost-effective options: Marketing doesn't have to be expensive. You can engage with potential customers at a low cost and advertise locally. Setting reasonable prices for your products is also part of effective marketing.• Align marketing with goals: It's crucial to have a specific marketing plan that outlines your ambitions and how you will achieve them. Consider your target market, how to reach them, and specific strategies for expansion. To market your product and grow your business, you can consider the following approaches:• Selling more of the same product to the same market (e.g., increasing the number of eggs sold to existing customers, such as at a village kiosk).• Introducing a new product to the same market (e.g., offering spent hens in addition to eggs at the village kiosk).• Selling the same product to a new market (e.g., selling eggs to a kiosk in another village, targeting new customers).• Introducing a new product to a new market (e.g., selling poultry litter to nearby farmers, targeting new customers).To enhance your market, profitability and overall benefits from your chicken farming, consider the following marketing mix, also known as the \"4Ps\" of marketing:• Product: Identify your target consumers' preferences and needs, such as meat quality, price, packaging and quantity. To meet market requirements, focus on product features and attributes, like clean and graded eggs. Consider adding value to your products, such as marketing specialty items like yellow-yolked eggs, to cater to niche markets and increase income.• Price: Customers are price sensitive, so set an attractive and competitive price for your product while ensuring profitability. Compare prices with competitors and use promotions and discounts to attract new customers and build brand loyalty.• Place: Determine how and where your product will be available to customers. This includes physical locations, such as your farm gate or retail outlets, and distribution channels through which you deliver your products to customers. Aim for convenient and easily accessible locations.• Promotion: Promote awareness and interest in your products through advertising, sales promotions and other marketing communication tools. Be creative in your approach, using methods like road signs, leaflets, word of mouth, participation in exhibitions and advertising through various media channels. Provide product samples to encourage trial and purchase.Consider the following information and considerations to optimize the benefits from your chicken production business:• Customers: Understand your customers' needs and preferences. Provide excellent customer service, maintain communication and swiftly address their queries.• Competitors: Research and understand your competitors' market share, strategies and offerings. This knowledge will help you adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.• Farm gate marketing: Collaborate with other farmers to aggregate your products and attract local traders. This reduces transport costs and ensures reasonable prices.• Contract marketing: Establish connections between rural chicken farmers and urban markets, offering pre-fixed product prices.• Producer organizations: Consider joining or forming marketing groups to supply chicken and chicken products collectively. This lowers costs through shared activities like transportation, grading and packaging and provides access to market information and advisory services.• Additional tips to improve your market for chicken and chicken products:• Sell non-performing cocks, excess off-layers and culled hens.• Increase the frequency of sales to establish a reputation for selling fresh products.• Leverage high demand and prices during festive seasons.• Differentiate your products through attractive and informative packaging, setting them apart from competitors.To ensure successful marketing and sales management, it's important to avoid the following common mistakes:• Poor marketing strategy: A weak or ineffective marketing strategy can hinder your ability to reach and engage with your target audience.• Inadequate sales channels: Establishing appropriate channels can limit your reach and prevent you from building strong relationships with key customers and suppliers.• Ineffective advertising and promotion: If your advertising and promotional efforts are not reaching your target market effectively, you may struggle to generate awareness and interest in your products.When exploring potential market growth opportunities, it is crucial to consider the 4Ps of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Take into account the needs and preferences of your target market, as well as the competitive landscape, when defining these elements. What factors hold the greatest significance for your customers? How can you differentiate yourself from competitors and gain a competitive edge? By carefully evaluating and addressing these questions, you can develop a comprehensive marketing strategy that maximizes your chances of success.Market growth opportunity 1: ___________________________________________ Product (What product features are important?)Price (How much will customers pay?)Place (How will you distribute your product?)Promotion (How will you make customers aware?)Module 9: Handling and transportation of chickens and eggsProper handling and transportation of chickens and eggs are essential to prevent damage and ensure their wellbeing. This module provides guidelines on humane handling and transportation methods for different categories of chickens (chicks, pullets and layers). It emphasizes the correct procedures for collecting, handling, storing, packaging and transporting eggs to maintain quality.By acquiring the skills and knowledge presented in this module, participants and chicken farmers will be able to:• Understand the precautionary measures involved in collecting, handling, storing, packaging and transporting eggs.• Learn how to transport spent chickens humanely and effectively market them.• Explain the proper techniques for collecting, handling and storing eggs to ensure their freshness.• Develop the ability to recognize signs of freshness in eggs.Topic 9.1 General tips on handling, catching and transporting chickensEntering the chicken house• Change clothing and disinfect footwear.• Minimize disturbance.• Softly knock on the door of the pen before entering to avoid scaring the chickens with loud noises.• Speak in a quiet, low voice.• Enter quietly and avoid sudden movements.Catching a single bird out of the flock• Use proper techniques to minimize stress and prevent injury.• Do not chase the chicken.• Select a nearby chicken, preferably one with its tail toward you.• Slowly extend your hand toward one of its legs and catch it (use a hook if the bird is too far away) (Figure 68).• Hold both wings near the body of the chicken.• Keep the bird at a distance where it cannot scratch you with its legs.• Expect the chicken to release some manure after being caught.   Chickens are transported using various means, such as vehicles and carts, depending on age, distance and quantity. Consider the following guidelines:• Chick transport:• Preferably transport chicks during cooler periods of the day.• Ensure chicks reach their destination within two days.• Day-old chicks do not require feed or water during transport as they still rely on their yolk.• Transport chicks in well-ventilated vehicles, protecting them from direct sunlight, drafts and rain.• Load chick boxes to allow for proper air circulation and avoid squashing lower boxes.• Plan direct travel from the source (hatchery or sales office) to the farm without unnecessary stops.• Adult birds:• Provide clean water and feed before transportation.• Transport chickens during cooler periods to prevent heat stress.• Handle chickens gently and monitor their well-being.• Be mindful of stress levels.• Clean and inspect transport crates for sharp edges or gaps that may harm the birds.• Carry chickens by both feet and avoid overcrowding.• Load crates into the transport vehicle carefully.• Ensure adequate ventilation between crates, allowing for a 15 cm gap between rows.• For long-distance transport, provide feed and water before placing chickens in crates/coops.• Regularly check birds during the journey.• Transport adult chickens within a maximum of 12 hours.• Never transport sick, weak or injured birds.Topic 9.2 Handling, storage and transport of eggs Egg collection• Collect eggs at least twice daily, preferably in the morning and late afternoon.• Store eggs by collection date and size, prioritizing older eggs for sale or disposal.• Use clean containers like wire egg baskets (Figure 72) or plastic egg flats.• Separate and dispose of broken or rotten eggs. When stored correctly, eggs can be stored for up to three to four weeks. Follow these guidelines for optimal storage:• Store eggs on clean egg trays at a temperature below 20ºC.• Avoid temperature fluctuations and high humidity, which can cause sweating and spoilage.• Choose a sun-free and dry location for egg storage.• Store eggs on egg trays with the large end up and separate different-sized eggs.It is important to keep eggs cool, but refrigeration is not recommended as refrigerated eggs may sweat due to temperature differences with the surrounding environment, leading to faster spoilage.• Use specialized egg packaging materials such as trays and boxes to minimize damage during transport (Figures 73-75).• Ensure the containers and packaging materials provide adequate protection against mechanical damage.• Handle eggs carefully throughout transportation, protecting them from temperature fluctuations and contamination that can affect their quality. To determine the freshness of an egg, perform a simple water test (Figure 76). Place the egg in a bowl of water and observe its behaviour. Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom and lie flat, while older eggs will start to tilt or float due to the accumulation of gas inside the egg.It is fresh if it sinks on its side (1-7 days old) If it sinks and stands up on its end, it is still good (8-12 days old) If it floats to the top, it is no longer fresh (more than 12 days old)If it sinks and stands up on its end, it is still good (8-12 days old)If it floats to the top, it is no longer fresh (more than 12 days old)Common mistakes in chicken and egg storage and transport• Inhumane transport of chickens (e.g., Figure 77).• Use of bags for chick transport instead of proper chick boxes.• Common mistakes in egg storage:• Storing eggs on the floor.• Temperature fluctuations: These lead to bacterial growth and fast spoilage.• Washing eggs before storage: Washing eggs removes the natural protective layer on eggs making them more susceptible to contamination and rapid spoilage.• Storing eggs with strong-smelling foods: Eggs absorb smells quickly, e.g., when stored with onions and garlic.• Storing eggs with cracked shells increases the risk of spoilage.Figure 77. Inappropriate chicken transport to market hanging on a motorbike. Photo: Bunnara, Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia• Inappropriate crates and egg transport: These can result in:• Death losses during transport and at the buyer's farm.• Breakage losses of eggs.• Compromised animal welfare.• Insufficient cleaning and disinfection of transport crates:• Movement of crates without proper cleaning and disinfection.• Biosecurity breaches and potential disease transmission.Marketing management-related improvement plan: List at least two challenges you may have related to the marketing of eggs and spent hens, and one related to egg collection/storage/handling. Indicate the action(s) required to address it and the time you commit to completing it.Challenges* Action(s) to address the challengeChallenge related to marketing 1 Action 1:Action 2:Challenge related to marketing 2 Action 1:Action 2:Challenge related to egg collection/storage/handling Action 1:Action 2:*Continue identifying and prioritizing other/additional challenges and plan actions for improvement using the examples at the end of the previous modules.Use the troubleshooting guide in Appendix 2 to identify your activities.• Scheduling and tracking the effectiveness of vaccinations.• Identifying strengths and weaknesses in the production operation.• Facilitating better decision making in areas such as investment, breed selection and vaccine choices.• Records should be reliable, relevant and readily accessible.• Keep records simple, avoiding unnecessary repetition while ensuring all necessary information is included. As the business grows, records may require upgrading and expansion.• Start the record-keeping system immediately, without delay.• Key characteristics of records should include brevity, standardized units of measurement, simplicity of language and format, accuracy of data and timely recording.Farm records can be classified into two main categories:• Production/technical records: These provide information on flock performance and guide management decisions related to feeding, medication and breeding. Examples include egg production, growth, feed consumption, water consumption, mortality, medication and litter records.• Financial records: These capture costs and revenues associated with chicken farming, helping farmers assess the profitability of their business and make informed investment and resource allocation decisions. Examples include income records (product sales) and expense records (feed costs, medication/vaccination costs, labour, equipment, infrastructure, etc.).Daily records (Figure 78) should be kept for feed consumption, egg production (if applicable), bird removals (deaths, illnesses, sales), vaccinations, medications, etc. These records should be summarized weekly or monthly and used for decision making (Figure 79). Examples of different record formats can be found in Appendix 1. Topic 10.2 Use of records for making management decisionsKeeping records is meaningless if they are not compiled, analysed, interpreted and used to guide technical, financial and managerial decisions. The output from record analysis can be used for various purposes, including:• Evaluating the farm's performance over time and assessing if goals are being met.• Assisting in managerial control.• Aiding in farm planning and budgeting.• Providing insights into earnings.• Identifying gaps and taking appropriate measures.• Showcasing the financial health of the business to secure loans and credit for expansion.Regularly monitoring activities in the chicken house is essential for improving technical performance. Key steps for effective monitoring include:• Establishing a record-keeping system.• Using checklists or to-do lists to ensure timely completion of tasks.• Being an observant farmer.• Using your senses to observe keenly.• Understanding what to look for.• Differentiating between normal and abnormal circumstances (troubleshooting).• Taking immediate action when necessary.• Seeking professional advice or technical support as needed.Developing an improvement plan for long-term business growth:Enhancing performance and expanding the chicken business is ongoing. Key considerations for improvement include:• Implementing a record-keeping system.• Calculating technical and financial performance indicators during and at the end of production.• Analysing and comparing results against recommended standards.• Creating an action plan to address identified gaps.• Focusing on issues within your control.• Prioritizing action items.• Implementing corrective actions independently.• Seeking professional support for other issues and training opportunities to enhance knowledge and skills.• Evaluating progress and making necessary adjustments.• Continuing the cycle by updating checklists and starting anew with step 1 to assess the success of the improvement plan.Improvement plan related to records and record-keeping: List your challenges in records and record-keeping. Indicate the action(s) required to address them and the time you commit to completing each. ","tokenCount":"16813"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0573185029.json b/data/part_1/0573185029.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..648c390496543df16a330398f93bdad888467958
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0573185029.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1cf21dde194b0a0d97afc052ab984052","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/143849f4-5feb-4bd2-be34-91572d326479/content","id":"-364666447"},"keywords":["Ethiopia","Wheats","Seed","Varieties","Seed industry","Seed production","Food supply","Production policies","Credit policies","Economic analysis","Socioeconomic environment","Demography","Input output analysis","Extension activities","Farming systems","Cropping patterns","Crop management","Small farms","Highlands","Technology transfer","Innovation adoption","Consumer surveys","Analytical methods","Statistical methods","Sampling: Simulation models","Research projects Logit analysis","CIMMYf AGRIS category codes: E14 Development Economics and Policies EI0 Agricultural Economics and Policies Dewey decimal classification: 338.16"],"sieverID":"655b705c-153e-431c-995e-47d34c497f77","pagecount":"49","content":"Verkuijl and Wilfred Mwangi are with the Economics Program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.CIMMYf is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises over 50 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Financial support for CIMMYf's research agenda currently comes from many sources, including governments and agencies of Australia,Table 2.Table 3. Table 4.Table 5. Table 6.Table 7.Table 8. Table 9.Table 10.Table 11.Table 12.Table 13. Table 14.Table 15.Table 16. Table 17.Table 18.Table 19.Table 20. Table 21.Table 22.Table 23.Table 24.Table 25.Table 26.Table 27.     Despite the crucial importance of improved seed in bettering the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, in Ethiopia access to this invaluable technology is still constrained by many factors. One important factor is the-underdeveloped seed industry. Independent studies have estimated a large annual demand for seed, which is never met or (in the case of hybrid maize and sunflower) is met only through imports. Consequently, the government has increased its efforts to develop plant breeding research networks and a complementary seed production, multiplication, processing, storage, marketing, and distribution system. The private sector, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has been encouraged to participate in the development of the national seed industry.This study was initiated in Enebssie area of Amhara Regional State with the following objectives:(1) to identify farmers' seed acquisition and transfer mechanisms;(2) to explore problems related to farmers' seed acquisition and transfer mechanisms;(3) to document the status of previously released bread wheat varieties; and (4) to describe the seed system in Ethiopia and to explore the effectiveness of the current seed testing and release mechanism.Multistage stratified sampling design was employed in this study. Based on informal asessment and secondary data sources, the major wheat-growing woredas of Enebssie area were purposively classified into two strata: proximity to seed suppliers and agroecological zone. Five Peasant Associations (PAs) were selected from each stratum using probability proportional to size. From each PA, 10 farmers were selected using the constant fraction method, for a total sample size of 200 farmers. Farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a logit model were used to analyze the resulting data.The Ethiopian seed industry is composed of formal and informal sectors. The formal sector includes federal and regional agricultural research establishments, universities, the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE), and a few private companies. The informal sector embraces NGOs, relief organizations, and millions of farmers who continue to practice seed selection and preservation just as their ancestors did centuries ago. Today, over 80% of the national seed demand is met through this informal system of local seed maintenance and exchange.The bread wheat seed industry comprises varietal development, testing, and release, followed by seed multiplication, processing, certification, marketing, and distribution. At a minimum, seven years are required to re1ease a variety. Release may be unnecessarily delayed because of the stringent variety release mechanism.The study area is located in northwestern Ethiopia, which accounts for 24% of Ethiopia's wheat area and 20% of the annual wheat production. Farmers used to grow large areas under a local bread wheat variety (Zembolel/Israel) and many local durum wheat varieties. Most of these durum varieties were grown on black soils. The area under local wheat varieties has declined because of problems with stripe rust, drought stress, and soil fertility, although these abandoned varieties are still found in mixtures with the dominant wheat varieties. The current varieties grown are Zembolel, Tekencher, Key Sinde, Enkoy, and ET-13. Wheat is used to prepare bread, injera, tella (local beer), and araki (local spirit). It is also an important cash crop, and its straw is used to feed livestock and construct houses.Middle-aged farmers dominate the farming population. The average family size is about 5.5 persons in both the intermediate and highland zones. The size of the land holding in each zone is about 6 timmad. Off-farm employment opportunities are limited. The proportion of female-headed households was about 8%. About 39% of the farmers in the intermediate zone and 45% in the highland zone were illiterate, whereas 61% in the intermediate zone and 55% in the highland zone had received some kind of eductation. Farmers in the intermediate zone had larger numbers of cows, bulls, and donkeys than farmers in the highland zone.The popularity of individual varieties, measured by the area they occupy, has changed over the years.The area under the bread wheats Zembolel and Dashen has declined because of their susceptibility to stripe rust, while the area under Tekencher is increasing because of its disease resistance and reasonable yield. Enkoy was preferred for its good cooking qualities, taste, and reasonable yield under poor soil fertility, but the area planted to Enkoy is sharply declining because it has become susceptible to stem rust. The area under ET-13 is increasing because of its high yield. The new varieties HAR-1709, HAR-1685, and HAR-604 have outstanding performance, but they have been introduced only recently. The adoption of improved varieties increased after 1990 for two main reasons: the policy reform of 1991 discouraged collective farming and liberalized the grain market, and most improved varieties began to be introduced after 1990.Farmers reported that they knew about 13 wheat varieties; the most widely known varieties were Enkoy, Zembolel, Key Sinde, Tikur Sinde, Tekencher, and ET-13. As mentioned previously, farmers had stopped growing most of the wheat varieties because of stripe rust, drought stress, and soil fertility problems. Farmers reported that the disadopted varieties had several advantages compared to varieties currently ~own: better food quality or flavor in indigenous dishes, better performance on poor soils, and white grain color, which is in high demand in the market.In the intermediate zone during the 1997 cropping season, most farmers used seed obtained from other farmers (56.7%) or retained from the previous year's harvest (24.7%). In the highland zone, viii farmers also used seed obtained from other farmers (39.8%) or saved from the previous harvest (33.7%). Farmers' initial sources of new wheat varieties in the intermediate zone were mostly other farmers (46.8%) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) (32.5%), while in the highland zone the main initial sources were the local market (40%) and other farmers (38.3%).About 45% of farmers in both zones cleaned seed, and of those who cleaned seed, most cleaned it at planting (98% in the intermediate zone and 89.3% in the highland zone). Only 6% of farmers in the intermediate zone and 4% in the highland zone reported maintaining separate fields for seed production. Weed seed was the most important impurity that farmers in the intermediate (47.4%) and highland zones (48.9%) removed when they cleaned seed. Chaff was another important impurity in the intermediate (24.4%) and highland zones (27%).Thirty-seven wheat seed samples were analyzed in the laboratory to assess the purity of farmers' wheat varieties. The samples contained 81 % pure wheat seed, 13% seed of other wheat varieties and crops, and 6% inert matter (stones and weed seed). For farmers, the presence of seed of other wheat varieties and crops do not constitute impurities, because mixtures have advantages: they may minimize risk, have value for household use, and produce high yields.Important factors influencing farmers' awareness of new wheat varieties included: the agroecological zone, access to credit, contact with information sources (such as an extension visit in the year preceding the survey), and membership in an organization. The adoption of improved wheat varieties was significantly influenced by cultivated area, contact with information sources (e.g., extension), membership in an organization, number of oxen owned, and farming experience.The weighted average age of wheat varieties in the Enebssie area in 1997 was 11 years, surpassing the global average of seven years. This relatively slow varietal turnover reflects a poorly developed seed industry and ineffective extension services. From farmers' responses, it was estimated that the mean number of years farmers used wheat seed without replacement was three to six years. Farmers replaced seed when the proportion of foreign matter became too high. In general, most farmers used recycled seed, which had a high weed seed content and low germination rate. About 77% and 81 % of the farmers in the intermediate and highland zones, respectively, ran out of seed every year, mainly because of insufficient yield (mentioned by 33% of intermediate zone farmers and 42% of highland farmers). In the intermediate zone, farmers also ran out of seed because their seed was full of weed seed, destroyed by pests, mixed with other varieties, or spoiled by heavy rain.ix Improved wheat varieties have to a large extent replaced landraces in the study area, and care must be taken to ensure that farmers do not grow varieties that share a narrow genetic base. Currently, only three or four varieties are in production because of the disease, drought stress, and soil fertility problems that make it difficult to grow other varieties. Farmers must grow a more diverse array of varieties, both over time and space. Breeders should maintain the older varieties because they might possess desirable traits that are lacking in the new varieties, and ways to maintain the indigenous varieties should be found to promote genetic diversity.The seed industry suffers from problems of uncertain seed quality and an uncertain seed market.Most farmers obtain seed from informal sources, especially other farmers. Some farmers were not only producing their own seed but also selling seed to other farmers. Their efforts show that, given the necessary advice, farmers can produce and preserve replacement seed, once they obtain fresh stock of a variety. The extension system should strengthen its advisory role to farmers, especially on how to produce and preserve replacement seed. Such an initiative will also require farmers' institutions, such as service cooperatives (SCs), to be strengthened.The extension system should pay greater attention to informing farmers about the precise characteristics of their varieties and their correct adaptation zones. This will decrease the adoption lag by enabling farmers to avoid experimenting with one or more varieties. Also, more extension effort should be directed towards farmers in the highland zone relative to farmers in the intermediate zone, who have better access to information.Credit and extension were the most important factors influencing farmers' awareness and adoption of improved wheat varieties. The extension package program has demonstrated the importance of formal credit in increasing production through increasing the uptake of improved technologies. At present farmers depend on informal sources of credit, however. The formal credit system needs to be strengthened and made appropriate for small farmers.The research system is confronted with the need to increase the rate at which it releases varieties, as the disease resistance of recent releases has tended to deteriorate quickly. To be successful, however, such efforts must be supported by greater overall development of the seed industry. Before the economic reform of 1991, publicly owned and collective farms benefited most from the limited certified seed that was available, and they also tended to receive new seed more quickly. This preferential treatment generally limited the impact of breeding gains for farmers and the national economy at large. Recent changes in the seed industry, such as the entry of private firms, creation of the National Seed Industry Agency, and strengthening of the national extension service, should bring about considerable positive change. Another positive step would be to review the current stringent mechanism for rel~asing varieties. The release committee should include not only breeders and officials from the public sector but also farmers and representatives of the private sector. These changes would be even more effective if policies and an institutional and legal framework could be developed to link the formal and informal seed sectors so that they could function in a complementary way.The strength and efficiency of support services such as extension, credit, and input supply can condition the effectiveness of research results emanating from experiment stations. The role of improved varieties of crops, particularly wheat and rice, in alleviating poverty has been widely debated (Dasgupta 1977;Singn 1990). Ellis (1993) outlined the social and economic impact of improved varieties in countries where they have been widely grown, and it is commonly observed that the dissemination of improved seed and complementary inputs has removed the shadow of famine from the lives of millions of poor farmers. Because improved seed embodies the genetic potential of a plant, it determines the upper limits on yield and even the productivity of other inputs (Jaffee and Srivastava 1992).Despite the crucial importance of improved seed in bettering the welfare of small-scale farmers, access to this invaluable technology can be constrained by many factors, including an undeveloped seed industry. A seed industry essentially consists of all enterprises that produce or distribute seed (Pray and Ramaswami 1991), and at a minimum the industry has four components: 1) plant breeding research, 2) seed production and multiplication, 3) processing and storage, and 4) marketing and distribution. The industry's overall performance depends on the efficiency of each component, and each component possesses different economic and technical characteristics that determine the roles that public and private organizations will play in the seed industry. These characteristics include economies of scale, externalities, excludability, and problems of information or quality.The development of new varieties and hybrids can be profitable for specialized research and development firms. However, because of the high fixed costs of entering the industry, the externalities associated with plant breeding, and the difficulty of excluding non-paying farmers or firms from benefiting from new varieties of seed, the amount and direction of private sector investment in these activities may be insufficient or inappropriate to meet society's objectives. The significance of these difficulties will vary depending on whether the seed is of hybrid or self-pollinating plants. Northwestern Ethiopia (NWE), particularly Gojam Region, is among the important wheat-growing areas of the country (Aleligne Kefyalew 1988;Amanuel Gorfu et al. 1991). Northwestern Ethiopia accounts for 24% of Ethiopia's wheat area and 20% of annual wheat production (CSA 1996). Wheat production in NWE has more than doubled over the past 17 years (Figure 1), mainly because of the introduction of high-yielding varieties, rising market prices for wheat, and greater consumption of wheat by farm households. Wheat is the second most important crop in Enebssie area, and it is produced by small-scale farmers with fragmented land holdings. Eighty-seven percent of the farmers in Enebssie area grow wheat on one to three plots with an average size of 0.5 ha.3 , 5 0 0 . -----------------------, -3 5 0 3,000 o Area (000 hal ------------6----------------300  \",1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 Figure 1. Area and production of wheat in northwestern Ethiopia. 1980-97.Note: Right axis is for area (000 hal.At one time, farmers grew large areas of the local bread wheat variety Zembolel/Israel and many different local durum wheat varieties (many of the latter were grown on black soils). Most of the durum varieties no longer popular because of problems with stripe rust, drought stress, and soil fertility. Some of these varieties are still found in mixtures with the dominant wheat varieties, however. The bread wheat varieties currently grown are Zembolel, Tekencher, Key Sindc, Enkoy, and ET-13. Wheat is used to prepare bread, injera, tella (local beer), and araki (local spirit). It is also an important cash crop, and its straw is used to feed livestock and construct houses.The main technologies used in Enebssie area are improved wheat varieties and their complementary inputs, which have been developed through research. In NWE, seed of improved varieties of bread wheat, teff, and maize has been extended to farmers for a decade (Aleligne Kefyalew 1988;Aleligne Kefyalew and Regassa Ensermu 1992;Aleligne Kefyalew, Tilahun Geletu, and Regassa Ensermu 1992). In the study area, the rapid evolution of rust pathogens makes it important that farmers replace their wheat varieties more often than is currently done. The availability of new varieties is mediated, however, by frameworks governing varietal testing, release, and distribution. The adoption of new varieties is also affected by many factors, including the genetic and physical qualities of the seed itself, and extension, credit, input supply, and other farmer support services.This study was designed to explore the hypothesis that a limited number of institutions are involved in local wheat seed supply and that their performance is weak, particularly in relation to serving peasant farmers. For this reason, farmers lack a dependable supply of fresh, certified wheat seed and commonly recycle seed from one season to another, which leads to low germination percentages and weed problems. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to:• describe the wheat seed system in Ethiopia, • identify how farmers acquire and exchange wheat seed, • explore problems related to farmers' seed acquisition and transfer mechanisms, • document the status of previously released wheat varieties, and • explore the effectiveness of the current seed testing and release mechanism.The study area, Enebssie, is located about 100 km southeast of Adet Agricultural Research Center (Figure 2), between 100 27' Nand 11 05' N latitude and 37 0 40' N to 38 0 22' N longitude. Enebssie Province is located in East Gojam Zone of Amhara Region; East Gojam is the leading wheat-growing zone in NWE, accounting for 51 % of the wheat area and 52% of wheat production (CSA 1995). Enebssie Province comprises Goncho-Siso-  Metereology stations at Mertu-le-mariarn and Gundowoin towns were used to obtain rainfall and other climatological data for the study area. The available data show a unimodal rainfall pattern in which the rainy season extends from May to September. The five-year mean annual rainfall recorded in Mertu-le-mariam was 992 mm, while that in Gundowoin was 1,025 mm (Figure 3). Most of the rainfall (50-60%) occurred from July to August. In general, the daily mean maximum and minimum temperature was higher in Mertu-le-mariam than in Gundowoin. Farmers categorize their soils based on color, fertility status, and water-holding capacity. More than 10 soil types were reported. The dominant soil types are keyatie (red soil) and sheda (black soil).Wheat production in Enebssie area has a long history. The woreda capital, Mertu-le-mariam, and its 14th century church both obtained their name from wheat produced in the area (\"mertu-le-mariam\" means \"the best wheat for Saint Mary\"). Enebssie was selected for this study because it is the major producing area for local and improved wheat in East Gojam Zone.Agriculture in Enebssie is characterized by mixed farming systems in which crop and livestock production are equally important. The major crops grown and area allocated to each crop in 1997 are shown in Table 1 for both the intermediate and highland agroecological zones. Crops and livestock are important cash sources for farm households, and oxen are used for draft power. The main cropping season extends from June to November. During the Belg season (short rains), crops like barley, chickpea, and guaya (a bean used to prepare a local dish) are grown. Three major recommendation domains have been identified for the survey area: the highlands, intermediate zone, and lowland zone. Some differences between these zones are shown in Table 2. The lowland zone did not feature in the farm survey because wheat is not a major crop there.Farm size in Enebssie has declined because of population pressure. When the former government (the Derg) was in power, land was commonly redistributed each year. In the past six years, no land has been redistributed, which has created disparities in the size of holdings among households. Some land was reallocated in 1996, however, from former Peasant Association (PA) officials to landless farmers.The division of labor within households is based on gender and age. Children who are less than eight years old and family members who are older than sixty do not provide labor for agricultural production. In addition to their household activities, women participate in weeding at the time of \"Gulgualo,\" transporting the harvested crop to the threshing ground, preparing the threshing ground, and transporting produce from the field to the homestead. More than 90% of the sampled farmers reported women's assistance in farming activities. Children between eight and fourteen years look after livestock and assist in weeding, harvesting, and collecting produce. The busiest period for most farmers is between July and December, when farmers share their labor with other farmers (woberal debo), hire labor, or exchange oxen for labor. The major wheat-growing areas in NWE were selected based on an informal survey and secondary data sources. The major stratifying parameters were proximity to seed suppliers, agroecological diversity (i.e., variations in elevation, rainfall, and temperature), and institutional factors (i.e., access to input and output markets). Goncha-Siso-Enebssie and Enebssie-Sar-Midar woredas were purposively selected because they are major wheat-producing areas. The PAs in the two woredas were stratified based on agroecological zone (Table 3). As noted earlier, lowland PAs were excluded from the study because wheat is not an important crop there.Out of 73 PAs, 5 PAs were selected from each agroecological zone using simple random sampling. Farmers were then selected using the constant fraction method, which fixed the number of farmers to be interviewed per zone. The constant fraction was calculated from the total number of farmers to be interviewed per zone per district divided by the total number of farmers in the five selected PAs.The total number of farmers to be interviewed in the PA was the constant fraction multiplied by the total number of farmers in the PA. A list of farmers was obtained from the respective local finance offices in the woreda capital. The number of farmers selected from a PA was proportional to the total number of farmers in the PA. The total sample size was 200 farmers. They were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.The two most common functional forms used in adoption studies are the logit and the probit models. The advantage of these models is that the probabilities are bounded between 0 and 1. Moreover, they compel the disturbance terms to be homoscedastic because the forms of probability functions depend on the distribution of the difference between the error term associated with one particular choice and another. Usually a choice has to be made between logit and probit models, although the statistical similarities between the two models make such a choice difficult (Amemiya 1981). The choice of model may be evaluated a posteriori on statistical grounds, although even here, in practice, there will usually not be strong reasons to choose one model over the other. We selected the logit model because it is computationally easier to estimate. Following Pindyck and Rubinfeld (1981), the model is written as:where: divided by the probability of not being aware of a new variety (1-Pl. The model was estimated using the maximum likelihood procedure of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 6.1).Formation of the model was influenced by a number of working hypothesis. Several variables were hypothesized to influence farmers' awareness and adoption of improved wheat varieties in the study area.Compared to highland zone farmers, farmers who live in the intermediate zone have better access to the main road, market, extension, and the district capital.Hence it was hypothesized that farmers in intermediate zone are more likely than highland farmers to receive information on the new wheat varieties that are available.Farmers who have access to credit can relax their financial constraints. It is expected that access to credit will increase the probability of adoption.Farmers who have extension contact may have better information about improved agricultural technologies. This will increase the awareness and adoption of improved wheat varieties.During the Derg regime, PCs were the most important organizations for introducing improved technologies to farmers. Farmers belonging to PCs received more training, inputs, and resources than other farmers; thus farmers who were members of PCs may have good knowledge and information about improved wheat varieties.Formal schooling enhances farmers' ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to new events in the context of risk, so education is hypothesized to increase the probability that farmers will be aware of new wheat varieties.Population pressure in the study area is causing a land shortage, and the scope for increasing land productivity lies with increasing cropping intensity. Farmers will have to allocate their limited land area to newer and better yielding wheat varieties. Hence, the size of a farmer's cultivated area is hypothesized to increase a farmer's awareness of new wheat varieties.Younger farmers have had greater access to education, and thus they will be more aware of new wheat varieties. It is hypothesized that farmers with more experience will be less likely to be aware of new wheat varieties.Oxen ownership (X s ): Next to teff, wheat requires more oxen labor for seedbed preparation. Also, farmers who have oxen are able to acquire land through sharecropping and are easily eligible to host an extension demonstration. It is hypothesized that oxen ownership positively influences the adoption of new wheat varieties.Labor (X 9 ) : Farmers who have access to more labor will be in a better position to adopt the laborintensive wheat technologies.Off-farm income generates cash that gives farmers better access to new wheat technologies. Hence it is hypothesized that off-farm income is positively related to the awareness and adoption of new wheat technologies.3.1 Seed Industry Structure Douglas (1980), in his life cycle model of seed industry development, showed that seed supply systems in most countries pass through four evolutionary stages characterized by increasing technological and organizational complexity.• During the first stage, farmers save their own seed from crop to crop by selecting the most productive plants. They also exchange seed with a few farmers. The supply of seed is constrained by the inefficiency of public seed enterprises, poor seed promotion, poor transportation, and inappropriate agricultural and pricing policies. Moreover, because high-yielding varieties perform well with fertilizers, the limited availability of fertilizers constrains demand for improved seed. As a result, in the peasant sector most seed is still produced by farmers themselves (Hailu Gebremariam 1992). The Ethiopian seed industry is thus characterized by formal and informal sectors. The formal sector includes research institutions, agricultural ministries, development projects, and public and private seed enterprises. The participants in the informal sector are farmers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and relief agencies.The Institute of Agricultural Research (JAR), Alemaya University of Agriculture (AUA), Addis Ababa University (AAU), and regional state agricultural research organizations handle varietal development in Ethiopia. Virtually all plant breeding has been done by these public institutions, although Pioneer Hi-Bred International has done some varietal development. Before a variety can be recommended for release, it must 'be evaluated in farmers' fields for disease resistance, productivity, stability, and quality. After on-farm verification and evaluation, the National Variety Releasing Committee (NVRC) officially releases varieties. This procedure is sometimes violated. For instance, in 1991, Pioneer tried to produce 144 ha of hybrid maize and 60 ha of sunflower using imported seed that had not been tested. The company harvested only 71.1 t of maize seed, whereas the sunflower did not even set seed.The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), particularly the Bureau of Agriculture (BOA) and Ministry of State Farm Development (MSFD), have undertaken a limited amount of seed production and distribution since the late 1960s. The MSFD, for example, produced seed to meet its own requirements. In NWE, the BOA is mainly responsible providing agricultural extension services to small-scale farmers, and it is also responsible for assessing the demand for and distribution of improved seed, fertilizer, and other complementary inputs. In the 1996/97 cropping season, the total amount of improved seed required by Amhara Region was estimated at 86,000 quintals (1 qt = 100 kg), but only 36% of the total requirement was obtained (wheat accounted for 76%). The seed suppliers were Ambassel (41%), ESE, and BOA. Again, some of the problems farmers faced with seed supplied through the formal seed sector included receiving the wrong seed because of shortages, poor seed quality, and a high seed cost relative to the grain price.Incorporated in 1979 to produce, process, and market seed, ESE initially supplied improved varieties only to state farms and pes, which were the foundation of the socialist economy. Now ESE is governed by an interministerial Seed Board and has been given autonomous status to function as a profit-making enterprise. This organization was the only seed enterprise in Ethiopia until December 1990, when it entered into partnership with Pioneer Hi-Bred International (Hailu Gebremariam 1992).2The ESE is supplied with breeder and basic seed by IAR and AUA and multiplies this seed at two of its basic seed farms. The ESE also produces seed under contractual arrangements with state farms and private producers, The organization maintains five processing plants, from which it also distributes seed. From 1980 to 1991, on average, ESE produced and distributed 23,065 t of seed per year (Table 4). Although there are no supporting data, it is believed that ESE will presently distribute more than this amount of seed, given the high demand for improved varieties and the strong, government-supported extension program.In There is no independent national seed quality control and certification scheme, although ESE has its own internal quality control facilities. As a result, none of the commercial seed distributed by ESE is certified, and farmers and development workers have sometimes disputed the purity and quality of seed supplied by ESE (Hailu Beyene 1993). Adugna Haile, Workneh Negatu, and Bisrat Retu (1991) observed that very few improved wheat varieties released or recommended by the research system have reached farmers, mainly because of the poor seed dissemination mechanism.In NWE the private sector includes Ambassel, Almesh, and Asrat. Ambassel is involved in the distribution of inputs, mainly fertilizer. In the 1996/97 cropping season, Ambassel supplied improved seed to farmers, distributing 41% the total supply in the region, but it incurred a financial loss of 300,000 Birr because of the uncertainty of the seed market. The effective demand was very low compared to the actual order and the seed remained unsold. In 1998, Ambassel withdrew from the seed market.In general, the formal sector's contribution to supplying improved seed has been very low, but it is improving. Seed distribution by IAR and Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center (DZARC) through onfarm testing, demonstration, and popularization, and through the Plant Genetic Resource Center (PGRC) and community levellandrace conservation initiatives, is minimal. Even so, these efforts have contributed to the distribution of improved varieties through farmer-to-farmer seed exchange, although distribution is limited to the immediate vicinity of the research centers. In NWE, Adet Agricultural Research Center was established in 1986 as a branch of IAR with the objective of improving the living standard of smallholder farmers in NWE through research. Since its establishment, it has generated a number of improved agricultural technologies, including crop varieties, agronomic practices, and crop protection methods.In NWE, some NGOs have distributed seed for relief, rehabilitation, and extension. For example, Agri-Service Ethiopia, the Canadian Physician Agency for Relief (CPAR), Food for Hunger International (FHI), and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) are engaged in some seed production and distribution. The role they play is difficult to assess. Their activities are dispersed and uncoordinated, because their operations are mainly aimed at providing emergency relief and replacing seed lost as a result of natural disasters or civil disorder. Initially, NGOs were assumed to be responsible for acquiring and providing early generation seed to SCs at cost, including transport. In fact, the distribution of free seed by NGOs and relief agencies has had several negative effects, creating dependency on free services, disrupting the informal farmer-to-farmer seed exchange system, and weakening sustainable development in the seed subsector (Hailu Gebremariam 1992). Nevertheless, NGOs have tended to work well with small-scale, resource-poor farmers, who are mostly located in remote and inaccessible areas.Ethiopian farmers have been practicing seed selection and preservation for centuries, and the bulk of the national seed requirement is still met through farmers' informal system of local seed maintenance and exchange. Out of the total annual seed requirement of about 0.42 million tons, 15% is produced by the formal sector as improved seed stock, whereas local varieties from the informal farmer-tofarmer exchange system contribute 85% of the total seed requirement (Table 5).In NWE, informal seed sources include the farmer's own seed, seed obtained from other farmers, and seed bought in markets. In the 1997/98 cropping season, these informal sources accounted for about 95% of the total wheat seed supply in Enebssie area. In general, farmers preferred informal seed sources because the seed price was lower, seed was available on time, and there was Jess bureaucracy compared to formal seed sources. In 1997, only 4% of intermediate zone and 7% of highland farmers in the study area acquired wheat seed from formal sources. The only formal seed source that farmers knew about was the existence and location of the BOA district offices. Potential seed users in the study area can be categorized into several groups: small-scale farmers, state farms, contractual farmers (who are coming into the picture since the economic reform of 1991), and private enterprises. Each group has slightly different seed sources (Figure 4); for instance, state farms depend mostly on formal seed channels. The bread wheat seed industry comprises several processes, beginning with varietal development, testing, and release and proceeding to processing, distribution, and marketing.Bread wheat research in Ethiopia depends mainly on introduced germplasm, because the stock of local bread wheats is too limited in number and variability to constitute a viable, economic breeding program. Introduced materials may be used as parents for further breeding research or included in the Advanced Observation Nursery (AON). Materials evaluated in the AON are evaluated further (mainly for yield, disease resistance, and other desirable traits) in the Preliminary Yield Trial (PYT) and the Pre-National Variety Trial (PNVT) for two years. Promising genotypes are included in National Variety Trial (NVT) for further evaluation for two to three years.At this stage, some of the promising lines in the NVT may be included in the Cooperative Variety Adaptation Trial (CVAT) and tested for three more years at more than 20 locations in major wheat growing environments of the country. The best materials from the NVT and CVAT are included in the Variety Verification Trial (VVT), conducted both on-station and on-farm under recommended and farmers' levels of management for one to two years. The objectives of the VVT are to obtain farmers' pre-and postharvest assessment of varieties, to evaluate the performance of the varieties in a real production system, and to assist in the decision of the variety release committee. The committee is composed of professionals from different research and seed user organizations (e.g., JAR, MOA, ESE). The committee considers mostly biological factors in deciding to release a variety, and there is no guarantee that farmers' preferences and priorities are fully represented. In general, seven years are required to release a variety. Sometimes release of the variety may be unnecessarily delayed because of the stringent release mechanism.After a variety is released, it is included in Breeder Seed Increase (BSI). Breeder seed is then provided to ESE for further multiplication on large plots.Aside from producing seed to meet local demand, ESE is also responsible for importing seed.Between 1986 and 1991, ESE imported nearly 3,000 t of seed (Table 6), mostly hybrid maize from Kenya and hybrid sunflower from Argentina. After ESE established a joint venture with Pioneer Hi-Bred International in 1990, it imported more seed. Increasing seed imports may have a negative impact on national efforts to develop adapted, high-yielding varieties and hybrids, on creating a sustainable seed supply that would foster self-sufficiency, and on the conservation and sustainable use of indigenous germplilsm (Hailu Gebremariam 1992). On the other hand, increased imports reflect ESE's inability to meet domestic seed demand.Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of sample households by zone are shown in Table 7.In the intermediate zone, farmers' mean age was about 41 years; it was 44 years in the highlands.The farming experience of the household head was 23 years in the intermediate zone and 26 years in the highlands. These differences were not significant. The average family size in the intermediate and highland zones was 5.3 and 5.5, respectively (also not a significant difference). Females headed about 8% of the sampled households. Out of the 15 female-headed households, 60% of the respondents were widows, 20% were divorced, 15% were married to soldiers who lived off of the farm, and 5% were registered in the PA.The average land holding of a farm household was 6.2 timmad in the intermediate zone and 5.8 timmad in the highlands. There was no significant difference, but a significant difference was found (p<0.05) in the area cultivated in the intermediate zone (5.9 timmad) and highlands (4.9 timmad). Farmers in the intermediate zone allocated a larger proportion of their holdings for crop production (90%) than highland farmers (83%). Highland farmers kept larger areas for grazing (1.0 timmad) and fallow (2.8 timmad) than intermediate zone farmers (0.7 and 1.9 timmad, respectively).About 57% and 50% of the intermediate and highland farmers, respectively, rented in land. Under the rental agreement the output is shared by the tenant and landlord, but the cost of fertilizer and other inputs is left to the tenant. Farmers in the intermediate zone rented in more land (2.6 timmad) than farmers in the highlands (2.3 timmad). About 9% and 12% of the farmers in the intermediate and highland zones, respectively, rented out land (an average of 2.9 and 2.5 timmad, respectively). About 7% of the farmers in the intermediate zone and 5% in the highlands were involved in off-farm work. The type of off-farm work was trading, making handicrafts, or working as a casual laborer.  Ninety-two percent of farmers in Enebssie area used oxen for land preparation and planting. Farmers in the intermediate zone (1.5) and highlands (1.4) owned an equal number of oxen, but intermediate zone farmers had significantly more cows, bulls, and donkeys than highland zone farmers [fable 9). Farmers prefer to grow these varieties when fertilizer is not available and the performance of improved varieties is not superior.The number of improved wheat varieties introduced in the region in general and in Enebssie area in particular is small compared to other parts of Ethiopia. Improved wheat varieties, particularly Enkoy and the K-varieties, were introduced in 1979 through the PCs and SCs, which were the Derg's institutional means of providing fertilizer, improved seed, and other complimentary inputs to farmers. However, these varieties disseminated only among members of PCs. Enkoy has remained popular for more than a decade, but it is now vulnerable to stripe rust and faces declining yields because of low soil fertility. Dashen, another bread wheat, was popular until two to three years ago, when it was devastated by stripe rust. Farmers used to call this variety Kebetu, which means \"white and high yielding,\" but after the disease epidemic they called it Keletu, which means \"useless.\" The most popular improved bread wheat varieties were ET-13 in the intermediate zone (78%) and Enkoy (91%) in the highland zone. The varieties HAR-1709, HAR-1685, HAR-604, and HAR-710 were not widely known to farmers because they are recent releases.In the intermediate zone, farmers' main sources of seed for Zembolel were other farmers (50%) and seed retained from last year's crop (38.9%), while the main source of seed in the highland zone was last year's crop (69.6%). Seed retained from last year's crop was the main source of seed for Enkoy in the intermediate zone (83.3%) and highlands (46%). The main seed source for Dashen in the intermediate zone was seed retained from last year's crop (67%), and in the highlands it was the local market (50%). Seed of ET-13 was obtained from other farmers (77.8%) in the intermediate zone and from MOA (33.3%) or bought at the local market (33.3%) in the highland zone. Other farmers were the main source of seed for Tekencher in the intermediate zone (59.1%) and highlands (63%). On the whole, in the intermediate zone, most farmers obtained seed from other farmers (56.7%) or recycled it from the previous harvest (24.7%). In the highlands, most farmers also obtained seed from other farmers (39.8%) or planted seed saved from the previous year's harvest (33.7%) (Table 11). However, farmers in both zones mainly purchased seed of ET 13 and Tekencher in the local market and retained seed of Zembolel and Enkoy from the previous year's harvest. About 40% and 43% of the sample farmers in the intermediate and highland zones, respectively, had stopped growing an improved wheat variety. In the intermediate zone, the reasons that farmers gave were susceptibility to disease (34.0%), problems with crop rotation (37.5%), and lack of seed (12.5%). Farmers in the highland zone reported susceptibility to disease (30.0%), problems with crop rotation (32%), and poor performance of the varieties without fertilizer (17%) as their main reasons for abandoning improved wheat varieties.About 33% of the farmers in the intermediate zone and 37% in the highlands grew more than one wheat variety. In the intermediate zone, farmers' main reasons for growing more than one variety was that different varieties were suitable for different soils (31%), varieties were grown for different purposes (21%), or growing more than one variety minimized risk (20%). In the highland zone, farmers said that different varieties were suitable for different soils (24%), grown for different purposes (26%), or they minimized risk (25%). The popularity of each variety, measured by the area it occupies, has changed over the years (Table 13). The area under Zembolel and Dashen has declined because of susceptibility to stripe rust, while the area under Tekencher is increasing because of its disease resistance and reasonable yield. Area planted to Enkoy, once preferred for its quality in food preparations'[ and reasonable yield under poor soil fertility, is rapidly shrinking because of the variety's susceptibility to stem rust. The area under ET-13 is expanding because it yields well. Although the new varieties HAR-1709, HAR-1685, and HAR-604 yield well, they have been introduced only recently and, as mentioned earlier, still occupy a small area.Although improved wheat varieties were first introduced in 1979 in the study area, there are only about ten improved wheat varieties altogether, so the proportion of improved varieties grown is low.Only about 55% of the farmers in both zones have ever grown an improved wheat variety. Farmers' main reason for adopting an improved wheat variety was its superior yield, mentioned by 40% of intermediate zone farmers and 36% of highland farmers. Other reasons that intermediate zone farmers gave for adopting improved varieties were that local varieties were prone to disease (25%) and that improved varieties matured earlier (13%), received a higher price in the market (8%), and were easy to use at home (7%). Farmers in the highland zone had similar responses: they adopted improved wheat varieties because the local varieties were prone to disease (35%) and improved varieties matured earlier (14%), received a higher price (5%), and were easier to use at home (5%).Table 14 shows the cumulative adoption of improved wheat varieties in the intermediate zone and highlands. Farmers first began to adopt improved varieties when the PCs and SCs were established, but even so, only about 3% of the farmers in both zones had adopted improved wheat varieties before 1990. The adoption of improved varieties increased after 1990 because most improved varieties were introduced after 1990, and because the policy reform of 1991 discouraged collective farming and liberalized the grain market.Significantly more farmers in the intermediate zone (70%) than in the highlands (27%) used fertilizer (X 2 = 36.5; p<O.Ol). The average amount of fertilizer applied to wheat in 1997 was 33 kg/timmad in the intermediate zone and 45 kg/timmad in the highlands. Shortage of cash was the main reason that farmers in the intermediate zone (51%) and highlands (34%) did not use fertilizer (Table 15). Some intermediate zone farmers said that their field was not suitable for fertilizer (16%), whereas some highland zone farmers said that the high fertilizer price (16%) and lack of knowledge about fertilizer use (13%) prevented them from using fertilizer.  16. Other farmers were the main source of information about improved wheat varieties in both the intermediate (55.1%) and highland zones (60.3%). In the intermediate zone, advice from extension agents was also an important source of information (25.6%), while in the highland zone only about 6% of the farmers got their information from extension agents. Normally one would expect the extension service to be the main supplier of information about new varieties, but in Enebssie extension agents are occupied with input distribution and other activities aside from providing information to farmers. Other farmers were the main initial sources of improved seed for farmers in the intermediate (48.5%) and highland zones (37.5%) (Table 17). In 1997, the MOA supplied improved wheat seed to 31% of sample farmers in the intermediate zone and 21% in the highland zone. In the same year, the local market supplied initial improved wheat seed to 41% of the farmers in the highland zone and 21% of the farmers in the intermediate zone. The Ministry of Agriculture mainly supplied seed of ET-13, while seed of Dashen and Enkoy was distributed mainly through other farmers. The greatest problem with seed obtained from other farmers is uncertainty about seed quality, which explains why farmers prefer to exchange seed with farmers they know. Most survey respondents reported that they had some kind of relationship with the farmers who provided seed to them (84.8% in the intermediate zone and 78.4% in the highlands) (Table 18). In the intermediate zone, farmers often exchanged seed for teff (69.6%) or wheat (23.9%), while in the highland zone farmers often exchanged seed for wheat (55.6%) or teff (22.2%). Seed was exchanged at an equal rate (in other words, for 100 kg of teff seed, a farmer would receive 100 kg of wheat seed). Farmers in the intermediate zone obtained on average about 44 kg of wheat through exchange, while farmers in the highland zone obtained about 35 kg. The farm size of the source farmer was greater than that of the recipient farmer, for about 67% and 51 % of the farmers in the intermediate and highland zones, respectively. Farmers in the intermediate zone traveled 5.5 km to obtain Enkoy seed and 4.9 km to obtain ET-13 seed, whereas highland farmers traveled 9.2 km and 9.6 km, respectively. The distance traveled by farmers in the highland zone to obtain these varieties was significantly longer (p<O.l) because their farms were located farther from markets, roads, and the extension centers. The average amount of wheat seed purchased in the 1997 cropping season was 38 kg in the intermediate zone and 35 kg in the highlands. The varieties purchased from the market were mainly ET-13 in the intermediate zone and Zembolel in the highland zone. Farmers spent an average of 50 Birr in the intermediate zone, and 38 Birr in the highland zone to purchase improved wheat seed (Table 19). As Table 20 shows, farmers in both zones rely mainly on crop and livestock sales and their own cash to purchase new wheat seed. Farmers in the intermediate zone (36.4%) also used credit from other farmers to purchase seed. There are various measures of the rates at which farmers replace the varieties they grow; in this paper, we use the weighted average age (WA) because it is simple and unambiguous (Brennan and Byerlee 1991). This measure is based on the average age of varieties grown by farmers in a given year (measured in years since release), weighted by the area planted to each variety in that year. This measure, WA t is computed for a given year, t, as follows:where Fit is the proportion of area sown to variety i in year t, and R it is the number of years (at time t) since the release of variety i.The WA of wheat varieties in Enebssie area for 1997 was about 11 years. Brennan and Byerlee (1991) found that the WA of wheat varieties varied from less than four years in the Yaqui Valley in Mexico to over ten years in the Punjab of Pakistan, with a global average of seven years. Slow varietal turnover in the Enebssie area reflects a poorly developed seed industry and ineffective extension services, which in turn explains why farmer-to-farmer seed exchange is the common practice in the study area and elsewhere in Ethiopia. Similar findings have been reported by Bishaw et aI. (1994), who found that 21% of wheat farmers saved seed for 6-10 years and 14% saved seed for 11-15 years. The slow varietal turnover is also reflected in the major problems with wheat varieties in NWE, including the loss of disease resistance and reduced yield. According to Brennan and Byerlee (1991), the optimal seed retention period depends on the yield gain of the variety, yield losses from old varieties, and the risk involved in changing from one variety to another. In Pakistan, the useful life of a wheat variety before its disease resistance broke down averaged 5-6 years (Heisey 1990).On average farmers in the study area used wheat seed for 3-6 years before replacing it, despite the recommendation to replace seed every 2-3 years (Hailu Gebremariam 1992). Farmers replaced seed when the proportion of foreign matter became too high. Nearly all farmers use recycled seed, with its high levels of weed seed contamination and low germination rate. About 77% of intermediate zone farmers and 81% of highland farmers ran out of seed every year, usually because of insufficient yield (as stated by 33% of intermediate zone farmers and 42% of highland farmers).In the intermediate zone, farmers also ran out of seed because seed was full of weeds, attacked by storage pests (termites, weevils), mixed with other varieties, or spoiled by heavy rain (  Seed was usually cleaned at planting. Significantly more farmers in the intermediate zone (98.0%) cleaned seed at planting compared to farmers in the highlands (89.3%) (X 2 = 6.1, p<0.05). The most important impurity that farmers removed from seed was seed of the weeds woTben and enkirdad (Table 23). Another important impurity in the intermediate (24.4%) and highland zones (27%) was chaff.The purity of 37 samples of farmers' wheat seed was analyzed in the laboratory. The samples consisted of 81% pure wheat seed, 13% seed of other wheat varieties and crops, and 6% inert matter (stones and weed seed). Farmers do not regard seed of other wheat varieties and crops as impurities, because they regard mixtures as having advantages such as minimizing risk, being good for household use, and giving high yields. Elsewhere it has been observed that losses over time caused by intermixtures or loss of germination are less important in inducing farmers to change wheat varieties than the disease loss that is actually experienced (Heisey 1990). 7.9 27.0 2.8 13.5 5.4.3 Farmers' criteria for high quality seed Farmers' criteria for high quality seed are summarized in Table 24. The most important criteria in the intermediate zone were good grain filling (27.2%), purity (17.4%), and a variety's adaptability to the locality (17.8%). Farmers in the highland zone reported good grain filling (28.2%), purity (21%), and lack of disease (19.9%) as the most important criteria for high quality seed. Almost all farmers in both zones reported that the quality of the seed produced varied from farmer to farmer. Hardworking farmers were delivering good quality seed for farmers in the intermediate (54.1 %) and highland zones (56.9%). Wealthy farmers also delivered high quality seed, according to 22% of intermediate zone farmers and 19% of highland farmers, while educated farmers were delivering good quality seed for 13% and 12% of the farmers in the intermediate and highlands zone, respectively.  Adoption of improved wheat varieties was analyzed as a two-stage process in which farmers first become aware of an improved variety and then adopt it. A \"new wheat variety\" is a variety released or introduced into the study area between 1992 and 1997 (the year of the survey). Many variables can influence farmers' awareness and adoption of new wheat varieties: human capital variables such as literacy; farm size; information sources such as agricultural extension or the research station; and distance from seed sources. The variables used in this analysis were defined in section 2.2. Since these variables are unlikely to operate independently, a variable-by-variable analysis of relationships with farmers' awareness of new wheat varieties is likely to be misleading (Feder, Just, and Zilberman 1985). For this reason, we have chosen logit analysis, which uses a number of independent variables, to predict the probability of these factors in influencing farmers' awareness and adoption of new wheat varieties.Some explanatory variables were omitted from the model because they were highly correlated with other variables: contact farmer, distance from the capital or main road, radio ownership, and farmer's age.Contact farmers: Contact farmers have a higher level of education, and they actively utilize information. They are frequently in contact with extension agents for advice and assist in disseminating information to other farmers. This variable was not included in the model because it was highly correlated with extension visits.Distance from the capital and the main road: Most demonstrations of improved wheat varieties were conducted near the capital or the main roads, and nearness to the capital increased farmers' access to the market. These variables were highly correlated with the zone in which the respondent lived. Farmers in the intermediate zone were closer to the capital or main road than farmers in the highlands.Radio ownership: Ownership of a radio and listening to agricultural programs was expected to influence farmers' awareness of new wheat varieties. Chilot Virga, Shapiro, and Demeke (1996), who used ownership of a metal-roofed house and/or a radio as a proxy of the farmer's wealth, showed that radio ownership positively and significantly influenced adoption of improved wheat seed. However, given that only five farmers in the sample owned a radio and only two of them listened to agricultural programs, radio ownership was not significant and was not used in the model.Farmer's age: Tj;1e farmer's age was correlated with the farmer's awareness of wheat varieties, but because of multicollinearity with farming experience, this variable was not used in the model.Table 26 indicates that the model explained about 75% of the total variation in the sample for farmers' awareness of improved varieties. The chi-square indicates that the parameters included in the model are significantly different from zero at the 1% level.The maximum likelihood estimates for the logistic regression are presented in Table 26. The negative sign on zone (highland) and the positive signs on credit, extension visit, and membership in a PC were as expected. Farmers in the highland zone were more isolated from seed sources and information about new wheat varieties, and therefore they had a lower probability of being aware of improved wheat varieties compared to farmers in the intermediate zone.Extension agents visited farmers to disseminate information about new wheat varieties, and extension visits had a positive effect on the probability that farmer would be aware of improved wheat varieties. Farmers discuss agricultural practices when they meet at the PC, and membership in a PC had a positive effect on the probability that a farmer would be aware of improved wheat varieties.Table 26 also indicates that the model explained 71% of the total variation in the sample for farmers' adoption of improved wheat varieties. The chi-square indicates that the parameters included in the model are significantly different from zero at the 1% level. The negative sign on farmer's experience was expected, while the negative sign for PC membership was not expected. The positive signs for cultivated area, extension visit, and oxen ownership were as expected. Older farmers in the study area were less receptive to new wheat varieties, and farmers who were PC members also had a lower probability of adopting improved wheat varieties. Although earlier members of PCs and SCs and PA officials had knowledge of improved varieties, the current government reallocated their land to landless farmers, leaving them with one hectare, irrespective of family size. It would appear that this land redistribution measure has discouraged adoption of improved wheat varieties. Note: *= significant at p<0.1; **= significant at p<0.05; ***= significantat pc 0.01.Farmers with more land had a higher probability of adoption, probably because they are wealthier and have more land to experiment with improved wheat varieties. Extension visits also resulted in a higher probability of adoption by raising farmers' awareness of new wheat varieties and providing information about agricultural practices to accompany them. Oxen ownership increased the probability that a farmer would adopt improved wheat varieties. Oxen owners usually participate more frequently in demonstrations, which gives them access to information on new technologies.The regression coefficients and the model were used to calculate predicted probabilities of technology adoption for changes in the significant explanatory variables. Probabilities were calculated keeping other variables at their mean levels. The predicted probabilities were then calculated by changing the value of the significant variables (Table 27).In the intermediate zone, the probability that a farmer would be aware of an improved variety increased from 73% to 89.5% if a farmer received an extension visit, while in the highland zone the probability changed from 57% to 81%. The probability that a farmer would be aware of an improved variety increased from 73% to 96% and 87% for farmers in the intermediate zone who were members of a PC or used credit, respectively. In the highland zone, the probability increased from 57% to 92% and 77% for farmers who were members of a PC or used credit, respectively.The probability that a farmer in the intermediate zone would adopt an improved variety increased from 51.5% to 81% if a farmer got an extension visit while it decreased to 21 % if the farmer was a member of a Pc. Cultivated area and oxen ownership increased the probability of adopting an improved variety, while farmers' experience decreased the probability of adopting an improved variety. Wheat is the second major crop in the study area, and farmers knew about more than 13 local wheat varieties, though at the time of the survey only three or four varieties were under production. Disease, drought stress, and soil fertility problems had caused farmers to take the others out of production. The most widely grown local wheat varieties were Zembolel, Key Sinde, and Tekencher.The number of improved wheat varieties that have been introduced to the region is small relative to other regions of Ethiopia, although the trend is for improved wheat varieties to replace indigenous varieties. ET-13 and Enkoy are the widely grown improved wheat varieties. The recently introduced varieties are not yet popular. To promote genetic diversity, ways should be found to maintain the indigenous varieties.Farmers obtain seed through informal and formal channels. The formal seed sector comprises ESE, BOA, state farms, and private firms, but the contribution of formal sources is small. The seed industry remains in an early stage of development, characterized by farmer-to-farmer seed exchange, uncertain seed quality, and an uncertain seed market. More than 50% of the farmers in the study area run out of seed every year and obtain additional seed from informal sources. For this reason, it is essential to recognize and strengthen these informal seed sources through different strategies. It is also important to strengthen ESE's capacity to multiply seed on farmers' fields on a contract basis and (through favorable policies) to encourage the involvement of private investors, farmers, and joint ventures/cooperatives in seed production and marketing.Under the former regime, farmers' main source of improved varieties, fertilizer, other complementary inputs, and consumer goods were the PCs and SCs. These institutions played a significant role in providing all necessary inputs to farmers. Since they were abolished, however, farmers have resorted to informal sources of information on improved wheat seed, even though such information may not be reliable. Seed obtained from other farmers and the market is of questionable purity.The [ow rate of varietal turnover in Enebssie area and the country in general is an indication of a poorly developed seed industry, poor extension services, and low impact of wheat breeding research.The low turnover rate is also influenced by the seed release mechanism. One positive step would be to review the current stringent mechanism for releasing new wheat varieties. The release committee should include not only breeders and officials from the public sector but also farmers and representatives of the private sector.The extension system should pay greater attention to informing farmers about the precise characteristics of their varieties and their correct adaptation zones. This will decrease the adoption lag ... by enabling farmers to avoid experimenting with one or more varieties. Also, more extension effort should be directed towards farmers in the highland zone relative to farmers in the intermediate zone who have better access to information.Farmers' method of seed selection is to retain the first grade of the harvest and to clean seed at planting. Nearly all farmers recycled seed for three to six years, so their seed had a high level of impurities and a low germination percentage. Training farmers in seed production and management is necessary. Farmers, through long years of experience, have adopted a strategy of planting a mixture of varieties or more than one variety per season to minimize risk and maximize benefits. Extension should strengthen farmers' practices.C and extension were the most important factors influencing farmers' awareness and adoption of improved wheat varieties. The extension package program has demonstrated the importance of formal credit in increasing production by increasing the uptake of improved technologies. Credit is more problematic, as farmers presently depend almost exclusively on informal sources of credit. The formal credit system needs to be strengthened and made appropriate for small farmers.The research system is confronted with the need to increase the rate at which it releases varieties as the disease resistance of recent releases has tended to deteriorate quickly. To be successful, however, such research efforts must be supported by greater overall development of the seed industry. Before the economic reform of 1991, publicly owned and collective farms benefited most from the limited certified seed that was available, and they also tended to receive new seed more quickly. Thus preferential treatment has generally limited the impact of breeding gains for farmers and the national economy at large. Recent changes in the seed industry, such as the entry of private firms, creation of the National Seed Industry Agency, and strengthening of the national extension service should bring about considerable positive change. These changes would be even more effective if policies and an institutional and legal framework could be developed to link the formal and informal seed sectors so that they could function in a complementary way.","tokenCount":"10449"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0592852588.json b/data/part_1/0592852588.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7c070e2f5f4b45aa42f1595a95ee2ba683dcb4f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0592852588.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"719bc742ca6780fc6dadcab324daaaf7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/963964df-5241-4970-9f34-59161453c586/retrieve","id":"-520167252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0028ebeb-e924-494a-98af-831b58eb07a1","pagecount":"1","content":"✓ Generating recommendations domains for sustainable intensification technological packages ✓ Establish regional relevance of Africa RISING technologies by mapping zones with relatively similar biophysical and socioeconomic context ✓ Spatial monitoring of implementation of Africa RISING technological packages (What is implemented where by who?)This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. September 2018We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this work. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR system▪ Mapped locations of AR-technologies for spatial monitoring ( ","tokenCount":"108"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0616447777.json b/data/part_1/0616447777.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bba231c7070435af59cc316a8a46a93e75b9d549
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0616447777.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"19aec3ad638ece41ca4c96dc7af11edb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/33eeef7c-a125-4467-9f5b-d16d5c33f887/retrieve","id":"1627992068"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8ca6e4ff-d692-4ad0-ae96-745a76cb1856","pagecount":"2","content":"Uttarakhand State is richly endowed with hydropower potential of 27,000 MW, which is 18% of the total hydropower potential of India. However, only 3,970.95 MW (14.7%) is currently harnessed. Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL, the state owned hydropower company) declared that development is at a standstill despite the favourable hydropower policies developed by the State and Central Governments. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) combines the resources of 11 CGIAR centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and numerous national, regional and international partners to provide an integrated approach to natural resource management research. WLE promotes a new approach to sustainable intensification in which a healthy functioning ecosystem is seen as a prerequisite to agricultural development, resilience of food systems and human well-being. This program is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a member of the CGIAR Consortium, and is supported by CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.We would like to thank all donors who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund (http://www.cgiar.org/about-us/our-funders).International Water Management Institute (IWMI) 127 Sunil Mawatha, Pelawatta, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka Email: wle@cgiar.org Website: wle.cgiar.org It is therefore recommended that local institutional mechanisms be created for addressing grievances, distributing power locally, sharing revenue, and enforcing policy guidelines.Hydropower projects studied suffered cost and time overrun due to local agitations and protests. In the 3 MW Agunda-Thati project, a single affected village is fighting six court cases after seven years of project operation. In the Bhilangana (22.5 MW) project, agitated local people were taken to custody three times. In the Bhilangana III (24 MW) project, there was a hunger strike for 18 days. These protests caused delays in construction leading to increased costs for developers.There is no notable enhancement of livelihood or living standard for local communities where hydropower projects have been developed.Hydropower developers are dissatisfied and further investments in hydropower development are not forthcoming.Affected people resist hydropower development in their backyard. There are conflicts over compensation, drying out of springs, impacts on livelihoods and on water use for irrigation, festivals and cremations.Existing policies related to hydropower development have not looked to find solutions for the local issues. There is no authorized platform where all the disgruntled parties could come and discuss their grievances and find a possible solution.There is a lack of clear communication, participation, transparency and accountability. E.g. after nearly two years of notification of the 'Policy for developing small hydropower (less than 25 MW) in Uttarakhand', the district administration, local administration, local people and power developers are not aware that this policy exists.","tokenCount":"434"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0627200732.json b/data/part_1/0627200732.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8b0ea341b9ec5a5d66cc5cdfa8b6de07ef35c81f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0627200732.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f0da3ad74168d1b8332151424026f5cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1b9e5e4b-1ae2-4738-93e5-4e5d73efd127/retrieve","id":"-667745772"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a72728ce-c71a-4af3-ae25-45120eb8f20d","pagecount":"29","content":"G es t o r es d e I nn o va c ió n e n A gr oin d us t ria R u r al U n a A lia n z a pa r a la I nn o va c ió n e n C a d e n as P r o d u c t ivas G es t o r es d e I nn o va c ió n e n A gr oin d us t ria R u r al U n a A lia n z a pa r a la I nn o va c ió n e n C a d e n as P r o d u c t ivasH e r r amie n t as A c o n t in u a c ió n p r ese n t amos las h e r r amie n t as q u e lo a c ompa ñ a r á n d u r a n t e la le c t u r a d el p r ese n t e ma n u al A c o n t in u a c ió n p r ese n t amos las h e r r amie n t as q u e lo a c ompa ñ a r á n d u r a n t e la le c t u r a d el p r ese n t e ma n u al Estas piezas, que están hechos para encajar tan bien entre sí como los de una Cadena Productiva, contienen sugerencias y reflexiones que podrían serle útiles si se decide a explorar la ruta que le proponemos eslabones P r ese n t a c ió n P r ese n t a c ió n a búsqueda de la competitividad del sector campesino implica laLcol ocación en el mercado de productos de buena calidad. Por otro lado, las nuevas demandas del consumidor, tanto urbano como rural, están abriendo nuevas oportunidades para la agregación de valor, mediante la transformación de productos agrícolas en bienes intermedios o finales. Para la agroindustria rural tradicional es esencial mejorar la eficiencia de los procesos de producción y la calidad de los productos, modificando su presentación de acuerdo a las exigencias del consumidor.En las últimas décadas se invirtió significativamente en el desarrollo de tecnologías apropiadas para el procesamiento de productos agrícolas, sin embargo, el uso comercial de la tecnología desarrollada es aun incipiente. Entre otros factores que contribuyen a esta situación, se encuentra la forma en la cual las tecnologías han sido desarrolladas. En muchos casos hubo poca participación de los clientes, sean agricultores o pequeños agroempresarios, en el desarrollo mismo de la tecnología, lo cual trajo como resultado tecnologías que no están ajustadas a las necesidades de los usuarios.Ante este panorama, es necesario el desarrollo de métodos participativos de generación de tecnología de manejo y procesamiento poscosecha para mejorar la eficiencia y la calidad de los productos de la agroindustrias rurales existentes, y para el establecimiento de agroindustrias rurales nuevas.La Alianzas para la Innovación en Cadenas Productivas se han desarrollado para convertirse en una alternativa metodológica participativa, que le permite a los actores de las cadenas productivas desempe papel significativo en la transformación y/o la recuperación de la producción agroindustrial local para que sta llegue a condiciones de competitividad técnica, económica y social, que faciliten el despegue y el desarrollo rural en forma integral y sostenible. Por un lado sus productos tradicionales pierden valor en un mercado cada día más globalizado y, por otro, su base de recursos naturales se reduce a causa de presiones de sobrevivencia que premian la comida de hoy frente a la existencia del recurso para mañana. C omo resultado, muchas familias han abandonado el campo en busca de mejores opciones en las ciudades, capitales y hasta en el extranjero, sin poder lograr medios de vida dignos para sus miembros.U n n u e v o e n f o q u e pa r a el D esa r r ollo 1 E mp r esa rial R u r al Frente a esta realidad existen organizaciones donantes que apoyan proyectos de desarrollo rural enfocados hacia el aumento de los ingresos de las familias rurales. Sin embargo, muchos de estos proyectos contemplan una sola parte de la cadena productiva y, por ende, tienen una efectividad limitada. U n ejemplo clásico de este enfoque es el proyecto que logracon mucho esfuerzo y recursosaumentar significativamente la productividad de los pequeños productores, pero se estrella contra la falta de un mercado para este producto adicional, dejando así a los productores desilusionados y, a menudo, con menores ingresos que antes. Esta situación se debe no a la falta de recursos o de apoyo a las poblaciones rurales, sino a un desconocimiento sistemático de conceptos como la identificación de mercados, la visión de cadena y la agregación de valor, que resultan claves para enfocar mejor los proyectos de desarrollo rural.El Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAT, mediante su proyecto de Desarrollo Agroempresarial Rural y sus socios locales en H onduras, N icaragua, C olombia y Perú, ha venido desarrollando metodologías que pretenden responder a las necesidades de las entidades de desarrollo rural en el campo del Desarrollo Empresarial (DER). En la actualidad, el Centro cuenta con un enfoque territorial para el DER compuesto por cuatro pasos metodológicos interconectados que buscan promover la creación de capacidades locales en procesos sostenidos de desarrollo empresarial. Los cuatro elementos son: (a) la conformación de grupos de trabajo locales en el tema DER, (b) la identificación de oportunidades de mercado, (c) el análisis de cadenas productivas y la generación de estrategias para aumentar su competitividad y (d) la facilitación de mercados de servicios de desarrollo empresarial en zonas rurales. En cada uno de estos elementos hay momentos de organización y planeación y otros de acción. Los primeros de organización y planeación sirven para generar, sistematizar y compartir información y conocimientos con el fin de construir consensos para orientar las acciones y, a la vez, aumentar las probabilidades de éxito de dichas actividades. La relación entre estos momentos aparece en la siguiente tabla.Ta bla 1 Pla ne ación, org a niz ación y acción: Momentos cla ves p ara el desarrollo empresarial rural Al finalizar este proceso, el territorio debe contar con un grupo de trabajo compuesto por varias organizaciones con capacidades para:(a) identificar oportunidades de mercado relevantes para el territorio y sus diversos grupos poblacionales o ecosistemas; (b) analizar desde múltiples puntos de vista las cadenas de valor y proponer acciones concretas en investigación y desarrollo para aumentar su competitividad, y (c) coordinar continuamente ofertas y demandas para servicios de apoyo e incentivar la formación de mercados para ellos.A pesar de presentar este enfoque territorial como un proceso con contenidos fijos, se esperan adaptaciones e innovaciones importantes, según las condiciones del territorio donde se implemente esta metodología, las capacidades e interés de los participantes y las necesidades que surjan de esta interfaz.E l e n f o q u e t r a d i c io n al d e p r o d u c t ivi d a dTradicionalmente, las intervenciones que buscan apoyar el desarrollo del sector agropecuario se han centrado en el aumento de la productividad de los sistemas de producción. Este tipo de intervenciones, por lo general, ha resultado en un aumento en la producción y la productividad del sector medida en kilogramos producidos por área cultivada, lo que ha permitido mejoras sustanciales en la oferta de productos básicos agropecuarios.Sin embargo, estos aumentos en producción han generado reducciones significativas en los precios pagados por estos productos, como resultado de la ley de oferta y demanda. Lo anterior no es suficiente para aliviar la pobreza, es necesario pensar en rentabilidad ($/ha), valor agregado, diversificación y sostenibilidad de los medios de vida.\" N osotros, con un trapiche movido por bestias, si nos levantamos a la una de la mañana y trabajamos hasta las diez de la noche, podemos sacar, en un día, seis arrobas de panela, trabajando muy duro. Entonces, el negocio no es rentable. Por eso queremos cambiar el sistema, pero no va a ser fácil porque faltan recursos, aunque la idea no es que nos den el pescado, sino que nos enseñen a pescar\"Presidente Asociaci n de Productores y Procesadores de Panela de Su rez, Cauca -C olombia. 9 8 7Además, la tendencia mundial hacia la globalización y el libre comercio requiere de un cambio del enfoque de \"productividad\" por un enfoque de \"competitividad\", y en esa búsqueda de competitividad se está propiciando una mayor integración de las cadenas productivas para garantizar un abastecimiento continuo, calidad y precio Para el logro de esta competitividad, la organización empresarial, tanto a nivel de la empresa como de sus vínculos hacia adelante y hacia atrás, y el acceso a información y tecnología se hacen cada vez más N ecesarios.H ay que pasar de una estrategia que aprovecha ventajas comparativas basadas normalmente en recursos naturales, mano de obra barata, subsidios estatales y productos poco elaborados, fácilmente replicables por otras zonas o países, hacía una estrategia de ventajas competitivas. Este tipo de ventajas se basan en el conocimiento del consumidor y del mercado, la elaboración de productos más complejos, la agregación de valor, la organización empresarial y la generación de alianzas estratégicas entre los actores que realizan las distintas etapas de la cadena productiva Por lo anterior, los sistemas agroalimentarios están en una etapa de cambio rápido. Se observa cada vez una mayor integración vertical con el objetivo de garantizar calidad, abastecimiento continuo y precios más competitivos.Frente a estos antecedentes existe una problemática rural que, aunque varía según el país y la región, tiene ciertas características básicas:1. Enfoque de producción o de comercialización pero no de mercadeo En las zonas rurales, la mayoría de los productores tiene un enfoque hacía la producción y la comercialización de sus productos, lo cual quiere decir que saben producir y vender sus productos mas no mercadearlos. El concepto de mercadeo pretende buscar ventajas más competitivas por medio de estrategias como la diferenciación del producto, la segmentación del mercado y el desarrollo de nichos específicos de clientela.2. Desarticulación de la cadena productiva. Los distintos eslabones de la cadena productiva (producción, manejo poscosecha, mercadeo y servicios de desarrollo empresarial) se encuentran desarticulados, lo que genera un flujo deficiente de información que es aprovechado por los agentes del mercado y genera ineficiencias sistemáticas a lo largo de la cadena.3. O rganización empresarial débil e incipiente. Las organizaciones rurales existentes son, en su mayoría, débiles en términos empresariales. Tienen capacidades limitadas para identificar y analizar puntos críticos en sus cadenas productivas y, por lo tanto, para encontrar estrategias o acciones claves para mejorar su negocio. 4. Tendencia hacía el individualismo y no hacía la búsqueda de la competitividad sectorial. Dada la incertidumbre que caracteriza al sector rural, es normal encontrar que los actores buscan soluciones individuales de corto plazo en vez de pensar en iniciativas que promuevan la competitividad del sector en el mediano o largo plazo. Esto se traduce en relaciones de poca confianza con otros actores de la cadena productiva y una capacidad limitada para asumir iniciativas estratégicas.Enfoque de producción o de comercialización pero no de mercadeo Desarticulación de la cadena productiva O rganización empresarial débil e incipiente Tendencia hacía el individualismo y no hacía la búsqueda de la competitividad sectorial N i t a n c e r c a q u e q u eme al Sa n t o ni t a n lejos q u e n o lo alumb r e N i t a n c e r c a q u e q u eme al Sa n t o ni t a n lejos q u e n o lo alumb r e Este enfoque de cadena permite:1. Tener una visión amplia de la cadena y de sus diferentes actores y por lo tanto, un manejo más completo de la información.2. El acceso a una información más completa que facilite la identificación de los puntos críticos que impiden el desarrollo de la cadena, y la ubicación de alternativas de solución más efectivas y de mayor impacto para lograr una cadena más competitiva.3. La cadena es un escenario apropiado para la búsqueda de alianzas y sinergias entre los diferentes actores productivos ya que reúne actores con intereses comunes, lo cual disminuye los costos de interacción y permite un uso más eficiente de los recursos disponibles.Por otra parte, el enfoque de cadena deja por fuera, o por lo menos no identifica explícitamente, dos aspectos que son claves para entender el comportamiento de una cadena: el grado de desarrollo de las organizaciones empresariales y los servicios de apoyo.C omo respuesta a estos vacíos, se propone usar una visión ampliada de la cadena productiva que retoma la definición inicial con sus bondades e incluye, como aspectos adicionales, el análisis de organización empresarial y el sistema de apoyo existente.   -Planeación y organización de los factores de producción -Accede a insumos y recursos -Producción -C osecha -Traspaso del producto Funciones:-Planeación y organización de los factores de producción -Accede a insumos y recursos -Producción -C osecha -Traspaso del producto Producción Producción 5. Poca o nula coordinación y enfoque parcial de losservicios de apoyo. Los servicios de apoyo al sector agropecuario se han caracterizado por ser puntuales y enfocados hacia un solo eslabón de la cadena. M ás aún, estas actividades llegan a los productores en forma poca co ordinada, lo que se refleja en una duplicación de esfuerzos en unas áreas y vacíos en otros. C omo resultado, el apoyo recibido por el sector agropecuario no es lo suficientemente efectivo para mejorar su competitividad.E l e n f o q u e d e C a d e n a P r o d u c t iva U n primer intento de responder a esta problemática fue el desarrollo del enfoque de cadena productiva o análisis sub-sectorial con el fin de ver la totalidad de la cadena agroindustrial desde la provisión de insumos y la unidad productiva hasta el mercadeo del producto final, pasando por la etapa de manejo poscosecha y procesamiento. Los eslabones y sus funciones aparecen en el siguiente gráfico:Poca o nula coordinación y enfoque parcial de losservicios de apoyo $500 $500 \"Si uno saca una buena cantidad del producto, pero éste no presenta buenas prácticas de manufactura, no se va a lograr un buen precio, y ahí está la pérdida. Para tener un comercio asegurado hay que contar con buena calidad. M ientras no se mejore la calidad del producto, los recursos tampoco van a mejorar; eso lo hemos entendido como GIAR\"Productor y procesador de caña panelera Participante de la experiencia en Cauca, C olombia Cuando se intenta analizar y mejorar la competitividad de una cadena productiva de esta manera, se está hablando de diseñar e implementar una estrategia de competitividad.La propuesta de estrategias de competitividad pretende responder a los vacíos identificados en el enfoque tradicional de cadenas de la siguiente manera:1. La experiencia ha mostrado que el éxito o fracaso de cualquier intervención para el desarrollo de cadenas productivas depende de los actores y las organizaciones empresariales que participan en ésta. Estos actores y sus organizaciones económicas pueden compararse como el \"soft w are\" de las computadoras, el cual hace posible que el \"hard w are\" (tecnología, información, etc.) se aproveche para el logro de los resultados deseados.2. Por medio del análisis y de la elaboración de estrategias de competitividad se busca identificar intervenciones que generen una distribución equitativa de los beneficios y la posibilidad de llegar a la población meta. En muchos casos también permiten buscar estrategias que logren beneficios para los productores con menos recursos.3. El uso del término \"estrategia\" permite el diseño y la ejecución de varios proyectos paralelos o complementarios con actividades coordinadas para el desarrollo de planes concretos, los cuales buscan el logro de objetivos claros y comunes.Por medio de la estrategia se busca generar consenso y sinergias entre los distintos actores y grupos de interés involucrados en la cadena y se facilitan la gestión de recursos para la implementación de proyectos y actividades tendentes a mejorar la competitividad de la cadena.El Proyecto de Desarrollo Agro-empresarial Rural del CIAT ha venido trabajando con las sig uientes definiciones de estrategias de competitividad: La visión amplia de la cadena pretende abarcar no solamente la parte funcional (producciónposcosechamercadeo) de la cadena sino también incluir y entender a las organizaciones empresariales y servicios de apoyo conexos al sector. La visión ampliada se expresa en siguiente gráfico:Grá fico 3 Visión a mplia d a de la ca den a productiv a L os t r o p e z o n es le va n t a n lo s d e d os D ic en qu e er ra r es hu m an o, pe ro a la m ay or ía de lo s hu m an os no no s gu st a eq ui vo ca rn os . Pa ra ap re nd er a ca m in ar , un ni ño de be de sc ub rir có m o po ne r su s pi es so br e el pi so y có m o av an za r sin pe rd er el eq ui lib rio , pe ro ¿c uá nt as ve ce s se ca e el ni ño m ie nt ra s ap re nd e, y aú n as í se le va nt a pa ra se gu ir in te nt an do ? H ay co sa s qu e só lo ap re nd em os cu an do no s eq ui vo ca m os ; po r es o, eq ui vo ca rn os no no s ha ce m en os ca pa ce s o m en os in te lig en te s. Lo im po rt an te es ap re nd er la le cc ió n. El sa bi o pu ed e se nt ar se en un ho rm ig ue ro , pe ro só lo el ne ci o se qu ed a se nt ad o en él .cadena para el logro de objetivos comunes, alrededor de los cuales se articulan una o más organizaciones empresariales y grupos de interés, con un enfoque ampliado de cadena productiva.¿P a r a q u é u n a es t r a t egia d e c omp e t i t ivi d a d?U na estrategia de competitividad busca fortalecer o establecer una cadena productiva, la cual ha sido priorizada con base en su potencial de mercado, la producción sostenible y la capacidad de generar ingresos y empleo para la población rural.¿ C ómo se eje c u t a u n a es t r a t egia d e c omp e t i t ivi d a d?U na estrategia de competitividad se ejecuta a través de acciones de corto, mediano y largo plazo, las cuales pueden ser de desarrollo e investigación en funciones de producción, manejo poscosecha y procesamiento, mercadeo y organización empresarial, de acuerdo con un análisis de los puntos críticos de la cadena productiva con el objetivo de mejorar su competitividad.Estas definiciones deben ser tomadas como guía y no como la última palabra sobre estrategias de competitividad. De hecho, cada actor o grupo de trabajo local puede tener su propia definición de estrategia de competitividad, sus objetivos y cómo se ejecuta, de acuerdo con la experiencia que haya tenido al aplicar la metodología.El término 'innovación' tiene diferentes significados:1. Es el proceso de invención en el que nuevas cosas, ideas o prácticas son creadas;2. Las nuevas cosas, ideas o prácticas desarrolladas; 3. El \"proceso por el cual una innovación existente se convierte en parte del estado cognitivo del innovador y de su repertorio de conocimiento \" (traducido de Zaltman, Duncan & H olvec, 1973 p. 7-8).Basado en G oldsmith y Foxall ( 2003), para este estudio definimos el proceso de innovación de manera amplia, como el proceso mediante el cual una 'buena idea' surge dando origen a un 'prototipo' que se evalúa, ajusta y aplica en los procesos de producción, manejo poscosecha, procesamiento, comercialización, mercadeo y/o gestión para mejorar la competitividad.El término innovación incluye innovaciones tecnológicas pero también innovaciones de proceso y de mercado. Las innovaciones de proceso se definen como aquellas que motivan la innovación tecnológica y de mercados y además son esenciales para que estas últimas funcionen, ya que permiten superar las limitaciones para innovar.¿ C ómo se c lasi f i c a n las inn o va c io n es?Las innovaciones pueden clasificarse de acuerdo con el grado de cambio que producen en: innovaciones continuas, dinámicamente continuas y discontinuas.1. Las 'innovaciones continuas' son aquellas que tienen los menores efectos en los patrones de producción, comercialización o consumo. En estos casos las innovaciones son alteraciones pequeñas de productos existentes.  Las 'nuevas ideas', o llámese 'promesas posibles', son claves, sin embargo, no son suficientes para lograr una innovación. D outh w aite (2002) desarrolló la tesis de que la innovación es 'un proceso de aprendizaje', que está basado en 'una promesa posible', pero que además requiere de:1. U n 'campeón' y socios innovativos y motivados que están dispuestos a asumir cierto nivel de riesgo 2. Ser catalizado por una 'necesidad sentida y real' 3. M ecanismos de selección abiertos y no sesgados. Esto último nos lleva a concluir que, por un lado, las patentes matan los procesos de innovación, mientras que por el otro, los procesos participativos donde intervienen diferentes actores motivan y nutren la innovación.Esta última conclusión del trabajo de D outh w aite (2002) es la que justifica los procesos de 'investigación participativa' como mecanismos más efectivos para promover la innovación, que aquellos procesos de investigación tradicionales en los que la investigación la realizan los 'científicos expertos en el tema', y solamente cuando estos sienten que la tecnología está lista para ser utilizada, se buscan mecanismos para su difusión y adopción.De acuerdo con D outh w aite ( 2002), los investigadores que adoptan procesos de investigación participativos tienen al menos seis ventajas, sobre aquellos que piensan que pueden desarrollar tecnologías terminadas por ellos mismos;1. Pueden aprovechar de un amplio pool de talento innovador en forma gratuita 2. Pueden beneficiarse de innovaciones que ellos, por sí solos, no pueden desarrollar 3. Los socios claves trabajan para mejorar el medio ambiente para la tecnología 4. La probabilidad de que la gente adopte y recomiende la tecnología es mayor 5. U na opinión pública en contra de la tecnología es menos probable 6. La investigación se mantiene relevante y práctica.Las innovaciones también se pueden clasificar en dos tipos, de acuerdo con su capacidad de producir cambios en los medios de vida de los productores. El primer tipo comprende a las 'innovaciones básicas o de medios de vida', las cuales contribuyen directamente a mejorar los medios de vida y/o a hacerlos más sostenibles.El segundo tipo son las 'innovaciones de proceso o sociales', que alimentan (construyen, mantienen o sustentan) la motivación, conducen a la innovación básica y son esenciales para que ésta última funcione. Además, permite a los individuos superar sus limitaciones para innovar -como la falta de acceso a tierra, crédito, mercados y otros recursos productivos-y aumenta así las oportunidades que tienen los actores sociales de realizar 'innovaciones básicas o de medios de vida' de manera efectiva.  E l f a c ili t a d o r es la persona u organización encargada de acompañar, interactuar con los participantes de la Alianza y potenciar sus capacidades, así como de gestionar los recursos necesarios para el desarrollo de la alianza. Al D ema n d a n t e lo representan los actores de una cadena productiva que identifican oportunidades de mercado o requieren ser más competitivos para mantenerse en el mercado, razón por la cual requieren del desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías y / o la eliminación de puntos críticos en la cadena.L os G es t o r es d e I nn o va c ió n e n A gr oin d us t ria R u r al ( G I A R) son considerados un mecanismo de participación activo en un proceso investigativo (de innovación tecnológica) en tecnología y gestión empresarial, del cual hacen parte actores de cada uno de los componentes de la cadena, quienes tienen la capacidad de planificar, validar y transferir resultados en agroindustria rural. Los GIAR deben responder a oportunidades de mercado identificadas y se perfilan también como un mecanismo de creación y fortalecimiento organizativo. 4 Las cadenas agroindustriales y los temas investigación que trabajan los GIAR parten de la identificación de oportunidades de mercado (estudios de mercado existentes, contactos, sondeos y giras) y buscan dar respue sta a requerimientos de éste.4 Los GIAR pueden partir de cadenas agroindustriales establecidas o cadenas nuevas identificadas en los estudios de mercado.4 Los integrantes de un GIAR comparten el interés por una misma cadena productiva 4 Las tecnologías y/o prácticas que son objeto de innovaci ón para los GIAR están basadas en los principios del desarrollo sostenible 4 Los GIAR intervienen en todos los componentes de la cadena productiva (producción, procesamiento y mercadeo), pues son conscientes de que la alteración de cualquiera de los eslabones de la cadena afecta el producto final.4 Las técnicas y/o prácticas que desarrollan los GIAR se adaptan a las necesidades y posibilidades de los agroempresarios locales y no al contrario.4 El trabajo de los GIAR está dirigido al incremento de la capacidad local de gestión comunitaria, de identificar problemas, planear estrategias y mejorar procesos que contribuyan a posicionar sus productos en los mercados demandantes.4 Los GIAR buscan generar procesos de articulación con otros actores presentes en su agroindustria  En esta fase, el facilitador (institución acompañante o miembro de la comunidad que desee promover la iniciativa) se reúne con un grupo de trabajo en procesos de desarrollo empresarial rural o con los diferentes actores de la cadena productiva (productores, procesadores, comercializadores y prestadores de servicios de apoyo) y los sensibiliza frente a la metodología: les cuenta en qué consiste, para qué les sirve, cuál sería el papel de un innovador local dentro de la comunidad (derechos y responsabilidades) y qué resultados se esperan.Cuando los actores tengan claro de qué se trata la experiencia, se conformarán, de manera voluntaria, uno o varios grupos de innovación que, según las necesidades de la comunidad y las características climáticas o topográficas, pueden separarse por zonas o por funciones en la cadena. Serán los mismos actores quienes decidan el número de grupos que se va a conformar, pero se recomienda que cada grupo quede integrado mínimo por seis personas y máximo por doce. U na vez concluida la conformación, los participantes serán sensibilizados en conceptos participativos y empresariales y se identificarán sus visiones, necesidades y problemas.M o ni t o r e o Este mecanismo debe ser definido desde el inicio de la Alianza para poder determinar durante el proceso qué tanto se ha progresado, cómo ha sido el desarrollo de las actividades y qué medidas deben tomarse para solucionar inconvenientes, si éstos se han identificado. Este Sistema se construye entre el facilitador y los actores participantes.El grupo realizará un mapeo que le permita representar gráficamente las principales oportunidades de su cadena productiva y las limitantes que debe superar para aprovechar estas oportunidades y hacerla más competitiva. Este mapa permite también visualizar flujos del producto, identificar servicios de apoyo y reconocer aspectos positivos y negativos de intervenciones pasadas. Por eso, esta fase posibilita el intercambio de conocimientos entre los actores de distintos componentes de la cadena y amplia la visión general que tiene cada uno de ellos sobre la misma.Teniendo en cuenta que el grupo debe conocer los requerimientos que tiene el consumidor frente a su producto (calidad, presentaciones, empaques, etc.) para volver competitiva su agroindustria, es necesario que identifique las oportunidades que le brinda el mercado. Para esto deben planear y ejecutar giras en la cadena, que pueden empezar por los mercados y continuar los componentes de cultivo y poscosecha. los cuales van a trabajar para aprovechar las oportunidades encontradas, y conocido casos de buenas prácticas e innovaciones. Por ello, el GIAR realizará un encuentro con los demás actores de la cadena para compartir y discutir con ellos las experiencias que encontraron y la información que recopilaron durante el desarrollo de las fases anteriores.Cuando se ha reunido y analizado suficiente información para decidir qué aspectos se deben trabajar con más prontitud, el GIAR determina hacia dónde se encaminará la innovación y a partir de allí construye su Plan de acción, en el cual se establece la fecha de inicio del proceso, el lugar donde se va a desarrollar, los recursos financieros y humanos que se necesitan y cómo se van a conseguir, las funciones de los participantes, cómo se va a desarrollar la innovación (diseño) y de qué manera se van a monitorear y a evaluar los avances.C omo su nombre lo indica, esta es la etapa definida para desarrollar el plan de acción, es decir, para realizar la experimentación o el ensayo que finalmente le indicará al grupo de innovación si a los productores les conviene o no implementar cambios en sus prácticas o en sus unidades productivas. Así que durante esta fase se pueden poner en práctica los diseños experimentales y realizar observaciones y seguimiento a los resultados; para esto es necesario contar con instrumentos de recolección de datos que faciliten su análisis posterior.El análisis de los datos recolectados permitirá la formulación final de los resultados, y la discusión de estos resultados, que se realiza al interior del GIAR, llevará al grupo a determinar si adoptar la tecnología o la práctica evaluada es conveniente o no para los pequeños agroempresarios de la cadena. Después se preparan los resultados para presentarlos ante la cadena y las comunidades representadas por el grupo de innovación, ante otros GIAR (si los hay) y/o ante otros grupos y organizaciones de la región.Esta etapa contempla dos fases: una teórica y otra práctica. Durante la fase teórica el GIAR convoca a los miembros de la cadena y a sus comunidades, expone el trabajo realizado, los cambios que observaron, los resultados obtenidos, las innovaciones logradas, y realizan recomendaciones. En la fase práctica, los grupos, o uno de sus representantes, visitan agroindustrias que pertenecen a su cadena productiva y replican el ensayo que hicieron.Esta fase es vital dentro del diseño metodológico puesto que, por un lado, las nuevas preguntas que surgen durante el intercambio de experiencias y la difusión de las innovaciones logradas dan lugar a otro ciclo de innovación y, por otra parte, los GIAR se pueden convertir en un sistema de apoyo para su región, pues poseen conocimientos e información que multiplican en su entorno; un entorno en el que el pequeño productor, normalmente, encuentra limitaciones para tener acceso a información relevante que le ayude a tomar mejores decisiones.Bajo este esquema, el GIAR tiene la posibilidad de participar activamente en todo el proceso de innovación agroindustrial, especialmente porque la experimentación se lleva a cabo en sus propias unidades productivas, en busca de mejorar el producto que poseen e identificar nuevas oportunidades. Puede haber contextos en los que no hay una cadena productiva priorizada y analizada. En estos casos, se recomienda seguir la metodología de estrategias de competitividad descrita por Lundy y otros, antes de aplicar las Alianzas para la Innovación en Cadenas Productivas.Dado los diferentes roles que juegan en la cadena, los actores tienen puntos de vista variados. Los productores conocen mucho sobre lo que pasa en los lotes de producción (dificultades de producción, plagas, variedades, rendimientos, etc.) pero progresivamente menos en la medida en que el producto sale de su comunidad o entra en procesos de transformación.De igual manera, los actores que se ocupan de los procesos poscosecha conocen mucho sobre este tema, pero son menos conocedores de los aspectos netos de producción, de transformación o de comercialización. Y así sucede sucesivamente con los demás actores involucrados en la transformación o comercialización del producto; pueden tener conocimientos generales sobre la totalidad de la cadena, pero poseen información más completa y profunda sobre los aspectos que le conciernen directamente.En cuanto a los actores de apoyo, deben conocer, en teoría, la totalidad de la cadena. Sin embargo, en la práctica es común encontrar que ellos también tienen enfoques específicos según sus objetivos o capacidades: por ejemplo, muchas O N G rurales tienen un enfoque explícito hacía uno u otro grupo poblacional (pequeños productores, mujeres rurales, jóvenes, indígenas, etc.) o uno u otro eslabón de la cadena (asistencia técnica o crédito en producción, acceso a tecnología en transformación o acopio del producto para su comercialización). Lo mismo ocurre con actores informales de apoyo; lo valioso de estos actores es su conocimiento profundo de ciertos aspectos de la cadena y sus capacidades de apoyarla de alguna manera. (Lundy y otros, 2003).Por eso, en un GIAR deben participar representantes de todos los actores de la cadena, que pueden ser entre dos y tres personas por cada componente y zona de trabajo.Los miembros de un GIAR deben participar de forma voluntaria y ser elegidos teniendo en cuenta criterios como: 4Sus conocimientos y experiencia en la cadena productiva, principalmente en el componente que representa 4Su inclinación para probar cosas nuevas 4Su iniciativa para la realización de experimentos en su unidad productiva 4Sus habilidades para expresarse en forma oral 4Su disposición para enfrentar y asumir riesgos 4 Su visión y sus habilidades empresariales C ontar con representantes de cada uno de los componentes de la cadena enriquece las alternativas para aprovechar oportunidades, enfrentar las limitantes para hacer más competitiva la cadena e intercambiar conocimientos y aprendizajes al interior del GIAR.C on los actores escogidos para hacer parte del GIAR se debe iniciar el siguiente proceso de sensibilización: 4Conceptos y herramientas participativas 4Temas empresariales 4Enfoque de las Alianzas para la Innovación en Cadenas Productivas Estos temas se trabajan de manera general con el GIAR al inicio de la metodología, pero cada uno de ellos se encuentra acompañado de un proceso de aprendizaje que se desarrolla simultáneamente con la experiencia.Dada la diversidad de participantes de la cadena productiva en el GIAR, es recomendable que los integrantes no tengan grandes diferencias en su nivel educativo, estado 31 30 omo campesino uno es muy 'cerrado a su banda' -como decimos popularmente-pero hay que darse la oportunidad. Yo les diría, a quienes no pertenecen a un GIAR, que es bueno pertenecer; se va a perder un tiempo, pero es bueno pertenecer, porque hay mejores conocimientos. N o todo uno como campesino lo sabe. H ay personas que vienen a enseñarle y a aprender de uno también\"Productor y procesador de caña panelera Participante de la Experiencia en Cauca, C olombia socioeconómico y edad para evitar conflictos o relaciones desiguales de poder.P aso 3: E s t a ble c imie n t o d e u n Sis t ema d e Segu imie n t o y E valu a c ió n En este punto es importante sensibilizar a los participantes de la Alianza sobre la importancia de realizarle seguimiento y evaluación a cada una de las acciones que se desarrollen como parte del proceso.¿P o r q u é u n Sis t ema d e segu imie n t o y e valu a c ió n?U n sistema de seguimiento y evaluación participativa es útil para mejorar la eficiencia de los participantes de la Alianza en el manejo de cada una de las actividades, puesto que la evaluación es el reflejo de las acciones y, por lo tanto, indica qué se ha hecho bien y que debe mejorarse. Además, sirve como proceso educativo para reflexionar sobre las investigaciones y el proceso metodológico.¿ Q u ié n h a c e el segu imie n t o y la e valu a c ió n?El Sistema de Seguimiento y Evaluación debe ser construido por miembros del GIAR en compañía del facilitador. Después de identificar las oportunidades de mercado, el grupo realizará un mapeo que le permita representar gráficamente las principales limitantes de su cadena productiva. Para ello, el facilitador debe presentar resultados de análisis de la cadena y sus puntos críticos o construirlos con el Giar y otros actores clave. Esto permite visualizar flujos del producto, identificar servicios de apoyo y reconocer aspectos positivos y negativos de intervenciones pasadas.Las herramientas que se emplean para el análisis de la cadena son: a. El mapeo b. La identificación de los servicios de apoyo ofrecidos c. La Línea de tiempo A continuación se define el objetivo de cada una de estas herramientas, el tiempo necesario para su desarrollo, los materiales que se necesitarán, el proceso a desarrollar, unas preguntas de facilitación y un ejemplo concreto.Visualizar los flujos del producto, servicios de apoyo e insumos dentro de la cadena, desde la producción primara hasta su comercialización a mayoristas y desde diferentes puntos de vista.Aproximadamente dos horas y media, en total. U na hora para la elaboración de los mapas por cada función, una hora para la socialización y construcción de un mapa consolidado y media hora para identificar vacíos de información y responder a alguno s de ellos. Algunas preguntas básicas de facilitación para este ejercicio aparecen a continuación. Sin embargo, la entidad facilitadora tiene la libertad de incluir otras, según sus necesidades. Es recomendable organizar las preguntas clave de facilitación en una guía u otro instrumento de fácil uso para las personas que facilitarán el trabajo con los grupos de la cadena. Algunas de estas preguntas pueden ser formuladas para iniciar o sostener el proceso de visualización, mientras que otras son más adecuadas al final para revisar el contenido del mapa, identificar vacíos y complementar los datos ya expresados por el grupo. Los resultados de las preguntas pueden ser anotados sobre el mapa mismo o por alguno de los facilitadores del proceso en sus notas. Estas respuestas enriquecen mucho más el mapa original y muestra a los participantes lo mucho que saben sobre su cadena.4¿ Q uiénes son? 4¿D ónde están ubicados? 4¿Cuáles son sus funciones en la cadena?Preguntas de facilitación final vi cómo la gente comenzó a manejar el concepto. Ya uno escuchaba a los productores decir: yo voy a sembrar esta variedad de caña porque me da mejor panela, porque me la da más finita, porque me rinde más, porque en el cultivo se demora menos, porque no es tan exigente para los terrenos. Entonces, uno veía que el proceso no había pasado de largo, sin dejar impacto \"Productor y procesador de caña panelera Técnico extensionista de C orpotunía, organización facilitadora durante la experiencia en Cauca, C olombia.4¿C ómo se relacionan entre sí? ¿Las relaciones son buenas, regulares o malas? ¿Por qué? 4¿Cuáles son sus características? (género, edad, educación, habilidades, saber-hacer, etc.)4¿D ónde vendemos lo que producimos (en cada eslabón de la cadena)?4¿Cuáles son las características del producto? 4¿Cuáles son los volúmenes de producción por mes o anualmente? 4¿Cuánto producto es vendido en los mercados por mes o anualmente? 4¿C ómo es la oferta del producto durante el año? 4¿Cuánto nos cuesta producir (en cada eslabón de la cadena)? Es común que ninguno tenga idea de este dato pero, a veces, hay uno o más productores que pueden proporcionar un dato aproximado 4¿Cuáles son los precios de compra y venta en cada etapa de la cadena? ¿Son estables durante el año o fluctúan? 4¿Cuál es la eficiencia (rendimientos por área sembrada, factores de conversión, etc.) de la cadena? 4¿C ómo es la distribución del valor total de la cadena entre los actores? ¿ Q ué grupos ganan más y qué grupos menos y por qué?4¿ Q uiénes nos apoyan? (en cada eslabón de la cadena). 4¿C ómo nos apoyan? ¿ Q ué servicios ofrecen? (en cada eslabón de la cadena). 4¿Cuál es la calidad de los servicios ofrecidos? M ercados:Características del producto C ostos, rendimientos y distribución del valor de la cadena En esta parte es bueno revisar el quehacer de cada grupo en la cadena, teniendo en cuenta riesgos asumidos, valor agregado y acceso a información o contactos clave.Aquí hay que tener cuidado de visualizar el apoyo recibido por actores informales (intermediarios, prestamistas, etc.), que a veces resulta ser más efectivo que el de los otros grupos de apoyo.4¿Cuál es la forma de pago para cada etapa de la cadena? 4¿Cuáles son los requisitos de calidad? 4¿Cuál es la frecuencia de compra? 4¿C ómo son las relaciones entre los actores de la cadena? ¿Los actores están contentos con las relaciones existentes? ¿Por qué si o por qué no?Si la entidad facilitadora tiene más preguntas específicas, éstas se pueden incluir en el instrumento final de facilitación haciendo a éste las adaptaciones necesarias para que sea de máxima utilidad para visualizar y entender la cadena.Si resultan porciones de la cadena con poca información, es probable que hayamos dejado por fuera uno o más actores clave en estos eslabones. H abrá que complementar este ejercicio con ellos.H acer una recopilación sencilla de la oferta de servicios que existe para la cadena con el fin de calificar la calidad de los servicios e identificar vacíos susceptibles de mejorías en el futuro.Aproximadamente dos horas en total. U na hora para identificar, describir y calificar los servicios por función de la cadena y otra hora para socializar los resultados y compararlos entre los grupos. Este ejercicio puede ser llevado a cabo usando papelógrafos y marcadores, pizarones y tiza o hasta en el suelo con materiales de la zona. Lo importante es describir los servicios ofrecidos y recibidos, de tal manera que todos los actores los puedan ver y discutir.Siguiendo con los mismos subgrupos que se formaron para realizar el M apeo, se entra a mirar la oferta y demanda de servicios de apoyo formales e informales por cada función de la cadena. Los grupos de productores, procesadores y comerciantes analizan sus eslabones respectivos basándose en los resultados del mapeo, mientras que los oferentes de servicios miran específicamente los servicios que ellos ofrecen. Después de una hora de trabajo en grupo, se hace una revisión de los resultados en plenaria y se generan unas matrices de oferta y demanda por cada función de la cadena.Es importante hacer un esfuerzo especial para identificar aquellos oferentes de servicios que son informales, ya que son más difíciles de reconocer usando otras técnicas. Algunos ejemplos de oferentes informales de servicios son: campesinos paratécnicos o promotores con conocimientos adicionales en temas de producción, talleres de metalmecánica que fabrican o reparan maquinaria agrícola o de transformación sencilla, talleres que alquilan maquinaria para procesamiento, transportistas, intermediarios, prestamistas, entre m uchos otros.Se hace énfasis en oferentes informales porque: (a) existen en casi todas las cadenas; (b) sus servicios tienden a ser más sostenidos que los ofrecidos por actores formales; (c) sus costos son más bajos y (d) hacen que la mayoría de las cadenas funcionen.Las preguntas básicas para facilitar este ejercicio con los grupos de productores, procesadores y comerciantes son:4¿ Q uién(es) ofrece(n) servicios a este eslabón de la cadena? 4¿ Q ué servicios ofrecen? 4¿ Q ué costo tiene el servicio? 4¿ Q ué tan útil es el servicio? ¿Se logra solucionar el problema con el servicio ofrecido?Los resultados pueden ser organizados en la siguiente matriz:Ta bla 2 Ma triz de a n álisis de servicios recibidos (por p arte de prest a dores de servicios) Si todos los días caminamos el mismo sendero para llegar a casa y nunca nos atrevemos a tomar un atajo o a descubrir otras rutas, ¿qué es lo que realmente sabemos: cómo llegar a nuestra casa o cuál es el camino que nos lleva? Q ue conozcamos un solo camino no significa que ese sea el único que exista ni que sea el más corto o el mejor. El proceso de aprendizaje tiene mucho de aventura y entre más dudas nos surjan, más respuestas tendemos que buscar. Así también es el camino de la innovación.4¿ Q uiénes son los clientes del servicio? 4¿ Q ué costo tiene el servicio para su cliente? 4¿ Q ué tan efectivo es el servicio? ¿se logra solucionar el problema con el servicio ofrecido? 4¿Cuánto cuesta ofrecer el servicio?Los resultados pueden ser organizados en una matriz como la que se muestra a continuación:Ta bla 3 Ma triz de a n álisis de servicios ofrecidos (por p arte de prest a dores de servicios) U na vez identificada la oferta de servicios, se puede hacer una revisión sencilla en plenaria para ver si hay concordancia entre los servicios anotados por los clientes (productores, procesadores y comerciantes) y las entidades que prestan servicios. M uchas veces esta revisión genera discusiones interesantes, pues aparecen servicios hasta ahora desconocidos o la evaluación de calidad varía sustancialmente.La línea del tiempo contribuye a conocer cómo, cuando y c. Línea de tiempo c. Línea de tiempo porqué han ocurrido los cambios de tecnología y prácticas en la cadena. C on la aplicación de esta herramienta el GIAR tendrá una comprensión inicial de las circunstancias bajo las cuales los agroempresarios adquieren nuevo conocimiento y el contexto histórico por el cual éste ha sido incorporado y difundido en la cadena.Reconocer los momentos clave de la historia de la cadena con el fin de identificar aspectos positivos, aspectos negativos y lecciones aprendidas. Se puede aplicar esto con un enfoque general (hitos clave de la cadena) o con un énfasis hacia los proyectos o apoyos recibidos anteriormente por los actores.Este ejercicio puede ser llevado a cabo usando papelógrafos y marcadores, pizarones y tiza o hasta en el suelo con materiales de la zona. Lo importante es describir la historia de tal manera que todos los actores la puedan ver y discutir.C on los mismos subgrupos conformados para aplicar las herramientas anteriores, se entra a definir las fechas clave, según ellos mismos, en el desarrollo de la cadena. Se puede empezar con una lluvia de ideas para después organizar los datos en orden cronológico. U na vez establecida la línea de tiempo en una columna, se pasa a averiguar más información sobre cada evento y a hacer una evaluación de lo aprendido. entre los grupos y la aclaración de dudas. Después del taller la entidad facilitadora plasmará todas las líneas de tiempo en una sola.Las preguntas de facilitación para construir la línea de tiempo son:4¿Cuáles han sido los momentos clave en el desarrollo de la cadena durante los últimos años? ¿En qué año ocurrió cada uno? 4¿ Q uiénes participaron en el momento clave? ¿Cuáles eran sus roles? 4¿H ubo apoyo externo durante este momento? ¿ Q uién lo facilitó? 4¿ Q ué fue lo bueno de ese momento? 4¿ Q ué fue lo malo de ese momento? 4¿ Q ué aprendimos de ese momento?Si la entidad facilitadora quiere enfocar este ejercicio hacía temas específicos, tales como la evolución de la tecnología usada en la cadena, la llegada de nuevos productos, las innovaciones locales u otro tema, la herramienta puede ser adaptada para tales fines.Teniendo en cuenta que el grupo gestor debe conocer los requerimientos que tiene el consumidor frente a su producto (calidad, presentaciones, empaques, etc.) para volver competitiva su agroindustria, es necesario que identifique las oportunidades que le brinda el mercado y los aspectos que debe tener en cuenta en sus unidades productivas para aprovecharlas. Para hacerlo contará con la orientación y el apoyo del facilitador, pero el diseño metodológico de la Alianza busca que el grupo adquiera, a medida que recorre Preguntas de facilitación Preguntas de facilitación el camino, la capacidad de realizar esta actividad por sí mismo y pueda aplicarla en otras cadenas.Se recomienda seguir la siguiente guía para planear y ejecutar las giras: Definir los objetivos de la gira C onsultar experiencias sobresalientes en la cadena Seleccionar las experiencias que se van a visitar Realizar un cronograma para el desarrollo de las giras Realizar contactos con los encargados de los sitios seleccionados para indicarles el objetivo de la gira, la fecha y el lugar en que se quiere realizar Enviar una carta de parte del facilitador para formalizar la visita Preparar una agenda para las giras y un cuestionario previo para cada una de ellas, según el componente de la cadena.C omo datos generales para todos los cuestionarios que se van a aplicar en la cadena, se deben tener en cuenta los datos del estudio (título del cuestionario, identificación, categorías o códigos) y los datos de contacto (nombre, cargo, institución, fecha de entrevista, teléfono, dirección, correo electrónico) Las giras en la cadena productiva deben iniciar por el mercado, para luego dirigirse al cultivo y, por último, a la poscosecha. Estas giras nos deben ayudar a conocer tres aspectos: Productor y procesador de caña panelera Participante de la Experiencia en Cauca, C olombia Estas pueden ser algunas preguntas para incluir en el cuestionario:4¿ Q ué tipo de empaques son utilizados y cuál es su valor? 4¿Cuál es la eficiencia o los rendimientos del producto durante la poscosecha? 4¿Cuáles son las pérdidas del producto durante la poscosecha? 4¿Cuántos niveles de producción se identifican y cuáles son sus principales características? 4¿Cuál es el tiempo de la jornada de producción? 4¿La producción es continua o por ciclos? 4¿Los productos elaborados son finales, intermedios u otros? 4¿Cuáles son los combustibles utilizados por los equipos? 4¿Cuál es el promedio de jornales empleados en el proceso? 4¿Cuáles son los insumos requeridos en la poscosecha? 4¿ Q ué tipo de servicios requiere durante la poscosecha? 4¿Cuáles son los subproductos que genera? ¿C ómo utiliza estos?Realizar la gira. Estos son algunos puntos que se deben tener en cuenta para que la gira sea exitosa:4En lo posible, realizar la reunión con cada uno de los clientes potenciales en un sitio cercano al producto que promocionan los productores 4C onocer las exigencias del producto por parte de los clientes 4Dejar que los productores hagan sus preguntas y resuelvan todas las inquietudes y por último realizar las preguntas que falten del cuestionario 4Realizar acuerdos de negociación, si es posible 4Dejar una grata impresión para futuras giras Preparar y enviar una carta de agradecimiento a cada una 8. 9.8. 9.de las personas que hicieron posible la gira, por la atención y colaboración brindada.Realizar un informe sobre las giras C ompartir una copia del informe con cada uno de los participantes del GIAR y proceder a su análisis.H e r r amie n t as pa r a a n aliz a r los r esul t a d os Para facilitar la representación de la información y el análisis de ésta, se pueden utilizar las siguientes herramientas: El de sa rro llo de nu ev as te cn ol og ía qu e re sp on da n a las ne ce sid ad es de lo s pr od uc to re s y a su s ca ra ct er íst ica s ec on óm ica s, so cia les , cu ltu ra les y de in fra es tru ctu ra , es m uy im po rta nt e, pe ro ¿q ué ta nt o po dr ía co nt rib ui r un a te cn ol og ía al de sa rro llo de la pe qu eñ a em pr es a si lo s pr od uc to s qu e m ej or a no so n lo s qu e el cli en te de se a o ne ce sit a? Id en tif ica r las de m an da s de l m er ca do an te s de de sa rro lla r o ad ap ta r un a te cn ol og ía es co m o m ira r si el ch oc ol at e es tá ca lie nt e an te s de to m ar el pr im er so rb o. aprovechar las oportunidades encontradas, y conocido casos de buenas prácticas e innovaciones. Por ello, el GIAR realizará un encuentro con los demás actores de la cadena para compartir y discutir con ellos las experiencias que encontraron y la información que recopilaron durante el desarrollo de las fases anteriores.A c c ió n pa r a la I nn o va c ió n Cuando se ha reunido y analizado suficiente información para decidir qué aspectos se deben trabajar con más prontitud, el GIAR determina hacia dónde se encaminará la innovación y a partir de allí construye su plan de acción, en el cual se establece la fecha de inicio del proceso, el lugar donde se va a desarrollar, los recursos financieros y humanos que se necesitan y cómo se van a conseguir, las funciones de los participantes, cómo se va a desarrollar la innovación (diseño) y de qué manera se van a monitorear y a evaluar los avances.La información obtenida del análisis de la cadena y de las giras de mercado debe permitir: 4C onocer el mercado y sus principales actores y la conformación del precio en la cadena productiva 4Identificar las oportunidades de mercado para la cadena 4Reconocer las limitantes de la cadena que impiden aprovechar las oportunidades en los mercados \"La gente del campo siempre tiene conocimientos guardados que usted no va a encontrar en ninguna universidad. Son cosas que han aprendido a través de la experiencia, y eso a mí me ayudó bastante, porque yo también soy productor y procesador de caña panelera, entonces veía cómo lo están haciendo aquí, cómo lo está haciendo allá y cómo lo estoy haciendo yo \"Productor y procesador de caña panelera Técnico extensionista de C orpotunía, organización facilitadora durante la experiencia en Cauca, C olombia C on base en esto es necesario diseñar un plan de acción que permita incorporar las innovaciones necesarias en producción, poscosecha, mercado y a nivel organizativo. Así mismo, el plan de acción debe permitir el abordaje paulatino de cada limitante y no abordar en forma simultánea varias de ellas, pues se pueden generar confusiones, tanto en los integrantes del GIAR como en el Facilitador, cuando aún no se tiene mucha experiencia en el manejo de la metodología.Se puede considerar el desarrollo de innovaciones simultáneas en casos donde se trabaje con cultivos de ciclo largo (como la yuca y la caña de azúcar), en los cuales, si se han prirorizado limitantes en las fases de proceso y comercialización, pueden adelantarse innovaciones en estos componentes mientras avanza el desarrollo del cultivo. El GIAR, con el apoyo del facilitador, debe seguir los siguientes pasos:4Analizar las limitantes y las oportunidades: revisar las relaciones entre la oferta y la demanda 4Buscar las soluciones potenciales: la búsqueda de opciones tecnológicas puede realizarse entre diversas fuentes, otras poblaciones, agencias de desarrollo, centros de investigación nacional e internacional y organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales. 4Seleccionar las opciones a ensayar: las opciones encontradas pueden ser comparadas y evaluadas de acuerdo con los criterios identificados por el GIAR y el facilitador. Para esto, se puede utilizar la siguiente tabla: Iniciar a escala pequeña: con el propósito de minimizar el riesgo y observar las oportunidades del experimento con las opciones.Realizar ensayos simples: evitar utilizar múltiples opciones y criterios que dificulten el manejo y comparación de datos por parte de los participantes del GIAR.Planear las evaluaciones de los ensayos: antes de iniciar los ensayos se debe facilitar una discusión con el GIAR en la que se considere:4¿ Q ué características de la nueva tecnología necesitan ser evaluadas? 4¿C ómo debe planearse la medición de las tecnologías? 4¿ Q ué control o testigo utilizar durante el tratamiento? Iniciar a escala pequeña:Realizar ensayos simples:Planear las evaluaciones de los ensayos:Ensayar las opciones: 4Identificar y proveer los materiales necesarios para el ensayo de las opciones 4Suministrar la información técnica necesaria para desarrollar el ensayo 4 H acer visitas antes del establecimiento del ensayo 4 H acer un plan de seguimiento regular y realizar discusiones para evaluar avances y resolver problemas 4Realizar una evaluación del estado inicial del componente que se va a evaluar, antes de la intervenci ón Evaluar las opciones: como los int egrantes del GIAR han ensayado y evaluado nuevas tecnologías, es necesario identificar y evaluar con ellos los impactos de dichas tecnologías para determinar así si se establece a una escala mayor. Para lograr esto es necesario:4U n monitoreo regular 4H acer mediciones (determinar rendimientos, eficiencias, etc.) 4Realizar encuentros entre los GIAR y otros actores clave de la cadena La siguiente tabla resumen puede ser utilizada como herramienta para el desarrollo del Plan de acción y como parte del seguimiento.nsayar las opciones:Evaluar las opciones:Ta bla 14 Selección de la tecnología U na vez definidas la forma y las herramientas que se van a utilizar en los ensayos, se procede a ejecutar el Plan de Acción, asegurándose de realizar el seguimiento a los ensayos y la recolección de los datos que va a arrojando el proceso. P aso 9: A n álisis d e r esul t a d os U na vez se han obtenido los resultados, se analizan entre el GIAR, el facilitador y el oferente de tecnología. En este encuentro no sólo se deben discutir los resultados, también es un espacio para resaltar los conocimientos y aprendizajes adquiridos en el marco de la Alianza para la Innovación. Así mismo, se deben tener en cuenta tanto los resultados satisfactorios como los no satisfactorios y analizar qué cambios se deben implementar para la siguiente innovación. Esta etapa debe ser desarrollada pensando en la forma como se socializarán los resultados con los integrantes de la cadena productiva que no hacen parte de la Alianza. P aso 10: D i f usió n d e la inn o va c ió n Los resultados obtenidos del proceso deben ser compartidos con los actores de la cadena productiva que no hacen parte del GIAR. Por ello, el grupo debe definir la estrategia que utilizará, para lo cual puede tener en cuenta los siguientes aspectos:4 O bjetivos de su estrategia 4Usuarios a los cuales desea dirigirse 4M ensajes que serán difundidos 4M edios que serán utilizados:Días de campo Visita a los ensayos Ferias Actividades participativas en sus regiones M aterial impreso 4M ecanismos de monitoreo, evaluación y retroinformación.En esta fase es importante vincular las iniciativas de comunicación presentes en la zona, como las radios comunitarias, los telecentros, los murales, entre otros, que puedan apoyar la difusión de las innovaciones obtenidas.Además, el GIAR también puede apoyarse en las redes de intercambio que poseen los integrantes de la Alianza.Este punto es muy importante para conocer el nivel de aceptación de los receptores sobre los resultados y la metodología utilizada. Así mismo, servirá para identificar y obtener nuevas oportunidades y limitantes de innovación.\"El GIAR me cambió como extensionista porque adquirí nuevos conocimientos y más experiencia en mis quehaceres diarios para retransmitirlos a otras comunidades. Ese es el papel del técnico: apoyar al pequeño productor para que siga su innovación y, a la misma vez, retroalimentarse para divulgar los resultados\"Asistente Técnico M unicipal Participante de la experiencia en Cauca, C olombia.Preguntas Ta bla 5 Ta bla resumen p a a el seguimiento al pla n de acción","tokenCount":"9881"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0661538375.json b/data/part_1/0661538375.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7f395a094667059a2871b2341a0ed2177078e112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0661538375.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e1c2275794c82f591859d0f3cbc07a7e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c4ebccff-0ba1-4702-a54a-96ecd5d29df1/retrieve","id":"554454623"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c383492b-d4b2-4ae9-ad0e-cb028c24bb7d","pagecount":"11","content":"Cassava production in the central, southern and eastern parts of Africa is under threat by cassava brown streak virus (CBSV). Yield losses of up to 100% occur in cases of severe infections of edible roots. Easy illegal movement of planting materials across African countries, and long-range movement of the virus vector (Bemisia tabaci) may facilitate spread of CBSV to West Africa. Thus, effort to pre-emptively breed for CBSD resistance in W. Africa is critical. Genomic selection (GS) has become the main approach for cassava breeding, as costs of genotyping per sample have declined. Using phenotypic and genotypic data (genotyping-by-sequencing), followed by imputation to whole genome sequence (WGS) for 922 clones from National Crops Resources Research Institute, Namulonge, Uganda as a training population (TP), we predicted CBSD symptoms for 35 genotyped W. African clones, evaluated in Uganda. The highest prediction accuracy (r = 0.44) was observed for cassava brown streak disease severity scored at three months (CBSD3s) in the W. African clones using WGS-imputed markers. Optimized TPs gave higher prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s than random TPs of the same size. Inclusion of CBSD QTL chromosome markers as kernels, increased prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s. Similarly, WGS imputation of markers increased prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and for cassava brown streak disease root severity (CBSDRs), but not for CBSD6s. Based on these results we recommend TP optimization, inclusion of CBSD QTL markers in genomic prediction models, and the use of high-density (WGS-imputed) markers for CBSD predictions across population.low yields in Africa include both abiotic (low soil fertility and socioeconomic factors such as lack of access to improved varieties) and biotic factors (Nweke 2004). The most devastating biotic stresses today are the cassava brown streak (CBSD) and cassava mosaic (CMD) diseases (Maruthi et al., 2005;Mware et al., 2009). Of these two virus-induced diseases, CBSD is the most important constraint to cassava production in central, eastern and southern Africa as it causes yield losses of up to 100% (Alicai et al., 2007;Hillocks et al., 2016).Phylogenetic analysis of complete viral RNA genome sequences taken from CBSD symptomatic plants, sampled across eastern and southern Africa, revealed two clades of distinct CBSD-causing virus species that were named: Uganda cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) and cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) (Winter et al., 2010;Mohammed et al., 2011;Patil et al., 2015;Alicai et al., 2016;Mbewe et al., 2017). The two species belong to genus Ipomovirus within the family of Potyviridae, and share an identity of 70% and 74% at the level of nucleotide and polyprotein amino acid sequences, respectively (Monger et al., 2001;Winter et al., 2010). Cassava brown streak disease symptoms on cassava leaves manifest as feathery chlorosis around secondary veins, which may disappear when new growth starts after a period of drought-induced leaf abscission (Hillocks 2004). While on the roots, CBSD symptoms externally present as radial constriction, and internally as brown necrotic lesions on part or all of the starchy root, making it inedible (Hillocks 2004;Hillocks et al., 2016).Although the first incidence of CBSD was reported in 1930s (Storey and Nichols 1938), little attention was paid to it, because geographically CBSD was confined to the low altitudes of east African coastal region (less than 1000 m.a.s.l). Nonetheless, CBSD has spread rapidly to other countries including; Uganda, Burundi, DRC, Mozambique and Rwanda in the last two decades to cover wider range of altitudes than previously reported (Hillocks et al., 2002;Alicai et al., 2007;Legg et al., 2011;Mulimbi et al., 2012). Cassava brown streak disease is commonly spread through sharing of infected stem cuttings for propagation, in addition to super-abundant whitefly Bemisia tabaci, as a vector (Hillocks and Jennings 2003;Njoroge et al., 2017).Officially, genetic materials can move from W. Africa to E. Africa, but movement in the reverse direction is prohibited to prevent accidental introduction of CBSD-causing viruses in W. Africa. Nevertheless, the free movement of planting materials across farming communities has led to increased fear that CBSD could spread to other regions, including West Africa (Legg et al., 2014;Patil et al., 2015;Beyene et al., 2017). Given the current impact of CBSD on cassava production in endemic countries, effort needs to be in place to avert or minimize future CBSD impact in W. Africa, especially Nigeria the world's leading cassava producer. Among other methods, Legg et al., (2014) proposed preemptive breeding for CBSD resistant clones in W. Africa.High levels of field resistance to CBSD have been reported from genetically transformed plants with coat protein of UCBSV and CBSV, compared to non-transformed plants (Ogwok et al., 2012;Odipio et al., 2014;Beyene et al., 2017;Wagaba et al., 2017). However, the transgenic CBSD resistant clones are still within research confinement, because of unclear regulatory frameworks regarding field production of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in Uganda and east Africa at large. Other efforts to breed for CBSD resistance in E. Africa are geared toward identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for CBSD resistance, with the aim of developing molecular markers to implement marker-assisted selection (MAS). A number of QTL mapping studies for CBSD resistance in E. African germplasm have been conducted, and the studies pointed out both unique and overlapping QTL regions for which markers could be developed for MAS (Kayondo et al., 2018;Masumba et al., 2017;Nzuki et al., 2017). One of the highest effect QTL detected involved a bi-parental mapping population from a cross between Kiroba and AR37-80 that explained 18% of total phenotypic variance (Nzuki et al., 2017). However, using bi-parental QTL to develop markers for MAS is only feasible if the QTL are validated in other breeding populations. Furthermore, the recent genome-wide association studies conducted by Kayondo et al. (2018), using same training populations, confirmed the polygenic nature of CBSD resistance previously reported (Kawuki et al., 2016).Genomic selection, proposed by Meuwissen et al. (2001) provides an option for using DNA markers for traits that are truly quantitative, where no single causal locus accounts for a major fraction of the variation for selection decisions. Genomic selection (GS) relies on a genome-wide distribution of markers to ensure all QTL have at least one marker in high LD, enabling selection on highly polygenic traits. Genomic selection is typically done using a phenotyped and genotyped training population to estimate genome-wide marker effects (Hayes et al., 2009). The genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) for all genotyped individuals can then be computed as the sum of marker effects multiplied by the marker genotypes across the whole genome (Meuwissen, et al., 2001). These GEBVs aim to capture all QTL accounting for variation in target traits (Hayes et al., 2009).Although GS has reportedly outperformed traditional selection methods such MAS and marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) for quantitative traits (Goiffon 2016), successful implementation of genomic selection depends on a number of factors including: trait heritability, marker density, the size of the training population, the relationship between the training population (TP) and the selection candidates (Jannink et al., 2010;Heffner et al., 2011;Nielsen et al., 2016).Increases in prediction accuracy have been reported by composing training populations from optimal subsets of individuals chosen to minimize the expected prediction error variance (PEV) of the selection candidates compared to using random subsets or even the full set of available individuals (Rincent et al., 2012;Akdemir et al., 2015;Isidro et al., 2015;Yu et al., 2016). Furthermore, studies have shown increased prediction accuracies with inclusion of prior QTL information in genomic prediction models. For example, a study by Haffliger, (2016) for reproductive traits in Swiss pig breeds revealed a significant increase in prediction accuracy for piglets when previously detected reproductive trait QTL markers were included in the prediction model.Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the use of genomic predictions of West African clones using training data from a Ugandan population as a pre-emptive breeding strategy for CBSD resistance. Specifically we tested CBSD prediction accuracies for (i) different sizes of training populations across genomic prediction models (ii) random and optimized training sets, (iii) models with incorporation of prior CBSD QTL, and (iv) high and low density marker panels.The training population comprised 922 clones, combined from two experimental trials. For consistency, we refer to the trials as training population 1 (TP1) and training population 2 (TP2). A total of 400 clones (TP1) were generated from crossing diverse parents that were assembled from International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania, and National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Uganda. The introductions from CIAT targeted improvement for quality and yield traits, while the germplasm from the IITA, Tanzania and NaCRRI breeding programs targeted resistance to CBSD.Crosses were made among the progenitors to generate TP1 in 2009-2010, from which both controlled crosses and open-pollinated seeds were harvested. After seedling evaluation, the first clonal evaluation for TP1 was done at Namulonge in 2012-2013 by conducting an un-replicated experiment, and afterward expanded to three sites (Kasese, Ngetta and Namuloge) for the second year of clonal evaluation, planted in alpha lattice design, in single row plots of 10 plants, replicated twice.The second training population (TP2) comprised 522 clones, generated from open-pollinated seeds that were harvested from the first clonal evaluation trial of TP1. Similar to TP1, after a year of seedling evaluation (2013-2014), TP2 was planted for the first clonal evaluations in 2014 at two sites (Namulonge and Kamuli). In 2015, TP2 was replanted for the second year of clonal evaluation, with the trials expanded to three sites (Namulonge, Kamuli, Serere). Thus, Namulonge was the only overlapping evaluation site between TP1 and TP2. The clonal evaluations for TP2 were established in an augmented incomplete block design with six common checks per block, and each plot within a block containing 10 plants established in a single row. Planting of all the trials was done at spacing of 1 m • 1 m adopted within and between rows, while blocks were separated by 2 m alleys.Data on foliar CBSD severity was collected at three and six months after planting (MAP), while the roots were evaluated for CBSD severity at 12 MAP. Foliar severity for CBSD was assessed on a scale of 1-5 (Hillocks and Thresh 2000), where: 1 = no symptom; 2 = slight foliar chlorotic leaf mottle with no stem lesions; 3 = foliar chlorotic leaf mottle and blotches with mild stem lesions, but no die back; 4 = foliar chlorotic leaf mottle and blotches with pronounced stem lesions, but no die back; and 5 = defoliation with stem lesions and dieback. To assess root necrosis severity, each root was sliced transversely 5-7 times and the cross-sections scored for necrotic symptoms on a scale of 1-5 (Hillocks and Thresh 2000), where: 1 = no necrosis, 2 = # 5% necrotic; 3 = 6-10% necrotic; 4 = 11-25% necrotic and mild root constriction; and 5 = .25% necrotic and severe root constriction.In 2015, we received a total of 95 clones that constituted part of IITA, Nigeria genetic gain population for implementing genomic selection (Wolfe et al., 2017). These clones were shipped to Uganda in the form of tissue culture plantlets. The first set of 30 clones was received in February 2015 and the second lot of 65 clones was received in June 2015. The plantlets were multiplied in tissue culture and further hardened in a screen house for three months.In August and November 2015, the first set of 30 and the second set of 65 clones were planted in the field at Namulonge. This was done to generate adequate stem cuttings for establishment of replicated field trials. In September 2016, we established a trial for the first set of 27 clones that survived, in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated twice, with each plot containing 10 plants in a single row.For the second set of 65 clones, unfortunately we lost more than half of the clones due to drought that occurred a month after their first field exposure in 2015. The remaining 22 clones that survived were planted in November 2016, again using an RCBD, replicated twice. In contrast to the first set of 27 clones, there was only enough planting material for five plants per plot. Cassava brown streak disease phenotyping was conducted as described previously. All infections occurred under natural conditions.Approximately 100 mg of fresh tissue was collected from tender apical leaves of TP1 and TP2 clones for DNA extraction. DNA was extracted following the protocol for the QIAGEN DNeasy extraction kit and quantified using the PicoGreen DNA quantification kit to ensure the required concentrations were obtained for sequencing. The extracted DNA samples were shipped to the Cornell University Genomics Diversity Facility for genotyping, using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach (Elshire et al., 2011). The GBS libraries were constructed using the ApeKI restriction enzyme as described previously (Rabbi et al., 2014).Marker genotypes were called using TASSEL GBS pipeline v4 (Glaubitz et al., 2014), after aligning the reads to the Cassava reference genome v6 (Prochnik et al., 2012). Using VCFtools, Variant Calling Format (VCF) files were generated for each chromosome. Genotypes with less than five reads were masked before imputation. Similarly, markers with more than 60% missing calls were removed. Only bi-allelic GBS SNP markers were considered for further processing. Missing markers were imputed using Beagle 4.1 software (Browning and Browning 2016), with default parameter settings. In all, 46,760 SNPs remained, which we referred to as the \"GBS\" markers.In addition, we used a second set of markers, which we referred to as \"whole genome sequence\" imputed (or \"WGS-imputed\") markers. Using IMPUTE2 software, the GBS samples were imputed to a marker set equivalent to what we would get from actual whole genome sequencing. The details of the imputation procedure are described by Lozano et al., (2017). Briefly, the WGS imputation relied on the cassava HapMapII, a collection of 241 genome-sequenced samples (Ramu et al., 2017) as a reference panel. This reference panel comprised mainly of improved cassava clones under cultivation and a few wild relatives, and contained $28 million SNP markers (Lozano et al., 2017). The set of markers referred to as \"WGS-imputed\" hereafter, included $5 million SNPs, after filtering for minor allele frequencies (MAF) $ 0.01.Analyses of phenotypic data: Because of differences in trial design for TP1 and TP2 as well as the IITA clones, two-step genomic prediction analyses were done. In the first step of the analyses, linear mixed models accounting for each trial's design were fitted and de-regressed BLUPs were obtained for TP1 and TP2. For TP1, we fitted the model:using the lmer function from the lme4 R package (R Development Core Team 2008). In this model, b defined the fixed effect for the population mean and location, with X as the corresponding incidence matrix. The incidence matrix Z clone and the vector c represented random effect for clones c $ Nð0; Is 2 c Þ, and I represented the identity matrix. The range variable, which was the row or column along which plots were arrayed, was nested in location-replication and was represented by the incidence matrix Z range(loc.) and random effects vector r $ Nð0; Is 2 r Þ. Block effects were nested in ranges and incorporated as random term with incidence matrix Z block(range) and effects vector b $ Nð0; Is 2 b Þ. Residuals e were distributed as e $ Nð0; Is 2 e Þ. For TP2 (522 clones), we fitted the linear mixed modelwhere y was the vector of raw phenotypes, b included a fixed effect for the population mean and location with checks included as a covariate. The incidence matrix Z clone and the vector c were similar for both TP1 and TP2. The blocks were also modeled with incidence matrix Z block , and b represented the random effect for the blocks. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) of the clone effects were extracted as de-regressed BLUPs following the formula proposed by Garrick et al., (2009).Here, PEV represented the prediction error variances for the BLUPs and s 2 c was the clone variance. For the IITA clones, we fitted the following mixed model:Where y was a vector of raw phenotypes, b included a fixed effect for the population mean. The incidence matrix Z clone and the vector c represented random effect for clones c $ Nð0; Is 2 c Þ and I represented the identity matrix, and the replication nested in the trials was modeled with incidence matrix Z repðtrialÞ , with random effect b representing replications nested within trial for the first set of 27 and second set of 22 clones, with 14 overlapping clones between the sets. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) were extracted from the model and subsequently used as the validation data for estimation of genomic prediction accuracies of CBSD for the 35 unique IITA clones. In addition, variance components were extracted from the model to compute plot based broad-sense heritability estimates.Population structure: To assess population structure, we used the GBS markers of TP1, TP2, and the 35 IITA clones. These markers were filtered to have MAF $ 0.01 and formatted as a dosage matrix with SNP genotypes coded as -1, 0, or +1. Principal component analysis (PCA) was done on the SNP matrix, using the prcomp function in R. The first two principal components (PC) were used to visualize population structure.Cross-validation prediction accuracies for IITA clones: Weestimated prediction accuracies for foliar CBSD severities evaluated at three (CBSD3s) and six (CBSD6s) months, and root severity at 12 months (CBSDRs), using a fivefold cross validation scheme, replicated 10 times for IITA clones from a single-step genomic best linear unbiased predictor (G-BLUP) model. For each replication in the cross-validation scheme, the 35 IITA clones were randomly divided into five groups of 7 clones each (folds). Four groups at a time were used as the training population to build the prediction model, while excluding the fifth group, which was used as the model validation set. This was repeated for all the 5-folds for each of the 10 replications. Prediction accuracies were computed as the Pearson correlation coefficient between the genomic estimated breeding values predicted for the validation set and the corresponding BLUPs obtained from the first-step of the analysis for 35 unique individuals in the test set (IITA clones).Genomic prediction of CBSD for IITA clones: We tested genomic prediction accuracies under four scenarios: (i) optimized training populations across genomic selection models (ii) optimized vs. random subset training populations for G-BLUP only (iii) models with inclusion of kernels defined by chromosomes on which CBSD QTL have been found (single and multi-kernel G-BLUP models), and (iv) high and low density marker panels for G-BLUP model.To optimize the training population, we used the selection of training population with a genetic algorithm (STPGA), GenAlgForSubsetSelection, from the R package STPGA (Akdemir et al., 2015). The algorithm identifies a subset of a specified size from a larger pool of potential training individuals. To do this, STPGA finds the set of individuals that minimize the mean prediction error variance (mean PEV) expected for test set, using molecular marker data.For STPGA training population optimization, we used the first 50 principal components (PC's) of the eigenvalue decomposition of the marker matrix as a dimension reduction approach. The pool of potential training individuals was the combined TP1 and TP2 (N = 922) described above and the target or test set were the IITA clones. We optimized 20 training populations within each size of training population specified in STPGA. In scenario (i), the optimum training populations for each training population size (100, 200, 400, 800 and full set = 922) were used to predict CBSD with four genomic prediction models namely; G-BLUP, Bayes-A, Bayes-B and Bayesian Lasso (Lorenz et al., 2011;Heslot et al., 2012).Under scenario (ii), we tested the performance of STPGA by comparing the optimized sets from scenario (i) with random subsets of the same size. We chose to compare optimized and random sets for population of sizes of 200 and 400, based on results from analyses in scenario (i), and for each training size we compared 20 sets for both random and optimized TPs, using G-BLUP model because of it robustness and computational efficiency.In the single kernel model, all GBS markers were fitted with one realized genomic relationship matrix K, according to the formula described by VanRaden, ( 2008). The relationship matrix was constructed using A.mat function in rrBLUP package (Endelman 2011). The model was specified as:g Þ and e $ Nð0; Is 2 e Þ, where y was the vector of de-regressed BLUPs, u 0 was an overall population mean, Z was the design matrix linking observations to genomic values, g was the vector of genomic estimated breeding values for each clone, and e was the vector of residuals. We assumed, g had a known covariance structure defined by the realized genomic relationship matrix K.Previously, QTL for CBSD have been reported on chromosomes 4 and 11 (Kawuki et al., 2016;Kayondo et al., 2018). We used all the markers on the two chromosomes (Chr.4 and 11) because significant markers covered essentially the whole of Chr. 4 for CBSD6s and about half of Chr. 11 for both CBSD3s and CBSD6s (Kayondo et al., 2018). Therefore, we also fitted a multi-kernel G-BLUP model with two realized genomic relationship matrices, constructed using A.mat function as described above. In this model, the first genomic relationship matrix incorporated all markers from both chromosome 4 and 11, while the second genomic relationship matrix was derived from the rest of the genomic markers. The model was:Here, y was the vector of de-regressed BLUPs, u 0 was an overall mean, Z was the design matrix linking observations to genomic values, q was the vector of genomic values captured by combined QTL markers linked to CBSD resistance, r was the vector of genomic values captured by the remaining set of genetic markers, and e was a vector of residuals. The random genetic effects for both kernels with their variance-covariance structure K, and the residuals were assumed to be normally distributed as q $ Nð0; K q s 2 q Þ, r $ Nð0; K r s 2 r Þ and e $ Nð0; Is 2 e Þ. Furthermore,wefittedamulti-kernelG-BLUPmodelwiththree genomic relationship matrices, where the first and second realized genomic relationship matrices were defined by all the markers on chromosomes 4 and 11 respectively, while the third kernel contained markers from the remaining 16 chromosomes. The model was:Here, y was the vector of de-regressed BLUPs, u 0 was an overall mean, Z was the design matrix linking observations to genomic values, p and s were the vectors of genomic values captured by QTL markers on chromosome 4 and 11 respectively, r was the vector of genomic values captured by the remaining set of genetic markers, and e was the vector of residuals. The random effects, including the residual-term were assumed to be normally distributed as p $ Nð0; K p s 2 p Þ, $ Nð0; K s s 2 s Þ, r $ Nð0; K r s 2 r Þ and e $ Nð0; Is 2 e Þ. For both single and multi-kernel G-BLUP analyses, we used the two EMMREML functions, emmreml and emmremlMultiKernel to fit single and multi-kernel G-BLUP models respectively (Akdemir and Okeke 2015). Lastly, we tested prediction accuracies of CBSD3s, CBSD6s and CBSDRs using high-density (WGS-imputed) markers and compared that to low-density (GBS) markers used in the analyses described above. For the high-density set, we fitted the single-and multi-kernel G-BLUP models described above, using training populations of 200 and 400 clones that were optimized using either the GBS or the WGS markers. Because the results of these two optimizations were quite similar, we only reported results from the GBS optimizations.All the raw phenotypic and genotypic data are available at the link provided for references. Supplemental material available at Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25387/g3.7242851.Population structure, heritability and cross-validation within IITA clones Principal component analyses on the SNP marker matrix showed no genetic differentiation among the TP1, TP2 and IITA clones. This was supported by PC1 and PC2 explaining only 8.75% and 5.69% of the total genetic variations, respectively (Figure 1 and Figure S6). Estimates of plotbasis broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) were computed for CBSD3s, CBSD6s and CBSDRs for the 35 IITA clones (Table 1). Broad-sense heritability estimates spanned from 0.42 to 0.64 for CBSD3s and CBSDRs respectively. In addition to broad-sense heritability, we estimated narrow-sense heritability for IITA clones using a single step G-BLUP model.The lowest and highest narrow-sense heritability of 0.35 and 0.69 were recorded for CBSD3s and CBSDRs, respectively (Figure 2). The average prediction accuracies from fivefold cross-validation replicated 10 times for the IITA clones were 0.40, 0.21 and 0.08 for CBSD3s, CBSD6s and CBSDRs, respectively (Figure 2). We did not do cross validation within the training set here, because the training population was previously cross-validated (Kayondo et al., 2018). Previous predictive accuracy for CBSD-related traits, had mean values across methods of 0.29 (CBSD3s), 0.40 (CBSD6s) and 0.34 (CBSDRs) for cross-validation within NaCRRI training set.In general, the mean CBSD prediction accuracies were higher for foliar than root necrosis for the different optimized training population sizes  across genomic prediction models (Table 2). For CBSD3s, the prediction accuracies ranged from 0.24 (Bayes-A) to 0.36 (Bayesian Lasso). Prediction accuracies spanned from 0.14 (Bayesian Lasso) to 0.28 (G-BLUP) for CBSD6s. For CBSDRs, accuracies included negative values, ranging from -0.29 (Bayes-A) to 0.11 (Bayes-A) across different optimized training sets. The models did not differ much in terms of their prediction accuracies for three traits (CBSD3s, CBSD6s and CBSDRs) across optimized training populations of 100, 200, 400, 800, and full set of 922 clones. Surprisingly, Bayesian Lasso consistently had higher prediction accuracies than the other three prediction models (G-BLUP, Bayes-A and Bayes-B) for CBSD3s across the optimized TP sizes, but performed worse than those three models for CBSD6s across optimized TPs (Table 2).Prediction accuracies for optimized training populations across the four models tested increased from 100 to 400 for CBSD3s to attain a plateau and declined as the optimized training population was increased to 800 and the full set of 922 clones. However, no clear trend in prediction accuracies were observed for CBSDRs for the different sizes of optimized training population (Table 2).We compared CBSD prediction accuracies from random and optimized training populations of size 200 and 400 clones using the G-BLUP model. We chose these two sample sizes because they maximized prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s (Table 2). For both 200 and 400 clones, the prediction accuracies were higher for optimized training sets than for the random subsets for CBSD3s and CBSD6s (Figure 3; Table S6). For example, at training population size of 200, the mean prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s were 0.27 and 0.28 compared to 0.11 and -0.01 for the corresponding random subsets. Similarly, at training population size of 400 clones, the mean prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s were 0.32 and 0.19 relative to 0.10 and 0.04 for the random subsets (Figure 3; Table S7). We observed markedly lower standard errors as measures of variation in prediction accuracies across the traits for the optimized training populations, compared to the random subsets (Figure 3). However, no strong differences were observed for CBSDRs (Figure 3).In general, foliar CBSD prediction accuracies for training population size of 200 and 400 were higher for multi-kernel models (K_2 and K_3) with separate kernels fitted for CBSD QTL chromosome markers than single kernel (K_1) G-BLUP models (Figure 4). Prediction accuracies for CBSD3s increased from 0.27 for the single kernel G-BLUP, termed as \"K_1\" model to 0.31 for two-kernel G-BLUP model referred to as \"K_2\", and to 0.32 for the three-kernel model referred to as \"K_3\" in the optimized TPs of 200 clones (Figure 4; Table S8). Similarly, for CBSD6s, prediction accuracies increased from 0.28 for single kernel G-BLUP model to 0.37 with three-kernels (Figure 4; Table S8). No such increase was observed for CBSDRs. Notably, the mean prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s from multi-kernel G-BLUP models were statistically significantly different (P # 0.05) from zero. Nevertheless, no differences were observed for CBSDRs prediction accuracies between single-and multi-kernel G-BLUP models at TP size of 200.For the optimized training population size of 400, a similar trend of increased prediction accuracies was observed from single-to CBSD3s = Cassava brown streak disease severity scored at three months, CBSD6s = Cassava brown streak disease severity scored at six months, CBSDRs = Cassava brown streak disease root severity scored at 12 months; TP100, TP200, TP400, TP800 and TP922 = Optimized training populations of size 100, 200, 400, 800 and a full set of 922 clones, ns = non-significant prediction accuracies (r), Ã accuracy significantly different from zero (P # 0.05). multi-kernel G-BLUP models for both CBSD3s and CBSD6s. The mean prediction accuracies for CBSD6s were not significantly different from zero. Prediction accuracies did not vary much for CBSDRs between single-and multi-kernel G-BLUP models (Figure 4; Table S9).Comparing prediction accuracies for high (WGS-imputed) and low (GBS) density markers Single kernel G-BLUP prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs were higher for WGS-imputed, than GBS markers for both optimized training population sizes of 200 and 400 clones (Figure 5). For CBSD6s, however, predictions accuracies were lower for high-density (WGS-imputed) at both training population sizes. For single kernel G-BLUP, prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs increased from 0.27 to 0.35, and -0.03 to 0.18 from low to high-density marker sets at the optimized training population size of 200 clones (Table S11). Similarly, predictions accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs increased from 0.32 to 0.39, and -0.01 to 0.16 from low-density (GBS) and high-density (WGS-imputed) markers for the training populations of 400 clones (Figure 5; Table S12). The second kernel is defined by the remaining markers. K_3= Multi-kernel G-BLUP, the first and second kernels are defined by markers from chromosomes 4 and 11 respectively, and third kernel is defined by the remaining markers. Fitting multi-kernel G-BLUP models including kernels defined by markers on CBSD QTL chromosomes 4 and 11 for high-density markers did not always increase prediction accuracies (Tables S11 and S12). The highest prediction accuracy of 0.44 (CBSD3s) was recorded from the multi-kernel G-BLUP model, fitted with high density (WGS-imputed) markers for the optimized training population of 400 clones (Table S12). In other cases, prediction accuracies actually dropped from single-to multi-kernel models. For example, prediction accuracy for CBSD3s dropped from 0.35 for single-kernel to 0.32 for multi-kernel (three kernels) at the training population size of 200 clones (Table S11). Overall, the prediction accuracies for high and low-density marker sets were similar between the multi-kernel models regardless of the optimized training population size (Tables S11 and S12).Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) caused by Uganda cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) and cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) has continued to be a major threat to cassava productivity in southern, eastern and central parts of Africa. Recently, CBSD causing viruses were declared the leading biological enemy to cassava productions in CBSD endemic zones of Sub-Sahara Africa (Legg et al., 2014). Concerted efforts such as quarantine, disease surveillance, and breeding for resistance have taken center-stage to prevent further spread of CBSD to W. Africa, especially Nigeria, the world's largest producer and consumer of cassava. In this paper, we leveraged genome-wide prediction approaches as a potential means to enable pre-emptive breeding for CBSD resistance in W. Africa.For optimized training populations of 100, 200, 400, 800 and 922 clones, the highest prediction accuracies were observed at the training population sizes of 200 (G-BLUP) and 400 (Bayes-B) clones for CBSD6s and CBSD3s respectively. Our findings were similar to that of Wolfe et al. (2017), where prediction accuracy of 0.37 for CMD was observed for both the smallest and largest optimized training sizes of 300 and 900, respectively in cross-population prediction, suggesting that accuracies similar to that of the full set can be obtained with a small but carefully selected TP in relation to the test set.Overall, the cross-population prediction accuracies for IITA clones, based on optimized training populations and various prediction models (spanning 0.24 to 0.36), were comparable for CBSD3s to those reported previously for the cross-validation within NaCRRI training set, ranging from 0.27 to 0.32 (Kayondo et al., 2018). In contrast, for CBSD6s, our prediction accuracies (0.14 to 0.28) were lower than accuracies reported by Kayondo et al. (2018), which ranged from 0.40 to 0.42. The similarity in foliar CBSD prediction accuracy for CBSD3s indicates some genetic signal for CBSD foliar symptom expression for IITA clones was captured by optimal NaCRRI training subsets. Unfortunately, our cross-population prediction accuracies for CBSDRs for optimized TPs were generally lower than the accuracies reported for cross-validation within NaCRRI training population for CBSDRs. In part, the negative prediction accuracies for CBSDR could be explained by GxE interaction for TP1 and TP2 (Table S13 and Figure S4). However, the GxE variances relative to genetic variances were low and therefore unlikely to explain fully the poor prediction accuracies observed for CBSD root necrosis in W. African clones. Also, we observed stronger linkage disequilibrium (LD) in NaCRRI training set than in the IITA test population (Figure S7), suggesting some differences in the LD decay rate between the two populations, which could partly explain the low prediction accuracies observed for CBSDRs in W. African clones. In such a case, there is need to first phenotype clones of W. African descent (i.e., belonging to the W. African subpopulation) in E. Africa, and subsequently use the data generated for predicting CBSD resistance in W. African clones. One option would be to send many W. African clones to E. Africa as tissue culture plantlets. As observed in this study, cost and mortality are high for this option. Another possibility would be to send botanical seeds of W. African clones to E. Africa for evaluation.We did not observe consistent superior performance for any of the prediction models that we tested or for any of the CBSD traits analyzed. Several studies have reported similar results in that most prediction models perform similarly (Jannink et al., 2010;Heslot et al., 2012;Roorkiwal et al., 2016). Even though the models tested in the present study assumed different distributions of marker effects (Meuwissen et al., 2001;Lorenz et al., 2011), their similarity in prediction accuracies could be interpreted as approximation to optimal genomic prediction models, where all the models capture the same or similar QTL effects across the genome (Su et al., 2014). In such a situation, the choice of GS model would be less important than the actual design of the training population for across-population predictions.Prediction accuracies can be improved by targeting more informative individuals in the reference panel used to generate the predictions and this has been demonstrated in several crop species (Rincent et al., 2012;Akdemir et al., 2015). In general, we observed higher prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSD6s from optimized compared with randomly selected training set of the same size. For example, at TP size of 200 clones, our prediction accuracies for CBSD3s was 0.27 with the optimized compared to 0.11 from the random subset. Similar findings were made by Wolfe et al. (2017), where STPGA-optimized training populations performed better than random subsets for a number of important cassava traits, including dry matter content (DMC), harvest index (HI), mean cassava mosaic disease and plant vigor. Our results, therefore, serve to further stress the importance of training population optimization for cross-population prediction.Studies have shown increased prediction accuracies with inclusion of prior QTL information in genomic prediction models. For example, a study by Haffliger, (2016) for reproductive traits in Swiss pig breeds revealed a significant increase in prediction accuracy for piglets when previously detected reproductive trait QTL markers were included in the prediction model. From the training population used in this study, two recent studies identified CBSD QTL on chromosomes 4 for CBSD3s and CBSD6s, and 11 for CBSD6s and CBSDRs (Kawuki et al., 2016;Kayondo et al., 2018). In addition, bi-parental mapping studies have had similar results (Masumba et al., 2017;Nzuki et al., 2017). In an attempt to improve across-population prediction accuracies for CBSD symptoms, we chose to directly model the Chromosome 4 and 11 (Chr.4 and Chr.11) QTL by incorporating random effects for the markers on those chromosomes into our prediction. Prediction accuracies increased for CBSD3s and CBSD6s, but not for CBSDRs. The benefit was greatest for prediction accuracy of CBSD6s which increased by 9%, when three realized relationship matrices (Chr. 4 + Chr. 11 + the rest, optimized set of 200) were modeled. Although the percentage increase in prediction accuracies was less for the optimized TPs of 400 clones, we still observed increased prediction accuracies for CBSD6s, again when three relationship matrices were fitted. We observed a much higher increase in prediction accuracies for G-BLUP models that included the CBSD QTL as separate random effects, compared to the only marginal increase in prediction accuracies of 1.7% for CBSD3s and 2.5% for CBSDRs reported previously (Lozano et al., 2017).The higher prediction accuracies we observed by accounting for the CBSD QTL suggests that the development of genomic resources for cassava (Prochnik et al., 2012), the identification of QTL by GWAS (Wolfe et al., 2016;Lozano et al., 2017;Kayondo et al., 2018) and candidate genes by bioinformatics (Lozano et al., 2015) can provide benefits for genomic prediction, particularly in across-population prediction scenarios.In the present study, prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs were 8% and 18% higher for high-density (WGS-imputed) markers than low-density (GBS) markers from single kernel G-BLUP model for the optimized training population of size of 200 clones (Table S11). Several studies have demonstrated increased prediction accuracies as a function of increase marker density (Peixoto et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2017). In a recent study, using NaCRRI training population, prediction for CBSD-related traits, in a single kernel G-BLUP model was not improved by whole-genome imputation (Lozano et al., 2017). On the other hand, in a simulation study for across population genomic prediction in dairy cattle, De Roos et al., (2009) reported higher prediction accuracies, similar to the improvement we observed for CBSD3s and CBSDRs, when more markers were included in the model. The study concluded that the reliability of genomic predictions across populations is determined by the consistency of marker-QTL allelic phase between the populations. The more diverged the populations are, the denser the markers must be to ensure preservation of marker-QTL phase across the populations. Increased prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs in this study, could therefore be a result of whole genome sequence imputed markers more reliably capturing the correct marker-CBSD QTL phase across the two populations. Since the only additional cost incurred in generating WGSimputed markers is computational time, we believe that imputing the GBS markers to higher-density would benefit even poorly resourced breeding programs.We have presented the first empirical validation of genomic prediction for cassava brown streak disease across populations. Based on our results, training population optimization provided a benefit of increased prediction accuracies over random subset and full set of training population for foliar cassava brown streak disease. More importantly, inclusion of prior CBSD QTL information in our genomic prediction models reasonably increased foliar CBSD prediction increased for W. African clones. Furthermore, whole genome sequence imputed markers increased prediction accuracies for CBSD3s and CBSDRs. Future efforts to better predict CBSD resistance in W. Africa clones could focus initially on testing progeny from W. African germplasm, and later use the progeny evaluation data to train CBSD prediction models in W. African. Lastly, further research should target a much larger number of W. African test clones than we used in the current study.","tokenCount":"6523"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0662755033.json b/data/part_1/0662755033.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..42ded8bf0bf29112bcf977fc3559211233927394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0662755033.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b7168b680e2544cdd7f7e5202a917197","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/75217e32-eccf-4692-ab69-c336c8b73960/retrieve","id":"-431797278"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"441fed20-2ef2-4185-b779-1c2a1c72005a","pagecount":"14","content":"Cassava is usually grown for its starchy storage roots; however, in many sub-Saharan African countries, cassava leaves are harvested and consumed as a vegetable. This SOP deals with the determination of storage root yield and aboveground biomass.Cassava storage roots are commonly marketed as fresh roots and most yield data in the literature are expressed as fresh root yield, although this is in most cases not explicitly stated. This SOP provides guidelines to determine the storage root fresh and dry matter yields and the fresh and dry edible portion of the storage roots.Cassava is planted from stem cuttings and thus the amount or length of marketable planting material is of commercial interest. This SOP provides guidelines to determine the mass and the length of planting material.For agronomic and physiological purposes, the total plant biomass may be required. This SOP provides guidelines on how to determine the mass and the dry matter content of all aboveground plant material.1. Cassava total fresh root yield: mass of all recovered storage roots, un-peeled and with root tips and tops attached, at any unspecified water content as found at the time of harvest, including secondary storage roots (Fig. 1) and all other storage roots irrespective of their suitability for consumption or processing, yet excluding rotten roots, over the harvest area (see section 1.1). 2. Cassava useful fresh root yield: mass of roots, un-peeled and with root tips and tops attached, at any unspecified water content as found at the time of harvest, excluding all roots not deemed suitable for consumption or processing (too small, crooked, rotten, unspecified damage), over the harvest area (see 1.2). 3. Cassava edible fresh root yield: mass of peeled roots with tips and tops removed, at any unspecified water content as found at the time of harvest, excluding all roots not deemed suitable for consumption or processing (too small, crooked, rotten, unspecified damage), over the harvest area (see 1.3). 4. Cassava total dry root yield: dry mass (0% water) of all recovered storage roots, un-peeled and with root tips and tops attached, including secondary storage roots and all roots irrespective of their suitability for consumption or processing, yet excluding rotten roots, over the harvest area (see Module 2).5. Cassava useful dry root yield: dry mass (0% water) of un-peeled roots with root tips and tops attached, excluding all roots not deemed suitable for consumption or processing (too small, crooked, rotten, unspecified damage), over the harvest area (see Module 2). 6. Cassava edible dry root yield: dry mass (0% water) of peeled storage roots with tips and tops removed, excluding all roots not deemed suitable for consumption or processing (too small, crooked, rotten, unspecified damage) (see Module 2). 7. Cassava total aboveground biomass yield: total dry mass (0% water) of the planting stake, the stems, branches, fruit (if present) and leaves (see Module 3).Important note: This SOP is not suitable for systems in which roots are sequentially harvested from cassava plants, by digging out and cutting off individual roots, yet without uprooting the entire plant (often called 'milking').Cassava can be harvested over a long period, depending on the suitability of the different varieties: very early bulking varieties can be harvested from 6 months after planting (MAP), while varieties resistant to root rot may remain in the field for more than 2 years. Root and aboveground yields cannot be validly compared if the cassava was harvested at different crop ages. For this reason, the expression of the yield requires a correction for the time the crop occupied the field (see Module 5).Figure 1. Cassava storage roots with small secondary roots attached Ο, long slowly tapering tips Ο, pearl-string-like deformations Ο, and non-storage roots Ο Some of these roots may not be used for processing yet are part of the total fresh yield; non-storage roots are not part of the total root yield. Hereafter, the term 'root' refers to storage roots only.The definitions (above) show that cassava root yield can be expressed in several ways. Thus, the objective of the trials should determine which portion and category of the cassava roots is required to enable valid comparisons. For correct comparisons between varieties and treatments, and to relate cassava productivity to that of other crops, the most appropriate yield categories are the 'useful root dry matter' and the 'edible root dry matter' yields, respectively. Although only roots prepared for processing, i.e. peeled and tips and tops removed, are actually used for industrial purposes and in the human food chain, researchers continue to express cassava yields using the mass of raw roots. This can be compared with expressing maize yields on the cob, with the husks attached, at an unspecified water content, something that would not be accepted by peers and journals. This SOP is thus an appeal to consider the way cassava yields are expressed and to choose a category that presents the yield in an unbiased manner and validly comparable across varieties, treatments and other crops.• Data collection tools such as Open Data Kid (ODK) forms or any other electronic collection forms, paper data forms, stationery* • Field or trial plan* • Pegs to delineate the net plot • Cutlasses/machetes or large knives to dissect the plant and remove roots • Spade or other digging tool in case roots cannot be uprooted by pulling the planting stake • Large containers, buckets, basins or bags to transport roots from the field and for weighing them • Caliper to determine root diameter (useful root yield) • Knives to cut off non-storage roots, tops and tips, and to peel (edible root yield) • Brushes to clean roots of soil (mostly on soils with a high clay content) • Balance to weigh raw roots (at least 25 kg capacity and 0.01 kg resolution) • Balance to weigh root and aboveground parts subsamples for dry matter determination (at least 1 kg capacity and 1 gram resolution) • Electric or engine-driven shredder (recommended if available and aboveground biomass is sampled) • Wooden or nylon block and tarpaulin to manually cut and collect root and shoot samples • Paper bags for the fresh subsample • Ruler or tape measure for length of planting material • Forced-draft dying oven (in case dry matter yield is determined) • Gravimetric balance (in case the dry matter and starch content are estimated by indirect methods) * Required for all operations.The sequence of the cassava harvesting activities depends on the objectives of the trial and the data required.If the harvest is for the storage roots only and the aboveground shoot portion is of no interest, it is most convenient to cut the stems at a height that allows for easy pulling and uprooting and to discard the remaining stems, branches and leaves from the plot. To determine the storage root yield, first all storage roots need to be removed from the soil (section 1.1), then the different root yield categories are determined by removal of useless roots (1.2) and then the removal of the non-edible and non-processed parts of the storage roots (1.3). To obtain the dry matter yield of any selected yield category, root subsamples of the respective root types need to be taken and dried (Module 2).If the aboveground biomass is to be determined, we recommend you first harvest the shoot portion according to the required dissection protocol (see Module 3). Due to the very high variability of water and nutrient contents in green versus lignified (woody) shoot parts, separation is recommended at least into green branches with leaves and lignified stems and branches. This is best done by first breaking the green branches off the plant and processing them (see 3.1). The lignified main stems and branches are then cut off and processed. It is advisable to uproot the plants at least partially before cutting off the main stems to facilitate the root harvest. Partial uprooting means lifting the root stock, so it dislodges from the soil but leaving the roots in the soil, so the plant remains standing. The main stems can then be cut off and processed and later the storage roots can be pulled from the soil with only the old planting stake remaining attached to them.Staff and supervisors conducting the harvest need to consider this before harvesting, as uprooting first and then harvesting shoot parts will impair the ability of staff to move in the plot and can lead to loss of material and contamination with soil.1.1 Cassava total fresh root yield• Pegs to delineate the net plot • Cutlasses/machetes or large knives to dissect the plant and remove roots • Spade or other digging tools in case roots cannot be uprooted by pulling the planting stake • Large containers, buckets, basins or bags to transport roots from the field and for weighing them • Brushes to clean roots of soil (mostly on soils with a high clay content) • Balance to weigh raw roots (at least 25 kg capacity and 0.01 kg resolution)Step 1: Remove the unnecessary aboveground biomass.Step 2: The cassava total fresh root yield is determined by uprooting all plants in the delineated net harvest area.Step 3: The storage roots are then cut off from the planting stake. Some varieties have a narrow piece of root between the planting stake and the top of the storage root, while some other varieties form storage roots directly attached to the planting stake. In the former, the root should be cut off at the end of the connecting piece towards the top of the root; in the latter, the roots should be cut off flush with the planting stake, yet such that no planting stake tissue is attached to the roots. All non-storage roots (Fig. 1 Ο) are cut off the storage roots.Step 4: Storage roots, broken off the planting stake when uprooting, are dug up and added to the total.Step 5: All non-storage roots are cut off. If a storage root has no obvious end but tapers out over a long portion of the distal end (Fig. 1 Ο), then the cut-off point is where the diameter of the root is below a size considered suitable for processing (usually around 15-20 mm). We propose you cut where the diameter becomes < 20 mm. If a smaller or larger diameter is used, this needs to be recorded.Step 6: Before weighing the roots, all soil must be removed from their surfaces.If the dry matter yield of the total roots is required refer to 2.1.2 for sampling and processing and to 2.1.3.1 for calculations.Note: An often observed way to show cassava root yield is the removal of the entire root stock with the planting stake and parts of the stem still attached (Fig. 2). The mass obtained in this way does not reflect the cassava total root yield but overestimates the yield because of the attached planting stake, part of the stems and possibly soil trapped between the roots -this is not suitable to be weighed and expressed as yield.The fresh root mass is recorded in kg per net plot. The total fresh root yield in tonnes per hectare (t/ha) is calculated as:Total fresh root yield (t/ha) = Total fresh root mass (kg) × 10,000(1) 1000Net plot size (m 2 )Where the division by 1000 is the conversion from kg to tonnes and the multiplication with 10,000 the conversion from m 2 to ha.1.2 Cassava useful fresh root yield 1.2.1 Required equipment (in addition to 1.1.1)• Caliper to determine root diameter and cut-off point (useful root yield)The useful cassava fresh root yield is obtained by removing all roots and root materials deemed unsuitable for consumption or processing from the total roots as determined in 1.1. The root mass placed on a balance to determine the useful fresh root yield must only consist of roots that are acceptable for processing or consumption.The following criteria shall be used to exclude roots or root parts from being considered useful or fit for consumption or processing:• roots with a diameter < 20 mm • roots with a mass < 140 g• misshapen roots (see Fig. 1 Ο and Ο) and requiring unacceptably long time to peel• roots with a large portion of rotten tissue • lignified root portions (usually in older crops from the top of the root).If the dry matter yield of the useful roots is required refer to 2.1.2 for sampling and processing and 2.1.3.2 for calculations.Unfortunately, the types of roots and their sizes locally considered unsuitable for processing or consumption differ widely. Small, crooked or pearl-string roots (Fig. 1) may be regarded as worthwhile to be peeled and processed or used as animal feed in some places, while they are left in the field in others. Therefore, it is acceptable to deviate from the above exclusion criteria but in such cases, a protocol is required describing the locally relevant criteria by which roots are deemed unsuitable and thus removed from the useful yield.A special case is large roots with localized mechanical damage or rot, which are not entirely useless. Here the damaged or rotten portion of the root should be cut off and discarded and the useful portion should be included with the other useful root mass.Any roots deemed unsuitable for processing or consumption but used as animal feed or for any other benefitgenerating purpose, may not be part of the mass weighed as useful fresh root yield but need to be weighed and reported separately.The calculation of the cassava useful fresh root yield follows the same procedure as in 1.1.Useful fresh root yield (t/ha) = Useful fresh root mass (kg) × 10,000(2) 1000Net plot size (m 2 )Where the division by 1000 is the conversion from kg to t and the multiplication with 10,000 the conversion from m 2 to ha.The proportion and percentage of roots unsuitable for consumption or processing is calculated as:Proportion unsuitable root fresh mass = 1 -Useful fresh root yield (t/ha) (3) Total fresh root yield (t/ha) and Unsuitable root fresh mass (%) = (1 -Useful fresh root yield (t/ha) ) × 100 (4) Total fresh root yield (t/ha)To validly estimate the edible fresh root mass, all the useful roots need to be peeled and tops and tips cut off. This, however, is extremely labor intensive. To reduce the labor, a large subsample of the useful roots can be weighed, peeled, and have their tops and tips removed.• Knives to cut off non-storage roots, tops and tips, and to peel (edible root yield)Step 1: Depending on the number of useful roots, decide whether all the roots will be peeled and cut or a large subsample will be used.Step 2: If all the useful roots are used to obtain the edible fresh root yield, the tips and tops of the roots need to be cut off. The tops (the part pointing toward the planting stake) of non-lignified roots are cut off such that it is easy to start peeling -usually about 1-2 cm below the top. However, in older cassava and under certain site conditions, the tops may be lignified and thus are not edible and need to be cut off at the position where the lignification stops. In some cases, this can be several centimeters into the root. The tips are the continuation of the storage roots as feeder roots. While in most varieties there is an abrupt end of the storage root and a continuation at a much smaller diameter, there are varieties and sites in which the roots taper without a clear transition from storage to feeder root. In such cases the roots are cut off as soon as the diameter is below 20 mm. From the cut roots the peel is removed.Step 3: If the number of useful roots is too large, take a large subsample (about 5-10 kg) from the useful cassava fresh root yield sample and process as in Step 2.Only peeled and cut roots in the state in which they would be prepared to be eaten or in which they would enter the processing procedure may be considered (Fig. 3). Peeling and cut-off losses may exceed 25% of the useful root mass, depending on variety and root diameter and are usually not less than 20% (Hauser et al., 2020).If the dry matter yield of the edible roots is required, refer to 2.1.2 for sampling and processing, and to 2.1.3.3 for calculations.If the total amount of the useful roots was peeled and cut, the calculation of the cassava edible fresh root yield follows the same procedure as in 1.1. Where the division by 1000 is the conversion from kg to t, and the multiplication by 10,000 the conversion from m 2 to ha.The calculation of the proportion and percentage of peeling and cut-off losses relative to the useful fresh root yield is as follows:Proportion of peel and cut-off fresh mass = 1 -Edible fresh root yield (t/ha) (6) Useful fresh root yield (t/ha) and Peel and cut-off fresh mass (%) =( 1 -Edible fresh root yield (t/ha) ) × 100 (7) Useful fresh root yield (t/ha) If a subsample of the useful roots was taken, peeled and cut, the proportion of edible fresh root mass in the useful fresh root mass needs to be calculated as: Proportion of edible fresh roots = Edible fresh root mass (kg) (8) Useful fresh root mass (kg)The edible fresh root yield is then calculated as: • avoid the roots being exposed to heat and sunshine after uprooting • the roots need to be properly cleaned of soil before sub-sampling and weighing • when cutting and mixing the root slices, do not delay between cutting, mixing and weighing the fresh mass.Under hot and dry conditions, the large cut surfaces of the sample will lose water very rapidly and thus cause erroneous overestimations of the dry matter content. If the nutrient content is to be determined, all samples should be dried in a forced-draft drying oven at temperatures below 65°C to prevent alterations of the sample. If only dry matter is required, the temperature can be as high as 105°C.2.1.1 Required equipment (in addition to 1.1.3)• Knives to cut off non-storage roots, tops and tips, and to peel (edible root yield)• Brushes to clean soil from roots (mostly on soils with a high clay content)• Balance to weigh root subsamples for dry matter determination (at least 1 kg capacity and 1 g resolution)• Wooden or nylon block and tarpaulin to aid manual cutting of root samples • Paper bags for the fresh subsample • Forced-draft dying oven.Step 1: The cassava total, useful and edible dry root yields are obtained by sub-sampling an appropriate number of roots (we recommend 5-10) of representative sizes from the respective root categories, i.e. total roots, useful roots, edible roots.Step 2: The roots are cut into 10-15 mm thick slices on a clean surface (wooden or nylon block with a tarpaulin under it).Step 3: A minimum mass of about 1000 g (1 kg) of root slices is cut and thoroughly mixed. About 400-500 g of this mixed sample are weighed fresh and dried in a forced-draft oven to constant mass, and then weighed dry.The proportion and percentage of dry matter in total, useful and edible roots is calculated as follows.Proportion dry matter in total roots = Dry mass of total roots subsample (g) (10) Fresh mass of total roots subsample (g) and Dry matter in total roots (%) = Dry mass of total roots subsample (g) × 100 (11) Fresh mass of total roots subsample (g)The total dry root yield is calculated as:Total dry root yield (t/ha) = Total fresh root yield (t/ha) × Proportion of dry matter in total roots (12) or Total dry root yield (t/ha) = Total fresh root yield (t/ha) × Dry matter in total roots (%) (13) 100Proportion dry matter in useful roots = Dry mass of useful roots subsample (g) ( 14) Fresh mass of useful roots subsample (g) and Dry matter in useful roots (%) = Dry mass of useful roots subsample (g) × 100 (15) Fresh mass of useful roots subsample (g)The cassava useful dry root yield is calculated as:  An alternative procedure to approximate the edible dry root yield is the post-drying peel removal from a dry matter sample of the useful cassava fresh roots. If the useful cassava fresh root yield was determined and dry matter samples were taken from the useful roots, it is possible to approximate edible root dry matter yield from these samples. For this, the dry useful root subsample, comprising peel and root cores, needs to be separated into peel and root cores and the two fractions weighed separately. In most cassava varieties this is relatively easily done because the peel comes off the core during drying. However, the procedure of removing the peel may be time-consuming and it needs to be complete. It must be considered that this approach does not consider the mass of root tops and tips that are cut off to determine the exact edible root dry matter yield, thus is a slight overestimation. Root top and tip cut-off losses are around 10% of the unpeeled root fresh mass (Hauser et al., 2020). Assuming that there is no significant difference in dry matter content between the cut off tops and tips and the remaining root, the indirectly determined edible dry root yield can be further approximated by considering this 10% reduction. To do this the useful fresh root yield in equation ( 23) is multiplied by 0.9. The ratio of root core dry mass to peel dry mass or the proportion of root core (being the edible portion of the roots) is required and calculated as: The dry matter and starch content of the cassava roots are the two most important quality criteria, and the processing industry is increasingly setting fresh root prices according to dry matter and starch content. The dry matter content and the starch contents of cassava roots are closely correlated and thus the dry matter content is a very reliable indicator of starch content. Although the root mass delivered is of importance, the starch content modifies the price per tonne and as such this variable is of importance to farmers and researchers.Or, if a commercial gravimetric balance is not available• Balance to weigh raw roots (at least 5 kg capacity and 0.01 kg resolution)• Large container with water to submerge the roots• Strong, yet light netting to hold roots • Small table with a hole in the middle (see note below).Note: Any balance with a hook at the bottom to attach the net would be suitable to serve as a gravimetric balance. You need a small table with a hole in the middle to pass the string attaching the net to the balance.The alternative to dry matter determination in cassava roots by oven-drying is the specific gravity method. This requires weighing a certain fresh root mass (not less than 3 kg is recommended) in air and then weighing the same roots completely submerged in water.Step 1: Weigh the net in air and under water and record the mass in both mediaStep 2: Place about 5 kg of clean roots into the net and weigh them in the air; record the massStep 3: Attach the net to the bottom hook of the balance and submerge the roots, such that they are completely under water; record the mass under water.The specific gravity (SG) is then calculated as:Specific gravity (SG) = Fresh root mass in air (24) (Fresh root mass in air -Fresh root mass in water)There are many different equations available to convert the specific gravity (SG) to the dry matter content of cassava roots. The following equations are a small selection based on research verified with oven drying of the samples. The dry matter content in % is calculated as follows.Dry matter content (%) = (158.3 × SG) -142.0 (Ikeogu et al., 2017) (25a)Dry matter content (%) = (188.6 × SG) -175.5 (Teye et al., 2011) (25b) Dry matter content (%) = (192.89 × SG) -180.22 (Maraphum et al., 2021) (25c) To express the cassava root dry matter content as a proportion, equations 25a, b, c are divided by 100 as follows. The starch content ranges around 80% of the root dry matter and can be approximated by multiplying equations 25a, b, c by 0.8.Alternatively, the starch content can be calculated using the specific gravity (SG) as follows.Starch content (%) = (159.1 × SG) -147 (Maraphum et al., 2020)  It thus appears advisable to run a set of parallel dry matter determinations by oven-drying the same samples to verify the slope and absolute term in the equation.Depending on the objectives of a trial, the total biomass (excluding fine roots) of a cassava crop may need to be determined. This protocol deals with a total biomass harvest only when in conjunction with the final storage root harvest. For staggered harvests during the growing period, other specific protocols need to be followed.The aboveground biomass of cassava is highly variable in dry matter and nutrient content. Harvesting leaves, stems, etc., to determine fresh matter alone thus makes no sense as the obtained data give no indication of the real dry matter yield.If the cassava nutrient uptake is required, the least intensive approach is a separation of the shoot matter into lignified and green parts. At the usual crop age for storage root harvest, the main stems and the primary branches are usually lignified, have a gray to brown skin and no longer bear leaves. Most younger branches and those still bearing leaves are usually green. The latter usually have higher water and nutrient contents than the lignified parts.• Cutlasses/machetes or large knives to dissect the plant • Balance to weigh raw shoot parts (at least 25 kg capacity and 0.01 kg resolution) • Balance to weigh aboveground parts subsamples for dry matter determination (at least 1 kg capacity and 1 g resolution) • Electric or engine-driven shredder (recommended if available) • Wooden or nylon block and tarpaulin to aid manual cutting of shoot samples • Paper bags for the fresh subsample • Forced-draft dying oven.Step 1: Break or cut all green branches off the plant and weigh fresh.Step 2: Select several (3-6) complete branches with the leaves still attached and shred into small (1-2 cm) pieces.• Balance to weigh main stems and lignified branches (at least 25 kg capacity and 0.01 kg resolution) • Ruler or tape measure to measure the length of planting material.This procedure requires counting the number of main stems in the net plot.Step 1: Remove a number of representative complete main stems with lignified branches (we recommend 5-10 stems) from the stems of a plot.Step 2: Determine whether all the selected material meets the criteria for planting material (diameter, nodes, level of lignification).Step 3: Where the entire sample of lignified main stems and branches adheres to the planting material criteria, the total mass of the stems and lignified branches subsample is weighed.Step 4: The total length of the stems and lignified branches subsample is measured with a tape or ruler.Step 5: Where not all material of the stems and lignified branches in the subsample meets the planting material criteria, all material that does not meet the criteria is removed from the lignified main stems and branches subsample.Step 6: The remaining planting material subsample is weighed.Step 7: The total length of the remaining planting material (i.e. the stems and lignified branches subsample weighed in Step 6) subsample is measured with a tape or ruler.In both cases, the length of planting material produced per hectare is calculated as: Where the factor 1000 is the conversion of t/ha to kg/ha.Depending on variety, market situation and farmers' needs, cassava can be harvested at 6 MAP, though many varieties are being kept in the field for 12-18 months or longer. While this is an opportunity for farmers to stretch or set the harvest to the most convenient time, it is also a major source of error in comparisons across trials. Because cassava growing periods may vary widely, the time factor in yield formation needs to be considered.The determination of yield per unit time can only be conducted for fields that are harvested within a short time window. Fields that are harvested over long periods, or where individual roots are removed from rootstocks without uprooting the whole plant (milking), as is common in subsistence systems, cannot be considered here.Generally, the cassava yield should be expressed per unit area and per unit time, and therefore requires the information on the actual period of growth.It is proposed to quote cassava root yields as x t/ha within z months and give the yield per ha and per month (y t/ha per month). This can be used for any category of roots.","tokenCount":"4769"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0675271114.json b/data/part_1/0675271114.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4fafd8824093aeede5d4c00b85d39445507295a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0675271114.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed41b78837a3ee34f0e028fae8e59605","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f232b5a-484a-4f8c-a142-3a54e4e65560/retrieve","id":"-1572992724"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6845a4c2-1b40-40cf-95e7-4192d5ca196d","pagecount":"24","content":"The Clearinghouse recently submitted a strategy to the Rockefeller Foundation \"Food Systems Vision 2050 Prize\". It describes a process of agricultural transformation in Makueni, Kenya and includes the roles of several technologies promoted by the Technologies for Africa Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program. While the awards are relatively small, its 10 winners form an international panel of experts to advise on the future of agriculture. The TAAT Clearinghouse is participating in this initiative to increase awareness of the program's approach toward transforming African agriculture and to examine this process in a more holistic manner.There are five main goals of the Food System Vision 2050 program: 1) to build a network of food system movements; 2) to infuse more hope into people's view of the future; 3) to stimulate new innovations and patents that strengthen food system performance; 4) to forge new multi-stakeholder partnerships between industry, policy, academia, and civil society; and 5) to generate Visions that become futuristic food systems projects to scale and positively impact upon large numbers of Places and People (Rockefeller Foundation 2019).The conceptual relationship between TAAT and the Food System Vision 2050 raise exciting possibilities. Indeed, TAAT operates as a network of its Commodity and Enabler Compacts to raise awareness of the African Development Bank's Feed Africa Strategy, in part through fostering technology-product linkages to the private sector (TAAT 2019). It seeks to infuse hope and action toward Africa's food self-sufficiency, agro-processing capacities and its future role in global trade (TAAT 2019). But as TAAT's name implies, it is strongly oriented toward technologies and partnerships built around them, whereas Vision 2050 embraces a more balanced, six-themed approach consisting of equal parts environment, diets, economics, culture, policy and technology (Rockefeller Foundation 2019). Each strategic Vision must meet exacting requirements concerning its content around these themes and beneficiary coverage, being applicable to a single country and no more than an area of 100,000 km 2 .In accordance with Vision 2050 requirements, we prepared a strategy for Makueni County in east Kenya. Makueni is a critical test ground for agricultural transformation within African drylands (Figure 1). This farming area faces serious environmental and agricultural challenges, but at the same time offers developmental promise. Poverty is widespread across this community; and our Vision is committed to improving the livelihood of its people through the transition to more diversified, market-oriented agriculture. Climate change exacerbates this situation as more erratic and episodic weather leads to greater risk adversity, a situation that in turn prompts opportunity for innovation. Our Vision team represents the knowledge and technology holders needed for this transformation, but recognizes that access to needed inputs and investment remains limiting. The situation is particularly acute for youth, who have access to online information and set ambitious targets for their lives but find little opportunity to achieve their goals despite completing their education. Our team regards directing these marginalized youth to productive agricultural career pathways as crucial to the Place's economic future. This description sets the stage for the Vision 2050 team's close relationship to the Place. For the most part, our team members were raised, live, work or do business there. Our team understands that modern agriculture is the mechanism that drives economic growth across Africa, including Kenya's agricultural drylands, and gains are dependent upon the adoption of new, increasingly commercialized farm technologies. Our team sees itself as able to catalyze agricultural transformation through its understanding of these modernizing technologies, how they can become better accessed, and the food systems and wider rural economic changes that this transformation evokes.Makueni County is located in a semi-arid area of east Kenya covering 8,008 km 2 , with specific attention paid in this Vision to its under-utilized, potentially irrigable agricultural lands (Figure 2). The current population of Makueni County is estimated to be 988,586 persons (481,380 males and 507,206 females) based upon a projection of the 2017 census (Government of Makueni County 2017). Its growth rate is about 1.4% per year. The proportion of persons dependent upon agriculture is 78%, or about 771,097 persons. Youth aged 15 to 35 account for 30% of the population (about 276,576 youth). At the same time, the lessons learned from this Vision are widely applicable to other dryland farming areas and food systems across Kenya and East Africa.Makueni is mainly populated by the Akamba people who settled the semi-arid plains of eastern Kenya. They are derived from a late wave of the Bantu migration, discovering that the sub-humid highlands were securely occupied by the Kikuyu and closely related tribes and instead settled the drier lands to the east. While the area is dry for much of the year, it receives short bimodal rains that allow traditional small grains and maize to be produced and livestock to be fed. It is situated in a transition zone, to the north is semihumid croplands; to the east is Yatta, a massive volcanic remnant; to the west are pastoralist Maasai; and to the south is the famed Tsavo wildlife refuge and semi-desert unsuited for farming. An outsider's impression of Makueni is tempered by time of year and how well the most recent rains have performed (Figure 3). Its midland plains occupy an elevation of 700 to 900 MASL and are punctuated by rounded hills and ancient volcanoes. The temperature is neither cool nor hot. Arrive during the late rains and find green bushy grasslands, well-fed livestock and fields of maize and legumes. Arrive in the dry season and find bare fields and hungry animals driven to remaining pockets of vegetation. Arrive during a drought and find desperate people, starving animals, and women and children carrying water long distances. Another feature is its equidistant position along the trade corridor between Mombasa and Nairobi. A stream of trucks plies this route, so that transient customers and distant markets are accessible through trading centers. These customers include tourists visiting Tsavo Park, but most of their commerce is directed to the lodges to the south. And while these tourists are confined within the park, its wildlife is not, and can cause much crop damage, creating mixed feelings toward wildlife conservation among farmers.To understand Makueni, one must visit its farming families because 78% of the people are engaged in agriculture. Houses are made of clay, roofs are iron sheets rather than thatch, and the floor is dirt or concrete. Animals include cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. Many households have oxen for plowing and granaries for food storage but few have wells. Almost none have piped water or electricity. Granaries harbor mycotoxic fungi that pose risk to health. The poorest households have only a hoe and machete as tools for farming, and are inured to hard labor. Termites are Figure 3. Discharge, precipitation and pan evaporation of the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River catchment. Note the strong seasonal discharge and that average precipitation only exceeds evaporation three month per year (from Ng'ang'a et al. 2015).ubiquitous, consuming all wooden structures. Families value education so that their children may escape poverty. They walk the roads to and from school in worn uniforms during the morning and afternoon. To understand Makueni, one also must know its youth, particularly recent, disappointed school leavers. There are just no good jobs despite their education, so they weigh futures as poor farmers against the hazards of urban migration. Here is Makueni, land of spatial and temporal variability, a place of both hardship and opportunity!The Challenges before Makueni's Agricultural Community Challenges before Makueni include widespread poverty, food and nutritional insecurity, and resource degradation. These challenges are manifest across six Themes: Environment, Diet, Economics, Culture, Technology and Policy. Rainfall has grown more erratic as a consequence of climate change, and the adoption of climate-smart technologies must be accelerated. These practices include innovative water harvesting and soil protection (Ghebremariam and Steenbergen 2007;Sanginga and Woomer 2009) common in the Horn of Africa and Sahel, but not well understood in semi-arid Kenya. The diets of Makueni's people vary greatly with season; well-balanced meals are enjoyed during the wet seasons but poorer nutrition is suffered throughout the dry one. Drought poses threat of famine to the poorest households. Its local economy is only as strong as its most recent rains. Irregular food production has a huge negative impact upon economic growth because of insufficient supply for value-added and marketing enterprises. Following bumper harvests, commodity prices are depressed from oversupply and during dry seasons and droughts farmers have too little money to spend, affecting the economy as a whole. At the same time, more resilient rural enterprises are known, such as cultivation of drought tolerant cereals and legumes, mango and citrus growing, and beekeeping that serve to reduce household economic risk. Other households practice artisan handicrafts, particularly sisal weaving and woodcarving, for which the Akamba people are renowned.A great challenge before this community is the economic marginalization of youth and its far-reaching social consequences. Education is valued as a means to escape poverty, but the lack of local employment opportunities places this commitment at risk. This is especially true for girls. Fortunately, primary school education is free in Kenya, but education at secondary and higher levels requires financial commitment by families. School leavers find a paucity of opportunities and are either forced into resigned laxity or adopt dangerous lifestyles. This challenge also drains local human resources as talented youth migrate away or its recent university graduates are reluctant to return to their home areas for lack of employment prospects.It is suffice to state that agricultural production cannot improve without the adoption of several modern farm technologies. Agrodealers are plentiful in market centers but demand for needed input products and labor-saving equipment remains weak. So too, the local policy dimensions require careful attention. The county government appears to understand the challenges before it but has limited ability to evoke improvements at the required scale. It is one thing to plan yet another to achieve those plans in a timely, cost-effective manner; especially given the limited investment potential among stakeholders. In an optimistic sense, let us assume that today's humanitarian challenges are met through planned agricultural transformation, and in 2050 concerns are more related to how best to sustain these gains among a growing population, and to progressively transition to stronger performing, more diversified commercial production and agro-industries.Our Vision for food systems transformation is both realistic and paced. It departs from the rhetoric of unkempt promises and rather focuses upon introduction of proven agricultural technologies and dependable support services, many of them supplied through farmer organizations and the private sector. It builds upon the Makueni County Development Plan, particularly its plans for youth empowerment and infrastructure improvement. All of the aforementioned challenges as they relate to Vision 2050's Environment, Diet, Economics, Culture, Technology and Policy Themes are addressed in systematic manner and are ultimately linked through improved and equitable water resource management. Within the scope of climate change, dryland farmers are not carbon emitters, but their lands have potential to sequester organic matter. Rewards for carbon gain must be considered, perhaps as subsidized tree planting and cover cropping, measures that also counteract soil degradation and erosion. Rural households with irrigation can operate year-round kitchen gardens that better diversify and balance diets, and little more than water is required to seize this opportunity. Expanding these gardens creates marketable surpluses and generates income, and enlarging them further leads to horticultural industry. Stronger rural economies result from increased productivity and greater market intelligence; goals best achieved through commodity associations; but there is little incentive for farmers to join groups unless reliable production surpluses are achieved.The year 2020 appears to be one of bumper harvests due to the strong ongoing \"short rains\" but moreover it should be viewed as the year where technology-led agricultural transformation gained traction. These technologies are too many to fully present in detail within this report but consist of improved crop varieties exhibiting stress tolerance and biofortified nutritive properties, integrated soil fertility management that balances fertilizer use with recycling of crop residues and manures, integrated pest and disease management where producers respond quickly and effectively to outbreaks, and improved animal rearing reliant upon better breeds, feeds and veterinary care (TAAT Clearinghouse 2018). Smallscale mechanization and value-added processing technologies must become increasingly available as well. These technologies are best bundled into toolkits for commercial distribution by well-informed agrodealers, and linked to ICT-led extension services. As economic benefits accrue, let culture adapt to opportunities for change while recognizing that traditional values are strong and well-founded. But let the culture of democracy grow, and voters must elect those who best represent their interests, particularly candidates advancing public investment in better rural infrastructure. In addition, investor's forums must be organized that combine public and private sector assets. Lastly, women and youth must lead this transformation as innovators, new business operators and empowered citizens.Youth are the true stakeholders of Makueni's agricultural transformation and have much to do to achieve this Vision. The County recognizes this role in terms of what it describes as a demographic dividend given its slightly reduced birth rate and a \"window of opportunity for rapid economic growth if the right social and economic policies are developed and investments made\" (Government of Makueni County 2017). This dividend includes mainstreaming youth in agriculture through \"tailor made products targeting youth in irrigated agriculture, poultry production, microprocessing, service provision and marketing.\" This governmental planning approach is clearly in line with this Vision. The Government of Makueni County ( 2017) is rehabilitating its Agricultural Training Centre at Kwa Kathoka (near the County HQ in Wote) with offices, internet, hostel and field facilities; the role of youth within this Center must be reinforced through opportunity and investment. So too, the county is improving its agriculture extension program by re-equipping six sub-county agriculture offices, and it is important that each have an active youth program. Currently the county plan intends to train 10 youth per sub-ward per year to offer support services to farmers in grafting fruit trees, soil conservation, nursery establishment, commercial horticulture, animal health care and other skills. Across Makueni's 30 wards this is 300 youth to be trained as service providers per year, a growing cadre that can be readily tracked as an indicator of steady success. How those trained manifest their skill as successful agribusiness service providers, and what additional support is required for them to do so is of critical importance.The main implementer of TAAT in Makueni is the IITA Youth Agripreneur (IYA) group known as the Kibwezi Hortipreneur Youth Group (KHYG) (Woomer and Mulindi 2016). The group is hosted by the University of Nairobi at its Kibwezi Dryland Research Station and its actions are conducted in conjunction with TAAT's youth enabler known as ENABLE TAAT (TAAT 2019). It conducts advocacy actions, registers youth as an interest group, and conducts agribusiness incubations within diverse pilot enterprises at its farm near Kalulini (Figure 2), many aligned to the TAAT priority value chains (TAAT Clearinghouse 2018). The group is engaged in technology outreach, particularly through collaboration with schools, youth groups and farmer associations (Figure 4). On several occasions the County has recognized KHYG as a leading youth group in Makueni, and their expertise should be incorporated into future training and agribusiness support operations, including those within the revitalized Kwa Kathoka Agricultural Training Center. KHYG's expertise includes  1). Success has been mixed, but of these seven promotional actions, four have resulted in ongoing, youth-led enterprises.Aquaculture. The group's activities in Aquaculture predated the establishment of TAAT and it was the first of the IITA Youth Agripreneur network to install pond liners and aerators (Figure 6), and to make its own floating fish feed. Its attempts to link formally to the Aquaculture Compact were rejected for reasons that are not understood, but nonetheless fish farming is an important enterprise within the KHYG farm and is included within its outreach activities. One KHYG intern has started an independent fish farm based upon production approached developed by the group.Cassava. While the Cassava Compact is not active within Kenya, KHYG obtained golden cassava (+Vitamin A) cuttings from national partners through ENABLE TAAT. Despite being drought tolerant, cassava is not widely grown in Makueni. A field was placed under sprinkler irrigation and performed well until it was affected by the Cassava Mosaic Virus (Figure 5). Cassava tuber production was prolific prior to this disease, but plans to distribute cuttings were curtailed by it. Claims that the Cassava Compact offers virus tolerant varieties should be tested in the near future. High Iron Bean. KHYG was provided a small quantity of High Iron Bean seed from its Compact and were quick to multiply and promote it. Cv. Nyota performed particularly well and is now grown in an innovative intercrop with sweet potato. MAC 44, a climbing variety, did not perform as well as hoped under greenhouse conditions and abandoned. Seeds of cv. Nyota were distributed to other youth groups and promoted through a series of county events. This variety is quick cooking and has excellent culinary characteristics.Maize. Makueni farmers prefer maize despite its poor rains that limit its performance, opening the door for the Maize Compacts water efficient varieties. The Clearinghouse arranged for a large quantity of WEMA 1101 to be delivered to the group for testing and distribution, including seed purchased from Dryland Seed Company. Unfortunately, baboons destroyed the large field established at the KHYG farm, but seed distributed through its outreach activities and marketed through the KHYG depot in Kibwezi town were well received.Rice. At present there are no TAAT activities in Makueni involving rice, and its dryland conditions preclude its entry until irrigation resources are available. Developing a network of rice paddies along the Galana River is a realizable goal in the future and the cost of this objective should be weighed against other targets. Small Animals. Makueni's drylands are widely used to raise livestock, particularly goats and sheep, and the Livestock Compact has special relevance there. KHYG is working in two Compact areas, goat fattening and poultry. A pilot goat fattening operation using the Gala breed at the KHYG farm was initiated and a feeding and veterinary regime established (Figure 6). This approach is ready for outreach actions. Goat fattening responded well to regular rations of sweet potato vines. So too, potential exists for poultry raising and KHYG interns have established two independent chicken farms. Sorghum-Millet. KHYG was encouraged to raise dwarf white sorghum (cv. Sila) for use as a carrier material for the new AflaSafe factory in adjacent Machakos county. The crop performed well until it reached early heading and was destroyed by wildlife, mostly troops of primates. Nonetheless, there is potential for expanded sorghum production in Makueni in areas less affected by hungry wild animals. The Sorghum-Millet Compact is not currently active in Kenya but its leader, ICRISAT, has a strong presence there and future collaboration should be forged with Makueni County Extension.Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato. KHYG has worked in close conjunction with the OFSP Compact to bring improved sweet potatoes to Makueni. First, improved varieties Delvia, Irene and Sumaia were obtained from the Kenya Plant Health Inspection Service as soon as they were released; and then multiplied under greenhouse conditions (Figure 5). A market for cuttings and vines was quickly established. Potatoes found a ready market. To date, production is irrigated and the ability to produce the new drought-tolerant lines under rainfed conditions is not yet established.The innovative bean-sweet potato intercrop offers combined opportunity for both of these TAAT Compact commodities because as the beans are ready for harvest, the sweet potato cuttings are well rooted and ready to quickly establish a new crop canopy.Wheat. Wheat is not presently grown in Makueni but given the claims of the Wheat Compact concerning its new heat-tolerant varieties perhaps it could be. Transforming abundant semi-arid grassy bush in Makueni into wheat would have a profound impact upon the county and Kenya's agriculture, and ENABLE TAAT is prepared to take a lead in this area. The Wheat Compact is active in the Kenyan Highlands, but not its semi-arid east, and overtures should be made for expansion of its activities into Makueni.The ability of Makueni to develop a dynamic agro-industrial economy in the future depends upon the success of actions taken over the near-term. Foremost among these actions is the harnessing of diverse water resources in order to modernize its agricultural technologies (Figure 6). The massive, seasonal discharge of the Galana River must be captured and widely distributed (Figure 3 from Ng'ang'a et al. 2015) in a manner that results in production corridors producing grains, fruits and fish. Consumer trends and global demand must be considered in the design of these corridors. Clean energy technologies must be employed to lift and distribute this water including siphon systems, inline hydroelectric turbines, and solar power arrays. Situated within these corridors will be agro-industrial parks where food processing creates both profitable products and decent employment. This economic growth must factor in the massive visitor appeal of the Indian Ocean coast and wildlife tourism; indeed, Makueni is well positioned to become its food and flower basket. Commercialized handicrafts add to this advantage. In the meanwhile, Makueni must overcome its widespread poverty and food and nutritional insecurity. Grand irrigation schemes are fine but more modest approaches to water management are also needed. Climate-smart technologies must be continuously identified and mobilized. Agricultural extension must be reoriented toward mobile information technologies and working through increasingly larger farmer organizations. Moreover, youth must be attracted to agricultural career pathways. An important step is the establishment of Youth Agribusiness Hubs where workspace and centralized services are provided to young Agripreneurs. Another important element is to strengthen agricultural training within secondary and vocational schools in a way that glamorizes rural lifestyles rather than presents farming as drudgery and servitude. Let the process of rural renaissance in Makueni gain momentum and provide an example across other African drylands.Much can be done to improve food and nutritional security among Makueni's smallscale farmers today; starting with the distribution of improved crop varieties. These improved varieties include drought-tolerant maize and sorghum, biofortified cassava and sweet potatoes, high iron beans, drought tolerant grain legumes (e.g. green gram, pigeon pea and soybean), even the new wheat varieties that are adapted to higher temperatures and rust disease (TAAT Clearinghouse 2018, 2019). Some of these crops can be grown twice a year under rain fed conditions, but production is much greater under irrigation. Production toolkits are available for each of these crops that address different levels of investment. The best adapted crops also provide business opportunity for local seed producers. So too, specialized fertilizer blends may be produced and marketed. Maize-based technologies include the release of non-toxicogenic fungi to inhibit the presence of aflatoxin, reducing a persistent and ominous risk to public health. Cassava and sweet potato are vegetatively propagated; providing cuttings of improved varieties to producers represents a business opportunity in its own right. Grain legumes balance cerealbased diets but also result in nitrogen recycling through increased symbiotic fixation facilitated by the application of rhizobial inoculants. Consumption of these crops diversifies household diets and they are readily incorporated into traditional and widely accepted foods. At the same time, these commodities are readily marketed and processed through small-and medium scale agro-industry. Reliable supply of these commodities at reasonable prices throughout the year and the profits and demand generated by their value-added products stimulate further investment and lending to commercial producers and processers alike. This vision includes strong elements of agricultural extension reform, reliance upon information and communication technologies (ICT), and opportunities for greater mechanization and automation. The current agricultural extension agents are both under-resourced and overwhelmed by the tasks necessary to modernize agriculture. The model requiring agricultural extension agents to visit and advise individual farmers is impractical and outdated. Because of the ICT revolution, and the availability of handheld devices in even the remotest locations, producers can now directly access information needed for farm planning, problem diagnostics and market intelligence. As a result, extension agents are now better positioned to work directly with farmer organizations, rather than individuals, while focusing their attention upon the poorest of the poor in a manner that strengthens safety nets and eases suffering. To achieve this end, these agents must be properly versed with ICT devices and their applications in order to transmit these advantages to others.Mechanization is a key to eliminating the stigma of hard work for too little returns that is associated with small-scale farming. Hand tractors, paddle weeders, power sprayers, land augers and other labor-saving devices are now available at affordable prices in Kenya, and distribution channels to Makueni ought to be strengthened. Scope exists for the design and commercialization of more ergonomic hand tools; the days of using heavy hoes and ineffectively swinging machetes are numbered. Drip irrigation is by far the most water efficient irrigation system, but needed expertise in its installation and equipment are in too short supply. Agrodealers should expand their services in this area, and be assisted to do so. Better transportation also becomes within the reach of farmers as they shift toward market production, whether it is through trailer attachments to hand tractors for local, heavy loads; or by operating a tricycle tuk-tuk suited to passengers or cargo. As the first of these farmers mechanize, they are able to provide contract services to their neighbors.Mobilizing waters from the Galana River is an essential driver of this vision. Discharge from this river varies between 20 and 160 cubic meters per second depending on the season, and is barely being utilized (Ng'ang'a et al. 2015) . The river enters Makueni at an elevation of 950 MASL with large areas of farmland below that, so there is scope for downward water delivery. Field irrigation technologies are in place but improvements are needed in water lifting, sediment removal and distribution. The county development plan embraces expanded irrigation. Transition to irrigated agriculture offers interrelated benefits toward environmental protection, improved diets, stronger local economies, technology adoption and policy-led infrastructural development.The pathway toward this Vision is within reach. Imagine a series of agribusiness development clusters located along the Galana River that advance irrigated farming and accompanying agro-industry. Each cluster contains a solar powered pump that feeds a reservoir, and includes an agribusiness park that supports orchards, horticulture and aquaculture. Additional value is produced through nearby agroindustries (Figure 7). Skill sets are provided through a vocational center. From this cluster, water distribution points supply community-led irrigation schemes. Each cluster provides agricultural, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for the local community and those attracted to it. A visitor and recreation center complements these activities and further contributes to improving the quality of lives (Figure 8). This approach is essentially an expansion of the Integrated A possible design considers that each agribusiness cluster would extract only 5% of the river volume at its lowest discharge, or 86,000 m 3 per day. This water is sufficient to maintain a two km 2 reservoir and irrigate about 8,000 ha of surrounding farmland, providing year-round benefits to about 16,000 farms producing two or three crops per year. Food production increases at least 48,000 tons per year. In combination, improved farming, horticulture, and aquaculture generate over $60 million in revenue annually, and value-added processing contributes at least another $15 million. One such industry is the production of blended animal and fish feeds that in turn stimulates modern livestock, poultry and aquaculture industries. Over 12,000 decent jobs are created. The facility serves as a magnet to enterprise and innovation, and is replicated by others. Environmental impacts are monitored to ensure that downstream impacts are minimized, including those on the adjacent Tsavo Park's habitats and wildlife.While the establishment of water delivery is critical to this Vision, it is not the only infrastructure requirement. Better roads are needed adjacent to the Galana River to open the area's potential. The current roads servicing this area are unpaved, tortuous, not interconnected and may be impassible following heavy rains. Expected improvements in electricity and domestic water services as described in the current Makueni Development Plan ought to be completed. A fence along the northern boundary of Tsavo Park and other ecological deterrents should be contemplated if the invasion of wildlife compromises the gains from irrigated farming. This plan heavily upon the engagement of the people of Makueni at many levels. The identification of where irrigation facilities are best targeted depends heavily upon initial stakeholder participation. Infrastructure development by government will determine how irrigation water will become available, but community groups shall determine how it is used. Community groups should be prepared to contribute their time and effort toward this end, including their labor within public works. At the same time, these infrastructure projects should hire locally wherever possible. Wages can then be used in part to make the farm-level investments needed to connect with and benefit from transition to irrigated agriculture. Women and youth must be provided special consideration as stakeholders but at the same time, we recognize that neither women nor youth represent homogeneous factions, particularly with regard to their preferred career pathways. For this reason, opportunities for innovation must remain open as agroindustries grow and diversify. One such course is the development of textile industry around the production of sisal and harvest of baobab, and other artisan occupations such as leatherworks and woodcarving. Another is related to the recognition that as farms commercialize, they become more dependent upon specialized service providers, who in turn require training and technical backstopping. This leads us to a brief consideration of the next steps forward. Due attention was paid to the current Makueni County Development Plan, its targets for 2025, and this Vision assists in its completion and trajectory for an additional quarter century. However, neither plan considers how to raise revenues for its public works or to better attract the private sector as investors. Technically, the current county biennial plan published in August 2017 has expired, and it is important that this Vision be considered within whatever follows. Moreover, the need for private investment and commitment of public financial institutions should be formalized for the required water delivery infrastructure to be secured. This may be achieved in large part by operating a Makueni County Agriculture Investment Office. Major events that showcase investment opportunity are needed, and attractive mechanisms developed for those who respond positively. Similar forums should be held at the annual Makueni Agricultural Show and the county-level International Youth Day and World Food Day events. Too often, these events are dominated by politicians rather than stakeholders, experienced planners and agribusiness champions. Indeed, the content of future forums must be more representative and impactful so that 2020 becomes recognized as the year that agricultural transformation in Makueni gained critical momentum, achieving food and nutritional security by 2025, and that by 2050 Makueni achieves a fully agro-industrialized food system.This Technical Report seeks to reconcile the practical, technology-led approaches of TAAT with the more holistic and futuristic ones of the Food Systems Vision 2050. Clearly, both have merit and can contribute to one another, but they are inherently different. On one hand, TAAT sees agriculture as the engine for economic growth in Africa, and technical modernization as central to that growth while Vision 2050 regards dietary healthfulness as the fundamental role of agriculture. Africa must achieve food security in the short run and a greater role in global trade in the midterm, but its people must also eat better and live healthier lives for that potential to become realized. So too, TAAT is focused upon specific, sequential, and site appropriate technical solutions while Vision 2050 is ultimately intended to inspire forward thinking movements. Indeed, must be paid to TAAT's detailed processes and tools, but it is also the time to think big and brave in a manner that inspires rigorously designed, longer-term visions for Africa's larger agricultural and economic future. This report attempts to shape a positive, progressive Vision for a dryland farming system and its rural community beyond its technical dimensions. It is based upon multiple perspectives in a manner that builds upon but extends beyond available data and short-term planning horizons. It envisages innovation along several dimensions of food systems: social, cultural, political, and market-based, while holding upon a central tenet, that dryland farming must take full advantage of water resources, and wherever possible evolve into irrigated systems for the wellbeing and aspirations of this and future generations to become achieved. The challenges before this Vision are large but the opportunities it offers are profound; and with shared direction, collective effort and time, a modern food system and rural economy designed around ambitious future needs will result.Vision 2050 relies upon \"futurecasting\" (Rockefeller Foundation 2019), and so should TAAT. This report proposes a future that redirects current trends and creates a new trajectory. It imagines a long-term agricultural outcome and shapes a path toward it, but is admittedly short on many important details. It assumes that less bad is not good enough for tomorrow in a way that learns from the past but extrapolates well into the future. Mark Lundy of CIAT (Colombia) offers Vision 2050 an interactive conceptual framework that considers food system drivers, value chains, and dietary outcomes (Figure 9). Note that technology and infrastructure serve as only one of five key drivers and that value chains are not viewed as an end but rather as a means to influence the larger food environment and consumer behavior (and its related producer practices). This framework is useful in exploring food systems and their actors and to define entry points that affect the operations of the agricultural sector.  This framework can also serve as a model for planned country-level assessment of agricultural and food systems in support of developmental loans intended to secure African economic advancement.In accordance with Vision 2050, Dr. Lisa Drier, Founder of FutureTable and formerly with the World Economic Forum, offers the CLEAR framework as a means of pursuing systems change (Figure 10). This framework recognizes that systemic challenges are complex and evolving, and require collective, adaptive approaches (Drier et al. 2019). In this case, successful food systems change involves combining elements in creative, iterative and non-sequential ways. Visioning for systems change grapples with the redesign of incentive structures, and so too should the TAAT Clearinghouse. Finally, this approach recognizes that mindsets matter and that new styles of leadership are needed to enable food systems change. All of these lessons appear very applicable to the Clearinghouse and its operations within the TAAT Program!The developmental objective of TAAT is to rapidly expand access of smallholder farmers to high yielding agricultural technologies that improve their food production, assure food security and raise rural incomes. This goal is achieved by delivering regional public goods for rapidly scaling up agricultural technologies across similar agro-ecological zones. This result is achieved through three principal mechanisms; 1) creating an enabling environment for technology adoption by farmers, 2) facilitating effective delivery of these technologies to farmers through a structured Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure and 3) raising agricultural production and productivity through strategic interventions that include improved crop varieties and animal breeds, accompanying good management practices and vigorous farmer outreach campaigns at the Regional Member Country (RMC) level. The important roles of sound policies, empowering women and youth, strengthening extension systems and engaging with the private sector is implicit within this strategy. The Clearinghouse is the body within TAAT that decides which technologies should be disseminated. Moreover, it is tasked with the responsibility to guide the deployment of proven agricultural technologies to scale in a commercially sustainable fashion through the establishment of partnerships that provide access to expertise required to design, implement, and monitor the progress of technology dissemination campaigns. In this way, the Clearinghouse is essentially an agricultural transformation incubation platform, aimed at facilitating partnerships and strengthening national agricultural development programs to reach millions of farmers with appropriate agricultural technologies.Back cover photographic credit: Members of the Kibwezi Hortipreneur Youth Group participating in an agricultural show in Makueni County submitted by Ms. Elizabeth Muema of the Kibwezi Hortipreneur Youth Group.","tokenCount":"5976"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0689007792.json b/data/part_1/0689007792.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..673546cfb73e45ff88d4bd9c79fc0e6fc4143a7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0689007792.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4bd368406cbc75dfa9fcabaf9b410299","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9d51f07-da69-4c9d-b50a-82a3ca8bfa19/retrieve","id":"1027824174"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f2352538-4edf-4767-a957-f8e0591f7995","pagecount":"1","content":"• Insect farming to produce food is a promising alternative to livestock production: 50-90% less land per kg protein; 40-80% less feed per kg edible weight; 1.2-2.7kg less greenhouse gas emissions and 1,000 liters less water per kg live weight gain.• Global tropics: highest insect biodiversity, very favorable for insect production (throughout the year, constant conditions), no need to introduce new species (risk of biological invasion).• Farmed insects at industrial scale: belong to only 12 edible species (out of 2,100), risk of diversity loss from overexploitation, risk of biological invasion in non-native regions and genetic erosion.• Insects as animal feed: replacement of e.g., soybean or fishmeal; potential for cost reduction (feed makes up 60-70% of the animal production cost).• To provide a viewpoint of how different tropical forage crops available from international gene banks and grown on farms, can support the current insect farming industry, and how their incorporation in insect diets has potential for addressing food safety concerns while maintaining the high nutritional quality of insects for human and animal nutrition. • Literature review and expert consultation.• Insects are a viable option for supplying the growing demand for protein in the tropics, especially given the need to adapt to and mitigate climate change. • This has led to the development of an emerging industry through initiatives based on black soldier fly production for fisheries in Kenya and Colombia, for example. • Organic residues and substrates, commonly used for this purpose, may, however, represent a hazard for both fishery and human health. • Integrating tropical forage-based diets in edible insect production systems has strong potential and yet untapped forage diversity in international gene banks and on farms can be explored for this purpose. • Compared to commercial diets, tropical forages are a low-cost feed source for insects, with high dietary versatility, that provide opportunities for the transition to sustainable, circular economies. • The main bottlenecks are the lack of specific regulations, the dependence on few species for large-scale industrial insect production, and consumer food safety.Burkart S 1 ; Espitia-Buitrago PA 1 ; Hernández LM 1 ; Palmer N 2 ; Cardoso JA 1 1 Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Cali, Colombia; 2 Independent Researcher, Cardiff, United Kingdom. CONTACT: s.burkart@cgiar.org • Provision of adequate diet essential for insect viability for human/animal diet.• Small-scale farmed insects: mostly herbivores that rely on crop residues.• Larger-scale insect farming: sometimes based on feeds that are in direct competition with human diets (e.g., maize, soybean, oats, wheat); associated environmental impacts.• Tropical forages: often grown in places where other crops can't grow (low fertility, marginal soils), high biomass production, vegetative re-growth, steady feed supply, conservation potential.• Tropical forages as insect feed source: can enhance nutritional content of insects (e.g., protein), better nutritional value and less microbial/chemical hazard as crop residue, preferred by insects (soft plant material), no competition with human food production, contribution to circular economies.• Large genetic diversity of tropical forages: great variation in terms of forage yield, agricultural suitability, nutrient content, and production constraints; yet to be explored for insect diets.   ","tokenCount":"507"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0690475941.json b/data/part_1/0690475941.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..147b221890045d5a1bceff56b48653ee76ef510f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0690475941.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9b65e5b83926474d60f189d411220d92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/195a494d-d2f6-4aa8-aeeb-5ed395f3743c/content","id":"-733855036"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8a01a9e1-ad2e-443b-a1b1-5908737931ad","pagecount":"8","content":"The edaphological evaluation and soil classification of experimental areas sites are important instruments for the correct interpretation of agronomical results and decisionmaking about targeting and ex-ante evaluation of agricultural technology transfer. The objective of this article is to present the results of the edaphological evaluation soil, analysis and classification of three sites located in the altiplano central of Mexico. We wanted to determine the limiting factors for agricultural production before recommending conservation practices, as developed by INIFAP in collaboration with CIMMYT. The soils were classified both under the FAO classification system and USDA Soil Taxonomy in Santa Lucía as a cumulic Phaeozem, or a Cumulic Haplustoll, in El Horno as a mollic Fluvisol or Mollic Ustifluvents and a haplic Fluvisol or Typic Ustifluvents, and in Calpulapan, a petroduric Phaeozem, or Entic Duristoll. The limiting factors for crop production are mainly related to moisture availability, varying structure and texture along the profile, low organic matter content and risk of erosion. Taking into account these limiting factors further development, extension and implementation of conservation agriculture practices is highly recommended.La evaluación edafológica y clasificación del suelo constituyen una herramienta indispensable para el entendimiento de los resultados del obtenidos con obre estudios agronómicos y experimentos a largo plazo comparando diferentes sistemas de manejo (labranza cero vs convencional, manejo de residuos, etc.). El objetivo de este artículo es presentar los resultados de la evaluación, análisis y clasificación edafológica de tres sitios, del altiplano central de México. La determinación de los factores edafológicos permite conocer las limitantes antes de difundir las tecnologías de agricultura de conservación desarrolladas por el programa de agronomía del INIFAP en colaboración con el CIMMYT. Los resultados indican que los suelos clasificados, según el sistema de clasificación de la FAO y el sistema taxonómico del USDA, corresponden en Santa Lucía a un Phaeozem cumúlico, o un Cumulic Haplustoll, en El Horno a un Fluvisol móllico, o Mollic Ustifluvents y un Fluvisol háplico, o Typic Ustifluvents, y en Calpulalpan a un Phaeozem petrodúrico, o Entic Duristoll. Los factores limitantes para la producción agrícola en la zona se relacionan principalmente con la disponibilidad de agua, los cambios en estructura y textura a lo largo de los perfiles, el bajo contenido de materia orgánica y el alto riesgo de erosión. Se recomienda la experimentación y extensión agrícola para la implementación de prácticas de agricultura de conservación.Las prácticas de manejo para la conservación del suelo, como la labranza de conservación (labranza reducida, labranza cero o camas permanentes), la rotación de cultivos y el manejo racional de los residuos de cosecha resultan en una serie de beneficios. Algunos de éstos son reducción de la erosión del suelo (12), retención de mayor humedad, mayor rendimiento, mejor estructura del suelo, mayor disponibilidad de nutrientes y mayor contenido de materia orgánica (1,2,3,6,14). Cuando se cambia de un sistema de agricultura tradicional hacia uno de agricultura de conservación (4), se debe considerar que hay un periodo de transición en el cual el nuevo sistema logra un equilibrio ecológico a mediano plazo. Por ejemplo con la incorporación retención de residuos de cosecha, se induce un cambio en el ciclo de C y N, el cual influirá en la disponibilidad inmediata de nutrientes (12,16,17). El tiempo necesario para llegar a un sistema estable dependerá de las condiciones edafológicas y climáticas. Dada la importancia de las propiedades edafológicas en los procesos agronómicos, es necesario evaluar y clasificar correctamente el suelo para una mejor predicción de la necesidad de implementar las nuevas tecnologías agronómicas y sus posibles impactos. La información obtenida ayudará a una focalización correcta y una evaluación de impacto exante para obtener una inversión mas óptima de los recursos disponibles en la extensión de tecnologías. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar los resultados de la evaluación, análisis y clasificación edafológica de tres sitios del altiplano central de México (Figura 1). La determinación de los factores edafológicos debe permitir conocer las limitantes antes de difundir las tecnologías de agricultura de conservación desarrolladas por el programa de agronomía del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP) en colaboración con el Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT).En octubre del 2003 se realizó la evaluación edafológica, la descripción en campo de perfiles, y la determinación de factores limitantes de acuerdo con la metodología propuesta por Siebe et al. (15). Se evaluaron tres sitios en el altiplano de Mexico que sirven como puntos focales para la extensión de la tecnología en la region; dos estaciones experimentales  88% (566 mm) del total; en promedio (>20 years) el mes de julio es el más lluvioso (datos calculados 1982-2003) (Figura 2). La evapotranspiración potencial excede a la precipitación (Figura 2). El PCP en la zona es de 152 días y el clima es clasificado como semi-árido (7). De acuerdo con la clasificación de USDA, el clima se encuentra dentro del régimen ustic. Este régimen indica que existe humedad, aunque limitada, durante la época de cultivo. Fisiográficamente, la zona pertenece al Eje Neovolcánico, Subprovincia Lagos y Volcanes del Anáhuac. Se encuentra dentro de la planicie aluvial en la región hidrológica del Alto Pánuco y se ve influenciada por la presencia de corrientes torrenciales que van del este al oeste (13). La vegetación original estaba conformada principalmente por pastizales (13) en la actualidad, todas estan convertidas en áreas cultivadas principalmente de maíz (Zea mays L.).En Calpulalpan, Estado de Tlaxcala, México (2500 msnm, 19º 34'N, 98º 32'O), la temperatura media anual es de 13.69 °C y la precipitación total anual de 634 mm (datos calculados 1974-2001). La temperatura mínima y máxima promedio son de 5 y 22 °C, respectivamente. Las lluvias se distribuyen irregularmente, principalmente durante los meses de Junio a Septiembre, en los que se registra el 68% (422 mm) del total de precipitación; agosto es el mes más lluvioso (datos calculados 1974-2001). La evapotranspiración potencial excede a la precipitación (Figura 3). El PCP es de 122 días. El clima en Calpulalpan es semi-árido (7) y esta bajo el régimen ustic (18). El Estado de Tlaxcala se ubica en su  totalidad dentro de la zona fisiográfica del Eje Neovolcánico. La zona de estudio forma parte de la región hidrológica del Alto Pánuco. En particular, la zona de glacis de piedemonte de Calpulalpan está constituida por depósitos volcánicos del Cenozoico correspondientes al periodo Terciario, en su mayoría tobas intermedias (13). En Calpulalpan, la vegetación original estaba constituida principalmente por bosques de encino y/o por pastizales, y actualmente existen grandes superficies cultivadas con maíz, trigo (Triticum aestivum) y cebada (Hordeum vulgare) (13,20,21).  Levantamiento en campo y análisis de laboratorio El perfil de Santa Lucía (Figura 4) se dividió en cinco estratos de acuerdo a la acumulación estratificada de material con partículas de diferentes tamaños y variaciones en el contenido de materia orgánica (Tablas 1 y 2). Se puede distinguir una capa arable hasta los 30 cm de profundidad (Ap), la cual presenta una densidad aparente mayor en relación con el resto de los horizontes. Se encontraron raíces hasta los 50 cm, aunque la profundidad potencial de las mismas es de 85 cm. La baja porosidad en la parte superior del perfil puede ser el resultado de la intensa actividad agrícola que consiste en la siembra anual de cultivos, principalmente trigo y maíz, bajo sistemas de labranza convencional (arado a 30 cm seguido por dos, o hasta a tres rastreos). El segundo horizonte se clasificó como A al no estar influenciado por el arado y de acuerdo con el contenido de materia orgánica (0.58%). El tercer horizonte presenta una cantidad importante de piedras (> 50%), carece de estructura (hay un cambio importante en la textura y acumulación de materia orgánica), la humedad disminuye drásticamente (de pF 3.5 a 5), y fue clasificado como un estrato de transición hacia una capa mineral no consolidada (2AC). Los dos horizontes restantes se consideraron 3Ab 1 y 3Ab 2 , respectivamente, variando entre ellos el contenido de piedras. Esta asignación se debe al incremento en el contenido de materia orgánica (Tabla 2) y la presencia de una estructura en comparación con los estratos superiores (Tabla 2), lo que podría indicar que son horizontes que han sido invertidos por la actividad agrícola.El perfil I en el campo en El Horno (Figura 5) tiene una acumulación estratificada de material con diferentes  de material orgánico entre estratos. Este último horizonte presenta las características correspondientes a un tepetate de color pardo y lamelas que reaccionan al CaCO 3 (pH 5.5, conductividad eléctrica de 0.1 dS m -1 ); el resto del horizonte 2AC no presenta esta reacción (pH 4, conductividad eléctrica de 0.06 dS m -1 ). El comienzo de este estrato marca el límite de crecimiento de las raíces. Los primeros dos horizontes tienen una muy baja estabilidad de agregados.En la estación de Santa Lucía se asignó, bajo el sistema WRB (8) y USDA (18), un horizonte de diagnóstico o epipedon móllico (L. mollis, suave). Es un horizonte bien estructurado (generalmente granular o subangular, en bloques), de color obscuro, con alta saturación de bases (> 50%) y un contenido moderado de materia orgánica (> 1%) (8). Para indicar la acumulación de material se clasificó el suelo en el WRB como Phaeozem cumúlico. En el sistema USDA el orden de suelo corresponde a un Mollisol. Debido a que el clima del área se clasifica como ústico y el suelo no presenta ningún atributo en particular, se asignó un suborden de Ustolls con el gran grupo Haplustoll y un subgrupo Cumulic. Los suelos Cumúlicos se forman a partir de sedimentos fluviales donde hay una deposición importante de materia orgánica, resultado de eventos de inundación. El cambio drástico en el tamaño de las partículas y las fluctuaciones en el contenido de carbono orgánico son característicos de ambientes fluviales. A nivel de familia y según la distribución de partículas, la mineralogía y la clase de temperatura del suelo, el perfil en Santa Lucía se clasificó como un fineloamy mixed thermic Cumulic Haplustoll.De acuerdo con el WRB, el perfil I de El Horno corresponde a un Fluvisol móllico, y el perfil II a un Fluvisol háplico. En el USDA el orden de suelo de los perfiles corresponde a un Entisol. Se les asignó el suborden Fluvents y el gran grupo Ustifluvent debido a que: el suelo no presenta contacto densic, lithic ni paralithic dentro de los primeros 25 cm; el tamaños de partículas, se dividió en nueve estratos. Se distinguen dos capas arables, la primera hasta los 10 cm de profundidad (Ap1) y la segunda, hasta los 24 cm (Ap2) (Tabla 1). El tercero y cuarto horizonte se clasificaron como estratos de transición hacia capas minerales no consolidadas (AC 1 y AC 2 ), estos tienen diferente contenido de piedras, textura y densidad de raíces (Tablas 1 y 2). Las raíces se encuentran sólo hasta los 60 cm, debido a la gran cantidad de piedras encontradas a partir del cuarto horizonte. La pedregosidad, textura y estructura del quinto, sexto y séptimo horizonte son diferentes y fueron asignados como 2C 1 , 2C 2 y 2C 3 (Tablas 1 y 2). Finalmente, los últimos dos estratos se denominaron 3Ab 1 y 3Ab 2 ya que la presencia de estructura, el cambio de textura y el incremento en el contenido de materia orgánica sugieren que se trata de horizontes invertidos (Tablas 1 y 2). La estabilidad de agregados a lo largo del perfil (incluso el quinto horizonte carece de estructura) es muy baja y se relaciona con las variaciones en la cantidad de arena encontrada en cada uno de los horizontes.En el perfil II en El Horno (Figura 6), existe una acumulación estratificada de material con partículas de distintos tamaños.Se distinguen dos capas arables: la primera hasta los 7 cm (Ap 1 ) y la segunda hasta los 27 cm (Ap 2 ). Nuevamente, la presencia de raíces se ve limitada por un horizonte con alta pedregosidad. El tercer horizonte 2C se distingue del cuarto y quinto estrato (3Ab 1 y 3Ab 2 , respectivamente) por su origen. Esto ha dado como resultado un nivel diferente entre estratos de pedregosidad, estructura y textura (Tablas 1 y 2). En general también se presenta una baja estabilidad de agregados, los cuales tienden en su mayoría a formar una estructura subangular, con excepción del tercer horizonte, que no está estructurado (Tablas 1 y 2).El perfil en Calpulalpan (Figura 7) se dividió en tres diferentes estratos: una capa arable que llega hasta los 26 cm (Ap) con una estructura disturbada, un horizonte A con estructura subangular y un estrato 2AC. Estas diferencias se deben al cambio drástico en textura y acumulación Se encuentran horizontes AC con evidente estratificación, aunque la diferenciación entre estratos no siempre suele ser muy marcada. Son suelos bien aireados (de color café) o suelos (de color grisáceo) en los que existe cierto estancamiento de agua (9). En general, sus propiedades químicas pueden ser influenciadas por condiciones de oxidación y, en algunos casos, por salinidad. La mayoría de los Fluvisoles llega a presentar cierta humedad en alguna parte del perfil debido al estancamiento de agua, ya sea del manto freático o por inundación a partir de ríos o lagos, aunque esto depende de su ubicación dentro de la parte activa de la planicie aluvial (5).El perfil en Calpulalpan corresponde a un Phaeozem petrodúrico (L. durus, duro) en el WRB. Estos suelos presentan, de manera secundaria, una capa endurecida en los primeros 100 cm (horizonte petrodúrico, con un espesor que va de los 10 cm a los 4 m). Se desarrollan a partir de materiales parentales aluviales y coluviales de todas las clases texturales. Tienen horizontes AC o ABC, y es común que estén erosionados en terrenos de pendiente moderada con horizontes petrodúricos expuestos. La capacidad de agua disponible depende del espesor y composición del suelo sobre el horizonte petrodúrico, el cual obstruye el movimiento vertical del agua (5). En este caso, el estrato sobre el horizonte petrodúrico está bien estructurado y es de color obscuro, con una SB alta y un contenido moderado de materia orgánica. En el USDA se asignó un epipedón móllico por lo que el orden edafológico corresponde a un Los factores limitantes en Calpulalpan son la baja disponibilidad de agua en los primeros horizontes (especialmente durante la época de sequía) y la baja capacidad relativa de aereación de los estratos por encima del horizonte petrodúrico (posiblemente relacionada con la actividad agrícola presente). Los horizontes Ap y A sólo tienen un espesor de 62 cm con una factor de erodabilidad medio. La pérdida de suelo podría ser crítica en el primer horizonte con una estructura fragmentada muy débil (Tabla 1). Otra característica importante es la presencia de un estrato compactado de tepetate. Estos son horizontes endurecidos originados a partir del depósito de materiales volcánicos que fueron proyectados en forma de lluvias o flujos, y son comunes en regiones que tienen una temporada de sequía bien marcada. El endurecimiento pudo deberse a procesos geológicos o pedológicos, éste último mediante el aporte de agentes cementantes como carbonato de calcio, sílice y/u óxidos de hierro (21). Los tepetates ocupan alrededor del 11.63% del territorio de México (9), pero en el Estado de Tlaxcala, aproximadamente el 70% de la superficie consiste en suelos volcánicos que tienden a formar tepetates (9). La deforestación y las prácticas agrícolas que no contemplan la conservación del suelo dan como resultado la erosión del mismo propiciando la exposición de los tepetates. Apróximadamente 160,000 has bajo producción agrícola se encuentran en riesgo de convertirse en zona tepetatosa (20). Tradicionalmente los agricultores de la región han implementado prácticas de conservación como las terrazas, áreas de terreno comúnmente denominadas \"metepantle\", que están delimitadas por hileras de plantas de maguey (Agave spp.). Aunque esta práctica podría considerarse adecuada, su eficacia para reducir la erosión del suelo podría mejorarse substancialmente mediante la implementación de otras prácticas conservacionistas, tales como la exclusión de la labranza y la siembra en camas permanentes aplicada a todos los cultivos de la región.Los factores limitantes para la producción agrícola en la zona se relacionan principalmente con la disponibilidad de agua, los cambios en estructura y textura a lo largo de los perfiles, el bajo contenido de materia orgánica y el alto riesgo de erosión. Los horizontes arables en gran parte del área sólo tienen un espesor de unos 50 cm; abajo de estos horizontes se encuentra el horizonte endurecido llamado tepetate. La exposición del tepetate a la superficie impedirá cualquier actividad agrícola. Debido a estas características, para Calpulalpan se recomienda la implementación de prácticas de agricultura de conservación con manejo adecuado de residuos de cosecha para reducir los niveles de erosión, usar de manera más eficiente el agua de lluvia, e incrementar el nivel de materia orgánica en el suelo. Dentro de la estación experimental de Santa Lucia, es recomendable excluir la experimentación sobre fertilización nitrogenada, ya que el alto nivel de este nutriente en el suelo no permite observar una clara respuesta. En la estación de El Horno, es fundamental caracterizar la variabilidad espacial del suelo para reducir los coeficientes de variación de los trabajos de investigación.Este trabajo fue financiado mediante la beca doctoral del ir. B. ","tokenCount":"2847"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0693351374.json b/data/part_1/0693351374.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bb04ba6078a731dbb8ff26c9130d5ba8b8bf3e96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0693351374.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3d7e5ba3d209c8d1189980a8230d585a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ed5f2c1-986d-4fd7-867b-1e319a9971f5/retrieve","id":"-1143591179"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"66b6c85c-3a86-4173-93a6-7e0f8fff1b85","pagecount":"10","content":"This research note offers insights to a new method for understanding the economic benefits of utilizing climate services for decision making in agriculture, which can provide justification for the public and private investment in provision of climate services to farmers. In order to understand the potential benefits of weather information for improved farm decision making, case studies from wheat farming in India and Bangladesh are presented.Farmers typically make decisions on agricultural operations based on traditional agricultural calendars and market information that are developed based on knowledge gained previous farming experience. Due to increasing climatic variability, it is generally widely agreed that the past climatic conditions are not a good measure of current and future conditions. Hence, farmers are increasingly in need of science-based, locationspecific, and user-tailored climate services in short-, seasonal-and longer-time scales. However, there are only limited tools available to evaluate the usefulness of agricultural climate services and understand their value proposition. This in turn can limit investments in and use of climate services. In this research note, we present preliminary research towards the development of an ex-ante evaluation method to quantify the value of the short-term weather advisory services in South Asia. The method identifies the key crop management decision points that -as assessed through statistical modeling -could potentially lead to yield gains. This method also develops a counterfactual assessment if forecast weather information is provided to farmers.Increasing climatic variability threatens the livelihood of millions of smallholders globally who depend on agriculture (Tesfaye et al., 2019;Amjath-Babu et al., 2016). Farmers typically make decisions on agricultural operations based on traditional agricultural calendars and market information that are developed based on knowledge gained previous farming experience. Due to increasing climatic variability, it is now widely agreed that the past climatic conditions are not a good measure of current and future conditions (Hewitt et al., 2012). It is often reported that the provision of weather forecasts (seasonal, short-term) combined with agricultural advisories can increase the efficiency of farmers in handling yearto-year and within-season variability of weather and improve farm profits (Meza et al., 2008;Lourenco et al., 2016;Kim et al., 2022). Findings also suggest that climate services account for diverse social structures, behaviours and contexts to demonstrate their applicability in real world context (Findlater et al., 2021).There is however a scarcity of tools and methods to evaluate the value proposition of climate services for farmers. This is is a limiting factor to meet the demand for understanding the economic and social benefits of using agricultural climate services to justify the public and private investment in provision of the services to farmers (Soares et al., 2018;Findlater et al., 2021). The value of a forecast or a climate service is the differential between the outcomes with and without access to them or the potential outcome if the users had access to the service (Soares et al., 2018, Hossain et al., 2021;Lourenco et al, 2016;Kim et al., 2022). Existing studies on economic evaluation of climate forecasting mainly focus on seasonal forecasts (Roudier et al., 2012, Zinyengere et al., 2011, Amegnaglo et al., 2017) and evaluations of short-term forecasts are seldom reported (Roudier et al., 2017;Hewitt et al., 2017). In addition, types of decisions that are considered most studies are limited to changes in crops and varieties and their planting dates on a seasonal rather than withinseason basis (Meza et al., 2008), or to aquaculture sector (Hossain et al., 2021). Moreover, the factors that may hinder the efficient use of climate services are also not well investigated. Integration of local and scientific knowledge such as that used in early warning systems in disaster risk reduction (Hermans et al., 2022) would be equally useful in developing and applying climate services based on hindcast experiments.The International Council for Science (ICSU) identified the need of enhancing usefulness of weather forecasts and future climate changes as one of the grand challenges of sustainability science. Given the historical evidence of societies being collapsed when they were unable to cope-up their farming with climate variability underlies the importance of climate advisory services (Hewitt et al., 2012(Hewitt et al., , 2017 ) ). This in part lead to the development of the global framework of climate services (Hewitt et al., 2012). However, the absence of rigorous evaluation of such services in generating economic value for the stakeholders may hinder investment and farmer adoption of climate services and advisories. To contribute to this research gap, the current study focuses on: 1) Understanding the farmer-to-farmer variability of decisions and their willingness to change their decisions, given the availability of high-quality weather forecasts.2) Quantifying (ex ante) the value of short -term forecast based agro-advisory using a switching regression model for wheat farmers in India (Bihar) and Bangladesh.Though there are methodological options of contingent valuation, decision theorybased models, benefit transfer, etc., (Whitehead et al., 2015, Karni, 2022), the current work presents a decision-based analysis. In this method, farmers are presented with the weather data of past year (hindcast) and asked for potential changes in their farming decisions if the information was available to them with a lead time of five days. The assumption made is that the short-term forecastbased climate services can only influence the timing of agricultural operations and hence can benefit farmer without any change in actual input use. The method captures the behavioral changes of farmers in terms of farming operations, given the forecasts and its uncertainty and assesses the economic value of the short-term forecast-based changes in agricultural operations.This \"hindcast\" method presents daily data of key weather variables like maximum temperature, minimum temperature and rainfall for the past cropping season with line graphs to farmers and asks them to mark their crop husbandry decisions (planting, irrigating, weeding, fertilizing, harvesting, etc.) to capture the decision they would have altered if they were provided with forecasts with five days of lead time. The sampling method followed a random selection of villages within a 10 Km radius of meteorological stations to ensure accuracy of the data presented to farmers. Farmer's use of inputs including fertilizer and irrigation, and yields obtained by farmers are collected separately. This approach generates the dataset with yields, inputs, dates of key agricultural operations, and the operations farmers are willing to change given five day weather forecasts. A statistical approach is used to create \"what if\" scenario to capture the yield shifts if farmers altered their operations within the lead time (five days) of the forecast. In case of wheat, the change in planting date, irrigation on the days that breaches threshold high temperature, and harvesting before a rainfall event are taken as key decisions that can be considered using the forecasts and examined the additional benefits that would have realized by the farmers. The possible factors that may hinder forecast-based decision making are also captured. The method captures on the possible yield benefits of accessing climate services to address the climate variability but doesn't capture cost savings (e.g., avoiding irrigation in cases of forecasted rains) due to climate services and gains from mitigating extreme climate events.The data are segregated to two regimes by creating an indicator of sum of deviations from critical dates of planting, irrigation (on days of temperatures above a biologically critical crop-species specific threshold), and harvesting (e.g., before a rainfall event that could reduce yield). The first regime is the farmers that performed operations that are closer to critical dates Regime 1:Equation 1 indicates the wheat yield if farmers plant, irrigate and harvest wheat based on decisions considering the weather conditions ('weather smart' farmers), while Equation 2 represents potential yield when farmers grow wheat without considering the weather conditions. The model is estimated using the \"Movestay\" package of STATA software.Using a decision-based analysis, we attempt to understand the value of shortterm forecast-based agricultural advisory using a climate sensitive decision frame for wheat farmers in India (Bihar) and Bangladesh. For the first time to our knowledge, a systematic method is being developed to evaluate short term-climate advisory services. It is expected that this method can be fine-tuned for use in smallholder farming systems in Asia and throughout out the global south where quality historical weather data are available from meteorological services. This novel \"hindcast\" approach presents the daily data of key weather variables including maximum temperature, minimum temperature and rainfall for the past cropping seasons with line graphs (Figure 1) and, following an orientation on how to interpret graphs, asks farmers to mark their crop husbandry decisions (planting, irrigating, weeding, fertilizing, harvesting, etc.) in the date lines. This captures the decisions farmers could have modified if they had been provided with forecasts with five days of lead time.Figure 2 shows that sampled farmers were willing (yes response) to make changes in their practices based on weather forecast information. Options include changing sowing dates, practicing irrigation at critical temperature thresholds to avoid drought stress, or harvesting quickly in case of untimely rainfall events that may significantly damage mature crops left in the field. The least acceptance to changes in irrigation were observed in Bihar. This could be due to restrictions stemming from the lack of economic or physical access to irrigation water resources in many areas. This indicates that additional development and infrastructural investments are likely to be needed to realize the potential value of forecastbased advisory services. Figure 3     Farmers' actual timing of management decisions (Figure 3) were compared to a location-specific 'ideal' decision set (planting date, irrigation at critical temperature thresholds and harvesting before rainfall events). Deviations of actual farmer decisions from the ideal were then used to construct a composite index. Employing the index, the dataset is divided two regimes (near and far from ideal) and counterfactuals are generated using the switching regression model.The simulations using estimated regression regimes show that farmers can achieve a potential wheat yield gain of 15% in Bangladesh and more than 60% in Bihar if they switch to ideal weather sensitive practices (Regime 1) by following the climate sensitive decision making using the forecasted agricultural advisory. Irrigations to avoid heat stress above critical threshold and reduced crop damage due to heavy rainfall events could result in significant yield gains in Bangladesh, though these simulations require field experimental validation. Similar strategies could also lead to moderate gains in Bihar. The negative sign of coefficients in irrigation deviation indicates that the yield penalty will be low if the irrigation is closer to dates of critical temperature stresses, indicative of the potential drought-stress abating effect of irrigation. Similarly, a positive sign for deviations from damaging rainfall at harvest period show the potential benefits of harvesting before crop-damaging extreme rainfall events. The negative sign in case of planting dates deviations indicates the yield penalties associated for days when wheat is sown late. We also collected information on factors affecting planting date decisions of farmers other than weather, which is a key variable determining wheat yield.Results show that in Bihar, membership in farmers' groups was identified as a major influencing factor while such groups were not a major factor in influencing planting date decisions in Bangladesh. Cash constraints can stifle the planting dates in Bihar farmers, while this appears to be less of a concern in Bangladesh.Drought spells are nonetheless an important factor affecting in planting dates in both countries.These preliminary results show considerable potential for climate advisory services that aims to reduce the effect of untimely planting dates, heat stress at critical temperature thresholds, and harvest time heavy rainfall damage. However, it is important to note that this initial did not evaluate the potential effect of disease forecasts, which could generate additional economic benefits.In addition, farmers indicated they were generally interested in accessing these services. Our ex-ante evaluation shows that linking agricultural advisory to weather forecasts could potentially aid in improving yield and income levels of wheat farmers in Bihar and Bangladesh. The provision of services however may not be sufficient to achieve changes in productivity without additional strategic development actions. For example, support will also be required to improve timely seed supply, access to credit, timely availability of inputs, and irrigation provision. In conclusion, the results from this study provide preliminary evidence to support further investment in climate services that could generate significant social welfare effects, though further research is needed to validate the hindcast method and to assess climate service effectiveness through rigorous post-hoc studies or randomized control trial approaches.TAFSSA is a CGIAR regional integrated initiative to support actions that improve equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, improve farmers' livelihoods and resilience, and conserve land, air, and water resources in South Asia. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: https://www.cgiar.org/funders/ SUGGESTED CITATION Amjath Babu, T.S., Krupnik, T.J., Timsina, J. 2022. Evaluating the value of agricultural climate services using hindcast experiments Methods development in India and Bangladesh. Work Package 5, Research Note 5. CGIAR research initiative on Transforming Agrifood Systems In South Asia (TAFSSA). International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Dhaka, Bangladesh.","tokenCount":"2149"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0695792299.json b/data/part_1/0695792299.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..720712ea5bfc4df64117058c3ed76bee5696735a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0695792299.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"38a5e05aef481e4ea597b2c5b0ee392f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cba94982-1eaa-451c-bee2-94be842db5b5/retrieve","id":"-1227213752"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f8f90cce-e16f-4d7a-b176-bb06d8140178","pagecount":"384","content":"In 2000, the Africa Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) approached the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and proposed to co-organise the workshop. IWMI and CTA accepted the idea at a time when the former was establishing a new Africa Regional Office in Pretoria, South Africa and because it was in line with the latter's policy and programme. While FAO led the organisation of the workshop, IWMI prepared these Proceedings for copublication by the three co-sponsors.As evidenced in these Proceedings, we believe the expectations we had for the Workshop were more than fulfilled. There are a number of interesting and promising projects in Africa that demonstrate the potential of the private sector in promoting irrigation. These projects are promoted by NGOs, local private firms and individuals. They include interesting cases of the public sector encouraging and enabling private sector participation and development. Some of these cases are presented in this volume.FAO, IWMI and CTA continue to work together on a range of programmes globally and in Africa. We perceive that together we can accomplish a lot in terms of supporting an African agricultural renaissance by mutual co-operation and partnerships with a range of African institutions.We are confident that these Proceedings will be useful for many researchers, policy makers and practitioners in agricultural development in Africa.Trend in production of horticultural crops in Meru Central (1991 -1998) .....Trend in production of horticultural crops in Makueni (1996Makueni ( -1998) ) ............    The context for irrigation development in Africa has been changing rapidly and drastically over the past decade. On the one hand, there is increasing scepticism about the returns to public investment in irrigation development, and a resulting decline in such investment. On the other hand, there are continued serious concerns about food insecurity and economic under-development in Africa. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) adopted the ambitious goal of achieving and sustaining a 6 percent annual growth rate, a goal that has since been endorsed by Africa's Heads of State under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). How is Africa to achieve such a growth rate in agriculture and attain the World Food Summit goal of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015 without substantial irrigation investments?The good news is that while public investment has declined in the past, there is increasing evidence of positive experiences with small-scale private sector supported irrigation development. Some 70 million ha are currently under private irrigation in developing countries but are not well accounted for in official government statistics. It is estimated that nearly three-quarters of the future investment needed in the developing countries would consist of private commitments. We now realise that in the past the potential role of the private sector has been under-estimated. It is this realisation which gave impetus to this workshop.Many governments in Africa suffer budgetary difficulties. The history of public-sector installation of irrigation facilities in sub-Saharan Africa has been characterised by high development costs; the governments have difficulty in affording these, so capital investment has tended to depend heavily on external donors. Many cases have been noted where these externally-financed schemes are in some ways inappropriate to their environment, and they may give the countries further difficulty and cost in management and operation.On the other hand, episodes of food scarcity continue to occur too frequently in sub-Saharan countries. Expansion of irrigation facilities would seem to be an important way of addressing the issue of food security.The combination of the food supply need and the constraint of inadequate public investment capital leads to increasing interest in alternative ways of obtaining irrigation investment, with reduced reliance on the public sector. If such a result can be achieved, it should bring various kinds of associated benefits in terms of rural and peri-urban development, health and nutritional improvements, and other aspects of socio-economic welfare that are often associated with irrigation.These considerations were among the reasons for holding the workshop at Accra, whose papers are presented here. The workshop attracted a large range of people, and a diverse set of contributions, reflecting different kinds of experiences and different ways in which the private sector can relate to irrigation development. Most of the inputs described African experiences, but there were contributions also from South America (Höllinger) and from India (Shah and Keller), as well as global reviews of experiences in irrigation management transfer (Merrey et al; Samad), and general African reviews of irrigation progress (Sonou; Gadelle; Bangoura).Private investment can occur in many ways. Several of the papers here describe activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which in many cases address the very small scale of individual investment, and the provision of potential enhancement of livelihoods for the poorest sections of society (van Leeuwen; Shah and Keller). Others focus on investment by export-oriented companies, growing higher-value crops (Gyamfi; Agodzo and Blay).A different path to non-governmental investment may be through transfer of management, to existing users, of schemes that were initially constructed and operated by governments. This does not immediately bring in cash investment, but may bring labour inputs by the users, and through time they may improve or expand their new property. This movement has been in progress in different parts of the world since the middle 1970s, so it is useful to have reviews such as that of Samad, which is however not very encouraging in general and suggests that there are needs for adapting the past approaches to this kind of policy. There are needs to identify better practices in transfer programmes, and the paper of Hermiteau et al., aims to investigate that aspect.An example of what might be called \"enforced\" management transfer is described by Kabutha and Mutero, showing what can happen when a public agency is unresponsive to growing dissatisfaction among the users of its irrigation facilities, provoking them to frustration and ultimately to a violent takeover of the facilities.Marketing is an obvious constraint in many parts of Africa, especially in smaller communities where poor transportation links make market access difficult and also make it easy for small local markets to become saturated, with consequent price weaknesses. This problem, however, is not severe in the cities, so peri-urban cultivation has relatively prospered (Barry), but faces its own set of constraints, such as small land units and lack of legal rights to land or water.There is a need for appropriate and affordable equipment, especially pumps and microirrigation devices (van 't Hof; van Leeuwen; Beaujault and Dotson; Shah and Keller). Investment in these can bring its own problems of maintenance, marketing, spare parts and so on, so it needs to be supported by increases of capacity in such aspects. The role of NGOs, both local and foreign, in such capacity-building is clear in several of these contributions and in that of Shirra.Gender issues are relevant in all parts of Africa, and perhaps especially so in countries with substantial industrialised sectors, such as South Africa or Zimbabwe, where male labour in the rural environments is relatively scarce. Chancellor describes opportunities and constraints for women cultivators, and van Koppen presents a way of assessing gender-related impacts.Finance, and financial institutions and processes, are clearly central to any programme for enhancing private investment. Aeschliman gives a wide-ranging assessment of the issues, offering a great deal of practical guidance, and Höllinger describes a specific technique of equipment leasing from Bolivia. Dosso describes the processes followed by the African Development Bank. In addition to financing mechanisms, Abernethy discusses the improvement of the enabling environment, and the question of equitable access to irrigation.Several of the authors improve our understanding of how these issues interact in real field situations, by providing case studies of single irrigation systems or small sets of systems (Mudima, in Zimbabwe; Agodzo and Blay, in Ghana; Abubakar, in Nigeria; Sally, in Burkina Faso and Niger; Freeman and Silim, in Kenya). Such case studies tend to demonstrate that the issues are complex and multi-dimensional, so policies should be multi-sectoral and must be pursued consistently over many years.There is no general message that comes from these varied descriptions of the present situation of irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa. It seems clear that the need for expansion of irrigation and of food production is great; but the constraints and difficulties attending such expansion are also large. The workshop has made one thing clear: there is a large and increasing number of professional people working to solve these issues, and great effort and enthusiasm are being applied.Charles L. Abernethy XVII Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa As we know, until recently, irrigated agriculture was strongly and almost exclusively supported by the state in Africa. In the wake of Structural Adjustment Programmes, however, governments in the region can no longer afford to provide the generous support that was extended to irrigation projects, especially the large-scale ones. The rapid decline in public assistance to agricultural development has especially affected the irrigation sub-sector. We are also aware that the share of agriculture in total government expenditure in developing countries ranges from 0.015 percent XX Welcome address to 23 percent. This figure is less than 10 percent in 90 percent of cases. Ironically, countries with high levels of undernourishment as in sub-Saharan Africa are also those with severe budgetary constraints. This points to the case of a larger flow of concessional development assistance to such countries to enable them to cope effectively with the challenge of food insecurity and undernutrition.The total annual gross investment needs of agriculture in the developing countries (primary agriculture, storage, processing and support infrastructure) would be about US$180,400 million for the period up to 2015. A continuation of current annual investment rates until 2015 would be insufficient to achieve the World Food Summit (WFS) target of reducing by half the number of hungry people in the world by that date. The expected shortfall averages 12 percent for all developing regions and is 38 percent for sub-Saharan Africa.What should be done in the face of such a situation? Distinguished participants, this is why you are here. We need to promote the emergence of new operators in the system and private irrigation enterprises appear to be the most appropriate. We know that some privately developed and managed irrigation schemes in most sub-Saharan countries are performing well and go to support the fact that there is business potential for the involvement of the private sector in the irrigation sub-sector. While they may have the advantage of being less of a drain on dwindling per capita public funds, we should not overlook the serious constraints that confront many smallscale irrigation operators, namely insecure land tenure systems, poor water quality, and lack of access to effective agricultural support services, including access to credit. Efforts should be continued to address these impediments.A very strong defence of irrigation development is necessary if it is to compete favourably with other alternatives for attention. Perhaps you may wish to examine the following factors, which can contribute to this defence and may lead to a second generation of water projects being more successful than the previous ones: the macro-economic climate has improved within the last 20 years and financial returns to the agricultural sector are expected to increase following the various reforms; expensive internationally designed and constructed schemes are becoming unnecessary as local engineering capacity improves and simple appropriate technology becomes better known; advances in both agricultural science and engineering are continuing to be made, which can improve the efficiency of water use and increase the returns from irrigation; private-sector investment across a range of types from small-scale individual pump schemes such as we have in Nigeria to large-scale private estates in the case of Zambia coffee and wheat or Swaziland sugar, show that productive irrigation is possible; finally, irrigation does pay, for private investment has provided all financing for about 20 percent of the total area currently irrigated worldwide.Among the four critical preconditions required to close the gap between food production and consumption in Africa, namely: good governance of the macro-economy, high-quality technical support and trained managers and farmers, water development ranks high among the lot. The responsibility for achieving these preconditions falls on both the national governments and the international community, which is expected to assist African governments to achieve food security. Inadequacies of market systems, lack of storage facilities, poor management of agricultural produce and absence of affordable credit schemes have contributed to failure in the past. These constraints must be eliminated through sound government macro-economic policies. But the needed expansion of irrigation must be based on lessons learnt from past experiences. You are here to find ways to make this happen.In addition, governments in Africa, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, will have to critically review and reform their national water resources development and irrigation policies and strategies to meet the objectives of food security and sustainable agricultural development. I would like to reaffirm FAO's commitment to assist African countries in this difficult but urgent task.In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that FAO views irrigation as an indispensable tool for improvement of food security in Africa. We and our partners are, therefore, keenly interested in the outcome of this Seminar. I am hopeful that participants will live up to the high hopes of FAO and its partners and come up with practical and realistic recommendations, which will address all aspects of private irrigation and provide governments, technical agencies, donors and financial XXI Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa institutions with sound advice to promote the development of sustainable private-sector participation in irrigation expansion in Africa. This will contribute immensely to boost food production on the continent and assist in enhancing the food security situation and the quality of life of our peoples.On this positive note, I wish all participants fruitful deliberations and a happy stay among the warm and friendly people of Ghana.Dans le monde, l'irrigation couvrait 194 millions d'hectares en 1995/7. En Afrique, seuls 12,5 millions d'hectares sont irrigués sur un total de 202 millions de terres cultivées, soit 6,2 pourcent. La proportion de terres irriguées en Afrique au sud du Sahara est encore plus réduite, puisque seuls 5,2 millions d'hectares, soit 3,3 pourcent des terres cultivées, sont irrigués.En moyenne, on estime que 18 pourcent de terres irriguées contribuent pour 40 pourcent à la production agricole mondiale. Les analyses récentes suggèrent que l'agriculture irriguée représentera 38 pourcent de l'augmentation des terres arables et plus de 70 pourcent de l'augmentation de la production céréalière entre 1995 /7 et 2030/7 et (FAO 2000)). Pour sa part de cette évolution, l'Afrique sub-saharienne a besoin des grands et petits périmètres irrigués.Il est vrai que la performance plutôt décevante de bon nombre de grands aménagements hydroagricoles initiés par l'Etat ne milite guère en leur faveur. L'examen de la situation mondiale indique que le privé a entièrement financé plus de 20 pourcent des superficies actuellement irriguées. Les leçons des expériences du passé doivent guider le futur.L'avantage des petits périmètres est indéniable dans certaines conditions. La maturation des petits projets est beaucoup plus rapide et ils se prêtent mieux à une gestion individualisée ou par petits groupes où les décisions sont plus faciles à prendre, la gestion plus flexible et le coût initial en capital est plus faible. Les petits périmètres ne sont pas pour autant dénués de problèmes; l'économie d'échelle n'est pas toujours aussi évidente qu'on peut le croire; en cas de sécheresse sévère, les petits périmètres sont plus affectés.Nous procédons ci-après à une description de la situation actuelle de l'irrigation en Afrique subsaharienne. Enfin, nous traçons les grandes lignes des perspectives ouvertes à l'expansion de l'irrigation.Tableau 1. Distribution régionale des ressources en eau.Source: FAO 1995.D'après le tableau 1, il est bien évident que les pays les plus arides, qui nécessiteraient les plus grands volumes d'eau pour l'agriculture, disposent des ressources les plus limitées.Le tableau 2 montre la répartition des prélèvements en eau par région entre les trois grands secteurs consommateurs d'eau: l'agriculture, l'industrie et les villes. A l'échelle du continent, environ 85 pourcent des utilisations recensées sont destinées à l'agriculture (contre 69% en moyenne pour le monde) mais ce chiffre varie considérablement d'une région à l'autre. Ce sont les régions arides, où l'irrigation joue un rôle important, qui prélèvent le plus d'eau pour l'agriculture. Source: FAO 1997.L'ensemble des superficies irriguées en Afrique s'élevait, au milieu des années 1990, à 12,2 millions d'hectares auxquels s'ajoutaient 2,1 millions d'hectares de bas-fonds cultivés et de cultures de décrue. On observe une distribution géographique très inégale de ces superficies. La figure 1 qui présente l'évolution des superficies irriguées depuis 1961 en Afrique montre bien les disparités régionales.   L'irrigation gravitaire (ou de surface) domine nettement le panorama des techniques d'irrigation pratiquées en Afrique (90% des terres irriguées). On recense cependant plus d'un million d'hectares équipés en irrigation par aspersion, surtout dans les pays du Nord (Libye, Egypte, Maroc, Tunisie) ainsi qu'au Zimbabwe et en Afrique du Sud. Enfin, l'irrigation localisée est pratiquée dans 14 pays, mais elle ne représente qu'environ 1 pourcent des terres irriguées.Il est très difficile d'obtenir de bonnes estimations des cultures pratiquées sous irrigation. Le tableau 4 présente néanmoins la distribution des cultures irriguées pour environ 10,5 millions d'hectares (regroupées en six grandes classes) et donne une bonne image de leur distribution régionale. La culture la plus répandue est le riz, qui représente à lui seul près d'un tiers des spéculations. On observe cependant une grande disparité entre les régions. Cultivé principalement dans les marais et bas-fonds, le riz est majoritaire dans les zones humides du golfe de Guinée et de l'Est. Il est également très développé sur les plateaux de Madagascar. Parmi les autres céréales, le blé et le maïs sont cultivés et irrigués surtout en Afrique du Sud ainsi qu'au Soudan.Source: FAO 1995.Les cultures industrielles irriguées sont quant à elles présentes surtout au Soudan et dans les pays du Sud, coton et oléagineux principalement, mais aussi la canne à sucre, le café, le cacao, le palmier, les bananes, le tabac et les fleurs.Le tableau 4 indique clairement que l'irrigation est en majeure partie consacrée aux cultures céréalières (riz et autres céréales 64%) et c'est là où réside sa principale contribution à la sécurité alimentaire. C'est également là où le secteur privé intervient le moins.Les cultures industrielles et horticoles (maraîchères, arboriculture et floriculture) quant à elles, représentent 21 pourcent des superficies irriguées. Elles bénéficient davantage des investissements privés, la production étant en partie orientée vers l'exportation. Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaEn Afrique, le taux moyen d'utilisation des superficies équipées pour l'irrigation varie sensiblement en fonction des conditions climatiques (lorsque des périodes de sécheresse affectent les ressources en eau destinées à l'irrigation), mais surtout en fonction des conditions socio-économiques des pays et des capacités d'organisation et de gestion. Si la majorité des pays ont un taux d'utilisation de plus de 80 pourcent, plusieurs d'entre eux montrent des performances nettement plus faibles, avec des taux d'utilisation qui ne dépassent pas 50 pourcent. En moyenne, on estime que 18 pourcent des superficies équipées pour l'irrigation ne sont pas exploitées. Il s'agit là d'un résultat relativement médiocre, qui s'explique en partie par le fait que des erreurs ont pu être commises dans l'aménagement et la mise en valeur mais surtout dans l'organisation et la gestion des périmètres irrigués.Les coûts d'aménagement et de mise en valeur des terres par l'irrigation sont très variables d'un pays à l'autre et d'un type d'irrigation à l'autre. Ils peuvent aller de quelques centaines de dollars par hectare dans le cas de petits jardins maraîchers dans lesquels la main d'oeuvre familiale représente l'investissement le plus important, à plus de US$25,000 par hectare pour les grands périmètres en zone enclavée. Ces coûts, qui sont les plus élevés du monde (en Asie, on estime entre US$1,000 et 2,000 le coût moyen à l'hectare des aménagements hydro-agricoles) rendent l'expansion de la grande irrigation publique très problématique. On verra dans la section relative aux perspectives futures que la tendance actuelle est de favoriser l'irrigation privée, souvent moins coûteuse et plus productive.La conception du rôle de l'irrigation vis-à-vis le développement rural, la production agricole et la sécurité alimentaire, est destinée à évoluer considérablement pour s'adapter à l'environnement mondial et aux tendances actuelles relatives à la gestion des ressources naturelles. La reconnaissance de la valeur économique de l'eau devient incontournable. Il faudra améliorer la productivité de chaque mètre cube d'eau et de chaque mètre carré de terre affectée à l'irrigation. La décentralisation des instances de décisions vers la base, vers les premiers acteurs s'accentuera. Les principaux facteurs de changement sont passés en revue ci-après et leur impact probable sur l'irrigation est discuté.La globalisation des activités économiques pourrait faire croire que le capital privé et le commerce remplaceraient graduellement l'aide comme source de financement du développement. Si l'on y prend garde, le niveau de pauvreté des populations sub-sahariennes pourrait les exclure, sinon faire d'eux les victimes de la mondialisation.En effet, il est bien connu que la majorité des projets d'irrigation initiés par les gouvernements ont bénéficié de l'aide extérieure. Dans le secteur agricole y compris les forêts et les pêches, la proportion de l'aide reçue est passée de 20,2 pourcent en 1987/89 à 12,5 pourcent en 1996/98. Il y a trente ans, les prêts à l'agriculture représentaient 40 pourcent de l'enveloppe des prêts de la Banque Mondiale mais cette proportion est tombée à 10 pourcent en l'an 2000. Quant à l'aide extérieure destinée à l'Afrique, elle est passée de US$32 par personne en 1990 à US$18 en 1998. D'ici à l'an 2015, l'on estime cependant qu'il faudra plus de US$180 milliards pour atteindre les objectifs du Sommet Mondial de l'Alimentation: réduire de moitié le nombre de sous-alimentés à travers le monde. Le rythme annuel d'investissement agricole actuellement observé est, en moyenne, inférieur de 12 pourcent aux prévisions pour l'ensemble des pays en développement, et de 38 pourcent pour l'Afrique sub-saharienne.Les projections des Nations Unies indiquent que la population mondiale devrait passer de 6 milliards de personnes en l'an 2000 à 8 milliards en 2025. Plus de 80 pourcent de cette augmentation aura lieu dans les pays en développement (van Hofwegen and Svendsen 2000). La figure 3 montre l'évolution prévue en Afrique de l'Ouest jusqu'à 2025. Le défi consistera donc à produire assez de nourriture pour une population croissante et créer des emplois non agricoles tout en satisfaisant une demande croissante en eau de la part des autres secteurs d'utilisation (villes et industries).Actuellement, un habitant sur deux vit en zone urbaine. Le développement croissant des marchés urbains exercera une influence positive sur la commercialisation des produits agricoles des zones périurbaines où devraient s'intensifier le maraîchage et d'autres cultures de rente. Ainsi, la carte de la figure 4 montre l'étendue des zones rurales qui seront connectées aux marchés urbains en 2025 en Afrique de l'Ouest.En Afrique de l'Ouest où le taux d'urbanisation devrait atteindre 65 pourcent en 2025, chaque agriculteur en milieu rural devra produire pour les besoins alimentaires de 2,5 personnes (contre 1,6 personnes actuellement). Condition aggravante, la migration des campagnes vers les villes conduit souvent au chômage. Rapprocher la production agricole des villes, c'est rendre les produits plus accessibles aux consommateurs, toutes catégories confondues. En effet le coût du transport des produits représente dans certains pays plus de 50 pourcent, voire plus de 60 pourcent du prix au consommateur urbain (Sonou 2000). Cela appelle un développement conséquent des infrastructures routières, notamment dans les zones rurales.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Source: OCDE, 1994, from FAO-IPTRID 1999.Les prévisions indiquent que les exportations de nourriture des pays développés vers les pays en développement devraient croître de 140 pourcent entre 1993 et 2020.Pour les pays qui ne peuvent générer suffisamment de biens ou services d'exportation pour pouvoir compenser leur déficit alimentaire par l'importation (beaucoup d'entre eux se situent en Afrique subsaharienne), il est nécessaire de développer et renforcer les programmes de développement rural orientés vers une plus grande productivité (travail, terre, eau), tant en agriculture pluviale qu'en agriculture irriguée. L'irrigation a un rôle important à jouer comme promoteur de développement régional, comme moyen d'amélioration des conditions nutritionnelles des populations et pour combattre la pauvreté en zones rurales. Source: FAO-IPTRID 1999.La figure 5 montre qu'en Afrique de l'Ouest la production céréalière suit la demande mais sans jamais la satisfaire, ce qui implique le recours systématique aux importations, notamment de riz et de blé.Depuis les années 1980, on assiste à une augmentation régulière du déficit de production céréalière dans la région. La situation du riz est préoccupante. En 1995, la région produisait seulement 63 pourcent du riz qu'elle consommait, alors qu'elle dispose de tout le potentiel nécessaire pour satisfaire ses besoins en riz (figure 6). Etant donné que le coût des importations pèse lourdement sur les balances commerciales des pays, ceux-ci seront tôt ou tard contraints à adopter une politique volontariste de promotion de la riziculture irriguée. Source: FAO-IPTRID 1999.Dans beaucoup de pays africains au Sud du Sahara, les produits agricoles destinés à l'exportation bénéficient de plus en plus de l'irrigation. Il en est ainsi notamment des fruits et fleurs. Les revenus à l'exportation permettent l'amélioration de la balance commerciale et à coup sûr facilitent l'importation des aliments qui ne sont pas produits localement. Sans ces exportations qui souvent proviennent du privé, il serait difficile de réduire la charge financière des importations agricoles et d'améliorer la sécurité alimentaire.La tendance globale à la décentralisation des processus de décision et des responsabilités de gestion dans tous les domaines aura probablement des conséquences importantes sur la façon dont seront gérés les grands périmètres irrigués. La gestion de l'eau qui prévalait jusqu'aux années 1990 dans les grands périmètres, à partir de structures lourdes et étatiques, sera remplacée par un service de l'eau contrôlé et/ou assuré par les irriguants; ceux-ci participant pleinement aux processus de prise des décisions relatives à la gestion de leurs périmètres. Cette transformation devrait s'accompagner d'une meilleure maîtrise des coûts de l'irrigation. A cette fin, il faudra développer les capacités de prise en charge de la gestion des périmètres irrigués par les nouveaux acteurs, les exploitants. Les problèmes liés au transfert de la gestion des périmètres aux usagers font spécifiquement l'objet du thème 3 de ce séminaire.L'Afrique, comme les autres régions en développement, souffre de sérieux problèmes relatifs à l'impact de l'irrigation sur la santé et l'environnement. Malheureusement, très peu d'information quantitative est disponible à ce sujet pour les pays africains. La salinisation des terres est une réalité pour certains périmètres irrigués en régions arides. A l'exception de l'eutrophisation de certains réservoirs, la pollution de l'eau par l'agriculture n'est pas très importante en Afrique au Sud du Sahara étant donné le niveauGénéralement, en termes de disponibilité en terres irrigables et en eaux, il n'y a pas d'obstacle à l'expansion de l'irrigation. Dans l'ensemble, l'Afrique sub-saharienne prélève moins de 2 pourcent de l'eau disponible. Les obstacles se retrouvent principalement dans: la lenteur de la mise au point et du transfert des nouvelles technologies d'irrigation à faible coût, lesquelles techniques devraient permettre, entre autres, économie de l'eau, économie d'énergie et économie de main d'oeuvre; le manque de crédits d'investissement et de campagne; les politiques fiscales; le manque de motivation des agriculteurs à adopter les nouvelles technologies parce que (a) le coût n'en serait pas supportable, et (b) l'augmentation de la production butterait sur des problèmes d'accès au marché (étroitesse des marchés locaux, manque d'infrastructures de désenclavement des zones de production) et des problèmes de transformation, stockage, conservation et commercialisation; le manque d'accès aux intrants permettant de mieux valoriser l'eau (variétés de semences à haut rendement, engrais et pesticides, ces derniers devant être mis en balance avec la nutrition intégrée des plantes et la lutte intégrée contre les ennemis des plantes); le manque de formation aux techniques d'irrigation et à la gestion des périmètres; la baisse des investissements dans l'irrigation.Comme suite aux programmes d'ajustement structurel, la plupart des gouvernements en Afrique sub-saharienne se trouvent obligés de réexaminer leurs politiques d'assistance financière directe à l'irrigation. Il faut rappeler ici que la part de l'agriculture dans les dépenses gouvernementales varie entre 0,015 pourcent et 23 pourcent, et reste inférieure à 10 pourcent dans 90 pourcent des pays en développement dont font partie les pays sub-sahariens. La nécessaire expansion de l'irrigation devra donc reposer, dans une large mesure, sur la participation des agriculteurs et sur les investissements privés.De 1950 à 1993, 7 pourcent des prêts de la Banque Mondiale ont été attribués à l'irrigation, plus que dans tout autre sous-secteur (Jones 1995). A peu près dans la même période (1961/1963 à 1995/ 7), les superficies irriguées ont augmenté de 2 millions d'ha en Afrique sub-saharienne contre 70 millions d'ha en Asie. De 1990 à 1997, les prêts de la Banque Mondiale à l'irrigation sont tombés à près de 4 pourcent (DFID 2000). Voilà un déclin qui augure mal de l'expansion de l'irrigation attendue entre 1995/7 et 2030. Ce déclin touche à la fois les capitaux de premier investissement dans de nouveaux périmètres et les allocations pour les charges récurrentes et la réhabilitation.Le développement de l'irrigation en Afrique de l'Ouest remonte à l'époque coloniale, et probablement vers le début des années 40 avec l'aménagement des grands périmètres rizicoles. Le développement de l'irrigation avait surtout été l'oeuvre des grandes Sociétés coloniales et des planteurs privés européens, notamment français, anglais et portugais, dans les bassins fluviaux du Niger, du Sénégal et dans les petits bassins intérieurs (bas-fonds soudano-guinéens, forestiers) ainsi que dans les plaines littorales de la Guinée-Conakry, Guinée-Bissau, Gambie et du Sénégal (Casamance).L'objectif visé par ces aménagements hydro-agricoles était essentiellement la production pour l'exportation des produits tropicaux (bananes, ananas, mangues) à haute valeur ajoutée vers les métropoles européennes et aussi pour la satisfaction des besoins alimentaires de base (riz) des colonies. Déjà en cette période, les terres les plus fertiles avaient été confisquées par l'administration coloniale et mises en valeur par les grandes Sociétés coloniales et par des planteurs privés européens résolument tournés vers le développement des cultures d'exportation. Ainsi plusieurs pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest dont la Guinée-Conakry, deuxième producteur mondial de banane après les Antilles jusque vers 1962, et l'Office du Niger au Mali pour le riz, s'étaient hissés parmi les premiers exportateurs de produits agricoles tropicaux vers les métropoles européennes.La petite irrigation privée \"informelle\", largement pratiquée dans les petits jardins maraîchers des périmètres urbains et périurbains. Il est malheureusement rare de trouver des données fiables sur ce type d'irrigation dans les statistiques dressées par les services publics. Ce type d'irrigation est pratiqué par une large frange des populations notamment urbaine et périurbaine; les femmes et les jeunes sont particulièrement actifs dans cette activité.• L'irrigation privée des moyens et grands périmètres de bas-fonds et plaines alluviales, pratiquée par des entrepreneurs privés ayant à leur disposition des moyens financiers et matériels appréciables. Les cultures de contre-saison constituées par les légumes divers et les fruits sont les principales spéculations pratiquées. On peut également retenir dans cette catégorie les petites exploitations familiales orientées vers la culture des céréales.Selon la FAO (1997), le potentiel d'irrigation pour les grands bassins d'Afrique est de l'ordre de 600 millions d'hectares; en prenant en compte la qualité des terres, les ressources en eau, et les possibilités Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa économiques de mise en valeur, ce potentiel serait réduit à 42,5 millions d'hectares. L'ensemble des superficies irriguées en Afrique serait de l'ordre de 14,3 millions d'hectares (tableau 1).Tableau 1. Potentiel d'irrigation et terres irrigables des principaux fleuves d'Afrique.D'une manière générale, les réalisations d'irrigation privée en Afrique de l'Ouest se concentrent dans le secteur horticole et fruitier, et dans une moindre mesure dans la riziculture et les autres céréales.Les résultats obtenus dans le domaine de l'irrigation privée sont nettement en deçà des possibilités réelles au vu du potentiel de terres irrigables disponibles dans les différents pays de la sous-région. Dans le tableau 2, des chiffres partiels disponibles sur les superficies et les cultures sous irrigation privée sont donnés à titre indicatif pour quelques pays de la sous-région. Selon les résultats présentés dans ce tableau, les taux de mise en valeur du potentiel d'irrigation par le secteur privé sont très faibles (inférieurs à 5%) dans les différents pays.Tableau 2. Superficies sous irrigation privée (données partielles).(1) Les chiffres sur les superficies irriguées ne prennent en compte que les périmètres sous irrigation privée.(2) Tableau préparé par l'auteur sur la base des informations recueillies à partir des documents cités dans la bibliographie. Les contraintes au développement de l'irrigation privée en Afrique sont essentiellement de quatre ordres: les coûts d'aménagement, les aspects techniques, les facteurs de production, et les aspects juridiques et institutionnels.S'agissant des coûts d'aménagement, la principale difficulté réside dans le financement des aménagements structurants que représentent les ouvrages principaux (barrages, canaux principaux, digues de protection, pistes d'accès etc.) par l'irriguant privé, compte tenu du fait que l'investissement doit être techniquement et financièrement supportable par le privé. Le financement des infrastructures structurantes par l'Etat devrait être pris en compte dans les plans stratégiques de développement du sous-secteur de l'irrigation. Une politique d'appui de l'Etat dans la préparation et la répartition des investissements permettrait d'atténuer ces contraintes.Les contraintes d'ordre technique ont trait aux options technologiques optimales à choisir (typologie d'irrigation, technologies appropriées d'irrigation etc.) relatives à la gestion technique, économique et environnementale des périmètres aménagés.L'environnement économique et social peu favorable rend l'accès aux facteurs de production difficile.En effet, l'accès au crédit et les taux d'intérêt élevés imposés par les institutions de crédit sont parmi les contraintes les plus importantes auxquelles font face les entrepreneurs privés agricoles.Les contraintes d'ordre juridiques et institutionnelles à lever sont principalement les suivantes:• La clarification de la législation foncière et la mise en oeuvres des textes d'application sont des actions qui pourraient sécuriser les investisseurs privés. En effet le cadre institutionnel existant dans les différents pays se caractérise par le poids encore trop important de l'Etat dans le financement et la gestion des aménagements hydro-agricoles. Des groupements associatifs sont faibles et insuffisamment organisés et des structures d'appui pour le développement de l'irrigation privée sont à créer ou à renforcer.• Les institutions financières existantes s'intéressent très peu au secteur agricole, vu les risques et le caractère peu attractif du crédit aux petits producteurs. L'investissement en faveur de l'irrigation connaît une tendance à la baisse depuis plus d'une décennie.Les structures de commercialisation et les débouchés pour les produits agricoles sont insuffisants et peu structurés.Les options stratégiques prioritaires de développement de l'irrigation privée sont fonction des politiques et stratégies définies par les différents Etats. Cependant, en règle générale, on retrouve les principes de base suivants:• L'amélioration de l'environnement institutionnel et juridique du sous-secteur de l'irrigation. Dans ce contexte, les actions prioritaires à engager pour le développement de l'irrigation privée sont: la clarification des rôles et missions des différents acteurs, le désengagement progressif des Etats du financement intégral, de la mise en oeuvre et de la gestion des aménagements hydro-agricoles, le soutien à l'émergence d'un secteur privé dynamique, les réformes foncières et les codes de l'eau, et la mise en place de codes d'investissement suffisamment attractifs.• Il est tout aussi important d'améliorer les techniques de mobilisation et de gestion de l'eau, et de promouvoir des technologies d'irrigation techniquement et économiquement fiables.• L'amélioration de l'environnement économique et social permettra de faciliter l'accès au crédit; la performance des institutions de crédit sera également accrue. L'amélioration des services financiers comportera, par exemple, des mesures susceptibles de favoriser la mobilisation de l'épargne rurale et l'accroissement de l'offre de services adaptés aux besoins des agriculteurs.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaLe renforcement des capacités techniques et de gestion des différents intervenants (groupements associatifs, services publics, entrepreneurs privés, ONG, etc.) permettra une appropriation réelle des techniques et technologies d'irrigation par les différents acteurs de développement.• L'amélioration du circuit de transport et de commercialisation, la promotion de petites industries de transformation et de conservation des produits agricoles sont des actions prioritaires à considérer.La croissance démographique galopante qui caractérise les pays africains en général et en particulier les zones urbaines, a pour corollaire l'augmentation des besoins alimentaires des populations, il se trouve que ces besoins ne peuvent être satisfaits avec les niveaux de production actuels.Les restructurations des politiques sectorielles agricoles, dans le contexte général des réformes économiques entreprises par les Etats, doivent nécessairement prendre en compte le sous-secteur de l'irrigation, compte tenu de ses impacts sur la sécurisation de l'agriculture, sur l'augmentation des rendements des cultures et des revenus des producteurs, sur la création d'emploi, et sur la réduction des importations alimentaires de base et de la balance commerciale.Dans le contexte de la restructuration du sous-secteur de l'irrigation, les stratégies et plans d'actions doivent clairement proposer les mesures d'allégement du poids financier des interventions de l'Etat dans la réalisation et la maintenance des infrastructures d'aménagements hydro-agricoles ainsi que le transfert adapté des périmètres aménagés par les services publics aux groupements associatifs et aux entrepreneurs privés. Le passage d'une irrigation financée entièrement par l'Etat vers des projets d'irrigation financés et gérés par des groupes d'individus privés ou des associations d'agriculteurs apparaît comme une solution adaptée au contexte actuel d'ajustement des économies des pays en voie de développement.La promotion de nouvelles technologies d'irrigation peu coûteuses (pompes de petite et moyenne capacités, pompes à pédales, systèmes de goutte-à-goutte du type familial, etc.) pour l'irrigation à petite échelle est une alternative viable pour les pays à faible revenu.Au regard du potentiel de terres aménageables existant et de la complémentarité nécessaire entre les secteurs public et privé pour le développement du sous-secteur de l'irrigation, la promotion de l'irrigation privée est perçue comme une perspective d'avenir susceptible de contribuer grandement à la réduction de la pauvreté et à la sécurité alimentaire des populations.Le développement du sous-secteur de l'irrigation en Afrique en général et en Afrique de l'Ouest en particulier, au cours des 20 dernières années démontre à suffisance que l'irrigation est une alternative durable de sécurisation de la production agricole et d'augmentation des rendements des cultures et des revenus des producteurs.La tendance à la baisse constatée de l'investissement dans le secteur agricole à partir de 1980, milite en faveur d'un allégement du poids financier de l'Etat dans les aménagements hydro-agricoles accompagné d'une prise de responsabilité plus poussée des agriculteurs et des entrepreneurs privés dans le financement de leurs activités d'irrigation que par le passé.Les projets d'irrigation privée en Afrique doivent s'inscrire dans la politique globale de sécurité alimentaire prônée par les différents pays, de lutte contre la pauvreté et de la promotion des investissements dans le sous-secteur de l'irrigation, tout en assurant une prise de responsabilité plus grande des investissements par les bénéficiaires.Dans le souci de soutenir le développement de l'irrigation privée en Afrique de l'Ouest, les mesures ci-après doivent être prises en compte:• Poursuivre la politique de recentrage de l'Etat vers ses fonctions pérennes de planification et de contrôle et promouvoir le secteur privé dans le sous-secteur de l'irrigation.This paper summarises the results of a socio-economic impact assessment carried out on five successful smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe (FAO 2000). The paper starts by giving a very brief general overview and background on the agricultural sector of Zimbabwe to enable the discussion on smallholder irrigation which follows to be taken and understood in the right perspective. This is then followed by a summary of the findings and recommendations from the socio-economic impact evaluation.The results of the socio-economic impact evaluation show that smallholder irrigation can certainly be economically and financially viable and can result in increased productivity, improved incomes and nutrition, employment creation, food security and drought relief savings for governments. Smallholder irrigation development can be used as a key drought mitigation measure and as a vehicle for the long-term agricultural and macro-economic development of a country. IntroductionZimbabwe is a landlocked country in the Southern Africa region, with an area of over 390,000 km 2 , bordered by Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. It is situated between about 15 and 22 degrees south latitude and about 26 and 34 degrees east longitude. Climatic conditions are largely sub-tropical with one rainy season, between November and March. Rainfall reliability decreases from north to south and also from east to west. Only 37 percent of the country receives rainfall considered adequate for agriculture.Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Zimbabwe. Although the agricultural sector contributes only about 18 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is the country's largest foreign currency earner and about 40 percent of the country's exports are of agricultural origin (Agritex 1999). About 70 percent of the population are directly dependent on it for formal employment and agriculture provide about 60 percent of raw materials to industry (Agritex 1999). Recent experiences, especially the periods during and immediately after the severe droughts of 1986/87, 1991/92 and 1993/94, have shown that the performance of the country's economy is directly related to the performance of the agricultural sector. The economy performs well when agriculture is thriving.The agricultural sector has a dualistic nature made up of a fairly advanced large-scale commercial sub-sector and a smallholder sub-sector which is poor, less developed and still needs a lot of support.For the purposes of relating climate, soils and topography Zimbabwe is divided into five Agro-ecological zones or Natural Regions (NRs). NRs I, II and III are areas of higher agricultural potential and cover about 35 percent of the land area. NRs IV and V comprise the remaining 65 percent of land area, and these are areas of poor soils, low and erratic rainfall and hence of poor agricultural potential.The commercial sub-sector occupies about 12 million hectares and 56 percent of this is located in NRs I, Il and III. The small-scale sub-sector occupies 16.3 million hectares, 75 percent of which lies in low potential Agro-ecological zones IV and V. Therefore dryland farming in the majority of the smallholder sub-sector is unsuccessful. Experience has shown that farmers in these areas on average obtain a good harvest once every 4 to 5 yearsAt independence in 1980 the new government of Zimbabwe recognised the role of irrigation in agricultural development, especially in improving the production of the smallholder farmers. The government increased its efforts to promote irrigation development in this sector, which had been neglected by the previous colonial government. In about 1983, steps were taken to develop new smallholder irrigation schemes and rehabilitate all the irrigation schemes, which were damaged during the Liberation War.Zimbabwe has made tremendous strides in smallholder irrigation since 1980. From about 57 malfunctioning schemes covering 2,500 ha in 1980, over 180 formal 1 irrigation schemes have been developed over the years in communal, resettlement and smallscale purchase areas, bringing the total area under smallholder irrigation today to about 12,000 ha. In all, 155,500 ha are under irrigation, and therefore the area under smallholders is about 8.5 percent of the total irrigated area as shown in Table 1. Due to its informal nature micro-scale or garden irrigation in \"dambos\" or wetlands is not normally included in official estimates of the total irrigation command area. However, it is estimated that about 30,000 ha is under micro-scale irrigation in the country, mainly in the \"dambos\" or wetlands.Table 1. Current status of irrigation development in Zimbabwe.a Outgrower schemes refer to a group of individual plot holders adjacent and linked to a core estate. The outgrowers irrigate a crop independently but on behalf of the main estate. The plot holders depend on the main estate for provision of irrigation water, transport, managerial, technical and marketing services.Source: AGRITEX estimates, 1999.Smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe are of two basic categories: supplementary (\"part--time\" irrigation) schemes and full production (\"full-time\" irrigation) schemes. In the first category the irrigated plot size per household is typically 0.1-0.5 ha and the farmers combine irrigation with dryland farming activities. Income derived from irrigation is used to supplement income from dryland production. In \"full-time\" irrigation schemes plot sizes are typically 0.5-2 ha per household. Such plot sizes are meant to provide full-time occupation with irrigation. Irrigation farmers on such schemes are not expected to be engaged also in dryland agriculture.The main water sources for smallholder schemes have been water stored in medium-sized and large dams. Other important sources has been river flow, deep motorised bore-holes, sand abstraction systems, shallow wells and springs. Irrigation technologies in use in this sub-sector include surface irrigation, which comprises 68 percent of the schemes, and sprinkler irrigation, which makes up 32 percent of the schemes. In terms of area, 89 percent of the area is under surface irrigation and 11 percent is sprinkler irrigated. Localised irrigation 2 is not yet in use the smallholder irrigation subsector.In terms of management, there are three broad types of smallholder schemes: government-managed, farmer-managed and jointly managed schemes. Government-managed schemes are developed and maintained by the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (AGRITEX). In the new schemes there tend to be a shift away from this practice and towards farmer-managed projects.Farmer-managed schemes are developed by the government but owned and managed by the farmers' Irrigation Management Committees (IMCs) with minimal government interventions in terms of management. For jointly-managed schemes the farmers and government share the financial responsibility for operation and maintenance. For such schemes, the government is usually responsible for the headworks (i.e., dam or weir, pumping station and conveyance system up to field edge), while farmers take responsibility for the infield infrastructure. In terms of scheme numbers, 50 percent of the smallholder schemes are farmer-managed, 32 percent are government-managed and 18 percent are jointly managed. However, in terms of area, the government is still managing a larger hectarage, as most of the farmer-managed schemes tend to be small.In an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of the smallholder irrigation sub-sector in Zimbabwe, a socio-economic performance evaluation was carried out on five selected smallholder irrigation schemes. The schemes were known to be doing well although in varying degrees. The objective of pre-selecting the good schemes was to find out what factors make good schemes perform well.Table 2 presents some of the important features of the five schemes studied. The studied schemes varied in size from 9 ha to 92 ha. Three of the schemes are under sprinkler irrigation and two are under surface irrigation. Two of the schemes are located in resettlement areas and the other three are in communal areas. All schemes except Murara are within 150 km from a major town. The schemes at Murara and Mzinyathini were initiated by government in its attempts to provide the farmers with a source of self-sustenance. The farmers did not actually request this development. At Chitora, Hama Mavhaire and Wenimbi the farmers identified the project and approached the government for help. The farmers made financial contributions for the development of infield works. In the other two schemes farmers did not participate or contribute during planning and implementation. All the schemes are farmer-managed except Hama Mavhaire, which is jointly managed by government and the farmers.Table 2. Major features of the selected schemes.The impacts of the smallholder schemes were examined in relation to several aspects, as described in the following paragraphs.The evaluation revealed that crop yields can go up many-fold with irrigation. For example at Chitora during the 1997/98 season groundnuts yields were recorded to be 4 t/ha, as compared to 0.7-1 t/ha obtained under dryland. Maize yields were 6 t/ha in Murara, compared to l-2 t/ha obtained under dryland. Table 3 presents the yields of selected crops under irrigation as compared to dryland at the different schemes studied.Table 3. Average yields for selected crops at the different irrigation schemes during the 1997/1998 season.a Yield for green maize is given in cobs. Note: -crop not grown on this scheme. Source: AGRITEX and farmers' estimates, 1999. The evaluation of the successful irrigation schemes showed that under irrigation high cropping intensities are practised (Table 2). Table 4 indicates the general cropping patterns practised at the five schemes. Crops unknown to communal farmers, like baby corn, cucumbers, carrots, butternuts, green pepper, peas and potatoes can now be grown. The cropping pattern is normally dominated by vegetables and high-value crops, so that the farmers can generate enough income to operate and maintain the irrigation schemes. The production of high-value crops for both local and export markets by some of these schemes means that they are now participating in the mainstream economy. The cropping pattern in most cases is a compromise between subsistence requirements, availability of sound agronomic rotations, roads infrastructure, proximity to markets and marketing demand.Table 4. Crops grown at the different schemes.Source: AGRITEX 1999.The evaluation of the case studies has indicated that smallholder irrigation schemes can be reliable sources of income. Farmer incomes derived from the schemes are shown in Table 5. At the time of study individual farmers in these schemes were getting monthly incomes as high as Z$5,833 per farmer per month from plots of just 1 ha, while dryland incomes can be as low as Z$1,000 per month per farmer from an average 6 ha plot size. The incomes were higher than the minimum wage of Z$1,400 per month which is paid for unskilled labour in the Zimbabwean industry and the minimum wage of Z$600 per month which is paid for unskilled labour in the agricultural industry of Zimbabwe.From a social point of view a farmer in an irrigation scheme is certainly much better off than labourers in urban industries who are faced with a lot of other demands like rent, water and electricity charges on their incomes. This gives every reason for the government to channel more resources to small-holder irrigation development.Table 5. Net incomes derived from the irrigation schemes during the 1997/1998 season.Note: US$1= Z$33 (December 1998).Source: AGRITEX extension staff and farmers. 1999.To evaluate further the viability of the irrigation schemes, a financial and economic analysis was conducted on all five projects to judge their impacts on the farmers and the government in addition to their impact from the point of view of society. The analysis follows the \"time adjusted cash flow approach\" which assumes that every transaction falls at the end of the accounting period (end of year in this case). This means the initial investment is considered to have taken place during the first year of the project. A constant price approach was also adopted, thus expressing the costs and benefits in real terms. The results of the analysis are shown in Table 6 where the Financial Internal Rate of Return (FIRR), Net Present Value (NPV) and Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) are used as the financial and economic indicators. From Table 6 it transpires that all the irrigation schemes studied are financially and economically viable based solely on the indicators. The viability of these schemes can be attributed to the high incomes derived by the farmers who grow high-value horticultural crops.Table 6. Results of the financial and economic analyses of the irrigation schemes.Care should be taken in the interpretation of the financial and economic analysis figures presented in Table 6. The results reveal very useful information on the performance of the individual irrigation schemes but a direct comparison cannot be made between the schemes due to the different conditions on each scheme.Irrigation is one way of generating employment in rural areas. All the five schemes studied were found to hire labour additional to that provided by the irrigating households to assist in land preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting. For example, at a typical viable small-holder irrigation scheme 1 ha of irrigated tomatoes will require 120 labour days for planting, weeding, harvesting and marketing over a period of three months. At a rate of Z$30 per labour day, this translates into Z$3,600 per hectare for one crop only. Successful schemes can practise a cropping intensity as high as 250 percent. This means in one year a 1-ha plot will require Z$9,000 for hired labour. Taking, for example, a successful scheme like Hama Mavhaire (92 ha), this scheme will employ about 115 people permanently for one year at the agricultural minimum wage of Z$600 per month. Payment is normally in kind and cash. For example at Chitora it was found that a labourer hired in the scheme was paid Z$20 per day plus vegetables to take home. The irrigation schemes which grow high-value horticultural crops employ much more labour than the schemes which concentrate on grain crops.The availability of employment in the irrigation schemes is also important in terms of reduction of rural to urban migration. It is important to appreciate that a reduction in migration is in fact a saving for the urban municipalities in terms of an avoided cost of providing services like housing, water, sewerage, education and health to potential migrants.According to the findings of FAO (1997) Zimbabwe's food situation is characterised by food security at national level but food insecurity at micro level. The major area of concern is the availability of food at household level. The five irrigation schemes were found to act as sources of food security for the participants and the surrounding communities through increased productivity, stable production and increased incomes. Some of the schemes like Murara and Hama Mavhaire are located in harsh climatic regions where people cannot grow enough to feed themselves because of unfavourable weather conditions. The farmers participating in the irrigation schemes never run out of food, Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa unlike their dryland counterparts. The payment of hired labour in kind by most schemes also ensures food security and better nutrition.The Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) has spent large amounts of money since 1980 on drought relief. Irrigation development can contribute towards drought savings. The importance of irrigation in drought relief savings can be better illustrated by a comparative analysis of the cost of a drought relief programme and the investment required in irrigation to obtain a similar relief.Consider 1,000 families living in NR V, where rainfall is erratic, unreliable and inadequate for any meaningful dryland cultivation. The aim of the drought relief programme is to supply at least 550 kg annually to each family of six persons. If these families were placed on a drought relief programme they would require 550 tonnes of maize per annum. The government expenditure in 1998 to purchase this quantity of maize, at Z$2,400 per tonne, would be Z$1.32 million. The estimated transport cost would be Z$110,000 and the administrative cost would amount to another Z$200,000, making a total annual drought relief cost of Z$1.63 million.The question now is, can small-holder irrigation schemes produce the equivalent of drought relief and at what cost? If an average yield of 6 t/ha is assumed for maize in the smallholder schemes, 92 ha would be needed to produce 550 tonnes annually. The total cost of developing 92 ha at Z$70,000 per hectare in 1998 was Z$6.44 million. The annual financial equivalent (which is obtained by multiplying the investment cost by the capital recovery factor for 20 years at a 9.75% discount rate) is Z$0.74 million. The production cost for maize produced on 92 ha is about Z$0.37 million. This means the total annual cost of producing maize is Z$1.11 million.From the above analysis the cost of irrigation is Z$0.52 million less than the cost of drought relief. Furthermore, the experience with drought relief is that it does not get to people who need it most. In fact, under normal circumstances, a complete drought relief package includes other commodities such as beans which if included can double the cost of drought relief, thereby making irrigation much more attractive.Clearly smallholder irrigation is important as a development strategy since it results in government savings and ensures access to food by smallholder farmers. Farmers enjoy the human dignity of producing their own food instead of continuous food hand-outs from the government.The evaluation of the schemes showed that their participants acquired various assets. This was clearly illustrated by Chitora irrigation scheme. The participants who used to live with their parents before the scheme now have brick walled houses of their own. They are all married and own various household assets, electrical goods and farm implements. The farmers confirmed that their standard of living had indeed improved. At Hama Mavhaire about 29 percent of the plot holders were reported to have bought between one and four head of cattle from the proceeds of the scheme. About 65 had bought at least a donkey, 13 percent had put a brick under asbestos or corrugated iron sheet house, and 105 had installed a solar panel (Agritex 1999). At Wenimbi, farmers have managed to buy a second-hand five tonne truck to transport their produce to the market. Three farmers on this scheme had managed each to buy a small car. The conclusion that can be drawn from these observations on the five schemes is that well performing smallholder irrigation schemes can permit accumulation of wealth by the participants.The irrigation schemes have afforded the farmers an opportunity to operate on a commercial basis.Most of the schemes have had their participants acquiring entrepreneurial skills. This is evidenced by the ability of the farmers to do their own budgeting, keep record books and manage their own affairs. These skills are most evident in farmer-managed schemes. Farmers have to search for marketing information, organise cropping programmes which fit the markets, and organise transport to such markets. They are also capable of negotiating contracts, although they still need assistance in this aspect.The increased demand for inputs from local dealers, necessitated by the growing of horticultural crops in most schemes is an example of the backward linkages offered by the smallholder irrigation schemes. All the five schemes studied provide some degree of demand for inputs in their areas. Transport, which is hired for marketing by schemes such as Chitora, Hama Mavhaire and Murara is another example. The fact that most schemes go for more than 150 percent cropping intensity means that most input suppliers and transporters are in business all year around. This is different from input suppliers and transporters who service dryland farmers, who experience brisk business only in summer.The demand for scheme produce by some vegetable canning and grain processing private companies in Zimbabwe such as National Foods, Hortico, Olivine and Interfresh is an example of the forward linkages offered by irrigation schemes. By offering such produce, the schemes create businesses and employment in the companies they supply and contribute to increased labourThe establishment of the irrigation schemes has resulted in the provision of infrastructure around which other economic activities take effect. The electrification of the pumping station at Hama Mavhaire, for example, has resulted in the nearby shopping centre being also electrified. A study of the scheme found that before the scheme there was only one general dealer shop, one bottle store and one diesel-powered grinding mill. Now there are four general dealer shops, two bottle stores, one hardware store, one butchery and five electrically driven grinding mills. At Chitora before the scheme the nearest shopping centre was at Mutoko, 60 km away. However after the establishment of Chitora irrigation scheme and two other adjacent schemes, a vibrant business centre namely Corner store was established only 16 km from the scheme as a result of the increased economic activities brought about by the irrigation schemes.The irrigation schemes evaluated were seen to contribute in a way to the conservation of natural resources. While the dryland farmers adjacent to Murara irrigation scheme were engaged in gold panning to earn a living, the irrigators were not. Irrigation offers full-time employment such that the farmers are distracted from engaging in environmentally destructive activities like gold panning. 3 The irrigation farmers also use the irrigation schemes as sources of income for further investment in resource management. This was clearly illustrated again by the farmers from Murara, who are planting trees and woodlots making use of extra income derived from irrigation.The fact that the irrigation schemes result in the increase in incomes for the farmers means that the schemes are promoting economic development of the nation, which is measured by the well-being of the people. The changes which occur to the people, such as improved houses for farmers, better nutrition, self-reliance, improved assets etc., are part of economic development. The high Economic Rates of Return obtained for Chitora (90%), Murara (50 percent), and Wenimbi (71 percent) show that some irrigation projects can significantly contribute towards increasing national income.The successes of smallholder irrigation development are many and varied. Some of these are quantifiable while others are not. The major findings of the socio-economic evaluation of the five successful irrigation schemes can be summarised as follows:• Smallholder irrigation can be indeed financially and economically viable if it is planned, implemented and managed in the right way. The major determining factors for viability in small-holder irrigation include planning and construction, type of scheme management, type of technology, appropriateness of design, institutional support, cropping programmes, availability of markets, marketing strategies, and commitment of the farmers.• Crop yields and farmer incomes under small-holder irrigation can increase many fold with irrigation.Crops hitherto unknown to communal farmers, e.g., baby corn, peas, potatoes, okra, paprika etc., can now be grown under irrigation.• Smallholder irrigators are now able to grow high-value crops both for the local and export markets, thus effectively participating in the main stream economy.•In times of severe droughts smallholder irrigation schemes act as a source of food security at the household level.•In areas of very low rainfall farmers practising irrigation enjoy the human dignity of producing their own food instead of depending on continuous drought relief hand-outs from the government. In addition drought relief programmes are difficult and expensive for the government to implement, in terms of both logistics and resources.Smallholder irrigation development has made it possible for other rural infrastructure to be developed in areas which would otherwise have remained without roads, telephones, electricity, schools, or shops.Smallholder irrigators have developed a commercial mentality and acquired various entrepreneurial skills.Farmers in successful irrigation schemes have acquired personal assets (improved housing, farm implements, furniture, electrical appliances) and their standard of living has improved substantially.Irrigation schemes provide an alternative source of employment to the rural people, thereby discouraging rural to urban migration.Smallholder irrigation should be expanded through the construction of new schemes and the rehabilitation of existing ones. The evaluation of existing viable smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe led to the following recommendations:• Develop farmer-managed irrigation schemes. In addition to being more successful, they remove the financial burden of operation and maintenance from government.• Farmers should participate in all project phases from planning to implementation, management and evaluation.•A bottom-up approach should be followed in smallholder irrigation development, treating farmers as \"owners\" rather than \"beneficiaries\" of a project. • Government should find a way to transfer gradually the management of irrigation schemes to the farmers. Only technically sound schemes should be transferred and farmers should be trained and supported to overcome the transitional period.Training of farmers in water management, irrigated crop production, and marketing as well as general management and operation and maintenance are considered as necessary.In the absence of credit for inputs, it is important to help farmers with inputs during the first season so that they can build a cash flow base.• Institutional support through technical and extension services should be strengthened to support the farmers effectively.Continuous monitoring and evaluation of irrigation schemes jointly with farmers is necessary, to provide feedback to the planners and to assist the farmers to improve their performance.An integrated rural development approach should be followed for any irrigation development.Agritex. 1999. Irrigation Branch Annual Report. Department of Agriculture, Technical and Extension Services, Harare.Dhloldo, R. 1997. Assessment of the socio-economic impact of irrigation development in Zimbabwe: Case studies of Hama Mavhaire, Hoyuyu 5 and Nyaitenga irrigation schemes. Paper prepared for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sub-regional office of Southern and Eastern Africa, Harare.FAO. 1997. Irrigation technology transfer in support of food security. Proceedings of a sub-regional workshop, FAO, Harare, 14-17 April.FAO. 2000. Socio-economic assessment of smallholder irrigation development in Zimbabwe: Case studies of ten irrigation schemes. SAFR / AGLW / DOC002, Harare.Nécessité de développer l'irrigation privée en Afrique de l'Ouest 1.1 Besoins de la région en produits provenant de l'agriculture irriguéeMême si l'autosuffisance alimentaire est probablement un objectif irréaliste, l'Afrique de l'Ouest a besoin de produire des céréales, des fruits et des légumes, sans même parler d'autres produits agricoles (oléagineux, sucre, coton, fourrages, etc.). Le tableau 1 montre que les importations alimentaires de l'Afrique de l'Ouest portent surtout sur le blé, difficile à produire localement pour des raisons climatiques, et le riz qui doit être produit sous irrigation dans la plupart des pays de la région. D'après les prévisions pour 2025, les importations de riz croîtront jusqu'à 5 millions de tonnes si la production n'augmente pas plus vite que par le passé. Cela implique d'irriguer près d'un million d'hectares supplémentaires même si des progrès importants peuvent être faits sur la production de riz pluvial et sur les rendements des périmètres existants. Aux besoins pour l'irrigation des céréales, s'ajoutent ceux pour la production de sucre et de fruits et légumes. Ces derniers seuls atteindraient 30 millions de tonnes en 2025, ce qui nécessiterait d'irriguer 1,5 à 2,0 millions d'hectares.Tableau 1. Production et importations de céréales, fruits et légumes en Afrique de l'Ouest (en milliers de tonnes) -Année 1999.N.B. Les chiffres d'importations et de production ne prennent pas en compte les pertes. Source : FAO/IPTRID, 1999, actualisé.Bien qu'ayant toujours fait partie des priorités des gouvernements, l'irrigation dans la région n'a pas rencontré un grand succès. Les surfaces cultivées sous irrigation officielle sont restées marginales et les productions issues de ces surfaces ont peu contribué à la satisfaction des besoins des populations. En effet, moins de 10 pourcent d'un potentiel irrigable global estimé à plus de 10 millions d'hectares en Afrique de l'Ouest sont effectivement irrigués aujourd'hui. Cet échec relatif des politiques d'irrigation passées est encore plus sévère si l'on considère que la plupart des grands périmètres ont été financés par l'aide extérieure à des coûts très élevés, parfois au prix d'un endettement croissant des Etats.En effet, peu avant et après les indépendances, l'Etat a financé de grands et moyens aménagements pour la culture du riz, de la canne à sucre ou des céréales de crue et décrue contrôlée. Ces aménagements étaient le plus souvent gérés par l'administration ou des sociétés para-étatiques. Vu leurs résultats médiocres, leur développement a été fortement freiné depuis une quinzaine d'années.Les investissements se limitent le plus souvent à leur réhabilitation, sauf pour l'Office du Niger au Mali où les extensions ont recommencé récemment à la suite du succès des premières réhabilitations, succès dû à des conditions favorables rendant les aménagements peu coûteux (irrigation gravitaire, investissements de base déjà existants, grandes étendues de terres à faible micro-relief). Le transfert des périmètres à des associations d'usagers ou leur privatisation est en cours malgré de nombreuses difficultés pour financer le gros entretien et le renouvellement des équipements de pompage.Au début des années 70, pour pallier les effets de la sécheresse, les gouvernements ont suscité la création de périmètres villageois, d'abord dans la vallée du Sénégal puis dans la vallée du Niger au Mali. Ces aménagements villageois, souvent mal construits, avaient surtout un but social: les surfaces données à chaque attributaire lui permettent seulement de survivre mais pas de se développer. Beaucoup de ces périmètres fonctionnent mal faute d'entretien des infrastructures et de renouvellement des motopompes.Depuis une vingtaine d'années, on a commencé à mettre en valeur les bas-fonds où les sols sont plus fertiles et mieux alimentés en eau. Il est encore trop tôt pour savoir si ces aménagements, le plus souvent réalisés avec la participation des populations, sont plus durables que les autres.Pendant que les aménagements d'origine étatique n'obtenaient pas de résultats probants, l'irrigation d'initiative \"privée, 1 \" c'est à dire individuelle le plus souvent, s'est développée dans trois directions principales:1 En fait, les terres ne sont jamais cultivées collectivement. Même dans les grands aménagements, la terre est attribuée individuellement aux exploitants. La distinction « public-privé» provient plutôt du financement des investissements, avec participation importante de l état dans le premier cas. Elle provient aussi de ce que les irriguants privés sont libres de choisir les cultures, la manière de les pratiquer et de commercialiser les produits. Les agriculteurs africains sont plus individualistes que ce qu'ont pensé leurs dirigeants et les bailleurs de fonds en privilégiant l'esprit communautaire. Même dans les aménagements dits villageois, les tensions sociales gênent la perception des redevances d'irrigation.Le développement de l'irrigation privée se fait dans le cadre de nouvelles stratégies nationales qui s'inscrivent dans une politique globale de développement rural et de gestion des ressources en eau (FAO 1995, FAO 1999a) Il s'est révélé difficile d'appliquer les stratégies définies ci-dessus dans le cas de la promotion de l'irrigation privée, dans la mesure où celle-ci était très mal connue car les études antérieures sur le développement de l'irrigation s'étaient limitées aux seuls aménagements aidés par l'état En outre, Sauf pour la France en Mauritanie et l'USAID à l'Office du Niger, ces projets promeuvent la petite irrigation plutôt que l'irrigation privée en tant que telle. Cependant, certains enseignements peuvent être tirés de ces projets pour le développement futur de l'irrigation privée en Afrique de l'Ouest.Les projets de développement de l'irrigation privée, en particulier ceux financés par la Banque mondiale, ont mis en évidence des problèmes et des solutions concernant l'organisation institutionnelle, les techniques et équipements à promouvoir, l'appui à la mise en valeur, le financement des aménagements ainsi que l'impact environnemental et social des projets d'appui à la promotion de l'irrigation privée. Rappelons ici que l'irrigation privée se définit comme une activité d'initiative privée dans laquelle l'essentiel des coûts est supporté par le promoteur qui est seul responsable des décisions relatives à la production et à la commercialisation: la recherche du profit est donc l'objectif fondamental et non des objectifs publics (autosuffisance alimentaire, équilibre de la balance commerciale…). Le présent document examine donc les solutions adoptées dans chacun des quatre projets du Burkina Faso, Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa du Mali, de la Mauritanie et du Niger pour résoudre les différents problèmes évoqués ci-dessus. Les leçons tirées de ces projets permettent ainsi de proposer de nouvelles pistes pour rendre l'irrigation privée à la fois plus profitable et plus durable.L'organisation institutionnelle des projets de promotion de l'irrigation privée est assez variable selon les Etats. Deux points sont majeurs: la gestion du projet et le contrôle par l'Etat.Au Burkina Faso et au Niger, la gestion des projets de promotion de l'irrigation privée a été confiée à des associations de droit privé créées pendant la préparation des projets, APIPAC (Association pour la promotion de l'irrigation privée et des activités connexes) au Burkina Faso et ANPIP (Association nigérienne de promotion de l'irrigation privée) au Niger, composées de personnes physiques et morales ayant des activités dans l'irrigation. Ces associations ont mis en place des agences internes (UTP, Unité technique de projet, et ANPIP) chargées de gérer le projet financé par la Banque mondiale (plus quelques petits projets annexes financés par d'autres bailleurs de fonds). Les problèmes majeurs de ces associations sont leur rôle dans la gestion des projets et leurs ressources après la fin des projets:-Actuellement, les associations jouent un faible rôle dans la gestion de leurs agences bien que leurs présidents doivent signer les contrats importants; le directeur de l 'agence est peu contrôlé et agit plutôt comme un chef de projet classique.-Seul, le Burkina Faso a commencé à s'atteler au problème de la survie de l'association après le projet en prévoyant des cotisations, bien qu'encore très insuffisantes. Au Niger, l'ANPIP en est seulement à élaborer un plan stratégique. L'alourdissement des frais de gestion des projets que gèrent ces associations ne facilitera pas leur durabilité sauf si elles abandonnent certaines activités secondaires par rapport à leur but principal de promotion de l'irrigation privée.-Au Mali, le projet était intégré dans une structure de type holding, l'APROFA (Agence pour la promotion des filières agricoles), qui gérait également un projet de promotion des exportations, PAVCOPA (Projet d'appui à la valorisation des produits agricoles). Devant leurs mauvais résultats, les deux projets ont été fusionnés en un seul projet APROFA, géré par un conseil d'administration composé de personnes morales (Etat, chambre d'agriculture, sociétés de développement…). La durabilité de l'APROFA n'a pas encore été évoquée.-En Mauritanie, le projet est géré par un service de l'Etat, l'Unité de coordination du Confier la gestion des projets à des associations de droit privé revient à faire gérer des fonds publics, empruntés par l'Etat, par des personnes privées dont la légitimité à les gérer est discutable. Après avoir envisagé de refuser ce type de gestion, les Etats l'ont finalement accepté moyennant un contrôle sur la gestion et l'utilisation des fonds:-Au Niger, le contrôle a été confié à une  Le contenu technique des projets de promotion de l'irrigation privée est variable selon les Etats:Taille des exploitations: Les projets qui ont bénéficié d'un financement de la Banque mondiale appuient les exploitations de moins de 10 ha au Burkina Faso et au Niger, avec une nette orientation vers les exploitations de moins d'un hectare dans ce dernier pays où on utilise principalement des nappes souterraines. Au Mali, les petites exploitations faisaient déjà l'objet d'un appui de l'USAID avant l'arrivée du projet de la Banque mondiale qui s'intéresse donc aux exploitations plus grandes, principalement autour des villes. En Mauritanie, le projet PDIAIM s'intéresse aux exploitations de plus de cinq hectares, qu'elles soient collectives (périmètres villageois) ou privées. 4 Il faut signaler que le VRES au Mali appuie des exploitations « de groupe » où les agriculteurs se regroupent pour réaliser eux-mêmes les investissements autres que les études techniques et l'achat des groupes motopompes. Des améliorations techniques ont été testées et favorablement accueillies dans certains pays où elles sont déjà en cours de diffusion. Ces améliorations et les progrès restant à faire sont les suivants:Captage des ressources en eaux souterraines: le forage manuel jusqu'à 10 m de profondeur, à moins de US$ 100, est bien adapté aux terrains sableux. Le forage à la lance est aussi possible bien qu'un peu plus cher. D'autres améliorations doivent encore être testées: forages au vibro-bailer, au battage et à la micro-tarière pour plus grandes profondeurs, puits collecteurs (sans doute trop chers), utilisation des eaux de puits profonds.Irrigation des micro-périmètres: Jusqu'à 0,4 ha, la pompe à pédales modifiée par l'ONG EWW (EnterpriseWorks Worldwide) au Niger (Pompe Gajera) s'est montrée supérieure aux autres modèles tout en coûtant seulement US$50-60. Pour les agriculteurs qui ne veulent pas pédaler en public, la pompe à main rend le même service mais coûte deux fois plus cher. Des modèles pour forages jusqu'à 15 m de profondeur sont en cours de semi-diffusion mais leur débit est évidemment moindre pour un coût plus élevé (US$170 au Niger). Les solutions utilisant les animaux ne semblent pas reproductibles en dehors de leur zone d'origine. Le transport de l'eau en sols sableux peut être effectué par conduites enterrées en plastique de type assainissement, solution mieux adaptée aux petites exploitations que les canaux revêtus de béton ou de maçonnerie; cette amélioration peut être progressive, l'agriculteur remplaçant les canaux en terre par des conduites en fonction de ses moyens.Pour l'application de l'eau, l'aspersion est mal adaptée (pertes en eau par évaporation des gouttelettes, coûts élevés de l'énergie) sauf en zone humide (irrigation des bananes ou de l'ananas) ou en grande culture (canne à sucre) où la main d'oeuvre devient un problème. De grands espoirs sont fondés sur le développement de l'irrigation localisée, en particulier celui des micro-kits de 25 m 2 pour jardins familiaux et mini-kits à basse pression de 500 m 2 de surface alimentés en eau à partir de pompes à pédales (Chapin 1999;Netafim 1999).Pour les grandes exploitations, on connaît bien la riziculture où, en dehors de l'agronomie, les progrès restent plutôt à réaliser dans l'utilisation de stations de pompage mieux adaptées. On connaît beaucoup moins bien l'irrigation des grandes cultures autres que la banane et l'ananas, en particulier les fruits et légumes pour la diversification. L'irrigation en billons de grande longueur est médiocrement pratiquée; l'aspersion s'est révélée trop coûteuse au Sourou au Burkina Faso et à Diré au Mali; l'irrigation localisée est encore très expérimentale. Il y a là tout un domaine pour la recherche.Les grands exploitants demandent un appui aux études destinées à les aider à trouver des crédits bancaires. Au Burkina Faso, au Mali et en Mauritanie, on fait appel à des bureaux d'études privés classiques. Leur choix se fait par les agriculteurs sur la base de listes de bureaux agréés en Mauritanie, par appel à des bureaux choisis au niveau régional après consultation par le projet au Burkina Faso, après consultation au cas par cas par le projet au Mali.En Mauritanie, le coût des études est subventionné par le projet à 100 pourcent pour les petits agriculteurs, à 80 pourcent pour les exploitants individuels. Au Mali, les études sont subventionnées à 75 pourcent après une visite préliminaire facturée forfaitairement à 3 000 FCFA par le projet. Au Burkina Faso, la subvention est aussi de 75 pourcent.Les termes de référence des études doivent être techniquement suffisants, adaptés au contexte de la petite exploitation et acceptables par le crédit bancaire si nécessaire:En Mauritanie existent des termes de référence types adaptés à la réhabilitation ou la construction nouvelle de périmètres de plus de cinq hectares avec un crédit bancaire à la clé. Ces études font la part belle à la préparation de variantes entre lesquelles l'agriculteur doit choisir en fonction de ses moyens et de la subvention ou du crédit qu'il peut espérer.Au Burkina Faso, les premiers dossiers concernant des propriétés de plusieurs hectares ont fait l'objet d'études légères, bien adaptées aux moyennes exploitations et aux petites activités connexes.Au Mali, les études ont suivi une méthodologie pour grand périmètre, inadaptée aux petites exploitations et, surtout, à celles qui ne peuvent pas accéder au crédit bancaire.Au Niger, le projet a suscité la création de petits bureaux d'études locaux, au statut de groupement d'intérêt économique, GIE, qui se font payer les études et la surveillance des travaux (périmètres de moins de 2 ha) par les agriculteurs pour un prix modique (10 000 FCFA/ha pour les études, 10 % du montant des travaux pour la surveillance). Ces bureaux, formés de jeunes diplômés, complètent leurs revenus par des prestations pour le PPIP (suivi de tests sur exploitations) ou des ONG à des tarifs très bas (20 000 FCFA/jour). Ils viennent de se diversifier avec la création de boutiques d'intrants pour cultures maraîchères et fruitières. Deux GIE existent déjà et quatre autres sont prévus dans un avenir proche.Le développement de l'irrigation privée se heurte au financement des investissements et, à un moindre degré, à celui du crédit de campagne (Doucet 1998). Dans beaucoup de pays, le crédit aux agriculteurs Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa individuels a été abandonné car trop difficile et trop coûteux à recouvrer: envoyer en voiture un agent d'une banque récupérer une petite somme peut être plus cher que la somme recouvrée. En outre, même s'il existe un marché privé de la terre, une banque qui saisit une terre agricole, caution habituelle du crédit agricole en pays développés, la vend très mal en Afrique de l'Ouest, voire pas du tout. Diverses solutions de remplacement ont donc été préconisées avec plus ou moins de succès.Crédit fournisseur: Au Burkina Faso, au Mali et au Niger, les fabricants de pompes à pédales acceptent un paiement initial de 20 à 50 pourcent de la valeur de la pompe avec paiement du reste après la récolte. En cas de non-paiement, le fabricant reprend sa pompe et ne rembourse rien à l'agriculteur défaillant. Cette forme de crédit traditionnel est très pratique car elle ne fait pas intervenir les projets mais elle est limitée par les capacités financières des fournisseurs.Crédit bancaire classique:-En Mauritanie, l'Union nationale des coopératives agricoles de crédit et d'épargne de Mauritanie (UNCACEM) consent des crédits aux irriguants individuels mais il s'agit le plus souvent de gros agriculteurs; le taux de crédit devrait atteindre celui du marché dans quelques années, soit 19 pourcent par an. L'UNCACEM a été très ferme dans sa politique de remboursement au point qu'elle n'a plus que 400 membres (dont quelques coopératives de petits agriculteurs sur périmètres publics ou villageois). Le projet a trouvé peu de clients.-Au Mali, la Caisse nationale de crédit agricole, CNCA, prête encore aux agriculteurs privés à un taux voisin de 13 pourcent par an mais demande un titre foncier urbain en gage. Du coup, les clients sont rares. La CNCA n'a pas d'activités dans beaucoup de régions, ce qui a conduit le projet VRES à donner les motopompes aux petits groupes qu'il appuie.-Au Niger, il n'existe pratiquement plus de crédit aux agriculteurs par le système bancaire.-Au Burkina Faso, les banques prêtent encore aux agriculteurs mais exigent des garanties; la petite taille du pays rend la récupération des prêts moins coûteuse; en outre, il existe une tradition de remboursement des prêts au Burkina Faso, plus que dans d'autres pays.Crédit local: C'est la solution choisie au Niger pour la 2 ème phase du futur projet de promotion de l'irrigation privée, PPIP 2 (aucun système de crédit n'a été prévu durant la phase pilote sauf pour des petites opérations hors projet Banque mondiale). Les caisses populaires d'épargne et de crédit, CPEC, devraient accorder des prêts aux agriculteurs pour les investissements ainsi que des crédits de campagne. Les conditions d'une saine gestion de ce crédit local l'amènent à prêter à des conditions peu attractives, aux environs de 25 pourcent par an. Sans doute, les agriculteurs n'emprunteront que pour des investissements suffisamment importants comme les motopompes.Subvention: Celle-ci est souvent prévue pour les infrastructures de base qui permettent le développement de l'irrigation privée: barrages de retenue, grands chenaux et digues…Pour les investissements dans l'exploitation, la subvention se justifie moins sauf si on considère l'intérêt général: économies d'eau justifiant une subvention pour les investissements dans le goutte à goutte en Tunisie, environnement justifiant une subvention au drainage... Dans les projets de promotion de l'irrigation privée, les subventions sont variables selon les pays:-Au Burkina Faso, on a prévu des subventions théoriquement variables selon les types d'investissement. En fait, elles sont plutôt réservées aux innovations techniques.-Au Niger, le projet pilote n'a pas accordé de subventions aux agriculteurs. En 2 ème phase, on envisage des subventions mais le système est encore discuté (cf. plus loin).-Au Mali, aucune subvention n'est prévue sauf pour les obtentions de titres fonciers financées à 50 pourcent et les études financées à 75 pourcent par l'APROFA.-En Mauritanie, la subvention sera variable selon la catégorie d'agriculteurs: 50 pourcent du coût des travaux et 100 pourcent du coût des études et de la surveillance pour les petits exploitants (moins de 2 ha), 20 pourcent du coût des travaux et 80 pourcent du coût des études et de la surveillance pour les moyens exploitants (moins de 40 ha), pas de subvention pour les exploitants de plus de 40 ha.Les organismes de crédit demandent souvent soit une ligne de crédit spécifique, s'ils manquent de liquidités, cas fréquent chez les caisses de crédit mutuel, soit un fonds de garantie destiné à les couvrir, au moins partiellement, contre les risques de non-remboursement. Avec une ligne de crédit, la banque est incitée à utiliser les crédits mis à sa disposition. Cette solution est donc dangereuse sauf si on exige que la banque utilise une partie de ses fonds propres. Par exemple, la mutuelle de Gaya au Niger affiche un taux de remboursement à échéance de plus de 90 pourcent sur les prêts sur fonds propres et de moins de 80 pourcent sur les prêts faits sur une ligne de crédit. L'inconvénient du fonds de garantie est aussi que la banque est incitée à prêter sans risque. C'est pourquoi le fonds de garantie porte sur moins de 100 pourcent du montant des prêts, généralement 50 pourcent.Les solutions choisies dans les différents projets financés par la Banque mondiale sont variables selon l'histoire du crédit dans le pays:En Mauritanie, la Banque mondiale (Banque mondiale 1999) a financé une ligne de crédit rétrocédée par l'Etat à l'UNCACEM, qui doit progressivement relever ses taux jusqu'au niveau du marché. Les prêts sont accompagnés de subventions dont les pourcentages sont variables suivant la taille de l'exploitation (moins de 40 ha), son statut (petite exploitation dans un périmètre villageois ou exploitation privée) et les catégories de prêts (riziculture, diversification…).Au Mali, la CNCA a refusé toute ligne de crédit qu' « elle serait obligée d'utiliser, y compris pour des prêts non justifiés ». Il est vrai qu'elle dispose de fonds propres importants.Au Burkina Faso, le projet (Banque mondiale 1999) comporte un fonds de garantie à 50 pourcent qui est financé par la contrepartie burkinabé au projet APIPAC.Au Niger, la Banque mondiale n'a pas accepté de financer une ligne de crédit, faute de confiance dans le système bancaire et de contrôle possible de celui-ci. L'apport de l'irrigation n'est pas suffisant. Les cultures irriguées doivent être profitables, ce qui implique de les commercialiser à un prix rémunérateur malgré le caractère périssable de beaucoup de fruits et légumes. Deux volets sont donc primordiaux pour le succès des projets de développement de l'irrigation privée: l'appui à la mise en valeur, y compris la gestion des exploitations, et l'appui à l'utilisation Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa des produits par le stockage, la conservation, la transformation et la commercialisation. Ces appuis varient selon les besoins des exploitations qui ne sont pas les mêmes pour une micro-exploitation tournée vers l'auto-consommation et le marché local (jardin féminin) ou une « grande » exploitation tournée vers le marché européen (producteurs de mangues séchées au Burkina Faso). De même, les traditions maraîchères et fruitières du Mali et du Burkina Faso les conduisent à prévoir des solutions plus avancées techniquement que celles recommandables en Mauritanie et au Niger qui n'ont pas une grande expérience de la production maraîchère diversifiée.L'appui à la mise en valeur, y inclus la gestion de l'irrigation et l'entretien des infrastructures hydrauliques, se fait par l'intermédiaire de divers organismes:En Mauritanie, l'appui à la riziculture est confié à la SONADER qui est encouragée à sous-traiter une partie de ses activités à des ONG ou bureaux d'études (surtout pour l'appui à l'organisation des producteurs). L'unité de coordination du PDIAIM, UC-PDIAIM, gère l'appui à la diversification ; elle a engagé un assistant technique vulgarisateur et se fait aider par des missions de consultants internationaux.Au Mali, les services de l'Etat devaient assurer l'appui technique dans le cadre d'un projet de vulgarisation agricole financé par la Banque mondiale; ce projet s'est terminé sans apport particulier aux irriguants. On envisage maintenant l'appui par un opérateur privé à des paysans pilotes pour mettre au point un certain nombre de techniques. La fusion avec le projet PAVCOPA améliore les perspectives.Au Burkina Faso, l'APIPAC a sélectionné au niveau de chaque zone des bureaux d'études chargés d'apporter un appui technique aux agriculteurs; l'expérience en est à son démarrage.Au Niger, l'appui technique des agents de l'Etat devait être assuré par le projet de vulgarisation agricole qui s'est terminé avant le démarrage du PPIP. L'appui à la mise en valeur s'est donc limité à des formations sur l'entretien des motopompes, les GIE cités plus haut appuyant seulement l'investissement. Pour la 2 ème phase, on envisage d'élargir les compétences des GIE à l'appui à la gestion technique et financière des exploitations.Les agriculteurs prendraient en charge, de façon progressive, les coûts des prestations de service de ces centres de gestion.Dans les quatre pays, les projets sont intégrés avec l'aval de la filière mais sous des formes variables:En Mauritanie, l'UC-PDIAIM gère le volet de diversification des cultures, principalement pour l'exportation; les composantes de ce volet sont principalement orientées vers l'agronomie (tests de nouvelles cultures) et la commercialisation.Au Mali, le projet de promotion de l'irrigation est maintenant intégré dans le projet APROFA qui s'occupe de commercialiser tous les produits agricoles, y compris ceux produits sans irrigation; ses préoccupations vont également aux tests et à la commercialisation de nouvelles cultures. Au Niger, la phase pilote ne prévoyait pas de volet pour l'aval de la production et seuls ont été diffusés des hangars traditionnels améliorés pour le stockage des oignons. Pour la 2 ème phase, on a prévu d'insister sur les activités à petite échelle de stockage, conservation, transformation et commercialisation locale des produits ainsi que sur le compostage et la lutte intégrée. Il faut signaler qu'un projet de Promotion des exportations agro-pastorales, PEAP, aussi financé par la Banque mondiale, prévoit l'appui aux exportations à grande échelle. La promotion de l'irrigation privée s'adresse à des agriculteurs qui ne sont pas très pauvres puisqu'ils sont capables d'investir. Seul le projet de 2 ème phase du PPIP du Niger prévoit explicitement la prise en compte des besoins des pauvres et des femmes mais ce volet est plutôt théorique. L'appui aux femmes se fera plutôt en favorisant les activités post-récolte dont elles s'occupent le plus souvent. Tous les projets ont un service de suivi-évaluation. Les premières propositions pour son rôle étaient irréalistes dans la mesure où elles envisageaient de suivre l'ensemble des irriguants. C'est d'autant plus difficile que la vente des pompes à pédales (ou l'installation de forages manuels) se fait dans le cadre de relations de fournisseur privé à client privé sans intervention du projet. On s'oriente maintenant vers des études par sondages sur l'impact des projets sur l'agriculture irriguée.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaRentabilité et diffusion des irrigations privéesLa rentabilité financière de la riziculture irriguée est faible et ce n'est qu'après des acrobaties financières (entre autres, non-remboursement des prêts) que les riziculteurs du delta du fleuve Sénégal peuvent la continuer. La seule voie possible est la réduction des coûts d'investissement et de fonctionnement ainsi que la production du riz de qualité supérieure.Dans le cas des cultures maraîchères et fruitières, la rentabilité financière des équipements proposés est en général très bonne même si elle est variable selon les documents et les pays:Plus de 50 pourcent pour les pompes à pédales par rapport à l'exhaure traditionnelle; la surface cultivée par exploitant double au Niger (de 0,1 à 0,2 ha, Banque mondiale 2001) et augmente de 40 pourcent au Sénégal (de 0,33 à 0,46 ha, Hyman 1996);Plus de 50 pourcent pour les petites motopompes par rapport à l'exhaure traditionnelle (Banque mondiale 2001) à condition que la parcelle irriguée soit assez grande, au moins 0,6 à 0,7 ha; 6 au-dessous de cette surface, il vaut mieux prendre deux pompes à pédales.Elevée pour les canalisations en plastique en comptabilisant la valeur de la diminution des pertes en eau dans les réseaux (Banque mondiale 2001).La rentabilité des forages est évidemment très grande par rapport aux puits en béton puisqu'ils coûtent cinq fois moins cher au mètre linéaire. Par rapport aux puits traditionnels qui s'effondrent chaque année, ils durent beaucoup plus longtemps et, surtout, ils évitent de transformer le champ en une suite de cratères entourés des déblais des puits effondrés.La rentabilité de l'irrigation localisée est inconnue car on ne dispose d'aucun élément sur les résultats techniques et financiers ou sur l'acceptabilité de cette technique. L'aspersion n'a pas donné de résultats probants sauf en grandes exploitations dans la zone humide.La quasi-totalité des exploitations privées utilise des eaux de surface ou des eaux souterraines à faible profondeur. L'exploitation des eaux souterraines profondes est trop coûteuse sauf subventions de l'énergie de pompage. Les besoins en eau des cultures sont en effet trois fois plus élevés en Afrique de l'Ouest qu'en Afrique du Nord d'où des coûts de pompage beaucoup supérieurs. Le potentiel pour la petite irrigation restera donc assez limité si on n'oublie pas que:Les exploitations utilisant les eaux de surface doivent être situées près de celles-ci, à la différence des grands périmètres qui peuvent utiliser des terres jusqu'à plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres de la ressource en eau;A la différence des deltas asiatiques, le débit des nappes superficielles est généralement très faible dans les zones de socle qui recouvrent la majeure partie des pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest.Le potentiel peut être augmenté par: (i) la construction de retenues d'eau où on peut pratiquer l'irrigation par pompage sur leurs bords, (ii) le creusement de forages profonds dans les zones où la nappe est artésienne ou semi-artésienne, et (iii) comme dans la vallée du Sénégal, la construction de chenaux partant des cours d'eau le long desquels peuvent s'installer des irriguants privés. Dans ces trois cas, un mécanisme de financement adapté, comprenant une importante part de subvention, doit permettre de financer les infrastructures de base: barrages, forages profonds, chenaux. Le potentiel des autres techniques est théoriquement limité par leur prix, soit unitaire (une motopompe coûte au moins US$300 sauf si on l'importe de Chine), soit à l'hectare (l'irrigation localisée revient à plus de 5000 $/ha). Le crédit serait donc indispensable pour les voir se développer rapidement, sauf pour les conduites enterrées qui peuvent être installées petit à petit en fonction des moyens de l'agriculteur. Il faut cependant corriger cette impression: au Niger, il existerait environ 20, 000 petites motopompes, ce qui implique un marché de renouvellement de 5000 pompes par an; les divers projets de développement en fournissent moins du quart et les agriculteurs sont donc capables de trouver les ressources propres nécessaires pour acheter le reste. Malgré le relatif succès de la diffusion des technologies et équipements simples, les surfaces concernées resteront faibles, de l'ordre de moins de 500 ha par an et par pays pour les pompes à pédales, moins de 10 ha par an pour un pays où on vendrait annuellement 4000 kits de 25 m 2 de goutte à goutte ; en revanche, le développement profitera à un grand nombre de personnes (4000 kits de micro-irrigation permettent de diversifier l'alimentation de 4000 familles);Il reste à explorer plus sérieusement la réduction des coûts d'investissement : importations d'équipements de pays du sud-est asiatique, fabrication locale de pièces détachées… Il est difficile de promouvoir l'irrigation privée à plus grande échelle sans système de crédit mais celui-ci n'est pas simple à mettre en place car toujours très coûteux pour l'emprunteur si on veut que le système soit durable. Il faudrait aussi connaître les circuits de financement qui ont permis le développement de l'irrigation privée jusqu'ici;L'appui à la mise en valeur est indispensable. Les structures de vulgarisation étatiques ne savent pas répondre à la demande diversifiée d'agriculteurs techniquement avancés.Les services payants en sont encore au stade expérimental. L'expérience des GIE au Niger est la plus intéressante à cet égard mais ceux-ci sont encore fragiles et limités à l'appui à la mise en place des équipements d'irrigation;Les opérations post-récolte doivent faire l'objet d'une recherche plus active, en particulier pour tout ce qui reste au niveau artisanal, susceptible de créer des revenus locaux, en particulier pour les femmes.L'exemple de la phase pilote du Projet de promotion de l'irrigation privée au Niger et, surtout, l'expérience du projet USAID de promotion de pompes à pédales au Sénégal, montrent bien qu'on peut promouvoir la petite irrigation dans des conditions durables en Afrique de l'Ouest. Il reste à élargir cette expérience sans en attendre de miracles pour un développement rapide mais plutôt pour un développement touchant un maximum de personnes.With the objectives of reducing water losses and increasing the efficiency of irrigation, technologies have been developed to conduct water through pipes to the fields, to apply the water in small quantities, directly to the plant root area and to avoid wetting of large soil areas at the surface. Jar irrigation and irrigation through sub-surface porous clay pipes have been applied with success for many years. In both cases, the slow exudation of water through the porous baked clay provides a steady supply of water to the roots of the plant that develop preferably in the wetted area around the jar or the pipe.Following the introduction of plastics in irrigation equipment, started some 50 years ago, a number of different localised irrigation systems have been developed and they continue to be improved. Drip irrigation systems that do not wet large areas of the soil surface are the most efficient. In addition to the irrigation water efficiency, drip irrigation systems require less labour, allow efficient application of fertilisers, and result in fewer occurrences of diseases and pests, and consequently higher quality products. In general, however, these systems are considered to be relatively expensive and to require a high level of technology.Irrigation schemes in developing countries suffer from very low water efficiency, resulting in waterlogging and salinity problems. Also water scarcity is a problem in many developing countries in Africa. Most readily available water resources have been mobilised already for irrigation and a large part of the expansion of the irrigated area should come from the development by small-holder farmers of small local water resources such as small reservoirs and shallow groundwater. The optimal use of these limited resources is essential. The adoption of small-scale low-cost drip irrigation technologies by small-holder farmers in Africa has great potential and could be one of the solutions for increasing food production, increasing farmers' incomes and improving food security.Generally, small-holder farmers in most countries in arid and semi-arid regions of Africa depend on one rain-fed cereal crop (millet, sorghum, maize) grown during the rainy season. In addition in many villages groups of women and young men grow vegetables on small plots of land in order to improve the family diet, or for sale at local or urban markets.van Leeuwen: Affordable small-scale drip irrigation in Africa: Potential role of the private sector Urban and peri-urban agriculture is growing fast around all major cities. With the increase of urban population and consequent rising demand for fruits and vegetables, irrigated agriculture will need to expand rapidly in the future. However, water resources are limited and irrigation is very labourdemanding because in many urban and peri-urban gardens, the irrigation water is carried by hand from the well, reservoir or river to the fields.The use of drip systems would allow making optimum use of valuable water resources, and farmers in rural as well as in urban areas would be able to grow more crops per drop, per m 2 and per hour of work. In order to be adoptable by smallholder farmers, drip systems should be affordable, which means that they should:have low investment cost: in view of the smallholder farmer's income level, the investment cost for the equipment and supplies should be as low as possible;have low operation and maintenance costs;be easy to install and to operate by farmers without particular technical training;be cost-effective: the investment should be earned back in one season.Different organisations and companies 1 propose systems that correspond more or less to the above requirements. These systems have a number of features in common.Figure 1. Layout of a small-scale drip-irrigation system (Keita-Van Leeuwen).Water supply. Most of the small-scale systems are supplied with water from a bucket, drum or other water container that is installed in the field close to the cultivated area.Depending on the dripper laterals, these reservoirs are installed on a stand or on a platform at 1 to 2.5 meters above field level. Dripper laterals can be connected directly to the water reservoir itself or to a main distribution pipe. In some cases it is assumed that the irrigation water is supplied by an existing pressurised water supply system, in which case no reservoir is installed.1 Chapin Watermatics Inc., International Development Enterprises (IDE), NETAFIM, Aquatec.Treadle Pump Cost. Investment cost for most of the systems is relatively low. The cost of the kits that are proposed varies between US$5 and US$100 per unit (depending on the area covered). These costs exclude any equipment for the mobilisation of water (boreholes, wells, pumps, canals, etc.) as well as the cost of the reservoir (buckets, drums, etc).The information provided by suppliers varies from one system to the other and makes it difficult to proceed with a comparison. The general impression that is given in all the documentation is that these drip irrigation kits are cheap, do not require much water and are not labour-demanding. The reality can be somehow different.While there is no doubt about the merit of low-cost small-scale drip kits, there is in most cases an over-simplification in the presentation. There are serious risks that users are confronted with unexpected problems and, not finding easy solutions, they may quickly abandon the drip system and return to their traditional watering methods with cans.The area covered by the proposed drip irrigation kits varies between 25 and 500 m 2 . This area is generally based on the length of the dripper laterals and the distance between the lines. Consequently the same kit can cover an area of 500 m 2 or 2000m 2 , if the distances between the drip lines are increased from 0.75m to 3.00 m. A comparison between different systems should consequently not be based on the area covered but on the length of drip line provided in the kit. The distance between the drip lines should depend mainly on the optimal distance between the rows of plants, which varies from one crop to another. The area actually covered by the system will influence strongly the amount of water that is needed.Investment cost. The different kits are offered for prices that vary from US$5 to US$100. Independently of the actual areas covered by these systems, as discussed above, the cost per hectare would amount to some US$2,000. Not included are the costs of the water point, the pump, the sand-filter (if required) and the connecting pipes.Taking into account all these additional elements, the total cost of a complete set of equipment for small-scale drip-irrigation may vary between US$5,000 and US$7,500 per ha.Crop water requirements. Some of the kits are accompanied by indications that with two buckets or two drums of water a day a farmer can irrigate a given area. The actual amount of water supplied to the crops varies between 1.6 and 9 mm/day. Several kits give indications that in warm climates more water could be needed. None of the kits mentions that the water required depends also on the crop that is grown as well as on the development stage of that crop. The effect of plant population or plant density on the crop water requirements is similar to that of the percentage of ground cover (Doorenbos and Pruitt 1992). When the topsoil is kept relatively dry, evaporation from the soil surface is sharply reduced and ET crop will be less for low population crops than for high population crops. During the early stage of a crop a high population planting would normally require somewhat more water than a low density planting, due to quicker development of full ground cover. In irrigated agriculture, plant population has been considered to be of little importance in terms of total water needs. In general, water van Leeuwen: Affordable small-scale drip irrigation in Africa: Potential role of the private sector requirements will depend on the total area covered. Since drip irrigation does not allow visual control of the amount of water that is applied to each plant, farmers will need assistance to determine the quantity of water required and how to make sure that this quantity is applied.Water mobilisation. The documentation on drip irrigation kits gives the impression that the mobilisation of irrigation water is not really a main problem. By providing just two buckets of water (of 20 litres each) in the morning and in the afternoon the water requirements would be covered. In fact this would just amount to 2 mm/day, and in certain circumstances the plants may require 8 mm/day, corresponding to eight trips from the water sources with two buckets of 20 l each. When it gets to filling a 200-l drum several times a day, there is clearly need to pump water into the system. In most cases individual farmers would be able to use a pump; however the cost of the pump, the dug-well and connecting pipes should be added to the investment cost the same as the cost of the buckets or drums. The labour cost for pumping the water should be added to the operations cost.Filters. For some of the bucket kits, the filtering of the water is done by a piece of cloth. Most kits have filters; some very simple screen filters, others more sophisticated screen filters, without however mentioning the actual performance of these filters. Sand or gravel filters are mentioned as they could be used to treat more heavily charged water. The documentation does not mention any specific filtering requirements for the different types of drip lines. It only mentions that some of the systems are easy to clean. The information received, after specific request, from one of the suppliers of driplines, has given clear indications with regard to the actual filtering requirements. These filtering requirements (from 125 to 80 microns) also depend on the actual discharge of the drippers: with a higher discharge (higher water pressure) the level of filtration can be reduced.Fertigation. The application, through the drip system, of nutrients dissolved in water is called fertigation. Since the fertiliser reaches the root zone directly, fertigation is the most efficient way of application of fertilisers. The increased production will allow a better valorisation of the investment made by the farmer in the drip-irrigation equipment. Only one supplier mentions the possibility of fertigation in its documentation. Farmers will need advice on the advantages of fertigation and should be trained in the selection of the liquid fertiliser and the procedures for its application through the drip system.Flexibility. Most of the kits are supposed to be used on flat land and rectangular fields, and include drip tapes that have fixed distances between the drippers. These systems present problems when used on sloping land, or when farmers need to irrigate crops that require a different spacing.In order to make successful use of the drip irrigation system; farmers will need advice and training. Part of the training and advice, dealing specifically with the irrigation system as such, could possibly be part of the package that the farmer purchases from the supplier. This package could also include trouble-shooting services during the first season. Other advice and assistance dealing with the selection of crop varieties, disease and pest control, marketing, etc., should be provided by specialised government services.Most of the above-mentioned issues can be dealt with without too many problems. The quality of the water and the selection of the type of drip lines however will require special attention.Many decisions during the planning stage of a drip system have to focus on the issue of water quality. In particular, the physical quality of the irrigation water is the main factor that should be taken into account when selecting the water filter(s) and the type of drip lines and eventually the drippers to use. This is valid for large-scale projects where farmers have access to high-level technical expertise and have resources to adjust the equipment as and when required. This is, however, Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa essential for smallholder farmers who, in case of major problems, will have no choice other than abandoning the system, as they do not have access to remedial solutions.The physical water quality will be very different from one place to another. Depending on the source of water, it can also vary considerably during the season and even from one season to another. If water samples are available, it is not always easy to get these examined in a simple and quick way.The easiest way out would be to use always a drip system that, independently of the water quality, will present fewer clogging risks and can be easily cleaned. This would exclude drip lines with premanufactured drippers such as T-Tape and the Chapin Tape. The advantage of these drip lines is that their cost is much lower. 2 Driplines with pre-manufactured drippers can be installed without any additional costs. LDPE dripline pipes need micro-tubes or drippers at additional costs almost equal to the cost of the pipe itself. Driplines with pre-manufactured drippers also assure a more homogeneous distribution of water, are easy to use and require no maintenance. Since they are buried there is less risk for damage and the water efficiency is higher.If the water is very clean, a simple screen filter for security purposes will be sufficient. If the water is charged with mineral particles there will be two options:-Install only a security filter and use surface dripper lines that can easily be controlled and cleaned whenever needed; or -Install the appropriate filter in addition to the security filter and use sub-surface drip lines with pre-manufactured drippers.The following filters (FAO Irrigation Equipment Supply Database) are generally used to clean water for drip-irrigation systems.Gravel or sand filters. 3 These filters, also called media filters, are closed cylindrical tanks that contain a gravel of 1.5-3.5 mm grain size or a basalt sand filter bed. Where the irrigation water source is an open reservoir, they are installed at the beginning of the head control of the system. Water entering the tank from the top passes through the gravel bed, which traps the large particles of unbroken organic matter, mostly algae, and the water exits through the outlet at the bottom of the tank. They are equipped with the necessary inlet, outlet and drain valves, and a back-flushing arrangement. The filter body is epoxy coated metal, minimum 8.0 bars PN, and is 50-180 cm high and 40-100 cm in diameter. They are available in threaded connection sizes of 1-8 in.Disk type filters. These are cylindrical, made of reinforced plastic, horizontal in-line or vertical angleshaped. The filtering elements consist of stacks of grooved plastic rings with multiple intersections, providing a three-dimensional filtration of high level. They are very effective in removing all kinds of impurities of inorganic and organic origin, algae included. The degree of filtration can range from 40 to 600 mesh (400-25 microns). They are available in all sizes (¾-6 in), PN 8.0 bars, with threaded joints. They are placed at the end of the control unit before the main pipeline.Screen type filters. These are used for final filtration, as a safeguard for either moderate qualitywater or following a primary filtration with gravel or hydrocyclone filters. They are installed at the end of the head control before the main pipeline. They are made of epoxy coated metal or high engineering plastics in various cylindrical shapes (horizontal on-line, vertical angle, etc.), and are equipped with interchangeable perforated filtering elements, inlet, outlet and drain valves and pressure inspection gauges. They can withstand a working pressure (PN) of 8.0 bars. The degree of filtration ranges from 60 to 200 mesh (75 microns). They are available in sizes of ¾ -4 in. Smaller sizes are made of reinforced plastic.If it does not exist already, an easy-to-use water testing device should be developed. Since most of the small-scale drip-irrigation systems will work under low pressure with corresponding low discharge of the drippers, the highest required level of filtration should be adopted. Farmers should also be trained in proper operation and maintenance of the filters.From a long-term perspective, irrigation development should be based on two guiding principles: the generalisation of private irrigation and the professionalisation of the actors operating in the irrigation sector (Soumaila 2001). In order to follow these guiding principles, irrigation should be:essentially initiated and managed by the operators themselves; low-cost, oriented towards water management and low water use;providing a good cost-benefit ratio;sustainable and respecting the environment.Several distributors of small-scale drip-irrigation kits are working in the same direction by trying to assemble their irrigation kits at country level and to set up national distribution networks. In emergency cases, the kits can be assembled elsewhere and shipped in containers. It is, however, much cheaper to ship supplies in large quantities and assemble the kits locally. The assembling of such kits is, in fact, very simple and could even be further decentralised to the local distributors of irrigation supplies in smaller cities. The main advantage of such decentralisation is that, it opens the possibility to customise the equipment.In view of the many variables, such as water quality, soil texture, crops and cultivation methods, shape and slope of the farmer's field, technical capacity and financial resources of the farmer, etc., there is a need for an individual approach to select the most appropriate set-up for each drip irrigation system. Since the design of the system is closely related to the local availability of materials, it would be most appropriate if the supplier of the equipment could provide assistance to individual farmers for the design of small-scale drip irrigation systems. This assistance should not be limited to the design of the system but should also include advice on irrigation practices. Such an individual approach will also allow setting up a system that can evolve in time. Local distributors of irrigation equipment will have special interest in selling systems that work correctly, as this will increase their business in the future.Clear and simple guidelines, covering all aspects of small-scale drip irrigation, should be prepared for these local distributors of irrigation equipment, to make them capable of providing such services to farmers. Short training courses on design and operation of small-scale drip irrigation systems should also be organised for interested equipment distributors at national level.It is further recommended that experiences with small-scale drip irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa be collected and analysed to draw lessons for the expansion of this type of irrigation. In particular, experiences with the adoption of these new irrigation technologies by women farmers should be shared with a large public. Many women farmers are cultivating small irrigated plots and they have the largest constraints in terms of labour availability, and generally limited access to new technologies and to credit. Finally, methodologies for simple and quick analysis of water quality should be identified and made available to the professionals.Africa, which has for a long time been the least urbanised region in the world, is now undergoing an urban explosion. In the West African humid forest zone more people live in cities than rural areas.In approximately 20 years, two out of three West Africans will live in urban centres. This represents an immense challenge for food security, sanitation and poverty alleviation especially as the per capita food supply is still decreasing and the number of undernourished people living in cities is on the rise. Natural demographic growth and population migration are the sources of this poorly organised urban growth, which entails economic, social and environmental problems.The 1980s have been referred to repeatedly as a decade of crisis for African development. None of the factors underlying this \"crisis\" are new: declining terms of trade, declining per capita production of food crops, increasing foreign indebtedness, environmental degradation and continued high rates of migration by the young from rural to urban areas. Two major catastrophic droughts through much of sub-Saharan Africa, combined with conflicts and political turmoil during the decade, have led to the decline of much of the formal, modern sector of Africa's economy, with a resulting decline in the standard of living for both urban and rural people.In apparent reaction to the increasing urban population, intensive peri-urban and urban farming systems, both with their distinct characteristics and interactions, have emerged and are expected by some experts to assume great importance in the years ahead.Poor people in the cities are constantly faced with the problem of how to survive at the household or micro-level amidst economic decline and the lack of job opportunities. \"Rather than return to the countryside, much of this urban population has resorted to any means at their disposal to survive in the city. The various survival mechanisms of the urban poor have come to be called the 'informal sector', so named by the International Labour Organisation's investigation of employment conditions in African economies in the 1970s.\" (Maxwell and Zziwa 1992).Urban agricultural production is often included in the informal sector, because cultivation and livestock rearing within urban sectors were generally forbidden during the colonial period. This hostile attitude by the authorities toward urban farming has usually continued after independence. Nevertheless, urban agriculture has been an integral part of African cities from the beginning of their development, as pointed out by Rakodi (1988). This fits also well with the perception of urban migrants, who view the city as their farm (Aronson 1978), as it becomes part of their extended geographic sphere, while the rural home often remains home, despite their living in the city.Some authors emphasise the adaptation of urban agriculture to certain characteristics of urban life in transition: a break between rural production and urban consumption that is marked by the need to supply less expensive European-type market products such as green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, etc. The most commonly produced goods are high-value perishable products like vegetables and fruits, as well as small livestock, poultry, fish, and snack food. Thus Bamako, capital of Mali, would be self-sufficient in vegetables because of urban market gardeners.The same applies to essential provisions for the city of Lomé, where competition of other origins exists: neighbouring villages, and importation of specific products from Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Europe. Urban agriculture would then be generating income and employment in an urban environment through a network of interdependent activities connected to it. These peripheral activities are found in the artisan production sector (blacksmiths, masons, carpenters, etc.), as well as in the service sector (transportation of fertilisers, phytosanitary products and seeds, repair of motor pumps, etc.) and marketing sectors.Urban and peri-urban agriculture: A source of income and nutrition.Three fundamental observations concerning urban agriculture are noted by Maxwell and Zziwa (1992):1. Urban agriculture is an important component of household survival strategies for the urban poor.Urban agriculture has provided livelihoods and food to an increasing number of urban and peri-urban residents.Urban and peri-urban agriculture have a potential to provide productive jobs for the urban unemployed, while contributing significantly to the food provision of Africa's cities.According to Amuzu and Leitman (1991), in Accra an estimated 3 percent of the city's labour force are engaged in urban farming, and 90 percent of the city's vegetable supplies are supplied by urban farmers.Urban agriculture is an important source of income and nutrition for urban populations. As the share of wages in income has fallen drastically under the effects of structural adjustment programmes, increased engagement in farming in urban and peri-urban areas has been the most visible response to the crisis.Horticulture, mainly vegetable production, has expanded in and around West African cities as an informal activity practised by poor and landless city dwellers. The broad diversity of horticultural crop species allows year-round production, employment and income. Growers have realised that intensive horticulture can be practised on small plots making efficient use of water and land resources.Real efficiencies are being made by productive use of under-utilised resources such as vacant land and unemployed labour.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Vegetable cash crops are often produced by experienced farmers and marketed directly or by short chains without much processing. In the case of leaf vegetables, harvesting and sales must take place daily. They provide a quick return to meet a family's day cash requirement for purchasing food. Leafy vegetables are particularly perishable and post-harvest losses can be reduced significantly when production is located close to consumers.Short production cycles and rapid adjustment to market demand and climatic conditions result in a surprisingly high, regular income to peri-urban farmers as well as to market entrepreneurs. Some urban and peri-urban growers are moving more and more into intensive production of high valueadded produce, rather than basic foodstuffs; such activities can become major sources of income for more sophisticated members of the population who have investment capacity.The pervasive economic importance of peri-urban irrigation has created at all production levels an investment incentive for private economic operators. Under the pressure of economic and political powers and encouraged by international organisations, various actions have taken place in an attempt to help organise this new production sector. NGOs are getting involved more and more. This movement is supported by the credit institutions that are lending to individuals and also on a group basis.Despite its success and growing importance, peri-urban irrigation is still subject to numerous constraints. Among them are insufficient access to clean water, uncertainty about land tenure, level of know-how, increasing pressure and marketing difficulties.Historically, urban farming in African cities has been a major activity in African cities since pre-colonial days. According to Winters (1983), in hot, often humid regions such as tropical Africa, the problem of storing food compounded the problem of transporting it. The fact that urbanisation was so independent of trade was one more reason for cities to be self-sufficient in food. Urban farming in contemporary African cities is largely unrecognised, unassisted and in some cases outlawed because of the supposed hazards associated with it.Agricultural activities have influenced and determined urban land-use and the morphology of cities in Africa. Cities such as Kumasi, Ghana, and the Yoruba towns of western Nigeria were surrounded by a zone of intensive farming in which the majority of residents worked every day (Winters 1983).According to Mougeot (1994), urban farming will likely continue to expand because of the current conditions prevailing in African countries. These conditions include rapid urbanisation, ineffective agricultural policies, crippled domestic food distribution, constrained government spending, removal of subsidies, soaring inflation, rising unemployment, natural disasters and civil strife.Urban agriculture is developed in areas that, generally, have a precarious status and whose development or distribution in the town often depends on the unilateral ideas of municipal authorities or specific urban management institutions. Land under the authority of these legal institutions is used without formal authority but with a varying tolerance, which is not always backed by rationality. Thus, the market gardens that have long been tolerated in Bamako incited some people to grow grains (millet, corn, etc.) on interstitial strips in the towns with successful results. Since 1989, the authorities have prohibited this practice since the high stalks created a bush that served as refuge to thieves (Diallo 1993). The most often cited example of this occurred in Bafoussan, Cameroon, during the 1970s, when the mayor arranged for the corn to be cut in order to clean up the town.Land is often free in the interstitial areas. However, complex rental systems have often been developed through the succession of occupants or the informal involvement of administrations in the activity.Leasing is also common between land-owners and producers (Lomé, Lagos). In the latter case, the profitability of using this land for housing projects, not at all comparable to the profitability of urban agriculture, determines the risk of the activity.The status of the activity varies, in contradiction to a premature classification in the informal sector, which, nevertheless, remains the most current. In Zaire, the government has promoted it to an official project, supported by outside funding. In Nigeria, the government has considered urban Barry: Development of urban and peri-urban agriculture in West Africa agriculture so important that it has made all inputs tax-exempt (fertilisers, seeds, etc.). For the majority, however, urban agriculture is simply an activity that is tolerated.The intensification of agriculture in and around the cities requires inputs such as fertilisers, biocides, labour, and water. The most expensive inputs in terms of direct costs and possible environmental impact are fertilisers and pesticides. This makes it worthwhile to look at alternatives (waste recycling, integrated pest management).Waste recycling for urban and peri-urban agriculture is a potentially powerful, locally responsive approach to addressing waste disposal problems in African cities. The concept is not new to Africa, but to promote it on a large scale requires fundamental changes in planning Africa's urban areas, as well as change in attitudes of city governments, decision-makers, and urban planers. Change demands a commitment by them to include urban cultivation and organic waste recycling as an integral part of the built environment.Agriculture requires water, which may be obtained directly from rainfall (rainfed farming), or indirectly from a variety of sources such as rivers and streams, wells, rainwater harvesting, piped water and wastewater (irrigated farming). Water is essential for urban agriculture. For this activity, often considered to be on the borderline of profitability, access to low-cost quality water in the city raises enormous difficulties. The use of traditional wells is currently practised in many towns located far from rivers. Lacking a simple solution, some stopgap measures, like using polluted water form the sewage systems, expose the producer as well as the consumer to potential danger. One could mention, as an example, the use of wastewater to irrigate crops in Cambérène and Yoff (Dakar, Senegal) as well as in some areas of Lomé.In Dakar, about 100,000 cubic meters of domestic wastewater is evacuated daily. Use of this resource could prove interesting because of some advantages like availability of more water and reduction of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers. However, because a large number of farmers use this untreated urban domestic wastewater either as the only source for irrigation or to supplement shallow wells, a potential danger for contamination exists.The speed and unplanned nature of urban growth generates water problems and closely related sanitary problems, and most cities have an irregular water supply. As in peri-urban areas, irrigation is often proposed as an efficient and lasting way of using land. According to Livingston (1987), in vegetable production for example, competition for water can become a key factor influencing the viability of agriculture in cities.The practice of reusing waste in food cultivation in Africa is not new. Most African countries have traditionally utilised various types of materials to maintain and improve the productivity, tilth and fertility of agricultural soils. The indigenous kitchen gardens, compounds and community gardening systems of West Africa have made extensive use of organic materials. Promoting the reuse of waste in urban cultivation on a large scale, in areas with high population concentrations, raises the issue of health.The issue of health is critical in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Urban solid waste in African cities contains large quantities of pathogens due to the presence of human excreta. Application in farming of such untreated waste can pose significant health risks both to those who have direct contact with it, and also to the general public who are affected through the food chain links (Furedy et al. 1997).The combined effect of increasing population size and shrinking land availability demands increased food production. This can only be achieved through a more intensive management of resources in Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa all aspects of food production. Urban and peri-urban agriculture should be included in such an approach, to be encouraged and guided by the authorities.Urban farming has been taken up by the urban poor as a survival strategy, and more food is being produced in the urban and peri-urban sphere as a result. Encouragement and enlargement of such private enterprise by the authorities through the organised and proper use of treated urban wastewater could benefit both the urban poor at the micro-and household levels, and the urban food situation at the macro level.Urban and peri-urban production systems need development support because projections estimate that within less than 30 years, half of the world's population will live in urban areas. Measures to boost agricultural production play a very important role in achieving development policy goals by reducing food insecurity, and increasing income and employment opportunities.Urban and peri-urban agriculture offer partial solutions to several problems created by rapid urban growth in the developing world and especially in West Africa. Increased production through the application of efficient technologies to urban and peri-urban agriculture decreases food prices and increases consumption. If vegetable production systems are prominent among peri-urban and urban agricultural enterprises, people's consumption of them will increase. This means access to food and a way to overcome malnutrition for the poorest segment of the population, a source of income and high-quality food at low cost and possibility of savings for a large majority of people.Urban farming is a competitive economic activity providing new jobs to many in the city, especially for people with limited mobility, low skill and little capital, including women and children. However, the benefits of urban agriculture extend beyond better nutrition, poverty reduction and jobs for the poor. Agricultural methods make the most out of scarce land, water and other natural resources, and often make use of wastes and industrial by-products as well. From the environmental and economic point of view waste reduction is interesting.Urban areas have to be considered as vast nutrient sinks and only immense fertiliser imports and/ or recycling of nutrients will sustain the food supply from the urban production areas. Therefore, in addition to agro-industrial byproducts (poultry manure, sawmill dust, brewery refuse), household refuse need to be valorised and considered either as an alternative or additional nutrients source. However, care has to be taken because of waste contamination by pathogens and agro-chemicals.Peri-urban and urban vegetables will play a multiple role in achieving development policy goals (food security and malnutrition, job opportunities and poverty alleviation, support of women). When formulating future development plans, it is important that urban-rural linkages are fully understood; neither urban nor rural development should be treated in isolation. In view of the large gap in data on food and related nutrient-flows between rural, peri-urban and urban areas, studies must be conducted to minimise peri-urban nutrient depletion and to maximise environmentally sound land management. Decision support systems for city planners could be designed as one result. A network of approaches involving all stakeholders of urban development and peri-urban agriculture would be appropriate. As well, it would be a good idea to compare several African cities within the network and benefit from their experiences.The informal private sector of urban and peri-urban farming should not be taken over by the government, although the treatment of urban wastewater and its subsequent use in urban agriculture does require government planning, investment and extension services. Participatory development in urban and peri-urban farming may enable proper integration between central planning of wastewater treatment and its use by private farmers. Special legislation for use of urban and peri-urban for farming purposes should be made as flexible as possible.Municipalities in the Netherlands, for example, allow certain municipal areas, divided in small plots, to be farmed by interested individuals without their becoming owners of the land. Temporary permits are given and a small yearly fee has to be paid. Yearly extension of such permits in urban and periurban Africa could be made conditional on proper use of the wastewater and compliance with public health requirements.The occurrence of severe drought will undoubtedly cause a decrease in the level of food production under rainfed agriculture. The resultant decline in locally produced food needs to be compensated Barry: Development of urban and peri-urban agriculture in West Africa for, frequently by supply from existing reserves or imports, in order to maintain food availability and consumption at a secure level.One of the characteristic aspects of urban development is the widespread availability of piped water, a sewage system and the resultant production of urban wastewater. Because water is in the short run even more critical than food for human survival, governments have usually planned to maintain the piped water supplies to cities from secure water resources which can be used even during times of drought. Hence, the output of urban wastewater will also continue during meteorological drought. This rather stable production of urban wastewater should be perceived by planners as a real asset not to be wasted! Four reasons can be given for the importance of urban wastewater treatment and purification in Africa:1.Urban wastewater needs to be contained and purified for reasons of public health.Raw urban sewage should not be permitted to flow freely on the surface, polluting streams, surface water and groundwater resources.Treated wastewater can be used successfully and safely, at or near its urban source, in urban and peri-urban farming to produce food without the need for chemical fertilisers.Urban wastewater will be available even during periods of drought, enabling urban and peri-urban food production to continue and thereby increasing urban food security.Since urban sewage treatment requires government planning and supervision, it seems reasonable to suggest the need for agricultural extension education, legislation, and supervision concerning the agricultural use of the treated wastewater by individual urban farmers, in view of possible health hazards. However, a detailed World Bank report about wastewater irrigation in developing countries (Shuval et al. 1986), concluded that public health positions have often been overly conservative. The report recommends the use of low-cost stabilisation ponds, considered to be a robust method of wastewater treatment well suited to the needs of developing countries. \"In fact, as we have already pointed out, 20-day stabilisation ponds can remove almost all bacteria and viruses and can produce an effluent suitable for unrestricted irrigation of vegetables\" (Shuval et al. 1986).Despite the official neglect from the colonial period to the present day, it is clearly apparent across contemporary Africa that urban farming is widespread and it is becoming a permanent feature of the landscapes of many cities. Proof of its persistence and stability is reflected in the acreage and land farmed within and around the built-up space of African cities and by the number of urban residents engaged in urban agriculture. A number of African countries have recognised the importance of urban farming and have taken steps to incorporate urban agriculture in their city plans.Today, it is widely acknowledged that \"Women play an important role in agriculture and irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa and should be reached better by both the public and private sectors.\" However, it often stops at that point. The consensus is not easily translated into action. One explanation for this gap between intentions and action is that the statement is too general to be of much practical use. Especially for the introduction of new irrigation technologies, gender generalities are rather fruitless. Below, we nuance the above statement and elaborate nine new statements on gender and irrigation that are probably better guides for effective action.Gender debates tend to focus on differences between all men and all women. If differences between women (or between men) are highlighted, these are differences according to class, ethnic groups, age, culture, etc. However, especially for irrigation development, yet another important difference is one between women who are farm decision-makers and women who work under the authority of male kin as unpaid family labourers. This difference is important because both the public and private sectors primarily seek partnerships with farm decision-makers, who are responsible for mobilising one of the farm inputs; water. Farm decision-makers need water directly. Farm decision-makers are also most motivated to invest labour and capital in to the infrastructure and invest time and fees in to the membership of water users associations. As they are the immediate beneficiaries of these investments, farm-decision makers are motivated in their endeavours.In contrast, family members working in a farm enterprise, which is managed by male kin (for women) or elder family members (for both sons and daughters) play a secondary role. Evidently, there may be indirect consequences of irrigation investments in terms of extra labour, risks of loan taking that can affect the whole family; and also in terms of indirect benefits, if their kin share the higher farm van Koppen: Gender analysis for improved irrigation perfomance incomes. Although family members may oppose or stimulate the farm decision-maker to take up irrigation innovations and negotiate a deal, the ultimate decisions are made by farm decision-makers. Public and private irrigation agencies, therefore, assign great importance to the question whether women's \"important role in agriculture\"is a decision-making role in farming, or a role in providing labour into a family enterprise, even if it is the bulk of the labour.The above mentioned differentiation between women also provides clarity about the meanings and merits of a 'gender-inclusive' approach in creating an enabling environment that provides the needed inputs, credits, and markets to smallholders. The lack of clarity about what is meant by 'genderinclusiveness' was often another factor that may have hampered change agents from undertaking action. Yet, such clarity exists. During the past three decades, virtually unanimous consensus has been reached among policy makers, public and private sector practitioners, researchers, and often also among women and men in local communities, that ensuring support systems reach women farm decision-makers as well as men farm decision-makers serves the goals of productivity and improvement of women's incomes besides men's incomes. Ample evidence has shown that women are as efficient producers as men, provided they obtain equitable access to productive resources and human capital and have a say over the output (for an in-depth discussion, see Quisumbing 1996). Women's equal, if not higher productivity, as that of men's is also confirmed in irrigated agriculture in Burkina Faso (Zwarteveen 1997) and Senegal (Deuss 1994). Therefore, women farm decision-makers should obtain access to new technologies, water, credits, training, and markets on the same footing as men farm decision-makers. Thus, gender-inclusiveness, or \"good gender performance\" of irrigation support systems means that both men and women are reached and that productivity and incomes increase for both genders. 1If it is important to reach both men and women farm decision-makers, the next question is who in any specific context are the farm decision-makers: men, women, or both, and what the proportions are quantitatively. For both public and private sector development of new low-cost technologies, this is basic target group analysis. Elsewhere (van Koppen 2002), a majority of more than two-thirds of women farm decision-makers is defined as a female farming system. Less than one-third of women farm decision-makers represents a male farming system, while the dual farming system is in-between. Farming systems can be classified by examining the intra-household organisation of production in household farming in a given locality or scheme, and calculating relative proportions.As is now widely acknowledged, households in general and farm households in particular are typically not units in which resources are pooled with the male head as the main decision-maker and representative. Instead, it is more plausible if intra-household relations are conceptualised as bargaining processes between the household members regarding the allocation of resources and spending of incomes (Jones 1986;Haddad, Hoddinott and Alderman 1997;World Bank 2001). Or, more precisely for the purpose here, there is an intra-household specialisation along gender lines with regard to productive activities. The household can be considered as being composed of one, two or more intra-household production units (Safiliou 1988). Individual adult household members have production units that are identifiable as theirs, and they have considerable autonomy with regard to labour allocation and income utilisation. While all household members share the common goal of family welfare, each household member tries to maximise benefits for him or herself from the allocation of their labour and other agricultural investments, through negotiations with other members \"trying to get the best deal out of it.\" In all these negotiations, the limiting factor is family welfare and familyPrivate Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa stability. Only in extreme situations in which negotiations completely break down and the prevailing conditions are untenable, household members may consider sacrificing family stability (Safiliou 1988). 2   Distinguishing intra-household production units not only adequately conceptualises the gendered organisation of irrigated agricultural production, but it also indicates that irrigated agriculture is usually only one activity in the range of income-generating activities of farm households. Worldwide, farms are typically \"pluri-active,\" in that they are engaged in rainfed and irrigated cropping but often also livestock, off-farm employment, trade, food processing, fisheries, etc. An analysis of the intrahousehold organisation of irrigated farming allows identification of the main decision-maker in one particular domain: farming the irrigated plot.The existence of these semi-autonomous intra-household production units is also manifest in the provision of capital for cultivation or the adoption of new infrastructure such as treadle pumps. Women may negotiate loans for production factors on their own plots through their own family, neighbours and friends rather than from their in-laws. This was found in the Arabie/Olifants smallholder scheme in South Africa (van Koppen and De Lange 1999). If spouses do lend money to each other, they sometimes charge an interest rate (Safiliou 1988). An example of an issue that needs further investigation, is the impression that their husbands often finance the treadle pumps or bucket drips that women use in Kenya (Kabutha et al 2000). This situation may be one in which women are merely family labourers. Or, if these women are farm decision-makers, they possibly made a deal with their husbands. A better understanding of both men's and women's attitudes with regard to mutual capital provision will highlight whether there is a need for credit systems that are open to women, in order to foster the adoption of the new technology by women farm decision-makers.The gendered nature of farming strongly varies, within sub-Saharan Africa as wellThe gendered organisation of farming needs to be assessed in each specific situation, because gender patterns of farming vary greatly and change continuously. A multitude of factors influences these patterns. Land tenure is certainly an important one. The spouse with the stronger land titles usually has a stronger voice in the farm enterprise. However, this is not always the case, as elaborated below. Other factors that influence gender patterns of farming include culture and ethnicity, class and wealth status, or gender-biased agricultural technological development. Reportedly, specific agro-ecological zones like wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa also have higher proportions of womenmanaged plots than adjacent dry lands (Dey 1980;Richards 1986). Worldwide, homestead cultivation is often also a female farming system, although homestead land may belong to the men who also perform specific activities such as ploughing, as in Jambar, a village in South Gujarat, India (van Koppen et al. 2001).Locally prevailing gender patterns in farming also vary according to household composition, stage in the household cycle and age (Bastidas 1999), head of the household, personal preferences, etc. Gender-segmented off-farm employment opportunities and high male ratios in out-migration lead to the feminisation of agriculture and the change of male farming systems into dual and female farming systems. In Southern and Eastern Africa female and dual farming systems are endemic. In some regions 50 or even up to 90 percent of the farms are female-managed (FAO 1998;Makhura and Ngqaleni 1996;Safiliou 1994). Dual systems may also occur pocket-wise in typically male irrigated farming, as reported in Nepal (Zwarteveen and Neupane 1996).The method of classifying farming systems can be quick and easyThe variation in the gendered organisation of agricultural production warrants an assessment in each specific situation. A first indication in each specific context is often quite easily obtained. Local project staff, extension workers, or farm leaders, who know existing or potential irrigation contexts, often have considerable insight in the gender of the decision-maker on the various plots, if the questions clearly concern a specific farm. A small random and representative sample already provides van Koppen: Gender analysis for improved irrigation perfomance useful insight. Evidently, the method of assessing the intra-household organisation of agricultural production can also be much more sophisticated, leading to more refined typologies, etc.In carrying out such research one may find that the initial answer to questions about the intrahousehold organisation of production is 'jointly'. Interestingly, this may be the case in both male and female farming systems (van Koppen 2002). This answer is easy and nowadays socially acceptable, also in male farming systems. Some further probing is usually sufficient to give unambiguous answers as to whether the farm manager in general, or the household member taking specific decisions or carrying out certain activities, is a man or a woman, or whether spouses or parents and children farm jointly.A methodological warning is that existing lists of farmers are notoriously misleading, because these tools are for administrative or demographic purposes and tend to register either the household head or the landowner, that is if there is clarity about the registration criteria at all. Administrative simplification tends to ignore production relations and to incorrectly equate farm decision-making to headship of a household or land-ownership.It may be useful to re-emphasise the difference between headship of a household and farm decision-making. In female farming systems, such as wetland or homestead cultivation, most women farm decision-makers are typically married while their husbands' main occupation can also be farming. Households in which men have off-farm jobs while women do the farming activities, may well be seen as male-headed households, even though others would call these de facto female-headed households, especially if off-farm employment is at a large distance. Problems of definition of headship easily arise without providing any additional insight into the issue at stake here: farm decisionmaking. On the other hand, in de jure female-headed households, which are more clearly defined, women may leave farm decision-making to others. This was found in male farming systems in largescale canal irrigation schemes in India. Farm decision-making was only in women's hands in half of the cases (van Koppen et al. 2001). Hence, targeting female-headed households to reach women farm decision-makers would mean that both targeting mistakes are made: women \"heads of households\" who are not the farm decision-makers would be included; and women farm decision-makers in male-headed households would be overlooked.The various relationships between farm decision-maker and land tenure need to be disentangled. Women farm decision-makers tend to have weaker land rights than men in many sub-Saharan countries. Some categories of women, however, have the primary land rights under some conditions, while other women cultivate in their own names on land of their in-laws to which they have life-long tenure security. Men may also cultivate land of their female in-laws. A mix of these situations was found in the Tongwane sub-catchment of the Olifants River in a former homeland in South Africa.Out of 176 irrigated plots in various irrigation schemes in this sub-catchment, women cultivate 62 percent, men 24 percent and both spouses jointly cultivate 14 percent. However, among the women farm decision-makers, 36 percent are not the titleholders of the land they cultivate. Of the men farm decision-makers, 10 percent also cultivate land belonging to others (van Koppen et al. 2000). It is also possible, as found in south Malawi and Mozambique, that women have the primary land titles while men are the farm decision-makers on those lands.The distinction between farm decision-making and primary land titles is especially important in situations in which governmental agencies define water rights and membership rights of water users' associations. Irrigation management transfer often requires reconsidering such membership criteria. Generally, vesting membership of water users' associations in the factual farm decision-maker (who is also motivated to increase the farm's productivity through water) rather than the person with the primary rights to the land, benefits women and stimulates production. This concern of opening up membership of new water users' associations to women farm decision-makers, irrespective of the type of their land rights, was one of the reasons for the Government of the Republic of South Africa to disconnect land-ownership from membership of water users' associations in the National Water Act (Republic of South Africa 1998).In the specific case of externally supported collective irrigation schemes and their institutions, there is yet another issue besides classifying the farming system precisely, as described above, which is the performance question. This second gender issue addresses the question as to whether irrigation institutions reach men and women farm decision-makers equally well in providing water, or other services, and if not, what could be done to change any deficiencies. Irrigation institutions are defined here as the collective arrangements that govern the construction, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure, water acquisition and distribution, and resource mobilisation. It is useful to distinguish three aspects which all require different forms of action, if gender-based exclusion is found to be the case.Equal farm-level access to water and related obligations, which is directly related to women's and men's equal access to resources for higher productivity and incomes.Equal participation in 'forums' or networks for collective water management arrangements as generally required for strengthening access to water at farm level.Equality at leadership-level in the sense that the gender composition of leaders reflects the gender composition of the farmers in the scheme and that women function as well as men.The answers to these questions give a full-fledged picture of gender performance, which can also be specified. Absence of gender-based differences means good gender performance (+); mild genderbased differences mean moderate performance (+/-); or categorical exclusion means low gender performance (-) for that particular aspect.The specific role of external intervening agencies in shaping the irrigation institutions, and thus in contributing to a good or weak gender performance of a particular scheme can also be specified at these three levels: farm, forum, and leadership level. The explicit study of the role of external agencies in shaping irrigation institutions, and, hence, gender-based inclusion and exclusion processes, render the study more policy-relevant. Roughly, one can compare the influence of agencies with the role of locally prevailing production arrangements. This helps in defining whether agencies are the \"main performer\" (which they can change) or whether local reality is the main cause of gender inclusion or exclusion (which agencies alone can hardly change). This approach was elaborated into a \"Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation\" by the Poverty, Gender, and Water Project of the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka, and tested in nine case studies (van Koppen 2002).To conclude, one example of the application of the complete Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation is given, which highlights why gender analysis is important, especially for public irrigation agencies.In the low-lying wetlands in the West Comoé Province in Burkina Faso that are used for rice cultivation, 80 to 90 percent of the plots are cultivated by younger and especially older women as their production units. Men as a gender are the farm decision-makers on the upper dry lands, for which they solicit labour inputs by their wives as long as they are young. Inheritance of wetland plots from mother to daughter is common, while husbands and mothers-in-law also mediate in providing rice plots to women. Wetlands are governed by the low intensity common property regimes, mentioned above (Ostrom 1994). Within the clan of the \"land chiefs,\" the local land custodians the women of the clan assume most functions in the wetlands. In some cases, it is even taboo for male land chiefs to enter wetlands during the rainy season, as this is believed to cause inundation. To outsiders, though, brothers, fathers or husbands of the female land chief tend to be the representatives. Male land chiefs also perform religious functions. The Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation for the pre-project situation is given in Table 1.This case study is an in-situ experiment, so the respective roles of the project or local arrangements as main cause of events, or \"main performer\" in the Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation, can easily be identified, and is identified in the final line of Table 1 and subsequent similar tables below.Table 1. The Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation in wetlands in South-West Burkina Faso, before the wetlands improvement project.In 1980 a 'Rice Cultivation Improvement Project' started in these wetlands. This project was initiated and implemented by the regional Ministry of Agriculture and funded by the European Community.The project intended to intervene subsequently in eight rice valleys in the project zone up till 1987.It was foreseen that central drains, sluices, and bunds would be constructed according to the contour lines, for better water management in the respective valleys. Before construction, land was expropriated. Land was then divided in to equal-sized plots and reallocated after construction.The first two schemes were constructed simultaneously. In these two schemes the technical project management, who fully concentrated on rapid construction, only interacted with a handful of (male) village authorities. This elite arranged the expropriation of land, promising to the women that they would get the land back. Yet, after construction when the improved plots were to be reallocated, this Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa small \"committee\" of project management and village elite decided to allocate the improved rice plots to men only. As \"male heads of households,\" beneficiary men were supposed to arrange the \"intrahousehold\" and \"cultural\" affair of farming and land allocation. All project staff were misled by the above-mentioned concept of the unitary household, represented by the male heads. Even the social scientists in the project, who mainly relied on demographic survey data and lists from the tax offices, imagined that rice cultivation would become a \"family farm\" after the project. Even they had failed to discover the existence of women's own production units and land rights.When these first schemes started functioning, the male land title-holders expected women to continue providing all labour, while men's new land rights entitled them to appropriate most of the harvest. The women felt \"betrayed by their men.\" They had lost their plots plus their say over the rice harvest, all of which discouraged them from producing. Moreover, membership of the new water users' association, which entailed the obligations for maintenance, was vested in land title-holders as well.Women were excluded from the forums where collective rules were set and implemented. In most parts of the two schemes, however, men failed to fulfil their labour obligations because their primary interests continued to be in the uplands. Lack of maintenance of the infrastructure further contributed to the decrease of production and even abandonment of large parts of the schemes.Remarkably, even the regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture, who was one of the very few who had understood the previous local farming system and recognised the negative consequences of the project for women and their dependants in the first two schemes, failed to see a solution. His personal interpretation of law was that \"after public intervention, the administrative allocation ignores women whose juridical existence is only through the family head.\" Thus, even he contributed to the introduction of new forms of exclusion, based on a personal interpretation of marital law, which was totally alien in local land and water tenure. The low gender performance of the first two schemes is summarised in Table 2.Table 2. The Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation in wetlands in South-West Burkina Faso in the first two schemes of the wetlands improvement project.The change in the procedures of land expropriation and reallocation in the third and fourth schemes was the result of local initiative by women, their husbands and female and male land chiefs, and receptive field staff. The crucial difference from the first two schemes was the time span of some years between the first contacts of the project and the start of construction. During this period full consensus was reached in the community that the existing plot holders, whose names were known exactly by the land chiefs, obtained priority rights for new allocation.This procedure evolved into a standard gender-sensitive procedure for all later schemes in the project zone (and elsewhere in the world indeed). In this approach, first, open meetings are organised, for which the current farm decision-makers and anyone interested are invited. The participants in the meetings are informed about the project, the technical aspects, and the land redistribution and proposed organisational design. Current plot holders and other candidates are registered as future land and water title-holders before any construction. After construction and land reallocation, they become members of the new water users' associations, fulfil their maintenance obligations and elect their leaders. In the committees, however, the minority of male rice cultivators remains overrepresented. By extensive literacy and other training programmes, the project builds the critical mass for a pool of women candidate leaders. In all later schemes men were still explicitly invited to apply for new rice plots. Nevertheless, the majority of new applicants were invariably women, except for one site where land pressure on upper dry lands had become high, which caused some men to apply for rice plots as well. Table 3 captures the good gender performance in the later schemes.Table 3. The Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation in wetlands in South-West Burkina Faso in the later schemes of the wetlands improvement project.The local socio-economic conditions in the subsequent schemes are rather similar. Only the procedures for land expropriation and reallocation differed. In the first two schemes the agency was most dominant, while in later schemes communities obtained a stronger say. The agency was, therefore, the only cause of women's marginalisation. Locally, such exclusion had never existed before. This marginalisation was the result of the agency's complete ignorance of the gendered organisation of farming combined with an authoritarian approach, in which under high time pressure, far-reaching decision-making powers were vested in a handful of local elite.In later schemes, the locally prevailing organisation of farming smoothly re-emerged as the most obvious basis for the new farming system and irrigation institutions, in spite of the project. It only required time to crystallise. None of the later schemes had the productivity and maintenance problems of the first schemes. The inclusive approach that the agency later adopted is straightforward: recognising and organising farm decision-makers, whether male or female, in a bottom-up way before construction, and strengthening the resource rights of the farm decision-makers, while demanding that they fulfil their obligations.The case of the wetland improvement project in Burkina Faso highlights, in a nutshell, the core arguments raised in many other case studies: agencies' blindness to recognise prevailing female or dual farming systems, and the ways in which agencies vest far-reaching decision-making powers in male elites only and exclude women farmers from membership of forums, let alone leadership positions. Reportedly, the loss of women farmers' earlier rights to water and irrigated land, and declining productivity are similar results (Hanger and Morris 1973;Dey 1980;Carney 1988;Illo et al 1988).The other side of the coin is also documented. In female and dual farming systems, quite a number of agencies learned from their mistakes and started actively adopting the above-mentioned inclusive approach from the design stage onwards. This had the desired effects (Carney 1994; Traditional  Irrigation Improvement Program Tanzania, 1993; Hulsebosch and Ombarra 1995; 3 Arroyo and Boelens  1997; De Lange et al. 1999).Hence, where female and dual farming systems prevail in Africa, Asia or Latin America, there is not only scope for irrigation agencies to enhance women's incomes by supplying them with water in their own names, but also to vest in them the rights to irrigated land. It is often absolutely necessary to As women are managers of farms in which water is an input, women's inclusion in irrigation institutions besides men's is a straightforward matter of bottom-up organisation of all farm decision-makers, irrespective of the type of land rights into member-based water users' associations that can demand accountability from their leaders (Shah 1996). Then, gender-based exclusion at farm or forum level is unlikely to occur. Only for inclusive leadership, does support remain necessary in order to develop women's organization and leadership skills. In female and dual farming systems, the key policy issue is that policy makers and interventionists themselves should finally learn. Smallholder irrigation is favoured in sub-Saharan Africa for a number of reasons: small-scale development is physically appropriate to the resources available and suits traditional farming practices. Despite its small scale, smallholder irrigation is complex. Success and sustainability demand carefulChancellor: Women irrigators and operation and maintenance of small-scale schemes in Africa holistic design. Experience suggests that review of institutional capacity and human capital is a key indicator for efficient operation (Barghouti and Le Moigne 1990).However, in Southern Africa in the past, schemes were imposed on users, sometimes quite overtly, as in the case of resettlement schemes, and sometimes in well-meaning attempts to reduce poverty. In all cases, design of schemes centred on water and plants and not on people. The political objectives had strong welfare overtones; management was centralised, and was funded and resourced from central monies. Irrigation departments or agencies organised operation and maintenance of smallholder, small-scale irrigation. The cost associated with this system was high, information was not highly valued, and adjustment to change was slow. Dialogue between agency and farmer was directed at male plot-owners, seldom involving women in technical choice or organisation of O&M .Assumptions were wrongly made that African women and men held the same views, that women would not understand technical issues, and that men regularly pass information to their wives and consult them (Merrey et al. 1998;Jones 1999). Participation was so neglected that it is doubtful if the needs of either men or women irrigators were taken into account. Now, as governments withdraw their support from these costly schemes, the difficulty of handling these irrigation enterprises with the reduced resources available is a major issue (Chancellor and Hide 1997a; Ubels and Horst 1994;Vermillion 1997).For many years, the state has devolved more and more responsibility for operation and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure to farmers. Despite farmers' high motivation to maintain, they face a difficult task to meet costs, provide labour, and organise. Few small schemes can support the cost of fulltime professionals; thus farmers must provide management as well as labour. Although women farmers contribute to manual labour for scheme O&M, and women-headed households pay their contribution to costs, women's participation in decision-making about and prioritising of O&M tasks is low.The history of government smallholder schemes has not encouraged women to take part or to demand roles other than the most menial, but now, to achieve sustainability, schemes must find ways to benefit from women's contributions to decisions and management. Farmer management cannot follow the model of agency management and must devise a new, more appropriate method that will serve their objectives with the resources available.Schemes already turned over to farmers must review objectives, which are often vague or have been foisted upon them at the time of turnover by the departing agency, before they can address short-term management and maintenance issues. However, to assist the process of review, farmers need to understand desired levels of maintenance, what needs to be done and why, how often, the consequences of neglect, manpower requirements, skills, materials, sources and costs. Decisions about priority tasks, who is responsible for them and who contributes to their cost, can then be addressed. Unfortunately, most retiring agencies don't have this information to offer to those taking over.Until recently, there has been little incentive for the private sector to provide irrigation services for smallholders, or to retail equipment needed for service and repair of infrastructure. Thus, when responsibilities are devolved, a gap is revealed between the farmers' need for maintenance skills and materials, and the reality of obtaining them from the private sector. Although non-government schemes tend to use lower-tech methods, they too find it difficult to get access to reliable, affordable services. Establishing commercial markets in which smallholder irrigators can buy appropriate services and materials is a key priority. In Africa, the total amount of smallholder irrigation is relatively small. In Southern and Eastern Africa the percentage of agricultural land under irrigation varies from as little as 3 percent to as high as 30 percent in Swaziland (Osoro 1996), although much of the Swazi total is irrigated, estate-grown, sugarcane. Thus the pull of the smallholder irrigation sector for private service providers is weak. Countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, and Ghana, in which there are large numbers of individual irrigators, outside irrigation schemes, may present better opportunities for expansion of the private sector.The dramatic rise in the number of women de facto farm managers and the number of womenheaded households in sub-Saharan Africa has an impact. The percentage of women in rural areas managing alone is said to be over 31 percent. These changes in intra-household arrangements have had a profound impact on the role of women in African agriculture (FAO 1998). This trend also has impacts on the demand for irrigation equipment. Women are now often the buyers of equipment, but they remain disadvantaged in relation to access to land and productive resources, especiallyPrivate Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa cash, and training and advice. Women, therefore, generate a very limited demand for private sector services. Their increasing numbers mean that weak demand will persist and will potentially limit private sector involvement and expansion, and constrain women's ability to increase productive resources and establish a role in future irrigation. However, there is much that can be done to alter such predictions, particularly if account is taken of women as skilled managers and people who have great capacity to raise funds and establish commerce locally (Spring 2000).Several factors contribute to the difficulties men and women have in establishing service links:Land tenure;The dispersed and remote nature of small-holder irrigation;The relative poverty of rural areas and of small-holder irrigators, particularly women;Mismatches between technologies in use and users' needs;Poor organisation within schemes for routine operation and care of equipment and infrastructure.In the following sections, constraining factors will be discussed from a gender perspective. Strategies that potentially serve the farmers are considered alongside gender aspects of farmer-managed schemes. Strategies that mobilise women's contribution in a beneficial way, and strengthen women's participation and rights in smallholder irrigation, are of special interest.Land tenure is often cited, as limiting women's access to resources, and it is true that, in the majority of government smallholder schemes, land ownership is vested in male household heads. Nonetheless women secure user rights to use irrigated land and are major users of irrigation, often relying on it exclusively to feed themselves and their families.Two major issues illustrate the disparity between men and women in relation to land:User rights for women are less secure, depending largely on the relationship of women with husbands and male relatives. This limits women's motivation to maintain and invest in their land.Production is limited by resources and social norms and determines the value of land as a livelihood asset.These differences must be considered when developing strategies for irrigation turnover.However, the situation is constantly changing. Women are increasingly allocated land, and entire schemes are dedicated to women for food production. NGO developments often favour women, and private donors respond to women's requests. In Eritrea, women have influenced local land allocation by proving themselves capable in both O&M and commercial activity. In some places, working as groups, they have been granted rights to cultivate that are better than those currently available to local men (EU 1998).However, the scale of women's schemes tends to be small, as are the plots allocated to women and women's groups within larger schemes. In relatively secure tenure conditions, women show themselves competent to produce high yields on small plots. They often form savings groups to finance inputs because their lack of land ownership makes it difficult to obtain loans. Similarly, they organise and fund O&M effectively on small schemes, despite difficulties in accessing services and spares. There is also change in women's domestic situation with increasing numbers of women taking responsibility for whole families. For these women, subsistence irrigation no longer meets their need for cash income to fund the upbringing and education of their children. As women increasingly find themselves the major breadwinners, there is growing demand for stronger rights to land to enable them to obtain loans, invest, and grow on a commercial basis.Generally, distance to the nearest town is the determining factor of remoteness and influences farmers' ability to access both inputs and markets. However, other factors, such as the availability of transport and infrastructure, influence remoteness. Schemes near main roads generally have sufficient access to transport and passing customers to overcome these difficulties.Transport affects men and women differently. Women often find it harder than men to leave family obligations for long periods, despite strong support networks, or they may have less cash to pay fares and buy their share of privately offered lifts and hires. As a result of infrequent visits to local trade centres and low spending power, rural women have fewer urban and commercial links than rural men do. Thus the remoteness of schemes is not only a matter of distance but depends on infrastructure, the gender composition and wealth of the membership and the general economic activity of the area. Remoteness impacts differently on different subgroups.In places like Chikava, CARE (Cooperative for American Relief to Everywhere) draws on international experience and funds to address these issues through \"agency\" programmes with local retailers and with intensive attention to market information and training. In contrast, local irrigator associations, despite detailed local knowledge and close ownership of projects, encounter problems due to lack of experience and information. The widespread scarcity of resources means that schemes rarely can afford to learn from experience. For women, scarcity of resources is generally more acute than for men.Kibirigwi scheme in Kenya straddles a main road about 10 km south of a market town.Farmers have little difficulty to obtain spares or equipment and have good links to suppliers. The area supports a mix of individual and scheme irrigators. Sustainability, however, hinges on marketing and maintenance (Chancellor and Hide 1997b). In contrast, Rufaro scheme in Zimbabwe which is only 15 km from town, in an area of low economic activity, has poor road access, poor transport and lacks links to services. Farmers are unable to maintain the system (Chancellor et al. 1999b).Chikava, a remote CARE-assisted womens scheme in Zimbabwe,Women have little access to transport and must use buses.Local buses are often too full to stop, or refuse to carry produce. Buyers of surplus produce must be within walking distance.Women seldom visit town.Consequently, women have limited access to:Inputs.Equipment. New ideas.Despite diligent attention to maintenance tasks, they have limited capacity to improve production, invest in labour-saving equipment or gain new experience.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaIn contrast, peri-urban irrigation is characterised by individuals or small groups acquiring equipment; the urban location allows wide choice of suppliers. Irrigation costs are often subsidised by other income-earning activities, but surprisingly less through paid employment than expected. The urban growers face more difficulty in acquiring water, and in securing crops and equipment, than in accessing technology and markets. In Nairobi, a survey of peri-urban irrigators, of whom 63 percent were women, found that 38 percent had invested in and were using small pumps (Hide and Kimani 2000).The irrigators were young and relatively inexperienced but entrepreneurial compared to older, experienced farmers in rural Kenya. Most peri-urban irrigators use land illegally, thus advisory services bypass them. But conditions are sufficiently favourable for irrigation to contribute positively to livelihoods, despite limited information, advice, and risk to health from use of poor-quality water.Women are potentially more restricted than men in remote areas by difficulty in accessing services, markets, and profits. Women in women's schemes take on O&M successfully, but modern technology, for which specialist services might be needed, increases women's difficulties disproportionately in remote areas. Lack of knowledge and the personal contacts that people rely on in making arrangements remotely, are the main limiting factors. Improved access to training for women, combined with targeted outreach by private-sector service providers could address these constraints. Difficulties associated with technology and access to services and markets are less acute for peri-urban women irrigators. Women in remote mixed irrigation schemes generally take part in maintenance as part of their labour contribution, but often in an informal way and in unskilled roles such as labouring; they seldom make decisions related to maintenance.Poverty affects irrigators in two ways; firstly, poverty among irrigators reduces the potential for production and, secondly, poverty in the surrounding communities reduces the potential for profit. In addition, structural adjustment has already significantly raised the costs of inputs, affecting women disproportionately because they are among the poorest irrigators, in relation to both cash and resources.On all irrigation schemes there is a range of wealth among the farmers. Women's poverty relative to the whole group of irrigators is generally a result of social norms, particularly those relating to land tenure, education and paid work. Ownership and permits to occupy or use land are often in male hands, and restrict the rights of women to realise cash from crops they have grown. Women's bargaining position within households is weak and the status quo is supported by strong traditional views in the community at large. Married women complain that while a crop is in the ground and needs their care, relations with their husbands are amicable, but when the crop is harvested and ready to sell, attitudes harden against them. Husbands who sell the crop at a distance often return home without a share of the profit for the wife and her children and for next season's planting.Women who farm as household heads exert more control over resources and benefits, but suffer disparity in their ability to access services, water, and advice. Women tend to sell crops locally because of the time, linkages, and resources required for distance selling. They have considerable At Apel irrigation scheme, a remote, private initiative of the Rural Womens Association, in Northern Province, South Africa, irrigation depends on pumps.The women are not trained to maintain, troubleshoot or repair pumps. They are totally reliant on distant private-sector operators.Women contribute regularly for maintenance, fuel and small repairs.The women are innovative in obtaining inputs and serving local markets.Pump breakdown jeopardises the scheme. The women have little experience or appreciation of repair and transport costs and, in arguing the repair price and arrangements, incur delay and water shortage. The losses of revenue and subsistence that result probably outweigh the extra cost of prompt attention. (IWMI 1999) insight into local markets and they often develop successful strategies such as selling in very small quantities, selling at local gathering points and taking produce to the buyer's door.In general, cash-poverty restricts production among women, but innovative marketing on their part makes the best of local markets and helps to ameliorate the effects of limited productive resources and opportunities to travel.Lack of resources among irrigators is particularly acute among de facto women-headed households, and limits the amount of irrigated land that is used. As the amounts of land available to women may be small already, this is very restrictive. Women often lack resources for land preparation and may have to wait to the end of the queue for ploughing services. The late planting that results disrupts watering schedules and leads to lower yields or poorer quality produce. The overall effect is lower revenue.Although poor women are skilled in mobilising local savings, and achieve reliable repayment on group loans, and although credit providers are therefore becoming more willing to extend loans to women's groups, this does not necessarily overcome the social forces that push them to the end of queues.Another aspect of women's poverty is their high workloads due to their triple roles as reproducers, domestic providers, and agricultural workers. Limited access to resources further contributes to women's heavy workload. Women prepare land by hand, or walk long distances to acquire essentials such as drinking water. Irrigation intensifies the drudgery in their daily routine.Where smallholder irrigation is set in poor rural areas, with low levels of economic activity, which is often the case due to earlier policies, irrigators face low levels of local demand, particularly for highvalue products. Peri-urban irrigators are less affected, due to the proximity of a wide range of consumers and the greater opportunity for sales.Contracts between irrigators, usually male plot-owners, and private commercial companies or entrepreneurs are often seen as a solution to distance marketing (SIBU 2001). It is not clear how An example comes from Apel: One of the Rural Womens Association enterprises is poultry. Chickens are reared to be ready for sale when pensions are distributed. People feel well-off that day and the chickens sell easily.Another example from South Africa: A man who has an irrigated orchard fills his small truck with apples and takes them to a particularly poor township. There he swaps the apples individually for empty bottles. He delivers the empties to the depot and collects the refund money. This option is probably not open to women, who could never afford the truck, but the idea is innovative.In Zimbabwe: Women in a remote scheme barter irrigated vegetables for the use of draft animals for land preparation. Although this helps their resource problem, it does not solve their cash problem.Womens labour is disproportionately increased by irrigation because of:the year-round nature of cultivation (men may remain in the seasonal rain-fed sector).the extra weed growth resulting from applying water (traditionally, women weed).the extra burden of land preparation and levelling (now increasingly the responsibility of women). The additional workload does not always bring proportional increases in benefit.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa private-sector entrepreneurs view women producers. While women, given equal access to resources, produce as well as men, it is also realistic to recognise that they are disadvantaged in terms of resource control. Even where the entrepreneur provides packages of seed, fertiliser and spray, women's limited ability to command ploughing services and water supply renders their production more prone to risk. There is potential for improvement in two aspects: firstly, women becoming more active in ensuring reliable water supply and secondly, groups of women acting together to secure contracts.Where poverty is widespread, the level of reliable income needed to plan is elusive, and many scheme committees can only pursue crisis management. This sort of management works against women too by bringing decision-making into informal male domains and by prioritising the needs of those with most to lose (usually men with large landholdings and more resources invested in inputs). The result is very uneven production over the scheme and over time. There is evidence to suggest that good maintenance, good organisation of repair, and trouble-shooting not only improve production by reducing the risk of water shortage, but also reduce workloads, particularly for women.Reliable, affordable and easy water delivery is crucial to irrigation sustainability. The water delivery technology must therefore meet user needs. To match technology to users, the day-to-day users must be identified and their skills and resources taken into account. A survey in a Zimbabwean scheme revealed that men and women perceive and report their work differently, and there is constant change in the allocation of work from season to season and place to place, depending on the outcomes of intra-household bargaining and changing social norms. Irrigators themselves are close to these changes but generally need help to analyse the dynamics and articulate the results when they are required to participate in decisions to match technology and people.Many irrigation management committees would benefit from a method that would assist them to forecast areas of potential conflict, such as the timing of agricultural tasks. Irrigators are not a homogeneous group: social, ethnic, religious, gender, and economic differences influence attitudes and behaviour. Thus farmers and irrigation professionals must take account of sub-groups, gender aspects and power structures in order to make sense of the situation. On-going, inclusive participation is essential (Chancellor et al. 1999a).The fact that land levelling is often a 'woman' task, and increases women's workload in irrigation gives us one example of the sort of complexities that arise. Sprinklers are seen as a solution to land levelling problems, and therefore as a woman-friendly technology. However, women face particular problems in relation to advice on sprinkler-technology use, and in availability and cost of spare parts.Pumps are a significant source of problems and disparity between men and women, either when used in conjunction with sprinklers or to feed gravity distribution systems. Reliability is crucial to smallholder irrigation, yet many pumps perform poorly. The causes of poor performance are generally lack of regular care and inappropriate operation, poor service availability and poor organisation. However, women are seldom included in training for servicing, operating, or managing pumps. They are therefore put into a position of dependency (either upon male relatives or outside help that must At Thabina, in South Africa, a few irrigators grow high-value horticultural crops. The major constraint is marketing. Many factors contribute to high costs, such as land preparation, input costs, transport costs, maintenance, and security for the growing crop. Women find it hard to compete in this market.Local conflict, lack of commercial links and agricultural advice, and lack of demand contribute to low incomes for women irrigators. Emphasis on production of locally popular, low-priced produce, such as maize cobs sold off the field, may prove a viable alternative. High transport costs are avoided, as are lack of demand, lack of commercial links and agricultural advice. Some women grow and sell maize, others sell small quantities of vegetable on-scheme (SIBU 2001).be contracted and paid). Serious interruption to water supply results, reducing yield and, in the worst cases, causing total crop failure.Where pumps are operated and maintained by agencies, organisation is often inappropriate and requires the negotiation of bureaucratic hurdles. Problems become acute if more than one agency is involved. Users may find that in case of breakdown the task of contacting the appropriate agency is insurmountable. The opportunity exists to improve performance by developing communications and streamlining practices. Poor institutional arrangements make it difficult for users to approach responsible departments and request essential repair. Women, who have difficulty travelling to distant towns to tangle with bureaucracy, suffer disproportionately from poor communication (Chancellor et al. 1999b).Social factors strongly influence arrangements for pump operation and management in communities.Although men are keen to own pumps, they are often unavailable to deal with breakdown, leaving poorly equipped women to cope, or to suffer water shortage. Training in mechanical skills to deal with routine maintenance and simple breakdowns seldom has been targeted to women, and as such, slow, expensive, external repairs are the only option. Where women's technical training has been possible, particularly in the Water Supply and Sanitation sector, women prove to be conscientious students and are more likely to remain in and serve their community. In The Gambia, women were selected and supported by communities for training in the use and care of hand tractors for just these reasons.The running costs and maintenance needs of pumps and other modern technologies are often unclear to users, who are unfamiliar with the rationale for timely repair and replacement. Although it is tempting to substitute technology for labour, when rehabilitating or planning schemes, change must be approached with caution, and support strategies adequately prepared if such substitution is to be successful (Berejena et al. 1999).In general, maintaining infrastructure or machinery used on a communal basis is problematic: planning, organising contributions and allocating responsibilities are fraught with difficulty. These problems are exacerbated when the organisation is voluntary, as is often the case in farmer-managed systems.The disparity between men and women in relation to objectives, workloads, resources and access to benefits, leads them to prioritise different tasks and contributes to operation and maintenance problems.It is widely asserted that improved performance results from gender-balanced participation in project design. Research undertaken by the DFID (British Department for International Development) Gendersensitive Design Project supported this view, but highlighted the need for significant improvement in the way participation is planned, carried out and resourced. Gender disparity in participation was identified as a major source of poor design decisions, and gender-blindness in institutions as a major contributing factor to the continued marginalising of women (Chancellor et al. 1999b). The interaction between farmers and designers was also identified as a key process. Not only are farmers presently ill-informed about the requirements and limitations of technology, but also designers are ill-informed about agricultural practices and the impact of their technology on workload. Good communication is another key requirement and the use of lay terms should be encouraged where possible to assist both farmers and planners towards more sustainable irrigation technology choices.It is important to create an enabling environment for participation: relevant information, effective communication, and awareness-raising among all stakeholders were seen as crucial preliminaries to participatory activities, as is inclusion of women in all levels of participation. Bringing irrigation issues At a Zimbabwe irrigation scheme, men wanted to use the tractor for journeys to town (a mix of agricultural and social objectives, say the women), and women wanted the tractor on-site to plough. This conflict resulted in both men and women being reluctant to co-operate to fund maintenance of the tractor.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa into public debate, involving a wide selection of stakeholders and discussion of irrigation issues in a livelihood context encourage effective participation.Detailed participation, if it takes place, is generally between a headman, or a mainly male committee, and male developers. Women and poor people's \"best interests\" are considered, but without their participation. The importance of intra-household decision-making is ignored. Many irrigators are left out, for a variety of reasons, and gain no experience of participation and no confidence in their own ability to participate. Participation is often frustrated by lack of confidence to an extent that drives the community to hand over decisions to agencies or development authorities, saying, \"we will be guided by you.\" This phenomenon is common when people lack information, cannot understand the information they are given, or do not want to take responsibility for technical choices. Unfortunately, dodging the responsibility of choosing often means that farmers are saddled with choices made by someone who knows about technology but not about farming and businesses. Despite the perceived superiority of the person's qualifications, his or her choice may be wrong. Where responsibilities are the issue, there is usually some good, but not necessarily obvious, reason for avoidance.Agencies are not well motivated to enforce good participation practice, despite their nominal commitment to the process. Agency staff often feels participation is not the work they trained for. Participation delays them in achieving set goals (implementing or rehabilitating an irrigation scheme) that have to be reached in a set time. Reticent women present barriers and delays; it is tempting to leave them out. After all, the long-term success of schemes has little bearing on the careers of agency staff. In addition, agencies find it conceptually and financially difficult to take participation to a deep enough level. Participation with subsets of stakeholders and with households is often neglected or cut short before deeper levels are reached, because the process is overtaken by the administrative or budgetary constraints. Conversely, among NGO staff, motivation, funding, and participation skills are generally good but poor technical skills sometimes spoil project results.At scheme level, lack of participation makes it difficult for scheme organisations to be clear about what they are doing. Within the scheme, individual irrigators are clear about objectives, but it is unusual to find similar clarity in irrigation scheme organisations. Most organisations have very laudable mission statements that lack detail (SIBU 2001). These general statements do not provide a tool for the decision-makers against which to measure the impact of decisions. The objective of a scheme cannot simply be a scaling-up of individual objectives, as these all differ. Scheme members face a fundamental difficulty: whilst they must co-operate to maintain the scheme and share water effectively; they must also compete to sell produce. Each scheme must decide what is the appropriate level of co-operation needed for the scheme to be sustainable. For many, more communal activity might be appropriate; for others, less. These decisions are rare because there is seldom an effective mechanism by which they can be reached. informally, adopt targets, or even consider such approaches. Women's participation in the forming of consensus is poor and it is important that irrigators appreciate that the poor performance of smallholder schemes is linked to this. If the aspirations of more than half the people working in irrigation are ignored, poor commitment to decisions is inevitable. And if the committees adopt no targets then noone's needs are served.Consensus about the desirability of reliable, equitable and relatively cheap water is easy. Good operation and maintenance are key requirements for achieving this goal: the difficulties arise on the detail of how good operation and maintenance are to be achieved.In South America, investigation of irrigation in an Andean community highlighted the crucial role of adequate organisation among the irrigators. Organisations must command respect and exert discipline if they are to work. Creating or adapting a system of rights and obligations is crucial to giving people a framework in which they respect and accept discipline. The core idea behind the organisation is that irrigation system maintenance entitles irrigators to maintain their rights. People are obliged to maintain in order to remain members. The whole construct is supported by capacity-building, training, and communication, much of which is specifically designed to meet the needs of the women irrigators and to continue to meet their changing needs on an on-going basis. The project community decided on this emphasis after careful participatory analysis of the earlier system shortcomings. (Boelens and Apollin 1999). Social constructs of this type are suited to small communities where people are aware of each other's activities and know each other well. Women can take advantage of opportunities to contribute to maintenance and sustainability and improve their status and rights through adoption of similar constructs.Outside of smallholder schemes, supporting organisations are needed to provide structures to help irrigation committees and managers to co-ordinate activity, take part in catchment-management decisions, and benefit from the experience of other irrigators. Government departments, WUAs, or Catchment Authorities might take this role. It is important that supporting and co-ordinating bodies are gender-balanced, gender-aware and provide a mechanism by which experiences can be shared. Publicity about women's success in technical fields is a great boost to the confidence of women irrigators and increases innovation.Men and women need training to develop and focus organisational skills, to address long-term needs, and to improve performance and agricultural and mechanical skills. Specific vocational training is needed but must be supported by management and business skills. Sustainability, ostensibly the goal of IMT and private sector involvement, demands that this happen extensively and quickly. Interestingly, in a few South African smallholder schemes, women's gangs carry out maintenance on a paid basis and with on-the-job training. In The Gambia, women were selected to go for specific technical training. The community provided support so that women could leave their homes for residential training in the use and maintenance of hand tractors. In Eritrea, women were supported while they undertook training in hand-pump repair. Subsequently, communities or Water Supply and Sanitation committees pay them for their repair work. This provides a dual benefit for women in terms of income and status and a benefit to the community in reliable service availability.In the Andean projects, the use of scale models was central to training. The models facilitated awareness-raising and discussion, allowing people to illustrate their points easily, particularly with reference to design and technology. The understanding of all the participants was greatly helped by running water through the model. The approach was particularly effective for women, who had limited literacy skills but on whom future irrigation would depend because of the high rate of male out-migration (Boelens and Apollin 1999). The approach was thought-provoking and highly inclusive but relied on heavy investment in staff time provided by the project. It provided an opportunity for men and women to discuss options and ideas together and to benefit from each other's experience. The inclusion of women, particularly in Southern Africa, is complicated not only by men's views but by the attitudes of women themselves, and particularly by the reluctance of older women to embrace new freedoms, torn as they are by ambitions and fears for their daughters.Outsiders are not necessarily the best people to introduce new approaches. Research on information sources in the agricultural sectors in Uganda and Ghana concluded that group membership was an important determinant of confidence among farmers, particularly women. The study highlighted the importance of animators and people who can \"read for the group.\" Among the factors influencing information flows and empowerment were confidence, two-way interaction with trusted people and a sense of common purpose. It was recognised that empowerment followed a gradual slope to the point where a group became an agent of empowerment itself. Extension and local innovators were significant sources of information (Carter 1999).The extent to which government and policy makers should lay down a framework for action, within which women's training and education can be promoted by irrigation agencies or catchment authorities, is not clear. There is evidence to suggest that engendered approaches and women's inclusion are not priority activities in farmer-managed schemes.In the last quarter century, maintenance of small-scale, smallholder irrigation schemes has, for many reasons, been drastically inadequate. Many schemes are rundown and pose huge challenges to their users. Rehabilitation in advance of transfer sets out to reduce the immediate task facing farmers in management turnover. Nonetheless, significant improvement on the standard of O&M recently achieved by government is crucial to the survival of small schemes after turnover. If farmers have to achieve this with little outside assistance, they must mobilise as many stakeholders and skills, as efficiently as possible. In this respect, it is important to look at men's and women's present roles and consider what changes might be appropriate.The distinction between informal and formal inclusion is important. The informality of women's activity in smallholder irrigation allows their contribution to go unrecorded and undervalued and provides no mechanism for them to benefit from the work they have done. This is true at both household and scheme levels. Lack of formality makes it difficult for women to contribute to decision-making. Given the dominant role of women in the day-to-day work of irrigating, their lack of input to decision-making is likely to render those decisions less relevant to sustainable irrigation.The informal and unpaid nature of women's work allows increases in their workload to go relatively unnoticed. It also allows delays, caused by poor O&M and their impact on workloads and productivity, to be largely ignored by men, and little thought to be given to improving these aspects of production. Low gender-awareness, and low capacity to analyse, constrain performance and, ultimately, irrigators' ability to market products successfully. Sustainability is reduced by these impacts.Formalising contributions can be addressed: firstly, by recording people's activities in a simple way, recording who takes part in meetings and O&M; and secondly, by payment for services rendered forResearch in 14 schemes in Zimbabwe and South Africa revealed widespread gender disparity and identified the main issues of concern at each scheme. Arranging schemes according to management type, the data showed that women voiced fewer gender-based concerns in government schemes. There is a danger that this indicates that womens aims are presently better supported by government than by local communities.the common good. The two strategies should benefit both men and women and provide management information. A system of payment requires members to contribute regularly to a central fund, which in turn requires transparent administrative practices and members' confidence in the responsible individuals.Irrigators are likely to give priority to risk reduction, particularly where food security and financial viability are perceived to be important issues. On the other hand, the priority for the retiring managers may be to achieve transfer quickly and to gain as much kudos from the procedure as possible. This can lead to rhetoric on gender equity and women's participation, which may be rejected by the incoming farmer managers because it is perceived as an additional risk in an already frighteningly risky situation.It is important, therefore, that the champions of women's inclusion also take a gender-analytic approach that includes men's issues and demonstrates the impacts of gender considerations on responsibilities as well as rights.Prior to transfer of irrigation schemes, agencies should reconsider their assumptions about goals, objectives, and performance of smallholder irrigation and compare them, in a participatory setting, to the assumptions and goals that will be appropriate in future for the agency and the farmer managers.Old priorities such as good water-use efficiency, and practices to support that objective, might not equally serve for managers whose objective is creating sustainable livelihoods. Where new practices are needed alternative management ideas must be explored. Central issues would include:Identifying necessary changes in participation and responsibility within the scheme (primary stakeholders);Identifying an appropriate level of affirmative action in relation to gender-awareness;Including a wider range of local establishments (secondary stakeholders) such as local government, women's clubs, schools, churches, and private-sector service providers.Support of local organisations is likely to be crucial in the absence of government support. Review can and should contribute significantly to understanding stakeholders' motivation in the wider context and thereby assist in development of more effective participation.Private sector companies and the transferring agency must interact with farmers to improve understanding and communication, and to provide opportunities for new links during the transfer process. Smallholder farmers cannot afford delays. The process has already begun in many countries where the private sector works closely with irrigation departments in pre-turnover rehabilitation.The private sector must invest if irrigation is to continue. Some investors will be private individuals investing in their own production system, in the systems of neighbours they perceive to be successful or in in-field services for which they can predict demand. Some investors may be private companies investing in future customers. It remains to be seen whether private-sector businesses consider the potential returns to be sufficient for this level of investment. It is possible that, initially the state will have to offer some inducements to stimulate private companies' interest, but more information is needed about smallholder prospects and private-sector objectives before predictions on post-transfer developments can be made.The transfer process should provide a forum for exchange of views and information, and encourage dialogue on issues of gender balance and poverty alleviation.In Kenya, indigenous \"jua khali\" industries have sprung up to supply smallholder irrigators' equipment needs, such as sprinkler replacements. The relationship is successful. The \"jua khali\" versions are a commercial response to demand on the part of irrigators. \"Jua Khali\" products cost significantly less than imported hardware and are affordable for both men and women farmers. Locally-based, they provide the multiplier effects so sought after in rural development theory. In Zambia and Malawi, promotion of treadle pumps in remote areas has gone hand-in-hand with distribution of spare parts to private-sector distributors. Parts are relatively cheap and many parts can be manufactured locally.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Thus individuals and small groups of men and women are able to repair them without trouble (Chancellor and O'Neill 1999).In Zimbabwe, CARE promotes agency outlets to overcome the problems of access to inputs for farmers in remote irrigation schemes. Local shopkeepers are given opportunities to increase trade in seed, fertiliser, and small equipment. They are encouraged to stock tools for cultivation and for O&M. The volume of trade, however, will only reach satisfactory levels if farmers are able to market their crops successfully and earn reliable incomes. These examples illustrate that commercial links at individual level are developing. There is a difference between this and \"scheme\" needs for services, in that the customers are individual and decisions intrinsically simpler.Provision of ploughing services in South Africa is rapidly moving from the state to the private sector. The private service is presently more expensive for farmers than previously, but timeliness may improve profitability enough to justify the added cost. Government extension staff are key to making the arrangements between the schemes and the providers. There is little evidence of similar arrangements developing for marketing, where arrangements are made between individuals and external buyers.Breakdown of water delivery systems causes conflict and the link between effective O&M and farmers' ability to produce crops to meet market demand is clear. Not quite so clear is the relationship between physical breakdown and management breakdown. There is low appreciation among smallholders of the risks that go with avoiding maintenance and proceeding with crisis management tactics. To assist farmers in identifying the trade-offs that exist between expenditure and risk, they need training, and they need to be involved in review processes.It is important that the attention of men and women is drawn to management training, including genderawareness, not as a separate optional issue but as an integral part of addressing O&M. However, it is not clear how this is best approached.Firstly, the objectives of the training have to be established and the links to actions to achieve objectives understood. This process should establish the essential features of training content and \"best bet\" target groups from which candidates must be selected.Secondly, consideration should be given to who will provide the training and where training will take place. It is important to remember that women are easily excluded at this stage because of the difficulty they have in leaving their homes and families. Hitherto it has been assumed that training should be delivered by existing irrigation agencies, but it is questionable whether this is an appropriate strategy. Evidence should be sought on quality and delivery before a provider is selected.Gender disaggregated data is still scarce in the irrigation sector. A general lack of performance information was highlighted in the recent debate on irrigation management transfer. Participants predict that high management costs will deter farmer managers from investing in monitoring. Decisions will become less supported by fact, and gender aspects are likely to remain invisible. It will be difficult to achieve equity in these circumstances. Yet equity will be crucial in systems that rely on user payments to fund recurrent cost and investment. Although this may be an overly pessimistic view, governments may initially need to set quotas for women's participation and recommend minimum levels of recording if the role of women is to be realised and formally recognised.There is potential to promote fundamental and widespread change. Potentially, where women are employed in O&M, not only is a job done reliably but also women gain a source of regular income, which they can use productively. The skills they develop serve both them and the community. Women prove to be adept and reliable in maintenance of small pumps in India, in care and operation of hand tractors in the Gambia and of hand pumps in Eritrea. They fix and replace sprinklers in Kenya and Zimbabwe. However, the drive to encourage women to enhance their technical skills mainly comes from projects and largely remains there. Wider publicity about the changing role of women is needed, in a manner that stimulates farmers to take a more innovative approach to gender issues in their own schemes.More information is needed about the perceptions of men and women on maintenance issues, about the performance of men and women in specific maintenance tasks. Evidence is needed about the changes in reliability and adequacy of supply resulting from changed O&M arrangements. Information of this type should be used to inform and encourage the private sector to provide affordable training.It is in their interests to promote sustainability and thus future business.Irrigation cannot be considered as an isolated activity, but should be set in the context of other important areas of stakeholder interest. Employment, farming, forestry, water supply and sanitation, education and other locally important activities must be taken into account. Without the total picture, it is difficult to understand either men's or women's objectives or what motivates them to take part in irrigation. It is also important for communities to decide what level of welfare is acceptable or necessary for them to run the system. Some communities will opt for \"user pays\" systems with high degrees of equity while others might choose systems that allow farmers to operate at different levels, with a degree of subsidy within the scheme that still allows poorer farmers to function. This will be very important in areas with high numbers of women-and child-headed households.In either case, a system that links O&M contributions to rights to participate in making decisions could be valuable. At the individual level, such a system would allow poor people and women to maintain or improve their status within the scheme. It encourages those who do not prioritise O&M to pay others to fulfil their obligations; thereby creating jobs that might benefit women. It helps people to decide if they want to continue to irrigate and might potentially encourage renting of irrigated plots, whilst still maintaining rights. Extra land for rent benefits women, and young people.At the scheme level, such a system might increase participation in O&M, increase the amount of maintenance done in a season, and the area of land cultivated and thereby the maintenance contribution. It coincides with the \"user pays\" concept while being flexible in application.Rhetoric on empowerment of women is often met with strong resistance in the farming community itself. Communities often claim that their culture does not favour changes in the dynamics between men and women. However, careful analysis of who does what, particularly if it is done in a participatory (and humorous) way, often reveals considerable potential for flexibility. However, the existing gender bias (if that is the case) is condoned, if not encouraged, by the attitudes in irrigation departments and agencies. Professionals, while playing lip service to the importance of gender-awareness, recommend that important issues of increased production and rehabilitation must be addressed first. They cite the importance of income and food security to support their approach ignoring the potential for women's inclusion to improve performance in just these aspects. Past reluctance to invest in women's training and participation has had plain results, however, change is perceived to be hard work. Farmers and professionals must be convinced that the hard work will achieve long-term benefits. Women must also be proactive in making their contribution visible and negotiating acceptable terms for continued and increased contributions.Concerted involvement and action by stakeholders are crucial to ensure that turnover to community management and private business involvement is a catalyst for women's greater involvement, rather than a missed opportunity. At present, women's involvement largely comprises effort at field level and fails to give them sufficient voice in determining the future of irrigation as part of their livelihood. Women's lack of voice is a constraint to sustainability as well as a frustration to women. The stakeholders must at least include the presently responsible agency, the men and women of the irrigation scheme and the private sector, but a wider representation should be encouraged.Private sector involvement in smallholder irrigation in Africa provides an opportunity for change. If women are to benefit from the changes and increase their contribution, they must extend their activities from the field level into management, service provision, and communications, internal and external to the scheme. One possible strategy to start the process would be to focus women's attention on O&M. This would give them an opportunity simultaneously to improve the performance of their scheme, develop skills, confidence, and participatory techniques, and change attitudes towards their future participation in decision-making.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa It is not suggested, and is in no way sustainable, to simply increase women's workload further, by adding O&M, without recognition and benefit. Ideally, payment for work should be clearly established and, where this cannot be arranged, an acceptable alternative reward must be agreed. This principle is fundamental and must apply equally to men and women. The concept that farmers, men or women, should run irrigation schemes for the common good by voluntary contribution of their time to either management or maintenance is unlikely to result in a sustainable and effective organisation.Changes in behaviour are needed. Firstly, by the transferring agencies in getting to grips with the changes that must be promoted for schemes to survive in the commercial world. Secondly, among both men and women irrigators, in the way objectives are set, and co-operation and conflict at household, group or scheme level are handled. In order to achieve these changes, people must develop analytic skills, management skills, their own monitoring systems, and confidence in their judgement and ability to deliver results. They will need assistance. The form of assistance and the best providers still need to be identified.Standards for participation need to be raised if a great deal of money is not to be wasted. Participation is all too often carried out in a vacuum, without monitoring of impacts. There is a general failure to clarify the objective of the scheme, as opposed to the objectives of individual members. When the objectives of powerful members become \"scheme objectives\" by default, arrangements will not work in favour of women and the commitment of the majority of the workforce will be weak.Awareness-raising, gender-sensitive approaches and relevant, clear information are essential preconditions for good participation, but they need resources. The quality of participation will not improve without application of skills and resources specifically for that purpose. Where participation has to compete with hardware and operational demands for resources, it will remain under-resourced. Specific participation funds must become routine in budgeting the cost of transfer and should allow for special attention to the dissemination of relevant information, awareness-raising initiatives and purposeful inclusion of women.Management transfer cannot be viewed simply as a transfer from agency to private farmers, nor can irrigation expansion be planned only with irrigators. Other actors are involved and their contributions have impacts on sustainability. It is crucial therefore not to limit the debate to irrigators and would-be irrigators on the one side or to government departments on the other. It is also important to include both formal and informal farmer groups. Among these women's groups deserve special attention if the dialogue is to reflect women's views adequately. Mixed groups and mass meetings cannot be relied upon to reflect the aspirations of sub-groups and are easily hijacked by powerful people and holders of traditional authority. All community members will have useful views. In the case of women agricultural workers, views and reactions are key to the success of the turnover process, because of their direct impact on scheme performance.Private sector corporations, agri-business, consumers, government departments, and local authorities all have roles. Profit motives will be weak as turnover occurs, because of the subsidies that previously existed. Private-sector business will only be motivated to participate if a profit motive is identified. Wide dialogue is difficult to organise but, if handled well, contributes significantly to the success of the change process and can avoid misunderstanding.It may be necessary for the state to protect the welfare interests of vulnerable groups by providing rules and recommendations for the private sector. Quotas are one example of this type of rule. However, education must be the basis of progress and quotas should only be used to support it, and not be a replacement for it. It is therefore necessary to recognise women's specific need for education in technical and managerial aspects of irrigation to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities and claim their rights.Attention must be given to increasing women's uptake of training and addressing social and cultural norms that link men rather than women with technology. Private sector provision of training, if necessary in partnership with national, provincial and local authority, is an opportunity to promote change that should not be overlooked. There is scope to guide provision by research if the private sector is linked to research. Identification of levels of O&M that are consistent with sustainability would improve training. Comparative analysis of successful O&M on the basis of involvement and responsibility of key sub-groups such as women, the elderly and youth groups in O&M should be given priority before widespread policy changes are recommended. Training could potentially be improved in two aspects: firstly, women trained to actively ensure reliable water supply, and secondly, groups trained to secure and fulfil contracts. Inducement to the private sector initially to develop training materials might be required.In parallel, identifying lessons from other sectors where public-private partnerships have been established or where private finance initiatives have replaced government investment programmes is useful. Lessons from other sectors that have positively increased the participation of women in O&M tasks might yield important pointers as to where changes have benefited or been disadvantageous to women. Developments in the Water Supply and Sanitation sector, where women have in some cases established formal roles and in other cases have not, are likely to yield information to help develop effective policies for smallholder irrigators. Dissemination of findings from other sectors, however, should encourage men and women farmers and communities to discuss the issues in a structured and analytic way and to use that analysis to assist in selecting sustainable strategies themselves. Irrigation management reform has a history of more than 50 years. It has gathered momentum during the past two decades. Irrigation management reforms are a key component of government policy in almost all countries with a significant irrigation sector. The overall experience has been mixed in the approach adopted in designing and implementing reforms, the extent of reforms, and their impacts on irrigation system performance as well as on farmers. Since the mid-1980s, the centre-piece of the reforms has been the transfer of management (only rarely ownership) of irrigation systems-wholly or in part-to Water User Associations (WUAs) or other non-governmental agencies, combined with the down-sizing or withdrawal of government's role in operation and maintenance (O&M), fee collection, water management, and conflict-resolution.The driving force behind the reforms is usually the need to reduce the government's recurrent expenditures for irrigation. Irrigation systems in many developing countries were established with substantial financial contribution from international donors. It was assumed that the government and/ or water users would be able to incur the cost of O&M of the systems, made possible by enhanced financial gains from improvements in productivity levels of irrigated agriculture. This assumption has often proven unfounded; public irrigation systems in the developing world have failed to generate returns commensurate with expectations. Moreover, governments have failed to set irrigation charges that cover actual O&M costs and even more so have failed in collecting them.Merrey, Shah, van Koppen, de Lange, Samad: Can management transfer revitalise agriculture? Some of the key stated and unstated assumptions underlying the recent reforms are:(a) Government management is neither a viable nor an ideal and sustainable approach to managing irrigation projects.(b) Most irrigation schemes are, in principle, financially and economically viable or have the potential to be so under reasonable management.(c) Transferring the management of irrigation systems partly or wholly to WUAs would result in better O&M of the systems; improve water management, conflict resolution and fee collection; and enhance productivity and food and livelihood security of the farmers in the schemes.(d) Management transfer takes time and requires capacity-building, and succeeds to the extent the enabling conditions (\"supportive socio-technical context,\" legal framework, water rights, and so on) are in place to ensure their success (Vermillion 1996;Vermillion and Sagardoy 1999;Frederiksen and Vissia 1998).It was initially expected that farmer-management of public irrigation systems would enhance their performance and bring about wide-ranging socio-economic changes that would enable farmers to substantially improve farm incomes. In more recent years, management transfer is considered to be beneficial even if it just \"saves the government money, improves cost-effectiveness of operation and maintenance while improving, or at least not weakening, the productivity of irrigated agriculture\" (Vermillion 1996). The drift of the irrigation management transfer (IMT) discussion, in recent times, has been more towards getting irrigation off the back of the governments than towards improving the lot of the farmers and the poor, the original goal to which much public irrigation investment was directed over the past 50 years. Numerous case studies of the process and impact of management transfer are now available. Asian experiences are reviewed in a separate paper at this seminar (Samad 2001). The global experience with IMT is not uniform, and in many instances has been disappointing.Many overarching patterns that emerge from a reading of the international IMT experience seem relevant to Africa but have not received adequate attention in the literature. IMT has been relatively successful where irrigation is central to a dynamic, high-performing agriculture, where average farm size is large enough for a significant proportion of farmers in the command area to operate like agribusinessmen; where backward linkages with input supply systems and forward linkages with output marketing systems are strong and well-developed; and where the costs of self-managed irrigation are an insignificant part of the gross value of product of farming. These conditions prevail in Mexico, Turkey, USA, and New Zealand where IMT has been a success.In general, then, IMT has worked in situations where individual stakes are high and the irrigation community has been able to take the additional burden of self-management-financial and managerial-in its stride. This ability is strongly linked with the micro-economics of irrigated production, which propel the economy upward by generating powerful incentives for self-management. In sum, international experience with IMT suggests that four conditions must be met before a farming community makes a success of an IMT intervention:(a) It must hold out the promise of a significant net improvement in life-situations for most members.(b)The irrigation system must be central to creating such improvement.The economic and financial cost of sustainable scheme management must be an acceptably small proportion of improved income.The proposed organisation design must have-and be seen to have-low transaction costs.A hard look at most smallholder IMT programme in Africa shows that they rarely satisfy these conditions. This larger perspective needs to inform our assessment of the prospects for successful management transfer of government irrigation schemes to African smallholder communities.In many respects, the African smallholder situation differs from those where IMT has worked and has been sustained. Some of these differences are discussed in the following paragraphs.IMT in Africa has often begun with reforms that entailed the drastic curtailment of the functions of parastatal agencies that were responsible for providing support services and management of irrigation schemes. Examples of such parastatal agencies include the Agriculture and Rural Development Corporation (ARDC) in the Northern Province of the Republic of South Africa, the White Nile Agricultural Services Administration (WNASA) in Sudan (Narayanamurthy, Samad, and Johnson 1997), and the Society for Land Management and Development of the Senegal and Falme River Valley (SAED) in Senegal (Wester et al. 1995). Although these are smallholder irrigation schemes, the parastatal agencies managed them in an \"estate mode\" in which they centralised input supply and output marketing functions to such an extent that farmers were often reduced to being workers on their own land.In South Africa, the ARDC and its predecessors for over three decades managed smallholder irrigation schemes through an elaborate top-down command and support system that has proved to be unsustainable. Under a version of contract farming system, irrigation was fully subsidised. The ARDC organised mechanised cultivation, planting and fertiliser application. All that the plot holders or \"farmers\" did was weed, harvest and move the irrigation pipes around. They did not invest much working capital; nor did they make any decisions about farm management. The parastatal also organised the marketing of pooled produce. It deducted its expenses and the residual sum was given to the farmers. Under this arrangement the plot holders were neither farmers nor wage labourers. They did not take any entrepreneurial or managerial decisions. In reality, they only collected wages for weeding, harvesting and managing field irrigation. However, they shared the risk of crop yield variability, and in that sense, were not pure wage labourers. 1 As Bembridge (1999:11) notes: \"Scheme managers have been attempting to 'manage' farmers rather than encouraging entrepreneurial development.\" The situation is similar in other African countries.The abrupt withdrawal of parastatal agencies from the management of irrigation schemes and the elaborate institutional support systems they provided has had serious impacts on smallholder farmers in many African countries. In the Arabie-Olifants scheme in the Northern Province of South Africa, the gross cropped area declined to 30 percent of the total arable land, a year after the withdrawal of ARDC, as plot holders were unable to mobilise working capital to pay for inputs and services (Shah and van Koppen 1999). Attempts were made to obtain crop loans from the Land Bank. Although the Bank had agreed in principle, no credit has been provided because farmers do not have titles to their land; and the Bank has been unwilling to accept other forms of loan guarantees.In many African countries the management of smallholder irrigation schemes by parastatal agencies has left behind a legacy of a dependent and an impoverished group of farmers. 2 Often, such management has degenerated into oppressive 'spoils systems' that destroyed all pre-existing informal institutions. Nowhere, is this more vivid than in the descriptions of the Mwea irrigation and settlement scheme in Kenya (Kabutha and Mutero 2001).Under parastatal management smallholder irrigated farming in Africa emerged as a highly mechanised and capital-intensive activity. The ARDC in South Africa used heavy equipment for ploughing, spraying and harvesting. With the withdrawal of parastatal management, hiring farm machinery and equipment at affordable rates has become a major problem. The development of equipment rental markets at local levels has been slow and variable. The rental rates are high. As a result, the rising cost of production has not only eroded the margin from irrigated farming but has also increased working capital requirements. Most importantly, the high fixed costs have made smallholder farming extremely risky, with net gains plummeting far more rapidly than yields in a bad year.In the Arabie-Olifants scheme in South Africa net incomes (excluding electricity) for wheat, computed from ARDC records, tended to be 20-25 percent of the cash costs of farming, which is less than the interest charged by private money lenders for short term loans to farmers. In the same scheme, farm budgets computed by Tren and Schurr (2000) showed that gross margins per hectare of wheat and maize were a mere US$2 (R 14) and US$289 (R 2,021) respectively. Further, these small farms face much higher \"operating leverage\" 3 compared to Asian smallholders because the latter incur much lower cash costs. As a result, net income per hectare shows extremely high variability with respect to changes in yields: according to a document from South Africa's Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF 1995: table 5), for example, gross margins in maize, onions and potatoes are R 408, 1,487 and 5,739 per ha, respectively, at normal yields. But they reduce to R 0 at 50 percent yields; and for tomatoes, the gross margin falls from R 13,227/ha to a mere R 765/ha with the halving of the yield!Most smallholder schemes in South Africa are located in former homelands in remote areas away from towns and cities with which they often have poor linkages. With the rise of the \"estate mode\" of farming under parastatals, such markets as existed previously gradually disappeared; and now that the parastatals have withdrawn, there is a huge institutional vacuum. Based on a field assessment of the prospects of IMT in Dingleydale and New Forest, two of the better schemes in the Northern Province of South Africa, Merle and Oudot (2000) wrote: \"Access to inputs is difficult. A lot of farmers fetch them from Hoedspruit or Hazyview with important transportation costs. Hiring a bakkie (small pickup truck) for 20 bags of fertiliser costs between R 100 and 150 ($14-$21).\" Moreover, \"Traditional markets that were available seem to have disappeared. The farmers are nowadays in direst need of markets especially for the winter crops. A lot of vegetables get rotten in the fields due to lack of buyers. The potential of the area for sub-tropical fruit trees must be accompanied by corresponding markets.\" This story-absence of markets-is repeated in other parts of Africa.One conclusion of international IMT research suggests that for farmer management to work, it is important to assign clear water rights. In the African smallholder context, land rights pose an additional intricate challenge (Lahiff 1999). Insecure tenure limits farmers' incentives to make long-term development investments on their land. Moreover, the present arrangement does not provide much room and incentive for uninterested farmers to sell out and for interested and capable ones to expand their holdings (Bembridge 1999). Nor does it lead to the emergence of flexible rental markets in irrigated land, thus keeping it from achieving its full productive potential. 4 As already mentioned inability to offer land as collateral for obtaining credit works as another disadvantage. Often, the lack of clarity amongst the plot-holders about what their rights precisely are with respect to their plots seems more problematic than the absence of ownership. In Dingleydale and New-Forest Schemes in the Northern Province of South Africa, Merle and Oudot (2000) noted that \"some farmers do not know if they are allowed to rent their land, and are unwilling to discuss the matter in any detail. Some people are very reluctant to let someone crop on their field because they are afraid they won't be able to get it back. The land is lent to trustworthy persons, such as influential persons, friends or relatives.\" Abernethy et al. (2000:8) and Manzungu et al. (1999:6) report similar problems in Niger and Zimbabwe, respectively.Literature documenting international IMT experience suggests that most farmers in successful IMT cases are full-time farmers deriving a substantial proportion of their livelihoods from irrigated farming. This builds their stake in self-management and committing time and resources to it. In the African smallholder context, farmers who work tiny plots are forced to pursue what Chambers (1983) calls a \"hedgehog strategy\" of depending on a variety of sources to earn a livelihood. In Senegal's Village Irrigation Schemes (Périmètres Irrigués Villageois), the plot size varies from 0.1 -0.4 ha (Wester et al. 1995:3). In a sample of smallholder schemes studied in the Niger valley, the plot size was 0.25 ha or less (Abernethy and Sally 1999). In the Nyanyadzi scheme in Zimbabwe, it ranges from 0.76 to1.1 ha (Manzungu et al. 1999). In the five schemes proposed for rehabilitation in the Northern Province of South Africa, the plot size is about 1 ha (NPDALE 1999).Inability to depend upon irrigated farming for a substantial proportion of their livelihood modifies the incentives and behaviour of smallholders. It is common for men to seek urban jobs while the women cultivate the plots. The smaller the plot, the stronger is this tendency (Mpahlele et al. 1999;Ngqaleni and Makhura 1996). Similar patterns are reported in Niger (Abernethy and Sally 1999;Abernethy et al. 2000), Zimbabwe (Manzungu et al. 1999) and elsewhere: household members pursue a wide variety of livelihood strategies to reduce risks and enhance their income.This has many implications. Firstly, plot holders are often more interested in keeping their plots as insurance rather than working them to their full productivity potential. According to Charles Crosby, a senior South African observer, \"Their plots are some sort of security although few are interested in active farming… there is danger of losing their holdings if they do not use them\" (Crosby et al. 2000). Secondly, there are stringent limits on the amount of investment of time, effort and resources a typical smallholder irrigator might be willing and able to make on activities associated with the irrigated plot, if it involves sacrificing other livelihood options. Thirdly, the large number of members, even on a small scheme, greatly increases the invisible \"transaction costs\" of collective self-managementsuch as costs of fee collection, responding to complaints, delivering water to each user, extracting consensus on key decisions, etc-all invisible costs that vary directly with the number of irrigators served by the scheme and inversely with the average landholding.African smallholders seem to have received more than their fair share of pump irrigation schemes, which are more costly and difficult to operate and maintain than gravity schemes. As outlined earlier, an aspect of successful IMT experience world-wide is that operation and maintenance costs are an insignificant proportion of total income -typically less than 5 percent of the gross income from farming. In many African pump irrigation schemes, this proportion is far higher. If the Arabie-Olifants scheme were to be turned over to farmers in today's conditions, running it would cost 20-25 percent of the total value of irrigated output the scheme produces (Shah and van Koppen 1999). Similar high costs of pump schemes are reported in Zimbabwe (Manzungu et al. 1999), Senegal (Wester et al. 1995), Nigeria (Ogunwale et al. 1994), and Burkina Faso and Niger (Abernethy and Sally 1999). Even after paying extremely high fees, Abernethy and Sally (1999:216) concluded \"none of the nine organisations which have been studied in the two countries seem to be sustainable in the long run, because none can undertake the necessary major maintenance and renewals of equipment or facilities.\" If net income is 20-25 percent of the gross income and if irrigation fees under self-management are as high as 15-20 percent of gross income, the implications are that most turned-over pump schemes would leave the farmer in the red, unless gross income increased substantially before the transfer.Despite this, pump schemes offer a window of opportunity for farmer management because, if maintained well, they offer better-quality irrigation and also, by their design, they help impose a certain financial discipline. Gravity systems generally cost more to build but less to run than pump schemes. However, many invisible transaction costs involved in farmers' management of gravity systems probably tilt the balance in the other direction. In general, with a favourable economic environment and high land and water productivity, pump schemes, though costlier to run, may well be more amenable to farmer management than gravity schemes, because the transaction costs of the latter are high. The problem in African smallholder pump schemes is that they cannot use the unique managerial advantages offered by pump schemes because of low farm productivity and income and high cash and transaction costs.Crosby et al. (2000:chapter 9), reviewing the prospects of small-holder irrigation in the Northern Province, South Africa, write: \"It is unbelievable that with the exception of sugar projects there are virtually no schemes that have been successful … (and) the pattern of failure is so similar that it is not really necessary to undertake a needs analysis for individual projects.\" This pattern of failure is what we refer to as \"downward ratchets.\" 5 The overall micro-economic dynamic is such that piecemeal interventions with marginal benefits will most likely fail to relaunch the small-holder schemes into a significantly higher trajectory of productivity and farm incomes from where the irrigation community can take the additional costs and effort of self-management in their stride. In the analysis by Crosby et al. (2000:3), the downward ratchets are evident in the \"common aspects (which) are: total dependence\"water supply infrastructure dilapidated\"ineffective water management\"low production levels\"little knowledge of crop production or irrigation\"ineffective extension\"lack of markets and credit\"difficulty in sourcing inputs\"expensive and ineffective mechanisation services\"unrepaired fencing\"damaged soils.\"Other observers have arrived at similar conclusions elsewhere in Africa and found that farmers in small-holder schemes need and want support systems that go far beyond just irrigation if they are to improve their livelihoods significantly (Ogunwale et al. 1994;Maluleke 1999;Narayanamurthy, Samad and Johnson 1997;Shumba and Maposa 1996;Manzungu et al. 1999).Many observers focus on the high productivity of tiny holdings, and this is supported by a good deal of empirical evidence (e.g., de Lange et al. 1999;Mpahale et al. 1999;Rukuni 1997). Nobody can deny this internationally supported negative relationship between farm size and productivity. The point is that small-holder irrigated farming income per household for food plot owners as well as socalled small-scale commercial farmers remains too low for them to meet all their subsistence requirements and generate the surplus needed for development. As a result, food plot farmers who achieve high productivity as well as 2.5 ha plot owners who do not -all \"could be classified as poor or vulnerable to poverty\" (Mpahlele et al. 1999: 23). The issue in making a success of IMT in African small-holder irrigation thus is not only of getting the \"process right\" nor of getting laws and rights right but in addition, of devising a \"lift strategy\" to replace the downward ratchets by upward ones.In our analysis, then, the only way farmer management of African small-holder irrigation can be sustainable, is for management transfer to be part of a larger \"lift strategy\" that can dramatically enhance economic returns to smallholder farming. Such a lift strategy, however, will have to include much more than just irrigation management transfer. It will need to deal effectively with the whole host of constraints that African smallholder schemes are facing. As Crosby et al. (2000) assert: \"Sustainable irrigation farming is only possible if the production levels attained make it affordable. This implies favourable natural resources, knowledge, motivation, management and the essential independent support services.\"Institutional support systems for sustainable farmer-managed irrigation 101 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaThe most important distinguishing factor is the stakes of farmers in their farming and in the irrigation system. Farmers in the Irrigation Boards have reasonably large farms, access to capital to invest in commercial crops, and average farm incomes in the range of R1-2.5 million (1 USD = R7). Farming is the only or the primary source of livelihood and income for these farmers; and in their case, the double-coincidence of need and capacity is well established. A well-functioning irrigation system is central to their livelihood (need). They have the resources, significant interests as well as the management skills (capacity) for trouble-free and sustainable management of large systems. Smallholder groups have neither: their tiny farms give them little or no net income. And they do not have the resources and management capacity to operate their schemes viably. A Policy Proposal prepared by a group of South Africa's most experienced scholars appropriately asserts that: \"Irrigation farming can be very remunerative provided the following are present: high quality management, markets and infrastructure, and sufficient equity capital\" (Backeberg et al. 1996: vii). Africa's smallholder irrigation farmers have none of these; and without these, IMT can easily become a \"millstone around the neck.\"Farmer management of small-holder irrigation schemes can become viable and sustainable but only as an element in a broader \"lift\" strategy that attacks at once an entire complex of constraints (including capital scarcity, low enterprise and risk-taking capacity, shortage of machines, poor market-linkages). Such little African evidence as is available suggests that smallholder schemes can survive when farmer organisations are designed to work on this broad array of constraints rather than just manage the irrigation system. Saga, a pump scheme in Niger studied by Abernethy et al. (2000), is such an example: despite extremely high irrigation fees, the effective marketing and support system enables farmers to earn good profits from irrigated agriculture. We have found successful cases in South African sugar projects, where smallholders have access to broad-based credit, input supply and market access (e.g., Pike, cited in Makhura and Mamabolo 2000).In sum, then, plain IMT-with all the accent on \"process,\" capacity-building, getting the right sociotechnical conditions in place, and so on-is by itself unlikely to work in the context of African smallholder schemes. Successful IMT will have to be accompanied by a quantum jump in smallholder productivity and incomes; and unless communities feel confident about managing these schemes viably, they will be reluctant to accept IMT. Successful IMT requires much more than smooth transfer of these irrigation schemes to farmers, i.e., it entails removing a host of other constraints.Under intense budgetary pressure to curtail expenditures on O&M, many African countries have taken recourse to plain abandonment of smallholder schemes that have gradually collapsed. In South Africa, the latest to initiate state withdrawal, this implies virtually writing off, as sunk costs, over R 2 billion of past investments of public funds in the small-holder irrigation sector. Instead of abandonment, however, South Africa has chosen a more positive and proactive stance towards the management of state withdrawal from smallholder irrigation schemes. The National Department of Agriculture has led a process of study and consultation aimed at developing a viable national policy.Besides getting the process right, South Africa-and the rest of Africa-must focus on evolving an IMT strategy that addresses the entire complex of constraints that small-holder irrigation schemes are facing, replacing the so-called downward ratchets by strong upward ones. The tenor of discourse in the African smallholder irrigation context needs to shift from institutional reform of smallholder irrigation management to institutional interventions designed to significantly enhance smallholder productivity and incomes. Institutions appropriate for this are probably not pure Water User Associations, but either farmer-controlled organisations with a much bigger mandate and capacity or strong institutional linkages with agri-businesses to play a central role in executing a lift strategy.Regrettably, there are not many examples of such broad-based smallholder support systems that have succeeded and proven sustainable, especially in Africa. But what we can find suggest that central to an effective lift strategy for African small-holder communities is helping them find stable, reliable markets for value-added products; once this is ensured, much else follows. Africa is replete with many examples of contract farming that have failed, but it is not clear if the potential offered by this institutional alternative has been explored fully, especially in the context of small-holder irrigation schemes. Doing this is important because in the African smallholder irrigation context, agri-business companies have operated farmer support systems akin to what the erstwhile parastatals were originally to offer.Coulter et al. (1999) have explored \"contract default,\" both by the company as well as the farmers, as the major impediment to developing the agri-business path to small-holder farming. They have suggested that one reason why farmers as well as companies default on their commitments is that the farmers are not organised. According to them, when companies make input supply, credit and marketing commitments to a self-help group or a co-operative of small farmers, peer-pressure checks individual default. Equally, organised groups of small farmers with their superior bargaining power can extract more favourable terms for contract farming and guard against company defaults. With organised small farmer groups, there is also room to design and introduce self-enforcing incentives and penalties with respect to honouring the contract, thereby drastically reducing the monitoring and contract enforcement costs that scare agri-business companies away from smallholders.In conclusion, our review of global and African experience suggests that straightforward IMT will not work in African smallholder irrigation. Indeed, it would be surprising if IMT, with its stress on \"process\" and capacity-building, will meet even the moderate expectation of IMT success, that it \"saves the government money, improves cost-effectiveness of operation and maintenance while improving, or at least not weakening, the productivity of irrigated agriculture\" (Vermillion 1996:153). This is because of the entire complex of institutional constraints affecting the viability of most smallholder irrigated farming.Institutional alternatives that have the greatest chance to work in this situation are those that help small-holders move to a substantially higher trajectory of productivity and income from where they can take in their stride the additional cost and responsibility of managing their irrigation system. And the best place to start seems to be markets: bring smallholder communities in contact with stable, reliable markets for value-added products. This will help install upward ratchets; and once their irrigated holdings help them make decent livelihoods, African smallholders will be ready and eager for IMT.Ingrid Hermiteau, Audrey Nepveu de Villemarceau and Christophe RigourdTwelve irrigation systems in five West African countries were monitored, in order to identify good practices that appear to be related to better performance. Most of these systems were small, the range being from 20 to 3,295 ha. Most had been externally planned and designed but have since been transferred to farmers' organisations for management of operations and maintenance. Overall, the study identified 26 good practices that seem to contribute to enhanced performance. Six of these practices, concerning organisational processes, are presented here. The success of these practices is dependent on local contexts, and further research will be needed to evaluate the conditions appropriate for replication. From these studies, the authors provide recommendations in four areas: organisational strengthening; integration of irrigation activities with pre-and post-production actions; promoting the emergence of new service-providers; and new support roles of government agencies after management transfer.The period 1960 to 1990 witnessed the development of irrigation in response to drought and famine in the Sahel. Since then, governments in the region and their donors have targeted huge investments at irrigation development, with a priority for rice production. Initially, irrigation development was exogenous, but after three decades of state interventions in irrigation, the 1990s witnessed major and rapid changes: market liberalisation, state withdrawal from irrigated schemes, CFA franc devaluation, and transfer of irrigation management to farmers' associations. Irrigated schemes which were planned initially to satisfy social objectives (food security, and limiting rural migration) now had to prove their competitiveness and financial sustainability. Large irrigation schemes for rice involving pumped irrigation have been much criticised because of poor performance, especially due to the non-competitiveness of rice and poor maintenance of schemes.In a project conducted by IPTRID, 1 12 irrigated schemes in sub-Saharan Africa were compared. This comparison yields a more positive picture that contrasts with the often-pessimistic vision of irrigated agriculture in Sahelian Africa and shows that the identification and dissemination of good practices could improve the performance of irrigated schemes. However, even if technical progress 106 Hermiteau, Nepveu de Villemarceau and Rigourd: Case studies of good practices in West Africa is possible, the real lever is organisational change. Schemes where irrigating farmers adopt more of a professional approach, along with the emergence of new private-service providers, appear to be better organised and more productive.The project \"Identification and dissemination of good practices on irrigated schemes in West Africa\" was financed by the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs and conducted by IPTRID. The project was undertaken in partnership with EIER, PSI-CORAF, AFARtct, AMVS, SPFS and SENAGRHY.Twelve irrigated rice schemes in five West African countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal) were studied during one, two and three cropping seasons. On all the schemes studied, water is pumped and distributed by gravity. The schemes vary in their levels of complexity and in size from 20 to 3,295 ha. They are smallholder collective schemes. Most have been transferred to farmers' associations, but were exogenous (externally planned and designed). This means that farmers' associations (usually co-operatives) are responsible for their operation and maintenance.The project aimed at forming a picture of rice production in the region. The objective was to identify, assess and disseminate efficient practices to improve irrigated production performance. The overall study resulted in 26 case studies of good practices. These good practices are variedsome are at farm and some at scheme level; some are technical and some organisational; and they deal with agronomic, hydraulic and economical themes. We classified them into five main categories (see annex 1).These case studies proved efficient on site, but need further confirmation in time: they are not to be disseminated as such, but can illustrate possible ways to build a local solution.In accordance with the theme of the seminar, we have chosen to focus this paper on case studies of organisational good practices. They illustrate the extension of the private sector in sub-Saharan irrigation, in order to show how irrigation management transfer may be assisted.Table 1 summaries these organisational good practices at scheme level. They all illustrate solutions and strategies developed by farmer groups in order to undertake the new functions transferred to them, namely: management of agricultural production; operation and maintenance of the irrigation scheme; integration of actions upstream and downstream of production; crafting their own institutions.2 To ensure an operational link between farmers and their technical and economic environment.Co-operative involvement in quality seeds production; Locally centralised rice nurseries; Organisational practices for agricultural planning; CalCul : software to elaborate an estimated cropping calendar for irrigated rice.Operation and maintenance of the irrigation scheme 1 To meet irrigation requirement and assure the equity of water supply; 2 To reach a sufficient maintenance and assist a sustainable system; 3 To lower pumping costs and save water.Collective works for maintenance; Quality control of maintenance works. Integration of actions upstream and downstream of production 1 To regain control of the production system and break the vicious circle: selling difficulties ¬ credit problem ¬ delay in input supply ¬ poor agronomic performance; 2 To strengthen post-production activities and sell paddy at a suitable price; 3 To manage short and long term financial aspects of production, with integration of the notion of risk.Reserve funds for special expenses; Creation of working capital; Credit / supply / sale / reserve funds contract;To craft farmers' own institutions and to change from an externallypromoted organisation (cooperatives often are official but useless associations) to sustainable collective dynamics.Water fees : transparency, real cost, clear collection rules; Rules and sanctions clearly defined and actually applied; Support for co-operative self-management; Sharing of responsibility and decentralisation towards grass-roots organisations; Supra-scheme organisation for small schemes.Table 1. Summary of good scheme-level organisational practices.Note: The six practices reviewed in this paper are shown in bold italics.We have selected six examples of these organisational practices at the scheme level (shown in italics in the table above). They illustrate three issues of collective irrigation schemes: planning of production at scheme level, scheme maintenance and processing of production. They all show different ways for co-operatives to acquire new skills and to face challenges from transfer.The summary below follows a standardised format: objectives, description, context, assessment and evaluation. Detailed implementation and complete economic evaluation are not provided here, since they would be too long. 2  108 Hermiteau, Nepveu de Villemarceau and Rigourd: Case studies of good practices in West AfricaGood practices in production planning at the scheme level Practice 1-1: Organisational practice for agricultural planningThis practice was observed on two irrigated schemes very different in size, but tackling the same principle:Nakhlet, a small basic scheme in Mauritania.Boundoum, a large sophisticated scheme in Senegal.The co-operative aims to create favourable production support for the farmers, by: reconciling individual and collective interests;ensuring an operational link between farmers and the technical and economic environment.Before the cropping season, farmers are informed of the advised cropping system (by parastatal agencies like SAED in Senegal). They collectively decide on production planning. The levels at which producers' meetings are held must be such as to allow real commitment by the producers to the decisions reached. For this, meetings should consist of no more than 50 producers. In Nakhlet, PSI-CORAF used the software \"CalCul,\" which gave an approximate cropping calendar for both scheme and farm levels. This facilitates reconciliation among users sharing the same resources (water, labour, agricultural equipment, etc).Before the cropping season, the farmers' association controls the hydraulic system and negotiates a maintenance contract with service providers. In Senegal, SAED helps to write the invitation to tender. For mechanised operations, the co-operative centralises demands for service, negotiates prices, tests the service quality, and organises planning of operations (e.g., soil preparation planning is adapted to irrigation planning). Farmers remain responsible for direct payment to the enterprise. In the same way, the co-operative centralises input demands, negotiates with providers and controls delivery and distribution of inputs. The co-operative helps to find financial resources: it negotiates credits for the grass-roots organisation to create working capital. In Boundoum, the farmers' association owns a milling machine to process the paddy, which in turn improves sale of rice and cash flow.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Credit constraints are more present in Boundoum than in Nakhlet, which finances the cropping season with its working capital.The respect of a cultivation plan allows better yields and farm incomes. In 1999, the PSI-CORAF support and the use of CalCul in Nakhlet gave significant results: better planning and respect for the outcome resulting in increased yields (Table 2).Table 2. Improved performance with cultivation planning, Nakhlet, Mauritania, 1998-99.Toula, a medium-scale transferred scheme in Niger.In Toula, hydraulic functions are externalised and delegated to a private design office. A contract is signed between the co-operative and the private operator. The terms of reference describe the sharing of operations between the various stakeholders. Water supply, maintenance monitoring, hydraulic supervision and financial management of irrigation are delegated to a RGE (Water Manager). The RGE is employed by the design office. He presides over a Water Management Committee and is responsible for irrigation operations.(Note: This delegation takes place within the context of a European project and is still at the test stage. It has been identified as a good practice from the results that already show, but it has not existed long enough to prove sustainable.)To improve maintenance, sustainability, pumping, equity of water supply, respect of irrigation rules and financial management.Medium or large-scale schemes appear more relevant, because a minimal cropping area is required to pay the RGE. In Toula, the scheme has been rehabilitated and the financial situation was reorganised (reimbursement of arrears, etc). It is now self-managed by a co-operative. However, the training level of farmers does not allow a total commitment in their scheme management.Initial observations are that: Table 3. Water consumption at two schemes in Niger, wet season 2000.Today, the costs of delegating water management to an external manager are still difficult to estimate. They certainly exceed 10,000 CFA francs (US$14.30)/ha/season, but the project aims to decrease this sum.The PSI-CORAF approach in Nakhlet and the European Project in Toula follow some common objectives: (i) to organise production at scheme level, (ii) to reconcile individual and collective interests, and (iii) to facilitate sharing of common resources (water, labour, equipment). Nevertheless, they show differences in their implementation: Table 4. Comparison of management practices at Nakhlet, Mauritania, and Toula, Niger.Practice 2-1: Contract for pumping station maintenanceKotaka and Diantakaye, small schemes (< 35 ha) in Mali (Mopti).Two partners sign a maintenance contract for the pumping station:the committee, representing seven small nearby schemes in the Mopti area, the mechanic, trained and recognised by the pump provider.The 5-month contract defines the responsibilities of each partner:The mechanic has to visit each scheme twice a month to assure current maintenance operation. In case of breakdown, he is obliged to move to the scheme the day he is informed.The mechanic advises the co-operative to buy fuel, oil, spare parts and teaches the motor-pump attendant to use the equipment (motor cleaning, control of gauges, etc).Each co-operative pays the mechanic 15,000 CFA francs (US$21.40) per month (without implicating the supra-scheme committee). It supplies spare parts and other consumable goods.To ensure regular and preventive maintenance and rapid intervention in case of breakdown.Externalising water services in Toula -focus on agronomic aspects -advice on an ad hoc basis -association of functions: multidisciplinary approach -use of CalCul more adapted to small and middle-sized schemes -focus on hydraulic aspects -externalisation of the function -separation of functions: hydraulic function separated and delegated -economically viable for big or middle-sized schemesToula Lata Pumped volume (m 3 /ha/season) 13,000 18,000Toula and Lata are two nearby schemes with similar equipment. In the rainy season of year 2000, a clear difference appears in their water consumption.The contract is facilitated by the fact that many nearby and similar small schemes are combined in an association. It could be improved further by the standardisation of pumping equipment.The free training of mechanics by the equipment seller (HATZ in the Mopti area) is a real advantage. On the other hand, the co-operatives have the necessary skills to manage themselves, thanks to NGO support. For example, they command reserve funds for special expenses.The following facts are noted: (a) better maintenance, (b) decrease of breakdown number and (c) reduction of repair costs. The maintenance contract costs about 2,000 CFA francs (US$2.90)/ha, i.e., 2-3 percent of total irrigation charges. For the mechanic, the minimum salary reaches 105,000 CFA francs (US$150)/month, which is relatively attractive. Maintenance works require different operators: specialised mechanics for the pumping station and service providers using special equipment for the main canal (public or private), collective work for the secondary network and individual producers at farm level.Diagnosis, supervision and finished work inspection are often neglected. In Pont Gendarme, a small topographic unit (private operator) ensures these functions.To avoid maintenance deficiency, particularly canal degradation due to inadequate cleaning out by inexperienced farmers, and to maintain the hydraulic specifications of the network.Appropriation by producers: they are ready to pay for the sustainability of their scheme.Presence of private operators for topographic operations.The co-operative adopted this practice because deficient canal cleaning by farmers had led to degradation of the hydraulic network. Over-excavation and counter-slope disturbed the water distribution. The intervention of the topographic unit has permitted restoration of the characteristics of the network and assured equity in water supply.The common objective of the two previous case studies is to reach a sufficient level of maintenance in quantity as well as in quality, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the scheme. The main differences found are presented in Table 5. Practices 2-1 and 2-2. Good practices in production processing Practice 3-1: Integrating post-production through a policy to promote quality ricePont Gendarme, 200 ha, Senegal.The co-operative owns post-harvesting processing machines: mini-rice-mill, screening and bagging machines. It uses a variety that is easy to decorticate and gives its whole attention to the drying and screening conditions. The equipment chain allows the processing of big volumes. Different rice qualities are obtained: 100 percent raw broken, melting or whole rice (without bran, with low broken rate and good polishing). Different packagings exist: 5 or 50 kg sacks.These various products have different target markets. The 100 percent whole rice in 5-kg sacks is directly sold to groceries in Dakar, where it supplies the market demand for quality rice.The co-operative takes on the post-production to gain the processing added value and to derive benefit from milling residues (rice bran).The mini-rice-mill allows good processing yields and low raw broken rate. Operation costs remain similar to those of small milling machines.Thanks to the different rice qualities, the co-operative diversifies its market outlets. It can quickly sell part of the harvest (at least fees in kind) and finance a new cultivation season.Medium to large-scale scheme (> 200 ha) with sufficient production in terms of quantity and quality (homogeneity of variety), and a large part of this production sold; a reliable electric network; spare parts supply and qualified mechanics; equipment credits (in this case, they are not always easy to obtain).Mini-rice-mills allow production of better quality rice than small milling machines;The marketing strategy facilitates product sale and credit reimbursement;The co-operative gains the added value of processing; Quality control of scheme maintenance works Contract for pumping station maintenance focus on scheme infrastructure audit and diagnostic: short-term contracts contract between one team and one scheme -focus on pumping equipment maintenance completely delegated during one season contract between one mechanic and a group of schemes (economic viability)Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaTo recover the initial investment (7,000,000 CFA francs (US$10,000) for the complete installation), the co-operative must mill 1,200 tons of paddy. This is feasible in 5 years if the co-operative processes only the paddy received as fees. In reality, it also provides processing services to farmers, which allow the co-operative to reimburse its credit in less than 3 years.Kotaka and Diantakaye, small schemes (< 35 ha) in Mali (Mopti).In the Mopti area, rice-growing is characterised by small schemes with low input intensity, mechanised or manual cropping and numerous varieties. A cheap paddy, with heterogeneous quality, is produced in low volumes on each scheme.Small milling machines, despite low output, allow cheap processing thanks to low investment and operation costs. Manifold operators (rural associations, women's groups, and private promoters) allow proximity processing in a competitive market, which decrease transport charges. They produce low-quality rice.Production is sold on small nearby rural markets, where cheap low-quality rice is demanded.Compared to industrial rice mills, local post-harvesting processing is characterised by better processing yields (pre-processing treatment allows for 10 percent increase of processed yield) and lower costs. The processing scale is more compatible with the small volumes produced on small collective schemes. The local community assumes responsibility for post-production and gains processing added value. For women, local processing is a remunerative activity, which relieves them from housework. It also improves availability of husked rice on the local market.Deficient industrial post-harvest processing, rice market liberalisation, CFA franc devaluation, and NGOs' support promoted local processing. On the other hand, milling machine owners sometimes meet difficulties in finding spare parts and qualified mechanics. They must obtain supplies in distant towns, which increases maintenance charges.In Mopti, food preference is oriented to low-quality rice (Variety RM40 with 40% raw broken).For processing operators, decorticating local paddy is attractive and profitable.For co-operatives, low processing costs facilitate competition with cheap imported rice, and allow easier sale of paddy. Moreover, these lower processing costs result in a better added value of rice production. Negotiation that is facilitated between farmers and processors, who often belong to the same community, results in more equitable sharing of this added value. Therefore, the paddy price paid to farmers increases.After devaluation of the CFA franc in 1996, the paddy price increased from 71 to 125 CFA francs/kg (10 to 18 US cents/kg). This rise was partly due to the rise of rice price from 129 to 183 CFA francs/kg (18 to 26 US cents/kg), but also to lower processing costs and facilitated negotiations between farmers and downstream stakeholders (Tandia 1999).These last two good practices aim at the following common objectives: (i) to integrate post-production activities, (ii) to lessen processing costs in order to reach a correct selling price, and (iii) to fix locally the added-value of processing. However, they differ in their implementation.Table 6: Comparison of Practices 3-1 and 3-2. The 26 good practices identified by the project should not be considered as recipes to improve scheme performances. A \"good practice\" is strictly linked to a scope of application, where it was designed for the context and showed good results. Even if a good practice is not to be directly disseminated, some lessons, or principles, can be extracted and applied to other schemes, provided they are adapted to these new local conditions. The added value of such good practices is that they illustrate these well-known principles with successful case studies and give further ideas about their implementation and results on the field.The four recommendations presented below illustrate some of the principles that contribute to sustainable management transfer. Defining the role of each stakeholder and their co-ordination is essential in order to improve irrigated schemes' performance. In particular, farmers' associations have to become efficient in their negotiations with private-sector and public institutions, but also have to become active partners in agriculture extension. This requires maturity and skills, which can only be learned with assistance. This introduces the question of transfer without abandonment, and the role remaining with the State.Few schemes, in spite of their different organisational and institutional set up, demonstrate a relative organisational maturity, and manage to reconcile individual and collective interests to ensure the irrigated schemes' sustainability. This requires the following various principles: dialogue and transparency;rules and sanctions actually applied; clear sharing of responsibilities; decentralisation toward financially independent grass-root organisations; different levels of organisations, including supra-scheme organisation.Dialogue is required in current management as well as in extraordinary situations. In Nakhlet, three general assemblies per season are planned to organise cultivation. To reduce organisational constraints, producers can however delegate part of their decision power to the co-operative board, which in turn reports all actions. Transparency is also essential, particularly in financial aspects. Accounts have to be discussed after each season. That implies that producers are educated enough to understand the calculation. For example, in Mali, the VRES project proposes concrete basic training (writing, reading, counting), directly usable by farmers in the management of their scheme.A clear institutional framework is essential and responsibilities must be clearly defined: sharing of decision, execution and control functions between individuals, grass-root organisations, technical Integrating post-production operations through a quality rice policy in Pont-GendarmeLocal post-harvest processing in Mopti -Production and processing strategies oriented towards urban market and demand for high-quality, more expensive rice -Post-production internalised -Co-operative do the processing and sale -Minimal dependence of the co-operative on external downstream stakeholders -Production and processing strategies oriented towards small market and demand for cheap low-quality rice -Post-production externalised -Local communities do the processing -Strong social links between farmers and processing stakeholdersPrivate Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa committees, co-operative boards, and supra-scheme organisations (see Figure 1). The subsidiarity principle consists in delegating tasks to the lowest level of organisation that is technically and financially viable. The co-operative must also decide the tasks to be delegated to external professional services and the ones it should carry out. Among these latter tasks, it has to define which are paid and which are not.The example of Boundoum (Senegal) is particularly relevant (see Table 7). Despite a scheme of 3,100 ha with 2,300 farmers, the co-operative manages to reach a recovery rate of 100 percent for hydraulic fees and a cropping intensity of 150 percent, while the co-operative management costs remain under 6,000 CFA francs (US$8.60) per ha per cropping season. 3 The organisation of the farmers is certainly a major factor explaining these good results. Decentralisation of dialogue, credit access and fee collection toward grass-root organisations is an important point. Farmers gather in small groups (fewer than 30 persons) according to common interests (not necessarily according to hydraulic sectors). These groups constitute the counsel level, which allows a real producer's commitment. They are financially independent: they contract joint credits and are liable for fee collection. Therefore, financial difficulties in one grass-root organisation do not affect the whole co-operative.Irrigating farmers have to craft their own institutions and should not simply copy existing models. This requires a strong commitment of producers, but it is essential for ensuring sustainable transfer of irrigated schemes.3 Co-operative management costs include salaries, telephone, transport, mission stationery etc. On the 12 studied schemes, they vary between 1,000 and 85,000 CFA francs (US$1.4121.4)/ha/cropping season, with an average of 20,000 CFA francs (US$28.6)/ha/season. In West Africa, after the sudden withdrawal of the State from irrigated production, a few farmers' associations have tried to influence the decision-making process at all production levels, regaining control of their production systems and getting actively involved in input supply, financing and marketing networks.In the field, co-operatives experience good organisational and financial practices, which allow decreasing upstream and downstream production constraints. These practices follow different principles:Up-and down-stream (or commodity chain) integration and active involvement of farmers in production. In reality, two strategies were observed:-The co-operative directly ensures new tasks, downstream or upstream of production.Thus, it becomes more independent from external constraints. For example, in Pont-Gendarme, the co-operative processes and markets its paddy by itself.-The farmers' association strengthens its negotiation abilities with its partners, for example, through contracting their dealings. On the small schemes in Mali, negotiations with processing stakeholders are facilitated because they come from the local community. In Toula (Niger), a contract was signed between the different partners of the production system: farmers' group, bank, input providers, and paddy trader.Different organisational levels. When the supra-scheme level is representative of grassroot organisations, it can be a single interlocutor which exerts weight in decisions. In Mopti area (Mali), a supra-scheme organisation deals with inputs supply and pump maintenance. In Senegal, they have lobbying functions and can influence national policies.After State withdrawal from scheme management, farmers' associations have to implement some tasks, but they lack the required competence. The maintenance of the pumps and of the hydraulic network, the planning of cropping calendar at scheme level, financial management and accountancy, and negotiation of contracts are various examples of these new tasks, which are sometimes different from the previous work of a farmer. New capacities are, therefore, needed in the irrigation system. This requires the establishment of external services, which can be provided in two different ways:The necessary tasks requiring skills that farmers lack, can be totally delegated to an external partner. This is the case of the externalisation of hydraulic functions to a private design office, as has been tested in Niger.The external partner can act as an extension worker, providing advice, training, diagnosis or control to assist farmers' associations in acquiring necessary skills. These training and extension services need to be demand-driven and to encompass agronomic, hydraulic, and socio-organisational aspects.Various experiences are being conducted in the sub-region, either in the form of advice on an ad hoc basis or by the externalisation of certain irrigation tasks. They have already led to interesting results, even if it is still too early to draw conclusions. PSI-CORAF (Legoupil et al. 2000) has developed various tools to facilitate decision-making and management as regards agricultural and hydraulic planning at the scheme level (see the example of Nakhlet above). The PGI-FED (Ducret 2001) is currently testing in Niger a new approach to hydraulic management, whereby most hydraulic functions are delegated to a private body (see the example of Toula above). The PCPS (Traore 2001) in Mali has mostly focused its intervention on accounting and juridical back up and the structure in charge is directly under the control of farmers' associations (farmers recruit their agents).Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Most of these experiences have proven their interest either through higher yields, reduced water consumption, higher hydraulic fees recovery rate, higher transparency and mostly farmers' empowerment, since they pay for the service they need. They have also learnt that the emergence of service providers, particularly private ones, is strongly linked with the capacities of farmers. Farmers, whether organised or not, have to learn to drive the demand for advice and to negotiate the services provided by their new partners. The definition of roles and links of these two new partners, farmers' associations and private service-providers, need therefore to be assisted, by NGOs or projects (as in the three previous examples) or, why not, by the State.The State withdrawal from irrigated schemes means a redefinition of the tasks of Government and parastatal agencies in a new institutional framework.The first role of government policy will certainly be to set up a favourable framework for these new actors to emerge. For example, legislation should recognise and establish the existence and rights of farmers' associations. The notion of \"transfer without abandonment\" is also important. Farmers are confronted by new challenges, for which they were not prepared. They lack the required capacities to manage non-agricultural functions. When they deal with external partners, they do not always control negotiations. The State could facilitate the transfer to users in different ways:Education: The VRES project, in Mopti area (Mali) gives a successful example of selfmanagement initiation of farmers. But education also concerns new private actors, who will support farmers in the future.Legislation: Official contract recognition, conflict resolution (between farmers and cooperative, or co-operative and private partners, etc.).Institutional support: to set-up co-operatives, to draft regulations and contracts. For example, in Senegal, the SAED, a parastatal agency for irrigation along the Senegal River, helps to write the invitation to tender.In sub-Saharan countries, the transition from public to private management of irrigation has been very quick, and actually quicker than in many Western countries (France, for instance). Although irrigating farmers are facing many problems, the dynamism characterising some of these schemes must be highlighted, be it either from individual farmers, co-operatives, projects or some parastatal agencies. Breaking with a pessimistic vision of irrigated agriculture in Sahelian Africa, some irrigating farmers demonstrate their ability to fit into a fast-changing institutional and economic environment.Disseminating these success stories will certainly accelerate the development of private irrigation. But the emergence of new actors, able to use this information on the schemes, has not been achieved. Many projects are testing the implementation of service-providers with different approaches: delegation of hydraulic functions, multi-disciplinary support, and accounting audit. It will be interesting to follow these experiences, and to evaluate and disseminate their results during the coming years. 21 Water fees: transparency, real cost, clear collection rules 22 Rules and sanctions clearly defined and actually applied 23 Support to co-operative self-management: functional education 24 Organisation and management principles: sharing of responsibilities, decentralisation toward grass-root organisations 25 Supra-scheme organisation (Federation) of small schemes 26 Physical, organisational, financial rehabilitation of irrigated schemesLe delta du Fleuve Sénégal est dans le département administratif de Dagana au nord-ouest du Sénégal (région traversée par le fleuve Sénégal) et qui couvre une superficie de quelques 6087 km 2 soit 14 pourcent du territoire national.Cette zone apparaît comme la plus dotée en potentiel en terres irriguées (49700 ha en 1997) soit 63 pourcent des superficies totales aménagées dans la vallée du Fleuve Sénégal. Les privés ont réalisé 52 pourcent des aménagements contre 48 pourcent par l'Etat. Avec le transfert de la gestion des grands périmètres aux organisations paysannes c'est 5000 ha qui passent en gestion privée.Ce système qui a pris un essor extraordinaire dans les années 90 connaît à présent de véritables problèmes qui amènent à s'interroger sur sa viabilité et sur les conditions de la durabilité du développement de l'irrigation privée ou de l'irrigation par les privés dans le delta du Fleuve Sénégal. Enfin la réforme la plus décisive a été la décision de l'Etat de transférer la gestion de toutes les terres du domaine national aux conseils ruraux du delta. Les zones dites pionnières sont reversées dans les zones de terroir. 3  123 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Les aménagements ont couvert 22 000 ha pendant cette période soit un rythme d'aménagement de 4000 ha par an, de loin supérieur à celui des aménagements publics. La production du delta qui avoisinait 50 000 tonnes de paddy en 1987/88 a connu une évolution rapide pour atteindre 115 000 tonnes en 1990/91 avec 70 000 tonnes venant des aménagements privés.Caractéristiques du système irrigué privéLa superficie moyenne des périmètres privés est de 30 à 50 ha. Ces aménagements, conçus pour la riziculture, comprennent:un groupe moto pompe (GMP) de moteur diesel bi-cylindre de 15 à 30 CV avec un débit de 350 à 700 m L'investissement se situait en 1993 à environ 100 000 FCFA par ha aménagé, le GMP non compris.Le système de production correspond à un modèle mécanisé avec une faible intensité de main d'oeuvre et un recours important à la sous-traitance. Le système est très dépendant des services mécanisés pour la préparation des sols et la moisson battage. C'est ainsi que plusieurs entreprises de prestation de services vont s'installer dans le Delta pour satisfaire la demande. Parmi ces services, la moissonneuse batteuse est celle qui a joué le rôle le plus important en levant une des principales contraintes que doit confronter le système irrigué privé. Avec des superficies exploitées aussi importante, dans un milieu où la main d'oeuvre n'est pas abondante et pour un produit qu'on doit récolter vite pour réduire les pertes (oiseaux, égrenage etc.) la moisson et le battage deviennent des opérations critiques dans l'itinéraire technique.L'irrigation est conduite de manière approximative en fonction de l'appréciation, de visu, de l'exploitant sur le niveau de l'eau dans les parcelles mais surtout de l'état des canaux car les ruptures de canalisation sont une préoccupation permanente dans la gestion de l'eau dans les périmètres.Compte tenu des contraintes de main d'oeuvre pour un tel système, le semis est fait à la volée avec des semences pré-germées sur un sol pré-irrigué. Avec les problèmes de planage, l'enherbement devient une donnée permanente qui est contrôlée par une utilisation intensive d'herbicides.Le développement rapide de l'irrigation privée dans le Delta a montré que les initiatives privées peuvent contribuer de manière très rapide à suppléer aux insuffisances du secteur public si l'environnement est favorable. En effet l'implication du secteur privé a permis de faire passer les superficies aménagées de 16 900 ha en 1988 à 42 600 ha en 1993. Au même moment les superficies cultivées passaient de 12 900 ha à 24 400 ha. Cette augmentation est due essentiellement aux périmètres privés qui ont fait passer le volume de crédit de 149 millions de FCFA en 1988 à quelques 2500 millions de FCFA en 1993-94. Ce développement a eu un impact significatif dans l'économie locale par le développement d'activités en amont et en aval: fournisseurs d'intrants, unités de prestations mécanisées, unité de transformations etc. Son impact économique a permis d'atténuer très fortement la pauvreté et surtout les risques de basculement d'un nombre important de ménages urbains et ruraux, victimes des politiques d'ajustement, qui ont ainsi pu trouver une alternative pour leur insertion économique.Cette performance est malheureusement très fragile du fait d'une très forte sensibilité aux chocs extérieurs et des limites techniques internes au système.Avec la dévaluation du FCFA intervenu en 1994, on assiste aux premiers signes de vulnérabilité du système d'irrigation privée. En effet avec un système de production très fortement mécanisé et coûteux en consommation intermédiaire, les périmètres irrigués vont être confrontés au renchérissement des coûts de production. C'est ainsi qu'ils devront payer 30 pourcent de plus pour les services mécanisés et 60 à 90 pourcent de plus les intrants et l'eau.Les périmètres réalisés sans étude, sans plan, ni travaux de topographie ne permettent d'obtenir des bons rendements que pendant 2 à 4 ans. Les rendements élevés du début (5 à 7 tonnes de paddy par ha) se répètent rarement deux fois de suite car les insuffisances de l'aménagement ne vont pas tarder à se traduire dans les résultats de production.Les défauts de planage et la mauvaise utilisation des tracteurs entraînent des enherbements de plus en plus difficiles à gérer qui poussent certains à abandonner une partie des parcelles. D'autre part l'absence de drains provoque une accumulation du sel avec ses conséquences que sont les chutes de rendement et quelques fois l'abandon de certaines parcelles. Les parcelles abandonnées continuent de retenir les eaux de pluies qui s'évaporent et renforcent l'acidification. D'autre part l'utilisation incontrôlée et abusive des herbicides pour endiguer l'enherbement constitue un danger pour l'environnement avec les risques de pollution du fleuve, des défluents et des nappes.On assiste ainsi progressivement à une catastrophe écologique avec des centaines d'hectares de terre salés dans le Delta. Une évaluation faite en 1999 sur l'état des périmètres irrigués du Delta montre que seuls 46 pourcent de ces périmètres sont dans les conditions normales pour être mis en valeur.La baisse des rendements conduit les producteurs privés à adopter un mode de mise en valeur de plus en plus extensif. C'est ainsi qu'on constate que malgré la baisse des surfaces cultivées qui passent de 14 000 ha en 1990/91 à 11 500 ha en 1992/1993, et à 6 000 ha en 1999/2000, les aménagements privés ont augmenté de 8 000 ha entre 1990 et 1993 avant de connaître une pause. Cela montre que les gens se déplaçaient sur de nouvelles terres et font, en même temps, du marquage foncier avec toujours le minimum d'investissements d'autant plus que la CNCAS qui commençait à connaître des impayés avait décidé de réduire l'octroi des prêts en attendant d'assainir la situation.Le transfert des aménagements s'est opéré entre 1988 et 1993 sous les injonctions des bailleurs de fonds, en particulier de la Banque Mondiale, dans le cadre du Programme de réhabilitation des périmètres du Delta intitulé «Irrigation IV». Cette décision s'est faite sans préparation des acteurs et sans négociation avec les bénéficiaires.Le préalable de ce transfert a été la mise en place d'Unions paysannes chargées de prendre la relève de la SAED dans la fourniture des services d'irrigation. Elles vont signer un contrat de rétrocession sur la base d'une note d'entretien et de gestion (NEG) rédigée par la SAED dont le contenu n'a pas fait l'objet de négociations.Les paysans ont dû d'abord réformer leurs organisations pour les adapter au nouveau contexte en mettant à leur tête des jeunes dont la plupart avaient un niveau scolaire élevé en remplacement des vieux qui n'avaient pas les mêmes capacités de négociation et de transaction que les jeunes. Ensuite des GIE avec le nom d'Unions hydrauliques ont été créés à la place des Coopératives en tenant compte des relations sociales de pouvoir entre les villages concernés et compte tenu de la taille des périmètres à gérer.Avec la dénomination d'Unions Hydrauliques qu'on leur a donnée, ces organisations avaient une fonction de service de l'eau dont la tâche consistait à gérer une station de pompage électrique neuve (ou réhabilitée) et à récolter les coûts hydrauliques pour payer les charges et constituer un fonds d'amortissement. En général les Unions vont réussir cette fonction, aidées en cela par la CNCAS qui prélève directement sur le crédit accordé aux producteurs le coût hydraulique placé dans le compte dépôt à terme de l'Union. Les Unions ont aussi amélioré la gestion de l'eau avec la systématisation de l'irrigation nocturne, la rationalisation des prélèvements des exploitations privées 125 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa riveraines qui pirataient le réseau pendant la gestion de la SAED etc. Elles vont également prendre des initiatives de diversification, quelques fois malgré l'opposition de l'encadrement et sans crédit.Très vite les Unions se rendent compte qu'elles ne peuvent ignorer les autres fonctions d'organisation de l'exploitation des parcelles notamment l'harmonisation des itinéraires techniques, le calendrier cultural, etc. C'est ainsi que certaines Unions vont intégrer l'achat groupé d'intrants et de semences sélectionnées dans leur programme. Contre l'avis de la SAED certaines Unions vont puiser sur le compte d'amortissement pour financer des producteurs qui avaient des problèmes ou pour pré-financer certaines campagnes quand la CNCAS tardait à accorder le crédit (c'est la cas du périmètre de Pont gendarme.)Les premiers résultats de la réhabilitation des Unions se traduisent par une augmentation de la production. Mais les Unions seront confrontées aux problèmes de commercialisation et aussi aux coûts des intrants et services mécaniques. Elles se rendent compte de leur faible performance externe et engagent des actions de rétention de stock et de boycott des opérations mécanisées. En 1993, elles constatent l'inefficacité de ces stratégies et mettent en place une alliance de toutes les Unions gérant des aménagements transférés avec la création de la FPA (Fédération des périmètres autogérés).Au lendemain de la dévaluation du FCFA, les périmètres autogérés ont connu de véritables problèmes de rentabilité, d'autant plus que le contexte était marqué par une multitude de réformes dont la libéralisation de la commercialisation du riz. Pendant deux ans le riz de la vallée va connaître des problèmes de commercialisation avec une forte concurrence du riz importé. Sans crédit, on note une chute brutale des emblavures.La CNCAS va mettre en place, à partir de 1997, un plan de relance en accordant des moratoires et de nouveaux crédits aux producteurs des périmètres autogérés. Depuis cette date on note une relance avec des superficies cultivées qui passent de 27 300 ha en 1997/98 à 31 200 ha en 1999/ 2000. Les rendements ont aussi augmenté avec une moyenne de 5 tonnes par hectare. La recherche y a fortement contribué avec de nouvelles variétés (ex. variétés Sahel) diffusées par l'Association pour le développement de la riziculture en Afrique de l'Ouest (ADRAO).Aujourd'hui, les Unions se professionnalisent et adoptent des comportements conséquents d'acteurs privés. La principale contrainte demeure la commercialisation du riz, leur principal produit et la spéculation adaptée aux sols (lourds et salés) et pour laquelle ces périmètres ont été conçus. Elles développent diverses stratégies en mettant en place des minirizeries pour transformer sur place leur riz ou en nouant des relations avec des associations de femmes pour créer des réseaux indépendants de distribution qui échappent aux commerçants.Le périmètre de Pont Gendarme parvient à transformer dans sa minirizerie le paddy des producteurs du périmètre et a mis sur le marché des sachets de riz long de qualité parfumée en relation avec les supermarchés de la capitale. Le périmètre compte mettre l'essentiel de sa marge sur ce segment de marché.Parallèlement à ces initiatives, les Unions sont maintenant conscientes qu'il leur faut engager un vaste mouvement de lobbying en relation avec les autres organisations de périmètres privées qui n'avaient pas les mêmes avantages de disposer d'aménagements sur fonds publics. C'est ainsi qu'il a été créé depuis le début de 2001 une Confédération des Organisations Socioprofessionnelles de Dagana (CORDE). Cette organisation envisage de porter les questions stratégiques et de mettre en oeuvre une dynamique de concertation de tous les acteurs.L'analyse des performances de l'irrigation privée et de la gestion des aménagements étatiques transférés en gestion privée communautaire montre que la question de la maîtrise de l'environnement économique et la dynamique sociale sont des facteurs critiques pour développer, de manière durable, l'irrigation privée. Il apparaît que si les forces sociales porteuses des initiatives privées sont responsabilisées et appuyées, et si l'environnement ne présente pas trop d'incertitudes, notamment en matière de commercialisation, l'irrigation privée constitue une alternative viable.Il apparaît aussi nécessaire de veiller à établir des normes techniques et environnementales sans lesquelles le développement est éphémère.Dans le contexte libéral actuel, c'est aux organisations paysannes de faire pression sur les pouvoirs publics pour que des mesures favorables soient prises, aidées en cela par les chercheurs et organismes spécialistes des questions agricoles. La récente décision des pays de l'UEMOA 9 d'établir une taxe unique sur la TVA à 18 pour cent sur les produits utilisés par l'agriculture et sur les produits agricoles est un exemple de mesures qui n'incite pas le développement de l'irrigation privée et de l'agriculture en généal. Nos gouvernements doivent être sensibilisés sur les résultats des politiques sur l'agriculture dans l'espace communautaire.Dans le delta du Fleuve Sénégal, les conditions sont aujourd'hui remplies pour relancer l'irrigation privée sur de nouvelles bases en tirant les leçons des expériences et avec des acteurs devenus plus conscients des enjeux notamment environnementaux. Il s'agit, par un processus participatif, d'amener les acteurs déjà organisés à élaborer des programmes d'appui au développement de l'irrigation dans le Delta.Large-scale rice schemes the world over have had centralised modes of management, characterised by minimal involvement of farmers. This scenario has however greatly changed during the last two decades in response to a global wave of economic and political change that has raised farmers' awareness of their rights and entitlements. The change is reflected in increased demand by farmers for greater involvement in matters related to operations of the schemes. The Mwea rice irrigation scheme in Kenya, operated under this kind of system for over 40 years, is undergoing similar change.This study traces the history of the scheme and management under the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Irrigation Board (NIB) and now the farmer co-operative. The study addresses conflicts between the farmers and the Board and analyses the current management by farmers.The Mwea irrigation scheme, located at the foothills of Mount Kenya, is about 100 km to the northeast of Nairobi. Although only 6,000 hectares is under irrigation, the entire scheme covers 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) and supports a population of over 50,000 people, organised in approximately 3,242 farm families living in 36 villages. It is the largest rice scheme in Kenya. The irrigated area is divided into five sections, namely Tebere, Mwea, Thiba, Wamumu and Karaba, covering 1,330, 1,260, 1,220, 1,165 and 1.070 hectares, respectively. Mwea and Tebere are the oldest and the largest while Karaba, located at the lowest end of the scheme, was the last to be developed in 1973.The scheme gets its water from two rivers, the Nyamindi and Thiba.The scheme was developed using captive Mau Mau labour after the declaration of a state of emergency in Kenya in October 1952 (Njihia, 1984: 4, quoted in Turner et al. 1997). (The Mau Mau were Kenya's freedom fighters through whom the country gained its independence from the British). The scheme was managed by the British colonial government until 1963, when Kenya gained its independence, after which it was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture. After the establishment of the National Irrigation Board (NIB) in 1967, this Board immediately took over its management. In 1998, a farmer co-operative, the Mwea Rice Growers Multi-purpose Co-operative Society (MRGM) took over the scheme's management. The MRGM had been formed in 1993 through a split of the farmers' giant organisation, the Mwea Amalgamated Rice Growers Multi-Purpose Co-operaive Society Limited.During its tenure, NIB's Board membership excluded genuine farmer participation. For example, the membership consisted of Directors of Agriculture, provincial representatives (from the provinces in which the scheme exists) appointed by the Minister of Agriculture but proposed by the Provincial Agricultural Board, the Director of Water Development, Chairman of the Water Resources Authority, Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Finance, Treasury and Economic Planning, and three Ministerial appointees with expertise considered useful to the Board. Although the provincial appointees could in principle be assumed to represent the interests of the farmers, the farmers had no say in their selection.Management of the scheme by the Board was guided by the Irrigation Act of 1967, Chapter 347 of the Laws of Kenya (Government of Kenya 1967) and reinforced by management regulations of 1977 (Government of Kenya 1977). The system that evolved from this legal structure was dictatorial and harsh. Because there was no real farmer representation in the Board, these regulations were implemented almost in full.Mwea farmers responded to this exclusion through establishment of farmer lobby groups such as the Mwea Irrigation Tariff Co-operative Society (1964) which later changed its name to Mwea-Tebere Co-operative Savings and Credit Society Limited. In 1967, a sister society, the Mwea Farmers Co-operative Society was formed. Until 1981, the management and membership of these two associations remained the same. During that year, the two split, with each establishing its own management. In 1983, the two societies joined and formed a banking section under the name Mwea Amalgamated Rice Growers Co-operative Society Limited. In 1993, the giant society split again to form what is currently the Mwea Rice Growers Multi-purpose Co-operative Society Limited (MRGM) and the Mwea Rice Growers SACCO Society Limited. Although the two operate under two different sets of management, they work closely and may soon be amalgamated because they believe that it was the Board that kept them fighting (MRGM; Tsurruchi and Waiyaki 1995). The MRGM is the farmer body that took over the running of the scheme after the farmers took over the management of the scheme.The areas of conflict between the Board and the farmers were myriad but key to these were the low producer prices, high cost of irrigation-related services such as seeds, fertilisers and chemicals, land tenure system that treated farmers as tenants and exclusion of farmers from the scheme management. Finally, the farmers radically and forcefully took over the running of the scheme in 1998. The takeover was marked by confrontation between the farmers and the Board, leaving behind destruction of infrastructure and loss of life. This study traces the historical events fomenting the radical change and analyses the current management system, its challenges and opportunities to forge ahead.The study methodology was both participatory and consultative using diverse information sources. Key stakeholders included rice farmers from three sections, Mwea, Karaba and Thiba, including women, men and young people, the Central Committee of the Mwea Rice Growers Co-operative (MRGM) and the technical staff, the National Irrigation Board (NIB) management and the field managers, rice millers and rice merchants.Criteria for selecting the study areas included age of the section of the scheme and access to irrigation-related services such as water. On the basis of these criteria, Mwea, Thiba and Karaba sections were selected. Both Mwea and Thiba are well watered while Karaba is most disadvantaged Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of access to irrigation water. In terms of age, Mwea scheme was the first to be established (1952), while Karaba is the latest (1973).Within the sections, discussions were held with mixed groups of men, women and young men. This was contrary to the original design that envisaged group discussions with men, women and young people separately. Rice farmers rejected this format on account that all information relating to this change was public information and all individuals, irrespective of age and gender had a voice in this matter. Perhaps not so explicitly stated was the fact that they were suspicious of outsiders and the suggestion of working with different groups was seen as \"divisive.\" To the satisfaction of everybody, the suggested system worked out well.Management of the scheme by the National Irrigation Board (NIB)Consultations were held with the NIB senior management of the scheme and technical officers. The managers acknowledged the undemocratic mode of management, which, although perhaps viewed as necessary at the beginning, had failed to change with the times. A senior manager did however indicate that discussions on possible changes had gone on within the Board for quite some time. For example, the Board had considered, as early as the 1980s, reviewing the Act to increase farmers' participation. As part of this initiative, workshops were held with stakeholders to define the areas of change, but this was never concluded.The National Irrigation Board, established in 1967 through an Act of Parliament, Chapter 347 of laws of Kenya (GOK 1967), managed the Mwea Irrigation Settlement Scheme up to the end of 1998, when the rice farmers took over its management. Through the Act, the Board was supposed to conduct research, co-ordinate and plan settlement on irrigation schemes, and manage the production and marketing of crops produced in the schemes. In addition, the Board was mandated to impose a cess on all or any agricultural produce grown on a national irrigation scheme. According to the Act, the \"cess shall only be levied for the purpose of meeting the cost of services provided in the relevant scheme, and for which services no other direct charges are available or payable.\" However, the cess levied in Mwea was in some cases used to subsidise other national irrigation schemes in the country, mainly Ahero and Perkerra. This transfer of rice profits from Mwea to other schemes was among the main sources of conflict between the Board and the farmers.To support the Board in the implementation of this Act, Parliament developed regulations now contained in a Kenya Legislation of 1977, Legal Notice 68 (Government of Kenya 1977). The regulations were needed to help sustain the Board, which as a parastatal, had to be financially selfsustaining and had to do this through recouping its overhead costs from the farmers.The regulations were harsh. The farmers were expected to comply with all instructions given by the manager on crop husbandry, branding, dipping, inoculating, herding, grazing or watering stock production and use of manure and compost, preservation of fertility of the soil, prevention of soil erosion; to deliver the crop after harvest and to manage the planting, felling, stumping and clearing of trees and vegetation and the production of silage and hay.Farmers did not have permission to use equipment and machinery other than that provided by the Board, were provided with housing and were not allowed to erect own houses.Any farmer who failed to observe these regulations would be \"guilty of an offence and could be liable to have his licence terminated by the minister on the recommendation of the manager (after confirmation by the committee) and the minister's decision will be final.\" The Board specifically was responsible for flooding the paddy fields, rotavation (land preparation) of the fields using MIS tractor, providing seeds, supervision of production of seed by selected farmers, provision of fertilisers and determining the amount and timing of application, direct application of chemicals on the crop, clearing of canals, collection of rice after harvest, milling, and marketing at a price set by the Board.To enforce these rules, the Board put in place necessary structures. For example, it maintained guards at strategic points within the scheme to screen farmers to ensure that no rice was smuggled out of the scheme (farmers were officially allowed 12 bags of 75 kg per year for home consumption). These rules and regulations generated resentment and hostility between the Board and the farmers.The farmers considered the management of the scheme by the Board harsh for a number of reasons. Confiscation of land for what was considered poor management, harassment of farmers for attempting to retain more rice than allowed and highly priced services were some of the areas of concern.The socio-economic situation at MweaThe socio-economic situation of the people of Mwea did not improve during the NIB tenure, as reported by farmers and corroborated by a 1995 NIB/JICA socio-economic survey that indicated that farmers never managed to meet their basic households needs from the rice proceeds. The results of the survey indicated that an average farmer obtained a total yield of 83.5 bags per 4-acre (1.62 ha) plot. Of these, 10.5 bags were consumed by the family and the remaining 73 sold to the Board.From the expected income of KSh 75,150, the farmer finally received KSh 35,229 after deductions of KSh 31,420 (cost of materials) and KSh 8,501 for wages of hired labour 1 (Tsurruchi and Waiyaki 1995).By the time of the survey, activity within NIB had been reduced to the minimum. The rice mill manager referred to the rice mill related activities as \"dead.\" As a result of this inactivity, there were plans to send home on unpaid leave 75 percent of the 120 workers. At its peak, the rice mill had a staff complement of 120 regular staff and a similar number of casual workers.As recorded elsewhere, farmers' dissatisfaction with the centralised mode of management of the scheme is not new. Efforts by farmers to participate effectively in the management of the scheme are reflected in formation of farmer organisations since Kenya's independence in 1963. The relationship between the farmers and NIB was never cordial and the final takeover was radical, confrontational and therefore not legal. The factors and events that fomented the takeover included low prices, land tenure, lack of farmer representation in the management of the scheme, and, as described by farmers, the Board's lack of respect for farmers. Details of some of the farmers' grievances are captured in this paper.The 1990s marked the height of NIB / farmer confrontations. In 1996, for example, there was a major confrontation precipitated by the Government's move to get the farmers sign new tenancy agreements that required them to deliver all rice except 10 bags, much less than in earlier tenancy agreements (12 bags). The 10 bags were supposed to meet the family needs for an entire year. A confrontation, led by 300 women, ensued, leading to police intervention and heightened riots. Young men hurled stones at the police, who moved away from the scene to avoid bloodshed (Nthiga, 15 July 1996, p.2; cited in Turner et al. 1997). This hostility continued, culminating in the 1998 takeover of the scheme.An attempt to understand this confrontation better reveals that, on one hand, the farmers had genuine grievances such as low prices and the high-handedness of the Board, but on the other hand, farmers' actions were facilitated by a more open political environment brought about by the advent of the multi-party politics and liberalisation of many sectors including agriculture. This was a period when dissent was tolerated and Kenyans could speak openly without fear of detention and harassment. This too was a period of free information flow and interaction. For example, through the joint GOK/JICA research project in Mwea, farmers were trained on how to experiment with new crops such as soya beans. Farmers had also acquired skills on pricing and alternative market outlets. Those who produced soya beans and sold the crop directly to buyers (not through NIB) reported making KSh 270 per kilogram against KSh 27 per kilogram when sold through the Board.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa This was the background that led to refusal by farmers to deliver the 1998 crop and destruction of some of the key infrastructure such as the rice collection centres, leading to serious confrontation with the police and resulting in the death of two men. At the forefront of this change were young people, born and bred in Mwea. These young people had lived in poverty and misery and for them, the past was a bad dream and time for change had come. A young man of 23 years from Thiba proudly showed the study team new houses built by young men along the main Nairobi highway. The houses were said to have been constructed using proceeds from the \"jua kali,\" or unauthorised rice plots (building of houses and opening new land for rice were illegal during the tenure of the Board). During the take-over, this young man was said to have mobilised youth groups, personally commandeered a NIB lorry full of paddy and shared it out to Mwea residents. In his words, days of slavery were over. The following issues precipitated this takeover by farmers.Forty years after settlement in Mwea, farmers are still tenants. The farmers contest this status on two grounds. One, they have been in the scheme long enough to graduate from tenants to landowners and two, the farmers claim that this was never Government land. The land is said to belong to the nine clans of the Agikuyu people who live on the foothills of Mt. Kenya and they consider Government's claim on the land illegal. They see this land as rightfully theirs, a demand supported by the Central Province Parliamentarians, who are by and large in the opposition. This situation is further aggravated by Kenya's Succession Act, which does not recognise \"tenancy status\" currently held by Mwea farmers.As a reaction to this discontent and land pressure, farmers have opened up new land bordering the Mwea Scheme for rice production, using the water system servicing the \"official\" scheme. There is genuine land pressure as the 4 acres (1.62 ha) allocated to families long ago in 1953 are no longer adequate for the growing size of families. The unauthorised rice fields are popularly known as \"jua kali,\" which literally means \"hot sun\" and applies to local informal and low-technology industries in which many Kenyans engage.The farmers live in small houses built for them by NIB, some as far back as the early 1960s. Because the scheme regulations do not allow farmers to build their own houses, the current family sizes have overstretched the current space. The regulation states that no farmer is allowed to \"construct buildings or other works of any kind on the holding or elsewhere in the scheme without prior consent in writing.\" Farmers have been unhappy with this set up because the houses are too small, are of poor quality and overpriced. The houses have mud walls and tin roofs. The houses had a cost of KSh 12,972 ($160) and the farmers were expected to make these payments to the Board in instalments of KSh 432.40 per year for a period of 30 years.The scheme regulations restrict irrigation water to rice production, although rice is not a high-valued crop when compared to horticultural crops such as tomatoes. The manager of the scheme had powers to destroy other crops if grown with water from the scheme. The regulation states that \"the manager shall have the power to order the destruction of any crops planted in contravention of his instructions or of the provisions of these regulations. All costs incurred during the destruction would be recovered from the rice delivered by the respective farmer.\" In the latest petition to the Attorney General for repeal of the Act, this issue is underscored. Farmers complain that they \"are chained and tied up to rice farming all their lives as they devote their full personal time and attention in the cultivation of a crop ordered by the Board.\"Issues of transparency in use of water were raised. For example, it was said that horticultural production upstream using irrigation was taking place with full knowledge of the NIB management, and that the management was in fact collecting fees from those farmers who were pumping water from NIB canals. Besides, NIB had on a pilot-trial basis introduced a second crop of soya beans, grown in the off-season and at one point had expanded this program to 500 acres (200 ha).Farmers lack of control over their product, riceAccording to the regulation, families could only retain 12 bags of unprocessed paddy (75 kg each) after harvest. This amount was expected to feed the family for a whole year. To ensure that the regulation was adhered to, the Board engaged guards to screen the farmers as they left the fields. Contravention of this regulation saw many farmers in police cells. One woman from the Mwea section graphically narrated her ordeal in police cells for allegedly \"smuggling\" 4 kg of rice. As an illustration of farmers' desperation, they smuggled rice for home consumption in gum-boots and tea flasks on their way home from the farms. There were however many security checks and it was not easy to escape them.Rearing of livestock in the rice scheme was prohibited. The regulation states that \"a licensee shall not keep on his holding any stock other than those specified in his licence\" otherwise the manager had authority to confiscate and sell such additional stock. This regulation was, however, not very aggressively pursued and herds of cattle and other small stock are a common sight in the area.One of the regulations required that sons over 18 years of age leave the scheme. Although this regulation was never implemented, the farmers are still very incensed by its very presence in the Act. They saw it as a way of undermining the culture and the family unit, which places a high premium on sons who inherit family assets to ensure continuity of the family name.In 1998, the price paid out to farmers for paddy stood at KSh 17.50 per kilogram. In 1998 (at the height of the conflict), the farmers had demanded an increase to KSh 20.00 per kg. Once processed, rice fetches KSh 65-70.00 per kg.The rice mill is jointly owned by NIB (55%) and the Farmer Co-operative (45%). The farmers, however, claim that NIB has been running the mill for many years without dividends to the farmers and in their view, it is time for them to run it for a similar period. However, as the situation stands, the mill is fully in the hands of NIB and it is one of the assets farmers have no access to.The farmer co-operative has been in operation for close to 2 years now, during which period, management changes have been instituted while new challenges have emerged as the analysis below reveals.On taking over, the society moved fast to relax some of the contentious regulations used during the tenure of NIB. Unlike the time of the Board, when farmers could only retain 12 bags of paddy, they now were now free to keep anything in excess of the mandatory 40 bags of paddy that must be taken to the co-operative to meet the cost of services rendered. They can sell the rest directly to the millers for quick cash if they choose. The many barriers and policing of rice movement are things of the past. A few farmers have also experimented with two crops of rice in a year although the results have not been encouraging. A new weed, similar to the water hyacinth, has taken root in some canals within the Mwea section. The technical staff attributes this to double cropping.The management structures are more democratic than during the period of the Board. The top management of the society consists of a Central Committee of nine members democratically elected Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa by the farmers, staff members and unit leaders. The nine members represent the five sections of the scheme i.e., Tebere, Mwea, Thiba, Wamumu and Karaba. In order to maintain an odd number of members for voting purposes, each of the four sections is represented by two members while one section has one representative (the section with one representative will in the next round have two members). A critical concern in this constitution is the high level of gender inequity as this committee has only one female member despite the fact that women are the key rice producers.Reporting to the nine section leaders are 68 unit leaders distributed through the five sections. In terms of numbers, Tebere has 17 unit leaders, Mwea 17, Thiba 12, Wamumu 10 and Karaba 10. Again, out of these 68 unit leaders only 3 are women.The unit leaders are the frontline workers who link farmers with the both the management committee and the technical teams. They monitor views, needs and constraints for onward transmission to the section leader and finally to the society. As a back-up, each section has a technical officer, employed by the society. It is important to note that a few of the technical staff are \"defectors\" from NIB who have had years of experience in operating the canal system.Included in the structure is an Agricultural Sub-Committee which handles technical issues and is co-ordinated by the Scheme Manager. This sub-committee consists of Agricultural Officers and Irrigation Engineers.What the farmers considered as very different from the time of NIB was transparency in the running of the society. For them, this was central to its survival and sustainability. To maintain this transparency, farmers had put in place appropriate mechanisms. One such mechanism was a \"shadow management committee\" in each of the five sections. The committee checks and evaluates the work of the official central committee and has, on the basis of this evaluation, dismissed one committee member for non-performance in the last 2 years.Better incomes and improved welfarePrice for paddy stood at KSh 17.50 per kg in 1998, but at the time of the survey the price had increased to KSh 30 per kg. Other indirect gains included reduced cost of services provided by the co-operative. Farmers and millers in Wang'uru town indicated that the change had brought with it improved incomes not just for the farmers, but also for other actors within the industry. Some of the proxy indicators for this improvement included better dressing, ability to pay school fees, and improved housing. One man from Mwea section showed off a suit he was wearing, a suit he said was his first since settling in Mwea over three decades back. He attributed his ability to buy such a suit to the change of management. Similarly, young men from Wamumu section of the scheme (who had fully participated in the riots) showed off their new houses, which they had never dreamt of owning.For the millers, this new change has transformed their livelihoods. In Wang'uru alone, there are more than small 100 mills operating either independently or leased by the MRGM. The millers charge KSh 1 per kg of paddy milled, and in addition retain the bran from the paddy. This bran is used in the manufacturing of animal feeds and fetches a good price for the millers. The millers admit that life has changed in Mwea and Wang'uru. Farmers interviewed in late 2000 felt that most people were now able to generate some income for themselves, an aspect said to have reduced thuggery and insecurity to a minimum. However, by May 2001, there was less optimism in the new management as some farmers had not been paid for their rice deliveries of two seasons.While certain things have worked well, the society knows that there are daunting technical and financial challenges ahead of them. The human capacity is overstretched, they have limited equipment and machinery and virtually no capital for operations. Banks are also unwilling to advance the MRGM loans in view of uncertainties on the future of the scheme.One of the remaining greatest challenges is effective management of the scheme. The level of financial and technical resources needed to keep water running, canals clean and plots watered to the right levels is prohibitive. Because NIB holds a substantial part of these resources, the hands of the society are somewhat tied up. Some of the specific challenges are discussed below.The Co-operative Society has an extremely small technical workforce, which is way below the threshold for effective maintenance of the scheme. Each irrigation block/section has only one officer and none of them has an office. Certain key functions, such as water management and research, have not been established. The absence of systematic research, which is necessary to ensure regular supply of good seed, threatens the very foundation of the scheme. Plans for water distribution (particularly during periods of shortage) and for maintenance to allow equitable water distribution are necessary and need to be prepared by well-qualified staff.The society is very thin on equipment since NIB took away essential equipment such as tractors and excavators. Research equipment is still at MIAD but out of reach of the society. Some of the commendable efforts by the society in this regard include acquisition of 20 new tractors and subcontracting out some of the essential services to individuals outside the scheme as discussed below.The society was sub-contracting out services to independent contractors to supplement its internal capacity. The society pays for the service but deducts the cost from the farmers' proceeds. In the process of this struggle, the society has learned that it is cheaper and more efficient to contract out this service than to manage it.At the time of this survey (August 2000), the society had no functional rice mill of its own. To mill the rice delivered by farmers, it leased rice mills from independent contractors. At peak time, it leased over 100 rice mills. The Society saw this arrangement as a contingency while awaiting the installation of a 3-ton per hour rice mill it had just acquired. The society also revealed its plans to acquire more mills if the stalemate over the jointly owned rice mill was not quickly resolved. The society confirmed that this was one service it was going to manage in order to maintain high quality of rice. The current quality of rice from the small mills is much lower than what was produced by NIB, a situation that automatically creates a marketing problem, particularly since imported rice of good quality is freely available at competitive prices in the local market.Production of seeds This is a highly specialised area. During the NIB tenure, a number of farmers had been contracted to multiply seed for distribution to the rest of the farmers during planting season. This ensured uninterrupted supply of good quality seed. When the society took over the running of the scheme, they used the same \"seed-bulking\" farmers for the 1999 crop. However, the farmers are no longer producing seed, leading to non-availability of good seed and increased use of lower quality seed.This emerged as one of the weakest areas in the current management. The society fully recognised this fact and was making efforts to address the matter. The acquisition of 20 acres freely made available by farmers for field trials was a demonstration of this commitment.Running the irrigation scheme is an expensive undertaking. The co-operative requires a minimum of KSh 300 million upfront to run the scheme. These funds are needed to meet the cost of fertiliser (70 million), land preparation (30 million), pest control and gunny bags (20 million) and farmers' payments amounting to close to 150 million.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaConsistent efforts by the society to get credit from commercial banks have not been successful. The society attributes this to interference by the Government. In the midst of these financial difficulties, the society has occasionally managed to negotiate some workable options. For example, in 1999, the society identified a rice buyer who paid KSh 200 million when the crop was still in the field, with the promise of further payment when the crop was harvested. By doing this, the buyer was able to counter competition over a high-demand commodity. This agreement helped the society to meet some of its financial obligations.Human healthMalaria and intestinal schistosomiasis (bilharzia) are common diseases in the Mwea irrigation scheme.The NIB used to have a surveillance team to monitor and ensure that the two diseases did not attain epidemic proportions. This was partly achieved through treatment of irrigation canals with molluscicides to kill carrier snails of bilharzia, and the provision of health credit facilities. Currently there is no organised treatment of canals with anti-snail chemicals. Transmission of bilharzia might, therefore, rise again to the high levels common before NIB instituted regular control measures. This has major implications on productivity.A change of management has occurred at the Mwea Irrigation scheme. The National Irrigation Board is currently almost non-functional despite the capacity it commands in terms of technical expertise, facilities and political support. There are however divided assessments on the nature of this change.According to the farmers, this change is final and there is no going back. The use of the term \"divorce\" to illustrate this change is enough to conclude the position of the farmers. The Government, while acknowledging this change, still sees its role in the scheme and considers itself the \"de jure\" manager.The Government continues to control assets that are core to the operations of the scheme, e.g., the rice mill, the research facilities at MIAD and the paddy collection centres, while the Irrigation Act is yet to be repealed. It is, therefore, clear that while the farmers are functionally in charge of the scheme, Government still has a strong hold on the critical elements of the scheme.Despite the challenges faced by MRGM, some substantial positive changes have taken place. The management system is apparently more democratic and sensitive to the plight of farmers, prices paid to farmers have almost doubled, while opportunities for farmers and the people of Mwea have increased (farmers can sell the bulk of their paddy to independent rice millers, thus creating a new category of beneficiaries within the scheme). In addition, farmers have opened up new land for rice on their own initiative. On the whole, the socio-economic status of the entire area is reported to have improved.While performance in certain areas has been commendable, there are major challenges. The society's technical team is inadequate, lacks badly needed operational capital and facilities for research and seed multiplication, has limited milling capacity and lacks critical machinery and equipment such as excavators that are meant to keep the canals free of weed and silt. Innovation and flexibility has however helped the society in the face of these constraints. For example, the society has leased small rice mills from independent contractors and has contracted out services such as rotavation to supplement its 20-tractor capacity.What is clear is that there is unfinished business between the Board and the farmers. The farmers continue to put pressure on the Attorney General to review the Irrigation Act while demanding the handover to them by the Board of the jointly owned rice mill and the idle infrastructure at the scheme (paddy collection centres, the MIAD Research Capacity). These emerge as clear areas of dialogue.1.Both MRGM and the Ministry of Agriculture need to initiate meaningful dialogue to resolve pending issues such as the review of the Irrigation Act. At the functional level, matters relating to joint assets such as the rice mill and the paddy collection centres among others should be resolved.Review and appropriately strengthen the current capacity of the farmer co-operative society. While this should be preceded by a clear analysis of core functions and capacity requirements, visible gaps include equipment and machinery, operational capital and staffing.The society needs to develop a strong operational system to improve the efficiency of the farmer co-operative. The society has embarked on certain aspects of this such as computerisation but more needs to be done.Strengthen the already initiated democratic process to ensure effective farmer representation and equity in terms of gender and other social characteristics.Researchable areasTechnical. A new weed that resembles water hyacinth has taken root in some canals in Thiba. Although not currently a threat, it is important to establish its nature and implications.It is important to empirically establish the nature and scope of socio-economic changes that are said to have occurred since the farmer co-operative took over the running of the scheme.Organisational systems. While the current management system has assisted the society to begin, a more rationalised system in terms of strategic direction and support systems is key to effective management. To be included in this process are the computerisation of the system and management capacities at different levels. During the last two decades, countries with sizeable irrigation sectors have been transferring the management of irrigation systems from government agencies to water user associations or other local non-governmental organisations. The programme is being implemented under a variety of labels: management transfer, turnover, self-management, participatory irrigation management and so on. A common objective of the various programmes is to curtail the role of government agencies in irrigation management and give farmers more control and responsibility for managing irrigation systems. In most instances, governments pursue management transfer programmes to reduce their recurrent expenditures on irrigation, enhance agricultural productivity levels and stabilise deteriorating irrigation systems (Vermillion 1997).A question often asked is whether the irrigation schemes that were transferred to farmer management performing better than under state agency management? Although there is extensive literature on irrigation management transfer, no clear analytical paradigm has yet emerged. The writings are a disparate collection of definitions and methodologies from which it is difficult to deduce general conclusions or policy implications. Many analysts show a bias in favour of transfer programmes, apparently on philosophical grounds. With a few exceptions most reports that attempt to address this question are qualitative and hard to validate. It is important that impacts of management reforms are carefully analysed and understood, not only to set the record straight, but more crucially because of the significance of such analyses for policy decisions pertaining to the irrigation sector. This paper synthesises the most significant evidence about the impacts of management transfer programmes. The analysis is based primarily on the findings of case studies conducted by the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Maharashtra State in India, Mexico and Colombia. The paper also draws on evidence about impacts of management transfer on irrigation performance from other case-studies carried out in the region.The paper begins with an overview of government policy on irrigation management transfer (IMT) in the selected countries. This is followed by an analysis of the impact of the management reforms on the irrigation performance in terms of impact on government's recurrent expenditures for irrigation, the quality of the irrigation service and agricultural productivity levels.In most of Asia management transfer entails only a partial devolution of responsibilities. Governments tend to retain some control over operation and maintenance (O&M) plans and continue to contribute to the financing of O&M. In most cases governments also remain committed for future rehabilitation and modernisation of the transferred schemes. Most transfer units are sub-sections of irrigation systems that are managed by farmer organisations while the main system continues to be managed by a government agency. Typically, post-transfer management organisations tend to be water user associations (WUA). The scope of responsibilities transferred to the WUAs and the institutional elements under which transfers have been launched have varied among countries. In Sri Lanka, Nepal and Indonesia the management of all smaller schemes was transferred to WUAs. 1 Larger schemes are usually under joint management with WUAs in charge of sub-sections of schemes (distributary and field canals) and government agencies continuing to manage headworks and the main canal system. With some exceptions (e.g., tubewells in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and pumps in Laos) turnover does not confer ownership of the irrigation infrastructure and other assets to WUAs.In almost all countries in the region where transfer programmes are underway, neither the posttransfer management entities nor individual farmers have clear water rights (Vermillion 1997).The formation of WUAs is central to IMT programmes throughout the region. In Indonesia, following the transfer three types of WUAs have been developed:• a single organisation whose members and jurisdictions fall entirely within a single village area;• a federated organisation responsible for a scheme with its service areas located in more than one village. The federation is composed of WUAs representing each village in the service area;• WUAs in irrigation schemes which serve multiple villages but have not been federated. Under this arrangement, representatives of WUAs of each village co-ordinate with each other to manage O&M (Frederiksen and Vissia 1998).In most cases WUAs are legal entities and are essentially single-purpose organisations concerned mainly with O&M of the irrigation facilities. They are vested with the authority to formulate O&M plans and budget, and to set water fees, and have the right to contract and raise funds (Vermillion et al 2000). The government retains responsibility for major repairs and emergency maintenance in the transferred scheme. The ownership of the irrigation facilities rests with the government. Water rights are also vested with the government. Legal provision exists for licensing water use but it is not applied to irrigation. Farmers are said to have first rights to water based upon historical use.In Nepal, the government retains ownership of the irrigation facilities, but vests the right to use the facilities to WUAs as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on transfer (Frederiksen and Vissia 1998). The ownership of surface and ground water is also vested with the government. The MOU does not contain statements about water rights. The new Irrigation Policy adopted in 1996 provides detailed guidelines for irrigation services fees and authorises WUAs registered with the government to collect fees to cover the cost of O&M of facilities for which they are responsible. In the jointly managed schemes, the rates are determined jointly by Department of Irrigation (DOI) and the WUA. In these systems the total fees collected are shared by the DOI and WUA in proportion to the facilities for which they are responsible. It is envisaged that in the schemes under the Irrigation Management Transfer Programme (IMTP) the irrigation service fee would cover the full O&M costs. 2   In Sri Lanka, the main function of the WUAs or farmer organisations (FOs) as usually referred to, is to deal with irrigation matters, but statutory provisions permit FOs the right to formulate and implement agricultural programmes for their area, market farm produce and distribute production inputs. When legally registered, FOs have the authority under the Irrigation Ordinance to formulate rules on maintenance, conservation, and management of irrigation infrastructure under their jurisdiction, to devise procedures for distributing water within the area under their command, and to impose and levy fees to recover the O&M costs (IIMI/HKARTI 1997). The ownership of the irrigation facilities remains with the government. However, a policy statement issued by the government in 1988 states that it would enact legislation to transfer the ownership of the irrigation network to FOs when they are found ready to take on that responsibility. To date there has been no such transfer of ownership of irrigation facilities.In Sri Lanka, all water bodies except those which are entirely within the boundaries of private property are considered as public water resources. Legislation exists for issuing permits for water use but it is not strictly enforced. Water use for irrigation is exempted from the permit provisions. In 1984, the government introduced a cost recovery programme for O&M in the larger irrigation schemes through the imposition of irrigation service fees. Even in the initial years only about 50 percent of the targeted amount was recovered. Due to questions about the legality and also political pressure, the cost recovery programme was abandoned 4 years later. Although FOs are expected to incur the full costs of their O&M responsibilities, in many cases, the government continues to subsidise O&M by financing maintenance contracts let to FOs. However, FOs often mobilise additional labour and other resources for maintenance from their membership.In India, irrigation management transfer is being implemented under the broader framework of participatory irrigation management. As irrigation is constitutionally a responsibility of the states, not the central government, there are considerable variations in the institutional framework relating to participatory irrigation management between the various states. These range from cosmetic changes in Haryana where farmer involvement is only below the outlet, to more comprehensive efforts in Maharashtra and Gujarat where WUAs are vested with the responsibility of managing minor canal commands of 500 ha. 3 The most far-reaching irrigation management reform programme is being implemented in Andhra Pradesh where the Andhra Pradesh Farmers Management of Irrigation System Act of 1997 provides for the formation of WUAs in all surface irrigation systems in the state. The WUAs are vested, inter alia, with the responsibility of operation and maintenance of the irrigation system, water distribution, conflict resolution, and collection of water fees. The WUAs are also authorised to mobilise funds through bank loans, levy fees and generate revenue by engaging in commercial activities (Raymond Peter 2000a). The most significant feature of the Act is that officials of the Irrigation Department are made accountable to the WUAs. 4  IMT in Mexico is generally considered as one of the most ambitious and successful reform programmes in the world in terms of the area affected and the speed of its implementation. It was a part of a broader effort at macro-economic adjustments and institutional reforms. The programme was launched in1989. By December 1996, almost 2.92 million hectares had been transferred to 372 WUAs representing 90 percent of the area served by the 80 irrigation districts in the country (Kloezen et al. 1997). The Mexican programme is built around the creation of irrigation modules operated by WUAs. Modules cover a specified service area based on hydraulic, social and economic considerations (Johnson III 1997). The main objective of the programme was to reduce public expenditure on irrigation O&M while promoting greater user participation in the management of irrigation districts. The programme also provided assistance, such as on-farm development initiatives, to enhance farm-level productivity and water conservation. A further objective was to restore economic growth by using a system of pricing water, based on international prices, marginal costs, or scarcity value (Kloezen et al. 1997).The irrigation management transfer programme in Colombia adopted in 1990 involved only a partial devolution of management to water users. The government maintained considerable advisory influence over the districts for several years, exercising some control over O&M plans and budgets, and resisting district attempts to release large numbers of staff. With The Land Development Law adopted in 1993, this control has been relaxed considerably as districts gained almost complete control over management. However, powers devolved do not include a formal water right or ownership of irrigation scheme infrastructure. Also, the government has not made it clear whose responsibility it will be, and under what terms and conditions, to finance possible future costs of rehabilitation (Vermillion and Garcés-Restrpo 1998).This section synthesises available evidence about the performance of irrigation schemes that have benefited from irrigation management transfer. The analysis is based primarily on case studies conducted by IWMI about the impacts of management transfer on performance of irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, India Mexico and Colombia. 5 Performance is measured from several perspectives: the costs to government and to farmers of operating and maintaining irrigation systems, the quality of the irrigation service, and agricultural productivity. The main aim of the analysis is to determine whether there have been noticeable changes in performance of the schemes after management transfer.Financial impacts were assessed in terms of government's recurrent expenditures for irrigation and the cost of irrigation to farmers.One of the main reasons governments promote transfer programmes is to reduce the financial burden of irrigation management (Vermillion 1997). It was expected that, following transfer, the farming community would take on the responsibility to finance fully, or to share, the cost of operating and maintaining irrigation systems. This proposition was tested in all four countries selected for the study.In Sri Lanka government expenditures on O&M were analysed for 50 schemes over a 10-year period -5 years before transfer and 5 years after. A piecewise linear regression model was fitted to analyse trends in government expenditure over two time periods: before IMT (1985-90) and after IMT (1991-95). 6 The aim was to determine whether the O&M expenditures incurred by government showed a particular linear trend from 1985 up to 1990, the year of transfer, but a different trend thereafter.The results indicate that there has been a statistically significant decline in government's recurrent costs for irrigation during the pre-IMT period (1985-90) across all categories of schemes, irrespective of whether IMT programmes were introduced or not. There was no change in the declining trend in the post-IMT period . The results do not fully support the contention that IMT leads to a reduction in government expenditure for O&M.In India, data collected from selected minor canals in two schemes (Mula and Bhima) in Maharashtra showed that there was no reduction in government expenditure on operations and maintenance in the transferred minor canals. In one location (Mula) the average annual amount spent by government during the period 1987/88 to 1995/96 is higher in the transferred minor canal than in the non-transferred canal. This was due to repair costs incurred by government in accordance with the transfer agreement (Brewer et al. 1999b).In Nepal, empirical evidence from West Gandak shows that there was a reduction in the government budget allocation for O&M after transfer. Similar observations were made in the case the Bhairawa Lumbini Groundwater schemes, which were transferred to WUAs (Samad et al. 1999).In Mexico, results of IWMI's field studies in the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District (ARLID) showed that IMT resulted in the increase in financial self-sufficiency from around 50 percent in the years preceding transfer to around 120 percent in the post-transfer years. This is mainly due to the ability of the WUAs to achieve fee collection rates of over 100 percent. Moreover, all modules at ARLID hired highly professional administrative staff and used good computer software to handle daily financial administration. This resulted in improving the financial transparency of the WUAs (Kloezen et al. 1997).In Colombia, research results in two sample districts showed that the government achieved its objectives of significant reduction of government expenditures for irrigation management (Vermillion and Garcés-Restrepo 1998).In Sri Lanka, irrigation water has traditionally been supplied free to farmers. Attempts made by government in the past to levy a fee from farmers were largely unsuccessful. The \"costs\" of irrigation to farmers are primarily the contribution of voluntary labour for canal maintenance, and in some instances payments made in kind to persons (Yaya Palaka) employed by the agency to oversee the distribution of irrigation water. With the introduction of participatory management the government expected farmer organisations to recover the cost of O&M from farmers. In a survey carried out in two schemes (Nachchaduwa and Hakwatuna Oya) farmers were asked to compare irrigation costs after transfer with costs of irrigation before transfer.Three kinds of irrigation costs were assessed: cash payments, payments made in kind, and the number of person days of family labour contributed for canal maintenance. About 90 percent of farmers in both schemes claimed that there was no cash fee on irrigation before transfer. After the transfer of O&M functions to FOs, some organisations charged a modest fee for canal maintenance. The survey results showed that only a minority of farmers paid the maintenance fee. In both schemes, the irrigation cost to farmers is primarily unpaid family labour contributions for canal maintenance, and payments in kind to the person employed by the FO to distribute water. In both locations welldefined procedures for cost recovery have not yet been established. Data from the two schemes do not provide sufficient evidence to suggest an increase in the cost of irrigation to farmers following the introduction of participatory management. 144 Samad: Impact of irrigation management transfer on the performance of irrigation systemsIn the two Maharashtra schemes studied, farmers pay to the government (both before and after transfer) crop-area water rates, which are fixed by the state, and some additional fees. Therefore, these irrigation costs to farmers are not attributed to IMT. Data indicate that the cash cost of irrigation has increased. But, as water fees are collected by WUAs, the indications are that transaction costs associated with the payment of water fees have decreased, and thereby reduced the actual cost of irrigation to farmers (Brewer et al. 1999b). 7 More recent evidence from Andhra Pradesh indicate that with the introduction of irrigation management reforms there has been a three-fold increase in water charges (Raymond Peter 2000a). 8 This was done to augment the financial resources of the WUAs. In addition, farmers are liable to pay fees levied by the WUA (Raymond Peter 2000a). Thus there has been an increase in the cost of irrigation to farmers after IMT. But field studies carried out in the state suggest that there is not much resistance from farmers to paying higher water charges, as long as they have a dependable water supply (Jairath 1999). Moreover, even with the enhanced water rate the cost of irrigation water amounts to only 5 percent of the cost of production.In the small-scale irrigation systems in Indonesia, water charges paid to the village or water users' associations are normally paid in kind (paddy) rather than in cash. Samples of farmers from the selected schemes were interviewed about their perception of changes in the costs related to irrigation before and after turnover. The percentage of farmers reporting no change in the amount of water fees paid in kind varied from 38 percent to 85 percent. In two schemes (Planditan and Cipanumbangan) 35 percent and 60 percent, respectively, reported an increase in the fee after turnover. Generally, farmers did not express concern about the reported increases or decreases being worrisome or too dramatic.In the West Gandak scheme in Nepal, irrigation cash costs to farmers are higher in the transferred minors than that in the non-transferred minor. Unpaid labour contribution in IMT sites, on average, is not different than that in the non-IMT sites. In the groundwater schemes, pumping charges for irrigation in the IMT schemes are higher than those in the non-IMT schemes. Unpaid labour contribution in IMT schemes is lower than that in non-IMT schemes because the data in non-IMT sites include the labour contributed in rehabilitation works.In Mexico, IMT has not resulted in an increase in the cost of water to farmers. Although the cost of irrigation to farmers remains low after transfer, WUAs find it very difficult to convince farmers that irrigation fees should be increased to keep up with inflation. Furthermore, none of the modules created a contingency fund for future emergencies or basic repairs. In Colombia, transfer resulted in variable effects on the cost of irrigation to farmers. In one district, where the total cost of irrigation was relatively high (due to two-stage pumping), at transfer, farmers exerted pressure on their new board to contain costs.A key assumption of irrigation management transfer programmes is that, as farmers have a vested interest in the irrigation service, involving them directly in irrigation management would lead to improvements in the quality of the service. This section examines whether the introduction of participatory irrigation management resulted in an improvement in the quality of irrigation service. Changes in the quality of irrigation service were assessed in terms of farmers' perceptions of adequacy, timeliness and fairness of water distribution, and the incidence of irrigation-related conflicts among farmers before and after transfer.A survey carried out in two schemes in Sri Lanka showed that a majority of farmers in both schemes claimed that water supply in both the wet and dry seasons was adequate before and after transfer. In one scheme (Nachchaduwa) about one-third of the farmers in the head-reach and about 25 percent of those in the middle and tail-end areas reported that water supply had worsened after transfer. Farmers attributed the worsening of water supply to the poor quality of work done during rehabilitation, prior to management transfer. The responses of a majority of farmers in both schemes Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa were similar with regard to the timeliness of water supply, fairness of distribution and the frequency of conflicts over water distribution, namely, that these had not changed significantly after transfer. What was negative or positive before remained so afterwards.In the Mula and Bhima schemes in Maharashtra, IMT has been beneficial for water distribution. Although field data indicated that there was no difference between transferred and non-transferred minor canals, in terms of the amount of water delivered per hectare, farmers in the canals transferred to WUAs clearly believed that water distribution had improved following transfer and that they had better access to water when needed; whereas, a majority of farmers in the non-transferred minors were dissatisfied with the irrigation service (Brewer et al. 1999b). The differences in farmer perceptions between the transferred and non-transferred canals clearly indicate that the adequacy, reliability and fairness of water distribution have improved after transfer.In Nepal, in both the surface irrigation systems and the groundwater schemes, farmers reported that the adequacy and timeliness of irrigation water was better in transferred minors. In both locations a higher proportion of farmers in the transferred minors reported that water distribution is much fairer now than before. Farmers in the transferred minors face less difficulty to get assistance of WUAs.The responses of farmers in the Indonesian study sites gave a mixed picture of the impact of IMT on the quality of irrigation service. In three schemes a majority of farmers interviewed reported no change in water adequacy after turnover, some farmers saying it was adequate both before and after turnover, and others claiming it was inadequate before and afterwards. In one scheme (Kaliduren) the majority of farmers reported an improvement in water adequacy after turnover. Farmer perceptions about the fairness of water distribution were more positive. A majority in all four systems perceived that water distribution was either fair before and after turnover or was unfair before turnover but had become fair afterwards. In all four systems, between 60 percent and 80 percent of farmers interviewed perceived that the frequency of water-related disputes among farmers in the system had decreased after turnover. Only a very small number of farmers in any of the systems reported a worse situation after turnover. Regarding timeliness of water deliveries, the majority of farmers reported no change. In one scheme (Kaliduren) 55 percent of farmers reported an improvement in the timeliness of water delivery after turnover. Another 40 percent reported satisfactory timeliness before and after turnover.The results from the Mexican case studies showed that that there has been very little impact on water management and use as a result of irrigation management transfer in ARLID. This is because the water allocation and irrigation scheduling practices have not changed since the WUAs took over these tasks from the agency (Kloezen et al. 1997). Similarly the results from the Colombian schemes showed that management transfer by itself did not bring about any clear and significant changes in the quality of irrigation operations (Vermillion and Garcés-Restrepo 1998).The outcomes of maintenance investment after transfer were assessed by detailed field inspection of the full length of main canals, a sample of distributary canals in each scheme, and all structures along these canal reaches. Field inspections were carried out in the two schemes in Sri Lanka, in the selected minors in the two Indian schemes, and in the four systems selected for study in Indonesia. In Nepal the impact of IMT on maintenance was assessed in terms of farmer perceptions of the conditions of canals before and after transfer.Field inspections in the two schemes (Nachchaduwa and Hakwatuna Oya) in Sri Lanka where IMT programmes had been implemented showed that only 5 percent of all structures in both locations were dysfunctional. In both schemes more than 60 percent of the dysfunctional structures at the distributary level had been dysfunctional for less than one year. In one scheme 72 percent had been in that state for less than 2 years; in the other location this was 94 percent. There were no indications of significant long-term deferral of maintenance by farmer's organisations in Hakwatuna Oya. However, in Nachchaduwa, 5 of the 18 dysfunctional structures (28%) had been dysfunctional for 3 to 4 years. Farmer perceptions of the quality of maintenance are more negative in Nachchaduwa than in Hakwatuna Oya. In Nachchaduwa nearly 60 percent of all farmers interviewed felt that the functional condition of the canal system was worse after management transfer. This implies extensive farmer dissatisfaction with the rehabilitation, which was done without farmer participation. 9 In Hakwatuna Oya farmers were more evenly split in their views about whether the functional condition of canal infrastructure was better or worse after management transfer.In the two Indian sites the physical condition of the transferred canals was better than that of the non-transferred canals. The non-transferred canals were found to have more defects than the transferred canals. This is attributed to the fact that the maintenance needs are identified by the farmers who use the canals daily, and also because WUAs handle only one canal they are able to put in more management attention (Brewer et al. 1999b).In the West Gandak scheme in Nepal, field inspections revealed that the transferred minors were better maintained than the non-transferred canals. Similarly the condition of structures and pumps in the transferred tube wells systems were better than the non-transferred systems.Evidence from the Indonesian sites indicates that after turnover farmers have not begun to invest in the long-term maintenance of the irrigation systems. The conventional pattern of farmers deferring some maintenance costs until the government might return with external assistance for rehabilitation has apparently not been overcome by turnover. Water user association leaders interviewed in all four systems reported to researchers that they expected that the government would return within 5 years time to finance another rehabilitation of their system.In Mexico, one of the most positive impacts of the IMT programme in ARLID has been the considerable improvement in maintenance services, especially at lower system levels. This is attributed to a better match between actual expenditures and farmers' perceived needs, especially in the field of maintenance since the implementation of IMT (Kloezen et al. 1997). The results from the Colombian case studies show that, with some exceptions, the transferred schemes' maintenance standards are satisfactory and the schemes appear to be physically sustainable.The relationship between IMT and agricultural productivity levels is less direct than the other performance measures considered earlier. But the ultimate test of any intervention in the irrigation sector is that it should lead to improvements in agricultural production. It can be argued that, with the implementation of IMT, the shift of primary responsibility for water distribution to WUAs leads to improvements in the quality of the irrigation service, and results in improved cropping intensities, while encouraging farmers to use more inputs due to greater confidence in the irrigation service, which in turn would lead to higher yields.In Sri Lanka, the trend in paddy yields in 50 schemes over a 10-year period 1985-95: 5 years before and 5 years after were analysed using a regression equation with paddy yield per hectare as the dependent variable. The analysis was done separately for rehabilitated and un-rehabilitated schemes, with and without IMT.The results indicate that, in the pre-IMT period, paddy yields in the rehabilitated schemes, irrespective of whether they have been transferred or not, showed a declining trend. In the post-IMT period, there is a statistically significant upward shift in paddy yields in the group showing the effects of both rehabilitation and management transfer. There were no significant changes in trend in the schemes that had been rehabilitated but not transferred, or those that had been transferred but not rehabilitated. In the post-IMT period, paddy yields in the group without either form of intervention show a statistically significant declining trend when compared to the pre-IMT period. The conclusion that emerges from the analysis is that there has been a significant improvement in yield in the schemes that have undergone both management transfer and rehabilitation. Paddy yields in schemes with only one type of intervention, and those with neither of the two forms of intervention show a significant declining trend.147 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Evidence from the Indian case study relating to improvements in agricultural productivity is mixed. Results show that farmers in the transferred minor canal (Minor 7) in the Mula scheme had realised improved crop yields. They had also increased the irrigated area and also shifted to higher value crops (sugar cane). Whereas in the non-transferred minor canal (Minor 6) there has been a decrease in the irrigated area and no significant changes in yields or cropping pattern. In the Bhima scheme, there was no significant difference in crop yields between the transferred and non-transferred minors.The evidence from the Nepali study sites is also mixed. Yields of wheat and paddy in the transferred Palhi minor have been increasing over the last 3 years and sugarcane is not grown at all. There are no significant differences in aggregate yields of major crops in transferred and nontransferred minors. In the Indonesian schemes too there was no difference in the trend in paddy yield between transferred and non-transferred schemes.In Mexico, yields of major winter crops (wheat and barley) had been increasing before IMT and that continued in the post-transfer period. The increasing trend was attributed not merely to IMT per se but to a combination of other macro-economic policy reforms, especially the price polices that were introduced in the 1980s. In Colombian study sites there were no appreciable change in yields of major crops following transfer.Regression analysis of the trends in cropping intensities in the 4 groups of irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka indicates that there are no significant differences in the trends in cropping intensities in any of the four groups of schemes in the periods before and after transfer.In the Indian schemes cropping intensity in the transferred minor canal in the Mula command had shown an increase whereas it had declined in the non-transferred minor canal. In the second location (Bhima) there were no changes in the cropping patterns in either the transferred or nontransferred minors.Field studies conducted in two schemes (Cinangka II and Cipanumbangan) in Indonesia showed that there was no significant difference in cropping intensity before and after IMT (Vermillion et al, 2000). Similarly in West Gandak in Nepal, which had been brought under joint farmer-agency management in the 1990s, cropping intensity had been static from 1992 -1996 the period for which data are available (Samad et al. 1999).In Colombia only one scheme (RUT) had significant improvement in cropping intensity at the time of transfer and afterwards. The cropping intensity rose from 110 percent to 160 -170 percent after transfer. In the other schemes there was a slight downward trend in the post-transfer period.For the last two decades IMT has been a major policy in most Asian countries. Although there is a vast literature on the subject, no clear paradigm has yet emerged about the impacts of the efforts made to date. This paper is an attempt to obtain insight into the impacts of IMT on the performance of irrigation schemes.The analysis suggests that there is not enough unequivocal evidence regarding the extent of change. The main change has been a gradual decline in government financing of O&M of irrigation systems. In some cases (e.g., Sri Lanka), there was a decline in the trend in government's recurrent expenditure on irrigation before IMT and the same trend continued after transfer. There are also indications that, at present, WUAs are making only a modest contribution towards maintenance. This raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of the irrigation systems in the absence of adequate investments to ensure that the systems remain functional.There is no discernible evidence of the impacts of IMT on system operations and agriculture production. Evidence relating to agricultural productivity is mixed. The Sri Lankan study suggests that significant effects on agricultural productivity levels can be observed only where both management transfer and rehabilitation occur. But a paucity of data limits our ability to make a compelling analysis and generalise about IMT impacts. In Mexico and Colombia, management transfer prompted a number of managerial changes aimed at improving management efficiency and staff accountability in the districts. Transfer resulted in a significant shift in the burden of cost from the government to farmers, which has generally been accepted by farmers. But transfer has not had substantial impacts on the performance of operations and maintenance, or on the agricultural and economic productivity of irrigated land or water -neither improving negative performance nor causing detriment where performance is positive.The evidence from Mexico and Colombia suggests that it may be relatively easier for governments in richer countries with a more prosperous agricultural sector to implement IMT programmes. Farmers in these countries are able to bear the additional costs of financing irrigation services and are able to put in place institutional arrangements that are more effective than government management systems. Turkey is another recent example of this category of countries.There is a clear need for comprehensive and long-term monitoring of the impacts within the framework of IMT, requiring collaborative effort involving the direct stakeholders, governments, international financing institutions, and local and international research organisations. More systematic research methods need to be applied with enough commonality to permit conclusions about impacts and to specify policy and institutional conditions under which IMT programmes could be expected to succeed or not.There are signs that IMT has lost the momentum of the early 1980s. One of the primary reasons, as identified by Easter ( 2001) in a recent article, is the high transaction cost of implementing an IMT programme on an extensive scale. The more recent success stories are those, which were financially supported by international donor agencies. Where external support is absent the progress of implementing IMT has slowed. This should not discount IMT as an appropriate institutional intervention for improving the performance of irrigation schemes. At the same time one should not be evangelical about the merits of reform, but rather find ways to implement IMT programmes in a more cost-effective way. Research is also required to develop appropriate institutional arrangements which are compatible with socioeconomic contexts, foster inter-sectoral linkages, safeguard the interests of disadvantaged groups and provide effective accountability and incentives for management. A. A. GyamfiCommercial irrigation farming in Ghana can be better understood to involve farming companies or group farmers, able to produce on a continuous and sustained basis under irrigation and to supply their markets regularly, rather than by reference to the number of hectares irrigated. The large-scale farmers operate not more than 400 ha each for fruit crops like pineapples, papaya and banana; while the more popular scale is 25 ha and below, dominated by vegetable producers. The non-traditional export crop industry embraces small, medium and large producers. Some of them have had to install various systems of irrigation to ensure maximum, sustained, quality production to satisfy market demand and make a good return on investment. The increasing number of medium to large irrigated commercial farms is the result of exposure to the overseas market and the expanding local market. However, the export market and the emerging agro-processors are the major attractions for investment in commercial irrigation.To satisfy demand and various requirements of the markets, irrigation is adapted to:Achieve high on-farm performance.Ensure sustainability of crop production.Ensure production of quality products.Ensure consistent and timely delivery to the market.Gyamfi: Commercial irrigation farming Attract, enter and maintain favourable and reliable markets;Sustain the business as a whole.There would have been many more irrigated medium to large-scale farms, but for several major constraints (e.g., land and infrastructure) encountered by investors, which will be the main target of this paper.Crops and marketsIn the 1980s several Ghanaian entrepreneurs undertook studies of the overseas markets for possible entry into them. The effort was purely private initiative, a trend which has continued until now.The contribution from the public sector has been minimal. The studies led to the identification of a limited number of crops which are currently being produced primarily for export, and for the local market. The leading crops are pineapples, papaya, bananas and vegetables and coming up are mangoes, cashew and passion fruit.The attractiveness of especially the European Union market is luring local and foreign investors into the export crop business on regular basis. Importers are also interested in Ghanaian produce because of price competitiveness and freshness. The nearness of the West Coast of Africa to Europe offers short shipment transit period, hence lower freight costs, shorter storage period, and longer shelf life of produce. Ghana has many advantages over several of her competitors and must, therefore, make the best of the opportunities available. While the private investor is working hard in this direction, there is the urgent need for the provision of appropriate public support, for full realisation of the potential benefits available.The local market for export crops is expanding daily as a result of:Increasing population and urbanisation;Expanding business in trade and tourism;Growing demand for restaurant and catering services;Establishment of agro-industries.The two markets, export and local, serve as good incentives for investors to put their money into irrigation projects.Furrow, flood, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems are being used by farmers in Ghana. While the first three have been in practice for a very long time, the drip system was introduced toward the end of the 1980s and gained popularity in the 1990s.Individual investors install systems best suited for their crops. However, the drip has turned out to be the most popular of all the systems because of the far better economic returns it offers farmers. The standard sprinkler types are also giving way to mini-or micro-sprinklers. The relatively high initial cost of installation of drip and mini-sprinkler systems has, for now, made commercial farmers the only ones patronising these types. The small-scale farmers continue to use the old systems.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaIt is not all the major commercial farmers in the export sector that use irrigation. The big operators belong to the pineapple and papaya groups. Since plastic mulch was introduced in pineapple production those who used irrigation on that crop, e.g., Gabro, have stopped. Tongu Farms, however, continues to irrigate its pineapples. The companies using irrigation can be divided into two major groups, namely fruits and vegetables. The fruit-producing companies such as Jei River, Paradise, Denlarry and Pawpaw Farms have papaya as their major crop, but some also handle crops such as passion fruit. All of them use the drip system. Some farming companies doing vegetables on commercial scale are Tacks, Param, Sweat, Vitanova, Motherwell, Gabro, Villa Dev and Debs Farms. Among these it is only Tacks and Gabro who use drip irrigation. The rest use standard sprinklers. The only banana producer, Volta River Estates uses mini-sprinklers.The leading producer of papaya is the Jei River Farms. The company is so successful that, in addition to papaya it also accounts for about 30 percent of total pineapple exports. In 1999 Ghana exported 33,400 tons of pineapples worth US$13 million.Jei River Farms has achieved the leadership as a result of high financial investment in the farm and high level of managerial capability. Similarly Volta River Estates has also distinguished itself as the only producer/exporter of bananas. Volta River Estate might have done better if the issue of the EU market quotas had not placed restrictions on the company's exports earlier on.The experiences and successes of the pioneers in commercial irrigation continue to inspire potential investors. With irrigation Ghana would have:Exported about twice the current volume of fresh produce;Earned more than three times the value of the exports in foreign exchange;Had many more people gainfully employed;Alleviated poverty among a fairly large population, and realised several other benefits if the problems discussed below could have been resolved.The major impediments to medium/large-scale irrigation are many. The more important ones are:High cost of capital;Accessibility to land; Technical and managerial capability; Roads;Supportive infrastructure; Provision of irrigation services;Marketing.The high interest rates on agricultural loans have been discussed so often that it is mentioned here only to serve as a reminder. Investment in an irrigation project requires long-term financing. The high cost of finance readily puts off potential investors. Loan facilities from foreign sources which are operated in hard currency are attracting some exporting companies to make investments through such funds. However such foreign loans are not easily accessible to the average Ghanaian farmer.Access to land is a very important constraint for investors in most areas of agriculture, from farmlands to sites for agro-industries. Getting a suitability large parcel of land with a reliable source of water is not easy. When the land has been identified and selected as suitable for the project, then comes the issue of acquisition of the land. The intricate processes one must pass through to get land registered in one's favour have been a nightmare to many potential investors. Enormous difficulties are encountered in dealing with the land-owners (chiefs and family members), lengthy time delays, inflated fees to be paid to current users of the land, tips supposedly required to move things faster and the eventual paper work at the lands department. Many potential foreign investors have abandoned their projects in the course of acquiring land.The steps being taken by the Government of Ghana to acquire and establish land banks will go a long way to solve these problems. Ghana can take note of the significant role foreign investment has played in the rapid growth of Cote D'Ivoire's agricultural exports, because it is much easier to acquire land in that country. It is hoped that the issue of irrigation will come foremost in the selection of sites for the land banks.Many irrigated commercial farms do not have personnel with the requisite skills to operate and manage the farms. Irrigation requires specially trained field personnel; however, they are not available for several of the companies mentioned above. Farms operating with people without training are estimated to produce about 30 percent less than the more productive farms. The well-organised farms either bring in trained personnel from elsewhere or have the irrigation service-provider train them.In addition to irrigation is the actual management of the farm as a business. The agricultural institutions need to lay more emphasis on farm management as well as having business management as part of the agricultural training curriculum.Most of the irrigated commercial farms are sited near Accra, for getting products either to the airport or the harbour on time and minimising damage due to the poor feeder-road network. The feederroad system in the country places a major constraint on access to some of the best crop producing areas. Poor quality roads make transportation difficult for serious investors to reach those areas in the middle belt and northern part of Ghana, where better soils and more favourable ecological conditions for production exist. Developing more and better-quality feeder roads could positively influence investors in the development of more irrigation projects.In addition to roads, fresh-produce farmers require trade support, infrastructure and services to handle their products efficiently. Many investors, especially foreign ones, have had to abandon their projects because of the absence of such facilities as cold chains (to increase shelf life between harvest and sale), and adequate and efficient port handling facilities. For example, the export shed at the airport is so small that all the handling of highly perishable fresh produce is done in the open and at the mercy of the elements.Apart from Dizengoff, there are no companies selling irrigation equipment and servicing it on a regular basis. Investors usually buy the systems from abroad. The supplier comes down to do the installation and goes back to his country after training some personnel on the farm to operate the system. The absence of dealers in irrigation equipment on the scene makes it difficult, especially for local investors, to peruse their proposed projects and to service systems already installed.Companies like Jei River Farms, Volta River Estates, Paradise Farms, etc., are making steady progress because they sell on good and reliable markets. These companies are well connected on the market because they:Employ high levels of professionalism in their operations;Export good quality produce;Maintain consistency in supply;Are able to deliver on time.On the other hand commercial farmers especially in the vegetable sub-sector are making very slow progress and in several cases retrogressing because of difficulties encountered in marketing. Firstly, the absence of a cold chain (a series of field heat extractors, refrigerated vans and cold storage facilities) to reduce the rate of spoilage after harvest restricts producers from dealing with the more reliable buyers who normally insist on handling produce through such a system.Secondly, the serious buyers, e.g., packers for supermarkets, generally are large volume dealers. Individually none of the vegetable producers is able to satisfy such buyers. Unfortunately, however, each company prefers to export on its own. Attempts to have them come together to generate the critical mass required for entry into this type of market have so far not been successful. The commercial vegetable producers are, therefore, reduced to exporting to importers who supply the small street corner shops. Many of these importers are unscrupulous and have very doubtful payment records. The vegetable exporters have lost and continue to lose high amounts of precious earnings through the offer of very low prices, short payment and non-payment by their importers.The advantages of irrigation are obvious to every farmer and by now larger areas of land should have been under irrigation. It is a combination of the constraints enumerated here which may prevent an entrepreneur from investing in irrigation, and may restrict the expansion of some of the existing facilities. To enhance investments in commercial irrigation the private and public sectors must sit together to address these problems. Jei River Farms, Volta River Estates and others have amply demonstrated that success can be achieved in commercial irrigation in Ghana. The rest of us can follow their example.A case study of the Volta River Estates Limited (VREL), Ghana Etude de cas du Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) Ghana S. K. Agodzo and A. K. BlayIrrigation system performance of Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) was assessed, based on the objectives of production and productivity, profitability, sustainability and enhancement of the quality of life. Under the Dutch-based Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) International, VREL produces banana for the European market. The method of irrigation changed from high pressure, raingun sprinklers through to micro-sprinklers. A drip system was experimented but discontinued. Banana yields average about 9,000 tonnes/annum covering an area of 280 ha. Currently about 10-15 percent of production goes to the local market. Productivity of water is high: in crop terms, 3.56 kg/m 3 , and in gross product value terms, 167 US cents/m 3 . Profitability could not be determined due to privacy of certain information, but there are indications that the venture is profitable. The fair trade price for the banana is about US$8.50 per carton of approximately 18 kg, attracting a premium of US$1.75 per carton, which goes into a fund managed by workers and management representatives for mutual benefit. Economic sustainability of VREL will depend on a favourable national macro-economic environment and continued operation of the fair trade system in favour of relatively small operations as this. At the current borrowing rate of up to 50 percent for agricultural production ventures in Ghana, access to capital is difficult. Social sustainability under the fair trade concept guarantees that workers receive their due benefits from such a venture. The concept provides for enforcement of environmental conservation measures. VREL has contributed to satisfying certain non-agricultural objectives, such as improving the quality of life of participants and providing social amenities for local communities.Les performances des périmètres irrigués de Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) sont évaluées selon les critères de production, productivité, profitabilité, durabilité, et amélioration de la qualité de vie. VREL produit des bananes destinées aux marchés européens en conformité avec les normes de Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) International du Pays-Bas. La méthode d'irrigation a évoluée de l'aspersion à haute pression vers les micro-asperseurs. Un système d'irrigation goutte-à-goutte a été testé mais a du être abandonné. Les rendements de banane varient entre 9000 tonnes par an sur une superficie de 280 ha. Actuellement environ 10 à 15 pourcent de la production arrive sur leIrrigation schemes in Ghana cover a wide range of sizes, technologies and organisational arrangements. In terms of size and as with most schemes in West Africa (Sally 1994), the schemes may be classified as small (< 50 ha), medium (between 50 and 500 ha) and large (> 500 ha). Furthermore, they could be gravity schemes (e.g., Bontanga, Sata) or pumped schemes (e.g., Tanoso, Weija) and to a large extent, reservoir-based (e.g., Dawhenya, Tono). These examples are the formal-sector, modern forms of irrigation, with more sophisticated forms of water control. The statistics are that these cover only about 10,000 ha (Agodzo 1998) of the nation's farmland, even though the irrigation development potential could be even up to 500,000 ha (Agodzo and Bobobee 1994).But there are also traditional, private-initiated forms of irrigation (e.g., Anloga, Bawku, Ada), developed with local resources and materials over a long period, and with partial or no degree of water control. Lately, some of these traditional schemes are receiving very limited external support but such support could well be described as insignificant. There are hardly any statistics on the extent of informal irrigation activities in Ghana.There is also another group of irrigation practitioners that are engaged in more modern and highly sophisticated forms of private-sector, export-led irrigated farming of non-traditional export crops, an example of which is the irrigated banana estates of Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region of Ghana.Defining performance as the degree of achievement of desirable objectives, the performance of an irrigation system cannot be meaningfully carried out unless its objectives have been clearly defined (Sally 1994). The objectives may be diverse and will vary depending on the perspective of all the stakeholders in question. General long-term national objectives such as attaining food selfsufficiency, contributing to food security and reducing poverty are well known but these objectives are often not explicitly translated to measurable system-level targets such as total annual production, productivity of land and water, cropping intensity, farmers' income and the like (Sally 1994).Even though actual system-level objectives would depend on the specific physical, economic and social environments, Abernethy (1989) proposed that irrigation system performance could be assessed based on the objectives of production and productivity, profitability, equity, sustainability and the enhancement of the quality of life. Crop yields per unit area or per unit volume of water used are the most frequently used indicators of production and productivity. Profitability suggests whether the value of the outputs is commensurate with the costs of material and management inputs needed to produce them. Equity also suggests whether all stakeholders are deriving benefits from the irrigation on a fair basis. Economic, social and environmental sustainability are also required if the system will keep running for a long time. An irrigation system can also contribute to satisfying certain nonagricultural objectives, such as improving the quality of life of all participants.In view of the discussion above, this paper, therefore, seeks to assess the performance of the VREL in terms of its production and productivity, profitability, sustainability and its enhancement of the quality of life.The studyThe study methods included a desk study involving the review of relevant literature, the interview of key stakeholders of the project, and physical observations at the farm and the fruit handling and packaging unit. In addition to assessing the total irrigation water applied, the energy required to deliver the water and the labour costs of the operations were also assessed.The study area: Background and natural resource base Ghanaian holding is shared between the workers (25%) and the local private sector (10%). All profits are repatriated to Ghana to pay off loans, but up to 15 percent of total earnings are retained abroad for purchasing and importing items necessary for the company's operations.The company began to export again in 1994 under its own Ghanapack label and only then discovered that it had to pay a licence fee to access the EU market. In 1996, VREL established contact with the Dutch NGO Solidaridad, which had played an important part in establishing the Oke/ Max Havelaar foundation, under the umbrella organisation Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) International, for promoting fair trade of developing-country products.Located in the Asuogyaman district of the Eastern Region of Ghana, VREL largely operates a total landholding of 280 ha (2000 figure) of banana plantations at four sites, namely: Atimpoku (30 ha).Akwamufie (60 ha).Senchi (90 ha).Akuse (100 ha).These are located on the banks of the Volta river, which provides a reliable source of water for irrigation. The average climatic conditions based on Akuse conditions ) are summarised in Table 1. Akuse, 1961Akuse, -1990. . Source: Ghana Meteorological Services Department; Kwedza (1998).Monthly estimates of dependable rainfall, by Kwedza (1998), are shown in Table 2. Apart from the Akuse site, the natural vegetation at the other three sites consists of riverine forest vegetation. The soils are the heavy dark clays usually referred to as the Akuse series, with high water-holding capacities of up to 220 mm per meter depth of soil and average dry bulk density of about 1.0 g/cm 3 . Even though average wind conditions cannot be described as strong, occasional storms can result in the destruction of farm produce. Performance of VRELVREL is a Ghanaian registered commercial plantation company that has been producing bananas for the European fair trade market under the Oke/Max Harvelaar label since 1996. It currently has 280 ha under production, employing 720 full-time workers and staff.Principal data about the inputs of water, labour and expenditure in year 2000 are shown in Table 3.For year 2000, total available water (irrigation plus effective rainfall) for the growth period ranged from nearly 1,300 mm at Akuse to as high as nearly 2,000 mm at Senchi. At Senchi nearly half came from rainfall and the other half from irrigation. Irrigation requirements for year 2000 were highest at Akwamufie (1,000 mm) and lowest at Atimpoku (700 mm). The method of irrigation varied from high pressure, rain-gun sprinklers through to micro-sprinklers. Nkansah (2000), in an energy audit study of VREL, computed total electrical energy cost for the pumping operations as nearly ¢60,000/ ha/week (1999 figure). 1 Two types of centrifugal pumps are used for the supply of water and have the following characteristics: 140 m 3 /hr discharge and 65 m head; 190 m 3 /hr discharge and 70 m head. A drip system was also experimented but was discontinued.Banana yields, as indicator of production and productivity, average at about 9,000 tonnes/year from the area of 280 ha. This is equivalent to 32,100 kg/ha. The average irrigation water supplied at the four sites (Table 2) is 902 mm, or 9,020 m 3 /ha. The productivity of water, in crop terms, is therefore 3.56 kg/m 3 .The value of the bananas (price received by the company) is $8.50 for a carton of18.14 kg, which means 46.9 US cents/kg. The gross product value obtained per cubic metre of irrigation water delivered is thus 3.56 x 46.9, which is 167 cents/m 3 , a high figure for financial productivity of agricultural water according to current international comparisons.An additional 60 ha is to be put under production before the end of 2001 as organic production using under-canopy sprinklers. If successful, this organic pilot will pave the way for conversion of the entire estate to organic farming. For the 2000 production year, total labour cost per ha per annum could be as high as ¢396,000 at Akuse. Minimum wage stands at about ¢8,300 per day, additional to payment of taxes, social security benefits and free medical care. Currently about 10-15 percent of the banana produced goes to the local market.   VREL's focus on banana exports reflects the government's policy of agricultural diversification and promoting non-traditional exports, which has led to a rise in cassava, yam and pineapple as well as Asian vegetable exports. Exports do not attract duty, and agricultural companies are VAT exempted. Exporting companies have preferential depreciation rates and can also import capital items tax-free.Due to the privacy of certain key information, it may not be possible to assess the profitability of VREL in this paper, but indications are that it is a profitable venture. Once a producer is registered with the FLO-Banana Register, one of which is the Max Havelaar Foundation, it can sell to an importer that has a licence to use a fair trade label. In the case of VREL, it sells to Agrofair that markets fair trade bananas under the Oké label. Under the fair trade system, the International FLO-Banana Register sets a country FOB price based on what it costs producers to operate profitably while meeting pre-set social criteria for the workforce. For Ghana, the fair trade price Agrofair must pay to VREL is US$8.50 per carton, of approximately 18.14 kg or 40 lbs.The retail price of bananas on the fair trade market is typically higher than the mainstream market, sometimes by as much as 50 percent. This is partly due to the minimum price producers are guaranteed, and partly because consumers pay a premium of about 9.6 cents per kg (US$1.75 per carton). The premium goes into a fund managed by a committee comprising workers and management representatives, with workers having higher voting.At the time Max Havelaar foundation was starting the Oke label for fair trade bananas in the Netherlands, Solidaridad was unable to get import licences for bananas from Latin America because licence holders feared this would open the door to dollar bananas. At the same time, VREL was looking for efficient ways to lobby the EU, something that Solidaridad and Max Havelaar foundation were already doing for fair trade. As a result VREL was able to supply non-Latin American bananas and Solidaridad was able to help with lobbying and VREL was thus registered as a fair trade supplier in November 1996. In 1993, the company had 23 workers, 140 ha of partly uncultivated land and a host of labour and local problems. By the end of 1997, after a year of selling to the fair trade market, it had 280 ha under production, largely resolved its labour problems and was employing 900 workers. Workers of the company have a 25 percent stake in the company, being held in trust by Solidaridad. However, the domestic economic situation does not favour private-sector agribusiness such as VREL. Access to credit is a common constraint to agriculture including the export sector. Only 20 percent of GADB (Ghana Agricultural Development Bank) loans are made to the agriculture sector, and for other banks the figure is even less. Loans are typically for one year or less, interest rates nearly 50 percent. Development bank loans are also difficult to access because of strict guarantee requirements, and the interest rates are often higher than could be obtained from European commercial banks using a collateral scheme such as that operated by the SGS (Société Général Surveillance). The high interest rates by the Ghanaian banks are as a result of the depreciation of the cedi and high inflation rate.Registering as a fair trade banana producer requires that VREL meet the social and environmental criteria of the International Fair Trade Banana Producers' Register. These criteria are intended to provide a core package of social and environmental standards that will promote sustainable banana production. The social standards include rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining; anti-discrimination and equal remuneration; non-use of forced labour and child labour; defined minimum social and labour conditions of workers; health and safety. The environmental standards include protection of natural areas (biodiversity); coherent policy and practice of prevention of erosion and water pollution; controlled and reduced use of pesticides and coagulants; controlled and reduced use of chemical fertilisers; control of waste and optimisation of recycling; and environmental education.These standards are elaborated for each producer through consultation between FLO, management and workers. The operation is then monitored by FLO, which conducts an annual incountry assessment as well as periodic monitoring operations by a local social monitor. FLO encourages continual improvement in labour and environmental performance, and also encourages plantations to implement social development programmes and worker shareholder schemes. The measures put in place by VREL to meet the social and environmental standards are explained as follows:VREL workers are represented by the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), under a closed shop arrangement, where 2 percent of workers' monthly wages are deducted for union fees. There are eight union representatives per site. They have fortnightly meetings. From them, an apex committee is elected to hold discussions with senior management. Each site also has a women's representative. Workers also receive interest free loans and subsidised rice grown on VREL land as part of a Solidarity Fund set up by the company on each site and managed by the workforce. VREL provided capital for the loan funds and pays the wages of workers on the farms.In addition to monitoring by the FLO, VREL is subject to environmental impact monitoring by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana. It is VREL's policy to reduce chemical use. Weeding is done by hand, which accounts in part for the high number of field workers per hectare. Insecticide-impregnated plastic bags are not used to cover bunches. Chicken manure and potash is used for fertiliser. A 60 ha organic pilot is presently being established, which if successful will pave the way for the total conversion of overall production into organic. The fungicide thiobendazol is used on crowns prior to packing, but otherwise all cleaning is done with water using a circular (recycling) system.VREL has created 720 (2000 figure) permanent jobs in an area where income opportunities are seasonal and limited. The vast majority of employable hands within the project area do not have the required special skills, but priority has been given to people in the vicinity of the plantation sites. It is indicative of the attractiveness of the opportunities for certain people that even those with relatively large landholdings (>1 ha) have joined the workforce. Twenty percent of VREL's workforce is women.In line with national law, the company gives 6 weeks paid maternity leave and women are allowed back on to the sites with young children. Workers also receive an initial 21 days' annual leave, increasing incrementally after the first three years. Regular wages mean that health and education costs of family members are more likely met. VREL provides a health clinic staffed by a trained nurse for each of its sites, and refers more serious cases to the Volta River Authority Hospital at Akosombo. Workers must pay for hospital treatment and are then reimbursed by the company. This is to prevent misuse. The health service at present is exclusive to workers, because there is concern that it would be over-burdened if extended to family members. VREL is, however, considering putting up a hospital and hence would be in the position to provide free health care for spouses and a limited number of children. Workers are provided with boots and protective clothing. Each site has treated drinking water and sanitation facilities. VREL provides both formal and informal training to its staff on a regular basis.Union representation is an important element of fair trade plantation initiatives, and all plantation workers must join GAWU under Ghanaian law. GAWU is independent of VREL management although the two have worked together, for example, on the workers' protest against EU banana quotas in Accra. A collective bargaining agreement has been in place since the beginning of 1994, and there are formal procedures for worker organisation and negotiations with management. Some may question the emphasis the fair trade movement places on unionisation, but one needs to compare the conditions of VREL workers with those on non-unionised multinational-owned estates such as in Côte d'Ivoire.The fair trade consumer interest in bananas largely stems from the working conditions on such estates. Even prior to fair trade accreditation, VREL had a fully unionised workforce, and participation in the union has increased the responsibility and experience of many workers. Through the union and through weekly management-site worker meetings, the workforce and management have reached a reasonable level of dialogue and there is a degree of transparency that is not typical of many private companies in Ghana.As part of enhancing the quality of life for the people, VREL also provides some social benefits for some of the communities in the project area, for example, a school for Kpong township and a computer centre for Akwamuman Secondary School.VREL is the only exporter of bananas from Ghana, and in terms of the multinational-dominated global market, it is a small operation. It is also one of the two initiatives serving the fair trade market in Ghana; the other being the Kuapa Kokoo smallholder cocoa initiative based in Kumasi. Economic sustainability of VREL will depend, first and foremost, on a favourable macroeconomic environment of the nation and the continued operation of the fair trade system in favour of relatively small operations as this. The VREL example suggests that plantations can increase livelihood opportunities for certain groups of people without negatively affecting the natural resource base. Production for export has complemented government policy, and has been supported by various tax and other concessions. Both the estate policy decisions and the global market have favoured VREL. Nonetheless, there have been numerous failed attempts to establish large agricultural schemes in the area but VREL has at least been able to operate for 10 years. As discussed earlier, VREL workers are well placed in livelihood and income terms compared to workers in comparable positions in the area.VREL has adopted a system of cultivation that minimises negative impacts on the environment, while increasing the productivity of the land through irrigation and crop choice. The normal problems associated with disease such as nematode attack also apply here. Wider environmental impact is monitored externally and has not been deemed negative. It is possible that VREL serves as a model for increasing the productivity of the natural resource base on a sustainable basis. Indeed, a private sector agribusiness as VREL benefiting from the technology of irrigation for banana production has, for the past 10 years, made a significant contribution to the economy of Ghana and this is worth noting.Tushaar Shah and Jack KellerThe paper presents observations made during visits to three states of India (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka) and to Nepal, to review micro-irrigation programmes of the NGO International Development Enterprises (IDE). These programmes focus on introducing micro-irrigation to poor and small-scale farmers, and on developing supply chains and equipment markets so that the technology will be sustainable even at the level of very poor people, including women farmers. There were varied patterns of adoption and application of the technology in the four areas. In Nepal they found eager uptake of standardised bucket or drum kits by women vegetable farmers, whose household incomes had risen substantially; but they also found concerns that local markets for irrigated vegetables would be easily saturated, bringing risk of failure through price collapse. In Gujarat two situations are noted: poor women, economically similar to the Nepali groups, but unable to utilise the technology because of greater water scarcity; and relatively new commercial lemon-growers taking it up rapidly. In Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka users grow cotton and mulberry, on a small-medium commercial scale. In both places the commercial interest has attracted other equipment suppliers into the market, which is now developing dynamically. Some (largely negative) impacts of government subsidy policies, and of \"official\" approval of equipment brands offered in the market, are discussed.Cette communication rapporte les résultats des missions réalisées dans trois états de l'Inde (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat et Karnataka) ainsi qu'au Népal en vue d'évaluer les programmes de micro-irrigation mis en oeuvre par l'ONG International Development Enterprises (IDE). Le point focal de ces programmes est l'introduction de la micro-irrigation aux petits exploitants de moyens modestes, et la mise en place de chaînes de distribution et de fournitures pour ce matériel pour que la technologie soit à la portée des personnes à très faible revenu et des femmes. Les impacts (surtout négatifs) des politiques gouvernementales de subvention et de l'approbation 'officielle' de certains marques de matériels en vente aux marchés sont également abordés.This paper describes the observations made by the authors during visits to sites in India and Nepal. The visits were undertaken on behalf of International Development Enterprises (IDE), which is an NGO that originated in the United States and has a substantial presence in both India and Nepal, with an emphasis of putting micro-irrigation in reach of poor smallholders. The purpose of the visits was to form some ideas about the scope for development and marketing of micro-irrigation equipment, specifically targeted towards poor smallholders, and about possible strategies for increasing the uptake of these technologies by such people.Micro-irrigation technologies (drip-and sprinkler-based systems), first perfected in Israel during the 1960s, have spread to many other parts of the world, especially the USA. These methods seem particularly suited to conditions in water-scarce regions such as western and southern India and North China. However, since it was first introduced in the 1970s, the total area under drip irrigation in India has expanded to just around 60,000 ha, against the ultimate potential of 145 M ha. Of this amount, 40,000 ha is in the state of Maharashtra, where it is extensively used in grape and orange orchards; the bulk of the rest is in the states of Tamilnadu and Karnataka (Sivanappan 1994).Drip irrigation of citrus and orange orchards and grape in Maharashtra is a big success; of coconut in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, and of mulberry in Kolar, Karnataka, it is very effective. However, despite active promotion by a growing private irrigation equipment industry and subsidies provided by governments, the appeal of these technologies has remained confined to \"gentlemen farmers.\" Common perception that have held sway over the popular mind are that drip and sprinkler irrigation require a great deal of capital, that they are difficult to manage and labour-intensive, and that they are appropriate only for commercial crops raised on scientific lines.In recent years, there have been efforts to promote a nearly opposite notion: that these technologies are particularly suited to very small, resource-poor farmers; that, for small plots, they require surprisingly little capital; they are easy to manage and, in fact, save labour; and most importantly, can significantly enhance productivity of land and water, quality of produce, and the farm income of the adopter household.In various countries, pioneering efforts have been made in this direction by Chapin, a US business, Netafim, a major Israeli irrigation equipment company, IDE, and some others. All these have developed and launched \"miniaturised\" versions of drip and sprinkler systems, adapted to small vegetable gardens. Best known are bucket and drum kits, promoted by Chapin mostly in Southern Africa and by IDE in India, Nepal and several African countries. Particularly with IDE, the focus has been on cutting the cost of the technology to the minimum so that poor men and women farmers can afford it without subsidy. By one estimate, some 13,000 IDE bucket and drip kits were already in use by smallholders in Asia and Africa; and the potential seems great. A larger global initiative is already in the making for \"scaling up poverty-oriented micro-irrigation by creating a global dissemination network\" (Heierli and Polak 2001).This paper attempts an initial assessment of the potential of the technology, its social impacts, and issues in \"scaling it up,\" based on a month's fieldwork by the authors in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh in India, and three hill districts in Nepal. The paper is not intended to be definitive, but to present the authors' impressions in the manner of \"field-notes.\" IDE's microirrigation programme is barely 5 years old; and in many regions adopters have not used the technology for long enough to realise its full benefits and constraints. There is therefore an element of speculation even in the broad qualitative assessment we offer. It will take some more years until the technology to be integrated, and ready for a proper, full-scale assessment.In all the four locations, the marketing environments -and therefore, the IDE approach -have evolved differently. In Gujarat and Nepal, the micro-irrigation programme is operating in a developmental mode, with IDE being the only player in the small-scale micro-irrigation market, selling the \"concept\" of micro-irrigation to small farmers. In Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, the scene is different. Here, IDE and its partners are amongst several mainstream players in the drip irrigation business; and since they are all marketing custom-built systems, the distinctive aspect of poverty-focused microirrigation is somewhat diluted.In the late 1990s, IDE began to work with Maikaal Cotton Spinning Company, an Indo-Swiss Collaborative Company, and its development NGO BioRe, promoting bio-cotton cultivation around the Maheshwar area in the Maikaal region of Madhya Pradesh. In this dry, hilly terrain, cotton has been cultivated mostly with well irrigation. However, with rapid growth in the numbers of wells and pumps, well yields are dropping and in the dry months of summer most wells turn totally dry. Some dynamic farmers had already begun trying out the drip irrigation technology in cotton. In a short co-operation, Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa IDE encouraged Maikaal's member farmers to experiment with the micro-tube technology for drip irrigation on 25 acres (10 ha). For some reason, IDE was moved out of the region soon thereafter; however, the seed of drip irrigation it has sown here has blossomed and borne fruit.Some 1,500 acres (600 ha) of Maikaal Cotton's bio-cotton area is already under drip. BioRe initiated a scheme to install drip systems on farmers' fields: the advantage to the farmer is, first, that BioRe buys tubes and laterals in bulk to get a good price; second, the farmer gets an interest-free 3-year loan. Many small farmers are taking up the BioRe offer. There are indications all around that the drip technology is being rapidly internalised by farmers and is on the verge of taking off in a big way in this region through commercial channels. The best indicator of this is that the farmers have begun to play around with the material and the design, on their own.In Kolar, Karnataka, IDE has been promoting micro-irrigation for nearly a decade. The focus of IDE's promotional effort here is on custom-built drip systems, mostly for mulberry farmers but also for commercial orchards 1 . There is hardly any sale of bucket or drum kits; nor has horticulture emerged yet as a major customer (as probably it has in Andhra Pradesh, which we could not visit). So, in Karnataka, IDE is in a primarily promotional role for the drip irrigation industry as a whole. The costs of IDE products are comparable to those of the mainstream suppliers, though they vary hugely: for horticulture, the cost of laying a drip system is Rs 7,000 to 8,000/acre (Rs 17,250 -19,750 per ha) 2 ; for mulberry, it is Rs 20-25,000 (Rs 49,000 -62,000 per ha) for paired row system and Rs 20,000/ acre (Rs 49,000 per ha) for the pit system. Costs also vary according to manufacturer: KB brand systems made with Jain Irrigation material cost Rs 2,000 -3,000 more per acre (Rs 4,900 -6,200 per ha) than Pioneer, Krishi, Telecom and other brands.Micro-tube technology has been popular and is now becoming increasingly so. Jain and Pioneer, two leading suppliers, have aggressively promoted micro-tube systems for decades, long before IDE came in to promote them. Kolar is a major centre for promoting drip irrigation. It has 70,000 acres (28,000 ha) under mulberry within 40 km radius of Kolar town. In principle, it can be a major thrust region for IDE's micro-irrigation programme. The issue is: to what end. There is some confusion about what exactly is the role of the IDE here. It does not market cheaper systems; it does not market smaller systems; it does not market primarily to the poor; and it is not the only one to promote the micro-tube system. So, \"what business are we in\" is the key strategy issue for IDE here.In Gujarat, IDE's micro-irrigation programme is barely 2 years old; and we found it difficult to find farmers who had completed one full cropping cycle using micro-irrigation technology. It is implemented in the dry region of Saurashtra in the south-west of the state, and in Vadodara and Panchmahal districts of eastern Gujarat. Some 600 bucket and drum kits were in use here. Kits have been moving at a rate of 150-200 per year; but the pace has been accelerating.IDE's marketing organisation in Gujarat is simple and thin. Until recently, IDE itself acted as distributor and got supplies from a manufacturer based in Nasik (Maharashtra). A distributor has just been appointed. He caters to some eight \"assemblers\" who are the dealers. The assembler sells ready drum and bucket kits, as well as custom-built systems for individual farmers' specific requirements. Within Gujarat, we found that in Saurashtra, the focus of IDE effort is to promote lowcost, mostly custom-built drip irrigation through the assembler who does most of the extension, promotion and custom-designing. In Chhotaudepur (Vadodara district), on the other hand, the target market is dominated by poor tribal women. Standardised micro-irrigation kits are marketed to them for kitchen gardens.Nepal's micro-irrigation programme is focussed squarely on the poorest segments and on standardised drum and bucket kits. An early assumption of the programme managers here was that costs of drip technology could be cut drastically by having the farmers shift the pipes around (i.e., by installing fewer pipes, so that to irrigate all parts of the plot pipes have to be moved from place to place inside the plot). But the promotional work with farmers suggested that they did not quite like shifting the pipes. Indeed, a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of drip technology is that it saves labour and on-farm water management effort. If a drip system is designed so that it has to be frequently shifted, this USP is lost. So ultimately IDE Nepal designed and put on the market a proper drip system in three sizes. IDE Nepal has grounded some 3,200 kits in around 450 villages in the Nepal hills. They have also launched the micro-sprinkler, which is probably becoming more popular in the Nepal hills as well as in Himachal Pradesh on the Indian side of the Himalayas.Overall, then, the micro-irrigation programmes at Chhotaudepur in Gujarat and in Nepal have evolved quite differently from those in Saurashtra, Kolar and Maikaal. The former has been engaging primarily with very small holders, mostly women farmers; the latter has primarily reached the middle-peasantry. The former is heavily into promoting 2-3 standard configurations of bucket and drum kits; the latter is primarily into custom-built systems. In the former, IDE is primarily playing a development NGO with little or no sign of other market players on the horizon trying to get a cut in the business.In the latter, the playing field is dominated by mainstream players, and the distinctive role of IDE as well as of micro-irrigation technology awaits sharper definition.The beneficial impacts of drip and sprinkler irrigation in water-stressed regions have been widely studied in Israel, US and many other countries. In India, several researchers have highlighted the benefits of the technology. Sivanappan (1994) suggests that, based on field trials at Indian agricultural universities, micro-irrigation reduces water application by 40-70 percent, and raises crop yields by 200 percent for many crops. It permits efficient saline irrigation, since salt gets accumulated only at the surface periphery of the wetting zone, without affecting crop growth.In a survey of 160 farmers in Maharashtra, Narayanmoorthy (1996b) found that drip irrigation cuts costs of cultivation, especially in inputs like fertilisers, labour, tilling and weeding. The yields of drip-irrigated banana and grapes were estimated to be 52 percent and 23 percent higher compared to flood irrigation. The benefit-cost ratio of investment in micro irrigation was estimated to be 13, without taking into account the value of water saved, or 32 if water-saving was accounted for in the calculation. Net profit of drip over conventional irrigation is Rs 100,000 per hectare for grapes and Rs 87,000 per ha for bananas. Unlike flood irrigation, drip irrigation works in undulating topography.The question is: why is micro-irrigation technology spreading so slowly, despite these advantages? According to Narayanamoorthy (1996b), it is because of high capital cost, absent or inadequate subsidy, poor product quality and lack of farmer awareness and knowledge. Above all, the notion that drip irrigation is appropriate only for large commercial farmers with resources and farm management skills (a belief, which holds powerful sway in the industry,) had led industry leaders to offer relatively expensive products designed only for large commercial farmers. IDE's microirrigation programme is a major breakthrough because it has down-sized, simplified and demystified drip and sprinkler irrigation technologies, for targeting them to the ultra-poor.To the commercial mulberry farmers in Kolar (Karnataka) and cotton farmers in Maikaal (Madhya Pradesh), productivity impacts of micro-irrigation -in particular, producing quality crops under extreme moisture stress -were of paramount interest. In Kolar, for instance, the mulberry farmers we interviewed listed a number of advantages of drip-irrigating mulberry versus flood-irrigating it. The advantages these users perceived included:water needed for 0.5 acre of flood irrigation will suffice for 2 acres of drip irrigation; labour requirement is drastically reduced due to low weed growth;Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa drip irrigation itself requires far less labour and management than flood irrigation;the plant population and health are better; a larger area that can be irrigated from the available power supply.In many parts of India, shortage of power is the binding constraint, rather than water availability or the cost of pumping, which at the margin is zero for borewell owners under a flat (un-metered) system of electricity tariff. In Kolar, farmers get 4 hours of power during the day and 4 hours in the night; they use night power to fill up their farm ponds and tanks that are used for irrigation during the day time.Besides these direct, private benefits to adopters, Professor Sundar of the University of Agriculture, Karnataka, enumerated several other indirect, social benefits of drip irrigation: it reduces soil erosion and non-point pollution because micro-irrigation water percolates only to 45-60 cm, so fertilisers and pesticide residues do not mix with the water table ; it promotes more efficient use of nutrients; it ensures better and longer moisture retention in the root zone.According to him, micro-irrigation is a powerful instrument of drought-proofing.Overall, in Maikaal and Kolar, the gains from micro-irrigation technology seemed convincingly established. The ground is ready for major up-scaling. However, we could not find many of the lowend adopters to whom the IDE programme is targeted. It was only in Nepal that we could make a firm assessment of the livelihood impact of the micro-irrigation programme; and the evidence we gathered here validated the high expectations from the programme in terms of livelihood impacts.In the IDE parlance, the term micro-irrigation implies drip and sprinkler irrigation technologies downsized in scale and costs to suit very small and marginal farmers' needs and financial capacity. Studies are beginning to show that all the benefits that commercial drip and sprinkler irrigation confer on their users accrue to small and marginal farmers who take to micro-irrigation.Bilgi (1999), in a study of IDE's micro-irrigation programme for poor women vegetable farmers in Aurangabad and Bijapur districts of Maharashtra state, concluded that a typical micro-irrigation kit resulted in the following impacts: 55 percent reduction in water applied. 58 percent decline in labour-days applied.16 percent savings in fertiliser and pesticide use. 97 percent increase in output.142 percent increase in gross income.We wanted to explore whether gains of this scale were experienced by women micro-irrigators we met in Gujarat and Nepal. Gujarat, unfortunately, offered little understanding since most of the micro-irrigation kits were non-operational because of heavy out-migration of tribal families due to drought (see below, section 4.3). However, our experience in Nepal suggested livelihood gains of the order Bilgi (1999) found in Maharashtra. Women we met in the Nepal hills had all been growing some vegetables earlier; but they used to take only one crop during the rainy season. Many households ate meals without vegetables for days; they grew a few plants, mostly for family consumption. They seldom or never had vegetables to sell on the market. Instead, most used to spend Rs 900-1,200 per year on the purchase of vegetables; and the quality and size of their rainfed crops were far from satisfying.The drip kit changed all these, and in significant ways. Adopters began to grow drip-irrigated vegetables in winter and summer, while continuing to grow rainfed vegetables during the rainy season.They all grew a variety of vegetables (Bhindi, bottle gourd, sponge gourd, snake gourd, pumpkin, tomato, chilli). They grew vegetables on a larger net area; their crop was better in size as well as quality. Eating vegetables daily became the habit of most families.Before the drip irrigation came, only four said they sold any vegetables; now, they all became net sellers of vegetables. While their purchase of vegetables declined sharply, their sales increased to Rs 2,000-15,000 per year. The 30-odd adopters whom we met at Kahun have been enjoying an IRR of 300-500 percent on their original investment of Nepal Rs 320 on the purchase of the Saral Thopa Sinchai, the name given by IDE Nepal (IDEN) to the bucket-kit system.Elsewhere in Nepal, we found gross income from sale of vegetables to be Rs 1,500-20,000 per micro-irrigation system, per year, with the modal value around Rs 3,500-4,500. In Tansen, we met farmer representatives from six Village Development Committees and NGO representatives from the LISP project of Halvitas, besides a dealer and the District Agricultural Development Officer. Together, the dozen or so farmer representatives present reflected the experience of over 200 drip adopters in the neighbouring areas. The overall patterns showed little variation. The technology has met with uniform success. The micro-irrigation programme is having a good run in Nepal hills. Many people believe that this run will soon be checked by water scarcity. But it is likely that marketing limitations may do this earlier than water scarcity does. IDE therefore needs to keep working on these second-generation issues which will soon begin to affect the spread of the technology. Some farmer groups have already begun to work on this. The organised women of Darham Danda, for example, first agreed on a staggered harvesting programme amongst themselves to avoid self-inflicted glut, and then had their president enter into a smart tacit agreement with two local vegetable traders who supply to a large workforce working on a local dam project. The women agreed to offer a stable supply of cabbage and cauliflower at Rs 11 and Rs 13 per kg, respectively; they could sell initially at much higher prices, but as the glut builds up prices plummet. So, instead of taking a myopic view, they made a stable long-term arrangement, and in the process ensured a stable market.The drip irrigator women of Darham Danda were lucky in having a farsighted president who has figured out that market bottlenecks and water scarcity may seal the fate of her members, especially in a remote location like hers. She is already planning a diversification strategy; she would like, on the one hand, to grow coffee and ginger, both of which are easier to market. To fight water scarcity, she hopes to get support for a rainwater harvesting project that can help them to build a 100,000-litre tank.The same technology can produce significantly different livelihood impacts in two different communities. Ramadi and Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat, two other villages we visited in the Nepal hills, followed the same broad general pattern as several other hill communities we visited, but heightened the contextual variations. In both villages, we met groups of 15 -20 drip users -micro-irrigation communities -who were introduced to the technology by IDE, and benefited very significantly from its adoption. Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat consisted of professional vegetable sellers, whose businesses were not very small, and who expanded their vegetable business very significantly after the adoption of the drip kits. Water is not a problem at all with Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat, which has plenty of it. This village is right on the highway and ideally suited for vegetable cultivation for the market. No surprise, then, that IDEN has worked with Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat farmers for nearly 4 years.The earliest adopter of the drip kit here undertook dramatic expansion in his area under drip and sold Rs 100,000 worth of vegetables last year. Here, every one of the 20-odd adopters we met doubled their vegetable area after adopting drip, and a third of them tripled it. Over half of the drip users sold Rs 10,000-15,000 worth of vegetables. Several bought multiple kits or went for upgrades; the original pioneer installed five large drip kits; even then, he has to shift his tubes once every day.Factors that have helped the booming growth in the vegetable production and incomes that the drip technology catalysed, include: tradition of vegetable cultivation for the market; abundance of water; IDE's low cost storage tank programme under which these adopters have built their private water storage ranging from 1,000 to 14,000 litres; Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa proximity to markets.However, the 18 women and 4 men we met in Ramadi (a village which has less water, and somewhat less land, than Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat) were significantly poorer. Before they took to drip irrigation, none or few of them grew vegetables to sell in the market. They also experience extreme water stress; and after their first season of drip irrigated vegetables, a majority of them sold Rs 500-1,000 worth of vegetables. The women from Ramadi were concerned that, as their vegetable enterprise reaches a serious scale, water scarcity may catch up with them.Ramadi would probably not have qualified for IDEN's drip kit programme, but for the fact that it is covered under another project on development of \"Mountain Marketshed.\" The village has only 16 users, of whom 10 had collected to meet us. These women seemed markedly poorer; and their adoption was perhaps aided in some measure by the fact that Social Welfare Center, a local NGO, offered a subsidy of 25 percent of the capital cost to the first group of adopters. They had used the drip kit only for one season; and already there was great interest among others to adopt. Eight nonusers had shown up just out of curiosity; they had not joined the adopters so far, either because they did not know or were not sure about whether it will work; and/or because they had trouble raising the cash. Some women felt, correctly, that although there are significant benefits, it takes a higher overall level of effort and engagement in the vegetable enterprise. All of these were now keen to take to drip irrigated vegetables. The adopters all wanted to increase their vegetable area and plant numbers by shifting the pipes around a little more.What happens to the additional income from sale of drip-irrigated vegetables? In Darham Danda, many women adopters manage their households in the absence of their husbands, who are away working in India. The first charge on the earnings then is sugar, tea and other daily necessities, and school fees. Often, the remittances from husbands are delayed; so these women heads of households are always in need of cash to keep the household going.Clearly, the micro-irrigation programme in Nepal is attacking IDE's target segments. Even so, in one of our meetings, Tulsi Neupane and D. R. Adhikari of the LISP project of Helvetas shared their major concern, that the low-cost drip technology was penetrating only the middle-poor. It is still not easily accessible to the very poor who have some land on which to grow vegetables. According to them, Rs 900 is not much for a middle-poor household but it is a good deal for a very poor household to spend on a technology they are not certain will work. Their second concern was about sustainability of an irrigation technology whose success depends so critically on the high quality, intensive technical support in drip irrigation technology as well as horticulture that IDEN have so far provided.As of now, Nepal's powerful positive experience is the prime leading indicator we have of the vast potential of micro-irrigation technology for poverty alleviation. In Gujarat, it is still early days for even adopters to experience the full range of benefits of the technology. The experience with the technology in Maikaal and Kolar is very interesting but in a different way. In both these sites, we saw little adoption by the poor vegetable growers; but aggressive adoption by the middle peasantry, and the subsequent spurt in market development, open up unforeseen opportunities for large-scale propagation of the technology to the poor as well.In the larger backdrop of the subject of \"scaling up through market development,\" one aspect of the programme we explored throughout our field-work was the profile of the adopters and the \"adoption behaviour\" of micro-irrigation customers. What triggered the first trial of the product by early pioneers? How did the bystanders process their experience with the technology? How did the word spread around? Where early experience with the technology is happy and satisfactory, at what stage does the technology \"take off\" and begin to spread by itself rapidly?From past experience and research in drip and sprinkler irrigation in India and elsewhere, there exist propositions about factors that promote or inhibit the adoption of this technology by farmers. In general, it is considered to be the technology for well-off, commercial farmers; farmers take to these not so much to save water but to increase output and incomes and save labour and inputs. For example, Shreshtha and Gopalakrishnan (1993) estimated that over 80 percent of Hawaii's sugarcane farms came under drip irrigation during the 1970s not because it saved over 500 mm (12%) in water application, but because it raised cane yield by 4.2 tonnes per hectare, valued at US$578 at 1987 prices.Likewise, we know that major barriers to adoption are high capital cost, unfamiliarity, and the high risk of failure; and that adoption tends to build up as early adopters' successful experience gets confirmed and widely known, and as technology becomes simpler and cheaper. In a survey of some 160 farmers in Nagpur district of Maharashtra state, Puranik et al. (1992) found that all the farmers interviewed -adopters as well as non-adopters -found the high initial capital cost to be the major barrier to adoption of drip irrigation technology. Interestingly, nearly as many thought that lack of technical knowledge and awareness and the difficulty of accessing the subsidy were equally important barriers.In their study of the rapid spread of drip irrigation for sugarcane cultivation in Hawaii during the 1970s, Shreshtha and Gopalakrishnan (1993) concluded that \"continued improvements in the technology have made it more applicable and affordable, thus reducing the risk involved with new technology, as well as reducing the cost of information over time.\" To what extent are these propositions playing themselves out in the micro-irrigation scene in India and Nepal?In Maikaal (Madhya Pradesh) and Kolar (Karnataka), the IDE programme was in direct competition with mainstream players; and hence, we found here a very interesting dynamic. IDE played a pioneering role in introducing drip irrigation among cotton growers in Maikaal and mulberry growers in Kolar; but the adoption is confined largely to middle peasantry; and it is an open question whether IDE does not need to redefine its role, now that the concept is established.In Maikaal, we met a group of 15-20 cotton growers from 2-3 villages who had gathered in Mohna village. They each had 5-15 acres (2-6 ha) of land, mostly under bio-cotton. All of these were drip irrigators and good cotton farmers. All were using the micro-tube system, although the government subsidy scheme allows only drippers. Only a few large, influential farmers got access to subsidies; most others purchased the material from the open market, and built their own microtube based system. One farmer had built a micro-tube drip system with micro-tubes only for one row of plants; this required more lateral, but offered the advantage that he can weed and inter-cultivate without having to shift the pipes around.The grey market 3 of unbranded products offers limitless opportunities for economising on capital investment here. BioRe (IDE's partner NGO in this state : see section 2.1 above) has been collecting tube and lateral prices from several prominent market centres in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and the best deal it can offer to farmers is Rs 12,500/acre (Rs 31,000 per ha). But most farmers we met laid their drip systems at Rs 6,000-7,000 per acre (Rs 15,000-17,250 per ha), by assembling them with material bought in the grey market.BioRe offers only products that have been approved by the Indian Standards Institute (ISI); and farmers buy mostly grey products; but the group we met saw absolutely no quality difference. One farmer quipped: \"Big brands charge exorbitant prices and provide uncertain quality; the grey market charges rock-bottom prices and uncertain quality. So who wants big brands?\" Their grey-market dealers also offer them written guarantees of 5 years, which they believe would be honoured if invoked. Some farmers who have been using grey products since 1996 were quite happy.As the drip technology becomes internalised here, the major objective of suppliers is to cut its cost down to the minimum. The farmer's main partner in Madhya Pradesh is the private grey sector. The business has probably recognised that many first-time users will try out drip technology only in a drought to save their crops with little water. They also recognise that their demand is highly priceelastic.To encourage such small farmers to try out drip irrigation, one innovative manufacturer has just introduced a new product labelled \"Pepsy,\" which is basically a disposable drip irrigation system Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa consisting of a lateral with holes. At Rs 1,500 per acre (Rs 3,700 per ha), Pepsy costs a small fraction of the more enduring systems that Maikaal offers to its members at Rs 12,500 per acre (Rs 31,000 per ha); but for small farmers who are trying out the technology for the first time, it offers an important alternative. As one farmer mentioned, \"If I can buy a system at the cost of the interest amount, why should I invest capital? Why spend Rs 1,200 on a filter, when a piece of cloth can serve the same purpose as effectively?\"The boom in the private grey trade in laterals and micro-tubes -and the falling prices of parts -suggests that IDE's ultimate goal of market development is likely to be achieved in this region rather effortlessly.In Kolar district, the mulberry heartland of India, we met a similarly dynamic and resourceful group of 20-25 mulberry farmers of all classes and social groupings in Nayatharahally village. We took a quick inventory of our sample which yielded the data of Table 1. These were certainly not the smallest farmers one could find in the area. This group felt that the kinds of drip irrigation systems they use are beyond the resources of small and marginal farmers. The farmers face several barriers to adoption: capital requirement is one; lack of education and awareness is another; but the most important is that small and marginal farmers do not have borewells. 4   A majority of farmers are too small and poor to take to professional sericulture (production of silk, which is the purpose of mulberry cultivation). The group we met represented only the upper crust. We estimated that Nayatharahally has some 300 farmers, of whom 275 probably raise some silk worms. But 7-10 households, each having at least 7 acres (2.8 ha) plus, have taken to drip and sericulture as their sole or primary enterprise. At the other end of the spectrum, over 100 households with 2 acres (0.8 ha) or less all do some sericulture, but only one has a drip system. This is because only one or two of the marginal farmer households have their own borewells; indeed all the 60-70 borewells in the village were owned by large and medium farmers.The ownership of a borewell seems a precondition to adoption of micro-irrigation for mulberry. Most poor sericulturists without their own borewell depend upon larger farmers for the supply of mulberry leaves, which has catalysed a vibrant exchange institution in mulberry leaves. Small silk farmers buy leaves on a regular basis at Rs 100 -150/bag; some also buy water from big farmers on one-third share cropping basis, in which the seller provides water and claims one-third of the mulberry leaf output. Table 1. A profile of mulberry farmers using drip irrigation in Kolar.Note : 1 acre = 0.4 ha.The Kolar group of drip irrigators we met were a totally different class from the poor women micro-irrigators we interviewed in Chhotaudepur (Gujarat) and Nepal. These were well-off farmers; more important, they had a dynamism, enterprise and awareness of technology and market conditions that we did not expect to find in the poor women vegetable farmers. For instance, the Kolar group's assessment of the pros and cons of alternative drip technologies reflected their knowledge and experience with drip irrigation. We were told that integral systems have higher chance of clogging; micro-tubes clog less easily but they make inter-cultivation difficult; they are also more prone to damage; women weeders pull out micro-tubes to tie their bundles of forage.Micro-tube technology is the best and least-cost option, especially for the paired-row planting of mulberry. It provides greater aeration and sunlight to plants; it provides greater moisture retention and better root penetration, making the plants more tolerant to dry spells. The paired-row system also yields more plants: 5,300 per acre, compared to 4,600 per acre in the pit system. As the pairedrow system becomes popular, so does the micro-tube technology that the IDE is promoting. All in all, IDE's Kolar story so far has been the affluent-farmer story. But it seems poised at a point where the small mulberry farmer too may take to drip irrigation if he had the right options. Overall, too, the drip sales are set to take off in a big way; and a challenge for IDE, it seems, is to increase its penetration in the smallholder market segment.In Gujarat, our sense clearly was that the ongoing drought has been the principal \"trigger\" for the adoption of micro-irrigation by pioneers. Most adopters we met took to micro-irrigation to cut potentially big crop and capital losses induced by water stress. However the experience and the consequences of the drought were different in the two parts of the state that we visited. The differences seem to be due to the different socio-economic status of the farmers. We record first our observation in the Saurashtra region of the state.Veerjibhai Metalia of village Lalavadar installed a micro-irrigation system 6 months ago at a cost of Rs 2,500 to save a plantation of 90 papaya, guava, and lemon trees, which is 3 years old but would surely perish due to moisture stress during the current drought. He assembled a micro-irrigation system with the help of the assembler; he pumps water into a tank from his open well some 100 metres away. The tank is connected to the well through a buried pipe, and the drip system is hooked on to the tank. The well can be pumped only once in 2 weeks, and yields just enough water to fill the tank. But these 15,000 litres have apparently saved his plantation. Veerjibhai appeared enthusiastic about the technology. Having adopted it for one reason, he has now discovered many other reasons why he should stick to it. He found moisture retention is better under micro-irrigation than under the flood irrigation system; and his plants are now healthier.Panabhai in Jasdan taluka installed a custom-built micro-irrigation system at a cost of Rs 1,100 to protect his small plantation of 30 sapota, lemon and other plants. His experience was similar.In Vinchhia village, we met a community of professional small-scale horticulturists who raised lemon gardens. These were under tremendous moisture stress during the current (2001) summer drought spell as their wells dried up. One of them installed a drip system and found that he could make his plants survive with very little water. Formerly, he pumped his well for 12 hours daily to flood-irrigate his plantation; now he uses 4 drums of 350 litres each (that is, about 1,400 litres of water) to irrigate his 50 lemon trees. Following this experiment, 11 lemon farmers in the neighbourhood all installed micro-irrigation systems. They made a new group-managed borewell to fill up their tanks.In Saurashtra, then, the current micro-irrigation buying spree is triggered by the drought. The experience has been good; but it will be interesting to see what these adopters do if there is a good monsoon in 2001. Many will probably keep using ithe technology because they see its significant productivity impact. There is much that is common amongst Saurashtra adopters; they are early in their learning curve about what the technology can deliver, besides saving their plantations during the current drought.If drought triggered micro-irrigation adoption in one part of Gujarat, it induced adopters to fold up their kits and shelve it in another part. In Chhotaudepur area, another pocket of micro-irrigation marketing thrust we visited in Vadodara district, the IDE assembler is Anand Niketan Ashram, Rangpur, a local NGO with high credibility with the tribal communities here. Rangpur Ashram has been Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa aggressively promoting micro-irrigation technology; and the prime purchase motive here was irrigating vegetable gardens in the homesteads. The most popular product was the bucket kit. The promotional message is: it can ensure a steady supply of 500 grams daily of vegetables per household for 3 months a year. Some 450 bucket kits are grounded in 4 talukas; in the Rangpur area itself, some 200 have been sold through the NGO. This is a predominantly tribal area. Bhil tribal people who live here are first generation farmers. The Ashram has been popularising modern agricultural methods here for 50 years. Its experience with promoting some technologies followed the trajectory we expect the micro-irrigation technology will follow. In the 1960s, it installed scores of lift irrigation schemes to promote irrigated farming. It took 8-10 years for the new technology to sink among these communities, used to rainfed, slashand-burn farming. The Ashram's lift irrigation schemes faced endemic problems of economic viability; and the programme was ultimately folded up; but its purpose of popularising lift irrigation and irrigated farming was achieved. Fed up with the unreliability of community lift irrigation systems, farmers took to private wells and diesel pumps in a big way as the benefits of irrigation were internalised. Now groundwater markets are booming, and pump irrigation is widely used.Total drought for the second year in a row has however put the tribal agrarian economy under great stress, resulting in massive out-migration. Micro-irrigation kits purchased are mostly out of use, because wells have no water. We could see some kits in operation in Bhekhadia village where hand pumps as well as dug wells had some water. Mostly, micro-irrigation kits are used to sustain small kitchen gardens; however, one farmer also raised a somewhat larger garden with a custombuilt kit. There is a tradition of vegetable gardens besides the homesteads in the Bhil households; this is a good augury for the micro-irrigation kit programme. However, domestic water supply systems are traditionally designed to canalise domestic wastewater into the kitchen gardens. No special effort is made to irrigate the garden. So the micro-irrigation kit does not offer a significant water-saving advantage over the traditional system of wastewater irrigation. Our overall sense was that povertyfocused micro-irrigation as a concept is not yet well established in Gujarat; however, in many ways, this water-stressed state offers opportune conditions for it.In the Nepal hills, on the other hand, the micro-irrigation concept is already firmly established amongst poor women vegetable growers. The trigger for new purchase decisions is not so much water stress but generating significant household income. Some very interesting work has been done here by IDEN in adapting the product to the customer need. IDEN has been steadfast in pursuing the original mission of introducing the micro-irrigation intervention: of designing a product appropriate to the needs of the small farmer household, and promoting it aggressively to that target group with an intensive after-sales support system.An impressive aspect of the way it has gone about doing it is the adaptive design response to farmer feedback. IDEN began with a set of assumptions about what might cut costs best and yet find favour with the target households; as it went ahead testing out those assumptions, it cast aside those that were not supported, and developed new ones based on feedback from users. This resulted in much ingenious experimentation in design; and all of it seemed driven by user feedback and functionality. A new, improved product has been launched almost every year since inception. Thus, for example, the 1998 Saral Thopa Sinchai (drip irrigation) kit they introduced had a very simple common household filter on the neck of the tank. The 1998 kit was also made available in \"very small\" size for 40 plants. These were both changed in the 1999 model, which incorporated several new design features. Similarly, in the early models, IDEN used black recycled rubber laterals; but these were found too hard and non-durable; so they used 8 mm green PVC lateral which is better in quality and image. Finally, IDEN has avoided the use of micro-tubes; instead, they have punched fine holes in the lateral itself and fitted it with raffles which, when fitted over the holes, ensure that the water is delivered in a trickle rather than in a sprinkle. This has made frequent shifting around of pipes a major requirement; it has also imposed a tough planting discipline on users; if they do not maintain the same distance as between the holes, the system will mis-deliver water.The 2000 model of Saral Thopa Sinchai kit has fixed nearly all problems the feedback on earlier models pointed out, except the propensity for clogging. But our sense was that farmers have come to terms with this: some problems have to be just lived with. IDE Nepal has closely followed the development NGO model in promoting the micro-irrigation technology amongst the poor. By supplying micro-irrigation kits to close-knit groups of vegetable growers, along with intensive after-sales support, it has created micro-irrigation communities. It has actively discouraged its dealers from selling kits to isolated buyers, lest they should fail and damage the product image. The Nepal hills have some major clusters of drip kit users, and we saw and interacted with several of these.On our first day of field visit, we went to Kahun near Pokhara and Bhimad in Tanahu. Kahun is a village of some 600 households (including 56 drip-kit users) with 9 wards; Bhimad is a trifle larger. In Bhimad, we met a sizeable group of some 35 women and 8 men adopters of drip kits. In Kahun, we interacted with a group of women in ward 1; this had 70 households; 40 of these have adopted drip kits; of the remainder, 6 have already placed orders. So it will not be long before this village becomes a 100 percent drip-user village. But such examples must be few; for, if 50 drip kits are grounded per village, IDE Nepal's total kits should be in 60 villages instead of 450-500. So there must be many villages which have isolated adopters of drip kits.IDEN's distinctive approach, emphasising micro-irrigation communities supplied with intensive technical support in both use and maintenance of drip systems as well as in horticulture, has produced major impacts. Vegetable production increased manifold, and generally surpassed the wildest expectations of the adopters. Average gross income from sales was less in the first year but averaged Rs 4,000-6,000 in the second year. Once they saw they could make real money, women adopters began to learn fast. Soon, IDEN found that farmers with two years of experience could be easily weaned away from the IDEN support system; they have enough experience to carry on their own, and even to guide new adopters. IDEN is now developing a Lead Farmer concept to multiply its technical support capability; and intelligent, dynamic farmers with two years of experience in drip irrigation of vegetables offer ideal candidates for such appointments. Many of these have already upgraded their systems.The demonstration effect of micro-irrigation communities is already strong. Some of the women we met came to know first about the drip system not from IDE, but from the gardens of some early adopters. But they faced a tough time obtaining the kit, because of IDEN's policy of not selling to isolated buyers. Many intent farmers have to beg existing groups to accept them as members, in order to get the kit and IDEN's technical support cover. Many keen potential adopters also mobilise 15-20 others to form a micro-irrigation community that IDEN would work with. In Darham Danda (wards 1 and 8), this organising role was performed by the dynamic chairwoman of the Jagriti Mahila Samuha, a local CBO. She visited the IDEN office several times but could not connect with the staff, who was mostly in the field. Fed up, she slid a hand-written application for support under the closed door and returned to her village. A marketing officer from IDEN turned up a week later to \"process\" the application of the women of Darham Danda. This opened a new chapter in the lives of these women.One consequence of this success is that it has attracted attention of subsidy-providers. Subsidies to the tune of 25-33 percent are already available from local NGOs and even the Agriculture Development Officer's (ADO) office. One representative of a federation of women's groups was in our meeting, canvassing for a regular subsidy programme. The ADO, who has already been offering 25 percent subsidy to 30-40 women, has offered to expand the programme to cover 300 women. He has been asking potential adopters, who are ready to buy the kits, to wait for next year so that he can oblige them. If this subsidy menace grows, it must hit the programme in ominous ways.Constraints for wider propagation of micro-irrigation kits in the Nepal hills are showing up from two directions: water scarcity and output market glut. Using drip irrigation is not easy for many of these women farmers, since their only source of water in the dry season is the public drinking-water taps. One such tap is available for 15-20 households, and they share the water equally. Most fill buckets and fetch them to fill the drip tank manually; a few lucky ones are close enough to the tap to be able use a hose to connect it to their tank. For many, however, filling the drum may involve from 10 to 30 minutes of fetching. 5  Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Water scarcity is a major constraint in the Palpa district, which is mostly dry. Some of the users in our meeting collected surplus overflow from the drinking water system during the night and used it for drip irrigation. In Darham Danda, the remote village in Palpa's mountains, women have to make 14 turns to fetch water for domestic, livestock and drip irrigation requirements. If 3-4 people help in fetching water, they can do the household's water-fetching in 4-5 turns; but even that takes half a day since each turn takes 1 hour for a slow walker and 30-40 minutes for a fast walker.The output market is rapidly emerging as another constraint. Members of micro-irrigation communities tend to grow the same vegetables, and their products end up in the same limited local market at around the same time. This results in a glut, and prices go crashing down. In Aaboo Khaiseni Yekle Phat, some women vegetable farmers sold their cauliflower and cabbages at rockbottom prices; and even then, had to dump some in the drain. Trucking vegetables to distant towns individually is an uncertain business, as some have found out after costly experiments; so now, most depend on buyers to lift vegetables ex-farm.Even at its early stage of development, drip users in Ramadi village are concerned about the limited market. IDEN helped them to meet local vendors from Bhesisahar and Bhotowodar in a workshop to create better understanding between the two. The growers urged vendors to stop buying vegetables from the terai (lowlands). The vendors forcefully argued their position, that women producers do their best to sell directly, door-to-door, and come to the traders only to sell their leftovers. Moreover, if they want vendors to sell their produce, growers must ensure a wide variety of vegetable crops, as consumers cannot be expected to buy only what they grow.It is clear that limited and shallow local vegetable markets may nullify some of the benefits and small-farmer value that the micro-irrigation technology is producing, except for smart growers who anticipate the glut and prepare for it. Along with agricultural support, perhaps IDEN may also need to think of some training in vegetable marketing. 6 For, as the vegetable market becomes a buyers' market, drip users will need to innovate in order to keep their incomes stable or even to increase them.Alternatively, IDEN may want to reconsider its present approach of creating concentrated microirrigation communities which glut the shallow local vegetable markets, and, instead, spread the kits more thinly over a wider area by letting the dealers loose.An extraordinary aspect of the micro-irrigation intervention in the four sites was the emergence and nature of the market dynamic. In Gujarat and Nepal, we found little evidence of competition to IDE in the micro-irrigation market. In Gujarat, the intervention itself is very young; the benefits of the technology are yet to be discovered by the adopters; and a potential for profitable business is yet to emerge. In Nepal, there are signs of such potential emerging; but it is not clear to us if IDEN is doing much to assist this process. Our impression is that IDEN's approach of providing intensive support to micro-irrigation communities, and of discouraging dealers from selling micro-irrigation kits to isolated buyers, may in fact hamper the market development process.In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, however, we witnessed highly charged market dynamic in micro-irrigation material. We saw earlier that in Maikaal, farmers have begun to experiment with the technology, and the grey market has emerged to help them do it at much lower cost than by using branded drip products. Products like \"Pepsy\" are likely to be welcome by first-time adoptersespecially, the poor farmers -who want to avoid undue risk of technology failure. However, BioRe's approach is somewhat doubtful about grey market activity, since it continues to sell only ISI-marked branded material that more than doubles the cost of micro-irrigation systems. Karnataka has a similar market dynamic; and IDE's posture here is similar to BioRe's in Maikaal.Within the national drip and sprinkler irrigation equipment market of Rs 2,000-2,500 million per year, the Karnataka drip irrigation business is estimated at Rs 400-500 million per year. Fifteen years ago, when drip irrigation came to be commercially marketed for the first time, some of the leading players, especially Jain Irrigation, invested heavily in market development and were beginning to reap the benefits. But in the 1990s, the Government of India introduced subsidy in drip systems. For sericulture, subsidy was fixed at 50 percent for general farmers, 70 percent for women and 90 percent for farmers of scheduled tribes or scheduled castes; 7 for horticulture, it was 30 percent for general category farmers and 50 percent for the ST/SC farmers. Subsidies were available only on systems larger than 1 acre (0.4 ha).The major industry players, like Jain Irrigation, are frustrated by the distortions caused by the subsidy. It has increased competition for them. The subsidy has attracted a large number (40-50 companies are registered) of shady players in the drip business who sell low-quality products, and often claim subsidy without selling systems. Getting the ISI registration is said to involve a one-time bribe of Rs 600,000-800,000; but then the manufacturer becomes entitled to market his products under the subsidy scheme. This has made big players uncompetitive; it has also created quality problems and impeded market growth due to diminishing farmer faith in the technology.Even today, the drip irrigation industry does not see much promise in the small-farmer segment of the market. According to the Jain Irrigation dealer, a successful adopter is typically a large commercial farmer with some education. But since such farmers are few in number, the potential in a district gets exhausted fairly soon. Moreover, with such farmers, who maintain their systems well, there is little replacement demand; so the market gets easily saturated. These farmers integrate drip technology into their farming enterprise very well; so they buy it for its long-term productivity and economic benefits, not for the expedient goal of tiding over a drought season.Governments are now cutting subsidies on drip irrigation; and this is creating a new generation of problems for the industry mainstream, which has become addicted to subsidies over several years. Until last year, when the subsidy was as high as 90 percent, the marketing dynamic of the drip system was fired by the subsidy culture. The manufacturers and dealers, including the leading brands, were seeking \"unearned profit\" in the form of subsidies, rather than manufacturing and marketing margins from serving satisfied customers. Since ISI-marked products enjoyed a degree of monopoly in the form of subsidy access, their manufacturers raised their prices to levels where they and the bureaucrats empowered to approve subsidies claimed the bulk of the subsidy. However, since claiming the subsidy involved between 1 and 3 years and 15-20 percent bribe money, there was always a market for non-subsidy drip systems and products. Now that the subsidy has been reduced to 30 percent, the profits in ISI-marked drip systems have plunged. All suppliers with major names in the ISI-sector are facing declining fortunes; they have been progressively cutting their prices to stimulate non-subsidy sales; but they face stiff competition from non-ISI suppliers, who sell unbranded products at rock bottom prices.We met two dealers in Bangalore (Karnataka) who deal in the cash-and-carry market for ISI as well as non-ISI products. Jai Kisan Irrigation and SN Pipe Products were two such. SN Pipe's Saiyad was of the view that \"ISI mark + subsidy = fraud.\" He stocked best as well as second-quality material from ISI as well as non-ISI sectors; he himself was a manufacturer and sold ready-made products, as well as executing orders for material of required quality with a 24-hour lead time. Saiyad asserted, as did the other dealer we met, that there is no real difference between the average quality of ISI and non-ISI products. Under ISI-marked branded products, farmers are often cheated with poor quality. At the same time, many non-ISI products are of excellent quality.In general, then, the ISI-mark is at best a poor indicator and guarantee of quality. The company brand name is a much better indicator; for example, the brand name Jain Irrigation conveys assured quality; but companies with such respected brands exact a commensurately high price. But for discerning consumers, there are non-ISI marked products which are nearly as good as the best available in the market, but sell at 60-70 percent lower price. The comparative prices he gave are shown in Table 2.For a majority of potential adopters, high perceived risk in drip irrigation investment is a major barrier to adoption. This perception is not unfounded. Even reputed suppliers agree that the failure rate in the drip system is as high as 50-60 percent. Many farmers invest in the technology, but then abandon it because of poor experience with it. As a result of uncertainty about how well it will work, many first-time buyers of drip products view their purchase decision more as an expenditure decision (like buying a bag of fertiliser) than as a long-term capital investment decision. In turn, this means that most first-time buyers are highly price-sensitive, and search for lowest-priced products; this tendency is also strengthened by the lack of faith in the quality assurance of ISI-marked products. As a result of all these, very little non-subsidy demand goes to ISI-marked branded products.The industry representatives we met did not seem to take IDE and its micro-irrigation venture very seriously. Most thought that there is a better fit between commercial farming and drip irrigation technology than between low-input subsistence farming system and micro-irrigation technology. One of them explained to us their viewpoint: \"When a farmer in Nasik makes Rs 200,000/acre/year from grape orchards, he does not mind investing Rs 2,000/acre on installing a drip irrigation system. Similarly, coconut or areca nut farmers internalise the drip technology easily; but vegetable growers, especially small-scale, find it more difficult to do so. Vegetable prices fluctuate heavily, and growers need to deal with output as well as price risks; so they are lukewarm to capital intensive farming.\"The industry had thought similarly about mulberry growers too; but IDE's breakthrough has begun to change their thinking somewhat. Problems with the availability of spare parts, insufficient and erratic power supply are other factors that impede wide acceptance of drip irrigation among smallholders. While the industry respected IDE's marketing ethos, it betrayed its doubt about IDE's propensity to down-scale and simplify the micro-irrigation technology. The Jain dealer quipped: \"…drip irrigation technology involves more than just joining tubes with laterals… micro-tubes are an obsolete technology... besides the kits overlook the importance of custom design…\" Arguably, IDE in Karnataka could have carved out a more strategic role for itself in Karnataka's fluid market environment. Now that the subsidy is cut down, business in the non-ISI brands is booming. According to Saiyad (the dealer in Bangalore), for every 100 metres of ISI-marked branded laterals, the sale of non-ISI laterals is 1,000 meters. When we tried to cross-check this figure, Sundar, one of IDE's friendly ISI-marked manufacturers, suggested this ratio of 1:10 is hugely exaggerated; according to him, the actual ratio is probably 1:5 or 1:6 but not as high as 1:10. By tying up with top brands in the ISI-approved sector, IDE has ensured that it promotes drip systems in the highest price range without commensurate quality assurance, and by doing that, it has virtually excluded from its ambit the low-end customers who are its target segment. Even if they have an intent to purchase, the poorer farmers are likely to be far more readily drawn to the non-ISI market than to Jain Irrigation and Primere or IDE's KB, which is, and is perceived to be, in the same league.Since the company brand name has a stronger association with consumer's perception of quality than the ISI mark, IDE could use the KB brand name to develop and market a range of low-cost, high-quality drip products in the non-ISI sector, that can not only achieve quick penetration among small farmers, but also make KB a leading non-ISI brand. Indeed, IDE can develop the bucket and drum kit market by introducing trial kits at rock-bottom prices: bucket kit at Rs 100 and drum kit at Rs 250. These can be made using recycled but good quality material under a minimalist IDE quality control mechanism.In general, then, Paul Polak's original insight that drip kits made from recycled plastic should sell at rock-bottom prices still remains valid and unfulfilled. IDE, India, is once again falling into the same trap that has kept its treadle pump market from expanding to its full potential: of offering a highquality product at a high price to a target market that is extremely price sensitive. If micro-irrigation is to take off in a big way, it seems to us that this will need to change, and marketing elitism will need to make way for some street-smart market manoeuvring.A critical strategic issue for IDE is: what exactly is it marketing, or indeed, what business is it in, in the field of micro irrigation? As a product, bucket and drum kits hardly offer a USP since all parts are available in the grey market and assembling a kit is not difficult. So if the technology had some special benefits to offer to smallholders, the more dynamic would have surely taken to it since, besides upper-end brands like Jain, they also have access to a whole range of tubes. The only part they can not easily access is the micro-tube. The drip systems have been marketed in the country for over 15 years now; and the micro-tube is considered by the industry an obsolete technology when compared to dripper.One concept that the IDE is trying to market is a whole new farming system. In Gujarat, they found a growing lucrative market in drumstick in Padra taluka; and drumstick is especially amenable to drip irrigation. So in Saurashtra, they are marketing drumstick micro-irrigation as a concept. In Karnataka, micro-irrigation of mulberry has been a big hit, and can be counted as a significant IDE breakthrough.The exciting aspect of IDE's micro-irrigation programme, and its organisational philosophy, is the implicit vision about how market development takes place for new products and technologies with potential for livelihoods creation. This vision is set out simply in Figure 1, which sets out the roadmap outlining IDE's entry into a new domain with a new technology concept. Typically, it spends a good deal of time and energy initially in establishing a new technology concept, adapting it to the local conditions and demonstrating its potential benefits to its target customers.The best example of \"concept establishment\" work is to be found in IDE Nepal's micro-irrigation programme. IDE Nepal has by far the clearest strategic position. It is in the business of marketing low-cost micro-irrigation technologies to \"selected\" smallholder communities, along with an intensive pre-and after-sales support system. IDEN actively discourages direct sale of drip kits by its dealers without its recommendation, because it believes that without adequate technical support, adoption may be neither beneficial nor sustainable. Since IDE Nepal believes that such support can be best provided to groups of adopters organised by IDE, potential adopters outside the IDE groups may find it very difficult to get the IDE micro-irrigation kits. 8   IDEN follows an elaborate process, and has invested significant organisational resources in achieving its strategic goal. This intensive support and backstopping make IDEN's drip programme virtually failure-proof. We could see this in course of our visits; in 5 days, we met over 200 adopters, mostly women, a few men; and we did not find anyone who was disappointed with the system. Everyone was happy, some more, some less so; clogging bothered everyone; but in no case can one say that the adoption failed.The process of introducing the micro-irrigation technology in a new community involves several steps, as follows:Step 1: The Marketing Supervisor makes an exploratory visit to the village to undertake a rough feasibility analysis. He explores a range of questions: does the village have a tradition of vegetable cultivation? Is there some water available? Is there access to a market nearby? Are farmers open to new ideas?Step 2: If the village passes this test, a meeting is planned and organised, if possible with the entire community. In this the technology is demonstrated, a sales speech delivered with the idea of generating interest in it. Invariably, 10-15 farmers show readiness to try it out.Step 3: A training workshop is conducted for the \"pioneers\" (those who showed interest in the trial) in two aspects: [a] agronomic: seed preparation, common nursery, spacing, etc.; and [b] drip kit purchase, installation, operation and maintenance. After this, a common nursery is raised in 4-6 weeks; as it gets ready, pioneers are asked to approach the dealers and obtain their kits.Step 4: Marketing Supervisor, Agricultural Technician and Installer visit the community again to train in proper installation of the system, its uses, its operations and repairs. Some agronomic training is given too on planting and spacing.Step 5: After this, the Marketing Supervisor and Agriculture Technician keep visiting the community alternately at an interval of one week; this interval grows longer as the community becomes at ease with the system; but IDE support is available virtually on demand.An issue which may become important as drip sales grow is IDEN's capacity to sustain such a support system. We probably saw some of IDEN's best-performing drip-irrigation communities. One wonders if it is easy to provide such a cover to all 3,200 adopters so far, or even to the 1,200odd who will buy the kits this year. IDEN's challenge then is to find innovative ways to extend its technical support cover in a cost-effective manner -through collaboration with NGOs, or through enlisting successful and enterprising adopters in the task of supporting new ones.In the market-development process that is illustrated in Figure 1, the first stage entails the laborious, patient and often frustrating work of pioneering a new concept: support for early adopters, developing manufacturers, setting up supply chains. Adoption is slow, and restricted to a small number of risk-loving customers. Many potential customers, the bystanders, closely watch the trials with by early adopters, gathering their evidence and drawing their own inferences. It takes time for this evidence-gathering and analytical process to mature, since each bystander sets up and works with his own mental model.If the technology delivers, the market development process enters the second phase when IDE's promotional efforts begin to deliver results in rapid growth of technology adoption and sales volumes. In this phase, promotion and marketing acquire a critical role; sales begin to build up; awareness about the technology spreads.If the product or technology is capable of sustaining itself, without subsidy and other external support, then we begin to see interest in it from other players in the market who basically want to build a profitable line of business on the groundwork of pioneering and promotion done by IDE. It is here that IDE differs from other NGOs. Whereas most NGOs would view this growing interest of private players in their product with a sense of concern and insecurity, IDE views it as the sign of its success, the fruit of its arduous labour throughout stages I and II.The role IDE might ideally play becomes complex at this stage. As the pioneer and the oldest player, it could set standards for others, become a rallying point, and actively assist its competitors to take on its own brand; for its ultimate aim in stage III is not the gains from its promotional pioneering but to capitalise on the \"bandwagon effect\" produced by the entry of other players, which is the market development role it claims to be playing.Against this model, we found that Gujarat and Nepal are still mostly in stage 1 of the market development process for micro-irrigation; however, Kolar and Maikaal are somewhere in stage II or even III. In that sense, the market dynamic we found here is different from Gujarat and Nepal, and offers interesting insights. After five years of stage 1 labour by IDE as well as BioRe, some 1,500 acres (600 ha) of Maikaal Cotton's bio-cotton area is now under drip.There are indications all around that drip technology is being rapidly internalised by farmers and is on the verge of taking off in this region. In Maikaal, the micro-irrigation market is already in stage III of Figure 1; and there are strong indications that private business is doing far more to cut the costs and reach the technology to poor farmers than IDE and BioRe are, probably because the former understand the mindset and the behaviour of the poor.Following this preliminary assessment, we conclude that:(a)In South Asia, IDE's micro-irrigation programme has responded to two critical but distinct needs: of the poor women to create a new means of income and livelihood; and of farmers in water-scarce areas to cope with extremes of water scarcity.The best example of the first is to be found in the Nepal hills, where Micro-Irrigation Communities, mostly of poor women vegetable growers, created by IDE, Nepal, have experienced major improvements in cash income and household food and nutrition security.The best examples of the second are to be found among organic cotton farmers in Maikaal region of Madhya Pradesh, near the site of the Maheshwar dam, among mulberry farmers of Kolar district in Karnataka and among lemon growers in Saurashtra in Gujarat.The strategic issues in marketing micro-irrigation bucket and drum kits to the poor women vegetable growers are totally different from promoting micro-irrigation to farmers coping with extreme water scarcity.In terms of sheer scale of outreach, promoting micro-irrigation as a means of coping with water scarcity offers much greater potential than promoting it to poor women vegetable growers.(f)In doing both, it seems that the IDE operating philosophy of paring the cost of the technology down to the minimum and of using normal market processes to mainstream it holds great promise.The horticultural sector in Kenya has experienced tremendous growth over the last two decades. In 1996, total production of fruits and vegetables was estimated at 3.1 million tonnes. Of the estimated annual total produce marketed, over 3 million tonnes are consumed in local markets, about 250,000 tonnes are used as input in the processing industry, and about 90,000 tonnes are exported as fresh produce (Mulandi 1998). Thus, the horticultural sub-sector provides food, contributes to rural livelihoods through generation of employment in agriculture and related service sectors, and generates export revenue.In semi-arid areas of Kenya the growth of production and commercialisation of horticultural crops are linked to the increase in smallholder irrigation and adoption of new technologies. This provides new opportunities for improving food security and livelihoods for large numbers of poor people who might not benefit from investments in high rainfall and more favourable agro-ecological environments. Irrigation can reduce crop production risk, providing greater incentives to increase input use, increase crop yields, intensify crop production, and encourage diversification into highervalued crops. The resulting increase in marketable surplus and commercial activities has the potential to generate increased income for farmers. Yet, as smallholder commercial irrigation expands, issues relating to access to water among competing user groups, enterprise profitability, and access to markets take on added importance because they directly influence the size and distribution of benefits accruing to various stakeholders.This study provides an overview of production and marketing of horticultural crops in Makueni and Meru Central districts of eastern Kenya where smallholder irrigation is an important activity.Table 1 shows that Makueni and Meru Central districts have a total area of 10,452 km 2 , an estimated population of 1.3 million, and are characterised as arid and semi-arid agro-ecological zones. The rainfall pattern in these districts is bi-modal with the first season known as the long rains falling between March to May, and the second season known as the short rains falling from October to December. Average annual rainfall in both seasons varies from 500 mm to 2600 mm in Meru Central and slightly over 1,000 mm in Makueni.Data for the study was collected from secondary sources and key informants in the study area. Rapid market surveys, using a checklist, were conducted to fill in data gaps. The results are used to draw implications for likely economic and social impact from the growth of smallholder commercial irrigation.Production of horticultural crops is an important economic activity in Makuenui and Meru Central districts. In 1998, total production of horticultural crops was estimated at 5,572 metric tonnes in Makueni and 21,592 metric tonnes in Meru Central. Although accurate estimates were not available at the time of our survey, anecdotal evidence suggested that smallholder farmers produced most of these crops.Sources: Ministry of Agriculture and Central Bureau of Statistics.In Kibwezi division of Makueni district, irrigation activities are concentrated along Kibwezi, Athi, and Thange rivers. In Meru Central, irrigation activities are concentrated along the main rivers originating from Mount Kenya, Kathita, Kithino, Thigithu, and Mutunga rivers, and their tributaries.Access to water for irrigation is a key determinant of commercial production of horticultural crops in the study area. Smallholder farmers irrigate a wide range of vegetables and fruits, yearround for sale in domestic and export markets. These include Asian vegetables (brinjals, ravaya, chillies, okra, and karella, guar, dudhi, turia, curry leaves, patra, and saragua); vegetables for the domestic and export market (tomatoes, kale, onions, spinach, and baby corn) and fruits (mangoes, paw-paw, custard apple, and citrus). Levels of production of some principal vegetable crops in recent years are shown in Tables 2  and 3. (1991 -1998).Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Meru Central Annual Report, 1999.Table 3. Trend in production (tonnes/year) of horticultural crops in Makueni (1996Makueni ( -1998)).Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Makueni District Annual Report 1999.There were variations in the organisation of irrigated agriculture in the two sites. In Makueni district, many farmers used their own motorised pumps on their plots. These farmers made their own decisions on when to irrigate and were not affected by water rationing and management problems faced by those in the group-based schemes. They were, however, constrained by lack of investment capital, high maintenance costs, and low bargaining power in marketing. Though required by the Water Act (CAP 372 of laws of Kenya), few individual irrigators purchased water permits as a result of weak statutory enforcement by authorities and bureaucracy involved in getting permits.Group-based irrigators pooled their resources by collective ownership of motorised pump sets and communal production. The groups were allocated water at different schedules. They seemed to benefit from pooling their resources, but were faced with frequent management problems. There was limited availability of water for group members at the lower end of the canal. Some farmers in irrigation schemes, mostly along the Kibwezi River, grew crops independently on their own plots but were also members of groups that controlled the supply of water. A water management committee allocated water according to a water allocation timetable. Most farmers in group-based schemes purchased water permits because many donors stipulated it as a requirement.In Meru Central district group-based irrigation was dominant, but few individuals owned irrigation equipment. These group-based schemes were mostly donor-driven as some donors required the formation of groups as a prerequisite for funding. Many of these schemes operated on a costsharing basis with donor funds providing the initial investment for establishment of water intake pipes and storage tanks. The farmers generally managed these groups appointing a committee to manage the project while the farmers themselves enforced by-laws. Few individual farmers, mostly largescale producers, used their own motorised pumps on their plots.Farmers used different irrigation technologies in the two districts. In Makueni district motorised pump-fed furrow irrigation was dominant, but a few farmers used gravity-fed furrow irrigation. The Super Money Maker manual treadle pump was introduced recently but has not been widely adopted.A few large-scale farmers and institutional operators such as the University of Nairobi and Tana and Athi River Development Authority used drip and sprinkler irrigation systems.In Meru Central district sprinklers were dominant due mostly to the nature of the topography. Furrow irrigation, where water flows by gravity, was another common irrigation technique. A few farmers used the bucket kit while some large-scale farmers used motorised pumps.Although marketing arrangements were similar across both sites, the marketing channels were different for domestic and export markets. The main crops sold in domestic markets were cabbages, onions, kale, tomatoes and \"export crops,\" such as french beans, that were rejected by exporters because they did not meet export standards. Most farmers sold their crops at the farm-gate to rural traders within the village or to traders coming from out of the district both to save time and to avoid farm-to-market transport costs. Rural assemblers sold to larger traders in local markets, who then sold to other traders in regional markets or large urban markets such as Nairobi and Mombasa. Some traders entered into informal contracts with farmers before the crop was harvested. Rural traders collected and assembled small quantities of produce from many farmers scattered all over the rural areas. However, a few farmers, especially those who were located close to market centres, sold crops directly in local markets because they could get better prices. Crops were mostly packed in bags, except for tomatoes that were packed in cartons. All transactions in local markets were in cash.The major crops sold in export markets were french beans, baby corn, and Asian vegetables. There were several companies involved in marketing of export crops. In Meru Central it was estimated that the number of companies involved in marketing rose from 13 in 1997 to 20 in 1999, an increase of 54 percent in 2 years. Some of the exporting companies were seasonal, involved in crop marketing only during the peak season, while others were engaged in marketing year-round.There were several marketing arrangements for export crops:Exporting companies organised marketing directly with individual farmers or farmers' co-operatives, with written contracts specifying volumes, dates of collection, and prices. This was a common practice with large-scale producers, but few smallholder farmers had formal contracts with exporting companies or their agents.Company agents or brokers entered into verbal and informal contracts with groups of farmers. Although they agreed to enforce penalties in case of a breach of contract without a written document it was difficult to effect them. Farmers were not restricted to sell to one agent, but they invariably sold to agents who provided farm inputs such as seeds and chemicals.Individual farmers sold to company agents or brokers without a formal or informal contract. Transactions with informal contracts were usually on credit and it could take up to one month between collection of produce and payment.Interlinked transactions were very common, with company agents providing farmers with seeds, chemicals, advice on planting, application of chemicals, grading, sorting, and packing. In some cases technicians hired by the exporting company supervised farm activities from production to marketing and scheduled planting through control over quantities of seed provided to avoid gluts in the market. About 90 percent of total horticultural export from Kenya is destined for European markets. In these markets the EU sets the grades and standards for exports, including maximum pesticide residue levels, size, shape, and weight of packaging materials.Farmers cited several marketing constraints. These included:Lack of physical infrastructure reflected in inaccessible roads, lack of market facilities, power, and electricity;Unavailability of quality seeds and other inputs, including production and trading capital;High levels of post-harvest losses;Lack of economies of scale leading to high cost of assembly;High level of crops rejected at both farm level and at company warehouses because products did not meet market standards. In some cases farmers were not compensated for rejected products;High levels of price risk and market uncertainty;Unreliable information on market trends or scheduling of production decisions to meet market needs. Farmers and other market intermediaries were not aware about important Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa information on price, marketing conditions, and grades and standards further up the marketing chain.Gross margin analysis was used to illustrate the profitability of investment in selected horticultural crops (Table 4).The enterprise budget data in Table 4 suggests that smallholder production of horticultural crops is a highly profitable enterprise when compared to alternative crop investment options that farmers can undertake. For example, gross margin for the most profitable enterprise is about 400 percent higher than those for the competing maize crop. This raises the question why every farmer in the area is not jumping on to this. Several reasons explain why the industry has not seen a massive entry into horticultural crop production, as the profitability estimates would suggest. One important factor is that the enterprise budget figures do not include transaction costs that are not explicitly measured. These costs arise mainly from the specific institutional arrangements that determine the production, market access, and trade in horticultural crops. Because such costs are not included as monetary costs in the enterprise budget, it is likely that these budgets erroneously overestimate the actual profitability of horticultural crop enterprises by underestimating the cost of inputs and overestimating the price of farm output. Consequently, the enterprise budget makes horticultural crop enterprise more profitable that it actually is, especially in the study areas where poor rural infrastructure, risk, and other market imperfections lead to high transaction costs. Several implications can be drawn from the overview of horticultural production and marketing presented in this paper. An important issue that needs serious attention is the question of water scarcity. As smallholder irrigation expands in a regime of lack of enforcement of water regulation, lack of water pricing, and uncontrolled water use, issues relating to water scarcity are likely to be an overarching concern that could lead to social conflicts. There is urgent need for policy reforms that will take into account the likely equity and efficiency considerations of growing water scarcity problems as well as the types of institutional innovations for allocating water that are likely to have the greatest impact on smallholder farmers.Access to water and control over resources and income from sale of horticultural products are likely to influence gender relations with increasing commercialisation of smallholder agriculture. Interventions need to address the issue of how women farmers get access to resources and information as well as how access and control over resources influence their participation and investment decisions in profitable commercial activities.Issues of produce marketing need to be resolved if the horticultural sector is to play an important role in poverty reduction. The conventional wisdom is that unscrupulous middlemen exploit farmers. While it is true that middlemen do act opportunistically the case study suggested that problems of market imperfection and high transaction cost feature prominently in smallholder farmers marketing decisions. For example, Market intermediaries rarely knew or provided important information such as price trends, seasonal requirements, market product specifications or quality standards. The cost of acquiring such information was high, precluding many smallholder farmers from using such information to make production and investment decisions.Rural assemblers faced high opportunity costs in collecting small volumes of product from large numbers of producers scattered all over the rural areas.Many producers continued to sell to particular market intermediaries even when they were dissatisfied with the service, because they could not find an alternative market outlet or the cost of finding and/or negotiating with an alternative buyer was too high.Market intermediaries could misinform farmers about overall market conditions, wrongly claiming that produce quality deteriorated in transit, or by delaying payments because of imperfections in information collection and dissemination systems.Most farmers and market intermediaries relied on their own funds to finance production and trading activities. There was a lack of credit available for lending despite the need for production and trading credit. Formal credit was not available for traders because lenders either found it difficult or encountered high costs in assessing the creditworthiness of potential borrowers. This high cost of acquiring information on potential borrowers is reflected in widespread failures of credit markets.Farmers lost cash income because of the high cost of enforcing contracts.Both production and trading were characterised by high levels of uncertainty about the availability of markets, the quality of the product, and the conditions of trading.Given the complex production and trading environment in which smallholder farmers operate, is it likely that they will survive in the highly competitive and exacting world of horticultural exports, where high transaction costs in the smallholder sector typically favour large producers? Our research suggests that many smallholder farmers can benefit from the opportunities created by commercialisation of irrigation. Nonetheless, for this to happen marketing interventions in the horticultural sector need to focus on improving the competitive advantage and increasing the returns to investments by smallholder farmers. This may be achieved through improvements in marketing Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa arrangements that reduce risk and uncertainty, lower transaction costs, improve co-ordination and information flows between market intermediaries and farmers, and promote transparent and trustbuilding relationships.Several private companies and development organisations are increasingly promoting contract farming as a mechanism for linking smallholder farmers into high value horticultural markets. However, contract farming can be a relatively high-cost option when dealing with large numbers of widely dispersed smallholder farmers. They are not very effective when the legal system is weak and, as a result, cannot enforce the terms of the contracts. Collective or group marketing arrangements are also extensively promoted by development organisations as mechanisms for reducing transaction costs and improving sellers' negotiating power. Yet, the experience in rural Africa shows that in reality many collective and group marketing initiatives are not sustainable after support by the development agency is withdrawn. Organisational problems, competing interests, and high incidence of free riding frequently weaken collective or group marketing arrangements.One option that has not been extensively investigated is improving the efficiency of rural collection points. Collection points are ubiquitous in rural Africa but they serve mostly as bulking facilities. However, the traditional bulking facilities could be improved upon and used as mechanisms to improve access to market services, dissemination of information on production conditions, prices, market conditions, and application of known grades and standards. The successful implementation of improved collection points by some private horticultural export companies in Kenya, such as Homegrown Ltd., suggest that these arrangements need not involve formal contracts (Evans 1999). On the contrary, their success is based on transparent marketing activities and trust building relationships between smallholder farmers and buyers.The challenge of commercialisation of smallholder irrigation and its potential for income generation for the poor, therefore, needs to give a central role to innovative marketing interventions that focus on the realities of cost of production, marketing, and trade in rural areas.EnterpriseWorks est une organisation non gouvernementale (ONG) américaine à but non lucratif, dont la mission est d'aider les petits producteurs à accroître leurs revenus à travers la création d'entreprises rentables. Précédemment, elle a été connue sous le nom de ATI (Appropriate Technology International).EnterpriseWorks intervient dans plusieurs pays en Afrique, soit par l'intermédiaire de programmes nationaux au Sénégal, en Guinée Bissau, au Mali, au Bénin, en Tanzanie, en Ouganda et bientôt au Ghana, soit par l'intermédiaire d'une assistance technique contractuelle auprès d'organisations nationales au Niger (avec l'Agence nigérienne de promotion de l'irrigation privée, ANPIP), en Côte d'Ivoire (avec l'Agence nationale de développement rural, ANADER) et au Burkina Faso (avec l'Association des professionnels de l'irrigation privée et des activités connexes, APIPAC).Les études de marché dans le secteur du maraîchage en Afrique de l'Ouest montrent que l'accès à l'eau et le coût de l'équipement de l'accès à l'eau sont d'importantes barrières à une production accrue de légumes irrigués.Les producteurs de petite échelle, ceux qui cultivent moins de 0,5 ha, représentent une part sensible du secteur et comptent pour la majorité de la production commerciale et des producteurs du pays. De tels producteurs ne pouvant pas acheter les motopompes, le moyen courant pour irriguer reste la corde et le seau. Mais la faible capacité de cette méthode (1000 litres/heure) est une importante contrainte à l'accroissement de la production.Néanmoins, des conditions économiques majeures pour une production accrue sont souvent présentes. Ces conditions sont:  Au Mali, les cultivateurs ont réduit leur temps d'irrigation de 72 pourcent par rapport à la méthode de la corde et du seau. De plus, la superficie moyenne s'est accrue d'environ 82 pourcent après l'achat de la pompe, augmentant énormément la production.Ainsi, cette production supplémentaire se traduit par un revenu annuel net additionnel de 194.000 FCFA (US$273) par an et par pompe. De plus, un cultivateur gagne plus de 100 pourcent de recettes sur son investissement dès la première année. Cela se traduit par 1.164.000 FCFA (US$1639) de revenus supplémentaires sur les six années de durée de vie estimée de la pompe.Une estimation des impacts globaux est présentée dans le tableau 1. Le tableau 2 compare les résultats d'une étude comparative menée au Ghana des coûts de pompage entre des pompes motorisées et pompes à pédales.1 ) de pompage de 1m 3 d'eau au Ghana.1 1 US$ = 7000 cedis.Source : Perry, Ed. 2001. Ghana Irrigation Subsector Study, Project paper, EnterpriseWorks Worldwide, 25p.En plus du secteur pompe à pédales, EnterpriseWorks intervient dans des secteurs suivants liés à l'irrigation à petite échelle en Afrique de l'Ouest:L'appui à la commercialisation de puits en PVC et de puits The goal of increasing the participation of the private sector in African irrigated agriculture seems to be good. Government-sponsored irrigation systems have often had mediocre results, and many governments lack the resources of money and skills required for efficient state management of these systems. But the introduction of a greater level of private-sector involvement depends very much on the behaviour of the government irrigation agencies.More than a decade ago, Moris (1987: 100) commented on the \"privileged\" status of irrigation as a subject for government investment in Africa. By \"privileged,\" he said he meant preferred investments, chosen because they are thought to answer some pressing policy problem. When accorded privileged status, technologies are more likely to be adopted by reference to the seriousness of the problem than on the basis of their own likely performance under realistic field conditions… In Africa irrigation is often seen as the universal answer to drought, and thereby escapes detailed justification and local adaptation.According to this view, there was the risk of over-investment in creating too many irrigation systems; their designs were often brought in, with little or no change, from donor countries with different needs; and there was little attention to cost.In the 1970s and 1980s, perceptions of the urgency of food needs and drought relief were accentuated by recent memories of the suffering caused by droughts in the Sahel, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Events of that kind may have led to a perception of irrigation as something intrinsically good and desirable: \"privileged,\" in Moris's view. But much more recently, Schiffler (2001) has expressed quite similar concerns about the impacts of irrigation development, at a global scale: … using actual food prices instead of the food price projections made in the past, many of the past investments in irrigation would not have been economically viable. Indeed, over-investment in irrigation may have contributed to accelerate the decline in real food prices, thus making it harder for small-scale farmers in developing countries to break out of poverty. Publicly-funded large-scale irrigation projects have beyond any doubt improved the living conditions of millions of farmers in developing countries. However, by reducing food prices they may well have had a negative impact on many more farmers in rainfed agriculture and in privately-funded small-scale irrigation schemes.Neither of these is telling us that irrigation is an inappropriate technology. What they say is that there have been injudicious investments, and the installation of systems whose basic economics are in some cases dubious or non-viable, and that government-assisted schemes may actually reduce or prevent private activity, by lowering prices. It may be that governments and donors have installed, with irrigation development, a production capacity that is in excess of effective demand for its outputs.Similar accusations, of increasing the poverty of those who are not fortunate enough to obtain a place in the government irrigation systems, were made in India during its great irrigation expansions 25 -30 years ago. One implication is that governments, after giving some farmers the advantage of occupying new irrigation systems, should not then give those people further gifts in the form of continued free services of management, operation and maintenance by government.On a more optimistic note, Moris (1987: 113) observed that:The main exceptions come from the areas of Africa where large-scale commercial producers have evolved their own irrigation systems, usually to protect export crops like coffee, tea or tobacco. In Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Kenya, there are producers who inherited or purchased highly efficient and cost-effective irrigation systems, a demand-led outgrowth of large-scale commercial farming in a hazardous environment. The contrast between demand-led and bureaucratically imposed irrigation performance is striking.In the 14 years since he wrote this, the tendency towards \"bureaucratically imposed\" irrigation has reduced in Africa. A theme in the present paper is that we should encourage further movement in the \"demand-led\" direction. We live, however, with some legacies of the past, including the residual consequences of past decisions, and the persistence of some attitudes of bureaucratic dominance.It should be emphasised that the \"demand\" we are speaking of here is demand for the products of irrigated agriculture, not demand for irrigation facilities themselves. There is evidence that the desire to have irrigation, or the desire to have a plot of land within an irrigation system, is high. Among the most striking cases are the irrigation co-operatives along the Niger River in Niger. The annual fee payment required from users is typically equivalent to nearly 200 US$/ha/year (PMI-Niger 1998: 117) at official exchange rate, and much more than that (around 800 US$/ha/y) at purchasing power parity rate. These rates are extremely high by global developing-country standards; yet all plots are taken up, and there are waiting lists for access to plots at many of these systems. But perhaps this simply reflects the fact that, if the government is sponsoring irrigation development, those who remain outside of such systems will be at a great disadvantage. This type of demand for irrigation service does not guarantee in any way that there are consumers ready to pay the true economic cost of irrigation products.In investigating how to stimulate greater private-sector involvement in irrigation, we shall look at three levels of involvement, which are progressively more difficult to achieve: a how to encourage private people (usually, existing users of irrigation systems) to take over responsibility for operation, maintenance, and management of existing governmentbuilt irrigation systems; b how to encourage private investments of capital in the creation of new irrigation systems, and in the expansion of existing irrigation systems, or the up-grading of their facilities and technologies; c how to encourage new entrants into the business of irrigated agriculture; in other words, to reach a situation where irrigated agriculture not only can survive on its own financing, but can become sufficiently successful to attract new people who are willing to contribute fresh money and effort to it; this could be in the construction or utilisation of facilities, or in provision of support services.We shall try to identify institutional and financial arrangements that will make these results more likely; and we shall try to see whether additional institutional safeguards may be needed, to prevent the possible increases of inequity that can sometimes result from ill-planned increases of individual economic freedom.The policy of irrigation management transfer, under which government agencies increase the roles of farmers' organisations in operation, maintenance, management decisions, and funding of recurrent costs, has been in existence in various countries since about 1975. It began in South America and the Philippines. African examples began more recently. Vermillion (1996Vermillion ( , 1997) ) identified eight African countries then operating irrigation management transfer policies: Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, to which Burkina Faso and perhaps some others should be added.Irrigation management transfer, generally, does not bring in the external private sector to any significant extent. It is only a rather small step away from full government control of irrigation management. In the most common models, farmers on the irrigation systems are asked to form organisations, usually adopting some standardised constitution proposed by the government agency. These organisations then become responsible for the kind of local-level tasks listed in the previous paragraph.Reviewing 29 studies of such transfers from around the world, Vermillion found that ownership of the irrigation facilities was vested in the farmers, after the transfer, in only three cases, of which one (in Senegal) was in Africa. The irrigated areas involved in that one African case were the smallest in all of these studies.The outcomes of irrigation management transfer programmes have been very variable. It is difficult to claim that it has been, overall, a successful policy. A part of the difficulty of assessment lies in the obscurity, and diversity, of objectives. Possible objectives may be (Abernethy 1998: 18):To reduce public expenditures.To improve irrigation performance and generate surplus production.To enhance sustainability of irrigation facilities.To conserve water resources and reduce resource consumption.Of these, only the second is clearly an objective of the system's users. They may be also interested in the third, but that probably depends on whether they can perceive themselves as the new owners of the system and its facilities. Since, in 90 percent of transfer programmes, the facilities still belong to the government agency, the users will assume that sustainability and renewal costs are the government's problem, not theirs.The other objectives noted in the list above are essentially objectives of the government or of the society in general. It is not certain that the farmers will feel motivated towards those objectives.The hope of improved agricultural production seems to be the main factor that could motivate farmers to want irrigation management transfer. Is it achieved? The evidence is mixed and uncertain. Most studies have been of the \"before and after\" type, so production would perhaps have been improving anyway. The extent of output improvements that have been noted in the literature does not seem (in general) significantly above the normal growth that happens through other influences such as crop improvements.The organisations set up (under government promotion schemes) to be the recipients of irrigation management transfers are often of a kind that would be thought peculiar and unsatisfactory, if they existed, for example, in the world of business. Membership is often \"inclusive\": that means, the promoting agency, or the standard constitution, may simply announce that all people farming land within the boundaries of the irrigation scheme are members automatically. For example, the standard constitution of such organisations in Niger (PMI-Niger 1998) says, under the heading \"Admission as a member of the co-operative\": Article 4: Each head of a household, to which a landholding in irrigation system XXX has been allocated, has the right to join as a member of the co-operative, and undertakes to respect the clauses of the present constitution.The member must then sign a personal contract with the organisation, which legitimises his or her continued use of the landholding, and regulates various aspects of agricultural behaviour, and inputs of work and fees.The more usual concept of an organisation, in other kinds of activity, involves a collection of individuals who join together in order to achieve some shared objective that could not be achieved by individual efforts. It is clear that the sort of inclusive arrangement commonly used in irrigation management transfers is significantly different from this. The person in the Nigérien collective has made no personal commitment to any joint objectives. \"Joining\" the organisation is simply a requirement (imposed by government) for protecting a personal interest, the right to continue receiving water and cultivating the land-holding. In some such cases, the \"members\" scarcely know that the organisation exists. Field interviews may show that individual farmers feel a sense of alienation from the organisation.There is usually not a special law enacted to define the operations of organisations that are set up to receive irrigation management transfers. In the case just mentioned, Niger, they were established under a law on rural co-operatives. Other countries have used other existing legal arrangements. The absence of a law specific to irrigation organisations may explain some of the problems we encounter.Some of the problems and disappointments of irrigation management transfers may be attributed to inadequate attention to establishing suitable enabling environments, of which the legal deficiency just noted above, is an example. Vermillion (1994) set out a short list of prerequisites for success, which he identified from the more frequent recommendations of researchers. These were: a clearly recognised and sustainable water right; appropriate infrastructure relative to local management capacities; clear designation of responsibility and authority for essential management functions; effective accountability and incentive mechanisms; adequate resources (financial, human) for sustainable irrigation management. This list includes aspects of national policy as well as of local arrangements. The list can be further expanded and refined (Abernethy 2001) thus:A law defining the status, governance, scope, and financing of irrigators' organistions Political will and consistency in applying the transfer policyA clear and secure system of water rights Laws and procedures that will be applied in case of bankruptcy or other organisational failurePrivate Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaClear definition of ownership and responsibilities Clear rules of membership Consultation with all affected famers to define their objectives; and assistance to them in drawing up a constitution that reflects some combination of government's and members' goals Skill training in aspects of management, especially communication and recordkeeping Adequate initial capitalA secure water right for the irrigation system (In larger systems where the government will continue to operate main-system facilities) A clear contract or level-of-service declaration Appropriate infrastructure that the famers can operate and maintain with minimal need for external skillsAs we have seen, irrigation management transfer is a small step towards private-sector involvement. Only existing users of the facilities normally are concerned. Ownership of facilities and water rights is not normally part of the transfer, except in some rather small schemes. Government roles usually remain quite large. The transferred functions are usually lower-level operations and maintenance. The financial inputs expected from the organisations' members are small: they vary widely, but the range of US$10-50 per hectare, per year would probably cover the majority of cases.Membership is often automatic, rather than the result of personal desire to pursue joint objectives.Financially, irrigation management transfer is (in most cases) essentially about bringing private funds, from existing irrigation users, to meet all or part of the operational and maintenance costs of irrigation systems. It does not usually address capital investment. In cases where the recipients of a transfer are required to make a contribution to capital, as in the Philippines or Niger, these are generally rather nominal contributions, quite far from meeting the true costs of installing such systems. Where irrigation users' organisations are required to contribute to capital costs, these contributions may be spread over periods such as 25 years, without interest or inflation effects; so these are conditions very much softer than the conditions that would face a genuine private investor.When we contemplate the possibility of bringing private capital investment into irrigation, we soon see that this is a much more complex objective for public policy to achieve. We can consider three main modes in which it may happen: extension of existing government-built irrigation systems; private installation of new irrigation systems; small single-owner or small-group installations.Extension of existing government systems could, in principle, be done either by the existing users, or by some external new group. Neither of these seems to happen much. This may seem quite strange, since there are many cases where an initial government scheme has not been extended to its full potential (in terms of the available water and land resources). Usually this is because of funding constraints on the government's side. Why are the users of such systems not motivated to invest labour and money in expanding their systems to fulfil their potential?There can be several explanations, as conditions vary. A very likely explanation is that the organisations being set up under irrigation management transfer programmes are not appropriate for this kind of challenge. Extension of an existing irrigation system by its own users requires mobilisation of a substantial effort among them. Constraints that make that unlikely seem to include: Abernethy: Enabling environments, financing mechanisms and equitable access to irrigation Allocation of inputs and benefits. Ø How will the personal or household contributions of labour and money be determined? Ø Who will get the benefits of using the extended land?The organisations set up under irrigation management transfer generally treat all members as more or less the same. New rules are required for a joint effort such as an expansion. Some members may see no benefit for themselves in an expansion. The ordinary rules about contributions to the organisations usually make these compulsory, and somehow uniform (most commonly, a uniform rate per hectare cultivated); but undertaking some new joint effort probably requires a different basis with voluntary and variable inputs. People will be quite willing to work for expansion of the system, if they believe that they themselves will be able to use the new land; but they will need some other incentive if they believe that others will use it.Ø If the government owns the system and its water rights, why should the users improve it?Ø Who will own the new facilities and their water?Ø The water available for existing users will obviously be reduced if the system is extended: what will be their compensating benefit?The literature of farmer-managed irrigation systems has many examples of autonomous expansions, resulting in more efficient use of the available land and water. In such cases, the members of an existing farmer-managed system have perceived that they could get a direct benefit to themselves by expanding the system to accommodate new users. The benefit may be a payment, such as an \"entrance fee,\" or a labour contribution, such as help with annual maintenance of a common intake or conveyance canal. If the organisation receives such inputs, the future contributions of money or labour by the existing users will be reduced, and the prospect of this reduction makes them willing to let some of their water be used by the new partners.The existing users of a government-built system, on the other hand, may feel that it is in their personal interest to oppose, not promote, its extension. They consider the water in the supplying reservoir to be \"theirs,\" in the sense that they are angered if the government agency starts to build structures that would enable some other group of potential users to obtain a share. But it is not theirs in the sense of a right, in which they might voluntarily decide to sell a share. Sri Lanka has begun experimenting with an organisational model, in government systems, that goes beyond the conventional irrigation management transfer models. There are two types of farmer organisation within the same irrigation system. One is of the inclusive, statutory type, which includes all farmers. This is responsible for the routine tasks of operation and maintenance. The other is a \"Farmers' company.\" This is a voluntary organisation, with a shareholder structure. Joining the company is a matter of personal choice as is the number of shares taken.The idea is that the inclusive organisation is responsible for tasks that must be performed to keep the system functioning, whereas the shareholding organisation can undertake other kinds of activities, such as seeking new markets, making production contracts, experimenting with new crops, arranging credit lines for members, and so on. It may be possible for a model of this kind to lead ultimately to resource accumulation, and so to investment by the existing users in expansion of their own system, but that remains to be seen. Direct private investment in creation of new irrigation systems faces a different set of constraints. These constraints relate mainly to financial factors: markets, profits, and sources of capital. Historically, in the colonial period, African countries had substantial amounts of private irrigation. It was generally established for growing high-value crops, not basic foods, and these were mainly intended for export since home markets were too thin to support this kind of activity. Cotton, sugar, tobacco, and other crops were the main examples, and some of these continue to sustain private enterprises. All of these require substantial ancillary facilities for post-harvest processing, and are, therefore, suitable mainly for companies, which can afford to install these, with a reasonable assurance of market access and continuity. Many of these companies are foreign, or began with foreign origins.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Single-owner, or small-group, indigenous enterprises on the other hand have shown high levels of activity in many countries, especially in peri-urban environments around cities. Such enterprises benefit from two modern trends: the growth of the urban populations directly increases their potential markets, and the increased standards of living of middle-class city-dwellers lead to some changes and diversification of food preferences, including usually greater consumption of fruits and vegetables.These small-scale peri-urban enterprises correspond best to the \"demand-led\" development that Moris (1987) praised.Studies of small government-built irrigation systems, in both Burkina Faso and Niger (PMI-Burkina Faso 1997; PMI-Niger 1998) showed that both crop choices and overall performance were related to market access: nearness to the capital city, and linkage by good roads. More remote systems are likely to grow only basic cereals, primarily for local consumption; systems near the city are likely to grow more vegetables for sale. Small-scale investors, installing a well or a river-bank pump, are driven by the same market logic.The role of exporting in these smaller enterprises is problematic. Home markets for fruits and vegetables are growing, but perhaps not very fast, and prices are not high, so exporting seems an attractive alternative. But it is hard for a small group in Africa to establish a satisfactory relationship with a distant contract customer in Europe (for example). There are many risks and possibilities of disputes over such matters as quality, delivery dates, packaging and so on. The evolution of satisfactory export marketing, therefore, seems to depend on the evolution of intermediary local firms, which can carry those risks. This evolution is taking place at varying rates in different countries.There are probably many new entrants, at the small local level, appearing in the peri-urban environments all the time, especially where ground-water access is relatively easy or where there is a perennial river that can be accessed. The policy question is, should that process be stimulated by governments, and if so, how? Going beyond that, there is the question of how urban investors (including potential investors of earnings from foreign employment) may be attracted to the irrigated agriculture sector.These new entrants could have a variety of roles. They may come in simply to provide credit to the producers. They may become agriculture producers themselves. They may come as serviceproviders.The tools that governments have for helping in these matters are few, and there are strong arguments for saying that it may be better to do as little as possible, leaving the process to be as far as possible demand-led. The record of the impacts of subsidies, such as pump subsidies and fertiliser subsidies, is not good. We noted earlier Schiffler's comment on the prolonged decline of cereal prices, which may have been caused at least in part by over-investment in irrigation facilities. It will not be useful to those small investors who are already in vegetable-growing enterprises, if governments start to subsidise further entrants sufficiently to cause long-term price falls in those products too.One of the main things that governments can do is to improve security of tenure for small irrigators, in regard to both land and water rights. The lack of land title documents is often cited as a major constraint inhibiting commercial banks from lending to small farmers and in several countries, it is an obstacle to engaging new private investors too. In some countries, especially in West Africa, traditional and hereditary rights over the allocation and use of land are exercised by local chiefs, who may use this position of power in order to control, or at least to extract profit from, potential new investors. Negotiations in these circumstances can be long and frustrating for the investor.Water rights for small farmers are not likely to be documented, in many countries, for a rather long time; but it is a valuable policy objective to aim for, even in the long term. A company that decides to invest in irrigated agriculture without having any documented right to its water source will always be to some extent insecure, and will, therefore, seek higher rates of profit.Many private irrigation farmers in Africa operate on a very small-scale. Formation into organisations can make their operations more efficient in aspects such as marketing, transport and purchase of inputs. Malaysia has experimented with arrangements such as \"group farming\" (where farmers co-ordinate their field activities but remain separate as land-owners) and \"mini-estates\" (where farmers form a share-based company which becomes the land-owner). Government agencies can develop programmes to assist the formation of such larger and stronger units, by training and advice and perhaps assistance with market contacts for export crops.Private-sector organisations which provide specific contract services to irrigation farmers, but do not engage in agriculture themselves, have been appearing in various countries. These include (in Bangladesh) landless pump-operating groups who take a loan to install a well and a pump, and contract to supply water to neighbouring farmers, and (in China) maintenance companies. Arrangements of this kind allow some economies: for example, a maintenance contractor can invest in equipment which it may then apply to numerous different irrigation systems. Arrangements of this kind are likely to be profitable mainly in countries where the areas to be served are substantial and lie not too far apart. In countries where those conditions do not exist, we may find (for example) teams of young men who offer, for payment, to contract with irrigators' organisations to perform lowlevel manual maintenance of canals and drains.After the above rapid overview of some possible private-sector development paths, and some constraints, we shall now try to identify the elements of an enabling environment that may increase the private-sector role. Five groups of enabling conditions will be considered: profitability; rights; sources of finance; intra-community relationships;technical and organisational support.The first and most essential requirement for developing any unsubsidised private-sector activity is that it should be profitable. Unfortunately, the mass of literature and research on irrigation management over the past decade or two has given very little attention to profitability. The new IWMI 5-year strategy scarcely refers to it. Irrigation is still perceived quite commonly as a welfare activity rather than as an economically self-sustaining activity. The conditions under which irrigated agriculture is profitable, and how its profitability compares with other possible uses of capital in rural environments of developing countries, are matters that have been inadequately explored.We have to consider the competitiveness of private irrigated agriculture at two distinct levels:Can private-sector producers bring crops to market at prices that are the same as, or lower than, those required by producers on government irrigation systems?Are the potential profits from irrigated agriculture sufficient, in comparison with other investment opportunities, to attract private capital?It seems clear that, as in other sectors, it must be difficult for private irrigated agriculture to be directly competitive with state-financed systems. The users of state-financed systems rarely if ever pay the full costs of their systems, inclusive of capital. The high amounts of new irrigation capacity that have come into existence in the past 30 years have been linked with a long-term decline of prices. So it seems reasonable to say that private-sector irrigated agriculture is not likely to be competitive if it uses the same kind of crop patterns that are usual in the state-supported systems.Kaboré, Tahirou and Lowenberg-DeBoer (1994) investigated the opportunity cost of private capital in the Sahel, looking at the returns that were obtained from small-scale rural enterprises like fishing, retail trade, and so on. They found varied results, but the general indication was that capital was so scarce that returns of the order of 50 percent per year were obtainable. This kind of information indicates the likely competitive difficulty of attracting capital into irrigated agriculture.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan AfricaWe have noted already the problem of long-term decline of prices for basic cereal crops. The implication is that, for commercial success of private investments in irrigation, it seems that it will be necessary to focus on higher-value crops in the peri-urban areas, and on export crops, in order to generate sufficiently attractive returns to capital.There are areas where the state can facilitate these kinds of developments. Efficient and accessible market facilities in the city peripheries are essential, and if markets are connected to the rural areas by good roads they will help to expand the peri-urban ring. Official systems of quality control and labelling can help exporters, who also may need help in establishing delivery chains and cold storage facilities.What are the prospects of bringing in private-sector organisations in contractor modes, as suppliers of support services rather than for crop production? The likely profitability of this seems to depend on the local density of irrigation systems. It is obviously easier to promote this kind of development in countries like China or Bangladesh, where population densities and numbers of irrigation systems are high, than in places where they are few and relatively far apart. Such development, therefore, would be more likely to happen in the North African countries or Madagascar than in most of sub-Saharan Africa.Investment depends largely on security; on feeling secure about the future. Clear, transparent and secure systems of land tenure and water rights are a primary need. Without these, investment is much less likely, and the rate of return demanded by an investor will be much higher.Construction of new facilities particularly needs secure rights to land and water. Investments of that kind may well take a decade or more to recover their initial outlay, so the investor probably will want documented rights for a time period of that order at least. One of the principal benefits of a system of secure, documented water rights would be that it would encourage investment in water-saving technologies. A limited quantity of water can be used (for example) to irrigate a larger area of tree crops, by installing micro-jet sprinklers. That kind of fixed capital investment is less likely if the water supply is uncertain, or if it is undefined.The existence of a sophisticated system of documented water rights in Chile has resulted in that country having substantial investments in micro-irrigation, of export crops such as grapes, with consequent enhancement of water productivity and extension of irrigable area.Security is also needed in regard to the management of irrigation systems. Management decision-making must be done in ways that give the system's users confidence that its performance will be reliable, delivering timely and adequate water, equitably distributed among participants. This is probably a reason against private expansion of existing government irrigation systems: in many countries, the management of government systems has been weak and inflexible, so a private investor would prefer to be sure of having control of operational management.In several Asian countries, such as India or Thailand, we see clear evidence of the problems of erratic water-delivery performance in government surface-irrigation systems. Farmers have invested heavily in equipping themselves with wells and pumps (even if they are in areas nominally provided with canal water), because they know by experience that the delivery of canal water is unreliable. That may perhaps be tolerable while they are growing rice, but when they move to higher-value crops, especially certain vegetables, whose water schedules may need to be frequent and more carefully observed, they invest in pumps so that they can control irrigation timing.To some extent that behaviour can be addressed by requiring government management organisations to issue level-of-service declarations, accompanied by some statements of compensation that will be payable to system users if the terms of the declaration are not fulfilled. This type of accountability alters the relationship between service-providers and service-users, and increases the users' confidence as well as the service-providers' performance.The users of irrigation systems are usually not affluent people. Therefore the development of unsubsidised farming activities, and in particular the promotion of private investment to create new irrigation facilities, depend on access to external financial resources. Banks and other types of investors have roles to play in this. In some countries family members working abroad, or in urban areas, may be significant sources of small-scale capital.The risks to such potential lenders may be quite large at present, which will obviously affect both their willingness to provide capital to irrigation development, and the rates of return they will seek.The risks can be reduced by various adjustments in the institutional environment. There tends to be a focus on the roles of commercial banks, such as improving their accessibility in the rural areas. These aspects are certainly important, but in the present time, when urbanisation and foreign employment are both increasing fast, it may be equally important to look for ways of encouraging investment of these urban and overseas savings. This means that returns should be as secure and as competitive as the available alternatives. To achieve this is difficult at present, but the improvements in security of rights and in marketing facilities mentioned above would be steps in this direction.In the past, official control of unrealistic rates of currency exchange was a major obstacle to repatriation and investment of foreign earnings. That problem has reduced in recent times, but has not entirely disappeared.Innovative lending practices, such as those pioneered by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and now spreading in other Asian countries, including use of community groups to guarantee personal repayments, rather than demanding collateral, also may be useful, but these refer more to the level of seasonal crop investments rather than creation of new facilities.Profitable farming may involve a shift away from staple cereal crops towards, for example, vegetables or fruits, or other niche crops such as flowers and ornamental plants. This in turn may mean changes in production relationships, in which a farmer or farming group become entrepreneurs and employers of local labour for post-harvest tasks such as grading, processing, packaging, and so on.Farmers in cereal-growing irrigation systems are essentially rather equal. There is hiring of labour, and use of exchange labour, at harvest and planting times especially. But the extent of temporarily employed labour may increase considerably when the crop changes to fruits and vegetables.There are risks that these changes may reinforce existing inequities, or introduce fresh sources of inequity, for example by being undertaken by people who are already in some way privileged.The enabling environment, therefore, should include strengthening of measures that address inequity, such as increased transparency of management, dispute resolution procedures, and ways of giving voice to landless participants.Even if private activity flourishes, there are likely to be residual roles that have to be filled or at least monitored by government organisations. These may include technological advice or extension, ensuring the availability and certifying the quality of input supplies, general overseeing of irrigation system administration, and intervention in certain circumstances such as corrupt behaviour.The kind of private irrigation enterprises that we can expect to see will in general not be large, and will probably suffer from scarcity of financial resources in the foreseeable future. Governments which want to promote evolution along this path will probably have to provide these private enterprises with advice and assistance in finding and connecting to markets, especially for those that aim at export products. Quality certification systems may be a part of this.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Most of the other technical supports that would be required are already in existence, but some may need to be strengthened. These include research farms that can conduct trials of new varieties, seed certification systems, and extension services. In some countries, especially those where the total irrigated areas are small, extension services are not well skilled in irrigation issues, and there may be training needs for staff in those.The experience of privatisation in other fields of public services has shown that it may bring benefits, but it also entails risks. There are especially risks of inequity, corruption, and reinforcement of privileges, and risks of weakening field activities due to inadequate commercial performance. The institutional environment may, therefore, need to be strengthened (if the goal is a widespread increase of private activity) by introducing some new type of regulating organisation. Such a regulating body would have the duty of monitoring the organisational behaviour of irrigation systems through procedures of reports or inspections, and would also have powers for responding to failures or abuses.In future, if the scope of conventional government irrigation agencies reduces, we may see the evolution of a new type of government agency. This would be regulatory rather than executive, and headed by an official called perhaps Inspector or Registrar of Irrigation Organisations, whose function will be to ensure compliance with some set of rules of organisational and financial behaviour. An arrangement of this kind is normal in regard to commercial companies, and will need to be considered if the scale of private-sector activity increases significantly.At present, a sharp increase of private-sector irrigation investment may not seem very likely, but if it should happen there will be concerns about inequity which should be addressed. We have grown accustomed to seeing procedures of choosing new settlers in government-sponsored irrigation systems; sometimes these procedures of settler selection are obscure, and there are possibilities of favouritism and other sources of inequity. However these issues have not been of a scale that has hitherto caused too much complaint. The potential for inequity in a private-sector system could be much greater. The granting of water rights, for example, is a central requirement for strengthening the private sector; but it also carries dangers, as there will doubtless be people who end up without such rights.It is not possible to generalise this kind of question. Countries have to find policies that are consistent with their own political and social systems. But it seems that, especially in the drier countries, there will be a need to ensure that water rights are not captured by restricted groups, leaving others disadvantaged, with conceivably no right of access to water.The best institutional way to guard against this possibility seems to be through forming riverbasin organisations, which would act as the source of documented water rights, and would include some form of stakeholder forum or stakeholder council, probably in an advisory rather than executive role.Irrigation construction in Africa over the past 30 years has been dominated by investments made by governments and foreign donors. To some extent, the provision of irrigation was seen as inherently good. A consequence of this attitude has been that schemes were in many cases built without being subjected to strong economic scrutiny.Globally, there has been over-investment in irrigation, resulting in a production capacity that exceeds effective demand, at least for the basic cereal crops. This has contributed to prolonged weakness of prices for those crops, which further reduces the economic viability of irrigation schemes.Private funding may be brought into irrigated agriculture in several ways, especially: funding of recurrent costs of operation, maintenance and management, especially by existing users of irrigation systems; providing capital to extend existing irrigation systems; 208 Abernethy: Enabling environments, financing mechanisms and equitable access to irrigation constructing new irrigation facilities; investing in higher technologies, especially water-saving technologies, in existing irrigation systems;supplying support services, such as marketing or contracted maintenance.There are severe constraints facing each of these options, and reasons why they have been slow to happen.Increase of private-sector roles, in an economic sector that has been dominated by government, can lead to serious problems of corruption, and inequitable access to resources. Governments which aim to privatise irrigation activities, in whole or in part, should first ensure that there are institutional mechanisms in place to prevent these outcomes.The actions that governments could take, to encourage private-sector financial inputs, while guarding against inequity, include: Establish a clear and secure system of documented water rights.Establish river-basin organisations with stakeholder councils, which will have among their duties the supervision of water-rights allocations.Enact a law defining the status, governance, scope, and financing of irrigators' organisations. If the number of such organisations is significant, there should be a small regulating agency to oversee their compliance with certain standards of organisational and financial behaviour.Establish laws and procedures that will be applied in case of bankruptcy or other organisational failure.In government-built irrigation systems, establish clear definition of ownership and responsibilities, especially in regard to the physical facilities and water rights.In larger existing systems where the government will continue to operate main-system facilities, establish a clear contract or level-of-service declaration, with rules about compensation to users in case of failure to deliver the specified level of irrigation service.Promote the establishment of good physical facilities for marketing, especially in the periphery of large cities; such facilities include good transport links and cold storages, and may be provided where possible through private investment.Ensure that small organisations of irrigators have an accessible source of advice in relation to export markets.Provide skill training for users' organisations in government irrigation systems, in aspects of management, especially communication and record-keeping.The development of irrigation dominated agricultural rural investment strategies in Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. The Government of Nigeria invested about US$3 billion in irrigation development over a period of two decades, through the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs). This amount does not include the money expended on irrigation development through Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) (Pradhan and Nwa 1993). Large, medium and small dams were constructed all over the country and these have impounded water capable of irrigating over 500,000 ha of farmland (Soribe 1993). The total irrigation potential is estimated as two million hectares. The expected returns from this investment were, however, not achieved.The problems that were faced by the large-scale irrigation projects operated by the River Basin Development Authorities stemmed largely from the inadequate attention paid to user farmers in project formulation and implementation. This was also part of the reason why the large-scale approach to irrigation development had difficulties in making the expected impact. This led to the attention that is presently being paid to fadama development.Fadama small-scale irrigation development started with the enclave ADP (Agricultural Development Project) of Bida in Niger State of Nigeria. Informal irrigation systems, based on controlled flooding with farmers' participation were constructed. Water-control structures enabled irrigated cultivation of mainly rice and dry season vegetables. The technology also facilitated supplementary irrigation in the rainy season. Major characteristics of this method of irrigation infrastructure development, which make it popular among and acceptable by farmers, are (1) low cost, (2) farmers' involvement in development, and (3) ease of management, all of which require group activity. Kano, Sokoto and Bauchi State ADPs started fadama irrigation with bunding and impounding of run-off and using residual moisture to produce a second crop. Farmers were also provided with 3inch diesel pumps and hand pumps procured through farmer supply companies. These did not achieve the expected results. Subsequently, small portable petrol-driven pumps were introduced which could be owned and operated by individual farmers. These effectively replaced the existing shadouf and became popular with the farmers due to portability, convenience, ease of operation and maintenance. However, beyond 100 meters from the source of water, farmers began to encounter difficulties in conveying water. The need to explore more water sources or develop economical conveyance techniques arose.The experts in these irrigation projects in the ADPs carried out an investigation in 1982 to ascertain the existence or otherwise of suitable shallow groundwater (aquifers) beneath these flood plains and establish appropriate technologies for exploiting them. Low cost technologies of drilling of tubewells using the same type and size of pump as owned by private fadama irrigation farmers were introduced. Shallow aquifer studies in the above states were then conducted to:1.identify potentials in fadama for use of surface and shallow groundwater development;2. delineate all fadama areas associated with surface and shallow groundwater resources in the state;3. recommend suitable, simple and cost-effective drilling technologies for tubewell installations, along with abstraction of water.The three ADPs have now developed substantial fadama lands through small-scale farmermanaged, cost-effective irrigation schemes with farmers' participation (Qamar and Tyem 1994).The irrigated area of this category of farmers is so small, often less than 0.25 ha, and is used for the cultivation of vegetable crops as against cereal crops, because of the lower value of the latter. The system is such that irrigated plots are usually very small, about 2m x 3m, and there is usually no shortage of water in the plots where crops are grown. The system is generally characterised by high conveyance losses and other wastages to which very little or no attention is paid by most farmers. More than 80,000 motorised pump-sets have been sold to farmers by ADPs alone, and it is believed that as many as that have again been sold by the private sector (FAO 1991).The importance of the success of this type of farmer-owned and farmer-operated irrigation is that it demonstrates that farmers are prepared to make substantial capital investments (mostly without the assistance of official credit sources) to improve their farming operations when returns are high and the assets purchased are relatively easy to acquire. There appears to be no reason why farmers should not acquire larger pumping units, where situations require this, either as individuals or groups. The concept of farmers owning more permanent structures such as small headworks and canals and distribution systems would be a further step forward that justifies careful investigation and appropriate follow-up in the interest of accelerating irrigation development (FAO 1991).Kolawole and Scoones (1994) identify land tenure system, population pressure, and environmental impact, as the factors threatening sustainability of use of fadama lands. Development intervention is also one such factor. Falolu and Sangari (1994) reported that between 1983 and 1988 a total of 1,639 tubewells and 2,988 washbores were drilled and installed with fittings.In the area of fadama development about 8,000 tubewells have been constructed, out of which 6,000 have been provided with 2-inch (50 mm) petrol-driven pumps. This has facilitated the cultivation of over 5,000 hectares annually under irrigation. JARDA (Jigawa Agricultural and Rural Development Authority) had also constructed over 70 km of fadama access roads for ease of transportation of inputs and farm produce. The ADP had also gone into collaboration with Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd., to develop 120 hectares of fadama land using small-scale farmer-managed technologies. At present the state has the registration of 360 Fadama Users Association (FUAs), each association having at least 25 members.This study was conducted to determine the impact of individual pump ownership and access to associated services on the fadama area.The study was conducted by taking a random sample of farmers in the study area. Each farmer gave his own individual response by answering some questions in a questionnaire. Thereafter, a checklist of questions were asked, for a collective response of members of FUAs, staff of the ADP and local mechanics.Jigawa State was created in 1992 from part of the former Kano State. It lies between latitude 11 0 -13 o north and longitude 8 o -10 o 35' east. It covers a land area of about 24,410 km 2 , with a human population of about 3,721,357 persons. Although most parts of the state lie within the Sudan savannah vegetation zone there are traces of guinea savannah on some parts of the southern borders of the state. The mean daily minimum and maximum temperatures are 19 o C and 35 o C, respectively. The rainy season lasts between June and September with an average of 644 mm rainfall per annum.A total 70 percent of the land mass of Jigawa State is cultivated during the rainy season; bush fallows constitute about 10 percent, uncultivable land 5 percent, grazing reserves 10 percent and forest estates about 5 percent of the total. Prominent rainfed crops are millet, sorghum, cowpea, groundnuts, sesame, rice, bambara nuts, pepper, bitter melon and cotton. The State is blessed with floodplains popularly known as fadama lands. These floodplains are characterised by availability and accessibility to both open surface and underground water. The estimated land area under this category is about 15,000 hectares, 80 percent of which is cultivable under irrigation during the dry season between November and March. Jigawa State has seven major irrigation schemes, one of which is the Hadejia Valley project, covering about 3,000 hectares. The major crops grown during the dry season are tomatoes, pepper, onions, wheat, lettuce, carrot, garden eggplant, maize, amarantus and sugar cane.Both descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were employed in data analysis. Correlation analysis was used to study the relationship between success in use of the pumps and some variables. Success was measured by the profitability of the crops produced.The socio-economic characteristics of respondents captured in this study include sex, age, level of education, membership of FUA, family size and farm size. These are presented in Table 1.Table 1. Socio-economic characteristics of respondents.From Table 1 it can be deduced that fadama farming is predominantly a male affair; among the sample of farmers none are female. When the age of farmers is considered, those within the age limit of 31-40 years predominate, being 35 percent of the total. This age group was then followed in equal proportion by those in the ranges of 41-50 and 51-60 years having 23.5 percent each. The younger farmers were the least involved, with just 5.9 percent, followed by those in the range of 61-70 who are 11.8 percent of the total.The educational levels of farmers studied was found to vary in the following order, koranic 52.9 percent, adult education 38.2 percent and primary school, secondary school and tertiary education having the least percentages of 2.9 percent each. All the farmers that responded were members of FUA, that is, 100 percent. When the family size is looked at, it was found that farmers having families with 11-20 members are the major group with about 45.5 percent, followed by those having 1-10 members, with 39.4 percent. Families that have members up to 21-30 and over 31 members were just 12.1 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.The farm sizes of the farmers also vary, farmers having less than one hectare predominate with 38.2 percent. This is followed by those having up to 2 hectares, 26.5 percent and those having 1-1.5 hectares, 23.5 percent. Only 11.8 percent of the farmers studied had over two hectares of fadama land under cultivation.Crop production by farmers in the fadama area.Figure 1 shows the crops that were cultivated by the farmers in the study area. All the farmers (100%) grew tomato. Other crops that are popular with the farmers are pepper and onions, grown by 88.25 percent. The fourth crop in terms of importance is amaranthus, grown by only 14.7 percent of the farmers. This was followed by sugar cane, cabbage/lettuce with 8.8 percent and 11.8 percent of farmers involved respectively. Carrot, okro and irrigated maize were cultivated by only 8.82 percent, while pumpkin and irrigated rice had the least frequency of cultivation, 5.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.   About 82.3 percent of the farmers sampled owned motorised pumps, while 17.7 percent did not. Among the farmers that owned pumps only 23.5 percent are willing to lend their pumps, while the majority, 76.5 percent do not want to lend their pumps to any body. It was also found that 67.6 percent of pump owners did not want to hire out their pumps; and only 32.4 percent was willing to hire out.Sampled farmers in the study area use a variety of pumps for irrigating their farms (Figure 3). They are Robin, Honda, Kubota, Yamaha and Swift. Mechanics trained by ADP officials usually attend to pump problems that may arise. The cost and returns of fadama crops were computed. Two categories were studied: pump owners and non-owners. This is shown in Table 2.Analysis of the cost and returns of the sampled farmers, for the 2000 /2001 cropping season, using the Gross margin analysis shows that the mean gross margin for pump owners was 110,586.00 Naira 1 (US$968) while that of non-owners was N97,253.33 (US$852). (Non-owners are farmers who do not own pumps personally, and who must therefore hire or borrow.) The level of profit of pump owners is higher than those of non-owners, thereby putting the former at a financial advantage over the latter. The income of non-owners is less, partly because the cost of hiring has to be considered; and partly because the hired or borrowed pump may not always be available when it is needed, which affects the productivity of the crops.Most farmers indicated that fadama farming has enabled them to buy work bulls, pumps, or houses, while others have taken additional wives. Some have bought motorcycles and buses. A sizeable number had even gone on pilgrimage with the proceeds from the fadama. Further analysis shows a strong relationship between ownership of pump and gross margin (r = 0.710).Table 2. Cost and returns (Naira/season) in Chiyoko fadama.The data obtained and the assessment by farmers themselves indicated that the fadama farming is profitable. In addition, the ability of farmers to plan what to grow and the number of acres to cultivate, along with the guarantee of perennial streams in their locality and inputs availability for their production, appear to ensure sustainability of fadama cultivation in the area. It can also be asserted that this practice can be replicated in areas with similar fadama features.Factors affecting successThe presence of a perennial stream along the stretch of the entire fadama in Chiyako (the study area) gave the assurance for a season-long secure water supply to the irrigated area. In addition, most farmers have either tubewells or washbores or even both in their farms. Table 3 gives the proportions of each.Table 3. Proportion of tubewells and washbores among farmers studied.The technology of running individual pump-sets by farmers in the study area was quite simple and affordable. The operation and maintenance of the entire system is handled entirely by the farmers with ease. The farmers only sought the assistance of the local mechanic in a situation where some vital spare parts are to be replaced. Refuelling and change of engine oil at regular intervals are done by the farmers themselves.Technology of crop production is being supplied mostly by extension agents of Jigawa State ADP (JARDA). The following crops were identified to offer high returns in order of priority: Tomato, pepper, onions, leafy vegetables, sugar cane, carrots and maize.The respondents participate in planning what their irrigation needs will be. The Fadama User Association (FUA) is the main group of farmers that liaise with the ADP for the planning and subsequently the construction of the irrigation wells on an individual farmer's field. Decisions on operation and maintenance of pumps are principally taken by the farmers themselves. They irrigate their farms using pump-sets. If problems arise with the use of pump-sets, they consult nearby local mechanics who attend to the maintenance or repair of these devices. The farmers in the study area take decisions by themselves on the planting date, area cropped and crop rotation in line with the advice of extension staff of the ADP. Usually such decisions are guided by quality and quantity of land available to individual farmers, availability of enough capital for farming and the priorities of the farmers.Ability to size up the risks and benefitsAll the respondents in the study area indicated that they were prepared to make large capital investment to improve their farming operation. This shows that they have the ability to size up risk and benefits and can, therefore, count on themselves in order to improve on their financial position. Moreover, a large proportion of the farmers considered fadama farming worthwhile. Correlation analysis between ability to take risk and gross margin shows a positive but weak relationship (r = 0.367).Most of the farmers now purchase their new pumps from the open market along with spare parts. Hitherto, farmers were supplied the pumps and spare parts by the ADP. Inputs were also purchased at the ADP. But now farmers source their inputs from the open market. This indicates the level of flexibility of farmers to changing situations and demand. Thus having realised the benefits from fadama farming they are willing to adapt themselves to new circumstances that prevail in order to continue cultivating their cropsMost respondents utilised the proceeds from their previous harvest as well as personal savings to finance their production. Some augment what they have with loans from friends. However, from the study carried out so far only one farmer got a loan from the Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank (NACB). Correlation analysis between access to credit and gross margin shows a positive and strong relationship (r = 0.785).3.6.9 Timely access to inputs and spare parts for maintenanceThe main problems identified with the pumps in the study area are piston and rings spoilage, valve spoilage, and frequent connecting-rod and plugs spoilage. A few of the farmers indicated problems of high fuel consumption of their pumps. All these problems are solved by mechanics located within the study area. The mechanics are trained by the ADP. The farmers indicated that the mechanics are efficient in the repair of their pumps and spare parts are usually bought in Kano by the mechanics on behalf of the farmers. Correlation analysis between availability of spare parts and gross margin shows a positive but weak relationship (r =0.388).Marketing of fadama crops by the farmers in the area constitutes little problem. With the exception of tomatoes all the crops are being bought on the farm or taken to nearby retail and wholesale markets. Correlation analysis between access to market and gross margin shows a positive but weak relationship (r = 0.335).The respondents indicated that the institutional arrangement for management of the fadama which gave them a say in decisions was more favourable to them than the previous arrangements. They were, however, unhappy that the government macro-economic policies have been counter-productive. They indicated, for instance, that they were unhappy with the removal of subsidy on inputs like fertilisers, which led to the high cost of fertilisers. The continued depreciation of the Naira and inflation have also not encouraged production.The study indicated that 82 percent of the farmers that were interviewed are pump owners, and the acquisition of the pump had led to profitable fadama irrigation farming among them. Most of the people interviewed were content with what they had in terms of possession of houses, means of transportation, food reserve, etc. Some of the farmers mentioned that during peak periods of production, buyers come to the village from neighbouring states and some from faraway southern parts of the country to buy their produce. Pump ownership in the study area was initiated first by the ADP when a package was given to farmers in the form of loans, which included the construction of tubewells and washbore wells for the pump owners. Now individual farmers can buy their own pumps and maintain them. This has shown that pump ownership can be easily replicated in any fadama area.Marketing of tomatoes constituted a problem to the farmers in the area. All the farmers had to contend with post-harvest loss due to poor market for their tomatoes at certain points in time during the season.Results of correlation analysis showed strong relationships between gross margin and ownership of pump (r = 0.710), and between gross margin and access to credit (r = 0.785). Positive but weak correlation was found between gross margin and access to market (r = 0.335), availability of spare parts (r = 0.388), and ability to take risk (r = 0.367). This implies that pump ownership and access to credit are the most important factors that affect the profit margin, hence the success.On sustainability of pump ownership, the study indicated that farmers can own and maintain their pumps without any difficulty. It is only in a situation where a major part is to be replaced that a local mechanic comes in. On the whole pump ownership has provided the farmer with a lot of freedom to take decisions on the design and planning of his irrigated farming activities. Such farmers find it easy to maintain their infrastructure and equipment on their own and, therefore, sustain their farming activities. In view of the fact that most pump owners find the farming business profitable, the experiences of the farmers in this study area may be replicated in other similar settings. It was also found that availability of spare parts was not a problem.It can, therefore, be recommended that:1.Credit facilities be made available to more fadama farmers so as to acquire pumps and finance their production activities with ease. The study did indicate that the majority of the farmers have little access to credit. The farmers may need the credit only at the initial stage.The private sector be encouraged to establish cottage industries for fruits and vegetable processing. This will address the marketing problem of tomatoes in the area.Government and the private sector endeavour to establish cold storage structures in areas of high production so as to reduce the huge post-harvest losses by farmers.Government should evolve policies that will facilitate, for fadama farmers, the smooth flow of information, availability of production inputs including pumps, and easy access to markets where farmers can get favourable prices for their crops. This will enhance the replication of the success story in some of the fadama areas to other areas with similar settings and conditions.Three ) was used to explain how hydrological, economic and technical analyses can be combined to enable participants to advise farmers on selecting the most appropriate pumps and on improving system performance. Finally, practical results of the approach were illustrated, using a case from Timbuktu, Mali (Arby and Van 't Hof 2000).The need for improving the availability of efficient and affordable low-lift pumps from countries, such as China, India and Turkey, has been emphasised by Zolty and Gadelle (2001). It featured prominently during the 1997 workshop on \"Irrigation technology transfer in support of food security,\" Harare (FAO 1997), with contributions from Chinese and Indian pump industry representatives. van 't Hof: Roving course on pump selection in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger: Lessons learned Nobody doubts that small-scale irrigation development in Asia, with millions of farmers buying dieselpowered pumping equipment, could ever have taken place if equipment prices had been 10 times higher.In Asian countries with high intensities of pump-based irrigation (for example, India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and Cambodia), prices charged by agents and merchants to farmer customers, for pumps of Indian or Chinese manufacture, are typically around 10 percent of the prices charged by agents and merchants in West Africa, for pumps of similar capacity made in Europe. Low-lift pumping costs in Asia (inclusive of capital depreciation) are, therefore, in the order of 70 US$/ha/season; whereas in West Africa, using the same basis of calculation, they are currently about 300 -400 US$/ha/season (Perlack 1988;Van 't Hof 1998). If efficient, affordable and reasonably reliable pumping equipment can be imported to West Africa from major manufacturing countries such as India and China, these costs can be brought down to an estimated 100 -150 US$/ha/season (Arby and Van 't Hof, 2000). This would greatly improve the competitiveness of irrigated agriculture in West Africa and would eliminate one of the main barriers to spontaneous irrigation development along Sahelian rivers, such as the Niger, the Senegal and the Logone.In the background documents to the World Food Summit of 1995 (FAO 1996) specific mention is made of low-lift pump schemes as one of the successful approaches to water development even in Africa. However, most farmer-managed low-lift pump schemes in West Africa continue to rely on foreign imports when it comes to acquiring and replacing pumping equipment (Arby 1998 and2001). Measures are urgently needed to improve the availability of affordable technologies for more spontaneous, sustainable small-scale irrigation development. Therefore, roving courses seem a practical way for increasing local awareness that less costly pumping equipment is a prerequisite for developing irrigation in Africa.The question is how to organise roving courses for effectively enhancing the adoption of affordable irrigation technologies. In this note a preliminary assessment of the roving courses on pump selection is carried out, constraints to the practical application of the information supplied during the course are identified, and suggestions are made on improving roving courses for promoting the transfer of irrigation technology in Africa in general. Special attention is paid to the role of the private sector.Sponsors: the World Bank (Trust Fund No TF039961) paid the trainer, local World Bank financed projects (APIPAC, ANPIP and APROFA 1 ) provided training spaces with computers (at least one computer for every two participants).Cost: fixed cost (course preparation) US$3,216, variable cost (21 days mission, 3 wrap-up reports, reimbursement for travel, hotel, food, visa and report edition) US$10,182, or a variable cost of US$300 per selected participant (see below). Total cost US$13,398.Time and dates: course 1: Amsterdam-Burkina Faso-Niamey 14-22 January 2001; course 2: Niamey-Amsterdam 22-29 January 2001; course 3: Amsterdam-Bamako-Amsterdam 10-18 June 2001.Teaching aids. By trainer: spreadsheet application \"PumpSelect\" with database, manual (60 p.), fully worked case study, 50 overhead sheets; by local project: overhead projector, computers (at least one for every two participants).Course teacher: present author. 2Course organisation: On average, 11 participants were selected by each local project. The attendants at the courses belonged to: projects 16, NGOs 5, government 3, consultancy firms 5, supplier 1, Chambers of Agriculture 3, volunteer organisation 1. Some of these were selected but never showed up; others were only available part of the time. The vast majority were available all the time and very interested in the course.Course programme: Monday was used for presentations and for preparing the course, including loading various files on each computer. Tuesday through Thursday were full training days with case studies; Friday was used for dealing with final questions and evaluation.Possible constraints to the practical application of course information in a particular country include the lack of:1. information on characteristics and parameters of locally available equipment; Constraint 1 occurred in Burkina Faso, where there was no or limited information on the parameters and characteristics of locally available pump sets (Honda, Robin, Yanmar, and Kirloskar).Constraint 2 is typical of the situation in Niger for Asian diesel-powered pump sets. The availability of Chinese equipment leaves much to be desired in Burkina Faso and Niger. The situation is Mali is much better, but no efforts to optimise equipment for low-lift conditions along the Niger River were observed.Uncertainty about the performance of new equipment (constraint 3) is a general problem. Very few efforts, if any, are made to collect information on equipment performance (head, discharge, fuel consumption, repair cost, and life-span) of any equipment, exotic or common. In the case of the small, petrol pumps of Honda, Yamaha and Robin, the manufacturers do not seem to have this type of information.Lack of after-sale service of new equipment (constraint 4) is common. An example is the 300 or 500 Kirloskar TV-1 pump sets that came to Burkina Faso in 1996. Not a single seller of spare parts could be identified in January 2001, with the exception of one, who had no spares in stock, but claimed to know where they were. He was ready to provide some prices. When asked if he had a list of spare parts from the manufacturer, the answer was negative.Lack of repair and maintenance know-how (no. 5) is a common constraint, too. Even simple diesel engines from India and China require some know-how. There is little reason to believe that this know-how is widespread, especially since there are no maintenance manuals. Constraint 6 -lack of awareness of the availability among potential buyers -is likely to prevail in most countries. There seem to be no generally accessible lists of equipment, their suppliers and contact details. Early October 2001, an unknown buyer in Mali apparently did not know any Malian importers of Chinese equipment (i.e., an S195 diesel engine), and contacted a Belgian company, who in turn contacted the HIPPO Foundation in the Netherlands. The latter provided the Belgian company with the names and addresses of three Malian importers of Chinese S195 diesel engines, although the company stated that buying locally was not an option! van 't Hof: Roving course on pump selection in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger: Lessons learned The unwillingness to consider buying new equipment in spite of better (economic) performance (constraint 7) can be seen at work in several countries. The interaction between the three privatesector groups that deal with pumps (users, suppliers, and advisers) can yield arbitrary outcomes. For example, a consultant, when asked to advise a development organisation for choosing an equipment, may be hesitant to advise cheaper exotic equipment because there is insufficient experience with it in that particular country. The same consultant may well be less hesitant in a country where this equipment is much more common. The organisation considers that its smallscale development project is already sufficiently complex and will be inclined to reduce the risk of breakdown and maintenance problems. The farmers, because they don't have to pay for the equipment, will incite the development organisation to buy the most expensive (and reliable) equipment available on the market.As a result of this type of short-term thinking, the introduction of affordable, exotic equipment is blocked. Lack of competition will increase prices and erode after-sales services. There will be little incentive to importers to improve the equipment selection process. Exotic equipment will lose its competitive edge and farmers will not be able to carry out spontaneous, small-scale irrigation development. This is the aid trap of the equipment market in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa.Finally, it was not assessed whether the roving course enhanced the local capability to train other groups (constraint 8). The roving course on pump selection was not intended as a Training of Trainers course. On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that a number of trainees are now capable of carrying out similar training activities. The main teaching aids were a manual, a spreadsheet application, and a report. Electronic versions were provided to all trainees having a diskette, i.e., almost all of them. Transparencies can be produced on a US$ 60 printer by enlarging the 50-odd images in the manual.The aim of the roving course was to train project staff, technicians, local consultants and equipment firms involved in small-scale irrigation design to help farmers choose equipment that is best adapted to local hydrologic and climatic conditions.The participants successfully carried out most of the exercises, showing that they were capable of using PumpSelect for the technical analysis of pumping systems and for simple economic calculations. Some participants grasped the course content in just a few hours. Nevertheless, the level of the participants was highly variable, some missed basic notions in physics, while others had difficulty in interpolating pump characteristic curves or lacked experience in using spreadsheets. The advanced economic calculations based on the method of Perlack (1988) could be explained to only very few people.A number of additional suggestions were made by one or more participants during the course, including:(1) the database of PumpSelect should be enlarged to include locally available pumps;(2) more information is needed on equipment use and maintenance;(3) a field demonstration should be included;(4) addresses of manufacturers and their local representatives should be provided.The overall sentiment was that the course was very interesting, but perhaps lacked direct applicability, except for those directly involved in pump selection on a regular basis.The first suggestion was first made in Burkina Faso, with respect to the small petrol pumps (Honda, Robin, and Yamaha). A week later it became clear that all the necessary information had already been collected by the ANPIP (2000) project in Niger, where 12 small pumps had been measured on a test bench. This enabled the inclusion of these small pump sets in the PumpSelect database, although there were difficulties in distinguishing between pump and engine efficiency (not measured separately on the test bench). In Mali, one of the exercises consisted in entering data of 12 Indian pump sets in the data base of PumpSelect. Another exercise consisted in comparing the pumping costs of three different local pumping systems.Click here to view the full text of this paper.The paper first describes five sets of difficulties that often affect the financing of small-scale projects in African irrigation development: these are problems arising from project design, from the beneficiaries, the lending institution, the government, and the donors. The author then draws various lessons, about project design, supply and demand for credit, appropriate institutional development, and relevant policies. The final section proposes ten rules for sound development of projects. The aim of self-sufficiency is emphasised: dependency on credit should be minimised, equipment should be as cheap as possible and rapidly repayable. Governments and project designers should not focus too rigidly on production-enhancement objectives as these may be negated by other aspects of the local context, such as post-harvest losses or weak market mechanisms; the investigation of such factors, and steps to alleviate them, should be an integral part of pre-project planning. Where credit is a necessary project component, it should as far as possible be managed through local decentralised micro-finance institutions which are near to the borrowers and able to know their circumstances.On décrit cinq catégories de difficultés qui souvent affectent le financement de petits projets d'irrigation en Afrique : ce sont des problèmes liés à la conception de projets, aux bénéficiaires, aux organismes de crédit, au gouvernement, et aux bailleurs de fonds. L'auteur tire des leçons concernant la conception de projets, la demande et l'octroi de crédits, le développement institutionnel, et les politiques associées. Enfin, dix règles sont proposées pour favoriser le développement de projets crédibles. La notion d'autosuffisance est soulignée : la dépendance sur le crédit est à minimiser, le matériel acquis ne doit pas être trop coûteux et doit être facilement remboursable. Des gouvernements et des concepteurs de projets ne doivent pas mettre trop l'accent sur les objectifs d'amélioration de la production car ils courent le risque d'être neutralisés par les éléments en rapport avec le contexte local tels des pertes post-récoltes ou des mécanismes faibles de marché. L'analyse de ces facteurs et l'identification de mesures pour les lever doivent être partie intégrale de la planification pré-projet. En ce qui concerne le crédit, il doit être géré, autant que possible, par des institutions de micro-crédit locales décentralisées qui sont proche des emprunteurs et qui comprennent leurs réalités quotidiennes.Experience to date with the FAO's Special Programme for Food Security provides information on problems encountered and lessons learned from past efforts in the financing irrigation development projects. Those who are familiar with agricultural credit will undoubtedly note that many of these problems are not intrinsic to irrigation, but apply generally to all types of agricultural lending. The difficulties encountered generally fall into five categories:Difficulties linked to faulty initial design of projects;Difficulties linked to the beneficiaries themselves;Difficulties caused by the lending institution;Difficulties caused by governments;Difficulties caused by donors.In the following sections these five problem categories are reviewed, and thereafter various principles of project design are described with the general objective of avoiding or reducing these difficulties.Probably a majority of irrigation finance problems are the direct result of defective project design. Some of the most common project design errors include the following:Despite considerable effort and lip service by various parties, the participatory process continues to be mostly artificial. Most often, it consists only of \"sensitisation\" meetings, explaining technical decisions already taken elsewhere by \"experts.\" Many of these schemes are hatched by foreigners with little knowledge of local customs and conditions. The schemes are often too complex for potential participants to understand, or to enter as effective partners. Beneficiaries, often represented by only a few leaders, are typically presented with a fait accompli (the programme will provide you with such-and-such equipment, which will cost you so much, and which will provide you so much income and profit…). A sensitivity analysis, to help potential borrowers assess the risk of success or failure, is almost never presented.With the exception of certain World Bank efforts (notably the PSAN project in Burkina Faso and the PDPI project in Senegal), which seem truly well appreciated by beneficiaries (LeBrun 1998: 7), irrigation projects have generally deliberately by-passed this preliminary phase of briefing beneficiaries on future developments, which is absolutely necessary for success. These two World Bank projects succeeded because they fully involved participants, not only in the conception of the programme, but also in the specifics of project implementation, and even in project monitoring and evaluation.Nearly everyone gives lip service to beneficiary participation in project design, but very few project designs, in reality, adequately involve those who will be most affected by their execution. This is frequently due to the need to write project proposals quickly, and as the old adage goes, \"haste makes waste.\"When faced with the choice between a simple, inexpensive solution and a costly, complex one, many professional project design officers, desiring to display their command of the subject matter, have a tendency to choose the latter. Thus they violate one of the most fundamental rules of development work, the KISS (\"Keep it simple, stupid!\") principle. As one micro-irrigation expert puts it, \"Western entrepreneurs and trained engineers have difficulty unlearning enough of what they've been taught, to innovate, design, and market micro-irrigation systems that are affordable enough for poor farmers to take advantage of them.\" 1Typically, the family income is only two or three hundred dollars a year, far too little to afford the modern irrigation devices available off the shelf that are often promoted by development \"experts.\" However, without improved irrigation, they cannot fully benefit from green revolution inputs. Furthermore, many development experts expect that in an open marketplace, small inefficient farms will be taken over by larger and more efficient farms. In the face of rapid population growth, however, actual farm size in developing countries is instead steadily decreasing. The failure of the development community to take these simple facts into account is a major factor constraining the emergence of practical solutions, both to improved irrigation performance and to hunger and poverty.Bilateral donor-funded agricultural development projects frequently also have an inherent, builtin problem, i.e., statutes in the donor country require that equipment used in development projects be manufactured in the donor country. It doesn't matter that the donated equipment may be five times as expensive as alternative irrigation equipment made locally in Africa or imported from India or China. It also may not matter that a much less complex and vastly less expensive solution may be more appropriate.Experience with complicated equipment or technologies, such as power pump-based irrigation and animal traction, in areas with little tradition of using them, has often been disastrous. Project designers have greatly underestimated the difficulties of introducing such new technologies in contexts where the population has no experience with machines or care of animals.For example, instead of using expensive European motor pumps, it may be possible to pump water much more cheaply and with less dependence on foreign technology, spare parts, etc., by using alternative equipment like locally-made treadle pumps and rope pumps. Accordingly, those in the business of designing irrigation development projects or project components need to make a much more eloquent and convincing effort to convince bilateral donors that, if they really want to sponsor sustainable development, they should agree to less costly and less complex designs. Most of the time, \"small truly is beautiful.\" Donors have to realise that insistence on using equipment manufactured in their country of origin will at least seriously undermine the project's probability of success, and at worst render profitability and sustainability completely impossible. Some project design officers' continuing preference for expensive and complicated irrigation solutions is difficult to understand, particularly since the benefits and advantages of focusing more on micro-irrigation equipment have been so well documented. They include: By replacing surface systems and practices that have traditionally been used to irrigate small plots with low-cost micro-irrigation systems, the area of land that can be fully irrigated from a given volume of applied water can be significantly increased. However, of perhaps even greater importance from the perspective of basin-wide water resources, the production per unit of water depleted by evaporation and transpiration is often increased by 30 to 50 percent. The improved use of increasingly scarce water resources is well suited to peri-urban irrigators, with water consumption reductions of up to 60 percent in comparison to traditional (furrow) irrigation. Furthermore, the availability of affordable micro-irrigation systems in small kits unlocks these potential benefits for literally millions of resource-poor farmers who have access to as little as 20 to 500 m 2 of land. In addition, it opens the potential benefits of irrigation even to smallholders in places where water supplies were considered insufficient or too costly to acquire for traditional irrigation methods to be practical. These technologies are significantly lower in cost, available in small packages, operate at very low pressures, and are easy to understand and operate. 2   Labour savings Ø through reduction of time spent in water control in the field; Ø through reducing the gross water requirement for a given area and, therefore, the time spent in water acquisition.Opportunity to exploit a limited water supply Ø from a manual or small motorised pump; Ø where water must be carried over a distance; Ø from a small or erratic stream or canal flow.Improved conveyance and application efficiency, leading to saving of water and reduced risk of raised water tables.Improved control over the timing and depth of irrigation, permitting more accurate application of fertiliser, and hence leading to possible improvements in yield and quality of output.Potential benefits of tapping shallow aquifers and not mining deep water.Effective irrigation of coarse or shallow soils and sloping lands (avoiding need for land forming / terracing).Reduction in the area of land taken up by the distribution system.Better use of poor quality water, provided that appropriate management practices are adopted.Reduced risk to health, by elimination of standing water.Unaffected by wind (as regards drip systems).Avoids leaf scorch and reduces risk of foliar fungal disease (as regards drip systems).Localised soil-wetting reduces evaporative losses and weed growth between rows.Operates at relatively low pressure, thereby saving energy, and in many cases eliminating the need for expensive pumps.Simple to install and easy to operate by men, women and children and ideal for vegetable cultivation, but also used extensively to irrigate small plots of HYV paddy. In Asia, at least, water-saving micro-irrigation of wheat, tobacco and jute enabled irrigators to harvest remarkably higher yields compared to rain-fed farming.The benefit: cost ratio on treadle pump investment is in the neighbourhood of 5:1; the internal rate of return (IRR) is variously estimated to be around 100 percent; the payback period is usually less than a year. For a marginal farmer with US$50-100 to spare, there are few \"capital investment propositions\" more attractive than a treadle pump (Shah et al. 2000: 29).Scalable, divisible and portable technologies with low capital investment requirements (US$100 or less, sometimes under US$10) with potential for poverty alleviation via wealth creation.Improved household nutrition levels.Specific areas with the greatest potential for successful micro-irrigation include:Areas with chronic water shortages; Hillside farming systems in proximity to good urban markets; Fadamas, dambos, and goulbis; Peri-urban zones of major cities.As previously stated, a key factor in the disappointing performance of many poverty alleviation initiatives is their failure to address the fact that most of the farms in developing countries are less than two hectares in size. The key to tripling the global harvest through modern seeds and inputs has been irrigation, but until recently commercial irrigation devices have been too large and too expensive for small farmers. This has left them on the outside, looking in on many of the accomplishments of modern agriculture. Yet because small farmers are themselves poor, and are disproportionately concentrated in food-deficit rural areas, increased productivity and income are central to practical approaches to poverty alleviation. For most small farmers in developing countries, affordable small-plot irrigation may be the first step to wealth creation (World Bank;Winrock;and IDE 2000: iii).Similarly, in some cases, the basic problem to be solved by the project is misdiagnosed during the project identification and design process. For example, the \"problem\" to be resolved by a proposed new project is often stated in terms of \"low production\" or \"low yields.\" However, with post-harvest losses typically 30 percent or more of the entire harvest, a more viable project concept might well be warehousing grain until prices rise shortly before the next harvest. If farmers could sell that lost 30 percent or more rather than losing it to spoilage, or sell the entire crop at a much higher price later Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa in the year, their profitability would increase dramatically without having to get involved in complex, expensive, and unproven imported technologies. If post-harvest losses are not directly addressed by a proposed project, it should be remembered that even the doubled or tripled production that a costly and complex project may produce is also subject to post-harvest losses.The strategy of subsidising the cost of conventional irrigation systems to farmers with small plots has generally been proven to be unsustainable. It has not been a very efficient mechanism for addressing the needs of farmers of small plots, nor has it resulted in the expected improvements in irrigated agricultural performance. A growing number of irrigation experts believe that, for economically sustainable success, the uptake of micro-irrigation systems for use on small plots should be demand-driven and without direct subsidies. Thus the systems must be financially feasible (or affordable), and farmers should be willing to pay the ongoing costs (including reasonable profit margins) associated with producing and marketing their crops once the market demand is well established.Funding the development of low-cost systems and establishing demand-driven markets for them is proving to be a very appropriate and cost-effective role for donors, replacing the direct subsidies provided to farmers in previous irrigation projects. Product development, supply chain and market development, and product promotion are technologies that Western countries providing technical assistance are quite effective at. 3   The shift in emphasis from the technology development phase (although this phase is still important) to the phase of developing a private-sector-led supply chain and rural mass-marketing of the equipment characterises the present approach to smallholder irrigation development (as opposed to earlier approaches of appropriate technology). The overriding principle of all successful approaches is that they treat farmers as entrepreneurs motivated by profit, who make investment decisions based on information available to them. Successful technology transfer depends on finding farmers who fit this profile and using them as demonstrators who will influence their less entrepreneurial or more risk-averse neighbours.The market-creation model of development involves these steps:1.Feasibility Study building on previous local irrigation experience and emphasising the participatory approach, as well as identifying opportunities for marketing the increased production (especially high-value crops where local smallholders may have a comparative advantage) resulting from irrigation.Development of the Technology Package. This involves decisions about importing versus local manufacture, types and sizes of micro-irrigation equipment and kits, principal crops to be promoted, aiming at a limited product line that is affordable to poor farmers and that can pay for itself in a season or, at maximum, a year.Supply Chain Development. Once the product(s) are identified, they must be procured or manufactured, preferably the latter, as the Kenya experience shows (see following page). Although drip tape is not produced in many developing countries, PVC pipe and other plastic products are widely produced. Micro-irrigation kits can easily be produced using micro-tubes, which can be manufactured with a minimal upgrade at a PVC pipe factory. The method of manufacture is linked to the selection of technology and these decisions must be made in tandem. Also, it is critical to determine how and by whom the products will be distributed. It is desirable to have as wide a distribution network as possible, not just to one target area within the country. Local agricultural outlets, hardware stores, etc., are logical candidates to be retailers. The structure and relationship of manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer need to be determined for each programme. Questions of quality control, guarantees and other issues need to be resolved. Various types of supply chains have been developed, and to ensure sustainability it is essential that all parties in the chain make a profit.In the development of supply chains, provisions are made for private sector enterprises to supply the associated inputs (seeds, fertilisers, soil amendments, plant protection agents, etc.) that the smallholder farming community will need in order to take maximum advantage of the water-related technologies. In addition, provisions are made for the private sector and/or government agencies and NGOs to provide necessary farmer training.The availability of credit is a major factor in the successful mass dissemination of productivity-enhancing technologies for the smallholder; special consideration is given to building into the supply chain mechanisms for credit for the smallholder.Rural mass marketing. In order to convince farmers to buy new technology, major efforts must be put into marketing. This may take different forms depending on the country.Agricultural production: Adding value to product, and output marketing. With micro-irrigation, farmers may be producing high-value crops with which they are unfamiliar. They may need training on variety selection and management practices. Farmers may also need training in the use of post-harvest practices and on-farm processing in order to add value to their products, and to gain access to profitable and stable markets. Promotion of high-value crops may involve policy dialogue with the host government to facilitate relevant infrastructure development and the creation of new markets. Marketing may also involve improved storage and preserving (drying, pickling, cooling, freezing, canning, etc.) of high-value crops carried out on an industrial scale.Impact measurement and feedback. For the programme to work effectively, managers must be able to monitor impacts in order to adapt the programme continuously to meet its objectives. Programmes may need to adapt new technologies, tap new markets, or find new sources of donor funding. In order to respond to changing conditions, programme staff members need to monitor sales, redefine the target smallholders and measure the impact that the technology is having on incomes, employment, and other factors. This data needs to be fed back to the programme to enhance profitability, build sustainability, and ensure greater incomes for the target smallholders.The process involves a number of actors with a variety of skills to be obtained through the establishment of a network that would include a variety of organisations, including donors, NGOs and other implementers, host governments and the private sector. There is a strong need for coordination of the programme to assure that parties work together towards a common goal. A network secretariat would have a major objective of promoting co-ordination among all the actors involved in promoting smallholder irrigation.Two case studies in Africa (Kenya and Zambia) illustrate the importance of some of these components (World Bank et al. 2000: 11-12):In Kenya, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) distributed bucket kits. This experience provides two important insights into problems associated with production and distribution. The bucket kit is manufactured in the U.S. and shipped to Kenya in container-lot quantities. Although the shipping costs per kit are relatively low, delays hinder the availability of kits. An entire container is expensive, so the programme must depend on a large influx of funding to import the kits. This means that the programme is not run as a sustainable business.In the second, the kits have been distributed only at the national headquarters of KARI and several other outlets. They are not available through the private sector at local outlets. Although good demonstration programmes have been conducted, both at the national headquarters and at local agricultural field days, there is no consistent advertising campaign. Only sporadic advertisements and newspaper articles have announced the availability of the kits. This has resulted in uncertainty, Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa and reliance on distribution through NGOs which buy a number of kits for their target farmers. Finally, spare parts are not readily available as there is no national supply chain of kit retailers.Market Linkages. The Zambia Dambo development project provides a number of interesting lessons learned. First, the programme emphasised local production of treadle pumps, which lowered costs from US$200 to between US$60 and US$70 per pump. The contractor, IDE (International Development Enterprises), has operated the project in 4 areas of Zambia with 128 retailers, with emphasis on demonstrations to reach farmers. Farmers have been linked to micro-credit. The dispersed nature of the population, and poor quality of transportation and other infrastructure, have hindered adoption. The most significant lesson is that farmers who are linked to established horticulture markets realise the highest incomes. Generally, limited access to markets has prevented many farmers from full adoption of the technology. Zambian farmers tend to be dispersed, and, although access to land and water in dambo areas is good, farmers are generally located far from markets, and are constrained by poor road infrastructure.The various components required in a \"market creation\" approach are illustrated in the diagrams on the following two pages.Given the complexity of the market-creation approach, it would seem desirable (if sufficient funds are available) to place the overall management of the development of such systems in the hands of experienced micro-irrigation consulting firms, such as IDE, EnterpriseWorks, HIPPO Foundation and SE3WE, that already have considerable experience in Africa. The first stop in the search should probably be the IPTRID (International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage) secretariat located in FAO headquarters in Rome (iptrid@fao.org).Figure 2. The challenge of supporting the establishment of viable supply and support systems for low-cost micro-irrigation.Unfortunately, most previous irrigation projects used a \"one size fits all\" type of technological solution. Typically, all participants received the same expensive European motor pump, regardless of the size or condition of their farm, and received the same chemical inputs, etc. Unfortunately, each farmer's situation is different, and the approach should be tailored to his or her circumstances. Even neighbours' farms can be vastly different, requiring different approaches and inputs. The ultimate result was that many farmers were coerced into borrowing money to pay for expensive, inappropriate solutions, and when they did not benefit after the technology failed, they felt little obligation to repay the loans. The technical skill of the farmer and his or her previous experience with irrigated farming;The farmer's access to equipment and spares;The availability of a market for irrigated produce;The quality of advice and technical support from government or private-sector extension services.With so many factors determining what is appropriate irrigation equipment for a smallholder, it is impossible to identify one technology as the best one for everyone. Undoubtedly drip and sprinkler irrigation are the least expensive, entry-level technologies that have potential for adoption by resourcepoor farmers, followed by treadle pumps. However, the exclusion of techniques such as buried porous pots or clay pipes, low-head and pressurised bubbler systems, or lay-flat pipe in place of open field channels, does not imply that these technologies are not appropriate in some farming systems, or that low-cost drip is a universal \"solution\" (Cornish 1998: 3).Project designers frequently forget or overlook the importance of a high-performance management information system (M.I.S.) within any kind of credit programme. History shows that when the number of loans goes beyond a few hundred, control of disbursements and loan repayments tends to deteriorate rapidly, with the result that the programme goes out of control and usually fails, if there is not a good M.I.S. The lender absolutely must have daily, weekly and monthly listings of loans coming due and those overdue, so that loan officers and other staff can quickly follow up. When these reports are not available, lending programmes quickly get out of control, defaults rise dramatically, and lending and production targets are not attained.Therefore, project designers should make sure to build in both sufficient numbers of computers and banking software licences for the foreseen volume of credit, branches, cashiers and back office personnel needing access to loan portfolio information.Fortunately, we have within FAO access to state-of-the-art banking software. FAO developed the DOS version of its Microbanker software over a decade ago, and it is being successfully used in well over 1,500 financial institutions in every region of the world. This very capable software is already available in English, French and Spanish, as well as certain other European and Asian languages. Project designers should also not underestimate the effort it will take to train lending institution staff in how to use and exploit the software effectively. At a minimum, one should foresee an initial intensive training of key users for not less than 2 weeks, followed by a refresher course of a week to 10 days 6 months later. Those who have some experience with the DOS version of Microbanker know that it has a rather steep learning curve, and that it frankly is not the most userfriendly software in the world. Fortunately, a new, much more user-friendly Windows version is currently being tested in a variety of sites. MBWin is currently available only in English, but its new architecture facilitates its rapid translation into any language that Windows can use, and can, in addition, be simultaneously bilingual in two languages. French and Spanish versions will also soon be available, and conversions to other languages are not overly complicated. For budgetary purposes, project design officers desirous of using MBWin may wish to include its cost, as shown in Table 1.Table 1. Price structure for Microbanker programme.Technical and pricing questions about MBWin should be directed to Mr. Ake Oloffson, AGSM, Rome (Ake.Oloffson@fao.org).The greatest constraint in this category is farmers' frequent pre-existing indebtedness to formal and informal lenders. Ideally, new irrigation loans should not be granted to those already over-indebted, but in the absence of credit bureaus in most African countries, it is frequently difficult to determine this before granting a loan, particularly if the lender is not located in the same community as the borrower. (This is a reason to try to use decentralised financial systems as much as possible -they know the local population much better). A related problem is the frequent inability of the proposed recipient of an irrigation loan to raise the necessary counterpart funds, typically from 10 percent to 25 percent of the total cost, as well as pay the increased farm operating costs after the installation of the new irrigation equipment.In general, the almost systematic under-capitalisation of farmer-borrower farms renders them very vulnerable to the slightest unexpected event. In the case of the seemingly excellent farmer associations on the Senegal River, for example, using seven high-capacity motor pumps, borrowers had always been up to date in their payments to the lender. But when they started to exceed the capacity of the pumps, they all broke down. Since they had already spent all their available funds on operating costs, however, they could not repair the pumps, and the crops ultimately failed.African farmers frequently seem unable (some would say they refuse) to understand the mechanism of depreciation of fixed assets. Because the borrowers do not set aside funds for replacing the equipment at the end of their useful life, they end up at that point as dependent as ever on external capital. A phenomenon particularly widespread, but not limited to French-speaking West Africa, is that the cost of donated equipment is not factored into the price of whatever production results from that equipment, so that when it needs to be replaced, there are no funds to replace it. This phenomenon probably originates in the \"hand-out mentality\" that has developed, where farmers become convinced that, after all, they can get some donor to finance the next pump when the current one wears out.Illiteracy, on the one hand, and lack of institutional organisation, on the other, most often prevent farmer-borrower groups from maintaining adequate accounting records or even from properly filling out the loan application. As a result, these tasks are confided to third parties (teachers or children, typically) who do not have a personal stake in seeing that it is done right.Lastly, the high rate of post-harvest losses (typically 20% or more for rice, 30% or more for tomatoes) before marketing the produce reduces the borrowers' income greatly, as well as their-Base Module (General ledger, customer maintenance, configurator, and take-on) and one application module US$1,000 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa ability to repay their loans. The lesson here is for project development officers to give serious thought to creating viable warehousing facilities, in addition to irrigation equipment to increase production and yields.Although the distance from the lending institution or branch office to the borrower's village is not a great obstacle to disbursing the loan, it is often a major obstacle when payments come due, particularly in terms of the cost of transport and lost time, and the inability of a far-away lender to appreciate the borrower's problems. The farmer association reflects the average member, and not the condition of its most vulnerable members, who risk being marginalised, even forced to rent out their land, as in the case of Fouta-Djalon in Guinea in 1995 (LeBrun 1998: 6).Most decentralized financial systems are chronically short of long-term lending funds which would permit them to invest significant amounts in medium-and long-term investments such as irrigation equipment. Project design officers, who are frequently under pressure to complete their project papers, often forget to verify the availability of lenders' funds. When the time comes to disburse the irrigation loans which had been promised to farmers, one discovers that the lenders do not have sufficient lending capital. Worse, after disbursing the equipment loans, one discovers shortly thereafter that there are insufficient funds to pay for operating-cost loans. The chronic shortage of lending capital is just another reason to prefer micro-irrigation equipment to more expensive, imported power pumps.Finally, there is an increasing cacophony of competing rural finance institutions promoting their products. Because some competitors may have subsidised lines of credit, those borrowing from unsubsidised sources may object when they learn how little the competing institution charges. At worst, the borrower defaults, and at best he takes all his future business to the less-costly competitor, thus missing the potential benefits to both borrower and lender of a long-term relationship.The principal problems frequently encountered in this category include the inability of local authorities to assure an adequate legal and regulatory framework. Problems also include well-meaning but counter-productive usury laws or directives that interest rates on agricultural loans should paradoxically be lower than for loans to other sectors, despite the higher risk of default. Successful rural decentralised finance systems generally cannot survive on such artificially low interest rates, and the end result is that, instead of protecting farmers from \"damned usurers\", farmers end up having no access to loans at all. Other problems include government directives to \"encourage\" certain segments of the population, which may or may not make economic sense to the lender. Another major problem in much of Africa is the inability to pursue a delinquent borrower effectively and legally.A common problem is also that government officials try to force lenders to grant loans to individuals who do not qualify for loans according to the lender's established loan policy. Accordingly, it is necessary to try to negotiate a clause stating that government will not interfere in a lender's decisions to grant or refuse loans to borrowers. Also it needs to be certified that loans will be granted exclusively on the basis of the merits of the borrowers' projects; their repayment capacity and their likelihood of repayment. Attempts to assure that financial decisions are taken by experienced financial personnel, and not by politicians are also recommended. Once politics enters the lending decision process, failure will not be long in coming.A whole other class of problems is derived from deficiencies in the government's development policy itself, particularly when it accords insufficient attention to improving marketing channels (quality improvement through setting of standards, terminating ineffective marketing boards, creating sufficient feeder roads to isolated areas, etc.). The end result of these kinds of policy deficiencies is either to (1) dissuade producers from even trying to fully exploit technologies like micro-irrigation or (2) create a situation where even if production rises substantially, farmers have no place to market the extra production. Project design officers, too, must identify reliable marketing channels before proposing irrigation projects that may considerably increase production. Increasing production alone is not enough to assure the profitability of irrigation loans, and hence their ultimate repayment.Another problem that is clearly attributable to governments, is their propensity to incur massive budget deficits that provoke high inflation and interest rates. Because of the low rates of return typically applying to agriculture, these high rates greatly discourage farmers from borrowing and investing in their farms.Traditionally, the major development banks faced several obstacles in packaging small-scale irrigation activities into a loan package:The minimum loan size to justify the bank's investment in the entire project cycle is often too large for the needs of a national small-scale irrigation initiative. Because their projects had to be large in amount (typically US$25 million or more), the World Bank and other major international and bilateral donors focused principally on larger-scale systems, particularly the expensive mechanisation of large agricultural development perimeters, especially for rice production. Results with this approach have almost always been disappointing, for all the reasons already enumerated: lack of focus on market creation, use of overly complicated, expensive and uneconomical equipment imposed by bilateral donors, etc. Donors thus had a built-in bias against \"thinking small.\"Small-scale irrigation is essentially a dispersed, local activity, whereas development bank funding tends to support centralised, large-scale investments or investments targeted at large institutions (e.g., national research and extension systems) capable of absorbing large tranches of funds.Traditionally, small-scale irrigation has depended on NGOs, CBOs or private companies to jump-start the process with training, demonstrations, loans, and mass communication campaigns. Development and commercial banks have traditionally focused on publicsector institutions.Recent innovations in funding and country agreements have reduced significantly these barriers to funding small-scale irrigation initiatives. These new factors include: Technological advances, particularly in the area of developing affordable, small-scale water-lifting devices and drip irrigation systems; Governments, as the borrowing agencies, have been more amenable to passing on responsibilities and funding to NGOs or other local organisations to plan and implement development activities;There have been shifts in the policy environment, favouring private-sector initiatives and increased smallholder participation; Targeted micro-irrigation projects have been able to provide a package (training, funds, marketing assistance, etc.) to promote small-scale irrigation; Small-scale irrigation, where feasible, can be part of a larger loan package such as a larger water development or rural development project. Such projects often include investments to support other parts of the small-scale irrigation project business model, such as rural roads and marketing infrastructure; Heightened environmental concerns-in particular, concern for increasingly severe water shortages and for food security; Increased focus on poverty alleviation, achievable by increasing smallholder productivity through affordable small-plot irrigation;The emergence of viable market-creation approaches for smallholder development, and growing acceptance that the market creation approach is better than the failed subsidised approaches of the past, and growing commercial interest by manufacturers and irrigation consulting firms in micro-irrigation product development. Markets for smallholder irrigation technologies are, accordingly, evolving rapidly. For example, large irrigation equipment firms, such as Israel's Netafim, which previously were not interested in the idea, are now seriously developing equipment specifically aimed at smallholders in developing countries.The Niger Private Irrigation Project, currently in the World Bank project cycle for 2001, represents many of these innovations in practice. The government has decentralised management of water resources to local communities and encouraged greater private-sector participation. The project combines tube wells with manual pumps, thus increasing project size, and includes funds for training, technical assistance and finance. An umbrella NGO will implement the project. Advice will include study tours, workshops, demonstrations, field trials, field days, and techniques to improve crop yield and quality. This work will be contracted to the Niger Association for Private Irrigation Promotion (ANPIP). The programme will also create savings associations; provide land-titling assistance for project beneficiaries; and assist local irrigation service providers. Total project cost is programmed at $33 million. 4 It will be interesting to see how successful this project is; doing \"all the right things\" will hopefully produce results.Elements of reflection/lessons learnedBy this point, the reader would have noted that the author has made a number of pertinent observations on how irrigation projects or project components should be designed. First of all, it should be clear that projects should be designed and implemented with the full participation of the farmers most affected by them, and should not be hurried by project design officers in the faraway capital city or even foreign countries. The second major observation is that project design officers should not just see their jobs as increasing production or yields. The task at hand is much bigger than that. The \"market development\" approach presented above, and generally accepted by the donor community, now requires projects to take this approach.So, yes, do take the time to figure out (with the farmers who will be using it) what is the most appropriate technological package, but in addition, you also now have to figure out who will manufacture the micro-irrigation equipment (importing is not a sustainable solution), how it will be distributed, how other inputs (seeds, seedlings, fertilisers, pesticides, etc.) are going to be delivered on time, from where financing will come and, finally, where the huge increase in production is going to be marketed. In short, you now have to take a systems approach to the design of irrigation projects and components.Secondly, project design officers should make sure they have identified the real problem to be solved. Is it really low production or yields, or is it the large proportion of post-harvest losses and/ or the farmers' inability to hold on to the harvest long enough for prices to rise? You may be able to increase local food production by 30 percent or more simply by creating storage capacity. Certainly farmers' incomes could be greatly enhanced if they can manage to delay the sale of their produce until later in the year when prices are higher. Accordingly, projects based on reducing post-harvest losses or warehousing of crops may be a more appropriate solution than an irrigation project or component. At a minimum, a post-harvest loss reduction component in your irrigation project would certainly complement and enhance whatever production and yield results are obtained.Hopefully, the benefits of low-cost micro-irrigation technology (drip systems, low-pressure sprinklers, treadle pumps, rope pumps, etc.) are clear and obvious. They offer greater productivity and incomes for the masses, not just a few working on a single large irrigation system. These low-tech micro-irrigation technologies do not work in all circumstances. If surface water is unavailable, or if pumping heads are more than 10 meters, none of the aforementioned technologies will work. In addition, intensification will necessarily require more costly solutions to the extent that power pumps must be imported. Project designers need to argue more eloquently the case to bilateral donors that expensive pumps do not represent responsible development, and that if they really want to help Africa to develop, then they should agree to finance the purchase of equivalent, but much less costly, power pumps from Asia. No matter where the power pumps come from, however, the project design needs to make sure that there are mechanisms built in to supply sufficient quantities of spare parts and backup pumps to replace temporarily pumps that break down. The project also has to somehow assure that there will be sufficient maintenance and repair capacity available to farmers. The absence of these latter features has doomed a majority of previous irrigation projects.Credit is not always the solution. In fact, if one accepts the premise that preference should be given to micro-irrigation technology over expensive power pump solutions, it follows that most African farmers probably don't need credit to purchase US$25 or US$50 micro-irrigation equipment. They can just buy them for cash. The problem is to create the manufacturing and distribution systems that make them available to the masses. At this point in time, leasing is not a technology that can be definitely recommended as a sound approach. Ongoing experience with this approach in Mali and elsewhere, though, should be closely monitored, so that if successful approaches to leasing do appear, they can be replicated.The first recommendation in this area to project designers is that they should try to assure the objective of close proximity through the creation or support of one or more existing local DFSs (decentralised financial systems), such as a credit union, village bank or rural bank, through sensitisation of the population, capacity building and institutional development. The DFS thus created or strengthened has the considerable advantages of knowing the borrowers and is more able to monitor the loans closely than development project staff ever will. Of course, the project will have to abide by the DFS's overall credit policies and interest rate structure.If the local DFS is a member of a federation, then it may be possible to negotiate considerable outreach to widespread sites where DFSs belonging to that network have been implanted. The federation may, as is increasingly the case, have a central liquidity, or rediscount, facility, that will be able to provide and manage the additional liquidity that the irrigation project may require. The federation may well help to negotiate, if necessary, with commercial or development banks, lines of credit that the rediscount facility can redistribute to its member DFSs.It is becoming more and more common for DFSs to successfully mobilise large amounts of savings to lend their excess liquidity to other DFS networks (e.g., the case of FUCEC-TOGO). If there are no DFSs in the region where you want to implant irrigation technology, there are but two choices: (1) take a long-term perspective, and create the required DFSs, probably in collaboration with one or more existing networks interested in expanding into the zone or (2) choose a more propitious region already served by one or more networks of DFSs. Working with commercial banks, for reasons already cited, has in general produced experiences considerably less than satisfactory. Detailed agreements will have to be negotiated with each federation, rediscount facility, bank or DFS. This is a time-consuming process that should not be minimised in the project document; if it is, the implementation of the project will fall behind schedule very early in the process. Fortunately, samples of previous agreements of this type can be used for inspiration.A second recommendation is to make absolutely sure, in project design, that there is a definite and adequate source of funds for financing a considerable amount of medium-term irrigation loans. Most DFS networks will not have enough long-term funds, so they may have to be found from such sources as: capital grants through the project (although these are less and less attractive to donors); lines of credit from commercial or development banks, governments, central banks or even donors; or other sources (NGOs, etc.). Most African countries' banking systems have excess liquidity that can, in principle, be brought to bear, if properly negotiated, but that takes a considerable amount of time, something the busy project development officers are short of. But they have to find the time, because they need to negotiate all of the aforementioned during project design; if you wait until implementation, any significant snags will put the project way behind schedule, or cause it to fail outright.Another increasingly relied-on source of long-term lending funds is, oddly enough to some, client savings. The war between those who claimed \"it's obvious that the poor cannot save\" and those, like credit union leaders, who claimed that \"the poor can and do save\", has been won by the latter. Most micro-finance specialists now acknowledge that the poor are able to and do, in fact, save considerable sums. Although there are many (especially proponents of the Grameen Bank approach) who still preach that it is \"obvious\" that poor people cannot save, and that it is necessary to \"prime the pump,\" evidence now clearly shows quite the opposite, and most donors no longer are interested in hearing the tired old \"poor people can't save\" refrain.The question is, therefore, no longer \"do they save?\" but rather how can we capture these savings and use them to finance development? The work of many micro-finance practitioners, especially the World Council of Credit Unions, shows that significant sums of savings can be mobilised from the poor. To attract a stable and rapidly growing pool of savings from such a population, you must pay positive real interest rates (i.e., greater than the rate of inflation, rates on such deposits being based preferably on \"Consumer Price Index-Plus\" formulae).It is also frequently necessary to clean up the DFS's balance sheet, and write off defaulted loans and other accumulated \"junk assets,\" as well as improve the services and image of the DFS through the introduction of modern methods and techniques, especially computerisation, modern loanmonitoring systems, and strict loan write-off procedures -sometimes a new coat of paint is really all that's needed. The combination of these measures frequently provokes a veritable explosion in savings growth, and the problem then becomes one of managing the DFS under the stresses of constant rapid growth (such as the need to double staff every year).Another recommendation is to make sure that the term of irrigation loans is within the expected and useful life of the assets in the local environment (not in the environment prevailing in the country where it is manufactured). Past (and painful) experience has shown that many irrigation credit schemes' loan terms were too long, so that farmers continued owing money to the lender long after the equipment was already exhausted and retired. Experience shows that poor African farmers tend to over-use their expensive equipment in the hopes of maximising its output, but in doing so, greatly decrease its useful life. Accordingly, diesel and gasoline-powered pumps' repayment terms should in no case exceed 5 years. Electric pumps, where usable, tend to hold up better, and their terms can be stretched out to 7 or 8 years at the most.Wherever possible it is necessary to build in a post-harvest loss-reduction component (probably involving warehousing). If an irrigation project succeeds greatly, and doubles or triples the production of rice or other crops, it does not necessarily improve the farms' profitability, if the increased crop results in a collapse of produce prices. A complementary warehousing scheme, in addition to letting the farmer store produce until prices improve, also permits him/her to reduce significantly the losses due to pests and humidity (typically around 30%) that occur in the absence of sound storage facilities.To make this work, the lender has to be able to provide additional working capital loans during the period when the production is stored. Otherwise, farmers will be forced to sell at least part of their harvest just to survive, and thus will lose much of the benefit of increased production. The Nyesigiso DFS network in Mali has done this effectively by integrating the initial investment loan and extended working capital loans into a single package (LeBrun 1998: 8). Beyond just warehousing cereals or other produce, serious thought must be given to specify exactly how the increased production will be marketed at a profit. It does no good to increase production if it is unsold and rots at the farm.Continue the tendency to rely less on formal guarantees. This does not mean complete elimination of hypothecation or reducing the lender's legal rights. Rather, because African legal and cultural systems frequently do not permit rapid resolution of conflict through the judicial system, lenders will probably be better protected from loss if they rely more on \"joint and several\" loan-repayment responsibility by borrower group members, through the creation of effective group solidarity and social pressure.Good (or bad) organisation is usually a determining factor in the profitability of an irrigation project. If inputs are provided and applied on a timely basis, if borrower counterpart funds are collected on time, if the credit process is well thought-out, if there are replacement parts and back-up machines available, if there is a technically sound water management system in place, and if reliable marketing channels for increased production have been identified, most likely the project will succeed in increasing production and profits. When any of these elements are defective, the entire programme can suffer greatly. Accordingly, to succeed, project designers will be wise if they formally incorporate into their projects such institutional development activities as training, information services, assistance in improving the management of DFSs and their federations and refinancing bodies, and generally improving the degree of organisation.Placing the overall responsibility for the management of irrigation rehabilitation projects directly in the hands of those concerned is a relatively new, but rapidly growing approach, and is perhaps best illustrated by the Asprodeb/PDPI project in Senegal. In that case, the farmer borrower associations themselves designed their projects and, with the assistance of their federation, their local lender obtained credit (and sometimes subsidies) accordingly through the CNCAS. 5 This type of approach, based on true, meaningful participation of beneficiaries in the design of their projects, is much more likely to succeed than \"one size fits all\" projects designed by hurried project designers and technicians \"on farmers' behalf\" in faraway capital cities. It permits the flexibility to custom-tailor a loan to a particular farmer's (or farmer group's) circumstances and needs. If it fails, the farmer can no longer blame the project or the lender, claiming that they made him or her do something he/she did not really believe in (LeBrun 1998: 8).In the same vein, the concept of \"twinning\" between borrower groups that have already successfully borrowed monies for irrigation purposes and those who are just starting the process, is becoming an increasingly popular and effective measure that goes a long way towards assuring the proper application of project resources. This approach was successfully used in the ACODEP 6 project in Mali, particularly in the transition from monoculture to more intensive cultivation and polyculture.Using this technique, those who have already benefited from the first interventions train those just starting, thus creating a spread effect (\"tâche d'huile\" in French). Twinning activities may be solidarity-based or may be paid by the receiving parties. They have the additional advantage of creating a peer-to-peer self-help group that can help each other when difficulties arise. Known types of problems can then be quickly resolved, instead of waiting for far-away project or technical officers to come resolve the problem.While it is strongly urged that project designers make greater use of local DFSs, it is also important to warn that financial activities should be strictly separated from non-financial activities. For example, a village may have a strong village association that is well organised and is significantly improving life in the village. They are doing many worthwhile activities, but up to this point, they have not been involved in lending. The appendage of a financial \"window\" to such an association is usually a formula for disaster. Management and accounting organisation are almost never adequate to know which activities are profitable and which are not, funds get commingled and are often embezzled. Accordingly, it needs to be made sure that any village financial schemes' funds and accounts are completely separate from non-financial village operations. It is quite possible, and even very common, that the officers of a village association are also the officers of the local DFS; but they must be able to separate these functions in their mind, and keep the funds quite distinct from one another.In a market economy, the role of the State is focused on regulation, creation of infrastructure, and promoting and creating incentives. Four aspects of the State's contribution seem imperfectly mastered at this time in most African countries, as has become clear from a series of FAO (AGSM 7 ) workshops in recent years:Firstly, governments are still too prone to offer subsidies to \"encourage\" a certain activity.The distortion caused by subsidies has frequently an effect quite the opposite of that intended. The fact that most African development banks, with their heavily subsidised interest rates, have now disappeared is eloquent testimony to the bankruptcy of that approach. So are the perverse effects of central banks' attempts to make financial institutions charge lower interest rates on farm loans than on those to much less risky sectors.5 Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole du Sénégal.6 An irrigation project in Mali jointly executed by UNDP and ILO. 7 The Marketing and Rural Finance Service of the FAOs Agricultural Support Division.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Secondly, as previously indicated, governments may sometimes try to intervene too far, overstepping the bounds of their legitimate duties of safeguarding depositors' interests and assuring an adequate food supply to the country's population throughout the year.To forestall harmful interventions of this type, project design officers would do well to negotiate clauses with governments requiring that they do not interfere in lenders' loangranting decisions, do not declare loan-repayment moratoriums, nor take any other actions inimical to the success of the lending programme. The ability of lenders to operate without political interference is of fundamental importance to project success. If loans are granted because of political pressure, both the project and the lending institution will be in jeopardy.Thirdly, while many countries, especially those that are members of the UEMOA, 8 have made important strides in improving regulations, most still have a long way to go to assure effective prudential control. All countries need to intensify efforts in this area, particularly by clarifying current grey areas. The aim should not be to gain control of DFSs, but rather to assure the public that funds deposited there are reasonably safe.Fourthly, largely as a result of the micro-finance \"movement\" these past few years, many innovative financial institutions and financial service products have appeared. However, many other lenders still rely heavily on traditional practices and products, which are more appropriate for the commercial banking sector than for development finance.All governments need to gently push those involved in development finance to adopt more appropriate institutional forms and financial service products. The IDA of the World Bank Group has developed useful training sessions for local leaders on mastering this type of negotiations.Finally, the author would like to recommend that the State use its powers of persuasion to sensitise borrower groups and their lenders of the need to create a progressively increased selffinancing capacity over time, so that the subsidisation of irrigation equipment can be phased out. This is particularly important for the irrigation sector, given the frequently high cost of the initial investment and most governments' declining ability to support this type of subsidy. As we all know, subsidisation also attracts influential opportunists who frequently benefit from such programmes more than those originally targeted. If we let the market rule, such influential people will not be so attracted.In most African countries, there is sufficient liquidity within the banking and DFS sectors to finance all foreseeable irrigation needs. The problem is not one of lack of financial resources, but rather of identifying a sound way of accessing and using them, which will inspire the confidence of those responsible for their management. This paper has attempted to provide some guidance on how to create that confidence through the conception of sounder irrigation projects.The following \"Ten Commandments\" of irrigation finance summarise the guidelines for developing such sounder projects:1.At the project identification stage, make sure to identify correctly the farmers' real principal problems, before attempting to design the most appropriate solution. While this sounds obvious, in reality many problem statements are incorrect or inappropriate in great part because the participatory process has been short-circuited. Make a concerted effort to determine whether the main problem is one of \"low production and/or yields,\" or whether it is huge post-harvest losses (PHL). If PHL is large, consider an initial project or phase that specifically addresses PHL. This will improve farm profitability so dramatically that there is a good chance that farmers will be able to self-finance most, if not all, of the second phase (micro-irrigation) of the project, or of follow-on projects.This would be particularly true if the project design is based on leasing (straight or leasepurchase) irrigation equipment, rather than outright purchase. For more information on proven solutions for PHL, see the FAO publications \"Warehousing and Inventory Credit\" and the \"Manual on the Establishment, Operation and Management of Cereal Banks.\" These books are downloadable for free from the FAO and are available in booklet form for a nominal fee.Corollary No. 1 is that project design officers should not short-circuit the participative process; those most affected by the design must be intimately involved in it from the outset. Corollary No. 2 is to abide by the principle of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) during project design, and adopt the technical solution that is least complex (and probably least expensive), consistent with accomplishing project objectives.Recognise that credit is not always, not even in a majority of cases, the most appropriate solution. If numerous inexpensive, locally-manufactured treadle pumps will do the same job as an expensive European motor pump, selling them outright for cash is definitely better and will save many problems resulting later on from credit programmes, particularly from the high defaults typically experienced when using expensive irrigation equipment.Similarly, during project design, give serious consideration and allocate time to identifying possible local manufacturers and/or retailers of required irrigation equipment. Maybe the \"poorest of the poor\" will not benefit directly from the project, but production and profitability will almost certainly improve considerably, and the very poor will still probably at least benefit from the need for additional labour to run the more mechanised and/or larger farms.If, after the above precautions, you still opt for a credit programme or component, make sure that a sufficient quantity of long-term funds is available to finance the projected volume of irrigation lending. Do not leave the details of this component as something whose details \"will be worked out by project staff during implementation.\" This is an essential component, and you must be reasonably sure that the funds will be available; because their eventual non-availability would jeopardise the entire project.Corollary 1 is that experience so far with loan guarantees has tended to encourage poor performance by lenders, since the latter will recover their capital whether they perform well or not, and hence you should avoid loan guarantee schemes, if at all possible. Corollary 2 is that there is currently insufficient information to support leasing of irrigation equipment as a valid approach, although efforts in this direction in Mali and elsewhere need to be closely monitored to identify sound new approaches.If, despite points 1 through 3 above, you still decide to propose the use of complex, expensive irrigation equipment installations, then use a rational approach to procurement. First, make absolutely sure that there will be sufficient spare (backup) machines, spare parts, and competent, readily available repairmen when pumps break down, as they certainly will. Secondly, make sure to use the most appropriate and cost-effective equipment available to carry out project activities, and not necessarily those preferred by donors, especially in bilateral programmes.Often it will be better to introduce an inexpensive technology that is only slightly different from previous practices. Experience shows that radical changes (e.g., from the hoe to tractors or animal traction, and from hand sprinkling to motor pumps) very frequently fail. Purchasing unnecessarily expensive irrigation equipment in the donor's own country is not a sustainable approach. Where surface water and local water tables permit, always opt for micro-irrigation technology, since it potentially can positively affect millions of farmers, not just a few on a big irrigation system.If you still decide to include irrigation credit in your proposed project, try to rely more heavily on the increasingly ubiquitous networks of Decentralised Financial Systems, as opposed to the formal banking sector. (However, since a number of commercial banks are beginning to be interested in rural finance, at least on a wholesale basis, to proven micro-lenders, do not automatically assume that banks are not interested in micro-credit).DFSs are likely to be located in much closer proximity to the targeted farmers, and are better able to tailor loans to fit their needs, as well as to monitor the loan effectively.Focus more on the DFSs' institutional development and less on the provision of lines of credit. Project designers do a big disservice to partner DFSs if they overwhelm them with large sums of external \"cold\" funds relative to their own, locally-mobilised \"hot\" capital (i.e., savings). Also, don't let the irrigation loan portfolio overly dominate the DFSs' other loan portfolio segments, because to do so would create too much covariant risk.If, despite all the advice provided in this document, you opt for an expensive, imported, power pump-based intensive agriculture, it would be better to work with a bank than to drown local DFSs in foreign money. Too much easy money has already been the ruin of thousands of rural finance institutions around the world.If it is definitely determined that credit is essential to the project, do not spoil local financial markets by building a cheap credit \"window\" into the project organisation itself using subsidised (less than market) interest rates. Instead, let professionals in successful local RFIs, DFSs and banks manage the entire lending process according to their own policies and procedures, which have stood the test of time. Never try to \"force\" the lender to grant loans that the applicant is not qualified for according to the lender's established criteria.If you decide to \"do it yourself\" within the project, recognise the high probability of failure and, development-wise, a 100 percent certainty that you will fail to leave an institution that can carry on when your project ends.Farmers must be called upon to self-fund increasing proportions of their irrigation projects, i.e., they must learn to depreciate their fixed assets properly and provide for their eventual replacement, instead of seeking a new loan to finance a replacement pump every 4 or 5 years. Remember that a development project may help farmers finance their first pump, but it is up to the borrower to finance its replacement when the first one must be retired. A corollary here is that the term of the loan (or lease) should correspond to the expected useful life in Africa, not in the equipment's country of origin.Lenders must do a better job of learning from each other, and continue to adapt their products to the specific needs of farmers involved in irrigation. Encourage full participation in the networks of micro-finance institutions that now exist in nearly all African countries. Build in study tours abroad for key personnel to successful irrigation finance programmes. At the client level, try to integrate twinning programmes whereby experienced microirrigation clients are associated with those just joining the programme; this has been proven an effective way to spread micro-irrigation technology and techniques. 9. Don't just focus on using irrigation technology to increase production. Re-orient the whole approach to market creation and institutional development. That is, recognise and build in the upstream manufacturing and distribution of micro-irrigation equipment, the inputs (seeds, seedlings, fertilisers, pesticides, small tools, etc.) supply chain, the necessary mass marketing required to make the product a household name, as well as the forward linkages (processing, storage and market outlets). For farmers to benefit truly, it is not sufficient to double or triple production; the product has to be sold without glutting the market. The latter must be addressed during project design. If it is left until implementation, and markets are not found, then time, effort and money would have been wasted.10. A good M.I.S. is essential to any credit programme. Accordingly, project designers should build into the budget sufficient numbers of licences for a capable M.I.S. such as Microbanker for Windows (MBWin), sufficient computer equipment, and sufficient training for the expected number of users. If, despite all the accumulated evidence and the advice presented in these ten commandments, you still decide to go it alone and have project staff, instead of DFSs, manage an irrigation credit programme, the M.I.S. commandment is doubly true. In fact, having a good M.I.S. will likely be your only slight hope of success.A number of current projects are researching these issues in search of effective solutions. Let us continue to learn from these and share from each other's experiences through networking.Frank HöllingerANED is a financial NGO working with small farmers and entrepreneurs in the Altiplano region of Bolivia. In 1997, it introduced leasing as a new financial technology to finance investments such as motorised pumps, tractors, ploughs, solar energy panels and other items. Leasing is aimed at meeting the investment capital needs of more progressive individual farmers who are \"too big\" for traditional group-based microfinance loans and \"too small\" for mainstream financial institutions. Although still in an initial stage, it appears to be a promising approach to overcome collateral constraints of small farmers and rural entrepreneurs in Bolivia. It might also be an option in other countries, particularly in Africa, where lack of conventional collateral or legal / institutional constraints for enforcement are at the root of a vacuum of investment finance in many rural areas. Key for successful leasing is the careful selection of farmers' clients, a thorough lease appraisal and close supervision of the lessees. Collaboration with NGOs and equipment suppliers providing capacity building and technical training are important tools to reduce client-level risk.L'ANED est une organisation financière non gouvernementale qui travaille en collaboration avec les petits agriculteurs et entrepreneurs dans la région d'Altiplano en Bolivie. En 1997 elle a introduit une nouvelle approche, le leasing, pour financer des investissements en motopompes, charrues, panneaux solaires et d'autres matériels agricoles. Le leasing vise à répondre aux besoins en capitaux des petits agriculteurs les plus progressifs qui sont à la fois 'trop grands' pour avoir accès aux emprunts traditionnels de micro-crédits et 'trop petits' pour traiter avec les institutions financières habituelles de la place. Les résultats initiaux démontrent que le leasing est une approche prometteuse pour surmonter les contraintes de caution et de garantie auxquelles sont confrontés des petits agriculteurs et entrepreneurs ruraux de la Bolivie. Il serait aussi une option dans d'autres pays, notamment en Afrique, où l'absence de garanties conventionnelles et les contraintes institutionnelles et juridiques rendent difficile la mise en application des contrats, ce qui entraîne un vide d'investissement dans de nombreuses zones rurales. La sélection judicieuse des agriculteurs-clients, un bon processus d'évaluation et la supervision rapprochée des bénéficiaires sont les facteurs clefs pour réussir le leasing. La collaboration avec des ONG et des fournisseurs d'équipement, la formation et le renforcement des capacités des clients constituent des outils importants en vue de réduire les risques chez les clients.The Asociación Nacional Ecumenica de Desarrollo (ANED) was founded in 1978 by 11 NGOs engaged in capacity-building and technical assistance to rural people. The aim of ANED is to provide appropriate financial services to rural low-income clients and to administer the funds of these institutions destined for lending.ANED now has 24 branches in eight of the nine regions in the country. The total loan portfolio at the end of 2000 was US$7.4 million. Slightly more than half of the outstanding amount (including leasing) has terms between one and five years. Around 75 percent of the loan portfolio is for agricultural, livestock and agri-business activities. Over 90 percent of the portfolio is located in rural areas.How micro-leasing emerged ANED initially used two group lending technologies: Credito Asociativo and Credito Solidario. 1 Group lending is based on small and short term loans and uses group joint liabilities to deal with the lack of conventional collateral. High interest rates and lack of flexibility due to standardised loan products limit the use of this technology to the financing of working capital or very small investments with short amortisation periods.In the course of time it became more apparent that there was a considerable demand for longer term finance by more advanced farmers and rural entrepreneurs to realise investments in items such as minor irrigation equipment, farm machinery, transport and others. The potential investors demanded these items either for use on their own farms (e.g., irrigation pumps and solar energy panels) or for providing services to other members of the community on a hiring basis (e.g., farm machinery).Despite the potential of many more progressive farmers to manage these investments profitably, they are generally unable to access suitable external financing: For the reasons mentioned above they are \"too big\" for the traditional microlending technologies offered by ANED and others. On the other hand, they are \"too small\" to be considered viable by mainstream financial institutions, mainly due to lack of suitable collateral and their relatively small size. Non-financial institutions such as equipment suppliers have equally high collateral requirements -normally a mortgage on an urban property -for accepting deferred payment.ANED first tried to provide term loans for financing tractors, irrigation pumps and other farm implements under their group lending modality Crédito Asociativo. However, contractual conditions did not provide sufficient motivation for repayment when guarantees proved to be inadequate. Legal action has been taken against several defaulting borrowers who had credit for equipment purchase, but almost all loans are irrecoverable.1 Credito Asociativo was developed by ANED to complement the technical assistance activities of other institutions (NGOs, local governments, etc.). Loans were given to pre-existing formal and informal groups consisting of at least ten people. The loans were secured by different types of non-conventional collateral such as joint liability, personal guarantors and pledging of assets. Credito Solidario is granted in small amounts and for short periods to informal groups using joint liability as collateral substitute. Group size is 38 persons. In the second half of the 1990s, ANED therefore developed two new financial products which allow the financing of the investment needs of more advanced farmers and small entrepreneurs: term loans and leasing. Because of the widespread absence of suitable collateral in rural areas, term loans are limited to 3 years and to a maximum amount of US$3,000. Leasing in turn is granted up to an amount of US$30,000 and up to 5 years. This paper focuses on leasing as an innovative mechanism for financing agricultural term investments and illustrates its use for financing tractors and irrigation pumps.The main type of lease used by ANED is the so-called Financial Leasing or Full Payment Leasing. ANED buys an investment item selected and requested by the client, which is handed over to the farmer for an agreed period on a rental basis. The lease contract has to be registered and contains the main conditions such as lease period, residual value, purchase option, and the amount and frequency of the lease payments. The lease period normally amounts to two-thirds of the economic life of the leased asset. During this period the lessee meets all operational and maintenance costs and pays regular instalments covering capital and interest. After the lease period he has the option to buy the item at its residual value, normally 1-5 percent of the purchase price. The second financial product is Leaseback (also called Retro-Leasing). The client liquefies a specific asset (e.g., land or equipment) by selling it to ANED for a certain amount agreed on in the lease contract. The client can then use this amount to make other productive investments. The sold item is then leased back to the farmer who can continue using it against a periodic lease payment. At the end of the leaseback period the farmer has the option to buy back the item at the residual value. Basic parameters such as leasing rates and buy back options are specified in the leaseback contract.The core principle of leasing is the separation of legal ownership of an asset from its economic use: the leased item remains the property of the lessor (ANED) who rents it to the client (lessee) over an agreed period. This has two important advantages over a conventional term loan: no additional collateral requirements; in-kind delivery, no diversion of funds.The relaxation of the collateral requirements is possible, because the leased asset remains the property of the lessor and therefore stands as collateral itself. In case of default the asset can be repossessed, avoiding lengthy court procedures. In the Bolivian context where settling claims and getting court approval for seizure of property can take up well over one year this proves to be a considerable advantage. 2   The Bolivian land reform law prevents small farmers whose land is qualified as \"peasant holding\" from mortgaging it. 3 However, there are no sales restrictions on any type of privately owned land. In such a setting, leaseback as a type of \"productive pawning\" constitutes an alternative to the conventional mortgaging of land. The farmer sells land (or any other productive asset) to ANED, which then leases it back to the farmer. This allows the farmer to continue using the asset productively on his farm against periodic lease payments. After an agreed period the farmer has the right to buy back the asset from ANED. Depending on the price of the assets and the lease period, the sales receipts can be used by the farmer for working capital or investment purposes.From the perspective of the financial institution, the ownership of the land which would normally be mortgaged means more security and less transaction costs if foreclosure becomes necessary. Therefore, it could offer more attractive conditions concerning the financial terms of the contract or the valuation of the land/other assets.A major drawback to the leaseback of land is that a registered title is required to allow the financial institution to realise the market value of the land if the lessee defaults. It also requires the financial institution to have enough access to suitable medium term funds. These requirements reduce the scope for leaseback in Bolivia.The leasing portfolioLeasing started in 1997 on a pilot basis. Since then it has expanded rapidly. The total portfolio amounted to about US$505,671 constituting 7 percent of the total portfolio of ANED at the end of 2000. Currently (end of 2000) ANED has 481 leasing contracts in six regions of the country, 95 percent of them for agricultural purposes. As table 3 shows, the most important items are tractors and motorised irrigation pumps.Table 3. Most important items financed under leasing at the end of 1999.* This category includes items such as solar energy panels, sowing machines, harvesters, electric pumps, 4-wheel drives and others.Despite the considerable growth in leasing, the outreach of the programme is still low. Until now, there have been only a few cases of leaseback. The main constraints for the clients are the absence of suitable property titles, and for ANED, the lack of funds to buy rural assets on a larger scale.Total amount outstanding (US$) How leasing works in practiceAn important prerequisite to the selection of individual clients is the selection of suitable regions for the leasing programme. These must have an above-average growth potential in terms of production and marketing conditions. The local credit culture is also examined before ANED expands into a new village or region. ANED does not work in villages where, due to donor grants in the past or political organisation of borrower, the credit culture is poor. In general, the credit culture is better in regions/villages which are farther away from towns.ANED focused initially on two regions in the Altiplano that show a high potential for success. In both cases, farmers have already received some basic training in handling of equipment and other related issues, and the commercial supply chain was already existing.In Oruro region, motorised low-lift pumps have been leased to small farmers who grow between 0.2 and 0,5 ha of vegetables. Irrigation pumps have been introduced in the mid-1990s by a NGO, which also carried out a feasibility study for this type of investment in the area and provided some basic training for farmers. Once agronomic and economic viability have been proven and demand from the farmers created, the problem of how to finance these pumps had to be solved. ANED first provided loans under the modality of crédito asociativo but experienced repayment problems. In 1997, the first pumps were financed through leasing.Tractors have also been financed in La Paz region in co-operation with a technical assistance programme funded by the Danish government through Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). The programme aimed at increasing the productivity of small-scale dairy producers in the Altiplano, for example, through improved fodder production. Tractors have been introduced and some farmers have been trained as operators under this programme. However, a sustainable mechanism to finance the purchase of tractors was missing. ANED's leasing programme was intended to fill this gap.Apart from technical assistance, ANED could build on a minimum degree of social organisation of the farmers, most of whom were already members of formal groups like associations of dairy producers or farmer irrigation groups. The chairmen of these groups play an important role in selecting members and supervising repayments. Sometimes they also act as personal guarantors.Client selection was facilitated by the fact that ANED had worked for several years in these regions. Therefore, it already knew the region in terms of agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions as well as the repayment culture. In addition, it had already a client base. However, \"graduation\" of existing clients, who perform well under group lending, into leasing is restricted to lower cost assets such as irrigation pumps. The necessary skills are passed on in small workshop groups and through after-sales service.For tractor leases, the most important selection criterion is the experience of the farmers in operation and maintenance and their ability to make a down-payment of 15-25 percent. Most of the clients have already worked as tractor drivers, or have been trained in dairy development projects. Thus new clients who meet these criteria and have a sound loan track can also apply for leases. Information on the credit history of new applicants is acquired through an informal exchange of information between different MFIs working in the region.The basic assumption is that lease payments should be financed mainly out of the cash-flow generated through the productive use of the leased asset. Additional income sources are harnessed only to a lesser extent, or in case of unforeseeable downswings of the main activities. To assess all factors affecting the farmer's ability to meet periodic lease payment obligations, a detailed household cash-flow is made including all estimated farm and non-farm incomes and expenses. To avoid a financial over-commitment, a trigger is built into the appraisal procedure: the client should not spend more than 30 percent of his total net household income on lease payments.Flexibility in determining the lease payment plan is key to ensuring timely lease payments. Frequency and amounts of payments are adapted to the main cash inflows according to the marketing dates of the main produce, while taking into account other household incomes. Instalments may also increase or decrease during the life of the lease contract in accordance with the cash flow of the lessee. This could include staggered leasing instalments, advance payments and adjusted payments.In case of pumps, payments are normally made in 2 yearly instalments over a period of 2 years. Varying amounts of payments according to main or secondary harvest are also possible.The relatively low costs of the pumps (US$ 500-700) and the similar production and marketing conditions of the farmers in Oruro allowed a higher degree of standardisation of lease appraisal. However, this has ultimately caused some problems because of the direct impact of pumps on production and a limited local market for vegetables. Prices have fallen below the historical levels underlying the appraisal, causing higher overdue rates than in case of tractors. ANED has stopped the approval of new leases in this area as the local vegetable market appears to be satisfied.In the case of tractors, the high investment costs of up to US$30.000 require a more thorough and individualised appraisal. The applicant has to present a detailed plan showing the projected income and costs in the use of the tractor on a monthly basis. Because of the small farm size in the Altiplano, most cash income is generated through tractor hiring services. Therefore, the applicant must prove to have a minimum identified client base. Payments frequency is agreed individually; often payments every 3 to 4 months are preferred.Collecting all necessary information for leasing approval normally takes 3 days. A credit committee in La Paz makes approvals on a weekly basis.The establishment of close links with equipment suppliers is crucial for the success of the leasing programme. ANED tries to establish relationships with at least two suppliers for each equipment item. It then negotiates an integrated package including price discounts for bulk purchases and the provision of training and technical backstopping services to the farmers. The risk of technical breakdown during the initial period is low, because normally the manufacturer gives a guarantee for the first year.In the selection of equipment, ANED faces a certain dilemma. On the one hand it wants the client to choose the equipment to avoid ANED being blamed for any technical failures, which may be used as a pretext for non-payment. On the other hand, it realises that farmers often have little information and need assistance in selecting the most appropriate type of equipment suitable for their specific needs. This is especially true in the case where the applicant has limited experience with the asset, such as with irrigation pumps.Although there is a market for used equipment in Bolivia, ANED normally leases new assets. 4  In spite of the higher financial costs there are three main reasons for this:1)The risk of technical failure and default is much lower in the case of new equipment.Tax legislation discriminates against leasing of second-hand goods as tax deductions are only possible if a receipt for the purchase invoice of the equipment can be substituted. This leads to lower leasing rates for new equipment.3) An original ownership document has advantages for the lessor should recovery be necessary.In the case of irrigation equipment, small motorised pumps are imported from Japan (Honda, Suzuki). The farmers can choose between 4 models varying in terms of horsepower (3-5hp), price (US$500-700) and quality. ANED chooses to work with the main importers instead of small local Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa dealers because of their superior conditions for availability of spare-parts, after-sales service and guarantees against technical breakdown. Hoses are also supplied, whereas wells are mainly dug by the farmers themselves.The lease period depends on the value of the investment good and its expected economic life. For tractors with a purchase price between US$20-30,000 it is normally 5 years, while irrigation pumps (US$500-700) are leased for 2 years.The interest rates charged by ANED for leasing are comparatively low, currently around 16 percent. This is possible because of the low costs of leasing funds provided by the Inter American Foundation. Currently, ANED is negotiating with the Inter American Development Bank for additional funding. Down-payments of 25 percent of the purchase price are a strong tool to control default and to cope with the high depreciation of the asset during the first year.Some important measures to reduce lease payment risks have already been described. These include:collaboration with NGOs/projects providing technical assistance and capacity-building; strict client selection criteria; leasing of new equipment to reduce risk of technical breakdown; contracts with equipment suppliers, which include guarantees against breakdown, technical training and after-sales service;in-kind delivery avoids the risk of deviation of funds.In addition, the following measures aimed at addressing moral hazard risks are applied: down payments of up to 25 percent of the new value of the equipment, compensating the likely depreciation during the first year;close supervision by inspection visits on a regular basis by ANED's loan officers; penalty interest rates (1% monthly) in case of default; social pressure is exerted, e.g., through the Chairman of a Dairy Association or by public announcements on the local radio of the names of defaulters;defaulting clients receive a reminder letter and after 60 days of non-payment the leased item is repossessed or juridical measures are taken.The default rate of 8 percent is in fact below the average loan arrears rate of ANED (Table 1). This shows that up to now these measures have proved to be sufficient to contain the risk of non-payment of lease at reasonable levels. There have only been two cases of serious defaults where pumps have been sold by the lessees. The strict legal actions taken may have discouraged other potential defaulters. Repossession was only necessary in one case of bad management of a tractor.Although the second-hand market for used equipment is limited in Bolivia, ANED faces a high demand for leasing. Therefore, defaulting lessees can easily be substituted by new applicants. Insurance coverage has been considered too expensive in relation to the default risk.However, the overall default rate is somewhat biased towards tractors which dominate the portfolio. Therefore, the recent payment problems for the irrigation pumps mentioned under 2.2 are not properly reflected. However, these problems do not originate in leasing itself but in the difficulties of expanding the leasing programme in the face of limited markets for perishable produce. They illustrate the need for a constant monitoring of market potential and trends during appraisal of financing, even of minor irrigation equipment, to ensure economic and financial viability.Currently, ANED seeks to strengthen existing operations and to broaden the range of leasing arrangements by enlarging the number of machinery suppliers, thus better diversifying its financial risk. Two options are considered:1. Deferred payment to suppliers, based on the performance of after-sales services and the absence of lease payment problems due to technical breakdown of the machinery. 5   2.In case of technical breakdown the supplier has to compensate ANED financially.The conversion of ANED into a specialised leasing company is also being considered. The advantages of specialisation lie in: better technical knowledge of specific types of equipment with regard to their technical and commercial conditions; better quality and higher efficiency of appraisal and supervision services, because specifically trained staff can concentrate on rural leasing operations; and, import of the most appropriate equipment for the particular needs of target clientele ,which is often not available in Bolivia. 6The main advantages and challenges of leasing, as compared to term-lending, are summarised in Table 4.Leasing is an innovative way to offer medium-term finance to a clientele of emerging small farmers and rural entrepreneurs who are not served by mainstream financial institutions. Despite the successful start the micro-leasing programme of ANED faces also several challenges: Outreach: Despite the rapid expansion of the leasing portfolio since 1997, outreach is still low. The potential to increase outreach is constrained by the limited number of farmers who meet the strict selection criteria, especially for farm machinery like tractors. AlthoughChallenges ANED• in case of default recovery easier and faster re-possession of leased assets • lower transaction costs (no collateral)• zero risk of diversion of funds• small second hand market for equipment • no complete coverage of default risks because of high supervision costs• easier access to medium-term finance for investments • lower transaction costs because of no collateral requirements • better after-sales service of equipment• strict selection criteria (down payment, previous experience) • high financial costs of new equipment the emphasis on prior experience is prudent from a financial institution's point of view, ANED may have to invest more actively in training and capacity-building. This could be achieved through a broadening of the co-operation with NGOs, development projects and suppliers.A second major constraint is the down payment of US$5-7,000 in the case of the tractors, which may prevent even experienced farmers from having access to lease finance. A combination of leasing with special savings products might help to lower these entry barriers, but ANED as a non-regulated financial institution is not allowed to mobilise savings. Alternatively, insurance coverage would reduce the required amount for downpayment. Larger volumes would enable ANED to negotiate better conditions for prices and after-sales service with the suppliers.Diversification: There are undoubtedly good reasons for focusing initially on a few selected assets and regions to gain the necessary experience. However, such a portfolio concentration implies high financial risks. The further development of leaseback might provide some scope for financing assets such as buildings or tree crops. Supervision/Inspection: Leasing removes the collateral constraints of conventional termlending and the problem of asset re-possession in case of default. Nevertheless, there is no clear protection against the risk of accelerated depreciation of the leased item through improper maintenance or loss. Therefore, frequent inspections are necessary if proper insurance cover is not in place. According to ANED, these problems have not yet emerged in a significant scale so far as to justify seeking insurance coverage at current envisaged premium levels. This might be partly attributable to the down payment, the careful selection of clients, and the limited outreach of the leasing programme. With an increasing volume of leasing, supervision will become more difficult and costly. On the other hand, the expansion of leasing might also encourage the development of more suitable and competitive insurance products. Sustainability: Because of the limited size and the comparatively high starting costs the micro-leasing programme requires a relatively large margin. Up to now, the programme has been funded at highly concessionary terms by the Inter-American Foundation. This has allowed ANED to cover the high initial cost of developing and introducing a new financial product while charging comparatively low interest rates to clients. Currently, it is difficult to give a breakdown of the costs of the leasing programme because the leasing operations are carried out by the loan officers of ANED together with their other lending activities. To reap the benefits of increased specialisation and outreach, such as economies of scale, access to a larger spectrum of funds is necessary. In the mediumterm ANED will have to cut down its intermediation costs to attract commercial sources of funds. On the other hand better access to long-term funds at reasonable cost would facilitate mainstreaming of leasing, allow the use of economies of scale and provide scope for further development of leaseback. Donors could play an important role in further developing and mainstreaming micro-leasing into a commercially viable operation. The paper presents and discusses findings about the actual performance of nine small irrigation systems in Burkina Faso and Niger. All of these were built by the government, and have since been transferred to the organisations of their users. The paper first discusses the general policy background, including reasons why transfer policies have been widely adopted, and sets of conditions that are considered to be prerequisites for a successful transfer. The specific circumstances in Burkina Faso and Niger are then described, with emphasis on financial and institutional aspects of the transfer arrangements. Performance of the nine monitored systems, over 5 or 6 years, is presented in terms of ten indicators, covering three major management areas: water management performance, agricultural production performance, and organisational / financial performance. In the closing discussion, the author notes the need for continued government involvement after the transfer, but recommends that to avoid continued dependency of the users' organisations on such government involvement, the roles of the three principal partners (government, irrigators' organisation, and individual farmer) need to be clarified.Cet article présente et analyse des résultats des performances observées de neuf petits périmètres irrigués au Burkina Faso et au Niger. Ces périmètres ont tous été mis en place par l'Etat et ils ont été transférés par la suite aux exploitants. Après une discussion de la politique générale d'irrigation dans les deux pays, l'article aborde les raisons qui ont motivé l'adoption des politiques de transfert ainsi que les conditions préalables pour garantir la réussite des transferts. Les situations spécifiques duThe withdrawal of governments from direct involvement in the development, operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes has led to a search for alternative ways to improve and sustain irrigated agriculture. Options range from the transfer of management (and, on rare occasions, ownership of assets and facilities) of irrigation schemes to the beneficiaries, to various forms of private-sector participation in the building, operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes.The management of an irrigation system reposes on a number of inter-related functions carried out by various parties with interests in the system. The functions are driven by the flow of information and resources between the different participants. Decisions are made based on such exchanges and on the respective strategies of the actors. The performance of these functions is also affected, if not conditioned, by the bio-physical, institutional, and macro-economic environment in which the irrigation system is embedded. The functions can be grouped into the following three categories: a water management function, relating to the operation and maintenance of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure; an agricultural production function, where the water made available is used for crop production; an organisational function, broadly covering the planning, co-ordination and implementation of the tasks and activities (including accounting, resource mobilisation and cash-flow management) that must be correctly performed for the smooth operation of the irrigation system. This paper, based on the results of field research carried out in Burkina Faso and Niger, examines institutional and financing questions relating to the self-management of government-sponsored irrigation schemes. It considers the interactions between these three functions, as reflected in the performance of the nine irrigation schemes in these two countries, and discusses their relative strengths and weaknesses. Prospects for self-management will be assessed and ideas provided to stimulate discussion on the scope and potential for the involvement of private-sector operators and service providers in government-sponsored irrigation schemes.Irrigation systems are complex with many participants and many objectives. The ease of establishing a widely-supported set of objectives could vary depending on whether the irrigation systems are developed, or controlled and operated by (a) local people in response to their needs, or (b) a public agency with little involvement of the beneficiaries.The former category better fits the notion of private initiative and enterprise, whereas the latter is typical of government-sponsored schemes. While governments make the initial investments for their creation, they often find themselves confronted with a dilemma thereafter.On one hand, there is the need (if not the responsibility) to ensure that the returns from irrigated agriculture are commensurate with the investments made; hence, governments may feel that they should continue to be directly involved in irrigation system management. On the other hand, they would not like their financial responsibility to continue indefinitely; especially when there are competing claims and pressures on national budgets from other sectors. They could also face arguments on the following lines: By building irrigation systems, hasn't the government conferred a substantial advantage on their users? Is it then fair to other citizens that the government continues to finance and support the functioning of those systems?Hence there is a trend favouring government disengagement from irrigation system management, whereby responsibility for certain functions and the related expenditure is transferred to the users. This results in a special situation where private-sector management and production take place on State-owned systems, giving rise to a number of institutional and financial considerations. For example, have the rights and responsibilities of the different parties (government, farmer organisation, individual farmer), as well as the ownership of assets and facilities been clearly enunciated? Have the \"rules of disengagement\" been discussed with and agreed to by all participants? Or have farmers and even agency officials been taken unawares, and are they thereby ill prepared to cope with such changes? What residual role, if any, must governments play -must it be purely regulatory or should it remain directly involved in some activities such as the provision of support services? What should be the (future) relationship between the farmers and the bureaucracies? The answers to such questions will determine the future course, performance and sustainability of these transferred irrigation schemes.On the financial front, let us first examine the cost side. The costs can be broken down into the following components: capital costs to build the irrigation facilities and accompanying infrastructure; recurrent costs to operate and maintain the facilities; costs of major repair and renewal of the facilities; indirect or overhead costs to cover the functioning of a managing organisation.Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa Whoever provides the capital would usually own the facilities, decide on any further development and expansion, and determine the expectations about returns to investment, taking into account the bio-physical, social and economic environments. In government-funded irrigation schemes, beneficiaries are usually not called upon to contribute to the capital cost. On the other hand, the motivation and attitude of private investors would be quite different from that of government. In private irrigation, as in any other private-sector undertaking, profitability and returns to investments are major driving forces -willingness to take risks must be rewarded by commensurate returns. Seckler (1989) enumerates six conditions for feasible private-sector irrigation:1.The additional costs of conversion to irrigated agriculture must be offset by commensurate increases in agricultural production;2.Availability of good quality land and water in proximity to each other;Reliable and economic supply of inputs and labour to realise the production potential;4.Markets for the purchase of these inputs and the sale of produce;Reasonable transport facilities between production areas and markets;6.Input and output prices that are not only at the right level but are also stable.Similarly, Brown and Nooter (1992) identified the following characteristics that are common to successful irrigation schemes in the Sahel, recognising of course that the criteria for success could vary, given the multiple uses and users of irrigation systems:1.The use of simple technologies (such as low-lift pumps drawing water from shallow aquifers, rivers or streams), with affordable levels of capital investment, maintenance and replacement costs;2.The assurance of a secure supply and individual control of water;A supporting infrastructure that facilitates access to inputs and to markets;Institutional arrangements that are private and individual; in the case of collective arrangements, the most effective appear to be extended family groups, with water users' associations and co-operatives at the other end of the scale;A judicious choice of technology and crops that offers high financial returns and makes farming profitable;6. The farmer is an active and committed participant in project design and implementation.The extent to which these sets of conditions apply in Africa could provide useful insights into the scope and potential for private-sector investments in irrigation in the continent.Insofar as income is concerned, a common source of revenue for the management entities of irrigation schemes is fees and charges paid seasonally or annually by the farmers for services rendered. This could take the form of a flat charge, or an irrigation service fee or water charge based on the size of land-holding, or in some cases, on the actual measurement of water deliveries. These amounts are supposed to cover, partially or completely, the cost of providing water and irrigation services. Other mechanisms for generating resources for operations and maintenance include (a) membership fees, (b) profit on procurement and sales of inputs and produce, (c) hiring of equipment, (d) fines and penalties for non-compliance of rules, etc.Irrigated agriculture in Burkina Faso and Niger: The physical contextIn Burkina Faso and Niger, as in many semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa, rainfed agriculture, which is practised extensively, is still the source of livelihood for a vast majority of the population. But, given the vulnerability of rainfed agriculture to the quantity and reliability of rainfall, the production and productivity of traditional rainfed cereals such as sorghum and millet are low and highly variable. Increasing populations and expansion into increasingly marginal soils further exacerbate this situation. In response, governments began to make major investments in irrigation as a means of stabilising agricultural production, improving productivity and guaranteeing national food security.In both countries, public irrigation development began in the 1960s, but really took off in the 1980s in response to the serious droughts that occurred around that time.Although these two countries are neighbours, and have broadly similar climates, their water resources situations are different. Niger has a major perennial river that crosses the south-western part of the country. Burkina Faso on the other hand occupies a plateau region containing the headwaters of the medium-sized Volta River, and also has many smaller rivers, most of which flow only for a few weeks or months of the year. These differences have determined the different irrigation development paths chosen by the two countries. In Burkina Faso, a large number of storage reservoirs have been constructed, for irrigation and other purposes, while irrigation in the Niger river valley is based on electrically powered pumping stations that deliver water to land located fairly close to the river.The sizes of the irrigation schemes in the two countries are relatively modest-typically, about 50 hectares in Burkina Faso and 200 hectares in Niger. In both countries, the individual land holdings are also very small, typically 0.25 hectares per household, though there are several irrigation systems where the average size of land holding is smaller. One consequence of this is that, although the irrigation systems are quite small, the size of the farmer organisations is usually very large -certainly a few hundreds of members, and sometimes even exceeding 1,000. Another consequence is that the irrigated land holdings cannot, in general, satisfy all the household's needs, and farmers are obliged to pursue other economic activities such as livestock, fishing, handcrafts, and trading.A notable feature is the interaction of irrigated agriculture with rainfed agriculture and livestock farming. This can lead to scarcity of labour during the major cropping season, because farmers are obliged to make resource allocation decisions between rainfed and irrigated agriculture, based on their judgement of how best to maximise their overall returns. An analysis of the comparative returns from rainfed and irrigated agriculture in Burkina Faso (Sally 1994) revealed that production from the irrigated farm, although representing only 5 percent of a typical total family land-holding, was nearly equal to that from the rainfed farm. The returns to labour, expressed in terms of the amount of cereal produced per unit of labour (kg/hr), from irrigated agriculture were also shown to be three times as much as from rainfed farming. So, while irrigation does help to overcome many of the constraints inherent to rainfed agriculture, the challenge is to find out how this can be done in ways that make the best use of the available land, water, financial, human, and other resources, while not engendering adverse social and environmental impacts.Given the limited financial resources at their disposal, modern irrigation development in Burkina Faso and Niger has been financed mainly by grants and concessionary loans from donor governments and international development-assistance organisations. Inasmuch as neither the governments nor the users could have afforded the capital investment in respect of these irrigation systems, it is also difficult to expect that either party alone will be in a position to bear the costs of major repairs, equipment renewals, or rehabilitation.Both countries have, therefore, adopted policies aimed at promoting farmer organisations, to which the responsibilities of performing and financing operation and maintenance of the irrigation systems were transferred. At the same time, the governments have been reluctant to abandon all their control over the irrigation systems. They continue to maintain presence and deliver assistance to the farmers. However, the low levels of literacy and the dearth of requisite management skills in the rural environments of these countries, impose a constraint on the effectiveness of these farmer organisations. They thus face a lot of difficulties in carrying out the tasks and functions that were formerly done by State agencies, especially when there is pressure on these organisations to operate in a self-sustaining manner.In the reservoir-based irrigation systems of Burkina Faso, the reservoirs are the biggest element of capital cost. But, once installed, these systems can convey and deliver the stored water for irrigation under gravity (with some exceptions where the irrigated command area is located upstream Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa of the reservoir, in which case pumping is required to lift the water). In contrast, in the Niger systems, water has to be pumped from the river, using very costly electrical power.In Burkina Faso, although the large capital costs are large, farmers are not called upon to contribute to these, whereas in Niger the government does require them to contribute a share of the capital cost. Where operating costs are concerned, they are relatively low in Burkina Faso whereas in Niger they are about five times higher, mainly on account of the energy cost.The need to adhere to fairly rigid and complex government-imposed financial management procedures, together with their larger size, means that the Niger systems have to employ a range of full-time staff such as accountants, storekeepers, and pump-operators. All expenditure must be recorded and classified among 30 different expense categories. There must be separate accounts for each member of the organisation, and all financial transactions with members must be individually recorded.Furthermore, irrigation service fees are computed every season based on the costs incurred by the organisation in the previous season. All operation, maintenance and management costs, government-specified fixed charges representing certain percentages of the capital costs of building the irrigation system plus savings towards future renewal of equipment, as well as a contribution towards the overheads of the government irrigation agency, are included. Thus, members of farmer organisations in Niger pay towards all the four major cost components: capital investment, operations and maintenance, future repair and renewals, and government agency overheads. The capital and renewal payments are not transferred to the government but are supposed to be retained by the farmer organisation in interest-earning restricted bank accounts. While the government has tried to ensure that such savings accounts are not used for general purposes, this is difficult to achieve in practice.In the Burkina Faso organisations, while the government provides overall direction and lays down standard forms of the basic organisation, the accounting system is much less rigorous than in Niger. The levels of recurrent costs and consequent financial and cash-flow pressures are also less. Financial stresses are most acutely felt in the gravity systems of Burkina Faso when flood events occur and the organisation has to face substantial repairs to infrastructure such as flood protection dykes, and perhaps canals or dam spillways. But farmer organisations do not appear to try to accumulate savings to face such events. In fact, although the organisations in Burkina Faso have the freedom to decide on irrigation service fees, they seem to be fixed at levels lower than what is required (Sally 1997). They usually appeal to government or non-governmental agencies to solve such disasters, but as such agencies do not always have budgets for these purposes, there is a growing amount of overdue repair and maintenance work in these irrigation systems, which is done neither by the organisations nor by the government.Questions related to financial viability are discussed in greater detail in Abernethy et al. (2000).The self-management of irrigation schemes is an important policy goal in Burkina Faso and Niger.Both governments have made adjustments to their legal and institutional frameworks to help achieve this goal: farmer organisations have been promoted, government departments and agencies re-organised and re-structured, and agrarian and land reform programmes implemented.Both countries, however, retain some presence and provide support to farmer organisations via one or more public-sector agencies at central or local level, or both. This is especially useful in irrigation schemes located in remote rural areas where it is not always easy for farmers to obtain agricultural inputs and market their crop surpluses. Those located close to urban areas can satisfy their needs from the private sector and have easy access to urban markets. They will also be in a better position to respond to changes in consumer preferences, such as greater demand for vegetables. In more remote locations, the greater demand for farmer organisations to accomplish functions other than water management and crop production could also give rise to greater pressures on them concerning fee collection and cash flow management. Any shortfall or delays could compromise the performance of the scheme, in the short term as well as a cumulative effect in the long term.Although much progress has been made in the legal frameworks, shortcomings and ambiguities still persist about the exact status of ownership of land, water and irrigation facilities, and the rights to use these resources and to transfer them to others. For example, the farmer organisations in Burkina Faso are not in a position to exert any rights over the use of water resources stored in their reservoirs. Evidence of this is that agencies of the government are able to plan other uses of the reservoir, such as domestic water supply to other communities, without needing permission from the irrigators' association. In other instances, a lack of legal status and collateral could seriously hamper the ability of a small farmer to procure loans and credit, however productive he or she may be.The organisational model typically promoted by governments is the co-operative. But the constitution and internal rules governing them are not always tailored to the specific case of irrigation, but are rather standard models catering to a general kind of rural co-operative. However, membership in the organisation is a necessary pre-condition to qualify for allocation of an irrigated landholding.The co-operative model is based on concepts of solidarity and collective decision-making that are sometimes inconsistent with some characteristics of traditional rural societies such as domination by and deference to village chiefs and elders. Indeed, some organisations tend to be dominated, or taken over, by a few influential persons or groups. So there is a need for more objectivity and transparency in decision-making and in the administrative and financial management of the organisation. Decisions that are supposed to be taken by the general membership must not be taken by a small group of office-bearers. Furthermore, the need for a clear definition of roles and responsibilities of the principal actors (the State, farmer organisation and the individual farmer) and actual adherence to what is stated is evident. In particular, the responsibility for major repairs has been left vague with the result that neither the government agency nor the farmer organisation attends to it, leading to the inevitable deterioration of irrigation facilities and degradation of the productive capacity of the irrigation system.Tables 1 and 2 show ten performance indicators for each of the nine irrigation systems in the two countries, 1 as reported in Abernethy and Sally (2000). These performance data were gathered and analysed as part of the comprehensive case studies carried out between 1991 and 1997 of the functioning of five reservoir-based systems in Burkina Faso and four pump-based irrigation systems in the Niger River valley (IIMI 1997;IIMI 1998).For the Burkina Faso systems, one more indicator is added, the gross product value per cubic meter of storage volume, which is an indicator that gives some idea of the productivity of the major investment cost.These tables illustrate the difficulty in deciding whether an irrigation system is well managed or not. As already highlighted in the introduction, the observed system performance is the resultant of water management, crop production and organisational functions. So, it is not surprising that some of the irrigation systems studied are above average with respect to some of the indicators, and below average according to some others. Nevertheless, these results will be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in system performance, and possible reasons for these:   Note : GPV = Gross product value.An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of irrigation system performance in the two countries follows:Land utilisation is good, with moderately high cropping intensities achieved in both countries. But average cropping intensity in Niger is higher than in Burkina Faso. Crop intensities in D (Burkina) and I (Niger) are below 100 percent because they are used only for growing horticultural crops (in the dry season). On the other hand, dry season cropping is not possible in A (Burkina) because the small reservoir capacity, equivalent to only 27,000 m 3 /ha, does not allow any water to be carried over between seasons.Yields in Niger are high in some schemes but poor in others, mainly due to nonobservance of crop calendar. The yields in Burkina are moderate, stationary or declining.Although the gross product value per hectare in both countries is reasonably good, the actual income per farm household is small because of the small size of irrigated holdings (around 0.25 ha).The fee collection rates are generally high in both countries. Niger while moderate in Burkina Faso. But irrigation service fees are much lower in Burkina Faso (around 5% of gross product value) compared to almost 20 percent of gross product value in Niger. When this factor is taken into account, the Nigérien systems could be considered to be performing moderately better than those in Burkina Faso.Water productivity in both countries is low (less than 10 US cents/m 3 , except in system D). What lessons can be drawn from the above analyses about the prospects for the self-management of irrigation systems, and particularly for the participation of the private sector in government-sponsored schemes?The irrigation systems in Niger perform better, on average, than the Burkina Faso systems. Does this mean that, in spite of higher operation costs, users in pump-based systems are more conscientious about payments and getting the best returns? Farmers realise that failure to pay fees and charges will result in the stoppage of water deliveries-a strong incentive for members of the organisation to pay their dues. This may also explain why system D in Burkina Faso, which also depends on pumping (from a reservoir) and is, therefore, different from the other four (gravity) schemes in the Burkina Faso sample, ranks better than even the Nigérien systems in many respects.Though the systems in the two countries have different rules and procedures for accounting and financial management (tight government control in Niger versus more flexibility in Burkina Faso), none of the farmer organisations are financially independent and self-sustaining. They all lack working capital, and none of them are accumulating sufficient savings. As a result, they are unable to cope with the costs of any major emergencies, and there are deficits in major maintenance. Most of these systems would be technically bankrupt, if they were true private-sector businesses.In the Niger organisations, the critical financial problem is the delayed payments of fees and charges, rather than their non-payment. In effect, farmers do not have to pay for fertiliser and other inputs, obtained from the co-operatives at the beginning of a season, until the end of the following season, which is about one year later. And even then, some members pay only after further delays. There are substantial arrears due to the organisations, which are then obliged to make use of the supposed capital savings accounts, to solve this liquidity problem. Irrigated farming is not a full-time occupation for farmers in government-sponsored irrigation schemes in Burkina Faso and Niger. However, irrigated agriculture is generally profitable for the farmer -returns to land and labour are much higher compared to rainfed agriculture. But, because the irrigated holdings are small (about 0.25 ha), actual incomes are insufficient to meet the needs of farmer households. They tend to spread their risks by pursuing non-irrigation activities in parallel, especially rainfed farming. This gives rise to difficulties, such as the competition for labour resources at critical times in the crop cycles of both the rainfed and irrigated crops, with adverse consequences for both.The experience of these two countries also suggests that it is desirable for the government to play a residual role in support of farmer organisations. Whether this should be a purely regulatory role or imply involvement, through an appropriate agency, in such things as technology choice and transfer, credit, marketing, or improving financial procedures is an open question. However, any such involvement must be very clearly demarcated, so that the farmer organisations do not remain permanently accountable to, and dependent on, the government.The governments in both countries wish the farmer organisations that have been entrusted with the responsibility of managing government-sponsored irrigation schemes to be self-sufficient. For this to succeed, ambiguities about ownership and user-rights in respect of land, water and irrigation infrastructure have to be addressed. Farmers in irrigation systems do not own their land and they do not have transfer rights. Farmer organisations do not have rights over the use of water stored in their reservoirs. Under these circumstances, the scope for direct large-scale private-sector participation in government-sponsored irrigation schemes seems to be limited. They could of course intervene as service providers (maintenance, repairs, account keeping, fee collection, etc.) and some privatesector operators are already involved in contract farming on some irrigation schemes (e.g., scheme D in Burkina Faso). A key element is that these operators must be able to demonstrate to farmers and farmer organisations, their competence and the benefits that would accrue as a result of their intervention, and to justify the payments farmer organisations will be called upon to make for their services. Otherwise, this may result in further erosion of the organisations' already precarious finances.On the other hand, other forms of irrigation that are more amenable to small-scale private sector participation with a livelihood-generating and poverty-alleviation focus seem to offer more promise.The African Development Bank adopted a new Vision in 1999 that defines poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth as the overarching objective of Bank Group activities. Within this framework, the Bank has continued to mobilise resources and to provide technical assistance for its regional members in developing key sectors such as agriculture, education, and health. The Bank emphasised the development of the private sector as the essential engine of growth, and is also seeking to improve the policy environment in its regional member countries by enhancing governance systems and promoting policy reforms. In addition, the Bank Group has sought to promote regional co-operation and integration by providing technical assistance and by financing multinational projects.Over the 1998-2000 period, the Bank has approved an annual average of US$2 billion for projects, technical assistance grants, guarantees, and debt relief, with equal amounts coming from the ADB (African Development Bank) and ADF (African Development Fund). Support for public-sector investments has focused on agricultural development and improving social services such as education and health. Resources have also been provided to support policy reforms and investments in infrastructure.The vast majority of Africans live in rural areas. Thus, poverty in most countries being a rural phenomenon, the Vision argues for giving priority to interventions in the agricultural and rural sectors as these can have a direct and positive impact on poverty and living standards on the continent. The Bank also considers infrastructure, including feeder roads, rural water supply and irrigation, as a key priority. In addition, the Bank would facilitate rural financial intermediation by supporting bottomup, demand-driven, micro and rural finance schemes aimed at assisting the poor and vulnerable groups of society.The development of the private sector has also been a priority. A wide array of instruments has been used for this purpose: term loans to private enterprises with no required government guarantees; equity participation; quasi-equity investments; guarantees; syndication and underwriting. The Bank Group has also extended lines of credit to private financial institutions for on-lending to smalland medium-size enterprises. At the end of 2000, the total cumulative portfolio of private sector approvals had reached over US$500 million. More than US$2 billion in resources has been mobilised in these and other ventures.We all know that most of the agriculture activities in sub-Saharan Africa are heavily rainfall-dependent, which leads to problems due to erratic and deteriorating rainfall patterns. Although the annual rainfall may appear sufficient, its erratic and poor distribution makes it unreliable for crop production.Throughout the growing season the rainfall is characterised by considerable variability in time of onset, duration and intensity. Food production fluctuates from year to year, which poses uncertainty and risk to survival.Agricultural production begins with human effort. Successful investments are those that involve rural people as active participants rather than simply as recipients. For instance, the incorporation of farmers into field trials in a research programme can identify problems and potential solutions with the use of particular varieties, cultivation practices or pesticide application procedures. Likewise, institutional configuration often follows from decisions about the scale and technology. For instance, opting for one type of irrigation system (large versus small, pump versus gravity, etc.) constrains the choice of the institutional alternatives. The unique needs of special groups must be taken into account when choosing among institutional alternatives for programme implementation.From experiences, as supported by the following case studies, the success of agricultural development programmes, and sustainable use of the natural resource endowment, rest on the appropriateness and strength of the initiatives undertaken by the populations of the Bank's regional member countries.The Bank promotes the development of irrigation as a production technology, through a wide variety of projects in its agricultural portfolio. Irrigation system development has been funded directly and through lines of credit, and as part of the food crop and export crop projects.The irrigation policy of the Bank is to support irrigation and drainage investments in areas where a significant potential exists for sustainable irrigated agriculture. The Bank's implementation strategy for irrigation differs according to the level of technical, infrastructural, and institutional strength of each country. Loans will be made for projects which:Rehabilitate existing irrigation schemes, as a priority over new irrigation developments, whenever feasible.Improve the technical and financial management of existing irrigation systems.Increase irrigation infrastructure where warranted. Given the high costs of site development in Africa, this must involve careful comparison with costs and returns to rainfed crop production technologies. It also must involve matching site selection, scale, technology, and management structures with evolving national capacity to operate and maintain the irrigation system.Increase the institutional efficiency of irrigation and drainage schemes, notably in encouraging decentralisation of irrigation system design and management, including the involvement of irrigation associations and private farmers in main system, as well as on-farm, water management where feasible.Increase the flexibility of cropping patterns to improve incentives to farmers to support system operations and maintenance and to improve on-farm water and input management.Use advanced irrigation technologies where these are economically efficient in agricultural production.In this section, brief descriptions are given of some of the Bank Group's ongoing projects in assisting the development of irrigated agriculture in West Africa.Project objective:The lack of any significant means of retaining water on the fields leaves farmers exposed to a significant risk of crop failure if rains are poor or erratic. LADEP, which began in 1996 and is scheduled to be completed in 2004, will create nation-wide sustainable rice development schemes, based on low-technology engineering already proven in the field, and responding to beneficiary demand, where the beneficiaries are prepared to contribute to the development in the form of self-help labour.The objective of the programme is to increase total production in the traditional rice production systems of the lowland by about 12,500 tonnes per annum in Project Year 8, on a sustainable basis, using a community-based demand-driven developmental approach. By the end of the programme implementation, it is expected that there will be around 20,000 rice farmers who have plots within the perimeters of schemes developed under LADEP. These farmers will benefit from improved food security and drought mitigation capabilities. It is estimated that each household would have a total production of field crops increased from 2,400 kg to 4,600 kg.  Unit: millions of UAProject objective:Studies in the 1980s identified the Kpong area as appropriate for irrigation development to improve the local production of rice and other food crops. The Kpong dam would provide a reliable water supply. The project began in 1994.The main objective is to realise the potential productivity of resources which are currently underutilised, such as the Kpong dam; develop land for increased and sustainable crop production; and improve living standards in the project area. The project comprises the following major activities:(a) provide gravity irrigation supplies from Kpong reservoir and remodel the existing irrigation system for cultivation of paddy by smallholders;(b) rehabilitate about 2,000 ha of existing irrigated land and further develop about 1,070 ha of gravity irrigation;(c) upgrade the technical capabilities of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA);(d) initiate rational farmers' participation in project management and progressive privatisation of agricultural machinery;(e) provide credit facilities to farmers;(f) rehabilitate buildings;(g) improve potable water and electricity.Project benefits:The project is designed to be self-accounting and would recover costs of inputs and services provided by the project to the farmers, including water charges and land rent.The incremental total annual agricultural production at full development would be about 16,500 tonnes of milled rice. The project will directly benefit about 3,000 farming families and increase opportunities for rural employment and economic activities in the area.  Project objective:This is a 5-year project. The Bank funded a small-scale irrigation study to identify potentially suitable sites. There are vast potential areas with good organic soils along small seasonal-flow streams and in alluvial-soil valley bottoms that are suitable for small-scale irrigation development. The project aims to increase the production and productivity of crops by expanding small-scale irrigation by 2,590 ha.The project will construct 15 small-scale irrigation schemes of 50 to 200 ha (2,142 ha), 4 water conservation schemes of 40 to 120 ha, and 12 micro-irrigation schemes of 2 to 24 ha totalling about Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa 2,590 ha in Southern and Northern Ghana for the production of food crops. The farmers will be mobilised and organised to establish Irrigation Farmers' Associations (IFAs) to enhance their participation. The participation of women beneficiaries will be encouraged as women mostly do food production. Training will be provided for farmers, extension agents and project implementation staff.Project benefits:Reduced dependency on rainfed crop production will alleviate the risks of household food shortages during the dry season as well as years of drought or bad distribution of rain. The project will raise crop production by 16,235 tonnes annually. It will raise rural incomes and provide better nutrition of the participating farmers. Vegetable production by women farmers will be encouraged. Additionally, the research programmes would lead to improved varieties and practices for the total area of irrigation. It is estimated that 6,000 farm households will benefit directly.  Unit: millions of UAGhana: Special Programme for food security: Pilot ProjectProject objective:The Bank will make available a grant up to UA711,180 to support a pilot project, which targets mainly smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas of the country. Increasing their productivity and production of staple food crops on a sustainable basis will increase their incomes; improve household nutrition and food security. The specific objective of the pilot project is to test production-increasing technologies so as to increase the productivity of smallholder farmers and improve household food security through:water management, crop intensification, and agricultural diversification;(ii) capacity building;(iii) project co-ordination and technical support. The technical options proposed will be as follows:(a) small motorised pumps on a shallow well or perennial river for command of 3.0 ha;(b) treadle pump on a shallow well for small command areas (0.25 ha);(c) low-cost drip irrigation by pumping (treadle pump) from shallow bore-holes for small plots (0.1 ha).Table 7. Ghana special programme for food security: Sources of finance.Unit: millions of UA In general, irrigation will make possible the production of a wide variety of food and cash crops, intensify the cropping pattern and provide flexibility in the cropping period. This will assist in providing food at times of scarcity, ease the marketing and price constraints by spreading production and improve food security, nutrition, farmers' incomes and employment opportunities, thus contributing significantly to poverty alleviation. Small-scale farmer-managed irrigation has the potential, in the longer term, to increase significantly overall production from the agricultural sector; and reduce the pressure on land and also the rate of deforestation; reduce the reliance of food imports and lead to greater national food security.I would like to conclude by noting that the opportunities and risks of globalisation are here to stay. We can only rise to the challenges and work within the broad framework of closer integration into the world economy. The African Development Bank will continue to mobilise resources and provide technical assistance to its regional member countries. It will also assist them in deepening their policy and structural reforms to attract private capital, in diversifying their export bases, and in capturing larger trade and investment shares in the international market.The Bank Group will also review its relations with African development institutions to determine how best we can work together towards our common goal. The relationship between the African Development Bank and FAO and regional member countries is a longstanding one that dates back to the establishment of the Bank. The Bank appreciates FAO's efforts to back up technically and train our countries in modern agricultural development matters, and in providing policy advice to African agricultural institutions.I am confident that in the years to come our partnership will grow and that we will be able to help our countries meet the important challenges ahead. In this way, we can help them take their rightful place in the rapidly changing world economy. In the wider context of Irrigation Management Transfer, the results and lessons learnt from recent activities in Uganda illustrate some pertinent issues and highlight a number of actions that countries with similar emerging markets could valuably use. A demand for the service provision of irrigation equipment was demonstrated, in terms of a desire for both diversity of quality products and competitive prices. The challenges to stimulating such service provision, were those of encouraging the private sector to invest in such new, unproven markets. The intricacies and specific challenges to this work are explained and analysed. The paper proposes a list of best practices for promoting private-sector service development, and gives recommendations about ways in which the public sector can assist.Les résultats et les leçons tirés de récentes activités dans le contexte du transfert de gestion de l'irrigation en Ouganda mettent en évidence des sujets pertinents et de nombreuses actions applicables aux pays avec des marchés émergeants semblables. Le demande pour la fourniture des services et le matériel d'irrigation est affichée en termes de diversité de produits de qualité et des prix compétitifs. Comment encourager le secteur privé à investir dans de tels secteurs, encore neufs et non-éprouvés, reste le défi majeur. Les détails et les complexités liés à ce travail sont expliqués et analysés. L'article propose une liste de bonnes pratiques susceptible de promouvoir le développement des compétences de provision de services au sein du secteur privé et offre des suggestions pour mobiliser l'assistance du secteur public.Since the mid-1980s Uganda has settled into relative political and economic stability. (Pockets of rebel activity have remained only in the north and far west). The country has developed a number of strategies and polices that have aided in attaining economic growth rates, reported to be as high as 7 percent (World Bank 1999). Since 1993 Uganda has had a proactive policy and a great number of activities in the areas of decentralisation and privatisation (Government of Uganda 2000a). District Administrations have been given the responsibility of planning and managing their own development (Government of Uganda 2000b), and of encouraging private-sector provision of services.Recently, a major agricultural extension service project has been designed that aims to develop the market for the provision of private-sector extension services to farmers. Initially farmers at the sub-county level (there are approximately 850 sub-counties in Uganda) will manage a publicly-funded budget, with which they will purchase extension services. This budget will slowly decrease and the intention is that after a period the demand and supply for such services will have grown sufficiently, so that the system will be self-sustaining through private-sector mechanisms (Government of Uganda 2000c). The Land Titles Act 1998, has been implemented to the extent that land alienated has increased to 15 percent (Government of Uganda 2001).Furthermore, largely due to the failure of co-operatives in the early 1990s, the majority of farmers' activities are managed individually rather than on a group basis. Although many of the co-operatives were initially viewed as successful and attractive for many farmers to become involved, they soon became victim to corrupt management and as a result farmers have not largely regained sufficient confidence to re-use co-operatives to a significant extent. Individual actions are now the main medium of activity of farmers. Only two large-scale irrigation schemes are currently in operation in Uganda.With a relatively high average rainfall, varying from approximately 760 mm in the north-east to about 1,520 mm near Lake Victoria, there are generally still two dry seasons and even periods in the length of a week when soil moisture is well below levels for optimum crop growth. Water is required also for livestock, small industries and domestic use. As a result recent individual users' efforts have been put into the better management of water; namely, water harvesting and water delivery systems.As a result of NGO demonstrations of treadle pumps, starting in 1997, a demand for the retail provision of such services to individuals emerged, mainly in rural areas. At this early stage, the bottleneck of a lack of retail availability of small-scale irrigation equipment, in the development of the adoption of such practices, was clearly highlighted, as well as a number of other aspects of service provision that are proposed as best provided by the private sector.Private-sector investment and involvement has proven to be essential at two different levels. Firstly, a commitment for investment by the farmers has been substantiated by the fact that a farmer using his or her own money is more likely to use and benefit from the investment. Something givenaway is not always used effectively (one accepts it because it is free), whereas an investment in something, by nature, is usually done with the intention of making effective use of that item. The second level of \"Essential Private Sector Investment\" again centres around the intention of gaining a return from the investment. The investment of money with an intention of producing something that is of value to others (service or product), on which a profit can be made, is again the essence of such investment.A debate as to whether the public sector (rather than the NGOs) would have originally invested in the researching of such technologies, importing example-models, developing proto-types and demonstrating such technologies, could be answered by the fact that, over the last 4 years, it has proven difficult to encourage the private sector to invest in such a situation, even when receiving a certain amount of public-sector assistance. However, there is a counter-argument to this, saying that the private sector has not willingly invested because it has been waiting for further assistance and subsidisation from the public sector. Similar observations of private-sector behaviour have been made in other areas of \"Business Development Service\" promotion (Committee of Donor Agencies 2001).This paper focuses on the question: What is the most effective amount of public-sector assistance that will encourage the private sector to invest in innovative and effective provision of new types of services? What has been revealed is that too little assistance will not stimulate new markets to emerge, while too much assistance will make the private sector dependent on the public sector to carry out work that it can do without assistance. Such a debate will be addressed in greater depth in the following sections, as well as recommendations about specific public-sector actions that will help stimulate the private sector to provide new services and products in previously unexploited and unexplored markets.The development of private-sector provision of small-scale irrigation services and products has gone through a number of stages and challenges in Uganda. The following paragraphs describe the main activities and issues, namely:Demonstrations (public education) and market creation;NGO insertion in retailer and wholesale systems;Manufacturing and product development;Marketing and product-package development.The initial demonstrations by Non-Governmental Organisations had the effect of developing a demand for such items on a locally available retail basis, and also began to educate farmers about the benefits of using such technologies. These public sector education schemes have proven to be an essential element in the equation; an element for which the private-sector will rarely take total responsibility. It is very unusual that a business will spend money on educating the public to adopt new practices, unless the newly learnt practices will bring significant returns on the investment.Sales-orientated and sales-benefiting demonstrations are something in which the private sector will generally invest in as long as such an investment bears sufficient returns. Unfortunately the market for small-scale irrigation equipment typically starts small and is of the type that is often slowgrowing; poor rural farmers do not often have money to invest in agricultural machinery despite the demand for such. Heierli and Polak (2000) describe an approach where public-sector funds are used to \"create a market\" for irrigation products that are believed to have a \"poverty-alleviating\" impact. Their approach involves vigorous marketing support by the public sector. In opposition to such an approach, we should distinguish between educating the poor about what products are good for them, and the creation of markets so that business will invest in a sector to provide suitable, sustainable services and products to the poor that they can choose from themselves.In such a context it could be said that Heierli and Polak describe an approach that is top-down, in that public-sector funds promote products that are believed to be good for the poor; whereas the capacity-building of markets, for the private sector to offer a more diverse range of quality products and services to the rural producers, is less of a top-down approach and more of a market-driven approach.Another recent aspect of the demonstration of such equipment is that the private-sector proved its ability to provide more cost-effective demonstration methods. The private-sector recognised the need for such educational and awareness activities, but also recognised the costly nature of them. It was also recognised that, if low-cost demonstration systems were put in place, both education and marketing requirements could be met at the same time. Most public-sector demonstration methods were of a travelling nature, i.e., from the back of a pick-up truck travelling from town to town. Hotel accommodation, vehicle running costs and staff costs proved to be prohibitive if carried out on a sales-returns basis. The components of an effective sales-returns to investment demonstration system were identified as shown in Box 1.Box 1. Effective sales-returns to investments in demonstration systems.Although not in a highly developed stage, the manufacturer in Uganda who has proven himself to be most committed and innovative started to develop such a system by advertising a competition, where the most suitable farmer who applied could win the use of an irrigation system for a 3-month period. Arrangements were then often, in the long run, for such demonstrations to continue, based on the purchase or long-term hire of a pump.Demonstrations should be:¾ In a number of permanent locations where they can be seen by persons travelling past the location, so reducing travel and accommodation costs.¾ Used by a farmer as part of his daily activities in profitable crop production, so reducing labour costs of demonstration and increasing the proof of real-use value.¾ Pro-actively demonstrated, whereby a sales-commission is paid to the demonstratorfarmer for every customer found.In summary of issues regarding development of markets, it has been shown such a market is a costly one to stimulate, and is one where often the returns to investment are slow and comparatively small. Therefore, it is advocated here that market-creation and educational aspects of demonstrations be supported by the public sector, and that sales-orientated aspects be private-sector driven, but that the two be implemented together by the private sector.The first two NGOs intervening in the sector encouraged independent private-sector retailer development but acted as the wholesaler. Both of these NGOs have since tried to pull even further back by encouraging the private sector to become the wholesaler also. However, a major player, a publicsector funded organisation, tried to control the manufacture, design and development, and wholesale positions in the chain of events. This showed a strong contrast to the efforts of bringing in the private-sector. Such actions quashed investment and innovation by the private sector. The climate for investment by the private sector became, at this time, very inactive with little involvement from the private sector.Towards the middle of the year 2000, a private-sector investor initiative came into operation with some donor backing. The principal objective of this initiative was to set examples to the private sector that successful investments and innovations were possible. Based on a business plan of a short-term investment nature by the donor, a set number of activities were undertaken that included demonstrations, new retailer establishment, product development and marketing-method development.Although the private sector had taken an interest in manufacturing and marketing such products from an early stage it took time to get the private sector significantly involved. Some rural retailers invested in a small stock of such items, especially when they knew that they had definite customers. Customers often emerged as a result of NGO demonstrations. However, investment by the private sector remained at this superficial level for quite some time, until a loosening-off by the organisation, in terms of wholesaling activities. Such wholesaling activities were revealed to be a major and central activity that could have effects either of making the sector more independent of the NGOs, or more controlled by the NGOs.After a period of approximately 3 years, a large private-sector manufacturer finally started to show a commitment to producing a quality-competitive product. This was a major step towards independence for the private-sector working in this area in Uganda. Prior to this time he sought donor assistance to start manufacturing. This was an example of the point made earlier, where the manufacturer hesitated for such a long time before he invested his own money because of the possibility of gaining donor funds.Once the manufacturer found that the donor would not go as far as giving funds for such activities, he finally showed commitment and started to invest. To begin with he employed a rural development specialist / engineer consultant to design an improved treadle pump model that he could market more competitively than any of the NGO-designed models. The manufacturer also invested in developing more effective marketing systems in collaboration with various specialists. Due to the low levels of capital that many farmers have, low-capital investment products had to be offered to farmers.The manufacturer invested money in manufacturing (development of a new production line, training of staff, establishing a stock of materials and of finished products) but did not want to venture into other areas of mass retail marketing or the management of credit on a large scale. However, he did want to see that the items he was producing were sold at a quick rate and was prepared to try out and encourage a few new and innovative retailing and credit methods.The manufacturer had discussions with micro-finance institutions that showed interest in providing services where specific items could be purchased on credit, but in the end could not really propose a competitive and attractive package. Unsubsidised interest rates in Uganda are at least 32 percent per annum in urban areas and a lot higher in rural areas, for loans offered by formal 277 Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa micro-finance institutions, apparently due to high operation overheads and transaction costs. However, informal savings and credit groups have continued to be competitive and attractive on a large scale, due to their operations usually being carried out on a voluntary basis and where there is often very low overhead costs and very low interest rates. However, these small groups have had to be encouraged to stay small and informal so that overhead costs do not rise. The manufacturer felt he could not formally and safely work with these informal groups.As a result, the manufacturer has attempted to devise low-capital-purchase systems. The most simple and effective of these has been a hire purchase / leasing system. If a customer could demonstrate certain financial sureties and securities (letter of proposed payment schedule, letter from local councillor, statement of address and statement of collateral) irrigation equipment was effectively given on a basis of about 10 percent annual interest. This was equivalent to about 5 percent increase on the overall cost of the equipment, since most equipment was paid for within 4 months. There were however, limitations to such a scheme, in that the manufacturer has only given this service to persons known to him in the locality and to those that can demonstrate various securities, which has not generally included the majority mass low-income market.Despite the availability of the package (although only to few), a number of customers have purchased the equipment on a \"lay-away system\" whereby they gave money to the manufacturer on generally a monthly basis and only took the equipment when fully paid. The manufacturer held the retail price without any increases for 6 months and gave a 5 percent discount for those involved in this scheme.Another innovative system that has enabled a growth in sales is that of encouraging the growth of water-pumping services. The intention is that if pumps are hired out on a basis of the amount of water transferred, by a person who travels around by bicycle, with the pump on the back of the bicycle. More people will see the pump in use and a demand should grow from persons wanting the pump. Currently 6 US cents per 20 litres is paid for water delivered. For anyone requiring more than 200 litres, the use of a treadle becomes cost-effective and less labour intensive. In order to promote the practice of water-pumping services, he advertised and hired-out pumps from his workshop to young men who wanted to offer such services. To start up the demand for such services, he allowed for 2 days the free hire of pumps to two young men.In terms of developing marketing-products, the manufacturer has had an emphasis on systems that have improved the achievement of his primary objective of increasing sales. He has not chosen to become directly involved in the management of complex financial services, but, like many companies, he is happy to absorb the transaction cost of credit services in the profit mark-up, even to the extent that items are sold on virtually interest-free credit.In summary of the actions that have taken place in Uganda over the last 4 years, a number of lessons have been illustrated, particularly in terms of effective and sustainable practices for serviceprovision. The private sector has produced some innovative and effective products, services, and forms in which these have been offered to small-scale farmers. However, the encouragement and handling of private-sector involvement has been a delicate matter. Although the private sector in Uganda has not particularly had a great deal of pro-active encouragement, too much encouragement (particularly financial) would have done a lot of harm.As a result of observations and analysis of a variety of Technical Assistance Programmes (in a variety of countries, and some in irrigation promotion) and from the experiences of Uganda over the last 4 years, it is felt that a certain amount of public-sector assistance could have been more helpful and is very necessary, particularly in terms of educating the public on the benefits of the use of such technology.Within the Ugandan experience it has been clearly highlighted that the most beneficial publicsector action has been that of the donor supporting the private-sector player (starting middle of the year 2000) in specific planned actions. This assistance was generally seen as successful mainly because it followed some of the best general practices in capacity-building of localised institutions. These best practices should be of the nature described in Box 2.Box 2. Recommended best practices for giving assistance to private-sector service providers.As a result of this \"joint-venture\" and capacity-building approach to the private-sector player, many of the planned activities effectively took place and the culture of developing new and innovative practices increased rapidly when the manufacturer became involved. For example, the joint-venture activities included those of developing innovative marketing systems; the manufacturer continued this type of innovative-behaviour when he later became involved. However, it is felt that specific assistance to the manufacturer would have speeded up the provision of innovative and quality services.Therefore, it is here suggested that any public-sector assistance should comprise the elements and generally be of the funding proportion amounts as suggested in Table 1.Table 1. Recommended elements of assistance to private-sector service providers.The assistance described here aims to give an outline of the nature and extent of what has been found to be effective. However, this description is by no means exhaustive and lessons are still being learnt. Getting the balance right and knowing the entire nature of the situation one is dealing with, is a continual challenge.Nonetheless, it is still recommended that minimalism is better than maximalism in such a situation of encouraging such service provision.♦ The public sector works hand-in-hand with the private sector and not in isolation from the private sector. ♦ The overall aims of any assistance should be to encourage the private sector to:-Invest and be committed;-Be innovative in terms of results produced. ♦ The agenda of the institution (business) is strengthened and not an external agenda (although activity plans could be written within certain external guidelines).♦ Activities and financial assistance are based on the partner-business's business and marketing plans etc., and any negotiations centre around these plans. providing services such as input supply, maintenance and marketing.The following actions need to be taken to encourage implementation of these five elements:1. establish clear and well documented system of water rights;2. ensure water resources management at the river basin level;3. introduce specific legislation for effectively carrying out different activities;4. clearly define ownership, roles and responsibilities, especially in regard to physical activities and water rights in government-sponsored irrigation schemes;5. establish mechanisms to prevent and attenuate the risks of organisational failure and bankruptcy;6. provide advisory services regarding markets and marketing to smallholders;7.enhance the managerial capabilities of producers through training and professional development.Among the questions raised by participants in the course of the discussions that followed were those relating to: the role of the private sector in setting up and providing financial and technical assistance; private property rights in relation to irrigation expansion; mechanisms to anticipate and manage failures that often result in bankruptcies.Of the seven papers presented under this theme, five were case studies from Africa and Latin America, one dealt with different modes of irrigation financing in Africa, and the last one presented the activities of the African Development Bank (AfDB).The case study from Nigeria showed that smallholders possessing motorised pumps made higher profits than those who did not have pumps. But this can only be achieved if certain preconditions are satisfied: access to water, simple and affordable technology and markets, a well-organised crop calendar and strengthening of the capacity of the producers.The system of leasing of pumps in Bolivia appears to be an experience with a potential for application in Africa provided that the following conditions are fulfilled: strengthening of existing financial institutions and of equipment suppliers, development of medium-term refinancing systems and pilottesting of project ideas.A presentation of a roving course designed to train smallholder farmers and extension agents in the use of a decision-support tool for selection of pumping equipment by farmers was based on experiences in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The success of such a tool can be improved by expanding the database associated with the tool to include the characteristics of pump sets available locally.The presentation on Burkina Faso and Niger was essentially a comparative study of the financing, management, costs and performance of irrigation systems in the two countries. This study showed that yields and returns obtained in Burkina were higher and more stable than in Niger. It also highlighted the need for capacity building of producers, for a reduction in the complexity of access to financial institutions and for clarifying problems in regard to land tenure.The AfDB presentation, based on examples from Ghana and The Gambia, pointed out that funds allocated for the agricultural sector were most often directed towards sub-sectors such as irrigation, rural development, rural infrastructure, and potable water supply.The discussions emphasised that the notion of private sector should be enlarged to cover smallholder farmers and also that financing of the sub-sector could, for a start, be based on mobilising savings while recognising that producers have a wide range of needs to be satisfied.After a brief introduction by the panel president, Mr. I.K. Musa, the panellists, representing FAO, IWMI, ARID, the producers and AfDB, presented their points of view, individually.Mr Gyamfi, representing the private producers, suggested that the public sector should facilitate irrigation expansion as part of its development policy. There should be consultations, if not concessions, with a view to reducing the high costs of inputs and for facilitating the access to land and water for private producers who decide to invest in the irrigation sector. According to Mr Gyamfi, food security should be based upon year-round agricultural production which, in turn, will require the construction of a large number of irrigation systems.There is a need for clear strategies and incentives if export earnings are to be increased, and the private and public sectors should work together to achieve this. Each party should respect the programmes agreed upon and special attention must be given to fulfilling quality norms, which is a vital factor in trying to supply external markets.Dr. Merrey indicated that the programme under discussion between different partner organisations including the World Bank, FAO, AfDB and IWMI, for identifying an investment strategy for irrigation development in Africa represents a good opportunity to address the concerns that have been expressed. He suggested that the following five fundamental points merited particular attention:1.Currently available water resources are certainly too limited when compared with the variety of other demands and uses, thus making large-scale irrigation schemes very difficult to accept.The expansion of irrigation in Asia took place at a time when cereal demands as well as prices were quite high, which is no longer the case today.There are real opportunities for developing small-scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa.The private sector is in a better position to develop the irrigation sector given its resultsoriented approach.Governments and donors should create attractive conditions to facilitate the involvement of the private sector.Mme Tempelman of FAO emphasised that all of us should ask ourselves the fundamental question of how to ensure irrigation expansion while respecting equity. According to her, three aspects related to food security need to be considered:1.The allocation of resources.The potential impact of private irrigation.Impacts on the household.Analysis of these three elements shows that expansion of private irrigation could have significant consequences on the costs of exploiting water resources and on land and water rights, especially in the case of smallholder farming. It is quite likely that, when making choices and decisions, options that offer higher financial returns are likely to take precedence over the need to ensure household food security. Female producers run the risk of being further marginalised; even though they make significant contributions to food production and household food security, they have little or no access to land and credit. Furthermore, they have little control over household labour, resource allocation and, most importantly, the sharing of profits derived through agricultural production.For Mr. Diallo of ARID, three ideas come to light:1.The necessity to look for ways and means of substantially reducing the costs of irrigation systems to more acceptable levels. For this, it will be necessary to take into account and fight against negative factors such as corruption. This should be done through policies and strategies that are based on the principles of good governance.Smallholder farmers should be allowed access to simple and affordable technologies and thus be in a better position to combat poverty and exclusion.When developing policies and strategies for integrated water resources management, there should be provision to entertain the views and inputs of smallholder farmers who quite often represent the most vulnerable segment of society.The AfDB representative spoke about the bank's experience in financing irrigation projects and made special mention that their support to sugar cane farming had yielded good results. The AfDB financial instruments are based on long-term loans disbursed through local banks except for large projects, which are paid through AfDB's Abidjan headquarters. All the usual analyses to assess the feasibility and viability of the project are conducted before approval for any credit is made. Environmental impact assessments of irrigation projects today represent a major pre-condition that must be satisfied before any consideration of funding support.The following points emerged out of the discussions among panel members and other seminar participants:There exists a situation favourable to irrigation development, particularly small-scale irrigation, in many places in Africa;Given the limited availability of water resources, there is a need for adopting approaches such as rainwater harvesting for irrigation;The current situation is highly favourable for the development of small-scale and microirrigation, and for the productive use of wetland resources; Political authorities should invest in basic infrastructure such as roads and electrification, which are indispensable for attracting private investors and for ensuring the economic viability of irrigation; Whatever be the type of activity, special attention must be paid to gender and equity considerations;It is important to define effective strategies to ensure the achievement of food security and poverty reduction.Le présent document fait la synthèse des différents rapports des sessions tenues autour de quatre thèmes, à savoir (1) la petite irrigation et systèmes informels d'irrigation, (2) le transfert de la gestion de l'irrigation, (3) l'irrigation privée et commerciale, et (4) l'environnement favorable et émergence de nouveaux opérateurs pour le financement de l'irrigation, et de la discussion en panel au sujet de l'irrigation privée, la sécurité alimentaire et les revenus à l'exportation.Ce rapport est basé sur un résumé des notes introductives des différents conférenciers, les points clés soulevés par les présentateurs ainsi que les questions posées et les solutions proposées lors des discussions et les débats qui ont suivi.Ce thème a été introduit par M. Moïse Sonou dont l'exposé liminaire intitulé «Tendances et perspectives de l'irrigation en Afrique subsaharienne » fait l'état des lieux sur le développement actuel de l'irrigation en Afrique en général, et en Afrique au Sud du Sahara en particulier. Le conférencier a présenté les perspectives pour l'expansion future de l'irrigation de même que les tendances observées au cours des dernières décennies sur le développement de l'irrigation en Afrique. Ces tendances sont marquées par une faible progression des superficies irriguées surtout depuis le début des années 80. Il a également mis en évidence les principaux facteurs qui ont une influence certaine sur l'expansion du secteur. Il s'agit entre autres de la croissance démographique, des sources de financement, et des changements institutionnels.Cet exposé a suscité plusieurs points de discussion:Les statistiques sur le secteur ne tiennent pas toujours compte du secteur constitué par l'irrigation informelle. Aussi, il devient indispensable de définir les modalités de collecte de données plus complètes et plus fiables au niveau des différents Etats. Cependant, il faut noter que la FAO a déjà essayé de répondre au problème en mettant à la disposition des utilisateurs la base de données AQUASTAT dont les informations sont fournies par les différents Etats. La question de la fiabilité des données reste donc du ressort desdits Etats.L'intérêt de prendre en compte les problèmes d'impact sur l'environnement dès le début des projets pour éviter des problèmes tels que la salinisation des terres (même si le phénomène reste encore relativement marginal dans la plupart des périmètres).Les aspects institutionnels doivent nécessairement intégrer la bonne gouvernance et la démocratie qui auront des implications sur les usages multiples et parfois conflictuels des ressources en eau dans les pays.La nécessite de partir d'un nouveau paradigme sur l'eau qui repose sur une approche intégrée des besoins et usages agricoles, besoins domestiques et industriels, et la protection durable de l'environnement. Il devient alors nécessaire de réfléchir sur les plates-formes de négociation et de partenariat entre les différents acteurs impliqués.Le volontarisme de l'Etat doit être repensé avec un contenu nouveau qui mette l'accent sur les mesures incitatives en amont et en aval de la production agricole.L'exposé introductif a été suivi par sept études de cas. Les échanges qui ont suivi ces exposés ont porté sur les axes suivants:Les aspects institutionnels : le manque de clarification des rôles et missions des divers acteurs impliqués et la nécessité de recentrage du rôle de l'Etat sur les fonctions de contrôle. La nécessité de s'orienter sur le plan technique vers des technologies à moindre coût mais tout en prenant les précautions nécessaires.La question de l'environnement socioéconomique doit intégrer la question du transport qui apparaît comme facteur critique pour les privés.Thème 2 : «Transfert de la gestion de l'irrigation» L'exposé de M. Douglas Merrey intitulé « Can irrigation management transfer revitalize African agriculture ? A review of African and international experiences » a été suivi de la présentation de quatre études de cas en Afrique, Amérique Latine et Asie.Dans son exposé introductif le conférencier a d'abord posé la question de savoir si le transfert de gestion de l'irrigation était une panacée ou pas. Il a fait également remarquer la nécessité d'un recentrage du processus de transfert de la gestion de l'irrigation en Afrique et en Asie qui accorderait plus de responsabilités aux producteurs. Selon le conférencier plusieurs critères sont indispensables pour créer les conditions de succès du transfert de la gestion de l'irrigation:1.soutenir la promesse d'une nette amélioration des conditions de vie des exploitants; Décrivant le contexte africain, M. Merrey a relevé les aspects historiques de la dépendance des paysans liée á la nature de l'encadrement fourni par les organismes para-étatiques. Ces projets sont souvent caractérisés par une faible rentabilité due aux coûts élevés de la mécanisation et des intrants, l'absence de crédit aux producteurs, l'absence de marchés d'intrants et de structures de commercialisation, mais aussi et surtout les problèmes de tenure foncière, la taille trop étroite des parcelles, et le coût élevé du pompage de l'eau. Pour une transformation qualitative de la situation, le conférencier recommande : (a) le renforcement des capacités des producteurs, (b) la réduction des coûts de transactions, et (c) la recherche de marchés fiables.A travers les exposés sur les différentes études de cas, on note tout même, l'émergence de certaines dynamiques insufflant progressivement quelques marges de progrès favorables au transfert de la gestion de l'irrigation. Bien entendu des questions majeures restent toujours sans réponse au niveau politique, institutionnel, organisationnel et environnemental.La plupart des questions soulevées ont porté sur la propriété des infrastructures des systèmes irrigués transférés, le rythme et le degré du transfert de leur gestion, la participation du secteur privé, la dépendance des producteurs, le manque d'engagement politique affirmé et soutenu concrétisé par des stratégies claires, l'organisation des filières de production, la professionnalisation des acteurs, la formation, l'encadrement, l'environnement favorable au transfert. Cette présentation a été suivie de quatre papiers sur le thème de l'irrigation privée et commerciale. Deux présentations ont traité des questions relatives aux potentiels et contraintes des productions agricoles à haute valeur ajoutée destinées à l'exportation au Ghana et au Kenya. Il s'agit surtout de la production de fruits et légumes sous irrigation, provenant de grandes comme de petites exploitations appartenant à différentes organisations socio-professionnelles de producteurs.Ces différents groupes de producteurs sont généralement en mesure d'investir sur l'irrigation si les conditions d'amélioration de l'environnement économique sont assurées et surtout si des mesures incitatives sont prises par les autorités publiques. Les principales contraintes au développement de l'irrigation privée et commerciale soulevées dans les études de cas au Ghana et Kenya sont:Coût élevé des transactions de marché dont la conséquence est la réduction des profits au niveau de l'exploitation; Les deux autres études ont, par contre, permis d'illustrer par des exemples précis, la possibilité de création d'une chaîne de matériels d'irrigation basée sur des principes commerciaux claires mais aussi pouvant assurer une forte implication du secteur privé local. Des technologies simples, facilement utilisables par les petits producteurs, ont été introduits à cet effet. La formation est dispensée aux fabricants locaux des équipements grâce aux ressources disponibles localement. Du fait des faibles coûts du matériel, les producteurs n'ont nullement besoin de crédit. Cependant une attention particulière doit être accordée aux mesures de prévention d'une sur-exploitation des nappes souterraines voire de leur tarissement.  Au total sept documents ont été présentés sur ce thème dont cinq études de cas en Afrique et en Amérique Latine, une réflexion sur les modes de financement de l'irrigation en Afrique, et enfin une présentation des activités de la Banque Africaine de Développement (BAD).L'étude de cas menée au Nigeria a montré que les petits producteurs disposant de motopompes arrivaient à rentabiliser leur exploitation. Ils dégagent des marges de bénéfices relativement importantes par rapport à ceux qui ne disposent pas de pompes. Cependant ceci n'est valable que si un certain nombre de conditions préalables sont remplies. Nous pouvons citer entre autres l'accès à l'eau, l'accès au marché, une bonne organisation du calendrier cultural, l'accès à la technologie qui doit être simple et peu coûteuse, un renforcement des capacités des producteurs etc.Le système de location de pompes en Bolivie a été également présenté. Ce système représente, selon le présentateur, une riche expérience relativement simple qui pourrait être intéressante pour l'Afrique si un certain nombre de conditions sont remplies. Il s'agit : du renforcement des institutions financières existantes et des capacités des fournisseurs d'équipement, de la mise en place sur le moyen terme de systèmes de refinancement pour rendre l'opération attrayante, et le développement de projets tests.La présentation sur les cours itinérants pour la formation d'agents d'encadrement et de développement dans l'utilisation d'un outil d'aide à la sélection de pompes et de moteurs pour les producteurs a été basée sur les expériences au Mali, au Burkina Faso et au Niger. Une base de données regroupant les types de pompes disponibles dans le marché local et leurs caractéristiques techniques favorisera davantage la réussite et l'utilité de cet outil.La présentation sur le Burkina et le Niger a porté surtout sur une étude comparative sur le financement, la gestion des périmètres irrigués, les coûts et les indicateurs de performance. Il ressort de cette étude que les rendements obtenus au Burkina sont plus élevés et plus réguliers qu'au Niger, qu'il existe un réel besoin de renforcement des capacités des producteurs de même qu'un besoin de réduire la complexité de l'accès aux institutions financières, et une nécessité de clarifier les problèmes de tenure foncière.La présentation de la BAD, s'appuyant sur des exemples au Ghana et en Gambie, a permis de noter que les crédits alloués au secteur de l'agriculture sont le plus souvent orientés vers les soussecteurs tels que : l'irrigation, le développement rural, les infrastructures rurales, et l'approvisionnement en eau potable.Les discussions ont permis de noter que la notion de secteur privé devrait être élargie aux petits producteurs mais aussi que le financement du sous-secteur devrait commencer par s'appuyer sur la mobilisation de l'épargne et reconnaître que les producteurs ont une large gamme de besoins prioritaires à satisfaire.Apres une brève introduction du sujet par le président M. I. K. Musa, les panélistes représentant la FAO, l'IWMI, l'ARID, les Producteurs et la BAD ont à tour de rôle pris la parole pour donner leur point de vue sur le sujet. Selon le premier orateur M. Gyamfi, représentant les producteurs privés, le service public doit faciliter l'expansion de l'irrigation dans le cadre de ses politiques de développement. Il doit exister, de part et d'autre, des concertations voire des concessions pour réduire le coût élevé des intrants, et des mécanismes pour rendre l'accès à l'eau et à la terre plus facile pour les producteurs qui décident d'investir dans le secteur. La sécurité alimentaire, selon M. Gyamfi, devra s'appuyer sur une production agricole sur toute l'année ce qui par conséquent nécessite la réalisation d'un nombre plus important de systèmes d'irrigation.Pour augmenter les revenus à l'exportation on a besoin de plus de stratégies clairement définies et des mesures incitatives. Pour cela les secteurs privé et le public doivent aller ensemble. Chacun doit avoir l'obligation de respecter les programmes arrêtés et une attention particulière devra être accordée à la conformité avec les normes de qualité qui représentent une question essentielle si on veut accéder au marché extérieur.Rapport Général Selon M. Merrey, le programme en cours de discussion entre partenaires, Banque mondiale, FAO, BAD, et IWMI pour dégager une stratégie de développement de l'irrigation en Afrique représente un contexte favorable pour la prise en compte de toutes ces préoccupations. Cependant fait-il remarquer, il existe cinq points fondamentaux qui méritent une attention particulière.Les ressources en eau disponibles aujourd'hui sont certainement très limitées par rapport aux estimations fournies, surtout si on tient compte des autres demandes et usages. Ceci rend le choix pour la mise place des grands périmètres très difficile à accepter.L'expansion de l'irrigation en Asie s'est déroulée à une période où la demande en produits céréaliers était élevée et les prix suffisamment rémunérateurs ; ce qui n'est plus tout à fait le cas aujourd'hui.Il existe une réelle opportunité pour le développement de la petite irrigation, surtout de la maîtrise de l'eau à la petite échelle en Afrique subsaharienne.Le développement du secteur de l'irrigation peut être mieux assuré par le secteur privé à cause de ses obligations de résultats.Les autorités et les bailleurs doivent créer des conditions attractives pour faciliter l'insertion du secteur privé.Selon Mme Tempelman de la FAO, nous devons nous poser une question essentielle sur comment procéder à l'expansion de l'irrigation privée tout en respectant l'équité ? Selon elle, nous devons pour cela analyser trois aspects relatifs à la sécurité alimentaire. Il s'agit de:1.l'allocation des ressources 2. l'impact potentiel de l'irrigation privée 3. l'impact sur l'exploitation familiale L'analyse de ces trois éléments montre que l'expansion de l'irrigation privée pourrait avoir des conséquences significatives sur l'augmentation des coûts d'exploitation des ressources en eau, et également sur le foncier. Les conséquences pour l'exploitation familiales sont réelles. En effet il est fort probable que, dans les choix et décisions à prendre, l'option de privilégier des choix financièrement plus intéressants prime sur la nécessité d'assurer la sécurité alimentaire du foyer. Les femmes producteurs risquent une plus grande marginalisation car bien qu'elles contribuent de manière déterminante à la production vivrière pour les besoins de sécurité alimentaire du foyer, elles ont des difficultés quant à l'accès à la terre, au crédit etc. En outre elles disposent de moins de contrôle sur la main d'oeuvre familiale, sur l'allocation des ressources et surtout sur la répartition des profits et bénéfices générés par la production agricole.Pour M. Diallo de l'ARID, trois idées sont ici dégagées:1.La nécessité de trouver les voies et moyens qui permettent de réduire de manière substantielle, les coûts des systèmes d'irrigation et les ramener à des niveaux plus réels, donc plus acceptables. Pour cela, il faut nécessairement procéder à une meilleure prise en compte des facteurs négatifs telle que la corruption et lutter efficacement contre celle-ci. Ceci peut se faire à travers des politiques et stratégies basées sur la bonne gouvernance.L'accès des petits producteurs aux technologies simples et peu coûteuses pour mieux lutter contre la pauvreté et l'exclusion.Il faudra, dans le cadre des politiques et stratégies sur la gestion intégrée des ressources en eau, mettre en place des cadres de concertation qui impliquent les petits producteurs qui représentent, le plus souvent, les segments les plus vulnérables.Selon le représentant de la BAD, qui a parlé de l'expérience de celle-ci en matière de financement de l'irrigation, leur intervention dans le financement de périmètres sucriers a donné de bons résultats. Les instruments financiers de la BAD sont basés sur des prêts à long terme. Ces prêts sont faits à travers des banques locales ; mais pour les gros projets nécessitant de lourds financements, les prêts sont faits à partir la maison mère à Abidjan. Toutes les études classiques de faisabilité et de Private Irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa rentabilité de projets sont nécessairement conduites avant l'octroi de tout accord de crédit. Les études d'impact des projets d'irrigation sur l'environnement représentent également aujourd'hui un préalable pour tout financement de projet de développement.Le sommaire des discussions et débats entre panélistes et participants au séminaire a permis de dégager un certain nombre de points et de remarques qui sont:Il existe une situation favorable pour le développement de l'irrigation surtout de la petite irrigation dans beaucoup d'endroits en Afrique;Les ressources en eau sont limitées et qu'un accent doit être mis sur la collecte des eaux de ruissellement et sur leur utilisation pour l'irrigation; La situation actuelle est plus favorable au développement de la petite irrigation, à la maîtrise de l'eau à la petite échelle, à l'introduction de la mico-irrigation et à l'utilisation des ressources disponibles dans les zones humides;Les autorités politiques doivent investir dans la réalisation d'infrastructures de base (routes, electrification, etc.)  The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to those involved in designing projects focusing on or involving the financing of irrigation equipment and structures. The first half of the paper (Chapters 1 through 4) discusses the evolution of rural finance in general terms, while the last half (Chapters 6 through 9) focuses on the special case of irrigation finance in Africa. Chapter 5 describes the rapidly-evolving African rural financial marketplace. Chapter 8 ends with a listing of the \"Ten Commandments\" of irrigation finance, a summary of this paper's main points. Chapter 9 presents illustrative product descriptions for proposed typical micro -irrigation loans. Attachments include (1) a bibliography; (2) a listing of known manufacturers and experts on microirrigation;(3) an illustrative power pump rental agreement developed in Mali and ( 4) a list of inexpensive (mostly non-European) motor pumps prepared by the HIPPO Foundation of the Netherlands. While those readers not interested in the theoretical discussion of the history and evolution of thinking on rural finance in Africa may skip chapters 1-5 and jump right into the discussion of irrigation finance starting in Chapter 6, a thorough reading of the entire document is highly recommended, since Chapters 1 through 5 provide the context and rationale for what is proposed in the final chapters.For the purposes of this paper, the term \"Irrigation Finance\" includes all methods and techniques used to finance the purchase, installation or operation of various forms of irrigation, including self-financing by farmers themselves; financing of investment in irrigation equipment or physical infrastructure; seasonal or \"campaign\" loans for inputs and operating costs; input and equipment supply chains; and leasing. Each of these is discussed.The specific discussion of irrigation finance focuses primarily on small-scale micro-irrigation for two reasons:(1) most previous large-scale irrigation perimeter development projects in Africa have failed miserably for lack of good management and because of the use of inappropriate, too complex or overly-expensive bilaterallyfunded equipment and ( 2) the author believes that less-complicated, inexpensive and l ocally-supportable technologies such as bucket or drum-based \"drip kits\" with drag-hose systems and sprinkling, supported by treadle and rope pumps for larger plots, are much more likely to last beyond the life of the project than the complex, radically-different (to participants new to the \"machine culture\") mechanized agriculture typically introduced into large perimeters. In many cases, local manufacturers can be identified to make and market these inexpensive but simple and effective micro-irrigation t ools, whereas the expensive, imported machinery typically used in large perimeters is rarely mastered by those using it, and will almost certainly never be produced locally. This paper traces the evolution of \"best practices\" in the field of rural finance. The \"old paradigm\" followed by most development agencies in the '60s, '70s and '80s was the (now discredited) top-down \"directed agricultural credit\", \"one size fits all\" approach whereby expensive power pumps, mostly originating in Europe, were typically donated and used in large irrigation perimeters, typically for rice production. These technologies were clearly inappropriate for Africa, since they were (1) heavily-subidized, unprofitable, and hence unsustainable over the long haul; (2) they were overly-complex for farmers as yet unused to a \"machine culture.\" Most such credit programmes were poorly managed, often by the project itself (instead of by financial professionals) such that loan collection was not emphasized. To \"encourage\" farmers, in addition to equipment subsidies, low interest rates were charged on loans such that lenders could not come close to covering their costs, with the ultimate result that most credit programmes failed. Lending capital was donated from abroad, most of the development community (erroneously) believing that poor people cannot and do not save. This heavilysubsidized approach also contributed to the development of a \"hand-out mentality\" in Africa, so that instead of running their farms as businesses, farmers came to expect any new technology to be given to them free of charge. This was driven home to the author of this paper when, while he was working at FUCEC-TOGO in the mid-1980s, people would come and hopefully ask \"whether this is the place where they grant the loans that you don't have to repay.\"In recent years, a new paradigm of rural finance has emerged and gained broad acceptance among donor agencies and the development community in general, to the extent that project design officers still proposing the failed approach embodied by the \"old paradigm\" of rural finance will almost certainly be asked to take their proposals back to the drawing boards. The \"new paradigm\" of rural finance focuses on (1) letting local financial institution professionals manage the loan portfolio; (2) using market (full cost) interest rates; (3) recognizing that farmers have financial needs other than seasonal farm loans; (4) minimization and rapid phaseout of subsidies to lenders and a refocusing of project efforts on market creation and institutional development (focusing on micro-irrigation equipment manufacturers, input suppliers and developing markets for the increased production); ( 5) greater reliance on client savings as a source of lending capital, thus automatically making the lender much more sustainable in the long run; (6) an increasing reliance on alternative forms of collateral, principally the \"joint and several\" liability of small, affinity-based solidarity groups; and ( 7) making lending decisions on the basis of repayment capacity and likelihood.The paper also discusses in some detail the unique features and special needs of agricultural production and finance, and proposes recommendations on overcoming related problems such as:• Government interference in the politically sensitive area of agriculture • The high financial transaction costs of attending dispersed and small farm households;• The seasonality and the importance of opportune timing of on-farm finance for cultivation practices, input application, harvesting (and related output marketing), the heterogeneity in farmers' lending needs (seasonal and term lending) and the relative long duration of agricultural lending contracts;• The dependence on sustainable natural resources management and the relative low profitability of on-farm investments; • The various weather and other production risks, together with marketing risks related to agriculture, that require appropriate risk management techniques, both for producers and financial intermediaries; • The limited availability of conventional bank collateral that farm households can offer, that highlights the need to increase the security of existing loan collateral or develop appropriate collateral substitutes;• The reality that farm households are confronted with emergency needs and that their loan repayment capacity is highly dependent on consumption and social security contingencies; • The need for adequate training of both the lenders' staff and farmer clients.The paper next chronicles several fundamental changes in the African financial marketplace which have occurred over the past two decades. These include (1) the failure and liquidation of all but a handful of the once-powerful national agricultural development banks (those that survived, like Ghana's ADB and Mali's BNDA, adopted the \"new paradigm\" before it was too late); (2) the rise of tens of thousands of innovative new types of local rural and micro-finance institutions (credit unions, village banks, Grameen Bank clones, etc., now generically referred to as \"Decentralized Financial Systems\", or DFSs); and (3) a growing turnaround in thinking and a realization by some commercial banks that rural finance can be profitable for them, too, particularly through wholesaling partnerships with networks of DFS loan retailers. While not all, or even a majority, of commercial banks have made this discovery, there is clearly a tendency in this direction.Next, the different types of irrigation finance are discussed. These include borrowing to pay for the original feasibility study; loans to finance the up-front investment in equipment and structures; seasonal operating cost loans; leasing; and self-financing. With respect to the latter, the argument is advanced that since microirrigation technologies are now so inexpensive, credit is not even necessary in the vast majority of cases. It may accordingly be more prudent in project design to focus limited resources on the development of manufacturers, supply chains, marketing and promotional efforts, and creating markets for increased production, rather than on credit schemes so frequently fraught with heartaches.The paper next discusses the typical difficulties faced in irrigation finance, which include:1. Busy project design officers give only lip service to the participative process; 2. Excessively costly and complex technical solutions more appropriate for Europe than Africa 3. Lack of a broad market creation approach that recognizes the need to develop supply chains, carry out extensive marketing and promotion, and develop markets for the increased produce that the project will hopefully produce 4. \"One size fits all\" project designs, where beneficiaries (almost never referred to as \"clients\") all receive exactly the same technological package 5. Inadequate emphasis on building effective Management Information Systems (M.I.S.), despite the existence in-house of the FAO's own powerful Microbanking System banking software Difficulties Linked to the Beneficiaries Themselves:1. Farmers' pre-existing indebtedness which, in the African cultural context, often takes precedence over \"formal\" or \"semi -formal\" sector credit when they must choose which loans to repay first. 2. Farmers' under-capitalisaton renders them very vulnerable to the slightest unexpected event 3. A \"hand-out\" mentality and inability or refusal to depreciate fixed assets, thus discouraging development of farms as enterprises 4. Illiteracy 5. High rates of post-harvest losses1. Long distances from lending institution branches and borrowers, although with the advent of DFSs, this is decreasing 2. Insufficient capital to meet effective credit demand 3. An increasing cacophony of competing rural financial institutions, with heavily-subsidizing RFIs unfairly crowding out efficient, market rate-based RFIs1. An inability to assure an adequate legal, regulatory and supervisory framework for DFSs, especially effective enforcement of loan contracts and periodic DFS examinations. Also, governments all too often take actions inimical to DFS growth and development, such as mass forgiveness of debts during political campaigns 2. Counterproductive usury laws that effectively reduce lending to farmers, instead of \"protecting\" them. 3. Political interference in the loan-granting process and efforts to \"encourage\" certain sectors with subsidies and to force financial institutions to lend to these sectors at uneconomical interest rates. 4. Insufficient development of markets, food processing a nd transportation systems (especially rural feeder roads) needed to market increased production 5. Deficits that provoke high inflation and interest rates1. Minimum loan size to justify donor investment creates a built-in bias against \"thinking small\" (i.e., donors have a preference for the expensive, motorized approach to irrigation that only benefits a few, instead of the micro-irrigation approach which can potentially improve the lives of millions of farmers. 2. Small-scale irrigation is essentially a dispersed, local activity where donor funding tends to support centralized, large-scale investments or investments targeted at large institutions (e.g., national research and extension systems) capable of absorbing large tranches of funds. 3. Traditionally, small-scale irrigation has depended on NGOs, CBOs or small businesses to jumpstart the process with training, demonstrations, loans, and mass communication campaigns. Donors have traditionally focused on public sector institutions, instead of on the private sector, despite the fact that the latter are much more likely to \"take off\" and become sustainable.After this lengthy discussion of the difficulties with irrigation finance and how they might be overcome, a number of \"elements of reflexion\" and lessons learned are considered, including irrigation project design issues, credit supply and demand, institutional development, and policy considerations. This discussion ends with a presentation of a summary of the various recommendations made throughout the document. That discussion is reproduced here in its entirety:In most African countries, there is sufficient liquidity within the banking and DFS sectors to finance all foreseeable irrigation needs. The problem is not one of lack of financial resources, but rather identifying a sound way of accessing and using them such that they inspire the confidence of those responsible for their management. This paper has attempted to provide some guidance on how to create that confidence through the conception of sounder irrigation projects. If you retain nothing else from this presentation, please try to abide by as many of the following \"Ten Commandments\" of irrigation finance as possible:1. Right at the project identification stage, make sure that you have correctly identified the farmers' real principal problems before attempting to design the most appropriate solution. While this sounds obvious, in reality, a great many problem statements are incorrect or inappropriate, in great part because the participative process has been short-circuited. Make a concerted effort to determine whether the main problem is one of \"low production and/or yields\", or whether it is rather the huge post-harvest losses (PHL).If PHL is large, consider an initial project or phase that specifically addresses PHL. This will so dramatically improve farm profitability that there's a good chance farmers will be able to self-finance most, if not all, of the second phase (micro-irrigation) of the project or of follow-on projects. This would be particularly true if your project design is based on leasing (straight or lease-purchase) irrigation equipment, as opposed to outright purchase. For more information on proven solutions for PHL, please check out the FAO publications \"Warehousing and Inventory Credit\" and the \"Manual on the Establishment, Operation and Management of Cereal Banks.\" These books are downloadable for free from the FAO and are available in booklet form for a nominal fee. Corollary No. 1 is that project design officers should not short-circuit the participative process; those most affected by the design must be intimately involved in it from the outset. Corollary No. 2 is to always abide by the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) principal during project design, and adopt the least complex (and probably least expensive) technical solution consistent with accomplishing project objectives. 2. Recognize that credit is not always, or even in a majority of cases, the most appropriate solution. If a number of inexpensive, locally-manufactured treadle pumps will do the same job as an expensive European motor pump, selling them outright for cash is definitely better and will save all concerned many heartaches resulting later on from credit programmes, particularly from the high defaults typically experienced when using expensive European irrigation equipment.Similarly, during project design, give serious consideration and allocate time to identifying possible local manufacturers and/or retailers of required irrigation equipment. Maybe the \"poorest of the poor\" will not benefit directly from your project, but production and profitability will almost certainly improve considerably, and the very poor will still probably at least benefit from the need for additional labour to run the more mechanized and/or larger farms.3. If, after the aforegoing precautions, you still opt for a credit programme or component, make sure that a sufficient quantity of long-term funds is available to finance the projected volume of irrigation lending. Don't cavalierly leave the details of this component as something whose details \"will be worked out by project staff during implementation.\" This is an essential component, and you absolutely must be reasonably sure that the funds will be available; because their eventual non-availability would jeopardize your entire project. Corollary 1 is that experience so far with loan guarantees has tended to encourage poor performance by lenders, since the latter will recover their capital whether they perform well or not, and hence you should avoid loan guarantee schemes, if at all possible. Corollary 2 is that there is currently insufficient information to support leasing of irrigation equipment as a valid approach, although efforts in this direction in Mali and elsewhere need to be closely monitored to identify sound new approaches. 4. If, despite the advice given in points 1 through 3 above, you still decide to propose the use of complex, expensive irrigation equipment installations, then use a more rational approach to procurement than has often been the case in the past. First, do yourself a big favour and make absolutely sure that there will be sufficient spare (backup) machines, spare parts, and competent, readily-available repairmen when pumps, as they certainly will, break down. Secondly, make sure you use the most appropriate and cost-effective equipment available to carry out project activities, and not necessarily those preferred by donors, especially in bilateral programmes. Oftentimes, it will be better to introduce an inexpensive technology that is only slightly different from previous practices. Experience shows that radical changes (e.g., from the hoe to tractors or animal traction, and from hand sprinkling to motor pumps) very frequently fail. Let's all do a better job of convincing bilateral donors that if we're really serious about development, purchasing unnecessarily expensive irrigation equipment in the donor's own country is not a sustainable approach.Where surface water and local water tables permit, always opt for micro-irrigation technology, since it potentially can positively affect millions of farmers, not just a few on a big development perimeter. 5. If, after all the above warnings and precautions, you still decide to include irrigation credit in your proposed project, try to rely more heavily on the increasingly ubiquitous networks of Decentralized Financial Systems, as opposed to the formal banking sector (since, however, a number of commercial banks are beginning to be interested in rural finance, at least on a wholesale basis, to proven micro-lenders, don't automatically assume any more that banks are not interested in micro-credit) or development banks, in those few countries where the latter still exist. DFSs are likely located in much closer proximity to your targeted farmers, and are better able to tailor loans to fit their needs, as well as to monitor the loan effectively. Focus more on the DFSs' institutional development (what we have called in this paper, \"accompanying measures\") and less on the provision of lines of credit. Project designers do a big disservice to partner DFSs if they overwhelm them with large sums of external \"cold\" funds relative to their own, locally-mobilised \"hot\" capital (i.e., savings). Also, don't let the irrigation loan portfolio overly dominate the DFSs' other loan portfolio segments. To do so would create too much covariant risk. If, despite all the advice provided in this document, you opt for an expensive, imported, power pump -based intensive agriculture, it would be better to work with a bank than to drown local DFSs in foreign money. Too much easy money has already been the ruin of thousands of RFIs around the world. 6. If, in the end, it is definitely determined credit is essential to your project, don't spoil local financial markets by building a cheap credit \"window\" into the project organisation itself using subsidized (less than market) interest rates. Instead, let professionals in successful local RFIs, DFSs and banks manage the entire lending process according to their own policies and procedures, which have stood the test of time. Never try to \"force\" the lender to grant loans that the applicant is not qualified for according to the lender's established criteria. If you decide to \"do it yourself\" within the project, recognize the high probability of failure and, development-wise, a 100% certainty that you will fail to leave an institution to carry on when your project ends. 7. Farmers must be called upon to self-fund increasing proportions of their irrigation projects, i.e., they must learn to properly depreciate their fixed assets and provide for their eventual replacement, instead of seeking a new loan to finance a replacement pump every four or five years. Remember that a development project may help farmers finance their first pump, but it's up to the borrower to finance its replacement when the first one must be retired. A corollary here is that the term of the loan (or lease) should correspond to the expected useful life in Africa, not in the equipment's country of origin. 8. Lenders must do a better job of learning from each other and continue to adapt their products to the specific needs of farmers involved in irrigation. Encourage SFDs you work with to participate fully in the MFI networks that now exist in nearly all African countries. Build in study tours abroad for key personnel to successful irrigation finance programmes. At the client level, try to integrate twinning programmes whereby experienced micro-irrigation clients are associated with those just joining the programme; this has been proven an effective way to spread micro-irrigation technology and techniques. 9. Don't just focus on using irrigation technology to increase production. Re-orient your whole approach to irrigation development to one of market creation and institutional development. That is, recognize and build in the upstream manufacturing and distribution of your micro-irrigation equipment, the inputs (seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, small tools, etc.) supply chain, the necessary mass marketing required to make the product a household name, as well as the forward linkages (processing, storage and market outlets). It doesn't suffice to double or triple production; for farmers to truly benefit, remember that the product has to be sold without glutting the market. The latter must be addressed during project design. If you leave it for implementation and markets are not found, then time, effort and money will have been wasted. 10. A good M.I.S. is essential to any credit programme. Accordingly, project designers should build into the budget sufficient numbers of licenses for a capable M.I.S. such as Microbanker for Windows (MBWin), sufficient computer equipment, and sufficient training for the expected number of users. If, despite all the accumulated evidence and the advice presented in these ten commandments, you still decide to go it alone and have project staff, instead of DFSs, manage an irrigation credit programme, the MIS commandment is doubly true. In fact, having a good M.I.S. will likely be your only slight hope of success.A number of current projects are researching these issues in search of effective solutions. Let us continue to learn from these and share from each other's experiences through networking.The last chapter of the paper describes a series of standard loan products which could be adapted to the financing of three typical micro-irrigation technologies.In this new millennium, the world is faced with an exponential escalation of two mutually reinforcing world problems: increasing water scarcity and stubborn rural poverty. Despite the impressive gains in global food production over the last half century, an estimated 790 million people remain hungry. 2 The \"crop per drop\" produced by irrigation must clearly increase. But improving irrigation productivity on large farms alone will not solve the continuing problems of rural poverty, which are getting worse instead of better in sub-Saharan Africa.Increasing the agricultural productivity and income of the majority of farmers in developing countries who cultivate less than two hectares is a relatively untapped opportunity for finding practical solutions to rural poverty. Opening smallholder access to affordable small plot irrigation is a critical first step to wealth creation for the rural poor. New affordable irrigation technologies like treadle pumps and low-cost drip and sprinkler systems not only open the door to a path out of poverty; they are also a path to saving water, and increasing productivity through micro-irrigation technologies on small farms.Accordingly, agricultural finance, in particular one of its oftentimes most costly components, irrigation, is at a crossroads. It currently suffers fro m a dichotomy in purpose and direction, in view of increasing concerns about the food situation as a result of population growth and accelerated food demand. The need for substantial new investment in agriculture is clear. 3 However, on the other hand, the number of donor-supported agricultural credit programmes is declining and there is little evidence in many countries that government or commercial financial intermediaries are compensating for the reduction in supply of financing to agricultural production, processing, and marketing.Dynamic and conflicting changes appear to be operating in curtailing the current supply of agricultural finance, at the same time when the financial requirements of agriculture are increasing. An evolving broader view of rural finance within most bilateral and multilateral development agencies has largely replaced the traditional directed agricultural credit approach, with greater emphasis currently on meeting rural non-farm credit demand. Mobilisation of local savings, formerly seen as inconsequential, is now generally seen as an important source of funds for lending, and a necessary ingredient for sustainability, but much progress remains to be made in that respect. Applying market (full cost-covering) interest rates is now also seen as an essential prerequisite in the efforts to achieve operational efficiency and financial viability of rural financial institutions.Positive changes in the terms of trade for agriculture as a result of more favourable exchange rates, less punitive import and export taxes, lifting of price controls, etc., are now beginning to create in many countries an improved market environment, that may support profitable farm operations and investments in technology, including irrigation, the subject of this paper. Freer world markets present, however, both opportunities and challenges-opportunities to access these markets and challenges of fierce competition and risks inherent in free markets. Despite these positive features, this is still just a prognosis for many countries, where much progress is still to be made.Paradoxically, when market conditions for agriculture to expand and to contribute significantly to overall economic development are increasingly evident, and at the precise moment when local financial institutions are gradually maturing and improving their ability to more adequately service the rural population, funds available to finance agricultural investments have declined precipitously in many countries. This contradiction is in great measure the motivating force behind the drafting of these guidelines. In fact, the purpose of this document is to take stock of and evaluate previous attempts at the financing of irrigation in Africa, to learn from previous mistakes and to propose a new approach hopefully more conducive to success than past efforts that have so often failed miserably.For the purposes of this paper, the term \"Irrigation Finance\" includes all methods and techniques used to finance the purchase, installation or operation of various forms of irrigation, including self-financing by farmers; financing of MT/LT irrigation investment in equipment or physical infrastructure; seasonal or \"campaign\" loans for inputs and operating costs; input and equipment supply chains; and leasing. Each of these is discussed.This paper takes the point of view that irrigation and credit should both be considered as two components contributing to the achievement of a higher objective (usually increased crop production or yields) defined by the project. Neither component, though, is an end in itself. Their relationship must be placed within the context of an integrated whole system.Irrigation poses a number of specific problems as regards financing, including: a) Insufficient funds are usually available for medium to long term investment; b) Medium to long term interest rates are typically very high, if indeed loans are at all available; c) Difficulty obtaining the borrower's contribution/participation (a percentage, 10% to 25%, typically, of his/her proposed project); d) Need for periodic \"injections\" of funds to replenish or augment the credit revolving fund; e) Difficulties in using leasing as an option; f) A tendency in donor-funded irrigation projects to use equipment much more expensive than is appropriate, primarily because bilateral donors insist on using equipment (e.g., European power pumps costing $5,000 or more, when a couple of $100 treadle pumps or a much cheaper Chinese or Indian power pump would have sufficed) manufactured in their own country, t hus rendering financial sustainability completely unattainable. The problem is compounded by \"one size fits all\" technology solutions. g) Farmers are frequently inadequately trained in the use and proper maintenance of irrigation equipment, and competent repairmen and spare parts and spare (rental) equipment may not be available, and when (as is so often the case) key equipment breaks down, it will accordingly often produce a disastrous harvest. h) The disuse or mis -use of depreciation, or more specifically, a general lack of appreciation of its role.At least at this point in time, there is no unique solution to any of these problems, although there is growing evidence that some solutions are in general more effective than others. This paper will discuss some of these findings and make recommendations to guide the work of those involved in developing projects where the financing of irrigation, particularly through the use of credit, is envisaged.It is important to situate each discipline (irrigation and financing) in its own context, because neither can claim to be more important. They both have a cost, which influences the project's financial results. A frequent impediment to wider use of irrigation is frequently its heavy cost, along with the need to disburse large sums of funds early in the new project to assure that end-of-project production targets are met. Irrigation and financing have their typical weak points, including the following: As concerns irrigation: 1) purchasing bigger or vastly more expensive pumps than necessary; (2) inadequate numbers and networks of farmers involved in irrigation; 3) non-mastery of power pumps or other equipment and water management techniques; and 4) weak or nonexistent maintenance and unavailability of spare parts and/or spare pumps to replace those temporarily out of order. On the financing side, one can cite, inter alia: 1) difficult access to credit in many rural areas; 2) where credit is available, standard, \"one size fits all\", loan products are frequently inappropriate for irrigation; 3) to \"encourage\" farmers, interest rates on irrigation loans are set far below the cost-recovery level, thus seriously jeopardising programme sustainability; and 4) beneficiaries are frequently chosen according to criteria other than clients' likelihood and capacity of repayment. Experience shows, however, that these deficiencies can be greatly diminished through the integration into projects of accompanying measures, such as training, information, improved organisation and management, effective monitoring and evaluation, etc. Irrigation, from the financial point of view, has the advantage of reducing agricultural risk, i.e., the results of insufficient rainfall. On the other hand, irrigation often has very high costs that can easily double (or more) the total cost of production over that of farms not using irrigation. The cost of irrigation is very high, even when concessionary interest rates are involved. The cost of even a modest irrigation development project involving just a few hundred hectares can easily run into millions of dollars. Some would say that \"that's just the nature of the beast,\" but this writer would argue that such proponents have not learned the lessons of the last 50 years' experience with irrigation in Africa. Most large, expensive irrigation projects have failed for reasons discussed in detail in Chapter 7. These many failures should provoke those involved in designing development projects requiring the introduction or rehabilitation of irrigation systems to think more seriously about lower-cost, less complex alternatives and approaches. Some of these newly emerging options, particularly the growing availability of low-cost treadle pumps, rope pumps, drip systems and sprinklers, will be discussed in this paper.Agricultural lenders face distinct challenges that are related to the specific nature of farm production. In this chapter, some recurring issues in agricultural finance are examined. Before jumping into a specific treatment of irrigation finance, let us consider some of the major factors that affect the design of agricultural lending products in general.In the first part of the chapter, a summary is given of the past agricultural credit polic ies including the shift from supply-led and directed agricultural credit programmes towards rural financial market development. In the current prevailing market environment in developing countries, major attention is now given to the assessment of the effective demand for financial services. Moreover, some practices of informal financial arrangements are discussed. The second part of the chapter outlines the unique features of agricultural lending, in particular how rural financial markets differ from urban ones. Major attention is given to an assessment of the specific cost and risk barriers that formal lenders face in agricultural lending.Until the early 1980s, agricultural planners were primarily concerned with the need to increase food crop production. The adoption of the new green revolution technologies was relatively costly, and small farmers were perceived as being too poor to save and to self-finance the required investments in additional farm inputs. As a result, vast amounts of financial resources from governments and donors were poured into agricultural development banks and agricultural credit projects. These programmes were supposed to serve as conduits for the provision of subsidized credit to small farmers, often for specific production purposes.The provision of subsidized and easily accessible credit constituted a central theme of the agricultural development strategies in the 1970s and 1980s. It was argued that enhanced access to credit would accelerate technological change, stimulate national agricultural production through increased farm output and improve rural income distribution. However, this approach failed to produce the desired results. While the reasons for the failure of these policies were manifold, as general conclusions the following explanations can be given.Many agricultural development banks were created for political purposes and were not meant to operate as viable financial institutions. As they were established to channel subsidized donor and government funds to farmers, they lacked the market discipline and incentives of commercial banks. The provision of credit depended upon political decisions and interests. Moreover, the irregular availability of loan funds, the setting of interest rate ceilings and the periodic write-offs of overdue loans seriously undermined the effectiveness of these agricultural development banks. It is not surprising that all but a few (Ghana's ADB and Mali's BNDA, for example) of the national agricultural development banks failed and were eventually liquidated.As the performance of these banks was measured in terms of loan disbursements rather than by the actual number of small farmer-borrowers attended and recovery of outstanding loans, they were tempted to grant sizeable loans predominantly to well established larger farmers. This was reinforced by the rent-seeking behaviour of these farmers (and even influential people who weren't even farmers!), who benefited from the subsidized interest rates that were set by government.Many agricultural credit programmes were poorly designed and failed to fully appreciate the high costs of agricultural lending. Moreover, as agricultural development banks focused exclu sively on agricultural lending, they were exposed to a high concentration of risks. This required frequent rescheduling of overdue loans, thus further undermining the loan recovery efforts and the loan repayment dis cipline of both bank staff and farmers.The poor experiences with directed credit programmes in the 1970s and 1980s has led to changes in policies away from channelling supply-led agricultural credit, so that rural financial systems have evolved toward meeting the demand for diverse types of rural financial services. In fact, rural financial market development includes the provision of both farm and non-farm rural lending services as well as essential savings deposit facilities. This implies the creation of commercially viable financial institutions. These act as full-fledged financial intermediaries and compete with informal lenders.The new policies have led to a shift away from the administration of directed credit programmes that rely on continuous government or donor subsidies. Major attention is now given to the performance of financial institutions. When it comes to lending to poorer clients, two principal performance indicators have been developed, outreach and sustainability. 4 Outreach refers to the extent in which a financial institution provides high quality financial services to a large number of small clients. It includes both a horizontal dimension of \"coverage\" that measures the number of clients that are served, as well as a vertical dimension of \"depth\" that refers to clients' income level profiles. Attempts are also made to evaluate the degree to which a financial institution meets the effective demand for financial services of the targeted clientele. The concept of outreach includes thus a quantitative and a qualitative dimension.A major feature of sustainability is the financial self-sufficiency or the ability of the financial institution to provide durable services on a cost-covering basis without reliance on external subsidies. 5 Financial sustainability is attained when the return on equity, net of subsidies received, equals or exceeds the opportunity costs of capital. 6 This means that a financial institution must cover the costs of loanable funds, loan administration costs, and provisions for loan losses as well as costs of protection against inflation. Financial institutions are considered commercially viable when they generate profits above and beyond their total financial transaction costs and can finance the development costs that are required to provide new financial products from their retained earnings.While financial self-sufficiency is a pre-condition to sustainability, other factors have been identified that are necessary to attain full sustainability. These are related to the organisational and the operational effectiveness of financial institutions. They include:• the development of new financial products to respond to market opportunities;• the provision of high quality financial services to strengthen the institution's competitiveness. This ensures client trust and loyalty; • an effective governance and management structure that protects the institution against political interference and distortions that are induced by government and donor interests; • the ability to access financial markets to fund loan portfolio growth and to strengthen the equity base of the financial institution.Although the financial systems development approach is now being increasingly accepted and adopted, the debate continues on the nature and the extent of required government interventions in the rural financial sector. For instance, the essential role of governments in establishing an enabling policy environment and laying down an appropriate legal and regulatory framework is generally accepted. But there is mu ch less consensus on the need and the extent to which governments should be involved in the direct provision of financial services in the event of serious market failures. In view of the limited available resources, direct government interventions should be exerted on the basis of operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. A general rule is that state-owned rural financial institutions should not receive special privileges that create unfair competition.In the increasingly generally accepted financial market and systems development approach, the users of financial services are considered clients rather than beneficiaries. This is a significant evolution in thinking.Recent research has revealed that a number of assumptions about small farm households, which formed the rationale for directed agricultural credit programmes, were wrong. Contrary to earlier perceptions, research on rural households has shown that even small farmers save. In fact, their savings are an integral part of farm household livelihood strategies. Savings are crucial to straddle the period between two successive harvests and to meet contingency expenditures. Household savings can be used for a variety of production, investment and deferred consumption purposes. These include conserving seeds, purchasing new farm inputs, storing of crop produce for deferred consumption and/or selling off later in the season at more lucrative market prices. Cash savings are normally kept at home due to the lack of appropriate bank deposit facilities. Deposits can be mobilized also through informal arrangements such as savings groups and money collectors.Another misconception is that rural people are unable to pay market interest rates for credit. Widespread use of informal credit suggests that, even farmers with their own savings periodically borrow from informal sources at high effective interest rates, often at annual percentage rates of from 100% to 360% or more. For instance, they prefer to sustain durable relationships with moneylenders who can provide timely (but very expensive) access to small loans. Given the risky nature of agricultural production and the incidence of contingency expenditures, farmers are anxious to have access to a range of potential sources of finance even at high cost. Farmers' ready willingness to pay 100% or more in interest to informal sources belies the previous belief that farmers cannot afford to pay the typically 30% to 50% interest rates charged by full cost-recovering rural financial institutions. Most professionals involved in rural credit in developing countries have accordingly lain to rest their lingering penchant towards \"giving a break to poor farmers\" by offering subsidized interest rates.Research has shown that small farmers tend to be risk-adverse and are conservative in their decision-making. 7  They cope with risks by diversifying their household income from both farm and non-farm activities. Small farmers save in various forms, accumulate physical assets and participate in networks defined by social relations and mutual aid arrangements. An analysis of the cash flows of low-income rural households indicates that an often-complex interdependency exists between the farm and the family household. Non-farm activities may account for a large share of the farm household income in rural areas. Non-farm employment has an important function by generating earnings that are used as working capital, or savings. In the case of poorer households they are an income source for survival during \"hungry seasons\". 8   Agricultural planners used to focus their attention on efforts to increase food production, as they failed to recognize the importance of non-farm income sources for small farm households. Consequently credit programmes did not consider the effects of diversified and off-farm income generating activities on the overall farm household net cash flow. Planners underestimated the capability of farmers to self-finance their returning investment requirements and to repay their loans. Frequently, \"one size fits all\" agricultural loan programmes gave loans to anyone in the \"target\" population, whether they needed it or not.The recognition of the existence of rural savings and the need to grant loans for rural off-farm activities has highlighted the prospects for rural financial market development. Appropriate savings deposit facilities and diversified loan products are essential strategies. In fact, their provision would serve to strengthen rural financial intermediation and satisfy the effective demand for different types of financial services. Moreover, the success of rural financial institutions does not depend only on the range of services they are able to provide, but also on their competitiveness with informal lenders.Informal financial arrangements are important in the rural economy. They have continued to flourish despite the presence of subsidized donor and government credit programmes. An analysis of their nature is essential to better understand the economic situation of farm households and their demand for financial services.The table below presents the types of rural lenders that can be found in African countries.  The range of rural and agricultural lenders is far more limited than in urban financial markets. This results from the unique features of agricultural production, finance and the history of financial sector development.Commercial banks are not involved in rural finance. Except in rare instances, they have not voluntarily established extensive rural branch networks, nor have they developed specific financial services for the poorer rural clientele. In some cases, they extended limited services to larger agro-industries in rural areas. This was the background against which governments in many developing countries constituted specialized agricultural development banks. The structural adjustment programmes, financial sector reform and the changed environment of market liberalisation and privatisation greatly affected these specialized banks. In fact, most of them have been either restructured or have ceased their operations altogether, mostly the latter.Beyond formal rural lenders, there are many small, decentralized, semi formal or informal financial intermediaries. Examples of these providers include village banks, community banks, co-operatives and credit unions. Usually their involvement in agricultural lending is constrained because their lending operations are primarily savings-based. They lack sufficient longer-term financial resources for agricultural lending. There is evidence that many small farmers now rely on semiformal and informal arrangements for financing their on-farm production. This shift has emerged following the demise of the directed agricultural credit programmes and the liquidation or restructuring of most agricultural development banks. Of particular importance are the traditional forms of trade finance and the contemporary agribusiness institutional arrangements like contract farming. 9   In the past, informal rural lenders have suffered from a negative reputation, largely due to the lack of competition in local financial markets. The often-usurious behaviour of moneylenders contributed to this view. While not totally unfounded, improved understanding of the dynamics of informal financial markets has increased the awareness of the distinct advantages that they offer.Informal lenders include moneylenders, input suppliers and traders. They lend for distinct purposes and offer credit at different terms and financial conditions. Lending also occurs between family members and friends. These loans are often interest-free. Group-based credit arrangements exist in the form of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) plus credit co-operatives. Informal savings arrangements include individual money collectors and savings societies that are organized between friends, neighbours and employees. 10 9 In contract farming, companies generally provide seedlings initially, as well as inputs (most on credit) over the years as the trees mature and become more and more productive, with the initial start-up costs being repaid over periods of as long as 22 years. These programmes often raise their participants out of poverty, but tend to work well only when growers have no choice but to sell their produce to the sponsoring companies; if parallel outlets for produce exist, many farmers will almost inevitably sell their produce there and default on their loans. Another problem is that all these commodities are priced in hard currency, so farmers' incomes tend to fluctuate widely from year to year. For a thorough discussion of contract farming, please see the FAO's new publication, \"Contract Farming\", available from AGSM at FAO headquarters in Rome. Additional information can be obtained from Ladman, J.R., et al., 1992. Because it easily marketed widely, the most common irrigated crop-rice-is probably not a candidate for contract farming, but horticultural and other high-value crops may be. In this vein, FAO has a number of very useful publications on improving horticulture, especially \"Horticultural Marketing: a resource and training manual for extension officers\", FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 76, 1989. 10 Bouman, F.J. A., 1995, pp. 371-384. Informal financial services providers fill the gaps in financial markets. They serve predominantly lower income people who are perceived by formal financial institutions as \"unbankable\" due to their inability to comply with conventional loan collateral requirements. Higher income people also use informal credit when the availability of bank credit is limited. It is used for consumption purposes. Distinct advantages are afforded by informal credit. There are no restrictions imposed on the purpose of its use, provided in very small amounts and it is typically available with a minimum time delay.Informal lenders have overcome the high cost and risk barriers which face institutional lenders when they attempt to serve small clients. Their local presence ensures a convenient and timely access of clients to financial services, increases their familiarity with the borrower's needs and his/her loan repayment capacity and reduces the costs of loan follow-up. As they are interested in maintaining a good credit reputation to ensure continued access to credit resources, clients have a strong incentive to repay their loans promptly.Although informal credit and savings services play a crucial role, they also have limitations. In fact, well-functioning banks have institutional advantages for client coverage. They are also able to provide full financial intermediation services and can offer a wide range of financial products through regulated contracts. Formal rural financial institutions need to revitalize their poor public image from the past. They have to build and maintain the confidence of their clientele. This is essential if they intend to compete with informal lenders who can be costly, but are easily accessible and provide opportune services. In particular, formal rural lenders need to demonstrate their viability and sustainability by reducing the high costs and risks that are associated with agricultural lending.Agricultural lenders who serve small farmers face high financial transaction costs when granting small loans. High lending risks are suggested by the frequent inability of small farmer-borrowers to provide acceptable forms of loan collateral.In this section special attention is given to the challenges that agricultural lenders face in managing their financial transaction costs and risks.Low population density coupled with dispersed location of rural clients make the provision of formal financial services costly. From the lender's perspective, the long distances between communities and the inadequate rural transportation facilities in many developing countries increase the costs of loan appraisal, loan monitoring and enforcement of loan repayments. 11 The use of mobile loan officers and/or branch offices can be effective in lowering transaction costs. But mobile facilities may be subject to security risks if bank staff is required to transport money. The establishment of a rural branch network reduces the security risks, but branches are costly to maintain and to supervise.Financial transaction costs of institutional credit can also be high for rural borrowers. This results from the high opportunity costs of lost working time. A borrower may have to pay several visits to the bank branch office to conclude cumbersome loan application procedures that require a long time for processing. Clients often have to spend much time and money to obtain the required documents and to find loan guarantors. For very small loans, these costs can significantly increase the effective lending interest rate. 12   While the decentralisation of field operations has been effective in reducing the transaction costs in some countries their success depends on the local environment, infrastructure conditions and the management skills of the financial institution.The seasonal nature of agricultural production and the relative long gestation periods before crops can be harvested and sold have direct implications for the financial transaction costs of the lender. Agricultural loans are normally larger and are required for longer periods. Matching assets and liabilities is more difficult than for non-farm activities. Agricultural credit is also often repaid in \"lumpy\" instalments. These are one or two loan repayments rather than regular weekly or monthly instalments common in micro-credit. This irregular pattern implies more difficult monitoring of repayment capacity and willingness. Moreover, an uneven distribution of the agricultural lending operations over the year increases the fixed costs of personnel. The earnings from lending may not be sufficient to cover these costs. Liquidity requirements in periods of high seasonal loan demand also increase the price of loanable funds. In times of low demand, excess liquidity needs to be invested in low or non-earning assets. This will increase the opportunity costs of these funds. In summary, lenders face high agricultural lending costs.The diversity in farm and non-farm income -generating activities of rural households requires better knowledge of the farm household financial situation. Loan officers must have more information than may be needed in the case of urban lending. This can extend the bank staff time (and expenses) needed for loan appraisal. It may also require the setting of individual loan repayment terms. It is likely to increase the costs of training agricultural loan officers.Financial institutions face four major risks:1. Credit or loan default risk -refers borrowers who are unable or unwilling to repay the loan principal and to service the interest rate charges 2. Liquidity risk -occurs when a bank is not able to meet its cash requirements. Mismatching the term of loan assets and liabilities (sources of loanable funds) exposes banks to high liquidity risks. 3. Interest rate risk -risk that a loan or other investments will decline in value as interest rates change. 4. Foreign exchange risk -defines exposure to changes in exchange rates, which affect international borrowings denominated in foreign currency.This paper on better irrigation lending practices focuses mainly on agricultural credit or loan default risks. Readers interested in finding out more about the other risks (liquidity, interest rate and currency risks) associated with funding should consult volume 4 of the GTZ/FAO series of publications entitled \"Agricultural Finance Revisited\" and Giehler, 1999. 13   Risks impact borrowing farmers and the financial institutions that lend to them. Active management can reduce these risks. Risks and uncertainty are pervasive in agricultural production and are perceived to be more serious than in most non-farm activities. Production losses are also impossible to predict. They can have serious consequences for income generation and for the loan repayment capacity of the borrowing farmer. The type and the severity of risks which farmers face vary with the type of farming system, the physical and economic conditions, the prevailing policies, etc.Agricultural lending implies high liquidity risks due to the seasonality of farm household income. Surpluses supply increased savings capacity and reduced demand for loans after harvest and deficits reduce savings capacity and increase demand for loans before planting a crop. Also, agricultural lenders face particular challenges when many or all of their borrowers are affected by external factors at the same time. This condition is referred to as covariant risk, which can seriously undermine the quality of the agricultural loan portfolio. As a result, the provision of viable, sustainable financial services and the development of a strong rural financial system are contingent on the ability of financial institutions to assess, quantify and appropriately manage various types of risk. 14 Credit risks in agricultural lending are summarized below.Yield uncertainty due to natural hazards refers to the unpredictable impact of weather, pests and diseases, and calamities on farm production. 15 Risks severely impact younger, less well-established, but mo re ambitious farmers. Especially affected are those who embark on farming activities that may generate a high potential income at the price of concentrated risks -e.g., in the case of high input monoculture of maize. Subsequent loan defaults may adversely affect the creditworthiness of farmer borrowers and their ability to secure future loans.13 Giehler, T. (forthcoming). 14 Von Pischke, 1994. 15 Ellis, 1988.Price uncertainty due to market fluctuations is particularly severe where information is lacking and where markets are imperfect, features that are prevalent in the agricultural sector in many developing countries. 15 The relatively long time period between the decision to plant a crop or to start a livestock enterprise and the realisation of farm output means that market prices are unknown at the moment when a loan is granted. This problem is even more acute for perennial tree crops like cocoa, coffee and oil palms because of the gap of several years between planting and the first harvest. These economic risks have been particularly noticeable in those countries where the former single crop buyer was a parastatal body, typically called a marketing board. These organisations announced a buying price before planting time. Most marketing boards disappeared following structural adjustment reforms and privatisation of agricultural support services. Private buyers rarely fix a blanket-buying price prior to the harvest, even though various interlinked transactions for specific crops have become more common today. These arrangements almost always involve the setting of a price or a range of prices, prior to crop planting.Problems associated with inadequate loan collateral pose specific problems to rural lenders. Land is the most widely accepted asset for use as collateral, because it is fixed and not easily destroyed. Its owners often prize it well above its monetary market value, and it has a high scarcity value in densely populated areas. Smallholder farmers with land that has limited value, or those who have only usufruct rights, are less likely to have access to bank loans. Lenders regard moveable assets, such as livestock and equipment, as higher risk forms of security.The owner must provide proof of purchase and have insurance coverage on these items. This is rarely the case for low-income farm households.Moreover, there are a number of loan contract enforcement problems, even when borrowers are able to meet the loan collateral requirements. Restrictions on the transfer of land received through land reform programmes limits its value as collateral -even where sound entitlement exists. In many developing countries the poor and especially women have most difficulties in clearly demonstrating their legal ownership of assets. Innovative approaches, especially the use of solidarity groups jointly and severally responsible for repayment, which draw on the practices of informal lenders and provide incentives to low income borrowers to pay back their loans have been developed in micro credit programmes.Potentially serious risk problems have arisen from the effects of failed directed credit programmes. The impact on the loan repayment discipline is pervasive. Borrowers who have witnessed the emergence and demise of lending institutions have been discouraged from repaying their loans. Further, people have repeatedly received government handouts under the guise of \"loans\" that everyone knew didn't have to be repaid. Thus, loan clients have been conditioned to expect concessionary terms for institutional credit.Under these circumstances, the incidence of moral hazard is high. The local \"credit culture\" is distorted among farmers and lenders. Borrowers lack the discipline to meet their loan repayment obligations, because loan repayment commitments were not enforced in the past. Lenders, on the other hand, lack the systems, experience and incentives to enforce loan repayment. There is also an urgent need to change bank staff attitudes and the poor public image of financia l institutions in rural areas.Another effect of a distorted credit culture on the risk exposure of agricultural lenders is the priority that borrowers give to repaying strictly enforced informal loans. These are settled before they comply with the obligations associated with \"concessionary\" institutional credit. This is explained by the fact that losing the access to informal credit is viewed as more disadvantageous than foregoing future bank loans (due to the uncertain future of rural financial institutions). Very often informal lenders have stronger enforcement means than banks.Policy changes and state interventions can have a damaging impact on both borrowers and lenders. For the latter they can contribute significantly to covariant risks. Many low-income economies under structural adjustment programmes have slashed their farming subsidies. This has had, for instance, a serious effect on the costs and the demand for fertilizer. Reducing government expenditures as an essential part of structural adjustment programmes may also affect employment opportunities in the public sector. If extension services are suddenly discontinued, agricultural production levels may even fall.A further discussion of a number of strategies for reducing the above-mentioned risks is found in Chapter 4, \"Lessons Learnt from Previous Experiences with Agricultural Credit.\"The environment for rural financial intermediation has changed significantly in recent years with an enhancement of the role of markets and increased privatisation in most African countries. However, an immediate result of most of these reforms has been that fewer small farmers and other rural households qualify for credit or that those who do qualify will have to pay more for loans. At the same time, in view of the high proportion of the population engaged in agriculture in developing countries and the strategic importance of (in particular) basic food production, policy makers are highly sensitive to public interventions in favour of the farmer population. It is vital, however, that financial institutions are not \"misused\" to fulfil social equity purposes and that public interventions in this direction, while fully justified, are obtained through alternative mechanisms.Reforms will continue in the current context of economic deregulation and market development. A principal aim of financial sector reform is to ensure that market-based and a varied supply of financial services (financial widening) are available to an increasing number of both commercial farmers and farm households, agriprocessors, traders and other rural non-farm entrepreneurs (financial deepening). To achieve these objectives will require a good understanding of rural economics, the existence of an appropriate policy and legal framework for rural finance and access to financial as well as to non-financial support services.Together with the need for an appropriate policy and legal framework and appropriate rural financial structures, this section discusses the unique features and special needs of agricultural production and agricultural finance and recommends that government policy makers, international development agencies and bankers focus on the following specific agriculture-related issues:• Government interference in the politically sensitive area of agriculture • The high financial transaction costs of attending dispersed and small farm households;• The seasonality and the importance of opportune timing of on-farm finance for cultivation practices, input application, harvesting (and related output marketing), the heterogeneity in farmers' lending needs (seasonal and term lending) and the relative long duration of agricultural lending contracts; • The dependence on sustainable natural resources management and the relative low profitability of on-farm investments; • The various weather and other production risks, together with marketing risks related to agriculture, that require appropriate risk management techniques, both for producers and financial intermediaries;• The limited availability of conventional bank collateral that farm households can offer, that highlights the need to increase the security of existing loan collateral or develop appropriate collateral substitutes; • The reality that farm households are confronted with emergency needs and that their loan repayment capacity is highly dependent on consumption and social security contingencies; • The need for adequate training of both bank staff and farmer clients.Each of these issues is now discussed in greater detail:Recognize that agriculture and food in particular is a vital national interest, and hence to varying degrees will often be the focus of heated political debate and may be manipulated by governments for short-term personal interests, i.e., getting re-elected. African governments certainly have a legitimate role in agricultural and rural finance development , but the proper role is not as a direct intervener in agriculture, but rather one of promoter and regulator to make sure that the public's hard-earned savings lodged in depository institutions are safe.Government also clearly has a legitimate role in assuring that there is enough food available for the country's population throughout the year. However, for self-serving political reasons, sometimes governments overstep these boundaries. Often, for example, governments will seek to keep farm gate (and hence urban market) prices unnaturally low to placate influential urban populations (they know that revolutions and coups d'état happen in the cities, not in the countryside). But by doing so, they inevitably and ironically assure just the opposite. By creating disincentives for farmers to grow more, less instead of more is produced. Similarly, government proclamations of universal credit moratoriums, particularly just before (re)elections is also becoming an alarmingly frequent occurrence in some countries. This kind of short-term political move by elected leaders can destroy overnight rural financial systems that have taken a generation or more to build up. For this reason, project design officers should seek to negotiate proscriptions on this type of irresponsible behaviour by governments during the implementation of proposed agricultural finance projects.Most small farmers and other rural entrepreneurs, due to their dispersed location and the general poor rural infrastructure, experience great difficulty in accessing urban-based banks. Rural client dispersion and small loan volumes lead to high financial transaction costs both for banks and borrowers, and increase the perception of high risks, which banks usually associate with small rural clients. In addition, current bank practices and procedures may discourage rural clients from using formal financial services and, in many cases, rural people are even unaware of the availability of financial services or of the conditions under which these are available. Moreover, small farmers have to make many visits to banks at office hours which may not be convenient to them, while banks lack essential information on the credit history of potential clients, the viability of on-farm investments, the self-financing capacity of farmers and their repayment capability.Transaction costs in rural areas are high compared to urban areas, due to problems of collateral provision, low and irregular income flows and the small amounts involved in the transactions. Adams and Nehman identified three types of borrow transaction costs: non-interest charges by lenders; loan application procedures that require the applicant to deal with agents outside the banking system, such as agricultural extension staff, local officials and co-signers; and travel expenses and time spent promoting and following up the application. 16 Due to these factors the costs of reaching the rural poor and small scale farmers are high for financial institutions, which charge high interest rates when compared to market rates in the formal banking sector. The overall costs of formal borrowing therefore, in many cases, may result in borrowing from the informal sector becoming more attractive to small-scale farmers. The challenge still remains to design and expand the provision of loan products to better service the farming community and to lower transaction costs to improve the terms and conditions of lending for agriculture. This will demand improved management of existing rural financial intermediaries, and innovations or 'new methods\" in financial intermediation for the agricultural sector.Banks may decide to open rural branches, but the demand for bank services need to be large enough to warrant setting up such a rural branch network. Efforts to expand the range of financial services by including savings mobilisation and current accounts may lead to economies of scale and thus to higher efficiency. Simplification of loan procedures may minimize the travel time and costs for individual borrowers, while group lending based on joint and several liability of group members and liaison with NGOs are other means of reducing costs. In all cases, the availability of decentralized financial intermediation services is a precondition for effective on-farm lending.Individual farmers have different investment needs, and may apply for seasonal and/or investment loans to meet specific financing requirements. For example, a livestock enterprise may require financing of land improvements (fencing and water), buildings to house the animals, purchase of animals (breeding stock), animal feed, crop production and other operational production costs (labour, machinery, veterinary costs, etc.). Further, each of these expenses occurs at a different time and, in accordance with the enterprise revenues and cash flow, requires a specific repayment schedule. For example, milk production has a relatively constant revenue stream and cash flow, while beef production experiences only periodic sales. Crop expenses re incurred for land preparation and planting and continue through cultivation, harvesting, storage and marketing, while income revenues generally occur only at the time of crop selling and are often received in one lump sum. Diversification of farm enterprises and off-farm income contribute to smoothing out farm household expenditure requirements and income flows. Indeed, the cash flow at farm household level is greatly influenced by the heterogeneity of production, trading and consumption and social security transactions within the household.Timely availability of farm inputs such as seed and fertilizer, in accordance with cultivation practices, is essential in farming, and requires flexible financing mechanisms. In particular, non-permanent working capital requirements may be ideally met by a bank overdraft or a special credit line for working capital, which has the potential to reduce transaction costs for both the client and the bank. However, it requires that the banker knows his client well and has sufficient confidence in the farmer's management capabilities. In particular, in the case of investment loans, banks require good investment loan appraisal studies and timely and accurate farm records. Banks should also be in a position to supervise the execution of the investment/financial plan. Training of farmers and bank staff in preparing and evaluating farm plans as well as in loan follow-up constitutes an imp ortant technical assistance function that may be provided by donors and/or governments, without violating the principles of free markets, by respecting the autonomous decision power of financial intermediaries in providing loans for viable on-farm investments.Encouragement of savings and building up the financial reserves of farmers will strengthen their self-financing capacity. Complementary bank credit may be useful in particular to finance increased working capital and new capital investments, while l easing financial arrangements may be attractive for the acquisition of farm machinery and similar \"lumpy\" investments.The major factors that affect banker and farmer behaviour in on-farm lending operations are the expected profitability of and the risks related to on-farm investments. Risks can be of a different nature and include those associated with the impact of unfavourable weather on production (drought, hail, floods, etc.), diseases or pest damage, economic risks due to uncertain markets and prices, productivity and management risks related to the adoption of new technologies, and credit risks as they depend on the utilisation of financial resources and the repayment behaviour of farmer clients. The relative importance of these different risks will vary by region and by type of farmer. For example, marketing risks are greater for mono-crop cultures in developing countries, which depend on volatile world markets. Eastern European transition economies which go through a major restructuring from a centrally-planned to a market economy, need, in particular, training and technical assistance in business management in order to reduce both market and credit risks. These risks will also decrease as the level of education of farmers and the availability of information on markets, prices and loan repayment behaviour increase. In some cases, especially for relatively high technology farming that involves significant investments, agricultural insurance may be useful as a risk management tool. But it should be used only for specific crop/livestock enterprises and for clearly defined risks. 17Risks are also related to the duration of loans, since the uncertainty of farm incomes and the probability of losses increases over longer time horizons. Thus, given the average short maturity of loanable resources in deposit-taking financial institutions, and considering the time horizon of agricultural seasonal and investment loans, commercial bankers are normally reluctant to engage themselves in agricultural lending. To protect themselves, banks should carefully match the maturity of their loans with that of their loanable resources and apply measures to protect their loan portfolio from potential risk losses.Additional risk protection measures that present added costs to borrowers include insurance coverage against insurable risks such as specified adverse weather events leading to crop damage (as noted above) or insurance against fire (buildings and crops) and theft (movable assets). Government or donor-financed loan guarantee schemes, in general, have not led to significantly increased bank lending (additionality) and they should be carefully designed in order to secure appropriate risk management and sharing as well as a cost effective administration. On the other hand, mutual guarantee associations have proven their usefulness. Banks also control their financial exposure by limiting their loans to only a portion of the total investment costs and by requiring that the borrower engage sufficient equity capital as well as by a careful diversification of their loan portfolio in terms of lending purposes, market segments and loan maturities. It is worth underlining that successful (micro) financial institutions operating in rural areas, especially densely populated rural areas, do not concentrate their portfolio in agriculture to the exclusion of non-farm activities. This is because portfolio diversification is a key to sustainability and successful risk management. The risk-reducing practice of group lending is discussed below.A conventional bank practice that protects the lender against possible borrower default is the requirement of loan collateral such as real estate or chattel mortgage.Banks use loan collateral in order to screen potential clients (as a substitute for lack of customer information) and to enforce and foreclose loan contracts in the event of loan default. The preferred form of conventional bank collateral is mortgage on real property, which, however, requires clear land titles and mortgage registration. In general, real estate and land are considered to be \"low risk\", while chattel mortgages of movable assets such as machinery and animals incur a greater risk, unless these items can be clearly identified, and are properly insured against theft, fire and loss. In the absence of conventional types of collateral such as land, livestock and machinery, other forms of supplementary collateral are often accepted by banks, such as third party guarantees, warehouse receipts and blocked savings. Without secure loan collateral, it is expected that there will be a contraction in the supply of bank credit and this will result in reduced access of small farmer and rural clients to finance. 18In the informal credit market, where intimate client knowledge, often, inter-linked trade/credit arrangements exist, non-tradable assets or collateral substitutes, such as reputation and credit worthiness, are much more prominent. Group lending based on group control and joint and several liability of group members, and group savings are suitable forms of collateral substitutes. Donors and NGOs increasingly use these. It may be effective if groups are homogenous in their composition, interests and objectives and when problems of moral hazard can be avoided. However, in many countries, groups of farmers do not easily meet these criteria. In addition, also due to the long duration of agricultural loans and high costs of group training, individual lending in agricultural finance, in general, is much more widespread and might be more appropriate than group lending. Moreover, successful experience with group lending is chiefly for non-agricultural purposes.Emerging successful microfinance institutions have built up their loan portfolio following a modern \"credit technology.\" Modern credit technologies targeted at a resource poor clientele assign greater importance to keeping risks in check (e.g. by maintaining loan amounts small and of short duration) and to well-designed repayment incentives. One of the most powerful incentives to loan repayment is the prospect of access to subsequent loans. Thus, the typical loan disbursed by these institutions is for a short term (3-12 months), and loan amounts start small and grow slowly in accordance with a client's repayment performance. With regard to agricultural finance, such modern \"credit technology\" may be suitable to livestock farming, where the cash flow generated is more continuous. However, this is not the case with crop production as the extent to which new credit technology may be utilized is inversely dependant upon the importance of crop sales on family income.From numerous expert reports and meeting documents it is evident that agricultural credit expansion is hampered by farmers' lack of knowledge about the availability and conditions of credit, and by the shortage of well-trained bank staff, who have experience in dealing with small farmers and rural people. 19 Training therefore should focus both on bank staff and farmer-clients.Banks' field staff should have appropriate education and training in business and farm management, agriculture and banking 20 . In their work, they should interact closely with agricultural extension agents and organisations, who provide essential non-financial support services to small farmers and rural people. Such liaison should involve sensitising farmers about the availability and conditions of bank credit and assist farmers in preparing proper farm and business plans and submitting loan applications. Extension agents and similar technical staff, however, should not be involved in loan approval and loan recovery, which remains the exclusive task of banks.Banks should accept staff training as an investment, forming part of overall manpower development. This needs to be reflected when recruiting staff, bearing in mind that poor recruitment practices may result in poor recruits which cannot be easily rectified by training. Measures should also be taken to provide adequate incentives to bank staff who work in rural areas. Salary levels and fringe benefits, compensation for overtime work, appointment and career perspectives need to be in line with similar employment in the urban sector in order to promote agricultural lending. Bank staff performance-based incentives should focus in particular on loan recovery and savings mobilisation. For instance, the Lima Bank in Zambia, a specialized public agricultural credit institution, experienced poor loan repayment, and Heney 21 stated that Zambian farmers felt no commitment whatever to this financial institution and used it only as a means of having easy access to cheap government funds. The Lima Bank staff reflected a similar low commitment to r ural clients and work performance and no mechanism of staff incentives existed. This bank has now (1997) been liquidated.The main objective of farmer training should be to increase the benefits of borrowing for production purposes and should be oriented at improving the business skills of individual farmers. Topics to be included are farm planning and farm management, risk management, bookkeeping and cost accounting, savings and liquidity 18 Binswanger and McIntire, 1987.  19 Laure, 1973; Roberts, 1980  20 Roberts, 1980.  21 Heney, 1992.  management, the role and use of credit, the costs of credit (interest and related financial charges), collateral requirements, loan repayment obligations, legal measures against loan defaulting, etc. Such training can be prepared by banks and delivered to the farmers in conjunction with or by agricultural extension staff.Grassroots groups, member-owned financial intermediaries such as credit and savings associations and cooperatives require a more specialized type of training in group organisation, joint liability, financial and business management, savings mobilisation and protection, assessment of investment profitability and risks, building up of capital reserves, lending procedures, accounting and management information systems. Agricultural bank staff and private sector business of NGOs may provide essential tra ining support to initiating groups, when the requirements of training are greatest and when additional costs are the least affordable.Non-financial services such as information, training and extension can be provided by the state, by the private sector or by a combination of these. The problem is finding the right combination and identifying how to institutionalise these arrangements. Many drawbacks in the provision of support services in developing countries can be traced to their high costs, to inefficiency and to non-involvement or non-commitment of the final beneficiaries, when they are provided directly by the public sector. The private sector strengths are in identifying the immediate needs of different clientele, in organizing the supply of services to meet the demand, and in managing effectively the financial transactions involved. However, there is still an important role for the public sector in providing a proper policy and legal environment within which private sector business activities can take place.The following table summarizes some of the main distinguishing features of all types of agricultural credit:• Agriculture is a politically sensitive sector.• State interventions unfriendly to lenders often occur in rural financial markets.• Long distances to serve a dispersed rural clientele.• Poorly developed transportation and communication infrastructure.• Little knowledge about heterogeneous farm households.• Expensive management and supervision of rural bank branch networks.• High additional costs for borrowers: opportunity costs (e.g. lost working time), transport costs, bribes, fees, etc.• The provision of long-term credit can lead to matching problems between assets (loans) and liabilities (funding sources).• Reduced turnover of agricultural loan portfolio over the year.• Seasonality in agricultural credit demand.• Demand for loans depends on the self-financing potential, access to savings deposit facilities and risk management ability of borrowers.• Due to the fungibility of money, borrowed funds can be used in the farm household for consumption, education, social insurance, production and investment purposes.• Similar economic activities of borrowers generate covariant risks due to market and price fluctuations, yield uncertainties, changes in domestic and international policies. • State interventions (e.g. waiver of loan overdues).• Low loan repayment discipline in externally-funded credit schemes.• Small farmers have few physical assets (e.g. land).• Farmers and especially poor rural women have difficulties in clearly demonstrating their legal ownership of assets. • Legal contract enforcement problems arise even when collateral is available. It is probably appropriate to briefly situate credit within the larger context of rural financial systems (RFSs). At the same time, the latter must respond to the need for transaction security, the need for intermediation and the need for close proximity. Fundamentally, RFSs are based on balancing sources and uses of funds (cost of volatile capital), prudential management (financial risk of illiquidity) and market conditions (subvention of operating deficits). As such, the need for RFSs is not disputed. RFSs permit, according to the traditional definit ion, to anticipate the (hopefully positive) results of the agricultural campaign through the supply of the means to gather necessary production factors through the mobilisation of individual savings or collective savings (redistributions from governments or donors). Vis -à-vis usurers (whose role is far from negligible), RFSs offer the advantage of professionalism, as demonstrated by improved security and financial sustainability.Traditionally, the banking sector has little interest in intervening in rural areas (except in the case of agroindustries), a disinterest based on three well-known factors: 1) an elevated agricultural risk (insufficient rainfall); 2) the high cost of maintaining widespread physical infrastructure; and 3) the high cost of managing many small accounts. Conversely, the commercial banking sector is primarily interested in wholesale lending to microfinance networks with a proven micro-onlending capability.During recent years, financial services have been provided to an increasing number of low-income people and micro entrepreneurs because of innovative developments in \"microfinance\". Microfinance refers to that part of the financial sector that responds to the financial demand of low-income households. Until now, microfinance institutions have operated mainly in urban areas. They provide small and short-term loans predominantly for trading, services and micro enterprise activities. The lessons learned from the failures of the earlier directed agricultural credit projects plus the principles of the new financial systems development approach have been particularly influential in microfinance. Important progress has been made in the areas of institutional and organisational set-up and operational strategies. Effective new lending technologies have been designed for low-income clients.In this chapter, the key lessons that have emerged as the \"best practices\" in the field of microfinance are examined. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first reviews the supply and demand features of micro credit. The second section examines some key factors, which have emerged from the cumulative experiences of micro credit. Particular attention is given to the review of the micro credit technologies and the contribution that they make towards managing the costs and risks of small loans. The last section highlights the main limitations that are encountered in transferring the micro credit practices to agricultural lending.A variety of organisations and institutions are active as providers of micro credit services. They can be broadly divided into three groups: non-governmental organisations (NGOs); credit unions and co-operatives; and banks.The majority of the micro credit programmes are operated by NGOs. These include national organisations, many which receive assistance from international donor organisations. The international NGOs operate programmes through affiliated local agencies. They have a clear commitment to work with poor people. NGOs have the advantage that they are familiar with the household livelihood strategies and the financial situation of their target population. They are well established in local communities, with good access to the population.However, NGOs have encountered many challenges in the administra tion of credit programmes. As predominantly social assistance organisations, few possess the required professional expertise or the business culture to efficiently execute savings and credit operations. In fact, they will have to undergo a substantial transformation if they intend to become specialized financial service providers. They will have to alter their public image. Instead of serving \"beneficiaries\", they must learn to establish contractual relationships with clients.Since the mid-1980s, a number of NGOs have established themselves as specialized microfinance institutions (MFIs). While some have discontinued their social services, others have created separate affiliated organisations to provide financial services. Specialized NGO micro lenders have been at the forefront in the development of appropriate institutional and organisational structures. They have initiated the design of innovative micro credit technologies.Despite the significant advancements in the field of microfinance, the majority of the NGOs serve only a few hundred or at most a few thousand clients. Most provide loans and usually have only one or two loan products.Although most require mandatory savings deposits from their clients that form part of their loan collateral, only a minority mobilize voluntary savings. There has been growing interest in operating savings deposit facilities as a means to mobilize loanable funds, to enhance their customer services and increase sustainability. However, NGOs are often not permitted to accept deposits from the public. This is because they fall outside the formal banking regulation and supervision system, and thus operate without a formal banking licence.This restriction has recently motivated some NGOs to transform themselves into regulated financial institutions. This process, known as up-grading, gives microfinance institutions the freedom to expand their range of financial services. It also enhances the chances of accessing financial markets for additional loanable resources.Bancosol in Bolivia was the first NGO to achieve the status of a regulated financial institution. BRAC in Bangladesh and K-Rep in Kenya have also obtained bank licences. 22   Credit Unions and Co-operatives Historically, credit unions used to serve people who experienced difficulties in accessing commercial banks.Credit unions tend to be more formal in their structure than NGOs, including the possible establishment of regional and national networks. The constitution of central finance facilities also enables the reallocation of surplus (liquidity) funds between member credit unions. In many countries, credit unions have been included as a special category in the banking law. They are subject to separate regulation and supervision mechanisms.Most credit unions and co-operatives limit their services to members, whose savings provide the financial basis for their lending operations. This has the advantage that they can better screen prospective borrowers and appraise, monitor and recover loans. As in the case of informal savings and credit groups, members are self-selected, and peer pressure is exerted to attain full and timely loan repayment. Social pressure and superior information on member clients are effective mechanisms. This functions as long as members know each other and the scope of the financial operations remains manageable.Despite their advantages, credit unions and co-operatives face notable challenges. The provision of financial services is restricted to members and thus limits their outreach and growth potential. Because loanable funds are generally limited to the mobilized member savings, the credit union is restricted in its efforts to satisfy the total effective credit demand of its members. Loans are often granted for smaller amounts than were applied for. They are often only available after outstanding loans have been reimbursed. This restricts borrowing opportunities and therefore the effectiveness of the loans. The lack of professional management, and cronyism among members and leaders can undermine the loan portfolio quality. Moreover, where borrowers dominate the co-operatives' policies, there has been a tendency towards setting lending interest rates too low. This practice may undermine the financial performance and the potential for loan portfolio growth.Absent of these difficulties, credit unions and co-operatives have demonstrated potential as a viable institutional model for providing micro credit services. In recent years, the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU), has demonstrated considerable success in accelerating membership and savings growth, as well as greatly improved financial performance, through its \"Model Credit Union\" techniques and its PEARLS performance measurement system. For more information, please contact WOCCU. 23 Changes in the regulatory and supervisory framework for credit unions together with technical assistance services from international credit union development organisations, such as WOCCU and DID 24 , have been identified as key factors in strengthening their performance.The involvement of commercial banks in microfinance is relatively recent. Banks employ a variety of strategies in serving low-income clients, who are normally perceived as \"unbankable\". Micro-credit may be granted indirectly or directly.Indirect ways in which commercial banks lend to small clients include the so-called linkage programmes with NGOs or other intermediary organisations. In these cases, banks provide loanable resources and the intermediary organisations on-lends the resources to members of self-help groups for micro enterprise activities. In these arrangements, banks have limited contacts with the final borrowers. They are not actively involved in the loan product design or credit administration. They rely on the NGO for all aspects of loan appraisal, loan monitoring and loan recovery.While this model has increased the access of low-income clients to bank loans, it has proven to be only moderately successful in the provision of sustainable banking services. The bank has few incentives to develop More interesting has been the recent involvement of some commercial banks (e.g., Financial Bank in Benin and Chad) in direct lending through the design of new loan products and services for low-income clients. This process is referred to as down-scaling. It implies the creation of a specialized micro credit department in the bank. This development is particularly attractive in view of the outreach and the financial expertise contained in commercial banks. Well-established financial institutions enjoy public confidence, as clients recognize and perceive the banks as reliable and stable organisations.The involvement of banks in microfinance can offer, for example, their amplified intermediation potential. However, if bank operations are inefficient and bank staff are unable to change their traditional banking culture and attitudes, tedious barriers remain to directly serving low-income clients. Indeed, in these cases, it may be preferable to create a new micro finance institution that has a clear corporate mission and set of objectives. This is necessary in cases where banks have a poor reputation due to failed directed credit programmes, or when their operations have been undermined by government interference.Micro lenders have developed solutions for the problems of high risks and costs associated with lending to micro enterprises and low-income clients. Over the years, a series of best practices and guiding principles have been formulated to enhance the outreach and sustainability of microfinance institutions. 25 In this section, an analysis is made of the key lessons that have been learned from micro credit practices. Particular attention goes to procedures that reduce costs and risks. The final objective is to assess if and to what extent these practices and lessons learned can be transferred to agricultural lending.Micro lenders face the problem of high costs that are associated with the granting of small loans. In fact, loan administration costs do not vary by loan amount. By definition, small loans are less profitable for a lender. Moreover, in many networks, there are few branches in formal financial institutions. Generally, setting up and operating branches is very costly. Operation costs should be covered by the profits generated by the branch office. As a result, financial transaction costs are high for borrowers, who may have to travel long distances to the bank branch offices. Micro lenders, however, have found ways to reduce the high costs of providing small loans. Various strategies are presented below.Micro lenders simplify their operations by offering only a few highly standardized loan products. They usually provide short-term working capital loans and, only occasionally, grant investment capital loans to established borrowers. Often they have adopted a \"credit-only\" approach and some provide technical assistance, business training or assistance with project preparation to their clients. Some have established collaboration agreements with partner agencies for the provision of non-financial support services.Loans are kept small and are extended for only a few weeks or months, especially to first-time clients. Borrowers with good loan repayment records are rewarded almost automatically with repeat loans. Some microlenders increase the size of repeat loans by using pre-determined formulas. Although the provision of small and short-term loans to first time borrowers is costly, the financial transaction costs can be considerably reduced for well-known recurring borrowers.Micro lenders usually charge borrowers interest rates and fees that are much higher than those used by conventional formal lenders. Interest rates need to be positive in real terms to protect the loan portfolio value against the effect of inflation.One major problem with this approach is the phenomenon of \"drop-outs.\" Large numbers of clients tend to \"drop out\" when they reach the maximum authorized loan amount. Finding new clients to replace them becomes an increasingly expensive proposition for such micro lenders.Loan officers are expected to serve a large number of clients. Typically 200-300 borrowers are assigned per loan officer. In order to achieve this, staff performance bonuses are widely used. These incentives are related to the loan volume handled, the quality of the loan portfolio and the number of low income or remote clients that are attended in some cases. While these incentives increase the loan administration costs, well-trained and motivated staff are essential to increase the overall productivity of the financial institution. This lowers the lender operational costs in relative terms.Microfinance institutions provide loans either through groups or lend directly to individuals. Proponents of the group lending approach highlight the cost-reducing aspect of this methodology. On the other hand, the defenders of individual lending emphasize the advantages of flexi bility in meeting the loan demand, achieving a high loan product quality and reducing credit risks.There are two modalities of group lending. A micro -lender may lend to a collective entity such as a co-operative or a village bank, which in turn on-lends the funds to its members. More frequently, however, the term is used for joint liability or solidarity group lending, whereby the lender provides loans to individual borrowers who are organized in groups. In both cases, group members are collectively responsible for the full and timely repayment of the loans.Group lending can have the advantage of increasing the lender's outreach capacity by reducing the loan administration costs. In the first kind of group lending mentioned above only one loan is administered for each group. Moreover, group lending reduces the lender costs by maximizing the use of insider information and by relying on peer borrower screening. Group members also perform loan monitoring and loan repayment enforcement.However, the costs of group formation are high in most cases. This is especially true for lenders who do not work with existing groups. They have to support the whole group formation process. Also, group maintenance costs are high as group members' needs and circumstances diverge over time, thus weakening cohesion. Loan officers may have to participate in regular group meetings to attempt to strengthen the loan adminis tration responsibilities of the group, the group cohesion and the sense of peer responsibility amongst the group members.Micro-lenders use a modified version of the traditional bank lending technology that has been adapted to the characteristics of providing small and short-term loans to low income borrowers. The screening of potential clients is carried out by assessing their individual loan repayment capacity and their willingness to repay. Innovative micro-lenders examine the enterprise household cash flow and check the credit history of the loan applicant to get a complete picture of his/her loan repayment capacity and creditworthiness.The process of collecting detailed information on individual clients is a costly exercise for micro-lenders. However, using a standardized checklist of loan applications can lower these costs. Moreover, once the high start-up costs of establishing a lender-client relationship have been made, the costs of obtaining additional information or updating existing information are much lower. Some micro-lenders attempt over time to introduce more individualized lending terms for the members of joint liability groups. These initiatives are interesting since they combine the cost savings of working with groups with the high quality of providing individual lending services to group members. In many cases, the group and the lender perform loan follow-up and loan repayment enforcement, which may result in relatively high costs to all.Micro-lenders manage the risks of lending to low income borrowers by selecting a specific target clientele. These clients are normally urban micro-entrepreneurs who have some experience in the business activity for which a loan application is made. Delegation of lending authority to the branch office level is enabled to specific amounts. This ensures that loan officers who are close to the customers have influence in the lending decision.Another element in the risk management strategy of most micro-lenders is the requirement that borrowers contribute a minimum equity share of the total investment costs or down payment. In individual lending the duration of the loan and the loan repayment instalments are also adjusted to the repayment capacity of the individual borrower. This reduces the loan default risk. Loan collateral substitutes are normally accepted, as the target clientele will rarely possess conventional bank collateral. First borrowers have to build up a track record of good loan repayment performance before larger loans are granted. Major risk management mechanisms of professional micro-lenders are adequate liability and asset planning and management, the use of internationally accepted accounting standards, and computerized integrated accounting and management information systems, such as the FAO/GTZ MicroBanking System, now available in a new Windows version. These improve the basis for time ly and cost-effective decision making.Micro-lenders mostly serve urban and peri-urban clients. This category calls for easier management of lending costs and risks. The infrastructure and commodity markets in urban settings are normally more developed, providing a better environment for profitable micro-businesses than in rural areas. Urban clients have a higher degree of literacy. More frequent contact between bank staff and clients are likely to decrease the risk of loan default.Micro-lenders provide small and short-term loans that need to be repaid in frequent instalments. This implicitly means that micro -credit concentrates on the financing of those activities that have a high turnover and generate regular income flows. Trading and services activities answer these criteria. In fact, they represent a large portion of the loan portfolio of most micro-lenders.Selecting Experienced Micro-Entrepreneur Borrowers Micro-lenders limit the risk of loan default by selecting borrowers with a proven track record. A customer whose business has survived for a minimum time period is more likely to be successful in the future. These borrowers also take their loan repayment obligations seriously and are potential long-term clients for microlenders.\"Bringing the bank to the people\" has proved to be a successful component of micro credit strategies. There are many ways to achieve this ranging from loan officers who regularly visit their clients, to the use of mobile bank units in branch offices or agencies. A decentralized delivery structure of financial services decreases information costs and reduces loan default risk. It also allows the growth and the diversification of the loan portfolio. It creates client confidence and promotes a sense of responsibility. For instance, the establishment of branch offices in markets helps to better integrate financial institutions into their local communities. This facilitates the provision of higher quality services and contributes to the long-term sustainability of the microfinance institution.The problem of risk management differs by group and individual lending approaches.Group lending builds upon the collective responsibility of group members to repay their loans. Proponents of group lending argue that this methodology enables lenders to reach more low-income clients at relatively low costs. However, borrower risk is greater since every group member bears his/her own risk and that of all other group memb ers. The exposure to pay for fellow member loan defaults encourages borrowers to apply for the same loan size rather than fitting loans to the loan repayment capacity of individual group members. This may cause \"negative solidarity\" in the group, which means that the whole group defaults if one member fails to repay his loan.Usually, group lending offers less flexible terms and loan repayment instalments. All group members receive and repay their loans in the same cycle. Even when graduation to individual lending is permitted, the lack of sufficient written records on borrowers hampers individual loan appraisal.Group information advantages and peer pressure are proportional to the diversity and proximity of the members. The greater the heterogeneity of the group and/or in cases where group members live in dispersed locations the group influence is weaker. On the other hand, homogeneous groups may result in high covariant risks to the lender. There is also the potential for abuse of power and corruption by a powerful group leader. Conversely, if a good group lender leaves, then the group will be severely impaired.The main differences between the provision of micro-credit to individual borrowers and conventional bank lending technologies include the use of collateral substitutes. These comprise co-signers, third-party guarantors, household goods and other proxies. Also the loan repayment capacity of prospective borrowers is appraised.The personalized nature of individual lending facilitates the granting of loan products that fit the client demand and his/her loan repayment capacity. At the same time, this approach encourages the development of a closer relationship and strengthens the mutual trust between the lender and borrower. It may increase the compliance with contractual loan obligations. Better client knowledge also simplifies the appraisal of repeat loans and reduces the risk of loan default. Accumulated client information may reinforce current financial services and can lead to the development of new loan products. 26Loans should never finance the total investment costs requested. Lenders require an equity contribution from the borrower to complement the external resources. This equity participation increases the stake that the borrower has in submitting a realistic loan application, thus actively promoting the success of his business. In the case of small working capital loans, it may be difficult or even arbitrary to define investment purposes. As a result, the calculation of equity participation may be difficult.Good micro lenders examine the loan repayment capacity and the creditworthiness of new borrowers. In assessing the loan repayment capacity they consider all income sources and expenditures of the micro enterprise household unit. The source of funds for repaying the loan does not need to be the income that will be generated by the investment that is financed with the loan. Loan officers who appraise loan applications should be properly trained, as they play a key role in the decentralized decision-making process.Micro lenders often rely on information from local networks to verify the reputation and creditworthiness of prospective borrowers. These networks can be equally useful for enforcing loan repayments. They effectively publicize information on delinquent borrowers. Community networks have proved their value in Indonesia as well as in other Asian countries. There, the system of local organisation and the importance of personal reputation make this approach particularly effective.Frequent loan repayment instalments, often weekly or monthly, facilitate a close monitoring of the borrower loan repayment performance. As clients build up a good track record, the loan duration and the loan repayment intervals for repeat loans are often lengthened. Some micro lenders grant increasingly individualized loan products, once the borrower has established good creditworthiness. This is often referred to as \"graduation\" to a next product level or client status.As most micro credit clients cannot offer conventional bank collateral, loan collateral substitutes are accepted (See Individual Lending). The personal value that the collateral substitute has for the borrower plays an important role. In view of the practical and legal problems that are associated with the seizure of these assets in cases of loan default, micro lenders often place more emphasis on assessing the creditworthiness of a prospective borrower. They prefer to closely monitor his/her loan repayment performance.Micro lenders normally grant small first-time loans to new customers. Only when the first loan is paid back in time can the borrower receive a slightly larger loan. A track record of good loan repayment performance is accumulated. As a result the risk of loan defaults may be reduced. The possible access to new loans is a major loan repayment incentive for micro credit borrowers. Rewards for full and timely loan repayments on the one hand and charging of late payment fees and penalties on the other are effective means of promoting good borrower discipline.Accurate and timely information systems are crucial for good operational management. Successful micro lenders have invested wisely in the acquisition of adequate banking software, such as the FAO's Microbanking System, to computerize their accounting and management information systems consistent with their specific requirements. The required sophistication of bank automation depends on the volume and the scope of the financial services. It also depends on the organisational and operational structure of the financial institution. Ideally, loan portfolio monitoring and reporting on loan disbursements and reimbursements of branch offices should be integrated with liquidity fund management. This ensures that the necessary information is available to the head office in a timely manner.Computerized and integrated loan accounting and management information systems that produce frequent reports guarantee that loan officers and bank management can respond promptly to potential loan delinquency problems. It is the responsibility of field staff to examine the reasons for overdue loans. Based on their reports, an immediate decision should be taken on corrective follow-up actions. In cases where legitimate reasons for overdue loan repayments exist, loan rescheduling may be allowed.Successful micro lenders delegate loan authority and decentralize staff responsibilities in the financial institution. At the same time, adequate checks and balances need to be established to monitor decentralized decision-making. In order to encourage the prompt collection of outstanding loans, staff performance bonuses should be based on pre-set loan recovery rates as well as on the number and the volume of loans that are granted.Despite the considerable achievements that many microfinance institutions have obtained, micro credit operations face some serious limitations. These refer to application of these practices beyond serving urban micro entrepreneurs chiefly in the trading sector. The purpose of this section is to identify some of these constraints as they are related to rural and agricultural lending. Certain data introduced previously in this chapter will be recapped.A favourable macroeconomic and market-oriented business environment together with sound financial sector policies contributes to a thriving financial system. Pre-conditions for the provision of sustainable financial services are stable macroeconomic policies and an adequate legal and regulatory/supervisory framework for financial sector development. In particular, deregulation of interest rates allows micro lenders to charge lending interest rates that are high enough to fully cover the high costs of providing small and short-term loans to large numbers of low-income clients. Policy distortions that impose artificially low interest rates on loans to high-risk economic sectors, such as agriculture, actually discourage financial institutions from serving it.It is not surprising that the fastest microfinance growth has occurred in Bangladesh, Bolivia and Indonesia. In recent years these countries have experienced a stable macroeconomic environment with micro enterprise development policies. Moreover, the micro credit urban and rural clientele in these countries are located in areas that have a high population density and low-income people often engaged in non-farm activities. The difficulties of microfinance institutions in other countries may be traced to less favourable conditions with fewer possibilities to invest in profitable non-farm income -generating activities.Microfinance institutions with a narrow capital base also face serious problems to protect themselves against unexpected external shocks, such as floods and droughts. Financial support by donors has been vital in many cases to help these institutions overcome emergency situations.Some micro lenders serve urban and rural customers. They tend to concentrate their activities in urban and peri-urban areas. The population density is higher and the provision of financial services is simpler and less costly than in rural areas. Many of these institutions serve women who, though usually poorer than men, comply better with their loan repayment obligations.Although microfinance institutions often claim that they lend to the poorest of the poor, in practice most of them do not serve clients who belong to the lowest income groups. Some require one year of operations for micro business activities before they will consider clients eligible for a first time loan. Others insist on evidence of stability and continuity in family household living arrangements.In the future, competition in microfinance may become more intense if commercial banks decide to enter this market segment. Some of the more successful micro credit clients now demand larger loans. These funding requests may be too big to be managed conveniently by most micro lenders that use standard lending technologies. This situation has led some micro lenders to revise their target market. They grant individual loans and/or serve a rural clientele.Microfinance institutions such as PIYELI in Mali have successfully extended their lending operations beyond their current urban markets into rural areas. The new borrowers are mostly micro entrepreneurs in small municipalities, but they have also started to serve small farmers. These microfinance institutions are using current micro-credit technologies for this new type of clients. Institutions are starting with careful screening and selection of potential farmer-borrowers.Micro credit borrowers tend to be engaged in commercial activities such as street vending. Non-farm business activities generate more regular income and permit loan repayment in frequent and small instalments. First-time loans are small to avoid encouraging borrowers to introduce potentially risky, major changes in their existing business activities to accommodate the receipt of a single loan. Relatively few microfinance institutions lend exclusively for farm activities. These have longer and less stable production cycles and often present a marked seasonality in their revenues.Micro lenders use a variety of strategies to reduce their lending costs and risks. Both individual and group lending technologies are used in an effort to normalize the high costs and risks associated with lending to lowincome people. However, costs and risks of servicing groups of urban micro entrepreneurs are usually lower than working with small, dispersed farmer groups.Two events have taken place in the past couple of decades that have radically changed the face of rural finance in Africa:The \"quasi-banking\" sector, including credit unions, village banks, rural banks, etc., has developed rapidly in Africa in the past 20 years. The phenomenal growth of such \"semi -formal\" financial intermediaries has been particularly remarkable in French-speaking West Africa, in no small measure because of the major effort undertaken by the central bank (BCEAO) to promote and strengthen the \"decentralized financial systems\" (DFS) sector. Networks of \"mutual\" or cooperative financial intermediaries has been, in general, much more successful in Africa than the Grameen Bank clones, although there are notable exceptions, such as PIYELI in Mali. There are, in addition, a multitude of other types of unique semi-formal institutions providing financial services, although these tend to focus primarily on urban and suburban areas. Without entering into the details of the veritable explosion in growth of decentralized financial institutions in Africa, it is important to recall their principal characteristics:• Close proximity to clients (\"members\" in mutual institution parlance), typically within 7.5 Km of the DFS's main (and usually only) office. • Organisation in areas where the critical mass of 360 to 450 households/clients can be assured (organisation of DFSs in areas with less than this number of likely potential clients have generally proved unsustainable). • Society's most vulnerable people can be effectively reached.• DFS networks are mostly free to set their own interest rates within limits determined by regulations, but at levels sufficient to encourage savings mobilisation and generation of sufficient income to cover the (market) cost of capital, operating costs, bad debts and reserve build-up, thus assuring financial sustainability. • Independent management • Break-even within approximately four years.• Increasingly organized within the framework of regulations more appropriate for DFSs than the banking or cooperative regulations most had to live within formerly (e.g., instead of focussing principally on the capital ratio, i.e., total equity capital divided by total assets, prudential norms focus more on asset/liability issues, growth, liquidity ratios, and financial structure. • Appropriation by the \"base\", i.e., the DFSs are generally owned by their members (who are also shareholders), and the apex, or secondary, service organisations (federations, associations, financial wholesalers) are in turn owned by the DFSs. DFSs need certain fundamental services to thrive and even survive: bookkeeping systems, service bureau and form supplies, training, credit life insurance, information, representation, auditing and examination and, fundamentally, liquidity services. All of these are difficult for individual DFSs to procure elsewhere. For that reason, apexes are frequently the weakest link in networks, but are also frequently more developed than their members DFSs.While there are more and more successful, fast-growing DFSs all the time, growing competition is also evident between networks, and many less-competitive or less-sustainable DFSs and even entire networks are disappearing, often through merger with more successful networks, but also through liquidation, the latter frequently following the end of the donor financing that initiated the network. The donor community has, moreover, largely agreed on the components and ingredients of successful DFS development, as well as the measures of their success or lack thereof. Lastly, large national, regional, continental and international microfinance networks have developed either spontaneously or through donor encouragement, thus allowing, with the assistance of the Internet, periodic meetings, and training programmes, a wider sharing of techniques and experiences through personal networking.Notwithstanding all these notable developments on the DFS scene, and the existence of over 15,000 individual DFSs in French-speaking West Africa alone, tens of thousands of other African communities still have no effective access to institutional financial services, and DFSs are, accordingly, still far from being able to satisfy the needs of their members and potential members for financial services:• The DFS networks quarrel internally and with other networks and even with donors about \"principles\" and philosophy, such as whether they should accept infusions of \"cold\" (i.e., donor) funds.• Development of the legal and prudential frameworks has not been uniform, thus putting poverty-stricken rural savers' deposits at risk, this despite the valiant efforts of institutions like the BCEAO, the (Frenchspeaking) West African central bank.• Much institutional development and integration remains incomplete, especially the development of apexes (service organisations, including federations, unions, associations, etc., that provide necessary services that individual DFSs have difficulty procuring by themselves) and in particular network-specific refinancing units (central funds, central liquidity facilities, etc.) using recycled DFS excess liquidity or external lines of credit to finance other cash-short DFSs.• In general, most networks are still largely incapable to providing the magnitude of financial services that governments and donors would like to see, thus leaving project development officers and design teams in a quandary as to how best to assure that targeted groups receive the necessary assistance. If donors push the DFSs too hard by inundating them with money, the whole system tends to collapse, so donors have had to learn to be patient, and not be in too much of a rush to \"deliver\" credit.Nonetheless, the practice of providing farm loans directly through project \"windows\" without passing through an established financial intermediary like a bank or SFD has practically disappeared. This change in practice came about not a moment too soon; the history of such project credit \"windows\" had been dismal, with most experiencing close to 100% loan default rates. Clearly, in close to 100% of the cases where project staff not well seasoned in the lending process get involved in credit, the projects fail to recover their loans. And even when loan recovery is relatively good, since the credit does not originate in a DFS, the whole credit process ends abruptly when project funding ceases, thus failing on the sustainability criterion. Apart from the fact that project staff don't have the expertise that a seasoned financial intermediary has, project credit \"windows\" also fail because of their unusually high costs and an incongruence between technical (agricultural development) goals and the objectives of financial sustainability and banking rigor. Most donor project development officers have now learned this bitter lesson, and are seeking ways to involve existing financial intermediaries, including banks, but primarily focussing on DFSs, since they are generally in much closer proximity to the targeted rural populations. Recognizing that many of these structures are not yet completely developed, donors accordingly provide limited technical and financial resources to assist the DFSs to do more, hopefully without overwhelming them with too much cash. Technical assistance will generally involve collaborating with the proposed network(s) to design financial products appropriate for both the DFS and the activity to be financed, as well as (in certain cases) helping DFS networks to connect with urban-based commercial banks willing, typically with guarantees, to provide wholesale loans to individual DFS network's central refinancing units. Financial assistance generally takes the form of subsidizing improved physical infrastructure (buildings, leasehold improvements, equipment, signage, etc.) to improve image and credibility, as well as rapidly declining operating grants to permit DFSs to staff up to meet the increased volume of operations.One of the strengths of the DFSs is that they generally require a detailed business plan for each farmer or group of farmers, studies that are prohibitively costly for urban-based commercial banks to undertake. When considerable reflexion goes into the business plan, there is much more client buy-in, solidarity and, not inconsequentially, production gains, which permits farmers to feel comfortable about repaying their loans. One of the problems with the former paradigm of agricultural credit was that it was the project that decided what each participant needed, and provided it to each of the targeted individuals, whether that was what they really wanted/needed or not, i.e., \"one size fits all.\" As it turns out, even if a group of farmers all cultivate the same crops, their resources are not evenly distributed. The soil of some will be inferior to others, some will have hilly or rocky ground, others will have easy access to water, whereas still others' access to water is difficult. In short, the \"one size fits all\" approach did not meet the borrowers' real needs, which led to poor farm results and, because they didn't benefit economically, the farmers were not too disposed to repay loans for something that was not what they wanted in the first place.The role of the State in the development of effective and efficient DFSs is not negligible. Governments have a role in assuring an appropriate and sound legal and regulatory environment, assistance with infrastructures (particularly feeder roads to evacuate produce when agricultural credit succeeds and outputs substantially increase), and as a promoter and motivator. Considering the relative novelty of DFSs in some countries, many African governments are not yet living up to this ideal. Regulatory instruments vary widely in sophistication, ranging from complete non-existence to fairly well developed, such as in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, and more recently, in Mozambique and Uganda where there has been some success in formalizing the ROSCAs 27 so prevalent throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Because of a sustained, decade-long effort undertaken by the BCEA O, in collaboration with the Canadian organisation, Développement International Desjardins (DID), with CIDA funding, the regulatory environment is probably the most effective and sophisticated in the countries which are members of the BCEAO and UEMOA. Outside that sub-region, especially, but even within that region, however, one notices considerable competition between multilateral and bilateral donors, as well as NGOs, and there is accordingly a concomitant need for better coordination, a role previously handled if at all by the State, but increasing being assumed by national microfinance associations. Some of the latter are becoming exceedingly effective in assuring effective communication of techniques between networks, in effect, a \"tide that's raising all boats.\" Another shortcoming of many DFS networks is that they have tended to copy techniques and technology used by the commercial banking sector, instead of developing systems more appropriate for their particular type of business. A great many, probably the majority, have also adopted commercial banks' traditional fear of agricultural risk. The worldwide \"microfinance\" movement that focuses primarily on developing small and micro enterprises, most of which are in urban and peri-urban areas, strengthened this reticence.In general, then, the prevailing tendency for development agencies involved in agricultural credit is to no longer create financial intermediaries (i.e., DFSs), but rather to support local DFSs' initiatives through technical training; helping them overcome administrative hurdles or roadblocks (which frequently are the objects of \"conditions\" attached to project disbursements); office construction, improvement or moving to more spacious new quarters; vehicles, particularly in low population density areas, where \"ambulant\" DFS offices have been judged to be sustainable (notably, URCPB in Burkina Faso), etc. In many cases, the project assumes DFS operating deficits on a declining basis for three or four years, five at the most. Finally, and last but not least, the Project may also provide capital, either grants to permanently increase the DFS networks' revolving credit funds, or through lines of credit, which may or may not be on commercial terms through local banks, and which may or may not involve guarantees. Because they have tended to render banks \"lazy\", the use of loan guarantees is being used less and less. A fundamental principle project designers must learn to observe is that they interfere in the daily management, operations and policies of the DFS at great risk to project success. For a project-funded rural credit \"scheme\" to succeed, it has been clearly learned that DFSs must be free to operate with their own rules and procedures. At the most, we may help them adapt some of their current products to the particular needs of our target group, but in the end, if the DFSs are not completely in agreement and if they have not fully participated in the development of the scheme, and \"bought in\", the likelihood of failure is exceedingly high. In French-speaking West Africa, the cost of thus supporting individual local DFSs has varied from around 5 to 12 million CFA Francs (about $7,000 to $18,000), not counting any lending capital funds provided.Following successive structural adjustments, privatisation or liquidation of marketing boards and agricultural development banks, and liberalisation of agricultural markets, commercial lending to government and parastatal bodies naturally declined. A number of African commercial banks, such as Financial Bank, accordingly have been seeking new markets, and have begun experimenting within the micro-lending market. Most banks still are still not too interested in the costly retailing of micro-finance services to widely dispersed poor populations, though. They are most interested in partnering with and providing wholesale loans to NGOs, SFDs, MFIs and RFIs that already have a track record in lending and successfully recovering loans to the poor. Less liberalminded commercial banks will require donor guarantee funds before agreeing to finance RFIs. Such guarantee funds tend to render participating banks somewhat lazy, and both lending and recovery tends to become sloppy, since the bank will get its money back even if the loans go into default. For that reason, guarantee funds are generally not recommended in agricultural lending programmes. Still other commercial banks still won't consider at all the financing small micro-loans to low-income farmers, even when the deal is sweetened with a guarantee fund.. 27 ROSCAs are Rotating Savings and Credit Associations, where generally a small number of friends periodically contribute (typically monthly or weekly) a fixed sum and give the entire sum collected at each meeting to one of its members, according to some established order. ROSCAS are also variously called susus, njangis, stokfels, tontines and many other names. Some act as intermediaries and grant loans to members, so that income is generated and which is split among all members at the end of the year, and there are a thousand and one variations on this theme. ROSCA's could conceivably be used to finance irrigation equipment, but the author is unaware of any actual cases of that. For more information on ROSCAs, see Bouman, 1994.The lesson here, though, is that times have changed. That is, while in the past, loan applications for agricultural credit would have been disregarded by nearly all commercial banks in Africa, now many are willing to consider the possibility and negotiate. If they think they can profit by lending to a well-managed RFI, they may well be convinced to do so. So, when designing your next agricultural development project, instead of just assuming that commercial banks won't be interested in financing micro-loans to the agricultural sector, go and meet the banks' lending officers, and you might be pleasantly surprised. The conditions and paperwork may be formidable, but they may well be doable. Project design officers should not be overly optimistic about being able to successfully negotiate a deal with a commercial bank, but don't dismiss the possibility out of hand, either.Another source of finance in a few African countries are the handful of remaining Agricultural Development Banks (e.g., ADB in Ghana and BNDA in Mali). These banks have been reorganized, and have moved to market interest rates, which make them quite expensive. However, as previously discussed, most small farmers are not overly sensitive to interest rates; timely access to the funds they need is much more important to them than the funds' cost.So, again, in designing your agricultural development projects, don't forget to discuss your plans with the local ADB, in those few cases where they still exist, and with commercial banks. You may be surprisingly well received by them.Individual or group irrigation projects can generally be financed four ways: self-financing by the farmer(s); through borrowing (credit); by leasing of irrigation equipment; and through outright grants of equipment to farmers. Some projects have used combinations of these different methods. Since it is generally no longer accepted as a sustainable approach, farm equipment grants are not further discussed in this document. The other three types of irrigation finance, however, are all discussed below.In the era of large irrigation projects involving the importation of expensive European power pumps, the question of self-financing was generally not relevant. Poor farmers for the most part could access such technology only through credit, grants or leases (the latter being very under-developed in Africa). However, along with the development of very inexpensive ($20 to $100) micro-irrigation technologies (treadle pumps, drip systems, low-pressure sprinklers, etc.) in recent years, it now becomes possible for many African farmers to buy this technology outright directly from their meagre savings, instead of taking out loans. In fact, one of the principal advantages of the new micro-irrigation technologies is that once they are being mass manufactured, their prices are low enough for a majority of African farmers to buy them for cash. Irrigation projects can accordingly completely sidestep the many heartaches of agricultural credit programmes. The very poorest farmers may still need credit to avail themselves of this technology, though.From an equity point of view, this author would argue that if one is going to invest several million dollars to develop irrigation systems in a given African country, it makes more sense to invest in a technology with the potential of improving the lives of millions of poor farmers, instead of just a few hundred workers on a single large perimeter, as previous irrigation projects have tended to do.In practice, credit has been used to support irrigation in three ways:1. The original feasibility study 2. The investment cost (acquiring equipment, such as motors, pumps, hoses, sprinklers, drip systems, wells, ditches, canals, etc., including transport and installation costs) 3. Operating costs (labour, fuel for equipment, maintenance and repairs costs, etc.) Type 1 credit is extremely rare, since the prevailing view of financial institutions is that it's the job of the borrower to determine whether his business venture is likely to succeed or not. Furthermore, if it turns out to be not feasible, and the loan is not granted, how is the borrower supposed to repay the cost of the study? Type 3 loans are commonly referred to as \"agricultural campaign\" or seasonal \"operating cost\" loans. The up-front investment cost (type 2) loan normally finances only the portion not covered by the prospective borrower's contribution (however calculated, typically from 10% to 25% of total cost) or by a government or project subsidy, if any. A wide variety of repayment terms exist, depending on local conditions, beliefs and expectations, as well as on lenders' preferences. Repayments sometime start small and accelerate over time, but the opposite case also exists where substantial repayments are expected after the first harvest, if not monthly. Similarly, a variety of approaches to calculating interest have been used, some strictly market-based, some subsidized, or lower negotiated terms are negotiated with the lender (typically a commercial bank) using the \"carrot\" of a loan guarantee to negotiate a lower-than-normal interest rate. Sometimes, particularly in the case of DFSs, the lender has a policy of charging the same rate of interest on all loans. In many cases, governments and central banks impose, paradoxically, lower rates for agriculture than for other sectors, supposedly to \"promote and encourage\" the sector. Since the risk of lending to agriculture is actually higher than in other sectors, rational lenders would Drip System in Use normally use higher rates of interest in that sector. The end result of this flawed policy is that financial institutions actually lend less to agriculture than if the rates were completely deregulated, the exact opposite of the intended result. Nearly all development agencies now agree, however, that interest rates should be marketbased and full cost-covering. Project design officers proposing subsidized interest rates for irrigation loans in a proposed new project will almost certainly see their proposals quickly rejected by donors. \"Let the market rule!\" is now clearly the law of development finance. It is generally accepted now that subsidies, if at all required, should be concentrated in the areas of market creation and capacity-building, technical assistance and the financing of physical infrastructures, NEVER through artificially -low interest rates. Let us now examine each of the three types of irrigation credit in some detail:The financing of the initial purchase of equipment and/or construction is the most common and most widely used form of Irrigation Credit. This type of credit has historically suffered from two principal problems:• A failure to understand that equipment rated to last 10 years in a developed country, say in Europe, may only last three to five years in the harsh environment of a developing country, and also because users tend to use their equipment over and above the limits prescribed in their manufacturers' specs, in an attempt to maximize water output, but which ironically end up greatly decreasing the equipment's useful life. This leads to repayment schedules stretching far too far out into the future, so that the machine is usually already on the scrap heap long before the loan's final due date. It also means that the residual value of repossessed equipment in the case of loan default is far less than the book value of the loan, causing substantial losses to the lender.• Not forecasting and building in the need for replacement equipment in case of breakdowns. If the project provides, say, 100 pumps on credit to 100 rice farmers, and some of them break down during the production period, and the pumps are not rapidly repaired or replaced, the crop will most likely be ruined, and the loan will not be repaid. So, project design officers, make sure you build in replacement equipment, and an appropriate mechanism for farmers to access them (probably involving rentals). The other half of this problem is not forecasting adequately the need for replacement parts and making sure that there is someone competent, preferably private sector technicians, readily available to repair the equipment. Ideally, the equipment is manufactured, or at least assembled, within the country, so that one doesn't have to go through the lengthy process of ordering the replacements from Europe, Japan, China or India, the principal sources of imported irrigation equipment. Although one would think foreseeing the need for maintenance, repairs and replacements is obvious, a great many irrigation projects have failed precisely for this reason.The above two problems can also be seen as two aspects of a single overall problem, i.e., the lack of a \"machine culture\" in most of Africa. The \"deepening\" of machine culture will take generations, and it is unrealistic for project design officers to think that a 3-5 year project is going to be able to successfully introduce the masses to complicated foreign machinery, technology and systems.Typically, in the past, depending on the degree of subsidisation by the State or the project, the loan repayment schedule for the construction of wells is normally set up over a two to three year period. In the past, mechanized water extraction and delivery systems, on the other hand, have often been quite expensive, and were usually set up to be repaid over a much longer period, typically 3 to 5 years for gasoline or diesel motor pumps, and about 7 years for electric pumps. It should be noted that subsidisation of the initial investment in irrigation, common practice during the colonial period and in the three decades after independence, is rapidly disappearing. This makes such equipment effectively much more expensive for the borrowing farmers, and also motivates project design officers to seek out more inexpensive sources of such equipment. Another fast-growing tendency in the irrigation area is the currently controversial but sometimes successful practice of leasing (more later on this subject). There are also some ongoing, but as yet inconclusive, experiments with wind and solar powered irrigation equipment. With respect to the latter, however, clearly differences in wind patterns and the quantity of sunshine would make these options much less feasible in certain areas. Neither these latter options, nor leasing, are treated in great detail in this paper.In summary, as concerns funding of irrigation equipment other than simple wells, the usual practice up to the present time is for the borrower to fund 1/3 of the investment cost (after deduction of subsidies, but that is becoming increasingly rare) from his own resources, thus demonstrating his commitment to the project, and 2/3 funded by a loan, itself typically repaid over a five year period.The Special Case of Financing Agricultural Engineering Projects (Ditches, Terraces, etc.)The financing of agricultural engineering projects (irrigation c anals, drainage and levelling) has different characteristics and, accordingly, typically involves somewhat different financial terms. First of all, there is more frequently some government involvement and financial participation, typically through the project, generally no more than 50% of total cost (as in the PDIAIM project in Mauritania, for example). Beneficiaries are generally required to contribute from 10% to 25% of the cost, which may permit some in-kind (labour) inputs to meet the requirement. T he balance not paid by government or farmers' contributions become loans to these same farmers. The repayment period for this type of loan is typically 10 years, and sometimes using subsidized/lower than market interest rates, although experience has shown that practice to be unwise, and it is treated almost universally now with disdain. Moreover, the involvement of the State in this type of project is now almost totally reserved for large perimeters, especially rice, and benefit only a small number of farmers.There is some data which show that the annual fixed cost (i.e., depreciation) represented by this kind of investment in a 40 to 100 hectare perimeter is between 8% and 15% of the total production cost (including depreciation and interest).In general, loans to finance the cost (fuel, maintenance and repairs, and labour) of operating water extraction and delivery systems are geared to the production cycle, like any other agricultural loan. This type of loan also typically requires the borrower to finance a significant portion (typically 25% to 50%) of his/her operating costs over the production cycle, typically of from 5 to 10 months. Unlike the case of initial equipment financing, most financial institutions currently financing this type of loan require formal guarantees (hypothecations), such as blocked savings accounts, hypothecated harvests, valuables (jewels, etc.) or guarantors. Increasingly, especially in the microfinance world, \"joint and several\" agreements signed by all the borrowers of a group is being considered as sufficient guarantee.Further, experience shows that the effect of borrowing to invest in water extraction and delivery equipment typically increases operating costs by from 30% to 60% over what they would have been in the absence of the new equipment. For this reason, those few financial institutions that have substantial experience in this area, such as the CNCAS in Senegal, typically establish tables specifying the maximum amount of operating costs they are willing to fund per hectare. These are only general indications, however; it is impossible to provide norms in this area, since costs such as fuel vary so widely from country to country. Suffice it to say that if someone has borrowed to finance the original investment, the cash flows are such that he/she will probably also need an operating cost loan, too, and the key to success here is to try to minimize those costs.Leasing of irrigation equip ment is not well-developed in Africa. In fact, the only African irrigation leasing programme that the author of this document is aware of is a pilot programme operated by the GIE 28 Hari Goumo in Timbuktu, Mali. This programme was started with the help of the Belgian NGO \"Iles de Paix\". A number of European motor pumps costing approximately $6,700 each were brought in, with donors subsidizing 50% of the cost, the balance becoming loans to be repaid by the GIE Hari Goumo. The latter, in turn, rented out the pumps at the rate of about $670 per season. Iles de Paix had proposed to rent the pumps by the hour, but those renting them quickly revolted against that approach, preferring a flat fee for the season. The pilot project eventually failed, for the following reasons: 29• The European motor pumps were not economical in the African environment. They were too expensive to ever be profitable. One of GIE Hari Goumo's partners, the HIPPO Foundation of the Netherlands, has shown (see Attachment 4), though, that essentially identical pumps can be purchased from India or China for as little as a third of the cost of European pumps. If these were used, the use of power pumps might well become a profitable venture. Part of the problem here was that pumps rated to last 10 years in Europe will be lucky to last half that long in Africa, but the rent was based on a ten year life. • Lessees tended to over-use their pumps, which caused them to break down very quickly. For example, instead of using them to irrigate the maxi mum 6 Has rated for the pump, farmers would irrigate 12 Has.28 Groupement d'Intérêt Economique 29 Arby,D., They would also use them for a longer number of hours than the specs called for, trying to maximize the throughput and \"get their money's worth.\" The lessor had no system to monitor the proper or improper use of rented equipment. • Similarly, farmers did not properly maintain their power pumps. For example, instead of changing oil every 150 hours, they replaced the oil after 400 hours; changed the oil filter just once before returning the pump, i nstead of the prescribed once a month; and using cheap, dirty oil and fuel, instead of more expensive name brand oil and fuel available from reputable petrol stations. This also contributed greatly to the early demise of these expensive pumps. • Lessees were expected to pay half the rent in advance, and half at harvest, but most failed to pay the last half at the end of the season. • When, as they often did, pumps broke down, backup loaner pumps were not available for farmers to use while their own pump was being repaired. This alone caused many rice farms to fail utterly.The members of the GIE Hari Goumo have recognized all these errors and problems, and are seeking funding for a second attempt, this time including a number of measures to overcome difficulties encountered in the initial efforts at motorized irrigation. Measures which the GIE Hari Goumo proposes to make leasing of motor pumps more of a viable approach include the following:• Creation of one or more private structures (NGOs or for-profit comp anies) specialized in the rental of a variety of power pumps, so that the user obtains a pump appropriate for his/her size of farm. • Assistance (material, financial and technical) by lending institutions and NGOs to create the necessary support structures, train their personnel in the proper maintenance and repair of the chosen brands of power pumps, assuring proper stock management so that spares will always be available when break-downs occur, and to assure that there is a constant surveillance of how the pumps are being used.• Standardize on a single brand of power pump, while permitting a number of different models for different size farms, thus facilitating training, repairs, maintenance of sufficient stocks of spare parts, etc. • Uniformisation of rental rates among all those renting power pumps • While leaving the details of rental payment procedures to each lessor, experience has shown that collection of even part of the rent at the end of the season is problematic, so payment of the entire rent in advance is highly recommended. • Intensive training of all pump operators in the correct use and maintenance of their power pumps.Let us hope that the next attempt by GIE Hari Goumo will be more successful. It will be interesting to follow the case's evolution, and if it proves more successful than previous efforts, it may become a model to be replicated elsewhere. It should be recognized, however, that the Timbuktu area has a considerable history of using power pumps, going way back to colonial times. GIE Hari Goumo has inventoried well over a thousand power pumps which have been used in Timbuktu region alone since the 1950s, almost none of which are still functioning. Still, this puts Malian users a little ahead of most other power pump users in Africa in their integration into the modern \"machine culture.\" With this one rather inconclusive case of irrigation equipment rental, it is not possible at this time to definitely recommend leasing as a viable option in Africa.Those interested in pursuing this approach, however, should take note of the lease agreement (Attachment 3 to this paper) used by GIE Hari Goumo, and try to improve it based on the above discussion.Experience to date with the FAO's SPFS provides some information on problems encountered and lessons learned from past efforts in the area of financing irrigation development projects. Those familiar with agricultural credit will undoubtedly note that many of these problems are not intrinsic to irrigation, but rather apply generally to all types of agricultural lending. The difficulties encountered generally fall into four categories:Probably a majority of irrigation finance problems are the direct result of defective project design. Some of the most common project design errors include the following:Despite considerable effort and lip service by various parties, the participatory process continues to be mostly artificial. Most often, it consists only of \"sensitisation\" meetings explaining technical decisions already taken elsewhere by \"experts.\" Many of these schemes hatched by foreigners with little knowledge of local customs and conditions, often too complex for potential participants to understand and become effective partners. Beneficiaries, often only represented by a few leaders, are typically presented with a fait accompli (the programme will provide you with such-and-such equipment, which will cost you so much, and which will provide you so much income and profits…). A sensitivity (\"what if…?\") analysis is almost never presented to help potential borrowers assess the risk of success or failure.With the exception of certain World Bank efforts (notably the PSAN project in Burkina Faso and the PDPI project in Senegal), which seem truly well appreciated by beneficiaries 30 , generally irrigation projects have deliberately bypassed this preliminary phase so absolutely necessary for success of briefing beneficiaries on what is going to happen. These two projects succeeded because they not only fully involved participants in the conception of the programme, but also in the specifics of project implementation, and even in project monitoring and evaluation! Nearly everyone gives lip service to beneficiary participation in project design, but very few project designs, in reality, adequately involve those who will be most affected by their execution. This is frequently due to the need to write project proposals quickly, and as the old adage goes, \"haste makes waste.\"When faced with the choice between a simple, inexpensive solution and a costly, complex one, many professional project design officers desirous of displaying their command of the subject matter, have a tendency to choose the latter, thus violating one of the most fundamental rules of development work, the KISS (\"Keep it simple, stupid!) principle. As one micro-irrigation expert puts it, \"Western entrepreneurs and trained engineers have difficulty unlearning enough of what they've been taught to innovate, design, and market micro -irrigation systems that are affordable enough for poor farmers to take advantage of them.\" 31 Typically, the family income is only two or three hundred dollars a year, far too little to afford the modern irrigation devices available off the shelf that are often promoted by development \"experts.\" However, without improved irrigation, they cannot fully benefit from green revolution inputs. Furthermore, many development experts expect that in an open marketplace, small inefficient farms will be taken over by larger and more efficient farms. In the face of rapid population growth, however, actual farm size in developing countries is instead steadily decreasing! The failure of the development community to take these simple facts into account is a major factor constraining emergence of practical solutions to both improved irrigation performance and to hunger and poverty.In addition, bilateral donor-funded agricultural development projects frequently also have an inherent, built-in problem. That is, statutes in the donor country require that equipment used in development projects be Paul Polak of IDE, quoted in \"Engineering Low-Cost Micro-Irrigation for Small Plots\", by Jack Keller, Deepak L. Adhikari, Michael R. Petersen, and Sudarshan Suryawanshi, Page 1. manufactured in the donor country. It doesn't matter that the donated equipment may be five times as expensive as alternative irrigation equipment made locally in Africa or imported from India or China. It also may not matter that a much less complex and vastly less expensive solution may be more appropriate. Previous experience with complicated equipment or technologies such as power pump -ased irrigation and animal traction in areas with little tradition of using them has often been disastrous, as project designers have greatly underestimated the difficulties of introducing such new technologies in milieus where the population has no experience with machines or care of animals. For example, instead of using expensive European motor pumps, it may be possible to pump the water much more cheaply and with less dependence on foreign technology, spare parts, etc., by using alternative equipment like locally-made treadle pumps and rope pumps. Accordingly, those of us in the business of designing irrigation development projects or project components need to make a much more eloquent and convincing effort to convince bilateral donors that if they really want to sponsor sustainable development, then they should agree to less costly and less complex designs, i.e., that most of the time, \"small truly is beautiful.\" Donors have to be made to realize that their insistence on using equipment manufactured in their country of origin will at least seriously undermine the project's probability of success, and at worst render profitability and sustainability completely impossible. Some project design officers' continuing preference for expensive and complicated irrigation solutions is difficult to understand, particularly since the benefits and advantages of focusing more on micro -irrigation equipment have so been well documented:• By replacing surface systems and practices that have traditionally been used to irrigate small plots with lowcost micro-irrigation systems, the area of land that can be fully irrigated from a given volume of applied water can be significantly increased. However, of perhaps even greater importance from a basin-wide water resources perspective, the production per unit of water depleted by evaporation and transpiration is often increased by 30 to 50%. The improved use of increasingly scarce water resources is well suited to periurban irrigators, with water consumption reductions of up to 60% in comparison to traditional (furrow) irrigation. Furthermore, the availability of affordable micro-irrigation systems in small kits unlocks these potential benefits for literally millions of resource-poor farmers who have access to as little as 20 to 500 m 2 (1/8 acre) of land. In addition, it opens the potential benefits of irrigation even to small holders where water supplies were considered insufficient or too costly to acquire for traditional irrigation methods to be practical. These technologies are significantly lower in cost, available in small packages, operate at very low pressures, and are easier to understand and operate. 32 • Labour savings Ø Through reduction of time spent in water control in the field Ø Through reducing the gross water requirement for a given area and therefore the time spent in water acquisition • Opportunity to exploit a limited water supply Ø From a manual or small motorized pump Ø Where water must be carried over a distance Ø From a small or erratic stream or canal flow. • Improved conveyance and application efficiency, leading to a saving of water and a reduced risk of raised water tables • Improved control over the timing and depth of irrigation, permitting more accurate application of fertilizer, and hence leading to possible improvements in yield and quality of output; Potential benefits of tapping shallow aquifers and not mining deep water. • Effective irrigation of coarse or shallow soils and sloping lands (avoids need for land forming/terracing) • Reduction in the land taken up by the distribution system • Better use of poor quality water, provided appropriate management practices are adopted • Reduced risk to health by elimination of standing water • Unaffected by wind (as regards drip systems) • Avoids leaf scorch and reduces risk of foliar fungal disease (as regards drip systems) • Localized soil wetting reduces evaporative losses and weed growth between rows • Operates at relatively low pressure thereby saving energy, and in many cases eliminating the need for expensive pumps • Simple to install and easy to operate by men, women and children and ideal for vegetable cultivation, but is also used extensively to irrigate small plots of HYV paddy. In Asia, at least, water-saving micro -irrigation of wheat, tobacco and jute enabled irrigators to harvest remarkably higher yields compared to rain-fed farming.• The benefit:cost ratio on treadle pump investment is in the neighbourhood of 5:1; the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is variously estimated to be around 100%; the payback period is usually less than a year. For a marginal farmer with US$50-100 to spare, there are few 'capital investment propositions' more attractive than a treadle pump. 33 • Scalable, divisible and portable technologies with low capital investment requirements ($100 or less, sometimes under $10) with potential for poverty alleviation via wealth creation • Improved household nutrition levels • Low operation and maintenance costs.Specific areas with the greatest potential for successful micro-irrigation include:• Areas with chronic water shortages • Hillside farming systems in proximity to good urban markets • Fadamas, dambos, and goulbis • Peri-urban zones of major cities.As previously stated, a key factor in the disappointing performance of many poverty alleviation initiatives is their failure to address the fact that most of the farms in developing countries are less than two hectares in size.The key to tripling the global harvest through modern seeds and inputs has been irrigation, but until recently commercial irrigation devices have been too large and too expensive for small farmers. This has left them on the outside, looking in on many of the accomp lishments of modern agriculture. Yet because small farmers are themselves poor, and are disproportionately concentrated in food deficit rural areas, increased productivity and income is central to practical approaches to poverty alleviation. For most small farmers in developing countries, affordable small plot irrigation may be the first step to wealth creation. 34   Similarly, in some cases, the basic problem to be solved by the project is misdiagnosed during the project identification and design process. For example, the \"problem\" to be resolved by a proposed new project is often stated in terms of \"low production or low yields.\" However, with post-harvest losses typically 30% or more of the entire harvest, a more viable project concept might well be warehousing grain until prices rise shortly before the next harvest. If farmers could sell that lost 30% or more rather than losing it to spoilage, or sell the entire crop at a much higher price later in the year, their profitability would increase dramatically without having to get involved in complex, expensive, and unproven imported technologies. If post-harvest losses aren't directly addressed by your proposed project, just remember that even the doubled or tripled production your costly and complex project may produce is also subject to PHL.The strategy of subsidizing the cost of conventional irrigation systems to farmers with small plots has generally been proven to be unsustainable. It has not been a very efficient mechanism for addressing the needs of farmers of small plots, nor has it resulted in the expected improvements in irrigated agricultural performance. A growing number of irrigation experts believe that for economically sustainable success, the uptake of microirrigation systems for use on small plots should be demand driven and without direct subsidies. Thus the systems must be financially feasible (or affordable), and farmers should be willing to pay the ongoing costs (including reasonable profit margins) associated with producing and marketing them once the market demand is well established.Funding the development of low-cost systems and establishing the demand driven markets for them is proving to be a very appropriate and cost-effective role for donors, replacing the direct subsidies provided to farmers in previous irrigation projects. Product development, supply chain and market development, and product promotion are technologies that Western countries providing technical assistance are quite effective at. 35   What characterizes the present approach to smallholder irrigation development (as opposed to earlier approaches of appropriate technology) is the shift in emphasis from the technology development phase (although this phase 33 Shah et al., p. 29.  34 World Bank, Winrock International and IDE. 2000. Executive Summary, Page iii. 35 Heierli, U., page 3 and Heierli, U. and Polok, P., pp 1-31. Readers wishing a more in-depth explanation of the \"market creation\" approach around which donor thinking on irrigation finance is coalescing should consult these two documents. The diagrams on the following pages have been adapted from those developed by Mr. Heierli.is still important) to the phase of developing a private sector-led supply chain and rural mass marketing of the equipment. The overriding principle of all the successful approaches is that they treat farmers as entrepreneurs motivated by profit who make investment decisions based on information available to them. Successful technology transfer depends on finding farmers who fit this profile and using them as demonstrators who will influence their less entrepreneurial or more risk averse neighbors.1. Feasibility Study building on previous local irrigation experience and emphasizing the participative approach, as well as identifying opportunities for marketing increased production (especially high value crops where local smallholders may have a comparative advantage) resulting from irrigation. 2. Development of the Technology Package, involving decisions about importing vs. local manufacture, types and sizes of micro-irrigation equipment and kits, principal crops to be promoted, aiming at a limited product line that is affordable to poor farmers and that can pay for itself in a season or, at maximum, a year. 3. Supply Chain Development. Once the product(s) are identified, they must be procured or manufactured, preferably the latter, as the Kenya experience shows (see following page). Although drip tape is not produced in many developing countries, PVC pipe and other plastic products are widely produced. Micro-irrigation kits can easily be produced using micro-tubes, which can be manufactured with a minimal upgrade at a PVC pipe factory. The method of manufacture is linked to the selection of technology and these decisions must be made in tandem. Also, it is critical to determine how and by whom the products will be distributed. It is desirable to have as wide a distribution network as possible, not just to one target area within the country. Local agricultural outlets, hardware stores, etc., are logical candidates for retailers. The structure and relationship of manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer needs to be determined for each programme. Questions of quality control, guarantees and other issues need to be resolved. Various types of supply chains have been developed, and it is essential that all parties in the chain make a profit to ensure sustainability.In the development of supply chains, provisions are made for private sector enterprises to supply the associated inputs (seeds, fertilizers, soil amendments, plant protection agents, etc.) that the smallholder farming community will need to take maximum advantage of the water-related technologies. In addition, provisions are made for the private sector and/or government agencies and NGOs to provide necessary farmer training.The availability of credit is a major factor in the successful mass dissemination of productivity-enhancing technologies for the smallholder; special consideration is given to building into the supply chain mechanisms for credit for the smallholder.In order to convince farmers to buy new technology, major efforts must be put into marketing. This may take different forms depending on the country.With micro-irrigation, farmers may be producing high value crops with which they are unfamiliar. They may need training on variety selection and management practices. Farmers may also need training in the use of post-harvest practices and on-farm processing in order to add value to their products, and to gain access to profitable and stable markets. Promotion of high value crops may involve policy dialogue with the host government to facilitate relevant infrastructure development and the creation of new markets. Marketing may also involve improved storage and preserving (drying, pickling, cooling, freezing, canning, etc.) of high value crops carried out on an industrial scale.6. Impact Measurement and Feedback. In order for the programme to work effectively, managers must be able to monitor impacts in order to continuously adapt the program to meet its objectives. Programs may need to adapt new technologies, tap new markets, or find new sources of donor funding. In order to respond to changing conditions, programme staff members need to monitor sales, redefine the target smallholders and measure the impact that the technology is having on incomes, employment, and other factors. This data needs to be fed back to the programme to enhance profitability, build sustainability, and ensure greater incomes for the target smallholders.The process involves a number of actors with a variety of skills to be obtained through the establishment of a network that would include a variety of organizations including donors, NGOs and other implementers, host governments and the private sector. There is a strong need for coordination of the programme to assure that parties work together towards a common goal. A network secretariat would have a major objective of promoting coordination among all the actors involved in promoting smallholder irrigation.Two case studies in Africa (Kenya and Zambia) illustrate the importance of some of these components: 36In Kenya, bucket kits were distributed by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). This experience provides two important insights into problems associated with production and distribution. The bucket kit is manufactured in the U.S. and shipped to Kenya in container-lot quantities. Although the shipping costs per kit are relatively low, delays hinder the availability of kits. An entire container is expensive, so the programme must depend on a large influx of funding to import the kits. This means that the programme is not run as a sustainable business. Second, the kits have been distributed only at the national headquarters of KARI and several other outlets. They are not available through the private sector at local outlets. Although the programme has conducted a good demonstration programme both at the national headquarters and at local agricultural field days, it lacks a consistent advertising campaign. Only sporadic advertisements and newspaper articles have announced the availability of the kits. This has resulted in uncertainty and reliance on distribution through NGOs, which buy a number of kits for their target farmers. Finally, spare parts are not readily available as there is no national supply chain of kit retailers.Market Linkages. The Zambia Dambo development project provides a number of interesting lessons learned. First, the programme emphasized local production of treadle pumps, which lowered costs from $200 to between $60 to $70 per pump. The contractor, IDE (International Development Enterprises), has operated the project in 4 areas of Zambia with 128 retailers, with emphasis on demonstrations to reach farmers. Farmers have been linked to micro-credit. The dispersed nature of the population and poor transportation and other infrastructure has hindered adoption. The most significant lesson is that farmers who are linked to established horticulture markets realize the highest incomes. Generally, limited access to markets has prevented many farmers from full adoption of the technology. Zambian farmers tend to be dispersed, and although access to land and water in dambo areas is good, farmers are generally located far from markets, and are constrained by poor road infrastructure.The various components required in a \"market creation\" approach are illustrated in the diagrams on the following two pages.Given the complexity of the market creation approach, and if sufficient funds are available, it would seem desirable to place the overall management of the development of such systems in the hands of experienced micro -irrigation consulting firms, such as IDE, EnterpriseWorks, HIPPO Foundation and SE3WE (these firms' coordinates can be found in Attachment 2), that already have considerable experience in Africa. For a listing of known micro-irrigation equipment manufacturers, consulting firms, and other experts, please refer to Attachment 2. The first stop in your search should probably be the IPTRID (International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage) secretariat located in FAO headquarters in Rome (see Attachment 2 for contact information).Unfortunately, most previous irrigation projects used a \"one size fits all\" type technological solution. Typically, all participants received the same expensive European motor pump, irregardless of the size or condition of their farm, received the same chemical inputs, etc. Unfortunately, though, each farmer's situation is different, and the approach should be tailored to his/her circumstances. Even neighbors' farms can be vastly different, requiring different approaches and inputs. The ultimate result was that many farmers were coerced into borrowing money to pay for expensive, inappropriate solutions, and when they didn't benefit after the technology failed, they felt little obligation to repay the loans. With so many factors determining what is appropriate irrigation equipment for a smallholder, it is impossible to identify one technology as the best one for everyone. Undoubtedly drip and sprinkler irrigation are the least expensive, entry-level technologies that have potential for adoption by resource-poor farmers, followed by treadle pumps. However, the exclusion of techniques such as buried porous pots or clay pipes, low head and pressurised bubbler systems, or lay-flat pipe in place of open field channels does not imply that these technologies are not appropriate in some farming systems or that low cost drip is a universal \"solution.\" 37 7.1.5 Inadequate M.I.S.Lastly, project designers frequently forget or overlook the importance of a high-performance management information system (M.I.S.) within any kind of credit programme. History shows that when the number of loans goes beyond a few hundred, control of disbursements and loan repayments tend to deteriorate rapidly, with the result that the programme goes out of control and usually fails if there is not a good M.I.S.. The lender absolutely must have daily, weekly and monthly listings of loans coming due and those overdue, so that loan officers and other staff can quickly follow up. When these reports are not available, lending programmes quickly get out of control, defaults rise dramatically, and lending and production targets are accordingly not attained. Therefore, project designers should make sure to build in both sufficient numbers of computers and banking software licences for the foreseen volume of credit, branches, cashiers and back office personnel needing access to loan portfolio information. Fortunately, we have within FAO itself access to state-of-the-art banking software. FAO developed the DOS version of its Microbanker software over a decade ago, and it is being successfully used in well over 1,500 financial institutions in every region of the world. This very capable software is already available in English, French and Spanish, as well as certain other European and Asian languages. Project designers should also not underestimate the effort it will take to train lending institution staff in how to effectively use and exploit the software. At a minimum, one should foresee an initial intensive training of key users for not less than two weeks, followed by a refresher course of a week to ten days six months later. Those having some experience with the DOS version of Microbanker know that it has a rather steep learning curve, and that it frankly is not the most user-friendly software in the world. Fortunately, a new, much more user-friendly Windows version is currently being tested in a variety of sites. MBWin is currently available only in English, but its new architecture facilitates its rapid translation into any language that Windows can use, and can, in addition, be simultaneously bilingual in two languages. French and Spanish versions will also soon be available, and conversions to other languages are not overly complicated. For budgetary purposes, project design officers desirous of using MBWin may wish to include its cost, as shown in the following table:Price -Base Module (General ledger, customer maintenance, configurator, and take-on) and one application module $1,000 is also available, but most users will not need this.Technical and pricing questions about MBWin should be directed to Mr. Ake Oloffson, AGSM, Rome (Ake.Oloffson@fao.org).The greatest constraint in this category is farmers' frequent pre-existing indebtedness to formal and informal lenders. Ideally, new irrigation loans should not be granted to those already over-indebted, but in the absence of credit bureaus in most African countries, it is frequently difficult to determine this before granting a loan, particularly if the lender is not located in the same community as the borrower (there is yet another reason to try to use DFSs as much as possible-they know the local population much better). A related problem is the frequent inability of the proposed recipient of an irrigation loan to raise the necessary counterpart funds, typically from 10% to 25% of the total cost, as well as pay the increased farm operating costs after the installation of the new irrigation equipment.In general, farmer-borrower farms' almost systematic under capitalisation renders them very vulnerable to the slightest unexpected event. In the case of the seemingly excellent farmer associations on the Senegal River, for example, using seven high-capacity motor pumps, borrowers had always been up to date in their payments to the lender. At least until they started to exceed the capacity of the pumps, whereupon they all broke down. Since they had already spent all their available funds on operating costs, however, they could not repair the pumps, and the crops ultimately failed.African farmers seem unable (some would say they refuse) to understand the mechanism of depreciation of fixed assets frequently. Because the borrowers do not set aside funds for replacing the equipment at the end of their useful life, they end up at that point as dependent as ever on external capital. A phenomenon particularly widespread, but not limited to French-speaking West Africa, is that the cost of donated equipment is not factored into the price of whatever production results from that equipment, so that when it needs to be replaced, there are no funds to replace it. This phenomenon probably originates in the \"hand-out mentality\" that has developed, and farmers become convinced that, after all, they can get some donor to finance the next pump when the current one wears out.Illiteracy, on the one hand, and lack of institutional organisation, on the other, most often prevent farmerborrower groups from maintaining adequate accounting records or even from properly filling out the loan application. As a result, these tasks are confided to third parties (teachers or children, typically) not having a personal stake in seeing that it's done right.Lastly, the high rate of post-harvest losses (typically 20% or more for rice, 30% or more for tomatoes) before marketing the produce reduces the borrowers' income greatly, as well as their ability to repay their loans. The lesson here is for project development officers to give serious thought to creating viable warehousing facilities, in addition to irrigation equipment to increase production and yields.Although the distance from the lending institution or branch office to the borrower's village is not a great obstacle to disbursing the loan, it is often a major obstacle when payments come due, particularly in terms of the cost of transport and lost time, and the inability of a far-away lender to appreciate the borrower's problems. The farmer association reflects the average member, and not the condition of its most vulnerable members, who risk being marginalized, even forced to rent out their land (case of Fouta-Djalon in Guinea in 1995). 38   Most decentralized financial systems are chronically short of long-term lending funds which would permit them to invest significant amounts in medium and long-term investments such as irrigation equipment. Project design officers, frequently under pressure to complete their project papers, often forget to verify the lenders' funds availability, and when it eventually comes time to disburse the irrigation loans which had been promised to farmers, one discovers that the lenders do not have sufficient lending capital. Worse, after disbursing the equipment loans, one discovers shortly thereafter that there are insufficient funds to pay for operating cost loans.Project development officers should please take note. The chronic shortages of lending capital is just another reason to prefer micro -irrigation equipment to more expensive, imported power pumps.Finally, there is an increasing cacophony of competing RFIs promoting their products. Because some competitors may have subsidized lines of credit, those borrowing from unsubsidised sources may object when they learn how little the competing institution charges. At worst, the borrower defaults, and at best he takes all his future business to the less-costly competitor, thus missing the potential benefits to both borrower and lender of a long-term relationship.The principal problems frequently encountered in this category include the inability of the local authorities to assure an adequate legal and regulatory framework. Problems also include well meaning but counterproductive usury laws or directives that interest rates on agricultural loans should paradoxically bear lower interest rates than loans to other sectors, despite the higher risk of default. Successful rural DFSs generally cannot survive on such artificially low interest rates, and the end result is that, instead of protecting farmers from \"damned usurers\", farmers end up not having access to loans at all! Other problems include government directives to \"encourage\" certain segments of the population, which may or may not make economic sense to the lender. Another major problem in much of Africa is the inability to effectively pursue a delinquent borrower legally.A common problem is also that government officials try to force lenders to grant loans to individuals that do not qualify for loans according to the lender's established loan policy. Accordingly, try to negotiate a clause stating that government will not interfere in a lender's decisions to grant or refuse loans to borrowers. Make sure that loans will be granted exclusively on the basis of the merits of the borrowers' projects; their repayment capacity and their likelihood of repayment. Try to assure that financial decisions are taken by experienced financial personnel, and not by politicians. Once politics enters the lending decision process, failure won't be long in coming.A whole other class of problems derives from deficiencies in the government's development policy itself, particularly when it accords insufficient attention to improving marketing channels (quality improvement through setting of standards, persisting with ineffective marketing boards, inability to create sufficient feeder roads to isolated areas, etc.). The end result of these kinds of policy deficiencies is to either (1) dissuade producers from even trying to fully exploit technologies like micro-irrigation or (2) create a situation where even if production rises substantially, farmers have no place to market the extra production. Project design officers, too, must identify reliable marketing channels before proposing irrigation projects that may considerably increase production. Increasing production alone is not enough to assure the profitability of irrigation loans, and hence their ultimate repayment.Another problem clearly attributable to governments is their propensity to incur massive budget deficits that provoke high inflation and interest rates. Because of the low rates of return typically applying to agriculture, these high rates greatly discourage farmers from borrowing and investing in their farms.Traditionally, the major development banks faced several obstacles in packaging small-scale irrigation activities into a loan package:• Minimum loan size to justify the bank's investment in the entire project cycle is often too large for the needs of a national small-scale irrigation initiative. Because their projects had to be large in amount (typically $25 million or more), the World Bank and other major international and bilateral donors focused principally on larger scale systems, particularly the expensive mechanization of large agricultural development perimeters, especially for rice production. Results have almost always been disappointing with this approach, for all the reasons already enumerated: lack of focus on market creation, use of overly complicated, expensive and uneconomical equipment imposed by bilateral donors, etc. Donors thus had a built-in bias against \"thinking small.\"• Small-scale irrigation is essentially a dispersed, local activity where development bank funding tends to support centralized, large-scale investments or investments targeted at large institutions (e.g., national research and extension systems) capable of absorbing large tranches of funds.• Traditionally, small-scale irrigation has depended on NGOs, CBOs or private companies to jumpstart the process with training, demonstrations, loans, and mass communication campaigns. Development and commercial banks have traditionally focused on public sector institutions, however.However, recent innovations in funding and country agreements have reduced significantly these barriers to funding small-scale irrigation initiatives:• Technological advances, particularly in the area of developing affordable, small-scale water lifting devices and drip irrigation systems; • Governments, as the borrowing agencies, have been more amenable to passing on responsibilities and funding to NGOs or other local organizations to plan and implement development activities • Shifts in the policy environment favouring private sector initiatives and increased smallholder participation • Targeted micro-irrigation projects have been able to provide a package (training, funds, marketing assistance, etc.) to promote small-scale irrigation • Small-scale irrigation, where feasible, can be part of a larger loan package such as a larger water development or rural development project. Such projects often include investments to support other parts of the small-scale irrigation project business model such as rural roads and marketing infrastructure. • Heightened environmental concerns-in particular, concern for increasingly severe water shortages and food security • Increased focus on poverty alleviation, achievable by increasing smallholder productivity through affordable small plot irrigation; • The emergence of viable market creation approaches for smallholder development and growing acceptance that the market creation approach is better than the failed subsidized approaches of the past, and growing commercial interest by manufacturers and irrigation consulting firms in micro -irrigation product development. Markets for smallholder irrigation technologies are, accordingly, evolving rapidly. For example, large irrigation equipment firms, such as Israël's Netafim, which previously were not interested in the idea, are now seriously developing equipment specifically aimed at smallholders in developing countries.The Niger Private Irrigation Project, currently in the World Bank project cycle for 2001, represents many of these innovations in practice. The Government has decentralized management of water resources to local communities and encouraged greater private sector participation. The project combines tube wells with manual pumps, thus increasing project size, and includes funds for training, technical assistance and finance. An umbrella NGO will implement the project. Advice will include study tours, workshops, demonstrations, field trials, field days, and techniques to improve crop yield and quality. This work will be contracted out to the Niger Association for Private Irrigation Promotion (ANPIP). The programme will also create savings associations; provide land-titling assistance for project beneficiaries; and assist local irrigation service providers. Total project cost is programmed at $33 million. 39 It will be interesting to see how successful this project is; doing \"all the right things\" will hopefully produce results.By this point, the reader will have noted that the author of this document has made a number of pertinent observations on how irrigation projects or project components should be designed. First of all, it should be clear to all that projects should be designed and implemented with the full participation of the farmers most affected by them, and not be hurried by project design officers in the faraway capital city or even foreign countries. The second major observation is that project design officers should not just see their jobs as increasing production or yields. The task at hand is much bigger than that. The \"market development\" approach presented in the previous chapter, and generally accepted by the donor community, now requires projects to take this approach. So, yes, do take the time to figure out (with the farmers who will be using it) what is the most appropriate technological package, but in addition, you also now have to figure out who's going to manufacture the micro-irrigation equipment (importing them is not a sustainable solution), how it's going to be distributed, how other inputs (seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) are going to be delivered on time, where financing will come from and, finally, where the huge increase in production is going to be marketed. In short, you now have to take a systems approach to the design of irrigation projects and components.Secondly, project design officers should make sure they've identified the real problem to be solved. Is it really low production or yields, or is it the large proportion of post-harvest losses and/or the farmers' inability to hold onto the harvest long enough for prices to rise? You may be able to increase local food production by 30% or more simply by creating storage capacity. Certainly farmers' incomes could be greatly enhanced if they can manage to delay the sale of their produce until later in the year when prices are higher. Accordingly, projects based on reducing post-harvest losses or warehousing of crops may be a more appropriate solution than an irrigation project or component. At a minimum, a PHL reduction component in your irrigation project would certainly complement and enhance whatever production and yield results obtained.Hopefully, the benefits of low-cost micro-irrigation technology (drip systems, low-pressure sprinklers, treadle pumps, rope pumps, etc.) are clear and obvious to all readers. They offer greater productivity and incomes for the masses, not just a few working on a single large perimeter. Still, one has to recognize that these low-tech micro-irrigation technologies do not work in all circumstances. If surface water is unavailable or if pumping heads are more than 10 meters, none of the aforementioned technologies will work, and intensification will necessarily require more costly solutions. To the extent that power pumps must be imported, project design officers need to more eloquently argue the case to bilateral donors that their expensive pumps do not represent responsible development, and that if they really want to help Africa develop, then they should accept to finance the purchase of equivalent, but much less costly, power pumps from Asia. No matter where the power pumps come from, however, the project design needs to make sure that there are mechanisms built in to supply sufficient quantities of spare parts and backup pumps to temporarily replace pumps that break down. The project also has to somehow assure that there will be sufficient maintenance and repair capacity available to farmers. The absence of these latter features has doomed a majority of previous irrigation projects.Hopefully, most readers will also have been convinced by this point that credit is not always the solution. In fact, if one accepts the premise that preference should be given to micro-irrigation technology over exp ensive power pump solutions, it follows that most African farmers probably don't need credit to purchase $25 or $50 micro-irrigation equipment. They can just buy them for cash. The problem is to create the manufacturing and distribution systems that make them available to the masses.At this point in time, leasing is not a technology that can be definitely recommended as a sound approach. Ongoing experience with this approach in Mali and elsewhere, though, should be closely monitored, so that if successful approaches to leasing do appear, they can be replicated.The first recommendation in this area to project design officers is that they try to assure the objective of near proximity through the creation or support of one or more existing local DFSs, such as a credit union, village bank or rural bank, through sensitisation of the population, capacity building and institutional development. The DFS thus created or strengthened has the considerable advantages of knowing the borrowers and are more able to monitor the loans closely than development project staff ever will. Of course, the project will have to abide by the DFS's overall credit policies and interest rate structure. If the local DFS is a member of a federation, then you may be able to negotiate considerable outreach to widespread sites where DFSs belonging to that network have been implanted. If you're lucky, the federation may, as is increasingly the case, have a central liquidity, or rediscount, facility, that will be able to provide and manage the additional liquidity that your irrigation project may require. The federation may well assist you to negotiate, if necessary, with commercial or development banks lines of credit that the rediscount facility can redistribute to its member DFSs. It is, in fact, becoming more and more common for DFSs that successfully mobilise large amounts of savings to lend their excess liquidity to other DFS networks (e.g., the case of FUCEC-TOGO). If there just aren't any DFSs in the region you want to implant irrigation technology in, you're basically out of luck, and have but two choices: (1) take a long-term perspective, and create the required DFSs yourself, probably in collaboration with one or more existing networks interested in expanding into your zone or (2) chose a more propitious region already served by one or more networks of DFSs. Of course, you can try to work with commercial banks, but for reasons already cited, the experiences with that approach have in general been considerably less than satisfactory. Don't forget that detailed agreements will have to be negotiated with each federation, rediscount facility, bank or DFS. This is a time -consuming process that should not be minimized in the project document; if you do, you'll almost certainly find yourself behind schedule very early on in the implementation of the project. Fortunately, you can probably obtain samples of previous agreements of this type which you can use for inspiration.A second recommendation is t o make absolutely sure in your project design, and this applies to whatever lender(s) you choose to manage the loans, that there is a definite and adequate source of funds for financing a considerable amount of medium-term irrigation loans. Most DFS networks will not have enough long-term funds, so you'll have to figure out where you're going to get them from: capital grants through the project, although these are less and less attractive to donors; lines of credit from commercial or development banks, governments/central banks or even donors; or other sources (NGOs, etc.). Most African countries' banking systems have excess liquidity that can, in principal, be brought to bear, if properly negotiated, but that takes considerable time that busy project development officers are short of. But they have to find the time, because they need to negotiate all these during project design; if you wait until implementation, any significant snags will put your project way behind schedule, or cause it to fail outright.Another increasingly relied-on source of long-term lending funds is, oddly enough to some, client savings. The war between those who claimed \"it's obvious that the poor cannot save\" and those, like credit union leaders, who claimed that \"the poor can and do save\", has been won by the latter, and most microfinance specialists now acknowledge that the poor are able to and do, in fact, save considerable sums. Although there are many (especially proponents of the Grameen Bank approach) who still preach that it's \"obvious\" that poor people can't save, and that it's necessary to \"prime the pump\", evidence now clearly shows quite the opposite, and most donors no longer are interested in hearing the tired old \"poor people can't save\" refrain. The question is therefore no longer, \"do they save?\", but rather how can we capture these savings and use them to finance development? The work of many microfinance practitioners, especially the World Council of Credit Unions, shows that significant sums of savings can be mobilized from the poor. To attract a stable and rapidly growing pool of savings from such a population, you must pay positive real interest rates (i.e., greater than the rate of inflation, rates on such deposits being based preferably on \"CPI-Plus\" formulae). It is also frequently necessary to clean up the DFS's balance sheet, and write off defaulted loans and other accumulated \"junk assets\", as well as improve the services and image through the introduction of modern methods and techniques, especially computerisation, modern loan monitoring systems, and strict loan write-off procedures. Sometimes a new coat of paint is really all that's needed. The combination of these measures frequently provokes a veritable explosion in savings growth, and the problem then become one of managing the DFS under the stress (e.g., the need to double your staff every year) of constant rapid growth.Another important recommendation is to make sure the term of irrigation loans is within the expected useful life of the assets in the local environment, not that prevailing in the country where it is manufactured. Past (and painful) experience has shown that many irrigation credit scheme's loan terms were too long, so that farmers continued owing money to the lender well after the equipment was already exhausted and retired. Experience shows that poor African farmers tend to over-use their expensive equipment in the hopes of maximizing its output, but in doing so, greatly decrease their useful life. Accordingly, diesel and gasoline-powered pumps' repayment terms should in no case exceed 4 years, 5 at the outside limit. Electric pumps, where usable, tend to hold up better, and their terms can be stretched out to 7 or 8 years at the most. Another recommendation is that wherever possible, build in a post-harvest loss-reduction component (probably involving warehousing). If your irrigation project succeeds beyond your wildest dreams and doubles or triples the production of rice or other crops, you have not necessarily improved the farms' profitability if the bumper crop results in a collapse of produce prices. A complementary warehousing scheme, in addition to letting the farmer store his produce until prices improve, also permits him/her to significantly reduce the typical 30% losses due to pests and humidity that occur in the absence of sound storage facilities. To make this work, the lender will have to be able to provide additional working capital loans during the period the production is stored; otherwise, farmers will be forced to sell at least part of their harvest to just survive, and thus lose much of the benefit of increased production. The Nyesigiso DFS network in Mali, for one, has done this effectively by integrating the initial investment loan and extended working capital loans into a single package. 40 Beyond just warehousing cereals or other produce, give serious thought and specify exactly how the increased production will be marketed at a profit. It does no good to increase production if it isn't sold and rots at the farm.Another recommendation is to continue the tendency to rely less and less on formal guarantees. This does not mean complete elimination of hypothecation or reducing the lender's legal rights. Rather, because African legal and cultural systems frequently do not permit rapid resolution of conflict through the judicial system, lenders will probably be better protected from loss if they rely more on \"joint and several\" loan repayment responsibility by borrower group members, through the creation of effective group solidarity and social pressure.Good (or bad) organisation is usually a determining factor in the profitability (or lack thereof) of an irrigation project. If inputs are provided and applied on a timely basis, if borrower counterpart funds are collected on time, if the credit process is well thought-out, if there are replacement parts and backup machines available, if there's a technically sound water management system in place, and reliable marketing channels for increased production have been identified, most likely the project will succeed in increasing production and profits. When any of these elements are defective, the entire programme can suffer greatly. Accordingly, to succeed, project design officers will be wise if they formally incorporate into their projects such institutional development activities as training, information services, assistance in improving the management of DFSs and their federations and refinancing bodies, and generally improving the degree of organisation.Placing the overall responsibility for the management of perimeter rehabilitation projects directly in the hands of those concerned is a relatively new, but rapidly growing approach, and is perhaps best illustrated by the Asprodeb/PDPI project in Senegal. In that case, the farmer borrower associations themselves designed their projects and, with the assistance of their federation, their local lender obtained credit (and sometimes subsidies) accordingly through the CNCAS. This type of approach, based on true, meaningful participation of beneficiaries in the design of their projects, is much more likely to succeed than \"one size fits all\" projects designed by hurried project design officers and technicians \"on farmers' behalf\" in faraway capital cities. It permits the flexibility to custom tailor a loan to a particular farmer's (or farmer group's) circumstances and needs. If it fails, the farmer can no longer blame the project or the lender, claiming that they made him or her do something he/she didn't really believe in. 41   In the same vein, the introduction of the concept of \"twinning\" of borrower groups that have already successfully borrowed monies for irrigation purposes and those who are just starting the process is becoming an increasingly popular and effective measure that goes a long way toward assuring the proper application of project resources. This approach was successfully used in the ACODEP (PNUD/BIT) project in Mali, particularly in the transition from monoculture to more intensive cultivation and poly-culture. Using this technique, those having already benefited from the first interventions train those just starting, thus creating a spread effect (\"tâche d'huile\" in French). Twinning activities may be either solidarity-based or paid by the receiving parties, and has the 40 LeBrun, p. 8 41 LeBrun, p. 8. additional advantage of creating a peer-to-peer self-help group that can help each other when difficulties arise. Known types of problems can then be quickly resolved, instead of waiting for far-away project or technical officers to come resolve the problem.While this paper strongly urges project design officers to make greater use of local DFSs, it is also important to warn them to make sure that financial activities are strictly separated from non-financial activities. For example, a village may have a strong village association that is well organized and is significantly improving life in the village. They're doing many worthwhile activities, but up to this point, have not been involved in lending. The appendage of a financial \"window\" to such an association is usually a formula for disaster. Management and accounting organisation are almost never adequate to know which activities are profitable and which aren't, funds get commingled and are often embezzled. Accordingly, make sure that any village financial schemes' funds and accounts are completely separate from non-financial village operations. It is quite possible, and even very common for the officers of a village association to also be the officers of the local DFS, but they have to be able to separate their functions in their mind, as well as keep the funds quite distinct from one another, and be able, in effect, to \"change hats\" at will.In a market economy, the role of the State is focused on regulation, creation of infrastructure, promoting and creating incentives. Three aspects of its contribution seem imperfectly mastered at this time in most African countries, as has become clear from a series of FAO (AGSM) workshops in recent years:• First of all, governments are still too prone to offer subsidies to \"encourage\" a certain activity; the distortion caused by subsidies will, in fact, frequently have an effect quite the opposite of that intended. The fact that most African development banks, with their heavily subsidized interest rates, have now disappeared is eloquent testimony to the bankruptcy of that approach, as are the perverse effects of central banks' attempts to make financial institutions charge lower interest rates on farm loans than on those to much less risky sectors. • Secondly, as previously indicated, governments may sometimes overstep the bounds of their legitimate interests in safeguarding depositors' interests and in assuring an adequate food supply to the country's population throughout the year. To forestall harmful interventions of this type, project design officers would do well to negotiate clauses with governments requiring that they not interfere in lenders' loangranting decisions, not declare loan repayment moratoriums or take any other actions inimical to the success of the lending programme. The ability of lenders to operate without political interference is of fundamental importance to project success; if loans are granted because of political pressure, both the project and the lending institution will be in jeopardy. • Thirdly, while many countries, especially those that are members of the UEMOA, have made important strides in improving regulations, most still have a long way to go to assure effective prudential control. All countries need to intensify efforts in this area, particularly by clarifying currently grey areas, and not with the aim of gaining control of DFSs, but rather to assure the public that their funds deposited there are reasonably safe.• Fourthly, largely as a result of the microfinance \"movement\" these past few years, many innovative financial institutions and financial service products have appeared. However, many other lenders still rely heavily on traditional practices and products more appropriate for the commercial banking sector than development finance, and all governments need to gently push those involved in development finance to adopt more appropriate institutional forms and financial service products. The IDA of the World Bank Group has developed useful training sessions for local leaders on mastering this type of negotiations.Finally, this writer would like to recommend that the State use its powers of persuasion to sensitise borrower groups and their lenders of the need to progressively create an increased self-financing capacity over time, so that the subsidisation of irrigation equipment can be phased out. This is particularly important for the irrigation sector, given the frequent high cost of the initial investment, and most governments' declining ability to support this type of subsidy. As we all know, subsidisation also attracts influential opportunists who frequently benefit from such programmes more than those originally targeted. If we let the market rule, such influential people will not be so attracted like flies to sugar.Systems, as opposed to the formal banking sector (since, however, a number of commercial banks are beginning to be interested in rural finance, at least on a wholesale basis, to proven micro-lenders, don't automatically assume any more that banks are not interested in micro-credit) or development banks, in those few countries where the latter still exist. DFSs are likely located in much closer proximity to your targeted farmers, and are better able to tailor loans to fit their needs, as well as to monitor the loan effectively. Focus more on the DFSs' institutional development (what we have called in this paper, \"accompanying measures\") and less on the provision of lines of credit. Project designers do a big disservice to partner DFSs if they overwhelm them with large sums of external \"cold\" funds relative to their own, locally-mobilised \"hot\" capital (i.e., savings). Also, don't let the irrigation loan portfolio overly dominate the DFSs' other loan portfolio segments. To do so would create too much covariant risk. If, despite all the advice provided in this document, you opt for an expensive, imported, power pump -based intensive agriculture, it would be better to work with a bank than to drown local DFSs in foreign money. Too much easy money has already been the ruin of thousands of RFIs around the world. 6. If, in the end, it is definitely determined credit is essential to your project, don't spoil local financial markets by building a cheap credit \"window\" into the project organisation itself using subsidized (less than market) interest rates. Instead, let professionals in successful local RFIs, DFSs and banks manage the entire lending process according to their own policies and procedures, which have stood the test of time. Never try to \"force\" the lender to grant loans that the applicant is not qualified for according to the lender's established criteria. If you decide to \"do it yourself\" within the project, recognize the high probability of failure and, development-wise, a 100% certainty that you will fail to leave an institution to carry on when your project ends. 7. Farmers must be called upon to self-fund increasing proportions of their irrigation projects, i.e., they must learn to properly depreciate their fixed assets and provide for their eventual replacement, instead of seeking a new loan to finance a replacement pump every four or five years. Remember that a development project may help farmers finance their first pump, but it's up to the borrower to finance its replacement when the first one must be retired. A corollary here is that the term of the loan (or lease) should correspond to the expected useful life in Africa, not in the equipment's country of origin. 8. Lenders must do a better job of learning from each other and continue to adapt their products to the specific needs of farmers involved in irrigation. Encourage SFDs you work with to participate fully in the MFI networks that now exist in nearly all African countries. Build in study tours abroad for key personnel to successful irrigation finance programmes. At the client level, try to integrate twinning programmes whereby experienced micro-irrigation clients are associated with those just joining the programme; this has been proven an effective way to spread micro-irrigation technology and techniques. 9. Don't just focus on using irrigation technology to increase production. Re-orient your whole approach to irrigation development to one of market creation and institutional development. That is, recognize and build in the upstream manufacturing and distribution of your micro-irrigation equipment, the inputs (seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, small tools, etc.) supply chain, the necessary mass marketing required to make the product a household name, as well as the forward linkages (processing, storage and market outlets). It doesn't suffice to double or triple production; for farmers to truly benefit, remember that the product has to be sold without glutting the market. The latter must be addressed during project design. If you leave it for implementation and markets are not found, then time, effort and money will have been wasted. 10. A good M.I.S. is essential to any credit programme. Accordingly, project designers should build into the budget sufficient numbers of licenses for a capable M.I.S. such as Microbanker for Windows (MBWin), sufficient computer equipment, and sufficient training for the expected number of users. If, despite all the accumulated evidence and the advice presented in these ten commandments, you still decide to go it alone and have project staff, instead of DFSs, manage an irrigation credit programme, the MIS commandment is doubly true. In fact, having a good M.I.S. will likely be your only slight hope of success.A number of current projects are researching these issues in search of effective solutions. Let us continue to learn from these and share from each other's experiences through networking.This paper has made the argument that future FAO efforts in the area of irrigation finance in Africa should focus on using a market creation approach to make the new, low-cost irrigation technology available to a maximum number of African farmers. If this is done, it should be possible within a few years to have affordable drip kits, sprinklers, treadle pumps, rope pumps and other innovative equipment being produced locally and costing $100 or less, hopefully less than half that amount. It has also been suggested that to the extent possible, FAO avoid encouraging farmers to borrow to obtain this technology. It should be inexpensive enough for all but the very poorest to obtain on cash terms, so this author recommends the avoidance of credit except for these poorest farmers. Since its payback is generally one agricultural season or at most one year, it is probably the most profitable investment farmers can make, and experience elsewhere (Asia) would indicate that poor people will buy it after seeing demonstrations.That said, all of these inexpensive irrigation technologies require that there be a nearby stream of water or groundwater near the surface. If that condition does not apply, then the micro-irrigation equipment described in this paper will simply not work. In such cases, the only alternative to rain-fed agriculture will be the use of expensive power pumps, which will require credit in most cases. As already stated, there will be cases, too, where some farmers are too poor even to up-front the costs of a $20 bucket drip kit. These cases, too, will require credit. Where credit is required, the project design officer should first try to follow all the \"Ten Commandments\" delineated in Chapter 8.0, and, in addition, design loan products that closely fit the needs of the borrowers, but this has to be done within the framework of the lending institutions' pre-existing loan policy (we did agree that FAO development projects will not themselves be involved in the granting and recovery of loans, right?). Because different geographic zones, climates and crops require different loan product features, it is difficult to provide a universal recipe for irrigation loan products. Nonetheless, project design officers might take inspiration from the following table, which defines loan features for three typical irrigation loan products, a $25 drip kit or sprinkler system, a $50 treadle pump, or a $2,500 Asian power pump (Hopefully, the era of bilateral donors imposing their $5,000+ power pumps is over.). Your projects' loans may differ substantially from these, but at a minimum you should think about each feature and make a judgment about the configuration of each feature. This is not an exact science; trial and error and a good monitoring system will provide the feedback to permit one to fine-tune the loan products chosen.  , 1985, and PCARRD, 1986.  viii Only observed values are presented. Unfortunately, recent information on the Hatz pumpsets introduced under the current MaliNord Programme of GTZ were not available at the time of preparation of the article. ix The small Cooper pumpsets of Indian origin were introduced in the area in late 1970's as part of a wheat promotion programme in Diré. The author doesn't know the type indication of the pumpsets.x This is the main UNICEF pumpset introduced during1988-1992. xi This is one of the FENU pumpset used in appr. 50 village irrigation schemes during [1986][1987][1988][1989][1990][1991][1992] ","tokenCount":"151992"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0750953139.json b/data/part_1/0750953139.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f7c17dfee2c3f9e255fcab1f88bdf6f76903f890
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0750953139.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be7e60a8fed4694c323f562705eead12","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4aa963cf-6f4d-462b-a8a7-2b86581b0746/retrieve","id":"-1584489782"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6485738d-4d0d-4a1e-a01a-481c7e357dbe","pagecount":"1","content":"showed highest potential (Figure 1A-B; Table 1). •This experience leads the incorporation of in vitro propagation into farmer's routine agricultural practices. We believe that the system could be implemented in other cassava growing regions where there is need to renew planting material.•Low-cost propagation methods could be support decentralized seed systems.Nowadays this project will allow distributed clean material for 7-10 Ha (certified free frog-skin material) for small farmers to be use in the next planting cycle (2004-B). Our material could be use for re-establish cassava plantation in the Cauca's area.•Rates of multiplication achieved with the rural tissue culture system were as high as with the conventional tissue culture procedures.Bibliography Bibliography  ","tokenCount":"109"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0769225322.json b/data/part_1/0769225322.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..97f712bca793fac46dd1e60d52cb41002db404bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0769225322.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"50b555ce5a0248f157353c8299f11a81","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8aea0d07-3e06-4b99-9cd7-901f59ad6512/retrieve","id":"1137483411"},"keywords":["Groundnut","Inbred Lines","Landraces","Genetic Resources","Improvement"],"sieverID":"4daa4fa1-230c-4e88-8869-2d806062f720","pagecount":"14","content":"The study evaluated 33 accessions of groundnut in the field, consisting of 23 landraces from Nasarawa communities in Nigeria and 10 inbred lines. Assessment entailed the determination of plant survivorship, yield related parameters and pathological indices while genetic diversity study was undertaken using SSR and RAPD molecular markers. Data analysis was done on the Minitab 17.0 software. Significant variability was noted in all traits except in pod sizes, seed sizes and % infected seeds. About 33.3% of the accessions had a survival rate of ≥ 70.0% where 9/10 Inbred lines were found with overall yield (kg/ha) ranging from 4.0 ± 1.6 in Akwashiki-Doma to 516.8 ± 46.9 kg/ha in Samnut 24 × ICGV-91328. Five accessions (15.5%) had pathological indices of zero indicating no traces of any disease of any type and they included one landrace called Agric-Dazhogwa and four Inbred lines:Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important monoecious annual legume in the world mainly grown for the oilseed, food and animal feed [1] . Groundnut seeds are a rich source of oil (35%-56%), protein (25%-30%), carbohydrates (9.5%-19.0%), minerals (P, Ca, Mg and K) and vitamins (E, K and B) [2] . Apart from food, groundnuts are used as an important source of income since are sold in the local market as boiled and shelled roasted nuts while some are sold in the confectionery trade [3] . The haulms are used as livestock feed and in compost making.As a legume, groundnut helps to improve soil fertility in farming systems by fixing atmospheric nitrogen [3] . The crop is cultivated in more than 100 countries under different agro-climatic conditions on about 26.5 million hectares with a total production of 43.9 metric tons and productivity of 1,654 kg/ha [4] . India is the second largest producer of groundnut and its oil after China followed by USA and Nigeria. It is cultivated on about 3.7 million hectares with the production of 6.7 metric tons and 1,810 kg/ha, respectively, during 2015-2016 [5] .In Nigeria, the land area grown to groundnut annually from 2000 to 2009 increased by 2.6% but the yield declined by 3.3% over the same period resulting in a stagnation of production at 2.9 million tons [5] . Groundnut is the most important food legume in Nigeria in terms of consumption and area under production [6] and is featured prominently in the cropping systems of the Savanna and Forest-Savanna transitional agro-ecological zones. Its production in Nigeria has nearly tripled in the last decade (168,200 to 420,000 metric tons in 2005) primarily due to an increase in the area under cultivation which increased from 184,400 ha in 1995 to 450,00 ha in 2005 [4] . Average yields however continue to remain below 1.0 metric tons/hectare which is far below the potential yield of 2-3 metric tons/hectares. In West Africa, Nigeria is the largest producer of groundnuts with a production of 3.07 million tons on about 2.4 million hectares [4] .Despite groundnut being an important oil crop in Nigeria. However, groundnut production is constrained by a lack of enough improved groundnut varieties, biotic and abiotic stresses. These are the major constraint of groundnut production in Nigeria. The low yield of groundnuts affects small-scale farmers' livelihoods due to a reduction in household income. The use of host resistant varieties is the most effective, economical and sustainable way to control the disease [7] . Unfortunately, these resistance sources are from late maturing varieties and poor yielding varieties [8] . Identification of varieties with combined agronomic qualities such as yield and disease resistance to satisfy farmer's demands and value chains for food security and regional and local markets is a big challenge. The present study was designed to address this gap by evaluating some accessions consisting of groundnut inbred lines and landraces collected from Nasarawa State. The outcome would help determine the level of diversity among the accessions and select quality accessions that may be useful to growers and breeders in the quest to achieve high productivity and food security in line with the UN goal. The aim of the study was to evaluate groundnut landraces and inbred lines for their agronomic values (yield and disease resistance) and assess the level of their diversity using molecular markers. The specific objectives were to evaluate the plants for survivorship and yield related performances; undertake pathological assessment; select best performing lines and determine the extent of genetic diversity among them using RAPD and SSR molecular markers.This research work was carried out at the Agronomy Teaching and Research Farm, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. The research farm is situated along Gbajimba Road, just after the School Clinic. Makurdi Local Government Area has a landmass of about 16 km in radius [9] . It lies between latitude 7°43'50' N 8°32'10' E and longitude 7.73056° N 8.53611° E. It has a population of 300,377 [10] . The mean annual temperature of the area ranges between 22.5 ℃ and 40 ℃ but the temperature is high throughout the year while precipitation is about 1,173 mm. The rainfall pattern is from March to November with variation. The vegetation type in Makurdi is the Guinea Savannah. Makurdi Local Government is endowed with great investment potentials both in agro-allied and mineral resources. The major occupation of the inhabitants is farming.A total of 10 inbred lines were sourced from the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria. Twenty-three (23) landraces were collected from local farmers in different communities within Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Altogether, there were 33 accessions of groundnut used in this study (Table 1).After land clearing, the field layout was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replicates and two blocks. Three seeds of each of the 33 accessions were sown as an experimental unit, replicated twice per block. There were 66 experimental units per block. A total of 132 experimental units were evaluated. Post planting activities comprised weeding, fertilizer application, monitoring and characterization.Standard field procedures, guidelines and descriptors as given by Jambunathan [11] and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics [12] were used in the evaluation of the 33 accessions of groundnut. Published charts/pictures were used in the identification of groundnut diseases [11] . Disease incidences were calculated using standard methods [13] . Characters were assessed using a standard groundnut descriptor guide [14] . They include survival rate, pod per plant, pod sizes, seeds per plant, seed sizes, % diseased seeds, 100 seed weight, yield per plot (g), yield (kg/ha), DSV@30/60 (incidence of DSV infection at day 30 and 60), ELS@30/60 (incidence of early leaf spot disease), GNR@30/60 (incidence of groundnut rosette disease), LLS@60 (incidence of late leaf spot disease at day 60), TLS@60 (incidence of Tikka leaf spot at day 60) and RUST@60 (incidence of groundnut rust disease at day 60). Pathological index (Pi) was calculated as the average of all incidences per accession.Twelve SSR primers linked to aflatoxin resistance in groundnut [13] and other reagents such as PRC pre-mix were procured from Genomics Training Center and Laboratory Limited, Uyo Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. They were stored in the freezer at -20 ℃ at the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Department of Plant Breeding, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi, Nigeria where the molecular aspect of this study was carried out. The forward sequences of selected primers are given as MP32 (F-AGTGTTGTGTGTGAAAGT-GG), PM36 (F-ACTCGCCATAGCCAACAAAC) and PM42 (F-ACGGGCCAAGTCAAGTGAT). Two RAPD primers selected from the optimization process were employed in diversity studies. They were OPA-07 (F-GTCAGTGCGG) and OPA-10 (F-GGTCACCTCA).DNA extraction was done on 14-day-old seedlings using the CTAB method [15] . The pellet was suspended in 100 mL of molecular grade water/RNase water. The quality was checked using 0.8% Agarose gel. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was carried out in a Bio-Rad Thermal cycler under the following thermal cycler conditions for PCR reaction, such as denaturation (95 o C) in 30 sec, annealing (55-60 o C) in 30 sec, and extension (72 o C). PCR products were made to run on 2.0% agarose gel electrophoresis stained with ethidium bromide for 40 min. A photographic record was obtained under the UV-illumination using a Benchtop Trans illuminator with the aid of a digital camera that captured all gel images.Descriptive analysis was carried out using the Minitab 17.0 application. Two-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used. The Fisher LSD method was used to separate means at a 95% confidence limit. The model for groundnut yield was given by simple linear and surface response regression methods. A test of dependence was done using the Chi-square method. DNA bands were scored and converted to binary matrices for both SSR and RAPD gel images in a separate analysis.Dendrograms were constructed by performing cluster analysis using the average linkage method.A quantitative description of groundnut accessions planted in the field is presented in Table 2. Accessions varied in their characters. Coefficients of variation (CV) in plant counts at seedling and harvesting stages were 35.1% and 38.6%, respectively. At both stages, the plant count ranged from 2 to 12 plants. Some accessions failed to produce pods while maximum pods of 32.5 pods were recorded in some accessions giving an average of 10.40 ± 1.09 pods per plant that measured 3.27 ± 0.383 cm. Number of seeds per plant varied from 0.2 to 63 seeds. The maximum percentage of infected seeds was 18% (18 seeds out of 100) while 100 seed weight was 51.5 g per 100 seeds. Seed sizes had the least CV (12%) while pod sizes had the highest CV (95.25). Significant variation was recorded in mean stand counts at seedling for accessions (F = 2.48, P < 0.05) where inbred line-5 had the highest mean count while the block factor was also significant (F = 10.97, P < 0.05). The same trend was observed in stand count at harvest. The mean number of pods per plant was significantly different at the accession level only (F = 11.4, P < 0.05) where inbred line-1 had the highest number of pods. The main effect plot showed five major and minor peaks above the threshold that accounted for the variability in pod production among the accessions (Figure 1). Significant differences were recorded in the number of seeds produced per plant (F = 2.45, P < 0.05) where inbred line-1 had the highest value. The main effect plot showed six major and minor peaks above the threshold that accounted for the variability in seed production among the accessions (Figure 2). The 100 seed weight also varied significantly (F = 3.17, P < 0.05) where inbred lines-1 and 10 were distinct. Pod sizes, seed sizes and % infected seeds had no significant differences among the accessions.     Eleven out of 33 accessions representing 33.3% had a survival rate of ≥ 70.0% (Table 3). All 10 inbred lines were in this category except inbred line-6 which performed below this threshold. The best accession in survival rate was inbred line-5 with the value of 93.3%. Inbred line-3 and 8 recorded 86.7% each. Among the landraces, AMU and BOD had survival rates ≥ 70.0% while ADA had the lowest score (23.3%). Variations in plant survivorship and pathological indices are shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively. Analysis of pathological parameters showed those accessions that scored ≥ 15.0% in disease incidences. At day 30, DSV disease was not pronounced since all accessions had incidences below the 15% threshold. About 20 out of 30 plant accessions (60.6%) showed no symptoms of DSV@30 while 13 (39.45%) showed symptoms. The frequency of DSV symptomatic plants declined at day 60 since only 5 (15.2%) accessions showed the symptoms of DSV@30. A total of 22 accessions (66.7%) showed no symptoms of ELS@30 while 11 (33.3%) showed symptoms. Early leaf spot (ELS) was ≥ 15.0% in inbred line-10 and KWK accessions where incidences were 31.3% and 30.9%, respectively. Late leaf spot (LLS@60) recorded high incidences in about 10 accessions, the highest being 52.1% in Agric-Duglu followed by Nada accessions. In all, 18 (54.5%) showed symptoms of LLS@60. Five accessions (15.5%) had pathological indices of zero indicating no traces of any disease of any type and they included one landrace (Agric-Dazhogwa) and four inbred lines-1, 2, 3, and 7. Pathological indices (Pi) were ≥ 5 in 11 (33.3%) accessions.   Overall yield (kg/ha) ranged from 4.0 ± 1.6 in Akwashiki-Doma to 516.8 ± 46.9 kg/ha in inbred line-10. Significant variation was observed in yield (kg/ha) among varieties (F = 16.04, P < 0.05) and between blocks (F = 5.15, P < 0.05). The top five high yielding accessions were inbred line-10 (517 kg/ha), inbred line-2 (481 kg/ha), inbred line-3 (469 kg/ha), inbred line-1 (466 kg/ha) and inbred line-8 (428 kg/ha). The main effect plot revealed eight accessions (24%) whose yields were above the 150 kg/ha benchmark (Figure 5). A strong positive correlation was established between yield (kg/ha) and plant survivorship (S) (R = +0.711) where the coefficient of determination R 2 was estimated as 50.6%. A weak negative relationship was established between yield and pathological indices (Pi) (R = -0.4) where the coefficient of determination R 2 was estimated as 15%. The model for yield was fit and significant (F = 17.7, P < 0.05). The regression equation for yield is given as: Yield (kg/ha) = -146 -7.94 × Pi + 5.88 × S. Based on the trend analysis plot (Figure 6) for yield, MAPE was 270.0 while MAD was 135.9. The linear trend model of yield is given as: Yield (kg/ha) = 149.3 + 0.165 × t. Result shows that plant susceptibility to diseases depends on the type of variety (χ 2 (32) = 127.67, P = 0.00) as shown in    The 33 accessions were clustered on the basis of plant survivorship, pathological parameters and overall yield (Figure 8). Dendrogram gave two clusters. The first clusters comprised 8 accessions all of which were inbred line where inbred lines-5, 10 and 8 were distinct accessions. Inbred line-5 had the highest survival rate (93.3%). Inbred line-10 was the best yielding accession (517 kg/ha) while inbred line-8 also possessed high survivorship and high yield with minimal traces of diseases. Similarity coefficient ranged from 28.57 to 100. The genomic DNA extracted from groundnut seedlings, the product of the optimization stage and amplified products of the primers are shown in Plates 1-2. The binary plot of multiplex RAPD primers (Figure 9) revealed amplified bands in 29 varieties and while 4 varieties had no bands including Nada-Isgugu, inbred lines-4, 9 and 10. Amplified bands were present only in four landraces accessions including Agric-Musha, Chika buhu-Lafia, Chikabuhu and Bomboyi-Dugu. The dendrogram generated by molecular data (Figure 10) gave three groups among the accessions whose genetic similarity ranged from 41.4 to 100.0. The first group comprised four genetically distinct landraces: Agric-Musha, Chika buhu-Lafia, Chika buhu and Bomboyi-Dugu. In the second group, 3 out of the 4 clustered members were inbred lines-4, 9 and 10. The third group comprised 25 accessions, a mix of inbred lines and landraces.      Characters displayed huge variability among the collections, especially the pod sizes and the overall grain yield. This finding is in tandem with previous reports on groundnut that pod and seed yield accounted for the highest diversity that formed the basis of the selection of superior genotypes and subsequent improvement of weaker types [16][17][18] . The established variability among the collections is supported by the low coefficient of similarity ranging from 29 to 100 and 41 to 100 in the phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular data, respectively. The present investigation supports previous studies [19,20] on the existence of divergent morphological and genetic characters in Arachis hypogea. Unlike the low variability reported in some works [21,22] , this outcome agrees with other studies reporting high variability in groundnut [23,24] .Seed infestation due to diseases was high (18%). This could be interpreted as the presence of 18 contaminated seeds from every 100 seeds harvested. There is every possibility that other seeds might be contaminated with time during storage, if not controlled, because the seeds are packaged together. Although the sources of the diseases were not investigated in this work, may be due to pathogens of viral or bacterial or fungal origin. The economic losses and detrimental health hazards associated with the consumption of contaminated seeds are well documented globally [13,17,25,26] . For example, aflatoxin is a common carcinogenic toxin produced by a fungus (Aspergillus flavus) that causes aspergillilosis when ingested in contaminated seeds [13,17] . Therefore, the collections should be investigated further to determine the real causes of seed infestation and identify sources that are susceptible and resistant to diseases of health concern. Also, yield losses can be prevented by cultivating highly resistant seeds that are resistant to specific diseases.The Inbred lines are well adapted to the field environmental conditions as revealed in their high survivorship where 9 out of the 11 accessions selected for high adaptability were all products of groundnut breeding. The two landraces selected for their high rate of survival are Agric-Musha and Bomboyi-Dugu. The relationship between plant adaptability as physiological attributes and genetic factors is well established in literature [2] . It can be inferred that the selected genotypes are vigorous, highly tolerant to stresses and well suitable for cultivation. They could serve as a template for improving groundnut accessions for tolerance to environmental conditions, although some of them are products of ongoing breeding work to achieve certain specific objectives. Apart from high adaptability, the inbred lines were noted for disease resistance with few exceptions while most of the landraces were susceptible to diseases of groundnut as evident in the high incidence of LLS (late leaf spot) in some landraces. Previous reports have shown that groundnut disease causes losses of up to 100% pod yield if infection occurs before flowering [8,[27][28][29] . The most outstanding landraces in terms of disease tolerance was the Agric-Dazhogwa but it should be subjected to further trials in a different environment before a conclusion can be drawn. However, this landrace is likely to possess the genes for disease resistance and, therefore, a potential candidate for a resistance breeding programme.This study has identified genotypes that possess high yield. Top on the list was the INBRED LINE-10 made from a cross between Samnut 24 and ICGV-91328 yielding 517 kg/ha. Four other high yielding selections were inbred lines. This shows that the collections used in this work are bred for tolerance, resistance and yield qualities as shown from the overall performances. They may complement the resilient landraces identified in this work including Agric-Musha, Bomboyi-Dugu and Agric-Dazhogwa by initiating a good breeding programme to achieve high yielding and resilient landraces. Apart from Agric-Dazhogwa, notable landraces that demonstrated some elements of tolerance to diseases include: Agric-Alwaza, Chika buhu-Lafia, Kpoklo-Gude, Bomboyi-Dugu, Akwashiki-Doma and Agric-Igbavo. The present study is in agreement with well-established reports [8,29,30] that disease susceptibility depends on the type of plant variety. Hence, the use of host resistant varieties is the most effective, economical and sustainable way to control groundnut disease [7] .The present outcome agrees with other authors who described the groundnut plant as a crop with a moderate level of character association in quantitative traits including yield [24,31,32] . This work revealed the complexity of yield factor and it has further confirmed earlier reports on the complex character association of yield and other agronomic traits [24] . This complexity in yield determination may be due to the polygenic nature of the inheritance of yield traits since the genes that control genes and disease resistance in many crops are polygenetic, hence they are studied through QTL (quantitative trait loci) analysis. Quantitative traits are controlled by interactions and additive effects of many genes [24,33] . In this study, plant survivorship determined yield by 51% while disease infestation affected yield by 15% only, most significantly the BNR@30 and DSV@60*RUST@60 interaction. The implication is that the remaining 34% in yield variability is attributed to other known and unknown factors. It further shows that the use of highly vigorous, resilient and disease resistant varieties is not a complete guarantee to achieve high yield in groundnut. The interpretation of this model is corroborated by the fact that the best genotype in yield component (Samnut 24 and ICGV-91328) coded as INBRED LINE-10 was not resistant to diseases as shown in the high incidence of 31% in early leaf spot disease, thus suggesting the need for resistance breeding on this variety. Khedikar [8] reported that breeding for disease resistance was linked to undesirable traits like low pod yield and small seed size. This assertion partly explains why inbred line-10 possessed a high yield but low resistance.Generally, the outcome of this work is not in tandem with the report of Khedikar [8] since most of the high yielding Inbred lines are also disease resistant. Molecular markers applied on different groundnut breeds are channeled towards breeding for yield or resistance/tolerance to some biotic and abiotic challenges [1,5,34,35] . This present study has established a model where groundnut yield and its trend could be predicted using a simple regression analysis that involves survivorship and pathological indices. This type of model aligns with previous models in soybeans [36] . More complex multi-factorial models may help provide useful information to unravel the complex nature of factors affecting the overall survival and yield of the groundnut crop [13] . The outcome of molecular marker studies achieved through a multiplex of SSR primers linked to genes for resistance to a particular disease has identified 4 accessions that lacked the genes of interest. The inbred line-10 pointed out through morphological data as a susceptible cultivar is among the four accessions without the genes. The two varieties reported as resilient landraces (Agric-Musha, Bomboyi-Dugu) in the morphological data have been revealed as distinct accessions using RAPD analysis. Therefore, morphological and molecular data are complimentary. However, the actual level of similarity among the accessions was 41% as revealed by molecular data.Results are consistent with the findings of Wang et al. [24] who stated that molecular markers provide the genetic fingerprint that reveals true genetic convergence and divergence among varieties of a species since it is not influenced by environmental factors unlike in morphological studies. This is because they represent landmarks on DNA that are linked to various genes controlling. Moreover, SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) markers are highly distinguishing microsatellites while both RAPD and SSR markers are highly polymorphic [13,24] . It was observed that morphological expression could be an interplay or interaction of environment and genetic constitution in line with the genotype × environment effect called g × e effect postulated by geneticists [22,31,32,37] . From the foregoing, all landraces that possess quality agronomic characteristics are well noted. This outcome is in agreement with other reports in that landraces are a valuable source of genetic diversity and possess useful traits for breeding [18,[37][38][39] . As such, they can be introduced into groundnut breeding programmes to incorporate unique genes such as resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses; and quality attributes.In this study, yield related characters displayed considerable variability among the collections, especially the pod sizes and the overall grain yield. The established variability among the collections is supported by the low coefficient of similarity ranging from 29 to 100 in the analysis of morphological data. Seed infestation due to diseases was high (18%). The Inbred lines were noted for their high survivorship, good yield, and disease resistance. The line Samnut 24 × ICGV-91328 had the highest yield (517 kg/ha) but was susceptible to diseases. Among the landraces, Agric-Musha, Bomboyi-Dugu and Agric-Dazhogwa were selected for high survivorship and disease resistance. This study has established a model where groundnuts yield and its trend could be predicted using a simple regression analysis that involves survivorship and pathological indices. Morphological and molecular data are complementary. The actual level of similarity among the accessions was 41% as revealed by molecular data. The selected inbred lines and landraces are valuable genetic resources that may harbor beneficial traits for breeding. Those accessions that possess quality agronomic traits should be presented to the growers.","tokenCount":"3974"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0778389895.json b/data/part_1/0778389895.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..05b0c4887cb1b098304080e9bc596c3446c4ccf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0778389895.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"90de075295e2730ee2ee6a1e54828dfd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7d56df68-7d85-4096-a6cf-76dd1dc2f576/retrieve","id":"-1573871961"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b238182e-48e5-4fbc-a393-93ae97c98bec","pagecount":"3","content":"After years of advocacy and integrated field research by CGIAR and other partners, the Government of Kenya prioritized brucellosis as a neglected zoonoses for government attention and a draft National Strategy for Brucellosis was recently finalized. With a national strategy, new combined health and livestock sector policies for brucellosis surveillance and control can be implemented by government administrations, public and private sector hospitals, and NGOs. The result will be better patient management and reduced use of tertiary antibiotics.Brucellosis has long been a neglected zoonotic disease, with a poor understanding of the distribution and burden of the disease (1,2). While significant effort has been ongoing to understand the epidemiology of the disease in livestock populations, this had not been complimented by efforts to understand the public health burden. Recent ILRI-led studies in Kenya (5,6) addressed this in health care settings in different ecological settings, and concluded that the diagnostic effort geared towards brucellosis was not only inadequate, but of extremely poor quality. It was recommended, through a formal information dissemination exercise to government (at the meeting to plan the National Strategy) that the tests used by the public health system be reviewed. In settings in Western Kenya, for example, there was extreme overdiagnosis of the brucellosis problem, leading to the unnecessary use of third line antibiotic drugs. In other health care settings, there was no availability of diagnostic tests at all.These different pieces of CGIAR evidence, combined with field surveys (eg 5), together with CGIAR researcher engagement with government decision making (through membership of advisory committees to national government), led to a draft National Strategy for Brucellosis in Kenya. As in other countries, with a national strategy, new combined health and livestock sector policies for brucellosis surveillance and control can be implemented by national and devolved administrations in the country, public and private sector hospitals, NGOs and others. The result will be better patient management and reduced use of tertiary antibiotics.","tokenCount":"320"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0818104201.json b/data/part_1/0818104201.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..de72f420fc24e416b0516ca513d2ce1b2ff5ff11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0818104201.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"30ed216571ec7aeae2efc93bcdbbc373","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a4031584-9c3b-44d6-a2e8-cfcb52e890c5/retrieve","id":"951057657"},"keywords":["Ministry of Agriculture","National Meteorological Agency","International Research Institute for Climate and Society"],"sieverID":"5b4bb80b-f754-4d53-ba64-f0d43b0943af","pagecount":"1","content":"A major constraint faced by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia is coping with production uncertainties associated with an unpredictable climate during the growing season.The Ethiopian AgroMet Platform offers great potential to improve farmers' management of climate-induced risks, facilitate technology adoption and thereby improve their livelihoods.Beneficiaries 82,000 smallholder farmers (~13,600 households) directly benefitted from four major regions enabling them to better manage risk, take advantage of favorable climate conditions and help them adapt to change.Scan to find out more Forecast, advisory and dissemination mechanisms in the platform Develop an appropriate dissemination mechanism to deliver climate-smart advisories using ICTs such as SMS, IVRS and smart-phone applications on farming practices and provide alerts linked to weather forecasts during cropping seasons.The AgroMet platform incorporates location specific climate-information, soil and crop specific best-bet agronomic management recommendations for farmers, development agents and extension officers; with the integration and automation of crop-climate modeling with ICTs as a dissemination mechanism.The platform will contribute to the vision of making Ethiopian agriculture climate-smart by closing the gap between climate information and effective action.• Crop and site specific agro-meteorological advisories generated based on climate forecasts.• Smallholder farmers connected with soil, weather, crop, market and socio-economic information through digital agricultural platform.• Agro-met advisory communication and dissemination mechanism developed by integrating modern ICT with crop-climate modeling.• Enhanced capacity of 72 extension officers and 513 development agents across the country to tailor climate information with actionable decisions.• MoA uses the platform as one of the decision support tools for seasonal planning.This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. May 2019We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: https://www.cgiar.org/funders/","tokenCount":"280"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0838664570.json b/data/part_1/0838664570.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e4a23edf27c50faa503afc6c8be291681818df81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0838664570.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"224ba0065001347386d8b87fdc02443b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eeb748aa-66df-489e-bcff-42734bd03f74/retrieve","id":"850178005"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"99484a41-75da-42b6-9856-a64b4ed85c34","pagecount":"1","content":"To this end, CRISP…• uses an impact chain metho dology to structure and visu alise climate risk knowledge.• uses a farming system classi fication to contextualise climate risk impact chains. The tool offers a selection of 22 farming systems in five macro regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and Northern Africa, South Asia, East Asia and Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean).Source: Translation of the IPCC AR6 risk propeller into an impact chain visualisation adapted from the Vulnerability Sourcebook Risk Supplement.Agricultural development programs are increasingly seeking to mainstream climate action across their project portfolios.But ensuring appropriate integration of climate risks in project design and implementation can be a challenge. The climate change knowledge base is expanding rapidly and hence it is increasingly difficult to de termine which information to use in decision making.To date, there has not been a climate risk tool that considers the specific characteristics of agriculture and agricultural land use systems.Till Below, Alina Gassen, Maike Voss (GIZ); Osana Bonilla-Findji, Laura Cramer, Kevin Gitau, Amanda Gosling, (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT); Massimiliano Pittore, Kathrin Renner, Marc Zebisch (EURAC Research); Francesco Corcoglioniti, Alessandro Mosca (Free University of Bolzano/Bozen)Providing an entry point for agricultural and rural development projects for an initial, simple and quick exploration of climate risks.Assisting in articulating and evaluating adaptation hypotheses that can be tested and subsequently used to help guide projects during planning and implementation.Using the impact chain methodology (developed in GIZ's Vulnerability Sourcebook) to understand the relevant climate risks for agriculture in the context of a given project.Providing context-specific structured guidance and knowledge to support needs-driven climate risk assessments.Helping to identify starting points for climate risk management (e.g., highlighting potential impact chains, vulnerability factors, drivers of risk/ change and possible options for implementation).Identifying entry points e.g., prioritisation of options, indicators and links to other tools for use by subsequent in-depth studies, as required.What does CRISP offer? • replace a comprehensive, analytical and quantitative climate risk assessment (requires data and stakeholder involvement). • carry out the evaluation of specific mitigation/adaptation options.• explicitly consider trade-offs of adaptation options.Till Below (GIZ): till.below@giz. de ","tokenCount":"341"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0848150847.json b/data/part_1/0848150847.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcbc57e973998ca14ffa2026288b2d6f68b2153c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0848150847.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3ba4140c46abbc5cb4828bfe5ea6e32","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/29af68ec-98a5-4a76-aea8-b296cad7cf74/retrieve","id":"252241111"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5754ea61-529d-41d5-aef2-de1c875e9180","pagecount":"26","content":"Rurale ACP-UE-EU pour le développement agricole et rural des paysACP nouveaux acteurs, nouveaux médias et thèmes prioritaires de du du CTA Paris,Juin L'information pour le développement agricole et rural des pays ACP :nouveaux acteurs, nouveaux médias et thèmes prioritaires Rapport de synthèsedu séminairedu CTA Juin 2000 Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale ACP-UE (CTA) a été fondé en 1983dans le cadre de la Conventionde Lomé entre les Etats du groupe ACP (Afrique, Pacifique)et les Etats membres de européenne. Le CTA a pour mission de créer et de procurer des services favorisant l'accès des pays ACP àl'informationpour le développementagricoleet rural, et de renforcer les capacités de ces pays produire, acquérir, échanger et exploiter l'information dans ce domaine. Les programmes du CTA sont articulés autour de trois axes principaux: renforcer les centres d'information des pays ACP, encourager les échanges entre les partenaires du Centre, et des informationssur demande.Une mondialisation économique qui a modifié les relations entre les échelles internationales, nationales et locales ainsi que les enjeux de production et de commercialisation, d'accès aux marchés, aux capitaux et à l'information.Le développement de nouvelles technologies, notamment dans le secteur de 1'information et des biotechnologies.Une libéralisation économique qui a provoqué une forte diminution de emprise de sur la gestion du développement rural. Les logiques de type planificatrices laissent progressivement place à un pilotage du développementpar le marché. Le rôle du secteur privé s'en trouve considérablement renforcé.Une démocratisation politique qui s'est traduite par la possible participation des différents acteurs de la société civile au débat sur les orientations en matière de développement rural.Ces mutations correspondent à une transformation importante de l'environnement des acteurs du développement rural des pays africains.La libéralisation du commerce international promue par l'organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC) affecte différemment chaque pays, et plus encore les différentes communautés l'intérieur des pays. En particulier, les petits producteurs, notamment dans l'agriculture de subsistance, courent un risque réel d'exclusion, de marginalisation et de paupérisation.La réduction des barrières commerciales, des droits de douane, des subventions à l'agriculture nationale a été très bénéfique pour les pays dont les filières de production agricole et agroalimentaire déjà bien développées. En revanche, de nombreux pays en développement, notamment les pays ACP dont l'économie dépend en grande partie de l'agriculture, sont mis en difficulté par la libéralisation croissante des marchés internationaux des produits agricoles.Les produits importés bon marché envahissent les marchés nationaux,au détrimentde la production nationale, moins performante. Parallèlement, la croissance attendue des exportations des produits des pays ACP n'a pas eu lieu. Ceci, en partie à cause de la difficulté des producteurs et des entrepreneurs se conformer aux normes de qualité requises par le marché mondial. Sans accès aux technologies, et surtout à l'information sur les opportunités technologiques et commerciales, les ACP risquent de se faire de plus en plus distancer.Les situations nationales et régionales sont très diversifiées. Mais pour la plupart des Etats ACP, se posent deux questions clés : celle des types de systèmes de production qui pourraient garantir la croissance de la productivité sans laminer les petits producteurs, et celle des politiques agricoles qui faciliteraient une entrée progressive, à de bonnes conditions, de la production des ACP sur le marché mondial.Face aux adaptations rapides qu'exige la mondialisation, les politiques de développement rural des ACP ne semblent aujourd'hui ni assez efficaces, ni suffisamment coordonnées. La régulation par les marchés conduit à une surconcurrence et à une chute des cours de la plupart des produits tropicaux. La régulation de l'offre de façon à réduire la surproduction et à maintenir les prix de vente à pourrait être une des réponses. Mais des stratégies de ce type passent par des politiques nationales et surtout de coopération entre pays.La plupart des problèmes ne peuvent être résolus par chaque pays individuellement. Les pays ACP ont besoin de s'associer pour accroître leur influence lors des négociations sur le commerce international. Identifier de nouveaux créneaux de production commercialement plus favorables, adopter des normes sanitaires et des normes de qualité basées sur les standards internationaux, moderniser les systèmes et les techniques de production, renforcer les stratégies commerciales :ces orientations ne se mettent pas en oeuvre en quelques mois, et surtout pas sans accompagnement.Nombre de producteurs agricoles ne peuvent actuellement pas adapter leur offre, parce qu'ils sont laissés seuls pour trouver les bonnes réponses, et disposent de trop peu de conseils, d'informations, d'orientation et de protection politique.Face aux bouleversements introduits par la mondialisation et la libéralisation, les décideurs des pays ACP ont rencontré des difficultés à réorienter correctement les stratégies de développement. Les politiques agricoles se sont bien souvent centrées uniquement sur 1'améliorationde la compétitivité àl'exportation.Pendant plusieurs années, produire pour produire et pour exporter a souvent tenu lieu de politique agricole. La tendance à l'extension des exploitations agricoles au nom de l'efficacité a marginalisé de nombreux groupes ruraux, aggravant ainsi l'exode rural et fragilisant l'identité culturelle des communautés rurales.Dans le même temps, les indispensables réformes institutionnelles se sont mises en place tardivement, comme la modification des relations entre le secteur public et le secteur privé, la promotion du dialogue social entre les acteurs ou l'organisation de services d'appui stratégique aux décideurs et aux producteurs. Ceci a limité les bénéfices que les pays auraient pu tirer des grands accords internationaux ou régionaux de libéralisation du commerce.Les Ministères de l'Agriculture n'ont souvent engagé de réorganisation que lorsqu'ils y ont été forcés. En attendant, les changements se poursuivent, les acteurs émergents affirment leur territoire et, dans certains cas, leur base politique.Le processus de démocratisation initié depuis une décennie apporte l'espoir que l'étau se desserre autour des libertés et que la société civile puisse participer à la définition des orientationsdu développement rural. Pour que la participation des ruraux soit effective, le processus doit s'accompagner d'une décentralisation du pouvoir Bien souvent sous la pression extérieure, les Etats ACP ont commencé à se désengager des rôles qu'ils jouaient jusque là d'agents principaux des économies nationales. S'en est suivi le démantèlement d'une grande partie des services d'encadrement du développement rural. Mais les ruraux et leurs organisations professionnelles sont souvent peu préparés à ces nouvelles règles du jeu.Pour assurer leurs nouvelles responsabilités, les nouveaux acteurs ont besoin de moyens, de compétences et d'informations. Or les délégations de responsabilités se sont souvent faites de façon rapide, sans transfert de moyens financiers, sans formation et sans la mise à disposition de l'information nécessaire.Face aux insuffisances des Etats, les organisations non gouvernementales ont de plus en plus occupé le champ des réflexions stratégiques au point de devenir les sources principales des idéologies du développement qui circulent dans le monde rural et en structurent l'action, malgré lui.De fait, la pensée et les stratégies de développement paraissent très en retard par rapport aux dynamiques de changement dans les zones rurales. Ce décalage souligne la nécessité de consacrer davantage d'efforts à redéfinir des stratégies de développement adaptées, en des spécificités des différentes zones des pays Aujourd'hui, les décideurs des ACP semblent hésiter quant aux orientations et aux contenus à donner aux stratégies de développement rural. Les analyses des spécialistes du développement paraissent déphasées, et n'intègrent pas suffisamment les changements actuels et futurs.Les pays ACP ont besoin de concevoir et mettre en oeuvre de nouvelles politiques agricoles qui répondent aux grands enjeux actuels : la répartition équilibrée du foncier, les besoins d'emplois et de croissance des ressources, la maîtrise des flux de capitaux, l'augmentation des revenus des populations pauvres, l'amélioration de la gestion des compétences dans les institutions publiques et enfin de meilleures prévisions et réactions aux catastrophes naturelles.Les situations sont très variables selon les régions et les pays, comme au sein d'un pays. Elles sont aussi mobiles et dynamiques : les acteurs appartiennent à différents groupes, changent de rôle et occupent souvent plusieurs fonctions à la fois (production, consommation, prise de décision, etc.). L'augmentation du nombre et de la variété des acteurs se reflète dans le nombre d'organisations de producteurs et dans le rôle croissant qu'elles jouent au sein du secteur en matière de recherche, de vulgarisation, de production et de marketing.Le désengagement de de la gestion directe du développement rural a conduit les associations professionnelles de producteurs à assurer ::améliorationet diversificationde la production ;appui au développement d'activités de transformation organisation de produits et services collectifs.;crédit aux agriculteurs ;foncier ;investissements publics en milieu rural.Quant aux collectivités territoriales, elles commencent à assurer la définition concertée de plans de développement et la supervision de leur mise en oeuvre, ainsi que la gestion décentralisée des investissements et des services d'appui aux producteurs.Ces évolutions du rôle des acteurs du développement ont provoqué de nouveaux besoins d'information.La libéralisation économique implique que les différents acteurs aient une capacité rapide de réponse aux évolutions du marché, qu'ils opèrent les bons choix en termes d'investissements, de techniques de production et de commercialisation. Les producteurs restent les acteurs clés du développement rural et donc des activités du CTA.Le rôle des femmes rurales qui jouent pourtant une fonction essentielle dans la production et la commercialisation, est encore trop souvent négligé.A cette catégorie de producteurs s'ajoutent les entreprises agricoles qui commercialisent leur production ou en assurent une première transformation, les coopératives et les organisations paysannes qui regroupent les petits producteurs ruraux.Le groupe des producteurs familiaux se transforme. Des jeunes scolarisés retournentà la campagne ainsi que d'anciens fonctionnaires. En outre, on note le développement d'une capacité de ces producteurs à négocier, à se regrouper et à opérer dans plusieurs sphères à la fois. La structuration sous différentes formes d'organisation, du groupement villageois à l'organisation de type syndical, devient une nouvelle caractéristique du milieu paysan,. Des réseaux encore balbutiants entre producteurs se créent pour répondre à un besoin d'échanges et pour une plus grande efficacité.L'évolution du rôle des producteurs est la conséquence de ces caractéristiques et du nouvel environnement dans lequel ils travaillent. La préoccupation prioritaire n'est plus seulement la production mais la nécessité d'adapter l'offre à la demande et de conserver, commercialiser, transformer. Les associations de producteurs prennent de plus en plus de responsabilités : gestion des services d'appui, défense et préservation de leurs intérêts et de leur profession auprès des opérateurs économiques et des services publics.Les ruraux et leurs organisations sont de plus en plus conduits négocier des choix politiques.Les informationsrecherchées concernent la production, la transformationpremière de cette production et le marché (prix, quantité, qualité,normes exigées). Ces informations techniques sont liées aux systèmesde production et les priorités varient selon les zones.Les informations sur les ressources naturelles et leur gestion ne sont pas suffisamment disponibles.Il convientde travaillersur les capacités des agriculteurs à évaluer leurs propres besoins en information et à les traduire en stratégieset activités de communication.De nombreuses contraintes doivent encore être levées pour permettre de répondre de façon efficace à ces besoins : analphabétisme,faiblesse des réseaux de communication (infrastructuresdéficientes ou inexistantes), appui inadapté de la part des prestataires de service. Enfin, les producteurs et leurs organisations professionnelles sont encore trop rarement considérés comme des partenaires.Ce sont soit des démembrements de comme les services de vulgarisation ou les administrations,soit des ONG.Les premiers, du fait du désengagementde voient leurs activités diminuer et se transformerau profit des collectivitéslocales et surtout des ONG.Le rôle des ONG s'est considérablementrenforcé. Elles se voient ainsi confier la mise en oeuvre de nombreux projets. Mais un bon nombre manquent encore de compétences,d'indépendancepar rapport aux bailleurs et parfois même de déontologie professionnelle. De plus elles ne sont pas toujours préparées à la nécessaire prise en compte de la dimension politique de leurs actions.Les ONG ont un rôle d'appui qui inclut des domaines très variés : technique, économique, commercial, institutionnel, social.. . Elles influencent fortement la structurationéconomique, sociale et culturelle du monde rural, en se substituantd'une certaine manière aux services publics, souvent déficients.Les innovations (nouvelles techniques de transformation, nouveaux produits) restent encore très faibles par rapport aux besoins et au potentiel. Enfin, certains ont parfois une vision stratégique à court terme et comprennent encore mal l'intérêt d'adopter une politique de qualité.Leur rôle évolue dans la mesure où les producteurs de base ou leurs associations commencent à être en mesure de négocier avec le secteur des entreprises de transformation ou avec les commerçants. La libéralisation économique les conduit à mieux prendre en compte les logiques de marché, les notions de qualité et de marketing. Une meilleure organisation des filières de production et un développement des exportations implique d'améliorer les relations entre producteurs, transformateurs, commerçants et clients.Les acteurs du secteur privé ont besoin mieux informés sur les innovations et améliorations techniques, ils ont aussi besoin d'informations qui les aident à mieux répondre aux demandes du marché. Enfin, ils gagneraient à mieux maîtriser les réglementations et les normes (sanitaires et autres), ainsi que les techniques de marketing. Enfin, la communication avec leurs partenaires, en aval et en amont de leurs activités, devrait être renforcée.Le secteur public est principalement représenté par les Ministères de l'Agriculture. Ils doivent contribuer la formulation des politiques de développement agricole, définir des orientations et un cadre favorable de travail pour les acteurs. Les Ministères de l'Agriculture et leurs démembrements doivent acquérir une bonne compréhension de leur rôle en matière d'information, ce qui suppose des structures institutionnelles appropriées et les compétences pour assurer une bonne gestion de l'information et des prises de décision efficace.Le secteur public a besoin d'informations qui facilitent de nouvelles politiques de développement et de dispositifs de suivi pour évaluer l'efficacité des mesures adoptées, prévenir et gérerà temps les difficultés.Les services publics ne sont plus les seuls décideurs. Le secteur privé, les ONGs et en général les prestataires de service participent aux décisions sur les orientations du développement rural. Le dernier venu parmi ces décideurs, qui est d'ailleurs appelé à prendre de plus en plus d'importance, est représenté par les associations de paysans et de producteurs, leurs fédérations et syndicats.Le rôle de chacune de ces catégories est important pour l'ensemble des décisions de politique ou d'organisation des systèmes agricoles nationaux. S'ils disposent d'une information cohérente et fiable, ils pourront participer effectivement aux choix de développement, aux échelles nationales et locales.Leurs besoins en information sont du même ordre que tous ceux qui participent à la décision. Ce sont en général des informations synthétiques et actualisées, des indicateurs simples et dynamiques sur les tendances d'évolution et sur l'impact des politiques. Ils manquent souvent d'informations leur permettant de bâtir des scénarios alternatifs.reste beaucoup de contraintes à lever, la principale est la compétence à définir des stratégies cohérentes et opérationnelles d'informations puis à les mettre en oeuvre de façon efficace : analyser les besoins, collecter l'information, évaluer la qualité de l'information, savoir la traduire en termes compréhensibles pour chaque type d'acteurs et enfin choisir les outils et médias pour la communiquer et l'échanger.Ce sont le théâtre, les griots, les sketches, les tambours, les visites d'échanges.Organismes de développement et d'appui, organisations paysannes. Les destinataires des messages sont les communautés rurales villageoises. Ces outils sont très proches des gens et culturellement adaptés au contexte.-ils utilisent des langages et des approches qui sont familiers aux destinataires et les coûts sont faibles. Ces outils sont bien adaptés aux informations sociales.Ces moyens sont en général d'un coût abordable. A condition d'avoir reçu une formation, les ONG ou les associations paysannes peuvent les maîtriser. Ils s'accordent aux habitudes ou de lecture des populations rurales et sont culturellement adaptés. Ils conviennent aux possibilités financières limitées des destinataires et utilisent des langages et des approches qui leur sont familières. Une utilisation innovante, plus libre de ces outils conventionnels renforce l'attrait des utilisateurs.Les outils traditionnels ont une portée et un champ d'action limité. Le message oral peut s'oublier. est excellent pour les activités de sensibilisation, mais il ne peut servir de support pour des informations très précises, comme les informations techniques par exemple.Les expériences nouvelles qui utilisent les médias conventionnels dépendent souvent de fonds extérieurs, et restent donc peu pérennes, malgré la disposition récente du public rural àpayer l'information.s'agit de la presse, des ouvrages, des affiches, des magazines.Les associations paysannes, les organismes de développement, les services de de se rendre compte qu'il existe des outils d'information fiables accessibles et actualisés, qui répondent leurs attentes.Le manque d'alphabétisation des populations rurales, la dégradation rapide du support papier, le coût élevé du transport et la faiblesse des réseaux de diffusion et de distribution.s'agit essentiellement des radios et revues rurales utilisées par les villageois. Ces médias se donnent comme rôle de contribuer au développement rural par biais de l'information. Ce ne sont pas des organismes commerciaux, et ils ont parfois du mal survivre. Néanmoins leur succès montre qu'ils répondent à un besoin et qu'ils ont comblé un vide. Les revues traitent de thèmes divers : questions techniques ou économiques mais aussi questions sociales, de promotion féminine, de démocratie.. .Ces médias ont besoin de disposer d'informations mieux ciblées et d'une meilleure connaissance des publics qu'ils veulent atteindre. En outre, leur personnel manque souvent de compétences et de formation.Les cadres juridiques et réglementaires ne sont pas toujours favorables aux initiatives de communication la base.La plupart des familles rurales disposent d'un poste de radio et, après avoir conquis les villes, la télévision se répand en zone rurale. L'information peut être répétée fréquemment. La radio peut être utilisée pour appuyer le travail des animateurs sur le terrain.La radio n'est pas capable de transmettre tous les types de messages. C'est un médium pour des récits, des reportages, des débats ou des informations factuelles courtes. des auditeurs est souvent peu concentrée. Les informations complexes ou les longs temps de parole ininterrompue conduisent souvent l'auditeur décrocher. La production d'émissions télévisées reste coûteuse. L'information n'est pas permanente.Les utilisateurs sont principalement des centres de recherche et d'enseignement urbains. Mais Intemet est utilisé par des centres agronomiques, des associations paysannes, des stations de radio locale et des journaux.Ils permettent l'accès àdes bases de données, l'information y circule très rapidement,en grande quantité, le coût des communications internationales est peu élevé ; enfin Intemet permet une communication quasi instantanée travers le monde entier. A condition de savoir bien chercher, le nombre d'informations disponibles sur Intemet est considérable.Les infrastructures nécessaires pour l'utilisation de ces moyens de communication sont d'un coût prohibitif pour la très grande majorité des acteurs du développement rural dans les pays Le manque de lignes téléphoniques et de tuyaux puissants limitent l'usage à quelques villes et ne permettent pas d'obtenir les vitesses de transmission acceptables. Intemet passe par l'usage de langues internationales. Son accès reste hors de portée pour la plupart des villages ruraux. Former les professionnels des médias, et notamment des radios locales, au traitement de l'information sur le développement rural. Renforcer la production des radios locales et les échanges de programmes entre elles (par réseau électronique notamment).Réaliser un guide méthodologique pratique (livre de recettes) sur la gestion efficace de l'information dans les pays Réaliser un guide sur les différents outils de communication disponibles, leurs avantages et inconvénients, leurs conditions d'utilisation, avec des conseils pratiques.Apporter un appui des structures et centres locaux de gestion de l'information.   ","tokenCount":"3118"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0851184150.json b/data/part_1/0851184150.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..05bac38da057bf8cf574f179d3c7cba2d269daf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0851184150.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1718416b5681796b102d920bda5474d1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6181dcf5-3282-41e1-bccf-8cd24aa4a116/retrieve","id":"1460067"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2c4a2e33-3452-42a1-81ee-21d0a1accb4d","pagecount":"14","content":"Several agricultural technologies have been promoted to intensify smallholder farming systems in Ghana, but there is limited literature on sustainability assessment of these technologies. A 2-year (2017-2018) on-farm study was conducted to evaluate the sustainability of using cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] living mulch (CPLM) technology to intensify smallholder maize (Zea mays L.) production in northern Ghana. Four treatments (control, CPLM planted with maize on the same day, CPLM planted 1 week after maize, and CPLM planted 2 weeks after maize) were laid in RCBD with four replications per treatment. We used Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) to assess the sustainability of the above treatments based on five domains (productivity, economic, environment, human, and social). We conducted the assessment in the following three steps: (1) measured selected indicators from the five SIAF domains, which were useful to answering research question; (2) converted measured values of the indicators into scores using a scale of 0-1; and (3) calculated sustainability index using geometric rules considering each SIAF domain as an edge of a pentagon. The sustainability indices for the CPLM increased by 143%-300% compared with the control treatment. The sustainability indices for the CPLM were >1, indicating better sustainability relative to the control treatment, which recorded sustainability index of <1. This suggests that smallholder farmers in northern Ghana and similar agroecologies can intercrop cowpea 1-2 weeks after planting maize as living mulch for better sustainability of their maize production and well-being through its effect on yield, income, food security, nutrition, and gender equity.Abbreviations: AP, available phosphorus; BCR, benefit-cost ratio; CPLM, cowpea living mulch; CSDM, cowpea living much planted with maize on the same day; C1WAM, cowpea living mulch planted 1 week after maize; C2WAM, cowpea living mulch planted 2 weeks after maize; OC, organic carbon; ROI, return on investment; SI, sustainable intensification; SIAF, Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework; TN, total nitrogen.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Agriculture is a major source of livelihood for more than 50% of the work force in Africa. Its production in Africa is primarily rainfall dependent and on subsistence basis, with an average land holding of less than 5 ha (Jayne et al., 2014).The subsistent farmers produce about 80% of the food consumed in the region (Chauvin et al., 2012). The productivity of the subsistent farms is low due to several biophysical factors, such as degrading natural resources (low and declining soil fertility), limited use of external inputs, climate change, pests and diseases, unfavorable policies, markets, and institutional arrangements. Africa's population is projected to be doubled from 1.3 to 2.5 billion by 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017). This will increase the demand for food from these subsistent farms to feed the growing population and land use for both agricultural and non-agricultural use in the region (Brandt et al., 2017). The current per capita increase in food production in Africa is from conversion of grazing and marginal lands to productive arable lands, which is now becoming limited and unsustainable due to an increase in demand for land use (World Bank, 2007). Sustainable intensification (SI) of farming systems in Africa is a must to meet the growing food demand to feed the increasing human population growth in the region (Vanlauwe et al., 2017). SI of farming system involves the use of agricultural technology that improves productivity per unit area of land in an economically sound manner and reduces negative environmental, human, and social impacts (Pingali, 2012;Pretty et al., 2011;Loos et al., 2014;Musumba et al., 2017). SI of farming system is key to achieving sustainable development goals on ending hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in Africa. Garnett and Godfray (2012) reported that SI of agriculture should be used as a conceptual framework for guiding discussions on achieving balanced outcomes. Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) was developed to provide a systematic guide and an objective-oriented approach on assessing the sustainability of agricultural technology (Musumba et al., 2017). The SIAF helps to identify the objectives of agricultural innovation and indicators associated with the objectives to assess the performance of the innovation in a balanced approach across five domains (productivity, economic, environment, human, and social). Recent studies have successfully applied the SIAF for sustainability assessment of several agricultural innovations (Abdul Rahman et al., 2020;Fischer et al., 2024;Kotu et al., 2022;Snapp et al., 2018). Snapp et al. (2018) reported that the SIAF provided systematic means to consider tradeoffs and opportunities associated with maize-legume intercropping systems in Malawi. Abdul Rahman et al. (2020) reported that the SIAF provided a systematic approach for sustainability indexing of intensification practices in groundnut production in northern Ghana.Framework provides a systematic guide for assessing agricultural sustainability. • Cowpea living mulch recorded higher sustainability scores relative to that of the control treatment. • Cowpea living mulch sustainably has intensified smallholder maize production.Another study reported that the SIAF helped identify heterogeneity between genders for farmers preferences for SI attributes of maize production in Ghana (Kotu et al., 2022).The study by Fischer et al. (2024) also reported that the SIAF helps identify social components in developing gendertransformative innovation for SI and the importance of having equitable arrangement for both social and technical components of developing gender transformative innovation. There is the need for continuous application of the framework to provide practical evidence of its application dynamics with different innovations at different scales to the scientific community, policy makers, and other relevant stakeholders. There is also limited literature on SI indexing for comparing technologies and addressing this contributes to literature. In this study, we adopted and modified the SI indexing approach by Abdul Rahman et al. (2020) to assess the sustainability of cowpea living mulch (CPLM) technology for smallholder maize production.Living mulch is a cover crop planted either before, same day with, or after the main crop and maintained as cover throughout the cropping season or longer (Hartwig & Ammon, 2002). It creates good soil ecosystem conditions for the main crop to thrive well depending on the type of crop used as living mulch. The use of leguminous crops as living mulch improves soil organic carbon (OC), nitrogen, phosphorus, microbial biomass, bacterial structure, soil moisture retention, infiltration, bulk density, temperature, and erosion relative to non-leguminous crop or control treatment (Hartwig & Ammon, 2002;Qian et al., 2015;Safari et al., 2021;Trail et al., 2016). CPLM is the planting of cowpea as living mulch on the same day with maize or 1-2 weeks after planting maize in a maize-based cropping system (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022). They also reported that CPLM improves soil quality and productivity of smallholder maize in northern Ghana. However, the sustainability of the CPLM for improving smallholder maize productivity is unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that CPLM can sustainably intensify smallholder maize production in northern Ghana. The objective of this study is to assess sustainability of CPLM for smallholder maize production in northern Ghana. The experiment was conducted in Cheyohi No. 2, Tingoli, Duko, and Tibali communities of the Northern Region, and Samboligo, Nyangua, Gia, and Bonia communities in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons (Figure 1 and Table S1). The rainfall pattern in these areas is monomodal, which starts from March, peaks in August-September, and ends in October-November.In Northern Region, the total amount of rainfall recorded during cropping seasons (June-October) was 692.4 mm for 2017 and 850.5 mm for 2018 with mean daily temperatures of 23.6-31.7˚C for 2017and 22.4-30.9˚C for 2018(Abdul Rahman et al., 2022). The same authors reported that in the Upper East Region, the total amount of rainfall received during 2017 and 2018 was 565.5 and 796.3 mm, respectively, while the daily mean temperatures were 22.2-34.3˚C in 2017 and 23.6-31.1˚C in 2018. The soils of study areas in the Northern Region were developed from sand stones with topsoil properties (0-20 cm) of OC (5.5-9.5 g kg −1 ) and total nitrogen (TN) (0.5-0.9 g kg −1 ) (Tetteh et al., 2016). They also reported that the soils of study areas in Upper East Region were developed from granite and Upper Birimian phyllite with topsoil (0-20 cm) properties of OC (4.1-7.5 g kg −1 ) and TN (0.3-0.4 g kg −1 ). Details of the initial soil properties for each of the experimental community are presented in Table S1.At each site, four CPLM treatments were laid in a randomized complete block design with four communities as replications. The same fields and communities were used as replications for the 2-year period of the study. The CPLM treatments were no mulch or control (farmer practice, which involves sole maize with no CPLM), cowpea living mulch planted with maize on the same day (CSDM), cowpea living mulch planted 1 week after maize (C1WAM), and cowpea living mulch planted 2 weeks after maize (C2WAM). The cowpea variety used as living mulch was a spreading type with 65 physiological maturity days and a landrace called \"Nandambaya.\" Three maize varieties were used in this study, and details about the maize varieties are reported by Abdul Rahman et al. (2022).A tractor was used to plough the experimental fields in the Northern Region, while a bullock was used to plough those of the Upper East Region in line with common land preparation practice in each region. The maize plants were planted at a spacing of 75 cm × 40 cm at three seeds per hill and thinned to two seeds per hill after 14 days to achieve a plant density of 66,667 plants ha −1 in line with the recommended plant density for maize (Adu et al., 2014). The cowpea plants were planted in the middle of maize rows at an intra-spacing of 20 cm and two seeds per hill to attain a recommended plant density of 133,333 plants ha −1 (Omoigui et al., 2018). A compound NPK (15-15-15 N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O) fertilizer was applied 14 days after planting to the maize plants at 40 kg ha −1 NPK. The maize plants were top-dressed with ammonium sulphate (20 kg ha −1 N) 21 days after application of compound fertilizer. Hoe weeding was done once 14 days after planting in all the treatment plots and 21 days after first weeding in the control plots.The SIAF was used as a guide to assess the sustainability of the CPLM systems (Abdul Rahman et al., 2020;Musumba et al., 2017). The SIAF is a multi-disciplinary framework that assesses the sustainability of agricultural technology under five domains (productivity, economic, environment, human, and social). The SIAF provides a systematic guide of its application to users, and its application involves the following three main steps: (1) selection and measurement of indicators under the five domains that are key to answering research questions, (2) transformation of these measured indicators into unitless scores to bring indicators with different units onto one scale, and (3) aggregation of indicators under each of the five domains.Considering that the causes of low yield of maize on farmers' fields include low soil fertility and weed infestation, the objective of the CPLM technology is to smoother weed growth and improve soil quality to increase productivity of maize (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022). We selected the following indicators under the five domains of SIAF.Maize grain and stover yields, cowpea grain yield, and weed biomass were selected and measured in this domain. The maize and cowpea grain yields were selected because of their importance as food. The maize stover was selected because of its use as livestock feed and biochar for soil fertility improvement. The weed biomass was also selected to measure the effect of the living mulch on weed control. Maize cobs from the two middle rows of each treatment plot were harvested at physiological maturity, dehusked, shelled, oven-dried at 65˚Cto a moisture content of 13%, and weighed as maize grain yield. The maize plants in the two middle rows from which the cobs were harvested were cut at ground level, oven-dried at 65˚C to a constant weight, and weighed as stover yield. The pods of cowpea plants in the two middle rows of each treatment plot were harvested at physiological maturity, threshed, winnowed, oven-dried at 65˚C to a moisture content of 12%, and weighed as cowpea grain yield. A quadrat of 1 × 1 m 2 was randomly placed three times in each treatment. The weeds species in the quadrate were cut at ground level, oven-dried at 65˚C to constant weight, and weighed as weed biomass.The economic profitability of agricultural technology is a key factor that motivates farmers to adopt new agricultural technologies and to determine the profitability of the CPLM technology. We calculated net income, benefit-cost ratio (BCR), and return on investment (ROI) under this domain.We used secondary data on grain price for maize and cowpea from the Tamale Metropolitan main market (about 20 km from study communities in the Northern region) and Navrongo main market (about 10 km from study communities in Upper East) for the period of October-December of 2017 and 2018 to compute the total revenue of the output. The prices of the grain retrieved from the markets were retail prices and were adjusted to 80% as farmgate prices for the grains (Brooks et al., 2007). We computed total cost of production as cost of inputs and labor used for production. The cost of inputs was the cost of seed and fertilizer. Maize and cowpea prices were also obtained from Seed Production Association Ghana (SEEDPAG) within the respective study areas. The price data of fertilizers (NPK and ammonium sulphate) were collected from Ghana fertilizer dashboard (https://vifaaghana. org/#/ghana/home). The costs of labor included cost for ploughing, planting, weeding, fertilizer application, harvesting, and processing. The cost of labor was obtained using key informant interviews with selected farmers within the experimental communities. The net income was calculated as the difference between total revenue and total cost of production, and the BCR was computed as a ratio of the total revenue and total cost of production (Kahraman et al., 2000). The ROI was also computed in percentage as ratio of net income and total cost of production (Murdoch et al., 2007).Soil physical properties (soil temperature and moisture at the tasseling stage of maize) and chemical properties (OC, TN, and available phosphorus [AP]) were measured in this domain. The above soil physical properties were selected to measure the effect of the CPLM on soil moisture retention for maize, especially at the reproductive stage (tasseling and silking) where moisture is critical for dry matter production. The soil chemical properties were also selected because they are major plant nutrient sources and the most limiting nutrients in the soils of northern Ghana. A soil thermometer (HI 98501; Hanna Instrument Inc.) was randomly placed at five different spots along the diagonals of each treatment plot to measure soil temperature at the tasseling stage of maize. A galvanized iron cores of 4.5-cm inner diameter and 25-cm high were used to take five core samples along the diagonals of each treatment plot to measure moisture content at the tasseling stage of maize (Anderson & Ingram, 1993). After harvesting the maize crops in each cropping season, a composite surface soil (0-to 15-cm depth) samples were taken at five different spots along the diagonals of each plot. The composite soil samples were air-dried, ground, sieved, and analyzed for OC (titration method), TN (Kjeldahl distillation and titration method), and AP (Bray 1 extraction solution and colorimetric method) as outlined by Anderson and Ingram (1993).In this domain, we calculated the total calorie and protein production of each treatment as a measure of food security and nutrition indicators. The quantity of grain yield produced by a treatment contributes to the total calorie and protein production. We used secondary data on the calorie and protein content of maize and cowpea from the United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Services National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference to estimate the total calorie and protein production of each treatment (https://fdc. nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=corn%20grain).Community field days were organized at the experimental fields at physiological maturity of the crops for farmers to share experiences among themselves, get feedback from farmers, and allow participating farmers to select their preferred treatment. The evaluation of the treatments was done in two separate groups, the male and female groups. This was done to allow the female farmers to feel comfortable among themselves in expressing their opinion about the technologies. A total of 509 (2017 = 249 and 2018 = 260) farmers evaluated the treatments in the Northern Region. In 2017, the farmers were 51% female and 49% male, while in 2018, their composition was 42% female and 58% male. Similarly, in the Upper East Region, a total of 304 (2017 = 160 and 2018 = 144) farmers participated in the evaluation treatments. In 2017, the composition of the farmers was 54% female and 46% male, while in 2018, their composition was 62% and 38% for female and male farmers, respectively. We converted the measured indicators into scores using a linear scoring function of more is better or less is better method (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Andrews et al., 2002). For \"more is better\" indicators, each of the measured value of an indicator was divided by the highest measured value, such that the highest measured value received a score of 1. For \"less is better\" indicators, the lowest value of a measured indicator was divided by each of the measured values of the indicator, such that the lowest measured value received a score of 1. The scale used for the scoring was in the range of 0-1 with 0 as the least and 1 as the highest indicator of strength. The transformation of measured indicators with different units into unitless scores helped in the aggregation of indicators across domains. Transformed values of indicators (scores) were aggregated under each of the five domains using the arithmetic mean approach (Pollesch & Dale, 2015). Considering each SIAF domain as an edge of a pentagon with a known angle θ and distance (p, e, ev, h, and s) from the center of the pentagon to form five triangles (Figure 2). We calculated sustainability index using geometric rules for calculating the area of the pentagon using Equation (4) (Abdul Rahman et al., 2020;Kang et al., 2005):(1)Sustainability index = 1 2 sin72 (\uD835\uDC5D\uD835\uDC52 + \uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC63 + \uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC63ℎ + ℎ\uD835\uDC60 + \uD835\uDC5D\uD835\uDC60) (4) They also reported that, for a technology to be sustainable, the sustainability index should always be positive, above the score limit (>1), and higher the value, the more sustainable the technology.We used Statistical Analysis System for windows (SAS Institute, 2015) to analyze the data from the measured indicators under the productivity, economic, environment, and human domains of the SIAF (Tables 1 and 2). The above data were analyzed on year basis using the model in Equation ( 5).where Y ijk is an observation, μ is the experimental mean, B i is the block (community) effect, C j is the CPLM effect, and e ijk is the error. Treatment means of significant difference were separated using least significant difference (LSD) test at a probability level of 0.05.Maize grain yield showed significant response to CPLM during 2017 and 2018 in both regions (Tables 1 and 2). In Northern Region, maize grain yield for CPLM treatments on the average increased (p < 0.05) by 34% during 2017 and 37% during 2018 compared with the control treatment (Table 1).Similarly, in the Upper East Region, maize grain yield for CPLM treatments on average significantly increased by 84% relative to that of the control treatment (Table 2). However, during 2018 in the Upper East Region, maize grain yield decreased with CPLM, and the maize grain yield for control treatment increased (p < 0.01) compared with that of CSDM but was not significantly different from that of CPLM at 1-2 weeks after maize (Table 2). The difference in the grain yield data observed in the two regions could be explained by the difference in the soil properties (OC and TN) measured and rainfall pattern in the two regions. The Northern Region is reported to have higher rainfall, better soil properties, and higher average regional maize grain yield relative to that of the Upper East Region (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022; MoFA [Ministry of Food and Agriculture], 2017). The variation in grain yield between the control treatment and CPLM could be explained by the benefits of the CPLM on soil moisture, OC, TN, and AP properties. The improvement in the above soil nutrients by the CPLM, especially during tasseling and silking of maize plant is critical for accumulation and partition of dry matter into yield. In line with this result, other studies have reported an increase in grain yield of living mulch field relative to that of a control field (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Caamal-Maldonado et al., 2001;Jamshidi et al., 2013;Trail et al., 2016). Cowpea grain yield was significantly affected by the time of planting CPLM (Tables 1 and 2). The cowpea grain yield for CPLM with maize on the same day was higher (p < 0.01) than that of the CPLM at 2 weeks after maize in both regions. The cowpea grain yield declined by 17% during 2018 relative to that of 2017 in the Northern Region (Table 1). However, in the Upper East Region, the cowpea grain yield increased by 19% during 2018 compared with the grain yield of 2017 (Table 2). The variation in cowpea grain yield among the CPLM could be due to the differences in the time of planting the CPLM, shading effect of the maize plants on the growth of cowpea plants. Planting CPLM at 2 weeks after maize gives the maize competitive advantage for nutrients, light, and water over the cowpea. This result is consistent with the finding that planting cowpea late in maize-cowpea intercropping reduces the grain yield of the cowpea due to the shading effect of the maize plants (Adipala et al., 2002). The contrasting results of cowpea grain yield observed in both regions could be partly explained by the performance of the maize in the CPLM system as the year with high maize grain yield recorded low cowpea grain yield and vice versa. In consonance with this result, other studies have reported similar contrasting results of cowpea grain yield when intercropped with maize or other cereals on the same field for more than 1 year (Abdul Rahman et al., 2021;Trail et al., 2016).The weed biomass showed significant response to CPLM during 2017 and 2018 in both regions (Tables 1 and 2). The CPLM treatments reduced (p < 0.01) weed biomass by 42%-46% in the Northern Region and 38%-51% in the Upper East Region relative to the control treatment. The reduction in weed biomass by the CPLM could be explained by the limited niche in terms of light, water, and nutrients available for weed growth in the CPLM due to the cowpea growth and canopy cover. This result supports the findings that the use of cowpea, velvet bean, and red clover as living mulch in maize production reduces weed growth relative to control treatment (Caamal-Maldonado et al., 2001;Jamshidi et al., 2013;Youngerman et al., 2018).The CPLM had a significant effect on the BCR, net income, and ROI in both years and regions (Tables 1 and 2). In the Northern Region, the CPLM treatments recorded higher (p < 0.05) BCR, net income, and ROI than that of the control treatment in both years (Table 1). A similar trend of results was also observed in the Upper East Region where the BCR, net income, and ROI values of the CPLM treatments increased (p < 0.05) relative to that of the control treatment (Table 2). The significant increase in BCR, net income, and ROI could be attributed to the higher revenue returns generated from the CPLM, which was able to offset the additional cost of production from the CPLM. For example, in the Northern Region, an additional cost of 684-697 Ghana cedis required to practice CPLM generates a revenue of 1901-1965 Ghana cedis (Table 1). Similarly, in the Upper East Region, an additional cost of 529-580 Ghana cedis for CPLM generates a revenue of 709-1914 Ghana cedis (Table 2). In consonance with these results, other studies have reported significant increase in profitability of maize-legume intercropping systems relative to sole maize (Abdul Rahman et al., 2021;Kamara et al., 2019).In the Northern Region, the CPLM reduced (p < 0.01) soil temperature by 2%-3%, increased (p < 0.01) soil moisture by 59%-107%, soil OC by 24%-27%, TN by 17%-40%, and AP by 43%-92% relative to that of the control treatment during 2017 and 2018 (Table 1). Similarly, in the Upper East Region, the soil temperature of CPLM declined (p < 0.01) by 3%-4% but increased (p < 0.01) soil moisture (81%-85%), OC (20%-22%), TN (17%-33%), and AP (69%-107%) compared with that of the control treatment during 2017 and 2018 (Table 2). The significant effect of CPLM on soil temperature and moisture in all years and regions could be attributed to the presence of the cowpea as a living mulch. The cowpea canopy covers the soil surface against direct sunlight and evaporation from the soil, which in turn affects soil temperature and soil moisture. The variation in soil temperature among the CPLM could also be explained by the time of planting the cowpea as a living mulch and its effect on the growth of the cowpea canopy. The results are in line with findings from earlier studies that mulched fields reduce soil temperature and improve soil moisture retention (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Safari et al., 2021;Trail et al., 2016). The effect of CPLM on soil OC, TN, and AP in both years and regions could be explained by (i) the addition and decomposition of leaves and stalks of the cowpea; (ii) the ability of the cowpea to add external source of nitrogen into the soil through biological nitrogen fixation; and (iii) the improved soil microclimate for microbial activity by the CPLM, which enhances the release of nutrients in the soil. In line with this result, other studies have reported significant increase in soil OC, TN, and AP with the use of leguminous crops as living mulch (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Hartwig & Ammon, 2002;Qian et al., 2015).The calorie production varied among the treatments with the control treatment recording the least calorie production relative to the CPLM in both years and regions (Tables 1  and 2). The protein production showed significant response to CPLM in both regions. In the Northern Region, the protein production was not statistically different among the CPLM treatments during 2017, but in 2018, the protein production for CPLM with maize on the same day and CPLM at 1 week after maize was significantly higher than that of the CPLM at 2 weeks after maize (Table 1). In the Upper East Region, the protein production for CPLM with maize on the same day was higher (p < 0.01) than that of the CPLM at 1-2 weeks after maize in both years (Table 2). Similarly, the protein production for CPLM at 1 week after maize was statistically different from that of CPLM at 2 weeks after maize during 2017 and 2018 in the Upper East Region (Table 2). The significant increase in calorie and protein production of the CPLM treatments relative to that of the control treatment could be attributed to the effect of the CPLM on grain yield of the maize and cowpea. In line with our results, other studies have reported significant increase in calorie and protein production from intercropping maize with legume relative to that of sole maize (Li et al., 2023;Mukhala et al., 1999). The significant variation in protein production among the CPLM systems could be explained by the difference in the time of planting the CPLM and its effect on growth and grain yield of the cowpea.The farmers rating of the treatments varied across the two regions (Tables 1 and 2). In the Northern Region, majority (83%-88%) of the female farmers preferred the CPLM relative to the control treatment during both years (Table 1).Similarly, most (88%) of the male farmers rated the CPLM treatments above the control treatment in 2017, but this was not the case during 2018 (Table 1). In the Upper East Region, majority of both female (82%-96%) and male (82%-93%) farmers rated the CPLM treatments above the control treatment in both years (Table 2). Some of the key reasons most of the farmers gave for their choice of CPLM treatments over the control treatment were as follows: higher grain harvest from the cowpea and maize, less risk of total crop failure in terms of bad weather or pest and disease attack, the cowpea canopy cover suppresses weed growth and improves soil moisture retention, and the cowpea also fixes biological nitrogen into soil, which helps to improve the soil fertility. This result is in line with the findings of a follow-up study to scale the CPLM technology beyond the intervention districts and regions of this study in northern Ghana (Abdul Rahman et al., 2023). Other studies have also reported significant increase in farmer preference for cover crop intercropping systems relative to other cropping systems in other parts of the world (Jourdain et al., 2020;Nong et al., 2021;Ortega et al., 2016).In the Northern Region, the CPLM recorded higher scores relative to that of the control treatment under productivity, economic, environment, human, and social domains during 2017 and2018 (Figure 3a,b). Similarly, in the Upper East Region, the CPLM showed consistently higher scores under the five SIAF domains compared with the control treatment during 2017 (Figure 3c). However, during 2018 in the Upper East Region, the CPLM recorded higher scores under four domains (productivity, economic, environment, and social) out of the five domains (Figure 3d). Figure 4 shows the sustainability indices of the CPLM treatments during 2017 and 2018 in both regions. In the Northern Region, the control treatment recorded sustainability index of <1 in both years, while the CPLM recorded indices of >1 in both years (Figure 4a,b). During 2017 in the Upper East Region, the sus-tainability indices for the CPLM treatments were >1, while that of the control was <1 (Figure 4c). However, in 2018, the sustainability indices for CPLM at 1-2 weeks after maize were >1, while that of the control treatment and CSDM were <1 (Figure 4d). The 13%-39% increase in productivity score for CPLM relative to the control treatment across the two regions could be attributed to the effect of the CPLM on measured environmental indicators, which translated into an increase in grain yield and reduction in weed biomass. The CPLM canopy cover on soil surface reduces evaporation from the soil, which improves soil moisture retention, leaf litter, and biological nitrogen fixing activity of the cowpea from the CPLM also adds nutrient (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus), which are important for development and partition of maize dry matter into yield. The canopy cover of CPLM also reduces niches in terms of light, water, and nutrients available for weed growth, which reduces the growth of weeds in the CPLM systems. In line with these results, other studies have reported significant effect of living mulch on the selected productivity and environmental indicators used in this study (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Caamal-Maldonado et al., 2001;Jamshidi et al., 2013;Trail et al., 2016;Youngerman et al., 2018).The 34% to fourfold increase in economic domain score for the CPLM compared with the control treatment over the two regions could possibly be due to the increase in grain yield of maize and cowpea, which was able to offset the additional cost of production. The grain yield is direct function of profitability, and the revenue generated from the production of grain yield of CPLM was 17%-143% higher than the cost of production of grain yield of CPLM. Similarly, the 25%-136% increase in the human domain score for the CPLM relative to that of the control could also be explained by the differences in the grain yield of maize and cowpea obtained by the treatments. The calorie and protein indicators of the human domain were estimated from the maize and cowpea grain yields. Thus, an increase in maize and cowpea grain yields has a direct effect on calorie and protein production and vice versa. In line with the above findings, Dominguez-Hernandez et al. (2018) reported productivity domain as the key influential attribute in measuring sustainability of agricultural technology, as the yield determines how efficient the technology is and its influence on other domains.The 26%-36% variation in the environmental domain scores between the CPLM and control treatment could be due to the effect of the CPLM on the measured indicators of the environmental domain. The canopy cover, leaf litter, and biological nitrogen fixing activity of the CPLM improved soil moisture, OC, TN, and AP indicators of the environmental domain. This result supports reports from earlier studies that mulching systems improve soil properties relative to nonmulching system (Abdul Rahman et al., 2022;Hartwig & Ammon, 2002;Qian et al., 2015;Safari et al., 2021;Trail et al., 2016). The majority of the female (82%-96%) and male (82%-93%) farmers showed their preference for the CPLM over the control treatment, and the key reason for their decision was due to the higher grain yield and the improvement of soil microclimate conditions such as soil moisture retention and fertility for the maize crop to thrive well. The reasons given by the farmers for their decisions were in line with the data measured in the productivity and environment domains.The increase in sustainability indices for the CPLM relative to that of the control treatment could be explained by the effect of CPLM on the measured indicators of the study. The CPLM improved grain yield, weed control, soil moisture, OC, TN, AP, calorie, and protein production, which resulted in higher scores obtained by the CPLM relative to that of the control treatment. The sustainability indices of >1 recorded by the CPLM indicate that CPLM is sustainable for smallholder maize production in northern Ghana. The sustainability indices of <1 recorded by the control treatment in both years and regions also indicate that control treatment is not sustainable for smallholder maize-based cropping in northern Ghana. These findings are in consonant with reports from other studies that, for a technology to be sustainable, the sustainability index should always be positive, above the higher score limit (greater than one), and higher the index, the more sustainability of the technology (Abdul Rahman et al., 2020;Kang et al., 2005).Generally, the SIAF provided a systematic guide and approach for assessing the sustainability of the CPLM technology for smallholder maize-based cropping system in northern Ghana.The sustainability indices for the CPLM were 143%-275% higher than that of the control treatment in Northern Region during 2017 and 2018. A similar trend was observed in the Upper East Region with the CPLM recording 150%-300% increase in sustainability indices relative to that of the control treatment during both years. The sustainability index of the control treatment was <1 (below the maximum score limit) in both years as well as regions, and this index indicates that the control treatment is not sustainable for smallholder maize production in both regions. The sustainability indices recorded by the CPLM were above the maximum score limit (greater than one), which indicates better sustainability system for smallholder maize production in northern Ghana. The results suggest that smallholder maize farmers in northern Ghana and similar agroecologies can intercrop cowpea, especially at 1-2 weeks after planting maize as living mulch for better sustainability of their maize production and well-being through its effect on yield, income, food security, nutrition, and gender equity.  ","tokenCount":"5922"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0879600742.json b/data/part_1/0879600742.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..39a1131de7f3244ecc822a6c4b69c075be2fcf8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0879600742.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ad9c370638b88e9b6a2373f48e675794","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f977beb2-bdaa-43d9-a18f-bfe91204d9ba/content","id":"1645863820"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a87f3965-c6b9-4b08-ad0b-2ebb561d9b0b","pagecount":"6","content":"Resumen. La resistencia genética ofrece el más amplio potencial para el control de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca y tallo de maíz causado por Fusarium moniliforme, el cual tiene una distribución cosmopolita y afecta la calidad del grano y tallos de plantas afectadas. Además, es una amenaza para la salud del hombre y los animales por la producción de toxinas cancerígenas. Por lo anterior, se propuso como objetivo determinar la aptitud combinatoria general (ACG), la aptitud combinatoria específica (ACE), los efectos maternos, y la heredabilidad para este carácter. La evaluación se realizó en Colombia en el ciclo de primavera-verano 2000 bajo infección natural. Se utilizaron 22 plantas, donde se midió el índice de susceptibilidad de las mazorcas a F. moniliforme. La interpretación genética mediante el método I y II de Griffing indicó que existen efectos maternos, presencia de genes aditivos (ACG) y de genes dominantes (ACE). La varianza genética fue mayor para las cruzas recíprocas o maternas. Los resultados de heredabilidad en sentido estrecho (h 2 ) mostraron una transmisión baja del carácter (0.11). Esta complejidad genética de la resistencia complica más el mejoramiento para resistencia a F. moniliforme.Palabras claves adicionales: Heredabilidad, aptitud combinatoria general, aptitud combinatoria específica, herencia citoplásmica.Genetic resistance offers the greatest potential for control of maize ear and stalk rot caused by Fusarium moniliforme, a cosmopolitan fungus which affects the quality of grain and stalks of diseased plants. This fungus is also a threat to human and animal health, due to the production of carcinogenic toxins. The objective of this study was to determine the general combining ability (GCA), the specifica combining ability (SCA), the maternal effects, and heritability for this trait. The evaluation was carried out in Colombia, during the spring-summer crop cycle 2000 under natural infection. Twenty two plants were used to measure the susceptibility index of ears to F. moniliforme. The genetic interpretation by the Griffing's methods I and II, indicated the presence of maternal effects, additive genes (GCA), and dominant genes (SCA). The genetic variance was greater for reciprocal or maternal crosses. Heritability (h 2 ) in the narrow sense, showed low transmission of this trait (0.11). This genetic complexity of resistance, makes breeding for resistance to F. moniliforme more complicated.Additional keywords: Heritability, GCA, SCA, Cytoplasmic inheritance Fusarium moniliforme Sheld. (sin. F. verticillioides) causa pudrición del tallo y pudrición de la mazorca del maíz (Zea mays L.) (Nelson, 1992). El patógeno tiene una distribución cosmopolita y es endémico en todas las regiones maíceras del mundo, afectando seriamente la productividad. Es capaz de colonizar todas las partes de la planta, incluyendo raíz, tallo, mazorca y semillas; frecuentemente, la presencia del hongo no es perceptible pues no causa un daño visible (Singh y Singh, 1977;Thomas y Buddenhagen, 1980). La infección (Recibido: Diciembre 6, 2002Aceptado: Marzo 6, 2003) Revista Mexicana de FITOPATOLOGIA/ 267 asintomática puede presentarse en toda la planta y el patógeno ser transmitido por semilla a las plántulas, pudiendo o no desarrollar posteriormente una infección sistémica (Munkvold y Desjardins, 1997). La invasión de las mazorcas cobra mayor importancia debido al potencial tóxico de los metabolitos secundarios producidos por el hongo, entre los que se encuentran las fumonisinas, substancias carcinogénicas, como el ácido fusárico, fusarinas (fusarina C), giberelinas, moniliformina, zearalenona, tricotecenos y fumonisinas (Nelson, 1992;Bacon y Williamson, 1992;Sweeney y Dobson, 1998).Éstas últimas han sido caracterizadas como promotoras de cáncer hepático en ratas (Gelderblom et al., 1988), y asociadas a la leucoencefalomalacia y en cáncer esofágico en humanos (Pederson y Morrall, 1995;Nelson et al., 1993;D'Mello et al., 1999). Después de varias décadas de investigación de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca, no se han encontrado genotipos inmunes a la enfermedad y su mecanismo de resistencia no es bien conocido. Dada la importancia de esta enfermedad en el mundo, varios estudios, con poco éxito, se han enfocado hacia el conocimiento de las características genéticas de la relación patógeno-planta. Al respecto, Scott y King (1984) reportan que existe acción génica para la resistencia a Fusarium de tipo aditivo y con operatividad en el tejido maternal; este último resultado de herencia materna también lo reportan Headrick y Pataky (1989); otros como Nankam y Pataky (1996) encontraron que la heredabilidad en sentido amplio oscila de 0.24 a 0.46; asímismo, recomiendan la selección recurrente para la acumulación de alelos para la resistencia a F. moniliforme. De acuerdo con De León y Pandey (1989) en un programa de selección recurrente de mazorca por surco modificado, reportaron un progreso genético de -0.9% para resistencia a Fusarium y determinaron que el tipo de acción génica es aditivo y poligénico. Por lo anterior, la estimación de los parámetros genéticos permite conocer la variación y el tipo de acción génica que ayuda al investigador a definir una metodología y un programa de mejoramiento genético apropiado (Mendoza, 1997). La atención que se ha dado a las características citoplásmicas ha sido superficial, especialmente a enfermedades e insectos. Esto cambió en 1970 cuando la raza T del hongo Helminthosporium maydis (Nisicado y Miyake) devastó los campos de maíz de Estados Unidos (Jugenheimer, 1981), debido al desconocimiento que se tenía sobre la interacción alélica entre la esterilidad citoplásmica y la raza T. Entonces, la diversidad citoplasmática es fundamental en plantas autógamas y alógamas en la mayoría de los programas de fitomejoramiento (Grogan, 1972). Considerando que existen pocos trabajos de investigación relacionados con la genética de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca causada por F. moniliforme en maíz (Headrich y Pataky, 1989), y que la resistencia genética es considerada como el método de control más económico y eficiente, es necesario conocer el modo y tipo de herencia a la invasión por F. moniliforme. Bajo estas premisas, los objetivos de este trabajo fueron: cuantificar los efectos genéticos aditivos (ACG) y dominantes (ACE), determinar la importancia de los efectos maternos, y estimar la heredabilidad para la pudrición de mazorca causada por F. moniliforme.Material genético. Se utilizaron diez líneas S 4 derivadas de la población Molcates de amplia base genética (Cuadro 1), que se cruzaron en dialelo, obteniéndose todas las cruzas posibles (F 1 ), directas y recíprocas. Simultáneamente, se incrementaron todos los progenitores usando cruzas fraternales en cadena. Los cruzamientos e incrementos de las líneas se realizaron en Ursulo Galván, Veracruz, México, en el ciclo de otoño-invierno 1999. Trabajo de campo. Las 45 cruzas directas, 45 cruzas recíprocas y las 10 líneas progenitoras se establecieron en el ciclo de primavera-verano 2000 en la localidad de Cerrito, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, bajo un diseño de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. La siembra se realizó en forma manual, en surcos de 5 m de longitud, con 0.90 m entre surcos y una distancia entre plantas de 0.25 m, siendo la parcela útil de 22 plantas por tratamiento. La densidad de población fue de aproximadamente 56,000 plantas/ha. El experimento se estableció bajo infección natural. Evaluación y análisis. Se determinó la severidad del daño causado por F. moniliforme a las mazorcas usando una escala de cinco valores, donde 1 = mazorcas sanas, 2 = mazorcas con 10% de granos afectados, 3 = mazorcas con 10-25% de granos afectados, 4 = mazorcas con el 26-50% de granos dañados, y 5 = mazorcas con más del 50% de granos afectados (De León, 1997). Con estos datos se calculó el índice de sanidad (IS), usando una media ponderada, que considera el número de mazorcas en cada grado de severidad: en donde: IS = índice de sanidad; ni = mazorcas dañadas en cada escala; Ei = escala i; y N = número total de mazorcas en la parcela útil. Para la interpretación genética se utilizó un análisis dialélico método I y II de Griffing (1956). El diseño I comprendió el ensayo de la autofecundación, un grupo de cruzas F 1 y las cruzas recíprocas con un total de P 2 combinaciones. Para el diseño II, se consideraron las autofecundaciones o progenitores y las cruzas F 1 , sin incluir las cruzas recíprocas, con un total de p(p+1)/2 combinaciones. La heredabilidad en sentido estrecho (h 2 ) se calculó con la fórmula descrita por Chávez (1995):de la dominancia. Para el modelo I se utilizan los mismos progenitores que en el diseño anterior, además, se analizan las cruzas recíprocas (efectos maternos). Los resultados demostraron que existen genes aditivos, dominantes y de efectos maternos para la resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca. Estos resultados indican que la contribución de los progenitores al valor fenotípico de la progenie es de tipo aditivo, dominante y materno, es decir, que el grado de resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca puede pronosticarse como la suma de los efectos individuales inducidos por cada progenitor; nuevamente, el hecho de conocer que existe dominancia y que operan los efectos maternos, ayudan al mejorador a la elección de los progenitores en la formación de los nuevos genotipos. Sin embargo, los efectos dominantes van a depender de la cruza que se examina; asímismo, el valor fenotípico de la progenie es influenciado por un efecto maternal, sugiriendo que el efecto materno atribuible a un progenitor es variable, dependiendo de la magnitud de variación del progenitor masculino que se elija. La varianza genética para estos efectos fue mayor para las cruzas recíprocas o maternas (Cuadro 3); Scott y King (1984) en un estudio en genotipos de maíz determinaron que la resistencia a F. moniliforme fue condicionada por el pericarpio del genotipo; Headrick y Pataky (1989) concluyeron a través de una evaluación de líneas endogámicas de maíz, que la reacción a la resistencia estuvo fuertemente afectada por factores de tejido maternal. En relación a la heredabilidad en sentido estricto (h 2 ), se reporta un valor de 0.118 que se considera bajo. Hallauer y Miranda (1988) indican que un valor de heredabilidad 0.20 es bajo, 0.21-0.50 es intermedio y > 0.50 es alta; al respecto, Nankam y Pataky (1996) determinaron la heredabilidad en sentido amplio en un rango de 0.24 a 0.46, esto debido a que ésta última se estima con base a la varianza genética total; desde el punto de vista genético, es mucho más importante la heredabilidad en sentido estricto, ya que sólo considera la varianza aditiva, la cual permite acumular los genes ciclo tras ciclo de selección para este carácter. Al respecto, Renfro (1985) reportó que la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca por Fusarium es poligénica, con acción aditiva como el mayor componente y alguna presencia Donde: h 2 = heredabilidad; σ a 2 = varianza aditiva; y σ p 2 = varianza fenotípica que es el resultado de la varianza del error entre el número de repeticiones. Los diseños antes mencionados generaron las estimaciones de la ACG, ACE, varianzas y error estándar.En el Cuadro 2 se muestra los cuadrados medios y la varianzas bajo el método II de Griffing para la variable pudrición de la mazorca. En estas condiciones, se obtuvo una diferencia significativa (p = 0.06), lo que indica que al menos un cruzamiento mostró diferente grado de severidad o resistencia a F. moniliforme, lo que permitirá elegir algún híbrido simple con resistencia a la enfermedad. Para los efectos aditivos (ACG), no se encontró diferencia estadística. No obstante, los efectos de dominancia (ACE) resultaron ser más grandes que la ACG, lo cual indica que existen en mayor proporción genes dominantes para el control del carácter de resistencia. La varianza para estas dos fuentes de variación muestra que la contribución de los progenitores al valor fenotípico de la progenie es dominante, y que la resistencia a F. moniliforme puede pronosticarse; esto significa, que durante la formación de híbridos comerciales, se puede elegir un progenitor resistente cruzado con un material susceptible y/o tolerante, y el resultado será un material resistente debido a la presencia Cuadro 2. Análisis de varianza del dialélico método II de Griffing para pudrición de mazorca causado por Fusarium moniliforme. σ a 2 σ p 2 h 2 = de dominancia. Así, para obtener progresos en la incorporación de resistencia a F. moniliforme, se sugiere utilizar un programa de mejoramiento de selección recurrente para la acumulación del caracter de resistencia. En el Cuadro 4 se presenta el IS de progenitores y cruzas a la pudrición de la mazorca. Los resultados indican que la media más baja la presentó la línea 10 con un bajo valor medio de infección (1.5) que equivale a menos del 10 % de granos afectados por esta enfermedad según escala, mientras que la línea 7 presentó hasta el 25 % de infección, seguida por los progenitores 4 y 6. Las cruzas 1 x 5, 4 x 3 y 5 x 4 presentaron valores bajos de infección (1.25-1.5). El cruzamiento con valor de infección más alto fue la 4 x 8 con 3.95 (hasta el 50 % de granos afectados), seguida por la 4 x 6 y 7 x 9 con un valor de 3.5. En el Cuadro 5 se concentran los datos de la ACG y ACE para el diseño I y II. En los dos análisis se detectaron progenitores resistentes y/o tolerantes y susceptibles. Líneas sobresalientes por su resistencia a través de sus cruzas en ambos diseños fueron 1, 2, 5, 8 y 10. Estas líneas presentan valores de ACG negativos, lo cual significa que presentan nivel de resistencia mayor a F. moniliforme. A través de los dos diseños, el progenitor 10 y la línea 5 fue la que mejor combinó en todas sus cruzas; cabe señalar, que el mejor comportamiento individual para la resistencia lo obtuvo la línea 10. Para las cruzas específicas (ACE), sólamente se reportan las 10 mejores cruzas; sin embargo, para el dialelo I, los valores de ACE oscilaron entre -0.79 y 1.33 para las cruzas 4 x 5 y 4 x 8, respectivamente. Se encontraron 31 cruzas que presentaron valores negativos, lo que significa que gran número de híbridos simples poseen tolerancia y/o resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca. Resultados similares se encontraron en el análisis del diseño II, donde se obtuvieron valores de ACE que variaron entre -0.61 y 0.84 para las cruzas 3 x 4 y 4 x 8, respectivamente. Al respecto, Jugenheimer (1981) menciona que la interacción de factores genéticos, razas fisiológicas, medio ambiente y la misma herencia citoplásmica llegan a obstaculizar la explicación genética de una característica. Esta complejidad genética determinada en este estudio concuerda con los resultados reportados por Pérez et al. (2001) en un estudio de cartografía de QTL de la resistencia a F. moniliforme, donde determinan un gran número y pequeños efectos de QTL; asímismo, reportan Cuadro 5. Respuesta a la ACG y ACE estimada con los diseños I y II del modelo de  ","tokenCount":"2421"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0883350283.json b/data/part_1/0883350283.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5aa64d909f9e5326689b2c10243f61317edd04d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0883350283.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7f948ec9b5b82b3c53f18e96470ab436","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee605454-785e-4e1d-8046-58dbdfcce14c/retrieve","id":"-440391088"},"keywords":["Dewatering","Specific resistance","Cassava pulp"],"sieverID":"ce47d411-f658-4658-9845-2283edc3fc89","pagecount":"5","content":"Cassava pulp dewatering by applying pressure on the grated pulp was carried out. Pulp particles were constrained while the liquid was free. The cassava pulp cake was compressed. Experimental equipment was designed to obtain the applied pressure from various devices and the final moisture content of resulting cake was compared. Hydraulic jack press reduced the moisture content of cake to the acceptable level for gari production at a pressure of 69000 N/m 2 and to a moisture content of 40%-45%wet basis, Pulp particles capable of creating resistances within the filtering medium were identified.Cassava is a major source of carbohydrates in human and animal diet, the tubers of cassava cannot be stored for longer period unless in processed form. Processing involves peeling, grating, dewatering, cake milling and sieving. These are ways of transforming the tuber into the two principal products, flour and gari for storage. Crops have optimum range of humidity and temperature for storage. Cassava contains about 70% moisture content, which must be reduced. The main requirement for obtaining the best product from cassava tuber depends on proper dewatering of the pulp. The reduction process includes fermentation and dewatering using available methods. Stones are sometimes placed on the cassava pulp sack. Alternatively the use of lorry jacked on wood platforms to press off the excess is possible (Igbeka et Corresponding author Email: P.KOLAWOLE@CGIAR.ORG al., 1992).The Amerindians use ingenious press shaped like a long thin basket-weave tube called ´tipiti' for mash dewatering. Dewatering is mainly a manual operation under rural conditions. Other methods involve the use of log, sticks, Parallel board; Tree stumps, String and jacks. Hydraulic press at about 25 kg/cm 2 (Igbeka et al., 1992) was considered adequate within 15 minutes. Pressing can last up to 4 days with other older method. Study of centrifugation and direct pressure as means of dewatering was done for cassava starch production (Comparison study of centrifugation and direct pressure as dewatering means was used in studying the dewatering characteristics of alfalfa protein concentrate Klanarong et al., 1999).In the dewatering of cassava pulp, the particles are constrained while the liquid are set free. The pressure applied varied in depth, time and in moisture content left in the cake, volume of material and the particles of material are some of the parameters identified by Kolawole et al.,( 2007). The material moisture content,  the mass and the volume were parameters that can be determined easily.To meet industrial expectations, there is need to carryout detailed engineering improvements of dewatering in cassava processing. Traditional procedures aimed at reducing cyanide, improving storability, providing convenience and palatability are becoming inadequate. Cassava pulp cake compression is require to completely eliminate moistures trapped in the void of the cake but resistant property of the cake normally opposed the reduction in volume as observed by Kolawole et al., (2007). Further investigation of specific resistance (α) is needed. This is to provide a better understanding and what is expected changes during the dewatering with the pressure drop across the cake.Experimental equipment was designed and fabricated at workshop. Modified pressure gauge with tube was used to connect a compressible ball. The ball was small in size that can stay within a mash. The ball was filled with liquid such that pressure exerted on the ball can displace the liquid. The guage was used to prevent the liquid from escaping by so doing putting the liquid under pressure. The scale was made visible such that the pressure value can be read. Cassava pulp made by grating peeled and washed cassava tuber, were measured and kept in label sacks. The ball was kept in the samples of cassava pulp, such that applied pressure can be read directly from the gauge. TMS 4(2) 1425 variety of cassava was used for the experiment. Hydraulic system was use in applying the pressure as shown in figure 1.The absolute pressure was obtained from a pressure gauge by adding atmospheric pressure to it Springelement pressure gauge was used. The sealed end was connected to a pointer, the deflection of the pointer provide the pressure reading. Pressure on the walls of the box was considered. Pressure on one side is the same as the pressure on other side (Kolawole, et al., 2011) P max is the maximum pressure expected on the samples, Pressure at the centroid the area α= f(∆ᴘ)(1)Then Pressure on the constant element dAWhere z is the ordinate of Area dA Pressure was excited on the equipment; same readings were obtained for the repeated measurement readings. The tool was then used to carry out dewatering experiment.Dewatering of cassava pulp with bolts & nut, motor jack and wooden pole was carried out. The procedure involves each of cassava-pulp samples dewatered carefully, ten treatments of each was selected. The observed pressure reading from the attached pressure gauge was recorded. The measurement of time was done using a stopwatch. The starting time was noted with the volume of expressed liquid. The pressure was kept constraint at the pick, for every 30 seconds as the liquid gradually drops in flow rate the change in volume was noted. The cumulative filtrate volume and time presented were recorded in data sheet. The filtrates were allowed to settle and filtered, the solid content were weighed and recorded. The moisture content of the cassava pulp The measurement of time was done using a stopwatch. The starting time noted with the volume of expressed liquid, The pressure was kept constraint at the pick, for every 30 seconds as the liquid gradually drops in flow rate the change in volume is always noted. The cumulative filtrate volume and time presented were recorded. The moisture content of the cassava mash samples was noted before and after the experiments. The moisture content of samples was obtained by drying the samples in an oven at 100 o C until no further change in weight occurred. This took three days of 70-72hrs in a Try-temp Hot pack oven and weighing took place daily. Pulp resistance was noted as internal resistance developed as opposed to applied pressure, only determined with calculation from the data obtained when a constant pressure operation was carried out on the samples. Dewatering tanks made into shapes that the filtration Area was calculated with ease, the base area of containers in use when pressure was applied to the mash during the experiment.The volume of filtrate obtained from the samples show that the 9 month old variety contains more juice than the 12 and 15 months old variety at the start of the experiment. The 12 months old had more juice mixed with starch at the end. This may be due to maturity at peak for the variety. The 15 months old compressed more than the 9 and 12. Mixture of the 9,12 and 15 months as shown in figure 3, prove that bolt and nut can provide drier cake more than the traditional method of wooden pole this can be due to fibre formation within the cassava.The investigations revealed that increase in pressure had an effect in lowering the moisture content of cassava pulp. Pressure of 7,000 to 8,000 N/mm 2 reduced the moisture content to 45-50% moisture content wet basis, a level suitable for gari and flour production, Cooking and drying could take place simultaneously during frying with the left over moisture, using bolt/Nut and jack the containers met the same condition set for gari. Higher pressure above 10,000N/mm 2 produce bone dry mash that can not be suitable for gari production but may be better for cassava flour.During dewatering the reduction of the volume of mash was more than the volume of the liquid, this may be due to the compaction and creep that occurs during the process. Void places containing air must have been displaced. The best age of cassava for gari production may be between 9 and 12 month old. The 9 months old contains more fluid but it has more resistant than the 15months old, this could be that it contains more fibres than starch as shown in figure 4. The solid content of the expressed juice could be important for the production of industrial starch from cassava. It was observed that the solid content varied during dewatering within the range of 7% to13% average of 8.3% the density of juice was between 0.9 to 1.2 g/cm 3The cassava juice was found to contain small particle that travels with the juice, cake starts to build up on the surface of the filtering sacks and a greater proportion of the available pressure drop was taken up by the cake itself. This resulted in an effective increase in the mash resistance thus leading to a gradual drop in the cassava fluid flow resulting in cake with uneven moisture. The fluid flow slows down with time. Thus, the overall resistance to flow of filtrate is equal to the sum of the cake resistance and the filtering medium resistant. This is important only during the early stages of filtration. In the experiment, the medium resistance was not constant because of some penetration and blocking of the filtering medium as a result of particles impinging on the sack, high initial flow rates through a clean sack compared with the flow rate towards the experiment. This was avoided in the experiment in order to prevent the penetration of solids if clean with large screen holes was made used (Filters). Prevention of contamination from the filtrate was not possible as the hydraulic jack forces out more through the filter opening, more than required (Table 2) and this do not allow even deposition of the cake within the sacks.The results obtained in figure 2 show that not much pressure can be sustained by wooden poles method, as more time was spent to get to the required moisture content. The bolt/nuts and the jack's methods were very efficient. The motor jack method of dewatering gave clear efficiency with the 12 months old sample as shown in graph but nothing was noticed between the bolts/nuts method and hydraulic jack methods when used on 9 and15 month old samples. Hydraulic Jack press could reduce the particles that can form resistance to prevent filtrate movement, it is recommended for used to achieve greater efficiency in gari production, particles expelled is as shown in figure 4.","tokenCount":"1706"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0890815657.json b/data/part_1/0890815657.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..012213bac10a7d8e4c76af1390292652003658bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0890815657.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12695089fa093b99ee27b10a41f8e634","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/818960cc-1921-48aa-b047-ec20ba0fbcd8/retrieve","id":"666848953"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b440902-4688-4e74-8202-055f80131ad1","pagecount":"9","content":"The limited availability of fresh water is a major constraint to agricultural productivity and livelihood security in many developing countries. Within the coming decades, smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas are expected to be increasingly confronted with local water scarcity problems, but their access to technological knowledge and financial resources to cope with these problems is often limited. In this article, we present a methodological framework that allows for identifying, in a short period of time, suitable and superficial water sources, and cost-effective water transportation routes for the provisioning of gravity-driven irrigation systems. As an implementation of the framework, we present the automated and extensible geospatial toolset named \"AGRI'', and elaborate a case study in Western Honduras, where the methodology and toolset were applied to provide assistance to field technicians in the process of identifying water intake sites and transportation routes. The case study results show that 28 % of the water intake sites previously identified by technicians (without the support of AGRI) were found to be not feasible for gravity-driven irrigation. On the other hand, for the feasible water intake sites, AGRI was able to provide viable and shorter water transportation routes to farms in 70 % of the cases. Furthermore, AGRI was able to provide alternative feasible water intake sites for all considered farms, with correspondingly viable water transportation routes for 74 % of them. These results demonstrate AGRI's potential to reduce time, costs and risk of failure associated with the development of low-cost irrigation systems, which becomes increasingly needed to support the livelihoods of some of the world's most vulnerable populations.With a steadily growing world population and associated food demands, the paramount significance of water availability and accessibility for agriculture is increasing (De Fraiture and Wichelns, 2010). The stress on water requirements for agriculture is sharpened by several factors, such as the increased competition of industrial and urban water use (De Fraiture and Wichelns, 2010) and the upstream presence of hydraulic infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, that may change timing of water availability (Schewe et al., 2014). Another important factor is climate change (Haddeland et al., 2014), with resulting extreme weather phenomena such as severe droughts (Thornton et al., 2011). Consequently, water scarcity is increasing, and in turn the availability and access to fresh water sources becomes more important for sustained agricultural practices. Particularly vulnerable are smallholders in developing countries (Giordano et al., 2019), who are strongly dependent on agriculture (Dile et al., 2013) and typically rely on low-cost water supply systems. Furthermore, they normally have limited access to relevant technical knowledge, hydro-climatic information or methodological frameworks to mitigate the vulnerability to changes in short and long-term weather projections and the reduction of water provisions due to multiple uses (Esham and Garforth, 2013;Mapfumo et al., 2013).In this article, we present a methodological framework for the development of low-cost gravity-based irrigation systems for small-scale agricultural practices in developing countries. Specifically, the framework allows for identifying suitable and inexpensive water intake sources, and cost-effective water transportation routes to farm locations. We hereby focus on Central and South America, with Western Honduras as a case study, but our work is applicable to other regions with similar geographical conditions.Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with a rural population of about 50 % (The World Bank, 2015). Simultaneously, it is recognized as one of the countries most affected by extreme climatic events in Central America (Gourdji et al., 2014). The Western part of Honduras belongs to the Central American \"dry corridor\" (in Spanish known as the \"corredor seco\"), an area affected by severe water scarcity (Bouroncle et al., 2017). This area covers zones of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. In Honduras' dry corridor, people live under extreme poverty conditions, with incomes below the $2 USD per person per day poverty line, and consequently their livelihoods greatly depend on rainfed subsistence agriculture (The World Bank, 2015). Hence, water access plays an important role, as it is one of the main constraints for enhancing human welfare and agricultural production.One of the actions undertaken to reduce agricultural losses in smallscale farms, which are commonly affected by the lack of water access, includes the establishment of irrigation infrastructure to enable sustainable water provisioning (Kahinda et al., 2007). Most of the poor farmers in Western Honduras inhabit steep lands where permanent water sources tend to be scarce. In consequence, they rely on low-cost solutions, and transfer water to their farms through hosepipes using gravity (Smits et al., 2010). In some cases, the hosepipes are installed along routes where gravity is not enough to pull the water to crop areas, forcing farmers to install pumps in between source and outflow to improve water flow. Although many governments, NGOs, and international agencies' efforts are currently directed to assist farmers in improving their access to water for crop production (Bitterman et al., 2016;Murugani and Thamaga-Chitja, 2018), field technicians are dispensed limited information to guide them during the process of identifying potential water intakes and their corresponding conduction paths. As a result, the establishment of gravity-driven water supply systems to irrigate croplands is often a long and challenging operation, and involves high costs related to field assessments and trial and error pipeline installation (in-field communications with implementers of the Alliance for the Dry Corridor -ACS). Furthermore, in most cases, this process is inefficient, as the installed hosepipes end up re-conducting water from distant sites or do not provide the water volume needed for irrigation.Based on the above-mentioned conditions, we developed a GISbased methodological framework to identify water intakes in streams for supplemental irrigation in small-scale farms, and define the most cost-effective routes for gravity-driven water transportation, taking into account topography, land cover and environmental restrictions such as the presence of protected areas. This may lead to saving time and money and reduces the risk of failure during water deviation investment projects. The framework integrates GIS technologies, decision rules and surface features, and uses the Least-Cost Path (LCP) approach to optimize the transfer of captured water to farm locations. As an implementation of the framework, we present the automated and extensible tool named AGRI (\"AGua para RIego\" -Water for Irrigation, in Spanish), and elaborate a case study in Western Honduras, where the methodology and the tool were applied to identify water intake sites and cost-effective conduction paths for local smallholder farmers. Based on the case study, we evaluated the effectiveness of AGRI to identify viable water conduction paths, and compared its results to expertprovided paths. Finally, we discuss the use of AGRI in practice, both in agriculture and other scenarios.The study area includes the Western part of Honduras and approximately covers the portion of the dry corridor that lies in the country (see Fig. 1). This area comprises about 52,503 km 2 and spans from 15.900 °N to 12.982 °N latitude and from 89.353 °W to 86.053 °W longitude. It completely contains the departments of Choluteca, Comayagua, Copán, Cortés, Francisco Morazán, Intibucá, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Santa Bárbara and Valle, and partially El Paraíso and Yoro. This area is characterized by slopes ranging from 0°(coastal zones) to 73°(steep hills) with altitudes that range between 0-2,850 m.a.s.l. The annual precipitation ranges from 800 mm up to 2000 mm while the mean temperature varies from 6 °C to 30 °C FAO, 2012). The rainy season lasts from May to November, interrupted by a dry period from mid-July to mid-August, which is called \"canícula.\" The rainy periods before and after canícula are called \"primera\" and \"postrera\" respectively (FAO, 2012). In general, the agriculture in the study area is carried out in hillside lands by small-scale farmers who mostly produce corn during the \"primera\" and beans during the \"postrera\" period. In areas with steep slopes, coffee is produced as well.To understand the needs of organizations investing in water solutions for agriculture in the study area, we conducted group meetings and one-on-one interviews with experts in the field and key stakeholders. These stakeholders included representatives from different institutions dealing with agricultural policies and education as well as aid and development in Western Honduras, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Agricultural Finance (Fintrac), Honduras Strategic Investment (INVEST-H), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG) and the Panamerican Agriculture University Zamorano, and local farmers as well. With these activities we aimed to better understand how the process of identifying suitable sites for water intake for small-scale agriculture is currently taking place and what are the main limitations to identify these sites in a cheaper, more effective and rapid manner. The interviews were accompanied by field visits in the departments of Intibucá, Lempira and Santa Bárbara to recognize terrain conditions and current strategies of farmers to obtain water for agriculture. This resulted in the following observations:(O1) Low-cost solutions are essential to reach the target users, as local farmers do not have the financial means to invest in costly or moderately costly solutions. Also, the purchase of water pumps may pose a financial challenge.(O2) As farmers currently take water from streams through hosepipes/pipelines, they try to avoid the installation of pumps in between the water intake and the farm location. Hence, they mostly take water from upper areas, using gravity to pull it to the farm location.(O3) The length of the path is decisive in order to reduce hosepipe/ pipeline costs and installation efforts, vulnerabilities, and point-to-point pressure loss. Consequently, farmers look for possible water intakes in streams close to their farms.(O4) In certain areas it is prohibited to install water intakes, e.g. in basins in protected natural parks or other protected areas, such as indigenous recognized lands.(O5) Technicians provide assistance to farmers in the process of site identification. They normally go to the field without any previous geographical information that guides them in terms of selecting areas with high potential for water intakes. This site identification process could take several months and involves many field visits and tests of pipeline installation to confirm effective water transportation. Technicians are equipped with handheld GPS devices to take coordinates of candidate sites with potential for installing water intakes. As a technical note, the file formats which they usually work with are KML, GDB or GPX.Based on these observations, we established the main requirements for a tool to accelerate and improve the effectiveness of the process for finding feasible water intakes for a farm. These are:(R1) Water intake sites should be at an altitude of at least 10 m above the farm location to avoid installing water pumps (due to O1, O2).(R2) The user must be able to search for water intake sites within a linear radius from the farm location (due to O3).(R3) Any potential water intake sites located within protected areas (basins) have to be discarded (due to O4).(R4) On a more technical/practical level, any new tools supporting water intake site identification should work well with and/or complement existing processes and tools. For example, they should support/ complement technicians currently providing assistance to farmers, and therefore allow exporting results to a file format readable by handheld GPS devices (e.g. KML) (due to O5).While the first three requirements are fundamental for water intakes to be considered potential sites for water sourcing for a farm, the fourth requirement is more practical. Closer sites to the farm location are considered better, in other words, the distance between the water intake site and the farm location establishes a metric according to which suitable sites can be ordered.A methodological framework was developed to identify water intake sites and their corresponding conduction paths under the given conditions, and the resources required to instantiate it, see Fig. 2. In essence, the methodology identifies suitable water sources and ranks them based on their closeness (closer is better) to a farm, in terms of pipeline surface length. The framework is based on two main components: 1) A hydrological component that defines hydrological features, and that is used to identify sites within streams where the likelihood of sufficient water volume is high; and 2) a water transportation route component based on a Least-Cost Path (LCP) approach. To generate these components, the framework requires a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), and the Protected Basins of the targeted area (indicated in blue in Fig. 2). The outputs consist of the Water Intakes and Best Paths (indicated in purple in Fig. 2) for the farm.In the text which follows, we capitalize words when they correspond to input, calculated or output models as denoted in Fig. 2.The hydrological component corresponds to the lower left part of the methodological framework in Fig. 2. This component defines the hydrological features (Outlets, Streams and Watersheds) by calculating the water flow direction and accumulation, based on topographic properties of the landscape (see Wu et al., 2008;Metz et al., 2011;Choi, 2012). To perform these calculations, a hydrologically-corrected (Hydro) DEM is required, which refers to the raw DEM from which the sinks (i.e. areas of undefined flow directions) have been eliminated (Jarihani et al., 2015;Lindsay, 2016). A sink is a pixel (or a bunch of pixels) with equal or lower altitudinal values compared to its neighboring pixels, which interrupts a continuous downslope water flow direction. Although it is possible that sinks are real properties of the landscape such as natural depressions like karst areas, in many cases they are artefacts resulting from preprocessing operations such as resampling processes (Wu et al., 2008). Removing these sinks allows for the definition of a stream network with flow paths reaching their corresponding outlets and enables the proper delineation of basins (Soille, 2004).The water transportation route component corresponds to the right part of the methodological framework in Fig. 2. This component uses the Least-Cost Path approach, which is a distance-based analysis tool provided by GIS technologies that allows for the modeling of the most efficient route between a source and destination location (Melles et al., 2011). This is based on the idea that any movement across the surface involves a cost, which can be expressed as time, distance, money or any other variable defined by the modeler (Collischonn and Pilar, 2000). In our case it represents the impediments imposed by land surface characteristics for the installation of hosepipes that transfer water from an intake site to a farm location. The LCP approach relies on a resistance/ friction surface (Theobald, 2005) -also known as cost surface-which is used to calculate the most cost-effective route between origin and destination.The framework employs the raw DEM to generate the Slopes. Then, based on the latter along with LULC and Protected Basins, it uses a weighted overlay calculation to generate the Cost Surface. The Slope and LULC impose restrictions to water movement, whereas the Protected Basins impose restrictions to the potential location of water intake sites and paths across the landscape. The resulting Cost Surface is used to identify the best path to install a hosepipe for the transportation of water from an intake site to the farm location, taking into account these restrictions. Based on the Cost Surface along with the location of the farm, the cost distance is calculated resulting in a Cost Distance Surface and Cost Directions layer.Finally, two outputs are generated: (i) the Water Intakes, derived using spatial analysis and filtering from the Outlets, Protected Basins and some user configuration parameters (minimum elevation difference between the water intakes and the farm, search radius within which to identify water intakes and the maximum number of water intakes to be provided); and (ii) the Best Paths, using the LCP approach with the Water Intakes along with the Cost Distance Surface and the Cost Directions. The implementation of the methodological framework in the form of the AGRI tool is described in the following sections.The methodological framework was implemented in an automated tool named AGRI, which is an extensible geospatial toolset that can be applied in any developing country where farmers are affected by water scarcity. It was developed as a toolbox, consisting of six tools, for ArcGIS for desktop, utilizing its modeling and spatial data processing capabilities, combined with Python for scripting and automation (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). It consists of the following tools: 1) Convert to Shapefile; 2) Calculate Best Paths; 3) Calculate Final Path; 4) Generate Watersheds; 5) Export Results to KML; and 6) Convert KML to GPX. The numbers indicate a possible sequence to be followed for a successful and complete implementation of the AGRI tool. This depends, of course, on what the user wants to do. Most of these tools use a geodatabase which consists of the raw DEM, the hydrological features (i.e. outlets, stream network and catchment areas) and the cost surface, generated in turn from the criterion layers (i.e. slope, vegetation and protected basins). The essential tools of AGRI are \"Calculate Best Paths\" and \"Calculate Final Path\". The former determines the best paths (LCPs) from a farm location to a number of potential water intakes. In contrast, the latter tool is used to determine the best path from a farm to a predefined water intake site. Also, the tool \"Generate Watersheds\" defines the drainage areas of the potential water intakes, while the other tools (1, 5 and 6) allow the user to convert between the input and output formats.The following datasets were used for the development of the tool: 1) the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM (Digital Elevation Model) with void filled data at 1 arc second spatial resolution (equivalent to about 30 m at the equator) to define the topography of the study area (NASA JPL, 2013); 2) a Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) map of Honduras, which was elaborated at a minimum scale of 1:25,000 using the Corine Land Cover classification system (Duarte et al., 2014); and 3) a layer of declared protected basins since 1987, where water infrastructures to facilitate uses other than for human drinking water are prohibited (Cardona, 2010). These datasets were freely accessible.  same spatial resolution as the DEM. All spatial information used in this study was projected to the \"WGS84 UTM Zone 16 N\" coordinate system.In addition, to compare potential solutions provided by the tool developed in this study, and potential water intake sites and paths as identified by technicians, we obtained a database with 87 farm locations, for which 89 potential water intake sites and corresponding water conduction paths had been identified by technicians (for one farm there were three potential sites and paths). The database contains the coordinates and elevation values of the farms and potential water intake sites, as well as surface length information of their corresponding water conduction paths.The models shown in Figs. 3 and 4 were developed in ArcGIS for Desktop using the Model Builder application. The model in Fig. 3 corresponds to the hydrological component as implemented in the methodological framework (see Section 2.3) for defining the hydrological features. Its main input parameters include the raw DEM and the Flow Accumulation Threshold, while its outputs consist of raster or feature class layers. The end products generated by the model include feature class layers of the streams, watersheds and outlets, which are stored in the Output Workspace.The model employs the raw DEM to generate the Hydro DEM. Although the ArcGIS software contains the \"Fill\" tool for the hydrologically conditioning of DEMs, this tool may not be accurate, as it increments the average elevation of the terrain and creates unnatural smooth areas (Jackson, 2012). Hence, we alternatively used the Optimized Pit Removal V1.5.1 tool proposed by Jackson (2012) that attempts to minimally affect the landscape by filling the pit area to a certain elevation, after which a path is carved from that elevation to an outlet.The calculation of flow direction and accumulation for the definition of hydrological features was performed following procedures described in ESRI (2013), and by using the Arc Hydro tools (Maidment, 2002), which provides a modelling framework and tools to support water resource analyses in an ArcGIS environment.The Flow Accumulation Threshold is used to define the stream network. In this sense, any pixel with a value greater than this threshold is considered part of the network. The conditional input parameter \"T'' in Fig. 3 assigns a value of 1 to all pixels with a flow accumulation greater than the specified threshold, resulting in a mask layer (raster with values of either 1 or NoData) of the stream network.While it is argued that the Flow Accumulation Threshold value should be defined based on geomorphological and weather characteristics (Soille, 2004;Zhang et al., 2013), in most cases an arbitrary value is chosen (Zhang et al., 2013). Given this, we examined the effect of the threshold value on the stream network by performing model iterations using different values, until the threshold value was finally set to 500. We contrasted the resulting stream distribution with satellite imagery available on Google Earth, which affirmed that the chosen threshold value leads to a detailed and accurate stream network with high probability of containing water in its channels, as will be discussed later in Section 3.1.The model in Fig. 4 corresponds to the water transportation route component as defined in the methodological framework (see Section 2.3). For the purpose of the Honduras case study, we conditioned three criterion layers to generate the cost surface. The first criterion layer generated was the slope surface. It was calculated in degrees using the \"Slope\" tool in ArcGIS with the raw DEM as input data. As the slope layer is a continuous surface, it was reclassified into a scale of 1-10 (see Table S1, supplementary material) using the \"Natural Breaks (Jenks)\" classification method described in (Jenks and Caspall, 1971). This was the scale chosen to represent the cost values in all criterion layers, as to ensure an adequate representation of the values' variability in each layer. It represents the suitability of the land surface for the installation of a hosepipe, with higher values indicating worse suitability.The second criterion layer was the clipped LULC layer, containing 23 of the 26 land cover classes for all Honduras. Each land cover class was assigned a cost value from 1-10 indicating high and low suitability for hosepipe installation, respectively. The resulting categories in both Spanish (original) and English, the cost values and their corresponding areas are displayed in Table S2 (supplementary material).The third criterion layer used was the layer of protected basins. They comprise about 2198 km 2 (∼4 %) of the study area and were assigned a cost value of 10. This value restricts the installation of hosepipes within areas where infrastructure building is prohibited.Based on the above-mentioned criterion layers and using a number of potential water intake sites and a farm location as input parameters, the most cost-effective paths for water transportation can be identified (Fig. 4). Cost paths are calculated in the opposite direction of the water flow due to model parameterization, starting from the farm location (origin) to the candidate water intake sites (destinations).Fig. 4 shows that for each independent model run, the middle and right parts of the model change as they depend on both origin and destination(s). On the other hand, the cost surface is generated only once by performing a weighted overlay of the three criterion layers (left part of the model). Finally, within each run, buffer areas around the origin and destination locations are generated to delineate the area for which to calculate the cost paths and distances.To put emphasis on the restrictions imposed to water movement in finding the best paths, a weight of 40 % was given to both vegetation and slope, while a weight of 20 % was given to protected basins. These weights represent the relative importance of the variables in the model. In this specific case study, we considered vegetation and slope to be equally important, while protected basins have a lower impact in the model. This weighting gives the highest values to areas with dense vegetation and steep slopes, while lower values are assigned to flatter and less densely covered areas. Therefore, the weights assigned to the criterion layers facilitate the hydraulic design of pipelines, take into account protected areas, and in turn allow for the protection of forests. The weights are configurable, and can thus be changed depending on the conditions of the case study at hand, which may have a significant impact on the calculation of the best paths.The AGRI tool, and its underlying methodological framework, were extensively tested and applied in practice, to verify: (i) the correct identification of potential water intake sites, (ii) the use of AGRI to detect wrongly identified water intake sites by technicians (iii) the ability of AGRI to identify (better) alternative conductions paths as compared to technician-identified paths.We assessed the ability of AGRI to identify potential water intake sites in streams where the likelihood of water availability is high, in three dry watersheds within the departments of Intibucá, Lempira and Ocotepeque, and one wet watershed in Santa Bárbara (Honduras). These watersheds were selected because development agencies and governmental institutions prioritized these areas for small irrigation projects that use water diverted from nearby streams. To validate the AGRI tool, it was used to identify 27 potential water intake sites within these watersheds. Then, we verified water availability in the identified sites during field visits in March 2016, which is generally the driest month of the year (see Figure S1, supplementary material), to confirm their feasibility to serve as potential water source.In addition, we used AGRI to assess the feasibility of potential water intake sites and conduction paths as identified by technicians without the assistance of a GIS-based tool such as AGRI. As mentioned in Section 2.4, we obtained a database of existing projects with farm locations along with their corresponding water intake sites and conduction paths (hereafter referred to as \"technician sites\" and \"technician paths\", respectively). First, AGRI was used to assess the feasibility of the technician sites (89 in total), where a site in unprotected area and located at an altitude of at least 10 m above the farm was considered as feasible.Then, we used AGRI to calculate alternative water conduction paths between feasible technician sites and the farm locations. The path lengths as calculated by AGRI were contrasted with the length of the technician paths, to examine AGRI's potential to provide shorter, more cost-effective paths compared to technicians. In addition, we examined the viability of each alternative path identified with AGRI. In this regard, a path that goes over a peak which is 24 m higher relative to the water intake site was considered as not viable. We used 24 m because it is reported that SRTM DEMs have a vertical accuracy of 16 m (Farr et al., 2007), and technicians report that in the field, they can circumvent a peak of up to 8 m encountered on a path. The present design of AGRI does not allow for automatic recognition of paths that are not viable. Hence, the viability of the paths was manually examined by comparing the altitude of each water intake site with the highest peak in the path. The viability of technician paths could not be examined, as information on their positioning as proposed by technicians was unavailable (i.e. the database of existing projects only contained surface length information).Subsequently, we used AGRI to identify potential water intake sites for the 87 farms included in the database and calculated their corresponding conduction paths (hereafter referred to as \"AGRI sites\" and \"AGRI paths\", respectively). Also, the viability of each AGRI path was examined, following the criteria described above. We configured AGRI by specifying a minimum elevation difference between the water intakes and the farm of 10 m, and a maximum search radius of 10 km within which to identify potential water intakes. In addition, we specified a maximum of 10 water intake sites per farm location, which implies that more than one water intake site and conduction path per farm could be identified. As a final comparison, we contrasted the AGRI paths with the technician paths and examined the differences in their surface lengths.The field recognition of potential water intake sites identified by AGRI carried out in March 2016, allowed us to validate the threshold value used for the definition of the stream network, and the ability of AGRI to identify sites in streams where water availability is high. Out of the 27 sites visited, only two were located in dry channels. Both channels directly emerge from a spring, where the likelihood of water availability is usually lower compared to locations further downwards that are connected to multiple streams. Hence, the chosen threshold value of 500 (representing the number of pixels draining upstream of the pixel being analyzed) ensured a stream network for the study area with high probability of containing water in its channels. The drainage areas of the sites found by AGRI ranged considerably, from 1.4 km 2 to 57 km 2 , showing the level of detail at which drainage areas could be defined. Despite the fact that agriculture in the study area is mostly implemented in hillside lands, AGRI performed well in identifying feasible water sources in streams. This capacity of AGRI expands the options of farmers to find potential sites that supply water required for crop irrigation.With respect to the assessment of the water intake sites previously identified by technicians without the support of AGRI (technician sites), we found that by using AGRI, 25 out of 89 (∼28 %) technician sites were found to be not feasible, either because they are located in protected areas or because they do not meet the requirement of ≥10 m elevation difference between the water intake site and the farm location (see Table 1). This is a significant finding, as it shows that using the AGRI tool helps to avoid the unnecessary installation of water intakes in locations from which it is anyway not feasible to transport water by gravity. As a consequence, the use of AGRI leads to substantial time and financial savings. Such problems were also reported during meetings with technicians who were dealing with hosepipes that had to be reinstalled due to the lack of water flow by gravity.On the other hand, we used AGRI to provide potential alternatives for the water conduction paths as proposed by technicians (technician paths), using the \"Calculate Final Path\" tool. For the 64 technician sites that were found to be feasible by AGRI, 64 alternative paths were generated using AGRI. We found that 47 (∼73 %) of them can be considered viable as they avoid peaks in the landscape of > 24 m relative to the water intake site. The other 17 alternative paths were found not to be viable, as they could not avoid peaks in the landscape > 24 m. Hence, although AGRI found those 64 technician sites to be feasible, the terrain conditions impede viable pipeline installations between 17 of them and their corresponding farm locations, which implies that for these farms, alternative water intake sites should be considered. In addition, we compared the technician paths with the alternative paths identified by AGRI in terms of surface length. Of the 63 technician paths for which surface length information was available, AGRI provided 44 (∼70 %) viable shorter alternative paths, see Table 1. Again, this could reflect considerable gains, as for shorter paths less time and funds are needed for pipeline installation.Apart from the assessment of technician sites and technician paths, we assessed AGRI's ability to identify feasible water intake sites and viable paths for the same 87 farm locations (AGRI sites and AGRI paths, respectively). In this regard, we used AGRI's \"Calculate Best Paths\" tool to identify the sites and the optimal paths to the farms. This resulted in a total of 794 feasible AGRI sites, with at least one feasible site per farm (see Table 2). Correspondingly, for 248 out of 794 feasible AGRI sites, at least one viable water conduction path to the target farm could be identified. We call these sites viable AGRI sites. Therefore, for 64 out of 87 (∼74 %) farms, at least one viable path to a feasible AGRI water ** Located in protected areas.1 A path that goes over a peak of < 24 m relative to the water intake site was considered as viable. 2 The surface length of the technician paths is compared with the surface length of the alternative paths identified with AGRI. 1 An AGRI site is viable if a viable path exists (i.e., a path with no peak > 24 m relative to the water intake site). intake site could be found. The inability of AGRI to find viable paths for all farms should not be considered a flaw of the tool; it rather reflects the lack of adequate terrains in the surroundings of some of the farms that facilitate the installation of a hosepipe, even though the potential water intake point itself is feasible. For example, several farms were found to be located on hilltops or mountain peaks. Although AGRI was able to identify water intake sites at altitudes of at least 10 m above the farms in all cases (e.g. located on nearby peaks) with sufficient water supply, due to significant local peaks/depressions between the water intake sites and some farm locations, the installation of gravity-based irrigation systems will nonetheless be almost impossible or high costly.Finally, we contrasted 88 technician paths with the AGRI paths in terms of surface length (for one technician path, surface length information was not available), where AGRI provided up to 10 paths for each farm location. Based on this analysis, we found that AGRI identified at least one viable shorter path compared to technicians in 49 out of 63 (∼78 %) cases (see Table 3). This again confirms that AGRI allows for significant improvements in terms of water intake site identification and conduction path definition.Since the release of AGRI in 2016, it has provided considerable support to cost-effective investments by government and development agencies. It has been used by at least 30 technicians, and at least 200 sites for diverting water for irrigated agriculture purposes have been identified. Similarly, some previously identified sites by technicians have been successfully changed to AGRI's identified locations. Meanwhile, it is important to note that AGRI does not replace the role of technicians, as the final decision on site selection and path definition remains with the technicians and their overall assessment of the study area. Importantly, also other aspects, for instance related to social impacts and local environmental regulations, are to be considered by in the process of site assessment. While AGRI is capable of identifying feasible water intake sites along with viable paths for pipeline installation (using the \"Calculate Best Path\" tool), it can also be used to determine the best path between a farm and a predefined water intake site (using the \"Calculate Final Path\" tool). This option is useful when field technicians have already established a suitable water intake, for which only the best (i.e. final) path between this point and the destination farm needs to be determined. On the other hand, we found that occasionally water intake sites identified by AGRI are located within streams on private property, where landowners may not be willing to cooperate with the installation of pipelines. For these cases, AGRI allows to manually relocate the coordinates of the water intake site within the same stream but outside the property boundaries, for which subsequently the final path can be calculated.AGRI was designed to provide information for irrigation projects, however, the tool has been given other uses by local organizations. For example, AGRI has been used to determine the best path from a licensed superficial water source to a tank to store water for human consumption in a small community. This evidenced a new utility of AGRI, showing that in addition to irrigation projects, it can also help to identify water sources and conduction paths to support human drinking water needs. In addition, AGRI allows for the delineation of drainage areas, which may help environmental agencies to target local regulations that aim at the conservation of water resources.While this article has demonstrated the strengths and potential of AGRI, some adjustments could be made to further improve the tool. The present design of AGRI solely allows for the identification of potential water intakes and the optimal transportation routes to the farm locations. To provide more understanding of the water quantity in streams and the potential for water harvesting, an extension of AGRI with a water balance model is currently under development. This extension will allow for estimations of the degree to which water from streams and harvesting sites can be captured and stored to support agriculture and household needs, while taking into account minimum ecological flows (Acreman and Dunbar, 2004) and the water supply requirements of downstream water users. Furthermore, identification of viable conduction paths, by comparing the altitude of the water intake site with the highest peak in the path, could be automated to automatically filter out non-viable paths.Furthermore, the applicability of AGRI could be enhanced by incorporating case study-specific factors that could narrow down the number of candidate water sources, such as information on local land registry to define areas where private landowners may oppose to pipeline installations. Also, information on existing or future water infrastructures in the region could provide additional insights on the long term water provisioning potential of candidate water sources. The methodological framework, and the AGRI tool, are easily adaptable to include such concerns.This article addressed the problem of identifying viable low-cost water provisioning solutions for smallholder farmers in developing countries. A GIS-based methodological framework was developed to support ongoing efforts oriented at determining suitable sites for establishing low-cost, gravity-based irrigation systems using water diverted from rivers. The implementation of this framework, and its use in practice, demonstrated its potential for assisting local field technicians in the process of identifying candidate water intake sites and the most cost-effective water conduction routes to the destination farm location. Although our work was motivated by a case study specifically focused on the Western part of Honduras, which has been exposed to severe water scarcity in the last couple of years, the framework is equally applicable to other regions that are subjected to similar water scarcity problems.The main product obtained in this study is a geospatial tool named AGRI. This tool allows for the characterization of stream networks and drainage areas to simulate water flow over the land surface, while aggregating a number of landscape characteristics into a cost surface that imposes restrictions to this water flow. The result is the geographical localization of a point in a river or stream where sufficient water is likely available for crop irrigation, and the optimal path from this point to a farm along which a hosepipe can be installed. The tool was tested and evaluated in a large-scale case study in Western Honduras. Results show that AGRI was able (1) to identify sites in streams where water is available during the dry season, in 25 out of 27 cases, (2) to identify 25 out of 89 technician-identified water intake sites as not feasible, (3) to provide viable shorter alternative paths compared to technician-identified paths, between farms and technician-identified water intake sites, in 44 out of 63 cases, (4) to provide feasible alternative water intake sites with at least one viable path for 64 out of 87 farms (for other farms, likely no viable path exists due to local topography), and (5) to provide at least one shorter path between farms and AGRI identified sites, compared to technician-identified paths between farms and  3) Longer ( 14) Both ( 8) 1 The surface length of the technician paths was compared with the surface length of up to 10 AGRI paths. \"Shorter'' indicates that AGRI found only shorter paths compared to technicians, \"longer'' indicates that AGRI found only longer paths, while \"both'' indicates that AGRI found both shorter and longer paths compared to technicians.technician-identified sites, for 60 out of 88 cases. These results demonstrate AGRI's potential to reduce time and costs associated with field exploration and installation efforts, and thus contributes to the low-cost water provisioning solutions that are critically needed to address subsistence challenges in some of the world's most underdeveloped regions.Although AGRI was developed using freely accessible datasets mainly obtained from public sources, in some regions it may be more difficult to obtain accurate spatial information, as public data might be less readily available. This could potentially be a limitation for the development of case study-specific tools for other study regions. On the other hand, an additional water balance component or additional information on external current and future pressures on water resources, and automation of filtering out non-viable paths, may improve the overall suitability and performance of the tool. Despite these possible improvements, AGRI has demonstrated to be a novel tool with major practical applicability in developing countries severely affected by water scarcity problems, where decisions on agriculture and natural resources management are often taken based on low quality information.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.","tokenCount":"6813"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0906165710.json b/data/part_1/0906165710.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8db4ccab3b9fd8f0c4e99b90643d67286f1ad008
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0906165710.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"13bfaddebb9044c67293ea735dc5c80c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c5a743c-3507-4276-9513-46f0c3a69403/retrieve","id":"-1417531339"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8ddc241f-bf48-4e4c-9e90-4ec1621f9355","pagecount":"52","content":"His and Hers, time and income: How intra-household dynamics impact nutrition in agricultural households. Methods guide: Designing and implementation of data collection tools. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Cali, Colombia.Despite advances in nutrition and food security in recent years, these issues still represent a challenge in developing countries since having a proper diet is still not affordable for many people. Undernourishment and overweight are two sides of malnutrition and coexist in many countries (double burden of malnutrition). In the case of Latin American countries, Guatemala has the highest chronic malnutrition rate and the fourth highest in the world; almost half of the children under 5 years of age are chronically malnourished (WFP, 2016). On the other hand, obesity affects about 50% of women of reproductive age (Rameriz-Zea et al., 2014). Malnutrition has important consequences not only in terms of loss of intellectual and cognitive capacity in children but also in terms of economic costs due to productivity loss (Martínez, R. and Fernández, A., 2007) The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), together with the University of Florida, in the context of the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) program, 1 designed a research project to develop new methodologies for understanding how intrahousehold decision-making processes regarding labor/time use and income allocation to different types of food impacts nutrition of various household members. Additionally, the study explores how these decisions are affected by changes in income and access to nutritional information. Taking into account that intra-household decision-making processes are critical for nutritional outcomes of household members but that relatively little evidence exists about how decisions are made, this study seeks to fill the gap by explicitly examining intra-household decision-making processes and how they relate to nutritional outcomes. We expect the results to inform the design and implementation of more effective programs and policies to promote better nutrition in rural families.In this document we describe the study, the instruments designed and the calculations of the indexes and metrics included. We explain in detail the methodology used for data collection and management, the decisions, and adjustments made during the implementation phase and the lessons learned. By explaining our methodology in detail, we hope that this document will serve as a guide for future studies.The document is organized as follows. In the first section, we explain the design of the study, and in the second we describe the data collection instruments. In the third section, we present how to use the information collected, from the data management and cleaning process to the definition and calculation of the metrics and indexes that we include. The fourth and last section we provide some brief conclusions and the next steps to be taken in the project.Nutrition is an individual level outcome that is heavily influenced by household level decisions and social norms, including gender norms. Food purchases and preparation are often household-level activities; food purchases are made to feed the family or household members. Similarly, food is prepared/cooked for the family and meals are often eaten together. However, individual preferences influence what food is purchased and how it is prepared. Furthermore, decisions made within the context of the household (either individually or jointly) influence the income available for food purchases, time available for agricultural production and other productive, income-generating, and care/social reproductive activities. Thus, food availability is determined by own production and income available for purchasing foods, which is at least partially determined by the amount of time allocated by household members to production and income-generating activities.Previous work has identified three main pathways from agricultural production to nutrition. One is through own production; food is produced and consumed by the household. A second pathway is through income; agricultural production is sold and the income generated is used to purchase foods. And, a third pathway, is through women's empowerment; this pathway, links women's empowerment to nutrition outcomes through their participation in decision-making around use of income, labor, and assets (Herforth and Harris 2014). Combinations of these pathways are also possible; some food produced on farm, other food purchased from income of agricultural production sales, and better nutrition achieved through women's empowerment.However, this previous work, does not explicitly explore how intra-household dynamics influence food choices and overall nutrition of household members. This study seeks to address this gap by focusing in an agricultural setting to better understand the interactions between intra-household decisions around the allocation of time use and income for achieving nutrition outcomes. Furthermore, we explore the role of nutritional information, and women's empowerment on food choices.Nutrition studies generally include women as key actors. They play an important role in the nutritional status of all household members. They are the ones who biologically transmit nutrients to children from their pregnancy to breastfeeding, and also, because of traditional gender roles; women are usually the ones in charge of most of the care and food preparation. However, it is important to recognize that, within households, there are dynamics between fathers and mothers that affect the decisions made regarding food consumption and food diversity. Thus, men also have an important role in the nutritional status of the family. Among these issues, there are also synergies and/or trade-offs. For example, in a family where the woman works to earn an income, this can have different effects. A potential effect is that by increasing the family income there can be access to more (healthy) food and thus, improve nutritional status of household members. On the other hand, it is also possible that the time that women spend working MethodsGuide outside the home translates into a shorter time for work in the home. Moreover, in a household where there are time constraints for members to dedicate to the preparation of healthy meals, they may replace home cooked, healthier foods with fast and processed foods, more convenient in terms of time, but often less healthy in terms of nutrients and additives. This example illustrates the importance of income but also the significance of the use of time in household nutrition. In addition, if we examine this, there is a reflection of a sociocultural bias related to the fact that women are perceived as responsible for preparing meals (and taking care of the family), ignoring the potential of men to take more responsibility in care activities of the household like preparing meals. It also illustrates the importance of considering the distribution of time by different family members in nutrition and food consumption studies, in order to understand the dynamics that limit the possibility of the family being well nourished.Finally, another important element in the consumption of food at home is food preferences. Although sociocultural norms greatly impact the diet, it is also important to take into account the different preferences at the individual level and their relationship with the income and/or budgets available for the purchase food goods.With the greater penetration of monetized markets to rural areas, many agricultural households have changed the production structure of their farms, from a more diversified one that provided greater nutritional value to the family, to one based on the higher production of one or two products that generate more monetary income to cover basic needs of home health, education of children, purchase of supplies, among others. This has generated a transformation in the possibilities of food supply for rural households, not only because of the decrease in self-subsistence at the household level, but also at the level of entire communities that depend on access to markets to supply themselves with certain types of food. Particularly in remote communities that base their income on products that are not edible, such as coffee or cocoa, there may be a greater vulnerability in terms of nutrition. Thus, our study focuses on agricultural households.This project seeks to understand how gender relations within the household -in aspects related to making decisions about the use of time and income from agricultural crops and/or wages-influence the choice of food in the household. In other words, we will analyze how economic incentives, information about adequate nutrition, the use of time and the characteristics of the household interact to influence food choices in households. Linked to this objective, the following research questions have been raised: a. How are decisions made about the consumption of food in the household, and what is the role of men and women? b. How do economic incentives (crop prices, wages/income) and nutritional information impact and/or are related to the choice of food? c. How does the use of time interact with the gender dimension to influence nutrition in the household?In addition, it is expected that the information collected will be used to design nutrition programs and policies that promote better nutrition in rural families. MethodsGuideIn the study, we included several metrics, indexes and variables commonly used in other studies of agriculture, poverty and well-being, and food and nutritional security. We also include an index of women empowerment and two innovative measures on labor preferences and food choices. We followed CIAT's ethical approval process to ensure the well-being and protection of human rights in our research. Our research includes informed consents, ensuring confidentiality of data, and voluntary participation of survey questionnaire respondents.Informed consent was acquired from all the individuals interviewed. In our case, we asked the man and woman in the household, that is, those who identified themselves as the ones in charge of making most decisions within the household. Both respondents in the household individually agreed to be interviewed and provide information, and the enumerator certified with their signature that the informed consent statement was read and the participants gave their approval to continue with the survey (see Figure 1). If one of the interviewees did not give consent to conduct the interview, the interview was not continued and the household was replaced by another one. MethodsGuide We also ensured that our research complied with Guatemalan standards. In conversations with national institutions such as the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícola, ICTA), we verified that the study did not require governmental approval as it did not affect the physical integrity of the participants (there were no blood samples drawn or food intake procedures).To carry out the study, we selected two study sites in two regions of the country with marked population differences in terms of their indigenous influence. One site in the east, comprised of the municipalities of La Unión and Olopa; and another in the west, which includes the municipalities of La Reforma and Nuevo Progreso. The zone in the west is notable for having more indigenous communities, mostly of Mayan origin. Two different zones were chosen to study whether cultural differences would have an impact on household practices that impact nutrition. Both zones have similar poverty levels of around 60% (Banco de Guatemala, 2018) and most inhabitants are mainly coffee producers. It was decided to focus the study on coffee producers to limit the variability range in the productive structure and thus, have a more homogeneous population in this sense. On the other hand, and as mentioned above, rural areas producing non-food crops may be more vulnerable in terms of adequate food supply, especially if they are located far from a city. We partnered with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) since they work with these communities implementing their Preparing for Resilience (Preparando para Resiliencia -PAR) and Agriculture, Land and Water (Agricultura, Suelo, Agua -ASA) projects. This cooperation facilitated our access to the communities and the execution of our study in the abovementioned areas.To fulfill the purpose of this study, to understand how intra-household gender dynamics influence the nutrition of family members, it was necessary to interview households where there is at least one couple (male and female). CRS shared with us the list of producers assigned to their projects in both areas. A total of 443 households (146 in the east and 297 in the west), of which an initial cut was made to exclude those households where there was no couple. We also excluded households with a high MethodsGuide volume of production, since our interest is small-scale farmers, and also those households located in remote communities since travel time would increase the budgeted costs. These cuts were only done in the east because we had the support of one of the technicians who implemented some projects and had knowledge of the participants, which was not the case in the west. After these changes, we had a list of 396 producers (99 in the east and 297 in the west).Taking into account that our goal was to reach a total of 250 households, 125 in each zone, which is enough for statistically robust analysis and piloting instruments and metrics in two distinct zones and fits our budget, we completed the sample in the eastern region by randomly selecting 26 additional households taking care that they were similar to the producers in the CRS lists. These were coffee producers with farm sizes between 1 and 5 manzanas (0.70-3.50 ha). In the case of the west, of the 297 households, we selected 125 at random. The group of enumerators initiated visits to these households and when one of these did not meet the requirements or did not want to participate in the study, a replacement included in the initial list of 297 producers was chosen.Taking into account that it would not be possible to identify intra-household gender dynamics by interviewing a single woman or a single man, in this study we interviewed both members of the couple in the household who identified themselves as responsible for making most of the decisions related to agricultural and household production, in general (e.g. food purchase, income management, crop variety to be planted, among others). Men and women are interviewed together, but also individually. This is why our methodology includes five components: two questionnaires (a household questionnaire and an individual questionnaire), measurements of height and weight of up to three household members, and two choice experiments (one regarding labor preferences and another related to food choices).The household questionnaire includes the topics of food availability, food security, expenses and economic activities of the household, characteristics of the housing and access to education, health, and financial services. This should be answered, ideally, by both respondents jointly. However, if one of them cannot be present during the entire household interview, the interview can continue with only one respondent. On the other hand, the individual questionnaire includes information related to agricultural decision-making, food perceptions, and the use of time, access to capital and group memberships. This questionnaire has to be answered by each of the persons who comprise the household couple, without exception.Size and weight measurements are taken after the household questionnaire, both the man and woman of the main couple, as well as a child older than 6 months and younger than 5 years of age, for households where there is a child with these characteristics. The labor preference experiment is answered individually just after the individual questionnaire. Finally, the food choice experiment has two parts. The first part is answered separately and the second part jointly by the couple.When there is more than one family nucleus in the selected household, that is, two couples that selfidentify as principal, the couple that makes most of the decisions within the household is selected, or the couple recognized as the main one by the other household members.To implement the study, we hired Khanti, a Guatemalan survey company with extensive experience in the collection of socioeconomic and qualitative data, as well as taking measurements of height and weight. We worked with them in three phases: 1) instrument adjustment phase, 2) interviewer or enumerator training phase, and 3) implementation phase.In the first phase, they adjusted the instruments to the local language and did a pilot test to identify the duration of the survey. Then, we trained field supervisors to explain the survey, the objectives of the study and discuss the logistic activities and work areas. During this training, we carried out a second pilot test that allowed us to adjust the instruments.The second phase focused on training the enumerators. Taking into account that both the main couple (man and woman) of the household would be interviewed, we asked Khanti that each surveying team be comprised by a man and a woman. The men interviewed the male respondents and the women interviewed the female respondents. This dynamic is important to facilitate greater trust and openness of the respondents and obtain more information and of better quality. Once the interviewers were selected, we conducted a training workshop for nine (9) days. In this workshop, we not only explained the objectives and methodology of the study to the enumerators, but we also reviewed in detail each question of the questionnaires as well as the actions to take in face of potential situations that may arise in the field. The training ended with the performance of a field test that served as the third pilot of the instruments.After the training was carried out, the information collection phase began, which was done on paper. However, each enumerator had a tablet to enter the survey data 2 (see section 3.1), and the paper versions were scanned to keep a backup copy.At the end of the digitization of the surveys, the cleaning and quality verification of the information was carried out. Within this process, databases were generated for each module with their respective household and respondent identifiers, as well as the codebook, which contains the name of each variable and its description. Table 2 summarizes the field activities. The data collection tools include five types of instruments: a household questionnaire, an individual questionnaire (for the main couple), anthropometric measurements, and two choice experiments.During the interview, we first completed the household questionnaire and then we took the anthropometric measurements; after that, we carried out the individual interview and finally the two choice experiments were conducted.The household and individual questionnaires inquire about household characteristics, decision making in the home, agricultural production, the use of time and the consumption of food. The anthropometric measures, height, and weight, seek to provide nutritional information about the main couple interviewed and also about the children between 6 months and 5 years of age. On the other hand, the choice experiments have two main purposes: (1) to contrast the decision making in the selection of food by men and women -individually and jointly-under different income/food budget scenarios, and (2) to understand men's and women labor preferences between working in agricultural or working in household chores and care tasks. To analyze the link between gender norms, the use of time, and decision-making in the household around food consumption, we jointly analyze data from the various different modules and instruments.In the rest of this section we describe in more detail each of the five data collection instruments, and how they were implemented per the instructions given to the enumerators as well as any suggestions for future studies researching similar topics.The household questionnaire includes a household roster, which details the information about each household member, their occupation, and income. It also includes modules to capture information about food availability, food security, household expenses, characterization of the plots, labor force in agricultural activities, sales of crops and animals, non-agricultural income, access to services, housing characteristics and participation in programs. MethodsGuidePrevious studies and the pilot test allowed identifying the flow of the questions, which modules require more time and concentration by the interviewees, as well as those that may be more sensitive and with a high risk of non-response. The final order of the modules changed based on the pilot test and unfortunately, the numbering of the modules did not get updated before implementation; thus, the final version of the instruments does not reflect the order in which the modules were implemented. Below, we present each module in the order in which they were asked in the study and give the numbering in parentheses.This module seeks to register data that:  Identifies the household and the survey with a unique code (which is collected in questions A01 and A02) in addition to the contact information of one of the survey respondents.  Identifies enumerators and supervisors.  Documents the duration of the survey.  Registers the location (geographic location) of the household. GPS equipment was used to capture the coordinates of the all producers' homes.The information contained in this module allows demographic analysis to characterize the families surveyed. It covers questions about sex, age, educational level, marital status, occupation, among others, of all household members. In this study we use the same definition of a household used for the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which states that: MethodsGuide 51-All members of the household 52-Male not a member of the household (relative) 53-Woman not a member of the household (relative) 54-Male not a member of the household (not related) 55-Woman not a member of the household (not related) 56-Government or another institution 57-Children presentThe study population includes both indigenous and mestizos, although, in the questionnaires we did not include questions about the ethnicity of each member of the household, we had a question about the language they speak, which can be used as a proxy to determine the belonging of each person or household to an indigenous ethnic group.Although in the study sites there are not multiple ethnicities, our data do not allow corroborating this information because we do not include variables that would allow us to identify the members of the household. We suggest that in other studies a variable of ethnicity be included in order to explore potential differences between different groups.The occupation questions were asked for the members of the household over 10 years of age since this is the minimum age used by the statistical departments of Guatemala. We suggest that other studies adjust the minimum age according to the context of the country.Income in our study does not represent a measure of poverty. We recognize that there are various problems in collecting income data in rural areas and specifically in agriculture; therefore the income data should be used with caution to estimate poverty/well-being indicators. The income question was included exclusively to have a reference value in the experiment of choosing labor preferences (see section 2.4).This module captures food availability in the household and the information needed to calculate the indicator of Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) using 24-hour recall data. The module asks about the amount of food available in the household (both in the kitchen and in the kitchen gardens) on the day of the interview, considering a list of 79 products as a reference, the time for which that amount of food lasts and if it had been consumed by household members the day before.Initially, we had two sections, one for demand (quantities, frequencies, prices) of food in a week (7 days) and another one for HDDS. Doing it this way took a lot of time -during the pilot tests these sections took approximately 2 hours-so we reduced it to a section that captures both types of information for just one day (the day before the interview) and we did not ask about frequencies or prices. In this way, our final version allows us to calculate the HDDS and also to obtain some information to estimate demand for food such as the quantities available in the household and the length of time this amount lasts.In the particular case of the HDDS, Swindale and Bilinsky (2006) developed an instrument based on asking if any member of the family consumed each of the food groups 3 the previous day. In our study, instead of referring to 12 food groups, we used a list of 79 reference products, which were defined based on the Survey for Impact Evaluation of the PLAN HAMBRE ZERO (PLAN ZERO HUNGER) for Guatemala in 2012. Doing it in this way does not imply any problem for the estimation of the indicator and follows the suggestions given by Swindale and Bilinsky (2006) such as the use of an extended list in which the groups are divided and the exemplification of each group with local foods. Table 3 shows the instrument for estimating the standard HDDS, meanwhile Table 4 shows the way we asked in this study (but we do not include the full list of foods).Table 3. Information collection instrument for the HDDS.  Then, to calculate the indicator, we classified the products in the list according to the food groups established in the HDDS as shown in Table 5, and we only use question E04 (Did your household consume [...] yesterday?) to calculate the HDDS.Table 5. Products in the instrument of this study grouped according to the standard HDDS.Cereals (Group A)White bread, sweet bread, cookies, maize tortillas, maseca, maize tamales, chuchitos, Incaparina 4 in powder, liquid Incaparina, mosh, oats, wheat flour (for pastry, pancakes, etc.), maize atole 5 , rice, maize (white, yellow, etc.), noodles, pasta of all kinds, toast with guacamole, beans, Tortrix, Ricitos, nachos, and colored/black tamales.Other possible: Wheat heart, atol dough, atol mosh, cereal, bread cakes, vitacereal, maize, paddy rice, rice atol, cereal coffee, maize pinol, rice pudding MethodsGuide Roots and Tubers (Group B)Banana atole (in a liquid state), potatoes/cassava, plantains.Other possible: Radish, sweet potato, malanga atol, turnip.Tomato, onion, chili pepper (pepper, jalapeño, chiltepe, etc.), cabbage/lettuce, carrot, güisquil, cucumber, beetroot, garlic, herbs (black nightshade, watercress, parsley, coriander, mint, etc.), celery, peas, broccoli/cauliflower, green beans, güicoy.Other possible: Ayote, onion with leaves, pacaya, loroco, ayotes, pacayas, bean leaves.Bananas, oranges, pineapples, apples, watermelons, mangoes, lemons, avocados, papayas.Other possible: Guava, lime, tangerine, lemon, strawberries, papayas, grapefruit, sincuya.Beef without bone, beef with bone, boneless pork, pork with bone, viscera, chicken or hen, sausages (ham, sausages, chorizo, longaniza), pork rinds or pork in small portions, colored/black tamales Eggs (Group F)Other possible: Duck eggs Fish and Seafood (Group G) Fish, sardines (canned)Other possible: Shrimp Legumes, pulses and dried fruits (Group H) Fava beans, atole (in a liquid state), bean (black, white, red, etc.).Milk and dairy products (Group I) Powder milk, liquid milk, fresh cream, cheese (any type).Other possible: Yogurt, rice pudding Oils and fats (Group J) Edible oils, margarine/butter, mayonnaise and dressings, colored/black tamales.Other possible: Fat Sugar and Honey (Group K) Sugar, panela, honey, soft drinks, packed or canned juices, ice cream, chocolate bar (for drinking), chocolate powder (for drinking), sweets of all kinds, bags of sweets or chips Miscellaneous foods (Group L) Dried soup packets or instant soups, including bouillon (Maggi, Knorr, Malher, etc.), sauces (Worcestershire, \"natura,\" \"la chula,\" \"regia,\" etc.), seasonings, softeners, salt, coffee (grain, ground, instant), colored/black tamales Other possible: Sweet sauce, chiltepe, Splenda, gelatin, cinnamon, bay leaf, rice pudding In section 3.2.2 we present more detailed information about the HDDS, the methodology for its estimation using the information collected and the type of results that can be obtained. MethodsGuideThe questions in this module seek to measure the prevalence of household food insecurity using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) (Coates, et al., 2007). It should be taken into account that the questions consider the situation of all the household members together and do not distinguish between adults, children or adolescents. Therefore, it is essential that the person interviewed responds on behalf of all the members of the household. Details on this scale and its calculation are presented in section 3.2.4.The purpose of this module is to estimate household expenses. For this, we established a list of 25 expenses in products and services in three periods: last week, last month and last 12 months and we asked if the household had incurred such an expense. Among the expenses, we include transportation, health, education, leisure, and construction.This module intends to capture information on all the plots that the household uses for agricultural activities and briefly characterize the production and income obtained by these. This includes crop production and animal husbandry. We also include questions about family labor, to identify the roles of household members in different activities of the productive cycle, and non-agricultural income such as rent, business or remittances.We also included a question to estimate the indicator of Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP). We adapted the instrument developed by Bilinsky and Swindale (2010) within the framework of the FANTA project to estimate this indicator. Their original tool inquires whether the household failed to meet the food needs of all its members and the months in which this happened. In our study, we inquired directly about the most critical months where there was a shortage of food or resources in the household. If there were any, the interviewee indicated which months and otherwise the option 'none' was marked to indicate that in the last 12 months there was no shortage month. Doing it in this way does not imply changes in the calculation of the indicator; however, it facilitates the collection of information and optimizes the use of space in the survey. Table 6 shows the instrument for estimating the standard MAHFP, meanwhile table 7 shows the way we asked in this study. In section 3.2.3 we present the methodology for calculating this indicator and the preliminary results using the information collected in our study population.   The main objective of this module is to obtain information on the physical characteristics of the household, as well as access to different types of infrastructure/services such as school, health center, etc. These data serve as input to estimate the living conditions and levels of well-being of the household, using the Poverty Probability Index (PPI) and the measure of Unsatisfied Basic Needs (UBN) of the household. In section 3.2.5 we explain these indicators and the steps to calculate them.In the case of the PPI for Guatemala, the latest version of the instrument to calculate it was created in 2016 by the organization Innovations in Poverty Action (IPA) and has the structure indicated in Table 8.Table 8. PPI data collection instrument for Guatemala MethodsGuide In our study, we distributed the 10 questions of the tool in the module with which it was related. For example, question 1 was not made directly, but rather it is induced from module B that relates to household member characteristics. Questions 2 and 3 on housing conditions were included in module F of the household questionnaire, and questions on assets in module E of the individual questionnaire.This module captures the anthropometric measurements (weight and height) of the principal man and woman of the household, as well as a child older than 6 months and younger than 5 years of age, for households where there is a child with these characteristics. When there are several children in this age range, we take the measurements for the youngest of them. Usually, in nutrition studies, anthropometric measures are taken only for women and children. In this study, we include men's measurements in order to analyze how their anthropometry is correlated with that of women and children, and with the HDDS and/or food choices.When weight and height information is collected, the interviewers must be properly certified and trained in the use of the equipment and the established standards for anthropometric measurements. In our study, we worked with Khanti to ensure that the enumerators had this certification granted by the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP). 6In this questionnaire, we interview the woman and the man who comprise the main couple of the household separately. The main objective is to determine the degree of empowerment using a series of questions that allow us to calculate the Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI). In general, the questions address issues of productive decision-making and the use of income; access and ownership of resources; belonging to social and economic groups; and the distribution of time in domestic and productive activities. Most questions in the individual questionnaire MethodsGuide use the identifier (ID) assigned to each member of the household in module B of the household questionnaire, as well as the general codes.This module seeks to register data that: Identifies the household, the survey and the respondent with a unique code. These three identifiers correspond to the same ones registered in Module A of the household questionnaire. Thus, during the analysis phase, individual responses can be combined with household characteristics.  Documents the presence of other people during the interview. This is to collect information to build variables to control for information biases that might result from others listening to the interview.The purpose of this module is to obtain information on the roles of men and women in decision making around income generating activities. All the questions included serve to estimate the A-WEAI and, therefore, correspond to the predesigned questionnaire elaborated by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). However, some questions were adapted using the local language in order to facilitate the understanding of the same for both the enumerators and the interviewees. Additionally, the response options of some questions were modified; instead of using pre-defined response categories, we use open-ended questions and individual household member identifiers to later classify the responses as the original A-WEAI response categories. Table 9 presents the variations between the questions predesigned by IFPRI and the version we used in the study. These modifications do not generate any negative impact on the estimation of the indicators and indexes, since they allow the construction of the categories suggested by IFPRI; nonetheless, these also allow us to identify each decision maker and their specific characteristics that have been captured in module B of the household questionnaire.Table 9. Questions predesigned and implemented in the study.When decisions are made regarding [...], who is it that normally takes the decision? In section 3.2.6 we present detailed information about the A-WEAI, the methodology for its construction, its scope and some results obtained in our study.This module collects information to understand behaviors about the household diet. It includes questions about the person in charge of preparing the food, the satisfaction with the amount consumed, differences between household members in terms of eating patterns, including dietary preferences/restrictions and meal times,, and the attendance of trainings on healthy eating and prevention of digestive diseases.The way in which the main decision makers distribute their time significantly impacts the living standard of the household. More time spent on productive activities could mean more income for the household, but also less time in care activities, including food preparation and sanitation activities, and as such, this could have an adverse effect on nutrition. This is why this module collects information about how the main man and woman of the household distribute and use their time between different productive, domestic and leisure activities, among others. The information in this module is an input to estimate the A-WEAI. However, the way in which we ask, differs from the instrument predesigned by IFPRI as shown in tables 10 and 11. These changes were made to facilitate the interview and data handling, and do not represent any difficulty to estimate the indicator. MethodsGuide  Both access to credit and other productive resources have been identified as one of the greatest limitations of rural households to increase their productivity and improve their living conditions. Therefore, this module captures information on loans, the level of indebtedness of households and their restrictions to access credit, as well as the possession of agricultural equipment and household assets. The data in this module are inputs for the calculation of two indexes: the A-WEAI and the PPI. MethodsGuideProductive capital:Among the productive assets needed to calculate the A-WEAI, information is required at the individual level on ownership of agricultural land, large and small livestock, poultry and fish, among others. Although we did not include these resources in the individual questionnaire, we had the question in the household questionnaire, which can be used as a proxy to determine the ownership of these assets. However, we suggest that in other studies the entire list of resources be included in the individual questionnaire, as proposed by IFPRI, in order to explore potential intra-household differences between the main man and woman.We modified some of the questions and response categories related to access to credit and productive capital for the A-WEAI; instead of using pre-defined response categories about owners, we use openended questions and individual household member identifiers to later classify the responses as the original A-WEAI response categories. In this way we can relate the demographic characteristics that have been captured in module B of the household questionnaire, such as age, schooling, marital status, etc., of all the owners/decision-makers. Furthermore, in the case of productive assets, the change allows identifying who is the owner and not only the participation of the interviewee in the ownership of the asset. With this information, in addition to calculating the A-WEAI, we can better understand the inequality of assets and wealth within the household. Table 12 presents the variations between the questions predesigned by IFPRI and the version we used in the study. The purpose of this module is to obtain information about the access of the main man and woman of the household to social capital. That is, participation in formal, informal or traditional groups. In addition, information about group membership is necessary to calculate the A-WEAI.This game allows not only to analyze labor preferences for men and women between agricultural activities and domestic chores, but also to identify reserve wages to which there may be a change in those preferences. Furthermore, it helps us understand gender norms and how household members decide how to use their time.The game is composed of five rounds. The first compares agricultural work in their own plots and domestic activities in their own households. The second is between agricultural work in their own plots and domestic activities in another household. The third round asks about the preference between agricultural work in another person's plots and domestic activities in their own household. In the fourth round, both agricultural work and domestic activities are carried out in someone else's parcels and households. The fifth and final round asks the respondent to consider the preference of their partner between working in agricultural on their own plots and domestic tasks in their own home.To implement the game you must proceed with the following steps:1. Identify the highest income in the household asked in module B of the household survey (question B18), and according to the category, select the corresponding table. For example, if in question B18 the highest annual income was $ 5000 Q (category 2), the table of values \"category 1 and 2\" should be used to complete the tables for each of the rounds of the game.For replications of this game in other contexts, it must be taken into account that each row of option B in the tables of values corresponds to 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175% and 200%, respectively, of the value in category A (and category A is the highest value of question B18 in the household questionnaire).2. With the information of the corresponding table of values, the tables of the 5 rounds of the game are completed in module H. The value of the column called \"Option A\" in the rounds of the game must be the value that appears in the column with the same name in the value tables. Similarly, the information must be filled in the \"Option B\" column. Following the example set, the result of this step is:3. Based on the information recorded, the interviewee is asked the first round, replacing the corresponding values in the statement. If the answer is agricultural work, mark with an 'X' in the column \"Choice\" the letter 'A' as seen in the following image. MethodsGuide Re-ask the question, but this time, replace the value of domestic chores in the statement, by the second value that appears in the \"Option B\" column as follows:Wait for the response of the interviewee and continue with the same dynamic until the response changes, that is, that the respondent prefers domestic chores. In this case, mark with an 'X' in the column \"Choice\" the letter 'B', as the following example shows, and move on to round two. It is possible that the respondent never changes his preference therefore, it is essential to continue with the dynamics until finishing all the rows of each round before moving on to the next one. The only exception is when the preference changes before completing the entire round, as in the example presented. In this case, you should not continue with that round but move on to the next one until you complete five rounds.The objective of this module is to provide information on the food preferences of the main men and women (with a budget constraint). The experiment is carried out with the man and the woman, separately, and also with the couple together. It is important to highlight that, during the sampling, a group of households that would listen to a recording with nutritional information was selected randomly.The recording was reproduced before starting the individual questionnaire and had the following message, which is a summary of the \"Olla Familiar\" that is the guideline for healthy eating in Guatemala (MSPAS, 2012):To have a good diet we must know the food groups, what their functions are in the body and how to combine them all. For this, I will explain the food groups according to the food pot. At the base of the pot, we have the energy foods, which are the tortilla, the bread, and the rice. All these foods provide us with energy. The next group of foods is comprised by the protectors, which are fruits and vegetables, these foods give us vitamins and minerals that help protect the body. The next group of foods is formed by the builders, which are all meats and dairy products, these foods provide us with proteins that help us build muscle. Above the pot we can observe fats and sugars, we must consume them in a small amount. So, to have an adequate and varied diet, we must consume a type of food of each group. For example, we can consume a tortilla that is an energetic food, an egg that is a building food and herbs that are protective food. Thus, we achieve a balanced, varied and good diet. (Estrada, et al., 2018) The experiment is composed of three sections and each of them has two rounds. The sections correspond to three levels of hypothetical income (50, 75 and 100 Quetzals), 8 meanwhile the rounds refer to the type of products presented to choose among. In the first round, the choice is between food (and drinks) only, and in the second round, the options are extended to also include non-food products (beauty, personal hygiene, house cleaning and entertainment).To implement the experiment individually, the following steps were followed:1. Establish if the respondents in the household listened to the recording or not with nutritional information. In module A of the individual questionnaire, there is a variable that identifies if the household received the message. 2. Have the interviewee randomly choose one of three cards that contain a hypothetical income for the first set of choices. 3. Once the interviewee chooses the card, he/she starts the first round of the experiment. That is, he/she must choose how to distribute the selected income among the foods in Table 13. Once MethodsGuide Table 14. Other products (not food)Note: After the man and woman complete the choice experiment individually, they repeat it together. However, given time constraints, the joint choice experiment only included the hypothetical income level of 50 Quetzals. In this way, to implement it, only step 2 presented in the individual version must be carried out.Below is an example that illustrates how to ask and record the information.Enumerator: I am going to ask you to please choose one of these three cards (for the example we are going to assume that the card selected is the one of 75 Quetzals)Enumerator This process continues until the interviewee has distributed the 75 Quetzals and then the enumerator must put all the foods on the poster and add the other products (Table 14).Enumerator: Now you ARE GOING TO IMAGINE that you don´t have ANYTHING AVAILABLE in your household and you want to buy some products for YOUR FAMILY IN ONE DAY with those 75 Quetzals. 9 We decided not to include prices because they vary across sites and communities within the sites, thus we asked the participants during the game to tell us the price they would pay for the items they choose. This process continues until the interviewee has distributed the 75 Quetzals. Then the enumerator must place once again all the foods and products on the poster and ask the interviewee to choose an income card between the two remaining, and the new section will begin.All this information must be recorded on the data collection instrument as it appears in the following image: This process must be continued until the couple has distributed the 50 Quetzals and then the enumerator must place all the foods on the poster and add the other products (Table 14) to start the last round.Register the name of the productThe TYPE must be marked with an \"X\" if it is individual or joint MethodsGuide Delivery of the coupon: In order to add an element of real choice to the experiment, we also gave the couple a coupon to purchase food and non-food items at a local store, with the intention that they use it to purchase some of the items they chose during the hypothetical game. At the end of the experiment a coupon worth 50 Quetzals was given jointly to the couple. This ensured that they both knew about the coupon and could decide together how to use it (although given intra-household power dynamics and/or role division, this task could be undertaken by one spouse or the other). This coupon could be used to buy food and/or non-food items at an authorized local store, within a period no longer than 15 days from the interview. We also collected information about the choices purchased with the coupon at the local stores. The following statement was read when giving the coupon to the couple.\"Thank you for taking your time and effort in responding to this survey. We would like to give you this coupon with a value of 50 Quetzals to buy any products you choose in [NAME] store. The coupon has a term until [DATE], after this date it is no longer valid\".In this study, we originally planned to use tablets to collect data but the due to last minute changes in some of the instruments, specifically the choice experiments and also the lack of space for writing notes, which was important for the team to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each instrument, paper surveys were used. Programming tablets, using the CSPro program, was finished after starting data collection and thus we asked the enumerators to enter data on the tablets at the end of the data collection phase. The programming included not only consistency checks but also filters and categories for the variables. This allowed the digitization process to also be the first filter of information quality.The second quality filter or data cleaning was carried out in a period of 3 months. During this time, each section of the survey was reviewed separately and then databases were generated for each module taking into account the level at which the questions were asked. For example, for module C of the household questionnaire, 5 datasets were created: at the plot level (covering from question C02 to C06); at the crop level (question C07 through C16); by parcel and person who works on each parcel (question C17 to C20); by main crop (question C21 to C25); and per household (from C26 to question C32). Each of these datasets include household and respondent identifying variables, and those of module C also have a plot identifier. These variables allow merging modules and a better manipulation of the information to be able to carry out the respective analyzes.Once the data was cleaned and the respective bases were created, the codebook was generated. It contains detailed information on each of the variables included: variable name, general description, and response category descriptions. To ensure confidentiality of the participants all identifying information was removed from the databases. MethodsGuideIn the study, we included several common metrics and indexes used in studies of agriculture, poverty and well-being, food security and nutrition, and women's empowerment. In this section, we explain each of them in detail with special emphasis on the methodology for calculating them as well as some examples of the type of results that can be generated. First, we discuss the indicators related to nutritional status (BMI, chronic malnutrition). Then, the food security indicators (HDDS, MAHFP, HFIAS) followed by indicators of poverty and well-being (PPI, UBN). Finally, we present the Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEIA).The metrics we used to analyze the anthropometric data were the Body Mass Index (BMI) for adults and the Indicator of chronic malnutrition or stunting for children between 6 months and 5 years of age.The BMI allows assessing the nutritional status of an adult, i.e. malnutrition, overweight and obesity.For its estimation, the weight and height of each person are required. To calculate the BMI, the following steps should be followed:1. Calculate the average of the measurements made during the study, both height and weight for each individual. 2. Convert measures of height to meters. 3. Convert the units of mass to kilograms. (In our study the size information was collected in centimeters, and the weight in kilograms, as this is the metric system used in Guatemala). 4. Divide the weight in kilos of each individual by the square of its length in meters. The indicator of chronic malnutrition or growth retardation determines whether a child between 6 months and 5 years of age has insufficient height with respect to his/her age. Chronic malnutrition prevents children from developing their physical and cognitive potential (WHO, 2018).The steps to estimate this indicator are the following:1. Identify the age (in months) and length/height of the child less than 5 years of age.2. Position the point corresponding to age and height in the reference curve. In this study, we used the following normality curves of the World Health Organization (WHO) that differentiates individuals by sex. MethodsGuide In both areas, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher for women compared to men. In the western area, a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity was observed for both sexes compared to the east.The prevalence of children with stunting in the west was 44%, while the prevalence of children underweight was 9%. In the east, one of two children presented stunted growth and 11% were underweight. (Cosenza, et al., 2019)  Underweight (BMI <18.5) Normal (BMI 18.5-24.9)Overweight (BMI 25.0 -29.9) Obesity (BMI >30.0)The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) was developed by Swindale and Bilinsky within the framework of the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA) to facilitate data collection on household level food availability in a fast manner, easy to use and at low cost. The HDDS measures the household's dietary diversity as a proxy for access to food in the household, that is, it is an indirect measure of a household's ability to access a variety of foods (Swindale and Bilinsky, 2006;Kennedy, et al., 2013). The HDDS defines diversity as the number of food groups consumed in the household in the 24 hours prior to conducting the survey. This definition is based on the consideration that the consumption of different groups of foods implies that the household has access to a more diverse diet. Thus, the HDDS uses the following 12 food groups:1. Cereals 2. Roots and tubers 3. Vegetables 4. Fruits 5. Chicken meat, offal 6. Eggs 7. Fish and seafood 8. Legumes, pulses, dried fruits 9. Milk and dairy products 10. Oils and fats 11. Sugar and honey 12. Miscellaneous food For the estimation of the HDDS, Swindale and Bilinsky (2006) developed an instrument based on asking if any member of the family consumed each of the food groups the previous day. The questions are addressed to the household in general and not to each member of the family. Although the groups used are a standard, it is possible to use an 'extended' list, as we did in our study, in which the groups are divided. For example, instead of having a fruit category, we can have a list of fruits common in the study sites. This does not affect the indicator, because you can regroup the fruits again to form the group. 10   To estimate the HDDS it is sufficient to generate 12 dichotomous variables, one for each food group, which takes the value of one (1) if the household consumed any food within that group, and zero (0) in the other case. Then, add those variables. The HDSS will be given by:Where j is household and i the food group. The HDDS takes values between 0 and 12. As the indicator takes a value closer to 12, it means that the household has a more diverse diet.Once the score per household is estimated, calculate the average of the study population, which is the indicator:\uD835\uDC47\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC61\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC59 \uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC4F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC52ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC60 (\uD835\uDC5B)10 More details on the methodological procedures to implement the indicator can be consulted in the guidelines developed by Swindale and Bilinsky (2006), available in: https://www.fantaproject.org/tools MethodsGuide One of the limitations of this measure is that it only allows for measurements at the household level, and the typical diet at the individual level is unknown. On the other hand, since it is 24-hour recall data, the information easier to collect, process and analyze.The population studied consumes 7.4 food groups. In the east, this average is statistically significantly lower than the west, 7.1 and 7.6, respectively. Although the indicator shows us the number of average groups consumed, it does not tell us anything about how adequate the value obtained is. Thus, to classify households we followed a similar methodology as Carbajal (2014) to determine different levels of HDDS by using the average HDDS of the two highest HDDS tercile. That is, 33% of households with the highest HDDS had an average score of 9 food groups. The second tercile had an average HDDS of 7 food groups. In this way we established the following categories:a. Suitable: HDDS ≥ 9 b. Acceptable: 7 ≤ HDDS <9 c. Little variety: HDDS <7 Following this classification, 46% of the households interviewed have an acceptable HDDS. Then, 29.6% have a slightly varied diet during the reference period and 24.4% have an adequate HDDS. (Lopera, et al., 2019) The Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) also developed within the framework of the FANTA project, is an indicator of the impact of access to food that allows capturing changes in the household's capacity to have provisions during the year and additionally, to identify the most critical months for them (Bilinsky and Swindale, 2010).The implementation guide 11 of the MAHFP indicator suggests carrying out the data collection during the period of greatest food shortage (for example, before the harvest). The recommended reference period is 12 months prior to the time of the interview. Therefore, the months must be adjusted according W E S T ( N = 1 2 5 ) E A S T ( N = 1 2 5 ) T O T A L ( N = 2 5 0 )Adequate (HDDS ≥ 9 food groups) Acceptable (7 ≤ HDDS < 9) less varied (HDDS<7 food groups) MethodsGuide to the moment in which the study is carried out so that the current month appears first. Our survey was carried out in November and December just before coffee harvesting (a cash crop), but during the harvest of maize and beans (food crops). Thus, we do not collect the data during the period of greatest food shortage as recommended but we capture months of months of food insecurity that do correspond to the months just before harvest of food crops.To calculate the indicator, simply subtract from 12, the number of months in which the household could not meet the family's food needs. This is:\uD835\uDC40\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC57 = 12 − \uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC4F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 \uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC61ℎ\uD835\uDC60 \uD835\uDC61ℎ\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC61 \uD835\uDC61ℎ\uD835\uDC52 ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC52ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC51 \uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC51 \uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC51 \uD835\uDC60ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC5F\uD835\uDC61\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC54\uD835\uDC52 \uD835\uDC57Then, an average is calculated for all the households that participated in the sample, including those that did not have any month of food shortage:\uD835\uDC47\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC61\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC59 \uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC4F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC52ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC60 (\uD835\uDC5B)In the last 12 months, 93.2% of the households interviewed had at least one month in which there was not enough food to satisfy the family needs.According to the MAHFP, households on average had 8.9 months with normal access to food to meet their needs. This implies that, in the year, 3 months were critical. As can be seen in the graph, these months were mainly April, May, and June. While this analysis suggests that there are no differences in the most critical months between the eastern and western regions, there are differences by months between regions. (Lopera, et al., 2019)  The Indicator of Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) measures the prevalence of food insecurity in households. This indicator was also developed by the FANTA project and consists of three domains of food insecurity questions: 1) anxiety and uncertainty about the food supply in the household, 2) insufficient food quality and insufficient food intake, and 3) physical consequences. Each question has two parts: occurrence and frequency. The questions of occurrence inquire if some of the situations posed, associated with food insecurity, occurred sometime during the last four weeks (30 days).Conversely, those of frequency ask about the number of days in which that situation occurred in the same period (Coates, et al., 2007).All the questions consider the situation of all the members of the family group and do not distinguish between adults, children or adolescents. Therefore, it is essential that the person interviewed answers on behalf of the household and all its members. Ideally, the questions should be directed to the person in the family group that is most closely related to the preparation of food and meals. Table 15 presents the questions included in the instrument for the implementation of HFIAS 12 and groups them according to the domain: Q # a. How often did this happen?1-A few times (1 or 2 days in the last 30 days)Anxiety and uncertainty about the food supply in the household Q2. In the past 30 days, were you or any household member not able to eat the kinds of foods you preferred because of a lack of resources?Insufficient quality (includes variety and preferences on the type of food)Q3. In the past 30 days, did you or any household member have to eat a limited variety of foods due to lack of resources?Q4. In the past 30 days, did you or any household member have to eat some foods that you really did not want to eat because a lack of resources to obtain other types of food?Q5. In the past 30 days, did you or any household member have to eat smaller meal than you felt you needed because there was not enough food?Insufficient food intake and its physical consequences MethodsGuide Q6. In the past 30 days, did you or any other household member have to eat fewer meals in a day because there was not enough food?2-Sometimes (between 3 and 10 days in the last 30 days) 3-Frequently (more than 10 days in the last 30 days) Q7. In the last 30 days, was there ever no food to eat of any kind in your household because of lack of resources to get food? Q8. In the past 30 days, did you or any household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food? Q9. In the past 30 days, did you or any household member go a whole day and night without eating anything because there was not enough food? Source: Adapted from Coates, et al. (2007).To calculate the HFIAS, the following steps must be followed:1. Ensure that households where a situation of food insecurity did not occur, i.e. that answered 'no' to the questions of occurrence, have zero in the frequency questions (Table 15). 2. Calculate the HFIAS score variable per household, which corresponds to the sum of the frequency of occurrence during the last four weeks for the nine conditions related to food insecurity. The maximum score per household is 27 (that is, if the household has answered '3 = frequently' to the nine questions of frequency and the minimum score is 0). \"When the score is higher, food insecurity experienced by the household is also higher (in terms of access)\" (Coates, et al., 2007). The steps to calculate the HFIAP are:1. Classify each household into one of the categories following the conditions in Table 16. MethodsGuideTable 16. Description of the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP) classification.Food security (Q1a=0 or Q1a=1) and Q2=0 and Q3=0 and Q4=0 and Q5=0 and Q6=0 and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0 The household does not experience any of the conditions of food insecurity or only experiences the feeling of concern, but very rarely.Mild food insecurity (Q1a=2 or Q1a=3 or Q2a=1 or Q2a=2 or Q2a=3 or Q3a=1 or P4a=1) and Q5=0 and P6=0 and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0The household worries about not having enough food sometimes or frequently and/or cannot eat the desired food and/or eats a more monotonous diet than desired, and/or some foods are considered undesirable, but only very rarely. However, it does not reduce the amount or experiences any of the three most critical conditions (total lack of food, going to bed hungry or spending all day without eating).(Q3a=2 or Q3a=3 or Q4a=2 or Q4a=3 or Q5a=1 or Q5a=2 or Q6a=1 or Q6a=2) and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0The household sacrifices quality more often, eating a monotonous diet or less appetizing foods sometimes or frequently, and/or has begun to reduce the amount by reducing the size or number of meals almost never or sometimes. However, the household does not experience any of the three most severe conditions.Q5a=3 or Q6a=3 or Q7a=1 or Q7a=2 or Q7a=3 or Q8a=1 or Q8a=2 or Q8a=3 or Q9a=1 or Q9a=2 or Q9a=3The household reduces the size of meals or the number of meals frequently and/or experiences any of the three most severe conditions (total lack of food, going to bed hungry or spending all day without eating), at least once in the last four weeks.2. Finally, the percentage of households for each of the categories is calculated. This is the prevalence of HFIA:\uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC3C\uD835\uDC34 \uD835\uDC5D\uD835\uDC5F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC63\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC50\uD835\uDC52 = \uD835\uDC41\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC4F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC52ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC60 \uD835\uDC64\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61ℎ \uD835\uDC50\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC61\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC54\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC5F\uD835\uDC66 \uD835\uDC56 \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 \uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC3C\uD835\uDC34 \uD835\uDC47\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC61\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC59 \uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5A\uD835\uDC4F\uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC5F \uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC53 ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC52ℎ\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC59\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC60 * 100Where i corresponds to the HFIAP category.Seventy-two percent (72%) of the households in our study experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the month before the survey (October or November; categories 3 and 4 in the chart). The eastern zone presents significantly higher levels of moderate or severe food insecurity. (Lopera, et al., 2019) MethodsGuideThe Poverty Probability Index (PPI) was developed by the organization Innovations in Poverty Action (IPA) as a tool to measure the probability that a household is below a given poverty line. This index is based on 10 questions about the characteristics of the household and the possession of assets derived from the most recent national household income or expenditure survey of the country of study (IPA, 2018). Each question is assigned a score by which the probability that the household is living below the poverty line is estimated. The PPI has a scale of 0 to 100, so with higher values, the probability of living below the poverty line is lower. Meanwhile, values closer to 0 reveal worse household conditions.In the case of Guatemala, the latest version of the instrument to calculate the PPI was created in 2016 and had as input the data from the National Living Conditions Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida, ENCOVI) of 2014. 13   Once the information is collected, the first step in estimating the PPI score is to assign to each answer the number of points that correspond to it. The second step is to add those points and the result is the PPI score of the household.Additionally, with the PPI it is possible to estimate the average probability that a household is poor. To do this, convert each PPI score to the poverty probability, 14 then, add these values and divide the result by the number of households participating in the study.13For more information on the construction of the PPI for Guatemala you can consult: https://www.povertyindex.org/es/country/guatemala 14 The probability tables for Guatemala can be consulted in Schreiner, Mark (2016)   According to the PPI scores, 96.4% of household have some probability of being below the National Poverty Line and 36% of households have some probability of being below the international poverty line (USD$1.90 per person per day).When the information is analyzed by department, the households belonging to the San Marcos department (western zone) show a 60.2 percent average probability of being below the National Poverty Line. In the case of the eastern zone formed by the Chiquimula and Zacapa departments the probability was 70.6% and 55.9% respectively.The measure of Unsatisfied Basic Needs (UBN) was introduced by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) as a direct method to determine the poverty of a household. Under this method, the UBN are classified into four categories according to the information available in the National Census data: access to housing that ensures a minimum standard of habitability for the household, access to basic services that ensure an adequate sanitary level, access to basic education and economic capacity to reach minimum levels of consumption (Feres and Mancero, 2001). Each of these categories has indicators that are presented in Table 17; these are used to calculate the UBN.The satisfaction conditions of these indicators vary by country and area (urban and rural), in the table below, we present those used in Guatemala for rural areas. completed any level of education and that have more than four persons per member active in labor force.Source: Adapted from Feres and Mancero (2001) To calculate the measurement of the UBN, first, create a variable for each basic need that takes the value of 1 if the household is insufficient in that need and the value of 0 otherwise. This allows identifying different needs that characterize the study population, i.e. to characterize poverty.The Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) was developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as an alternative to measuring the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector in a more effective way than the WEAI. 15  Both indicators, however, are constructed under the same premises and are therefore aggregate indexes that show the degree to which women are empowered in their households, as well as the degree of inequality between women and men within the same household.The A-WEAI, like the WEAI is composed of two sub-indexes: the Five Domains of Empowerment Index (5DE) and the Gender Equality Index (GEI). The first reflects the percentage of women who are empowered in five domains: 1) decisions about agricultural production, 2) access and decision-making power over productive resources, 3) control over the use of income, 4) leadership in the community, and 5) use of time. In addition, for those women who are not empowered in these five domains, 5DE reflects the percentage of indicators in which they have reached proficiency. The GPI, on the other hand, reflects the percentage of women whose empowerment is equal to or greater than that of men in their households. Likewise, for those who have not achieved gender equality, the index shows the empowerment gap that needs to be closed so that women reach the same level (Alkire et al., 2012).To estimate the A-WEAI, it is necessary to have the information presented in Table 18 disaggregated by sex in the same household. In order to calculate the full A-WEAI measure, both members of the principle couple (a man and a woman) responsible for making household social, economic, and agricultural decisions should be interviewed. 16 This main man and woman of the household are usually the husband/wife and his/her spouse. However, other relationships are also valid, as long as there are a man and a woman of legal age making the decisions. For example, a mother could live with her adult MethodsGuideThe two sub-indexes that comprise the A-WEAI are the 5DE and the GPI. The first has a weight of 90%, meanwhile, the GPI is 10%. Although these weights are arbitrary and reflect the emphasis on the 5DE, it also considers gender equality as a determinant of empowerment (Alkire et al., 2012).The steps to estimate the 5DE are:1. Generate a variable for each indicator (\uD835\uDC3C \uD835\uDC56 ) included in Table 19. 2. Change the value of each indicator by 1 if the person is deficient in that indicator. A person is deficient in a given indicator if he/she meets the conditions described in the table. -The household has a type of asset, but the individual is not the individual owner of the majority.Access and decisions on credit -The household does not have credit.-The household used a certain source of credit, but the individual did not participate in any decision about it.Income Control over the use of the income -The individual participates in the activity, but is not involved or is involved in very few decisions about the use of income generated by the activity.-The individual feels that he/she cannot participate in making decisions related to salary, employment, and household expenses.Leadership Group membership -The individual is not part of at least one group.-There are no groups in the community. \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = \uD835\uDC64 1 \uD835\uDC3C 1 + \uD835\uDC64 2 \uD835\uDC3C 2 + \uD835\uDC64 3 \uD835\uDC3C 3 + \uD835\uDC64 4 \uD835\uDC3C 4 + \uD835\uDC64 5 \uD835\uDC3C 5 + \uD835\uDC64 6 \uD835\uDC3C 6Where, \uD835\uDC64 \uD835\uDC56 is the weight of indicator I, (see Table 19). The deficiency score takes values between 0 and 1. A person who is deficient in all the indicators receives a score of 1 meanwhile the score decreases as the number of deficiencies of the person decreases; a 0 score indicates that the person is not deficient in any of the indicators.4. Determine the disempowerment threshold (k):The disempowerment threshold corresponds to the proportion of weighted deficiencies that a woman must have to be considered disempowered (Alkire et al., 2012). Alkire et al. (2012) suggest a threshold of 20% (k = 0.2).5. Change the value of Ci and of each Indicator by 0 if Ci ≤ k. This new Ci is the Censored Score of Disempowerment Deficiency (Ci (k))6. Calculate the Disempowerment Incidence (\uD835\uDC3B \uD835\uDC5D ):Where q is the number of individuals that are disempowered and n is the total population. A person is considered disempowered in the 5DE sub-index when his deficiency score is higher than the disempowerment threshold. This is: \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 > \uD835\uDC58 Compare the Ci and the Ci '(k) of the couple in each household to determine if there is gender inequality. Households exhibit inequality when the woman is disempowered (Ci> k) and her Ci '(k) is higher than or equal to that of the main man in her household.2. Calculate the proportion of households with gender disparity (\uD835\uDC3B \uD835\uDC3A\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC3C ):Where h is the number of households classified as households with gender disparity and m is the total number of households with a male and female partner in the population.3. Calculate the average empowerment gap (\uD835\uDC3C \uD835\uDC3A\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC3C ):Where \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC57 ′(\uD835\uDC58) \uD835\uDC4A and \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC57 ′(\uD835\uDC58) \uD835\uDC40 are the censored scores of disempowerment deficiency of the main woman and man, respectively, who live in the household j. And h is the number of households classified as households with gender disparity.4. Finally, calculate the Gender Equality Index (GPI):Then, the Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) is given by: \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC4A\uD835\uDC38\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC3C = (0.9)5\uD835\uDC37\uD835\uDC38 + (0.1)\uD835\uDC3A\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC3CIn this study, we used the Stata do-files (codes) published by IFPRI in its information repository to prepare the data and calculate the subindexes. However, considering that we created identifiers (ID) for household members and used those IDs as answers in the A-WEAI questions, we had to make adaptations to the standard codes.Another important modification in our study, compared to the A-WEAI standards, is that the ownership of some assets (agricultural land, livestock, and poultry) was not asked individually, but was captured in the household questionnaire. This involved an additional preparation of the data.The A-WEAI score suggests that the women in our sample have a high level of empowerment. However, approximately 33% of them are disempowered in at least one of the six indicators and, on average, non-empowered women have inadequate achievements in 30.4 percent of the domains. In the case of men although the indicator of the five domains suggests that they are empowered (0.96), there are a significant number of men in our sample that are disempowered (13.4%).For most indicators, men are relatively better off than women, except for the labor force indicator, where men are significantly more disempowered than women.Belonging to groups is the indicator that makes the greatest contribution to the disempowerment of both men and women. On the other hand, in the case of women, ownership of assets contributes approximately 22% to their disempowerment (figure 3a), meanwhile, in the case of men, this indicator is one of the least contributing, approximately 3% (figure 3b). Access and decisions on credit, on the other hand, is the third indicator that contributes most to the disempowerment of men and women.  The GPI shows that about 71% of women have gender parity with the principal male in their household. Of 29% of the women who are less empowered than their male counterpart, the empowerment gap is 13%. (Muriel, et. al, 2019)  Our study is innovative in terms of linking the issues of gender, agriculture, food security and nutrition. We use both innovative methods (the choice experiments) and well known variables, metrics and indexes to explore these issues in more detail. This document explains the design of the study, the data collection instruments, and the analysis of standard metrics and indexes. The next steps include more complex data analyses to explore the relationships between these metrics and what they can together tell us about how intra-household gender relations, especially those related to time use allocation, and food choices, in agricultural households impact nutritional outcomes of the household members.","tokenCount":"12367"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0910748645.json b/data/part_1/0910748645.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..da2d230c2e309750f2be93b45319cfe92e77defc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0910748645.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89e241d959b2eaf85907ba2b5c08c2e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd895995-a79e-44bb-90c2-9001c2893731/retrieve","id":"80243132"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"88dbae4b-74f1-42e3-8b5f-90fe409c82bc","pagecount":"1","content":"o Mechanized power and its role in feeding both humans and animals more efficiently have long been neglected in West African agriculture. ICRISAT along with its partners are taking corrective action. o Key research activities were to make the farmers aware about the technology of chopping green and dry fodder for optimum and efficient utilization of CR using a machine and its cost benefit of technology and o To identify a local fabricator to innovate it as per Malian situation.Availability of improved management options for efficient and optimum utilization of crop residues for dry season feeding. hours manually. o Chopping 20 charrettes or 2 tonnes/ 10 hours@ 500 CFA proposition to make the business reasonably profitable.Chopping of dual purpose Fadda at Koutiala","tokenCount":"122"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0923238191.json b/data/part_1/0923238191.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3657cca310e551f20c56508de65cefa3993c94cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0923238191.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fc8f68bfe622688928ce3135d7d3cecc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6505da3f-5872-4c91-b02c-250ba3dc0d93/retrieve","id":"-1824344595"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4fa208e-24ac-4fe1-b0c8-65e15e17fba9","pagecount":"28","content":"Développer son entreprise agricole, c'est possible… et ça rapporte 17 | Point de vue Pauline Mwangi : prendre un bon départ Les femmes doivent gagner en confiance et développer leurs réseaux 18 | Reportage Ouganda : les champignons, ça profite À 25 ans, Ismail apprécie d'être son propre patron 20 | Focus : sorgho 21 | Publications 25 | Agir avec le CTA AgRIPRENEURS Se lancer dans les affaires DOSSIER 13 CONSOMMATEURS Un pouvoir en formation À LA UNE 4 SARAh OgALLEh AYERI Bâtir sur les savoirs locaux INTERvIEw 12 Photo de couverture : © G. Stubbs/africamediaonline.com SPORE N° 151 -FévRIER-MARS 2011 est le magazine bimestriel du Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA). Le CTA est régi par l'Accord de Cotonou entre le groupe des pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP) et l'Union européenne, et financé par l'UE. • CTA • Postbus 380 • 6700 AJ Wageningen, Pays-Bas • Tél. :Juste avant Noël, j'ai assisté à l'inauguration d'un modèle en 3D du massif de Foata, construit par les anciens du village de Telecho, situé à 50 km de la capitale éthiopienne, Addis-Abeba. L'humeur était festive : deux douzaines de cavaliers menaient leurs chevaux en procession en chantant au rythme de la musique traditionnelle diffusée par haut-parleur. La maquette est le fruit d'un programme de formation organisé par l'ONG locale MELKA en collaboration avec le CTA. Des participants du Bénin, Cameroun, Éthiopie, Kenya et Ouganda ont étroitement collaboré pendant quatre semaines avec les anciens, les femmes et les jeunes du village pour construire ce modèle 3D, qui indique cours d'eau, fermes, arbres, lieux culturels et autres lieux importants, sur une zone de 672 km 2 à cheval sur trois sous-districts. Ce sont les aînés de la communauté qui ont mené l'affaire grâce à leur connaissance intime des paysages et des changements survenus au fil du temps. La construction de la maquette a donné lieu à des débats passionnés entre eux, par exemple sur le moment de la disparition de la faune sauvage de la région ou l'aspect verdoyant de la chaîne quelques décennies plus tôt. L'un des anciens a fièrement présenté la maquette à la foule qui s'était réunie pour l'inauguration, composée de membres du Parlement, cadres du gouvernement local, agents de développement, participants à l'atelier et autres invités. Il a souligné que le modèle avait aidé la communauté à réaliser combien la région s'était dégradée, l'amenant à conclure que ses habitants feraient tout non seulement pour enrayer le phénomène mais aussi pour l'inverser. Pour le CTA, l'exercice démontre combien il est important de fournir aux communautés locales les moyens de se faire entendre avec des outils adaptés qui renforcent la qualité de leur prise de décision en matière de gestion des ressources naturelles et d'amélioration des modes de subsistance. Il encourage aussi le partage des savoirs, la mise en réseau et le renforcement des compétences parmi les travailleurs du développement de plusieurs pays d'Afrique.  n Amérique et en Europe, les consommateurs, via leurs associations, combattent depuis 50 ans les abus, les malfaçons, les risques des produits industriels et alimentaires. Ils obtiennent des gouvernements la mise en place de réglementations, le retrait de certains produits du marché et informent les acheteurs… Ce mouvement consumériste s'est peu à peu étendu à tous les continents. Consumers International (CI) regroupe ainsi plus de 225 membres de 115 pays différents. La protection des consommateurs s'appuie sur des principes directeurs adoptés par l'ONU qui reconnaît huit droits essentiels -droits à la sécurité, à l'information, à la satisfaction des besoins essentiels, à la réparation, à l'éducation du consommateur, à un environnement sain, droit de choisir et d'être entendu. Elle couvre des domaines très variés et en constante évolution : sécurité des aliments, environnement, accès aux télécommunications et aux services financiers, etc.Lobbying auprès des gouvernements, campagnes d'éducation, mobilisations citoyennes sont les principales actions des associations qui se sont dotées de sites Web bien documentés et se regroupent pour influer davantage. Un bureau régional de CI pour l'Afrique s'est ainsi ouvert au Zimbabwe en 1994. CI dispose également d'un bureau régional Asie-Pacifique et d'un autre pour l'Amérique latine et les Caraïbes. D'un pays à l'autre, les préoccupations diffèrent, mais les difficultés sont souvent les mêmes.En matière d'alimentation, la préoccupation, dans de nombreux pays d'Afrique notamment, est d'abord l'accès à une alimentation de base à faible coût. Manger à sa faim est la priorité, comme l'ont montré les émeutes de la faim de 2008, où les associations de consommateurs ont joué un rôle majeur que ce soit au Sénégal, au Mali ou au Cameroun. Intoxications et contaminations, parfois mortelles, sont courantes dans les pays ACP.Les consommateurs des îles du Pacifique y sont particulièrement confrontés, contraints de se nourrir de produits industriels importés, parfois de mauvaise qualité.Dans de tels cas, l'éducation du public est le meilleur remède. Les associations s'y emploient, à l'instar de la Fondation pour les droits des consommateurs de République dominicaine (FUNDECOM) qui, dès les années 1980, organisait des rencontres sur l'incidence sur la santé des aliments transgéniques, et propose sur son site des informations juridiques, mais aussi des conseils aux consommateurs. Les campagnes de sensibilisation sont un autre moyen, où associations de consommateurs et ministère coopèrent. À Fidji, l'administration veut stopper les importations bon marché de mauvaise qualité qui inondent l'archipel.La sécurité sanitaire des aliments est très difficile à assurer dans la plupart des pays où la nourriture est vendue dans les marchés et dans la rue. Magasins et supermarchés sont plus faciles à contrôler. Le Réseau mondial d'action contre les pesticides, PAN (en Afrique, PAN Africa), lutte depuis près de 20 ans contre les pesticides toxiques et les méthodes de commercialisation contraires à l'éthique dont sont souvent victimes les petits paysans.Avec le développement des télécommunications, les associations de consommateurs des pays ACP se sont aussi mobilisées pour promouvoir des réseaux de téléphonieLes mouvements de défense des consommateurs des pays ACP prennent peu à peu la mesure de leur pouvoir, en poussant les gouvernements à sensibiliser les populations sur la qualité et l'hygiène des produits, valoriser les productions locales et lutter contre la pauvreté. mobile de qualité (comme au Ghana ou au Bénin), ou la sécurisation des cartes Sim (comme au Nigeria).En 2010, le 15 mars, la journée internationale des consommateurs avait pour thème «Notre argent, nos droits». L'occasion, au Cameroun, d'une étude sur les institutions de microfinance et les pratiques déloyales de nombre d'acteurs dans le secteur, dont les petits producteurs, exclus du système bancaire, sont les premières victimes.De nombreux exemples montrent que, dans les pays en développement, les intérêts des producteurs et des consommateurs, loin d'être opposés, sont liés et complémentaires. La souveraineté alimentaire, avec le retour à la consommation de produits locaux et leur protection contre la concurrence des produits importés à bas prix, mobilise de nombreuses associations.Dans certaines capitales africaines, l'essentiel de la nourriture est importé. Au Cameroun, l'Association citoyenne de défense des intérêts collectifs (ACDIC), appuyée par plusieurs ONG, a mené avec succès, en 2004, une campagne de plaidoyer et obtenu des pouvoirs publics l'interdiction des importations massives de poulets congelés en provenance de l'UE. Décongelées, exposées à la chaleur dans des conditions d'hygiène plus que douteuses, ces viandes étaient devenues un danger pour la santé des consommateurs tandis que leurs importations contribuaient à ruiner l'aviculture locale. De leur côté, l'Association des consommateurs du Mali (ASCOMA) ou l'Association des consommateurs du Sénégal (ASCOSEN) se sont mobilisées aux côtés des organisations paysannes pour promouvoir la consommation de riz local, contre le riz importé. En Afrique du Sud, le Forum national des consommateurs (NCF) vient de faire une étude sur le rôle des supermarchés dans la promotion d'une consommation durable. L'étude pointe que, si les supermarchés sudafricains font des efforts pour recycler les emballages et diminuer leur empreinte carbone, il reste beaucoup à faire pour mieux valoriser les produits locaux.Les marchés en sont bien conscients : des consommateurs organisés sont un facteur important de leur bon fonctionnement. De fait, les associations se professionnalisent, en particulier dans les pays en développement. Pour autant, elles rencontrent de nombreuses difficultés, faute de moyens bien souvent, si elles veulent rester indépendantes. Le défi, pour le mouvement, est d'accéder aux consommateurs du monde rural.Évolution positive, les pays se dotent peu à peu de textes contraignants favorables aux consommateurs (Bénin en 2007, Afrique du Sud en 2008, législation en cours d'adoption au Belize, etc.).Mais disposer d'un arsenal juridique n'est que la première étape pour que les associations puissent agir, mener des actions de plaidoyer ou intenter des procès. La protection des consommateurs passe par l'existence de services de contrôle efficaces, dotés de moyens afin de pouvoir identifier et sanctionner les contrevenants.Elle repose aussi sur la mobilisation des consommateurs. Basé en Afrique du Sud, Robert Michel, chef du bureau Afrique de CI, insiste ainsi sur la nécessité pour les consommateurs de s'exprimer : \"Si l'on se tait, aucune mobilisation n'est possible. Les consommateurs doivent être les premiers contributeurs.\" M. Michel regrette aussi une certaine méfiance des gouvernements vis-à-vis du mouvement : \"Nous ne sommes pas là pour lutter contre les gouvernements, mais bien pour protéger les consommateurs.\"■ Au bout de près de deux décennies de discussion, les gouvernements du monde entier ont élaboré un traité sur une gestion plus équitable des richesses en ressources génétiques de la planète. Ce nouveau pacte de l'ONU met en oeuvre un Régime international sur l'accès et le partage des avantages tirés de la biodiversité, jetant les règles de base en matière de coopération entre pays pour l'obtention de ces ressources (animaux, plantes et champignons).Le traité décrit comment les bénéfices comme ceux tirés des médicaments issus des plantes seront partagés avec les pays et communautés qui auront conservé les ressources, souvent pendant des milliers d'années. Il établit aussi des règles sur la façon de manipuler les substances et les composés dérivés de ressources génétiques.Le Bureau de la coordination des affaires humanitaires (OCHA) et le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) ont lancé la première plate-forme interactive sur Internet qui répertorie, en temps réel, les stocks d'aide humanitaire disponibles dans le monde. L'état des stocks existants dans 39 entrepôts répartis à travers le monde, essentiellement en Afrique, Amérique latine et Asie du Sud, et gérés par 25 agences de l'ONU, ONG ou agences gouvernementales, est ainsi à portée de souris. Cette carte mondiale \"permet de savoir qui a quoi et où\", souligne OCHA. Elle devrait \"améliorer l'efficacité et la rapidité des opérations humanitaires d'urgence\".■ Le concours Seed, organisé par les Nations unies et l'Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature (UICN), a récompensé cette année 30 projets portés par des petits entrepreneurs des pays en développement dans le domaine du développement durable et associant protection de l'environnement et création d'emplois en milieu rural. L'accent a été mis sur le recyclage et les énergies renouvelables.L'Afrique est à l'honneur avec 27 projets récompensés. Parmi ceux-ci, figurent : la fabrication de briquettes combustibles à base de déchets végétaux et la promotion de biopesticides pour les cultures organiques au Burkina Faso, des unités décentralisées de fabrication de compost au Ghana, une unité de fabrication de produits d'ameublement (tapis, couvertures, matelas, etc.) à base de papyrus au Kenya, la production et la distribution de biogaz en bonbonnes pressurisées au Rwanda, des systèmes décentralisés de production et de distribution d'électricité en milieu rural au Sénégal. Les gagnants recevront une assistance à la carte pour perfectionner leur projet, rencontrer des partenaires, commercialiser ou obtenir des crédits. La loi kényane sur la biosécurité s'applique à présent, après une décennie de controverse sur la commercialisation des organismes génétiquement modifiés (OgM). Le Kenya est le quatrième pays africain à mettre en oeuvre une législation de ce type, après l'Afrique du Sud, le Burkina Faso et l'égypte. Le Forum africain des acteurs de la biotechnologie explique que ses membres envisagent à présent de mener des essais en plein champ de cultures OgM. ■ Lancé en 2004, le programme coton bio a suscité un temps beaucoup d'espoir au Burkina Faso, tant de la part des producteurs que des techniciens. Aujourd'hui, ceux-ci se disent inquiets pour l'avenir de ce créneau à la suite de la diffusion massive du coton OGM.Déjà en 2009, des traces de coton OGM avaient été retrouvées dans des champs de coton bio, alors qu'à peine 10 % des producteurs de coton conventionnel avaient adopté le coton OGM. Or, en 2010, ce sont près de 90 % des producteurs de coton conventionnel qui sont passés aux OGM. Les promoteurs de coton bio estiment que le programme est menacé : \"Aujourd'hui, il est quasi impossible de produire du coton bio à 100 %, regrette un technicien du programme. Ce que l'on cherche, c'est à réduire le niveau de contamination.\"Des planteurs dont le coton a été déclassé la saison passée pour cause de contamination hésitent à poursuivre. \"Plutôt que d'enrôler de nouveaux producteurs dans le coton bio, la priorité pour nous actuellement est de retenir ceux qui s'y investissent depuis quelques années déjà\", confie un responsable du programme.Une solution durable serait, selon un ingénieur agronome de l'Union nationale des producteurs de coton du Burkina (UNPCB), de définir des zones réservées au coton bio.■ Les femmes de l'Association des exploitantes de la vallée de Ndiaye Ndiaye (AEV), un village proche de Fatick (160 km à l'est de Dakar), avaient remarqué depuis longtemps que les terres salinisées se régénéraient là où elles avaient jeté des déchets organiques. Désormais, entre avril et mai, elles épandent des ordures ménagères, du son de mil, des rebus de battage et des coques d'arachide sur les sols salés où elles cultivent du riz biologique. Les restes de culture et les mauvaises herbes sont laissés dans les rizières et incorporés dans le sol par un labour au tracteur dès les premières pluies.Ce projet rizicole sur des terres salées récupérées est appuyé par les ONG Agrecol et Green, de Thiès, dans le cadre du programme Promoting farmer experimentation and innovation in Sahel (ProFEIS). Il a permis aux femmes de Ndiaye Ndiaye de gagner déjà près de 7 ha de terres arables. Les rendements se sont améliorés grâce aussi à l'utilisation de variétés locales de riz. Le riz récolté est destiné à l'autoconsommation et à la vente. Pour Fatou Senghor, la présidente de cette association, qui compte 76 exploitantes rizicoles, la réussite de ces femmes tient à leur dynamisme et à leur solidarité.Selon une déclaration du gouvernement tanzanien, le coût de l'érosion des sols et de la dégradation forestière en Tanzanie dépasse à présent le tiers du PIB du pays. Si l'on y ajoute les coûts de la dégradation environnementale des lacs et des rivières, due aux dépôts excessifs de sédiments et de nutriments causés par l'érosion, ce chiffre pourrait être encore plus élevé. Entre 45 et 75 % des terres du pays sont aujourd'hui arides.L'Institut zambien de recherche agricole de la province de Luapula a développé 15 nouvelles variétés de patate douce biofortifiées en vitamine A. Les patates douces à chair orange cultivées par les agriculteurs seront une source de vitamine A pour les communautés locales où des taux de carence élevés ont été identifiés comme une cause de cécité. Sept années auront été nécessaires pour développer ces variétés riches en vitamine.■ Pour réduire sa coûteuse dépendance en produits avicoles, importés surtout d'Afrique du Sud et de Hollande, le gouvernement congolais a mis en place fin 2009 un projet appelé Nouveaux villages, qui vise à installer de jeunes agriculteurs dans des villages agricoles modernes. Chaque village compte une cinquantaine de maisons d'habitation et des bâtiments où est élevée de la volaille.Nkouo, le premier de ces trois \"villages agricoles\", est situé à 80 km au nord de Brazzaville. Quarante familles ont été choisies parmi plus de 350 candidats. Spécialisé dans l'élevage de pondeuses, Nkouo dispose de 40 poulaillers, d'un entrepôt, ainsi que d'un centre de tri et de stockage réfrigéré pour les oeufs. Une première au Congo ! Chaque famille avait reçu au départ 792 pondeuses et 2 ha de manioc à cultiver. La production de ces fermiers totalise en moyenne 8 millions d'oeufs par an et 2 000 t de manioc par saison.Après Nkouo, deux autres centres avicoles démarreront leurs activités début 2011 à Imbouba et Odziba, dans la région du Pool. On y élèvera des poussins et des poulets de chair et fabriquera des aliments pour la volaille. Trois ans après l'adoption par 191 pays du Plan mondial d'action pour les ressources zoogénétiques, de plus en plus de pays prennent des mesures pour mieux gérer la diversité génétique des animaux d'élevage. Des stratégies nationales sont mises en oeuvre. Au Kenya, l'administration intègre des informations sur l'élevage dans le recensement de la population humaine et prépare une enquête nationale sur les races d'élevage. Le Ghana recrute et forme des spécialistes de caractérisation et de conservation des races indigènes. La FAO, à l'origine de ce plan d'action, estime néanmoins que beaucoup reste à accomplir. Le nombre de races menacées d'extinction ne cesse d'augmenter : 1 710 (soit 21 % du total des races) contre 1 491 en 2006.Résorber les émissions D'après une étude, quelque 12 % des émissions totales imputables au bétail pourraient être supprimés grâce à de simples améliorations de la production, incluant l'adoption de pâtures plus nutritives et l'ajout de faibles quantités de résidus de récoltes ou de céréales. Il existe d'autres méthodes pour compenser les émissions : restaurer les pâturages dégradés, cultiver des arbres qui piègent le carbone et fournissent des feuilles pour le fourrage et adopter des races plus productives. http://tinyurl.com/6gdb5fuLa Commission nationale des pêches (NFA) de Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée (PNG) vient de lancer un vaste programme de marquage du thon. L'objectif est d'évaluer la valeur de la ressource thonière, dont la contribution au développement économique du pays est importante. D'un coût de 3 millions $ US (2,2 millions €), l'exercice triennal s'effectue dans le cadre du suivi intégré de la pêche qui comprend des observateurs des pêches, des échantillonnages au port des captures et un suivi satellitaire des bateaux. Ce programme est mis en oeuvre par le Secrétariat de la Communauté du Pacifique et la NFA. Selon le Dr John Hampton, son directeur, \"ce programme de marquage fournira à la PNG le meilleur système de suivi des pêches au monde, qui améliorera considérablement notre compréhension de ces précieuses ressources\".© FAO/M. MarzotLes inspecteurs de l'UE ont certifié la qualité des poissons capturés au Capvert. Les autorités de ce pays ont suivi la quasi-totalité des recommandations de l'audit réalisé en 2009, selon les récentes vérifications sur plusieurs pêcheries locales. ■ Le comportement des fourmis, le chant des oiseaux et le moment de la floraison des arbres ou de la chute de leur feuillage -tous ces signes sont vitaux pour les populations nganyi de l'ouest du Kenya, quand il s'agit pour elles de savoir quand préparer et ensemencer la terre. Les récentes modifications des modèles climatiques ont toutefois compliqué les prédictions des Nganyi. Un projet anglo-canadien allie faiseurs de pluie et météorologues afin de combiner les méthodes pour affiner les prévisions. Les deux groupes se réunissent à chaque saison et mettent en commun leurs ressources -les Nganyi utilisant leurs méthodes traditionnelles -pour transmettre leurs prévisions. Les résultats communs se sont révélés plus précis que ceux produits par chacun des groupes séparément.\"Je crois à la validité de chacune de ces deux sciences. Nous marions nos énergies pour mieux aider les populations\", déclare Thomas Onunga, un aîné de la communauté nganyi. Le projet est soutenu par le programme Adaptation au changement climatique en Afrique, soutenu par le ministère britannique du Développement international et le Centre de recherches pour le développement international.Les pays en développement disposent maintenant d'un site pour faciliter l'utilisation des multiples fonds et instruments disponibles pour financer l'adaptation aux changements climatiques. Le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (PNUD) et la Banque mondiale ont lancé récemment un site Internet spécifique qui propose des services, présente et analyse les différents types de fonds existants et les critères à remplir pour leur utilisation. Les modalités de gestion y sont aussi décrites avec des exemples de projets aboutis combinant avec succès divers financements. Dans le cadre de la protection et de la gestion des terres arides, les Nations unies viennent de lancer la Décennie pour les déserts et la lutte contre la désertification (2010-2020). Ces écosystèmes où vit un tiers de la population mondiale sont confrontés à de graves menaces économiques et environnementales : changement climatique, agriculture non durable et mauvaise gestion des ressources en eau. D'après l'ONU, l'Afrique est le continent le plus affecté par la désertification, avec un Sahel semi-aride \"qui se transforme rapidement en espace inculte\". À l'échelle mondiale, la désertification -dégradation des terres en terres arides -concerne 3,6 milliards d'hectares, soit 25 % des terres émergées. Elle menace la subsistance de plus d'un milliard de personnes dans 100 pays. Le sachet composé du même matériel biodégradable ressemble à un sachet de thé. L'intérieur est revêtu d'un film fin de biocides encapsulés dans de minuscules nanofibres, qui tuent tous les microbes responsables de maladies. Le sac est rempli de granules de charbon actif qui suppriment tous les produits chimiques dangereux. Chaque filtre nettoie 1 litre d'eau et les tests ont montré qu'elle est 100 % potable. Une fois utilisé, le sachet est jeté ; un autre est alors inséré dans le goulot.■ Un nouveau système d'irrigation, connu sous le nom de Jardin potager africain, sera mis en place dans quelque 7 000 petites exploitations d'une centaine de communautés du Bénin, du Burkina Faso, du Niger et du Sénégal. Le Jardin potager africain associe un système efficace d'irrigation au goutte-à-goutte, qui économise l'eau, l'énergie et la main-d'oeuvre, et la gestion améliorée des cultures qui accroît les rendements agricoles. Pour réduire les coûts d'exploitation et partager la charge de la gestion de l'eau, les jardins potagers sont gérés sur une base communautaire.Le Centre mondial des légumes fournira aux jardins des variétés améliorées de légumes adaptées aux conditions sahéliennes. Une phase pilote de ce système a été menée avec succès par l'Institut international de recherche sur les cultures des zones tropicales semi-arides (ICRISAT) dans 3 000 jardins. Cette nouvelle phase est financée par les États-Unis, Israël, l'Italie et la Suisse ainsi que par le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA), la Banque mondiale et différentes fondations et ONG internationales.Des scientifiques ont réussi à transférer des gènes du poivron vert sur la banane, pour permettre à cette dernière de résister au flétrissement bactérien mortel du bananier ou Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW). Les bananes génétiquement modifiées dans lesquelles des protéines de poivron vert ont été introduites montrent une forte résistance au BXW en laboratoire. La maladie bactérienne a dévasté la production de bananes dans la région des Grands Lacs en Afrique, causant plus de 500 millions $ US (370 millions €) de pertes annuelles. En partenariat avec l'Organisation ougandaise de recherche agricole (NARO) et la Fondation africaine de technologie agricole, l'Institut international d'agriculture tropicale se prépare à évaluer ces variétés résistantes à la maladie dans le cadre d'essais confinés en champ qui se dérouleront en Ouganda.Dans le cadre du plan stratégique de lutte contre le paludisme 2007-2011, le Mali vient de se doter d'un laboratoire d'entomologie. Avec l'assistance de l'Université de Keele, en Angleterre, les chercheurs de la faculté de médecine de Bamako vont y développer des moustiques transgéniques afin de réduire leur capacité à transmettre le parasite.Les buveurs de bière de mil (dolo) sont plus exposés aux piqûres de moustiques que les buveurs d'eau, constate une étude menée au Burkina Faso par le centre Muraz de Bobo-Dioulasso, l'Institut de recherche burkinabé en sciences de la santé et l'Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD, France). La consommation de bière entraînerait le dégagement d'odeurs corporelles qui attirent les moustiques vecteurs du paludisme. L'identification moléculaire de ces odeurs pourrait permettre de les inhiber ou, à l'inverse, de les utiliser pour piéger les insectes. L'apiculture est passée en Zambie du stade de l'activité informelle à celui de source florissante de revenus, grâce à l'orientation plus commerciale adoptée par le Conseil zambien de l'apiculture (ZhC) qui supervise le secteur. Dans la seule province du Nord-Ouest, plus de 10 000 apiculteurs possèdent 500 000 ruches, produisant 1 000 t de cire d'abeille par an. La moitié du miel et d'autres produits des ruches sont exportés, principalement vers l'Europe. Comment vous y prenez-vous pour trouver les bonnes personnes sur le terrain ? Toutefois, depuis qu'il a sauté le pas en achetant la ferme où il travaillait autrefois, le jeune agriculteur swazi a vu celle-ci se développer et a décroché un contrat d'approvisionnement -en mini-maïs, haricots, courgettes et pois gourmands -d'une grande chaîne sud-africaine de supermarchés. Themba a aussi réussi à pénétrer les marchés européens et son affaire emploie à présent plus de 100 personnes. Gugu Happiness Maphanga qui fait partie de son personnel et travaille à l'unité d'emballage confie : \"Je suis la première de ma famille à avoir un emploi.\"Dans les milieux économiques, on s'accorde largement sur l'idée qu'une agriculture plus commerciale -le développement de petites agro-entreprises en particulier -est un moteur important de la sécurité alimentaire, des exportations, de la croissance et du développement économiques. Themba en est la preuve vivante : il appartient à un groupe réduit mais croissant de personnes que l'on appelle \"agripreneurs\" : des ruraux qui ont créé leur propre entreprise dans l'espoir de revenus et d'un avenir meilleurs.Certains sont devenus leur propre patron par nécessité, en raison du déclin des marchés traditionnels des produits de base et de la difficulté à conserver des parts de marché face à une agriculture de plus en plus commerciale. La fin des prix garantis par les offices de commercialisation a incité de plus en plus de producteurs à réorienter leurs carrières et à chercher les meilleurs moyens pour gagner leur vie à partir de la terre. La réponse varie beaucoup en termes d'échelle et d'ambition. L'une des voies possibles est la diversification. L'agriculteur barbadien Charles Herbert a abandonné la production de sucre lorsque les prix à l'exportation vers l'UE ont commencé à chuter. Il exploite à présent 24 ha de fruits, 28 ha de légumes, 12 ha d'igname et d'autres cultures. Il s'est mis à la culture hydroponique et a décroché un contrat d'approvisionnement d'une agence de croisières. Dans certaines régions du Kenya, les paysans passent de l'agriculture et de l'élevage traditionnel à l'élevage de crocodiles : ils vendent la viande aux hôtels et à des entreprises de transformation et arrondissent leurs revenus avec la peau. C'est grâce à un Programme de formation des jeunes talents dans sa Dominique natale qu'Avriel James s'est découvert une passion pour la fabrication de savon. À la fin de la formation, elle a créé Coal Pot, une fabrique de savon et de produits de soins corporels. Elle a dès le début décidé de fonder son entreprise sur l'utilisation des plantes et ingrédients locaux. Avec l'aide de sa mère et de sa grand-mère, qui toutes deux avaient de solides connaissances en plantes traditionnelles, elle s'en est procurée auprès des paysans locaux. Compte tenu de l'étroitesse du marché intérieur, la jeune entrepreneuse vise plus loin. Avec le soutien de l'Agence caribéenne de développement des exportations, elle a exposé ses produits dans plusieurs salons commerciaux étrangers. Sa société a récemment lancé une ligne de produits de soins corporels pour hommes et présentera prochainement des shampoings à base d'extraits de cabosses de cacao et d'un cactus local. Cette production reprend des recettes de soins capillaires utilisées depuis des générations. L'environnement culturel joue aussi un rôle. Dans certains pays ACP, on considère qu'occuper un emploi salarié est un objectif plus légitime que de se risquer à auto-entreprendre. Les orientations prônées par les parents et les écoles reflètent cette attitude tandis que les cadres commerciaux soulignent l'importance d'un appui accru de la part du secteur éducatif. À Sainte-Lucie, un projet de fabrication par des jeunes sans emploi de papier artisanal à partir de déchets de bananiers a échoué tout d'abord, non parce que le marché n'était pas assez solide mais parce que, nous dit la chef de projet Christine Wilson, \"les jeunes ne comprenaient pas le concept d'entrepreneuriat. Ils voulaient un salaire\".Steve Maximay, expert-consultant en affaires caribéen, demande que soient développés davantage de programmes pour la jeunesse, pour stimuler les jeunes agripreneurs dans les domaines des alicaments, épices exotiques, unités d'agro-service spécialisées dans le marketing, unités d'emballage et de transformation de qualité, ou encore de la formation aux services professionnels tels que certification, traçabilité et gestion des ravageurs.On n'entre pas dans l'agripreneuriat à la légère. Il faut être prêt à prendre des risques calculés. Il faut aussi être créatif, innovant et débrouillard, prêt à travailler dur sans compter les heures, à gérer le stress et à faire face aux bons comme aux mauvais moments. Une bonne formation agricole est indispensable, mais un renforcement des compétences en commerce, marketing et TIC l'est tout autant. Détermination des prix et des coûts, analyse de rentabilité, planification de la production, marketing, comptabilité, contrats et financement sont autant de domaines que les agripreneurs doivent connaître. Un agripreneur doit se faire une idée claire des tendances du marché. Que veulent les consommateurs et pourquoi sont-ils prêts à payer plus cher ?Vendre le projet d'entreprise au financier est l'un des premiers obstacles auxquels est confronté l'entrepreneur. Le crédit seul ne suffit toutefois pas et un bon coup de pouce peut s'avérer décisif. Les efforts de Themba Dlamini à gérer son agro-entreprise au Swaziland semblaient voués à l'échec avant que l'ONG TechnoServe vienne à sa rescousse en négociant un prêt, organisant une assurance-récolte et décrochant la certification GlobalGAP qui lui a permis de pénétrer les marchés internationaux. \"Je n'aurais pas pu y arriver seul\", reconnaît-il.Un projet financé par l'UE au Cameroun et en RD Congo aide les ruraux à développer des micro-entreprises durables, à partir de produits forestiers issus du gommier arabique (Acacia spp.), du safoutier (Dacryodes edulis), du merisier d'Afrique (Prunus africana) et du manguier sauvage (Irvingia spp.). Le Fonds pour les Projets de développement d'innovation (DIV) a été lancé en octobre 2010, pour étendre la discipline financière du secteur privé au secteur public et atteindre les pays du Sud. Un million $ US (environ 736 000 €) ont déjà été investis dans huit projets différents.Au bout du compte, il faut aussi se rappeler que les agripreneurs n'ont pas à vivre tout cela seuls. L'engagement de partenaires dans la création d'une filière Au Guyana, une unité de fabrication de pain de maniocGarry Tarte a rapidement entrevu le nouveau potentiel des noix de coco qu'il cultivait à Taveuni aux Fidji. \"Je viens de l'industrie de la noix de coco qui était sinistrée depuis de nombreuses années, et je commence juste à explorer les possibilités d'ajouter de la valeur grâce à de nouvelles technologies\", dit-il. En plus de produire une huile de noix de coco vierge pour le segment supérieur du marché, il fabrique à présent un cake à base de coprah et fournit les entreprises cosmétiques qui utilisent son huile comme base pour leurs lotions et produits de gommage corporels. En octobre 2010, sa « vision » commerciale a valu à Garry le prix Pacific Farmer du projet Facilitation du commerce des produits agricoles (FACT) financé par l'UE. L'homme d'affaires âgé de 30 ans, qui vend à l'Australie et aux USA, utilise à présent des produits dérivés de la noix de coco pour alimenter sa chaîne de production. Les coques des noix de coco fournissent de la vapeur qui sert à transformer l'huile et deux générateurs fonctionnant à l'huile de coco alimentent sa ferme en électricité.  Au départ, Mulindwa a acheté du mycélium de champignon auprès de l'Université de Makerere et de l'Institut de recherche agricole de Kawanda. Il a toutefois réalisé rapidement qu'il s'en tirerait mieux seul. \"Seules ces deux institutions disposaient de mycélium, mais ce n'était pas pratique pour moi. J'ai alors décidé d'apprendre à le produire moi-même\", explique-t-il. Déterminé, Mulindwa a suivi une formation en microbiologie de trois mois à l'Université de Makerere. Pour parfaire la technique, il s'est inscrit à un autre cours au lycée agricole de Baraka au Kenya.Aujourd'hui âgé de 25 ans, Mulindwa a construit un laboratoire de fabrication du mycélium sur son exploitation, grâce à un prêt sur trois ans contracté auprès d'une société privée pour monter l'installation, d'un coût de 15 millions UGX (environ 5 000 €). Il l'a remboursé dans les temps, sans grandes difficultés. Après avoir expérimenté divers matériaux, il a opté pour l'utilisation exclusive de substrats biologiques pour cultiver les champignons. Il les vend frais ou séchés à des particuliers, supermarchés et hôtels, et, en plus, fournit du mycélium à d'autres clients. Parmi ceux-ci, des agriculteurs ougandais et kényans et les services de vulgarisation agricole de l'État (NAADS). Il réalise un bénéfice mensuel moyen de 1,5 million UGX (500 €), qui peut atteindre 4 millions UGXIsmail Mulindwa était encore adolescent quand il prit conscience des opportunités commerciales de la myciculture. Son instinct ne l'a pas trompé. Il dirige à présent une entreprise florissante qui lui assure de solides revenus et donne du travail à un nombre croissant de petits producteurs.Ismail Mulindwa dans sa chambre noire devant les flacons de mycéliumLes champignons poussent sur des sacs de substrat.(1 300 €) lorsqu'il décroche un gros contrat. \"Ma capacité de livraison est de 2 000 bouteilles de mycélium par mois\", précise-t-il.La demande est telle que Mulindwa a mis sur pied un réseau de petits champignonnistes qu'il cherche à élargir pour répondre à la demande d'un marché international en plein essor. Une grande partie de ses fournisseurs sont des femmes, de plus en plus attirées par la myciculture et qui empruntent les capitaux de départ à des institutions de microfinance. Une part de l'attrait pour cette culture réside dans son cycle rapide ; la récolte s'effectue en 20 à 30 jours après le semis du premier mycélium ; en outre, cette culture ne dépend pas des saisons.\"J'avais peur d'emprunter mais, quand j'ai visité la ferme de Mulindwa, cela m'a encouragée. Avec les champignons, on commence à gagner de l'argent au bout de trois semaines seulement\", explique l'une des petites productrices, Joanita Namirembe. Elle a investi 1 million UGX (330 €), et est rentrée dans ses frais en trois mois. Un autre producteur raconte : \"Je n'ai eu aucune perte : je peux vendre les champignons frais ou séchés au soleil. Séchés, ils peuvent se conserver au moins trois ans.\"Mulindwa dispose de revenus supplémentaires en organisant des ateliers de formation à la myciculture. Son objectif est de monter une structure d'enseignement sur son exploitation pour partager les compétences et savoirs liés à son commerce. Selon lui, le potentiel reste largement inexploité et les champignonnistes pourraient gagner plus avec un emballage de qualité et une bonne image de marque. Le jeune myciculteur affirme qu'être responsable d'une exploitation lui a appris la valeur du travail, mais que les résultats valaient bien cet investissement. \"J'ai transpiré dans mon intérêt, mais j'en ai tiré des bénéfices, déclare-t-il. J'apprécie d'être mon propre patron.\"St Augustine University of the West Indies Cinquième céréale la plus cultivée dans le monde après le maïs, le blé, le riz et l'orge, sa production représente 61,7 millions de tonnes (moyenne 2006-2008) dont 25,6 millions de tonnes pour l'Afrique où il couvre 4 % des terres arables. La production y est passée de 18,41 millions de tonnes en 1980 à 27,16 millions de tonnes en 2009, en partie du fait de la hausse de 54 % des rendements (de 700 à 1 100 kg/ha). Avec l'Asie, essentiellement Chine et Inde, l'Afrique concentre plus de 95 % de son utilisation alimentaire, la production des pays développés (13,6 millions de tonnes) étant destinée surtout à l'alimentation animale.La culture du sorgho est confrontée à deux redoutables prédateurs : le striga et les foreurs de tige. Le striga, plante parasite, est responsable de 40 à 100 % des pertes de récolte. Les méthodes traditionnelles de lutte sont l'arrachage manuel, l'application d'herbicides et l'augmentation des doses d'engrais pour renforcer la plante. Un programme de promotion de variétés résistantes mises au point par l'Institut international de recherche sur les cultures des zones tropicales semiarides (ICRISAT) est en cours auprès des agriculteurs du Sahel sous la coordination de l'Institut malien d'économie rurale (IER) de Bamako, dans le cadre de l'initiative Réponse mondiale pour la sécurité alimentaire.Le second ennemi du sorgho est le foreur de tige. Le ver creuse la plante pour s'en nourrir, avec pour effet de réduire les rendements ou de la tuer. On le combat par les insecticides chimiques ou naturels (cendres, neem, pyrèthre, piments) ou le lâcher d'ennemis naturels (guêpes). La mise au point de variétés résistantes a fait l'objet d'un programme commun ICRISAT-CIRAD lancé en 2000, Le sorgho transgénique pour le contrôle du foreur de tige, qui a permis de transférer à des espèces cultivées un gène de résistance à ce prédateur. Une méthode de lutte commune à ces deux ravageurs est le push pull, qui consiste à associer sur la parcelle de sorgho deux plantes, le desmodium et le napier, qui le protègent de ces ennemis.Le stockage et la transformation du sorgho font appel à des méthodes traditionnelles. Il est stocké au frais et au sec, parfois mélangé à de la cendre, dans des petits conteneurs souvent en terre. La transformation consiste d'abord à éliminer le son par pilage et tamisage ou vannage. Le maltage permet de fabriquer des bouillies et des boissons alcoolisées. D'un point de vue nutritionnel, les teneurs en protéines et en fibre du sorgho sont comparables à celles du maïs et du blé, mais celles en fer et en zinc sont nettement plus élevées. Denrée alimentaire de base pour des millions de Sahéliens depuis des siècles, le sorgho est consommé sous forme de grain entier, de farines, de pain, de galettes, de semoule et ou de bouillies pour les enfants. Les déchets ainsi que les pailles sont donnés aux animaux.Des améliorations rendent le sorgho plus attrayant aux yeux des consommateurs. L'Institut de recherche en agronomie et production animale de Serere, en Ouganda, a mis au point une variété de sorgho à faible teneur en tanin, diminuant ainsi son amertume. L'Institut togolais de recherche agronomique (ITRA) et le Réseau ouest-africain de recherche sur le sorgho (ROCARS) ont produit un pain à base de farine panifiable de sorgho, très bien accueilli par les consommateurs, selon une enquête réalisée fin 2007.Les fabricants de biocarburants s'intéressent de près au sorgho. Le projet Sweet fuel, lancé en janvier 2009 par l'ICRISAT, le CIRAD, l'EMBRAPA (Brésil) et sept autres partenaires, sur financement européen, vise à sélectionner des sorghos sucrés. Ces variétés donnent des graines alimentaires, mais grâce à la forte concentration de sucre dans leur tige elles peuvent aussi servir à fabriquer de l'éthanol. Compte tenu du renchérissement des prix des céréales importées et du réchauffement climatique, le sorgho apparaît comme une céréale à fort potentiel.Céréale des zones arides par excellence, le sorgho fait l'objet d'un intérêt renouvelé pour sa résistance à la sécheresse et son potentiel de production de biocarburants. Ce guide pratique décrit les différentes étapes de la création ou de l'amélioration d'une politique forestière en s'appuyant sur des expériences menées à travers le monde depuis vingt ans. Le Centre pour le développement de l'entreprise (CDE) a organisé en novembre 2007, à Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, un atelier sur la filière pomme de terre dans les pays sahéliens. Les intervenants (producteurs, encadreurs de terrain, scientifiques) venus de sept pays ont souhaité la publication de ce guide technique afin de partager plus largement le fruit de leurs travaux et de leurs expériences. Ce guide qui s'adresse aux techniciens de terrain est accompagné d'un cédérom.Guide pratique de la culture de la pomme de terre en afrique de l'Ouest Bien souvent, les projets de développement sont réalisés dans un temps donné puis, une fois terminés, leurs auteurs disparaissent pour passer à autre chose. La pérennité de ces projets est souvent très relative, mais personne ne vient pour le constater. L'initiative qui a donné naissance à l'ouvrage More people, more trees (Plus de gens, plus d'arbres) répare cette lacune.Vingt ans après avoir réalisé deux projets d'aménagement hydro-agricoles au Burkina Faso et au Kenya, leurs responsables sont revenus sur place pour voir ce qu'il en restait. Comme ils l'avaient fait il y a vingt ans, ils ont filmé ce qu'ils ont vu et les personnes qu'ils ont retrouvées. Audelà de l'émotion suscitée par ces retrouvailles, le DVD qui accompagne le livre montre les effets positifs qui restent de ces projets vingt ans après. Des personnes rencontrées à l'époque attestent que leur vie s'est améliorée grâce à ces projets ; les images des aménagements de l'espace construits pour retenir l'eau et la terre dans ces contrées arides du nord du Burkina et du sud du Kenya montrent que la végétation a regagné du terrain. Les arbres ont grandi, ils ont stabilisé les terrasses anti-érosives et stoppé la dégradation des terres. Un vent d'optimisme salutaire !Le domaine de la gestion de l'information et de la communication (GIC) est devenu central dans l'approche du développement ces dernières années, une tendance renforcée par le développement des TIC et le potentiel qu'elles offrent. Mais il y a un écart considérable à combler dans la littérature destinée à identifier les méthodes d'évaluation qui peuvent s'appliquer en particulier à des projets liés à l'information.La deuxième édition de cette \"boîte à outils\", qui s'appuie sur le succès de la première parue en 2005, vise à donner aux praticiens de l'information un aperçu de la manière d'auto-évaluer leurs produits et services. Il existe une demande croissante pour mener cet exercice en interne plutôt que de compter sur des évaluations externes, qui s'apparentent souvent à un simple quitus. Mais ces praticiens manquent souvent de bases solides pour cela.Le kit est divisé en quatre sections : la première partie donne un aperçu de ce qu'implique une évaluation ; la partie 2 explique comment concevoir et mettre en oeuvre une évaluation et comment en communiquer les résultats et les traduire en actions ; la troisième offre divers outils à utiliser dans le processus, tandis que la partie 4 donne les lignes directrices d'évaluation pour neuf produits et services d'information. En fin d'ouvrage, vous trouverez une liste de sources d'information ainsi qu'un glossaire. Cette approche, essentiellement basée sur les mémoires locales, permet à des personnes ordinaires de produire des maquettes autonomes, à l'échelle et géoréférencées en trois dimensions. Les membres de la communauté impliqués dans cet exercice de cartographie décrivent les usages agricoles ; d'autres caractéristiques sont signalées sur le modèle par des punaises, fils et peintures. Les données figurant sur la maquette, qui est ensuite conservée par la communauté, sont extraites, numérisées et tracées, puis servent de support de communication dans des formats électroniques et imprimés.Ce nouveau manuel donne des indications pratiques sur la façon d'organiser et de mettre en oeuvre un exercice de modélisation participative en 3D. Il contient aussi des informations sur l'histoire des modèles en relief et sur l'utilisation de la méthode en divers endroits du monde, dont plusieurs pays ACP.    Pour pouvoir profiter de la manne alimentaire que représentent les coquillages pour certains pays, il faut pouvoir créer et faire fonctionner un centre de purification qui éliminera les substances à l'origine de maladies pour ceux qui les consomment. ■ Igname marou du Vanuatu, vanille de Madagascar, thé du Kenya... On ne compte plus les produits qui, de par le monde, bénéficient d'une indication géographique (IG). Les IG servent à identifier ces produits comme étant issus d'une région bien définie mais aussi d'un savoir-faire spécifique qui font leur caractère. Elles donnent une notoriété aux produits, mais aussi les protègent de toute imitation : un vin de Champagne, par exemple, ne peut être produit aux États-Unis.Qualités ou caractéristiques liées à un terroir, réputation, savoir-faire ancré dans la tradition sont les trois piliers d'une IG. Les indications géographiques aident à la promotion des produits de terroir et à la percée de nouveaux marchés. Elles contribuent ainsi à maintenir et développer une activité économique autour de ces filières dans les territoires concernés. Les IG permettent également d'augmenter les revenus des producteurs car ces produits sont vendus plus cher en raison de la garantie de qualité qui leur est associée.Cet ouvrage en ligne, outre qu'il présente en détail ce qui constitue une IG et ses atouts pour les pays du Sud, donne des indications concrètes sur la façon de s'y prendre pour en obtenir une.■ L'agroécologie consiste pour le paysan à chercher à imiter la nature dans son champ. Elle mise sur les complémentarités entre différentes plantes et animaux. Elle conçoit l'agriculture non comme un processus qui transforme des intrants en productions agricoles, mais comme un cycle, où le déchet sert d'intrant, où les animaux et les légumineuses fertilisent les sols et où les mauvaises herbes sont considérées comme remplissant des fonctions utiles.Sous l'impulsion de passionnés comme Pierre Rabhi, l'agroécologie a été expérimentée dans les pays en développement. Cet ouvrage présente quelques-unes de ces expériences sous forme d'un recueil de fiches. Ces fiches abordent les éléments fondamentaux de l'agroécologie, puis décrivent les principaux systèmes de production et les pratiques qui y sont associées. Pour faciliter le transfert de ces savoir-faire, des outils pédagogiques ont été élaborés à partir de ce guide. Ils permettent de mener des sessions de formation pratique pour les techniciens de terrain, les agriculteurs et les ONG partenaires.   Comment le Plan stratégique tient-il compte des besoins des bénéficiaires du CTA ?Ainsi que je l'ai dit plus haut, nous avons mené de nombreuses consultations et études pour documenter la nouvelle stratégie, pour nous assurer que les besoins et attentes de nos bénéficiaires étaient pleinement pris en compte. En outre, l'approche orientée sur les résultats de la stratégie insiste sur la satisfaction des besoins de nos bénéficiaires. Un \"suivi et évaluation\" consolidé fournira le mécanisme assurant un retour régulier de la part de nos bénéficiaires, à la base de tout ajustement nécessaire.Comment vous assurerez-vous que les activités du CTA auront l'impact souhaité ?  Quelles sont les difficultés auxquelles ces jeunes sont confrontés dans ce domaine et comment les résoudre ?Très souvent l'image de l'agriculteur est négative : on imagine une personne travaillant dur sous le soleil, sa houe à la main, et gagnant à peine sa vie. Personne ne saurait être spontanément attiré par une telle réalité. Les jeunes ruraux rencontrent aussi des problèmes liés à l'accès à la terre, au manque de revenus pour acheter le matériel de production adéquat. Il est certain que des stratégies d'incitation et d'appui beaucoup plus volontaristes et concrètes pour les jeunes comme pour tout le secteur agricole et rural sont vraiment nécessaires.Les TIC ne sont qu'une partie de la solution. Il faut, bien sûr, améliorer la vie en milieu rural par le développement des TIC : de la téléphonie rurale à la mise en place de points d'accès collectifs aux téléservices, en passant par la formation. Il faut aussi renforcer les capacités des jeunes, en particulier dans les domaines liés aux TIC et à l'agriculture, les appuyer dans la mise en oeuvre de leurs projets, leur donner accès à l'information sur les opportunités de l'agriculture et des secteurs associés en milieu rural en utilisant des outils comme l'Internet ou le Web 2.0.• Le CTA lance une campagne sur la sécurité alimentaire au Burkina Faso en collaboration avec la Fédération nationale des organisations paysannes (FENOP) en mars prochain (tiemogo@cta.int) • Inauguration d'un télécentre communautaire avec l'appui du CTA à Lomé en avril (tiemogo@cta.int)• Journées régionales des fruits et légumes en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre en avril (fonseca@cta.int). ","tokenCount":"7879"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0928286872.json b/data/part_1/0928286872.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6a0c0e4a412321002a62af427982c77e34926c35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0928286872.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df4aa9390b244367192ba95f1d527d36","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a77a014-3103-4fe6-94a4-9fc6528cc7c7/retrieve","id":"443832539"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a2b64995-6596-4089-9700-749714bd31f5","pagecount":"5","content":"Wheat blast has spread across continents, now present in South America (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia), Asia (Bangladesh) and Africa (Zambia). Researchers have identified sources of resistance and the underlying resistance mechanism; also introgressed new resistant gene(s) to develop durable resistant varieties. Resistant varieties have been released in Bangladesh, Nepal and India; seed multiplication and dissemination is in progress. The pathogen's population is clonal in Bangladesh with sensitivity to fungicides, and studies in Zambia about this aspect have just started.Wheat blast, caused by the fungus Magnoporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT), was first reported in Parana State, Brazil in 1985. The disease made its first intercontinental jump in 2016 to Bangladesh, and more recently into Zambia in 2018.WHEAT and NARS partners set up and continue to co-fund (until closure of the CRPs in Dec 2021) three \"Precision Phenotyping Platforms (PPP)\", with two in Bolivia (2016) and one in Bangladesh (2015, Jashore), Wheat blast data from six environments is obtained each year, greatly increasing the screening efficiency and capacity. Since 2017, more than 10,000 wheat lines have been screened. The PPPs play an important role in resistance gene identification, their introgression into varietal development schemes and development of wheat blast-resistant varieties.Sources resistant to wheat blast have been identified, which are either being used in breeding programs, or are candidates for varietal release. Bangladesh, Bolivia, India and Nepal have released varieties resistant to wheat blast through the studies done at PPPs. Rapid seed production and dissemination of these varieties is ongoing. Resistance genes and sources of resistance are being used in breeding programs both by CIMMYT in Mexico and by NARS partners in various countries.To sustain those achievements, scientists must discover other resistance genes. Almost all of existing lines contain the same resistance gene (2NS/2AS translocation). So far, around 10 non-2NS moderately resistant lines have been identified, and their underlying resistance is being dissected. ,Molecular markers for two new promising genes identified He et. al. can be used for marker-assisted selection on a global level.Additionally, international wheat blast trainings have helped strengthen NARS capacity to mitigate the effects of wheat blast.Sub-IDOs:• Adoption of CGIAR materials with enhanced genetic gains WHEAT and other partners set up and co-fund three \"Precision Phenotyping Platforms (PPP)\", with two in Bolivia (Quirusillas and Okinawa) and one in Bangladesh (Jashore), where wheat accessions have been characterised reliably for their reaction to wheat blast (2,5). Each location performs two sowings per year, which means wheat blast data from six environments could be obtained each year, greatly increasing the screening efficiency and capacity. Since 2017, more than 10,000 wheat lines have been screened. The PPPs have played an important role in resistance gene identification, their introgression into varietal development schemes and development of wheat blast-resistant varieties (2,5,12). Despite the those achievements, almost all of the resistant lines identified in the PPP's contain the same resistance gene, located on a piece of genome known as the 2NS/2AS translocation (2,5,12). So far, around 10 non-2NS moderately resistant lines have been identified, and their underlying resistance is being dissected. Recently, Cruppe et al. (6), demonstrated that the 2NS-mediated resistance is being eroded by new MoT isolates and there is an urgent need to identify new non-2NS sources of wheat blast resistance (2,5,12). Recently, two WB resistant genes, Rmg8 and RmgGR119, have shown positive effects on spike blast in controlled conditions (12). These genes, along with 2NS, are being rigorously incorporated into CIMMYT's breeding program at present. Additional efforts are being made to broaden the genetic base of wheat blast by combining 2NS and non-2NS sources of resistance.","tokenCount":"592"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0935232894.json b/data/part_1/0935232894.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..50700c2eaf99bf3209389e92dabde2db2d2a07cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0935232894.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a122ef10121c3cefcb62696452134aee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d1616fdd-707f-4a06-ad09-3602aa4cea82/retrieve","id":"1960243038"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91cddc49-b8c9-463a-8d0b-de409859a5b1","pagecount":"8","content":"Por: Dr. James BarnettEl objetivo principal de la investigaci6n agrícola debe ser el de mejorar la situaci6n agro-econ6mica del agricultor. Se cumple e s e de be r s6lo cuando . se le ofrecen alternativas en prácticas cultural es que son más eficientes y/o econ6micas. El alcance de este objetivo requiere un programa sistemático de investigaci6n diseñado para definir los factores limitantes de producci6n a níve 1 de finca, investigaci6n de alternativas y determinaci6n de las opciones más 6ptimas dentro de la alter nativa, bajo condiciones del agricultor, además de presentars~ las para que él pueda seleccionar la opci6n que más le conviene.El éxito de este programa, está relacionado directamente con dos funciones básicas:1) Diálogo entre investigadores, extensionistas y agricultores y,2) La metodología utilizada en las fases del programa.La Figura 1 es la presentaci6n esquemática de un programa diseñado para aumentar el diálogo entre los participantes y sistematizar el programa de investigaci6n hasta que lleguen las opciones más 6ptimas al agricultor. Se diseñ6 la metodología para enfocar los problemas del agricultor e investigar recomendaciones, bajo condiciones del agricultor, que sean econ6micamen te rentables, factibl e s y aceptables para él.La metodología propues ta en la Figura 1, no debe ser interpretada corno un sistema rígido en el cual cada factor de producci6n investigado tiene que pasar, fase por fase, de la fase explorat~ ria hasta la demostrativa. En unos casos, tal como en ensayos de variedades promisorias, se puede pasar directamente a la fase determinativa. En tal caso el Fitomejorador puede indicar la variedad que entraría en la fase exploratoria y al mismo tiempo seleccionar hasta nueve variedades promisorias para entrar en ensayos de variedades en la fase determinativa. Se consideran los ensayos de variedades como parte de la fase determinativa, de modo que el objetivo sea determinar las mejores opciones (variedades) entre otras. Se debe anotar que aún existe un grado de flexibilidad y no se recomienda introducir una alternativa propuesta en la fase de verificaci6n sin pasar por la fase determinativa y mucho n~nos se recomienda introducir una opci6n propuesta directamente en la fase demostrativa sin pruebas en las fases anteriores.Como regla general, todos los factores de producci6n que se van a investigar, entran directamente en la fase exploratoria para comparar la alternativa propuesta con la practica del agricultor, mientras unos factores pueden entrar en la fase determinativa probando varias opciones de la alternativa; al mismo tiempo una opción de la alternativa esta en la fase exploratoria.Se hacen los análisis estadísticos y economlCOS de los datos en cada fase. El análisis de los factoriales ZX se hace por el m€ todo de Yates. Los demás, se analizan como parcelas divididas 6 sub-divididas. El análisis econ6mico se hace en forma de pres~ . puesto parcial.La Encuesta.-Se recomienda llevar a cabo una encuesta explor~ toria (informal) antes de la cosecha del ciclo anterior, debemos empezar con investigaciones en campos de agricultores. La encuesta debe ser conducida por el económista, el investigador, el especi! lista y el extensionista de la región, trabajando en equipo. Como guía basica, los participantes deben llegar al campo con preguntas trazadas, pero sin ideas preconcebidas.La información recopilada durante la encuesta se utiliza en la orientación de la investigación en la estación experimental, tal como en la investigación en campos de agricultores. Sirve también para hacer la primera aproximación de dominios de recomendación y los factores limitantes en producción en cada dominio. Todos los participantes en la encuesta deciden qué factores de producción entrarán en la investigación en campos, qué níveles, qué diseños experimentales y la fase donde entran.Basicamente esta fase es un estudio comparativo en la cual se compara la practica del agricultor, con una alternativa en los factores de producción seleccionados para investigación. Si resulta que la alternativa utilizada no tiene una ventaja compar! tiva se elimina la alternativa definitivamente para las siguientes fases de investigación. En tal caso, se titilizarla la práctica del agricultor en las siguientes fases, mientras se buscan otras alternativas para investigar. Por ejemplo, entre varios factores una variedad promisoria esta comparada fon la regional, resulta que no hay diferencia significativa entre las dos;. en la fase determinativa se utilizaría la variedad regional en ensayos con las alternativas de otros factores, mientras que buscarían otra variedad promisoria.En la fase exploratoria se utiliza el arreglo factorial ZX (dos níveles de factores !) en un diseño de bloques incompletos. Se recomienda no pasar cuatro factores en un experimento.Se establece el experimento en forma dispersa dentro del dominio, sembrando uno ó dos bloques por sitio hasta que tenga un mínimo de cuatro repeticiones completas. Después de la cosecha, los análisis estadísticos y económicos indicarán qué factores investigados (1) pasan a la fase determl nativa,(2) quedan eliminados,(3) pasan a la estación experimental, (4) continúan en la fase exploratoria probando otras alter nativas.En la fase exploratoria se investigan alternativas para factores de producción. En la fase determinativa se investigan opciones dentro de una alternativa. Por ejemplo, en la fase exploratoria se indica que hay respuesta a la aplicación de Nitr6geno; siendo solo dos níveles, con y sin, no nos indica el nivel (opci6n) más económico. En la fase determinativa se investigan varios niveles de nitrógeno conjuntamente con otros factores de producción.Los diseños C'xper:imentales recomendados paro. la fas'e determinatl va son en bl oques l omplctos al azar ó un arreglo factorial. En ambos casos el experimento se está ubicando en forma dispersa, a través del dominio, con una a tres repeticiones por sitio.El análisis estadístico se asemeja a parcelas divididas donde hay solo un factor de producción bajo investigació1 n y ~omo parcela sub-dividida donde hay dos factores de producción bajo investig~ .. ción. En ambos casos las localidades (sitios) se consideran como parcela mayor con dos ó más repeticiones por localidad. Una alternativa que se puede utilizar si hay escacez.en recursos es establecer una repetición por sitio, en tal caso un factor de producción sería la parcela mayor y el otro la parcela menor, y la repetición sería sinonima con la localidad. La desventaja de esta alternativa es que no se permite el análisis de la interacción entre localidades y tratamientos. , s .En el evento que el análisis indique una diferencia significativa entre localidades, y esta tendencia continúe a través de ciclo~ con las mismas categorías, se recomienda re-definir los límites del dominio. En siembras de dos o más repeticiones por localidad nos permite un análisis de la interacción entre tratamientos y localidades, pero reduce el número demuestras en el dominio.En los análisis estadísticos y económicos se eliminan los trata mientos menos econ6micos y no promisorios. Los cuatro ó cinco que queden pasan a la fase verificativa.Las opciones dentro del factor de producci6n que muestran una tasa de ganancia favorable y por las cuales los agricultores han mostrado interés, continúan en prueba en esta fase.El próposito de ésta es aumentar el número de datos para que sean más confiables los resultados, al mismo tiemp~, como los ensayos son relativamente pequeños, se pueden establecer más de ellos.Los ensayos se siembran en bloques completos al azar, dos 6 más repeticiones por sitio, con la práctica del agricultor como testigo. El análisis estadístico se hace en forma de parcela dl vidida siendo localidad la parcela mayor y tratami~nto la parcela menor.En los análisis economicos, se cálcula la tasa de ganancia y la estabilidad económica por cada tratamiento. Los tratamientos que muestren inestabilidad, bien sea en el análisis estadístico, o en el económico, se eliminan de la investigación restante.Las dos o tres opciones en el factor de producci6n que son est~ bIes, rentables y aceptables al agricultor, se siembran en el campo del agricultor en lotes desde un cuarto hasta una hectárea.El pr6posito es permitir que los agricultores vean las diferencias y selecciolle n la opci6n que más les guste. No hay repeticiones ni anális is estadístico. Se recomienda un análisis econ6mico para mostrar a los agricultores las ventajas econ6micas, Encuesta de Seguimiento.-Uno o dos ciclos después de la fase demostrativa, se recomienda otra encuesta para medir el efecto del procedimiento. Esta encuesta tiene el prop6sito principal de verificar si los agricultores están adoptando la nueva práctica y si no, porque? Además puede detectar otras áreas para investi gaci6n.La informaci6n recibida por la encuesta se dirige a la agencia propia para enfocar la futura investigaci6n.  Il>mp.-","tokenCount":"1378"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0947279183.json b/data/part_1/0947279183.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a8e7c47fb539578a0269c3bd46e4232c412a627
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0947279183.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fe9697885f5bf2860f61a16179855c35","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f09253a-ffb4-40df-aafa-29945e2b9d57/retrieve","id":"-1003769132"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"883f8b5a-963a-496d-9b78-4f295d4be8ad","pagecount":"56","content":"Front: A farmer shows plots where he has introduced sustainable agriculture land management practices, courtesy of Seth Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners. Back: Agroforestry, courtesy of Seth Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners.This training guide was developed within the context of a participatory action research project focusing on the institutional arrangements of smallholder agricultural carbon projects in Sub-Saharan Africa led by EcoAgriculture Partners and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS). The objectives of this project are to identify specific institutional challenges and solutions in carbon projects, implement solutions, and track the impact of these efforts. After conducting analyses to identify specific institutional challenges, project managers jointly determined that the challenge they wanted to work on was that of building local institutions to manage carbon projects. Progress in this area would not only increase the development benefits of the projects, and reduce transaction, staffing, and consulting costs, but will be also be necessary for the long-term success of the projects. For more information on this process, see Shames, S., Q. Bernier, and M. Masiga. 2013. Development of a participatory action research approach for four agricultural carbon projects in east Africa. CAPRi Working Paper No. 113. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute, http://dx.doi.org/10.2499/CAPRiWP113.The manual was created specifically for use in the Western Kenya Smallholder Agricultural Carbon project, managed by the Swedish NGO Vi Agroforestry, which is the test case for the first Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology for generating carbon credits by building organic matter in agricultural soils. Vi Agroforestry takes a holistic approach to project implementation which focuses first on improving farm productivity and livelihoods while generating carbon credits as a co-benefit. The project aims for scale by using its professional staff to train Community Facilitators who coordinate the participation of village-level organizations in the project and provide support to farmers as they implement the sustainable agricultural land management (SALM) practices which generate the carbon credits within the project.This manual includes introductory modules on climate change and SALM, as well as modules that describe specific SALM practices, including soil nutrient management, tillage and residue management, agronomic practices, integrated pest management, agroforestry, soil and water management and improved livestock management. The manual's structure reflects the categories of SALM set out in the VCS methodology (see http://www.v-c-s.org/SALM_methodology_approved) and the technical guidance of the Carbon Baseline Survey Manual for the project.The manual can be given all together as part of an extended, multi-day training session, or separated by module and given over several weeks. Each module is designed to be completed in approximately two hours. For each module, the manual contains an overview of the topic, the learning objectives, and suggestions for further reading, along with notes for the trainer on suggested exercises and summary points. The manual describes how to implement specific techniques in each of these categories, as well as summarizing the livelihood, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation benefits of adopting the practice. It is meant to be accompanied by supplementary training materials including the companion posters, additional readings, and/or the glossary of definitions in Appendix 1. Trainers will rely on practical demonstrations to illustrate and reinforce the lessons. Simplified posters communicating the content of this manual will serve as a companion.In addition, each module contains several follow-up evaluation questions to assess the learners' competencies, located in Appendix 2. This appendix includes two methods of post-module evaluation. Self-evaluation scorecards can be administered by Vi-Agroforestry staff after each module so students can rate their level of understanding of topics discussed. Then, staff can use group discussion questions as an additional means of determining students' understanding of the topic and willingness to use the methods described.We hope this manual will improve the ability of the Vi Agroforestry staff and other training professionals to train community facilitators on SALM practices, and serve as a resource for community facilitators training farmers in their communities.This module presents an introduction to the concept of climate change, including its causes, effects and importance. Also, this module discusses specific challenges local agricultural systems face, the concepts of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and strategies for dealing with climate change in the agricultural sector. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines \"climate change\" as \"a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.\"What are the causes of climate change?Greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are released by human activities are responsible for climate change and global warming. Th release of GHGs has triggered an increase in temperature that affects weather patterns like rainfall at the local level. Human activities that cause climate change include:• Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) through cooking and lighting as well as in vehicles.• Careless use of fertilizers• Careless handling of cow dung• Keeping many heads of livestock• Over tilling land• Burning crop residuesMost studies show that average global temperature has increased by 0.5o -0.74 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years , and projections through climate change modeling predict the temperature could increase by at least 1.1oC by the year 2100.What are the general effects of climate change?• Heatwaves and higher temperatures• New pest and disease outbreaks• Extreme events like storms, droughts and floods• Acidicity in oceans• Water scarcity• Unpredictable precipitation patterns• Climate phenomena like El Niño Southern Oscillation• Snow and glacial melting• High intensity rainfall• Increased rates of soil erosion.• High rates of soil leaching• Eutrophication, sedimentation and siltation of rivers• Loss of biodiversity• Shifting timing of seasonal eventsExercise 1.1Group discussion on the effects of climate change. Possible discussion questions are:• What is climate change and why is it important to you?• What signs of climate change have you seen or do you expect to see?• Can you think of ways that each of the economic sectors might be affected by climate change?This picture showing sources and sinks of greenhouse gasses in the agriculture sector highlights the three key greenhouse gases (GHGs) relevant to the agriculture sector: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). (Graphic: www.trainingschool.bham.org.uk) Sinks of GHGs in the agriculture sector Sources of GHGs in the agriculture sector• CO2 from burning and decomposition of biomass• CO2 from combustion of fossil fuels for on-farm equipment (i.e. tractors)• CO2 from burning of wood for energy• N2O from soil cultivation• N2O from manure• N2O from burning of biomass Why should we be concerned about climate change?• Multiple severe impacts are likely to result from climate change.• Agriculture is highly sensitive to variability and change in climate and markets/price.• A large percentage of the population depends directly on rain fed agriculture and natural resources.• There are already high rates of land degradation (erosion and declining soil fertility, increasing water scarcity and loss of biodiversity) and sensitivity to climate variability.• There are already low yields and high post-harvest losses due to poor land management practices.• Natural resources and ecosystems including drylands, mountains, rainforests, and wetlands are already fragile.Major challenges that the future agricultural systems will face from climate change• An increase in crop water requirements to meet the increased evapotranspiration demands• A reduction in the amount of water available to plants in most places due to the predicted shortages in water supplies• Spatial and temporal changes in the land available for agriculture with tropical countries being more disadvantaged• Increased degradation of land resources from erosion due to the projected increase in extreme storms, droughts and floods.• New management challenges such as dealing with changes in the pest populations and new diseasesBrainstorm all of the current challenges for local agricultural systems and the ways local agricultural systems might be affected by climate change. Possible questions include:• What are key local agricultural challenges?• How do you think your activities will be affected by climate change?This can be done as a whole group or in small groups that report back to the whole group. A list of all of the challenges the group identifies can be generated and displayed throughout the training.• Increased cost of inputs due to steep increases in energy and other input costs including taxation• Competition for land by emerging initiatives like biofuel production, which may further increase food prices and adversely impact the poor• A decrease in biodiversity and the extinction of some species Climate change adaptation is the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects that reduces harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.Adaptive capacity to climate change is the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.As communities are exposed to unexpected or unforeseen changes in weather patterns and increased risk, more robust adaptation plans are required to manage the additional risk.Some of the adaptation strategies are:• Reversing land degradation through the adoption of sustainable agricultural land management (SALM) practices;• Managing heat stress on crops and animals;• Using crop varieties and management systems that do well under a broad range of soil and climatic conditions;• Promoting the efficient capture, storage and utilization of rainfall through the adoption of appropriate soil and water conservation practices, the provision of irrigation, and the use of systems and practices with high use efficiency;• Maintaining soil fertility and productivity by arresting nutrient mining and building or sustaining soil fertility;• Guarding against pest and disease pressure;• Enhancing the resilience of communities by targeting investments better and improving their use efficiency;• Ensuring the maintenance of food and nutritional security; and• Protecting women and other disadvantaged groups from the adverse impacts of climate change.Group discussion about climate change adaptation strategies. What are some possible ways to adapt to the challenges that climate change will pose to agriculture?Exercise 1.4Group discussion about activities that might mitigate climate change in the agriculture sector. What are some possible ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture?Climate change mitigation involves reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or enhancing their sinks, e.g. by reducing the use of fossil fuels, planting trees, or enhancing mineralization of organic matter into soil organic carbon.Strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions include sustainable land management practices like:• Soil nutrient management,• Tillage and residue management,• Agronomic practices,• Agroforestry,• Soil and water conservation, and• Improved livestock management.Agroforestry can mitigate climate change (Photo: J. Recha/ERMCSD)Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Climate change results from human activities that release greenhouse gases, which alter the composition of the global atmosphere. • Climate change may have a significant impact on many economic sectors, including the agriculture sector.• The agriculture sector is both a source of greenhouse gases and a sink of greenhouse gases.• Local agriculture systems currently face many challenges, and these may be increased with climate change.• You can adapt to the effects of climate change in the agriculture sector through sustainable land management practices that manage changes and minimize risks.• You can mitigate climate change from the agriculture sector by practicing sustainable land management techniques that reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere.This section presents an overview of sustainable agriculture and land management (SALM), including an overview of SALM and the rationale for using SALM practices as a solution for improving livelihoods while adapting to climate change and mitigating future climate change.1. Describe SALM practices 2. Describe why SALM practices are important for livelihoods, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation SALM practices are:• Agricultural practices that preserve and enhance productive capacities of land (for crops, livestock, watersheds, forests)• Actions to stop and reverse land degradation• Actions necessary to meet the food needs of the growing population, rehabilitate degraded lands, adapt to changing climate, and mitigate climate change.• Soil nutrient management• Tillage and residue management • To stop land degradation and favor enrichment• To improve the micro-climate and environment• To feed the soil so that it can feed the crops• To increase crop diversity and promote higher yields• To help achieve a stable and balanced ecosystem• To lower costs of production in the long-run, e.g. through reduced tillage, using compost, etc.• To preserve soil organic carbon. When soil is made too loose or exposed to direct sun, the stored carbon will be released as GHG emissions.Ask participants to brainstorm why SALM practices would be important. Discuss each option and supplement list with those listed above. Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• SALM practices are agricultural practices that enhance the productivity of the land, while helping to adapt to climate changes and mitigate climate change. • SALM practices are beneficial because they can stop land degradation, increase crop diversity, promote higher yields, lower the costs of production, improve the micro-climate for plants, and preserve organic carbon in the soil, among other things.Working in the field with conservational farming techniques (P. Casier/CCAFS)This module presents an overview of the causes of declining soil fertility and the importance of soil nutrient management. Then, it presents the techniques for more effectively managing soil nutrients, including mulching, using improved fallows, managing manure, composting and improving the efficiency of fertilizer use.1. Understand the causes of declining soil fertility and the importance of soil nutrient management for agricultural productivity and climate change mitigation 2. Understand the benefits of mulching and be able to use mulching techniques successfully 3. Understand the benefits of using improved fallows and the techniques involved 4. Understand the benefits of manure management and the techniques for effective manure management 5. Understand the benefits of composting and the process of composting 6. Understand the benefits of efficiently using fertilizersThe declining per capita food production in Africa is associated with declining soil fertility in smallholder farms. This is because nutrient capital is gradually depleted by:• Crop harvest removal,• Leaching, andThe use of crop residues by farmers as fodder and shorter or no fallow periods, due to a shrinking land resource base, can be balanced by the addition of organic manure and chemical fertilizers, which most smallholder farmers in the region cannot afford.There is, therefore, a need to develop appropriate soil nutrient and cropping systems that minimize the need for chemical fertilizers and also find ways to integrate livestock into the farming system.The focus of any soil fertility replenishment should be integrated nutrient management involving the application of leguminous mulches, agroforestry, and composting as well as technologies that reduce the risks of acidification and salinization.Soil fertility depletion results from an imbalance of nutrient inputs and harvest removals and other losses, and it is reaching critical levels among smallholder famers (with depletion of soil organic matter being a contributory factor).What is soil organic matter?Soil organic matter includes all organic (or carbon-containing) substances within the soil. Soil organic matter not only storesExercise 3.1Group discussion on the causes of soil fertility loss and the importance of soil nutrient management. Possible questions include:• Have you experienced soil fertility loss?• What do you think causes soil fertility loss?• Why is soil nutrient management important?Soil organic matter (http://www. organicgardeninfo.com/soil.html, 2013) nutrients in the soil, but it is also a direct source of nutrients. Some of the world's most fertile soils tend to contain high amounts of organic matter.• Living organisms (soil biomass);• The remains of microorganisms that once inhabited the soil;• The remains of plants and animals; and• Organic compounds that have been decomposed within the soil and, over thousands of years, reduced to complex and relatively stable substances commonly called humus.As organic matter decomposes in the soil, it may be lost through several avenues. Since organic matter performs many functions in the soil, it is important to maintain soil organic matter by adding fresh sources of animal and plant residues, especially in the tropics where the decomposition of organic residues is continuous throughout the year.Although surface soils usually contain only 1-6 % organic matter, soil organic matter performs very important functions in the soil. Soil organic matter:• Acts as a binding agent for mineral particles;• Is responsible for producing friable (easily crumbled) surface soils;• Increases the amount of water that a soil may hold; and• Provides food for organisms that inhabit the soil.Humus is an integral component of organic matter because it is fairly stable and resistant to further decomposition. Humus is brown or black and gives soils its dark color. Like clay particles, humus is an important source of plant nutrients.Mulching is the process of covering the soil surface with organic matter to create conditions that are more favorable for plant growth (i.e. creating an optimal climate independent of weather conditions), improving the decomposition and mineralization of organic material in the soil (i.e. surface composting), and protecting the soil from erosion.How is it helpful for livelihoods?Mulching can improve the productivity of the land (i.e. crop yields) by making conditions more favorable for plant growth, i.e. conserving soil moisture, improving soil fertility and reducing soil erosion.Demonstrate mulching. If there is someone who is already using this technique, it could be helpful to visit their farm. If a field visit is not possible, a step-by-step drawing of the mulching techniques could be effective.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Mulching can help prevent erosion and increase soil fertility.• Mulching can help protect the soil from excessive heat, exposure to wind, and moisture loss.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?By retaining crop residues, mulching tends to increase the carbon in the soil because these residues are the precursors for soil organic matter, the main store of carbon in the soil. GHG mitigation potential of mulching is 0.02-1.42 tCO2-eq/ha/ yr. In other words, this practice can sequester 0.02 to 1.42 tons of carbon dioxide (or the equivalent of other greenhouse gasses) per hectare over the course of one year.How do you do it?• Cover the soil with crop residues such as maize stalks, beans, cow peas, sweet potatoes, and deciduous tree litter.• It is important to consider plant disease transmittance and multiplication of rodents (rats, mice) in the choice and location of mulch material.What is improved fallow?The planting of fast-growing species of leguminous trees or crops into a short-term fallow for one or more years to improve soil fertility.How is it helpful for livelihoods?Improved fallows help restore fertility to land whose nutrients is depleted. Plant species like grasses or legumes that fix nitrogen grow during the fallow period. As the nitrogen fixing plants grow, excess nitrogen is released back into the soil. Nitrogen is a vital nutrient for plants and plant growth. Planting nitrogen fixing plants is very important for rebuilding soil fertility and improving crop yields.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Improved fallows can help restore degraded land which can be important for adapting to climate change.Discuss as a group the potential benefits and drawbacks of using improved fallows. This might help participants to understand that the long-term benefits often outweigh the short-term costs of this strategy.• They also can help to protect the soil from excessive heat, exposure to wind, and moisture loss.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?• Improved fallows require less fertilizer and therefore have fewer greenhouse gas emissions.• The leaves of the leguminous plants can be incorporated into the soil, increasing the carbon in the soil. GHG mitigation potential of improved fallows is 1.17-9.51 tCO2-eq/ha/ yr.How do you do it?Plant leguminous shrubs, such as Sesbania, Tephrosia, Crotolaria and Cajanus, in fallow lands. These plants are better than natural fallows for enhancing soil fertility, especially for restoring nitrogen and improving other soil properties, and they ease the work of tilling the soil.What is manure management?Manure management activities involve the handling of animal dung and urine (farmyard manure) predominately in the solid form when applying it to croplands.How is it helpful for livelihoods?Applications of manure in the croplands enable achieving and maintaining a fertile soil, which can increase crop yields.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?The application of manure can improve productivity and produce greater crop yield which is important for adapting to climate change.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?Methane emissions from animal waste strongly depend on the specific manure management system and on the conditions and manner in which the system operates. However, generally handling manure in the solid form instead of the liquid form will suppress CH4 emissions. Covering liquid manure also reduces N2O emissions. GHG mitigation potential of manure management is 0.02-1.42 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.Hold a demonstration of how manure should be handled and applied.• Handle manure in the solid form instead of the liquid form when applying it to croplands.• Cover liquid manure.Composting is the controlled biological and chemical decomposition and conversion of animal and plant wastes with the aim of producing humus. Humus is the dark organic material in soils, produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter and is essential to the fertility of the soil.Hold a field demonstration of composting.How is it helpful for livelihoods?• Compost functions as a form of organic fertilizer made from leaves, weeds, manure, household waste and other organic materials, thus it can reduce the cost of fertilizer from other sources.• Proper compost management leads to an increased proportion of humic substances in the soil due to high micro-organic activity, and therefore applying compost leads to quantitative and qualitative improvements of the humus content of the soil, which leads to an increase in crop yields.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Composting helps to improve soil fertility which is helpful in reducing the impacts of climate change.• Composting helps increase soil moisture and soil cover, as well as reduce soil loss.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?Composting helps reduce the need for fertilizer which decreases greenhouse gas emissions. GHG mitigation potential of composting is 0.02-1.42 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.The Do's of Composting• DO mix a variety of vegetable food scraps with grass clippings and leaves.• DO keep the pile damp, but never soggy.• DO turn the pile often. The more often you turn your pile, the quicker it will break down into compost.• DO monitor the temperature of the compost using a stick as a thermometer.• DON'T add clippings, which tend to compact, inhibiting the flow of air through the pile.• DON'T add weeds that contain seeds or root easily from cuttings.• DON'T add dairy products, meat, bones or animal waste.• DON'T add diseased or insect-infested plants.• DON'T add mounds of biomass without mixing in something brown (like shredded dry leaves or newspapers), or there will be a bad odor.• DON'T use unfinished compost on plants, as it will rob them of nitrogen.Layers of compost (http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/Biovision/export/default$ct$206$soilFertilityManagement.html)How do you do it?What is improved fertilizer use efficiency?Improved fertilizer use efficiency involves various techniques for reducing the amount of fertilizer required for plants to grow effectively.How is it helpful for livelihoods?By improving efficiency, it reduces the amount of fertilizer needed, which reduces the cost of fertilizer inputs.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?Precision agriculture techniques can also help to retain water and nutrients in the root zone, which are important for adapting to climate change.Hold a field demonstration.By reducing the amount of fertilizer required for plants to grow effectively, the GHG emissions from fertilizer usage decrease. GHG mitigation potential of improved fertilizer use efficiency is 0.02-1.42 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.How do you do it?• Use recommended rates of suitable organic and inorganic fertilizers. (These rates can be found in the Farm Management Handbook of Kenya.)• Place the nitrogen more precisely into the root zone to make it more accessible by crops.• If possible, use precision agriculture techniques to improve fertilizer application by helping determine exactly where to place nutrients, how much to apply, and when to apply. Three techniques can help achieve this objective:о The collection of spatial data from pre-existing conditions in the field (e.g., remote sensing, canopy size, or yield measurement);о The application of precise fertilizer amounts to the crop when and where needed; andо The recording of detailed logs of all fertilizer applications for spatial and temporal mapping.Demonstration of precise fertilizer application on small smallholder farm at planting (J. Recha/ERMCSD) Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Soil fertility is gradually declining in Africa from leaching, soil erosion and the removal of crop harvests.• Soil organic matter performs many functions in the soil, and it is important to maintain it by adding fresh sources of animal and plant residues.• Mulching is the process of covering the soil surface with organic matter. It can improve the productivity of the land, prevent soil erosion, increase soil fertility, protect the soil from excessive heat, wind and moisture loss, and increase the carbon in the soil.• An improved fallow is created by planting a fast-growing leguminous species into a short-term fallow to improve soil fertility. It can restore the fertility of degraded land, protect the soil from excessive heat, wind and moisture loss, require less fertilizer, and increase the carbon in the soil.• Manure management involves handling manure in its solid form when applying it to croplands. Applications of manure can enhance soil fertility, improve the productivity of the land, and handling it effectively can reduce methane emissions.• Composting is the controlled decomposition of plant and animal waste to produce an organic fertilizer. Applications of compost can reduce the need for fertilizer, increase crop yields, increase soil moisture, and reduce soil loss. This module presents an overview of the benefits of tillage and residue management and techniques for implementing it.1. Understand the benefits of tillage management and learn techniques for reducing tillage. 2. Understand the benefits of managing residue and learn techniques for managing residue.Tillage management is any form of conservation tillage where residue, mulch, or sod is left on the soil surface to reduce soil disturbance, and decrease emissions release.How is it helpful for livelihoods?Recent studies on tillage show that conservation tillage increases soil carbon in the upper layers. This is of crucial importance for the productivity of most tropical soils.Have a group discussion of possible ways to reduce tillage. What are the benefits and challenges of implementing these practices?How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Reducing soil disturbance helps to stabilize soil structures and organic matter, increase water infiltration and prevent erosion.• Conservation tillage also helps conserve soil moisture.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?Reduced till practices sequester carbon only under certain climatic conditions, i.e. regions with relatively high precipitation, high productivity, and a large amount of crop residues as carbon input to the soil. GHG mitigation potential of tillage management is 0.44-1.89 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.There are several types of reduced tillage practices.• Ridge Tillage: A method of preparing the seedbed and planting in the same operation on a pre-formed ridge remaining from the previous year's crop. The soil is left undisturbed before planting.• Strip Tillage: A method of preparing the seedbed and planting on a strip 2 to 8 inches wide and 2 to 4 inches deep in the row area. The soil is left undisturbed before planting.• Minimum Tillage: A cultivation operation whereby soil is disturbed as little as possible to produce a crop. Mulch residue from the previous crop is left on the soil surface which aids in retarding weed growth, conserving moisture, and controlling erosion.• No-Till/Zero Tillage/Slot Planting: A form of minimum tillage where a slot is opened in the soil only sufficiently deep and wide to properly deposit and cover seeds. This is a onceover crop planting system where the seed is planted in a slot created with a coulter in an otherwise undisturbed soil surface. This system makes maximum use of crop residue.What is residue management?Residue management is the sound handling and utilization of plant and crop residues. It combines mulching, composting, integrative livestock and manure management and ideally leaves 30% or more of the soil covered with crop residues after harvest.How is it helpful for livelihoods?• Plant residues converted into organic matter are the major source of carbon in soil.• In an integrated system, crops and livestock interact to create a synergy, with recycling allowing the maximum use of available resources. Crop residues can be used for animal feed, while livestock and livestock by-products can enhanceExercise 4.1Take a field visit to a farm practicing residue management techniques discussed below.agricultural productivity by intensifying nutrients that improve soil fertility, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers.Crop residues placed along the contour lines can slow down surface runoff, reduce soil erosion and improve water infiltration.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?Avoiding burning of residues avoids emissions of aerosols and GHGs generated from fire. GHG mitigation potential of residue management is 0.44-1.89 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.How do you do it?• Burning of residues should be limited and carefully managed.• A special form of residue management promoted in the Kenyan context are \"trash lines\", which are made from crop residues, grass and other organic materials collected from the field. They are constructed along the contour line in order to slow down surface runoff and reduce soil erosion and gradually accumulate soil leading to the building of terraces along the contour. Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Tillage management practices reduce soil disturbance from planting. This increases the amount of carbon in the soil, helps stabilize the soil, increases water infiltration, conserves soil moisture, and prevents erosion. • Residue management is the sound handling and utilization of crop residues, which ideally leaves at least 30% of the soil covered with crop residues after harvest. Plant residues increase the carbon in the soil, reduce soil erosion and improve water infiltration when placed along contours, and proper management of residues reduces the need for burning.This module presents an overview of agronomic practices to improve soil quality, enhance water use efficiency, and improve the environment through better fertilizer management.1. Define agronomic practices 2. Understand the benefits of using several types of agronomic practices Agronomic practices are techniques farmers incorporate into their farm management systems to improve soil quality, enhance water use efficiency, manage crop residue and improve the environment through better fertilizer management. These steps decrease input costs and also improve the environment by decreasing water use and over-fertilization.In this module, we'll explore four main types of agronomic practices.• Cover crops and green manureExercise 5.1Break into small groups (one for each type of agronomic practice). Allow the groups to discuss the practice, how to implement it, and possible benefits. Then report back to the larger group.• Intercropping, alley cropping, relay cropping and contour strip croppingWhat are cover crops and green manure?Cover crops are planted to conserve the soil on bare or fallow farmland. Green manure is a fast growing legume sown in aIntercropping of groundnuts and coffee plants (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners)field several weeks or months before the main crop is planted.Tree legumes used as green manure are also called \"fertilizer trees\". They fix nitrogen in the soil and are more permanent than other types of green manure.How are they helpful for livelihoods?Cover crops and green manure increase the nitrogen in the soil, which improves crop yields.How are they helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Cover crops conserve the soil.• Cover crops can also help protect the soil from excessive heat, exposure to wind, and moisture loss.How are they helpful for climate change mitigation?Cover crops and green manure add carbon to the soils) and may also extract plant-available nitrogen unused by the preceding crop, thereby reducing N2O emissions. GHG mitigation potential of cover crops is 0.51-1.45 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.Plant lablab beans as cover crops as well as other grasses (star grass, guinea grass, T/Nzoia variety) and legume plants (cow peas, mucuna). When the legume flowers, plough it into the soil.What are these practices?• Intercropping: Planting two or more crops in the same field at the same time, such as maize with beans, groundnuts or potatoes.• Alley cropping: Growing annual crops between rows of trees or shrubs to form hedgerows. Shrubs to be planted within crop land include Sesbania sesban, Gliricidia sepium or Calliandra species.• Relay cropping: Planting temporary crops (cover crops) within the main crop before it is harvested in order to ensure the continuous use of land and the availability of organic materials while reducing vulnerability to soil erosion.• Contour strip cropping: Planting alternative strips 15 -45 meters wide of grasses or grain with other crops along the contour to conserve moisture and reduce erosion on gentle slopes and unstable soils.How are these practices helpful for livelihoods?• They improve economic stability by providing several types of crops.• They increase cash flow.• They improve the productivity of the land.How are these practices helpful for adaptation to climate change?• They improve plant and animal diversity.• Intercropping can also help protect the soil from excessive heat, exposure to wind, and moisture loss.How are these practices helpful for climate change mitigation?Mitigation potential for intercropping, alley cropping, relay and contour strip cropping is 0.51-1.45 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.Crop rotation involves planting suitable crops such as legumes and grasses in rotation with other crops in order to maintain the fertility of the soil.Alley cropping (http://www.ingafoundation.org/gallery/#.Uw4RovldX_E)How is it helpful for livelihoods?• Crop rotation helps maintain the fertility of the soil.• Crop rotation also helps to avoid the build-up of pests, weeds, and diseases and it ensures that the root systems explore the soil to different depths.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?Crop rotation improves the fertility of the soil, which helps with adapting to changes in climate.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?GHG mitigation potential of crop rotation is 0.51-1.45 tCO2-eq/ ha/yr.The main practices are planting cereals (high feeders), legumes (nitrogen fixing) and root crops (cover crops) in a sequence. Maize, beans (intercrops and pure stands), cassava, and potatoes are used mostly.What are improved crop varieties?They are crop varieties that have been developed through research and testing to have special qualities, such as fast maturation rates, high yields, and pest and disease tolerance.How are they helpful for livelihoods?Using improved varieties can increase production yields and require less fertilizer, which would reduce input costs.How are they helpful for adaptation to climate change?Farmers can select crop varieties that withstand effects of climate change (i.e. drought tolerant, pest resistant, etc.).How are they helpful for climate change mitigation?• Using improved varieties can increase soil carbon or residues that can be managed to store carbon in the soil for a long period of time• Also, by reducing reliance on fertilizer, using improved varieties can reduce emissions. GHG mitigation potential of improved crop varieties is 0.51-1.45 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.Plant improved crop varieties like hybrid maize, grafted mangoes, indigenous vegetables, mosaic resistant cassava, groundnuts and tissue culture bananas.Improved sorghum (J.Recha/ERMCSD) Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Agronomic practices are techniques farmers use to improve soil management and crop production. These steps decrease costs and improve the environment through better fertilizer and water management.• Cover crops and green manure are planted on bare or fallow land to conserve soil and increase soil fertility. They can help improve crop yields, protect the soil from excessive heat, wind and moisture loss, and add carbon to the soil.• Intercropping, alley cropping, relay cropping and contour strip cropping are techniques for planting crops that improve the productivity of the land by increasing the diversity of crops planted. They can help improve economic stability and protect the soil from excessive heat, wind and moisture loss.• Crop rotation involves planting legumes and grasses in rotation with other crops. It helps maintain the fertility of the soil and helps avoids the build-up of pests, weeds and diseases.• Improved crop varieties are crop varieties that have been researched and tested to have special qualities.They can increase production yields, require less fertilizer, withstand the effects of climate change, and increase soil carbon.This module begins with an overview of integrated pest management (IPM) and the basic techniques for implementing IPM. Then, it presents specific cultural, biological, physical and chemical methods of implementing IPM.1. Understand the definition of IPM.2. Understand the techniques for IPM.3. Understand how to use cultural, biological, physical and chemical methods of IPM. 4. Understand the benefits and disadvantages of using IPM.What is integrated pest management?Integrated pest management (IPM) is a strategy to prevent and suppress pests with a minimal impact on human health, the environment and other organisms. It is a management approach that encourages natural and cultural control of pests through the anticipation of pest problems and management of pest populations to reduce losses to crops. While IPM takes more time and close monitoring than simply using pesticides, it has multiple advantages for farmers and the environment.There are many non-chemical techniques available to reduce and control pests, such as modifying habitat, improving soil health, and using resistant plant varieties.How is it beneficial for livelihoods?• It increases productivity by reducing pest damage and promoting healthy plants.• It reduces risks, such as exposure to pesticide and consumption of their residues, that are associated with pest management to public and farmer health• It decreases pesticide use and increases adoption of more ecologically benign control tactics.• It can increase the cost-effectiveness of pest management programs.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• It protects other species by reducing impact of pest management activities on the ecosystem• It reduces the potential for air and ground water contamination.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?• IPM reduces emissions which otherwise would have been produced from use of pesticides and chemicals.• It can also help to maintain soil biota, and sometimes involves biomass transfer, which builds soil organic matter, recycles nutrients and stabilizes soil carbon.IPM has several steps. First, farmers must focus on preventing problems by monitoring plants, identifying pests and choosing a combination of tactics to keep pests. Tactics for managing pests may include cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical methods. IPM stresses trying the least toxic methods first.Find out what participants already know about integrated pest management. How do they control pests currently, and what challenges are they facing?Exercise 6.2List the steps to developing IPM (monitoring, identifying pests, establishing tolerance level, developing pest management strategy, monitoring results) as a group and discuss each one individually.Regularly check your plants for signs and symptoms of pest damage. Check each plant two or three times per week during the height of the growing season. Inspect the undersides of leaves and the inner parts of plants. You can also check your plants at night with a flashlight.Look closely at any plant that is missing leaves, flowers or fruit. Also look for plants whose color, texture or size looks unusual.Compare each plant to others of the same variety and to what it looked like in previous years during the same season.Most plant problems are due not to pests, but to nonliving factors like poor growing conditions, temperature extremes, poor water management, soil compaction or mechanical injury.When you discover a plant problem, the first step is to rule out these factors as the cause.If you conclude that you do have a pest problem, the next step is to find the pest itself or typical signs and symptoms associated with it. Remember that many organisms do no damage, and many others are beneficial. Make sure the organism you identify is the one actually doing the damage and not just one that happens to be present. You can use plastic bags and glass jars to collect pests for identification purposes.Once you identify the pest, try to determine when it is most susceptible to control measures. For example, an insect may be soft-bodied as a larva and hard-bodied as an adult. Typically, soft-bodied insects are controlled more easily than hard-bodied ones. Also, it usually is easier to control relatively immobile insects than those that fly.Consider how much damage each plant can tolerate. Some food plants can tolerate quite a bit of defoliation without exhibiting decreased yields. Seedlings are less able to withstand pest damage than are mature plants. Use references and experience to help you determine whether a plant is likely to withstand pest damage.After you have identified a pest and decided its damage is unacceptable, you need to develop a pest management strategy. Your strategy may involve the use of more than one method.Evaluation is an important and often overlooked part of a pest management program. Did your strategy work? Was the pest controlled to your satisfaction? You can answer these questions by continuing to monitor your plants carefully. Record your observations for future reference.Cultural pest management methods prevent pest problems by keeping plants healthy and growing vigorously. Others directly address specific pest problems. Some of them are:Choosing resistant/tolerant varieties • A plant's level of resistance is determined by its physical characteristics or chemical composition. \"Tolerant\" varieties can tolerate a lot of damage without a significant decrease in appearance or yield. Some of the most common pest problems can be avoided by choosing resistant or tolerant varieties.• Place plants in an environment where they will grow well.Although some plants will grow in a wide variety of environments, most require fairly specific conditions.• Consider neighboring plants, soil pH, moisture, drainage and exposure to sun and wind when choosing plants for a specific site.• Buy only plants that are free of pests, wounds and symptoms of insect or disease problems. Choose healthy-looking plants with good color.• Give plants a good start by planting them properly. Crowded plants invite pests.• Healthy plants are less likely to suffer a pest attack, and can better withstand pest damage if an infestation does occur.• An under-fertilized plant is stressed and vulnerable to pest attack, and an over-fertilized plant may have excess succulent growth that can invite disease and insect pests.• Provide adequate but not excessive irrigation. Droughtstressed plants are more susceptible to pest attack. Plants in excessively wet soil are vulnerable to attack by root-disease organisms.• Adding organic matter to soil helps retain water and nutrients, improves drainage, and encourages beneficial soil micro-organisms.• Remove pest-infested leaves and fruit as soon as you see them. If an annual plant is badly infested with insects or disease, remove the entire plant. Prune out diseased and dead branches of woody plants.• Add disease-or insect-infested plant parts to your compost pile only if you are hot composting. Otherwise, destroy them.• When the same plants are grown in the same soil each year, insect and disease populations build up. By growing a different plant in the same place each year, you will deprive pests of their hosts.• Since insects and diseases often infest members of the same plant family, it is best to rotate to a member of a different family.Companion planting involves growing two or more specific types of plants together in a combination that will discourage disease and insect pests. For example:• One plant can act as a \"trap\" and draw pests away from the other.• One plant may produce a repellent or toxic substance that discourages or harms pests.• One plant may provide habitat for natural enemies of the other plant's pests.• Intercropping involves mixing plants to break up pure stands of a single crop.• The physical separation of individual plants of one type by those of another may interrupt the movement of insects and diseases.In a well-balanced ecosystem, insect pest populations are kept in check by natural enemies such as other insects, birds, bats, frogs and toads. Disease organisms are kept under control by competition from other microorganisms, and weeds are controlled by insects and other animals. You can use biological controls to help keep pest numbers low, but usually some pests need to be present for natural enemies to survive.• Most insects are not pests. Only those that feed on desirable plants or transmit disease cause problems for farmers.• Beneficial insects include pollinators (bees and flies), as well as predatory insects that eat damaging insects.All beneficial insects are susceptible to insecticides. If you decide to use an insecticide, take the following measures to protect beneficial insects:• Choose the least toxic pesticide that will be effective.• Spot spray only infested plants.Break into small groups to discuss the four methods of IPM. Have the participants make a list of questions or things that are unclear about the method. Discuss all of the questions as a large group.• Do not spray plants in bloom.• Spray early in the day when many insects are less active.• Many beneficial insects feed on nectar and pollen in addition to pest insects. The flowers that attract them are sometimes referred to as insectary plants.• By scattering insectary plants throughout your farm and landscape, you can attract beneficial insects. Or consider reserving an area for insectary plants.• Many non-flying predators need a place to hide from their enemies. Groundcover and coarse mulches such as bark dust and straw provide this habitat. Beneficial insects also need water.Physically removing or trapping pests can be very successful and causes little disruption to your farm's ecosystem.• Hand pick large, clearly visible or slow-moving insects by hand. This technique requires careful observation of affected plants, including the undersides of leaves. You must hand pick most species every few days to keep damage at an acceptable level.• The best time to collect most insects is early morning, when temperatures are cool and insects are sluggish. At night, use a flashlight to find pests that hide during the day.• If pests are concentrated at one or two sites on a plant, you may be able to prune them out.• In addition, regular pruning makes a plant less dense, which allows beneficial insects to locate their prey more easily. It also improves air circulation, which decreases the incidence of foliage diseases.• Before pruning for pest control, evaluate whether potential pest damage is greater than potential pruning damage.Chemical control raises concerns about safety for humans, plants and the ecosystem. Consider chemical controls only if other techniques do not result in adequate pest control.• When choosing a chemical, always make certain it is labeled for your specific intended use. Choose the chemical that meets the following criteria:о Least harmful to the environment о Least toxic to the applicator о Most specific to the pest о Least harmful to beneficial organisms• Labels give a general idea of toxicity by the use of signal words. Pesticides labeled \"Caution\" are the least toxic, those labeled \"Warning\" are more so, and those labeled \"Danger\" are the most toxic. • IPM is a strategy to prevent and suppress pests with minimum impact on human health and the environment. • IPM involves monitoring pest populations, identifying pests, establishing your tolerance level, developing a strategy for pest management and then evaluating your results.• The cultural method for IPM involves choosing plant varieties that are pest resistant, putting plants in the right place, starting with healthy transplants, keeping plants healthy, keeping the garden/ farm clean, rotating annual plants, utilizing companion planting and intercropping, and spraying plants with water.• The biological method for IPM involves keeping pests in check using natural enemies such as beneficial insects.• The physical method for IPM involves physically blocking or removing pests from plants through hand picking, pruning, trapping, and mulching.• The chemical method for IPM should be considered only if the other methods are not adequate. Botanical insecticides, which are less toxic to the environment, can also be used.• IPM increases the productivity of crops by reducing pest damage, decreases the cost of pest management, protects non-target species and human health, reduces the potential for air and water contamination, and builds soil organic matter. However, it takes more time and knowledge to implement effectively.This module presents an overview of agroforestry, including its attributes and benefits for livelihoods, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation. It also describes many specific agroforestry practices.1. Understand the logic behind agroforestry practices and the benefits from using them 2. Learn specific agroforestry techniquesAgroforestry is a collective name for land use systems and practices in which woody perennials are deliberately integrated with crops and/or animals on the same land management unit. The integration can be either in a spatial mixture or in a temporal sequence. There are ecological and economic interactions between woody and non-woody components in agroforestry.• Productivity: It must maintain or increase production.• Sustainability: It must meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.• Adoptability: It should be culturally acceptable and environmentally friendly.How is it helpful for livelihoods?• It reduces poverty through increased production of agroforestry products for home consumption and sale.• It increases yields by restoring farm soil fertility and creating favorable micro-climates for food crops.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• It increases the diversity of on-farm trees, crops and tree cover to cushion farmers against the effects of global climate change.• It enhances or maintains wildlife habitat as well as biological diversity.• It reduces deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing fuelwood grown on farms.A quick pre-test on the importance of improved agroforestry and various techniques.• Trees provide microclimate conditions that are suitable for crop growth by protecting the soil from excessive heat, exposure to wind, and moisture loss.• It increases food security by increasing the production of fruits, nuts and edible oils.• It improves nutrition to lessen the impacts of hunger and chronic illnesses..• It augments accessibility to medicinal trees, the main source of medication for 80% of Africa's population.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?• Trees store carbon. The key characteristics that differentiate how much carbon is stored are tree density and the products derived from the system.• The soils of agroforestry systems contain significant quantities of carbon. Generally the amount of carbon stored in a system's soil remains steady, increasing slowly with time.Green house mitigation potential of agroforestry is 0.44-1.89 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.What are other benefits?• Odor, dust, and noise reduction• Green space and visual aestheticsTrees may be grown in fields while crops are grown alongside or underneath. The practice of growing trees in this way can be done either by protecting and managing the trees that are already there or by planting new trees.These are agroforestry practices carried out around protected forest areas to serve the following functions:• Reduce human pressure on protected forest reserves;• Improve living standards of people around protected areas within the ecosystem;• Sustain water quantity and quality;• Reduce soil erosion; and• Enhance the production of multiple productsAlley cropping is also known as alley farming or hedgerow intercropping. Rows of woody plants are grown with annual crops planted in the alleys in between. The main purpose of this method is to maintain or increase crop yields by improving the soil and micro-climate through the cycling of nutrients, mulching and weed control.Break into small groups and assign one or two techniques to each group. Allow the groups to discuss the technique and think of examples of how this technique could be applied. Then each of the small groups can report back to the larger group. Alternatively, a field visit to a farm that uses many of these agroforestry practices could be useful here.This involves planting trees on farm boundaries. It requires agreements between the neighbors involved to avoid conflicts due to the shading effects of the trees.Boundary planting between small-holder plots (H. Liniger)Live fences are established all around the farm; it is common to establish such a fence around homesteads. It is relevant in most farming systems except irrigation schemes. It is particularly important in controlling livestock grazing.The shamba system is a practice in which crops are planted between tree seedlings during the first few years after planting.This is a practice in which land is cleared and cropped with agricultural crops for a period of two to three years and then left untended for natural vegetation to regenerate.Areas where trees or shrubs are grown in a stand to produce fodder are known as fodder lots. Trees and shrubs may be intercropped with fodder grasses to maximize fodder production. Trees and shrubs with palatable leaves and/or pods are attractive to farmers as feed supplements for their livestock because they require little or no cash for inputs; they can be grown on boundaries as trees (often pollarded to reduce competition) or as hedges.A fodder bank is a store of conserved grasses (hay or silage) which is deliberately accumulated over and above the normal seasonal requirements, for use by livestock in unpredictable, lean times such as an unseasonal dry period, a severe hail storm, or an armyworm outbreak.Scattered trees in rangeland are beneficial in many ways, e.g. providing shade for livestock and herdsmen, and fodder and wood. Normally, such trees are scattered at random and thereA windbreak is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind. Well-designed windbreaks (i.e. not too dense) not only reduce wind speed but increase humidity and reduce loss from the soil.Incorporating leafy plants into soil (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners)Banana trees above coffee crops in Mbale, Uganda (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners)This practice involves growing shade tolerant crops such as coffee, tea and beans under trees such as Grevillea robusta, Cordia abyssinica, Faidhebia abyssinica, and Cordia Africana.The crops in most cases are plantation crops. The focus is on perennial components such as coffee tea which produce high value products. Trees provide microclimate conditions suitable for the growth of the tree species.is no need to be particular regarding any regular spatial arrangement.This is a practice where trees are grown in homesteads or adjacent to the homestead. These trees include fruit trees, nuts, shade and ornamental trees.Biomass transfer involves the incorporation of leafy plants into the soil. It transfers nutrients from an area of a farm into the cropland. It aims at improving nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, manganese and calcium in the soil. The most used plants in Kenya are: Tithonia diversifolia and Lantana camara.Trees along streams and rivers (riparian buffers)These are managed forest and shrub belts in areas bordering lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands. Integrated riparian management systems are used to enhance and protect aquatic and riparian resources as well as generate income from timber and non-timber forest products (e.g. medicines and fruits).This is the targeted use of a fast growing tree species to obtain the benefits of a natural fallow. Nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs are planted with the main aim of improving nutrient input into soil. They fix nitrogen and add organic matter to the soil. The practice is common where land is regularly fallowed especially in semiarid areas. Nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs include Sesbania sesban, Markhamia lutea (siola), Calliandra calothyrsus, Casuarina equisetifolia (whispering pine), and Leucaena leucocephala (Lusina).In a home garden, perennial crops and annual crops are grown side by side. Animals are also usually included in the system.Why adopt beekeeping?• It is simple and relatively cheap to start.• Beekeeping enhances the environment through the pollinating activity of bees.• Beekeeping is completely sustainable.• It generates income and requires very low levels of inputs.• Beekeeping provides an opportunity to harvest and add value to a local resource to generate wealth and beat poverty.• It contributes immensely to crop production through pollination and complements existing farming systems.The home garden is able to provide an extra and continuous flow of products for daily use. They are common in the humid tropics and are characterized by the intensive use of multi-purpose trees, shrubs, food crops and animals.Woodlots are an area on the farm set aside specifically for wood production. Woodlots of may be include a single species or a mixture of several species. Woodlots can also be useful for beekeeping by providing flowers for nectar. Examples of woodlots commonly planted by people in Kenya include: Casuarina, Sesbania, Gliricidia, Grevillea and Markhamia species.Trees planted on the slope of a hill to control erosion (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners)In traditional systems, lines of grasses, stones, crop residues and other organic debris are placed along hillsides to control water and soil erosion. Contour vegetation strips are living barriers of trees and shrubs which are planted along the contour lines of a slope. These lines of vegetation can serve the same purpose and can also provide useful products such as food, fuel, building poles, fodder or gum. There are many factors to consider when building contour strips, as bad design can lead to even more severe erosion.The effectiveness of the vegetation strips depends on the:• Type of trees planted,• Spacing of the trees and the width of the strip,• Steepness of the slope,• Amount of rainfall, andThe effectiveness of contour strips for water and soil conservation depends on the:• Design of the systems,• Soil,• Climate,• Slope aspect, and• Land use of the individual fields.Apiculture is the art and science of raising bees. It is an agroforestry technique with untapped potential and a quick investment pay back. Beekeeping has traditionally been practiced in Kenya. Over 80% of honey produced locally still comes from traditional hives. There is a need to embrace modern technology, such as the use of modern beehives like Langstroth and Kenya Top bar hives, in beekeeping.Bee keeping in Kenya (J. Recha/ERMCSD)• It requires little land (50 colonies require a ¼ acre) which does not have to be fertile.• Honey is a source of non-perishable food.• Many products can be obtained which are great source of income (i.e. honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, bee colonies, bee brood, queen bees, and package bees).• Most hive products have therapeutic value and provide a remedy for a number of ailments (apitherapy).• Farmers lack adequate skills on managing bees and handling hive products.• There is inadequate training for both farmers and extension staff.• There is limited access to appropriate beekeeping equipment.• There is an underdeveloped marketing system of hive products both locally and internationally due to problems of quality and marketing organizations.• There is a lack of adequate and intense research on of the existing beekeeping technologies, equipment, honey bee and product utilization.• There is a low prioritization of beekeeping in relation to other enterprises in the wider agricultural sector.When choosing a location for your bees, you should search for a site with the following characteristics:• Permanent water• Well-drained soils• Tall trees• Bee forage (Gliricidia, Calliandra, Grevillea, Mangoes)• Little noise Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Agroforestry is when trees and deliberately integrated with crops and/or animals to promote beneficial ecological and economic interactions. • Agroforestry techniques reduce poverty through increased production of agroforestry products and increasing yield of crops. It also increases plant diversity, maintains wildlife habitat, improves the micro-climate conditions for crop growth, and provides many other benefits. Agroforestry systems also store carbon in the trees and soils.• There are numerous techniques for implementing agroforestry, including planting dispersed trees on cropland, alley cropping, planting trees on boundaries, live fences and hedges, establishing buffer zones, biomass transfer, the shamba system, shifting cultivation, plantation crop combinations, fodder lots and fodder banks, planting trees in rangelands, homesteads, along streams, and on soil conservation structures, improved fallows, windbreaks, apiculture, home gardens, and woodlots.This module provides an overview of soil and water management and describes why it is beneficial for livelihoods, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation. Then, it presents a variety of techniques to manage soil to conserve water and reduce erosion.1. Understand the benefits of soil and water management 2. Understand techniques to more effectively manage soil and water in agriculture landscapesWater is a scarce resource in Kenya; its conservation and sustainable use is important to farmers. Sustainable agriculture conserves water and soil through a variety of methods.Soil management is the prevention and reduction of the amount of soil lost through erosion. It seeks to increase the amount of water seeping into the soil and reduce the speed and amount of water run-off.What is water management?Water management involves improving water use efficiency and minimizing losses of water from evaporation, runoff or drainage. This includes various techniques, such as storing water in reservoirs to allow it to sink into the soil and increase soil moisture levels. It also includes using a protective cover of vegetation on the soil surface to slow down the flow of running water and spread the water over a large area.In addition to many of the practices already mentioned (agronomic measures, agroforestry, residue management, mulching, and trashlines), there are also many structural measures which can help to conserve soil and water.How is it helpful for livelihoods?• Conserving water helps prevent water scarcity and makes it available for crops, livestock and domestic use over a longer period.• Soil and water management increases soil organic matter, improves soil fertility and controls soil erosion, improving crop and pasture yields.Exercise 8.1Group brainstorming activity to identify the benefits of improved soil and water management. A field visit, pictures or videos could be used to give the participants a better idea of what these techniques look like in practice.• Soil and water management measures improve the supply of fuel and forest products.• Soil and water management measures increase the value of land• More and better livestock fodder is available with improved soil and water management.• These techniques can increase productivity by improving soil fertility, preventing soil erosion and increasing water infiltration into the soil.How is it helpful for adaptation to climate change?• Climate change may impact the distribution of water resources. These techniques can help control excess water runoff, making them important strategies for adapting to climate change.• Conservation and collection of rainwater help to reduce risks associated from rainfall shortage.• Water diversion structures can help to reduce risks from extreme weather events like floods by controlling excess water.• Soil and water management can rehabilitate degraded land and enhance biodiversity.How is it helpful for climate change mitigation?Effective soil and water management can increase the productivity of land, increasing plants, trees and organic matter in the soil, and pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. GHG mitigation potential of soil and water management is 0.55-2.82 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.Terraces are promoted in hilly regions with substantial erosion hazards. The terrace walls or \"risers\" are earth structures and the beds are leveled in order to encourage rainwater infiltration.Terraces can make cultivating on steep slopes easier. Terraces with diversion ditches can help control excess water runoff, helping with adaptation to climate change.A fanya juu terrace is created by digging a trench and throwing the soil upslope to form a ridge. A diversion ditch must be established above the bench system so that runoff water from the upper part of the watershed is properly disposed of. To stabilize the soil, the \"risers\" may be planted with grasses such as napier. The terraces tend to have a more fertile strip of deeper soils held back by the terrace structures.Planting basins and pits are circular holes within the crop fields which harvest runoff water. Zai pits are shallow, wide pits in which manure is added and a few crop seeds are planted.Planting basins improve water use efficiency by the crops due to increased rates of water infiltration into the soil, which can improve crop yields and the increase the intensity of agricul-Improved irrigation involves the efficient utilization of water for agricultural purposes. Small-scale irrigation increases the water use efficiency of the crops.How is it beneficial?• It improves livelihoods by increasing the productivity of the land.• It can decrease the growth of weeds.• It promotes adaptation to a changing climate by increasing the efficiency of water used for crops.• More effective irrigation measures can enhance carbon storage in soils through enhanced yields and residue returns.How do you do it?• Sprinkler irrigation is a method of applying irrigation water which is similar to rainfall. Water is distributed through a system of pipes usually by pumping. It is then sprayed into the air and irrigated on the entire soil surface through spray heads so that it breaks up into small water drops which fall to the ground.• Drip irrigation system delivers water directly to the root zone of a plant, where it seeps slowly into the soil one drop at a time. Almost no water is lost through surface runoff or evaporation, and soil particles have plenty of opportunity to absorb and hold water for plants. It also means very few nutrients leach down beyond the reach of plant roots. Furthermore, since drip irrigation delivers water directly to the plants you want to grow, less water is wasted on weeds. The soil surface between the plants also remains drier, which discourages weed seeds from sprouting.Diversion ditches and drainage channels remove excess water from the land. Diversion ditches and drainage channels can increase yields in flood-prone zones due to increased water drainage. By facilitating good aeration of the soil, they can also help avoid emission of N2O gas.Digging a drainage channel (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners) Planting banana trees in pits (S. Shames/EcoAgriculture Partners)A series of small mounds are placed along the contour of a slope to retain water, reduce erosion, and prevent flooding.These catchments are made by digging pits and then using the soil to construct a semi-circular mound with the tip facing uphill. The pits are filled with manure and are often used for harvesting tree seedlings. They help keep moisture and improve soil fertility on sloped areas.Road catchments are structures that divert water runoff from roads and from other unproductive areas, such as paths and homestead compounds, and channel it into crop fields, thus improving productivity. When constructing a road catchment, it may be possible to divert water from structures that already exist, such as the ditches below fanya juu terraces. Or, special bunds can be built around fields close to the road.These are wide channels that collect surface run-off water, allowing it to slowly infiltrate into the ground. The ditches will tend to silt-up, which hinders infiltration, and must be cleaned out regularly.ture. Planting basins are important for conserving water in areas where there is not enough rainfall or when rainfall is sporadic. The manure in zai pits can increase soil fertility.These techniques are used to stop water runoff and soil erosion and increase water infiltration. They are also used when rehabilitating waste, eroded or degraded land.The field furrows are blocked at the lower end. When one furrow is full, the water backs up into the head furrow and flows into the next field furrow. Broad beds, where the crops are grown and which are about 170 cm wide, are planted between the field furrows. They are similar to infiltration ditches.A water pan is a shallow hole that collects and holds runoff water. Sometimes the pans are lined with plastic to prevent water loss. Surplus degraded wasteland or agricultural land can be set aside from production for several years to be restored and rehabilitated through a variety of practices.• Natural regeneration includes managing the land to allow the natural process of restoration to occur. Vegetation is allowed to return to the land and biomass builds up above and below ground.• Assisted natural regeneration speeds up the restoration of the land by helping the natural processes of regeneration. This can include planting tree seedlings and other favorable species, and protecting an area from fire and exploitation.• Enrichment planting helps to restore over-exploited species and is often used with assisted natural regeneration to restore a specific area of land by directly planting certain types of tree species.• Fire management techniques help to control fire outbreaks by burning patches of grass and undergrowth early in the dry season, when the fire will not become out of control, to help prevent more intense and damaging fires later in the season.Why is restoration beneficial?• Allowing land to regenerate often increases the amount of land covered with vegetation, which increases the amount of carbon stored above and below ground. Also, reducing the frequency and intensity of fires allows more vegetation to remain in the landscape and store carbon.• Rehabilitating degraded land can improve yields over the long-term due to reduced soil and water erosion. GHG mitigation potential of restoration and rehabilitation of degraded land is 1.17-9.51 tCO2-eq/ha/yr.This module gives an overview of improved livestock management practices, discusses the benefits of improved livestock management, and presents several techniques for improving livestock management, including improved feeding practices, long-term livestock management changes, livestock health programs, animal breeding, and mixed farming.1. Understand the benefits of improved livestock management 2. Understand practices that improve livestock managementWhat is improved livestock management?While improved livestock management practices are tailored to a particular land management situation and geographical location, they are all implemented for the same basic goal of reducing emissions of methane and increasing the production of livestock. They include improved feeding practices, longExercise 9.1Brainstorm the benefits of improved livestock management as a group.term livestock management changes, livestock health program, breeding and mixed farming.What are its benefits?• Increased productivity of livestock, which also spreads the energy cost of maintenance across a greater feed intake, often reducing methane output per kg of animal product.Local chickens under improved management (J. Recha/ERMCSD)• Proper animal housing and management of animal waste contribute to good animal health.• Carbon accrual on optimally grazed lands is often greater than on ungrazed or overgrazed lands. GHG mitigation potential of improved livestock management is 0.00-0.01 tCO2-eq/ha/yr (for East Africa).These measures can improve fodder quality:• Cultivating a daily supply of cut-green fodder.• Cutting fresh fodder into small pieces using simple machines (e.g. Chuff Cutter) can maximize fodder utilization.• Using crop residues like straws and stovers (from maize, sugarcane, sorghum, millet, rice, etc.) as fodder.• Using specific agents and dietary additives (e.g. animal salt licks with minerals).Exercise 9.2Small groups discuss each of the techniques and then present to the larger group.These involve changes to the stocking rate of animals, as well as strategically choosing the type of livestock to keep (e.g. big ruminants, small ruminants, or poultry) depending on locally available resources.Animal health greatly influences reproduction and weight gain, which are the key aspects of successful livestock production. Vaccinations, regular health checks, disease surveillance, treatment, and culling of diseased animals are some of the practices.There is a need to have livestock with improved characteristics of production. Some breeds may be hardier but have very low production that leads to net losses to farmers. Unhealthy stock wastes feed and requires additional labor.Integrating livestock and crop production has several advantages. First, growing row crops only on more level land and using steeper slopes for pasture or forages reduces soil erosion. Second, rotating pasture and forage crops enhances soil quality, reduces erosion and facilitates optimal dung collection and use. Livestock manure can be managed to build soil fertility.It should be covered to avoid releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Trainers should briefly summarize what was learned in the module. Possible summary points include:• Improved livestock management practices are implemented with the goal of increasing the production of livestock and reducing emissions of methane. • There are several techniques for improving livestock management, including improved feeding practices, making long-term changes to livestock management like the stocking rate or type of livestock kept, keeping animals healthy, using improved breeds, and integrating livestock and crop production.Proper animal housing contributes to good animal health (R. Kozar/EcoAgriculture Partners)The process of becoming acid or being converted into an acid.A system of land use in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown among or around crops or on pastureland, as a means of preserving or enhancing the productivity of the land.A practice used to accelerate regeneration by assisting the natural processes. It involves promoting tree seedlings and favorable regeneration species (e.g. leguminous species) while protecting the site from fire. Enrichment planting is often applied in combination with assisted natural regeneration.A layer of gases surrounding a material body of sufficient mass that is held in place by the gravity of the body.One of the most abundant gasses in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide plays an important part in vital plant and animal process, such as photosynthesis and respiration.The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir.The biological process of breaking up organic waste, such as food waste, manure, leaves, grass trimmings, paper, worms, and coffee grounds, etc., into an extremely useful humus-like substance by various micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the presence of oxygen.Structures developed besides the crop fields in order to harvest rain water. Crops are grown behind the bund leading to increased yield production. The structures increase water infiltration, help prevent erosion, and improve soil fertility.A type of plant grown to suppress weeds, help build and improve soil, and control diseases and pests. Cover crops are also called \"green manure\" and \"living mulches.\"A process where organic substances are broken down into simpler forms of matter.A practice that is applied in combination with assisted natural regeneration. The technique is suitable for the restoration of over-exploited, forest-dominated ecosystems, especially the restoration of sensible buffer strips along waterways.The process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.Techniques for controlling fires such as carrying out \"early burning,\" which includes burning patches of grass and undergrowth early in the dry season before the vegetation becomes so dry that more intense and damaging fires occur. Simultaneously the reduction of the use of fire agriculture will be promoted.An area restricted to the growing of fodder (trees and/or shrubs), especially for cattle or other livestock.Cover crops that are grown with the intention of turning them back into the soil to provide nutrients to the soil much like manure does.A phenomenon whereby the earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation, caused by the presence of gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through but absorb heat radiated back from the earth's surface.Greenhouse gases include methane, chlorofluorocarbons and carbon dioxide. These gases act as a shield that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere.Emission into the earth's atmosphere of any of various gases, especially carbon dioxide, that contributes to the greenhouse effect.Heat stress is a situation where too much heat is absorbed by a plant or an animal and causes stress, illness or even death.A brown or black organic substance consisting of partially or wholly decayed vegetable or animal matter that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of soil to retain water.A form of mixed production that utilizes crops and livestock in a way that they can complement one another through space and time.Any part of the earth's surface not covered by a body of water.A protective covering of leguminous organic plant material (beans, peas, and soybeans) laid over the soil around plants to prevent erosion, retain moisture and enrich the soil with nitrogen.A greenhouse gas, produced primarily by anaerobic (oxygen-deficient) processes, such as the cultivation of rice paddies or animal digestion. Like CO2, its concentration in the atmosphere is increasing due to anthropogenic activities such as agricultural practices and landfills.A method of harvesting surface runoff from a catchment area over a flow distance less than 100 m. Soil and rainfall characteristics have important role to play as they influence the process of infiltration and thus the runoff generation in the catchment area.Any climatic condition in a relatively small area.Decomposition or oxidization of the chemical compounds in organic matter into plant-accessible forms.Effects that are additional to direct reductions of GHG and impacts of climate change and are estimated to be large, relative to the costs of mitigation.A protective covering of organic material laid over the soil around plants to prevent erosion, retain moisture and sometimes to enrich the soil.Deliberately managing the land to enhance and accelerate the natural processes of ecological succession in order to re-establish healthy vegetation on farmland and restore vegetation and biomass accumulation on degraded land.The elements of nature that produce value (directly and indirectly) to people, such as the stock of forests, rivers, land, minerals and oceans.The natural process by which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3).A gas produced by both biological mechanisms in the oceans and soils, and by industrial combustion, vehicle exhausts, biomass burning and the use of chemical fertilizersLand adjacent to streams where vegetation is strongly influenced by the presence of water. They are often thin lines-ofgreen containing native grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees that line the stream banks. They are also called vegetated buffer zones.The accumulation of soluble salts of sodium, magnesium and calcium in soil to the extent that soil fertility is severely reduced.","tokenCount":"12637"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0953484454.json b/data/part_1/0953484454.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..59b40a9c5cf8b8b86268fdb6f27b1c2ad39306bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0953484454.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eca44e7138ef313457431bdb9f9fc3ac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8a1f5d26-b667-4c7e-b502-69e53da9ffa3/retrieve","id":"-1413340083"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4094f93f-f0d4-48dc-b121-c453bdaa2bb1","pagecount":"156","content":"8.2.1. Desarrollar programas, proyectos y prácticas de ganadería sostenible 8.2.2. Promover la comercialización de productos bovinos sostenibles 8.2.3. Asegurar el financiamiento de las acciones de mitigación y los medios de implementación 8.2.4. Desarrollar normas y regulaciones que apalanquen las acciones de mitigación en el sector.Figura 1. Elementos de los marcos de política internacional y nacional que proveen el contexto de la NAMA como instrumento de mitigación de GEI Figura 2. Emisiones y remociones de ganadería en relación con los demás sectores del INGEI Figura 3. Cadenas de suministro y las emisiones de GEI a las cuales están dirigidas las acciones de mitigación Figura 4. Participación del sector agropecuario en el PIB Figura 5. Participación del PIB de la ganadería en el PIB agropecuario Figura 6. Inventario bovino de Colombia y tasas de crecimiento anual Figura 7. Orientación productiva del inventario bovino por ecorregión Figura 8. Consumo aparente de carne per cápita anual en Colombia Figura 9. Consumo aparente de leche per cápita anual en Colombia Figura 10. Categorías de uso y cobertura del suelo en predios ganaderos: promedios por ecorregión Figura 11. Distribución de los conglomerados por ecorregión y orientación productiva Figura 12. Trayectorias de las emisiones brutas, las remociones y las emisiones netas del escenario de referencia Figura 13. Emisiones de GEI brutas por fuente de emisión para el escenario de referencia Figura 14. Conglomerados focalizados y emisiones de GEI en el año de referencia 2020 Figura 15. Comparación entre el objetivo de mitigación y el escenario de referencia Figura 16. Configuración de las praderas mejoradas y cinco tipos de arreglos silvopastoriles Figura 17. Gradualidad de implementación de las intervenciones a nivel de predio Figura 18. Porcentaje acumulado de implementación por tipo de intervención Figura 19. Desempeño del conglomerado Orinoquia-doble propósito-grande-baja en los escenarios de referencia y de mitigación moderada y optimista Figura 20. Desempeño del hato bovino para escenarios de referencia y de mitigación moderado y optimista Figura 21. Pasos necesarios para el monitoreo y reporte de la NAMA Figura 22. Etapas para la verificación del impacto de las NAMA: control de calidad y garantía de calidad Figura 23. MACC de las acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina en el escenario optimista.Figura 24. Fuentes, actores y mecanismos relevantes que proporcionan financiamiento climático directo e indirecto para la implementación de la NAMA de la Ganadería BovinaMapa 1. Ecorregiones de la ganadería bovina, calificadas según censo bovino e intensidad de las emisiones Mapa 2. Intensidad de las emisiones en las ecorregiones priorizadas en escenarios moderado y optimista La Acción de Mitigación Nacionalmente Apropiada NAMA de la ganadería bovina sostenible en Colombia, es una política pública que tiene el objetivo de reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) generadas por las cadenas de suministro de carne y leche (principalmente en el eslabón de producción primaria), e incrementar la cantidad de carbono almacenada en los agro-ecosistemas con vocación bovina. Esta política tiene el potencial de impulsar, al año 2030, el aumento de la productividad y la competitividad de la ganadería bovina colombiana, y al mismo tiempo asegurar la sostenibilidad ambiental a través del uso eficiente del agua, el suelo, los insumos productivos, y la gestión integral de la biodiversidad. De esta manera, la NAMA de la ganadería bovina apalanca el avance hacia la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático, se enmarca en la política de crecimiento verde y apoya la recuperación económica sostenible post COVID-19.La NAMA bovina hace parte integral del compromiso del país de reducir las emisiones de GEI en 51 % al año 2030, y el objetivo global de limitar el calentamiento del planeta a 1,5 grados Celsius respecto a la era preindustrial. Las emisiones de GEI producidas por la ganadería bovina en el año 2020 se estiman en 28,9 millones de t CO 2 eq, que de continuar con la trayectoria de crecimiento del escenario de referencia llegarían a 33,6 millones de t CO 2 eq en el año 2030. La implementación de las estrategias planteadas por la NAMA bovina, podrían reducir estas emisiones al año 2030 entre 15,2 % y 33,9 %.La NAMA bovina focaliza sus acciones en 31 conglomerados productivos, seleccionados por su mayor impacto sobre las emisiones de GEI del sector, y por otros indicadores productivos, ambientales y sociales relevantes. Dichos conglomerados se ubican en siete de las diez ecorregiones en las que se divide la producción ganadera en el país. Para lograr que la ganadería bovina avance hacia una senda de crecimiento sostenible y baja en carbono, la NAMA bovina prioriza líneas de acción estratégicas orientadas a la reconversión y al desarrollo de procesos productivos eficientes en el uso de los recursos naturales, bajo un enfoque de soluciones basadas en naturaleza y de economía circular. Las acciones de mitigación principales de la NAMA bovina son:• Intensificación sostenible de la producción ganadera a través de la gestión del conocimiento y el establecimiento de sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos y no intensivos.• Liberación de áreas cuyo uso actual es la producción bovina, y realización de estrategias de restauración ecológica.• Aprovechamiento óptimo de residuos de los eslabones de comercialización y beneficio de la cadena de suministro de la carne bovina.Las dos primeras acciones se enfocan en predios productivos, tanto de producción de leche como de carne, pues es allí donde se producen la mayoría de las emisiones de GEI del sector en el escenario actual. La tercera acción se enfoca en la etapa de comercialización de la carne, específicamente en las actividades de subastas, ferias y plantas de beneficio, dado que allí se generan emisiones importantes de GEI.El éxito en la implementación de la NAMA bovina requiere del acercamiento y trabajo conjunto de todos los actores relevantes de las cadenas de carne y leche, desde la producción hasta el consumo, así como de las instituciones públicas y privadas que prestan servicios de apoyo a estas cadenas. La NAMA de la ganadería bovina es una invitación a una acción colectiva y proactiva de todos los actores relevantes, para acelerar la adopción de estrategias de producción y comercialización sostenibles, esto incluye al sector privado, tanto productores como compradores; la academia, en su rol de fomentar la investigación y el desarrollo de conocimientos requeridos para la transición hacia modelos de ganadería sostenible; el sector público, dado su rol en generar instrumentos y mecanismos necesarios para apoyar la implementación de la política NAMA bovina; a las entidades territoriales, para promo-ver la articulación de los lineamientos NAMA en los instrumentos de planificación y gestión territorial; y a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil y la ciudadanía en general, para incentivar el cambio hacia el consumo de carne y leche de origen sostenible.La implementación de la política NAMA bovina facilitará la transición del sector hacia un crecimiento bajo en emisiones y más resiliente, en articulación con metas de política y prioridades nacionales, como lo es la recuperación sostenible de los efectos económicos y sociales adversos de la pandemia COVID-19, al generar oportunidades de mejores ingresos a los ganaderos y de empleo a los habitantes del campo, dado que las soluciones basadas en la naturaleza propuestas por esta política implican la diversificación del empleo, una mayor resiliencia a choques ambientales, y mayor articulación al interior de las cadenas productivas.verde tras los impactos sociales y económicos acarreados por la pandemia de la COVID-19.Principalmente, el ejercicio de formulación de la NAMA bovina contribuye a establecer metas de reducción de emisiones, que se han situado en un rango de entre los 5,1 y 11,4 millones de t CO 2 eq año 1 , mediante la implementación de las medidas de mitigación priorizadas. Con respecto a los recursos para la implementación de dichas prácticas, se espera que estos provengan de proyectos, programas y políticas del sector ganadero, apalancados por una estrecha coordinación de esfuerzos del sector público y privado, la cooperación internacional y el compromiso de los ganaderos y la industria de carne y leche.El objetivo de la NAMA bovina es reducir las emisiones de GEI generadas en la producción bovina y las cadenas de suministro de carne y leche, e incrementar las remociones 2 de carbono en los agro-ecosistemas con vocación bovina.Para el logro de este objetivo, la NAMA propone implementar acciones de mitigación de GEI, primordialmente en el eslabón primario o de producción bovina, orientadas a lograr la intensificación sostenible de la producción en los predios ganaderos, mediante la adopción de modelos de producción bajos en carbono, acompañadas por enfoques de conservación y restauración de ecosistemas naturales. Junto a esta perspectiva, la NAMA plantea acciones complementarias a nivel sectorial, tales como el fortalecimiento del ordenamiento ganadero productivo y ambiental, a 1 CO 2 eq es la unidad de medida usada para expresar la cantidad de un gas de efecto invernadero o de una mezcla de estos que es emitida a la atmósfera. Se trata de una unidad de medida de peso, que en este caso se expresa en toneladas. Elementos de los marcos de política internacional y nacional que proveen el contexto de la NAMA como instrumento de mitigación de GEI  sources Institute 7 (WRI) 8 , con la coordinación del Banco Mundial y el apoyo financiero del Gobierno Británico.Con respecto al proceso de elaboración de los contenidos técnicos de la NAMA, este ha estado acompañado de la orientación estratégica y po-Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM), el Banco Mundial, y con la participación y aportes relevantes de otras instituciones y especialistas.En lo concerniente al proceso de elaboración de la NAMA, este inició a partir del diagnóstico y la evaluación del escenario de la línea base de emisiones y remociones de GEI de los eslabones de las cadenas de suministro que se reseñan en la Figura 3.Para el caso del eslabón de producción bovina, el escenario de emisiones consideró todo el hato del país, reportado en el inventario bovino del año 2019 (ICA-Fedegán 2020). Dada su representatividad y nivel de precisión de la evaluación, la línea base del eslabón de producción bovina fue aprobada por la Comisión Intersectorial de Cambio Climático del Sisclima como \"escenario de referencia\" para Colombia (ver detalle en Escenarios de Línea Base, Capítulo 3). El análisis de GEI en los eslabones de comercialización de animales y beneficio de la carne está basado en información de insumo para 27 de los 32 departamentos, donde ocurre la mayor parte de estas actividades 9 . Para el eslabón de acopio y comercialización de leche cruda, la caracterización se enfoca en los mismos 27 departamentos, mientras que la evaluación del escenario de emisiones de línea base se limita a 12 departamentos que suman el 64 % de la producción de leche cruda y el 72 % de los centros de acopio del país.9 El análisis excluye los departamentos de Amazonas, Guainía, Guaviare, Vaupés, y el Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina.10 La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible es el plan de acción adoptado por la Asamblea General de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) que rige los programas de desarrollo mundiales durante el periodo 2015-2030.El Marco de Sendai para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres 2015-2030 es un documento que firman los países miembros de la ONU, en el que se establecen acciones concretas que los países pueden adoptar contra el riesgo de desastres, las cuales deben integrarse con la adaptación al cambio climático para el desarrollo sostenible del sector.A partir de estos análisis iniciales, la formulación de las acciones de mitigación y el plan de implementación y financiamiento cubren 432 municipios en 21 departamentos, donde ocurre el 52 % de las emisiones estimadas para el año 2020 (ver detalles en el Capítulo 4). Estos departamentos son los siguientes: Antioquia, Arauca, Atlántico, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caldas, Caquetá, Casanare, Cesar, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Risaralda, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, y Vichada.Las categorías de emisión de GEI, incluidas en los análisis de la NAMA (Figura 3), son cinco: (i) fermentación entérica bovina, (ii) gestión de estiércol bovino depositado directamente en potrero, (iii) procesos de nitrificación y desnitrificación de orina y heces bovinos depositados directamente en potrero, (iv) fertilización de praderas, y (v) tratamiento biológico de residuos orgánicos de origen bovino. Los flujos de remoción que se consideran son los siguientes: (i) cambios de cobertura del suelo en las áreas de pastizales establecidos, y (ii) cambio de uso de pastizales a coberturas naturales.En cuanto al marco temporal de implementa- Las acciones de mitigación formuladas por la NAMA se agrupan en cuatro tipos de medidas, dos de ellas a ser implementadas en predios ganaderos existentes en las áreas focalizadas:• Intensificación sostenible de la producción ganadera a través de la gestión del conocimiento y el establecimiento de sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos y no intensivos.• Restauración de áreas naturales dentro de predios ganaderos para la conservación y/o restauración de ecosistemas naturales.Las opciones de mitigación diseñadas para la cadena de carne consisten en alternativas de tratamiento de los residuos generados en subastas ganaderas y centrales de beneficio.Para la cadena láctea, se plantean oportunidades de optimización en la logística para el acopio y la comercialización de leche cruda, y se formulan recomendaciones orientadas a reducir emisiones. Estas acciones no se integran a la evaluación del potencial de mitigación, ya que su implementación alude a grupos de actores fuera del sector AFOLU: sector transporte, comercio e industria.La ruta a seguir para facilitar la implementación de las acciones de mitigación en ganadería bovina y su integración en el marco de la NAMA, está definida en el capítulo Estrategia de Implementación (Capítulo 8).En síntesis, el documento NAMA de la Ganadería Bovina Sostenible, además de esta introducción, consta de siete componentes centrales que se describen con detalle en los siguientes capítulos de este documento:• Contexto del sector ganadero bovino en Colombia (Cap. 2).• Escenario de línea base de emisiones de GEI de la ganadería bovina (Cap. 3).• Focalización de conglomerados productivos para implementar intervenciones a nivel de predio (Cap. 4).• Escenarios de mitigación de GEI de la NAMA (Cap. 5).• Sistema de monitoreo, reporte y verificación de la NAMA, y Plan de mejora de las metodologías para el cálculo de emisiones y de los factores de emisión de GEI de la ganadería bovina (Cap. 6).• Estrategia de financiación de la NAMA (Cap.• Estrategia de implementación de la NAMA (Cap. 8).F I G U R A 3 .Cadenas de suministro y las emisiones de GEI a las cuales están dirigidas las acciones de mitigación Fuente: propia con base en estadísticas del DANE (2020).productivas, tiene una baja participación (ver con mayor detalle en el Capítulo 4).En términos de empleo, el 16,7 % de la población ocupada en el país durante el año 2018 se dedicó a actividades agropecuarias, equivalente a una población de aproximadamente 3,7 millones de personas (DANE 2019), de las cuales el 19 % se ocupan específicamente en producción bovina. Estos empleos favorecen sustancialmente los medios de vida de las familias pobres de las zonas rurales, donde más del 51 % de los productores de ganado son pequeños agricultores familiares con menos de 50 animales por predio.Si bien el desempeño de la ganadería está influenciado por una serie de factores, la vulnerabilidad del sector a los efectos de la variabilidad climática ha sido una limitante importante para la consolidación de ganancias sostenibles desde la ganadería (Recuadro 1).Según los datos reportados por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación yLa variabilidad climática: un factor determinante en el desempeño de la ganadería bovina.La capacidad de la variabilidad climática, para irrumpir sobre el eslabón de producción y el resto de las cadenas de carne y leche, quedó comprobada en el periodo 2010-2011, cuando el fenómeno de La Niña causó inundaciones que dejaron un saldo nacional de 160.900 bovinos muertos, 1,5 millones movilizados de 60.500 predios y 1,5 millones adicionales de reses que no se movilizaron y presentaron deficiencia en la alimentación (Banco Mundial 2012). Estas pérdidas directas sobre la producción de carne se valoraron en COP23.982 millones (CEPAL 2012).En la cadena de leche, durante el último trimestre de 2010, el acopio cayó entre un 25 % y un 30 %, reducción que se ha estimado en alrededor de 400.000 litros diarios no acopiados, con un valor equivalente de COP13.182 millones (CEPAL 2012). Aunque la sumatoria de dichas pérdidas representa sólo un 1,3 % del PIB ganadero, el subregistro sistemático de pérdidas y daños, asociados a eventos climáticos extremos, sugiere que las afectaciones pueden representar una cifra más significativa para el sector, aún más si se consideraran las pérdidas indirectas a lo largo de las cadenas de suministro.En complemento, un análisis prospectivo del potencial impacto económico del cambio climático, a lo largo del periodo 2010-2100, estimó que las pérdidas anuales en la producción de peso vivo de carne y litros leche bovinos tendría un promedio de 1,6 % (DNP-BID 2014).A pesar de la incertidumbre característica de los escenarios climáticos y las limitaciones inherentes a los análisis de riesgos, es un hecho que la ganadería es un sector vulnerable frente a la variabilidad y el cambio climático, y que un enfoque plenamente reactivo conlleva no sólo efectos negativos sobre la economía, sino también sobre el bienestar social de los productores y los consumidores. De ahí la necesidad de transitar hacia un enfoque más proactivo de adaptación a los cambios y variabilidad del clima.En este sentido, el sector ha definido acciones concretas para prevenir y reducir los riesgos climáticos sobre la producción y sostenibilidad del sector de acuerdo con las directrices del Plan Integral de Gestión del Cambio Climático Sectorial (PIGCCS) Agropecuario, el cual incluye la NAMA bovina.  (Fedegán, 2019), este salto en el inventario responde a fenómenos exógenos, como son las fronteras internacionales porosas y el subregistro en años previos, que no guardan ninguna relación con el crecimiento na-14 Relación entre el área de pasto con el tamaño del hato alimentado con el forraje contenido en esa área. No se debe confundir con el concepto de capacidad de carga, que se basa en la producción de biomasa y en el peso vivo de los animales ocupantes, y por lo tanto indica cuántos bovinos pueden pastorear en un potrero determinado sin afectar la capacidad de regeneración de los pastizales. Es, así mismo, un indicador de eficiencia de la productividad en la producción de carne. 18 Indicador que mide la relación entre el peso del bovino en pie y el peso de la carne en canal, junto con otros subproductos no consumidos. La carne en canal es el cuerpo del animal sacrificado, sangrado, desollado, eviscerado, sin cabeza ni extremidades. La carne en canal es el producto primario, un paso intermedio entre el animal en pie y la carne que es el producto terminado (comestible).19 La estimación de Fedegán para el mismo periodo es de 932.813 toneladas en canal (Fedegán 2020), que difiere por cuanto incluye el sacrificio no reportado de bovinos, que ocurre fuera del marco censal del DANE. La producción de carne suple principalmente la necesidad de consumo interno, si bien la demanda doméstica de proteína animal ha cambiado en el curso de la última década y muestra una tendencia decreciente para el caso de la carne bovina. En este comportamiento, inciden los patrones de consumo de proteína y la competencia con opciones sustitutas como son la carne de pollo, de cerdo y el pescado, cuyos precios han disminuido. A pesar de dichos factores, la carne de bovino continúa siendo la segunda opción de consumo de proteína animal, después del pollo, con una participación del 25 % sobre el consumo promedio anual de proteína animal de 74 kg por habitante, como se ilustra en la Figura 8.Las actividades de la cadena de suministro de carne que se desarrollan tras la salida del ganado de los predios hacen parte de los eslabones de transporte, comercialización, beneficio e industria. A continuación, se profundiza sobre los eslabones de beneficio y comercialización (subasta), debido a que estas actividades tienen relación directa con el objeto central de los análisis de la NAMA bovina. Las emisiones de GEI del transporte y la agregación de valor en el eslabón de industria están determinados por factores relacionados con el consumo de energía, y por atributos de las tecnologías que eligen implementar sectores de la economía distintos del agropecuario, por lo que no hacen parte directa del análisis de la NAMA. Fuente: propia con base en Fedegán (2020b).Por otra parte, las ferias y exposiciones ganaderas representan la oportunidad para los productores de mostrar sus animales, de este modo, promocionan su ganadería y abren espacio a nuevas oportunidades de negocio. Estas se realizan en la mayoría de los pueblos del país de manera regular y pueden ser de varios tipos, según el ICA: comerciales, exposición nacional, exposición departamental, exposición Fuente: propia con base en estadísticas de Fedegán (2020b).En la cadena de suministro de la leche, tienen lugar la producción primaria, el ordeño (en el predio), el acopio, el proceso, la comercialización y, en el interludio de los últimos tres, el transporte.El tránsito de la leche cruda entre estos eslabones cuenta con la participación de los siguientes agentes: productor, procesador/industria, intermediario y consumidor.En Colombia, hay 183.514 predios productores de leche distribuidas en todos los departamentos del país, donde coexisten unidades de diferentes tamaños y niveles tecnológicos. En conjunto, cada día producen cerca de 22,3 millones de litros, provenientes de la ganadería de lechería especializada y de doble propósito. La producción por ecorregiones se presenta en el siguiente cuadro.Las tres regiones con mayor producción de La ausencia de una visión estratégica del sector agropecuario se ve reflejada en el hecho de 20 El indicador de productividad \"carga animal\" se refiere al número de animales que ocupan el área de pastizales para uso del ganado.Se calcula a partir de una unidad de animales, la cual se establece según un peso adulto promedio predeterminado (unidad de gran ganado), y la cantidad de área de pastizales que utilizan en términos de hectáreas, donde valores menores a 1 muestran sistemas de producción extensivos, y valores alrededor de 2 y 2,5 se consideran eficientes. • Promover el uso eficiente del suelo rural agropecuario, el ordenamiento productivo y social de la propiedad rural y el fortalecimiento de la productividad y competitividad de las actividades agropecuarias; asimismo, contribuir a estabilizar y disminuir la pérdida de ecosistemas de importancia ambiental (objetivo de la Frontera Agrícola Nacional).• Orientar la ciencia y la innovación para el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (Política Nacional de Ciencia e Innovación para el desarrollo sostenible \"Libro Verde 2030\").• Contribuir en la lucha por acabar con la pérdida de bosques naturales en 2030 y apoyar las metas del sector privado de eliminar la huella de deforestación de la producción de materias primas agrícolas, en el marco de la Declaración de Nueva York sobre Bosques (compromiso adquirido por el Gobierno de Colombia en el año 2014).• Reducir la deforestación en las cadenas de suministro de leche, carne, palma de aceite y madera (compromiso adquirido por el Gobierno de Colombia en el año 2017 ante el Tropical Forest Alliance TFA2020).• Contribuir al desarrollo sostenible de los sectores y comunidades rurales de Colombia, apoyar una transición hacia el desarrollo rural resiliente bajo en carbono y promover la deforestación cero en las cadenas de producción de materias primas (Declaración Conjunta de Intención 29 ).• Sumar a las metas de mitigación, adaptación y medios de implementación (financiamiento, tecnología y apoyo para la creación de capacidades) definidas en la NDC.• Monitorear el avance e impacto de las medidas de la reducción de emisiones y de adaptación emprendidos en el país, mediante un sistema robusto de monitoreo, reporte y verificación.Los escenarios de emisiones son proyecciones de las trayectorias que pueden seguir, tanto las emisiones como las remociones de GEI, las cuales resultan de las combinaciones potenciales del desarrollo socioeconómico, entre las cuales se incluyen las acciones de mitigación de emisiones de GEI.En particular, el escenario que describe la trayectoria que seguirían las emisiones de GEI de la ganadería bovina en ausencia de la NAMA se denomina de forma genérica \"línea base\". En el caso de la NAMA, se emplea la denominación \"escenario de referencia\" 30 de acuerdo con la connotación indicada en la Resolución 1447 de 2018, por la cual se reglamenta el sistema de monitoreo, reporte y verificación de las acciones de mitigación a nivel nacional.En este capítulo, se señala la relevancia del escenario de referencia de la NAMA, aspectos destacados del proceso de elaboración y su resultado.3  como tales (3B3a) y pastizales convertidos en tierras forestales (3B1bii).Además, la NAMA incorpora actividades que tienen relación cercana con el eslabón de producción primaria de los eslabones de comercialización y de beneficio de la cadena cárnica: la gestión de estiércol en subastas y en ferias ganaderas (3A2a y 3C6a) y el tratamiento biológico de los residuos sólidos producidos en las plantas de beneficio (4B).Igualmente, en el marco de la NAMA, se elabora una estimación de las emisiones resultantes de la comercialización de la leche cruda (1A3b), para las cuales se eligieron tres regiones representativas, si bien estas no se incluyen en el escenario de referencia por cuanto la formulación de las medidas de mitigación involucra competencias de los sectores de transporte e infraestructura que exceden el alcance de esta NAMA.Con respecto a las emisiones brutas de GEI evaluadas para 181 conglomerados representativos del hato bovino colombiano del año 2020 -que corresponde al año base-suman 33,2 millones de t CO 2 eq. Por otro lado, las capturas en pasturas corresponden a 4,3 millones de t CO 2 eq.Así, las emisiones netas resultantes son de 28,9 millones de t CO 2 eq y se ilustran en la Figura 12 al inicio de las trayectorias del escenario de referencia. Bajo el supuesto que se mantengan los métodos de producción actuales, las proyecciones para el año 2030 de las cantidades respectivas serían de 37,9, 4,3, y 33,6 millones de t CO 2 eq, lo cual implicaría un crecimiento agregado de las emisiones netas del 16 % durante los diez años (2020-2030).Para la obtención de estos resultados, la conversión de los gases metano (CH 4 ) y óxido nitroso (N 2 O) a unidades de dióxido de carbono equiva-  El resumen para el año base, presentado en el Cuadro 2, muestra la magnitud de las emisiones para cada una de las fuentes analizadas y pone en evidencia que las emisiones de la producción primaria son determinantes sobre la trayectoria de cualquiera de los escenarios de emisiones, así como para las estrategias de mitigación que se presentan en el capítulo Escenarios de mitigación de GEI de la NAMA (Capítulo 5). En la Figura 13, se ilustra la proyección de dichas emisiones hasta el año 2030, junto con las remociones y las emisiones netas resultado de la suma de estas dos.La diferencia entre las emisiones brutas y netas, causada por las remociones, es del orden del 11 al 13 % (ver la Figura 11), con tendencia a decrecer en el tiempo. Este comportamiento es de esperar ya que, mientras las emisiones crecen con una tasa media mayor al 1 % anual, las remociones lo hacen a una tasa de apenas el 0,003 %.En la siguiente figura se presenta la participación de cada fuente del grupo de fuentes de emisión de la producción primaria.Resumen de emisiones y remociones de GEI estimadas para el año 2020 (año base) Nota: (*) Las emisiones de la comercialización de leche cruda fueron evaluadas para tres ecorregiones seleccionadas por su alta participación respecto a la producción nacional y por su representatividad sobre los canales y métodos de distribución más recurrentes. Para contar con la proyección de emisiones de esta fuente en todo el país, haría falta evaluar las emisiones correspondientes a las demás regiones.Las indicaciones metodológicas han quedado establecidas en el marco de esta NAMA. (N.d) hace referencia a los datos no disponibles.Fuente: propia.La evaluación de referencia de las emisiones absolutas de GEI, para un periodo dado de tiempo, tiene el inconveniente de acarrear con la incertidumbre asociada a la predicción del nivel de actividad.Una predicción de emisiones de referencia, que subestime el crecimiento real de las emisiones durante el periodo de implementación de la NAMA, puede significar que los esfuerzos de mitigación no logren el impacto esperado en la reducción porcentual de las emisiones de GEI del sector.Para evitar esta distorsión sobre el esfuerzo de mitigación, en el marco de la Iniciativa sobreEmisiones de GEI brutas por fuente de emisión para el escenario de referencia Intensidad de las emisiones evaluadas para el escenario de referencia (año base 2020) Para las emisiones de GEI originadas en la comercialización de leche cruda, se genera un indicador de la intensidad de las emisiones de GEI respecto a la cantidad de leche cruda comercializada (el algoritmo utilizado se basa en el documento de trabajo \"Factores de Emisión y Métodos\"). Aunque existe una relación directamente proporcional entre las emisiones de GEI y la producción, la relación entre ambas variables fluctúa de acuerdo con la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos dedicados a la logística de comercialización y acopio y, en consecuencia, presenta valores diferentes en cada región.Como resultado, el valor del indicador para la ecorregión del altiplano cundiboyacense es de 6,7, para Antioquia, Eje Cafetero y norte del Valle es de 7,9 y para Caribe seco, 27,6. Estos valores sugieren que la mayor oportunidad de reducción de emisiones está en el Caribe seco. A su vez, la información detallada de la conformación del hato permite, con criterios técnicos, determinar su orientación y modelar su comportamiento en el escenario de referencia.Estos aspectos de desagregación del inventario posibilitan incluir parámetros muy específicos de productividad, calidad de la dieta y gestión ganadera, así como evitar la aplicación de factores generalizados para toda la población; esto último puede generar imprecisiones y la imposibilidad de incluir las influencias regionales que son muy variadas en el país.análisis. Para ello, se tuvieron en cuenta el Mapa de Coberturas y su ajuste y las coberturas de la Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria (ENA). Esta información arrojó un área de 23,53 millones de hectáreas de áreas de pastizales dedicados a la ganadería, en la cual, por las dinámicas económicas agropecuarias, no se esperan cambios mayores en el área dedicada a esta actividad.Como se mencionó previamente, Colombia cuenta con una gran variedad de ecosistemas, regiones y condiciones ambientales que hacen que la oferta ambiental varíe ampliamente. Uno de los factores más influenciados por esta variedad es la oferta de especies forrajeras que conforman la mayor proporción de la dieta ganadera en todas las orientaciones.Debido a la influencia preponderante de este factor en la generación de emisiones y en la producción, el análisis de la NAMA hizo un énfasis particular en la obtención de datos de los forrajes usados en cada conglomerado; para ello, fueron tomadas muestras de forrajes representativos en predios tipo de cada zona y cada estación climática del país. Estos forrajes fueron analizados con el fin de obtener información de primera mano sobre sus características nutricionales, en especial de los parámetros necesarios para incluir en el modelo Ruminant utilizado para este análisis. 35   De esta forma, se pudo atribuir una dieta específica para cada conglomerado que, junto con la discriminación de los tipos de animales de cada orientación, permite obtener factores de emisión específicos para cada tipo de animal en cada región, orientación y nivel de manejo.CAPÍTULO 4.  El resultado de la focalización es un conjunto de 31 conglomerados con base en los cuales se diseñan las acciones de mitigación de GEI. Así también, integra siete de las diez ecorregiones ganaderas, las cuatro orientaciones productivas y agrega la emisión de 17.097 millones de t CO 2 eq, que equivalen al 51,6 % de las emisiones brutas totales del año base 2020. En la siguiente figura, se presenta la identificación de cada conglomerado y sus emisiones brutas.De los 31 conglomerados, 7 pertenecen a la ecorregión de Orinoquia, una cantidad mayor que los conglomerados de otras ecorregiones. Esto se explica porque se trata de una región de tamaño extenso, donde existen diferentes biomas, tales como la sabana, la altillanura y el piedemonte, que, a pesar de no presentarse de forma explícita como ecorregiones independientes, deben contar con representatividad en las implementaciones que se propone la NAMA.En la medida que esta selección incluye una amplia gama de ecorregiones y todos los sistemas productivos, será posible adelantar procesos de adopción de prácticas de ganadería sostenible baja en carbono con enfoque diferenciado, que aporten a la transformación productiva del sector.F I G U R A 1 4 .Conglomerados focalizados y emisiones de GEI en el año de referencia 2020 Doble propósito: sistemas productivos constituidos por hembras adultas de diferentes edades, terneros y terneras en igual proporción y machos reproductores. El producto de venta son animales destetos, en estadios más adelantados y vacas de descarte, así como leche. Por esto último se ubican en cuencas lecheras o cercanas a estas.Cría: sistemas productivos constituidos por hembras adultas de diferentes edades, terneros y terneras en igual proporción, y machos reproductores. El producto de venta son animales destetos, vacas de descarte, y novillas de levante que no se requieren para la reposición del hato.Ceba: sistemas productivos integrados por hembras y machos mayores de 2 años. Los productos de venta son los machos y hembras que han pasado por procesos de engorde Lechería especializada: sistemas productivos caracterizados por tener una proporción mayoritaria de hembras en todos los grupos etarios, y ausencia o existencia mínima de machos, por cuanto éstos son vendidos a lo largo de sus primeras semanas de vida. Los productores de esta especialidad están agrupados en las 'cuencas lecheras' del país, las más representativas de las cuales se ubican en Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Nariño, Antioquia y Eje Cafetero. Su producto de venta es leche o subproductos lácteos.Nivel de intensificación: cantidad de bovinos por unidad de área de pastizales dedicados a la producción. CAPÍTULO 5.La NAMA propone medidas de mitigación para ser implementadas con la comunidad de ganaderos del país en los predios con vocación bovina y otras dirigidas a la operación de instalaciones de la cadena de suministro de carne y de leche; con el propósito de reducir las emisiones de GEI generadas en la producción ganadera e incrementar las remociones de carbono de los agroecosistemas dedicados a la ganadería. Todas las acciones tienen la intención de multiplicar las prácticas de ganadería sostenible en el país, a través de un proceso gradual a lo largo del periodo 2021-2030.La evaluación de las trayectorias posibles de las emisiones, al implementar las acciones de mitigación planteadas, muestran su potencial para lograr las metas de mitigación del sector ganadero y contribuir de forma significativa al logro de los objetivos nacionales e internacionales de• Aprovechamiento óptimo de residuos de los eslabones de comercialización y beneficio de la cadena de suministro de carne bovina.El diseño de las tres acciones hace énfasis en los procesos de gestión de conocimiento, no sólo en la etapa inicial, sino como un proceso permanente bajo el entendido de que la asimilación de nuevas prácticas o tecnologías de producción sostenible conllevan la formación de conocimiento, la innovación, la apropiación de la cultura de registros y de principios de planeación estratégica, junto con los correspondientes entornos habilitantes de carácter práctico y financiero.Esta aproximación a las acciones de mitigación permite a los productores identificar prácticas sostenibles en consonancia con sus particularidades, así como participar en la configuración de estrategias con alto potencial para contribuir a la transición de más predios ganaderos hacia la producción sostenible (Fedegán-FNG y SENA 2013). Las actividades de gestión de conocimiento tendrán lugar en todo el territorio nacional, como piedra angular en la trayectoria de desa-rrollo bajo en carbono de la ganadería bovina. que adquieren experiencias significativas. Estas dinámicas entre pares facilitan cambios de actitudes, opiniones y vivencias sobre la aplicación de prácticas de ganadería sostenible, tanto para productores como para formadores, especialistas, proveedores de servicios y organizaciones del sector privado.A continuación, se presentan las descripciones de las acciones de mitigación, así como lineamientos que se deberán detallar en función del contexto, en el cual se deseen implementar.Esta primera medida de mitigación, integra diferentes formas de intensificación natural de la producción. A un proceso de gestión del conocimiento (GC) le sigue la implementación de siste- Se trata de un conjunto de acciones encaminadas a incrementar el potencial de una persona u organización para aprovechar el conocimiento, procesarlo y, de esta forma, mejorar la calidad de sus conductas, procesos organizacionales y habilidad para adaptarse al ambiente (Rodríguez y Dante 2008).Aplicado a la ganadería bovina, involucra aportar, gestar, combinar, transferir y apropiar conocimiento orientado a mejorar la eficiencia productiva del hato y la gestión sostenible de su entorno. Las diferentes áreas de conocimiento abarcan temas administrativos, productivos, económicos, ambientales y ecosistémicos, orientados a fomentar el bienestar del productor en el largo plazo (Santana Díaz y otros 2013).Esta acción reviste especial importancia en el contexto del sector ganadero, pues la mayoría de productores enfrentan dificultades para asimilar nuevos conocimientos y trabajan de forma desarticulada en la aplicación de métodos y técnicas para la producción ganadera. Estas circunstancias entorpecen su desempeño financiero y productivo, en detrimento de la calidad de vida de los ganaderos y la sostenibilidad ambiental de sus predios (Santana Díaz y otros 2013).La NAMA se propone trabajar en siete ámbitos de la gestión del conocimiento (GC), que faciliten la transición a la intensificación sostenible de la producción ganadera apoyada en la asistencia técnica.i. Planificación del predio ganadero: si bien no tiene un impacto directo sobre las variables que determinan las emisiones de GEI, constituye un paso previo indispensable para la implementación de acciones como rotación de potreros, mejora de praderas, conservación de forrajes, y establecimiento y manejo de SSP. Además, motiva el monitoreo del desempeño productivo y ambiental.ii. Diligenciamiento y uso de registros: el uso de registros y el chequeo reproductivo periódico, pueden mejorar parámetros como edad a primer parto, porcentaje de natalidad e intervalo entre partos, entre otros, en aproximadamente el 10 % respecto a valores observados en sistemas continuos.iii. División y rotación de potreros: en primera instancia, favorece la duración de las pasturas, ya que permite una intensidad de pastoreo adecuada y un tiempo de descanso óptimo.De esta forma, se evita la pérdida excesiva de reservas de los pastos y propicia una mejor recuperación. También se logra una oferta de nutrientes adecuada, especialmente de proteína cruda (>7 %) y de fibras en detergente ácido (<50 %) y neutro (<70 %) para no disminuir considerablemente la degradabilidad de la materia seca. El aporte mejorado de nutrientes, bajo sistemas rotacionales, puede aumentar la capacidad de carga y la productividad animal (carne y leche) entre el 10 y el 15 % sin acudir a intervenciones ni inversiones de gran envergadura. Además, la rotación de poteros disminuye la compactación del suelo en hasta el 15 %, ya que los animales permanecen periodos cortos en una misma área. iv. Conservación y manejo eficiente del agua: en primera instancia, implica la identificación de fuentes de agua adecuadas, en términos de idoneidad para el consumo del ganado, permanencia y estacionalidad de la cantidad disponible en función del clima y facilidad de acceso. Luego de seleccionar la o las fuentes adecuadas, sigue la definición de métodos de captación y la construcción o instalación de depósitos para ofrecer agua fresca y de calidad para los animales en todo momento y sin utilizar directamente los cuerpos de agua, como son los ríos, quebradas, humedales y manantiales. Por último, se determina el o los sistemas de distribución que satisfagan las necesidades de consumo de los bovinos.En ausencia de esta medida, la restricción de agua reduce la rentabilidad ganadera. vi. Encadenamiento a mercados: tiene el propósito de asegurar la venta de los productos ganaderos sostenibles y el reconocimiento de su valor agregado. Parte de la identificación de las empresas formales que participan en el mercado local y de la estimación de la cantidad de ganaderos vinculados y su oferta asociada. Luego, se realiza un proceso de sensibilización en materia de ganadería sostenible de las empresas y los productores vinculados comercialmente. Tras un proceso de estructuración de la oferta en función de un mercado objetivo local, regional, nacional o exterior.vii. Manejo y uso de estiércol en sistemas orientados a la producción de leche: este componente de conocimiento está enfocado en la producción de abonos orgánicos a partir de los efluentes generados en áreas donde de forma transitoria o semi permanente se confinan bovinos, en especial para labores de ordeño. En primer lugar, se realiza un diseño previo basado en la estimación del volumen de efluente a tratar. Tras un proceso de aforo, se realizan los ajustes pertinentes al diseño.Este debe favorecer el transporte de líquidos como la fuerza de gravedad y el principio de los vasos comunicantes, de modo que se evite el uso de equipos que eleven los costos de inversión u operación.Como se observa, la GC abarca diversas acciones que involucran tecnologías blandas, de fácil asimilación y que permiten impactos rápidos, aunque, según las condiciones de los ganaderos, se puede recurrir a tecnologías complementarias más demandantes en recursos y conocimiento especializado. Además, allí donde existan fincas demostrativas del PGCS los procesos de GC podrán apalancarse en las fincas demostrativas, establecidas como modelos dinamizadores de sistemas agroforestales que permiten replicar con otros ganaderos los sistemas de producción sostenible y conservación promovidos en el PGCS.Para cuantificar el impacto de la implementación de actividades en torno a la GC sobre las emisiones, se asume que la planificación de los predios, el uso de registros, y las mejoras en el manejo de las praderas y forrajes redundan en mayor calidad de la dieta suministrada a los bovinos haciéndolos más eficientes y con menor propensión a la generación de metano en el rumen bovino. Este cambio se plasma en los escenarios de mitigación, como cambios favorables en los atributos nutricionales de las pasturas, respecto a los valores considerados para el escenario de referencia.En cuanto al impacto sobre la remoción de carbono, la disminución de los tiempos de rotación, la división de potreros y la optimización de los aforos de bovinos por unidad de área, favorecen el incremento de policultivos, la permeabilidad y capacidad de intercambio catiónico en el suelo, que promueven el desarrollo de raíces con mayor penetración y, por ende, retención de carbono en forma de biomasa. Se asume que el carbono es absorbido y retenido en las pasturas a una tasa de 0,296 t CO 2 eq por hectárea por año, con igual magnitud en todas las ecorregiones e invariable en el tiempo, siempre que se mantengan las buenas prácticas de manejo (Soussana 2010) (Fornara 2002) (De Deyn 2011).Los SSP y los SSPi son un tipo de agroforestería que permite aumentar la eficiencia de la producción ganadera, con base en procesos naturales que se reconocen como un enfoque integrado para el uso sostenible de la tierra (Nair 2009).Combinan en el mismo espacio plantas forrajeras como pastos y leguminosas rastreras, arbustos y árboles destinados a la alimentación animal y usos complementarios. En la medida que incrementan la cantidad, variedad y calidad del forraje disponible para el pastoreo, tienen la capacidad de aumentar la capacidad de carga animal, la disponibilidad de proteína y de sombra, entre otros atributos que varían según el tipo de arreglo.Los sistemas bovinos de producción basados en un mejor manejo, con la integración de SSP, tienen la capacidad de disminuir las emisiones de GEI por diferentes vías. Las rutas bajo las cuales se puede lograr son:• Dieta con contenidos equilibrados de proteína cruda, energía y micronutrientes y baja en fibra.• Suministro de compuestos fitoquímicos contenidos en arbustivas forrajeras, que modulan la fermentación ruminal y reducen la generación de metano.• Forraje disponible en mayor cantidad y menor estacionalidad.• Productividad animal y eficiencia metabólica altas, que conllevan menor intensidad de emisiones de GEI (emisiones por unidad de producto).• Mayor confort animal, que favorece mayor consumo de forraje.• Incremento de la capacidad de captura de carbono en los estratos de pasto, arbustivos y arbóreo.• Menor uso y dependencia de insumos externos como fertilizantes y alimentos balanceados.La implementación de SSP es una opción de manejo agropecuario que encaja en el concepto de soluciones basadas en la naturaleza (SBN) 36 , pues además de mitigar emisiones de GEI, aumenta la eficiencia productiva, confiere a los sistemas productivos una baja vulnerabilidad frente al clima, beneficia a los ganaderos y a las cadenas productivas en las que están integrados, e induce al manejo sostenible de los ecosistemas naturales y modificados. En el contexto actual, esta alineación reviste importancia, ya que los gobiernos, las comunidades, las ONG y los negocios están acogiendo cada vez más las SBN como medio para vincular recursos e inversiones de múltiples fuentes.Además, los SSP cuentan con un gran potencial de establecimiento debido a la variedad de posibilidades que ofrece la abundancia de especies vegetales en Colombia. Gracias a esta condición, se propone su implementación en todos los conglomerados focalizados, según las especies tanto arbóreas como forrajeras de mejor adaptación, dadas las condiciones agroecológicas de cada ecorregión. En el Cuadro 5, se presenta un resumen de las consideraciones respectivas.36 Las Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza (SBN) son \"acciones dirigidas a proteger, gestionar y restaurar de manera sostenible ecosistemas naturales o modificados, que hacen frente a retos de la sociedad de forma efectiva y adaptable, al proporcionar simultáneamente bienestar humano y beneficios de la biodiversidad\" (Resolución de la UICN WCC-2016-Res-069). Los retos de la sociedad a los que hace referencia incluyen directa e indirectamente: mitigación de GEI, adaptación al cambio climático, seguridad alimentaria, seguridad hídrica, reducción del riesgo de desastres, desarrollo social y económico y, formas de vida seguras y saludables.Los cinco tipos de arreglos silvopastoriles se caracterizan en la Figura 16 y se describen a continuación, cuyos atributos están basados en el documento de trabajo \"Descripción Detallada de Arreglos SSP y sus Atributos\".Son un tipo de SSP lineal establecido con plantas leñosas (árboles, arbustos y palmas), que sirven de soporte al alambre de púas o liso y cuya finalidad es delimitar la propiedad o marcar divisiones de potreros en los sistemas productivos (Budowsky 1987).  Esta medida de mitigación deriva de la intensificación productiva, en la medida que una misma cantidad de bovinos puede mantenerse e incluso producir más en un área de menor extensión. Se trata de un cambio en el uso del suelo al interior de predios ganaderos en áreas donde, en lugar de continuar desarrollando actividad ganadera, se realiza un aislamiento y tiene lugar un proceso de restauración ecológica no asistida.Desde la óptica de los ganaderos, el tamaño de las superficies a liberar varía de acuerdo con el tamaño del predio y otros factores que condicionen la posibilidad de cumplir con sus metas de desempeño productivo. Por otra parte, existen metas de restauración plasmadas en planes de ordenamiento, ambientales y de desarrollo a escalas nacional, regional y local. Para conciliar las expectativas de todas las partes interesadas y cumplir de forma simultánea con la mayor parte de los objetivos trazados por cada una, es importante confluir en un enfoque de paisaje mediante el cual se concilien las perspectivas social y biofísica.El Los métodos de manejo de excretas más comunes en las subastas ganaderas son los siguientes:• Recolectar las excretas bovinas por medio de un barrido o paleado de las mismas; posteriormente, apilar para disminuir los olores, empacar y vender o regalar, según la subasta y la época del año, pues en invierno esta práctica de barrido y empaque de las heces se dificulta.• Producir compost o abonos orgánicos.• Tratar las aguas residuales por medio de una planta (PTAR), si bien es una alternativa a la cual recurren pocas subastas. Las PTAR cuentan con trampas de grasa, reactores anaeróbicos de flujo ascendente con manto de lodos (UASB) donde se descompone la materia orgánica, filtros Anaerobios de flujo ascendente (FAFA) y filtros de pulimiento donde se retiene todo el material en suspensión y se clarifica el agua.• Colectar las heces y entregar a terceros que elaboran el compost ex situ. Es la práctica más recurrente.Por otra parte, para dimensionar la capacidad de tratamiento de residuos requerida por cada subasta, se estima la cantidad de residuos a partir de la cantidad de animales subastados mensualmente, diferenciando los recintos según capacidad en tres grupos: pequeños, medianos y grandes. Las cantidades de estiércol que en promedio se proyectan para el año base son: 9 (±2,1) toneladas mensuales en subastas pequeñas, 101,7 (±21,5) t/mes en subastas medianas y 461,6 (±93,8) en las grandes.También para definir las alternativas de tratamiento que reduzcan las emisiones, se debe considerar el espacio con que cuentan las subastas para instalarlas y la mano de obra que es requerida para su operación y sostenimiento.La implementación permanente de composteras es la tecnología elegida en virtud de su bajo costo relativo, flexibilidad de adecuación a circunstancias específicas e impacto conocido sobre la emisión de GEI. Su dimensión se debe acomodar a los espacios con que se cuente, teniendo en cuenta que los diseños varían de acuerdo con las características de cada instalación, la disponibilidad de personal y los recursos disponibles.Para el proceso de diseño, se debe revisar la nor- Como alternativa de manejo del estiércol para centrales de beneficio, se elige el tratamiento biológico en biodigestor tubular de flujo conti-37 Son estructuras tubulares donde se deposita estiércol para su descomposición. La cámara tubular es cerrada, de modo que en ausencia de oxígeno los microorganismos contenidos en el estiércol lo transforman en agua, biogás y sólidos que se constituyen en fertilizantes o enmiendas para suelos.nuo 37 . Se trata de una opción económicamente viable para el manejo de los subproductos del sacrificio animal, al ser una tecnología que reduce la producción de GEI a lo largo del proceso de sacrificio bovino en los mataderos y valoriza los subproductos del proceso de beneficio animal, a saber, el biogás y los lodos que pueden transformarse en abonos para la fertilización de cultivos, incluso en sistemas de producción bovina.Si bien, no todos los residuos son susceptibles de ser gestionados en un biodigestor, solo el estiércol proveniente de los corrales, en los cuales los animales permanecen por un día antes de ingresar al sacrificio, así como la carga de misceláneos provenientes de ese sacrificio (estiércol mezclado con sangre), ingresan siempre que no hayan entrado en contacto con desinfectantes en el proceso de sacrificio.Con el propósito de dimensionar las instalaciones requeridas por una planta de beneficio en particular, se debe medir en campo el contenido de agua, la cantidad y composición del estiércol y la sangre en el proceso de beneficio. Para esta tecnología, también se deben considerar los requerimientos de instalación, operación y sostenibilidad.Los beneficios económicos de los biodigestores para las plantas de beneficio hacen referencia a la producción de biogás, que representa un potencial energético considerable, si se compara con un combustible gaseoso comercial como el propano y la producción de biol generado, que se puede comparar con un fertilizante comercial rico en nitrógeno.El biogás puede ser aprovechado en la planta 38 Modelo dinámico para predecir la estructura, productividad y tamaño del hato. Las entradas de información requeridas son las siguientes: los parámetros productivos, las políticas de manejo, la cantidad de bovinos por categoría en los predios modales de los conglomerados y los cambios en el uso del suelo.39 La plataforma web SIDESS, conocida por su nombre en inglés \"Sustainable Intensification Decision Support System\", fue desarrollada en el marco del proyecto The Agricultural Synergies Project. Integra la información de los modelos Ruminant y VirtualHerd, y escala las salidas a nivel de predio o conglomerado, al nivel de región y de país. La información de entrada para el SIDESS, consiste en una matriz que incorpora información productiva, reproductiva, económica, nutricional, de uso del suelo, emisiones y de capturas para cada conglomerado.40 Se trata de un sistema de información que apoya el diseño y formulación de sistemas de alimentación animal con base en la composición química y valor nutricional de los recursos alimenticios utilizados en Colombia, según su naturaleza, origen y disponibilidad. Para cada uno de los conglomerados priorizados, se asignaron diferentes usos de suelo, a los cuales se les establecieron supuestos que intervienen en los parámetros técnicos, políticas y dietas, al asumir una reconversión total del conglomerado hacia cada uso de suelo promovido.Dentro del modelo VirtualHerd, se programó un módulo de generación de insumos dinámicos en el tiempo para modelar los cambios potenciales de los parámetros técnicos y de las dietas, sobre los cambios en los usos del suelo que tienen impacto en el desempeño de los animales. Este módulo proyectó los valores de los insumos a diez años, a través de un proceso de prorrateo de cada insumo respecto a la proporción del uso del suelo en la evolución en el tiempo dentro de cada conglomerado.Los parámetros productivos modificados en el modelo VirtualHerd, mediante cálculos dinámicos condicionados por la interacción entre el uso del suelo y el desempeño técnico productivo, fueron los siguientes:• Edad al primer parto.• Porcentaje de preñez.• Porcentaje de retención de hembras.• Ganancia de peso.• Producción de leche.Para la determinación de la magnitud de los cambios esperados sobre estos cinco parámetros se toma como referencia la información de los incrementos en productividad reportados por el Proyecto Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible (PGCS) en el año 2017, los cuales se pueden observar en el Cuadro 6.Cifras de productividad de acuerdo con el tipo de arreglo implementado en el predio Una vez definidos los cambios en los parámetros técnicos y políticas por cada conglomerado, según su nivel de productividad y tamaño, se definen los incrementos porcentuales de los parámetros productivos correspondientes a cada ecorregión por tipo de arreglo.La selección de los reservorios, incluidos en la estimación de remociones de GEI asociados al establecimiento de SSP promovidos por la NAMA, se basó en los criterios de buenas prácticas para el inventario de GEI propuestos por el IPCC (2006). El único reservorio considerado fue la biomasa aérea que, de acuerdo con la actualización de las directrices del IPCC (2019), debe ser incluido obligatoriamente en las estimaciones de cambios en las reservas de carbono y emisiones o remociones de GEI asociadas a cambios en el uso del suelo, debido a la alta disponibilidad de metodologías para tomar los datos en campo, la facilidad y costo-efectividad para tomar la infor-mación y la alta proporción de carbono contenido en este reservorio en comparación con los demás reservorios.Los reservorios de biomasa subterránea, madera muerta, hojarasca y suelo fueron excluidos, puesto que, de acuerdo con el IPCC ( 2019 La cuantificación de las remociones de carbono, que tienen lugar como consecuencia del aumento en biomasa en el marco de liberación de áreas en uso ganadero para su restauración ecológica, se realiza usando las tasas de remoción de carbono presentadas en el siguiente cuadro.Coeficientes de remoción de carbono para los distintos usos de suelos y ecorregión Fuente: propia, factores de remoción tomados de TNC.La implementación de las medidas de mitigación, sean las de gestión de conocimiento dirigidas al manejo eficiente del sistema productivo, el establecimiento de arreglos agroforestales o la liberación de áreas, serán implementadas por los ganaderos de forma gradual, dado que conllevan un proceso de aprendizaje, demandan mano de obra, capital y tiempo; estas tendrán cada vez más adopción en la medida que sus impactos positivos se hagan evidentes para cada ganadero.Por lo tanto, el diseño de las medidas de mitigación incluye la consideración sobre cómo se materializa a lo largo del tiempo, así como unas metas de implementación por medida y tipo de arreglo SSP para cada conglomerado priorizado.Con el fin de establecer dichas metas, se tuvieron en cuenta la orientación productiva, la ecorregión, el área del predio modal, el tamaño del hato bovino modal y el nivel de intensificación. En el  Esta misma gradualidad se ilustra en la Figura 18, representada en términos de porcentaje acumulado año a año hasta llegar a la meta de intervención prevista en el octavo año.Los escenarios de mitigación son el resultado de proyectar el efecto que tendrá la implementación de las medidas de la NAMA sobre la producción bovina, su eficiencia e intensificación, así como las emisiones de GEI y las remociones de carbono.Para el desarrollo de los escenarios, se definen tasas de adopción, en la medida que no es concebible que, en el primer año de implementación En cuanto a la producción, tanto la de carne en canal como la de leche y la producción de proteína, presentan un incremento importante respecto al escenario de referencia tanto para el escenario moderado como para el optimista. En el caso de la carne, en el escenario de referencia se proyecta una producción de 24.510 toneladas en canal para el año 2030, en el escenario moderado de 25.329 y en el optimista de 26.277; esto significa incrementos del 3 y 7 % respectivamente.Con relación a la producción de leche, el incremento de los escenarios de mitigación también fue mayor con relación al escenario de referencia, para el cual se proyecta una producción de 308 millones de litros en el año 2030. Por su parte, el escenario moderado proyecta un incremen-to del 1 %, lo que se traduce en una producción de 310 millones de litros, mientras que el escenario optimista -con un incremento del 2 %-producirá 313 millones de litros. En lo que respecta a la producción de proteína, esta es la consolidación tanto de la carne como de leche; en ambos escenarios, como se mencionó anteriormente, proyecta crecimientos en el escenario moderado (1 %) y en el optimista (3 %).En lo concerniente a la carbono eficiencia, medida en términos de emisiones por unidad monetaria de los costos de producción, tiene una reducción con respecto al escenario de referencia del 4 % en el escenario moderado de mitigación y del 7 % en el optimista. Tanto para carne como para leche, se proyectan valores más bajos en ambos escenarios de mitigación al año 2030. En el caso de la carne, este indicador estaría entre el 3,7 y 7,4 % menos con relación al escenario de referencia para el cual se estima un valor de 9,1 kg de CO 2 eq/ kg de carne. Para la leche, la reducción de la carbono eficiencia presenta igual variación a la carne en términos porcentuales, al pasar de emitir 2,9 kg de CO 2 eq/kg de leche en el escenario de referencia a 2,7 CO 2 eq/kg en el escenario optimista de mitigación.Con base en la evaluación de las emisiones de los predios modales de los conglomerados, de acuerdo con las intervenciones proyectadas para el escenario moderado y el optimista, se realizó un proceso de escalamiento de la información que consiste en llevar estas intervenciones primero a nivel de conglomerado (regional) y posteriormente a nivel nacional.  (kg CO eq/US$ ingreso)Eje horizontal representa los años transcurridos una vez inicia la implementación de la NAMA, prevista para el año 2021 Fuente: propia.La producción de compost a partir del estiércol depositado en 54 establecimientos de subastas en el país tiene asociadas emisiones marginales de CH 4 , pues las reduce casi en un 100 %, como ilustran las cifras documentadas en el Cuadro 12.Sin embargo, las emisiones de N 2 O se incrementan con la implementación de esta tecnología debido al alto contenido de nitrógeno en la materia prima, que es el estiércol bovino. Si bien, el compostaje constituye una alternativa para generar un abono orgánico a bajo costo y presta un beneficio significativo para los productores, no contribuye a la mitigación pues aumenta las emisiones de GEI.La alternativa propuesta por la NAMA bovina de tratar los residuos orgánicos producidos en las plantas de beneficio con biodigestores, se analiza bajo el supuesto de que la totalidad de los establecimientos donde se beneficia el ganado reportado en la ESAG del DANE adoptaría esta tecnología o una equivalente en reducción de emisiones, y que las cifras de beneficio formal superan el margen del 90 % respecto al total del que ocurre en el país. En el Cuadro 13 se muestra el potencial de reducción de emisiones agregado.La gradualidad de la adopción de los sistemas de tratamiento por parte de las plantas de beneficio se asume que tendrá un comportamiento lineal, de modo que cada año aumenta en un mismo porcentaje hasta completar el 100 % en el año 2030.Emisiones derivadas de la gestión de estiércol en subastas ganaderas en el escenario de referencia y el alternativo con implementación de sistemas de compostaje ii. Social. Se encarga de los aspectos sociales de la intervención. Dado que los impactos sociales también tendrían un impacto en los beneficios económicos, este dominio solo evalúa los impactos sociales, que no lo vinculan con los beneficios financieros.iii. Crecimiento y desarrollo. Se enfoca en los aspectos de desarrollo de la intervención, sin vincularlos con los beneficios financieros. Para evaluar los cobeneficios de desarrollo sostenible de la NAMA, se deben considerar los valores iniciales (línea base) de los parámetros en los predios ganaderos que se intervendrán con las acciones de mitigación, los valores tras cada intervalo de monitoreo y los cambios observados por cada medida de mitigación adoptada.La identificación de los cobeneficios de la NAMA partió del análisis de los objetivos de la NAMA bovina, para identificar cuáles impactos predeterminados para los diferentes criterios y dominios, pueden asociarse con las medidas de mitigación de GEI. Luego, para cada categoría de impacto aplicable, se describieron los cobeneficios potenciales, cuya relación con las acciones de mitigación fue validada por un grupo de expertos a partir de documentación técnica y cien- 1.1.2. Incremento de la superficie de suelos liberados bajo uso ganadero que cambian a suelo bajo conservación.1.1.3. Mejora del ciclaje de nutrientes en sistemas ganaderos.1.1.4. Mejora de parámetros físicos en suelos en sistemas ganaderos.1.1.5. Mejora de parámetros químicos en suelos en paisajes ganaderos.1.1.6. Incremento de la presencia de macrofauna en suelo.1.1.7. Reducción del vertido de residuales a suelos en zonas próximas a centrales de beneficio, ferias y subastas ganaderas.1.1.8. Reducción del uso de plaguicidas en sistemas ganaderos.1.2.1. Mejora de la calidad del agua en paisajes ganaderos.1.2.2. Incorporación de sistemas de captación, almacenamiento y/o distribución de agua para la producción ganadera.1.2.3. Protección de fuentes de agua en sistemas ganaderos.1.2.4. Disminución de la evapotranspiración en las zonas de pastoreo o humedad del suelo.1.2.5. Disminución en la escorrentía del agua en zonas de pastoreo.1.3.1. Incremento de la riqueza, abundancia y biodiversidad de grupos ecológicos representativos del ecosistema (plantas, aves, insectos).1.3.2. Incremento de controladores biológicos en sistemas ganaderos.1.3.3. Reducción de la deforestación y degradación forestal en los predios ganaderos que participen en acciones de la NAMA.1.4. Bienestar animal 1.4.1. Mejora del bienestar animal (reducción de la tasa respiratoria y estrés calórico). Tasa respiratoria en animales (bovinos).2.1.1. Generación de nuevos empleos por incremento de la productividad y dinamización de la economía (empleos temporales o permanentes).2.1.2. Oportunidades para el desarrollo de emprendimientos productivos.2.2.1. Mejora de las condiciones de seguridad y salud en el trabajo.2.2.2. Mantenimiento/ mejora de la sanidad en los predios ganaderos e inocuidad de los productos generados. 2.4.3. Fortalecimiento del enfoque de género a través de la participación de la mujer en procesos productivos asociados a la ganadería.3.1. Producción 3.1.1. Mejora de la productividad (carne y leche), condición corporal de los animales, reproducción y ganancia de peso.3.2.1. Mejora en los ingresos.3.2.2. Aumento de la rentabilidad en la producción de carne y/o leche (otros productos generados en la unidad de producción: madera, postes, frutos).3.2.3. Reducción de costos de producción por incorporación de nuevas tecnologías y adopción de conocimiento.3.2.4. Posibilidad de acceso a mercados de productos diferenciados (nichos de mercado, productos limpios, sello verde).3.2.5. Generación de ingresos por la gestión de desechos y aguas residuales de la producción ganadera (venta de abono orgánico y biogas).3.2.6. Acceso a instrumentos de financiación del sector ganadero (existentes o nuevos).3.3.1. Uso de fuentes alternas de energía (metano generado a partir de digestión anaeróbica, energía solar, energía eólica, otros).3.4.1. Adopción/ escalamiento de tecnología adecuada a las condiciones locales (buenas prácticas ganaderas, sistemas silvopastoriles no intensivos, sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos, otros). NAMA que son presentados, se agrupan en dos secciones. La primera aborda los antecedentes y elementos principales de contexto en materia de MRV; la segunda identifica y propone los lineamientos y bases para el sistema de MRV -para la NAMA de ganadería bovina sostenible-que faciliten su seguimiento y logro de objetivos. A partir de la aprobación de la Procesos de recolección, análisis y seguimiento de la información a través del tiempo y en el espacio, a escala nacional, subnacional y sectorial, con el propósito de suministrar información para los reportes de emisiones, reducciones de emisiones o de remociones de GEI.Es la presentación de los resultados de la información de cambio climático consolidada y analizada por el gobierno nacional, los titulares de iniciativas de mitigación de GEI o cualquier organización pública o privada responsable de proveer o generar información relacionada con la gestión del cambio climático.Es el proceso sistemático, independiente y documentado en el que se evalúa la consistencia metodológica de las acciones para la gestión del cambio climático, las reducciones y las remociones de GEI. Este proceso implica la revisión de los inventarios de GEI, de las líneas base de emisiones de GEI y el cumplimiento de las metas de cambio climático. De acuerdo con la Resolución 1447 de 2018, las iniciativas de mitigación de GEI tipo NAMA, deberán adelantar procesos de validación y verificación de primera parte y podrán adelantar procesos de verificación de tercera parte. Los procesos de primera parte son los adelantados por organismos internos de la organización que proporciona los reportes. Los de tercera parte, son realizados por organismos independientes como un Organismo de Validación y Verificación de GEI. Todo proceso de verificación debe dar cuenta del cumplimiento de los principios del sistema MRV (descritos en el artículo 9° de la Resolución 1447 de 2018).Los objetivos específicos del sistema MRV de la NAMA bovina son los siguientes:• Mejorar y asegurar la calidad de la información en cuanto a emisiones y reducciones de GEI asociados a la implementación de acciones sostenibles en ganadería bovina en las zonas de implementación de la NAMA (verificación de las medidas de mitigación).• Proveer información oportuna para hacer seguimiento al avance de los diferentes componentes de la NAMA bovina.• Aportar indicadores de competitividad, eficiencia y sostenibilidad que promuevan e incentiven la implementación de acciones de mitigación en el sector.• Construir capacidades para la elaboración de inventarios de GEI con el fin de preparar al sector para futuros requerimientos nacionales de carácter obligatorio.• Evaluar la eficacia de las acciones de mitigación respecto a la meta plasmada en la NDC.• Promover la coherencia entre los diferentes niveles de monitoreo y reporte tanto de las acciones como de su impacto en la mitigación de GEI.• Promover un uso eficaz de los recursos financieros para alcanzar los objetivos de mitigación del país.• Monitorear la asignación y el manejo de los recursos para identificar las brechas, las necesidades y las oportunidades de financiamiento.• Mejorar la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas para la construcción de la confianza entre los donantes y los receptores e incrementar la eficacia de las acciones de mitigación.• Proveer información respecto al impacto de la ganadería bovina sostenible sobre la preparación, frente a los riesgos climáticos, los procesos y resultados de adaptación al cambio climático.• Identificar y reportar los principales cobeneficios de la NAMA bovina en las diferentes ecorregiones.El sistema MRV de la NAMA bovina, así como su proceso de implementación, estarán anclados en el Comité NAMA, instancia que definirá la estructura organizacional para la implementación de la NAMA y la hoja de ruta detallada para su implementación. La participación institucional y del sector privado en este Comité se irá ampliando, como resultado de las acciones de difusión de la política a nivel nacional y local, y como manera de asegurar representatividad de las instancias relevantes a nivel regional y local.Se propone que el sistema de MRV tenga una duración que abarque, al menos, el tiempo de desarrollo de la NAMA de la ganadería bovina sostenible de diez años, con fecha de inicio en el año 2021 y finalización en el año 2030. Se proyecta que una vez establecido el sistema MRV, su operación debe extenderse hacia una visión post-2030, en línea con los objetivos de largo plazo en los que también trabaja la ECDBC y la CMNUCC.El alcance geográfico de la NAMA y de su sistema de MRV obedece a 31 conglomerados priori-  Con el propósito de hacer un seguimiento periódico de las acciones de mitigación, el sistema MRV de la NAMA consolidará los datos de monitoreo y presentará reportes cada dos años y se verificará la información y metodologías cada cuatro años.La frecuencia de trabajo estará ajustada a la dinámica dada en el marco de la estructuración de los BUR 44 y de las Comunicaciones Nacionales de GEI lideradas por el IDEAM, así como a los censos ganaderos y ciclos de vacunación nacionales. De esta forma, las actividades propuestas en el sistema MRV estarán coordinadas con los lineamientos nacionales, al facilitar el reporte de la información para el cumplimiento de los compromisos de país.Respecto al registro de las actividades de la NAMA bovina en el Renare, será realizado anualmente con el fin de cumplir con los lineamientos establecidos en el artículo 15° de la Resolución 1447 de 2018. Asimismo, en el marco de los tres primeros meses de cada año se actualizará el avance en la ejecución de la NAMA, incluso si no hay avance cuantificado en términos de reducción y/o remoción de emisiones de GEI, así como cualquier variación de la información relacionada con la misma.A continuación, se describen las actividades del MRV de la NAMA de ganadería bovina sostenible.Las metodologías de monitoreo para cada fuente de emisión contemplada en la NAMA se detallan en los respectivos documentos de trabajo.44 A más tardar, en diciembre 31 del año 2024, de acuerdo con la transición al marco de transparencia reforzado, los Informes Bienales de Actualización deberán ser sustituidos por los Informes Bienales de Transparencia.Con relación a los indicadores seleccionados, estos servirán para conocer el progreso en la implementación de las acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina sostenible, así como su contribución a la mitigación del cambio climático en las áreas donde se adopten y durante el tiempo de análisis de interés. Además, cumplirán con el propósito de informar sobre la evolución de la productividad bovina en los predios donde se implementen las acciones de mitigación.El sistema de MVR define módulos temáticos descritos en el Cuadro 16, para los cuales se establece la información que se desea monitorear, aquella que se desea reportar y, finalmente, los procesos de validación y verificación a ser implementados.Las actividades de MRV deben garantizar la adopción y cumplimiento de los principios de transparencia, exactitud, comparabilidad, consistencia, estandarización, inclusión, pertinencia, entre otros, así como deben propender por guardar coherencia con la información de otros sistemas de información del gobierno colombiano.En el documento de trabajo \"Incertidumbre en la Estimación de Emisiones y Remociones de GEI\" están descritas las directrices para estimar la incertidumbre y gestionarla. El resumen de los pasos que conllevan el monitoreo y reporte se ilustra en la Figura 21 luego de lo cual, se describen los tres componentes del MRV y las actividades para cada uno de ellos.La comunicación entre los tres componentes del MRV va a permitir, entre otros, destinar y apalancar recursos de una manera más eficiente, pues facilitará la identificación de los niveles de esfuerzo requeridos para el cálculo de emisiones y monitoreo de cobeneficios, y la necesidad financiera asociada.C U A D R O 1 6 .El módulo de mitigación del sistema de MRV tiene como objetivos: (1) estimar las emisiones de GEI y las remociones de carbono;(2) monitorear los cambios en las emisiones y las remociones; (3) consolidar y analizar la información respectiva a las acciones de mitigación; (4) hacer seguimiento a las metas planteadas e identificar oportunidades de mejora; y (5) desarrollar los reportes necesarios para cumplir con los compromisos adquiridos, a partir de los encuentros y seguimientos en campo de los predios y las áreas intervenidas.  Para la consolidación y análisis, se procesará la información obtenida de los diferentes módulos descritos en el Cuadro 16, de tal manera que se pueda hacer un adecuado seguimiento y análisis del progreso de los diferentes niveles de emisiones y medidas de mitigación de GEI, así como del financiamiento y los cobeneficios. Este progreso se medirá a partir de los indicadores cuantitativos y cualitativos indicados en el documento de trabajo \"Indicadores de MRV y M&E\".Los datos de insumo a nivel predial se generarán por medio de encuestas aleatorias en el marco muestral de 793 predios y visitas periódicas (cada dos años), la información oficial sectorial se recopilará cada año. Para la consolidación y análisis de la información obtenida, se deberá contar con una herramienta en línea y a nivel central que permita hacer los cálculos necesarios a partir de información base ingresada por los usuarios, es decir, los coordinadores de la NAMA. La herramienta deberá configurarse en términos de las fuentes de emisión y captura e, internamente, contará con los algoritmos y cálculos necesarios para estimar cada una de las emisiones.En particular, con la UPRA, se podría gestionar la recopilación de datos de áreas establecidas y en intervención con potencial de captura como, por ejemplo, los SSP al partir de información básica (p. ej. densidad, edad, especies usadas) que pueda ser verificada regularmente como tipo de arreglo establecido (densidad, edad, especies usadas, área, entre otras) y georreferenciación.Con la información recolectada y el empleo de las metodologías propuestas para la evaluación de emisiones de referencia y de mitigación, junto con las guías del IPCC (2006)  El reporte utiliza las \"salidas\" del sistema para la presentación de la información analizada y consolidada. Para el caso de las emisiones y remociones, el reporte será presentado con el objetivo La verificación se hará a través de un proceso de comprobación independiente de la certeza y fiabilidad de la información reportada y de los procedimientos utilizados para generar la información del reporte y monitoreo. Esta también aportará una garantía en la calidad del proceso y su control, lo cual optimiza el sistema de MRV, al abordar los métodos y procedimientos de medición y seguimiento, al igual que las mejoras en el proceso de elaboración de informes.Verificación de primera parte (interna)Se conformará un grupo que diseñará los procedimientos de evaluación de los métodos usados en el monitoreo y reporte de las acciones de mitigación de la NAMA bovina, así como para la implementación del control de calidad de ambos procesos. El control de calidad lo realizará un equipo designado para tal fin por parte del Comité NAMA, en colaboración con instituciones interesadas y con las competencias requeridas, con el objetivo de proveer controles rutinarios y coherentes que garanticen la integridad de los datos, su exactitud y su exhaustividad, además de identificar y hacer frente a errores y omisiones.Para demostrar la independencia de la verificación, las partes encargadas no tendrán responsabilidad en el desarrollo de los datos e información sobre las acciones de mitigación.El grupo de control de calidad deberá incluir los siguientes cinco perfiles, cuya elección estará a cargo del Comité NAMA: un experto en nutrición animal, un experto en estadísticas agropecuarias, un experto en captura de carbono, un especialista en gestión del conocimiento, y un experto en sistemas silvopastoriles. Las actividades de control de calidad deberán incluir la revisión técnica de categorías, datos de actividad, métodos de estimación, factores de emisión y parámetros incluidos en los análisis (inventario bovino, dietas y sus características, parámetros productivos y reproductivos, entre otros).De otro lado, se establecerá un grupo de garantía de calidad bajo la coordinación del MADR, el cual estará a cargo de administrar un sistema planificado de revisión de procedimientos, y que será llevado a cabo por terceros no implicados directamente en el proceso de seguimiento y presentación de informes. Este será preestablecido por el personal encargado y se realizará después de que la evaluación haya sido completada. Así mismo, seguirá la implementación de los procedimientos de control de calidad, los cuales estarán basados en la metodología usada para el cálculo de la línea base y de los escenarios.Este grupo contrastará la información generada en el sistema de MRV frente a datos dis- Verificación de tercera parte (externa)Los informes de resultados de las actividades de mitigación serán incluidos en los reportes que el país presentará ante la CMNUCC, cuyos resultados serán sometidos a una \"consulta y análisis internacional\", desarrollada por un equipo de expertos de la CMNUCC. A pesar de ser un componente transversal, el proceso de verificación tendrá lugar después de la presentación de los reportes, con el fin de corroborar el cumplimiento de los principios del MRV y, de ser el caso, hacer ajustes y correcciones.La verificación permitirá retroalimentar y mejorar el sistema en el tiempo, por ejemplo, al identificar nuevos requerimientos de información, si los hubiera, o desarrollos informáticos que ayuden a mejorar los análisis y el reporte de información a diferentes niveles. Por lo tanto, serán objeto de verificación herramientas, procedimientos y la temporalidad de cada una de las evaluaciones y los indicadores propuestos.Para el financiamiento climático, la verificación se acogerá a lo dispuesto por el MRV de financiamiento climático. Junto con la verificación de mitigación servirá para identificar la alineación de las inversiones con el impacto esperado de la NAMA, y su contribución a objetivos a políticas públicas de acuerdo con las plataformas destinadas a su evaluación y seguimiento, como Sinergia y el SIAC.En cuanto a las fuentes principales, estas son las bases de datos gremiales, las encuestas a productores, los análisis de laboratorio y los resultados obtenidos de herramientas como Ruminant u otros modelos, los factores de emisión desarrollados por el proyecto GCS y las ecuacionesEtapas para la verificación del impacto de las NAMA: control de calidad y garantía de calidad Evaluar la línea base de emisiones y remociones. Monitorear el desarrollo de las actividades de la mitigación de la NAMA.Evaluar los impactos de las actividades de mitigación respecto a los GEI de línea de base.Verificar la consistencia metodológica de las evaluaciones de emiciones y remociones.Identificar y aplicar acciones correctivas a lugar.Delimitar el alcance y objetivo de las acciones de mitigación de la NAMA Identificar las fuentes y sumideros de GEI según el alcance de la NAMA.Fuente: propia.Support System), junto con otros modelos o herramientas a convenir (ver más detalle de entidades, según las tablas de fuentes de emisión en el acápite 2.2.1).Se reunirán los datos cada tres años por medio de encuestas a nivel predial ejecutadas por extensionistas; se evaluarán los indicadores por expertos en emisiones y capturas de carbono y se presentarán informes cada tres años; a su vez, se verificará la información y las metodologías cada cinco años (de acuerdo con lo descrito en el documento de trabajo \"indicadores de MRV y M&E\"). La frecuencia de trabajo va a coincidir con los periodos bienales, durante los cuales, se estructuran los Reportes Bienales de Actualización y con los cuatrienales de preparación de las Comunicaciones Nacionales, ambos procesos liderados por el IDEAM, para luego ser presentados frente a la CMNUCC por el gobierno nacional. Por otra parte, la realización de los censos ganaderos y ciclos de vacunación a nivel nacional con periodicidad anual, van a permitir contar con los insumos actualizados de inventario durante todos los ciclos de análisis.El cálculo de los indicadores de mitigación será determinado por medio de la plataforma SIDESS, basada en la web que es la interfaz que combina los resultados de los modelos VirtualHerd y Ruminant para producir resultados de emisiones a nivel predial, de conglomerado, regional y nacional. La matriz SIDESS incorpora datos productivos, reproductivos, económicos, nutricionales, de uso de la tierra, de emisiones y de secuestro de carbono para cada conglomerado.Se espera que las entidades que participaron en la formulación de la NAMA tengan un liderazgo fuerte, de la mano de la institucionalidad publica, en el desarrollo e implementación del sistema de MRV de la NAMA bovina.Debido a los actuales porcentajes de incertidumbre encontrados en las estimaciones de GEI producto de la actividad ganadera y a la posibilidad de mejorar el cálculo de algunas variables, este componente de la NAMA busca proponer aquellos aspectos que deben ser objeto de mejora de acuerdo con su importancia, grado de incertidumbre y facilidad de realización.Con este fin, en primera instancia, como parte del proceso de formulación de la NAMA, se llevó a cabo una revisión de las principales metodologías usadas a nivel internacional, tanto para metano (CH 4 ) generado por fermentación entérica, como para óxido nitroso (N 2 O) y metano (CH 4 ) generados por gestión del estiércol y por suelos gestionados, y las contrastaron con los niveles de estimación y las metodologías actualmente usadas en la NAMA.Como resultado, se plantean los aspectos susceptibles de mejora en cada categoría de emisión, los cuales se sintetizan en el siguiente cuadro.La definición y prioridad de las mejoras identificadas han sido debidamente concertadas con el IDEAM con aportes del CIAT y el grupo de investigación Biodiversidad Genética Molecular -BIO-GEM 45 . Estas recomendaciones de las mejoras se basaron en el documento de trabajo \"Plan de CAPÍTULO 7.El financiamiento de la NAMA requiere recursos sustanciales por parte de los sectores público y privado. Transformar la ganadería en una actividad baja o neutral en emisiones de GEI precisa inversiones en servicios de formación académica, extensión agropecuaria, incentivos, investigación e innovación, en cuya realización tienen responsabilidad las entidades públicas, por la orientación que brindan las políticas a su cargo y el direccionamiento de recursos públicos. También se requieren inversiones privadas por parte de los ganaderos, sus organizaciones colectivas y las empresas de las cadenas de suministro de carne y leche bovinas, que estén enfocadas en modificar las prácticas de manejo en los sistemas productivos y establecer una mayor cantidad de biomasa en los predios, en forma de SSP, con el fin de intensificar la producción, reducir las emisiones de GEI y beneficiarse de los mercados de cadenas de suministro sostenibles. Los centros de investigación y la academia tienen un potencial de aporte a través de la innovación e investigación.Para estimar los requerimientos de recursos para apoyar la NAMA, se ha diseñado un modelo financiero que informa cuáles son los requerimientos de inversión total y desagregados por ecorregión, conglomerado y/o predio modal. Independientemente de la fuente de financiación, se estiman así mismo los tipos de rubros a financiar, montos y periodos de desembolso.El requerimiento estimado de inversión es de COP1,1 millones promedio por hectárea que, en el escenario optimista, proyecta abarcar 3,63 millones de hectáreas en 434 municipios del país para los diez años de implementación (2021-2030).Esto se traduce en una inversión promedio anual Para ello, en la formulación y plan de implementación de la NAMA, se han contemplado los factores relevantes en la inversión; estos incluyen desde los procesos de sensibilización a las comunidades, la capacitación, la planeación estratégica a nivel de paisaje y conglomerados en la transformación de la forma de pensar y actuar hacia ambientes sostenibles, hasta las inversiones para la incorporación de prácticas sostenibles en el uso del suelo. Estos esfuerzos público-privados deben estar alineados y coordinados con la meta común de reducción de GEI.La cuantificación económica se ha preparado con un grado de detalle que permite una mejor lectura por parte del gobierno nacional, como ejecutor de recursos propios, de los diferentes sectores productivos y de la cooperación internacional.La necesidad de inversión para implementar la NAMA, al incluir todas las categorías de costos, ha sido parametrizada en un modelo financiero. Su estructura permite realizar distintas simulaciones para dos escenarios de mitigación analizados (ver Capítulo 5 para más detalle), a partir de la interacción de variables técnicas y financieras.Este escenario prevé la intervención de 25.368 predios en una extensión de 3.628.959 hectáreas con pasturas mejoradas, áreas liberadas para restauración, SSP y de conservación, al igual que de manejo eficiente de agua. También, como parte de los procesos de gestión de conocimiento, se proyecta la producción de biomasa para conservación de forrajes y la mejora de las condiciones de encadenamiento a los mercados. Estas intervenciones se realizarán a lo largo de la cadena de suministro de la ganadería durante un horizonte de diez años. En los siguientes dos cuadros, se presentan salidas del modelo en unidades de pesos colombianos (COP) y dólares estadounidenses (US$). Los porcentajes mencionados en los anteriores cuadros son valores indicativos que ofrecen una orientación de los montos que se requieren para la implementación de la NAMA; además, su clasificación facilita la identificación y vinculación de las fuentes con los instrumentos de financiación.El análisis de costo-efectividad tiene el propósito de identificar cuáles son los conglomerados con un mayor impacto sobre la reducción de emisiones, en relación con los costos que conlleva la implementación de las acciones de mitigación en el eslabón de producción bovina.Para ello, se evalúa el indicador de costo marginal de abatimiento (MACC por sus siglas en inglés) de las acciones de mitigación, correspondiente al costo adicional implícito en la mitigación de una unidad adicional de GEI. La comparación de los valores obtenidos para los 31 conglomerados focalizados se realiza mediante la curva MACC. La Figura 23 presenta la MACC para el escenario optimista.El eje horizontal de la MACC se extiende desde cero hasta la cantidad total de emisiones evaluadas para este escenario (11.389.189 t CO 2 eq), mientras que el eje vertical indica el costo marginal de abatimiento. La curva se conforma al ordenar los conglomerados (que se listan bajo la gráfica en el mismo orden de izquierda a derecha del primer al último renglón) de menor a mayor costo marginal de abatimiento, representados por bloques. El tamaño en la dimensión horizontal de cada bloque representa la cantidad de GEI que el conglomerado mitigaría con la implementación de la NAMA.Los conglomerados más costo-efectivos son los primeros 15, de izquierda a derecha, cuyo costo marginal de abatimiento es menor a 100 US$/ t CO 2 eq durante el periodo 2021-2030, y que en suma tienen la posibilidad de mitigar más de 6,6 millones de t CO 2 eq. De este conjunto, hacen parte conglomerados de cinco ecorregiones. Se puede distinguir un segundo conjunto de 11 con-glomerados con media costo-efectividad, cuyo costo marginal de abatimiento es de entre 100 y 150 US$/ t CO 2 eq y un potencial de mitigación de 4,5 millones de t CO 2 eq. Los 5 conglomerados restantes exhiben un alto costo marginal abatimiento, cuatro de estos con valores entre 203 y 327 US$/ t CO 2 eq y el quinto con 2.979 US$/ t CO 2 eq (que se omite en la Figura 23 para conservar una escala práctica para la visualización de la información). Este último conjunto tiene un potencial de mitigación de casi 0,3 millones de t CO 2 eq.Las diferencias de costos marginales y potencial de mitigación de los conglomerados radican en la combinación de acciones y arreglos SSP y los costos asociados según el contexto regional.El concepto de financiamiento climático, basado en el Comité Permanente de Finanzas de la CMNUCC, que se utiliza en la implementación de la NAMA bovina en Colombia es el siguiente: \"El financiamiento climático busca reducir emisiones y mejorar los sumideros de GEI, al tiempo que busca reducir la vulnerabilidad y mantener e incrementar la resiliencia de los sistemas humanos y ecológicos ante los efectos negativos del cambio climático\" (CPF y CMNUCC 2014).MACC de las acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina en el escenario optimista.   Las fuentes de recursos de carácter privado incluyen entidades, corporaciones e instituciones financieras comerciales con ánimo de lucro, que pueden ser proveedores de capital de deuda como los bancos comerciales y de inversión. Los inversores institucionales, en general, agrupan compañías de seguros, inversores de impacto, sociedades gestoras de activos, fondos de pensiones y fundaciones, entre otras instituciones.Del mismo modo, en esta fuente de recursos, se cuenta con los capitales propios de los productores y de las cooperativas y asociaciones, de las cuales ellos hacen parte; a estas cooperativas y asociaciones se suman las que tienen el objetivo de la transformación y comercialización de carne y leche a través de su capital propio y de fondos rotativos para el fortalecimiento del sector ganadero.Adicionalmente, es posible estructurar fuentes público-privadas, que permiten incorporar recursos privados para reforzar los públicos, al distribuir los riesgos, además de contar con los medios de entidades que son de carácter mixto para la financiación de la implementación de la NAMA.Así como las fuentes de recursos públicas y privadas, las mixtas o provenientes de alianzas público-privadas tienen el propósito de fortalecer las cadenas de valor en la ganadería y generar valor agregado dentro de ellas, así como de implementar nuevas tecnologías o infraestructuras con el fin de mejorar la productividad y facilitar el acceso a los mercados. Los flujos de financiamiento en el contexto de la NAMA serán en su mayoría específicos según la fuente. Por ejemplo, la cooperación internacional no reembolsable selecciona y financia proyectos que generan externalidades positivas con beneficios sociales o ambientales dentro de un área de impacto preestablecida o enfoque regional. El Gobierno nacional dirige los gastos públicos para cumplir con sus metas socioeconómicas y de reducción de emisiones establecidas en el plan de gobierno y las obligaciones del país frente a los compromisos internacionales. Estos flujos se distribuyen en el presupuesto nacional a través de cada una de las entidades de orden nacional o departamental que puede aportar, en distintas medidas, a la implementación de la NAMA y de acuerdo con las competencias específicas asociadas con las actividades de transformación de la ganadería bovina.Los recursos financieros fluyen desde las fuentes hacia los destinatarios en la forma de instrumentos específicos, cada uno de los cuales tiene diferentes requisitos de acceso con potencial diferenciado de uso en ganadería sostenible.En el Cuadro 21 se presenta una lista no exhaustiva de instrumentos identificados para el financiamiento de la NAMA. Para su implementación, la NAMA va a requerir nuevos instrumentos y mecanismos de financiamiento, de modo que todos los actores involucrados deben procurar por innovar en este campo.En el acápite de la estrategia de financiamiento, esta se elabora con base en las acciones necesarias para asignar recursos a la mitigación de GEI en la ganadería bovina a través de los instrumentos existentes.La implementación de la NAMA de la Ganadería Bovina beneficiará directamente a los distintos actores a lo largo de las cadenas de suministro de carne y leche y sus respectivos entornos. Estos comprenden los productores y sus unidades de organización submunicipal, municipal y regional en los conglomerados priorizados para la 1.1 Participación de un delegado del MADR o de un miembro del cuerpo implementador de la NAMA bovina en el CGF Un representante de la NAMA bovina, designado por el Comité NAMA. asistirá sin voto pero con voz al CGF con el propósito de tomar parte en los diálogos interinstitucionales, de multiplicar las oportunidades para ampliar el conocimiento sobre el estado del arte, conocer las diferentes fuentes de financiamiento, fortalecer las competencias y capacidades sobre el financiamiento climático en el sector, así como divulgar los avances y necesidades en el proceso de implementación de la NAMA.1.2 Fortalecer las capacidades de las organizaciones colectivas de ganaderos en materia de financiamiento Es necesario que los comités regionales de ganaderos, las asociaciones de criadores de razas, las cooperativas lácteas, Juntas de Acción, EPSEA, entre otras organizaciones del sector, cuenten con los conocimientos y las capacidades necesarios para elaborar proyectos y programas de mitigación robustos, con mecanismos de gestión de riesgo apropiados y una tasa de retorno interno favorable, para que la financiación fluya hacia las iniciativas de base a nivel comunitario. En materia de financiamiento, el DNP tiene a disposición de manera gratuita y virtual, la caja de herramientas para el fortalecimiento de capacidades en financiamiento climático 51 .Las instancias de diálogo son estrategias que favorecen la comprensión, la divulgación y la creación de un pensamiento estratégico en temas de financiación para: 1.3.1 Facilitar el intercambio de conocimiento en materia de fuentes y condiciones de financiamiento entre ganaderos y fomentar diálogos asertivos sobre las oportunidades de oferta financiera y la forma de cubrir los riesgos de la misma. 1.3.2 Identificar casos particulares de financiación que puedan guiar el diseño de instrumentos, productos o servicios financieros, de acuerdo con las necesidades y posibilidades de los usuarios, respecto a tiempos, periodos de gracia, tasas y seguros. 1.3.3 Facilitar el enlace entre proyectos y potenciales inversionistas que favorezcan el flujo de recursos y establezcan oportunidades para la transformación del uso del suelo. 1.3.4 Difundir conocimiento sobre buenas prácticas y oportunidades de acceso a mecanismos financieros existentes y casos exitosos en el uso de los incentivos existentes para la ganadería bovina sostenible, tales como líneas de crédito especializadas, programas de cooperación que premian la reducción de emisiones y estrategias tributarias que apoyen la ganadería sostenible.1.4 Promover el desarrollo de portafolios de proyectos y programas de mitigación de GEI con enfoque subnacional Los portafolios subnacionales facilitan el registro, evaluación y viabilidad técnica y financiera de los proyectos formulados por las plataformas institucionales conformadas por organizaciones de ganaderos, entes territoriales, las ONG de desarrollo, juntas de acción, institutos de investigación, fundaciones sin ánimo de lucro y/o universidades. Los portafolios de proyectos de inversión en ganadería sostenible se deben vincular con instrumentos financieros apropiados para la consecución de recursos financieros y/o cofinanciación.Se requiere respaldar los programas y proyectos con fundamentos técnicos y científicos sólidos respecto a la reducción de emisiones y su monitoreo, que permitan desarrollar la ganadería sostenible sustentada en aspectos de rentabilidad adecuada, acceder a financiación y ajustarla a la realidad territorial, en donde las cadenas de suministro y las de agregación de valor permitan colocar productos sostenibles que satisfagan los mercados y les den la continuidad requerida en este tipo de inversiones.Línea estratégica 2: aprovechar los instrumentos económicos y financieros existentes para movilizar la financiación de acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina sostenible Por otra parte, se encuentran los recursos propios de los productores, cooperativas, asociaciones y recursos de carácter mixto, que aún se encaminan en un bajo porcentaje hacia inversiones en ganadería sostenible.Las siguientes son las acciones estratégicas identificadas para movilizar una mayor cantidad de recursos hacia la implementación de la NAMA a través de instrumentos económicos tradicionales.Las entidades públicas nacionales y subnacionales deben integrar las acciones de mitigación de ganadería sostenible dentro de líneas presupuestarias orientadas al mejoramiento de la oferta forrajera, la adecuación de tierras, el manejo adecuado del recurso hídrico, la adopción de modelos rentables que permiten mejorar la eficiencia productiva y, a su vez, reduzcan la huella de carbono e hídrica. Apoyar, por lo tanto, la adopción de los sistemas silvopastoriles, la extensión agropecuaria de buenas prácticas ganaderas, la generación de conocimiento e innovación y el uso de energías renovables, así como hacer asignaciones dentro de sus procesos de presupuesto con el fin de reservar recursos para estas actividades, cuando las directrices de planeación prioricen la ganadería bovina. Esto involucra también remover las actividades que obran en sentido contrario a la implementación de las acciones de mitigación.2.2 Promover la definición, asimilación y uso de la taxonomía verde para la ganadería bovina sostenible La financiación de las acciones de mitigación debe ser previsible, transparente y atractiva para las fuentes de financiación e inversionistas. Una de las herramientas clave para que se cumplan estas condiciones es una taxonomía consensuada, a través de un conjunto de definiciones y lineamientos que sirvan de marco técnico para la realización de las transacciones: (i) cuál es el uso, (ii) qué criterios de evaluación y viabilidad y (iii) cómo se debe gestionar y reportar la financiación para la mitigación de GEI de la ganadería bovina sostenible. Las taxonomías eliminan la incertidumbre, que es una preocupación primordial para los inversores, reducen el riesgo político y aseguran que el trasfondo técnico de las acciones de mitigación se integre en la toma de decisiones de inversión. Uno de los instrumentos que se habilitarían con la definición de la taxonomía son los bonos verdes para destinar créditos blandos a la financiación de proyectos de ganadería sostenible.Las acciones de la NAMA deberán asimilarse en los dos marcos de taxonomía definidos para Colombia: la taxonomía verde del sector AFOLU gestionada por el Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público, y la taxonomía de financiamiento climático gestionada por el DNP.Los seguros climáticos indexados para el sector agropecuario son conocidos por la industria de seguros de Colombia y habrá que desarrollar los modelos específicos que respondan al perfil de riesgo de los diferentes SSP en los conglomerados priorizados. Debido a que los SSP requieren períodos relativamente largos para que la inversión inicie y desarrolle plenamente su potencial productivo, así como los años de prestación de servicios bajo la combinación de oferta forrajera y maderables, requieren de coberturas de seguros para disminuir el riesgo de la variabilidad climática, así como de acceso a coberturas para cubrir el riesgo cambiario de las exportaciones expuestas a la apreciación del peso frente al dólar.Línea estratégica 3: identificar y movilizar fuentes y mecanismos complementarios de financiación para las acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina sostenible Serfinanza, entre otros) los cuales se alinearán con las políticas de estado y la interacción con productores y agentes generadores de valor en la cadena de suministro; todos con el propósito de mejorar la eficiencia ambiental, productiva, socioeconómica del sector ganadero frente a la oferta financiera para el cumplimiento a la sociedad en general y al país en particular.La figura de bancos de hábitat de paisajes ganaderos tiene el propósito de consolidar una oferta clara y estructurada en términos de tipo de compensación (preservación, restauración o uso sostenible) a los titulares de proyectos obligados a realizar compensaciones ambientales. Esta oferta se constituirá en una oportunidad para las acciones individuales o agrupadas de compensaciones y otras obligaciones ambientales, como se estipula en el Manual de Compensaciones del Componente Biótico.La combinación de fuentes de financiación público-privadas ofrece ventajas y facilita el flujo de recursos desde los países inversionistas a los receptores, al permitir mejor acceso a la financiación comercial a países en desarrollo, al contribuir a: 3.1.1. Incrementar el apalancamiento de capital, al potencializar el capital privado hacia las inversiones que generan alto impacto en la disminución de GEI. 3.1.2. Generar conocimiento y destrezas desde el sector público y del privado respecto al caso de negocio de la ganadería sostenible. 3.1.3. Alcanzar mayores retornos a la inversión, al generar un ambiente atractivo para los fondos privados con la mitigación al riesgo en programas de desarrollo global. Organizaciones como la Cámara de Ganadería Sostenible con énfasis en SSP 53 y organizaciones locales, promoverán el enlace de los ganaderos sostenibles con mercados diferenciados y se alinearán con la oferta financiera orientada a objetivos de mitigación y sostenibilidad en el sector.52 En el siguiente enlace se ubica un reporte en inglés con ejemplos de blended finance en el sector de ganadería bovina: https://docu-ments1.worldbank.org/curated/en/591641619412441198/pdf/Executive-Summary.pdf 53 La Cámara de Ganadería Sostenible con énfasis en Sistemas Silvopastoriles está conformada para tener un mecanismo de articulación con un importante grupo de productores, algunos de ellos avanzados en la sostenibilidad y una masa crítica potencial que, a través de asociaciones locales, promueven cambios transformacionales a la ganadería sostenible.Se han identificado varias posibilidades de ventanas de financiación, las cuales se referencian en el documento \"Guía de recursos para financiamiento climático\" 54 y se resumen a continuación: 3.2.1 Las instituciones gubernamentales relacionadas con el Convenio Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC) tal como el Fondo Verde del Clima, así como la banca multilateral. 3.2.2 Financiamiento para el clima con recursos de cooperación de donantes bilaterales de países como el Reino Unido, Alemania, Japón, los fondos Nórdicos, entre otros. 3.2.3 Subvenciones gubernamentales, fundaciones privadas y agencias de donantes que, en su mayoría, tienen objetivos de desarrollo rural y reducción de la pobreza, adaptación al cambio climático y apoyo a poblaciones vulnerables. 3.2.4 Fondos nacionales y regionales que se basan en el entendimiento de la CMNUCC acerca de que el \"financiamiento climático se refiere al financiamiento transnacional, el cual se puede obtener de fuentes de financiamiento públicas, privadas y alternativas\". Algunos departamentos en Colombia enfocan recursos hacia el desarrollo sostenible.En una etapa temprana, se debe examinar la forma en que los diferentes interesados, por ejemplo, las instituciones financieras de desarrollo, las organizaciones multilaterales y bilaterales y los encargados de la formulación de políticas, pueden utilizar o incentivar el uso de mecanismos financieros innovadores para satisfacer necesidades específicas de reducción de riesgos, a fin de que los proyectos sean financiables.Dar prioridad y presentar proyectos de financiación a la comunidad internacional multilateral y bilateral para financiar las inversiones en bienes públicos requeridas para la NAMA, así como financiar los incentivos para pequeños y medianos productores con acceso marginal a crédito. La inscripción a la NAMA Facility y las propuestas al gobierno de Alemania son opciones vigentes en la búsqueda de recursos de financiamiento.54 Una orientación para fuentes de fondos para programas y acciones para el cambio climático publicado por la Secretaría de ACT Alianza actalliance.org Route de Freney 150, 1211 Ginebra, Suiza Escrito por Thomas Hirsch, asesor de clima y desarrollo Con contribuciones de: Md Shamsuddoha y Tirtankar Mandal Editado por Isaiah Toroitich, ACT Alianza Joanna Patouris, ACT Alianza Reconocimiento.Esta caja de herramientas es un producto del Proyecto Cambio Climático Global, implementado con el apoyo de \"Brot für die Welt\".Línea estratégica 4: vincular los sistemas de medición y verificación de la implementación de la NAMA a la financiación de acciones de mitigación.Para facilitar la toma de decisiones sobre inversión climática en ganadería sostenible y el segui-miento a los resultados de esas inversiones, será necesario fortalecer los mecanismos de monitoreo, reporte y verificación y procesos de evaluación como herramientas para monitorear y medir el impacto de esas inversiones.4.1 Alinear el monitoreo del financiamiento de la NAMA con el sistema de información, coordinado por el Comité de Gestión Financiera del Sisclima y con los sistemas de medición, notificación y verificación de los medios de implementación del país.El Sistema MRV de financiamiento climático, rastrea los recursos movilizados desde el Presupuesto General de la Nación y cooperación internacional, dirigidos a actividades pecuarias, entre ellas la ganadería bovina. El MADR, junto al DNP y el sector financiero estatal representado por Finagro, se deberán sumar a mecanismos de MRV financiero y propender por alinear la oferta financiera disponible para alcanzar el objetivo de implementar la NAMA bovina.4.2 Promover la apropiación de la medición, el reporte y la verificación apropiadas de las acciones de mitigación de la NAMA.A nivel nacional, el MADR dispondrá los lineamientos pertinentes para sus entidades adscritas y, a nivel subnacional, corresponderá a las gobernaciones.Promover la publicación de información de oferentes y demandantes de financiamiento para las acciones de mitigación de la NAMA.El MADR dispondrá los criterios que faciliten la identificación de la brecha entre la oferta y la demanda de financiamiento en el marco de la implementación de las acciones de gestión de cambio climático previstas en la NDC. La entidad implementadora de la NAMA bovina deberá velar porque la información pertinente este alineada con dichos criterios, y de este modo se facilite su inclusión en las estrategias y diagnósticos a los que haya lugar.CAPÍTULO 8. 4. Apoyar el direccionamiento de inversiones hacia las entidades públicas de orden local y regional, así como de gremios, asociaciones, centros de investigación y universidades, para apoyar su capacidad de gestión y apalancar el desarrollo de acciones de mitigación de ganadería sostenible.5. Acompañar el diseño de estrategias comerciales en el mercado interno e internacional que permitan promover el consumo de carne y leche proveniente de sistemas de producción de ganadería sostenible.6. Fortalecer la cultura de monitoreo y reporte del desempeño productivo, ambiental y social en el negocio ganadero.Tanto el proceso de implementación de la NAMA, como el MRV, estarán anclados en el Comité NAMA, quien definirá la estructura organizacional para la implementación de la NAMA y la hoja de ruta detallada para su implementación. Dentro del proceso de implementación de la NAMA, se proponen cuatro ejes estratégicos para su operatividad como base para la elaboración de la hoja de ruta por cada temática abordada, donde se especifican entidades públicas y privadas que intervienen en la implementación.Los cuatro ejes son los siguientes: 1) desarrollar programas, proyectos y prácticas de ganadería sostenible, 2) promover la comercialización de productos bovinos sostenibles, 3) asegurar el financiamiento de las acciones de mitigación y los medios de implementación y 4) desarrollar normas y regulaciones que apalanquen las acciones de mitigación en el sector. De igual forma, para cumplir con los objetivos de mejoramiento en el manejo del estiércol en las plantas de beneficio animal y las emisiones generadas por la logística en el acopio de la leche, la NAMA propone un acercamiento al eslabón industrial y de transformación de la cadena, donde sea posible acordar alternativas para la aplicación de prácticas sostenibles bajas en carbono.L1. Enriquecer el contenido de los cursos de formación profesional, técnica y tecnológica, en materia de ganadería sostenible y mitigación de GEI, así como los contenidos usados en la formación de personal de EPSEA y de productores.SENA, universidades, institutos de investigación, Fedegán, procesadores de carne y lácteos bovinos L2. Con base en los lineamientos de política que el MADR y los diferentes gremios de la producción ganadera plantean para promover al sector, se requiere articular la proyección del sector con la NAMA, con el fin de que las metas de crecimiento del sector sigan una trayectoria sostenible.MADR, UPRA, ADR, Finagro, Agrosavia, Banco Agrario, ICA, DNP, Fedegán, Analac, Unaga, SAC, comercializadores de carne y lácteos bovinos, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L5. Apoyar a las gobernaciones, a las alcaldías y a las CAR ubicadas en los conglomerados priorizados, en el establecimiento de metas de emisión de GEI para el sector ganadero en el departamento, acorde con las metas establecidas en la NAMA.MADR, ADR, Gobernaciones, Alcaldías, gremios, procesadores y comercializadores de carne y lácteos, bovinos, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L3. Articular los proyectos de ganadería incluidos en los diferentes documentos de planeación de política pública de los departamentos y municipios con las acciones de mitigación de la ganadería bovina sostenible, a saber: Plan de Desarrollo Departamental, Planes de Ordenamiento Territorial, Planes Departamental de Extensión Agropecuaria, Plan Estratégico de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Sector Agropecuario, Planes Integrales de Desarrollo Agropecuario con Enfoque Territorial, Planes Integrales de Gestión de Cambio Climático, Planes de asociaciones de productores.MADR, ADR, Gobernaciones, Alcaldías, gremios, procesadores y comercializadores de carne y lácteos bovinos, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L6. Ampliar la red especializada de viveros que provea el material vegetal necesario para implementar SSP en áreas de uso ganadero que intensifiquen sosteniblemente la producción ganadera.MADR, ADR, Gobernaciones, Alcaldías, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L4. Diseñar con las dependencias competentes de gobernaciones, alcaldías, asociaciones de productores, entre otros actores involucrados en la implementación de acciones de mitigación, un sistema de monitoreo, reporte y verificación de las acciones desarrolladas para reducir las emisiones e incrementar la captura de carbono conforme a las directrices especificadas en la NAMA.MADR, Gobernaciones, Alcaldías, gremios, procesadores y comercializadores de carne y lácteos bovinos, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.La implementación de la NAMA y el cumplimiento de su objetivo de mitigación requiere no sólo del desarrollo de actividades a nivel de predios ganaderos, sino también de la existencia de incentivos que promuevan la comercialización de sus productos al interior de las cadenas de suministro. La demanda de productos que cumplan con criterios de baja intensidad de carbono y otros criterios de sostenibilidad, puede apalancar un proceso de transformación más rápido y de mejor aceptación por parte de los ganaderos. La via-bilidad de los sistemas productivos sostenibles depende, en buena medida, de que la oferta de productos bovinos esté vinculada a una demanda dispuesta a compensar dichos esfuerzos.En esa medida, este eje de acción busca involucrar a diferentes actores de la industria, almacenes de cadena, así como a hoteles, restaurantes, cafeterías (rubros conocidos como HORECA) y, consumidores finales, en la configuración de un mercado estable para los productos que provengan de los predios ganaderos donde se implementen acciones de mitigación de GEI, y donde se usen sistemas de trazabilidad ganadera que promuevan la transparencia en materia de deforestación sobre el suministro de carne y lácteos, L1. Creación de un sello de producción baja en carbono que permita la identificación de productos ganaderos que provengan de sistemas sostenibles.Fedegán, Unaga, Analac, ANDI, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L2. Diseñar y ejecutar campañas de consumo masivo (televisión, radio y digital) en las que se dé a conocer el sello de sostenibilidad para la carne y leche bovina.Fedegán, Unaga, Analac, ANDI, MADR, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L5. Diseñar campañas de promoción en ferias internacionales de alimentos donde se dé a conocer los sistemas de producción sostenibles implementados en Colombia.Fedegán, Procolombia, Anala, ANDI, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L3. Promover contratos de suministro al canal HORECA y almacenes de cadena a partir de la oferta de carne y leche producida bajo sistemas de producción sostenibles.Fedegán, Unaga, Analac, Andi, Acodres, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L4. Diseñar y promover una estrategia para las exportaciones de carne y leche con el sello carbononeutro a mercados donde Colombia puede acceder.Fedegán, Procolombia, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas. L3. Identificar la oferta institucional e instrumentos del gobierno nacional, departamental y local para la ganadería y la aplicación de sistemas de producción sostenibles, con el fin de cuantificar el volumen de recursos destinados, y plantear la creación de nuevos instrumentos, de ser necesario, o modificar los existentes, con el fin de que estén articulados con lo planteado en la NAMA.L5. Establecer una instancia de diálogo y socialización con la banca comercial que conlleve la creación de mecanismos de financiación adaptados a los requerimientos financieros, para el establecimiento de sistemas de producción ganadera baja en carbono y sostenible.L6. Definir e implementar una hoja de ruta de aprestamiento del sector para facilitar la canalización hacia inversiones en ganadería sostenible, de compensaciones ambientales, pagos por servicios ambientales PSA, impuesto al carbono, mercado voluntario de carbono, bonos verdes.MADR, Fedegán, Finagro, DNP y organizaciones interesadas.Fedegán, DNP, Bancoldex, bancos comerciales y organizaciones interesadas.MADR, MADS, Fedegán, TNC, Fondo Acción y organizaciones interesadas.L1. Adecuar los lineamientos del Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural relacionados con la promoción del sector ganadero en Colombia y su coherencia con las metas y objetivos de la NAMA.MADR, DNP, Finagro, Banco Agrario, Fedegán, Analac, con el apoyo de organizaciones interesadas.L2. Apoyar a la Comisión Nacional de Crédito Agropecuario en la apropiación de lineamientos que permitan perfilar la oferta de servicios de Finagro para la promoción y apoyo a la ganadería baja en carbono y sostenible.L4. Establecer una estrategia por parte de la Agencia Presidencial de Cooperación Internacional, para la consecución de recursos de cooperación internacional que estén dirigidos a apoyar al sector ganadero y/o a la implementación de sistemas de producción sostenible, con el fin de lograr una efectiva articulación con la NAMA. Este eje busca incorporar, de manera paulatina y progresiva, prácticas sostenibles al marco normativo y regulatorio del desarrollo de la actividad ganadera. Actualmente, la normatividad ganadera tiene un total enfoque a la sanidad y a la inocuidad, por esto se requiere que se vayan incorporando elementos de la NAMA, para que de manera progresiva los predios vayan cumpliendo con unos requisitos mínimos en los que se garantice la sostenibilidad de la producción ganadera.En el desarrollo de la ganadería, para el caso de la producción de carne, los productores deben cumplir con normativa relacionada con la sani- Cada uno de estos planes, según la temática, pueden incorporar actividades relacionadas con la promoción del sector ganadero dentro de su departamento, la reducción de emisiones en el sector de la ganadería y el contrarresto de la de-forestación. La NAMA puede ser la herramienta técnica que permitiría diseñar proyectos y programas con metas claras y definidas. Para tal fin, se requiere realizar una aproximación con cada uno de los actores de las instituciones relevantes, así como la conformación de mesas de trabajo.El objetivo práctico de la participación en cada una de estas instancias, tanto a nivel nacional como departamental, es conformar mesas de trabajo entre actores técnicos que se encarguen de elaborar un plan de trabajo u hoja de ruta de implementación de la NAMA. En esa medida, se tendrán dos tipos de mesas: la primera, relacionada con el trabajo que se debe realizar con las entidades del orden nacional, cuyos resultados van más en el diseño de políticas públicas y privadas que apoyen la implementación de la NAMA en el largo plazo; la segunda hace referencia a las del orden regional, en las que se busca identificar acciones o actividades que, a corto-mediano plazo, al ya estar incluidas en los planes de gestión de las regiones, puedan articularse y apoyarse con lo planteado en la NAMA y que se les incluyan metas de emisión y captura de carbono.A partir de las mesas de trabajo constituidas, se requiere la elaboración de planes de trabajo con actividades específicas, responsables y metas.En las mesas del orden nacional, se buscará el Las acciones determinadas en los planes de trabajo u hojas de ruta deberán incorporar las actividades y alcances requeridos por el Sistema Reducir las emisiones de GEI generados en la producción ganadera e incrementar las remociones de carbono de los agroecosistemas dedicados a la ganadería. Por medio de un ordenamiento ambiental y productivo a nivel regional; intensificando la producción de los sistemas ganaderos mediante la implementación de sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos y no intensivos, así como el manejo sostenible del sistema para aumentar la eficiencia; promoviendo la conservación y/o restauración de ecosistemas naturales ubicados dentro de los predios ganaderos a través de la liberación de áreas de pastoreo con fines de restauración, conservación y preservación; incentivando el aprovechamiento de la energía contenida en los residuos generados en subastas ganaderas y plantas de beneficio relacionado con el manejo de estiércol y otros residuos; y orientando la optimización de la logística para la comercialización de la leche cruda. En el escenario optimista la cantidad de predios a intervenir es de 25.368, que comprenden al menos 3.628.959 hectáreas, con una disminución de un 33,9 % de las emisiones nacionales netas.Actividades de la iniciativa/medida/línea estratégica de mitigación 1. Intensificación sostenible de la producción ganadera a través de la gestión del conocimiento y el establecimiento de sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos y no intensivos. 2. Restauración de áreas naturales dentro de predios ganaderos para la conservación y/o restauración de ecosistemas naturales. 3. Manejo de estiércol y aprovechamiento del gas metano generado por los residuos sólidos y líquidos en las subastas ganaderas y centrales de beneficio del país. 4. Mejoras logísticas en la comercialización de leche cruda. Se caracterizaron los diferentes tipos de animales, dependiendo de la orientación, nivel de intensificación de los predios y las dietas ofrecidas. Para cada conglomerado fueron estimadas las emisiones de los diferentes grupos etarios: terneros y terneras menores a un año, machos y hembras entre 1 y 2 años, hembras y machos entre 2 y 3 años, machos y hembras de más de 3 años, vacas para producción de carne, vacas de baja productividad (doble propósito), vacas secas y vacas de alta producción o lechería especializada. Los datos de actividad analizados son: cantidad de bovinos por categoría, producción de carne y/o leche, costos de producción, indicadores de ingreso y egreso de acuerdo con una estructura económica de entrada, así como cambios en flujos de carbono y en oferta de biomasa derivados de las coberturas y los usos del suelo.Territorios del país con vocación ganadera, con focalización en 31 conglomerados productivos ubicados en 434 municipios de las ecorregiones ganaderas de la Orinoquia, Caribe seco, Caribe húmedo, Magdalena medio, Antioquia y Eje Cafetero, Suroriente, y Altiplano cundiboyacense.Alcance en GEI Dióxido de carbono (CO 2 ), metano (CH 4 ) y óxido nitroso (N 2 O).Inicio de implementación La proyección de datos toma como año base el 2020, mientras la implementación se proyecta para iniciar el año 2021.Recursos privados de los ganaderos, inversionistas, la banca comercial y de inversión, y recursos públicos nacionales e internacionales. Están indicados mecanismos de financiación y lineamientos.Se identificaron 41 cobeneficios, de los cuales 17 son de la dimensión de ambiente (suelo, agua, gestión integral de la biodiversidad, bienestar animal), 10 de la social (empleo, salud y seguridad, educación, bienestar), 9 de la económica (producción, crecimiento, energía, tecnología) y 5 de la institucional (creación y fortalecimiento de capacidad, política y planificación, monitoreo, reporte y evaluación). ","tokenCount":"19288"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0963439523.json b/data/part_1/0963439523.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..376d541d32398c34dad5dd478ab8c5cc99ebc5dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0963439523.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"69123856779197323b405bd9cc286cb2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c9aeba5e-dce7-4ead-8622-42fadb53e816/retrieve","id":"107697764"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d552aaef-fe48-4905-894b-0e3c3cb605cd","pagecount":"1","content":"COVID-19 is affecting the Colombian cattle sector and its associated value chains in multiple dimensions and magnitudes. This includes all actors directly involved in or supporting the cattle value chains, consumers, as well as rural communities and vulnerable population. » The impacts are or will be negative in many cases and adequate mitigation measures need to be identified and implemented to assure food production, access, and security in the short-and long-term.Consumer perceptions and preferences will become more salient:• The demand for food safety and traceability will change the way value chains operate and formality will increase. • Sustainability and sustainable products will become more important.• Providing consumers with information on traceability, sustainability, animal welfare, food origin and risks, will be more crucial than ever.• Substitution of beef with cheaper protein sources will remain for some time, but this will open additional possibilities for exports. • Product differentiation efforts will depend on consumer purchasing power, which will be reduced for an extended period after the crisis, making this endeavor a medium-to long-term strategy.• Transformation from extensive production systems towards more profitable, competitive, and sustainable production systems. • Support needed for this transformation, e.g., the provision of information, capital, inputs, or market incentives. • New business opportunities: e.g., the production of legume seeds for sustainable intensification, or hay and silage production.• Opportunity to rethink and reshape the future: cost savings, mitigation of climate change, new business models, higher impacts in education. ","tokenCount":"239"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0970203602.json b/data/part_1/0970203602.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c8a7ce75547c72a757e7cec1a48ea0a28ccc85fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0970203602.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eef96278d227d125d27e70e5755422f3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e81187e-8b36-4af2-a435-9dec4e4ad9ae/retrieve","id":"-1946825234"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"03b84fbd-6ead-4db7-9f04-b4134b0cecc6","pagecount":"155","content":"Food security, farming, and climate change to 2050 : scenarios, results, policy options / Gerald C. Nelson ... [et al.]. p. cm. -(IFPRI research monograph) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-89629-186-7 1. Food supply-Forecasting. 2. Climatic changes-Forecasting.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI ® ) was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting food needs of the developing world on a sustainable basis, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. While the research effort is geared to the precise objective of contributing to the reduction of hunger and malnutrition, the factors involved are many and wide-ranging, requiring analysis of underlying processes and extending beyond a narrowly defined food sector. The Institute's research program reflects worldwide collaboration with governments and private and public institutions interested in increasing food production and improving the equity of its distribution. Research results are disseminated to policymakers, opinion formers, administrators, policy analysts, researchers, and others concerned with national and international food and agricultural policy.IFPRI Research Monographs are well-focused, policy-relevant monographs based on original and innovative research conducted at IFPRI. All manuscripts submitted for publication as IFPRI Research Monographs undergo extensive external and internal reviews. Prior to submission to the Publications Review Committee, each manuscript is circulated informally among the author's colleagues. Upon submission to the Committee, the manuscript is reviewed by an IFPRI reviewer and presented in a formal seminar. Three additional reviewers-at least two external to IFPRI and one from the Committee-are selected to review the manuscript. Reviewers are chosen for their familiarity with the research topic. The Committee provides the author its reaction to the reviewers' comments. After revising as necessary, the author resubmits the manuscript to the Committee with a written response to the reviewers' and Committee's comments. The Committee then makes its recommendations on publication of the manuscript to the Director General of IFPRI. With the Director General's approval, the manuscript becomes part of the IFPRI Research Monograph series. The publication series, under the original name of IFPRI Research Reports, began in 1977.Foreword xi  A3.8 IMPACT model unit of analysis, the food production unit (FPU)x FIGURES xiBy 2050, the world's population is likely to reach 9 billion. Most of these people are expected to live in developing countries and have higher incomes than currently is the case, which will result in increased demand for food. In the best of circumstances, the challenge of meeting this demand in a sustainable manner will be enormous. When one takes into account the effects of climate change (higher temperatures, shifting seasons, more frequent and extreme weather events, flooding, and drought) on food production, that challenge grows even more daunting. The 2010 floods in Pakistan and excessive heat and drought in Russia that resulted in wildfires and a grain embargo are harbingers of a troubled future for global food security. This research monograph follows the 2009 release of IFPRI's widely read food policy report, Climate Change: Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation, which used a detailed global agriculture model to analyze crop growth under two simulated future climate scenarios. This monograph takes advantage of and expands on IFPRI's cutting-edge climate modeling expertise to address the climate change threat in the context of larger food security challenges. It provides the most comprehensive analysis to date on the scope of climate change as it relates to food security, including who will be most affected and what policymakers can do to facilitate adaptation. Building on previous research by IFPRI and other international organizations, this monograph examines a wider range of plausible economic, demographic, and climatic futures than has previously been analyzed.Using comprehensive empirical analysis, the authors suggest that policymakers should take into account (1) the value of broad-based sustainable development, (2) the power of investments to enhance agricultural productivity, (3) the importance of an open world trade system, and (4) the need for early action on both adaptation and mitigation. As policymakers in the developing world well know, neither food security nor climate change can be viewed in isolation. This report will be indispensible to readers trying to tackle these inextricably linked issues.The first decade of the 21st century has seen several harbingers of a troubled future for global food security. The food price spike of 2008, with its consequent food riots and resulting political changes in several countries, awoke the world's leaders to the re-emergence of this threat to human well-being and social harmony. The excessive heat and drought in Russia that led to the 2010 wildfires and grain embargo, as well as the unprecedented floods in Pakistan, signal more trouble ahead. But the warning signs could already be seen in the 1990s, as the long-term decline in the number of the world's poor and hungry stalled, and those numbers began to rise.The seeds for these challenges, both for good and ill, were planted along with the Green Revolution crops in the mid-1960s. Dramatic increases in food production and land productivity led to complacency about the remaining challenges ahead, resulting in reduced public sector investments in agricultural productivity. Population numbers continue their march towards a likely 9 billion by 2050, while higher incomes in hitherto poor countries will lead to increased demand, which in turn puts additional pressures on sustainable food production.To those already daunting challenges, climate change adds further pressure. Because food production is critically dependent on local temperature and precipitation conditions, any changes require farmers to adapt their practices, and this adaptation requires resources that could be used for other purposes. Farmers everywhere will need to adapt to climate change. For a few, the changes might ultimately be beneficial, but for many farmers our analysis points to major challenges to productivity and more difficulties in managing risk. The agricultural system as a whole will have difficulty supplying adequate quantities of food to maintain constant real prices. And the challenges extend further: to national governments, to provide the supporting policy and infrastructure environment; and to the global trading regime, to ensure that changes in comparative advantage translate into unimpeded trade flows to balance world supply and demand.But how big are these challenges, who will be most affected, and what could policy makers do to facilitate adaptation? Providing answers to these questions is the task of this report. It builds on previous research, examining a wider range of plausible futures-economic, demographic, and climate-than xvi SUMMARY has previously been analyzed. It also illustrates the key point that neither food security nor climate change should be viewed in isolation.It must be emphasized that combined biophysical-socioeconomic modeling of this detail and extent is still in its infancy. This document provides a status report on current research results. As with any large model-based analysis, the present study, while breaking new ground in the level of detail it incorporates in its agricultural-climate interactions, is obliged to use some simplifying assumptions and features, such as the partial equilibrium framework that underlies the results presented. Consequently, while the general directions deduced from this analysis are likely valid, the specific magnitudes should be treated with caution. Furthermore, for the first time, underlying parameters and more detailed results will be released on a website (www.ifpri.org/ climate-change) that makes it possible for interested parties to provide detailed comments and critiques of the modeling process and outputs.An uncertain future means a range of plausible outcomes. Unlike previous research, including our own (for example, Nelson et al. 2009), which relied on a single baseline scenario of GDP and population, this research uses three combinations of income and population growth: a baseline scenario that is \"middle of the road\"; a pessimistic scenario that, while plausible, is likely to result in more negative outcomes for human well-being; and an optimistic scenario that would result in more positive outcomes. Another advance is that each of these three overall scenarios are subjected to four plausible climate futures that range from slightly to substantially wetter and hotter on average than the current climate. We then compare these four climate futures with a fifth scenario, of perfect climate mitigation-that is, a continuation of today's climate into the future. Three overall scenarios, under five climate scenarios, result in 15 perspectives on the future that encompass a wide range of plausible outcomes. Using the baseline scenario, we experiment with a variety of crop productivity enhancement simulations. Finally, we present the results of a simulation of an extended drought in South Asia-one likely outcome of climate change-to give some perspective on the effects of increased climate variability for one part of the world.We draw four sets of main messages from our analysis.human well-being, including sustainable food security and resilience to climate change. Broad-based growth in income is essential to improving human well-being and delivering sustainable food security. Families with more resources at their disposal are better able to cope with whatever uncertainties mother nature or human activities cause. Farming families with higher incomes are able to experiment with new technologies and management systems that might be costly up-front but offer big productivity and resilience payoffs in the future.World prices are a useful indicator of the future of agriculture (see Table 2.2). Rising prices signal the existence of imbalances in supply and demand and growing resource scarcity, driven either by demand factors such as growing population and income, or by supply factors such as reduced productivity due to climate change. Unlike much of the 20 th century, when real agricultural prices declined, our analysis suggests that real agricultural prices will likely increase between now and 2050, the result of growing incomes and population as well as the negative productivity effects of climate change. The likely price increase ranges from 31.2 percent for rice (in the optimistic scenario) to 100.7 percent for maize (in the baseline scenario). With perfect mitigation, these price increases would be less: from 18.4 percent for rice in the optimistic scenario to 34.1 percent for maize in the pessimistic scenario. These still-substantial increases reflect the relentless underlying pressures on the world food system, even in the unlikely event that perfect mitigation can be achieved (that is, all greenhouse gas emissions are halted and the inertia in the climate system can be overcome). Domestic production combined with international trade flows determine domestic food availability; per capita income and domestic prices determine the ability of consumers to pay for that food. In our quantitative analysis, the average consumer in low-income developing countries today obtains only two-thirds of the calories available in the developed countries (Table 2.10). With high per capita income growth and perfect climate mitigation, calorie availability reaches almost 85 percent of the developed countries by 2050. And in the optimistic scenario, because the poorest countries grow more rapidly between now and 2050, they catch up to today's middle-income countries. With the pessimistic overall scenario, however, both calorie availability and general human well-being declines in all regions.Calorie availability is an important component in our metric of human well-being-the number of malnourished children under the age of five. This number captures some, but certainly not all, of the human suffering that can result from the combination of slow economic growth and climate change, coupled with inappropriate government policies. Overall, in the optimistic scenario, the number of malnourished children in developing countries falls by over 45 percent between 2010 and 2050 (Table 2.10). With the pessimistic scenario, on the other hand, that number only decreases by about 2 percent.The benefits of the optimistic scenario are greatest for the middle-income developing countries, which have the greatest share of world population. For these countries, the optimistic scenario results in a 50-percent decline in the number of malnourished children; in the pessimistic scenario, that number still declines, but by only 10 percent. Under the optimistic scenario, low-income developing countries show a decline of 37 percent in the number of malnourished children-but the pessimistic scenario is devastating: the number of malnourished children increases by more 18 percent.Climate change exacerbates the challenges in reducing the number of malnourished children, although the effects are mitigated by economic development. For all regions, the negative productivity effects of climate change reduce food availability and human well-being. Climate change results in even higher world prices in 2050 (Table 2.2). It causes an increase of between 8.5 and 10.3 percent in the number of malnourished children in all developing countries, relative to perfect mitigation (Table 2.10).climate change effects. Despite large differences in precipitation amounts and seasonal variation across the climate scenarios, the differences in price and other outcomes are relatively small. The exception is the dramatic effect on international trade flows (Table 2.6). Changes in developed country net cereal exports from 2010 to 2050 range from an increase of 5 million metric tons (mt) in the perfect mitigation scenario to a decline of almost 140 million mt. This is because the global scenarios that are wetter on average are particularly dry in the central United States, resulting in much lower 2050 maize and soybean production than the drier global scenarios, and therefore resulting in reduced exports.Trade flows can partially offset local climate change productivity effects, allowing regions of the world with positive (or less negative) effects to supply those with more negative effects. This important role for international trade can be seen in the results for the South Asian drought simulation, which models an extended drought beginning in 2030, with return to normal precipitation in 2040. Substantial increases in trade flows soften the blow to Indian consumers. During the drought the region sees large increases in imports (or reductions in net exports) of the three key commodities, rice, wheat, and maize. These net imports drive world prices higher. Essentially, other countries' producers and consumers help to reduce, though certainly not eliminate, the human suffering that a South Asian drought would cause.the impacts of climate change and enhance sustainable food security. Increases in agricultural production are essential to meeting the demand growth from population and income. While area expansion is still possible in some parts of the world, the possibility of negative environmental effects is substantial. Agricultural productivity investments make it possible to meet that increased demand from existing agricultural land resources, while reducing some of the environmental threats from increased production. We looked at five different types of productivity enhancements: an overall increase in crop productivity in developing countries of 40 percent relative to our baseline assumptions; an increase in commercial maize productivity; improvements in wheat and cassava productivity (analyzed separately) in selected countries in the developing world; and an increase in irrigation efficiency (Table 2.11).The overall productivity increase had the greatest effect on human wellbeing, reducing the number of malnourished children in 2050 by 16.2 percent (or 19.1 million children under 5) relative to the baseline result (Table 4.3). Some in the commercial maize industry suggest that commercial maize yields can increase by an annual average of 2.5 percent through at least 2030, so we simulated a 2 percent increase through 2050. This productivity change would affect about 80 percent of world production in 2010. The effects on world maize prices are dramatic: prices increase only 12 percent, instead of 101 percent, between 2010 and 2050. The effect on malnourished children is also not insignificant, with a 3.2 percent decline relative to the baseline in 2050. The effect is larger in the low-income developing countries (a decline of 4.8 percent) because maize consumption is relatively more important in this group of countries.The wheat productivity experiment increases productivity to 2 percent in selected developing countries that together account for about 40 percent of world production in 2010. Because less production is affected than in the maize simulation, the outcomes for human well-being are less dramatic, with only a 2.2 percent reduction in the number of malnourished children in developing countries in 2050 (Table 4.7). The middle-income developing countries fare better (a 2.5 percent reduction) than the low-income developing countries (1.6 percent reduction), because India and China are both major wheat producers and consumers and are included in the group of middle-income developing countries.Cassava is a particularly important crop for consumers in some low-income developing countries. It is the fourth most important source of calories for this group of countries and provides about 8 percent of average daily consumption. The simulation increases productivity to 2 percent annually for the six top producing countries (Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Thailand) that collectively accounted for over 60 percent of world production in 2000. While the effect on the number of malnourished children is only a 1.1 decline in 2050 for all developing countries, it is concentrated in the low-income developing countries, where the decline is 2.2 percent (Table 4.9).Finally, we looked at the effects of a 15 percent increase in irrigation efficiency in developing countries. The world's irrigated area is concentrated in South and East Asia. In East Asia, increased precipitation from climate change (in most scenarios), along with changing consumer preferences away from rice, reduce the need for irrigated area between 2010 and 2050. Therefore, any irrigation efficiency improvements there have relatively small effects on food production (although they are critical for freeing up water for industrial and urban use). In South Asia, however, the benefits of more efficient irrigation are substantial. And for middle income countries as a whole, increased irrigation efficiency reduces the number of malnourished children in 2050 by 0.3 percent, or about 0.3 million children (Table 4.15). In low-income developing countries, however, because the share of irrigated area is low, the efficiency effect is small, reducing the number of malnourished children by only 0.2 percent (0.1 million children).This analysis focuses on the period between 2010 and 2050. Nevertheless, we would be remiss if we did not point out the nature of the challenges beyond. Although population growth is slowing and likely to stop by the mid-21 st century, there will still remain significant disparities in income between poor and rich countries, as well as large numbers of people still living in abject poverty. Even in the optimistic scenario, the number of malnourished children in 2050 is 76 million to 84 million, depending on climate change scenario.And the climate change threat becomes much more severe after 2050. In 2050, the increases in mean surface air temperature relative to the late 20 th century across all scenarios are relatively modest, on the order of 1°C; but they diverge dramatically in the ensuing years, with outcomes ranging from 2°C to 4°C by 2100 (Figure 1.5). And temperature increases over land are likely to be higher than these means, which include ocean areas. Yields of many more crops will be more severely threatened than in the window from today to 2050. Table 5.1 shows the changes in wheat yields from climate change in 2030, 2050, and 2080 relative to yields with 2000 climate. With the climate change from 2000 to 2030, the yield effects are negative 1.3 percent to negative 9 percent. By 2050, the decline ranges from 4.2 percent to 12 percent. And by 2080, the declines are much greater, ranging from 14.3 percent to 29 percent.Our analysis suggests that up to 2050, the challenges from climate change are \"manageable,\" in the sense that well-designed investments in land and water productivity enhancements might, conceivably, substantially offset the negative effects from climate change. But the challenges of dealing with the effects between 2050 and 2080 are likely to be much greater than those to 2050. Starting the process of slowing emissions growth today is critical to avoiding a calamitous post-2050 future.Introduction T he 2010 Millennium Development Goals report (United Nations 2010) highlights the challenges facing the world in addressing the first goal: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The poverty target requires halving the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day between 1990 and 2015. That target is unlikely to be met. In 1990, in developing regions the share of people in extreme poverty was 46 percent. By 2008, it had dropped to 26 percent; but thereafter, the economic crisis that began in 2008 caused an increase to an estimated 31 percent. The hunger targethalving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger between 1990 and 2015-is also unlikely to be met on a global basis, although some individual countries will achieve the target. The share of malnourished people has remained essentially constant at about 16 percent since 2000, after declining from 20 percent in 1990, and it too is likely to have increased during the economic crisis.If the world is having difficulty meeting basic human needs now, the challenges in the future loom large. The first decade of the 21 st century saw several harbingers of a troubled future for global food security. The food price spike of 2008, with its consequent food riots and resulting political changes in several countries, awoke the world's leaders to the re-emergence of this threat to human well-being and social harmony. The excessive heat and drought in Russia that led to the 2010 wildfires and grain embargo, as well as the unprecedented floods in Pakistan, signal more trouble ahead. But the warning signs could already be seen in the late 20 th century, as the long-term decline in the number of the world's poor and hungry came to an end and as those numbers began to increase in the 1990s.The seeds for these challenges, both for good and ill, were planted along with the Green Revolution crops in the mid-1960s. Dramatic increases in food production and land productivity led to complacency about the remaining challenges ahead, resulting in reduced public sector investments in agricultural productivity. Population numbers continue their march towards a likely 9 billion by 2050. If we are ultimately successful in reducing poverty, higher incomes in hitherto poor countries will lead to increased demand, which in turn means additional pressures on sustainable food production.To those already daunting challenges, climate change adds further pressure. Because food production is critically dependent on local temperature and precipitation conditions, any changes require farmers to adapt their practices, and this adaptation requires resources that could be used for other purposes. Farmers everywhere will need to adapt to climate change. For a few, the adaptations might be beneficial, but for many farmers our analysis points to major challenges to productivity and more difficulties in managing risk. The agricultural system as a whole will have difficulty supplying adequate quantities of food to maintain constant real prices. And the challenges extend further: to national governments to provide the supporting policy and infrastructure environment; and to the global trading regime to ensure that changes in comparative advantage translate into unimpeded trade flows to balance world supply and demand.This report provides an end-of-decade assessment of the challenges to global food security through 2050. It undertakes a detailed analysis of global agricultural prospects, incorporating quantitative scenarios of economic and demographic futures and the threats that climate change poses. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Scenarios, Volume 2, provides a useful definition of scenarios: Scenarios are plausible, challenging, and relevant stories about how the future might unfold, which can be told in both words and numbers. Scenarios are not forecasts, projections, predictions, or recommendations. They are about envisioning future pathways and accounting for critical uncertainties. (Raskin et al. 2005: 36) Scenario development typically involves both qualitative and quantitative assessments. Qualitative perspectives make it possible to evaluate a wide range of potentially plausible outcomes for which there are no easily quantifiable expectations. Quantitative scenarios provide informative detail on magnitudes for some of the outcomes. Quantitative scenarios thus provide a consistency check on the plausibility of qualitative scenario outcomes. They also allow for exploration of complex interactions that cannot easily be traced in a qualitative scenario.This report builds on previous research, examining a wider range of plausible futures-economic, demographic, and climate-than has previously been analyzed. It also illustrates the key point that neither food security nor climate change should be viewed in isolation.An uncertain future means a range of plausible outcomes. Unlike previous research, including our own (for example, Nelson et al. 2009) which relied on a single baseline scenario of GDP and population, this research uses three combinations of income and population growth: a baseline scenario that is \"middle of the road\"; a pessimistic scenario that, while plausible, is likely to result in more negative outcomes for human well-being; and an optimistic scenario that would result in more positive outcomes. Another advance is that each of the three overall scenarios are subjected to four plausible climate futures that range from slightly to substantially wetter and hotter on average than the current climate. We then compare these four climate futures with a fifth scenario, of perfect climate mitigation-that is, a continuation of today's climate into the future. Three overall scenarios, under five climate scenarios, result in 15 perspectives on the future that encompass a wide range of plausible outcomes.Finally, several simulations are undertaken to provide a perspective on possible policy and program innovations that might make more likely a sustainable future for food and farming.It must be emphasized that combined biophysical-socioeconomic modeling of this detail and extent is still in early stages of development. This document provides a status report on current research results. As with any large model-based analysis, the present study, while breaking new ground in the level of detail it incorporates in its agricultural-climate interactions, is obliged to use some simplifying assumptions and features, such as the partial equilibrium framework that underlies the results presented. Consequently, while the general directions deduced from this analysis are likely valid, the specific magnitudes should be treated with caution. For the first time that we are aware of, underlying parameters and more detailed results will be released on a website (www.ifpri.org/climate-change) that makes it possible for interested parties to provide detailed comments on the data, modeling and outputs and provide inputs to improve the process.The set of driver variables that can be considered is constrained by the modeling environment. Two classes of models-partial equilibrium and general equilibrium-have been used in this kind of analysis previously.PE models represent the agricultural sector in great detail, at the cost of simplified modeling of relationships with other parts of the economy. The strength of this modeling approach is its detailed specification of the agricultural sector. The food side of these models generally uses a system of supply and demand elasticities incorporated into a series of linear and nonlinear equations, which reflect the underlying production and demand functions. World agricultural commodity prices are determined annually at levels that clear international markets. Demand is a function of prices, income, and population growth. The supply side of the model is constrained by biophysical information on a regional level (for example, land or water availability), using information at the crop level. PE modeling approaches allow 1) consistent and clearly defined relations among all variables at the detailed commodity level; 2) a projection into the future of the structure of interrelationships among variables consistent with past relationships; 3) changes in complex cross-relationships among variables over time; 4) the simultaneous interaction of many variables; and 5) an organized and consistent treatment of massive numbers of variables and large amounts of data (McCalla and Revoredo 2001).Quantities as well as values are modeled, with a detailed representation of agriculture (including spatially) that incorporates management systems, technologies, and water modeling. With commodity detail, the PE approach supports more detailed modeling of productivity shocks and land use changes. PE models can be linked to more spatially and temporally disaggregated crop models that provide detailed specification of crop biology and responses to changes in climate that affect water availability and temperature. In principle, this approach provides a detailed structural specification of agricultural technologies, providing a foundation for the commodity supply functions in the PE model. other approaches, such as the use of smooth production functions or cost functions to support supply functions, cannot capture the potential response of agriculture to climate/weather shocks.Two main weaknesses of PE models are (1) that there are no feedback effects to other sectors; and (2) that welfare effects are not explicitly measured, but are extrapolated from reduced form estimates based on areas under supply and demand curves.CGE models are widely used as an analytical framework to study economic issues of national, regional, and global dimension. CGE models provide a representation of national economies and the trade relations between economies. CGE models are specifically concerned with resource allocation issues: that is, where the allocation of factors of production over alternative uses is affected by certain policies or exogenous developments. International trade is typically an area where such induced effects are important consequences of policy choices. These models provide an economy-wide perspective and are very useful when the numerous, and often intricate, interactions among various parts of an economy are of critical importance. As for agriculture, such interactions can occur within the sector (as in competing for limited productive resources, including various types of land) and also between agriculture and other sectors that service it or that operate in the food and fiber chain. Such sectors and actors include downstream processors, traders and distributors, final consumers, and governments (in the form of public policies).A strength of CGE models is their ability to analyze the interactions among different sectors-for example, agriculture, manufacturing, and services operating through commodity and factor markets. They also explicitly incorporate taxes and subsidies that can have distorting effects on incentives and the operation of markets. In their conventional usage, CGE models are flexible price models used to examine the impact of relative price changes on allocations of goods and factors across a range of economic agents. Thus, in addition to providing insights into the economy-wide general equilibrium effects of policy changes, CGE models allow examination of key inter-industry linkages.However, global CGE models are poor in addressing distributional issues within regions; only average adjustments are simulated. Moreover, CGE models should be handled with care for long-term projections, since fundamental changes in the economic structure of a region cannot be simulated easily by a CGE model.Because CGE models provide a representation of the whole economy, not just one sector, they require us to develop an explicit (if simplified) representation of all factors of production. Technology is often represented with cost functions (for example, CES functions), which may not provide an adequate description of agricultural crop technologies. While CGE work is currently underway on nested functions, flexible functional forms, and other enhancements, the models still operate in the tradition of smooth, neoclassical production functions. other limitations of most current CGE models are the use of the restrictive Armington functions to represent international trade, and a relatively aggregate modeling of all sectors, especially agriculture.Ultimately, for the set of issues addressed in this report, PE models offer an advantage in the detailed specification of commodities and the deeper structural representation of production technologies (including the use of crop models rather than production or cost functions). This representation supports links to land-use models, water models, and climate change and/or weather models. CGE models are too aggregated to provide a framework for such a deep structural representation of the operation of agriculture.Figure 1.1 provides a diagram of the links among the three models used: IFPRI's IMPACT model (Rosegrant et al. 2008), a partial equilibrium agriculture model that emphasizes policy simulations; a hydrology model incorporated into IMPACT; and the DSSAT crop model suite (Jones et al. 2003) that estimates yields of crops under varying management systems and climate change scenarios. The modeling methodology reconciles the limited spatial resolution of macro-level economic models that operate through equilibrium-driven relationships at a national level with detailed models of biophysical processes at high spatial resolution. The DSSAT system is used to simulate responses of five important crops (rice, wheat, maize, soybeans, and groundnuts) to climate, soil, and nutrient availability, at current locations based on the SPAM dataset of crop location and management techniques   (You and Wood 2006). This analysis is done at a spatial resolution of 15 arc minutes, or about 30 km at the equator. These results are aggregated up to the IMPACT model's 281 spatial units, called food production units (FPUs) (see Figure 1.2). The FPUs are defined by political boundaries and major river basins. (See Appendix 3 for more details.)IFPRI's IMPACT model has a wide variety of options for exploring plausible scenarios. The drivers used for simulations include: population, GDP, climate scenarios, rainfed and irrigated exogenous productivity and area growth rates (by crop), and irrigation efficiency. In all cases except climate, the country-specific (or more disaggregated) values can be adjusted individually. Differences in GDP and population growth define the overall scenarios analyzed here, with all other driver values remaining the same across the three scenarios.Table 1.1 documents the GDP and population growth choices for the three overall scenarios.Figure 1.3 and Figure 1.4 show the regional GDP and population growth rates respectively. GDP growth rates are highest in Eastern and Central Africa (albeit from very low bases), as well as South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The lowest GDP growth rates are in Europe and oceania. Population growth rates are highest in Africa and lowest in Europe. For the optimistic scenario, population growth rates are negative in much of Europe, Central Asia, and oceania, but still more than 1.5 percent per year in Sub-Saharan Africa.The GDP and population growth rates combine to generate the three scenarios of per capita GDP growth. The results by regions are shown in  Table 1.2. (See Appendix 1 for the list of countries in each of the income groups and the regional groups displayed in Figures 1. 3 and 1.4.) The baseline growth rates are somewhat below those for 1990-2000, except for the middle-income developing countries. The optimistic growth rates are substantially higher than 1990-2000, except for developed countries. Table 1.3 shows population and GDP per capita in 2050 for the three scenarios. The baseline scenario has just over 9 billion people in 2050; the optimistic scenario results in a substantially smaller number, 7.9 billion; the pessimistic scenario results in 10.4 billion people. For developed countries, the differences among the three scenarios are relatively small, with little overall population growth: population ranges from just over 1 billion to 1.3 billion in 2050, compared to 1 billion in 2010. For the developing countries as a group, the total 2010 population of 5.8 billion becomes 6.9 billion to 9 billion in 2050, depending on scenario.Average world per capita income, beginning at $6,600 1 in 2010, ranges from $8,800 to $23,800 in 2050, depending on scenario. The gap between average per capita income in developed and developing countries is large in 2010: developing countries' income level is only 5.6 percent of the developed countries' level. Regardless of scenario, the relative difference is reduced over time: the developing country income increases to between 8.6 percent and 14.0 percent of developed country income in 2050, depending on overall scenario. Middle-and low-income developing countries' 2010 per capita income values are 6.5 percent and 2.6 percent respectively of the developed country income. By 2050, the share increases to between 10.4 percent and 1 All references to dollars are for constant 2000 US dollars. 16.8 percent for middle-income developing countries, depending on overall scenario. For the low-income developing countries, however, the 2050 ratios remain low-between 2.5 percent and 4.8 percent.Introducing the effects of climate change scenarios into the overall food and agriculture scenarios presents a particular challenge, to take into account the range of plausible pathways for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, the general circulation models (GCMs) translate those emission scenarios into varying temperature and precipitation outcomes. While the general consequences of increasing atmospheric concentrations of GHGs are increasingly well known, great uncertainty remains about how climate change effects will play out in specific locations. 2 Figure 1.5 shows the range of average surface temperature outcomes for the GHG pathways in the SRES scenarios of the IPCC. By 2050, the global surface warming for the A1B, A2, and B1 scenarios is roughly the same, at about 1°C above the reference period of the late 20th century. The temperature increases diverge significantly after 2050, with the A2 scenario resulting in the highest increases by the end of the 20 th century, of about 3.5 °C. Because the analysis in this report stops in 2050, it does not capture the effects of the large increases expected in later years. Figure 1.6 shows the fossil fuel Co 2 emissions associated with the various IPCC SRES scenarios, as well as actual emissions through 2009 (dotted line). Note that from 2005 to 2009, the actual emissions path was above those of all the illustrative marker scenarios (the solid lines) except A1B, although it was within the range of the scenario envelope. The global economic downturn that began in late 2008 significantly reduced fossil fuel emissions. If emissions 2 To understand the significant uncertainty in how these effects play out over the surface of the earth, it is useful to describe briefly the process by which the results depicted in Figure 1.7 and Figure 1.8 are derived. They start with GCMs that model the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere and its interactions with oceans and the land surface. Several GCMs have been developed around the world. Next, integrated assessment models (IAMs) simulate the interactions between humans and their surroundings, including industrial activities, transportation, and agriculture and other land uses; these models estimate the emissions of the various greenhouse gases (most importantly, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide). Several independent IAMs exist as well. The emissions simulation results of the IAMs are made available to the GCM models as inputs that alter atmospheric chemistry. The end result is a set of estimates of precipitation and temperature values around the globe, often at two-degree intervals (about 200 km at the equator) for most models. Periodically, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issues assessment reports on the state of our understanding of climate science and interactions with the oceans, land, and human activities. For the 5th assessment, the approach followed is to devise representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of low, medium, and high GHG emissions, and then to develop the range of scenarios that are plausibly consistent with these emissions rates. See www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7282/fig_tab/nature08823_F5.html. Initial results suggest that a broad range of GDP and population growth rate combinations can result in the main RCPs. continue to exceed the scenarios used here, then the climate effects by 2050 would exceed the estimates presented here.At this point there is no single emissions scenario that is viewed as most likely. Furthermore, the climate outputs from different GCMs using identical GHG emissions scenarios differ substantially, with no obvious way to choose among them. The climate data with sufficient detail available for this analysis are from four GCMs, each with three SRES scenarios-A1B, A2, and B1 (see Appendix 3 for details).Agricultural productivity is strongly determined by both temperature and precipitation. Lobell and Burke (2008) find that \"uncertainties related to temperature represented a greater contribution to climate change impact uncertainty than those related to precipitation for most crops and regions, and in particular the sensitivity of crop yields to temperature was a critical source of uncertainty.\"Table 1.4 shows global summary statistics for selected GCMS and SRES scenarios that make available average monthly minimum and maximum temperature, sorted from lowest to highest precipitation change. It also includes the mean temperature and precipitation change for the complete ensemble of GCMs reported by the 4 th IPCC assessment. (See Appendix 3, Table A1.2 for regional summary statistics for the A2 scenario; see www. ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/suppl/chapter10/Ch10_indivmaps.html for maps showing the individual GCM results and the ensemble means.) A quick glance at Table 1.4 shows the expected general tendencies but also the large degree of uncertainty. First, as average temperatures rise, so does the annual precipitation that falls on land. A 1°C increase in average temperature typically results in less than a 1 percent increase in average annual precipitation. Temperature increases of over 2°C result in 2-5 percent increases in precipitation. Second, with identical GHG emissions, the GCM climate outputs differ substantially. The most extreme comparison is with the outcomes of the B1 scenario. The CSIRo GCM has almost no increase in average annual precipitation and the smallest temperature increase of any of the GCM/GHG scenario combinations. The MIRoC GCM has the second largest increase in precipitation (with the B1 scenario) and one of the largest increases in average temperature. For this analysis, we use four climate scenarios that span the range of the means of the GCM ensemble results and also have the requisite monthly average minimum and maximum temperature data needed for the crop modeling analysis. The CSIRo A1B and B1 scenarios represent a dry and relatively cool future; the MIRoC A1B and B1 scenarios represent a wet and warmer future.The global averages from the GCMs conceal both substantial regional variability and changes in seasonal patterns. These nuances are captured in the DSSAT analysis, which uses the monthly data and high resolution spatial data on climate and other geophysical variables. Figure 1.7 and Figure 1.8 map the average annual changes in precipitation for the CSIRo and MIRoC A1B scenarios. Note that although the MIRoC scenario results in substantially greater increases in average precipitation globally, there are certain regions, such as the northeast part of Brazil and the eastern half of the United States, where this scenario results in a much drier future.The DSSAT analysis of the biophysical effects of climate change takes into account location-specific information on climate, soils, and nitrogen application. The analysis reported here uses version 4.5 of DSSAT, with atmospheric concentration of Co 2 in 2050 set at 369 ppm. This amount is substantially less than the level predicted by most of the GHG scenarios. However, for this analysis, the only use of Co 2 concentrations is as part of the crop modeling, and the model response to Co 2 is likely to be overstated. 3 Hence, we use the lower concentration amount as more representative of likely outcomes in farmers' fields. 3 Plants produce more vegetative matter as atmospheric concentrations of Co 2 increase. The effect depends on the nature of the photosynthetic process used by the plant species. So-called C3 plants use Co 2 less efficiently than C4 plants, so C3 plants such as rice and wheat are more sensitive to higher concentrations of Co 2 than C4 plants like maize and sugarcane. It remains an open question whether these laboratory results translate to actual field conditions. A recent report on experiments on Co 2 fertilization in experimental fields, the FACE experiments (Long et al. 2006), finds that the effects in the field are approximately 50 percent less than in experiments in enclosed containers. And another report (Zavala et al. 2008) finds that higher levels of atmospheric Co 2 increase soybean plants' susceptibility to the Japanese beetle and maize susceptibility to the western corn rootworm. Finally, a 2010 study (Bloom et al. 2010) finds that higher Co 2 concentrations inhibit the assimilation of nitrate into organic nitrogen compounds. (See Ainsworth et al. 2008 for comparison of the chamber and FACE experiment results.) Even the FACE experiments are done in experimental settings. However, when nitrogen is limiting, the Co 2 fertilization effect is dramatically reduced. So the actual benefits in farmer fields of Co 2 fertilization remain uncertain. Furthermore, we do not model the effects of ozone damage or increased competition from pests and diseases that seem likely in a world with higher temperatures and more precipitation. So we justify our use of the 369 ppm modeling as an imperfect mechanism to capture these effects.  10.5, and mean precipitation increase, Table S10.2. See Appendix 3 for details on the GCMs and scenarios.In this table and elsewhere in the text, a reference to a particular year for a climate realization such as 2000, 2050 is in fact referring to mean values around that year. For example, the data described as 2000 in this table are representative of the period 1950-2000. The data described as 2050 are representative of the period 2041-2060. GCM scenario combinations in bold are the ones used in the climate scenario analysis.Table 1.5 provides a summary assessment of the biophysical effects of climate change on yields. Each crop is \"grown\" first with 2000 climate and then with 2050 climate, with identical location-specific inputs. For the results in this table, irrigated crops are assumed to receive as much water as needed so irrigated crop yield effects are driven by temperature only. Yield effects for rainfed crops combine both temperature and precipitation effects. Figures 1.9-1.14 show graphically the effects of the A1B climate scenario with the CSIRo and MIRoC GCMs on rainfed maize and wheat and irrigated rice. Yellows and reds indicate reduced precipitation; light and dark blues show increased precipitation. Because the MIRoC A1B scenario  has the greatest increase in precipitation, it tends to have higher rainfed yields than the CSIRo A1B scenario in the tropical regions. But it also has higher temperatures, which tend to reduce rainfed yields of wheat in the tropical regions and irrigated yields generally. As can be seen in Figure 1.10, the eastern part of the United States sees a large decline in precipitation in the MIRoC A1B scenario. The average rainfed maize yield there is 33 percent lower with 2050 climate than with 2000 climate. 44 Easterling et al. 2007 present figures from a meta-analysis of the sensitivity of cereal yield against mean local temperature change for maize, wheat and rice, as derived from the results of 69 published studies from 1993 to 2006 at multiple simulation sites. They caution: \"The results of such simulations are generally highly uncertain due to many factors, including large discrepancies in GCM predictions of regional precipitation change, poor representation of impacts of extreme events and the assumed strength of Co 2 fertilisation.\" They conclude: \"Nevertheless, these summaries indicate that in mid-to high-latitude regions, moderate to medium local increases in temperature (1°C to 3°C), across a range of Co 2 concentrations and rainfall changes, can have small beneficial impacts on the main cereal crops.\" None of these reports were able to use the results of the 4th Assessment climate models, which had not been released at the time of the Easterling publication. our research is based on these newer climate modeling results, limited to two of the sets of GCM results available. The results are for the A1B scenario with assumed Co 2 atmospheric concentration of 369 ppm.  Assessing the Scenario and Simulation Outcomes T he climate-change-driven productivity effects are incorporated into the hydrology and economic elements of the IMPACT model to assess the combined effects of economic, population, and climate scenarios. The process of modeling agricultural futures proceeds roughly as follows. Supply is determined at the food production unit (FPU) level by farmer responses to prices, conditioned by assumptions about exogenously determined area (AGRs) and yield growth rates (IPRs) as well as assumptions regarding climate productivity effects on irrigated and rainfed crops. Demand is determined at the national level by consumer responses to changes in national income and prices. When supply is greater than demand, exports occur. For the world, net trade in a commodity must be zero. World prices are adjusted to ensure this outcome for a year. This process is repeated for each year through to 2050.We focus on three indicators of the outcomes: the prices of the most important crops (maize, rice, and wheat); the average daily kilocalories (kcal) consumed; and the number of malnourished children under five. (More details on the methodology are provided in Appendix 3.) Simulations, performed using the baseline overall scenario, are chosen to explore possible intervention options in productivity, including an increase for all crops in all countries and an increase for commercial maize, wheat, and cassava in selected countries. In addition, we examine the outcome of an extreme drought in South Asia.World prices are a useful single indicator of the future of agriculture. Rising prices signal the existence of imbalances in supply and demand and growing resource scarcity, driven by demand factors such as growing population and income or by supply factors such as reduced productivity due to climate change. Table 2.1 reports price scenarios from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and Table 2.2 summarizes the overall scenario outcomes for rice, wheat, and maize prices and the various simulations.  show 2010 and 2050 prices by commodity from the overall scenarios.A first key observation is that, unlike in the 20 th century when real agricultural prices declined (see Figure 2.1), the price scenarios in this report show substantial increases between 2010 and 2050. The price increases vary from 31.2 percent for rice in the optimistic scenario to 100.7 percent for maize in the pessimistic scenario (see Table 2.2). The pessimistic scenario has the highest price increases, as high population and low income growth rates combine to increase the demand for staple foods.These price increases incorporate the effect of climate change. Relative to a world with perfect mitigation, prices in 2050 with climate change are 18.4 percent (optimistic for rice) to 34.1 percent (pessimistic for maize) higher.It is of interest to compare these results to other scenario exercises. only the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) scenarios extend to 2050 in the detail needed to compare with the results in this study. In the MA scenarios, 2050 prices range from 68 percent of the 1997 price (rice in the Global orchestration scenario) to 156 percent (rice in the Adapting Mosaic scenario). Generally, the Technogarden scenario-with its lower population growth and higher income growth-results in price declines; while the Adapting Mosaic and order from Strength scenarios-which combine low income and high population growth-have the largest price increases. The MA scenarios did not incorporate the effects of climate change on productivity, so its price increases can be expected to be less than the results in this study. Values in parentheses are the 2050 scenario price as a percent of the 1997 value.In mid-2010, oECD and FAo released their outlook of prices to 2020. They report that \"Average wheat and coarse grain prices [in 2020] are projected to be nearly 15-40% higher in real terms relative to 1997-2006\" (oECD 2010)). Hertel, Burke, and Lobell (2010) suggest that \"prices for major staples rise 10-60% by 2030.\" Although the price results suggest a significant change from the 20 th century, the price increases are smaller than the scenario per capita income increases, which range from a low of 29 percent for developed countries in the pessimistic scenario to a high of over 600 percent for low-income countries in the optimistic scenario. This difference results in increased average calorie consumption and lower child malnutrition, discussed below.To trace out the causes of these price increases, we examine the links from yield and area changes to production, international trade flows, and consumption. 1 9 0 4 1 9 1 1 1 9 1 8 1 9 2 5 1 9 3 2 1 9 3 9 1 9 4 6 1 9 5 3 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 7 1 9 7 4 1 9 8 1 1 9 8  Source: Authors' calculations.The percentage increase for the scenarios is the mean across the results for the four climate scenarios, CSIRo and MIRoC GCMs with the SRES A1B and B1 GHG forcings. For the overall scenarios, the numbers in parentheses and italics are the standard deviation (std. dev.) and coefficient of variation (CoV) of the 2050 price for the four climate scenarios. The perfect mitigation results assume all GHG emissions cease in 2000 and the climate momentum in the system is halted.It is useful to describe how IMPACT deals with productivity increases that are outside of the direct modeling environment. Sources of changes include: investments in agricultural productivity by the public and private sectors; technology dissemination by research and extension agencies and input suppliers; and investments in infrastructure, such as rural roads. For each  crop in each FPU, and for both irrigated and rainfed management systems, IMPACT requires an assumption about exogenous yield growth (that is, the intrinsic productivity growth rates, or IPRs) in five-year increments. Figure 2.6 illustrates the concept with the IPRs for irrigated and rainfed rice in the California FPU of the United States. The IPRs were originally constructed based on empirical analysis of the determinants of yield growth in the 1990s (Evenson and Rosegrant 1995) and then updated as better information became available. As a general rule, with many exceptions, the IPRs tend to increase slightly over the next 10-15 years and then decline gradually (to 2050). This pattern is based on historical trends in research expenditures, as well as on expert opinion on how research expenditures are likely to continue and the effects on crop productivity. The exogenous IPRs are then adjusted to account for the effects of climate change and producer responses to changes in prices.Table 2.3 reports the combined effects of the IPRs, climate change, and the economic and demographic drivers on yields for the major crops in irrigated and rainfed systems. The table shows both absolute yields and the   average annual growth rates. For irrigated crops, the growth rates range from a low of about 0.2 percent per year (0.22 percent for maize in developed countries, with climate change and the optimistic scenario) to a high of over 1.5 percent per year (1.53 percent for irrigated soy in developed countries, with perfect mitigation and the baseline scenario). Yields in low-income developing countries are generally lower than in middle-income developing or developed countries, both in 2010 and 2050. For some crops (cassava, potato, sorghum, and wheat), both rainfed and irrigated yields grow faster in the low-income developing countries than in the middle-income developing countries; for the important irrigated crops, however, low-income developing country growth rates remain low.For rainfed systems, yields and yield growth rates are somewhat lower than for irrigated systems. Yield growth rates range from a low of 0.25 percent per annum (developed country maize with climate change and the optimistic scenario) to a high of 1.88 percent per annum (wheat in low-income developing countries with perfect mitigation and the pessimistic scenario).Agricultural area change in the IMPACT model has both an exogenous (AGR) and endogenous (price-responsive) component. 75 The exogenous component reflects a combination of historical trends and assessments about future changes, including urbanization and other land use change. The AGR values typically decline throughout the period; they are greater than zero for crops in some countries and less than zero for others. Figures 2.7-2.10 are graphs of irrigated rice AGRs in India and China and rainfed maize AGRs in the United States and Brazil. In all cases they decline, but the Indian, Brazilian, and U.S. AGRs are for the most part greater than zero in the early part of the period, while the Chinese APRs are negative from the beginning.As Table 2.4 shows, the net effect of the scenarios on global land use change is relatively small. Depending on scenario, the area change ranges from an increase of 2.3 percent (31.9 million hectares (ha) Perfect Mitigation, baseline) to a decline of 2.2 percent (30.9 million ha, CSIRo B1, optimistic). Global averages, however, conceal substantial differences around the world. Developed countries show a decline in agricultural area of 9 percent to 13 percent. For middle-income developing countries, crop area shows small net changes. For low-income developing countries, crop area expands dramatically, from 18 percent to 25 percent.     Figure 2.11 and Figure 2.12 illustrate more dramatically the variation in crop area outcomes by country. Figure 2.11 graphs the area declines for all countries that lose more than 1 million hectares (ha) with the baseline overall scenario. Prominent among these are the middle-income developing countries China and India, each with 15-20 million ha of crop area decline. This represents about 10 percent of Chinese 2010 crop area and 9 percent of Indian 2010 crop area.Figure 2.12 graphs the area increases for all countries where crop area expands by more than 1 million ha in the baseline overall scenario. While   the number of countries with area declines is relatively small, there are many countries included in this figure, with Brazil and Nigeria having the greatest increases. And these countries are overwhelmingly located in the developing world.Interestingly, the effects of climate change are not consistent. In some countries, area changes are greater with climate change: China, for example, has greater area loss under climate change than under perfect mitigation. In other countries, climate change brings smaller area changes: in Uganda and Brazil, area expansion is much less with climate change.The yield and area changes combine to give production changes as reported in Table 2.5, showing maize, rice, and wheat for the overall scenarios, both with perfect mitigation and with mean climate change outcomes. of these three crops, maize sees the largest increase in production between 2010 and 2050 under most scenarios. For developed and developing countries, the increase for maize is in the range of 20 percent to 59 percent over the period.  For rice, on the other hand, production increases are often in the single digits and in some cases negative (for developed and middle-income developing countries under the baseline and optimistic scenarios). Rice production growth is largest in the low-income developing countries (17-33 percent). Wheat production growth is relatively small in developed countries (11-24 percent) but much larger in the developing countries (41-94 percent). Climate change reduces maize production growth in developed countries (particularly in the United States with the MIRoC GCM), but generates small production increases in the developing countries. For rice and wheat, climate change reduces production growth everywhere relative to perfect mitigation.International trade flows provide a balancing mechanism for world agricultural markets. Countries with a comparative advantage in a crop can produce it relatively more efficiently and exchange it for other goods with other countries, whose comparative advantage lies elsewhere. But comparative advantage is not fixed. Climate change alters comparative advantage, as do changing consumer preferences. Economic development itself changes the mix of goods demanded by consumers. For example, with post-WWII income growth, Japanese consumers reduced rice consumption and increased consumption of higher value foodstuffs, including fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. Chinese consumers today are following a similar pattern of reducing rice consumption. Figure 2.13 and Figure 2.14 plot the relationship between consumption of selected commodities (in kilocalories per day) and per capita income in China and Japan, over the period 2000 to 2050 for the baseline scenario. Rice consumption in China declines from 887 kcal per day to 647 kcal per day, as per capita income rises from $780 to $12,400. Rice consumption in Japan declines from 635 kcal per day to 521 kcal per day, as per capita income rises from $45, 500 to $112,900. This pattern has been repeated for other staples in other countries throughout the world as incomes have risen. our scenarios assume this pattern will continue for other countries, as their incomes rise. Agricultural trade flows depend on the interaction between comparative advantage in agriculture (as determined by climate and resource endowments) and a wide-ranging set of local, regional, national, and international trade policies. Unfettered international trade allows comparative advantage to be more fully exploited. Restrictions on trade risk worsening the effects of climate change by reducing the ability of producers and consumers to adjust. It is important to point out that if climate change reduces productivity of certain crops in some regions and does not increase productivity adequately in other regions, trade cannot fully compensate for the global reduction in productivity.Early studies (Tobey, Reilly, and Kane 1992 and Reilly, Hohmann, and Kane 1994) concluded that agricultural impacts of climate change would in some cases be positive, and in other cases would be manageable globally in part because negative yield effects in temperate grain-producing regions would be buffered by interregional adjustments in production and consumption and corresponding trade flows.A widely cited 2004 publication based its conclusions on more complex modeling of both climate and agriculture, using the IPCC's third assessment results. This report was still relatively sanguine about global food production, but with more caveats than the earlier papers: \"The combined model and scenario experiments demonstrate that the world, for the most part, appears to be able to continue to feed itself under the SRES scenarios during the rest of this century. The explanation for this is that production in the developed countries generally benefits from climate change, compensating for declines projected for developing nations.\" (Parry et al. 2004, p. 66.)  86  The results reported here confirm these earlier findings that trade flows are a potentially important climate change adjustment mechanism. Table 2.6 shows trade scenarios for exports of maize, rice, and wheat.The developed countries have dominated maize exports through the early 21 st century, but the average of the climate change results is a substantial decline in net maize exports, principally because of the negative effects of the MIRoC scenarios on U.S. maize production. Developed country wheat exports decline in all scenarios. Developed countries are small net importers of rice in 2010; in the pessimistic scenario, rice imports decline substantially, but with the baseline and optimistic scenarios, they show little change. 8 The earlier literature that suggests increased agricultural exports from developed to developing countries is based on less sophisticated modeling of climate change impacts and use of very limited numbers of climate change results. It has only been since the 4 th IPCC assessment modeling results, released in the mid-2000s, that more detailed modeling has been possible. As should be clear from the research reported in this report, it is possible to have climate scenarios such as those generated by the MIRoC GCM that have very negative effects in temperate regions. For middle-income developing countries, maize imports increase substantially with perfect mitigation but decline with climate change. Many of these countries reduce their rice consumption as incomes rise. 97 In the optimistic scenario, their rice imports fall; and with perfect mitigation, these countries become net rice exporters. In the pessimistic scenario, however, with low income and high population growth, middle-income country rice imports increase. Wheat imports for these countries decline across the board, but the magnitude of the change differs dramatically depending on overall scenario and climate change effects. For example, in the optimistic scenario and perfect mitigation, these countries become small net exporters; with climate change, they remain net importers.In 2010, low-income developing countries are net importers of maize and wheat but net exporters of rice. In 2050, these countries still have large net wheat and maize imports, while net exports of rice have become net imports.Different climate models result in dramatically different effects on trade flows, as Figure 2.15 illustrates. With perfect mitigation, net cereal exports from the developed countries are about the same level in 2010 and 2050, regardless of overall scenario. With the CSIRo scenarios, net cereal exports from the developed countries decline somewhat. With the MIRoC scenarios, however, developed countries' cereal trade actually becomes negative, with substantial imports. This particular result is driven by a combination of increased maize production in developing countries and the negative effects of the MIRoC climate scenarios on U.S. maize (see Table 2.7). For perfect mitigation and the CSIRo scenarios, U.S. production increases by more than 40 percent from 2010 to 2050. With the MIRoC scenarios, however, the increases are only 22 percent (B1) and a minimal 3.7 percent (A1B).The consequence of the MIRoC A1B-induced production effects is a dramatic decline in U.S. exports, falling by almost 70 percent. For the perfect mitigation and CSIRo scenarios, in contrast, U.S. exports roughly double. This result demonstrates dramatically both the uncertainty in the climate scenarios and the importance of international trade in reducing the negative effects of climate change on agricultural productivity, whatever (and wherever) they are. 9 A general phenomenon of per capita income growth, known as Bennett's Law, is a decline in consumption of starchy staples and increase in consumption of meat, oils, and a more diverse diet generally. The IMPACT model captures this effect explicitly in its baseline runs. However, it does not adjust for the resulting changes in real income for producers of agricultural commodities in the various simulations performed for this report. our expectation is that these second-round effects will be relatively small.It is of interest to compare these trade change results with those derived by Liefert et al. (2010) for Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Their report, released before the Russian wheat embargo of 2010, suggests that by 2019 Russia could become the world's top wheat exporter, and that the combined wheat exports of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan could more than double those of the United States. The article bases its 2019 exports results on two kinds of adjustments that are unlikely to continue. The first is a decline in meat consumption in these countries that would free up grain for export.  The second is efficiency gains from conversion of old-style state farms to privately run corporations that invest substantially in productivity-enhancing technology. They also make the point that area expansion is possible but less likely, dependent on high prices and investment in infrastructure to move the grain from marginal areas to world markets. our scenarios show U.S. wheat exports in 2020 at 2.1 to 2.7 times Russian exports, depending on the climate scenario. By 2050, however, U.S. exports range from merely 0.8 to 1.1 times Russian exports. The more rapid growth of Russian exports is driven by productivity increases rather than area expansion.This section focuses on maize, rice, and wheat, as the most important crops for calorie consumption globally. As Table 2.8 shows, rice and wheat each account for more than 500 kcal per day for the world's average consumer. Together, rice and wheat make up more than one-third of consumption of the IMPACT commodities of 2,590 kcal per day; oils are the third largest IMPACT component, and sugar and directly consumed maize are fourth and fifth. For developing countries as a group, the rank order of commodities is identical. However, for the low-income developing countries, maize is second most important and cassava fourth; the top five commodities account for over 70 percent of their total consumption of 2,041 kcal per day.Physical human well-being has many determinants. Calorie availability is a key element in low-income countries, where malnutrition and poverty are serious problems. Distribution, access, and supporting resources can enhance or reduce the individual's calorie availability. Similarly, child malnutrition has many determinants, including calorie intake (Rosegrant et al. 2008). The relationship used to estimate the number of malnourished children is based on a cross-country regression relationship estimated by Smith and Haddad (2000) that takes into account female access to secondary education, the quality of maternal and child care, and health and sanitation. 108 The IMPACT model 10 Because it is a partial equilibrium model, IMPACT has no feedback mechanisms between climate change effects on productivity and income. This means that it cannot estimate directly the poverty effects of agricultural productivity declines from climate change. However, the reduced form function that relates child malnutrition to calorie availability and other determinants implicitly includes the effects of real income change on child malnutrition. Hertel, Burke, and Lobell (2010) use a general equilibrium model to estimate explicitly the effects of climate change on poverty. They find that the poverty impacts to 2030 \"depend as much on where impoverished households earn their income as on the agricultural impacts themselves, with poverty rates in some non-agricultural household groups rising by 20-50% in parts of Africa and Asia under these price changes, and falling by equal amounts for agriculture-specialized households elsewhere in Asia and Latin America.\"  3. Ratio of female to male life expectancy at birth.provides data on per capita calorie availability by country; the other determinants are assumed to remain the same across the overall scenarios. Table 2.9 shows the 2010 and 2050 values for the non-caloric determinants of child malnutrition, aggregated to low-and middle-income countries. The small decline in female relative life expectancy in 2050 for the middle-income countries is primarily caused by a decline in China, where it is expected that male life expectancy will gradually move up, rather than female life expectancy moving down. Table 2.10 summarizes the kilocalorie and malnourished children outcomes from the overall scenarios. Table 2.11 provides a summary of the results from the simulations, which are discussed in more detail below.A central result is the importance of economic development in reducing child malnutrition. In the optimistic scenario, the number of malnourished children in developing countries falls by almost 46 percent between 2010 and 2050, a decline from 157 million to 85 million. With the pessimistic scenario, on the other hand, that number decreases by only 1.8 percent. Similarly, for middle-income developing countries, the optimistic scenario results in a 50 percent decline in the number of malnourished children; under the pessimistic scenario, the decline is only 10 percent. For low-income developing countries, the decline is 36.6 percent under the optimistic scenario,   Discussion of Overall Scenarios Results F igure 3.1 provides a useful summary of the combined effects of economic development and climate change on food security. The left side of the graph shows the progress on daily kilocalorie availability between 2010 and 2050 under the optimistic scenario-that is, high economic growth and low population growth; the right side shows outcomes under the pessimistic scenario.Figure 3.1 presents daily average per capita calories available for three groups of countries: all developed, all developing, and the 40 low-income developing countries. For each group of countries, the top (red, dashed) line represents a future with perfect greenhouse gas mitigation. The lines below the top line show the outcomes with the different GCM and SRES scenario combinations-that is, different climate change scenarios.There are three main messages from Figure 3.1 and the results from the overall scenarios.Per capita income growth is a critical driver of human well-being. In low-income developing countries average kilocalorie availability is only two-thirds of the richest countries today; with high per capita income growth and perfect climate mitigation, the availability in 2050 reaches almost 85 percent of the developed countries. And because they grow more rapidly, the difference in availability among the developing country group diminishes dramatically. With the pessimistic overall scenario, however, human well-being declines in all regions.For all regions, the negative productivity effects of climate change reduce food availability and human well-being. Climate change results in even higher world prices in 2050. Climate change increases the number of malnourished children in 2050 (relative to perfect climate mitigation) Source: Authors' calculations. 111 11 Feedstock use for biofuels production is distinguished as a separate category of demand in IMPACT. For these results, biofuel production itself is not modeled, but is represented solely in terms of feedstock demand. As a consequence, trade in biofuels is also not directly represented. Instead, the share of transport energy assumed to come from biofuels was converted to feedstock tonnage and used to adjust the demand side of IMPACT. We assume that beyond 2025 second-generation biofuels technologies will largely take over, and therefore keep the feedstock demands constant at that period. This causes a 'kink' to appear in some of the model results around 2025. by about 10 percent for the optimistic development scenario, and by 9 percent for the pessimistic scenario. The effect of climate change in the low-income developing countries is similar, increasing the number of malnourished children by over 11 percent in the optimistic scenario and over 8 percent in the pessimistic scenario.Despite large differences in precipitation amounts and seasonal variation across the climate scenarios, the differences in price (and other) outcomes are relatively small, except for the dramatic effect on international trade flows. As Figure 2.15 demonstrates, changes in developed country net cereal exports from 2010-2050 range from an increase of 5 million mt in the perfect mitigation scenario to a decline of almost 140 million mt. The MIRoC scenarios are particularly dry in the central US, resulting in much lower 2050 maize and soybean production than the CSIRo scenarios.The trade flow changes partially offset local climate change productivity effects, allowing regions of the world with less negative effects to supply those with more negative effects. This important role for international trade can also be seen in the results for the South Asian drought simulation (Figure 4.33).We turn next to a discussion of the simulations.Discussion of the Simulations T he simulations have been chosen to highlight the relative importance of different kinds of policy changes and program activities that could potentially contribute to meeting the challenges of achieving sustainable food production by 2050. We begin with a series of simulations involving increases in crop productivity. The initial IPRs are adjusted either by using a constant multiplier (1.4 for all developing country IPRs, in the simulation of overall productivity improvement) or by increasing them to a rate that is plausible if additional expenditures on productivity enhancements are undertaken (2 percent in selected countries for maize, wheat, and cassava).This simulation represents an across-the-board increase in IPRs in developing countries of 40 percent, relative to baseline scenario values beginning in 2010. Table 4.1 reports the results. Because the productivity increases are only in developing countries, yields in developed countries actually fall slightly in response to lower world prices (except for irrigated rice). Yields in developing countries increase in varying amounts, from 8.9 percent for irrigated rice in middle-income developing countries to 28.8 percent for rainfed wheat, also in low-income developing countries.With the productivity improvements, world price increases are 15 to 22 percent less than in the baseline . The number of malnourished children in 2050 drops by 16.2 percent across all the overall productivity scenarios-that is, an additional 19.1 million children who are not malnourished.The commercial maize productivity simulation is driven by the estimate from private sector sources that hybrid maize yields can be expected to increase by 2.5 percent per year at least until the 2030s. The simulation assumes that maize yields increase by 2 percent per year to 2050 in the countries that currently grow the most hybrid maize: USA, Mexico, China, Europe, France, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa. These countries account for almost 80 percent of current maize production. Figure 4.5 shows both the changes in IPRs from the simulation, for countries directly affected, and the effects of climate change. It is useful to examine one country in detail. Without climate change and without the effects of the simulation, Argentine maize productivity growth is expected to be about 1 percent per year in the mid-2010s and then gradually decline to zero by 2050. Climate change reduces the IPRs slightly with the MIRoC GCM. With the simulation's productivity increase to 2 percent, climate change again alters the effect somewhat, reducing productivity growth to about 1.8 percent for the MIRoC GCM and increasing it to about 2.1 percent for the CSIRo GCM. The magnitude of these effects varies by country. In China, for example, climate change has essentially no effect on maize IPRs.The most obvious consequence of this productivity simulation, as Table 4.4 and Figures 4.6-4.9 indicate, is that the international price of maize increases by only 12 percent between 2010 and 2050, instead of the 101 percent increase of the baseline. Wheat and rice prices are only modestly affected.   The lower maize prices mean higher human consumption and more use in animal feed and therefore slightly lower meat prices. The effect is to increase daily kilocalories consumed and to reduce child malnutrition by 3.8 million in 2050, with a slightly greater share in the low-income developing countries where direct maize consumption is particularly important.    In this simulation, wheat IPRs are increased to 2 percent per annum in selected developing countries that are responsible for a large share of wheat production in the developing world: India, Pakistan, Argentina, Iran, Ukraine, China, and Kazakhstan (see Figure 4.10). These countries accounted for about 40 percent of total wheat production in 2010.   The wheat productivity simulation affects a smaller share of global production than the maize production simulation, so effects on human well-being are smaller. As expected, the commodity showing the largest price effect is wheat (see . Instead of a 54 percent increase between 2010 and 2050, the increase is only 28 percent with the simulation. The maize price declines slightly, and the rice price increases slightly compared to 2050 baseline values.Wheat consumption is especially important in the middle-income developing countries, where the simulation results in a 2.6 million reduction in the total number of malnourished children in 2050 relative to the baseline. In the low-income developing countries, there are about 704,000 fewer malnourished children.Cassava is a particularly important crop for consumers in some low-income developing countries. As Table 2.8 shows, for low-income developing countries, cassava is the fourth most important source of calories and provides about 8 percent of average daily consumption of the commodities in IMPACT.For this simulation, cassava IPRs are set to 2.0 percent beginning in 2015 (or the existing rate if it was greater than 2.0 percent) for the top six cassava-producing countries in 2000: Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Thailand. These countries account for 62 percent of production in 2000. Figure 4.15 shows the original and new IPRs adjusted for climate change effects. Unlike the other crops for which productivity simulations were undertaken, climate change effects on cassava productivity were not done using a crop model. Instead we use the average impact on other C3 crops in each FPU. Climate change has the largest productivity effects in Brazil, Thailand, and the DRC, reducing the IPRs by as much as one percent. By contrast, in Ghana, Nigeria, and Indonesia, climate change has almost no effect on productivity.Modeling production, consumption, and trade of cassava is somewhat more complicated than the other crops because the raw product is almost always consumed locally. International trade of cassava is in the form of either cassava starch or dried, pelletized cassava root for use as an animal feed. After the formation of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, the EU became a major destination of dried cassava exports for animal feed (see for example Nelson 1983). More recently, China has become the most important buyer of internationally traded cassava (Kaplinsky, Terheggen, and Tijaja 2010).The cassava productivity simulation results in a 10 percent decline in the world cassava price between 2010 and 2050, instead of the 25 percent increase that occurs in the baseline (see . The human well-being benefits are the smallest of the three productivity enhancement simulations. The number of malnourished children in 2050 is reduced by 1.4 million. one million of these children are in low-income developing countries; the remainder is in middle-income developing countries.Table 4.10 presents the effects of the cassava productivity simulation in the countries where it was implemented. Production effects are largest in percentage terms in Ghana and Indonesia, but the effects are also large in Thailand and Nigeria. The effects on human well-being, on the other hand, are largest in the DRC, Ghana, and Nigeria; the remaining countries, which are all middle-income developing, show essentially no effect. For Thailand, the world's major exporter of cassava today, the increased production is almost entirely exported. For low-income developing countries as a whole, the cassava productivity simulation reduces malnutrition by one million children-exceeding the benefits of the wheat simulation by about 300,000 children.Water scarcity is a growing problem in much of the world. Precipitation changes that accompany climate change will exacerbate water shortages in some parts of the world while increasing water availability in other areas. As agriculture is the largest user of fresh water, improvements in irrigation efficiency will be essential for sustainable food production as well as for meeting increased demands for drinking water and industrial needs. In this simulation, we explore the benefits to agricultural production of a 15 percent increase in effective irrigation efficiency at the basin level in the developing world. 12 This simulation only addresses water scarcity in irrigated agriculture, and not the larger issues of water scarcity. It focuses on production effects where our hydrology model shows reduced yields in irrigated agriculture because of water shortages.Table 4.11 shows the relative importance of irrigated agriculture by region, in 2010 and 2050 for the baseline scenario. In the early 21 st century, among the major food crops, irrigation is most important for rice. over onethird of rice production in developed countries and slightly less than one-half            in developing countries is from irrigated systems. In contrast, only about 15 percent of maize production is on irrigated land. In developed countries, wheat production is almost exclusively rainfed, but in developing countries the irrigated share of wheat production is about 30 percent.In 2050, the irrigated share increases in the baseline scenario, for most crops and most regions. All scenarios have an increasing share of production coming from irrigated agriculture for rice and maize. Because so much of rice cultivation is already irrigated in 2010, the rate of expansion is relatively small: for developed countries, from just under to just over 35 percent; and for developing countries, from 50 percent to 53 percent. The irrigated maize share is essentially constant in developed countries, at 15 percent; in developing countries it increases from 16 percent to 19 percent. For wheat, the irrigated share in developed countries is fairly low and remains constant; in developing countries the share increases from 29 percent to 32 percent.Most of the world's irrigated area is located in the northern hemisphere, predominantly in South Asia and East Asia. Hence, global irrigation water use is highest in the northern hemisphere's summer months, as Figure 4.20 indicates. The effect of greater irrigation efficiency is also highest in those months. Globally, the two CSIRo scenarios have slightly more water use than the 2010 value (Table 4.12). The MIRoC scenarios result in more irrigation water use in 2050 as a result of more precipitation and higher average temperatures. The changes in beneficial water consumption are concentrated in South Asia and East Asia (see Table 4.13).As the results in Table 4.14 and Table 4.15 indicate, the irrigation efficiency improvement has relatively little effect on either global prices or human well-being, reflecting the fact that much of the world's agriculture remains rainfed. Rice prices in 2050 decline about 3 percent compared to the baseline, wheat prices decline by 1 percent, and maize prices decline by 0.9 percent. Developing countries see a small reduction in the number of malnourished children. The reason for this can be seen in Table 4.16, which reports the increased water use by crops in all developing countries and for the three largest beneficiaries of irrigation improvements (India, Pakistan, and China). Rice is the predominant irrigated crop in these countries; of the three focus crops, rice benefits the most from improvements in basin-level effective irrigation efficiency.As  show, the increased basin use efficiency results in benefits almost entirely in India, Pakistan, and China. Seasonally, in the northern hemisphere spring and summer are the most important months; in India, the benefits extend throughout most of the year. For China, beneficial irrigation water consumption increases mostly in the Huang-Huai-Hai plain in central and northern China. In this region evaporation is already high in spring and early summer, but rain does not arrive until July, with the East Asia monsoon.       Climate change is likely to bring more extreme events, possibly including a failure of the monsoon in South Asia. We simulate an extended drought beginning in 2030 and continuing through 2035, followed by recovery to the previous path of the baseline scenario to 2050. This is done by reducing rainfed harvested area to zero in the middle of the drought and then returning it to trend by the end of the drought. We assume that only rainfed agriculture is affected and that sufficient water is available for irrigated agriculture.This assumption in fact underestimates the effects of the drought, because irrigation water availability would undoubtedly also be reduced.  show the resulting price pathways for rice, wheat, and maize. A key first observation is that the South Asian drought effects spill over into world markets. All three commodities show a sharp increase in world price during the simulated drought and return to trend afterwards. Table 4.17 reports the cumulative effect on prices between 2010 and 2050. Table 4.18 shows no remaining effect on malnourished children by 2050. However, this summary statistic does not capture the full effects of the drought on human well-being, as discussed below.  It is useful to trace the process of adjustment to the drought in production, consumption, trade, and human well-being, with a focus on the specific countries involved-Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Three drivers of food availability respond to the drop in rainfed area: irrigated area, international trade, and domestic consumption.Figure 4.30 plots the progression of rainfed area for rice, wheat, and maize from 2020 to 2050. Even without the drought, rainfed area declines in the baseline scenario as irrigated area expands. With the drought, however, producers respond by expanding irrigated area more and more quickly; irrigated wheat shows the biggest increase, of over 300,000 hectares. As the drought recedes, some of this increased area reverts to rainfed, but irrigated area remains higher than it would have been (Figure 4.31).Despite the increase in irrigated area, production falls, especially that of maize (Figure 4.32).International trade flows also help to compensate for the drop in rainfed area. Without the drought, the region is a small rice exporter (Figure 4.33), and wheat and maize imports increase. During the drought, the region becomes a substantial rice importer, and maize imports become much larger.Figure 4.34 shows the increase in malnourished children over the baseline results. The numbers are largest in 2035 and then diminish. What this analysis cannot capture is the loss to the children affected during the drought period. They will never fully reach their potential, because of the shortage of food during a critical growth stage.    T his analysis focuses on the period between 2010 and 2050. But we would be remiss if we did not point out the nature of the challenges beyond 2050. Although population growth is likely to slow or stop by 2050, major disparities in income between poor and rich countries will still remain, with large numbers of people living in abject poverty. Even in the optimistic scenario, the number of malnourished children ranges from 98 million to 102 million (1.3 to 1.5 percent of population in developing countries), depending on climate change scenario.And the threat of climate change becomes much more severe. While average temperature increases in 2050, across all scenarios, are on the order of 1°C relative to the late 20 th century, outcomes diverge dramatically in the ensuing years, with increases ranging from 2°C to 4°C by 2100. Yields of many more crops will be more severely threatened than in the window to 2050. Table 5.1 shows the changes in wheat yields from climate change in 2030, 2050, and 2080, relative to yields with 2000 climate. With the climate change from 2000 to 2030, yields decline by between 1.3 percent and 9 percent. By 2050, the range of declines has increased to 4.2 percent to 12 percent. And by 2080, the declines are much greater, ranging from 14.3 percent to 29 percent. our analysis suggests that to 2050, the challenges from climate change are \"manageable,\" in the sense that possible investments in land and water productivity enhancements may partly, or even substantially, mitigate the negative effects from climate change. But the challenges of dealing with the effects between 2050 and 2080 are likely to be much greater, and possibly unmanageable. Starting the process of slowing emissions growth today is critical to avoiding a calamitous post-2050 future.Conclusions T he challenge of reaching sustainable food security and delivering on it through 2050 is daunting. our starting point, in 2010, is a world with unacceptable levels of poverty and deprivation, as is clear from the 2010 report on the Millennium Development Goals. Progress will be made more difficult by two looming challenges: a growing world population and increasingly negative productivity effects from climate change.Nevertheless, focused efforts can make an enormous difference in reducing human suffering by 2050. With sound policies and programs that encourage sustainable, broad-based economic growth, and especially continued growth in agricultural productivity, our scenarios suggest it is possible to achieve a large decline in the number of malnourished children-over 45 percent over the period from 2010 to 2050. Additional public sector investments in agricultural productivity would do even more to reduce suffering. Relative to the baseline outcome in 2050, a 40-percent increment in productivity growth would reduce the number of malnourished children by an additional 37 percent (that is, by 19.1 million children).A key component of this positive future is robust international trade in agricultural products, especially given the likelihood of increased occurrences of extreme weather events in different parts of the world. The price spikes of 2008 and 2010 both had important weather components, and during each of these periods, trade flows offset some of the locally severe potential effects. The remedial role of trade will be increasingly critical in the future. Restrictions on international trade, then, could jeopardize prospects for regional food security.Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, making the challenges of sustainable food security much more difficult. If the climate of the early 2000s were to continue through 2050 (an extremely unlikely scenario that we call \"perfect mitigation\"), we might see an additional decline in the number of malnourished children, on the order of 10 percent. The uncertainty of climate prediction means that climate-specific investments are not yet appropriate, for the most part. However, supporting investments in physical and human capital can begin immediately as a way of increasing the efficiency of land, water, and nutrient use, as essential factors in growth, climate resilience, and mitigation of agricultural GHGs. The investments needed to cope with climate change through 2050 seem possible to accomplish, at least under conditions of relatively free international trade. After 2050, however, the challenge of ever-increasing temperatures becomes potentially much greater.Any modeling outcomes are only as reliable as their underlying data. In modeling future food productivity, we must deal with extremely poor data sources in critical areas:• Biophysical data-current climate and future scenarios, land use, soil characteristics, ecosystem services • Socioeconomic data-demand and supply parameters; links to and from agriculture to other sectors; macroeconomic trendsEfforts are underway to address some of these shortfalls. For example, the AfSIS project (www.africasoils.net/) will greatly improve the data on African soils. There are a variety of efforts underway to improve the quantity, quality, and accessibility of weather data, especially in developing countries.And a new project-The Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (http://go.worldbank.org/TNoUo6ZE40)-will improve socioeconomic household data in Africa.Perhaps the most serious deficit is the lack of freely available, regularly repeated observations via satellite of the surface of the earth, at temporal and spatial resolutions that would make it possible to track changes in agricultural practices and land use more generally. Mechanisms are needed also to exploit the potential resource of citizen data-gatherers, equipped with GPS-enabled camera phones and other measuring devices. Such data would yield huge payoffs in illuminating the state of the world as it unfolds.Finally, the change process that the CGIAR is undertaking will make it possible to exploit more effectively the many potential synergies across the centers to better understand human-environment interactions. The modeling work reported here will be enriched by newly developed partnerships across the CGIAR centers and with researchers around the world to provide early guidance on how to direct limited financial resources so that we can sustainably feed a world confronting the challenges of adapting to climate change, a growing population and reduced poverty.A p p e n d i x 2 GDP and Population Scenarios I n this section, we report (1) a comparison of the overall scenario Gdp and population growth rates with those used in the A1B, A2, and B1 SReS scenarios (Table A2.1); and (2) the regional per capita Gdp growth rates (Table A2.2).note that the SReS scenarios were originally developed for the third ipCC assessment; they were not updated for the fourth. (See www.ipcc.ch/ ipccreports/sres/emission/index.php?idp=0.) Many GCM datasets are available in the public domain for a range of scenarios, including the three SReS scenarios used in the ipCC's Fourth Assessment Report (ipCC, parry et al. 2007). This study required GCM-scenario combinations for the three climate variables needed to run the dSSAT crop models: precipitation, maximum daily temperature, and minimum air temperature. These combinations were available for the following four GCMs, from four different research programs 14 : data for GCM deviations for five time slices were obtained: 1991-2010 (denoted 2000); 2021-2040 (denoted 2030); 2041-2060 (denoted 2050); 2061-2080 (denoted 2070); and 2081-2100 (denoted 2090). data were obtained for average monthly precipitation and for maximum (tmax) and minimum (tmin) temperatures. The mean monthly climatologies for each time slice and for each variable were calculated from the original transient daily GCM time series. The mean monthly fields were then interpolated from the original resolution of each GCM to 0.5 degrees latitude-longitude, using conservative remapping (which preserves the global averages).We use WorldClim climate data aggregated to five arc-minutes (Hijmans et al. 2005), as representative of current climatic conditions. Grid files were produced for the globe of climate normals for future conditions by interpolation, using inverse square distance weighting; these files were used to generate the daily data needed (maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall, and solar radiation) for each grid cell. This was done using MarkSim, a third-order Markov rainfall generator (Jones et al. 2002) that we use as a GCM downscaler, as it uses elements of both stochastic downscaling and weather typing on top of basic difference interpolation. details are given in Jones et al. (2009) and in Jones and Thornton (in preparation). Table A2.3 reports region-specific summary statistics for these GCMs for the A2 scenario.  odeling the impacts of climate change presents a complex challenge, arising from the wide-ranging processes underlying the working of markets, ecosystems, and human behavior. Our analytical framework integrates modeling components that range from the macro to the micro to model a range of processes, from those driven by economics to those that are essentially biological in nature.Figure 1.1 provides an illustrative diagram of the links in iFpRi's iMpACT model between the global agricultural policy and trade modeling of the partial agriculture equilibrium model (with the hydrology and agronomic potential modeling).The modeling methodology used here reconciles the limited spatial resolution of macro-level economic models that operate through equilibriumdriven relationships (at a national or even more aggregate regional level) with detailed models of dynamic biophysical processes. The climate-change modeling system combines a biophysical model (the dSSAT crop modeling software suite, showing responses of selected crops to climate, soil, and nutrients) with the SpAM dataset of crop location and management techniques (You and Wood 2006), illustrated in Figure A3.1 These results are then aggregated and fed into the iMpACT model.The decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (dSSAT) crop simulation model is an extremely detailed process model of the daily development of a crop, from planting to harvest-ready (Jones et al. 2003). it requires daily weather data including maximum and minimum temperature, solar radiation, and precipitation, as well as a description of the soil, physical and chemical characteristics of the field, and crop management information including crop, variety, planting date, plant spacing, and inputs such as fertilizer and irrigation.For maize, wheat, rice, groundnuts, and soybeans, we use the dSSAT crop model suite, version 4.5. in mapping these results to other crops in iMpACT, the primary assumption is that plants with similar photosynthetic metabolic pathways will react similarly to any given climate change effect in a particular geographic region. Millet, sorghum, sugarcane, and maize all use the C4 pathway and are assumed to follow the dSSAT results for maize in the same geographic regions. The remainder of the crops use the C3 pathway. The climate effects for the C3 crops not directly modeled in dSSAT follow the average from wheat, rice, soy, and groundnut from the same geographic region, with the following two exceptions. The iMpACT commodities of \"other grains\" and dryland legumes are directly mapped to the dSSAT results for wheat and groundnuts, respectively.Because dSSAT requires detailed daily climate data, not all of which are readily available, various approximation techniques were developed. To simulate today's climate we use the WorldClim current conditions dataset (www.worldclim.org), which is representative of 1950-2000 and reports monthly average minimum and maximum temperatures and monthly average precipitation. Site-specific daily weather data are generated stochastically using the SiMMeTeO software built into the dSSAT software suite. At each location, 30 iterations of the dSSAT model were run, and the mean of the yield values was used to represent the effect of the climate variables. The climate data are derived from downscaled GCM projections (discussed above) that provide monthly precipitation, average minimum temperatures, and average maximum temperatures for each location. Companion downscaling techniques provide the monthly average number of rainy days and the average incident shortwave solar radiation flux.We assume that all climate variables change linearly between their values in 2000 and 2050. This assumption eliminates any random extreme events such as droughts or high rainfall periods and also assumes that the forcing effects of GHG emissions proceed linearly; that is, we do not see a gradual speedup in climate change. The effect of this assumption is to underestimate negative effects from climate variability.Six other agronomic inputs are needed: soil characteristics, crop variety, cropping calendar, CO 2 fertilization effects, irrigation, and nutrient levels.dSSAT uses many different soil characteristics in determining crop progress through the growing season. John dimes of iCRiSAT and Jawoo Koo of iFpRi collaborated on a classification of 27 meta-soil types, based on the FAO harmonized soil map of the world (Batjes, 2009). each soil type is defined by three characteristics -soil organic carbon content (high/medium/low); soil rooting depth as a proxy for available water content (deep/medium/shallow); and major constituent (sand/loam/clay). The dominant soil type in a pixel is used to represent the soil type for the entire pixel.dSSAT includes many different varieties of each crop. For the results reported here, we use the following varieties: maize variety Garst 8808; a winter wheat variety; a large-seeded Virginia runner type groundnut variety; a maturity group 5 soybean variety; and for rice, a recent iRRi indica rice variety and a Japonica variety. The rice varieties are assigned by geographic area according to whichever is more commonly cultivated within the region. Varietal choice is one way in which farmers could adapt to climate change. As with other adaptive behavior, this is not costless. Farmers would need to gather information about alternate varieties, and seed producers would need to assess the performance of their products under varying climate regimes. For this report, we subsume this effect in the exogenously determined intrinsic productivity growth rate assumptions and hold varietal choice constant.Climate change will alter the planting date in some locations, shifting the month in which a crop can be safely planted forward or back. Furthermore, in some locations crops can be grown in 2000 but not in 2050, or vice versa.Three sets of calendars have been developed for use with iMpACT: general rainfed crops, general irrigated crops, and spring wheat (see Figure A3.2 to Figure A3.7). For rainfed crops, we assume that a crop is planted in the first month of a four-month period where monthly average maximum temperature does not exceed 37°C (about 99°F), monthly average minimum temperature does not drop below 5°C (about 41°F), and monthly total precipitation is not less than 60 mm. in the tropics, the planting month begins with the rainy season. The particular mechanism for determining the start of the rainy season at any location is to look for the block of 4 months that gets the most rainfall. The month before that block is called the beginning of the rainy season. For irrigated crops, the first choice is the rainfed planting month. When that month is not feasible, a series of special cases is considered for South Asia, egypt, and the rest of the northern hemisphere. Otherwise, the planting month is based on the dry season.Spring wheat has a complicated set of rules. in the northern hemisphere, the planting month is based on finding a block of months that are sufficiently warm but not excessively so. if all months qualify, then the month is keyed off the dry season. in the southern hemisphere, spring wheat tends to be grown during the meteorological wintertime as a second crop. Hence, the planting month depends not on what is optimal for wheat, but on when the primary  developing a climate-based growing season algorithm for winter wheat was challenging. Our solution was to treat winter wheat differently from other crops. Rather than using a cropping calendar, we let dSSAT use planting dates throughout the year and choose the date that provides the best yield for each pixel.plants produce more vegetative matter as atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 increase. The effect depends on the nature of the photosynthetic process used by the plant species. So-called C3 plants use CO 2 less efficiently than C4 plants, so C3 plants are more sensitive to higher concentrations of CO 2 .it remains an open question whether these laboratory results translate to actual field conditions. A recent report on field experiments on CO 2 fertilization (Long et al. 2006) finds that the effects in the field are approximately 50 percent less than in experiments in enclosed containers. Another report (Zavala et al. 2008) finds that higher levels of atmospheric CO 2 increase the susceptibility of soybean plants to the Japanese beetle and of maize to the western corn rootworm. Finally, a recent study (Bloom et al. 2010) finds that higher CO 2 concentrations inhibit the assimilation of nitrate into organic nitrogen compounds. So the actual field benefits of CO 2 fertilization remain uncertain.dSSAT has an option to include CO 2 fertilization effects at different levels of CO 2 atmospheric concentration. For this study, all results use a 369 ppm setting.Our aggregation process-from SpAM pixels and the crop model results to iMpACT FpUs-results in some improbable yield effects in a few locations. To deal with these, we cap the FpU-level yield increase at 0.53 percent annually, or about 30 percent over the period from 2000 to 2050 and limit the negative effect of climate on yield growth in iMpACT to -2 percent per year.Rainfed crops receive water either from precipitation at the time it falls or from soil moisture. Soil characteristics influence the extent to which previous precipitation events provide water for growth in future periods. irrigated crops receive water automatically in dSSAT as needed. Soil moisture is completely replenished at the beginning of each day in a model run. To assess the effects of water stress on irrigated crops, a separate hydrology model is used, as described below.Nutrient Level dSSAT allows a choice of nitrogen application amounts and timing. We vary the amount of elemental n from 15 to 200 kg per hectare, depending on crop, management system (irrigated or rainfed), and country.dSSAT is run for five crops-rice, wheat, maize, soybeans, and groundnuts-at 15-arc-minute intervals for the locations where the SpAM dataset shows that the crop is currently grown. Other crops are assumed to have productivity effects similar to these five crops, as described above. The results from this analysis are then aggregated to the iMpACT FpU level.The iMpACT model was initially developed at the international Food policy Research institute (iFpRi) to project global food supply, food demand, and food security to year 2020 and beyond (Rosegrant et al. 2008). it is a partial equilibrium agricultural model with 32 crop and livestock commodities, including cereals, soybeans, roots and tubers, meats, milk, eggs, oilseeds, oilcakes and meals, sugar, and fruits and vegetables. iMpACT has 115 country (or in a few cases country-aggregate) regions, with specified supply, demand, and prices for agricultural commodities. Large countries are further divided into major river basins. The result, portrayed in Figure A3.8, is 281 spatial units called food production units (FpUs). The model links the various countries and regions through international trade, using a series of linear and nonlinear equations to approximate the underlying production and demand relationships. World agricultural commodity prices are determined annually at levels that clear international markets. Growth in crop production in each country is determined by crop and input prices, exogenous rates of productivity growth and area expansion, investment in irrigation, and water availability. demand is a function of prices, income, and population growth. We distinguish four categories of commodity demand: food, feed, biofuels feedstock, and other uses. Climate change effects on crop production enter into the iMpACT model by altering both crop area and yield. Yields are altered through the intrinsic yield growth coefficient, gy tni , in the yield equation (1) as well as through the water availability coefficient (WAT) for irrigated crops. These yield growth rates depend on crop, management system, and location. For most crops, the average of this rate is about 1 percent per year from effects that are not modeled. But in some countries the growth in yield is assumed to be negative, while in others it is as high as 5 percent per year for some years.Climate change productivity effects are produced by calculating locationspecific yields for each of the five crops modeled with dSSAT for 2000 and 2050 climate, as described above, and converting these to a growth rate which is then used to shift tni gy by a constant amount. Rainfed crops react to location-specific changes in precipitation and temperature as modeled in dSSAT. For irrigated crops, temperature effects are modeled in dSSAT with no water stress. Then water stress from climate change is captured as part of a separate hydrology model, a semi-distributed macro-scale hydrology module that covers the global land mass (except Antarctica and Greenland). it conducts continuous hydrological simulations at monthly or daily time steps at a spatial resolution of 30 arc-minutes. The hydrological module simulates the rainfall-runoff process, partitioning incoming precipitation into evapotranspiration and runoff that are modulated by soil moisture content. A unique feature of the module is that it uses a probability distribution function of soil water-holding capacity within a grid cell to represent spatial heterogeneity of soil properties, enabling the module to deal with sub-grid variability of soil. A temperature-reference method is used to judge whether precipitation comes as rain or snow and determines the accumulation or melting of snow (accumulated in conceptual snow storage). Model parameterization was done to minimize the differences between simulated and observed runoff processes, using a genetic algorithm. The model is spun up for five years at the beginning for each simulation run, to minimize any arbitrary assumption of initial conditions. Finally, simulated runoff and evapotranspiration at 30-arc-minute grid cells are aggregated to the 281 FpUs of the iMpACT model.One of the more challenging aspects of this research has been to deal with spatial aggregation issues. FpUs are large areas. For example, the india Ganges FpU runs the entire length of the Ganges River in india. Within an FpU, there can be large variations in climate and agronomic characteristics. A major challenge was to come up with an aggregation scheme to take outputs from the crop modeling process to the iMpACT FpUs. The process we used is as follows. First, within an FpU, choose the appropriate SpAM dataset, with a spatial resolution of 5 arc-minutes (approximately 10 km at the equator) that corresponds to the crop/management combination. The physical area in the SpAM dataset is then used as the weight to find the weighted-average yield across the FpU. This is done for each climate scenario (including the no-climate-change scenario). The ratio of the weighted-average yield in 2050 to the no-climate-change yield is used to adjust the yield growth rate in equation ( 1) to reflect the effects of climate change.in some cases the simulated changes in yields from climate change are large and positive. This usually arises from one of two causes: (1) starting from a low base (which can occur in marginal production areas); and(2) unrealistically large effects of carbon dioxide fertilization.Harvested areas in the iMpACT model are also affected by climate change. in any particular FpU, land may become more or less suitable for any crop and will impact the intrinsic area growth rate, tni ga , in the area growth calculation. Water availability will affect the WAT factor for irrigated crop area.Crop calendar changes due to climate change cause two distinct issues. When the crop calendar in an FpU changes, such that a crop that was grown in 2000 can no longer be grown in 2050, we implement an adjustment to tni ga that will bring the harvested area to zero-or nearly so-by 2050. However, when it becomes possible to grow a crop in 2050 where it could not be grown in 2000, we do not add this new area. For example, parts of Ontario, Canada that have too short a growing season in 2000 will be able to grow maize in 2050, according to the climate scenarios used. As a result our estimates of future production are biased downward somewhat. The effect is likely to be small, however, as new areas have other constraints on crop productivity, particularly soil characteristics.As metrics for the state of human well-being, we use average per capita calorie consumption as well as an associated measure, the number of malnourished children under five. We use the underweight definition of malnutrition, that is, the proportion of children under five falling below minus-2 standard deviations from the median weight-for-age standard set by the U.S. national Center for Health Statistics and the World Health Organization. 17The iMpACT model provides data on average per capita calorie availability by country. Child malnutrition has many determinants, of which calorie intake is one. The percentage of malnourished children under the age of five is estimated from several variables: the average per capita calorie consumption, female access to secondary education, the quality of maternal and child care, and health and sanitation (Rosegrant et al. 2008). The precise relationship used to project the percentage of malnourished children is based on a cross-country regression relationship of Smith and Haddad (2000), and can be written as follows: For this report, we assume that life expectancy, maternal education, and clean water access values improve over time but do not change across the scenarios.improvements in irrigation efficiency are a potentially important source of agricultural productivity improvements, especially as water scarcity becomes a worldwide problem. in iMpACT, the concept of basin efficiency (BE) is used to account for changes in irrigation efficiency within a river basin (n. Haie and A. A. Keller 2008; A. Keller and J. Keller 1995). it fully accounts for the portion of diverted irrigation water that returns to rivers or aquifer systems and can be reused repeatedly by downstream users. This approach avoids the limitation of the classical irrigation efficiency concept that treats return flow as \"losses.\"BE is defined as the ratio of beneficial irrigation water consumption (BC) to total irrigation water consumption (TC). That is, changes in precipitation are excluded from this calculation: BE BC TC = BE in the base year is calculated as the ratio of the net irrigation water demand (NIRWD) to the total irrigation water consumption based on Shiklomanov (1999). NIRWD is defined asVariables are defined as follows:• cp-index for the iMpACT crop includes all iMpACT crops that receive irrigation.  (Allen et al. 1998) that adjusts reference eT for the characteristics of a particular crop. • ET 0 -reference evapotranspiration evapotranspiration describes the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth's land surface to atmosphere. evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and water bodies. Transpiration accounts for the movement of water within a plant and the subsequent loss of water as vapor through stomata in its leaves. Reference evapotranspiration is defined as the ET that occurs from a standardized \"reference\" crop, such as clipped grass or alfalfa. • PE-effective rainfall (rainfall that is actually available for plant growth)• AI cp -irrigated area for crop cp in the basin This calculation generates globally consistent estimates for Be for the base year.For the future, we project small enhancements in BE, with levels increasing to 0.5-0.8 by 2050 under the baseline. An upper level of BE is set at 0.85 as a practical maximum.Comparing IFPRI Food Security and Climate Change Results: What has Changed? I n late 2009, iFpRi researchers prepared two major reports in the impacts of climate change on agriculture: a book released by the Asian development Bank (Rosegrant et al. 2009); and an iFpRi Food policy Report (nelson et al. 2009). Roughly one year later, many of the same researchers contributed to the present iFpRi research monograph (referred to here as RM10). during the intervening year, substantial improvements were made to the various components of the iMpACT modeling system that generates scenario results to 2050.One consequence of those improvements is that the results are not strictly comparable. in this Appendix, we compare selected results from the Food policy Report (referred to here as FpR09) with the results reported in RM2010 and document some of the key changes that resulted in those differences. We focus on the main crops rice, wheat, and maize, as well as the malnourished children results. Since FpR09 only used one set of income and population drivers, we compare its results with the baseline scenario of the RM10 report. (FpR09 also includes a pessimistic and optimistic scenario). The climate GCMs differ between the two reports, so, for the most part, we report differences in the perfect mitigation (no climate change) results. Table A4.1 reports the price scenarios for maize, rice, and wheat for the two publications. Table A4.2 reports the malnourished children outcomes. The main RM10 report includes results only from 2010. However, since the simulations begin in 2000 and the FpR09 report does not include 2010 results, we include year 2000 results in this Appendix.There are two main differences between the two sets of outcomes. The price increases with perfect mitigation are substantially larger in the RM10 report than in the FRp09 report. However, climate change in the RM10 report generally results in less negative productivity effects (averaged across the four GCM/SReS scenario climate changes), so the combined price effects result in smaller price increases for rice and wheat in the RM10 report.  Three drivers account for the bulk of these differences: differences in Gdp, population, and climate change modeling methodology.For the FpR09 report we relied on the Gdp growth rates used in the World Bank's eACC report. A subsequent assessment was that several of the rates were implausibly small for the baseline, especially in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Table A4.3 reports the growth rates used in the two reports for countries where the rates were changed. The consequence of these changes for world Gdp and agricultural demand is quite significant, since the changes are all in developing countries. For the FpR09 report, average annual world Gdp growth from 2000 to 2050 was 3.03 percent. For the RM10 report, the rate is 3.13 percent. The RM10 report relies on the most recent data from the Un on population projections (downloaded in 2010). The FpR09 report used an earlier set of population data. Table A4.4 reports the differences for selected countries and for the world. World population in 2050 is 28 million less with the RM10 data than the FRp09 data. For the most part the changes are small and relatively evenly distributed and will have small effects on prices. But four important developing countries have relatively large absolute increases in population: dR Congo, india, Brazil, and Bangladesh -together accounting for 144 million additional people in 2050. The latter three countries are important consumers of rice, wheat, and maize, and so these population increases will contribute to higher prices. The three countries losing the most people in the 2050 scenario are China, pakistan, and Tanzania, losing a combined 69 million people in the 2050 scenario. The techniques used to model the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity in iMpACT have seen three substantial changes in the recent past. prior to the analysis that resulted in the FpR09 report, productivity effects were obtained from outside sources. They tended to have very coarse spatial resolution and utilized a very limited set of possible future climates.The techniques used beginning with the FpR09 report and the AdB book have much higher spatial resolution, show a wider variety of future climates, and can be relatively easily updated when new climate data become available.For the FpR09 report, the modeling approach used a very basic working, if awkward, system that supplied iMpACT with indicators of agricultural productivity changes for two different climate scenarios across the entire globe -the AR4 CSiRO and nCAR GCMs with results for the A2 SReS greenhouse gas emissions pathways scenario.The RM10 report revamped the actual running of the crop models to more easily interface with the GiS portion and allow for streamlined troubleshooting. in addition, different GCMs and scenarios were used -the CSiRO and MiROC GCMS with the A1B and A2 greenhouse gas emissions pathway scenarios. in addition, a variety of modeling methods were modified or added to make the simulations more realistic.The actual crop modeling code used in the two phases differed. The FpR09 used the official, released dSSAT version 4.0. For the RM10 report, a recent beta version of 4.5 was employed.For both reports, the years compared were approximately 2000 and approximately 2050.The FpR09 report used WorldClim downscalings for the baseline. The two future climates were constructed by taking the raw (geographically coarse) anomalies and adding them to the WorldClim baselines. WorldClim does not include information about the number of rainy days or incident solar shortwave radiation needed for the crop modeling. This meant that the \"number of rainy days in a month\" and \"typical shortwave solar radiation by month\" had to be obtained elsewhere. These were constructed from the nASA/LdAS historical assimilated data. A non-linear regression technique was developed to characterize a cross-sectional relationship between the number of rainy days and the available WorldClim data (rainfall and temperature), elevation, and latitude. These relationships were then used to make projections of the rainy days under the future climates by plugging in the values for the future rainfalls and temperatures. The climates used were the A2 GHG pathway scenarios for the nCAR and CSiRO GCMs (AR4 anomalies plus WorldClim baseline).The RM10 report results still used the WorldClim 2000 dataset for the baseline, but used the Thornton/Jones downscaling methodology (\"FutureClim\") for the 2050 climate scenarios, which also provides estimates for the number of rainy days and the shortwave radiation.it is difficult to do a direct comparison between the WorldClim and FutureClim datasets, but there are differences. For example, the minimum temperature for September 2050 for the CSiRO GCM with the A2 scenario is about 0.1 degrees lower on average for the WorldClim derived product than the FutureClim product, a relatively small amount. The differences for the rainy days and shortwave radiation are much more significant. For example, there are many locations with 9 to 12 days difference in the number of rainy days in the month. With shortwave radiation data, there are many locations where the difference is more than a fifth of the possible range.Our assessment is that the Thornton/Jones FutureClim downscaling techniques are more reliable and internally coherent than the WorldClim-based data, and hence the climate inputs into dSSAT for RM10 are better than those used for FpR09.The crop varieties used in both sets of scenarios are the same with the exception of wheat. Wheat is a difficult crop to model, most importantly because of the two major types of wheat and their production schedules: winter wheat and spring wheat. The iMpACT does not differentiate between these types of wheat. However, for the crop modeling, a particular variety needs to be specified. Based on the knowledge available when the FpR09 report was being prepared, a winter wheat variety was chosen. The difficulty in establishing an appropriate planting month by location led to a strategy of planting in every month and choosing the highest yielding month.Subsequent experimentation into the modeled behavior of several wheat varieties in dSSAT, along with improved knowledge of wheat in general, led to a revision of the treatment of wheat in the RM10 report. The winter wheat variety was replaced by a spring wheat variety. We looked at how the yield responded when the planting month was changed and discovered that the winter wheat variety acted like an ill-behaved spring wheat rather than like a true winter wheat. Furthermore, it appears that spring wheat varieties are grown in a wider geographic area than winter wheat varieties. With further experimentation it seems likely that, although wheat is often grown during meteorological winter, spring varieties are most common: for example, in much of india it is too hot to grow wheat during the summer. Thus, we thought that a spring wheat variety would better represent global behavior than a poorly defined winter wheat variety. The planting month strategy was also changed from choosing among all months (which often shows clearly spurious highest yielding months) to targeting a particular planting month.The FpR09 approach to planting dates was to identify the planting month via a set of rules based on the monthly climate variables. For example, for most rainfed crops, the planting month is the first month after September that begins a block of four months with temperatures that are in the range the crop can tolerate and that also have at least a minimum amount of rainfall. These rules were applied to each of the climate scenarios to determine a planting date.The RM10 report employed different climate data, so the rules had to be recalibrated. More expert input was used to inform the calibration process. This allowed the rules to be modified and expanded to better match the evidence about when different crops are planted around the world. in particular, this allowed for an improved determination of planting dates for spring wheat. To allow greater flexibility, the target month identified by the rules is used as the middle of a three-month window. All three months are modeled separately and the final yield is chosen to be the highest yield of the three months.An important issue is the number of weather realizations used to determine the mean yield values. The FpR09 used 15 realizations in most cases. For the RM10 report, 40 repetitions were used for two planting dates within the month for a total of 80 repetitions (and another 160 for the unused, lower yielding planting months).Water management is especially important for irrigated rice. in the FpR09, irrigated rice was treated just like all other irrigated crops. That is, a particular soil layer was maintained at a target level of moisture. The RM10 report improved on this by implementing the rice-specific irrigation controls in dSSAT that allowed for a flooded paddy scheme (raising and lowering the water depth, for example).The initial moisture and nitrogen conditions in the soil can be quite important in determining final yields. For crops tolerant of relatively dry conditions, starting out with significant amounts of soil moisture (which is the dSSAT default) can allow for seemingly abundant rainfed yields, even in locations known to have virtually no annual rainfall. Such results are clearly problematic.The FpR09 did not attempt to set the initial soil conditions. The default is to start with the maximum possible soil moisture content that can be held without draining away, and this gave inappropriate levels of moisture availability in some dryland areas. in the RM10 report, a heuristic was implemented to allow for control of the initial soil moisture and nitrogen content so they could be set to a more reasonable level.The geographic details also changed between the two phases. Both used the SpAM product to identify locations for modeling for each crop. However, between the FpR09 and RM10 reports, the SpAM product itself was upgraded and improved, resulting in a different set of geographic locations and weightings.  ","tokenCount":"20631"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0981702412.json b/data/part_1/0981702412.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9d1e6f5ac4ea99ad469a935c5cf2f4a19b85f36d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0981702412.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d6ac2bba17f6538e2adadfcd6265373","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/12b3bee5-cec8-4b8b-9ad6-df4652b36ff8/content","id":"1267541409"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c7431927-bc37-4636-b3b4-e139e26a9bc6","pagecount":"6","content":"In April 2023, Nepal experienced high prices for both food and non-food items. The inflation rate for food and beverage prices on a year-on-year basis stood at 6.9 percent. Although this is lower than the 7.4 percent recorded in March and April 2022, it still signifies a considerable rise in the cost of food from its already elevated levels. Moreover, the consumer price index (CPI) exhibited a more substantial increase compared to the wage rate index, with a 7.8 percent rise versus 6.1 percent. As a result, informal sector employees faced a decline in their real wages.Cereal prices continue to be high: Despite a satisfactory wheat harvest at the end of the winter season in March and April, there has been no significant decrease in the price of staple foods in Nepal. From March to April 2023, there was only a marginal increase of 0.11 percent in the price of cereals, which were already at high levels. Both unprocessed grain and cereal products were 13.7 percent more expensive in April 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. The persistently high prices of staple foods disproportionately affect the poorest families, as they tend to allocate a larger portion of their household budget to these items. Nepal remains partially reliant on India's exports of rice and wheat, and the imposition of taxes and restrictions on these commodities' exports by India may be driving up cereal prices in Nepal.Agricultural and industrial laborers experienced a decline in their real wages: The average wage rates for agricultural laborers remained stagnant between February and March 2023. However, during the same period, the consumer price index (CPI) experienced a 1.1 percent increase. The wage indices for semi-skilled, unskilled industrial laborers, and construction workers also grew at a slower pace compared to the CPI. This decline in real wages has the potential to push workers in the informal sectors and their families into temporary poverty. Our analysis of data from a representative sample of households in Nepal indicates that most impoverished households lack access to safety net programs that could provide some protection against the adverse effects of rising prices and stagnant incomes.traders and in some levels of government may result in policy and business actions that sustain high prices for staple foods in Nepal well into the latter half of 2023.Key messages: The year-on-year inflation in Nepal's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased slightly from 7.4 percent in February and March to 7.8 percent in March and April of 2023. This inflationary trend has affected a wide range of commodity prices. For instance, food prices experienced a 6.9 percent increase, while non-food prices rose by 8.4 percent. High prices of cereals, cereal products, milk, milk products, and eggs have been significant contributors to inflation. Importantly, increases in prices have not been matched with increasing wage rates, which have remained stagnant for men but have declined for women agricultural laborers (Figure 1). Despite the implementation of a tight monetary policy with high interest rates and a deceleration in economic growth, inflation is expected to remain high in the coming months. This is primarily due to sustained high commodity prices, partially influenced by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the continuation of export restrictions on coarse rice and wheat by India, along with concerns about a drier and warmer summer, may have similar effects on food prices in Nepal.The total remittance inflow from July 2022 to March 2023 in Nepali Rupees increased by 24.2 percent compared to the total inflow between July 2021 and February 2022. In US Dollars, the remittance flow was 13.9 percent higher during the same period. This growth in remittance inflows coincides with a significant rise in the number of new Nepali workers seeking foreign employment or renewing their approvals. In the first nine months of 2022-23, this number reached 0.6 million, doubling the figure from the same period in 2021-22. The strong growth in remittance inflows has positive effects for Nepal's balance of payments, helping to reduce deficits.Additionally, it provides a cushion for Nepali households, helping them mitigate the impact of a slowing economy.Rice and wheat Key message: In March 2023, the national average price of coarse rice increased by 4.7 percent compared to the previous month and was 2.4 percent higher than the same month in the previous year. Specifically in Western Nepal, the price of rice rose by 2.7 percent compared to February 2023 and by 1.1 percent compared to March 2022.The price of wheat flour saw a huge jump in March 2023. Its national average price was 37.2 percent higher than the previous month and 34.9 percent higher than in March 2022. Western Nepal also witnessed similar spike in the prices of wheat flour. Reports of crop damage due to untimely rains in wheat growing areas of India may have contributed to the increase from already high levels.Policy, trade and climate risks: Due to concerns about food inflation leading up to the parliamentary elections in April-May 2024, the Government of India is unlikely to ease the restrictions on rice and wheat exports. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that India's public procurement of wheat during the winter of 2023 fell well below the target for the second consecutive year. Additionally, Indian policymakers appear to be apprehensive about the potential strengthening of El Niño later in the year (Figure 2), which could impact the country's food production and supplies. If the Government of India continues with its cautious export policies for rice and wheat, staple prices in Nepal are likely to remain high. These policies contribute to the sustained high prices of these commodities in Nepal.Key messages: After experiencing a significant decline in recent months, vegetable prices began to rise again in March/April. The vegetable price index witnessed an increase of nearly 10.0 percent from February/March to March/April 2023. On a year-to-year basis, there was a 1.0 percent increase. Vegetables constitute approximately 5.5 percent of the average household expenditure and 12.6 percent of the average food expenditure in Nepal. Therefore, a substantial rise in vegetable prices is likely to have an impact on the dietary quality of poor households in particular.Fruits: In comparison to the previous month, the average price of fruits saw a 3.3 percent increase, and it was 11.0 percent higher compared to the same period in 2022. The price of bananas experienced a sharp rise from the previous month, and there was also a noticeable increase in the price of apples. However, in terms of average household food expenditure, fruits have a smaller share, accounting for 4.7 percent. Consequently, the impact of price increases in fruits on the family budget will be relatively smaller compared to vegetables.National prices: The national average price of potatoes remained steady between February and March 2023, while it increased by 2.0 percent in March 2023 compared to the same period the previous year. In Western Nepal, the price of potatoes rose by 1.8 percent compared to the previous month and by 2.3 percent compared to the previous year.National prices: Nationally, there was a 5.5 percent decrease in tomato prices between February and March 2023. In Western Nepal, tomato prices experienced a further decline of 12.5 percent in March, following a significant drop of 24.5 percent between January and February. Tomatoes are known for being challenging to transport and store, which contributes to sharp price variations over time and across different locations. Investments in shorter value chains, effective postharvest technologies and cold storage will be needed to improve Nepal's tomato production and marketing systems.Sufficient and reliable data are lacking in addition to infrastructure and market system development as described above, investments in data systems for horticultural crops are crucial in Nepal. Currently, there is a lack of reliable public data on production and farm harvest prices of horticultural crops that are easily accessible to the public. This poses a challenge when trying to make reliable assessments regarding the impact of consumer price volatility on producers. Additionally, estimating the impact of production shocks on consumer prices is difficult without resorting to speculative approaches that may not be scientifically sound. Therefore, efforts are necessary to develop robust data and information systems specifically tailored for these overlooked commodities.Price changes nationally and regionally: National average banana price continued to rise in March. Prices were 9.3 percent higher in March 2023 than the previous month and 14.3 percent higher than a year ago. In Western Nepal, banana prices were 7.9 percent higher compared to February 2023 and 6.3 percent higher than the year before. Bananas are an important source of micronutrients including potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. High prices could result in decreases in the consumption of these important nutrients for households not producing bananas. This could contribute to micronutrient deficiencies within poorer households.Key messages: Animal fat and edible oils play a crucial role in human diets. They provide essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins and are important for human health and well-being. The downward trend in the price of edible oils in Nepal persisted in March. The national average price of mustard oil decreased by 7.8 percent from February to March 2023, while the price of soybean oil saw a decline of 5.0 percent. In comparison to the same period in 2022, mustard oil was 13.9 percent less costly and soybean oil was 11.0 percent cheaper in March 2023. According to public data in Nepal, the price index of animal fat and edible oils recorded an 8.1 percent decline in March/April 2022 and 2023, indicating a consistent decrease over the years. The decrease in the price index of these food items suggests that poor consumers may find them more affordable, which is likely to be beneficial, as long as edible oils are part of their balanced diets.Key messages: Certainty regarding fertilizer prices and availability continues to be a concern for farmers and input dealers in Nepal. The rising interest rates, implemented as a measure to control inflation, have led to increased borrowing costs and a slowdown in credit flow to farmers and small businesses.In less than a month and if sufficient rains commence, the sowing of paddy will commence in parts of Nepal. Unfortunately, DAP and Potash fertilizers were either unavailable or only accessible in limited quantities in Western Nepal. Moreover, even Urea, which is supposed to be sold at a controlled price of NPR 14 (0.11 USD) per kg, is currently being sold at higher rates ranging from NPR 23-27 (0.17-20 USD) per kg. Despite the Government of Nepal's decision to import additional fertilizer supplies, farmers and cooperatives are still facing a scarcity of fertilizers. This situation has been reported by multiple sources, indicating a gap between the intended import measures and the actual availability of fertilizers on the ground.The Government of Nepal has recently reversed its decision, which was made on March 13 th of 2023, to reduce subsidies on Urea, DAP, and Potash fertilizers. As a result, the official retail prices of these three fertilizers will remain unchanged. While decisions are anticipated to mitigate the challenges faced by poor farmers, it is also anticipated to increase government expenditure on fertilizer subsidies and constrain foreign currency reserves, compared to the original plan.Key messages: The price of diesel in Nepal witnessed a significant decrease from NPR 175 (USD 1.31) per liter in February 2023 to NPR 165 (USD 1.25) per liter in March and April. In May, diesel prices further dropped to NPR 155 (USD 1.17) per liter. This sharp decline in diesel prices, particularly just before the paddy season, is expected to bring relief to farmers. The reduced diesel prices may lead to a potential reduction in rental rates for machines used in land preparation and irrigation. This could alleviate some financial burden on farmers by making these services more affordable during the upcoming summer rice season.","tokenCount":"1963"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0985842221.json b/data/part_1/0985842221.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a90c1d0f4355fac59b7adc9735285d6438bd1bb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0985842221.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e6613dd21b6c074037c29450753702aa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9f7189e-8705-4259-b3b6-617f05024006/retrieve","id":"-1935050761"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6c8ef55b-f777-41fd-9cd7-8f165b8b1865","pagecount":"16","content":"Stresses to climate change and variability contribute to yield reduction in Ghana and require that farmers build their adaptive capacities for climate resilience. Situational analysis conducted by the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project in Ghana reveals that men, women and youth have different access to land, labour, capital, and extension services among others. These influence their differential adaptive capacities to climate stresses. Women have less access to land compared to men. Their holdings are smaller and less secured. Women and youth expend their labour on men's farms and have little access to their own labour and other household labour for their farm activities. Women's access to capital for farm investment such as land preparation, purchase of improved seeds and pesticides, and hiring of labour is also limited. They rely mainly on informal loans compared to men who rely on crop income and sometimes sale of livestock. Although women's participation in Farmer-based Organizations (FBOs) enhances their access to extension services, only few participate in FBOs and even less in FBO leadership. These gender and generational differences in resource access and use are rooted in cultural norms that govern relationships in communities. AICCRA Ghana employs a strategy for gender and social inclusion that hinges on two pillars; capacitation to enhance access to bundled CSA-CIS-One-health innovations and capital for women and youth, and dialogues with FBOs, communities and partners/collaborators to transform norms that entrench inequalities.In Ghana, stresses from climate variability and change are leading to 25-50% yield reduction (Adu-Boahen, Dadson & Halidu, 2019) and sometimes total crop failure for many farmers. These stresses from climate-related uncertainties are coupled with current production practices that rely on heavy doses of synthetic pesticides that pose health risks to humans, water, animals and plants, and threaten biodiversity. Providing secure and safe food in Ghana requires urgent effort to use production practices and technologies that are climate-smart and one-health 1 sensitive to reduce health risks of current production practices. While this is of strategic importance to end-users, especially smallholder farmers, the bundled climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices, one-health technologies, and associated climate information services (CIS) are not adequately available to many smallholder farmers. Many farmers lack the capacity to access, prioritize, bundle and use CSA-CIS and One-health technologies appropriately for their crops and geographical areas. Women and youth are particularly constrained due to gender and generational norms that create inequalities in productive resource allocation and use (Quisumbing et al., 2014). Reaching farmers with CSA-CIS and One-health technologies/innovations to enhance food security and safety therefore, requires an accelerated approach to promote and disseminate these technologies while mainstreaming gender and social inclusion (GSI) in the identification and prioritization of the technologies and their dissemination. Opening strategic opportunities to target the needs of women and youth with knowledge products, dissemination strategies and financing mechanisms is an imperative.Working towards gender and social inclusion requires in-depth understanding of gender and generational gaps in intervention communities, and how they influence the adaptive capacities of different groups of people in specific crop value chains. Varied capacity needs of women have impacted negatively on CSA-CIS uptake and utilization including access to productive resources (Abdul-Razak & Kruse 2017; Alhassan et al., 2018;Adzawla et al., 2019). AICCRA-Ghana therefore conducted situational analysis to understand these gaps and to inform our strategy to addressing gender and social inclusion. We triangulated data from multiple sources in our situational analysis. We reviewed literature on gender and youth participation in agriculture in Ghana. We particularly focused on the Gender CSA profile for Ghana which provides a synthesis of gaps and inequalities in agriculture resource access in Ghana. We also used our environmental and social screening exercise in intervention communities to gather insights on the situation of different categories of people. We then conducted a tailored qualitative needs assessment in seven of the intervention communities through focus group discussions (FGDs) with men, women and youth. We paid particular attention to their peculiar challenges and to identify context appropriate opportunities to mainstream and customise AICCRA products to their needs. We also draw on data from our baseline survey that collected sex disaggregated data on resource access, use and ownership, and access to CSA and CIS in intervention communities. In this document, we present insights from our situational analysis. We then present AICCRA Ghana's strategy for addressing gender and social inclusion in our intervention.It is common knowledge that there exist gender and generational difference in productive resource access and opportunities which create productivity gaps among men, women and youth (See Quisumbing et al., 2014;Huyer, 2016). In Ghana, access to land, labour, credit and extension which are critical for agriculture remains less for women and contribute to a yield gap of about 20-30% between women's and men's farms (SEND Ghana, 2014).In our intervention communities as well, insights from our situational analysis showed that men's farm were relatively more productive than women's farm and differences in access to land, labour, capital, extension services among other things are key contributory factors. These differences in resource access result in different climate change adaptive capacities for men and women (Huyer 2020;Huyer and Partey, 2020). Below, we highlight the gender and generational inequalities that exist in access to these resources in our intervention communities.In rural Ghana, land is a primary resource for farming. Yet, one of the biggest constraints women in Ghana face is access to agriculture land (CCAFS). About 80% of land is managed under customary governance systems which prioritises men's ownership and control over land and discriminates against women (Higgins & Fenrich, 2011). As result, many women do not have access to land, and the few that do, have less secured access compared to men. Only about 30% of women farmers in Ghana own land and only about 10% have secured access to their lands (CCAFS, 2021). The value of their holdings are three times less than their male counterparts (ibid). The few women who are able to access land through the land market (leaseholds and rents) do so through men in their households who front negotiations for them. For many others, they completely depend on male family relations to have secondary access to land.Results from the baseline study (Figure 1) showed that males dominate in all forms of land ownership ranging from temporary offer, sharecropping, outright ownership, family owned as well as communal owned lands. In our intervention communities in the northern part of the country for instance, women mainly access land through marriage. Their fathers in-law give them a portion of family land to cultivate crops. However, women's land access through marriage depends on how much land is available in the family. In cases where the family has less land, women do not get separate land to cultivate their own crops; they are only integrated into household farming. Some of them however, are able to intercrop the household farm with crops that are deemed as women's crops (cowpea and groundnut mainly) and appropriate for intercropping. In instances where land is relatively abundant, women access is also impeded by their inability to clear more lands for crop cultivation. In Yiziegu for instance, farmers indicated the availability of lands for farming. However, many women did not have plots for crop cultivation and the main challenge was their inability to afford tractor services to plough. They therefore mainly intercropped legumes in the household yam farms, and in a few instances, had access to small fallow plots. Family lands were mainly passed down to young men and thus, when land is available, young men had a relatively better access to land if they also had money to plough the land. In our intervention communities in the southern part of the country, women access land mainly through the maternal lineage and or through rent. Although these relatively enhance women's land access, the sizes of land they can access is impeded by norms and customs and their available capital. Even in the maternal lineage, men are prioritised because customs stipulate that they are the main actors who can put land to productive use while women are secondary actors. This norm means that even when land is available, women can access smaller portions compared to men. When land access is mainly through rental, women are not able to mobilise enough capital to access relatively larger portions of land. In the Bono East region for instance, where land for maize and yam cultivation is usually rented-in, women had little resource to rent more lands and even less to plough their entire plots after rent.When land is further characterised as prime (fertile and or irrigable), women's access to these lands are further impeded. In the vegetable value chain where access to irrigation land is crucial, women confront more obstacles. In Tampola for instance, large portions of irrigation lands are in the hands of clans and women usually do not meet the customary requirements to access such lands. In addition to the customary norm that does not regard women as primary economic actors to warrant accessing irrigable land, women do not also have the resource to pay for the tokens (GHC 200 -1000 per year) for land useand to buy their own pumping machines to draw water from the dam. In government or company-led irrigable lands as well, women do not always have the financial resources to access irrigation lands which range from GHC 400 -per acre.Land at these sites is already limited and access is usually passed on to kinsmen who are men. In Tuba irrigation site where there is a deliberate effort to pass plots of deceased men to their widows, the sizes of plots that these women hold usually reduces by the year as they are not able to pay the full costs of user fees. At the Yidongo irrigation site as well, there is a deliberate effort to integrate more women into land use at the site. Thus, there are more women at the irrigation site than men. However, their plots are woefully smaller than the plots of men. Women constitute a majority of the farmers at the site, yet, they use less than 30% of the total land at the site. Labour and capital challenges constrain their ability to access bigger irrigation plots.Overall, land access in our intervention communities was mediated by an intersection of factors including sex, age, migration status and marital status. Men had more access to land than women, older people had more access to land than the youth, indigenes had more access to land than migrants and married women had more access to land than unmarried women. Thus, in our intervention communities, those with the least access to land were female youth who were migrants and unmarried. This was particularly evident in the Northern, Bono East and Central regions. In these communities, average land sizes for migrant young unmarried women were 0.5 acres compared to 4 acres for their male counterparts and 3 acres and 6 acres for migrant older and indigenous older women respectively.Household farming is common in rural Ghana and labour requirements in the farm is considered as a conjugal obligation (Torvikey et al. Forthcoming). In our intervention communities, there exist gender division of labour in both the productive and reproductive spheres. Young men and all women are crucial household labour for the older men's farms which is considered as the 'household farm' . Young men are generally involved in land preparation, planting and harvesting while women, both young and old, are mainly involved in planting, weeding, fetching water for pesticide application and harvesting. Women indicated that while it is generally considered that they do the less labour-intensive activities in the farm, their roles are more time-intensive, very menial, rudimentary and painstakingly slow to complete. Women in Tampola for instance described the drudgery involved in uprooting weeds from tomato farms with their hands while those on Yidongo described the drudgery involved in weeding with small hoes. They highlighted that although their societies consider these as easy tasks to perform, it takes them weeks to complete one cycle of weeding.Women in other intervention communities also indicated that weeding and transplanting seedlings are the most difficult farm activity for them with associated health implications from bending for such long periods of time. In some of our intervention communities especially in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Bono East regions, women mobilise themselves to help one another to perform 'women's activities' especially sowing and harvesting. They do this for both household farms and women's own farms. In Yidongo, these self-help groups for labour activities were the main source of farm labour for farming followed by household labour. As an extension to women's reproductive roles, they cook for self-help groups and sometimes hired labourers who work in the farm.While the role of women and youth in men's/household farms are considered obligatory, men do not necessarily expend part of their labour in women's and youth's farms. Men are mostly in charge of land preparation and this is increasingly being done with tractor services. Thus, tractors are replacing what in the past, some men did for women's plots and the cost of these tractor services is increasingly borne by women themselves. In instances where land preparation is conducted by hand, both men and women increasingly use hired labour (young men) and women pay for this labour as well. Men help women with spraying pesticides. However, they do this when they have finished spraying their own farms. To prevent delays in pesticide application for women's farmers therefore, many women hire labour for pesticide application and pay for this service by themselves. Not only do women have less access to other household labour, they also have less access to their own labour to expend in their farms. Thus, overall, they use more hired labour than men and male youth which increases their production cost and reduces their net income.Women's roles in the productive sphere are coupled with reproductive roles such as cooking, washing, fetching water, and firewood as well as taking care of children and the aged in the households. For many women, their reproductive roles in households are mainly hidden, taken for granted, and thus less acknowledged (CCAFS, 2021). Women for instance spend more time in collecting firewood and water than men (GSS 2014). Although domestic chores contribute to women's time poverty, it is largely overlooked in many rural communities. In our intervention communities, women are solely responsible for household chores. In spite of the labour and time-intensity of these chores, men rarely help with such activities. The socially ascribed role for men to provide the household with food and income prescribe that men spend their time and labour in productive activities than reproductive activities. Thus, in all intervention communities, men's engagement in household chores is deemed as culturally inappropriate. The productive and reproductive role of women therefore contributed to their time poverty.Access to capital has been a longstanding constraint for rural farmers and particularly for women farmers who do not have guarantees to access formal credits. In rural communities where access to capital is generally a challenge, women are worst off because the little capital available is allocated to men. For many women this has been a major constraint in making the necessary input investments into their farms and thus, encounter attendant impacts on the productivity of their farms. In our intervention communities, formal credit schemes are largely absent and thus, many farmers, -men, women and youth-rely on informal sources of capital for farm investment. While men both old and young men rely mostly on income from the sale of crops to invest in their farm, older men especially in the northern part of the country get capital from selling livestock while younger men sell their labour to raise capital for farm investment. For many women, they rely on loans from friends and family. For those in northern Ghana, they also sometimes process shea butter for sale to raise income for farm investment.In the vegetable value chains in Upper East and Greater Accra, and the maize value chains in Bono East and Northern region, informal loans called crop advance from off-takers (market women, and largescale aggregators) exist at about 50% interest rate per crop cycle or payable with produce. However, these loans are considered as unfavourable and thus, rarely used. In Tuba community, formal credit from banks is available for farmers organized into sub-groups past in the last couple of years. Women are however, totally absent in these group credit schemes. They largely highlight their fear of accessing formal credit and the potential challenges that come with defaults when crop fails. Source: AICCRA-Ghana Cluster Baseline Survey Data, (2022).Many women in our intervention communities however, have increased access to loans from their village savings and loans associations (VSLAs) and this has enhanced their access to capital (See Table 1). In almost all intervention communities, VSLAs exist and majority of the members are women. Women access loans at about 10-15% interests and many of them use the loans to invest in their farms (Dawuni, Mabe & Tahidu, 2021). The amount of money available to be given out as loans however, is dependent on the amounts of money women contribute. Thus, in these communities where savings range from GHC 2-10 cedis per week, the capital that is mobilized is woefully inadequate and thus, loans from VSLAs are insufficient to provide the necessary capital for farm financing. However, while these small loans are available for farm financing, many women rather take their savings during the 'share-out' to invest in farms rather than loans. The general risks aversion towards loans implies that even when such loans are available in VSLA, women still did not utilise this option much.Plate 1: A VSLA MeetingExtension delivery services, including access to CSA and CIS in the communities are varied and overseen by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). MoFA agriculture extension agents (AEAs) meet farmers in these communities in groups to deliver knowledge on general agricultural practices. However, access to this MoFA extension service is enhanced in communities where established farmer-based organisations (FBOs) exist. In communities where FBOs are present, farmers have regular meetings with AEAs and these AEAs also connect and facilitate interactions between these FBOs, and other agriculture related non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Organised FBOs are particularly evident in the vegetable value chains in the Upper East and Greater Accra regions, the sweet potato value chain in Central region and maize and cowpea value chains in Upper West region. These FBOs also promote women's access to extension due to their participation in FBO meetings. FBOs have been found to be key to enhancing women's contact with extension services and their access to climate information services (Yirodomoh & Owusu, 2021). In these instances, women access information by themselves because of their membership in FBOs.In communities where FBOs are less organised or absent, meetings with AEAs are ad hoc. Farmers rely mainly on their peers to access extension information. In such instance, women access information through men in their households. Also, in cases where irrigation projects operate, extension services are enhanced at the project site for the crops that are produced at the project site.Less support is provided for farming activities outside the project site.The timing of FBO meetings and extension services is not a major community challenge. Communities and extension officers discuss a more appropriate time that suits majority of the community members, including women. In Yizeigu, for instance, women indicated that the time for extension meetings, which hitherto was earlier in the morning, was changed to 10AM so that women could attend after they finished their morning chores and got children to school. In Effutu Dehyia, it was moved from the evening to around 3PM so that it does not conflict with the time women use to cook dinner. However, access to the right teaching and learning aids, as well as demonstration fields to discuss and demonstrate management practices for instance, was a challenge. Many of the FBOs are also the foundation for starting VSLAs, which are a crucial source of capital for many farmers, especially women. In some communities, these VSLAs are not only for financial support, but also for group crop production. In Yidongo for instance, women's VSLAs are involved in rice production. Part of the produce is shared among members for household consumption while part is sold , and the income injected into the VSLA.Despite women's participation in FBOs, they are mostly not found in leadership positions. Women make up less than 15% of the leadership positions in the FBOs in communities where FBOs exist. Even in Yidongo where there are more women in the FBOs than men, there are more men in leadership positions. Thus, women are hardly involved in strategic FBO meetings where key decisions are taken. In some cases, when a husband and a wife belong to the same FBO, men usually attend regular meetings and are expected to convey information to their wives.While AEAs and their work with FBOs are a crucial source of information in all communities, radio and community information centres services are also an important source of extension information for farmers. Farmers indicated that they listen in to programmes that present and discuss issues related to farming including best management practices. Youth in these communities particularly listened to these radio programmes in addition to prime-time news where weather forecasts (temperature and rainfall) are also shared. Many farmers highlighted the ease with which information can be accessed through radio and community information centres. They however indicated that getting the right message from reliable sources to share through these media remains a challenge.For many of these farmers, while they access some information on CSA from AEAs and the radio, the application of CSA practices is ad hoc and depend on the availability of the technology, labour requirements and cost implication. This is consistent with other findings on the barriers to CSA uptake which include availability of technologies, labour cost and financing (CCAFS, 2021). Women particularly indicated labour and cost implications as major constraints to their uptake of CSA practices/technologies. In the vegetable value chains, transplanting for instance needs to be conducted at the right time to be climate-smart. Women, however indicated that they mostly conduct these activities late because they have to work on the de facto household farm (male farm) before working in their own farms. In the maize value chain especially in the Bono East region, women's sowing delay because tractor service for land preparation prefers to work on men's fields first because men usually have ready cash to pay for their fields. Women farmers in the Northern region highlighted similar instances of delayed planting due to tractor services prioritising men's plot. One woman bemoaned:\"I had a maize farm that I delayed in planting because I had to work on my husband's farm. And when it was time to do first weeding, we were all weeding my husband farm and so that also delayed. That, year I did not get any maize from the farm\".Women highlighted the importance of 'first weeding' for the productivity of maize. Yet, they mostly delay in weeding their maize plots because they have to weed the man's plot first. With regards to use of improve planting materials, fertilisers and agro chemicals, men, women and youth farmers all encounter challenges with financing even in instance where the inputs are available. Women particularly face this challenge because of their generally low levels of capital for farm financing. For instance, the capital demands for improved varieties of tomato planting materials as well as fertilisers and pesticides are the main reason why women preferred to cultivate leafy vegetables even when they had access to irrigation land. In the maize value chain, women recycled their farmer saved seeds more, sometimes up to 7 seasons, while men generally recycled up to 4 seasons. In the sweet potato and cowpea value chain which is generally dominated by women, access to suitable vines and seeds respectively, is a challenge and thus, impeding the productivity of these crops. Women sweet potato producers in particular highlighted the enormous potential to produce more but challenged by the unavailability of vines. Availability of improved varieties and the affordability of these varieties was highlighted as the main challenge for many farmers.While some CSA information reach farmers in our intervention communities, access to appropriate climate-informed services are scarce. In all the communities, farmers indicated the importance of having timely information on rainfall and temperature especially, onset, cessation, duration and intensity. However, they indicated that with the exception of daily and weekly weather forecast given by the national meteorological agency as part of prime-time news, access to CIS for farm decision making is limited or absent. Voice and text messages for the delivery of CSA/CIS are gaining traction, however, this is not common in our intervention communities. Lack of cell connectivity, or access to cell phones, or lack of knowledge on the existence of such services are the main challenges to such e-extension services. In some of the intervention communities such as Agyegyemakunu in the Bono East Region, there is no cell connectivity. In the communities where cell connectivity exists many farmers especially women did not have cell phones. Indeed, evidence from CCAFS indicates that women's ability to access CIS is less due to limited access to mobile phones (Partey et al., 2018). The few farmers who have phones do not know about the existence of e-extension, especially women.Young men in a few communities however, access climate information service by Vodafone Ghana through a text message to a short code. This message mainly contains information on rainfall and temperature for specific geographical areas. Young men indicated that it only provides forecast for the week and does not give the necessary forecast data on on-set and cessation that are crucial for planning and farm activities. Although limited, these young men rely on this information to plan for their farm activities. For some of the farmers in Tampola and Yidongo, they were accessing ESOKO voice SMS extension service in the past. However, they indicated that this service has not been available for a couple of years. Farmers especially women, indicated that their access to CIS can be enhanced when such information is communicated through AEAs and/or through their community radios and information centres. Women indicated that aside information on rainfall being crucial for farm planning, the daily rainfall and temperature forecasts are also necessary for them to take decisions on drying of cowpea and other legumes which is a major part of their productive activities.There exits diverse participation in value chains for men, women, and youth. Men, women, and youth dominate in the production of different crops and in the same crop value chain, they dominate in different activities at different nodes of the chain. In our intervention communities, there exist diversity in value chain participation and this diversity in influenced by access to land, labour, capital, and the right knowledge. For instance, although vegetables are mainly regarded as women's crops, in our vegetable value chains, production takes place on irrigable lands and only few women have access to these lands. In these communities, women constitute less than 20% of farmers who have access to irrigable land and their holdings are about quarter to half of the holdings of men. Men are therefore the main people involved in vegetable production while women do other crops suitable for non-irrigable land such as rain-fed rice in Tampola and Yidongo. For the women who have access to irrigable land, the type of vegetables they produce is also influenced by financial and labour requirements. In Yidongo for instance, although tomato is the main crop at the irrigation site, many women at the site cultivate leafy vegetables which is less labour and input dependent and matures within two months compared to tomato which is more labour and input dependent and matures in 3 months. In rainy season where women can cultivate tomato in the uplands, the labour requirements to raise relatively higher mounds/ridges also serve as a major constraint. Thus, in the rainy season, they plant rice and cowpea instead of tomato.In our intervention communities, there exist substantial number of women who produce maize especially in the Bono East region where maize land is mainly rented. Some of the women in these communities also cultivate cowpea. In our communities in the northern part of the country, where women generally have little access to land, they are the dominant people who intercrop leguminous crops (cowpea and groundnut mainly) with maize and yam. Thus, the same piece of land that belongs to the household is used by women during the season for cultivation of legumes. In consonance with other findings, there are substantial numbers of women (44%) engaged in maize production, however they dominate in the production of cowpea and groundnut holding about 67% and 53% respectively of total land area harvested for these crops (CCAFS 2021). Cowpea therefore, is a strategic crop for women in the northern and middle belts of the country, while maize is also strategic for women in the middle belt. In the southern belt, sweet potato was a strategic crop for women.Despite the low participation of women in production, they are major players in the aggregation of produce. Generally, in crop value chains, women dominate small-scale aggregators who in-turn sell to largescale aggregators who are mainly men (WFP, 2017). In our intervention communities, aside instances where off-takers come to the farms or communities to buy produce directly, women aggregate the produce for sale. In the vegetable and sweet potatoes value chains especially, women aggregate their household produce and that of neighbours and send them to the nearest market where large-scale aggregators operate. In the maize and cowpea value chains, women aggregate smaller quantities of produce from other farmers and sell in bowls in the surrounding markets.In AICCRA intervention communities akin to the general situation in Ghana, gender and generational inequalities in productive resource allocation and use are strongly rooted in the customs and norms that define who has what, when and how. Thus, the peculiar challenges women and youth face are rooted in customs that are entrenched, sometimes taken for granted and or considered natural. For instance, women's crop production is considered as secondary and of less value compared to that of men who are considered the main income earners for households. On many occasions therefore, women are only granted access to land when it is abundant. Land scarcity and or scarcity of productive/fertile lands mean that women do not get land at all or are relegated to less fertile lands, or have to use the fallow lands available in households.Culturally, men are expected to provide for the household so their farms are considered as the household farm. Women are expected to expend their labour on these farms which is the primary economic activity for the household. Women's labour in these farms are considered as obligatory to offer support to the household income generation activity. Yet, their labour activities in these farms are considered as less labour-intensive and thus, it's hidden drudgery and time-intensity is generally overlooked with its attendant consequences on societies' expectation that women should have ample time for reproductive roles. For many women in households, cultural norms impede their access to productive/fertile land and their own labour, which are crucial resources for crop production in rural Ghana (See vignette 1).Vignette 1: Gendered labour roles for farming in YidongoFor women own account farmers, their access to capital for farm investment is less. Household income is invested in the male farm, the primary farm for the household. Women's access to extension services is also impeded by norms that confine women to the household and restrict their interaction with outsiders especially males. While women agriculture extension agents are crucial to bypass such local norms and enhance women' access to extension services (Yiridomoh & Owusu, 2021), there are few female extension workers in the intervention communities and thus, women still encounter these challenges. Internalising these norms has created a setting where women generally do not participate actively in extension activities. Women expect men in their households to attend trainings and pass on information to them.Not only do community norms impact on women's access to resources, they also shape their involvement and participation in farmer-based organisations. Aside FBOs created with the intention to specifically reach out to women, few women participate in general FBOs and interact with men in their communities. Women generally do not regard themselves as necessary participants for FBOs. In instances where women join mixed FBOs, they hardly take leadership positions (See Vignette 2). The internalisation ofIn Yidongo, farming activities occur on three types of land -irrigation land, homestead land, and community commons-and household labour activities for farming are gendered. At the irrigation site where vegetables are cultivated in the dry season, men, usually prepare the land and spray pesticides, while women transplant seedlings, weed, and harvest the vegetables. In the rainy season, the homestead land is used for millet cultivation. Men prepare this land as well while women sow, weed and help in the harvesting. The tomato and millet farms are mainly for the men and women are expected to work on them as part of their household duties. The community commons is used usually for the cultivation of cowpea and rice, and this is done by women although a few men also cultivate cowpea. Men prepare the land for the women in their households and women perform the remaining labour activities mainly with their self-help groups.Men indicated that land preparation is a labour-intensive activity and men are the ones who have the strength to do it. They however indicated that it is culturally inappropriate for them to be involved in transplanting/ sowing, weeding with a small hoe and harvesting of vegetables which are considered less labour-intensive and rudimentary for men to expend their labour on. While men indicated that they can compromise and do these activities when women have to attend to their rice fields, the schedule of farm activities is such that, tomato cultivation takes place in the dry season when women are not cultivating rice and millet cultivation takes place before planting of rice. Thus, within the farming cycle, women do all these activities with little or no help from men. One man asserted, \"women only transplant, weed and harvest. These are not heavy jobs that make them too tired that they cannot cook\". Although women bemoaned the time-intensity of these so called rudimentary activities that they perform, they also indicated that men generally find it difficult to do these activities because they are too rudimentary. They further asserted that even less menial for men to do, are household chores. Women themselves have internalised their gender roles and both the productive and reproductive spheres. They indicated expecting men to engage in such chores challenges their masculinity. Although women are very much involved in household farming, their participation in farm decision making is less, including what farm incomes are used for. Their little participation is rooted in societal norms that vest decision making powers in male adults and regards women as followers. In instance, where they are consulted, their inputs do not get enough consideration in decision making. Women's decision making is only sometimes enhanced in cases of decisions about their own farms.The gender and generational differences in the resource allocation and use in intervention communities are rooted in norms and customs of communities. For AICCRA interventions to be gender and youth smart, they should among other things improve access to CSA-CIS, and credit for women and youth. The technologies that will be promoted should also increase the productivity and incomes of women and youth while decreasing their workload. Enhanced access to CSA and CIS technologies that address the needs of women and youth can contribute to gender and generational equality and increase the resilience of women and youth to adapt to climate change and also provide a means to challenge gender norms (Huyer, 2019;Sterling & Huyer, 2010). Thus, gender Tuba is a key vegetable production community where a government irrigation facility supports vegetable production all year round. Farmers who have fields at the irrigation site constitute a farmerbased organisation registered as a water users' association. Women constitute about 13% of the membership of the FBO at Tuba. In the build-up of AICCRA Ghana's engagement with the community, leaders and some members of the FBO met with the AICCRA team to discuss the project. In the first sets of meetings, no woman farmer attended the meeting. (see plate below)It later become evident that women were not occupying leadership position in the FBO nor the five sub-groups (called task force) set up in the bigger FBO. As a predominantly Muslim community, men were expected to lead and take strategic decisions while women remain followers. This is a norm that the women themselves have internalised and thus, women themselves did not think it was possible nor appropriate for them to take leadership position in the FBO. This meant that women's voices were not heard and their peculiar challenges were not considered in decision making.and youth sensitive technologies can improve the decision-making status of women and youth in households, communities and FBOs.In consonance with Tovennor et al. ( 2019), Huyer et al. (2021), there exist a potential for women's and youth's enhanced participation in decision making, access and used of productive resources including CSA-CIS technologies, access to appropriate financing mechanism, reduction of workloads and collective action through group participation to contribute to building their climate resilience..To foster a socially inclusive CSA-CIS-One-health intervention and technology, AICCRA Ghana adopts a strategy that builds the capacities of farmers especially women and youth to access these technologies. Since gender and generational gaps are rooted in norms and customs, AICCRA Ghana also sees transformational dialogues as a key complement to capacity building and access improvement. AICCRA Ghana therefore, combines gender-sensitive and transformative approaches to pursue social inclusion.Capacitation and transformative dialogues at different levels and scales is of strategic importance (see fig 2). For AICCRA Ghana partners and collaborators, there is the need for capacity building on awareness of gender and generational gaps and on strategies for addressing women and youth needs in intervention communities. In these intervention communities, partners and collaborators then build the capacities of farmers, households, FBOs and VSLAs with improve access to AICCRA CSA-CIS-One-health technologies and credit, as well as opportunities for women and youth in priority value chains. Being GSI responsive requires both mainstreaming GSI into all activities from technology identification to delivery of these technologies, and to further customise these technologies and their delivery to the needs of women and youth.Since culture and societal norms although fluid, are often used as a justification to social relations that perpetuate inequality (Bryan et al., 2016), AICCRA interventions can make can make a lot of difference when accompanied by dialogues aimed at transforming these norms. Thus, for AICCRA Ghana, this requires dialogues among partners and collaborators on being intentional about integrating gender and youth responsive strategies in our activities and reflecting on the ways we engage and interact with communities that reinforces gender and generational inequalities. Partners and collaborators then can initiate transformative dialogues with community members (FBOs, VSLAs) on existing social structures that create inequalities in resource access and to reflect with them on context appropriate actions to take to transform these structures.To monitor progress and learn from and with the intervention communities, AICCRA Ghana will start collecting success and challenging stories early in the programme. Table 2 presents a summary of activities targeted at GSI for AICCRA Ghana.Table 2: GSI activities for AICCRA Ghana.Mainstream GSI into products and decision support tools 1. GSI dialogue with national partners and collaborators 2. GSI integrated into the CSA/CIS/One-health technology prioritisation, sustainable finance models, Ag-data hub.Mainstream GSI into dissemination strategies and approaches 1. Dialogue with collaborators and end users on GSI sensitive approaches and dissemination approaches 3. At least 40% of women and youth in capacity building programmes Customise programmes for women and youth 1.Customise AICCRA products including priority crop selection, prioritisation of technologies, and credit to women and youth needs.2. Customise dissemination approaches to women and youth needs.2. Work with females in partner and collaborating institutions and extension services.Create safe space for incremental change in gender and generational norms 1. Initiate partner and collaborator dialogues on taken for granted organisational norms.2. Initiate community conversations on femininities and masculinities, and seniorities and juniorities.Monitor the progress of GSI in AICCRA Ghana for evaluation and learning 1. Train partners and collaborators to monitor GSI progress 2. Document success stories and challenges of community conversations for continues learningGender and generational gaps are high all facets of agriculture in Ghana and influence the type and sources of CSA-CIS practices.AICCRA-Ghana has identified intermediaries to reduce barriers to CSA-CIS practice uptake and utilization in Ghana. This therefore calls for a discussion on the gender-based differences that hinders CIS-CSA practice uptake and utilization. Intersectionality is key towards participation and taking front role in technology uptake and utilization. Financing has always driven women and youth access to CIS-CSA practices among smallholder farmers and the current VSLA setup among the various FBOs and community groups cannot achieve the required output level and hence the need to facilitate formalizing and institutionalizing these groups.","tokenCount":"6861"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/0992778434.json b/data/part_1/0992778434.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f262752fda3dd27b6383b2e498e4d5a0440db5e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/0992778434.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a49da1660e9f2e5800feada2b669ea1c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8e33a07c-51c6-4520-8d97-f98705118eca/content","id":"1829256273"},"keywords":["Grain yield","Tropical maize (Zea mays L.)","Optimal conditions"],"sieverID":"81a7d771-9697-48e4-875e-20f1085cc043","pagecount":"9","content":"Twenty four newly developed maize hybrids along with three commercial checks were evaluated for their yield performance at three locations under heat stress and optimal conditions. Pooled analysis of variance revealed significant differences among hybrids for grain yield. Mean sum of squares due to environments and linear component of environments were significant for all the traits studied. Whereas, mean sum of squares due to hybrids × environment interactions and linear component of hybrids × environment interaction were significant only for grain yield indicating the diversity among the selected environments. Based on the stability parameters, the hybrids, VL 107 × VL128 (0.Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal crops in the world and India next to wheat and rice and is known as queen of cereals because of its high yield potential among the cereals. Maize is grown in an area of 8.69 m ha with a production of 21.80 m t and an average productivity 2.51 t ha -1 in India. Karnataka is the one of important maize growing state in the country having a total area of 1.18 m ha with a production of 3.27 m t and an average productivity of 2.77 t ha -1 (Anonymous, 2016).Maize grain is used mainly as feed for poultry, swine and fish (52 percent) and for cattle about 11 percent. About 23 percent used as a food and about 13 percent as an industrial raw material (Yadav et al., 2014). In addition to staple food for human being and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material as an ingredient to thousands of industrial products that includes starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, film, textile, gum, package and paper industries etc.Though maize is called queen of cereals, yet it encounters both abiotic and biotic stresses during its cultivation. Further, maize production and productivity are prone to rapid and constant changes due to global warming related environmental changes (Porter, 2005;Wahid et al., 2007). Heat stress is often defined as the rise in temperature beyond a threshold level for a period of time sufficient to cause irreversible damage to plant growth and development (Wahid et al., 2007). Heat stress for maize crop can be defined as temperature beyond a threshold level (Max temperature > 35 0 C and minimum temperature > 23 o C). Rise in temperature by one degree each day above 30 o C was seen to lower final yield of maize in optimum and drought conditions by 1 % and 1.7 %, respectively (Lobell et al., 2011). Further, increase in air temperature by 4-5° C during the kernel development leads to 73 per cent decrease in kernel number per ear (Carcova and Otegui, 2001).The main effects of progressive heat stress on maize production are associated with reduced growth duration, reduced light interception and reproductive failure. The reproductive phase is the most sensitive growth stage to heat stress. High temperatures during flowering reduce the quantity and viability of pollen produced resulting in reduced fertilization of ovules, thereby reducing the sink capacity (Lobell et al., 2011). Kiniry and Ritchie (1985) reported high temperature could also cause kernel abortion, especially 10 days after pollination, as abortion commences early in kernel development before 12 days after pollination, at about the same period normal kernels undergo endosperm cell division and kernel enlargement begins. Cairns et al., (2013) reported that rise in temperature by 2 o C would lower maize yield by 13 % while, a 20 % variation in intraseasonal rainfall would lower maize yields by 4.2 % only.Development of maize hybrids with stable performance in diverse environments is a challenge and there is a need to develop / identify hybrids that perform stably under various environmental conditions including heat stress. However, there are limited breeding efforts on heat stress tolerance in tropical maize in India especially, on stability of hybrids under heat stress and optimal conditions. Angadi (2014) identified four inbreds and five hybrids tolerant to heat stress. Krishnaji et al., (2017) and Dinesh et al., (2016) reported non-additive gene action for various traits under heat stress conditions. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out with the objective of identifying stable maize hybrids under heat stress and optimal conditions.The experimental material consisted of 24 single cross hybrids developed by crossing eight inbreds as females and three testers as males (Table 1) in NCD-II design and three checks viz., 31Y45, D2244 and DKC 9108. The parents were selected based on their performance under heat stress and were either tolerant or moderately tolerant to heat stress. The hybrids were evaluated in alpha lattice design with two replications. Each hybrids was sown in two rows with a row length of 3 meters and spacing of 60 cm x 20 cm at three locations viz., Agriculture College Faram, Bheemarayanagudi, Karnataka (16° 44' N latitude, 76° 47' E longitude and altitude of 458 m above mean sea level), CIMMYT (Asia), ICRISAT campus, Hyderabad, Telengana (17° 53' N latitude, 78° 27' E longitude and altitude of 545 m above mean sea level) and Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar (25° 15' N latitude, 87° 2' E longitude and altitude of 46 m above mean sea level). At Bheemarayanagudi and Hyderabad, the experiments were conducted during summer (March-June) 2016. Whereas, at Sabour, Bhagalpur, the experiment was sown during early spring (February -June) and the crop did not experience any stress (and considered optimal conditions). Recommended agronomic practices were followed for raising a good and healthy crop at all the locations. The observation were recorded on following characters viz., days to 50 % anthesis, days to 50 % silking, anthesis to silking interval, plant height and cob height on five randomly selected plants from each entry from the two replications.While and grain yield was recorded on plot basis and expressed in t ha -1 . The weather parameters recorded at Bheemarayanagudi and Hyderabad indicated that the experiments were under heat stress as the T max and T min recorded were above the values prescribed for the optimal growth of maize (Table 2). The stability parameters for grain yield and its component traits were worked out as suggested by Eberhart and Russell (1966) by using WINDOWSTAT 9.2 software.In any breeding programme, it is necessary to screen and identify phenotypically stable hybrids, which could perform more or less uniformly under different environmental conditions. Considering this fact in mind, the present investigation was carried out to identify stable maize hybrids under heat stress and optimal environmental conditions. Pooled analysis of variance (Table 3) revealed significant differences among hybrids for grain yield. Mean sum of squares due to environments and linear component of environments were significant for all the traits studied. Similarly, Adu et al., (2013) reported significant genotype and environment effects for grain yield in maize under heat stress. The mean sum of squares due to hybrids × environment interactions and linear component of hybrids × environment interaction was significant only for grain yield indicating the diversity among the selected environments for the present investigation. Earlier, Hassan and Badreldin (1995) reported significant cultivar × environment interaction for grains/ear, grain weight and yield and significant environment (linear) effect was for all characters. Abera et al., (2004) reported significant year × location effects for all the traits using different stability models. Significant differences for grain yield, days to silking, days to anthesis and anthesis-silking interval were reported by Kamutando et al., (2013) among genotypes, environments and genotype × environment interactions (GEI).The magnitude of non-linear component (pooled deviation) was greater than the linear component (hybrid × environment interaction) thus, indicating the difficulty in predicting the actual performance of genotypes across the environments for selected traits under heat stress and optimal conditions. Hence, prediction of performance of hybrids based on stability parameters would be feasible and reliable. Eberhart and Russell (1966) defined stability as the ability of a hybrid to show a minimum interaction with the environment in which it is being grown. Stability of hybrids is often interlinked with significant hybrid × environment interaction. A hybrid is considered to be more adaptive / stable one, if it has high mean yield but a low degree of fluctuation in yielding ability when grown over diverse environments. A stable hybrid is one which has above average mean yield, a regression coefficient of unity (bi = 1) and non-significant mean square for deviations from regression (S 2 di = 0). High value of regression (bi > 1) indicates that the hybrid is more responsive for input rich environment, while, low regression value (bi < 1) is an indication of a hybrid adapted to poor environment. The phenotypic stability of hybrids was estimated by mean performance over locations, the regression coefficient (bi) and deviation from regression. Based on stability parameters, the hybrids viz., VL 107 × VL 128 (0.97) and VL 062609 × VL 1033 (1.05) exhibited regression value nearer to unity and non-significant deviation from regression, indicating their higher stability and wider adaptability across the environments for days to 50 % anthesis, but with respect to the mean performance, these hybrids recorded little longer duration (data not shown). Earlier, Selvarajeswari (2016) also reported stable hybrids for days to 50 per cent taselling across locations in maize.     4).These hybrids recorded regression value of 0.93 and 1.08, respectively, and nonsignificant deviation from regression, indicating their stability and wider adaptability across the environments.The hybrid, VL 1110175 × VL 1032 was identified as a stable hybrid across environments as it recorded mean value of 59.33 cm for cob height under heat stress and optimal environmental conditions and regression value nearer to unity and nonsignificant deviation from regression (Table 5). On the same account, the hybrid VL 107 ×VL 1033 was identified as a stable for grain yield. Syed et al., (2011); Balestre et al., (2009); Banik et al., (2010) reported stable maize cultivars across environments for grain yield.From the present investigation, the hybrids, VL 1011 × VL 1033 and VL 1011 × VL 1032 and VL 107 ×VL 1033 were identified as stable for anthesis silking interval and for grain yield, respectively.These hybrids need to be re-tested under various environments including heat stress conditions before their commercialization.","tokenCount":"1690"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1000720994.json b/data/part_1/1000720994.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aca1d9dd7cf21c0272869b677823920621c26e12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1000720994.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3506626fdacc00acc1a61657aa6cc69d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/39cb53bd-eec7-4c28-8701-de2b8e9dc3c7/retrieve","id":"1331813932"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6a73f055-b3ed-4cb0-b7cd-bef044514c50","pagecount":"13","content":"A small group met for three days with the aim of developing a simple tool for characterizing the smallholder feeding system in different environments. The vision was to produce something that would be useful for development agencies to diagnose feed issues and provide guidance for potential interventions. With this in mind, the group included participants from the NGO sector (BAIF and Himothan) to maintain the focus of the researchers making up the rest of the group, on producing something practical.On Day 1 the workshop started with a series of presentations from India, Vietnam and Ethiopia outlining what different participants had been doing so far on feed resource assessment. Presentations showed the breadth of approaches including formal surveys, expert knowledge tools, PRA approaches, informal consultations with farming communities and national scale assessments based on secondary data.The next phase of the workshop involved an extended discussion on what the purpose of the tool would be and what its main elements would be. It was agreed that to be useful, the tool should identify the nature of the major feed constraints in a given system and provide guidance on intervention strategies. Such interventions would be primarily technical but could include organizational or market intervention possibilities. The main elements of the tool which emerged from discussion were:-Areas of different crops grown per year -Alternative livelihood strategies; alternatives to livestock? -Quantification of major feed resources -Animal holdings -Purchase and sale of feeds -Labour -Number of people involved -Hired labour -Seasonality -when is labour limiting? -Is labour important for feed resources? -Economics -Seasonality of some of the above -Wealth classification On Day 2, we split into two groups to devise a methodology for data collection. The first group, led by Werner Stur, devised a PRA-type methodology focusing in on feed issues. The second group, led by Alan Duncan, refined a quick survey tool designed to provide some simple indices of the nutritional status of a livestock enterprise at farm level. Both groups were charged with developing a method to guide intervention strategies.In the afternoon, participants traveled to Kothapally to conduct field work. We met with around 8-10 farmers. The PRA group conducted a discussion with around 6 farmers and a key informant from Reliance (milk procurement company) while the Quick Survey group interviewed 3 farmers.On Day 3, the morning was spent analyzing and presenting the results of the field work. The presentation from the PRA group demonstrated that such approaches can generate a picture of the farming system and some of the key constraints very rapidly. The main intervention strategy suggested by this approach was a change to the species of green fodder used by farmers to deal with the issue of erratic irrigation supply during the dry season. The Quick Survey presentation highlighted some of the challenges of estimating feed supply at farm level with sufficient precision to come up with meaningful indices of nutrient use for livestock at farm level but did show that such approaches were possible and could be a useful complement to PRA approaches by providing some objective assessment of nutritional constraints. Both methods highlighted the large farm-to-farm variation in feeding practices, possibly a reflection of the fact that commercial milk production is relatively new in this system and that optimal feeding strategies have yet to emerge.On the final afternoon, we reflected on the field exercise and agreed that a tool which combined a feed-focused PRA with a more detailed but rapid quantitative survey of selected households could form the basis for a useful Feed Assessment Tool (Box 1).During the final session a series of next steps were agreed:Aim: to discuss ideas for developing a simple tool for characterizing the small holder feeding system in different environments.1. To allow comparison of the feed situation in the different study sites in FAP and beyond 2. To act as FAP output to be used beyond the project by interested parties e.g.NGOs seeking to develop intervention strategiesDr Alan welcomed the participants and invited all participants for self introduction and their respective affiliation and responsibilities. Alan then made brief introduction of the work shop with what is expected at the end and asked if there are other expectations by the participants from the work shop. Accordingly the following additional points were suggested by the participants:• Tools may not be 100% uniform as the they will serve variable situations • Tools have to include elements which suggest mitigation options rather than only assessment tools • The term \"small holder\" should be defined clearly • Tools should be participatory instead of being just simple survey • Nutritional values of different feeds should be considered when quantifying feeds • Tools should also address the different community land use system (plains, forest areas)Main points discussed on each presentation:1. Feed Resource Assessment by FAP in Vietnam -Werner Stur• Three approaches used to assess feed resources: Seasonality mapping of the feed resources, Participatory discussions, sample measurement of the feed resources • HHs of homogenous groups of gender and wealth categories were included in the assessment exercise • There are two farmer groups: Cattle fattening group who use planted fodder and cow calf producers group who use native grass • Farmers are asked when is the season for optimum feed supply and draw times of excess/scarcity and mention reasons for excess/scarcity • Feed supply may be calculated as %age demand, but farmers may perceive maintenance quantity as 100% demand?• Quantifying feed resources based on farmers information is difficult as the measurements are not uniform and inconsistent • Designed quick survey tool which includes various elements to be done at hh level Group 2• Designed a PRA tool which includes various elements to be done with 5 hh members specialized in dairy (crop-livestock system). The tool contains: questions on major crops, livestock holdings, family labor, feeding practices, out put markets, any problem with livestock production and possible reasons, current livestock productivity, seasonality of feed availability, etcThe team traveled to Kothapally Participatory Farmers Integrated Watershed Management at Adarsha (about 30 km away from ICRISAT). The team met about eight farmers at the site and made brief introduction of the team and the purpose of the visit by Mr Anandan. The team and the farmers split into two groups to test the PRA and the quick survey tools respectively. The testing was followed by visits to individual farms per group) to verify the information generated at the farm. The team returned in the evening after successfully accomplishing the intended duty with farmers who participated with enthusiasm and full interest.Each group collated and made analysis of the information it collected from the village and made presentations Lessons from the overall activities:• Conclusions based on sole farmers estimated quantification of feed production and feed offered to livestock may be a problem and as such elements of the tool should include diverse methodologies like PRA, Quantitative quick survey and some measurements • Characterizing the livestock outputs and then consider what is fed to know where the gap is • Can the tool be used by anybody even in the absence of us being there?• Pilot the tool in multiple locations before it is implemented • Farmers feeding practice is not consistent and it is rather adaptive • Expert knowledge seems to me more of a guess • Calculations of feed offered to livestock based on the farmers' info of daily feeding practice or from harvest index? Is still ambiguous? Figures differ with the different approaches. • Farmers estimates of livestock output is also not consistentWhere does this lead us?• Larger sample size instead of few to validate the information • Make simple questions to get clearer info • Info on daily feeding practices may not work so let's check the accuracy of it with an approach of estimating it from harvest index • Bring together elements from different questionnaires used so far and pull important elements together Dr Alan asked the participants to express their feelings of the work shop and the participants unanimously expressed that it was a very good lesson which revealed that simple is beautiful but not easy. All hoped that we will come up with something workable across locations. Alan then closed the meeting at 5:00 pm by thanking all for the active participation and their invaluable contributions to developing the tool. ","tokenCount":"1378"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1016822667.json b/data/part_1/1016822667.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..95454da4f226476dd2fd49fb1b7209ef652e8926
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1016822667.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"33f227e6b8bf77971398489c1d84c821","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c391909f-7ebe-4346-aaac-0a2615d0c396/retrieve","id":"1417021619"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"10c91480-86ff-40e0-a78b-964a6ca41e1b","pagecount":"4","content":"This document presents an overview of some of the key contributions to the growing literature on Multistakeholder Platforms (MSPs). It was prepared to support CGIAR Initiatives in their ongoing efforts to build and strengthen MSPs. While this was created particularly as part of NEXUS Gains, Mitigate+ and Agroecology Initiatives, it is also of relevance to others who are working with MSPs.Common to all three initiatives is their focus on using Multistakeholder Platforms for supporting collective action for more inclusive, sustainable and effective governance of linked social environmental systems. All three initiatives emphasize that in order for researchers to achieve the expected system-level outcomes -such as more sustainable land-use practices, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and new innovations in Agroecology -it is necessary for researchers to engage multiple stakeholders in a process of collaboration. Multistakeholder platforms represent a structured effort to create and sustain such a collaborative process.Multi-stakeholder partnerships are \"purposefully organized interactive processes that bring together stakeholders to participate in dialogue, decision-making and/or implementation regarding actions seeking to address a problem they hold in common or to achieve a goal for their common benefit\" (Sarmiento Barletti et al, 2020: 2). MSPs tend to involve a variety of organizations from different societal sectors, with different missions, resources, influence, interests, and capacities. Because of such heterogeneities, MSPs can be difficult to organize into functional and productive groups. The purpose of this document is to identify resources that can help inform CGIAR initiatives to create and manage MSP processes successfully.The overview organizes the contributions to the MSP literature into three thematic sections:1. Conceptual and analytical frameworks for understanding MSPs 2. Empirical studies explaining variable success in MSPs 3. Practical guidelines for organizing and designing effective MSPs Each of the subsequent sections identifies and discusses several key studies.The papers in this category discuss different approaches to multistakeholder platforms, forums and partnerships, how the variation in conceptualization may affect how these are organized, and what they produce in terms of outcomes. The significance of this work is that it helps to build a common language and deeper understanding of the concept and what one might expect from the different approaches to organizing MSPs. For example, Sarmiento Barletti et al (2021a) proposes that MSPs can be used as either \"event\" or \"method\". Method is more of a process that brings stakeholders together. For this to work, power differentials must be explicitly addressed through an MSF strategy. Similarly, Vayaliparampil et al (2021) argues that one common problem in MSPs is that stakeholders differ in their ability to frame and enforce collaborative agreements and the MSP design need to take such variability into account. Sarmiento Barletti et al (2021b)  There is an increasing number of empirical studies that seek to explain why some MSPs are more successful than others. Most of these rely on inductive research designs that seek to identify common patterns associated with qualitative descriptions of existing (relatively successful) MSP efforts (e.g. Ratner et al 2022, Sarmiento et al 2020, Thiele et al 2011). Few use quantitative analysis to test which particular factors are associated with success, possibly because it is difficult to find a large number of comparable MSPs to analyze (but see MacDonald et al 2019, Badibanga et al 2013;Pattberg et al 2012). None of the identified studies appear to study the factors that lead to MSPs failure or disappearance. These studies are useful for the CGIAR initiatives in that they provide the evidence base for developing more practical guides on how to organize and conduct MSPs in productive ways. These studies also exemplify the need for caution in making generalizations about the key factors for orchestrating MSP success, because in all of these studies there are questions about the research designs and the extent to which it is methodologically appropriate to make causal inferences based on the patterns observed. This is perhaps the most useful resources for the purposes of this assignment and the three CGIAR initiatives, but one should be careful in generalizing these practices too much because we know that the sociopolitical context varies from one setting to the next. In addition, and as noted above, the empirical evidence base is rather sparse, making it exceedingly difficult to develop manuals and recommended strategies that are known to work. Some of the most recent resources acknowledge the need to address power asymmetries, but not all offer advice on how researchers and facilitators may go about addressing power differentials effectively in different contexts. There are two manuals/handbooks that seem particularly relevant for the CGIAR initiatives that work at and across multiple scales: ","tokenCount":"758"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1018363430.json b/data/part_1/1018363430.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2a94d4b20c3a7534b33ce21bc09a0d8e1a6e0e7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1018363430.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"69ae50084df93a22e096b4f10c263a22","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d419f246-306c-479d-aa7a-b9a18a1180f6/retrieve","id":"-1204949785"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"268fe138-3d22-48d6-9fbf-03d8e9bb7d00","pagecount":"5","content":"El interés por entender las desigualdades entre hombres y mujeres rurales, y en particular, los obstáculos y limitaciones que las mujeres enfrentan para tener una mayor inclusión en el sector agrícola, ha despertado la necesidad de construir indicadores de empoderamiento que permitan identificar acciones dirigidas a lograr la equidad de género.El Índice abreviado de empoderamiento de las mujeres en la agricultura (A-WEAI) es un indicador, creado por el Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI), que mide el grado de participación de mujeres y hombres en el sector agrícola en cinco dominios: 1) en decisiones de producción agrícola, 2) acceso y poder de decisión sobre los recursos productivos, 3) control sobre el uso de los ingresos, 4) liderazgo en la comunidad y 5) uso del tiempo.Esta nota informativa aplica el A-WEAI a una muestra de hogares agrícolas guatemaltecos y muestra cómo se puede usar este índice en este contexto, para analizar el grado en que las mujeres y los hombres tienen poder en sus hogares y el grado de desigualdad entre las mujeres y hombres dentro del mismo hogar. Esta aplicación se enmarca dentro del proyecto \"Él y ella, tiempo e ingresos: dinámicas intra-hogar e impacto sobre la nutrición de hogares agrícolas\", dirigido por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y la Universidad de Florida 1 con fondos de la iniciativa de investigación competitiva para desarrollar métodos y métricas innovadores para las acciones de agricultura y nutrición (IMMANA). 2El A-WEAI se compone de dos subíndices: los cinco dominios de empoderamiento (5DE) y el índice de paridad de género (GPI). El primero refleja el porcentaje de mujeres u hombres que están empoderados en los cinco dominios (ver Tabla 1), y para aquellos que no están empoderados, refleja los indicadores y/o dominios en los que están empoderados. Una persona se define como empoderada en 5DE si está adecuada en cuatro de los cinco dominios o si ha alcanzado la adecuación en el 80 por ciento o más de los indicadores en total. 3   Por un lado, el uso del 5DE ayuda a revelar conexiones entre diferentes áreas de desempoderamiento e informar 1 Más información del proyecto puede ser consultada en https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/BP23OB 2 IMMANA es financiado por el Departamento para el Desarrollo Internacional del Reino Unido (DFID). a los tomadores de decisiones sobre los aspectos en los que deben enfocarse, para mejorar la situación de mujeres u hombres; ya sea aumentando el porcentaje de individuos empoderados o asegurándose de que los desempoderados tengan adecuaciones o estén empoderados en un mayor porcentaje de dominios. Por otro lado, el GPI mide la igualdad de género dentro de los hogares encuestados. Específicamente, muestra el porcentaje de mujeres que han logrado la igualdad de género dentro de sus hogares; en otras palabras, donde los puntajes de empoderamiento de las mujeres son iguales o mayores que los de los hombres en el hogar. Para aquellas mujeres que no han logrado la igualdad de género, el GPI también muestra el porcentaje del déficit que experimenta en relación con el hombre en su hogar, es decir, la brecha de empoderamiento que debe cerrarse para que las mujeres alcancen la igualdad (Alkire, et al., 2012).El puntaje total del A-WEAI varía de cero a uno, donde valores más altos indican un mayor empoderamiento. Se calcula como una suma ponderada de 5DE y GPI. El primero tiene un peso del 90%, mientras que el GPI tiene el 10% restante. Aunque estos pesos son arbitrarios y reflejan el énfasis en el Índice de los Cinco Dominios del Empoderamiento, también consideran la igualdad de género como un determinante del poder (Alkire, et al. 2012).\uD835\uDC34 − \uD835\uDC4A\uD835\uDC38\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC3C = (0.9)5\uD835\uDC37\uD835\uDC38 + (0.1)\uD835\uDC3A\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC3C Para estimar el A-WEAI es necesario tener la información presentada en la Tabla 1 desagregada por sexo en el mismo hogar. Por lo tanto, es preferible entrevistar a hogares donde haya una pareja conformada por un hombre y mujer encargados de tomar las decisiones sociales, económicas y agrícolas, 4 y constituida por un hombre y una mujer.En este estudio, entrevistamos a 500 personas, que viven en 250 hogares con parejas que toman decisiones. La muestra se distribuye por igual en dos regiones de Guatemala: un sitio en el este, donde la población es principalmente mestiza, y un sitio en el oeste donde hay una fuerte influencia indígena.Además, nuestros hogares son, en su mayoría, pequeños productores de café y beneficiarios del proyecto Agricultura, Suelo y Agua (ASA) implementado por Catholic Relief Services (CRS).El puntaje de nuestra muestra en el Índice de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en la Agricultura sugiere que no hay diferencias significativas entre las regiones. En general, el A-WEAI está cerca de 0.91. Sin embargo, aproximadamente el 32.9 por ciento de las mujeres están desempoderadas en al menos uno de los seis indicadores y, en promedio, las mujeres desempoderadas tienen logros inadecuados en el 30.4 por ciento de los dominios. Por lo tanto, el índice de desempoderamiento de las mujeres es 0.10 (32.9% x 30.4%). Este análisis también se puede presentar en términos de empoderamiento tomando la contrapartida positiva de estos números, la incidencia de empoderamiento es 0.67 (100% -32.9%) y el puntaje promedio de suficiencia es 0.70 (100% -30.4%).En el caso de los hombres, aunque el indicador de los cinco dominios sugiere que están empoderados (0.96), hay un número significativo de hombres en nuestra muestra que no están empoderados (13.4%). Además, estos hombres tienen logros inadecuados en el 30.7 por ciento de los dominios. Este es el puntaje promedio de insuficiencia.Incidencia Como se ve en la Figura 1, el indicador que más contribuye al desempoderamiento de las mujeres es pertenencia a grupos con un aporte del 50% al nivel total de desempoderamiento. Seguido por los indicadores de propiedad de activos y acceso y decisiones sobre crédito con un aporte del 22.2% y 19.4% respectivamente. Figura 1. Contribución de cada indicador en el desempoderamiento de las mujeres.En el caso de los hombres, las limitaciones para el empoderamiento coinciden con las de las mujeres en el dominio del liderazgo y en el indicador de acceso y decisiones sobre el crédito. La Figura 2 muestra que la mayor contribución al nivel total de desempoderamiento la hace el indicador de pertenencia a grupos, seguido por carga de trabajo y acceso y decisiones sobre crédito con una contribución del 41.4%, 35.5% y 16.4% respectivamente.Figura 2. Contribución de cada indicador en el desempoderamiento de los hombres.La configuración de las dificultades de hombres y mujeres en este estudio son similares, pero las mujeres en general tienen menos empoderamiento que los hombres en la mayoría de los indicadores (ver Figura 3), a excepción del indicador de la fuerza laboral, donde los hombres están significativamente más desempoderados que las mujeres. Finalmente, el GPI muestra que alrededor del 71 por ciento de las mujeres tienen paridad de género con el hombre principal de su hogar. Del 29 por ciento de las mujeres que tienen menos poder que su contraparte masculina, la brecha de empoderamiento es del 13 por ciento. Por lo tanto, el GPI para la población en nuestro estudio es 0.96 (1-(28.6% x 13.3%)).La pertenencia a grupos es una importante de capital social y acceso a redes, que son determinantes del empoderamiento, pero también una fuente importante de información sobre agricultura y otros insumos. Nuestros resultados sugieren que es precisamente este indicador el que tiene la mayor contribución al desempoderamiento de hombres y mujeres.El acceso y las decisiones sobre el crédito es otro dominio importante para empoderar tanto a las mujeres como a los hombres. Las principales razones para no solicitar un préstamo son las altas tasas de interés, la baja capacidad de pago y la ausencia de fuentes de crédito.Las altas tasas de desempoderamiento en la membresía grupal y los créditos sugieren varias cosas: ausencia de grupos de la comunidad, alcance limitado de las instituciones para generar incentivos para que las personas participen en grupos, o sistema de financiamiento de crédito poco atractivo para los productores a pequeña escala.Finalmente, aunque mejorar la propiedad de los activos por parte de las mujeres mejoraría su empoderamiento, hacer lo mismo con los hombres no generaría el mismo efecto, ya que este indicador es uno de los que menos influyen en su desempoderamiento. Esto sugiere que los programas de desarrollo y las intervenciones para la población en nuestro estudio deben adaptarse según el género del beneficiario y tener en cuenta el impacto potencial en la dinámica dentro del hogar. ","tokenCount":"1396"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1045553299.json b/data/part_1/1045553299.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..69f82d63942d3d785cebf9e8f81c1bc06c697720
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1045553299.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"03529de83d8c56ec046b1489c987c1f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_3019.pdf","id":"893319668"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"565a1c06-c821-48a4-907c-6b5de3e63a17","pagecount":"23","content":"This paper examines farmer organizations and property rights which have evolved as institutions in Nepal that enable collective management of water for agricultural production.Exampks from the Hills of NepalThere is a growing literature which examines farmer-managed irrigation systems 2 in a number otcountries and a variety of ecological environments. Studies from the Philippines (Lewis, 1971;Siy, 1982), Indonesia (Geertz, 1980). Thailand (Tan-kim-yong, 19831, Sri Lanka (Leach, l%I), and Peru (Mitchell, 1976) have described a variety of irrigation systems which are managed by farmer groups. This article describes and analyzes the institutions employed by farmers for the management of gravity irrigation systems in the hill region of western Nepal.Water, as one of the essential resources in agricultural production, has several unique characteristics, especially in hill environments.) Individual farmers, acting alone, can seldom acquire water for irrigation. Construction and maintenance of the structures to divert, convey, and distribute water usually require investments beyond the capacity of a single farmer. Surface water rannot be easily stored, certainly not by the individual farmer, in the way that fertilizer can be. It must be used when it is available or it is lost. Fanners generally cannot transport water economically over great distances, and the locations to which it can be conveyed are limited by the topography. One implication of these characteristia is that institutions are needed for the development and operation of irrigation systems. The form and function of these institutions vary depending on the physical, social, and economic environments.Institutions have been defined as \"complexes of norms and behaviors that persist over time by serving collectively valued p u r p e s (Uphoff, 1984).\" Institutions regulate individuals' actions and consist of significant practices and relationships within a society. In some cases, institutions may be formalized in organizations like cooperative., local governments, or banks. Examples of institutions which are not organizations are land tenure systems and customary labor exchange relationships.Institutions of both kinds contribute to production and development processes in several ways. They facilitate the aggregation of resou~ces beyond an individual's capacity and the application of resources to the solution of problems for the benefit of many. They reduce uncertainty by the predictability of behavior that they encourage and enforce in various spheres induding the distribution of benefits from collecfive investments.In this paper we examine institutions that have evolved to enable the collective management of water for agricultural production. One institution is the farmer organization itxlt, an organization which has been vested with legitimacy by the local community? Another important institution is the convention of propetty'tights in water.Property rights include both the principle by which water is allocated among farmers and the responsibilities that individuals have for maintenance of the system. Both institutions, the organization and the convention of property righb, are crucial to the effective management of irrigation systems.Farmer-managed irrigation systems are found in diverse environments and employ a wide range of technologies to exploit different types of water sources for production of a variety of crops. All these irrigation systems, however, require that certain essential tasks be accomplished if the system is to function productively. One set of management activities focuses directly on the wafer. Water must be acquired allocafed. dislribufed, and, if there is excess. drained5 A second set of management activities deals with the physical slruc/ures for controlling the water. These structures must be operated and maintained6 A final set of activities focuses on the organizafion which manages the water and structures and includes decision making, resource mobilizafion, communicafionp and conflicf managemenl (Uphoff, 1986). Figure 1 depicls these three sels of irrigation management activities as a three-dimensional matrix. 'Watcr \"allocation\" and \"distribution\" are olten wcd inlerchangeably in the irrigation literature to describe the delivery of water. However, they sometimes refer to different activities Water allocation is the assignment oi entitlement to walcr from a system, both idenlilying thc fields and farmen with m s s 10 water from the system and the amount and timing 01 the water to bc delivered to each. Wntcr distribution refen to the physical delivery of water to the fields and may or may not conform to the water alloution.6The stmuures must slso k designed and constructed. but thmc arc not usually amsidcred LO k managemnt aclivilim. % k i g n ad construction of the phFicl struciurs certainly have implications lor the management of a system, however. Not all types 01 managemenl pmcticzs arc p i b l e with cvcry h i g n , and both the design and quality of thc construetion may limit the elleclive mdnagcment of a system.There is interaction among the activities of the three sets; for example, the organization must decide how to operule the structures to dirm'bute Ihe water. Not all activities are equally important in each environment, and the farmers' irrigation management institutions will reflect the relative importance of activities in a particular location.In the context of the hills of Nepal, resource mobilizu:ion to muinrairr the syaiem for water ucqyrci.riiion is the primary activity which influences the structure of many of the farmer irrigation organizations. In addition, the institutions of property rights in water and the principle by which water is alloculrd have important implications for the efficiency and equity of the fanner-managed irrigation systems studied in Nepal.In the following discussion, we will describe and analyze two farmcr-rnanaged irrigation systems located in the western hills of Nepal which were studied for 20 months in 1982-83. The discussion will focus on the managemctlt institutions for operating the systems, i.e., 1 ) the organization and the way it accomplishes irrigation activities, particularly resource mobilization, and 2) the principle of water allocation.Irrigation to grow flooded rice in the valleys of the hill region of Nepal has h e n practiced for many centuries. Groups of farmers with adjacent landholdings have worked together to construct brush and stone diversions. They have dug canals to convey water to fields that they have leveled and bundcd for growing irrigated rice. The canals frequently must pass along steep slopes and through rock outcrops. Tunnels a few meters undeqround are used to pass vertical cliffs and rocks. Landslides along the canal and floods which destroy the diversions demand high maintenance inputs to keep the systems operating. In some systems each Farmer receiving water must contribute 20-30 days of labor each year for maintenance.In order for a group of farmers to accomplish the various irrigation management activit.ies, their behavior must be organized. All but one of the 25 systems investigated had explicit organizations with designated rules and roles for carrying out these activities. The degree of formality of the organizations varied considerably among the systems.? The focus of an organization and its structure are determined, in part, by the activities which arc most important. rhe hill environment requires long canals traversing steep, landslide-prone hillsides to bring water from streams subject to flooding during the monsoon season. As a result organization,T are structured to mobilize the resources needed to maintain the intake and canal for acquiring the water.In organizations that must mobilize a large amount of resources, written attendance records, sanctions for missing work, and audited accounts were found. The rules and minutes of meetings tended to focus on iwues surrounding the mobilization of resources, e.g., how much labor and cash members must contribute. the fines for missing work, and circumstances under which one is excused from work. The main functions of the elected officers of the organizations were to organize and supervise the maintenance work on the system, keep accurate records of members' contributions, and enforce sanctions for failure to contribute as required. The formality of organizational structure was found to be, to a large degree, a.€unction of how much labor must be mobilized to maintain the system. If little labor is required, the organization tends to be less formal and vice versa8The two systems to be discussed are both on river terraces (lars) 100-200 meters above the Kali Gandaki River at an elevation of about 650 meters. Argali is in Argali Village Panchayat and Chherlung is in Baugha Gumha Village Panchayat? both located in Palpa District between Ridi Bazaar and Ranighat (see Map in 'This conclusion is examined and supponed by statistical analysis in Manin (1986).  In Argali there are four irrigation systems, each consisting of an intake on the Kurung Kliola (stream) and a canal which conveys water to a Command area on the Argali river terrace. The four systems range in area irrigated during the monsoon season from about I 1 to 47 hectares and in membership from 28 to 159 households. Since there is little difference in the four organizations, we will limit the discussion to the largest system, the Raj Kulo (Royal Canal).Three systems irrigate the land in Chherlung. The smallest system serves less than 10 hectares and is supplied with water by a spring near the command area. Little labor is requ'ired to operate this system, and it has an informal organization.The other two systems have intakes on the Brangdhi Khola. They are called the Thnlo Kulo (large canal) and Tallo Kulo (lower canal) systems and irrigate 35 and 17 hectares of rice, respectively, in Chherlung. The Thulo Kulo has 105 members and the Tallo Kuio, 60 members. They employ a principle of water allocation which is distinctively different from that used in Argali. Because the Thulo and Tallo Kulo organizations and their historical development are similar, we will focus on the Thulo Kulo system and compare it with the Kaj Kulo of Argali.In both sites the soils are well-drained with high percolation rates. Measurement of the rate of water subsidenke in selected rice paddies yielded estimates of the seepage and percolation (S&P) rate which increased over the season from about 10 to 80 millimeters/day in fields which were continuously saturated and from 10 to 160 millimeters/ day in fields which cracked due to drying during rotational water distribution (Yoder, 1986).'O Consequently, water application rates for rice cultivation are extremely high. The average over the monsoon season when rice was cultivated ranged from 4 to 7 liters/second/hectare depending upon the water supply available and the water distribution method.]' While the top soil layer has a relatively high clay content, it is not deep. The depth of the puddled layer is controlled by the depth of plowing which averages only 75 millimeters. The sub-soil layer is porous, and the water table on the river terrdcs is far helow the surface. The shallow puddled layer, nature of the subsoil, and deep water table contribute to the high percolation rate.Farm sizes are small in both villages. The average size of irrigated landholding (kher)I2 per household in both systems is about 0.3 hectares. Agriculture is extremely intensive in both locations, which is made possible by effective irrigation systems. Farmers in both systems have developed the same cropping p a k m on their irrigated fields. Most farmers grow three crops: monsoon rice, winter wheat, and premonsoon maize. Several farmers in Argali planted rice on some of their land in the'pre-monmn season. In Chherlung, however, the water supply is so limited in the pre-monsoon season that if rice were grown, only one-third of the area could be cultivated, leaving the remainder fallow. In order to provide equitable irrigation benefits among the members in Chherlung, water is allocated on a priority basis for maize. Since maize is a less water-intensive crop than rice, all of the hydraulic command area can grow irrigated maize. Total grain production per year from a hectare of land in each system averaged approximately 6 tons. Table 1 presentsthe results of crop cuts that were taken in the two systems.Figure 3 shows the crop calendar that was observed in Argali in 1982/83. The calendar for Chherlung was virtnally identical to that of Argali. Whereas during the monsoon season all of the khet is used for growing rice, in the winter season some fanners grow potatoes, cabbage, or other vegetables in place of wheat on some of the area.In the pre-monsoon season maize is grown on most of the khet with a lentil crop, usually cowpeas, intercropped with the maize as a vegetable, fodder, or green manure.13 A few farmers with larger holdings leave part of their khet fallow in the winter and plant a longer-season, higher-yielding maize variety before the time of wheat harvest.   In both villages traditional varieties of rice are grown in the monsoon season. However, management-responsive varieties of wheat and maize have been adopted by most of the farmers. The farmers in Argali who cultivated pre-monsoon rice planted H managetnent-responsive variety.Many of the farmers also have some upland fields (bari). These may or may not he irrigated during the wheat and maize seasons depending on their location relative to the canal. If the bari is irrigated, farmers usually plant winter wheat followed by a long-season maize variety which is not harvested until near the end of the monsoon in September. Most households plant potatoes and vegetables for household consumption on part of their irrigated ban during the winter wheat season. A legume is intercropped with the maize and harvested for household consumption and animal fdder. After the maize is harvested, mustard may be planted, but this is not irrigated. A long-season variety of maize is the common crop planted on unirrigated bari in both villages.Oral tradition in Argali states that the Raj Kulo was initialed by Mani Makunda Sen, the tint Sen rajah of Palpa. This would make it over 300 years old. It was originally constructed to irrigate land to support a temple which he had built on the bank of the Kali Gandaki River at Rid!. Part of the production from a small section of the present command area is still given to the temple. Since the original construction took place so long ago, nothing is known of how resources were mobilized and work wried out.Much more is known about the history of the Thulo Kulo in Chherlung because construction began in 1928.Men who worked on it in their youth are still farming land which it irrigates and remember some of the details of the original construction. Two individuals, a Brahmin and a Chhetd4, are credited with initiating and organizing the construction and contributing the bu!k of the initial resources needed to dig the canal. An additional 25 households provided some support, but other families in the community doubted the feasibility of delivering water from an intake more than six kilometers away by means of a canal which had to be cut through dense jungle, hard rock, and along the face of sheer cliffs.To build the canal a contract of Rs. 5,000 and ten mmlo muri (about 0.12 hectares) of potential khet land was given to four Agris from the village of Damuk Khanee in Gulmi Districtl5. These four skilled canal builders hired laborers, including people from Chherlung, and each supervised 25-30 workers. Construction was begun in 1928 and continued for 10 months each year. The work was interrupted when people from Tansen, the District Center, arrested several workers on the charge that they were taking wood from the jungle without authorization and burning it to heat and break rocks. Tansen resideat? were also concerned that the canal would leak and ruin &e road to Ranighat, the place where they traditionally cremated their dead. A settlement was reached when tbe Chherlung farmers agreed to repair any damage to the road, received perniission to cut firewood, and were granted the right-of-way for the canal. Water first flowed through the Thulo Kulo to the Chberluug wmmand area in 1932. 16Magaagars are a Tibeta-Burman elhnic woup native to the hills of wmterri Nepal convention regarding water rights required this second canal's intake to be below that of the Thulo Kulo even though its command area was higher. Thus the two canals cross just before they reach the command area. The Same four skilled canal builders who had constructed the Thulo Kulo were given a contract to build the Tallo Kulo.In Chherlung the contractors were retained for an additional four years L o maintain and improve the Thulo Kulo. They did this during the monsoon months and worked to consfruct the Tallo Kulo the rest of the year. The members paid for all of the contract work and in addition contributed labor. Since that time the members have continued to mobilize labor and.cash to make improvements. Gradually the canal has been enlarged to deliver a higher discharge, and the intake structure has been improved. In 1967, cement was used in the system for the first time, and since then short sections of the canal have been lined. The district panchayat made small grants to the organization in 1967, 1975, 1981, and 1983. These were used primarily to purchase cement.It was reported that in the first years only a trickle of irrigation water could be delivered through the Thulo Kulo.Increase in water discharge over the years has allowed the area irrigated to gradually expand, and in parts of the s).tem, farmers can now irrigate their rice by continuous flow. In the early years of the system, it was necessary to distnhte water by rotation to all fields throughout the entire system.Much of the improvement in the Argali Raj Kulo h@s taken place in the past 25 years. I$or to that, most of the land had been hrmed by tenants who were reluctant to invest in improvements to the system because of the insecurity of their enancy Those who farmed irrigated rice land, whether owners or tenants, were members of the irrigation organizqtion and were responsible for operating the system. The organization fined persons who were absent flom wor nd who were caught stealing water. At the end of the year, the money collected in fines was k ' spent for a feast fo v the members rather than used to improve the system.The tenant operators became land owners after passage of the Land Reform Acts in 1957 and 1964, and the practice of spending the fine money on a feast was discontinued. Since then, this money has been invested in improvements in the systcm. The canal has been widened, areas with high seepage have been lined, and skilled labor has been h i r a to cut tunnels through some areas where landslides often damaged the canal.Evidence of the increased water discharge of the canal lies in the report by many of the farmers in Argali that until 10-15 years ago they needed to guard the water to their fields carefully both day and night. This required that one family member sleep by the canal turnout to their field at night. Observation of the water distribution in 1982 clearly showed that in an average rainfall year the water sopply was now adequate for continuous-flow water distribution to all of the fields in the Raj Kulo system for the entire season. It was no longer necessary for Raj Kulo members to guard their water carefully.Rice is the preferred staple food in Argali and Chherlung and is the crop for which irrigation has k e n developed. The technology and organization, i.e., the techniques. rules and conventions, developed by the fanners are primarily for rice cultivation. Membership in the irrigation organization is limi:cd LO those who have the right to water for growing rice in the monsoon season, even though other farmers have access to water from the system in other seasons for other crops. According to local tradition and Nepali law, the first farmer or group of fanners to develop a water source can claim the right, at the point of the diversion from the stream, to all of the water that they need for cultivation (Muluki Ain, 1964).Members of both the Raj Kulo and the Thulo Kulo have a strong feeling of ownership of their irrigation systems. This is a result of their personal investment and the physical danger they faced in developing and operating the many irrigation oreanizations in western Nepal. systems. Accounts i f acadend claiming lives while constructing or maintaining system form a part of the history of Farmers carefully proted their right to a limited resource. Although drainage water from the Raj Kulo is used for cultivating several additional hectares of rice, the owners of these fields are not considered members of the system. They do not needlto contribute to the maintenance of the system nor can they exercise authority by demanding * -8 -water or influencing the timing of water delivery. When the members in systems like the Raj Kulo were questioned about allowing those using drainage water to become members, the answer was universal that since they had not invested in the system they could not become members. Even acquiring access to the canal water for a nonconsuniptive use, such as a water-powered mill, was sometitnes not possible (Scheuer et al., 1980). A frequently expressed fear was that if irrigation access or other uses were allowed, rights would be established to thc water. If rights were established, then in the event of a drought the crops of the original members would be stressed and they would not be able to deny water to the new users.Additional irrigation development from the same stream can usually only take place by other farmer groups constructing their own diversion and canal downstream of the existing intake. The only exception is if the new canal does not diminish the discharge in an existing canal with an intake below it. Many communities have three or four canals from the same stream into a area. the canals can be Seen running parallel along a hillside, separated by only a few meters of elevation but serving distinct a r w within the command. The construction of multiple intakes and canals is often a result of the allocation of rights of access to water by prior appropriation. This principle w a enunciated in the Law on Reclamation of Wasteland in the traditional legal ccdc of Nepal, the Muluki Ain, as follows, \"Water shall not be available for others until the requirements of the person who constructed the irrigation channel at his own cxpense or with his own physical labor are first met\" (Regmi, 1978:244).Water allocation, i.e., the distribution of entitlements to water from an irrigation system, consists of two dimensions. The first dimension, discussed above, distinguishes the farmers or fields which have access to the system's water from those which do not. The second dimension is a quantitative allocation of the water in the system among the farmers or fields which have been granted access to it, i.c., the designation of the quantity and timing of water to which each farmer or field is enritled.The Arxdli Raj Kulo and Chherlung Thulo Kulo organizations have clearly defined both aspects of water allocation. In Argali during the monsoon rice season, only certain designated fields are allocated water. Fields which have no water allocation, but on which irrigation is hydraulically feasible, have no claim on the water resource from the time seedbeds are established for the monsoon rice.crop until the rice is harvested. The amount of water to which each field with an allocation is entitled is defined in terms of its area relative to the total irrigated area. Formerly the unit of area measurement was a manlo muri (about 1/80 of a hectare), and each field's allocation is still referred to as \"SO many muri of water.\" Only those households farming land that has a water allocation for monsoon rice are members of the Raj Kulo organization.The allocation during the winter wheat season and for maize planting is much less strictly defined and limited. Any farmer whose fields are located where they can receive water from the Raj Kulo is entitled to water in exchange for working on the system one day for each water application. The area that is irrigated during the dry season for wheat and maize is nearly double that which is irrigated during the monsoon rice season.Access to water for growing rice in the Chherlung Thulo Kulo system and membership in the organization is limited to households that own at least a fraction of a share in the system. At the completion of the Thulo Kulo construction, the Rs. 5,000 construction contract was divided into 50 shares of Rs. 100 each. Shares in the system were distributed among the 27 contributing households according to the investment each had made and became the basis of the water allocation.Ownership of one sharc entitled a member to 1/50 of the discharge in the system. Several households had contributed enough to receive more shares than they needed to irrigate their fields, while othcr households received less than needed. In addition, many people who had been unwilling to risk investing in the initial construction now wanted access to irrigation. This led to the initiation of buying and selling shares. The ownership of transferable shares was thus established and continues as the method of water allocation in the Chherlung Thulo Kulo. Now there are 105 member households, and the range of share holdings is from one-eighth to four shares. On the average in 1983, a share of water irrigated one-half hectare of rice. The price of a share has increased over the years with transactions taking place in 1985 at the rate of Rs. 10,000 (US$575) per share.17 In the same year the price of I7This is thc COSI of a one-lime purchhase of 8 share, not an annwal or seasonal r e n d charge prime irrigated land was Rs. 40-45,000 (US$2,300-2,600) per ropani.ls In 1985 the cost of water for irrigating rice was about 2 percent of the cost of the best rice land in Chherlung.The price of shares is set by the organization's managing committee and is said to somewhat reflect the total investment in the system. Even though the price of a share has increased tremendously, shares are still denominated according to the original price like the par value of stock, i.e., one share is referred to as Rs. 100 of water even though its current price is Rs. 10,000 Over the years, improvements have been made to the main canal, significantly increasing the total flow in the system.i9 Since a share is a fixed proportion OF the flow and not a specific volume, increasing the discharge in the canal increases the amount of water in a share. A member who initially needed two shares to adequately irrigate his land may at a later time require only one share. The member is therefore allowed lo sell all or part of a share to another farmer who has no water or less than he wan6 for irrigating his land. When a sale takes place, the transaction is recorded by and the water distribution changed to meet the new allocation pattern. This involves changing the size of a notch in a saacho20 if the water is transferred between secondary canals and recalculating the time intervals for rotational distribution. The Thulo Kulo farmers are adept at readjusting the water distribution to match a new allocation of shares.On one occasion (in 1978) a group of farmers in Chherlung with land in an unirrigat.ed area wanted to purchase shares, but no individual was prepared to sell the number of shares they wanted. The Thulo Kulo organization decided that improvements to the diversion weir and canal were necessary before enough water could he delivered to serve an expanded command area. A decision was made by the organization to sell ten additional shares at the rate of Rs. 2,800 (US$233) per share. thereby increasiiig the total number of sharcs in the system from 50 to 60.TheRs. 28,000 received by the organization from the saie was then invested in improvements in thediversion andmain canal to successfully expand the irrigated area by more than 25 percent in one year.Membership in the irrigation organizations in both Argali and Chherlung is hydraulically determined. Even though in both locations there is more than one canal from the same source serving a contiguous command area, each canal has a separate organi7,alioii for its operation. In Argali, the membership of the Raj Kulo irrigation organization consists only of those farmers operating land that receives a water allocation from the Raj Kulo for monsoon rice. All farmers in Chherlung owning shares or a fraction of a share in the Thulo Kulo system are members of the organization.Both organizations have a mukhiyu (leader) and a secretary ivho are elected by the members. The current officers have served for a number of years but could he replaced if members were dissatisfied with their performance. The mukhiya is responsible for organbing and supervising work rlone on the sy5tem. and thc secretary keeps the accounts, ii record of members' water allocation and attendance at work, and minutes of the organization's meetings. As remuneration the number of workers these officers mu! suppi :II-ivaiotenance work, based on their water allocation, is reduced. lfthe number of workers that they would haw to provide is less than the remuneration they are due, the balance is paid to the in cash at the local daily wage rate.Both organizations have a meeting of the members in mid-May. At this meeting plans are made for the major annual maintenance which begins shortly thereafter, new officers are elected if necessary, and the operating rules for the coming monsoon season are reviewed and amended as needed. In Argali the accounts are presented for review at this meeting, whereas in Chherlung this is done at a meeting after rice harvest in the fall. Other meetings may be held throughout the year if decisions about system operation need to he made.Water Distribution Unless an irrigation system has an abundant supply of water allowing all fields to be adequately irrigated without concern for insuring that distribution of water is consistent with the allocation, some method of rationing the water according to each farmer's allocation is required. In Argali and Chherlung through the use of saachos and rotational distribution. Farmers in Argali and Chherlung irrigate rice by continuous-flow distribution whenever the supply is sufficient. Water flows continuously in all channels of the system, and farmers apply water to their fields at any time they want. With the exception of the days when they weed the field and apply fertilizer, farmers prefer standing water in their fields until near the end of the season when they dry the fields for harvest.Saachos are used to distribute water by continuous flow in accordance with the pattern of water allocation. A saacho is a weir that the farmers install in the canal with two or more rectangular openings for the water to flow through. By having the bottom of each opening at the same elevation, the flow in the canal can be divided into parts that equal the ratio of the width of each opening to the total width of all the openings. Because of its notched shape, the proportioning weir is called a saacho (key) in the Argali and Chherlung systems. Figure 4 shows a saacho dividing the flow of one of the main canals in Argali into four secondary canals?' ?)This sam: type of dence for proportioning water distribution is found In many of the irrigation syrlems studied in western Nepal In romp comnlunitiei the! were called pani dlioro j u i l c i ipoul) or khar himdo (uonden closure). Similar devices arc also found I\" other cnunlrles 111 Indaoesia the! are referred 10 ili penaro (Coward. 1985). in Sri Lanka. kvruhnnkora (Leach. 1961). and in Thailand. Iae ~1 1 1 or moi iliil (Tm-kim-yong. 1983).In Chherlung, saachos are used only to distribute water from the main canal into secondary canals. The group of farmers below the saacho is then responsible to apportion thc water among their fields. When the discharge is adequate, the flow into each field is controlled by adjusting the size of the opening in the earth bund and by placing stones and mud in the canal to divert part of the water.In much of Argali, saachos are used for distributing water from the main canal into secondary canals, from the secondaries into tertiary canals, and from tertiaries to the farmers' level when farmers are not able to the water among themselves less formally. Installation of a saacho eliminates the conflicts that arise under informal distribution as farmers try to take more, or are thought by their neighbors to be taking more, than their share.In both systems, when the supply is insufficient to provide continuous flow to the entire area at once, a timed rotation system of distribution is initiated. In the 1982 rice season, rotational distribution was not required in the Raj Kulo system in Argali. Halfway through the wme season in Chherlung, however, the water supply had diminished to the extent that continuous-flow distribution to all of the fields was no longer possible. It was possible to retain continuous flow through the saachos into all of the secondary canals, but farmers within each secondary formed rotational units and decided independently when they wanted to initiate rotational water distribution among the fields served by their secondary.For water distribution within the secondary, the number of minutes per share was computed by dividing the total number of shares served by the secondary into the number of minutes in the rotation cycle. Each farmer would then receive water for the time period represented by the number of shares he had allocated to his field served by that secondary. A typical rotation cycle was 36 hours. By setting the length of the rotation cycle at 36 hours, the irrigation turn for each farmer alfernated from day to night. Although irrigating at night has always been an accepted practice in Chherlung, it is both more difficult (disrupting sleep) and expensive (requiring the purchase of batteries for a torchlight).Water distribution in Argali during the wheat and maize seasons is less precise and formal because the water supply is sufficient to irrigate more than the command area. Water is applied several days before land preparation to make it suitable for plowing and planting. Wheat is then irrigated two or three more timcs during the season. Maize may be irrigated only at planting for quick germination. At the most it is given only one or two additional irrigations, depending on the rainfall. Wheat and maize. irrigation is done turn-by-turn with the farmers informally deciding upon the order. From long tradition, farmers wanting water on a particular day will mect at the main saacho at the head of the system at 1O:OO a.m. to decide the order of irrigation and to do any minor repairs necessary to deliver the desired amount of water.In Chherlung, the most demanding irrigation period each year is at mdize planting time in mid-April. Most farmers are ready to plant maize at the same time, and they must irrigate to initiate germination. Discharge in the Rrangdhi Khola in April is very low, requiring that the total flow of the canal be rotated lrom one farmer's field to the next at the system rather than secondary canal level. Therefore, full authority for the allocation of watcr for maize plantine-hoth in quantity and timing-+ given to the mukhiya. All requests for water must be made to him, and as nearly as possible he assigns water delivery to each farmu's iield in the order in which requests are received.A field usually consists of sevcral terraw depending on the slope and size of the field. In order to allow equity in timely planting of every farmer's maize, the mukhiya decides, on the basis of requests for water each day, what portion of each farmer's field, i.e., how many terraces, will he irrigated in his turn. In this way water is allocated by turn to farmers, and a portion of their land, depending on the terrx: .kc, is irrigated. The farmer must then wait for another one or more turns to complete his maize planting. For an irrigation system to function well, the distribution of water must be done according to the allocation scheme. The precise definition of farmers' water allocation is only useful if thz system can actually deliver to each farmer the share of the supply to which he is entitled. Measurement and comparison between the amount of water actually distributed and the amount allocated to diftcrcnt parts of an irrigation system provides an evaluation of the system's performance. The portion of the supply delivered to parts of the Thulo Kulo system was measured and comparcd with the amount allocated to those parts of the systems. Thc same measurements were made for the Kanchi Kulo system in Argali which distributes water in the same manner as the Raj Kulo. As Table 2 shows, the actual distribution closely matched the allomtion, an indication of good system performance, ' Since nut all wndaries were measured, percentages do not sum to 1W percent.bDischsrge in h e main canai and selectedsecondaries was measured twice daily for 97 days during the 1982 monmon rice +n.The tigores refe.r to the the tml volume of water supplied to the respective m d a r i s over the sepym.A critical period for maintenance of most hill irrigation systems, including Aqali and Chherlung, i prior to and during the monsoon. Major routine maintenance is done in late May and June to prepare the system for the monsoon Season when efficient water delivery for rice cultivation is most important. At this time, the &version and canal walls are repaired to reduce leakage, silt and weeds are cleaned from themtire length of canal, and sections of the canal are lined with clay to reduce seepage. This usually three weeks.In Chherlung, because of the low discharge in the stream in April, similar maintenance is also carried out prior to land preparation for maize. After the 1983 maintenance for maize, it was observed that the irrigators had used clay to seal the diversion in the stream. All of the surface water in the stream was captured, and measurements showed that for the short period during maize planting, over 80 percent of the water entering the canal reached the command area 6.5 kilometers away.A large amount of maintenance is required throughout the monsoon season. The streams fluctuate tremendously with the monsoon rains, often damaging the diversion structures made of brush, stones, and mud. The heavy rainfall causes landslides on the steep, unstable hillsides along which the canals run, interrupting the flow of water until the canal is repaired. The intake and main canal are patrolled daily so that there is early detection of damage. The Chherlung organization pays two men to do this every day during the monsoon, while in Argali the members take turns patrolling in pairs. The men patrolling the canal will do minor maintenance work such as repairing small leaks. In Argali if there is a need for more laborers, one of them will inform the mukhiya who then organizes members to do the repairs. In Chherlung the members are divided into seven groups, and each group is responsible for maintenance An a different day of the week, If laborers are needed, they will first be drawn from that day's group. Sometime due to the man to work. Work will sometimes continue at night by the light of lanterns until the water is flowing again. magnitude of the disaster, an emergency will he declared, and then each member household is requir d to send one Dur:ttg the winter wheat and maize seasons, much less maintenance is required because there.,is verybittle rainfall. The farmers who want to irrigate on a given day may have to repair the intake to divert more water or plug small Ipks in the canal to increase the flow. relatively minor efforts compared to the m o n m n seasan maintenance.Resource mobilization is critical to the effectiveness of an irrigation system, and horh the Raj Kulo and Thulo Kulo organizations successfully mobilize significant amounts of resources every year. Most of the labor and cash resources are contributed by the members, although small grants and some technical assistance have been given recently by the district panchayat and Department of Irrigation, Hydrology, and Meteorology (DIHM). Both organizations mobilize between ISDO and 2500 man-days of labor annually, depending on the severity of the moltsoon rains and the attendant flooding and landslides. Both organizations have assessed cash contributions from members for the purchase of cement to line In both systems resources are generally mobilized in proportion to the benefits that members receive from the system, i.e., according lo the water allocation. In Argali, where water is allocated in proportion to area irrigated, labor and cash are also contributed according lo area served. Members must contribute labor for ordinary maintenance work at the rate of one man for each 40 m u l o muriZ2 of khet each work day. A household with only 20 maato muri is required to provide one worker every other day.Members in Chherlung contribute labor and cash according to the number of shares they own in the system. A household with one share is required to supply one man each day of ordinary maintenance, while one with two organizatio two workers each day. Table 3 presents the number of man-dsys of labor mobilized by the two The one exception to the rule of proportionality in resource mobilization is when an emergency is declared. Each then supply one man, irrespective of its water allocation. At the annual meeting in May 1983 in Argali, some members with mall water allocatious strongly protested that it was unfair for them to have to provide the same number of workers in an emergency as households with a much larger water allocation. After much discussion the decision was made to leave the rule unchanged but to be careful about when an emergency is called, i.e., only when there is a real emergency.In order to mobilize the resources needed to maint+in the system in effective working order, the organization must have sanctions which can be applied and enforccd when members fail to contribute their share of labor and cash. Both systems levy a h fines against members who are absent from work. The fine for missing a day of ordinary maintenance is set near the local daily wage fate in Chherlung, Rs. 10 (US$.75) in 1982 and somewhat lower in Argali, Rs. 6 (US$.45). In Chherlung when i major emergency is declared, the fine rate is increased to encourage a higher rate of attendance. If a person is absent from the community when the emergency is docland or has another acceptable excuse such as illness, the fine is reduced to Rs. 6 per day, even for a major emergency.Fines, when levied, are paid because as one farmer in Argali said, \"If the fine is not paid, the organization can deny the offender water.\" Also, the community of members can exert social, as well as physical, pressure on members to pay fines. in Chherlung it was reported that in an early year of operation of the system, one man did not report for emergency maintenance for several days. When his fine was levied and he refused to pay, a group of members confiscated his cooking pots and threatened to sell them to pay his fine. Within a day or two, he paid the fine and recovered his cooking pots. Other members witnessed how serious the organization was about enforcing i k NIB and collecting fines, and payment has heen 100 percent of all fines levied. At a December 1982 meeting of the Raj Kulo organization, two members were appointed to collect the fines from the previous monsoon season and any that were outstanding from previous years. As remuneration for thic work, they were entitled to keep 6 percent of the amount collected. In both organizations, the cash that is raised through fines is invested in maintenance and improvement of the system. Until it is spent, the money may be loaned to members who pay interest to the organization.The principle of allocation has important implications for the efficiency of water use and the expansion of the irrigated area. Allocation of water in proportion to area irrigated provides no incentives for efficient water use nor a mechanism for expanding the area irrigated.24 In Argali there have been significant improvements made in the canal, and the amount of water supplied to the command area has increased considerably in the past 25 years.However, there has been little increase in the area' irrigated. DIHM invested approximately Rs. 400,000 (US$30,300) in the system in 1982 with no change in the irrigated area or cropping intensity. The main impact of the improvements made over the past 25 years, including (hose by DIHM, has been to reduce the water distribution 22A nwoto muri is a traditional measure of area. Forty mmlo muri equal approximately half a hectare 23The exchange rdte at the time was Rs. 13.2 *Us$ 1 were solicited, and 40 households applied to purchase nearly three times the amount offered for sale. The price was set at Rs. 2,000 (US$ 138) per murk only two households were able to raise the necessary cash, indicating that the rate was probably set too high. Based on the flows in the Raj and Thulo Kulos in the monsoon of 1982, the price per unit of flow, i.e., liter per second, set in Argali was ten times higher than the rate in Chherlung at that time. Before the price or conditions of payment could be renegotiated, the government restored its contributioq to the schools budget to the original amount, and members of the Raj Kulo organization lost interest in the sale of water.The allocation principle also has equity implications. In Argali the only way that a person can irrigate rice is for the household to have inherited khet land with a water allocation or to buy some irrigated land. It is, thus, nearly impossible for the poor and low caste people to acquire access to irrigation for the important monsoon rice.&on.In the past, no low caste households had land with an allocation of water. work in India. He is the only low caste person in all Argali with that has a water allocation for monsoon rice. Irrigated land is extremely expensive (Rs. 400,000 (US$27,500) per hectare in 1983), and the poor have little possibility of buying any.In Chherlung 20 percent of the members of the Thulo Kulo organization are low caste households, and gaining ~c c e a to irrigation is much more feasible. A person with unirrigated land in the hydraulic command area has only to purchase a fraction of a share of water in the system and through hard work gradually and realize more production on it. He does nol need to buy expensive, already irrigated benefits of irrigation as he would in Argali. Mast of the low caste members' fields are was firs( supplied after the number of shares in the system was increased by the sale ofIn this paper we have described and a n a l p 4 the institutions utilized for irrigation management in a number of farmermanaged irrigation systems in the hills of Nepal. Farmer control of the entire irrigation system and the need for farmers to rely on themselves for the operation and maintenance has resulted in the development of sophiStica&d inslitutions for management of the water resource. These institutions have enabled effective use of irrigation, making extremely intensive agricultural production possible with three crops cultivated per year in many systems.The institutions examined included both the organization which manages the irrigation systems and the traditional convention of property rights in water. Both types of institutions are essential for the effective operation of irrigation systems. Irrigation institutions are designed to enable the accomplishment of certain activities related to 1) Be water, 2) the physical structures for control of the water, and 3) the organization of farmers which manage the irrigation system. In the hill environment of Nepal, the activity of resource rnobiliraiofi for mninIenance of the system for ucquhition of water was found to be the mast critical activity which influences the structure of an irrigation organization. The principle of water allocation w e found to have extremely significant implications for the eftiiiency and equity of utilization of irrigation resources.Two specific systems, the Raj Kulo of Argali and the Thulo Kulo of Chherlung, were described in detail. These two systems exhibit many of the institutional characteristia common to a number of irrigation systems which were observed in West Nepal during the 20-month period of field research in 1982-83. The structure of the fanner organization in both systems is similar. Membership is limited to those households with a right to use water during the monsoon rice season, oficers are elected by the members, regular and special meetings of the members are convened, resources are mobilized according to members' water allocation, sanctions are appl' for failing to provide the required amount of labor for maintenance, and written records of attendance at ork Bccounls, members' water alloation, and minutes of meetings are maintained by the secretary. Both syste require a large steep, landslide-prone hillsides. Between 1,500 and 2,500 man-days of labor are mobilized annually in each system for routine and emergency maintenance. The water allocation of each member is precisely detined in both systems. The Raj Kulo organization allocates water to each member for monsoon rice in proportion to the area of irrigated land owned. To acquire water rights for the monsoon season, households must buy land which already has water allocated to it. In Chherlung, the Thulo Knlo organization allocates water by the sale of shares, and property rights in water are, thus, separate from ownership of land. Most transactions of water shares take place between individuals, but on one occasion, the organization sold shares, increasing A measure of the performance of an irrigation system is a comparison of how closely the actual distribution of water matches the water allocation. Measurement of water distribution to different parts of the command area showed that in both Chherlung and Argali water distribution very closely matched the pattern of water allocation.Thus by this measure both systems can be said to have performed well. and timed rotation are the two methods used to the water in accordance with the allocation.The comparison of the Raj Kulo and Thulo Kulo systems demonstrates the importance of the principle of water allocation for efficient and equitable development of irrigation resources. If water is to be u t i l i efficiently and irrigated area increased, there must be incentives for efficient water management and mechanisms for expanding access to the water. Water allocation by purchased shares, as practiced in Chherlung, provides the individual incentive and an organizational mechanism which enable the eficient development of resources, while allocation in proportion to area irrigated does not. In contrast to the Raj Kulo system, the Thulo Kulo system bas I) expanded the area irrigat during the monsoon season to a greater extent, 2) achieved more efficient water utilization through more intensive anagement of the distribution, and 3) realized greater equity in access to the irrigation resource. Your answers to the following questions will help IlMl prepare better reports and disseminate them more effectively. Your help is greatly appreciated. [ ]find it in library? 1 read all thm report, 1 I skim all of this report [ 1 read or skim only parts of it.[ 1 not read it at all? If you did not read or skim this report. was it because L 1 the subject matter does not interest you. ","tokenCount":"8559"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1055193102.json b/data/part_1/1055193102.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ff61f65c3aab0e0b6a2e4ebc59215bc47b9f2545
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1055193102.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ec3c37c857bc755e2c76e05eaf18df8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/63f12966-dd6f-4ced-bdf0-f56726c1406d/retrieve","id":"-392245326"},"keywords":["vitamin A, hidden hunger, malnutrition, fortification, diet diversification ANOVA, Analysis of Variance","IREC, Internal Research Ethics Committee","PVA, Provitamin A","RAE, Retinol Activity Equivalent","SAMRC, South African Medical Research Council","SD, Standard Deviation","USD, United States Dollars"],"sieverID":"b86127e1-137d-413d-8cdc-0a43c9fb89b4","pagecount":"12","content":"Background: Evidence of the effectiveness of biofortified maize with higher provitamin A (PVA) to address vitamin A deficiency in rural Africa remains scant. Objectives: This study projects the impact of adopting PVA maize for a diversity of households in an area typical of rural Zimbabwe and models the cost and composition of diets adequate in vitamin A. Methods: Household-level weighed food records were generated from 30 rural households during a week in April and November 2021. Weekly household intakes were calculated, as well as indicative costs of diets using data from market surveys. The impact of PVA maize adoption was modeled assuming all maize products contained observed vitamin A concentrations. The composition and cost of the least expensive indicative diets adequate in vitamin A were calculated using linear programming. Results: Very few households would reach adequate intake of vitamin A with the consumption of PVA maize. However, from a current situation of 33%, 50%-70% of households were projected to reach 50% of their requirements (the target of PVA), even with the modest vitamin A concentrations achieved on-farm (mean of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g). This proportion would increase if higher concentrations recorded on-station were achieved. The estimated daily costs of current diets (mean AE standard deviation) were USD 1.43 AE 0.59 in the wet season and USD 0.96 AE 0.40 in the dry season. By comparison, optimization models suggest that diets adequate in vitamin A could be achieved at daily costs of USD 0.97 and USD 0.79 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Conclusions: The adoption of PVA maize would bring a substantial improvement in vitamin A intake in rural Zimbabwe but should be combined with other interventions (e.g., diet diversification) to fully address vitamin A deficiency.The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency is high in low-and low to middle-income countries [1,2], including (rural) Zimbabwe and neighboring countries [3][4][5]. It can be addressed through dietary diversification, fortification of industrially processed food (such as cooking oil or sugar), biofortification, and/or supplementation (high dose provided in e.g., oral liquid form) [6][7][8][9]. The coverage of vitamin A supplementation programs for children aged 6-59 mo in Zimbabwe was ~40% in recent years but varies widely across years, including a decline during 2020 and 2021, most likely due to COVID-19 [10]. Vitamin A supplementation programs are generally costly and difficult to maintain, and supplementation access varies by sub-population, typically compounding other health and food system inequities (such as vaccination access), including in Zimbabwe [11]. In this context and recognizing that low-income households may not be in a capacity to afford a diverse diet [12], conventional breeding of maize for higher provitamin A concentration-referred to as PVA maize in the rest of the paper-has been presented as having good potential to address low vitamin A intake in rural Africa [13].A breeding target of 15 ppm was set to provide 50% of the estimated average requirement for vitamin A [14]. To date, a total of 76 PVA enhanced varieties have been commercialized in Africa [15]. Under on-station conditions, the PVA concentration achieved through breeding has varied from 7.5 to 15 ppm [16] (against a concentration of non-PVA elite maize 2 ppm [17]). For illustration, consumption of 250 g/d of maize flour with PVA concentration of 10 ppm would deliver 2.5 mg PVA, equivalent to 208 μg Retinol Activity Equivalent (RAE). This compares with an average adult female requirement of 490 μg RAE [18].Although the ability to increase PVA content of maize through genetic improvement has been demonstrated, evidence of the effectiveness of maize biofortification programs on vitamin A status remains scant. Consumption of PVA maize improved children's vitamin A status, serum retinol concentrations among children who were vitamin A deficient at baseline [19], and visual ability to see in low-light conditions [19]. Breastfeeding mothers who consumed PVA maize for 3 mo had an improvement in the vitamin A concentration of their breast milk, and the prevalence of low-vitamin A concentration in breast milk was reduced by >50% [20]. In addition, there have been recent criticisms as to the cost effectiveness and impact of biofortification, and even suggestions that it may have diverted resources and efforts away from more promising strategies such as dietary diversification [21,22].Against this background, the objectives of the study were as follows: 1) to assess the adequacy of vitamin A in the diets of a diversity of households in a site typical of rural Zimbabwe, 2) to project the impact of large-scale adoption of PVA maize and other nutrition interventions under farm conditions, and 3) to model the cost and composition of diets adequate in vitamin A. We hypothesized the following: 1) that dietary intake of vitamin A would differ across farm types, 2) that PVA maize could be a viable option to address inadequate vitamin A intake for some farms but not all, and 3) that the cost of diets adequate in vitamin A would be above the current cost of diets for the majority households.The District of Murehwa (-17.6432, 31.7840, 1400 m.a.s.l.), located within Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, was selected for the study. This district is predominantly rural, with 80% of the population engaged in small-scale agriculture as their primary livelihood strategy. The prevalence of stunting is greater in Murehwa (36%) than the national average and increased by 6% between 2010 and 2018 [23], indicating persistent nutritional challenges. This is despite agricultural productivity being relatively higher than in most other districts. The area receives a mean annual rainfall of 750-1000 mm [24], mostly falling between October and April. The main soil types include relatively infertile Lixisols and comparatively more fertile Luvisols [25]. Cattle and goats are the main livestock species, and maize is the staple crop [26].The current study was conducted as part of a larger survey, with recruitment methods described previously [27]. Briefly, 2 wards from Murehwa District with contrasting agricultural soil types and elevation were purposively selected: Ward 4 and Ward 27. In September 2020, a total of 306 farms representing around 7.5% of the population were selected at random within these 2 wards, using an adaptation of the Y sampling [28], and the household head was recruited and interviewed following informed consent. From the dataset, 4 farm types were identified using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering [29].Type 1 can be described as larger farms with larger livestock herds, high-food security, high-dietary diversity, and crop sales as the main source of income. Type 2 are characterized by intermediate farm and herd sizes, high-food security, and lowdietary diversity. Type 3 are predominantly female-headed households, with intermediate farm and herd sizes, lower food security, and intermediate dietary diversity. Finally, Type 4 farms tend to be households with younger heads, smaller farms and herds, lower food security and dietary diversity, and off-farm activities as main source of income. Based on this typology, a representative sample of 30 rural households was selected through stratified sampling (using ward and farm type as strata). The sample was limited to 30 households due to resource constraints.Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (IREC 2020.016). All participants provided written informed consent for their participation in the study. Food consumption data were generated at household level using weighed food records. For a week (7 d) between the period 7 and 16 April 2021 (end of wet season) and for a second week between the period 24 October and 1 November 2021 (end of dry season), all food and drink items consumed as a meal or snack by the 30 selected households and its weight were recorded. Only items consumed at home were recorded. For recipes, every raw ingredient was identified and weighed before cooking. The source of each food item-food production, purchase, gift, hunting/gathering, or other-was also recorded. Records were made at the time of food preparation and consumption by a trained member of the household, typically an adult female, receiving regular visits from a research assistant during some of the meals to ensure data was captured accurately. Research assistants were advised not to accept food from households, even when offered. During these visits, records made in the absence of research assistants were also checked. The weight of each food item consumed was estimated using containers of various sizes (jug, bowl, cup, cooking spoon, table spoon, and tea spoon). The quantity of some food items was also estimated by counting units (e.g., for eggs, small tomatoes, medium-sized sweet potatoes, etc.). For each food item and in each household, the unit of measure was then calibrated by a research assistant using portable scales with a 0.1 g resolution. Inedible portions and food waste from these food items were not estimated (food waste tends to be negligible in the community studied). For every meal (or snack), household members taking part were also recorded, including their sex and age. A total of 4543 individual food items consumed at household level were recorded, and their weight was estimated-2294 during the wet season and 2249 during the dry season.Market surveys also took place during both monitoring periods to collect the local price of all food items recorded. Prices were collected from more than one source (with a target of 3-5 different sources) for each food item whenever possible, and the median was taken. For some uncommon items (16 items in the wet season and 35 in the dry season), it was only possible to collect market price data from one source. Across both seasons, 564 market prices were recorded (289 during the wet season and 275 during the dry season) for 176 food items (82 during the wet season and 94 during the dry season).Food consumption data sets were first matched to food composition datasets on a like-for-like basis, considering food description and moisture content. Each food item in the consumption data set was matched to a single representative item from composition tables published by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) [30]. We chose this source because the food tables available for Zimbabwe were published >2 decades ago and were relatively limited in terms of the food items they included [31]. For items that could not be found in SAMRC (2017), we used composition data compiled for Malawi [32]. Finally, for wild fruits and vegetables, we used the database published by Stadlmayr et al. [33]. A few items could not be found in any of these sources, and we therefore used the US Department of Agriculture FoodData Central [34]. Cooking oil and margarine were considered industrially fortified with vitamin A, as this is prevalent in Zimbabwe. The full set of consumption-composition item matches is provided in Supplementary materials -Appendix 1. Weekly household intake of energy, protein, vitamin A, and selected other vitamins and minerals were then calculated by summing the products of quantities and concentrations for each food item consumed.For each household and each week of observation, requirements for vitamin A were calculated based on the characteristics of household members present each day and using the mean harmonized average requirement values published by Allen et al. [18]. Based on these values, weekly household intakes were then expressed on a per adult male (25-50 y old) equivalent and per day basis, using the requirement value for vitamin A of 570 μg RAE [18]. This assumed food was distributed among household members according to their vitamin A requirements. Using the median of local prices for each food item and assuming all food was sourced from local market purchases, indicative cost of diets was calculated. These costs are indicative as they are estimates of the cost a household would incur if they were to purchase diets from the local market, whereas households in the study area source a significant share of their diets from their own production (and gifts).To project the impact of large-scale adoption of PVA maize, we modeled the intake of vitamin A assuming all maize products to have a vitamin A concentration equal to one of the following values: the mean concentration recorded on farm (28.3 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; [35]), the maximum concentration recorded on-farm (40.4 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; [35]), the maximum concentration recorded on-station of a released variety (95.0 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; Ndhlela, pers. com.), and to the target concentration according to Bouis et al. [14] (125 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter).Finally, the composition and cost of the least expensive indicative diets adequate in vitamin A were calculated using linear programming with the Rstats package lpSolve [36]. Models were analyzed for an adult male-25-50 y old-on a per day basis and set to minimize the cost of diets while achieving a daily intake of vitamin A >570 μg RAE (the mean harmonized average requirement value published by Allen et al. [18]). To obtain realistic diets and minimize deviation from current ones, intakes of energy, protein, and selected micronutrients (those displayed Supplementary materials-Appendix 2) were constrained to fall between 100%-200% of baseline values (mean values recorded for the total sample of 30 households). The same rule was applied to intake (in g of dry matter) in food belonging to the food groups 'cereals,' 'dark green leafy vegetables,' and 'legumes, nuts, and seeds' (groups according to Kennedy et al. [37]), as these food groups dominated observed diets. A constraint of intake lower than twice the mean values recorded for the total sample of households was set for the other food groups.Differences between types were tested through ANOVA, followed by a Tukey post hoc test when differences between types were revealed, using the Rstats package stats [38].The size of households included in the study was larger during the wet season than during the dry season: 8.1 AE 5.0 compared with 5.8 AE 2.8, respectively (Table 1). During both seasons, children (aged 1-17 y) represented the dominant group (3.0 AE 2.1 and 2.5 AE 1.9 during the wet season and the dry season, respectively), followed by young female adults (aged 18-50 y; 1.8 AE 1.7 and 2.5 AE 1.9 during the wet season and the dry season, respectively). No statistically significant differences in household size and household composition were found between the 4 farm types, except Type 2 farms having significantly more children than Type 1 farms during the dry season (Table 1).During both seasons, diets were dominated by cereals, with mean daily quantities consumed estimated at 396.0 and 509.1 g/ d per adult male equivalent during the wet and the dry season, respectively (Table 2). Other important food groups were 'legumes, nuts, and seeds,' 'white roots and tubers,' and 'sweets.' Consumptions of eggs, organ meat, and vitamin A-rich fruits were very low (<5 g/d per adult male equivalent) in both seasons. The mean (AESD) energy intake was 14,662 AE 4549 kJ per day per adult male equivalent during the wet season and 13,370 AE 3455 kJ per day per adult male equivalent during the dry season (Table 3). These values are plausible given the minimum recommended dietary allowances published by Otten et al. [39] (2006).Out of the 30 households under observation, only 3 had a diet adequate in vitamin A during the wet season and only 1 during the dry season (Figure 1). During both seasons, 10 households reached at least half of the daily requirement in vitamin A. Inadequacies were also commonly observed for several other nutrients, including protein, riboflavin, vitamin B12, choline, and calcium during both seasons, and vitamin C during the dry season (see values in Table 3 compared with Supplementary materials -Appendix 2). Vitamin A was predominantly supplied by meals, with a small contribution from snacks during the wet season (Figure 1 A and B). The main sources of vitamin A were foods produced on the farm and purchased food, during both seasons (Figure 1 C and D). The food groups contributing to most of the vitamin A were 'dark green leafy vegetables' (55.6% and 55.3% of the average diet in the wet season and the dry season, respectively) and 'vitamin A-rich vegetables and tubers' (25.4% and 23.2% of the average diet in the wet season and the dry season, respectively) (Figure 1 E and  F). Although Type 4 farms in the wet season and Type 2 and Type 4 farms in the dry season tended to have lower average intake of vitamin A compared with the other farm types, vitamin A intake did not statistically differ between farm types during the wet or dry season (Figure 1 G and H, Table 3).The mean (AE SD) indicative cost of current diets was USD 1.43 AE 0.59 day -1 during the wet season and USD 0.96 AE 0.40 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 2). The food groups that accounted for the largest proportion of this cost were 'legumes, nuts and seeds,' 'cereals,' 'other vegetables,' and 'other fruits' during the wet season (20.5%, 20.3%, 12.9%, and 12.6% of the mean cost, respectively), and 'cereals,' 'legumes, nuts and seeds,' 'vitamin A-rich vegetables and tubers,' and 'white roots and tubers' during the dry season (24.3%, 13.7%, 9.4%, and 8.0% of the mean cost, respectively). Kale and covo (2 different cultivars of Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and rape (Brassica napus) were among the least expensive sources of vitamin A during both the wet and the dry season (Figure 3). Kale was the least expensive source during the wet season, and carrot was the least expensive during the dry season.If all maize products consumed were PVA maize with a vitamin A concentration of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter (the mean concentration recorded on farm), diets would only be adequate in vitamin A for 4 households (out of 30) during the wet season, and 2 during the dry season (Figure 4). This means that only 2 additional households during the wet season and one additional household during the dry season would reach vitamin A adequacy compared with the current situation. However, 50% of the households would reach at least half of their daily The estimated minimum cost (per adult male equivalent per day) of a diet adequate in vitamin A was USD 0.975 day -1 during the wet season and USD 0.793 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 5), i.e., above the current cost of diets for only 6 households during the wet season and 12 households during the dry season (Figure 2). Compared with the average current diet, the diet adequate in vitamin A at minimum cost would imply a doubling in the consumption of 'dark green leafy vegetables' (Table 2). It would also require a substantial increase in the consumption of 'flesh meat' during both seasons and 'oils and fats' during the dry season.If all maize products consumed were PVA maize, with a vitamin A concentration of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g (the mean concentration recorded on farm) and assuming no difference in cost with current maize products, the cost of a diet adequate in vitamin A is expected to be reduced to USD 0.923 day -1 during the wet season and to USD 0.766 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 5). With a vitamin A concentration of 40.4 μg RAE per 100 g (the maximum concentration recorded on farm) and 95 μg RAE per 100 g (the maximum concentration recorded on station) for all maize products, this cost during the wet season would become USD 0.919 day -1 and USD 0.914 day -1 , respectively, and during the dry season USD 0.759 day -1 and USD 0.750 day -1 , respectively. No difference in the cost of a diet adequate in vitamin A would be expected between a vitamin A concentration of all maize products of 95 μg RAE per 100 g or 125 μg RAE per 100 g (the target concentration).To date, all studies (to the best of our knowledge) focusing on the potential health impact of biofortified crops, including  maize, have used crops produced under optimal conditions onstation or on commercial farms [19,20,40,41]. However, the nutritional concentration of biofortified crops decreases under suboptimal conditions and thus when produced by resource constrained smallholder farmers [42]. In the secondary data used in this research, the mean vitamin A concentration of maize grown in smallholder farmers' fields was ~1/3 of that of PVA maize grown under optimal conditions (irrigated, well-fertilized, and nondegraded soils [35]). To our knowledge, this is the first study to account for a range of micronutrient concentrations (in this case, vitamin A) of biofortified crops in the projection of their likely impact.Our results suggest that large-scale adoption of PVA maize in the area (without additional interventions) would not lead to an adequate vitamin A intake for most households unless concentrations currently not achieved on-farm (concentrations of 95.0 μg RAE per 100 g dry matter or more) could be reached (Figure 4). However, the consumption of PVA maize grown under  ensure that most households reach at least half of their daily requirements, which was the original target for PVA maize breeding [14], with a stronger effect during the dry season (Figure 4). Better understanding the links between soil fertility, fertilizer use, and vitamin A concentration remains an interesting avenue not yet fully explored, to potentially increase the benefit of PVA maize produced under typical smallholder conditions. Earlier studies have shown a significant positive contribution of soil fertility management to grain micronutrient concentration in cereals [43][44][45][46]. Pathways between soil fertility and grain concentration would probably be different for vitamin A and for micronutrients that can be supplied through fertilizers and/or organic soil amendments. Recent results in the study area indicate that lower PVA concentrations in the grain on-farm might be related to a generally lower energy status of the plant under limiting conditions [35].In addition to highlighting the likely impact of PVA maize consumption on vitamin A intake, our study points to the importance of complementary nutrition interventions, including diet diversification, industrial fortification, and supplementation. Contrary to our original hypothesis, we found that most households could obtain a diet adequate in vitamin A from food produced on their farms or available in local markets at a cost that does not exceed the current cost of their diets (Figures 2  and 5). However, the large-scale adoption of PVA maizeassuming no price difference between biofortified and nonbiofortified maize products-would only lead to a modest reduction in the cost of diets adequate in vitamin A, even at higher concentrations of vitamin A in maize (Figure 5). Adopting a diet adequate in vitamin A at minimum cost would imply a substantial increase in the consumption of 'dark green leafy vegetables' and 'flesh meat' (Table 2), which could be supported by targeted interventions. The promotion of home gardens in South Africa has been demonstrated to significantly improve the consumption of dark green leafy vegetables and reduce vitamin A deficiencies [47]. Similarly, the promotion of small livestock rearing in Ethiopia has been found to significantly increase the consumption of micronutrient-rich meat and milk [48].In addition to 'dark green leafy vegetables,' 'oils and fats' are a food group that makes a significant contribution to diets adequate in vitamin A during the dry season (Table 2). These food items are industrially fortified with vitamin A in Zimbabwe and represent a cheap source of vitamin A, although mainly for adults rather than infants and children whose food habits tend to differ [9]. The latter group, however, may benefit from high-dose vitamin A supplementation programs that run every 6 mo, targeting children from birth until the age of 5 y [10]. Industrial fortification could also be expanded to include sugar and cereal products, in addition to cooking oil [49]: the universal fortification of these staples would increase dietary vitamin A supplies, including potentially for vulnerable communities, although very low-income households may still have dietary vitamin A shortfalls as seen in Malawi [3]. In addition, local small-scale food fortification of flour is currently being piloted in  parts of sub-Saharan Africa, targeting that milled maize flour is fortified with essential micronutrients before consumption and could be expanded to the study area [50].The lack of association between vitamin A intake and farm type (Figures 1 G and H) demonstrates that vitamin A adequacy is independent of wealth and suggests that complementary interventions, including the promotion of dietary diversification, focusing on vitamin A-rich sources, may be important in the context of rural Zimbabwe, as previously demonstrated in other contexts [51]. Some of the households studied used sun-drying of vegetables, which ensured a consistent supply of vitamin A, including during the drier months, a practice that could be promoted to other households (although vitamin A concentration may be affected by the practice [52]). Although the contribution of wild foods to vitamin A intake was found to be insignificant in this study (Figures 1 C and D), they have been found to be important in other communities of Zimbabwe [53] and could play a role in promoting year-round consumption of vitamin A-rich food in Murehwa.There were several limitations of this study, which are highlighted to guide future studies. First, this research was conducted at household level and assumed foods were distributed among household members according to their vitamin A requirements. Although studies have found reasonably equitable distribution of food within the household context [54] it is not always the case, with household members-mainly children and females-who may be undernourished in households that are nutritionally adequate [55]. Intrahousehold food distribution may be particularly unequal for nutrient-dense food such as animal-sourced food [56]. Therefore, future research should assess vitamin A intake at individual level, with a focus on children aged !5 y, girls, and women of reproductive age as they have the highest requirements for most nutrients [57]. Second, vitamin A intake may have been overestimated. Both storage and processing/cooking (i.e., drying of vegetables) have been shown to reduce vitamin A content [52,58] and were not monitored in this study. Food waste within the household was also not considered, although this tends to be low in low-income countries [59]. Third, food composition data used in this study originated from neighboring countries, which may differ from actual compositions. Finally, this study could be improved by assessing serum retinol concentration as a biomarker of vitamin A status, which may be poorly correlated with vitamin A intake [60].In conclusion, this study confirms that diets in rural Zimbabwe tend to be inadequate in vitamin A (as well as proteins and several other micronutrients, including riboflavin, vitamin B12, choline, calcium, and vitamin C), often only reaching less than half the dietary requirements. Our results demonstrate that the adoption of PVA maize would ensure that most households reach at least half of their daily vitamin A requirement, which was the original target for PVA maize breeding, even when accounting for the lower vitamin A concentration achieved onfarm. However, our study also shows that the adoption of PVA maize alone will not lead to adequate vitamin A intake (i.e., meeting 100% of daily requirements) for most households unless nutrient concentrations achieved under typical on-farm management increased. In addition to PVA maize, this study found evidence that other nutrition interventions could have a positive effect on vitamin A intake, including dietary diversification, industrial fortification (as already practiced for cooking oil and margarine), and supplementation.Although PVA maize can help alleviate the problem of low intake of vitamin A, the current adoption of PVA maize in Zimbabwe remains very low. In a nationally representative survey conducted in 2018, only 6% and 2% of rural households were found to consume and grow biofortified crops, respectively [61]. In a survey of 295 farms in Ward 4 and Ward 27 of Murehwa District conducted in February 2023, 35% of the farms were found to grow PVA maize, but seed was received as a gift or handout from programs running in the area, with no household purchasing seeds [62]. In contrast, 49% declared having knowledge of PVA maize and its benefits but did not grow it, primarily due to limited availability of seed. Strengthening the seed value chain for PVA maize is thus crucial to increasing its adoption. However, the cost and effort of doing so should be weighed against alternative interventionse.g., promotion of home gardening and small stock keeping, small-scale food fortificationas recently suggested [21].","tokenCount":"4687"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1061887903.json b/data/part_1/1061887903.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2e292c5c586e38d70a538a940af75cbc85cc9b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1061887903.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b90255cf89d8ab026650dbbd196349b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a42ae8c7-cf1f-45ec-b0f0-72b9a11a16ec/retrieve","id":"-343432782"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1f822fed-fe06-43ef-8ec9-58216a0fe160","pagecount":"4","content":"■ Invasive cactus degrades rangelands and reduces availability and accessibility of pasture and other natural resources. ■ Cactus invasion reduces biodiversity hence affecting ecosystem goods and services that are essential for human well-being. ■ There is limited information and lack of public awareness on the harmful impacts caused by invasive cactus. ■ Rural households lose between 50 and 100 thousand shillings a year because of cactus ■ Map and list threatened areas and species to improve biodiversity conservation. ■ Increase awareness and understanding of the harmful effects of cactus invasions and their possible solutions and best practices. ■ Rehabilitate and restore rangeland ecosystems through integrated management plan ■ Develop and implement policy guidelines to prevent further invasionWhat are prickly pear cactus plants?The prickly pear cactus has a negative impact on food security, biodiversity and human well-being (Figure 1).The cactus invades mostly arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which form more than 80% of Kenya's land mass. Livestock keeping is the main socio-economic activity in these areas. The plant is hardly appreciated due to presence of spines and glochids (small spines on fruits) that cause injuries to people and livestock. In Narok County, cactus invasion has increased rapidly over the last five years and has displaced people and pasture [1]. The plant has been present in Laikipia County for more than 10 years and has invaded grazing land, contributing to the death of livestock and wildlife [2]. Several conservancies and national parks have also been invaded by the plant. The plant is not only a serious threat to a wide range of wildlife but also to plant diversity. For example, in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, prickly pear cactus is among the intentionally introduced plants that have displacedPrickly pear cactus, is among the most common introduced invasive plant in Kenya. Originally from America, the plant is widespread in the arid and grass and other fodder plants [3]. It has also occupied more than 500km 2 in the Tsavo East National Park and its surrounding areas [4] . In Naibunga conservancy, the plant has occupied about 17000 acres of land and invades at least 2 km of habitat per year [5] . The potential costs associated with the invasion in natural pasture are based on reduced grazing land, replacement of natural pasture, negative impacts to livestock health and reduced mobility of livestock. Although the full cost of the impacts of cactus invasion in Kenya has not yet been quantified, rural households lose between 50 and 100 thousand shillings a year because of cactus [2] . With the current changes in climate, the plant is likely to be a growing problem to the rural livelihoods if appropriate measures to control its spread are not put into place.semi-arid areas. Prickly pear is a spiny shrub with different shapes, which has attractive yellow flowers and purple-reddish fruits (Figure 2). The seeds are dispersed by baboons, birds and elephants. Broken pieces are scattered by animals as they move from one place to another. The plant can survive well during prolonged drought and the seeds can stay in the soil for almost two years as they wait to sprout during the rainy season. These characteristics enable it to be more aggressive than others.The most applied methods of controlling cactus are manual such as chopping, burying and burning. These are difficult, involve a lot of labour and cannot provide a lasting solution. Chemicals on the other hand are used after chopping but the plant regenerates after some time. The control of prickly pear cactus in other countries such as South Africa is entirely reliant on bio-control insect, which was introduced in a pilot project in Laikipia and showeda positive result. However, local pastoralists reported that the insect was released in a few areas and the plant was spreading faster in the neighbouring areas where it had not invaded before especially in the mountains and valleys [5]. Complete removal of cactus plants also left bare grounds that could open spaces for further degradation. Successful management of the plant therefore requires an integrated management plan of the infested areas.  ","tokenCount":"676"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1071871598.json b/data/part_1/1071871598.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..06da50689f1489f24a33991633eb3f56e31ae7ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1071871598.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f33d577b85f3bdc00affbcd367775c88","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f4ceaae7-9e90-47c4-9d75-3043edecc0c5/retrieve","id":"1512452157"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"92aa6f8f-9642-48e8-8397-a19411b70c45","pagecount":"53","content":"Published by Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) | AICCRA work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0International License. Find out more. The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, led by the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. AICCRA works to make climate information services and climate-smart agriculture technologies more accessible to millions of smallholder farmers across Africa. About AICCRA | Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore AICCRA's work at aiccra.cgiar.orgSouthern Africa) and NASRO (North African Sub-Regional Research Organization), it forms the four sub-regional organizations that make up the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, FARA.Photo: ©Ollivier Girard (CIFOR) The process of working backwards from the definition of a possible future to determine what needs to happen to make the future unfold and connect to the present.Identified obstacle that could stop the achievement of an activity.An event that could absolutely not be predicted.A method of obtaining ideas without judgement or filtering. It involves encouraging wild and unconstrained suggestions and listing ideas as they emerge.A logical link between events, where a cause precedes an effect and altering the cause alters the effect.Complex systems are non-linear and diverse networks made up of multiple interconnected elements. Cause and effect relationships within the system are not easily discernible or predictable. Historical extrapolation is not possible for predicting emergence (new patterns and behaviours) in complex systems.Are drivers that are both highly impactful and highly uncertain.Issues or challenges that affect more than a single interest area, institution, or stakeholder, and that need to be addressed from all points of view.Are factors, issues or trends that cause change thereby affecting or shaping the future.A cluster of individual trends on the same general subject moving trends in certain directions, they are broad in scope and long term in nature (for example, climate change or globalisation).The integration of raw data constituting numbers, words, images, and insights emerging from diverse knowledge sources.External force of change, for example political or market drivers.Possible and practical.An estimate or best guess of what might happen in the future i.e. not a definitive prediction.Structured tools, methods and thinking styles to enable the capacity to consider multiple futures and plan for them.A small core group that builds the foresight plan.A broad mix of identified key stakeholders that need to be involved.The act, art, or science of identifying and evaluating possible future events.Describes the practice of thinking about the future in a structured way, and the methods and approaches that are used to do so.These are the large, obvious dangers that will sooner or later emerge but whose exact timing is unknown.Refers to the potential scale of impact of a driver on a scenario theme.Internal force of change for example, social drivers within a farm or community directing the decision making of a farmer.A trend that is apparent at a large or global scale e.g. growing youth population across the African continent.Allows a group's ideas to be charted in logical groupings fairly quickly, even when ideas are given in a non-sequential manner. This technique allows efficient brainstorming for ideas and at the same time creates a skeletal framework for later categorisation of the information generated.The process of creating and experimenting with a computerised mathematical model imitating the behaviour of a real-world process or system over time. Simulation is used to describe and analyse the behaviour of a system when asking 'what-if' questions about the real system and aid in the design of real systems.Are storylines/narratives, answering 'what if' questions that describe multiple alternative futures spanning a key set of critical uncertainties. Scenarios identify future drivers of change and then plot out plausible directions that they may take.An approach to understanding highly impactful and highly uncertain drivers and to describe possible future states.Although they address uncertainty, scenarios are not predictions or forecasts -they are not 'true' or correct/wrong -only plausible.Scenario planning Is a technique of strategic planning that relies on tools and technologies for managing the uncertainties of the futureA tool to identify the importance and influence of stakeholders as well as how they exchange information or are connected.The combination of foresight and strategic managementThe complete period (past-to-future) considered in a foresight exercise.Participatory with multiple viewpoints, bringing in quantitative and qualitative evidence but not predictive.A trajectory in time, reflecting a sequence of actions and consequences against a background of separate developments, leading to a specific future situation.It is reasonable to assume the scenario could happen. Plausibility does not mean that a future situation will happen.The degree of confidence in a forecasting system based either on law derived from observations and experience, or on scientific reasoning and structural modelling.A quantitative technique that can be used in the analysis phase of the foresight process.Projecting or time series analysis are used when several years of data are available, and trends are both clear and relatively stable.An expected value of one or more indicators at particular points in the future, based on the understanding of selected initial conditions and drivers.A system's ability to cope with and recover from shocks or disruptions, either by returning to the status quo or by transforming itself to adapt to the new reality.Issues and situations in organisations that have yet to surface and which are blind spots for planners who are unaware that they do not know about them.Able to be done or could occur.A compelling image of a (usually preferred) future.A well-known prospective technique with a highly participatory approach.A problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognise.A low-probability but high-impact event that seems too incredible or unlikely to happen.An agriculture and food systems transformation is a significant redistribution -by at least a third -of land, labour and capital, and/ or outputs, and outcomes (e.g. types and amounts of production and consumption of goods and services) within a time frame of a decade.A general tendency or direction of a movement or change over time e.g. increasing erratic seasonal rainfall patterns.Collecting information and attempting to spot a pattern, or trend, and assess its influence from the information.Refers to how much or how clear we are on how a driver will emerge or play out in the future. High uncertainty does not mean 'high improbability', high uncertainty can mean having little knowledge of how something may pan out.Unpacking why an obstacle is in place.Adaptive Capacity The ability of systems, institutions, humans, and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences.Climate change is a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.The ability of a system to 'bounce back' from the impacts of climate-related stresses or shocks. It is the ability of a system and its component parts to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner, including through ensuring the preservation, restoration, or improvement of its essential basic structures and functions.Refers to the inventory of elements in an area in which hazard events may occur.A possible, future occurrence of natural or human induced physical events that may have adverse effects on vulnerable and exposed elements.Intersection of hazards, exposure, and vulnerability.The degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or beneficially, by climate variability or change.Inability of people, organisations, and societies to withstand adverse impacts from multiple stressors to which they are exposed.The propensity or predisposition of a system to be adversely affected by an event. Vulnerability is a function of a system's sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity.Is the science, art, or practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.Includes the people and activities that bring a basic agricultural product such as maize to the consumer. The activities include obtaining inputs and production in the field right through to storage, processing, packaging, and distribution.The variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and aquatic ecosystems.The engagement, management, planning and implementation, of activities conducted across different thematic sectors to deliver development outcomes (e.g. food security, nutrition, sustainable landscapes, and agriculture).Ecosystem Services These include provisioning services, such as the production of food (e.g. fruit for humans or grazing for cattle) and water; regulating, such as the control of flooding and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and oxygen production; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.The different, discrete elements within a system (e.g. farms, organisations, inputs, and soil).The relationships that connect the elements (e.g. rules, ideas, funding, or service relationships, among others).A process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human land-use activities. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be undesirable.Consists of a mix of representatives or stakeholders from public, civil, and private domains of society.Is the loss in quantity and quality of agricultural produce between harvest and consumption. It includes on-farm losses e.g. damage to grain by pests, as well as losses along the value chain during transportation, storage, and processing.This stage of the agricultural process is prior to production and may involve land preparation and the sourcing and purchasing of inputs such as seed and fertiliser.RETURN TO CONTENTSProductive InputsThese are used to increase yields and range from improved seeds, genetics, fertilisers and crop protection chemicals to machinery, irrigation technology and knowledge.An interconnected set of elements that is coherently organised in a way that achieves something (function and purpose). For example, the purpose of an agricultural system could be to produce dairy products and the system could consist of interconnected elements such as the farmer, employees, cattle, machinery, feed, water, and energy.A mindset, tool, and process that is reserved for complex problems.Understands life as networks of relationships.Epidemic disease which is highly contagious or transmissible and has the potential for very rapid spread, irrespective of national borders, causing serious socio-economic and potentially public health consequences. Developing long term planning is challenging due to:1. The time frame that extends across multiple decades; and2. The need to deal with complex socioeconomic and biophysical systems.Long term planning is subject to great uncertainty, such as:1. Future climate impacts;2. Technological innovation and deployment;Availability of large-scale solutions; and5. Reliability of current data, models and skills to interpret evidence .The premise of foresight is that the future is still in the making and can be actively influenced or even created What is scenario planning?• Scenario planning involves telling a story with many possible endings.• It allows decision-makers to identify a range of possible outcomes and impacts (what could happen?), evaluate responses and plan for the future.• This enables a level of control in an uncertain world.• By visualizing potential risks and opportunities, decision-makers can be proactive.• By visualizing potential risks and opportunities, decision-makers can be proactive.• Because a potential outcome has already been thought through and actions documented, there is no need to scramble in time of crisis.• Plausible -it is reasonable to assume the scenario could happen. Plausibility does not mean that a future situation will happen.• Viable -able to be done or could occur.• Feasible -possible and practical.• Not predictive -participatory with multiple viewpoints, bringing in quantitative and qualitative evidence but not predictive. Critical uncertaintiesare drivers that are both high impact and highly uncertain.What driver do you think will be highly impactful Uncertainty -how well we know how they will play out (Low, High). Dramatic reduction in national productivity and GDP, potential damage to infrastructure, focus on self-sufficiency (staples), closing of business across value chains.Likely power grabs by government leaders, move to more authoritarian government through shutdowns, loss of trust between GO and other societal sectors.Reduced sources of livelihoods lead to enhanced conflict over resources leading to destruction, loss of wildlife, vegetative cover, forest, water quality, concerns over sources of disease lead to destruction of resources.Loss of crops, livestock to drought, potential for greater climate disease risk, severe challenges meeting food security needs of population.Is it possible to build a 'business-as-usual scenario, for example, if we continue as we are, what will happen?How do we integrate national and regional level scenarios?This is difficult because people have different perspectives and priorities in a scenarios development process. As aforementioned, in the scenario development case study in Vietnam, there was considerable disagreement between the regional and national level stakeholders on the importance of the role of China on the economy.This presented a lot of uncertainty and people had vastly different viewpoints on the subject. This was dealt with by developing more detailed matrices including multiple axes representing five high uncertainty drivers. It was a useful exercise that took around four days to complete.The result included the viewpoints of both the national and regional level stakeholders.It should be noted here that this module has described one method of developing scenarios, the method you choose should suit the focal issue in question.Scenario story lines serve as plausible futures that provide insights into what may happen that we have not considered allowing us to plan accordingly. How do we link parallel initiatives and policy planning using the scenarios process?Invite the people on both teams into one room and encourage dialogue around the key drivers and uncertainties they face, and what their preferred futures look like, for both policy processes.Socio-cultural, education, gender, youth Students are staying in school to increase opportunities of better employment. Social safety nets are in place to provide women and youth with nutrition foods and vocational training. Investments are focused on preventative health approaches in conjunction with emergency response.Dramatic reduction in national productivity and GDP, potential damage to infrastructure, focus on self-sufficiency (staples), closing of business across value chains.Likely power grabs by government leaders, move to more authoritarian government through shutdowns, loss of trust between GO and other societal sectors.Loss of crops, livestock to drought, potential for greater climate related disease risk, severe challenges meeting food security needs of population.Farming systems are diversified through agro-ecological to reduce climate risk, increase water holding capacity and enhance nutrition. ","tokenCount":"2401"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1079319203.json b/data/part_1/1079319203.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7d630f04862cd9a008567590c752e1fb492f373e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1079319203.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4dcf7c1cdd7583f0cf114baba6b5b14d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/099104ac-9478-4aad-b3c2-a663b76e2c32/retrieve","id":"16363934"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"789407a2-f2e2-4f79-8067-454f11e9c52e","pagecount":"13","content":"Recalled from decades in the past, were too early familiar as faces of Ethiopia's current 5.7 million people affected by severe drought and in need of food, assistance has continued to make headlines in the media and through the urgent pleas from humanitarian agencies since early this year.Part of the problem for mitigating the effects of these persistent and devastating droughts has arisen from an unmet need for timely and accurate climate information about the onset and development of country-wide drought conditions. And another part has emerged from the reality that even when available, the information is not easily accessible or in a decisionrelevant format for those working in the humanitarian space to act on.The Country-level Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS) takes all of these issues head-on:Using satellite-based remote sensing technology, combined with Ethiopian context data (including detailed land-use maps, seasonal forecasts, national crop statistics, crop phenology, and other national data), users can now monitor agricultural areas or \"hotspots\" with a high likelihood of water stress at the national, regional, zonal, and woreda (district) levels. And critically for decision-makers, the system simulates and automates the analysis that an expert in remote sensing would undertake and simplifies the interpretation and use of the data for users who are not remote sensing experts.The implications of such a system for transitioning Ethiopia's disaster risk management sector from reactive and response-oriented to one focusing on proactive early warning, prevention, and preparedness are huge. And it would not be possible without the robust \"Drought monitoring and prediction are critical for making agricultural production resilient to the impacts of drought,\" explained Hussien. \"And this system is an important tool that supports the Ministry's effort to provide digital solutions for agricultural problems.\" So how does it all work? The Country-level ASIS is made possible by and builds off almost a decade of experience from FAO's implementation of its global Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS), which went online in 2014. Based on remote sensing data, this system provides analysts with updated drought indicators on a dekadal basis (every 10 days) at the global level for 196 countries. However, by complementing global data with national data and fine-tuning the parameters of the system-such as with land-use maps, seasonal forecasts, national crop statistics, and other country-specific data-ASIS can be refined for individual countries. These standalone and tailored country-level versions of ASIS can then better inform and fuel potential applications such as National Early Warning Systems for food security, remote-sensing indices for crop insurance, or other decision-support tools. The Agricultural Drought Monitoring and Warning System is the culmination of that effort and represents a landmark achievement for Ethiopia as the first country ever in Africa to implement country-level ASIS.However, the launch is just the beginning-Capacity building on the use of Country-level ASIS and other digital innovations from the EIAR, EMI, and both public and private partners will remain pivotal for their ultimate uptake and effectiveness, as will their integration within decision-making processes and frameworks such as the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) launched earlier last year. Both the ACToday and AICCRA projects acknowledge and recognize this imperative of pairing decision-relevant climate information with appropriate capacity building for effective and sustainable climate services solutions and have put the training of users at the forefront of their strategies to support national priorities. For the Ethiopian ASIS, the launch came on the heels of intensive five-day training on the use and configuration of the operating system with 17 humanitarian actors from both national and international organizations like the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), the Ministry of Agriculture, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Food Programme (WFP), EIAR, and EMI who will use the system. And national partners are doubly committed to doing the same.\"EIAR is adamant about promoting digital agriculture and cascading training to ensure pragmatic solutions on the ground,\" said EIAR Director-General Diriba Gelete in some of the final remarks of the event that captured its tone. Furthermore, he stated, \"By working with partners like all those involved in AICCRA, we can ensure that not only are drought research efforts adequately supported but are well integrated within decision-making as we see with this new platform.\"ASIS calculates the percentage of the agricultural area affected by drought and classifies it as slight, moderate, severe, and extreme. To estimate this, ASIS considers the drought intensity, the duration of the dry period, and the area with affected crops. To improve ASIS accuracy, we calibrated ASIS for Ethiopia. This calibration process requires the location of crops and pastures detected by satellite. Flowering and grain filling phenological phases are important in the Country-level ASIS calibration process. Therefore, the woreda and zonal levels included information on the sowing dates and the crop cycle length. Finally, ASIS uses crop coefficients to take into consideration the sensitivity to water stress during the different phases that plants have along the crop cycle (Abate et al., 2022). Once the tool is calibrated with national information, ASIS estimates the percentage of crop area affected by drought in its different levels of intensity and produces an assessment of the crop situation every ten days, providing easy interpretation maps for end users. The results of ASIS can be complemented with seasonal forecasts, El Nino predictions, and socioeconomic vulnerability studies. Besides, all ASIS data (more than 13 indices for the period starting from 1984 to the recent year) were publicly available for the users. ","tokenCount":"901"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1086015880.json b/data/part_1/1086015880.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5729953003ee00532023e5d92742ba0d70d8befd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1086015880.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"012fa3337d4c7183670b549d59fc0ec1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b80ad77b-d1fa-4e66-9033-16747edd49b1/retrieve","id":"547162660"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6cec5a50-578a-4847-a5db-eaf3402735c9","pagecount":"15","content":"Humidtropics, a CGIAR Research Program, aims to help poor farm families in tropical Africa, Asia and Americas to boost their income from integrated agricultural systems' intensification while preserving their land for future generations. The humid tropics with 2.9 billion people, most of which are poor farmers on about 3 billion hectares of land, are critical to local, regional and global food supplies, and central to the maintenance of global biodiversity. The region has a great wealth of untapped resources and potential. Within the agriculture sector, this potential is driven by the richness in agro-ecological resources of water, soils, flora, and fauna, etc., and by a population for whom agriculture is often a way of life and part of the culture. However, the agro-ecological stability of the region is very fragile, and carries a high risk of degradation. Problems include loss of soil fertility and accelerated erosion, deforestation and biodiversity loss, and high incidence of pests and diseases in both production and post-harvest situations. The humid tropics have the biggest gap between potentials in terms of ecological resources, productivity and livelihoods and what actually exists today. The reasons for not yet realizing this potential are diverse, covering domains in technical, social, economic, environmental and political situations. Humidtropics is presented as a key for unlocking this potential and contributing towards the growth and development of this region through integrated agricultural research for development, involving key partners and stakeholders. The global hypothesis of Humidtropics states that \"A range of livelihood strategies exist within the region where poverty reduction, balanced household nutrition, system productivity and natural resource integrity are most effectively achieved and contribute best to human welfare\". Humidtropics aims at the realization of this vision. The program functions in Action Areas in three major impact zones: sub-Saharan Africa, Tropical Americas and Asia.Humidtropics research has three main integrated Strategic Research Themes (SRTs) that work together as illustrated in Figure 1. SRT1 focuses on system analysis and global synthesis, which involves a capacity to undertake characterization of Action Areas and their component Action Sites, identification of entry points, coordination of the development of tools, such as surveys to monitor agricultural system change, and providing analytical support in research synthesis. SRT2 research is organized around the systems interventions and the trade-offs that exist with integrated system productivity, institutions and markets, and natural resources management. SRT3 studies and develops capacity for institutional innovation and scaling of social and technical solutions which impacts on rural poverty and gender equity. The research framework is a matrix of location-based research in the Action Areas drawing on critical capacities in thematic research groups arrayed across CGIAR Centers and partner organizations. All the SRTs interact and come together at the Action Areas and Action Sites. The overall Theory of Change is based on the hypothesis that the potential inherent in the region is best realized through an integrated systems approach involving participatory action across all stakeholder groups. Systems approaches require a study of the interactions across different components and commodities within the system and to capitalize on synergies between different intensification options. They look at how component productivity increases can be balanced with environmental protection and how systems interventions to on-farm practices have consequences for institutions including markets and for the environment, particularly natural resources integrity. This integration across scales and the strategy for translating farm level research to livelihood improvement at scale is captured in the strategic research framework already discussed above (Figure 1). The framework emphasizes the interaction across the SRTs, and the cyclical learning strategy underlying the program, leading to change at scale.A second dimension to the overall Theory of Change is illustrated in Figure 2. This helps explain the initial positioning of the Action Areas in relation to the Poverty and Ecosystems Integrity status (main axes). It also illustrates the trajectory of systems interventions required to move these Action Areas to an idealized position of high productivity without sacrificing natural resources integrity, and supported by effective institutions including markets and policies. The assessment includes baseline studies on systems productivity, institutional effectiveness and natural resources integrity, which are undertaken in the context of the R4D (Research for Development) triangle functioning within SRT2 (Figure 1). R4D platforms are the core diagnostic and implementation mechanism for the program. Interventions should not only move the current position but also enhance its scale. This is undertaken through systems innovation research in SRT3.Humidtropics is driven by the major global development challenges and the CGIAR System Level Outcomes (SLOs) of (i) Reducing rural poverty (ii) Increasing food security, (iii) Improving nutrition and health, and (iv) Sustainable management of natural resources. The Intermediate Development Outcomes (IDOs) of Humidtropics are derived directly from the overall goal and the strategic objectives (SOs) of the program, as defined below:• SO 1 -Livelihoods Improvement: \"Improved livelihoods in terms of income and nutrition for rural farm families.\" • SO 2 -Sustainable Intensification: \"Increased total farm productivity respecting natural resources integrity.\" • SO 3 -Gender Empowerment: \"Empowered women and youth with better control over and benefit from integrated production systems.\" • SO 4 -Systems Innovation: \"Enhanced capacity for systems innovation.\"The point to note regarding the SOs is their integrated nature, and that they are realized together in an interactive and integrated fashion. Each SO relates directly to one or two IDOs. The realization of these IDOs is then accomplished through a number of \"Flagship Projects\", which are seen as the main vehicles through which the research of Humidtropics is carried out to ensure impacts of the program. The following two IDOs contribute to this SO: IDO 1 -Income: \"Increased and more equitable Income from agriculture for rural poor farm families, with special focus on rural women.\" This IDO is strongly linked with IDO 3 on Productivity and IDO 4 on NRM. It is based on generating total farm income through both sustainable intensification and diversification of production systems to improve the livelihoods of rural women and men (Table 1). Realizing the IDO will require improving institutional effectiveness with integration of commercialization principles and value chain and business model trade-off analysis to improve market linkages and income generating outcomes. IDO 2 -Nutrition: \"Increased consumption of safe, nutritious foods by the poor, especially among nutritionally vulnerable women and children.\" This IDO will be accomplished through research for the diversification of high quality crops and livestock leading to enhanced consumption of diverse nutritious foods by the poor. Humidtropics will focus on food consumption as the main indicator for this IDO. Three key areas in which targets and outcomes will be assessed are:• Changes in the diversity and quality of diets.• Attitudes toward better nutrition, willingness to pay and trade for diverse and quality food.• Food/crop diversity in farms, markets, and on the plate (household consumption).It is expected that over the 9-12 year period of the IDO, there will be 50% improvement in the above characteristics, especially among rural women and children. Also, the number of malnourished children will decrease by 25%, especially in Tier 1 Action Areas. This SO is supported by the following IDO with targets:IDO 5 -Gender: \"Increased control by women and other marginalized groups over integrated systems assets, inputs, decision-making and benefits.\" Gender analysis research cuts through all the IDOs, and can be seen through a number of gender-disaggregated targets and technologies. However this dedicated gender IDO, will aim at undertaking strategic crosscutting gender-in-development research, within the R4D paradigm, with links to all the Action Areas and Sites. The following targets are set:• Proportion of women (70%) in Humidtropics that perceive that they have better control over assets, inputs and benefits compared to the baseline in year 1. • Women producers enabled to \"catch up\" in access to markets, microfinance and control over assets (gap narrowed by 50 % against the baseline).• Improvement (30% compared to baseline) about the perceptions of balance in gender relations at all levels in the different systems and empowerment between women and men with regard to decision making. Three different Impact Pathways are presented in this document as examples, reflecting both the integrated nature of Humidtropics, and also the diversity of issues being addressed within this integrated systems program. The first impact pathway is on Sustainable Intensification, involving IDOs on productivity and NRM, but with links to Income and to Nutrition IDOs. The second Impact Pathway is on Gender, while the third is on Innovation Systems.Change in smallholder farming systems in the tropics is gradual, adaptive, and stepwise, responding primarily to farmers' contexts and circumstances (Figure 4 impact pathway). Linkage to Livelihoods Improvement Pathway and Theory of Change A similar pathway can be generated for the Livelihoods/Income pathway but also linked within.Entry points for research based on market opportunities are identified and ranked by rural people through the R4D platforms to develop baskets of potential options. Different, often competing, value chains and business models serve as frameworks to identify, co-develop, test and scale best-bet institutional, system productivity and NRM interventions that include the combinations of crops, livestock and trees, together with soil & water management practices constructed around market incentives. Interventions are validated through action research seeking best-fit options at priority Action Sites that are nested within Action Areas. In both market access and policy incidence, fostering participatory processes will significantly contribute to greater understanding of the enabling factors and conditions for uptake.Nutrition and diet research issues could also emanate from the situation analysis and R4D platforms established through the sustainable intensification pathway process. In Humidtropics consumption of safe, nutritious foods by the poor, especially among nutritionally vulnerable women and children, is considered as a key component of livelihoods attainment. Nutrition is therefore addressed as a sub-set within the Income/Livelihoods Strategic Objective.Humidtropics assumes that any strategy to improve the nutrition of poor people must simultaneously address the consumption of nutritious food through demand side (consumption, access) and the supply side (production, availability). The target population on the demand side includes poor people in rural and urban areas. On the supply side, the target population includes smallholder farmers and market actors (as the link between producers and consumers). Advocacy will be supported through R4D Platform initiatives to increase awareness about the importance of consuming diverse and quality food for a family's nutrition. Platform initiatives will help to test smart and low-cost marketing campaigns that make optimal use of traditional and modern communication channels, while carefully monitoring and evaluating its impact on the nutritional indicators. The demand for diverse and quality food will also be stimulated indirectly through improving the incomes of poor people so that they have the means to buy such food. Humidtropics will increase the supply for diverse and quality food by promoting a greater diversity of agricultural production in line with the sustainable intensification of farming systems through optimizing synergies between staples, vegetables, fruits, trees, and livestock at the community level. Private sector R4D Platform actors will be encouraged to develop market incentives for increased diversity of nutritious foods. Appropriate technologies for homestead gardens and small-scale animal rearing will also be developed and promoted to poor households to make a direct improvement in their nutrition. A strong partnership link will be established with A4NH (CRP 4) to benefit from derived synergies.The pathway on gender begins with the situation analysis and the R4D Platform analysis to be carried out across all Action Areas. This leads to analysis of participation barriers as well as to identification of specific gender-related entry points and needs. Strategic and integrated gender research carried out in flagship programs in the Action Areas create the knowledge base about gender needs and leads to initiation of an Action Area Gender platform. The platform is used to determine entry points for gender sensitive interventions. Figure 5 illustrates the process of linking the current weak status of gender equity in agricultural R4D, to various processes leading to strengthening of gender dimensions (empowerment) in representation and program management roles, as well as in the mainstreaming of gender dimensions into research and technology development. Interventions are carried out through Flagship Programs and shared across leading to:• Aggregated increase in technology adoption and productivity of women producers.• Enhanced capacity of men and women to diversify and share risks.• More equitable and integrative agricultural growth outcomes.• Sustained engagement of men and women in integrated systems development.• Change in gender relations at all systems levels with improved women decision making on inputs, interventions and benefits. • Change in behaviour of institutions and policy makers with regard to women empowerment.Outcomes are monitored through SRTs 1 and 3, and the experiences are translated to Action Area Gender platforms of newly established Action Areas. After 12 years all AA will benefit from Action Area Gender platforms and results as mentioned above.Actors in innovation systems need to develop the capacity to create conducive social and institutional conditions that allow farmers and others to use new technology as part of a strategy to address problems and make use of new opportunities. Through their participation in Humidtropics, researchers and their partners gain experience with new theories, methodologies and processes, that are simultaneously studied, tested and improved, and subsequently institutionalized when appropriate. In Humidtropics we regard these enabling conditions for technology to diffuse as part of the innovation challenge. Research alone is unable to drive system innovation, and therefore needs to build upon and strengthen ongoing energies, initiatives and leadership capacities for change. Humidtropics will therefore embed its research in ongoing dynamics, to ensure that research is links to real demands and produces outcomes that are important to society. Scaling then happens through 'pull' rather than 'push' mechanisms. A range of communication and innovation intermediation strategies is then needed to work towards system innovation. Humidtropics will facilitate and enhance interaction among existing networks of actors, resulting in the operation of permanently evolving R4D Platforms that operate at different levels. Several forms and aspects of research activity are embedded in this broader process, and linked to the multi-level model of system innovation (figure 6) in three phases: (1) Landscape and regime level diagnosis R4D activity will start with a diagnostic research, and serves to find promising entry points for further investigation, vision development and action and thus supports the other impact pathways. This diagnosis involves a multi-disciplinary characterization of simultaneously occurring trends, i.e. of how the landscape selection environment is changing, and a diagnosis of institutional (=regime) constraints. The purpose of this research is to identify emerging tensions, constraints and opportunities that set the agenda for further activity in niche level incubators.(2) Niche/incubator level experimentation At the niche level, Humidtropics will experiment in the field with multiple (combinations of) social and technical options, building upon earlier diagnostic work. As promising/interesting institutional and technical options become available (through research and dialogue) they will take the form of socio-technical incubators. These are networks of people that try out new institutional and technical options at different levels. Lessons learned from the incubator testing will be documented, leading to adapted designs and/or the discontinuation of specific investigations.(3) Regime-level coalition building to enable scaling The niche-level incubator activities include the gradual building of a support network and coalition for promising technical and institutional innovations. Such networks may include policymakers, NGO's, extension organisations, value chain parties, donors, media, etc. that can serve scaling purposes. The gradual expansion and strengthening of the support network and coalition will result in both gradual and sudden changes (i.e. 'tipping points'). Institutional changes achieved this way will provide an enabling environment where different groups of farmers can capitalise on the social and technical opportunities offered by ever changing environments. This will also lead to experiences in innovation networks, and documented methodological approaches, that will enhance the capacity of agricultural players to innovate themselves and make demands on CGIAR and other innovation support organisations.Flagship projects provide an excellent opportunity to carry out research that is focused on achieving the IDOs and ensuring full participation of stakeholders throughout all the phases of research towards impact as explained in the earlier sections. Multi-sectorial and -disciplinary public and private sector partners will engage in integrated systems research that meets the livelihood and environment challenges and opportunities that the biodiverse landscapes provide. Focus will be on the trade-offs that occur related to inputs (time, money and land), integrated systems intensification (Productivity x NRM x Markets) and benefits (income, yield, nutrition and environment when changing or challenging one or more of a system's components. The Gender and Innovation SOs and related IDOs are special in ensuring that inputs and benefits are more equitably distributed (Gender) and that innovations and interventions are better targeted, prioritized and originating from within the system whilst ensuring that institutions improve to support the mainstreaming of such solutions (Innovation). For example introducing livestock as a new component into a farming system may improve income and nutrition but may compromise land use for crops, vegetables and fruits in favor of fodder and may positively or negatively affect soil fertility. Livestock keeeping may need new knowledge and skills and more resources at the cost of time and money spent on other activities and needs. There may also be cultural taboos preventing women access to cattle or shifting labor patterns having youth carrying fodder to the animals or limited access to veterinary services increasing the risk of production losses. Unraveling the systems and priorities and sharing lessons with other or similar systems across the humid tropics will help to research and mainstream those interventions that have best potential for the landscapes, people and institutions to bring them to scale for better impact.The Flagship projects are based on Action Areas with main agricultural production systems nexus that gives them a place-based character (Table 2). In Tier 1 (phase 1) of Humidtropics, there are 5 Flagship projects. Four relate directly to the Action Areas and the solutions within those based on their characteristics and potential for innovation. The geographical aspects, landscapes, and crops may be similar the people, socio-technical regimes, farm practices, livelihoods and living conditions vary significantly providing scope for cross-learning and sharing of solutions and requiring a fifth Flagship project that has a strategic, global and crosscutting nature, and derives from key research domains including aspects of innovation, gender and capacity building. Four additional Flagship Projects will be launched in 2017 based on Tier 2 Action Areas, making a total of 9. These include the West Africa Moist Savanna project, the Southern Africa Moist Savanna project, the northern Andes Transect project, and the Indonesian Humid Lowlands project. A summary introduction of the Flagship projects for Tier 1 operations is provided on the next pages. The East and Central Africa Humid Highlands project (ECA) includes the humid and sub-humid tropics of west Kenya, southern Uganda, the Ethiopian Highlands, eastern Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. There are more than 78 million people living on 29 million ha with a very high average population density of 263 persons per km 2 . Land degradation averages 40 to 90% of the area. Poverty levels are relatively high and persist as 28 to 71% of people earn less than US $1.25 per day. Smallholders cultivate a variety of crops, including maize, grain legumes, banana, cassava, sorghum, sweet potato, groundnut as well as minor leafy greens and other vegetables, as part of their system. The major cash crops include coffee, maize, sugarcane, banana, soybean, Irish potato, cotton and tobacco. Main known constraints in the system include soil degradation, fertility loss and degradation on the slopes, the challenge of the parasitic weed striga (in Kenya and Uganda), decline in the production of cooking banana (in Uganda and Rwanda), widespread incidence of pests and disease, poor distribution and high costs of farm inputs, and poor infrastructure and access to markets and institutions. Women farmers still carry a disproportionate burden of farm and household responsibilities, and yet have limited rights to land and other resources and assets.The West Africa Humid Lowlands project includes the humid and sub-humid tropics of Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire that are inhabited by 145 million people and cover 206 million ha. The project includes intact humid forests in South-eastern Cameroon to completely deforested and extremely degraded areas in southern Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, and many conditions in-between. The West African Guinea Rainforest is a vulnerable biodiversity hotspot and poses an urgent environmental challenge in relation to helping people to raise their standard of living. The socioeconomic situation is highly variable between and within countries, but all are characterized by large populations of both rural and urban poor seeking better livelihoods, with 28% of the population living on <1.25 USD day -1 . Most of the soils are highly weathered, inherently poor and prone to rapid degradation. Rainfall is generally sufficient for two annual cropping cycles per year as the growing period exceeds 200 days. A total of 46 million ha (47% of the cultivated land) is under tree crop systems, a further 29 million ha (30%) under root crop systems and 23 million ha (23%) under cereal-root crop mixed systems. Cocoa is the most extensively grown tree crop and is almost exclusively managed by smallholders. Oil palm is the next most important and is grown on both large estates and smallholders. Together, these two crops account for approximately 90% of total tree crops. Other tree crops include rubber, robusta coffee, kola nut, citrus, mango, and avocado. Cassava is the most important staple crop with maize, yams, plantains, upland rice, and cocoyam widely cultivated. Livestock densities are low often due to presence of trypanosomiasis but small animal enterprises are particularly important to the poor and women.The Central American and Caribbean project focuses on three main sites in the humid and subhumid tropics of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Poverty and food shortage remain major problems in rural areas. Over 20% of the population is malnourished while food insecurity, especially among pregnant women and children <5 year of age, has increased between 2001 and 2006. Throughout these countries, poverty is a predominantly rural problem. In 2009, Nicaragua had an estimated population of 5.9 million inhabitants, 2.5 million of which lived in rural areas with 68% earning less than US$2 per day. In that same year, the rural areas of Honduras held close to 74% of the country's poor and 86% of the extremely poor. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with 90% of its inhabitants living with less than US$2 day -1 (50% rural) and almost 72% with less than US$1.25 day -1 . Gender relations remain male-dominant through persisting unfair cultural norms, but women are free to operate within local markets. The North-Central Nicaragua is characterized by poor access to markets, high concentration of poverty, vulnerability to the effects of climate change, including catastrophic incidents like hurricanes, and the impact of degradation (deforestation in particular). It encompasses large variability in soil types with hillsides susceptible to erosion. Mixed crop-livestock systems are dominant with maize, beans, rice, root crops grown for food, coffee, cacao, banana, and vegetables grown for income. Animal enterprise includes cattle (30% of households), poultry and swine. Another sector of this Action Area is the Haiti-Dominican Republic border area, which provides a unique opportunity to contrast extremes of resource integrity, institutional capacity and social cohesion between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Haiti faces an extreme serious threat from environmental catastrophe and natural resource deterioration. Productivity is very low, less than one-third is arable, with a density pressure of over 1,000 people per km 2 and an annual loss of 3% to erosion. Farms are often homesteads, with a typical size of 1 hectare. Agriculture in the Dominican Republic is more productive with large areas of forest cover of 50% (compared to only 4% in Haiti). In both countries agricultural systems are based on the same crops: maize, beans, sugar cane, root crops and plantains. The abundance of fruits and farm animals also varies with resource conditions. Fruit trees include bananas, mangos and avocados. Livestock consists of some cattle, goats, pigs, and poultry.The Central Mekong project in Southeast Asia lies above the delta and below the high mountainous temperate zone, and is a critical site for exploring agricultural development in a region undergoing dramatic ecological, social, and economic transformation. The Area is rich in biodiversity that is threatened by rapid economic change with many uncertainties surrounding its sustainability. The project is situated within the larger 260 million ha geopolitical boundary of the Greater Mekong Sub-region which includes Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam plus the two southwest provinces of China. It includes two of the poorest countries in the world (Cambodia and Laos) where over 29% of the population live in poverty. The primary focus of the Central Mekong Action Area will be on the complex of rice and non-rice cropping and farming systems (plus areas with other land uses) in the non-flooded lowlands, uplands, and highlands. \"Green Revolution\" agriculture in the last century contributed greatly to staple food production, and food self-sufficiency in the region to the extent where Thailand and Vietnam engage in massive export rice production but this success has environmental tradeoffs in terms of land degradation, eutrophication and water pollution. These are further confounded by increasing free range cattle production on steep slopes. Benefits are unevenly distributed with infrastructure improvement, farm input distribution and farmer services focused upon delta and lowland communities and bypassing rainfed uplands and highlands. With physical access to markets still varying greatly, the development of regional transport corridors is one of the most important drivers of change. Improvements in transport and communications translate into benefits for the poor, even as these developments remain highly variable. Economic development has resulted in large shifts in consumption and expenditure patterns and these changes are set to continue as the project is situated between the two emerging economies of China and India.This Flagship Project is specially created to enable a number of strategic cross-cutting research to be undertaken, as well as exploring global analysis and synthesis in various domains. Some key dimensions of research in this Flagship project are as follows:Innovation Systems and Innovation Capacity. This research will address questions such as:• What is the contribution of different types, configurations and operationalization of R4D platforms (under different conditions, and for different categories of beneficiaries) in developing, testing and adapting social and technical options that benefit Humidtropics target audiences?• What is the value and different scaling strategies (ranging from classical extension, innovation platforms, FFS, mobile ICT and mass media) in scaling discourses, processes, knowledge and technology, among farmers and relevant players in the value chain and in policy circles (i.e. at both niche and regime level)? Global synthesis and analysis on key outcomes from Humidtropics research All these areas will be further developed.Partnerships are at the core of Humidtropics. The program can be considered a formal knowledge-based network of R4D Partners. Partnerships are at global, regional, national and local levels. They include both multi-sectorial and -disciplinary research and development interests aimed at the complex concept of sustainable development that involves the integration, or intersection, of economic development, environmental protection and preservation, and social development that enhances the quality of life and well-being of the individual. They include partners from the various organizations along the research-development impact pathway chain. Thus there are a full spectrum of partners from both research and development organizations (including direct partners and boundary partners). Categories of current partners are as follows:• CGIAR Centers: currently the program involves seven CGIAR centers (Bioversity, CIAT, CIP, ICRAF, IITA, ILRI, IWMI), though links also exist with a number of others, through the CGIAR Research Programs. This new cycle of the operation of Humidtropics would be executed in 3 three-year phases, which would be the basis of research implementation and budget allocation for realization of the IDOs and targets established for the program.Phase I, Yr. 1 -Yr. 3 (20151 -Yr. 3 ( -2017)): This phase will continue the research in selected projects from the pool of ongoing research during the preface period, and will also see the unrolling of the new Flagship Project framework in all Action Areas. There will be an intensification of Action Research and the intensification of activities across all three strategic research domains cutting across all the Flagship Projects. Particular work during this period will focus on finalizing the baselines and initiating the M&E framework and data gathering as a component of research functioning. Capacity building and gender mainstreaming structures will also be incorporated in the programs.Phase II, Yr. 4 -Yr. 6 (2018-2020): During this phase, research will continue in Flagship Projects in all Tier 1 locations. This phase should see a fully functioning Flagship Project teams, with fully integrated research across all the strategic themes of Humidtropics. The period will also see an expansion of research into new sites, as Tier 2 Action Areas / Flagship Projects are launched during the period. These new projects will go through situation analysis (SRT 1) and R4D Platform establishment and functioning (SRT 3), building on the gains and experiences from the Tier one operations. Growth and progress will therefore be in two directions, (i) strengthening and intensifying research operations towards outcomes (SRT 2 & 3) in Tier 1 flagships, and (ii) accelerated kick-off of research operations (SRT 1) in the Tier 2 flagships.Phase III, Yr. 7 -9 (2021-2023): Research activities described in Phase II will all continue and be intensified into phase III. Monitoring and evaluation and data gathering towards outcome tracking will be intensified. Deliberate efforts will be made towards the strengthening of the interaction with development partners and boundary partners in the R4D functioning, and research in development efforts will continue through all the Flagship projects.Throughout all the three phases, there would be elements of capacity building and gender mainstreaming which will be incorporated as budgeted components within all projects. Research budgets will be oriented at the realization and attainment of the IDOs through Flagship Projects, with reasonable allocation made for program governance and management, and for the cross cutting activities in SRTs and in gender and capacity development. The broad brush details of the budget layout are presented below.The budget is a work in progress and given the flexible nature of W3 and Bilateral funding for the time being mainly focuses on W1/W2. However, most SRT activities would depend on significant W3/Bilateral funding to about 6 times the W1/W2 total per year. The special Flagship Project on cross-cutting themes is estimated at US$1,000,000 per year. Below (Table 3) is an overview of Flagship Project basic funding needs from W1/W2 based on Action Area Coordination and SRT performance followed by a timeline with growth budget based on establishing and delivering on these Flagships (Table 4).Table 3. Each Action Area Based Flagship has the following W1/W2 investment needs per year (note this does not break things down in overheads, personnel, partnerships, travel, etc which will be done when completing the full proposal).  ","tokenCount":"5127"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1102926368.json b/data/part_1/1102926368.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d6bbf0b240e199e0d665ac32cbb985db804f47d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1102926368.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3915ddefa15d02e76d2a06a171a106d6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c507fd8d-c2e0-4cd8-8513-83dc94f1ce9b/retrieve","id":"-974598841"},"keywords":["enteric fermentation, forage shrub, GHG mitigation, grazing, milk yield, silvopastoral systems Abbreviations: ADF, acid detergent fiber","Af, Tropical wet climate","AOAC, Association of Official Analytical Chemists","Ca, Calcium","CH 4 , methane","CIAT, Centro CO 2 , carbon dioxide","CP, crude protein","DM, dry matter","DMD, dry matter degraded","DMI, dry matter intake","ECD, Electron Capture Detector","EE, ethereal extract","FAO-IAG, The Food and Agriculture Organization-Industry Advisory Group","Fig, Figure","FPCM, fat and protein corrected milk (kg)","GE, gross energy","GHG, greenhouse gas","GWP, Global Warming Potential","ha, hectare","HSD, honestly significant difference","IPCC, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change","ISO, International Organization for Standardization","IVDMD, in vitro dry matter degradability","kcal, kilocalories","kg, kilogram","l, liters","LCA, Life cycle assessment","m 3 , Cubic meter","masl, meters above sea level","Mcal, Megacalorie","mL, milliliter","mm, millimeters","N, north","N 2 O, nitrous oxide","NDCs, Nationally Determined Contributions","NDF, neutral detergent fiber","NTC, Norma técnica Colombiana","P, Phosphorus","ppm, parts per million","SPS, silvopastoral systems","W, west","Ym, energy losses as a percent of GE intake"],"sieverID":"76705170-e71d-4370-a886-4e6388725ed1","pagecount":"12","content":"The inclusion of Tithonia diversifolia in pasture-based diets is a promising alternative to increase bovine productivity, due to its chemical composition and wide adaptation, but there are few in vivo studies to determine its effect on methane yield and animal production in grazing systems. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the T. diversifolia inclusion in a basal diet of Brachiaria humidicola on methane (CH 4 ) emissions by enteric fermentation, and on milk yield and quality in dual-purpose cows. The polytunnel technique was used for the determination of methane yield and two diets were evaluated (Diet 1: Brachiaria humidicola 100%; Diet 2: T. diversifolia 15% + B. humidicola 85% dry matter basis) in the moderate rainy and rainy seasons using a cross-over experimental design; milk production was measured by daily milk weighing, and milk quality was determined using a LACTOSCAN analyzer. The inclusion of T. diversifolia did not increase the dry matter intake (P = 0.369), but increased the intake of crude protein and minerals, and reduced fiber intake, resulting in the increased yield of milk and its components in the moderate rainy season (P = 0.012). The inclusion of T. diversifolia reduced the absolute CH 4 emissions (P = 0.016), Ym and emission intensity (per unit of fat, protein and kilogram fat and protein corrected milk yields) both in the moderate rainy and rainy seasons (P < 0.05). We conclude that the inclusion of T. diversifolia in the forage feed base in the humid tropics such as the Amazon piedmont can be used as a tool to both mitigate enteric CH 4 emissions and to increase animal productivity and hence reduce emissions intensity, and thus reduce pressure on the agricultural frontier in critical areas such as the Amazon.Methane (CH 4 ), despite its relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere (12-15 years), is the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) of anthropogenic origin with a global warming potential 28 times higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) (IPCC, 2013). The livestock sector contributes an estimated of 14.5% of global GHG emissions, with CH 4 from ruminant enteric fermentation accounting for 39.1% of the sector's emissions and 6% of global emissions (Gerber et al., 2013;Beauchemin et al., 2020).Extensive cattle ranching systems in tropical and subtropical regions such as the Amazon have caused land degradation, loss of biodiversity, and increased emissions of GHG (Kennedy and Charmley, 2012;Ku-Vera et al., 2020). These systems are also less efficient due to low pasture quality, suboptimal management of resources, hence associated with high carbon footprints (Rao et al., 2015;Carvalho et al., 2020). In the face of current climate problems and the high amounts of GHG generated by livestock systems, major research efforts have focused on reducing enteric CH 4 emissions through feeding management practices that alter rumen fermentation with the potential to increase animal productivity (Ku-Vera et al., 2020;Valencia-Salazar et al., 2021).To contribute to sustainable livestock production, these forages must be associated with an increase in milk and meat productivity, with desirable adaptive and nutritional characteristics and a reduction in GHG emissions and other environmental impacts (Tapasco et al., 2019;Arango et al., 2020). Well managed forage base systems, including silvopastoral systems (SPS) could contribute to reduced emissions of enteric CH 4 (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) (Rivera et al., 2018;Rivera and Chará, 2021) and increased carbon accumulation in aboveground biomass and soils (Landholm et al., 2019).In recent years, tropical trees, and shrubs such as Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray., when incorporated in SPS have received attention from researchers due to their potential to increase fermentative efficiency and reduce enteric CH 4 emissions compared to forage species traditionally offered in pastoral diets (Ribeiro et al., 2016;Terry et al., 2016;Galindo-Blanco et al., 2018;Rivera et al., 2021). The benefits of T. diversifolia are given by its higher nutritional quality based on high contents of crude protein, minerals, and energy, low fiber values, high degradability, the presence of phytochemical compounds, and its ability to adapt to different edaphoclimatic conditions (Chagas-Paula et al., 2012;Rivera et al., 2021). Some phytochemical compounds in T. diversifolia can decrease enteric CH 4 production and modify gas production rates due to inhibitory effects on specific groups of rumen microorganisms by their interaction with their membrane or by the interaction with some components of the diet itself (Delgado et al., 2012;Bhatta et al., 2013;Rivera et al., 2021). Delgado et al. (2012) reported that T. diversifolia has methane-reducing properties when supplemented at 30% in a feed based on Cynodon nlemfuensis and indicated that this was due to the secondary metabolites present in T. diversifolia, such as condensed tannins, essential oils, and saponins. Chagas-Paula et al. (2012) reported that Tithonia contains over 150 phytochemical compounds, particularly sesquiterpene lactones, diterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, and saponins. Despite all the above, in vivo experiments with T. diversifolia have been limited, especially to determine its CH 4 mitigation potential in grazing conditions and in an area with extensive land use conflicts such as the Amazon. On the other hand, reducing the high GHG emissions associated with the livestock sector represents an opportunity for countries to move towards achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020).The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of inclusion of T. diversifolia forage to a basal diet based on pasture forage of B. humidicola on feed intake, milk yield, and CH 4 emission from dual-purpose milking cows in the Amazonian piedmont of Colombia.The study was reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the Centro Para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria (CIPAV) and following protocols of the Colombian law No. 84/1989.The study was carried out in El Volga, a commercial dual-purpose cattle farm (N 1°44ʹ34.12″ W 75°15ʹ49.67″) in the Colombian Amazonian piedmont, at an altitude of 347 masl (meters above sea level). Evaluations were made during the moderate rainy season in 2020 (October-November) and the rainy season in 2021 (March-April); according to the historical rainfall regimes of the region, these two moments coincide with the two climatic periods that occur in the study area. The study location is within the regional climate classification defined as tropical rainforest type tropical wet forest-Af (Köppen classification), with a mean annual temperature of 25.5 °C, precipitation of 3800 mm/yr and relative humidity of 85%. The soils are highly weathered and classified as Dystrudepts and Hapludox that originated from fine alluvial sediments (Olaya-Montes et al., 2020).The two diets (treatments) evaluated involved two forage species. The basal diet (Diet 1) was fresh cut Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick harvested from a conventional pasture at a regrowth stage of 30 and 42 days for the moderate rainy and rainy season, respectively. The pasture was a partially degraded grassland, with low presence of tress, and used under extensive grazing. Diet 2 was composed of T. diversifolia and B. humidicola (15:85, dry matter [DM] basis on average). B. humidicola was harvested at the same regrowth stage used for Diet 1. T. diversifolia was harvested from a SPS with a density of 2000 plants/ha, associated with trees within the system and along the fences, and the 85:15 ratio was ensured by weighing of the two forages offered to each animal during the measurement days.The percentage of shrub inclusion in Diet 2 was estimated during the adaptation period (Figure 1) by measuring pasture biomass in paddocks containing T. diversifolia before and after animal grazing four times for each season, using the double sampling technique (Haydock and Shaw, 1975); the proportion of forage species in the diets evaluated was ensured by adjusting the grazing area during the experimental period to guarantee an adequate supply, based on the size and number of animals grazing in the pasture. During the moderate rainy season, the supply of B. humidicola in the grazing areas corresponding to Diet 2 was on average 417.5 (± 29.86) kg, and that of T. diversifolia was 76.7 (± 7.93) kg/ha of DM. During the rainy season the average supply of B. humidicola and T. diversifolia was 369.3 (± 27.91) and 64.4 (± 10.68) kg of DM/ha respectively. With this forage supply, a ratio of 84.5:15.5 and 85.2:14.8 was calculated for the moderate rainy and rainy seasons respectively (the individual values are presented in the Supplementary material).Four samples of each diet were collected during each season to be analyzed in the Animal Nutrition and Forage Quality Laboratory of Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT, Colombia) (certified by the FAO-IAG proficiency test of feed). Both diets were analyzed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), gross energy (GE), ash (Ash), ethereal extract (EE) and in vitro dry matter degradability (IVDMD). DM content was determined in a forced air oven at 105 °C until constant weight was reached (International Organization for Standardization-ISO 6496) (ISO, 1999), the percentage of N and CP was determined by the Kjeldahl method according to Norma Técnica Colombiana (ICONTEC 4657, 1999), NDF and ADF were determined by the sequential technique described by Van Soest et al. (1991) according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) 2002. 04 and 973.18, respectively (AOAC, 2005a, b, c), and EE by Soxhelet extraction by immersion (Norma Técnica Colombiana-ICONTEC 668, 1973). Ash content was obtained by direct combustion in a muffle furnace at 500 °C according to AOAC 942.05 (AOAC, 2005a, b, c), P (Phosphorus) and Ca (Calcium) by spectrometry, and GE by calorimetry based on ISO 9831 (ISO, 1998) and IVDMD according to Tilley and Terry (1963).Eight lactating cows typical of the area with various degrees of crossbreeding (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) were chosen. For the moderate rainy season, the animals had 232 ± 8.20 days in milk, an age of 64.5 ± 20.4 months, 2.25 ± 1.26 parturitions, live weight of 419 ± 30.6 kg, and produced an average of 5.10 ± 0.59 L/animal/d. For the rainy season, the animals had 186 ± 26.1 days in milk, an age of 80.4 ± 20.9 months, 3.75 ± 2.92 parturitions, live weight of 395 ± 35.1 kg, and milk production of 5.22 ± 1.93 L/animal/d. The animals selected were randomly allocated to the treatments in each season. Mechanical milking was used once a day, milking time was estimated between 7 and 10 min for each animal, and the cows were with the calf during milking. This milking routine was used throughout the experimental period and with the same method and duration for all the animals.In the last 3 days of the adaptation period and at each gas sampling time (days 12, 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29, and 30 of each season-Figure 1), milk production was measured individually, and milk protein and fat production were determined using a LACTOSCAN analyzer. Milk production was corrected for fat and protein content (FPCM-milk standardized at 3.7% and 3.3% fat and protein, respectively) (Thomassen and de Boer, 2005) in order to compare it between diets. During the milk production measurement days, calves were with the cows only to stimulate milking but were separated immediately afterwards to measure real milk production for each diet.Diets were offered individually to each animal in feeders installed inside the tunnels during the experimental period. Forages were cut directly from the grazing systems and were offered fresh without chopping (leaves and stems with diameters of less than 5 mm); for Diet 2, B. humidicola and T. diversifolia were offered separately. All animals had ad libitum access to forages, ensuring the supply ratio of 85:15 of B. humidicola and T. diversifolia for Diet 2, and water in each compartment. During the adaptation periods the animals were allowed to graze in paddocks with the forages corresponding to their diet with the objective of achieving their normal intake and only entered the polytunnels 6 h/d for adaptation/acclimatization, where the forages of both diets were also offered. No additional concentrates or supplements were added. The voluntary daily intake of each animal, for each of the diets in both seasons was measured four times and was calculated as the difference between the amount of forage offered and rejected. Forages were cut twice per day and offered every three hours while the animals were enclosed in the polytunnels to provide a constant supply of pasture.Measurements of CH 4 emissions were performed using the polytunnel technique (Lockyer, 1997;Murray et al., 2007), the study had two 30-d periods (one period in rainy season and one in moderate rainy season). Each season had two 12-d periods of adaptation/acclimatization to the diets and polytunnels, and two 2-d measurement periods with an intermediate day of rest between each sampling day (Figure 1). Gas samples were taken every 60 min starting at 7:00, during 24 h, in 8 mL vials and following the recommendations of Molina et al. (2016) and Gaviria-Uribe et al. ( 2020); the gas samples were taken using individual extractors at an extraction rate of 0.9 m 3 /s installed in each compartment of the polytunnel, and an environmental sample was also taken every hour (input gas) in order to correct the exhaust gas samples. Every hour, after taking the gas sample, the polytunnel was opened to release the accumulated gas before starting a new measurement. According to Lockyer and Jarvis (1995) and Lockyer (1997), polyethylene structures such as those used in this study have gas recoveries of 95.5-97.9%. Figure 1 describes the general scheme of the experiment.Total methane emissions were calculated with the ideal gas law according to López and Newbold (2007), based on the concentration of CH 4 determined by chromatography (ppm) every hour, the total volume of the polytunnel, temperature and atmospheric pressure. The accumulated methane per day (g CH 4 /animal/d) was estimated as the sum of methane production in each hour of the day. Two polytunnels divided into two compartments of 36 m 3 each were used to house the animals individually. The environmental conditions inside and outside the polytunnels were continuously monitored during the experimental period to ensure that the temperature and humidity inside the structures did not generate thermal stress in the animals and thus ensure normal forage intake.Methane concentration was measured using a gas chromatograph (Shimadzu GC-2014, SHIMADZU, Japan) with the following specifications: Column: Shimadzu: 1/800 packed stainless steel columns, HayeSep T 80/100 mesh, 4 m HayeSep D 80/100, 1.5 P-N, 0.7 m Shimalite Q 100/180, column temperature: 80 °C, detector temperature: FID = 250 °C, Electron Capture Detector (ECD) 325 °C, methanizer temperature 380 °C, carrier gas: nitrogen, column flow rate 30. 83 mL/ min and injection volume managed by a loop with 2 mL capacity (CIAT).A cross-over design was used, and each diet were assigned to animals during the first experimental period and then exchanged between groups for the second period of each season (day 16) (Figure 1). The individual cow was the experimental unit for each variable to measure. Gas emission measurements in each period were made for 2 days in order to account for variations between days and within animals and to have a larger number of measurements. Animal weight and day were used as a covariate and multiple comparisons were evaluated using Tukey's HSD (honestly significant difference) test, using the RStudio tool (RStudio Team, 2020).The variables measured were, g CH 4 /animal/d, g CH 4 /kg DM intake, g CH 4 /kg of degraded DM, kg CO 2 -eq/kg of FPCM, kg CO 2 -eq/kg of protein, kg CO 2 -eq/kg of fat, DM intake per animal per day as percentage of live weight, kg FPCM per animal per day, g protein per animal per day, g fat per animal per day and the energy losses as a percent of GE intake (Ym) for each of the diets offered. Before making the contrasts between the means of the variables, normality, homogeneity of variance and additivity of the data were corroborated.With the division of cumulative CH 4 emissions (g CH 4 / animal/d) and animal intake per day, g CH 4 /kg DM intake was estimated; g CH 4 /kg of degraded DM was calculated with the g CH 4 /kg DM intake emissions adjusted for the degradability of each of the diets (Table 1), emissions per kg FPCM were calculated by dividing total emissions (g CH 4 /animal/d) by milk production adjusted for FPCM as well as for emissions per kg of fat andprotein, and finally Ym was calculated from the energy contained in each diet, g CH 4 /kg DM intake and the mass energy of CH 4 (13.3006839 kcal/kg).The chemical composition of the diets offered in both seasons is shown in Table 1. The inclusion of T. diversifolia in the basal diet of B. humidicola improved CP supply by 17.9 and 35.1% for the moderate rainy and rainy seasons, respectively, and increased IVDMD by 3.17% on average (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the supply of this shrub decreased the NDF content by 5.58% with respect to the B. humidicola diet and increased mineral content such as Ca and P (P < 0.05).Particularly for T. diversifolia, the season influenced DM and GE variables (P < 0.05) but not on the other characteristics. On the other hand, in B. humidicola, the variables of CP, IVDMD, GE, EE, and P had differences between seasons (P < 0.05).Total DM intake expressed as a percentage of animal live weight did not differ between diets (1.84 vs. 1.88 for Diet 1 and Diet 2, respectively) (P = 0.369), although on average consumption was higher for Diet 2; on average DM intakes were 1.90 and 1.82% in the rainy and moderate rainy seasons, respectively (P = 0.031). For diet 2, the average consumption of T. diversifolia was 17.5% (± 2.46) with no differences between seasons (P = 0.390) (Table 2). The standard deviation in the supply of T. diversifolia during the adaptation/acclimatization period was ± 1.31% and had an average coefficient of variation of 8.4.FPCM production during the moderate rainy season was 4.81 (± 0.50) and 5.36 (± 0.36) and in the rainy season was 5.02 (± 1.62) and 5.37 (± 1.74) kg/animal/d for Diet 1 and Diet 2, respectively. In the moderate rainy season, there were significant differences between diets for FPCM, g of fat per animal per day and g of protein per animal per day (P < 0.05), but in the rainy season there were no differences (P > 0.05) although Diet 2 had higher productivity (Figure 2).Figure 3 shows the cumulative CH 4 production by enteric fermentation (g/animal/d) during the two seasons. The B. humidicola + T. diversifolia diet generated lower emissions in each of the variables measured (P < 0.05). Table 3 shows the results related to CH 4 yield.In both seasons, T. diversifolia intake had a significant effect on emissions and emission intensity for FPCM, kg of protein and kg of fat. Energy loss in the form of methane (Ym) was greater in the B. humidicola-based diets (Diet 1) (P < 0.05) (Table 3).Finally, regarding environmental conditions, average temperature in the moderate rainy season was 29.0 (± 2.4) and 27.1 (± 8.2)°C, and relative humidity was 83.7 (± 6.1) and 78.6 (± 8.2)%, inside and outside the polytunnels, respectively. For the rainy season period, temperature was 27.8 (± 2.9) and 26.1 (± 10.2)°C, and humidity was 87.1 (± 4.0) and 83.9 (± 9.5)%, inside and outside the polytunnels, respectively. The maximum temperature inside the polytunnels was 34.0 °C (between 14:00 and 16:00 h) and the maximum humidity was 90% (between 4:00 and 6:00 h).The results of this study show that although T. diversifolia is not a leguminous species, its CP values are as high as those reported in some tropical legumes such as Stylosanthes guianensis (Morgado et al., 2009), Arachis pintoi (Khan et al., 2013), Leucaena diversifolia and L. leucocephala (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020), and Gliricidia sepium (Silva et al., 2017), and higher than those observed in most tropical grasses (Carvalho et al., 2017;Ribeiro et al., 2017;Rivera et al., 2021). Likewise, NDF and ADF content of T. diversifolia is lower than the common values observed for tropical forages (Souza et al., 2007), a property that favors adequate voluntary intake and improves nutrient degradability. T. diversifolia had two and three times more CP, 30 and 34% less NDF and 16 and 20% more IVDMD than B. humidicola, so the mixture that included only 17.5% of T. diversifolia favored a greater supply and intake of nutrients, especially CP and minerals, and a reduction in the amount of NDF compared to the B. humidicola base diet. However, although the results showed an improvement in nutritional quality in the diets with T. diversifolia, no significant increase in total DM intake was found, which could be due to the moderate inclusion of the shrub in the diet and to the relatively low productive level of the cows under evaluation. Other studies have found an increase in DM intake when the shrub Leucaena leucocephala replaced 15-25% of a grass-based diet (Cuartas et al., 2015;Molina et al., 2016); this condition could favor higher emissions per animal day due to higher DM intake, but in this study this behavior did not occur.The DM intake as a percentage of live weight found in this study coincides with values reported in other studies under tropical conditions. According to Boval et al. (2015), Piñeiro-Vázquez et al. ( 2017) and Gaviria-Uribe et al. ( 2020), under tropical conditions DM intake for grazing cattle ranges between 1.5 and 2.1% of animal live weight; in addition, estimates from models such as Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) (Tylutki et al., 2008) corroborate these relatively low values, since nutritional requirements are not high, and diets have low passage rates and high fiber contents.Among the evaluation seasons, differences in CP, P, GE, and IVDMD were identified for B. humidicola, which is probably due to the post-grazing pasture recovery times (30 vs. 42 d for moderate rainy and rainy seasons, respectively), as the rainy season in the study area delays pasture recovery due to high soil moisture. Longer resting times can generate higher NDF contents and lower CP and IVDMD values due to higher tissue cell wall production that causes nutrient translocation in the plant (Dias et al., 2019). The differences in the B. humidicola + T. diversifolia diet were probably due to modifications in the chemical composition of B. humidicola which was the species that contributed the highest amount of total DM in the diet because T. diversifolia did not vary considerably between seasons. Rivera et al. (2021) have found that the nutritional quality of T. diversifolia does not vary considerably with regrowth time.Regarding T. diversifolia intake as a percentage of the diet, the values of this study are higher than those reported by Ribeiro et al. (2016) and Mejía-Díaz et al. (2017) who found consumption of 5-15% of the total DM in the diet and below those found by Gallego-Castro et al. (2017) who obtained consumptions of up to 25% of the total DM, with productive and economic benefits in high production cows (production > 20 L/animal/d). These intake values confirm the possibility of achieving significant inclusions of T. diversifolia in bovine systems with the objective of increasing animal production and overall system efficiency. It has been shown that the effects of T. diversifolia could occur when this shrub represents more than 15% of DM of the total diet (Delgado et al., 2012;Rivera et al., 2021). In the present study, with a consumption of T. diversifolia equivalent to 17.5% of the total DMI, the animals received 19% more minerals, 37% more CP, 30% more P and 2.4 times more Ca per day, nutrients that are very important in dairy production. It also represented a reduction in the ADF intake that was significantly lower than the amount consumed by cows without the inclusion of T. diversifolia. Since these animals have medium nutritional requirements given their milk production, and are in the second third of lactation, the increase in nutrients offered in Diet 2 could have a greater effect on the animals.Despite the lack of differences in the DM intake between treatments, the inclusion of T. diversifolia in the diet significantly increased production of milk, fat, and protein per day (with increased nutrient consumption), this condition could represent a potential for not having to expand the livestock frontier, given that greater production is being obtained with the same amount of area, but with a higher quality of DM consumed. As previously presented, this species increases CP, fat, and mineral contents of the diet, improves DM degradability, and decreases fiber contents (NDF and FDA) with improved milk production and quality. In  2021) have found that T. diversifolia modifies the fermentation dynamics of diets containing it compared to grass-only diets (a shorter lag phase and a higher rapidly degradable fraction that enhance a better rumen nutrient balance and a higher availability of nutrients in the rumen). Similar results have been found by other authors. Ribeiro et al. (2016) evaluated the effects of replacing fresh sugarcane and concentrates with T. diversifolia (0, 6, 4, 15%) in lactating cows, reporting that it was possible to replace sugarcane (20% of DM) and concentrate (11.2% of DM) without any change in total intake (18.7 kg DM/d), milk production (22.9 kg/d) and nutritional composition. Similarly, the inclusion of T. diversifolia did not negatively affect glucose, urea, triglycerides, cholesterol, nonesterified fatty acids and ß-hydroxybutyrate parameters.On the other hand, in Colombia, Rivera et al. (2015), when comparing a monoculture system of B. brizantha and a system with T. diversifolia (3500 shrubs/ha), found that the latter increased milk production (kg per cow per day or kg/ ha/d), non-fat solids (kg per cow per day or kg/ha/d) and total solids (kg per cow per day or kg/ha/d). Daily milk production per cow with T. diversifolia was 4.92 kg, 7% more than the system with B. brizantha. Also, the animal stocking rate increased 32%, producer income increased by 25% and benefits for the dairy industry were achieved, since there was a greater volume of milk per hectare (29% more) with higher solids content (P < 0.05) and less seasonality in production.The higher milk solids yield with T. diversifolia inclusion during the moderate rainy season was probably due to a better energy-protein balance and greater solubility at the rumen level during early fermentation times; this favors a greater availability of nutrients, a greater production of microorganisms and a better synchrony between energy and protein in the rumen. According to Gallego-Castro et al. (2017), T. diversifolia provides higher nonstructural carbohydrates (11.2%) than tropical pastures and its protein is rapidly soluble (> 40%). These characteristics have also been reported by La O et al. (2012) who found that diets with  T. diversifolia have a higher degradation fraction than that reported for diets based only on grasses, improving fermentation dynamics, which favors a greater and faster availability of nutrients in the rumen. Finally, the milk production found in this study is similar to that reported by Rivera et al. (2015) and Parra et al. (2017), who found average productions ranging from 2 to 6 L/animal/d in dual-purpose cows in this region.The inclusion of T. diversifolia significantly contributed to reduce the emissions of CH 4 per day and per unit of DM consumed or degraded. The g of CH 4 /kg DM consumed and Ym are slightly above those reported by Rivera et al. (2021), who evaluated different genotypes of T. diversifolia under in vitro conditions in a 25:75 mixture of T. diversifolia and B. brizantha and found values between 24.1 to 26.4 and 7.80 to 8.76 for g CH 4 /kg DM consumed and Ym, respectively. These values are also close to those reported by the IPCC guidelines (Gavrilova et al., 2019) for pastoral diets in tropical environments (6.5%) but could be used to estimate GHG inventories more in line with the conditions present in the study area, since the results were obtained at two times of the year and under the usual conditions of the production systems in the region. Ribeiro et al. (2016) evaluated the substitution (up to 15%) of concentrate feed by this shrub in high milk production cows, and although metabolic and productive parameters were not affected, CH 4 emissions increased when T. diversifolia was included since the base diet was of high quality. Therefore, the results presented in this research provide important new knowledge about an additional species with the ability to mitigate CH 4 emissions by enteric fermentation in tropical and subtropical conditions with medium to low-quality forage, since T. diversifolia can be used from sea level to 2200 masl and from soils with moderate fertility to acid soils with low organic matter and Al saturation with limited cation exchange capacity (Ruiz et al., 2013;Holguín et al., 2015).The mechanisms by which T. diversifolia mitigates CH 4 emissions may be diverse. The decrease in fiber, the increase in CP and digestibility and the contribution of some phytochemical compounds are among the possible mechanisms when the inclusion in the diet is representative (> 15% of the total DM intake). The inclusion of T. diversifolia in ruminant diets has been proposed as a mitigation alternative due to its high degradability and low fiber content, as these characteristics have been associated with lower CH 4 emissions by enteric fermentation (Yan et al., 2006;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020;Valencia-Salazar et al., 2021). An additional factor that can contribute to reduce enteric emissions is the presence of phytochemical compounds such as sesquiterpene lactones, diterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, and saponins that can modify the population of methanogenic microorganisms in the rumen due to the interaction with their membrane or with some components of the diet itself (Chagas-Paula et al., 2012;Delgado et al., 2012;Rivera et al., 2021).Low contents of ADF (<40%) and NDF (<50%), acceptable amounts of soluble carbohydrates (>12%), high degradability (>70%) and high contents of CP (>20%) appear to be the main proximal features that decrease CH 4 at the ruminal level (Rivera et al., 2021). Yan et al. (2006) reported that reducing the contents of NDF and ADF to 1% reduced the CH 4 emissions per kg of IDM by 2.01 and 2.26 l, respectively. These authors also reported that for every 1% increase in protein content, emission of enteric CH 4 decreased by 6.22 L/kg of DM consumed. Similarly, the consumption of less lignified grasses has a clear effect on ruminal digestibility and passage rate (O` Mara, 2004). Thus, Blaxter and Clapperton (1965) reported that by decreasing the digestibility of forages from 75 to 55%, the emission of methane increases from 306 to 499 g/d. Lower fiber content and higher CP content could explain the CH 4 decrease found in this study by the inclusion of T. diversifolia in a basal diet of B. brizantha or another tropical pasture.For example, Figure 4 shows the relationship between NDF and CP content, and the DM degradability with CH 4 generation in different studies with T. diversifolia, finding a relationship between these chemical characteristics in the feed and CH 4 emissions; high values of NDF are associated with higher CH 4 generation, and high contents of CP and DM degradability are associated with lower emissions.On the other hand, even though the main phytochemical compounds in this study were not determined, authors such as Delgado et al. (2012) andValencia-Salazar et al. (2021) have identified that T. diversifolia can provide acceptable values of alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins, phytochemical compounds with potential to modify some methanogenic populations in the rumen. On the other hand, Rivera et al. (2021) reported mean values for tannins in this species but have highlighted that it is important to characterize these secondary metabolites since their mitigation potential will depend on their structure (Barahona et al. 2006).Some studies have evaluated the effect of T. diversifolia on CH 4 emissions (Ribeiro et al., 2016;Terry et al., 2016;Rivera et al., 2021), although the results are divergent. According to the results of these studies, the effect of T. diversifolia on CH 4 production depends on the percentage of inclusion in the diet, the quality of base diet and apparently some ecotypes of this species have different effects on CH 4 emissions (Rivera et al., 2021). Rivera et al. (2021) found that T. diversifolia favors the production of propionic and butyric acid instead of acetic acid and decreases the lag phase of gas production, in addition to improving DM degradability and thus nutrient availability in B. brizantha basal diets, which is associated with lower CH 4 production in the rumen due to the generation of lower amounts of free hydrogens that can be used in other metabolic pathways. Galindo-Blanco et al. (2018) demonstrated that the inclusion of T. diversifolia can reduce the population of rumen protozoa and methanogenic microorganisms when evaluated under in vitro conditions at levels above 15% of the total DM, and according to Delgado et al. (2012) the addition of 30% T. diversifolia to a diet based on Cynodon nlemfuensis generated 32.9% less CH 4 production in in vitro studies, probably due to the presence of secondary metabolites of T. diversifolia, such as tannins, flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids that reduce rumen protozoan populations, which share a symbiotic relationship with ruminal CH 4 -producing methanogens (Hook et al., 2010).Finally, regarding the mitigation per unit of product achieved in the B. humidicola + T. diversifolia diet, it is highlighted that this was due to both the reduction of total CH 4 (CH 4 /animal/d) and the productive increase especially in the moderate rainy season. According to Rivera et al. (2016) and Gonzáles-Quintero et al. (2020), an alternative to decrease emission intensities is oriented to improve productive efficiency, that is, to increase production. This not only improves the environmental condition of the systems but can also improve their economics.It is recommended to increase knowledge about the phytochemical components of T. diversifolia that may affect CH 4 emissions, in addition to more holistic research such as Life cycle assessment (LCA) and with gas balance including the carbon sequestration potential of such systems.The results of this study demonstrate that under low and humid tropical conditions, the inclusion of a relatively low amount of T. diversifolia in the diet of dairy cows contribute to the mitigation enteric CH 4 emissions on in vivo conditions in different climatic periods of the year, reduce emission intensities, and improve milk production and compositional quality. This is particularly relevant for tropical countries, where breeding and dual-purpose cows are the groups with highest contribution to CH 4 emissions and this reduction could be achieved with a resource produced in the farm at a relatively low cost. Currently, in countries such as Colombia, the information about emission factors in local conditions is scarce. Therefore, the emission factors determined in this study could contribute to improve regional GHG inventories, and the promising mitigation results could provide alternatives to achieve the NDCs of countries such as Colombia and offer options to improve livestock systems and reduce pressures on the agricultural frontier in critical areas of the Amazon.","tokenCount":"5810"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1104955979.json b/data/part_1/1104955979.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c5b47fc567985e511fb3a93b76a26f76f5f27b14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1104955979.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6e5bd0bdbf491e0267a772ca1cdbd91f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6728259b-d0a6-4171-bf09-75cdfe8fef6b/retrieve","id":"1162598058"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b3264958-6c3e-4c59-95ba-608b9c722c1a","pagecount":"44","content":"1. This exercise was replicated from King, K.B. 2017. Futures Thinking Playbook.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is implementing the Program for Climate Smart Livestock (PCSL) in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. PCSL is designed to build the capacity of governments, the private sector, and livestock keepers towards improving livestock productivity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to climate change. In March 2021, ILRI held a workshop with relevant stakeholders to discuss potential transformative pathways for the livestock sector in Uganda.The workshop brought together 26 Ugandan stakeholders representing a variety of organisations, including government ministries, the private sector, NGOs and research institutes.The 1-day workshop was carried out in a hybrid physical (75% of participants) + virtual (25% of participants) format. Digital tools were used for gathering individual reflections (Mentimeter) and group discussions (Miro).The workshop activities and outcomes are outlined in the following pages. They draw a lot of inspiration from the Futures Thinking Playbook by Kate Bishop King (2017) and the Three Horizons Framework as applied by Bill Sharpe and colleagues (2016).This report shares both the workshop methodology and exercises carried out, as well as the key outcomes.When thinking about future scenarios, there are 3 categories: We all think about the future differently. This is a good thing as we open each other to new ways of thinking and are able to contribute in different but ultimately complementary ways.Look at the following two sets of statements. For each set, select the statement that you most resonate with.Combine the letters at the end of the two statements you selected and use this combination to discover your view of the future, on the following pages.What will happen in the future is mostly set and will follow the path we're already on. (A)We each don't have much individual influence over what the future will be. (C) The future holds many possibilities and is not yet determined. (B)We each have a great deal of individual influence over how the future will be. (D)The observer Observers can often see what is happening around them better than others and are willing to go with the flow.The navigator Navigators are often confident and decisive and want to limit the amount of uncertainty in a situation.Observers watch what is happening around them and see how all the pieces fit together to set us on a path toward the future. People with this future personality type believe that we can notice what will happen if we just pay attention. They believe their role is to watch out for the future but not necessarily to shape it.Navigators know where the ship is headed, but they also know that we each have to take individual actions to make sure the trip goes smoothly. People with this future personality type believe that the future is not yet determined but that it will unfold on its own; our individual actions do have an influence on how it turns out.Explorers are often dreamers and can see the best in many types of situations.The mapmaker Mapmakers are often imaginative, optimistic, and strong leaders, ready to take charge Explorers see a wide range of possibilities and are willing to go with any that come along. People with this future personality type believe that the future is not yet determined and that our individual actions don't have much influence over how the future turns out.Mapmakers have the entire ocean in front of them and make decisions that will determine where the ship ends up. People with this future personality type believe that the future is wide open with possibilities, and that our decisions and actions determine how the future turns out.King, K.B. 2017. Futures Thinking Playbook.Participants were asked to state a word that best described what they thought about the future.\"Unpredictable\" was a common thought about the future but there was a strong sense of optimismalbeit with caution -about a green future.Thinking about the future challenges us to think differently. A lot is unknown and it's likely a lot will change, so we are forced to use our imagination, in trying to prepare ourselves for different scenarios.The Three Horizons Framework is useful to help us take this conceptual journey.We look at our current situation: world-views, patterns, assumptions, information, infrastructure.We imagine future world-views, ideas, patterns and innovations and consider what seeds there are for these, in the present moment.What steps, explorations and experiments could take place in the near future, to move us from the 1st to the 3rd horizon?In looking at the past and considering the possibilities, what actions can create a bridge from our present to our desired future.2 Sharpe, B., A. Hodgson, G. Leicester, A. Lyon, and I. Fazey. 2016. Three horizons: a pathways practice for transformation. Ecology and Society 21(2):47.The STEEP checklist is useful in helping us think about the different areas of our lives where change has and will occur.Below are examples of factors that might create change in each of these areas:Thinking about the future is a joint task.\"The Third Horizon Participants were organised into groups to craft the third horizon and explore the question:What does a climate smart and sustainable livestock system in Uganda look like to you?Step 1:Step 2:Quiet reflection: choose 3 of the 5 STEEP areas to describe a smart and sustainable livestock system for Uganda in 2050.• Write down one thing you'd definitely like to see happen in the future.• Write down one thing you'd like to stop from happening in the future.Step 3:Group discussion of reflections.• What are the similarities? Group them.• Note the differences.• Discuss and reach a consensus on this vision of a smart and sustainable livestock system for Uganda in 2050.Step 4:What is happening right now? What organisations, technologies and movements from around the world could help us get to our vision of the future?Identify seeds in the present and things that need to grow, for this future to emerge.Step 5:Craft the following, from this future:• 2 headlines/tweets• A statistic Also, come up with a name for your group that speaks to the future you've crafted.The following pages include highlights from the different groups' discussions.100% of milk from organic green forage 100% clean energy in agricultural systems 15% of Uganda's budget allocated to agricultureTemperatures cooler than in 2021USA imports 50 tonnes of beef from UgandaThe Third HorizonGroup 1• Food security is achieved through sustainable production.• Adherence to the withdrawal period for veterinary drugs before consumption or sale of livestock products.• Strategic disease control and prevention.• Creation of systems for better storage and regular updating of farmer data.• Sustainable rangeland rehabilitation and increased integrated farming practices.• Sustainable waste management, including improved manure management, resulting in no pollution of the environment by livestock waste. Livestock has become a zero-waste sector.• Less than a 1.5 degree temperature rise.• Products yielded through climate-smart practices demand higher prices.• Easy access to affordable financing.• Political priorities are refocused, with regards to agriculture, creating a better political environment for farmers.• Politicians are knowledgeable about climate-smart agriculture (CSA). As a result, they champion enabling laws to make enforcement easy.Group 2• Increased awareness and literacy when it comes to policy.• Strategies and policies designed in consideration of the local context.• Livestock production integrated in farming systems.• Increased access to milk for every child.• Animal should not be transported over long distances for slaughter.• More focus on indigenous technologies, including breeding for faster growth of indigenous trees.• Improved use of ICT in livestock production.• Climatic conditions favour livestock and feeds.• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and the conversion of off-farm waste into energy.• Integrated rangeland management to avoid deforestation.• More intensively managed dairy farms.• Reduced use of chemical ( pesticides and herbicides).• Increase commercial utilisation of livestock by-products.• Sustainable, profitable livestock production which, enables poverty reduction.• Improved sanitary and phytosanitary procedures.• Establishment of abattoirs close to livestock areas.• Efficient and effective governance structures for the livestock sector.Group 3• Stronger farmer institutions (co-ops, societies etc.).• Appreciation and conservation of genetic diversity.• Effective extension services.• High-value breeds that are disease-resistant, higher yielding and forage-efficient.• Harnessing ICT for extension• Circular bio-economy.• Better soil and water management.• Reduction in livestock emissions.• Improved food safety.• Improved cold chains and infrastructure.• Better valuing of livestock's multiple purposes.• Politicians responsive and in touch with what's happening on the ground, creating an environment of supportive policy implementation and enforcement.• Improved regional coordination and cooperation.• An end to cattle-rustling.Group 4 (virtual participants)• Livestock is now a key employment sector in agriculture, attracting especially young people.• One Health approach: recognising connections between animals, humans and the environment.• Focus research on indigenous knowledge and practises.• Social, economic and cultural barriers preventing women from accessing farming are eliminated.• Democratisation of climate-smart technologies and capacity building.• Monitoring systems are effectively tracking 1) climatic changes, 2) livestock diseases, 3) variations in production.• Agricultural production is green and powered by clean energy.• Antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance is minimised.• Investment in climate smart techniques and research has increased dramatically.• Innovative entrepreneurship encouraged across livestock value chain.• Livestock sector is globally competitive and GDP contribution keeps growing!• Decision-makers value the importance of the livestock sector.• Effective public-private partnerships providing services at cheaper costs.• Seamless data flows and cooperation across livestock system.• Data informs sustainable development policies and effective monitoring.There were several commonalities between the groups and the following key points have been synthesised from across all the groups.Greater access to markets for dairy farmers, locally and internationally. More intensively managed dairy farms help farmers to supply these markets. Increased access to milk for local consumers means reaching recommended per capita levels, including milk for every child.No malnourished livestock. The establishment of abattoirs close to livestock areas, to reduce the need for transportation over long distances for slaughter.More focus on supporting women, indigenous groups and youth, including provision of the necessary resources to support their active contribution to farming.A climate-responsive society that approaches everything from a sustainability perspective.Technology used: to support knowledge development and exchange (e.g. harnessing ICT for extension services, apps for sharing market data and platforms for farmer data); to develop better breeds and upgrade value chains; and for disease surveillance and early warning systems.Farming is fully circular with minimal inputs (fertilizers/pesticides), all waste is repurposed and all GHG emissions are captured or offset. Resources are used at the highest efficiency.Integrated rangeland management reduces deforestation. In addition, the appreciation of and research into indigenous trees fosters increased agro-forestry which helps contribute to better soil and water management.Thinking about the future is thinking for the next generation.\"-WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTThe following are some of the key seeds identified by the groups -things that exist and can be built on, for the 2050 visions to emerge.• Streamlined governance and government structures including the presence of local governments.• Multi-stakeholder approaches including public-private partnership and the private sector investing in greening.• The allocation of resources to sustainable livestock production, including government funding for research and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) commitment of 10% of its budget.• Improved investment in public infrastructure such as roads and dams, and in specific agricultural infrastructure such as for processing and abattoirs.• Better feed achieved by: mechanisation for feed production; and promoting alternative inputs like Black Soldier Fly larvae.• Better breeds achieved by training more technicians in reproductive technology, and dissemination by the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank.• Better markets achieved by: quality assurance for international markets; organic farming; established Uganda Bureau of Standards; ongoing efforts towards regional integration; East African trade harmonisation; the ban on imported milk, sugar, maize and eggs; East Africa Dairy Regulatory Authorities Council; premium payments for quality (SNV project).• Affordable and accessible financial services, including climate financing.• The sensitisation of the public on climate change and climate smart practices.• The increased presence of women and the official gender requirement of 30% participation by women in policy-making.• • Increased emphasis on agro-industrialisation and the presence of agri-business incubators and value addition courses at institutions like Makerere University.• The activities of the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI) including: establishing a lab; a vaccine production centre; biogas digestors; circular bio-economy technology; forage breeding programmes.• Education on land management; sustainable waste management; manure use; water management for crops and animals; and water harvesting on farms.• The PCSL learning platform for information exchange.Participants were asked to think about the following, in preparation for the post-lunch session of the workshop:1. A big challenge that we need to overcome in the present to get to this future 2. A policy that currently exists that could help us get to this futureIn the second half of the workshop, participants were asked to individually recall the challenge they identified and come up with a trend statement about it.Is it increasing or decreasing? Is it changing consistently over time?For example:The number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014, despite previously decreasing (FAO 2020).Brainstorming present challenges.• Low uptake of adaptation and mitigation options.• Poor organisation of groups.• Weak uptake of veterinary services.• Marketing favours traders over producers.• Poor extension and communication of livestock technologies.• Lack of traceability.• Lack of data.• Low mechanisation levels.• Poor yielding breeds.• Greenwashing affecting value perception.• Livestock diseases.• Poor quality feed.• Climate variability.• Land degradation.• Shortage of pastureland.• Climate change impacts (e.g. drought).• Poor soil and water management.• Poor donor coordination.• Lack of exports.• Informal meat marketing system.• Little value addition.• Lack of investment in agricultural sector.• Supply struggling to meet market demand.• Trade restrictions in the region.• Poor regulations.• Disconnect between different priorities.• Gaps in policy implementation.Thinking about the future is such a puzzle, but interesting.\"-WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTTeam Sustainability• Emphasise the program mode of implementation in National Development Plan III.• Traceability Bill fast-tracked into a law.• Guidelines on agriculture financing developed and disseminated.• Relevant institutions are empowered in data generation.• Investment in technologies for sustainable water management.• Increased lobbying for the agriculture sector.• Trade block regularised to open international markets.• Internal market systems built.• The proposed Tree Fund is concretised.• Sensitisation about and certification of organic products.• Strategic disease control and prevention.• Multi-stakeholder approaches used.• Public-private partnerships strengthened and emphasised.• Veterinary services re-centralised.• Acaricide zoning.• Livestock production technologies promoted and popularised.• Livestock identification and recordkeeping program, including regular livestock surveys.• Disease control and diagnostic infrastructure better equipped and strengthened. Both passive and active disease surveillance in place.• Equipment for increasing agricultural productivity.• Plan to modernise agriculture revised.• Community breeding program instituted, promoting good breeds.• Institutions, such as local government, strengthened through training.• Policy for livestock identification and traceability.• Public-Private Partnership policy to promote livestock production.• Coordination between sector and development partners improved.• Policies for media promotion.• Regulatory bodies, such as DDA and UNBS, better equipped.• Quality standards enforced at all levels of value chain, including standards for livestock feed.• Complementary agencies merged to improve efficiency.• Simplify existing policies.• Cabinet lobbied for more budget allocation to livestock sector, including more funds for livestock development partners.• Road and infrastructure improvements.• E-extension updated, expanded and to include farmer success stories.• Building on National Food and Agriculture System (NFAS) tool, to avoid having too many tools.• Investment in livestock data: a data collection and centralisation policy with capacity building; a central data management system; data digitisation infrastructure and interoperability; improved decision-support tools.• More livestock economists.• Farmer Field School incorporation into government modules; more specialisation in tertiary agriculture education; and agro-industrial training for women and youth.• A policy for livestock production and marketing, including the reduction or elimination of tariffs and taxes on agricultural inputs reduced or eliminated.• Improved data sharing between local and national governments, including a review of Local Government Act.• Harmonisation of EAC, AFCTA and COMESA regulations.• Action plan for and funding to the animal genetic resources and breeding program.• Functioning of Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and line ministries streamlined.• Specialised financial services including: agricultural equipment co-funded by coops and individuals; livestock insurance; a specific bank dedicated to agriculture; climate financing; and payments for environmental services.• Strong farmer co-ops and societies with more women involved.• Private sector linkages.32• Make climate smart technologies accessible to all people -not just the knowledgeable and rich ones.• Create the right tools/capacities at the local level to increase resilience and adaptability.• Incubation centres in Eastern Uganda, for breeding and other sustainable practices.• Trained livestock economists.• Animal feed production facilities.• Increase focus on zero-grazing and paddocking.• Private sector to drive sustainable farm practices.• Initiatives in construction of water infrastructure for livestock. Use of man-made water resources to avoid depletion of natural resources.• A centralised platform used to push this information to the public and all stakeholders.• Increase government investment in environment and ecology.• Reduce poverty and secure livelihoods, enabling people to access sustainable and modern technological tools and resources.• Leverage the private sector to maximise value across the chain.• Foster and encourage entrepreneurship in the livestock sector, unlocking added value and new activities.• Differentiate value chain activities and let actors can focus on what they do best, for greater value creation.• Diversify livestock sector with new, complementary activities, e.g. rabbit farming, which can be cheaper and more efficient.• Increase investment in pasture farming.Quality standards should be raised across all levels of the value chain. Organic certification, better breeds and equipment for increasing agricultural productivity are just a few interventions to this aim. Improving local markets and opening up to more international ones creates an enabling environment for these improvements.There is a need for better coordination between the multiple stakeholders including: between agencies; public-private partnerships; between producers and development partners; and between the media and policy-makers. These efforts improve knowledge, efficiency and ultimately, impact.Specialised financial services such as a dedicated bank for the sector; climate financing; and tailored insurance products. Improved disease control and diagnostic infrastructure allowing for passive and active disease surveillance. Technologies for sustainable water management. Centralised veterinary services and optimisation of e-extension. Road improvements. There should be more lobbying for the agricultural sector which will result in greater budget allocation. In addition, a revision or elimination of tariffs and taxes on agricultural inputs.Promoting and popularising better livestock products; livestock production technologies; and farmer success stories. Within the sector; with policy-makers and politicians; as well as to the wider public. Changing perceptions about the sector can encourage more people to pursue opportunities and entrepreneurship within the sector.Lastly, participants were asked to complete the following sentence:Thinking about the future, is… Actions that I will now take for myself or my organisation:• Strategic planning/policy focus for greening livestock.• Sensitising my workmates on the Three Horizons framework and helping our organisation to postulate on the best livestock programming for the future.• Stimulate thinking and action towards balancing the need for methane-free production and organic livestock value chains, with the market value of the end products.• Getting more involved in the design, review and dissemination of appropriate policies for sustainable livestock and environmental production.• Advocating more for private-public partnership engagement.• Advocating for policy awareness and increased farmer sensitisation.• Training colleagues on futures thinking.• Planning for the future.• Fast-tracking the implementation of climate smart practices in the Third National Development plan.• Looking more at the opportunities to make dairy farming more green, with the existing economic and environment framework in the country.• Sharing with my friends and influencing livestock financing.• Interlinking all my activities with the future.• Given that I now know some of the government priorities for the development of the livestock sector, I will be in position to propose actions in-line with the development of climate-smart livestock production in the country, during this period when the Country Program is being elaborated.• Adopting the Three Horizon approach for planning.","tokenCount":"3239"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1115451105.json b/data/part_1/1115451105.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5c5d49f8f479265e91fda4522e9166107f0b24fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1115451105.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"965a7470cb7a2e0697db9877a47c44c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1a777733-7309-4f37-96a4-20b70f0f7e7d/retrieve","id":"1935970548"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4d84e260-9441-4ae8-86ef-8c87c0ccdeed","pagecount":"52","content":"Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING is creating opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.The current reporting period covered research results/findings of the livestock, crop and natural resources management (NRM)-related interventions, associated capacity building efforts and research products of the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project in the Ethiopian highlands. The interventions potentially contribute in filling production-related gaps in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's, Amhara, Tigray and Oromia regions.The research work of feed and forage development during the reporting period focused on ongoing research for development (R4D) activities involving fodder beet participatory variety selection (PVS); intercropping desho grass with vetch and tree lucerne; dual-purpose oat and triticale evaluation; and a sweet lupin supplementation trial. In relation to fodder beet, four varieties of fodder beet (Brick, Magnum, Robbos, and a local control-Kulumsa variety) were used in the PVS and implemented across three sites. The local check (Kulumsa variety) and Robbo performed better than the other two varieties (Magnum and Brick), with the former having more than double the biomass yield of the latter. Milk yield increased in a range of 14-29% as a result of the fodder beet supplementation. Like the yield, the local check (Kulumsa) variety showed the highest milk yield increase when used as a supplement followed by Brick.Participatory variety selection (PVS), integrated lentil disease management, community seed production and facilitation of scaling of improved varieties that have been validated in the past few years through development partnerships, have been priority activities to generate research evidence and benefit small-scale farmers. Generally, the productivity of the crop technologies was high under farmers' management practice. For example, durum wheat, bread wheat and faba bean provided 4.5, 4 and 2.8 t/ha grain yield, which is higher than the national average.Africa RISING and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have been developing decision support tools that extension agents and subject matter specialists could use to guide farmers and communities on best-bet fertilizer use in the various farming systems of Ethiopia. Under lime conditions, the highest fertilizer response to fertilizer application was obtained from footslopes and midslopes and the lowest being from hillsides and plateau. The effect of landscape positions and soil types on crop fertilizer response was pronounced mainly when the fertilizer application rate is on optimum amount, or higher than average.During the current reporting period, activities implemented in relation to small-scale mechanization included harvesting on-farm demonstrations and collecting of maize and wheat yield data, conducting farmer field days on post-harvest processing technologies, and facilitating a learning visit for service providers. The paired plot on-farm demonstrations were harvested during November-December 2019, and crop yield data collected. Results show that two-wheel tractor (2-WT) direct seeding had 25% and 13% higher wheat grain and straw yields, respectively, compared with the conventional practice. In the wheat systems, 2-WT direct seeded system had a 47% higher gross margin than the conventional practice.The soil and water management work in the current reporting period focused more on trade-off analysis of different ecosystem services, development of suitability maps for selected Africa RISING validated technologies, supporting development sectors on evidence generation of interventions in different watersheds and building capacities. Based on the preliminary suitability analysis result, it was possible to grow tree lucerne (fodder and fertilizer tree) on 125,210 ha of land in the Ethiopian highlands, which can produce 5 million tonnes of fresh biomass per year.The Africa RISING project in the current reporting period organized different training sessions, workshops, visits, field days and survey programs for local and core CGIAR partners. As a result, 4346 individuals benefited from the project capacity building initiatives.The Africa RISING program comprises three research-for-development projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the US government's Feed the Future initiative.In its second phase, the Africa RISING project in the Ethiopian Highlands will seek to elaborate the generic research questions presented in the program umbrella document for issues identified largely during phase I (2011-2016). The research questions addressed by our specific activities will contribute insights from specific sustainable intensification-related activities and geographic areas within the country.Umbrella research questions: What are the environmental, economic, human and social impacts of productivity-enhancing interventions?Umbrella research question: How are these interventions aiming at increasing productivity and improve environmental conditions to benefit diverse farmer typologies in the target areas?Umbrella research question: How do changes in the management of specific activities or combination of activities within a farm (e.g. a field or a livestock unit) affect overall livelihood conditions for different farmer typologies?Umbrella research question: How does enabling conditions affect the nature (variety, agro-inputs, complexity and diversity) of promising interventions moving towards sustainable intensification (SI)?Umbrella research question: How does social capital affect community productivity, cooperation and well-being along with the scaling of SI innovations?Africa RISING in Ethiopia is led by scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with scientists from other CGIAR centres, the Ethiopian national agricultural research system (NARS) and local communities.In its second phase (2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021), Africa RISING in the Ethiopian highlands project has been targeting 0.7 million households with SI technologies. So far, with three cropping seasons, the project has reached and benefitted more than 206,411 households (HHs) with its validated technologies. This equates to a land area of 92,160 ha. The geographical and administrative coverage of the project has also increased from 4 to over 31 woredas (districts) and 4 to 9 zones. In the remaining 2 years, the project will seek to generate wider evidence for the benefits of the novel R4D techniques adopted, synthesize the lessons learned and deliver the tools required to support the wider employment of these approaches.Highlights from the current reporting period (October-March 2020)Feed and forage innovationsBuilding on the achievements of previous years, the 2019 cropping season feed and forage development activities saw scaling of selected Africa RISING validated feed technologies, R4D trials with some backstopping research and pre-scaling demonstrations for a range of forage options. Experiences have shown that effective integration of cultivated forages and improved utilization practices are essential to improve feed biomass availability and quality in the smallholder system. In addition to increasing feed resource availability and livestock productivity, the forage technologies, when implemented correctly, have the potential to contribute to soil and water conservation, soil fertility improvement, carbon sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The social and nutritional impact of improved livestock productivity is visible among women and children who are the ones who mostly shoulder the burden of feed collection, feeding and management around the homestead. On-farm grown feed resources have become increasingly important because feed prices in the local market are increasing by more than 30% annually. Smallholder farmers also have limited access and capacity to buy commercial supplements, which indicates that to sustainably intensify the livestock subsector in the mixed smallholder system, it is imperative to promote context-specific forage technologies and utilization practices that provide multiple ecosystem functions. To meet the expanding zone of influence of the Africa RISING project in the Ethiopian highlands, a basket of feed technologies that fit in different agroecological settings need also to be made available. With these goals in mind, the activities during the last cropping season implemented a mother-baby trial approach to ensure continuous participatory variety evaluation, selection and options. The R4D research also included grass-legume intercropping to address soil fertility decline in desho grass fields when such plots are continuously harvested. Capacity building efforts through training of trainers and provision of training materials have been implemented to support scaling initiatives through development partners.The work of feed and forage development during the reporting period was clustered into three groups.The first was a continued R4D work involving i) fodder beet participatory variety selection (PVS), ii) intercropping desho grass with vetch and tree lucerne, iii) dual-purpose oat and triticale evaluation, and iv) sweet lupin supplementation trial. Four varieties of fodder beet (Brick, Magnum, Robbos, and a local control) were used in the PVS which was implemented across three sites. Intercropping desho with vetch or tree lucerne was implemented to biologically address the problem of declining soil fertility due to nutrient mining on desho grass plots. This work was also implemented across three sites (Lemo, Endamehhoni and Sinana). Dual-purpose oat and triticale varieties were evaluated in order to introduce dual-purpose (food and feed) crops and multiple cutting practices to increase forage biomass production. Sweet lupin is a food-feed crop as well. In order to generate evidence on the effect of sweet lupin grain supplementation, a graduate student was recruited in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock (Livestock CRP). After the sweet lupin grains were harvested, preparations were completed to start the trial in Doyogena District of southern Ethiopia. The trial is on hold due to travel restrictions. The second activity involved establishment of mother plots which included 15 grass and legume species across the four sites. The mother plots aim to serve as a learning and experience sharing centre for the communities and for carrying out participatory evaluation of the adaptability and production performance of the different forages. Side-by-side, demonstration plots have been established as a pre-scaling exercise for alfalfa and fodder beet. The third group of activity involved supporting scaling of Africa RISING validated technologies including oat-vetch mixed forage, pure oat, vetch, tree lucerne, desho grass, Napier grass and feed trough for cattle and small ruminants. To facilitate the scaling, Africa RISING has provided backstopping support in terms of forage seeds and capacity building.The fodder beet PVS implemented across three of the four Africa RISING sites provided a good opportunity to compare the performance of the local check with alternative improved varieties. In terms of yield, the varieties studied showed different potentials (Table 1). Large varietal and location differences were observed in yield performance. Overall, the local check (Kulumsa variety) and Robbo performed better than the other two varieties (Magnum and Brick), with the former having more than double the biomass yield of the latter. Location wise, the highest yield was recorded in the Endamehoni site, followed by Lemo. The yield performance in Endamehoni was about 163% higher than that in Sinana, the third site. Fodder beet generally needs a rich and deep soil with a good level of drainage.Location difference of such magnitude suggests that when a site is selected for fodder beet, it is necessary to combine the right niche and management for optimal performance. During the 2019 rainy season, the amount of rainfall, especially in the southern region was considerably higher than the average the area receives in the main cropping season. This has suffocated the fodder beet plant, wilted photosynthetic active leaves and retarded the growth of the crop. The PVS will be repeated in the next rainy season to establish seasonal variations. When the fodder beet tubers were ready for harvest, a feeding trial was conducted using lactating cows. The trial involved supplementing 10 kg of fresh tuber to lactating cows fed on locally available feed resources following farmers own feeding practice (Figure 1). The fodder beet was offered on top of what farmers provide to their animals. Milk yield performances were observed prior to the fodder beet supplementation for one week and during the supplementation for another one week. Milk yield increased in a range of 14-29% as a result of the fodder beet supplementation. The milk yield response varied depending on the fodder beet variety. Like the yield, the local check (Kulumsa) variety showed the highest milk yield increase when used as a supplement followed by Brick. This observation shows the economic gains due to increased milk yield and the subsequent effects this intervention could have on the nutrition of farm households. The trial involving intercropping desho grass with vetch was implemented as a backstopping research to address emerging concerns of soil fertility decline when farmers continue to use desho grass for extended periods. In this regard, farmers and development agents requested a research solution to this problem during research evaluation meetings and field visits. As vetch and tree lucerne are nitrogen fixers, intercropping these legumes with desho grass was considered to provide triple advantages: bringing in extra nitrogen into the soil, improving the forage quality and increasing the overall feed biomass production. The preliminary results of the trial are summarized in Figure 2. The observation on forage yield indicated that intercropping desho with vetch has indeed a considerable effect. Compared to sole desho, desho-vetch intercropping resulted in an increase of 77% in forage biomass yield. In the intercropped plots, the proportions of desho grass and vetch were roughly similar. This shows an improvement in the forage quality as well, compared to the sole desho grass. Samples of feed and soils have been collected for analysis to quantitatively establish the benefits of the practice and its persistence over several seasons. The oat and triticale trials were conducted to obtain food-feed functions from commonly planned crops. Food oats and triticale are grown in cooler areas as food crops. While using these cereals for food production, there is a potential to introduce a multi-cut option, whereby the cereal crop is cut before stem elongation (45-60 days after planting) and then allowed to regenerate and mature to yield grain for humans. In that way, the crops can be used effectively as food-feed crops. The result of the last season evaluation (Figure 3) shows the performance of the three varieties in providing food-feed functions. Subsequent evaluations will be conducted to establish the extent to which twice cutting practice can provide additional benefits.Figure 3. Results of performance evaluation of food oat, forage oat and triticale.The planned research on sweet lupin supplementation to fattening sheep has been put on hold due to the current restrictions on movement resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all the necessary preparations, including graduate student recruitment, farmer selection, purchasing of consumables, and harvesting and bulking sweet lupin have been conducted. The trial will start once the conditions improve.Progress on the application of the SIAFIn view of the application of the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF), efforts were made to consider different indicators in the data collection tool so that in addition to productivity gains, economic, environmental and social domains could be captured. In this regard, the main production costs including labour and inputs were recorded. Soil samples have been collected to assess the environmental impacts of the different forage production practices. Men and women groups evaluations were conducted for the fodder beet PVS to capture gender preferences. The household nutritional benefits would be inferred from the productivity improvements in terms of more milk and income. After collating pending lab data, the assessment in terms of SIAF will be reported for the different technologies under evaluation.The training of trainers (ToT) sessions, which were organized centrally in the last physical year helped to plan and implement farmer training in the respective scaling woredas. By integrating Africa RISING and grass2cash project efforts, we have managed to train more than 1,700 farmers across three districts of Wolaita Zone (Damot Gale, Damot Woyde and Soddo Zuria woredas), one of the scaling sites of Africa RISING feed technologies. The collaboration with the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) project to promote feed trough construction and scaling has been implemented effectively and concluded with construction of 100 more feed troughs by trained carpenters. This activity enabled involvement of a large number of farmers, development agents and experts in field days and experience sharing visits. Additional opportunities to collaborate with the World Bank-funded Livestock Sector Development project have been considered and contacts have been made with regional and national coordinators. The collaboration with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project to scale forage technologies with the aid of small-scale irrigation is going on well. A recent example: a trained carpenter from the Basona Africa RISING site went to the Bahir Dar ILSSI site and trained over 20 carpenters to aid the scaling of feed troughs in the area.Cool-season cereals (bread wheat, durum wheat, food and malt barley) are major staple crops that occupy large acreages of arable land in the highlands of Ethiopia. Highland food legumes (faba bean, field pea, chickpea and lentil) are also important as rotation crops for the sustainability of the wheatbased cropping system. Although there are improved crop technologies developed by the NARS, the yield gaps on wheat and food legumes are so high that the production does not meet the food security, nutrition and export demands of the country. The main reasons for the high yield gaps are weak extension and seed systems, monocropping of wheat, expansion of acid soil and biotic factors. Key objectives of the crop varieties and management research were: to identify a range of, and specifically adapted, high-yielding food barley varieties through participatory variety selection and crowdsourcing,  to strengthen seed growers through provision of early generation seeds to ensure access to quality seeds of farmer-preferred varieties; and  to develop integrated management of emerging root rot and viruses of lentil crop varieties.Two approaches were followed. The first one was the traditional participatory variety selection (PVS) where seven released food barley varieties were planted in the four Africa RISING sites (for farmers/site). The second approach was crowdsourcing, which was implemented by the the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), ILRI and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT using 10 released food barley varieties in Basona Worena Woreda using 200 farmers (50 farmers/village). Training was provided to researchers, site coordinators, farmers and development agents on principles and applications of crowdsourcing. In the conventional PVS, each host farmer planted all varieties of cereals on large plots while in the crowdsourcing farmer planted three varieties on small plots.This trial was conducted in Siya Debirna Wayu and Moretna-Jiru woredas (one trial/woreda) to manage wilt/root rot, viruses and vectors targeting the August planting using an improved variety known as Alemaya. In Aleletu Woreda, the trial targeted October planting on residual soil moisture using landraces. The treatment consisted of two pesticides (Celest Top® and ProceedPlus), which contain insecticides and fungicides. Seed treatments were supplemented with additional insecticide (Dimethoate) sprays (1-3 times), which were replicated three times. The controls were untreated plots without pesticides.Revolving seeds of different seed classes of cereal and food legume varieties selected by the farmers in 2017/18 and earlier season PVS trials were provided to community seed growers (cooperatives and individual farmers). Partner scaling was planned during the innovation platform (IP) members meeting organized by ILRI in May 2019.Researchers, farmers and other stakeholders were trained in crop production and seed system. Field days were organized in the four Africa RISING intervention sites to create awareness on high-yielding crop varieties.The conventional PVS was evaluated by male (26) and female (15) farmers at crop maturity stage in the four Africa RISING sites (Photo 1 and Photo 2). The result showed that the varieties were not preferred by farmers in Lemo as compared with other sites. Based on overall mean cumulative ranking by male and female farmers, the newly released varieties (Adoshee and Hagere) were preferred by farmers (Figure 4).  The yield performance of the varieties was poor in Lemo (less than 2 t/ha) as compared with the other sites (Figure 5) due to soil and some bird damage. Based on overall yield performance and farmer evaluations, the new varieties (Adoshee and Hagere) can be multiplied for future scaling in the three sites. In the crowdsourcing variety evaluations, 178 male and female farmers evaluated the three varieties that farmers planted on their plots. The data will be analysed soon to compare with the traditional PVS.Lentil disease management: Three sprays of Dimethoate insecticide used by farmers reduced the mean severity of lentil viruses by 17% followed by seed treatments supplemented with 1-2 insecticide sprays (Figure 6).High mean biomass (about 2 t/ha) and seed yield (about 0.9 t/ha) over the two locations was obtained from seed treatments supported with insecticide sprays (Figure 7). The low yield recorded was due to waterlogging in early planting trials at Enewari sites. A total of 88.5 tonnes of seeds of farmer-preferred varieties of cereals (bread wheat, durum wheat and malt barley varieties) and food legumes (faba bean and field pea) was produced by unions and individual farmers (Photo 3, Table 2). The seeds will be marketed for the next cropping season in the four Africa RISING intervention sites. Photo 3. Faba bean seed production of the Gebelcho variety in South Tigray (Photo credit-Yetsedaw Ayenewa, ICARDA).  To realize impact at large through improved crop technologies, partners implemented scaling activities in four zones, 19 woredas and 274 kebeles (smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia). A total of 44,184 farmers (11% female farmers) participated to scale improved cereal and food legume technologies (Figure 8). In Sinana, the area coverage was 818 for faba bean cv. Gebelcho; 84 ha for lentil cv. Derash; 490 ha for malt barley cvs, Bahati and IBON174/3; 3749 ha of durum cv. Utuba and Mangudo; 113 ha of bread wheat cv. Wane (selected from last year PVS); and 8012 ha of cvs. and Hulluka). In Bassona-Worena, 7252 ha was covered by bread wheat cvs. Hidase and Tsehay 10.6 ha by malt barley cvs. IBON174/3 and HB1964 and 11.2 ha of faba bean cvs. Dosha and Gora. In Hadiya Zone partner scaling was done in five districts using bread wheat cv. Wane on 26 ha and faba bean cv. Gebelcho on 20.4 ha. attended the course from research centres, universities, offices of agriculture from the four Africa RISING sites and seed growers. Field days were organized in all the intervention sites to create awareness about crop technologies. In Bassona-Worena woreda, three field days were organized and attended by 300 (56 females) people consisting farmers, extension members and other stakeholders of the innovation platform. In Lemo, 240 people (60 were female farmers and experts) from different stakeholders visited the 5 ha cluster bread wheat Lemu varieties. In Sinana, a field day was organized, and crop technologies were visited by different stakeholders. More than 140 participants attended the event.Progress on the application of the SIAF An attempt was made to use the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) from food barley PVS in North Shewa at plot bases. The five domains that were considered for sustainability were: productivity (seed yield, straw yield and yield gap); economic (profitability, labour, input use efficiency), environment (pesticide application), social (farmer ranking), and human condition (protein production, micronutrient and energy). Data will be used to generate radar charts and other associated information for interpretation. The productivity of the crop technologies was high under farmer management practice (durum -4.5 t/ha; bread wheat -4 t/ha and faba bean -2.8 t/ha) which is higher than the national average.  PVS and community seed production created a strong link for scaling by Bureau of Agriculture (BoA) and other stakeholders.  The faba bean Gora variety with large seed size is increasingly popular in North Shewa compared with the Dosha variety.  Field days organized in different places created interest by farmers, seed growers and universities.For example, Debre Berhan and Mekele Universities are interested to scale out Wane bread wheat and Bilalo field pea varieties by putting their own resources in the coming cropping season.  Farmers are benefiting from improved crop varieties productivity. For example, in South Tigray, farmers are getting a good price for the Bilalo field pea variety.  Durum and malt barley production should be linked to agro-industries to expand the area of cultivation and improve the lives of smallholder farmers.  Mechanization for wheat harvesting is the key issue raised by farmers in field days and we need to link with service providers.  More training of seed growers is critical to reduce rejections of seeds produced.  Clustering of seed production was found better than multiplying seeds by individual farmers  because it enables better inspections of seed quality.  Marketing of 170 tonnes of bread wheat seed was not possible in Hadiya zone.A decline in soil fertility remains one of the major bottlenecks to agricultural production and productivity in Ethiopia. Low productivity of crops due to low nutrient application, in a country that has faced land degradation, is one of the major contributors to food insecurity. Nutrient balance for many cropping systems is still negative, indicating that farmers are mining their soils, resulting in declining yields and food insecurity. Thus, deficiencies of micro and secondary nutrients are diminishing the production potential of rainfed and irrigated agriculture. Intensification of agricultural production through efficient use of organic and inorganic inputs is required to meet the food needs of the growing population.However, the use of fertilizers remains very low with a national average of less than 30 kg/ha. Limited return per unit of investment, and limited access and high costs of fertilizers are among the major causes of the low use of fertilizers by smallholder farmers. The fertilizer is often not targeted to a specific crop, soil and agro-ecological conditions and application rates have for many years been based on blanket recommendations. Information that can help to target the right fertilizer and application rates to the particular crop and location is crucial to improve the efficiency of the fertilizer use and for preventing negative environmental consequences.To avoid uneconomic applications of fertilizer and to make fertilizer recommendations for a target yield responses of major crops, Africa RISING and ICRISAT have been developing decision support tools for extension agents and subject matter specialists to use in guiding farmers and communities toward bestbet fertilizer use in the various farming systems of Ethiopia. As the continuation of our ongoing joint initiative, the main objectives of the soil management study are to:  Validate the draft decision support guides (version 1) at scale while demonstrating the benefits of decision guides for regional and woreda subject matter specialists and extension agents.  Ensure that the widely spread and dispersed existing information on the response of crops to organic and inorganic fertilizer applications in Ethiopia (particularly from the integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and project sites) is compiled, categorized and used for developing farmerfriendly, targeted decision support guide (version 2) for fertilizer applications.  Support the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) soil fertility directorate to operationalize the recently developed national soils strategy.Model validation of on-farm experiments was conducted in about 160 locations of 2,400 farmers' fields in Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNRP regional states primarily in wheat, teff, sorghum and maize based farming systems of the country. The validation work also included the Africa RISING sites of Basona, Lemo and Sinana woredas, primarily on wheat production systems. We used remote sensing-based prediction models, built from our previous work on our fertilizer recommendation domains and draft decision support tools. It considered combination of N, P, K, S and Zn fertilizers, which were used to validate the tool across four farming systems, at in least three landscape positions and differing soil types. In 2019, we also conducted on-farm validation works in all the Africa RISING sites, which are wheat-based systems and we also included sorghum, teff and maize farming systems of Amhara, Tigray and Oromia regions through a joint arrangement by other donor-supported projects, particularly the GIZ-ISFM+ project. We have also introduced potential lime effects on crop response to fertilizer application in various landscape positions, together with economic analysis and assessment of profitability.As reported earlier, our major engagement was to fine-tune the decision support tools that we have been developing through Africa RISING support in the last few years. While trying to introduce and demonstrate our draft fertilizer decision support tools to the target woredas/districts in wheat, maize, sorghum and teff based farming systems the major questions asked by the NARS and development partners were; a) whether our model, which is landscape and farming systems-based recommendation, would work under low lying and flat but acid soil conditions, which is supposed to be highly responsive to fertilizer applications as per our model and b) how to identify farms within a landscape that would bring about maximum economic and yield productivity by application of chemical fertilizers.Result 1. Would the model work under acid soil conditions?In 2019, it was possible to test and validate the predictive model of the tool for fertilizer recommendation in about 160 locations throughout Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNRP). We present two distinct different types of responses within and between farming systems, as depicted in Figures 9 and 10. The response to lime application is largely crop and farming systems dependent. There was a significantly strong response to blended fertilizer application in teff than in wheat production. The sites in Machakel and Sokoro were most responsive to wheat and teff, respectively (Figures 9 and 10). Moreover, in our fine-tuning of the model, we have learned that besides the three landscape positions we have identified in the last years, namely hillslopes, midslopes and footslopes, we found out that the flat plateau on the top of the landscapes has a completely different response to fertilizer application. The footslope is the sink for the runoff and silt originating in upstream landscapes, as the plateau is commonly the source though the movement of soil and runoff is very much limited due to flat slopes.From our experiments in Ambo (Oromia) and Machakel (Amhara), grain yield in the plateau was comparable to crop yield in hillsides but considerably lower than in footslopes. We have also observed about 20% yield increment due to application of Zn, with more profound effects in footslopes.The most striking difference was the effect of lime on crop response to fertilizer application, which was also significantly affected by nutrient compositions. Under lime conditions, the highest fertilizer response to fertilizer application was obtained from footslopes and midslopes and the lowest from hillsides and plateaus. This trend of fertilizer response was also the same under 'without lime' conditions, though the yield advantage was pronounced under lime application. This is a new insight that we will integrate into the model and the decision guides that we are developing. Result 2. Where are the niches with the highest yield return by applying fertilizers?The other related question was where the farms are that could bring about significant differences by application of chemical fertilizers.A total of 48 treatments, arranged in factorial combination of NP and micronutrients (K, S, and Zn), were tested in 47 farmer fields to assess the actual benefits of applying K, S, Zn under various agro-ecologies of Lemo, Basona and Sinana woredas. One major insight learned from our validation research was that the effect of landscape positions and soil types on crop fertilizer response was pronounced mainly when the fertilizer application rate is optimum or higher than average (Figure 11). The validation tests in Lemo showed that the yield effect of K and S was significant during higher application rates of NP, which was N132P69 while the yield benefits of these nutrients were insignificant in the absence of N and P. Even with higher rates of NP, these effects were significant only in selected landscape positions, mainly in footslopes and flat lands.Frequency analysis of grain yield at different landscape positions revealed that footslopes followed by midslopes show high variability of yield. The frequency density curve also indicates a small yield gap between midslopes and footslopes except for maize. This might be as a result of the wide range of characteristics of midslopes whose conditions are similar to those of both hillslopes and footslopes.Result 3. How does waterlogging / vertisols affect fertilizer responses?Our initial model showed that in most of the landscapes and farming systems, footslopes gave the highest return. However, our experiments in 2019 showed that, in some locations, yield gain was much higher in hillslopes and midslopes than footslopes. This was the case in the Segno Gebeya and Yewol sites of Wollo which are in the upper plateau of Basona woreda. In fact, the yield level in the footslopes here was significantly lower than both the hillslopes and midslopes, regardless of the fertilizer types and combinations (Figure 12).  This could be explained by the fact that there was significant soil water content, reaching up to 60 % during the critical early growth and tillering stages of wheat, causing the plant nutrient deficiency and stunted until early September, when the soil water content decreased down to field capacity (Figure 13). Under these situations, not only plants are struggling to absorb and use nutrients, but also most of the soil nitrogen is lost during drainage which releases water along with dissolved nutrients. This calls for a different and integrated agronomy that considers planting dates, waterlogging periods, fertilizer rate and timing and drainage interventions with limited nutrient losses.Soil water measurements from our Lemo and Sinana sites also confirmed that the soil water content among the different landscape positions varies significantly, with the footslopes having between 3% and 10% more soil water volume compared to the hillslopes, and when the high water volume is accompanied by vertisol, it loses the yield advantage that has been observed in other soil types and systems.Figure 13. Soil moisture content recorded at 0-20 cm (top) and 21-50cm (bottom) during the cropping period at Basona Werana site, representing pellic vertisol.Result 4. Integrating the decision tools in to the regional and national planning processesAfrica RISING has had the goal to enhancing soil health in Ethiopia through improved decision processes and widespread sharing of fertilizer decision support tools and management approaches. In support of this goal, researchers in this project made efforts to share research findings and highlights in targeting fertilizer options, supporting a plausible decision-making process in soil health investments in Ethiopia.The main assumption underpinning this work was that decision guides are central to the development, implementation, monitoring of policy frameworks in Ethiopia. Also, we assumed that decision implementation would substantially improve with the decision support tool, transparent partnership arrangements, benchmarking and learning. Finally, sound and validated tools would reduce the likelihood of decision failure (i.e. the inefficient, ineffective interventions) in the agricultural sector in future. Guided by these assumptions, the project had various engagement with stakeholders at regional and national level, all geared towards the dissemination of a methodology tailored for local and regional government officials, with particular focus to the extension system. Based on these insights, the project conducted and validated a dynamic decision support tool and facilitated the operationalization of the National Soil Health Strategy.Progress on the application of the SIAF Economic, human and environmental-related data of the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) has been already collected. There are plans to collect the social and physical related data for the SIAF in the near future when the COVID-19 pandemic situation improves. In our attempt to fine-tune our draft decision support tool, we have learned that besides the three landscape positions we have identified in the last years, namely hillslopes, midslopes and footslopes, the flat plateaus on the top of landscapes has a completely different response to fertilizer application.  There was a significant yield increment due to lime application at all soil acidity-affected sites.Among the sites, Sokoru, Machakel and Gozamin showed the best response to lime application. An increase of yield of teff by 62.5%, 24%, 16%, 10% and 8% was observed at Sokoru, Machakel, Gozamin, Ambo and Gumay, respectively. Wheat yield response to lime application only showed 24% and 4% yield increase at Machakel and Ambo sites, respectively. Maize yield increased by 52% at Sokoru due to lime application.  Frequency analysis of crop response to fertilizer application and productivity at different landscape positions revealed that footslopes followed by midslopes show high variability of yield. Particularly 40% and 30% of wheat plots in midslopes and footslopes provided grain yields similar to yields in hillslopes. These specific plots might have unique environmental characteristics (e.g. waterlogging and severe soil acidity), which calls for additional research to better understand the yield similarities and differences in the different landscape positions in the coming season.  Analysis is ongoing on how the results from these targeted locations could be validated and extrapolated to the wider districts and zones in the respective farming systems. We are using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) tools to extrapolate observed data from the test sites to the wider areas to develop a woreda-level recommendation guideline.Maize and wheat production systems in the smallholder farming sector of Ethiopia are characterized by high drudgery. Farming operations in smallholder farms are predominantly performed by human muscle power. Low horsepower two-wheel or walking tractors (2-WT) is an alternative technology that reduces drudgery and can increase crop productivity in smallholder farms. Direct seeding in untilled soil is one of the operations that is being mechanized on smallholder farms of Ethiopia using the 2-WTs. The other farm operations performed by 2-WTs include harvesting and threshing of crops such as wheat and barley, maize shelling, and water pumping for irrigating high value horticultural crops. Two-wheel tractor technologies that are being promoted in Ethiopia increase opportunities to free up available farm labour to pursue other income-generating activities in rural communities. Activities were implemented in all project sites during the October 2019 -March 2020 period. Planned activities during this period included harvesting on-farm demonstrations and collecting of maize and wheat yield data, conducting farmer field days on post-harvest processing technologies, and facilitating a learning visit for service providers.The October 2019-March 2020 period had several field and post-harvest activities covered in different project sites. Monitoring visits to service providers involved in water pumping for irrigation, transportation, harvesting and post-harvest processes (threshing and shelling) were conducted during this period. Monitoring visits to paired plots for on-farm demonstrations showcasing direct planting by 2-WT planters were also conducted during the October-November 2019 period. In Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regions, farmer field days were conducted during the period December 2019-March 2020 to demonstrate 2-WT driven harvesting of wheat, irrigation of potatoes, wheat threshing and maize shelling. A short video was developed on the benefits of mechanization achieved so far from the perspectives of farmers, service providers and researchers. The video is being finalized by the media house leading the activity.The paired plot on-farm demonstrations were harvested during November-December 2019 and crop yield collected. Results show that 2-WT direct seeding had 25% and 13% higher wheat grain and straw yields compared with the conventional practice (Figure 14). Similarly, 2-WT direct planting system had 44% and 16% higher maize grain and stover yields, respectively, compared with the conventional practice. In the wheat systems, the 2-WT direct seeded system had 47% higher gross margin than the conventional practice (Figure 15). In the maize systems, the 2-WT system has 63% high gross margin than the conventional practice.  The objective of the field days conducted during the harvesting and post-harvest period was to create farmer awareness about mechanization services and create demand for service providers. In Amhara Region, a field day was conducted at Emmanuel-Zuria in Debre Markos and was attended by farmers, development agents, zonal and district experts, service providers from Oromia and Tigray regions, researchers from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), private sector agriculture equipment selling companies and microfinance companies (Photo 4 and Photo 5). The total attendance was 113 people consisting of 46 farmers, 53 experts and private sector representatives, and 14 service providers (1 female, 13 male). Technologies showcased during the event included wheat harvester and thresher, water pumping system and trailer for transportation. Waliya Capital Goods microfinance company was present to interact with the farmers and service providers because the company has recently included agricultural mechanization into its portfolio.In Oromia Region, the first field day was conducted in Tiyo woreda and the focus of the event was demonstrating the use of a 2-WT driven thresher. The field day was attended by 53 farmers (41 male and 12 female), as well as officials from the zonal and woreda offices, researchers from EIAR and a private sector company involved in malt barley production in the Assela area. In Gudeya-Billa District of western Ethiopia, a field day was conducted on 26 February 2020 where maize shelling and water pumping for irrigation of potatoes were showcased (Photo 6 and 7). The field day was attended by 80 farmers (3 female and 77 male) and 17 experts from zonal, woreda and kebele offices. In Goshe Bado, 72 farmers and 18 experts attended a one-day field day. During the field day, threshing of wheat and water pumping for irrigation were showcased as part of awareness/demand creation in the area.The major capacity development activity during this period was a learning visit to Debre Markos by 14 service providers (1 female, 13 male) from Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regions. In Debre Markos, service providers have invested in additional 2-WT based equipment as their businesses are expanding. The service providers are now getting loans from Waliya Capital Goods microfinance company and repaying using income generated through service provision. They recently bought 3 two-wheel tractors, 2 threshers, 1 wheat harvester, 3 trailers and 1 maize sheller through loans from the Waliya Capital Goods microfinance company. Officials from the microfinance company explained to service providers how they can acquire additional equipment and the loan repayment terms.Photo 4 and Photo 5. Farmers, experts and private sector representatives engage in discussions during a field day in Debre Markos, Amhara region (Photo credit-Walter MUPANGWA, CIMMYT).Photo 6 and Photo 7. Two-wheel tractor driven maize shelling and wheat threshing demonstrated during farmer field days in Gudeya-Billa (Oromia Region) and Goshe Bado, Debre Birhan (Amhara Region)-(Photo credit-Walter MUPANGWA, CIMMYT).Progress on the application of the SIAF Productivity -maize and wheat yields were measured from the paired plot on-farm trials during the November-December 2019 period. The findings are included in this report.Economic -gross margins for maize-and wheat-based cropping systems were determined from the paired plot on-farm demonstrations. The findings are included in this report.Human conditions -the calorie contributions for the farming household from the maize and wheat yield gains due to 2-WT direct seeding will be determined using yields measured from the paired plot on-farm trials. This calculation will be finalized with the assistance of a nutritionist and results will be included in the next report.Social conditions -two focus group discussions with farmers receiving two-wheel tractor-based services are scheduled for the last 2 weeks of April 2020. The objective of the FGDs will be to get a farmer assessment of how various 2-WT-based services have influenced the different roles/tasks of women and men over the years. If the COVID-19 pandemic persists in April, interviews with selected farmers will be conducted by telephone in April and early May period. Results will be included in the next report. Environment -soil pH will be used as an indicator of soil quality improvement no-till direct seeding systems. Soil samples were collected from a few sites in the maize growing project sites in western Ethiopia. Results will be included in the next report.• Several options for advertising mechanization services are emerging in project sites.Advertising of 2-WT services using signposts with the service providers contact details has increased the number of clients for the service providers. The normal village meetings often convened by traditional leaders is another option for creating awareness in some communities.A number of service providers who have been participating in the project for the past 3-4 years want to expand their businesses. Some service providers are now aiming at upgrading from the 2-WT to low horsepower four-wheel tractors.The leasing scheme on agriculture equipment offers service providers an opportunity to acquire additional equipment and expand the services available for rural communities.Research findings in the first phase of Africa RISING showed promise of using handpumps and motorized pumps (solar, tractor driven and diesel) to support off-season vegetable and irrigated fodder production. Understanding the micro and macro environment of households and its influence is important when overcoming some of the scaling barriers in farmer-led irrigation. Several barriers for smallholder farmers such as access to suitable financing mechanisms, access to infrastructure, welldeveloped agricultural value chains, technology supply and services and access to information; influence overall access to and adoption of technologies. Under the Innovation Laboratory for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) works together with its partners to develop sustainable scaling pathways for small-scale irrigation through the public and private sector.Leveraging on ongoing ILSSI efforts and the various agricultural value chains being developed under Africa RISING, IWMI proposes to co-design ag-water innovation plots with farmers in key Africa RISING sites to support the agricultural value chains of interest. The technologies will be part of the ILSSI scaling initiative. The aim is that technologies demonstrated in the communities are in demand, available in surrounding markets, affordable and economically feasible whilst the agricultural products find their way to the market.Identification of technology options to support demonstration and scaling of small-scale irrigation Rapid assessment and stakeholder workshops were used to identify technology options for supporting demonstration and scaling of small-scale irrigation. The assessment process that was used is presented in Figure 16. In addition to the assessment, IWMI organized a one-day stakeholder workshop in the study areas with farmers, development agents, office of agriculture, office of water resources, Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan Agricultural Research Center and other stakeholders (Photo 8). During the event, several issues such as major irrigation constraints, technology options and possibilities of scaling good practices within and outside the scheme (Kebeles) were discussed.Figure 16. Assessment process of different technological options: steps and activities.Photo 8. Workshop participants at Bakello in Basona Woreda of North Shewa Zone, Amhara region (Photo credit-Zenebe Adimassu, IWMI).Step1: Consulting local relevant stakeholdersStep 2: Identifying possibility to design demonstrationStep 3: Investigating linkages in vegetable value chainStep 4: Reflecting and designing demonstrationStep Piloting improved small-scale irrigation technologies coupled with agronomic practices and assessing its sustainabilityBased on the field assessment and stakeholder meeting, field demonstrations were designed and implemented at the Bakello Irrigation Scheme. In Bakello flooding irrigation is the common practice used to grow cereals such as lentil and barley. As a result of discussion with farmers during the stakeholder workshop, it was agreed to test high value crops and better water management methods such as furrow irrigation. Accordingly, eight farmers were interested in the demonstration to test water management technologies. Among the eight farmers seven of them were growing potato (var. Gudene) and one of them was growing onions as these are high value crops. In order to evaluate the crop and water productivity of selected water management technologies on potato and onion production; we compared farmers' practice (flooding), furrow irrigation practice (using CROPWAT estimation) and use of the chameleon soil water sensor. As a result, the chameleon sensors and discharge measurement (Vnotch instruments) were installed on farmers' field (Photos 9-12). All water management treatments were implemented on each farmers' field. With regards to irrigation technology, analyzing the enabling environment aims at investigating enablers to small-scale irrigation at both micro and macro level. So far, interview and focus group discussions have been conducted at local level (kebele and district levels). The study at macro level (zonal, regional and regional levels) will continue. At the macro level, the analysis combines a literature review on trade and domestic support policies and policy instruments on agricultural production and irrigation with primary data collection to assess how current policies support relevant private sector actors at the national level and what would be additional opportunities for private sector actors.Identification of technology options to support demonstration and scaling of small-scale irrigation I.The Bakello Irrigation Scheme has river diversion structure (concrete), lined, and unlined canals with up to 70 ha command area, which belongs to 150 farmer households (Photo 13). The Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) has constructed canals in Bakello and farmers who are around the scheme are beneficiaries, especially the ones with land located at the down scheme. However, farmers observed that the newly constructed scheme is competing with the old irrigation system and water is not adequate for the old canal system. In the scheme, there is one water user association (WUA) which was organized by the farmers own initiative. The role of the WUA is to:  Play a coordinating role in the overall management of the irrigation scheme including maintenance of diversions and canals.  Ensure equitable supply and distribution of irrigation water among the users.  Solve problems in the scheme (e.g. water conflict, scheduling arrangements, etc.).  Communicate with cooperatives regarding input supply.Photo 13. Bakello diversion structure in Basona Woreda of North Shewa Zone, Amhara (Photo credit-Zenebe Adimassu, IWMI).Farmers lack awareness about irrigation, which they started using recently. Most of them irrigate their land before planting as they think it is good to make easy the land preparation. Farmers also irrigate their field through flooding irrigation because:  Most farmers do not know about furrow irrigation.  Farmers irrigate through flooding when the crop is not planted in furrow.  Farmers prefer to use flood irrigation as furrow irrigation requires land levelling.Although furrow irrigation has potential in water saving and crop management, only a few farmers in the Bakello scheme have applied this technique. Awareness raising and facilitating the right incentives for shifting from flooding to furrow irrigation are necessary. The incentives structure for creating the shift include:  Good seed varieties -access to good quality and garlic and potato seeds is an important incentive for farmers to apply the furrow irrigation to these crops.  Market linkage -currently, farmers sell their products to brokers. For example, farmers buy garlic seeds from brokers and sell their products to the brokers. Selling garlic directly to the market without the intervention of broker are the main incentives for farmers to improve irrigation and water management.Addisge Irrigation Scheme The Addisge Irrigation Scheme has a diversion structure (Photo 14), lined, and unlined canals irrigated up to 303 ha, which belong to 400 farmer households. Regarding irrigation practices, farmers mentioned that:  Furrow irrigation is a common irrigation practice mainly for carrot.  The diversion structure is newly constructed by AGP and they are going to use it for this season.  Farmers said that sediment and debris accumulate in the diversion and create problems such as clogging as well as gully formation.Photo 14. Addisge diversion structure in Basona Woreda of North Shewa Zone, Amhara (Photo credit-Zenebe Adimassu, IWMI).It was noted that Addisge is located far from the main road. However, farmers have diversified their information channels in order to have better access to market for their products. For instance, farmers get information about carrot prices from a wholesaler in Addis Ababa with whom they have regular contact before they sell their carrot to brokers in the kebele market. Farmers also often sell their products to farmer brokers in the kebele as they get a better price compared to the price that they sell to the outsider brokers.The incentives structure for irrigation scheme include (i) diverse seed supply-different seed varieties are their main concern and they would like to get support on seed supply, (ii) improve water management and save more water for irrigation if furrows are used and (iii) furrow irrigation requires row planting which in turn facilitates weeding and cultivation.The Dibut Irrigation Scheme has a small reservoir equipped with lined and unlined canals irrigated up to 98 ha belonging to more than 300 farmer households. However, not all the command area is utilized due to waterlogging. Regarding irrigation practices, farmers mentioned that:  Farmers use furrow irrigation for carrot and potato while other farmers use flood irrigation to grow faba bean and barley.  The scheme reservoir (Photo 15) and canals were constructed more than 20 years ago and they need maintenance. The water from the reservoir seeps to the downstream farms and causes waterlogging. As a result, the farms are not functional during the irrigation and rainy season.Photo 15. Dibut irrigation reservoir in Basona Woreda of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Progress of field demonstrations Field demonstrations on water management technologies have been implemented at the Bakello Irrigation Scheme (Photo 16) in collaboration with Office of Agriculture of Basona Worana Woreda, Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan Agricultural Research Center and the Africa RISING site coordinator. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions for IWMI staff, field demonstrations are going well, and data collection is ongoing by the development agent who is working for the Office of Agriculture in the same irrigation scheme. Harvesting of potato will be completed at the end of May/beginning of June 2020. Hence, there is insufficient data to report during this period. In Lemo, farmers were interested to use water lifting technologies such as solar pumps, diesel/petrol pumps and rope and washer pumps. Since water lifting technologies requires enough financial sources, we are working to link these farmers with the private sector under the ILSSI II scaling project.Understanding enabling factors for scaling small-scale irrigation Use of field demonstrations, field days, cross-site visits and trainings are important for scaling irrigation technologies within and beyond kebeles. As shown in Table 3, the availability of water, land, water lifting technologies, inputs and market access is necessary for successful scaling of small-scale irrigation technologies. Farmers and other stakeholders have identified key value chain actors to scale out irrigation technologies.Two workshops were concocted at Lemo and Basona Warana woredas. Workshop participants included farmers, development agents, experts, researchers, lecturers, water users' associations members and input suppliers. Practical on-farm training was also provided to farmers, development agents and district experts at the demonstration site (Bakello Irrigation Scheme). The training included horticultural methods, agronomic practices, irrigation techniques, water management (including use of furrow irrigation, Chameleon sensors and V-notch), which were provided for development agents and participating farmers. In total, 88 local partners benefited from the workshop and training programs.Table 4 shows the status of data collection for the application of Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF). Data collection for productivity, economic and human domains is in progress. However, environmental and social domains are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because soil analysis is required for environmental indicator and focus group discussion for social domain indicator. These two activities will be executed if travel restrictions are lifted before harvest.  Use of rapid field assessment and consultative workshop facilitates the identification of technology options that support field demonstration  Involving farmers and development agents as well as providing practical training on field management are key approaches for successful field demonstrations. This is proved by the fact that field management and data collection of demonstrations are executed well despite travel restrictions of IWMI staff as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The challenge of accurately determining the effects of land degradation and the benefits of landscape restoration continue to persist undermining the level of global attention to the problem. Because of this, accounting the multifunctional benefits of land management and restoration efforts is very crucial.Our ability to account these enhances our understanding of effect of land degradation and the benefits of land restoration. The main objectives of our effort include: (a) to co-create multifunctional landscapes that are both productive, sustainable and resilient; (b) to generate information about the performances of interventions; and (c) to scale successful options, tools, frameworks to similar areas.Our approach considers integrated approaches through the involvement of interdisciplinary teams and community as well as other stakeholders. We work with local stakeholders to co-identify problems/priorities and associated management options and co-implement by 'matching options with context.' This also includes capacity building of stakeholders. This is followed by evidence generation about the performances and impacts of integrated resources management options using on-site measurement/evaluations, survey and modelling.Co-implement integrated land and water management options Some challenges were observed in our Debre Birhan site where farmers sent their livestock to protected watersheds associated with the change in government system. We engaged officials, community leaders and the community at large to discuss the reason behind the move. From the discussion, we learnt that this was a result of the work of a few 'strange' people who tried to take advantage of the political change and they agreed to discuss and resolve the issue. Through mutual understanding this challenge was addressed, and the community has worked on completing restoration of the huge gully in the Geda subcatchment area.One of the challenges in watershed management is that benefits accrue over a long time, thus shortterm interventions do not bring a lasting solutions to keep the youth from migrating within and outside the country. As part of income diversification and integrating more income generating activities in the watershed, we organized youth into groups to enable them to start an irrigation scheme in Angola kebele in Basona Woreda. We have provided capacity building to the youth (see Photo 17) on possible challenges in irrigation and water resource development and possible solutions; land preparation for irrigation; on the proper use of irrigation pumps; horticultural crops varietal selection for appropriate agroecology; efficient use of water resources; and agronomic practices (fertilizer, plant spacing, weeding).Photo 17. Youth training on various values chain of irrigation scheme in Basona Africa RISING site, Amhara region (Photo credit-Lulseged Tamene,CIAT).The other intervention is related to integrated soil and water conservation work on the watershed of Hocheche dam (which is about 37 m high and has a capacity of 5.6 million m 3 ) that is about to be constructed to supply water for Mekaneselam town, Amhara (Figure 17). Last year, we supported the woreda in the identification of a suitable location for the dam and developed a pre-feasibility study. The regional government approved the proposal and budgeted about USD10 million for the dams construction, and the overall cost will reach up to USD30 million. Now that the construction has started, there is a need to implement integrated watershed management. The team thus is engaged in the development of a watershed master plan including identification of erosion hotspots, suggestion of land management and erosion control measures, introduction of income generating options, ways of compensating farmers whose land will be flooded, and introduction of irrigation and fishing schemes.The watershed is also connected to the Amhara Sayint National Park, which creates opportunity to integrate and promote tourism, as part of an income generating and job employment scheme. We discussed with the Amhara Natural Resources Conservation (ANRC) directorate who allocated resources to start the watershed management work. In addition, we conducted stakeholder consultation to discuss the overall dam construction and watershed management plan (Photo 18). Relevant stakeholders consisted of Woreda administration, town administration, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), Borena-Sayint National Park, menchen for menchen, kebele representatives and ANRC (Amhara National Regional Council) participated in the discussion. We reached in an agreement to develop short-medium-and long-term action plans. The whole objective of this engagement is to demonstrate and advise on a new approach that shifts from mitigation/treatment to prevention of lakes and reservoirs siltation and related hazards with due considerations of enhancing the multidimensional benefits to nearby communities.Photo 18. Stakeholder consultation related to managing the Hocheche dam in Mekaneselam of the South Wollo zone in Amhara (Photo credit-Wuletaw Abera, CIAT).We are partnering with Tigray Bureau of Agriculture and Mekelle University (MU) to develop an integrated watershed management plan for Lake Hashenghe and co-implement those interventions aiming to enhance productivity and socio-ecological resilience. Accordingly, we made several consultations on the way forward. Among these include a recent meeting among the CIAT, Population, Health and Environment Ethiopia Consortium (PHEEC), New Millennium Development (NMD) and MU aimed to establish a platform to jointly work towards the overall objective of 'contributing to Ethiopia's efforts to improve the economic livelihood of stakeholder communities living along water bodies (natural and artificial) and their catchments through ecosystem/nature based solutions'. The purpose was to implement NRM with agricultural productivity through the sustainable management of the resources in the lake water and the catchment to enhance generating food, employment and income while at the same time sustaining the ecosystem from which these benefits arise. The team is now developing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) titled \"Sustaining Ashenge Ecosystem Consortium (SAEC)\". The team is also developing a concept note that helps operationalize NRM and agricultural productivity enhancing activities.We have been supporting the Wukro Saint Mary College in their effort to implement integrated land and water management options, mainly related to capacity development and evidence generation. As part of this exercise, we invited students from the college to visit the site in Maichew whereby they visited Africa RISING sustainable intensification interventions that are linked with livelihood improvement. This visit was very exciting for them as their previous works dominated on tackling land degradation with limited options linked to improving food security. Based on their field visit, they are planning to adjust their overall program to focus on livelihood improvement mechanisms rather than mere SWC practices. The Africa RISING team (CIAT and MU) have been and are still working very closely with Wukro Saint Mary college in (a) supporting them on technology selection and designs especially with sand dam constructions in Gule watershed, and (b) documenting the performances and hydrological effects of the landscape restorations and water harvesting in their sites.In all the cases (natural resources management implementation), evidence generation is essential to document success, assess cost-benefit and learn from mistakes. It is also essential to demonstrate to local communities and other stakeholders about the significances of those interventions. We are thus measuring impacts using field data (hydrological station), surveys and community consultations. We will present details of the results associated with the evidence generation in our final report.Trade-off analysis between different ecosystem servicesThe population of Ethiopia is approaching 105 million people. As a result, there is a growing demand for food and expansion of agriculture into marginal, forest and natural conservation areas. This mostly leads to deforestation, soil erosion and nutrient mining as well as causes conflict between land uses and users. While increasing food production through intensive and extensive agricultural system is essential to support food security strategies, it also brings devastating effects on the environment and biodiversity. This calls for a need to establish 'win-win' solution to optimize production-conservationrestoration objectives through maximizing synergies and complementarities. To test this hypothesis, we selected an area with there is collision between conservation (biosphere reserve) and production  Suitability maps for selected Africa RISING technologies (tree lucerne and other forage plants)One of the key components of our work during this scaling stage is to support the team in upscaling selected Africa RISING technologies. Some examples including mapping land suitability for tree lucerne, selected forage plants, barley, and overall sustainable land management (SLM) technologies to define, which options work where. Tree lucerne is one of the most applied land management options under the Africa RISING program in the Ethiopian highlands. The plant is identified because it enhances soil fertility (nitrogen fixation), reduces soil erosion, stabilizes soil/stone bunds and serves as feed for livestock. ILRI team has been testing the plant across different parts of the country and now aiming to scale to larger areas. It was thus necessary to determine where else in the country it can grow based on predefined criteria (Table 5). The preliminary suitability map presented in Figure 19 shows the spatial distribution where this fodder and soil fertilizer tree can be planted. Based on the preliminary result, it is possible to see that tree lucerne can be grown on 125,210 ha of land, which can produce fresh weight of 5,008,400 tonnes per year. The final map will be prepared after expert and field validation of the current map. Evaluation of the effects of dam constructions and landscape restorations on groundwater recharge for climate resilienceIn order to upscale the best practices for climate resilience, we have been documenting and monitoring the effects of dam construction and landscape restorations on groundwater recharge in selected sites in northern Ethiopia. Results of the study show that landscape restoration at scale coupled with dam constructions has resulted in valley floors of the study site to have high potential for shallow groundwater development, an opportunity for the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater. With the shallow unconfined nature of the aquifers, availability of excess runoff, and the emerging competition/increase in demand for water, implementation of well-planned groundwater recharge mechanisms could be the next frontier to enhance availability of water in the region and other areas with similar conditions. A paper that documents these results is submitted for a book chapter.We have three PhD students (male) and one MSc student (female) working related to 'multifunctional landscapes.' One of the PhD students is assessing the impacts of changing land use, management and climate on hydrological characteristics while the other assesses the impacts of SLM interventions on overall ecosystem service provision. The third student is investigating the 'environmental and socioeconomic challenges of rift-valley lakes in Ethiopia and developing management plans.' The MSc student is applying the Evaluation of Land Management Options (ELMO) tool. In addition, we are supporting three PhDs (2 male, 1 female) in the Amhara Region, who are focusing on the Lake Tana Basin to study the extents, drivers and impacts of water hyacinth. We have also built capacity of different partners as some of our sites have been visited by large number of national and international partners. The participants have come from different countries to share experiences. In collaboration with the regional bureaus and universities, we also provide training to farmers and practitioners related to 'integrated land and water management.'The of Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) is developed to assess whether interventions have brought long-lasting and sustainable impact and thus are scalable. The framework is designed to consider productivity, environmental, economic, social and human condition components. Fieldwork has been planned for early 2020 with some delays due to operational reasons. A team was organized to start the field survey/data collection in March-April 2020. However, this was not possible due to the travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, we will use available data to start analysis and define gaps.We have made great progress on the 'research side' despite challenges on the 'development side'. Because of the time and investment needed to bring tangible change on the ground, we have challenges due to limited budget. We are partnering with development, government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as programs to execute and scale our activities. We are also trying to develop proposals for further funding and to scale the frameworks, options, methods and tools developed under the Africa RISING program so far. We are still doing the same in collaboration with NGOs (Inter Aide) and agriculture bureaus in Amhara and Tigray regions. Free grazing has become a challenge, especially in the Debre Birhan site. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is undermining our operations on the ground.The four Africa RISING site teams, the project coordination office and CGIAR partners organized different capacity building programs for farmers, extension agents, researchers, university and other project partners. The project reached over 4,346 beneficiaries during the current reporting periodThe main communication channels supported are: The Africa RISING/ICRISAT approach on how to better target fertilizers, reduce cost at farm, regional and country levels and enhance return per investment was presented. The event was attended by 30 high-level participants.7-8 June 2019 -The Tigray Bureau of Agriculture organized a national workshop in Mekelle entitled 'National blended fertilizer workshop'. The bureau head chaired the workshop. Kindu Mekonnen gave a keynote speech and helped design strategies in targeting fertilizer use in Tigray, which was a very enlightening and positive experience, which recognized the joint efforts by Africa RISING/ICRISAT.March 2020 -There was an annual review and progress meeting of the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) in Bahir Dar, whereby more than 120 researchers and policymakers participated. Kindu Mekonnen was keynote speaker. It was an opportunity to further enforce our Africa RISING/ICRISAT approaches and decision tools into the planning process and data analysis of the regional research system.19 July 2019 (Adama) and 13 March 2020 (Addis Ababa) -organized two high-level national workshops entitled 'Facilitating decision-making in favour of soils'. Bureau heads and deputy bureau heads from Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR participated in these events. The objectives of these meeting were to discuss key soil health and soil fertility investment challenges being experienced in Ethiopia; discuss key systemic bottlenecks experienced in the ongoing programs and investments; and understand the current soil health and soil fertility decision-making process, identify key decision criteria that should be considered at different decision-making levels, and validate the need and structure for a possible multicriteria decision support tool to be used to assist soil health and fertility related decision-making and investment.Africa RISING sites Amhara 15 October 2019 -Africa RISING site in Basona site conducted mid-season evaluation for food barley participatory variety selection (PVS) trials at Gudo Beret and Bakello kebeles. Ten food barley varieties were included on the trial. Farmers at Gudo Beret Kebele use criteria's like crop stand, spike length, number of seeds per spike, number of tillers, plant height, earliness, resistance to dry desiccating wind, and resistance to logging to evaluate food barley varieties. A total of 19 male farmers and 20 female farmers evaluated the trials on the two kebeles.  The main aim of the mid-season evaluation is to identify best suited food barley varieties for the localities. In both kebeles 12 farmers, 2 researchers, 1 woreda expert and 1 department of agriculture representative participated in the evaluation. Men and women groups evaluated the performance of varieties separately, since women and men have different perception on different evaluation criterions.24 October 2019 -Africa RISING Endamehoni site organized a successful field day at Endamehoni woreda (Embahasti kebele) and Emba Alje woreda (Ayba kebele). The main purpose of the field day was to aware partners on AR best technologies and create interest and opportunities for further scaling. A total of 40 participants from Tigray Regional Office of Agriculture, Southern Tigray Zone Agricultural Coordination Office, Alamata, Ofla, Endamehoni, and Alaje Woreda Agricultural office, Aalamata and Mehoni agricultural research centres, Raya University, Maichew ATVET College, ILRI and 55 farmers participated in the visit. The visit was organized on integrated feed related technologies such as, sheep fattening using Oat-vetch and improved feeding trough, and cattle fattening using fodder beet and improved feeding trough. Food barley PVS, faba bean disease management, malt barley and field pea seed multiplication interventions were also some of the crop related technologies visited by the participants.SNNPR 20 December 2019 -A field day organized in Lemo, Misha, and Analemo districts on awareness creation and experience sharing of Africa RISING validated technologies such as, wheat and faba bean seed multiplication activities, fodder technologies demonstrations, and avocado fields were showcased. A total of 520 people from regional, zonal and woreda administrations have participated on the event.27 November 2019 -The Africa RISING site in Lemo organized a farmer's experience sharing visit on avocado production for 66 farmers. The farmers came from three different kebeles of Lemo woredas.The farmers visited avocado tree management and fodder cultivation at Jewe research kebele.24-26 December 2019 -As part of joint effort to boost avocado production in the Lemo woreda, Africa RISING Lemo site organized a training on avocado tree management for 100 farmers and 68 development workers. The training aimed to fill skill gap of the agriculture extension workers so that they can support avocado growing farmers. In addition, fodder cultivation training also conducted in Misha, Lemo and Analemo woredas for 750 farmers.Oromia 26 February 2019 -Africa RISING site coordinator in Oromia region held a discussion with Sinana woreda livestock and fishery resource development office head on issues related to the feed seed multiplication: progress of oat and vetch seed multiplication for scaling, the major challenges faced and way forward. Discussion also held on how to start tree lucerne seedling raising on the nursery site for the 2020 main rainy season.3 December 2019 -Sinana research site organized a Field day event in Bale, Oromia. The objective was to create awareness, measure the progress and get feedback on the ongoing food and forage crops technologies. The field day participants included Africa RISING implementing partner organizations from CGIAR partners, zonal and district administrations, research institutions, universities, seed enterprises, cooperatives, media, NGOs, government lead projects, departments of agriculture and farmers.28 December 2019 -Animal science undergraduate students from Madda Walabu University visited Africa RISING forage demonstration and evaluation site at Ilu-Sanbitu Kebele. The objective was to practically familiarize the students with the various improved forage varieties besides the theoretical trainings. They have got the chance to visit the grass forage demonstration having more than 15 grasses and legume species, oat variety trials, fodder beet variety trials, desho intercropping with tree lucerne and desho intercropping with vetch. They have explained their interest to work in collaboration with the project in future. Six male and four female students and three instructors participated on the event.","tokenCount":"12081"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1117059083.json b/data/part_1/1117059083.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82287fad10db9a1395018f344b113011dbc2b0bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1117059083.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9d58ba41a6a47c5e945629ddaf9ca48e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5449d501-806c-4048-bfa0-8dc7a1d77320/retrieve","id":"-1082439516"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"40c951dc-917e-468c-b3e7-81ab2db3652a","pagecount":"16","content":"El (\"Plllro In!ernacional dp Agricultura Tr op ical (C1ATJ es una institu~ión sin ánimo de lucro dedi(':.Id¡¡ al desarrollo agrícola y económico de las Lonas bajas rropica les. La sede dl.'l CIA T ocupa un terreno de 522 heCláreas, pro piedlld del Gollierno de Colombia el cUIII. en su clllidad de país anfitrió n, hrinda apoyo 111 ClAT en diferentes formas. La sede está situada cerca a la ciudad dc Cali y próxima al AeropurrlO Inlernllcional de Palma sec a y a la ciudad de Palmira. departamenlo del Valle . El CI ~\\T rC)l. li:ta (r¡¡bajo coop{'ralivo cqn diferent es inst ituciones nacionales. En Colombia, con el 11I.' )lilulO Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA), especialmente en los Cenlro.') [xperimenlalps de Turipaná )' Cnrimagua que lil'T1cn condicionps ecológicas difcrenlps a la !oede de Palmira . V¡_rios lIIifOmbros donanles d el Grupo Con . ~ulti\\'o para 11: 1. r n\"'e<¡tigación Agricola Internacim1a1 suminislran el respaldo financiero para el de<;arrollo de los programas del C1AT. Los donanles del año en cu rso son: la Agenci a F. sladounidcnse para el Desa rrollo Inlernacio nal (USA 10), la Fundación Rockdf lll' r. la Fundación F o rd, la Fundación \\V .K. Kellogg, la Agencia Canadiense para el D csa,(ollu I nlernaci o nal (ClDA), el Banco Internacio nal de Reconslrucción)' F om{'nlo (SI R F) por medio de la Asociación Inlcrnadonal del D esarrollo (IDA), el Banco Interamericano de D es arrollo (810 l, el Programa de las N aciones Unidas para ell\\tledio A mbiente, el ]\\'1 inislerio para el Dcsarrollo de {jltramar del Rein o Unido, y los j!obiernos dp Australia. Bélgica. la Republica F ederal de Alemania. Holanda}' Suiu. Además. alguna s de estas enl¡dad es y (' 1 Centro Int erna ciona l d\" I nvesligación para el Desarrollo del Canadá (1 D Re) financian proyectos ,,-spl'c ialt\". lH información ~ condusinllcs contenidas en la presenle publkación no renejan nec esariamente la posicif.in de ningun a de las inslituciones, fund\"cione ... O gobiernos mencionad os .Plantas de pone bajoCa lidad de la proteína Res istencia a Dialu.eaEnsayos en la s fincas  ICA tu vo a s u cargo lo, ensayo. de ,n\"esIlSJClon rca h/.ad os en la -ESI3ció n Ex pcrimenlal Tulio O sp jn~\" el C IA T Jcw li coml) in,: '!IIC'\"'' de Con 5u ....., malZ PROGRESOS LOGRADOS EN 1975 Las aClividades del Programa de M aiz del CIA T, que se enfoca ba n hacia el campo de la inves tigació n, con sede en PalmiTa, han cambiado su orientación d a nd o cnfasis al progra ma de servicios cooperativos con el Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) en México. Dic ho programa respaldara principalmenle las actividades nacionales en la Zona Andina y en el trópic o brasileñ o. Existe un exce lente es píritu de cooperación entre el equipo de científicos en maíz de estos paises y de los d os centros internadonales in vo lucrados en este programa.En 1975, se reali za ron ensayos en las finca s para probar male rial es del programa de fitomejoramiento, Jos cuales se recombinaron a fin de formar material genético básico que pueda ser utilizado por los progra mas nacionales y que también se pueda n combinar adecuadamente con el formad o por el CIM MYT. Dentro d el campo de filom ejo ramien -lO, se ha dado mayor importancia al desarrollo de maleriales de parle bajo res islenles al volcamiento, una de las causas principales de la reducción d e los rendimientos e n la región .En varias regiones de Co lo mbia , y en cooperación con el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (lCA), se sembraron varios ensayos internacio na les que constaban de 30 variedades experimentales del CIMMYT y seis testigos loca le s.Se sembraron otros 13 ensayos difere ntes e n finca s cercanas a M o nt e ría . El rendimiento promedio de casi 5 ton 1 ha indica que es factible ob tener rendimient os aceptables en esta región tradicionalmente maicera. El esta b!ecimiento y conservación de una densidad adecuada de plantas es, aparentemente, uno de los factores principales para aumentar los rendimientos en esta área y en otras simila res.El programa de se rvici os cooperalivos C IMMYT-CIAT ha re unid o y dislr ibuid o mate rial de los programas naciona les que se pro bará e n ensayos regional es en las (i erras bajas y allas lropicales, en 18 localidades de seis países.El trabajo de [itomejoramiento de maí , se ha concentrado en los genotipos de poca altura y con un tipo de planta estable. El Cuadro 1 ilustra claramente la tendencia al volcamiento de las plantas con demasiada altura (normales).El progra ma se centró en la selección de fami lias de hermanos completos de En un segundo experimento cooperativo so bre maíz y fríjol se estudió mediante la interacción de sistemas de siembra la importancia dt! la va riedad en la selección de los tipos de maíz adaptables tanto al monocultivo como al cultivo intercalado (Cuadro 4). Las den sidades empleadas en la siembra del frijol, fueron sustancial-  diferencias significativas entre las familias del maíz en cada uno de los tres sistemas. Las correlaciones entre la posición ocupada respecto a los rendimientos fueron variables para los diferentes sistemas. Las correlaciones en cuanto a la posición ocupada por nivel de rendimiento (r == 0,72\") Y el rendimiento en sí (r= 0,66\") entre los dos sistemas de cultivo (fríjollmaíz) fueron altamente significativas y sugieren que la selección de maíz hecha bajo un sistema asociado, también sería exitosa en el otro sistema. El Programa de Fríjol del CIAT está realiza ndo estudios similares de las variedades, mediante interacción de sistemas, para determinar métodos adecuados y económicos de evaluación y selección para los cultivos asociados. El sistema frí-j011 maíz, de suma importancia en América Latina. se está usando como prototipo en este experimento.Dos ciclos de selección de hennanos completos y el cruzamiento de familias seleccionadas han producido poblaciones por polinización libre de braquíticos modificados, blancos y amarillos que tienen 1,5 a 2,0 metros de altura. Estos braquíticos son resistentes al volcamiento y tienen rendimientos similares a los de los híbridos normales (Cuadros I y 5). Como los resultados preliminares mostraron muy poca o ninguna variación con relación a la interacción del sistema, para el ciclo actual de selección y cruzamientos se planea combina. los Tipos ¡¡ y 1\\1 . Se sembró un ensayo replicado de densidad con una población de 66.000 plantas I ha, con el fin de eliminar los genotipos que no respondan adecuadamente a una población alta de plantas.El criterio principal para seleccionar hennanos medios en poblaciones de \"plantas bajas'\" blancas y amaríllas es un menor tamaño de la planta. Se ha tratado de adaptar este material, proveniente del CIMMYT, a las condiciones de la Zona Andina. También se está seleccionando un grano más cristalino que puede tener una mayor aceptación por parte de los pequeños agricultores a nivel local. En igual forma que para las selecciones braquíticas, se sembró un ensavo replicado de plantas .. La\" planta baja\" se refiere a un caracte r gobernado por varios genes, cada uno con acción sobre un segmento limit ado del componente total d e la altura de la planta; en cambi o los braquíticos tienen un porte muy bajo gobernado por un solo gen mayor. bajas con una población de 66.000 plantasi ha para evaluar la respuesta a la densidad .En Los rendimientos de 11 progenies del C l M M YT Y de los ensayos varie tales experime ntales (Cuadro 6) se mbrados en 1974B y 1975A en el C IAT, fueron excelentes. Estos rendimientos co rresponden a dos replicaciones en surcos individuales de cinco met ros. El CIMMYT está formand o variedades experimentales, con base en semilla, que se mantiene como reserva, de familias seleccionadas por sus altos rendimientos(Cuadro 6), bajo porte y resiste ncia aJ volcamiento y a la pudrición de la mazorca. Un ensayo varietal replicado, pa ra el cual se em plea ro n 30 variedades experiment a les del C IMM YT y se is testigos locales, produjo un rendimiento promedio de S ton I ha. U na po blació n opaca ama rilta, co n end osperma duro, dio los mayores rend imientos (6,6 toneladas).  en otros dos lugares con el fin de es tudiar la estabilidad varietal desde el nivel del mar hasta los 1.400 met ros de altura , y en diversos tipos de suelos, desde los muy fértiles del YaUe del Cauca hasta los infértiles de los Llanos Orientales. En el segundo semestre de 1975, se sembraro n nuevos ensayos de variedades experimentales y de progenies.U na de las actividades claves del programa de servIcios cooperativos CIMMYT -CIAT consiste en sembrar ensayos regi onal es con materiales provenientes de los'p rogramas naciona les. A los seis países colaboradores, se han despachado 8 ensayos que se realizará n en localidades de tierras al ta s y 10 para regiones bajas.En a lgunas fincas de Monteria se efectuaron ensayos en colaboración con el persona l de control de malezas y de sistemas de pequeños agricultores.princ ipales: 1) evaluar el material braquitico del CIA T y las variedades e híbridos locales tanto en monocultivo como en asociación con ñame, 2) determinar las densidades óptimas para las variedades del maíz, y 3) eva lua r va rios sistemas de control de malezas que se aplicarán al cultivo del maí z en la s fincas pequeñas.  La importancia de la densidad adecuada de siem bra se puede aplicar a casi toda la Zona Andina. Se estima que el re ndimiento de las va riedades nativas bolivianas no mejoradas, se podÓa increment ar en un 70 po r ciento si se lograra sembrar un número mayor de plantas por unidad de superficie. (-9 En toda la zona y para todas las va riedad es se estima que solamente el 68 por ciento de la semilla germinó. La obtención y el mantenimiento de material de propagación de a lta calidad, proveniente de la cosecha de variedades de maíz opaco , almacenadas bajo las condiciones trad iciona les de las fincas, son factores que limitan en alt o grado la distribución más a mplia de estos mate rial es y po r consiguiente merece consideración.La P osta C2, seleccion ad a de un ensayo de proge nies del CIMMYT que se efectuó en 1974B, prese ntó un buen comportamiento en suelos mal drenados con un pH alto y tu vo rendimientos sumame nte buenos en un terreno cerca a Montería que fue inundado periódica mente. En un terreno mal drenado, ya se completó un nuevo ciclo de selección. Este tipo de maíz blanco, blando y de ntad o cuenta con muy poca aceptación, pero podría mejorarse med iante la recom binació n con tipos más desea bles.La in fo rmación sobre volcamiento (Cuadro 1) indica que las variedades braquíticas deben aventajar a las normales en c uanto a ca racterí sti cas de a poyo y sustentación p ara el ñame. Entre los tres tipos d e braquíticas seleccionadas, no se observaron diferen cias en el crecim ie nto relativ o ni en la capacidad trepadora del ñame. Las dife rencias, en el rendimie nto del ña me, cultivado en asociació n co n va ried ades braquíticas o normales) se rvirían para identificar la importa ncia del volcamiento que se ha prese ñtado.En varios de Jos ensayos realizados en las fincas se inclu ye ro n tratamientos pa ra el control de malezas) y en especial se emplearon herbicidas preemergentes. En est ud ios a nt eriores se obse rvó que los agricultores sufnan un défi cit de mano de obra e n la época de cultivo del maí z, si tuación q ue se puede so lucionar en parte em plea nd o tratamientos con herbicidas eficaces.La atrazine y el Iinuron, solos o e n combinación, o la atraz.ina y el alacJor produjero n re ndimientos ligera mente superiores a los obtenid os por los ag ricultores con el sistema usual de dos o tres desyerbas manuales. C omo la precipitació n fue escasa dura nte los primeros 30a 50 días de estos ensa yos, las malezas no prolifera ron ni compitiero n con el cultivo como había ocurrido bajo condiciones normales .T a mbién se ensayó e n tres fi ncas la capacidad p otencial de los herbicidas pa ra reducir el problema de la ma no de o bra med iante sistemas que requieren poca labo r d e la branza manual. Antes de la siembra se aplicaron paraquat y glifosato, compues tos no selectivos y no residua les) solos o en combinación con herbicidas preeme rgentes. Luego se compararon los result ados con los obtenidos empleando los métodos tradicio nales de preparación d e la tierra y se e nco ntró que la aplicación de cualquiera de los productos , en combinació n con un herbicida pree mergent e, era muy promisoria y ofrecía un mejor control que los prod uct os solos.Estos ensayos en las fincas de mos t raron que un buen núme ro d e va riedades normales, braquíticas y opacas, se mbradas a la densidad ad ecuada _ producían rendimie ntos suficientement e altos para justificar el uso de insumas como fertilizantes, insecticidas y he rbicidas .El C I M M YT Y el C1A T sirviero n de anfit rio nes para la Reunión de M ai ceros de la Z ona Andina que tuvo lugar en Mé xico en 1975. Los participantes estudia ron las posibles formas mediante las cuales los se rvicios co operativos de los d os ce ntros podrían respald a r los esfue rz os de los programas nacionales tendientes a aume nta r la producción de maiz. El perso nal del CIMMYT por su parte, hi zo una exposición a fondo de su material, de s us planes de desarrollo para las poblaciones y de la metod ología para los ensayos en las fincas de los agricultores. Los lideres de los programas nacionales presentaron las cifras actuales de producció n de sus 2. Desarrollar programas nacionales de adiestramient o en mal z, a nivel de especialistas en producción, es timulando a los profesionales de varios países para que colaboren con el programa dictando este cu rs o. El programa nacional boliviano planea ofrecer dicho curso para el segundo semestre de 197 5 en el estado de Santa Cruz.3. Facilitar la interacción a nivel de ca mpo entre los cient íficos de diferentes países, a fin de aumentar el intercambio de ideas de germoplasma a nivel regional.formes para los male ri ales de los progra- BIB LIOTECA [ -11 ","tokenCount":"2457"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1119683157.json b/data/part_1/1119683157.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a3fe1d9c56cd4a525f83fb1701d16793d606259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1119683157.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1ca3800a00428aac58a134075823dc07","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9ecca93f-d689-4f2f-aa31-f38aa2e5047d/retrieve","id":"-589546357"},"keywords":["cassava mosaic disease","cassava brown streak disease","e-extension services","Africa","Kenya","Tanzania","image recognition systems","mobile applications for agriculture"],"sieverID":"9d8fa5d1-f33c-4ab1-bd5f-a5f92e1cc505","pagecount":"14","content":"Nuru is a deep learning object detection model for diagnosing plant diseases and pests developed as a public good by PlantVillage (Penn State University), FAO, IITA, CIMMYT, and others. It provides a simple, inexpensive and robust means of conducting in-field diagnosis without requiring an internet connection. Diagnostic tools that do not require the internet are critical for rural settings, especially in Africa where internet penetration is very low. An investigation was conducted in East Africa to evaluate the effectiveness of Nuru as a diagnostic tool by comparing the ability of Nuru, cassava experts (researchers trained on cassava pests and diseases), agricultural extension officers and farmers to correctly identify symptoms of cassava mosaic disease (CMD), cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and the damage caused by cassava green mites (CGM). The diagnosis capability of Nuru and that of the assessed individuals was determined by inspecting cassava plants and by using the cassava symptom recognition assessment tool (CaSRAT) to score images of cassava leaves, based on the symptoms present. Nuru could diagnose symptoms of cassava diseases at a higher accuracy (65% in 2020) than the agricultural extension agents (40-58%) and farmers (18-31%). Nuru's accuracy in diagnosing cassava disease and pest symptoms, in the field, was enhanced significantly by increasing the number of leaves assessed to six leaves per plant (74-88%). Two weeks of Nuru practical use provided a slight increase in the diagnostic skill of extension workers, suggesting that a longer duration of field experience with Nuru might result in significant improvements. Overall, these findings suggest that Nuru can be an effective tool for in-field diagnosis of cassava diseases and has the potential to be a quick and cost-effective means of disseminating knowledge from researchers to agricultural extension agents and farmers, particularly on the identification of disease symptoms and their management practices.The steady increase in the world population and changes in climate are adding pressure to agriculture as the need to produce more food intensifies, and pests and diseases exacerbate these threats to food production. Enhancing the management of emerging pests and diseases along with the production of climateresilient and disease-resistant crops are some of the efforts that are being put in place to prevent the risk of hunger (Fao et al., 2018). Tools and technologies that can be used for early detection and diagnosis of crop diseases and pests are being encouraged to facilitate their management.Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platforms in the form of the internet, call-centers and SMS have been adopted to disseminate agricultural information to farmers in several regions including Latin America, Asia, and Africa (Qiang et al., 2012;Tsan et al., 2019). These technologies have shown promising results in reducing the knowledge gap between experts and farmers by enabling transfer of information about basic skills, new technologies and production techniques (Furuholt and Matotay, 2011;Qiang et al., 2012;Misaki et al., 2018).Developing ICT tools that are capable of identifying crop disease and pest damage poses a greater challenge due to the variability of symptoms. However, several novel techniques for disease and pest identification that use image recognition systems have been developed (Barbedo, 2014;Tuhaise et al., 2014;Pethybridge and Nelson, 2015;Prasad et al., 2016;Qin et al., 2016;Sladojevic et al., 2016;Fuentes et al., 2017;Johannes et al., 2017;Ramcharan et al., 2017). The image recognition system developed by Tuhaise et al. (2014) is one of the first systems developed for cassava. It estimates disease severity by evaluating the percentage of root necrosis attributed to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). Even though this method is effective and might be useful for research purposes it is not practical for farmers as it requires plants to be uprooted.Most of the image recognition systems developed for diagnosis of plant diseases provide remote, indirect detection where images of diseased plants are uploaded and analyzed prior to sending feedback to the users. Such technologies are useful to researchers but may be less effective for agricultural extension officers and farmers in areas with limited phone networks. PlantVillage Nuru and Leaf Doctor are currently the only publicly available mobilebased applications that can be used for in-field diagnosis of plant diseases (Pethybridge and Nelson, 2015;Ramcharan et al., 2017Ramcharan et al., , 2019)). Both applications can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Apple Store and Android PlayStore. However, PlantVillage Nuru is more geared to application in Africa where Android has a very large market share ( >85%; StatCounter Global Stats, 2020). PlantVillage Nuru also provides real-time diagnosis and management advice in the absence of a mobile network, making it ideal for use in remote areas.PlantVillage Nuru was created from a deep learning object detection model that can determine the presence of diseases and pests in plants based on foliar symptoms (Ramcharan et al., 2017(Ramcharan et al., , 2019)). The model was trained using 2,756 images of cassava leaves with symptoms of cassava pests and diseases, including CBSD, CMD, brown leaf spot (BLS), cassava green mite (CGM), red mite (RM) as well as asymptomatic leaves. Currently Nuru is trained to identify the presence of the most important pest/disease constraints of cassava. These include the viral diseases of cassava (CMD and CBSD) and the damage caused by CGM (sample images are illustrated in Supplementary Material A). In addition, Nuru has been trained to detect damage caused by fall armyworm (FAW), and new extensions will provide identification for maize lethal necrosis disease and early and late blight in potato. All of these will be delivered through one integrated objected detection model that works offline. Together, CMD and CBSD are arguably the greatest causes of economic losses in cassava production in Africa (Legg et al., 2011), while FAW has been reported to cause damage in several major crops including maize, sorghum, rice and sugarcane (Abrahams et al., 2017). These diseases and pests pose a great challenge to food production since cassava and maize are two of the major staple food crops in Africa, South America, and Asia (Pariona, 2019). Moreover, cassava is also used as a source of food for animals and as a raw material for the production of starch (Hillocks et al., 2002). Africa is the largest producer of cassava in the world, accounting for more than 50% of global production (FAOSTAT, 2018), hence management of CMD and CBSD is crucial for the survival of the crop.Both CMD and CBSD are controlled through the development and deployment of resistant varieties, as well as through the application of phytosanitary measures, including the removal of infected plants during early growth stages and the selection of healthy stems for use as planting material (Dixon et al., 2003;Thresh and Cooter, 2005;Legg et al., 2015;Kawuki et al., 2016). Effective diagnostic methods are vital if these measures are to be successfully implemented. Laboratory methods can be used to test for the presence of the viruses that cause CMD and CBSD (Hong et al., 1993;Monger et al., 2001), however these tests cannot be used at community level, and hence symptom recognition continues to be the most common way of diagnosing CMD, CBSD and CGM-damage (Sseruwagi et al., 2004). Although visual assessment of symptoms is a valuable first-line diagnostic approach for each of these major diseases/pests of cassava, it has not been widely nor effectively applied. Ineffectiveness of the visual assessment of CMD and CBSD is due to the weakly resourced nature of extension systems in most African countries which hinders knowledge transfer from researchers (via extension officers) to farmers, thereby depriving them of relevant information required for accurate diagnosis and management of diseases and pests (Daniel et al., 2013). Mobile-based apps like PlantVillage Nuru have an important potential role to play within extension systems by serving as diagnosis and training tools for extension officers and farmers. In view of the rapid penetration of mobile phone technology in developing countries (GSMA, 2019), such tools will become accessible to the majority of farmers in the near future, which means that their reach will greatly exceed that of existing extension systems.The mobile-based technologies available for diagnosis of plant diseases are relatively new and have not been around long enough to evaluate their effectiveness in enabling farmers to improve their disease diagnosis capability. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of PlantVillage Nuru for in-field diagnosis of the viral diseases of cassava and compares its accuracy to that of researchers, agricultural extension officers and farmers. Although the primary role of PlantVillage Nuru is for rapid pest/disease diagnosis rather than training, the teaching capability was also evaluated to provide information about the potential of the app to be used as a tool for transferring knowledge on pest and disease management from researchers to agricultural extension officers and farmers.The cassava model of PlantVillage Nuru was developed using deep convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms trained to identify symptoms of CMD and CBSD as well as damage caused by CGM on cassava leaf images (Ramcharan et al., 2017). A total of 2,756 images of asymptomatic and symptomatic cassava leaves from different varieties of cassava plants grown at field sites in coastal Tanzania (Chambezi, Bagamoyo) were selected and annotated by cassava disease experts at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) (Ramcharan et al., 2017). The annotated images were for training the cassava diagnostic model and these included images with symptoms of CBSD (398 images), CMD (388 images), BLS (386 images), CGM (309 images), and RM (415 images) as well as images of asymptomatic leaves (860 images) (Ramcharan et al., 2017). The model was subsequently deployed as a mobile app (PlantVillage Nuru) in Android smartphones and then tested in fields to account for environmental factors and hence determine the best conditions that will enable the model to perform with high accuracy (Ramcharan et al., 2019).PlantVillage Nuru works by performing real-time analysis of the image displayed on the screen when using the app. The user is directed to point the phone's camera onto a leaf that does not look healthy and ensure that the image is in focus prior to analysis. Once the image is in focus the user can start the analysis and the app will display boxes indicating the condition it has identified on individual leaflets. Once the user has finished inspecting the whole plant the app provides the user with an overall diagnosis of the condition of the plant followed by advice on management of the disease or pest it has detected. Both the disease diagnosis and advice capabilities of PlantVillage Nuru are available while offline, enabling users to get results even when in remote areas with no network services. PlantVillage Nuru is programmed in multiple languages including English and Swahili; Swahili is widely spoken throughout East Africa as well as in parts of central Africa. Ongoing efforts are being made to provide access in other languages through a crowd-sourcing translation tool, and a voice command functionality is being integrated into the app to give access to users who are not able to read and write.PlantVillage Nuru was evaluated by comparing its capability to diagnose cassava diseases to that of expert researchers, other researchers, agricultural extension officers and farmers. This required experts to be highly skilled in determining the presence of cassava diseases based on foliar symptoms. The capability of expert researchers (cassava experts from IITA, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) to identify foliar symptoms of cassava diseases was therefore determined at the outset.The ability of cassava experts to accurately identify the symptoms of CMD, CBSD and CGM damage, based on symptoms observed from the leaves, was assessed by comparing visual and molecular diagnosis (through conventional PCR or qPCR amplification of the disease-causing viruses). Two cassava experts, each with at least 3 years of work experience on cassava virus diseases, visually diagnosed 75 cassava plants of five different varieties by assessing the presence or absence of symptoms of CMD and CBSD. The experts randomly selected two leaves (one from the top and the other from the bottom part of each cassava plant) and scored the leaves based on the observed condition. The inspected leaves were sampled and used to test for the presence of the diseasecausing virus by molecular diagnosis. The accuracy of expert diagnosis was determined by calculating the proportion of plants for which the symptom diagnoses of experts matched those of the virus test results.Standard protocols for laboratory detection of CMD-causing viruses (Abarshi et al., 2012) and CBSD-causing viruses (Adams et al., 2012) were used. These involved extraction of nucleic acid from the investigated cassava leaves and PCR amplification of the viruses that cause CMD and CBSD. Two leaves, one from the top and the other from the bottom of the cassava plants were sampled from the 75 cassava plants that were investigated. Symptomatic leaflets were labeled, and the leaves were dried prior to analysis.Prior the PCR amplification the cassava leaves were dried, ground and total nucleic acid was extracted using a cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction procedure. Briefly, 1 mL of CTAB buffer (containing 2.0% w/v CTAB, 2.0% PVP, 25 mM EDTA, 2.0 M NaCl, 100 mM Tris HCL pH 8.0, and 0.2% β-mercaptoethanol which was added immediately before extraction) was added to the dried cassava leaves. The leaves were then ground and incubated at 65 • C for 15 min to lyse the cells to facilitate the separation of polysaccharides and polyphenols from the cellular material. An equal amount of chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (24:1) was added to the cell lysate to separate the nucleic acids from the cell lysate, the nucleic acid was precipitated from the solution by adding 0.6x volume of cold isopropanol prior to incubation at −20 • C for 30 min followed by centrifugation at 13,000 rpm and 4 • C for 10 min. The supernatant was discarded and the nucleic acid pellet was washed twice by adding 700 µL of 70% ethanol followed by vortexing and incubating at −20 • C prior to centrifugation at 13,000 rpm for 5 min. Afterwards, the ethanol solution was removed, the nucleic acid pellet was air-dried and then resuspended in 100 µL Tris-EDTA buffer (1x). The quantity and quality of the nucleic acid extracts were determined by spectrometry at 260 nm.Nucleic acid of the virus that causes CMD in the coastal region (East African cassava mosaic virus -EACMV) was amplified using the primer pair EAB555F and EAB555R, designed to amplify a 560 bp DNA fragment as described by Ndunguru et al. (2005). About 20 ng of total nucleic acid was added to the PCR master mix containing One Taq 2x Master mix with standard buffer (M0482S, New England Biolabs) and 200 nM each of the forward and reverse primers. A negative control (no-template) and positive controls (samples obtained from symptomatic plants maintained in the screen house that had previously been tested and shown to have the virus of interest) were also included in the analysis.PCR amplification was done using a Veriti thermocycler (Applied Biosystems) with the following cycling conditions: initial DNA denaturation at 94 • C for 2 min, followed by 30 cycles of denaturation (at 94 • C for 30 s), annealing (at 55 • C for 30 s) and extension (at 68 • C 40 s), then a final extension at 68 • C for 10 min. The PCR products were analyzed by gel electrophoresis using 1% (w/v) agarose gels and 1X TAE buffer. The DNA products were stained with GelRed nucleic acid stain (Biotium, California, United States) and the gels were viewed and photographed using the Syngene GBox system (Syngene, Cambridge, United Kingdom). Samples containing DNA bands of about 560 bp were considered as EACMV positive results.Detection of the viruses that cause CBSD (Cassava brown streak virus and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus) was done by real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) using TaqMan chemistry and primers described by Adams et al. (2012). Four microlitres of the template nucleic acid was added into the PCR reaction mixtures containing 1x PCR buffer, 5.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.5 mM dNTPs, 300 nM primer, 100 nM probe, 30 nM Rox reference dye, 0.625 Units of Taq DNA polymerase and 0.4 Units of M-MLV-reverse transcriptase into a 25 µL reaction. The Taq DNA polymerase and reverse transcriptase were obtained from Life Technologies (California, United States) while all the reagents in the PCR master mix were obtained from IDT (Iowa, United States). An internal control (Cytochrome oxidase 1), a negative control (no-template), and positive controls (samples obtained from symptomatic plants maintained in screen houses that had previously been tested and shown to have the virus of interest) were also included in the analysis.The amplification reactions were done using a Stratagene MX3000P qPCR machine (Agilent Technologies, New Jersey, United States) with the following thermo-cycling conditions: 30 min incubation at 48 • for reverse transcription, initial denaturation of the cDNA at 95 • C for 10 min, 40 cycles of denaturation at 95 • C for 15 s and annealing and extension at 60 • C for 1 min. Fluorescence data were collected during the 60 • C step using Stratagene MxPro Real-time qPCR software version 4 (Agilent Technologies, New Jersey, United States). Based on the amplification curves, samples with cycle threshold (Ct) values below 36 were considered as positive results.The ability of PlantVillage Nuru to identify symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM damage was tested in the field (using a Huawei P10 smartphone) by selecting 15 plants for each condition, as identified by experts, and five asymptomatic plants, making a total of 50 plants. Of the 15 plants with each disease/pest condition, five plants had intermediate symptoms of the condition, five plants had mild symptoms of the condition and five plants had unclear symptoms of the condition. This last group comprised plants in which symptoms were not typical of symptoms for that condition. Plants in each of these groups were selected by two researchers with at least three years of experience on cassava pests and diseases. For each of the sampled plants, six leaves were assessed, three from the top and three from the bottom part of the plant. During diagnosis with PlantVillage Nuru, the app was pointed at the leaves for a period of 10 s and the symptoms that were detected were identified by boxes that popped up on the diagnosis screen. The degree of congruence between PlantVillage Nuru's diagnoses and those of the experts, for each of the symptom categories, was determined by calculating the percentage of leaves for which diagnoses matched.The value of making diagnoses using more than one leaf was determined and the degree to which results from experts and PlantVillage Nuru matched for upper leaves was assessed by comparing results first for leaf 1 (top upper leaf), then for leaves 1 and 2 (two upper leaves), then for leaves 1, 2, and 3 (three upper leaves). The same process was repeated for lower leaves where the one-leaf comparison was done using the first of the lower leaves, the two-leaf comparison using two lower leaves, and the three-leaf comparison using three lower leaves. Finally, for each of the three conditions (CMD, CBSD, and CGM), percentage matches between expert and PlantVillage Nuru were calculated when using between one and six leaves. The one-leaf comparison used the top upper leaf only. Subsequent comparisons used the following sets of leaves: two-leaf comparison (one upper leaf and one lower leaf); three-leaf comparison (two upper leaves and one lower leaf); four-leaf comparison (two upper and two lower leaves), fiveleaf comparison (three upper and two lower leaves), and six-leaf comparison (three upper and three lower leaves). Results for all of the conditions were then combined to give an overall matching percentage value between expert and PlantVillage Nuru when using different numbers of leaves for diagnosis. Examples of the leaves that were used for investigating the use of multiple leaves for the diagnosis of the whole plant are illustrated in Supplementary Material B.In-field and on-screen symptom recognition accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru were compared to determine if there was a difference in the performance when assessing leaves \"on-screen\" or \"in-field.\" To do this, pictures were taken of each of the 300 leaves used for the in-field assessment described above (90 leaves from CMD-affected plants, 90 from CBSD-infected plants, 90 from plants with CGM-damage and 30 leaves that were asymptomatic). PlantVillage Nuru was then used to diagnose these pictures on a laptop screen and the accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru in diagnosing each of the four conditions in-field and onscreen was determined by comparing the diagnoses of the AI system with those of the experts.The cassava symptom recognition assessment tool (CaSRAT) was developed at IITA based on a scoring matrix for assessing the condition of 170 images that were randomly selected from a local cassava farm in Mkuranga region. These images include cassava leaves that were symptomatic for CMD (30 images), CBSD (69 images), CGM (51 images), and co-infection (8 images) as well as images with symptoms of other conditions (such as mineral deficiency-8 images) and images that could not be properly diagnosed (4 images). The 170 images were reviewed by 10 cassava experts at IITA-Tanzania, with more than 3 years' experience of working on cassava pests and diseases, and the group made consensus diagnoses for each of the images. These consensus identifications were then used for the image set as a baseline against which to judge the performance of test groups. During the assessment with CaSRAT, the images were presented to individuals being tested using a projector at an interval of 15 s per image and each individual filled in a scoring sheet (Supplementary Material C) with pre-coded scores (i.e., \"1\" for CMD, \"2\" for CBSD etc.) indicating the symptoms observed on the cassava leaf images. The scores filled in by the individuals being assessed were then compared to the expert score and the accuracy for symptom recognition for each individual was then calculated as a percentage of leaves that were correctly scored. Detailed information on how the symptom recognition assessment tool was developed can be found in Supplementary Material D.The diagnostic capabilities of 60 people in three major categories (researchers, extension agents and farmers) were compared. For each major category, there were 10 who had been trained on cassava pests and diseases and 10 who had not. Both sets of researchers were from IITA-Tanzania, whilst the sets of extension officers and farmers (both trained and untrained) were from Mkuranga District, south of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The farmers evaluated in this study were all cassava growers and they were from one of the main cassava growing regions in Tanzania. The trained farmers were selected from farmers that had been involved in a study between 2014 and 2016 investigating the effectiveness of community phytosanitation in reducing the effects of cassava diseases (Legg et al., 2017). This group had received training on each of the major pests and diseases of cassava. The untrained farmers were selected from farmers that had not participated in the phytosanitation study. All farmers selected had been growing cassava for at least 5 years. During the assessments of accuracy in symptom recognition for the various groups tested, each individual was shown the CaSRAT images and was requested to score the images based on the symptom/condition that they observed. Average scores were obtained for each set.To evaluate PlantVillage Nuru using CaSRAT, the app was pointed at a laptop screen showing the CaSRAT images at 15 s intervals. Diagnoses provided by PlantVillage Nuru were used to fill in the CaSRAT scoring sheet for determining the app's accuracy score by comparing its diagnoses with the consensus diagnoses of the experts. Evaluation of PlantVillage Nuru by CaSRAT was done using four different phones (Huawei P10, Samsung Galaxy 4, Tecno Camon CM and Infinix Hot 5) to determine if there was variation in Nuru's accuracy based on the type of phone used. Additionally, the CaSRAT assessment was conducted twice in order to evaluate potential improvements over time, firstly using PlantVillage Nuru V1.05 (released in March 2018) and secondly with PlantVillage Nuru V2.6.0-39 (released in June 2020).The teaching capability of PlantVillage Nuru was evaluated by determining the ability of agricultural extension agents to identify symptoms of cassava diseases prior to and after using the app. CaSRAT was used to determine the disease diagnosis ability of 30 agricultural extension agents and 50 farmers from Busia County (western Kenya) prior to the introduction and use of PlantVillage Nuru. After the assessment, all the agricultural extension officers and farmers were trained on diseases and pests of cassava and then introduced to the app. Afterwards, both the agricultural extension agents and farmers were divided into two groups, half of whom were given phones with access to PlantVillage Nuru and requested to inspect and collect data from 100 healthy and diseased cassava plants using app, within two weeks. The other half were not given access to PlantVillage Nuru nor asked to collect data from cassava plants. After the two weeks, the symptom recognition ability of extension agents and farmers, with and without PlantVillage Nuru, was assessed using CaSRAT and their symptom recognition accuracy scores were compared.Boxplots, single factor ANOVA and Tukey HDS statistics were used to evaluate and compare the accuracy scores obtained from the researchers, agricultural extension agents and farmers. The statistical analyses were done using R Studio Version 1.1.456 (RStudio Inc.). The script used for the statistical analysis is found in Supplementary Material D.Comparison of the molecular and visual diagnoses showed that the experts in cassava pests and diseases could determine the presence or absence of either CMD and CBSD in a plant with a high degree of accuracy (95% for CMD and 81% for CBSD), when only one condition is considered (Table 1). The majority of the cases where the experts failed to identify symptoms of diseases were due to the presence of CBSD-causing viruses that produced few or no symptoms, a condition known as latent infection.The ability of PlantVillage Nuru to accurately identify symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage, and therefore diagnose the presence of these diseases/conditions, was examined using 90 cassava leaves (from 15 cassava plants) that were either asymptomatic or symptomatic for CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage. Importantly, although plants were classified by experts as affected by CMD, CBSD, or CGM, not all inspected leaves of those plants expressed symptoms of those diseases/pests. PlantVillage Nuru could identify asymptomatic leaves with an accuracy above 90%, which is higher than the accuracy for symptomatic leaves (21-59%); it could also identify symptoms of CGM-damage (40-56%) and CMD (52-59%) better than CBSD (21% accuracy) (Table 2). Furthermore, PlantVillage Nuru's accuracy for identification of CBSD symptoms (21%) was significantly lower than that of CMD (59%) and CGM (56%). For all disease/pest damage conditions, mild symptoms were correctly identified by PlantVillage Nuru with much lower accuracy (13-37%) than intermediate symptoms (27-83%), whilst symptoms that were considered to be unclear were identified with moderate accuracy (23-63%) (Table 3). Examples of leaf images showing intermediate, mild and unclear symptoms are illustrated in Supplementary Material A. Plants with \"intermediate\" symptoms had more distinctive and uniformly distributed patterns of disease expression than those with mild symptoms, where symptoms were less prominent on a smaller proportion of leaves. Plants with \"unclear\" symptoms had symptoms that could be confused with other diseases or conditions, such as mineral deficiency, or brown leaf spot.The on-screen accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru for identifying symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage as well as asymptomatic leaves was similar to the in-field accuracy (Table 2). PlantVillage Nuru's accuracy for identifying symptoms of CMD and CGM-damage in-field (59 and 56%, respectively) was slightly higher for than that obtained from on-screen diagnosis in CaSRAT (52 and 40%, respectively) while accuracy for identifying CBSD symptoms was the same in both cases (21%). On the other hand, the on-screen accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru for identification of asymptomatic leaves (97%) was slightly higher than that of in-field diagnosis (90%). Overall, accuracy scores for PlantVillage Nuru \"in-field\" and \"on-screen\" were very similar (Table 2), which demonstrates the validity of using CaSRAT to compare the \"on-screen\" accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru with that of humans. The ability of the experts to diagnose CBSD and CGMdamage on-screen (Table 2), using the images obtained from the 300 leaves (of 50 plants: 15 CMD, 15 CBSD, 15 CGM, 5 asymptomatic), was less than for the in-field analysis of the 50 whole plants. Although humans correctly identified CMD symptoms from 100% of the images obtained from plants tagged in the field as affected by CMD and 97% of images were correctly identified as asymptomatic, levels of image recognition were lower for CBSD (74%) and CGM (76%). The reason for this is that several of the leaves from plants tagged as affected by CBSD or CGM did not express symptoms of these conditions. CBSD-infected plants typically express weak symptoms or no symptoms at all on upper leaves whilst CGM symptoms are only prominent on upper leaves. For this reason, the use of multiple leaves for diagnosis of the whole plant was hypothesized as a means to improve the diagnostic accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru since cassava experts usually inspect the whole plant instead of a few leaves.When the number of leaves examined by PlantVillage Nuru was increased, the diagnosis capacity for all three conditions (CMD, CBSD, and CGM) improved greatly (Figure 1). The use of two leaves per plant improved PlantVillage Nuru's diagnosis capacity for CMD from 53 to 93% for upper leaves and from 73 to 93% for lower leaves, CGM-damage from 67 to 93% for upper leaves and from 47 to 53% for lower leaves, while at least three leaves were required to achieve a similar level of improvement for diagnosis of CBSD (from 0 to 27% for upper leaves and 33 to 53% for lower leaves) (Figure 2).The location of leaves had an impact on PlantVillage Nuru's accuracy for identifying symptoms of CGM-damage and CBSD but not CMD. CGM-damage was more accurately identified using upper leaves while CBSD symptoms were more accurately identified using lower leaves. However, the use of six leaves (3upper and 3-lower) provided the highest likelihood of diagnosis of all conditions, at which the diagnosis of CMD, CBSD and CGM-damage were diagnosed with 93, 73 and 93% accuracy (Figure 1). For this reason, the use of three upper and three lower leaves was the recommended number of leaves suggested for improving the accuracy of the cassava model in Nuru. This is the model that is now implemented in the currently available PlantVillage Nuru app in the Android PlayStore.The CaSRAT was used to determine the ability of individuals and groups to accurately diagnose foliar symptoms. The researchers trained on cassava pests and diseases were able to identify symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage with higher accuracy than untrained researchers, agricultural extension officers and farmers (Figure 3). The mean accuracy score of symptom recognition by trained researchers (86%) was about four times higher than that of untrained researchers (21%) (Welch two-sample t-test p = 4.30E−11), almost twice as high as that of trained agricultural extension officers (49%) (Tukey HSD p < 0.001) and three times higher than that of trained farmers (23%) (Tukey HSD p < 0.001). However, there were small differences between the mean accuracy scores of trained and untrained agricultural extension officers (49 and 32%, respectively, Tukey HSD p < 0.05) and trained and untrained farmers (23 and 12%, respectively, Tukey HSD p > 0.5).The majority of images that were misdiagnosed by farmers, trained and untrained, had symptoms of CBSD and CGMdamage; these accounted for 37-42% of all misdiagnoses (Supplementary Material E1). The untrained farmers misdiagnosed leaves with CBSD symptoms as healthy, i.e., asymptomatic (24% of all misdiagnoses), and CGM-damage as CBSD and healthy (14% of all misdiagnoses for each condition). On the other hand, trained farmers most commonly confused symptoms of CBSD with those of CGM-damage (12% of all misdiagnoses) and symptoms of CGM-damage with those of CBSD (20% of all misdiagnoses).Similarly, the majority of misdiagnoses by agricultural extension officers, trained and untrained, were also due to symptoms of CBSD (30%) and CGM-damage (45%) (Supplementary Material E2). Untrained agricultural extension officers confused symptoms of CBSD with those of CMD (22% of all misdiagnoses) and symptoms of CGM-damage with those of CBSD (23% of all misdiagnoses). Trained agricultural officers also confused symptoms of CGM-damage with those of CBSD (28% of all misdiagnoses), however, they seemed to be less clear with symptoms of CBSD as they misdiagnosed some of the leaves with CBSD symptoms as CMD-infected (11% of all misdiagnoses) and CGM-damage (10% of all misdiagnoses).Untrained researchers also confused symptoms of CBSD (41% of misdiagnoses) and CGM-damage (39%) more than CMD, while the majority of the misdiagnoses obtained from trained researchers were due to CGM-damage and co-infection (34 and 37% of all misdiagnoses; Supplementary Material E3). The untrained researchers seemed to have confused symptoms of CBSD with those of CMD (11% of all misdiagnoses), CGM-damage (10% of all misdiagnoses) as well as healthy (7% of all misdiagnoses) and other conditions (14% of all misdiagnoses). On the other hand, trained researchers confused symptoms of CGM-damage with those of CMD and CBSD (12% of all misdiagnoses for each condition).Most of the misdiagnoses due to symptoms of co-infection were obtained from leaves that had symptoms of both, CBSD and CGM-damage (Supplementary Material E), and most of these were identified by researchers and agricultural extension officers to have either CBSD or CGM only. However, the number of images with symptoms of co-infection were few hence more images are required for a proper analysis.Nuru was able to identify disease symptoms with 54% accuracy when tested on the 170 images used with the CaSRAT, using the same phone that was used for the in-field assessment. However, Nuru's accuracy for symptom identification was lower (30-41%) for the other three phones assessed using the cassava    4). Although the average accuracy score of Nuru, 2018 with four phones (40 ± 10%) was slightly lower than that of trained agricultural extension officers (49%) (Tukey HSD p > 0.5), its score in 2020 (65 ± 3%) was significantly higher (Tukey HSD p < 0.05). The accuracy of the cassava model V.2.6 in Nuru, 2020 was higher for all four different phones that were evaluated (62-68% overall accuracy score) suggesting that PlantVillage Nuru's improvements also enabled the app to perform better in different phones.  The assessment tool (CaSRAT) was also used to evaluate the teaching capability of Nuru by determining the ability of agricultural extension officers and farmers trained on cassava pests and diseases to correctly identify symptoms of diseases after using PlantVillage Nuru for about two weeks. There was a significant increase in the ability of the extension agents to identify symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM after the training as evidenced by the increase in their mean accuracy score from 34.9 ± 10.9 to 49.9 ± 13.5% (Tukey HSD p < 0.005) (Figure 4). However, this was not the case for the farmers where there was only a marginal change in their accuracy score after training, from 29.9 ± 9.7 to 31.2 ± 10.2% (Tukey HSD p > 0.5). There was no significant difference in the mean accuracy scores of the agricultural extension officers before and after using PlantVillage Nuru, from 49.9 ± 13.5 to 50.5 ± 14.5% (Tukey HSD p > 0.5). However, the range of the accuracy scores obtained after training and Nuru usage (46-60%) was slightly narrower than that obtained from agricultural extension officers who had only received training without using Nuru (38-61%) (Figure 5).The extension officers in this group also seemed to confuse symptoms of CBSD with those of CMD (14-19% of all misdiagnoses) and CGM-damage (19-27% of all misdiagnoses) as well as symptoms of CGM-damage with those of CMD (8-12% of all misdiagnoses) and CBSD (16-20% of all misdiagnoses) (Supplementary Material E5). The percent of images that were misdiagnoses did not differ much after training and the use of PlantVillage Nuru for two weeks.Development of smartphone-based technologies for diagnosis of disease and pest damage on plants requires input from experts who understand the phenotypes of the diseases and pests. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the expertise of these experts to ensure that the information used to develop such technologies is as accurate as possible. Quantifying the knowledge of the experts also provides a baseline that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed technologies. The present study examined the expertise of the experts who generated datasets used for the development of an object-detection model for cassava disease diagnosis based on foliar symptoms, known as PlantVillage Nuru. The symptom recognition capability of PlantVillage Nuru was compared to that of the experts and its intended users so as to determine the effectiveness of the app. Since PlantVillage Nuru was developed as a diagnosis and training tool, its capacity to train users was also evaluated to determine if the app can be used to train its users to recognize the symptoms of diseases and pests affecting their plants and hence improve their diagnosis capability.Cassava experts were able to achieve a high level of accuracy in correctly identifying the disease affecting cassava plants (CMD or CBSD) using visual-based symptom recognition on leaves which were confirmed to be healthy or contain the disease-causing viruses by molecular diagnostic methods. This may represent the first time that such a visual inspection vs. molecular diagnostics comparison has been made for CMD, and it confirms the otherwise widely held view that CMD is relatively easy to identify based on visual symptom assessments (Abarshi et al., 2012). The small number of false negatives associated with CMD infection, identified in the present study, were thought to be due to latent infection that had not resulted in disease symptom expression.CBSD is known to have more cryptic symptoms than CMD (Nichols, 1950) and more frequent latent infection (Adams et al., 2012). Furthermore, the expression of foliar symptoms in CBSDinfected plants has been reported to vary between leaves on the plants, cassava variety, growing conditions (temperature, rainfall, and altitude), age of the plant and the virus isolate involved in causing the disease symptoms (Hillocks and Jennings, 2003;Mohammed et al., 2012;Shirima et al., 2019Shirima et al., , 2020)). It is therefore unsurprising that there was a lower level of congruence between symptom vs. virus testing identifications for CBSD than was observed for CMD.However, the overall high level of accuracy in the visual assessment of CMD and CBSD infection achieved by the experts provided a strong basis both for the previous development of the PlantVillage Nuru app (Ramcharan et al., 2019), as well as the use of expert diagnoses as a benchmark for comparison of diagnoses made by other groups as well as the PlantVillage Nuru app itself.When PlantVillage Nuru was used to identify the symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage (using single leaves), it was partially accurate for CMD (58% accuracy score) and CGM (56% accuracy score), but mostly inaccurate for CBSD (21% accuracy score). This highlights the fact that single-leaf diagnoses using a smartphone app such as PlantVillage Nuru are unreliable, partly due to the difference in the severity of the symptoms PlantVillage Nuru can recognize, but also resulting from the uneven distribution of symptoms within cassava plants, particularly for CBSD (Nichols, 1950).The distinction of sampled plants into those with \"mild, \" \"intermediate, \" and \"unclear\" symptoms gave rise to large differences in the accuracy of single leaf diagnoses by PlantVillage Nuru. The accuracy for diagnosis of intermediate symptoms of CMD and CGM-damage was about 20% higher than that of unclear symptoms and the overall diagnosis accuracy. The diagnostic capacity of Nuru for leaves with mild symptoms was low for all the three conditions (CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage), probably because images selected for training the app were mostly of leaves with clear symptoms. The overall lower accuracy in identifying CBSD symptoms has been reported previously for PlantVillage Nuru (Ramcharan et al., 2019), and it is a widely published fact that CBSD symptoms are cryptic, seasonally variable and can be difficult to identify, even for experienced researchers (Nichols, 1950;Hillocks and Thresh, 2000).All of the pest and disease conditions of cassava (especially CMD, CBSD, and CGM) have patterns of symptom expression that vary greatly within plants, from plant to plant, and between varieties and they are affected also by virus strain variation, weather conditions and other environmental factors (Hahn et al., 1980;Thresh et al., 1994;Owor et al., 2004a,b;Mohammed et al., 2012). A plant with a recent vector-borne infection of CMD only expresses symptoms in upper leaves (Sseruwagi et al., 2004) and CGM damage is always most prominent on upper leaves (Onzo et al., 2005) while CBSD symptoms are usually present on leaves toward the bottom of the plant (Nichols, 1950). By definition, asymptomatic plants are uniformly symptomfree, which explains the much higher level of accuracy (90%) achieved by PlantVillage Nuru in identifying this condition from a single leaf. These factors highlight the importance of applying multi-leaf assessments when using PlantVillage Nuru. The same principle would also apply to any other app attempting to deliver phone-based diagnoses of cassava diseases and pest damage.The use of two leaves (one upper and one lower) improved PlantVillage Nuru's diagnostic capability for CMD and CGMdamage to a similar accuracy to that of the cassava experts, however, this was not the case for CBSD which required six leaves to approach the expert's accuracy (accuracy score > 74%). Hence the use of six leaves was adopted as the means for diagnosis of the whole plant as it provided PlantVillage Nuru with a better chance of identifying disease symptoms and therefore improved its performance, even when the severity of the symptoms varied. The use of six leaves mimics the approach that a researcher would take in the field, in which both upper and lower parts of the plants would be inspected in order to confirm the presence of CMD, CBSD or CGM symptoms (Hillocks and Thresh, 2000;Sseruwagi et al., 2004).We compared the diagnostic capability of PlantVillage Nuru (for CMD, CBSD and CGM-damage) to that of its intended users-agricultural extension officers and farmers-to assess the potential beneficial effects of PlantVillage Nuru for these groups. PlantVillage Nuru had the same overall accuracy for identifying symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage as trained agricultural extension officers, who could identify disease symptoms better than untrained researchers, untrained agricultural extension officers and trained or untrained farmers.The large difference in the symptom identification ability of the trained researchers compared to untrained researchers highlights the difficulty of diagnosing symptoms of CMD, CBSD, and CGM-damage such that only well-trained individuals can do so effectively. By contrast, the difference between the symptom recognition accuracy scores of the trained farmers and agricultural extension officers suggested that the vertical transfer of knowledge from researchers to extension agents is currently inefficient. In order to address this problem, a rigorous training programme might be needed to improve the ability of the agricultural extension agent and farmers to identify and differentiate symptoms of the diseases and conditions that they encounter, and efforts should be made to improve the efficiency with which agricultural extension information flows down to farmers. In order to achieve this, it will also be necessary to tackle the resource constraints which are common features of agricultural knowledge transfer systems in sub-Saharan Africa (Azumah et al., 2018). The ability of PlantVillage Nuru to diagnose disease symptoms with a similar level of accuracy to that achieved by experts, when using multiple leaves, indicated that the app might be able fill the knowledge gap between researchers and agricultural extension officers as well as farmers. Digital tools such as PlantVillage Nuru offer great potential for extending the reach and improving the efficiency of agricultural knowledge transfer systems in sub-Saharan Africa, as telecommunications networks continue their rapid expansion through the continent.We demonstrated that training alone delivered significant improvements in accuracy of disease diagnosis for extension officers but not farmers, indicating that the applied training method might not have been suitable for farmers. Hence further investigations are recommended to determine the most suitable methods for training farmers and how to evaluate the effectiveness of such trainings. Training with PlantVillage Nuru resulted in a slight improvement in the symptom recognition capacity of both agricultural extension officers and farmers, suggesting that a longer period of time might be required to observe more substantial changes in the symptom recognition capacity of its users.The training potential of PlantVillage Nuru is based on its ability to show users the symptoms of the diseases/conditions present in the leaves as it is being used (as illustrated in the Supplementary Videos for Healthy-diagnosis, CMD-diagnosis, CBSD-diagnosis, and CGM-diagnosis). This helps users to become familiar with the characteristic symptoms of each of the disease/pest damage types, which over time should enable them to recognize each of these conditions without the aid of PlantVillage Nuru. This learning function is reinforced by PlantVillage Nuru's library containing images of disease symptoms that the user can access and learn from, in the absence of a mobile network. Furthermore, if the user has access to a mobile network, PlantVillage Nuru can connect the users to researcher experts who can assist in diagnosis of the condition of the plant, through a platform where the user is able to ask questions and share images of their plants (as seen at https:// plantvillage.psu.edu/posts). Furthermore, PlantVillage Nuru can link users with the PlantVillage database where users can get information on agricultural practices, diseases, and pests as well as their management techniques for different crops.Hence, with time, PlantVillage Nuru can provide a quick, cost-effective and easily accessible means for disseminating knowledge and ensuring continuous training of agricultural extension agents and farmers, thereby improving their skills in pest/disease identification and management. On-going work in western Kenya indicates that Nuru is improving disease diagnosis skills of cassava farmers suggesting that efforts to scale out the use of Nuru across the cassava-growing regions of Africa will improve farmers' recognition and knowledge of cassava diseases/pests, which will contribute to improved disease/pest control and greater productivity.The model that we tested here has already been updated and continuous improvements are being made as more data become available, so the diagnosis capacity of PlantVillage Nuru is expected to increase over time. Improvements in smartphone technology will also contribute to better performance of the app, since newer smartphone models tend to have better cameras which enhance sensitivity and accuracy of PlantVillage Nuru.The diagnostic models used to develop Nuru are publicly available for independent validation, which allows their reliability to be assessed in diverse geographic regions where different varieties of the investigated plants are grown. This may enable modification of the disease diagnostic models to improve performance based on the condition and variety of the host plant as well as identification of conditions that may need to be included in the training datasets. \"Open science\" models from other sectors, like genome biology and genetic diseases, have led to rapid advances in the application of machine learning approaches to the development of diagnostics.Additional symptom types that have been proposed for inclusion within the cassava PlantVillage Nuru model include nutrient-deficiency and fungal infection (Howeler, 2002;Hillocks et al., 2002), although these are currently of much lower importance in sub-Saharan Africa than the cassava viruses and CGM. However, the accuracy of the model might be reduced by increasing the number of different conditions with similar symptoms. Therefore other tools which could provide complementary simple, cheap and rapid means for in-field diagnosis of plant diseases (such as pathogen-based biosensors) could be used to enhance the capability of PlantVillage Nuru. Pathogen-based biosensors use the pathogen's antibodies or nucleic acid for diagnosis (Khater et al., 2017) and hence could act as a confirmatory test for cases where disease symptoms cannot be determined or if there is latent infection. Since pathogen-based biosensors have not yet been developed for in-field diagnosis of the viral diseases of cassava, symptom recognition and lab-based assays will continue to remain the main methods for diagnosis of CMD and CBSD in the immediate future. Therefore, Nuru has an important role to play in building disease diagnostic capacity of agricultural extension officers and farmers.The present study has shown that PlantVillage Nuru can be as effective as experts in identifying the symptoms of the viral diseases of cassava (CMD and CBSD) and CGMdamage. PlantVillage Nuru gave a high level of symptom recognition accuracy, which was better than that achieved by agricultural extension officers and farmers, suggesting that it can be used for increasing their diagnostic capacity for the viral diseases of cassava as well as CGM. Since the disease diagnostic models in PlantVillage Nuru are continuously being improved and more knowledge is added as it becomes available, the app provides agricultural extension officers and farmers with an ever-improving direct link to experts and expert knowledge. These features give PlantVillage Nuru and mobilebased apps that can effectively diagnose symptoms of disease and pest damage the ability to revolutionize disease and pest management in agriculture.The rapid penetration of affordable smartphone technology throughout rural Africa will certainly ensure that the platform for widespread access to such apps will be in place within the near future. Raising awareness amongst farming communities about the availability and utility of apps such as PlantVillage Nuru is an important next step in promoting this process and will require determined and innovative efforts from stakeholders in agricultural development supported by teams of IT specialists. Crucially, however, the success of these endeavours will ultimately depend on farmers' access to affordable control measures. Although some of this, such as advice on cultural control techniques, can be delivered through apps, elements such as the provision of high-quality seed/planting material of pest/disease resistant varieties will require investment in more traditional on-theground extension approaches. As governments increasingly seek to promote the application of ICT solutions to agricultural development in Africa, strong parallel efforts will be required to strengthen variety development, deployment and dissemination systems as well as sustainable approaches for the delivery of other inputs required for effective pest and disease management.","tokenCount":"8271"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1142797270.json b/data/part_1/1142797270.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6cab074995b029f8849d9d028055d13a76296253
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1142797270.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6068c382ab1bb138acb82df1fc4bdeca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/86dffc9f-3ffe-4de9-a27b-b7fb76905fb5/retrieve","id":"-2080187340"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"31f9f37a-b66d-4308-b426-cc6609879c2a","pagecount":"1","content":"The Open Access (OA) Initiative, promote free access to articles across all fields of science on the internet. This marked a meaningful change in the way scientific articles are published. Some major publishers continue with this business model in the digital world. However, they have made partial attempts to adopt the OA framework by integrating \"article processing charges\" (APCs) that can reach several thousand dollars.Several companies that present themselves as scientific publishers, offer to publish under OA with significantly lower APCs. However, on numerous occasions, it has been revealed that their peer review process is either very lenient or sometimes non-existent.Predatory publishers and journals, exploit the APC payment model, promote unethical practices and undermine the principles of OA. This has resulted in the proliferation of low-quality articles that threaten to infiltrate legitimate scientific literature (Beall, 2012).One of the areas where it can cause significant effects is in agricultural research, where critical and widely debated topics such as climate change or genetically modified organisms converge.To bring visibility to the issue of predatory publications, their potential impacts on the scientific community, and to the indications of how to detect when a publication is potentially predatory.A literature review was conducted on the impact of predatory publications on research. The methodology is divided into three stages: source selection, search and data collection, and literature analysis.Instead of disappearing, predatory journals have increased through the years (Figure 1).A significant number of those publications have managed to infiltrate legitimate scientific literature. An experiment demonstrated how some articles from journals classified as predatory were cited in three of the world's largest aggregators of scientific papers (Table 1).Even if the document contains relevant and accurate data on the topic, being cited in legitimate literature indirectly contributes to validating all the content published in that source.Not only is science subject to be corrupted, but it can also influence the public agenda through the media. The 'Chocolate Sting' is a demonstration of predatory journal articles can reach wider audiences.Given the lack of scientific rigor in predatory publications, climate change deniers can find ideal conditions to spread pseudo-scientific views, creating enough noise to sow doubt among some readers.Predatory publications serve as fertile ground for crafting false narratives within the public opinion, or even for informing policymakers.It's not possible to establish a definitive standard for categorizing a source as predatory. However, be aware of a series of indicators like:1. Receiving an invitation to publish previous work.2. Unprofessional appearance, false or irrelevant, metrics and indexing.3. 'Polifacetic' or 'mega journals' publishers.4. Articles published beyond the journal's focus and scope.National or international affiliations that do not correspond.Authors must focus on quality over quantity, avoiding citing sources from potentially predatory journals, and maintaining constant dialogue with funders to counter the \"publish or perish\" pressure.They must also safeguard scientific integrity and academic reputation by verifying that the journal they plan to publish is legitimate. If an unfamiliar journal is being considered, they should review the editorial policies, committee, copyright, fees, and publication timelines.Authors' choice of where to publish should not be based on the rush to publish that some journals promote, as this can compromise the rigor necessary to assess the quality of the work.  ","tokenCount":"527"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1192306159.json b/data/part_1/1192306159.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..faf85a2e94296f51996887ee6da025a10eac82bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1192306159.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bbb0ff399d384c95de26773200500ca5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d4bf465c-a538-463e-b574-515b68d448d4/retrieve","id":"12527041"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"856b5a5d-0588-4342-8894-b35f67fe9ed0","pagecount":"24","content":"This work was carried out under the CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa, which is grateful for the support of CGIAR Trust Fund contributors (www.cgiar.org/funders).The CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator (CFSA) was launched as part of the activities under the CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and South Africa (Ukama Ustawi), with the main objectives being, to strengthen food systems by scaling climate-smart food system innovations (through strategic support of commercially viable and inclusive climate-smart agribusinesses), develop a pipeline of inclusive climate-smart agribusinesses in East and Southern Africa, support inclusive climate-smart agribusinesses (through a 6-month program that provides investment readiness and business development, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and impact measurement and management (IMM) technical assistance, coaching and mentoring) and facilitate access to finance through de-risking grants to scale CSA innovations and business models. In the inaugural CFSA cohort, 10 agribusinesses (Accelerator Partners) were supported from Kenya (4), Rwanda (2) Uganda (2), and Zambia (2).The CFSA program combined investment readiness with tailored science-based technical assistance to provide agribusiness companies with the necessary tools and knowledge to become more commercially viable and sustainable. This approach promotes sustainable farming practices that can enhance food production while mitigating the impact of climate change. The program prioritizes agribusinesses scaling innovations designed with a user-centric design approach for smallholder farmers and that have a strong potential for commercial sustainability focusing on two business development stages: early-stage companies and growth-stage companies.As part of the program the Accelerator Partners received Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Technical assistance. The Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) technical assistance implementation process was led by Dr. Karen Nortje in collaboration with The Rallying Cry team. Dr. Karen Nortje is a senior researcher and social inclusion subject matter expert and the WP5 lead, while The Rallying Cry is an ecosystem initiative (https://therallyingcry.org/) working to shift private sector capital at the nexus of gender, climate and agribusiness. The team sought to support the Accelerator Partners by equipping them to strengthen the capacity and agency of men, women and youth within their agribusiness value chain(s). To achieve this, the team developed individual Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) action plans for each Accelerator Partner to help address the barriers to inclusivity.Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) is a key strategic factor that determines the economic, social, and environmental (climate) resilience and sustainability of any business, especially Agribusinesses in Africa 1 . This element of the technical assistance focused on highlighting why GESI should matter to businesses while illustrating why women and youth require additional support to participate fully in agricultural value chains. A business case was made by outlining what strategic benefits the Accelerator partners would enjoy by being more inclusive. An individual GESI Action Plan was developed for each Partner.A GESI Action Plan is a powerful mainstreaming tool that will help the Accelerator Partners derive the benefits and impact of being GESI smart; by guiding them and their teams in the development and adaptation of inclusive strategies and practices. Additionally, the plan will help monitor the implementation progress of the same. Having an effective plan allows the business to attain better performance, manage risk, retain good talent, implement business solutions more effectively and efficiently, and engage with aligned gender lens investors effectively (Figure 1).The following key steps were followed in the development of the GESI Action plan. They included baseline data collection, analysis, and development of gender goals and activities.The process began with the collection of gender and age-disaggregated baseline data through an online questionnaire guided by the 2X Criteria. Data was collected on entrepreneurship (founding and ownership), leadership (senior management and board positions), employment (internal and external workforce and partners), and consumption (products, services, and communication).The baseline data was analyzed to understand and assess the current gender equality and social inclusion profile of the business. The identified gaps and opportunities for higher inclusion formed the basis of the plan.Following the GESI analysis and assessment, and the identification of inclusion gaps and opportunities, a list of goals and activities was developed and summarized into a GESI action plan presented as a schedule/table (Section 2.3 in each plan). The targets were developed for the major themes/gender outputs that guided the collection of the baseline data as summarized above.The GESI outputs and target development were guided by three main frameworks: the 2X Global Criteria, the CGIAR GESI framework and the gender responsive business model canvas.To ensure the development of GESI plans reflects contemporary business practices related to gender and social inclusion, the theoretical foundation for the Plan was based on three frameworks selected for their ease of application in linking gender and social inclusion:I.The GGIAR GESI Framework 2 is based on recent research in East and South Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). It helps to contextualize the gender and social inclusion action plan in two ways. First, it presents a summary of the current sectoral and regional gender gaps, pointing users to where their business should direct and focus its gender and inclusion efforts. Second, it provides suggestions on what can be done by businesses to be more inclusive.II.The gender-responsive Business Model Canvas 3 which was developed under the investor readiness technical assistance stream by the IFDC-2SCALE team, is an effective and easy tool to formulate practical gender goals which are in-built into nine strategy components. It helps integrate business and gender strategies.III.The 2X Criteria 4 are emerging as leading international best practices for investors (see Figure 1). They are a widely accepted framework for gender lens investing and provide an increasingly industry-accepted approach for investor engagement.Each GESI Action Plan was developed based on the data collected from the 10 Accelerator Partners. The 2X criteria was used as a guide to capture baseline/existing business composition and practices reflecting gender and social inclusion. Analysis of the baseline data allowed us to create a business gender profile with a summary of identified gaps and opportunities for enterprises' inclusive policies and processes. The CGIAR GESI framework was referenced to provide an overview of the challenges that limit the full participation of women and youth in agricultural value chains. The gender sensitive business canvas model was used to help Accelerator Partners develop inclusive GESI practices across all elements of their business models.In the following sections we are presenting in brief ten enterprises with their GESI profiles:Stable Foods Ltd. (https://www.stable-foods.com/) is growing an end-to-end smallholder food production platform.Their key intervention is ultra-low-cost \"irrigation-as-a-service\" subscription for smallholder farmers. Leveraging shared capex through networked irrigation solutions, Stable Foods has proven economies of scale can drive down the cost per unit for farmers and make irrigation work for even tiny plots of land at a price point that is very affordable to any smallholder. In addition, they provide input, training and produce offtake.The analysis of the company's GESI baseline data showed that the company already has gender resources including policies, a standing Gender Action Plan (from which info was pulled out and updated into the updated plan). Women are fairly well represented in the small-holder farmers (37.5 %) as well as in the workforce (33%) and senior management (40%). In terms of youth, 83% of the workforce is made up of youth. A majority of customers and beneficiaries are women.A summary profile is given below: • 40% of the workforce (suppliers) are women• 37.5 % of smallholder farmers are women • Smallholder farmer recruitment has not been recruited with a focus on women or youth • Men, as rural household heads have not been included in gender-equity solutioning• The product addresses women's specific needs• Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects women• Majority of customers are women• Majority of beneficiaries are women• The main product is healthy, affordable accessible food and women are key purchasers/decision makers• Promotional channels that are likely to reach more women or youth have not been explored• Products are not marketed in a way that specifically targets women or youthThe activities designed for the Accelerator Partner were geared towards making them more inclusive to youth and more responsive to their customers who are mainly women. For example, the company needs to organize gender mainstreaming training for management and the rest of the employees as well as adjust the facilities to cater to the unique needs of women. Finally, given the nature of the product-healthy and affordable food, marketing communication needs to be more targeted towards women.Batian Nuts Ltd (BNL) is an agro-processing company incorporated in 2017 in Kenya as a private limited liability company (https://batiannuts.co.ke/). BNL was started so that it could capture and fill in a gap in the offtaking of macadamia nuts produced by smallholder farms in Tharaka Nithi and Meru Counties, and also seize other opportunities that existed in the Kenyan edible nuts sub-sector. The Business is now six years old and has already turned a profit.The analysis of the company's GESI baseline data showed that although the company is not founded or significantly owned by women or youth, they are fairly well represented in the small-holder farmers as well as in the workforce and senior management. The company has separate (gender segregated) changing rooms and is planning to construct a lactating room.A summary profile is given below: • The company has zero tolerance sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity policies• The company has provided women with the required facilities to address their needsdifferent changing rooms with plans to construct a lactating mothers nursery• 75% of smallholder farmers are women (however, recruitment is not done with a focus on women)• Men (household heads) have not been effectively involved as part of the gender equity solutioning• The product addresses women's specific needs• Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects women• Majority of customers are women • Majority of beneficiaries are women• Products do not disproportionately benefit women• Promotional channels which are more likely to reach women customers have not been establishedThe company needs to enhance women participation and organize gender mainstreaming training for management and the rest of the employees. Finally, communication for opportunities as well as the products needs to be more targeted towards women. The activities designed for the Accelerator Partner were geared towards achieving the above.Insectary Kenya is a limited company established by two entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity to return food waste to the food chain as protein from the amazing black soldier fly.The analysis of the company's GESI bassline data showed that the company is woman- Smallholder farmer gender and age-segregated data is not yet available and securing the same formed part of the objectives of the GESI action plan. Although the company has made some provisions e.g. providing gender-sensitive changing rooms, they need to design policies and engage women and youth within their value chain to design more inclusive strategies for both groups. The company has also established that word of mouth works best for its target market. The GESI Action plan focus was on achieving more inclusion in the ways described above.Shamba Records leverages emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to digitize the agriculture sector from farm to fork. With their farm management tool, they track farmers' yields and payments. Their tool enables them to unlock new farmer lending opportunities, extension services automation, disease outbreak mapping, market linkages, and crop/livestock insurance for farmers.The analysis of the company's GESI baseline data showed that the company is founded by youth and has both women and youth represented in their employees, farmers and board. 100% of senior management employees are women and youth and the product provided by the company disproportionately benefits women because it is a transparent platform where women gain access to services that they would traditionally not have access to including markets, direct payments and credit.A summary profile is given below::• 51% business ownership OR• The business is founded by a woman• The company is not founded by a woman but is founded by a youth and is women led• 30% of the company is woman-owned • 70% of the company is youth-owned• 25% of senior management are women OR• 30% of the board are women• 25 % of the employees are senior management and are all (100%) women and youth• The company has a 5-member board with 2 (40%) of the directors being women and 3(60%) being youth • The company has a generic HR policy touching on general employee code of conduct (not GESI focused)• The company has no designated facilities for women employees e.g. a lactation room• The company works with 16,000 smallholder farmers with 60% of them being women and 65% of them being youth• The company carries out training with a recruitment focus on women regularly• The company engages and involves men as key stakeholders while finding solutions to providing more opportunities for women and youth• The product addresses women's specific needs• Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects women• Majority of customers are women • Majority of beneficiaries are women• The product provided by the company disproportionately benefits women because it is a transparent platform where women gain access to services that they would traditionally not have access to including markets, direct payments and credit• The company has not established which communication channels work best for women and youth and consequently also do not market their product in a way that targets women and youthThe GESI action plan activities focused on the need to organize gender mainstreaming training for management and the rest of the employees as well as adjust the facilities to cater to the unique needs of women. Other activities included reaching more women; given the nature of the product and its great potential to increase access to equal opportunities to women and youth, they need to establish the most effective communication channels and carry out their marketing in a more targeted manner.Aggregator Trust is a women-led business initiative aimed at promoting affordable and nutritious food for low-income households in Rwanda, who face challenges in purchasing the expensive food necessary for a healthy life. In collaboration with its partners, Aggregator Trust is working to enhance the resilience of small-scale farmers that the company sources from by providing access to relevant research and information for sustainable farming practices.The analysis of the company's GESI bassline data showed that the company is woman-founded, owned (100%), and led (50% of senior management are women; 25% are youth). The company has a board of 5 members 40% of whom are women, and 40% are youth. 70% of employees are women and 54% are youth, while 70% of their smallholder farmers are women, and 54% -youth. • The company's trainings and access to finance products are gender neutral but the finance product is especially accessible to women as it only requires their trading history to qualify for the loans (as compared to mainstream and traditional sources that require collateral, which is usually land and other assets that women have limited access to)• The product addresses women's specific needs• Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects women • Majority of customers are women • Majority of beneficiaries are women• In Rwanda; in the areas in which the company operates, participation in bean agriculture is beneficial for women's economic status and an opportunity to provide nutrient-rich food for their families.• The company has established effective means of communication to reach women (community meetings, radio campaigns)• Products are not marketed to specifically target womenThe GESI action plan was focused on helping the company to maintain these standards while making some adjustments to be more inclusive by providing gender needs-sensitive facilities (e.g. changing and lactation rooms), conducting gender sensitization training, implementing smallholder farmer recruitment activities targeting women and youth, and marketing strategies focusing specifically on women.Afri-Farmer Market is a leading homegrown food grocery chain social enterprise in Rwanda that is providing a stable market to local farmers. They are leveraging technology to support local and smallholder farmers to access stable markets for their agricultural produce through their e-commerce platform. And, they help farmers increase their farm productivity through best agricultural practices and access to farm inputs.Although the company is not founded or owned by women, it is founded and 100% owned by youth. The company has a board of 3 with 1(33%) being a woman and none being a youth. 47% of employees are women while 60% of senior managers are women. GESI training has been carried out for senior management but not for all employees. However, there is an HR policy in place to increase women's participation internally as employees. Finally, 60% of their smallholder farmers are women; while 80% of smallholder farmers are youth. Farmer recruitment activities are targeted at women and youth with the company being keen to onboard teen mothers to offer them training, access to inputs, the market for their produce, and financial literacy training. • Product sourcing disproportionately benefits women (The company buys fresh produce from farmers who are majority women and also the majority of customers women too)• Promotional channels which are more likely to reach women customers have not been establishedThe GESI action plan was focused on helping the company to maintain these standards while making some adjustments to be more inclusive e.g. establishing which promotional channels are more likely to reach women and youth as well as including youth and women in their inclusion solutioning process.Eastern Agricultural Development Company Ltd (EADC)'s core business is producing, processing, and trading superrich and bio-fortified iron-rich beans and orange fleshed sweet potatoes sourced from over 3,000 small-holder farmers aiming at solving Uganda's malnutrition deficiencies of Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc.The company is woman-founded, owned (80%) and led (67% of senior management are women). 67% of employees are youth and the company makes deliberate efforts to support women and youth since inception through their farmer meetings and training. The company's product pre-cooked beans disproportionately benefits women by saving them time which they can dedicate to other income generating activities. Finally, the company is currently constructing their new premises and has made provisions for gender segregated facilities including changing and lactation rooms.A summary profile is given below:Entrepreneurship • 51% business ownership OR• The business is founded by a woman• 25% of senior management are women OR • 30% of the board are women • 67% of senior management are women• 40% of board is women and none are youth• No gender sensitization training has been done for senior management• 40% of the workforce are women OR• One quality indicator beyond compliance (having a policy addressing women inequality beyond those required for compliance in place -with evidence of implementation/ commitment. e.g. wage equality, childcare, discrimination etc.• 40% of the workforce(suppliers) are women• 33% of employees are women • 67% of employees are youth • GESI sensitization training has been previously conducted for employees• The company has a HR a general manual• The company has not provided gender sensitive facilities including changing and lactation rooms but these will be included in the new factory which is under construction• The company has approx. 3000 smallholder farmers but numbers of women and youth are to be confirmed.• Smallholder farmer recruitment activities have been carried out with a focus on women and youth farmers• The company's trainings have included both men and women (although with a focus on women)• The product addresses women's specific needs• Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects women • Majority of customers are women • Majority of beneficiaries are women• The pre-cooked beans product disproportionately benefits women because it saves them time which can be dedicated to other income generating activities.• The main customers for the product are also women.• The company has not established the most effective means of communication for women and youth across their database.• Marketing and all communications are gender neutral with no effort to target women or youth specificallyThe data analysis established that only 33% of employees are women which is below the recommended threshold.The plan focused on activities that would help the company close these gaps e.g. carrying out skills audits, enhancing women's and youth skills through training and establishing which promotional channels are more likely to reach women and youth as well as including youth and women in their inclusion solutioning process.Yellow Star is an Agro-based organic food processing company processing cereals and other grains into precooked composite flour for porridge and food for healthy nutrition whilst saving preparation time. Through value addition and last-mile distribution of nutritious foods, Yellow Star champions access to nutritious products for children, expectant women, the elderly, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, Yellow Star buys 60% of farm produce from small and micro enterprises and 40% from women-led farmer groups. Going forward, Yellow Star intends to source produce from women-led groups in order for it to become more inclusive and intentionally empower and enhance gains for women as well as equip them with climate smart farming practices for sustainable production.The company is woman-founded, owned (50%) and partly led (50% of senior management are women; 25%youth). The company has established a board of directors 80% of whom are women and 40% -youth. 52% of employees are women and 32% -youth, while 70% of their smallholder farmers are women and 30% -youth. Additionally, the company makes deliberate efforts to support women to fully participate in their value chain activities by targeting women in recruitment strategies and providing business-focused training. The company also conducted training for men to explain the importance of gender equality and emphasizing the benefit of men and women working together.A summary profile is given below: • Women are the main users of the company's products. The benefits to women include access to safe, healthy products which are easy to prepare, therefore saving time and energy• The company does not have information available on which channels are most effective for reaching women• Products are marketed to target womenThe company scored highly across all criteria and needs to maintain these standards while making some adjustments to be more inclusive such as identifying the most effective channels of communication to reach women. The activities suggested in the GESI Action plan were focused on this.Farm Depot supplies the best agricultural products and services to ensure Zambia's farmers are profitable. The company is in the process of leveraging its database of 35,000 farmers to provide a micro-lending product to farmers with a partner financial institution.The company is woman-founded, owned (50%) and led (75% of senior management are women). 63% of employees are youth while 27% of their smallholder farmers are youth and additionally, the company makes deliberate efforts to support women and youth to fully participate in their value chain activities by providing access to loans.A summary profile is given below: • The company has established from experience that SMS is the most effective means of communication for women across their database. Radio and social media are also effective, however, important to note is that smartphone penetration is limited in their customer demographic• Marketing and all communications are genderneutral unless there is a specific product designed to target womenAlthough the company scored highly on the assessment generally, there is a need to maintain these standards while making some adjustments to be more inclusive including providing gender needs sensitive facilities (e.g. changing and lactation rooms) and regular gender sensitization training especially for senior managers. The GESI Action Plan focused on the same.Forest Africa Zambia Limited is a Zambian company incorporated in November 2017. The factory is based in Chilanga Mapepe area. The company specializes in processing of organic indigenous wild fruit juices that include Mabuyu (Baobab) and Ngai (False Medlar) juices. Based on the principles of extended producer responsibility and circular economy, Forest Africa (Z) Limited operates a zero-waste philosophy where all parts of the baobab fruit are used efficiently. The fruit powder is processed into Juice, seeds are pressed into an oil used for skin and hair care while the shells are converted into eco-friendly charcoal briquettes that are used as an energy source at our factory, and funicles (fibers) into red tea which is rich in antioxidants.The company is woman-founded, owned (50%) and led (100% of senior managers are women). 67% of employees are youth, 44% of employees are women, while 90% of their smallholder farmers are women. All 10 Accelerator Partners expressed a strong interest in the support of developing a GESI Action Plan and The Rallying Cry sought to provide by equipping them to strengthen the capacity and agency of men, women, and youth within their agribusiness value chain(s). To achieve this, The Rallying Cry developed individual Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Action Plans for each Accelerator Partner to help address the barriers to inclusivity. Although The Rallying Cry will not be involved in the direct implementation, the plans will be useful in not only telling Accelerator Partners why and what they need to do to be more inclusive but also in showing them how to do it. This approach will support the objectives of the program by making sure the businesses are more inclusive and, therefore, more sustainable. Additionally, the Accelerator Partners were equipped to effectively engage with gender lens investors by understanding their gender performance and where opportunities lie for improvement.For future cohorts, it would be beneficial to design the process in such a way that the Accelerator Partners and their teams are engaged and supported through the process of implementing at least one element, approach or strategy from the plans of the completion of the accelerator programming. This approach will allow them to benefit from active engagement in development and implementation of the GESI plans. Furthermore, to increase effectiveness of GESI plans, continuous collective ownership, relevance, and inclusive representation of main stakeholders is highly recommended. Impact of the GESI support process should be monitored over time and the continued participatory development will allow for transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness to ensure full utilization. This can be achieved through administration of future discussion sessions with the Accelerator Partners to obtain opinions about the value of GESI processes for their enterprises and existing or potential barriers to implementation of GESI-focused activities. Additionally, peer-to-peer learning facilitated through discussions could add additional value to planning of integration of GESI-activities, as well as monitoring and evaluation. Finally, participatory development also offers a platform for feedback sharing to ensure tailored GESI plans account for unique characteristics and changes of each enterprise and their business environment.","tokenCount":"4361"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1201597992.json b/data/part_1/1201597992.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..52727beb39f3831002b519e7e50fc1f0b63c96fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1201597992.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d0e8e3582df08c46d08bf08bc1febc8f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a4c343c9-03eb-4a55-8222-a4f11e04d03e/retrieve","id":"1656809152"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9e7be963-9348-4ddf-aa64-f4c80595c38d","pagecount":"64","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants and dryland systems; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.The Program thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR system.This document is intended to serve as a resource for assessing capacity needs in a project or programme.A capacity needs assessment (CNA) is a process for identifying a project's perceptions (through staff, partners and stakeholders) on various capacity areas that impact the work they do. The process helps identify challenges and opportunities for enhancing key skills thereby enhancing the project's ability to achieve its objectives. The overall goal of a CNA is to determine the gap between required and existing capacities.The CNA framework has three dimensions: 1) Points of entry; refers to the three levels under which capacity exists -systemic, organizational and individual and all of which are potential points of entry to assess capacity.2) Core issues; refers to the most encountered capacity issues and they include knowledge and skills, institutional arrangements and leadership.3) Functional and technical capacities; refers to hard and soft capacities and is useful in distinguishing technical, tangible and visible capacities from social, relational, intangible and invisibles capacities.A CNA follows a three-step process:1) Mobilize and design 2) Conduct the CNA 3) Interpret results and write report These steps are changeable and have been selected for ease of defining the process and are likely to be different in other capacity assessment approaches in use.The first activity is to compose a team that shall undertake the CNA and define the various roles needed. At a minimum, the team will usually include project staff who are domain experts, a facilitator or consultant, the client or goal owner who is usually the CNA manager and is the liaison between the facilitator and stakeholders. The output from this activity is a CNA team.The second activity is to define the overall objective of the assessment with the primary client. This activity answers the question of why a capacity assessment is needed and clarifies the expectations from the process. During this dialogue, the facilitator draws insights from project documents in a literature review format. The main output is a paragraph on the goal of the CNA.The third activity is to define project stakeholders. The CNA process will involve a range of stakeholders who are relevant to the project in various ways -regulation oversight, local community, government departments etc. These stakeholders will be engaged in all stages of the process and this activity helps determine which stakeholders to involve and at what levels. To do this, a stakeholder mapping and analysis activity is done where the team determines which stakeholders to involve and what influence these stakeholders wield. The team will then engage the listed stakeholders to identify the project problems, their effects and root causes. These help in focusing on the various capacities that shall be under inquiry. The output for this activities is a list of stakeholders mapped to a power influence grid.It is at this step that the team gets to determine the existing capacities and compare that to the desired levels of these capacities. The step starts with a start-up meeting where the team prepares an interview schedule that will be followed to engage the various audiences. Following the interview guide, the facilitator administers the scoring tools through a focused group discussion. These tools assess all capacities and are a mix of open ended and measured options. The output for this step is recorded data on existing capacities.This step involves tabulating and conducting disaggregated analysis of the results of the data collected to provide insights. The team also designs and facilitates a review workshop with the project leaders to review and validate the preliminary capacity assessment results and make any necessary adjustments. The assessment team then writes a report presenting the findings of the CNA. The report will focus on what the findings mean for the program and not just presenting the data. The team will adopt several presentation formats -full report, snapshot report, PowerPoint, article -for the different stakeholders interested in the findings. The output of this step is a data analysis report and a final CNA report.Where can I find the guidance and tools?The CNA process is explained in further detail in the CNA overview document and CNA tools guide.Figure CNA visualization provides a visual summary of the CNA process; the process is usually iterative and is often altered to fit different contexts.All the tools used in this process are briefly highlighted in the tools summary document and explained in detail in the CNA tools guide.The initial review of the documents aims to provide the analysis with an overview of key elements of the analysis. Key areas that must be included are the stakeholder groups, scope and objectives, impact pathways and any work breakdown structure information. By the end of this analysis there should be a high-level overview of who are the stakeholders, what is the scope and how will they go about achieving their objectives. For an overview of the evaluation please see the documentThe preliminary step to conducting the analysis using the tools is to meet with the project leaders and develop a schedule for using the tools, the templates below should provide some guidance.An initial meeting is held with the programme directorship, this might be project sponsors, managers and key partners. The purpose is to agree on access, communication and reporting. This meeting will be an unstructured discussion and will additionally serve to build engagement between the CNA team and the project and/ or programme team.Following the initial start-up meeting, and depending on access, the CNA team will schedule meeting for the interviews. These will either be key informant interviews or focus group discussion. In some cases, the CNA team may have less control over the schedule and may need to follow the recommendations of the project team. The items included are examples of what might be important but projects will differ.The start-up meeting will produce a schedule for the focus group discussions and the key informant interviews, these should be recorded on the interview schedule template. Information should be recorded about the name of the person or group, their job title, which tool is being used and the date. After the activity has been concluded the facilitator can check that last column to indicate that it has been done.Before starting ensure that the interviewee is aware that the data will be anonymous and make sure that they are comfortable with the interview being recorded. Once they have answered that this is acceptable the interview can begin. Ideally there will be one person asking the questions and a second person taking notes.Section A -time 20-30 minutes The answers will be reported and documented in the document. Notes to be taken on this form.Give them a blank page and ask them to draw how they connect to the different stakeholders with higher level policy and decision makers at the top to the hierarchy and the lower levels below. If they are unsure then use the example at the end of the facilitation guide to provide them with a model.• Can you diagram how these stakeholders connect to you, including their hierarchy from end beneficiary upwards?Overview for use of the stakeholder analysis and power interest matrix with focus group discussionsThe focus group discussion is conducted differently in that the answers are collected on pre-populated index cards and the participants work in pairs or small groups. The full details of how to conduct the stakeholder analysis is found in CNA_facitatorGuide_stakeholderAnalysis_FGD.docxOverview of the stakeholder mapping activity and permission to recordIf the respondent is not able to provide many examples of stakeholders then the questions below can be used as prompts:• Can you give me the names of the people in your team? This section will look at the power and interest of each stakeholder and add this information to the stakeholder.Overview for use of the problem tree analysis with key informant interviewsThe problem tree analysis follows or can be conducted in parallel to the stakeholders' analysis. Where the stakeholder brings clarity to the issue of capacity for who, the problem tree analysis sheds light on the capacity for what.Before starting, ensure that the interviewee is aware that the data will be anonymous and make sure that they are comfortable with the interview being recorded. Once they have answered that this is acceptable the interview can begin. Ideally there will be one person asking the questions and a second person taking notes.Section A time 5-10 minutes per set How to conduct the problem tree analysis as an interviewWelcome everyone to the workshop and determine if they know each other, if this is their first meeting then you can go around the room for a short introduction just giving their name, their job title and what they do. Once they have been introduced continue to explanation of the problem tree analysis. They only need to understand the basics of what is required and the ideas of cause and effect. Highlight that the focus is on capacity building efforts and capacity development. Using index cards direct them to provide the problem on one side of the card and the cause and effect on the reverse side. The full details on facilitating the problem tree analysis is in the guide. Once the participants have completed the activity collect their work and try to make sure that the groups of cards are labelled with their names. Try to keep the cards together for each group to help identify which problems are identified by each group. Finish by thanking the participants for their time and contribution.Overview for use of the organizational assessment with key informant interviewsThe light capacity overview is the first tool that focuses on the different capacities and less on the general issues and stakeholders. The capacities are in 4 categories; policy, knowledge management, partnering and implementation. These questions have been adapted from the FAO learning module 2 tools.(http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/capacity_building/FAO_CD_LM2.pdf)How to conduct the organizational assessment This is in the form of a semi-structured interview with any of the higher level stakeholders of the project. Ideally a member of the project development team who would have good knowledge of the project scope, outputs and objectives. The overview matrix tool will provide quantitative data and expand on the results of this qualitative interview at a later stage. The timing given may not be possible because of unforeseen factors, so questions are marked to indicate whether they must be asked or they should be asked.Before starting ensure that the interviewee is aware that the data will be anonymous and make sure that they are comfortable with the interview being recorded. Once they have answered that this is acceptable the interview can begin. Ideally there will be one person asking the questions and a second person taking notes. The note taker should also act as a time keeper during the interview.This introduction will set the context for the interviewee and allow them to ask any questions before they begin making sure to highlight the sections and their relevancy. Additionally, the interviewer needs to explain that there are other categories that can be used but these are the focus for this discussion.This section aims to gather information about the policy level capacities. The overview looks at organizational and enabling environment level. There are four main questions including follow up questions when appropriate. After completing the four there is a free question to allow the interviewee to freely comment about policy.This section aims to gather information about the knowledge sharing and management capacities. The overview looks at organizational, enabling environment and individual level. There are six main questions with follow up when appropriate. After completing the four there is a free question to allow the interviewee to freely comment about knowledge sharing and management.This section aims to gather information about the partnering and partnership capacities. The overview looks at organizational and enabling environment level. There are four main questions with follow up when appropriate. After completing the four there is a free question to allow the interviewee to freely comment about partnering and partnership.This section aims to gather information about the implementation capacities. The overview looks at organizational and enabling environment level. There are four main questions with follow up when appropriate. After completing the four there is a free question to allow the interviewee to freely comment about implementation.The individual scoring evaluation is a short 18 question evaluation These questions have been adapted from the FAO learning module 2 tools. (http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/capacity_building/FAO_CD_LM2.pdf)Section A-Background and biodata time 2 minutes The first section is completed by the participant. The information provides background such as age and education. The participant ID can be unique to the project or a unique ID can be created for the tool using their initials and the last 3 numbers of their phone number.The first lead-in will be a short introduction to the format used. It will also serve to establish the relevancy of the tools and what the overall objectives they will be working towards. The questions include ranking questions, yes / no questions and some open questions. Although there is the choice to reply, \"Don't know\", this should be considered only when really feel that they cannot answer. The tool is a check list evaluation that can be used with stakeholders who have a good overall knowledge of the project. This can be project managers or coordinators, or extension workers.The checklist is in paper format; respondents provide information on 3 areas of infrastructure to support technology use.The respondents indicate which hardware stakeholders have access to, their access to fixed internet and their access to mobile internet Results will be recorded and transferred to the infrastructure checklist.xlsx spreadsheet What is the purpose of the tool?The stakeholder analysis is the early step that identifies who are the stakeholders in the project. We will identify the roles in the project from the list.This is in the form of a semi-structured interview with any of the higher level stakeholders of the project. Ideally a member of the communications team would have good oversight of the project stakeholders. This analysis fits with the document level analysis that should provide general ideas based on the broad categories of internal, external, government, non-government, partner, NGO or private sector. Not all these groups will be present in all projects.Who are the stakeholders?Before starting ensure that the interviewee is aware that the data will be anonymous and make sure that they are comfortable with the interview being recorded. Once they have answered that this is acceptable the interview can begin. Ideally there will be one person asking the questions and a second person taking notes. • Are there any private sector actors that you are partnering with? Who? The answers will be reported and documented below in section A. Notes to be taken on this form.Give them the final page and ask them to draw how they connect to the different stakeholders with higher level policy and decision makers at the top to the hierarchy and the lower levels below.• Can you diagram how these stakeholders connect to you, including their hierarchy from end beneficiary upwards? If they are unsure you can use the example to show how they need to add connections and hierarchy to the diagramSection C time 15 minutes Once they have identified the stakeholders and mapped them the last phase is to rate their power/ interest in the project. Give them a brief overview of the 4 rating quadrants from low to high with the explanation of terms and show them the matrix. Once you are satisfied they understand ask them to write the appropriate rating number next to their stakeholders • Are there any private sector actors that you are partnering with? Who? Version date: 26 September 2017 3: High power / Low interest-this group are those that are not interested in the project and have power within the project 4: High power / High interest-this group are those that are interested in the project and have power within the project 1: Low power / Low interest-this group are those that are not interested in the project and have no real power within the project 2: Low power / High interest-this group are those that are interested in the project but have no real power within the project Notes: This exercise is designed to conduct a simple stakeholder mapping exercise that will help identify, analyse and prioritise stakeholders in a project or programme.By the end of the interview you will have identified stakeholders within the project and classified and grouped them.• Facilitators notes Total time 60Now that there is a list of stakeholder groups the next step is to put them into clusters so that the national or international stakeholders are at the top of the hierarchy and the lower level and more community based stakeholders are below.You can give them the example of the National Ministry for Agriculture as a higher or even top level and the lower level being the development agents and below them the farmers. An illustration is given on slide 4 of the supporting presentation.Section three Time 5 minutesThe final step is to map the power and interest the stakeholders. Explain that they will need to categorize their stakeholders as the last activity. Show them the category list on slides 6 and 7 of the presentation In pairs ask them to identify two examples; an example of one stakeholder who they would consider a high power/ high interest candidate and one candidate they would high power / low interest. When you are satisfied that they understand from the example then move on. \"Handout\" refers to the information sheets accompanying each module.\"PowerPoint slide\" cues the facilitator to display a slide.\"Brainstorm\" indicates that the facilitator will lead a large group discussion.\"Lead-In\" or \"Closing\" is the statement the facilitator makes to introduce a new section or activity, or to end one.What it is This tool identifies a capacity issue as a core problem, as well as its effects and root causes. This method helps identify main problems as well as their cause and effect. It is an interesting tool that helps clarify the precise capacity-development objectives that the intervention aims to achieve How to use it You should have two people in the interview, one person will facilitate the interview while the second person should report, and the reporting sheet below can be used although not required.Introduce the aims of the problem tree and guide the respondent to look at the issues related specifically to the capacity development areas of their project. This can be needs analysis of knowledge and skills, training and awareness raising, knowledge and skills transfer to their work, or similar. Below are some areas that can be used to prompt respondents for more information. Notes: This activity is designed to gather information on the high level capacity needs problems, their cause and effect.By the end of the workshop you will have a set of problems related to capacity needs as well as their perceived cause and effect.• Facilitators notes• Index cards (pre-prepared with text)• Camera or camera phoneAttendees Require:• Pen \"Lead-In\" or \"Closing\" is the statement the facilitator makes to introduce a new section or activity, or to end one.The individual scoring evaluation is a short 18 question evaluationThe first section is completed by the participant.The information provides background such as age and education.The first lead-in will be a short introduction to the format used. It will also serve to establish the relevancy of the tools and what the overall objectives they will be working towards. The question include ranking questions, yes / no questions and some open questions. Although there is the choice to reply \"Don't know\", this should be considered only when really feel that they cannot answer.  ","tokenCount":"3436"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1216797194.json b/data/part_1/1216797194.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..385a11c1588662de914360fd28338b492c5f9813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1216797194.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c735dcdda7577983b4a7d06148e92d4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/120a7875-5712-448b-84ea-c6a99b20b180/retrieve","id":"-801452602"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f66c4fe-26a6-4e87-96d0-f93286e53533","pagecount":"5","content":"Of the over 500 million liters of milk produced in Rwanda annually, about 63% is consumed through the informal marketing channel that may or may not include milk collection centers (MCCs) 1 . The remaining 37% is marketed through the formal channels that include milk processing. However, a ministerial order issued in 2016 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) stipulates that all milk leaving the farm gate will be collected at MCCs where it will be tested for quality prior to being sold. This implies substantial reorganization of milk marketing in Rwanda. Majority of existing MCCs are owned by dairy cooperatives. However, most MCCs are poorly managed, lack continued training for maintenance of MCCs, lack pest control plans, and lack adequate refrigeration (especially during transport of milk from farms, as this depends on the distance from farm to MCC). These challenges are a threat to the sustainability of the MCC business model, but one that can be overcome with better management of the cooperatives. In order to design an upgrading strategy, it is imperative to undertake a deeper assessment of the capacities and performance of the cooperatives.This study applies a quasi-experimental before-after design to assess the impact of selected business and governance capacity development interventions on the performance of dairy cooperatives. Baseline capacity and performance assessments were conducted by TechnoServe on 30 dairy cooperatives using the AgPOSA tool -a harmonized tool from two separate tools; a) the Producer Organization Sustainability Assessment (POSA) tool developed by • AgPOSA baseline results reveal that most of the dairy cooperatives had low scores in the dimensions of financial health, access to dairy inputs and services, engagement with output markets, and member loyalty. This affected their value proposition to current and potential members.• 47% of the dairy cooperatives were in the systems development sustainability stage at baseline, focusing on having the business running and finalizing foundation activities.• 40% of the dairy cooperatives were in the systems improvement sustainability stage at baseline, just starting to stabilize growth.• Focus on getting business running.Focus on completion of foundation activities and implementing initiatives.Focus on adding value to farmers and markets.Begin stabilizing growth across all dimensions and focus on financials.Focus on holistic business improvement.and strength in all dimensions for sustainability.Focus on long-term sustainability and differentiation.Four dairy farmer cooperatives that have a score of 21 -40% were thereafter selected for an in-depth capacity development and mentorship intervention. Sixteen cooperatives (with a score of 41 -80%) were selected for a lighter-touch intervention that focuses on market systems facilitation. Figure 1 shows the location of the cooperatives undergoing the interventions.Stabilization and growth Forty seven percent of the cooperatives were in stage 2, the systems development phase meaning that they are mainly focusing on getting the business running and finalizing on foundation activities (Figure 2. The cooperatives in this stage had low scores in the dimensions of financial health (FH), access to dairy inputs and services (ADIS), and member loyalty (ML). This affects the value proposition that the cooperative can offer its members. Forty percent of the cooperatives were in sustainability stage 3 (Figure 3) implying that they are improving their systems and stabilizing growth across dimensions but focusing more on their financial performance. The cooperatives in this stage have a higher score in engagement with output markets (EOM), and access to dairy inputs and services (ADIS) dimensions than their counterparts in stage 2. The scores on financial health (FH) and membership loyalty are still low. Few cooperatives (7%) are in stages 1 and 4. The identified capacity gaps from the assessment informed the capacity development focus of the intervention. Training of dairy cooperative accountants: Accountants were trained in record keeping, development of business reports and use of computers. TechnoServe developed a template that is used by the cooperatives to track and monitor all their data to understand its business health and performance. The accountants have been trained further on how to analyze the data and present it in a user-friendly manner to the Board of Directors (BOD), members and other relevant stakeholders. As a result of these trainings, there is improvement in the quality of reports by the accountants. In addition, financial decisions are now taken by the cooperatives based on data and not intuition.  Training of Board of Directors (BODs) of the dairy cooperatives: TechnoServe trained the BODs of the cooperatives on leadership roles, board responsibilities and gender equity. The training exposed BODs to what makes a good leader, the key roles and responsibilities of both women and men in the business, and how to achieve accountability. The BODs were supported to develop strategies on how to reduce costs and increase milk supply to the MCCs. As part of monitoring and learning efforts, quaterly business performance reviews are conducted for the 4 cooperatives undergoing intensive training, and drivers for profitability discussed and strategies laid on how to attain them. With these trainings, it is anticipated that the BODs will be able to lead more effectively and ensure greater transparency, growth and accountability in the dairy cooperative businesses.  Learning Trips: TechnoServe facilitated an exposure trip for 32 BOD members, managers and role model farmers from the four dairy cooperatives to Koperative Zamuka Mworozi Gicumbi (KOZAMGI) to learn best practices in managing a profitable dairy cooperative. In 2013, KOZAMGI was chilling 800 Litres of milk a day but are now chilling 8,000 Litres of milk a day. The chairman attributes this to good governance, efficient operations, good service delivery to the farmers and timely payments of farmers and staff. KOZAMGI has a market information system software with an integrated short messaging system notification to farmers. Information regarding price per liter, milk volumes supplied to the cooperative and payments to farmers is sent to their respective mobile phones. This creates transparency between the cooperative, transporters and farmers.After the exchange, the visiting BODs, managers and role model farmers developed an action plan to streamline and formalize working relations with milk transporters to improve milk intake, and improve cooperative operations by having better governance procedures. For the cooperatives in Nyabihu district, a key constraint is high cost of transporting milk from the MCCs to the processor and other buyers, which is done by a private transporter who has a chilling truck. The BOD members decided to conduct meetings with both the milk buyers and transporters to negotiate better prices.  Establishment of Village Saving and Lending Associations (VSLAs): VSLAs are accumulating saving and credit associations that mobilize and manage their own savings, provide interest-bearing loans to members and offer a limited form of insurance. TechnoServe introduced the concept of VSLAs to the cooperative members to increase ownership and participation. The VSLAs provide members opportunities to save and borrow money in a self-managed manner. TechnoServe developed and produced VSLA materials, which are being used by the dairy cooperative saving groups. These materials are for recordkeeping of shares, fines, social fund, loans disbursed and for tracking the progress of VSLAs. As a result of these efforts, a total of 12 VSLA groups were formed comprising 3 VSLA groups per cooperative and made up of 25-30 members.  Linkages with business development service (BDS) providers: Technoserve has facilitated the formalization of relationships between the 4 cooperatives and business development service providers, particularly for agrovet products and services. As a result of the strengthened linkages with BDS providers, there is increase in value proposition by the cooperatives and the number of members as well as non-members who seek the BDS services at the cooperatives has increased. In addition, farmers using the BDS have started reporting increases in milk production.  Producer dairy cooperative performance support system: TechnoServe developed a performance support system linked to the output of the AgPOSA tool implemented at baseline. The purpose of establishing the system is to offer targeted in-kind support to the 4 cooperatives (undergoing intensive intervention) that effectively closes out identified capacity and capability gaps thus establishing an award process that balances performance, capital allocation and cooperative goals. The project conducted AgPOSA assessment for the 4 cooperatives and data generated was used to identify a set of interventions based on the identified capacity gaps. The next step is to discuss the interventions with the BODs and to make sure they are aligned to cooperative goals.The 2019 AgPOSA assessment of the 4 cooperatives undergoing interventions, show that they have grown to the next sustainability stages (Table 2). The interventions are still ongoing and will end at the end of 2019. An endline AgPOSA survey will be implemented for all the 30 cooperatives surveyed at baseline to assess changes in various sustainability dimensions. For more information contact livestock-lab@ufl.edu www.feedthefuture.gov","tokenCount":"1437"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1227830774.json b/data/part_1/1227830774.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b3e238e8c27628bad7e4f870027d455524b036e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1227830774.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aa28bb18ab97e0011baea63427e624f0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/66ebe2f9-c4bd-4a72-82cf-cec124ece71a/retrieve","id":"202033464"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5bf5d570-cbe5-45c9-b10b-bf41d68c315a","pagecount":"53","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears. Please send a copy to the Communications Department at the address below.Gender and Plant Health has often been seen as a very unusual combination, since two disciplines have a different epistemological orientation, use different languages, and have limited experience in working together.Over the past two years, CGIAR Plant Health Initiative has made a progress to bring natural and social scientists together to find common language and research agenda. This process has involved cultural shock and confusion, but the collective effort we put has eventually helped us to find inspiration and develop novel ideas. We agree that if plant health initiative incorporates gender perspectives in research and technology designs, interventions will be more effective and technology adoption rate will increase, contributing to overall household food security, climate resilience, and women's empowerment.Several interdisciplinary studies have been carried out to understand women's and men's direct and indirect roles in plant pest and disease management, gender differences in knowledge in pest and disease identification, and/or the feasibility of decision support tools among the different types of farmers, especially women farmers.The next step was to analyse data and develop recommendations for gender-responsive interventions with more equitable and inclusive scaling approaches. This required in-person discussion with scientists and partners from various academic background to contribute from their disciplinary perspectives. To this end, the workshop was held with following specific objectives:  To share key findings and insights from field work on understanding gender and social dimensions of plant health  To exchange interdisciplinary research tools and methods to ensure gender-responsive plant-health research. To identify and link relevant literature into research findings  To develop a draft report including literature review and recommendation Total 34 participants (23 women and 11 men, 85% natural scientists) from six research teams across 16 countries joined the workshop. A peer learning approach was employed to ensure active and inclusive participation of all attendees.Overall, the workshop was very successful with 100% satisfaction rate (92% very satisfied). The literature review was collectively conducted, and draft reports/concept notes were submitted by all six teams.In the panel discussion, participants shared their opinions of how science they had been trained was genderblinded and how we could change this by integrating a gender lens; how a gender lens helps strengthen the link between laboratories and farmers' fields; and how women's work both as farmers and as scientists are embedded in gender norms and culture.During the world café, three research teams shared their research questions, methods and preliminary findings. This helped participants to find the common ideas and issues which all participants address in various countries for different crops. Participants also realized the power of interdisciplinary research that reveals women's constraints which were previously neglected in disciplinary research.Group work included three exercises: 1) to recognize women's important roles in plant pest and disease management, 2) to identify communication channels to improve knowledge sharing mechanisms between researchers and women farmers, and 3) to propose ideas to address constraints women face in pest and disease management.The six research teams then developed the report structure and spent time especially on the introduction section to develop a clear statement of knowledge gaps they address by linking their research into the literature. The teams also discussed recommendations for ensuring women to benefit from plant health innovations in terms of the content of technologies and approaches to introducing them to women, which were described in this workshop report. I thank all participants for their valuable contribution, CIP logistics team who provided great hospitality and care, and the Plant Health and Gender Impact Platform for their funding support to organize this workshop. This group will continue working together through Gender and Plant Health Research Network, a platform to make a difference in plant health research and interventions for equity, inclusivity, and efficiency.Understanding women and men farmers' identification, perceptions, knowledge and practices on rice pests and diseases and control measures Paul Demo, Regional Director for Africa, International Potato Center, CIP• Despite significant involvement of women in agriculture, men often come to represent the household for technology adoption, training, and knowledge sharing. We all need to be aware of women's constraints and develop approaches to deliberately supporting women farmers. • Some of technologies can discriminate women, we have to be conscious about what are positive and negative impacts of the technologies for women farmers. • When crops increase commercial value, men take over the crop production and incomes. We need to think how to ensure women benefitting from interventions and controlling incomes. • I recognize the importance of this workshop. This workshop opens up opportunities for natural scientists to learn how to integrate gender into agricultural research and interventions. This is a current knowledge gap in CGIAR and the workshop fills this gap. • Collaboration between CGIAR centers and partners is essential to achieve impacts, and this workshop represents the power of collaboration.Prasanna Boddupalli, Plant Health Initiative leader, CIMMYT• Women are highly impacted by major pests and diseases. We need to address this critical gender gap to reach women through technology development designed for women, and improved communication and extension approaches for women. • Plant Health Initiative is one of the few initiatives which focus on gender as an independent work package. • There are three aspects which can be addressed in this workshop. First is the interface between natural and social sciences, that can create novel ideas and innovation. Second is analysing and identifying constraints related to gender. Third is filling the critical gender gap with recommendations and solutions to apply in the field. The third point is very important and I expect you to come up with some recommendations/ideas on how to address gender gaps practically and apply them in 2024.The panel discussion session was organized by inviting peer participants as panelists. The objective of the panel session was as follows:• To help participants to recognize women's important roles in agriculture in general, and plant health including food safety (aflatoxin) in particular • To help participants to understand women's challenges to access agricultural information and technology as compared to men because of gender norms • To help participants to understand the importance of interdisciplinary research moving beyond narrow disciplinary expertise • To help participants to understand how the gender lens can contribute to improving agricultural interventionsFatuma Musa (IITA, Tanzania)Q1. In the agricultural sector, women's roles in agriculture is often under-recognized and undervalued. What roles do women play in agriculture in your field sites?I have examples of banana production from Tanzania. In the process of land preparation men play a major role especially in clearing forest and digging holes for planting. But planting will be the role of women, who will get planting materials from neighbors or buy seedlings from nurseries. In this aspect I think it is important to train women as some of the pest and diseases are seedborne, therefore women can avoid taking seedlings from sick plants or they can purchase disease resistant varieties for improving yield.Women are the ones who often monitor crops and they are the first persons who notice pests and disease symptoms. Hence, it is important that women have updated knowledge on pests and diseases.Women are also involved in harvesting with the help of their husbands, but the income from banana production is often controlled by men, due to the gender norm that the head of the household controls incomes. This norm might also be associated with women's less involvement in decision making.Q2. To improve the process of disease diagnosis from farmer fields to the laboratory, what are important aspects at the field level for capacity development?We could train women and men farmers on how to identify various pests and diseases at an early stage, then how to collect samples without contaminating them.This might also help save funds and time, as the farmers can collect samples and send them directly to laboratory without the need of researchers to travel to the fields.Q1. Nancy, you are entomologist. What is your motivation to learn about gender in pest and disease management? Why do you start thinking about gender?Women play specific roles in rice production linked to pests and diseases management, but men represent the household in the survey and training. We would like to invite women to participate fully in surveillance and integrated pest and disease management for sustainable production. We need to understand women's interest and preferences, and encourage them to participate in capacity development, which help overall improvement of crop protection.Q2. How does thinking about gender potentially enrich research and interventions related to pest and disease management in the context of Philippines?We used to invite the household head, but this time we want to invite both men and women. This is our first time to collected data with specific questions on gender roles.Q1. You work for the Plant village dream team in Malawi. What kinds of work do you do in Malawi?In the vibrant agricultural landscape of Malawi, PlantVillage emerges as a pioneering force, not only in technological innovation but also in reshaping gender dynamics within the farming community. Through its revolutionary Triple-A model designed to provide Algorithmic Agricultural Advice to farmers and impact their livelihoods positively. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI and satellite technology, PlantVillage collaborates with farmer-facing organizations and directly engages with farmers through a dynamic Dream Team of recent agricultural graduates.Through various communication channels such as smartphones, SMS, TV, and social networks, farmers receive tailored guidance on optimizing agricultural practices.Crucially, PlantVillage's commitment to inclusivity extends beyond technological advancements to encompass gender-sensitive approaches. The team's composition reflects a balanced 3:2 female-tomale ratio, fostering diversity within the unit. Moreover, PlantVillage actively challenges traditional gender roles by linking women farmers to seed entrepreneurs, providing them with access to highquality agricultural products and empowering them in decision-making processes related to farming.Female farmers, empowered by technology and training provided by PlantVillage, actively create more farms and conduct more surveys, challenging stereotypes and contributing significantly to the initiative's success.Q2. In your opinion, what are the benefit of applying the gender lens in agriculture and rural development?First, it enhances Agricultural productivity: Women being the ones mostly involved in agricultural activity, empowering them would mean increasing the agricultural productivity as some papers, says empowering women would increase yield by 20-30% (FAO, 2014) Second, it contributes to resiliency: Empowering women enables them to cope up with challenges to do with climate change and adverse conditions.Third, it leads empowerment and social inclusion: empower women to actively participate in decisionmaking processes and community initiatives. This not only benefits individual women but also contributes to social cohesion and development. Women face various challenges due to patriarchal systems at the household, community and institutions which disadvantage women such as:• Access to information: women rely on other people to obtain information as most of them do not have smartphones. Even when they have information, they don't have confidence in their knowledge.• The lower level of literacy: women are less educated than men• Financial constraints resulting in limited productive resources for managing rice pests and diseases • Insufficient health care for women: lack of means to take care of themselves • Their social (living) conditions are precarious even in terms of purchasing agricultural inputs and access male labor • The cultivation of rice, particularly in the lowlands, is considered very difficult, but practiced by women with a strong impact on their health: they are physically weakened. • Difficulties sometimes concerning the handling of the sprayer which is designed by men for men.Q2. You recently conducted research on women and men's knowledge and perception on rice pests and diseases. Can you share some interesting finding with us very briefly?To answer this question, I start from two principles: ''myself'' as a woman (female individual) and ''myself'' as a teacher/researcher. In our fieldwork, we encountered various challenges because of my gender positions, and this experience was enriching (as a sociologist doing research on gender):• Gender norms in study sites must be taken into account by thinking about scenarios during the preparation of the field. We need to consider a gender composition of the research team members for any restrictions we might face (e.g., men conduct individual interviews with men and women with women) • My position as a woman exceeds my status as a professional researcher. Men cannot recognize me as a researcher, especially when the respondents are men, they choose male research team members as interviewers. • Although women present in the field to communicate with respondents and interview them, the women become invisible in the field. Such our experience itself tells us how gender matters in farmers' everyday life and how women farmers are positioned in the society. • Individual face-to-face interview becomes a collective interview because some male key informants cannot interact with an interviewer in the absence of their notables.Q1. Farid, you work on agricultural app Tumaini. As a young scientist, what is your hope and concerns for the digitalization of extension work for rural communities, especially to women farmers?Hopes of digital extension are that individual farmers gain knowledge directly through the app which helps early detection of diseases and improve crop production. It also facilitates communication between researchers and farmers. Especially for women, they can have their voices and confidence in participating in household decisions on banana pest and disease management.Concerns are that the benefit of the app cannot be equal to all users because the performance of the app depends on the performance of individual phones, their literacy and digital literacy, and internet availability, in which women have significant disadvantages. Offline mode is so far not as good as the online mode.Q2. How does thinking about gender potentially enrich your research on digital technology and banana pest and disease management?In the crop pest and management, women farmers are seen of secondary importance, and women's perspectives are often forgotten in our research.Gender consideration allows us to recognize gender differences in the use of the app. For example, men go to the field early morning. Morning sun light is not sufficient to take good quality of photos for AI to diagnose diseases. Women go to the field a bit later after completing domestic work, and therefore they can take some photos in the afternoon with enough sun. Improving women's capacity to use the app, and more women having smartphones are therefore quite important for overall improving banana disease detection at the field level.• We need to find out the way scientists from various disciplines work together equally. For example, currently, risk assessment modeling was done by natural scientists with minimum participation from social scientists, while some other work was only conducted by social scientists. If we work together, research will be more effective to find solutions for farmers. participate in technology development and adoption, it will be very effective to control pests and diseases. For example, the modeling of predicting occurrence of rice diseases or pests, we should share information with women. Women are the ones who plan well on household crop production. If they get information from the modeling, they could plan household crop production for food security and advice their husbands. • From this interaction with participants, I have learnt that there is a lack of consideration on gender in designing technology development and adoption. Mechanization can be a good example that technology is designed by men and adopted by men. Women remain in manual work.• Government plays a big role, and they make policy decisions and control finance. When we go back to our countries, it is very important to engage with local and national governments towards gender-responsive policies and budgeting. • Women spend more time on the field than men, but when it comes to training, their husbands attend. Advocacy to the government to make a strong policy on gender is required to change current extension systems. • Cultural and gender norms influence how men and women work in agriculture. In some communities, men are the ones make decisions and women are the ones who follow their husbands. Women respect their husbands' decisions. How can we influence changing those norms to effectively involve women in decisions and control? We need to discuss and find alternative approaches.Plant pest and disease management is closely associated with activities across the value chain. For example, the person who does ploughing requires some knowledge on pests and diseases as it is important to remove the residue from the previous harvest as pathogens and pests survive in the residue in the soil. Similarly, seed procurement or preparing planting material requires the knowledge of pests and diseases to prevent seed-borne diseases. The person who cooks sweetpotato may find rotten inside because of a disease. If he/she finds it and is able to recognize the disease, it helps prevention in storage. Thus, women may not play direct roles in spraying pesticides, but they play very important roles in overall pest and disease control.The link to the results of group work:Group Work 1 Gender roles by cropsCurrent major communication channels between CGIAR scientists and farmers are via extension officers at community, district and provincial levels, then national research institutes and universities. These fixed channels favor men. As a result, the information on emerging pests and diseases, risk assessment, and control measures hardly reach women in the field, meanwhile women farmers do not have right communication channels to report emerging pests and diseases on their farms, making communication systems in efficient. • Radio programs for women Radio is good for women as they can listen while doing other tasks. To reach women, radio programs need to have information that attract rural women farmers such as talking about their villages, love stories/soap opera, and including other useful information related to women (beyond agriculture). Time for radio program should avoid busy time for women.Women gather in the evening to discuss their issues and exchange information. This may be an opportunity for us to talk about agriculture, emerging diseases, risk assessment results, or decision support tools.If we provide information in drinking places, information spreads very quickly to many more people.This helps us to build trust relationships with farmers and direct communications are much better than via extension or someone else.Starting from children to be aware of environmental and health risks of pesticides, sustainable crop production and introducing agricultural apps • NGOs who work for women's self-help groups Even if they are not focusing on agriculture, those groups are the first entry point to reach women.They are gate keepers and can introduce resource persons or advice us how best to reach to women.They are still very influential and sometimes they are providing wrong information to farmers. Decision support tools and information need to be shared with themIn the context where women are also involved in farmer cooperatives, the cooperative is an entry point for dissemination and scaling to women • Drama groupStories and information on agriculture should be delivered through dramas played by community members.We are not reaching women because of gender bias in data collection (collecting data from men). We first need to understand women's roles, perceptions and knowledge as a first step to communicate with women.In our own households, we should give freedom to our wives, then we will see how women are capable and how beneficial it is for the family and the society.This is absolutely needed to reach out women and explain the issues from women's perspectives.The guide for writing paragraphs of the introduction section• Broaden communication channels by involving other civil society organizations, farmer NGOs, cooperatives and platforms, etc in disseminating information and resources to farmers. • Regulate the recruitment of extension agents to involve women to a greater extent.• Need for political will to support and invest in rice production, particularly in training female agents. • Organize awareness-raising and sensitization sessions for male and female farmers in all ricegrowing areas • Training both men and women lead farmers to be ambassadors of plant health in their areas • Encourage women to join farmer organisations (farmer groups and cooperatives) for easy exchange of information • Training pest and disease identification and surveillance will involve male and female farmers.• Adaptive research to co-design innovation context with farmers will involve an equal number of male and female farmers • Training on the adoption of introduced technologies will involve household heads and spouses to ensure support of couple -However, the tool was originally designed without gender consideration. As a result, the majority users of decision support tools are men farmers. We still do not know if the tool is useful and usable for women. -The present study explores the opportunities and constraints for using the tools women farmers, and propose improvement in too design and extension approaches to reaching to women.5. What does the literature say about above problems on gender and agricultural technology adoption in general, and in your study context in particular? What are knowledge gaps you address.-Drawing on homework (the summary of literature review)6. List research questions or objectives 7. Report structure• Provide an enabling environment for the formation of women organizations in rice farming communities • Operating Radio program (detailed plans were developed and submitted).• Organizing Training of trainers for women • Reaching out women's self-help groups to introduce the agricultural app • Exchange visit for women farmers • Community health agents as an entry point for reaching to women farmersNozomi Kawarazuka, International Potato Center, CGIAR• Each participant contributed to providing valuable input from their own disciplinary expertise and experience in the field, which is the power of interdisciplinary research. • Participating in interdisciplinary research takes more time and require more efforts than working within the disciplinary team, but this is a way to develop cutting edge innovations and achieve impacts.• We plan to continue to work together through joining a plant health conference (proposing a gender session), journal special issues and online seminars. • When you go back to home, you will be alone with colleagues who do not understand the power of interdisciplinary research. Please be strong and confident that this is a way to make plant health interventions effective and inclusive, and to achieve impacts.• The term I came up with is \"culture shocks\" between natural and social scientists. As Nozomi said, it is easier to work with the disciplinary team, but I underscore unique contribution each of you made in this workshop and its value. • Once you get gender differences and gender dynamics, the next step is to understand differences and diversity among women and among men, which makes interventions more targeted. • Looking forward: we can revisit your research design, research questions, research team compositions -how those are embedded in the (gender blinded) system • I agree with Nozomi about the power of collective work in interdisciplinary research and support the ideas of special issues and conference sessions as a way forward.The post-workshop survey was conducted at the end of the workshop with 100% satisfaction rate (92% very satisfied). The summary of participant feedback is presented.• Discussion on communication channels. This is very paramount especially if we want to impact of our research to reach the target group (women farmers). • The whole session but particularly how Day 1 sitting arrangement was organized for maximum concentration. • Identifying and addressing the constraints faced by women in agriculture which is a crucial step towards gender equality. • Identifying different roles played by men and women across value chains and how those are linked to pest and disease management. This made me realize how important women are in pest and disease management. • Crop specific gender roles and associated pest and disease issues. It was an eye opener for me to know how gender roles intersect with plant pest and disease. • Sharing knowledge which was organized with a notion of respect to others.• Panel discussion session -how we can include women in science.• Developing recommendations for ensuring that women benefit from crop protection technology and innovations. • The dynamic of Nozomi -thanks to her for organizing this workshop • Organizational event planning and hospitality and care.• Meeting people from diverse cultural and academic backgroundThe idea that stuck with me was:• Empowering women can lead to improve overall household food security, crop production and pest and disease management. • The format presented by Nozomi on how to structure paragraphs in report sections.• We need to involve women in policy making and implementation.• We underestimate women's roles in science and development.• Diversifying communication channels to reach out more female farmers.• Data analysis of the Nuru app pointed that despite our focus on gender, the app has been reaching to more men than women. • Women's opinions and their points of view need to be seriously taken into account in research which link natural sciences with social sciences. • Women's involvement is crucial in mitigating pest and disease impacts.When I get back to my home/work/organization, I will:• Make sure that we conduct activities by involving more women in decision making process, policy, and the use and adoption of Plant Village Nuru App. This article will be useful both in writing the introduction to our report and in analyzing the data, to the extent that our study focuses on understanding the roles, knowledge and perceptions of men and women on rice pests and diseases. • Farmers' attitudes towards pesticides are a significant constraint to IPM use.They perceive pesticide use as simpler, resulting in higher yields and better quality coffee. • Knowledge of IPM practices and health risks of pesticides may alone be inadequate to pesticides reduction campaign. • Continuous testing of more IPM techniques and encouraging farmers to adapt and modify current practices can potentially reduce pesticide use.How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is on pest and disease knowledge and management. One of the sections we have is the information related to rice production. Here we have the awareness part which includes awareness on IPM (Integrated Pest Management). We want to know the source of information (from whom the farmer heard or learned about IPM).Ochago, R. ( 2018). Genre et lutte antiparasitaire : contraintes à l'adoption de la lutte intégrée contre les ravageurs parmi les petits producteurs de café en Ouganda. Alimentation et agriculture convaincantes, 4 (1), 1540093. Quels sont les messages clés du journal ?The reasonable and reasoned use (good, rational use) of inputs can be effective and efficient for improving agricultural productivity by mitigating the potential damage caused by climate change -Input purchasing decisions can involve complex household dynamics between spouses -Neighbors play an important role and constitute references in the management of agricultural operations among small producers in rural areas in Indonesia. Dans quelle mesure les messages sontils pertinents par rapport à votre sujet d'étude ? -These messages are important insofar as they remind us of the impact of expenditure on inputs on household income.-Relationships with neighbors (peers) are decisive in the practices and management of agricultural operations among small producers when they do not have clear recognition of inputs -Taking into account \"intrapersonal\" personal factors defined by preferences, the level of the household unit; \"intra-household\" defined by the relationships between decision-makers within households and at the community level (\"extra-household\") where information sharing and peer effects in the adoption and use of chemical inputs Full reference Ochago, R. (2018). Gender and pest management: constraints to integrated pest management uptake among smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda.Food & Agriculture, 4(1), 1540093. What are key messages of the paper?• Women and men farmers have different knowledge, perceptions on and priorities for pest and disease control. Offering gender-specific targeted interventions can increase the adoption rate. • Increasing IPM practices uptake requires a deliberate and collective effort of key coffee sector stakeholders to design and implement educational programs aimed at increasing adoption.• An important practical implication should involve participatory testing of more IPM techniques coupled with encouraging farmers to adapt and make modifications on the current practices. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is understanding gender roles, knowledge and perceptions of rice pests and diseases. We would like to promote IPM that can be accepted by male and female farmers. This paper can be used in the introduction and discussion sections of our report as an example of how gender matters in pest and disease management, and to highlight the importance of stakeholder involvement in the study.Full reference Ochago, R. (2018). Gender and pest management: constraints to integrated pest management uptake among smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 4(1), 1540093.What are key messages of the paper? (three bullet points)• Gender difference in knowledge, attitude and practices on the use of pesticides in controlling Cotton white stem borer. • Why farmers prefer pesticide usage over CSB IPM despite awareness on environmental and health risks. • The importance of using IPM to control coffee stem borer How relevant the messages are to your study topic?• Considering women make up most farm workers, it is important to educate them about pests and diseases to rescue crops production at an earlier stage.• Encouraging the use of healthier and more environmentally friendly strategies to combat pests and diseases i.e -employing endophytic bacteria/fungi to control Fusarium wilt of banana rather than using fungicides. -Farmers can use integrated pest management (IPM) to suppress aphids, which are a virus vector, and uproot affected banana plants to reduce virus inoculum in the field as an alternative to applying herbicide and insecticide to manage banana bunchy top disease (BBTD).Full reference Ochago, R. ( 2018). Gender and pest management: constraints to integrated pest management uptake among smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 4(1), 1540093. What are key messages of the paper?• Farmers (both male and females) have different perceptions on and priorities for pest control on using IPM and Pesticides. Their perceptions as well as adoption rate depends on knowledge, attitude and practice • Female Farmers most of the times they are left out in important interventions and training regarding farming practices in the area and are the most vulnerable group of people who require much attention in Agriculture sector in general. • Both male and female farmers are conversant with the human healthy related risks as well as the environmental impacts regarding the use of pesticides How relevant the messages are to your study topic?The discussion on farmers' reliance on pesticides aligns with the topic of utilizing the PlantVillage Nuru app for pest and disease management. Understanding how male and female farmers access and leverage information from the app could shed light on whether they primarily rely on pesticide-related information or actively seek alternative pest management techniques recommended by the app. Exploring the patterns of information consumption from the Nuru app could reveal whether the app's content influences farmers' choices in pest management methods, thereby potentially addressing the issue of overreliance on pesticides. Our research topic is understanding disease epidemiology /pest ecology and developing IPM tools for sustainable control. The message in this paper is relevant to our works; while co-creating innovative IPM tool against specific pest/disease, we should always include both men and women views in the innovation for more adoption and impact.Full reference Rahman, M. W., Palash, M. S., Jahan, H., Jalilov, S. M., & Mainuddin, M. ( 2020).An empirical investigation of men's views of women's contribution to farming in Northwest Bangladesh. Sustainability, 12(9), 3521. What are key messages of the paper?• Women play a significant role in farming and are increasingly involved in farm management, but are generally overlooked or under-valued by their male counterparts. • Men recognized their spouse's participation in various activities of the rice production cycle, while women's participation in vegetable production was found to be weak. • The dominant variables influencing men to consult with their wives regarding farm decisions were spouse education, spouse NGO membership, and the number of hours per day the spouse worked on the farm. • Women are involved in crop production as farmers, co-farmers, farm managers, and wage laborers. • Women are not addressed by agricultural research and extension services.They are extensively involved but \"largely unrecognized.\" Women are more likely to be in agricultural employment than men but are associated with specific operations and crops. Crop preference depends on the socioeconomic situation and livelihood strategy of the household. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is on pest and disease knowledge and management. One of the objectives of our research is to explore whether there are gender-based differences in the level of knowledge and practices for plant health. This paper can be used in gender difference in participation in rice production, specifically on women's participation in rice farming and decision-making, and knowledge on rice pests and diseases.Rahman, M. W., Palash, M. S., Jahan, H., Jalilov, S. M., & Mainuddin, M. ( 2020). An empirical investigation of men's views of women's contribution to farming in Northwest Bangladesh. Sustainability, 12(9), 3521. What are key messages of the paper? (three bullet points)• Women contribute significantly to agriculture and are progressively engaged in farm management, yet their contributions are often disregarded or underestimated by their males. • The importance of recognizing and valuing women's contributions to farming and decision-making processes in Northwest Bangladesh. Its leading on the need for promoting gender equality and empowering women in agriculture • Women's involvement is more specific to certain field activities, such as seed storage, seed selection, and harvesting. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our topic is: Understanding gender roles, knowledge, and perception of rice pests and diseases. We would like to promote the understanding of the role of women in various agricultural practices. This document will assist us in developing a better approach to sensitize farmers on methods related to combating diseases and pests and disseminating the new resistant varieties Full reference Tambo, J. A., Matimelo, M., Ndhlovu, M., Mbugua, F., & Phiri, N. ( 2021). Gender-differentiated impacts of plant clinics on maize productivity and food security: Evidence from Zambia. World Development, 145, 105519-105519. What are key messages of the paper? (three bullet points)• Participation in plant clinics stimulates the adoption of multiple pest management strategies, which boost maize yield and income by 14% and 27% respectively, and ultimately help to stave off food insecurity. • Both male and female farmers achieve positive outcomes from using plant clinic services, but the effects are disproportionately greater for male farmers. • plant clinics can play a significant role in helping male and female farmers address crop health problems and reduce transitory food insecurity, but female participants (particularly female spouses) will need additional support if the goal is to bridge the gender gap in agricultural productivity How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is understanding knowledge of men and women farmers on rice pests and diseases. We would like to promote adoption of disease diagnostics tools and technologies by both men and women farmers. This article is useful in the introductory part of our report; particularly addressing how gender aspect is crucial in pest and disease management for better yields.Tambo, J. A., Matimelo, M., Ndhlovu, M., Mbugua, F., & Phiri, N. ( 2021). Genderdifferentiated impacts of plant clinics on maize productivity and food security:Evidence from Zambia. World Development, 145, 105519-105519. What are key messages of the paper?• Achieving gender equality and empowering women is crucial for economic growth and sustainable development, particularly in agriculture. Women play a significant role in agricultural production and food security, yet they encounter more barriers than men in accessing resources and services, including agricultural extension. • Plant clinics are pivotal in offering diagnostic and management advice to farmers regarding crop pests. They have incorporated a gender strategy to promote inclusivity and access to female farmers, aiming to reduce gender disparities in extension services. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Understanding the challenges posed by pests and diseases to global crop production is critical in the context of leveraging the Nuru app. This message underlines the significant threat pests pose and the need for effective pest management solutions, which the Nuru app aims to provide. It emphasizes the urgency and importance of this issue for both men and women farmers who can benefit from tools like the Nuru app to combat these challenges. • Male and female farmers both benefit from participating in plant clinics.Availing extension services to both males and females promote technology adoption for diseases and pests management. • Technology adoption should be hindered by not participating in extension services. (E.g. participation in plant clinics Vs. fall army warm mechanical and chemical control). During integration of all social groups, do not forget women. • A technology adopted to control pests and diseases reduce food insecurity and in turn economically self-sustained households. Let's work together to end hunger. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research is identification of social and gender gaps in knowledge on BBTD and access to ICT for banana disease management. We would like to promote an ICT tool for banana diseases management effective to all social and gender groups. This paper can be used in the introduction of our report to show how much gender matters in technology adoption and to emphasize on how much impactful to the life standard of citizens. Our research topic is understanding knowledge and perceptions of rice pests and diseases. We would like to promote IPM that can be accepted by male and female farmers. This paper can be used in the introduction section of our report as examples of how gender matters in pest and disease management, and to highlight the importance of interdisciplinary study.Full reference Coggins, S., McCampbell, M., Sharma, A., Sharma, R., Haefele, S. M., Karki, E., Hetherington, J., Smith, J., & Brown, B. (2022)  Collaborations with organization such as CGIAR and PHI can enhance the use of digital tools such as Nuru App to more farmers across Kenya and beyond.Full reference Coggins, S., McCampbell, M., Sharma, A., Sharma, R., Haefele, S. M., Karki, E., Hetherington, J., Smith, J., & Brown, B. (2022) • The use of digital extension tools by farmers and women farmers is often limited by constraints such as lack of knowledge, lack of access to devices, electricity or mobile networks, as well as insensitivity to digital illiteracy and general, language barriers and various other constraints. Hold taking into account the different limits, will promote the use with a high number of producers.• The adoption of decision support tools by producers varies depending on depending on the level of education, social level and gender. To propose tools through which all groups of producers will be able to find, will increase the level of adoption of tools and eur appropriation. • Digital extension tools driven by farmers themselves themselves, are often preferred to those managed from outside. The implication farmers in the provision of digital extension tools could increase their use and positive impact.Our research topic deals with the importance and use of tools of Artificial Intelligence (Tumaini) in agriculture by producers of banana especially women. We aim to promote the tool to producers so that they can make it their own are to your study topic? but also and above all, to facilitate its use by responsible women of banana fields, or involved in the management of banana fields spouses. This document can therefore be used in the introductory section of our report as a reference and as an example of the reasons that limit the adoption of digital popularization by producers. Also, it can be used to illustrate the importance of the involvement of producers and especially women producers in the development of tools and extension programs.Full reference Ragetlie, R., Najjar, D., & Ouesalti, D. (2022). \"Dear brother farmer\": Gender, agriculture and digital extension in rural Tunisia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability.• There is a distinct gender gap in access to, use of and ability to benefit from ICT for men and women, especially in rural areas. Women farmers tend to have less access to agricultural information and training than men, which affects their productivity and livelihood. • Digital extension can improve agricultural extension programs by reaching more women farmers and providing them with relevant and timely information and advice. Digital extension can also empower women farmers by increasing their knowledge, skills and decision-making power. • To ensure the inclusivity and effectiveness of digital extension, it is important to understand how different modes of delivery (such as phone calls, SMS, videos, etc.) impact men and women farmers' learning and adoption of agricultural practices. It is also important to consider the socio-cultural and economic factors that influence women farmers' access to and use of ICT. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?The mode of digital extension that best suits the gender of different actors along the value chain is the focus of our research topic. We want to promote phone access, which is the fastest and most widespread way for both male and female farmers to improve their farming activities. We will use this paper as an example of how gender responds to digital extension in our report. We also want to advocate for women empowerment by enhancing their agricultural knowledge and encouraging them to have access to mobile phones. This will help them feel more included and in control as they learn new terminologies and technologies, and improve their decision-making power by reinforcing existing social stratification.Full reference Ragetlie, R., Najjar, D., &amp;Ouesalti, D. (2022). \"Dear brother farmer\":Gender, agriculture and digital extension in rural Tunisia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability.• There is a gender gap in access to, use of, and benefits from information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly in the context of digital extension services for agriculture. • The intervention, which included phone distribution, radio and SMS messages, and sharing of information prompts, proved to be beneficial. Phone ownership facilitated women's access to their social network, agricultural information and services, and improved their participation in household decision making and agricultural production. How relevant the messages are to your study topic? This paper's findings about the positive impacts of phone ownership and genderresponsive digital extension services could guide our analysis of how men and women use and benefit from the PlantVillage Nuru app.Lecoutere, E., Spielman, D. J., & Van Campenhout, B. ( 2019). Women's empowerment, agricultural extension, and digitalization: Disentangling information and role model effects in rural Uganda. IFPRI Discussion Paper, Issue 01889 What are key messages of the paper?• Providing women with direct access to gender-responsive agricultural extension information can significantly enhance their knowledge, decisionmaking abilities, and achievements in farming. • The impact of role-model effects on women's empowerment in agriculture, such as featuring women as information providers, yield mixed results and may not have a clear impact on outcomes (is less clear and may not generate the expected outcomes). • Effective extension programs should consider addressing intra-household information disparities by directly delivering agricultural information to women, but more subtle approaches may be needed to influence gender roles and norms within households How relevant the messages are to your study topic?The goal of PlantVillage seeks to empower farmers through the dissemination of agricultural information and expertise. The messages emphasize the importance of directly providing women with tailored and accessible agricultural information, which aligns with PlantVillage's goal of delivering knowledge and guidance to farmers, regardless of gender, to enhance their farming practices. Additionally, the paper's recognition of the potential impact of role models and more subtle empowerment approaches echoes the broader mission of PlantVillage in fostering a supportive and inclusive community of farmers and experts who can share experiences and knowledge to improve agriculture practices worldwide. So yes, the messages underscore the significance of equitable access to agricultural information and empowerment strategies, which are in line with PlantVillage's overarching objective of leveraging digital tools to support and educate farmers. What are key messages of the paper?• Women perspective regarding multiple barriers that work together to hinder internet access • Constraints present in urban areas that are more intensified in rural areas including ownership of second-hand devices, misunderstanding on what internet is, less time to access and learn how to use internet • With economic growth, the benefits of ICT access have not yet fully reached many of the women especially in rural areas and that African Rising Story has not considered the rural realities. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?In conjunction with PlantVillage, the use of NuruApp to access productivity and gender inclusiveness in plant health. The paper points out the need to educate farmers on the use of internet prior to the technology to be used at hand. The farmers need to be taught on how to purchase data use smart phones. The knowledge of the farmer towards internet access and use should be assessed before giving them smartphones. What are key messages of the paper? (three bullet points)Information technology provides new avenues for access to agricultural information, hence builds on the Africa Rising narrative -Opportunities and hope. However access in numbers and averages misses geographical, gender and economic stratification within the society, ending in a misleading signal of achievement of the opportunities in ICT.Women and rural communities differ significantly from men and urban populations in terms of access to ICT asn determined by: the hardware (kinds of phones); ICT literacy and support systems that make these technologies work. These differences can exaggerate existing gender gaps. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?We developed an ICT based tool and course for extension support systems (TUMAINI/ BBTD course). The access the these tools have been shown to depend on the technical limits of the smartphones used. However social issues linked to access to phones also play a role. We work towards minimizing these gaps.Wyche, S., & Olson, J. ( 2018). Gender, mobile, and mobile internet| Kenyan women's rural realities, mobile internet access, and \"Africa rising\". Information Technologies & International Development, 14, 15 What are key messages of the paper? (three bullet points)• The significant growth in mobile phone ownership and internet access closely tied to the narrative of \"Africa rising\" show the continent's economic and technological advancement. Mobile phones have become essential assets, even in rural areas, due to falling handset prices, improved mobile networks, and innovations like pay-as-you-go plans. The expansion of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) has brought about a utopian vision, emphasizing the potential of mobile phones to provide marginalized populations, especially women, with valuable information related to health, business, and education.• The use of mobile phone arrangements between women and their husbands or boyfriends often excludes women from accessing information, other ways where women their own phones, they are mostly second hand limiting their access to informations. Some positive highlights of owning used phone are sending greetings, using M-Pesa remittances, listening to the radio, and using the phone as a flashlight. However, concerns are raised about the functionality and quality of these devices. Women are reluctant about using their mobile devices for extended periods due to the desire to preserve battery charge has implications for accessing the mobile internet.Strategies like keeping phones turned off at night and limiting phone use to brief voice calls are adopted to manage battery life.• Women in the region contribute more domestic labor than men, with many working away from home for long hours in various capacities. Their responsibilities include household chores, childcare, and eldercare, leaving them with little to no time for leisure activities. Women's workdays are extensive, starting before sunrise and ending after sunset, with minimal use of labor-saving technologies. The demands of labour and seasonal fluctuations in income are seen to potentially impact mobile internet use.The perception among women is that using the mobile internet requires time, a resource they lack due to their busy schedules. Learning to access and use the mobile internet is considered a time-consuming process, and the women express the belief that it would happen gradually, requiring consistent exploration of the device's features. Inconsistencies in phone interface designs and the various ways to access the internet further complicate efforts to learn and use the mobile internet. The combination of time constraints, frequent handset turnover, and the learning curve associated with new handsets hinders women from effectively using the mobile internet in rural areas.How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is about gender and social gaps in access to BBTD management tools. ICT tools like mobiles applications are significantly changing the management of crop diseases. This paper can be of a significant importance in our discussion section about how the accessibility of ICT tools to women in agriculture and their usage with mobile internet in the management of banana disease particularly BBTD. Our research topic is understanding the knowledge and perceptions of rice pests and diseases. For an effective and participatory fight, farmers must be at the same level of information. This work will allow us to identify times and places acceptable to farmers for gender-inclusive training.Lecoutere, E., Spielman, D. J. • Granting women direct access to agricultural information elevates their knowledge, decision-making, and adoption of recommended practices. This empowerment strengthens their role in agriculture, leading to improved productivity. • The inclusion of women in informational videos yields diverse outcomes for individual women, with notable influences on joint household results. This suggests that altering perceptions of gender roles may necessitate more nuanced and intensive strategies. Most of our currently is on training of stakeholders including trainers of trainers and farmers on aflatoxins and how to mitigate aflatoxins using Aflasafe as a component of integrated mycotoxin management. This is relevant to help the project team during planning of the training sessions for various administrative divisions in the country. The content of the paper of factors that affect total attendance and odds of women attending a training session can be passed to trainers of trainers to also help them consider the underlying factors when planning farmer mobilization for trainings of different nature. Understanding who between men and women are involved in agricultural activities in selected value chains in each of selected study sites is a major determinant • Co-heads provide different answers to even the most basic questions.• Spousal disagreement may be due to the cultural context in which these questions are asked and answered, with co-heads responding in line with what would be expected in society and which is also partly shaped by prevailing gender stereotypes and norms, i.e. role congruity. • Second, spousal disagreement reflects information asymmetries between co-heads, for example when co-heads hide decisions, actions and assets from each other. Hence, it is important to understand the local cultural context to differentiate spousal disagreement as a function of information asymmetries stemming from information asymmetry versus other genderrelated systematic biases. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?Our research topic is understanding gender roles, knowledge and perceptions of rice pests and diseases. We would like to promote IPM that can be accepted by male and female farmers. This paper can be used in the introduction and discussion sections of our report as an example of how gender matters in pest and disease management, and to highlight the importance of intrahousehold power dynamics, especially in non-separable agricultural households where production and consumption decisions are so closely intertwined.Full reference Twyman, J., Muriel, J., & García, M. A. (2015). Identifying women farmers:Informal gender norms as institutional barriers to recognizing women's contributions to agriculture. Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), 1(2), 1-17. What are key messages of the paper?• Gender-related agricultural research is essential for developing projects that address the needs and challenges of both men and women farmers. • Women's contribution to agriculture is often overlooked or underestimated due to social and cultural norms that assign them a subordinate role in farming and decision-making. • Sex-disaggregated data collection is crucial for capturing the different roles, responsibilities, preferences, and constraints of men and women farmers, as well as their access to and control over resources and assets. How relevant the messages are to your study topic?It is crucial to question the traditional perspective that positions men as the primary contributors to agricultural production. Recognizing the significance of gender dynamics across various social levels (from households to community groups to national and international organizations). This report urges that research should go beyond capturing the household head in research studies, but also collect more sex-disaggregated data. This will help us to collect more detailed data by disaggregating research questions/ information by gender. This approach will enable a deeper understanding of the roles and participation of women in agricultural activities. Moreover, it will enhance the recognition of women's valuable contributions to agriculture, encouraging their active involvement in training sessions, interventions, and programs. Full reference Twyman, J., Muriel, J., & García, M. A. (2015). Identifying women farmers:Informal gender norms as institutional barriers to recognizing women's contributions to agriculture. Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), 1(2), 1-17. What are key messages of the paper?• Social norms, both in farming communities and in research organizations, often limit the amount of data collected from women and, in doing so, reinforce the idea that women are not farmers or producers. • Barriers to collecting sex-disaggregated data -particularly in relation to collecting data from women -were identified during the research design and implementation phases. • The study makes three major recommendations:1-questionnaire filter questions aimed at identifying suitable respondents should be reworded (or at least reconsidered) in a more inclusive manner so that women are more likely to be recognized as valid respondents; 2-it is necessary to ensure that there are sufficient questions on the differences between men and women, particularly with regard to the division of labor between men and women, the making of all relevant decisions, access resources and control over them; 3-gender must be considered during sample design and selection. While many researchers are interested in collecting and analyzing sexdisaggregated data, few have the knowledge and resources to take this into account when selecting samples. How relevant are the messages to your study topic?This methodological study can help us in writing our introduction. It can also be useful in analyzing knowledge and perceptions of diseases and pests by gender. This study analyzes the adoption of Trichogramma chilonis, a parasitoid that is used to control Helicoverpa armigera in Pakistan. H. armigera is an insect pest, which is also known as the cotton bollworm, corn earworm and bollworm, feeds on tomato and other crops. T. chilonis also controls other insect pests, such as fruit borer that attacks other crops, such as tomato, bell pepper, sugarcane, cotton, and maize. What are key messages in the paper?Targeting women directly in communication about the biocontrol method helped improve uptake by farming households. Trained women were better able to influence decisions at the farm level and influence the use of the biological control method in their household.Gender roles in agricultural roles affect the receptiveness of women to technologies such as the use of biological control methods. Women, who were responsible for putting egg cards in the field, favored biological control because it took less time than spraying, and reduced the need for hiring laborers to apply chemical pesticides. For men, who apply insecticides in the field, use of biological control agents still still required the use of additional chemical pesticides when insect population is high because Trichogramma only control chewing insects and that they needed to use insecticides to control other groups of pests.Communication messages should be tailored according to gender. Healthrelated messages should be emphasized when communicating with women and the focus should be made on the effectiveness and benefits of Trichogramma chilonis compared to chemical pesticides when communicating with men.Sources of information are affected by gender. Female farmers have challenges accessing most of these informational sources because of social norms discourage them from visiting agricultural extension offices or interacting with agricultural officers and field assistants, who are mostly men, due to social norms. Experience sharing about the practical applications of Trichogramma with other farmers and trainings provided by extension workers were important source of information to female farmers.Researchers should develop strategies to ensure gender in terms of access to income gained from improvements caused by introduced technologies. The study showed that men and women farmers do not have equal access and control over the income gained from the improved production of tomatoes. The increase in the demand on women's labour and time did not, result in an increase in their ability to make decisions on income from production gains. What is the knowledge gap which you want to address?A baseline survey could have been conducted to measure the changes in the perceptions and involvement of women.Information on the perception of men on the involvement of women in the application of biological control agent will be useful and strategies for equitable access to income should be considered because these may influence the longterm engagement of women in the project. Considering social norms, incentives should be in place to achieve gender equality. • Gender Disparities Impact Agricultural Productivity: The paper underscores that gender disparities significantly affect agricultural productivity in Malawi. Female-managed plots are, on average, 25% less productive than male-managed plots, primarily due to differences in input levels, such as the use of inorganic fertilizer and household adult male labour. • Endowment Effect Dominates the Gender Gap: The gender gap is predominantly shaped by the endowment effect (82%), driven by factors such as reduced use of inorganic fertilizer, limited household male labour, restricted access to tools, and lower production of highvalue crops. • Differential Adoption Patterns: I would like to Investigate if there are gender-specific differences in the adoption of the Nuru app for pest and disease management. Understand whether women and men farmers have distinct preferences, barriers, or motivations for using the app. • Knowledge Retention and Application: Assess the retention and practical application of pest and disease management knowledge gained through the Nuru app by both women and men farmers. Explore • The probability of adopting OSP is not affected by the exclusive or joint control of assets by women at the household level. • Within households, parcels of land under joint control, in which the woman has primary control over decision making, are significantly more likely to contain OSP. • Women who control a higher share of household nonland resources are more likely to share OPS vines, showing that women use greater bargaining power to facilitate diffusion of this health-promoting technology. These results contribute to reshaping our understanding of household decision making to inform the design and implementation of agriculture-nutrition interventions. What are knowledge gaps which you want to address?The study attempts to assess the extent to which the bargaining power of women enabled OSP adoption at two levels. First, we model the decision to adopt at the household level. Second, we examine whether our conclusions vary if intrahousehold gender differences are considered. I Full reference Agamile, P., Dimova, R., & Golan, J. (2021). Crop choice, drought and gender: new insights from smallholders' response to weather shocks in rural Uganda. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 72(3), 829-856.The paper is talking about Uganda What are key messages of gender in the paper?• Men and women farmers react to weather shocks differently with women farmers facing more barriers to either adopting shock mitigating technologies or increasing their offfarm employment than for men. • Women tend to use less risky though lower return crops and to engage more in subsistence crop production than men. • Gender-differentiated responses to adverse weather events and the increased intensity and duration of climate change induced weather shocks in developing countries indicate that accounting for differences in household structures is important in the design of policy interventions.• There is considerable heterogeneity in effectivenesss of plant clinics across gender groups. 34 % of male users have likelihood of adopting mechanical control rather than non-clinic users. There was no significant effects between female clinic users and non-users • More male clinic users than female clinic users are able to fully implement plant health advise received at the clinics. • The study aims to understand both the favorable factors and the obstacles to the adoption of food processing technologies in tropical Africa in order to develop a general concept for the transfer of food preservation technologies in the African village environment. • The in-depth analysis of the village environment, through a village of Touba in Ivory Coast, showed that even if the target group is young married women, it is necessary to integrate men and elderly women. They are the ones who make decisions and represent authority at the village level. • If work must be carried out in a group, it is necessary to rely on the traditional organization by groups that already exists. • From an economic point of view, women have the means to make investments or loan repayments of approximately 1500 CFA ($5.6) per month. • The participatory approach and adaptation of technologies to contexts are necessary for better adoption of food processing and preservation technologies. What are knowledge gaps which you want to address?The study cannot be generalized since it was carried out in a single village in the northwest of Côte d'Ivoire. It would be interesting to extend it to other geographical and cultural areas to make comparisons.Mathata Mireille Pulchérie-Laure OUATTARA, 2020, Female entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women traders in Ivory Coast: a historical approach, Observatory of the Economic Francophonie, Université de Montréal du Monde Which country Côte d'Ivoire What are key messages of gender in the paper?• The purpose of this study is to first take stock of the characteristics of female entrepreneurship in Ivory Coast, then analyze the development of women's entrepreneurial spirit by focusing the analysis on the case of women traders to show how they manage to empower themselves. • The study shows that women, on the whole, develop an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit, part of both entrepreneurship of necessity and entrepreneurship of opportunity or growth, their dynamism allows them to achieve economic empowerment. • Furthermore, the creation of businesses by women constitutes an essential issue for the Ivorian economy, hence the deployment by the State of support mechanisms, via public-private partnerships, to promote female entrepreneurship, including for the benefit of young women. • However, it must be noted that these women face several constraints and difficulties which unfortunately constitute an obstacle or a handicap in the","tokenCount":"10396"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1253799600.json b/data/part_1/1253799600.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..05a4c9156accd6232e97a7419890284ef8b5ba60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1253799600.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"976e7154fb1ac58cfaf1522dd39e2ee3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/df67d4e4-1b27-4559-91bb-264f230d7a70/retrieve","id":"-1225491528"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"00529a6a-5ca1-4868-9a14-d5ecd81fb8c9","pagecount":"242","content":"La misión del CGIAR es reducir la pobreza y el hambre, mejorar la salud humana y la nutrición, y aumentar la resiliencia de los ecosistemas en países en desarrollo, mediante ciencia de alta calidad que logre un impacto global.v Las guías de este manual fueron concebidas como material de consulta o aprendizaje para investigadores, estudiantes y técnicos que necesiten conocer los procesos de recolección de muestras, aislamiento, incremento y preparación de patógenos en suspensiones para inoculación de plantas, es decir, el manejo en el laboratorio de ocho agentes patogénicos importantes (hongos y bacterias) del cultivo del frijol.El conocimiento empírico plasmado en estas guías será valioso para quienes se interesen en estos microorganismos a nivel científico, porque permite seguir, de una manera didáctica, las técnicas y métodos para algunos procesos de laboratorio. Cuando no existe este tipo de guías, el investigador depende del conocimiento experto de un técnico, quien no siempre estaría disponible, acarreando retrasos en la agenda del proyecto.Para facilitar la comprensión de los procesos contenidos en las guías y su aplicación, éstos se han descrito paso por paso, sin escatimar detalles. Es probable que un investigador haya desarrollado un paso o una técnica más expedita o más efectiva para el manejo de algún microorganismo; en ese caso, lo invitamos a compartir con los autores de estas guías sus hallazgos, para mejorarlas en beneficio de la comunidad científica interesada en esta área. Sobra decir que los aportes de los colaboradores serán reconocidos formalmente en el manual, gracias a la flexibilidad de actualización que ofrecen las publicacionesGuías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol vi en línea. Con el tiempo, estas guías podrán convertirse en un sitio interactivo que recoja la ciencia y la experiencia de muchos fitopatólogos y laboratoristas a nivel mundial. Es posible también que el CIAT (o algún otro centro de investigación del Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional, CGIAR) perciba la necesidad de traducirlo a otros idiomas, además de español e inglés, para asegurar una mayor difusión.La eficacia y la utilidad de los procedimientos presentados en las guías han sido probadas durante más de 25 años en el laboratorio de Patología de Frijol del CIAT. Con ellas es posible identificar el microorganismo responsable de un problema fitosanitario del frijol y, además, manejarlo y utilizarlo en evaluación de germoplasma de frijol (resistencia, tolerancia o susceptibilidad) y en otras aplicaciones como estudios poblacionales de cada patógeno, siendo estas dos prácticas pilares importantes para programas de mejoramiento de un cultivo.Phoma exigua var. diversispora es el hongo que causa la enfermedad del frijol denominada ascoquita (por la antigua taxonomía del hongo). Las condiciones ambientales óptimas para el desarrollo de la enfermedad son una temperatura entre 15 y 20 °C y una humedad relativa alta (entre 80% y 100%), condiciones que se dan en altitudes superiores a los 1500 msnm.Los síntomas iniciales aparecen en las hojas (Foto 1) como lesiones circulares de color gris oscuro que, al crecer, parecen un conjunto de círculos concéntricos. En ellas se desarrollan comúnmente masas de pequeños picnidios negros.Estas lesiones aparecen más tarde en los pecíolos, los pedúnculos, las vainas y los tallos. Si las condiciones ambientales son favorables, el ataque de este patógeno se manifiesta como una quemadura severa del follaje que lleva a la defoliación prematura y, finalmente, a la muerte de las plantas. El hongo se puede transmitir por semillas contaminadas. La Foto 2 muestra las lesiones típicas de ascoquita en las vainas.Para aislar el hongo Phoma exigua se necesita tejido vegetal que presente los síntomas típicos de la enfermedad con lesiones bien desarrolladas.Nunca se deben recolectar tejidos de plantas viejas o senescentes porque en éstos se encuentran algunos agentes saprofitos que dificultan el aislamiento de P. exigua. Se debe descartar también el tejido vegetal enfermo que tenga señales de daño de insectos o síntomas de otras enfermedades. Conviene además tener en cuenta dos puntos:-El aislamiento de este patógeno se facilita si se realiza a partir de tejido foliar, porque en las hojas aparecen varias lesiones y de cada lesión pueden obtenerse varios aislamientos. -Cuando se recolecten vainas enfermas, deben preferirse las que estén verdes, porque el procesamiento de este tipo de muestras es más fácil.-Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar las muestras -Marcador o lápizGuías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol1 -4• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de vainas, hojas o tallos) que se colectó se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno que se hace partiendo de tejidos de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.• Paso 1 Tomar una muestra del tejido infectado (hoja o vaina) que presente los síntomas típicos de la enfermedad (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 2 Envolver la muestra en una toalla de papel, colocarla en una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda (ver A. Recolección y…).-Se pesan los ingredientes, se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo PDA se esterilizan en el autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos.Nota: Todos los procedimientos se deben ejecutar dentro de la cámara de flujo laminar; además, deben cumplirse todas las condiciones de asepsia y esterilidad que se exigen en un laboratorio. En otras palabras, se aplican siempre las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM).• Paso 1 Cortar varios trozos del tejido enfermo utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 3).• Paso 2 Desinfectar los trozos de muestra de posibles contaminantes en una caja petri de 60 mm que contenga una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%, durante 3 minutos (Foto 4).• Paso 3 Enjuagar luego con agua destilada estéril los trozos desinfectados en otra caja petri, vertiendo el agua sobre la muestra con una pipeta estéril (Foto 5).Colocar los trozos lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 6). • Paso 5 Cuando las muestras estén secas, tomar los pedazos de tejido con una pinza estéril y 'sembrarlos' en una caja petri (cuatro por caja) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 7).Incubar las cajas a 20 °C durante 10 días, tiempo en que el hongo producirá micelio, picnidios y masas de conidias; estas últimas se tomarán para hacer los aislamientos monospóricos (Foto 8).La pureza genética de un aislamiento de P. exigua se garantiza si se parte de una sola conidia para hacer el aislamiento. Conviene recordar que en una muestra de tejido enfermo puede haber una mezcla de cepas del patógeno.• Paso 1 Observar, a través de un estereoscopio, la masa de conidias del hongo y, con un alfiler flameado, tocar muy suavemente la masa de conidias para que varias de ellas queden adheridas a la punta del alfiler (Foto 9). • Paso 2 Desprender (sobre el medio PDA de una caja petri) las conidias del alfiler con agua destilada estéril: se toma el agua con una pipeta y se vierten de 4 a 6 gotas en el alfiler suspendido sobre el medio (Foto 10). Esparcir bien con un triángulo de vidrio, sobre la superficie del medio, las gotas que llevan las conidias.Esta operación exige el uso de instrumentos estériles; el triángulo de vidrio se debe flamear antes de cada uso para no contaminar el medio.• Paso 3 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C durante 24 horas. Pasado ese tiempo, las conidias empezarán a germinar.Enfocar las conidias germinadas con un estereoscopio. Elegir una y sacarla con un alfiler previamente flameado para transferirla a una caja petri que tenga medio de cultivo PDA; la caja se incuba a 20 °C. La conidia se desarrollará en ese medio el cual, después de 12 días, queda totalmente cubierto por las estructuras del hongo (cultivo monospórico).El aislamiento monospórico es el punto de partida de los diversos procesos que involucran un aislamiento específico del patógeno (inoculación, extracción de ADN del micelio, conservación).Guía Práctica 1: Phoma exigua var. diversispora Enfermedad: Ascoquita 1 -11 D. Incremento de P. exigua 1. Sobre el medio de cultivo PDA junto con hojas de frijolEste incremento debe hacerse partiendo de un aislamiento monospórico (ver antes). Se hace en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA y, en algunos aislamientos, es mejor agregar hojas de frijol esterilizadas al medio para estimular la esporulación del hongo.Las hojas de frijol escogidas, que estarán libres de fungicidas, se esterilizan en autoclave. Se eligen solamente hojas maduras de cerca de 30 días de edad y de tamaño mediano, porque las hojas jóvenes se desintegran en el autoclave. Si se usan hojas muy grandes, éstas no cabrán en las cajas petri que ya contienen el medio de cultivo PDA. Las hojas (unas 20) se colocan en cajas petri grandes con el envés hacia arriba, y se rocían con unas gotas de agua destilada.Las cajas petri se envuelven luego en papel aluminio y luego en papel de envolver, y se llevan al autoclave.• Paso 1 Trasladar, con una pinza estéril, una o dos hojas de frijol estériles desde la caja grande donde se esterilizaron a la caja con medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 11).• Paso 2 Por otro lado, agregar un poco de agua destilada estéril al aislamiento monospórico y raspar con la misma pipeta la superficie del medio de cultivo (en la caja petri), con el fin de desprender de éste las conidias y el micelio.Guía Práctica 1: Phoma exigua var. diversispora Enfermedad: Ascoquita• Paso 3 Tomar un poco de la suspensión del hongo que se obtuvo en el paso anterior y depositarla en las hojas de frijol colocadas sobre el medio de cultivo. Esparcir, con un triángulo de vidrio previamente flameado, la suspensión sobre toda el área de la hoja.• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C durante 12 días. En este tiempo, el hongo producirá conidias en abundancia que proporcionarán inóculo suficiente para hacer las inoculaciones previstas en el invernadero (Foto 12).• Paso 1 Incrementar el hongo 10 días antes de la inoculación, según el número de plantas que se quiera inocular.Hacer un cálculo aproximado de las cajas petri (con medio de cultivo PDA) que se necesitan y en ellas 'sembrar' el hongo (ver D. Incremento de…); una caja petri bien esporulada produce, aproximadamente, 1 litro de inóculo que alcanzaría, más o menos, para 120 potes (tres plantas x pote). Este cálculo depende de las características del aislamiento (no todos esporulan de la misma manera).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol 1 -14• Paso 2 Agregar agua destilada estéril a los incrementos del hongo de las cajas petri del paso anterior, y raspar luego la superficie del medio con una espátula estéril para desprender las conidias. Obtenida así la suspensión de conidias, filtrarla con una gasa estéril para separar las partículas como restos de agar y micelio, y recoger en un vaso estéril mediano (o en una caja petri estéril grande) el filtrado con las conidias (Foto 13).La separación de estas partículas sólidas tiene dos objetivos: facilitar el conteo de las conidias y evitar que se tapone la boquilla del aspersor 'DeVilbiss' (designado aquí por su marca) que se emplea, junto con un compresor, para aplicar el inóculo sobre las plantas. En vez del aspersor DeVilbiss se puede usar un aerógrafo o un atomizador de líquidos.• Paso 3 Contar (empleando el microscopio) las conidias observadas en la cuadrícula central del hemacitómetro (los cuatro cuadros de las esquinas y el del centro). Multiplicar por 50.000 el número de conidias contadas. La concentración que debe tener (en este caso) el inóculo del patógeno es de 1 x 10 6 conidias/ml. Entonces, dado un volumen final del inóculo que se asperjará y dada la concentración de conidias del inóculo original, utilizar la siguiente fórmula para hallar el volumen requerido de este inóculo original para preparar el de la aspersión:Guía Práctica 1: Phoma exigua var. diversispora Enfermedad: AscoquitaSe contaron 150 conidias en el hemacitómetro.Por tanto, 150 x 50.000 = 750.000 = 7.5 x 10 6 (conidias en 1 ml)Ésta es la concentración del inóculo original. Ahora bien, si se necesitan 250 ml de un inóculo que tenga una concentración de 1 x 10 6 (conidias/ml), se sustituyen esos datos en la fórmula anterior y se halla el valor del volumen (V 1 ) del inóculo original o inicial que se toma para preparar el que ahora se necesita:V 1 x 7.5 x 10 6 = 250 ml x 1 x 10 6Por tanto, V 1 = 250 ml x 1 x 10 6 = 33.3 ml 7.5 x 10 6Se toman entonces 33.3 ml del inóculo inicial y se completan hasta 250 ml con agua destilada estéril para obtener la concentración final deseada.• Paso 4 Obtenida la concentración requerida (conidias por mililitro de agua) para la inoculación, verter un volumen de esta suspensión de inóculo en un frasco erlenmeyer de 250 ml, que se conecta luego a un DeVilbiss (o un aerógrafo) y éste a un compresor (Foto 14) para hacer la inoculación por aspersión. Se inoculan plantas de 17 días de edad en la primera hoja trifoliada. El volumen de inóculo aplicado a la hoja se calcula de tal manera que la superficie foliar quede totalmente humedecida sin que drene o escurra la suspensión del inóculo.• Paso 5 Llevar las plantas asperjadas a una cámara húmeda cuya humedad relativa sea mayor que 90% (Foto 15) y dejarlas allí durante 7 días. Pasado este tiempo, retirarlas de la cámara, colocarlas durante 3 días más en una mesa y finalmente evaluarlas (10 días después de la inoculación). Para hacer la evaluación se aplica la escala estándar del CIAT, cuyas categorías van del 1 al 9 y se distribuyen así:de 1 a 3: planta resistente de 4 a 6: planta de reacción intermedia de 7 a 9: planta susceptible En la Foto 16 se muestra un genotipo de frijol susceptible a ascoquita, que fue calificado con 9 en una evaluación en que se usó la escala anterior. • Paso 1En el vaso de la licuadora industrial verter agua corriente y depositar (con ayuda de una espátula) el medio de cultivo PDA con el hongo incrementado (Foto 17). Cincuenta cajas de petri medianas en las que el hongo ha crecido durante 10 días son suficientes para producir el inóculo que requiere la aspersión de 1 hectárea de cultivo. Calcular el agua de tal manera que el homogenizado no quede muy denso.• Paso 2 Licuar el contenido (medio de cultivo PDA y estructuras del hongo) hasta obtener un producto homogéneo. Diluirlo en 20 litros de agua.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 3 Cuantificar la concentración de conidias en el homogenizado de 20 litros mediante un hemacitómetro. Calcular luego el volumen de solución final del inóculo según el área de cultivo que se quiere inocular, y ajustar la concentración final del inóculo. Ver más abajo un ejemplo de cálculo respecto a 1 hectárea.• Paso 4 Verter, utilizando un embudo, el inóculo en un recipiente fácil de manejar (Foto 18). La boca de entrada del recipiente se cierra muy bien y éste se revisa con frecuencia para detectar fisuras o fugas.Para hacer una inoculación artificial en 1 hectárea de un cultivo de frijol en el campo se requieren, como mínimo, los siguientes materiales: de 50 a 70 cajas petri de incrementos de P. exigua bien esporulados diluidas en 140 litros de agua. Se obtiene así una suspensión de conidias con la concentración requerida (1 x 10 6 con/ml) para inocular 1 hectárea.Las inoculaciones con este patógeno deben hacerse siempre al caer la tarde, cuando la temperatura va en descenso y la humedad relativa aumenta.Es el método más confiable para conservar microorganismos en almacenamiento.-Liofilizador -Ampolletas para liofilizar de 'cristal neutro' ('neutral glass') de 0.5 ml -Pipetas pasteur largas -Tijeras y algodón -Incremento del hongo en medio de cultivo PDA -Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa al 20% (Foto 19)Nota: Los aislamientos deben prepararse 12 días antes de empezar el proceso de liofilización (ver D. Incremento de...). Al iniciar esta etapa de almacenamiento, deben haber esporulado y estar libres de contaminantes.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolPasos del proceso• Paso 1 Escribir o marcar en papel filtro la identificación de los aislamientos que se van a liofilizar. La identificación incluye el nombre del hongo (género y especie), el nombre del aislamiento (código empleado por cada laboratorio) y la fecha en que se almacena el aislamiento. Esta información se escribe con letra pequeña en áreas reducidas del papel (1 a 2 cm 2 ).• Paso 2 Cortar, con una tijera estéril, los trozos de papel filtro con la identificación del hongo e introducir uno en cada ampolleta hasta el fondo.-Preparar luego el tapón de algodón con que se tapa la ampolleta, de modo que cubra, más o menos, los dos tercios superiores de la ampolleta. Extender un trozo de algodón hasta que tenga unos 5 x 3 cm y enrollarlo sobre una pinza (o la parte delgada de un asa), presionando con los dedos hasta formar el tapón sobre ese extremo del asa (Fotos 20, 21 y 22). Dejar un poco de algodón sin enrollar en el lado opuesto del tapón. -Introducir el tapón en la ampolleta y retirar la pinza (o el asa) suavemente con una mano, mientras se sostiene el tapón dentro de la ampolleta con la otra.  -Preparar ampolletas adicionales con sus respectivos tapones para tener más tapones en caso de que se necesiten. Si un tapón se desintegra al ser manipulado, es necesario remplazarlo con uno que esté esterilizado en las ampolletas adicionales.• Paso 3 Llevar este material (ampolletas con sus tapones) al autoclave para esterilizarlo durante 40 minutos.• Paso 4 Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Se toman 10 g de peptona y se disuelven en 100 ml de agua destilada. Se prepara de igual modo una solución de sucrosa (o de dextrosa) al 20%, disolviendo 20 g de este producto en 100 ml de agua destilada. Las dos soluciones, que se preparan por separado, se llevan al autoclave. Una vez esterilizadas, se mezclan partes iguales de cada una en un recipiente estéril para hacer una solución homogénea de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 5 Con una pipeta pasteur larga, succionar de 2 a 3 ml de la mezcla peptona-sucrosa (ver Paso 4) y verterlos sobre el cultivo del hongo (Foto 23). Obtener luego un homogenizado con el hongo y la solución de peptona-sucrosa haciendo primero un raspado del cultivo (micelio y conidias) y luego, mediante succión y expulsión repetidas de la mezcla con la misma pipeta pasteur, lograr el homogenizado.• Paso 6 Tomar, con la misma pipeta pasteur, unas gotas (2-3 ml) de esa suspensión del hongo (Foto 24) y depositarlas en el interior de la ampolleta siguiendo estos pasos:-Tomar con una mano la pipeta pasteur y con la otra la ampolleta con su respectivo tapón (obtenida en el Paso 2). -Sujetar la pipeta pasteur con los dedos índice y pulgar, y con el meñique de la misma mano retirar cuidadosamente el tapón de algodón de la ampolleta por su extremo suelto y mantenerlo firmemente adherido contra el borde de la palma de esa mano. Enseguida, verter la suspensión del hongo contenida en la pipeta en el fondo de la ampolleta, donde está el papel filtro con la identificación del aislamiento. -Tapar luego la ampolleta (Foto 25) introduciendo suavemente en ella el tapón, tal como está sostenido entre el meñique y la palma de la mano (ver antes).Guía Práctica 1: Phoma exigua var. diversispora Enfermedad: AscoquitaSi el algodón del tapón entra en contacto con otra superficie o con alguna sustancia, se contamina, por lo que se debe desechar y remplazar con uno de los que se habían preparado (ver Paso 2) para estos casos.Cortar, con una tijera flameada, la parte del tapón que quedó por fuera de la ampolleta (Foto 26).Introducir finalmente en la ampolleta el resto del tapón de algodón empleando la punta de la tijera, hasta dejar 1 cm entre el borde de la ampolleta y el tapón (Foto 27).Colocar las ampolletas en una gradilla. Empujar luego el algodón hacia el fondo de cada una hasta que toque el trocito de papel filtro que lleva la identificación del hongo; para ello se utiliza un objeto alargado (como la parte superior de un asa), el cual se flamea constantemente para evitar que se contaminen los tapones (Foto 28).La parte superior de la ampolleta, que no contiene algodón, se sellará después del proceso de liofilización.Una vez organizadas las ampolletas, llevarlas a un congelador a 0 °C durante 15 minutos. Cuando las muestras se hayan congelado, se inicia el proceso de liofilización.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 10 Colocar la gradilla en la campana del liofilizador y encenderlo (Foto 29). El aparato hace descender en su interior la temperatura hasta -55 °C e inicia un proceso de secamiento de la muestra porque le extrae el agua mediante una bomba de vacío. Este proceso tarda entre 20 y 22 horas.• Paso 11 Al día siguiente, apagar el liofilizador y retirar de él la gradilla con las ampolletas. Preparar luego una pistola de gas propano y proceder al 'estiramiento' de las ampolletas en la parte opuesta a aquella en que está la muestra, es decir, hacer un cuello en cada una ablandando el vidrio con la llama y estirando la ampolleta por sus extremos (Fotos 30 y 31). El procedimiento requiere mucha precaución para evitar quemaduras en las manos por la llama. El objetivo de este paso es reducir el espacio por donde puede entrar aire (con humedad) a la muestra, antes de sellarla completamente.Una vez estiradas todas las ampolletas, colocarlas en el árbol del liofilizador insertando el extremo abierto de cada una en los soportes del árbol. De esta manera, el extremo que contiene la muestra quedará más visible (Foto 32). Repetir el proceso de secamiento en el liofilizador durante 1 hora, aproximadamente, para eliminar la humedad que pudo haber entrado a la muestra durante el Paso 11. • Paso 13 Sin apagar el liofilizador, sellar al vacío las ampolletas, una por una, empleando la pistola de gas propano, derritiendo el vidrio con la llama donde se hizo el cuello o estiramiento (Foto 33). Una vez selladas, finaliza el proceso de liofilización.En caso de que se pierda el vacío al estar sellando una ampolleta, retirar esta parte de la ampolleta, remplazarla por una nueva y esperar que el vacío llegue al punto indicado para poder continuar con el sellado de las otras ampolletas.La duración de una muestra en almacenamiento, conservada mediante el proceso de liofilización, no se ha establecido formalmente; sin embargo, en nuestro laboratorio se han recuperado muestras liofilizadas que permanecieron almacenadas durante 30 años. La liofilización de muestras microbiológicas tiene, no obstante, una desventaja: para recuperar una muestra hay que romper toda la ampolleta y, por consiguiente, es necesario tener varias copias de cada una de las muestras liofilizadas para poder mantener adecuadamente una colección. • Paso 1 Cortar cuadritos (60-80) de papel filtro de 1 cm 2 , colocarlos dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA en cada caja petri.• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de conidias y micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril sobre un aislamiento desarrollado en una caja petri. -Raspar luego la superficie del aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta hasta que se logre la suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).Incubar las cajas a 20 °C durante 12 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 12 días, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de las cajas petri de incubación con una pinza estéril y, cumpliendo con todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse.Secar los cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 6 Pasar los cuadritos secos (con una pinza flameada) a bolsitas de papel mantequilla estéril (Foto 34), las cuales se introducen, a su vez, en otra bolsa más grande del mismo material (o en una cajilla adecuada), para almacenarlos (Foto 35). Esta última bolsa, en la que se coloca toda la información referente al hongo P. exigua, se almacena a -20 °C. • Paso 1Tomar una caja petri que contenga un aislamiento esporulado del hongo y agregarle 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 2 Raspar, con una espátula estéril o con la misma pipeta con que se agregó la solución, la superficie del aislamiento contenido en la caja petri para desprender las conidias del hongo. De este modo se obtiene una suspensión de conidias.• Paso 3 Depositar, con una pinza estéril, 20 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizados en la caja petri del Paso 2 e impregnarlos con la suspensión del hongo en la solución de peptona-sucrosa.Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de esa caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril que tenga papel filtro en el fondo, para que se sequen a 24 °C durante 7 días.  Esta prueba es la forma clara, práctica y confiable de garantizar que el hongo secado por 7 días está libre de contaminante s, viable y que puede ser almacenado.• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión del hongo y que fue secado por 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito en medio de cultivo PDA. Después de 5 días, el patógeno debe haber crecido en este medio de cultivo.• Paso 3 Observar el crecimiento del hongo en el estereoscopio. Si presenta agentes contaminantes, como otros hongos o bacterias, tanto la muestra observada como los demás cuadritos de papel filtro deberán desecharse, y se repetirá entonces el proceso de conservación.-Ampolletas con el hongo liofilizado -Pipeta con chupo -Solución de peptona al 10% -Mazo (de mortero) -Solución de sucrosa al 20% -Servilleta estéril -Cajas petri con medio de cultivo PDA -Pinza (Foto 36)Foto 36 Foto 36Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolPasos del proceso• Paso 1 Romper la ampolleta que contiene el hongo golpeándola con un mazo (Foto 37) por el extremo opuesto a aquél en que está el hongo liofilizado (la servilleta sirve para amortiguar el golpe y la rotura del vidrio). Retirar con la pinza el algodón que está dentro de la ampolleta (Foto 38).• Paso 2 Depositar con la pipeta, en la mitad abierta de la ampolleta, cuatro gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa (ver F., 3. Conservación como…). Las células liofilizadas del hongo quedan así suspendidas en la solución y pueden retirarse de la ampolleta (Foto 39).Transferir la suspensión del hongo de la ampolleta a una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA, para reiniciar el proceso de crecimiento del microorganismo (Foto 40). • Paso 1 Trasladar, con una pinza estéril, uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro con el hongo -que habían sido almacenados en bolsitas a -20 °C (ver F., 2. Conservación en…, Paso 6)-a una caja petri (Foto 41) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA.• Paso 2 Depositar 1 o 2 gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa en los cuadritos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo; así se hidrata el hongo y podrá ser esparcido sobre toda la superficie del medio (Foto 42), usando la punta de la pipeta. De esta manera se aumenta el campo de crecimiento del hongo.Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C. El desarrollo del hongo se reactivará y después de 12 días estará listo para ser usado en los procesos que se realizarán más adelante.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol1 -34• Paso 1 Sacar de los sobres de papel mantequilla (ver F., 3. Conservación como…, Paso 5, Foto 35) de 1 a 2 trocitos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo almacenado en suspensión de peptonasucrosa, y 'sembrarlos' en el medio de cultivo PDA contenido en las cajas petri.Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C. Después de 2 o 3 días se puede ver el crecimiento del hongo. A los 10 días después de la incubación, el hongo estará listo para ser incrementado.Foto 1La bacteriosis común es causada por Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Xap) (Smith) Dye y por Xanthomonas phaseoli var. fuscans (Xpf) (Burkholder) Starr & Burkholder, dos bacterias que inducen síntomas idénticos en hojas, tallos y vainas del frijol común. Su temperatura óptima de desarrollo está entre 28 y 30 °C. El crecimiento de estas dos bacterias patógenas en un medio de cultivo presenta características diferentes: Xpf produce un pigmento de color café después de 24 horas en el medio de cultivo YCDA, mientras que Xap no produce esos pigmentos.La infección por bacteriosis común en las hojas y las vainas del frijol se manifiesta del modo siguiente:• En las hojas, los síntomas iniciales son puntos acuosos que aparecen, generalmente, en su envés; estos puntos aumentan de tamaño y forman una lesión grande, como se aprecia en la Foto 1.• En las vainas, los síntomas son manchas húmedas pequeñas que, cuando crecen y se juntan, cubren gran parte de la vaina, la deforman e infectan las semillas que están en su interior.Las áreas afectadas se muestran flácidas y se rodean de un borde de color amarillo que, después de cierto tiempo, se torna de color café y llega a cubrir un área grande de la hoja o de la vaina. La enfermedad se transmite a la planta a partir de semillas infectadas. -Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar el material• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de vainas, hojas o tallos) que se colectó se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno que se hace partiendo de tejidos de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información completa en una libreta de campo.• Paso 1 Tomar muestras de hojas o vainas que presenten los síntomas de la bacteriosis común (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 2 Envolver la muestra en una toalla de papel, colocarla en una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 3 Enviar las muestras, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento de la bacteria. Tener en cuenta dos recomendaciones:-Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio (ver antes). -No recolecte material vegetal húmedo; si está húmedo, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de transportarlo (ver antes).-Extracto de levadura ('yeast extract') 10 g -Dextrosa 10 g -Agar 15 g -Carbonato de calcio (CaCO 3 ) 2 g -Agua destilada 1000 ml -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 2 -Cajas petri-Se pesan los ingredientes, se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo YCDA se esterilizan en el autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos. -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que pueda manipularse y se vierte luego en cajas petri, a razón de 20 ml por caja.-Material vegetal enfermo (muestra) -Tijeras -Pipeta pasteur -Pinza -Varilla de vidrio u otro instrumento que sirva para macerar -Cajas petri pequeñas o tubos limpios (de plástico o vidrio) para macerar las muestras -Agua destilada estéril -Hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5% -Medio de cultivo YCDA -Asa microbiológica (Foto 2)Nota: Todos los procedimientos se deben ejecutar dentro de la cámara de flujo laminar; además, deben cumplirse todas las condiciones de asepsia y esterilidad que se exigen en un laboratorio. En otras palabras, se aplican siempre las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM).• Paso 1 Limpiar las tijeras con algodón impregnado en alcohol 70% y cortar luego varios trozos pequeños de la muestra. Sumergir los trozos durante 3 minutos en hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5% (Foto 3). Retirar el exceso de hipoclorito de sodio, y lavar la muestra con agua destilada estéril utilizando una pipeta pasteur estéril (Foto 4).• Paso 3 Macerar la muestra en una caja petri pequeña (Foto 5) o en un tubo. Agregar luego 10 gotas de agua destilada estéril para obtener una suspensión de tejido macerado.• Paso 4 Tomar con el asa microbiológica la suspensión del macerado (Foto 6) y hacer con ella un rayado sobre el medio de cultivo YCDA de una caja petri (Foto 7).Repetir el paso en otras cajas e incubarlas luego a 28 °C. • Paso 5 Después de 36 horas de incubación, la bacteria habrá crecido sobre el medio. Del cultivo resultante tomar una colonia aislada, cuyas condiciones en el entorno del medio observado con el estereoscopio (Foto 8) indiquen que corresponde a la bacteria (colonia 'sugestiva' de la bacteria), y con ella hacer un nuevo rayado en otra caja petri, como se indica en la Figura 1. Si hay cultivos contaminantes, su morfología es diferente de la del cultivo de esta bacteria y se nota a la vista. Proceder de igual manera con las colonias obtenidas de otros cultivos de la muestra de tejido infectado. De este modo se purifica una colonia que, una vez seleccionada, se incrementará más adelante.Para aislar bacterias de una muestra de tejido vegetal o para incrementar un cultivo de bacterias, seguir el patrón de rayas indicado en la Figura 1. El rayado se hace con un asa microbiológica estéril. Esta metodología permite la obtención de colonias aisladas y facilita la diferenciación entre las bacterias contaminantes y la bacteria de interés. Estas bacterias se incrementan partiendo de colonias que tengan entre 24 y 48 horas de crecimiento. Una colonia se transfiere a medio de cultivo YCDA haciendo en él un rayado con material de la colonia seleccionada mediante un asa microbiológica estéril (Foto 9). El rayado de bacteria se incuba luego a 28 °C durante 24 a 48 horas. Se harán incrementos en cuantas cajas sean necesarias para la cantidad de plantas que se inocularán, ya sea en el campo o en el invernadero (ver cantidades sugeridas en E., 3. Inoculación en…).Para este proceso se necesitan varios incrementos de la bacteria de 48 horas de crecimiento (en sus cajas petri).• Paso 1 Obtener una suspensión del inóculo en las cajas en que están los incrementos agregando de 3 a 5 ml de agua destilada a cada una (Foto 10). Raspar luego con un triángulo estéril de vidrio la superficie de los incrementos para desprender del medio las colonias de la bacteria (Foto 11). • Paso 2 Colectar la suspensión de todas las cajas del paso anterior en un solo recipiente esterilizado.Posteriormente medir la concentración de bacterias de esta suspensión en un espectrofotómetro. Ajustar la lectura de la suspensión en 0.5 unidades de absorbancia a una longitud de onda de 620 nm. Esto equivale a una concentración aproximada de 5 x 10 8 ufc/ml. (ufc = unidades formadoras de colonias)• Paso 3 Tomar la suspensión del inóculo ajustada a la concentración de 5 x 10 8 ufc/ml (ver paso anterior) y diluirla 10 veces para obtener finalmente una concentración de 5 x 10 7 ufc/ml, que es la concentración de bacteria recomendada para hacer inoculaciones controladas. Ejemplo de dilución: diluir 100 ml de suspensión en 900 ml de agua.• Paso 1 Insertar en un tapón de corcho (o de material blando similar) cinco agujas por el extremo del ojo, de manera que sobresalga del corcho 1.5 cm de cada punta; con estas puntas de aguja se perforará el tejido foliar para inocularlo. Tomar una caja petri y colocarle un círculo de espuma plástica de igual tamaño (Foto 12). Elegir en el invernadero plantas de 17 días de edad que presenten el primer trifolio expandido (ya desarrollado) en un 70%, aproximadamente.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 2 Verter un volumen de la suspensión de inóculo (Paso 3 anterior) en la espuma de la caja, de tal manera que la espuma quede totalmente impregnada, sin que la suspensión se derrame por los bordes en el momento de la inoculación. Colocar el trifolio (o un folíolo) elegido sobre la espuma.Perforar con las agujas del corcho el trifolio y presionarlas hasta el fondo de la caja para que, al retirarlas, la bacteria entre en contacto con las heridas de los folíolos e inicie la infección (Foto 13).Las plantas inoculadas permanecen en el invernadero a temperatura ambiente (temperaturas diurnas entre 25 y 30 °C) hasta cuando sean evaluadas.• Paso 3 Evaluar las plantas a los 15 días después de su inoculación (Foto 14), según la escala estándar del CIAT, cuyas categorías van del 1 al 9 y se distribuyen así:de 1 a 3: planta resistente de 4 a 6: planta de reacción intermedia de 7 a 9: planta susceptible Se necesitan alrededor de 50 cajas petri (bien incrementadas con la bacteria) por hectárea de cultivo que se quiera inocular. Seguir los pasos siguientes:-Obtener una suspensión de la bacteria de las cajas petri como se indicó antes y ajustar su concentración (ver E., 1. Producción del…, Paso 3) en un volumen final de 12 litros para una bomba (aspersora) de motor. -Aplicar alrededor de 10 a 12 bombas por hectárea de acuerdo con la edad del cultivo; se recomienda inocular a los 25 días después de la siembra y una semana después de esta inoculación (en la floración).Para conservar estas bacterias se emplean dos métodos: la liofilización y el papel de filtro impregnado con una suspensión de la bacteria en solución de peptona-sucrosa.Es un método confiable para conservar los microorganismos que se almacenan.-Liofilizador con dos tipos de soporte: gradilla y árbol.-Ampolletas para liofilizar de 'cristal neutro' ('neutral glass') de 0.5 ml -Pipetas pasteur largas -Tijeras y algodón -Cultivos de las bacterias en medio de cultivo YCDA -Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa (o dextrosa) al 20% Nota: Las cepas de bacteria que serán liofilizadas deben haberse incrementado 48 horas antes de este proceso (ver D. Incremento de…).• Paso 1Escribir o marcar en papel filtro la identificación de los aislamientos que se van a liofilizar. La identificación incluye el nombre de la bacteria (Xap o Xpf), el número del aislamiento (código empleado por cada laboratorio) y la fecha en que se almacena la bacteria. Esta información se escribe con letra pequeña en áreas reducidas del papel filtro (1 a 2 cm 2 ).• Paso 2 Cortar, con una tijera estéril, los trozos de papel filtro con la identificación de la bacteria e introducir uno en cada ampolleta hasta el fondo.-Preparar luego el tapón de algodón con que se tapa la ampolleta, de modo que cubra, más o menos, los dos tercios superiores de la ampolleta. Extender un trozo de algodón hasta que tenga unos 5 x 3 cm y enrollarlo sobre una pinza (o la parte delgada de un asa), presionando con los dedos hasta formar el tapón sobre ese extremo del asa (Fotos 15, 16 y 17). Dejar un poco de algodón sin enrollar en el lado opuesto del tapón. -Introducir el tapón en la ampolleta y retirar la pinza (o el asa) suavemente con una mano, mientras se sostiene el tapón dentro de la ampolleta con la otra. -Preparar ampolletas adicionales con sus respectivos tapones para tener más tapones en caso de que se necesiten. Si un tapón se desintegra al ser manipulado, es necesario remplazarlo con uno que esté esterilizado en las ampolletas adicionales.• Paso 3 Llevar este material (ampolletas con sus tapones) al autoclave para esterilizarlo durante 40 minutos. • Paso 4 Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Se toman 10 g de peptona y se disuelven en 100 ml de agua destilada. Se prepara de igual modo una solución de sucrosa (o de dextrosa) al 20%, disolviendo 20 g de este producto en 100 ml de agua destilada. Las dos soluciones, que se preparan por separado, se llevan al autoclave. Una vez esterilizadas, se mezclan partes iguales de cada una en un recipiente estéril para hacer una solución homogénea de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 5 Con una pipeta pasteur larga, succionar de 2 a 3 ml de la mezcla peptona-sucrosa (ver Paso 4) y depositarlo sobre el cultivo de bacteria que ha crecido durante 48 horas en la caja petri. Obtener luego un homogenizado de la bacteria en la solución de peptona-sucrosa haciendo succión y expulsión sucesivas de esa mezcla con la misma pipeta pasteur.• Paso 6 Tomar, con la misma pipeta pasteur, unas gotas (2-3 ml) de esa suspensión de bacteria y depositarlas en el interior de la ampolleta siguiendo estos pasos:-Tomar con una mano la pipeta pasteur y con la otra la ampolleta con su respectivo tapón (obtenida en el Paso 3).Foto -Sujetar la pipeta pasteur con los dedos índice y pulgar, y con el meñique de la misma mano retirar cuidadosamente el tapón de algodón de la ampolleta. Enseguida, verter la suspensión de la bacteria en el fondo de la ampolleta donde está el papel filtro con la identificación de la cepa. Tapar luego la ampolleta introduciendo suavemente en ella el tapón que ha estado sostenido entre el meñique y la palma de la mano.Si el algodón del tapón entra en contacto con otra superficie o con alguna sustancia, se contamina, por lo que se debe desechar y remplazar entonces con uno de los que se habían preparado (ver Paso 2) para estos casos.• Paso 7 Cortar, con una tijera flameada, la parte del tapón que quedó por fuera de la ampolleta (Foto 18).Introducir finalmente en la ampolleta el resto del tapón de algodón empleando la punta de la tijera, hasta dejar 1 cm entre el borde de la ampolleta y el tapón (Foto 19).• Paso 8 Colocar las ampolletas en una gradilla. Empujar luego el tapón de algodón hacia el fondo de cada una hasta que toque el trocito de papel filtro que lleva la identificación de la bacteria; para ello se ultiliza un objeto alargado (como la parte superior de un asa), el cual se flamea constantemente para evitar que se contaminen los tapones (Foto 20). Foto La parte superior de la ampolleta, que no contiene algodón, se sellará después del proceso de liofilización (Paso 13).• Paso 9 Una vez organizadas las ampolletas, llevarlas a un congelador a 0 °C durante 15 minutos. Cuando las muestras se hayan congelado, se inicia el proceso de liofilización.• Paso 10 Colocar la gradilla en la campana del liofilizador y encenderlo (Foto 21). El aparato hace descender en su interior la temperatura hasta -55 °C e inicia un proceso de secamiento de la muestra porque le extrae el agua mediante una bomba de vacío. Este proceso tarda de 20 a 22 horas.Al día siguiente, apagar el liofilizador y retirar de él la gradilla con las ampolletas. Preparar luego una pistola de gas propano y proceder al 'estiramiento' de las ampolletas en la parte opuesta a aquella en que está la muestra, es decir, hacer un cuello en cada una ablandando el vidrio con la llama y estirando la ampolleta por sus extremos (Fotos 22 y 23). El procedimiento requiere mucha precaución para evitar quemaduras en las manos por la llama. El objetivo de este paso es reducir el espacio por donde puede entrar aire (con humedad) a la muestra, antes de sellarla completamente. Una vez estiradas todas las ampolletas, colocarlas en el árbol del liofilizador insertando el extremo abierto de cada una en los soportes del árbol. De esta manera, el extremo que contiene la muestra quedará más visible (Foto 24). Repetir el proceso de secamiento en el liofilizador durante 1 hora, aproximadamente, para eliminar la humedad que pudo haber entrado a la muestra durante el Paso 11.• Paso 13 Sin apagar el liofilizador, sellar al vacío las ampolletas, una por una, empleando la pistola de gas propano, derritiendo el vidrio con la llama donde se hizo el cuello o estiramiento (Foto 25). Una vez selladas, finaliza el proceso de liofilización.En caso de que se pierda el vacío al estar sellando una ampolleta, retirar esta parte de la ampolleta, remplazarla por una nueva y esperar que el vacío llegue al punto indicado para poder continuar con el sellado de las otras ampolletas.La duración de una muestra en almacenamiento, conservada mediante el proceso de liofilización, no se ha establecido formalmente; sin embargo, en nuestro laboratorio se han recuperado muestras liofilizadas que permanecieron almacenadas durante 30 años. La liofilización de muestras microbiológicas tiene, no obstante, una desventaja: para recuperar una muestra hay que romper toda la ampolleta y, por Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Tomar una caja petri que contenga un incremento de bacteria de 48 horas y agregarle 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (o peptona-dextrosa) (Foto 27).• Paso 2 Raspar, con una espátula o con la pipeta, el cultivo de la bacteria que ha crecido en la caja petri, para desprender de él colonias de la bacteria y suspenderlas en la solución agregada (Foto 28).• Paso 3 Colocar en la suspensión de la bacteria (caja petri del paso anterior) 20 o más cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizados de 0.5 cm 2 (previamente recortados) e impregnarlos con esa suspensión (Foto 29).• Paso 4 Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de esa caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril que tenga papel filtro en el fondo, para que se sequen a 24 °C durante 7 días. Transcurrido ese tiempo, guardarlos en sobres estériles de papel mantequilla (Foto 30) para almacenarlos a -20 °C, escribiendo en ellos los datos que identifiquen la bacteria: nombre del aislamiento, lugar de procedencia y fecha de almacenamiento (Foto 31). • Paso 1 Romper la ampolleta que contiene la bacteria golpeándola con un mazo (Foto 33) por el extremo sellado (la servilleta sirve para amortiguar el golpe).Retirar con la pinza el algodón de la ampolleta (Foto 34). • Paso 2 Depositar con la pipeta cuatro gotas de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (o peptona-dextrosa). Las células liofilizadas de la bacteria quedan así suspendidas en la solución (Foto 35).• Paso 3 Retirar y sembrar la suspensión de células de la ampolleta en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo YCDA (Foto 36). Esparcir la bacteria haciendo un rayado (ver Figura 1, p. 2-9) con un asa estéril e incubar a 28 °C. En 48 horas, la bacteria habrá crecido sobre el medio de cultivo.La reactivación de una bacteria que ha sido almacenada conservándola según este protocolo se logra mejor si se agrega solución de peptona-sucrosa (peptona-dextrosa) al aislamiento almacenado, porque la solución le proporciona nutrientes a la bacteria para que reanude su crecimiento.Foto Foto• Paso 2 Depositar una gota de la solución de peptonasucrosa (o peptona-dextrosa) sobre cada trocito de papel filtro. Hacer luego un rayado de bacteria (ver Figura 1, p. 2-9) con un asa entre los trocitos de papel filtro sembrados.Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 28 °C. Después de 2 días, la bacteria habrá reactivado su crecimiento y estará lista para ser incrementada. El hongo Colletotrichum lindemuthianum causa la antracnosis del frijol, una enfermedad presente en todo el mundo que produce pérdidas económicas muy graves al productor de frijol. Temperaturas entre 13 y 25 °C y una humedad relativa alta favorecen la enfermedad, la cual puede ser devastadora y causar la pérdida completa de la producción de grano (Foto 1) en las variedades susceptibles. -Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar el material• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de vainas, hojas o tallos) que se colectó se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijolinterior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno que se hace partiendo de tejidos de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información completa en una libreta de campo. -No recolectar material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de ser transportado. Una vez en el laboratorio, y si no se procesa inmediatamente, dejarlo sobre toallas de papel al aire libre para que termine de secarse.Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Tomar una muestra (o varias) de la parte de la planta enferma (hojas, vainas o tallos) que presente los síntomas causados por el patógeno (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 2 Envolver la muestra en una toalla de papel, colocarla en una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 3 Enviar la muestra, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento del hongo. Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio (ver antes).Las siglas PDA corresponden a los componentes del medio: papa, dextrosa y agar. Este medio se usa para aislar el patógeno.-PDA deshidratado 39 g/litro -Agua destilada estéril 1 litro -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 2 -Cajas petri 503 -6-Se pesan los ingredientes (Foto 3), se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo PDA se esterilizan en autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos. -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que pueda manipularse (Foto 4) y se vierte luego en cajas petri, a razón de 20 ml por caja (Foto 5).-Cámara de flujo laminar -Tijeras -Cajas petri, de 60 y 100 mm -Agua destilada estéril -Hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5% -Medio de cultivo PDA (servido en cajas petri) -Muestra de tejido infectado, con síntomas típicos de antracnosis -Toallas de papel -Mechero -Marcador, punta fina -Pinzas -IncubadoraNota: Todos los procedimientos se deben ejecutar dentro de la cámara de flujo laminar; además, deben cumplirse todas las condiciones de asepsia y esterilidad que se exigen en un laboratorio. En otras palabras, se aplican siempre las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM).• Paso 1 Cortar trozos pequeños del tejido enfermo de la muestra que presente lesiones típicas y bien desarrolladas, utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 6).• Paso 2 Desinfectar, durante 3 minutos, los trozos de la muestra en una caja petri de 60 mm que contenga suficiente hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%. Enjuagar luego varias veces los trozos desinfectados con agua destilada estéril, en otra caja petri, vertiendo el agua sobre la muestra con una pipeta estéril (Foto 7).Colocar los trozos lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 8). Foto 9• Paso 4 Cuando las muestras estén secas, tomar los pedazos de tejido con una pinza estéril y 'sembrarlos' en una caja petri (tres por caja) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 9). Hacer lo mismo con las demás muestras. Incubar las cajas a 20 °C durante 10 días.• Paso 5 Si en la muestra que se 'sembró' en el medio de cultivo había microorganismos contaminantes, el hongo tratará de crecer en un área de la caja petri donde no estén presentes los contaminantes o donde su presencia sea mínima. Purificar entonces el aislamiento del patógeno tomando partes del hongo en esas áreas y transfiriéndolas a una nueva caja petri que tenga medio de cultivo PDA.• Paso 6 Pasados los 10 días, el hongo habrá producido acérvulos; estas estructuras reproductivas albergan una gran cantidad de conidias, algunas de las cuales se tomarán para hacer aislamientos monospóricos.Guía Práctica 3: Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Enfermedad: Antracnosis 3 -9La pureza genética de un aislamiento de C. lindemuthianum se garantiza si se parte de una sola conidia para hacer el aislamiento. En una muestra de tejido enfermo puede haber una mezcla de cepas del patógeno.En este proceso se aplica la metodología indicada en los pasos siguientes:• Paso 1 Observar, con un estereoscopio, el tejido enfermo que fue 'sembrado' en el medio de cultivo PDA de una caja petri (Paso 4, anterior). Identificar en él los acérvulos bien desarrollados de color salmón en cuyo interior están los conidióforos y las conidias; éstas son liberadas fácilmente al entrar el agua en contacto con el acérvulo.• Paso 2 Tocar, con un alfiler flameado, la masa de conidias del acérvulo elegido, para que varias de ellas queden adheridas a la punta del alfiler.• Paso 3 Desprender (sobre el medio de cultivo PDA de una caja petri) las conidias del alfiler con la ayuda de una pipeta que tenga agua destilada estéril, de la cual se vierten de 4 a 6 gotas en el alfiler suspendido sobre el medio. Esparcir bien, con un triángulo de vidrio, sobre la superficie del medio, las gotas que llevan las conidias.Esta operación exige el uso de instrumentos estériles; el triángulo de vidrio se debe flamear antes de cada uso para no contaminar el medio.• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C durante 24 horas. Pasado ese tiempo, las conidias empiezan a germinar y estarán listas para ser transferidas individualmente.• Paso 5 Enfocar las conidias germinadas con un estereoscopio. Elegir una y sacarla con un alfiler previamente flameado para transferirla a una caja petri que tenga medio de cultivo PDA; incubar luego la caja con la conidia a 20 °C. La conidia se desarrolla en ese medio, el cual después de 12 días queda totalmente cubierto por las estructuras del hongo.Cuando se recolectan muestras de vainas o tallos enfermos, el aislamiento se lleva a cabo mediante la inducción de la esporulación dentro de una cámara húmeda.Para configurar una cámara húmeda pequeña:-Cajas petri -Agua destilada estéril -Papel filtro -Varilla de vidrio en forma de V Muestra:-Tallo o vaina infectados• Paso 1 Colocar papel filtro en una caja petri estéril y humedecerlo con el agua destilada.• Paso 2 Colocar, sobre el papel húmedo, una varilla de vidrio en forma de 'V' (Foto 10). Colocar sobre ella una vaina o un trozo de tallo infectado (con acérvulos presentes) evitando que el tejido enfermo entre en contacto con el papel humedecido.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 11• Paso 3 Guardar la caja petri durante 2 días en un lugar oscuro a temperatura ambiente, para que se mantenga la humedad dentro de ella.• Paso 4 La vaina o el trozo de tallo enfermo producen acérvulos al estar en un ambiente húmedo. Se hace entonces el aislamiento monospórico directo, como se explicó en el proceso anterior.Un aislamiento monospórico permite hacer incrementos a partir de una cepa (ver antes). Se toma una caja petri que contenga un aislamiento monospórico bien esporulado, se deposita agua destilada estéril y con la ayuda de una espátula desintegrar los acérvulos para formar una suspensión de conidias, y con una pipeta transferir varias gotas a cada caja para luego esparcirlas con un rastrillo previamente flameado (Foto 11).Guía Práctica 3: Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Enfermedad: AntracnosisLos aislamientos de C. lindemuthianum crecen sobre PDA, pero algunos no esporulan lo suficiente en ese medio; en tales casos, el patógeno se incrementa sobre hojas de fríjol esterilizadas. Tanto los primeros aislamientos como los segundos han sido observados e identificados previamente; por tanto, el laboratorio asigna a cada uno de ellos el proceso de incremento que le corresponda.Las hojas de fríjol escogidas -que no deben haber recibido aplicaciones de fungicidas-se esterilizan en autoclave. Se eligen solamente hojas maduras de cerca de 30 días de edad y de tamaño mediano, porque las hojas jóvenes se desintegran en el autoclave. Se colocan en cajas petri grandes con el envés hacia arriba y se rocían con un poco de agua destilada. Las cajas petri se envuelven en papel aluminio y luego en papel de envolver, y se llevan al autoclave.-Aislamientos del hongo sobre el medio de cultivo PDA (10 días de crecimiento) -Agua destilada estéril -Cajas petri -Pipeta con chupo -Asa de vidrio y pinzas 3 -14 -Medio de cultivo PDA -Hojas de frijol sanas, libres de fungicidas y esterailizadas• Paso 1 Colocar, con una pinza estéril, una hoja de frijol estéril (de la caja petri grande) sobre el medio de cultivo PDA contenido en una caja petri mediana (Foto 12).• Paso 2 Agregar agua destilada estéril con la pipeta (presionando el chupo) al aislamiento monospórico (Foto 13), y raspar con una espátula la superficie del medio de cultivo (en la caja petri) para obtener así una suspensión de conidias de C. lindemuthianum.• Paso 3 Tomar varias gotas de la suspensión del hongo que se obtuvo en el paso anterior y depositarlas en las hojas de frijol colocadas sobre el medio de cultivo (Foto 14). Esparcir, con el asa de vidrio previamente flameada, la suspensión sobre toda el área de la hoja. La Foto 15 presenta un aislamiento de C. lindemuthianum incrementado en hojas de fríjol; se observa la esporulación color salmón sobre las hojas.El hongo C. lindemuthianum se incrementa sobre vainas de habichuela cuando se programa una inoculación de plantas en el campo; se debe preparar, por tanto, un volumen grande de suspensión del inóculo.Nota: Este método de incremento requiere de aislamientos del hongo en el medio de cultivo PDA ya esporulados.Foto 15 Foto 15• Paso 1 Lavar con agua corriente las vainas de habichuela para eliminar residuos de productos agroquímicos y otros contaminantes posibles (Foto 16).Cortar las vainas de habichuela en trozos de 3 cm de longitud (Foto 17). Colocar en la boca de cada erlenmeyer un tapón de algodón (Foto 19), cubrirla con papel aluminio y con papel de envolver (papel kraft), y ajustar todo el recubrimiento con un banda de caucho (Foto 20).El tapón de algodón es una pieza clave en este proceso de incremento; debe estar muy bien armado y debe ajustar bien contra el cuello del frasco para que no se desarme más adelante al manipularlo. El tapón del recipiente sirve para mantener su contenido estéril.• Paso 4 Esterilizar dos veces en el autoclave los trozos de habichuela contenidos en los frascos erlenmeyer.Esperar hasta que los frascos erlenmeyer se enfríen y retirar de ellos el agua que liberan los trozos de habichuela en la esterilización (Foto 21). Todo el proceso se lleva a cabo en una cámara de flujo laminar.Foto Foto Foto FotoGuías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto Foto• Paso 6 Tomar las cajas petri que contienen el aislamiento esporulado, agregarles agua destilada estéril y raspar con una espátula los acérvulos de la superficie del medio para hacer una suspensión de conidias (Foto 22).Agregar la suspensión anterior a los trozos de vaina de habichuela esterilizados. Esta operación consta de los siguientes pasos:-Tomar la pipeta pasteur con la mano derecha y llenarla con la suspensión de conidias (cerca de 2 ml). -Retirar (con la mano izquierda y sin soltar la pipeta) los papeles que tapan el erlenmeyer, quitar el tapón de algodón y sostenerlo con los dedos de esa mano. -Depositar la suspensión contenida en la pipeta dentro del erlenmeyer y sobre los trozos de habichuela (Foto 23). -Tapar el frasco erlenmeyer con el tapón de algodón.El buen resultado de este paso depende de que el tapón de algodón haya sido muy bien armado (Paso 3) y no se desbarate cuando se destape el frasco. Si el tapón se deshace al manipularlo, el laboratorista no podrá tocarlo con la mano para recuperarlo porque lo contamina; si no dispone de un tapón estéril de repuesto, debe usar la pinza para Foto 24sujetar el tapón deshecho e introducirlo hábilmente en el cuello del frasco erlenmeyer tapándolo de nuevo, de manera que el tapón quede tan ajustado como sea posible.Sellar luego el erlenmeyer con el capuchón de papel aluminio y de papel de envolver y ajustar alrededor de él la banda de caucho. Marcar luego el frasco erlenmeyer con el número del aislamiento.• Paso 8 Golpear suavemente contra una mano cada frasco erlenmeyer para que la suspensión de conidias del hongo cubra todos los trozos de vaina de habichuela. Evitar que la suspensión entre en contacto con el algodón del tapón (Foto 24); si lo hiciera, se reduciría el número de propágulos sobre el sustrato de multiplicación.Llevar todos los frascos erlenmeyer a incubación a 20 °C durante 9 días. Pasado este tiempo, el hongo habrá esporulado en los trozos de vaina de habichuela y estará listo para preparar el inóculo que se llevará al campo.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto E. Inoculación de las plantas• Paso 1 Incrementar el hongo 12 días antes de la inoculación según el número de plantas que se quiere inocular. Calcular el número aproximado de cajas petri (con medio de cultivo PDA) que se necesitan y en ellas 'sembrar' el hongo. Una caja petri bien 'esporulada' produce aproximadamente 300 ml, que alcanzará para 3 bandejas. Este cálculo depende de las características del aislamiento, ya que no todos los aislamientos de este hongo esporulan de la misma manera.• Paso 2 Agregar agua destilada estéril a los incrementos del hongo en las cajas petri del paso anterior, y raspar luego la superficie del medio con una espátula estéril para desprender las conidias (Foto 25). Obtenida así la suspensión de conidias, filtrarla en una gasa estéril para separar las partículas como restos de agar y micelio, y recoger en un vaso estéril mediano (o en una caja petri estéril grande) el filtrado con las conidias (Foto 26).La separación de estas partículas sólidas tiene dos objetivos: facilitar el conteo de las conidias y evitar que se tapone la boquilla del aspersor 'DeVilbiss' (designado aquí por su marca) que se emplea, junto • Paso 3 Contar, empleando el microscopio, las conidias observadas en la cuadrícula central del hemacitómetro (los cuatro cuadros de las esquinas y el cuadro central). El número de conidias contadas se multiplica por 50.000. La concentración que debe tener (en este caso) el inóculo del patógeno es de 1.2 x 10 6 conidias/ml. Entonces, dado un volumen final del inóculo que se asperjará y dada la concentración de conidias del inóculo original, se utiliza la siguiente fórmula para hallar el volumen de este inóculo original que se necesita para preparar el de la aspersión:Se contaron 150 conidias en el hemacitómetro.Por tanto, 150 x 50.000 = 750.000 = 7.5 x 10 6 (conidias en 1 ml)Ésta es la concentración del inóculo original (el filtrado del Paso 2). Ahora bien, si se necesitan 250 ml de un inóculo que tenga una concentración de 1.2 x 10 6 (conidias/ml) se sustituyen esos datos en la fórmula anterior y se halla el valor del volumenGuías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto Foto Foto (V 1 ) del inóculo original o inicial que se toma para preparar el que ahora se necesita:V 1 x 7.5 x 10 6 = 250 ml x 1.2 x 10 6Por tanto, V 1 = 250 ml x 1.2 x 10 6 = 40 ml 7.5 x 10 6Se toman entonces 40 ml del inóculo inicial y se completan hasta 250 ml con agua destilada estéril para obtener la concentración final deseada.• Paso 4 Obtenida la concentración requerida del inóculo final, verter un volumen de esta suspensión en un frasco erlenmeyer de 250 ml, que se conecta luego a un DeVilbiss (o a un aerógrafo) y éste a un compresor (Foto 27) para hacer la inoculación por aspersión. Se inoculan plántulas de 8 días de edad (Foto 28).Llevar las plantas asperjadas a una cámara húmeda cuya humedad relativa sea mayor que 90% (Foto 29), dejarlas allí y evaluarlas 8 días después. Para hacer la evaluación se aplica la escala estándar del CIAT, cuyas categorías van del 1 al 9 y se distribuyen así:de 1 a 3: planta resistente de 4 a 6: planta de reacción intermedia de 7 a 9: planta susceptible -Incrementos de C. lindemuthianum en trozos de habichuela -Licuadora industrial -Recipiente grande -Agua corriente -Embudo mediano -Hemacitómetro Para preparar el inóculo con que se asperjará 1 hectárea de cultivo de frijol en el campo, se requieren los siguientes materiales:-16 kg de trozos de habichuela que tengan el hongo bien esporulado -120 litros de agua• Paso 1En el recipiente de la licuadora industrial, verter agua corriente y trasladar a él (con ayuda de una espátula) los trozos de habichuela con el incremento del patógeno que se conservaron en frascos erlenmeyer. El volumen de la suspensión de inoculación para el campo es mucho mayor que el que se prepara para el invernadero.• Paso 2 Licuar el contenido del recipiente (habichuelas colonizadas por el hongo) hasta obtener un producto homogéneo y verterlo, utilizando un embudo, en un recipiente fácil de manipular (Foto 30).• Paso 3 Leer, en un hemacitómetro, la concentración de conidias del inóculo en el producto licuado. Calcular luego el volumen de solución final del inóculo según el área de cultivo que se quiere inocular, y ajustar la concentración final del inóculo.• Paso 4 Las inoculaciones con este patógeno deben hacerse siempre al caer la tarde, cuando la temperatura va en descenso y la humedad relativa aumenta. La inoculación se hace con una bomba de espalda con motor.Foto 30Es el método más confiable para conservar microorganismos en almacenamiento.-Liofilizador -Ampolletas para liofilizar de 'cristal neutro' ('neutral glass') de 0.5 ml -Pipetas pasteur largas -Tijeras y algodón -Incremento del hongo, en medio de cultivo PDA -Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa al 20% (Foto 31)Nota: Los aislamientos deben prepararse 12 días antes de empezar el proceso de liofilización (ver D. Incremento de…).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolPasos del proceso• Paso 1 Escribir o marcar en papel filtro la identificación de los aislamientos que se van a liofilizar. La identificación incluye el nombre científico del hongo, el número del aislamiento (código empleado por cada laboratorio), la fecha en que se almacena el hongo. Esta información se escribe con letra pequeña en áreas reducidas del papel (1 a 2 cm 2 ).• Paso 2 Cortar, con una tijera estéril, los trozos de papel filtro con la identificación del hongo e introducir uno en cada ampolleta hasta el fondo.-Preparar luego el tapón de algodón con que se tapa la ampolleta, de modo que cubra, más o menos, los dos tercios superiores de la ampolleta. Extender un trozo de algodón hasta que tenga unos 5 x 3 cm y enrollarlo sobre una pinza (o la parte delgada de un asa), presionando con los dedos hasta formar el tapón sobre ese extremo del asa (Fotos 32, 33 y 34). Dejar un poco de algodón sin enrollar en el lado opuesto del tapón. -Introducir el tapón en la ampolleta y retirar la pinza (o el asa) suavemente con una mano, mientras se sostiene el tapón dentro de la ampolleta con la otra. -Preparar ampolletas adicionales con sus respectivos tapones para tener más tapones en caso de que se necesiten. Si un tapón se desintegra al ser manipulado, es necesario remplazarlo con uno que esté esterilizado en las ampolletas adicionales.• Paso 3 Llevar este material (ampolletas con sus tapones), junto con las pipetas, al autoclave para esterilizarlos.• Paso 4 Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Se toman 10 g de peptona y se disuelven en 100 ml de agua destilada. Se prepara de igual modo una solución de sucrosa (o de dextrosa) al 20%, disolviendo 20 g de este producto en 100 ml de agua destilada. Las dos soluciones, que se preparan por separado, se llevan al autoclave. Una vez esterilizadas, se mezclan partes iguales de cada una en un recipiente estéril para hacer una solución homogénea de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 5 Con una pipeta pasteur larga, succionar de 2 a 3 ml de la mezcla peptona-sucrosa (ver Paso 4) y verterlos sobre el cultivo del hongo. Obtener luego un homogenizado con el hongo y la solución de peptona-sucrosa, haciendo primero un raspado del cultivo y luego succiones y expulsiones sucesivas del homogenizado con la pipeta sobre el medio; se emplea una sola pipeta en toda la operación (Foto 35).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 6 Tomar, con la misma pipeta pasteur, unas gotas (2-3 ml) de esa suspensión del hongo y depositarlas en el interior de la ampolleta siguiendo los pasos siguientes:-Tomar con una mano la pipeta pasteur y con la otra la ampolleta con su respectivo tapón (preparada en el Paso 2). -Tomar la pipeta pasteur con los dedos índice y pulgar, y con el meñique de la misma mano sujetar el extremo libre del tapón de algodón de la ampolleta contra el borde interior de la mano, retirarlo cuidadosamente de la ampolleta y mantenerlo sujeto firmemente en el sitio indicado. Verter enseguida la suspensión del hongo en el fondo de la ampolleta sobre el papel filtro que lleva la identificación del aislamiento. -Tapar luego la ampolleta introduciendo suavemente en ella el tapón, tal como se mantenía sostenido entre el meñique y la palma de la mano (ver antes).Si el algodón del tapón entra en contacto con otra superficie o con alguna sustancia, se contamina, por lo que se debe desechar y remplazar con uno de los que se habían preparado (ver Paso 2) para estos casos.• Paso 7 Cortar, con una tijera flameada, la parte del tapón que quedó por fuera de la ampolleta (Foto 36).Introducir finalmente en la ampolleta el resto del tapón de algodón empleando la punta de la tijera, hasta dejar 1 cm entre el borde de la ampolleta y el tapón (Foto 37).• Paso 8 Colocar las ampolletas verticalmente en una gradilla. Empujar luego el algodón hacia el fondo de cada una hasta que toque el trocito de papel filtro que lleva la identificación del hongo; para ello se utiliza un objeto alargado (como la parte superior de un asa), el cual se flamea constantemente para evitar que se contaminen los tapones (Foto 38).La parte superior de la ampolleta, que no contiene algodón, se sellará después del proceso de liofilización (Paso 13).• Paso 9 Una vez organizadas las ampolletas, llevarlas a un congelador a 0 °C durante 15 minutos. Cuando las muestras se hayan congelado, se inicia el proceso de liofilización. • Paso 10 Colocar la gradilla en la campana del liofilizador y encenderlo (Foto 39). El aparato hace descender en su interior la temperatura hasta -55 o C e inicia un proceso de secamiento en que extrae el agua de la muestra mediante una bomba de vacío. Este proceso tarda entre 20 y 22 horas.• Paso 11 Al día siguiente, apagar el liofilizador y retirar de él la gradilla con las ampolletas. Preparar luego una pistola de gas propano y proceder al 'estiramiento' de las ampolletas en la parte opuesta a aquella en que está la muestra, es decir, hacer un cuello en cada una ablandando el vidrio con la llama y estirando la ampolleta por sus extremos (Fotos 40 y 41). El procedimiento requiere mucha precaución para evitar quemaduras en las manos por la llama. El objetivo de este paso es reducir el espacio por donde puede entrar aire (con humedad) a la muestra, antes de sellarla completamente.• Paso 12 Una vez estiradas todas las ampolletas, colocarlas en el árbol del liofilizador insertando el extremo abierto de cada una en los soportes del árbol. De esta manera, el extremo que contiene la muestra quedará más visible (Foto 42). Repetir el proceso de secamiento en el liofilizador durante 1 hora, aproximadamente, para eliminar la humedad que pudo haber entrado a la muestra durante el Paso 11. • Paso 13 Sin apagar el liofilizador, sellar al vacío las ampolletas, una por una, empleando la pistola de gas propano, derritiendo el vidrio con la llama donde se hizo el cuello o estiramiento (Foto 43). Una vez selladas, finaliza el proceso de liofilización.En caso de que se pierda el vacío al estar sellando una ampolleta, retirar esta parte de la ampolleta, remplazarla por una nueva y esperar que el vacío llegue al punto indicado para poder continuar con el sellado de las otras ampolletas.La duración de una muestra en almacenamiento conservada mediante el proceso de liofilización no se ha establecido formalmente; sin embargo, en nuestro laboratorio se han recuperado muestras liofilizadas que permanecieron almacenadas durante 30 años. La liofilización de muestras microbiológicas tiene, no obstante, una desventaja: para recuperar una muestra hay que romper toda la ampolleta y, por consiguiente, es necesario tener varias copias de cada una de las muestras liofilizadas para poder mantener adecuadamente una colección.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol 3 -32Este método permite conservar microorganismos durante períodos largos de tiempo.-Papel filtro estéril, cortado en trozos pequeños -Incremento de C. lindemuthianum -Pinzas -Cajas petri estériles -Agua destilada estéril -Pipeta -Sobres de papel mantequilla• Paso 1 Cortar cuadritos (60-80) de papel filtro de 1 cm 2 , colocarlos dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA en cada caja petri.Guía Práctica 3: Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Enfermedad: Antracnosis• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de conidias y micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril sobre el aislamiento desarrollado en la caja petri. -Raspar luego la superficie del aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta hasta que se logre la suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).Incubar las cajas a 20 °C durante 12 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 12 días, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de las cajas petri de incubación con una pinza estéril y, cumpliendo con todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse.Secar los cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.La conservación de un patógeno suspendido en solución de peptona-sucrosa (o peptona-dextrosa) que se deposita en papel filtro es, después de la liofilización, uno de los métodos más efectivos para almacenarlo. • Paso 1 Tomar una caja petri que contenga un aislamiento esporulado del hongo y agregarle 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 45).• Paso 2 Raspar, con una espátula estéril o con la misma pipeta con que se agregó la solución, la superficie del aislamiento contenido en la caja petri para desprender las conidias del hongo. De este modo se obtiene una suspensión de conidias.• Paso 3 Depositar, con una pinza estéril, 20 cuadritos de papel filtro en la caja petri del Paso 2 e impregnarlos con la suspensión del hongo en la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 46).Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de esa caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril que tenga papel filtro en el fondo, para que se sequen a 24 °C durante 7 días. Esta prueba es la forma clara, práctica y confiable de garantizar que el hongo secado por 7 días está libre de contaminantes, viable y que puede ser almacenado.• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión del hongo y que fue secado por 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito en medio de cultivo PDA. Después de 5 días, el patógeno debe haber crecido en este medio de cultivo.• Paso 3 Observar el crecimiento del hongo en el estereoscopio. Si presenta agentes contaminantes, como otros hongos o bacterias, tanto la muestra observada como los demás cuadritos de papel filtro deberán desecharse, y se repetirá entonces el proceso de conservación. • Paso 2 Depositar con la pipeta, en la mitad abierta de la ampolleta, cuatro gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa (Ver F., 1. Liofilización, Paso 4). Las células liofilizadas del hongo quedan así suspendidas en la solución y pueden retirarse de la ampolleta (Foto 52).• Paso 3Transferir la suspensión del hongo de la ampolleta a una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA, para reiniciar el proceso de crecimiento del hongo (Foto 53).• Paso 1 Trasladar, con una pinza estéril, uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que portan el hongo -que habían sido almacenados en bolsitas a -20 °C (ver F., 2. Conservación en..., Paso 6)-a una caja petri (Foto 54) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA. • Paso 2 Depositar 1 o 2 gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa en los cuadritos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo; así se hidrata el hongo y podrá ser esparcido sobre toda la superficie del medio (Foto 55), usando la punta de la pipeta. De esta manera se aumenta el campo de crecimiento del hongo.• Paso 3 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C. El desarrollo del hongo se reactivará y después de 12 días estará listo para ser usado en los procesos que se realizarán más adelante.• Paso 1 Sacar de los sobres de papel mantequilla (ver F., 3. Conservación..., Paso 5, Foto 48) de 1 a 2 trocitos de papel filtro que portan el hongo almacenado en suspensión de peptona-sucrosa, y 'sembrarlos' en el medio de cultivo PDA contenido en las cajas petri.• Paso 2 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C. Después de 2 o 3 días se puede ver el crecimiento del hongo. A los 8 días después de la incubación, el hongo estará listo para ser incrementado. El hongo penetra en la planta por las raíces, invade luego algunos vasos del xilema y pronto tapona todo el sistema vascular. El primer síntoma es un amarillamiento, más adelante se observa la marchitez de las hojas por falta de nutrientes y, por último, la defoliación de la planta. Fusarium oxysporum se aísla de tejidos vegetales que presenten síntomas típicos de la enfermedad, es decir, de la raíz y de parte del hipocotilo. Generalmente, el hongo infecta estas dos estructuras de la planta.Para recolectar las muestras de tejido infectado en el campo, se necesitan tres elementos: toallas de papel, bolsas de papel y rótulos para identificar las muestras.• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (raíces o tallos) que se colectó se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, que dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno desde los tejidos de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información completa en una libreta de campo. -No recolectar material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de ser transportado. Una vez en el laboratorio, y si no se procesa inmediatamente, dejarlo al aire libre para que termine de secarse.Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Tomar muestras de la raíz o del tallo de plantas que presenten síntomas de amarillamiento por Fusarium (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 2 Envolver la muestra en una toalla de papel y colocarla dentro de una bolsa o sobre de papel, y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 3 Enviar la muestra, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento. Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio (ver antes).Las siglas PDA corresponden a los componentes del medio: papa, dextrosa y agar. Este medio se usa para aislar éste y otros patógenos.-PDA deshidratado 39 g/litro -Agua destilada 1 litro -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 2 -Cajas petri 50 • Paso 1 Cortar varios trozos del tejido enfermo utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 6).• Paso 2 Desinfectar los trozos de muestra en una caja petri de 60 mm que contenga una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%, durante 3 minutos. Enjuagar luego los trozos desinfectados con agua destilada estéril en otra caja petri, vertiendo el agua sobre la muestra con una pipeta estéril (Foto 7).Colocar los trozos lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 8).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 9• Paso 4 Cuando los trozos estén secos, tomarlos con una pinza estéril y 'sembrarlos' en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 9). Hacer lo mismo con las demás cajas (para multiplicar las muestras). Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 7 días, tiempo en que el hongo producirá masas de conidias y micelio (Fotos 10 y 11).La pureza genética de un aislamiento de F. oxysporum se garantiza si este aislamiento se hace partiendo de una sola conidia. En una muestra de tejido enfermo puede haber una mezcla de cepas del patógeno.Los cultivos monospóricos se obtienen del aislamiento que se hizo del patógeno presente en una muestra de tejido enfermo, el cual se desarrolló en el medio de cultivo y produjo masas de conidias (ver proceso anterior, Pasos 3 y 4).• Paso 1 Observar mediante un estereoscopio la masa de conidias del hongo. Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 2 Tocar, con un alfiler flameado, la masa de conidias para que varias de ellas queden adheridas a la punta del alfiler.• Paso 3 Desprender (sobre el medio de cultivo PDA de una caja petri) las conidias del alfiler con agua destilada estéril contenida en una pipeta: se vierten de 4 a 6 gotas del agua en el alfiler suspendido sobre el medio. Esparcir bien, con un triángulo de vidrio, sobre la superficie del medio las gotas de agua con las conidias.Esta operación exige el uso de instrumentos estériles; el triángulo de vidrio, por ejemplo, se debe flamear antes de cada uso para no contaminar el medio.• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 20 °C durante 24 horas. Pasado ese tiempo, las conidias empiezan a germinar y están listas para ser transferidas individualmente.• Paso 5 Enfocar las conidias germinadas con un estereoscopio. Elegir una y sacarla con un alfiler previamente flameado para transferirla a una caja petri que tenga PDA e incubarla luego a 24 o C. La conidia se desarrolla en ese medio el cual, después de 10 días, queda totalmente cubierto por las estructuras del hongo (cultivo monospórico).El aislamiento monospórico es el punto de partida de los diversos procesos que requieren un aislamiento específico del patógeno (inoculación, extracción de ADN del micelio, conservación).El número de incrementos (o transferencias) del hongo que deben hacerse depende de la cantidad de plantas que se quiera inocular.-Aislamiento esporulado del hongo -Agua destilada estéril -Pipeta con chupo -Triángulo de vidrio -Medio de cultivo PDAFoto Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Agregar con la pipeta el agua destilada estéril (de 3 a 4 ml) al aislamiento y raspar con la misma pipeta la superficie del medio de cultivo (en la caja petri), con el fin de desprender de éste masas de conidias y de micelio (Foto 12).• Paso 2 Tomar 1 ml de la suspensión del hongo que se obtuvo en el paso anterior y trasladarla a otra caja petri que tenga medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 13).Esparcir, con un triángulo previamente flameado, la suspensión por toda la superficie de ese medio (Foto 14).• Paso 3 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 24 o C durante 10 días. • Paso 1 Incrementar el hongo 10 días antes de la inoculación, según el número de plantas que se quiera inocular. Calcular el número aproximado de cajas petri (con medio de cultivo PDA) que se necesitan y en ellas 'sembrar' el hongo (ver D. Incremento de…). Tres o cuatro cajas petri de cultivo son suficientes para preparar, más o menos, 500 ml de inóculo.• Paso 2 Agregar agua destilada estéril a los incrementos del hongo en las cajas petri del paso anterior, y raspar luego la superficie del medio con una espátula estéril para desprender las conidias. Obtenida así la suspensión de conidias, filtrarla con una gasa estéril para separar partículas, como restos de agar y de micelio, y recoger en una caja petri estéril de 60 mm las conidias después de la filtración.Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 3 Contar (empleando el microscopio) las conidias observadas en la cuadrícula central del hemacitómetro (los cuatro cuadros de las esquinas y el del centro). Multiplicar por 50.000 el número de conidias contadas. La concentración que debe tener (en este caso) el inóculo del patógeno es de 1 x 10 6 conidias/ml. Entonces, dado un volumen final del inóculo que se asperjará (V 2 ) y dada la concentración de conidias del inóculo original, utilizar la siguiente fórmula para hallar el volumen del inóculo original que se necesita para ajustar el de la aspersión:Se contaron 125 conidias en el hemacitómetro.Por tanto, 125 x 50.000 = 625.000 = 6.25 x 10 6 (conidias en 1 ml)Ésta es la concentración del inóculo original. Ahora bien, si se necesitan 250 ml de un inóculo que tenga una concentración de 1 x 10 6 (conidias/ml), se sustituyen esos datos en la fórmula anterior y se halla el valor del volumen (V 1 ) del inóculo original o inicial que se toma para preparar el que ahora se necesita:V 1 x 6.25 x 10 6 = 250 ml x 1 x 10 6Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto FotoPor tanto, V 1 = 250 ml x 1 x 10 6 = 40 ml 6.25 x 10 6Tomar entonces 40 ml del inóculo inicial y completarlos hasta 250 ml con agua destilada estéril para obtener la concentración final deseada.• Paso 4 Sacar cuidadosamente las plántulas de frijol del pote o matero donde germinó su semilla y donde crecieron durante 8 días (tiempo previo a la inoculación). Evitar que se destruyan las raíces. Lavar luego las raíces con agua retirando de ellas todos los restos de arena (Foto 16).• Paso 5 Cortar con las tijeras las puntas de las raicillas (Foto 17) para que las heridas sirvan de entrada al hongo y se inicie así la infección de la planta.• Paso 6 Sumergir, durante 4 minutos, las raíces recortadas de las plántulas en recipientes (Foto 18) que contengan la suspensión de inóculo con la concentración deseada (1 x 10 6 conidias/ml).Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 7 Sembrar de nuevo las plántulas en potes individuales que contengan suelo estéril, de tal manera que todo el sistema radicular quede cubierto (Foto 19), y regarlas con agua corriente.Colocar luego los potes inoculados en cámara húmeda durante una semana (Foto 20). En la cámara, la temperatura será de 22 °C y la humedad relativa estará entre 90% y 100%.• Paso 8 Después de una semana de incubación en la cámara húmeda, trasladar los potes a una mesa de invernadero a temperatura ambiente y dejarlos allí 15 días más. El material vegetal presentará, durante ese tiempo, los síntomas típicos de la enfermedad y podrá ser evaluado. Generalmente, la respuesta del germoplasma se registra como susceptible (muerte de la planta) o como resistente (no presenta síntomas). No es común observar reacciones intermedias.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 21Para conservar el hongo F. oxysporum se emplean dos métodos: la liofilización y el papel de filtro impregnado con una suspensión del hongo en solución de peptonasucrosa.Es un método confiable para conservar microorganismos en almacenamiento.-Liofilizador con dos tipos de soportes: gradilla y árbol -Ampolletas para liofilizar de 'cristal neutro' ('neutral glass') de 0.5 ml -Pipetas pasteur largas -Tijeras y algodón -Incremento del hongo, en medio de cultivo PDA -Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa al 20% (Foto 21)Nota: Los aislamientos deben prepararse 10 días antes de empezar el proceso de liofilización (ver C., 2. Cultivo monospórico…). Al iniciar este proceso de almacenamiento deben estar esporulados (con conidias).Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por FusariumFoto Foto Foto Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Escribir o marcar en papel filtro la identificación de los aislamientos que se van a liofilizar. La identificación incluye el nombre del hongo (género y especie), el nombre del aislamiento (código empleado por cada laboratorio) y la fecha en que se almacena el hongo. Esta información se escribe con letra pequeña en áreas reducidas del papel (1 a 2 cm 2 ).• Paso 2 Cortar, con una tijera estéril, los trozos de papel filtro con la identificación del hongo e introducir uno en cada ampolleta hasta el fondo.-Preparar luego el tapón de algodón con que se tapa la ampolleta, de modo que cubra, más o menos, los dos tercios superiores de la ampolleta. Extender un trozo de algodón hasta que tenga unos 5 x 3 cm y enrollarlo sobre una pinza (o la parte delgada de un asa), presionando con los dedos hasta formar el tapón sobre ese extremo del asa (Fotos 22, 23 y 24). Dejar un poco de algodón sin enrollar en el lado opuesto del tapón. -Introducir el tapón en la ampolleta y retirar la pinza (o el asa) suavemente con una mano, mientras se sostiene el tapón dentro de la ampolleta con la otra.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 25-Preparar ampolletas adicionales con sus respectivos tapones para tener más tapones en caso de que se necesiten. Si un tapón se desintegra al ser manipulado, es necesario remplazarlo con uno que esté esterilizado en las ampolletas adicionales.• Paso 3 Llevar este material (ampolletas con sus tapones) al autoclave para esterilizarlo durante 40 minutos.• Paso 4 Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Se toman 10 g de peptona y se disuelven en 100 ml de agua destilada. Se prepara de igual modo una solución de sucrosa al 20%, disolviendo 20 g de este producto en 100 ml de agua destilada. Las dos soluciones, que se preparan por separado, se llevan al autoclave. Una vez esterilizadas, se mezclan partes iguales de cada una en un recipiente estéril para hacer una solución homogénea de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 5 Con una pipeta pasteur larga, succionar de 2 a 3 ml de la mezcla peptona-sucrosa (ver Paso 4) y depositarlos sobre el cultivo del hongo (Foto 25).Obtener luego un homogenizado con el hongo y la solución de peptona-sucrosa haciendo primero un raspado del cultivo (micelio y conidias) y luego, mediante succión y expulsión repetidas de la mezcla con la misma pipeta pasteur, lograr el homogenizado.Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 6 Tomar, con la misma pipeta pasteur, unas gotas (2 a 3 ml) de esa suspensión del hongo (Fotos 26 y 27) y depositarlas en el interior de la ampolleta, haciendo las siguientes operaciones:-Tomar con una mano la pipeta pasteur y con la otra la ampolleta con su respectivo tapón (ver Paso 2). -Tomar la pipeta pasteur con los dedos índice y pulgar, y con el meñique de la misma mano, sujetar el extremo del tapón de algodón de la ampolleta contra el borde interior de la mano, retirarlo cuidadosamente y mantenerlo firmemente en ese sitio, mientras vierte (desde la pipeta) la suspensión del hongo en el fondo de la ampolleta y sobre el papel filtro que lleva la identificación del aislamiento. -Tapar luego la ampolleta introduciendo suavemente en ella (Foto 28) el tapón que ha estado sostenido entre el meñique y la palma de la mano (ver antes).Si el algodón del tapón entra en contacto con otra superficie o con alguna sustancia, se contamina, por lo que se debe desechar y remplazar con uno de los que se habían preparado (ver Paso 2) para estos casos. Introducir finalmente en la ampolleta el resto del tapón de algodón empleando la punta de la tijera, hasta dejar 1 cm entre el borde de la ampolleta y el tapón (Foto 30).• Paso 8 Colocar las ampolletas en una gradilla. Empujar luego el algodón hacia el fondo de cada una hasta que toque el trocito de papel filtro que lleva la identificación del hongo; para ello se utiliza un objeto alargado (como la parte superior de un asa), el cual se flamea constantemente para evitar que se contaminen los tapones (Foto 31).La parte superior de la ampolleta, que no tiene algodón, se sellará después del proceso de liofilización (Paso 13).• Paso 9 Una vez organizadas las ampolletas, llevarlas a un congelador a 0 °C durante 15 minutos. Cuando las muestras se hayan congelado, se inicia el proceso de liofilización.Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 10 Colocar la gradilla en la campana del liofilizador y encenderlo (Foto 32). El aparato hace descender en su interior la temperatura hasta -55 °C e inicia un proceso de secamiento de la muestra porque le extrae el agua mediante una bomba de vacío. Este proceso tarda entre 20 y 22 horas.• Paso 11 Al día siguiente, apagar el liofilizador y retirar de él la gradilla con las ampolletas. Preparar luego una pistola de gas propano y proceder al 'estiramiento' de las ampolletas en la parte opuesta a aquella en que está la muestra, es decir, hacer un cuello en cada una ablandando el vidrio con la llama y estirando la ampolleta por sus extremos (Fotos 33 y 34). El procedimiento requiere mucha precaución para evitar quemaduras en las manos por la llama. El objetivo de este paso es reducir el espacio por donde puede entrar aire (con humedad) a la muestra, antes de sellarla completamente.Una vez estiradas todas las ampolletas, colocarlas en el árbol del liofilizador insertando el extremo abierto de cada una en los soportes del árbol. De esta manera, el extremo que contiene la muestra quedará más visible (Foto 35). Repetir el proceso de secamiento en el liofilizador durante 1 hora, aproximadamente, para eliminar la humedad que pudo haber llegado a la muestra en el Paso 11. Foto 36• Paso 13 Sin apagar el liofilizador, sellar al vacío las ampolletas, una por una, empleando la pistola de gas propano, derritiendo el vidrio con la llama donde se hizo el cuello o estiramiento (Foto 36). Una vez selladas, finaliza el proceso de liofilización.En caso de que se pierda el vacío al estar sellando una ampolleta, retirar esta parte de la ampolleta, remplazarla por una nueva y esperar que el vacío llegue al punto indicado para poder continuar con el sellado de las otras ampolletas.La duración de una muestra en almacenamiento, conservada mediante el proceso de liofilización, no se ha establecido formalmente; sin embargo, en nuestro laboratorio se han recuperado muestras liofilizadas que permanecieron almacenadas durante 30 años. La liofilización de muestras microbiológicas tiene, no obstante, una desventaja: para recuperar una muestra hay que romper toda la ampolleta y, por consiguiente, es necesario tener varias copias de cada una de las muestras liofilizadas para poder mantener adecuadamente una colección.Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium 4 -23Este método permite conservar microorganismos durante períodos largos de tiempo.-Papel filtro estéril, cortado en trozos pequeños -Incremento de F. oxysporum -Pinzas -Cajas petri estériles -Agua destilada estéril -Pipeta -Sobres de papel mantequilla• Paso 1 Cortar cuadritos (60-80) de papel filtro de 1 cm 2 , colocarlos dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA en cada caja petri.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de conidias y micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril sobre el aislamiento desarrollado en la caja petri. -Raspar luego la superficie del aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta hasta que se logre la suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).√ Un paso alterno es colocar sobre cada cuadrito de papel filtro un cuadrito (igual o menor que el anterior) de medio de cultivo PDA en el que esté creciendo el hongo que se quiere almacenar (ver C., 2. Cultivo monospórico).Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 10 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 10 días, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de las cajas petri de incubación con una pinza estéril y, cumpliendo todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse. Secar los cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 6 Pasar los cuadritos secos (con una pinza flameada) a bolsitas de papel mantequilla estéril, las cuales se introducen, a su vez, en otra bolsa más grande del mismo material (o en una cajilla adecuada), para almacenarlos (ver Fotos 40 y 41). Esta última bolsa, en la que se coloca toda la información referente al hongo F. oxysporum, se almacena a -20 °C.La conservación de un patógeno suspendido en solución de peptona-sucrosa (o peptona-dextrosa) que se deposita en papel filtro es, después de la liofilización, uno de los métodos más efectivos para almacenarlo.-Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa al 20% -Cajas petri -Pipetas -Soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa (se preparan como en el Paso 4 del proceso de liofilización) -Pinza -Espátula -Cuadritos de papel filtro de 0.5 cm 2• Paso 1Cortar varios cuadritos de papel filtro de 0.5 cm 2 y esterilizarlos en autoclave dentro de un recipiente cerrado.• Paso 2 Tomar una caja petri que contenga un aislamiento esporulado del hongo y agregarle 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 37).• Paso 3 Raspar con una espátula estéril, o con la misma pipeta con que se agrego la solución, la superficie del aislamiento contenido en la caja petri para desprender las conidias del hongo. De este modo se obtiene una suspensión de conidias.• Paso 4 Depositar con pinza estéril 20 cuadritos de papel filtro en la caja petri del paso anterior e impregnarlos con la suspensión del hongo en la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 38).Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de esa caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril que tenga papel filtro en el fondo, para que se sequen durante 7 días a 24 °C (Foto 39).Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 6 Transcurrido ese tiempo, guardar los cuadritos de papel en sobres estériles de papel mantequilla (Foto 40) para almacenarlos a -20 °C, escribiendo en ellos los datos que identifiquen el aislamiento del hongo: nombre del aislamiento, lugar de procedencia y fecha de almacenamiento (Foto 41).Colocar correctamente los sobres en el congelador.Esta prueba es la forma clara, prá ctica y confiable de garantizar que el hongo secado por 7 días está libre de contaminantes, viable y que pueda ser almacenado.• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión del hongo y que fue secado por 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito en un nuevo medio de cultivo PDA. Después de 5 días, el patógeno debe haber crecido en este medio de cultivo (Foto 42).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 3 Observar el crecimiento del hongo en el estereoscopio. Si presenta agentes contaminantes, como otros hongos o bacterias, tanto la muestra observada como los demás cuadritos de papel filtro deberán desecharse, y se repetirá entonces el proceso de conservación.-Ampolletas con el hongo liofilizado -Solución de peptona al 10% -Solución de sucrosa al 20% -Cajas petri con medio de cultivo PDA -Pipeta con chupo -Mazo de mortero -Servilleta estéril -Pinza (Foto 43)Guía Práctica 4: Fusarium oxysporum Enfermedad: Amarillamiento por Fusarium• Paso 1 Romper la ampolleta que contiene el hongo golpeándola con un mazo (Foto 44) por el extremo opuesto a aquél en que está el hongo liofilizado (la servilleta sirve para amortiguar el golpe y la rotura del vidrio). Retirar con la pinza el algodón que está dentro de la ampolleta (Foto 45).• Paso 2 Depositar con la pipeta, en la mitad abierta de la ampolleta, cuatro gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa. Las células liofilizadas del hongo quedan así suspendidas en la solución y pueden retirarse de la ampolleta (Foto 46).Sembrar la suspensión de conidias del hongo tomada de la ampolleta en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA, para reiniciar el proceso de crecimiento del microorganismo (Foto 47). Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Trasladar, con una pinza estéril, uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro con el hongo -que habían sido almacenados en bolsitas a -20 °C (ver F., 2. Conservación en…, Paso 6)-a una caja petri (Foto 48) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA.• Paso 2 Depositar 1 o 2 gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa en los cuadritos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo; así se hidrata el hongo y podrá ser esparcido sobre toda la superficie del medio (Foto 49), usando la punta de la pipeta. De esta manera se aumenta el campo de crecimiento del hongo.• Paso 3 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 24 °C. El desarrollo del hongo se reactivará y después de 12 días estará listo para ser usado en los procesos que se realizarán más adelante.• Paso 1 Sacar de los sobres de papel mantequilla (ver F., 3. Conservación como…, Paso 6, Foto 41) 2 o 3 cuadritos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo almacenado en suspensión de peptonasucrosa, y 'sembrarlos' en el medio de cultivo PDA contenido en cajas petri.• Paso 2 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 24 °C. Después de 2 o 3 días, el hongo habrá reiniciado su crecimiento y estará listo para ser incrementado. Macrophomina phaseolina es un hongo que causa la enfermedad conocida principalmente como 'macrofomina' o pudrición gris de la raíz; recibe también los nombres de 'mancha ceniza del tallo', 'pudrición carbonosa de la raíz' y 'tizón cenizo del tallo'. Este patógeno, que ataca los cultivos de frijol, soya, maíz, sorgo y alfalfa, se encuentra comúnmente en cultivos de frijol que padecen estrés por sequía y por altas temperaturas. Infecta tanto las plántulas como las plantas adultas:• En las plántulas se observan los primeros síntomas a la altura de los cotiledones (Foto 1); el patógeno avanza hacia el cuello de la raíz y poco después ocurre la muerte de toda la plántula.• En el campo, las plantas adultas muestran lesiones de color gris ceniciento en el tallo, el pecíolo y las vainas, que corresponden a estructuras de supervivencia del hongo conocidas como picnidios (Foto 2).M. phaseolina es un patógeno que, en el frijol, se transmite por las semillas. Para recolectar las muestras de tejido infectado en el campo, se necesitan tres elementos: toallas de papel, bolsas de papel y rótulos para identificar las muestras.• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de vainas o tallos) que se colecta se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultaránel aislamiento del patógeno que se hace a partir del tejido de frijol colectado.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección.El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.• Paso 1 Tomar la muestra de la parte enferma de la planta (vainas, tallo) que presente los síntomas causados por el patógeno.• Paso 2 Colocar la muestra (tejido enfermo) dentro de una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo respectivo (ver antes).• Paso 3 Enviar la muestra, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento del hongo patógeno. Tener en cuenta dos recomendaciones:-Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio (ver antes).-No recolecte material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de transportarlo. Una vez llegue al laboratorio, dejarlo al aire libre para que acabe de secarse (cuando no se procesa inmediatamente).Las siglas PDA corresponden a los componentes del medio: papa, dextrosa y agar.-PDA deshidratado 39 g/litro -Agua destilada 1 litro -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 2-Se pesan los ingredientes (Foto 3), se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo PDA se esterilizan en autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos. -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que pueda manipularse (Foto 4) y se vierte luego en cajas petri, a razón de 25 ml por caja (Foto 5). El protocolo de aislamiento de M. phaseolina es sencillo porque el tejido vegetal que este hongo patógeno coloniza está casi libre de saprofitos, lo que facilita su aislamiento y su purificación.Nota: Todos los procedimientos se deben ejecutar dentro de una cámara de flujo laminar; además, deben cumplirse todas las condiciones de asepsia y esterilidad que se exigen en un laboratorio. En otras palabras, se aplican siempre las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM).-Muestra de tejido vegetal con síntomas de la enfermedad -Medio de cultivo PDA, servido en cajas petri• Paso 1Cortar varios pedazos del tejido enfermo de la muestra utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 6).• Paso 2 Desinfectar los pedazos de muestra en una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%, durante 3 minutos (Foto 7).Foto 6Foto 7Guía Práctica 5: Macrophomina phaseolina Enfermedad: Macrofomina, pudrición grisFoto• Paso 3 Lavar tres veces con agua destilada estéril los pedazos de muestra desinfectados.• Paso 4 Colocar los pedazos de muestra lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 8).• Paso 5 Cuando las muestras estén secas, tomar los pedazos de tejido con una pinza estéril y 'sembrarlos' en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA; colocar tres pedazos por caja (Foto 9). Repetir el procedimiento con las demás muestras. Incubar las cajas a 28 °C durante 7 días, tiempo en que el hongo producirá micelio (Foto 10) y picnidios. Éstos se observan como puntos negros empleando un microscopio o un estereoscopio.Ocho días más tarde, el patógeno aislado estará listo para ser incrementado, con el fin de producir inóculo suficiente para las pruebas que se harán en el invernadero o en el campo.Este cultivo comprende los pasos siguientes:-Observar los picnidios en un cultivo de 8 días desarrollado en una caja petri (Foto 10), con la luz inferior del estereoscopio.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 11-Seleccionar el picnidio que se desea sacar del cultivo; enseguida, con un alfiler flameado, 'repicar' alrededor del picnidio para aislarlo con mayor facilidad. -Sacar el picnidio aislado con la punta del alfiler y transferirlo a una caja petri que contenga medio de cultivo PDA.El picnidio inicia su desarrollo en ese medio y se genera así un cultivo homogéneo de M. phaseolina.-Arroz blanco 50 g -Agua destilada estéril 50 ml -Cajas petri (15 cm de diámetro) -Una caja produce inóculo para 40 kg de suelo, aproximadamente -Cultivo de M. phaseolina en medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 11)• Paso 1 Tomar 50 g de arroz blanco, depositarlo en una caja petri grande, de 15 cm de diámetro, y lavarlo una vez con agua corriente.Guía Práctica 5: Macrophomina phaseolina Enfermedad: Macrofomina, pudrición gris 5 -9• Paso 2 Una vez lavado el arroz en la caja petri, agregar 50 ml de agua corriente, envolver luego la caja, primero con papel aluminio y luego con papel kraft.• Paso 3 Autoclavar este material dos veces.Hacer una suspensión del hongo cultivado (ver C., 2. Cultivo monopicnidial) en agua destilada estéril. Con una pipeta pasteur provista de un chupo de succión, tomar el agua y resuspender el hongo; luego aspirar la suspensión del hongo con la misma pipeta y depositar 15 gotas de ella en la caja petri que contiene el arroz estéril (Foto 12).Incubar las cajas petri que contienen el arroz inoculado, a 28 °C durante 15 días y en total oscuridad. En ese tiempo, el hongo coloniza el arroz hasta que éste adquiere un color negro debido a los picnidios del hongo (Foto 13); el color es el indicador de que el crecimiento del patógeno en el medio ha sido exitoso. Si se presenta un color diferente al de la foto, es un indicador de que se contaminó el incremento de esa caja y se descarta.Destapar luego las cajas petri con el hongo y dejarlas durante 1 día en la misma incubadora para que se seque el exceso de humedad: así se facilita el macerado del hongo para preparar el inóculo. • Paso 1 Pasados los 15 días de la incubación y el día de secado (Paso 5 anterior), picar en trozos el arroz colonizado por el hongo (Foto 14) los cuales, con la ayuda de un mortero, se maceran suavemente (Foto 15) hasta obtener un macerado fino. Si hay mucha humedad en los trozos iniciales, hay que reducirla colocando sobre ellos toallas de papel y haciendo presión con los dedos para que absorban el exceso de agua y así la muestra pueda secarse en 24 horas antes de macerarlos.• Paso 2 Esparcir el arroz ya macerado sobre una toalla de papel (Foto 16) y secarlo en una incubadora a 28 °C durante 24 horas.Guía Práctica 5: Macrophomina phaseolina Enfermedad: Macrofomina, pudrición gris• Paso 3 Cuando el material esté completamente seco, macerar de nuevo en el mortero hasta convertirlo en un polvo fino de color negro (Foto 17). Este producto será el inóculo de M. phaseolina para hacer pruebas de patogenicidad del hongo o para caracterizar, en el invernadero, las reacciones de resistencia o de susceptibilidad del germoplasma de frijol.-Inóculo del hongo (ver antes: 1. Preparación del inóculo…) -Semillas de frijol para inocular -Suelo estéril -Potes (para siembra) Nota: Se pesa la cantidad de inóculo que se usará en el invernadero.• Paso 1 Se mezclan 0.5 g de inóculo por 1 kg de suelo (siempre en esa proporción). Con esta mezcla se llenan los potes (o bandejas o recipientes) que se emplearán en la prueba de inoculación (Foto 18).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFotos 19, 20,• Paso 2 Sembrar en los recipientes las semillas de frijol de los genotipos que interesan en la prueba.• Paso 3 Pasados 14 días después de esa inoculación, realizar la primera evaluación. Si el genotipo de frijol es muy susceptible, no alcanza a germinar, reacción que también se tiene en cuenta en la prueba.Evaluar las plantas emergidas según una escala cuyos grados han sido representados visualmente en las siguientes fotos: Este método permite conservar microorganismos durante períodos largos de tiempo. • Paso 1Colocar los cuadritos de papel filtro dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA fresco contenido en las cajas petri (2-3 por caja).• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de picnidios y micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril sobre la caja petri con M. phaseolina de 10 días de crecimiento. -Raspar toda la superficie del aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta para lograr una suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 12 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 12 días de incubación, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro del medio de cultivo junto con el hongo que creció en ellos, usando una pinza estéril; cumpliendo con todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse. Secar los cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.Pasar los cuadritos secos (con una pinza estéril) a bolsitas de papel mantequilla estéril, las cuales se introducen, a su vez, en otra bolsa más grande del mismo material.-Colocar en las bolsitas toda la información referente al hongo, como la fecha de almacenamiento, el nombre de la cepa, etc. -El hongo M. phaseolina se debe almacenar a -20 °C. Raspar con una espátula estéril la caja petri para desprender los picnidios y el micelio del hongo (Foto 30). Dejar la suspensión en esa misma caja petri.• Paso 3 Colocar los cuadritos de papel filtro en la suspensión del hongo y asegurarse de que queden bien impregnados (Foto 30).Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de la caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril con papel filtro en el fondo para que se sequen durante 7 días a 24 °C.Transcurrido ese tiempo, guardar los cuadritos en sobres estériles de papel mantequilla (Foto 31) para almacenarlos a -20 °C, escribiendo en ellos la información referente al hongo, como la fecha de almacenamiento, nombre de la cepa, etc. (Foto 32).• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión del hongo M. phaseolina y que fue secado por 7 días.• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito en medio de cultivo PDA. Después de 3 días, el patógeno debe haber iniciado su crecimiento en este medio de cultivo.• Paso 3 Observar el crecimiento del hongo en el estereoscopio. Si presenta agentes contaminantes, como otros hongos o bacterias, tanto la muestra observada como los demás cuadritos de papel filtro deberán desecharse, y se repetirá entonces el proceso de conservación.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 33El objetivo de esta metodología es reactivar el hongo que se conserva en almacenamiento.• Paso 1 Trasladar, con una pinza estéril, uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro con el hongo -que habían sido almacenados en bolsitas (ver F., 1. Conservación en…, Paso 6)-a una caja petri (Foto 33) que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA. Incubar a 24 °C.• Paso 2 Pasados 3 días, observar el crecimiento del patógeno.Para reactivar a M. phaseolina almacenado bajo este protocolo, se recomienda añadir solución de peptona-sucrosa al medio de reactivación: la solución le proporcionará más nutrientes al hongo, que promoverán su crecimiento.Guía Práctica 5: Macrophomina phaseolina Enfermedad: Macrofomina, pudrición grisPasos del proceso• Paso 1 Sacar de los sobres de papel mantequilla dos o tres cuadritos de papel filtro con el hongo, y sembrarlos en una caja petri que tenga el medio de cultivo PDA.Agregar luego dos gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa a cada cuadrito sembrado. Repetir la misma operación si se trabaja con varios aislamientos.• Paso 2 Incubar las cajas petri a 24 °C. Pasados 3 días, el hongo reiniciará su crecimiento y 10 días más tarde estará listo para ser usado en diferentes procesos de laboratorio (inoculación, obtención de micelio para extracción de ADN, etc.)La mancha angular del frijol, causada por el hongo Phaeoisariopsis griseola, es una de las enfermedades más frecuentes de los cultivos de frijol común (Phaseolus vulgaris) en regiones tropicales y subtropicales. Cuando la variedad de frijol es muy susceptible al patógeno, los síntomas iniciales de la enfermedad aparecen, generalmente, en las hojas primarias como manchas circulares. En los folíolos de las hojas más desarrolladas, los lados de las lesiones, definidos generalmente por las nervaduras, forman ángulos y de ahí se deriva el nombre de la enfermedad (Foto 1).Guía Práctica 6: Phaeoisariopsis griseola Enfermedad: Mancha angular 6 -3Para aislar el hongo Phaeoisariopsis griseola, se colecta, de preferencia, el tejido foliar enfermo, aunque se puede tomar también tejido del tallo o de las vainas; estos tejidos deben presentar lesiones de la enfermedad bien desarrolladas. Nunca se deben recolectar tejidos de plantas viejas o senescente porque en éstos se encuentran algunos agentes saprofitos que dificultan el aislamiento de P. griseola. Se debe descartar también el tejido vegetal enfermo que tenga señales de daño de insectos o síntomas de otras enfermedades.Nota: El aislamiento de este patógeno se facilita cuando se recolecta tejido foliar infectado, porque en las hojas aparecen muchas lesiones y de cada lesión pueden obtenerse uno o varios aislamientos. Cuando se recolecten vainas con síntomas, deben preferirse las que estén verdes.-Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar las muestras -Marcador de punta fina o lápiz• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de hojas, vainas o tallos), una vez separada de la planta, se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno en los tejidos de frijol colectados.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información respectiva en una libreta de campo. -No recolectar material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de ser transportado. Una vez en el laboratorio, y si no se procesa inmediatamente, dejarlo sobre toallas de papel al aire libre para que termine de secarse.• Paso 1 Tomar una muestra (o varias) de la parte de la planta enferma (hojas, vainas o tallos) que presente (Foto 2) los síntomas causados por el patógeno (ver A. Recolección y…).• Paso 2 Envolver la muestra en una toalla de papel (Foto 3), colocarla en una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda (ver A. Recolección y…).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 4• Paso 3 Enviar la muestra, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento del hongo. Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio (ver antes).El jugo V8 es el medio ideal para aislar e incrementar el hongo P. griseola. Está compuesto por extractos de ocho vegetales: tomate, zanahoria, apio, remolacha, perejil, lechuga, puerro y espinaca. Contiene, además, sal, vitamina C (ácido ascórbico) y ácido cítrico. El jugo V8 se consigue en supermercados de cadena. El medio se prepara con los siguientes ingredientes:-Agua destilada 1200 ml -Agar 23 g -Carbonato de calcio (CaCO 3 ) 3 g -Jugo V8 (una lata) 340 ml -Cajas petri 60 -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 3-Se pesan los ingredientes, se colocan en un vaso y se agregan los 1200 ml de agua. Se mezclan y envasan 500 ml en cada erlenmeyer de 1000 ml (Foto 4) y se llevan enseguida al autoclave para esterilizarlos.Guía Práctica 6: Phaeoisariopsis griseola Enfermedad: Mancha angularFoto Foto -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que se pueda manipular, y se vierte luego en 60 cajas petri, a razón de 20 ml por caja (Fotos 5 y 6).C. Aislamientos del hongo P. griseolaSe obtienen aislamientos monospóricos del hongo P. griseola mediante un método directo que consiste en colocar la muestra (hoja o vaina con lesiones) en una cámara húmeda; el propósito es activar el desarrollo de los sinemas y la producción de conidias.-Plato petri grande -Agua destilada estéril -Papel filtro -Varilla de vidrio en forma de V -Muestra de hoja o de vaina infectada -Alfileres -Pipeta pasteur -Agar o medio de cultivo PDA -Rastrillo de vidrio -Medio de cultivo V8Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Colocar papel filtro en una caja petri y sobre él unas varillas de vidrio en forma de 'V'. Humedecer después el papel con agua destilada estéril (Foto 7).• Paso 2 Colocar sobre las varillas de vidrio las hojas enfermas, con el envés hacia arriba evitando que el tejido enfermo entre en contacto con el papel humedecido. Las vainas se colocan con las lesiones hacia arriba (Fotos 8 y 9).• Paso 3 Tapar y guardar la caja petri durante 2 o 3 días en un lugar oscuro a temperatura ambiente. Pasado ese tiempo, observar el estado de los sinemas (Foto 10) con la ayuda de un estereoscopio.• Paso 4 Cuando los sinemas hayan esporulado, tomar un pequeño trozo de agar o de medio de cultivo PDA con la punta de un alfiler previamente flameado, y tocar con él suavemente uno o varios sinemas esporulados; de este modo las conidias se adhieren al trozo de agar. Lavar el trocito de agar con agua destilada estéril empleando una pipeta estéril, para liberar las conidias adheridas a él; el agar se desintegra en el lavado (Foto 11).• Paso 6 Esparcir luego con el rastrillo de vidrio, sobre el medio de cultivo (PDA o agar-agua) contenido en la caja petri, toda la suspensión obtenida en el paso anterior (Foto 12).Incubar el aislamiento a 24 °C durante 24 horas. Después de este tiempo, las conidias habrán germinado y estarán listas para ser transferidas a una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo V8.• Paso 8 Enfocar las conidias germinadas con un estereoscopio (Foto 13). Elegir una y sacarla con un alfiler previamente flameado para transferirla a una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo V8; incubar la caja a 24 o C.A los 5 días se observa en el medio de cultivo un punto gris (Foto 14) en el sitio en que fue transferida la conidia: esto indica que el aislamiento fue exitoso y que el hongo está en pleno desarrollo. Conviene notar que este hongo crece en forma columnar y por ello su diámetro no pasará de 1 cm en estos cultivos monospóricos.El aislamiento monospórico es el punto de partida de los diversos procesos (inoculación, extracción de ADN del micelio, conservación) en que se requiere un aislamiento específico del patógeno.El incremento se debe hacer a partir de un aislamiento monospórico (Foto 15).• Paso 1 Seleccionar el aislamiento monospórico que se incrementará.• Paso 2 Preparar una suspensión de conidias vertiendo sobre la colonia, con una pipeta, unas 10 gotas de agua destilada estéril y raspando luego la superficie de la colonia con la punta de la pipeta (o con una espátula estéril). El raspado hace que las conidias se desprendan de los conidióforos (Foto 16).Guía Práctica 6: Phaeoisariopsis griseola Enfermedad: Mancha angular• Paso 3 Transferir, con la misma pipeta estéril, la suspensión de conidias a una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo V8. Esparcirla, con un rastrillo de vidrio previamente flameado, por toda la superficie del medio. Se preparan de este modo varias cajas petri.• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas del paso anterior a 24 °C durante 12 días.Terminada la incubación (12 días), se seleccionan las cajas incrementadas que tengan mejor crecimiento y con ellas se prepara una suspensión de conidias para obtener la suspensión del inóculo de invernadero.• Paso 1 Agregar agua destilada estéril a los incrementos del hongo en las cajas petri del paso anterior, y raspar luego la superficie del medio con una espátula estéril para desprender las conidias (Foto 17).Obtenida así esta suspensión de conidias, filtrarla con una gasa estéril para separar restos del medio de cultivo V8, recogiendo en un vaso mediano el filtrado con las conidias de las cajas elegidas (Foto 18).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolLa separación de estas partículas sólidas tiene dos objetivos: facilitar el conteo de las conidias y evitar que se tapone la boquilla del aspersor 'DeVilbiss' (designado aquí por su marca), el cual se emplea, junto con un compresor, para aplicar el inóculo sobre las plantas. En lugar del aspersor DeVilbiss se puede usar un aerógrafo o un atomizador de líquidos.• Paso 2 Contar las conidias observadas en la cuadrícula central del hemacitómetro (Foto 19) empleando el microscopio (Foto 20). El número de conidias contadas se multiplica por 10.000. La concentración que debe tener (en este caso) el inóculo del patógeno es de 2 x 10 4 conidias/ml. Entonces, dado un volumen final del inóculo que se asperjará y dada la concentración de conidias del inóculo original, utilizar la siguiente fórmula para hallar el volumen de este inóculo original que se necesita para preparar el de la aspersión:Se contaron 8 conidias en el hemacitómetro.Por tanto, 8 x 10.000 = 80.000 = 8 x 10 4 (conidias en 1 ml) Ésta es la concentración del inóculo original (el filtrado del Paso 1). Ahora bien, si se necesitan 250 ml de un inóculo que tenga una concentración de 2 x 10 4 (conidias/ml), sustituir esos datos en la fórmula anterior y hallar el valor del volumen (V 1 ) del inóculo original o inicial que se toma para preparar el que ahora se necesita:V 1 x 8 x 10 4 = 500 ml x 2 x 10 4Por tanto, V 1 = 500 ml x 2 x 10 4 = 125 ml 8 x 10 4Tomar entonces 125 ml del inóculo inicial y completarlos hasta 500 ml con agua destilada estéril para obtener la concentración final deseada.• Paso 3 Obtenida la concentración requerida (conidias por mililitro de agua) para la inoculación, verter un volumen (250 ml) de esta suspensión de inóculo en un frasco erlenmeyer de 250 ml, que se conecta luego a un DeVilbiss (o un aerógrafo) y éste a un compresor para hacer la inoculación por aspersión. Inocular plantas de 17 días de edad en la primera hoja trifoliada (Foto 21). El volumen de inóculo aplicado a la hoja se calcula de tal manera que la superficie foliar quede totalmente humedecida sin que drene o escurra la suspensión del inóculo.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 4 Llevar las plantas inoculadas a una cámara húmeda, donde permanecerán durante 96 horas con una humedad relativa superior al 90% y una temperatura promedio entre 22 y 24 °C. Pasado ese tiempo, retirar las plantas de la cámara y colocarlas sobre las mesas del invernadero hasta que sean evaluadas. Los síntomas de la mancha angular se evalúan 10 días después de su salida de la cámara (Foto 22).Para hacer la evaluación se aplica la escala estándar del CIAT, cuyas categorías van del 1 al 9 y se distribuyen así:de 1 a 3: planta resistente de 4 a 6: planta de reacción intermedia de 7 a 9: planta susceptible-Cajas petri -Incrementos de P. griseola en medio de cultivo V8 -Licuadora industrial -Recipiente grande -Agua corriente -Embudo -HemacitómetroGuía Práctica 6: Phaeoisariopsis griseola Enfermedad: Mancha angularFoto 23• Paso 1 En el vaso de la licuadora industrial verter agua corriente y depositar en él (con ayuda de una espátula) varias cajas que contengan el hongo incrementado en el medio de cultivo V8, incluyendo el medio (Foto 23).• Paso 2 Licuar el contenido del recipiente (medio de cultivo V8 con estructuras del hongo) hasta obtener un producto homogéneo. El contenido de 70 cajas hace, aproximadamente, un homogenizado de 20 litros.• Paso 3 Cuantificar la concentración de conidias en el homogenizado de 20 litros mediante un hemacitómetro. Calcular luego el volumen de solución final del inóculo (Paso 2 anterior) según el área de cultivo que se quiere inocular, y ajustar la concentración en el inóculo final. Para hacer una inoculación artificial en 1 hectárea de un cultivo de frijol en el campo se requieren, como mínimo, 70 cajas petri de incrementos de P. griseola bien esporulados, diluidos en 140 litros de agua. Se obtiene así una suspensión de conidias con la concentración requerida (2 x 10 4 conidias/ml) para inocular 1 hectárea.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 24• Paso 4 Verter, utilizando un embudo, el inóculo en un recipiente fácil de manejar (Foto 24). Cerrar muy bien la boca de entrada del recipiente y revisar éste con frecuencia para detectar fisuras o fugas.Las inoculaciones con este patógeno deben hacerse siempre al caer la tarde, cuando la temperatura va en descenso y la humedad relativa aumenta utilizando para ello una bomba de espalda con motor.Para conservar el hongo P. griseola se emplean tres métodos: la liofilización, el papel filtro en trozos guardados en sobres, y el papel filtro impregnado con una suspensión del hongo en solución de peptonasucrosa.Es el método más confiable para conservar microorganismos en almacenamiento.-Liofilizador -Ampolletas para liofilizar de 'cristal neutro' ('neutral glass') de 0.5 ml -Pipetas pasteur largas Nota: Los aislamientos deben prepararse 12 días antes de empezar el proceso de liofilización (ver D. Incremento de…). Al iniciar esta etapa de almacenamiento, los aislamientos deben haber esporulado y estar libres de contaminantes.• Paso 1Escribir o marcar en papel filtro la identificación de los aislamientos que se van a liofilizar. La identificación incluye el nombre del hongo (género y especie), el nombre del aislamiento (código empleado por cada laboratorio) y la fecha en que se almacena el aislamiento. Esta información se escribe con letra pequeña en áreas reducidas del papel (1 a 2 cm 2 ).• Paso 2 Cortar, con una tijera estéril, los trozos de papel filtro con la identificación del hongo e introducir uno en cada ampolleta hasta el fondo de ésta.-Preparar luego el tapón de algodón con que se tapa la ampolleta, de modo que cubra, más o menos, los dos tercios superiores de la ampolleta. Extender un trozo de algodón hasta que tenga unos 5 x 3 cm y enrollarlo sobre una pinza (o la parte delgada de un asa), presionando con los dedos hasta formar el tapón sobre ese extremo del asa (Fotos 25, 26 y 27). Dejar un poco de algodón sin enrollar en el lado opuesto del tapón. -Introducir el tapón en la ampolleta y retirar la pinza (o el asa) suavemente con una mano, mientras se sostiene el tapón dentro de la ampolleta con la otra. -Preparar ampolletas adicionales con sus respectivos tapones para tener más tapones en caso de que se necesiten. Si un tapón se desintegra al ser manipulado, es necesario remplazarlo con uno que esté esterilizado en las ampolletas adicionales.• Paso 3 Llevar este material (ampolletas con sus tapones) al autoclave para esterilizarlo durante 40 minutos. • Paso 4 Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Se toman 10 g de peptona y se disuelven en 100 ml de agua destilada. Se prepara de igual modo una solución de sucrosa al 20%, disolviendo 20 g de este producto en 100 ml de agua destilada. Las dos soluciones, que se preparan por separado, se llevan al autoclave. Una vez esterilizadas, se mezclan partes iguales de cada una en un recipiente estéril para hacer una solución de peptona-sucrosa.• Paso 5 Con una pipeta pasteur larga, succionar de 2 a 3 ml de la mezcla peptona-sucrosa (ver Paso 4) y depositarlos sobre el cultivo del hongo (Foto 28).Hacer luego un homogenizado del hongo (micelio y conidias) y de la solución de peptona-sucrosa, mediante el raspado del cultivo, realizar succión del homogenizado varias veces con la pipeta pasteur y su expulsión sobre el medio; emplear la misma pipeta en toda la operación.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol• Paso 6 Tomar, con la misma pipeta pasteur, unas gotas (2-3 ml) de esa suspensión del hongo (Foto 29) y depositarla en el interior de la ampolleta siguiendo estos pasos:-Tomar con una mano la pipeta pasteur y con la otra la ampolleta con su respectivo tapón (obtenida del Paso 3). -Sujetar la pipeta pasteur con los dedos índice y pulgar, y con el meñique de la misma mano sujetar por su extremo libre el tapón de algodón de la ampolleta, retirarlo cuidadosamente y sujetarlo firmemente contra el borde interior de la mano mientras vierte (con la pipeta) la suspensión del hongo en el fondo de la ampolleta, la cual contiene el papel filtro con la identificación del aislamiento. -Tapar luego la ampolleta introduciendo suavemente en ella (Foto 30) el tapón, tal como está sostenido entre el meñique y la palma de la mano.Si el algodón del tapón entra en contacto con otra superficie o con alguna sustancia, se contamina, por lo que se debe desechar y remplazar con uno de los que se habían preparado (ver Paso 2) para estos casos. • Paso 7 Cortar, con una tijera flameada, la parte del tapón que quedó por fuera de la ampolleta (Foto 31).Introducir finalmente el resto del tapón de algodón con la punta de la tijera hasta dejar 1 cm entre el tapón y el borde de la ampolleta (Foto 32).• Paso 8 Colocar las ampolletas en una gradilla. Empujar luego el algodón hacia el fondo de cada una hasta que toque el trocito de papel filtro que lleva la identificación del hongo; utilizar para ello un objeto alargado (como la parte superior de un asa), el cual se flamea constantemente para evitar que se contaminen los tapones (Foto 33).La parte superior de la ampolleta, que no tiene algodón, se sellará después del proceso de liofilización (Paso 13).• Paso 9 Una vez organizadas las ampolletas, llevarlas a un congelador a 0 °C durante 15 minutos. Cuando las muestras se hayan congelado, se inicia el proceso de liofilización. • Paso 10 Colocar la gradilla en la campana del liofilizador y encenderlo (Foto 34). El aparato hace descender en su interior la temperatura hasta -55 °C e inicia un proceso de secamiento de la muestra porque le extrae el agua mediante una bomba de vacío. Este proceso tarda entre 20 y 22 horas.• Paso 11 Al día siguiente, apagar el liofilizador y retirar de él la gradilla con las ampolletas. Preparar luego una pistola de gas propano y proceder al 'estiramiento' de las ampolletas en la parte opuesta a aquella en que está la muestra, es decir, hacer un cuello en cada una ablandando el vidrio con la llama y estirando la ampolleta por sus extremos (Fotos 35 y 36). El procedimiento requiere mucha precaución para evitar quemaduras en las manos por la llama. El objetivo de este paso es reducir el espacio por donde puede entrar aire (con humedad) a la muestra, antes de sellarla completamente.• Paso 12 Una vez estiradas todas las ampolletas, colocarlas en el árbol del liofilizador insertando el extremo abierto de cada una en los soportes del árbol. De esta manera, el extremo que contiene la muestra quedará más visible (Foto 37). Repetir el proceso de secamiento durante 1 hora, aproximadamente. En este tiempo se eliminará la humedad que pudo haber entrado en la muestra durante el Paso 11. • Paso 13 Sin apagar el liofilizador, sellar al vacío las ampolletas, una por una, empleando la pistola de gas propano, derritiendo el vidrio con la llama donde se hizo el cuello o estiramiento (Foto 38). Una vez selladas, finaliza el proceso de liofilización.En caso de que se pierda el vacío al estar sellando una ampolleta, retirar esta parte de la ampolleta, remplazarla por una nueva y esperar que el vacío llegue al punto indicado para poder continuar con el sellado de las otras ampolletas.La duración de una muestra en almacenamiento, conservada mediante el proceso de liofilización, no se ha establecido formalmente; sin embargo, en nuestro laboratorio se han recuperado muestras liofilizadas que permanecieron almacenadas durante 30 años. La liofilización de muestras microbiológicas tiene, no obstante, una desventaja: para recuperar una muestra hay que romper toda la ampolleta y, por consiguiente, es necesario tener varias copias de cada una de las muestras liofilizadas para poder mantener una colección.Foto 38 Foto 38Este método permite conservar microorganismos durante períodos largos de tiempo.-Papel filtro estéril, cortado en trozos pequeños de 1 cm 2 -Incremento de P. griseola -Pinzas -Cajas petri estériles -Agua destilada estéril -Pipeta -Sobres de papel mantequilla• Paso 1Cortar cuadritos (60-80) de papel filtro de 1 cm 2 , colocarlos dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo V8 en cada caja petri.Guía Práctica 6: Phaeoisariopsis griseola Enfermedad: Mancha angular 6 -25• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de conidias y micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril sobre el aislamiento desarrollado en la caja petri. -Raspar luego la superficie del aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta o una espátula hasta que se logre la suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 12 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 12 días, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de las cajas petri de incubación con una pinza estéril, y cumpliendo con todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse.Secar estos cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 6 Pasar los cuadritos secos (con una pinza estéril) a bolsitas de papel mantequilla estéril, las cuales se introducen, a su vez, en otra bolsa más grande del mismo material para almacenarlos (ver Fotos 42 y 43). Esta última bolsa, en la que se coloca toda la información referente al hongo P. griseola, se almacena a -20 °C. Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa Ver F., 1. Liofilización, Paso 4.Pasos del proceso• Paso 1 Tomar una caja petri que contenga un aislamiento esporulado del hongo y agregarle 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 39).• Paso 2 Raspar con una espátula estéril, o con la misma pipeta con que se agregó la solución, la superficie del aislamiento contenido en la caja petri para desprender las conidias del hongo (Foto 40). De este modo se obtiene una suspensión de conidias.• Paso 3 Depositar con una pinza estéril 20 cuadritos de papel filtro en la caja petri del Paso 2 e impregnarlos con la suspensión del hongo en la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 41).• Paso 4 Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de esa caja petri con una pinza estéril y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril que tenga papel filtro en el fondo, para que se sequen a 24 °C durante 7 días. Esta prueba es la forma práctica y confiable de garantizar que el aislamiento almacenado está libre de microorganismos contaminantes y ha sobrevivido a las condiciones del almacenamiento.• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión del hongo y que fue secado por 7 días a 24 °C.• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito de papel filtro (muestra de almacenamiento) en medio de cultivo V8. Después de 5 días, el patógeno almacenado debe haber crecido en este medio de cultivo (Foto 44). • Paso 1 Romper la ampolleta que contiene el hongo golpeándola con un mazo (Foto 46) por el extremo opuesto a aquél en que está el hongo liofilizado (la servilleta sirve para amortiguar el golpe y la rotura del vidrio). Retirar con la pinza el algodón que está dentro de la ampolleta (Foto 47).• Paso 2 Depositar con la pipeta, en la mitad abierta de la ampolleta, cuatro gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa (ver F., 1. Liofilización, Paso 4). Las conidias liofilizadas del hongo quedan así suspendidas en la solución y pueden retirarse de la ampolleta (Foto 48).• Paso 3 Sembrar la suspensión de conidias del hongo de la ampolleta en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo V8, para reiniciar el proceso de crecimiento del microorganismo (Foto 49). • Paso 2 Depositar 1 o 2 gotas de la solución de peptonasucrosa en los cuadritos de papel filtro que contienen el hongo; de esta manera se hidrata el hongo y así podrá ser esparcido sobre toda la superficie del medio (Foto 51), usando la punta de la pipeta. De esta manera se aumenta el campo de crecimiento del hongo.• Paso 3 Incubar las cajas petri del paso anterior a 24 °C. El desarrollo del hongo se reactivará y después de 12 días estará listo para ser usado en los procesos microbiológicos que se hayan planeado. La pudrición radical causada por Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn es una de las pudriciones radicales más comunes del frijol. La enfermedad, como indica su nombre, ataca principalmente las raíces del frijol y se desarrolla cuando la temperatura del ambiente va de moderada a baja y la humedad del suelo de moderada a alta. Se ha reportado que la temperatura ideal para el desarrollo de la enfermedad es de 18 °C.Los síntomas, conocidos como chancros, son lesiones cóncavas de color pardo rojizo que aparecen en el tallo (Foto 1) y en la raíz principal. El patógeno puede causar, finalmente, el 'volcamiento' de la planta (Foto 2), una manifestación del síndrome conocido como 'damping off'. Las plantas susceptibles sufren graves daños en las 2 primeras semanas después de la siembra. Los suelos muy húmedos favorecen el desarrollo del hongo. El hongo Rhizoctonia solani se aísla del tejido vegetal enfermo que presente síntomas típicos de la enfermedad. Con la ayuda de una espátula o paleta delgada se extrae del suelo la raíz, tan completa como sea posible, de una planta afectada por el patógeno. El suelo adherido a la raíz se lava con agua y la planta se coloca sobre una toalla de papel hasta que la raíz esté seca.-Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar el material• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de raíces o de tallos) que se colecta se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno que se hace a partir del tejido de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información completa en una libreta de campo. -No recolectar material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de ser transportado. Una vez en el laboratorio, y si no se procesa inmediatamente, dejarlo sobre toallas de papel al aire libre para que termine de secarse.• Paso 1 Tomar muestras de una raíz que presente los síntomas de la enfermedad.• Paso 2 Envolver cada muestra en una toalla de papel, colocarla en una bolsa o sobre de papel y adherir a ésta el rótulo que corresponda.• Paso 3 Enviar la muestra, tan pronto como sea posible, al sitio o laboratorio donde se hará el aislamiento del hongo patógeno. Nunca envíe las muestras dentro de bolsas plásticas o envueltas en papel aluminio.Las siglas PDA corresponden a los componentes del medio: papa, dextrosa y agar. Este medio se usa para aislar el patógeno.-PDA deshidratado 39 g/litro -Agua destilada 1 litro -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1000 ml 2Foto Foto Foto Preparación -Se pesan los ingredientes (Foto 3), se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo PDA se esterilizan en el autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos. -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que pueda manipularse (Foto 4) y se vierte luego en cajas petri, a razón de 25 ml por caja (Foto 5).El protocolo de aislamiento de R. solani es sencillo, ya que 2 días después de hacer la 'siembra' de la muestra del patógeno en el medio de cultivo PDA, se observa un crecimiento rápido del hongo; después de varios días, el aislamiento adquiere un color café que cubre totalmente el medio de cultivo en la caja petri.-Cámara de flujo laminar -Tijeras -Cajas petri de 100 y 60 mm -Agua destilada estéril Nota: Todos los procedimientos se deben ejecutar dentro de la cámara de flujo laminar; además, deben cumplirse todas las condiciones de asepsia y esterilidad que se exigen en un laboratorio. En otras palabras, se aplican siempre las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM).• Paso 1 Cortar varios trozos del tejido infectado de la muestra utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 6).• Paso 2 Desinfectar los trozos de muestra en una caja petri de 60 mm que contenga una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%, durante 3 minutos (Foto 7).• Paso 3 Lavar tres veces con agua destilada estéril los trozos desinfectados.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto Foto Foto• Paso 4 Colocar los trozos lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 8).• Paso 5 Cuando las muestras estén secas, tomar los pedazos de tejido con una pinza estéril y 'sembrarlos' en una caja petri que contenga el medio de cultivo PDA; colocar tres pedazos por caja. Repetir el procedimiento para todas las muestras (Foto 9). Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 10 días, tiempo en que el hongo producirá micelio y esclerocios. Estos últimos se observan como puntos de color café (Foto 10).Diez días más tarde, el aislamiento estará listo y podrá purificarse mediante un aislamiento monomicelial.Nota: El cultivo del hongo es blanquecino en sus primeras etapas de crecimiento.Guía Práctica 7: Rhizoctonia solani Enfermedad: Pudrición radical por Rizoctonia 7 -9El objetivo de este procedimiento es obtener una cepa del hongo genéticamente pura. Si el hongo se aísla de un tejido vegetal que presenta síntomas, éstos pueden ser producidos por varias cepas de un mismo hongo.Por eso es necesario purificar el hongo obtenido en el primer paso del aislamiento. Si el hongo no produce esporas en el medio de cultivo, se utilizan puntas de hifas. El procedimiento comprende los pasos siguientes:• Paso 1 Tomar un cuadrado de aproximadamente 0.5 cm (de lado) del medio de cultivo PDA donde se observe que el hongo crece (ver C., 1. En el medio…, Paso 5).Transferir el cuadrado al centro de una caja petri que tenga medio de cultivo PDA fresco. Incubar a 24 °C durante 24 horas.• Paso 2 Observar al día siguiente, bajo el estereoscopio y en la cámara de flujo laminar, el micelio del hongo en crecimiento, y enfocar los bordes de la colonia para identificar las puntas de las hifas en crecimiento.• Paso 3 Con un alfiler flameado, cortar un pedacito de agar que contenga la punta de una sola hifa, ejecutando las siguientes operaciones:-Tener la precaución de no tocar otras hifas alrededor de la que se está aislando.Foto 11-Transferir el pedacito de agar con la hifa a una nueva caja petri que contenga medio de cultivo PDA fresco; colocar solo una hifa en cada caja. -Incubar esa caja con la punta de hifa a 24 °C durante 10 días. Pasado este tiempo de incubación se obtendrá un cultivo similar al del Paso 5, excepto que es genéticamente puro.A partir de aquí se harán los incrementos del hongo con el fin de producir inóculo suficiente para las pruebas que se harán en el invernadero o en el campo.El incremento de Rhizoctonia para realizar inoculaciones en invernadero puede hacerse de dos formas: una es con mezcla de suelo + papa, y la otra es suelo + harina de frijol. • Paso 2 Picar la papa en pequeños trozos (Foto 11) y combinarla con la mezcla del paso anterior en la siguiente relación: 100 g de papa picada x 1600 g de mezcla de suelo-arena (Foto 12).• Paso 3 Introducir esta nueva mezcla en el frasco erlenmeyer de 1000 ml hasta completar 400 ml (Foto 13).Esterilizar dos veces la mezcla en un autoclave (ver B. Preparación del...).Tomar una caja petri donde el hongo R. solani haya sido incrementado como cultivo monomicelial (Paso 5 anterior) y extraer, con un sacabocado de 1 cm de diámetro, 10 discos del medio en que esté el hongo incrementado. Todo el procedimiento debe hacerse bajo condiciones asépticas de laboratorio.• Paso 5 Agregar 10 discos del paso anterior (medio de cultivo con hongo) al frasco erlenmeyer del Paso 3 (Foto 14). Agitar manualmente hasta que los discos se distribuyan por toda la mezcla de suelo y papa picada.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto 15• Paso 6 Incubar el frasco erlenmeyer del paso anterior a 24 °C durante 12 días. Pasado este tiempo, el hongo habrá colonizado la mezcla de suelo y papa, y el inóculo estará listo para los ensayos que se harán en el invernadero.-Suelo estéril 1 kg -Harina de frijol 10 g -Agua destilada 50 ml -Aislamiento monomicelial de R. solani 2 cajas -Sacabocado de 1 cm de diámetro -Papel aluminio -Papel kraft• Paso 1En un recipiente que pueda ser autoclavado depositar 1 kg de suelo y adicionarle 10 g de frijol (Foto 15), homogenizar la mezcla y distribuirla de tal manera que la profundidad no sea superior a 3 cm.Guía Práctica 7: Rhizoctonia solani Enfermedad: Pudrición radical por RizoctoniaFoto 16• Paso 2 Adicionar a esta mezcla 50 ml de agua destilada para darle cierta humedad al suelo.• Paso 3 Cubrir el recipiente con papel aluminio y encima con papel kraft, y llevar al autoclave (Fotos 16 y 17).• Paso 4 Una vez retirado el suelo del autoclave dejarlo enfriar, destapar el recipiente y colocar los 25 discos de 1 cm de diámetro del aislamiento monomicelial (Foto 18) por kilogramo de suelo a incrementar (Foto 19).• Paso 5 Tapar nuevamente con el mismo papel con que fue llevado al autoclave y dejarlo a temperatura ambiente (22 °C) durante 15 días, tiempo en el cual los discos habrán producido micelio y colonizado el suelo (Foto 20). • Paso 2 Colocar el suelo y el inóculo en una bolsa plástica para mezclarlos, y agitar la bolsa varias veces para que la mezcla de ambos sea lo más homogénea posible (Foto 23).• Paso 3 Llenar una bandeja (o unos potes) con suelo normal y abrir en él surcos para siembra. Colocar luego en los surcos las semillas de los genotipos de frijol que se inocularán (Foto 24) y cubrirlas con 100 g de la mezcla de suelo más inóculo obtenida en el Paso 2 (Foto 25). Regar luego la bandeja con agua corriente. Foto 26• Paso 4 Evaluar los genotipos sembrados a los 14 días después de la inoculación, según la escala estándar del CIAT, cuyas categorías van del 1 al 9 y se distribuyen así:de 1 a 3: planta resistente de 4 a 6: planta de reacción intermedia de 7 a 9: planta susceptible Evaluar, adicionalmente, la incidencia de la enfermedad en cada genotipo. Para hacerlo, observar la relación proporcional de las plantas afectadas (cualquier grado de severidad) respecto al total de semillas sembradas. Asegurarse de que no entren en esa relación las semillas que no germinaron por causas diferentes al patógeno inoculado.• Paso 1 Agregar el inóculo producido en el incremento suelo + harina de frijol, en una relación de 2%, al suelo que será utilizado para la inoculación. Si se prepara el inóculo en 1 kg de suelo + harina de frijol, mezclar éste con 50 kg de suelo a utilizar en la siembra (Foto 26).Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto• Paso 2 Utilizar la mezcladora (Foto 27) cuando los volúmenes a mezclar sean grandes.• Paso 3 Llenar potes de 2 kg de la mezcla anterior y realizar la siembra (Foto 28). La mezcla de 1 kg de suelo + harina con inóculo alcanza para 25 potes de 2 kg.• Paso 4 Evaluar los genotipos sembrados a los 14 días después de la inoculación (Foto 29), empleando la escala estándar del CIAT (ver E., 1. Con inóculo..., Paso 4).Para almacenar el hongo R. solani se emplean dos métodos: la conservación en papel filtro y la conservación en suspensión de sucrosa y peptona.Este método permite conservar microorganismos durante períodos largos de tiempo. Cortar cuadritos (60-80) de papel filtro de 1 cm 2 , colocarlos dentro de una caja petri o de un contenedor cerrado y esterilizarlos en autoclave.• Paso 2 Colocar 10 cuadritos de papel filtro esterilizado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA en cada caja petri.• Paso 3 Preparar una suspensión de micelio de un aislamiento del hongo, de la siguiente manera:-Agregar agua destilada estéril a la caja petri que contiene el hongo incrementado sobre el medio de cultivo PDA. -Raspar luego la superficie de ese aislamiento con la punta de la pipeta para formar una suspensión.Tomar un poco de esa suspensión con la pipeta y colocar una gota en cada cuadrito de papel filtro esterilizado (en las cajas petri del Paso 2).• Paso 4 Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 12 días.• Paso 5 Pasados los 12 días de incubación, retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro del medio de cultivo junto con el hongo que creció en ellos, usando una pinza estéril; cumpliendo con todas las condiciones de asepsia, depositarlos en una caja petri estéril vacía. Colocarlos invertidos (la cara en que está el hongo hacia abajo) para que no se enrollen al secarse. Secar los cuadritos de papel filtro durante 7 días a 24 °C.Pasar los cuadritos secos (con una pinza estéril) a bolsitas de papel mantequilla estéril, las cuales se introducen, a su vez, en otra bolsa más grande del mismo material. Colocar en las bolsitas toda la información referente al hongo, como la fecha de almacenamiento, el nombre de la cepa, etc. El hongo R. solani se debe almacenar a -20 °C.7 -19La conservación de un patógeno suspendido en solución de peptona-sucrosa que se deposita luego en papel filtro, es uno de los métodos más efectivos para almacenarlo.-Peptona al 10% -Sucrosa al 20% -Cajas petri con el hongo de 10 días de crecimiento -Espátula y papel filtro cortado en cuadros de 0.5 cm 2 -Cajas petri vacías Preparación de las soluciones de peptona y de sucrosa• Paso 1Tomar una caja petri que contenga el hongo purificado e incrementado (ver C., 2. Aislamiento monomicelial) y agregar 2 ml de la solución de peptona-sucrosa (Foto 30).• Paso 2 Raspar con una espátula estéril la caja petri (Foto 31) para desprender el micelio o los esclerocios del hongo (o ambas estructuras). Dejar la suspensión en la misma caja petri.• Paso 3 Tomar los cuadritos de papel filtro estériles con una pinza (ver F., 1. Conservación en…), colocarlos en la suspensión del hongo y asegurarse de que queden bien impregnados (Fotos 32).• Paso 4 Retirar los cuadritos de papel filtro de la caja petri y colocarlos en una caja petri estéril con papel filtro en el fondo para que se sequen durante 7 días a 24 °C (Foto 33). Esta prueba es la forma clara, práctica y confiable de garantizar que el hongo secado por 7 días está libre de contaminantes y que puede ser almacenado.• Paso 1 Tomar uno de los cuadritos de papel filtro que había sido impregnado con la suspensión de R. solani y que fue secado por 7 días a 24 °C (ver Paso 4 anterior).• Paso 2 Sembrar el cuadrito en un nuevo medio de cultivo PDA. Después de 5 días, el patógeno almacenado debe haber crecido en este medio de cultivo.  Sclerotium rolfsii es el hongo causante de la enfermedad conocida como añublo sureño. Este hongo patógeno habita en el suelo y hace su aparición, principalmente en las épocas lluviosas del año cuando la temperatura es alta.Los síntomas característicos de la enfermedad se observan en el cuello de la raíz de la plántula de frijol; luego la enfermedad se extiende por el tallo. Cuando el ataque del hongo es muy fuerte, en el cuello de la raíz se ve su micelio blanco y los esclerocios en formación (Foto 1), lo que indica la muerte próxima de la plántula. La Foto 2 presenta una semilla de frijol que ha germinado y es atacada por el hongo, que la cubre de micelio.Los esclerocios de S. rolfsii son de forma esférica y su color varía: son blancos al iniciar su formación y pocos días después, cuando han madurado, se tornan de color castaño. -Toallas de papel -Bolsas de papel -Rótulos para identificar el material -Prensa para muestras o un cuaderno corriente• Toallas de papel. La muestra de tejido de frijol infectado (de la raíz, generalmente) que se colecta se envuelve en una toalla de papel que sirve, además, para absorber su humedad. Si no hay toallas, pueden usarse materiales similares como servilletas, papel higiénico, pañuelos faciales y, en último caso, papel periódico.• Bolsas de papel. Las muestras de tejido infectado envueltas en algún papel absorbente se colocan en bolsas o sobres de papel. No se deben usar bolsas plásticas porque no son porosas y contribuyen, por ello, a la acumulación de humedad en su interior; esta humedad favorece el crecimiento de 8 -4 microorganismos saprofitos, los cuales dificultarán el aislamiento del patógeno que se hace a partir del tejido de frijol.• Rótulos para marcar las muestras. Es muy importante identificar claramente la muestra con la siguiente información: variedad (o genotipo) de frijol, tamaño y color de sus granos, lugar donde se toma la muestra (localidad, provincia, departamento, país), fecha de recolección de la muestra, nombre del recolector y, en lo posible, latitud y longitud (aproximadas) del lugar en que se hizo la recolección. El rótulo debe quedar bien adherido en cada muestra.-Indicar en el rótulo si la recolección se hizo en el campo de un agricultor o en una estación experimental. -Cuando no haya suficientes rótulos para todas las muestras, marcar las bolsas con un código y registrar la información completa en una libreta de campo. -No recolectar material vegetal húmedo; si está en esas condiciones, secarlo con toallas de papel antes de ser transportado. Una vez en el laboratorio, y si no se procesa inmediatamente, dejarlo sobre toallas de papel al aire libre para que termine de secarse.Foto Foto Foto Foto Preparación -Se pesan los ingredientes (Foto 3), se colocan en un recipiente grande, que puede ser un vaso de precipitado, y se les agrega el agua; esta solución se envasa en dos frascos erlenmeyer (500 ml en cada uno). -Los frascos erlenmeyer con el medio de cultivo PDA se esterilizan en el autoclave. Esta máquina, con una presión de 20 libras y una temperatura de 121 °C, realiza el proceso total de esterilización en 40 minutos. -El medio esterilizado se deja enfriar hasta que pueda manipularse (Foto 4) y se vierte luego en cajas petri, a razón de 25 ml por caja (Foto 5).C. Aislamientos de S. rolfsii • Paso 1 Cortar varios trozos del tejido infectado de la muestra utilizando una tijera estéril (Foto 6).• Paso 2 Desinfectar, durante 3 minutos, los trozos de muestra en una caja petri de 60 mm que contenga una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 2.5%.• Paso 3 Lavar tres veces con agua destilada estéril los trozos desinfectados (Foto 7).• Paso 4 Colocar los trozos lavados sobre toallas de papel estériles durante 10 minutos para que se sequen (Foto 8).Foto 9Foto Foto• Paso 5 Una vez que los trozos estén secos, tomar los pedazos de tejido con una pinza estéril, 'sembrarlos' (tres por caja) en cajas petri que contengan el medio de cultivo PDA (Foto 9). Incubar las cajas a 24 °C durante 10 días, tiempo en que el hongo producirá micelio blanco (Foto 10), del cual saldrán más tarde esclerocios que pueden verse a simple vista como puntos negros (Foto 11); con el tiempo, estos esclerocios se tornarán de color café.El objetivo de este procedimiento es obtener una cepa del hongo genéticamente pura. Si el hongo se aísla de tejido vegetal con síntomas, éstos pueden ser producidos por varias cepas de un mismo hongo. Por eso es necesario purificar el hongo obtenido en el primer paso del aislamiento, empleando tejido de las puntas de algunas hifas. El procedimiento comprende los pasos siguientes:• Paso 1 Con un sacabocado de aproximadamente 0.5 cm de diámetro, transferir el hongo que ha crecido en el medio de cultivo PDA (ver C., 1. En el medio…, Paso 5) al centro de una caja petri que tenga el medio de cultivo PDA. Incubar a 24 °C de 24 a 48 horas.Guía Práctica 8: Sclerotium rolfsii Enfermedad: Añublo sureñoFoto 12• Paso 2 Observar, durante este tiempo, el crecimiento del micelio bajo el estereoscopio en la cámara de flujo laminar. Enfocar los bordes de la colonia para identificar las puntas de las hifas.• Paso 3 Cortar, con un alfiler flameado, un pedacito de agar que contenga la punta de una sola hifa, ejecutando luego las siguientes operaciones:-Tener la precaución de no tocar otras hifas alrededor de la que se está aislando. -Transferir el pedacito de agar con la hifa a una nueva caja petri que contenga medio de cultivo PDA; colocar solo una hifa en cada caja petri. -Incubar estas cajas a 24 °C durante 10 días.Después de este tiempo, el hongo producirá esclerocios, que se observan como puntos blancos pequeños; con el tiempo, éstos se tornan de color castaño o café y llegan a la madurez a los 25 días (Foto 12).• Paso 4 Destapar, durante 3 días para que se sequen, las cajas petri que contienen estos esclerocios maduros (obtenidos partiendo del aislamiento monomicelial). Una vez secados, cosechar los esclerocios y almacenarlos a -20 °C, ya sea en sobres de papel mantequilla o en tubos de vidrio cerrados.8 -10En el laboratorio de Patología de Frijol se halló que la producción de esclerocios de S. rolfsii se favorecía cuando se suplementaba el medio de cultivo de agar con harina de frijol.Preparación del medio agar-harina de frijol (AHF)-Agar granulado 15 g -Agua destilada 1 litro -Harina de frijol esterilizada 50 g -Frascos erlenmeyer de 1 litro 4• Paso 1 Moler semillas de frijol que tengan una humedad menor que 14%, utilizando un molino o un mortero; el producto debe quedar molido, pero no muy finamente. Colocar luego esta harina en un recipiente cerrado y esterilizarlo en autoclave dos veces. Una vez esterilizada la harina, proceder con la preparación del medio AHF.Nota: Cada vez que se necesite harina de frijol para preparar el medio de cultivo, ésta debe obtenerse y esterilizarse un día antes de la preparación.Guía Práctica 8: Sclerotium rolfsii Enfermedad: Añublo sureño• Paso 2 -Mezclar muy bien el agar y la harina de frijol.-Adicionar 1 litro de agua destilada a esa mezcla.-Verter, en los frascos erlenmeyer de 1 litro, volúmenes de 250 ml de la mezcla líquida anterior. -Colocar en la boca de cada frasco erlenmeyer un capuchón de gasa y ajustarlo con una banda de caucho; colocar papel aluminio sobre la gasa. -Esterilizar los frascos erlenmeyer tapados en un autoclave. -Cuando se enfríe la mezcla, vaciarla en cajas petri.Transferir un esclerocio almacenado (ver C., 2. Aislamiento monomicelial…, Paso 4) empleando un alfiler flameado que lleve un pedacito de agar en la punta, y sembrarlo en el medio AHF contenido en una caja petri. Repetir este paso en varias cajas.El esclerocio da comienzo al crecimiento del hongo, el cual cubrirá todo el medio. A los 6 días de la 'siembra', se inicia la formación de los nuevos esclerocios; primero se observan pequeños puntos blancos que, con el paso del tiempo, se tornan de color castaño o café y alcanzan la madurez a los 25 días.• Paso 4 Pasado este tiempo, destapar las cajas durante 3 días para que se sequen los esclerocios. Una vez secos, cosecharlos y almacenarlos en sobres de papel mantequilla o en tubos de vidrio, a -20 °C.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol 8 -12Preparación del inóculo de S. rolfsii en suelo-Suelo -Harina de frijol -Agua destilada -Bandejas autoclavables para preparar inóculo -Papel aluminio y papel de envolver -Esclerocios de S. rolfsiiLa preparación de inóculo de S. rolfsii, usando suelo como vehículo, comprende los siguientes pasos:• Paso 1-Hacer una mezcla al 1% del suelo y la harina de frijol, así: 10 g de harina de frijol estéril por 1 kg de suelo. -Homogenizar la mezcla manualmente agitándola dentro de una bolsa. -Esparcir esta mezcla sobre la bandeja, de manera que forme una capa de 5 cm de profundidad (o menor) en la bandeja. -Añadir enseguida 50 ml de agua destilada por kilogramo de suelo empleado en la bandeja.Guía Práctica 8: Sclerotium rolfsii Enfermedad: Añublo sureñoFoto 13-Cubrir la bandeja con papel aluminio y luego con papel 'kraft (papel de envolver) y llevarlas al autoclave. -Hacer bandejas de acuerdo a la cantidad de inóculo que se necesite.• Paso 2 Dejar enfriar esta mezcla de suelo en la bandeja, una vez esterilizada en el autoclave. Pesar los esclerocios antes cosechados y almacenados (ver D. Incremento de..., Paso 4) y esparcirlos uniformemente sobre la superficie del suelo de cada bandeja, a razón de 0.2 g de esclerocios (200 mg) por kilogramo de suelo.• Paso 3 Colocar las bandejas en el laboratorio a temperatura ambiente, y revisarlas semanalmente para comprobar que no se haya contaminado ese suelo inoculado. Pasados de 15 a 17 días, el hongo habrá crecido lo suficiente para colonizar con micelio el suelo y producir esclerocios. Este suelo (Foto 13) se empleará como inóculo en las pruebas de invernadero.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del FrijolFoto Foto FotoPreparar en el invernadero el suelo para la siembra del modo siguiente:-Mezclar suelo y arena en la proporción 2:1.-Agregar a este suelo 5 g de harina de frijol estéril por cada kilogramo de suelo. -Añadir a este suelo el suelo-inóculo al 3%, obtenido en el Paso 3 anterior (Foto 13); agregar, por tanto, 30 g de suelo-inóculo por cada kilogramo de suelo.En la Foto 14 observamos una bandeja de siembra de invernadero con una capacidad de 450 kg de suelo.A esta bandeja de siembra se le agregan 13.5 kg de suelo-inóculo obtenido en el Paso 3.La evaluación del germoplasma se realiza a los 7, 14, 21 y 28 días después de la siembra (Foto 15).Cuando el ensayo a que se somete el germoplasma requiere cantidades grandes de mezcla de suelo, se usa un mezclador o trompo eléctrico (Foto 16). Para reactivar el crecimiento de S. rolfsii se toman varios esclerocios del aislamiento monomicelial que fueron almacenados a -20 °C (ver C., 2. Aislamiento monomicelial, Paso 4) y se transfieren al medio de cultivo AHF, donde los esclerocios germinarán y se reiniciará el desarrollo del hongo (Foto 17). Un punto clave en la extracción de ADN de buena calidad del micelio de hongos fitopatógenos es el crecimiento óptimo del micelio sobre un medio de cultivo. Se utiliza, generalmente, este tipo de tejido del hongo porque tiene un crecimiento más homogéneo que otros tejidos del hongo. Las esporas, por ejemplo, son más difíciles de procesar que el micelio, porque son estructuras muy rígidas que requieren protocolos de extracción especiales; además, pertenecen, por su formación, a la etapa madura o senescente del crecimiento del hongo.Para lograr un buen crecimiento del micelio de un hongo es necesario aplicar las buenas prácticas microbiológicas (BPM), entre ellas las siguientes:-esterilidad -identificación correcta de las muestras -cultivo del hongo en la fase exponencial de crecimientoLa extracción del ADN del micelio de los hongos fitopatógenos considerados en estas guías comprende los siguientes pasos:1. Precalentar el buffer de extracción a 65 °C al baño María.Adicionar al buffer la Proteinasa K [10 mg/ml] hasta obtener una concentración final de 30 µg/ml. Adicionar, por tanto, 3 µl de Proteinasa K por cada ml de buffer, lo que equivale a tomar 2.1 µl de Proteinasa K por 700 µl de buffer.Macerar el micelio fresco o almacenado (ver protocolo anterior) empleando nitrógeno líquido. Pasar el micelio macerado a tubos eppendorf de 1.5 ml con la ayuda de un pistilo, llenándolos hasta la marca de 100 o 150 µl.4. Adicionar a cada muestra (tubo de 1.5 ml) 700 µl del buffer de extracción con Proteinasa K preparado en el Paso 2. Homogeneizar la mezcla mediante vórtex o mezclador de tubos e incubar al baño María a 65 °C durante 1 hora, como mínimo.Mezclar por inversión manualmente cada 20 o 30 minutos.Hay dos opciones en este paso:-Después de la incubación (Paso 4), agregar 0.5 volúmenes del acetato de amonio 7.5 M preparado antes, mezclar por inversión del tubo e incubar a temperatura ambiente durante 10 minutos.Guías Prácticas de Laboratorio para el Manejo de Patógenos del Frijol 9 -14 -Después de la incubación (Paso 4), mezclar nuevamente y agregar un volumen igual (700 µl) de la solución de fenol, cloroformo e isoamilalcohol (25:24:1) y mezclar con vórtex. Esta solución fenólica debe manipularse en cámara extractora evitando inhalar los vapores que desprende.7. Centrifugar a temperatura ambiente a 12.000 rpm durante 10 minutos.8. Rescatar el sobrenadante, teniendo cuidado de no tomar la interfase, y pasarlo a un nuevo tubo eppendorf de 1.5 ml.9. Adicionar 1 volumen igual de una solución de cloroformo y alcohol isoamílico (24:1) y centrifugar a 12.000 rpm durante 10 minutos a temperatura ambiente. La solución debe estar a temperatura ambiente al momento de usarla y debe manipularse en cámara extractora evitando inhalar los vapores que desprende.10. Rescatar el sobrenadante y pasarlo a un nuevo tubo eppendorf de 1.5 ml.11. Paso opcional: Agregar acetato de sodio 3 M de pH 5.2 (1/10 del volumen del sobrenadante) y homogeneizar manualmente por inversión.12. Agregar isopropanol frío en una relación 1:1 y homogeneizar suavemente por inversión del tubo manualmente.13. Incubar a -20 °C durante toda la noche.Guía Práctica 9: Micelio de hongos Producción de micelio en medio líquido para extracción de ADN 9 -15 14. Centrifugar a 14.000 rpm durante 10 minutos a temperatura ambiente y descartar el sobrenadante invirtiendo el tubo, teniendo cuidado de no perder la bolita ('pellet') de ADN.15. Lavar el 'pellet' con 800 µl de etanol al 70%, frío y centrifugarlo a 14.000 rpm durante 5 minutos.16. Descartar el sobrenadante y secar el 'pellet' por inversión del tubo, a temperatura ambiente. 17. Diluir el 'pellet' en el buffer 1X TE ya preparado (usualmente, en 100 µl) añadiendo 2 µl de RNAasa [1 mg/ml] e incubar a 37 °C durante una hora, como mínimo.Recomendación: Resuspender el 'pellet' durante toda la noche a 4 °C con 1X TE, y al día siguiente adicionarle la RNAasa; incubar luego a 37 °C.Almacenar el ADN a -20 °C.","tokenCount":"29371"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1264519285.json b/data/part_1/1264519285.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c2aae5d5da1d692076cf9751e1508750025e55d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1264519285.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"462e7d005f6c741b94e4c34faab36514","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb5060ee-de1f-4e81-89bb-c970a8958eb4/retrieve","id":"308612858"},"keywords":["Climate information services","Africa","South Asia"],"sieverID":"5c2bb4a4-f8ab-46b4-b79b-02da00349622","pagecount":"36","content":"This report captures a process of shared South-South learning and planning towards defining priorities for strengthening and scaling-up climate information and advisory services for agriculture and food security in West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and South Asia.The process began at the international workshop on \"Scaling up Climate Services for Farmers in Africa and South Asia\" (Saly, Senegal, December 2012), where participants collectively identified critical gaps in the design, delivery and effective use of climate services for smallholder agriculture; and self-organized into working groups to develop a set of priority actions for strengthening climate services for smallholder farming communities within and across regions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Following up on a commitment made at the workshop, USAID and CCAFS partnered to develop a small grants program and sponsor a set of guided planning workshops to enable the working groups that emerged from the Saly workshop to further develop their visions, and obtain resources to begin to implement them. Expert working groups from all regions prioritized improving the scientific capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to develop location specific seasonal climate forecasts at the subnational scale, and enhancing institutional frameworks for collaboration between the different agencies involved in the production and communication of climate services. The Eastern and Southern Africa working group also emphasized the co-production with farmers of location-specific climate services, and the importance of assessing the added value of climate services for enhancing agricultural production and managing risk. The West Africa working group prioritized communications mechanisms for reaching marginalized groups, including rural radio and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), and training farmers to access and use climate information. Building on the region's existing strength in ICTs, the South Asia group emphasized efforts to identify appropriate ICT tools and build the capacity of smallholder farmers, women, poor and socially marginalized groups to access and utilize climate information services.organized the international workshop on \"Scaling up Climate Services for Farmers in Africa and South Asia,\" in Saly, Senegal (Tall et al., 2013). More than 100 experts, representing 30 countries and roughly 50 institutions, collectively identified critical gaps in the design, delivery and effective use of climate-related information for risk management among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and the strategies for addressing them. The diverse set of researchers and practitioners present reached a consensus that five key challenges must be targeted in order to substantially improve climate services for farmers and strengthen their livelihoods:• Salience: tailoring content, scale, format and lead-time to farm-level decision-making;• Access: providing timely access to remote rural communities with marginal infrastructure;• Legitimacy: ensuring that farmers own climate services, and shape their design and delivery;• Equity: ensuring that women, poor and socially marginalized groups can access and use available climate services; and• Integration: providing climate information as part of a larger package of agricultural support and development assistance, enabling farmers to act on information.Through creating a space for shared learning between and within the regions represented, the workshop initiated a collective process toward defining priorities for strengthening and scaling-up climate information and advisory services for agriculture and food security in these regions, and identified actionable steps towards achieving this vision. After examining case studies that present good practices in overcoming the key challenges to effective climate services for smallholder farmers, workshop participants met in self-organized regional working groups (West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and South Asia) to identify the key strengths, gaps, and priority opportunities for growth in each region. Fifteen ideas were put on the table for up-scaling and strengthening the impact of climate services for smallholder farmers in the target regions. Participants then collectively prioritized and self-organized into working groups around seven of these ideas, and articulated their collective vision and commitment to those ideas within draft concept notes. The concepts drew from a broad range of expertise across the full scope of agro-meteorological advisory systems: information producers, enabling institutions and communicators to end-users.In the final session of the workshop, the workshop sponsors (CCAFS, USAID, WMO, IRI, and the Climate Services Partnership (CSP)) outlined plans to support the further development of these concepts into actionable strategies for strengthening climate services within and across regions, and pledged to help participants move these ideas forward. This included support for planning and proposal writing workshops, competitive start-up grants, and assistance in identifying potential sources of further funding. Following through on that pledge, USAID subsequently sponsored regional workshops in June-July 2013, to support further development of regional plans for action, and funding proposals for implementing the different components of each regional plan. This report describes the process by which USAID and CCAFS; in collaboration with IRI, WMO and CSP; supported workshop participants to further develop their ideas into actionable regional roadmaps and secure seed funding to begin to implement those plans. It summarizes the regional visions and strategies that were defined through the process.  This workshop process enabled the various key regional stakeholders; including regional climate centres, agricultural experts, professional communicators and farmer representatives;to come together to identify regional priorities to scale up climate services for farmers, and develop action plans for implementation. This process led to the development of concrete project proposals for the USAID CCRD small grant program. The regional action plans resulting from the workshop process, which represent each working group's collective vision of what is needed to scale up climate services for farmers in their respective regions, are described in the following section.Eastern and Southern AfricaThe economies and livelihoods of farmers in the Eastern and Southern Africa regions are highly dependent on rainfed agriculture and hence vulnerable to climate extremes associated with increasing climate variability and change. In East Africa, agriculture contributes 40% to GDP (Kadi 2011a). Nearly 80% of residents depend on agriculture for a living. It is anticipated that climate change will enhance the current variability in climate and threaten the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Priorities• Improve collaboration between meteorological, academic, agricultural research and extension services.• Develop and test effective communication methods for timely delivery of climate services for various stakeholders in the agriculture and food security sectors, including ICT based mechanisms.• Achieve co-production of knowledge by enabling farmers to collect climate data and express needs for specific locations.• Enhance the capacity of NMHS to generate location-specific forecasts and integrate different types of weather data to overcome the lack of analysed historical data and low density of observation networks in the region.• Evaluate the effectiveness of value-added climate services for disaster risk reduction and enhancement of smallholder farm productivity.region's reliance on agriculture for socio-economic development. In particular, extreme weather events, such as severe storms, droughts, floods, storms, lightning and frost are expected to become more prolonged, frequent and severe. In addition, sea level rise is predicted to threaten coastal areas, potentially causing major population shifts and disrupting agricultural ecosystems (Parry 2007).The resultant consequences are manifesting in form of degraded agricultural land resources, increased poverty, food insecurity, increased vulnerability of agricultural systems to climate change, increased dependency of the region on relief food supplies, and collapse of livelihood support systems. As a result there is an increasing need to build resilience in the regions' agricultural systems that would assure increased capacity to adapt to adverse effects of climate change and climate variability related hazards.The Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) working group described existing regional and national meteorological agencies and agricultural research organizations across the territory as a solid foundation for up-scaling climate services. Skilled forecasts are available for the region as well as strong networks of NGOs, extension services, and available human resources. These entities are poised to put this information to use to enhance farmer capacities (Tall et al. 2013).Regional Weather and climate monitoring infrastructure in the region has deteriorated, and human resource capacity is not keeping pace with the increasing demand for climate services due to climate change. Many weather observation stations have closed and stations that are still operational observe a limited set of weather parameters, less frequently and sparsely, using instruments that are aging and frequently failing. This creates frequent data gaps that constrain meaningful analyses that could deliver location specific climate information for agricultural decisions. This fact creates an immense weather data gap in the ESA region.Extension services and agricultural researchers have low levels of awareness about climate variability and the potential opportunities to manage its impacts, and low levels of capacity to interpret climate information for on-farm decision making and for developing appropriate agricultural strategies. Climate information users also have low levels of awareness and understanding of climate information products and their relevance, and limited access to tailor-made information in a timely manner from reliable sources.Other challenges include the low uptake and utilization of seasonal climate forecasts; limited understanding of the probabilistic nature of seasonal climate forecasts and their reliability; lack of timely access to seasonal climate forecasts in a format that can be easily understood by end users; and limited capacity to utilize seasonal climate forecasts by both farmers and extension agents in planning and decision making in agriculture. The uncertainty inherent in the probabilistic nature of the climate forecasts is an additional constraint to the utilization of seasonal climate forecast information.The working group recognized that one pathway to the realization of sustainable development in the region is to explore ways of supporting regional governments to formulate appropriate policies and plans that will guide climate-informed decisions. This calls for availability of reliable climate services and communication mechanisms that will complement routine weather forecasts and severe weather warnings, which are currently used to inform the public on impending extreme weather conditions. This process will enable better management of the risks of climate variability and change and inform adaptation to climate change, through the development and incorporation of science-based climate information and prediction into planning, policy and practice on the regional and national scales.To achieve this goal, the capacity and institutional linkages to generate, package and 'intermediaries' that already support farmers, including international and regional NGOs, can be leveraged to support data collection and provision of climate services at the farmer level.In order to address the issue of informational salience, the group recommended the coproduction of knowledge achieved through enabling farmers to collect climate data and express needs for specific locations. This action addressed the challenge of tailoring forecasts to the appropriate scales. The co-production of knowledge could also be a foundation for donor supported micro-projects addressing risk management for the smallholder farmers.On the technical side, research partnerships with NMHS were recommended for enhancing their capacity to generate location specific forecasts. The ESA working group also established that the sharing of good practices for integrating different types of weather data (from traditional measurements, Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), and satellites) could help overcome the lack of analysed historical data and low density of observation networks in the region. Seeking donor support for the promotion of AWS and model climate data management systems was also suggested (Tall et al. 2013).Finally, the ESA working groups identified the need to evaluate the effectiveness of valueadded climate services in disaster risk reduction and enhancement of smallholder farm productivity. It is their belief that if this is done properly, it will lead to an improved understanding of the outcomes accruing from the use of quality climate services.The development of this roadmap, by working closely with the ongoing initiatives by international and regional bodies such as ICRISAT, CCAFS, ICPAC, SADC and other relevant projects in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, will strengthen the development of tailor-made location-specific climate information products and the dissemination component by identifying climate products tailored for use by the vulnerable communities;exploring alternative but more effective communication pathways for timely delivery of climate information to farming communities and for the private sector to disseminate seasonal climate forecast information; and enhance the capacity of farmers and their support agents in the understanding and use of climate information in planning and decision making.In West Africa, the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid and subhumid regions depend on subsistence agriculture. Regional agriculture is mainly rainfed and subsistence based (cereals, roots and tuber, legumes) with some cash crops, and is the major source of livelihood for about 290 million. It employs 60% of the active labour force and contributes to 35% of the GDP (Kadi 2011b).Climate variability and climate change are the major threats to agriculture and food security in the region. The growing incidence of climate extremes is currently affecting agricultural productivity due to weather related crop failures, fisheries collapses and livestock deaths, resulting in economic losses. Food insecurity and malnutrition are recurrent and widespread and thus poverty levels are increasing. For example, the dependence on uncertain rainfall and exposure to climate risk characterize the livelihoods of roughly 70% of the region's West Africa Regional Priorities• Strengthen scientific capacity of NHMSs to develop improved seasonal climate forecasts, downscaled to subnational level.• Develop technical group schemes that will provide agro-meteorological assistance (agrometeorological advisories).• Develop communication mechanisms to reach end-users (e.g. through rural radio, ICT) and marginalized groups, including women, through specific communication channels including innovative use of communications intermediaries.• Develop public-private partnerships in ICT, such as governmental contracts with cell phone companies, for information services provision and enhanced utilization of local radio and ICT.• Develop improved methods to train farmers to access and use climate services.population; and frustrate efforts to sustainably intensify agricultural production, reduce poverty and enhance food security (Hansen et al. 2011).Recent and current climate related programs in the region include CCAFS sites in West Africa: Kaffrine (Senegal), Segou (Mali), Yatenga (Burkina Faso), Lawra-Jirapa (Ghana) and Kollo (Niger project is seen as an innovative communication approach by providing remote communities with beneficial radio based information services. The project provided community members with windup radios and community groups with local broadcasting stations, (solar powered in some locations), with the capacity to download information from the Internet using satellite linkages. In addition, the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI), which was started in 2007, is documenting how rural radio can be used to best serve the information needs of 20 smallholder farmers in Africa, and how ICTs when combined with radio can increase effective information dissemination (Jost 2013).The working group identified several gaps that would prevent or hinder the scale-up of climate services in the West Africa region. They focused particular attention on information delivery and penetration.One of the key aspects in the recognized limitations of communication with farmers includes the present costs, low coverage of ICTs, and the need to translate advisories into local languages. Since most farmers are illiterate, they are unable to use SMS-based services. Local community radios are one solution to this problem but their coverage is not widespread.Supporting NMHSs in translating information into local languages is one strategy for better serving end user needs, as is establishing an effective dialogue between end users and climate service providers.Current seasonal and near-term weather forecasts issued by NMHS are seen as supply driven, and do not necessarily reflect understanding of the needs of end-user such as farmers.Accurate climate forecast information that could assist with agricultural management decisions (planting, fertilization, harvesting) could help improve productivity and profitability, and reduce losses. Effective adaptation to climate variability and climate change is highly dependent on access to and use of climate information for the coming seasons and years to enable decision-making for the present and the future; hence there is a need to tailor climate information to the needs of farmers.Working group members cited a sparse data collection network, especially in poor rural communities, as a major challenge to up-scaling the provision of location specific climate information. This is part of the larger need to enhance capacity at all levels of climate services including salient forecast development, comprehensible communication products/methods, and end user engagement. This challenge also includes improving observing networks, conducting roving seminars (similar to METAGRI) with farmers and training them in data collection as well as incorporating local knowledge into the climate services development (Hansen et al 2011).In addition to access, the credibility of climate information is improved through cooperation of both scientific and non-scientific organizations in the delivery of such information (Jost 2013). This highlights the need for integrating services from multiple sources and stakeholders. A participatory approach to developing communications solutions was proposed, with special attention to gender challenges in communications.Opportunities to meet the previously mentioned communication challenges include the establishment of governmental contracts with cell phone companies for the provision of effective information services, and enhanced utilization of local radio and ICTs. Publicprivate partnerships in ICT, an approach that has found success in South Asia, were also suggested to help create demand and reduce the costs for usage in extension systems.Utilization of multiple channels of communication, and innovative uses of communications intermediaries, can also help overcome ICT cost constraints. This method would work towards multiple stakeholder engagement and the building of a diverse information base.To address the communications gap between agro-climatic information producers and users, a participatory approach involving farmers was proposed, with special attention to gender challenges in communications. For example, the working groups recognized that understanding social differentiation broadly is important, but in particular, crops and tasks should be considered by gender in order to understand the relevance of climate information services to different groups. Researchers and extension workers should also be attentive to information channels, languages, and the particularities of participatory group processes, which may impact whether dialogues with farmers should be conducted in separate groups (Tall 2013). Currently in West Africa, innovative programs address these issues, such as the Jokko Initiative of the Community Empowerment Program, which teaches the basics of SMS to women in communities before launching SMS communication applications (Jost 2013).Recognizing that developing improved methodologies to train farmers in the access and use of climate services should go hand in hand with improving the delivery systems, the working group proposed an activity around \"capacity-building\" to create sustainable conditions for enabling actors in West Africa to supply and effectively use climate services. Through a focus on participatory development of solutions and mobilization of trained local intermediaries, the project will help to introduce technologies built upon farmers' indigenous knowledge systems and existing social groups and networks to enhance ownership and sustainability. Potential methods to be employed include sensitization seminars and collaboration with known institutes on agrometeorological services and knowledge in capacity building for the purposes of knowledge transfer (Tall et al. 2013). Additionally, recent research has shown that since facilitated group interaction appears to be the most effective method to communicate seasonal forecast information in a way that farmers can use, climate information should ideally be a routine part of agricultural extension services where they are functional (Hansen et al. 2011).South Asia, home to more than 23% of the world's population, has shown tremendous progress in last four decades in food production and availability, yet 1/4 of the world's hungry and 40% of the world's malnourished children and women live here. An increasingly erratic climate and the rapid pace of other drivers of change are overwhelming indigenous knowledge and traditional coping practices of farming communities in South Asia.The region is prone to climatic risks such as floods, droughts, cyclones, heat waves; and these are projected to increase. The coastal regions are projected to face increasing salinity and sea level rise, whereas changes in rainfall and in glacier flows will make irrigation more variable• Create appropriate mechanisms to promote greater interaction between smallholder farmers, agricultural research agencies, and NMHSs in the generation of climate information and its dissemination.• Develop more robust infrastructure and capacity of NMHSs through increased national, regional and international collaboration, to enable them to provide more effective climate services.• Identify appropriate ICT tools, and make better use of them for more effective and efficient dissemination of climate information for smallholder farmers.• Build the capacity of smallholder farmers, women, poor and socially marginalized groups to use ICT tools.• Strengthen collaboration between different agencies involved in the production and communication of climate services through better networking and improved institutional frameworks.and uncertain. The majority of the farmers in South Asia are smallholder farmers and the rate of growth in agricultural productivity in the region is slow. Thus, agricultural priorities in the region appropriately include increasing production, reducing inequities, enhancing stability in the face of climate variability, and increasing resource use efficiency.In the face of increasing uncertainty, climate information and advisory services offer great potential to inform farmer decision-making, improve management of climate-related agricultural risk, and help farmers adapt to climate change. In this context, the limitations of supply-driven approaches to providing climate information have fuelled a push to scale up more effective methods of supporting farmers' livelihoods with climate information services by building and responding to demand.Overall the South Asia region includes many areas of advanced climate services development as well as sectors where a solid foundation of services can be utilized for the purposes of to plant, when to apply pesticides and fertilizers), and inform management of climate-related risks throughout the season.While attending the Saly, workshop, the South Asia (SA) working group members reflected on implementing a future case study on India's proven model for forecasting and advisories, the AAS, as a source of guidance for developing similar programs in the region. The SA group recognized the potential to exploit AAS innovations in combining ICTs (e.g., SMS and voice messages) and human interaction platforms (rural extension centres, national extension services as well as NGOs), with lessons that are transferable across South Asia, as countries share similar ecological regions.In other South Asian countries, similar support efforts are currently underway. For example, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) maintains a network of surface and upper air observatories, radar, satellite stations and agro-meteorological observatories, etc. The Meteorological Department maintains the database and has digitized all the 60 years of meteorological data collected at 35 meteorological observatories. The BMD then uses these data to issue one-month long-range forecasts for agricultural planning and 10-day agrometeorological forecasts for regular agricultural operations (Ramakrishna, 2013).The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Asia and Africa (RIMES)serves as an additional regional hub for climate forecasting capacity building. RIMES supports climate services in Bangladesh through rainfall-based flood forecasting using the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) deterministic forecast data. Further support can be seen though the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) research programs that are currently developing methods and information sharing networks for climate data in Bangladesh. WMO is also supporting countrywide climate service development with a focus on agro-meteorological observation systems; agro-meteorological data management; weather forecasts and agro-meteorological products; agro-meteorological advisory services; information communication; human resource development and capacity building (Ramakrishna, 2013).Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) is responsible for weather data collection and forecasting management. They are currently undertaking an initiative to make climate data available to users through published reports, bulletins and computer media outputs. It is noted that the infrastructure is currently lacking throughout the country.Although there is not a special entity in Nepal that produces agro-advisories at the national or local levels, some organizations such as the Argo Enterprise Centre are currently monitoring all aspects of agricultural production including market, financial, and other information that is relevant for the farming community (Ramakrishna, 2013).Another program in Nepal with scale up potential currently operates under the National Information Technology structure and is linked to the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).Under this project, agricultural advisories are being issued through telephone or through the Internet in 21 villages in the eastern portion of the country (Ramakrishna, 2013).On a much larger scale the Finish government has been working in Nepal since 2010 under the Institutional Cooperation Instrument (ICI) in an effort to modernize Nepalese weather services and train weather department personnel. In addition, both the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) and RIMES have been assisting the country through the application of weather forecasts from ECMWF data through monsoon forums and seasonal forecast applications (Ramakrishna, 2013).The Building Resilience to Climate Hazards (BRCH) project between the Government of Nepal and the World Bank, signed on 30 April 2013, aims to transition Nepal's NMHS into a modern service-oriented system that will build resilience today as well as adaptive capacity for the future. It intends to enhance government capacity to mitigate climate-related hazards by improving the accuracy and timeliness of weather and flood forecasts and warnings for climate-vulnerable communities. An Agriculture Management Information System (AMIS) is being established by the project to provide critical and timely agro-climate and weather information to farmers in an easily understandable language in order to increase productivity of main crops such as rice, wheat, maize, pulses, sugarcane, potatoes as well as livestock and enhance the ability of farmers to reduce losses from meteorological and hydrological hazards.In South Asia CCAFS focuses on the Indo-Gangetic Plains, including India, Nepal, The preparation and dissemination of agricultural advisories is at different stages of development across the South Asian region. Countries like India and Bangladesh have made considerable progress in developing their agricultural advisory networks and extension systems in reaching the farmers through the Internet and mobile phones. In these advanced countries, the major concern is the content of these agricultural advisories and their usefulness in minimizing the climate risks and increasing agricultural production. Meanwhile, agricultural advisory services in other countries in the region, including Nepal, are still in preliminary stages of growth (Ramakrishna 2013).One area that the SA group singled out as a gap in delivery is the fact that agrometeorological infrastructure, services, and human capacity are still inadequate and unevenly distributed across the region (Tall et al. 2013). Since agriculture is the main livelihood in South Asia, there is an urgent need to strengthen agro-meteorological services everywhere (Ramakrishna 2013).Insufficient infrastructure and poor institutional linkages constrain the potential of ICTs for delivery of climate information and agro-meteorological advisories to farmers. Leveraging the full potential of information delivery for climate services to smallholder farmers, particularly agro-meteorological advisories through ICT tools, will require significant improvements in supporting infrastructure, content development, client targeting and development of farmers' skills and a suitable policy environment.The structure and ability of district-level agricultural officers in providing crop cycle and pest/disease status information is uncertain for many of the SA nations. Likewise the exchange of information between AMFUs and agricultural department officials is considered weaker than necessary for accurate advisory delivery. In addition, weather-based advisories are not currently scaled down in a robust fashion for district level smallholder farmers (Ramakrishna 2013).Crop-specific agricultural advisories can be very limited or totally absent, except in regions where rice, cotton or wheat is a predominant crop over a large area and crop status information is available. Also, advisories are not specific to different types of farmers such as progressive, marginal and small farmers (Ramakrishna 2013).The two major gaps in forecast and advisory services appear to stem from the fact that the evaluation system of AAS in Bangladesh and Nepal is not clear. The mode of collection of information on crops, growth stage, pest status etc., and its use in the preparation of AAS by AMFUs is also not clearly defined. Similarly, the role of agricultural research organizations in providing research information on crop-weather relationships for crops grown in different agro-climatic regions and its use in AAS, is not well developed (Ramakrishna 2013).The production and delivery of climate forecasts needs further regional development in South Asia in addition to agro-advisories. Research has shown that there are gaps in both the collection of data, construction, and dissemination of these forecasts. This includes, but is not limited to, the inclusion of the previously mentioned downscaled climate data in order to make forecasts more relevant at the local level for smallholder farmers (Ramakrishna 2013).Forecasts for smaller countries like Nepal do not contain concrete information or advice on any of agricultural operations to be taken up by farmers. It simply gives a forecast for next two days. The agricultural advisories by these countries thus need to be more focused and prepared separately, indicating the appropriate response for farmers cultivating specific crops, taking into account forecast weather and the phenological stage of the crop. Further, agricultural advisories, at present, are issued by agro-climatic zone in many of these countries.There is a need to further expand the advisory network to smaller regions (district/block level)for better services to the local farming communities (Ramakrishna 2013, pg. 47).Finally, South Asian forecasts currently issued by NMHS often do not predict extreme weather events, thus putting farmers at greater risk for crop damage and loss. Therefore, there is a need to improve the predictability of extreme events and their impacts on different cropgrowth stages (Ramakrishna 2013).To overcome these gaps, the working group identified the creation of appropriate mechanisms to promote greater interaction between smallholder farmers, agricultural research agencies, and NMHSs in the generation of climate information and its dissemination as a requirement.This will be further strengthened by the development of more robust infrastructure and capacity of NMHSs through increased national, regional and international collaboration for the provision of more effective climate services.The working group also highlighted the need for climate information communication services that are appropriately identified, utilized, and disseminated for smallholder farmers. Building on this concept, there should be an effort to identify appropriate ICT tools and make better use of them for more effective and efficient dissemination of climate information for smallholder farmers. Further, efforts to build the capacity of smallholder farmers, women, poor and socially marginalized groups in the use of ICT tools were recommended. Ultimately, for these ideas to come to fruition, there needs to be a concerted effort to strengthen cooperation and collaboration between different agencies involved in the production and communication of climate services through better networking and improved institutional frameworks.If this framework can be effectively constructed then there should be an increase in smallholder farmer productivity and a reduction in climate vulnerability. This achievement will result in smallholder farmers being better empowered in the use of climate information.Through the development process, the appropriate mechanisms will be established for greater interaction of NMHSs with the stakeholders as well as a greater understanding of the appropriate climate information needs of smallholder farmers by NHMSs and improved feedback from the users/stakeholders. All of these outcomes will ultimately lead to improved livelihoods of the smallholder farmers in South Asia.Despite the large differences in country baselines, Africa and South Asia face many of the same challenges in scaling-up climate services for smallholder farmers. A number of Saly workshop participants held a secondary meeting at the Proposal Writing and Planning Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya to formulate a plan towards developing cross-regional approach to these issues. The premise of this meeting was that a large majority of smallholder farmers can improve their incomes through sharing knowledge, successes and failures; encouraging one another; and promoting joint efforts by bringing together key players at the sub-regional and regional levels.Workshop participants noted that there is a growing volume of climate products and services that can help farmers improve upon their agricultural output. With the rapid advances in numerical modelling and the improved availability of data, the reliability of climate forecasts on the sub-seasonal to seasonal scales has improved. However, such climate products and services are not disseminated in a timely and understandable manner to the end users. In addition, farmers have limited interaction with NMHSs. Availability of such improved climate products and services that address pertinent seasonal weather and climate challenges will help the farmers plan their agricultural activities and achieve improved agricultural productivity, enhanced farm incomes and better livelihoods.In addition, weak agricultural extension services and poor communication infrastructure remain as some of the main barriers in the provision of weather and climate information and their application to smallholder farmers. Sharing experiences of Farmers Associations across Africa and South Asia could help take appropriate steps to address this problem at the national level.This Cross-regional group took the approach of breaking the workshop into two parallel but separate working groups. The first analysed how to reduce climate vulnerabilities and improve resilience of smallholder farmers by providing climate and weather services through scaling up of integrated and sustainable approaches. The second addressed inter-regional capacity building initiatives for improved climate services for farmers.The first working groups' objectives are based on the delivery of climate services to smallholder farmers in the affected regions. They have identified three major objectives for an integrated cross-regional system of climate information services:• Relevant institutions that are currently working closely with farmers (e.g. extension, NGOs, CBOs, farmer organizations, private sector, agricultural research), in collaboration with the NMHS, provide climate information and services in a flexible, integrated, and sustainable manner.• Rural households across multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa have access to climate information that they can effectively utilize for planning and managing their livelihood and agricultural production activities.• Determine the effectiveness of services provided in reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptive capacity partly through understanding how farmers and other key actors have responded to information and services, including how decision making has been influenced. Identify key lessons for scaling up, including institutional and policy arrangements that have greatest influence on success.The second working group focused on capacity building activities at different levels to promote the understanding of weather and climate information and applications. They established the following five key objectives for this capacity building aspect of the crossregional approach to scal up climate services:• Identify and address knowledge and capability gaps using and sharing regionally situated expertise in Africa and South Asia to improve smallholder farmers' resilience to climate variability and climate change.• Strengthen or improve capacities of professional experts in developing countries of Africa and South Asia through the establishment of linkages for capacity building with appropriate regional centres and institutions.• Enhance improved applications of science and technology through its incorporation in all training initiatives of rural and local intermediaries.• Establish regional networks that link farmers' knowledge and practices across countries and regions to enhance knowledge sharing and content development that is demanddriven and need-based.• Promote social equity (gender, class and age) at all levels in the provision of climate services to farmers.Together the two working groups concluded that developing a strong network of farmers and climate services across the regions of both Africa and South Asia will provide a platform for recognizing gaps, identifying best practices, and thus establishing robust programs that benefit smallholder farmers. This will ultimately lead to better farmer decision-making and increase resilience in the face of ever changing environmental conditions.The Saly, Senegal workshop on \"Scaling Up Climate Services for Farmers in Africa and South Asia\" began a process of mobilizing communities of practice in each region, and also across regions, for enhancing the provision of climate services for farmers. The follow-up Proposal Writing and Planning Workshops and competitive small grants proposal process articulated shared visions for strengthening climate services within and across regions, and identified gaps and priorities for future investment (Table 1). Working groups from the four regions placed emphasis on improving the scientific capacity of NMHSs to develop locationspecific seasonal climate forecasts, and enhancing institutional frameworks for collaboration between the different agencies involved in producing and communicating climate information. The Eastern and Southern Africa working group also emphasized the coproduction of climate services with farmers, and the importance of assessing the added value of climate services in disaster risk reduction and enhancement of agricultural productivity.The West Africa working group prioritized development specific communications mechanisms for reaching marginalized groups, including rural radio and ICTs, and training farmers in the access and use of climate services. Building on the region's existing strength in ICTs, the South Asia group emphasized efforts to identify appropriate ICT tools and build the capacity of smallholder farmers, women, poor and socially marginalized groups for accessing and utilizing climate information services.   ","tokenCount":"5923"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1279855283.json b/data/part_1/1279855283.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcc2309480a01cc330eb07badeeb9c2f35da948b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1279855283.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82fb4855cc16181447251e73b659a873","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d4c0caea-f3c0-425f-8b9b-9b72e6cdab82/content","id":"405340235"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2b75bf38-fafd-4a36-9e4b-bde6886b0ee0","pagecount":"11","content":"Waxy maize (Zea mays L. var. certaina Kulesh), with many excellent characters in terms of starch composition and economic value, has grown in China for a long history and its production has increased dramatically in recent decades. However, the evolution and origin of waxy maize still remains unclear. We studied the genetic diversity of Chinese waxy maize including typical landraces and inbred lines by SSR analysis and the results showed a wide genetic diversity in the Chinese waxy maize germplasm. We analyzed the origin and evolution of waxy maize by sequencing 108 samples, and downloading 52 sequences from GenBank for the waxy locus in a number of accessions from genus Zea. A sharp reduction of nucleotide diversity and significant neutrality tests (Tajima's D and Fu and Li's F*) were observed at the waxy locus in Chinese waxy maize but not in nonglutinous maize. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Chinese waxy maize originated from the cultivated flint maize and most of the modern waxy maize inbred lines showed a distinct independent origin and evolution process compared with the germplasm from Southwest China. The results indicated that an agronomic trait can be quickly improved to meet production demand by selection.Waxy maize (Zea mays L. var. certain Kulesh) is a special cultivated type of maize, and was first discovered in China in 1908 and then in other Asian countries [1][2][3][4]. Waxy maize, with nearly 100% amylopectin in endosperm, is mainly used as food in Asia, and is also an important raw material for food industries, textiles, paper-making and feedstuff worldwide because of its excellent characters in terms of starch composition and economic value [5]. Despite waxy maize was first discovered in China, the origin and evolution of waxy maize is still an enigma [6][7][8][9][10][11].There are abundant waxy maize landraces in China, most of which distribute in Southwestern China, particularly in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi [5,7]. Yunnan is an original area of many important plant species with high genetic diversity. Several studies have suggested that Chinese waxy maize originated from Yunnan and Guangxi according to morphology, karotype, isozymes and DNA markers [3,10,[12][13][14]. There is a wide genetic diversity of waxy maize in agronomic traits such as plant height, maturity, economic characters, resistance to insects and diseases and yield components in those regions [5]. With simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers, comparative analysis of genetic diversity in landraces of waxy maize from Yunnan and Guizhou concluded that both Yunnan and Guizhou would be the center of diversity and origin for waxy maize [10].According to plant morphology, geographical distribution and biological characters, combined with historical data and folklore, waxy maize was considered to be derived from one single gene mutant from flint corn [5]. However, in 1970, a landrace (termed Four-row Wax due to only four rows of seed set in the cob) was collected from Menghai County, Yunnan Province, which has been planted by the local Dai minority since 1890 and is a primitive cultivar with many characters similar to that of wild species [3,15]. The C-band pattern and karyotype of waxy maize were similar to popcorn, and the latter was considered as the oldest type of maize [16]. In the isozyme patterns of malic dehydrogenase, Chinese waxy maize has six bands as the same as that of Coix, suggesting that the origin of waxy maize might be related to Coix [6]. All these studies have made the origin and evolution of waxy maize more mysterious.The glutinous phenotype in maize has been shown to be resulted from a dramatic reduction in synthesis of amylose because of mutations or insertions in the waxy gene, which locates on the short arm of chromosome 9 and encodes a granule-bound starch synthase in maize [11,[17][18]. The DNA sequence of the wild type waxy locus was determined in 1980s in maize and is composed of 14 exons (Fig. 1) [18]. Recently, waxy sequences have been determined in a number of accessions from Zea lineage [4,[19][20][21][22].In maize, several genes such as ae1, tb1 and Y1 have been shown to be under strong selection. In rice, the origin of glutinous rice is associated with reduced genetic variation [23], and a selective sweep of about 250 kb in the waxy genomic region was observed [24]. However, there were several contrary reports on selection of waxy gene in maize [11,[20][21][22]. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether a same strong selection in waxy genomic region has happened under domestication in Chinese waxy maize.With the development of molecular systematics, comparison of DNA sequence variation between closely related species has provided insight into the amount of divergence between sibling species, and the ancestral population size of sibling species [25]. Tian et al determined the systematical position of waxy maize in genus Zea and confirmed the relationship among waxy maize, normal maize and progenitor of maize [22].In recent decades, waxy maize production has increased dramatically especially in the developed areas in Southeast China. It was difficult for breeders to utilize the waxy maize landraces because of their undesirable agronomic traits. Many adapted waxy maize lines have been developed for hybrid production through different selection methods [26]. The unclear relationship between these elite waxy maize lines and old landraces makes the understanding of origin and evolution of waxy maize more complicated.In this study, we first used SSR markers to study the genetic diversity of Chinese waxy maize including landraces and inbred lines; we then sampled waxy sequences from 108 maize accessions including 89 waxy and 19 nonglutinous ones and compared with data of waxy sequences downloaded from GenBank to study the systematic position of Chinese waxy maize in genus Zea, and investigate the origin and dynamics of population evolution for Chinese waxy maize.A set of 165 accessions of Chinese waxy maize including typical landraces and inbred lines were chosen at random and analyzed for the genetic diversity with SSR markers. DNA was extracted employing a modified CTAB procedure [27]. We used the set of 20 SSR markers downloaded from MaizeGDB (http://www. maizegdb.org), two from each chromosome (Table 1). PCR conditions and protocols were according to Bassam et al [28]. SSRs were multiplexed for a maximum efficiency. Fragments were separated using acrylamide gels run. The PIC for each marker was determined as described by Smith et al [29]. Allele identity was used for cluster analysis using NTSYS-pc Version 2.1 with UPGMA method to evaluate the genetic diversity [30].Amylopectin content was determined according to the National Standards of the People's Republic of China, GB 7648-87 (China Standard Press 1987).Eighty-nine diverse accessions of Chinese waxy maize, 16 accessions of flint maize and 3 accessions of sweet maize, including landraces and inbred lines, were selected for amplification and determination of the sequences of the waxy genes (Table 2). The landraces were mainly collected from Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, where Chinese waxy maize was believed to originate. The inbred lines were mainly collected from Shandong, Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang where waxy maize production has increased quickly in recent decades. Accessions were sequenced at waxy locus. Primers for two overlapping regions for exon 8-12 (P-F1: 59 GATTTCATCGACGGGTCTGT -39 and P-R1: 59-TCTGTCCCTCTCGTCAGGAT -39) and exon 11-14 (P-F2: 59-ATCCTGACGAGAGGGACAGA -39 and P-R2: 59-CACC-GAACAGCAGGGATTAT -39) were designed based on conserved regions of the B73 genomic sequence (AF488416). All primers were designed using Primer3 [31]. PCR products were purified with glass milk kit (BioDev Company, China) and were sequenced on both strands using an Applied Biosystems 3730 sequencer with the forward and reverse primers. The alignments were done with DNASTAR (DNASTAR Inc., 2001) and checked manually.Genetic diversity at waxy gene locus from a wide range of maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and its wild relatives (Z. mays ssp. mexicana, hereafter mexicana, and Z. mays ssp parviglumis, hereafter parviglumis) had been investigated in previous studies [20,[32][33][34][35], and their sequences were downloaded from GenBank (http://blast.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) as comparison in this study. The sampled accessions were classified into eight populations according to their endosperm texture, geographical origins or taxa (Table 2).Sequence analysis was performed, in part, with the program DNASP version 5.10.01 [36,37]. The average pairwise nucleotide diversity p and Watterson's estimator of h, an estimate of 4N e m, where N e is the effective population size and m is the mutation rate per nucleotide, were calculated for genetic diversity [38,39]. The Tajima's D and Li & Fu's D* and F* were tested for deviation from the neutral equilibrium model of evolution using the tests of Tajima, and Fu and Li [40,41]. Recombination rates were estimated with the methods developed by Hudson et al and Hey et al [42,43].Neighbour-joining (NJ) phylogenies based on the Kimura 2parameter distance matrix were generated by MEGA version 4.0 to reconstruct the gene tree using waxy gene data [44]. One thousand bootstrap replicates were used to assess confidence in the phylogeny.We chose 165 accessions of Chinese waxy maize including landraces and inbred lines and analyzed for the genetic diversity with SSR markers. A total of 104 alleles were found at the 20 SSR loci, with a range of 2 to 8 alleles per marker. The average alleles per marker across genotypes were 5.2, which were higher than that (3.7) reported by Wu et al using 16 waxy maize landraces and 61 SSR markers [9]. The PIC values for the 20 SSR loci ranged from 0.41 to 0.84, with an average of 0.70. This is consistent with the results of Xue et al., who reported an average PIC value of 0.64 for 184 maize inbred lines including 111 common and 73 waxy inbreds [45]. The average PIC value in combination with the high number of alleles indicates presence of a wide genetic diversity in the Chinese waxy maize germplasm used in this study.Cluster analysis of 165 waxy maize lines was conducted based on genetic similarities from SSR data with UPGMA method. UPGMA analysis grouped the 165 lines into groups A, B and C (Fig. 2), which was generally consistent with their known pedigree information and breeder's experience. The landraces collected from Southwest China such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, and some of inbred lines collected from Northern China formed one group (group A), of which the Southwest Chinese waxy maize land races formed a subgroup. Most of the inbred lines collected from Yangtse River delta including Shanghai and Zhejiang formed one group (group B). Most of the inbred lines collected from North and East China including Shandong, Henan and Beijing formed the group C. The results indicated that most of the modern waxy inbred lines seemed to have little relationship with the Southwest Chinese waxy maize landraces, which were regarded as the origin of Chinese waxy maize [3,[12][13][14]. It would be very helpful to choose the most genetically distant lines for waxy maize genetic study and hybridization breeding based on grouping of waxy maize germplasm.We examined DNA sequence variation in about 1,750 bp region of waxy gene in 89 Chinese waxy, 16 flint and 3 sweet maize accessions, of which 72 nucleotides were variable (Table 3).High amylopectin content (.95%) was observed in the 89 Chinese waxy accessions (Table S1). Waxy sequence data for 52 accessions from maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and its wild relatives (mexicana and parviglumis) were downloaded from GenBank and used as comparison in this study [20,[32][33][34][35]. Different accessions within each taxon or population showed an apparent difference in genetic variation at waxy locus (Table 3). Average pairwise nucleotide diversity, p, in the nonglutinous maize was more than 3-fold higher than that in the waxy accessions. The waxy maize from East China, mainly being modern waxy maize inbred lines, contained the minimum level of variation among all sampled taxa or populations. The estimate of p for waxy maize from East China was 66.0%, 12.7%, 19.9%, 13.1%, 6.1% and 7.0% of that for waxy maize accessions from Southwest China, flint maize from China, sweet maize from China, flint maize from America, parviglumis and mexicana, respectively. Similarly, h and k were lower in the waxy maize compared to others samples. The reduction in genetic diversity at waxy locus in waxy maize suggested that Chinese waxy maize experienced a genetic bottleneck during its improvement, especially in modern waxy maize breeding. The Tajima's D and Li & Fu's D* and F* were tested for deviation from the neutral equilibrium model of evolution based on Tajima, and Fu and Li [40,41]. Estimates of D, D* and F* were different within each taxon or population (Table 3). All three tests identified a significantly negative selection on the waxy gene in both waxy subpopulations, but not in any nonglutinous subpopulation or taxon, which suggests that strong selection in improvement has acted on the locus in the Chinese waxy population. The negative selection in East Chinese waxy maize accessions, which mainly consist of modern waxy maize inbred lines, was stronger than that in Southwest Chinese waxy maize accessions, which are landraces. The significant neutral deviation at this locus in the waxy population compared to the nonglutinous population is consistent with the sharp reduction in polymorphism.We estimated the minimum number of recombination events (Rm) within the samples of waxy maize sequences (Table 3). The recombination events were 0, 0, 6, 5, 8 and 2 for the waxy maize from Southwest China, waxy maize from East China, Chinese flint maize, American flint, parviglumis and mexicana accessions. High-frequency recombination appears to somewhat increase the sequence diversity at waxy locus.Based on the waxy sequences, we constructed a phylogenetic tree including Chinese waxy and other nonglutinous maize accessions by neighbor joint method (Fig. 3), which is helpful to elucidate their origins. The tree indicated that Chinese waxy maize were grouped two distinct independent branches, one mainly containing Southwest Chinese waxy maize and the other mainly East Chinese waxy maize. It suggests that the Chinese  waxy maize should have two independent origins and evolution processes.One subset of waxy maize sequences forms one distinct branch except one Chinese flint maize sequence SML137. This group contains most of the waxy maize inbred lines from East China and three landraces Baigengyumi, Huangnuoyumi and Gengbaidayumi. The remaining waxy maize accessions, which contained all other Southwest Chinese waxy landraces and some East Chinese waxy accessions, were mixed with several Chinese flint and America flint accessions. Two American waxy maize accessions (915B and 923A) formed a distinct group mixed with some American flint maize, which was different from Chinese waxy maize. The intermixing is reasonable and essential if waxy maize might be domesticated from flint maize.Three wild maize accessions (parviglumis AF292516, and mexicana AF292525 and AF079260) formed a distinct branch which is basal to the flint and waxy maize groups. On the other hand, two different branches were formed with flint maize, which were basal to the two different Chinese waxy maize groups. The results suggest that flint maize maybe be the ancestor of waxy maize, and wild maize relatives parviglumis or mexicana maybe be the ancestor of flint maize. This suggestion was consistent with the low nucleotide diversity in waxy maize compared to flint maize, parviglumis and mexicana.Due to the special dietary habit for glutinous food in China, selection in maize has been made for waxy phenotype with high amylopectin since the maize was introduced into China from the new world about 400 years ago [3]. Although there are abundant waxy maize landraces in south China such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, where were regarded as the origin of Chinese waxy maize [3,[12][13][14], they have seldom been used directly or indirectly in modern waxy maize breeding in recent decades [25]. Our study was a try to elucidate the relationship between modern waxy inbred lines and waxy maize landraces.The waxy mutants give rise to the waxy maize phenotype because the mutants hinder amylase synthesis leading to accumulate nearly 100% amylopectin in starch [25]. In our collection, high amylopectin content (.95%) was observed in the 89 Chinese waxy accessions sequenced by ourselves (Table S1). We tried to include the main typical landraces and inbred lines currently used for commercial production in China to reveal the genetic diversity of Chinese waxy maize in our study.Our SSR analysis have shown a wide genetic diversity in Chinese waxy maize accessions including landraces and inbred lines. It is also very interesting to find that the landraces collected from Southwest China formed a subgroup, indicating that most of the modern waxy inbred lines seemed to have little relationship with the Southwest Chinese landraces. A further study on DNA sequence variation at waxy locus for Chinese waxy maize and its wild relatives provided insight to the relationship between modern waxy inbred lines and waxy maize landraces, and information on the origin and dynamics of population evolution for Chinese waxy maize in genus Zea.It is commonly thought that crops are bereft of genetic variation compared to their wild relatives [46]. In our study, the Chinese waxy maize only contained 16.0%, 16.3%, 7.7% and 8.8% of sequence diversity in flint maize accessions from China, flint maize from America, parviglumis, and mexicana, respectively (Table 3). The decrease of genetic diversity at waxy locus was caused by only one possible reason that waxy gene experienced a genetic bottleneck and strong selection during its improvement, especially in modern waxy maize breeding, for waxy maize from Eastern China contained 66.0% of the sequence diversity in waxy maize from Southwest.Our test for deviation from neutrality revealed a significantly negative selection on the waxy gene in waxy maize, but not in normal maize and their wild relatives. On the other hand, the negative selection in Eastern Chinese waxy maize was stronger than that in Southwest Chinese waxy maize. The neutral test result is consistent with the sharp reduction in polymorphism at this locus in waxy maize compared to the normal maize and their wild relatives. The results suggest that strong selection in improvement has acted on the locus in the Chinese waxy maize.Resolving the issues related to the origin and evolution for a domesticated crop is a fascinating and challenging endeavor that requires the integration of botanical, archeological and genetic evidence [47][48][49]. Our data have provided us an explicit relationship among waxy maize, flint maize and the wild relatives for two reasons. First, in the phylogenetic tree, the sequences of Chinese waxy maize formed two groups which are mixed with several Chinese flint maize sequences, and two distinct branches formed with flint maize were basal to the two Chinese waxy maize groups. It showed that waxy maize undergoes the most recent divergence event from flint maize. Second, three wild maize accessions (parviglumis AF292516, and mexicana AF292525 and AF079260) formed a distinct branch which is basal to the flint and waxy maize groups. The results suggest that wild maize relatives parviglumis or mexicana maybe be the ancestor of flint maize.It seems difficult to explain the observation that the intermixture of two subspecies (parviglumis and mexicana) formed a basal branch in the phylogenetic tree, given that these two subspecies do not grow sympatrically [49,[50][51][52]. There are two possible explanations: (1) there is a long distance dispersal from parviglumis to mexicana populations; (2) the gene pools of the two subspecies were diverged too late to be fully differentiated. The first explanation seems unlikely but cannot be excluded. The second explanation seems more likely, given that the gene pools of mexicana, parviglumis and maize differ more in allele frequencies than by allele presence/absence. The result is consistent with the observation of Fukunaga et al [51]. Of course, this viewpoint needs to be supported by more molecular evidences.Tian et al concluded that Southwest China origin for waxy maize is consistent with local cultural practices [5]. In the past, only in Southwest China does waxy maize attain the importance of a staple crop. Ethnographic studies suggest that waxy maize cultivation is associated with upland agriculture in Southwest China. Indeed, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi in Southwest China are referred to as ''the genetic diversity centre'' for waxy maize, reflecting the importance of waxy maize to the economy and culture of the area. In recent decades, waxy maize production has increased dramatically especially in the developed areas of Southeast China. Many waxy maize germplasm and new inbred lines have been developed for hybrid production through genetic improvement [26]. Our study suggests that most of the modern waxy maize germplasm showed a distinct, independent origin and evolution compared with the germplasm in Southwest China. The results indicate that an agronomic trait can be quickly improved to meet production demand by artificial selection. It is reasonable to speculate that production demand plays a critical role in crop genetic improvement and can speed the artificial selection and evolution at a target gene locus.","tokenCount":"3412"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1285298800.json b/data/part_1/1285298800.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..90341be4b1e6d86e7fd49a663cb3ff5a88196f9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1285298800.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62d2bfc57e6cae83c1da0152040dda16","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/31cdb706-3e95-4216-82aa-84aeac8feea0/content","id":"644594933"},"keywords":["climate change","trans-disciplinary networks","rice-based systems","South and Southeast Asia"],"sieverID":"a164c644-be98-478c-8ebd-a6aa382d7839","pagecount":"16","content":"Climate change will continue to have a largely detrimental impact on the agricultural sector worldwide because of predicted rising temperatures, variable rainfall, and an increase in extreme weather events. Reduced crop yields will lead to higher food prices and increased hardship for low income populations, especially in urban areas. Action on climate change is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 13) and is linked to the Paris Climate Agreement. The research challenge posed by climate change is so complex that a trans-disciplinary response is required, one that brings together researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in networks where the lines between \"research\" and \"development\" become deliberately blurred. Fostering such networks will require researchers, throughout the world, not only to work across disciplines but also to pursue new South-North and South-South partnerships incorporating policy-makers and practitioners. We use our diverse research experiences to describe the emergence of such networks, such as the Direct Seeded Rice Consortium (DSRC) in South and Southeast Asia, and to identify lessons on how to facilitate and strengthen the development of trans-disciplinary responses to climate change.Climate change remains among the most potent challenges to agricultural development. It undermines productive capacity and disrupts food markets [1]. Food supply is affected through climate variability and shocks that negatively affect productivity. Apart from the unfavorable longterm primary and secondary impacts of global climate change on agriculture and human development [2][3][4][5], a more immediate concern is the increase of extreme events such as droughts and floods [6][7][8]. Small-scale farmers in the tropics are particularly vulnerable because they often farm marginal land [9][10] and have limited adaptive capacity. Therefore, it is critical to build resilience of food production systems to climate change for both increased food security, poverty reduction and enhanced social equity.The urgency of addressing these issues is underscored by modeling evidence predicting significant decline in crop yields by 2030 [11]. Climate extremes may exceed critical thresholds for agriculture; thus, effective mechanisms to reduce production risk will be needed. Given this background, actions to transform agriculture in response to climate change are critical. Moreover, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action also needs to address gender equity and socially-inclusive development [12,13].A recent comment in Nature Climate Change [14] noted that the research challenges posed by climate change are so complex that a trans-disciplinary response is required, bringing together networks of researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers. Fostering such networks will require researchers not only to work across disciplines but also to pursue new South-North and South-South partnerships. The authors also added that in the area of climate change research, there has been \"a near whole-sale shift toward applied science, and a recognition that scientists must engage in messy and complex processes of policy development\" [14].The agricultural research-for-development (AR4D) community posits that specific technologies and innovation practices will enable farmers to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. One set of innovations relates to climate-smart agriculture (CSA), which has emerged as an approach to transform and reorient agricultural systems to achieve food and livelihood security under climate change. CSA is a set of guiding principles for farmers to adapt to growing natural resource constraints and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions [15,16]. CSA is defined by three objectives: (i) increasing agricultural productivity to support increased incomes, food security, and development; (ii) increasing adaptive capacity and resilience to climate variability at multiple levels (from farm to nation); and (iii) decreasing greenhouse gas emissions where possible and appropriate [17].CSA includes, but is not limited to, climate-adapted crop varieties, and crop and land management practices that enhance resource-use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as site-specific nutrient management, laser land leveling, resource efficient tillage and crop establishment methods, and efficient water management. Scaling or widespread farmer uptake of CSA is challenging. The traditional linear approach for technology development and transfer involves upstream research institutions that engage in scientific discovery and proof-of-concepts, which once validated, are handed over to downstream practitioners for piloting, who in turn transfer technologies and products to extension services who pass them to farmers. The focus has now shifted to the facilitation of learning and joint action in multi-stakeholder settings, often in relation to innovation systems [17]. In this context, an active and continuous reassessment of the necessary field conditions, genotypes, agronomic management practices, and enabling policies calls for a continual stream of validated upstream research products suitable for downstream adoption and adaptation.We use our combined and diverse experiences from climate change research in South and Southeast Asia to illustrate ways to foster trans-disciplinary research teams and to pursue South-North and South-South partnerships. We do not suggest that what follows is a blueprint for fostering and sustaining trans-disciplinary responses, but rather an example of an approach that can be readily adapted to different circumstances. This introductory Section 1 is followed by Section 2 that describes the building of interdisciplinary climate change research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), an international agricultural research-for-development (AR4D) organization based in the Philippines and with country offices throughout Asia. In Section 3, we describe some of the South-North and South-South trans-disciplinary partnerships that have been established in South and Southeast Asia as part of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and transformation efforts. Finally, in Section 4, we draw lessons from our experiences.South Asia and Southeast Asia are priority regions for climate action largely because of the predicted impact on the production of rice: the main staple in these regions [18]. Chronic and sporadic water shortages, coupled with flooding, could derail the impressive rate of economic growth in South and Southeast Asia over the last few decades, with direct and adverse negative effects on the livelihoods of farmers and other value chain actors relying on rice production. Data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT; http://www.emdat.be/database), show that extreme climate events (e.g., droughts, floods, storms, and typhoons) have occurred more frequently in the last twenty years (1999-2018) than the previous two decades (1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) in rice-producing countries of Southeast and South Asia.Drought is one of the constraints to rice production in South and Southeast Asia where approximately 23 million ha of rice (20% of total rice area) are mostly in rain-fed areas [19]. Flooding is also a major threat. Although rice can thrive when its roots are subjected to flooding, it cannot survive prolonged submergence. Energy reserves are rapidly exhausted when plant tissues respond through elongation when exposed to prolonged submergence. This can cause death within a matter of days [20]. At present, ~20 million ha of rice are prone to submergence caused by flash flooding, mostly in India and Bangladesh, partly due to cyclones but also because of increased river discharge due to increased precipitation in the watersheds. The most severe recent floods that affected Bangladesh were in 1988 and 1998 when 60% of the country was submerged [21].Another growing threat to Asia's rice-growing areas is sea level rise as a consequence of climate change [22]. River deltas in South and Southeast Asia are extremely vulnerable, a conclusion that is aggravated by recent findings that mean elevation of some deltas is much lower than previously estimated [18,23]. Asia hosts many huge river deltas where most of the population lives. The detrimental impact of sea level rise varies depending on local geography, population distribution, producers' resource endowments, and state of preparedness. Sea-level rise can lead to frequent and hazardous flooding, soil and water salinization, and coastal erosion. In some cases, the impacts may lead to a substantial loss of production capacity and habitat to the extent that agricultural-based climate change adaptation may not be sufficient. In response, people will have to migrate [24].Researchers have developed a plethora of CSA technologies and practices for Asia including drought-, submergence-, and saline-tolerant rice varieties, improved crop and land management practices, modeling approaches, and geospatial tools to assess damage from floods and droughts. CSA research brings together different people including those working on upstream genomic research, crop breeding, agronomy, social development, etc. In turn, these researchers are part of the complex impact pathway, the functioning of which ultimately determines whether CSA is developed, adopted, and adapted, and whether it leads to climate change adaptation and mitigation benefits in a transformative way. Examples of CSA for rice-based systems in Asia include the following.• Rice varieties tolerant to certain levels of drought, flooding, salinity, and heat.• Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) to mitigate CO2 emissions and achieve water savings.• Direct seeding of rice (DSR) as an alternative to puddled transplanted rice (PTR) to adapt to water shortages, to mitigate GHG emissions, and to address labor shortages. • Laser land leveling and sustainable water management practices that reduce GHG emissions and increases water efficiency. • Sustainable rice straw value chains that reduce straw burning and GHG emissions.• Site-specific nutrient management that enhances resource-use efficiency.• Geospatial tools to estimate rice production and assess damage from floods and droughts, providing data quickly to insurance schemes.• Integrated pest management (IPM) and weed management (IWM) practices to manage emerging insect-pest, disease, and weed problems. The process of putting CSA into practice does not follow a linear transfer-of-technology approach [25]. Increasingly, end-users (farmers and other value chain actors) are involved from the beginning of the research process even though not all are always adequately represented. For example, there is extensive evidence that women and other vulnerable social groups do not play a large role in influencing R4D priorities. This needs to be rectified because technologies are not \"neutral\" and their uptake can exacerbate social and gender inequalities [26]. However, CSA technologies can be targeted and implemented via context-specific and community-driven approaches to ensure greater gender and social equity [27].Adaptation to, and mitigation of, the effects of climate change are accelerated and are more effective through highly interdisciplinary research collaborations [14]. However, working across disciplines is rarely considered in a broader sense and is often manifested in a vertical axis, whereby practitioners of different but affiliated disciplines collaborate. For example, collaborations between a botanist and a biophysicist; a physiologist and a breeder; a pedologist and a water management expert or an economist and a policy specialist are common. Less common are collaborations between several disciplines, and when it happens it tends to be multi-disciplinary (different disciplines working together each relying on their disciplinary knowledge) rather than interdisciplinary (bringing together different disciplines and creating a comprehensive framework beyond one disciplinary perspective).Effective communication among researchers from different disciplines is challenging given the potential for different or conflicting interests and the fragmentary nature of scientific disciplinary language. Additionally, a growing emphasis in climate change research on applied science has left people working in upstream research feeling as though their research is increasingly disconnected from downstream application. Bringing research scientists together from different disciplines can perhaps be seen as the scientific equivalent of the Tower of Babel, in which effective communication is stymied by the absence of a common language.Our experience to date is that the lack of effective communication amongst different disciplinary researchers arises more from a lack of forums in which researchers come together to identify commonalities than it does from the absence of a common language. Regular open and frank discussions allow for a greater appreciation of a particular discipline's key function in an impact pathway. This can encourage continuous reassessment of the necessary genotypes, agronomic management practices, livelihood analyses and enabling policies for climate change adaptation, mitigation, and transformation. This contributes to a continual stream of validated upstream research products suitable for downstream adoption and adaptation. It also allows for a greater appreciation of the relevance of different disciplines' contribution to climate change research and action.Improved plant resilience for yield under various climate regimes is a critical component of climate research. Advances have been made in basic upstream science that enable researchers to understand better the roles and relationships of molecules that make up cells of any organism, and to understand better plants and their performance. Omics refers to the collective technologies used to explore these molecules and enhance our understanding of plants and their performance. This understanding enhances the opportunities to design solutions for organismal responses to altered biophysical conditions such as drought, heat, and submergence in rice and other crops.Two considerations are important in dealing with molecular data. First, the obvious one that a molecule does not function in isolation and there is much value in identifying and understanding its network interactors. For example, a metabolite, such as a hormone, can affect various traits through its interaction networks [28]. The case for understanding interactors was recently highlighted by the discovery of a multi-gene quantitative trait locus (QTL) for rice yield under drought [29]. Further interactors with genes in this QTL, and at the genome level, were identified through omics studies [30].The second consideration is that the functionality of a molecule may not be limited to a single function. Despite compelling cases of a single gene, protein or metabolite having a single function, multi-functionality of these biomolecules is becoming increasingly clear. For example, a gene can be spliced in variant forms of RNAs and spatio-temporally. Conditionally guided alternative splicing of the genes is now well known [31]. After translation into a protein, the same protein could function as a structural protein and/or as an enzyme [32].What is required is a concerted effort to elucidate the possible alternative functions. Just as good bioinformatics analyses of a gene can predict its alternative splice variants, the next level of in silico, in vitro and in vivo research is required to predict the various potential functions of a protein or a metabolite. Importantly, a preponderance of such data from microbiology should be considered and queried for higher organisms. Omics studies, down to ionomics, in mutant microbes can be a good starting point to look at the effect of changes in a single gene/protein/metabolite/ion, etc.Cell biology brings together multiple disciplines to advance its frontiers. The field that brings biology and microelectromechanical systems together is known as Biological MEMS (BioMEMS). It combines nanotechnology, mechanics, and cell biology. The field is already providing unique opportunities to study cell functions [33]. In effect, the history of scientific research has led us to a point of modeling life. From here, innovations in scaling upstream technologies are as important in understanding plant life and function towards food security as innovations in scaling the downstream products of agricultural research such as CSA.Drought-, saline-, and submergence-tolerant rice varieties are fundamental when it comes to climate risk management in rice-based systems in Asia. Plant breeding is the exercise of manipulating evolutionary biology to benefit agricultural systems. Central to the success of a breeding program is the generation of genetic variation and the evaluation of the resulting progeny in the environment of interest. Resource constraints on plant breeding programs demand that evaluation of selection candidates occurs only at a number of locations, which collectively serve as a representative sample of what is in reality a targeted population of environments [34][35][36]. Within this sample of environments, the ranking of breeding material results in selection decisions that move allele frequencies within breeding populations towards enhanced adaptation to the larger targeted population of environments.Change in allele frequencies over time, for quantitatively inherited traits, is the definition of evolution, and is one of the primary mechanisms that natural populations survive amid changing environments [37][38][39]. However, the speed with which evolutionary change drives change in allele frequencies is directly proportional to the generation interval of the population under selection. In other words, if climate change occurs quickly and a natural population reproduces too slowly, the species may soon face extinction.Breeding populations are subject to the same laws of quantitative inheritance as natural populations; however, to date, most of the effort to use plant breeding to combat climate change has focused on the creation of climate-ready varieties through classical molecular genetic approaches. This strategy usually involves the identification of a particular stress which is predicted to increase under current climate models (such as heat stress or drought stress) followed by a search of exotic germplasm for specific large effect genes capable of forming a stress-tolerant variety when backcrossed into a modern cultivar. Although this strategy has met with some success, as evidenced by the identification of stress tolerance genes in rice [40], these quantitative trait loci (QTL) generally do not fully explain the phenotypic variance for a trait, are usually rare, and are predicated on the assumption that the stresses under which the QTL was identified mirror the anticipated stresses imposed by climate change.To better leverage the power of quantitative genetics to ensure agricultural systems are robust to climate change, the scientific focus should expand beyond creating climate-ready varieties to include the design and the development of climate-ready breeding programs. Such a program is characterized by a rapid-cycle breeding strategy that imposes accurate selection on elite (but genetically variable) breeding populations as the climate changes [41]. Several key developments in breeding technologies in recent years have enabled this transformation to take place. Genomic selection, for example, is a strategy by which a DNA fingerprint can be used to borrow information from related lines to predict the value of a new untested breeding line [42].Taken together, and combined with a well-designed multi-location testing strategy, rapid recycling of breeding lines based on predicted performance of new material can impose selection on all genes at the same time by shifting their allele frequencies in ways that favor adaptation to the current climate. Rapid cycle recurrent selection in the most recent climate, as it changes, has the potential to fully leverage the natural ability of crop species to adapt to climate change. Climate-ready breeding programs are capable of delivering a steady stream of improved varieties to farmer's fields at the pace of climate change. This is because the last 3-5 years of breeding trial data are always informing and updating the selection of new breeding lines among thousands of candidates, ensuring that seed systems have access to well adapted and high performing new varieties.This system already exists among commercial breeding programs serving areas characterized by industrial agriculture. However, across the developing world, national agricultural research and extension organizations (NAREs) operate in relative isolation to one another and evaluate, at best, a few hundred new lines annually at relatively few testing locations and observe the performance of lines for many years before re-use as a parent to complete a full breeding cycle [43]. This has kept both selection intensity (number of new lines created) and selection accuracy (number of test sites) low, while increasing the number of years required to complete a breeding cycle.Enabling positive change in research for development towards climate-ready breeding programs will require strategic partnerships between advanced research institutes (ARIs) and NAREs. These networks must enable distributed testing across a global region, develop and transfer economical genotyping technology to enable genomic selection, and enable the proper analysis of genotype and phenotype data to make accurate predictions. They must also encourage the rapid recycling of parental material to ensure that the most recently adapted genetics are recycled as fast as the climate they are tested in is changing.Soils are a fundamental component of food crop production ecosystems, including rice-based systems. Soil management is critical to productivity levels and to sustainability of production systems over time. Lowland soils differ from upland soils, and often rice can be grown in these lowlands soils without the addition of fertilizer due to existing biological nitrogen fixation and enhanced availability of other soil nutrients, however, phosphorous yields remain low. As a result, nutrient management is considered critical for sustainable rice production and the attainment of high yields especially in the context of climate change. Overuse of fertilizers pollutes water sources and generates nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas [44].The authors of [45], in Japan, and the authors of [46], in China, observed increased rice yields under high atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide when nitrogen fertilizer was applied in large amounts. Similarly, a meta-analysis to evaluate two scenarios of climate change, i.e., elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide and elevated ozone concentration, showed increased rice yield by 12% with elevated carbon dioxide [47]. However, yields were lower when elevated carbon dioxide was imposed with low levels of nitrogen. These results demonstrate the need for nitrogen fertilization for rice production under climate change scenarios of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.The site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) approach developed in the 1990s to calculate field specific requirements for fertilizer nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for cereal crops based on scientific principles [48], offers climate change adaptation potential for rice. SSNM improved rice yields versus farmer practice, which is often based on blanket recommendations [48], while reducing fertilizer application in some situations [49]. The increase in grain yield while lower amounts of fertilizer are applied has been associated with increased timing of application, particularly for nitrogen, which aims to match critical demand of nitrogen at different growth stages. This enhances nutrient use efficiency, while reducing losses to the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions.SSNM, therefore, serves as a climate smart technology that enhances resource use efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It can be used to adjust nutrient management options for different climate and local condition scenarios and potentially contribute to sustainable rice production. The dissemination of SSNM to smallholder farmers can be achieved at scale using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) decision support tools such as Rice Crop Manager (http://cropmanager.irri.org).Water management is a critical component of both climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. A range of technologies is available that can increase water productivity [50] by reducing irrigation input to rice fields without reducing the yield: optimum irrigation scheduling [51], irrigation method [52], field design, and land leveling. Strategies to manage water demand include a change in the cropping calendar, choice of crops, and cultivation practices [53]. One very promising approach is alternate wetting and drying (AWD).AWD was developed by IRRI and its partners in the early 2000s as a water-saving technology for drought-prone areas [54]. However, the practice in which rice fields are not kept flooded continuously but exposed to a number of dry periods throughout the growing season also has a high methane mitigation potential [55]. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and by oxygenating the soil, methanogenic bacteria are inhibited and methane is oxidized, this reduces methane emissions by 14-80% (mean 43%) [56].The AWD technology has been integrated in various national recommendations for good rice crop management. Driven by international discussions on greenhouse gas mitigation, particularly after the Paris Agreement and the development of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), AWD has been increasingly seen as mitigation technology and gained new attention. Several riceproducing countries mention AWD directly in national plans for greenhouse gas emission reduction (e.g., Vietnam and Bangladesh in their in NDCs and the Philippines in the AMIA program, which is program of the Department of Agriculture), others refer to water-saving techniques such as AWD as a mitigation measure (e.g., Indonesia and China in their NDCs) and design strategies for large-scale dissemination of the technology.The urgency of climate change is driving researchers and practitioners to come up with solutions to minimize the impact of climate change across different cropping systems. As listed in Sections 2.1-2.6, so often the model of employing a modern/improved technology is presented as a potential solution; however, most of these technologies are evaluated based on short term gains in the resiliency of food systems. Although the positive effect/synergies of these technologies are well evaluated, there is little attention given to trade-offs. Many of these technologies are intrinsically linked with other ecosystem functions. The gain by intensively achieving one target may limit or degrade other targets. Although DSR, nutrient management, and AWD provide many benefits in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation, they also have many potential trade-offs. Balancing methane versus nitrous oxide emission is one example of these trade-offs [55,57].Similarly, paddy fields are the largest human-made wetland occupying ~18% of total global wetland area [58]. Along with food, the diverse multi-functionalities of rice paddy fields, including rich biodiversity, make it essential for a wise use of these wetlands. The concept of some of these technologies, like dry seeded rice and AWD, is already a couple of decades old, but these technologies have not been widely adopted in paddy ecosystems. Was it because of lack of adoption drivers or other secondary problems which arise due to adoption of these solutions? This is another example of the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding synergies and trade-offs of potential technologies that could minimize the climate change impact.Participatory and collaborative research brings different stakeholders together to identify common challenges, and build structural and cognitive social capital in the process. This is often new territory for researchers working in agricultural science.Social differentiation may imply varied vulnerability and capacity to adapt to climate change, climate variability, and other stressors. Although some social norms and relations seem fixed, others are fluid and flexible, especially in times of social change. How resources are accessed, distributed, and consumed, and how labor is divided into productive and reproductive tasks affect how farmers perceive risk, prioritize and share tasks in everyday farming, experience hardship, and shape aspirations about future livelihoods. All this will influence the adaptation space. To be successful, climate change adaptation and technology adoption must take these conditions into account [59].Perception of climate change has been studied in many high income countries with diverse populations. Often, however, these countries are not as critically affected by climate change as many low income countries are. It has been argued that climate change is psychologically distant for people in high-income countries [60,61]. It is suggested that reducing peoples' psychological distance to climate change and highlighting its proximal consequences will increase sustainable behaviors [61]. Farmers' perceptions of climate change risks are an important factor influencing their adoption and adaptation strategies. The way, individuals interpret their own risks, and societal risks affect what kind of adaptive behavior they are likely to take [62]. Perception and acceptance of risk in general and climate change risks have been shown to have their roots in social and cultural factors [63].Farmers in many low-income countries are directly affected by climate change, and their livelihoods are threatened due to adverse weather conditions impacting on crop productivity. It has been shown that farmers in Pakistan perceive various climate risks including extreme temperatures, animal and human disease, crop pest, and droughts [64]. Farmers' sensitivity to climate change depends on the availability of resources, and their adaptation to climate risks is subject to various constraints [64]. Farmers, who believe climate change is happening and influencing their family's lives, perceive higher risks than farmers who do not think so [62]. This has also been shown in highincome countries where farmers' pro-environmental behavior is limited by conceptual, practical, and informational barriers [65].There are gender-specific information and capacity needs that are critical for adoption of CSA [27]. Access to knowledge and information is limited for poorer women in rural areas. Extension and advisory services have historically been unsuccessful in reaching women in general [26]. This can be attributed to social and cultural norms where men in the household are considered \"farmers\", whereas women are only considered \"helpers\" on family farms. Extension services therefore generally reach out to men as heads of households and farmers and breadwinners. There are also fewer formal social networks for many groups of women compared to men. This again limits women's access to information and knowledge. It would be naïve to rely completely on informal farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange to make information accessible to all categories of women.A deep understanding of preferred information channels and trust in those channels are important. Although mobile phones are being lauded as a panacea for this, there is evidence of a large gender digital divide and the challenges associated with it [66]. Studies have also shown that socially marginal castes in south Asia have less access to extension advice and, therefore, are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing information and technologies [24]. What is important in this context is the capacity for development of rural extension and advisory services to be genderresponsive and effectively reach out to female client groups.It is necessary to understand farmers' realities in order to propose policies that will make their farming system more climate resilient [67,68]. The choice of climate smart technologies depends on the livelihood portfolio of rural households and an in-depth analysis is required to suggest options. For example, smallholder or landless households in marginal areas often depend on livestock for their livelihoods. On the face of it, livestock systems are professed to be undesirable, but if policies chose to curb those systems (as part of mitigation efforts), scores of households would be bereft of income, food and/or nutrition sources. Similarly, it makes little sense to have policies to promote labor-intensive CSA in areas where there are labor shortages because of migration.Intra-household and intra-community trade-offs related to use of climate smart technologies and approaches with respect to gendered roles and responsibilities and associated labor and benefits need to be thoroughly assessed. Unpacking intra-household variation in perception of risks and choices/use of coping strategies is critical. This is again the result of a mix of roles and responsibilities, social norms, risk perceptions, and access to resources. Research and policy must disentangle social processes and practices and be sensitive to intersecting inequalities that emerge when climate change impacts and responses cut across age, class, ethnicity, gender, and space.The role of technology development is fundamental to climate risk management. The aforementioned technologies and innovative practices represent a fraction of those that fall within the framework of CSA. Meeting the complex and urgent challenges presented by climate change requires moving beyond interdisciplinary research to transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation to integrate knowledge from diverse stakeholders committed to tackling complex social and ecological problems. For example, farmers themselves, along with NGOs and others who have continuous and long-term engagement in communities, should be included during the process of knowledge co-production and for co-designing appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that are ethical and meet the needs of the target group. These needs may include the demand for an early maturing crop variety that is better suited to a changing planting period or for improved management and post-harvest technologies, but they may also include shifts out of agriculture into other livelihood opportunities.Teams that take into account the complexity of social and ecological interactions will be better able to identify appropriate solutions. Such teams can tap into the upstream development of stresstolerant varieties that may be appropriate and also provide valuable information to breeders regarding user preferences. This contributes to the development of suitable crop varieties, the cultivation of which is enhanced by complimentary land and management as well as harvest and post-harvest management practices.However, technology development per se is not enough. There are many examples where technologies and practices, while technically very sound, have not scaled. In the case of AWD, for example, farmer adoption in some countries has been slow. In the Philippines, ~80,000 farmers have adopted AWD on ~90,000 ha (~6% of total irrigated rice area). In Vietnam, on the other hand, there has been large-scale adoption of AWD in major rice production provinces in the Mekong River Delta-Dong Thap and An Giang-according to a recent study based on satellite data, household surveys, and in situ moisture readings [69].There are many reasons for different rates of farmer adoption of CSA, including AWD, and these have been well documented [70,71,25]. What is clear from these studies is that successful scaling of CSA is dependent on institutional and organizational capacity, along with government support and infrastructure development. This requires researchers to foster networks with practitioners and policy-makers.IRRI supports the process of AWD dissemination by providing evidence for the technology's benefits, mapping tools to assist planning and investment opportunities, and strengthening the capacity of extension services. In the Philippines, IRRI conducted a climatic suitability analysis for AWD on a national scale [72]. A similar, but more in-depth, assessment was conducted for Vietnam with a stronger focus on high priority provinces for mitigation action in order to guide the implementation of AWD. The Vietnam case is a good example of trans-disciplinary research accomplished by a combination of high-resolution GIS assessment, socio-economic feasibility analysis, and strategic contributions from local stakeholders. Since 2016, IRRI has provided information and supported training of a local network of NGOs, government organizations, and civil society organizations in Bangladesh-the Northwest Focal Area Network (FAN)-in Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions. The network partners used their individual training models to disseminate the AWD technology to farmers in their respective area of authority.Similarly, scaling of mechanization and post-harvest technologies and practices has been challenging. Post-harvest losses from harvesting to milling can reach 14-40% compared to 6-8% when using the best practice management options available. The introduction of dryers that were technically and economically feasible, for example, has failed in most cases and an estimated 80% of the rice in Southeast Asia is still sun-dried. This is because projects usually focused on the technology and did not facilitate market access for a better quality paddy produced at higher cost, whereas existing traders and millers were not interested in purchasing premium products. Scaling agricultural machinery requires identification of appropriate machinery along with production, dissemination, servicing and financing.The establishment of networks provides institutional and organizational context for longer-term engagement with key stakeholders, an engagement that goes well beyond the normal 3-5 year lifetime of a research project. The authors of [73], for example, documented the long-term evolution and successful adoption of the rice flatbed dryer in Vietnam through continuous involvement of a research and development team from Nong Lam University. The impact of their work came as a result of sustained interaction with a tight network of partners, working in the same innovation trajectory, for 25 years. In the process they developed major improvements to the original design and a new type of dryer emerged. Similarly, laser-assisted land leveling, which can lead to productivity gains, water saving, and reduced energy use and emissions from rice [74], took more than six years to evolve from the introduction of the first demonstration unit to the emergence of a service economy around laser land leveling which resulted in a significant increase in sales. It took more than 10 years before there were ~10,000 units being used by service providers covering around half a million ha in India [75].There are growing examples of trans-disciplinary networks for climate change transformation. One such example is the Direct Seeded Rice Consortium (DSRC), a public-private multi-stakeholder research-for-development platform, established by IRRI, to address complex research issues and scaling direct-seeding of rice (DSR 1 ) in Asia. DSRC aims to improve environmental and economic sustainability of rice production by developing and scaling science-based comprehensive mechanized and precise DSR practices through public-private partnerships. DSRC brings together public and private sector partners, including researchers, from across South and Southeast Asia, as well as Advanced Research Institutes such as Cornell University and the University of Sydney. DSR offers both adaptation (adapt to water shortage and weak and variable monsoon) and mitigation (reduction in GHG emissions) options to climate change [53,76,77]. Data and results-sharing through IRRI's Open Access and Data Management Policy, together with Research Data Management best practices, are available to all consortium members and this allows for dialogue and sharing of experiences.DSR has emerged as an efficient, economically viable and environmentally promising alternative to Asia's most dominant method of rice production known as puddled transplanted rice (PTR) as it addresses the major drivers of rural change in the region, especially rising labor and water scarcity. In DSR, unlike PTR in which rice seedlings are first established in a nursery and then transplanted into a puddled main field, rice is directly sown in the main field. This eliminates the step of nursery raising either by using dry seeds in non-puddled soil (dry seeding-'Dry-DSR') or pregerminated seeds in puddled soil (wet seeding-'Wet-DSR') [76]. DSR reduces the cost of cultivation and GHG emissions, and increases farmer's income without yield penalty [53,78]. Based on a metaanalysis, DSR has reduced methane emissions from 40 to 63% compared to PTR especially dry-DSR, because of less flooding and more aerobic conditions which prevents methanogenesis and therefore methane emissions. However, the more aerobic environment in DSR also creates conditions for N2O emissions. With better nitrogen and water management, there is further scope to reduce both CH4 and N2O emission in DSR.There are few studies comparing DSR and PTR in terms of global warming potential (GWP) taking into account both CH4 and N2O. Generally, GWP has been found to be lower in DSR in China [79], India [78,80], and in Japan [81,82]. Under elevated CO2 condition, emission of CH4 in the paddy field may, however, increase [83]. Therefore, it is important to develop, refine, and deploy alternate low emission rice establishment methods such as DSR so that yield-scaled GWP of rice production is reduced.DSR adoption in Asia has nonetheless been low because of some risks/constraints associated with the practice, and poor market development of products critical for DSR success in new areas. To overcome some of these research and market gaps and catalyze wide-scale adoption of DSR, a transdisciplinary approach, characterized by public-private partnership, is needed. Networks like DSRC enable multi-sectoral collaboration and create synergies among various stakeholders. They also provide a platform for exchange of knowledge, ideas, and technologies across actors and countries, and therefore generate impact much faster.Networks are not just critical for the development and scaling of CSA, they also drive the transformative change needed to address climate change. Threats of sea level rise demand transdisciplinary networks applying landscape-and systems-thinking given that damage will not be limited to specific production systems. The dense populations of the Asian mega-deltas rely on intensive land use systems, namely, rice production and aquaculture. Proposals to tackle the threats of climate change in Asian mega-deltas include building a network across research centers that specialize in fisheries/aquaculture, rice production, and water management to tap into the diverse knowledge systems and long-standing in-country experiences across the region.Poverty in many vulnerable areas of the world and uncertainty about the future impacts of climate change stymie comprehensive adaptation and planning. Currently, relatively little is being done to anticipate or prepare for the potentially devastating impact of sea level rise [84]. In the case of climate change, decision-makers have generally avoided taking action on the premise that uncertainties make decisions difficult [85]. Uncertainties are not specific to climate science. In other domains, such as finance, uncertainties have not prevented humankind from creating methods to reduce uncertainty and plan according to multiple scenarios. Indeed, there is wide scientific consensus and plenty of data to support climate trends, and these can be used to model future climate impacts and plan in the face of uncertainty.We argue that this attitude should also prevail with respect to sea level rise, especially for countries in Asia that host mega deltas. Although scientists and policy-makers are acutely aware of the mounting dangers of climate change, they continue to delay making decisions and avoid taking appropriate action. At the very least we must focus on removing current known barriers to future planning for farmers, including access to credit, savings, timely inputs, land titles, and reducing gender inequity, that will empower farmers to make adaptation decisions. An interesting example of a transdisciplinary approach to mega-deltas and sea level rise is the Living Deltas Research Hub that is coordinated by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. The hub operates across four megadeltas including the Mekong in Vietnam and the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system in Bangladesh and India. The Hub epitomizes South-South and North-South partnerships and brings together academia, business, NGOs, government, and local communities to strengthen people's livelihoods in the face of challenges such as sea level rise (https://www.livingdeltas.org/).Migration and land use change also contribute to the transforming landscape which will accelerate under climate change. This will require out-of-the-box thinking for food system networks to expand in unconventional ways to include health, emergency response, and environmental protection professionals. Climate change will alter the fine balance of spatial and temporal windows for agricultural production leaving many households with no other opportunities but to migrate to cities since other income opportunities in rural areas are limited. However, populations are growing in many developing countries, and, together with a shift away from food production to urban living, food insecurity is likely to be exacerbated by other drivers of migration, e.g., labor demand in cities and the changing lifestyle preferences of youth.Claims about migration driven by climate change have received mixed responses ranging from general agreement to complete rejection. This is a futile discussion given that vulnerabilities of rice farming systems and communities need to be assessed through a variety of trans-disciplinary concepts including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt to changing conditions. Small-scale farmers deal with constantly changing conditions as it is, regardless of whether these are attributed to climate change [86]. Overwhelmingly, they currently lack the ability to cope with destructive events [87]. It is imperative to reduce uncertainties for policy-makers which will enable them to plan for a stable future. There is a need to identify hot spot areas of vulnerability where there are measures available for increasing resilience of rice farming systems by introducing (i) rice varieties or alternative production options (i.e., shrimp/fish) that are tolerant to salinity and flooding stresses, (ii) improved crop/water management, and (iii) real-time forecasting of salinity and flood threats to adjust cropping calendars and management practices to better plan and cope.Key to agricultural climate change adaptation, mitigation, and transformation is fostering transdisciplinary networks. This paper highlights progress on developing these networks in the context of rice-based farming systems in South and Southeast Asia. Trans-disciplinary and cooperative efforts within the context of innovation systems are needed to increase farmers' access to and use of climate smart technologies and practices. A broad trans-disciplinary treatment of the problem of climate change and climate variability in agriculture through the application of CSA will transcend disciplinary demarcations facilitating insights into the problems limiting adoption at scale, while helping to identify possible novel solutions.Farmers' realities are so diverse that agricultural innovation requires assistance from a variety of disciplines working together. This represents a challenge to researchers who are traditionally channeled by disciplinary training into narrow specialisms. This contrasts with many farmers who not only manage and experience the whole of their farming system, but are also increasingly working off-farm and earning more of their income from non-farm sources [88]. Researchers are part of an impact pathway, and they are increasingly working together in interdisciplinary teams in the pursuit of agricultural innovations that meet farmers' needs. The challenge posed by climate change, however, is very complex and can only be met by a trans-disciplinary response, ones that bring together researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers. Responses to climate change challenges in rice-based systems in South and Southeast Asia illustrate the type of interdisciplinary research that is required globally and the types of trans-disciplinary networks needed to further climate change adaptation, mitigation, and transformation, and ensure that CSA makes substantial contributions to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.","tokenCount":"7162"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1293441636.json b/data/part_1/1293441636.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..07e543996ef13bca940e87e33dbe241449ee57bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1293441636.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"871009bf94c15311ba1524536ab84946","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2c1f126e-d5a2-422d-8c12-3abe27efdeb5/retrieve","id":"2009115836"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2918fbdb-3c5e-4a70-95ef-80f4a93dabcb","pagecount":"2","content":"MAIZE scientists argued for a realignment of empirical adoption analysis. The main findings were: (1) Limited information access and technologies not suitable for the small landholdings were the major constraints of farmer adoption of technologies.(2) Criticisms on the conventional adoption analysis were reaffirmed;(3) The empirical adoption research needs to incorporate the attributes of technologies and the socio-institutional context to develop better research strategies toward inclusive agrarian development.Geographic scope:• Regional Region(s):• Southern AsiaComments: Synthesis of multi-year investment by BMGF/ USAID/ ACIAR bilateral funders' projects 1 This report was generated on 2022-08-19 at 08:16 (GMT+0)","tokenCount":"93"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1318810638.json b/data/part_1/1318810638.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ded024dc339395b76cbcd30dcedd22fa156b0eb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1318810638.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cb7051b7c53cdd90ce1f8139cace1262","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00ea3bb7-c883-44f4-ad91-df7a40fbaf24/retrieve","id":"1735488241"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dbf6892c-0046-4079-a45c-1b751788ff3a","pagecount":"48","content":"In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water and land resources.The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI's own staff and Fellows, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.Introduction 1Water Scarcity and Resource Conservation Technologies 5Water Savings and Net Water Use: Field and Basin Perspectives 6Data and Methods 8Impacts of RCT Adoption on Savings in Water Application, Water Use and Productivity 14Discussion 20Conclusions 24Literature Cited 27v Water scarcity is an increasing concern in Pakistan. Partially in response, the government and international organizations are encouraging the use of 'Resource Conservation Technologies' (RCTs) by farmers to reduce water use while maintaining or increasing production. While RCTs such as zero tilled wheat and laser leveling are being increasingly adopted in Pakistan's ricewheat and sugarcane-wheat cropping systems, there has been little assessment there or elsewhere of the actual impact of RCTs on the nature and magnitude of water savings at the field, irrigation system and basin scales. This study uses both farmer surveys and physical measurements to understand the impact RCTs have had on water use and water savings in the irrigated Rice-Wheat Zone of Pakistan's Punjab province. The findings show that RCTs do indeed result in reduced water applications at the field scale. However, these field scale savings do not necessarily translate into reductions in overall water use for two reasons. First, some of the water 'saved' would have percolated into the groundwater table from where it would later be reused by farmers through pumping. Second, the increased crop water productivity for medium and large scale farms made possible by RCTs has made water use more profitable and hence increased water demand and groundwater depletion through expansion in cropped area. These findings provide insights into the conditions under which RCTs in Pakistan, or similar technologies elsewhere, can result in 'real' water savings -that is, decreases in water depleted per unit of crop output. At the same time, they provide a warning that even when technologies decrease applications per unit of crop output, in other words increase irrigation water productivity, they may not decrease actual water use unless institutional arrangements are in place to limit demand -a challenging undertaking in any environment.Ensuring food and livelihood security for growing populations is one of the major global challenges (Seckler et al. 1998). Over the last 50 years, a major factor in meeting this challenge has been the expansion of irrigated area. In future years, the irrigation expansion option will be increasingly difficult to pursue, both because many river basins have already been developed to their maximum capacity and because of the growing competition for existing water supplies for domestic, industrial and environmental purposes.In such a scenario, one promising alternative is to seek strategies to increase crop yields whilst using similar or even reduced water resources, i.e., improving water productivity (Molden 1997).The global challenge of increasing food production, while using less water is exemplified in the case of Pakistan. The population there has increased by over 25 percent in just the last 10 years and continues to expand much faster than global averages. While factors such as salinization and waterlogging as well as labor and financial constraints compound the problem, a key issue in efforts to keep food production rising with population is the lack of additional sources of water for agricultural use. In response to the water challenge, as well as other concerns including low farm income, various Resource Introduction parachute transplanting, bed planting, laser land leveling and crop residue management (PARC-RWC 2003). While two primary impacts from these technologies are expected to be water savings and increased crop production, they are also hoped to variously address a range of other issues including emerging labor shortages, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Among the technologies, zero tillage and laser land leveling are to date the most widely adopted in Pakistan, with use centered on the Punjab and other rice-wheat cropping systems (Hobbs and Gupta 2003).In terms of water use, recent performance evaluation studies have documented that these Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) can be successful in improving field scale irrigation efficiency (Gupta et al. 2002;Humphreys et al. 2005), resulting in savings in water application. However, whether or not improved irrigation efficiency translates to 'real' water savings depends on the hydrologic interactions between the field and farm, the irrigation system and the entire river basin. In fact, the water saving impacts of RCTs beyond the field level are not well understood and documented. It is possible that real water savings are much lower than what might be assumed when field level calculations are extrapolated to broader scales, because of water recycling and the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in many, particularly rice based, cropping systems (Ahmad et al. 2002;Humphreys et al. 2005;Tuong et al. 2005). This paper evaluates the reasons for RCT adoption and the resulting water saving impacts of the main RCTs being developed and promoted in the Rice-Wheat Zone of Pakistan's Indus Basin, the center of the country's food grain production system. The analysis provides a systematic tracking of the various water balance components at field, farm and higher scales of the irrigation system. The fate of water saved at the field level is explored by studying farmers' response to saved water and its linkage with the system level water balance. The study also discusses the conditions under which field level water savings could be translated into real water savings at the irrigation system and basin scales in the context of rice-wheat cropping systems in Indus Basin of Pakistan and for similar basins elsewhere. Finally, general conditions and generic policy recommendations for achieving the dual goals of increased food production and real water savings under new interventions are described.The Indus Basin contains approximately 16 million of Pakistan's 22 million hectares (ha) of cultivated land and the vast majority of the country's irrigated area. Within the basin, ricewheat production systems account for about 14 percent of the area and form a core base for national food grain output. As shown in figure 1a, rice-wheat areas have been categorized into four main zones based on climate, land and water use: the Northern Zone (Zone I), the Punjab Rice-Wheat Zone (Zone II), the Upper Sindh Zone (Zone III) and the Lower Sindh Zone (Zone IV).The Punjab Rice-Wheat Zone, in particular, was chosen for examination in this study for three primary reasons. First, it was a focal point of the Rice-Wheat Consortium, a collaborative group established to examine the possible roles of RCTs in Pakistan and similar regions in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Second, it largely falls within Rechna Doab (the area between the Ravi and Chenab tributaries of the Indus), an IWMI benchmark 'basin' (figure 1b) and thus considerable background work and technical study has already been done on its hydrology and production systems. Finally, as explained in more detail later, the nature of its conjunctive (surface and groundwater) agricultural water use system highlights the concepts and issues in understanding water savings across scales. Maps representing the irrigation network, groundwater quality, administrative districts, irrigation administrative units and soils of Rechna Doab are provided in Annexes 1 to 5.The climate in the Punjab Rice-Wheat Zone is semi-arid and typical of the low-lying interior of the northwest Indian sub-continent. Summers are long and hot, lasting from April through September, with maximum temperatures ranging from 21 C to 49 C. Winter lasts from December through February, with maximum daytime temperatures of up to 27 C sometimes falling below zero at night. Average annual rainfall is approximately 400 millimeters (mm), about 75 percent of which falls during the June to September monsoon.The prevailing temperature and rainfall patterns govern two distinct cropping seasons. Water intensive rice is grown during the monsoonal summer (kharif) season while wheat is produced in the drier winter (rabi) season. Both crops together have been estimated to require 970 mm of water for evapotranspiration per year, 640 mm for rice and 330 mm for wheat (Ullah et al. 2001). However, the actual evapotranspiration of all crops except rice is generally lower than the potential requirement (Ahmad et al. 2002;Jehangir et al. 2007). The reasons for this include deliberate under-irrigation of wheat to reduce pumping costs, restricted rabi water supply from canals and erratic and untimely surface irrigation delivery. In saline areas, farmers also restrict groundwater supply to minimize salinity effects on crops, even when it is their only source of supply.However, the amount of water applied to grow rice is significantly higher than crop water requirement (ET p ). Rice is grown in continuously flooded conditions with ponding depths of 50-75 mm for most of the growing season maintained by 15 to 25 irrigations. Thus, total water application ranges from 1200 to 1600 mm over a 100-150 day growing period, ignoring the relatively small amount of water required for seedling nursery. The water applied for puddling (to minimize deep percolation) varies from 100 to 200 mm and a further 100 mm may be needed to complete land preparation prior to transplanting.As the total crop water requirement for the rice-wheat rotation is more than double the annual rainfall, it is obvious that irrigation is essential. It has been provided in the first instance through a network of irrigation canals, developed mainly over the last 140 years, which draws water from the Indus River and its tributaries (Annex 2). The original design objective of the irrigation development was to spread limited water over a large area, at a cropping intensity of approximately 65 percent, to protect against crop failure, prevent famine, and generate employment and revenue. Before the introduction of surface irrigation systems, the groundwater table was about 30 meters (m) below ground level in Punjab Province and about 12-15 meters deep in Sindh province. The only sources of groundwater recharge were rivers, seasonal floods and rainfall, and a steady natural hydrological balance was maintained between the rivers and the groundwater table.However, massive and widespread surface water irrigation development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries altered the natural hydrological balance due to increased recharge from earthen canals and irrigated fields. Over the years, persistent seepage from this huge gravity flow system has gradually raised the groundwater table. By the middle of last century, at some locations, the groundwater had risen to the surface or very close to the root zone, causing waterlogging and secondary salinity which badly affected agricultural productivity. While describing these negative impacts of irrigation development in the Indus, the scientific literature has tended to neglect the massive and beneficial freshwater recharge and storage that occurred in the highly permeable unconfined aquifer of Indus Basin system. As a result, surface supplies are augmented by groundwater irrigation, initially developed by the government as part of a vertical drainage programme (SCARP), starting in the 1960s and greatly increased by private sector investment over the ensuing 25 years. With additional irrigation supplies from groundwater, cropping intensities have increased to 150 percent in some areas over the last two to three decades, and groundwater has become a key input in agricultural production.From 1999 through 2003, Pakistan experienced its lowest water availability on record due to a combination of low rainfall and unusually low snowfall in the Himalayas. Most surface flows are sourced from spring and summer snowmelt, and water deliveries in the Punjab were as low as 40 percent of long term average value. As a result, groundwater took on an even more important role. However, this rapid increase in use of groundwater over the last two decades, combined with lower than average recharge, has resulted in declining groundwater levels, as shown by canal supply and groundwater table trends in the two main canal systems irrigating Rice-Wheat Zone of the Punjab (figure 2). This has occurred despite the fact that over-pumping is clearly constrained by fuel price as most tubewells are powered by diesel motors (Qureshi et al. 2003).A key factor in groundwater use within the rice-wheat system is recycling. Ahmad (2002) has shown that, due to deep percolation, a significant fraction of the volume pumped is recycled many times in the rice season. In such systems, net groundwater use is much less than that pumped or applied (Ahmad et al. 2005). In the Punjab, rice is generally grown where groundwater quality is good, but in the Sindh, where rice-wheat systems are also common, groundwater quality is uniformly poor (see Annex 1). The relationship between groundwater quality and the study findings are discussed further below.The rice-wheat system regime has served as a key source for Pakistan's ever growing food demand over the last 50 years. However, the ability to further expand or intensify production is severely constrained by available water supplies. In response, both the government and international organizations have emphasized developing and disseminating technologies to reduce agricultural water use and increase production, while at the same time addressing growing labor shortages, reducing rural poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability (Hobbs and Gupta 2003;PARC-RWC 2003).The generic set of improved farm-scale technologies is known as 'Resource Conservation Technologies' (RCT). RCTs have been developed with multiple objectives -to enable more timely sowing and save on land preparation costs (e.g., zero tillage); to improve irrigation uniformity, crop establishment and field drainage (e.g., laser leveling); or to do both (e.g., planting of rice and wheat on permanent beds). Photographs of major RCTs being promoted in Pakistan are given in Annex 6.Globally there has been considerable interest in and uptake of RCTs, and their economic value has been demonstrated in multiple studies. For example, adoption levels of zero tillage and mulching in rainfed agriculture have increased from 1 percent in 1985 to 37 percent in 2003 in northern New South Wales in Australia (Vere 2005). Wheat producers' surplus in the adopting region on northwest China was $1.10 billion compared to a net loss of $358 million for other wheat growers, and similar results are demonstrated for maize (ibid.). RCTs have been shown to control herbicide resistant Phalaris minor in the Punjab in India, with a corresponding increase in wheat yields from 1.5 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) in the early 1990s to between 4 and 5 t/ha post 2000, estimated to be worth $1.8 billion to India over a 30 year period (ACIAR 2005). Changes in average water table depth and variation in canal flows for the Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) and Lower Chenab Canal (LCC) system of Rechna Doab. Locations provided in Annex 2. The value to farmers of some RCTs is demonstrated by their rapid and widespread adoption in the Indian Punjab and Haryana (Hobbs and Gupta 2003). In Pakistan, it has been estimated that zero tillage has been adopted on about 0.4 million hectares and laser leveling on about 0.2 million hectares (Ahmed and Gill 2004) after the initial introduction in the 1980s. In Rechna Doab, the percentage of planted area now under RCTs (12%) is somewhat higher than the percentage of farmers using the technologies, since larger farmers are disproportionately more likely to adopt. Reasons are explored later but involve levels of mechanization, labor availability and fallow land. More detailed statistics are given in Annex 7, which show that average adoption is highest in the rice-wheat area, but that adoption can vary by irrigation subdivision from 0 to 35 percent.A number of evaluations have suggested that these technologies can reduce the amount of water applied (e.g., Gupta et al. 2002). Work conducted in China and Pakistan, in collaboration with CIMMYT and ACIAR, respectively, has shown reduced water applications of between 32 and 37 percent in wheat-maize systems (Fahong et al. 2005;Hassan et al. 2005). In the Pakistan study site, located in Northwest Frontier Province, maize yields increased 32 percent when compared to traditional planting on the flat beds (Hassan et al. 2005). The RWC has shown water savings of 30 percent due to the adoption of zero tillage in ricewheat systems (Hobbs and Gupta 2003). In contrast, bed planting in rice-wheat systems in Australia has proved more variable, with improved and depressed rice (Borell et al. 1997) and wheat yields and water use under different circumstances (ibid.) (Beecher et al. 2006).In the studies mentioned above, reductions in field level water application have been equated with water savings, but it remains an open question, and an objective of this paper, to determine whether water is in fact saved at a larger scale. Thus, much of the remainder of this paper attempts to answer the question:\"Are there quantifiable real water savings associated with RCTs that would allow water to be transferred somewhere else than the immediate locale, for other users and purposes?\"To answer this question requires an understanding of the various components of the water balance at field and system scales. As shown in figure 3, a cropped field can receive water from rainfall, irrigation with canal and ground water, and in some cases from capillary rise from high groundwater tables. For a farmer, the water received in the field would ideally be used as transpiration to support crop growth, since other outcomes such as, evaporation from bare soils and ponded water, transpiration by weeds, percolation to the groundwater table and runoff to surface drains, do not contribute to food and fodder production. From the field perspective, it is clear that water savings can occur by reducing any of these sources of loss (though it should be remembered that water, especially in rice production, also plays important nontranspiration roles in maintaining anaerobic conditions and suppressing weeds).To understand water savings beyond the field scale, it is essential to understand the flow paths and final destinations of percolation and surface runoff, often considered as 'losses'. Deep percolation and surface runoff can take two paths: one is into fresh groundwater aquifers or surface water bodies, the other is into saline or other sinks -bodies  The interaction between recharge and abstraction of saline and fresh groundwater.of water so degraded or saline that further use is not possible without treatment (such as saline aquifers and the sea). As stylized in figure 4, the extent to which 'true' or 'real' water savings can be gained from reduced field scale applications depends on whether percolation and surface runoff flow (1) to sources where they can be pumped or otherwise reused by the same or 'downstream' farmers, or (2) to degraded sinks. Groundwater recharge and recycling processes are described more technically with application to the study area in Ahmad (2002). A second aspect of water savings resulting from new technologies is the impact on farmers' production choices and how those in turn impact on larger (e.g., system and basin) scale water balances. These issues are addressed in further detail below.IWMI has been working as part of the RWC in India and Pakistan to better quantify water use and land and water productivity of the rice-wheat system and the impact of various RCTs. Simultaneously, IWMI has been working on the issue of scale in water use and productivity. This study provides a crossing point for the two efforts and uses both new data, and data and concepts developed from the previous work, to examine the role of water savings from RCTs across scales.In this study, technical measurements and understanding of the water balance components were derived from (a) earlier field experiments on water use and productivity, and (b) detailed water balance studies by Ahmad (2002). However, since it is difficult to directly measure water balance components in detail at large scales, we also undertook a survey of 168 RCT adopters in 2004 in the rice-wheat area of Punjab (referred to hereafter as the RCT Survey, figure 1(b)) to determine their perceptions of water savings and other impacts of RCTs and how they responded to those impacts in terms of farming systems and water use. Data from these two efforts were supplemented by information from a second Socio-Economic Survey of 360 farmers throughout Rechna Doab (figure 1(b)), conducted in early 2004 (referred to hereafter as the SE Survey).For the RCT Survey, a group of 223 adopters, dis-adopters and non-adopters were sampled from June through December 2004. Respondents were chosen using a stratified random sampling approach based on farm size (Annex 8) and irrigation system type of all recorded adopters identified by the On-Farm Water Management Unit of the Department of Agriculture, the Punjab and from the results of the SE Survey. Additional farmers (non-adopters) were randomly selected within the same sample areas. The distribution of sampled farmers with respect to RCT adoption, irrigation system and farm size is presented in figure 5. In this context, large farmers have more than 10 ha, medium farmers have between 5 and 10 ha and small farmers have less than 5 ha (see also Annex 8).The survey was designed to gain insights into questions related to RCT adoption and water savings including: the main factors influencing RCT adoption and diffusion; field scale impacts of RCTs on water use, crop yields and income, cropping patterns, cropping intensity and estimated evapotranspiration;farm level impacts of RCTs on water use, including changes in canal water and groundwater use, and the use of any field scale water 'savings'; and system level impacts of RCTs on overall crop yields, land use, irrigation water use, water distribution and allocation.Distribution of the RCT survey respondents with respect to adoption status, surface irrigation system, and farm size.The basic characteristics of the RCT Survey respondents are presented in detail in Annex 9. The farmers in the study area have an average farming experience of 25 years and an average age of 45 years. Twenty-eight percent have no formal education and cannot read and write, whereas 30 percent have completed 10 years of schooling and 5 percent have graduated from colleges or attended higher education in universities. About 95 percent of the farmers own land (60% own all of their farmed land and 35% own and rent land) and 5 percent cultivate land only as tenants. The main soil types are clay and clay loam and the majority of the adopters possess both types, although the rice-wheat rotation is practiced on other soils as well (Annex 5). The average farm size is 17 ha, with adopter farmers having slightly higher than average holdings than non-adopters and dis-adopters.Approximately 15 percent of the farmers reported that they have 0.5 to 15 ha of \"culturable waste\" area -agricultural land that has not been cultivated for the last three years. The two main reasons for not cultivating this land were:1. scarcity of irrigation water (50% of responses); and 2. soil salinity (35% of responses).In fact soil salinity problems are also related to water scarcity. Salinity is one of the main soil problems in the study area and remains a threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture there and throughout the Indus Basin of Pakistan. Salinity hazards can be categorized into two types: primary (i.e., fossil) salinity and secondary salinity. Fossil salinity is related to natural salts present during soil formation (Smedema 2000). Secondary salinization is a complex problem. In some areas, secondary salinization is linked to a shallow phreatic surface whereas in other parts, it is a consequence of irrigation with marginal and brackish groundwater, particularly where fresh canal water is insufficient. Very few farmers reported the problem of waterlogging, as water tables have fallen in the area, due to the recent decline in surface water availability and continued groundwater abstraction. This represents a very considerable, and largely undocumented, change from conditions prevailing in the 1960s and 1970s.After gypsum application (36%), the use of flood irrigation and long-term ponding of water are the most common ways in which farmers attempt to control salinity (and sodicity), although other methods are used including application of sulfuric acid and planting salt tolerant trees and grasses.Freshwater availability from the canal system has been erratic and poor, especially in the last 4-5 years. The majority of the farmers (about 75%) in the study area report that they do not receive their allocated share of canal water. The farmers attribute this poor performance to the following reasons:1. low discharge rates; 2. location of farm in the tail reaches of tertiary (watercourses) or secondary (distributary) canals;3. frequent canal breaches due to poor maintenance and/or water theft;4. reduced time allocation; and 5. conveyance losses.Farmers have responded to canal water scarcity by pumping more and more groundwater. As a result, virtually all farmers report using groundwater, with 78 percent using the resource in conjunction with surface supplies and 20 percent using only groundwater, as shown in figure 6. Furthermore, the major share of all irrigation water now comes from groundwater sources, with farmers reporting about 60-70 percent of the volume of water they apply to fields as groundwater. At the same time, the increased exploitation of groundwater has negatively impacted on the system level water balance with 70 percent of farmers reporting a declining trend in groundwater tables while only 1 percent reported rises. Source of irrigation in Rice-Wheat Zone of the Punjab, Pakistan.Other 1%Canal and Tubewell 78%Tubewell only 20%The overall adoption rates for the main RCTs are estimated from the 2004 Socio-economic Survey of the whole of Rechna Doab, and set the context for the analysis of adoption within the Rice-Wheat Zone. This estimate immediately reveals a considerable increase in adoption of zero tillage between 2000 and 2003 (figure 7). The trend in adoption of laser leveling has been similar, though at lower absolute levels. Clearly the two technologies show an important and growing change in the region's farming systems. It should be noted that both these technologies are primarily for use in wheat, not rice, production. The survey indicated that other RCTs have not been widely adopted.Within the Doab, technologies and rates of adoption vary by farming system. Zero tillage is mostly used in the Upper Doab where rice-wheat systems dominate (figure 8). Laser leveling is practiced more in the Middle and Lower Doab where sugarcane-wheat and more mixed cropping systems are found and where surface water is scarcest and groundwater more saline. Other technologies are not yet widely adopted as these are still under development or not profitable to farmers -reasons for non-adoption are discussed in detail later in this report.Farmers indicated that their two primary reasons for adopting the technologies were to (a) increase profitability (97% of adopters' respondents), and (b) cope with water scarcity (87% of respondents). While not possible to discern from the survey questions, coping with water scarcity is also related to profitability because it is strongly linked with productivity and the cost of pumping. Farmers also reported increasing shortages of labor due to migration to cities as a major reason for adopting zero tillage. Figure 9 illustrates farmers' perceptions of the impacts of the two most used RCTs on field level agricultural input use. Both laser leveling and zero tillage resulted in substantial savings in labor, fuel and water, though the relative impact of each varied with technology. Impacts on fertilizer and herbicide use were relatively small.In the rice-wheat area, a delay in planting is one of the main factors that reduces wheat yield. Farmers prefer to grow late maturing, high-priced basmati rice varieties, which are mostly transplanted in July and harvested in November. Wheat planting is further delayed as the heavy soils of the area cannot be tilled immediately after rice   Farmers' responses on the impact of laser leveling and zero tillage on field level water application and other inputs.harvest due to excessive residual moisture from the rice crop. Wheat yield declines by 1-1.5 percent per day delay in planting after 21 November, in conditions similar to those of rice-wheat area of the Punjab Pakistan (Aslam et al. 1993;Ortiz-Monasterio et al. 1994;Hobbs et al. 1997).The impacts of RCTs on wheat yield were varied, with about 54 percent of farmers reporting an increase, 30 percent a decrease and 16 percent no change for zero tillage (figure 10a). The comparative numbers for laser leveling were 96, 0, and 4 percent (figure 10b) respectively. Because of the decrease in input use shown above, almost all farmers reported a decrease in production costs (87% for zero tillage and 88% for laser leveling). With generally increased yields Impact of zero tillage on wheat yield, cost of production and net crop income.Impact of laser leveling on yield, cost of production and net crop income.and decreased costs, net crop income rose for the majority of farmers (figures 10a and 10b), providing an obvious explanation of the increasing adoption and popularity of the two technologies. These findings are consistent with those of Jehangir et al. (2007) for zero tillage as summarized in figure 11.While the popularity of the two technologies can be explained by their contributions to increased farm profitability, farmers also report substantial reductions in water applications as shown in figure 9. The reduced irrigation depth usually results from saving one pre-sowing irrigation (Rouni) from an average of four irrigations applied to conventionally cultivated wheat in the study area. Most farmers also reported shorter irrigation times per unit of land under zero tillage compared to conventionally tilled soils with an average reduction of 2.5 hours per event (from 7.5 to 5 hours) for one hectare of land. Shorter application times are attributed to higher advance rates of water in no till compared with tilled soils, especially for the first irrigation. However, a few farmers also reported similar or even increased application amounts under zero tillage and/or stated that more frequent irrigation was required, hence increasing the total irrigation depth. Comparison of zero tillage and conventional wheat for production cost and income in Rechna Doab, in Rabi, 2002Rabi, -2003.It is clear that the reasons for the adoption of RCTs in Rechna Doab are due to a combination of reduced costs (mainly labor and tillage) and increased yields for wheat. Thus far, there is almost no impact of RCT adoption in rice culture.Savings in water application are also evident at the field level, contributing to lower wheat production costs, but also raise the possibility of intensification on farms that have excess land compared to water availability. In this section, the farmer responses and reasons for their adoption behavior are set in the context of the whole Rechna Doab, using the IWMI RCT and SE surveys and results of previous field experimentation by IWMI in 2001-2003(Jehangir et al. 2007;Ahmad 2002).Source: Wheat is a minor water user (actual evapotranspiration of 390 mm) compared to rice (actual evapotranspiration 660 mm), but the adoption and benefits of RCTs in Pakistan have mainly been related to wheat. Wheat evapotranspiration is roughly the same as the applied water (irrigation plus rain of 377 mm), and accounts for about 80 percent of total water supply when soil moisture is carried over from rice (58 mm) and net soil moisture depletion (37 mm) are taken into account (table 1, total water supply = 433 mm). By contrast the total water supply in rice is 1020 mm compared to actual evapotranspiration of only 660 mm. Ahmad (2002) showed convincingly that most of the water required to maintain ponding on relatively light soils was simply recycled by deep percolation and repumping from groundwater. Thus, although field irrigation efficiency is low, the actual depletion of water is only the sum of the evaporated and transpired components, and the groundwater return flow is reused (many times). Ahmad et al. (2004) also demonstrated that evaporation during the land preparation and subsequent crop growth periods after transplanting amounted to 60 percent (388 mm) of total evapotranspiration, and rice transpired only about 40 percent (272 mm of 660 mm). Therefore, there are significant potential water savings to be made by adjusting the time of planting and minimizing evaporation losses.In the Rice-Wheat Zone of the Punjab, deep percolation contributes to the fresh groundwater aquifer, and this water becomes part of the broader scale irrigation supply as it is pumped from tubewells. The water stored in the root zone at the end of the rice season contributes to the needs of the wheat crop that follows. Deep percolation from the rice fields in this region should not be considered as a real loss as it is recycled and reused under multiple use cycles of groundwater abstraction (Keller et al. 1996;Seckler 1996;Ahmad et al. 2002Ahmad et al. , 2005)). Other recent studies have shown that the water productivity of rice based systems is not low when studied at irrigation system or higher scales (Hafeez 2003;Matsuno et al. 2003;Renault and Montginoul 2003). The analysis indicates that evaluation of the water balance and water productivity of rice requires an annual perspective, an understanding of the whole cropping system and the extent of recycling and reuse of water within it.Both, the SE Survey of the whole Rechna Doab and the RCT Adoption Survey, show that other RCTs, such as bed planting, are barely used (figure 8). The reasons for this can be briefly explained by the results of on-farm field Irrigation water savings with zero tillage in wheat are modest in comparison with traditional practices. On the other hand, irrigation water savings in rice are significant (some 30-40%), but they are derived from the recycled water component, and do not reduce actual evapotranspiration. Surprisingly, higher evaporation from direct seeded fields increases net water depletion by roughly 150 mm due to a longer crop season (about 30 days).In this experimental study, the difference in irrigation input between zero tillage and conventional methods was small compared with what farmers usually report (including the RCT  (Gupta et al. 2002;Hobbs and Gupta 2003). It is possible that more timely sowing of the conventional wheat treatment at the same time as the RCT treatments allowed better use of conserved soil moisture for the wheat, which does not normally occur in field conditions when conventional sowing is delayed.In this section, we explain how the improvements in irrigation efficiency with adoption of RCTs actually contribute to increased water use, rather than result in net savings at farm and system levels. According to farmer responses, there is a significant increase in cropping intensity on medium and large farms following the adoption of zero tillage and laser leveling, as shown in figure 12. There is only a marginal increase in cropping intensity by small farmers, because in general they already cultivate all available area and are not constrained by labor or water availability. In contrast, water and, to a lesser extent, labor limit the area sown by medium and larger farmers. The reductions in field level water applications, mainly surface supply, derived from RCTs allow them to expand the wheat area, which then requires greater groundwater abstraction to maintain the crop, once planted. The implications for water use are shown in table 3, based on potential crop evapotranspiration elaborated on earlier in this report. On average this implies a small but significant increase (8% for large farmers, 5% for medium farmers and less than 1% for small farmers) in net water use, which will further contribute to stress on the groundwater system. Some farmers reported higher infiltration rates under zero tilled soils, and that rainwater  Farmers use all the available canal water, because it is of good quality and considerably cheaper than pumped groundwater (farmers' annual costs for canal water and groundwater use in Rechna Doab are estimated as US$7 and US$100 per hectare (US$/ha), respectively). Because of this, canal water and rainfall play critical roles in leaching salts from the root zone, whereas groundwater use augments salinity, especially in the lower reaches of the canal systems and of the Doab.Currently, the overwhelming majority of farmers rely on conjunctive water supply, using groundwater, even of poor quality, to make up for inadequate volume, frequency and timing of canal water. Farmers reporting an increase, decrease or no change in the amount of groundwater irrigation after RCT adoption were 13, 54 and 33 percent, respectively. The increase in groundwater use was mostly reported by large farmers which will increase pressure on groundwater resources, as large farmers, although a minority in number, own about half of the farmland in Rechna Doab (Annex 8). In the long run with reversion to more normal precipitation in Indus Basin, canal water supplies can be expected to be roughly double those from the drought/low rainfall years of 1999-2003, and there will be less pressure on groundwater and more good quality water will be available. However, longer term reductions in snowmelt and Himalayan ice-pack are already evident, and are projected to worsen with global climate change, so long term surface water availability is also projected to decline and drought periods become more frequent and severe.The increase in tubewell irrigation intensity occurs mainly on large and medium farms, where more area has been brought under cultivation or the cropping pattern has changed as a result of adoption of RCTs. In contrast, most of the smaller farmers reported a decrease in groundwater pumpage, which could be attributed to increased efficiency of canal water use with similar land use intensity/pattern, and without the ability to reuse the savings. Since the volumetric change in total irrigation water use was not measured in this study, it is only possible to estimate the implications and consequences of these changes.Farmers' strategies and balance of water use will change, but it is very likely that once they have realized that they can establish larger areas through more efficient irrigation management in wheat, then the tendency for more generally increased groundwater use will continue.At a farm scale, the adoption of beds or direct seeding of rice will only take place if (1) the yield penalties can be reduced; and (2) the costs of managing weeds (and using bed planters and other machinery) reduced to levels that result in higher gross margins. This is particularly true for medium and large scale farmers, who are commercial producers. Even if these technologies are adopted, savings to farmers will be in the form of reduced pumping costs, not in depleted water and, even at farm scale, there will be no net realizable savings in water use. It is possible, that reduction in pumping and reduced pumping costs could also encourage some farmers to plant more rice if they have excess land, as has been seen with wheat.If attractive technologies can also be developed that minimize actual evaporation losses between land preparation and the establishment of full vegetative cover of rice then it will, in theory, be possible to make real savings in water use. Given the experience so far, it would also be reasonable to conclude that such savings would be used on farm to plant larger areas of rice on medium and large properties, as has happened with wheat. The implications for increased groundwater use from this would be more significant than at present.At irrigation system and basin scales, the net effect of irrigation water savings in wheat by smaller farmers and the counterbalancing increase of groundwater for wheat by medium and larger farmers, depends on the differential adoption rates of the technologies, and the relative proportions of land area in each category.At the moment, adoption rates of zero tillage and laser leveling are highest by medium and larger scale farmers who have better access to the required machinery, more to gain from increased efficiency and better management, and who occupy, overall, about 50 percent of the cultivated area. Therefore, the net increase in water use from the medium and large scale farmers will outweigh the net savings on small farms, and result in further net increases in groundwater use. The expected change in crop evapotranspiration across the sampled distribution of farm size in Rechna Doab is given in figure 13 to illustrate this point.The net increase in annual crop water depletion at Doab level is estimated (see table 4), given current adoption rates, an assumed ceiling on adoption, and estimates of incremental land area that can be sown. Since these changes are relatively small, it is difficult to monitor them with any precision, especially given the inter-annual variations in water availability and use in a complex system like Rechna Doab. Nevertheless, these scenarios provide useful information on system/basin level impacts. It is important to note that most of these increases in evapotranspiration are achieved by a reduction in groundwater recharge and that this may aggravate the decline of the groundwater table in rice-wheat systems and also reduce groundwater availability  this may result in a negative water balance at a system scale and pose a serious threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture.The discussion refers to the context and waterrelated implications of the adoption of RCTs in three situations: to (1) the Mid-Indus Basin, as represented by the Punjab, (2) the Lower Indus Basin as represented by the Sindh, and (3) in more generic relation to semi-arid, water scarce basins.The main policy implications hinge on the role and nature of groundwater irrigation. Since the early 1980s, private development of groundwater irrigation has proved, in the Punjab, to be dramatically more successful in reducing waterlogging and lowering the groundwater table than earlier attempts to use pumped drainage, starting with the Salinity Control and Reclamation Program (SCARP) projects in the 1960s. The most extensive development and pumping of groundwater is in the freshwater zones, such as Middle and Upper Rechna Doab, the location of the rice-wheat systems of the Punjab. The present success of salinity mitigation and land reclamation (usually by farmers) in the Punjab is a yet undocumented story. Although there is considerable pumping of poorer quality groundwater in more downstream zones, such as Lower and Inner Rechna Doab, gradients between saline groundwater and freshwater zones are developing. The long term danger to the sustainable use of groundwater is the potential mixing and degradation of the fresh groundwater zones from the saline ones.The situation in the lower basin, in the Sindh, provides a stark contrast with widespread high and very saline water tables, largely due to overapplication of canal water and ineffective drainage, in part due to very low land surface gradients to the sea. Many public funded SCARP (reclamation) wells are no longer operational, and some problems persist with the operation of the arterial Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD).In the Punjab, the recent low allocations of canal water (as little as 40% of long term average supply), due to low snowfall and rainfall in the Upper Indus Basin, have contributed to lowered water tables, through (1) lower recharge from surface irrigation from fields and the channel network, and (2) increased groundwater abstraction in all zones. In the longer term, water tables may rise again, and the gradients between saline and fresh areas may decrease and stabilize.The main incentive for large and medium scale farmers to adopt RCTs lies in the increased profitability of wheat production in the Rice-Wheat Zone, due to a combination of reduced costs and increased yield through better timeliness of sowing. The success of this technology, and the small realizable water savings at field level allow expansion of the winter wheat area, requiring further abstraction of groundwater to support the additional crop through to harvest. Potentially, there could be greater groundwater abstraction in winter on up to 50 percent of the rice-wheat area (depending on final levels of adoption), with implications for a long term increase in the risk of groundwater mixing and degradation, as estimated in the previous section. However, adoption of RCTs may be only one of many reasons that farmers will continue to increase use of groundwater in the Punjab.The main policy lever constraining overexploitation of the groundwater is the maintenance of full cost recovery pricing for energy to constrain groundwater use within economically viable limits. To date, this has largely been the case in Pakistan, where the majority of irrigation tubewells are diesel powered, and pumping depths do not require excessive energy inputs. Careful oversight of the energy-irrigation nexus in Pakistan will be an important factor in the sustainability of groundwater use and in the management of salinity at a basin scale.Almost any technology that minimizes groundwater recharge ought to be attractive to farmers and policymakers in the Sindh, where water tables are high and saline over extensive areas. Groundwater use is much less common because of the high salinity of the water table, and drainage will continue to rely on public-sector drainage wells coupled to extensive surface drainage networks. Normally, disposal of salt is the overriding problem in arid-zone irrigated agriculture, but the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) allows disposal of saline effluent directly to the sea -at least in theory, as there are considerable operational difficulties at present, including seepage induced salinization of areas adjacent to the main channel and problems with the outfall structure and gates. Rice areas in the Sindh maintain good soil and water quality through application of large quantities of surface water, generating a continuous flux that leaches the soils, but this contributes strongly to regional groundwater rise and larger scale salinization in non-rice areas.In the Sindh, broad adoption of zero tillage would help to reduce net accession of groundwater, and the incentives for its adoption by larger and medium scale farmers are self driven, as explained earlier. Small farmers still face capital barriers to the adoption of zero tillage, due to the price and availability of direct seeding machinery and tractors. Rental markets could be further stimulated to ensure costeffective and timely supply of direct seeding equipment, but alternatively, smaller scale and cheaper equipment, such as that being produced in the Haryana and the Punjab in India, could be an attractive alternative for the smaller farmer, in both the Punjab and the Sindh.Laser leveling has long been promoted in Pakistan, with very low levels of adoption without subsidized government assistance until recently. This research shows that even in the Punjab, real interest in laser leveling has been stimulated probably because of the reduction in irrigation times, and the better uniformity of application, both of which assume greater importance when canal supplies are limited and groundwater quality is poor. Evidence for this is the greater level of adoption in the sugarcane-wheat system in the Lower Rechna Doab, where recently farmers have been relying increasingly on groundwater, despite its poorer quality.To date, adoption rates of zero tillage and laser leveling in the Sindh have not been surveyed and assessed in the same detail, nor the farm size distribution and the locations of rice-wheat and other production systems. This is certainly a task that should be undertaken. Farmers' understanding of water savings, resulting from laser leveling, and their appreciation of other benefits such as better and more uniform leaching, would pave the way for broader adoption. If there are no direct production benefits evident, then, in the interests of long term sustainability, it may be prudent to scale up the extent of laser leveling and use well-targeted subsidies to encourage its more widespread adoption, as is being done in the Punjab, Pakistan. In the rice areas of the Sindh, reductions in total water application will have a net positive benefit on lowering and stabilizing water tables. RCTs such as bed planting, if they can be made to perform as well or better than traditional transplanting, offer the possibility of significant reductions in total water application, mainly through reduced ponding, seepage and evaporation losses. A salt balance analysis will also be necessary to understand the effects on leaching and salt accumulation of reducing water fluxes through rice paddies in the Sindh.Salinity has a much larger negative effect on water productivity than the incremental addition of irrigation water, or higher use of nitrogen fertilizer. As groundwater degrades, water productivity of all crops will steadily decrease, and ultimately the aquifers in the Punjab could become too saline for agricultural use, as has already happened in the Sindh and in significant parts of the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia (Khan 2004).Options to replace one crop with another need to be carefully evaluated, even if the policy levers to do this are often limited by the dictates of the market. However, in Australia, rice cropping is zoned and prohibited in areas where there is high groundwater recharge as a result of ponding water on porous soils (Humphreys et al. 1994). In Pakistan, replacing rice with cotton may lead to a reduction in net irrigation application, but would lead to more water depletion as cotton has higher seasonal evapotranspiration than rice, particularly the transpiration component (Ahmad et al. 2004;Jalota and Arora 2002). However, replacing rice with cotton may be a good option for areas where seepage and percolation go to sinks (e.g., saline groundwater), but it is necessary to assess the biophysical environment, market and other factors conducive for replacement of one crop with another.Conjunctive water management is the key to Pakistan's agricultural future, and understanding of the impacts of surface and groundwater use on salinity in the long term is required. Water allocation policy should explicitly account for future effects on salinity, water productivity and the sustainability of groundwater use. Although there has been considerable monitoring of groundwater depth and quality, much of the data have not been evaluated and a good understanding of surface-groundwater interaction has not yet been achieved. This can be done through scenario modeling that links surface and groundwater allocation and use, but the modeling must also be able to include and explain the impacts of interventions (SCARPs, private groundwater abstraction) on water table levels and salinity since WAPDA's baseline survey in the early 1960s. The modeling framework also has to take into account key factors elaborated in this research report:1. the proportions and extents of canal and groundwater use;2. the efficiency and equity of surface water allocation and distribution within and across systems;3. the extents of and connections between saline and fresh groundwater areas and their connections to the surface supply systemvia rivers, irrigation and drainage canals, regional and on-farm; 4. farm structure: the size and distribution of large, medium and small farms and their differential impacts on surface and groundwater use;5. the fit and nature of technologies, such as RCTs, to these farms and farming systems, including: effectiveness and performance of the technology; incentives for its adoption; capital and operational requirements;6. the balance of upstream and downstream development and surface water allocation over the full range of natural hydrologic variability;7. understanding of where technologies and allocation policy result in real water savings at field, farm, system and basin scale through understanding what happens to water delivered on farm -whether it is transpired, evaporated, recycled over and over again, or lost to a sink, such as saline groundwater; and 8. social issues, for example, the influence of large, wealthy landholders on distribution of water and the distribution of RCT benefits among various farm size categories, etc.The lesson that field level water savings from RCTs translate into net increases in total water use at system scale (on the rational economic basis that the more productive an activity is, the more of it a producer wants to do) is highly instructive. The implications for the Indus Basin, outlined above, are more generally applicable to many arid basins where surface and groundwater are conjunctively used, and where salinity imposes a delicate balance on the long term sustainability of the agricultural system.The overriding message of this research is that water savings on farm that lead to more productive enterprises will tend to be reused somehow, and may even stimulate greater total water use. The main factor governing this in Pakistan is farm size: in situations where small farmers are the majority, small net water savings may not be able to be reused on farm, and the cumulative saving may result in system level water savings. Alternatively, the savings could allow better placed large farmers or other downstream users a more secure and generous water supply. In countries like Australia, water rights are allocated to each individual farmer and as bulk allocations to an irrigation system, stock and domestic water supply or rural town (Humphreys and Robinson 2003). In such situations, it is up to the rightholder what happens to unused water allocation -it can be traded, used for intensification, as in the Punjab example, or simply left in the system -either as carry over storage to another year or as spill through the dams or as in-stream flow. A key question that is rarely addressed in the rhetoric on water savings is, \"who is the beneficiary of real water savings\" when they exist.One of the lessons of this work is that the fate of real water savings is a very variable outcome, and one that pushes for more explicit recognition and allocation of water rights to farmers, irrigation systems and other users in developing countries such as Pakistan. Even then, there are multiple possible outcomes, it will be important that the allocation and maintenance of environmental flows does not rely on notional water savings, but instead are explicitly specified (e.g., amount, pattern, location and quality). The multiple incentives to save water and the factors governing security of supply will in the end drive the adoption of water saving technologies, and policymakers need to be aware of the likely outcomes.Recently, to address the issue of growing water scarcity, the Government of Pakistan launched a massive watercourse lining program. The aim of this project is to save water by seepage reduction and to enhance agricultural production by further expansion/increase in cropping intensity. As suggested in this study, there is need of a broader scale perspective in the water conservation strategies embarked upon in Indus Basin of Pakistan and similar basins elsewhere. More comprehensive understanding and evaluation of impacts on water balance (and salinity) dynamics at larger hydrological domains and the possibilities of achieving real water savings needs to be incorporated in project planning and impact evaluation studies.The study shows that farmers in the rice-wheat area of the Punjab, Pakistan, are adopting Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs), specifically zero tilled wheat and laser leveling, that help to improve their livelihoods and reduce the costs of production. Improving water productivity and achieving real water savings remain secondary concerns, despite a gradual increase in water scarcity at the sub-basin or basin scales. Increasing use of fresh groundwater has helped farmers to remedy the scarcity of canal water, although declining groundwater tables have indicated the need for better conjunctive management of these two sources of water. The implications of this for sustainable groundwater use and salinity management are complex and multiple outcomes are possible, depending on the understanding of policymakers and their subsequent actions.Counterintuitively, field level water savings due to the adoption of zero tillage and laser leveling in wheat production have contributed to increased net water use at system scale, due to field level savings being used to establish greater crop area on uncultivated land owned by medium and large scale farmers.Without doubt, net basin level water use has also increased, as evidenced by declining groundwater levels, but at this stage, it may not be significant in terms of the total water balance. This study provides a practical example of why system level approaches to water conservation are required to understand the differential impacts of interventions in the hydrologic cycle at different scales. The impacts of broader scale adoption of resource conserving technologies depend on many factors, especially the opportunity to reuse apparent savings at the farm level. Pakistan is perhaps unusual in the extent of its potentially irrigated area that is cultivated by medium and large scale farmers with unused fallow areas, but even without this, there are many other possibilities at the basin level to reuse water that has apparently been saved at field level.Zero tillage technology for wheat cultivation and laser land leveling are being more widely adopted than beds and alternative crop establishment methods for rice, which are as yet immature and unprofitable options. The analysis indicates that both zero tillage and laser land leveling have positively contributed in increasing net income of the farmers, whereas other RCTs do not yet offer that possibility. Reduced recharge to groundwater and declining water tables suggest that more rigorous analysis of the trade-offs among various water balance components is required for proper impact evaluation and to identify the contribution of RCTs to sustainable management of water and land resources.There is a need to devise suitable guidelines for making RCTs viable and managing the associated water savings and/or water productivity enhancement options across all scales of irrigated river basins. The opportunity of increasing economic benefits could be harnessed along with achieving real water savings, but these will not be realized at the basin scale without corresponding institutional development that involves better water accounting, more detailed and better balanced water allocation strategies, policies that promote balanced and wise conjunctive use of surface and groundwater, and social frameworks and policies which can implement those strategies. Strategies for developing and promoting resource conservation technologies should be based on the following four major thrusts:1. optimizing water depletion by productive uses; 2. selecting technologies that are appropriate to the farming system and to the hydrologic outcomes at the basin level, based on better understanding of the factors involved; Conclusions 3. improving overall management of the irrigation system; and 4. comprehensive water balance and water productivity assessment at field to higher scales of the river basin.For the zero tillage and laser land leveling technologies in Indus Basin of Pakistan, real water savings and improvement in water productivity can be achieved by: (a) providing incentives to small farmers for technology adoption while limiting new groundwater use by medium and large scale farmers, (b) improving the performance of canal water supply systems and managing these systems in high water availability years to sustain good quality groundwater resources, (c) promoting evaporation reducing technologies on a priority basis in Rice-Wheat Zone located in upper parts of Indus Basin (Punjab) where groundwater quality is fresh and drainage is reused by downstream users, (d) targeting technologies that reduce accessions to saline groundwater and also minimize evaporation losses at the Rice-Wheat Zone in the lower part of the basin (Sindh), and (e) investing more on data collection, monitoring and case studies for detailed agro-hydrological, salinity and water productivity assessment for resource conservation technologies at different scales, from field, to farm, to system, and to basin. Annex 9.Salient characteristics of the respondent farmers of rice-wheat zone of the Punjab, Pakistan.Note: N refers to the number of respondents ","tokenCount":"9785"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1318900864.json b/data/part_1/1318900864.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d446feba90d250e32e32f058a1e0a834a1479a5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1318900864.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c714d58c7b6bfeb10f6bb596107e0470","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/257b60b5-73db-41eb-a14d-9bded027e797/retrieve","id":"190279865"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1c9c4b68-d108-4e5e-a55c-79c503e85a8b","pagecount":"22","content":"The consultation meeting on 'Assessing and prioritizing wildlife value chains and transmission risk of zoonotic diseases in Vietnam' took place on 08 December in Hanoi, Vietnam. The meeting was cohosted by the National Institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). 29 participants including government department officers, leaders of the provincial departments, project implementers, researchers, collaborative partners from national programs and research institutions, and international partners attended the meeting. The objectives of the meeting were i) to map wildlife value chains for selecting species and identifying key zoonotic pathogens that can spill over to the human population. ii) to determine the risk pathway along the wildlife value chains and potential groups at risk. iii) to discuss the sampling frame in each study site, and iv) to discuss the collaboration plan with local stakeholders.The meeting included technical sessions, two group discussions in the morning, one group discussion and plenary discussion on the collaboration plan in the afternoon.The event started with the opening remarks by Dao Duy Tung from NIVR and Hung Nguyen from ILRI. Both highlighted the importance of the project in bringing different sectors together by adopting a One Health approach to assess the wildlife value chain and interspecies transmission risk of zoonotic diseases that aims to protect human health.Following the opening session was an introduction of the Zoonoses work package. The session was presented by Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, ILRI's PhD fellow. Three group discussions were then followed and the plenary discussion on collaboration plans across projects concluded the consultation meeting.Snakes and pythons in Dong Nai and wild boars and bamboo rats in Lao Cai were identified as targeted wildlife value chains. Dinh Quan District (La Nga Commune) and Trang Bom District (Song Trau and Binh Minh communes) in Dong Nai which have many snake farms and Lao Cai City, Bao Thang, Van Ban, and Bao Yen districts in Lao Cai where wild boar and bamboo rat farms are common, were identified as the tentative study sites. A mixed methods research design combining animal, human and environmental sampling is recommended for data collection. The Subdepartment of Animal Health (Sub-DAH) and the Sub-department of Forest Protection (Sub-DFP) are the project's key local implementing partners.On 9 December, 13 participants from the National Institute of Animal Sciences (NIAS), Dong Nai Sub-DAH, DFP, Lao Cai Sub-DAH and Nong Lam Ho Chi Minh University joined a two-hour meeting at ILRI office to discuss the detailed collaboration plan. The representatives of Lao Cai Sub-DAH, Dong Nai Sub-DAH, the Sub-DFP and Nong Lam Ho Chi Minh University committed to closely coordinating with ILRI to implement the project. For the next steps, ILRI will work with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the provincial sub-DFPs to get the list of farms in the study sites to develop a work plan and prepare documents for approval.The results of the consultation meeting and literature review will be reviewed to identify the targeted wildlife species and pathogens/zoonotic diseases and related research questions.This meeting was part of the CGIAR Initiative on Protecting Human Health through a One Health Approach, or CGIAR One Health Initiative in Vietnam and work package 1 on Zoonoses.Healthy and productive livestock can significantly contribute to high income, job creation, economic growth, and poverty alleviation. The diverse livestock and wildlife-farm production systems in Vietnam and the strong linkages between their supply chains, for instance in wet markets, render the country a hotspot for emerging zoonotic diseases in the region. It is very important to understand the transmission at the interface among human, animals, and wildlife in different host ecosystems, which helps optimize surveillance and disease control.Under the CGIAR One Health Initiative, Zoonoses work package aims to develop a risk assessment framework and conduct surveillance and monitoring of interspecies transmission of zoonotic diseases using a One Health approach. Generated knowledge will be used to design interventions using One Health approach along the meat value chains to develop the country's capacity to manage emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). The Zoonoses work package will be implemented in Lao Cai and Dong Nai provinces.The meeting included two parts: (i) the consultation meeting with both local and international partners on 8 December and (ii) the meeting with local stakeholders on 9 December.1. To map wildlife value chains for selecting species and identifying key zoonotic pathogens that can spill over to the human population. 2. To determine the risk pathway along the wildlife value chains and potential groups at risk. 3. To discuss the sampling frame in each study site. 4. To discuss the collaboration plan with local stakeholders.Organizer: NIVR and ILRI Participants: A total of 29 participants who are leaders of DAH, NIHE, NIVR, local stakeholders in two targeted provinces of Lao Cai and Dong Nai, and international partners attended the meeting.The consultation meeting with local and international partners took place on 8 December 2022 in Pullman Hotel and a meeting with local stakeholders to discuss the collaboration plan on the following day at the ILRI office.The meeting was opened by Dao Duy Tung, senior researcher at NIVR. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of the project in bringing different sectors together by adopting a One Health approach to assess the wildlife value chain and interspecies transmission risk of zoonotic diseases that aims to protect human health.Hung Nguyen, co-leader of ILRI Animal and Human Health Program and lead of CGIAR One Health Initiative then highlighted that the meeting is part of CGIAR's One Health initiative to promote the adoption of a One Health approach to help address global health issues. Zoonotic diseases are linked closely with livestock and wildlife health, the mechanism of disease transmission, so adopting a One Health approach plays an important role in the aggregation of interdisciplinary cooperation to solve problems.Session 2 started with a presentation by Ha Nguyen, ILRI's PhD fellow to introduce the work package 1 on Zoonoses. She introduced the overall work package and her PhD study on 'Assessing wildlife Group discussions (photo credit: ILRI/Chi Nguyen).Group work session 1: Mapping wildlife value chain of selected species and identify key nodes for zoonotic pathogen spillover from wildlife in Vietnam, targeted wildlife species and pathogens/zoonotic diseases 1. Which wildlife should be prioritized? Criteria for selection? -The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted an assessment of wildlife facilities and published an assessment report in English summarizing the risks in groups of primates, birds, and rats. However, review of reports and publications in Vietnamese was not included in the review. The FAO colleagues suggested the research team should expand the literature review to include both publications in English and Vietnamese. Through the review, FAO found that in fact the risk also comes from livestock, and biosecurity practices (e.g. civets, snakes). Studies have also not studied about these aspects so there is not enough evidence to say which species is more at risk. -Regarding to the sample size for evaluation, it is reported that there are more than 8,000 facilities keeping wild animals, but in fact there are many more that have not been licensed and have not been reported, due to the different wildlife categories. It was previously reported that there were about 20,000 facilities including stag and deer farming, but now star deer and elk are not listed as wild animals anymore. There is also no official data available on the bird markets. The research team should review more publications in order to set criteria to choose the sample and sample size. -The species in group 1B, which are endangered and banned from hunting and trading, are managed by the agencies in charge of licensing, so facilities cannot be registered. Dong Nai currently has about 70 species including wild and domestic animals such as deer, primates, monkeys, bats, crocodiles, snakes and rodents (porcupines, civets...). Crocodiles are the most farmed, but there is no information on diseases transmitted from crocodiles and snakes to human. Some wildlife farms have been selected and taken samples by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently. Therefore, consideration should be given to avoid duplication. -It is suggested to select farming wild animals and if the team wants to focus on pandemic, then prioritize new emerging infectious pathogens, if want to focus on zoonosis then prioritize species and pathogens that have been well identified and researched.-It is suggested to focus on evolving viruses, influenza, or coronavirus, which the world is still concerned about if the project wants to focus on surveillance or value chain and the pathogens. If the project wants to focus on disease surveillance, the team should prioritize natural wildlife species. If the team wants to understand the value chains, they should focus on farming wildlife animals. In Lao Cai wild boars are also a potential host for the presence of parasites (cysticercosis, trichinellosis, worms) and the possibility of influenza, nipah or hendra viruses. -Dong Nai has some forms of captive wildlife. They raised monkeys for vaccine production and have a large number of wildlife and many species cannot be controlled for reproduction and biosecurity. The risks should be evaluated based on biosafety, which currently has no criteria for assessment, and most are assessed by sensory evaluation. -It was suggested to focus on some animals and pathogens to look at the interfaces, no need to choose too many types. The selected ones can be based on the literature review from the findings of FAO and other organizations.Attention should be paid to the following species:-Bats, reptiles, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, rodents (civets, porcupines, squirrels). Some have been studied by the StopSpillover and WCS's projects. Other potential species at risk can be selected. Pathogens are Coronavirus, Nipah virus, Hendra virus. -Bats are also potential for selection. Currently, there are 10 points for collecting bat droppings as fertilizer for planting, so the number of samples needs to be considered. Pythons, snakes and turtles are rarely studied because they have few diseases. -Primates, birds, reptiles, wild animals, wild boars, civets, snakes have been prioritized for recent research. -Salangane and red pheasants are also potential species for influenza research. Previously, the price of red hemorrhoids was high, many people raised them, but recently, the price has decreased, so the number of farms and quantity of this animal has decreased. -Reptiles also have a research gap (mainly related to Salmonella, less related to emerging diseases). Snakes live close to livestock farms and human settlements, so there is a potential risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases. -Seasonal wild birds that are caught and consumed in large numbers can also be selected to study the causative agent of influenza virus. -Wild boar or their crosses with an existing prevalence of parasites such as lungworms, flukes, trichinella etc. There are currently many farms, large quantities, and could be convenient for sampling. -Bamboo rats are being farmed with increased number of farms in the northern mountainous areas of Vietnam, and potential to transmit Leptospira to human. -Asia palm civets and masked palm civets are currently suspected of being related to emerging diseases, however, the value of these two species is quite high, so the voluntary participation of the farmers should be taken into account.→ Should prioritize farmed wild animals to build value chains and facilitate sampling. Species selected for value chain development include, however the selection of other potential species are not limited to those animals:• Dong Nai: Snake and Python • Lao Cai: Wild boar and Bamboo ratResearch team should approach indirect actors in the value chain including forest rangers, environmental police, veterinary officers, market managers and wildlife rescuers.3. Data/information availability/gaps -Reptiles (snakes): information data gaps exist (bacteria, antibiotic resistance in the environment, parasites, fungi). Snakes live close to livestock farms and farmers posing potential risk of diseases. -Pheasants, deer, wild chickens, snakes are directly consumed at the market, civets and crocodiles are exported. There is a reasonable amount of knowledge about pheasants since these are similar to chickens. Priority should be given to groups with more wild elements (civets, foxes, porcupines). Pheasants are imported from Guangxi to the North, then brought to the South. They are not indigenous in Vietnam.Province, which has about 30,000 monkeys, to look at biosecurity conditions, evaluate both positive and negative aspects to make a good model of biodiversity standards. -Research should be conducted in the direction of the wildlife consumption chain rather than the value chain because the stages before consumption are less infectious. -Deer is raised mainly for antler, so it is difficult to study along the consumption chain. In Song Loc District of Dong Nai Province, there is one farm that raises 15,000 deers, the other farms only raise a few hundred. -Dong Nai is the breeding source to distribute civets throughout the country so it can be considered. Civets are imported from the west of the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City. -On reptiles, it is possible to study antibiotic resistance because the feed for reptiles is mainly poultry and fish. Research on wastewater of those farms after being discharged into the environment can be considered.-Dong Nai: Dinh Quan District (La Nga Commune) and Trang Bom District (Song Trau and Binh Minh communes) have several snake farms. -Lao Cai: Lao Cai City, Bao Thang, Van Ban and Bao Yen districts have several wild boar and bamboo rat farms.In Dong Nai: Snake value chain (the biggest farm of 30,000 snakes) -Farming: breeding -> farms -> collectors -> restaurants -> end-users -Nature: wild snakes -> collectors -> restaurants -> end-users -Export (mainly unofficially as only 10 facilities are registered) -Note that the carrier is the person at the farm or the restaurant. It's hard to reach processors, butchers. Attention should be paid to bacteria discharged into the environment, antimicrobial resistance, risk of fungus. More information about snakes (Dong Tam snake farm in Tien Giang; Reptile/amphibian association) -There are several types of snakes (Pytas mucosa, cobra, radiated ratsnake, python) -Common diseases on snakes can be consulted with Son in Thao Cam Vien or Thanh at Nong Lam HCMC). Information gaps include:-sampling techniques -technical experts, experts with expertise in snake epidemics -testing equipment -pathogens on snakesIn Lao Cai: Wild boars value chain: Currently, wild boars are raised as the domestic animal, however according to the list of wildlife species from CITES, wild boar is still considered as a wild animal. Wild boar value chain:-Farming: breeding -> farms -> collectors -> restaurants -> end-users -Large numbers of pathogens that can be found along the value chain are worms and parasites. Food-borne diseases on wild boar and/or their crosses can be caused as a result of unhygienic eating habits. -Pathogens: worms and parasites.Bamboo rat value chains: currently, there are nine business farms registered in Lao Cai.-Farming: breeding -> farms -> collectors -> restaurants -> end-users -Nature: wild snakes -> collectors -> restaurants -> end-users (small number) -In which, farmers are the most at risk due to the long exposure time and the absence of safe sanitation methods. Slaughterers are mainly based in hard-toreach restaurants. The research team can consider applying the snowball method to reach target audiences. -Pathogens: Leptospira; Hantavirus; Nipah; Rickettsia; Escherichia coli; CoronavirusLao Cai Snake, python -Animal: feces, blood, scales -Environment: wastewater -Human: feces, blood, swab Wild boar, bamboo rat -Non-invasive samples: environment, feces, wastewater, cage -Invasive samples: blood, swab from oropharyngeal, anus/rectum-Sub-DAHs -Sub-DFPs -Nong Lam HCMC University -NIVR -NIAS -Regional Animal Health Office 6 (RAHO 6), Vet No2 (sampling) -Provincial Center for Diseases Control (CDC) / Pasteur Institute Group work session 3: Tentative sampling and interview/survey frame in each study site 1. Wildlife and human sampling and sample size? -Sample size depends on disease prevalence and population of the animal for all three selected species (snake and python; wild boar and bamboo rat). -Research team should review similar studies in China and other countries regarding to the sample size and sampling. -Research methodology: mixed method quantitative and qualitative, consider interviewing some key actors before developing a questionnaire to have a better understanding about the potential risks for different nodes. Experts suggested applying risk assessment instead of using a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire. -Survey and key informant interview (KII) and focus group discussion (FGD) with farmers, transporters, processors, butchers, consumers, veterinarians, forest protection officers, markets managers, and rescue officers. -Collect samples as suggested in the group work session 2.Collaborating with host institutions such as NIVR and NIAS to work closely with local sub-DAH and the sub-DFP in Dong Nai and Lao Cai to support in collecting samples.-Qualitative: interview and FGD with transporters, processors, butchers, veterinarians, forest protection officers, markets managers, rescue officers, and can apply snowball sampling technique -Quantitative: farmers and consumers of snakes (meat, skin), wild boar (meat) and bamboo rat (meat) -Observation checklist to verify information collected from the surveys and KIIs. focus group discussion, in-depth KII interview) -FAO: In the SAFE project in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia on evaluating the diseases transmitted from wild animals to humans, FAO implemented some activities in Thailand and Laos. In Vietnam, FAO is waiting for approval by the authorities. In Thailand and Laos, FAO selected 40 farms (zoos, trading points), developed a questionnaire but lacked criteria for selecting farms. In Vietnam, the project expects to conduct a survey nationwide. In January 2023, the project inception meeting is planned to be organized, and a technical committee will be established. -GIZ focuses on policy advocacy on information-sharing mechanisms and more effective health-agriculture linkages. The One Health project of GIZ is implemented in Can Tho, Dak Lak, Dong Thap and Nam Dinh. GIZ will support the Vietnam One Health Partnership for Zoonoses (OHP) to organize a forum to share research evidence to policymakers. -TRAFFIC is currently implementing a three-year TRAP project. Over the past two years, field works were suspended due to COVID-19. Project has conducted online market surveys and phone interviews with wildlife restaurants and is currently processing and analyzing data. In 2023, TRAFFIC will implement three main activities (online market survey, offline market survey and make strategic behavior change recommendations). The project is currently waiting for approval. -Sub-DAH Dong Nai: Dong Nai has a large livestock population (especially pigs), including many wild animals, but there are still many information gaps that need to be researched to meet the needs of conservation and for better human health management in the province.The meeting concluded with closing remarks by Fred Unger, regional representative for East and Southeast Asia, expressed appreciation for the participation and contribution of the stakeholders at the meeting. He also highlighted the role of strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships to ensure the smooth implementation of the project to bring benefits to the community. The project team is encouraged to further consultation with stakeholders to avoid duplication of efforts and enhance sharing and learning.• Study sites: ○ Dong Nai: Dinh Quan and Trang Bom districts ○ Lao Cai: Lao Cai city, Bao Thang, Van Ban and Bao Yen districts • Sample size and sampling approach:○ Contact with CITES to get the updated list of farming facilities in Lao Cai and Dong Nai ○ Snowball sampling technique to reach out target audiences • Interventions should be built based on the needs of the localities in terms of policy advocacy, human resources, communication via media channels like YouTube, Facebook (not recommended to use traditional ways like loudspeakers).ILRI collaborates with NIAS and NIVR (in Lao Cai) and Nong Lam Ho Chi Minh university and NIVR (in Dong Nai) to submit an official letter to the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Then they will assign to sub-DAH or the Sub-DFP who will be serve as the focal point of the project in the provinces. ILRI will then work closely with NIAS and NIVR (in Lao Cai), and Nong Lam Ho Chi Minh and NIVR (in Dong Nai) to develop a detailed plan about the date and time, area, sample quantity, type of samples, roles and responsibilities of involved parties.Regarding to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications, the Nong Lam Ho Chi Minh University recently had a committee to review animal research that can be an option for IRB submission while research related to human can be submitted to the Hanoi University of Public Health (HUPH). It may take one to three months to get the application approved.• ILRI will contact CITES and the Sub-DFP in Dong Nai and Lao Cai to get the list of farms in the study sites. • Based on the outputs of the consultation meeting, the project team will update and consolidate information with invited stakeholders and other teams about the final selection of wildlife species, value chains and pathogens. • ILRI will work with the host institution to get approval so that project partners can progress further related required documents to the Provincial People Committee and relevant departments to support the project implementation.","tokenCount":"3453"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1320101014.json b/data/part_1/1320101014.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b21782009c99939d4b4e9a2d86e0ca72c072632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1320101014.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"595be66762cde03054b500e1c7f899ae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0a694411-d7ac-41e7-972a-af9f3b239dc6/retrieve","id":"-1740344258"},"keywords":["child, dietary diversity, Nigeria, nutritional outcomes, rural households Adoption, Binary logistic regression, Improved maize varieties, Tobit model Biofortified foods processing, Entrepreneurship, Food security, Wealth creation Sweet orange, Postharvest loss, Percentage loss, Postharvest loss reduction Agricultural information transfer, Sustainability, COVID-19 pandemic, Socioeconomic survival Field condition, Klasmann substrate, Screen house, Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics Combining ability, Grain yield, Heterosis, Maize synthetics, Provitamin A Micrografting, Tree improvement, Rootstock, Scion Anthocyanin, Alata, Dioscorea, Genotypes, Yam Genetic diversity, DArTSeq, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, Inbred lines, Tester, Mantel test Stability analysis, Bambara groundnut, Seed yield, Drought stress, Environment Bambara groundnut, DArTseq SNP markers, Protein content Breadnut, breadfruit, Underutilized crop, Seed yield, Fruit weight Cassava, Genotype, Morphology, Traits, Selection Cassava, Genetic Resources, Long-term storage, V-cryo plate Conservation, Hydroponics system, Minituber, Yam Galling index, Juvenile stage 2, Meloidogyne incognita, Seedling pouches, underutilized Application, CropGro-Model, Calibration, Soybean, Variety Height and canopy diameter, Sprayer, Spray deposition Antioxidant activity","Bioactive components","Starch-hydrolyzing enzymes Conservation, National parks, Protected areas, Wildlife resources Maize yield, Monitoring. Predicted, Plant height, Variability Antioxidants, Cassava, Photosynthetic pigments, Proline, salicylic acid Drug production, Endangered species, Loranthus micranthus, Metabolite, Phytochemicals Conservation and restoration, Forested landscape, Food security and nutrition, Forest preservation Conservation, Species richness, Species abundance, Urbanization"],"sieverID":"117e9715-5d42-4a79-8657-a7aabf570bc5","pagecount":"53","content":"In conclusion, IITA appreciates all IARSAF members, Scientists, and friends of the institute who have contributed immensely to the success of this year's symposium. We also extend our gratitude to IITA Scientists, the R4D directorate, the executives, reviewers, keynote speakers, and the participants for their valuable contributions.We reiterate our continued support to scaling up research for development through innovations that will sustain African agriculture and ensure a hunger-free Africa.The year 2020 was declared as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This was a call to action in response to safeguarding human existence and ensuring continuous food production which is presently under attack from several biotic and abiotic factors as caused by the increasing effect of climate change. Promoting Plant health awareness globally is a conscious and deliberate effort to protecting lives and we all have a role to play if we are keen to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty as well as a safe ecosystem that enhances biodiversity conservation.The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus led to a global health crisis forcing many nations of the world to shut down economic and business activities for months, however, several countries are gradually opening up in phases -now termed a new normal. The impacts of COVID-19 have shown us how devastating a disease outbreak could be and could put the entire world in a standstill. Thus, demanding a more concerted effort by the Government, Agricultural Research Institutes/Organizations, Scientists, and Scholars to work assiduously to prevent a disease outbreak in the food sector as that could be more devastating as many nations of the world are still battling with hunger and malnutrition.The International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows (IARSAF) gave the right direction for her 23rd annual symposium tagged the role of plant health in mitigating economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of this year's symposium is of great importance to the times we are in and relevant to the entire CGIAR system and the IYPH agenda for the year 2020. This book of Abstracts contains well written interdisciplinary researches that address the theme of the symposium. We implore you to engage in robust discussion in the various thematic areas with useful contributions that could help transform Africa Agriculture in pursuit of sustainable food security. This symposium should stimulate early career researchers in Africa to conduct research with objectives that meet global and continental challenges.In the course of compiling the book of abstract for this year\"s edition of IARSAF annual symposium, our experience was not different from those of the editors for the last two editions. The privilege to assume responsibility, network with reviewers and prospective symposium participants, while adapting to the realities of coronavirus pandemic was something to savour. I would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation to the people who at every stage were involved and whose inputs were vital to the outcome of this book. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented economic losses and left traumatic impact on many people. The UN forecast is that the impact of the pandemic will vary from country to country and will increase the level of poverty and inequalities on a global scale. Therefore, all hands have to be on deck to proffer solutions to these challenges. I hope this edition of the annual meeting provides useful take-home solutions for all: students, researchers, private sector stakeholders, government officials and policymakers. I wish you fruitful deliberations. As part of the adaptive measures to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and in adherence to the social distancing rules, the organising committee deemed it necessary to host this year\"s symposium online rather shelve it with its enormous benefits to teeming participants. The meeting anticipates insightful and robust scientific ideas that will do justice to the theme and proffer practical solutions to challenges confronting Agricultural productivity in the present realities.The Local Organising Committee (LOC) has worked assiduously to put together a symposium that will be of immense benefit to you. On behalf of the LOC, I wish to express a hearty appreciation to all who contributed their quotas to the success of this symposium. To Furthermore, the symposium will include training on research ethics and reference management which will be anchored by Dr. Titilayo Falade, a Plant pathologist in IITA Ibadan. Although, this year\"s symposium is an online symposium which will in a way affect mingling among participants, but we have also included an alternative way to network online.On a final note, I believe your participation in this year\"s symposium will be worthwhile and we wish to express our appreciation to the Director General of IITA, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga The importance of water as a resource for economic recovery should be on the horizon of global discussions. The significance of water to multiple industries and processes are numerous, yet its global demand is increasing leading to a stress in its availability. This situation has exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemics and water scarcity is becoming imminent if the available water resource is not properly managed. Water is the most essential resource to plant growth and ecosystem stability; its availability or scarcity, would go a long way in determining the fate of sustainable production either in plants or animals. Production is a huge component of economic recovery, and stability in production can only be actualized if useable water supply remains stable. between accessions in flower colour displaying diverse patterns (purple, red and yellow colours). 28% of the evaluated accessions had ovoid shape were others had kidney and rhomboid shape. 87% were smooth seeded and 13% had rough texture with over 70% having big seed size. The principal components (PCs) accounted for about 80% of the total genetic variation. Complete linkage hierarchical clustering analyses was performed on the accessions and clustered them into three major groups as follows: (i) erect and intermediate (ii) prostate (iii) climbing. Low variation was observed between accessions in growth habit and pattern.However, the PC1 and PC2 could discriminate the evaluated cowpea accessions, suggesting that the accessions may have wide adaptability and stability for most of the measured traits.The results in this study can be used in cowpea breeding program to improve cowpea varieties and meet food security. Ensuring poverty eradication, nutrition and food security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem through a global research partnership for a food-secure future.Continuous collaboration with researchers to advance agricultural science and innovation, improve productivity and resilience in managing economic growth, natural resources and other challenges.IAFSAF is a non-political association, which seeks to:1. Provide a forum for the exchange of academic and research ideas among its members. 2. Establish and promote a spirit of friendship, tolerance and humility among its members through social activities. 3. Discuss, suggest and/or seek solution to problems affecting members.1. Membership shall be by virtue of an appointment as a research scholar, research fellow, or visiting research student of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) or any of the CGIAR consortiums. 2. Membership shall also be open to short-term trainees. 3. Membership of IARSAF shall be voluntary. 4. Only registered member shall benefit from the Association.IARSAF partners with International, National and Regional Research Institutes, Civil Society Organizations, Academia, Development Organizations, Governor and the Private Sector.","tokenCount":"1202"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1335617470.json b/data/part_1/1335617470.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a08bfc078c45be4519ca53fb547df564b5cba52c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1335617470.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"50933d3dd9111ccb0ba79ca9bb4425cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/71f14758-7a23-472e-9dd7-6385d7bb0e50/content","id":"1505548758"},"keywords":["Zea mays","Maize","Plant breeding","Selection","Injurious factors","Nitrogen","Resistance to injurious factors","Stress","Drought resistance","Plant physiology","Plant production","Crop losses","Simulation models","Computer software","Latin America","Africa","Tropical zones","Research projects AGRIS Category Codes: F30 Plant Genetics and Breeding","H50 Miscellaneous Plant Disorders Dewey Decimal Classification: 633.153","yy yy yy","y y","y y","yy yy yy","y y","thank G. Warren, D. Court, S. Atwal,"],"sieverID":"e376b0f5-0c2a-4bd2-acf6-59fde7476882","pagecount":"577","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization.Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises over 50 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda currently comes from many sources, including the governments of Australia,v Estimación del potencial de rendimiento de líneas resistentes a sequía del CIMMYT en cruzamientos con diferentes probadores. M.A. García Food security is a pressing concern for the world today. Even if available food energy were evenly distributed within each country -which it is not -33 countries would not be able to assure the minimum necessary food energy (2,200  As part of the original UNDP project, CIMMYT organized and hosted two international conferences in which researchers assessed progress and set new directions. The first was Insect Resistant Maize: Recent Advances and Utilization, held from 27 November to 3 December, 1994. Involving approximately 80 participants and 60 scientific papers, this event is covered in a 300-page proceedings of the same title (Dr. John A. Mihm, ed.) that was printed in May, 1997, and distributed to some 500 cooperators and key libraries worldwide. Copies are available from CIMMYT.The second, Developing Drought-and Low Nitrogen-Tolerant Maize, took place from 25 to 29 March, 1996, and is reported in the present publication. The meeting attracted 121 participants and featured a program of 36 oral presentations and 65 posters. From the discussions, it is apparent that effective selection methodologies for tolerances to drought and low nitrogen conditions do exist. In special consultation sessions with developing country representatives attending the conference, it was also concluded that CIMMYT can best serve research partners by establishing regional breeding programs focused on improvement of regionally-adapted germplasm. Finally, participants concurred that networks are an acceptable mechanism for regional collaboration, provided all participants are treated as equals in their planning and execution.The success of efforts to reach farmers with useful technologies such as drought-and low nitrogentolerant maize and related cropping techniques will depend very much on the continued availability of funding for public sector agricultural research. Breeding under controlled moisture and fertility conditions, for example, requires considerable resources. There will be relatively few offerings from the private sector for marginal regions, where the promise of large profits is scant.Their most significant contribution, perhaps, will be that of increasing productivity in favored areas, which helps reduce the pressure for opening still more fragile lands, such as tropical forest margins, to agricultural production.CIMMYT is helping research partners in developing countries to obtain additional funding for this work and, through networking, to use current resources more effectively. The information in this proceedings, which covers a range of topics from drought and low nitrogen stress incidence for maize in the tropics through to related biotech applications, modeling, and geographic information system studies, is intended to add to their effectiveness and provide a useful reference for years to come. Because of our interest in getting this material as quickly as possible to readers who can use it, we decided not to translate the Spanish language papers; rather, we have provided English abstracts which contain salient information about the aims, methods, and outcomes of the research described.We hope this proceedings will serve your needs, and welcome your comments and questions about the research it covers. Where farmers know that drought is highly probable, they will usually not risk capital losses by applying fertilizer, even if it is available. Thus, these stresses often occur together in the tropics. High mean precipitation can often mask water shortages from poor rainfall distribution or shallow soils. These factors, combined with limited resources and adverse government policies, result in declining sustainability as soil and water resources become depleted. Improved germplasm will not solve all of the problems; however, results presented by scientists, many of whom are present today, leave little doubt that improved germplasm, when coupled with sound sustainable cropping systems, can go a long way in increasing food security in many parts of the developing world. CIMMYT's Maize 2 assure that models are applied using realistic cropping practices and that model outputs are realistic.The megaenvironment classification developed by the CIMMYT Maize Program (1988) demonstrates the utility of expert opinion. However, the zones described do not permit quantifying the impact of water or nitrogen stress on production nor do they indicate how patterns of stress vary within or across regions.Corbett (in press) classified maize production zones in Kenya using multivariate cluster analysis of climate and elevation data followed by consultation with maize researchers. Preliminary zones were defined using monthly data for maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation plus altitude. The limits for these zones were then adjusted to create a final classification system that would be similar to the previous systems used by KARI, and would capture important new information. The new zonification indicated a need to shift regional priorities for maize breeding. It was also used to guide stratified surveys of farms and villages for a more detailed database on maize production (Hassan et al., in press). However, the approach still did not quantify potential yield levels or patterns of water or nitrogen deficit.Simulation models have been used to characterize production potential over regions; e.g., Lal et al. (1993) used the BEANGRO model interfaced to a GIS system to map potential yield of common bean over Puerto Rico, Rötter (1993) used the WOFOST model to examine biophysical limits to maize production in Kenya, and Woopereis (1993) examined regional variation in rainfed rice yields for the Tarlac Province, Philippines using ORYZA1-DSTRESS-PADDY. Models are also being integrated with multiple-goal linear programming to create flexible tools for reconciling different objectives of participants in classification exercises (van Keulen, 1993). While these approaches show promise, they require extensive data.A typical \"minimum data set\" for application of simulation models includes daily weather data (maximum and minimum temperature, solar radiation and precipitation), details of cropping practices (cultivar, planting date, row spacing and population density, fertilizer, and irrigation dates and amounts), and a description of the soil profile.This paper examines the potential of simulation models to quantify temporal and spatial variation in water deficit and nitrogen stress for tropical maize production. The CERES-Maize model is used throughout (Jones and Kiniry, 1986;Hoogenboom et al., 1994;W. Bowen, personal communication, Nov., 1995) because it is widely known.Emphasis is given to three issues.Can models quantify water deficits in a manner that is more useful than simple ratios of actual to potential evapotranspiration? Can models quantify nitrogen stress and if so, how does N stress interact with water deficit patterns? Are daily weather data \"generated\" by statistical analyses of monthly data an adequate substitute for observed daily data?Implicit throughout these discussions is the assumption that models such as CERES-Maize simulate maize growth and development in a sufficiently realistic fashion to produce useful results. Although CERES-Maize has been tested in diverse environments, it is known not to include certain basic responses to stress such as lengthening of the anthesis-silking interval (ASI). Further model development and field testing must accompany any attempts to apply models to characterization studies involving stress near flowering.All simulations were conducted with the model CERES-Maize v. 3.10 (95.0) (Hoogenboom et al., 1994;W. Bowen, personal communication, Nov., 1995).Daily weather data were obtained Table 1. Example of approaches for defining agroecological zones, including indication of their reliability, cost, reproducibility and degree of quantification. The number of asterisks indicates a range from low (one) to high (five).from experiment stations or from the Global Daily Summary database (National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina). Where data for solar radiation were not available, the SIMMETEO weather generator (Geng et al., 1986) was used to estimate daily values. Monthly means required as input for SIMMETEO were obtained from the FAO agroclimatological reports (FAO, 1984;FAO, 1985;FAO, 1987).For simulations of maize at Gainesville, Florida, initial conditions and cropping practices were used as provided in sample data sets of CERES-Maize. Briefly, these were a 26 Patterns of water deficit vary both with weather and soil conditions. Simple water balance models, which only compare precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, will not respond to effects of growth stage or variation in soil moisture on actual evapotranspiration. Simulation models such as CERES-Maize do account for these effects and furthermore, can provide various levels of detail in their outputs. These include potential and actual evapotranspiration, plant transpiration, and summary statistics of water deficit level, as illustrated in Figure 1 for a maize crop grown at Gainesville, Florida.A common index is simply the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration (ET ratio) (Fig. 1B). The water deficit index (WDI) calculated by CERES-Maize has the further advantage of indicating whether transpiration was limited by water uptake capacity of the crop by accounting for variation in soil moisture availability in relation to root distribution in the soil profile. A value of zero means that no deficit occurred, and a value of one means that for that day, none of the demand for water was met. The WDI and the ET ratio describe essentially identical information except during early crop growth (Fig. 1B). However, WDI indicates a low level of stress during early crop growth (15 to 22 days after planting), while the ET ratio indicates considerable stress. This discrepancy is because WDI accounts for effects of reduced plant size on transpiration, but use of the ET ratio implies that a crop has a closed canopy throughout its growth cycle. WDI thus appears more suitable than the ET ratio for characterizing water deficit patterns in an annual crop such as maize.To examine variation in stress patterns over multiple seasons, WDI can be estimated for each season and compared. Overlaying graphs of variation in WDI quickly results in a Figure 1. Variation in the crop water balance of a maize crop grown under rainfed, low nitrogen conditions at Gainesville, Florida (Bennett et al., 1989) and as simulated by CERES-Maize. A. Transpiration, actual evapotranspiration (ET) and potential evapotranspiration. B. Water deficit index (WDI) calculated by CERES-Maize and the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration (ET ratio).Water loss (mm day -1 ) A  confusion of lines that is difficult to interpret (Fig. 2A). A useful strategy to synthesize data on WDI over time is to simply graph lines indicating when WDI exceeded a critical level. The ability of simulation models to account for different agronomic practices and growing conditions makes them suitable for comparing the relative importance of water and nitrogen deficits assuming different management practices. For 16 seasons at Palmira, Colombia, applying 0 or 90 kg/ha of nitrogen at planting and using irrigated or rainfed conditions, CERES-Maize predicted that fertilizing a rainfed crop would provide greater yields than irrigation without N fertilizer (Fig. 3). However, rainfed systems would show much greater season-toseason variation.An alternate perspective is to use the nitrogen stress index (NSI) calculated by CERES-Maize as an index of N deficit during the growth a crop. NSI is calculated by determining whether the N demand on a given day can be satisfied by the pool of readily available soil N. As with WDI, a value of zero for NSI indicates no stress and a value of one, maximum stress. Variation in NSI over seasons (Fig. 4) was much less pronounced than for WDI (Fig. 2A) for similar conditions. Furthermore, different levels of N seem to have relatively small effects on the pattern of water deficit as indicated by WDI (Fig. 5).Thus, where risk due to variable precipitation is a major concern, emphasis can be given to patterns of water deficit with less concern over confounding effects of N availability. This conclusion is counter-intuitive since it seems to violate the widely held belief that there are strong interactions between water deficit and N stress. This discrepancy is explained by several factors. First is that an interaction effect on yield may occur without there being a difference in the pattern of stress. The example in Figure 3 suggests an interaction for yield: if the effects of irrigation and nitrogen were additive, the expected yield for irrigation with 90 kg N/ha would be approximately 5800 kg/ha; the actual value is 5350 kg/ha. Nonetheless, the same simulations produced the data for variation in WDI that are shown in Figure 5. A more mechanistic explanation is that water deficits may induce N deficits by reducing the availability of soil N. Thus, under water deficit conditions, the overriding determinant of stress patterns will be water availability. Tolerance to water deficit and to N stress in maize also may involve similar mechanisms through stress signals and reduction in leaf area expansion (see Lafitte et al., 1997).   Richardson (1985) and SIMMETEO (Geng et al., 1986) generators.To test the efficiency of the generators, simulated grain yields and variation in yields were compared for 10 years of observed or generated weather data over five sites (Fig. 6). Values for simulated yields from the generators were generally close to those obtained using observed weather data.However, the generated data still might fail to reproduce patterns of weather variation that would become important as simulation of different adaptive mechanisms is improved in the models (see Elings et al., 1997).One such pattern is the relation between time of onset of the rainy season and the total precipitation during the season. For summer monsoon rains, later onset may be associated with decreasing total precipitation. A short-day photoperiod response might permit a crop to reduce its growth cycle with very late plantings, thus adjusting the length of the growth cycle to the expected available precipitation.Observed data from F. Madero, Durango, Mexico showed the expected negative association between onset of the season and total precipitation (Fig. 7), but generated weather data showed no relation. In contrast, for Harare, Zimbabwe, no relation was noted with observed data (r = 0.20, NS), but the generated data indicated that a late onset was associated with greater precipitation (r = 0.55, P < 0.05). Thus, while weather generators may have utility for examining spatial variation in grain yield, they may be inadequate for characterizing variation in weather patterns that would influence specific adaptation mechanisms.The described simulation experiments support the thesis that models such as CERES-Maize may be valuable tools for characterizing patterns of water deficit and nitrogen stress in maize production areas.Specific points that emerged from the study were:• WDI appears more useful for characterizing variation in moisture deficit levels than the more frequently used ratio of Fig. 5. Periods during the growing season when the water deficit index (WDI) exceeded 0.25 for simulations of cv. Suwan-1 at Palmira, Colombia, assuming rainfed conditions and 0 or 90 kg N/ha at planting and using data for 16 individual seasons. Figure 6. Means and standard deviation of grain yield for simulations of cv. Suwan-1 for 10 seasons at five locations and using either observed daily weather data or data generated by the WGEN and SIMMETEO generators of DSSAT3. Shaded portions indicate plus one standard deviation above the mean. El área sembrada con maíz en Sudamérica es de 17.35 millones de ha con un rendimiento promedio de 2.2 t/ha, que es menor al de otras regiones en vías de desarrollo (2.4 t/ ha) y al de los países en desarrollo (6.9 t/ha) (CIMMYT 1994). Por otro lado, también para Sudamérica se reporta uno de los rendimientos más Los resultados experimentales que se presentan y los rubros de investigación que se vienen ejecutando en la región tienen por finalidad demostrar nuestro interés por contribuir a la solución de los problemas de la producción maicera y motivarnos a incrementar nuestra colaboración para convertir esta meta en un ideal común de quienes estamos involucrados en el quehacer maicero.En Argentina se sembró, promedio del quinquenio 1986-90, 2.71 millones de ha de maíz en 9 regiones geográficas. Existen problemas de estrés hídrico en 2.46 millones de ha distribuidas en seis de las nueve regiones. Se calcula una merma en la producción del 30% por efecto de la sequía y la periodicidad de ocurrencia es de uno cada dos años, calculándose una pérdida anual de 18.58 millones de dólares (Eyherabide, 1993). Para el área típica argentina (Región IV), donde se siembran 653,000 ha de maíz, se ha calculado que 34% de la variabilidad en el rendimiento puede ser explicada por variaciones en la precipitación (Oyarzábal et al., 1980).La precipitación promedio en esta área es de 944 mm. Aunque la mayor frecuencia de lluvias es en verano, también en esta época se tiene la mayor evapotranspiración, la que genera déficit hídrico principalmente entre diciembre y enero, periodo en el que coinciden la pre y postfloración. Lo anterior, puede generar pérdidas del rendimiento de hasta 50% (Celiz et al., 1995).El área sembrada con maíz en Bolivia durante 1992-93 fue de 287 140 ha, con un rendimiento de 1.75 t/ha (Claure, 1996, comunicación personal). Como resultado del creciente mercado nacional e internacional, derivado del incremento de la actividad avícola, la tendencia de los últimos 3 años ha sido el incremento tanto en el área sembrada (de 200 000 a casi 300 000 ha) como de la productividad (de 1.25 a 1.75 t/ha) (Avila, 1993).El MD se siembra principalmente en los departamentos de Santa Cruz y Tarija. En Santa Cruz se sembraron 84 390 ha con un rendimiento de 2.9t/ha y fluctuaciones entre 1.46 t/ha en 1990 y 2.26 t/ha en 1989, es el área de mayor desarrollo agropecuario de Bolivia y presenta clima tropical con temperatura media anual de 20.7ºC y precipitación de 818 mm por año (promedio de 1981 a 1992) (Claure, 1996, comunicación personal). Aquí, la distribución y cantidad de lluvia en noviembre es fundamental para la siembra, la de diciembre afecta el desarrollo vegetativo, la de enero y febrero está directamente relacionada con el rendimiento y la de marzo determina el llenado del grano. En La temperatura y precipitación media anual es 16.5ºC y 610 mm al año.Cochabamba representa a los valles interandinos donde se calcula que está 60% del área afectada por efecto de la sequía (INE, 1994).De acuerdo con esta información la superficie afectada por la sequía se calcula de la siguiente manera: 52% para la zona de Santa Cruz, 59% para la de Chuquisaca y 41% para la de Tarija y afecta a 12 987, 20 940 y 4 352 productores, respectivamente (Claure, 1996, comunicación personal).En Brasil se siembran 12.64 millones de ha de maíz con un rendimiento promedio de 2 t/ha (CIMMYT, 1994).En Brasil el maíz se produce en cinco regiones con características agroecológicas y de producción muy diferentes. 1) En la región norte, que abarca siete estados con clima cálido y húmedo, se produce 2.5% del total del maíz, se siembra entre octubre y diciembre, a altitudes que oscilan entre 0 y 200 msnm y la sequía no es un problema pues recibe una precipitación anual de 1 500 a 3 000 mm. 2) En la región noreste, que abarca 9 estados con clima seco y altas temperaturas, se cosecha 5.3% del total, se siembra entre noviembre y mayo a altitudes entre 0 y 1 200 msnm y la sequía es un factor negativo importante pues presenta precipitación de 300 a 500 mm. El área afectada por estrés de sequía es aproximadamente 1.5 millones de ha.3) La región sureste contribuye con 28% de la producción e incluye 4 estados con clima extremoso, nueve meses fríos y tres meses con altas temperaturas, y precipitación entre 800 y 1 500 mm. La siembra se realiza a altitudes entre 0 y 1 300 m, entre octubre y noviembre y es usual que se presenten períodos cortos de sequía, que afectan aproximadamente 38 000 ha. 4). La región centro-oeste aporta 17% de la producción, abarca 3 estados donde la siembra se realiza durante octubre y noviembre, la precipitación es de 800 a 1300 mm, y es frecuente la incidencia de altas temperaturas durante la floración, aquí 208 000 ha presentan problemas de estrés por sequía. 5) Finalmente, la región sur es la más importante productora de maíz con 47% de la producción total. Abarca tres estados con buenas condiciones para la producción, con veranos de días calurosos y noches frescas, con precipitación entre 800 y 1 500 mm y zonas de cultivo con altitudes de 0 a 1 100 m. El daño producido por sequía es aproximadamente de 151 000 ha.En conclusión, el estrés por sequía afecta 14.8% del área maicera de Brasil, equivalente a 1.9 millones de ha y la pérdida alcanza 3.7 millones de t (Santos, 1996, comunicación personal).En Colombia en el quinquenio 1991-95 se sembraron en promedio 700 000 ha de maíz. El maíz se cultiva prácticamente en todo el país, desde el nivel del mar hasta los 2 600 m, con temperaturas desde 4°C en el altiplano Cundi-Boyacense hasta los 35°C el la costa Atlántica y con precipitaciones desde 30 mm anuales en la Guajira hasta 10 m en el Urabá Chocoano. Es el cereal más importante para la alimentación humana y animal, aproximadamente 62% se consume como alimento en diferentes preparaciones de acuerdo con la región y el resto se usa para fabricar alimentos procesados y balanceados. Aproximadamente, 75%de la producción total corresponde a casi 85% del área en la que se realizan prácticas agrícolas tradicionales. Las importaciones de maíz han ido en aumento, pasando de 14 000 t en 1991 a 1.2 millones de t en 1995 (LENGUA, 1996, comunicación personal).En Colombia, las estaciones secas y las inundaciones, causan periódicamente pérdidas considerables en la producción agrícola. La estación seca en Colombia y en especial en la región Caribe (toda la costa Atlántica) se presenta desde enero hasta marzo y con menor intensidad entre julio y septiembre. Otras regiones con estaciones secas marcadas son la parte del valle alto del Magdalena, altiplano Santandereano, Dagua, Villa de Leiva y Ráquira, además el departamento del Cauca y los Llanos Orientales (Marín, 1992).La Región Andina (sobre los 1 500 msnm) es la principal zona productora con 49 % del área total. El rendimiento promedios es 1.5 t/ha, con fluctuaciones entre 1.1 y 1.9 t/ha.Los MA, de período vegetativo largo 850 mm en zonas de clima frío húmedo; en general, aquí no se dispone de riego (Navas et al., 1995).Cauca, Valle del Patía, Alto y Medio Magdalena) se cultiva 10% del área maicera total, con MD blanco y amarillo principalmente y rendimiento promedio de 2 t/ha.La Costa Atlántica (región Caribe) es una de las regiones de mayor producción de maíz en Colombia con 25 % del área total, sobresalen los departamentos de Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, Atlántico, Magdalena y Cesar, donde se sembraron 107 400 ha en 1992 (FENALCE, 1994), contribuyó con 215 000 t a la producción Nacional (Navas et al., 1995). El régimen pluviométrico de la región es muy variable con 300 mm anuales en el norte de la península de la Guajira hasta 2 500 mm anuales en la Sierra nevada de Santa Marta y al sur del departamento del Cesar. Los estudios sobre patrones de precipitación indican a la mala distribución más que a la cantidad de precipitación la causante de períodos secos en etapas críticas del desarrollo del maíz en estas zonas (Terán, 1994).En la Orinoquía Colombiana (departamentos del Meta, Arauca y Guaviare) el área sembrada con maíz representa 12% del total, tanto en el sistema tradicional como en el tecnificado, con rendimientos promedio de 1 y 2 t/ha, respectivamente. Esta área se localiza principalmente en el pie de monte y vegas de los ríos, con precipitaciones superiores a 1 800 mm (Navas et al., 1995).De acuerdo con la información consignada por CIMMYT (1988) 57.3% del área sembrada en Colombia (caribe húmedo, climas medios húmedos de la región cafetera y regiones del clima frío húmedo) no tiene problemas de estrés, 27.3% corresponde a la categoría B, algunas veces con estrés, 13.6% presenta estrés frecuente (caribe seco, alto y medio Magdalena, regiones secas de la zona cafetera y climas fríos secos de Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Nariño y los Santanderes y 1.7% está usualmente bajo estrés y corresponde a la alta Guajira (300 mm anuales) y zonas de los departamentos del Atlántico, Bolívar y Cesar.En el Ecuador se sembraron, entre 1986-90 un promedio de 468 347 ha de maíz por año con un rendimiento de 1 t/ha (Caviedes, 1991). El área sembrada con MD (260 605 ha) esta localizada principalmente en la costa y algunos valles interandinos. En 1994 se sembraron 170 000 ha en las provincias de Manabí y Guayas (Costa) y los valles interandinos de Loja (Reyes, 1996, comunicación personal). La principal característica de estas áreas es la gran variabilidad en la distribución de las lluvias tanto entre años como entre meses. Más de 90% del área maicera de esta región se siembra entre enero y mayo y durante estos meses, en el periodo 1983-1994, la precipitación en la provincia de Manabí sobrepasó los 1 000 mm en algunos años y en otros no llegó a 400 mm. Aún más importante es la precipitación durante febrero y marzo, época en la que el maíz está en floración. El menor rendimiento promedio obtenido en ese periodo (1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) fue de 1.07 t/ha en 1988, el año con menor precipitación desde enero hasta mayo, pero especialmente en marzo (25 mm).El MA se siembra en la región andina a altitudes mayores a 2 200 m, cubre un área de 206 710 ha y su rendimiento promedio es 0.7 t/ha. De esta área 86% se dedica a la producción de maíz como grano seco, En el Perú se sembraron 379 000 ha de maíz con un rendimiento aproximado de 1.8 t/ha, en el período 1970-89 (Narro, 1991)). El MD se siembra en dos regiones geográficas tropicales (costa y selva) con intervalos de precipitación muy amplios. La costa es una franja de tierra ubicada en forma paralela al Océano Pacífico y se caracteriza porque no hay precipitación a lo largo del año, en consecuencia toda la agricultura se desarrolla con alguna forma de irrigación. La costa peruana es el lugar ideal para realizar estudios de tolerancia a sequía justamente por esta característica. En la Costa se sembraron 89 000 ha de maíz con un rendimiento promedio de 3.6 t/ha, toda la producción es utilizada en la elaboración de alimentos para animales, principalmente aves. En la selva se sembraron 83 000 ha de MD con un rendimiento promedio de 1.8 t/ha, la producción se dedica también para la alimentación animal, aquí el estrés por sequía es una de las causas del bajo rendimiento. Del área maicera de la selva, 60% se encuentra en la zona tropical nororiental en los departamentos de San Martín, Cajamarca y Amazonas. En estas áreas la temperatura es de 25ºC y la precipitación anual alrededor de 1 000 mm, de la que más de la mitad se presenta en la época del cultivo del maíz, aunque con gran variación entre los meses; el área restante de la selva no tiene problemas de sequía.Por ejemplo, para el departamento de Loreto donde está 12.6% del área maicera de la selva, para el período 1980-93 la precipitación fue de 2 921 mm por año y 1 380 mm para la época de siembra de maíz (juliooctubre).El MA se sembró en 207 000 ha con un rendimiento promedio de 1 t/ha.Es un cultivo ampliamente distribuido en todos los departamentos de la Sierra (Cordillera de los Andes), se siembra en pequeñas extensiones generalmente menores a una ha por agricultor y principalmente sin posibilidades de irrigación, la cosecha se utiliza para el autoconsumo.Aproximadamente, 52% del área se siembra en la sierra norte donde predomina el consumo del grano seco y sólo 15% de ésta área se dedica a la producción de choclo, la cosecha de las parcelas con riego se dedica al El CIMMYT (1988) indica que para Perú existen 355 000 ha sembradas con maíz: 205 000 con MD y 150,000 con MA. Del MD total 44% se sembró en la costa, donde toda la agricultura se desarrolla exclusivamente con riego, y correspondió a la categoría D de estrés por sequía; 31% se sembró en selva baja, ubicada en la cuenca amazónica a menos de 100 msnm donde la precipitación es suficiente para el cultivo de maíz, y 20% estuvo localizado en la selva media a altitudes menores a 500 m con precipitaciones erráticas por lo que se generan problemas de estrés hídrico, la zona corresponde a la categoría B.Respecto a MA, 77% está clasificado en la categoría C y 23% en la categoría D.Recientemente se realizaron cinco ensayos de las Variedades Experimentales de la Red Sequía (DEVT) precoces y tardías, se incluyeron 12 y 20 cultivares, respectivamente, y los sitios fueron:1) Jipijapa, Portoviejo, Ecuador, 2)Portoviejo, Ecuador, 3) Chiclayo, Perú, 4) Mairana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia Background: What is the SOI?The southern oscillation index (SOI) is a function of sea-level air pressure at Papeete, Tahiti and Darwin, Australia, and indicates differences in atmospheric conditions over the southeastern Pacific Ocean compared to those over Australia (Troup, 1965).The index is normally interpreted on a monthly or seasonal basis, although it can be recomputed each day as: where PA = pressure anomaly (monthly mean -longterm mean) SD = standard deviation of the difference El Niño events are associated with high sea temperatures in the eastern Pacific and result in extremely low (negative) SOI values. In El Niño years, there is a high probability of below average rainfall for many regions of the world. At the same time, some regions will have a high probability of receiving more than their average rainfall. Southern Oscillation Index values have been correlated with future seasonal rainfall in some regions (e.g., McBride and Nicholls, 1983; for other examples see Stone and Auliciems, 1992), though the SOI signal is complex so correlations with it are 'noisy'. General circulation models concentrate on predicting when an El Niño event will occur and how long it will persist, but cannot estimate the potential rainfall.In Australia, the SOI has been exploited in a forecasting system based on association of monthly SOI 'phases' with the probability distribution of subsequent seasonal rainfall at a location as observed in the historical record (Stone and Auliciems, 1992). The value of this technology was truly realized when rainfall probability forecasts based on SOI phases were associated with consequent adjustments in agricultural decision-making (Hammer and Nicholls, 1996). Given that the SOI phase methodology is exploited only in the Australian agricultural community, the work of Stone et al. (1996a) is reproduced here as part of this paper. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern in the southern Pacific is known to affect global rainfall patterns with direct impacts on agriculture and fishing industries. Previously, a long-term historical database of monthly rainfall for stations around the world was analyzed. For each station and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) phase, the probabilities of obtaining amounts of seasonal rainfall relative to the median at the station were calculated. These data were interpolated so that for each SOI phase determined over two months, rainfall forecasts are made for the coming three-month period. In this paper, we further interpret those results and look for relationships among locations.A consistently negative SOI in May/June is one of the strongest signals. It forecasts only a 10 to 30% chance of achieving median rainfall (i.e., high probability of drought) for July to September in eastern Australia, south Asia, south-east Asia, west Africa, Central America and northern Brazil. This same signal predicts greater than median rainfall in the USA, central Asia and the Southern Cone of South America. Another strong signal during the same period is a consistently positive SOI, and it often forecasts virtually the opposite situation. Knowing the SOI phase prior to planting, the likelihood of receiving a good, average or poor season can be forecast. On a global basis, this knowledge has application for decision-making on-farm and in marketing and policy formation.  and Auliciems, 1992). These are defined (Stone et al. 1996b) as:A common application of these phases is to examine the relationship between the phase and rainfall for the coming three or six month period.Figure 1 shows this relationship for Hyderabad, India and Quelimane, Mozambique. In each case, there is a higher chance of receiving any given amount of rainfall following a SOI Phase 2 than when following a SOI Phase 1; e.g., following a SOI Phase 1 there is 0% chance of exceeding 530 mm in the next three months in Hyderabad and 1000 mm in Quelimane. In SOI Phase 2 seasons, there is a 40% (Hyderabad) and 65% (Quelimane) chance of exceeding these amounts. In some locations, SOI Phase 3 and SOI Phase 4 often contrast in a similar manner to Phases 1 and 2. In other locations, Stone et al. (1996a) found that the relationship between phases and rainfall probability was reversed: Phase 1 related to higher rainfall and Phase 2 to lower rainfall. SOI Phase 5 was usually associated with rainfall probabilities that were distributed similar to those for all years combined; i.e., in such a year, knowledge of the SOI phase would not change the risk outlook for a decision-maker. Stone et al. (1996a) applied this analysis to rainfall data collected worldwide (CDIAC, 1992). For each location, the probability of rainfall exceeding the median for the following three month season was calculated for each SOI phase (Figs. 2a and 2b). The data were spatially interpolated to produce 60 possible forecast maps of rainfall (one each for 5 phases x 12 months). Depending on the current SOI phase, the appropriate map can be examined to determine the seasonal outlook. In The use of SOI phases in decisionmaking in agriculture can occur over a range of scales (Hammer and Nicholls, 1996). In single locations, the SOI phase may be used to predict the likelihood that future seasonal rainfall will be above, equal to or below the median. At this level, the information can be used to improve on-farm decision-making, and software has been developed to assist this (Clewett et al., 1994).  (QDPI, 1996), so that anyone with access can examine historic or current predictions of rainfall probabilities. Applications of these maps range from policy decisions about modifying cropping intensity to the marketing of commodities based on seasonal outlooks.The SOI phase forecasting system can also be combined with more sophisticated descriptions of environments. For example, historical rainfall data can be used as input to a crop or pasture simulation model. Results from the model for each year may be grouped according to the SOI phase at the time of planting or prior to the flux of pasture growth. Using this approach for wheat, Hammer et al. (1996) showed how farmers can reduce risk by adjusting planting and management decisions based on the SOI phase at planting. If at planting time, the SOI phase indicates that the forthcoming seasonal rainfall is very likely to be lower than average, then the farmer may decide to not plant, to plant at a lower plant density, to use an earlier maturing variety or to apply only a small amount of fertilizer. McCown et al. (1991) demonstrated that the same approach could be used by farmers in Kenya.Conversely, in seasons when the SOI phase indicates that rainfall is likely to be greater than average, the farmer may decide to use later-maturing varieties and apply management strategies that are suited to wetter seasons. Meinke et al. (1996) showed the utility of using SOI phases to influence planting and harvesting decisions for peanut in Australia. The spatial distribution of SOI phase effects has also been introduced to forecast crop yield (Goyne et al., 1996) and to produce drought alerts (Carter and Brook, 1996)  From Figures. 1 and 2, it is clear that different locations can have similar associations with the SOI phases. We explored this using cluster analysis.First we obtained the long-term median rainfall probabilities associated with each phase for each month for the approximate 3,500 locations in the dataset (each with >70 data years) used by Stone et al. (1996a). This is akin to drawing a vertical line through Figures 1a or b at the median rainfall value (50% probability) and obtaining the probabilities at the five points at which this line intersects with the five SOI phases. For each month, the probabilities in a matrix of locations by SOI phase were processed using PATN (CSIRO, Australia) to identify groups of locations that had similar patterns of probabilities across the five phases. Agglomerative hierarchal clustering was used with squared Euclidean distance as the difference measure. The data for similar locations was averaged at the five-group level.Table 1 shows the probability of achieving median rainfall or greater in several locations around the world.In all sites except Quelimane, an SOI Phase 3 during May-June forecasts a low probability of reaching median rainfall in the next three months; i.e., the sites are likely to experience drought, relative to their median rainfall outlook. If the SOI is in Phase 4, then Dubbo would have a high chance of receiving above-median rainfall.The mean probability value for each SOI phase for each of five cluster groups was calculated for four periods in the year (Fig. 3  (LHS of Fig. 3a). There was at least one group of locations in each graph for which probabilities of exceeding median rainfall were lower in Phase 1than Phase 3, with Phase 2 usually intermediate (response type 1). These groups were 3, 1, 2 and 2 for Figures 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, respectively.Conversely, there was a group of locations (response type 2) in which the probability associated with SOI Phase 1 was usually greater than that for Phase 3 (groups 5, 5, 5 and 4, respectively) in each month. For each time period, probabilities following SOI Phases 4 and 5 were fairly similar in all groups and had little affect on the grouping of locations. Further contrasts were usually related to an interaction of the Phase 1 and 3 pattern with that resulting from Phase 2 years.While each group contained some members from regions spread all over the world, there were also some spatial relationships. Response type 1(phase 1 associated with low probability of achieving median rainfall) was common in Australia,West Africa and Central America, Australia is that phases 1 to 3 do tend to be the most important in separating different seasons (Hammer et al., 1996;Meinke et al., 1996). The utility of prior knowledge of a phase can be described as the difference between the probability obtained from all years (in this case it is always 50% for median rainfall)and the probability value obtained for a particular phase. On this basis, Phases 1 and 3 are especially useful, since they predict differences in probability from the median of up to 20% at most times of the year.However, Phase 1 would appear to be most useful in the Feb-Mar and Aug-Sep periods, while Phase 3 is equally useful in the same periods, albeit in different locations.We have shown here examples of how the effects of ENSO on rainfall and agricultural production may be accommodated using the SOI Phase system. Some phases are related more consistently to median rainfall than others. However, there are also spatial linkages of these relationships, these are quite complex and may not be able to be simply explained by the phases alone. In particular, spatial linkages change with time of year so that areas that are likely to be in drought at one time of the year may not be so at a later stage.Figure 3. For each of four periods in the year (figures a to d), the relationship between SOI phase and probability of equaling or exceeding median rainfall in the following three months for five groups of locations derived by pattern analysis of > 3500 locations. Brazil has an area of 8,547,407 km 2 , which is divided into five distinct regions. Maize is cultivated and considered a socially and economically important crop in all of them. Table 1 shows the size of each region and portion of total maize production. The characteristics of each region are briefly summarized below.The northern region covers seven states in the Amazon basin and is dominated by lowlands (0-200 masl), with abundant and well distributed rains (1300 to 3000 mm). The Brazilian territory has an area of approximately 8.5 million km 2 , which is divided into five main regions with particular characteristics related to average climatic conditions and natural soil fertility. Climatic variations may be very accentuated within each particular region, but a common feature is the irregular distribution of rains, which causes droughts of variable intensities. Maize is an important crop in most Brazilian regions, occupying approximately 13 million ha and producing annually 28-30 million tons of grain. It has been estimated that drought problems, depending on year and intensity, reduce maize production by 14% to 28%. Another limiting factor for maize production in Brazil is the low natural fertility of the soils, especially in nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen (N).It has been estimated that 80% of the soils in Brazil are deficient in N. Although fertilization is a common solution to this problem, its high costs make this option inaccessible to many farmers. The amount of supplemental N applied to maize in Brazil is low (36 kg N/ha), and of this only 50% to 60% is utilized by the crop. Considering that low N availability and drought are severe constraints to maize crops in Brazil, the National Maize and Sorghum Research Center (CNPMS/EMBRAPA) has initiated breeding programs aimed at the development of germplasm that performs more efficienctly under these two limiting conditions. Several genotypes have been developed on the basis of anthesis-silking interval selection for drought tolerance, and a variety is being developed for soils with low fertility where N is the most limiting nutrient. The northeastern region covers the nine states which have the highest occurrence of drought in Brazil.Altitudes in the region vary between 0 and 1200 masl and the climate in general is hot and dry, including high temperatures at night. The only area within the region where rains are frequent and well distributed is along the coast, where a string of forests exists. In the interior, precipitation varies between 300 and 500 mm and its irregular spatial distribution greatly affects agricultural production. Rains are concentrated in a short 1-3 month period, and usually occur as heavy precipitation, with up to 50 to 80 mm per shower. Soils have low fertility and not much fertilizer is used. The start of the growing period for annual crops is highly variable (from November to May), depending on the beginning of the rainy season.The southeastern region comprises four states that vary from 0 to 300 masl in altitude. Rain distribution is more uniform than in other regions, varying from 800 to 1500 mm annually. Nevertheless, short periods of dry weather (10-20 days) occur during flowering time. Normally the temperature is very high for nine months and then cold for the other three. Natural soil fertility is generally low or medium, but some areas have relatively high fertility.Soil fertilizer use is common and the sowing season is from October to November.The southern region covers three The It is evident from these descriptions that rain distribution varies widely both between and within the regions. Three-way hybrids from parental lines selected for drought tolerance were evaluated in four locations in the year 1994/95, but drought stress only occurred in one location.Preliminary results shown in Table 3 include the 20 best hybrids for ASI and are from this drought stressed location. It is important to say that all the parental lines have zero or negative ASI values. Some hybrids had negative or very low ASI values;i.e., the stigmas were exposed before pollen release. In contrast, the controls had ASI values of 5 or 6 days. Although preliminary, these results clearly indicate that the short ASI observed in the parental lines was expressed in the F 1 generation.This was the case even when only 50% of the germplasm used to form a hybrid came from a short ASI parent.Plant and ear height of the high ASI hybrids was about average; these values were a little higher than for the controls. This may be explained by differences in the origin of the germplasm. High ASI hybrids tended to be more prolific than the controls.Some interesting comparisons can be made between the hybrids and controls. The three-way hybrids used as controls are excellent when planted in environments with no water stress (data not shown), but under stress they show very low yield and a low shelling percentage (Table 3). By comparison, the 20 best hybrids for ASI showed higher productivity (7.0 to 8.9 t/ha) and a higher shelling percentage. If we take 8 tons of grain/ha as a reference for the five best ASI hybrids and compare it with the average of the controls, 5.5 t/ha, a yield difference of 30% is observed.indicate that the selection for short ASI can be an efficient method for developing drought tolerant cultivars and that water stress during flowering is a constraint on maize production. The use of drought tolerant cultivars, however, is not a guarantee that yield potential is fully expressed by a variety or hybrid.Other factors -low soil fertility, for example -can greatly influence yield as well. fertilizer due to the high price of fertilizers and the risk of drought.One alternative to diminish risks in vulnerable rainfed agricultural systems is to develop cultivars with a high capacity for nutrient utilization and an almost linear response to nutrient levels. CNPMS is working to develop maize varieties for low fertility soil conditions. Preliminary results indicate that progenies can be developed which lose little yield when moved from an N+ to an Nenvironment (Santos et al., 1997).We believe that exploring genetic variability will be the best strategy to minimize factors limiting maize production in tropical environments.While doing this it will be important to maintain close interactions with scientists from other research areas and with other research institutions, and to develop methodologies that result in consistent progress from efficient selection for desired traits.   (Guevara, 1991). La ocurrencia de lluvias intensas, mayores de 30mm en 30' en primavera-verano-otoño, tiene consecuencias erosivas. En tales circunstancias, en promedio 65% del total de lluvia recibida se pierde por las escorrentías en los sistemas de labranza con arado de rejas y 37% en siembra directa y combinada (Berón y Blotta, 1995).En las subregiones IV y VII la deficiencia de agua durante el verano es más severa debido a la disminución de las lluvias y al aumento de la evapotranspiración potencial (ETP) por las mayores temperaturas. Los suelos predominantes en las subregiones IV y VII son del tipo haplustol, con una baja capacidad de almacenamiento del agua.La media nacional de rendimiento por hectárea para los períodos agrícolas 1990/91 a 1994/95 fue de 42.9 q/ha y 47.2 q /ha, respectivamente. Macagno et al.(1992) señalaron que, a pesar de una tendencia general a la reducción del área de siembra durante el período comprendido entre 1970-1992, la producción nacional se mantuvo relativamente estable debido a una tasa de aumento anual de la productividad de 2.3%. De ese aumento, 50% fue debido a mejoramiento genético. Esa evaluación concuerda con la de Eyhérabide et al. (1994), quienescalcularon para el período 1978 -1993 una tasa de ganancia genética en productividad cercana a 1% anual, tanto en ambientes favorables como desfavorables.El análisis de regresión de los rendimientos medios de cada subregión durante la última década indica que los aumentos de productividad ocurrieron en todas ellas, con excepción de la IV y IX (Cuadro 2). Sin embargo, los coeficientes de determinación más elevados resultaron aproximadamente de 50%, revelando la importancia de las variaciones interanuales de productividad no atribuibles a mejoras tecnológicas.El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar las pérdidas del rendimiento de maíz causado por deficiencias hídricas y cuantificar su valor económico en la región maicera total.A partir de una serie histórica de veinte años de datos climáticos y con  Las pérdidas de rendimiento a nivel de toda la región maicera argentina se calcularon mediante la suma de los perjuicios de cada subregión, resultantes cada uno del producto de la probabilidad de ocurrencia de deficiencias hídricas, incidencia y producción promedio. El perjuicio económico se estimó tomando una cotización de referencia de 120 dólares estadounidenses por tonelada (precio en el puerto de Buenos Aires para junio de 1995). Las disminución de rendimiento atribuible a deficiencias hídricas calculadas mediante la simulación fueron semejantes a las obtenidas en estudios previos; así, las deficiencias hídricas pueden inducir disminuciones de más de 50%, dependiendo de la duración, intensidad y del momento en que ocurra el fenómeno. La probabilidad de disminución del rendimiento se incrementa notablemente a partir de la diferenciación de la panoja en el ápice de crecimiento, con un máximo alrededor de la floración (Robelin, 1962).El análisis de regresión de los datos de tres períodos agrícolas que contrastan entre sí, en la localidad de Pergamino con efecto de déficit hídrico (Guevara, 1991;Oyarzábal et al., 1980)  unit for making contacts with the international donor community on food aid matters, particularly during times of natural disasters, such as drought.Maize is the most important food crop in the region, accounting for over 40% of the total calories in diets.The population of the original nine SADC member states was just over 81 million in 1991, and has a high average growth rate of 3% (Table 1).Thus, the need for increased food production cannot be overemphasized. This paper highlights the impact of the recent The trend of annual maize production during the last 20 years for eight SADC member states (Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) shows a gradual increase from 7 million tons in 1976 to a peak of 9 million tons in the 1988-89 season (Fig. 3).Production fell drastically to a low of 4 million tons in the 1991-92 drought.In general, before the drought, the region was self-sufficient for maize production. Some countries, such as Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, produced enough grain for local consumption and a surplus for export. The period 1991The period -92 to 1994-95 -95 was very unfavorable for maize production, as reflected in the maize balance sheet (Table 2), and the region had to rely heavily on imported grain. For example, the 1991-92 grain deficit was more than 5 million tons and the region imported 4 million tons of grain to meet demand. Grain deficits for the following two years were smaller mainly because Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe enjoyed slightly improved rainfall, resulting in positive domestic balances for these three countries (Table 2). In 1993-94 and1994-95, all food balances were negative due to prolonged drought and the depletion of grain reserves.Governments of the region have been appealing through the SADC  Bulletins, 1995).Of yield losses caused by drought, the most serious are due to moisture stress occurring during flowering (Edmeades et al., 1993) when farmers can no longer replant. CIMMYT has focused on developing techniques for improving maize tolerance to drought during flowering.Improvement for drought tolerance in Tuxpeño Sequía resulted also in improved performance under low soil nitrogen conditions (low N).Gains in yield under low N due to selection for drought tolerance over several populations averaged 135 kg/ha/cycle (Lafitte et al., 1997).Advanced cycles of Tuxpeño Sequía and Pool 26 Sequía outyielded their respective initial, unimproved versions under low N by 28 and 49%, respectively. These findings are encouraging.In conditions (Edmeades et al., 1997;Short and Edmeades, 1991).It would appear that little has been done to assess the impact of low soil fertility on maize production in the SADC region, except for studies on response of maize to various nutrients, mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Hence, this paper will present information on fertilizer use by smallholder farmers and the yield gap, for countries where such information is available (Malawi and Zimbabwe).The \"yield gap\" may be defined as the difference between average yields obtained by farmers and the yields possible with improved cultural practices (FAO, 1984). These will vary from country to country and from one system (smallholders) to another (estate farmers). In Malawi, Coffmann (1992)   (Zambezi et al., 1993). This gap is likely due to differing combinations of crop management practices, water supply and soil fertility.Heisey and Smale (1995) found a difference in maize yields between local maize (1 t/ha) and hybrid maize (2.9 t/ha), under smallholder farming conditions in a survey conducted in some Agricultural Development Divisions of Malawi. In Zimbabwe, Mashingaidze (1994) observed thatthe average maize yield in communal lands (smallholders) was about 1.0 to 1.5 t/ha, as compared to about 5 t/ha in the commercial farming sector.Major factors limiting maize yields in the communal lands were reported to be drought, poor soil and fertilizer management, low plant populations, late planting, poor weed control and labor shortage (Mataruka, 1985). The task of reducing the yield gap is formidable, especially considering the high cost of fertilizers and the frequent occurrence of drought.In a survey conducted in Malawi in 1990-91 (Zambezi andJones, 1991), widespread fertilizer use by smallholder farmers was observed. Every SADC member state has taken action in its own right to mitigate the effects of drought. Strategic grain reserves have been drawn down to meet the needs of vulnerable groups and to maintain supplies in the marketing system. Registration of the people in need was undertaken in many countries, together with arrangements, where possible, to meet their food needs (SADC REWS Quarterly Bulletins, 1991-1995).National drought task forces have been set up in many countries, and these have been instrumental in coordinating relief supplies. In all member states, resources have been mobilized to meet the increased import requirements. As there is no grain available for export in the region, all imports have to be sourced from overseas. At a recent meeting in Malawi, the SADC Council of Ministers agreed to set up 10 projects valued at US$63.17 million for establishing regional food reserves as a cushion against shortfalls during drought and natural disaster (Zimbabwe Herald, April 17, 1995). Some governments have tried to encourage use of fertilizer on maize by smallholder farmers by establishing smallholder loan schemes. The problem with this system is that removal of government subsidies has pushed up fertilizer prices to such an extent that farmers would find it difficult to repay loans, even in a good season. Conroy (1992) reported that the share of hybrids in the maize area in Malawi declined for Drought can be defined as any duration without rainfall which is long enough to reduce plant growth.In practical terms it occurs when available soil water fails to meet the plant's transpiration demand for a reasonable period during growth.Thus rainfall, soil water storage capacity, potential evapotranspiration and crop phenology and crop development stage must all be considered when assessing the impact of drought on production.quantified. Several studies have focused largely on the total rainfall received within the growing season (Dowker 1963;Stewart and Faught, 1983;Wafula, 1995). However, distribution of rainfall within the season is often more critical than total amount. Little effort has been directed towards describing how the level of water stress during crop development might affect grain yields of maize. Detailed physiological studies on maize varieties in the cool and wet highlands of western Kenya have been conducted (Cooper and Law, 1977), but they did not evaluate the occurrence of water-deficit periods during critical stages of crop growth. Such an evaluation is needed for each of Kenya's maize production environments to better target research efforts. The objectives of this study were to quantify the occurrence and timing of drought for each of the six maize agro-ecologies in Kenya.The long-term seasonal rainfall patterns for March to August were assessed for twelve sites, two for each of the six agro-ecological zones (Table 1), using 14-54 years of records already gathered for the Maize DataBase Project (MDB), the Fertilizer Use Recommendation Project (FURP, 1987) and by research scientists at KARI's Katumani Research Center.The six zones varied in altitude, length of growing season, and seasonal rainfall (Table 1). Several the CERES-Maize model (Jones and Kiniry, 1986) and genetic parameters for varieties relevant to each production zone. The coefficients for converting potential evapotranspiration to plant water use at different growth stages were obtained from FURP manuals published for each site (FURP, 1987).Information on the phenological development of maize varieties recommended for production in each maize agro-ecology was adapted from FURP, after consultation with KARI maize breeders. A period of 10 d was arbitrarily considered to be the duration of a dry spell needed to start reducing the growth of the maize crop because of the effects of water deficits. Deficits in the water balance for each 10 d could, therefore, be used by breeders to characterize the type of water stress found in a given production zone.There was some variability in rainfall amount and distribution between the two sites selected to represent each maize zone. Nevertheless, data were averaged for the two sites to develop an 'average' water budget for each zone. Where differences between the two sites were large enough to significantly affect the results, these were noted.The highland zone had a positive water balance throughout the growing season, with the exception of the first 20 d (Fig. 1). This apparent early-season water deficit probably results from variation in the actual start of the growing season. A fixed planting date was used when summarizing rainfall data. In practice, farmers probably avoid this stress by planting when rainfall has become reliable.In the moist transitional zone, there was some stress early in the season, extending up until 10 d before flowering (Fig. 1). Thereafter there was a positive water balance, with the exception of some stress during late grain filling. In the moist midaltitude zone, there was considerable variability between sites in rainfall pattern (Table 1). Except during 30 of the last 40 d of grain filling, water requirements were met by precipitation (Fig. 1).Within the dry midaltitude zone, Kitui had a one-week shorter growing season than Weruga, though the timing of drought stress was similar (Table 1). Within this zone, drought stress begins soon after flowering and increases in intensity throughout the reproductive and grain filling stages (Fig. 2). The pattern of water stress in the dry midaltitude zone was similar to that of the dry transitional, although the stress was more intense and it commenced earlier in the growing season (Fig. 2). This was the only zone with a negative water balance throughout the growing season.The lowland zone was characterized by a negative water balance during the first 20 d, and 30 of the last 40 d of plant growth (Fig. 2). Late season stress is quite intense in this zone.Results presented show that among all maize agro-climatic zones in Kenya, the highland zone is the least prone to water stress (Fig. 1), and there is little need for incorporation of drought tolerance into germplasm being developed for this area.However, the erratic nature of the beginning of the rains is noted in our analysis, and this was also identified by farmers as a priority problem in a recent survey (Hassan and Njoroge, 1996).The moist transitional zone is particularly important for maize production in Kenya. This agroclimatic zone covers some 420,000 ha, or about 40% of the entire area sown to maize in Kenya. After the highlands, the moist transitional zone is the least affected by drought.Results indicate that drought is probably not a major constraint for the sites included in the analysis from this zone. The average water balance at the beginning of the season is near zero, indicating that stress may occur in some seasons and at some sites during the season. Given the size and importance of this zone, a more thorough analysis of spatial variability for seasonal rainfall within the zone is justified. Additional support for this is provided by farmers within this zone, indicating that variable rainfall is an important constraint to maize production (Hassan et al., 1996b).   For the dry transitional and dry midaltitude zones, our study confirms the findings of Stewart and Faught (1983) that maize production is seriously reduced by drought in at least six out of ten years. It is not surprising that previous studies on climatic risk (e.g., Dowker, 1963;Wafula, 1995;Keating et al., 1993) have been focused on these short season, semi-arid areas. The crop cycle length and seasonal rainfall variability have been used by breeders as major guiding factors in variety development for these zones (Dowker, 1963;Njoroge and Ngure, 1987). The variety traditionally grown in these areas is the early-maturing 'Katumani Composite', which was bred to escape severe late-season stress. Our analysis suggests that earliness should continue to be a major breeding objective for these zones, but that additional emphasis should be given to incorporating This analysis suggests that drought tolerance of one sort or another is needed for germplasm being developed for four of the six agroclimatic zones. In the past, significant research resources have only been directed towards alleviating this problem in the two semi-arid zones.There is therefore a need to expose breeding materials and segregating progenies designated for the moist midaltitude zone and the lowland tropics to drought stress in a systematic manner. This should involve the use of water deficits timed to coincide with those periods of crop development when drought is most likely to affect grain production under farmers' conditions.Maize is considered an economically and politically important cereal crop in Asia, and is a major ingredient for food and feed products. It assumes a role second to rice in the farming sector and macroeconomy of the region. About 40 million hectares are planted annually to maize in Asia, producing 130 million metric tons, or around 30% of the total world maize production. At present, practically all of the Asian countries are importing maize because of relatively low production coupled with increasing demand due to the rapid expansion of the poultry and livestock sector. In 1990-92 for example, a total of 5.7 million metric tons were imported by Asian and Pacific countries (CIMMYT, 1994). In the light of rapid population growth also occurring in the region, there is an urgent need to dramatically increase maize production in order to avert severe food shortages and consequent political instability.  (Tibig, 1995). In 1982-83, El Niño brought extreme drought to Indonesia, Philippines, and Southern India (Glantz, 1984). This paper is intended to be a 'situation' report on the effect of drought and low N in the Asian region in terms of area affected and the estimated yield loss. It also provides a brief review of the status of breeding for drought and low N tolerance in selected Asian countries.A survey was conducted during the Sixth Asian Regional Maize Workshop held in India from October 30 to November 4, 1995. The workshop was attended by maize breeders, researchers and policy makers, including both public and private sector personal from 11 Asian countries. A survey form was distributed to representatives of each country. Data requested were as follows:1. Total maize growing area.2. Drought affected maize growing area.3. Percent yield loss due to drought. 4. Low N affected maize growing area.Estimates of lost grain production for each country due to drought or low N were calculated using the formula: Average yield per unit area was adjusted by dividing it by the difference between 100% and the % yield loss. This was necessary because the recorded total production and the consequent yield per unit area is already a result of the cumulative effects of biotic and abiotic stresses.Where respondents gave a range, for example, 20 to 30% yield loss, the midpoint of this range was used in the various calculations. Other factors such as cultivars and their interaction with environmental factors could not be determined from the data, and potentially could bias the result.Notwithstanding its weaknesses, this formula should provide a rough estimate of lost grain production due to the two environmental stresses.The countries represented in the survey account for about 90% of the maize growing area in southern Asia (Table 1). Drought affected area in these countries ranged from 23% of Vietnam to 85% of Laos, with a mean response of 49%, and suggesting that 7.8 million hectares of the region are affected. India registered the highest absolute area affected, 2.5 million hectares, followed by Indonesia and S. China with 2.2 and 1.15 million hectares, respectively. Yield losses due to drought ranged from a low estimate of 10% in China to as high as 75% in Nepal, with the mean of estimates being 37%. This translates into reduced grain production ranging from 0.04 million tons (Vietnam) to 1.60 million tons (Philippines) and a total of 6.40 million tons for the nine Asian countries represented in Table 2 (Taiwan was excluded because of a lack of production data). In absolute terms, the Philippines and S. China have the highest grain production losses due to drought.Maize area affected by low N ranged from 19% of Taiwan to 80% of Laos and Nepal, with a mean response of 51% (Table 1). The 8.4 million hectares affected across the region represents 49% of the total maize area. Again, India had the largest affected area with a total of 3 million hectares, or half its maize growing area. The Philippines, S. China and Indonesia also have extensive areas affected, with 1.8, 1.2, and 1.0 million hectares, respectively. Percent yield loss was highest in India (50%), while S. China and Thailand were the least affected with only 10 to 20% yield losses. Low N caused an estimated loss in grain production of 4.5 million tons in India (Table 2), which is over half of the 8.6 million tons of grain production lost to low N in the region. India (4.50 million tons), the Philippines (1.23 million tons), S.China (1.50 million tons) and Indonesia (0.94 million tons) account for 95% of the grain production losses due to low N. where:It is clear from the survey results that substantial grain production losses are caused by drought and low N in the Asian region (Tables 1 and 2).Both stresses affect about a half of the maize production area. In fact, they may easily be the leading factors limiting maize production. The production loss estimates (6.35 and 8.60 million tons) due to drought and low N individually account for losses of potential production of about 16 and 22%, respectively, or 38% of production if taken together. Of course, the effects of these two factors can not be considered independently.For example, the effect of low N on general plant vigor, rooting depth and biomass formation renders the plant more susceptible to drought.Hence, the cumulative negative effect on grain yield might be greater than the additive effects of each stress. The impact of these stresses on maize production in Asia cannot be overemphasized.The regular occurrence of longer and more devastating drought in tropical Asia is an alarming problem.Drought (and flooding) ascribed to the El Niño effect has been increasing in frequency in recent years.Additionally, these anomalous weather conditions should be viewed against a backdrop of other modulating (sometimes overwhelming) influences in the environment (Glantz, 1984). The unabated cutting of trees and the increased carbon dioxide load in the atmosphere may contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect and fluctuations in weather patterns (see Chapman et al., 1997) which are thought to result in more frequent drought.Low N will continue to be a major constraint to maize production, especially in light of continuous and intensive monocropping and unsustainable farming practices. It has been estimated that the potential for loss of fertilizer N is substantial, particularly in tropical soils. For example, Poss and Saragoni (1992) found that 36-153 kg N ha -1 had leached below the root zone (150 cm) during the growing season. Myers (1988) reported that maize takes up only 20 to 40% of available N during the main 3 to 5 months of the growing season. The problem facing Asian farmers is that the capacity of soil to supply N declines rapidly once agricultural activities commence, and the N derived from the breakdown of organic matter must therefore be supplemented. For productivity to be sustained at the current levels, let alone increased in the future, N removed as agricultural produce or lost from the system must be replenished (Peoples et al., 1995). Rapid population growth in Asia, coupled with rising costs of inorganic N, make it increasingly difficult to maintain soil fertility.A major issue is how to increase maize production in Asia, given these environmental stresses. In the case of drought, governments are continuing to invest in costly irrigation systems, but will these systems be sustainable in the long run? Related to this is the probability that the rapid deforestation in the region will create a long-term water availability problem because of damage to natural catchments. For low N soils, the addition of inorganic N hinges on the buying power of small farmers.More often than not, the cost of fertilizer and the establishment of irrigation facilities are beyond their means. Environmental concerns related to the continuous use of inorganic fertilizer may also make this practice unsustainable in the long run. The use of organic fertilizer, compost, green manure, or biological N fixation are generally seen as better alternatives (Peoples et al., 1995), but their ability to supply enough N to produce needed food for an increasing population is still hotly Chapman, S.C., H.J. Barreto, M. Cooper, and G.L. Hammer. 1997 It is now widely recognized that poor soil fertility (particularly nitrogen deficit), is the most severe and widespread constraint to smallholder maize productivity and to long-term food security in southern Africa (see Blackie, 1994Blackie, , 1995;;Kumwenda et al., 1995; and for sub-Saharan Africa in general see Blake, 1995). Rosegrant et al. (1996) calculate that the demand for maize grain in sub-Saharan Africa will rise from 21.3 million tons per year in 1990 to over 52 million tons in 2020. Kumwenda et al. (1995 and1996) reviewed the causes and extent of soil fertility decline in the maizebased cropping systems of southern Africa and concluded that the strategy that integrates NUE maize with modest inorganic and organic fertilizer inputs, timely crop management, and the policies to support implementation by resourcepoor farmers.Tropical maize genotypes with improved NUE are being developed.At CIMMYT in Mexico, three cycles of full-sib recurrent selection for grain yield under low soil N (zero N added), while maintaining grain yield under high soil N (200 kg N ha -challenge is so large that farmers will need to combine gains from improved germplasm with improvements in their management of soil fertility. Combinations of several organic and inorganic fertilizer sources at practical rates are central to better management.To address the soil fertility constraint we examine the size of productivity gains likely to result from the deployment of N-use efficient (NUE) maize on smallholder farms in southern Africa. We conclude that this can provide only a modest part of the required gains. We propose and outline the components of a 1 applied per cycle), were conducted in a lowland tropical population, Across 8328 (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994a,b). This resulted in a per cycle increase in grain yield under low N of 75 kg ha -1 (2.8%), and 137 kg ha -1 (2.3%) with high rates of N fertilizer (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994b). Lafitte et al. (1997) now report that genetic gains in grain yield per cycle in this population with small and large amounts of available N have been maintained through Cycle 5.NUE has also attracted attention from maize breeders in Africa. Zambezi et al. (1995) identified three hybrids that yielded well at both low and high N in Malawi. Work at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe in the population ZM609, which is adapted to mid-altitude areas of southern and eastern Africa, led to large initial gains in NUE (Short and Edmeades, 1991), but recent progress has been inconclusive (see Pixley et al., 1995). The use of NUE maize implies an important yield benefit at modest additional recurrent costs to the farmer, making it relatively easy for resource-poor African smallholder farmers to adopt. Several updates on progress are found in these proceedings (see, for example, papers by Lafitte et al., 1997;Sibale and Smith, 1997;Kling et al., 1997).While the development of NUE maize is an important contribution, it is, unfortunately, only likely to provide a minor part of the large productivity gains that are required in many parts of the world, including southern Africa. It is also important to remember that these gains have yet to be incorporated into germplasm adapted to African soil conditions.There will be time lags of several years and inefficiencies before this occurs and for the resulting varieties and hybrids are actually adopted by farmers.In southern Africa at present, aggregate maize yields are currently about 1.1 t ha -1 (excluding South Africa; calculated from FAO Agrostat PC files). Improved maize covers about 55% of the total maize area (CIMMYT, 1994). We first calculated the expected impact on aggregate yield resulting from feasible expansion of improved maize to cover about 80% of total maize area, with no other management changes.In all countries where improved maize currently covers less than 75%of the national maize area, we assumed improved maize would expand to 75%, except in countries where this would involve expansion into particularly dry production zones as indicated by the CIMMYT Maize Program (1988). For this additional area the yield gains from switching from unfertilized farmers' varieties to unfertilized improved varieties or hybrids were assumed to vary from 30 to 50%, depending on ecology. The upper figure of 50% was only used in cases where some trial data are available to support this estimate (Byerlee et al., 1994).Additional production from this scenario would only raise regional aggregate yields to 1.2 t ha -1 . Most of the additional production in this scenario would come from Malawi, and to a lesser extent Angola, where area planted to improved maize is small compared to what it might be.Achievable grain yield gains per ha can be calculated for NUE germplasm adapted to African conditions when grown by smallholder farmers in southern Africa, taking gains in NUE for tropical maize reported by CIMMYT, Mexico, (see above) as the starting point. We compared these gains to those necessary to feed southern Africa into the early decades of the 21st century. We assume 80% adoption (i.e., on all the area feasibly planted to improved maize in the near future) of NUE maize within 10 years, with an achieved yield gain of 100 kg grain ha -1 for each of 5 cycles with current modest inputs of N by farmers (using average yield gains from Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994b), no change in other inputs or soil fertility, and an optimistic 75% reproduction of those gains on smallholder farms. With these conditions, maize grain yields could rise from 1.2 t ha -1 in southern Africa to about 1.5 t ha -1 (an increase of around 25%) (Fig. 1). With an optimistic scenario of the same rate of gain in grain yield per cycle for 8 cycles, this would imply that average smallholder grain yields would be still under 1.7 t ha -1 (an increase of around 40%). This is far short of the doubling and tripling of average grain yields required to feed southern Africa into the initial decades of the 21st century (Blackie, 1995).Southern Africa is moving into an increasingly recurrent structural food deficit (Zambezi and Mwambula,1997;Jayne et al., in prep.). While much of this deficit is attributable to dry and variable production conditions, some  We now turn more specifically to address the nature and scale of the additional soil fertility contributions to maize growth and yield required to achieve and sustain the needed maize productivity gains.In well-watered maize areas, larger amounts, improved types and better management of inorganic and organic N fertilizer inputs are likely to continue to provide most productivity gains. We envisage a strategy of modest inorganic fertilizer inputs combined with biological N fixation and organic matter from additional legumes, and from crop residues and manure. We outline here the most promising technologies for southern Africa -better targeted inorganics, practicable legume systems, high quality organic matter combined with inorganics, and interaction with other management interventions -and assess their technological and economic feasibility. We draw heavily from Kumwenda et al. (1995 and1996),where a more comprehensive recent treatment of the role of various options can be found .Since the 1960s, fertilizer use has been growing in sub-Saharan Africa at around 6.7% annually, but growth in application rates per ha has slowed since about 1980. Current use is just 10 kg of fertilizer nutrients per ha of arable land per year. Though application rates in southern Africa are somewhat higher and maize is the most important crop in terms of total nutrient consumption, many farmers do not use inorganic fertilizers. A little over one-third of the maize in the region receives some inorganic fertilizer (Heisey and Mwangi, 1996).Relatively high nutrient-grain price ratios and higher levels of production risk are two of the underlying reasons behind low use of fertilizer in Africa (McCown et al., 1992;Heisey and Mwangi, 1996). Fertilizer is more expensive in southern Africa, for example, than in most other parts of the developing world (     labor (Wendt et al., 1994;Jones and Wendt, 1995). Micronutrient supplementation, when targeted to deficient soils in Malawi, provides a striking example of how N fertilizer efficiency for maize can be raised.The addition of S and Zn, when targeted to deficient fields, increased maize yields by 40% over the standard NP recommendation alone (Wendt et al., 1994;Kumwenda, et al., 1995), with little extra cash cost. A major verification and extension effort is now under way in Malawi to inform farmers about these findings (see Kumwenda, 1996).Another important way of raising fertilizer use efficiency in tropical soils is to combine small amounts of high quality organic material with inorganic N (Ladd and Amato, 1985;Snapp, 1995). Soil organic matter (SOM) from organic inputs helps retain mineral nutrients in the soil and make them available to plants in small amounts over many years as the SOM is mineralized (Woomer et al., 1994). Organic + inorganic combinations are promising, since they appear to improve maize yield over the long term by more than the additive effect of the contributions from N and other nutrients (see Kumwenda et al., 1995), partly through nutrient release in better synchrony with plant demand (Myers et al., 1994) Current organic inputs on most smallholder farms in the tropics cannot maintain SOM. Ways need to be found to encourage the adoption and production of more organic materials. Kumwenda et al. (1995) listed grain legumes, rotations, green manure, intercropping, agroforestry and animal manure as the main options.   et al., 1995).In unimodal rainfall areas, maize stover is often fed to livestock. This practice is especially common in areas with sandy soils, where the soil contains little N and stover breakdown in the soil tends to be slow. This is an important way of cycling the nutrients from residues in a way that makes them more beneficial to the crop. Where, as in Zimbabwe, cattle are common in smallholder areas, farmers often apply cattle manure to fields that will be planted to maize. Research shows that the most efficient use of manure is to combine it with some inorganic fertilizer (Murwira, 1994), a common practice. Station-placement or dribbling of cattle manure into the planting furrow each year, rather than broadcast application at high rates every few years, are promising ways of increasing the recurrent crop yield benefits (Munguri et al., 1995).In semi-arid areas the high risk of little response to fertilizer in most years is a major reason why farmers use little or no fertilizer (see Kumwenda et al., 1995;Waddington et al., 1995). However, the efficiency (measured through grain production per resource input) of both water use and N use is raised when both are in adequate supply. There are three main aspects to exploiting this link.First, similarity in physiological mechanisms for NUE and drought tolerance in maize mean that genotypes developed with greater tolerance to water deficits may have improved NUE (Lafitte and Bänziger, 1995;Lafitte et al.,1997). The   and Thornton, 1988;Keating et al., 1992).In much of southern Africa, the rainy season is unimodal and lasts 4-5 months. Positive interactions between crop management factors (early planting and timely weeding) and N fertilizers can be large and need to be exploited to provide further gains in NUE. In the region there is a clear relationship between the early planting of maize, just after the onset of the rains, and high grain yield Shumba et al., 1989;MacColl, 1990). In Zimbabwe, farmers commit more top-dress N fertilizer to earlier planted maize than to later plantings (Shumba et al., 1989;Waddington et al., 1991).Timely weeding can also raise fertilizer use efficiency. Kabambe and Kumwenda (1995) in Malawi showed that farmers who weed twice at the critical periods for maize can achieve a higher yield, with half the fertilizer, than farmers who weed only once. Many Differences in labor and management costs between organic and inorganic sources, or differences in problems with pests, could also be handled by modifying shadow prices. There are two aspects of organic nutrient sources, however, that require considerable extension of the basic economic analysis framework. First, control of timing and amounts of nitrogen released from organic sources can be much less precise than with inorganic sources (see Myers et al., 1994;Palm, 1995). This means that a complete economic analysis may require a probabilistic approach (see below for the related case of response farming). Second, as we have noted, organic sources of nitrogen can also contribute to soil organic matter status. Of course, use of inorganic fertilizer can also have positive effects on soil organic matter, but as Figure 3 suggests, in general sources that contribute the most to soil organic matter contribute relatively little to immediate grain output, and vice versa (Janssen, 1993). For the purposes of economic  Swift et al., 1994;Palm et al., 1996;Kumwenda et al., 1995). When interactions between the type of work and key players are included, this can quickly become complex (Fig. 4) and difficult to maintain.Basic-process-oriented research is required to understand the nutrient flows in tropical soils and crops, opportunities to synchronize nutrient availability with crop demand, and root behavior (Myers et al., 1994;Palm, 1995;Giller et al., 1996;Kumwenda et al., 1995). Farmer participation is essential as well.Development of problem-solving soil fertility research and extension initiatives driven by farmer demands is the key to reaching the resourcepoorest farmers (Swift et al., 1994;Minae, 1996). Palm et al. (1996) have attempted to integrate process understanding and farmer appropriate recommendations in a decision support system involving computer databases and models. This system selects organic inputs and their management for a given cropping system, soil type, and environment.It involves socioeconomic as well as biophysical characterization, and field testing of technology options as inputs into the model.For both organic and inorganic sources of soil fertility, important practical questions for smallholders remain to be answered for many situations. Information is largely incomplete on the optimum use of small amounts of inorganic  1996;Kumwenda et al., 1995). The challenge is out to the contributors in Figure 4 to do this in the most effective and efficient way, tailored for each situation.We have pointed out that the La eliminación de los subsidios, las elevadas tasas de interés, el endeudamiento de los productores, la inflación de los insumos, etc., se ha traducido en un crecimiento casi nulo del sector agrícola (Fig. 1). Por otra parte, los resultados obtenidos en 1994 respecto a la tasa promedio de crecimiento en los últimos tres años, mostraron una agudización del deterioro de la agricultura (Agroplan, 1994, citado por Castillo, 1994).A continuación se señalan algunos criterios que destacan la importancia de la formulación de un programa de investigación en mejoramiento genético para la producción de materiales de maíz tolerantes al estrés de humedad que formen parte de los sistemas de producción de las principales regiones productoras de maíz:1   Factores climáticos adversos como la sequía en la selva y sequías, heladas y granizo en la sierra, se presentan con cierta frecuencia. Estos factores de riesgo limitan el uso de tecnologías que permitirían incrementar la productividad del maíz en estas dos regiones.utilizar mecanismo de escape como:siembras tempranas o uso de variedades precoces, por lo que la alternativa para superar esta limitación será contar con variedades tolerantes a la sequía asociado con un buen potencial de rendimiento. Los factores más limitativos en la producción del cultivo se dan en las regiones de la sierra y la selva estos pueden ser agrupados en :• Climáticos, debido a que el maíz se siembra desde el nivel del mar hasta los 3,500 metros de altitud, la sequía y las heladas constituyen un factor fuertemente limitador.• Edáficos, las siembras se realizan en suelos marginales superficiales, pedregosos y de baja fertilidad, con topografía accidentada, que implica la siembra en pendientes y laderas, con la consecuente pérdida del suelo.• Fitosanitarios, fuerte incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, constituyendo estas últimas el factor biótico más importante en la sierra.• Falta de infraestructura hidráulica y escasa disponibilidad de agua para riego.Para superar los factores antes señalados se plantean los siguientes objetivos:•  • Aprovechar la capacidad instalada y los recursos humanos de nuestro Programa para la ejecución de actividades.• Introducir y evaluar material con características de tolerancia a sequía y buen potencial de rendimiento a fin de identificar y seleccionar los que se adapten a nuestras condiciones ecológicas.La consecución de los objetivos planteados permitirá:• Establecer las bases que permitan una producción masiva y extensiva del cultivo en las regiones de la sierra y la selva y coadyuvar a atenuar los niveles de importación de maíz.• Estabilizar la productividad del cultivo bajo condiciones de humedad del suelo limitada, reduciendo el riesgo en la producción maicera.  al., 1980;Osuna y Luna, 1989).De la superficie total de temporal sembrada con maíz en la región C-N, en promedio 27% no produce grano, principalmente por efecto de la sequía (Luna, 1993) (Fig.   , 1988;Luna, 1993). En aquella área la precipitación fluctúa entre 400 y 500 mm, en un ciclo de cultivo de 110 a 120 días y la temperatura media está entre 15 ° y 21 °C; en la otra los valores correspondientes son 250 y 400 mm, 80 a 100 días por ciclo y 15 °a 20 °C. En casi toda la región 65% de la lluvia se registra antes de la antésis.Aproximadamente, 51% de los suelos tienen menos de 50 cm de profundidad, 46% entre 50 y 100 cm y su contenido de materia orgánica es inferior a 1%; por esto, su capacidad de retención de humedad es muy baja, no obstante que predominan las texturas cercanas a la franca.Los bajos rendimientos del maíz de temporal en la zona C-N son resultado de la poca agua disponible para el cultivo, sobre todo durante la floración y el llenado del grano;pueden agregarse la temperatura relativamente baja, aunque existen genotipos adaptados a esta condición (Luna, 1993), el uso de fertilizantes en solamente 40% del área sembrada, la deficiente fertilización por cantidad y oportunidad, el uso de genotipos de baja productividad, etc. (Luna y Zapata, 1988;Luna, 1993). Además, las causas principales por las que en algunas ocasiones no se cosecha grano son: el corto período con lluvia, el inicio tardío del temporal, el inicio temprano de heladas y la siembra de genotipos de ciclo más largo del requerido (Luna, 1993).El objetivo general del mejoramiento genético de maíz en la región C-N, ha sido disponer de genotipos de ciclo vegetativo adaptado a las condiciones regionales, tolerantes a la sequía y resistentes a enfermedades y al acame; con ello, se pueden disminuir los riesgos de pérdida por sequía y heladas.En la primera etapa, iniciada en 1966 (Luna, 1993)   León y otro al N de Guanajuato, V-209 rindió en promedio 0.8 t/ha, con límites entre 0.34 y 1.10 t/ha, lo anterior contrasta con el rendimiento de los criollos locales que en promedio fue 0.54 t/ha, con límites entre 0 y 0.75 t/ha (Gutiérrez et al., 1990).Se realizaron cinco ciclos de selección; aquí se muestran algunos resultados de los tres primeros (Cuadro 4). Por falta de recursos este programa se suspendió, como otros; se esperaba derivar alguna variedad PL para el área de temporal favorable.Se realizaron siete ciclos con diversas modalidades y presiones de selección; aquí, solamente se presentan los resultados de las entidades de prueba, con 5% de presión de selección en las que se obtuvieron mejores respuestas. El VS-201 se adapta mejor a condiciones de temporal favorable de la región C-N (Cuadro 5). En Aguascalientes, donde se registran las lluvias más irregularmente, se obtuvieron los menores rendimientos; en contraste en Durango, donde se realizó la selección y hay mejores condiciones hubo mayores rendimientos. En la selección bajo riego se incrementó el período para el inicio de la antesis.El cv. Cal 74 es un maíz para condiciones poco favorables de la región C-N, por esta razón la mejor respuesta se obtuvo en el área de temporal deficiente de Zacatecas, donde se realizó la selección (Cuadro 6). Gutiérrez y Luna (1990)  Los objetivos principales de la investigación sobre prácticas culturales para maíz de temporal en la región C-N han sido: integrar los paquetes tecnológicos de acuerdo con las condiciones ecológicas de cada área de producción (orientación para el más efectivo del agua de lluvia y del suelo) y disminuir los costos y riesgos de producción.Así, con base en los resultados de diversas investigaciones se han reconocido las dosis de fertilizante, densidades de siembra, fechas de siembra, formas de control de arvenses y plagas, etc., más adecuadas para cada región. También se han realizado investigaciones sobre balance hídrico, captación y conservación del agua de lluvia y su efecto en la labranza, disminución de uso de maquinaria, etc.En un estudio sobre balance hídrico en maíz de temporal en Aguascalientes (Martínez G. citado por Zapata y Luna, 1989) se detectó un déficit fuerte de humedad para el cultivo, en las etapas de floración y llenado de grano (Cuadro 9 Debido a la importancia del maíz en    basic differences between the LSC and CFS. Commercial farmers have privately-owned units averaging 2,500 ha (Rukuni, 1992). They rely heavily on machinery and can afford to use nitrogenous fertilizer, chemical pesticides and hired labor. An estimated 91% of the communal farming areas fall within NRs III, IV and V (Table 1). In addition to the low and erratic rainfall (Whitlow, 1980), communal area soils are deficient in available nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, and have poor physical structure and low water-holding capacity (Mataruka, 1995). Although commercial farming areas are evenly distributed among NRs II, III, IV and V (    Vincent and Thomas (1960).Total area, production and average yield levels in each of the two sectors for the period 1980/81 to 1994/95 areshown in Figure 2. On average, total maize area in the CFS is larger than that in the LSC. Average yield levels in the CFS are much lower than those obtained in the LSC.Declining trends in rainfall during the 20th century in Zimbabwe have been reported by Barnes (1996) and Machida (unpublished, 1996). Severe droughts became more frequent from Zimbabwean mean rainfall data from 1970/71 to 1994/95, summarized in  (Machida unpublished, 1996). This A t-test was performed to determine significance of differences in yield between normal and drought seasons within each sector (Clarke, 1980).  There were significant yield differences (P£0.001) between normal and drought seasons in both the CFS and LSC of 0.79 t/ha and 1.69 t/ha, respectively (Table 3). When expressed as percentages of average yield levels for normal seasons, the yield differences indicated yield losses of 68% for the CFS, and 37%for the LSC, respectively. About one out of every four years had a droughty growing season for the period 1970/71 to 1994/95.  At present, the average frequency of severe drought in Zimbabwe is about once every four years (Table 2).However, the author has noted that 4. Exchanging germplasm and information through regional trials.  (Fischer et al., 1989;Shaw, 1983).  Rigorous testing of selections was then conducted in multi-location yield trials, and several varieties were released for commercial production (Table 2). Tables 3 and 4 show mean performance in grain   One important objective of the NMRP is the development of improved management practices for all the agro-ecological zones.Accordingly, studies have been conducted investigating the following topics:1. Intercropping and related cropping systems.2. Fertilizer response on-station and on farmers' fields.interaction effects on maize yield. 1. On-farm trials using farm yard manure with or without mineral supplementation.2. On-farm trials using rotational green manuring with Crotalaria, etc.     Drought has had an adverse effect on the Zambian economy. In recent years, the country was severely hit by drought in 1991/92, followed by partial drought during 1993/94 and 1994/95 (Table 2). Reduced production and the importance of maize as a staple food necessitated imports of the commodity. In the 1994/95 season, the area harvested was reduced by 23% from 520,165 to 357,938 ha, primarily as a result of drought (CSO/MAFF, 1995). The drought also derailed maize market reform programs that were being implemented to avoid shortages and price increases (Howard and Mungoma, 1996).Compared to other countries in the region, Zambia has had high adoption rates of fertilizer recommendations. A successful extension campaign on the use of improved seed (mostly hybrids) and fertilizer convinced farmers of the need to adopt these technologies (Howard and Mungoma, 1996).Trends in fertilizer use increased even more with the introduction of fertilizer subsidies in 1971/72 (Table 1), 90% of which was used on maize (Williams and Allgood, 1991).However, with the removal of subsidies between 1988 and 1993, a decline in fertilizer use and in the area planted to maize was observed.Planting maize with fertilizer was no longer profitable for some farmers and fertilizer applications to maize were either reduced or farmers planted other crops. Fertilizer:maize price ratios increased from 0.9:1 in 1986 to 2.7:1 and 1.9:1 in 1993 and 1994, respectively (Howard and Mungoma, 1996)  1995).Breeding for drought tolerance is one of the biggest challenges for any breeding program.  The program has released two openpollinated varieties and five hybrids of early maturity (100 to 140 days).These are recommended for the drought prone Region I and Region II. These varieties have performed well during drought years as seen by the data from 1991/92 (Table 3).Selection with an emphasis on short ASI has resulted in varieties that are more tolerant to stress, including drought stress. Finally, MWIRNET has begun a breeding project for NUE maize and Zambia will be collaborating.  The two topics of this symposium could not have been discussed at a better time for Zambia. Despite the agricultural sector's call for more crop diversification as a mean of solving the problems of drought and low N, maize continues to be an important crop ( Mean annual rainfall (Fig. 1) ranges between 500 and 800 mm, while seasonal rainfall ranges between 200 and 400 mm. Seasonal variability is erratic and in some parts the seasonal rainfall does not exceed 250 mm.Severe drought occurs usually once in every three seasons. Knowledge of these probabilities has been useful for determining breeding and production strategies under drought conditions (Edmeades et al., 1989).The following are two of Kenya Seed Company's objectives:1. To establish a long-term selection strategy for developing earlymaturing drought tolerant maize varieties.tolerant maize varieties for the arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya.         The It was observed that the commercial checks used, KCB and DLC1 were earlier maturing and lower yielding.The new maize hybrids were more stable across environments and were higher yielding under stress.   There are two major soil types in the region: ando-humic Nitisol and humic Nitisol. In the USDA classification system, these soils represent orthoxic Palehumult and typic Palehumult, respectively (Siderius and van der Pouw, 1980).Both are derived from rich basic igneous rock (FURP, 1987). The two constitute more than 70% of the soils in Kenya's central highlands (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983).Maize is the main food crop grown in this area. One of the major nutrients limiting maize production is nitrogen. Farmers use very low rates of inorganic fertilizer N to improve crop productivity. One survey revealed that less than 30% of farmers interviewed use N fertilizer on maize, applying it at rates between 15-25 kg N ha -1 , while farmyard manure (FYM) is being used by more than 75% of farmers (Hassan et al., 1993). better understand effects of N fertilization and manure application on the sustainability of maize production systems.The experiment was conducted on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya in Embu district using two trial sites:Kavutiri and Embu. It was conducted for nine years starting in 1987 and the same treatments were applied to the same plots in each of the nine years.  and Schmidt, 1983).Different factorial experiments were conducted at the two sites. The factors under study at Kavutiri were nitrogen fertilizer (N) at 0 or 50 kg N ha -1 , agricultural lime (L) at 0 and 1.0 t ha -1 , and air-dried farmyard manure (FYM) at 0 and 5.0 t ha -1 . At Embu, N was applied at the same rates and FYM was applied at four rates, 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7. Nitrogen uptake was computed as the product of N concentration and total dry matter for a particular plant fraction. Nitrogen recovery efficiency for applied N fertilizer was estimated using the following relationship (Rao et al., 1992).At the end of the 1994 LR season soil samples were taken, and at Kavutiri, soil pH in the topsoil was determined. In plots that received N fertilizer, concentrations of soil mineral N were determined from soil samples taken at 0.12 m intervals down to a depth of 2.5 m. At Kavutiri and Embu, soil organic matter concentration was determined in the topsoil in 1987, 1993 and 1996.Application of fertilizer N increased maize grain yield significantly (P≤0.05) at both Embu and Kavutiri (Table 1). It is important to note that whereas the increase in grain yield at Embu was 38%, the increase in the acidic soils of Kavutiri was about 120%.Application of 5.0 t ha -1 of FYM did not significantly increase grain yield at Embu, but a combination of CROP PRODUCTION STRATEGIES fertilizer N at 50 kg ha -1 and 5.0 t ha -1   of FYM improved maize yield by 51% over the FYM treatment and by about 18% over the N fertilizer treatment (Table 2). In the acidic Kavutiri soils there was an increase of 1.2 t ha -1 in grain yield due to the FYM application, and when FYM and N fertilizer were applied together there was an increase of 1.6 and 1.0 t ha -1 above the FYM and N fertilizer treatments, respectively (Table 2).Lime was applied only to the acidic soils of Kavutiri. Liming alone increased maize grain yields by more than 200% ( There was no significant difference between the total above-ground plant N in plots receiving fertilizer N alone or in combination with FYM at Embu (Table 4). In both treatments, total N uptake of the above-ground plant parts was approximately 100 kg N ha -1 . In the acidic Kavutiri soils, there were differences (P≤0.05) in N uptake between plots that received N fertilizer alone and those that received a combination of fertilizer N and FYM. Farm yard manure increased N uptake by more than two fold.Fertilizer N recovery efficiency in the above-ground plant parts of maize was low, being less than 20% at both trial sites ( Nitrogen was apparently leached to lower soil horizons (Fig. 1). At Kavutiri in plots that received N fertilizer, there was approximately 25 kg N ha -1 in the first 0.5 m of top soil.Between 1.0 and 2.5 m there was an accumulation of about 450 kg N ha -1 .Ten percent of the labeled fertilizer was present in the soil between 1.0 and 2.0 m in depth.Soils at Embu and Kavutiri were fairly high in soil organic matter. At the time of the trial's inception, soil organic carbon was 2.42 and 3.75%for the Embu and Kavutiri sites, respectively (Table 5). Six years later, there was a mean decrease in soil organic carbon of 13% and 31% at Embu and Kavutiri, respectively. By the end of nine years of experimentation, the mean decrease in soil organic carbon was 16% for Embu and 41% for Kavutiri. For each sampling period there were no significant differences amongst the treatments.Nitrogen is one of the major soil nutrients limiting maize production in the humid highlands of central Kenya. Application of N fertilizer has been shown to increase maize grain yield in the area (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983;Qureshi, 1990;Ayaga and Heinzamann, 1992;Woomer, 1992). In the current experiment, increases in maize grain yield of up to 120% clearly demonstrate the importance of soil N in increasing maize production.The use of farmyard manure can be viewed as an important pathway for recycling soil nutrients. Its usefulness as a source of N is mainly determined by its quality, which in turn governs the rate of N mineralization, and hence the N released to the growing crop (Swift et al., 1979;Murwira et al., 1993) The benefits accrued from lime application to acidic soils have been adequately demonstrated by several researchers (Kihanda and Ransom, 1988;Lungu et al., 1993). The more than three-fold increase in maize yield in the current study shows the importance of liming acidic soils in the region. This increase in grain yield may have been due to a reduction in exchangeable aluminum to less toxic levels, and therefore the creation of a more favorable environment for microorganisms to mineralize the soil organic matter (Lungu et al., 1993).The low N fertilizer recovery compared to the high total plant N implies that more than 80% of the plant N is derived from other N sources. Nitrogen fertilizer recovery efficiencies of less than 25% have been reported for Kiboko (Pilbeam et al., 1995) and Kabete, Kenya (G.O.One of the reasons advanced for the observed low fertilizer N recovery efficiency was the rapid mineralization of soil organic N with the onset of the rainy season. This quickly dilutes the contemporaneous addition of 15 N label, leading to poor fertilizer recovery efficiencies (Pilbeam et al., 1995). Intensive agriculture has led to continuous cultivation of the land, and this has led to accelerated nutrient depletion, decline in soil organic matter, loss of physical structure and reduced crop productivity (Swift et al., 1989). In the present study, it was observed that during the nine years of experimentation, there was a decline in soil organic carbon of 16% and 41% at the Embu and Kavutiri trial sites, respectively. Larger decreases in soil organic carbon after several years of continuous cultivation have been reported in Kabete, Kenya (Qureshi, 1990;Swift et al., 1994), northern Zambia and the Mbeya region of Tanzania (Singh and Goma, 1993). These results suggest that there is an urgent need to focus our attention on soil organic matter maintenance and its improvement, which should lead to more sustained or increased crop productivity.The authors express sincere thanks to the KARI Director for the provision of field sites and for allowing us to use part of the FURP data. We also where it is currently cultivated on more than 1 million ha (CIMMYT, 1994). Although second to teff (Eragrotis teff) in area planted, maize ranks first among the cereals in yield and production (Mulatu et al., 1993).Moisture stress is a significant constraint to production on about 40% of the area cropped to maize (Mohammed and Mulatu, 1993).  The weather data used in this study The planting dates were similar to those that have been observed in the region of this study (Tilahun, 1995). Rainfall during the crop's growing cycle was on average greater at Adamitulu for the various planting dates and cultivar combinations (Table 1), the difference between the two sites tended to be larger for the early planted treatments. More precipitation was available for the later planted treatments at both sites, in comparison with the earlier planted treatments. In the early plantings, there were large differences in available seasonal precipitation between cultivars, with the later maturing A210 receiving significantly greater rainfall than Katumani.Averaged over seasons, the least precipitation (315 mm) occurred with Katumani planted early at Melkasa.     Germplasm  The    (Mink, 1984;Subandi et al., 1988).Maize is planted throughout the country, but around 70% of total production comes from Java (4 million tons in 1993). East Java alone produces more than 40% of the total national harvest. The remaining areas, such as Sumatra, Sulawesi, and other islands, produce about 29%.Maize productivity in Java is higher than that of outer Java (Table 1), mainly due to the adoption of newer technologies and more intensive management (Subandi et al., 1988;CBS, 1994) Maize production varies in Indonesia due mainly to abiotic constraints. The exception being the irrigated wetlands, where maize often grows in favorable conditions with high soil fertility and adequate water supply.Two important problems related to the soil and to crop water supply exist in Indonesia (Subandi, 1984;Subandi et al., 1988). The major soil groups in the maize growing area include alluvial, grumusol, latosol, regosol, mediterranean, andosol, and red/yellow podzolics (59% of total maize area). Their low phosphorus status, low organic matter content, and low pH are important constraints to production (Subandi et al., 1988).Secondly, the crop is often subjected to periods of severe moisture stress because of marked variation in timing and intensity of rainfall.Moisture stress occurring during flowering or during early plant development and flowering can cause severe yield losses (Fischer et al., 1983;Subandi et al., 1988).Evaluations in several locations showed that the maize variety 'Arjuna' planted in dryland areas yielded only 3.04 t/ha, while in rainfed and irrigated wetlands its yield was 4.14 and 5.07 t/ha, respectively (Sudjana, 1990).   Selection for specific characters may also diminish yield reduction under drought, for example the anthesis-silking interval. The drought selection index (Fischer et al., 1983) and minimum yield under stress appear useful when selecting for tolerance. Populations formed using families selected under stress and under no stress showed improved yields in both stressed and nonstressed conditions (Table 3), but it is not known if selection under only favorable conditions would result in yield improvement under stress.Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). 1987. Statistical Year Book of Indonesia. Jakarta. Maize is grown in almost all parts of India, occupying 6 million ha or about 4% of the total cultivated area.Maize production in India has increased from 5 million tons in 1966-67 to 10.6 million tons in 1994-95. This is more than a 100% increase (Fig. 1)and largely results from an increase in mean yield from 1.0 to 1.7 tons/ha.However, maize contributes only 5.2% of total food grain production. inconsistent expression of genetically controlled characters in stress environments. Some studies conclude that higher yielding genotypes under normal conditions will also be the better yielders under drought and sub-optimal nitrogen, so breeding for high yield may be the most appropriate approach for developing drought and low N tolerance. Screening germplasm under artificially created stress conditions can be expected to enhance gains derived from normal testing.Testing under both conditions may attain more quickly the goals of high yield and stress tolerance.has been merely 1.8% as compared to 2.4 and 3.5% for rice and wheat (Table 1), suggesting that there is considerable potential for enhancing maize productivity in India.Annual rainfall in India ranges from about 200 mm to more than 3000 mm.Fluctuation in the quantity of monsoon rainfall over different parts of India has an important bearing on Similarly maize production was drastically affected in 1987-88 (Table 3). In some areas, rainfall for the crop season may be adequate, but a reduction in water availability around a critical growth stage may have a marked effect on grain yield.Indian soils have been characterizedas being low in organic matter and nitrogen. The nitrogen map of Ghosh and Hasan (1980)   (Katyal, 1994).Nitrogen affects photosynthetic rate, leaf surface area, size of the sink, and thus yield. Each ton of maize grain production requires about 16 kg N in the grain. Application of N to maize during grain filling normally results in an increase in grain protein production (Deckard et. al., 1973). N fertilizer use in India has increased response to increased N fertilizer use over the past several years (Fig. 2).Nitrogen recommendations for maize in India are specific for location and crop rotation, and vary from 80 to 150 kg N ha -1 , depending upon plant spacing and moisture conditions of the area. In irrigated areas, N rates up to 150 kg ha -1 have proved economical, whereas in rainfed areas economic rates of N application are around 80 kg N ha -1 (Fig. 3). In practice, farmers often use less than half of the recommended N rate. In general, N is applied in three equal splits: planting, knee height and at silking stages. The use of both N and water would be more efficient if irrigation were synchronized with the rate and timing of N application.Grain production is adversely affected by stress conditions that occur during the onset and the early phases of reproduction. Breeding for drought tolerance is difficult because it is a complex character like grain yield, and many traits affect the outcome. Initially, the breeder should start working with only a few of the most important characters. Some known indicators of drought tolerance include days to 50% silking, days to 50% pollen shedding, the interval between the two, plant height, ear length, ear girth, number of kernels row -1 , and 1000 kernel weight. Tollenaar (1977) suggested that sink capacity rather than source capacity commonly limits maize grain yield. He further suggested that where sink limitations exist, improved grain yield could be achieved by selecting for factors that influence photosynthate supply to the ear during the flowering period.  (Fischer et. al., 1983).The date of 50% silking is commonly delayed under stress conditions. Delays of up to 9 d in silking have been reported under Indian conditions (Subramanyam, 1992). The timing of pollen shed appears to be less affected under stress conditions (although delays can occur under N stress), leading to an increase in the interval between pollen shedding and silking. In general, anthesissilking interval (ASI) is 2 to 4 d under irrigated conditions, but under stress conditions it increases to 4 to 5 d, and intervals up to 13 d have been reported for highly drought susceptible genotypes. The importance of a short ASI has been documented by Fischer et. al. (1989) at CIMMYT, and by Singh and Sarkar (1991) and Subramanyam (1992) in India. There is a direct correlation between this interval and maize grain yield, and genotypes with a short ASI  The maize crop approaches knee height about 30 to 35 d after sowing. If there is insufficient moisture during this time (a common condition in India), plant height is reduced. However, drought usually has a limited affect on plant height, especially for drought tolerant genotypes. Subramanyam (1992) reported a study involving Harsha (an India variety), La Posta (from CIMMYT) and a cross between two Indian maize varieties. Harsha and Navjot had almost the same plant height under both no-stress and stress conditions when grown at Hyderabad.Rather limited genetic variation has been reported for kernel weight under drought. It is assumed that if there is poor grain filling then the test weight is likely to decrease, though conflicting reports exist in the literature. However, complete grain filling is essential for higher yield in maize.These traits are often reduced under drought, but little reduction in these measurements was observed in the drought tolerant genotypes Navjot, Harsha, La Posta, and Tuxpeño Sequía C 8 . It was also observed that wherever a cross involved at least one of these as a parent, the length and girth measurements under stress were comparable to those under normal conditions (Subramanyam, 1992).Studies point to parameters that may prove useful when selecting for drought tolerance. These include:1. The ability of leaves to increase abscisic acid concentration, which leads to stomatal closure, is genetically controlled and is variable (Larque-Saavedra and Wain, 1976). 2. Under water stress conditions, a 42% increase in sugar (Barlow et al., 1976) has been reported in maize.3 . Pinter et. al. (1978) reported that free proline content of plant tissue subjected to drought increased, and was positively correlated with drought tolerance. 4. A relatively more drought tolerant line of maize had a higher cuticular resistance to water diffusion than a less tolerant line (Dube et al., 1975).A slow rate of leaf senescence and a high degree of chlorophyll stability are criteria which may also be used during selection. 6. Subramanyam (1992)   Mishra et al. (pers. comm., 1978).Limited information is available regarding gene action and combining ability for different characters under water deficit or low N conditions. Martiniello (1983)  Studies reported in the literature do not agree on the importance of additive and dominance gene action under drought. Hemlata et al. (1989) observed a preponderance of dominance variance for grain yield, though Subramanyam's (1992) results were inconsistent perhaps because of a large G x E caused by fluctuations in drought conditions at the different locations and years.Similar observations have been reported by Seetharama et al. (1983), who noted that inconsistent trial results are one of the major problems when breeding for drought tolerance. Compared with the mean grain yield across China or in Jilin Province, maize yields are still very low in Guizhou Province (Table 2). Drought is one of the most important factors influencing maize production. MaizeRen Hong, Upland Crops Inst., Guizhou Acad. of Ag. Sciences, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, P.R. ChinaMaize is one of the main cereal crops in Guizhou Province, and plays an important role in farmers' lives and in farm income. However, yield is very low, with drought and low soil fertility among the principal factors influencing maize production. Two years ago we began a special program working with drought and low soil fertility. Three basic methods for developing tolerant hybrids have been used in our breeding program. They include: using crosses of lines from local populations x temperate lines; tropical lines x temperate lines; and developing broadly adapted three-way, double, and topcross hybrids. These methods have lead to the release of some hybrids tolerant to drought or low soil fertility. In 1993, the low N-tolerant population 'Across 8328-BN' was introduced from CIMMYT. We have begun to improve it per se and use it for inbred line development. In the future, our drought and low soil fertility program will get increased attention with the objectives: 1) to adapt high yielding germplasm to the stress conditions in Guizhou Province, 2) to develop inbred lines tolerant to drought and low soil fertility, and 3) to identify hybrids with broad adaptation to the highly variable growing conditions in Guizhou, concentrating on three-way and double cross hybrids.    1).The frequency of occurrence of spring drought was 35% during the period 1981 to 1992 (Table 1).Because it coincides with the planting season, it can result in poor seedling establishment or planting delays. This type of drought reduces maize yield by 5-20%.The frequency of occurrence of summer drought was 32% (Table 1).Its effect on maize production is greater than that for spring drought, partly because it usually occurs in combination with spring drought.The frequency of early autumn drought was 19% (Table 1 There are four strategies widely used in southern China to alleviate drought's effect on maize production.Drought tolerance breeding is the primary strategy used for improving maize yield.   Vietnam is traditionally a rice-eating country and favorable irrigated land is reserved for rice production. Maize is planted mostly as an upland crop where drought is more common. Average rainfall is 1,500 -2,000 mm per year but rainfall distribution is irregular in some regions and seasons, leading to drought.  and 'HTD-5' -have been widely disseminated. Prolific maize is being selected to reduce drought-induced barrenness, and is being used in an effort to develop more prolific baby corn hybrids. 'NN-1' is one such promising hybrid.Drought-tolerant germplasm from CIMMYT,including 'Tuxpeño Sequía','Pool 26 Sequía','Pool 18 Sequía',and wide crosses between teosinte and maize are being used as genetic resources in our breeding program for drought tolerance and prolificacy. In general for all ecological regions in Vietnam, maize is usually prone to drought at the beginning of the main season and the end of secondary seasons where irrigation is not available.The NMRI conducts research on Results obtained from variety trials and evaluations of various agronomic technologies in different ecological regions from 1985 to present have been used to identify methods which limit the effect of drought on maize production.Results related to a few of these methods are discussed in the following sections.These are widely used to escape drought effects during critical development stages, and their importance is well known (e.g., Edmeades et al., 1990)  1). NMRI is also developing new early-maturing hybrids. Multiyear testing has identified promising hybrids 'EET-1', 'LVN-20', 'LVN-4' and 'LVN-5'. Among these, LVN-20 appears to be the most promising. It has been widely adopted by farmers in Vietnam's northern provinces. It is a short-statured erect-leaved hybrid, and has been planted for testing in several different ecological zones.Intercropping with legumes (soybean, groundnut, and mungbean) reduces evaporation from  The selected traits are those thought by several scientists (Fischer et al., 1983) to be related to drought tolerance, including short-plant height, narrow leaves, and dark green color. A number of promising hybrids which have both the desired set of traits and high yield potential have been identified. Their descriptive characteristics and relative yield are presented in Table 3. Among them is the early-maturity hybrid LVN-20, discussed above.Prolific maize is being selected for reduced barrenness as a means of improving drought tolerance, and is also being used to develop more prolific baby corn hybrids. The relationships between prolificacy, resistance to barrenness and drought tolerance of maize have been discussed by others (Hallauer and Troyer, 1972;Guei and Wassom, 1992). NMRI is using two main breeding approaches to develop prolific parents. Inbred lines are being extracted from prolific germplasm by sib-mating plants expressing the character. Presumably there is more opportunity for recombination and accumulation of desired genes and less opportunity for inbreeding depression when using this breeding method compared with others.The second approach is the use of wide hybridization with teosinte, followed by cycles of backcrossing to develop prolific lines. NMRI research   Blum and Pnuel (1990). It was seen that varieties selected for higher yield potential yielded relatively well also under moderate stress conditions as expressed by mean yields of about 400 g m -2 . Only when mean yields were reduced to below 250 to 300 g m -2 , the more stress-adapted lines were superior to the high yielding ones.This trait is at the top of the agenda in most plant breeding programs. The final integrated plant response to drought stress in terms of total biomass or economic yield is conditioned by genes which are expressed constitutively and genes which are stress-responsive and stress-adaptive. Genes expressed constitutively may be stress-responsive, but they are not, by definition, stress adaptive. This brief review discusses the impact, whether positive or negative, of several major plant constitutive traits on plant production under drought stress.For most crop plants there is a genotype x drought stress interaction for yield which is expressed when stress is severe enough. Besides well-watered conditions, a high yield potential is expressed also under moderate levels of stress.However, a high yield potential may be negatively affecting yield under severe stress.  does not seem to constitute a stress adaptive feature. Blum et al. (1992) showed that yield reduction with increasing drought stress was proportionally the same in sorghum hybrids and open-pollinated varieties. However, at all levels of plant stress the hybrids yielded relatively better, most probably because of their higher potential productivity.On the physiological level, leaf carbon exchange rate (CER) was found to be higher in a sorghum hybrid than its two parental lines, because of hybrid vigor (Blum et al., 1990a). As environmental stress increased and CER declined, the hybrid maintained its relative advantage in CER. Only when mean CER was reduced to about 1/5 of its potential, one of the parental lines became superior to the hybrid, evidently because of its specific stress adaptation.The same conclusion on the importance of potential productivity under stress has been reached also for salinity stress. Kapulnik et al. (1990) showed that alfalfa lines selected for high vigor were yielding better than lines selected for low vigor over a range of salt concentrations, until yields of all lines converged to a very low value at the highest salinity stress. Similarly, Shannon and Noble (1995) demonstrated that subterranean clover varieties of high potential biomass production yielded better than less productive lines under a wide range of salinity levels.A crossover may have been observedonly at a high salt stress when yields were very low. This is culminated by Richards's (1992) conclusion that the most important trait for breeding towards saline conditions is high yield potential.There is therefore a wide range of stress conditions where high yield potential supports plant production and specific adaptation per se is not required and sometimes even not effective. If stress adaptive genes exist in the breeding material they are expressed only when stress becomes sufficiently severe.   (Blum et al., 1990b) and that such canopy temperature variation was a reflection of variations in stomatal conductance.Stable-yielding varieties had cooler leaves and higher stomatal conductance under drought stress.More recently, the positive relationship between stomatal conductance, low canopy temperatures and high yield was confirmed for irrigated wheat growing in a warm and dry climate (Rees et al., 1993) For example, height genes, which affect stem length, have an important effect on storage and its subsequent utilization for grain filling in small grains (Borrell et al., 1993) and sorghum (Blum et al., in preparation).When  et al., 1994).Information in maize on the importance of stem reserves in sustaining kernel growth under stress is not conclusive (Kiniry et al., 1992;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1993) and in view of the large diversity in this species, the issue warrants further investigation. The role of reserve carbon in maize may be peculiar or even unique, in view of the grain position on the plant. Furthermore, the evidence on the effect of stem infused sugar on grain setting in drought stressed maize (Zinselmeier et al., 1995)   (Hallauer and Troyer, 1972;Arihara and Watanabe, 1985;Schoper et al., 1987). We will Under well-watered conditions, silks emerge at about the same time pollen is shed (Fig. 1).  (Bassetti and Westgate, 1994b).Distinguishing between these possibilities is important because modifying the pattern of pollen shed or improving ear/silk growth to improve drought tolerance would require markedly different selection strategies. In the field, pollen shed follows a skewed distribution with a maximum two or three days after anthesis (Fig. 2). We imposed asynchronous ear development on this pattern of pollen shed by varying the planting date of small detasseled plots within a large field. This approach allowed us to examine kernel set as affected by pollen supply within a range of ASIs, both positive and negative. As expected, maximum kernel set was obtained on ears whose silks first appeared within two or three days of anthesis (Fig. 3).Percent set decreased rapidly on ears with later-emerging silks.Progressively more kernels were lost from tip to basal floral positions as asynchrony increased (data not shown). To determine when pollen amount became limiting, it was necessary to match kernel set on ears with a known number of receptive silks exposed on a day when the density of pollen shed was also known. Figure 4 shows kernel set was nearly perfect in florets with silks exposed on any day when pollen density was at least 100 grains cm -2 d -1 . Considering the seasonal pattern of pollen shed (Fig. 3 With greater asynchrony, kernel set decreased throughout the ear, indicating that both silk emergence and pollen shed limited kernel set. These results confirm pollen amount does not limit kernel set in maize under favorable growing conditions. Initial silk emergence must lag behind pollen shed by many days (about 8 d for Pioneer 3790), before pollen amount begins to limit kernel set. This value may vary for other hybrids with their inherent pattern of pollen shed and ear development (Bassetti and Westgate, 1993a).How does this information help us to overcome the problem of silk delay relative to pollen shed? While selection for a short ASI in droughty environments undoubtedly will continue to prove beneficial (Edmeades et al., 1997), selecting against a delay in silk emergence does not take full advantage of the floral biology of maize. Maize silks remain 'receptive' to pollen for many days after they emerge from the surrounding husks (Bassetti andWestgate, 1993, 1994b). This same field study with Pioneer 3790 indicates a negative ASI as great as -6 days would cause no loss in kernel production under favorable conditions (Fig. 3). Selecting for silk emergence prior to pollen shed (protogyny) would effectively shift ASI to negative values. A large negative ASI could be advantageous under drought because any delay in silk emergence would only improve the synchrony between maximum pollen shed and silk emergence and lead to more stable kernel production. This conclusion is supported by the results of Moser et al. (1997), who associated high kernel number per ear during drought in La Posta Sequía C 4 with an ASI of -2.5 days under well-watered conditions.Together, these results suggest further improvements in drought tolerance of maize may result from direct selection for protogyny under well-watered conditions. The results of Moser et al. (1997)  Under severe drought, newly formed zygotes abort within a few days of pollination (Westgate and Boyer, 1986). Several lines of evidence indicate reproductive abortion results from a lack of carbohydrate supply to the developing ear coupled with an inhibition of carbohydrate metabolism at low ovary water potential (Boyle et al., 1991;Schussler and Westgate, 1991;Zinselmeier et al., 1995a,c). Table 1 shows that drought during pollination can eliminate kernel development almost completely in plants grown in a controlled environment chamber.Shading well-watered plants to inhibit leaf photosynthetic rates to the same extent as occurred in these droughted plants (Fig. 5) decreased kernels per ear by nearly 70%.Similarly, infusing a solution containing sucrose into stems of growth-chamber plants can recover about 70% of the kernels lost to drought during pollination (Fig. 6).These studies underscore the importance of maintaining the supply of photosynthate to the developing ovaries during drought. This situation is very problematic because it has not been possible to improve drought tolerance in maize by selecting for decreased sensitivity of the photosynthetic machinery to low leaf water potentials. A possible alternative to selecting for higher photosynthetic rates during drought is to select for increased carbohydrate reserves in the plant prior to anthesis, Increasing the level of reserves might translate into greater kernel production during drought. We tested this possibility on two hybrids in the field by shading and spacing plants prior to and during anthesis (Schussler and Westgate, 1994)  (Edmeades, pers. comm.).Not all kernel abortion due to drought can be accounted for by a lack of concurrent photosynthate supply to the ear (Schussler and Westgate, 1991;Zinselmeier et al., 1995b). This discrepancy led us to examine whether some aspect of carbohydrate metabolism had been impaired in ovaries of droughty plants.   (Schussler andWestgate, 1991, 1994;Zinselmeier et al., 1995b). The most important consequence of this metabolic lesion is an inhibition of ovary growth. In all our studies examining why drought increases kernel abortion, final kernel number per ear is directly correlated with the inhibition of ovary growth regardless of genotype, potential kernel number per ear, culture conditions, or plant pre-treatment (Fig. 11). Whether accomplished artificially (Boyle et al., 1991;Zinselmeier et al., 1995a), culturally (Schussler and Westgate, 1994;Zinselmeier et al., 1995b), or genetically (Edmeades et al., 1993(Edmeades et al., , 1997))  ABA confers drought escape by altering the plant in such a way that less water is lost through transpiration and more water is obtained by the roots. Several processes are involved. First, we now know that the most important waterconserving response, stomatal closure, involves a complex series of events triggered by ABA (Ward et al., 1995). ABA initiates a signal cascade in guard cells that alters the membrane transport of several ions, and as a result guard cells lose their turgor and the stomatal pores close. Second, ABA provides improved water transport between plant parts by increasing the hydraulic conductance for water movement from roots to leaves (Ludewig et al. 1988, Zhang et al., 1995). Third, ABA alters the relative growth rates of for cell-wall plastic deformation and leaf elongation (Lecoeur et al., 1995).Such inhibition limits the formation of evaporative leaf surface, and hence, transpiration. Furthermore, by limiting the sink strength of leaves, inhibition of leaf growth facilitates a shift in assimilate partitioning in favor of root growth. ABA at high concentrations inhibits root growth via mechanisms similar to those described above for leaves. But at moderately elevated concentrations, ABA elicits growth promoting events in roots that serve to maintain or enhance root growth at much higher rates than what they would be without ABA intervention (Sharp et al., 1994). The overall effect, then, is to stimulate root growth, particularly deep rooting, that enhances water acquisition from drying soils.The second category of adaptation, drought tolerance, involves cellular  (Ober and Sharp, 1994;Bohnert et al., 1995;Orr et al., 1995).During soil drying, plant total water potential must decrease to provide the gradient necessary to sustain water transport from soil to root to shoot. By stimulating the accumulation of osmolytes, such as sugars and ions, ABA provides the means by which tissue water potential can decrease while positive turgor is maintained. Accumulation of certain osmolytes, notably, sucrose and other nonreducing sugars, proline, and glycine betaine, provide additional protective benefit in that they stabilize proteins, membranes and other components when water potentials decrease (Bray, 1993;Bohnert et al., 1995). ABA is also responsible for inducing the synthesis of a second category of protective substances: the LEA and related proteins (Bray, 1993;Chandler and Robertson, 1994). These protective proteins have enhanced water binding and ion-sequestering properties that allow them to interact with enzymes and other cell constituents in such a way that their critical functions are preserved during drought.Growing evidence indicates that osmoprotectant substances are highly effective and could be valuable traits for crop improvement. For example, by using molecular biology techniques to create transgenic plants that overexpress just one of these osmoprotectant substances, growth in water stress environments was substantially improved (Tarczynski et al., 1993;Xu et al., 1996). These results suggest that such methods might provide a powerful tool for genetic improvement of crops.However, a dilemma with using these nontraditional methods is that they are feasible for transfer of only a single or small number of genes, whereas the number of desirable drought-adaptive traits is very large.It should be noted that maize and other species already possess the capability for synthesis of these substances and for expressing the drought adaptive traits mentioned above in regard to drought escape.An alternative strategy, then, is to devise a selection scheme whereby the expression of many droughtadaptive traits are enhanced or optimized, or both simultaneously.Given that ABA is involved in stimulating the expression of most of these traits, selection for genotypes that accumulate ABA during drought is a plausible approach.In maize, studies indicate that there are genotypic differences in the accumulation of ABA in response to low water potential (Pekic and Quarrie, 1987;Ivanovic et al., 1992;Tuberosa et al., 1992;Conti et al., 1994;Tuberosa et al., 1994;Lebreton et al., 1995;Pekic et al., 1995). Pekic and Quarrie (1987) found a 3-fold range in leaf ABA concentrations for 10 maize inbreds in the field, while Tuberosa et al. (1992) and Conti et al. (1994) reported a 2-to 3-fold range in leaf ABA concentration among 11 early and 23 medium-maturing maize inbreds. Estmates of broad sense heritability (h 2 ) of leaf ABA accumulation, evaluated in water-144 TIM L. SETTER limited field conditions using a range of inbreds, has provided encouraging values of 21 to 78% (Conti et al., 1994;Ivanovic et al., 1992;Tuberosa et al., 1992). But each of these studies involved growth of plants at a single location and hence, in each of these studies the range of environments to which the genotypes were exposed was narrow, i.e., essentially including only replicate differences at one location. So these h 2 estimates may have been high because environment effects and genotype by environment interaction were correspondingly small. Ivanovic et al. (1992)  Two general approaches toward ABA assay are currently used: physicochemical and immunological (Hedden, 1993). Physicochemical methods involve chromatographic separation of ABA from other For the sandwich ABA assay described here, the coated reagent is a conjugate between ABA and a protein (ABA-protein); the protein serves to attach ABA to the plastic (Ober et al., 1991) Certain plant species contain substances that interfere with ABA immunoassay (Ryu et al., 1992). In red maple, my colleagues and I have found that interfering substances can be removed by suspending insoluble polyvinyl pyrilidone (PVPP) into extracts prior to centrifugation. This treatment removes phenolics and related compounds. But for maize leaves, satisfactory ABA immunoassay has been achieved by direct assay of extracts (Quarrie et al., 1988). To avoid interference, it is necessary to increase the stringency of the wash, and antibody/antigen interaction, by including detergent in all wash solutions (Ober et al, 1991).By including these precautions, 5 to 20 mL of maize leaf extracts, prepared as described above, can be directly assayed without drying.Despite some promising features of ABA assay as a breeding tool, investigators who have used ABA assays to characterize maize genotypes have encountered potential problems that may be a forewarning of weaknesses in the general approach. Studies have indicated that the method of imposing water stress affects the outcome (Pekic and Quarrie, 1987;Tuberosa et al., 1992). When plants were grown in the field, a consistent ranking of leaf ABA content was observed, but a test of ABA synthesis by detached leaves dehydrated to zero turgor did not reveal any genotypic differences. Furthermore, xylem ABA content had a higher correlation with drought adaptation traits, such as stomatal closure, than it did with the more easy-to-sample leaf ABA content (Lebreton et al., 1995;Tuberosa et al., 1994). These results suggest that an understanding of environmental and physiological factors that affect ABA content in a tissue may be needed to wisely employ an ABA selection scheme.As a phytohormone, ABA is a signal or mediator between sensing of a tissue's physiological state and response in that same plant part or some other distant plant part. Hence, in a breeding program, although we might wish to improve drought response, genetic control of ABA content primarily resides in the processes involved in sensing of water status and synthesis of ABA.ABA synthesis is not only stimulated by water deficit -other stresses such as chilling (Lee et al., 1995)   (Davies and Zhang, 1991;Davies et al., 1994). Such a drought response might be advantageous in environments that have short-term, mild water deficits.In this case, genotypes with root systems that substantially increase their ABA synthesis in response to slight decreases in soil water potential might close their stomates and increase their root:shoot ratio, thereby escaping more serious drought consequences. Indeed, studies of field-grown maize indicated that genotypic differences in stomatal conductance had substantially higher correlations with xylem ABA than with whole-leaf ABA concentration (Tuberosa et al., 1994;Lebreton et al., 1995).From the arguments presented above, one would conclude that a genetic selection program based on identification of genotypes with high xylem ABA concentrations at initial stages of soil dry-down might identify genotypes that will perform well in environments with mild, short-term drought. But there is a potential pitfall with this scheme. It is plausible that large, rapidly growing lines will have higher rates of transpiration and will deplete soil water more quickly than smaller plants with less transpiration. Studies have indicated that within an environment, transpiration is usually well correlated with rates of photosynthesis (Wong et al., 1985). If The above description of ABA assay as a selection trait was limited to situations where drought escape alone is desired. For situations where drought tolerance is needed to withstand more severe drought, additional issues need to be considered. Because ABA plays a role in stimulating both drought escape and drought tolerance traits, it is conceivable that selection for genotypes that accumulate very high levels of ABA would be a productive approach. However, ABA is also involved in eliciting developmental traits that alter plant ontogeny and partitioning of resources in ways that could decrease yield performance.For example, ABA inhibits growth of new leaves (Hoffmann-Benningard and Kende, 1992;Jacquard et al.,1995) and stimulates leaf senescence (Smart, 1994). Induction of senescence may be desirable if it is limited to lower leaves such that it decreases the evaporative surface area and, through remobilization, provides nitrogen to sustain kernel growth. But, if senescence is excessive, photosynthesis of uppercanopy leaves will decline and yield potential will decrease.  (Bolanos and Edmeades, 1993). Bassetti and Westgate (1994) have shown that one aspect of this is the timing of silk growth relative to ovule fertility. To the extent that such timing is controlled by genetically programmed partitioning of assimilate and rate of tissue growth, these aspects of reproductive development might also be a part of the genetic control of source/sink balance during drought. Although these processes can be adaptive, if they restore the balance between source and sink capacities when photosynthesis is decreased in response to stress, excessive downward adjustments are maladaptive and yield limiting.In wheat, studies indicated that increases in ABA can abort pollen development during pollen mother cell meiosis (Zeng et al., 1985). In maize, Cheikh and Jones (1994)  We have examined endosperm cell division that occurs after pollination.Because each endosperm cell has a limited capacity for growth and storage-material accumulation, the number of cells per endosperm limits the kernel growth capacity. At the initial stage after fertilization, endosperm cell division is extremely sensitive to water deficit. Aborted development at this stage decreases kernel set and is responsible for much of the yield loss attributable to water deficit (Zinselmeier et al., 1995). At later stages of endosperm development, water deficit decreases endosperm cell division, small shriveled kernels are produced. In our model system, the effect is largely localized to the apical regions of the ear, while kernels in the middle and basal regions are affected to a lesser extent (Ober et al., 1991).We have found that ABA accumulation is also localized to the kernels in the apical regions of ears (Ober et al., 1991). Studies with exogenously applied ABA have indicated that ABA is capable of inhibiting endosperm cell division (Myers et al., 1990). Although a substantial part of the loss in cell division is likely related to diminished supply of photosynthate (Zinselmeier et al., 1995), the above evidence indicates that the accumulation of ABA may have a regulatory role.The specificity of increase in ABA within apical regions is a puzzle that our ongoing research seeks to address; it also may point the way to possible uses of ABA assay in a genetic selection program. The ABA source in our drought treatments is the maternal plant parts, probably via the phloem (Ober and Setter, 1992). Since a common, interconnected phloem system serves apical and all other regions of the ear, we postulate that apical/basal differences in ABA accumulation may be due to differences in rate of ABA catabolism; whereas basal and middle-ear kernels may have high ABA catabolic activity, apical kernels may not have sufficient catabolic activity to prevent a rise in ABA level. A working model that summarizes our findings is shown in  (Lu et al., 1989;Blum and Sinmena, 1995). A problem with using kernel ABA assay for selection decisions is that decisions are made regarding which lines to pollinate before assay results are available. Of greater value would be an ability to evaluate ABA catabolism in relevant reproductive tissue at an earlier developmental stage so that assay results could guide decisions as to which lines should be crossed and/or carried forward in a breeding program.  . Postulated events during a drought episode that lead to selective abortion or down regulation of kernel growth in apical regions of maize. As soil water is depleted, root water potential (Y) decreases and root-produced abscisic acid (ABA) increases; leaf ABA synthesis also increases and photosynthesis decreases; leaf phloem export of ABA increases and photosynthate decreases. Middle kernels are postulated to have a high rate of ABA catabolism so that steady-state ABA levels in middle-kernel endosperms are kept low; apical kernels are postulated to have a low rate of ABA catabolism, so ABA accumulates to levels that inhibit kernel growth and development.  The  Radiation use efficiency (RUE) Crop growth is approximately linearly related to absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (PAR a ) (Monteith, 1977;Biscoe and Gallagher, 1977) under conditions of non-limiting moisture and nutrient supply and in the absence of pests and diseases. This results in an almost constant RUE (Waggoner and Berger, 1987). Daily growth rate can be described byIn our experiments, RUE remained stable during a substantial part of the season before declining (Table 1 The relationship between leaf N content (N L ; kg ha -1 ground surface area) and RUE was relatively consistent for Exps. 5620, 5621, and 5622 in Poza Rica (data not shown).The relationship between N L and RUE for the Poza Rica environments can be described by:  ).Maximum RUE in Tlaltizapan was less however, at about 2 g MJ -1 , a value slightly lower than the 2.4 g MJ -1 reported at that same location by Bolaños and Edmeades (1993a).Modeling biomass accumulation in tropical maize can be based on the constant utilization of intercepted radiation at least until anthesis, or 3 to 4 weeks later, depending on the growing conditions. After that point, a reduced value should be used. This requires, however, that light interception and, therefore, leaf area development are estimated This is difficult to do accurately, especially under growth-limiting conditions. Since RUE is related to N L levels, soil nitrogen processes and N uptake and distribution within the plant should be described and estimated as well.Inadequate soil characterization may result in under-or over-estimation of leaf nitrogen content.NUE is defined here as kg aboveground dry matter per kg leaf N. This definition is preferred over one based on total N recovered by the plant, or one based simply on the amount of applied N. The latter approach introduces soil-related variation in N supply, including the effects of applied fertilizer N, soil N naturally available, denitrification, N uptake, and N allocation within the plant, and does not lead to accurate quantification of the relevant processes. In a similar way to the radiation use efficiency model, daily growth can be described by:NUE usually decreases over time.Average NUEs during the period of stable early-season RUE are presented in Table 3. NUE is highest at lowest levels of N availability, as demonstrated by differences among Exps. 5620, 5621, and 5622.When modeling the growth of tropical maize on the basis of leaf N utilization, one can assume either a continuously decreasing crop NUE or a constant NUE up to anthesis followed by a decreasing NUE. The choice will depend on the sort of  Complex photosynthesis models are, for example, described in Goudriaan and van Laar (1994). Net leaf photosynthesis can be described by an asymptotic exponential, i.e., the photosynthesis light response curve is Growth of the five genotypes under the three growing conditions at Poza Rica was simulated in two ways, viz. estimates were less than 10 t ha -1 . In general, at higher production levels both approaches caused limited overand under-estimates, but on the whole their simulation results were acceptably accurate.Preliminary phenology modules for tropical maize have been developed, and are linked directly to leaf number, implying a constant amount of thermal time per additional leaf formed (e.g., Kiniry, 1991). They   (Tollenaar et al., 1979;Warrington and Kanemasu, 1983;Picard et al., 1985;Hesketh and Warrington, 1989;Zur et al., 1989). Simulation of preanthesis growth and development must be followed by simulation of grain growth to obtain grain yield estimates. Growth limitations have serious consequences for the number of kernels per plant and therefore for grain yield. Consequently, a fairly detailed approach is required. Grain set and subsequent grain growth are the two main processes considered here.Kernel number per plant (KPP) appears to be related to plant growth rate around anthesis and silking, based on experiments using differing plant densities. Edmeades and Daynard (1979)  and KPP with a hyperbola. At rates higher than about 6.5 g CH 2 O plant -1 d -1 , a second ear forms in semiprolific genotypes, and KPP is described by a second hyperbola (Fig. 3, Tollenaar et al., 1992). Tollenaar et al. developed the following equations that describe the relationship when two ears develop:for the first ear:for the second ear: --------------and the variables are defined as: y: number of kernels per plant y 0 : number of kernels per plant at zero plant growth (usually 0) y r: kernels per plant at a plant growth rate of 6 g d -1 y int : kernels per plant when a second ear begins forming x: plant growth rate (g CH 2 O plant -1 d -1 )x 0 : highest plant growth rate at which y is 0 (g CH 2 O plant -1 d -1 ) x int : plant growth rate at which kernels begin forming on a second ear (g CH 2 O plant Kernels per plant can also be related to ASI. Bolaños and Edmeades (1993b) found an exponential relationship between ASI and KPP that was based on data collected under both well-watered and water deficit conditions (see Fig. 4):KPP = e 7.08 -0.82(ASI+1.1) 0.5 (6)Fractional reductions in KPP can be computed for given changes in ASI.The maximum KPP at simultaneous male and female flowering is 503, suggesting that this model describes KPP for genotypes with only one ear per plant. For this equation, the strongest KPP response is at low ASI values, which normally coincide with high ear growth rates. In the two-ear per plant model (Tollenaar et al., 1992), the KPP response to growth rate is strongest at low growth rates. under normal and 7.53 mg d -1 under low nitrogen conditions). Maximum grain weight averaged 0.192 g at low N and 0.269 g at high N availability.The consequences of variation in ASI were simulated for three levels of N availability at Poza Rica for PR 8330 and hybrid CML254 x CML247. The hybrid gave the highest simulated grain yield, 9 t ha -1 , at the high soil N level (Fig. 5). At low N availability, its simulated grain yield was 3.5 t ha -1 .Grain yield of PR 8330 varied between 2 and 4 t ha -1 over a range of  For the other production levels, grain yield decreased more gradually with increases in ASI. In these simulation studies green leaf area was kept constant. Under field conditions green leaf area is less in lower production environments, suggesting that reductions in grain yield will be larger than those in the simulations.Most conditions that cause an increase in ASI will also cause a reduction in green leaf area and duration, with consequent yield reductions.This simple model shows some instability. An ASI of 1 d can result in a greater simulated grain yield than simultaneous male and female flowering. This is because this small increase in ASI leads to a greater time interval when growth rate is related to KPP. Resulting variation in growth rate causes the variation in KPP.• The use of complex photosynthesis models are most appropriate for studies that require detailed canopy description. However, the use of a RUE coefficient linked to leaf N content per ground surface area appears sufficient for more general purposes. In either case, it is critical to accurately simulate N uptake from the soil.• Grain set and growth can be related to plant growth around flowering, but available equations that relate plant growth rate (radiation growth limiting) and the length of the anthesis-silking interval (moisture growth limiting) to kernel number per plant do not lead to satisfactory results in all cases. The equations need further refinement, especially for simulations at lower production levels, and this will require better quantification of underlying processes.Biscoe, P.V., and J. N. Gallagher. 1977  use efficient varieties (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993). Many studies have focused on either water or N deficits but ignored the complex interactions between these factors. Dry soil conditions severely reduce the supply of mobile ions to roots and impede transformation of soil nutrients to plant-available forms.Nitrogen fertilizer applied under drought stress seems to have a positive effect on maize yield (e.g., Eck, 1984). In the present study, the combined effects of N and preanthesis drought on dry matter (DM)-related traits (preanthesis DM accumulation, grain yield, harvest index), ASI, and leaf rolling were investigated.The field study was conducted at the National Corn and Sorghum Research Center, Suwan Farm, Thailand (latitude 14.5 °N; altitude 360 masl). The climate is semi-arid, the soil is a dark reddish brown An estimated 50% of tropical lowland maize grown in Southeast Asia is reported to suffer substantial grain yield reduction because of drought stress and low soil fertility. Field trials were conducted in the tropical lowlands of Thailand during the dry season to determine the extent to which water stress and nitrogen limit maize growth and yield. Water stress was established during the vegetative period in combination with three nitrogen fertilization levels.Two hybrids (KTX2602, DK888) and two OPVs (Suwan1, La Posta Sequía) were grown; DK888 and La Posta Sequia were assumed to be relatively drought tolerant. Morpho-physiological traits (including leaf rolling and anthesis-silking interval) were evaluated and biomass accumulation was observed during the vegetative period and at maturity. Shoot and grain were analyzed for nitrogen and mineral element concentrations. Soil water content was measured using time domain reflectrometry (TDR) and tensiometers. content (Feil et al., 1993). Both The first results of the 1994-95 experiment are shown in Figures 1, 2  (1983) or Neidhart (1994), the relative difference in DM accumulation between well-watered and water-  stressed treatments increased at advanced stages of growth. At maturity, total above-ground DM in droughted conditions was reduced by 54.5% compared to well-watered conditions. Averaged across the rates of N application and cultivars, water stress reduced grain yield by 30% (Fig. 2). Under both treatments, DK888 performed much better (+32%) than the other three varieties.The percentage reduction in grain yield of the two hybrids (KTX2602 and DK888) under drought was significantly higher than that of Suwan 1 and La Posta Sequía. Water stress did not affect the ranking of the varieties. Analysis of variance did not show significant varietal differences in the response to water supply. The three-way interaction between water supply, N level and variety was non-significant for yield (P=0.20). The decrease in grain yield from water stress was clearly lower than that for total DM at maturity. This indicates that maize can compensate for early stress to a certain extent during the grain filling period. This is not surprising because it has been reported that most assimilates contributing to grain yield are formed after silking (Simmons and Jones, 1985). Consequently, an increase in harvest index from 0.44 under well-watered conditions to 0.54 under reduced water supply was found (values are means over all varieties and rates of N application; data not shown). Thus the adverse effect of drought on biomass accumulation during vegetative growth stages can be partly compensated for by an increased HI.The HI found under drought is surprisingly high for tropical germplasm (Feil et al., 1992).Experiments with drought at or after flowering, however, usually result in a stable or decreasing harvest index (Sinclair et al., 1990;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993).The effects of variety, water, and N supply on the anthesis-silking interval (ASI) are shown in Figure 3.ASI is considered to be an indicator of drought tolerance (Fischer et. al., 1989;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993) and is, therefore, used as selection criterion in breeding programs. In experiments reported by these authors the drought period was usually initiated just before or at the beginning of tasseling, and resulted in an ASI of up to 18 d or more. In contrast, in the present study, the drought stress ended at the beginning of flowering. As a result, when averaged across the rates of N application and varieties, variation in ASI was limited (0 to 5 d).Data for KTX2602 show that, under well-watered conditions, low N supply caused ASI to increase by more than 2 d, indicating that ASI responses of maize to N and water deficiency are similar (Fig. 3A).Under drought, however, ASI was shorter under low N supply than under high N supply (Fig. 3B). The interaction between variety, water supply, and N level was significant at P=0.05. There were significant differences in ASI among cultivars. The CIMMYT variety La Posta Sequía C 4 had a negative ASI when wellwatered, while ASI was about zero under drought. This may have contributed to its significant advantage in yield behavior over the hybrid KTX2602.    Maize is one of the three most important cereals of the world, and is consumed as food by millions of people especially in developing countries. Per capita consumption of maize in some countries exceeds 100 kg per year (Paterniani, 1990;Pandey and Gardner, 1995), and the crop is probably the most widely distributed of any in the world.Maize is often grown in environments with between 250 and 1000 cm rainfall, and in the tropics about 95% of the maize area suffers from erratic rainfall distribution (Hallauer and Miranda, 1988;Edmeades et al., 1989) Selected biochemical traits were evaluated in various sections of developing leaves of a drought susceptible population, Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 , and of a drought-tolerant selection from the same population, Tuxpeño Sequía C 8 . Both populations were grown in the greenhouse under full sunlight and well-watered conditions. Photosynthetic and transpiration rates, a and b chlorophyll content, total protein, dry matter and specific weight were measured in five 2 cm sections along the second leaf when it was 10 cm long. Chloroplasts from mesophyll cells were also isolated from each section and photochemical activities were measured. Finally, ultrastructure organization of the chloroplasts in leaf tissue was observed by electron microscopy. Tuxpeño Sequía C 8 had a higher photosynthetic rate (30%), accumulated more dry matter per leaf segment (5%), and had a higher specific leaf weight (10.5%) than C 0 . Although total protein and chlorophyll a contents were similar in both populations, C 8 had 19% less chlorophyll b. With respect to photochemical activities of isolated chloroplasts, values for proton pumping, photophosphorylation and basal phosphorylating and uncoupled electron transport rates were 60 to 80% lower in C 8 than in C 0 . Electron microscopy showed that chloroplasts of both bundle sheath and mesophyll cells differed somewhat morphologically between the populations.164 C.B. PEÑA-VALDIVIA, J.C. RAYA P., H. PERALES R., B. LOTINA H., AND R. MERCHANT full-sib recurrent selection under drought were carried out in the maize population Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños andEdmeades, 1993a, 1993b;Bolaños et al., 1993).Agronomic, physiological and morphological differences between Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 and C 8 have been evaluated under well-watered and drought conditions (Bolaños andEdmeades, 1993a, 1993b;Bolaños et al., 1993). These studies show an increase in grain yield due to a higher harvest index in both wet and dry environments, thus indicating that drought improvement may be due to improved partitioning of biomass toward the female inflorescence at flowering. The characterization of drought-tolerant cultivars under favorable environments could also be important, since it has been suggested that some drought tolerant genotypes may not have the capacity to exploit good environments (Edmeades et al., 1987). Two versions of the same maize population, Tuxpeño Sequía, were used for this study: C 0 , considered to be drought sensitive, and C 8 , known to be tolerant to drought that coincides with flowering and grain filling (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a). Seeds were soaked in water Twice each week both cultivars were watered to field capacity.The second fully expanded leaf with an exposed ligule was used for this study, normally when it reached 10 cm in length. The leaves were cut into 2 cm-long segments, and all evaluations were carried out on these. Net photosynthesis and transpiration rate were measured in intact leaf segments immediately after they were harvested, so each leaf segment belonged to a different plant. A portable infrared gas analyzer system (ADC, LCA-2; Analytical Development Co.) was utilized in the open system mode of operation. The measures were taken under full sunlight outside the greenhouse. Light-dependent proton uptake (proton pump activity), lightdependent ATP formation (photophosphorylation) and wholechain electron transport rates (including basal, phosphorylating and uncoupled rates) were measured in isolated chloroplasts as described previously (Peña-Valdivia et al., 1994;Peña-Valdivia and Torres V., 1995).Total, a and b chlorophyll content of the tissue and isolated chloroplasts were quantified according to the method described by Arnon (1949).Nitrogen content was determined by the micro-Kjeldahl method, and crude protein was calculated as N x 6.26 (Bateman, 1970).Samples for electron microscopy were obtained as described previously by Crespo et al. (1979).The experimental design was an RCBD. Treatments were arranged as a factorial in four replications, the factors being cultivars and leaf sections. All assays were replicated four times within an experimental unit consisting of 20-25 plants.Analysis of variance and Tukey's HSD test were determined using the SAS computer package (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC).Net photosynthesis increased lengthwise along the second leaf in both cultivars. A maximum rate was obtained in the lamina segments most distant from the leaf base (Table 1).The negative values in the region nearest the ligule, observed in both cultivars, indicate that the respiratory rate was slightly higher than the photosynthetic rate in this region. Leaves of C 8 were 30% more active than those of C 0 . In contrast, transpiration rate increased from leaf base to tip only in C 0 (Table 1). In C 8 the highest transpiration rate was recorded for the central lamina sections, situated between 4 and 8 cm from the ligule. The highest transpiration rate attained by C 8 was 36.2% lower than the highest recorded for C 0 (22.5 vs. 30.6 µmol m -2 s -1 ).In both cultivars a gradient of increasing chlorophyll content was observed from the base to the tip of the leaf, with chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll concentration being 17 and 26 times higher in the leaf tip than in the section nearest the ligule (Table 2) indicates that basal tissue had a higher water content (Table 3). Total foliar dry weight of C 0 was only slightly higher (4%) than that of C 8 , though this difference was statistically significant (Table 3). In contrast, specific leaf weight, on a fresh weight basis, of C 8 laminae was 10.5% greater than C 0 , indicating that the blade of the latter was thinner.Variation for both dry weight and specific leaf weight along the lamina was dependent on the cultivar, and the cultivar x section interaction for these traits was significant (Table 3).Contrasting with these two parameters, differences in total crude protein concentration were nonsignificant between cultivars and Table 1. Photosynthetic and transpiration rates of leaf lamina sections from along the length of the second leaf of drought susceptible (C 0 ) and tolerant (C 8 ) Tuxpeño maize populations. Data were collected under well-watered conditions.Photosynthesis Transpiration to ligule Large differences in photosynthetic activities of the isolated chloroplasts were observed (Tables 4 and 5). The differences were dependent on both the position along the leaf and on the cultivar, and the cultivar x section interaction for this trait was significant. In general, relative activities were lower in the distal regions of C 0 leaves for lightdependent proton uptake (proton pump activity) and whole-chain electron transport rates (including basal, phosphorylating and uncoupled rates). In contrast, rates for these activities in C 8 leaves were uniform across leaf segments. For light-dependent ATP formation (photophosphorylation), the relative activity tended to be lower in the distal segments of C 8 leaves, whereas C 0 leaves had similar rates in all regions, although the cultivar x section interaction effect was not significant in this case. Differences between the two cultivars were highly significant for the five photochemical activities. Proton pump activity in C 0 was 45% higher than for C 8 . The differences were much larger for the other photochemical activities; i.e.photophosphorylation and the three electron transport rates were two or more times larger in C 0 than in C 8 .The ultrastructures of chloroplasts at different points along the lamina Different letters indicate statistically significant differences for multiple comparisons within a parameter for both cultivars and the five leaf sections.Table 5. Whole-chain electron transport rates (including basal, phosphorylating and uncoupled rates) in isolated chloroplasts of leaf sections from along the length of the second leaf of drought susceptible (C 0 ) and tolerant (C 8 ) Tuxpeño maize populations. Data were collected under well-watered conditions. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences for multiple comparisons within a parameter for both cultivars and the five leaf sections.Table 4. Light-dependent proton uptake (proton pump activity) and light-dependent ATP formation (photophosphorylation) in isolated chloroplasts of leaf sections from along the length of the second leaf of drought susceptible (C 0 ) and tolerant (C 8 ) Tuxpeño maize populations. Data were collected under well-watered conditions.  Changes in yield and its components resulting from eight cycles of recurrent selection for droughttolerance in the Tuxpeño Sequía population have been previouslyreported (Bolaños andEdmeades, 1993a, 1993b;Bolaños et al., 1993).The present work shows that characteristics of gas exchange processes have also been modified, and that these differences can be detected at an early phenological stage. The fact that net photosynthesis of C 8 was 30% greater than that of C 0 (Table 1) may have Stomatal aperture is controlled by a complex mechanism which operates to maintain a variable balance between CO 2 uptake and water vapor loss (Schulze and Hall, 1982). Thus, these differences in net photosynthetic and transpiration rates between C 0 and C 8 suggest that eight cycles of full-sib recurrent selection have improved stomatal function and perhaps water use efficiency. The higher photosynthetic rate accompanied with the lower transpiration rate could explain, at least partially, the higher grain yield of C 8 under water-stressed conditions (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a), provided these differences are maintained under water deficit.The large increases in total a and b chlorophyll content per unit of fresh weight from the ligule to leaf tip in both cultivars (Table 2) show the progressive development of the photosynthetic apparatus along the blade's length. This contrasts with photosynthetic rates which attained maximum values between 6 and 8 cm from the ligule (Table 1).Photosynthetic and transpiration rate differences described above may be  1 and 3).The differences observed in photosynthetic activities of isolated carbohydrates (Daie, 1988). Further, the observation of peripheral reticulum exhibited in cells of C 0 but not in C 8 suggests additional differences in chloroplast activity (Laetsch, 1974).In conclusion, this work demonstrates that eight cycles of recurrent selection for drought tolerance in a Tuxpeño maize population have resulted in changes in several biochemical, biophysical, and physiological traits.Additionally, it was shown that evaluation at early phenologic stages is effective at exposing these differences, while observations made at later stages may be less effective and less useful in the process of selecting parental genotypes for crossing. Similarly, leaf lamina sections that contrast in age should be utilized to ensure that differences are detected, since some of these may not be observed in mature tissue of the type often used in studies of this kind.La importancia de la obtención de materiales tolerantes a la sequía es evidente, ya que a nivel mundial el principal factor limitativo para el aumento de las cosechas es precisamente el déficit hídrico en México, además de la presencia de zonas áridas y semiáridas en gran parte del país la incidencia de la sequía intraestival merma considerablemente los rendimientos; aproximadamente 930,000 ha de riego y siete millones de ha de temporal se siembran con maíz y la irregularidad de las lluvias ocasiona que los rendimientos promedio fluctúen entre 200 kg/ha y 8 t/ha (González et al., 1994).El uso de cultivares tolerantes a la sequía es una alternativa viable ante el problema de disponibilidad de agua; aunque, no es fácil la selección de materiales que se desarrollen y produzcan buenos rendimientos en condiciones adversas, ya que cuando se ha logrado la tolerancia a la sequía la producción disminuye considerablemente cuando el temporal es adecuado (Blum, 1989).Actualmente, el rendimiento de la semilla es el principal criterio de selección; sin embargo, está influenciado por multitud de procesos fisiológicos, bioquímicos y metabólicos y en condiciones hostiles su grado de hereditabilidad disminuye (Blum, 1989;Bolaños et al., 1993) Se utilizaron dos ciclos de selección de la población de maíz, TuxpeñoSequía, el denominado Ciclo Original (C 0 ) que es sensible a la sequía, y uno derivado de éste, que es resistente a la sequía (C 8 ). Este último fue obtenido en el CIMMYT después de ocho ciclos de selección recurrente (Bolaños y Edmeades, 1993a, b;Bolaños et al., 1993).El (máxima intensidad luminosa de un día del mes de mayo, sin nubosidad @ 2 000 mmoles de fotones m -2 s -1 ).Las plantas se desarrollaron en bolsas de plástico (negro), de 50 cm de altura y 10 cm de diámetro, con 3 kg de una mezcla de suelo para invernadero (dos partes de tierra de monte y una de arena de río). Se  (1988). La extracción de proteína foliar soluble, su separación por cromatografía en geles de poliacrilamida y su análisis densitométrico se realizó de acuerdo con lo descrito por Velasco (1994).Transporte Previamente, se ha demostrado que el estrés hídrico en maíz (Sánchez et al., 1983), frijol (Peña-Valdivia, 1994) y trigo (Gummuluru et al., 1989)  La diferencia significativa honesta (DSH) entre tratamientos para peso húmedo y peso seco de raíz y vástago, del C 0 y del C 8 fue: 10.7 y 12.6; 1.4 y 1.23; 6.7 y 6.6 y 0.76 y 0.66, respectivamente. Letras diferentes dentro de columnas indican diferencias estadísticamente significativas con una α = 0.05. (Peña-Valdivia, 1994;Peña-Valdivia et al., 1994). Esto último coincide con los resultados del presente trabajo.Los resultados de las concentraciones de los pigmentos en los dos cultivares Un efecto evidente de la sequía sobre las plantas es la caída de la acumulación de la materia seca, reduciéndose concomitantemente su altura y su desarrollo general; además, el peso fresco también se modifica, aunque no siempre en proporciones equivalentes.El uso del peso seco como característica para seleccionar cultivares tolerantes a algún tipo de estrés ha sido documentado (Peña-Valdivia et al., 1994). Aquí, se demostró la superioridad del C 8 para acumular más peso, tanto húmedo como seco, en la planta completa,   Transplanting shock appeared to stimulate root initiation at an earlier growth stage in Chinsan, since the root number of transplanted Chinsan was 90% higher than the directseeded equivalent at the five leaf stage (Fig. 1). Chinsan is a singlecross hybrid tolerant to drought. For Kundan-1, a single-cross sensitive to drought, an increased rate of root initiation did not take place until the 10 leaf stage. Root initiation appeared to be unaffected by transplanting in the tropical OPV Suwan 8363.At the five-leaf stage, root biomass was less for the transplanting treatment than for direct seeding in all three genotypes (Fig. 2). This reduced growth was likely due toChen Zong-Long and Zhang He-Ming, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650205, Yunnan Province, P.R. ChinaA field experiment was conducted in 1993 involving three maize genotypes -a drought-sensitive hybrid, a droughttolerant hybrid and an open-pollinated variety (OPV). Results show that the response of the maize plant to transplanting shock depended on its genetic background. Compared with direct-seeding, root initiation in the two transplanted hybrids was stimulated by the shock. For the hybrid tolerant to drought, the root initiation stimulus started earlier than for the drought-sensitive hybrid, but in the OPV root initiation seemed to be generally depressed.Prior to the 5-leaf stage the root dry weights of the three genotypes following transplanting were all lower than expected. The stimulus for increased rooting took place from the 6-leaf stage through to the silking stage.In the hybrid sensitive to drought this stimulus came much later than for the other two genotypes.   , 1846;López, 1973;De Gortari, 1980;Peña, 1981), a crop which was as important then as a staple food as it is in modern Mexico.Traditionally used to good effect with vegetables, flowers, rice, etc., transplanting has more recently been tried with maize in various parts of the world; e.g., Vietnam (Houg and Quoc, 1988) and China (Jingxiong, 1990). Since 1981, a group of Mexican The maize variety H-30, a hybrid recommended for highland regions of Central Mexico, was used throughout the present study to minimize the sources of variation.Seed from H-30 was sown using three different procedures:1. Seed sown in sterile soil with seedlings transplanted to the field 15 to 20 d after emergence.2. Seed sown directly in a wet field (DSW). Rainfall data were taken each year for Chapingo (1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992) and Montecillo (1993)(1994)(1995), with particular attention to the April-October period when plants were in the field.The transplanted treatments reached flowering in 67 d, compared with 88 d for the DSW and 109 d for the DSD (Table 1). Similarly, transplanted maize required only 134 d to produce mature grain, compared with 151 d for DSW and 180 d for DSD.The grain and cob yield of transplanted plants was substantially more than that of plants from DSW and DSD (Table 2). The differenceswere not as large for other aboveground plant material, and there were significant differences only between transplanted plants (6.85 t/ha) and those from the DSD treatment (3.95 t/ha).This was determined once anthesis commenced. Data were not taken in all years, and differences among the treatments were not significant (Table 3).      Lowland tropical maize environments are often characterized by unreliable rainfall distribution at planting time.Triazoles are plant growth regulators which moderate the effects of drought and high temperatures. We evaluated the triazole 'Paclobutrazol' as a seed primer on two maize cultivars in 1994 and on five maize cultivars in 1995 in field trials conducted at Tlaltizapán, Morelos and at Cocula, Guerrero, and in greenhouse studies at the University of Guelph. In 1994, seeds of hybrids 'P 3288' and 'NK TB 8101' were primed with Paclobutrazol 50 alone and in combination with Ancymidol 25 and grown under severe and moderate drought stress in the dry winter season.Compared with the non-primed check at Tlaltizapán, the triazole treatments delayed seedling emergence by 2.4-3.2 days, reduced plant height by 4%, delayed anthesis by 1.4-2.0 days and reduced grain yield by 11-17% across both drought treatments. At Cocula results were similar, though yield differences were non-significant due to a high coefficient of variation. In 1995, five cultivars ('CML8 x CML9', 'CML19 x CML27', 'La Posta Sequía C 3 ', 'SIWA' and 'SIBA')  These There were very few significant effects from seed treatment in the Tlaltizapán field trials. Based on results obtained from four field experiments conducted in Mexico under harsh conditions of   We thank field staff from CIMMYT and CSAEG for their assistance in managing the field trials and in recording data.Most studies examining genotypic variation in transpiration efficiency (TE, biomass production per unit water consumption) have been conducted with C 3 species and genotypic variation in TE has usually been found. Results on the adaptive value of a higher TE under drought, however, are contradictory.Transpiration efficiency was often found to be negatively correlated with grain yield under drought (Ehdaie et al., 1991;Acevedo, 1993).  and Troughton, 1971). Thus, the value of a higher TE under drought might be offset by a lower water uptake. species is relatively more affected by stomatal closure than by water vapor transfer (Cowan and Troughton, 1971;Sinclair et al., 1975;Garrity et al., 1982). Thus C 4 genotypes with a higher water uptake should exhibit a higher TE and very likely a higher grain yield. This hypothesis was examined in the present study.Genotypic variation in TE in a lowland tropical maize population was examined, and TE was related to water uptake and field performance.Fifteen S 1 lines from the lowland tropical maize population 'DTP1' were used. This population was formed from a diverse array of source materials which have demonstrated some degree of drought tolerance (Bänziger et al., 1995).Six plants per S 1 line were grown on stored soil water in 2 m-high, 30 cmdiameter pots sealed at the top with plastic foil to prevent evaporation and entry of rain. Genotypic variation in TE Genotypic differences in TE were significant at P < 0.01 (Fig. 1). Values of TE ranged from 6.8 to 12.7 g kg -1 , which indicates considerable variation in tropical maize for this trait.In the pot experiment, transpiration efficiency increased with decreasing water uptake of genotypes (Fig. 2).These results were confirmed by field experiments (Table 1). In two of the three experiments, the S 1 lines with higher TE showed more severe leaf rolling and smaller osmotic adjustment, indicating that they were experiencing more severe drought stress.Lines with higher TE were taller, produced more biomass, and yielded more than lines with low TE in some field experiments (Table 1). However, some of the correlations between field and pot performance were significant at only P < 0.10, and were not consistent over experiments.Seedling survival under drought stress was not correlated with TE. The crop is planted in early March at 25,000 plants ha -1 , up to 20 cm deep in soil which has usually received no rainfall since the previous December or January (Fig. 1). Approximately 15,000 plants ha -1 remain alive when the rains commence in late June. 1. The maíz de humedad system is capable of producing three times more grain yield than the conventional system because the deep rooting system of humidity maize absorbs just enough water to maintain a small amount of transpiring leaf area during long dry periods prior to flowering.2. Expanded leaves had higher turgor potentials than expanding leaves, due to a combination of lower leaf water potential and higher osmotic potential.3. Root osmotic potential decreased in root tips growing under the water stress, the net result being that full root turgor potential was maintained even at root water potential differences between irrigated and water stressed plants of 1.0 MPa. 4. We expected the most important genotypic differences in this study to relate to the putative ability of maíz de humedad maize to grow and survive longer than a typical Corn Belt hybrid under water stress. Although some statistical differences between genotypes were observed in leaf turgor potential (y p ) at high levels of water stress, such differences in y p were never larger than 0.3 MPa. In addition, more osmotic content per cm 2 of leaf was measured in maíz de humedad maize than in the hybrid. No conclusive adaptive advantages can be attributed to the small differences measured.STRESS PHYSIOLOGY AND IDENTIFICATION OF SECONDARY TRAITS However at final harvest, grain yields under the maíz de humedad system are two or three times higher than under the conventional system, in which maize is planted in early July at 8 to 10 cm depth and densities of 35,000 plants ha -1 (Osuna, 1981). water deficits (Hsiao et al., 1976;Turner and Jones, 1980). Osmotic adjustment is generally in the range of -0.5 to -1.5 Mpa. Full turgor maintenance can be achieved via osmotic adjustment (Turner and Jones, 1980), and stomatal opening occurs at lower water potential in osmotically adjusted versus well watered plants grown under water stress (Jones, 1980;Turner and Jones, 1980). In contrast, Wenkert (1981) working in maize, and Wilson and Ludlow (1983)  The growth of roots in drying soils is important if the rate of water uptake is to be maintained. Although most reports on shoot-root growth under dry conditions suggest that the ratio is maintained, increased root growth in maize under stress has also been reported (Hsiao et al., 1976;Sharp and Davies, 1979). Passioura (1983) has proposed that coordination of the  (Jordan and Miller, 1980) predict that in order to maintain a high water status plants must increase their root length density more than their shoot growth, and osmotic adjustment may well allow the maintenance of root growth.Sharp and Davies (1979)  The Although the reliability of leaf sap osmotic potential estimates may have been reduced because of dilution by apoplastic water, it was not considered practical to quantify or correct for this dilution factor, which is thought to be about 15% in non-stressed plants (Wenkert, 1981). Root water potential (RWP)The equilibration method described by Slavik (1974) was used for estimations of RWP. With this procedure a series of solutions of known osmotic potential were prepared using PEG 6000 polyethylene glycol. The solutions were prepared using the following equation (Michel, 1983) which Three Because no significant interactions among measured factors occurred for ψ, its components will be presented separately (Fig. 2). In all cases, irrespective of time of day or leaf position, maíz de humedad maize had higher values of y than XL72AA.Highly significant differences (P<0.05) among irrigation means were detected in ψ for water stressedand irrigated plants (-0.5 MPa) (Fig. 2a). Expanded leaves had higher (0.1 or 0.2 MPa less negative) ψ values than expanding leaves, irrespective of genotype or irrigation regime (Fig. 3a).Leaf osmotic potential (ψ s ) Expanding leaves had larger ψ s values than expanded leaves (Fig. 3b).Leaf turgor potential (ψ p )The differences in ψ p between genotypes ranged between zero and 0.3 MPa for irrigated and water stressed plants respectively (Fig. 3c).Larger (i.e., more positive) ψ p values were observed in maíz de humedad maize than in XL72AA. Some negative ψ p values were recorded, apparently because dilution effects by apoplastic water on the squeezed cell sap led to an overestimation of ψ p .Under water stress ψ p values were at their lowest, but during the recovery period similar ψ p values to those of irrigated plants were observed (Fig. 2c). Expanded leaves had larger ψ p values than expanding leaves on the same plant, irrespective of genotype, irrigation regime or time of day (Fig. 3c).In the irrigated boxes at field capacity (SWC approx. 19%; SWP = -0.3 MPa), RWP values at the top and bottom were practically the same (Table 1).At 75 DAP in the water stressed boxes (SWC 7%, SWP -4.0 MPa), no differences were detected between RWP values of root tips grown at the top versus the bottom of the boxes.However, RWP differences of -1.0 MPa were measured between irrigated and water stressed plants.     Portas and Taylor (1976).The most important genotypic difference sought in this study was evidence of the ability of maíz de humedad maize to grow and survive longer than XL72AA under stress.Although some statistical differences in y p under water stress (as a result of higher ψ and lower ψ s ) were measured in the experiment (when high levels of water stress were reached), genotypic differences in ψ p were never larger than 0.3 MPa. Bolaños and Edmeades (1991) reported a range in leaf osmotic concentration of only 0.4 MPa in a wide array of tropical maize genotypes growing under water stress. Larger genotypic differences in osmotic adjustment have been recently reported in maize, and have been correlated with field performance (Chimenti et al., 1997).In the present study no substantial genotypic differences in growth and other visual signals of water stress were observed. Some doubt therefore exists concerning the adaptive advantages of the small genotypic differences observed in osmotic adjustment and turgor maintenance.Similar conclusions were drawn by Wilson and Ludlow (1983) when they compared the adaptation of several grasses to water deficits.In conclusion, the capacity of maíz de humedad maize to provide superior production under these very dry conditions probably reflects its ability to germinate and establish from depths as great as 20 cm and its comparative lateness, which ensures that elongation does not begin till the rains arrive and the sensitive flowering period does not occur until the probability of water deficits is low. The relatively small differences in plant water relations observed in this study should certainly increase the ability of maíz de humedad maize to survive, recover from stress, and grow more roots under stress, but they are unlikely to be the main reasons for its superior adaptation to this extreme environment.Breeding improved genotypes for drought-prone environments by selecting for grain yield is difficult because of year-to-year variability in the amount and temporal distribution of available soil moisture. Plant physiologists believe better adapted genotypes could be bred more efficiently if attributes that confer yield maintenance under water limited conditions could be identified and used as selection criteria (Ludlow and Muchow, 1990).Osmotic adjustment results from the accumulation of solutes within the cell which lower osmotic potential and maintain turgor during periods of water stress. This allows turgordriven processes which affect performance and yield to be maintained and the effects of drought to be minimized (Turner, 1986). Osmotic adjustment has been shown to be directly related to survival and yield in several crop species exposed to water stress (rice, sorghum, maize and wheat; Morgan et al., 1986;Sobrado, 1986;Turner et al., 1986;Santamaria et al., 1990), and implies that this attribute could be used directly in breeding programs for drought resistance.In maize, it has been reported that osmotic adjustment occurs under water deficit in both field studies (Acevedo et al., 1979) and under controlled conditions in pots (Westgate and Boyer, 1985).However, there are contrasts in the magnitude of osmotic adjustment reported (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1991).  Linear regression models (Netter and Wasserman, 1984)   1). The range of values and ranks of lines were similar in both years.In the field experiment differences but the results showed that genotypes with a higher OA took up 10% more soil water (P < 0.10) than those with low OA (Table 2). There were two patterns of soil water extraction among genotypes (e.g., Fig. 1), with major differences evident below 80 cm.Water stress reduced grain yield and dry matter to a lesser degree (P < 0.10) in the high OA group ( Coefficient (Siegel, 1980) was used to check stability of rank. Significant (P≤0.05) concordance was found  proteínas (Hsiao, 1973;Dhindsa y Cleland, 1975  Las proteínas con peso molecular de 27 y 70 kDa observadas en este estudio, podrían estar relacionadas con la familia de las hsp del mismo peso molecular identificadas en maíz (Czarnecka et al., 1984) y soya (Heikila et al., 1984)  El crecimiento de la planta resulta de la interacción de su genotipo con el ambiente que la rodea (Gardner et al., 1985) y es definido como un incremento irreversible de peso seco (Hess, 1975). En el caso de la planta de maíz, la altura total del tallo es el resultado de la suma de la longitud  Temporal mostraron resistencia a la sequía, de acuerdo a los caracteres estudiados ( y en rendimiento; Cuadro 1). Por lo tanto, deben considerarse como germoplasma para los programas de mejoramiento de maíz sobre resistencia a sequía para la región de la Mixteca Oaxaqueña, donde la sequía es el factor principal que limita la producción de este cultivo.  Drought is the most important factor limiting crop productivity in many areas of the world, and there is evidence that it is becoming a more serious problem due to growing shortages of plant-available water (Conti et al., 1994). An estimated 80% of maize planted in lowland tropical environments suffers periodic yield reduction from water stress, with drought-related production losses ranging from 10 to 50% (Edmeades et al., 1989). Drought stress can greatly reduce grain yield if it coincides with flowering (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a), and sensitivity to drought stress is greatly increased at flowering (Shaw, 1988). Breeders are continually searching for lines tolerant to drought that can be used to enhance maize's adaptation to water deficient environments, though most often selection is based only on grain yield.Yield selection in droughty environments is particularly difficult because of variation in the amount and distribution of rainfall, leading to an inability to control the timing and intensity of drought stress (Blum, 1988;Edmeades et al., 1989).A Tuxpeño maize population, 'Tuxpeño Sequía', has been selected for eight cycles for drought tolerance by breeders at CIMMYT (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a) that ABA accumulation was not directly related to increased grain yield under drought. In the same experiment g s was determined using the fourth leaf measured at midday under water-stressed and well-watered conditions. There were no differences in g s among selection cycles under water deficit; however, under non-stress conditions significant differences were found. Seedlings of C 8 showed the greatest g s (96.9 mmols m -2 s -1 ), while C 0 and C 4 seedlings had lower values (71.2 and 64.6 mmols m -2 s -1 , respectively). The reduction in g s with increasing water stress clearly resulted in reduced water loss from transpiration, but was not directly proportional to changes in ABA concentration.There has been an increasing emphasis among breeders over the past 15 years to select for stomatal behavior. This has arisen because of an increased understanding of the crucial role played by stomata in the control of water loss and CO 2 uptake, and because they provide a simple anatomical character that can be measured during selection (Jones, 1987). Nonetheless, leaf gas exchange is a complex, highly regulated process dependent upon interactions between mesophyll cells and stomata (Farquhar and Sharkey, 1982).Photosynthesis and transpiration respond differently to the same environmental factors, and stomata modulate the two processes to different degrees (Cowan and Farquhar, 1977).Abscisic acid (ABA) is thought to play a vital role in the water economy of plants under water stress by reducing stomata aperture (among other metabolic responses), and thus reducing the rate of transpiration (Dörffling, 1980). Accumulation of ABA is rapidly induced in plant tissue as it loses turgor (Hartung et al., 1990) and ABA concentration has been suggested as an indicator of the degree of water stress experienced by tissue (Landi et al., 1995). An increase in the concentration of ABA in waterstressed leaves may increase drought tolerance by reducing g s and consequently plant water loss (Landi et al., 1995). Variation among genotypes in ABA accumulation under drought conditions has been found in maize (Larqué-Saavedra andWain, 1974, 1976;Pekic and Quarrie, 1988;Tuberosa et al., 1992;Landi et al., 1995).  RWC of seedlings under drought averaged 60%, while seedlings kept under well-watered conditions hadRWCs that averaged about 96% (Table 1  Quarrie, 1988;Landi et al., 1995). The cycles of selection however, did not differ in their capacity to accumulate ABA under either well-watered or water-stressed conditions (Table 1).These results suggest that leaf ABA accumulation is independent of ASI.Increased g s should maximize productivity, and hence yield, by increasing CO 2 partial pressures within the leaf and hence assimilation rates (Jones, 1987). When leaf ABA concentration increases, stomatal conductance decreases in maize (Beardsell and Cohen, 1975;Ackerson, 1983).In the present study, g s under drought conditions did not differ significantly between selection cycles (Table 1). This is consistent with the ABA results, given ABA's role in stomatal control. Conversely, significant differences (P<0.05) were found under well-watered conditions (Table 1), suggesting that selection improved g s under well-watered conditions. Greater g s in C 8 may lead to lower leaf temperatures (a trait that was directly selected for from C 4 through C 8 ; Bolaños et al., 1993), and this may have resulted in higher grain yield. Similar results were reported for Pima cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) lines selected to withstand heat (Cornish et al., 1991).The value of g s was three times higher in a recent line (Pima 70) as compared to a line (Pima 32) released in 1949. Negative associations between canopy temperature and grain yield in wheat under wellwatered conditions have also been reported by Sayre (1996).  (Ludlow and Muchow, 1990). Trait-based crop improvement, using physiological and phenological components is an alternative approach for breeding high yielding, drought-adapted genotypes.Decreases in leaf water potential produce a reduction in the rate of photosynthetic CO 2 assimilation.Although stomatal closure occurs when higher plants are desiccated, chloroplast activity is also modified and, in some instances, may be more limiting to photosynthesis than the reduced CO 2 supply associated with increased stomatal resistance (Cornic et al., 1983). Photosynthesis may be impaired even when stomata remain open (Slavik, 1963), and water stress from increased concentrations of nonpenetrating solutes, such as sorbitol, severely inhibits photosynthetic activities of leaf slices in the absence of stomatal control (Kaiser et al., 1981;Kaiser, 1984). It appears that stomatal closure may account for most of the decline in photosynthetic rate in short-term water-stress experiments, whereas non-stomatal inhibition is a major factor in plants gradually subjected to water stress for long periods in the field (e.g., Ackerson et al., 1977;Radin and Ackerson, 1981). Drought stress generally limits net photosynthetic rate, mainly as a result of a reduction in three coupled processes:1. CO 2 diffusion into the leaves (Fereres et al.,1978;Catsky and Ticha, 1982;Krampitz et al., 1984). Two elite maize populations from CIMMYT (Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 and C 8 )were used. These two maize populations were chosen on the basis of putative differences in yield under where timing and intensity of stress can be managed by irrigation.The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with the whole plots arranged in randomized complete blocks with five replications. Whole plots were time of sampling (morning and afternoon) and subplots were the two genotypes (Tuxpeño C 0 and Tuxpeño C 8 ).water stress treatments There were non-significant differences in C i between the two genotypes at ψ = -0.9 MPa, though significant differences were observed between sampling times and among light intensities (Table 2). The results obtained by Bolaños and Edmeades (1993a, b) suggest that responses to selection in grain yield, ASI and harvest index were not consequences of improved water relations, but rather were due to The use of secondary traits (the primary trait is usually grain yield)as selection criteria in crop breeding has often been suggested, yet the contribution of these traits to increased grain yield under stress has generally been poorly quantified.proposed, all putatively related to improved survival or improved production in water-stressed environments, or to both (Edmeades et al., 1987;Ludlow and Muchow, 1990;Richards et al., 1993;Fukai and Cooper, 1995). For analysis it is useful to consider grain yield under drought stress as the product of [amount of water transpired * wateruse efficiency (WUE) * harvest index] (Passioura, 1977), and to classify secondary traits according to which of these components they affect (Ludlow and Muchow, 1990).  (Dow et al., 1984;Edmeades et al., 1993), reduced plant height (Fischer et al., 1983) and smaller tassels (Bruce at al., 1966) which compete less with ear growth at flowering, barrenness (measured as ears per plant (EPP) < 1.0) (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a), and traits which contribute to enhanced grain filling under terminal stress, such as the ability to mobilize preanthesis assimilate to grain (Nicolas and Turner, 1993) and delayed leaf senescence (Wolfe et al., 1988).Clearly  (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1996).The value of secondary traits used in selection can be established by:1. Correlation (phenotypic, r P and genotypic, r G ) analysis, though outlying values can strongly affect the correlation. Data should be examined graphically to identify and perhaps discard outliers.Genetic correlations are the correlation of the additive genetic components of the two traits (Falconer, 1981), freed from the environmental correlations that are included in phenotypic correlations. Continued selection for secondary traits may result in a change in the underlying genetic correlation between traits (Falconer, 1981;McMillan et al., 1995), so these relationships require re-evaluation over time.2. Utilizing the theory of selection indices (Falconer, 1981) In the discussion presented in the remainder of this paper, approaches 1 and 4 will be described for a group of traits measured among S 1 or fullsib maize progenies under two or more levels of drought stress.This is described in detail elsewhere (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1996). In mean (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1991).Evaluations   (Bolaños et al., 1993). That study, however, observed a small but significant correlated reduction in tassel size even though this trait had not been subject to selection (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b). Smaller tassels may, therefore, have adaptive value under drought, despite the lack of association between tassel size and grain yield observed in this study.  4, 5).In the first of these studies the \"best for all traits\" was clearly superior to the worst under all yield levels (Table 4). Selection for improved grain yield alone under stress resulted in a non-significant yield loss under well watered conditions, but the reverse was also true. Erect leaves, cool canopy temperatures, and short ASI were all superior to their lax, warm or long ASI counterparts, but did not give yields under stress that were greater than   In an attempt to summarize the information presented here, each trait was scored using the five criteria used to identify secondary traits. Of these, association with yield under drought was considered the most important (40 points), heritability next (20 points), followed by cost (10 points) and scores relating to genetic variability, the growth stage at which the trait was observed, and the feasibility of using the trait to make crossing decisions in the same crop season (5 points each). We assumed that the observation of male flowering dates would be mandatory so that shifts in maturity would not take place during selection. Using these rather subjective measures, traits fall into three broad groups.   While an increase in kernel number is usually responsible for N-induced yield enhancement of maize, increases in individual kernel weights have also been reported (Lemcoff and Loomis, 1986;Thiraporn et al., 1987;Jacobs and Pearson, 1992).Although it is not known how N supply regulates this increase in final kernel number, it is clear that lack of N enhances kernel abortion (Pearson and Jacobs, 1987;Mozafar, 1990;Uhart and Andrade, 1995b). Omission of N from the culture media of in vitro grown kernels markedly decreased endosperm dry weight, even though high levels of sugars were available. The effect of N availability was greatest during the period (first 12 days) of endosperm cell division. Subsequent decreases were attributed to lower activities of starch synthesis enzymes. These data show that N supply plays important roles in maximizing kernel initiation and set, and in the establishment and filling of the kernel sink.maintained under low N conditions without a drastic impact on leaf photosynthesis. Although some studies have reported an earlier remobilization of N from the stalks than the leaves (Ta and Weiland, 1992), others have shown the opposite effect (Swank et al., 1982).Understanding how N supply regulates reproductive development and yield is further complicated by numerous reports of genotypic variation in the efficiency of N use (Tsai et al, 1984;Smiciklas and Below, 1990;Eghball and Maranville, 1991;Sabata and Mason, 1992).  (Cully et al., 1984;Singletary and Below, 1989). Similarly, because this technique controls most environmental factors and removes the influence of the mother plant, it is also well suited to evaluate genotypic variation in growth response to N supply (Czyzewicz and Below, 1994).My laboratory routinely uses in vitro kernel culture and field fertilizer applications to alter the supply of N to developing maize plants, and some of that work is summarized here. Our overall goal is to better understand how N governs maize growth and yield, with the hope that this information will help to improve the efficiency and environmental friendliness of N fertilizer use.  For all hybrids, the dry weight of in vitro grown kernels increased markedly as the level of media N was raised from 0 to 10 mM (Fig. 4).   Delaying N availability decreased endosperm dry weight of in vitro grown kernels, with the effect being greatest when N was withheld the longest (Fig. 6). When N was limiting for even 4 days, a 22% decrease in final endosperm dry weight was observed. Withholding N for 8 days after culturing decreased endosperm dry weight by 46%, and even larger decreases were noted when N was withheld for 12 days or longer (Fig. 6). Kernels that received no N attained only 8% of the dry weight observed when kernels were continuously supplied with N. Some of the decrease in kernel weight is associated with a decrease in kernel sink capacity (see inset Fig. 6), while the remainder appears to be related to lower activities of the starch synthesis enzyme ADPG-PPase (Table 1).Nitrogen supply has a large effect on the grain yield of maize primarily by altering kernel number (Fig. 1 B). Plants grown with inadequate N remobilized N from other plant parts in an attempt to supply the N needs of the developing ear (Fig. 3).Remobilization was most notable from the leaves, which lost about a third of their N between flowering and the onset of linear grain fill. A loss of N of this magnitude would be expected to have a correspondingly negative effect on canopy photosynthesis which could result in greater kernel abortion (Uhart and Andrade, 1995a). As opposed to other reports (Ta, 1991;Ta and Weiland, 1992) Similar to other studies (Singletary andBelow, 1989 and1990), omission of N from the culture media of in   vitro grown kernels markedly decreased endosperm dry weight, even though high levels of sugars were available (Fig. 4). We also found distinct differences between hybrids in kernel dry matter accumulation in response to N supply in vitro (Fig. 4).Among the hybrids tested, the media N level needed for maximum kernel dry weight ranged from 15 to 50 mM. Twelve inbreds spanning a developmental period from 1949-1983 were chosen based on their performance in hybrid combinations (Listed in Tables 1 and 2). Analyses of variance showed significant differences (p<0.01)among genotypes for both N treatments (data not shown). Although the interaction between genotype and N treatment was highly significant (p<0.001), there was a tendency for the genotypes with the highest NUE under low N to also be the genotypes with the highest NUE under high N. Two notable exceptions were the inbred RD4509 and the hybrid LH146 xOh43 which showed the greatest genotype x N treatment interaction.Figure 1 shows the interaction between NUE of four selected genotypes and nitrogen fertilization.Overall, NUE under low N was roughly seven times greater than NUE under high N.response to N levels The correlation coefficient between root capacitance and NUE was 0.25 and 0.28 for inbreds and hybrids, respectively. Thus, no association was found between NUE and root system size. Genotypes, such as RD5529 and LH146 x RD5529 had high NUE and a high root capacitance. However, genotypes such as Mo17 and Oh43 x RD4509were inefficient in their use of N and also had high capacitance readings.  Bosemark (1954), Wiersum (1958), Brouwer et al. (1961), andGeisler andKrützfeldt (1983) reported that increases in N levels depressed root length and number. These results were in contrast with observations by Drew andGoss (1974), Tennant (1976), and Maizlish et al. (1980), who found increases in root system size with increased N levels.Anderson (1987) reported a decrease in the milligrams per millimeter of root with an increase in N, which allowed the root length to increase in response to N without altering the weight of roots. The present study found that one third of the genotypes responded to high N levels by increasing their root system size (as measured by capacitance). The To explain the differential N use efficiencies of genotypes, it was hypothesized that root parameters contributed to higher NUE values.However, no association was found between NUE and root capacitance.Thus, an increase in root system size would not appear to be an effective strategy for increasing NUE. A more likely explanation for high NUE might lie in a higher nitrogen absorption rate or in the more efficient use of nitrogen in the plant. Nitrogen affects cell and tissue growth, thereby influencing leaf area and photosynthetic capacity (Brown, 1978;Novoa and Loomis, 1981;Pan et al., 1985;Wong, 1985). Bolton and Brown (1980), Wong et al. (1985), Sinclair and Horie (1989), and Muchow and Sinclair (1994)  Grain yield is an important criterion for selecting for tolerance to low nitrogen (N) in maize, but there are limitations to its use due to large genotype by environment interactions. There is need to identify alternative traits less prone to alterations by the environment, which breeders can use to select for tolerance to low N in maize. The objective was to identify traits that can be used to screen for tolerance to low N. Divergent selections for chlorophyll concentration were made in S 2 lines from two maize populations grown at 0 and 80 kg N ha -1 . Chlorophyll measurements were made using a hand-held Minolta SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter. Plants with chlorophyll readings above and below the plot mean reading were selfed. Crosses were made between S 3 lines with large chlorophyll readings, small chlorophyll readings, and between lines with large and small chlorophyll levels, both within and between the two populations. Resulting hybrids were evaluated at 0, 40, and 80 kg N ha -1 . Chlorophyll readings of hybrids were not significantly different among N levels at the five-leaf stage, but differed significantly at flowering. Selections for high and low chlorophyll readings made under low N were not significantly different from selections made under high N when their hybrids were evaluated at different N levels. There were significant genotype-by-nitrogen interactions for chlorophyll at flowering, days to mid-silk, anthesis-silking interval, ear height and grain yield. Chlorophyll at flowering, days to mid-anthesis, days to mid-silk, test weight and number of kernels per ear were significantly correlated with grain yield at 0 kg N ha -1 .This  Beyond 40 kg ha -1 N, increases in plant and ear height were minimal.At 0 kg ha -1 N, selection for high chlorophyll at low N showed higher average ear placement than for hybrids from parents selected at high N. No other effects were observed.Genotype  El rendimiento de los cereales está directamente relacionado con el uso del N (Hageman, 1979) Nitrogen is one of the factors that frequently limits maize production in tropical areas. As a result, large quantities of nitrogenous fertilizer must be applied as a basic input in order to achieve satisfactory yields in the region. Nevertheless, it is difficult to sustain this crop management system over the long run, given the high costs of fertilizers. A study was undertaken of 15 tropical cultivars derived from the CENIAP-FONAIAP-Venezuela Maize Program to characterize a range of morpho-physiological traits associated with optimal and zero N use, thus obtaining basic information about the genetic potential of elite germplasm from the Venezuelan national program. The following traits were evaluated:biomass accumulation; specific foliar area; chlorophyll content; nitrogen reductase activity (ANR); and N absorption.Significant differences were detected (P < 0.05) among the cultivars for ANR and chlorophyll content. Under conditions of low N, the variation was between 1.6 and 7.1 mmol h -1 g -1 and 0.55 and 1.29 mg g -1 of ANR and chlorophyll, respectively, whereas under conditions of high N the variations were between 3.3 and 16.8 mmol h -1 g -1 and1.17 and 2.53 mg g -1 , respectively. The coefficient of correlation between ANR and biomass was r=0.71 (P < 0.05), and between ANR and N absorption was r=0.8 (P < 0.05). The results of this study can enhance the use of promising germplasm in a breeding program focused on developing maize that efficiently takes up and uses N.cloroplastos (Hageman, 1986). El incremento de la concentración de clorofila por unidad de área está altamente correlacionado con la concentración de N foliar (Wolfe et al., 1988). La variabilidad genética de los parámetros antes mencionados ha sido ampliamente documentada en maíz (Chevalier y Schrader, 1977;Eghball y Maranville, 1991;Hageman, 1986;Jackson et al., 1986;Muruli and Paulsen, 1981;Pollmer et al., 1979)   ), Absorpcion N x 10 -2 (g planta -1 ), ANR (µmol h -1 g -1 ) y AFE (cm 2 g -1 ) en 15 cultivares tropicales de maíz, Venezuela.      Instead of selecting for DT in an adapted population or, while extracting lines, breeders may also choose to improve the adaptation and yield of the source of DT through recurrent selection or to extract better adapted inbred lines from a source of DT (see Beck et al., 1997). Recent data indicate that the probability of obtaining DT hybrids is significantly greater when the source population from which the lines were extracted also has a high level of DT (Edmeades et al., 1997c).For example, the probability of obtaining a hybrid that yielded 40%greater than the trial mean under severe drought stress was four times greater if lines had been extracted single generation (Ribaut et al., 1997).For marker-assisted selection to be cost-effective, however, the source needs to have a considerably higher level of DT than that found in the recipient germplasm, implying that poorly adapted sources with a high level of DT are of much greater value when this technique is used compared with conventional backcrossing.  1).Selection schemes used in developing these populations have been described in detail elsewhere (Fischer et al., 1983;Fischer et al., 1989;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993;Edmeades et al., 1995aEdmeades et al., , b, 1997a;;Chapman and Edmeades, 1998). In Thirteen of 22 potential source populations were identified as DT and intercrossed (Table 2). international sites, and the best 40 recombined (Edmeades et al., 1991(Edmeades et al., , 1995b)). During the last cycle of international S 1 testing, 2-6 S 2 families were created in each selected   Several studies have compared advanced selection cycles with original cycles of selection or their conventionally-selected counterparts:Tuxpeño Sequía C 8 with C 0 and with Pop. 21 C 6 (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993;Byrne et al., 1995); La Posta  4), perhaps because its early maturity allowed it to escape some of the consequences of low rainfall.Each of these three elite sources showed ear rot susceptibility, and more attention must be given to ear rot resistance, if these sources are to be used for direct release by national programs.The Results from the latest of these (Table 5) confirm the superiority of La Posta   Data confirm Blum's (1983)  Progress in plant breeding depends on being able to identify alleles related to improved performance and to either fix them in a specific genotype or cultivar, or to increase their frequency within a population so that the performance of the population per se is improved (Falconer, 1981). The choice of source population, therefore, plays a critical role in any breeding program, since it determines the frequency of desirable alleles at the onset of the selection process (Hallauer, 1991). If that frequency is very low, few or no fixed lines will carry the alleles of interest, and progress from recurrent selection for traits controlled by those alleles will be very slow. Fortunately, there is evidence that there is a reasonably high frequency of drought-adaptive alleles present in many common breeding populations. Such variation is of special value because it exists in elite backgrounds and its use is less likely to be hampered by linked deleterious genes than when identified in landraces (Hallauer, 1991). Supporting this contention Blum (1983)  The crosses between lines from C 0 averaged 4.88 t ha -1 versus 7.54 t ha -1   for crosses between lines derived from C 9 , and there was virtually no overlap between the distributions of grain yields from the two sets of hybrids. A similar result was obtained from crosses of S 3 lines among these same populations (Russell, 1991). These studies suggest Four groups of populations were chosen for this study (Table 1). Three The scheme for improving these populations for drought or low N tolerance has been described in detail elsewhere (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a;Edmeades et al., 1997;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994;Lafitte et al., 1997). Briefly, conventionally-selected around 100 kg ha -1 yr -1 under the relevant stresses in these populations (Edmeades et al., 1997;Lafitte et al., 1997).  Conventionally-selected populations were improved using either the international progeny-testing scheme (for Across 8928 and Pop. 43 C 9 ) described by Pandey et al. (1986), or by a half-sib or S 1 recurrent selection scheme at Poza Rica station, as described by Pandey and Gardner (1992)  Analyses of variance were performed within and across environments within each group of populations, and tests of significance for population and tester effects were conducted, using a fixed model (SAS, 1985). In most cases the distributions of grain yield for each tester within each group and population did not deviate significantly from a normal distribution. Means and standard deviations were obtained for each population-tester combination (SAS, 1985). Probabilities with which a given level of yield will be exceeded were computed. Frequency distributions of grain yield for the two testers were then added for each population within each group, and this was repeated for probabilities.The chance of selecting a topcross with a given yield level from the stress-tolerant population versus the conventionally-selected version was estimated by dividing the cumulative probability of the stress-tolerant population by that of the conventionally-selected population for that yield level, within each environment and population.Under severe stress TCs derived from drought tolerant populations significantly outyielded those from conventional populations by an average of 21% (307 kg ha -1 ) at a mean yield level of 1.62 t ha -1 , but yielded 1% (-30 kg ha -1 ) less than the conventionally selected populations under intermediate stress at a yield level of 5.33 t ha -1 , and 4% less than the conventional TCs (-233 kg ha -1 ) under well-watered conditions (6.13 t ha -1 ) (Table 2). Thus although there was an improved performance of TCs derived from the drought-tolerant populations under drought, this became zero at yields of around 5 t ha -1 and negative at yield levels above 5.5 t ha -1 . Across all populations and water levels yields of TCs from the two groups of populations were almost identical.Results varied among the populations. Relative advantages of stress-tolerant source populations under the three water regimes for Tuxpeño were: 28%, -2% and -6%; for La Posta were 21%, 12% and 1%; for Pool 26 were 16%, -7% and -4%. The apparent loss of yield potential in TCs from drought-tolerant populations versus conventionally-selected populations is not unexpected, in that conventionally-selected populations have been improved for these types of environments, while the target environments for drought-tolerant germplasm has a much lower yield potential. It is, however, inconsistent with selection gains observed in drought-tolerant populations under well-watered conditions, which in several studies (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a;Byrne at al., 1995;Edmeades et al., 1995) have been shown to be similar or greater than those obtained in conventional selections. The choice of testers used in this study (see below) may offer some explanation for these results.The comparison of TCs derived from an original population versus its drought tolerant equivalent (Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 vs. TS6 C 2 ) showed improvements due to selection at the three water levels of 35% (350 kg ha -1 ), 6% (320 kg ha -1 ), and 2.3% (160 kg ha -1 ). Since tolerance to severe drought stress is mainly additive in nature (Betrán et al., 1997) reported by Bolaños and Edmeades (1993a) and 470 kg ha -1 reported for this population by Edmeades et al. (1995).Early flowering can provide a considerable yield advantage under drought that is imposed at flowering and which increases in intensity with time. The mean dates of male flowering, however, were not sufficiently different among versions of populations to account for the increased yields in TCs derived from drought-tolerant sources. In fact, across populations drought tolerant TCs had a mean anthesis date 0.2 d later than that of TCs from conventional populations (Table 2).The interval between anthesis and silking (ASI) was 1.23, 0.40 and 0.16 d less in the drought-tolerant selections versus conventional selections in the SS, IS and WW environments (Table 3). This was also reflected in the level of barrenness: ears per plant at the three corresponding water regimes were 0.91, 1.04 and 1.03 across populations for drought-tolerant selections, versus 0.83, 1.02 and 1.02 Table 2. Effect of selection for drought tolerance in four populations on the performance of topcrosses from each selection when evaluated under a range of drought stress levels or under heat. Populations were selected for drought tolerance or improved conventionally under wellfavored conditions (see Table 1). Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 is the unselected population from which TS6 C 2 (drought-tolerant) and Pop. 21 MRRS C 2 (conventionally selected) were derived. Experiments were conducted in 1995-6 at Tlaltizapán and Obregón, Mexico. Means followed by different letters differ significantly. This close relationship between ASI and ears per plant under drought has been observed in other studies (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b).Resistance to barrenness is thought to be related to more rapid ear growth at flowering, which is associated with a reduced ASI (Edmeades et al., 1993). Similar changes were observed between Tuxpeño Sequía C 0 and TS6 C 2 . Here the ASI declined from 5.7 to 2.8 d, and ears per plant rose from 0.72 to 0.87 (Table 3).The trials conducted at Obregón suffered from extremely low yields, high levels of barrenness and long silk delays (Tables 2, 3). Additionally, For each population we estimated the probabilities of obtaining topcrosses which exceeded 30% and 50% of the mean for the combined group of topcrosses for each population (Table 5). On average there was a 3.2:1 and a 4.7:1 chance of obtaining topcrosses that met these conditions under severe drought stress, when stresstolerant versions of the population were used as the source of the inbred lines. This was not the case under unstressed conditions. Here the chances of obtaining topcrosses which exceeded the mean by 10% and 20% were 0.73:1 and 0.77:1, when  and 20% yield increase over the mean under high N (Table 5).Table 5. Probability of yields exceeding given levels under two levels of stress in different versions of populations. P > 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 refer to the probability with which topcrosses of randomly-derived lines will exceed a yield level which is 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% greater than the mean of all topcrosses for that environment, respectively; C > 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5 refers to the chances of obtaining a topcross which yields 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% more than the mean of all topcrosses when the stress-tolerant version of the population is used to derive lines compared with the conventionally-selected version.  • Data presented here are consistent with the following: \"..... to increase the probability of obtaining better hybrids from a given population the most direct way is to improve the population itself, which can be done through some recurrent selection method.\" Hallauer and Miranda (1981).• The trials were originally designed to identify varieties with higher yields.A where p ij is the phenotypic observation on variety i in replicate j; i=1,...,n g j=1,...,n r where n g and n r are the number of varieties and replicates, respectively; m is the grand mean; g i is the effect of variety i, N(0, σ 2 g ); r j is the effect of replicate j, N(0, σ 2 r ) and ∈ ij is the interaction effect between variety i and replicate j, N(0, σ 2 ∈ ). The following model was utilized for the combined analysis p ijk = m + e j + g i + (ge) ij + (r/e) jk + ∈ ijk (2) where p ijk is the phenotypic observation on variety i in replicate k at environment j; i=1,...,n g , j=1,...,n e , k=1,...,n r ; where n g , n e , and n r are the number of varieties, environments and replicates; m is the grand mean, g i is the effect of variety i, N(0,σ 2 e ); e j is the effect of environment j, N(0,σ 2 e ); (r/e) jk is the effect of replicate k within environment j, N(0, σ 2 r(e) ); (ge) jk is the interaction effect between variety and environment, N(0, σ 2 ge ); ∈ ijk is the interaction effect between variety and replicate within environment, N(0, σ 2 ∈ ).Analyses were conducted using the residual maximum likelihood method (REML) (Patterson andThompson, 1971, 1975;Harville, 1977), assuming all model effects were random. In  (Burr, 1968;Fehr, 1987;Bull et al., 1992). The standardized and weighted grain yield data were then classified using squared Euclidean distance as a dissimilarity measure, and incremental sums of squares as a grouping strategy (Ward, 1963;Burr, 1968Burr, , 1970;;Wishart, 1986). The classifications were truncated following the guidelines of DeLacy (1981).Significant differences (P<0.05) in yield were found among varieties in seven of the eleven environments.Variety mean repeatability ranged between 0.2 in Umbeluzi in 1992/93 without inputs (UMB9293-) to 0.79 in Umbeluzi in 1992/93 with inputs (UMB9293+) (Table 3). Low repeatability values also occurred in both Chokwé environments and in Nampula. Grain yields varied between 4.96 t/ha at UMB9293+ to 2.07 t/ha for the rainfed environment in Namialo (Table 3).The estimated variance components for grain yield are shown in Table 4.   Maize is grown by virtually 100% of farmers in Mozambique. Drought and low fertility are the largest causes of maize yield loss in the tropics (Edmeades et al., 1995).Breeding for high productivity under low levels of available nitrogen and moisture will enable cultivars to fit into environments instead of altering the environments by adding inputs (Coffman and Smith, 1991). Genetic variability for nitrogen use efficiency has been reported by many investigators (Allan and Darrah, 1978;Muruli and Paulsen, 1981;Balko and Russell, 1980;Short, 1991;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994). A positive but nonsignificant correlation was observed between inbred parents and hybrid progenies for nitrogen use efficiency.The stability of yield performance of single cross hybrids seems to be partly a property of the inbred parent lines (Eberhart and Russell, 1966). Useable genetic variability for drought and gains from selection have been reported by several workers (Diallo and Rodriguez, 1987;Edmeades et al., 1987;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993;Byrne et al., 1995). Selection gains observed under drought have also been observed under low N (Edmeades et al., 1995).  Stability analysis for yield included the following stability parameters: a) Wricke's(1962) ecovalence (W 2 ):where is the mean response of genotype i in environment j , X i . is the mean response of genotype i across all environments, X -. j the mean of environments j and X -.. is the general mean. Stable genotype has a small W 2 value. b) Hühn's (1979) non parametric S 3 statistic that combines yield and stability. The parameter is based on yield ranks of genotypes in each environment and is defined as:where r ij is the rank of the i th genotype in the j th environment and r i . is the mean of ranks over all environments for the i th genotype. Small S 3 values correspond to stable genotypes. c) Eberhart and Russell's (1966) stability parameters b i and S 2 , where b i is the regression coefficient of the i th variety on the environmental index measured as the mean yield of all varieties in that environment minus the mean of all environments, S 2 is the deviation from regression of the i th variety minus the average variance of a variety mean at the j th location.A stable genotype will be one with unit regression coefficient (b i = 1.0) and a very small deviation from regression (S 2 = 0).For each variety, the estimates of stability parameters and average yield were ranked as low, medium and high with numerical scores of 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The assignment of the scores was done on the basis of confidence intervals. For yield, a score of 1 was given if the average yield was less than the lower value of the interval, a score of 2 if it was in the interval, and a score of 3 if it was bigger than the upper value of the interval. Scores of 3, 2, and 1 were given to estimates of the Eberhart regression coefficient if it was in a 95% confidence interval, in a 99% confidence interval but not in the 95% confidence interval, and outside the 99% confidence interval, respectively.Because low estimates of the remaining parameters are desirable for high stability, the scores of these parameters were assigned in reverse order. Stability of each genotype was assessed by computing its total score based on all parameters. The genotypes were ranked according to those scores. The most stable lines were those lines with the highest total scores.This was performed by dividing the environments into the two sets, stress and natural environments. The interset and intra-set correlations and canonical correlations were used to predict yields in the natural environments from yields in the stress environments.In the natural environments, rainfall was adequate except at Sinematiali, where the rains came late and the trial suffered from water logging and nitrogen leaching. In the stress environments, the nitrogen soil content in the nitrogen trial was not low enough to cause a large yield reduction. The correlations of yield in the stress and natural environments were used to study the relationships between yields in those environments (Table 1). Correlations between yield under high density and yields in the natural environments were higher than those between high density yield and yields under stress environments. Yield under low nitrogen was positively correlated with yield under moderate drought.High positive correlations were also found between yield under low nitrogen and the yields at Badikaha, Odienné, Sinematiali, and Touba. Yields under severe and moderate drought were positively correlated.    Cuadro 4. Rendimiento medio de grano de líneas TS6C1 y La Posta Seq C3 con diferentes probadores del grupo UNG95B-5934E, evaluadas en Ameca Jal., Méx., durante el ciclo primavera-verano de 1995.Rendi-Número de miento Mestizo con línea probadores (t/ha)  The Tentzo Cordillera faces problems of drought, thin soils and a rough topography. Nevertheless, through an ongoing process of selection, farmers have obtained cultivars adapted to these marginal conditions. In earlier work to collect and test maize landraces, the following collections were found to be superior: 1394, 1439 and 1452 for favorable edaphic environments, and 1393, 1439 and 1449 for marginal environments (López et al., 1990). As a second step, in 1989 trials were established at two sites with the two groups of collections for the differing soil conditions, using H-28, H-220 and the farmers' landrace as checks. Although the hybrids showed better plant type than the landraces, the latter were earlier, had better ear aspect, higher grain percentage and higher grain yield per hectare. Collections 1393 and 1394 were the best performers. These results demonstrate the need to conduct genetic improvement in specific areas using the local landraces as the source material to increase yields and grain production in Mexico's rainfed areas.La generación de cultivares mejorados de maíz en México se ha desarrollado principalmente en los campos experimentales de los centros de investigación. En consecuencia se ha acumulado un efecto genético de especialización para las condiciones del campo experimental (Muñoz et al., 1976), condiciones frecuentemente diferentes a las prevalecientes en las áreas para las que se recomiendan los cultivares. Es por esta razón que con frecuencia los cultivares mejorados en condiciones de temporal son igualados o superados por los criollos en diversas características; así, han demostrado su superioridad en rendimiento de grano (Arellano, 1976;López, 1993;Mejía, 1976), en aspecto de planta y mazorca (Valadez, 1988), en porcentaje de grano (Gil y Muñoz, 1992;Vaca, 1990) y en resistencia a enfermedades (Gil y Muñoz, 1992).Lo anterior evidencia la necesidad de desarrollar programas de mejoramiento en niveles más específicos, tomando como base el potencial genético y de adaptación que tienen los cultivares criollos en sus nichos ecológicos (Muñoz, 1991). The region of Nochixtlán is located in the northwest part of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, in the area known as the Mixteca Alta. One hundred maize populations were collected and evaluated here, among which a pattern was detected in the number of days to female flowering. Se utilizó la fórmula 110-70-00 N:P:K, se aplicó la mitad del nitrógeno y todo el fósforo en la siembra y el resto del nitrógeno en la segunda labor.Cada parcela estuvo constituida por dos surcos de cinco metros cada uno, la distancia entre surcos fue de 80 cm y de 50 cm entre matas, con dos plantas por mata. El diseño experimental fue el bloques completos al azar en ambos ensayos con cinco repeticiones en el de 1993 y tres en el de 1995.Las variables que se consideraron fueron: rendimiento (REN), días a floración media femenina (DFF), altura de la planta (AP) y calificación de sanidad (CASA), de mazorca (CAMA) y de planta (CAPA).La información generada se sometió aun análisis de varianza y comparación de medias de los tratamientos utilizando la DMS, al nivel de 5% de probabilidad.El Moisture-resistant containers help maintain seed viability and vigor (Ching and Abu-Shakra, 1965). If seed is kept in containers made of porous material it soon absorbs humidity and viability declines (Bass et al., 1961).This study was carried out in order to identify inexpensive storage environments and container types that allow germplasm preservation. An important decrease in germination took place between 0 and 7 months of storage (Table 2).Storage at the low elevation site, Huetamo, in paper bags caused the greatest loss in seed viability. The landraces showed significant differences in percent germination.At the start of the experiment accession 448 had 83% germination while that for accession 519 was 94% (P < 0.05). Seven months after the experiment began accession 448 had a germination rate of 79% while accession 519 had 90% germination.A marked reduction in germination was observed at Huetamo from 0 to 7 months (Fig. 1). At Chapingo germination was also significantly reduced during the period 0 to 12 months, but the decline was small compared with Huetamo. and plastic bottles) did not show a significant reduction in germination throughout the storage time. In contrast there was a large reduction in germination in the initial 7 months of seed stored in paper bags (Fig. 2).The interactions of locations or containers with genotypes for germination percentage were not significant. When maize seed was stored in the high altitude locations of Chapingo, Tecámac and San Juan Tetla, differences among containers were not significant. At Huetamo moderately reduced germination was associated with storage in impermeable containers, while storage in paper bags was associated with large reductions, as germination fell to around 40% after 12 months of storage (Fig. 3). Storage in paper bags was a totally ineffective storage method in this environment.The higher the altitude and the cooler the environment, the better the conditions for germplasm storage (Table 2). Germination levels at the two highest locations, San Juan Tetla and Tecámac, were not significantly different from that observed at the genebank. The existence of sites that performed as well as the genebank indicates the feasibility and opportunity for storage offered by high altitude, cool sites.Seed from the two landraces was produced in the same environment, thus differences in germination are likely to be the result of genetic causes. These differences in seed quality indicate that the genetic constitution, even within species, is an important determinant of their potential for conservation.reported by James et al. (1967), Roos (1984) and Rincón (1989).Impermeable containers seem to be the most economic way to preserve seed quality, especially when their use is contrasted with the cost of humidity control in a conventional genebank facility. Similar results were obtained by Mumford and Freire (1982), working with rice.   One hundred and twenty-one tropical late-yellow lines with varying inbreeding levels and derived from different source germplasm were used in this study (Table 1). These lines came from The trial contained 121 entries, and was arranged in a square lattice design with two replications.Analyses of variance were performed using the SAS MIXED procedure (SAS Institute, INC., 1992). Simple phenotypic and genotypic correlations were estimated using the SAS VARCOMP procedure.Analyses of variance (Table 2)indicated highly significant (P≤ 0.01) effects due to genotypes for all traits.Mean ASI was 1.32 days (Table 2), suggesting that drought stress was not very severe at flowering stage.Mean grain yield ranged from 4.7 to 0.2 t ha -1 . For ASI, the range was from 6.5 to -4.5 days. tolerance and yield potential in tropical maize (Bolaños et al., 1993;Edmeades et al., 1995).The best performing 20% of the lines were selected using a combined index and eyeball selection criteria.This selected fraction has greater yield, less barrenness, shorter ASI, and better ear aspect than the overall mean (Table 3). For these superior 23 lines, grain yield averaged 3.   (Nelson et al., 1965;Beeson, 1966). En este contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer la respuesta agronómica, de líneas S 1 de maíz evaluadas con riego y sequía utilizando dos probadores con adaptación a condiciones deficientes de humedad. Population presented in Table 1.We observed large and significant (P<0.05) differences among families for grain yield and for each of the secondary traits (Table 1   We screened 209 tropical lowland accessions from Latin America to identify components for a source population with specific adaptation to low soil N supply. These accessions were evaluated over the course of three separate experiments, with data collection in both high-N and low-N fields (Table 1). Water supply and pests were not limiting in these experiments. For more details on methods, see Lafitte et al. (1997).We used principal components analysis to identify the most important traits for characterizing groups of accessions in each season.Maturity was the most important single factor, so the accessions were divided into early and late groups for further analysis. Principal components analysis indicated that important traits for separating groups of accessions under low N were N uptake, NHI, and grain N concentration. We identified the best 25% of the early and late accessions in each experiment for these traits. All selected accessions were in the top 10% for at least one of the traits and in the top 15% for two or three traits.The characteristics of the selected fractions for the early accessions are shown in Table 3. We avoided using grain yield as a selection criterion, because grain yield is strongly influenced by the selection history of the accession; that is, the extent to which it had been improved prior to collection.We planted the selected 32 early  4. The first three cycles were designed primarily to  accessions 5 10 7 9 18 18   Table 3. Characteristics of the early accessions evaluated and the selected fraction for each experiment. Data are presented for grain yield at both N levels, but these were not considered during selection. Cycles of the early and late source populations were evaluated in three trials under low N at Poza Rica.The grain yield of Pool BN Precoz under low N did not increase between C 0 and C 4 , but a yield gain of 160 kg ha -1 cycle -1 (15% per cycle) was obtained between C 4 and C 6 , when a stronger selection pressure was used. The best three improved populations under low N fromTrial Three were included as checks.The grain yield of C 6 under low N was comparable to that of the early check (Fig. 1). Although improved nitrogen (N) use is a desirable goal of maize breeders, little is known about its inheritance. Thus, our objectives were to investigate the inheritance of several plant traits related to N use and to examine the relationship of these traits to grain yield. Fifteen single-cross hybrids produced from a diallel set of crosses among six inbred lines were grown at Champaign, Illinois, USA, in 1992 and1993. Plants received either no supplemental N (low N) or an N rate considered sufficient for maximum yield (201 kg N ha -1 , high N).While significant hybrid variation was detected for all traits, the correlation with yield depended on the N supply.Harvest index, kernel number, N accumulation, and N utilization efficiency were all positively correlated with grain yield when plants were grown at low N, while only biological yield and N accumulation were correlated with yield at high N. Changes in harvest index, kernel number, and N utilization efficiency were most closely related to N-induced increases in yield. With minor exceptions, the mean squares for general and specific combining abilities (GCA and SCA) were significant for all measured traits at both levels of N. Based on the magnitude of difference between these mean squares, the majority of genetic effects were associated with GCA, indicative of additive genetic effects. Identification of traits related to high yield at low levels of N and the elucidation of their inheritance have important ramifications in maize breeding programs attempting to develop more N efficient genotypes.Different maize cultivars grown at the same location can exhibit varying response patterns to N fertilization (Tsai et al., 1984;Smiciklas and Below, 1990;Sabata and Mason, 1992). Interest in identifying genetic differences in responsiveness to N fertilizer is intensifying, as producers and agricultural consultants see genotypic variation as one way to fine-tune N fertilizer management.There is also a desire to develop or identify genotypes that perform well under low N supply, or conversely, to find genotypes that will respond to high fertility conditions. Genotypic variation in N use is highly affected by the environment and requires controlled conditions such as hydroponics or tissue culture to be most apparent (Gentry and Below, 1993;Czyzewicz and Below, 1994;McCullough et al., 1994). Genotypic differences measured at one stage of growth or under a certain set of growth conditions may not be related to differences in N use at other times or under other environments (Teyker et al., 1989). Controversy remains as to whether genotypic differences in N use can be used to improve the management of fertilizer N in the field.A fairly limited number of inheritance studies have evaluated parameters related to N use, such as total N accumulation, N harvest index, N translocation, and nitrate reductase activity (Katsantonis et al., 1988;Rizzi et al., 1993Rizzi et al., , 1995;;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1995). Collectively, these studies have shown many N use traits to be under genetic control, with the magnitude of GCA effects comparatively larger than SCA effects, indicative of the greater importance of additive gene action.These studies also showed that physiological processes limiting yield differed according to the level of N available in the soil (e.g., low versus high) (Di Fonzo et al., 1982;Rizzi et al., 1993). Most of this work, however, has been conducted using European hybrids or landrace materials and further experimentation is needed to examine similar parameters using US lines. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of N supply and genotypes on various traits related to N use and productivity, and to examine the relationship of these traits to grain yield. Significant differences among the hybrids were detected for all traits measured, at both levels of N (data not shown). Variation for grain yield is shown in Table 1. Yields ranged from 5.8 to 9.1 t ha -1 without supplemental N, and from 10.8 to 13.0 t ha -1 with supplemental N. Yields of all hybrids were increased by the addition of N fertilizer; increases ranged from 3.0 to 6.6 t ha -1 .There was no relationship between a hybrid's yield under low N and its yield under high N (r = -0.27).The relationships between grain yield and various traits were examined by calculating simple correlation coefficients (Table 2). At the low N level, harvest index, kernel number, total N accumulation, and N utilization efficiency (grain yield divided by N accumulation) were all significantly and positively correlated with grain yield. At the high N level, only biological yield and total N accumulation were correlated with grain yield. Only the accumulation of total plant N was correlated with grain yield at both N levels.The magnitude of increase (percentage of change) in grain yield from supplemental N was highly correlated with N-induced changes in harvest index, kernel number, and N utilization efficiency (Table 3). In Estimates of the GCA effects for the six inbreds are presented in Tables 4   and 5. GCA effects for grain yield differed according to the level of available N; inbreds DM2 and LH82 had high GCA effects at low N, but not at high N (Table 4). Conversely, LH119 had high GCA at high N, but not at low N. WF9 and Oh545 had negative GCA effects at both levels of N. Similar patterns of N-induced variability in GCA effects were observed for several of the other traits, especially kernel number (Table 5). For biological yield, however, GCA estimates were remarkably similar at both levels of N. Interestingly, for a given inbred and N level, the sign (positive or negative) of the GCA effects were always opposite to each other for kernel number and kernel weight.Our results agree with earlier findings (Katsantonis et al., 1988;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1995;Rizzi et al., 1993 and1995) that show productivity traits related to N use are under genetic control and that maize genotypes differ in these traits.For nearly all traits, the magnitude of GCA mean squares were much larger than SCA effects, indicating that additive effects were more important than dominance effects. For many of the traits, the GCA effects differed according to the level of available N (Tables 4 and 5).Similar to other studies (Di Fonzo et al., 1982;Rizzi et al., 1993), our data show that different traits were correlated to grain yield depending on the level of available N (Table 2).Only N accumulation was significantly correlated with grain yield at both levels of N. A genetic relationship between total plant N accumulation and grain yield has been reported previously (Katsantonis et al., 1988). This finding could suggest that plant N accumulation is an important trait for maximum yield, regardless of the level of available N.Changes in harvest index, kernel number, and N utilization efficiency were all closely related to N-induced increases in yield (Tables 3 and 4).  La eficiencia en el uso del N se ha definido como la producción de grano por unidad de N suministrado en el suelo y se representa como GW/NS, donde GW es el peso del grano y NS la cantidad de N suministrado (Moll et al., 1982).Existen dos componentes primarios de la eficiencia del uso de N: 1) la eficiencia de absorción Nt/NS y 2) la eficiencia con la cual el N absorbido es utilizado para producir grano GW/Nt, donde Nt es el N total en planta a la madurez (Moll et al., 1982).Diferencias entre genotipos a dosis especificas de N han evidenciado que los caracteres relacionados con la absorción de nutrimentos son particularmente importantes cuando el suministro de N es adecuado; sin embargo, la capacidad para producir una gran cantidad de grano por unidad de N disponible en la planta es más crítica cuando el N es limitativo (Di Fonzo et al., 1982). En la caracterización de diferentes híbridos de maíz por su respuesta a la disponibilidad de N, se ha observado diferente respuesta metabólica a la deficiencia de N; sin embargo, ninguno de ellos rendirá particularmente bien bajo deficiencia de N (Tsai et al., 1990). Diferencias Para este estudio se utilizó un sistema de cruzamiento dialélico entre 14 líneas endogámicas de valles altos, de acuerdo con el método IV de Griffing (1956)  FLORM: días a floración masculina, REND: rendimiento t/ha, FLORF: días a floración femenina, GRANPL: peso de grano por planta en g, ALTPL: altura de planta en cm, GRAN*N: g de grano por g de N aplicado, MAZPL: número de mazorca por planta.cruzas para los caracteres MAZPL, REND, GRANPL y GRAN*N.Respecto a la cantidad de mazorca por planta con 0 N, se observó que por cada 10 plantas una fue estéril (esto es, 6,500 plantas/ha), el rendimiento fue menor en 1 t ha Letras diferente entre columnas indican diferencias estadísticas con una P£0.05, FLORM: días a floración masculina, FLORF: días a floración femenina, ALTPL: altura de planta en cm, MAZPL: número de mazorca por planta, REND: rendimiento, t/ha, GRANPL: peso de grano por planta en g, GRAN*N: g de grano por g de N aplicado. primeras cruzas (8.9 a 10.1 t ha -1 ) (Cuadro 4). Sin N, las mejores cruzas produjeron de 6.7 a 8.9 t ha -1 .También sin N se observó que el índice de eficiencia GRAN*N de las cruzas fue más de 100% superior que con 200 kg de N ha -1 (Cuadro 4).Estos resultados confirman que los incrementos del rendimiento en respuesta a la aplicación de N no implican necesariamente una mayor eficiencia en su utilización (Anderson et al., 1985).Entre  et al., 1991).La pobre fertilidad de los suelos es uno de los factores que conducen a los bajos rendimientos del maíz en los trópicos. El N es elemento clave para la diferenciación entre la agricultura de bajos y altos recursos, pues es el nutrimento más limitativo en la mayoría de las áreas de cultivo (Brewbaker, 1985). El N forma parte de los metabolitos esenciales de la planta (aminoácidos, proteínas, clorofilas, etc.), por lo tanto está presente en la mayoría de las reacciones fisiológicas y bioquímicas de todas las plantas (Clark, 1987). N en todas las partes vegetativas de la planta (Muchow, 1988a;Muchow, 1988b;Muchow y Davis, 1988).Ceballos y Pandey (1991a, b) indican que en zonas marginales, el maíz es generalmente un cultivo secundario de subsistencia, con un pobre manejo agronómico, provisión limitada de recursos y poco uso de insumos.Aunque esta última condición puede ser benéfica, pues el productor requiere menor subsidio, puede ocurrir que al adoptar sólo parte del \"paquete tecnológico\", como las semillas mejoradas en lugar de los cultivares criollos, obtenga mayores pérdidas debido al uso de la tecnología subóptima con la que cuenta.En Colombia entre 50 y 70% de las tierras de clima cálido tienen contenidos bajos o medios de materia orgánica, en general, menos de 3% (Muñoz, 1995). En un estudio realizado por Garcés y Humanez El Los datos se sometieron a análisis de varianza según la función FACTOR de MSTATC (MSTAT, 1988). Se hicieron particiones ortogonales de los grados de libertad del análisis de varianza general y se halló el coeficiente de correlación simple entre el rendimiento de grano/ha y cinco caracteres agronómicos.  Iowa and elsewhere (Castleberry et al., 1983;Derieux et al., 1987;Duvick, 1977;Duvick, 1984;Duvick, 1992;Eyhérabide et al., 1994;Russell, 1991;Tollenaar, 1991). BREEDING FOR TOLERANCE q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q typical for central Iowa in the 1930s, the middle density was typical of the Trial results show that during the past 70 years genetic yielding ability of hybrids adapted to central Iowa has improved at a linear rate of about 74 kg/ha/yr (Fig. 1). Linear improvements in yield were exhibited in each year of the test (Fig. 2).Growing conditions varied markedly among seasons: 1991 was too hot and dry, 1993 was too cold and wet, and 1992 and 1994 were nearly ideal for high grain yield. All three trial locations were affected by drought in 1991 and water-logging in 1993. Rate of improvement in yield was greatest in high yield seasons and least in low yield seasons (Fig. 2), and greatest at high plant density and least at low plant density (Fig. 3). Kilograms per hectare q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q turcicum). There was no increase in grain yield over time when hybrids were grown at very low densities (1 plant/m 2 ). Hybrids differed significantly in yielding ability at the very low density, but yield differences were not associated with year of hybrid release (Fig. 3).Planting at very low density reduces stress to a minimum and allows maximum grain production per plant.Results of this experiment agree with the hypothesis that increased stress resistance is the primary cause of   Results of this retrospective experiment agree with the generally accepted premise that widespread yield testing over several years in the intended area of adaptation appears to be the best way to select for hybrids with multiple-stress resistance; i.e., hybrids with higher yield and greater dependability (Baker, 1955). Breeder trials and farmer trials (on-farm \"strip tests\") are equally essential for achieving this end. However, trials conducted at multiple plant densities (e.g., high, low, and normal densities), or in specially chosen environments such as low fertility, drought, insect infestation, or disease inoculation are also very useful, and sometimes essential. They will help the breeder to characterize hybrids and identify breeding stocks with specific desirable or undesirable traits.The priority given abiotic stresses, particularly drought and low nitrogen, has increased in recent years because of increasing incidence of such stresses in tropical maize growing areas. However, it is only in the last two decades that systematic efforts to tackle such problems have begun in force. Due to the complex nature of the stresses, a proper understanding of factors resulting in the superior performance of stresstolerant genotypes may still be far off, and several issues, particularly related to whether breeding should be done under non-stress, stress or both environments are still being debated. There is wide agreement that yield selection under stress is less efficient than under non-stress conditions, mainly because of a decline in heritability of yield under stress (Blum, 1988), so breeders will often select under both non-stress and stress conditions. Efforts directed Abiotic stresses, particularly those related to water and nitrogen, are widely distributed and may occur at practically all stages of crop growth. Improvement efforts through breeding are rather limited for such traits, and perhaps only international agricultural research centers, the larger private seed companies, and a few strong national programs have the necessary resources and manpower to pursue such research efficiently. In the absence of major genes, the breeding of such traits is difficult, and requires some skill in managing selection environments. Variation for stress traits has been observed in maize populations under improvement by recurrent selection, as well as among inbred lines and hybrids derived from those populations. Recurrent selection procedures for improving stress tolerance characteristics have been successfully demonstrated. Choices among various kinds of breeding procedures appropriate at different stages of the improvement process are outlined, with the appropriate time to switch from one procedure to another indicated. The merits and drawbacks of procedures involving testers in intensifying such traits are discussed.inbreeding is itself a valuable source of general stress tolerance. The integration of selection for stress tolerance traits in the on-going improvement process is emphasized. Relative efficiency and cost-effectiveness of recurrent selection procedures are compared with evaluating elite germplasm (particularly inbreds). Results to date suggest that alleles related to stress tolerance are present in most elite maize populations (and hence in any group of inbred lines) at a relatively low frequency, and that controlled stress environments play a key part in their identification. Efficient inbred line development procedures will be indicated, and alternate strategies involving inbreeding at high plant density will be suggested to improve secondary traits known to increase stress tolerance. Finally, cost-effective procedures and strategies most appropriate for breeders operating in developing countries are emphasized.Depending upon the severity, seed set and thus yield can be reduced considerably. Low nitrogen stress, on the other hand, is more predictable, since farmers normally have some prior knowledge of soil nitrogen status. A breeder has the option of applying uniform minimum rates of N to create testing environments that discriminate among genotypes.Developing stress-tolerant cultivars requires strategies and experience in managing stress environments to maximize genetic gain for desired traits.In general, mechanisms that help avoid stress should be exploited The Transferring drought and low Ntolerance traits from one genotype to another is complex, since no major Genetic variation is the key to effective improvement of any trait.Variation for both drought and low N tolerance has been encountered in all types of germplasm including OPVs, hybrids and inbred lines (Balko and Russell, 1980;Russell, 1984;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994;Edmeades et al., 1995;Jensen, 1995, Smith et al., 1995). Results from a white single-cross hybrid trial conducted in 1994A and a yellow single-cross hybrid trial in 1995A are presented in Tables 1 and 2.    x 21F38)-5-3-2-1   have also been evaluated under drought (Table 7).  Applying a single stress level is risky;if it is too severe it may cause rapid genetic drift and loss of genetic variability. Two levels of stress, plus a well-watered control to monitor yield potential, are desirable until experience in managing stress at a particular site and on a specific soil type has been obtained, or until a good level of stress tolerance is present in the germplasm.Heritabilities under stress can be considerably improved through use of better designs, more locations and more replications (see Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997). Heritabilities for yield also increase as one shifts from halfsib to full-sib and to S 1 and S 2 selfed progenies (Lamkey and Hallauer, 1987).Characters that should receive special emphasis are grain yield, ASI, EPP and ear aspect. Ears may also be rated on a scale of • Individual plants versus family selection.• Non-inbred families versus selfed progenies.• Per se performance versus testcross performance.• Broad based versus narrow based testers.• Parental versus non-parental testers.With interpopulation improvement methods alternatives are:• Testcrosses involving individuals versus families.• Half-sib versus full-sib testcross progenies.• Non-parental testers; e.g., a population, derived synthetic, single-cross hybrid, or inbred line.Considerations in choosing among these methods are:Two common procedures are simple mass selection and stratified mass selection (Gardner, 1961)  (Vasal et al., 1982;Pandey et al., 1984) are not ideally suited for evaluation where ASI needs to be observed, though plants showing delayed silking can still be eliminated.Although replicated progeny trials of half-sib progenies can be conducted (Lonnquist, 1964), remnant seed must be used for recombination of selected families (Compton and Comstock, 1976) and seed quantity per family is limited to that from a single ear.Heritability of yield from half-sib progenies is low compared to other types of progenies, but if the trait is highly heritable (e.g., ASI, EPP), good progress may still be made without the need for hand pollination and a full cycle can be completed each year if multi-site testing is not practiced.Where resources are very limited, it is likely that this may be the most costeffective selection scheme.Full-sib family recurrent selection has been used extensively at CIMMYT to improve populations and to improve the drought tolerance of Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993) recommended that no fewer than 20-50 inbred progenies be recombined (Hallauer, 1992).Here the testcrosses of S 0 plants (Jenkins, 1940;Hull, 1945)  There is a misconception that hybrids perform well only under favorable environments. There is now good evidence suggesting that hybrids maintain their advantage over OPVs both in good and stress environments, and there is emerging convincing evidence that hybrids can be identified with yields up to 70%greater than those of a standard, broadly-adapted check hybrid at a mean yield level of 2.5 t/ha under drought (D. Beck, pers. comm., 1997).Types of hybrids emphasized will The relationship between inbred line performance and hybrid performance for stress traits is of great importance, but little published information for specific stresses is currently available. Lafitte and Edmeades (1995) reported that the correlation between S 2 per se and topcross performance under low N was only 0.22. Betran et al. (1997) have reported correlations, of around 0.4, between S 3 per se and topcross performance for some stress-related traits under drought. However, it is generally considered that inbreds with superior yields under drought and low N will result in superior hybrids under these stresses, even though these correlations are relatively weak. Part of the explanation for this is variation in inbreeding depression and in combining ability among the inbred lines in question.  Research on testers is continuing, and there is some information suggesting advantages in using other lines as testers for both drought and low N tolerance.Most maize in the tropics is planted at the beginning of the rainy season.With the first rains, the crop receives enough water to germinate, but plant stand is severely affected if subsequent rains are delayed. Seed supply, or the financial capacity of farmers in these areas, are often not sufficient to allow replanting after such dry spells. It is estimated that yield losses in maize due to postemergence drought stress in some areas are as high as those due to drought stress around flowering (Edmeades et al., 1989;1994).As drought stress reduces water influx to the plant, plant water potential falls, pressure on cell walls (turgor) is reduced, plant growth diminishes, and wilting occurs. Plants can partially adjust their turgor under these conditions by increasing the concentration of solutes in cells under drought stress (osmotic adjustment).However, if plant water potential continues to fall and osmotic adjustment cannot maintain a positive turgor, eventually the plant wilts permanently, cell death occurs and the plant does not recover after rewatering (Hsiao, 1973)  concentrations (e.g., Munns, 1988;Premachandra et al., 1989;Tardieu et al., 1991;Voetberg and Sharp, 1991).Some drought adaptive traits, furthermore, are ambivalent in their effect on plant survival. Osmotic adjustment results in higher turgor which maintains stomatal aperture and thereby increases water loss (Ludlow et al., 1985), but osmotic adjustment may also maintain root growth and water uptake (Morgan and Condon, 1986). Whether genotypes having such drought adaptive traits also have increased drought survival depends on the balance between these opposing effects. Faced with these difficulties, Ludlow and Muchow (1990) concluded that traits should be grouped, instead of being considered individually when breeding for drought tolerance.In The experiments were conducted during the dry seasons of 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95  Leaf rolling was scored on several occasions at about 11:00 am, when differences between lines were visible. Scores between 1 (unrolled leaves) and 5 (completely rolled leaves) were assigned to each zone and plot (Turner et al., 1986)  (1987), validated for maize leaves by Quarrie et al. (1988). Data on leaf rolling and ABA concentration were not used for selection.   Because live plant counts were based on a subjective assessment and decreased with time, data for analysis on plant counts were compiled by calculating a linear regression between plant counts and date of count. Predicted initial (first counting date) and final (last counting date before second irrigation) plant counts were determined with these regressions and used in further analyses. This approach reduced plant counts taken over 7 (1992-93), 6 (1993-94), and 9 (1994-95) weeks to two values only.All other data were averaged across moisture zones. Data from the evaluation of S 1 lines were analyzed with genotype, replicate and incomplete block as random factors.Broad sense heritabilities and genetic correlations between traits were determined according to Falconer (1989). Data from the evaluation of progress were analyzed with entry as a fixed factor and replicate and incomplete block as random factors.Phenotypic correlations were determined. Statistical analyses were conducted using SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC).There were few consistent genetic correlations among plant characteristics when correlations in DTP1 SI C 0 and DTP1 SIBA C 2 were compared (Tables 2 and 3).Genotypes with higher initial plant counts (higher germination) had more plants surviving until the final plant count; genotypes with higher seed weights or higher final plant counts produced more biomass; and genotypes with rolled leaves had slightly higher leaf ABA concentrations. There were no consistent genetic correlations between leaf rolling or ABA concentration and plant counts or biomass.Broad-sense heritabilities for plant counts and biomass were less than broad-sense heritabilities for leaf rolling, seed weight and leaf ABA concentration (Table 4). In three of four selection experiments, final plant counts showed higher heritabilities than initial plant counts.  5). The synthetic selected for leaf rolling was the only one that significantly differed from DTP1 SI C 0 for the selected trait, with its realized heritability for leaf rolling being 0.79. Initial and final plant counts were correlated (r = 0.77**). All other phenotypic correlations were less than |0.30| and not significant (data not shown). Evaluating genotypes for improved survival under post-emergence drought stress requires the assessment of plant death. In the past, plant death has been assessed by the ability of excised leaves to rehydrate (Flower and Ludlow, 1986), by estimating the proportion of dead leaf area (Ludlow et al., 1983), by counting number of recovering plants after rewatering (Rincon Tuexi et al., 1988) or by measuring sensitive metabolic functions such as cell membrane stability (Blum and Ebercon, 1981)   (Ludlow and Muchow, 1990;Turner et al, 1986). Leaf rolling in this study may have been less the 'cause'for extended survival than the 'symptom' for genotypes with a relatively inferior water uptake.Others have shown that genotypic differences in leaf rolling can be affected not only by leaf turgor, but also by differences in the structural characteristics of leaves (Begg, 1980). Additionally, genotypic differences in the water potential and turgor at which leaves begin to roll have been observed in rice (Turner et al., 1986). Selection under drought compared with selection under unstressed conditions has often been considered less efficient because of a decline in heritability for grain yield under stress (Rosielle and Hamblin, 1981;Blum, 1988). Johnson and Geadelmann (1989)   (Blum, 1988;Edmeades et al., 1989;Ludlow and Muchow, 1990).Physiologists and ideotype breeders have advocated the judicious incorporation of secondary traits within breeding programs (Blum, 1988;Ludlow and Muchow, 1990), but few traits have a proven contribution to increasing grain yield under stress. Evaluation of the adaptive value of a trait begins by showing that it is related to yield under drought in a field environment. However, correlation analysis between yield and secondary traits must be interpreted with care, since results are often confounded by genetic differences among genotypes for other traits or by the presence of outliers (Blum, 1988;Edmeades et al., 1989). A more effective test of the adaptive value of a trait can be done by comparison of genotypes differing only in the given trait in a nearly isogenic background (Grumet et al., 1987;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1991).In watered conditions (Edmeades et al., 1987;Fischer et al., 1989). The the correlation between these and yield under drought were generally high and significant (Fischer et al., 1989).Sequía showed gains in grain yield of around 80 to 100 kg ha -1 cycle -1 across environments ranging in yield from 1.0 to 9.0 Mg ha -1 (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a;Byrne et al., 1995).The gains in yield under wellwatered environments were not surprising, given that maintenance of yield potential had been a breeding objective. The only secondary trait which registered a significant change from selection was a reduction in ASI under drought, associated with an increase in ears and kernels plant -1 (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b), while no progress was registered in other drought-adaptive traits for which selection pressure had been reasonably strong (Bolaños et al., 1993).The selection scheme used in Tuxpeño Sequía provided the point of departure for similar recurrent selection schemes in other CIMMYT tropical elite maize populations (Edmeades et al., 1992). However, the Six elite maize populations adapted to the lowland tropics, varying in maturity, grain color and texture, are being selected under recurrent selection schemes for improved performance under drought at CIMMYT (Table 1).   2).Experimental design for each moisture regime was an alpha (0, 1) lattice (Patterson and Williams, 1976) in two replications, with an incomplete block size varying between 5 and 16 plots. Sowing was in rows 0.75 m apart at a density of 5.3 plants m -2 (LPS, P26S, DTP1, TS6 and S3C) or 6.6 plants m -2 (P16S and P18S), obtained by oversowing and thinning. Plot size was one row 2.5 m  Readings were averaged to minimize the effects due to time of observation.Chlorophyll concentration (µg cm -2 ) of fully exposed leaves, positioned midway between the ear leaf and the top of the plant, were measured in situ in eight trials, using a portable chlorophyll photometer (Design Electronics, Palmerston North, New Zealand) (Hardacre et al., 1984). Data were first tested for normality, and ASI was normalized using the transformation of log e √(ASI +10).Analyses and σ 2 e are estimates of genetic and environmental variance, respectively, and r is the number of replications (Hallauer and Miranda, 1981).Genetic correlations between pairs of traits were estimated as r x,y =σ 2x,y / √(σ 2x . σ 2 y ), where σs 2 x,y is the covariance of two traits, x and y, each with variances of σ 2x and σ 2 y (Singh and Chaudhary, 1979). Variance components for calculations of heritability and genetic correlations were obtained from the randomized complete block design analysis. Although methods exist for estimating heritabilities from lattice designs (Singh and Ceccarelli, 1995), in these trials the improvement in relative efficiency of lattice designs over randomized complete blocks was usually only 5% and never more than 25%.Across the S 1 progeny trials, grain yield averaged 2.49, 0.95 and 0.35 Mg ha -1 under WW, IS and SS treatments, respectively (Table 3). The drought treatments imposed reduced yield severely to 38 and 14% of wellwatered levels. The S 2,3 progenies were evaluated only across WW and SS, with mean yields of 2.13 and 0.51 Mg ha -1 , respectively. For both types of progenies, the reduction in yield under drought was accompanied by a reduction in all yield components (Table 3). Drought treatments markedly increased barrenness, as ears plant -1 averaged 0.95, 0.69 and 0.46 for S 1 progenies under WW, IS and SS treatments, respectively. The number of kernels ear -1 were also reduced in almost the same proportions to 267, 183 and 116, The dependence of grain yield on its components across all trials was strong, both S 1 and S 2,3 progenies showing similar relationships (Fig. 1).Across all trials, grain yield was linearly related to weight kernel -1 (r 2 = 0.74**) and kernels ear -1 (r 2 = 0.89**), with apparent lower limits of 83 mg kernel -1 and 78 kernels ear -1 , respectively. In general, S 2,3 progenies had larger but fewer kernels (Table 3). The relationship between grain yield and ears plant -1 was curvilinear and strong (r 2 = 0.94**), and so was the relationship between yield and ASI (r 2 = 0.70**). Grain yield decreased to less than 20% of its wellwatered levels as ASI increased from 0 to 5 d, and then declined asymptotically to almost zero yields as ASI increased further (Fig. 1). This was confirmed also by a highly significant family x stress level interaction for grain yield in most trials (data not shown).Changes in the magnitude of genetic (σ 2 g ) and error (σ 2 e ) variances, as well as the estimated corresponding broad-sense heritability (h 2 ) of specific traits plotted as a function of trial mean grain yield are presented in Figure 2. Since all trials were conducted in an almost completely rain-free environment, mean grain yield level was taken to reflect mainly water availability. Linear regressions were fitted to indicate trend by S 1 and S 2,3 progenies.In general, consistent with expectations, values of σ 2 g were greater for S 2,3 than for S 1 progenies, but both types of progenies had similar values of σ 2 e for all traits examined (Fig. 2). Genetic variances for grain yield, kernels ear -1 and weight kernel -1 increased with increasing yield levels, while    4).There were no consistent differences between the genetic correlations (r g ) of most traits with grain yield computed for S 1 progenies versus those computed for S 2,3 progenies.Genetic correlations between grain yield and kernels ear -1 , ears plant -1 and kernels plant -1 were consistently high (0.7 to 0.8) and positive, while that with weight kernel -1 was positive but small (0.22±0.16) (Fig. 3, Table 5). The genetic correlation between grain yield and kernels ear -1 , kernels plant -1 and weight kernel -1 , respectively, showed non-significant trends as water availability changed (Fig. 3). However, the value of r GY.EPP (between grain yield and ears plant -1 ) variances for ears plant -1 and ASI decreased. Stress level had small effects on σ 2 g for days to anthesis. In general the changes in magnitude of σ 2 g and σ 2 e with increasing yield were in the same direction and of similar magnitude for all traits. Exceptions were kernels ear -1 and weight kernel -1   where increases in σ 2 g with increasing availability of water were accompanied by no change or a slight decline in σ 2 e .In all cases and for all traits, S 2,3progenies had larger heritabilities (by around 0.10 to 0.15) than S 1 progenies across all yield levels without any crossover interaction (Fig. 2 and Table 4). The heritability for grain yield showed a general tendency to decrease with increasing moisture stress (Fig. 2), from around 0.60 in well-watered environments to values of 0.40 or less at very low yield levels.The heritability of kernels ear -1 and weight kernel -1 was around 0.60 under well-watered conditions, but also decreased with increasing stress (Fig. 2). In contrast, the heritability for ASI and ears plant -1 either increased or remained fairly constant with increasing moisture stress and  Flowering parameters were also quite strongly associated with grain yield across all moisture regimes. The value of r GY.AD (between grain yield and days to anthesis) averaged -0.47±0.18 across all trials (Table 5), suggesting that earlier-flowering progenies were associated with high grain yields. Similarly, the value of r GY.ASI averaged -0.48±0.21, indicating that a short ASI was linked to high grain yield under stress.However, both days to anthesis and ASI correlated more strongly and more negatively with grain yield as moisture stress intensified and yield levels declined (Fig. 3). Data shows that the genetic correlation of grain yield and ASI (r GY.ASI ) was apparently higher for S 1 than for S 2,3 progenies at the same yield level (Fig. 3). This observation may imply that the relationship between ASI and yield may not hold as the inbreeding level advances in progenies.Among other traits and yield, genetic correlations were extremely low and inconsistent (Table 5). Only canopy temperature (-0.22±0.11) and plant height (0.29±0.21) showed genetic  environmental correlation for the same traits were relatively small (Falconer, 1981). Exceptions were for weight kernel -1 where the phenotypic correlation was 0.46 versus 0.14 for the genetic correlation with grain yield under SS, and for relative stemleaf-extension rate where the two correlations were small but of opposite signs.For selection, each water regime   Yield components, morphological and phenological traitsIn the present study, more than 75% of the variation in grain yield under drought was accounted for by variation in ears and kernels plant -1 (Table 5). High correlations between grain yield and its components are normally found because of lack of independence among them (Blum, 1988). Nonetheless, correlation analysis showed that ears and kernels plant -1 were more important determinants of grain yield than weight kernel -1 . Individual kernel weight seemed to play a more important role in determining yield only under well-watered environments. As stress increased, the dependence of grain yield on ears plant -1 increased more than on kernels ear -1 . For example, ears plant -1 accounted for 24% of the variation in grain yield in the WW treatments but 59% in SS, while that for kernels ear -1 declined from 49 to 25% (based on phenotypic correlation coefficients, Table 5). The value of the genetic correlation points to a stronger underlying relationship between grain yield and ears plant -1 (r GY.EPP = 0.90±0.14) under severe stress. This value is somewhat larger than reported by Guei and Wassom (1992) in a separate study of LPS and P26S.Of the remaining traits, only ASI showed a strong and consistent genetic correlation to grain yield under drought (Table 5). The phenotypic correlation between grain yield and ASI reported here (-0.53** across S 1 trials under drought; Table 5) is considerably greater than the one reported for full-sib progenies by Fischer et al. (1989) at the same site.In addition, the corresponding genetic correlation (-0.60±0.24) points to a strong underlying dependence of yield on ASI. Both grain yield and ASI have similar heritabilities (Table 4), and variation in ASI accounted for 70% of the variation in grain yield across all trials reported here, similar to a value of 76% reported for Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b). The relationship between grain yield and ASI from this study encompassing 3509 progenies (Fig. 1) was very similar to that established for Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b), aSouth Africa hybrid (DuPlessis and Dijkhuis, 1967) and for a Corn Belt hybrid under density stress (Edmeades and Daynard, 1979), suggesting that this relationship could be ubiquitous in maize.Delayed silking has been associatedwith barrenness (Herrero and Johnson, 1981), and appears to reflect reduced partitioning of assimilates to the developing ear at flowering (Edmeades et al., 1993). Selection for improved performance under drought in tropical populations has been accompanied by large reductions in ASI (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b;Edmeades et al., 1996).Moisture stress at flowering destabilizes grain yield by increasing barrenness, suggesting that the ability of a cultivar to produce an ear under stress is the most important characteristic associated with drought tolerance. This provides justification for CIMMYT's continued emphasis on moisture stress during the flowering period when ears and kernels plant -1 are determined in maize. A corollary is that the crop must additionally retain its capacity to yield well in favorable environments, or it will be quickly disregarded by farmers (Edmeades et al., 1992).Since moisture stress increased with time within IS and SS trials, it penalized late-flowering progenies.This accounts for the consistent negative correlation between days to 50% anthesis and grain yield, becoming more negative with increasing intensity of stress (Table 5;  (Blum, 1988;Ludlow and Muchow, 1990).Selecting progenies that simply escape moisture stress by flowering early should be avoided in programs that focus on simultaneously increasing yield potential and tolerance.Other morphological traits were very weakly associated with grain yield under stress. A small but significant negative phenotypic correlation between tassel branch number and grain yield was observed. Tassel size is highly heritable (Table 4) and can be easily altered by selection (Fischer et al., 1987). Selection for drought tolerance in Tuxpeño Sequía led to a reduction in tassel size (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b), even though it was an unselected trait. In other maize studies, reduced tassel size was also associated with improved partitioning toward the ear (Fischer et al., 1987). The fact that rGY.TBN is essentially zero suggests that its phenotypic correlation is the result of an environmental correlation reflecting competition between ears and tassels for available resources at flowering.The moderate association found between yield and plant height under unstressed conditions (r=0.28**) may be an artifact of the use of single-row plots for evaluation, taller progenies capturing additional radiation when surrounded by shorter neighbors.Such advantage, however, would not be expressed in large plots. Selection for improved performance under drought in Tuxpeño Sequía resulted in a slight reduction in plant height (Bolaños et al., 1993), suggesting that this genetic correlation may reverse sign under drought. Lodging showed no consistent association with grain yield in this study, possibly because it occurred towards the end of grainfilling when assimilates were being remobilized from the stem to the grain.Traits used during selection had only a weak association with grain yield under stress (Table 5). This was unexpected as these traits were thought to be indicators of increased crop water status (Blum, 1988;Ludlow and Muchow, 1990). Several studies comparing maize cultivars under drought have shown that increases in grain yield and biomass were correlated with the ability to maintain higher leaf water potential or leaf turgor under drought, either because of improved soil water uptake or through osmotic adjustment (Ackerson, 1983;Lorens et al., 1987). Leaf and stem elongation has been shown to be very sensitive to changes in plant and soil water status (Hsiao et al., 1970;Westgate and Boyer, 1985), and Sobrado (1986) reported a strong relationship between leaf expansion rate and predawn leaf turgor potential in tropical maize cultivars. In the present study the relative stem-leafextension rate was barely associated with grain yield under stress. In addition, despite direct selection for the trait, no changes were detected after eight cycles of selection in Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños et al., 1993), and its use has been discontinued at CIMMYT (Edmeades et al., 1992).Water stress accelerates leaf senescence, and cultivars with osmotic adjustment have been shownto have delayed senescence under drought (Aparicio-Tejo and Boyer, 1983). However, osmotic adjustment in 204 maize cultivars under drought in Tlaltizapán was small, and selection for low osmotic potential in two maize populations (P16S and P18S) demonstrated little adaptive value for the trait under drought (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1991). The lack of association between green leaf longevity and grain yield observed in these trials, and the apparent lack of progress in selecting for this trait in Tuxpeño Sequía (Bolaños et al., 1993), may indicate that increased demands for N by the larger ear resulting from selection are met by remobilization of N from the leaves, thereby inducing senescence (Muchow, 1994).Droughted plants are usually lighter green than their unstressed counterparts (Wilson and Allison, 1978), with a lower level of leaf N and chlorophyll concentration (unpublished data, 1991). This is probably because N uptake is restricted in very dry soil. The weak positive genetic correlation between leaf chlorophyll concentration and grain yield (r=0.15**) was consistent across stress levels (Table 5).temperature reflects in part variation in rates of transpiration, and the trait has been used effectively as a selection tool for drought tolerance of wheat and sorghum (Blum et al., 1982;Blum, 1988). The weak Leaf rolling has been associated with maize cultivars having low leaf water status (Sobrado, 1987), though not for rice (Turner et al., 1986) nor for sorghum (Blum et al., 1989). Ackerson (1983) noted that leaf rolling occurred at a higher leaf water potential in a drought-tolerant latente maize hybrid than in a normal commercial hybrid. In addition, no association could be established between leaf rolling score and predawn leaf water potential in other studies of maize progenies (J. Bolaños, unpublished data, 1991).Leaf rolling is a moderately heritable trait under stress (h 2 =0.70 for S 2,3 progenies and h 2 =0.56 for S 1 progenies, Table 4), but it may reflect morphological and anatomical any of these traits (Bolaños et al., 1993). Reasons for these differences are not clear. One reason could be the type of progenies under observation, full-sibs in the case of Tuxpeño Sequía, compared to S 1 and S 2,3progenies in this study. Weak relationships may also result from the use of single-row plots for progeny evaluations, because traits that provide a competitive advantage in single-row plots, such as height, aggressive rooting and lax leaves, may provide little or no yield advantage in well-bordered plots, and may actually be disadvantageous under drought. A recent study of progenies under low N concluded that small plots are not a major source of environmental error during selection (Bänziger et al., 1995). CIMMYT has taken two approaches to develop source populations for drought tolerance (DT). One involves recurrent selection with elite populations, in the belief that there is a low frequency of alleles conferring DT in most elite germplasm. The second approach is to evaluate an array of putative DT sources, including cultivars and landraces, followed by recombination of the best of these into a new breeding population which can then be further improved for agronomic performance (Edmeades et al., 1997b) The usefulness of these populations depends on the balance between their tolerance and their adaptation.Susceptibility to other abiotic and/or biotic stresses often restricts their usefulness, though this can usually be improved through selection. Moreover, adaptive traits, such as maturity and disease resistance generally have high heritabilities and are regulated by fewer genes than yield. The CIMMYT drought network provides a good opportunity to evaluate source populations in the target area, and has been used in this manner (Edmeades et al., 1997a). Open-pollinated varieties (OPVs), progeny trials, and recently topcross progeny trials provide a wide range of tolerant source material that can be evaluated under local conditions.Based on their performance, a decision can be made to use the source populations per se or to cross them with locally-adapted material.In Ecuador, two varieties, 'INIAP-540\" and 'INIAP-542', were developed by recombining two selections of S 1 families, one each from 'Tuxpeño Sequía C 6 ' (TS6) and 'Pool 26 Sequía C 1 ' (Reyes et al., 1997). In Central America, the population 'TS6 x BS19' is under S 2 recurrent selection (Brizuela et al., 1997). In West and Central Africa, 12 drought tolerant early varieties have been extracted from Pool 16 DT, which has been selected for 8 cycles of recurrent selection for DT after its conversion to streak resistance (Badu-Apraku et al., 1997). In Bolivia, a selection of the best S 3 -S 4 lines developed by the CIMMYT hybrid program was made based on their topcross performance with a local variety, 'IBO-128', under both drought stressed and normal conditions (Claure et al., 1997). In Ethiopia, two maize varieties 'ACV3' (originated from early maturing collections from North America and Europe) and 'ACV6' (originated from maize collections from USA and Africa) are proposed for release (Yitbarek, 1997). In Vietnam, 'Tuxpeño Sequía', 'Pool 16 Sequía' and 'Pool 18 Sequía' are being used as direct genetic resources to extract inbred lines and to develop droughttolerant composites in the breeding program (Tinh, 1997).The third and more complex strategy is to develop a new breeding  (Ndambuki, 1997). At CIMMYT, the source population 'DTP2' was created by introgression of new sources of DT into 'DTP1' (Edmeades et al., 1997b).In Indonesia, a local drought tolerant population, 'Cetek', has been used in crosses with other varieties and Pool 2, a population developed by crossing local varieties with Suwan 2, is under selection for DT (Dahlan et al., 1997).In Cameroon, seven varieties from West Africa and CIMMYT were crossed in a partial diallel fashion in order to form two reciprocal DT populations (The et al., 1997).Which source population(s) to use? - Goodman (1985)  performance, where these are known (Edmeades et al., 1995).Available information can be used to identify breeding materials for an initial evaluation in the target environment. Such an evaluation might be of: The population per se;the selfed population per se; diallel of local and exotic populations; and population x tester topcross combinations (Geadelmann, 1984).  (Crossa et al., 1987;Michelini and Hallauer, 1993). Testcrosses of source populations with a local elite tester are also recommended, especially if that tester's heterotic response is known, though a diallel evaluation has the added advantage of being able to identify completely new heterotic patterns (Geadelmann, 1984).Biometrical methods can be applied to all the information collected in the preliminary evaluation in order to analyze GxE, to organize the material and to make decisions for the introgression process. Principal component analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, AMMI analysis and linear regression are all methods useful for analyzing GxE interaction of source populations in target environments (Crossa, 1990) in an attempt to identify a stable broadlyadapted source material. Diallel information can be used to estimate genetic diversity among local and source populations (Hanson and Casas, 1968) and to evaluate complementation among them (Hanson and Casas, 1981;Hanson, 1983). Prediction methods can be used for selecting composites formed from within a set of local and source populations, and usually take into consideration the predicted mean and potential variability (Miranda-Filho, 1974;Calvalho et al., 1980;Vencovsky et al., 1973), as well as the contribution of varieties to the composite mean of new breeding populations (Miranda-Filho and Chaves, 1991).  Dudley (1982) concluded that at least one generation of backcrossing to the adapted parent (25% 'exotic') would be appropriate, and additional backcrossing was possibly justified when diversity between the parental populations was large. This is in agreement with various researchers' empirical results (Geadelmann, 1984).However, 100% 'exotic' populations such as BS16 (100% ETO) have been successfully adapted to Corn Belt conditions after several cycles of mass selection for early flowering (Hallauer, 1978) while other exotic populations have been used directly as a source of inbred lines (Goodman, 1985). Michelini and Hallauer (1993), by regressing grain yield on percentage of exotic germplasm in several crosses (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% exotic), concluded that 50% exotic germplasm provided the best means of retaining and combining favorable alleles from an exotic source with local germplasm. When evaluating inbred progenies (S 1 , S 2 ) developed from populations with some degree of exotic germplasm, mean grain yield was lower for introgressed populations than for adapted populations but genetic variation was increased by introgression, resulting in higher predicted gains (Crossa et al., 1987;Eagles and Hardacre, 1990).In our case the proportion of 'source'  Ho and Comstock (1980) showed that when Ne is large enough and local and source populations do not differ much in performance, the F 2 population should be used as a base foundation population. If the difference in performance between parents is large, one backcross to the superior germplasm would be the appropriate choice. Similar results were found by Bridges and Gardner (1987) for both long-term and short-term selection goals.There is general agreement regarding the beneficial effects of several generations of intermating with mild phenotypic selection following the introgression process, but before intense inbreeding and selection is initiated (Geadelmann, 1984). High linkage disequilibrium along with intense selection could result in the loss of favorable alleles. On the other hand, random mating with mild selection allows the separation of useful and undesirable linked alleles (Eagles et al., 1989). During recombination it is important to maintain an adequate effective population size to avoid genetic drift (Hallauer and Miranda, 1988). The Because such a cross between populations produces unique genotypes that can not be replicated to reduce environmental error (especially important under drought stress) or that may be lost after marker characterization is completed, it will usually be more efficient to use a mapping population formed from the cross of 'local x source' inbred lines, partially-inbred lines, or doubled haploids, even though this requires additional time and resources (Edwards, 1992). Once the association between MMs and QTL has been made, new cycles of recombination and selection can be monitored by MMs to increase the frequency of favorable alleles in the progenies. However, the probability of recombination between the markers and QTLs increases with the additional cycles so marker-assisted selection should be emphasized during the early cycles.At CIMMYT, there is on-going research to identify genomic regions responsible for drought tolerance. Ribaut et al. (1996) identified QTL for the anthesis-silking interval (ASI), an important secondary trait in selection for drought tolerance (Edmeades et al., 1992). Changes in allelic frequencies in 'Tuxpeño Sequía' during cycles of selection have paralleled changes in QTL for drought tolerance, identified using MMs (Ribaut et al., 1997b). In the future it should be possible to assist NARS in their search for DT by offering these QTL as a product, along with the methodologies to identify and transfer them (Ribaut et al., 1997a).Intrapopulation improvement methods have been effective at improving the DT of source populations (Edmeades et al., 1997d), and have increased the probability of developing superior DT inbred lines from those populations (Edmeades et al., 1997c). Vasal et al. (1997)  In CIMMYT an extensive characterization of lowland tropical and subtropical maize germplasm was done in order to develop hybridoriented populations (Beck et al., 1990;Crossa et al., 1990;Vasal et al., 1992a, b) or existing elite DT populations, these will probably need to be assigned to a heterotic group suited to the needs of the national program.Here there are two choices: (i) use testers for existing heterotic groups to characterize incoming germplasm; or for mono-and oligogenic traits such as insect and disease resistance, plant height, tassel size, anthesis-silking interval, and for improving yield itself (Pandey and Gardner, 1992).After initial improvement using intrapopulation selection, a switch to RRS is proposed in order to create favorable complementary allele combinations in both heterotic populations. These combinations will exploit heterosis by emphasizing both non-additive as well as additive gene effects.Two RRS schemes are presented for DT improvement, based on that proposed by Eberhart et al. (1996).These are reciprocal full-sib selection (FS) and reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS) (Fig. 2; Fig. 3).Alternating rainy (RS) and dry population can be used as a tester, but in later cycles a single-cross or line tester formed from the opposite population should be used. Genetic gain formulae for each method, and factors affecting that gain, have been presented by Hallauer and Miranda (1988) and Eberhart et al. (1996).In comparisons among intra-and interpopulation schemes, the average observed genetic gain per cycle were found to be similar (Hallauer and Miranda, 1988), though genetic gain per year was generally higher for the intra-population schemes.Nevertheless, the value of RRS must   program. These lines are also being used to form synthetics and we have begun a small effort in recycling these materials. Elite lines have been recently released as CIMMYT maize lines (CMLs; Table 1).The relationship between performance of inbred lines and their hybrids is an important issue in hybrid development. Brown (1967)   Betrán et al. (1995) showed that their performances were significantly and positively correlated under the same stress but not between stress levels.Under a stress provided by low soil nitrogen, S 2 line and topcross yields for 80 entries were not significantly associated (r = 0.22 ns) (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1995). These findings imply that selection of lines for per se performance under stress may be justified to the S 2-3 level, but with higher levels of inbreeding selection, should be based on hybrid performance.   Using these testers promotes lines that combine DT and good agronomic performance. Ten superior lines from LPS and TS6, along with seven elite lines from the lowland tropical subprogram, were crossed in all possible combinations and the resulting hybrids are being evaluated under a range of moisture levels.was designed to improve cross performance between two heterotic populations, and may be appropriate for programs geared toward hybrid development (Hallauer and Miranda, 1988). We are gathering combining ability information on DT lines in various studies, including the DT network and other hybrid evaluations, and this could be used to form two heterotic DT synthetic populations. We will form two heterotic white-grained DT populations, which may then be improved using the modified S 2 testcross reciprocal recurrent selection scheme previously described.  1.  Dudley (1982Dudley ( , 1984aDudley ( , b, 1987)), Gerloff and Smith (1988), Bernardo (1990), Metz (1994),and Hohls et al. (1995). The objective is to identify source germplasm (P w )with the highest frequency of favorable dominant alleles which are not present in an elite hybrid (P 1 x P 2 ). Dudley (1984aDudley ( , 1987) )  Gerloff and Smith (1988) proposed two additional statistics: the upper bound (UBND) = minimum (P w x P 1 -P 1 , P w x P 2 -P 2 ), and the testcross to the single cross [TC(SC) = P w x (P 1 x P 2 ). Estimation of DS and UBND requires evaluation of the testcrosses of the source material to the two inbreds and the inbreds themselves (inbred performance could be a limitation). TC(SC) calculation, however, requires only the evaluation of the three-way crosses of potential P w s with the target singlecross, but does not provide information about the heterotic group of P w . DS, UBND and TC(SC) statistics were evaluated to identify donor inbred lines (Misevic, 1989a, b) and commercial hybrids as sources of favorable alleles (Misevic, 1990). Bernardo (1990) pointed out that there is a risk of losing favorable alleles present in a single cross while new favorable alleles are being transferred from P w to P 1 or P 2 . Bernardo (1990) devised the NI (net improvement) statistic, which estimates the number of favorable alleles that can be gained from P w minus the number of favorable alleles that can be lost from P 1 or P 2 ,and can be calculated as the maximum of [(P 1x P w -P 1 x P 2 )/2, (P 2 x P w -P 1 x P 2 )/ 2]. NI requires similar evaluations as DS and UBND. Metz (1994) proposed two statistics, PNG g and PNG ceg , to estimate the genetic probability of a net gain of favorable alleles from P w regardless of its relationship with P 1 and P 2 .With the same purpose Hohls et al.(1995) presented an unbiased estimator, ma(B + G), based on a combining ability model and free from the assumption of complete dominance. General combining ability, GCA (Sprague and Tatum, 1942), also could be used to identify  D (50-50, 70-30, 80-20, 90-10, 95-5). Dudley (1984b) noted the advantages of backcrossing if one parent has more loci with favorable alleles than the other, the parents are diverse, or the level of dominance is high.Selection before inbreeding will increase the probability of developing lines superior to either parent.These recommendations can be applied using our example with CML 247 as the R line. donor alleles (Ribaut et al., 1997a).With marker-assisted backcrossing, up to six independent markers (or QTLs) can be transferred, using closely flanking markers. However, if the number of regions is significantly larger than six it may be necessary to initiate backcrosses using subgroups of lines (Edwards, 1992). An interesting alternative to markerassisted backcrossing would be to conduct cycles or recurrent selection using the F 2 population as a starting population and trying to accumulate DT factors in the new progenies. This is related to an increase in the probability of developing superior inbred lines if selection is made before inbreeding (Dudley, 1984b), but recognizes that flanking markers provide a better chance of maintaining favorable DT genes and to increase their frequencies.In  Among lines, grain yield reduction from WW to SS was 90% (Table 1, Fig. 1). LPS lines suffered greater grain yield reduction (92%) than TS6 lines (88%), though LPS lines performed better than TS6 lines under well-watered conditions (Fig.2). Heritabilities of grain yield and secondary traits were similar (>0.50) in SS and WW conditions. Grain yield reduction among topcrosses from WW to SS was 70% (Table 2, Fig. 3). Grain yield reduction for LPS topcrosses was 19% from WW to IS and 73% from WW to SS. Grain yield reduction for TS6 topcrosses was 20% from WW to IS and 67% from WW to SS. LPS topcrosses were superior under WW and IS conditions and TS6topcrosses were superior under SS (Fig. 4). TS6 C 1 has a longer breeding history for drought tolerance (six cycles of full-sib recurrent selection + one cycle of S 1 recurrent selection)than LPS C 3 (three cycles of S 1 recurrent selection), which is reflected in line and topcross performance. Heritability for grain yield decreased when drought stress increased (Table 2).Topcross GY under SS was significantly correlated with all line traits under SS as well as with line AD under WW (Table 3). AGY correlations were lower than GY    ;; ;;  ;; ;; ;; ;; ;;  ;; ;;  ;; ;;  ;; ;;   ;; ;;  ;; ;; ;; ;; ;;  ;; ;;   ;;; ;;; ;;;  ;; ;;  ;; ;;  ;;; ;;;  ;;;  ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;;   ;;;; ;; ;; ; in topcross grain yield under IS and WW but not under SS (Table 5).TS6 lines and topcrosses are superior to LPS lines and topcrosses under severe drought stress, but inferior under IS and WW even when GY was corrected for AD. Line traits under SS are more strongly correlated with topcross performance under severe drought stress than are line traits under normal conditions.Selection for a reduction in ASI, senescence and barrenness in lines under severe drought stress could be used to enhance the chances of selecting drought tolerant hybrids.  Each year approximately 32 million hectares of maize are grown in the USA. Data provided by Dr. K.R.Lamkey, USDA-ARS, Iowa State University (Fig. 1), shows maize yields versus time from 1866 to 1995.These data demonstrate that from 1866 to the early 1930s average yields in the USA remained unchanged.   (Duvick, 1984;Carlone and Russell, 1987).The US Corn Belt is located in the central part of the country from Indiana through Nebraska and contains parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas (Fig. 2).Although the region has large areas of highly productive land, the maize crop grown on significant portions of that area can be expected to suffer some degree of moisture stress during the growing season. Palmer Drought Index (Palmer, 1965)  Improving tolerance of maize germplasm to heat and drought stress has helped improve the stability of yield of current hybrids.   Stability analysis provides a method to characterize the response of a hybrid to varying environmental conditions. A number of approaches to stability analysis have been developed. By far the most common technique in the commercial sector is based on the analysis developed by Eberhart and Russell (1966). In this analysis the yields of a specific hybrid from many locations are regressed on the mean yield of all hybrids grown at the same set of locations. Maize breeders in the USAwho use this analysis tend to define a stable hybrid as being one with high mean performance, a regression coefficient of close to 1.0 and small deviations from regression. Both Jensen and Cavalieri (1983) and Hallauer et al. (1988) have noted that a large number of locations are necessary to obtain reliable estimates of stability of a hybrid. Gama and Hallauer (1980) suggested that breeders first select high yielding hybrids, and as more data becomes available, select the most stable hybrids from among those with high yield. Developing maize hybrids with yield stability is difficult, but necessary. A farmer will remember a hybrid that failed and the company that sold it to him for many years.Drought is a major source of grain yield decrease in cereals, especially in developing countries. For maize in the tropics, this loss has been estimated to be around 17% annually, with regional losses reaching 70% under extreme conditions, compared with well-watered production (Edmeades et al., 1995). In maize, when drought occurs before and during flowering, a delay between pollen shedding and silk emergence is observed (Hall et al., 1982;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a;1993b). This increase in the anthesis-silking interval (ASI) has been associated with a grain yield decrease under drought (Du Plessis and Dijkhuis, 1967;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b).Selection for grain yield under water stress has often been considered inefficient because genetic variance declines more rapidly than environmental variance, reducing heritability. Under such conditions selection for secondary traits correlated to grain yield, such as ASI, appears to increase selection efficiency (Bolaños et al., 1993 ). Loci distributed over the maize genome were assayed using RFLPs. Special attention was given to genomic regions responsible for expression of ASI, identified in a previous study using a cross between two inbreds derived mainly from Tuxpeño germplasm. There is strong evidence that the alleles of these two inbred lines are also present in this population. Allelic frequencies that either increased, decreased or remained stable were recorded for C 8 relative to C 0 . Some major allele frequency changes were detected at loci located in genomic regions responsible for ASI expression, and the effects of these frequency changes were estimated. Implications of this analysis concerning the improvement of open-pollinated populations or lines using molecular markers are discussed.quantify changes in allele frequency over eight cycles of full-sib recurrent selection for drought tolerance in the population Tuxpeño Sequía. The magnitude and genomic position of allelic frequency changes were compared with the location of QTL previously identified for the expression of ASI and yield under drought, with a view to using this information to increase the efficiency of population improvement for these traits. To date, 32 probes have been used to screen the three selection cycles (C 0 , C 4 and C 8 ). At any one locus the number of alleles identified was between 3 and 7. No significant changes in allelic frequencies were observed for around 30% of the probes. The greatest changes in allelic frequencies were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 and 10 (see Tables 3 and 4   always present in Tuxpeño Sequía as well. Major changes in allelic frequencies were found at loci close to the four most important QTL associated with ASI, as identified in the F 2 population (Fig. 2) (Ribaut et al., 1996). At three of these four QTL, the frequency of the allele involved in the expression of a short ASI in the F 2 population increased with cycles of selection.The genomic regions associated with the traits that the breeder has been selecting for have been identified.    (Blum, 1988). Moreover, only one dry crop season per year is available in the tropics, making selection even more time consuming.When drought stress occurs just before or during the flowering in maize, a delay in silk emergence is observed, resulting in an increase in anthesis-silking interval (ASI) (Hall et al., 1982;Westgate and Bassetti, 1990;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b). This asynchrony between male and female flowering dates is strongly associated When drought stress occurs just before or during flowering in maize, it delays silking and increases the anthesis-silking interval (ASI). Strong evidence associates an increased ASI with reduced grain yields in maize. In the present study, molecular markers were used to identify genomic segments responsible for the expression of ASI in maize, with the aim of using this information in marker-assisted selection (MAS) for reduced ASI. An F 2 population of 260 individuals was genotyped at 150 loci. In 1992 and1994, F 3 families were evaluated under several water regimes in the field for ASI, several morphological traits, yield components and physiological drought variables. For ASI, six QTL (LOD scores greater than 2.5) were identified on chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and  tomatoes (Paterson et al., 1988). This From a cross between two tropical lines (P 1 with a short ASI and a reasonable level of drought tolerance;and P 2 with a long ASI and drought susceptible), an F 2 population of 260 individuals was genotyped. Based on the polymorphisms identified at 150 different loci, a RFLP linkage map was constructed using the MAPMAKER software (Lander et al., 1987). Interval Mapping (CIM) (Zeng, 1994).Seven QTL (likelihood threshold, LOD score, greater than 2.5) for ASI were identified on chromosomes 1(with two QTL), 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10.These QTL accounted for approximately 50% of the phenotypic variability, which represented a change in ASI of 10.5 d.Transgressive segregation was observed for ASI. Five QTL segments contributed by P 1 , the short ASI line, were responsible for a 7 d reduction in ASI, and were stable over years and stress levels (Ribaut et al., 1996). QTL involved in the expression of yield components, such as grain weight, ears per plant and grain number, were not consistently identified across stress levels and explained only a low percentage of the phenotypic variance for these traits. From these first QTL analyses, it can be concluded that:1. The identification of molecular markers of interest at QTL peaks associated with ASI and yield components has to be achieved using field data obtained under drought.2. MAS for drought tolerance using only the QTL involved in the expression of yield components under drought would not be efficient.3. MAS using only QTL involved in the expression of secondary traits of interest, such as ASI, would not be the most efficient either, since at one important genomic position the allele contributing to an ASI reduction contributed also to a grain yield decrease (Fig. 1).The most successful MAS strategy should take into account the \"best QTL\" for different traits, in the form of an index. These QTL should be stable across environments, account for a large percentage of the phenotypic variance, and, if not involved directly in the expression of yield, should be involved in the expression of traits significantly correlated with yield. The first MAS project (Fig. 2) is based on a backcrossing scheme using P 1 as the donor line and CML247 as the recurrent line. CML247 is an elite, Location on maize chromosomes of the anthesis-silking interval (ASI) and grain weight (GY) QTL detected using composite interval mapping, based on combined data sets from field evaluations under intermediate and severe drought stress. Genomic regions responsible for the expression of ASI and GY are represented by ellipses for LOD scores higher than 2.0. The width of the ellipse is proportional to the percentage of phenotypic variance explained by that QTL. The parental line contributing the allele for a short ASI or better yield is indicated for each QTL.Figure 2. Summary of the on-going project of drought tolerance improvement in maize lines using molecular markers. The left part of the scheme presents the preliminary study with P 1 and P 2 as parental lines used to identify QTL under several water regimes at F 2 and recombinant inbred line (RIL) genetic levels. The right side presents the marker-assisted selection (MAS) backcrossing scheme, using P 1 as the donor line and CML247 as the recurrent line. WW, IS and SS indicate evaluations conducted under well watered, intermediate and severe water stress conditions, respectively. Numbers in parentheses refer to the numbers of lines evaluated at each stage.from F 3 family evaluation in the field under severe stress conditions.Preliminary results indicate that QTL for ASI are quite consistent between the two crosses. Of the five QTL previously identified in P 1 (Ribaut et al., 1996), only the QTL on chromosome 6 was not detected. The CIMMYT physiologists conducted eight cycles of full-sib recurrent selection in the population \"TuxpeñoSequía\" during dry seasons in Mexico (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a).Selection was based mainly on an index comprising increased grain yield under drought, maintenance of the sowing-anthesis interval (to avoid escapes due to earliness), and reduced ASI. In Project 2 (Fig. 3), we quantified changes in allelic frequencies over cycles of selection at loci of known map position. The most significant allelic shifts occurred at or near the QTL previously detected for ASI (Ribaut et al., 1995;Ribaut et al, 1997). It can be postulated that these  (ii) whether selection under high N is an efficient approach for increasing grain yields under low N. The present study examines (i) to what extent alpha (0,1) lattice designs and secondary traits improve selection efficiency under low N, and (ii) whether selection under high N is an efficient approach for increasing grain yields under low N. Grain yield and the secondary traits anthesis-silking interval (ASI), number of ears per plant, leaf chlorophyll concentration and leaf senescence of 19 maize trials grown under low N and 14 under high N conditions were analyzed. Broad-sense heritabilities of traits, genetic correlations between environments and traits and predicted response to selection were calculated. The results indicate that (i) alpha (0,1) lattice designs and secondary traits can considerably increase the efficiency of selection for grain yield in maize breeding programs targeting low N environments, and that (ii) if the N stress present in the target environment leads to a yield reduction greater than about 40%, a breeding program should include low N selection environments in order to maximize selection gains for that target environment. (Hardacre et al., 1984;Minolta, 1989).Leaf senescence was determined either by counting the number of green leaves remaining below the ear on five bordered plants at approximately 3 and 5 weeks after anthesis (Exp. 1 to 10), or by visually estimating the percentage of leaf area remaining in each plot on two to three occasions during grain filling (Exp. 10 to 19). The number of ears per plant was determined at harvest, and grain yield was measured from shelled, dried ears. Statistical analyses followed procedures described by Falconer (1989). Each experiment was analyzed separately. To assess the value of using alpha (0,1) lattice designs, each low N experiment was analyzed as a randomized complete block design and as a lattice design, and broad-sense heritabilities of grain yield and predicted responses of grain yield to selection were compared between these designs.Broad-sense heritability (h 2 ) was calculated as:where σ G 2 is the genetic variance, σ E 2 is the error variance, and r is the number of replications in the experiment. Predicted response to selection was calculated asTo assess the value of secondary traits under low N, data on grain yield, ASI, ears per plant, leaf chlorophyll concentration and leaf senescence were combined using aSmith-Hazel index. The efficiency of index selection was calculated by dividing the predicted response to index selection by the predicted response of selection for grain yield alone (Lin, 1978;Wells and Kofoid, 1986):where b is the vector of index weights, G is the genotypic variancecovariance matrix between grain yield and traits included in selection, h GY is the square root of the heritability for grain yield and σ G(GY)is the square root of the genetic variance.To Additive and non-additive effects were not separated, and genotype x environment interactions resulting from effects other than nitrogen were ignored. Further details can be found in Bänziger et al. (1997) and Bänziger and Lafitte (1997).The value of improved designs Broad-sense heritabilities for grain yield averaged 0.33 (low N) and 0.54 (high N) across 14 experiments using a randomized complete block design (Table 1 well established (see Kempton et al., 1994;Patterson and Williams, 1976).The use of alpha (0,1) lattice designs in this study resulted in an improved estimation of broad-sense heritability and in a larger predicted selection gain under low and high N. The relative advantage of the improved design was higher under low N. Low N fields are usually subject to larger error variation, probably due to inherent differences in soil fertility (Lafitte et al., 1997). Alpha (0,1) lattice designs (and other improved designs) may compensate for this effect.CIMMYT has developed publicly available software that designs and analyzes alpha (0,1) lattices (Barreto et al., 1997).The identification of secondary traits with adaptive value under low N has been described elsewhere (Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997). progress for grain yield (Lin, 1978). where the broad-sense heritability of grain yield was low (Fig. 1).With the reduced set of 14 experiments presented in Table 1, the use of alpha ( 0  (Falconer, 1989). Broad-sense heritabilities of grain yield under low and high N are presented in Table 1.Broad-sense heritabilities under high N exceeded those under low N by 41% on average. For the same 14 experiments, genetic correlations between grain yield under low and high N averaged 0.38. They systematically decreased with increasing N stress intensity (Fig. 2), indicating that as N stress under low N increased, there was less agreement in ranking for yield between genotypes that performed well under high N versus those that performed well under low N. As a result, the efficiency of selection under high N for improving grain yield under low N also decreased with increasing N stress (Fig. 3). At an index efficiency of 1.0, selection under low and high N will be equally  experiments examined (Fig. 3).Where yields in the target environment were reduced by more than 43% due to N stress, low N selection was significantly superior to high N selection.The  Currently Network participants have occurred about once every three years (1989; 1992; 1995-96). The first shipment to the Low N Network took place in 1995-96. Following each round of trials a comprehensive report has been issued (Edmeades et al., 1991(Edmeades et al., , 1995)) Progeny evaluations Most of these have been varieties or population bulks derived from source populations selected specifically for tolerance to these stresses, and are fully described in Edmeades et al. (1991Edmeades et al. ( , 1995)). Entries in Table 1.Routine analyses of variance were conducted at each site, and data were combined for across-location analyses. Stability of performance across sites was examined in the following ways (Edmeades et al., 1995):(1) Joint linear regressions (Eberhart and Russell, 1966) -Yield of an individual genotype was regressed on mean yield of all genotypes at each site. A desirable genotype for drought-prone areas is one with a high positive y-intercept, a slope of near 1.0 or greater (i.e., has the capacity to exploit high yielding environments, but yields well under stress), and low deviations from the regression.(2) Average rank across sites, and the standard error of the rank -A desirable cultivar is one with a low average rank and a low standard error of that rank.(3) Superiority index (Lin and Binns, 1988) -This measure is suited to the situation where there are a balanced The smaller the value, the better the cultivar.These have been reported in detail by Edmeades et al. (1991Edmeades et al. ( , 1995Edmeades et al. ( , 1997a) ) and Crossa et al. (1997), and only recent highlights are reported here.A total of 21 trials (or 60%) returned useful results.Severely stressed sites: mean yields <1.75 t/ha (7 sites) -Although yield differences among entries were non-significant (Table 2), the highest yielders were those which flowered earliest. In these low rainfall, severely-stressed environments, the primary requirement is escape, followed by tolerance. Nonetheless, the ASI of these sites averaged 4.   (Edmeades et al., 1995). Analysis of ranks showed that Pool   Moderately moisture-stressed sites with yields between 2.0 and 4.0 t/ha (7 sites) -This is the main target environment for drought-tolerant cultivars. Entry differences for yield were non-significant (P = 0.22) (Table 3). Local checks took the top two Relatively unstressed sites with yields from 4.0 to 6.5 t/ha (7 sites) -These sites primarily measured yield potential and broad adaptation rather  (Edmeades et al., 1997a).A uniform site greatly increases the efficiency of the selection process for both drought and low N, and it is well worth investing effort in identifying such sites before the processes of testing and selection begin. The shortcomings of a site caused by lack of uniformity can, to some extent, be offset by an efficient design, and we recommend the use of alpha (0,1) lattice designs (Patterson and Williams, 1976) or row and column designs (Patterson and Robinson, 1989). Such designs provide a considerable increase in efficiency (often >20%) at no additional cost in seed or land.When selecting a site for drought research, the emphasis should be on locations where rain will not interfere at critical stages of growth.A Often N stress early in the season, or even at flowering, is not very severe.Stress at this stage can be intensified by using an intercrop (e.g., sorghum)that can be removed when the stress level becomes sufficiently severe.High plant density also increases the level of N deficiency, and thinning can be delayed to induce an early N stress. Where resources are scarce, emphasis should be on observing shelled grain yield, anthesis date, ears per plant and a visual score of staygreen on one or two occasions during the latter half of grain filling (Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997).Where several traits are observed and collaborators want to make their own selections, or where data from several sites are combined, the use of a selection index that combines data from all measured traits and sites (e.g., Barreto et al., 1997) has led to increased selection efficiency compared with the use of grain yield alone (Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997).Low N Networks Regional network activities CIMMYT can assist in the facilitation and execution of regional testing networks focusing on selection for stress tolerance by:• Coordination of network activities such as selection of entries for trials, development of fieldbooks, packaging and dispatch, inspection, analysis of data across locations, and reporting.• Development and distribution of regionally-adapted genetic diversity for stress tolerance.• Management and reporting of regionally-focused donor funds for national program support.• Strategic research on stress management and selection techniques that have a regional orientation.• Adaptation of exotic germplasm introduced as a source of stress tolerance from CIMMYT headquarters, from other regional maize breeding programs, or from private sector sources.• Application of biotechnology tools, such as the conversion of elite regionally-adapted but susceptible inbred lines to tolerance through the transfer of traits such as short ASI under stress (Ribaut et al., 1997).• Information exchange through sponsored regional conferences and their proceedings, and joint planning meetings.• Fostering seed and information exchanges, and arranging for testing sites with regional private seed companies on behalf of national program clients in the region.There is a continuing role for CIMMYT's stress-oriented breeding and research programs at headquarters in the following areas:• Development of highly stresstolerant sources that may initially have poor agronomic characteristics and very narrow adaptation, but which could be used in marker-assisted backcrossing programs.• Development of broadly-adapted elite source germplasm through recurrent selection (Edmeades et al., 1997c).• Stress definition: the incidence, intensity, nature and distribution of drought and low N stresses, and their global and regional costs, using tools provided by GIS and crop process models (White and Elings, 1997).• Distribution of broadly adapted source germplasm (populations;inbred lines) to regional centers for regional adaptation, for introgression into locally-adapted populations, or for use as a line in a hybrid or synthetic. Drought and low fertility are two of the major causes of maize yield loss in the tropics. CIMMYT's megaenvironment study (CIMMYT, 1988), and the application of arbitrary loss estimates to each moisture stress class suggests that global losses of maize grain to drought in the tropics may total 24 million tons per year, or around 17% of well-watered production (Edmeades et al., 1992). Africa (Rötter, 1993;Edmeades et al., 1997a), demonstrating that drought is a pervasive cause of yield instability in maize-based cropping systems in most years and environments.Despite the fact that the yields of sorghum and millet are often more stable than maize in variable rainfall environments, they are usually lower in good years, and consumer preference often demands that maize be grown instead. Ludlow and Muchow (1990)   et al., 1997).Variation in kernel number per plant is normally responsible for most of the variation in grain yield, and kernel number is determined by events which occur near flowering when maize is most susceptible to drought. Grain yield loss is around twice as great from a single stress day experienced around flowering than at any other time (Shaw, 1976;Grant et al., 1989;NeSmith and Ritchie, 1992), and although the probability of drought stress is lower at silking, its consequences on yield can be severe, since it is too late in the season for replanting. This susceptibility is probably because of the spatial separation of male and female flowers on the plant, a reduced proportion of assimilates partitioned to the ear versus the tassel when the plant is stressed at flowering (Edmeades et al., 1993), and direct effects of water deficits on enzyme and hormone activities in the newlyfertilized ovary (Westgate, 1997).Abortion of fertilized kernels shortly after pollination seems to be due to a reduced flux of assimilates, especially sucrose, to the developing kernel (Schussler and Westgate, 1995;Zinselmeier et al., 1995b). Schussler The greater degree of drought tolerance of short plant selections under drought (Fischer et al., 1983) supports this hypothesis.An easily observed indicator of this assimilate flow, and hence the growth rate of the ear under stress, is anthesis-silking interval (ASI), which lengthens as photosynthesis per plant is reduced by stresses that reduce photosynthesis per plant (DuPlessis and Dijkhuis, 1967;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b). There is a strong relationship between ASI and kernels or ears per plant (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997). In one study an increase in ASI of 1 d was associated with a 28% reduction, a 3 d increase with 55%, and a 5 d increase with a 69% reduction in kernels per plant (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b). In a severely drought-stressed field it is common, therefore, to find a significant proportion of plants, perhaps 30-50%, that are completely barren. Pollen shortage is usually not the reason for this (Westgate and Bassetti, 1991), though research by Westgate and others suggests that grain yields in the northern Corn Belt can be predicted accurately by measures of pollen shed intensity and silk growth in the field (Westgate, pers. comm., 1996). They found that pollen densities of less than 100 grains cm -2 d -1 were associated with inadequate grain set on any given day during flowering. For a hybrid this coincides with an ASI of >7 d (Bassetti and Westgate, 1994), thoughin open-pollinated varieties with greater variation in flowering date an  (Schoper et al., 1986). Tassel blasting is commonly observed in fields when temperatures exceed this level.Provided an ear has been established on the plant, the maintenance of a green functional canopy and a capacity to remobilize carbohydrates stored in the stem and husk (Blum, 1988) should contribute to high yield under terminal stress. Associations between foliar \"staygreen\" and yield are, however, often weak (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997;Edmeades et al., 1997c)  Fischer et al., 1983Fischer et al., , 1989;;Bolaños andEdmeades, 1993a, b, 1997;Bolaños et al., 1993;Edmeades et al., 1993;Byrne et al., 1995;Edmeades et al., 1995. These reports have been complemented recently by considerable research on drought tolerance in hybrid-oriented germplasm (Beck et al., 1997;Vasal et al., 1997).These have been extensively described elsewhere (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a, b;Bolaños et al., 1993;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997;Edmeades et al., 1997b)  under drought stress, then topcrossed to two testers to assign them to heterotic groups. Lines were then advanced to S 5 while evaluation of topcrosses took place (Beck et al., 1997).During the selection process several studies were conducted on the adaptive value and realized heritability of a number of secondary traits, using correlation analysis and divergent selection. Results of these studies (Edmeades et al., 1997c) were used to modify the array of traits being used in selection and to alter the weights assigned to each in the selection index used to identify superior families for recombinations (Barreto et al., 1997).Evaluation of progress cycle -1 at yield levels ranging from 1 to 8 t ha -1 , and the same rate of gain was observed under well-watered and drought stressed conditions. At a yield level of 2 t ha -1 this represented a gain of 6.3% cycle -1 (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993a). These same genotypes and some conventionallyselected checks were grown in 12 environments, seven of which were rainfed and outside Mexico. Gains averaged 90 kg ha -1 cycle -1 across all sites at a mean yield level of 5.6 t ha -1 (Byrne et al., 1995) Sequia C 3 were unstable over environments (Edmeades et al., 1997d).Gains were largely the result of reduced barrenness (i.e., increased ears per plant) under drought, and an associated increase in harvest index (Table 2), given that total biomass production was unaffected by selection. In Tuxpeño Sequía tassel size was reduced, and root biomass in the top 50 cm of soil declined by 35%, though neither of these traits was selected for directly. There was no change in any trait indicative of plant water status in Tuxpeño (e.g., predawn or noon water potential; osmotic adjustment; canopy temperature, water extraction profiles) (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993b;Bolaños et al., 1993). Detailed analysis of C 0 and C 8 has shown that the photosynthetic system of C 8 recovers more rapidly from drought stress, and has a slightly higher radiation use efficiency (Raya et al., 1997;Manda et al., 1997). In all cases anthesis date became slightly earlier, and ASI became shorter under drought (Tables 2, 4). Eight cycles of selection in Tuxpeño Sequía led to significantly faster spikelet and ear growth but also to a 21% reduction in final spikelet number (Table 5; Fig. 1).Larger spikelet size was not a result of earlier initiation of ears in relation to tassels, but was rather due to an increase in ear relative growth rate and a decrease in tassel relative growth rate, especially under water stress at flowering (Tables 4, 5).Under low N stress Tuxpeño Sequía C 8 also initiated fewer spikelets, had a 5 d longer lag phase during grain filling, and had considerably larger kernels when the linear phase of grain growth began (Table 5). Thus fewer spikelets were formed, grew more rapidly, and were ultimately more successful in forming grain. Preliminary data suggests that these changes in ear growth have also occurred in the other late-maturing populations under improvement for drought tolerance.The ASI trait has been mapped and appears to be coded at relatively few important loci on the maize genome (Ribaut et al., 1997b). Changes in ASI due to selection in Tuxpeño Sequía have been related to changes in allelic frequency at genome map positions associated with changes in ASI under drought in an unrelated mapping population (Ribaut et al., 1997a). for S 1 selection and 86 kg ha -1 cycle -1for full-sib selection, values which were very similar to those observed under drought (Lafitte et al., 1997).Selection for improved partitioning of assimilates to the developing ear using drought stress at flowering as for two weeks either side of silking (Edmeades et al., 1992). Tolerance to high plant density showed a nonsignificant tendency to increase with selection in this population (unpublished data, 1992).A key factor in the success of this selection program has been the availability of facilities where drought stress can be carefully managed. Gains are only possible when the genetic variation for tolerance, through whatever mechanism, can be observed (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997). In these studies this led to the use of an atypical winter season selection site with adequate irrigation supply, but selection gain x environment interaction was small and only 17%of the gains reported in the winter season were lost when germplasm was transferred to the normal summer production environment (Byrne et al., 1995). Improvement in drought tolerance by this mechanism was significantly greater than that resulting from selection based on international testing of progenies at sites where drought was a random occurrence, and, when drought tolerance is the principal goal of improvement, considerably cheaper.Given the importance of the last half of the crop life cycle in determining yield, and the large correlation between kernels per plant and grain yield under drought stress (r = 0.9**; Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997)  For national programs the correct choice of germplasm for recurrent selection is critical. Landraces normally have a number of agronomic defects that may take years of selection to correct, and for this reason it is recommended that selection begin in elite adapted germplasm (Edmeades et al., 1997f).Recent studies have shown that stress-tolerant hybrids are developed with a greater frequency from stresstolerant source populations than from their conventionally-selected genetic counterparts (Edmeades et al., 1997e). The probability of deriving a hybrid that yielded more than 1.55 t ha -1 under mid-season drought was 0.08 for Tuxpeño Sequía  (Blum, 1988;Edmeades et al., 1997b). Others which show theoretical benefits, such as small tassel size (reduces shading and direct competition with the ear for assimilates at flowering), osmotic adjustment, and increased leaf uprightness have shown little association with yield (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1997). The lack of association may be partly due to our use of small single row plots with inadequate bordering when evaluating families, though bordering in single vs. multiple row plots has been discounted as a significant factor influencing cultivar performance under low N (Bänziger et al., 1995). The value of earliness as an escape mechanism cannot be ignored. In cases where rainfall intensity and duration are highly variable it may be appropriate to grow a mixture of an early-maturing cultivar with one which is later-maturing but droughttolerant (Edmeades et al., 1997a). In the event of severe drought the early component escapes the drought; under moderate stress, the droughttolerant component provides a stable and increased yield. Should the rains be plentiful, the later-maturing component can exploit these through its higher yield potential.On a note of caution, it should be recalled that even though genetic gains in tolerance reported here are important, they may only raise yields under drought from 2 t ha -1 to 2.7 t ha -1 . Careful crop management practices will in all likelihood add at least as much or more yield, as is the case for low N environments (Waddington and Heisey, 1997) Planting maize in the summer-fall cycle in northwest Mexico represents a profitable option, permitting a rotation with wheat and the possibility of producing 10-14 t/ha of grain per year on some 250,000 ha of irrigated land.The environmental conditions in northwest Mexico (with summer temperatures above 35ºC) require maize hybrids and synthetics tolerant to extreme heat and drought. The Yaqui Valley possesses the ideal conditions -especially in the spring-summer and summer-fall periods -to evaluate and select parents adapted to such environments. Parent lines were developed by growing out materials in two adjacent nurseries, one with normal and the other with limited irrigation (the latter simulating drought conditions). The following methods were used to identify the parents: 1) progenies with differing levels of inbreeding, as those with full vigor did not express the differences which could be observed in the self-pollinated progenies; 2) simple visual ranking scales to classify the progenies' response to firing and leaf rolling; 3) measurement of the number of plants of each progeny which produced silks before and after irrigation in the drought trial; 4) selection under drought of progenies with erect leaves and without firing or leaf rolling; 5) selection of progenies with reduced anthesis-silking intervals; and 6) advancement of the selected progenies to the next level of inbreeding and selection for other desirable traits, in particular resistance to pathogens in the normal irrigated nursery (especially in the fall-winter cycle). Finally, various lines in this selection process were used to produce synthetics and hybrids which    Enrollamiento foliar en relación con la producción de estigmas Intermedio en prefloración lluvia, estrés hídrico leve en 3 Agricultor: G. Alvaréz (1996) prefloración.La información que se ha reunido permite hacer las siguientes consideraciones:1. El esquema de viveros gemelos contiguos uno en riego y el otro en sequía, en un terreno bien nivelado, con un control esmerado de los riegos, de las arvenses, etc., En el área del Plan Puebla el cultivo del maíz ocupa 68% de la superficie cultivada, principalmente en condiciones de temporal y/o humedad residual (Plan Puebla, 1992). Estas condiciones implican riesgos en la producción agrícola, por lo errático de la cantidad y distribución de las lluvias, la ocurrencia de heladas tempranas y/o tardías y la incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, entre otros.En el mejoramiento genético de las especies vegetales se distinguen dos métodos principales, que suelen ser complementarios: la selección y la hibridación. En la selección se aprovechan los efectos genéticos aditivos y consiste en la identificación de los mejores individuos de una población y su utilización como progenitores de la siguiente generación, proceso que se repite durante varios ciclos (Márquez, 1985). Para que una variedad responda satisfactoriamente a las condiciones del ambiente para el cual se recomienda, es preciso desarrollar su mejoramiento in situ, bajo las mismas condiciones ambientales y de manejo de los agricultores y con la herramienta matemática más apropiada (Muñoz y Rodríguez, 1988). De acuerdo con la teoría del fitomejoramiento por nichos ecológicos (Muñoz, 1988) To develop a genetic basis for an in situ maize improvement program, a project was started to select families of half-sibs among landrace varieties in the Puebla valley. In 1992, 136 maize varieties were evaluated; outstanding ones were selected within three early maturity classes. From these outstanding collections, families of half-sibs were derived and evaluated in 1993 at six locations in the Puebla valley. In specific environments, some families equalled or even surpassed the yield of the best check in each earliness class. We concluded that there is high yield potential and great genetic diversity in maize varieties of the Puebla valley which can be used, if improvement is targeted to the conditions where each genotype can express its maximum potential.   (López, 1993). En otras regiones del país ya se han identificado patrones varietales con este mismo procedimiento (Legaria et al., 1988;Valadez y Muñoz, 1988; Cuadro 2. Proporción de los grupos de precocidad y rendimiento de grano (t ha  In 1994, 170,000 ha of flint maize was planted along the Ecuadorian coast, including the valleys of Loja province where rainfall ranges from 400 to 600 mm during the crop cycle.  1994(INIAP, 1994)).En  el principal aspecto tomado en cuenta fue que el efecto de la sequía en las plantas depende del genotipo, de la intensidad de la sequía y de la etapa del desarrollo en la que ocurre (Rocha et al., 1991).En la selección de las líneas y la formación de los híbridos, es importante la productividad y la sincronía floral, debido a que por un día de retraso en la emisión de los estigmas con respecto a la liberación del polen el rendimiento se reduce aproximadamente 10%, de manera que con el retraso de 10 días no habría producción de grano (Bolaños y Edmeades, 1993).Con base en lo anterior, los objetivos de la presente investigación fueron generar y desarrollar híbridos y/o sintéticos que sean tolerantes a condiciones de humedad adecuada y de sequía.  After this second random mating, families from the KK location showed higher potential than those from other locations. Only this population,Resistance), was carried on and improved using an S 1 recurrent selection scheme (see Fig. 1). After three cycles of improvement,  The drought index (Fischer et al., 1983), which is the ratio of its yield under water stress and well watered conditions, relative to the same ratio for all varieties, indicated that the most drought tolerant entry was the hybrid SX 60, followed by the OP DR 9102 (  lower yield under well-watered conditions as being drought tolerant, as well as those with a high yield under drought. In addition, differences in maturity can greatly affect yield if drought occurs near flowering (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1992). The anthesis-silking interval (ASI) was also shorter for the hybrids (3.9 d) than for the OPs (6.1 d). For the most drought tolerant hybrid, DK 999, ASI was 0.0 d, whereas for the best OP (DR 9403) it was 3.0 d. The experiment will be repeated in 1996.Yield under water stress is compared to yield potential under well-watered conditions to determine yield losses due to drought stress. Water stress should be created during flowering (anthesis and silking), the period when maize is very sensitive to drought stress (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1992;Edmeades et al., 1992;Edmeades et al., 1995), and when stress can cause severe yield loss. Percent yield loss due to water stress for a particular cultivar is a useful measure of the ability of that variety to tolerate drought. A drought index (DI), such as proposed by Fischer et al. (1983), is a measure of yield loss for a variety in relation to the yield losses observed for all varieties in a particular experiment.Both suffer from the defect of identifying genotypes as drought tolerant if they have a low yield under well-watered conditions. A further disadvantage is that the DI of a given variety in a given experiment cannot be compared to that of varieties in other experiments. relative to the ratio of the mean yield of all varieties under water-stress to non-water-stress; a DI > 1.0 suggests relative drought tolerance, and a DI < 1.0 suggests relative drought susceptibility (Fischer et al., 1983).Comparisons of percentage yield loss of varieties among experiments is also confounded by differential stress levels among experiments.Comparisons of drought tolerance among varieties or progenies, therefore, should only be made within the same experiment.From the results of these experiments, we can conclude that:1. DR 9102 was the highest yielding OP in four of the six testing environments and had the highest average yield among OPs.  Experiment mean 81.8 1.00 5.00 † Drought index (DI) for a variety is the ratio of its yield under water-stress to non-waterstress, relative to the ratio of the mean yield of all varieties under water-stress to non-waterstress; a DI > 1.0 suggests relative drought tolerance, and a DI < 1.0 suggests relative drought susceptibility (Fischer et al., 1983).Maize is the staple food of southern Africa, with the agricultural sector playing an important role in the South African economy. White maize is preferred for human consumption, while yellow maize is mainly used in animal feed. Average production of white and yellow maize is about 4 Mt per year. Although it contributes only between 5 to 6 % of the gross domestic product, the total impact of this sector is extensive, due to income and labour multipliers (Erasmus and Hough, 1994). Maize is planted on 40% of the cultivated area in South Africa (Mallett and de Jager, 1971). This has remained basically constant since 1961. Agricultural production has almost doubled over the last 20 years.Maize is the major agricultural export product, although grown mainly for domestic consumption (Keegan, 1991). International grain trade is extremely important to South Africa. France and China (Clancy, 1992).Drought reduces maize yield. Mallett and de Jager (1971)   (Sandene, 1993). Also contributing to fluctuations in production has been the replacement of less adaptable lower yielding hybrids with higher yielding, input responsive hybrids.Small-scale farmers are often the people hardest hit by drought and other adverse natural conditions.These people practise mainly subsistence farming, producing very little if any surplus maize for market.In Botswana, only 10 to 15% of those engaged in arable farming regularly produce a surplus and only 30% manage to meet their subsistence needs (Mayende, 1993)  , 1992) and are especially vulnerable to drought.The new South African government will have to confront the issue of regular drought conditions as it proceeds with farm policy changes (Missiaen, 1995), and this must necessarily include the small-scale farming community. Specifically, the new Department of Agriculture policy is directed at improving support for the small-scale farming sector and to promote household food security. Research and extension will be reoriented to serve the 95% of farmers utilising small land holdings (Low, 1995). It is thus the aim of both the South African government and the Grain Crops Institute (GCI) to alleviate the constraints on smallscale farmers by providing them with necessary management skills as well as drought tolerant maize genotypes.   Maize yield in tropical countries is subject to many variables both within and between seasons, but soil fertility and rainfall are probably the most important determinants of yield (Mashingaidze and Manyowa, 1993).According to CIMMYT's estimates, 24 million tons of maize grain are lost annually due to drought worldwide (Edmeades et al., 1995). In experiment 1, grain yield reductions from NR II to NR IV were 65 and 64% for lines from ZM601 and ZM607, respectively (Table 1). ZM607 lines slightly outyielded ZM601 lines under all environments, although the differences were not significant (Table 1). These results suggest that selection for drought tolerance using rainfed stressed conditions in Zimbabwe's NR IV has not resulted in significant yield advantage for ZM601 when compared to ZM607. TSEQ is from Mexico, and ZM601 has been selected for 3 cycles using rainfed drought stress, whereas TSEQ was improved for 6 cycles using carefully managed moisture-stress regimes.The three populations had similar flowering dates (AD) when evaluated in NR II, without moisture stress.This fact is important to further conclusions because it indicates that the populations are of similar maturity and were at a similar phenological stage whenever moisture stress occurred in NR IV.Differences in performance in NR IV should be due to differences in drought tolerance of the lines.In experiment 1, ZM607 lines had significantly larger average ASI than those from ZM601 in NR IV, although this difference was small (Table 1). Frequency distributions of lines for ASI were similar, except that ZM607 had more lines with large ASI than ZM601 (Fig. 1A). In both experiments, ASI in NR II was close to zero days (Table 1), with no significant differences between populations in either experiment.Mean and frequency distributions of lines for ASI were clearly different for the populations in experiment 2;TSEQ had many more lines than ZM601 with short ASI (Fig. 1B).These results suggest that selection of ZM601 under rainfed moisture-  and Bassetti (1990), andTroyer (1983).Comparison of the secondary traits leaf rolling, leaf erectness and tassel size revealed few and only small differences among the populations (Table 2). In experiment 2, TSEQ lines had larger tassels and more upright leaves than lines from ZM601. Large tassels are generally considered undesirable because they compete with the ear as a sink for photosynthates. The slightly larger tassel size of TSEQ may be a reflection of its tropical pedigree and/or a manifestation of generally greater vigor relative to ZM601.TSEQ has been selected for upright leaf character because this is believed to optimize leaf-water status under conditions of moisture stress (Blum, 1988).Grain yield in NR IV was negatively associated with ASI for lines from both ZM601 and ZM607, but not for TSEQ (Table 3). This result points to the greater drought tolerance of TSEQ   Moisture stress resulting from limited rainfall has been considered as one of the most important maize production constraints in the savanna area of West Africa (Rodriguez, 1985;Lawson and Juo, 1979). Two breeding strategies have been suggested to develop maize varieties suited to these areas: breeding for short duration and breeding for yield under a lower level of moisture supply. The former is often referred to as drought avoidance and the latter as tolerance (Martiniello, 1984).Cameroon's savanna area can be divided into four distinct zones based on average annual rainfall. These include:1. North Sahel with less than 500 mm per year.2. South Sahel with 500 to 800 mm per year. 3. Sudan Savanna with 800 to 1100 mm per year.to 1400 mm per year of rainfall (Empig et al., 1986).Maize is grown in all these areas except the North Sahel Savanna zone.Genetic variability for drought tolerance has been demonstrated in maize by several researchers (Martiniello, 1984). Among the most thoroughly investigated are the 'latente' group of varieties (Castleberry and LeRette, 1979) and the Tuxpeño Sequía population of CIMMYT (Fischer et al., 1983). These two populations have been tested per se in Central Africa along with the SAFGRAD materials, but with limited success (The et al., 1985). In Fertilizer was applied at recommended rates, with a sidedressing of fertilizer applied no later than 25 d after planting. An experimental unit for the evaluation of F 1 crosses consisted of a 1 row plot, 5 m long.Drought tolerance ratings of the most tolerant and most susceptible maize lines identified in 1986 in the glasshouse test have been previously reported (IITA, 1986)  (Herrero and Johnson, 1981;Struck et al., 1986;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1988;Edmeades and Bolaños, 1989;Edmeades et al., 1995) The performance of 15 droughttolerant and two susceptible openpollinated early maturing maize varieties (Table 1) was evaluated  Grain yield, days to 50% silking, ASI and ears plant -  Drought escapeDrought-escaping cultivars flower early and complete the sensitive silking period while there is moisture available (Dowker, 1971). The crop completes its grain filling period utilizing residual moisture stored in the soil. However, a short growth period dictates lower biomass and grain yields under well-watered conditions, due to the reduced period for photosynthesis. Drought escape is Drought escaping cultivars vary in production with available rainfall where this is low and variable, as in eastern Kenya (Dowker, 1971, Njoroge, 1985, Keating et al., 1992, Mugo et al., 1996). Dowker (1971)  (Fig. 1). However, Njoroge (1989) extracted lines from each with acceptable earliness, high grain yield and good seedling vigor. These lines have produced some hybrids with good performance in the region.Intra-population improvement methods were used to improve the crosses between the synthetic series in order to develop composite varieties (Fig. 1). Makueni formed the basis for the flint type, and Katumani the basis of the dent type (Table 4). These populations are targeted to fall within the KCB maturity range.A bulk half-sib method was utilized for making the initial crosses in April 1994 (Fehr, 1988). This was followed by three seasons of random mating within the two populations with mass selection for maturity and grain type. The random mating was expected to be adequate to break up linkage blocks and to stabilize the populations. This will be followed by S  (Ngure, 1995).  (Edmeades et al., 1992). A major effect of drought is embryo abortion, which is related to the inhibition of photosynthesis and the subsequent reduction in assimilates available to developing kernels (Schussler and Westgate, 1991;Westgate and Boyer, 1985). Silk delay is more likely a symptom of reduced assimilate flux than the direct cause of barrenness (Edmeades et al., 1992). Stem infusion of high levels of sucrose (Zinselmeier et al., 1995b)   Per se evaluations with one row at 62,000 plants ha -1   and the other at 86,000 plants ha -1 .More advanced selections may be replicated to provide a more thorough assessment of pest  The sporadic nature of droughts on the Delmarva peninsula limits progress in identifying drought tolerant inbreds and hybrids. The yield comparison between the two Pioneer hybrids revealed consistent yield differences across all five locations, with P3525 outyielding P3527 (Fig. 3). Yield levels ranged from 2.2 to 15.7 t ha -1 . Percent nubbin • Testcross hybrids evaluated in 8.1 m 2 plots at three locations with two replications per dryland location is a Sassafras sandy loam soil planted at 59,000 plants ha -1 . Selection intensity is 10-20%.Stage 1• S 4 -S 5 lines are testcrossed to one or more testers and evaluated in 8.1 m 2 plots with two replications at each of four to six locations. Selection intensity is about 10%.• Two to three irrigated locations -69,000 plants ha -1  • Two to three dryland locations -49,000-59,000 plants ha -1   Stage 2• S 5 -S 6 lines are testcrossed to one or more testers and evaluated in 8.1 m 2 plots with one to two replications at each of a minimum of 20 locations, totaling about 40 replications.• Selection intensity is about 5%.Stage 3• Inbred lines are testcrossed to one or more testers and evaluated in 8.1 m 2 plots representing at least 50 locations, and 100+ replications.• Lines that advance through Stage 3 are then re-evaluated at additional locations in subsequent years in both small plot and strip testing.ears at the three dryland locations was at least two times greater for P3527 than for P3525 (Fig. 4),indicating that P3527 aborted more kernels than P3525 under drought stress conditions. Anthesis-silking (% plants) data revealed more synchronous flowering for P3525 than P3527 (Fig. 5). Hybrid P3525 initiated silking ahead of anthesis, whereas silking lagged anthesis by several days in P3527. These results suggest that P3525 is more capable of maintaining ear growth and development under drought stress.Drought tolerant hybrids will be most beneficial to dryland farmers on the Delmarva peninsula, many of whom suffered complete yield losses during the 1993 drought.    (Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997b).Results from selection for grain yield under low soil N were reported by Muruli and Paulsen (1981). Yields of these populations under low N have improved significantly with only a few cycles of recurrent selection (Lafitte et al., 1997b). However, it is not possible to directly evaluate the impact of the low N selection environment using these data, because the base population was very heterogeneous and large initial gains are to be expected. The problem of low heritability of yield under low N could be avoided if a specific mechanism for tolerance to low N could be identified, allowing selection of superior families in a controlled environment.  (Chloupek, 1977). Preliminary results on maize showed differences in capacitance readings among genetic materials though there was no apparent relationship with N use efficiency (van Beem, pers. comm., 1995;Smith et al., 1994). We are now selecting divergently among maize full-sib families for root capacitance meter readings, in order to evaluate possible benefits under low N and in other environments.Selection for low N environments   with high N (Table 3). Plant height was still greater in C 5 , but the maturity of the two cycles was similar. As we found in the earlier evaluation of C 3 , the primary yield component that changed with selection was the number of grains per ear. The gains under low N may also include specific adaptation to the low N selection environment that was used for evaluations as well.Across 8328BN has been released in several countries. We think that it may also make an important contribution as a source of useful traits for low N environments. Both population bulks and lines are available from this population.We conducted a study to compare ear growth dynamics in C 0 and C 3 of Across 8328BN, and in C 0 and C 8 of the cultivar Tuxpeño Sequìa, which had been selected for drought (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1995). The number of florets per ear decreased with selection in both populations. In both populations, the rate of ear or floret abortion was less after improvement, so the final number of ears per plant or grains per ear increased. The length of the lag phase between fertilization and the onset of the linear phase of grain growth tended to be greater in the selected cycles.We hypothesized that there might be common responses to selection for drought stress and for low N.As a consequence, we evaluated original and advanced selections of four lowland tropical maize populations that had undergone recurrent selection for tolerance to mid-season drought stress in five experiments differing in N supply (Bänziger et al., 1997b). The populations had been improved using full-sib or S 1 recurrent selection for two to eight selection cycles each.In the five experiments N accumulated in aboveground biomass at maturity averaged 52, 63, 105, 151, and 163 kg N/ha, and grain yields of 3.0, 2.9, 5.2, 6.0, and 6.5 t/ha were correspondingly obtained.Selection for tolerance to mid-season drought stress increased grain yields by an average of 86 kg/ha/year, with slightly larger gains under severe N stress (100 kg/ha/year; Table 4). Drought tolerant selection cycles consistently had a shorter anthesis-  (Moll et al., 1982).Variation in the capacity of maize genotypes to take up N from the soil and to utilize plant N for grain production has been widely reported (Chevalier and Schrader, 1977;Moll et al., 1982;Pollmer et al., 1979).Where suboptimal N fertility is a common feature of the target environments of a breeding program, greatest gains from selection for that environment can be achieved by selecting under N stress (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994a).In the early phases of the hybrid industry in the United States, doublecrosses were shown to have greater stability across years and locations than single-crosses (Sprague and Federer, 1951). In temperate germplasm, prolificacy (having more than one ear per plant) has been associated with high grain yield under low N fertility, and often imparts greater yield stability over a range of environmental conditions (Moll et al., 1987;Motto and Moll, 1983). On-farm trials in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria showed that farmers would be interested in growing prolific varieties, particularly for intercropping with short-statured legumes (G. Weber, unpublished data, 1992).  In 1995 14 tropical inbred lines were chosen as parents for a diallel experiment to determine general and specific combining ability (GCA and SCA) at low and high N in Mokwa.One cross was not available so there were a total of 90 hybrids for evaluation. These were planted in a lattice design with three replications   (Heuberger et al., 1995;Oikeh, 1996;Oikeh et al., 1996). Our initial hypotheses were that:1. Rapid, early root growth would Nitrogen treatments had a significant effect on grain yield and most other parameters at all sites, but severity of stress increased from the southern to northern latitudes. Yield reduction under 0 kg N ha -1 in comparison to the 120 kg N ha -1 treatment ranged from 21% in Ikenne (first season) to 67% in Samaru. Cultivars differed in average grain yield at all sites, but because of large genotype by location interactions, differences across sites were not significant (Table 1). GxN interactions were observed at some locations for some phenological traits, including grain filling duration and anthesis-silking interval. Figure 2 shows the length of grain filling at Ikenne, second season, at each N level. Cultivars are arranged in order of decreasing yield under low N. Results from the study characterizing N use efficiency of populations in 1989 showed that existing elite populations adapted to the region were strongly single-eared. Average   values for ears plant -1 for 250 S 1 families from TZPB-SR prolific C 0 at 0 and 120 kg N ha -1 were 1.10 and   5.At some sites the highest yielding genotype was a double cross, while at others a single cross was superior.There was no evidence that double crosses were more tolerant of N stress. In contrast to the hybrids, the synthetic was not able to respond to additions of fertilizer above 70 kg N ha -1 . At 0 kg N ha -1 , the relative ranking of inbred parents for average grain yield in single crosses was 1368>KU1414-SR>5012>9071.Averaged across locations, the best single cross was 1368 x KU1414-SR.Crosses with 5012 did not respond to additions of fertilizer above 140 kg N ha -1 .  CIMMYT, performed consistently well under low N and had a high harvest index and N utilization efficiency (Heuberger, unpublished, 1995). In experiments in the northern Guinea savanna, TZPB-SR had consistently high RLD, N uptake and grain yield under N stress (Oikeh, 1996). Hybrid 8644-27 showed good  varieties may be realized at moderate N levels (Oikeh et al., 1996;Smith et al., 1997)  Greater root growth is observed at moderate N fertility than at low or high N levels (Eghball and Maranville, 1993;Oikeh, 1996) when following a previous maize crop. Use of the efficient variety following a soybean rotation resulted in a 31.1% increase in maize yields, illustrating the need for an integrated approach to improve soil fertility and maize productivity in the African savannas (Oikeh, 1996). The N response of cycles 0, 2, 4 and 6 of La Posta maize population was studied in Ghana, West Africa. La Posta or CIMMYT Population 43 is a white dent, late maturing Tuxpeñorelated synthetic which produces tall, vigorous-growing plants and is well adapted to the lowland tropics (Pandey et al., 1986;CIMMYT, 1987). The experimental design was a randomized complete block in a split plot arrangement with four replications at each site. Nitrogen rates were assigned to main plots and selection cycles were the subplots. Sub-plots consisted of two 5 m rows at 50,000 plants ha -1 density. All trials were rainfed except at Kwadaso where supplemental irrigation was applied. Nitrogen rates of 0, 80, and 160 kg N ha -1 were applied as ammonium sulfate in a split dose; half of each rate was applied at one week and the remainder at four weeks after emergence. Phosphorus was applied at 60 kg P 2 0 5 ha -1 to all plots as triple superphosphate prior to planting. No K was applied because of the consistent lack of response of maize to K fertilization in Ghana (Ahn, 1970;Dennis, 1983). The traits measured were grain yield, days to mid-silk, plant height, grain moisture, ears per plant and lodging and ear ratings.Cycles of selection and N levels were considered fixed effects and environments were considered random effects. Analyses of variance were computed in each environment (location) and combined over environments for all traits (Steel and Torrie, 1980).Mean square estimates for each N level (data not presented) showed that all traits were significantly (P≤0.01) affected by environment.Effects due to genotype were significant for grain yield, mid-silk, plant height and grain moisture at both low and high N. No significant genotype effect was detected for lodging, ears per plant, N stress and ear acceptability ratings. Genotype x environment interaction (GxE) effects also were significant for nearly all traits at both N levels.Mean performance of the full-sibs at each N level in the four environments is presented in Table 1. Mean grain yield at low N was 9% lower than the yield at high N. Mean days to midsilk, grain moisture at harvest, plant height, number of ears per plant and ear rating were similar at both low and high N. Lodging was more severe at high N and N stress scores were higher at low N.showed genotypic, GxE, and error variances were significant at both low and high N (Table 2). Genotypic variances for mid-silk, grain moisture and plant height were greater at low N, but the variance for grain yield was greater at high N. GxE variance estimates were more important than genotypic variances for grain yield and grain moisture at both low and high N, and for plant height at high N, but were less important than genotypic variances for mid-silk at both N levels and for plant height at  2). Estimates of heritability for grain yield, mid-silk, plant height and grain moisture in the population were in close agreement with those reported in the literature (Hallauer and Miranda, 1981). The magnitude of heritability of a trait depends on whether its mode of inheritance is simple or complex and generally ranges below 0.3 for grain yield and between 0.5 and 0.7 for days to flower, plant height and grain moisture. Selection for increased grain yield and for reduced days to mid-silk, grain moisture and plant height would be effective at both high and low N.The combined-over-environments analyses of variance for five traits measured (data not presented) showed that environments, N, and cycles were significant sources of variation in all traits. N x environment interaction effects were significant for days to mid-silk, lodging and ear acceptability, whereas cycle x environment  Since the N x cycle interaction effects were not significant, the nature of the N and cycle responses can be explained entirely by their main effects (Table 3). Mean grain yield at zero applied N was approximately 37% and 43% lower than grain yield at 80 and 160 kg N ha -1 , respectively. Grain yield at 160 kg N ha -1 was approximately 10% higher than yield at 80 kg N ha -1 .The significant N x location interactions for grain yield suggest that yield response to N differed among locations. Though data are not shown, substantial yield increases were observed from 0 to 80 kg N ha -1 in all environments. These yield increases ranged from 31% in the coastal savanna to 107% in the Guinea savanna. Yield increases of 11%, 15%, 21% and 40% were observed from 80 to 160 kg N ha -1 at Nyankpala, Kwadaso, Pokuase and Ejura, respectively. No further yield increase was detected at Damongo and Kpeve beyond the 80 kg N ha -1 rate. The lowest grain yield (1.5 t ha -1 ) was observed under zero applied N in the Guinea savanna and the highest (4.4 t ha -1 ) was observed in  Nitrogen treatment means for the other agronomic traits showed the response of these traits to N fertilization was similar at 80 and 160 kg N ha -1 (Table 2). There was a significant delay in silk emergence, a significant reduction in plant height and lodging, but grain moisture and number of ears per plant did not change when N fertilizer was not applied. Ears from plants grown without N fertilizer were rated less acceptable than ears from plants which received fertilizer. Though silk was delayed by two days when fertilizer N was not applied, no significant differences were observed among N treatments for grain moisture content at harvest. This suggests that grain filling was curtailed at low N and, as a result, grain moisture was similar for all treatments.Individual cycle response of grain yield to N fertilization is illustrated in Figure 1. Grain yield of all cycles increased as fertilizer N supply was increased. In all cycles, the response of grain yield to applied N was much greater for the first rather than the second increment of 80 kg N ha -1 . For example, the yield difference between the unfertilized treatment and 80 kg N ha -1 was 1.9 Mg ha -1 compared with 0.6 Mg ha -1 between 80 and 160 kg N ha -1 for the sixth cycle of selection. Yield responses were very similar for cycles 0 through 4, but tended to be greater for cycle 6 (Fig. 1).Though the various cycles were developed under mainly high N conditions at CIMMYT-Mexico and at other experiment stations in the lowland tropics, grain yield of the improved cycles increased across N levels. These observations do not support the notion that conventional breeding results in varieties which are productive only under the conditions in which they were bred, even though yield gains in absolute terms tended to be smaller under zero applied N (0.26 t ha -1 between C 0 and C 6 ) than when N was applied (0.50 and 0.63 t ha -1 between C 0 and C 6 at 80 and 160 kg ha -1 of N applied, respectively).The effects of N fertilization on days to mid-silk, plant height, lodging and ear acceptability followed the same general trends for all cycles (Table 3).Days to mid-silk decreased and plant height, lodging and ear acceptability increased as N supply was increased.Grain moisture and number of ears per plant were not significantly influenced by fertilizer N application.Changes in grain yield between C 0 and C 6 went along with earlier midsilk, shorter plant height, less lodging and ears which were rated more acceptable.Results from the six cycles studied suggest that recurrent selection for improved agronomic performance altered grain yields under low and high N supply, with gains tending to be higher under high versus low N. Nitrogen (N) availability is estimated to be the principal limiting factor in more than 20% of arable land (Lafitte and Edmeades, 1988). Nitrogen fertilizer application can overcome this limitation in many tropical regions, but the high risk resulting from high cost and uncertain economic return frequently deters farmers from using it. This has brought about an intensified search for technologies which can increase the efficiency of N use by plants (Furlani et al., 1985). For small-scale farmers in Brazil, improved N use efficiency is particularly important because there are no government fertilizer subsidies.Increasing the N use efficiency of maize germplasm may reduce the effects of soil N deficiency on maize production. Superior genotypes may either be more efficient at N uptake or N utilization, or both. Traditional breeding programs commonly do not select under low N conditions because higher environmental variation reduces the heritability of grain yield (Blum, 1988). It is not clear whether selection in N limited environments is a better strategy to improve N use efficiency (Clark and Duncan, 1991).Genetic variability for N use efficiency under low N was found for inbred lines (Balko and Russell, 1980) and tropical cultivars (Thiraporn et al., 1987;Lafitte and Edmeades, 1994a,b). Moll et al. (1987)   (Beauchamp et al., 1976;Clark, 1982).This study evaluates ear yield of halfsib families from Synthetic Elite NT under high and low N conditions and compares their performance with a commercial check entry. Synthetic Elite NT has been selected under low N conditions, whereas the check entry was developed in high fertility environments. Soils were analyzed for major nutrients (Table 1). The soil in the Nenvironment contained medium levels of Ca and P, a low level of K and a high level of Mg (based on recommended levels from Comissão, 1989). The level of organic matter suggested that N levels resulting from N mineralization might be high.However, only 25 kg/ha of N was available as NO 3 and NH 4 in the top 40 cm of the N-soil (data not shown).The N+ environment had adequate levels of all elements based on soil analyses and applied fertilizer.Analysis of variance for ear weight showed highly significant (P£0.01) differences among half-sib families in both environments. Values for the coefficient of variation (CV, Table 2) were relatively high and similar for both environments; typical of trials grown under stress conditions (Blum, 1988;Parentoni et al., 1992;Machado et al., 1992;Gama et al., 1994). A lower coefficient of variation would normally be expected under unstressed, N+ conditions, so drought stress during flowering may have affected both environments and  (Santos et al., 1994), and this may be the reason for its poor performance under N-conditions. The breeding materials include populations, varieties, hybrids and lines which can be classed according  1995ER and1995LR to lower the level of soil nitrogen in a field of approximately 0.7 ha. This is considered a N-limited environment and will be used for screening germplasm for tolerance to low N. Germplasm will include inbred lines, varieties and populations from NSFCRC, CIMMYT and ARMP. The features of an ideotype adapted to low N environments will be high grain yield under both -N and +N (non-limited N). The germplasm will be tested for grain yield and other important agronomic characters such as plant height, synchrony of male and female flowering, number of ears per plant and time of senescence and maturity under both N-limited and non-limited environments. Tolerance to low N can be selected for using the combined data from both environments. After 3-4 cycles of selection, the amount of progress will be evaluated and selected lines and improved populations can then be distributed to breeding programs in Asia.to source as either exotic or Thai germplasm:1. Exotic germplasm from CIMMYT, ARMP and others. The breeding materials will be sown in two-row plots with two or three replications at each N level. Materials will be grouped in two types of experiments. The first includes populations, varieties and hybrids; the second only includes inbred lines.A randomized complete block or simple lattice experimental design will be used. Plots will be separated with a single check row of the NSFCRC variety NS 1. To control the effects of soil variation, the mean yield of the two check rows bordering a plot will be used as a covariate for that experimental plot in the analyses.The following data will be collected under both N levels:• Grain yield.• Plant and ear height.• Anthesis-silking interval.• Number of ears plant -1 .• Number of aborted ears.• Number of green leaves below the top ear at 4 weeks after silking (for further details on measuring leaf senescence rate, see Binford and Blackmer, 1993). The correlation between grain yield and these secondary traits, under low and high N conditions, will also be determined.The selection index described by Fischer et al. (1983) will be used to aid selection.  The yield data were obtained using a sorghum crop simulation model to 'grow' crops each summer, given The nature of challenges in the TPE All challenges experienced by a crop might be considered to act at different intensities. For example, it may be difficult (i.e., uneconomic) to breed a maize cultivar with tolerance to extreme levels of rarely occurring soil toxins or catastrophic weather (hurricanes) or pest events (plagues). While genetic variation may exist in response to some of these events, more profitable areas of emphasis are often where the effect of the challenge on yield is low to moderate, rather than extreme. Even high input levels can be considered a challenge to the crop to exhibit maximum yield without lodging.Further, apart from yield, the breeder must consider how the quality of the harvestable product is challenged by stresses experienced.Challenges associated with the 'within-season' climate tend to cause large GxE interactions partly because they generate a much greater variety of environments across locations or seasons. One response to this type of large variation is to breed for specific adaptation. This approach was adopted successfully by CIMMYT in breeding for drought tolerance in tropical maize (Fischer et al., 1989;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993). The method was the abiotic equivalent of using infestation or special screening sites to select for pest or disease resistance and is described in detail elsewhere in this book.Obviously it is quite valid to divide a TPE into sub-divisions for different types of stress; e.g., tolerance to a specific pest, as for sub-TPE E in   (Hammer et al., 1996b).        These different types of water deficit and their importance in the crop's response to drought have been alluded to for at least 35 years (e.g., Denmead and Shaw, 1960); however, no one has directly quantified the frequency of occurrence of the stresses. Fischer et al. (1989) recognized their importance by using both types of stresses in their selection program to successfully improve drought tolerance of tropical maize (Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993;Chapman et al., 1996). Ludlow and Muchow (1990)  • Three rates of development generating early, medium, and late maturing phenology types,• Two levels of stay-green (95% or 50% of leaf dead by maturity),• Two levels of transpiration efficiency (9 Pa or 9.9 Pa), and• Two levels of tillering (present or absent).All other effects were depended on feedback from these changes into other aspects of the model, which depended on interactions with the environment during the crop life cycle. Briefly, their results were as follows:• On average, late maturing types yielded more than early or medium maturing types, although this was associated with significant advantage in the few high-yielding years, rather than superior performance in the majority of years. In low-yielding environments, the early maturing type was often superior.• The stay-green trait caused a slight increase in average yield in each maturity type. The improved yield occurred in both low-and highyielding environments, but the magnitude of the effect was small and less than that found for the other traits. A further use of simple simulation models was made by Chapman and Edmeades (1996) to determine the radiation use efficiency of families of a drought-tolerant maize population.With a large number of genotypes, it is not possible to continuously monitor changes in light interception.Hence, using about five measurements of light interception, they fitted appropriate statistical models to estimate the integral of radiation intercepted through the season for each of 100 genotypes.Using a simple physiological model (when other factors are not limiting), they used this total radiation and harvested biomass to estimate the radiation use efficiency for each genotype, so that they could then be selected on this criteria.So far this paper has dealt entirely with 'simulated' data. Analysis of MET datasets can help dissect the causes of GxE interaction and indicate when it is necessary to split TPEs into sub-divisions to achieve genetic gains. Chapman et al. (1996) analyzed the results of evaluation trials that were designed to determine the effectiveness of selection for drought tolerance in several CIMMYT maize populations.The populations had been improved by simultaneous selection under drought and irrigated conditions (Fischer et al., 1989;Bolaños and Edmeades, 1993).Substantial GxE interaction for yield was found in 10 trials. Chapman et al. (1996) applied pattern analysis (see Cooper and Hammer, 1996, for papers on the application of this method in plant breeding) to determine the environmental characteristics associated with the genetic gains. Another application of pattern analysis to genotypic trial data was made using the Australian sorghum testing trials (Cooper and Chapman, 1996). GxE interactions for yield in two testing programs was large with substantial re-ranking of genotype performance, and indicated that the TPE was complex. A variant of a retrospective analysis method (DeLacy et al., 1994)   The third component of the experimental design is the sampling and observation design, which determines whether the observational units are the same as the experimental units or whether there is a need to subsample experimental units.Data from multilocation variety trials are imprecise, complex, and noisy and, as pointed out by Crossa et al. (1991), there are three error control strategies for increasing the accuracy of genotypic yield estimates and their contrasts:1. Partition the error variance by using incomplete block designs such as lattices (Yates, 1936) and/ or using covariables.2. Partition the genotypic variation by using spatial methods (neighbor analysis) (Besag and Kempton, 1986).3. Partition genotype x site interaction variation by using statistical models that will remove residual variation (noise) from that source of variation.Since these three error control strategies are applied to orthogonal sources of variation, they can be used independently or simultaneously.However, it is expected that the most accurate genotypic yield estimates and contrasts would be obtained by integrating these three approaches.  (Crossa, 1990).In general, the methods can be classified as:1. Univariate parametric methods, such as regression (Finlay and Wilkinson, 1963; Eberhart and 526 Russell, 1966), ecovalance (Wricke, 1962), stability variance (Shukla, 1972), and the superiority measure (Lin and Binns, 1988).2. Univariate non-parametric methods, such as those including ranking techniques (Huehn, 1990).3. Multivariate descriptive methods, such as pattern analysis (classification and ordination) (Byth et al., 1976).4. Multivariate parametric methods, such as additive main effects and multiplicative interaction analysis (AMMI) (Gauch, 1988), and shifted multiplicative model cluster analysis (SHMM) (Cornelius et al., 1992;Crossa et al., 1993).Each method has a different purpose and examines different aspects of the information contained in the twoway table of genotypes and environments. Some of them estimate stability parameters, others are basically used for grouping environments or genotypes into homogeneous subsets, and others examine and quantify that part of the GE which is due to crossover interaction.In this study, we briefly describe the practical principles of complete and incomplete block designs and how they relate to the concept of precision for comparing two genotypic means.We also comment on the needs, use, and precision of unreplicated trials. 1. Genotypic patterns of stability.subsets of sites and genotypes.3. Sub-groups of sites without significant crossover interactions.Randomized complete block designsThe notion of blocking refers to specific groupings (arrangement) of the experimental units in which subsets of homogeneous units are identified (Lentner and Bishop, 1993).A block is a group of experimental units which provides a homogeneous effect on a response variable. Given that the number of treatments (genotypes) increases in an orthogonal design, the size of blocking units must also increase until they become too large to effectively control soil variability in the field. One way to overcome this problem is to use incomplete block designs, in which blocking units do not include all the treatments, hence the design is non-orthogonal.Blocking units can be kept small to provide better control of field variation. The disadvantage of this is that, the smaller the size of blocking units relative to the number of treatments, the less the information that can be obtained on treatment comparisons within blocking units.In an incomplete block design, information on differences between treatments can be obtained from comparisons within blocks (intrablock information) and between blocks (inter-block information). Intra-block and inter-block estimates can be calculated and combined to form each adjusted treatment mean. can be compared by comparing each with the average of treatments 3, 4, and 5 (Mead, 1990). This reduces by 33% the precision with which the difference between treatments 1 and 2 is estimated (Mead, 1990). With prior knowledge about the nature of soil variation in a given field, once can reduce block size accordingly.During analysis, the \"relative efficiency\" for a particular lattice design is defined as the ratio of the average variance of treatment The generation of alpha lattices and row-column designs, as well as their latinized designs, can be achieved by using the ALPHA+ software.Statistical analyses of results from these designs can be performed using computer packages such as SAS, GENSTAT, REML, and purposedesigned programs such as ALPHANAL (see Barreto et al., 1997). The main question when designing unreplicated trials is how to control soil variability in the field. Briefly, we will describe three methods for controlling soil variability as suggested by Kempton (1984).EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND SOFTWARE from the alpha lattice design (SE=0.36 t/ha, Table 3) with 21 degrees of freedom is 0.76 t/ha. The LSD(0.05) from the RCBD (0.39 t/ha,    The SHMM modelIn plant breeding and crop production, the most critical genotype x environment interaction involves significant reversal of genotypic rank across sites. This interaction is called crossover interaction (COI), as opposed to scale change or non-crossover interaction (non-COI) (Baker, 1990). Statistical tests for identifying and quantifying COI in medical trials have been proposed by Azzalini and Cox (1984) and Gail and Simon (1985). However, most statistical methods for studying genotype x environment interaction in the context of multilocation trials, including AMMI, fail to distinguish between COI and non-COI.The shifted multiplicative model (SHMM) developed by Seyedsadr and Cornelius (1992) for analyzing non-additivity in a two-way table in the context of genotype x environment interaction and supplemented by other statistical tools (Cornelius et al, 1992;Crossa et al., 1993;Cornelius et al., 1993) provides an analytical tool for finding subsets of sites (or genotypes)with negligible genotypic rank change. This method is called the \"SHMM clustering method\" and can be used for clustering genotypes into subsets without significant genotypic rank change interaction.The SHMM model (Seyedsadr and Cornelius, 1992) iswhere yij. and ε ij. denote the means of the genotype and the residual error on the i th genotype at the j th site; β is the shift parameter; λ k is the square root of the eigenvalue corresponding to axis k; α i1 and γ j1 are the \"primary effects\" of genotype and site, α i2 and γ j2 are the \"secondary effects\" of genotype and site, etc. The The main principle in SHMM cluster methodology is that variation owing to secondary and higher effects (tertiary, quaternary, etc.) that exist in the entire dataset will be recovered as primary effects in smaller clusters or differences among clusters. This is carried achieved by using a distance measure between paired sites that is the residual sum of squares of SHMM 1 , when fitted to those pairs of sites. This concept of distance allows two sites with negligible genotypic rank changes to be close together and two sites with large genotypic rank changes to be far apart. Once the distances for all pairs of sites have been obtained, a cluster analysis for combining subsets is utilized. From the dendrogram produced by the cluster analysis, sub-groups of sites can be identified to which SHMM 1 gives an adequate fit. The dendrogram for the SHMM clustering method for grouping sites without COI can be performed easily using a SAS program that appeared in the appendix of Crossa et al., (1993)  Genotypes show much more variability in interaction than in main effects (Fig. 1), whereas sites show a lot of variability in both main effects and interaction. From the AMMI 1 graphical representation depicted in Figure 1, it is possible to compute the expected yield for any genotype x site combination. The additive part is computed by adding the mean of the genotype plus the mean of the site minus the grand mean. The interaction part is simply the genotype score times the site score.These two parts add to produce the expected value of the AMMI 1 model (Crossa et al., 1991).According to the mean yield (abscissa) and interaction (PC1, ordinate) we can place the sites in three groups. Those from low yielding sites (S2, S4, S6, S7, S11 and S14) had positive first components (PC1s), except for S6 with a high negative PC1. These sites were characterized by low average rainfall or irrigation supply during the season (358 mm) (Edmeades et al., 1995). All   Data presented here were collected in  Edmeades (1994).Three fields were prepared for low-N experiments by planting several maize crops with no applied fertilizer and then removing all aboveground biomass, as described in Table 1.After about six seasons of continuous maize cultivation, the fields were sown for one season with a green manure crop of mucuna or beans.This management approach combines with climatic variation to result in variation in the observed yield reduction from season to season (Fig. 1).Low Nitrogen Breeding Programs What is different about low-N nurseries?As N stress increases, progeny yields decrease, but the experimental error does not decrease as rapidly (Table 2). The coefficient of variation increases, and it becomes more difficult for breeders to see genetic differences among families. When the effect of soil variation is reduced by using a lattice design (see below), the error variance is similar for high and low-N nurseries. The genotypic variance is less under low N, so the broad-sense heritability for grain yield is less in the low-N environment (Bänziger et al., 1997).Can soil properties reveal spatial variation?The observed variation in yields under low N must be related to soil properties that affect N supply.Nitrogen is often applied in the  3).  Even though there is some interaction among progenies growing in single-row plots, we found that benefits from using multiple-row plots were offset by the need to increase the area of each incomplete block (Bänziger et al., 1995). We conclude that a lattice design with a small block size is effective for low-N nurseries. For experiments with multiple-row plots, it would be better to use a covariate adjustment at the Poza Rica station.Another approach to managing variability is to intersow a crop with the maize which will absorb soil N as it becomes available. We planted wheat in the row alongside maize during the winter cropping cycle, and allowed the wheat to grow until Let us suppose a variable can be defined that can integrate all DT effects. One possibility is the 'energy' accumulated by a plant against drought conditions (Muñoz and Rodriguez, 1988). This would include the plant's water and dry matter resources and the DT mechanisms described by May and Milthorpe (1962). If we call this variable r and its associated variance R, the model can be written as: R = R o + R p + R o *R p (5) This expression means that when we evaluate the drought tolerance of several varieties from different phylogenetic groups, R can be divided in three components: R o , the ontogenetic DT; R p , the phylogenetic DT; and R o *R p , the interaction of R o and R p , as indicated previously by Muñoz and Rodríguez (1988). Several studies that include many observations have been carried out to document ontogenetic profiles (Quezada and Muñoz, 1985;Santacruz and Muñoz, 1990;Pedroza and Muñoz, 1993).When varieties of the same species The use of incomplete block designs has gained wider acceptability among researchers in developing countries as a tool to control random variation, particularly for evaluation trials of many genotypes. In the CIMMYT Maize Program, alpha (0,1) lattice designs have been used since 1986 for evaluating groups of more than 200 genotypes, generally planted in single row plots. Relative efficiencies of 1.0-2.0 have been observed, but the use of the alpha-lattice designs has thus far been restricted mainly to genotype evaluation trials. There is little information on the use of these designs in agronomic experiments, although they could be useful where there is no factorial type relationship among treatments, where the number of treatments is relatively large (e.g., > 16), and where soil heterogeneity at the test site is high.Among the most important constraints to the use of these designs are: the lack of an appropriate language-independent software interface for entering and transforming data files, the difficulty of handling information in a common format, and the lack of integration with other analytical tools (graphing applications, selection algorithms, regression, etc.). A software module in English and Spanish that facilitates and integrates the use of the ALPHANAL and LATANOVA programs (Scottish Agricultural Statistics Service, Edinburgh) for the design and analysis of alpha (0,1) lattices is described. The software also allows for the processing of lattice-adjusted means using selection software developed by the CIMMYT Maize Program. This type of easy-to-use software offers an additional resource for improving the efficiency of agricultural research in national agricultural programs in developing countries.The traditional design for evaluating agricultural experiments is one in which the experimental units are grouped in complete blocks that individually contain all the treatments. This type of design assumes that variation between units of a block is less than that between units of different blocks, so that experimental precision is increased by virtue of error control (Steel and Torrie, 1980). Also, in this type of design each treatment occurs with the same frequency in each block; we say that blocks and treatments are orthogonal, a property that facilitates the mathematical calculations needed to produce an analysis of variance.Table 1 shows a general classification of the experimental designs that are most commonly used in agriculture.However, when the number of treatments is large, the randomized block and the latin square designs are generally unsuitable, because the size of the block and (as a result) soil heterogeneity increase. This may cause the variation within blocks to be larger than the variation between blocks, which would tend to increase the experimental error and diminish the researcher's ability to observe statistical differences among treatments.In an incomplete block design (e.g., lattices), the number of plots per block is smaller than the total number of treatments (e.g., genotypes). An  if the reduction in the error mean square compensates for the effect of confounding caused by incomplete blocks), then the relative efficiency will be greater than 1. As mentioned above, the fact that lattices can revert to complete blocks if the efficiency is less than 1 ensures that lattices can never be less efficient than a complete block design. Table 2 summarizes the principal types of square and rectangular lattices.Some historical events that were important in the development of experimental designs, including alpha designs devised by Patterson and Williams (1976), are shown in Table 3. These are type (0,1) incomplete block designs. The term in parentheses indicates the type of restriction the combination of paired entries has with respect to incomplete blocks. In the case of an alpha lattice (0,1), every treatments in each pair never appear together (0)or are together in only one  To start the system, the programs are loaded from the distribution diskette onto a subdirectory of the hard disk.The word ALPHA is then keyed in on the operating system. Figure 1 illustrates the options menu available for analyzing alpha-lattice experiments designed at CIMMYT.The desired option is selected with the cursor or by simply pressing the letter describing that option. Options on the main menu include:1. Produce a new randomization. there is a separate instruction manual on how to use it (Barreto et al., 1991).The option for editing and transforming data files (4) is illustrated in Figure 3. For using the latter, the program follows the software conventions described in the MST Data Assistant program (Barreto and Raun, 1988). The following sections present a detailed description of the questions included in Options 1 and 2 for generating and analyzing alpha-lattices, respectively.    Output information (ASCII format) that includes FEMA, the number of  4 and 5).the field book in ASCII format (rep, block, plot and entry, in that order), but with no heads. These files may be used to generate field books using a word processor.-MSTAT binary files containing field layouts ranked by plot numbers.These files are ready to be edited by the user at the end of each Option 1 session. The user should enter the variables of interest using the data editor to add variables (columns) and do transformations between variables using the conventions described in the MST Data Assistant (Barreto and Raun, 1988).  Section D This is the most important section as it includes the randomization in a format that can be utilized for preparation of field books of imported into MST.  FORTRAN reading format for each variable and names of variables to be analyzed. Assistant (Barreto et al., 1991). This file can be modified using the MST Data Assistant editor (Barreto and Raun, 1988).Option 1: Generate new randomization Table 4 shows an example of randomization for a file having 24 entries in incomplete blocks of size 6 and two reps. The file presented is an .FDS extension file (complete design).Table 4 shows notes in the right margin describing the important parts of this output file. Table 5 briefly describes each of the sections of the output file having the .FDS extension.Option 2: Analysis of variance of an alpha-lattice Table 6 gives an example of an output file (extension .AOV) generated by LATANOVA. In the right margin are the descriptions of each of the statistical parameters and elements for analysis.A strong case was made that serious problems exist for maize in areas of Latin America, Africa and Asia subject to drought and nutrient limitations. In many cases, the small and highly variable yields of such marginal lands are the basis of subsistence farming, with little in the way of surplus to support urban populations. An equal concern is that such \"traditional\" agriculture (Schulze, 1964;Loomis, 1984)   Integration of this understanding into the selection programs is truly exemplary of the approach that will be increasingly needed in the future. The low yield levels (1-2 t grain ha -1 ) of maize in many marginal environments are in shocking contrast to record yields of maize (near 22 t ha -1 ) obtained under good conditions at higher latitudes. The true \"yield gap\" is much smaller, however, as indicated by attainment of only 6 to 9 t ha -1 in tropical areas with adequate water and nutrients, and diseases and weeds controlled.The real issue, then, is not why stressed crops in the tropics yield only 20% of that obtainable nearby, but why the gap between attainable yields of tropical and temperate zones is so large. I am convinced again that differences in temperature and radiation patterns are the root of these yield differences. Further Sufficient knowledge of mechanisms now exists for assessment of these issues in tropical maize.Marginal agriculture is widespread in the tropics and a network for exchange of people, information and germplasm is extremely important.The international cooperation evident in this meeting is indeed impressive. It is clear that an effective network exists and that it functions well. The challenge now is to sustain its vigor.Throughout history, traditional agriculture has been associated with farm families that include numerous children (Loomis, 1983). This arises in part from the labor-intensive nature of such systems and, in many Participants have been teaching each other to \"talk\" to the maize plant, and to listen to it when it \"talks\" to us.However, the maize plant still carries many secrets, and modern technologydoes not yet give as much conversational help as we have hoped it would, although we believe that some tools, such as molecular marker technology, will give us at least a little more information and power to make desired changes.The symposium concentrated on two • We have finally realized that agricultural production is an integral part of, and is affected and controlled by, socioeconomic forces, aspirations, and changes. There is a need for further definition of the types of farmers and growing conditions that maize hybrids and OPVs are targeted towards, because this relates to the level of stress tolerance that needs to be incorporated in the respective types of germplasm. It is often suggested, for example, that hybrids most likely will be grown on good soils and OPVs on poor soils, but is this really true? One analysis (Waddington and Heisey, 1997)  There is no magic bullet: this conference has not identified one or two extreme sources of tolerance to In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of selection, it must take place under field conditions typical of the target environment, using realistic populations structured as full-sib or inbred families, and must show significant genetic gains over time in independent evaluation trials. • Use of managed stress environments to allow stress to be applied at critical points in the life cycle of the crop when genetic variation for stress tolerance is best displayed.• Use of efficient experimental designs, specifically alpha (0,1) lattices.• Monitoring performance in unstressed environments.• Control of maturity from cycle to cycle so tolerance (not escape) is chosen.• Use of elite germplasm, so improvement is from a high and stable base value.• Consistent use of a carefully chosen group of secondary traits related to tolerance.• Combination of all traits and environments into a selection index (or an ideotype) that permits weighting of each trait according to its perceived worth in that set of evaluations, and results in a single index value per genotype that can be used to identify superior genotypes for advance or recombination.The fact that genetic improvements under drought are reported to result in similar rates of genetic gain under low N is of considerable significance.In other words, screening  Stresses reduce mean performance and genetic variance, and although error variance also falls, it does not do so as rapidly, and coefficients of tolerance, even though two of these networks remain in existence.Regional networks addressing tolerance to these stresses were, however, endorsed by participants (Elings et al., 1996)  ","tokenCount":"64566"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1337843577.json b/data/part_1/1337843577.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0d3f3f93aa844af23edc26e01bddaf2d5d3153a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1337843577.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0b6e7aed077e823ee31e3afcb46dc877","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f57fc5f5-5f35-4509-896b-dae2c88dc93d/retrieve","id":"211809380"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22d3087a-a252-4b0c-9888-d0590e49a2d5","pagecount":"2","content":"In Nepal, scaling-up of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) technologies and practices, beyond the pilot project sites, has been a major challenge for government and non-government organizations involved in environmental and development fields.• The \"travelling seminar\", conceptualised by LI-BIRD and CCAFS, appears to be an appropriate method and tool to promote and facilitate the adoption of CSA technologies across Nepal. • The initial experience of using travelling seminars in the LIBIRD/CCAFS pilot field sites shows that for scaling purposes, it is important to design and target both elected leaders and government officials who hold key decision-making positions and control resources. • Also important is the need to focus on both technical and social dimensions of scaling CSA. For example, in addition to \"what or which\" CSA technologies, some social and communication skills on \"how\" to go about scaling a CSA technologies would further help the participants to make a case to their governments. • Some CSA technologies are simpler and require relatively little effort and resource to scale-up. Whereas some other technologies, such as solar powered irrigation system and harvesting and lifting seepage water from underneath the riverbed in the Chure and Bhaber region etc, are more complicated and their scaling-up demand for substantial additional technical, financial, material and organizational support, especially when they involve multiple households or groups of households. • Finally, as with the projects designed for specific research and testing new ideas, the scaling-up of the tested technologies would also need specific projects with secured finance and other resources.In Nepal, scaling-up of proven CSA technologies and practices beyond pilot sites has been a major challenge for government and non-government organizations involved in environmental and development fields. This \"policy brief\" uses the LI-BIRD/ CCAFS experience of \"travelling seminar\" designed and targeted for elected leaders, especially women leaders, with specific objective of scaling the use of proven CSA technologies, beyond the pilot sites. The \"brief\" also uses the findings of an impact assessment study to suggest how the future travelling seminars might be further improved.Most projects have specific geographical areas and time of three to four years for field implementation of project activities. In such short period, the concerned projects are required to test and demonstrate new ideas, document experiences and lessons learned, and then share the information with the relevant government organizations responsible for supporting the projects and other stakeholders.Project resources (finance, human, institutional etc) are strictly used within the project geographical area, and for activities that are specified in project documents. Such projects usually have specific budget allocated for producing reports and publicity material to share with concerned stakeholders and the general public. They also tend to set aside some fund to support workshop at the end of the project term to share project results with the concerned stakeholders.Apart from such communication activities, there is hardly any provision of budget and other resources to support scaling project results. Organizations, interested to take up project results, are expected to use their own resources. However, most organizations, especially government agencies, lack the necessary resources to include scaling activities into their regular programmes; consequently, most technologies (or information) generated by various research and development projects remain confined to pilot sites.LI-BIRD/ CCAFS travelling seminar is designed with the main objective of scaling CSA beyond pilot sites and targeted for the elected leaders, especially women leaders, who are in positions with access to government policymaking platforms. The travelling seminar is characterized by its emphasis and focus on;• The CSA technologies that have already been tested, and are ready for scaling-up; • The sharing and learning about the technologies through direct observations and interactions with the users and beneficiaries; • The spending seminar time both in-house and in the fields, mostly in places where the CSA technologies are actually being applied; and more importantly, • The provision of resources (finance, human, institutional & material) secured to use specifically for purposes of scaling the CSA technologies.With such focused approach and secured resources, the travelling seminars have been reasonably effective in meeting the scaling objectives -i.e. in raising the participants' awareness and knowledge of the CSA technologies and practices, and enabling them to use seminar learning for influencing their government's decisions for climate and gender sensitive agriculture programme.An assessment of the travelling seminar impact showed that, in addition to the above aspects, future seminars should consider the following areas for improvement and make them more effective:• Selection of seminar participants should be done more strategically.In addition to selecting randomly few elected women leaders, some other people -especially those holding key decision-making positions should also be targeted -as they also need to be aware of the climate and gender related agricultural issues, and of the availability of the CSA technologies. These people include, but are not limited to, the government's ministers and secretaries, municipality's mayors and executive officers, as well as representatives of the national and provincial policy and planning commissions. • Given the difficulty faced by participants in applying seminar learning to convince their governments, the future seminars should consider some social and communication skills. Seminar participants would benefit from knowledge/skills on how they could use seminar learning for lobbying and building alliances with important people, and how to use the knowledge to make their case to their governments. • As with the projects designed for research and testing new ideas, the scaling-up of the tested CSA technologies beyond pilot sites should also have specific projects with secured finance, human, material and institutional resources. Some technologies are simple and require less effort, resource and action for scaling. However, some other CSA technologies such as solar powered irrigation system, watershed protection measures, harvesting and lifting seepage water from underneath the riverbeds in Chure and Bhaber regions etc, are more complicated, and their scaling demand for substantial additional inputs in terms of technical, financial, material and organizational support, especially when they involve multiple households or groups of households.","tokenCount":"980"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1347637963.json b/data/part_1/1347637963.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c3db10bb04fc742aee2fffc5792799aed806d2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1347637963.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"671d3c5b759845b1023f050207c16919","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2cb72e46-db98-4834-be3c-e3e7fce7bb67/retrieve","id":"1905957791"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"98ce4f93-017c-4099-932c-2d8bd7acf213","pagecount":"27","content":"Examples Application or emphasis in the Global Plant Health Assessment Provisioning the products obtained from ecosystems -human food -animal feed -raw materials (e.g., lumber, fuelwood, organic matter) -energy (e.g., biofuels) -genetic resources -medicinal resourcesRegulating benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes -Carbon sequestration and climate regulation -Purification of water and air -Waste decomposition and detoxification -Regulations within populations (e.g., natural control, biocontrol) -Pollination -Mitigation of disturbances (e.g., floods)relate to the nonmaterial world inspirational, cultural, recreational, spiritual, tourism resources Provisioning from agriculture (field crops)• Crop performances are maintained at major costs (pesticides, fertilizers). Major challenges will have to be addressed in the future, which will involve plant diseases.South Asia (Indo-Gangetic Plains)Food production: progressive increase averting a major food crisis. Rice diseases are a clear reducer of systems performances.Climate change, insufficient use of IPM, training, are causes for current yield losses. impact of plant diseases. Sustained performances of the Rice Wheat system is a major challenge.reasonably confident Potato remains a main staple and a major source of livelihoods despite plant health challenges.Regulating: Safeguarding natural ecosystems is an issue (seed production at increasingly higher elevations). Impacts on services: Potato","tokenCount":"187"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1348951303.json b/data/part_1/1348951303.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c12fab0728671e5ff0ccd429b92989263eca876e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1348951303.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"68488b58dd69bd77c725256247e87df3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8376044c-eaeb-4697-b78d-6f2257bccabf/retrieve","id":"-1343700169"},"keywords":["FR2.3: \"Even the Goats Feel the Heat:\" Gender","Livestock Rearing","Rangeland Cultivation","and Climate Change Adaptation in Tunisia"],"sieverID":"5b91fba8-c62c-4c53-b168-44d67d4893e4","pagecount":"16","content":"Far less is known about the impacts of climate change on livestock production in the region. • Women's involvement in rangelands in Tunisia and the effects of climate change upon their livelihoods are both policy blind spots.• To make women's contributions to rangeland use more visible and to provide policy inputs based on women's needs and priorities into the reforms currently being made in the pastoral code in Tunisia, we conducted fieldwork in three governorates of northern and southern Tunisia which differ in socio-economic and ecological dynamics.• The three communities differ in socio-economic and ecological dynamics:• While people in Medenine and Tataouine graze their livestock and usually collect livestock feed from the rangelands, in Zaghouan people are more likely to harvest feed and forage from crops such as rapeseed, barley, and wheat. • In Tataouine, livestock rearing is often carried out at a commercial scale: the average number of livestock owned by a household in Tataouine is 82 heads, whereas on average the herd sizes are 13 heads in Medenine and 9 heads in Zaghouan.Taking a comparative approach toward the three communities enables us to identify diverse experiences not just of women's involvement in livestock rearing but also gendered impacts and outcomes of climate change, rendering our recommendations relevant for a diverse array of dry and desert communities in the MENA region.•Recognizing a need to integrate gender more effectively into Tunisia's livestock and rangeland management projects and policies, ICARDA brought together key government institutions, local communities, and international actors -under the auspices of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock -to design practical research tools (interviews and focus groups) to guide research activities.•The questions that emerged from this consultation guided our interview and focus groups for this project, which were aimed at understanding women's and men's ownership and control of assets such as land and livestock, access to livelihood training and innovations, their respective roles in grazing of livestock, all within the context of understanding the impacts of climate change and coping strategies.• Participants in Medenine reported a lack of youth engagement in agriculture and a reduction in size of livestock herds over the years due to increases in feed prices and limited availability of labour.• This resonates with our finding that the average age for male farmers in Medenine was 57 years versus 45 years for women. • Although grazing livestock is traditionally considered a male activity and women did not report grazing as a key activity in Medenine, men from the same community identified grazing as increasingly becoming women's responsibility. • In Tataouine, men were deemed solely responsible for camel rearing while women, especially if the herd size was smaller, took on responsibility for goats and sheep rearing. • Male and female respondents in the three communities identified men as almost exclusively responsible for marketing, particularly for selling and purchasing livestock, feed, and other inputs such as fertilizer. However, both male and female respondents noted that women in Medenine were also increasingly performing these market roles, albeit to a lesser extent than the men in their families, probably a consequence of male outmigration and declining male (including youth) participation in agriculture in Medenine.• In addition to collecting feed and stall cleaning, our findings revealed that significant numbers of women graze livestock in all three communities.• Such findings contradict misperceptions held in policy circles, including those expressed in the stakeholder workshop preceding our study, that women rarely carry out livestock grazing activities. Failing to consider women's needs and priorities in formulating policy about rangelands not only deprives women of voice and representation in policymaking, but also deprives rangeland management policy of women's insights and knowledge.• \"When we talk about inheritance in Southern Tunisia we do not talk about the law or religion, we talk about customs: sisters want to preserve natal relations with their brothers and avoid conflict over property and resources, as such they do not claim their legal or religious rights to land,\" explained a key informant from Tataouine. • Nonetheless, male and female respondents in the three areas reported being able to access and use land for farming and grazing, irrespective of the gender of the owner. Our findings from these communities suggest that women contribute significantly to livestock and farming despite their limited ownership of land. This finding may also explain why women have more equitable access with men to rangelands collectively owned by communities.Unlike land, larger numbers of women owned livestock in the three communities, either independently or jointly with their spouses.• In Zaghouan women mostly owned sheep while they were more likely to own goats in Tataouine and Medenine.• Women who owned livestock had either inherited them from parents, purchased livestock independently or with a family member with their own savings, received them as gifts from spouses or from a livestock development project. • However, a different scenario presents itself for camels, which are only reared in the Tataouine site and owned exclusively by men. We found only one woman who owned camels in Tataouine. • Women also had significant agency over livestock acquisition and use, which we define as the ability to decide to buy, sell, butcher, or trade livestock. Male respondents in both communities reported joint-decision making with their spouses much more frequently for livestock than for land.• Our research in Tunisia revealed other details specific to region and type of livestock.• For example, both men and women were more likely to report joint-decision-making for goats than for sheep. • Households in Tataouine were the least likely to report joint decision-making, especially with regards to camels, which were almost exclusively controlled by men. • Additionally, male and female respondents provided different reasons for consulting with their spouses about decisions relating to livestock.• Men explained that they consulted with their spouses about livestock because their spouses did most of the feeding and tending of livestock. • However, women were more likely to justify consulting with their husbands in order to abide by traditional patriarchal social norms of male household headship: \"I consult with my husband for any big or small issue. Even if I want to get water, before he leaves to work, I tell him that I will be getting water today. We discuss to make decisions, but the final decision belongs to my husband.\"These findings suggest that \"jointness\" in decision making may mean different things to women and men and may not translate into equity in decision making.• Both men and women respondents reported that climate change has led to reduced crop yields and crop failure, reduced purchasing power due to higher dependence on purchased feed, reduced grazing time due to higher temperatures and degradation of rangelands, reduced work opportunities in the rangelands, greater fatigue among women due to the extra work involved in fetching fodder from farther locations, and a loss of interest and hope in rangeland cultivation and livestock production as viable livelihoods, particularly among young people. • Both male and female respondents reported that although women's greater involvement in activities such as grazing and gathering grass as livestock feed had become more noticeable in Medenine in recent years, women in Zaghouan had also become more actively engaged in agriculture and livestock rearing because of male outmigration. • Men from the three communities were reported to be leaving in greater numbers in recent years for off-farm opportunities in the cities, in manufacturing, for example. • Male respondents from all three communities noted that the land available for rangeland cultivation and livestock rearing had shrunk because of increased tree planting, particularly olives, which many farmers had resorted to in order to slow down soil erosion and desertification, especially in Tataouine.• Study respondents also mentioned feeding livestock more often in their stalls to protect them from dehydration and overheating instead of allowing them to graze outdoors.• As one female respondent noted, \"Even the goats feel the heat.\" Whereas goats and sheep were likely to graze and defecate in the rangelands previously, higher temperatures were forcing farmers not just to feed livestock and keep them in their stalls for longer periods but also to bathe them occasionally to protect them from overheating.• Since women were more likely to be responsible for collecting livestock feed, bathing livestock and cleaning the stalls in which sheep and goats are sheltered, these changes have considerably increased women's workloads in recent years.•Female participants in the focus groups we conducted in both Medenine and Zaghouan emphasized that PRODESUD (36 million USD) as well as other rangeland support projects almost exclusively targeted men. [Only 4.14% of PRODESUD's beneficiaries were women.]•Female participants in the focus groups we conducted listed the following measures as critical for improving livestock production in their communities: support for digging wells and subsidizing feed; protecting rangelands and allowing farmers to graze their livestock on larger tracts of land (they emphasized that although tree planting reduced soil erosion, trees also had the effect of reducing the rangeland available for grazing); providing women with financial and technical support for livestock rearing and diary production; and introducing measures to control fires on rangelands and to reduce theft of livestock.•In addition to prioritizing the protection of rangelands to enable grazing, male respondents also identified the importance of planting cactus as livestock feed, creating tree and shrub canopies to provide shade for livestock to rest under, improving access to labour to compensate for youth outmigration, and locating feed markets closer to grazing areas to reduce transportation costs.•Although men did not explicitly identify support for women to participate in livestock rearing and dairy production as a priority, it was clear from our focus group and interview findings that women were already actively engaged in livestock rearing and dairy production. That women's needs and priorities were frequently ignored or trivialized in rangeland management projects and policies was emphasized repeatedly by female participants in our study. •Male respondents also wanted training in cheese making, which is currently only offered to women, to also be made available to men.•Understanding how women use rangelands is a necessary first step to ensuring that they benefit from rangeland management at par with men. Women's feedback and priorities should be considered critical for the sustainable and equitable use and management of rangelands.•Women's growing involvement in livestock rearing and agricultural production must be supported with commensurate social and economic policy interventions.•As an example, it is crucial that women gain access to drought management and adaptation training at par with men.• Most of the training about drought management focused on supplementary and alternative irrigation techniques and practices. Complementary drought mitigation and management strategies e.g., the introduction of cacti, including as livestock feed, and other drought tolerant crops and animal breeds were not explored by extension system and are worth exploring.•While preventing further degradation of rangelands is vital for enabling farmers to continue food and forage production, creating access to fodder markets and providing subsidies to enable farmers to purchase fodder are also important as complementary measures to ensure that livestock have fodder supplies and that rangelands are occasionally allowed to remain fallow to regenerate.• Skills and training related to drought and irrigation were targeted almost exclusively to men.It is crucial that women gain access to drought management and adaptation training at par with men. • Alongside increasing women's access to such training, it is important to create more visibility and social acceptance for women in roles such as irrigation, grazing and marketing that are deemed masculine.• This will enable more women to participate in rangeland cultivation and livestock rearing on a more equal footing with men and to voice their concerns and priorities in policy dialogues. • Just as women expressed interest in learning skills that were traditionally only offered to men, we found that many men were interested in learning skills such as cheesemaking that were traditionally only offered to women.• Since livelihood diversification and rangeland protection are shared priorities for rural Tunisians, irrespective of gender, it is also important for men to have opportunities to pursue livelihood opportunities that were traditionally deemed \"women's work\" without experiencing social stigma or censure.","tokenCount":"2001"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1369205726.json b/data/part_1/1369205726.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b05317524f4e0e8fed977b02e3b3edcd869256c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1369205726.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"400e6fae55c0021a23fdeff061425c7f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0c44f620-cbe5-4f0d-9281-ae09cfe65fbc/retrieve","id":"1845355270"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e30f76a9-3875-43c0-a0f2-199b846decfd","pagecount":"29","content":"Outlines 0. Introduction 1. Improvement of Bean Varieties 2. Options for Managing ISFM and IPDM 3. Nutrition work in Burundi 3. Nutrition work in Burundi 4. Bean Market work 5. Increase access to improved technology and Partners in Technonolgy dissemination 6. Capacity building (Training , backcstopping) Bean Agroecological zones 4 AEZs are distinguished for beans according to altitude:  IMBO plain (800-1000m) = bush bean  The East and the North Eastern intermediate range  The East and the North Eastern intermediate range  (1200 -1500m) = Bush bean  The Central Plateau (1500-1900 m) : bush and climbing bean ( with climbers 70%)  The High Altitude (> 1900m) : climbing bean Bean production constraints . Abiotic (climatic change and low soil fertility) and biotic (Pests and diseases) . High price of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) . Lack of improved seed . Low icome for farmers . Low icome for farmers . Land scarcity Beans are stapple food in Burundi. The country's average consumption per capita : 60 kg/year, the highest in the world  The most produced crop after Banana and sweet patatoes sweet patatoes  Bean crop is grown in all natural regions in Burundi; by more than 90% of households living on small plots of 0.5 ha on average.The selection focus on: 1) Evaluation of varieties for high quality nutrition : Rich in micronutrient high in Fe, Zn and protein 2) varieties with resistance to 2 or more 2) varieties with resistance to 2 or more biotic ( pest &diseases) and abiotic (drough and low soil fertility) stresses : MRC 3) Market class : both climbing and Bush with high market value ( yellow, red, white, snap bean)  Thank you","tokenCount":"283"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1375340579.json b/data/part_1/1375340579.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..066c15a7ccce1017bf3236689a66f743c05f1477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1375340579.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac132566200646b8aeb59bf2ca10ec76","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c33f259-74ca-4df4-9b7a-dcdbb7e3f0ce/retrieve","id":"1860314595"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"044db769-17d8-417f-be65-183631124ba4","pagecount":"4","content":"Characterization of smallholder goat production and marketing systems in Udaipur district, Rajasthan State, India: Results of a baseline study R. Bendapudi and S.C.J. Hendrickx Goat production and marketing are important livelihood options for rural communities in the dryland regions of India and Mozambique. However, these activities are often carried out on an ad hoc, risky and informal basis with little benefit to the communities.The project, Small ruminant value chains as platforms for reducing poverty and increasing food security in dryland areas of India and Mozambique (imGoats), was designed with the overall goal of increasing incomes and food security in a sustainable manner by enhancing pro-poor small ruminant value chains in the two countries.The aim of the two and a half year project (2011-13) is to transform goat production and marketing to a sound and profitable enterprise and model that taps into a growing market, largely controlled by and benefiting women and other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups while preserving the natural resource base.The main target beneficiaries of the project are poor goat keepers, especially women and other marginalized groups and scheduled tribes (ST). According to the population census of 2001, Udaipur district has the highest proportion of ST population in Rajasthan State accounting for 17.75%. About 47% of the total households in the district are considered as living below the poverty line. Other beneficiaries include goat value chain actors such as smallscale traders and providers of inputs and services. This research brief presents a summary of the results of a baseline study carried out from August to October 2011 in Udaipur district, Rajasthan State, India, as part of the imGoats project, to characterize goat production and marketing systems in the district. The study also identified the main production-and marketing-related constraints faced by the goat value chain actors. Based on these constraints, a number of interventions are recommended to improve goat production and marketing in the district.To pilot sustainable and replicable organizational and technical models to strengthen goat value chains in India and Mozambique that increase incomes, reduce vulnerability and enhance welfare amongst marginalized groups, including women.To document, communicate and promote appropriate evidence-based models for sustainable, pro-poor goat value chains. The project area was the district of Udaipur, Rajasthan State in Northwestern India. The district is situated in southern Rajasthan and covers an area of approximate-ly13,419 square kilometres with a population density of 242 inhabitants per square kilometre. The imGoats project villages are in the Jhadol and Sarada blocks(figure 1). Of the total 177 households surveyed, 20 were female headed households and 61% were participants in the im-Goats project.Baseline study villages Goat keeping is mainly practised as a side occupationThe goatkeeper households participating in the project are living below the poverty line with a very high dependence on their small land and livestock holdings.Crop production is subsistence in nature with wage labour as the main income source. Almost all the households take up crop production activities during the rainy season but this is mainly for household consumption during the year. Cash income generated through sale of surplus crop production accounts for 20% of total annual household income and wage labour contributes to almost 33% of the total annual household income.Goat husbandry is mainly a complementary source of income to support household needs or during emergencies and accounts for about 12% of the total annual income.• The prevalent breed is the local nondescript breed locally referred to as \"desi\". The goatkeepers do not follow any specific breeding practices.The goat keepers practise a combination of open browsing and stall feeding, which varies according to seasons. Forest land is considered as an important feed source by almost 58%, 63% and 62% of the goatkeepers in winter, summer and rainy seasons, respectively. Sixty-three percent of respondents expressed that they experienced shortage of feed for goats in the previous one year especially during the summer months of April to May.• About 66% and 49% of sample goatkeepers indicated that the goats are housed inside the house during the rainy and winter seasons, respectively.At present, the awareness levels about health management practices among the surveyed goat keepers are almost negligible. Almost all the sample goatkeepers have not undertaken any health management practices such as vaccination, deworming, treatment against ticks and curative treatment. Majority of them indicated that no investments were made in goat rearing and considered it as a low-input (cost) system.In goat rearing, women are more involved in day-today activities whereas men are involved in activities such as medication and selling of animals.Selling of animalsThe goats were mostly sold to the local butchers at the farmgate. According to the goatkeepers, the most important factor that buyers consider while determining the prices of goats is weight (as per 73% of the sample households). The second most important factors are the body condition (healthy appearance) and age of animal.The peak sale months are the winter months of November, December and January, which coincide with important Hindu and Muslim festivals. The male goats (age group of more than 5 months and not castrated) are sold at an average price of 2195 India rupees per animal. Most often, the goatkeepers felt that the weight of the animal was underestimated and they received lower prices.Both women and men are involved in the decision making process to sell the animals and have equal control over the money generated.• About 62% of the sample goatkeepers indicated that they did not have membership in any active community group.There has been a general lack of coordination among the goatkeepers with respect to planning of different goat husbandry activities.Based on the baseline results and constraints identified by project participants, the following interventions are recommended:• Given that goat husbandry is currently considered as a secondary activity with low investments, it would be best to first focus on improving production through better management before working on commercialization aspects.• Application of the innovation platform (IP) approach is the unique feature of the project. Its role has to be seen as that of nodal point for knowledge transfer/exchange between the various value chain actors. It provides an opportunity for different actors to meet, discuss and plan activities for addressing immediate issues. In the imGoats project, IP is performing the role of knowledge sharing and planning of activities. The enhanced human capital, in terms of increased awareness among the goatkeepers and the trained local resource person who is also a goatkeeper (called field guide) in the villages, are critical for sustaining the goat development activities as well as the IP.Community access to health care for goats is hindered both due to lack of a veterinary doctor or livestock assistant in the immediate vicinity and lack of awareness among the farmers about the health care practices and facilities. The imGoats project aims to bridge this gap by imparting technical training to field guides to make them the key link between the community members and the State animal husbandry department. In the present set-up, the field guide is expected to become a service provider in the future and performs multiple tasks.The literacy levels of the field guides and the community members are very low. Since knowledge sharing is a continuous process, a proper communication strategy (responsibility of collecting information, translating and dissemination) has to be planned with focus on demystification of technical knowledge and emphasis on practical orientation.A systematic process of identifying the main gastrointestinal parasites through faeces analysis in the area and giving specific treatment can be more effective.Almost 87% of the goatkeeper respondents indicated their willingness to invest more money for bucks of an improved breed, which is an indication of their interest in breed improvement. At present, Sirohi breed bucks (recommended breed for the area) are given to each goatkeeper group as part of the project activities along with training for buck upkeep.• Goatkeeper groups have been formed as part of the community mobilization efforts of the project. Consolidation and strengthening of these groups by orienting them to the benefits of collective thinking and action will play a key role in future course of action. This will help in making available input services, access to credit facilities and developing collective marketing strategies.• A value chain study to better understand the commercialization dynamics.An analysis of herd size, composition and mortality rate to ensure sustainable increase in sales and avoid depletion of the herd.• An analysis of labour division in goat production and the involvement of women and children. ","tokenCount":"1396"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1383532247.json b/data/part_1/1383532247.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..66b8a336fe5c11f20cc576c1d91e98da12dc600b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1383532247.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d78a45aa5608f40b817b42d39c002ed8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/76e0ba12-959d-4adf-b5d0-48b81cfe20df/retrieve","id":"-1522476767"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"777d17bb-24c7-4aca-8758-187ee395434d","pagecount":"12","content":"Managing soil fertility for improved livelihoods requires an approach that integrates technical, social, economic, and policy issues at multiple scales. To overcome this complexity, research and extension staff need the capacity to generate and share information that will be relevant to other stakeholders working at different scales (i.e.: policy-makers, farmers). Thus the activities of Output 3 are founded on building the human and social capital of all TSBF-CIAT stakeholders for research and management on the sustainable use of tropical soils.The challenge of building the social capital encompasses both the new and existing networks of scientists and other stakeholders (e.g.: AFNET, MIS, CSM-BGBD project). Within these networks, as within the individual project activities where TSBF-CIAT works in partnership with others (NARES, ARI's, NGO's), building social capital means ensuring that communication and co-learning support effective institutional collaboration and build confidence in the collaborative advantage afforded by partnerships. Networks run best with diligent coordination that responds to internal and external challenges. However, partnerships become truly empowering when stakeholders themselves recognize and exploit research and development opportunities. The activities prescribed here envisage tapping the potential of South-South collaboration and establishing strategic partnerships that can build learning strategies that to institutionalize ISFM approaches.The second challenge, of building human capacity, is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, where the lack of strong tertiary education systems and the chronic under-funding of NARES hamper the professional development of many of our partners. Since ISFM approaches are inherently holistic, effective training demands interdisciplinary cooperation to instill both a specialized knowledge and a competent understanding of the context(s) in which to apply it (the so-called \"T-shaped\" skill set). Again, working through new and existing networks and partnerships, TSBF-CIAT will continue to support training that offers cutting-edge bio-physical science, laboratory techniques, and also embraces holistic understanding of social, cultural, economic, and policy issues related to soil fertility management.Building human capacity also applies to the relationship land users have with the products of research. At present, many ISFM technologies remain little used by farmers. This is commonly conceived of as a failure to disseminate the results of research, but can also be seen as indicating a fundamental failure of research to recognize, value, and address farmers' conditions and knowledge. Greater involvement of farmers in the technology design process (to adapt solutions to actual conditions) will not only generate more relevant and adoptable ISFM technologies but is also expected to facilitate the potential dissemination and up-scaling of these technologies through the better interaction and integration of indigenous and formal knowledge systems.Finally, the lack of an enabling policy environment is made manifest by the often-contradictory policies relating to farm, village, or regional-level conditions. The poor functioning of local input and output markets distorts the incentives for resource conservation. Coherent policy options are needed to address the low added value of farmers' products, the general lack of marketing opportunities on the one hand, and the lack of appropriate infrastructure and mechanisms for input delivery on the other.By 2005, AfNet, MIS, SARNET and BGBD Networks restructured and strengthened. Publications (i.e., journal papers, books, extension materials, policy briefs, etc.) Eight soil-plant-water laboratories from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua made initial steps to develop a sub-network to foster quality control and information comparison /exchange on analytical procedures for nutrient management recommendations. Partners of the MIS consortium actively engaged in research and validation of the Quesungual agroforestry system. Tools, concepts and improved soil management technologies generated by the MIS consortium members under active process of dissemination.The African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet) Bationo A., Kimetu J, Kihara J, Sanginga N. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya Soil fertility degradation has been described as the single most important biophysical constraint to food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Soil fertility decline is not just a problem of nutrient deficiency but also of 1) Inappropriate germplasm and cropping system design, 2) Interactions with pests and diseases, 3) The linkage between poverty and land degradation, 4) Often perverse national and global policies with respect to incentives, and 5) Institutional failures. Tackling soil fertility issues thus requires a long-term perspective and a holistic approach. The African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet) of Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility institute of CIAT is devoted to overcoming this challenge. AfNet's ultimate goal is to strengthen and sustain stakeholder capacity to generate, share and apply soil fertility management knowledge and skills to contribute towards improved livelihoods of farming communities. This African-wide network has over 200 members from National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES) and universities from various disciplines mainly soil science, social science and technology transfer. This paper highlights AfNet's main activities which include: Network field research activities, information and documentation, training and capacity building.Bationo 1 A., Ramisch 1 J., Bado 2 B., Kihara 1 J., Adamou 3 A., Kimetu 1 J., Tabo 3 R. , Lompo 4 F., Ouattara 4 B. and Koala 3 S. Soil fertility is the most limiting factor for crop production in the Sahelian zone of West Africa. The region shelters the world's poorest people with the majority gaining their livelihood from subsistence agriculture. Per capita food production has declined significantly over the past three decades. Increasing population pressure has on the other hand decreased the availability of arable land and it is no longer feasible to use extended fallow periods to restore soil fertility. Therefore, there is urgent need to restore/ maintain soil fertility in order to increase agricultural production in this region and improve the farmers' livelihood. In the recent past, scientists have evaluated the potential of different technologies in addressing the soil fertility problem in the Sahel as approaches to increase food production. Research results have reported that yields can be increased three to five times with the improvement of soil fertility with organic and inorganic fertilizers. The combinations also improve an array of soil properties such as Organic carbon content, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and pH. The main constraint to combining inorganic-organic is the high costs of inorganic fertilizers and the low availability of organic fertilizers at the farm level. Crop rotation and intercropping systems are especially important in yield improvement as compared to continuous practices. Rotation systems increase nitrogen derived from the soil and fertilizer use efficiency. Similarly, methods of application of organic and inorganic fertilizer sources enhance use efficiency. For example, hill placement of inorganic fertilizers and manure is superior to broadcasting. Another potential is use of locally available phosphate rock, which could be an alternative to use of high cost imported P fertilizers. Since P is the most limiting factor on most sahelian soils, its correction not only improve yields but also the efficiency of N and water use. A bottleneck to the use of these profitable soil fertility-enhancing technologies that have been researched is the low capacity of farmers to invest in these technologies. In order to have these technologies to reach millions of farmers, a new integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) paradigm has been adopted which integrates biological, physical, chemical, social, economic and political factors. Future research challenges include combining rainwater and nutrient management strategies to increase crop production and prevent land degradation, increasing the legume component for a better integration of crop-livestock production systems, exploiting the genetic variation for nutrient use efficiency and integration of socio-economic and policy research with the technical solutions. Another very important issue for research is how to increase crop biomass availability at farm level to alleviate the constraint of non-availability of organic amendments. Use of decision support systems, modeling, and GIS is important in order to extrapolate research findings to other areas in which the successful technologies can be expanded/ scaled out to reach several farmers.This activity is through a continuing project that has developed and implemented a multiinstitutional project in eastern Uganda -INSPIRE (Integrated Soil Productivity Initiative through Research and Education). Dissemination and sharing of information on improved technologies: FFS field days, farmer exchange visits, feedback workshops, publications, radio programmes and training workshops for community development facilitators from government, NGOs and research originations, have enabled improved technologies to benefit more communities; sensitization of local leaders and policy makers; share project outputs among partners within the Consortium.The linkage between the INSPIRE partners has enabled the Consortium to bring together researchers, extension workers, policy makers and farmers to conduct research for development. Through support from the Consortium, farmers are being linked to government development programmes such as NAADS and other source of agro-inputs, information and technical advice, such as, the NARO research centers and ARDCs. INSPIRE continues to bring other organizations on board to handle issues arising that concern land policy, marketing, gender and HIV/AIDS. For example, VEDCO and TASO.A. Alvarado 1 , J. Smyth 2 and M. Ayarza 3 1 University of Costa Rica 2 CRSP-USAID Consortium 3 TSBF-CIAT The MIS consortium organized a 2-day workshop at Zamorano, Honduras in September 2003 with representatives from 8 soil-plant-water laboratories in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Purpose of this workshop was to a) inventory lab procedures and services, and 2) explore development of a laboratory network for Central America.All laboratories carry out soil analysis. Five of the them do also plant analyses, and 3 analyse fertilizers and lime materials. Six laboratories indicated having equipment for plant digestion and access to atomic absorption and spectrophotometers.All laboratories determine exchangeable soil acidity with a 1 M KCl extract, but two of the labs extract exchangeable bases with an NH 4 OAc solution adjusted to either pH 4.8 or 7.0. Among 5 labs reporting methods used for extracting soil P and micronutrients, one uses NH 4 Oac. Six laboratories provided information on the criteria used for lime and fertilizer recommendations. Two of these labs recommend lime based on soil pH and the rest use a combination of exchangeable acidity and critical % Al saturation values. All labs base N recommendations on regional experience, but 4 labs make additional adjustments based on variables like soil organic matter, pH and/or textural analysis. Fertilizer P recommendations in 4 of the labs consider whether soil test P is low, medium or high; but none of the labs could provide prior field and laboratory calibration trials as a basis for their ranking of soil test P data.Laboratory representatives were very interested in developing a sub-network to foster quality control and information comparison/exchange on analytical procedures and recommendations. The group prepared a 9-page draft of guidelines and procedures for a 'Regional Network of Soil-Plant-Water Analysis Laboratories in the Agricultural Sector', based on guidelines currently in use by a similar network within Costa Rica.Detailed reporting of activities relating to the work of TSBF in linking to the projects of the Enabling Rural Innovation team in support of activities in management of natural resources, farmer experimentation etc are highlighted in the IPRA Annual Report.Increase the visibility of knowledge-based and social solutions to soil fertility problems J.J. Ramisch 1 ; M.T. Misiko 2 ; J. Mukalama 1 ; I. Ekise 1 1 TSBF-CIAT; 2 Wageningen Agricultural University One of the key demands of farmers involved in participatory research is that experimental results are never fed back to them, which makes sharing the findings of research (even if done hand-in-hand by researchers and farmers together) between farmers difficult. Many researchers have been strong on involving farmers in monitoring and evaluating the progress of jointly run experiments, using the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology. However, once crops have been harvested many farmers feel that research \"loses interest\" and that activities where results are presented and discussed are still only \"an after thought\" or lead too immediately into planning for the next season without allowing farmers themselves to digest and interpret the findings on their own.To help overcome these problems, TSBF-CIAT has been attempting to summarize and synthesize its research activities in western Kenya. This has taken a variety of forms, and is still being guided by feedback from farmers on which types of data and which manners of presentation are the most instructive and the most useful. Currently, the most popular format is printing the results of a given collective experiment on a single sheet of double-sided A4 paper, using colour photos of at least some of the group participants and presenting the yield data and some of the comments or observations made by the FRG and the research team in a variety of visual and numeric formats. These leaflets are inexpensive to produce and are easily printed locally if the need arises. Once the standard format was agreed to the greatest constraints are a) ensuring the information is properly presented in the most relevant local language (i.e. KiSwahili or KiTeso) and b) that appropriate photos demonstrating the key points are available using the local participants.An alternative method now being employed for presenting information that has longer-term relevance than annual trial data was suggested by several of the FRG, namely the production of calendars. The idea is to use the calendar as a vehicle to feature information on the agronomic and ecological lessons gained from the group's experimentation (e.g. on managing home garden vegetables for food security). This information is presented in small sections arrayed around a prominent photo of the entire research group. Most households in the area keep calendars with attractive photos on display in their homes long after the passage of the end of the year, which ensures that the information that accompanies the groups' own photos will remain accessible much longer than a leaflet or brochure would ever be.Livelihood Situations in Tororo District, Uganda. Agwaru, G., Matsiko, F., Delve, R.J.Approaches to extension, like Conventional, and Training and Visit, that have been used in the past to disseminate information to the grass root farmers have often left out the farmers and at times treated them as objects of technology transfer. Recent approaches by NAADS and NGO's have emphasized participation of farmers in this process. This is intended to integrate indigenous knowledge with scientific knowledge that farmers obtain from a variety of sources, to enhance technology generation and dissemination. This study aims to assess the mechanisms used by NAADS, NGOs and research to reach different categories of farmers, what are the farmers' sources of information and what preferences do they have for the format and presentation of this information, and how the channels and formats used influence exchange of information. The livelihoods framework, which considers farmers' assets and environment, has been used to provide the basis for assessing the approaches through qualitative and quantitative methods. The research findings indicate that farmers are involved in multiple activities but lack important information, for example, on sources of improved seed, and post harvest-handling techniques. The use of indigenous knowledge has not fully solved most of these problems, whilst present extension approaches have not been able to target their efforts towards specific categories of farmers. The poor are left out because they lack the necessary assets; natural, social, financial, human and physical, needed to participate in these projects. Assessing technology demands and targeting information to different categories of farmers is critical if they are to be able to interpret and utilize this information. Two Bulletins published in Spanish are available for partners in the region and these were distributed at the Latin American Soils Congress held at Cartagena and Soil Quality Indicators workshop held at CIAT-Palmira. a) Why and how to build-up an arable layer b) A manual for the use of the minisimulator of rainfall.A Colombian national workshop on soil quality indicators was held at CIAT-Palmira with the financial support of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Colombia. This event was held from de 20 to 22 of October. The experiences gained at this event will be used to organize another workshop in Central America on soil quality indicators. Based on the outcomes of these two workshops, a position paper will be prepared with regional perspectives on soil quality and land degradation for the next International Soil Congress to be held in Philadelphia USA.Combating land degradation and improving agricultural profitability in savannas and hillsides agroecosystems of Latin America M. Ayarza, I.Rao, E. Barrios, E. Amezquita and M. Rondon.Steep slope hillsides and acid-soil savannas are the dominant ecosystems of Tropical America. Hillsides cover about 96 million hectares in South and Central America and have important roles as reserves of biodiversity and source of water for downstream users. Agriculture in this region is often characterized by farming systems under which soils are degrading through nutrient depletion and erosion losses. It is estimated that 75% of agricultural land is under a process of degradation. Neotropical savannas occupy 243 million hectares in South America and are one of the most rapidly expanding agricultural frontiers in the world. Mono-cropping systems with high levels of inputs and excessive cultivation are accelerating the deterioration of soil physical properties as well as escalation of pest and disease problems. Governments and R & D agencies in the region are seeking for enduring solutions that revert poverty and land degradation problems in these regions. The maintenance of the natural resource base in the hillsides is vital to ensure livelihood of resource-poor farmers and to prevent their migration to urban centers where social problems are already endemic. The intensification of agricultural production in savannas requires acid soil (aluminium) tolerant crop/pasture germplasm, soil fertility improvement and management of highly vulnerable physical properties. The group of TSBF-Latin America is developing concepts, management principles and tools that help individual producers and rural communities to improve their livelihoods by developing profitable, socially acceptable and resilient agricultural production systems based on Integrated Soil fertility Management. In this paper we summarize the main outputs of our research on: 1) nutrient cycling and soil-plant interactions; 2) integration of local and technical knowledge; 3) development of novel production systems; 4) strategies to replenish soil fertility and improve soil chemical, physical and biological properties and 5) carbon accumulation and gas fluxes in traditional and managed systems. Emphasis is given in the mechanisms developed to scale up/out knowledge and experiences amongst stakeholders in the region (producers, NARS and research institutions) and the possibility to foster South-South cooperation between Africa and Latin America.The Georeferenced System on Soil Quality Indicators (GEOSOIL) Y. Rubiano 1,2 , E. Amézquita 2 and N. BeaulieuThe Georeferenced System on Soil Quality Indicators (GEOSOIL) for the Colombian savannas was conceived as a tool of support to the decision-makers in land use planning. It allows to store, consult and process data soil and of his biophysics surroundings on different scales: plot, farm, community, municipality, department, region, and country. It operates from a relational database elaborated in ACCES 2000, composed by a series of structured tables with information at different hierarchic levels to allow the characterization of the properties of the soil. The morphologic and analytical elements of the soil are combined to conform indicators of quality by a qualification system that allows visualizing the degree and the number of limitations that could have a soil to be used in agriculture. The degrees of qualification, used are: (1) without limitation, (2) light limiting, (3) moderate limiting, (4) severe limiting and ( 5) very severe limiting. The quality of the soil is associated with the degree and number of limitations that diminish their productive capacity. In addition, GEOSOIL has modules in which the user can: (a) add or consult space characteristics and attributes of the soil; (b) visualize the interpretation of the quality indicators, grouped in limitation ranks; (c) determine the general aptitude of the soil for a specific culture by means of the comparison between supply (soil) versus demands (requirements of the crop); (d) calculate the fertilization rates (e) generate reports on the variability in depth of some characteristics, for one or more soil; (f) map the results by means of a link with the Geographical Information Systems, in the specific case for free software MapMaker or Spring (g) also it is possible to generate report to made geoestatistical to understand the spatial and temporal variability of the attributes that are being used as indicators..Indicators of soil degradation and improvement: methodologies and approaches for their successful application to asses impact of land use at several scales in Hillside agroecosystem M. Ayarza 1 and M. Somarriba 2 1 TSBF-CIAT 2 Agrarian National University of Nicaragua Land degradation is a major concern in the Central American region. Seventy percent of land is in process of degradation. The situation is worsened in hillside agro-ecosystems because of their inherent vulnerability and the high concentration of poor rural population in these areas. There is an increasing concern about this problem among farmers, local organizations, central government and policy makers. However, there is a lack of standardized field methodologies enabling stakeholder groups to assess the impact of interventions on soil fertility. The MIS consortium is organizing a regional workshop for Central America in order to share experiences in the use of tools and field methods to determine soil chemical, physical and biological degradation. The main objective is to identify simple, robust and reliable indicators to assess impact of a given land use on soil chemical, physical and biological conditions.Best examples of indicators and methodologies will be presented within the Symposium of Land Degradation at the World Congress of Soil Science organized by the International Union of Soil Science to be held at Philadelphia in 2006. Soils group of CORPOICA regional 8 GEOSOIL is a database tool that allows the storage of soil information from soil profiles and represented it in a soil map. For each new entry, it allows the user to enter the physical and chemical data that are available, without requesting the user to fill in all the fields. For soil characteristics that are not numerical, for example for texture or landforms, it allows the user to choose from a range of options, the choices he want. For a number of soil properties that can be used as indicators of soil quality, it produces a report of a diagnosis, using criteria established for the Colombian llanos. It allows the comparison of soil characteristics with the requirements for a given crop, and when the necessary chemical information is available, can produce a report of fertilization recommendations. The soil requirements can be imported from the CUFRUCOL database or be specified by the user. Allows the export of soil data and corresponding geographic coordinates to GIS programs for their mapping, or to geostatistical programs for a spatial analysis of variability and interpolation. Soils group of CORPOICA regional 8 CENIPALMA the research institution for oil palm in Colombian, requested CIAT collaboration for the characterization of soils in the Central oil palm production area. The work involves the systematization of the information they have in 1:10.000 scale. GEOSOIL will be used to evaluate the soil distribution and its suitability for palm oil plantation. The soil parameters that define suitability will be included into the tool. Besides of that the tool will be improved to include socioeconomic aspects of oil production, farm sizes and tree distribution at different scales from farm to group or farms. The final objective is to define better soil management systems to increase productivity and sustainability trough the application of the concept of precision agriculture.Improving Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) through South-South collaboration M. Ayarza and A. Bationo TSBF-CIAT Soil fertility degradation continues to prove a substantially persistent problem both in Africa and Latin America despite proposals for a diversity of solutions and the investment of time and resources by a wide range of institutions. In recognition of this problem, the AFNET network of African soil scientists was formed within TSBF in 1998 while an inter-institutional consortium was formed in Central America in 1998 under the umbrella of the Soil Water and Nutrient Management (SWNM) Program. AfNet and MIS have accumulated enormous experience over the years on ISFM from a systems perspective, which increases the comprehensive fit between research and farmer's experience of land management. However, all this has been locked up with the specific regions in which each consortium has been in operation. Since each of these networks has a comparative advantage over the other, sharing experiences will be a great achievement. The network alliance will break the communication gap between the networks and the two continents. Each institution will bring the human resources, historical involvement with networks and partners, and an extensive range of research and development sites. A proposal is under development to improve capabilities of researchers, extension agents and farmers to use ISFM to combat land degradation through the South-South alliance between AFNET and MIS. The proposal includes the development of mechanisms to exchange knowledge, methods and tools across continents, the identification of common issues to develop joint proposals and, conduct network trials. This paper reviews current organic nutrient management practices and their integration with mineral fertilizers in Sub-Saharan Africa with a view to understanding the potential impacts on a range of input markets. A number of different organic nutrient management practices have been found to be technically and financially beneficial, but they differ considerably as to their effectiveness and resource requirements.A review of African smallholder experiences with integrated soil fertility management practices finds growing use, both indigenously and through participation in agricultural projects. Patterns of use vary considerably across heterogeneous agro-ecological conditions, communities and households, but are stimulated by profitable commercially oriented agricultural opportunities. The potential for integrated soil fertility management to expand markets for organic inputs, labor, credit, and fertilizer is explored. We found that there are few direct analyses of these links and indirect evidence at this point in time is inconclusive.Linking Farmers to Market: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Rural Livelihoods in Communities affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda.A Ph.D. student has registered at BOKU, Vienna to conduct a study investigating the impact on HIV-AIDS on adoption of technologies and to see if increased income through niche markets is one option for increasing income to improve on food security, quality of the food eaten and access to medicines.Although organic agriculture (OA) is one of the fastest growing segments of the food sector world over, it needs to be noted that the transition to organic management and marketing systems is not only complex but constrained by a range of bio-physical, economic and social factors. While organic agriculture is meant to alleviate poverty, poverty remains one of the biggest barriers to organic agriculture. Many organic initiatives lack the capacity to focus on strengthening biological processes, building farmers capacity to learn, enabling rural innovations. Little or no research has ever addressed the changes in livelihood strategies and outcomes as a result of the introduction of agricultural innovations such as organic farming and their market opportunities. There is a dearth of empirical studies on the reciprocal effects of HIV/AIDS on organic agriculture, and the opportunities that organic agriculture and other innovations may offer to communities and households affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Similarly, no study has addressed the challenges of increasing the market opportunities and linking farmers to markets in communities and households affected by HIV/AIDS. Whether organic agriculture, and its market opportunities are more suitable to PLWAs than other agricultural technologies. The study will combine participatory rural appraisal methods with conventional household sample survey questionnaires using stratified sampling protocols and desegregated by gender in the district of Kisoro and Hoima. The theoretical and analytical framework will be guided by HIV/AIDS livelihood framework as developed as suggested (Tumwine 2003), gender analysis in agriculture and natural resource framework, and participatory technology development and innovation theory. This proposed research will explore opportunities and challenges of linking farmers to markets, and developing market opportunities for organic agriculture compared to other agricultural innovations in the context of HIV/AIDS pandemic. It will further assist in to improve the understanding the reciprocal linkages between agricultural innovations such as organic agriculture, market opportunities, and health (HIV/AIDS and related illnesses). The results of the study will generate information, which can be used to improve capacity of farmers affected by HIV/AIDS on how they can operate efficiently by strengthening their marketing skills of organic farm products. The findings of this study will further feed into and strengthen existing information on developing appropriate marketing of organic farm products and organic farming practices to promote sustainable agriculture production; and the study findings will be shared with collaborating agencies and organizations involved (BOKU-CIAT) and other stakeholders involved in poverty reduction, national AIDS control and other public health organizations who are important stakeholders. Mexico held seminar at the Benchmark site to create awareness and develop strategic partnerships with people working on the ground in July 2004. Kenya held a national workshop to sensitize government ministries, research institutions, farmers and national universities on the project.Three members of the Indonesian Team participated in a training course on 'tools for rapid biodiversity assessment of soil invertebrates in the ASEAN region. Several MSc and PhD students are underway. India has pblished its book on BGBD review in India. Indonesia has published its book on BGBD review in Indonesia.Brazil has published its book on BGBD review in Brazil. Kenya has sent its BGBD review papers to be published in a special journal of Tropical Microbiology.","tokenCount":"4833"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1403002142.json b/data/part_1/1403002142.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b3e1ba73b911dc25ade832b7c9afba56ebf5e5c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1403002142.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6373d0c8881428f060d81cb50a817637","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/72352b4d-b826-40d8-be94-f31c6c020f1f/retrieve","id":"1582483089"},"keywords":["Aighewi, B.","Maroya, N.","Kumar, P.L.","Balogun, M.","Aihebhoria, D.","Mignouna, D.","Asiedu, R. Seed Yam Production Using High-Quality Minitubers Derived from Plants Established with Vine Cuttings Dioscorea rotundata","minituber","seed yam","production"],"sieverID":"1460b0e6-266e-4257-ba6b-f7360bc4e970","pagecount":"13","content":"Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a valuable food security crop in West Africa, where 92% of the world production occurs. The availability of quality seed tubers for increased productivity is a major challenge. In this study, minitubers weighing 1, 3, and 5 g produced from virus-free single-node vine cuttings of two improved yam varieties (Asiedu and Kpamyo) growing in an aeroponics system were assessed for suitability in seed production at a population of 100,000 plants ha −1 . A 3 × 2 factorial experiment with randomized complete block design and three replications was set up during the cropping seasons of 2017 to 2019 at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Research Station in Kubwa, Abuja, Nigeria. Results showed field establishments of 87%-97.8%. Yields differed with minituber size, variety, and cropping season; the highest was 31.2 t ha −1 in 2019 and the lowest, 10 t ha −1 in 2018 from 5 and 1 g Kpamyo minitubers, respectively. The estimated number of tubers produced per hectare by 1, 3, and 5 g minitubers was 101,296, 112,592, and 130,555, with mean weights per stand of 159.2, 187.3, and 249.4 g, respectively. We recommend using less than 6 g minitubers for seed yam production due to their high multiplication rates.Yam is a tuber crop of the genus Dioscorea and the family Dioscoreaceae, of which the most important species used as food are D. rotundata Poir (white yam) and D. alata L. (water yam). It is an important staple crop that is mainly grown in tropical regions of West Africa, the first and Asia the latter. Yam is produced primarily in the savannah region of West Africa, which contributes 92% (66.8 million tons) of the world yam production of 72.6 million tons [1]. Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire together have 86% of world production.Yam plays a vital role in enhancing food security and alleviating hunger in many parts of West Africa [2]. It contributes substantially to the human diet as a significant source of energy. The yam value chain provides income-earning opportunities to its producers, processors, and sellers. It is also a source of pharmaceutical compounds, such as saponins and sapogenins [3], and its peels can be used as feed for livestock [4]. Yam is the only crop that is usually celebrated during and after harvest with traditional festivals [5][6][7] in the West Africa region.Yam productivity has been on the decline despite the increasing demand for local consumption and export. This decline in productivity can be attributed to several problems: high labor demand, high cost of cultural operations, pests and diseases, declining soil system allows for a rapid multiplication rate and enhances seed yam production in the field, reducing the scarcity and high cost of both seed and food tubers [3]. This study's objective was to investigate the yield potential of whole minitubers below 6 g, derived from virus-free vine cutting seedlings obtained from yam plants grown in an AS. Unlike the classification given by NRCRI [17], the below 6 g tubers used in this study are referred to as minitubers because microtubers are considered to signify products of micropropagation in tissue culture.The trials were conducted at the Kubwa station of IITA, Abuja, Nigeria, during three cropping seasons from 2017 to 2019. The research station is in Nigeria's \"Yam Belt\" at 9 • 09 51.6 N, 7 • 20 44.6 E, and 424 m above sea level. During the experiments, the weather data collected showed that rainfall started in March and stopped in October in 2017 and 2018. In contrast, rain fell from February to November in 2019 (Figure 1), and the total rainfall during the cropping period was 874.2, 1214.7, and 1768.2 mm in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. Monthly rain and temperatures during the cropping seasons are presented in Figure 1. In all the years, the experimental fields were fallowed with Aeschynomene histrix Poir., then Mucuna spp., before the experiment was planted. Minitubers of less than 6 g of the yam varieties Kpamyo and Asiedu were used for the experiments. The minitubers were obtained from vine-cutting-derived plants. During the previous year of each trial, yam vines were harvested from virus-free plants in an AS. The vines were cut into single-node cuttings, each with one leaf or two leaves, and planted in black polythene nursery bags or nursery seed trays (Figure 2). Minitubers were harvested three months after planting from the cuttings that rooted but did not produce any shoot. The minitubers were stored in a cool and well-aerated room until dormancy was broken after about three months, evidenced by the appearance of sprouts on the tubers. They were then sorted into three categories by size: 0.1-1.99 g, 2.0-3.99 g, and 4.0-5.99 g, averaged and referred to in this paper as 1, 3, and 5 g, respectively. The minitubers were treated with a chemical mix containing 100 g of Mancozeb and 40 mL of cypermethrin in 10 L of water for 10 min to protect against rot and pest damage. They were air-dried under shade for about 24 h before planting in the field.in black polythene nursery bags or nursery seed trays (Figure 2). Minitubers were harvested three months after planting from the cuttings that rooted but did not produce any shoot. The minitubers were stored in a cool and well-aerated room until dormancy was broken after about three months, evidenced by the appearance of sprouts on the tubers. They were then sorted into three categories by size: 0.1-1.99 g, 2.0-3.99 g, and 4.0-5.99 g, averaged and referred to in this paper as 1, 3, and 5 g, respectively. The minitubers were treated with a chemical mix containing 100 g of Mancozeb and 40 mL of cypermethrin in 10 L of water for 10 min to protect against rot and pest damage. They were air-dried under shade for about 24 h before planting in the field. At the beginning of each season, poultry litter was applied at the rate of 10 t ha −1 to the experimental field before it was disc-harrowed and made into 3 m long ridges spaced 100 cm apart. Planting was done on top of ridges at 3-4 cm depth in single rows and 10 cm between stands on 7, 5, 8 June in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. A 3 m single ridge represented a treatment/plot and contained 30 minitubers. The seed rates for 1, 3, and 5 g minitubers were 100, 300, and 500 kg ha −1 , respectively, with a plant population of 100,000 plants ha −1 . The experiment was laid out as 3 × 2 factorial, fitted into a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and six treatments.At one week after planting (WAP), the plots were sprayed with a herbicide mixture of Premextra (290 g L/S-Metolachlor, 370 g/L Atrazine at 5 L ha −1 ) and Gramoxone (200 g/L Paraquat at 5 L ha −1 ), after which a hand-held hoe was used to remove weeds, earthup the plants and reform the ridges. Staking of young plants started 6 WAP and lasted for two weeks as plants attained 4-6 open leaves. The staking was done using the trellis system, where ropes were tied between two strong bamboo poles placed at the beginning and end of each ridge, and strings used to direct the plants to the rope. Fertilizer was applied at the rate of 400 kg NPK (15:15:15) ha −1 [24] at 8 WAP using the side placement method.From six days after planting (DAP), the number of emerged plants was recorded at four-day intervals until 38 DAP. At eight weeks, six plants were randomly selected per treatment, and data collected on stem length (m) and the number of leaves and vines per plant. The leaf area index (LAI) was measured at 12 WAP using the CI-110 digital plant canopy imager, capturing a 1500 fisheye image of the canopy (CID Bio-Science, Bozeman, MT, USA). When vine senescence was complete at the end of the season, tubers were harvested on 15, 19, and 12 December in 2017, 2018, and 2019 corresponding to 27.3 WAP, 28.1 WAP, and 26.7 WAP, respectively. The seed multiplication ratio (SMR) was calculated, as shown below: At the beginning of each season, poultry litter was applied at the rate of 10 t ha −1 to the experimental field before it was disc-harrowed and made into 3 m long ridges spaced 100 cm apart. Planting was done on top of ridges at 3-4 cm depth in single rows and 10 cm between stands on 7, 5, 8 June in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. A 3 m single ridge represented a treatment/plot and contained 30 minitubers. The seed rates for 1, 3, and 5 g minitubers were 100, 300, and 500 kg ha −1 , respectively, with a plant population of 100,000 plants ha −1 . The experiment was laid out as 3 × 2 factorial, fitted into a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and six treatments.At one week after planting (WAP), the plots were sprayed with a herbicide mixture of Premextra (290 g L/S-Metolachlor, 370 g/L Atrazine at 5 L ha −1 ) and Gramoxone (200 g/L Paraquat at 5 L ha −1 ), after which a hand-held hoe was used to remove weeds, earth-up the plants and reform the ridges. Staking of young plants started 6 WAP and lasted for two weeks as plants attained 4-6 open leaves. The staking was done using the trellis system, where ropes were tied between two strong bamboo poles placed at the beginning and end of each ridge, and strings used to direct the plants to the rope. Fertilizer was applied at the rate of 400 kg NPK (15:15:15) ha −1 [24] at 8 WAP using the side placement method.From six days after planting (DAP), the number of emerged plants was recorded at four-day intervals until 38 DAP. At eight weeks, six plants were randomly selected per treatment, and data collected on stem length (m) and the number of leaves and vines per plant. The leaf area index (LAI) was measured at 12 WAP using the CI-110 digital plant canopy imager, capturing a 1500 fisheye image of the canopy (CID Bio-Science, Bozeman, MT, USA). When vine senescence was complete at the end of the season, tubers were harvested on 15, 19, and 12 December in 2017, 2018, and 2019 corresponding to 27.3 WAP, 28.1 WAP, and 26.7 WAP, respectively. The seed multiplication ratio (SMR) was calculated, as shown below:Weight of harvested tuber (s) Weight of the planted material All data were subjected to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the statistical analysis system (SAS, 2016). Where mean differences were significant, they were separated with the least significant difference (LSD) at p ≤ 0.05.The planted minitubers started emerging from the soil within the first week of planting, although the mean number of days to emergence differed with size. Figure 3 shows the days to emergence, with the 5 g minitubers of Kpamyo and Asiedu being the earliest and were significantly different from the 1 g minitubers of both varieties. Although the increase in the proportion of emerged plants from 1 g and 3 g minitubers was gradual and reached a peak in 38 and 34 days, respectively, that of 5 g was much faster between 18 and 30 days, when Kpamyo peaked at 96.7%. The 1 and 3 g minitubers were similar in their time to emergence (Figure 3). The period to 50% of the plant's emergence from the soil from 5 g minitubers was considerably earlier (p = ≤0.05) than plants from 1 and 3 g minitubers (Table 1). There was generally no difference between the yam varieties regarding the time to 50% emergence and final crop establishment (Table 1, Figure 3). The 5 g minitubers had significantly longer vines, higher LAI, mean tuber weight (g) per stand, yield (t ha −1 ), and more tubers per plant and per hectare, followed by the 3 g and then the 1 g minitubers (Table 1). At 3 MAP, the LAI of 5 g minitubers-derived plants (4.2) was 33% and 50%, more than 3 g and 1 g minitubers plants, respectively. Plants from the largest minitubers had significantly more leaves than those from smaller minitubers. The yield from 5 g minitubers (23.6 t ha −1 ) was 39% and 25% more than those from 1 g and 3 g minitubers, respectively. Only the sett multiplication ratio had an inverse relationship, with the smallest minitubers having the highest value (138.1) compared to the 5 g and 3 g minitubers (48.1 and 58.6, respectively) (Table 1).The analysis of variance for the yam varieties showed no significant differences for all the variables measured except for the LAI, where Kpamyo had a better performance than Asiedu. However, there were seasonal differences for some of the variables. For example, the number of days to 50% emergence, length of vine, and LAI were not significantly different across the years. In contrast, the crop establishment, yield, sett multiplication ratio, and the mean weight and number of tubers were substantially higher in 2019, perhaps due to the higher and more extended rainfall period. The mean weights of tubers produced were quite different, between 140.8 g (1 g) and 158.2 g (3 g) for the smaller minitubers and 181.8 g for the biggest (5 g). The number of tubers per plant was significantly more for the 5 g minitubers and least for the 1 g minitubers.Significant interactions (Table 2) were found between and within minituber sizes, The 5 g minitubers had significantly longer vines, higher LAI, mean tuber weight (g) per stand, yield (t ha −1 ), and more tubers per plant and per hectare, followed by the 3 g and then the 1 g minitubers (Table 1). At 3 MAP, the LAI of 5 g minitubers-derived plants (4.2) was 33% and 50%, more than 3 g and 1 g minitubers plants, respectively. Plants from the largest minitubers had significantly more leaves than those from smaller minitubers. The yield from 5 g minitubers (23.6 t ha −1 ) was 39% and 25% more than those from 1 g and 3 g minitubers, respectively. Only the sett multiplication ratio had an inverse relationship, with the smallest minitubers having the highest value (138.1) compared to the 5 g and 3 g minitubers (48.1 and 58.6, respectively) (Table 1). The analysis of variance for the yam varieties showed no significant differences for all the variables measured except for the LAI, where Kpamyo had a better performance than Asiedu. However, there were seasonal differences for some of the variables. For example, the number of days to 50% emergence, length of vine, and LAI were not significantly different across the years. In contrast, the crop establishment, yield, sett multiplication ratio, and the mean weight and number of tubers were substantially higher in 2019, perhaps due to the higher and more extended rainfall period. The mean weights of tubers produced were quite different, between 140.8 g (1 g) and 158.2 g (3 g) for the smaller minitubers and 181.8 g for the biggest (5 g). The number of tubers per plant was significantly more for the 5 g minitubers and least for the 1 g minitubers.Significant interactions (Table 2) were found between and within minituber sizes, varieties, and cropping seasons for some measured variables. The percentage of crop establishment ranged from 87% to 97.8% across the years, and significant differences were observed between tuber sizes. Irrespective of the variety, 1 g minitubers were not significantly different in performance across the experiment years and had crop establishments ranging between 88.9% and 93.3%. The highest percentage of crop establishment was observed for 3 and 5 g minitubers of Asiedu and Kpamyo, respectively, in 2019. For the LAI of Asiedu and Kpamyo, 5 g minitubers had the highest value of 4.8 and 4.3, respectively, which were significantly different from the 1 g minitubers of both varieties with mean values of 2.0 and 1.6, respectively.The yield parameters were observed to be significantly different among and between minituber sizes and varieties. The 5 g minitubers of Kpamyo obtained the highest yield of 31.2 t ha −1 . This yield was similar to 29.3 t ha −1 of Asiedu in 2019. The lowest yields were 10 and 10.2 t ha −1 from 1 g minitubers of Kpamyo and Asiedu, respectively, in 2018 (Table 2). Some 1 g minitubers gave comparable yields to 3 g and 5 g minitubers in 2019 when 1 g of Asiedu yielded 18.8 t ha −1 . This yield was slightly higher but not significantly different from Asiedu 3 g in 2017 (13.9 t ha −1 ) and 2018 (15 t ha −1 ), as well as 5 g Asiedu in 2017 (16.3 t ha −1 ).The mean number of tubers per plant ranged from 1.1 to 1.5, with the largest minitubers producing significantly more tubers than the smallest. The mean number of tubers produced per hectare by 1, 3, and 5 g minitubers was 101,296, 112,592, and 130,555, respectively. The highest mean tuber weight was obtained from 3 g (219 and 205.7 g) and 5 g (238.5 and 210.6 g) minitubers of Kpamyo and Asiedu, respectively, in 2019 (Table 2). On an individual tuber basis, the smallest tuber size produced ranged from 4 g obtained from 1 g minitubers of Asiedu to 14 g by 5 g minitubers of Kpamyo and Asiedu. In comparison, the maximum tuber weights ranged from 488 g (by 1 g minitubers of Kpamyo) to 1054 g (by 5 g minitubers of Asiedu). The SMR was between 35.1 and 213.8, being lowest for the 5 g minitubers and highest for 1 g minitubers. Irrespective of the variety and year, the 1 g minitubers had significantly higher SMR values (p = ≤0.05) than 3 and 5 g minitubers, except for 3 g minitubers of Asiedu and Kpamyo in 2019 that was similar to 1 g of both varieties in 2018. Means with the same letter along column are not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05.At harvest, the tubers were sorted out into four categories (Figure 4). It was observed that 5 g minitubers of Kpamyo produced 18% and 40% of seed tubers in the range of 150 to 249 g and 250 to 500 g, respectively, while the 5 g minitubers of Asiedu produced 22% and 32% of these seed tuber sizes, respectively. The 1 g minitubers of both varieties and 3 g minitubers of Asiedu produced the most proportion of tubers in the category of <50-249 g, while the bigger minitubers produced more seed of more than 500 g. The 1 g minitubers of Asiedu did not have any tuber bigger than 500 g.  For 2019 which presented the best yields, the 5 g minitubers had yields of up to 29.3 and 31.2 t ha −1 for Asiedu and Kpamyo, respectively. These yields are pretty high considering that in traditional practice, farmers plant seed tubers of 250-500 g and obtain less than 10 t ha −1 after 7-10 months, although at low plant populations of 6000 to 10,000 plants ha −1 . If we consider the mean values of 375 g of seed tuber planted at 8000 plants ha −1 , it translates to a seed rate of about 3000 kg ha −1 , compared to the 100-500 kg ha −1 of minitubers used in this study. An enormous quantity of tubers could be saved for food when this is extrapolated to Nigeria's entire yam-producing regions or that of West Africa.In this study, three significant factors, among others, could be responsible for the exceptionally high yields despite the small size of the planting materials. Firstly, the type of sett planted (whole tuber against the cut setts that most farmers use) influences how fast plants emerged from the soil. Aighewi [25] observed that plants from whole tubers established faster and yielded more than tuber pieces (minisetts). The quicker the plants emerge, the longer the crop growth period, and the longer photosynthesis is performed and its products are produced and stored in the tuber to increase yield. Yam is predominantly cultivated as a rainfed crop, and senescence sets in 2-3 weeks after the rains stop irrespective of the tuber's size or maturity. This situation is in line with the study of Cornet et al. [26], who noted that the earlier plants emerge, the higher the tuber yield, regardless of weather conditions.Despite the small size of tubers (0.1-5.99 g), between 87.8% and 97.8% of plants were fully established by 38 DAP (Table 2). Contrary to the extended period of emergence from  For 2019 which presented the best yields, the 5 g minitubers had yields of up to 29.3 and 31.2 t ha −1 for Asiedu and Kpamyo, respectively. These yields are pretty high considering that in traditional practice, farmers plant seed tubers of 250-500 g and obtain less than 10 t ha −1 after 7-10 months, although at low plant populations of 6000 to 10,000 plants ha −1 . If we consider the mean values of 375 g of seed tuber planted at 8000 plants ha −1 , it translates to a seed rate of about 3000 kg ha −1 , compared to the 100-500 kg ha −1 of minitubers used in this study. An enormous quantity of tubers could be saved for food when this is extrapolated to Nigeria's entire yam-producing regions or that of West Africa.In this study, three significant factors, among others, could be responsible for the exceptionally high yields despite the small size of the planting materials. Firstly, the type of sett planted (whole tuber against the cut setts that most farmers use) influences how fast plants emerged from the soil. Aighewi [25] observed that plants from whole tubers established faster and yielded more than tuber pieces (minisetts). The quicker the plants emerge, the longer the crop growth period, and the longer photosynthesis is performed and its products are produced and stored in the tuber to increase yield. Yam is predominantly cultivated as a rainfed crop, and senescence sets in 2-3 weeks after the rains stop irrespective of the tuber's size or maturity. This situation is in line with the study of Cornet et al. [26], who noted that the earlier plants emerge, the higher the tuber yield, regardless of weather conditions.Despite the small size of tubers (0.1-5.99 g), between 87.8% and 97.8% of plants were fully established by 38 DAP (Table 2). Contrary to the extended period of emergence from the soil observed with larger cut setts, crop emergence and establishment was fast for this category of minitubers (Figure 5). A few days after emergence, the vines from the minitubers started producing leaves compared to the situation with bigger setts. In an ongoing experiment comparing the growth and yield of various categories of seed tuber sizes (tubers ranging from 10 to 250 g), it was observed that up to 25 DAP, there was an increase in vine length with an increase in the seed size. For example, the 10 g minitubers had a length of 82.3 ± 14.9 cm, while vines from the 250 g seed were 120.6 ± 35.2 cm. However, the mean number of opened leaves per stand for the 10 g seed tubers was 12 ± 3, whereas that of 250 g setts was 2 ± 4 (data not presented). This phenomenon suggests that when there is sufficient nutrient in the planted sett (as in the 250 g setts) to support initial plant growth, priority is on the vine's elongation. However, with limited stored nutrients (as in the 10 g minitubers), the plants become autotrophic sooner, and leaf production and expansion are accelerated to sustain plant growth and development. The early establishment with canopy production resulted in a longer crop duration, an extended period of nutrient accumulation in the and more yield. plant growth, priority is on the vine's elongation. However, with limited stored nutrients (as in the 10 g minitubers), the plants become autotrophic sooner, and leaf production and expansion are accelerated to sustain plant growth and development. The early establishment with canopy production resulted in a longer crop duration, an extended period of nutrient accumulation in the tuber, and more yield. From the spread of seed tuber sizes at harvest, the general trend was that the bigger the size of minitubers, the larger the seed tubers produced. Most farmers prefer to plant small whole tubers of 250-500 g, which were produced more by 3 g minitubers of Kpamyo and 5 g minitubers of both varieties used in the experiment. Some farmers may use setts of 150 g for small ware tubers, but setts smaller than this are mainly used to produce bigger seed tubers for the next season, or they are roasted and eaten as a snack. The large sett sizes utilized by farmers do not yield proportionately to the size planted due to poor quality. If 5 g minitubers can yield up to 23.6 t ha −1 after about five months in the field, compared to the average yield of 8.4 t ha −1 [1] of about 250 g seed after about eight months, it shows that the potential of the clean seed is high. Using virus-free seeds may require much smaller planting materials than the 250 g customarily used to produce average-sized yam tubers. Since the cost per seed yam is mainly determined by its size, smaller seed tubers will save cost for this most expensive input in yam production.Secondly, the seed tubers used in this experiment were of good quality, obtained from virus-free plants of improved varieties grown in an aphid-proof screen house. Diehl [27] noted that the quality aspects of yam have two dimensions; getting the most suitable variety for a particular production situation and ensuring the integrity of cultivars in disease rating, the vigor of establishment, size, and type of sett. The virus-free whole tubers used were better able to demonstrate their potential by having an early crop establishment that eventually produced lush vegetation and high yields.Lastly, planting was done at a high density of 100,000 plants ha −1 due to the seed From the spread of seed tuber sizes at harvest, the general trend was that the bigger the size of minitubers, the larger the seed tubers produced. Most farmers prefer to plant small whole tubers of 250-500 g, which were produced more by 3 g minitubers of Kpamyo and 5 g minitubers of both varieties used in the experiment. Some farmers may use setts of 150 g for small ware tubers, but setts smaller than this are mainly used to produce bigger seed tubers for the next season, or they are roasted and eaten as a snack. The large sett sizes utilized by farmers do not yield proportionately to the size planted due to poor quality. If 5 g minitubers can yield up to 23.6 t ha −1 after about five months in the field, compared to the average yield of 8.4 t ha −1 [1] of about 250 g seed after about eight months, it shows that the potential of the clean seed is high. Using virus-free seeds may require much smaller planting materials than the 250 g customarily used to produce average-sized yam tubers. Since the cost per seed yam is mainly determined by its size, smaller seed tubers will save cost for this most expensive input in yam production.Secondly, the seed tubers used in this experiment were of good quality, obtained from virus-free plants of improved varieties grown in an aphid-proof screen house. Diehl [27] noted that the quality aspects of yam have two dimensions; getting the most suitable variety for a particular production situation and ensuring the integrity of cultivars in disease rating, the vigor of establishment, size, and type of sett. The virus-free whole tubers used were better able to demonstrate their potential by having an early crop establishment that eventually produced lush vegetation and high yields.Lastly, planting was done at a high density of 100,000 plants ha −1 due to the seed tubers' small size. Even at the high plant population, it was observed that the interrow spacing of 1 m was too much since plants were staked and large portions of land were not covered by the foliage, allowing weeds to populate the area. Otoo [28] also observed that microsett populations could be as high as 250,000-444,000 ha −1 , and high densities could replace plastic mulch in the control of weeds. The yield from the pea-sized yam minitubers (Table 2) was a surprise. It far exceeded what was anticipated, especially in 2019, when the rainfall (Figure 1) was more than in the previous years (more than double the rainfall of 2017). Although there was not much difference in crop establishment between the minituber sizes, the largest seed (5 g) of both varieties had the longest vines, more leaves, highest LAI values, and eventually the best seed yam yields.The 3 and 5 g minitubers produced a mean tuber weight of 158.2 and 181.8 g, respectively, with an average of 112,592 and 130,555 seed tubers ha −1 , respectively (Table 1). Considering that the seed tubers produced are cleaner than farmer-saved seed in terms of virus infection, the sizes of seed tubers obtained could be used for ware yam production. With the current recommendation of planting 10,000 plants ha −1 for ware yam production, the number of tubers estimated to be produced per ha by the 3 and 5 g minitubers can plant 11 and 13 ha, respectively. In conventional practice, about one-third of the yield from one hectare is reserved for planting an equivalent land area as the one harvested [29]. Consequently, from a yield of 10 t ha −1 , about 3.3 tonnes will be reserved to plant another one hectare during the subsequent cropping season. However, if a system to produce and use minitubers for seed yam production is established, farmers may sell or use most of their ware yam for food and acquire planting materials from seed producers. Yam farmers mostly prefer the seed size produced by the 1, 3, and 5 g minitubers because they are planted whole with minimal cutting. Crops grown with whole seeds are more uniform in establishment and yield than those produced with a combination of whole and cut seed tubers, which is the customary practice [25].Other advantages of using minitubers in seed yam production include reduction in bulk of the planting material, land preparation, and the possibility of mechanization. Transporting such small seed tubers would be less cumbersome. Planting was done on ridges, which are easier to prepare than the mounds used in conventional ware/seed yam production systems. Additionally, there is the possibility of adapting grain planters (e.g., maize, peanut, or soya bean) to plant the minitubers, many of which were similar to these grain sizes. The multiplication rate using minitubers at the onset of seed multiplication programs will be highly enhanced considering the SMR of 1:93.8-1:213.8 for the 1 g minitubers (Table 2) compared to 1:3 or 1:30 obtained using ordinary setts or minisetts, respectively. The technology to produce minitubers of less than 10 g is currently available [21,22,30], so the use of such tubers by seed programs should be encouraged to get improved and released varieties more readily available to yam farmers. The minitubers were found to behave like larger seed tubers in storage. Those used in this experiment were stored in brown paper envelopes to reduce dehydration and desiccation and stored in a well-aerated room with temperatures not exceeding 26 • C. They were in good condition for up to four months with about 3% loss, especially of the less than 1 g tubers. The storage loss was primarily observed after two months when dormancy was broken and occurring more within the fourth month of storage. This situation indicates that more extended storage as may be required by commercial seed yam producers would be possible if done in a more favorable environment such as in rooms with a temperature of 18 to 21 • C attainable with domestic air conditioners.This study is the first to investigate the performance of high-quality minitubers of 0.1-5.99 g under field conditions. Consequently, further research is needed to determine the optimum agronomic management practices (appropriate plant density, as well as fertilizer, water, and storage requirements, among others) and production cost of this category of planting material for seed yam production.Yam is a valuable tuber crop that enhances food security in West Africa, a region that produces 92% of the world crop. The crop is propagated conventionally with a portion of the tubers that would have been used for food. High-quality minitubers of 0.1 g to about 6 g (represented as 1, 3, and 5 g) of two improved and released yam varieties produced from vine cuttings of plants in an aeroponics system were planted in the field at 100,000 plants ha −1 to assess their potential in seed yam production. Results showed that for both varieties, the minitubers of 5 g emerged fastest from the soil (19 DAP) with crop establishment of 94.6% compared to the minitubers of 1 g that emerged from the ground at 24 DAP and had 90.4% establishment. The yields varied with variety, size of minituber, and cropping season, with the lowest yield of 10 t ha −1 obtained from 1 g minitubers of variety Kpamyo in 2018 and the highest yields, 31.2 t ha −1 from 5 g of Kpamyo in 2019. The very high SMR of up to 213.8 for the 1 g minitubers and the large number of sizeable seed tubers produced from the minitubers makes them suitable for inclusion in seed yam production programs.","tokenCount":"5595"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1403525943.json b/data/part_1/1403525943.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..718ee1c8bf9b25c3a5cb4df3a2f3b89b58006781
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1403525943.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0e88848b83f8dfaa3f41c978984a1853","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/07a6799a-f8d2-4d45-a112-11be32532ca0/content","id":"-1985929721"},"keywords":["Biotic stress","Breeding","Cereal crops","Plant-parasitic nematodes","Resistant source"],"sieverID":"c2126ffb-ab12-46ea-8982-1fb9813bd38a","pagecount":"16","content":"Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is extremely affected by several abiotic and biotic stress factors. Drought and/or heat alongside the parasitism of cereal cyst nematodes of the Heterodera genera can have a combined destructive impact on wheat. Solely, the cereal cyst nematode species Heterodera filipjevi can cause wheat yield losses of up to 50%. Several control measures have been implemented, yet the most economical and convenient control strategy is the use of resistant hosts. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the resistant response of 257 spring wheat lines obtained from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre to Heterodera filipjevi that might contain novel sources of resistance and be added as genetic resources for future breeding programs. Also, provide a base for future research to understand the relationship between nematode resistances and drought and heat tolerance. The results indicated that 11 wheat lines (4%) and 36 wheat lines (14%) were resistant and moderately resistant, respectively. High frequency of susceptible and highly susceptible lines and low frequency of resistant lines within this set was also recorded. The linear regression analysis between the number of cysts formed and the resistance response grouping showed a strong, positive, linear correlation. Log-linear regression analysis showed that there is a weak positive correlation between the yield of heat tolerant wheat lines and their resistance to the cyst nematodes as these lines showed tolerance, while there was a weak negative correlation of formed cyst nematodes on the yield of drought tolerant lines. This study was able to add new genetic sources of resistance to Heterodera filipjevi for upcoming breeding programs.Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a vital crop for many countries, contributing nearly to one-third of the total global food grain production (FAOSTAT 2020). Abiotic and biotic stress factors can interact together to adversely affect wheat yield and production worldwide (Lichtenthaler 1996;Afzal et al. 2015). In the wheat gene pool, there is an adequate genetic variation that can ensure continuous improvement of wheat adaptation to these stress factors (Lawlor & Cornic 2002;Trethowan & Mujeeb-Kazi 2008).Climate change is a challenge facing humanity and its effects have been harmful to the agricultural industry. It is projected that countries near the equator will have a reduction in food production (Droogers & Aerts 2005). The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) study forecasts that wheat production in South Asia will decline by 50% by 2050 (De Fraiture et al. 2007). Studies indicated that increasing temperatures have negative effects on wheat yields in numerous regions of the world (Parry et al. 2004;Asseng et al. 2015;Zhao et al. 2017). It is going to be a challenge to increase or at least maintain the world's production of wheat to provide future generations with food needed to satisfy the demands of the increasing population. Also, it is a current and future challenge to find ways to reduce the impact of stress factors that decreases the yield of wheat such as plant-parasites (i.e., plant-parasitic nematodes) along with environmental factors (i.e., drought and heat).Plant-parasitic nematodes that are the cause of agriculture production reduction, are regarded to be alarming. Despite their widespread compared to other pests, plant-parasitic nematodes are commonly very dangerous, stealthy, and costly to be managed and there is not enough detailed information or data on their economic impact (Webster 1987;Vaish 2017). Handoo (1998) valued the losses of international crop production due to nematode infection was around US$ 80 billion and McCarter (2009) estimated that the global economic loss due to nematode infection to be US$ 118 billion per year. The widespread of plantparasitic nematodes on a majority of the vital crops, especially cereal cyst nematodes (CCNs) on wheat and their effect that dramatically reduces crop yields has caught the awareness of governments and international organizations to find methods of management. Nicol et al. (2011) reported that environmental conditions influence losses that are caused by CCNs and may exceed 90%. In association with other biotic and abiotic factors such as fungal pathogens, water stress, and heat, CCNs can have a synergistic destructive impact (Nicol et al. 2006). The species of CCN avenae complex H. avenae, H. filipjevi and H. latipons (Rivoal & Cook 1993;Nicol & Rivoal 2008;Akar et al. 2009;Dababat et al. 2015;Seid et al. 2021) are considered the most economically important species in West Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean (Nicol et al. 2011;Dababat et al. 2021). H. filipjevi can be found generally in China, Germany, India, Iran, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Syria, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, and the USA (Nicol et al. 2006). In Turkey, H. filipjevi causes yield losses of up to 50% in winter wheat under rainfed conditions (Nicol et al. 2006;Imren et al. 2019). While Hajihasani et al. (2010) reported that in Iran H. filipjevi causes approximately 48% yield losses in winter wheat under rainfed conditions. Additionally, Karimipour Fard et al. (2018) reported that H. filipjevi in field conditions significantly had a negative effect on grain yield (23% reduction) and growth parameters (plant height, number of tillers, root dry weight, root height and aerial shoot dry weight) in all of the tested three cultivars.Cereal cyst nematodes management methods have been mainly attained by rotation with non-host crops, such as legumes and moderately resistant cultivars. Due to the multi-year survival nature of the cyst that protects the eggs, a crop rotation period of at least 2 years is needed to maintain population densities below the economic damage threshold (Bridge & Starr 2007). This might be considered a non-feasible and non-profitable way of management due to its time and cost in cultivating practices during crop rotation. Host resistance is a desirable alternative because it is less expensive, easy to be used once identified, and it has no environmental toxicity like nematicides, despite the successful use of nematicides to control nematodes (Williamson & Kumar 2006, Dababat & Fourie 2018). Dababat et al. (2014) stated that globally, the evolution of cultivars with genetic resistance plus genetic tolerance has been accomplished. Screens (resistant tests) have been established for almost every crop to present phenotypic data for their particular breeding program. These screens aim to find and identify new sources of resistance and also the identification of resistant progeny in segregating populations. Miniaturized screening test either by using the test tube method is considered to show the greatest accuracy regarding phenotypic reaction distinction (Blok et al. 2018).The study aims to screen and evaluate a set of drought and heat tolerant international spring wheat lines for the resistance response to H. filipjevi. It is believed that this set is a unique set for CCN resistance because of their drought and heat tolerant nature, which is believed to have a relation with CCN resistance in general but needs other in-depth studies to establish this theory and our study is considered to be a starting point. It is also believed that this study would provide new resistant spring wheat lines against H. filipjevi, which might contain novel sources of resistance and be added as genetic resources for future breeding programs. Another primary expectation of the research is to provide a base for future research to try to understand the relationship between nematode resistances and drought and heat tolerance.A set of 257 spring wheat lines that originated from various countries were obtained from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico (Supplementary Table 1). This set has been screened and genotyped for drought and heat tolerance traits by CIMMYT-Mexico. The set was tested for cereal cyst nematode resistance response at the Transitional Zone Agricultural Research Institute (TZARI) in Eskisehir, Turkey (39° 46' 1.2612\" N, 30° 24' 10.8282\" E) and has been repeated in two independent experiments. Four well-known check lines for their resistance response to H. filipjevi were used as reference: 2 susceptible cultivars (Bezostaya and Kutluk-94) and 2 moderate resistant cultivars (Katea-1 and Sonmez-2001).Soil samples were collected from a wheat field historically known to be infested with H. filipjevi in Çiçekdağı district in the province of Kırşehir,Turkey (39° 63' 80\" N;34° 46' 72\" E). Cysts were extracted using Cobb's decanting and sieving method (Cobb, 1918). Cysts were handpicked from the organic matter residue under a dissecting microscope (Olympus SZ61). Then the cysts were surface sterilized with NaOCl (0.5%) for about 10 minutes and rinsed several times with distilled H2O before being transferred onto a fine mesh (45 µm) placed in a glass petri dish and stored at 4 °C to enhance hatching. Freshly hatched secondstage juveniles (J2s) were used as an inoculum source. Species identification was previously validated by CIMMYT-Turkey using molecular methods from random individual cysts and identified as H. filipjevi (Pariyar et al. 2016a). To reinsure that there were no other species, morphological identification was done by using a light microscope (LEICA DM5500 B) along with imaging software Leica Application Suite (LAS V4.12) in the labs of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Nigde Omer Halisdemir University (37° 56' 36.2\" N; 34° 37' 42.4\" E), as the fenestra of the cyst was the main aspect of species determination. The morphological measurements and characteristics were compared to previously published data of Siddiqi (2000); Handoo (2002); Subbotin & Baldwin (2010). 328Three representative spikes of a single wheat line were selected and threshed. About 15-20 similar and healthy seeds per line were selected and germinated on a moist filter paper in a Petri dish for 3 days at 22 °C and 70-80% of relative humidity. A single germinated seed of each line with identical sized radicles was selected and transplanted into RLC4-pine tubes (25 mm × 160 mm Ray Leach Cone-tainer TM ; Stuewe & Sons, Inc., USA) containing 100 g of a sterilized growing mixture containing sand, organic matter, and field soil (70:29:1, v/v/v). The tubes were placed in a 200-cell tray (RL200; Ray Leach Cone-tainer™; Stuewe & Sons, Inc., USA) with 3 replications per line arranged in a randomized block design. One day after transplanting, each tube was inoculated with 250 freshly hatched J2s suspended in 1 ml of water and injected into 3 holes of 2 cm depth made by a thin plastic rod around the stem base. Plants were kept under controlled conditions (25 °C, 70% RH and a photoperiod of 16 h) at TZARI. Fourteen weeks after nematode inoculation, plants were uprooted and cysts were extracted from both roots and soil of each plant as per Dababat et al. (2014). The resistance response of the screened wheat lines was determined and classified into five groups based on the mean number of cysts and females per plant (Dababat et al. 2016). The following grouping was used: 1) R = Resistant (fewer cysts and females/plant than the moderately resistant checks). 2) MR = Moderately resistant (as few cysts and females/plant as the moderately resistant checks). 3) MS = Moderately susceptible (significantly more cysts and females/plant than in the moderately resistant check, but not as many as in the susceptible checks). 4) S = Susceptible (as many cysts and females/plant as in the susceptible check and the number of cysts per root system considered damaging). 5) HS = Highly susceptible (more cysts and females/plant than in the susceptible check).Descriptive statistical parameters (mean, standard error (SE) and standard deviation (SD)) of the number of cysts and females per line were calculated and compared with the check cultivars for their resistant response evaluation. Regression analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between the mean number of cysts and females and the sorting of the resistance response grouping and to calculate the best fitting equation, a polynomial regression analysis was used. Log-linear regression analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between the yield of drought and heat tolerant wheat lines and the mean number of formed cysts.The results of the screening evaluation of the 257 spring wheat lines showed that 11 lines (4.28%) were resistant, 36 lines (14%) were moderately resistant, 72 lines (28.02%) were moderately susceptible, 79 lines (30.74%) were susceptible and 59 lines (22.96%) were highly susceptible, as shown in Figure 1 which also indicates a high frequency of susceptible and highly susceptible lines and low frequency of resistant lines within this set of drought and heat tolerant lines and represents a histogram distribution of the mean number of cysts formed on the root systems and estimated kernel density plot of the mean number of cysts formed per plant. To further assess the correlation between the mean number of cysts and females and the resistance response grouping of the wheat lines, linear regression analysis was used (P < 0.05, R 2 = 0.958). The data points to a strong, positive, linear correlation between the number of cysts and females formed and the resistance response grouping (Figure 2), which shows that the increase of the number of cysts formed leads to the categorization of the wheat lines from resistant to highly susceptible. After examining and comparing the parent materials of the wheat lines that have shown resistant and moderately resistant responses to all the spring wheat lines within this set, it has been found that there is no coherent pattern or indication that one parent tends to pass down resistance traits to their pedigree over another. As the parent material of the resistant and moderately resistant lines can be also found in the moderately susceptible, susceptible, and highly susceptible lines. So, the source of resistance of this set is due to different factors other than the dominant traits of a certain parent in resistant and moderately resistant lines (data not presented). Further analysis is required to be conducted to get a better idea of what the resistant sources are.In order to assess the effect of drought and heat on the relation between wheat yield and the mean number of formed cysts, Loglinear regression analysis was conducted (Figure 3). A negative relationship was noted between the number of formed cyst nematodes and the yield of drought tolerant wheat lines (R 2 = 0.11), while heat tolerant wheat lines seem to be more tolerant to the effect of cyst nematode formation as wheat yield values that were positively related to the number of formed cysts (R 2 = 0.15). Moreover, despite the noted negative effect of the number of formed cysts, the yield of drought tolerant lines was considered to be higher than the heat tolerant lines.Breeding wheat for resistance against CCNs started in the 1970s (Brown & Ellis 1976) and has become one of the most effective and desirable methods of control especially against H. filipjevi to prevent yield losses. The use of resistant lines is desirable and the only enduring method present to control CCNs due to its low cost, being user-friendly and is acknowledged to not be harmful to the environment (Dababat et al. 2014;Williamson & Kumar 2006). Different control methods can be used but have limitations and there are very few reports related to wheat-nematode interaction. Goverse & Smant (2018) pointed out that the complete mechanism of resistance is still an enigma with incomplete knowledge on plant immunity to plant-parasitic nematodes. Specific genes for the resistance against H. filipjevi are yet to be identified despite some of the Cre genes have shown certain degrees of success against the nematode such as; Cre8 and CreR which showed some levels of resistance (Imren et al. 2012). Toktay et al. (2012) screened resistant wheat lines containing the Cre1 gene which showed different resistance responses to H. filipjevi. It has been recognized that some of the identified 12 Cre genes that are known as a resistant source in wheat to H. avenae can show resistance to H. filipjevi and have shown success against other CCNs (Blok et al. 2018). To date, 16 different resistance genes to H. avenae, including 12 Cre genes; Cre1, Cre2,Cre3,Cre4,Cre5,Cre6,Cre7,Cre8,Cre9 CreR, CreY and Cre3S in wheat and its wild relatives and Ha1, Ha2, Ha3, Ha4 genes in barley were reported (Bakker et al. 2006;Zhai et al. 2008;Smiley & Nicol 2009;Moens et al. 2018;Cui et al. 2020), which also might have resistance to H. filipjevi. Kimber & Feldman (1987) mentioned that wheat varieties showing resistance or tolerance responses have shown to provide resistance against a wide range of biotic and abiotic stress factors. There are some assumptions that there might be a strong connection between drought and heat tolerance with CCN resistance and is yet to be proven. Dababat et al. (2018) has addressed this matter, as it was mentioned that water stressed crops grown in arid and semi-arid regions that have the ability to secure adequate amounts of water can be severely weakened due to the effect of nematodes on the crops root system. Correspondingly, with our current findings, it has been found that there is a weak positive correlation between wheat lines with heat tolerance and the number of formed cysts (resistance response), as these lines showed more tolerance without negatively affecting their yield. Our findings also indicated that there is a weak negative correlation between drought tolerant wheat lines and number of formed cysts. This is most likely due to the genetic background of these lines. The study has managed to find 11 resistant and 36 moderately resistant spring wheat lines, noting that the screened wheat set originates from a diverse genetic background. Different screening studies that have been done on wheat accessions originating from different sources have shown resistance to H. filipjevi (Toktay et al. 2012;Dababat et al. 2014;Pariyar et al. 2016a, b;Yavuzaslanoglu et al. 2016;Dababat 2019).There is a difficulty to truly compare the result of this study to other similar or related studies despite using the same experimental setup, as there are a lot of variables between the experiments. One of the main reasons regarding the difficulty in comparison is due to different categorizing of the resistant response groups that rely on the average number of formed cysts and females on the root system per plant and comparing them to the check wheat cultivars with known resistance response. Pariyar et al. (2016b) and Yavuzaslanoglu et al. (2016) have used a different arrangement of the average number of formed cysts and females/plant assigned to the resistant groups with reliance on the check wheat cultivars response. Zhang et al. (2012) even used a different method of sorting which relied on the relative resistance index (RRI); RRI = [1 -(the mean number of white females per plant on a tested line/the mean number of white females per Wenmai 19 check plant). Also, a point of difference is the experiment setup conditions, Dababat (2019) conducted his experiment under field conditions, Hajihasani et al. (2010) experiment was conducted in pots under field conditions, while Zhang et al. (2012) conducted his experiment in greenhouse conditions. Toktay et al. (2012) and (Pariyar et al. 2016a, b) conducted their study in a growth chamber under a controlled condition and with resembling methodology, so this can be a point of similarity to compare the results.Generally, when screening wheat accessions for their resistant response almost all studies have obtained a low percentage of resistant accessions from the total screening. This study managed to find a total of 4.28% resistant lines from 257 lines, Dababat (2019) tested 35 resistant lines that were obtained from the previous screening of thousands of wheat accessions. Pariyar et al. (2016a) found only 1% resistant accessions from a total of 161 accessions and in another study by Pariyar et al. (2016b) found only 1% resistance of wheat accessions from a total of 291 accessions.In this type of study, it is expected to find a very low percentage of resistance among the screened accessions. When comparing the results of this study in terms of the percentage of resistance accessions found with the other studies, this study is considered to have a noticeably high percentage of success.A possible reason for our current finding is the possibility that resistant and moderately resistant lines may have a relationship with the drought and heat tolerant QTLs as assumed. The screened set may also contain a source of Cre genes; like Cre1 as in Toktay et al. (2012) study, Cre8 or CreR in Imren et al. (2012) study, Cre5 as in Dababat et al. (2014) study, or the same QTLs Pariyar et al. (2016a) has identified or due to the presence of new sources of resistance. This matter cannot be confirmed in this study but future analysis is required to obtain a clearer idea of why these specific lines showed a resistant response to H. filipjevi.It is notable that despite the abundance of screening studies related to nematode resistance, this study is the first to evaluate the resistant response of H. filipjevi against wheat genotyped with drought and heat tolerance. It has been managed to add 11 wheat lines with resistance and 36 lines with moderate resistance to H. filipjevi as genetic resources for future wheat breeding programs. This might be good for helping advance resistance studies to CCNs in general but specifically to improve resistance against H. filipjevi. It is expected that the study can provide supplementary data with previous work by Pariyar et al. (2016a) for future studies concerned with finding resistant genes to H. filipjevi.Although resistant and moderately resistant lines to H. filipjevi were found, it should be noted that further assessment of these lines is recommended to fully verify their resistant and moderately resistant status. Also, it is recommended that these lines should be screened for resistance response to other Heterodera species, mainly H. avenae and H. latipons to obtain wheat lines with resistance to more than one Heterodera species.This study supports Dababat et al. (2018) remarks, statistically, that there is a correlation between drought and heat tolerance with CCN resistance despite being a weak one but establishes a foundation for more detailed studies. ","tokenCount":"3596"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1422720414.json b/data/part_1/1422720414.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..136315ea4bd3084dbb1d28ad1f7a3578d19b952c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1422720414.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"98a64b9b3cb342179e338a3e502f4dd6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/366fa9b0-289f-417f-abab-f107ebc96a54/retrieve","id":"-1673293920"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eae7c946-31a1-4ef5-b078-849284a7ebbd","pagecount":"23","content":"This paper assessed the effect of climbing bean adoption on the welfare of the bean growers in Rwanda using four indicators: per capita consumption expenditure, poverty head count, quantity of bean consumed per person and food security. The analysis was based on cross sectional data from a nationally representative survey of bean growers conducted in 2011. Instrumental variables and control function approaches were used to address the endogeneity of climbing bean adoption decisions in household welfare outcomes. Results demonstrated that investments in climbing bean research and dissemination efforts contributed significantly to improve household welfare. One additional kilogram of climbing seed planted raises per capita consumption expenditure by 0.9% and that of bean consumption by 2.8%, and increases the probability that a household is food secure by 0.6% while decreasing the likelihood of being poor by 0.6%. These findings highlight the important role climbing bean adoption can play in reducing food insecurity and poverty in land constrained areas.Rwanda's economy relies on agriculture that is characterized by land scarcity. This challenge has compelled farmers to cultivate fragile, steep-slope landholdings, which induces large environmental costs 1 and further contributes to declining agricultural productivity. The government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGR) has been devoting significant efforts to crop intensification and sustainable land use management 32 (MINAGR 2009) in order to alleviate poverty and food inse-33 curity (Kathiresan 2011)., climbing bean (i.e. indeterminate with a relatively longer growth cycle) grows upwards requiring less land to produce the same amount of output (Musoni et al. 2001).The high productivity of climbing bean coupled with its prolonged growth cycle enables it to fix more nitrogen and, in the long-term, contributes to soil fertility improvements (Beebe et al. 2012). In addition, climbing bean varieties create favorable microclimate-niches, which reduce fungal pathogen development that negatively affect bush bean productivity (Musoni et al. 2001). Conversely, the two bean types cannot be easily distinguished in terms of their culinary and market attributes. 3   Over the years, cultivation of improved bean varieties has gained popularity among Rwandan bean growers. Larochelle et al. (2015) reported that 33.5% of the bean-producing households grow improved or selected varieties released in 1998 or later. At national level, the area occupied by climbing bean varieties increased from less than 20% in 1993 (Sperling and Muyaneza 1995) to more than 43% in 2011 (Katungi et al. 2016). The adoption of high yielding bean varieties, accompanied by a shift from bush to climbing bean, has enabled Rwanda to reverse her bean productivity growth trend from negative in the 1990s to positive, consequently reducing the country's bean import trade (FAO Q4 2014).A number of insightful studies on the adoption of improved bean varieties and its effect on household wellbeing have been conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa (Sperling and Muyaneza 1995;Graf et al. 1991;Kalyebara and Buruchara 2008;Larochelle et al. 2015) and the returns to investment in bean research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) estimated (Johnson et al. 2003). To the best of our knowledge, there has been no study documenting the association between climbing bean cultivation and household economic wellbeing. The study by Larochelle et al. (2015) analyzed the impact of the adoption of improved bean varieties on household food security and poverty in Rwanda and Uganda, but did not separate climbing and bush bean technology, which would have provided evidence for the effectiveness of climbing bean as an avenue for enhancing livelihoods of land constrained households.The Rwandan bean researchers and their CIAT collaborators believe that climbing bean is a promising technology to boost productivity in SSA, but there is lack of evidence of its effects on household welfare to guide future investment decisions. Therefore, this study aims at closing this knowledge gap by assessing the effects of climbing bean cultivation on selected welfare outcome indicators: per capita consumption expenditure, poverty, quantity of bean consumed per person, and household food security. The analysis is based on a comprehensive and nationally representative household survey data collected in 2011 from all major bean growing areas of  (Singh et al. 1986;de Janvry et al. 1991).This framework is suitable for the analysis of the adoption A community questionnaire administered to key informants (i.e. village leaders and the most knowledgeable farmers for the crops of interest) was used to elicit information on village characteristics such as access to seed, seed distribution programs, credit, roads, market infrastructure, cultivar changes, agro-climatic shocks, and prices of key staple crops.In addition, a consumption expenditure questionnaire was administered to about half of the households per sampled village. Consumption expenditure was elicited over a seven-day recall period for food items, and a 30-day recall period for nonfood items. Food consumption expenditure includes food purchased, home-produced, and received as gift or in-kind payment by any household member. This study includes bean-producing households for which consumption expenditure data were collected, meaning that the analysis is based on a sample size of 646 households. 7Several approaches exist to quantify the decision to adopt new agricultural technologies, some more comprehensive than others. In this study, the decision to adopt climbing bean was measured using the quantity (kg) of seeds planted. It captures the intensity of adoption, which is a richer measure than a binary indicator (Feder et al. 1985). Another advantage of a continuous measure of adoption over a discrete one is that it addresses the issue of partial adoption, i.e. for households that plant both climbing and bush bean varieties. Quantity of seeds is a proxy for land area planted to climbing bean, which for the case of Rwanda, has been found to be reported with fewer measurement errors than plot size (Larochelle et al. 2015). 8 Researchers who previously examined the effect of improved seeds on household wellbeing used quantity of seeds planted as indicator of adoption (Mason and Smale 2013;Smale and Mason 2014;Smale et al. 2015), while others used land area planted to improved varieties where it is less prone to measurement errors (e.g. Ricker-Gilbert and Jones 2015; Kassie et al. 2014).Four indicators were used as measures of household wellbeing: 1) per capita consumption expenditure, 2) poverty,3) per capita bean consumption, and 4) household own assessment of food security.In developing countries, consumption expenditure, compared to income, is a more reliable measure of household wellbeing because it is less prone to measurement error and respondent bias, and does not fluctuate as much as income (Deaton 1997). In this study, household consumption expenditure was measured as the sum of annual food and non-food expenditures (e.g. clothing, energy, social activities). To adjust for spatial differences in prices, household consumption expenditure was divided by a food price index, P h , that was computed for each household h as:where p h k is the price of good k faced by household h, while p 0 k is the price of good k faced by the reference household. 9 w h k is the expenditure share household h devotes to good k, where the sum of the k expenditure shares equals one. Then, spatially adjusted household expenditure was divided by household size to obtain per capita consumption expenditure, which is our economic measure of household wellbeing.To determine if adoption of climbing bean contributed to improving the wellbeing of the poor, households were classified as poor and non-poor, based on the international poverty line of $1.25 per day per capita. 10 Households whose per capita consumption expenditure was at or below the poverty line were considered poor. When evaluating the welfare effect of a technology, it is important to make this distinction since the benefits of adoption could be captured mainly by non-poor households, meaning that poverty would remain unaffected and inequality would worsen.Bean and other pulses are macro and micronutrient-rich foods and among the best in terms of nutrients per unit price The general econometric model for estimating the effect of 305 adoption on household welfare outcomes is given as:  The second IV, population density, is a GIS computed variable based on household geographical locations. This variable indicates the number of inhabitants per 0.8 km 2 . We expect high population density to favor adoption of laborintensive and high-yielding technologies such as climbing bean as a remedy to land shortage. Moreover, high population density is expected to be positively correlated with adoption because it facilitates diffusion of information and technology.However, population density is not expected to be correlated with the error terms in the welfare equations after controlling for other covariates.The exogeneity of the IVs in the welfare equations is tested using a falsification test following Di Falco et al. ( 2011) and Smale and Mason (2014). The test is performed by including the village-level adoption rate and population density as additional regressors in the welfare regressions for the subsample of households that did not adopt climbing bean.The lack of statistical significance of the IVs, when tested individually and jointly, provides evidence of their exogeneity in the welfare regressions.In the first-stage, a reduced form model for adoption of climbing bean, the endogenous variable, is estimated using a Tobit model with censoring from below at zero. This is because the quantity of climbing bean seed planted is continuous for households that adopted and observed to be zero for household that did not. The Tobit model is specified as followed:the observed level of climbing bean adoption is defined as:X i is the same vector of exogenous variables as in Eq. 2; Z i is the vector including the two IVs: village-level adoption rate for climbing bean in the prior season and population density;We derive the generalized residuals from the first-stage Tobit model using the following formula (Cameron Where d i is a binary indicator for adoption that is equal to one if climbing bean is adopted and zero otherwise; σ 2 is the variance of the error term, ϕ i and Φ i are the probability density function and cumulative distribution function respectively. In the second-stage, separate regressions are estimated for each of the welfare measures. Models are specified as in Eq. ( 2) but The conceptual framework provides the basis for the selection of variables relevant in the analysis of the adoption of climbing bean and its effect on household welfare under incomplete markets. In broad terms, these variables define household characteristics, market and contextual factors (See However, the prevalence of poverty among adopters of climbing bean is 49%, which is statistically higher than among non-adopters. The higher prevalence of poverty among climbing bean adopters suggests that these households could have been worse-off prior to adoption, perhaps because they are more exposed to constraints such as land scarcity and soil degradation that constrain agricultural productivity.In fact, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test shows significant differences in the distribution of land between adopters and nonadopters, with the former cultivating smaller land area. For example, 65% of adopters cultivate less than one hectare compared with 52% for non-adopters (Table 2). Besides, most climbing bean adopters are located in the more mountainous parts of the country, where the average farm slope is 6.7% compared to 5.1% for non-adopters (Table 3). Cultivation of steep terrain coupled with extreme population density accelerates soil erosion, re-enforcing poverty and malnutrition. It is therefore plausible that the benefits of climbing bean technology have flown to households that were a priori disadvantaged regarding food and nutrition security in the face of declining land sizes and quality.The average bean consumption per adult equivalent during cropping season B is 14.7 kg with no statistical difference between adopters of climbing bean and non-adopters (Table 2). This means that despite smaller scale of production, higher yields of climbing bean enable the adopters to improve their food security. About 51% of adopters considered their households as being food secure during the cropping season compared with 38% for non-adopters; this difference is statistically significant at the 1% level.Regression results for climbing bean adoption and welfare indicators are reported in Tables 4, 5 and 6. We begin by discussing briefly the results of the adoption model estimated in the first-stage. Results, reported in Table 4, include the average marginal effects, standard errors clustered at the village-level, and corresponding p-values.A test for the adoption model goodness of fit, performed using the F-statistic, has a p-value of zero, indicating that the variables are jointly significant in explaining the variation in the 18 Defined as daily agricultural labor wage specific to a village averaged for women and men. 19 Bean seeding rate varies between 50 and 80 kg/ha depending on the variety (N2 Africa 2014; Ugen et al. 2014).quantity of climbing bean seed planted (Table 4). An F-test for  in Mayaga-bugesera, and Buberuka highlands agroecological zones. The agricultural potential across agroecological zones is highly variable due to differences in soil types and level of land degradation; the extensive diffusion of climbing bean appears to be higher in agroecological zones graded medium to poor in terms of agriculture value (Verdoodt and Van Ranst 2003).Market factors are important determinants in the decision to adopt climbing bean in Rwanda (Table 4). Distance to the nearest urban center, agricultural wage, and distance to market all have positive and significant effects on adoption of climbing bean. Compared to households living nearby an urban center (i.e. <12 km), the quantity of climbing bean seed planted is 3.1 kg higher for those located between 12 and 30 km from a large town, and 4.7 kg higher for households living the farthest away from an urban center (>30 km).Urbanity increases access to alternative livelihood strategies which might decrease incentives to invest in climbing bean.Few household characteristics are also found to have a significant influence on adoption of climbing bean:gender of the household head, the asset index, and landholding (Table 4). The quantity of climbing bean seed planted is on average 2.0 kg larger among male-headed households compared with female-headed households.Unlike Sperling and Muyaneza (1995)  Market factors also influence per capita consumption expenditure and poverty. Results show that per capita household consumption increases by 0.4% while the probability of being poor decreases by 0.2% when the daily agricultural wage increased by 1 % (Tables 5 and 6). Similar associations were observed for distance to market services but were only significant in the poverty model.bean significantly increased consumption of bean, which is probably associated with nutritional benefits in a setting such as Rwanda where macro and micronutrient deficiency are prevailing issues (Lung'aho et al. 2015;NSIR and WFP 2012). A one-kilogram increase in climbing bean seed planted raised bean consumption by 2.8% (Table 5). At the household-level, this translates into a 1.5 kg increase in bean consumption during the cropping season, assuming an average household size of 3.5 adult equivalent.Household size and distance to water significantly decreased the quantity of bean consumed per adult equivalent.One additional household member decreased bean consumption by 8.9% (Table 5). For a percent increase in distance from the household residence to the nearest water source, bean 21 The soils in this agro-ecological zone were developed from poor parent materials such as sandstone, quartzite, quartzophyllite and granite; are totally leached and severely degraded. On the other hand, soils in East savanna is strongly weathered, ranked as very poor in terms of agriculture value while Kivu lake side, which boarders with Congo-Nile, experiences variation in climatic conditions and has highly eroded soils (Verdoodt and Van Ranst 2003).t4:1  Distance to the nearest market place, where most households in the village sell their produce, had a negative and significant influence on bean consumption (Table 5). This perhaps reflects reliance on market purchases for meeting extra household bean demand given that many Rwandan bean producers are net bean buyers Female-headed households adopted climbing bean on a smaller scale than male-headed households, suggesting that the former might face additional constraints worth investigating in future research. We concluded that while adoption of climbing bean is scale neutral, its technological attributes may limit some households, ","tokenCount":"2623"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1430394708.json b/data/part_1/1430394708.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d47ea63871b69ee2e03084b3bb9eb894b34d2d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1430394708.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"317ac012120a6a43779ffb4f561280cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42ced358-d6e9-49b7-bfa7-9e64434a2784/retrieve","id":"1923169436"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0a5bf1f6-2044-4682-aa4a-50a3c337874e","pagecount":"10","content":"A closed-tube reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (CT-RT-LAMP) assay was developed for the detection of yam mosaic virus (YMV, genus Potyvirus) infecting yam (Dioscorea spp.). The assay uses a set of six oligonucleotide primers targeting the YMV coat protein region, and the amplification products in YMV-positive samples are visualized by chromogenic detection with SYBR Green I dye. The CT-RT-LAMP assay detected YMV in leaf and tuber tissues of infected plants. The assay is 100 times more sensitive in detecting YMV than standard RT-PCR, while maintaining the same specificity.Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a popular vegetatively propagated staple crop cultivated for its starchy tubers in West Africa. Yam mosaic virus (YMV, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) causes \"mosaic disease\", the most economically important viral disease of yams, which can reduce yields by up to 40% [6,17]. YMV is endemic in the West African \"yam belt\" stretching from western Cameroon to Côte d'Ivoire, which is known to be the largest edible-yam production region in the world [2]. YMV is most frequently detected in D. rotundata, the dominant yam species cultivated in the yam belt [2,4,6]. Since yams are clonally propagated using whole tubers, portions of the tubers (setts), or vine cuttings, the virus perpetuates from season to season and spreads to new areas along with the infected planting material [6].The use of virus-free planting materials remains the most effective method to control the spread of YMV [8]. The development of sensitive, low-cost, field-based diagnostic tools is an important requirement to achieve this goal. Two common methods employed in the detection of yam viruses include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with the latter being the most widely used for YMV diagnosis [10,13]. However, both ELISA and RT-PCR are lab based and require sophisticated equipment, precluding adoption of diagnostics in poorly equipped laboratories. Isothermal amplification methods, such as recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) [13] and reverse transcription (RT) loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) [10], are relatively simple and rapid to perform, with high specificity and sensitivity, and are suitable for poorly equipped laboratories and on-site diagnosis [1,9].LAMP is a relatively simple method for specific amplification by strand displacement of DNA targets using Bacillus stearothermophilus (Bst) DNA polymerase under isothermal conditions in the range of 65 °C [9,12]. Since the LAMP method uses four to six primers to recognize six to eight distinct regions on the template DNA, it has a higher specificity and amplification efficiency than other DNA amplification methods [10]. The LAMP assay has been shown to be as sensitive as or more sensitive than probe-based real-time PCR assays [14], and it has been successfully used for the detection of several plant viruses [5,7,11,12]. In this study, we describe the development of a closed-tube (CT)-RT-LAMP assay as a simple and low-cost alternative for the detection of YMV-infected plants and seed yam tubers.Yam (D. rotundata) leaf tissues and tubers were sourced from plants maintained in the screenhouse and experimental fields of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria). About 100 mg of leaf sample was processed for total RNA extraction using a modified CTAB method [15]. Tuber tissues were excised by inserting a steel cork borer of 1 cm diameter into the tuber surface to a depth of about 1 cm, and total RNA was extracted from the plug of tissue. Extracted RNA was suspended in 50 µl of RNase-free water and stored at −20 °C until use. The RNA concentration was measured using a NanoDrop 2000 spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, UK) as per the manufacturer's instructions. The total RNA concentration was adjusted to 100 ng/ µl, and 2 µl was used as a template for all assays in this study, unless specified otherwise.YMV infection in leaf and tuber samples used for the standardization of RT-LAMP was confirmed by RT-PCR using the primer pair YMV-F3x (5'GAC AAT GAT GGA CGG TGC 3') and YMV-B3x (5' CTT TGC CAT CAA ATC CAA AC3'), which amplify a 320-bp region corresponding to the coat protein (CP) gene. The RT-PCR amplifications were set up in 12.5-µl reaction mixtures containing 2 µl of RNA template (at 100 ng/µl), 0.2 µM each primer, 0.2 mM each dNTP, 1 U of GoTaq DNA Polymerase (Promega, USA), 12 U of M-MLV reverse transcriptase (Promega, USA), and 1x GoTaq Reaction Buffer containing 1.5 mM MgCl 2 . The thermal cycle conditions of the RT-PCR consisted of an RT step at 42 °C for 30 min, followed by 95 °C for 5 min and 35 cycles of 95 °C for 30 s, 55 °C for 30 s, and 72 °C for 60 s, and a final extension of 72 °C for 10 min. RT-PCR products were analyzed by electrophoresis in a 1.2% agarose gel in tris-acetate-EDTA (TAE) buffer (pH 8.3) containing 0.05 µl of EZ-Vision Blue Light DNA Dye (Amresco, USA) per 1 ml. The agarose gel was visualized under UV light using a Gel Doc EZ Imager (Bio-Rad, France).A set of six primers (Table 1, Supplementary Fig. 1) was designed to target the YMV coat protein (CP) using multiple sequence alignments of 40 YMV full CP nucleotide sequences available in the NCBI GenBank database using the Primer Explorer V4 software (http ://prim erex plor er.jp/e/). The final optimized RT-LAMP reaction conditions consisted of 13-μl reactions including 2 μl of RNA template, 0.16 μM each of primers YMV-F3 and YMV-B3, 1.2 μM each of primers YMV-FIP and YMV-BIP, 0.5 μM each of primers YMV-LF and YMV-LB, 1.2 mM each dNTP, 0.6 M betaine (Sigma-Aldrich, USA), 4 mM MgSO 4 , 8 U of Bst 2.0 polymerase (New England Biolabs, UK), 14 U of M-MLV reverse transcriptase (Promega, USA), and 1× isothermal amplification buffer (New England Biolabs, UK). The RT-LAMP reactions were incubated in a thermal cycler (GeneAmp PCR System 2700, Applied Biosystems, USA) or in a hot water bath set at 65 °C for 60 min and then heated at 80 °C for 5 min to terminate the reaction. RT-LAMP products were analyzed by electrophoresis in 1.5% (w/v) TAE agarose gels and visualized as described earlier.For the closed-tube (CT) format, RT-LAMP reaction conditions are essentially as described, but with an addition of 2 µl of a 1:20-diluted SYBR Green I dye (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) inside the cap of the reaction tube. At the end of the reaction, tubes were inverted to mix SYBR Green dye loaded in the cap with the reaction mixture, and the tubes were observed under visible light using a black background to observe color difference between the positive (green) and negative (orange) reactions. The same reaction tubes were  Experiments were conducted to detect YMV using a rapid virus release protocol without tissue homogenization as described by Thomson and Dietzgen [16], using alkaline PEG buffer (6% polyethylene glycol (PEG)-200 in 20 mM NaOH in sterile distilled water) [3]. In this case, yam leaf or tuber tissue (about 50 to 100 mg) was placed in a 1.5-ml microfuge tube containing 0.5 ml of alkaline PEG buffer, and the tubes were incubated at room temperature for 10 min with occasional shaking. Two µl of the sample was used as a template for YMV detection by CT-RT-LAMP with SYBR Green visualization.Experiments to determine the detection sensitivity of CT-RT-LAMP and RT-PCR were conducted with 10x serial dilutions of total RNA (100 ng/µl stock) obtained from YMV-infected yam leaves in total RNA extracted from uninfected yam leaf up to a 10 −6 dilution, and 2 µl from each dilution was used as a template for testing in duplicate. The assay sensitivity to detect YMV in bulk samples comprising 10 yam leaves per bulk was determined by including one leaf from a YMV-infected plant (variety TDr Danacha or TDr 09/00058) with nine leaves from healthy yam. Leaf discs from bulk samples were excised using a 1-cm-diameter cork borer and used for total RNA extraction or by soaking in alkaline PEG reagent as described earlier. Tenfold serial dilutions of total RNA (100 ng/µl stock) or extract in alkaline PEG reagent from bulk samples were performed, and 2 µl was used as template for CT-RT-LAMP and RT-LAMP. Conditions for CT-RT-LAMP and RT-PCR were as described above. Both agarose gel electrophoresis and visual detection with SYBR Green were used to verify the YMV detection limit of RT-LAMP, whereas the RT-PCR products were analyzed in agarose gels as described above. The performance of CT-RT-LAMP and RT-PCR in detecting YMV in over 50 field-collected D. rotundata and D. alata leaf and tuber samples was compared by analyzing total RNA (2 µl of 100 ng/µl stock).The RT-PCR in YMV-positive samples resulted in amplification of the expected 320-bp product (Fig. 1E). The six RT-LAMP primers designed recognize eight binding sites in the YMV CP region. This includes two outer primers, YMV-F3 and YMV-B3, in the sense and antisense orientation, respectively; two internal primers, YMV-FIP and YMV-BIP, each containing two separate binding sites, referred to as F2 and F1C and B2 and B2C, in opposite orientations; and two loop primers, YMV-LF and YMV-LB (Table 1, Supplementary Fig. 1). To test the fragment length of the CP sequence targeted for LAMP detection, conventional RT-PCR assay was performed with the outer primer pair YMV-F3 and YMV-B3, keeping the RT-PCR reaction conditions similar to those used for YMV-F and YMV-R. This resulted in amplification of the expected 211-bp product (data not shown). The 211-bp RT-PCR product was sequenced in both orientations, and comparison of the resultingsequence (Gen-Bank accession no. MF521884) by BLAST search revealed 97 to 100% sequence identity with YMV sequences available in the GenBank database, confirming the specificity of the primers for the virus genome. The six RT-LAMP primers designed in this study successfully detected YMV using a single incubation temperature of 65 °C for 60 min. Ladderlike patterns of amplified products in YMV-positive samples were detected in agarose gels (Fig. 1A). The specificity of the loop primers (YMV-LF and YMV-LB) in the RT-LAMP assay was evaluated by comparing assays with and without the addition of these primers to the reaction mixture (Fig.  Tenfold dilutions of total RNA from 100 ng/µl were tested. RT-PCR products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis, and visual detection of RT-LAMP was done using SYBR Green dye. M, 100-bp DNA ladder; H, healthy yam RNA sample; NTC, no-template control and D). Use of loop primers at concentrations above 0.5 µM resulted in false-negative results, as some YMV-positive samples were not detected (Supplementary Fig. 2). The optimal primer conditions for the RT-LAMP were determined by testing different concentrations, and a ratio of inner to outer to loop primers of 7.5:1:3.125 was found to be optimal. The inclusion of loop primers, primer concentration, and relative ratio to each other had a crucial influence on the specificity and consistent amplification of the target region in YMVpositive samples.In CT format using SYBR Green dye for chromogenic detection, samples with positive amplification appeared green, and the YMV-negative samples and water control appeared orange under visual light using a black background (Fig. 2A). Bright green fluorescence was observed in YMVpositive samples, whereas negative samples were colourless when observed under UV light (SYBR Green setting) in a Gel Doc™ EZ Imager (Fig. 2B). The scoring of CT-RT-LAMP results as positive or negative was identical under visible light or UV-light (Fig. 2), indicating the suitability of visible scoring as simple alternative to UV-light-sourcedependent detection of CT-RT-LAMP results.In experiments to determine the sensitivity of detection, the CT-RT-LAMP detected YMV at dilutions up to 10 −5 to 10 −6 using total RNA extracted by the CTAB or alkaline PEG method, whereas positive amplification was observed in the RT-PCR at dilutions up to 10 −3 to 10 −4 , indicating that the RT-LAMP is at least 100 times more sensitive than RT-PCR (Fig. 1E and F). Assays conducted using samples soaked in alkaline PEG reagent resulted in successful detection of YMV up to 10 −3 (v/v) dilution in both leaf (TDr 09/0082) and tuber (TDr Makakusa) samples (Fig. 2). Experiments to detect YMV in total RNA extracts of bulk samples (1:10 infected to healthy leaf sample ratio) resulted in virus detection up to a dilution of 10 −4 in CT-RT-LAMP and up to a dilution of 10 −3 in RT-PCR in two yam varieties tested (TDr Danacha and TDr 09/00058) (Supplementary Fig. 3A). However, YMV detection at a dilution of 10 −1 consistently gave negative results in RT-PCR (lane 1, Supplementary Fig. 3A), but amplification was observed in CT-RT-LAMP (tube 1, Supplementary Fig. 3C). We suspect that a high template concentration may have an inhibitory effect on RT-PCR but not on RT-LAMP. Similar experiments to detect YMV in bulk samples using a sample soaked in alkaline PEG reagent as template in RT-PCR resulted in consistent detection of YMV at a 10 −2 (v/v) dilution of total RNA (Supplementary Fig. 3B), but in CT-RT-LAMP, detection was achieved in samples diluted up to 10 −4 to 10 −6 (Supplementary Fig. 3D) in two yam varieties tested (TDr Danacha and TDr 09/00058). These experiments confirmed that CT-RT-LAMP offers relatively high sensitivity for YMV detection, and the results were consistent with those obtained by RT-PCR using either total RNA or sample soaked in alkaline PEG reagent. For routine testing of bulk samples consisting of 10 samples, a 10 −2 dilution is advised.Total RNA extracted from 25 leaf and tuber samples collected from yams grown in the screenhouse and field were tested with CT-RT-LAMP and RT-PCR (Supplementary Table 1). Twelve samples tested positive for YMV in both assays, and D. alata infected with yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV, genus Potyvirus) used as a nonspecific control, healthy yams, and the non-template control tested negative as expected. Samples taken from the head, middle, and bottom portions of yam tubers tested positive for YMV in CT-RT-PCR and RT-PCR (Supplementary Fig. 4), except for one sample which tested positive in CT-RT-LAMP and negative in RT-PCR (lane 18, Supplementary Fig. 4).The CT-RT-LAMP assay is suitable for the detection of YMV in both leaf and tuber tissues without the need for a separate RNA extraction step and permits visual inspection of results without the need for expensive detectors. This has a substantial impact on the practicability of the assay, not only reducing the cost of consumables associated with agarose gel electrophoresis but also potentially reducing handling time and risks of carryover contamination. Because of these features, we are hopeful that CT-RT-LAMP will be adopted for routine detection of YMV, especially to verify the infection status of planting material in West Africa, where active efforts are ongoing to invigorate production of virus-free seed yam necessary for sustainable seed systems [8].  ","tokenCount":"2418"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1435874978.json b/data/part_1/1435874978.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..77493e001b1691253457911ad73174796ca848b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1435874978.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b78e9024a5544c369616814518f0eb4e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cdf47033-aac2-4d95-9e30-976083b16abd/retrieve","id":"162223284"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe2766c0-5f7f-4d74-a59e-c22b34adf441","pagecount":"31","content":"Titles in this Working Paper series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.The overall aim of this activity is to strengthen the capacity of national stakeholders in Tanzania to develop and deliver tailored agro-climatic products that help smallholder farmers and pastoralists increase their food security and resilience against climate change.The first training workshop for intermediaries was for staff from Kiteto District Tanzania, one of the Districts that the project focuses on, and was held between 13th and 17th October 2014.The report provides an overview of the training aims, the participants, content and feedback, and importantly, identifies lessons and next steps for the implementation of the activity in other Districts in Tanzania and Malawi in 2015, and future programs seeking to enhance the capacity of intermediaries to serve as the 'Missing Link' between climate forecasters, agricultural researchers and farmers. As a result, considerable efforts to integrate climate information services into decisionmaking are currently underway at local, national, regional, and international scales and in a range of different sectors, including agriculture, health, forestry, fisheries, transport, tourism, disaster risk reduction, water resources management, and energy. Most importantly, a range of organisations and stakeholders worldwide are now devoting increasing resources to ensuring that relevant climate information and advisory services reach regional stakeholders, national planners and communities most at risk from impacts of a changing climate. At the heart of these endeavours is the belief that climate services will improve preparedness to climate risks under a changing climate, and enable better-informed decisions, empowering end users, including farmers at the frontlines, to better anticipate and manage climate risks.While the supply of improved climate services for users across a broad range of sectors and scales is receiving greater attention however, there has been very little to identify and develop relevant communication channels to ensure adequate communication of available climate information and forecasting products, across timescales, to end users and vulnerable communities at the frontlines of a changing climate's impacts.In the agricultural sector, one of such channels identified is to work through intermediaries, able to serve as a critical 'missing link' between suppliers of climate information services (climate forecasters and agricultural researchers, experts in production of climate information and related agricultural and livelihood information to produce agro-climatic advisories relevant for farmers) and final end users, i.e. farmer communities, pastoralists, etc. A recent CCAFS report highlights the importance of exploiting scalable communication channels to reach \"the last mile\" (Tall et al., 2014) Experts were invited at a workshop in Nairobi in June 2013 to take part in the development of training materials for the communication of climate information and advisory services, across timescales (from seasonal to short range timescales and historical data). Synthesized training materials sought to establish guidelines and good practice tools/methods for equipping intermediaries to understand available climate/weather forecast products, and in turn to produce tailored agro-climatic advisories and communicate them to farmers in the respective communities they serve. In this regard, the training materials offer practical ToT tools and methods for boundary organizations and intermediaries alike to train their field staff and enhance the capacity of national systems to communicate climate services (May et al., 2013).The Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach was shared at the Nairobi workshop and had been developed in Zimbabwe funded by Nuffield Foundation, and then improved and piloted in Tanzania and Kenya with CCAFS support. The approach was specifically developed for extension staff to use with groups of farmers as part of their ongoing work. It aims to facilitate farmers to make informed plans and decisions in the lead up to and during the production season and includes: providing and considering both historical climate and weather forecast information with farmers; exploring crop, livelihood and livestock options and their risks with farmers; and use of a set of participatory tools to enable farmers to use this information in planning and decision making at household and 'field' level for their own individual circumstances. (A summary of the steps involved in PICSA are given in Annex 1.)As Participants were carefully selected using the criteria specified in the activity concept note (including their reach, experience and existing capacity), see Annex 1 The majority of the 30 participants were Agriculture and livestock extension officers and these were joined by two staff from NGOs (including the Tanzania Red Cross) and one seed supplier. In addition to village or ward level extension staff, district supervisors and senior management staff participated in the whole course. The seven facilitators were from University of Reading, TMA, Kings College London and Agricultural Research Institute (ARI). Names of all trainees and facilitators are given in Appendix 1.The aim of the training was to equip intermediaries to better work with smallholder farmers to enable them to use a seamless and integrated combination of climate, weather and agricultural information and to improve their planning, decision making and livelihoods. The training ran for 5 days, and included both an in class and field component. The contents of the course are outlined in appendix 2.The training covered how historical climate data and seasonal and short term forecasts are produced and communicated and how they can be interpreted. Details on the most appropriate crop and livelihood options and details on their management were covered, and trainees practiced how to integrate information and to use participatory decision making tools to facilitate identification of the best options for enterprises and enterprise management under different weather conditions.An important aspect of the course was ensuring that participants had the opportunity to practice, both in class and in the field. A day was spent in a local community (Mtumba) as part of the course where participants worked with small groups of farmers. This proved very useful and participants gained both skills and confidence. Day 5 the final day of the course was spent on practical planning for implementation. Trainees developed plans and charts for implementation in their own work locations and both field staff and their supervisors and managers were fully engaged in this process.Trainees were fully engaged throughout the course and especially in the practical exercises and activities in class and on the field day. This was particularly the case with village and ward level field staff. Trainees evaluated the course through use of an anonymous feedback questionnaire. Mean scores on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 = very poor to 5 = excellent) from the 30 trainees are given in Table 1. The scores for each of the aspects were high and support both the comments made by participants and the facilitator's observations. Of particular note is the importance of the field day (day 4) when pairs or small groups of trainees practiced the PICSA exercises and activities with farmers in a nearby community. The main benefits were: Trainees developed their skills and experience; gained confidence in their own (and farmers) ability to conduct the approaches and in the value of the exercises; farmers fully engaged in the exercises and found them useful. Without this practice it is doubtful that trainees would have the necessary skills and confidence to implement the approach when they return to their own work locations, particularly given that some of the activities involved use of tools and types of information that were new to trainees and farmers (e.g. graphs of historical rainfall, working out simple probabilities of success / failure of different crops). The self-reflection and feedback after the field day enabled trainees to report on what they felt had worked well and why, but also importantly to identify aspects that they felt unclear about or that needed more attention in the course or required adapting. The course was designed and delivered in a way to encourage trainees to interact with farmers in a participatory and supportive way. Important underlying principles were brought out and emphasised such as the benefits of considering 'options by context' and the role of staff as 'facilitators' rather than instructors.The presence of field staff who interact directly with farmers together with their managers was also important. Managers need to be fully aware of the approach to be able to support field staff but it was clear by the end of the course that managers were enthusiastic about both the approach and its benefits which is essential if field staff are to implement what they have been trained in, and for it to be given priority. The plans developed by trainees on the final day regarding what they would implement after the course were shared in the group and appeared to have the support and buy-in of managers. A follow-up monitoring visit to Kiteto approximately six weeks after the course revealed that all trainees that were visited or contacted (i.e. almost all trainees) had implemented the PICSA approach activities with farmers. Further monitoring and follow up is planned.WFP conducted a field monitoring visit from 8th -12th December 2014 in Kiteto District. This was to follow up the training and monitor whether staff were implementing the practices and approach with farmers. This included visiting 6 out of 10 pilot villages. In all places visited, farmers confirmed and appreciated the value of the training they had received from the trained intermediaries. The cropping season was about to start but staff were encouraged to cover more famers particularly after receiving the funds from WFP to support this. Kiteto is relatively large District with a dispersed villages and it was not feasible to visit all villages.Staff in villages that could not be visited were contacted by mobile phone and reported that farmers had been trained before the start of the season.Most trained farmers have provided their cell phone numbers for TMA to send them forecast updates. One local challenge identified was that there was limited availability of improved seed due to recent changes in the subsidy voucher scheme.Overall the training of intermediaries worked very well. The focus on integrated climate services and the approach introduced fitted well with the roles that extension staffs perform and with the needs of farmers. These were not just for information on climate and weather but how to integrate information with crop, livestock and livelihood options, and for tools and methods to explore and plan at group, household and field levels. The interactive and participatory nature of the training ensured active involvement by participants together with reflection on how the approach and contents applied to their own work with farmers. At the end of the workshop all trainees developed practical plans for how they will use the approaches and training material with groups of farmers in the lead up to the rainy season. An initial monitoring visit six weeks later indicated that these were being implemented.Whilst the training event worked well as the first implementation at district level there are useful practical lessons to be learned and addressed ahead of the subsequent scaling out of the training of intermediaries in other districts in Tanzania and Malawi.Historical data needs to be analysed for each of the 10 districts. Data in Malawi requires considerable work to establish the quality and to conduct analysis. In Tanzania TMA staffmembers have the skills to do this and have produced analysed data for several locations. However with competing demands and activities there is a danger that this essential task is not conducted in time for the focus districts. In Malawi several staff-members are currently taking ESIAC course which helps towards raising awareness and developing capacity.Appropriate crop and livestock management options need to be identified with local experts across and within the target Districts e.g. details on locally suitable crop varieties, local crop and livestock management practices and recommendations. There is often variability within a district. This detailed identification of locally appropriate innovations is essential for the linking of climate information and agricultural options that farmers can explore and implement at local level. A way forward to achieve this aim is by convening a series of small workshops for Ministry of Agriculture (crop and livestock specialists) that include national and district level staff, to identify farmer's current practices and then detail the range of innovations available and suitable for different locations.Use of CPT approach. Forecasting units in TMA (and probably Malawi Met.) are using CPT to a limited extent. Experts in CPT (e.g. in IRI) consider that it has major potential to improve downscaled forecasting. There would be significant merit in exploring this further. At a follow up meeting with TMA forecasting staff in Dar Es Salaam after the training of intermediaries in Kiteto, TMA offered to produce a CPT based forecast ahead of training of intermediaries in Longido and to use the work in Longido as a pilot. In addition a meeting of CPT experts at the Met services to further explore options would be beneficial. Since October 2014 possible ways of improving statistical analysis have been identified by staff at IRI and University of Reading which warrants further consideration.Addressing climatic variation within Districts. Within Kiteto there are areas that are predominantly uni-modal and areas that are more bi-modal. Farmers need services that are relevant to their local conditions. There are likely to be differences in local climate within most districts, although for some they will be more pronounced. Short term forecasts and warnings (provided by mobile phone) do not currently take account of this. This is an important limitation and one that will erode trust in the services (e.g. of early warnings due to receiving 'false' warnings that don't apply). Addressing this is already a component of the wider GFCS project.The first training of intermediaries as part of scaling out integrated climate services within the GFCS project has been successful. It builds on a practical and previously piloted integrated approach. As the first in a series of trainings to scale out to districts in Tanzania and Malawi the training was well received by participants who are now implementing it in their own locations. Several practical issues, mainly related to implementing at scale, have been identified and that can be addressed in the preparation for training in the remaining districts in 2015. 3 Training workshops at the district level.Train \"farmer intermediaries\" (government extension workers, NGO workers, lead farmers, heads of farmers associations) in how to access and interpret climate information, to produce rural advisories for farmers and pastoralists which help them optimize production and livelihood decisions. These advisories will be integrated within existing agricultural extension schemes and channels. A key part of the training will be helping farmer intermediaries to tailor, package and communicate these advisories in ways that are most relevant and useful to the communities they work in. This group will be an emanation of discussions between lead farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture & the National Meteorological Agency, and will offer a much-needed interface between met, farmers and agricultural research technicians and extensionists, thus expanding the boundary of knowledge production to include all three partners (see fig. 1). This group, which will meet regularly during high-risk seasons, will also serve as the home for blending technical meteorological forecasts with agronomical knowledge for the period, for tailoring and value adding climate information to create a useful climate service for farmers, as well a space for continuously adapting climate advisory products to serve the evolving needs of farmers and extension technologies availed by agricultural research.   ","tokenCount":"2543"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1450855997.json b/data/part_1/1450855997.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2257ac1820b97b5739e7f71d2c3d577ad071b2e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1450855997.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"707c6751b8d54404d0974d2d469e3097","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ec3298dc-0158-4eff-8596-4a6da90d24ca/content","id":"-1714392778"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4891b055-6b26-477e-908d-adf77fbaba14","pagecount":"9","content":"Conjunctive Management• Inadequate and unreliable data on groundwater availability, consumption, and recharge • Insufficient understanding of the limitations and spatial-temporal distribution of groundwater development • Lack of integrated modeling of water systems, including surface and groundwater, canal supplies, irrigation needs, and agricultural output • Sparse scientific studies exist on water availability assessment, inundation modeling, flood risk assessment, and water withdrawal patterns for agricultural use • The division of labor between surface and groundwater management hampers coordinated CM efforts • Lack of understanding due to inadequate academic instruction.• Unreliable power supply and limited rural electrification for groundwater pumping • Underdeveloped institutional and policy capacity at the local level • Most irrigation pumps in the study districts run on diesel, contributing to the climate crisis","tokenCount":"123"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1453494058.json b/data/part_1/1453494058.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..88d7c8e02051043c7b4c07bb2e75ece381ffd7de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1453494058.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e2c718409dfffa872c7588fd0a62fcb9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c33ee33-377a-4e06-bc0f-b82bf20656d1/retrieve","id":"102831415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbf586a3-2c89-4d59-a50d-20d69e7e4bd3","pagecount":"25","content":"Sex disaggregated data -collect a sample or see what's already available ▪ CSA Country Profiles -some have gender data and information ▪ Gender Profile of CSA in Ghana ▪ Global databases -World Bank, ILO, etc. ▪ Climate-Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal tool -gender example: : Gender divisions and climate variability are hindering a climate-smart East Africa ▪ Climate Change and Food Security Vulnerability Assessment toolkit ▪ Potential for scaling: Gender and socially-inclusive scaling framework ▪ The Gender Household Survey was a joint initiative by CCAFS; IFPRI; and ILRI to gather gender-disaggregated data on agricultural activities, decision-making, weather information, risk-perception and values from rural households in Kenya, Bangladesh, Uganda and Senegal. ▪ Standards for Collecting Sex-Disaggregated Data for Gender Analysis: A guide for CGIAR researchers. A summary is available here. ▪ Guidance note on gender-sensitive vulnerability assessments in agriculture, FAO ▪ CCAFS Youth Strategy ▪ Women's involvement in coffee agroforestry value-chains• FAO, CCAFS. 2016. A gender-responsive approach to climate-smart agriculture: Evidence and guidance for practitioners.• FAO and CCAFS Training Guide: Gender and Climate Change Research in Agriculture and Food Security for Development. 2016.• FAO, World Bank. Training module -How to integrate gender issues in climate-smart agriculture projects.Participatory approaches:• The CCAFS Gender and Inclusion Toolbox• Partnerships for Scaling up CSA in Africa;• Participatory identification of climate-smart agriculture priorities• Working with women's and farmers organizations through collective action Gender-Responsive CSA Practices, Technologies and Crops• While there is no coordinated approach to baselines and they are not mandatory, some countries are developing them (Zambia, Ghana?). GSI will be integrated into country baselines on an adhoc basis.• (From the Project Implementation Manual Annex 1: Results Framework and Monitoring Operationalization Guidance) -See Attachment 3 in particular• Other AICCRA indicators -disaggregated by sex -MARLO is being revised to address this• Some indicators may change after discussion with Worl d Bank in October• As well as building on the two sets of indicators, the gender and CSA case study will measure \"gender smartness\" of a technology or practice.• Drawing from the Ghana Gender and CSA Profile and the Gender Empowerment Index-(GEI-CSV), indicators are identified in 5 main areas to measure degree of gender equality:▪ Increased income and production ▪ Access and control of CSA technologies, farm inputs, personal assets ▪ Access to climate information services ▪ Access to credit ▪ Participation in decision making at household and community levels around production and use of incomeGender smartness of CSA technologies and practices Discussion 2. AICCRA experience and results in promoting women's entry and advancement in agricultural research and extension• The goal of activities relating to Gender Tag 2 are to promote the increasing and higher-level participation of women in agriculture research and decision making.• AICCRA Indicator: \"People engaged in AICCRA-funded capacity development activities\", disaggregated by sex.=Women are less represented in agricultural research and advance at lower rates than men. The proportion of women decreases steadily along the progression to senior manager and decision maker (Huyer, 2015).There is a continuing problem in recruitment, retention and advancement, in relation to climate and agriculture research.Women make up only 25% of agricultural scientists in Africa, and a much lower proportion of decision makers on agriculture and climate at national and global levels. ","tokenCount":"528"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1463670588.json b/data/part_1/1463670588.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9e5a010de0a53a7f5ac55dc26ef1a1fe4bc392f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1463670588.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e2f7f960e999c8a966d9fba05ad8f984","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7ffd4854-41b3-4606-9515-5de9d2e9fb96/retrieve","id":"1226928407"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c61a7eb7-24f0-4eda-8416-ffa174589f95","pagecount":"2","content":"The potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is considered one of the most serious pests worldwide. Potato is the main host but other Solanaceae are also attacked. It is originated in the tropical mountainous regions of South America and is reported more than 90 countries. The moth occurs in almost all tropical and subtropical potato production systems in Africa and Asia, as well as in North, Central, and South America and it's adapted to wide range of different climates and agroecologies. Losses can reach up to 40% in the field and 100% in storage. P. operculella attacks all vegetative plant parts of potato, typical symptoms of leaf damage are mines caused by larvae feeding in the mesophyll. Tuber infestation caused by first instar larvae can be hardly noticed and characteristic piles of feces indicate infestation. Inside tubers, larvae bore irregular galleries which may run into the interior of the tubers or remain directly under the skin in field and storage conditions. Adults are brownish gray, with fraying on the posterior edge of the forewings and on both posterior and inner edges of the hindwings. The wings are folded to form a roof-like shape with a wingspan of 12-16 mm. They are nocturnal and all activity occurs in the evening. The future distribution and abundance of this pest will be affected by climate change by changes in temperature. Using the Insect Life Insect Modeling (ILCYM) software we applied three risk indices (establishment [ERI], generation [GI] and activity [AI] index) in a geographic information system (GIS) to map and quantify changes. Under the climate of the year 2000, an ERI>0.6 represents very well the current global distribution of P. operculella: Africa, Oceania, South America, and Asia. Under the year 2050 temperature scenario, the boundaries for P. operculella are indicated to shift further north in the northern hemisphere. The number of generations indicates pest abundance and is closely related to losses. In regions where potato tuber moth is established and losses occur, a minimum of >4 generations are developed; between 12-15 generations are developed in tropical production systems. For future scenario (2050), changes in a number of generations per year of >4 will be highest in Europe and Asia. In potato production areas of Africa, Asia and South America, P. operculella abundance and infestation is expected to become more severe, reflected in an increase of the area with >7 generations per year. The AI indicates the potential population growth throughout a year; an increase by 1 indicates a 10-fold higher increase rate. For 2050, an increase by a factor 5-10 is predicted for most potato growing regions worldwide especially in those regions where temperatures have not reached the upper temperature threshold. For Africa, establishment of P. operculella will potentially increase as well as number of generations (2-5 generations/year). There are only few regions that might become too warm for potato tuber moth and more likely also for potato production. Infestations in other Solanceaea crops such as tomato might increase. The activity will generally increase; only in regions where temperature may reach values of maximum temperature threshold for development, the population growth will be gradually reduced due to increasingly high temperature-induced mortality and reduced reproduction per female. P. operculella is already a cosmopolitan pest but climate change will support its further spread and abundance. Phytosanitary measures and inspections are important in those countries where the pest has not yet established.only on potato tubers under field and storage conditions. Losses of 100% and up to 40% are reported under storage and field conditions, respectively. Guatemala is supposedly the country of origin. It is however endemic in the whole of Central America, and has invaded Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Larvae make galleries in tubers; damage is first noticed when fully grown larvae leave tubers for pupation. The adult female is light brown and has three marks in the forewings and light brown longitudinal lines. In contrast, the male is dark brown with two marks on the first pair of wings and faint longitudinal lines. They are nocturnal. T. solanivora can adapt from subtropical zones in Central America at 1,000 m asl to colder zones at 3,500 m.a.s.l. The future distribution and abundance of this pest will be affected by climate change. Using the Insect Life Insect Modeling (ILCYM) software we applied three risk indices (establishment [ERI], generation [GI] and activity [AI] index) in a geographic information system (GIS) to map and quantify changes. Under the climate of the year 2000, an ERI [0.8-1] represents very well the current global distribution of T. solanivora: Central America, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Global predictions for 2050 indicate a reduction in the high-risk areas (ERI>0.8) in tropical areas of America, Africa and Asia, and a slight range expansion to more temperate areas. The number of generations in Central America, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador ranged from 3 to 10 generations per year and future scenario (2050) may potentially increase its abundance by 2 to 4 generations especially in subtropical regions. Currently, a high activity (AI) is shown (6 -11.5) in Central America, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador and in the future, a marked potential population growth might occur in Mexico, south of South America, southern Europe and southern Australia. In Africa, the risks of establishment will potentially decrease in all potato-growing regions, but potato-growing regions of Angola, Rwanda and Tanzania remain at high potential risk (ERI >0.8). T. solanivora is an A2 quarantine pest for EPPO and its spread is not only limited by temperature but also depends on the year round presence of potato tubers. Phytosanitary measures and IPM help to control and reduce its dissemination and related yield losses.Mujica N., P. Carhuapoma, J. Kroschel International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, PeruThe leafminer fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a pest species from Central and South America, which had since the 1990s spread with plants to many parts of the world. In the tropics, subtropics and warmer parts of the temperate zone, L. huidobrensis has established itself in fields and has become greenhouse pest in colder climates of the northern hemisphere. L. huidobrensis has a wide host range. It causes direct damage to photosynthetic plant tissue due to larvae leaf mining, and damage by oviposition and feeding punctures (stipples) produced by adult females. Both crop yield and marketability are reduced, resulting in high economic losses to vegetable producers around the world. The polyphagous nature of L. huidobrensis, combined with high reproductive rates and rapid development of insecticide resistance, contributed to the success of L. huidobrensis as an invasive species. The life cycle is completed between 10 ºC (65.5 days) and 30 ºC (14.9 days), with the optimum temperature for overall population growth between 20-25 ºC. The establishment risk index (ERI), the generation index (GI), and the activity index (AI), allow to predict and explain the future distribution and damage potential of the pest under different climate change scenarios. An ERI of 0.8-1 reflects well the current global distribution of L. huidobrensis in the year 2000, as well as the high number of generations/year (GI>17) that develop in tropical and subtropical regions. Global predictions for 2050 indicate a potential reduction of high-risk areas (ERI>0.6) in these regions and a slight range expansion to more temperate regions, but still with a low establishment potential of the pest (ERI<0.6). Also, an increase of 2-4 generations/year can be potentially expected in Central and South America, Africa and Middle East. The AI indicates a potential increase in the potential growth of L. huidobrensis in Southern South America, and Southern Africa; instead increasing temperature along the Equator will potentially reduce L. huidobrensis activity. Early predictions could help adaptation to climate change by developing and supporting farmers with adequate pest management strategies to reduce greater crop yield and quality losses. Adapting to avoid risk at the farm level implies an ecological and economic control of leafminer based on integrated pest management by promoting natural regulation and combining cultural practices with physical and chemical control.","tokenCount":"1331"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1494277778.json b/data/part_1/1494277778.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8b2b88e403d396c0b5d0a8db23f58caa650fd776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1494277778.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e377178ec548929524b34979180fef25","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1809c870-1e02-429b-be08-a0060d30d0c6/retrieve","id":"1182534262"},"keywords":["phenolic content","flavonoids","anthocyanin","antioxidant activity","DPPH","FRAP","common bean"],"sieverID":"b3efd699-78eb-4632-8ff4-ef68ba3dff10","pagecount":"16","content":"Knowledge is limited about the level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of seeds from bred lines of common beans developed from interspecific crosses using four different Phaseolus species (P. vulgaris L., P. coccineus L., P. acutifolius A. Gray. Gray., and P. dumosus). In this study, differences in the nutritional quality of seeds among 112 bean genotypes were evaluated by measuring the levels of phenolic compounds, pigments, antioxidant activity, and sugars. The bean genotypes were grown under high temperatures and acid soil conditions in the Amazon region of Colombia. Five typology groups of bean genotypes were identified based on the level of bioactive compounds and their functional capacity: (1) highly bioactive and functional (HBF); (2) moderately bioactive and functional (MBF); (3) moderate antioxidant content with pigment influence (MACP); (4) moderately antinutritional with limited antioxidant potential (MALAP); and (5) antinutritional, low bioactive, and functional (ALBF). We developed a nutritional quality index (NQI) with values ranging from 0 to 1 based on the nutritional and anti-nutritional balance of each genotype and the higher values of the NQI of a genotype indicating greater nutritional quality. We found three interspecific bred lines (SER 212, SER 213, and RRA 81), with NQI values higher than 0.8. These three lines belong to the typology group of HBF. The superior nutritional quality of these three interspecific bred lines is attributed to a greater level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. These three bred lines may serve as useful parents to develop nutritionally superior and stress-resilient beans from bean breeding programs. Further research is needed to explore the role of testa color in improving the nutritional quality of seeds of common bean genotypes grown under different climatic conditions.Grain legumes contribute significantly to world food security [1] and these are the second most consumed food crops after cereals [2]. Legume seeds have high potential for nutritional quality improvement. The genus Phaseolus belongs to the family Fabaceae, which contains more than 400 species. As cultivated forms, Phaseolus vulgaris L., Phaseolus coccineus L., Phaseolus lunatus L., Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray., and Phaseolus dumosus Macfady are important [3] for crop improvement. All five species have their origin, domestication, and diversification in the Americas. Only the first three species have a worldwide distribution [4,5].The common bean (P. vulgaris) constitutes one of the basic products of the human diet [6] and its cultivation is recognized as one of the most important agricultural activities in different regions of Colombia, representing a major economic and employment source in rural areas [7,8]. The runner bean (P. coccineus) ranks second in terms of bean consumption and like the year-long bean (P. dumosus), these two bean types stand out for some of their desirable nutritional and agronomic characteristics including their adaptation to biotic constraints prevalent in humid environments in lowland tropics [9][10][11]. Likewise, the tepary bean (P. acutifolius) is an edible bean adapted to drought and high temperatures and is also resistant to some pests and diseases, while its nutritional quality is not high [1,12].In addition to providing food security, beans contribute to greater nutritional security through bioactive compounds [13], which include metabolites such as polyphenols (phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins) [14,15] and sugars [16], as well as from their antioxidant activity and anti-nutritional agents, such as trypsin, tannins, and lectins [3,17]. These bioactive compounds are not only essential for the nutritional quality of the grain but also play an important role in human health [9]. These compounds are associated with the ability to restore the oxidative balance in the organism and are the main precursors of amino acids and peptides, thereby becoming essential components of food systems by representing a means of antioxidant defense in tissues [18]. Different authors highlighted the desirable nutritional traits of beans including antiglycemic, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and anti-carcenogenic properties [13,19,20]. Consumption of beans also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases; neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's; stress; anxiety; depression; and digestive tract diseases [21,22].Previous research on the physiological and agronomic evaluation of a wide range of bean genotypes grown under high temperatures and acid soil stress conditions in the Colombian Amazon resulted in the identification of a few promising interspecific and intraspecific bred lines of common bean [23][24][25][26]. These include four bred lines (BFS 10, GGR 147, SMG 12, SMG 21) that showed grain yields exceeding 1800 kg ha −1 compared to genotypes such as VAX 1, EMP 509, and RADICAL with yields of less than 500 kg ha −1 [23,24]. There is limited knowledge of the nutritional quality characteristics of bean genotypes adapted to high temperatures and acid soil stress conditions and this nutritional evaluation in seeds is needed to support the ongoing breeding efforts to improve the yield and nutritional quality of common beans under stressful environments [13,23,25,26]. The importance of this study for the western region of the Colombian Amazon lies in the identification of bean genotypes that combine greater agronomic performance with superior nutritional quality in the grain to help the rural infant population in the region suffering from malnutrition and anemia that reduce the development and growth of children [25][26][27]. This study aimed to evaluate the concentration of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and the content of total and reducing sugars in bred lines resulting from interspecific crosses. We tested the hypothesis that improved adaptation to high temperature and acid soil stress conditions can also improve the nutritional quality of seeds in some bean genotypes.Mature seeds from a set of 112 genotypes resulting from different crosses using P. vulgaris, P. coccineus, P. dumosus, and P. acutifolius species were tested for bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. Seeds of the different bean lines evaluated were collected from three field experiments conducted by Suárez et al. [24,28,29]. The bean lines evaluated showed adaptation to acid soils and high temperatures.The seeds were harvested from plants (n = 180) from field trials conducted at the Macagual Research Center of the Universidad de la Amazonia, Colombia (1 • 37 N and 75 • 36 W), which is located 24 km from the municipality of Florencia. The climatic conditions present in the study area (tropical rainforest ecosystem) correspond to an average annual rainfall of 3800 mm, an average temperature of 25.5 • C, and a relative humidity of 84% with 1700 h of sunshine per year. Among the genotypes evaluated include 46 Phaseolus vulgaris lines (6 Andean and 40 Mesoamerican); 5 lines derived from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius; 1 line derived from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius × P. parvifolius; 19 lines from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. coccineus; 13 lines from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius × P. coccineus; 5 lines from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius × P. coccineus × P. dumosus; and 1 line derived from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. dumosus. Similarly, 22 accessions of P. acutifolius were evaluated: 16 accessions of P. acutifolius var. acutifolius (Cultivated), 4 accessions of P. acutifolius var. acutifolius (Wild), and 2 accessions of P. acutifolius var. tenuifolius (Wild) (Supplementary Table S1). These lines constitute breeding materials with good agronomic potential, due to their resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors, as well as to improved grain and nutritional quality.The list of genotypes evaluated in this study includes ALB lines (small red kidney, black kidney) and BFS lines (small red), adapted to drought and to soils with low fertility and high acidity; the DAA (fuchsia-red) Andean bean line adapted to drought; DAB (speckled-red, red-pink) drought-adapted Andean lines selected for seed color and size; the INB line, an interspecific progeny between the tepary bean and common bean, with some level of resistance to common bacterial blight; RRA lines with resistance to root rot caused by Pythium and Sclerotium; SAB lines of cream and red mottled seeds of medium size with heat and drought resistance; the SCR (red) line and the commercial variety DOR 390 (black) line with recessive genes for common mosaic virus; SEF (red) heat and drought adapted, SER (red), SEN (black), SXB (cream), and SIN lines with adaptation to drought; SMC (brown) with high mineral (Fe and Zn) content and drought adaptation, the SMG (pink) line with high mineral content, and the long seed with drought adaptation; SMN (black) and SMR (red) lines with high mineral content and adaptation to drought; the VAP line derived from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius × P. parvifolius with heat tolerance; and the VAX-1 line (mottled-cream), sensitive to Al toxicity. Commercial and old varieties such as ICA QUIMBAYA (red) and CALIMA (mottled red), which are resistant to aluminum, and the commercial line AMADEUS (bright light red), adapted to drought, were used as checks.To a 2.0 g sample of bean seed meal, previously dehydrated (dry weight, dw) and ground to a particle size of 0.45 mm, 10.0 mL of 99.9% (v/v) analytical grade methanol was added and left for a period of 8 days with constant agitation at room temperature. The sample was kept in the absence of light to avoid degradation of the polyphenols [30]. The extract was then centrifuged in a centrifuge (SL 8R Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) at 1500 rpm for 5 min and the supernatant was filtered. The resulting extract was stored at 4 • C until further analysis. The analyses were performed in triplicate on the MultiSkan Go kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA).The determination of the total phenolic content was carried out spectrophotometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method [31]. The reaction mixture contained 18 µL of the extract, 124.5 µL of deionized water, 37.5 µL of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (Sigma Aldrich, Schnelldorf, Germany), and 120 µL of 7.1% anhydrous sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ). The extract was left to react for 60 min in the dark at room temperature (24 • C) and the absorbance was read at 760 nm [31]. Gallic acid (Sigma Aldrich, Germany) was used as a standard. The results were expressed as mg gallic acid (GAE)/g of dry plant material.The TFC was determined by reaction with aluminum chloride (AlCl 3 ) according to the methodology described by Zhishen et al. [32] with slight modifications. The reaction mixture consisted of 120 µL of deionized water, 30 µL of the extract, 9 µL of 5% sodium nitrite (NaNO 2 ) (left for 5 min), and 9 µL of 10% aluminum chloride (AlCl 3 ) (left for 5 min). Then, 60 µL of 1 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (left for 15 min), and finally, 72 µL of deionized water. The reaction mix was left in the dark at room temperature for 30 min and the absorbance was read at 510 nm [32]. The (+)-catechin (Sigma Aldrich, Germany) was used as a standard for the quantification of total flavonoids. Results were expressed as mg catechin (CE)/g of dry plant material.The analysis of the anti-nutritional TCTC was based on the reaction with vanillin under acidic conditions according to the methodology described by Butler et al. [33]. A 2 mL aliquot of freshly prepared vanillin solution (1 g/100 mL, Sigma Aldrich, Germany) in 70% sulfuric acid was added to 500 µL of extract. The mixture was incubated at 20 • C for 15 min and its absorbance was read at 500 nm. For the reference curve, (+)-catechin was used as the standard and the results were expressed as mg catechin (EC)/g of dry plant material.The differential pH method described by Giusti and Wrolstad [34] was used to determine the total monomeric anthocyanin content. This method uses two dilutions of the extract, one obtained from a potassium chloride (KCl) buffer solution at pH 1.0 (0.025 M) and the second from a sodium acetate (CH 3 CO 2 Na-3 H 2 O) buffer solution at pH 4.5 (0.4 M), which were diluted by the previously determined dilution factor. An absorption spectrum in the range of 460-710 nm was generated to determine the maximum absorbance using a spectrophotometer (Multiskan FC Microplate Photometer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). The monomeric anthocyanin content (MAC) [34] was calculated according to the following equation: AM = A × MW × DF × 1000)/(ε × I). In the equation, the absorbance of sample A corresponds to (Aλ510-Aλ700) pH 1.0 and (Aλ510-Aλ700) pH 4.5; MW = 449.2 is the molecular weight of cyanidin-3-glucoside; ε = 26.900 g/mol is the molar absorbance of cyanidin-3-glucoside; DF is the dilution factor used; and I is the cell length (1 cm). Results were expressed as mg cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G)/g of dry plant material.The carotenoid content was quantified according to the method proposed by Lichtenthaler and Wellburn [35] with some slight modifications. We used 1.0 g of bean seed meal in 6 mL of ice-cooled 99.5% (v/v) acetone. The sample was vortexed for 10 min and centrifuged at 4500 rpm for another 10 min and the supernatant was used for measurement. Absorbance was measured in quartz cells with a 2 mL volume of extract at 450 nm. The SS-carotene was used as a standard for the reference curve and the results were expressed as mg SS-carotene/g of dry plant material.The DRSA was used according to the Brand-Williams et al. [36] method with slight modifications. A stock solution (20 mg/L) of DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) in absolute methanol was prepared. The absorbance of the radicals was adjusted to 0.3 absorbance units with methanol at 4 • C, then 3 µL of the extract and 297 µL of the adjusted DPPH solution were mixed. The reaction mix was kept in the dark for 30 min at room temperature and the absorbance was read at a wavelength of 517 nm [36]. The results were expressed as TEAC (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) values in µmol of Trolox/g of dry plant material, by constructing a reference curve using Trolox as an antioxidant.The ARSA was determined according to the method of Re et al. [37] with some modifications. The ABTS-+ (2,2 -azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) acid) radical cation was generated by mixing the ABTS stock solution (7 mol/L) with potassium persulfate (2.45 mol/L) and the resulting mixture was allowed to stand in the dark at room temperature for 48 h before use. The ABTS-+ radical solution was diluted in 0.15 mol/L phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) pH 7.4 to obtain an absorbance of 0.7. In the evaluation, 3 µL of the extract and 297 µL of the ABTS-+ radical solution were used. After 30 min of reaction at room temperature and in the dark, the change in absorbance was read with respect to the reagent reference at a wavelength of 734 nm. The results were expressed as TEAC values in µmol of Trolox/g of dry plant material by constructing a reference curve using Trolox as an antioxidant.This method is based on evaluating the antioxidant capacity of a sample according to its ability to reduce ferric iron (Fe 3+ ) present in a complex with 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-striazine (TPTZ), to the ferrous form (Fe 2+ ) [38]. The assay was carried out in a pH 3.6 acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer containing TPTZ and FeCl 3 . Fifteen µL of the extract, 15 µL of buffer, and 270 µL of FRAP solution were mixed and the reaction mix was kept in the dark for 30 min at room temperature. The absorbance was read at a wavelength of 590 nm. FRAP values were expressed as µmol ascorbic acid (AA)/g of dry plant material using ascorbic acid as the standard.The total sugar content was determined by the phenol-sulfuric colorimetric method according to Dubois et al. [39]. In a 2 mL reaction tube, 210 µL of the extract was mixed, then 200 µL of freshly prepared and shaken phenol 80% was added to an extraction cabinet. Subsequently, 1 mL of 98% (v/v) concentrated sulfuric acid (Sigma Aldrich, Germany) was added. The reaction mix was vortexed for 1 minute and allowed to cool at room temperature and kept in the dark and read after 15 min at an absorbance of 490 nm. D-glucose (Sigma Aldrich, Germany) was used as a standard. The content was expressed as mg glucose/g dry plant material.The content of reducing sugars was determined by the dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) colorimetric method according to the methodology described by Miller et al. [40]. In a 10 mL reaction tube, 0.5 mL of the methanolic extract was taken, then 0.5 mL of the DNS reagent was added and heated for 15 min in a water bath at a temperature of 99 • C. It was allowed to cool and it was diluted with 5 mL of deionized water. The absorbance was read at a wavelength of 575 nm. D-glucose was used as a standard. The content was expressed as mg glucose/g dry plant material.Bean genotypes were grouped using all variables of polyphenols and total and reducing sugar content by cluster analysis. From the bean genotype typologies and using each of the variables, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to see the relationship between the variables and their contribution to each of the components. A Monte-Carlo permutation test was used to determine the difference and variance explained between bean genotype types. A linear mixed model (LMM) was then fitted, with typology as the fixed factor and genotype as the random factor to determine the differences in each of the variables between typologies. Within the analysis of variance, using an exploratory analysis of the residuals, the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance were evaluated. Differences between typologies were analyzed using the LSD Fisher post hoc test with a significance of α = 0.05. A correlation analysis was also performed using Pearson's test to determine the relationship between the different variables, the visualization of which was performed using a grid where the thickness of the line was considered the magnitude of the positive (blue) and negative (red) correlation. In order to determine the range of nutritional quality of the 112 bean genotypes evaluated, an indicator was proposed that had the capacity to express nutritional quality (NQI) [41]. The NQI is obtained from the transformation of each of the variables ranging from 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) under the criteria of the following: (i) more is better, suitable for standardizing the scores of the properties of the bean genotypes which were associated with values close to one (1); (ii) less is worse, those properties whose values were close to zero (0), an approach that has been used in other studies. This NQI indicator has the capacity to explain what is good or not due to the transformation of the variables, taking each one of the variables to the range (0-1) of values where a higher value is given to the variables that contribute positively to nutrition and the anti-nutritional ones would have the lowest value. Clustering and PCA were performed using the fviz_dend and fviz_pca_ind functions, respectively, from the \"factoextra\" package; the LMM was performed using the lme function in the \"nlme\" package; and the graphical outputs were performed in the \"ade4\", \"ggplot2\", \"factoextra\", and \"corrplot\" packages in R language software, version 4.2.0 [42], using the RStudio interface [42].According to the cluster analysis of different variables determined from the 112 bean genotypes, 5 statistically different groups were identified (Figure 1). According to the content of bioactive components and antioxidant activity, the bean genotypes were divided into five typologies: (1) highly bioactive and functional (HBF); (2) moderately bioactive and functional content (MBFC); (3) moderate antioxidant content with pigment influence (MACP); (4) moderately antinutritional with limited antioxidant potential (MALAP); and (5) antinutritional, low bioactive, and functional (ALBF).The results of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA, Figure 2a) axis 1 (43.5% of the variance can be explained) separates bean genotypes related to the high seed NQI, ABTS, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and FRAP with those that contain high tannin content. Axis 2 (12% of explained variance, Figure 2a) opposes genotypes with characteristics related to DPPH, carotenoids, and total sugars with those having high FRAP content. According to the Monte-Carlo test (Figure 2b), the separation of bean genotype typologies according to physiological ones was significant and it explained 50% of the total variance according to the Monte-Carlo test (Figure 2b). The variables with the highest contribution in axes 1 and 2 are shown in Figure 2c,d, respectively.Below, we describe the representative characteristics of each type of bean genotype. The main differences are due to the total phenolic content, ABTS, as well as NQI values (Table 1). The monomeric anthocyanin was the only one that did not show a statistical difference between the typologies (Table 1).Highly bioactive and functional (HBF; n = 10; 8.9% of the total genotypes evaluated). This typology is characterized by having higher contents of total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, carotenoids, and a lower content of condensed tannins, compared to the other typologies, thus allowing it to have on an average the higher NQI with values around 0.74. Genotypes such as SER 212, SER 213, and RRA 81 were found to be outstanding in this typology, showing NQI values above 0.8. Interestingly, the materials with greater NQI values came from Mesoamerican lines resulting from the crosses between P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius with red grain, as is the case of SER, and the Andean RRA came from the cross between P. vulgaris × P. coccineus, again with red grain. The results of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA, Figure 2a) axis 1 (43.5% of the variance can be explained) separates bean genotypes related to the high seed NQI, ABTS, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and FRAP with those that contain high tannin content. Axis 2 (12% of explained variance, Figure 2a) opposes genotypes with characteristics related to DPPH, carotenoids, and total sugars with those having high FRAP content. According to the Monte-Carlo test (Figure 2b), the separation of bean genotype typologies according to physiological ones was significant and it explained 50% of the total variance according to the Monte-Carlo test (Figure 2b). The variables with the highest contribution in axes 1 and 2 are shown in Figure 2c,d, respectively. Moderately bioactive and functional content (MBFC; n = 40; 35.7%). This big typology group consisted of genotypes that had values above the overall average in variables such as total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, and carotenoids, which influenced a low average of NQI values. SEF 10 genotype (red-seeded Mesoamerican), whose NQI value was 0.59, resulted from the cross of P. vulgaris × P. coccineus × P. acutifolius. This line was outstanding in this typology group, with a higher NQI value.Moderate antioxidant content with pigment influence (MACP; n = 14; 12.5%). This typology group consists of lines whose values-for most of the variables evaluated-were very close to the overall mean, with the exceptions of DPPH and FRAP. These two traits presented the lowest and highest values, respectively, compared to other typologies (p < 0.05). This group contains mostly lines such as ALB, BFS, and SCR, whose NQI values were low compared to the other typologies (p < 0.05). From this typology group, we highlight materials such as ALB 353, ALB 352, and ALB 213, whose NQI values were higher than 0.45. These genotypes with red grains and of Mesoamerican origin were derived from the crosses of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius.  (c,d) contribution of physiological variables to the formation of the PC1/PC2 principal components of the PCA under different types of common bean genotypes; variables above the red line are significant contributors. Gradient from blue to red means a contribution from higher to lower. HBF: highly bioactive and functional; MBFC: moderately bioactive and functional content; MACP: moderate antioxidant content with pigment influence; MALAP: moderately antinutritional with limited antioxidant potential; and ALBF: antinutritional, low bioactive, and functional. Below, we describe the representative characteristics of each type of bean genotype. The main differences are due to the total phenolic content, ABTS, as well as NQI values (Table 1). The monomeric anthocyanin was the only one that did not show a statistical difference between the typologies (Table 1).  Moderately antinutritional with limited antioxidant potential (MALAP; n = 43; 38.3%). The bean genotypes that are part of this biggest typology group had low NQI values compared to the other typologies (p < 0.05). The values of the nutritional variables were below the general average. However, the condensed tannin content was 41% higher than the general average. Of this group, we highlight materials such as SEN 48, SEN 135, and G40249 (P. acutifolius), whose NQI values were higher than 0.36.Antinutritional, low bioactive, and functional (ALBF; n = 5; 4.4%). This typology is characterized by genotypes with high contents of total sugars, condensed tannins, and lower values of reducing sugars, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, FRAP, and ABTS. Taken together, this resulted in a very low NQI value, with the average being only 0.11. For example, in the case of total sugar content, this typology group showed values three times higher compared to the general average. A similar situation occurred in the condensed tannin content, for which the value was 144% higher compared to the general average, with G40001 and G40058 (P. acutifolius) having very low NQI values (0.08).  When analyzing the chemical composition in terms of the antioxidant activity, phenolic compounds, pigments, sugar content, and using the NQI values, we found differences among genotypes (Figure 4). For example, many genotypes were below the overall mean (NQI = 0.34; mainly from typology groups of MALAP and ALBF). Thus, the higher temperature and acid soil conditions in the western Amazon make them susceptible to heat, resulting in reduced grain quality. However, lines such as RRA (RRA 69, RRA 79, According to the results obtained from the Pearson correlation analysis (Figure 3), it was found that the TPC presented a high positive correlation with the ARSA, TFC, and FRAP (r > 0.75; p < 0.05). Likewise, the TFC presented a moderate positive correlation with the ARSA and FRAP (r > 0.60; p < 0.05). However, the ARSA was negatively correlated with the TCTC (r = −0.51; p < 0.05), and the latter was also negatively correlated with the TFC and TPC (r = −0.44; p < 0.05).When analyzing the chemical composition in terms of the antioxidant activity, phenolic compounds, pigments, sugar content, and using the NQI values, we found differences among genotypes (Figure 4). For example, many genotypes were below the overall mean (NQI = 0.34; mainly from typology groups of MALAP and ALBF). Thus, the higher temperature and acid soil conditions in the western Amazon make them susceptible to heat, resulting in reduced grain quality. However, lines such as RRA (RRA 69, RRA 79, RRA 81) SER (SER 16, SER 212, SER 213, SER 316), and SMR (SMR 101, SMR 139) showed NQI values above 0.73 due to their ability to adapt to acid soil conditions and high temperature stress.  Using the NQI as a method of quantitative and qualitative analysis of bean seeds, we identified some bean genotypes with exceptionally high nutritional quality under high temperatures and acid soil stress conditions of the western Amazon region. High NQI values mean that some lines had high contents of total phenols, total flavonoids, DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, and carotenoids. These nutritional characteristics present beans as a significant source of natural antioxidants which correlate directly with the content of phenolic compounds [43].The content of nutritional compounds has been reported to depend on the bean spe- Using the NQI as a method of quantitative and qualitative analysis of bean seeds, we identified some bean genotypes with exceptionally high nutritional quality under temperatures and acid soil stress conditions of the western Amazon region. High NQI values mean that some lines had high contents of total phenols, total flavonoids, DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, and carotenoids. These nutritional characteristics present beans as a significant source of natural antioxidants which correlate directly with the content of phenolic compounds [43].The content of nutritional compounds has been reported to depend on the bean species [13,44] as well as on the capacity for mineral absorption, assimilate translocation, and capacity of storage of bioactive compounds in the cotyledons and bean seed coat [3]. These differences between species have been documented by different authors [45,46], who mentioned that the consumption of species of the genus Phaseolus has important nutritional and functional contributions to human health. This is specifically related to the contents of catechins (flavonoids, mg CE g −1 ), gallic acid (phenols, mg GAE g −1 ), and cyanidin (anthocyanins, mg C3G g −1 ) [3]. Higher nutritional values were found in nine common bean lines including RRA (RRA 69, RRA 79, RRA 81), SER (SER 16, SER 212, SER 213, SER 316), and SMR (SMR 101, SMR 139). These bean lines are all with red seed coat (testa), whose antioxidant activity in the HBF typology group was generally higher compared to the other four typology groups.In this sense, the color of the seed coat can be a very important variable when selecting materials in genetic improvement programs for improving nutritional quality [13,47,48]. However, this relationship needs further analysis to improve current understanding, especially under different environments to dissect the genotype by environment (G × E) interactions on improving the nutritional quality of bean seeds. This is because seed quality also depends on the production of secondary metabolites that are induced by changes in environmental conditions. A large proportion of phenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins are stored in the canopy biomass, which correlates with antioxidant activity, and these compounds influence the change in color of the seed coat [49][50][51]. Therefore, a higher content of these compounds and antioxidant activity were mainly presented in bean seeds with red testa in lines derived from crosses between P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius (SER) and also in lines derived from crosses between P. vulgaris × P. coccineus (RRA) compared to those genotypes with white testa, such as Phaseolus acutifolius (G40001 and G40058). This was well documented by other published studies [20,[52][53][54]. Taking the published reports and the results from this study together, we suggest that the antioxidant potential depends on the phenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins contained both in the seed and in the seed coat [20].Our results showed that five genotypes have high phenolic contents and these include RRA 79 (19.65 mg g −1 , red), RRA 81 (16.03 mg g −1 , red), SER 213 (19.03 mg g −1 , red), SER 212 (17.58 mg g −1 , red), SEF 71 (13.87 mg g −1 , red), and ALB 60 (12.49 mg g −1 , red), indicating the importance of beans as a source of these secondary metabolites (phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and tannins, among others) [55][56][57]. These compounds possess functional properties due to the ability to neutralize reactive oxygen species, thus counteracting the initiation and propagation of oxidative processes, preventing the incidence of diseases caused by this imbalance [20,21,58]. Added to what was said above, the high contents of secondary metabolites were positively correlated with compounds related to antioxidant activity measured through ABTS radical and iron-reducing power (FRAP) techniques.Antioxidant compounds that influence bean testa color include anthocyanin content, which confers a variety of colors ranging from red to black to pink [20]. Variations in anthocyanin contents have been found, specifically in the seed coat of species such as P. vulgaris and P. coccineus [59,60]. However, in our study, no significant variation was found among the evaluated genotypes, which is probably due to a homogeneous distribution of compounds in both the seed coat and cotyledon [3]. Regarding carotenoids, bean genotypes that reached maximum values of this parameter were SMR 139 (11.74 mg g −1 ), RRA 81 (10.28 mg g −1 ), SMR 133 (6.20 mg g −1 ), SER 271 (5.45 mg g −1 ), and RRA 69 (4.77 mg g −1 ). The importance of having high contents of carotenoids or β-carotene in beans lies in the possibility to metabolize and transform them into A. They are also essential in the formation of rhodopsin, which plays an important role in visual adaptation to light changes, cell replication, and tissue homeostasis [61][62][63]. On the other hand, high carotenoid contents present a strong statistical correlation with antioxidant behavior, which is measured through the change in DPPH radicals. This can be explained by the hydrophobic character of the molecular structure and the capacity of β-carotene to eliminate reactive oxygen species [64].Regarding the total sugars content, higher values were found in four P. acutifolius materials (G40001 (702.1 mg g −1 ), G40058 (559.4 mg g −1 ), G40276 (524.7 mg g −1 ), G40192 (330.5 mg g −1 )), followed by P. vulgaris (SAB 618 (346.6 mg g −1 )), and in two lines from the crosses of P. vulgaris × P. acutifolius (INB 841 (320.1 mg g −1 )) and of P. vulgaris × P. coccineus × P. acutifolius (SEF 10 (255.99 mg g −1 )). The reducing sugars in lines from crosses of P. vulgaris × P. coccineus × P. acutifolius showed higher values (SEF 12 (0.46 mg g −1 ), SEF 10 (0.43 mg g −1 )), followed by the materials from crosses of P. vulgaris × P. coccineus (ALB 353 (0.44 mg g −1 ), SER 212 (0.38 mg g −1 ), RRA 69 (0.37 mg g −1 )). These nutritional parameters indicate the contribution of beans as a source of energy in the diet and, therefore, beans are recognized as a fundamental diet for improving human nutrition [65,66]. Furthermore, the sugar content can influence the organoleptic properties of flavor by activating chemoreceptors on the human tongue or by modifying the flavor of other organic components. The sugar content can even be used as a parameter to differentiate between species and cultivars. For example, P. vulgaris is considered as sweet [67,68], since sugar levels in common bean depend on both the genotype and the environmental conditions where it is grown [69][70][71]. P acutifolius genotypes tested in our study presented higher values of total glucose. Glucose represents a significant source of metabolic energy for seedling development, in the formation of nutrients and bioactive compounds contained in the seed [72,73], and these compounds are also mainly bound to sugar molecules (glycosylated residues) and proteins [74].Finally, in terms of human health benefits, bean consumption can prevent different diseases [75][76][77], in addition to the contribution of bioactive components and antioxidant activity found in different genotypes evaluated in this study. For example, in a typical Mediterranean diet based on foods such as olive oil, fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, wine, among others, a daily intake per person of 118.6 mg of flavonoids, spiced in flavanones 32% (38.5 mg), catechins (32.7 mg), flavonols 22% (26.4 mg), anthocyanidins 9% (11 mg), flavones 8% (8.7 mg), isoflavones 1% (1.3 mg) [78], and even an ABTS antioxidant potential of around 3500-5300 Trolox equivalents is estimated [79]. While in our study, the genotypes comprising the HBF and MBFC typology groups presented mean values of total flavonoids of 15.15 and 13.23 mg EC g −1 , respectively, and also an antioxidant potential of 1792 and 974 µmol Trolox g −1 , respectively. We found four genotypes including SER 213, SMR 101, RRA 81, and RRA 123 of the HBF typology group and six genotypes including ALB 60, AMADEUS, GGR 150, SEF 71, SMR 84, and TIO CANELA of the MBFC typology group with high contents of total flavonoids. We also found seven bean genotypes with high antioxidant activity (ABTS) including SER 213, RRA 79, RRA 81, RRA 69, SER 212, SER 16, and RRA 123 of the HBF typology group, and four genotypes including RRA 13, RRA 68, and SMR 173 of the MBFC typology group. This indicates that 100 g of seeds can provide about 10 times more flavonoid content and supply with great amplitude the daily antioxidant intake compared to the traditional Mediterranean diet, contributing to the prevention of diseases associated with oxidative stress and possibly even exerting antimutagenic/antigenotoxic properties [78].In this study, we analyzed the content of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in seeds of 118 bean genotypes grown under high temperatures and acid soil stress conditions of western Amazonia. Germplasm accessions of P. acutifolius showed lower values of nutritional quality in seeds. Based on the results obtained on bioactive compounds and functional capacity, we classified the bean genotypes into five typology groups in-","tokenCount":"6015"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1495518935.json b/data/part_1/1495518935.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0d057f43d6ddb3069c957db6da9039232900023b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1495518935.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9ab2835976c1dff4d1f32c4608745d72","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/82cae556-3a41-4dd8-bd5e-6157cf2636a9/retrieve","id":"-427712464"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5b5d317b-6821-46bb-9301-238efd9c6743","pagecount":"9","content":"Community seed banks have been around for about 30 years. As this book illustrates, they can be found across the globe. Their forms and functions are diverse, and their histories differ. Some countries, such as Brazil, India, Nepal and Nicaragua, have a relatively large number of them -from about 100 to several hundred, although exact numbers are hard to determine. Other countries, such as Bhutan,Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration. In 1986, RAFI produced a 'community seed bank kit', as far as we know, the first how-to guide for establishing a local gene or seed bank.In the case study on the work of USC Canada (Chapter 37), the authors describe how the idea of community seed banks emerged as a component of an ambitious programme called Seeds of Survival (see www.usc-canada.org/ what-we-do/seeds-of-survival). As a response to the disastrous drought and subsequent famine in Ethiopia, this programme, launched in 1989, began to work in partnership with farmers to rebuild the local systems that had been seriously affected by the drought. Scientists from Ethiopia's Plant Genetic Resource Centre of Ethiopia (now the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation), a government agency, worked in the regions most affected by drought to multiply, on farm, as many varieties as possible of sorghum, wheat and locally adapted maize (Worede and Mekbib, 1993;Feyissa, 2000;Feyissa et al., 2013). These varieties were then re-integrated into the local seed systems by participating farmers and distributed to thousands of other farmers. Community seed banks were initiated to guarantee local stocks of these varieties. USC Canada, based in Ottawa, with partner NGOs around the world continues to run the Seeds of Survival programme (Green, 2012;see Chapter 37).Inspired by RAFI, in 1992, the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) assisted another Philippine NGO, CONSERVE, to set up a community gene bank (Bertuso et al., 2000). In Latin America, the Chile-based Centro de Educación y Tecnología (CET) began to establish community seed banks in a number of Latin American countries. In Brazil, a diversity of community seed bank initiatives emerged throughout the country, some of them local, others connected to international NGOs (see Chapters 12,13,39). Other examples include Unnayan Bikalper Nitinirdharoni Gobeshona (UBINIG) in Bangladesh where the impetus was flooding and a cyclone in the late 1980s (Mazhar, 1996; see Chapter 9), the Relief Society of Tigray (in 1988) and Ethio-Organic Seed Action in Ethiopia (Feyissa et al., 2013).In Zimbabwe, a pioneer was the Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), which established the first community seed bank in 1992 following severe drought (Mujaju et al., 2003;see Chapter 38). In India, several NGOs took the lead, including the GREEN Foundation (starting in 1992), the Academy of Development Sciences (in 1994; see Khedkar, 1996), the Deccan Development Society (Satheesh, 1996), the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (in 2000;see Chapter 18) and Gene Campaign (in 2000). In Nepal (Shrestha et al., 2013b) The Norwegian Development Fund, which is active in several countries around the world, has been another continuous supporter of community seed banks (Development Fund, 2011;see Chapter 35). Other international NGOs that have supported community seed banks include ActionAid and OXFAM. Bioversity International has pioneered and supported the establishment of community seed banks in a number of countries (e.g. Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda) as part of its research on the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity and, more recently, on adaptation to climate change.Partly preceding and partly in parallel with establishment of seed banks in the Global South, many 'seed-saver' groups, associations and networks have formed in Western nations. These are made up mostly of hobby farmers, breeders and gardeners, often thousands of miles apart, who share a common interest in keeping traditional and local crop diversity alive. These seed savers form a community of practice more than a geographic community.The USA-based Seed Savers Exchange, a not-for-profit, member-supported organization, was established in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy (see www.seedsavers.org/). Its aim is to preserve heirloom seeds by building a network of committed people who collect, save and share seeds and plants. Heirloom seeds are passed on from generation to generation. In the North American context, many of these seeds were carried by settlers from European countries. The organization is based at a 360ha heritage farm in Iowa, where seeds are reproduced, catalogued and disseminated and where educational activities take place. The farm operations give continuity to the network's efforts.In 1986, inspired by the example of the USA, the Australian Seed Savers was set up by Michel and Jude Fanton. First established nation-wide without government support, it has since developed into a network of local networks spread out across the country (Fanton and Fanton, 1993;Seed Savers' Network and Ogata, 2003). Since 1995, the Australian network has been supporting the establishment and strengthening of such groups in almost 40 countries, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Palau, Portugal, Serbia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Tonga (see www.seedsavers.net/).In Canada, Seeds of Diversity operates as a charitable organization dedicated to the conservation, documentation and use of public-domain, non-hybrid plants of Canadian significance. The 1,400 members grow, propagate and distribute over 2,900 varieties of vegetables, fruit, grains, flowers and herbs. The seed network, first established in 1984, describes itself as 'a living gene bank'. Each year, Seeds of Diversity produces a Member Seed Directory which allows members to obtain samples of the seeds and plants offered by other members in exchange for return postage (see www.seeds.ca/).In Europe, a large number of seed-saver groups and associations vary considerably in membership and scope of activities; these organizations exist in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK.Based on the experiences described in the case studies, a number of trends can be discerned. One has been a broadening of the functions and scope of community seed banks, mainly a result of a natural learning-by-doing process. Although many community seed banks were initially set up for the purpose of conservation, over time additional functions were added: providing access to and availability of seeds, operating as a platform for community development and contributing to seed and food sovereignty. In some cases, this happened as a result of successful conservation efforts and a growing demand among local farmers or farmers from other communities for materials maintained in the seed banks. In other cases, it was a result of the difficulties faced by community seed banks in dealing primarily with conservation, most notably lack of incentives to keep up the work.The experiences of two international NGOs that pioneered support for community seed banks are illustrative. USC Canada's support for strengthening community seed supply systems has grown from a seed recovery programme responding to drought and genetic erosion in Ethiopia into a global programme focussed on promoting food security and food sovereignty through the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity. Community seed banks have grown into centres for experimentation and innovation around seeds that can handle the vagaries and extremes of climate change and have become facilitators to help farm communities organize around their rights and interests in production that is affordable, productive and respectful of the integrity of their landscapes and plant genetic resources (see Chapter 37). Community seed banks supported by the Development Fund have evolved from seed restoration and rehabilitation centres, supported by participatory plant breeding, into organized seed grower associations for local seed production and marketing (see Chapter 35). The sole case study from the Caribbean region, in Trinidad (Chapter 29), describes the evolution of a small seed supply unit into an advanced storage facility with land for carrying out trials and seed selection. The facilitators of the seed bank also set up farmers' groups who connect with each other through Facebook. In addition, the seed bank established links with a civil society foundation working with communities on such projects as backyard gardening for households.Other examples of growth come from Bolivia (Chapter 11) and Honduras (Chapter 33), where the original efforts in participatory variety improvement gradually evolved into a broader programme that includes the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. In Bolivia, community seed banks moved from quinoa and cañihua storage banks to agricultural biodiversity community banks. Apart from conservation, new areas of interest have developed, such as seed health, soil fertility, increased yields and commercialization of agricultural biodiversity products. In Honduras, when farmers and the NGOs working with them began to realize the importance of conserving and documenting the local materials they were collecting, they decided to conserve seed at the community and regional levels.A second trend can be seen in efforts to reach levels higher than the local community. This has resulted in the formation of networks or associations of community seed banks supported by facilitated reflection on past experiences, targeted training in organizational development and technical cooperation with other institutions. In Nepal, at a first national workshop on community seed banks held in 2012, participants concluded that although Nepal has a large number of seed banks, sharing and learning among them has not taken place, except for a few exchange visits by farmers' groups and practitioners (Shrestha et al., 2013a). In a follow-up workshop in March 2013, farmers and groups involved in managing community seed banks formed an ad hoc committee to establish a national network to be a platform for learning and sharing among community seed banks, to facilitate exchange of seeds and planting materials, to prepare a national catalogue of genetic resources conserved by community seed banks, to facilitate a process of linking community seed banks with the national gene bank, to represent community seed banks in national fora when necessary and to facilitate incorporation of the conservation of plant genetic resources into community seed banks where it has not yet been done (Chapter 34). Note also that community seed banks in Nepal are supported by Bioversity International, the Development Fund of Norway, the Department of Agriculture of the government of Nepal, OXFAM and USC Canada. In Brazil, community seed banks have become part of regional movements. For example, so-called regional seed houses represent a conservation strategy that combines various elements of conservation and sustainable use put into practice by peasant farmers, organizations and social movements in the field of agro-ecology and by federal institutions of teaching and research (Chapter 13).Another trend has been the multiplication of efforts by a supporting agency or other organization based on success and experience accumulated in one area of a country or inspired by examples from other countries. In Mali, eight community banks in an area in the north of the country have formed a network that works in partnership with community seed banks in southern Mali to carry out key activities to enhance the value of and conserve farmers' seeds: seed fairs, multiplication of seeds in the south that are unsuited to conditions in the north, seed exchanges and advice to improve the productivity of different varieties.In Burundi, Welthungerhilfe of Germany developed a plan and training programme for the construction and management of seed stores, a particular type of community seed bank (Chapter 32). Later, the plan and approach inspired other organizations, such as the Alliance 2015 partner of Welthungerhilfe, Concern International, the Belgian Technical Cooperation and the support programme of the European Union in Burundi (Programme Post-Conflit de Développement Rural) to also invest in this kind of seed store. The local government is now starting a support programme for all seed stores. In the USA, the pioneering work of Native Seeds/SEARCH has provided an example of a regional seed model that has inspired efforts elsewhere and brought the importance of crop diversity to public attention in the southwest USA and beyond (Chapter 31).Bioversity International's most recent efforts to establish and support community seed banks in China, Rwanda and Uganda have been inspired by previous experiences in other countries, such as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mali. USC Canada, the Development Fund and LI-BIRD have benefitted from similar learning tracks. In Bhutan and South Africa, the lead government agencies supporting the establishment of community seed banks have learned from past experience to take a cautious approach: first set up a small number of community seed banks and monitor their development before expanding the programme.A caveat is necessary here. Good examples cannot always be adopted and adapted. The Malaysia case study (Chapter 20) indicates that cultural issues can prevent people from reaching a shared agreement about how best to set up a community seed bank. This case also highlights the need to consider the availability of enough capable people to dedicate time to the efforts required to set up and run a community seed bank. In the context of urban migration, labour constraints have become common in many rural areas of the world.A fourth trend is the emerging interest of national and state governments in establishing and supporting community seed banks. Examples in this book include case studies from Bhutan, Bolivia, Burundi, the Central American countries, Mexico, Nepal and South Africa. This trend might be partly the outcome of longer-term efforts of community seed banks and their supporting organizations to raise awareness of the roles and achievements of community seed banks, including their role as a mechanism to implement farmers' rights. Another likely factor is the increased preoccupation of governments with strengthening national capacity to respond to climate change. In Central America, community seed banks have also gained recognition as effective organizations to respond to natural disasters and related problems (hurricanes in particular often leading to landslides and flooding and the resulting loss of seeds).Over the last years, three Brazilian states (Paraíba, Alagoas and Minas Gerais) have approved laws aimed at providing a legal framework for existing community seed banks created and maintained by small-scale farmers' associations with the support of NGOs and sometimes local governments. A provision has been made to include seeds produced by community seed banks in regular extension programmes. Four other states (Bahia, Pernambuco, Santa Catarina and São Paulo) have similar legal bills being discussed in their legislative assemblies (Chapter 39).In Nepal, Seed Vision 2025 is a major policy document with a clear statement about community seed banks, gene banks, community-based seed production and capacity building among seed producers and other producer groups to promote production and access to high-quality seeds (earlier, the government published a community seed bank implementation guideline, but it was not widely circulated). The government document also envisions identifying, mapping and developing seed production pockets within the country and emphasizes investment by the private sector. The government of Nepal has started to provide technical and financial support to a small number of community seed banks in the country (Chapter 41). In 2013, the government of South Africa started a similar effort with support from Bioversity International (Chapter 43).A fifth trend, also recent, is the carrying out of evaluative research and impact assessments to better understand and document the factors that contribute to long-term sustainability of community seed banks. Several organizations supporting community seed banks are taking the lead in this kind of research and assessment: ActionAid, Bioversity International, Development Fund, LI-BIRD, OXFAM-Nepal and USC Canada. A number of review studies have been produced in recent years (Development Fund, 2011;SIMAS, 2012;Sthapit, 2013;Vernooy, 2013), and this book is another example of critical reflection on the functions of community seed banks and their prospects for the future. This work is combined with the design and implementation of specific strategies to develop organizational and financial sustainability of community seed banks.One such strategy deployed by several community seed banks across the world is the acquisition of formal organizational status, in particular as a cooperative. This is already taking place, for example, in Burundi (Chapter 32), Mali (Chapter 22) and Nepal (Chapter 24) and is envisioned in Mexico where producer cooperatives would sell not only seeds but also traditional products made with native plant varieties conserved by the network of community seed banks (Chapter 42). In the Kolli Hills of India, community seed banks have evolved into village millet resource centres that not only deal with conservation but also with technology and value-chain development (Chapter 18). In Oaxaca, a federal state of Mexico, community seed banks are being transformed into private limited rural production companies. This legal status allows farmers access to resources from the municipal, state or federal government (Chapter 23).If and how the trends outlined above will evolve in the future is discussed in the final chapter.","tokenCount":"2725"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1516557265.json b/data/part_1/1516557265.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..497b0ff2fca237b0e497971b94c86f3723a8d948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1516557265.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d268fd41ccc92f02a7eda71778a3a5d2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/09d11f96-725a-4edc-8335-119acf1c2b5d/retrieve","id":"1267796495"},"keywords":["digital platform","climate information services","farmers yield","income","food consumption score"],"sieverID":"09744f65-772f-4ec4-89ef-4805c46e91a9","pagecount":"7","content":"This study analysed the digital platform established by the AICCRA project to disseminate climate information services in Mali. In total, 233,000 farmers of which 38% are women had access to CIS through the digital platforms. On average, farmers having access to CIS through the digital platform had an increase in their yield by 705 kg/ha, income by 345,288 XOF/ha (575 USD/ha) and food consumption score by 2. When the cumulative benefits of the digital platform were evaluated, access to the digital platform increased rice production by 164,265 ton and farmers' income by 134 million USD.Agriculture in Mali relies predominantly on rainfall and is, therefore, heavily influenced by climatic conditions (Makougoum, 2020). This makes smallholder farmers highly susceptible to unfavorable weather, such as insufficient rainfall. The ability to predict climate fluctuations a few days to a few months in advance can significantly impact the adaptation strategies of these communities facing climate change. Given this scenario, it is imperative to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies to mitigate the risks associated with the adverse impacts of ongoing climate change, benefiting both the agricultural sector's development and the wellbeing of farmers. The dissemination of accurate real-time Climate Information Services (CIS) can empower farmers to make climate-informed decisions, such as adopting measures to enhance crop yield against climate change.However, there is evidence suggesting that the provision and access to CIS do not yield the expected benefits for farmers due to a misalignment between the type of CIS provided (vagueness of CIS) and the farmers' actual needs in their agricultural activities (preferred type of CIS). In such circumstances, the access and utilization of CIS do not significantly improve farmers' livelihood activities. In rural Mali, the National Meteorological Agency (Mali-Meteo) primarily handles the dissemination of CIS, with forecasts based on general information that does not cater to the specific needs of farmers. Mali-Meteo traditionally disseminates CIS through radios and televisions, providing general information unsuitable for smallholder farmers' long-term farm management decision-making.Moreover, determining the impact of CIS on farmers' decision-making is challenging within this system due to limited access to the provided CIS. It is within this context that the AICCRA project, in collaboration with Mali-Meteo, introduced digital platforms in the project intervention areas. The aim is to disseminate personalized and location-specific CIS to farmers, enabling them to make relevant and farm-specific climate-informed agricultural decisions.The main objective of this activity was to establish digital platforms and provide farmers with personalised and location-specific CIS in the AICCRA project sites.To reach out to a large number of farmers with personalised and location specific CIS, AICCRA-Mali established a digital platform in project sites and strengthened the capacity of value chain actors in its use. The digital platform aggregated the beneficiaries' farmers and their socio-economic characteristics, preferred types of CIS, means of accessing CIS, and expected decisions to be made following access to CIS. The types of CIS available in the platform include seasonal forecast, monthly forecast, weekly forecast, daily forecast, windstorms, lighting, heavy rainfall, rainfall onset, rainfall cessation, duration of rainy season and drought spell. The means of access to CIS available in the digital platform were radio, phone call, SMS and vocal messages in local languages through WhatsApp group. The types of decisions that can be made following access to CIS and available on the platform include land preparation, crop variety selection, changing cropping patterns, harvesting time decision, crop risk management, diseases and pests management and planting time adjustment. The WhatsApp group was the mostly used digital platform by farmers as it offers a good opportunity to put together farmers, agriculture extension agents and Mali-Meteo technicians, responsible for sharing CIS.Once a farmer selected its preferred means of access and types of CIS on the platform, he is directed to the relevant experts managing the selected mean of accessing CIS and received the types of CIS that he had preferred. This enabled the provision of personalised CIS based on the farmers locations. Farmers also selected the types of decisions that he envisaged making following access to CIS and have opportunity later to get back to the platform with the actual decision made and his assessment of the relevance of the CIS provided. This interaction between the farmers and platform strengthened farmers trust in using the platform, while helping managers to improve the platform functions.   This study analysed the digital platform established by the AICCRA project to disseminate climate information services in Mali. In total, 233,000 farmers of which 38% are women had access to CIS through the digital platforms. On average, farmers having access to CIS through the digital platform had an increase in their yield by 705 kg/ha, income by 345,288 XOF/ha (575 USD/ha) and food consumption score by 2. When the cumulative benefits of the digital platform were evaluated, access to the digital platform increased rice production by 164,265 ton and farmers' income by 134 million USD.","tokenCount":"808"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1525525893.json b/data/part_1/1525525893.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b4d5f125c7190c240f9c5f4e26ef39bff3a946b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1525525893.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c21feafa94918634719baf63369e040e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e335ca5b-5951-42f2-ad52-663339559ada/retrieve","id":"267925359"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"84f47c4e-1fa0-4d2e-873f-718471c66e38","pagecount":"4","content":"Simplifying Agroforestry Sustainability Monitoring Find new areas for low-risk investment in certification: Terra-i+ equips users with the tools to identify untapped opportunities for low-risk investments in certification. By analyzing comprehensive data sets, Terra-i+ pinpoints regions with high potential for sustainable agroforestry practices and low risk of deforestation. This strategic insight allows users to optimize their investments and contribute to the growth of sustainability assurances around their supply chains.In an ever-evolving landscape of regulations and commitments to net-zero emission commodity chains, Terra-i+ offers a satellitebased solution for agroforestry supply chain sustainability management. At its core, Terra-i+ functions as an integrated platform to access critical information about the sustainability status of coffee supply chains. With Terra-i+, stakeholders gain access to essential metrics and insights, empowering them to make informed decisions that drive adoption of sustainable practices. Monitor deforestation-related risks and compliance with certification standards and regulations: Terra-i+ enables its users to be leaders in supply chain risk management. Through real-time monitoring and analysis, the platform helps users track deforestationrelated risks and assess compliance with industry certification standards as well as the European Union Due Diligence Regulation (EUDR). By proactively addressing these challenges, Terra-i+ ensures the integrity and sustainability of its users' supply chains. Export data and report about risk management: Effortlessly generate Excel and geospatial data for internal assessment; as well as and detailed reports for auditors, management, and other stakeholders. Terra-i+ facilitates quick actions and streamlines the reporting process, providing a comprehensive overview of its users' risk management strategies. This feature not only facilitates transparency but also showcases commitment to responsible sourcing.Quickly identify opportunities for carbon sequestration within agroforestry systems and assess progress toward net-zero emissions: In the era of climate change mitigation, Terra-i+ empowers users to identify carbon sequestration opportunities within agroforestry systems. With this platform, stakeholders can assess the current status of their efforts toward achieving net-zero emissions.  Terra-i+ emerges as an innovative solution to the complex challenges faced by the coffee industry in its pursuit of sustainable supply chains. Terra-i+ was uniquely designed in collaboration with the coffee industry and serves as a pioneering satellite-based platform that centralizes the monitoring of agroforestry supply chain sustainability. The tool was designed around four main functionalities:• Identifying Sustainable Opportunities: Terra-i+ analyzes data to reveal low-risk areas for certification investments, fostering certified supply chain growth.• Deforestation Risk Monitoring: Real-time tracking and compliance assessment ensure supply chain integrity.• Effortless Reporting: Terra-i+ simplifies reporting, promoting transparency and responsible sourcing.• Carbon Sequestration: Users identify carbon sequestration prospects, measuring progress towards net-zero emissions.Terra-i+ stands as the cutting-edge of geospatial innovations, derived from satellite imagery with 30 cm resolution and blending advanced deep learning techniques with remote sensing data from the Copernicus missions Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2. These sophisticated models are not only trained on large datasets but also enriched with local reference data sourced from key areas tied to collaborating companies. These models provide essential components, including precise land cover data and shade tree density assessments within agroforestry systems, which serve as the building blocks required to construct more complex metrics. This unique approach ensures that Terra-i+ delivers actionable, industry-specific metrics while adhering to global standards. Users without any location data can still utilize the tool, thanks to its ability to identify coffee and forest land cover with true positive and true negative rates falling within the range of 82% to 91% accuracy. Furthermore, Terra-i+ was meticulously crafted with the coffee industry, for the coffee industry. Placing users at the center of its development process, this tool provides metrics finely tuned to meet the specific needs of the industry, ultimately revolutionizing sustainability management in agroforestry supply chains.The coffee industry faces increasing pressure from regulatory bodies, such as EUDR, and evolving environmental commitments toward carbon-neutral supply chains. These demands place a significant burden on coffee traders to provide accurate, timely, and transparent reporting on zero deforestation supply chains and emissions status. Furthermore, coffee traders, often operating in complex, geographically dispersed supply chains, struggle with limited geospatial analysis capacities. This inherent constraint slows their progress in responding to the growing demand for traceability and sustainability assurances. Finally, a significant gap exists between the industry's obligation to report and the availability of actionable, globally standardized, locally relevant data regarding coffee-driven deforestation.Locally accurate and up-to-date information on deforestation risks and compliance with sustainability standards is essential for stakeholders throughout the coffee supply chain, especially traders. These stakeholders require accessible, user-friendly solutions that empower them to navigate the complexity of their supply chains effectively.","tokenCount":"744"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1526568788.json b/data/part_1/1526568788.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..13ff3b022a4bb824a80f694559126e1c49278a51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1526568788.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b752816b928ed2c9563baaf590f7aef5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ad148108-5284-49e7-b2f8-98c3caa65dc1/retrieve","id":"-1784287139"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b725d61-a8e8-4a8f-ae65-1f5fe000d7dd","pagecount":"84","content":"Conserving and using crop and livestock genetic resourcesYuan Longping and company blazed a trail to higher rice yields through hybridization, wielding genetic resources from the CGIAR to help consign to the dustbin of history widespread famine in the world's most populous nation -at least for nowHundreds of thousands of years after African and Asian rice parted ways, African and Chinese rice breeders are coaxing the two species back together so that farmers -first in Africa and now in Yunnan -can enjoy the best traits of bothThe new cultivar Cooperation-88 is helping to ensure that every segment of the potato industry in southwestern China traces a growth trajectory as it enters the United Nations' International Year of the Potato 2008Genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) fish strains aim to help make small-scale fish farms in China more profitable, and the success of the effort will depend on carefully planned and implemented fingerling distributionThe Joint Laboratory on Livestock and Forage Genetic Resources advances conservation and disease control with the combined resources -financial, human, four-legged and feathered -of international and national partnersChina and the CGIAR cooperate to conserve the irreplaceable genetic resources of crop species that cannot be stored long term in the form of dried seed -such as fruits, tubers, coffee and tea -using the deep-freeze techniques of cryopreservation Peanut has long been grown in China as a cash crop and to fix nitrogen in the soil for other crops (see Peanut Profits on on page 12).Traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine expand upon the dualist concept of yin and yang, two opposing but complementary principles that interact to produce all change in the universe. Similarly, agricultural advances come about through the interaction of advanced methods of crop and livestock management with enhanced materials obtained through the genetic improvement of crop varieties and livestock breeds. This book groups together examples of collaborative China-CGIAR research that emphasize methods on the one hand and materials on the other. But first it presents a multifaceted partnership that clearly illustrates how success is achieved by balancing methods and materials, and in this case by integrating crops and livestock to make the most of both.This book is about partnership. For the sake of brevity and clarity, it is not possible to list all project partners within each story. However, much of the success of this work depends on them and the 64 Members of the CGIAR who together make research a reality. Readers interested in acquiring a fuller understanding of how the projects come together are encouraged to contact the individuals and institutions cited or visit www.cgiar.org.How sweet it is! Some of China's poorest farmers \"put money in the bank\" as they improve the genetic quality of their sweetpotato and pigs, their management of both, and their integration of the sweetpotato-pig production systemBeyond sweetpotato and pigs A Stradivarius on its own is no more able to make music than a plain wooden plank.Even the finest violin needs a trained musician able to tease from the instrument the proper notes as and when required. Farmers, too, need to know how to select, plant, nurture, harvest and use their crops to their fullest potential. Doing so entails managing soil, water and other natural resources in ways that balance immediate productivity with long-term sustainability. The following six chapters present China-CGIAR collaborative projects that emphasize methods of crop and natural resource management developed to improve the incomes of poor farmers now while protecting their farms' future productivity and the surrounding environment.Pigeonpea may be a newcomer to China, but peanut (also called groundnut) was first cultivated in the Middle Kingdom 5 centuries ago, having crossed the Pacific from its center of diversity in South America. Cooperation with the CGIAR in peanut development began in 1994. Today, China has 4 million ha planted to peanut, mostly in Henan and Shandong provinces, but with 240,000 ha in the southwestern province of Guangxi.\"We have received 200 pigeonpea germplasm samples from all over the world with assistance from the CGIAR,\" reports Dr. Tang Ronghua, vice director of the Cash Crop Research Institute of the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences. \"They have high resistance to peanut rot and leaf spot. We've crossed them with high-yielding local lines and released about 10 varieties in the Guihua series, whose name means 'Guangxi peanut.' All peanut farmers in Guangxi grow one or more Guihua varieties.\"The living room of Pan Zhenbang, 38 years old, and his wife, Wang Aizhen, 31, in Yingtai village of Wuming County, 50 km north of the provincial capital, Nanning, houses the couple's refrigerator, television and DVD player bought with the proceeds from their 2 mu of peanut and 8 mu of orange trees, maize, rice, longan (\"dragon eye\") and cassava. The couple has been growing Guihua varieties, mostly Guihua-17, for 5-6 years.\"It has better yield, oil content and seed size,\" comments Pan, adding that he grows the crop mainly for its edible oil, 15 kg of his annual production for home consumption and the other 35 kg for market. The couple grosses 25,000 yuan per year, with fruit as their main cash crop, followed by peanut.\"If the price for fruit isn't good one year, maybe the price for peanut oil will make up for it,\" Pan opines, adding that this year both crops are fetching high prices. \"We've seen our income continually increase over the years.\"Knowing that peanut fixes nitrogen in the soil, Pan concentrates his fertilizer expenditures on phosphorous and potassium. He would like a cultivar with more resistance to white fungus, which becomes a problem in damp weather. He does not spray fungicide but does spray insecticide and a hormone to keep plant height down, which forces nutrients into the seed pod and reduces moisture under the canopy to help control white fungus.The autumn peanut crop is planted at the end of July or beginning of August and is harvested for eating and sowing the following year. The spring planting in March is harvested in mid-July for oil, as the content is high and the seeds will not keep. The couple use peanut straw and the shells and husks of pressed seeds to fertilize their orange trees.Yu Meilian in Wenshui village of Lingli Township, Yongning Country, 25 km southeast of Nanning, also sees her situation steadily improving.\"Thanks to training from extensionists and improved varieties, things are generally getting better year by year,\" says the 58-year-old, whose husband, Zheng Dechao, is deputy village head. \"As my understanding of peanut management gets clearer and clearer, I become more self-sufficient.\"The couple plants 3 of their 9 mu with rice and 3.5 mu with peanut. At 350 kg/mu, the yield of Guihua-26 is more than double that of their old variety, bringing in about half of the farm family's annual profit of 12,000 yuan. Yu describes Guihua as nearly perfect, though the oil content of the seeds, typically around half by weight, is a bit low.The couple's three daughters have all moved out, the middle one having graduated from university and now working as a bank clerk. One disappointment is that their youngest, though academically gifted, went straight from secondary school to work in another province. This was because Yu and Zheng could finance higher education for only one of their daughters.Rice farmers in Hubei Province discover, much to their surprise, that a new method of irrigation called alternate wetting and drying saves them water, labor, time and money, while boosting crop yield and profitabilityFarmer Xu Wenyu was skeptical of alternate wetting and drying, but after training in the water-saving technique, he has become a believer.Wang Jianzhang, director of the Hubei Irrigation Experimental Center, reports water savings of more than half from alternate wetting and drying.IWMI is the CGIAR Center in this research partnership. As burgeoning demand for water strains supplies across China, especially in the north, rice scientists work with farmers to refine aerobic rice, an emerging technology for continued bountiful rice harvests from dry landDai Guangyun, a farmer in Anhui Province, shows off one of his aerobic rice plants, which grow, like wheat, in an unflooded field.Agronomist Xie Guanghui's experience of aerobic rice failure in 2006 illustrates the work to be done for the innovation to achieve its potential.IRRI is the CGIAR Center in this research partnership.Yuan Longping and company blazed a trail to higher rice yields through hybridization, wielding genetic resources from the CGIAR to help consign to the dustbin of history widespread famine in the world's most populous nation -at least for now Yuan Longping's determined response to extreme rural hardship in the 1960s has earned him the accolade father of temperate hybrid rice.Ma Guohui strives to improve japonica hybrid rice and so bring higher yields through heterosis to rice farmers in northern China.IRRI is the CGIAR Center in this research partnership.Hundreds of thousands of years after African and Asian rice parted ways, African and Chinese rice breeders are coaxing the two species back together so that farmers -first in Africa and now in Yunnan -can enjoy the best traits of both ","tokenCount":"1496"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1532176013.json b/data/part_1/1532176013.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e08fe0fdc47b9f65cdfe715c840e5e5ec926dad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1532176013.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b7733891f1871c9e81e514e4e19119ba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/08b35201-53f6-4545-9499-9b56df0f8f19/retrieve","id":"1271032247"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"074fa621-de39-4134-9af4-171d05586802","pagecount":"1","content":"The use of multispectral drone images is a quick and accurate way to measure variables of interest in plant breeding programs.However, these multispectral images are associated with preprocessing and analysis that varies depending on the degree of information that the images present.There are cheaper drones with RGB cameras that allow to obtain images with greater definition but with fewer bands than a multispectral camera and without georeferencing.The potential of RGB images as a replacement for multispectral images is unknown. For this reason, the objective of this study was to compare the obtaining coverage of Urochloa hybrids from the RGB panoramic image method with the standard multispectral orthomosaics methodology.When georeferencing the panoramic image (Fig 1B) with the help of the Qgis software in the control points also marked in the orthomosaic (Fig 1A ), an overlap very close to the original coordinates was obtained, allowing work with the same regions of interest (ROIs) designed for orthomosaics.With the ROI of the 300 plants evaluated, the vegetal cover was calculated, first calculating the NDVI index for the orthomosaic with the objective of making the plants visible and then segmenting by pixels, values greater than 0.34 corresponding to vegetal cover (Fig 2A). In the case of the RGB image, it was also segmented by pixels but using the green band as a discrimination scale, selecting pixels equal to or less than 161 as vegetation cover (Fig 2B ).Dividing the number of positive pixels for coverage by the equivalent of 1 m 2 in pixels (in this case 1,162 pixels), the coverage in m 2 was obtained. Finally, When performing a linear regression analysis of cover values between methodologies, a determination coefficient of 0.97 (Fig 3), regression coefficient β=1.02 and confidence intervals 1.00-1.04, was obtaining. Finally, the final equation to calculate multispectral coverage from panoramic RGB information was: Multiespectral coverage= 0.009102 + 0.806574 * Panoramic coverage With the data obtained, it can be concluded that a single RGB image has the same capacity to calculate coverage as orthomosaics of multispectral images. This represents a decrease in collecting and processing time, size of the information collected and personnel and equipment costs.To obtain coverage with the DJI Phantom 4 multispectral drone, 4 control points were marked with targets and georeferenced with high-precision GPS to use as control points, then mapping was carried out over 300 plants at a height of 20 meters with intervals of 6 photos every 2 seconds, corresponding to each of the bands included in the multispectral camera with a total of 721 photos.For post-processing, the orthomosaic was created and the images and coordinates were corrected in the Metashape software and the coverage calculation in the QGISgis software (V 3.28.0-Firenze) through annotations and selection of thresholds to segment only the vegetation cover.In the case of panoramic images, a single photo was taken with the Mavic 2 Pro drone at a height of 120 meters, the coordinate correction was carried out in Qgis using the georeferencer on the control targets and the coverage calculation was carried out as follows: same way used as with multispectral images.   ","tokenCount":"511"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1547639123.json b/data/part_1/1547639123.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..353013303495d32945b751ce0cebe91129726d2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1547639123.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4589f2c8afbd59e831a9412a6859c4dd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/25965ae4-86d5-43c1-af69-549e136089ce/retrieve","id":"-1883581660"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b6ce57b-17d1-4674-a1e3-2ade313b2da7","pagecount":"14","content":"DROUGHT AND FAMINE occur regularly throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and their effects are particularly severe in heavily populated countries such as Ethiopia. Over the last 30 years, four major drought periods and associated famines of varying degrees of severity have been recorded in Ethiopia.Relatively simple models are available to predict the moisture available for plant growth using standard meteorological data. Since moisture availability is directly related to crop production, such models may make it possible to give an early warning of crop shortfalls and the onset of famine.In this paper, a moisture availability model developed by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is used to estimate the periods since 1953 when there has been sufficient moisture available for satisfactory crop growth at different locations in Ethiopia. The preliminary results of an analysis using existing meteorological data show that short length of growing periods correlate well with the recorded incidence of drought and famine in the country.Across the drought-and famine-prone areas of northern and central Ethiopia there is a bimodal distribution of rainfall and cropping is usually restricted to the period of the main rains which occur during June to September. Although the short rains falling between February and May generally do not provide enough moisture to support a crop, they are important because it is during this period that much of the land preparation and cultivation takes place. If land preparation is largely completed during the short rains, the farmer can take full advantage of the main rains.If the short rains fail, most land preparation can only begin after the start of the main rains, and this preparation time cuts into the period available for crop growth. Historically, severe famine periods have been associated with a sequence of 2 or more years in which the short rains failed and the resultant main-season growing periods were either marginal or so short that crop failure was inevitable.Plant growth and crop yield are closely related to the amount of moisture available during the growing season. Relatively simple models are available that can quantify this relationship and, when fed appropriate data, can be used not only to predict but also to partially explain past crop failures. The opportunity to analyse data on moisture availability, and to develop a predictive model for application in Ethiopia, arose in August 1984 through cooperation between ILCA, FAO and the Land Use Planning and Regulatory Department of the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture.A computer program originally developed by FAO for an agro-ecological study of crop suitability in Africa (FAO, 1978) was installed on the Hewlett Packard 3000 computing system at ILCA headquarters in Addis Ababa. The FAO program estimates the moisture available for crop growth in individual months of the year, using data of the type described in Table 1. The length of growing period (LGP) is calculated through a simple water balance model that relates precipitation (P) and moisture stored in the soil (S) to the potential evapotranspiration (ETp) of the crop, the latter being assessed using the Penman formula (Penman, 1948). Crop production can then be estimated, at least qualitatively, in terms of the time during which plant growth can proceed without serious restriction due to moisture stress. Monthly ET P varies little between years, and the LGP can be estimated with reasonable precision from rainfall data once the mean ET p has been calculated from long-term records.Fortunately precipitation, and to a lesser extent temperature, are both widely recorded in Ethiopia. A number of other parameters required in the original calculation of ET P were estimated from nearby locations (FAO, 1984).For the purposes of the following analysis the LGP is defined as the period in days when moisture supply from precipitation exceeds half the potential evapotranspiration (from Penman, 1948), plus that period during which plants evapotranspire stored soil moisture resulting from excess precipitation (definition modified after FAO, 1978). The stored soil moisture assumed to be available can be varied in the computer program from 0 to 200 mm in intervals of 50 mm. This allows factors such as soil texture and depth to be taken into account. Any time interval when water is available but the temperature is too low for crop growth is excluded from the calculation of LGP.A typical growing period includes a 'humid period' when P exceeds ET P , enabling the soil profile to accumulate a moisture reserve and plant growth to proceed without restriction from moisture stress. Such a growing period is termed a 'normal growing period'. Growing periods where P remains between 0.5 and 1.0 ET p are referred to as `intermediate'. No soil moisture reserve accumulates under these circumstances, since P remains less than ET P . The choice of 0.5 ET p as the threshold value for moisture availability is based on considerable experimental evidence that important physiological changes are induced in many crops below 0.5 ET p (Doorenbos and Kassam, 1979). Germination also proceeds in most crops when P exceeds 0.5 ET P .The annual rainfall distribution in the central and northern highlands of Ethiopia, including those areas periodically affected by drought, is generally bimodal (FAO, 1984). The first period of rainfall, usually in the months of February to May, provides a growing period of between 5 and 100 days, depending on the location. The longer growing periods during this short rainy season are more likely to occur along the northeastern escarpment running from southern Tigray through Wello to northern and central Shewa. The variability in the length and frequency of these rains is much greater than that of the main rains occurring from June/July to September.Figure 1 gives a typical example of moisture availability during 1981 in areas surrounding the northern highlands town of Asmara. An intermediate growing period of approximately 30 days occurred around April, followed by a dry period of about 45 days, after which the onset of the main rainy season quickly raised soil moisture above 0.5 ET p . In the example given the LGP from June to September was 85 days. Generally, the short rains are insufficient for producing all but the most rapidly maturing crops; they may fail altogether or occasionally merge with the long rains. The dry period between the short rainy season and the onset of the main rains is usually too long to allow the planting of long-season crops before the start of the main rains. Highland sorghum may be planted during the short rains in areas where these are more reliable and substantial, but only at the risk of severe yield reduction or complete crop failure in a bad year.The importance of soil depth in reducing moisture stress Stocking and Pain (1983) have examined in some detail the concept of available soil moisture and the minimum soil depth necessary for crop production. Assuming that a 50% yield reduction is tolerable, surprisingly shallow soils appear capable of supporting the production of crops such as sorghum.Rainfall patterns in northern and central Ethiopia during the main rainy season are characterised by heavy monthly falls of between 150 and 350 mm in July and August. This rainy season begins and ends rather abruptly. The moisture index (P/ET p ) for July and August normally exceeds 1, and may in fact exceed 2 or 3 even in relatively dry years. However, little additional rain falls after the second week of September. Consequently crops must draw on stored soil moisture after only about 60 to 80 days, and considerably sooner if late land preparation delays planting.The ability of soils to store water from the 2 previous wet months is thus a critical factor in the final crop yield. Much depends on the growing season requirements of the crop itself, but Stocking and Pain's assumption that soil moisture recharge occurs 10 times during the growing season is probably not applicable to Ethiopia, making minimum soil depth requirements somewhat greater if acceptable yields are to be achieved.Figure 2, derived from Doorenbos and Kassam (1979), shows the reduction in actual evapotranspiration (ETa) over time from the point of last recharge, for four different soil storage capacities. Assuming that the maximum evapotranspiration of the crop (Et m ) is 8 mm/day, then for a soil storage capacity of 50 mm ETa/ET m it is reduced below 0.5 after 12 days. Beyond this point yields are assumed to fall to less than 50% of their potential. For a storage capacity of 100 mm it is 24 days before the same degree of yield reduction occurs. This emphasises the importance of soil moisture storage after the rainy season has ended. Because of the shallow soils that are found over much of the famine-prone areas of Ethiopia (FAO, 1984 x ), a substantial proportion of the precipitation falling during the heavy main rains is lost as runoff. For Asmara and Mekele the assumed storage capacity is 50 mm, since at both locations the medium-textured soils are generally less than 50 cm deep. Medium-textured soils are assumed to have available soil water capacities of about 140 mm/m (Doorenbos and Kassam, 1979), and this is consistent with a storage of about 50 mm in a soil less than 50 cm deep.In Asmara, for example, P/ET p in 1981 exceeded 3 in July and 2 in August (see Figure 1), yet the main-season LGP was still only 85 days because most of the rain would have run off the land. Despite an apparently favourable total rainfall, the LGP during 1981 extended only into September.The effect of moisture stress was investigated by estimating the LGP in cases where severe yield reductions or total crop failures are reported to have occurred in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. The preceding climatic events and the moisture available from the short rains were also examined to gain a more complete understanding of the famine cycle.  Yields of all crops show a generally upward trend with increasing LGP, except those of wheat and barley at an LGP of 190 days when an excess of moisture may have influenced the results. However, for the purpose of studying the effects of serious moisture stress, Debre Berhan is not a suitable station, as the minimum LGP was more than 130 days in the years for which data are available. Further research into the effects of moisture availability on crop yields in Ethiopia is clearly needed before firm conclusions can be reached.Figure 4 shows the year-to-year variation in the main-season LGP for three meteorological stations in traditional grain-producing areas of Ethiopia, spanning the period from 1953 to 1983. Table 2 gives the location and altitude of each station.  Most crops grown in Ethiopia, with the exception of some pulses and very low-yielding varieties of teff and wheat, require a growing season of at least 90 days. This generalisation is of course dependent on temperature and, as altitude increases and temperatures fall, a crop requires a progressively longer LGP if it is to yield successfully. Above 2000 m a.s.l. in Ethiopia, highland varieties of sorghum and maize commonly require between 150 and 180 days to reach maturity; on the other hand, at lower altitudes these crops mature in only 90 to 120 days. Thus short growing periods in the highlands can be a serious problem for such crops.The data for Asmara show that the longest LGPs over a 31-year period rarely exceeded 90 days, and particularly low values were recorded in the years 1966-69 and 1972-74, which were both famine periods in northern Ethiopia. While the identification of drought years is not quite as simple as estimating the LGP in a given year, it is worth noting that Asmara had rather short main-season LGPs in most years of the period under study. This in turn must have severely limited the range of suitable crops for the region since, at such a high altitude, the optimal growing period for barley, for example, probably exceeds 90 days.LGPs, but these varied substantially. Farmers planting late-maturing crops in the vicinity of Addis Ababa will undoubtedly have poor yields in some years. However, the shortest LGP recorded for the main growing season in both Addis Ababa and Kombolcha still exceeded the maximum for Asmara. The average LGP for Kombolcha (133 days) is lower than that for Addis Ababa (235 days) but 120 days was exceeded in most years and, as will be noted later, rainfall in Kombolcha tends to be more bimodal in its distribution, from which crop production can benefit substantially.There is a relationship between reported drought periods and the failure of the short rains in those years when the main-season LGP was less than 90 days. Crops can be grown successfully if the short rains are sufficiently prolonged, but for much of the highlands, including the drought-prone areas of Wello, Tigray and Eritrea, these rains are so unreliable that farmers cannot regularly take advantage of them for cropping. Unreliable as they are, the short rains are still very important because they facilitate land preparation prior to the main cropping season.Land preparation in Ethiopia with the traditional ox-drawn plough is extremely difficult if the soil is either very dry or excessively wet. Thus, ideally, land preparation begins at the end of each harvest before soils dry out, and starts again during the short rains when the soil is easily worked. Such a practice enables farmers to plant early in the main rainy season and takes full advantage of the available LGP. If the short rains fail, however, land preparation can only begin after the onset of the main rains. Consequently, planting is delayed well beyond the start of the main growing season and crops may be subjected to moisture stress if the rains end early. At higher altitudes, generally above 2300 m a.s.l., the risk of frost damage to late-season crops must also be considered.The total time needed for land preparation varies with the crop and the soil, but is generally between 10 and 30 days. If this time is subtracted from the main-season LGP in a year when little or no land preparation is possible because of the failure of the short rains, then the likelihood of crop failure is greatly increased.Figures 5, 6 and 7 support the suggestion that the combination of a failure in the short rains and a shortened main-season LGP has, historically, coincided with serious drought and famine years in northern Ethiopia.In Figure 5   In 1966 a serious drought appears to have occurred around Asmara. The short rains failed totally and the main-season LGP fell to around 50 days, indicating that most crops probably failed. In the following 3 years the main-season LGP was less than 90 days, although in 1967 and 1968 the total number of days suitable for crop growth exceeded 100. Another serious failure occurred in 1969 with no short rains evident and an LGP of less than 60 days.From 1969 to 1974 a period of extreme drought occurred in the Asmara area. In 1971 and 1972 some crops may have been successful, but a shortage of seed carried over from the preceding years probably limited plantings. Substantial crop failure is again indicated for Asmara from 1972 to 1974 with no short rains and an LGP of about 75 days in each of these years. This period coincides with the widely reported famine of 1971-74.Although there were no short rains from 1969 to 1977, in 1975 and 1977 the main season LGPs were very favourable for crop production. In 1981 the main-season LGP again fell below 90 days although the short rains in that year were favourable. In 1982 good short rains and a very favourable July-to-September rainfall distribution again assisted crop production.In 1983 the short rains were limited and the main-season LGP fell to about 70 days, almost certainly resulting in crop shortfalls. However, because of the relatively good season in 1982, reserves were probably available to farmers in 1983.Figures for the first half of 1984 for Asmara suggest that while the short rains did fall, the July rainfall was poor and the prospects for successful crops depended on the August and September rainfall. In the past, 2 successive years of crop shortfalls have been associated with famine. The year 1984 was therefore a crucial year in this respect.Unfortunately, the meteorological data available for Mekele do not allow as comprehensive an analysis as for Asmara, but the 20-year period does span three reported drought periods in northern Ethiopia (Figure 6). Historically, Mekele is one of the hardest-hit famine areas in the country, and its recent climatic history warrants close inspection. Although the main-season LGP in 1969 was not very long, the considerable short rains would have assisted land preparation and provided good forage for livestock. In 1970 the short rains failed and the main season LGP was less than 100 days, with land preparation cutting into this period. The year 1971 was a poor year with no short rains to assist land preparation and only 80 days of moisture available for crop growth. In 1972 the combination of some short rains and a growing season longer than 100 days provided a slight respite, but cumulative effects on the seed supply and on the condition of both draught animals and the human population were probably being felt.The 2 years which followed led to the widely reported famine of 1974 LGP of 90 days. To what extent farmers were in a position to take advantage of this improved situation is unknown.LGPs of between 90 and 100 days, with no short rains, were recorded in 1981 and 1982. Total rainfall improved in 1983, but this was mainly due to reasonable short rains. The main-seasonLGP was again less than 90 days.Thus 3 consecutive years in which the main-season LGPs were barely 90 days, and only 1 year in which the short rains fell, indicate that problems were accumulating. If the short rains were to fail in 1984, famine would be the likely consequence, especially if the main-season rains did not begin until late June or early July. Although no reliable meteorological data were available at the time of writing, indications were that this unfortunate scenario did indeed take place.Figure 7 indicates a more favourable situation in Kombolcha.LGPs were generally much longer than those in Mekele or Asmara, although serious departures from the norm are likely to disrupt agricultural production since plantings in any one year are influenced by the farmers' anticipation of the growing season.LGP and total growing period, Kombolcha. 1953Kombolcha. -1983. . For several periods over the 30 years studied the main-season LGPs for Kombolcha remained between 100 and 130 days, as in the period 1953-1961. The clearer bimodality of rainfall however ensures more time for land preparation and even allows two cropping seasons in some years. A combination of a failure of the short rains and a main-season LGP of less than 130 days occurred in 1965, 1973 and 1978. In fact this situation in 1965 coincided with reported drought elsewhere in the country, as did that for the 1973 cropping season. It is interesting to note that substantial short rains fell in 1971, but that the main-season LGP in that year was the shortest recorded in the period studied. Crop production around Kombolcha was probably lower than usual during 1971 and 1973, and this may have reduced the grain surpluses available for distribution to nearby famine areas in those years.The failure of the short rains and the low main-season LGP in 1978 was followed by a considerably better season in 1979. Sufficient short rains fell in 1977 and the carry-over production from a very favourable year in 1976 would have buffered any production shortfall in 1978.Data from Debre Markos (Figure 8) are included to permit comparison with one of the most productive grain-growing areas of the country. No data are available for 1970 and 1980, but the remaining data are sufficiently clear to show that reliable production was to be expected. It is notable that the shortest main-season LGP recorded in this 30-year time span was 185 days. The probability of total crop failure due to moisture stress in the region is thus negligible. LGP and the development of an effective early warning systemThe argument developed above underlines the fact that if soil moisture levels are less than those required by crops for uninhibited growth, then yield reductions, and in the most severe cases total crop failures, are inevitable. Low annual rainfall, poor rainfall distribution throughout the year, high evapotranspiration and shallow soils all contribute to a moisture deficit. Since the calculation of LGP encompasses all these factors, an analysis of LGP on a year-to-year basis gives some insight into the reasons for repeated famine over much of the country.The present study indicates that the serious famine periods recorded at Mekele and Asmara over the past 20 to 30 years were preceded by 2 or more consecutive years in which the mainseason LGP was less than 90 days, and in which the short rains failed. Up-to-date analyses ofLGP could therefore constitute the basis of an early warning system to indicate the likelihood of serious famine in drought-prone areas of the country. Obviously, Asmara and Mekele represent only a small sample of the famine-stricken areas of Ethiopia. Historical analysis of as many additional locations as possible is desirable in order to develop a more generally applicable early warning system. Using the LGP computer programs installed at ILCA, it is now possible to review moisture conditions on a monthly or yearly basis for any location in the country for which suitable monthly climatic data are available. Periods of extreme moisture stress and probable crop failures in drought-prone areas can thus be identified. This suggests that patterns leading to famine, similar to those detected in Asmara and Mekele, might be identified in other areas after more extensive analysis. It is possible that patterns of moisture conditions and famine are very location specific, but this can only be confirmed by additional data collection and analysis.Regardless of the detailed nature of such patterns, an index of the moisture conditions preceding former famine periods for each new location could be built up in a manner similar to that discussed for Asmara and Mekele. When historically unfavourable patterns begin to emerge, a close watch on the current season's rainfall would provide, by late July, an early warning of crop failures for most of the central and northern highlands of the country. However, such an early warning system can only be effective if meteorological data are recorded and transmitted rapidly to a centre equipped to analyse them. Such analyses could be carried out by ILCA's Computer Unit.Information from the NOAA series of satellites has been used in West Africa to estimate vegetative biomass production (Tucker et al, 1982). The use of such satellite imagery has also been proposed to monitor, and to give early warning of, drought conditions throughout Africa.When compared with the spectral responses of vegetation recorded on NOAH imagery, a time sequence of moisture indices calculated from the LGP computer-program opens up the possibility of calibrating satellite data with moisture availability and LGP. If this proves feasible, the LGP in a given year could be monitored directly using NOAA data, eliminating the need for monthly meteorological inputs.A striking feature of the agro-climatic analysis for both Mekele and Asmara is the limited duration and the high degree of variability of the crop growing periods. This inevitably leads to marginal crop yields in many years, and because of increasing population, famine can be expected to recur with increasing frequency in the future. This is borne out to some extent by the relatively short period of unfavourable agricultural conditions preceding the current famine in northern Ethiopia, compared with the longer build-up to the 1974 famine. To what extent other factors such as disruption of traditional supply routes and cultivation patterns, due to civil unrest, contributed to the rapid onset and severity of the current famine is unknown.An effective early warning system is, unfortunately, only a means of detection; it does not solve the problems associated with drought and famine. Over the longer term fundamental changes will need to be made to existing production systems: land use will have to be rationalised so that erosion-prone soils are conserved by sowing on them permanent grassland and leguminous forages; better adapted, rapidly maturing crop cultivars should be sought; alternative cultivation systems which conserve soil moisture should be investigated; and it may be possible to trap and store the excessive and destructive runoff associated with heavy rains in ponds or dams constructed using draught oxen. Even a small store of irrigation water could be used on a limited area basis to establish crops just before the onset of the main rains or to enable them to mature without experiencing moisture stress; in either case, the growing period would be extended. When combined with more suitable crop cultivars and more widespread use of fertilizer, much better crop production could be expected; perhaps more importantly, the production would be more reliable than at present.A partial and possibly only a temporary alternative to agricultural change is to alter the distribution of the population, by resettlement programmes in less drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. There are significant costs, both human and material, attached to both approaches. However, unless major change is attempted, more frequent and massive imports of food aid will be needed to alleviate the suffering associated with the inevitable famines of the future.","tokenCount":"4218"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1548392206.json b/data/part_1/1548392206.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..480349fd6ceaa98d57565435483d43b4cc7786a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1548392206.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c7d387023e0c4e71ab6fa47d04228194","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/28526/QJF1BZ","id":"1199716619"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0b1fd5d3-120c-4ef6-9af6-8f4f1446d1af","pagecount":"25","content":"Various data sources became available since these two SAMs were published, including data for the public sector, household income and expenditure, GDP data for aggregate and disaggregate industries, the national accounts, trade data and balance of payment data. The updated SAM provides a detailed representation of the Botswana economy. It separates 32 activities and 32 commodities; labor is disaggregated by 5 occupation groups; and households into 6 groups based on the rural/urban and income status of the household head. The SAM is a useful database for conducting economywide impact assessments, including SAM-based multiplier analysis and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling.This document describes the construction of a 2007 social accounting matrix (SAM) for Botswana. A SAM is a consistent data framework that captures the information contained in the national income and product accounts and the supply-use table (SUT), as well as the monetary flows between institutions. A SAM is an ex-post accounting framework since, within its square matrix, total receipts must equal total payments for each account contained within the SAM. Since the required data is not drawn from a single source, information from various sources must be compiled and made consistent. This process is valuable since it helps identify inconsistencies among statistical sources. For example, there are invariably differences between the incomes and expenditures reported in national household surveys. SAMs are economywide databases which are used in conjunction with analytical techniques to strengthen the evidence underlying policy decisions.Section 2 reviews the general structure of SAMs and Section 3 presents the key features of the Botswana SAM. The first step in constructing the SAM is compiling national accounts and other official data sources into a consistent SAM framework. The second step then draws on other data (including a previous SAM for the year 2004 by Thurlow, 2007) to disaggregate activity, commodity, labour and household accounts. Given the diversity and inaccuracy of survey data sources, the prior SAM is invariably inconsistent (i.e., there are inequalities between household receipts and payments) which need to be resolved. Section 4 briefly describes the Botswana economy through the lens created by SAM.A SAM is an economywide data framework that usually represents the real economy of a single country. 1 More technically, a SAM is a square matrix in which each account is represented by a row and column. Each cell shows the payment from the account of its column to the account of its rowthe incomes of an account appear along its row, its expenditures along its column. The underlying principle of double-entry accounting requires that, for each account in the SAM, total revenue (row total) equals total expenditure (column total). Table 1 shows an aggregate SAM (with verbal explanations in place of numbers).The SAM distinguishes between 'activities' (the entities that carry out production) and 'commodities' (representing markets for goods and non-factor services). SAM flows are valued at producers' prices in the activity accounts and at market prices (including indirect commodity taxes and transactions costs) in the commodity accounts. The commodities are activity outputs, either exported or sold domestically, and imports. In the activity columns, payments are made to commodities (intermediate demand), and factors of production (valueadded comprising of operating surplus and compensation of employees). In the commodity columns, payments are made to domestic activities, the rest of the world, and various tax accounts (for domestic and import taxes). This treatment provides the data needed to model imports as perfect or imperfect substitutes vis-à-vis domestic production.The government is disaggregated into a core government account and different tax collection accounts, one for each tax type. This disaggregation is necessary since otherwise the economic interpretation of some payments is often ambiguous. In the SAM, direct payments between the government and households are reserved for transfers. Finally, payments from the government to factors (for the labor services provided by public sector employees) are captured in the government services activity. Government consumption demand is a purchase of the output from the government services activity, which in turn, pays labor.The SAM contains a number of factors of production, which earn incomes from their use in the production process, and then pay their incomes to enterprises, households, government and the rest of the world. Indirect capital earnings or enterprise profits are taxed according to average corporate tax rates and some profits may be repatriated abroad. The remaining capital earnings, together with labor earnings are paid to households. Households use their incomes to pay taxes, save, and consume domestically produced and imported commodities.National Accounts data for 2007 report GDP from the expenditure side for household expenditure, government expenditure, investment demand, change in stock and trade. On the income side we use unpublished value added data from CSO at basic prices for a range of industries which are augmented with import duties and other taxes (less subsidies) on goods and services to arrive at GDP at market prices. We add the residual between GDP from the income and the expenditure side to changes in stocks. In doing so, we adopt the GDP estimates from the income side as the benchmark. Intermediate inputs and gross value of production (shares) are available from further unpublished CSO data for the financial year 2006/7. Macro data for foreign primary income and current transfer flows (revenue as well as payment) for the factors of production and private and public sector respectively are available from the Balance of Payment. Current transfer receipts by the government appear to include the full SACU transfers. The GDP accounting, on the other hand, seems to include the import duty component of the SACU transfers. It therefore makes sense to subtract the import duty component from the full SACU transfers of the BoP in order to avoid double counting. For the same reason, government's own collection of import duties (by BURS, discussed below) is subtracted from the current transfer payments by the government (to the Rest of the World) as we would otherwise double count payments made by government to South Africa for revenues collected on behalf of SACU.For more detail on government income and expenditure in the SAM we use data from: Ministry of Finance's Cash Flow Statements (CCFS)  Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS)We start using this public sector data by exploring the revenue side. We first consider income taxes. As the consolidated cash flow statement does not make a clear distinction between corporate and personal income, we use the sum of \"mineral tax\" and \"non-mineral income tax\" as our lower level control total for the sum of the SAM's \"corporate tax\" and \"personal income tax\". We then use BURS' Annual Report 2008 (Table 4) for a breakdown into corporate and personal income tax.Income from royalties and dividends is available from the CCFS and we allocate this to government income from enterprises so that it is recorded separately from corporate tax income discussed above.Total government expenditure is available from the national accounts. In the CCFS the amount is somewhat higher but the expenditure by functional classification which is available as a separate document in the same web link as the CCFS, shows expenditure on \"economic services\" and \"revenue support\". We assume that what is labelled as \"recurrent\" are values of government transfers to enterprises and households respectively. By subtracting this from the total recurrent government expenditure as reported in the CCFS we get to a total for government expenditure for goods and services (including wages and salaries) that is very close to what is reported in the national accounts.The above covers most of the public sector entries in a Macro SAM. In order to balance the public sector Macro SAM account, we calculate government savings as the residual. This results in a value for government savings that is about 3 times higher than the surplus that is recorded in the CCFS. The difference is however, very close to what is recorded as \"development expenditure\" in the CCFS which suggests that this refers to capital expenditure. Thus, we equate government savings with the sum of the government savings as recorded in the CCFS and what is recorded as \"development expenditure\" in the CCFS.We can now proceed with compiling the rest of the 2007 macro SAM for Botswana. In doing so we encountered, a number of inconsistencies between the data sources used. For example, there is a difference between total exports and imports from the BoP and the expenditure side of the national accounts and between the latter and value added for the main sectors. Moreover, the public sector accounts are not consistent with the BoP's foreign transfer receipts. In the macro SAM format we enforce consistency by selecting appropriate balancing entries. For our purposes these are:  domestic commodity supply: derived from the activity's production costs  dividend payouts to households, assuming corporate taxes and government ownership (as discussed above) and an assumed corporate savings rate of 50%  household savings  government savings  foreign savings A final 2007 Macro SAM for Botswana is shown in the next table. The rest of this section broadly explains the source of each macro SAM entry and how it is disaggregated to arrive at the micro SAM. The notation for SAM entries is (row, column) and the values are in millions of 2007 Botswana Pula. The final disaggregated SAM is quite large and is therefore included in an accompanying workbook file. This is the value of total marketed output (i.e., the \"supply\" matrix). Since all output is assumed to be supplied to markets, this value is equivalent to gross output, where the latter is the sum of intermediate inputs and GDP at basic prices (which is equal to factor costs in our case since there are no indirect taxes on production). The 2004 SAM distinguishes between 25 commodities (see Table A1 in Appendix A). Note that some industries produce more than one commodity. This results in a few off-diagonal entries in the supply matrix.iv. 6 Government, 2 Commodities: 6,652While the macro SAM shows only a single row and column for the government account, this cell entry actually consists of a number of distinct tax accounts. These include value-added tax (VAT), subsidies on products, other excise taxes, and import tariffs. The final commodity tax entries in the 2007 SAM for Botswana consist of two indirect taxes: (1) import tariffs and (2) sales taxes. These taxes are derived by applying tax rates from the 1996/7 SAM and scaled to the Macro SAM control totals. Tax collected is distributed across import duties and sales tax based on the ratio of imports to domestic demand. There are no product taxes on services in the 1996/7 SAM. As a result the 2007 SAM has no import duties or sales tax on services. While the former is obvious, the latter is a serious omission which requires further attention in future but is outside the scope here.  vii. 5 Households,3 Factors: 19,735 Households receive factor incomes directly from labour (not from capital as that is all transferred to enterprises). The total value of these receipts is taken from the 2007 National Accounts. A small share is allocated to the RoW for non-resident workers. This share is based on data taken from the Bank of Botswana's Balance of Payment Analysis.Disaggregation of labour (skilled and unskilled) and of household categories [urban/rural as well as the categories wage earner, self-employed (broadly) and other income] is achieved by using shares from the 2002/3 SAM. Inconsistencies are eliminated by means by biproportional scaling, see below for further discussion on this issue.This entry represents the gross outflow to the RoW of the rewards for the factors of production. Total income and expenditure of all factors of production was taken from the 2007 National Accounts. The breakdown between capital and labour and the components of the latter was discussed in ii above. The proportion that flows to the RoW is based on data taken from the Bank of Botswana's Balance of Payment Analysis.These are transfers from enterprises to households and they are derived as a residual. The disaggregation of these transfers amongst household categories is based on shares from the 2002/3 SAM.x.6 Government,4 Enterprises: 14,711 Since this is a Macro SAM we do not at this stage make a distinction between government income received from enterprise surpluses in which they may have a stake and corporate tax income. Part of this entry comprises of mineral royalties and other forms of property income as well as mineral tax all taken from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Budget Tables (CCFS).Enterprise savings in the Macro SAM are calculated as an assume 50% of their gross income.Household expenditure on goods and services is available from the 2007 National Accounts and broken down into various income categories (urban low/medium low / medium high and high, urban villages and rural households and types of goods and services using shares from the 2002/3 SAM.This entry represents personal income tax and is taken from the Ministry of Finance The current account surplus balances out the external and the savingsinvestment accountsGiven the above Macro SAM for Botswana, we proceed with additional comments on the expansion of various accounts. We first discuss the expenditure components, followed by trade, value added by activity, taxes on products and margins and finally the Supply and Use matrix. This is followed by a section on how a Micro SAM for Botswana was balanced.We use the 2002/3 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data indirectly, available from a 2002/3 SAM for Botswana (Thurlow, 2007). This SAM is an update and expansion of the 1996/7 SAM with HIES data for a range of households and labour categories. The basic mapping that we adopt is show in Appendix A. A number of ad-hoc adjustment are also made:  Mining in the 2002/3 SAM is assumed to be coal.  The 2002/3 SAM does not identify transport equipment. This commodity is important for Gross Domestic Investment and it then makes sense to identify it in household expenditure as well. The expectation is that households will spend a proportion of their budget on \"Personal Transport Equipment\" as is suggested by the CSO (2004) HIES report. We use the relevant (rather low) value and subtract it from the 2002/3 SAM' household expenditure on machinery and equipment. Household expenditure on financial services in the 2002/3 SAM is very low compared the value added data discussed below, while expenditure on business services is very high. Moreover, the 2002/3 SAM does not identify household expenditure on \"recurring housing costs\" which we would like to introduce in the 2007 SAM as household expenditure on \"dwellings\" as this service was also identified in the 1996/7 SAM. We use data from the CSO ( 2004) HIES report and subtract this from business services to balance out.  We want to make a distinction between domestic and personal services while the 2002/3 SAM uses an aggregate. We obtain the control total from the latter and use the breakdown from the 1996/7 SAM. The result is a single vector of household expenditure for 32 commoditiesOur aim is to disaggregate government expenditure into goods and services. Along the lines of previous SAMs, we identify three relevant categories, i.e., government services (as this will be produced by a dedicated production activity of the same name), health and education.For the latter two we use the 2006/7 and 2007/8 expenditure data by functional classification using the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Budget Tables (CCFS) and we then calculate government services as the residual after accounting for the transfers to enterprises and households.We use unpublished CSO investment demand data as shown in the following table Table 2: Gross Domestic Fixed Investment, 2007 (Pula millions) Shares of activities' change in stocks are also available from the unpublished CSO source but in the final instance these will be co-determined by means of ad-hoc adjustment so that they can serve as a residual between demand and supply of goods and services for selected commodities (see discussion below).Trade data in the SAM consists of data for trade in commodities and trade in services. Both are discussed separately in turn below:Commodities trade: We use external trade statistics from Botswana's CSO (2010) for exports and imports of commodities at the 2 digit level of Harmonised System classification. These The mapping from HS2 to our SAM commodities is shown in Appendix C. A number of adhoc adjustments had to be made to satisfy balancing conditions typical for the CGE model that we aim to operate with the 2007 Botswana SAM. Re-exports are not modelled in the CGE framework and consequently we have to make sure that exports of any commodity or service is smaller than domestic supply. This is not the case for petroleum fuels as it is not produced in Botswana (at least not according to the old SAMs and the more recent value added statistics). Hence exports of petroleum fuels that is identified in the trade data is eliminated and imports are reduced by the same amount. In the case of textiles, clothing and footwear, the situation is more complex in that local production has been identified in the value added statistics and has recently even been revised upwards. In spite of the upward revision, exports are much higher than local supply. We do not know the extent of re-exports so we decided to adjust exports down until we meet the condition of domestic supply being larger than exports.Services trade: There is considerably less data available on services trade than there is on commodity trade. We rely on a combination of data from the Bank of Botswana Balance of Payment (BoP) Analysis (trade in transport, travel and other services), World Development Indicators (disaggregating \"other services\" into \"financial services\" and \"other services\") and the 1996/7 SAM for disaggregation of services trade. Mappings for the latter are presented in Appendix C. Along similar lines as discussed above with regard to textiles, clothing and footwear, we scale trade in accommodation down both on the import and export side, in order to ensure that domestic supply is not larger than exports of accommodation as reported by the BoP.We use Value Added from unpublished CSO records for 32 activities. The same source also offer intermediate inputs as well as gross output for a similar number of activities spanning the financial year 2006/07. Although not quite the same period, we assume shares to have remained constant and we apply them to our 2007 reference year. The additional availability of intermediate inputs and gross output is useful as we would have otherwise had to estimate these two variables using shares from previous SAMs. In this way, we account for some structural change that may not have been captured if we relied solely on the old SAMs.As will be discussed earlier, the estimate of value added and gross output in particular for textiles, clothing and footwear remains problematic. The reason is that trade data suggests that more is exported than is produced locally. Re-estimation of GDP is currently taking place at CSO and preliminary estimates have been made available for our purposes. The latest estimates show that GDP of the textiles, clothing and footwear activity to be twice as high as initially estimates. Although this will not solve the inconsistency with the trade data discussed above, we will take this new estimate into account by proportionally scaling GDP of the other manufacturing sectors back. In this way we maintain overall consistency with manufacturing's total value added.Disaggregation of value added into (a single type of) labour, capital and mixed income is based on the 1996/7 SAM.Treatment of aggregate SACU transfers and import duties was discussed above. The Ministry of Finance's fiscal accounts (CCFS) reports totals for import duties and sales tax respectively while the 1996/7 SAM shows the sum of both as product tax but there it is broken down by commodity. There is no product tax on services in the 1996/7 SAM. Since there is no other information currently available we apply the 1996/7 SAM product tax rates to 2007 imports plus domestic supply values while forcing consistency with the aggregate totals for import duties and sales tax as discussed earlier by means of proportional scaling.The Supply and Use matrix coefficients are initially taken from the 1996/7 Botswana SAM and applied to the gross output estimates described above.Trade margins are derived from the 1996/7 SAM and applied to the absorption data described above. No distinction is made at this stage between margins on domestic trade, exports and imports. The last two represent margins to move goods to and from the border. Further disaggregation of margins into those associated with domestic trade, imports and exports will be discussed below Balancing the SAM Given all the above, we can now line the supply and demand for commodities up and check for overall consistency in the goods market. For each commodity identified in the SAM, total domestic supply plus imports, taxes on goods and services and margins must equal the sum of intermediate and final demands. The latter consists of household and government expenditures on goods and services, demand for investment goods, changes in stocks and exports.Our initial adjustment for any inconsistencies between demand and supply is to make ad-hoc modification to changes in inventories. An additional check is to make sure that domestic supply remains larger than exports (as discussed earlier). We make additional adjustments to domestic supply, in particular where changes in inventories are technically not possible.Full consistency of commodity demand and supply is then achieved by making intermediate demand the final residual. Since we have made adjustments to domestic supply and given the existing Supply Matrix, gross value of production by activity will now have changed. Then, while keeping activity value added constant, intermediate inputs by activities must now adjust and together with changes to intermediate demand by commodity, biproportional scaling of the Use Matrix is applied to achieve final consistency of the SAM.So far, we have prepared data inputs to create a balanced 2007 SAM for Botswana which only identifies a single type of labour, a single type of household and aggregate trading margins. Disaggregation of these variables is conducted in a subsequent phase in which we make use of the 2002/3 SAM. The latter is based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) for 2002/3. Similar to the 1996/7 SAM, the main disaggregation of household income and expenditure is along geographic lines of towns and cities (labelled as urban areas in the 2002/3 SAM, see Thurlow, 2007) and rural with a further disaggregation into income classes for households in urban areas. The income classes are based on those used in the HIES but are presented in our SAM in terms of 2002/3 income bands as Low (bottom 2 deciles), Medium Low (deciles 2-5), Medium High (declines 6-8) and High (top decile). Household expenditure, savings and direct taxes is initially distributed across these income classes according to the 2002/3 SAM (described by Thurlow, 2007) which is based on unit record data from the HIES.Labour income is disaggregated into 5 skill/occupation categories. As is the case in the 2002/3 SAM, we identify professionals, admin and managers, clerical, skilled manual workers and unskilled workers. Initial attempts to use the Labour Force Survey for the year 2005/6 were abandoned due to lack of sufficient detail in the available publications at the time of this SAM's construction.The shares of labour income from the Rest of the World across skill/occupation groups is based on average labour income shares while the shares of household payments and receipts to and from the rest of the world is based on average household expenditures and income respectively. Other shares such as household income received from the enterprises and the government and direct taxes and savings are based on 2002/3 SAM proportions.A final round of biproportional scaling is required to line wage earnings by occupation up to wage earnings by household category. The starting point here is the 2002/3 SAM shares.Trade and transport margins are disaggregated into those on domestic trade, exports and imports using the values of trade (less taxes) for the respective components.We examine the economic structure of the Botswana economy through the lens of the newly estimated 2007 Micro SAM by compiling the following set of tables. Table 2 reports macro variables of the 2007 SAM for Botswana. GDP is estimated to be P76 billion. Note that changes in inventories has been used as a residual in the GDP calculations and represents about 10% of total GDP. The stand-out feature of the table is that exports are 25% higher than imports. Government expenditure on goods and services is about 20% and fixed investment about 24% of GDP The distribution of the components of value added at basic prices across industries is shown in Table 4. The first six columns of the table refer to professionals, managers and administrators, clerical workers, skilled manual workers and unskilled workers respectively. Note with 34% the dominant contribution to GDP by diamond mining, followed by copper mining with 9%. The rest of the goods producing activities only contribute about 7% to GDP. Government accounts for about 16% of GDP.Almost two thirds of highly skilled labour is employed (in terms of wage earnings) by the public sector. Other occupations also show greater dependence on the public sector in terms of wage earnings than the total contribution to GDP. The reason is that the mining industry is more capital intensive than other industries as can be seen in 4 th and 5 th entry of the second last column which makes other activities relatively less important. Construction, trade and hospitality require relatively high inputs from managers. Trade accounts for the high share of clerical workers' earnings. Table 5 reports on the distribution of activities' costs between primary and intermediate inputs. Note the relatively low share of intermediates in diamond mining. Other mining activities appear to be somewhat closer connected to the domestic economy and this is even more so for manufacturing activities. Moving on to household income, the next table reports its sources. Relatively high shares of transfers by government are reported for low income urban households and rural households.From the first column it would appear that professional occupations are not only highly represented amongst high income urban households but also households in urban villages and rural areas.As expected, incomes earned by managers play less of a role in urban villages and rural households. In urban areas, income from enterprises represent a large share of household income for all except low income households and current transfer income from outside the country shows a similar bias.  ","tokenCount":"4410"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1571543676.json b/data/part_1/1571543676.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b647bd268cb5141896e3f5a9488106c15d7b0b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1571543676.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de7bfbf8399bcca04b2c9092c54a47cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e17a7eb8-3f23-48bf-a4b1-9504ebf2dc5a/retrieve","id":"-1218440769"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71c79a70-f140-452a-a15c-b432472c46d2","pagecount":"12","content":"El objetivo b&sico de la investigación agrlcola es generar tecnologlas que puedan ser usada s por los agricultores. Las nuevas tecnologtas serán usadas sólo en la medida en que solucionen los problemas reales de los agricultores y ello dentro de su marco de restricciones técnicas, económicas y culturales. Dentro de este contexto es obviamente necesa rio un conocimiento de las circunstancias de la producción de frijol y de los objetivos de los productores, el cua l se pretende l ograr por medio de \"estudios de diagnóstico\" realizados en regiones donde se cultiva frijol.Aún cuando existen diversas formas de realizar un estudio diagnóstico de la producción agrtcola, entre los cuales podrían mencionarse los métodos del CATIE y del CIMMYT , no se pretende en este documento ha cer una recopilación de ellos ni tampoco un tratado sobre el tema. El objetivo es condensar la metodología sugerida y practicada en los cursos nacionales e internacionales sobre investigación en fincas real izadas por el Programa de Frijol del CIAT, y usada en sus trabajos regulares como una guía para l os investi gadores de frijol.Objetivos del diagnóstico l.Aportar criterios para el diseño y ejecución de ensayos de nueva tecnologta de frijol en fincas de agricu ltores.2. Llevar información a los centros de investigación que ayude a definir prioridades de investigación en frijol.El co nocimi ento de l as prácticas actuales de producción y la compren s1on de su racionalidad son esenciales para definir las alternativas tecnológicas aptas para el agricultor.Mucha investigación ha demostrado que sus pr&cticas actuales no son improv i saciones al azar y generalmente representan adaptaciones l ógicas a su situación y a sus recursos. Un ejemplo de ello es el tradicional sistema de siembra usado en Costa Rica, denominado \"tapado\", una forma de siembra al voleo sobre suelo enmalezado. De spués de la siembra viene el corte o \"chapiado\" de la maleza para cubrir con ella la semilla y de alll hasta l a cosecha no real izan ninguna otra pr&ctica. Este sistema no produce altos rendimientos pero tiene un alto retorno a la mano de obra , evita erosión del suelo y disminuye l a diseminación de mustia hilachosa al actuar como co lchón.Otro ejemplo de la lógica de las prácticas tradicionales de los agricultores que podría mencionarse es el uso de mezclas de semillas en la provincia de Chota en Perú: La producción de frijol es eminentemente dirigi da al autoconsumo. Se usa una mezcla de arbustivos y volubles de diferentes colores, formas, tamaños y pertodos vegetati vos . Esta mezcla, además de la protección ante variaciones imprevi stas en las condfciones climáticas y de sus efectos co l aterales sobre incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, provee a la familia campesina de frijol verde , que es la forma de consumo habitual, durante un buen tiempo, por la amplia gama de períodos vegetativos que involucra la mezcla usada (desde 120 hasta 240 d1as). Si bien l os rendimientos son bajos, es posible que las mezclas estén asegurando un rendimiento mínimo y satisfaciendo además el gusto o la necesidad de la familia campesina de alimentos en estado verde. Introducir tecnologías que aumenten los rendimientos creando excedentes para el mercado podría resultar ineficiente hasta tanto no se homogen i ce un poco el tipo de grano que le permita competir en el mercado. Homogenizar el tipo de grano significa reducir la protección que han creado ante riesgos climáticos y sanitarios y quizás forzar sus hábitos de consumo, por lo cual sería una alternativa tecnológica no deseable para ellos.Por ello la estrategia óptima es comenzar desde la base de la tecnología actual de los agricultores, haciendo cambios marginales a ella, donde las ventajas de las nuevas opciones tecnológicas sean coherentes con el criterio del agricultor y no de los investigadores. Esto sólo se puede lograr conociendo y comprendiendo la racionalidad de las prácticas del agricultor.El proceso comprende una serie de pasos que se enumeran a continuación y que se tratarán en detalle posteriormente.l . Identificación de zonas productoras de frijol.2. Identificación y evaluación del grado de conocimiento existente sobre los problemas que enfrenta la producci6n de frijol en el área de estudio.3. Definición de la informaci6n que debe recogerse para formular el diagnóstico.4. Definici6n de l as herramientas de diagn6stico.5. Diseño de la encuesta .6. Di l igenciamiento de la encuesta.7. Análisis de la encuesta .8. Elaboración del diagnó stico. 9. Identificación de limitaciones.10. Definición de estudios especiales.l. Identificación de zonas productoras de frijol En un país o región pueden existir, y de hecho existen, varias regiones productoras de frijol cuya importancia puede estar definida en términos de uso de recursos o de destino de la producción . La selección de una zona u otra está determinada por el tipo de impacto que se pretenda alcanzar, tal como: mejorar ingresos, aumentar el consumo rural, reducir riesgo, mejorar la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos, etc. Cual quiera que sea el tipo de i mpa cto bu scado , es fundamental que en las fincas de la zona en cuestión se tenga el cultivo de frijol como una actividad frecuente y cotidiana. La metodol og ía aquí de sc rita no es aplicable para di señar tecnología para zonas nueva s en l a producci ón de frijol.2. Evaluación de l grado de conoc imiento sobre l as circunstan cias de la producción de frijol en el área de estudio Antes de procede r a visitar las fincas frijoleras es importante realizar los siguientes pasos:a. Rev isión de estudi os disponibles sob re la región o regiones simil ares (tes i s de grado, i nfonnes de las asociaciones de agricultores, cooperativa s y entidades na ciona l es).Nota: Esta informa ción debe ser utilizada con precaución , pues TOS cambios tecnológicos generan una dinámica propia , por lo cual los datos di spo nibles pueden ser obsoletos en el momento de la revisión.b. Compil aci ón de datos agroclimáticos di sponibles.e. Co nta ctos con personas expertas en aspectos agríe o 1 as de 1 a reg 1on: agrónomos, ex t ens i oni s tas , prácti cos agrícolas , mej oradoras de hogar, directi vos de bancos de crédito agrícola , vendedores de insumo , etc. Nota: No ol vidar qu e el cri ter io con el cual el expertohace un diagnóstico de la situación podría estar sesgado por:El objetivo prop io de su t rabajo {Ej .: supervisores de crédito) .El tipo de agricultores que atiende (Ej. : agricultores con recursos superiores o inferiores al promedio .Recorr ido preliminar por la región -Este recorrido debe incluir charlas i nformales con algunos agri cul to res fri joleros que ayuden a defi nir los puntos que deberán ser incluidos co n más detalle en las co nver sac iones formales que se tendrán posteriormente . Estos sondeos pueden ser real i zados por grupos multidi sci plina ri os .El tipo de informac i ón a recoger está determind do dentro del s iguientea . El frijol es un cultivo importante en la zona.b. Se va n a diseñar ensayos de nu eva tecnología de fri jol para rea l izarlos en las fincas de agri cu l tores . c . No se tiene i nformación detallada, actua li zada y confiable sobre la prod ucc ión de frijol en la zona.d.La cantidad de información a recoger debe guardar un equilibrio entre ser lo su fi cientemente completa para que informe lo necesario y lo suficientemente concreta para no fatigar al agricultor.e . Se pretende recoger y procesar 1 a información en formaDentro de este contexto y de acuerdo a los objetivos especHicos definidos inicialmente, la información necesaria a obtener es:del agricultor en el cultivo de frijol y su porqué .Fecha y método de siembra; nivel de uso de insumos; sistema de siemb ra; variedades sembradas .El conocer las prácticas y las razones, permite conocer la lógi ca de sus decisiones y definir una tecnología base a partir de la cual se proyecten cambios marginales.Los observados por el encuestador en el cultivo; Los mencionados por el agricultor. Incl uye todo tipo de prob l emas y no sólo agrobiológicos.Por ejemplo: problemas para conseguir la semilla o para vender el frijo 1.Este tema es esencial en la encuesta , pues orienta sobre l as áreas o puntos que pueden ser solucionados con ensayos en fincas o remitidos a los centros de investigación.Recursos del agricultorse utilizan en el frijol; cuáles se utilizan en otros cu ltivos.Esta información ayuda a definir la factibilidad de las soluciones tanto en términos de recursos como de la orientación que e 1 agricultor hace de e 11 os de acuerdo a 1 a importancia relativa de los cultivos y actividades de la finca. Dos ejemplos ayudan a aclarar esta afirmaci ón: En Antioquia, Colombia, una región con alto uso de insumos en frij ol, se ensayó una tecnología de uso de pesticidas específicos para antracnosis, enfermedad identificada como problema en la zona. Al cabo de tres años de ensayos en fincas , la mitad de los agricultores habían incorporado a sus ｰ ｲ ｾ ｣ ｴ ｩ ｣ ｡ ｳ ＠ el nuevo fungicida. Esta tecnología tenía opción por cuanto: a) fumigar el frijol era desde antes, una práctica cotidiana; b) el agricultor dispone de un ingreso monetario que le genera la venta de sus productos; e) el frijol es un cultivo importante en términos de uso de recursos de la finca . Un caso bien diferente lo constituyen los agricultores de Chota, donde el fri jol es una actividad marginal en términos de capital, mano de obra, tierra, insumas químicos, y su producción está destinada al consumo de la finca, todo lo cual 1 imita cualquier tecnología que requiera egreso s monetarios .Co nceptos del agricultor Características de las variedades semb radas y dejadas de sent>rar; cambios en su sistema y razo nes para los camb ios; raz ones de sus prácticas actuales; razones del uso de mezcla s varietales .Conocer 1 os co nceptos de 1 agri cu 1 tor es parte de 1 proceso de entender su lóg i ca y las restricciones que enfrenta. Por ejemplo, en regiones de pequeños agricultores a veces se encuentra que los controles de malezas son insuficientes y el fri jol debe competir con ellas. Ensayar las desye rbas como una opción tecnológica sería aparentemente adecuado, no obstante en muchos casos las malezas no se destruyen porque son usadas para el pastoreo del ganado cuando se ha cosechado el cultivo, y su de strucción no tendría sentido para el agri cultor , quien neces i ta alimentar sus anima l es.e.Papel del frijol en la finca Cultivo principal o secundario; destino de l frij ol: mercado -consumo; rotaci ones ; otros cultivos de la finca .Si el frijol es un cultivo principal o secundario, puede ser medido en términos de área relativa , uso de recursos, destino de la producción. Todo ello determina la opción de una nueva t ecnolo gía. Aquí se podrían me nci onar muchos ejemplos. Ta l es el caso del sistema maíz -fri jol en Chota, donde la densidad encontrada en frijol fue muy ba ja en términos agronómicos, pero es quizás l a deseable en térm inos del ma íz cuya ｩ ｭ ｰ ｯ ｲ ｴ ｡ ｮ ｣ ｩ ｴ ｾ ＠ en el consumo, medida como cantidad y frecuencia de consumo, es mayor que la de frij ol . Es posible que para los agricultores no sea deseable incrementar los rendimiento s de frijol a expensas del maíz. Ello, no obstante, no es uné:l situación estática. En Marinilla, Colomb ia, hasta hace 5 o 6 años el maíz era el producto importante del sistema maíz frijol en relevo, ampliamente difundido en la zona. Pero hoy en día el frijo l, ha cobrado tanta importancia, hasta el punto de llegar al monocultivo de frijo l desplazando en esta forma al ma íz. Esta s ituación debida a cambios en precios y tecnología, muestra que los estudios de diagnóstico tienen una vigencia limitada.El destino del fri jol, como se planteó anteriormente, puede defin ir opciones tecnológicas en cuanto a: Variedades : Aceptables pa ra mercado o para consumo de la finca. Uso de insumas: Altamente improbable su adopción por los agricultores de autocons umo . Uso de otros productos: Crédito, asistencia técnica, mano de obra.Pueden ser opciones no aptas para agricultores de autoconsumo.El estudio de diagnó stico NO se propone: a.Estimar costos de producción de frijol o de otros cultivos; b.Describir y analizar otros cultivos o actividades; c . Cuantificar las rel aciones entre el frijol y otros cultivos o actividades de la finca.limitaciones de l estudio de diagnóstico:a.No se obtiene informaci ón sobre toda la finca; b.No se profundiza en un prob lema en particular; c.No cuantifica el desempeño económico del cultivo ni la participación de los factores.Es tos aspectos deberán ser cubiertos posteriormente en forma para l el a al desenvolvimiento de los ensayos en fincas.Una vez concretada la zona y habiendo logrado un conocimiento general de el la y de los temas específicos a investi gar sobre la producción de frijol, se elabora una lista de los puntos que ､ ･ ｢ ･ ｲ ｾ ｮ ＠ ser estudiados y sobre los cuale<; se debe recoger información. Para recoger esta información es necesa rio visitar los cultivos y hablar con los agricultores. Tanto las observaciones agrobiológicas del cultivo como la conversación deben ajustarse a una lista de preguntas que se formulará sistemáticamente a todos los entrevistados y cuyas respuestas deben ser consignadas también sistemáticamente. Esto implica llevar una lista de preguntas o una encuesta. Algunas personas se incl inan hacia las entrevistas informales donde las preguntas y respuestas se retienen en la memoria del entrevistador y se consignan después de la entrevista en un cuestionario. Este método busca hacer ｭ ｾ ｳ ＠ espontánea la relación con el agricultor, lo cual se espera refl eje mejor información. Nuestra experiencia en este campo nos muestra que la lista de preguntas para hacer un estudio de diagnóst i co consta de 70 pregun tas como mínimo, sin contar las observaciones de campo. Parece difícil entonces retener todas las respuestas en la memoria . Por otra parte, este método corre el riesgo de orientar la conversación hacia temas sob re cuya importancia pueda el entrevistador tener un preconcepto o sesgo, o incurrir en ol vidos y confusiones . Por estas razones preferimos la encuesta como herramienta para recoger la información.En los estudios de di agnóstico real izados po r el Programa de Economía de Frijol del CIAT, en Colombia, y en colaboración con las entidades nacionales de i nvestigaci ón de Perú, Argentina , Costa Rica y Guatemala, se ha empleado siempre un cuestionario formal, sin encontrar tropiezos en l a re l ación con el agricultor, lo cual respalda aún más el empleo de la encuesta como herramienta en la recolección de información .Varios tipos de encuestas pueden ser concebidos para obtener el diagnóstico de la producc ión. En este caso concreto en que queremos tener un diagnóstico de las circunstancias de la producción y de los productores de frijol para diseñar ensayos en fincas, partimos de una \"encuesta preliminar\". Evitar sesgos en la información * Preguntas sobre ingreso, tenencia de la tierra, utilización de crédito estatal y asistencia técnica en etapas iniciales pueden llevar a deformar datos sobre recursos e insumos empleados.De acuerdo a los objetivos de la encuesta \"exploratoria\", el tipo de preguntas a utilizar son fundamentalmente:Preguntas abiertas: Ej.: Cuales son los cultivos de su finca? Prei!i)ntas conceptua 1 es:Porqué cambió sie ra? Porqué usa fertilizantes? de sistema de Las preguntas dirigidas son poco usada s a este nivel de la encuesta \"exploratoria\" porque generalmente se desconocen las diferentes alternativas, lo cual impide precisar las preguntas.Con el f in de obtener la mejor información y reducir el riesgo de fatiga para el agricultor entrevistado, se hace necesa rio 6.definir, al elaborar el cuestionari o, qué datos se pueden obtener de l agricultor, del lote de cultivo y/o de ambos. Esto a su vez define dos sistemas de obtención de la información.Observación del cultivo de la finca Nota: La observación de campo no excluye preguntas al agricultor sobre cuáles son sus problemas en la producción de frijol en razón a que éstos pueden variar entre años y en concepción; as í pro blemas que lo son para el técnico, pueden no serlo para el agricultor y viceversa. Esto es especialmente importante de tener en cuenta ya que se corre el riesgo de llevar t ecnologías que corri gen problemas que no l o son , y que por l o tanto tienen pocas probabilidades de ser adaptadas. En la sección de Economía de Frijol del CIAT, se encuentra disponible un modelo de encuesta exploratori a . Si se requiere puede ser solicitado por escrito por l a institución interesada.Este punto cubre tres aspectos : a. Entrenamiento de encuestadores; b. prueba de la encuesta; c. selección de los agricultores.a. Entrenamiento de l os encue stadores Es importante definir quiénes deben ser ios en cuestadores . Po r razones del fin principal que se persigue, cua l es, el de rea lizar ensayos de nueva tecnología de fri ju1 E: r fincas de agricultores, se cree necesario que los en cue stadores S<:an personas que estén trabajando directa o ind i rectam ente en fri jol, e idealmen te aquellas quienes va n a tomar las decisiones sob re el tipo de tecnología a ensayar a nivel de fi nca , pa ra buscar so luci ones a los problemas identificados en su diagnóstico.De no ser así, el tiempo emp l eado en instruirlos sobre identificación de problemas agrobiológi cos sería mayor y la captación de la problemática de l cultivo sería quizá menor.La exp li cación sobre l a estructura de la encuesta; la explicación sobre el ob jetivo de ca da pregunta (según el instructivo previdmente elaborado ) ; la instrucción sobre la forma de abordar al agricultor, que comprende: * * Introducción: Debe ser corta, convincente y veraz; en ella debe informarse al agri cultor para qué se está haciendo esta entrevista y que sus re spuestas van a ser anotadas en el cuestionario. Si el agricultor no acepta la entrevista, está en su derecho y se buscarán otros agricultores .Si acepta, el proceso de encuestar se facilita porque de antemano se han definido y ac l arado los propósitos y proced imi entos.Es aconsejable, pero nunca ha sido indi spensable, hacerse acompañar por algu i en conocido en la zona, pero quien no introduzca sesgos en l as respuestas.Usar sus términos y adaptarse a sus unidades de medidas.El encuestador deberá formular las preguntas con un lengua je comprensible para el agri cultor. No debe leer textual mente las preguntas del cuestionario, sino formularlas en l a forma y con el l enguaje coherente pa ra el entrevi stado. En general la forma como están escritas las preguntas en el cuestionario no puede ser l a misma como se le formulan al agricultor, por problemas de espacio . Le corresponde al encuestador adaptarlas a una forma que enca je dentro de la conversación que lleva con el agricultor y en los términos usados por él. Suministrar un glosario de términos regiona les a los encuestadores es muy útil.Es frecuente que los agricultores tengan m edidas di stintas a las comúnme nte manejadas por l os investigadores. El área, por ejemplo, parece ser secundaria y su principal parámetro de medida es la cantidad de semilla. El rendimiento, la cantidad de ma no de obra utilizada, la extensión del l ote, la ca ntidad de fert ilizantes son comúnmente expresados en términos de la canti dad de semilla: Ej.: Una lata de frijol por kilo de semi lla, un bulto de abono orgánico po r pucha de sembradura, etc . Conocer su sistema de 1nedida y sus términos aumenta la comprensión de la información suministrada y mejora la comunicación con el agricultor. * Actitud: Hablar con el agricultor como pe rsonas 1 nteresados en aprender de su experiencia y no como depositarios de la tecnología .Lo actitud de quien re a 1 iza 1 a encuesta deberá ser,escuchar, entender y preguntar son sus funciones cono encuestador.Formular, aconsejar o desaprobar prácticas del agricultor no lo son y deberán eliminarse durante la entrevi sta.Cuardo el agricultor atiende a un entrevistador ･ ｳ ｴ ｾ ＠ gastando su tiempo y en algunos casos espera una retribución. Por el lo, esta situación en algunas ocasiones genera en el encuestador la creencia de que es necesario hacer ofrecimientos a cambio de la información. Una introducción donde se ilustra al agricultor sobre l os propósitos de nuestra visita deberá obviar este tipo de situaciones. Si no se logró en la introducción, durante el curso de la entrevista se deberá volver a man ifestar al agricultor que su información será útil para detectar problemas y encontrar soluciones que en un futuro se ensayarán en las fincas de la región.Prueba de la encuesta Despuls de haber realizado las primeras encuestas {8 o 10 ) es necesario evaluar su desempeño en base a:Si el orden de las preguntas es correcto; si las preguntas responden a los objetivos fijados; si hay preguntas inadecuadas; si hay preguntas i rre 1 evantes ; si hay necesidad de introducir nuevas preguntas; si hay que modificar las preguntas.Una vez evaluada la encuesta, se introducen los cambios que sean necesarios.La selección de los agricultores y del número de ellos que deberán ser encuestados, depende de:El marco muestral; la homogeneidad de la población encuestada; el presupuesto y recursos disponibles.Si existe una lista de agricultores de frijol para la reg1on que se va a estudiar, se puede definir y seleccionar la muestra siguiendo las normas de muestreo. No obstante, es de esperar que las listas di sponibles pa ra pequeños agricultores, si las hay, no contengan el total de la población sinó que hagan referencia a grupos con características muy espectficas. Por ejemp lo: los que usan crldito, los que usan semilla comprada, los que reciben asistencia técnica, etc. Esto introduce sesgos graves y en este caso es más aconsejable desplazarse a la zona e ir entrevistando a los agricultores que tengan sembrado frijol tratando de cubri r varios puntos del área frijolera de la zona.El número de entrevistas depende de la vari abilidad en:Las prácticas y los sistemas de s iembra; las épocas de siembra; la incidencia e intensidad de problemas agrobiológicos; la disponibilidad de recursos; l as variedades sembradas; las condiciones de suelos y de clima entre fincas.Dado que el fin principal del diagnóstico es permitir diseñar y realizar ensayos de nueva tecnologta en fincas de agricultores, se hace necesario probar técnicas que puedan servir a un grupo amplio de agricu ltores. Esto es factible en la medida en que el diagnóstico haya identificado l os factores de variabilidad y los factores de homogeneidad entre ellos, que permitan definir \"dominios de recomendación\". Este término usado por CIMMYT hace referencia a: grupos de agricultores para quienes se puede hacer la misma recomendación .Und vez obtenida la información para 1a región en estudio, se procede a definir la factibilidad de agrupar las observaciones segú n características divergentes y que determinan tecnologías diferentes. Ejemplo, variedad sembrada: puede determinar hábito de crecimiento diferente , época de siembra y cosecha diferentes, uso de mano de obra y/o de otro s in sumas diferentes. Otro ejemplo podrta ser uso de crédito, que también puede determinar uso actual y futuro de diferentes opc i ones tecnológicas . Esta primera forma de agrupación de la información está básicamente determinada por el conocimiento global adquirido por las pe rsonas que realizaron la encuesta . En el curso del aná li sis se pueden definir nuevos criterios de agrupación , pero generalmente sor. subdiv isiones de l os definidos al iniciar el análisis de los datos .La sección de Economía de Frijol del CIAT dispone de los cuadros básicos que deberán obtenerse al procesar los datos de la encuesta exploratoria. Como se puede observar, se trata de un método sencillo y &gil que permite en corto tiempo procesar la información . Se obtienen promedios y porcentajes para vari ables simp l es y para cruces de variables . La institución interesada los puede obtener solicitandolos por escrito.Al fina li za r el procesamiento de la información se procede a analizar los datos y elabora r un diagnóst ico de la producció n que debe permitir cumplir con los objetivos específi cos definidos inicialmente:","tokenCount":"4102"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1579523527.json b/data/part_1/1579523527.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b4592002762ccd74424c0f1d9ec57740fcc26d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1579523527.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b298be0fbadc3ce1c4f36d5dbc02caac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3010fec6-f470-4b6f-97fa-25cba30640c7/retrieve","id":"-40171191"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"faf999ed-a50a-4f2e-8620-0a4492d208a2","pagecount":"32","content":"The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project is supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. IDA helps the world's poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Annual IDA commitments have averaged about $21 billion over circa 2017-2020, with approximately 61 percent going to Africa.The detrimental impact of hydro-meteorological risks on agriculture frequently leads to food insecurity, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Hence, the agriculture communities require climate-informed decision support tools that guide adaptation measures against climate change in the agriculture sector. The climate-informed crop capability prediction tool is one of these tools to benefit user community in making tactical and strategic decisions on inputs needed for agriculture and food security sectors as early as the crop-growing season.In this regard, regional partners 1 commissioned a series of studies to develop a crop capacity prediction tool in order to maximize agricultural productivity in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region while limiting the consequences of hydrometeorological risks on the food system. This tool can assist policymakers and user communities in making decisions on the most up-to-date crop capability based on projected seasonal climate data. However, for this tool to be operationalized and bring maximum impacts, roving training of trainers (ToT) workshops are required for agricultural yield prediction users, seasonal climate forecast (SCF) providers, researchers, and academics. The first of such ToT workshops was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, and the second one in Maputo, Mozambique, from 2-5 May 2023. Around 30 professionals who came from the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), the Ministry of Agriculture (MADER), Mozambique National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) and other relevant departments attended this session.This ToT workshop covered a wide range of topics, including providing a conceptual framework for the Climate Agriculture Modelling and Decision Tool (CAMDT) -Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) platform; the importance of seasonal climate forecast (SCF); a hands-on exercise in data management (quality control and missing values, as well as a specific template/format); data acquisition; model descriptions (assumptions and uncertainties); and model analysis (simulation and validation).Participants' feedback indicated that the model and its outputs were successfully transferred, resulting in proficiency with the tool for future applications. They also thought the training was extremely relevant and valuable to the user communities. Despite the availability of a user manual, participants preferred a simpler programme-assisted method so that individuals with less computer knowledge could run the model for immediate use and application.It was emphasized that complete implementation of the SFC-driven crop capability prediction model and its timely deployment will result in large savings considering the vital role agriculture plays in the area. Participants recommended that the model be improved by including local circumstances and cultivars. However, for this capacity-building programme to be successful and have a lasting impact, it needs the full support of pertinent national and regional organizations, projects, and governments in the area. More resources are also required to guarantee that developers continued to engage in model improvement and skill transfer within SADC and beyond.Climate information services (CIS) in agriculture provide critical information to agricultural institutions, input suppliers, local cooperatives, and community-based groups and assisting them in making practical, realistic, and relevant decisions in the face of climate change. Given the reality of extremes in climate variability and climate change, as well as the negative consequences for agriculture, it is critical to deploy crop intelligence tools, such as crop yield prediction models, to strengthen the sector's resilience to the impacts of climate change and variability. Crop growth simulation models have evolved into helpful tools for agricultural research and production syxssstems that benefit end users. User communities can, for example, use a Climate Agriculture Modelling and Decision Tool (CAMDT) linked Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) to correlate crop biological requirements to physical attributes of land in order to give management greater opportunities for enhanced agricultural planning.These models require climatic factors such as temperature, solar radiation, and precipitation, which all have an influence on crop growth and yield development. The models also require evolutions of these variables on a daily basis during the season. However, the majority of the publicly available seasonal climate forecasts (SCF) released by Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) and other Centres are provided in typically three-monthly means in tercile probabilities (for rainfall and temperature), i.e., below-normal (BN), nearnormal (NN), and above-normal (AN). Thus, SCFs alone could fall short of delivering highly relevant information for enhancing farm-level decisions and policy-level actions. As a result, the CAMDT-DSSAT (i.e., SCFs connected with crop simulation models) become crucial CISbased decision support tools to assist user communities to improve their strategic and tactical decisions so as to maximize benefits and minimize any climate-related risks in the growing season.It is worth mentioning that DSSAT has been used in over 174 countries for over 30 years by researchers, educators, consultants, extension agents, farmers, private industry, policy and decision makers, and many others. The DSSAT package includes 16 distinct crops, as well as software for evaluating and deploying crop models for various purposes. the DSSAT crop simulation modelling can also help to forecast the impacts of future global climate change, and can, therefore, contribute in the development of national adaptation and mitigation policies. Other policy challenges that might benefit from crop yield prediction modelling studies include yield projections, agribusiness planning, operations management, and the effects of management activities on environmental issues. User groups can also minimize losses due by unforeseen inter-annual climate variability by using CIS such as crop yield prediction modeling (CAMDT-DSSAT combination), and thereby maximize productivity more efficiently under conditions of favourable climatic patterns when these are predicted in advance.Despite significant advances in climate research and technology, smallholder farmers do not use the majority of the available weather and agrometeorological information, resulting in low agricultural productivity. To address this, the UNECA, in collaboration with its regional partners, commissioned a study to develop a set of simple and rigorous scientific tools that can be used to make evidence-based decision in agriculture planning and policy. The Wather and climate Information SERvice (WISER)-funded study took place in three southern African countries namely Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The study produced a tool for measuring crop capability in different agro-ecological zones, with the aim of improving agricultural production and food security. A group of relevant experts from the three countries' National Meteorology and Hydrology Services (NMHSs), Ministries responsible for Agriculture and their affiliated research institutes, and relevant departments from Academia endorsed the tool at a Validation Workshop held in Lilongwe, Malawi.This crop capability prediction tool is critical for increasing agricultural productivity, identifying yield deficits and surpluses with exceptional leads-time, and providing greater opportunity for nations to attain food security. This tool can also be used in the livestock sector. For example, if poor fodder production is predicted as a result of the drought, it may help farmers make evidence-based decisions to destock or purchase extra stock feed to sustain their animals through the dry season. This suggests that improved access, uptake, and use of CIS can reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers against the impacts of climate extremes and changes.In this context, training on how to utilize CIS effectively in decision-making processes is critical in order to limit the adverse effects of climate-induced risks; and enhance production under foreseen favourable climate conditions. This will yield enormous benefits to the economy. As a result, the Accelerating Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) in collaboration with UNECA-ACPC is building a cohort of CIS practitioners on CIS-Based Decision Support Tools to assist user communities in improving their decision in agricultural production systems. This is achieved by the organization of roving Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops in Zimbabwe followed by Mozambique. The specific objectives are to provide hands-on training on a modified CAMDT/DSSAT crop yield prediction model using a national data.Dr.Murombedzi of the ACPC welcomed all guests and participants to the workshop. In his welcoming remarks, he emphasized the significance of adopting CIS in addressing the impacts of climate change, with specific emphasis on the SADC region. He noted that the idea for this study arose during the 'Building Back Better' workshop conducted in October 2020 in Harare, Zimbabwe, in response to Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which had ravaged Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Dr Murombedzi stated that during that workshop, the late Minister of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement -Rtd. Air Marshall Perence Shiri, urged that UNECA and its partners to develop a decision support tool (DST) that would allow the government to make informed decision in the agriculture sector. In response, the crop capability prediction model was developed and subsequently validated. He further stated that UNECA would continue to engage with AICCRA in organizing such capacity building ToT workshop for enhanced operationalization of the CAMDT-DSSAT model by end-users.Dr. Solomon from AICCRA-ESA began his welcoming remarks by describing the functions of AICCRA and its partners. He informed that one of the objectives of AICCRA is to provide climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and CIS technologies to millions of African smallholder farmers. It operates in three sub-regions (West, Southern, and Eastern Africa) and three components (knowledge development, technology,and service sharing; partnership and capacity for delivery; CIS and CSA technology promotion, delivery for scaling methods for validated and customized CIS. AICCRA is grateful to the World Bank and other partners for their support in realizing its objectives. Specific to the workshop, he was happy with the model application including its potential in crop insurance scheme to hedge against agricultural output losses due to poor weather. In this context, AICCRA would continue to collaborate with regional partners and Digitron -the model's developer in the effort of enhancing forecasting capacities and crop capability prediction model/tool. Finally, he thanked all for coming to the ToT Workshop and wished them a successful hand-on training.Dr. Ernest Afiesimama of WMO-ROA thanked AICCRA and UNECA on their efforts in supporting capacity-building activities in the SADC region through ToT and creating the tool, respectively. This ToT workshop is of greater importance for the operationalization of the tool so that user communities could benefit from it. The WMO official stated that agriculture is the backbone of the African economy, and that such decision-making support tools would \"A minute's silence was observed before the official opening ceremonies for Mrs.Lucy Samvura-Motsi, who  He further noted that the main hurdle to addressing present and future climate risks is the lack of accurate, reliable, and relevant weather and CIS by vast numbers of climatevulnerable individuals. Another obstacle that diminishes resilience to climate risk and so weakens adaptation efforts is a mismatch between available knowledge and what is required to enable on-the-ground decision-making.Dr. Adérito praised AICCRA and UNECA for their efforts on the development of crop capability prediction tool for SADC nations given the region's economy is agricultural based. He further emphasized the importance of supporting end users in the following areas:• forecasting and crop capability prediction tool to benefit policymakers and the user community for the strategic provision of appropriate inputs to the agricultural (livestock and crops) and food security sectors, taking into account agro-ecological zone specificities;• strengthening the platform for collaboration by key stakeholders involved in the production and application of timely climate data, and• increasing end-user capacity for increased production, better access, and long-term CIS operations.As a result, INAM will continue to play important roles in the generation, analysis, translation, and dissemination of timely and tailored CIS to end users. Finally, Dr. Aderito reaffirmed INAM's commitment to such capacity-building activities; and declared the ToT workshop is officially opened.Dr. Yosef Amha of AICCRA presented the importance of crop yield prediction modelling for optimal agricultural production systems under the changing climate. In his presentation, the following points were covered:• Agricultural production vs. climate change impacts -how the sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries' agricultural productivity has been significantly decreased by climatic extremes and shocks, which are manifested through higher temperatures, floods, storms, unpredictable rainfall, and other phenomena;• Global temperature patterns vs greenhouse gases (GHGs) -how the 1.1 o C mean global temperature increase above pre-industrial period is explained by the anthropogenic induced GHG emission mainly CO2, N2O and CH4;• Justifications for enhanced CIS investment -hydro-meteorological hazards accounted for 90% of total disaster losses worldwide and how improved uptake and use of CIS critical in agriculture sector. The claim is backed up with UNECA's findings showing the use of CIS in support of making strategic and tactical decisions resulted in a benefit-to-cost ratio of 10 to 1;• Types of crop growth simulation models -background descriptions and how they become usual tools for agricultural research and production systems; and common types of crop growth model including those listed under statistical models, mechanistic models, deterministic models, stochastic models, and simulation models;• Climate Agriculture Modelling and Decision Tool (CAMDT) linked crop-yield simulation programme -the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) -How climate-informed crop intelligence technologies are critical in attempts to properly plan and direct agricultural adaption actions; and why CAMDT-DSSAT chosen for this study.• Applications of crop capability tool -its roles in increasing agricultural productivity, improving farm-level and policy-level interventions, selecting potential management practices, estimating crop yield early enough, analysing the effects of climatic change, crop insurance scheme in estimating crop yield losses, and estimating the performance of different crops under different scenarios, among other things.• A concerted efforts is needed to establish a cohort of experts -Rationale for AICCRA and its regional partners to take parts in the crop capability model initiative and training of trainers (ToT) workshop. Extending collaborations with national and regional institutions/initiatives and provision of sustained capacity-building training activities are, therefore, critical for efficient and resilient agricultural production systems.• Expected output of the ToT: At the end of this training, the ToT's will able to:analyze the expected impact of technology options and climate on crop yields, -provide information on \"what inputs to procure well before the agricultural season commences\" to enhance agricultural productivity,optimize agronomic practices according to expected climate conditions, and reduce losses in agricultural production systems under different adaptation/mitigation scenarios.Dr Afiesimama of WMO-ROA made a presentation on the importance of Seasonal Climate Forecasts (SCFs) in Agriculture. He discussed:• How the ocean-atmosphere system interacts and influences seasonal forecasts over SADC region with focus on El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), etc;• Types of SCFs -seasonal climate forecasts skills have improved recently with advances in technology where forecasting can be made using statistical forecasting; dynamical forecasting; analogue forecasting; indigenous traditional/natural forecasting; and hybrid-dynamical forecasting;• Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) -their roles and most of the publicly accessible SCF released by the RCOFs and other Centres are provided in tercile probabilities of the most likely category (for rainfall and temperature) i.e., belownormal (BN), near-normal (NN) and above-normal (AN) categories;• Messaging format for SCF outputs -keys for messaging and communication of SCFs for maximum impacts as SCF are done in three-monthly averages while users take the forecasts in a deterministic manner;• Examples of producer-user interfaces -The need for developing and strengthening platforms for producer-user interfaces in order make appropriate interpretation of SCF and other forecasts;• Benefits of using a holistic approach -he describes the immense opportunities in taking a holistic approach in the provision of climate forecasts to smallholder farmers that would take into account context, socio-economic status of the farmer, and technical aspects of the forecasts, e.g. skill and format .Dr. Bradwell Garanganga of DIGITRON made a presentation on the conceptual framework of crop capability prediction modelling. His presentations were made in two sessions where he discussed about the overview of weather and CIS and their utility for crop yield prediction, motivation for developing actionable DST in agriculture, brief overview of methodology, concepts and application of DSSAT, and and rationale for using CAMDT. The following main points were highlighted:• Overview of crop capability modelthe DSSAT is not just a software programme but an ecosystem for crop model users, crop model trainers, and crop model developers and how the model is important for predicting growth in food, feed, fiber, and fuel crops etc;• DSSAT model architecture -it takes into account the environment (weather, soils), genes and phenology of crops and management (fertilizers, irrigation) in order to simulate crop yields with required measure of fidelity.• Growth simulation -the simulation models are constructed using series of historical data of relevant parameters. DSSAT requires environmental parameters: solar irradiance; minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation, soil type and its profiles; seed variety and management system to run the required crop simulations.• Running DSSAT -it required database management system for soil, weather, genetic coefficients, and management inputs, crop phenology simulations, and series of other utility programmes.• Why SCF important inputs in crop yield prediction modelsin order to have long planning window, SCFs are critical. However, the utility of SCFs for driving DSSAT requires weather generators. These are algorithms used to reconfigure SCF into daily weather realizations as input into crop growth simulation models to predict yield. An example of such weather generators is the CAMDT developed by Han and co-workers at International Institution for Climate and Society. CAMDT converts tercile-based SCF into daily weather sequences which are critical inputs needed by the crop yield prediction models.• Applications of the training manuals -these manuals is a combination of two UserGuides to be used in tandem. The crop capability prediction modelling platforms used in this User Guide are the CAMDT as the weather generator for the DST for DSSAT, the crop weather simulation model. CAMDT/ DSSAT platforms are very sensitive to the data formats. In this regard, there is a need to carefully manipulate the climatological data for exporting into CAMDT/DSSAT programmes to be compatible for ingestion into these environments.• Introduction to CAMDT software -the agricultural systems are basically modified ecosystems that need to be managed through systems models which are possible only through classical engineering expertise of modelling. It was noted that models have interacting components such that a change in one component affect changes in other components.• Assumption made in CAMDT as a weather generator -by their very nature, there were assumption that were made in developing CAMDT model. It is used to drive DSSAT to simulate crop yields. In the crop capability prediction model the following assumptions made are fidelity in seasonal climate forecasting: good hit rate; thresholds of above/below normal probabilities; crop cultivars used will replaced by local ones after calibration work; and limitations of predictability.• Some inherent uncertainties in any model -There will some uncertainties due to the fact that, for instance: the model is applied in a new situation (e.g., switching to a new variety); the processes are not all fully understood to be always ideally simulated; and model performance is limited to the quality of input data of parameters to be modelled: e.g., (meteorological data used in the model need to be reliable and complete).• Downscale SCF to daily realization -the distribution of rainfall episodes, for instance, taking into account intensity, amount or duration are assumed by the scheme of the model. The validation of the model is done through routinely analyzing the model outputs and assessing whether they are consistent with realistic crop yield products.There was also a demonstration of how generated outputs from running CAMDT-DSSAT can be presented as actionable products to the user community.The trainers have given a URL to participants to download the software, which includes Python, DSSAT 4.6, and an instruction manual comprised of two User-Guides. In addition, Digitron built a data gathering and processing programme in response to requests from previous workshop attendees. The trainers demonstrated the key steps in acquisition of NASA data and preparing it for ingestion into the model. Automated data handling techniques in this respect include saving into appropriate pre-configured hierarchical folders. Following that, trainers demonstrated how to execute CAMDT/DSSAT analysis using the instruction manual. In this regard, participants were then guided through the processes necessary for running the simulation of crop yield prediction. The following sections were covered during the hand-on exercise:Following the usage of the digiSoft tool, participants were taught data collection frameworks for crop yield prediction modeling, namely the CAMDT/DSSAT template. Participants were shown how to perform simulations of agricultural yield prediction, data analytics, including quality control, and missing data concerns. This was a participative session with questions aimed at clarifying the procedures to take to correct errors that happened at times.Once the appropriate suite of software was installed and operational, participants were directed to NASA's data sources website. They retrieved the necessary data for ingestion onto the CAMDT/DSSAT platform from the website in order to generate crop capability predictions. These were historical daily climatological characteristics (solar irradiance, minimum and maximum temperatures, and rainfall) for a specific meteorological station from January 1, 1984 to December 31, 2022. This time frame was chosen because developing a crop yield prediction model required at least 30 years of consistent daily data in those four parameters. Participants downloaded data as an Agro-Climatology Community in order to receive the required files, particularly solar irradiance values, which change depending on the needs of distinct community users. The files had to be saved into CSV formats. The use of digiSoft App for data handling, however, dispensed with the previous intermediate manual process of \"Formatting and Splitting NASA Data to CAMDT Format\" and \"Exporting to Text Format and Renaming WTH (file with one year's daily Weather data) Files\". These procedures used in the early version of the Manual that took up to a whole day for the users/trainees to master. The use of the new App saved considerable time which made it possible for participants to begin running CAMDT much earlier than previously, within a few hours.Downloading the needed software The trainers demonstrated that in addition to SCF, CAMDT also requires near-realtime observed data up to the month preceding month for planting. Typically, this takes an additional two months after RCOF Statement (Forecast). Digitron are testing a scheme that needs to be perfected and implemented in the CAMDT simulation to achieve an additional two months lead-time. In this connection, Digitron developed some techniques and conducted initial tests over a meteorological station, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. The tests were run for two back-to-back RCOFs and it was found the technique yielded viable results such that the synthesized data product and actual data (two-months later) has very little discrepancies for all the crops. With resources permitting, this scheme needs to be developed across other meteorological stations in order to increase the crop capability prediction lead-time by an additional two months at every specified location. The benefit to the economy will also be immense.There were three breakout groups to deliberate on four questions:• Question 1. What is needed to improve the model? • Question 2. Is this crop model important?• Question 3. What should be done for wider usability?• Question 4. Who should take the responsibility?The breakout session was followed by a reporting to the Plenary and summarized below. However, the specifics of which are included in Annex I.• There was a need to simplify computing aspects of both hardware and software in order to increase the simplicity for the model to function smoothly. For example, a container system should be used to reduce the amount of time spent manually configuring software before testing and executing the model.• To eliminate back and forth operations, material needed to be kept in a single folder.Copying information/folders from one folder to another might lead to confusion and become a source of errors. When a mistake is made, the model should give immediate feedback to show where the error(s) has occurred instead of getting the error feedback when at a point there is a failure in generating the graphs.• It was noted that the model helps in planning the cropping for the season in terms of which crop and/or varieties to plant. The model is robust and useful for decision making on agricultural sector and to improve the production.• More training for people at all levels of government should be organized. There is also a need to include crop models into higher education curricula so that the model could be demonstrated at an early level. There were additional observations as follows: i) Need to specify specification on the compatibility of the computers: It could be difficult to have homogeneous computer systems for the training of this nature as some computers had difficulties running MS Windows and Excel efficiently, periodically slowing down and freezing. Hence, specify the computer specification compatible to the Python software for the follow-up ToT workshop.ii) Need to customize the model to capture local crops: The capacity in DSSAT is there but localization of crop varieties will require obtaining the specifications from the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders such as the country's Seed Houses. DSSAT is not limited to the three crops shown in the demonstrations, rather over 20 crops that can be modelled by this tool.iii) Need to strengthening linkage with policy makers: There is need to look at how to strengthen relationships between policy makers, stakeholders, practitioners and end users -last mile. The model is believed to help end-users if efforts made to disseminate information from the model outputs swiftly and effectively. A case in point is -how long it took for information to reach communities. In this regard, Digitron committed themselves to be available for any such request. However, the Countries will take leadership roles in order to maintain the momentum in the application of the model.As part of the wrap-up session, reflections were sought from principal delegates. Some of the points that were made included:• AICCRA wanted to strengthen partnerships in order to expand the utility of the tool to other relevant sectors within the PPP spaces, such as crop insurance for purposes of improving mitigation of adverse weather risks to farmers. In this regard, AICCRA would continue to engage Digitron, the developers of the model.• INAM was happy with the development of this tool and would like to have more capacity building on the tool so that it can be expanded to other SADC Member States taking into account the roles played by SADC institutions such as CSC.• CCARDESA was happy with the development of the tool which was timely as it would help the policy makers in crafting strategies to minimize risks of food insecurity due to perennial adverse weather and climate in the SADC region. CCARDESA would prepare documentation to sensitize SADC Policy Structures, in particular, Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, on the availability of, and training needs for using, the model. In this regard, there will be need to finalize a Policy Brief to submit to the Ministers. Furthermore, CCARDESA would source funds in order to engage the Digitron for them to train SADC MS to be able to use the tool.• WMO noted that the development of tool was timely as it was consistent with the UN SG request of to WMO to provide leadership in ensuring early warning for early action for especially the members of the UN that are more vulnerable extremes of climate variations. In this regard, there is need for concerted efforts to capacitate NMHSs and Regional Climate Centres in Africa to utilize the tool for early warning.• ACPC would continue to support the wide application and improvements of the tool. In this connection, ACPC would sensitize the Policy Bodies in the Region to the availability of the tool.• Department of Agriculture Mozambique was happy of the tool; however, they underscored the need for continuing improvements so that there is greater user-friendliness in the application of the tool.• Dean of Agriculture at UEM was happy about the tool. UEM would embark on conducting similar training on the tool as early as possible.On behalf of AICCRA, Dr Solomon commended the participants for their dedication to duty in efforts to understand the workings of the model. He also acknowledged the trainers in their efforts in skill transferring. He expressed gratitude to the organizers, trainers and participants for their dedication and commitments for the success of the ToT Workshop. He expressed readiness of AICCRA and partners to source for resources to continue with scaling up this activity to other countries and for the demand-driven continuation of improvement of the crop capability prediction model.On behalf of WMO, Dr Afiesimama noted the enthusiasm of the participants in efforts to learn the skills of the trade in crop yield modelling. This would help in the acceleration of capacity development efforts for the operationalization of the tool so that its benefits reach the last mile, the rural community. WMO-ROA is ready to engage other divisions in order to obtain support for the initiative of capacity building through review of the outcome of the implementation of the tool in Member States within SSA. He thanked everyone for their dedication in acquiring skills in the crop yield prediction modelling for the purposes of furthering climate resilience of communities.Dr Adérito Celso Félix Aramuge and Mr. Mussa Mustafa (DDG-INAM) both noted that the ToT workshop was a success but the model needs to include local conditions and local cultivar.Finally, Dr Adérito thanked the organizers, trainers and participants for their dedication and commitments and declared the closing of the ToT Workshop.(Break out session Group Presentations) #Q1. What is needed to improve the model? Group I:• Model should be adjusted to our specific country context in terms of seed varieties, soil types/parameter, etc. • Having information in one folder to avoid processes of back and forth. Copying of information/folders from one folder to another which creates confusion and sources of errors. • When a mistake is made, the model should give immediate feedback to show where the error(s) has occurred instead of getting the error feedback when generating the graphs.• When the python is run, the window generated is small and need to be maximized.In addition, the green tab should show the progress in percentage. ➢ Is difficult to install and run the software for the first time, so the software must be update and fix some errors that appears when it is begging install. ➢ Some parameters should be include such wind speed and direction, pests and diseases. ➢ Must show the data history to compare the production, like we observed and the predicted.#Q2. Is this crop model important? (All groups said it is greatly important) Group II• It helps to estimate the crop yield based of different forecast (AN or BN).• It helps in planning the cropping for the season in terms of which crop and/or varieties to plant.Group III• The model is robust and useful for decision making on agricultural sector • Helps to make the best decisions, and form strategy to improve the production #Q3. What should be done next for wider usability? Group I:• Training more people from different levels within the country.• Include crop model in the tertiary education curriculum to introduce the model at an early stage.Group II:• Validate the model results against the ground truth ","tokenCount":"5161"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1601060861.json b/data/part_1/1601060861.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0e204f83c4ca969956bcc4d127cf6c48c3f28904
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1601060861.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"36e9f661aac2bb2b8008cbb727b33dfd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a1422268-a42e-4ed4-b453-b6eb97882c84/retrieve","id":"510076456"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d0f96d23-3e67-46d8-9d7a-3f0bacd2847a","pagecount":"19","content":"Common bean (likely including Lima bean as well) is key in the daily diet of all people in El Salvador, with an intake per capita of 18 kg/ year, with an average yield of 770 kg/Ha (FAO Stat 2011). With that high level of consumption and low yield (using the same statistics, for the same years, the average yield of dry beans for the US, was reaching 2,000 kg/Ha), breeding for higher yield in race Mesoamerica (most cultivated and consumed varieties in El Salvador belong to this race: Singh et al. 1991) is relevant. Once the primary productivity of the bean crop is secured through transferring resistance to diseases and pests, the next step is to increase yield per se. There are different breeding strategies to achieve that goal (Kelly et al. 1999;Singh 2001), but in all cases accessing known and useful genetic diversity is the basic requisite. Please note that Lima bean, locally known as chilipuca (Calderón & Standley 1941), although not object of commerceand thus not computed separately in FAO statistics, is also key for the food security of Salvadorean people, and has not been object of plant breeding at all in that country. In any case, the basics of breeding would remain the same: to secure the productivity of the crop first through the transfer of resistances, and then to increase grain yield (Baudoin 1988). In order to increase variability to make it available to the breeders, one must know the different bean species thriving in El Salvador, their ecologies, and conservation status; this knowledge is also the basis for conservation, its planning and effective implementation.The currently available flora of El Salvador (Calderón & Standley 1941) indicates six bean species. It is not a recent work and does not make a distinction between wild and cultivated forms. In addition, three species reported therein belong today to other genera such as Leptospron and Macroptilium (Delgado-Salinas et al. 2011 and Urban 1928, respectively). According to the former work, there would be thus at least three species: Phaseolus coccineus, P. lunatus, and P. vulgaris. A general and relatively recent review (Freytag & Debouck 2002) reports for El Salvador as wild plants, the following five taxa: P. coccineus, P. lunatus, P. microcarpus, P. leptostachyus, and P. vulgaris. Recent floristic works report for Nicaragua (Delgado-Salinas 2001) and for Costa Rica (Zamora 2010), nine and ten Phaseolus species, respectively, as both cultivated and wild forms. We mean as wild forms plants that can thrive and disperse their seeds in natural vegetations without any human intervention. For Guatemala at least thirteen species could be present in that country (Standley & Steyermark 1946;Freytag & Debouck 2002).The current project would thus aims at answering the following two questions: 1) How many species of Phaseolus are present in El Salvador, which are they, and what is their current distribution? 2) What is their conservation status? and if there is a risk of irreversible loss, how is it possible to improve that situation?The study to date of dried plant specimens (Freytag & Debouck 2002 One cannot discard the possibility of finding more species in El Salvador. For example, P. dumosus: there is one specimen at LAGU (JBL 04842) that seems to belong to this taxa but the little information does not preclude it to be an escape from cultivation. For the species Phaseolus pauciflorus Sessé & Mociño, y Phaseolus persistentus Freytag & Debouck, there is only one record for Guatemala (Freytag & Debouck 2002), and surely additional material is needed to confirm whether or not they are also present in El Salvador. Few populations of Phaseolus parvifolius Freytag have been reported in oak grasslands of Guatemala (Freytag & Debouck 2002), and this type of forest might have been present in El Salvador (Vreugdenhil et al. 2011). The possibility may exist thus for these species to extend to the southeast. Due to the lack of appropriate high elevations, Phaseolus tuerckheimii Donnell-Smith is likely absent in El Salvador, although it has been reported for Guatemala and Honduras (Salcedo-Castaño et al. 2011). It is here pertinent to remind that species reported at high altitude in large mountainous blocks might occur at lower altitudes in small mountainous areas (Vreugdenhil et al. 2011). Finally, one can note that two specieslunatus and vulgarishave cultivated derivatives. There are indications (Debouck & Smartt 1995; PRG, CIAT, 2011) that Phaseolus acutifolius Asa Gray is grown in El Salvador, although no wild forms have been reported so far, nor found as voucher specimens in herbaria (Debouck 2012a).In the following table (Table 1) we report the materials existing as seed in the collection maintained at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Palmira, Colombia, apparently the largest and most diverse collection kept ex situ in the world with 37,180 materials registered in the multilateral system of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of FAO of the United Nations. It is important to mention that the Republic of El Salvador has ratified the International Treaty on July 9 th 2003. It is worth mentioning that wild P. vulgaris only exists as two accessions from a site close to Ahuachapán (separation of variants from within the same population). As far as we know, there is no germplasm in genebank of the species P. leptostachyus, P. microcarpus, P. oligospermus, P. xanthotrichus with Salvadorean origin.In the following table (Table 2) we report the numbers of populations for the different species (as wild) identified by at least one voucher specimen in the 81 Museums of Natural History and Herbaria visited to date (Annex 1). Sites visited/ populations sampled by more than one collector at different times were computed as one population. Table 2 shows that only for wild P. lunatus the sampling starts to be acceptable; for the other species it is not clear whether the low number of populations indicates that the sampling has been so far deficient or that there are few populations in El Salvador for definite ecological reasons. Another possibility might be that the original vegetation types are already gone (Vreugdenhil et al. 2011). the representation of populations of the different wild species in genebanks is clearly below the numbers of currently known populations (yet without considering the number of new populations to be sampled).The objective of the proposed exploration is to fill both gaps. On the other hand, the swift use of soils for other purposes than original cover of natural vegetations because of urbanization and human activities in El Salvador (Harcourt 1996;Vreugdenhil et al. 2011) indicates the urgency in carrying out this type of work before the biological heritage of El Salvador is gone forever. The first critical loss is the extinction of populations of the different species, because it jeopardizes their capital for further evolution and chances of survival (Hamrick & Godt 1996).The proposed methodology will be that of transects (Debouck 1988) including sites of populations already disclosed through herbarium specimen(s). One could also apply a GIS technology (Jones et   2 shows however that we miss the 12-14 populations needed to establish and run the statistical model. The priority will be to gather seeds for germplasm conservation, and if possible herbarium samples to be kept in museums of natural history (i.e. LAGU). This methodology does not imply any risk of loss for the natural populations: a few plant fragments with reproductive parts complemented with digital images suffice for full identification.The proposed methodology may imply two field visits: the first visit helps to the identification of populations and taxa and to assess the phenology, while the second visit coincides with seed maturity for germplasm collecting. Appropriate timing might be mid-October for early fruiting species (e.g. leptostachyus, microcarpus, xanthotrichus), December-January for the intermediate species (e.g. vulgaris), and February-March for the late species (e.g. lunatus).1. Distribution maps of populations for all species of Phaseolus thriving in El Salvador. The materials found can be seen in Annex 3. Four species and seventeen populations were found in total: P. leptostachyus (3), P. lunatus (9), P. vulgaris (3) and P. xanthotrichus (2), with seed for germplasm for eight populations, left at the genebank of CENTA and 61 voucher specimens for Herbaria for fourteen populations, left at LAGU of Jardín Botánico La Laguna. Populations were considered as new records for the country, when the coordinates do not match with former records of the 'Cahiers de Phaséologie' (Debouck 2012b,c,d,e,f,g,h), otherwise it is confirmed that the population still exists.b) per species: Phaseolus leptostachyus Bentham Three populations were found for this species, apparently all new records for the country, two on the southern slope of Volcán Quezaltepec (#3223 at 1468 m and #3224 at 1775 m) and one on the northern slope of Volcán Ilamatepec (#3231 at 1195 m). They were found at pod filling stage, with already some mature seeds for #3231 (although affected by a weevil). All populations display a sprawling growth habit with stems 60-150 cm long. It seems to be a species thriving in the understory in openings of the Cupressus woodland, now heavily cut down for coffee plantations on the slopes of the SW volcanoes. They were found on organic soils derived from evolved volcanic ashes in half shaded spots. Pod maturity was a bit later than expected. Threatened by herbicide sprays in coffee plantations (where usually the soil is bare naked), where it could however helps as cover crop to limit soil erosion.Nine populations of the 'chilipuca de ratón' as usually nicknamed in parts of El Salvador were found; apparently all new records for the country. They were found in a diversity of habitats, from 670 m (#3235 in valley of Chalchuapa) up to 1775 m (#3228 on the slope of Cerro Verde), from tropical dry thickets (#3236) up to subhumid lower montane forest with Cupressus (#3228). As expected, most populations were in flowering-pod filling stages, with seed dispersal in late January; early materials were # 3228 (because of altitude?!) and #3236 (because of drought?!). Wild Lima beans produce usually strong vines 2-4 m long, aggressively climbing over small trees and shrubs. They usually display healthy trifoliate leaves; however symptoms of possible virus have been observed in the field (see Fig. 3). They were found on a diversity of soil types, many of them of igneous origin, with the exception of very recent volcanic ashes (sector E of volcano Ilamatepec).Threatened by repetitive fires in sugarcane fields and herbicide use in coffee plantations. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Three populations were found (#3221 and #3222 in La Libertad, and #3226 in Sonsonate), apparently all new records for El Salvador, once again because our coordinates do not match with previous collections. Population #3221 was found at lower altitude (1,070 masl) as compared to the normal altitude range in Central America and Mexico (1,200-1,700 masl). They colonize slopes with thickets rich in Compositae, Solanaceae with several lianas (Ipomoea and other legumes). The populations were found at the end of the pod filling stage and maturity and natural drying of the pods, so that it was possible to collect seed germplasm. Given the very small seed size and strong pod dehiscence (Fig. 5), they can be considered as wild forms and not weedy escapes or introgressed because of crosses with cultivated materials. The populations were found in mesophytic wood grasslands on soils with good drainage and good moisture, possibly also with good fertility, usually derived from evolved volcanic ashes.Of this species two populations were found (# 3227 y 3229); of these, #3227 possibly is a confirmation of an early record, while #3229 is a new record for El Salvador. They were found at pod maturity, so that some seed for conservation was already secured. They were found in the understory of montane forests, usually in the shade on moist well drained soils derived from igneous rocks. Some leaves were affected by mildew. And a few pods were damaged apparently by birds eating the young developing seeds (see Fig. 6).   The above findings elicit the following points for discussion. First, in spite of the heavy pressure on the land, namely coffee plantations well into the national parks supposedly protected areas (also noted by Vreugdenhil et al. 2011), it is still possible to find some populations of wild bean species in El Salvador. From this first survey, it seems that wild Lima bean has better resisted as compared to the other species, because it seems to be common in many areas. Another reason might be in the fact that not many suitable areas above 1,400 masl exist as compared to areas below 1,400 masl. Thus from the very start, habitats convenient for wild P. lunatus are intrinsically more abundant. But the pressure on the land might have already eliminated sites convenient for P. microcarpus, P. oligospermus and P. vulgaris, because the original forest habitat has been eliminated. Conversely, the prospects for in situ conservation seem to be grim, perhaps with the exception where appropriate habitats are privately owned with the specific objective of conservation (e.g. on the slopes of volcanoes Ilamatepec and of Cerro El Águila). In this case however the possibility for a national authority to monitor the status of wild bean populations seems to be limited. The justification for ex situ conservation seems thus warranted, and this should be done now. Second, this point links with a question: how many populations of the different species might be expected to be found? For P. vulgaris, there are two additional populations already revealed by the herbarium records, i.e. A Martin 351 and JM Tucker 667 (Debouck 2012g), and with no seed in genebanks, but letting us to conclude about the existence of possibly 8-10 populations in El Salvador. For P. lunatus, the prospects are far better with the possible existence of 80 populations, when combining the known populations (Debouck 2012f) with those recently disclosed in a field work like this one (Annex 3). From these estimates a full sampling might be achieved in 2-3 field expeditions. Third, in the search for useful traits in wild relatives of crops namely in relation to potential climatic problems in El Salvador (i.e. high temperatures, drought, salinity), one should note that the typical habitat of wild common bean is mesophytic in all aspects (no excessive rains, absence of drought from which it escapes through its seeds, good fertility soil with drainage). Although the telescopic aspect mentioned by Vreugdenhil et al. (2011)that on isolate volcanoes a montane forest would thrive at a lower altitude as compared to a massive mountain chain -has been noted for wild P. vulgaris, it is not up to that wild common bean is becoming widespread at lower altitude. Rather, wild P. vulgaris continues to escape climatic problems through its seeds. From that perspective, and as evidenced by its later flowering and fruit setting, wild P. lunatus is a hardier species. The 'chilipuca' should thus be more than a curio but a crop worth investing serious breeding efforts. ","tokenCount":"2474"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1616179351.json b/data/part_1/1616179351.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd84fb4078347b56a8f30decf8b639dc8c55cb9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1616179351.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4fe13c906b44a55e03c262d9e6099e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fdf20d79-249a-4a11-9e4e-28efe736c551/content","id":"-986815919"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a6ee67e9-4082-40a7-b99c-224d8a63ee98","pagecount":"22","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT ® (www.cimmyt.org), is an international, not-for-profit research and training organization. With partners in over 100 countries, the center works to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The center's outputs and services include improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems, the conservation of maize and wheat genetic resources, and capacity building. CIMMYT belongs to and is funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) and also receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies. CIMMYT is particularly grateful for the generous, unrestricted funding that has kept the center strong and effective over many years.The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project is jointly being implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Its funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The project is part of a broad partnership also involving national agricultural research and extension systems, seed companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and advanced research institutes, together known as the DTMA Initiative. Its activities build on longer-term support by other donors, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Eiselen Foundation. The project aims to develop and disseminate drought tolerant, high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties and to reach 30-40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa with these varieties in 10 years.Smallholder farmers with up to 10 hectares of farm land per household, account for about 85% of the maize produced in Tanzania. Their farming system is however characterized by low use of improved technologies (fertilizers, seeds and crop husbandry practices), resulting in the observed low yields and slow growth in productivity (URT, 2006). Medium-scale commercial farms (10-100 ha) account for 10% of maize production in Tanzania with large-scale commercial farms (>100 ha) accounting for the remaining 5%.Tanzania's maize production is affected by low and erratic rainfall. Between 1961-65 and1985-95, the national maize production was estimated to have grown annually by 4.6%, of which 2.4% could be attributed to area growth and 2.2% to yield growth (Katinila et al., 1998). In the period of 1984/1985 through 1996/1997 maize production increased annually by 4.2% and by 5. 1% from 19961% from /19971% from through 20041% from /20051% from (URT, 2006)). Despite the growth in maize production, average yields are less than 1.5 t/ha and show a regional diversity, tending to be higher in high-potential areas such as in the southern highlands.Maize is one of the key staple food crops and a major cereal consumed in Tanzania. It is estimated that the annual per capita consumption of maize in Tanzania is 112.5 kg and national maize consumption is estimated to be three million tons per year. Maize is grown in all 21 regions of Tanzania. The crop is annually grown on an average of two million hectares or covering about 45% of the cultivated area in Tanzania. Although maize productivity is more favourable in high rainfall areas in Tanzania -such as southern highlands, the Lake Victoria zone, and the northern zonemaize is also produced in the central zone of Tanzania, a zone that suffers significantly from drought. For instance, Singida and Dodoma are central regions of Tanzania with a relatively dry climate but with still substantial maize areas. Maize production in the central zone is also hampered by poor seed supply systems and internal road networks. Maize yields in Singida and Dodoma average only 0.4 tons per ha which is far below the national average yield of just over 1 ton per ha.Despite maize production from the central zone being relatively limited, the region's farm households can provide surpluses during years with enough rains (Mdadila 1995). Drought tolerant maize varieties have therefore the potential to improve productivity in these drought prone zones, thereby increasing food security and poverty alleviation.The main goal of this study is to characterize maize production, consumption and marketing systems at the household level and to analyze determinants and impacts of past adoption of improved maize varieties and the potential adoption of drought tolerant maize in selected locations. Specific objectives are to: Identify farm level constraints hindering access to and uptake of technology.  Identify farmers' perceptions of and preferences for maize variety attributes in relation to drought (e.g., yield increments; food security; reduction in hunger months and cash income).  Characterize maize production practices, farmer access to farm inputs, produce markets, extension, credit, NGOs services and gender mainstreaming.  Characterize household livelihood strategies, their perception of risks and threats, and coping strategies.The study focuses on the drought prone maize producing areas of central Tanzania. Chamwino and Manyoni districts were purposely selected from Dodoma and Singida regions respectively to achieve a twofold sample criteria: a location where significant maize is produced; and secondly, where drought stress is also significant and there are opportunities for drought maize tolerant varieties to increase overall returns on investment to both farmers and seed producers.At the district level, three villages characterised by drought stress and maize production potential were purposively selected from each of the two districts with the help of extension staff. From each village, approximately 25 farmers were randomly sampled from the register of households, to make a total sample of 151 households for the whole study. To increase data validity and reliability, farmers were interviewed by researchers, trained enumerators and experienced extension officers using a structured questionnaire.Chamwino is one of the six districts in Dodoma region that is geographically located in central Tanzania. It has a surface area of 776,472 ha with a population of 257,340 people in 2008.Chamwino is a low-rainfall district, like others in the region, and receives an average of 400 mm to 650 mm per annum. Temperature ranges between 18 0 C to 31 0 C. The district's administrative capital Dodoma is located at 6.183 0 S latitude and 35.746 0 E longitude. The altitude of sampled households in the district averages 995 meters above sea level (masl), ranging from 899 to 1150 masl.Manyoni is one of the three districts in Singida region in central Tanzania. It covers a total land area of 2,862,000 and had a population of 205,423 people according to the 2002 National Population Census. The district administrative capital Manyoni is located at 5.747 0 S latitude and 34.835 0 E longitude. The altitude of the sampled households in the district averages 1139 masl (ranging from 824 to 1347 masl). According to the district's public records, rainfall ranges from 480 mm to 750 mm. The highest rainfall level in the past 20 years was during the El-Nino rains in 1997/8 when rainfall reached 1336.5 mm and the lowest was 327.5 mm, in 1999/2000.Descriptive statistics were employed to characterise the socioeconomic and biophysical features of the households. Principal component analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to generate the wealth index and to determine the factors that influence adoption decision of improved maize varieties respectively.Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to generate the wealth indices for each household based on fixed asset and livestock endowments. This asset based method was employed following the rich literature base that highlights the difficulty and irregularities of wealth indicators developed based on reported income and expenditure data. According to Montgomery et al (2000), the collection of accurate income data is quite demanding as it requires extensive resources for household surveys, in some cases, an indicator of income is difficult to use. For example, income information does not capture the fact that people may have income in kind, such as crops which are traded (Cortinovis et al, 1993). Therefore, asset based indicators have become quite common in characterising welfare states of people (Filmer and Prichett, 2001;McKenzie, 2003).PCA is a statistical procedure used to reduce dimensions of a data set in terms of aggregating variables through orthogonal linear combinations of the variables. Mathematically, from an initial set of n correlated variables, PCA creates orthogonal components, where each component is a linear weighted combination of the initial variables. For n assets and livestock, for instance,where a mn represents the weight for the m th principal component and the n th variable.The weights for each principal component are given by the eigenvectors of the covariance matrix as we used the original data. The correlation matrix could be used if the data were standardized. Using the scores generated by the first principal component and the mean and standard deviation of the original data set, the wealth indices were computed using the formula:where, Wj is the wealth index for each household; i  represents the weights (scores) assigned to the n assets and livestock on the first principal component; ij x is the original observation of asset i in household j, i x is the mean holding of asset i in the sample, of each of the n variables; and i  the standard deviation of holding of each of the assets in the sample.The wealth indices were used to categorize the households into three wealth classes. Wealth class one has the poor households and their indices ranged from the negative minimum to the mean of the negative indices, and the rich wealth class included households with indices that are above the average of the positive wealth indices. Those households with indices between the mean values of the negative and positive wealth indices were classified as middle income.The data analysis also included logistic regression to determine the factors that influence adoption decision of improved maize varieties. The logit model is based on the plausible assumption that each decision maker selects adoption or non-adoption decision only if it maximizes its perceived utility. Utility is, however, latent and only the decision variable (adopting or not adopting) is observed. The decision of the respondent \"y\" takes on one of two values, 0 (not-adopting) or 1 (adopting). The probability that the respondent decides to adopt improved maize varieties can be formulated aswhere X i is a vector of explanatory variables and β is a conformable vector of coefficients to be estimated. By choosing F to be a logistic distribution, the probability can be estimated using the logit formulation asAn easier way of interpreting the estimated coefficients is considering the partial derivatives of the probability that Y i equals one with respect to a continuous variable or with respect to a change from the reference level to another of a discrete variable (X k ). The partial derivatives give the marginal effects and are formulated asThe estimation of the logit model is done with the maximum likelihood (ML) approach. The general log likelihood function is specified asThe first order condition of the ML function is generated by differentiating the above equation with respect to β, which gives;Where f is equal to F′, denoting the density function. For the logistic function the above equation is simplified as;The solution for this equation is the maximum likelihood estimator  ˆ. This estimator can be used to estimate the probability that Y i = 1 for a given X i as;3 Household CharacteristicsFarmers own various assets that help them sustain their day to day livelihoods. These include human, natural, physical, financial and social capital (Table 1). Human capital considers contribution to households' labour force needed for performing various farm operations. Other assets that facilitate livelihood strategies include livestock (cows, bulls, sheep, pigs) and physical assets. Social capital like membership in some organizations can also be important for enabling access to other resources to improve livelihoods. Figure 1 shows the distribution of households according to wealth index generated by the PCA or reported household assets. About half the households were classified as in the middle class category (46%) whereas 40% were relatively well endowed and 13% poorly endowed (Table 2). The findings indicated further that Manda, Manchari, Msemembo and Chikuyu villages were poorly endowed while the other two (i.e. Sanjaranda and Itiso) villages were well endowed. The household size ranged from 1 to 14 persons with a mean of 5.1 persons per household and about equally split between males and females. Children dominate in number with a mean of 3.1 per household; which implies that there were more dependants than those who contribute to household labour force. The age of the members ranged from 1 to 100 years with a mean 21.6 years. The households had on average 1.3 illiterate persons.Human capital includes household labour availability (i.e. number of household members available at home for different activities). Household members spent most of the year at home contributing an average of 3.6 months of farm work per year. Household labour availability was calculated in terms of man equivalent units (MEU). The MEU considers both the age of household members and their contribution to household labour force. Different age groups were assigned indices between zero and one and then these indices were multiplied by the number of months available for farm work to get man months per year for each household member. 1 The labour availability averaged 10.9 months of MEU per year -about equally split between male and female members.Land is an important natural capital with an average farm size of 4.3 ha in the study area, being somewhat larger in Chamwino. Both men and women have the right to acquire and own land. Land is typically owned -with only a few instances reporting renting of land in Chamwino. The household dwelling is an indicator of household wealth. Most respondents were living in mud huts -including slightly over half that are thatched and a quarter that with galvanized iron sheet roofing (Table 3). The relative poverty of the surveyed households is also reflected in the limited assets reported. Bicycles were the most common types of asset owned by a 35% of respondents followed by radios (28%), with a few reporting mobile phones (6%), sewing machines (4%) and private water wells (2%). Few (3%) owned draught animals/ox ploughs. Those who owned draught animals argued that with ox plough it was possible to timely implement farming operations as well as expanding the cropping area. Financial resources are very important in supporting agricultural production. Capacity to purchase farm inputs like improved maize seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and implements depends highly on the financial position of the household. The survey indicated that 93.4% of the respondents had no access to credit thereby limiting potential agricultural investments particularly for low income farmers.Farmers reported receiving support from government and non government organizations, including those presented in Table 4. Households typically diversity the portfolio of livelihood options that sustain them, particularly in areas of marginal and high risk agricultural production. Farmers thus grow a variety of crops and undertake a variety of livestock activities in pursuit of various food and income goals. Farm activities are supplemented by non-farm employment and trading. Understanding this complexity is vital to development and deployment of technologies such as drought tolerant varieties aimed at improving the welfare of rural people. There are many dimensions to rural livelihoods which may involve provision of adequate food, income, shelter, transportation, water and sanitation, health care, recreation, maintenance of the productive capacity of the environment, and status in society.The survey results indicate that crop and livestock production dominate livelihoods of the households in the two districts. Crop production was the most important activity, supplying food and income to the household. Some cattle, sheep, goats and chickens were kept but these were typically second in importance to crops. Some households also reported income from off-farm activities such as casual labor, crafts and petty trading. The main household expenditure items were food, education and health, with other expenditures including repairs, fuel wood, clothing, social contributions, gifts and remittances. A patriarchal system dominates in the study area and the household head thereby typically dominates decision making in terms of household activities, resource allocation and expenditures.Farmers in the study area use their land for crop production (including trees either planted or conserved natural forests) and grazing. Farmers were asked what determined their cultivated farm size -particularly what were the three most important factors they consider when allocating land to crops (Table 5). Food needs were the most widely reported as determining cultivated area (30%), followed by cash availability for inputs and hired labour, family labour availability and seed availability. Farmers were also asked about any changes in crop area over time. About half the respondents reported that their cultivated area remained unchanged, with 27.5% reporting an increase, while 20% had reduced their area (Table 6). Those with decreasing land had reasons of insufficient labour, drought, poor production technology -such as continuous use of hand hoes and planting of landraces. The prominent crops cultivated by the households are maize, sorghum, millet, groundnut, sesame and sunflower. Yields are relatively low -associated with pests and diseases and poor rain fall. Livestock keeping was the second most important economic activity after crop production in the study area. Local chickens are the most prominent in terms of widespread ownership (54% households). About a fifth of the households reported owning cattle and a similar share reporting goats. Livestock tend to be indigenous breeds and were grazed on natural pastures. Livestock also are a household wealth indicator. Most commonly, livestock is owned by the household head, with joint or spouse ownership being less common. Those who owned cattle can sell animals to finance households' ventures and acquire inputs as well as surmount times of difficulties such as purchase of food during shortages. Livestock tend to be sold in periodic livestock markets organized in the wards. In both districts, chicken were the most marketed, followed by goats.Most (61%) of the surveyed households reported being food insecure over the last five years. January was the worst month (Table 7), with food insecurity typically lasting 2-3 months (). The major reasons for such shortages were low maize yields realized due to the frequent droughts in the central regions of Tanzania. The main coping strategy for respondents (reported by 41%) was selling of assets during these periods to generate money to purchase food. Respondents were asked to mention the most important threats for livelihood strategies. The most common threats were drought, food insecurity and pest and diseases -all directly affecting crop production including maize. Floods were also reported especially in one of the three villages (Chikuyu) in Manyoni district which is a plain landform in the rift valley stretching downwards from Kenya through Tanzania to Malawi.Farmers also reported on the most serious constraints for improving their livelihoods, including farm implements, limited capital, and illness. Farm implements affect the area cultivated as well as timing of farm operations. Limited capital constrains investment in agriculture whereas illness reduces the available family labor to engage in farming activities. Other constraints included low prices of farm produces, low production and markets. 5 Technology use in crop productionMore than half the farmers reported to have used some improved maize varieties over the last five years, the most common being Seedco, Cargil, Kilima, Ilonga, Staha, Pannar and otherwise unspecified 'hybrids'. When not using improved varities, farmers planted landraces although some of the varieties referred to as landraces may actually also have been improved varieties that have been released long ago or farmers may have forgotten their names or origin. Respondents often realize a yield increase when using the improved varieties as opposed to local varieties.Farmers were also asked to mention some of the characteristics of the desired ideal maize variety.The most important attributes reported by a third of the respondents were early maturity and drought resistance, followed by yield potential and grain size. These findings indicate that early maturity and drought resistance are important characteristics for adopting improved maize varieties in central Tanzania where rainfall is a limiting factor. Information on improved seeds were obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, other farmers, radio programs, local stockists, seed companies, NGOs and farmer groups/cooperatives. Some farmers said that they had never used improved varieties because of unavailability of improved seeds, lack of money to buy, lack of sufficient information on improved seeds and continual use of local maize varieties at no cost. Over half the farmers (57%) reported buying maize seed during the last season. Half of those who bought seed bought landrace averaging 20.8 kg per farmer. Seedco and Kilima were the next most popular seeds (Table 9). Farmers bought seed from fellow farmers, relatives, neighbors and traders (Table 10).External input use other than seed is rare in the study area for maize. None of the respondents used chemical fertilizers or pesticides with most respondents complaining of high input prices. Farm yard manure was also not used with farmers citing its bulkiness and high quantities required per unit area as constraining factors.Factors considered by respondents to select the maize varieties are presented in Table 11. The most important factors were high yield potential, drought resistance, disease resistance, early maturity and poundability. Maize varietal choice and decisions to adopt which variety to grow is influenced by a variety of factors, including information accessibility (important sources of information were agricultural extension staff, extension bulletins, news papers and radio), age, marital status of the household head, physical assets owned (wealth index), credit accessibility, decision making within the household and membership to an association. Table 12 lists some of the variables used here to analyze adoption decisions and their priory expectation. For the purpose of the present study, the dependent was whether the household has used an improved variety in the last season. The data were fitted to the Logit model since we have a binary choice variable (has adopted improved variety =1, 0 otherwise). Independent variables included represented farm, farmer, household, and institutional factors which are known to explain adoption of agricultural technologies such as improved seed. The STATA software was used in the analysis.The results are presented in Table 13. Out of the eight explanatory variables tested, four were significant. Marital status of the household head, decision making pattern in the household, and asset wealth status (both poor and rich dummies) have significant influence on the likelihood of adoption of improved maize varieties (Table 13). The estimated model was found to be significant (p<0.05) over the intercept only model. Married households were found to be less likely to adopt improved maize varieties. Getting married decreases the odds ratio (of adopting to non-adopting) by a factor of about 0.3. Moving from whole family based decision making to only household head decision making reduces nearly by a quarter (.27). When we compare the medium wealth class farmers with those in the poor class, being in the later group decreases the odds ratio (of adopting to non-adopting) by 0.431. Whereas, if a farming household moves from medium wealth class to rich wealth class, then its odds ratio of adopting improved maize varieties increases by a factor of 2.25. This is in line with the conventional wisdom that poor farmers tend to be more cautious in adopting new technologies as they are more risk averse whereas richer farmers can be more risk taking and invest in inputs.Crop production and livelihood strategies are major challenges in the poor and drought-prone study areas of central Tanzania. Drought, food insecurity and pest and diseases were identified as the most serious threats to local livelihoods and have great impact on maize production. Drought tolerant maize thus seems to offer significant opportunities to improve livelihoods. Preferred attributes for maize varieties include yield, drought tolerance, and early maturity. Although maize is a major livelihood source, overall input use in maize production is low, due to limited purchasing power of the farmers. The decision to adopt improved maize seed is influenced positively by wealth status.","tokenCount":"3949"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1617873982.json b/data/part_1/1617873982.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9eb5d3bbf5f4c3a895736295a2420ef76dda362c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1617873982.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"733b5d56408f52e352f66f733b904d0d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/252fd5eb-506c-425e-9e67-b83ba1fb2e18/retrieve","id":"-1209316522"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34796a31-0d8c-4baa-a6b3-b86858f971e3","pagecount":"32","content":"Citation suggérée : SUSTLIVES (2023). Actes des ateliers de restitution et de discussion avec les parties prenantes des résultats de l'analyse participative des chaînes de valeur et des marchés des espèces négligées et sous-utilisées (NUS) et de formation-application d'une méthodologie de l'analyse de chaîne de valeur sensible au genre au Niger. Agence italienne pour la coopération au développement (AICS), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) & Centre international de hautes études agronomiques méditerranéennes (CIHEAM-Bari), Valenzano (Bari, Italie).Cette publication a été produite avec le soutien financier de l'Union européenne. Son contenu relève de la seule responsabilité des auteurs et ne reflète pas nécessairement les opinions de l'Union européenne.   Ces ateliers se sont déroulés selon un programme prédéfini s'étalant sur une journée pour le premier et une demi-journée pour le deuxième (voir agendas en Annexes 1 et 2). Ont pris part à ces deux ateliers des chercheurs, techniciens, ONG, représentantes de la société civile et organisations paysannes oeuvrant dans le domaine des NUS, les parties prenantes du projet SUSTLIVES, l'Alliance Bioversity Internationale CIAT, le CIHEAM-Bari et l'Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey (voir listes de présence en Annexes 3 et 4).Les deux ateliers ont débuté par un mot de bienvenu du Professeur DAMBO Lawali, coordonnateur dudit projet pour l'équipe du Niger. Après ce mot d'ouverture, d'une manière générale, Professeur DAN GUIMBO Iro a présenté le programme en plénière avant le déroulement des activités. Les activités ont concerné la présentation du projet par le chef de projet, Dr EL BILALI Hamid, de l'activité 2.1 par la responsable, Dr DE FALCIS Eleonora, le vif de l'atelier (résultat des analyses et de la méthodologie d'analyse des chaînes de valeurs sensibles au genre par Dr OUMAROU HALADOU Issoufou) et l'animation de travaux de groupes. Dr NAINO JIKA Abdel Kader a présenté le premier jour de l'atelier (10 mai) l'activité 2.3 intitulée « Valorisation des marchés locaux et du système d'information sur les marchés pour renforcer la chaîne de demandeapprovisionnement ».Jour 1 : Présentations et travaux en groupe 1.1 Mots de bienvenue et présentation des participants Au début de l'atelier, le maître de cérémonie (Pr DAN GUIMBO Iro, Coordonnateur adjoint du projet SUSTLIVES Niger) a salué les participants avant de les remercier pour leur participation. Par la suite, il a donné la parole à Dr EL BILALI Hamid (Chef du projet SUSTLIVES au niveau de CIHEAM-Bari) pour son mot de bienvenue. Après avoir remercié les organisateurs et les participants de l'atelier, Dr EL BILALI s'est focalisé sur la pertinence et l'objectif du projet qui porte sur la recherche-développement des chaînes de valeur des cultures négligées surtout en matière de recherche et de politique agricole. Le projet est une contribution à la génération des connaissances sur les cultures ciblées. Il a précisé que le projet financé par l'Union Européenne intervient au Niger et au Burkina Faso avant de décliner les rôles des organisations qui mettent en oeuvre le projet. Il a fini son allocution en souhaitant plein succès aux travaux de l'atelier.Après Dr EL BILALI, la parole a été donné au Pr DAMBO, coordonnateur SUSTLIVES Niger, pour son mot de bienvenue. Ce dernier a également souhaité la bienvenue aux participants tout en les remerciant pour leur déplacement. Par la suite, Pr DAMBO a situé le contexte du projet et de l'étude dont les résultats font l'objet d'atelier avant d'apprécier la diversité des participants (chercheurs, techniciens, ONG, Société civile, organisations paysannes, etc.). A la fin, Pr DAMBO a souhaité des participants une pleine participation et des partages de leurs expertises tout au long des travaux de l'atelier permettant d'améliorer les résultats de l'étude sur la chaîne de valeur des NUS qui leur seront partagés.Après les mots de bienvenue, les participants se sont présentés (nom et prénom, structure et poste) par tour de table. Les participants au nombre de 38 (cf. annexe 3) proviennent des structures de formation et de recherche, des services techniques de l'Etat, des organisations de la société civile, des organisations faîtières des producteurs et des ONG.Après les mots de bienvenue, le maître de cérémonie a présenté l'agenda aux participants. A la fin de la présentation, la parole a été donné aux participants qui ont approuvé l'agenda sans modification (cf. annexe 1). Projet SUSTLIVES 1.3 Présentation du projet SUSTLIVES Une brève présentation du projet a été faite par Dr EL BILALI Hamid. Elle a porté sur les objectifs, la durée (4 ans, août 2021 -juillet 2025), le budget (6.000.000 €) et les pays d'intervention (Niger et Burkina Faso) du projet. Le projet est financé par l'Union Européenne à travers l'Agence Italienne pour la Coopération au développement. En plus des structures de coordination (CIHEAM-Bari et AICS) et partenaires du projet, le projet SUSTLIVES mobilise des institutions locales telles que INERA au Burkina Faso et INRAN au Niger ; les organisations de producteurs et de la société civile dont l'ONG Afrique Verte (APROSSA au Burkina Faso et AcSSA au Niger) joue un rôle clé dans la mise en oeuvre des activités au niveau communautaire. Les bénéficiaires directs du projet sont : les centres de recherche, d'innovation et d'information sur les NUS et le système institutionnel sur l'agro-biodiversité. Les bénéficiaires indirects sont : les acteurs de la chaîne de valeur sur les NUS notamment les agriculteurs et les transformateurs surtout les femmes et les jeunes. Le projet comporte 3 résultats clés et 16 activités dont 6 activités pour le résultat 1 relatif aux connaissances sur les NUS et l'accès aux NUS améliorées ; 5 activités pour le résultat 2 relatif aux capacités de recherche, professionnelles et de marketing et le potentiel d'innovation ; 5 activités pour le résultat 3 relatif aux politiques, échanges et coopération. Au Niger, le projet travaille sur 9 sites et 6 NUS. Les activités déjà réalisées par le projet sont entre autre : la sélection des NUS, l'échange de connaissances et d'informations entre les parties prenantes, la campagne de communication et de sensibilisation, la coordination et l'alignement avec DeSIRA et sur la planification et les priorités de l'UE, l'analyse participative des besoins pour le renforcement des capacités des acteurs et l'établissement d'un plan, la mise en place de la recherche agronomique (sites expérimentaux) au Niger et Burkina Faso, l'implication des parties prenantes à travers des forums, la communication et la visibilité (participation aux foires, assemblées communautaires). Le projet a comptabilisé 21 publications et produits de la connaissance au cours de la première année.1.4 Présentation de l'activité 2.1 et de l'objectif de l'atelier Dr DE FALCIS Eleonora a rappelé le but de l'activité 2.1 et sa mise en oeuvre. Dans sa présentation, elle a d'abord mentionné les membres du groupe de travail impliqués dans cette activité avant d'expliquer la méthodologie utilisée pour la collecte des données. La méthodologie était basée sur les cinq étapes de l'Evaluation Rapide du Marché développée par l'Alliance Bioversity International -CIAT et FIDA 1 et adapté au contexte du projet SUSTLIVES au Burkina Faso et au Niger. Elle a expliqué les étapes de la méthodologie suivie y compris la démarche d'intervention sur le terrain (formation des enquêteurs et suivi de collecte de données), les acteurs impliqués et le nombre de personnes enquêtés au total selon la fonction (expert, producteur, transformateur, commerçant et consommateur). Elle a terminé sa présentation en expliquant les objectifs de l'atelier et des sessions de discussion.1.5 Présentation des résultats de l'évaluation rapide des marchés (ERM) La présentation des résultats a été faite par Dr OUMAROU HALADOU Issoufou, Consultant de l'Alliance Bioversity International -CIAT et Point focal de l'activité 2.1 du projet SUSTLIVES au Niger. Il a d'abord rappelé la structure du rapport en montrant que pour chaque NUS, les résultats de l'analyse comportent : i) Analyse fonctionnelle, ii) Analyse économique et financière, iii) Analyse de la demande du marché des produits, et iv) Analyse environnementale. Il a expliqué en détail la méthode et la constitution de chaque analyse. Les principaux résultats sont donnés par culture avec comme séquence : patate douce, manioc, oseille de Guinée, moringa, gombo et voandzou. Il a conclu sa présentation en montrant les recommandations élaborées au cours de l'analyse et a invité les participants à prendre part à la discussion sur les résultats et les recommandations et à suggérer des actions concrètes sur la manière dont la chaîne de valeur de ces cultures peut être renforcée ou développée. 10 Projet SUSTLIVES 1.6 Discussion sur les présentations Cette séance de discussion suite aux 3 présentations, a été animée par le facilitateur général de l'atelier, Pr DAMBO. Les participants ont soulevé plusieurs questionnements, suggestions et recommandations en rapport avec les trois présentations. Les préoccupations principales se sont focalisées sur :• Présentation du projet SUSTLIVES -Pourquoi le projet n'a pas élargi le partenariat aux Institutions de recherche ? -Comment le projet transfert les connaissances vers les petits producteurs (foires et assemblées villageoises) ? -Activités sur la banque de gènes.-Détail sur les start-ups, quels types d'appui.-Comment le projet a identifié les zones d'intervention ? -Explication sur l'approche d'intervenir du projet sur le terrain.-Est-ce que l'échantillon de l'étude a pris en compte les groupes spécifiques (genre) ?-Pourquoi l'étude n'a pas été élargie au plan national ? -Est-ce que l'étude a fait un rapprochement avec les résultats de l'étude chaine de valeur du projet SWISSAID qui travaille sur les même NUS ? -Quelles recommandations sur la consommation des NUS ? -Partage/présentation des fiches des collectes de données -Composition de l'échantillon, prise en compte des aspects de nutrition dans les enquêtées et le choix des NUS ? -Est-ce que l'étude a abordé l'analyse organisationnelle des producteurs ? -Existe-t-il un circuit de production de semences de la patate douce et du manioc dans la zone ? -Présenter l'analyse SWOT par maillon ou au moins pour chaque élément de l'analyse ; ranger les points par ordre de maillons (fourniture d'intrants, production, commercialisation, transformation) de la chaîne. -Revoir l'estimation du rendement de moringa car trop sous-estimé comparé aux données nationales.-Raisons du prix bas à la récolte des produits -Comment les producteurs reconnaissent les variétés de voandzou ? Les autres études parlent seulement des écotypes. -Partage du rapport de l'étude avec les participants pour leur input. A toutes les préoccupations, des réponses appropriées ont été apportées par les présentateurs et le Coordonnateur du projet du Niger. Les éclaircissements se résument comme suit.• Présentation du projet SUSTLIVES Le projet travaille avec toutes les parties prenantes y compris les institutions de recherche. En effet, l'INRAN a été toujours impliqué dans les activités du projet mais le projet est coordonné par l'Université Abdou Moumouni. Le projet participe aux foires nationales (Salon de l'agriculture) et a organisé des assemblées villageoises dans les villages d'intervention lors de la collecte des données sur les banques de semences. L'activité de banque de gènes est gérée par l'Université Abdou Moumouni mais le projet ne va pas créer des nouvelles banques de gènes. Pour les start-ups, ce sont des petites subventions qui seront apportées aux jeunes (hommes et femmes) start-ups notamment pour la transformation des produits de NUS. Un processus de sélection sera lancé dans les jours à venir. Les zones d'intervention ont été sélectionnées sur la base d'un processus qui a impliqué tous les acteurs de recherche et de développement. Les potentialités sur les NUS, l'accessibilité et la sécurité ont été les principaux critères de choix des départements, communes et villages. Projet SUSTLIVES Le projet SUSTLIVES est un projet de recherche-action donc la mise en oeuvre des activités se fera sous forme des activités de recherche sur le terrain en impliquant les communautés, les communes et les services techniques surtout les services communaux de l'agriculture. Le projet organisera des collectes des données, des ateliers, des formations et des expérimentations.Lors de l'échantillonnage, nous avons essayé d'assurer la représentativité des sexes pour chaque culture et dans les différents maillons de la chaîne de valeur. Il s'agissait d'un échantillon aléatoire visant à définir les principales caractéristiques de la chaîne de valeur, la répartition finale étant influencée par la participation des femmes et des hommes aux différents maillons et par la volonté des personnes d'être interrogées. Les proportions entre les sexes des acteurs interrogés devraient refléter approximativement leur présence sur les marchés et dans la production. L'échantillon de l'étude se compose d'hommes (69 %) et de femmes (31 %) adultes, avec des différences entre les cultures et les noeuds de la chaîne de valeur.Au niveau national, des données ont été collectées grâce à des entretiens avec des experts des cultures sélectionnées. La collecte de données a été réalisée par le biais d'entretiens directs avec les acteurs de la chaîne de valeur, et l'étude qui en a découlé a pris en compte six cultures qui donnent lieu à des chaînes de valeur diversifiées. L'étude a accordé la priorité aux zones où le projet opère afin de recueillir les informations nécessaires à l'étude.En ce qui concerne la comparaison avec l'étude de SWISSAID, cette étude n'a pas effectué une comparaison directe avec les résultats de l'étude sur la chaîne de valeur du projet SWISSAID, car ces derniers n'étaient pas disponibles au moment du début de l'étude. Cependant, SWISSAID a été l'un des experts consultés, ce qui signifie que l'étude a indirectement pris en compte certaines informations de l'étude de SWISSAID.Du côté de la consommation et de la diffusion des résultats, il convient de noter que la promotion, la valorisation des aspects nutritionnels sont des aspects importants pour stimuler la consommation des NUS, qui font également partie des activités du projet SUSTLIVES et aussi dans la sélection des cultures même. L'étude a mis l'accent sur les points à améliorer dans la chaîne de valeur afin de favoriser une consommation accrue grâce à une chaîne de valeur plus efficace (par exemple, en réduisant les pertes). Les participants ont été invités à suggérer des actions pour améliorer la consommation. De plus, le rapport sera partagé avec les participants après l'atelier, leur donnant ainsi l'occasion de formuler des recommandations et des actions concrètes s'ils le souhaitent.L'étude a examiné l'analyse organisationnelle des producteurs, en enquêtant sur la fonctionnalité et l'opérationnalité des institutions de regroupement de la production comme les coopératives. L'objectif était de vérifier si ces aspects organisationnels étaient présents et fonctionnels au sein de la chaîne de valeur des producteurs de toutes les cultures. L'étude n'a pas explicitement abordé la question de la production de semences de patate douce et de manioc, car ce sujet a été pris en compte et approfondi par une autre activité du projet. Cet aspect crucial est traité de manière approfondie dans le cadre du projet, à savoir l'activité 1.3 2 et 1.2 3 contribuant ainsi à renforcer la filière des semences de patate douce et de manioc.L'étude a été réalisée en adoptant une approche globale de l'analyse de la chaîne de valeur. Étant donné la complexité et l'interconnexion des différents maillons de la chaîne, il est difficile de les isoler et de présenter une analyse SWOT spécifique à chaque segment. Cependant, l'étude aborde les différents aspects de la chaîne de valeur dans son ensemble, en identifiant les forces, les faiblesses, les opportunités et les menaces Projet SUSTLIVES qui y sont associées. Cela nous permet de comprendre les dynamiques globales de la chaîne et d'identifier les leviers d'amélioration qui peuvent impacter l'ensemble des maillons.Dans le cadre de l'étude, nous prendrons en compte les commentaires des participants concernant les rendements du moringa, qui ont été jugés trop bas. Afin d'évaluer plus précisément cette situation, nous comparerons les rendements observés lors de notre étude avec les données nationales disponibles. Cette comparaison nous permettra d'obtenir une perspective plus complète et de mieux comprendre les écarts constatés. Nous tenons à remercier les participants pour leurs observations pertinentes, qui contribueront à renforcer l'analyse des rendements du moringa dans notre étude.Dans le cadre de l'étude, nous avons observé que les prix bas lors de la récolte sont principalement attribuables à deux facteurs. Premièrement, il existe une absence de structuration efficace de la production, ce qui limite le pouvoir de négociation des producteurs face aux acheteurs. Cette situation fragilise leur position et peut conduire à des prix inférieurs. Deuxièmement, nous avons constaté une abondance de l'offre à la récolte, une récolte non échelonnée et donc générant un excès de produit sur le marché. Cette abondance crée une situation de concurrence intense entre les producteurs, ce qui peut également exercer une pression sur les prix.Il est important de souligner que ces facteurs sont inhérents à la situation actuelle de la chaîne de valeur étudiée. Cependant, ils représentent également des opportunités d'amélioration et de renforcement de la chaîne de valeur. En favorisant la structuration de la production, la création de coopératives ou l'agrégation de l'offre, les producteurs peuvent renforcer leur pouvoir de négociation et améliorer les conditions de vente.En ce qui concerne les variétés de voandzou, elles sont reconnues par les agriculteurs en se basant sur leurs connaissances endogènes, notamment par la couleur des graines. Dans notre étude, nous attachons une grande importance à ces connaissances endogènes des agriculteurs. Nous reconnaissons leur rôle crucial dans la préservation et la valorisation des variétés et écotypes. En intégrant ces connaissances dans notre analyse, nous cherchons à renforcer notre compréhension de l'agro biodiversité et à contribuer à sa promotion et sa conservation.1.7 Organisation des travaux de groupe et discussion 1.7.1 Organisation des travaux de groupe Concernant les travaux de groupes, ils ont porté sur les recommandations formulées à partir de l'ERM des six NUS. En effet, l'ERM a permis d'identifier six grandes recommandations dont la mise en oeuvre peut contribuer au développement des CV de l'ensemble des six NUS étudiées. Il s'agit de :1. Surmonter les contraintes techniques pour augmenter le rendement de tous les acteurs. Il s'agit surtout de faciliter aux producteurs l'accès à la terre (surtout aux femmes), aux intrants (semences/plants, engrais et pesticides de qualité), à l'eau d'irrigation et aux matériels modernes y compris pour les transformateurs. Ensuite, il faut former les producteurs sur les bonnes pratiques de lutte contre les ravageurs (utilisation des pesticides et des engrais) et les transformateurs sur les techniques modernes de transformation et de marketing.2. Résolution des contraintes de marché pour augmenter la rémunération de tous les acteurs et pour toutes les cultures cibles.3. Faciliter la structuration des producteurs en coopératives afin d'envisager leur mise en relation. 4. Faciliter l'accès aux fonds de roulement pour permettre aux acteurs de la CV d'acheter les produits directement chez les producteurs afin d'améliorer leur marge.5. Fournir un appui matériel de transformation pour les producteurs et les transformateurs, par exemple le séchage pour le gombo et le voandzou ou pour la préparation du jus d'oseille. Cette action est requise pour que les NUS percent durablement sur le marché et puisse faire concurrence aux produits de substitution. Projet SUSTLIVES 6. Soutien à la recherche et l'appui conseil/vulgarisation. Ce point facilitera l'information, la formation technique sur les bonnes pratiques de production et de transformation respectueuses de l'environnement et adaptées aux changements, la recherche sur la culture (amélioration génétique, fertilisation et conseil agricole), la vulgarisation des variétés productives et l'importance socio-économique, nutritionnelle et thérapeutique.Le but de cet exercice de travaux de groupe a été donc de recueillir les avis des participants sur ces recommandations formulées et d'identifier des points d'actions concrètes pour leurs mises en oeuvre. Pour cela, d'abord les NUS ont été catégorisées en trois groupes (patate douce et manioc ; moringa et oseille de Guinée ; gombo et voandzou). Puis les participants ont ensuite choisi librement le groupe de discussion auquel ils allaient participer (Annexe 3). Pour chaque groupe un rapporteur a été désigné pour la saisie, l'orientation des discussions et la présentation des résultats. Le travail a consisté pour chacune des six recommandations à répondre à quatre questions formulées comme suit : (1) Êtes-vous d'accord avec les recommandations proposées ? (2) Avez-vous d'autres recommandations à suggérer (générales ou spécifiques aux cultures) ? (3) Que suggérez-vous comme point d'action pour rendre ces recommandations opérationnelles ? et (4) Qui peut faire en sorte que cela fonctionne ? Enfin, les résultats de ces réflexions de groupes consignés dans les Tableaux 1-3 ont été présentés en plénière par le rapporteur du groupe.Les travaux de groupe ont permis aux participants de discuter et valider les recommandations formulées par l'étude. Ainsi, les résultats des travaux de groupe se présentent comme suit : Groupe 1 : Manioc et patate douce. Dans l'ensemble, le groupe a jugé pertinentes les 6 recommandations. Toutefois, les participants ont proposé quelques reformulations ou utilisation d'un verbe d'action surtout pour les recommandations 1, 2, et 4. Les points d'action identifiés pour les producteurs sont relatifs à l'accès aux semences améliorées, à la maîtrise de techniques de production, à l'accès à l'information, à l'organisation des producteurs sur la mise en marché des produits, à la mise en relation avec les acteurs et à la mise en place d'une politique agricole adaptée. Pour les transformateurs, les points d'action identifiés concernent l'équipement adapté, la maîtrise du processus de transformation, l'accès à l'information, l'organisation sur la mise en marché des produits et la mise en relation avec les acteurs. Pour les commerçants, le point d'action est relatif à l'allégement des taxes et la mise en relation avec les acteurs. Pour faciliter la mise en oeuvre des points d'action, des canaux et acteurs à engager ont été proposés par le groupe. Les livrables de l'activités sont :-Application/portail web pour le système d'intelligence de marché dédié aux NUS ; -Brochure pour la vulgarisation de l'application ; -Rapport sur le développement, la diffusion et l'adoption de l'application.1.9 Clôture Jour 1 A la fin de la journée, Dr DE FALCIS Eleonora s'est réjoui des contributions pertinentes des participants avant de les remercier. Par la suite, le facilitateur de l'atelier, Pr DAMBO Lawali, a prononcé le mot de clôture de la journée. Il s'est réjoui des travaux fructueux, des contributions pertinentes des participants et des résultats satisfaisants atteints permettant d'améliorer la qualité du rapport de l'étude et de la mise en oeuvre des recommandations. Ainsi, l'objectif de l'atelier a été largement atteint. Au nom de l'équipe du projet SUSTLIVES, Pr DAMBO a encore remercié vivement les participants pour leur pleine participation avant de leur souhaiter un bon retour dans leurs foyers respectifs. Projet SUSTLIVES genre sur deux cultures du projet avec des outils d'analyse de la méthodologie. La présentation de la méthodologie a porté sur : i) le concept genre, ii) l'approche genre liée à la chaîne de valeur, et iii) l'analyse de la chaîne de valeur sensible au genre. Les buts/objectifs de l'analyse chaîne de valeur sensible au genre sont : -Identifier les différents rôles des femmes et des parties prenantes engagées dans les différents maillons de la CV et leurs interaction et influence.Identifier les contraintes qui conduisent à l'exclusion et à la marginalisation des femmes tout au long de la chaîne.-Identifier les points d'intervention appropriés afin de donner à tous (hommes et femmes) la possibilité d'obtenir un travail décent et productif dans des conditions d'équité, de liberté, de sécurité et de dignité.L'analyse chaîne de valeur sensible au genre consiste à travers des questionnements à faire ressortir les responsabilités/rôles et niveaux d'engagement ainsi que les contraintes qui limitent l'accès et le contrôle des ressources par genre au niveau des différents maillons de la chaîne de valeur. L'analyse aborde également les causes et les conséquences de ces contraintes pour concevoir des solutions pour une mise à niveau (amélioration) durable de la chaîne de valeur.2.4 Discussion sur la présentation de la méthodologie de l'analyse de la chaîne de valeur sensible au genre Cette séance de discussion, suite à la présentation, a été animée par le facilitateur général de l'atelier, Pr DAMBO Lawali. Ainsi, les participants souhaitant intervenir ont été enregistrés. Les intervenants ont fait 2 commentaires/suggestions :-La précision homme adulte, femme adulte, jeune homme et jeune femme et les limites d'âges correspondantes à chacune de ces catégories de genre. -La définition du genre va au-delà des catégories homme adulte, femme adulte, jeune homme et jeune femme.Des clarifications ont été apportées par le présentateur et complétées par les autres personnes ayant suivies la formation de formateurs sur le genre dispensée par les experts de CIHEAM-Bari. Pour le cas de cet exercice, qui est un texte, la question du genre s'est focalisée sur la compréhension des rôles et responsabilité et des contraintes des femmes dans les différents maillons des chaines de valeur. Toutefois, l'équipe est consciente que l'analyse genre va au-delà de la compréhension de la situation des femmes dans les chaînes de valeur. 20 Projet SUSTLIVES 2.5 Travaux de groupe sur l'application de la méthodologie sur les chaînes de valeurs du moringa et de l'oseille de Guinée Après la présentation et les discussions sur la méthodologie de l'analyse sensible au genre des chaînes de valeur agricoles, les participants ont été réparties en 2 groupes (moringa et oseille de Guinée) sur la base de leur expérience sur ces cultures. Ces groupes ont travaillé sur des propositions déjà faites lors de la formation des formateurs dispensée par les experts de CIHEAM-Bari comme étude de cas de ces cultures. Ainsi, les travaux de groupe ont consisté à valider et compléter (accepter, modifier, reformuler ou supprimer) les propositions faites lors de la formation sur les chaînes de valeur du moringa et de l'oseille de Guinée. Pour chaque culture, 2 tableaux (1 sur l'analyse des responsabilités, rôles et niveaux d'engagement et 2 sur l'analyse des contraintes liées au genre) ont été remis aux groupes comme base de discussion. Dans les tableaux, les contributions des groupes sont en bleu. Les résultats des travaux de groupes se présentent comme suit :   ","tokenCount":"4217"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1629832039.json b/data/part_1/1629832039.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8322206d2a094772da7ce0babfc6917abba1f18e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1629832039.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0ded3a2d54ca583107439ff56674ac2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fe0a0709-887a-4373-a6fe-6b41b7ac7ce3/retrieve","id":"843216520"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f80ce38-5c2f-4b8f-9813-66f40b173b11","pagecount":"28","content":"yam A triumph for towns n°152 aPRiL-may 2011 in te rv ie w Isa be lla Ma sin de : \"T ra de -o ff fo r fa rm er s\" Post-haRvest management Adding value to crops the magazine for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries http://spore.cta.int sharing knowledge, improving rural livelihoodsStakeholder Forum has set up Earthsummit2012.org as an information hub to provide updates, background information and analysis towards Rio+20. It is intended that this site will also act as a platform to connect organisations and stakeholders interested in engaging in the preparatory process.Get Involved At Earthsummit2012.org you will find ways to get involved in the lead up to the Summit and support global efforts towards achieving sustainable development. If you would like to share information about your activities and events through the website, or contribute to our blog please email us at: earthsummit2012@stakeholderforum.org @earthsummit2012The pathway to achieving sustainable development and a system of governance will take cooperation amongst a vast range of stakeholders. Stakeholder Forum will work with representatives from all nine Major Groups globally in its work towards Earth Summit 2012. To this end it will facilitate dialogue, host workshops, conduct consultations and build multi-stakeholder coalitions. It will also produce radio podcasts, videos and animations in an effort to communicate with and engage a wide diversity of stakeholders.Subscribe to Stakeholder Forum's Earth Summit Network News via the website. You can also join our Facebook group by searching \"Earth Summit 2012\" or follow us on Twitter. Stakeholder Forum will be producing its multi-stakeholder magazine 'Outreach' at all preparatory sessions for the UNCSD 2012. All stakeholders are welcome to contribute to Outreach, which can be accessed at www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach Vision, Cooperation, Transformation A t a time when it is more pressing than ever to plan agricultural policies and develop production, strong and well structured commodity associations can be a powerful tool for governments and farmers alike. Now well acknowledged by the public sector, these commodity associations bring together all the players of a value chain and enjoy privileged access to government. They use their role to protect the interests of all the components of the commodity value chain, including producers, processors and traders. The resources and structure of these organisations differ greatly, and these variables, together with the way each body has developed, go some way towards dictating how much influence they have on national policy. Whatever the differences, commodity associations appear to play an increasingly important role in shaping a more robust and competitive agricultural sector.Commodity associations, inter-professional associations, boards and trade organisations all have a similar structure, but their backgrounds may differ. Private interprofessional associations are organised on the French model. They generally group together all the stakeholders in a single value chain, such as CIRIZ in Senegal, which represents the local rice sector -including representatives from producers, industry, financial institutions, input distributors, traders, consumers, suppliers of agricultural services, public sector institutions and development actors.Boards, which evolved from the Anglo-Saxon model, generally have their origins in government, with links to the private sector. Exports are their main sphere of action, and examples include the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) in Papua New Guinea and the Coffee Board of Burundi (OCIBU). The guiding mission of the OCIBU is to promote coffee cultivation in Burundi, develop quality standards and ensure that they are respected by all in the value chain. They wield significant rights, including the regulation of marketing, managing quality control and issuing product information.Trade organisations developed from the Canadian model and are found in some West African countries, where they focus on dialogue between the various interest groups related to a particular agrifood commodity. In Burkina Faso, for example, there are trade organisations for milk, bananas, meat and shea butter.Backgrounds and origins aside, commodity associations also differ according to the value chain in question. These range from export sectors such as coffee, cocoa and cotton which were often traditionally managed by government, to national food crops such as cereals and shorter, more localised value chains such as onions and processed tomatoes.Commodity associations' main roles include advocacy for state support for their particular value chain and involvement in the development of agricultural policy. Many of these bodies have been set up by governments, keen to have a limited number of representatives to deal with for a given sector. The associations also offer scope for the private sector to be involved, an important consideration since this group is often excluded when policies are being implemented.Each organisation takes on specific tasks, depending on the product and the local context. For market gardeners in Zimbabwe, the key issues are the logistics and organisation of the value chain. For some time, Mali's meat commodity association FEBEVIM concentrated its efforts on campaigning for the removal of illegal taxes which was hampering exports. Launched in 2004, the Ghana Rice Interprofessional Body (GRIB) brings together more than 8,000 stakeholders and seeks to develop production and promote better quality for local rice. It has managed to persuade the government to introduce a special import tax, making Ghanian rice more competitive on urban markets.Resources for the future?The success of commodity associations appears to rely to a large degree on reaching a consensus among stakeholders from the outset. The more structured a value chain is from the beginning, with solid organisations, participants who know and respect each other and a favourable legal framework, the more chance a commodity association has of becoming operational in a short space of time. Cooperatives, producers' organisations, women processors, traders -all must be involved. Another important asset is the involvement of men and women with political skills who can ensure that common goals are given priority.But even if all these conditions are met, commodity associations often encounter significant obstacles. Just because the government acknowledges their presence, it does not mean that it necessarily listens to them. Government actions are often swayed by strategic issues connected with a given sector: its contribution to food security, as a source of foreign exchange and/or jobs or to a 'fair' distribution of revenues to producers. It is often far from easy to maintain a balance within the commodity associations themselves, where the most vulnerable players -such as small-scale producers and women processors -do not have the same weight as the more influential members such as traders. Then there is the crucial issue of resources. The more fortunate organisations have outside support from donors or specific taxes decided by their government. A case in point is the GRIB, which used the tax on rice imports to provide quality training to its members. But most commodity associations have to make do with the contributions of their member groups. Lack of adequate resources means there is no money to pay officials and the organisations often end up being poorly run.Commodity associations are now starting to emerge at regional level: the poultry sector in eight countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC) have teamed up to tackle competition from imported frozen chicken and make local poultry farming more profitable. In 2009, they launched a regional poultry inter-professional association called IPAR-CEMAC. Promoting product quality is also high on the agenda of most community associations. Examples include speciality coffees in the Dominican Republic and the shea butter trade organisation in Burkina Faso, which focuses on improving marketing conditions. Quality aside, commodity associations are taking a growing interest in geographical indications (GIs). In Cameroon, the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB) is closely involved in talks on GIs. With well established producers' organisations and a strong institutional environment, this kind of approach could open the way to new development strategies for community associations.■ FAO has launched a quick reference calendar covering 43 major African countries. The web-based tool covers more than 130 crops from beans to beetroot and from wheat to watermelon. It advises which crops to plant and when, taking into account the type of agricultural zone.The calendar aims to help farmers plan the right crops for their conditions and can be used by aid workers to implement seed relief following natural or human disasters. It can also serve as a quick reference for selecting crop varieties suited to changing weather patterns, as well as tried and tested seed varieties likely to produce the best results.The calendar covers 283 agro-ecological zones, representing the richness and variety of the African ecology as well as challenges of land degradation, sand encroachment and floods. An estimated 50% of the global increase in yields over the past 10 years has come from improving the quality of seeds. The other 50% has come from better water management and irrigation practices. reseArChThe Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub, has opened in Nairobi. The new facility is hosted and managed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It offers the latest technologies to scientists, enabling researchers to work together across institutional, national and disciplinary boundaries. As well as issues affecting livestock, the Hub focuses on some of Africa's biggest agricultural problems, including droughts, crop pests, diseases, weeds and unsafe foods. BecA Hub scientists are currently working to develop drought-tolerant food crops and combat aflatoxins. They have already developed a test for detecting bushmeat sold in Kenyan shops.The International Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has been launched and is due to hold its first meeting before June. Modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this group of experts seeks to improve the diffusion of knowledge on biodiversity and its degradation. It plans to publish summary reports outlining current knowledge on the issue, with the aim of improving awareness and the potential for decision-making among politicians and members of the public.Cape Verde: the 'green cape' gets greener ■ After years of effort, Cape Verde is reaping the benefits of its own green revolution, investing heavily in irrigation, infrastructure, pest control and trade. For many years, there have been threats to food safety, with severe periods of drought and hunger. Now, a good many hydrographic basins and dams are operational.One success story is Santo Antão, the archipelago's most productive island. For the past 25 years, an inter-island trade embargo on its crops due to a plague of millipedes (diplopoda) hampered increases in crop yields, impacting some 7,000 farmers. But the embargo was lifted this year thanks to the adoption of sustainable pest control measures. These included training inspectors and setting up a post-harvest storage centre, ensuring not just pest control but also fresher and higher quality produce. This island has better water access than others in the archipelago, and it is expected that local farmers will export some 3,500 t of produce to other islands over the next 2 years.A website has been launched to mark the Un international year of Forests 2011. it offers extensive information on events scheduled throughout the year, as well as a wide range of resources on the management of forests and their preservation. the website also plans to offer an interactive space for dialogue. www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011the Flower Label Programme (FLP) has been created to support socially and environmentally sound flower production. the FLP's fair trade label is applied to flowers grown by workers who have trade unions rights. the label also provides guarantees that plantations are paying fair wages and that workers have long-term contracts, social security and protection against pesticides. droUghtAn initiative to promote research into food crops that can resist Africa's increasingly tough climatic conditions has been launched by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The focus is on developing \"varieties of the 64 most important food crops and forages\" that can help small-scale farmers weather climate change. Meanwhile, Uganda's National Crops Resources Research Institute has developed drought-resistant varieties of beans, cassava, maize and upland rice. The maize varieties are also pest-resistant while in storage. Godfrey Asea, team leader of the plant breeding project, said that the varieties are already being multiplied by seed companies.Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere could lead to a serious drop in the protein content of some major crops. Scientists have warned of falls of up to 20% if CO 2 rates continue to rise, and say new fertilisers may be required to counter the impact.A study produced by scientists from the University of California, USA, found that plants growing in CO 2 -enriched environments take up less nitrate for conversion into organic compounds, such as proteins. Arnold Bloom, lead author of the study conducted by US researchers and published in Science, estimated that the increased CO 2 levels predicted for the next 2 to 5 decades could have serious implications for nutrition levels in both humans and livestock.■ Creating one thousand kitchen gardens in schools, villages and on the outskirts of African towns -that is the goal of A Thousand Gardens in Africa, launched by Terra Madre, an organisation that promotes high quality local smallscale agriculture that respects the environment. Pilot schemes are already under way at schools in Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Uganda.The kitchen gardens are cultivated with sustainable methods (such as compost, natural protection against pests and weeds and careful water management), using local varieties. They include fruit trees, vegetables and medicinal plants. Both child and adult gardeners are trained in these growing techniques, as well as in knowledge of local products, the concept of biodiversity, respect for the environment, sustainable use of soil and water and the handing down of knowledge from the elderly.The project will be managed and coordinated by the Slow Food Foundation, a global movement which promotes farming that respects the environment and high quality food that favours local products.the Centre of Phytosanitary excellence (CoPe) has been launched in Kenya. it seeks to build capacity in both public and private sectors to help prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests and to meet the phytosanitary requirements of international trade. CoPe is an initiative of national plant protection organisations in Kenya, tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. www.africacope.org sUstAinAbLe ProdUCtionAn indigenous knowledge project is helping a South African community to get better returns from a herbal tea plant. Farmers living near the town of Genadendal are learning how to produce honeybush species Cyclopia maculata in a sustainable manner, and to earn revenue from the tea's growing popularity in overseas markets. \"We believe that the specific type of honeybush that grows naturally in the Genadendal area holds significant economic potential that can be unlocked to the benefit of the local community\", said Professor Lizette Joubert from the Agricultural Research Council.Scientists are documenting the health properties of the local honeybush and identifying niche markets. South Africa produces about 200 t of honeybush each year, most of it exported to Europe. Working closely with the Genadendal Small Farmers' Association, researchers have set up a demonstration plot and are developing guidelines for nursery operations, farming practices and processing.There are plans to add value to the honeybush by developing extracts for the food and cosmetics industries.Cyclopia maculata, the honeybush from South Africa's Genadendal region rAbbits healthy profits ■ Consumer choices are driving demand for rabbit meat, creating new opportunities for Kenyan farmers. According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, more than 200,000 kg of rabbit meat is now sold each year. The average rabbit farmer earns more than US$5 (€3.68) per kg of meat.The major buyers of rabbit products are five-star hotels, restaurants, supermarket chains and butchers. Director of Agriculture Dr Wilson Songa says that the government has started to make loans available to farmers wanting to start rabbit farms. \"The demand for rabbit meat has been on a steady increase. We thought as a government, giving loans to farmers would be a good way of promoting this vibrant sector. Already, there are regional export markets for the products\", he said.With the integration of the East African community, Kenyan farmers are exporting more than 80,000 kg annually to Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.Rabbit meat is white and considered healthier than red meat. It is low-fat, easily digestible and has a relatively low content of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, making it increasingly popular with consumers.■ In Africa, women dominate the postcapture sector for small-scale fisheries. It is they who buy, process and sell the catch of fishers. Organised into professional groups in their countries, these women, who come from the 22 member states of the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic (COMAHFAT), have launched RAFEP, a network for women in fisheries, based in Senegal.Faced with the challenge of declining stocks due to uncontrolled overfishing in Africa, the network aims to develop sustainable fishing in the area. It also plans to help members improve access to markets.■ In an effort to reduce overfishing in the four big lakes of Madagascar's Antsirabe region, and to make the most of fisheries resources, the association of local fishers FIFIMPAVA took charge of this sector in 2007. The organisation has introduced regulations for captures and increased public awareness regarding the importance of respecting spawning seasons, as well as the size of mesh in nets and of fish caught.It has also taken steps to increase stocks of fish fry and replant trees on the waters' edge. This initiative has led to a significant improvement in both the quality and the quantity of fish caught. \"We are catching 10 times more fish per day than we used to\", said the association's president. But inadequate resources for preserving fish have caused difficulties for local families. inseCtsFarming insects for food is less damaging to the environment than livestock production.In a new report, scientists compared greenhouse gas emissions, methane and ammonia production of both protein sources. They reared mealworms, locusts, crickets, sun beetles and cockroaches, while monitoring the amount of gas produced per kilo of insect growth. Compared to cattle, weight for weight, insects emitted 80 times less methane. Crickets produced 8-12 times less ammonia than pigs. Insects are currently eaten by 80% of the population. Arnold van Huis, the report's co-author, said they are an \"excellent food source... that should be nurtured\" and taken up as an alternative to cattle.FertiLiser free but shunned ■ In Rwanda, farmers are using animal and human urine as fertiliser. The impact on yields is impressive, as the large quantities of urea contained in urine can be highly beneficial to plants. But it is important to know how to apply it. This simple technique involves putting the urine in containers which are then covered and allowed to rest for about 2 weeks. The liquid must then be diluted since otherwise its high nitrogen content would risk burning the plant roots.The strength of the solution varies according to crops: for 1 l of urine, you need to add 4 l of water for vegetables, 2 l for maize and 1 l for bananas. The ratio also changes according to the time of year: less water is needed in the rainy season since rainwater helps dilute the urine.The main obstacle to this method being more widely used is the reluctance of many farmers to use this kind of waste, even though they are quite happy to spread cow dung on their fields as fertiliser.eCosystemsThe government of Niger has approved an agreement to strengthen cooperation with neighbouring Nigeria for ecosystem management in an effort to harmonise the judicial and institutional framework between the two countries. There are also plans to involve organisations from civil society, the private sector and donors in ecosystem management. The two countries share more than 1,000 km of borders as well as several sensitive ecosystems, including Lake Chad. They also share management of the River Niger as part of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), whose members include seven other countries from the region.Animal or human urine makes good fertiliser■ The World Bank (WB) has paid US$34,000 (€25,000) for the purchase of carbon credits from the Humbo Community Based Forest Management Project in southern Ethiopia.The initiative was launched by World Vision Ethiopia in Wolayta Sodo, a highly-degraded area where communities used to rely on cutting trees for revenue. The scheme organised 800 people into seven cooperatives to work on forest development with the aim of helping members to make a living from carbon trading instead of firewood.The WB has pledged to buy credit for half of the 330,000 t of carbon the forest can absorb, worth a total of US$726,000 (€538,000) over 10 years.Payment will be divided among the cooperatives. Community members could make extra revenue by selling carbon credits from the remaining part of the forest to voluntary buyers as well as from the sale of timber from designated areas. The Humbo Forest, which covers an area of 2,728 ha, was the first large-scale forestry project in Africa to be registered by the UN under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.gUineA bissAUrecognising the vital importance of biodiversity for the country's food safety, the government of guinea-bissau has pledged to increase protected areas from 15% to 24% of its territory over the next 2 years. the commitment was made during negotiations at nagoya, Japan through the work programme covering planned protected areas, carried out at the Convention on biological diversity, and through the regional Coastal and marine Conservation Programme.A website on non-chemical pest management in the tropics has been launched by the Pesticide Action network (PAn). the online information service for non-Chemical Pest management in the tropics (oisAt) offers small-scale farmers information on how to produce key crops using affordable preventive and curative non-chemical crop and pest management practices.www.oisat.org eArLy wArning■ The Global Fire Information Management System (GFIMS) has been launched in an effort to warn communities of fires, especially in countries of the South with no national alert system. The network offers near realtime detection of emerging fires, and alerts users through an online portal, via email or as an SMS. Africa is the continent worst affected by uncontrolled fires, which damage or destroy 175 million ha of land each year.The system uses data from two NASA satellites which pass over every point on the globe every 6 h, taking photographs with an infrared camera that detects heat levels on the ground. GFIMS processes the images to produce an online map of fire hotspots.■ The Senegalese agricultural research institute ISRA has developed a selfpropelled rice reaper which should help rice farmers in the Senegal River valley to save time, money and energy. Powered by two driving wheels, with blades to cut the paddy, the new machine can harvest 2 to 3 ha per day. Developing the reaper has involved making a careful study of all stages in the rice sector, say ISRA technical officials. Designed for easy handling, the rice reaper can be moved from one plot to another, unlike large and costly combine harvesters, which only work on level, well-drained land. All spare parts will be made locally, so that repairs can be made swiftly. The first reapers have been funded by the national agricultural research fund FNRAA. \"We are looking for funding to make a dozen models and distribute them to rice producers\", said ISRA's scientific director. Each machine costs about FCFA 3.5 million (€5,340).trAditionAL ProdUCts■ How can traditional African food products be made more appetising for urban consumers in both Africa and Europe? How can products made on a small-scale be adapted so they can be marketed on a wider scale and conform to current tastes and standards? AFTER, an EU project that is initially being implemented in Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar, Senegal and South Africa, plans to answer these questions.The idea behind this CIRAD-led initiative is to take a fresh look at traditional products, methods and processes and analyse them in detail. From the picture that emerges, researchers will seek to make the improvements and modifications needed to the various stages of production and processing so that products will be more acceptable to urban consumers on both continents.Three types of product have been identified for the venture: cereal-based fermented foods, others derived from dried meat and fish and products based on plant extracts. The results will be proposed to African small and medium enterprises interested in putting the ideas into practice.reCyCLingA Brazilian researcher has developed a fibre cement based on sugarcane residue. He replaced the synthetic fibrous materials generally used to make fibre cement with bagasse, the fibrous residue of the sugarcane stalk. He also substituted 30% of powdered cement with ash left over from burning cane stalks. The ash is rich in silica, and when mixed with water and slaked lime, makes an agglomerate that hardens to form a tough substance. Tests carried out on the final product, including exposure to sun and rain, have proved the material to have a resilience similar to that of conventional fibre cement. Findings show that although the situation is improving, there is a marked gender gap that widens with career advancement. At management level, the ratio is 85% male to 15% female.ChiLd heALthScientists have discovered variations of a maize gene (crtRB1) that can lead to an 18-fold increase in beta-carotene content. Plant breeders are starting to use these naturally occurring genetic variations to breed maize that can provide more betacarotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Each year, around 500,000 children worldwide are blinded by vitamin A deficiency. Most of the beta-carotene produced in maize is converted into other carotenoids, which make less or no vitamin A. The favourable variations of the crtRB1 gene slow down this process resulting in more of the crucial vitamin. Scientists say they should release the first vitamin A maize in Zambia by 2012.indigenoUs CroPsthe Centre for Pacific Crops and trees (CePaCt) is heading a project to conserve 1,000 varieties of fruit and vegetables from 7,500 Pacific islands. the crop species will be grown in research institutes, with duplicates held at CePaCt. the plant bank, launched in an effort to protect biodiversity, will be available to farmers and researchers aiming to produce new varieties.entrePrise And QUALity■ Based in the Mozambican Province of Nampula, IKURU was founded in 2003 by farmers' associations whose goal was to produce and market products carrying a quality guarantee. Initial funding for the company came from ethical investors from Mozambique and abroad. Entirely controlled by its members, IKURU means strength in the Makhuwa language. Its products are fully certified and internationally recognised. It exports cashews and peanuts under a fairtrade label, and soybeans, peanuts and sesame under an organic label.The company has about 22,000 shareholders -40% of whom are women -grouped into 29 associations in the north of the country, and is the most successful farmer-owned business in Mozambique. Total sales volumes increased from 300 t of produce in 2004 to 2,150 t in 2010. These included quality seeds and represented an average annual growth rate of 50%. The success has led to a substantial increase in revenue for farmers who, for the first time ever, have had a say in the quality control and marketing of their products.www.ikuru.orgPrices: your choice ■ A new scheme launched in Mauritius aims to inform and protect consumers and help them to make sound choices, while encouraging competition among the growing number of supermarkets and hypermarkets opening on the island. The Price Observatory initiative has been launched by the Ministry for Consumer Protection.Each month, ministry officials visit retail outlets and collect data on about 60 products. Half consist of primary consumer items such as rice, flour, dairy products and tinned food, while the remainder is made up of secondary products such as cosmetics, perfume and detergents. This information is then analysed. Remarks and observations about the prices offered in the various outlets are subsequently published in the local press and on the observatory's website.The initiative involves the whole supply chain, including producers, retailers and consumers. These latter say they welcome the chance to compare prices before buying, but would like the observatory to do more than just record them. They are calling for measures and sanctions to be imposed when prices are too high.Cotton prices on international markets have more than doubled in the space of a year, reaching record levels. They rose from US$0.75 (€0.55) per pound at the end of January 2010 to US$1.7 (€1.25) at the close of January 2011. World stocks are very low and harvests of several major producers have been hit by bad weather. The revival of demand in China is expected to keep prices buoyant in 2011. This price rise is good news for African cotton suppliers, who have suffered from a deepening crisis in recent years. The sector became profitable again once prices reached between US$0.75 (€0.55) and $0.85 (€0.62), depending on the country. Producers have obtained an increase in the purchase price for the 2010-2011 season. The rise should boost a recovery in output after the slump of the past few years. ■ In common with all food sectors, there is growing pressure to make spice production more sustainable. An initiative to make spices more profitable for producers, and more accountable for buyers, has been launched by Dutch development organisation the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). Most spice producers are small-scale farmers who grow spices next to crops such as maize and bananas. They need support in meeting requirements for sustainability and certification. Exporters in developing countries also need help in ensuring that products comply with quality requirements as well as social and environmental standards. KIT has created an on-line dossier on the issue.http://tinyurl.com/339pkxtValue addedseven African cotton-producing countries have launched a strategy to increase valueadded in the cotton, textile and clothing sectors and help carve new markets. the approach, which benefits from a €5 million eU grant, involves interventions spanning the whole cotton-to-clothing value chain, from producers and ginners, through to fabric and apparel manufacturers.Carbon trading is an instrument used as an incentive to have communities conserve their forests and woodlands. It is a payment that the local communities receive in return for the sacrifice they make to forgo the use of their land for several years so that it can sequester carbon. Under this arrangement, we encourage smallholder farmers to practise agroforestry. That means they plant their food crops alongside trees. We also encourage farmers in a given area to surrender at least a portion of their land for tree planting.How does this initiative encourage food production if farmers have to forgo the use of their land?This initiative is not supposed to cause a decline in food production, but rather to increase both food production and forest coverage. We know that most farmers have small pieces of land. However, through education and proper information on the negative effects of climate change, most farmers have agreed to forgo portions of their land for trees. They then use the remaining part to practise sustainable agriculture. Food is plentiful in areas where we are now sequestering carbon.What are the specific benefits to smallholder farmers?AWF, which doubles as the implementing and marketing agency, selects communities to benefit from carbon trading. A trust fund is then established through which communities are paid. AWF contacts buyers in the developed world, who then transfer the money to the trust fund account.Each member of the community gets cash payments. Carbon trading is done in tonnes, and 1 t could be between US$4 and $5 (€3 and €3.5). The community gets 60%, a government entity to support conservation gets 20% and the implementing agency gets 20% for monitoring and evaluation and to ensure compliance. In Kenya, 120 farmers are benefiting from carbon trading, while in Tanzania, 200 farmers are on the benefits list. In the last 3 years, each farmer has received US$300 (€220) to improve their livelihoods and also enhance their new farming techniques including agroforestry. In the next year and before 2013, more farmers -about 500 -will have benefited from the new trade-off.Is it right that carbon trading in developing countries should compensate for continued pollution in industrialised countries?The rich countries must be held accountable on their promises to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will be meaningless for developing countries to be told to plant more trees if the rich counties continue to pollute the atmosphere.We realised that forests contribute to either global warming when cut down, or to cooling when they sequester and store carbon. My advice to farmers in Africa is please, plant more trees to save our continent.How are livelihoods changing for communities living within and around the carbon trading projects?The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), with other partners, is working to develop fair and equitable benefit sharing schemes that will ensure that benefits are realised at household level. In addition, AWF is facilitating the development of alternative livelihood options that will bring economic benefits to the community.What are the challenges you face?Carbon projects are very expensive to implement. They take a very long time.The idea of selling carbon sounds alien to most community members, but with the benefits that have started trickling in, they now know they have hope. However, the main challenge is land ownership. The majority of smallholder farmers have no land of their own, hence there is increased encroachment into forests and other designated areas.isAbeLLA mAsindeAfrican farmers have first-hand experience of the impact of climate change, with erratic weather patterns seriously threatening their crops and livestock. Carbon trading initiatives offer them some hope of improving their livelihoods while adopting more sustainable ways of managing land and increasing output.\"Please, plant more trees to save our continent.\" Post-hArvest mAnAgementEffective post-harvest handling is critical for maintaining the quality and freshness of crops from when they are harvested to when they reach the consumer. Practical technologies exist to slow the deterioration of produce. Some of them can also add value. enyan maize farmer Pamela Akoth has a big family to feed, so it is a cruel blow when weevils or borers find their way into her grain supply. In the past, like many others in her community at Homa Bay, this mother of six has lost 10-20% of her harvest to pest infestations after just 3 months of storage. Now, with an interest-free loan, Akoth has purchased a metal silo able to store 20 bags of maize, the yield of her 0.7 ha plot. Made of galvanised metal, the silo is airtight, so keeps out insects. \"Since I started using the silo I don't experience any loss of grain\", said Akoth, who was helped by a project headed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that trains artisans to make and sell the silos. \"I have enough to feed my family and even some left over that I can save and later sell, when there is a shortage in the market.\"Each year, massive quantities of the world's food harvest are lost to spoilage and infestations on the journey to consumers. In some ACP countries, where tropical weather and poorly developed infrastructure contribute to the problem, wastage can regularly be as high as 40-50%. From the moment an edible raw material is harvested, it undergoes progressive deterioration. The process may be very slow, as with seeds or nuts, or so rapid that the food becomes virtually useless in a matter of hours. Bacteria, yeasts, moulds, insects and rodents are in constant competition with humans for their food supply. Foods are also subject to destruction by a host of variables, including temperature, light, oxygen, moisture, dryness and natural enzymes. Losses occur at all stages in the food supply chain from the moment of harvesting, during handling, storage, processing and marketing.Post-harvest losses (PHL) can affect both quality and quantity. In the former case, the impact may be lower nutritional values or consumer dissatisfaction, an important consideration especially for export markets. But postharvest damage may go beyond financial losses to the producer -it can also cause illness or even death to the consumer.Inadequate research and support is partly to blame for the scale of the problem. \"Farmer practices and farm management often receive insufficient attention when it comes to improving food security, yet they are a vital component in the fight against hunger\", said Dr Trevor Nicholls, Chief Executive Officer at CABI. \"Tackling pests, diseases and inadequate storage is part of the solution to improving food security.\"Given the massive impact of PHL on food security, there are calls for much more government involvement, with more cash and resources invested in research Three bags full A triple bagging system is helping to extend the shelf life of cowpeas in Central and West Africa. The non-chemical storage technology was developed by scientists at Purdue University, USA, with a range of partners in the 10 countries where it has been introduced. Many cowpea farmers formerly used insecticides to prevent high rates of post-harvest loss. The Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) enables them to hold their grain after harvest instead of selling it when prices are at their lowest. The hermetic system cuts off the supply of air to insects. So far, the technology has been introduced in 28,000 villages, where farmers are taught how to use it. The project is also developing a supply chain for the bags to provide opportunities for local businesses.and plant protection units assisting farmers on the ground. Extension services should move post-harvest plant protection higher up on their agenda and make sure that their staff are well prepared to develop and deliver focused and effective solutions to farmers. Also important is training to improve handling, storage, packing, sorting and grading practices, so that improvements are made throughout the entire supply chain. A critical factor for reducing food losses is improved quality standards -and help in meeting requirements. In June last year, countries from the Eastern Africa Community -Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda -introduced processing standards for cassava and potato, a move expected to lead to less PH loss and more added value. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the National Agricultural Research Institute is conducting trials with improved packaging, processing and storage techniques for sweet potatoes and other vegetables. Post-harvest handling of vegetables from the highlands to coastal markets of PNG results in huge losses. Unlike cash crops, the vegetable industry does not have a standard marketing system that encourages farmers to produce consistent quality.In Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania alone, the 2006/2007 loss to national maize production from pests was estimated at US$150-300 million (€110-240 million). Farmers who fear losing their maize to pests are frequently tempted to sell most of their harvest as quickly as possible, for whatever price they can get. All too often, they end up having to buy it back later at a much higher price. At villages in these three countries, CABI has been helping farmers improve PH management through farmer field schools, teaching producers to identify different storage pests and how best to manage them.As climate conditions become more hot and humid, post harvest problems are likely to increase and farmers will have to prepare for new pests and diseases. Already, new insects are being seen for which there are no natural predators.One secret of good post-harvest management is choosing the right crop for the right place. In Barbados and other Caribbean islands, farmers traditionally use the windrowing method to cure their onions. This involves lifting the plants and spreading them with the leaves of one row covering the bulbs of the next to ensure thorough drying and protection of the bulbs from sunburn. But many of the Texas Grano varieties now grown in the Eastern Caribbean are not adapted to local conditions and losses due to rotting and sprouting are high.Technical interventions can be relatively simple. Storage bins for grain must be cleaned out completely between seasons and disinfected before re-use; shade must be provided for perishable foodstuffs, together with appropriate containers for their transportation and marketing. In some cases, chemical pesticides are the only solution, but farmers need clear guidelines and regulations, and support in using them safely and effectively.For rural storage, some of the most successful solutions are farm and village level technologies that use locally available construction materials and building designs that reflect social and cultural traditions. In the heat of Sudan, where tomatoes go off in just 2 days and carrots and okra are rotten after 4, the zeer pot is a simple fridge made of one earthenware pot set inside another, with a layer of wet sand in between. As the moisture evaporates, it cools the inner pot, keeping up to 12 kg of produce fresh for up to 3 weeks. Seeds need special conservation conditions if they are to keep their quality for the next season. In northern Burundi's Kirundo province, villagers are being helped to store their haricot and sorghum seeds in metal community silos, which protect them against pests and damage caused by changes in temperature and humidity.For more costly technologies, joining force with other farmers can offer a solution.In Kenya's Rift Valley, where spoilage is a major problem for fruit farmers, many have grouped together to share costs for refrigeration. In Fiji, a farmers cooperative manages a Hot Forced Air Treatment chamber to treat papaya, eggplant, chillies and mangoes for export. Once fruit and vegetables go through the chamber, any post-harvest damage becomes visible, enabling better selection. In some cases, improved post-harvest management may turn into an income-earning opportunity. Farmer-turned businessman, Junghae Wainaina has set up Midlands Ltd, a potato cooling facility in Nyandarua, Kenya. The factory, which can hold up to 6,000 t of potatoes, is the only one of its kind in the East African region. A South African firm has introduced quick-build metal silos which can be customised according to the exact needs of a community, moved from one location to another and enlarged as required.Improved technologies for drying fruits, vegetables and root crops cannot only reduce losses arising from seasonal gluts. They can also add value. Drying, salting, pickling, sugaring and smoking can all prolong shelf-life and ensure that the product earns more money for the producer, as well as for the other actors in the supply chain. Some of the most effective technologies are smallscale, low-capital installations. Cereals, legumes, roots and tubers can be processed into flours that serve as indigenous convenience foods.Solar driers are being taken up by growing numbers of farmers' groups as an economic and environmentally sound method of dehydrating anything from bananas to cabbages and from mangoes to traditional vegetables. As well as fetching a higher price, these products are also easier to package and transport and open up the prospect of new markets further afield.In most rice producing countries, up to one-quarter of harvests is lost due to inefficient post-harvestDespite a good maize harvest, many households in eastern Kenya were unable to eat or sell their produce last year. The government bought some of the crop at rock bottom prices in order to destroy it. Most of the harvest was affected by aflatoxin fungi, making it poisonous for human or animal consumption. Aflatoxins are highly toxic by-products of fungi that colonise maize and groundnuts, among other crops. In 2004, 123 people from the region died after eating contaminated maize. In November 2010, the alarm was raised after 2.3 million bags of highly poisonous maize was found to be in circulation on the Kenyan food market. Scientists are working to develop cost-effective methods of handling aflatoxin contamination and find biological control methods to eliminate the deadly fungi. This hermetic metal silo protects harvests from pests.operations. Farmers also lose potential income because they sell wet paddy immediately after harvest, missing out on higher earnings from processed products. In Burundi, Mozambique and Tanzania, the International Rice Research Institute is helping to make equipment such as pedal and engine-driven threshers available to farmers. In PNG, where rice is taking over from sago as the staple food, women in Kutubu, Southern Highlands Province, have taken delivery of two rice milling machines. In several West African countries, rice parboiling has been introduced as a means of extending shelf-life and increasing nutritional value. The process is carried out by local women, who have set up cottage industries. The figures for such interventions speak volumes. If post-harvest rice losses in sub-Saharan Africa were reduced by 50%, another 2 million t of paddy or 1.6 million t of milled rice would be available each year. That is equivalent to nearly 30% of total imports, with an annual cash value of $700 million (€512 million).The University of Stellenbosch, together with the Agriculture Research Council (ARC), has developed affordable technologies to arrest post-harvest losses. Our work has focused on developing technology that integrates scientific and indigenous knowledge.Our research must reflect social and cultural traditions, fostering optimum utilisation of available human, financial and physical resources, with emphasis on direct farmer participation. We improve on the knowledge available and infuse it with the latest technologies.We are working with farmers on developing galvanised metal silos for corn storage. Working with local communities, ARC is redesigning the metal silo, reconstructing it using locally available materials and applying traditional construction techniques. The silos are now covered with clay both in and outside. The shape is cylindrical and the two openings -for filling and emptying -are closed with tightly-fitting, clay-covered hatches. The silo stands on a base that incorporates vermin traps to protect the corn from rats and mice, and is placed under a simple shelter to maintain cool, dry and even conditions. Where did the idea come from? This initiative came from a local farmer who used his indigenous knowledge and experience. These structures are easily replicable and cost in the region of US$15 (€11) for a storage capacity of 250 kg.ARC has developed an evaporative cooler unit that produces effective cooling by combining a natural process of water evaporation with a simple, reliable air-moving system. Fresh outside air is pulled through moist pads where it is cooled by evaporation and circulated through a small house by a large blower. It is relatively cheap to construct and no electricity is required. This unit is currently being evaluated in rural Limpopo, Eastern and Western Cape. If successful, it will be introduced in other communities as well. 1/3 of all fresh fruit and vegetables produced globally is lost before it reaches consumers.of the average farmer's stored grain is lost to the maize weevil and the larger grain borer in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. 5% or less of funding for agricultural research is allocated to post-harvest systems.Professor Umezuruike Linus Opara is a professor at Stellenbosch University where he holds the South African Chair in Post-Harvest Technology. He and his team are trying to develop solutions that combine traditional ideas with cutting edge technology.Traditional granary and metal silos N ew machinery is helping cassava farmers in Benin to cut crippling crop losses and earn higher revenues. \"Today, we process our cassava and sell when the price is high\", said Willi Lodjihounde, President of the Hounvi Cassava Processing Centre. \"Before, whether the price was good or not, we had to harvest and sell the cassava to prevent it from decaying in the field.\" Cassava is a staple food for more than 600 million people in developing countries, but post-harvest management remains a major challenge. Cassava roots degrade naturally within just 2 to 3 days and post-harvest losses average 35 to 40%.A cassava value-addition project implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is helping to solve the headache of rapid cassava deterioration. As well as lengthening the shelf life, the scheme is helping farmers earn higher incomes by adding value. In Benin, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), which is also operating in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, has set up cassava processing centres for rural communities in Adjahonme, Amakpa, Houvi and Lanta. Villagers now process cassava to make tapioca, gari (a granulated form of cassava), and fufu (a porridge). They also use solar dryers to process cassava and stop it from rotting. As a result, farmers' revenues are greatly increasedMany farmers have invested some of their extra income in mobile phones which they use in business transactions. Some have bought motorbikes to take their products to market. \"I have been able to buy a phone which I use in monitoring market prices and contacting our customers\", said Susanne Honore, who is secretary of the Hounvi Cassava Processing Centre. As the range of products increases, so too do the markets. \"We have demand for our products not only in Benin, but also in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo\", she added.High rates of post-harvest loss have always been a problem for cassava farmers. But with the introduction of processing machines, producers in Benin are extending the shelf-life of this key crop. And earning higher incomes in the bargain.From left to right: Cassava leaves are fed to pigs. Processing cassava into gava becomes easier.The CFC group divides members into two -those working on the farms and those in the factory. The factory group buys cassava from the group working on the farms. Proceeds from the sale of cassava products are shared three ways: one-third goes towards salaries, another pays for the purchase of cassava from the farm group and the final share is put aside for re-investment and maintenance.Initially dominated by women, the success of the Hounvi group has begun to attract men. One of them is Emmanuel Katakeno. \"I was a commercial driver before, but now I have joined the Hounvi group\", he said. \"I have been able to buy a motorbike from the income I make.\" The Hounvi group has also branched out into keeping pigs, using once discarded cassava peel to feed the animals.Similar successes have been witnessed in the two other countries where the cassava processing scheme has been introduced. In Nasarawa State, Nigeria, village processing centres have opened up job opportunities for people in rural areas and are prompting renewed interest in cassava production among farmers. Women working in the Joe Begg cassava processing centre -one of several such units now operating in the state -say they earn €7.50 a day.\"Apart from women who make a daily living, the centre gives work to transporters bringing cassava to the factory, and workers employed here, and provides a market for cassava tubers in Nassarawa, Abuja, and environs\", said Chief Joe Jatau, who is manager of the cassava processing centre. \"This, in turn, generates other activities in the state.\" An annual herbaceous plant, the yam has long climbing stems which wind themselves around supports. A single plant produces between one and five tubers of varying shapes, each weighing up to 5 kg. Certain species produce dioscorine, a toxic alkaloid that is destroyed by cooking. Rich in starch and protein, yam is very popular. It grows in light, well drained soils and often the most fertile land is set aside for it.Over the years, producers have faced a number of difficulties, partly due to growing demand and more intensive production. Declining soil fertility, an increase in disease linked to crop intensification and the high cost of seed -which accounts for 30 to 50% of production outlay -have created major obstacles to its development. As a result, yam has been the focus of a number of research projects. Several have produced convincing results. At least 60 million people in Africa eat yam as part of their daily diet, with an average consumption of 61 kg/capita in West Africa. In this region, the favourite dish is fufu (pounded yam), but the tuber is also eaten braised, boiled or fried. Flour is made from yam chips, which have been parboiled and dried. It is used to make couscous, dumplings and paps. Since fresh yam is only available on a seasonal basis, the introduction of yam flour has contributed to the crop's development and to accessing urban markets.Urban yam consumption now accounts for 48% of total output. But there is still plenty of scope to exploit town markets further. For processing, studies on West Africa's yam sector recommend developing simple techniques such as mechanical slicing to facilitate drying. This would reduce some of the marketing constraints for fresh tubers and would promote diversification for a product that is highly prized by African consumers.In most African countries where yam is currently grown, many potentially important varieties only exist in fields, and there is a risk that they will disappear, destroyed by conflicts or natural disasters.To tackle this challenge, producers and scientists have launched an ambitious initiative to preserve yam biodiversity. The goal is to protect 3,000 tissue samples in gene banks. The project, headed by IITA in partnership with the Global Crop Diversity Trust, will focus on African varieties but will also include yam from the Caribbean and Pacific. Preserving past centuries of yam cultivation is also a way of assuring the crop's future.The time-honoured yam, which is mainly grown in West Africa, is also a product for the future. Improved varieties, which are more productive or better suited to urban consumers, are helping to ensure a boom for the tuber.Yam for sale at a riverside market in Enugu, eastern Nigeria © J-T Oliver, IITAIn many ACP countries, woodfuels are still commonly used for household cooking and heating and are important for local processing industries.A number of countries also have significant potential for producing energy from forests, for both domestic use and export. This publication sets out principles and indicators to guide the sustainable use of woodfuel resources. Potato cultivation offers special hope in Sub-Sahelian Africa, where irregular rainfall causes frequent cereal crop crises. This guide draws together the skills and experiences of potato producers in seven countries of West Africa, exploring the potential of potato cultivation and some of the challenges. Problems faced by farmers include difficulty to obtain quality seed potatoes, lack of mechanised tools and storage facilities, poor knowledge of potato pests and inadequate training in skill improvement. An effective forestry policy is essential if governments are to protect their resources for future generations. A new guide aims to support countries in planning and conducting the forest policy development process. Based on practical experiences, the guide outlines requirements for a national forest policy and looks at elements that can help make it really work.  In an average day, women in Africa and Asia carry 20 kg of water on their heads over a distance of 6 km. In 2025, the number of people suffering from inadequate water supplies is expected to reach 3 billion. Methods of collecting and storing water can and should be improved in order to resolve such shortages and unequal water supplies. There are a many techniques available. Some of them have existed for years, but have been forgotten or neglected. This booklet offers practical advice on how to improve the situation. It provides information on all the main techniques for recovering and storing water, showing how inexpensive technologies can help poor families live healthier lives and double or even triple household revenue. All the techniques outlined are easy to set up for a small cost and have been tried and tested. In addition to well-drilling and treadle pumps, other technologies described include the use of sunlight to purify water, effective low-cost water filters, low-cost drip irrigation and locally produced hand pumps that are five times cheaper than imported pumps. Millennium Development Goals call for the number of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation to be halved by 2015. That would result in a significant drop in diarrhoeal disease, 88% of which is caused by unsafe water supplies and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Solutions adapted for a wide range of circumstances exist, and many of them are both simple and affordable. This booklet presents some of the best technologies available: the Aborloo, dry toilets or ones that require very little water, waterless urinals, the fossa alterna double pit toilet and various systems for waste collection and transport. A section on treatment explains different techniques including composting, planted soil filters and anaerobic digestion. This process has the advantage of producing biogas which can be used as household or farm energy. The guide is a useful source for anyone wanting to improve their sanitary conditions, using simple low-cost technologies that are also environment-friendly.APriL-mAy 2011 | sPore 152 |Two decades after videos were made of farmers' groups and their landscapes in Burkina Faso and Kenya, the same team has returned to find out how the same places -and many of the same people -are faring today. The two initial videos, Looking after our Land and Building on Traditions, recorded new participatory approaches to conserve soil and water and re-establish trees in farmers' fields. The follow-up documentary, More People, More Trees, traces developments that have occurred since the original filming 20 years ago. The film shows that significant developments have taken place, in spite of challenges such as climate change and a growing population. Most spectacularly, the areas revisited now have more trees than ever, planted and protected by local people. The result, as the footage clearly shows, is healthier ecosystems and better livelihoods for producers and their families. An accompanying book develops the messages in the film and describes the technologies employed by the communities, providing data to support their testimonies. It also looks at the current challenges of soil conservation in the context of climate change. More competitive smallholder dairy production could be a powerful tool for reducing poverty, raising nutrition levels and improving the livelihoods of rural people, according to a new report. Global milk demand is growing by an annual 15 million t, mostly in developing countries. Production of this increased volume of milk by small-scale dairy farmers would create 3 million jobs per year in primary production alone. A new website spotlights 35 important areas worldwide, including World Heritage sites and Protected Areas. The electronic guide also explains the species and habitats they seek to protect, as well as their legal status and the extent to which local communities are present. The service, launched by the UN Environment Programme and partners, aims to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity conservation.www.biodiversitya-z.orgAgriculture pervades almost every aspect of life in Papua New Guinea (PNG), yet much of the information regarding the sector is not accessible to those who need it. A compendium of PNG agriculture seeks to redress the imbalance, investigating topics that include the production of food crops, cash crops and animals, land use, soils, demography, migration and gender issues. ■ Mushrooms are among the most valuable of wild-gathered foods, yet there is a poor appreciation of their economic importance to rural livelihoods. The scant information available on wild mushrooms is incomplete and widely dispersed, especially in the case of data referring to the poorest forest communities. A new book aims to fill that gap, examining wild fungi that are treasured by rural communities in many parts of the developing world for their nutritional and medicinal properties. In some communities, they represent the main source of income. Globally, trade in wild mushrooms is conservatively estimated at US$2 billion (€1.5 billion).The book demonstrates the crucial roles that fungi play in maintaining forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of rural people in areas such as the Miombo woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. It also offers guidelines for good practice, discussing issues such as sustainable harvesting and policies for the future. A rich selection of tables and boxes help to complete some of the missing facts and figures about this free and valuable resource. mid-2008 when food prices soared to alarming levels. But behind the rhetoric, there is still much confusion and misinformation, with arguments often tainted by political and economic interests that lack a solid scientific basis. The anti-biofuels lobby argues that these do more harm than good, competing with food, water and other scarce natural resources. The pro-biofuels lobby contends that sufficient land exists, given modern agricultural practices, to produce both food and a reasonable amount of biofuels.As the controversy continues to rage, a refreshingly unpartisan book seeks to debunk some of the myths and provide quality facts and figures. With perspectives from both pro and anti-biofuels experts and activists, from North and South, the book brings a balanced approach to the current debate. www.e-pic.info■ Better access to water supplies is no guarantee of safety. On the contrary, tap water in many developing countries can often prove unfit to drink, due to inadequate treatment, recontamination during transport or storage or at home. Point-of-use (PoU) and smallscale treatment offer considerable scope for improving access to safe drinking water. Recent studies show that PoU reduces diarrhea morbidity for children under 5 by 29%. A booklet that focuses on water treatment in rural areas examines some of the options for families, communities or villages to procure safe water supplies. Innovative, simple to use and quite often ingenious, these smart solutions are also affordable for most.Some 21 different disinfectant technologies are presented here, based on various treatment techniques. They range from filtration by ceramic, sand or membrane to post-disinfectant techniques such as chlorination, heat, ultra violet treatment or silver. The guide takes two pages to present each system, describing it in clear terms and using pictograms to convey its efficiency in removing pathogens, the capacity of the technology and the price per unit of water. ■ Buyers and sellers need each other, yet their relationship is not always a smooth one. Small-scale producers in particular face disadvantages that can make it difficult for them to respond to the needs of markets. They often lack infrastructure, market information, inputs and financial services, all factors that can make it hard for them to guarantee a regular supply of top quality produce. Private sector actors have different requirements. They need the certainty of having business partners who can deliver the agreed volume of produce at a good price, on schedule and in compliance with quality standards.Producer organisations can do much to bridge the gap between the two parties, acting as intermediaries in value chains, supporting African smallholders to access markets and buyers to access smallholders. The benefits to both parties are clear. Farmers have the advantage of better market access, increased economies of scale for inputs and transport and greater bargaining power. From the buyers' perspective, a producer organisation fulfills the valuable role of providing them with a single contact, taking on key responsibilities such as grading, processing and transporting. This book reviews several models for organising producers, and assesses some of their strengths and limitations. Ecolabelling schemes are becoming increasingly common for wild capture fisheries and aquaculture. A set of FAO documents summarises the standards, requirements and practices for well-managed fisheries, taking into consideration the special needs and challenges for small-scale and inland fisheries, particularly those in developing countries. ■ The hike in global food prices of 2007/8 was the biggest increase since the crisis of 1973-75. Rice was a particular casualty, with world prices tripling in the space of just 3 months in early 2008. The effects were devastating in many developing countries, where rice is the staple food and the crop most widely grown by farmers. The dizzying inflation led to mass public demonstrations in many countries.The causes of the rice crisis that gives its name to this book were somewhat different from the factors that fuelled price rises in other cereals such as maize and wheat. Here, rice experts from around the world, including ACP countries, give their views on what happened. Also presented is a set of references on the world rice market and an analysis of trade policies affecting the sector. The aim is to lay the foundations for designing better policies, so that shocks to international rice markets do not cause similar havoc in the future. Exporting can be a difficult business, but the challenges are magnified when it comes to selling organic and fair-trade products. With this in mind, FAO has developed a guide for farmer organisations and companies, as well as for organisations providing them with support services. The publication was compiled from experiences in Central and West Africa, but much of this practical, easyto-use document, is applicable elsewhere. The guide is divided into seven separate modules which address the process of getting ready to export from different angles.FAo, 2010. 81 pp. isbn 978-92-5-106581-5 downloadable as PdF file from: http://tinyurl.com/34xt5msWomen and icts ■ Women in many ACP countries face daunting barriers to accessing new technologies and vital information shared via ICTs. Often, this is knowledge that could have a profound impact on their lives and those of their families, with the potential to improve agricultural production, prices fetched at market and health and support services. In 2002, the CTA-supported Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development in the Information Society (GenARDIS) small grants fund was launched to support work on gender-related issues in ICTs for ACP regions. The programme awards seed funding to grassroots groups to introduce or increase the use of ICTs.A book now tells the story of GenARDIS, documenting projects such as women's community radio drama groups, pest control through information access and technology to promote women's inheritance and land rights. It describes how grantees have supported deaf women in Ethiopia to generate their own income through digital photography, and how female farmers have improved the prices they get at market with the simple use of an SMS. Prior to joining our organisation, Judith, CTA senior programme coordinator, science and technology, worked with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). There she managed a 15-country programme on expansion in the tropical fruit industry and promoted technology and innovation. Since September 2003, she has designed and managed an ongoing dialogue between researchers, political officials and stakeholders in agricultural development. Innovation is often talked about in the agriculture and rural development sector. How would you define this concept?People generally confuse innovation with invention and we need to distinguish between them. Invention is a new technology or a novel idea that has been given form (e.g. the tractor) and has potential to be used. When 'technologies' remain on the shelf, the investments are considered to have been wasted. This is one of the major criticisms of research and development outputs in ACP countries.On the other hand, we can have innovation in products, e.g. garlic-flavoured cassava chips, in services, e.g. e-marketing of agricultural produce, or in processes, e.g. new organizational arrangements for doing research to reduce the cost, increase output and achieve the desired impact. Innovation is the application of knowledge (old or new) that creates value for endusers. It spurs competition and contributes to socio-economic development. It is a continuous process. Formal science can add value to traditional knowledge and vice versa to spur innovation. In 2010, when the Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for ACP Agricultural and Rural Development deliberated on this issue in South Africa, we agreed that there were untapped opportunities for identifying and developing new products and solutions to the complex issues confronting the agricultural sector, if these two knowledge domains are integrated. We also noted the challenges.What is the ASTI programme?When CTA launched its Science and Technology Strategies programme in 2003, we began building the capacity of ACP experts to understand innovation processes and analyze the agricultural science, technology and innovation (ASTI) system using an innovation systems approach. We wanted to create a critical mass of ACP scientists who could engage in and influence science, technology and innovation policies and processes in support of ARD.How does this programme improve livelihoods in ACP rural areas?The complex ARD challenges require novel solutions and scientists must be able to support their countries and communities, including policymakers and farmers, to respond to these challenges. We cannot produce or trade without science and technology, and similarly we cannot address climate change without a sound science base.How can science and innovation help tackle food crises and ensure food security?We need to produce more food with less resources -water and land. We need to harness our indigenous biodiversity and knowledge to develop new and improved crops and livestock that can survive under changing climatic conditions. We need to reduce postharvest losses and process raw agricultural products to extend the shelf life. These three examples alone show why the ACP region needs science and innovation.CTA is currently conducting an evaluation of two of its programmes: the Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) service for ACP researchers, and the Question-and-Answer (QAS) service. The idea is to find ways of adapting or developing these services at a time of great change in information systems.When we asked ACP researchers to reapply to the SDI service, we noticed that only a third of all beneficiaries renewed their subscription. Is this due to problems of communication and Internet connection? Do researchers have access to more precise and detailed information from some other source? Do they prefer other databases? If necessary, this evaluation should enable us to review our approach to the information we provide researchers, albeit within the main guidelines of our new Strategic Plan.The evaluation of the Question-and-Answer service has a two-pronged objective: it seeks to understand the long-term impact and effectiveness, while at the same time gauging the potential for other experimental approaches which could supplement the services provided by the various QAS agencies in rural settings. It will also involve examining case studies in Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda. These are all countries where the QAS has evolved in a different format -there is a voucher system for producers and farmers in Uganda, contact with experts is made available via GSM in Cameroon, via radio programmes in Ghana and through information bulletins in South Africa. The aim is not just to assess the performances of these services, but also to have a clearer idea of the most effective methods.• In November, CTA will be organising a major international conference on extension (francis@cta. Are you looking for publications? CTA is planning to launch a completely new website for its publications. With a clear, attractive layout, CTA Publishing will be easy to use, allowing subscribers to consult the entire catalogue of books, CDs and DVDs that we either publish, represent or distribute. With a single click, visitors will be able to find publications classified by theme or collection. You will be able to download some of the titles or -if you are a subscriber -order publications on-line. If you have not already registered, there will be a space where you can find out how to subscribe or purchase the books we have to offer.If your subscription is approved, you will be able to choose and order publications simply and quickly. You will also be given the option of receiving a monthly e-bulletin, with details of all our new publications. The website will go on-line in August. See the next issue of Spore for more details.  ","tokenCount":"11719"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1640348816.json b/data/part_1/1640348816.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6379c0f3245f26ceed05a20be660a36f1fbd5509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1640348816.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0481f3eadca77afaea032eb3478e3c8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0f16bd0b-b708-4df0-92eb-fc1264257dd4/retrieve","id":"1397743949"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c5805ed7-7596-4897-86e6-ac139261da03","pagecount":"23","content":"Tropical (CIAT) brinda soluciones científicas que abordan las crisis mundiales de malnutrición, cambio climático, pérdida de la biodiversidad y degradación ambiental.La Alianza se enfoca en el nexo entre agricultura, nutrición y medio ambiente. Trabajamos con socios locales, nacionales y multinacionales en África, Asia y América Latina y el Caribe, y con los sectores público y privado y la sociedad civil. Con colaboraciones novedosas, la Alianza genera evidencia e integra innovaciones para transformar los sistemas alimentarios y los paisajes a fin de sostener el planeta, impulsar la prosperidad y nutrir a las personas en medio de una crisis climática.La Alianza es parte de CGIAR, un consorcio mundial de investigación para un futuro sin hambre, dedicado a transformar los sistemas alimentarios, terrestres y acuáticos en medio de una crisis climática.Este informe hace parte de los productos del proyecto EU DeSIRA: \"Cinco Grandes Bosques de Mesoamérica: Una iniciativa regional para el clima, la biodiversidad y las personas\", liderado por Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), y que busca construir un modelo replicable para transformar la agricultura y los sistemas alimentarios y proteger ecosistemas boscosos intactos en los Cinco Grandes Bosques de Mesoamérica.En Nicaragua, WCS ha venido trabajando en el fortalecimiento de los medios de vida de las comunidades de los territorios indígenas de Alto Wangki Bocay (AWB), como un instrumento para reducir la presión en los bosques y fomentar su conservación. Dentro de las actividades económicas priorizadas por las comunidades y actores regionales para alcanzar estos objetivos, se destaca la producción de cacao.La Alianza Bioversity International y el CIAT (ABC) como co-ejecutor del proyecto, busca contribuir en los esfuerzos a través del análisis de alternativas productivas y cadenas de valor con mayor potencial para la región, describiendo su funcionamiento e identificando las principales oportunidades, retos y amenazas, haciendo énfasis en los componentes relacionados a los mercados. En consecuencia, este reporte presenta un perfil de la cadena de valor regional del cacao, junto con información estratégica de sus mercados actuales y potenciales.Metodología: Este reporte fue desarrollado con base en información secundaria disponible, entrevistas semiestructuradas con 8 informantes clave y 6 grupos focales con productores de cacao de la región de interés. En el Anexo 1 se presenta el listado de organizaciones entrevistadas.El cacao es un fruto tropical originario de la región alta del Amazonas (Zarrillo, S. et al 2018), el cual ha hecho parte importante de la cultura y gastronomía de múltiples comunidades originarias del continente. Actualmente es un ingrediente esencial en la fabricación de chocolates y otros productos alimenticios y también se utiliza en la industria cosmética y farmacéutica debido a sus propiedades antioxidantes y antiinflamatorias.Más de 50 países tropicales producen cacao en la actualidad, no obstante, la mayor parte de su producción se concentra en África occidental. Para la campaña 2020/2021, la Organización Internacional del Cacao (ICCO) reportó una producción global de 5.24 millones de toneladas de cacao, con el 77% provenientes de África, el 17.8% de las Américas y el 4.8% de Asia y Oceanía (Hütz- Adams, F. et al 2022). La producción se clasifica en distintas categorías, comúnmente como convencional (o bulk) que representa alrededor del 90% de la producción y especial (o premium) con el 10% restante (Rios et al., 2017;CBI, 2020). Los cacaos convencionales son aquellos transados a precios de bolsa y destinados principalmente para manteca y chocolatería de consumo masivo. Entre los cacaos especiales se pueden identificar distintos subsegmentos. Dentro del segmento convencional o bulk, Gaia Cacao (2021) incluye el grano descrito anteriormente, y un subsegmento llamado bulk-certificado, el cual es convencional según su calidad, pero cuenta con algún tipo de certificación. Estos granos se venden a precios de bolsa, más un sobreprecio negociable según las certificaciones que presenten.Dentro del segmento especial o premium, se reconocen 3 subsegmentos: i) premium certificado, ii) especial y iii) ultra-premium. El segmento premium certificado cuenta con mejor calidad que el cacao bulk y se encuentra certificado. Este cacao se vende a precio de mercado más una prima de certificación y un valor extra por el esfuerzo necesario para su calidad. El segmento especial se destaca por la falta de defectos y presencia de sabores y aromas finos, además de incluir historia y exclusividad del producto. Los precios de exportación no dependen del precio internacional y suelen ubicarse en rangos de USD 3.50 a USD 6.00 por kg. Finalmente, el segmento ultra premium se caracteriza por su extrema calidad y ausencia absoluta de defectos e impurezas. Sus precios pueden sobrepasar los USD 6 por kg, alcanzando hasta USD 12 por kg.Finalmente, CBI (2022) presenta 3 categorías de chocolates de acuerdo con el segmento de mercado y tipo de cacao: Low End, que representa el 80 a 85% del mercado e incluye productos con bajo contenido de cacao. Suele usar cacao corriente y puede contener certificaciones como Rainforest A lo largo del 2023 el precio ha presentado incrementos importantes debido a un déficit de grano mayor al esperado, principalmente como consecuencia de un incremento en las lluvias observado en Costa de Marfil; a junio de 2023 el precio de cacao superó los USD 3,100 en las bolsas de Londres y Nueva York. Aunque la prensa indicaba que estos eran los precios más altos observados en 46 años, al corregir por inflación, estos solo representan los precios más altos en los últimos 6 y 3 años en las bolsas de Londres y Nueva York respectivamente (ICCO, 2023).El cacao en Nicaragua es producido por cerca de 12,500 pequeños productores, de los cuales 7,000 están organizados en cooperativas y 5,500 producen de forma individual. En el país también operan 3 empresas con áreas entre 300 y 2,000 ha. Para el año 2020 se estima que el área de cacao a nivel nacional alcanzó 17,650 ha. El rendimiento promedio es de 0.45 t/ha, alcanzando una producción a nivel nacional de 7,500 t (Pomareda et al., 2022).El censo nacional desarrollado por el Ministerio de Agricultura (MAG) en 2020 reveló que el 39% de las áreas de cacao se ubican en la Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte, el 28% en el departamento de Matagalpa, el 10% en la Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Sur, otro 10% en Jinotega y un 8% en Rio San Juan (Martorell, 2021). La base genética del cacao producido en Nicaragua es \"Trinitario\", el que junto con el criollo es reconocido por sus aromas y sabores distintivos (Trognitz et al., 2011).Según el Centro de Trámites de las Exportaciones de Nicaragua (CETREX) en el año 2021, el principal mercado de cacao nicaragüense fue Guatemala, con el 53% del volumen producido, seguido por Bélgica (29%), El Salvador (13%) e Italia con el 3%. El restante fue destinado directamente a Alemania, Rusia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Francia, Holanda y Estados Unidos. No obstante, debido a las diferencias de precios de los mercados, el orden de los destinos cambia al observar las exportaciones en términos de valor. El primer destino es Bélgica con el 60%, después Guatemala (14%), El Salvador (13%), Italia (8%) y Estados Unidos (2%). (VUCEN, 2023).Cuatro empresas exportadoras y a su vez productoras concentran el mayor volumen del cacao exportado del país: Ritter Sport, con exportaciones principalmente a Alemania y Bélgica, EXPASA, con exportaciones a Estados Unidos, Países Bajos y Costa Rica, Cacao Bisiesto con exportaciones a Costa Rica y Estados Unidos e Ingemann, con exportaciones a Arabia Saudita, Canadá, Costa Rica, Dinamarca, España, Estados Unidos, Guatemala, Islandia, Japón, Nueva Zelanda, Países Bajo y Taiwán (VUCEN, 2023).La producción de cacao en AWB se concentra en treinta comunidades y alcanza 253 hectáreas, de las cuales el 61% están en producción, el 16% en recuperación y el 21% en desarrollo. El 66% de las comunidades pertenecen al Territorio Miskitu Indian Tasbaika Kum (MITK) y el 33% pertenecen al territorio Mayagna Sauni Bu (MSBu) (Diaz et al., 2022).Las comunidades enfrentan importantes limitantes en infraestructura, bienestar y desarrollo. Estudios realizados por PNUD en el año 2005 y retomados por Treminio Ruiz en el año 2016 ubican la región de AWB con un Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) bajo con el 0.466, un Índice Económico (IE) de 0.437 y un nivel de analfabetismo en la comunidad miskita del 30% (Treminio, 2016). Con respecto a las unidades productivas de las familias de AWB, la normativa de los gobiernos territoriales establece que al formarse una familia indígena se le otorga una concesión de tierras cuya extensión varía entre 35 a 90 hectáreas. Toda el área es bosque primario en el cual la familia puede hacer socolas o limpias para el establecimiento de cultivos y en muchas ocasiones pastizales.Las áreas de producción de cacao están dispersas en las comunidades de AWB. En muchas ocasiones estas se encuentran lejos de los caseríos donde habitan las familias, dificultando la atención a las plantaciones. El total de productores es de 210, de los cuales un 45% son mujeres. Las áreas promedio de cacao por productor son de 0.87 ha con una densidad de siembra de aproximadamente 400 árboles de cacao por hectárea bajo sistemas agroforestales que combinan especies de bosque latifoliado, frutales y cacao. El 42% de los productores no cuantifican la producción anual por lo tanto no pueden reportar su producción, el 54.2% reporta una producción entre 0 y 14 quintales de cacao seco por año por hectárea y solo el 3.8% produce más de 14 quintales de cacao por hectárea (Diaz et al., 2022). Tras la cosecha, el grano es lavado y secado al sol sin realizar procesos de fermentación o beneficiado. Una vez que los productores consideran que los granos de cacao han perdido el exceso de humedad, este se comercializa como cacao rojo a los actores del siguiente eslabón.El 50% de las áreas de cacao de la zona es de cacao Trinitario (híbrido entre cacao criollo y forastero), con edades que superan los 15 años. El Ministerio de Economía Familiar Comunitaria Cooperativa y Asociativa (MEFCCA) con apoyo de la agencia de cooperación alemana (GIZ), ha incorporado una serie de materiales con potencial genético productivo (PMCT-58; CATIE-R1, CATIE-R4, CATIE-R6, ICS-1, ICS-6, ICS29, ICS-39, ICS-60, ICS-95, UF-221, UF-613, UF-267, UF-667, UF-668, UF677, IMC-65, IMC-67, TSH-565, EET-95, INTA PACAYITA) para formar arreglos clonales con los materiales ya existentes en la zona en el 40% de las áreas; estas plantaciones tienen cuatro y siete años (NICADAPTA, 2020).El Instituto Nicaragüense de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) afirma que los costos de implementación y sostenimiento de una hectárea de cacao durante 3 años es de USD 2,840 donde el mayor costo lo representa el material vegetativo a establecer en la plantación (INTA, 2010). Aunque en este estudio no se llevó a cabo un análisis a profundidad de los costos de establecimiento y manejo de una hectárea de cacao en AWB, los A partir del cuarto año inicia la etapa productiva del cultivo, en la cual se mantienen los costos de limpieza (USD 333.33) y se adicionan los costos de manejo de tejidos por cerca de USD 194.44, los cuales se realizan normalmente con mano de obra contratada. Finalmente, la cosecha se realiza con mano de obra familiar, aproximadamente empleando 12 jornales al año (cerca de medio jornal por mes en temporadas bajas y 1 a 2 jornales en temporadas de producción) (Ver Anexo 2). Asumiendo una producción de 12 qq de cacao seco al año y un precio de USD 83 / qq, se estima que un hogar con 1 ha de cacao bajo las condiciones obtiene una utilidad de USD 325 por año y un ingreso familiar de USD 421 (al incluir el valor de la mano de obra familiar).El acopio de cacao se realiza a través de las pulperías locales en cada una de las comunidades productoras. Los productores cosechan el cacao y según sus necesidades, pueden almacenarlo o comercializarlo tras la cosecha.Las pulperías a su vez comercializan el cacao con un segundo grupo de intermediarios, el cual está conformado por comerciantes provenientes de Ayapal y Wiwilí. Los comerciantes proveen a la zona bienes que no se producen en AWB y compran el cacao del territorio para comercializarlo en los centros urbanos mencionados o trasladarlo hacia el centro el país.El precio pagado por las pulperías ha aumentado en los últimos cinco años, pasando de USD 41 por quintal a USD 83 por quintal. Muchos productores aprovechan gestiones personales en los centros urbanos próximos (Wiwilí y Ayapal) para comercializar volúmenes más grandes, donde les pagan USD 115 por quintal, sin embargo, se debe sumar el costo de transporte de un quintal de cacao (USD 13.86).Un factor que incide en el establecimiento de los precios en AWB es la presencia de comerciantes hondureños, quienes ofrecen un sobreprecio considerable por los distintos cultivos producidos en la región. Lo anterior, sumado a la tasa cambiaria de lempiras a córdobas, beneficia a los productores, sin embargo, para comercializar con estos actores, los productores deben trasladar su cosecha hasta el puerto de montaña \"Boca del Español\" (FAO, 2015).Los productores de las comunidades de Walakitang y Yakalpanani expresaron en los grupos focales que en algunas épocas del año existe escasez de café, lo que los ha motivado a producir tortas de cacao como sustituto del café. Las tortas son elaboradas con molinos manuales de uso doméstico de manera artesanal. Las tortas se comercializan USD 1.38 por libra en las pulperías y son adquiridas por otros pobladores de las comunidades.No fue posible establecer una trazabilidad del cacao producido en AWB a algún exportador en particular, ya que existen al menos 2 a 3 niveles de intermediación desde la finca hasta alcanzar las empresas exportadoras. En algunas ocasiones, la producción de cacao se vende a comerciantes hondureños que exigen las mismas condiciones de calidad que los comerciantes nicaragüenses. Dado que el cacao de la región no se fermenta, se presume que este se dirige en su totalidad al segmento bulk.La Zona Especial Alto Wangki Bocay se caracteriza por un acceso a servicios limitado. A través del gobierno y diferentes ONG se han hecho esfuerzos para mejorar el acceso a agua potable en las comunidades con mayor densidad de población como San Andrés de Bocay. En ninguna de las comunidades existe red de energía eléctrica, sin embargo, los centros de salud y algunos colegios se abastecen con paneles solares. La falta de acceso a este servicio representa una importante limitante para el establecimiento de procesos de transformación de la materia prima.No existen cooperativas de ahorro y crédito o entidades financieras con presencia en la región que permitan el acceso a crédito. El MEFCCA otorgó financiamiento en el pasado para la producción de granos básicos, pero la tasa de recuperación fue muy baja, por lo cual determinaron a las comunidades de la zona como de \"alto riesgo crediticio\".Fortalezas:• Existe un área de cacao considerable en producción y en desarrollo.• Existe área disponible para la expansión del cultivo de manera sostenible.• Los productores actuales tienen un alto interés en continuar fortaleciéndose debido a que el cacao es una de sus principales fuentes de ingresos y a su regularidad.• Existen condiciones agroclimáticas aptas para el cultivo y buena calidad de suelos.• Existen viveros comunales en desarrollo con materiales altamente productivos, liderado por WCS.• El cacao producido en AWB provienen de variedades consideradas finas y de aroma.• Existe disponibilidad de mano de obra no especializada en AWB.• Facilidad de transitar hacia la certificación orgánica, por el uso mínimo de agroquímicos.• Oportunidad de obtener mejores precios de venta por diferenciación de producto proveniente de comunidades indígenas protectoras del bosque.• Interés de ONG´s como WCS y de instituciones de gobierno como MEFCCA de trabajar en la zona.• La Asociación de Pueblos de Acción Comunitaria (APAC) de Bocay, donde se presentan condiciones climáticas similares a AWB, comercializa varetas de cacao adaptadas a la zona.• Existencia de áreas para renovación, rehabilitación y fortalecimiento en manejo de tejidos, que pudieran aumentar la producción en un corto tiempo.• Promoción del consumo local de cacao.• Plantaciones envejecidas y en mal estado; el 50% de las plantaciones tienen más de quince años de establecidas y han tenido poco manejo agronómico.• Falta de vías de acceso y altos costos de transporte• Transacciones comerciales sin contratos de compraventa, lo que impide la planificación y la gestión de inversiones.• Altas tasas de analfabetismo y sistemas de información sectorial precarios.• Falta de acceso a servicios públicos.• Falta de acceso a servicios de apoyo empresariales, productivos y financieros• Falta de liderazgo y conocimientos para emprender procesos de asociatividad con fines empresariales• Falta de conocimiento en los procesos de manejo de tejidos y fermentación del cacao• Escasez de efectivo para el pago de la mano de obra en el manejo de tejidos que las plantaciones de cacao demandan.• Preferencia de los productores por establecer sistemas ganaderos de explotación extensivos similares a los establecidos del otro lado del rio coco en territorio hondureño.• Fluctuación de precios del cacao• Afectaciones en el cultivo por una mayor variabilidad climática y frecuencia de eventos adversos.• La lejanía de la zona y la dificultad de las vías de acceso impiden que las empresas exportadoras inviertan en la zona.• Presión de colonos ilegales causa inestabilidad al modus vivendi de las comunidades indígenas de la zona.• La falta de empleo provoca la migración de los más jóvenes y por ende se pierden la apropiación de estos de sus raíces culturales étnicas y de la producciónPara mejorar la eficiencia y eficacia de las intervenciones en AWB, es necesario tener en cuenta los cuellos de botella y características específicas de la región y el cultivo.Las dificultades de la zona en términos de infraestructura y logística representan un gran reto para su competitividad frente a otras zonas del país. Dadas estas condiciones, los precios al productor y los costos de los insumos y servicios serán consistentemente menos favorables que en otras áreas productoras.Por otro lado, la idiosincrasia y cosmovisión de las comunidades no se alinea con manejo comercial e intensificado del cacao, ya que este funciona principalmente como fuente de ingresos complementario para la compra de alimentos y bienes básicos. A su vez, los productores cuentan con un área limitada para el cultivo, dificultando el desarrollo de producciones comerciales viables, y la escasez de recursos y mano de obra capacitada limitan aún más un manejo intensificado de los cultivos.Finalmente, la falta de organización y visión empresarial dificulta el establecimiento de centros de acopio y beneficio que permitan mejorar la calidad del producto en el corto y mediano plazo.Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, los apoyos en el territorio deben contemplar el fortalecimiento de los medios de vida de las familias de manera integral, con un enfoque agroecológico que minimice el uso de insumos externos.Aunque el cacao es de gran importancia para los medios de vida de las familias que lo producen, no es sensato esperar que a través de la especialización en el cacao se logre suplir la mayor parte de sus necesidades económicas y alimentarias. Varios estudios indican que la diversificación productiva y de ingresos es recomendable para los pequeños productores en ciertas condiciones, ya que ayuda a reducir los riesgos de mercado, fortalece la seguridad alimentaria y maximiza la eficiencia en el uso del suelo (Coelli & Fleming, 2004;Adem & Tesafa, 2020;Makate et al., 2016;Bellon et al., 2020).Identificando el nivel de ingresos dignos para las familias de la región y considerando la mano de obra y área que pueden dedicar al cacao de manera adecuada, es posible establecer una meta realista de la proporción del ingreso digno familiar a lograr a través del cacao, y en consecuencia, diseñar los sistemas productivos e intervenciones en el corto, mediano y largo plazo. 1Teniendo en cuenta que los cálculos de costos realizados en este ejercicio son sobre simplificación, se estima que los ingresos derivados del cacao para una familia productora en AWB con una hectárea podrían acercarse a USD 35 por mes (Ver Anexo). Bajo este escenario, el cacao aportaría cerca del 10% de un ingreso digno familiar, el 24% del salario mínimo agrícola, y ocuparía cerca del 14% de la mano de obra familiar disponible. 2 Lo anterior sugiere que, bajo las condiciones actuales, el manejo de la plantación no es particularmente competitivo. Sin embargo, la importancia y prevalencia del cultivo radica en las pocas alternativas económicas en la zona y la posibilidad de cosechar durante varios meses en el año.Debido a su mayor costo-eficiencia, el primer paso sugerido es incrementar la producción en las áreas existentes. Con base en las metas de ingresos, se puede definir un numero de árboles por hectárea y por familia \"manejable\", así como un paquete de prácticas básicas para alcanzar una producción por árbol apropiada (entre de 0.8 a 1 kg de grano seco por año). Estas incluyen: i) La renovación de áreas usando patrones de la zona y yemas de materiales productivos, resistentes, intercompatibles y que demanden pocos insumos.iii) Realizar las podas de mantenimiento necesarias (i.e. manejo de tejidos a partir de los seis meses de establecido el cultivo, deschuponado en plantaciones adultas cada seis meses, entre otras) y fomentar el manejo manual de plagas y enfermedades.Para lo anterior, es necesario realizar un diagnóstico de la situación actual de las plantaciones de cacao, que refleje información actualizada por predio sobre los siguientes aspectos: i) áreas totales de cacao, ii) edad de las plantaciones y su porcentaje con respecto al total de áreas, iii) incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, iv) necesidad de podas, v) densidades de siembra y árboles por familia, vi) principales variedades y materiales establecidos, vii) tipos de arreglos clonales existentes, viii) principales especies establecidas como sombra provisional y permanente. Esto permitirá determinar las áreas para renovación, rehabilitación, y las prácticas a implementar.Para seleccionar las plantaciones a intervenir y las áreas de expansión, se sugiere priorizar sitios cercanos de las viviendas en las comunidades, ya que actualmente la distancia a los lotes dificulta el manejo adecuado del cultivo. También es necesaria la formación de injertadores de cacao en la zona para dejar capacidades establecidas para el fortalecimiento del cultivo independiente del apoyo de los proyectos. No obstante, es necesario brindar acompañamiento técnico de manera frecuente, especialmente durante los años de sostenimiento y primeros años de producción. Esto permitirá consolidar las habilidades necesarias en los productores para el manejo del cultivo.Los procesos de fermentación y secado de manera individual o colectiva deben promoverse solo cuando se cuente con una producción amplia y consolidada.El beneficio y la comercialización colectiva presentan varios retos a considerar, ya que los precios internacionales actualmente particularmente altos, los canales de comercialización actuales de cacao rojo son funcionales y los compradores de Honduras ofrecen precios competitivos. Será difícil para una asociación lograr convencer a sus productores de incluir labores de fermentación del cacao, o de vender su producto en baba a la organización, a menos que ofrezcan precios y formas de pago considerablemente superiores a la situación actual.Para lograr mejores condiciones comerciales es indispensable contar con aliados comerciales que ofrezcan precios superiores y compromisos a mediano y largo plazo. Las principales comercializadoras de Nicaragua requieren que los productores estén asociados o agremiados en algún tipo de organización empresarial que cuente con la legalidad para establecer contratos de compraventa, además de volúmenes mínimos para justificar sus esfuerzos comerciales y costos de transporte. Por esto, una opción inicial a considerar es la asociación con organizaciones existentes de los municipios de Wiwilí y Bocay, entre ellas, la cooperativa Nueva Esperanza de Bocay y la Asociación de Pueblos de Acción Comunitaria (APAC).Solo habiendo alcanzado volúmenes mínimos y acuerdos comerciales competitivos, se sugiere incursionar en la fermentación centralizada y el inicio de procesos de certificación, ya que esto conlleva el desarrollo de nuevas capacidades técnicas y administrativas, e inversiones en infraestructura y equipos que pueden desviar fondos y esfuerzos necesarios para la consolidación de la producción. Además, existen numerosos casos en el continente donde los esfuerzos de fortalecimiento comunitario y asociativa se han visto fuertemente afectados por problemas económicos y conflictos internos que usualmente se relacionan con malos manejos de recursos, falla en el cumplimiento de acuerdos comerciales, y en general, fallas de gestión y problemas en la producción.En caso de establecer un beneficio centralizado, se sugiere desarrollar análisis organolépticos del grano para identificar los atributos diferenciales del producto y así explorar mejores precios y mercadosExisten múltiples retos a tener en cuenta desde la perspectiva de un actor de soporte para el despliegue de sus actividades y estrategias de intervención en la región:-Las condiciones de la zona dificultan el desarrollo de cualquier cadena de valor con fines comerciales.-Existe desconfianza y renuencia por parte de organismos de cooperación y entes privados de trabajar en la zona debido a precedentes de malos manejos administrativos y organizativos en proyectos comunitarios pasados.-La falta de servicios básicos, en especial agua potable y luz eléctrica, limita las posibilidades de potenciar iniciativas relacionadas a la transformación.-La dispersión de las plantaciones representa un reto significativo para el manejo de los cultivos y la asistencia técnica.-A pesar del aumento de la transformación de los bosques en pastizales por parte de colonos, no existe información confiable acerca de la magnitud, zona y personas involucradas en este fenómeno.-El modelo de producción ganadera hondureño tiene un valor aspiracional para las comunidades indígenas, quienes muestran gran interés de replicarlo. Por esto, es necesario fomentar procesos de sensibilización y formación que resalten los riesgos económicos, ambientales y legales de emprender en dichos sistemas dentro de estos territorios indígenas.-Dado que los cultivos de cacao tardan cerca de 7 años para alcanzar su pico productivo, los programas que busquen apoyar este proceso deben tener la posibilidad de involucrarse a largo plazo, contando con una estrategia de salida efectiva en la que se reduzca la dependencia de apoyos para las operaciones comerciales y productivas.Agradecemos a todos los actores de la cadena de cacao a nivel local y nacional por sus aportes, conocimientos y experticia sobre la cual se basa este informe. Esperamos que la información presentada en este reporte pueda contribuir en la toma de decisiones en el sector y aporte en el fortalecimiento económico, ambiental y social de los actores vinculados en esta importante actividad productiva.","tokenCount":"4307"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1647531703.json b/data/part_1/1647531703.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c8eec4854402ff22ee1500e259718218cb340c89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1647531703.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4cf740500233bd7d6e435b494665bd72","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/26c7fce9-2c24-4f5a-a221-0c5e3e162070/retrieve","id":"1756143754"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"179074be-1046-4c97-bd67-9db123b33212","pagecount":"2","content":"L'initiative AgriHack Talent, c'est avant tout « Pitch AgriHack », un concours qui s'adresse aux jeunes entreprises offrant déjà des services d'e-agriculture. Les participants bénéficient d'un soutien sous la forme d'activités de suivi : renforcement des capacités, services d'accompagnement et d'incubation, possibilités de promotion et de mise en réseau, et amélioration de l'accès aux subventions et aux investissements en vue de diffuser les services à plus grande échelle.Les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) influencent de plus en plus l'avenir de la production alimentaire, de la commercialisation et de la gestion de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. Les TIC contribuent désormais à la transformation des chaînes de valeur agricoles dans les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique, en améliorant la productivité et l'accès aux marchés dans le secteur agroalimentaire.  ","tokenCount":"130"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1651802492.json b/data/part_1/1651802492.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d0d854c3f98e5b21fd264be1da5763de76199925
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1651802492.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0277e2ab692be7dabb8d6f17d72cdd7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/91adb744-1542-416d-b947-10e9ef397099/retrieve","id":"-1707441267"},"keywords":["quantitative trait loci","tetraploid wheat","multiparental mapping","GWAS","breeding","smallholder farmers"],"sieverID":"09b1caf4-f3de-4b59-9e37-5b1e4c57694e","pagecount":"14","content":"The Ethiopian plateau hosts thousands of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) farmer varieties (FV) with high adaptability and breeding potential. To harness their unique allelic diversity, we produced a large nested association mapping (NAM) population intercrossing fifty Ethiopian FVs with an international elite durum wheat variety (Asassa). The Ethiopian NAM population (EtNAM) is composed of fifty interconnected bi-parental families, totalling 6280 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) that represent both a powerful quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping tool, and a large pre-breeding panel. Here, we discuss the molecular and phenotypic diversity of the EtNAM founder lines, then we use an array featuring 13 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to characterize a subset of 1200 EtNAM RILs from 12 families. Finally, we test the usefulness of the population by mapping phenology traits and plant height using a genome wide association (GWA) approach. EtNAM RILs showed high allelic variation and a genetic makeup combining genetic diversity from Ethiopian FVs with the international durum wheat allele pool. EtNAM SNP data were projected on the fully sequenced AB genome of wild emmer wheat, and were used to estimate pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) measures that reported an LD decay distance of 7.4 Mb on average, and balanced founder contributions across EtNAM families. GWA analyses identified 11 genomic loci individually affecting up to 3 days in flowering time and more than 1.6 cm in height. We argue that the EtNAM is a powerful tool to support the production of new durum wheat varieties targeting local and global agriculture.Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum, genome AB, 2n = 49 = 28) is cultivated worldwide for traditional and highvalue food preparations thanks to its capacity to produce hard grains with remarkable nutritional value. World durum wheat production in 2016-2017 was an estimated 39.9 million tonnes, which is approximately 5% of global wheat production (International Grains Commission data). Nevertheless, durum wheat is a cultural crop of major importance in the Mediterranean basin, Central Asia, Central America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. For this reason, durum wheat breeding efforts have been aimed at both quality and productivity traits. In the 1910s, the work of Nazareno Strampelli incorporated landrace germplasm with early varieties producing wheat lines that are still grown today (notably, the variety \"Cappelli\"). In the second half of the 20th century, Norman Borlaug's work introduced dwarfing genes into wheat breeding germplasm, increasing grain yield in durum elite lines that are still widely employed (Ortiz et al., 2007). Semolina quality traits, including pigmentation and gluten structure, were also the object of molecular breeding in durum wheat and, as such, are undergoing continuous improvement (Fiedler et al., 2017;Reimer et al., 2008).Durum wheat germplasm is highly diverse (Kabbaj et al., 2017). In the Ethiopian highlands, where it has been cultivated by smallholder farmers for thousands of years, durum wheat has developed several traits of phenotypic (Mengistu et al., 2018) and molecular (Mengistu et al., 2016) uniqueness. In Ethiopia, durum wheat landraces -referred to here as farmer varieties (FVs)are cultivated on 70% of the total wheat area, which is estimated at 2 million hectares (Hammer and Teklu, 2008). Ethiopian durum wheat is mostly grown in marginal environments with little use of chemical inputs and irrigation, and is at the base of many traditional preparations and a staple crop in the highlands (Tsegaye and Berg, 2007). Thousands of FVs evolved in Ethiopia with the simultaneous contribution of natural and artificial selection, following a complex pattern of trait selection and amplification (Kidane et al., 2017b;Mancini et al., 2017). Therefore, the Ethiopian durum wheat is a source of several adaptive traits of breeding relevance, including disease resistance alleles to rusts and Septoria (Kidane et al., 2017a;Liu et al., 2017;Zhang et al., 2017).Globally, durum wheat is a source of beneficial alleles for biotic (Aoun et al., 2017) and abiotic (Peleg et al., 2009b;Tuberosa and Maccaferri, 2015) stresses also relevant to the bread wheat (Triticum aestivum, genome ABD, 2n = 6x = 42) gene pool. With its intermediate tetraploid karyotype, durum wheat may be crossed with wild wheats to incorporate their haplotypes in a cultivated background (Avni et al., 2014;Peleg et al., 2009a;Zhu et al., 2016), supporting the availability of novel allelic diversity to wheat breeders. The AB genomes of durum wheat can be hybridized with wild species such as Aegilops tauschii, the donor of the D genome, to create synthetic hybrids targeting adaptive traits (Reynolds et al., 2007(Reynolds et al., , 2015)). Alleles coming from Triticum urartu, the wild donor of the A wheat genome that still grows in highly differentiated natural populations (Brunazzi et al., 2018), have also been successfully introgressed in durum wheat amphiploids and lines (Alvarez et al., 2009). The closely related wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides, genome AB, 2n = 4x = 28) may also be used to accelerate the introduction of novel diversity into wheat breeding through durum wheat (Valkoun, 2001). Genetic and genomic tools developed in durum wheat are increasingly integrated with those of bread wheat (Maccaferri et al., 2015). The current genomic revolution in wheat, which has seen the development and release of the genome sequence of several Triticum species including bread wheat (The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, 2018), wild emmer wheat (Avni et al., 2017), and diploid wheats (Ling et al., 2018;Wang et al., 2017), provides new tools for the characterization of the genetic basis of complex traits and for the fruitful exploitation of untapped allele pools (Uauy, 2017).Understanding the genetic basis of quantitative traits, quantitative trait loci (QTL), is essential to achieve predictive wheat improvement. However, limitations in allelic diversity and genetic mapping resolution of currently available durum wheat mapping populations pose a limit to the capacity to pinpoint genes responsible for traits of agronomic interest. While diversity panels employed in genome-wide association (GWA) studies increase the diversity available to search for causative alleles of interest, their historical genetic recombination history is unknown and does not allow the elevated statistical power of classical pedigree-based haplotype mapping (Korte and Farlow, 2013;Mackay et al., 2009). Multiparental population designs have been created to bridge the two approaches, incorporating higher genetic diversity and recombination frequencies in pedigree-based crosses (Churchill et al., 2004;Ladejobi et al., 2016), and are developed following two main approaches. Multiparental advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) populations are produced by crossing four or more founder lines in a balanced scheme (Huang et al., 2015). MAGIC populations have been developed in several cereal species including maize (Dell'Acqua et al., 2015), wheat (Mackay et al., 2014;Milner et al., 2016), rice (Bandillo et al., 2013), and barley (Sannemann et al., 2015). Conversely, nested association mapping (NAM) populations are produced by intercrossing one recurrent founder line with n other founder lines, which results in n recombinant inbred line (RIL) families that share the recurrent founder haplotype. The NAM design was developed in maize (McMullen et al., 2009) and later applied to several maize genetic backgrounds (Bauer et al., 2013) and different crops including soybean (Li et al., 2017), sorghum (Bouchet et al., 2017), barley (Maurer et al., 2015;Nice et al., 2016), and bread wheat (Bajgain et al., 2016;Jordan et al., 2018).The NAM design has the merit of mirroring breeding approaches aimed at incorporating traits of choice in a background of choice, following a star design. A NAM population can therefore play the double role of research tool and breeding tool. In the case of Ethiopian durum wheat, a large gap exists between the genetic makeup of local FVs and modern varieties (MVs) released for cultivation in the country as demonstrated by their genotypic (Kabbaj et al., 2017;Mengistu et al., 2016) and phenotypic diversity (Mengistu et al., 2018). The Ethiopian durum wheat allele pool is unique with respect to international breeding material, and its incorporation into breeding efforts could benefit both local and global farmers (Kidane et al., 2017b;Mancini et al., 2017).In this work, we describe the development of a large Ethiopian durum wheat NAM (EtNAM) population built by intercrossing of a MV with international background with 49 Ethiopian FVs and one Italian MV, which were chosen on the basis of their phenotypic and molecular diversity. A subset of 12 EtNAM families, 100 RILs each, was genotyped with 13 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), allowing the characterization of the genetic diversity and structure of the population. We conclude by conducting a GWA study for phenology and plant height, reporting a number of loci accounting for a relevant amount of the phenotypic variation in the EtNAM. We make the population available to the wheat community, and argue that the EtNAM may act as a breeding tool and a research tool that supports the identification of QTL of agronomic relevance and their incorporation into pre-breeding materials.The EtNAM population is composed of a total of 6280 F 9 RILs divided into 50 families (Table S1). One of the FV founder lines, with accession number 238555, was later discovered to be bread wheat. The corresponding EtNAM 49 family only produced 15 RILs; hence, it was excluded from the population. The EtNAM families range in size from 83 to 205 RILs (Table S1; mean = 125.6, r = 28.2). During single seed descent (SSD), a broad variability was visible within and between families in terms of disease resistance, spike morphology, awn colour, plant height, and the length of the plant cycle. The amount of genotypic differentiation among EtNAM RILs is comparable to that among founder lines. Previous studies characterized the geographic, molecular, and phenotypic diversity of Ethiopian MVs and FVs, including the EtNAM founder lines (Mengistu et al., 2016). Figure 1 shows a phylogenetic tree based on 30 155 SNP markers reported in Mengistu et al. (2016). The EtNAM founders were selected to cover the broad molecular diversity of Ethiopian durum wheat and to provide a number of traits of breeding relevance such as spike density, yield, and disease resistance (Table S1). Consequently, the EtNAM founder lines showed elevated phenotypic variance for a number of traits relevant for Ethiopian agriculture (Table 1, Figure 2). Previously published data characterizing Ethiopian FVs shows that days to booting and flowering among EtNAM founders span more than 2 weeks (Mengistu et al., 2016). Most of Ethiopian FVs require fewer days to reach maturity than the recurrent founder (RF), the MV Asassa (Figure 2a). The RF contributes agronomic traits typical of international breeding targets for MVs (Figure 2b): spike length (SPL) is reduced, yet seeds per spike (SPS) are many, resulting in dense spikes. The thousand grain weight (TGW) is high, while the number of effective tillers (NET) produced and the plant height (PH) are low. Notably, most of the FV founders of the EtNAM perform better than the RF in the tested Ethiopian environments, both in terms of grain yield (GY) and biomass production (BM). The broad variation in agronomic traits among EtNAM founder lines (Table 1) ensures broad segregation of these traits in the EtNAM RILs. The EtNAM RF and FV founders were also selected considering smallholder farmers' appreciation, which is measured by four traits evaluated on a scale from 1 to 5 as previously reported in Kidane et al. (2017b) and Mancini et al. (2017). The farmer communities in the two tested locations, Hagreselam and Geregera, showed high consistency in the evaluation of earliness capacity, spike morphology, and overall appreciation of the EtNAM founder lines (Figure 2c). Asassa was chosen as RF since it was among the most appreciated MVs in the tested locations. This preference was confirmed by farmer scores that consistently ranked the RF among the most valued genotypes, although several locally adapted FVs outperformed it (Figure 2c). Farmer traits span from less than two to more than three score points (Table 1) in both locations (Kidane et al., 2017b;Mancini et al., 2017), suggesting broad variation in smallholder farmers' appreciation to be found in EtNAM RILs. The subset of RILs to be genotypically characterized, covering EtNAM families 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 16, 19, 32, 36, 45, 46, and 51, was selected on the basis of phenotypic and genotypic diversity of the founder lines and number of RILs available (Table S1).The genotyping array used to characterize the subset of EtNAM RILs investigated comprises 13 006 markers. After filtering for quality (Failure rate < 20% and Heterozygosity < 20%), 12 114 markers were retained. The EtNAM families in the subset have a number of polymorphic SNPs ranging from 1665 (EtNAM 51) to 4110 (EtNAM 3), with a mean of 3479 (Table S2). Family EtNAM 51, in which both parents are MVs (Asassa//Bidi), has a lower number of SNPs and low heterozygosity and failure rate (0.49% and 0.31%, respectively; Table S2). This is possibly contributed by ascertainment bias in the genotyping array, with some probes failing to effectively capture FV allelic variation while providing better performances on MV alleles. Although the MAF in individual families is close to 50%, with some low-frequency alleles due to residual heterozygosity, the MAF in the EtNAM is broadly distributed (Figure S1). The segregation of rare alleles in the population allows a better representation of the broad diversity of Ethiopian wheat. The difference between EtNAM 51 and the other families is clear when looking at the intersection of polymorphic markers in the subset (Figure S1). The largest share of polymorphic markers in the population, 862, is shared only among families with Ethiopian FV founders. The second largest share of markers ( 216) is unique to EtNAM 51, and only 141 markers are polymorphic in all the EtNAM families characterized. The most diverse family, EtNAM 3, has the highest number of unique SNPs (102), followed by EtNAM 10 (79), and EtNAM 32 (74) (Figure S1).  Mengistu et al. (2016). The NJ phylogeny represents the molecular diversity of Ethiopian durum wheat. Two main clades are present: the smaller clade of MVs (top right), and the larger clade of FVs (bottom left). EtNAM founder lines with a known genetic makeup are projected on the tree, and are represented as points coloured according to the legend. The recurrent founder (RF), Asassa, is represented by a dark square and groups together with the MV Bidi (EtNAM 51) in the monophyletic cluster top right. Data from Mengistu et al. (2016) The molecular diversity in the EtNAM subset overlaps the breeding scheme of the population (Figure 3). The MVs (the RF Asassa and the line Bidi) and the FV founders are the furthest apart in a neighbour-joining (NJ) phylogeny. In the middle, the EtNAM RILs cluster into 12 monophyletic clades corresponding to each of the interconnected biparental families (Figure 3a). The signal of a few RILs grouping outside their intended families is likely resulting from either DNA or seed contamination (Figure 3a). The EtNAM RILs fill the gap between Ethiopian FVs and MVs in the first two principal components (PCs) computed on molecular diversity (Figure 3b). Expectedly, the MV founder of EtNAM 51 is opposite to the FVs, and EtNAM 51 RILs cluster intermediately next to the RF. The principal components analysis (PCA) provides new variables each explaining a little amount of variability, suggesting low structure in the population. The first two PCs explain 8% and 5% of the molecular variance, respectively, and the explanatory power of subsequent PCs drops rapidly, requiring 20 PCs to approach 50% of the molecular variance (Figure S2).Following the filtering parameters listed in the Methods, 9383 SNP markers were physically mapped to the A and B genome of wild emmer wheat (Table S3). Diversity across the EtNAM genomes is sampled according to the array markers' distribution on the wheat genome, which is reduced in pericentromeric regions. Surveying the genomic distribution of polymorphisms in the EtNAM subset, we do not observe regions of depleted diversity (Figure S3). Diversity within each EtNAM family is dependent on the allelic makeup of founder pairs. A discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) expectedly points to the presence of 12 genetic groups (Figure S4). The degree of differentiation among EtNAM families, however, is not uniform and results in three main clusters (Figure S4) whose differentiation is supported by a limited set of markers (Figure S5). The variance explained by the first component is mostly contributed by a set of markers in the distal portion of Chr 6A. The markers providing the higher contribution to the variance explained by the second component are located on the distal portions of Chr 1A and Chr 4A, while the variance explained by component three is mainly contributed by markers at the end of Chr 7A.The RF contribution to RIL genomes is mostly uniform, with some localized genomic regions with biased representation of either of the founder alleles for some of the EtNAM families (Figure 4, Table S4). The significance threshold for combined negative log scores of P-values, computed with a Bonferroni multiple test correction, is 13. Family EtNAM 5 presents the highest number and extension of such regions on Chr 2A, 2B, 3A, 4B, and extensively on Chr 5B and Chr 6A. Some regions of biased inheritance of parental allele are present in more than one EtNAM family, including regions at the beginning of Chr 2B (EtNAM 5, EtNAM 32), on Chr 3A (EtNAM 5, EtNAM 10), on Chr 3B (EtNAM 3, EtNAM 16, EtNAM 35), and on Chr 4A (EtNAM 1, EtNAM 10, EtNAM 16, EtNAM 32, EtNAM 46). In some of these genomic bins, the founder unbalance is contrasting among families, with some showing an overrepresentation of the RF and others showing overrepresentation of the alternative founder line (Figure 4).The profile of linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay is different across EtNAM families, and Chr 3B, 4B, and 6B show the slowest decay in several of them (Figure S6). Overall, the r 2 LD drops below 0.2, an arbitrary threshold for lack of LD, within 7.4 Mb on average, ranging from 3.7 Mb (Chr 4A) to 18.7 Mb (Chr 3B) (Figure 5a). Pericentromeric regions show higher LD, as expected from the lower recombination rate, balancing reduced LD in Chr telomeres (Figure 5b and Figure S7). The estimation of LD is dependent on the availability of marker information, which is sparser across pericentromeric regions (Figure 5C and Figure S3). Areas of relatively high LD may also be found in telomeric regions, notably at approximately 650 Mb on Chr 2B, 520 Mb on Chr 3A, 130 Mb on Chr 6B, and 600 Mb on Chr 7A (Figure S8).To provide a benchmark of its potential in complex traits mapping, the EtNAM subset was phenotyped in three locations for phenology (days to booting, DB; days to heading, DH; days to maturity, DM) and plant height (PH) (Figure S9). The broadsense heritability (h 2 ) was 90.1% for DB, 89.5% for DH, 60.8% for DM and 59.5% for PH. Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values were derived from trait values and were used to conduct a GWA study to identify quantitate trait nucleotides (QTNs), i.e. SNPs in linkage with causal variants underlying the trait variation in the EtNAM (Table S5). The EtNAM population reported 11 unique QTNs significant at a P < 0.1 Bonferroni corrected significance treshold (Table 2, Table S5). QTNs for DB, DH, and DM were partially overlapping (Figure 6a): QTNs at 35.8 Mb on Chr 2A and 520.6 Mb on Chr 5B were jointly identified by all phenology traits. A QTN for DB and DH mapped at 57.2 Mb on Chr 2B, and two QTNs for DB and DM mapped at 677.9 and 679.8 Mb on Chr 1B. Additional QTNs for DM mapped at 56.7 Mb on Chr 2B, at 19.9 Mb on Chr 5A, and at 447.3 Mb on  6b, Table 2). Altogether, the GWA scan identified 177 unique protein-coding gene models within 1 Mb of QTNs (Table S6). PH QTNs had an estimated effect ranging from 0.95 to 1.66 cm, while flowering time QTNs explained up to 3 days in booting difference and 1.9 days in maturity (Table 2).The founder lines contribute with broad phenotypic and molecular diversity to the EtNAM population. Having been chosen from the most divergent genotypes of Ethiopian FVs (Figure 1), they cover the spectrum of diversity available in local germplasm (Mengistu et al., 2016). Indeed, the EtNAM founders show a broad range of variability for several agronomic traits and for smallholder farmers appreciation (Figure 2, Table 1). As expected, the RF and MV included in family EtNAM 51 are the most similar and show trait values reminiscent of the Green Revolution: a short life cycle with a longer grain filling stage up to maturity (Figure 2a), as well as short stature and compact spikes coupled with low tillering capacity (Figure 2b). Notably, the MV genetic background does not provide higher yields in the marginal environments in which the EtNAM founders were measured. As per farmer appreciation traits (Figure 2c), the RF Asassa is consistently grouped among the most preferred genotypes in both locations, but it is surpassed by some of the FVs. It has been shown that phenotypic divergence among NAM founder lines is predictive of phenotypic variance in RIL families (Hung et al., 2012); hence, we expect broad variation for multigenic traits in EtNAM RILs.The EtNAM subset was chosen to provide a balanced representation of the EtNAM population (Figure 1); hence the findings developed based on the 1200 RILs comprising the subset can reasonably be extended to the full EtNAM. The population is highly diverse and features a limited genetic structure (Figure 3 and Figure S2), which supports the selection of a subset of EtNAM families to target specific loci without losing the overall features of the population. However, the current picture of diversity among RILs and EtNAM families may be slightly biased by the genotyping technology employed. The markers featured on the array, in fact, are mostly designed based on international breeding germplasm (Wang et al., 2014) and may fail to capture the full spectrum of exotic alleles available in Ethiopian FVs (Albrechtsen et al., 2010). This hypothesis is supported by consistently lower levels of heterozygosity and a low failure rate in RILs developed from the cross between RF and MV in family EtNAM 51 (Table S2). It is therefore likely that the diversity contributed by FVs is underestimated, and that the EtNAM families with most diverse founders would cluster further away from each other (Figure 3a). The panel of polymorphic SNPs is quite differentiated between family EtNAM 51 and the other families (Figure S1). Most SNPs are shared across EtNAM families derived from FVs, with some families showing remarkable uniqueness. Indeed, DAPC analysis shows that EtNAM families cluster according to each founder's genomic makeup (Figure S4), with a relevant contribution of loci possibly selected during FV cultivation (Figure S5). However, it seems that DAPC grouping does not reflect the geographic origin of EtNAM founders (Table S1), in agreement with the high admixture observed within and between regional collections of Ethiopian FVs (Mengistu et al., 2016). Once additional EtNAM families are characterized, a more complete pattern of diversity and relatedness within the population will emerge.It is possible that during the breeding process some traits have been inadvertently selected, resulting in a biased representation of founder lines in the RIL genomes (Figure 4). Similar deviations may be explained by the presence of QTL that provide an increase in fitness during the production of the population (Dell'Acqua et al., 2015;McMullen et al., 2009). Markers' ascertainment bias may contribute to extended chromosomal regions in which no polymorphic markers are available, most notably on Chr 4A and 5B (Figure 4). A major QTL for heading date is located at approximately 158 cM on Chr 5B of winter wheat (Griffiths et al., 2009;Zanke et al., 2014a), and is in a position corresponding to markers mapping to approximately 690 Mb on the wild emmer genome (Table S3) and compatible with the overrepresentation of RF alleles on Chr 5B in EtNAM 5 (Figure 4, Table S4). Flowering time QTL are also located at initial positions on Chr 2A and 2B (Griffiths et al., 2009;Hanocq et al., 2004;Zanke et al., 2014a), also biased towards the RF in EtNAM 5. This interpretation is corroborated by the flowering time QTNs identified by the EtNAM on the on the homoeologous groups 2 and 5 (Figure 6, Table 2). The FV founder of EtNAM 5 shows remarkably late booting and flowering, which is quite opposite the RF (Figure 2a), and its late flowering alleles may have been selected against during the development of the EtNAM population. We detected a region at the beginning of Chr 4A in which the RF is either overrepresented or underrepresented in different EtNAM families (Figure 4). In this region several QTL have been mapped for seedling vigour (Zhang et al., 2013), seed production traits (Lv et al., 2014), and seed filling and senescence (Xie et al., 2016). Alternative alleles at this locus may affect fitness, and hence may have been subjected to selection during population development.The NAM design provides an elevated recombination frequency and high QTL mapping power (Yu et al., 2008). The MAF distribution in the EtNAM population shows that the population captures rare alleles and sets them at higher frequencies (Figure 3a). It has been shown that joint-multiple family is a powerful QTL mapping approach even in the presence of high heterogeneity between NAM families (Ogut et al., 2015), even though multiple QTL mapping approaches may be needed to capture the full extent of QTL effects in NAM-like designs (Garin et al., 2017).Thanks to the accumulation of recombination events across families, the LD decays much more rapidly in the EtNAM population (Figure 5a) than in any of the bi-parental EtNAM families that comprise it (Figure S6). This finding supports the use of a multiparental population for high-definition QTL mapping. It is important to point out that the capacity of markers to distinguish between paternal haplotypes may have an effect on the LD decay rate estimation. In some instances, in families EtNAM 5, 32, 36, and 46, the LD on Chr 5B and 6B extends for far more than 150 Mb (Figure S6). This is either because of linkage drag as a consequence of selection or because the typed markers show low polymorphism on these linkage groups in these families. When considering the full population, Chr 3B shows a somewhat higher LD and may be used as an example of the LD features of the EtNAM (Figure 5). As expected, pairwise LD is consistently higher in pericentromeric regions (Figure 5b), even though markers are preferentially located in telomeric regions (Figure S7). These results are in agreement with the recombination frequency distribution observed in a bread wheat NAM (Jordan et al., 2018). It is likely that the areas of high LD around centromeres are more extensive then what is apparent using the current marker set. The estimation of LD evolution indeed shows extensive regions with low recombination rates along pericentromeric regions (Figure 5c and Figure S8). The sparse distribution of array markers, which preferentially target coding regions (Figure S3), makes it difficult to finely characterize the extended peri-centromeric regions of the wheat genome (Avni et al., 2017;The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, 2018).Already with this marker set, however, we could identify 11 QTNs with relevant effects on phenology and plant height (Figure 6, Table 2). Some of the flowering time QTNs may correspond to previously reported flowering time loci segregating in European germplasm, even though the different genetic materials and reference maps limit the possibility to crossreference results. The study from Mengistu et al. (2016), conducting a GWA on landraces including the EtNAM founders reinforces some of these findings. The DB and DM QTNs on Chr 1B are compatible with previous findings on bread wheat (Fowler et al., 2016). The Eps locus controlling flowering time in bread wheat maps on Chr 1D (Sukumaran et al., 2016), at a genetic position overlapping our signal for DB, DM on the homoeologous Chr 1B (Table 2). QTL for flowering time were already reported in durum wheat at around 40 cM on Chr 2A, in a position compatible to our signal (Maccaferri et al., 2008;Mengistu et al., 2016;Sanna et al., 2014;Sukumaran et al., 2018). This QTN on Chr 2A maps in a position compatible to the Ppd-A1 locus (Griffiths et al., 2009). The flowering time QTN at about 57 Mb on Chr 2B (Table 2) may also correspond to previously reported QTL (Sanna et al., 2014;Sukumaran et al., 2018;Zhou et al., 2016) and may contribute to bias in founders' contribution in the EtNAM RILs (Figure 4). The Vrn-A1 locus regulating the transition from vegetative to reproductive development is located on the homoeologous group 5 (Yan et al., 2003;Zhu et al., 2014), in a position compatible with the EtNAM QTN for DB, DH, DM (Table 2). Expectedly, phenology QTNs detected by the EtNAM were also detected in Ethiopian durum wheat landraces on Chr 1B (DM) and Chr 2B (DB, DH) (Table 2) (Kidane et al., 2017b). Previous GWA studies on spring wheat and durum wheat support the phenology QTN identified on Chr 2B (Soriano et al., 2017;Sukumaran et al., 2015). The signal for PH on Chr 2A and Chr 3A may also correspond to previously mapped QTL (Cui et al., 2011;Maccaferri et al., 2008;Zanke et al., 2014b). Notably, the PH QTN on Chr 2A matches a GWA signal for PH reported in durum wheat grown in water stress conditions but not in yield potential conditions (Sukumaran et al., 2018). A PH locus was already reported on the bread wheat Chr 7A in a position compatible to our findings (Fowler et al., 2016). The TaHd1 genes, orthologous to the heading date genes Hd1 in rice, were mapped on the long arm of the homologous group 6 (Nemoto et al., 2003), and may contribute to the signal we detected at the distal end of this chromosome. QTL controlling flowering time and frost resistance were mapped on the long arm of Chr 5B (T oth et al., 2003). Our signal may be in the vicinity to Vrn-B1 locus (Leonova et al., 2003), whose role in wheat flowering is well known (Iwaki et al., 2002;Shimada et al., 2009;Yan et al., 2003). For the sakes of this experiment, we chose a stringent significance threshold to focus on highly significant QTNs, increasing type II errors; however, we expect several other alleles to contribute to these traits in the EtNAM.Currently, the LD extent (Figure S6) and the sparsity of markers (Figure S3) on the EtNAM genomes prevent to pinpoint candidate genes underlying QTNs detected by GWA. As the genome annotation of wild emmer wheat will evolve, being further integrated with the functional analysis tools already available in other cereal species, it will be possible to provide a finer characterization of gene models in the vicinity of QTNs (Table S6). Moreover, once a genetic map specific to the EtNAM will be developed, it will be possible characterize QTNs in relation to founder haplotypes, supporting the identification of candidate genes. Indeed, genetic maps currently available in durum Figure 4 Deviation in founder contributions across EtNAM genomes. The binned genomic positions are reported on the x-axis. The EtNAM families are reported on the y-axis. The deviation from the expected founder contribution is represented by increasing shades of red (RF overrepresented) or blue (alternative founder overrepresented). The significance of the deviation is represented in negative log scores of chi-squared test P-values combined within each genomic bin. The threshold for significance is 13. (Maccaferri et al., 2015) and bread wheat (Wang et al., 2014) focus on international breeding materials and Mediterranean landraces. The uniqueness of Ethiopian germplasm (Kabbaj et al., 2017;Mengistu et al., 2016) pushes for a specific genetic map to be developed in order to capture possible structural variants, a frequent occurrence in the highly repetitive wheat genome (Clavijo et al., 2017;Montenegro et al., 2017). We can anticipate that a genetic map is being produced on the EtNAM, and that such map will be used to survey the genomic landscape of Ethiopian durum wheat siding the upcoming high-quality durum wheat genome sequence. These tools will boost the usability of sequencing-based markers (Baird et al., 2008), allowing to overcome ascertainment bias issues introduced by array-based genotyping, and support haplotype reconstruction and QTL mapping on the EtNAM. The EtNAM will side the multiparental populations available (Milner et al., 2016;Huang et al., 2012;Jordan et al., 2018;Mackay et al., 2014) and those in development in the Triticum species complex. It has been shown that the parallel employment of NAM families developed in closely related species can reinforce QTL findings (Mace et al., 2013), increasing their potential use in breeding efforts. Unlike the maize NAM, where the RF is a standard breeding genotype with a sequenced genome (McMullen et al., 2009), the EtNAM RF was chosen because of its breeding potential in terms of Ethiopian farmers' appreciation among MVs (Figure 2c). The EtNAM strategy is indeed aimed at contributing to new recombination between international and Ethiopian material, leveraging local diversity in combination with elite germplasm. The characterized EtNAM RILs successfully close the gap existing between the two allelic pools (Figure 3) and arguably recombine traits contributed by either of the founder lines. The use of FVs and landraces in breeding has long been advocated to reverse the trend of diversity loss resulting from the early Green Revolution (Lopes et al., 2015;Sehgal et al., 2015;Warburton et al., 2006). In Ethiopia, the higher yielding and performing bread wheat varieties imported from abroad are rapidly replacing local germplasm (Mengistu et al., 2015;Tsegaye and Berg, 2007). Improved varieties of durum wheat are rarely grown because of a lack of adaptability and low access to seeds (Tesemma and Bechere, 1998). The phenotypic traits included in the EtNAM (Table S1) are promising in providing raw material for the development of   new durum wheat varieties with an optimal balance between MV and FV alleles for the benefit of breeding in Ethiopia and beyond.Choice of founder lines and phenotypic characterizationThe choice of the founder lines derives from the extensive molecular and phenotypic characterization of a core collection of Ethiopian FVs and MVs (Mengistu et al., 2016(Mengistu et al., , 2018)). FVs were obtained from the ex situ collection of Ethiopian germplasm at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI, www.ebi.gov.et). The accessions deriving from the EBI (5 g each) were purified during 2011, selecting one representative spike each (Mengistu et al., 2016). The selected spikes were selfed in well-spaced plots to control for the already minimal outbreeding propensity of wheat.The EtNAM founders data used in this study as well as the spikes used to produce the EtNAM population derive from such single spike. The EtNAM founders were chosen with the criteria of (i) maximizing phenotypic and genotypic diversity among FVs and (ii) incorporating traits of interest, such as disease resistance, drought tolerance, and yield capacity as observed in the field trials of the collection. Genotypic data and phenotypic data of EtNAM founders lines may be found in Mengistu et al. (2016).Farmer appreciation data may be found in Kidane et al. (2017b) and Mancini et al. (2017). Fifty such FVs were chosen, 49 of which are currently represented in the EtNAM population. One additional MV with an Italian pedigree, Bidi, was also chosen as a founder. The RF, Asassa, was chosen because it was the best performing and most appreciated by farmers in testing locations of the core collection. Asassa is an MV with CIMMYT background that was released in Ethiopia in 1997 by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). The Asassa pedigree is the following: CHO/TARUS//YAV/3/FG/CRA/5/FG/DOM/6/HUI or CHORLITO/ YAVAROS//FREE-GALLIPOLI/3/FREE-GALLIPOLI/CANADIAN-RED/ 4/FREE-GA LLIPOLI/DON-PEDRO/5/HUITLE. The FV founders were collected largely from the Amhara and the Oromia regions with a few from the Tigray region of Ethiopia. The EtNAM founders retained in the current population, listed with their passport data and traits of interest, are reported in Table S1.F 1 crosses were produced in 2012 using Asassa, the RF, as pollen donor. We used a single spike from each FV female parent to start the crossing. For each female, we crossed five spikes with the RF.For each F 1 (accessions #1 to #519 RF), F 2 progenies were produced by subsequent selfing of F 1 plants under controlled conditions during 2013. Four additional cycles of controlled selfing were carried out starting with 252 single plants per F 2 family and eventually producing RIL-F 6 in 2015 by growing two cycles per year when possible. During the inbreeding phase we followed an SSD approach by harvesting only the main tiller and planting only three seeds per line starting from F 3 . EtNAM RILs were coded with an increasing number from 1 to 252 attached to the NAM family number (i.e., from EtNAM1_1 to EtNAM50_252). There are currently gaps in the numeric series corresponding to genotypes lost during the SSD procedure due to infertility or stochastic reasons. The data reported in this manuscript are based on the F 6 generation. When this manuscript was written, the EtNAM was at the RIL-F 9 stage. All the crosses were conducted at the Sirinka Agricultural Research Center, Sirinka, Ethiopia. The EtNAM lines are stored at the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (Ethiopia) and are available to researchers upon signing a material transfer agreement, free of charge for public institutions.The EtNAM comprises 6280 RILs. A subset of EtNAM families was selected to provide an initial characterization of the population.  2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, MA). Genotyping was performed on the Infinium 15K Ultra HD chips, derived by subsampling a set of markers optimized for durum wheat from the wheat 90K SNP chip (Wang et al., 2014) and performed at TraitGenetics GmbH (Gatersleben, Germany) as a service. SNPs were called using the tetraploid wheat pipeline in GenomeStudio V11 (Illumina, Inc., San Diego, CA) at the genotyping facility with default parameters.All data filtering and diversity analyses were conducted with custom scripts in R (R Core Team, 2018), available at https://doi. org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6304400. The EtNAM founder lines were genotyped with a core collection of Ethiopian FVs using the wheat 90K genotyping array (Wang et al., 2014), full results are presented in Mengistu et al. (2016). In this study, EtNAM founder data were checked for quality and consistency, and SNP markers with failure rate greater than 20% and heterozygosity above 20% were removed. An NJ tree was computed in R/adegenet (Jombart, 2008)  removed. The filtered samples were sorted by family, and each family was individually checked for the presence of outlier samples when computing NJ phylogenies with R/adegenet (Jombart, 2008). Family clusters were individually inspected for clearly misassigned samples, and these samples were removed from further analyses as they were likely due to contamination at the seed lot or at the DNA extraction level. The remaining sample set of with high-quality markers, was used to compute marker statistics within families and in the EtNAM population as a whole with R/adegenet (Jombart, 2008). Intersecting sets of markers among families were computed and visualized with R/ UpSet (Conway et al., 2017). An NJ phylogeny was computed based on the EtNAM diversity data as a whole, and a PCA was used to evaluate the structure existing within the EtNAM subset.The physical position of each SNP marker was derived from the wild emmer wheat genome assembly (Avni et al., 2017). The nucleotide sequence upstream and downstream of each SNP marker was derived from the array data. Sequences were considered single-end reads, and converted in fastq format using a Perl script publicly available at https://github.com/ekg/fasta-tofastq. The synthetic reads obtained were mapped onto the wild emmer genome with default parameters using bwa mem (Li, 2013). Samtools (Li et al., 2009) was used to filter reads with low mapping quality (MAPQ<10), secondary alignments, and multiple hits on the target genome. In this manuscript, we refer to wild emmer chromosomes as durum wheat's.Individual RILs were clustered with a DAPC implemented in R/ adegenet (Jombart, 2008) to identify cryptic similarities between EtNAM families. A clustering algorithm based on Bayesian information criteria (BIC) was run on RIL data, and the three main DA dimensions derived from the DAPC were used to compute individual loadings among markers having a physical position, thus deriving information of genomic loci maximizing the uniqueness of EtNAM families. The genomic distribution of the polymorphisms was compared with marker density by counting the occurrence of SNPs in genomic bins of 10 Mb. In each bin, the number of polymorphic markers was compared to the number of available markers.The genomic contribution of the RF was computed independently within each EtNAM family. For each founder pair, all heterozygous markers were set as failed, and monomorphic markers and markers typed in only one of the founders were filtered out. The remaining markers, all polymorphic for founder alleles, were checked for distortion in their representation in the RILs, which was expected to be 50% for each founder. A chisquared test for goodness-of-fit was computed at each locus, and the resulting P-values were averaged in 5 Mb intervals and logtransformed to provide a measure of statistical significance. Only intervals with more than two markers were used to report Pvalues. A Bonferroni threshold for the nominal P-value of 0.05 divided by the number of markers in the population was used for significance. To provide an informative representation of the alternative parental contribution across the genome, the P-values were multiplied by 1 if the RF allele was more frequent and by À1 if the alternative allele was over-represented.Pairwise LD was calculated for all markers with an assigned physical position on each Chr. R/LDheatmap (Shin et al., 2006) was used to compute r 2 within each Chr. The Chr-specific LD decay rate was estimated on the basis of the Hill and Weir equation (Hill and Weir, 1988;Marroni et al., 2011) and discussed considering r 2 = 0.2 as a measure of a lack of LD.The LD evolution across each Chr was estimated by collapsing pairwise LD measures on the physical positions of markers. For each marker, the LD was averaged across all markers within a 0.5 Mb interval. The resulting LD was plotted across Chr averaging in a rolling window with a window size of 30 markers.The EtNAM subset was phenotyped using a replicated alpha lattice design in three locations in Ethiopia: Adet (11°15 0 N/ 37°29 0 E) in 2016, Geregera (11°40 0 N/38°52 0 E) in 2016, and Kulumsa (8°01 0 N/39°09 0 E) in 2017. Seed rate of 100 kg/ha and fertilizers rate of 92 N + 46 P 2 O 5 kg/ha were used in all locations. Urea was applied at a rate of 150 kg/ha using a split application of ½ at planting and ½ at tillering, and manual hand weeding was applied as required. Phenology traits were recorded on full plots: DB (days to 50% booting), DH (days to 50% heading), and DM (days to full maturity). PH was measured on three random plants per plot, in cm. BLUPs were calculated for all traits with restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analysis using SAS â (SAS Institute Inc 2013, Cary, NC). A mixed model describing the variate Y ijk from replication i, column j, and row k, can be expressed by the following equation (Eq. 1):where the fixed model effects are: l, the intercept; Ga, the genotype main effect; Lb, the locations main effect; GLab, the interaction effect between genotypes and locations. The random model terms are: b i , the effect of replication b; c j , the effect of columns within replication b; r k , the effect of rows within replication b and 2 ijk , the overall error terms. The overall error term was estimated from the random terms of replications, rows and columns where rows and column were nested in replication. h 2 across the three locations was calculated from variance estimated for each component by REML analysis in SAS â (SAS Institute Inc 2013, Cary, NC) according to Vargas et al. (2013).Trait values and SNPs were input in a GWA analysis using R/ MVP (available at github.com/XiaoleiLiuBio/MVP) with custom scripts. The estimation of variance components was performed using the EMMA method (Kang et al., 2008), and mapping was done with the FarmCPU approach (Liu et al., 2016) including three PC covariates. The threshold for significance was corrected for multiple testing using a Bonferroni cut-off on a nominal P value of 0.1. Associations surpassing the threshold are discussed as QTNs, i.e. SNPs in linkage with causative variants of quantitative traits. Gene models within AE 500 Kb from QTN were derived from the wild emmer genome annotation v1.0.59.","tokenCount":"7365"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1657450587.json b/data/part_1/1657450587.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cf54e2583ba7986f1665361ca09093bd744d67e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1657450587.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bfffc211336e6d8c50ded9cf993d7381","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de1e0399-d0a9-455f-93c8-64a3e6ac1b03/retrieve","id":"1483571953"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cdf509e8-cd72-45b3-9e3f-6cc2b860f1ea","pagecount":"52","content":"IPGRI gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the Global Crop Diversity Trust to the production of this issue of Geneflow. Accession Plant sample, strain or population held in a genebank or breeding programme for conservation or use Biodiversity The total variability within and among species of all living organisms and their habitats CGIAR The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, an association of private and public donor agencies that supports the work of 15 international agricultural research centres, known as the Future Harvest Centres Crop diversity the variation between and within crops and between crops and their wild relatives Cryopreservation Conservation in very cold temperatures, usually in liquid nitrogen Ethnobotany The study of the plant lore and agricultural customs of a people Ex situ conservation Conservation of a plant outside of its original or natural habitat FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations © Amanda King/IPGRI A community seed-bank in Bara, Nepal. Here seed is stored in the traditional way: in clay pots sealed with animal dung.Genebank Facility where germplasm is stored in the form of seeds, pollen or in vitro culture, or in the case of a field genebank, as plants growing in the fieldAlteration of the genetic material of living organisms in order to make them capable of producing new substances or performing new functions. The term is often used in cases when biotechnological techniques have been used (referred to as genetic engineering) that induce genetic changes that would not normally occur in nature.Germplasm A set of genotypes that may be conserved or usedIn situ conservation Conservation of plants or animals in the areas where they developed their distinctive properties, i.e. in the wild or in farmers' fields IPGRI The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, the world's largest international research institution devoted solely to promoting and supporting the conservation and use of agricultural diversity Morphology The branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of organisms without consideration of functionThe genetic material of plants, which determines their characteristics and hence their ability to adapt and survive.Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development)The Global Environment Facility (GEF), established in 1991, helps developing countries fund projects and programmes that protect the global environment. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is one of three implementing agencies that managing GEF projects, the others being the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.Wild relative A noncultivated species that is more or less closely related to a crop species (usually in the same genus). It is not normally used for agriculture but can occur in agroecosystems (e.g. as a weed or a component of pasture or grazing lands) 1 This is the vision of Dr Emile Frison, the new Director General of IPGRI. Formerly the Director of the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain, Frison brings a strong vision and enthusiasm to IPGRI as the organization enters a period of great change.Emile Frison is a Belgian national who obtained an MSc from the Catholic University of Louvain and a PhD from the University of Gembloux, Belgium. After working as an agricultural researcher in Africa for six years and as Development Manager of an agrochemical company in Belgium for three years, Frison joined IPGRI (then known as the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources) in 1987.In his first years at IPGRI, Frison coordinated research on plant health aspects of international germplasm transfer. In 1992, he was appointed Regional Director for Europe. As Regional Director, Frison, with FAO, helped launch the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, which promotes the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe.When former Director General Dr Geoffrey Hawtin left IPGRI to become the Interim Secretary for the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the position of Director General was filled through an international search. \"IPGRI evolved a lot under Geoff Hawtin,\" said Frison, explaining his motivation for applying for the position. \"I saw the potential for IPGRI to become even more relevant in its goals. In the past, IPGRI focused much of its attention on the conservation side of plant genetic resources. I wanted IPGRI to work more directly with people: the rural farmers in developing nations who are most in need of our support.\" Dr Frison assumed the office of Director General on 1 August 2003.Perhaps the most important development at IPGRI during Frison's first year in office has been the development of a new strategy for the institute. \"We want to create a people-centred focus that better incorporates IPGRI's goals into the organization's structure,\" he explained. (For more on the new IPGRI Strategy, see p.2).IPGRI has seen other changes under Frison's leadership in the past year as well, such as a stronger focus on the links between diversity and nutrition. He gave a keynote address at the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (known as COP 7), describing the importance of nutrition in solving the world's hunger problems and the role that diversity plays in supporting nutrition. \"We are really entering uncharted territory in placing such an emphasis on diversity and nutrition,\" said Frison. \"Linking the two puts the focus squarely on the people who most need IPGRI's assistance.\" (For more on diversity and nutrition, see p.8).Dr Frison is also interested in seeing the fifteen Future Harvest Centres work in closer collaboration to meet the global challenges of food security, poverty, and environmental protection. \"With a greater capacity for collective action, we can make true progress in reaching our goals,\" said Dr Frison.As for the future, Dr Frison spoke openly of his desire to see IPGRI and its work more widely recognized. \"We have to increase public awareness to make our name and our work known,\" he said. \"I want IPGRI to be the leading organization in the world on agrobiodiversity research. We should be the reference point for the global community.\"By Ben Rosenberg, IPGRI 1 Genefl ow News \"I want IPGRI to demonstrate the benefits of diversity for people. I see this as a tremendous opportunity to make a relatively bold change in how we work with people.\"The new Director General of IPGRI On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, IPGRI has released a strategy to guide its programme of work over the next decade. The new strategy charts a course for achieving IPGRI's goal: to help ensure that people today and in the future have better lives through the use of agricultural diversity in their farm and forest systems.\"The strategy puts poor people firmly in the centre of the institutional agenda,\" said Emile Frison, Director General of IPGRI.\"This is not revolutionary. It codifies an evolution that IPGRI has been making for several years to recognize and support the link between the use of agricultural diversity and better livelihoods, improved food security and environmental health.\"The strategy was developed through a year long process involving massive consultation with stakeholders. In-depth interviews, face-to-face or by telephone, were conducted with 90 opinion leaders, drawn from the ranks of IPGRI's existing and potential partners. In addition almost 900 people, culled from IPGRI's contacts database, were asked to take part in a web-based survey. Of those, 498 (57%) responded. A further 57 people took the initiative to follow a link from IPGRI's Web site to the survey.In 2000, the United Nations adopted seven Millennium Development Goals in order to measure progress towards eradicating poverty. The new strategy paves the way for IPGRI to use its special expertise in agricultural diversity to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, especially those related to hunger and poverty eradication, maternal health and child mortality, and environmental sustainability.This will be achieved through six interrelated areas of work.IPGRI will work with partners to improve the common understanding of the social, economic and environmental benefits of agricultural diversity. To do this, it will be necessary to develop and improve methods for bringing farmers and others into the process of diagnosing problems and identifying opportunities and solutions.\"We will continue our work to ensure that all actors in the chain that links farmers to consumers get a fair reward from their efforts,\" said Frison. \"And we will forge links with nongovernmental organizations, the private sector and others to do so. IPGRI recognizes that it is not a development agency. It will work with partners to ensure that the benefits of agricultural diversity can reach those that need them the most.\"Another area of work concerns the use of agricultural diversity, especially to develop more productive crops, farms and forest systems. This area of work encompasses techniques for monitoring the status of biodiversity in production systems and improved methods of on-farm conservation. It involves providing technical advice to local, national and international partners and the identification and dissemination of best practices. IPGRI will support documentation systems and offer improved access to information as a global service. IPGRI also has a well-defined role in relation to improving the productivity of bananas and plantains, coconuts and cacao, and will strengthen and expand these efforts.Much still needs to be done to study the impact of agricultural diversity on a range of pressing problems and to ensure that the results of such investigations are widely available. A third area of work will identify research needs in concert with partners and seek to influence the global agenda to recognize the value of agricultural diversity. The people who make use of agricultural diversity are themselves a source of valuable information and knowledge, and IPGRI will continue to support farmers and others to document, protect and disseminate their traditional knowledge about diversity. \"IPGRI's approach ensures to work ensures that whatever we do, we not only carry out the tasks but also develop the capacity of our partners to do the work themselves,\" said Frison. \"Capacity development is thus an integral part of almost every activity IPGRI 2 Genefl ow News Diversity for well-being: IPGRI launches new strategy IPGRI's new strategy focuses on conserving and using crop diversity to improve the lives of people in poor countries.undertakes.\" However it will also be an area of work in its own right, focusing in particular on opportunities to extend the institute's reach. Among other activities, IPGRI will train trainers, support the inclusion of ideas about agricultural diversity in schools and universities, and support the training of individual scientists It is vital that efforts to deploy agricultural diversity in support of better lives are not hampered by restrictive policies or perverse economic incentives. IPGRI will work with countries to ensure that they can formulate, assess and implement policies that support the use of agricultural diversity. In the international arena, IPGRI will continue to provide impartial technical advice on genetic resources to FAO and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (see related story, p.20). IPGRI will also seek to promote policies that are supportive of biodiversity with regional and global bodies that have an impact on farm and forest systems.The single most important task for IPGRI, according to a stakeholder survey conducted during the process of developing the strategy, is to make people-especially decisionmakers in the developing world-aware of the importance of agricultural diversity. Accordingly IPGRI will use all means at its disposal to ensure that the activities of its other five areas of work are given wide exposure.\"In this way,\" said Frison, \"we hope to awaken everyone, from highlyplaced politicians to the rural people they serve, to the value of agricultural diversity for development and improved well-being.\"By Jeremy Cherfas, IPGRI After twenty-three years of war and Taliban rule, Afghanistan is starting to rebuild basic infrastructure that the West takes for granted. Fortunately, much of its historical heritage remains largely intact.Although a Taliban presence remains in the south and east of the country, conditions in the historic western city of Herat are relatively peaceful. As a desert oasis situated on several important trade routes, this city is known to be at least 2,500 years old, and was a major centre of Persian culture between the 11th and 16th centuries.Today, the population is a mixture of Tajiks and a Hazara Mongol minority that was persecuted under the Taliban. Urban life resembles the European Middle Ages, with bustling streets where blacksmiths, sweet makers, silk weavers, carpenters and bakers ply their trades. Houses and shops are commonly made of mud brick.Herat is an elegant city with massive pine trees cooling its streets and a university with a vibrant agriculture department. Heratis are proud of their intellectual traditions, their tombs and shrines of philosophers and their reputation for tolerance of racial, cultural and religious differences. Even during the time of the Taliban, women held discussions on philosophy and poetry, disguising themselves as a sewing circle.Several crops are commonly grown in the Herat region, including an ancient wheat, rockmelons, pistachios, alfalfa, apricots and almonds. This abundance is produced in an apparently denuded landscape through a combination of good soil, animal manure and spring water from the mountains. The manure of huge flocks of goats and sheep that graze the very low vegetation on the expansive plains is collected in night enclosures in the villages. Fresh water is led from springs along channels to the market gardens and orchards that surround the villages. These are all small scale, protected by high mud walls from animals and the prevailing high winds. However, it is the grapes, renowned for their taste and reputed to be the best in the world, that give Herat its fame.The history of Herat's grapes is shrouded in mystery, but it is hypothesized that around 2000 BC they may have been grown by the Aryans, a nomadic people who spread across Central Asia during this time. Later, the kingdom of Khorasan, with Herat as its capital, was well known for wine made from the Laal and Looghi Wine varieties. Laal are noted for their extreme sweetness, and Looghi Wine grapes are large, red and resilient to climatic extremes.Locals claim that there are 100 different grape varieties in the Herat region. These are unique for several reasons, including their delicacy (they spoil within two days)-a challenge to growing them as an export crop. Some are best eaten fresh, while others are commonly dried. Up until the 1979 Afghan War, many grapes were dried for export in traditional drying houses. Today, some are exported to Russia to make wine, and others are reserved for the production of Herati vinegar. Some are specially adjusted to Herat's harsh climate, and cannot survive in other Afghan provinces.Herat experiences four months of dry winds from the north in summer, and a low precipitation concentrated in the winter months where temperatures drop below freezing. These challenges have led the local inhabitants to develop a unique growing method. To protect them from climatic extremes, grape vines are grown inside walled gardens with four-metre high mud walls, planted at the bottom of two metre deep-angled trenches and trained up sloping mud banks. Various flowers, herbs, and fruit trees including fig, apple, pear, pomegranate and plum are grown in a similar fashion around the vineyard. 4 Herati farmers grow an abundance of crops in addition to grapes. Here, a farmer and his son show off their rockmelon harvest.A Herati farmer poses with his grape drying tower.  This is the most important vegetable in her community.It grows continuously on cultivated lands.For more information, contact Patrick Maundu (p.maundu@cgiar.org).For more information, contact Patrick Maundu (p.maundu@cgiar.org).A simple solution is often invoked to help the world's 800 million undernourished people: more food. But more food alone will not solve the crisis. People's diets must be diverse enough to provide them with proper nutrition. The proponents of dietary diversity cite the importance of ensuring the continued availability of the crop diversity needed to provide malnourished people with a healthy diet.  But farming systems are dynamic and they change over time as farmers make choices about the crops and crop varieties they grow and eat. It is simply not reasonable to expect farmers to continue to grow a variety that no longer meets his or her needs for the sake of conservation alone. That's when ex situ conservation becomes important. Placing samples of farmers' varieties, or material gathered from the wild, where it also may be at risk for a number of reasons, into a genebank ensures that the material will be still be available in the future.\"Despite the importance of ex situ conservation, international funding for crop diversity collections has not been easy to find. \"International funds for conservation come largely from development agencies,\" explained Hawtin, \"and such agencies generally demand immediate impacts on rural poverty. Much less attention is paid to building up natural capital for the future. Ex situ conservation is not so immediately engaging because it doesn't directly involve small farmers to the extent that in situ does. Ex situ conservation is a longterm process that requires a long-term commitment.\"The public perception of conservation is also important. \"A lot of funding is driven by nostalgia,\" explained Hawtin. \"There is a widespread feeling that modern agriculture is bad and traditional agriculture is good. On-farm conservation projects are more likely to be closely linked with traditional knowledge and methods, while genebanks are often seen to represent the technological advances of modern agriculture.The truth is not so black and white. Plant breeding, whether by farmers or by modern breeders, will always require access to crop diversity, which is available in many cases in the genebank alone. The fact that this diversity has been studied, documented, comes with a good guarantee of clean health and is available throughout the year makes it all the more useful.\"The Trust will address the most pressing concern of genebanks: ensuring that funding constraints do not put the collections at risk. \"Our first task is to stabilize the situation,\" said Hawtin.\"The top priority is to makes sure that material in the genebank isn't lost. Thus, at least initially, we will not fund significant new collecting, nor will we focus on detailed evaluation of material or on pre-breeding.\"All beneficiaries of the Trust will have to demonstrate their commitment to long-term conservation by providing a continuing contribution to the costs of managing the collection in their care. \"While in general the Trust will cover a larger portion of the costs of poor collections, all will be required to contribute something,\" said Hawtin.\"Collection holders will be expected to at least maintain their current 16Dr Geoffrey Hawtin is leading the initiative to establish the Global Crop Diversity Trust. A crop genebank is a facility for conserving and distributing the diversity of crop varieties and their wild relatives. Genebanks range from massive collections stored in elaborate buildings to a simple field of a few labeled plants. They may conserve the diversity of a single species and its wild relatives, for example the 80 000 or more samples of rice and its relatives, gathered from around the world and maintained by the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.Or it could be small collections of local fruit trees like those being assembled by schoolchildren in Sarawak, Indonesia.One reason to conserve crop diversity in genebanks is that it is under threat elsewhere. Habitats continue to be destroyed and with the habitats go the plants.One of the main threats to crop diversity is modern agriculture. As new varieties are taken up by farmers because they offer genuine benefits, they may displace the diversity that was there before. This is especially ironic because all plant breeding is built on existing crop diversity, which makes it imperative that this diversity be conserved and remain available somewhere. Crop diversity, once lost, is impossible to replace.Meeting the needs of plant breeders is an important-often the primary-function of genebanks. But increasingly, genebanks are fulfilling additional roles. In many parts of the world, close links are being forged between genebanks and rural communities. Genebanks provide safe havens for a community's traditional varieties and provide farmers with material adapted to their needs or that they can experiment with. In the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters, genebanks are a repository not only of the seeds farmers need, but also of the essential skills and knowledge needed to help to put agriculture back on its feet as quickly as possible.Many of the world's most valuable food cropsincluding wheat, rice, maize and many pulses-produce seeds that are relatively easy to store. For conservation purposes, the seeds are cleaned, dried, and placed in a sealed jar or packet. For medium term storage (20 to 30 years), the seeds are maintained at a temperature of about 5°C. For long-term storage (up to 100 years or even more) they are kept in cold rooms, or even domestic deep freezers, at -18°C to -20°C.Even under the best storage conditions, the ability of the seeds to germinate declines over time so they must be planted out every few years to provide a fresh stock. In addition, seed stocks have to be replenished to meet the demand of breeders, farmers and other users of the collection. The plants need to be cultivated carefully in environments to which they are well adapted and in the case of cross-pollinated species, such as maize, the plants must be isolated so that they do not pick up pollen from any surrounding plants and so become genetically 'contaminated'.Other crops are more difficult to conserve.Potatoes, yams and cassava, for example, are not generally propagated by seed but are grown from tubers or other plant parts.The storage organs of such crops may be kept under cool conditions and at an appropriate humidity. But they take up much more space than seed, and must be regenerated (replanted) much more frequently, making it considerably more expensive to conserve such crops than those that can be stored as seeds.Alternatively, root and tuber crops, as well as crops that do not produce seed at all (such as banana and plantain), or that produce seed that dies when it is dried and cooled (such as many tropical fruit species), can be maintained as living collections of plants growing in the field; these are called field genebanks. However, such collections are very susceptible to natural hazards-pests, diseases and adverse weather-and it is desirable to also maintain them in more protected conditions.Thus collections of crops that cannot be stored as seed, are often maintained as tissues or plantlets grown on a special nutrient gel in test tubes or Petri dishes. These are kept in chambers that maintain temperature and light conditions that are optimal for conservation-a system known as in vitro conservation. In addition, it is becoming more and more possible to store cells or plant tissues for long periods by cryopreservation, a specialized form of freezing in liquid nitrogen at temperatures between -86°C and -196° C (see related story, p. 28). But as the technical complexity of conservation increases, so does the cost. In cases where a collection meets the eligibility principles but is unable to meet all of the criteria, the Trust can help. \"We realize that many if not most of the priority collections will be unable to meet the criteria right away,\" said Hawtin. \"In that case, the Trust will consider providing upgrading and capacity building support specifically targeting areas needing improvement in order that the criteria can be met.\"The Trust will not have sufficient resources to support all eligible collections. The intention is to fund a relatively small number of collections: those that meet the principles and criteria and are in need of urgent support.There is the potential for collaborators to receive some funding however, in return for providing conservation services on a contractual basis, for example regeneration or documentation services.The Trust has initiated a process of consultations and studies that will result in regional and crop conservation strategies to guide the allocation of resources to the most important and needy crop diversity collections. \"The process is bringing together crop diversity managers and other experts to develop and implement the most cost efficient and effective arrangements for conserving key collections, from both a crop and a regional perspective,\" said IPGRI's Jane Toll, who is coordinating the strategy development process.In addition to identifying the most important crop diversity collections in the world, the conservation strategies will recommend upgrading and capacity building actions needed in order for these collections to meet the Trust's criteria for long term conservation support.\"The process is underway to develop strategies for Central Asia and the Caucasus, East, West and Southern Africa, West Asia and North Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific,\" said Toll. \"And crop strategies are currently being developed for rice, wheat, rye, triticale, maize, sorghum, barley, coconut, banana, taro, yam, breadfruit and apple. The strategies will be produced by the people they will impact the most-collection holders and crop experts.\"The Trust expects to have completed all of the regional and crop strategies (covering 35 food species and 29 forage species) by the end of 2006. The first capacity building and upgrading grants will be awarded before the end of 2004.by Ruth Raymond, IPGRI23 Special SectionThe conservation strategiesFor more information, contact Jane Toll (j.toll@cgiar.org). One of these varieties is Gopari. It is an improved variety that was introduced into the community in the early 1980s. Gopari produces high yields, is easy to thresh, and, most importantly, it matures early. Farmers in Suba District on the shore of Lake Victoria especially favour Gopari for easily restoring the food supply after a period of drought. These desirable qualities led to the belief that Gopari would be widely cultivated by many households on Rusinga Island.In fact, Gopari is only grown by a few households on the island. The reluctance to grow the variety can be traced to a Luo cultural practice known as Ngweloruok, which occurs at the end of each cropping season. The ritual requires the head of a homestead to spend a night with his wife; the following day, he tastes the crop from his portion of land. Only after this ritual tasting can other members of the family, living on the same homestead and cultivating the same piece of land, be allowed to consume the crops of the current season. Thus, younger farmers must wait until their head of household performs Ngweloruok to harvest their own crops.The high yields and early maturity of Gopari made it appealing to young farmers looking to expand their incomes. When the variety was introduced into the community, the young farmers tended to adopt it more readily than the older farmers who were happy with their familiar varieties and more concerned with feeding their families than with quick monetary gain.Gopari's early maturity meant that it would be ready for harvesting before the sorghum varieties grown by most homestead heads. But because of Ngweloruok, it was not possible for the Gopari farmers to harvest the crop before the homestead head had harvested his own. If they complained, the younger farmers would be told by their elders to go make their own homesteads if they wanted to harvest Gopari before the other crops were mature. This is how Gopari acquired its name: it literally means \"go make your own homestead\".But Rusinga Island is not large enough for a sizeable number of young farmers to start their own homesteads. Thus, the Gopari variety and the genetic diversity that it contains are put at risk by the cultural tradition of Ngweloruok. It is possible that the continued practice of this tradition will cause farmers to select against all early maturing crop varieties. It may thus be critical to the long-term survival of such varieties that they be conserved in genebanks.This story arose from work supported by a UNEP-GEF grant concerned with identifying the traditional practices that support the conservation of landraces in arid and semi-arid ecosystems in Africa. The aim of the project is to determine how national agricultural policies can better support traditional farming systems.By Evans Mutegi, National Genebank of KenyaCan cultural practices endanger crop diversity?Rusinga is the second largest island in Lake Victoria.Island are threatening sorghum diversity there.One of the most famous sea ventures of the 18 th century sought not silver and gold but a cheap source of food for plantation slaves in the Caribbean. The HMS Bounty, renowned for its infamous mutiny, had a simple goal when it set sail in 1787: to collect breadfruit. This mission, along with a second expedition four years later, represents the first known effort to collect and conserve the crop. More than two hundred years later, breadfruit's natural habitat is under attack from natural and human forces, and the work of the world's largest breadfruit collection is more important than ever.Breadfruit is one of the most versatile tropical fruits.Originating in the Pacific, the crop is now grown throughout the Caribbean, due at least in part to the efforts of the infamous Captain William Bligh. The entire breadfruit tree-fruit, leaves, and trunk-can be used, making breadfruit an important component of local agro-economic and dietary systems in the tropics.Breadfruit is usually green or yellow, with white or pale yellow flesh inside. It can be eaten as a fruit when mature or as a vegetable when immature. Breadfruit can be baked, boiled, steamed, or mashed and is an important source of carbohydrates. It can be fried into chips, used as an ingredient in pies and cakes, and even processed into baby food. When roasted, the fruit is said to have the taste and texture of fresh bread, ergo its name.The wood of the breadfruit tree is used to construct houses and canoes, as well as to make glue, medicine, and even fabric. Breadfruit flowers can be burned to repel mosquitoes, while the leaves make excellent food platters. Reaching heights of 15-20 meters, breadfruit trees provide shade and shelter for other crops and animals.By the mid-1700s, the merits of breadfruit had become well known, thanks to early tropical explorations. King George III of England ordered an expedition to travel to the South Pacific and collect breadfruit. The fruit was to be brought to the West Indies to feed the slaves on Caribbean plantations. On December 23, 1787, the HMS Bounty, captained by veteran seaman William Bligh, set sail from Spithead, England and began its journey to Tahiti. After arriving in Tahiti ten months later, collecting parties under the command of first mate Fletcher Christian began their search for breadfruit.The crew of the Bounty stayed in Tahiti for six months, creating strong ties with the native people: stories of the relationships between crewmen and Tahitian women abound in surviving journals of the mission. When the Bounty finally left Tahiti six months later, on April 6 1789, the crew had collected over 1000 breadfruit plants. But the crew did not want to leave their tropical paradise.Placing their desire to remain in Tahiti above their role as plant collectors, and angered by their harsh treatment by Bligh, the crew mutinied after only three weeks at sea. Bligh and eighteen fellow crew members were cast adrift, and the ship returned to Tahiti. The breadfruit plants, were thrown overboard as a final blow to Bligh. In these rural communities, beer is important for other socio-economic reasons.Currency is often limited, so locally-brewed beer is used as a liquid currency. It is often used as payment for community-based labour, such as the construction of feeder roads to connect fields and farms with markets and villages. Local beer also plays a major role in gatherings such as funerals and festivals. On these occasions, people contribute either banana beer or bunches of bananas to be prepared and eaten during the event. In many parts of Uganda, a man must present banana beer to his future in-laws before a dowry is accepted.The brewing process begins by harvesting banana bunches before they are ripe. The bananas are then often piled in underground pits and covered to bring about ripening. Once ready, the fruits are removed, peeled and placed in wooden brewing vessels or on banana sheaths in trough shaped pits. They are then pressed, usually with some nimble footwork, and specific grasses are added to retain the residue. The juice is diluted and sorghum or other cereals are added to improve the taste and texture. The mixture is allowed to ferment and then the extract is poured through filtering funnels made from banana leaves. An example of a classic banana beerbrewing vessel, which looks somewhat like a canoe, is now on display at the Eden Project in the UK.Banana and its close relative the plantain are not only important for the brewing of alcoholic beverages of course.   The fresh leaves of cowpeas are used to prepare a delicious side-dish.Farmers select cowpea landraces using criteria such as taste, habit, productivity, time taken to mature etc.For more information contact Kingslay F. The strategy of the Programme is to identify genes, develop ways for detecting them in plant breeding programmes, and make initial gene transfers. Thus, the Programme does not seek to produce finished varieties of crops; that task will be left to the national programmes, the Future Harvest Centres and private institutions.An important dividend of the Generation Challenge Programme will be a platform of tools and technologies to ensure that the discoveries of the programme make it from the lab to farmers' fields. These tools and technologies will be comprehensive and free to the public. For more information about the Generation Challenge Programme, visit the Web site at www.generationcp.org When a child is born into the Dagomba society of northern Ghana, a meal of yam and other ingredients is prepared for relatives and the midwife who delivers the baby. The meal includes four yam tubers for a girl, three for a boy because a tradition of the Dagomba has it that girl babies have four joints in the neck while boy babies have only three. For the Dagomba, the yam has transcended agriculture to become part of the society's culture.Ghana is part of the so-called African \"yam zone,\" the area stretching from Cameroon to Cote D'Ivoire that produces 90%-amounting to 3.9 million metric tonnes-of the world's yams each year. A staple crop of many African communities, yams are also economic and cultural pillars for villages throughout the continent. About 75% of farmers in the northern region of Ghana cultivate yam.In Northern Ghana, every farmer's yam field contains an average of five varieties.As well as the varieties cultivated in the fields, farming households also grow an additional four to five types in their home gardens. Yams are usually the first crop cultivated after the land has been cleared. In traditional farming systems, farmers rotate planting schedules to ensure proper soil care and nutrient regeneration. Centuries of constant interaction with the environment and the development of cultural traditions have given yams an important place in the societies of northern Ghana, including the Dagomba.The yearly yam harvest begins with a celebration called the yam festival. A yam type called Laabako is used in the first meal of the festival. Laabako is known for its early maturity, tasty tubers, and marketability. Before the yam festival, there is a ban on the consumption of newly harvested tubers; the Dagomba believe that any person who attempts to eat tubers before the festival rites are performed will die.Yams also play an important role in the Dagomba religion.The Dagomba believe that gods inhabit stones and trees. Yams boiled with a certain herb are smeared on the surface of stones to secure the goodwill and patronage of the deities. The Dagomba also invoke their gods during the communal labour through which they obtain their seed yam. Each farmer is given a certain amount of work that he or she must perform on a neighbour's plot of land to collect the necessary number of seed yams. Seed yams obtained through communal labor enjoy the blessing of the gods and produce high yields.The diversity of yam is important to the Dagomba because they use different varieties for different cultural purposes. Baayeri is believed to be the leader of all yam types. Farmers always have a few Baayeri yam growing in their fields.If there are no Baayeri yams, the other yam types will leave the farm and go elsewhere. On the other hand, too many Baayeri yams will lead other varieties astray. Chenchito is a type eaten at funerals and festivals, while the small tubers of Kpuringa yams are mostly eaten by children.The Dagomba have developed local practices for improving crop yields and quality. These include early 'pricking' (cutting out the bulk of the tuber while leaving the top and vine still in the ground to produce further tubers), using leaf color to determine proper harvest times, and soaking the seed yam in a solution from the bark of certain trees before planting to improve sprouting. The ability to carry out these practices determines the status of farmers in the community, giving the yam an important role in the social structure of the community.  The Global Crop Diversity Trust is coordinating an effort, with support from GRDC, to develop a regional conservation strategy for Central Asia and the Caucasus in consultation with regional collection holders and crop experts. Dr Street will help to facilitate the process to develop the strategy, due to be completed next year.By Ben Rosenberg, IPGRICombing Turkmenistan for plant resourcesCollecting forage and rangeland species in Turkmenistan.For more about ICARDA, visit the Web site at www.icarda.org © ICARDAMany people who depend on the coconut call it the tree of life because it supplies them with more than 100 different products including food and drink, fodder for livestock, fibre and building materials.Coconut is believed to have first grown in the Western Pacific. Today, it grows on about 12 million hectares in 90 countries worldwide and about 10 million families rely on coconuts as their main source of food and income. \"If all the people who depend on coconut around the world took full advantage of all of its uses,\" explained Pons Batugal, Coordinator of COGENT--the international coconut network-\"it would increase food production, improve nutrition, generate income, create employment, and help protect the environment.\"But the coconut faces several problems that prevent it from being fully exploited. These include low yield, unstable markets, pests and diseases, natural calamities and genetic erosion.COGENT is attempting to tackle all of these problems. IPGRI established COGENT in 1992 to improve the sustainable production of coconut, increase incomes derived from the crop and to promote a worldwide programme for the conservation and use of coconut diversity. The benefits of creating the network were clear. Networks allow member countries to share best practices more efficiently and to find solutions to common problems more effectively. At present, COGENT has 38 member countries, all of which have made a commitment to collaborate on coconut research and to share information and coconut samples.COGENT has worked to perfect different methods of conserving coconuts, such as in vitro conservation and storage at very low temperatures in liquid nitrogen, known as cryopreservation. COGENT has also established a multisite International Coconut Genebank. Plantlets and trees are maintained in field genebanks situated in each of five regions: Southeast and East Asia, South Asia, the South Pacific, Africa and the Indian Ocean, and Latin America and the Caribbean.A rational and efficient approach to conservation such as this, which includes sharing resources and responsibilities, is very much in line with the approach being promoted by the Global Crop Diversity Trust.Genebank could in fact serve as a model for some of the crop conservation strategies currently under development for funding by the Trust (see related story, p.23). Coconut is included in the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing under the International Treaty.Over the next ten years, COGENT's work will include the establishment of an inventory and database of local coconut varieties, using the farmers' own methods of identification and measurement. Work will also be directed to extending the coverage of the International Coconut Genebank and a globally coordinated breeding programme will be established to support the coconut breeding work of national agricultural research programmes. Farmers have extensive knowledge about the management of coconut diversity and their participation in this breeding work will be essential to ensuring that improved coconut varieties meet their needs.Banking on the tree of life They are assisting in the implementation of more successful farming techniques, and promoting healthier environmental conservation protocols as a basis for healthier rice production. A series of conferences and events will highlight the importance of rice throughout the year. Finally, there are contests for scientific papers and photography for which the themes include rice crop improvement and rice crop management. \"This is an action campaign-a chance for us to make good on our promise to the billions of people for whom rice is life,\" said Dr Louise Fresco, Assistant Director General to the FAO Agriculture Department, at the FAO Rice Conference in February.The ultimate goal of the International Year of Rice is to extend these global awareness projects into 2005 and beyond.By the way, the answer to the question posed above is Brazil, which produced 10 219 300 metric tonnes in 2003. And there's more than a grain of truth to that! By Ben Rosenberg, IPGRI 37 Genefl ow NewsWomen planting rice in a paddy field. Orissa, India.The Masai Mara region in Kenya is home to lions, cheetahs, warthogs, wildebeests, and baboons to name just a few of its wild animals. However, over the past twenty years, more than half of the big mammals of the region, including many rhinos, lions, and hippos, have disappeared; the African wild dog and the roan antelope have become extinct. In the same period, the pastoral populations of Maasai people, whose livelihoods depend on the domestic cattle, goats and sheep that they raise, have become increasingly impoverished.Some years ago, a group including pastoral peoples, conservationists, private industry, land managers and researchers launched a joint venture to study how wildlife interacts with people and their livestock. The first Mara Count, conducted in 1999, showed that the region's pastoral settlements affect wildlife patterns: some species prefer to graze areas around human settlements where the grass is short, while others avoid the settlements. In November To protect his farm from the winds, Mohamed Latrache planted seeds of date palm around its periphery. From the 100 seeds that sprouted, the farmer selected 16 new varieties. Seven of the new varieties have been chosen by the date palm project to be multiplied and distributed to other farmers in the region.Mohamed Latrache has participated in a number of diversity fairs sponsored by the date palm project to proudly present some of his date varieties. Each of his new varieties is named for people he holds dear and for those who share his enthusiasm for date palm: Baba Ali (named after his father), Inghiben (to the memory of absentees), Yakoub (a martyr during the Algerian War). Following a visit by the author of this article, Mohamed Latrache named one of his varieties Nasr! The farmer's devotion to diversity is impressive but it is far from unique. It is shared by people all over the world who work tirelessly to ensure that crop diversity is cared for and available for use by all humanity.By Noureddine Nasr, IPGRI African rice has high gluten content, a nutty taste, and is so filling when cooked that it is often regarded as an important component of meals. Local varieties of African rice are also highly resistant to drought and crop diseases. But in many communities, the men often choose to \"modernize\" by planting improved strains of Asian rice that, while they might be higher yielding and produce greater economic returns, lack the cultural significance and possibly the nutritional content of traditional varieties. The improved varieties are not parboiled before milling and many researchers believe that parboiled rice retains more protein, vitamins, and minerals and is more nutritious than raw milled rice.The farmers of Gore, in the Bawku District of the Upper East Region of Ghana, are representative of the trend towards new varieties. In Gore, where land belongs to male farmers, only small plots are given to women; these tend to be water logged or infertile. Nevertheless, more women cultivate rice than men, and their fields tend to be better managed than those of the male farmers. The women farmers of Gore name each rice variety they cultivate. Some varieties are named for the farmers who first introduced them to the community: Mariama, Peter and Mr. Moore. Agona is a variety originating from the town with the same name in the Ashanti region of Ghana.Other varieties are named for the size and shape of their grain. For instance, Agongula means \"short grain of rice\" in the local Kusal language, and Muisablic refers to the black colour of the husk. One variety's name means \"help me buy a dress\" in the local language.Each year, farmers plant their fields from seed reserved from the previous harvest. Some buy seed at the market or exchange with other villages from as far away as Burkina Faso and Togo. Others exchange seed locally with relatives, colleagues and friends.Women who mill small quantities of rice at the local mill often exchange seeds to try a new variety. Farmers also keep small quantities of seed in store after planting to avoid total loss of the material.The women of Gore have made a conscious choice to maintain their traditional agricultural system. To us, their decision is a boon for biodiversity conservation; to them, it is just a logical continuation of a system that has worked for many years.  Frankel was an early advocate of the importance of landraces for plant breeding. He also played a major role in raising international awareness of the urgency of conserving crop diversity.To date, 24 scientists from 18 developing countries have received awards to carry out innovative research related to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources outside of their home countries for a period of three months to one year.   Later, the students took some of the suckers home to share with their families.Dorothy Tamasia, of the Kastom Garden Association is the barefoot curator of the two highland collections. Dorothy has been trained in the use of scientific descriptors and is passing her skills on to the students. They are paid US$2 for each variety they describe. Fifty-five out of 108 varieties have been characterized so far using local names such as \"three heads\" and \"eight heads\" (referring to multi-headed bunches) or \"five minutes\" (referring to cooking time).Makiran farmers have taken a great interest in the collections. Tamasia has already been able to restore a number of lost varieties to farmers. \"I am very happy that people can come to our collection to find varieties that are new to them as well as varieties that for whatever reason may have been lost,\" Tamasia said.Visiting the three collections is not for the faint hearted. ","tokenCount":"7797"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1667789338.json b/data/part_1/1667789338.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e0b598d1b4f446ba269abec95afea95a1dac1d11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1667789338.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6172d11974c1c26f4d4b625307447b6a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/899c7cdc-960b-407f-9307-0cc749fb70d4/retrieve","id":"-1253674147"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fb105b08-e6d5-4b36-be43-f337eed143b1","pagecount":"24","content":"AICCRA Zambia is collaborating with agribusinesses to increase smallholder farmers' access to climate-smart agriculture and climate information services. Our scaling strategy employs several interconnected and mutually reinforcing channels. These include public and private sector scaling partnerships, individual and collective investments, financing mechanism for SMEs, institutional capacity building and multistakeholder dialogues. AICCRA works with Zambian partners to scale actionable climate smart agriculture (CSA) and climate information services (CIS) innovation bundles that contribute to smallholder farmers' water and food security and build resilience.The AICCRA Zambia accelerator program tested various CSA technology packages, designed and implemented through agribusiness partnerships, SME bundles. The SME bundles were selected through a competitive process for the packages to address major challenges for CSA in Zambia and covering major agricultural production systems in Zambia. Each bundle was supported by a 50,000-USD grant.The bundles implemented their scaling concept for a variety of CSA technology packages in a one-year period, supported through AICCRA capacity development on bundle specific priority areas. They each prepared an impact pathway and a proof of concept providing evidence for the viability of their package and upscaling strategy. The primary goal of this report is to provide evidence on the impact of CSA technology packages on smallholder farmers under the accelerator programme in in Zambia. We analysed the proof of concept that each SME bundle submitted.This section summarizes the achievements of each of the 5 SME bundles, based on their impact pathways and proof of concepts.Bundle 1 provided 110,000 smallholder farmers (20% of them were women) with market information on obtaining inexpensive financing to invest in off-grid solar irrigation equipment in the face of climate change. Market information includes daily real-time market prices for inputs as well as connecting farmers to suppliers of off-grid solar irrigation technologies. The bundle is a partnership among three Zambian agribusinesses: Lima Links, which maintains a database of 175,000 smallholders and provides farmers with market data; Vatilite; and Lupiya, which finance and distribute irrigation equipment using a credit rating system, respectively. The bundle works with farmers throughout the value chains of cash crops, legumes, vegetables, fruits, livestock, and poultry. Figure 1 presents their theory of change and impact pathways. The integrated aquaculture agriculture system bundle is a consortium of six SMEs working along the aquaculture value chain focusing on promoting integrated aquaculture agriculture system. The SMEs are in the business of production and distribution of aquaculture inputs and outputs targeting various markets including smallholder farmers. Together, these SMEs reached 45,154 (36% women) smallholder fish farmers. Integrated aquaculture agriculture involves the combination of inland fish farming with crops (bananas, vegetables etc) and small livestock (pigs, goats and chickens) production in a mutually beneficial system. This climate-smart aquaculture innovation offers several benefits, such as environmental sustainability. It minimises the use of inputs, such as chemical fertilisers, and reduces the discharge of pollutants into the environment. This promotes ecological balance, reduces the ecological footprint of aquaculture operations, and contributes to the overall sustainability of food production.The SMEs have also explained that integrated aquaculture results in increased farm production and income by diversifying agriculture production on a single piece of land through the utilisation of complementary interactions between crops, fish, and livestock. The system achieves higher yields and multiple income streams. The farmers have observed reduced farm expenditure due to the maximum utilisation of resources.It allows for efficient use of resources by utilising waste products from one component as inputs for another.For example, the nutrient-rich effluent from fish is used as fertiliser for crops, water from the fishponds are used to produce vegetables, creating a closed-loop system that minimises waste and maximises resource utilisation. The system also promotes production of other living organisms that are further become food for fish, thereby enhancing biodiversity conservation.Further, the SMEs explained that the gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) trainings they received from WorldFish, together with the partnership with Kasama Arts Theatre, have helped them to market their aquaculture products, thereby reaching more farmers, including women. Kasama Arts Theatre is a company that uses social-cultural innovations to spread knowledge about the benefits of using CSA technologies in the local context through a shared everyday life situation. The SMEs in this partnership received several capacity development trainings from the AICCRA project. For instance, the SMEs received a training on investment readiness led by Open Capital Advisories, gender equality and social inclusion, climate information services, and have participated in the multistakeholder platform focusing on integrated aquaculture agriculture systems. These activities were aimed at increasing the SMEs' capacity to provide quality CSA and CIS extension services to farmers integrated into their business models (Figure 2). -The packaging of agribusiness with improved extension support and communication outreach has proven effective to expand the access to farmers, raise production, market offtake and revenues, across wide areas and diverse contexts in Northern Zambia. This partnership together reached 24,200 (7,260 women) farmers to access climate-smart seed varieties for groundnut, maize, and soybean value chains, as well as the use of plant catalyst products. More than 75% of the farmers grow crops on less than 5 acres of land, with more than 80% of the farmers dedicating crop production to maize that is input intensive.Bundle 3's business model seeks to improve access to climate-smart seed varieties produced by Corteva and Plant Catalyst's natural growth-agent to enhance the uptake of nutrients in plants, improve soil fertility, and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. Uptake would be supported by providing farmers with climate information services, training on climate-smart agriculture, and improved linkages to sustainable financing, input providers and market off-takers. The partnership with iDE allows drawing on a wide network of farmers increasing outreach and with ZARI as leading agricultural research institution, upgrading the technical knowledge on climate smart agriculture and seed production (see Figure 3 showing the bundle's impact pathways). Corteva and PlantCatalyst profit from market growth by increasing the number of smallholder farmers who have access to their CSA products. -Scaling a sales and marketing team and building a broader distribution system to meet customer demand. -Targeted advertising, better inventory management and more farmer training.-External events affecting farmers lives and therewith the performance of demonstration trials, such as personal events to farmers, weather, pests and diseasesLessons for scaling up -The strategic partnerships allowed organisations to use their expertise and resources to complement each other's work, exceed targets. -Based on that, they engaged in opportunities and explore new partnerships with service providers and expand activities to different locations and different types of service providers.Bundle 4. Diversified integrated mixed chicken/goats (legume systems).Bundle 4 is led by Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) in Eastern Province of Zambia. COMACO is a social enterprise with a mission to work with communities to secure a better life and become good stewards of their natural resources. COMACO finances enhanced climate smart agricultural practises through the adoption of a legume-based farming system and agroforestry that increase crop yields. It also provides market opportunities for smallholder farmers by selling a variety of nature-based food products through a country-wide retail brand, \"It's Wild\", and linking to carbon markets with positive conservation outcomes, including more trees, more wildlife, and healthier soils.COMACO has a strong, complementary team that makes business and farmer extension support possible.Through the Chitetezo Cooperation Federation, the COMACO business model directly promotes farmerdriven structures to sustainably improve rural livelihoods and reduce climate risks (Figure 4). The Chitetezo Cooperation Federation comprises 62 cooperative institutions spread across 89 chiefdoms, including community forest management groups and traditional leaders, and there are 230,000 registered smallholder farmers (52% women). COMACO has trained 1,346 seed growers (604 females), 258 internal local seed inspectors. The COMACO warehouse was renovated and provides a receipt system, which the cooperatives can access; each cooperative has their aggregation center, to effectively sell their groundnuts. 4 cooperatives advanced on mobile banking system with ABC bank. 15,000 farmers were certified for organic groundnut production.The COMACO outreach program focus on radio,1,567 radio timeslots were broadcasted through 7 community-based radio stations during prime time to increase smallholder farmers' access to CSA technologies to promote organic farming in the cow pea, soybean, and groundnut value chains. In total, the cooperatives have reached 1.1 million small-scale farmers through COMACO Farm Talk, who have been sensitised and trained. COMACO also contributed to the Munda Make Over (MMO) TV program, with 3 episodes broadcasted by ZNBC on farming as a group, groundnut production, agroforestry, compost making, beekeeping, financial literacy. The Federation also hosted the launch of the radio program that translated the MMO TV into audio contents for wider listenership. COMACO also produced video based contents as training material for compost making (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUn64mcEEdk) and planting of gliricidia sepium trees (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=filVUBz4ddQ).COMACO worked together with federation farmers to produce nursery for glilicidia sepium and so far produced 50 million plants for planting in Eastern province of Zambia. Eastern Zambia is the most drought prone province, with highest poverty rates around 84%, and hence most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Soil nutrient levels in the province have diminished and longer dry seasons are reducing crop growth, with maize and groundnuts as the most affected crops. To strengthen the federation this requires continuous investment in human capacity and infrastructure. Federation leaders require motor bikes for more efficient cooperative monitoring financial support to hold meetings with cooperative leaders.Cooperative leaders to manage their affairs better they require smart phones for easy communication and laptops to help in data management financial literacy, record keeping and management trainingsFor the federation and cooperatives to be financially more secure they need to source more funding, look for other markets to supplement COMACO efforts in providing markets to farmers, e.g. have carbon funds to go into crop buying themselves.Fund more locally produced training programs including ICT based platforms like radio talks to increase the dissemination of relevant information on all aspects related to climate smart agriculture and risk management.-COMACO is building the federations business sustainability, by helping the cooperatives to become self-managed, taking on the role of farmer education and supporting supply chain logistics, venturing into new markets such as carbon credits, forest products and certified organic foods.   The teams' community engagement skills helped in community mobilization and identification of target beneficiaries especially women and youth farmers. The partnership with the local government and the Ministry of Agriculture, extension officers, as wells as going though parliamentarians as an entry to women and youth cooperatives supported the upscaling. The recruitment of women and youth beneficiaries received support and less resistance from traditional leaders.Further partnership with Hollard and FSD Zambia gave leverage for insurance at subsidized costs giving the team a competitive advantage.Recruiting farmers' aggregators to identify and support farmers directly reduced operation costs as aggregators would promote, market, and sell products to farmers. The recruitment and working with farmer aggregators also gave the team business opportunities to identify other ventures such as the selling of fingerlings to cooperatives who engaged in fish farming.This section presents the scaling readiness tool, as a method that can be used for Bundle partners to reflect on their progress and validate their agri-business innovation package, the extent to which innovations are ready for scaling to an intended number of farmers, and planning a way forward to address bottlenecks, deepen and expand CSA/CIS interventions. The tool was first applied with Bundle 4, and can be applied to other Bundles in accordance to their reflection and planning schedules.The scaling readiness framework aims at deployment of innovations faster, at a larger scale, and at lower costs, to achieve a greater impact on smallholder farms in developing countries (Sartras et al., 2020;Schut et al., 2020;).Scaling readiness is measured as the combined score of innovation readiness and innovation use. Scaling readiness reveals the potential and key bottlenecks in an innovation package for a specific scaling objective and context.The scaling potential of a core innovation and/or innovation package is -at a given point in time -also shaped by the social networks in which the innovations are embedded, supported, and used. It distinguishes between network environments in which the innovation still receives considerable support and protection (e.g., a project or intervention), and network environments in which it has been used without any form of support (e.g., as part of livelihood systems). This thinking aligns with the literature on strategic niche management, which points to the importance of gradually reducing protection of innovation initiatives (niches, Innovation Platform) over time and the ability of niche-level innovations to reconfigure dominant policies, procedures, and practices (regimes).For application under AICCRA we score the inventory of bundles, innovation packages, at different levels of readiness and use, and generate data and evidence to support that.-Readiness: The development stage of an innovation and how ready it is for scaling. It is measured along 9 levels of readiness. -Use: Innovation use represents the extent to which an innovation is already being used in society and by whom. It is measured along 9 levels of use.Objectives:1. Validate an Agribusiness SME bundle's innovation and scaling investments for their potential to achieving impact at scale, to support prioritization on the advancement of those innovations 2. Verify key bottlenecks to the scaling of innovations to support decision making on strategic options and opportunities 3. Short-term feedback to support decisions which interventions to advance, where to intervene, and attract investment for innovations that respond to specific needs.Steps:Step 1: Validate core innovations: reconfirm the core innovation with the Bundle TeamStep 2: Validate complementary innovations: reconfirm the core innovation with the Bundle TeamStep 3: Score both in terms of readiness and use: explain the scores, allow bundle partners to discuss and agree on the score. Transfer the scores on the readiness and use matrix to visualize their fairingStep 4: Identify bottlenecks and linkages for advancing the innovation package: discuss the position of the innovation package components on the matrix and what hinders them to move to the top right corner.Step 5. Strategizing a way forward: Inform the design of innovation packages that improve access the innovation for specific groups. Discuss future priorities and how they should be advanced. (i) how to overcome the bottleneck, (ii) which partners should be involved, (iii) the most effective way to work with these partners, and (iv) the kinds of activities and budgets required to overcome the bottleneck innovation Table A1 (Appendix 1) illustrates the scores described and used for the readiness assessment.Table A2 (Appendix 2) synthesizes the SMEs composition and achievements, which can be used to prepare for this exercise.Bundle 4: Diversified integrated mixed chicken/goats (legume systems).The readiness assessment was done as interactive discussion with 4 members of the Chitetezo Federation and 2 COMACO staff. First, the approach was explained, using the Liebigs Drum as visualization for the purpose of this tool. The participants confirmed that the federation itself is the core innovation, 'the frame of the drum' that holds the farmers applying climate smart agriculture and agri-business interventions, and enables the capacity development and hence scaling of innovations among farmers. Most complementary innovations were considered at an advanced stage, requiring the federation to improve their sustainability strategy. Less advanced was the Digital Banking system, as a new technology to improve market flows. The climate information advisory services were least advanced as several tools were made available but not sufficiently contextualized and hence not yet in wider use. The readiness assessment was further used to introduce the current state of the federation and focal areas for improvement at the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue (MSD) held 13 June 2023 in Chipata, with 25 representatives from the federation, COMACO and local government officials. MSD participants confirmed the validity of these results.   ","tokenCount":"2580"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1671948669.json b/data/part_1/1671948669.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..70438b15ea5923833cb32730c2b321bee992a396
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1671948669.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bc2fc377595f2a1332790a0eb5633c66","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6fcabab0-7642-43ae-a98e-dcf25d993f75/retrieve","id":"997302040"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"30ade2f4-3969-4556-9eb3-11add2f24c0a","pagecount":"23","content":"The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) is an autonomous, international scientific organization under the aegis of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR). The IBPGR, which was established by the CGIAR in 1974, is composed of its Chairman and 16 members; its Executive Secretariat is provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The basic function of the IBPGR, as defined by the Consultative Group, is to promote an international network of genetic resources centres to further the collection, conservation, documentation, evaluation and use of plant germplasm and thereby contribute to raising the standard of living and welfare of people throughout the world. The Consultative Group mobilizes financial support from its members to meet the budgetary requirements of the Board.The IBPGR now uses the following definitions in genetic resources documentation: i) passport data (accession identifiers and information recorded by collectors);ii) characterization (consists of recording those characters which are highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are expressed in all environments);iii) preliminary evaluation (consists of recording a limited number of additional traits thought desirable by a consensus of users of the particular crop).Characterization and preliminary evaluation will be the responsibility of the curators, while further characterization and evaluation should be carried out by the plant breeder. The data from further evaluation should be fed back to the curator who will maintain a data file.The following internationally accepted norms for the scoring or coding of descriptor states should be followed as indicated below: ","tokenCount":"250"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1689881022.json b/data/part_1/1689881022.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1f843dfc0ea9191e7df625d5936abfca20853688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1689881022.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e011c16fe7f8405e2390418c0b3b7d8a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55fc8e17-faea-46e6-ad7b-5f24206f9eb4/retrieve","id":"1780970850"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"928e4fa0-8115-4301-93a6-cb87544a5eff","pagecount":"66","content":"en recursos fitogenéticos y agrobiodiversidad en universidades de América Latina Bioversity International es una organización internacional independiente, de carácter científico, que busca contribuir al bienestar actual y futuro de la humanidad mejorando la conservación y el aprovechamiento de la agrobiodiversidad en fincas y bosques. Es uno de los 15 Centros que auspicia el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAI), una asociación de miembros del sector público y privado que apoya la ciencia para disminuir el hambre y la pobreza, mejorar la alimentación y la salud humana, y proteger el medio ambiente. Bioversity tiene su sede principal en Maccarese, cerca de Roma, Italia, y oficinas en más de 20 países. La organización opera a través de cuatro programas: Diversidad al ServicioLa consulta que se describe en este documento fue un esfuerzo de equipo en el que participó personal de Bioversity y de varias universidades de América Latina donde se ofrecen cursos o programas de postgrado en recursos fitogenéticos. La autora agradece la contribución de Kara Gray, Michael Awmack, Percy Sajise y Elizabeth Goldberg al cuestionario y a los términos de referencia de la encuesta; la de Dimary Libreros en la administración de la encuesta en línea; la de Per Rudebjer en el formato para las entrevistas; la de Jesús María Salcedo en la elaboración de las gráficas y de algunos análisis adicionales, y la de todas las personas que contestaron la encuesta y generosamente me concedieron su tiempo e información durante las entrevistas. Se agradece igualmente a quienes revisaron el manuscrito, por sus comentarios y sugerencias.v ReSUMen eJeCUtiVo introducción La biodiversidad agrícola, o agrobiodiversidad (ABD), de la cual forman parte los recursos fitogenéticos (RFG), es la base de la subsistencia de la humanidad, es clave para el desarrollo de los países y por estas razones se la conserva, investiga, maneja y aprovecha (IPGRI, 1993;CDB 2008). Las actividades inherentes a la conservación y utilización de los RFG y la ABD son diversas y requieren conocimientos y destrezas en muchos temas. La falta de formación es una limitante que tradicionalmente han enfrentado quienes trabajan en RFG; la necesidad de formación es un tema recurrente en foros y documentos de diagnóstico de países y regiones desde hace más de una década. Dada su importancia, el Plan de Acción Mundial para la Conservación y Utilización de los RFG para Alimentación y Agricultura planteó como un objetivo de largo plazo el poner a disposición de los países capacitación en todas las funciones relativas a la conservación y utilización de los RFG así como a la gestión y la normativa.El presente documento describe un ejercicio de consulta para conocer qué oferta de formación en RFG/ABD ha surgido en la última década en América Latina, particularmente en el nivel de cursos y programas de postgrado, cómo éstos se han establecido y cómo han evolucionado. La consulta se practicó entre profesores y administradores de cursos y programas de postgrado en RFG/ABD de universidades de América Latina.El propósito de la consulta 1 era conocer la percepción de un grupo de personas vinculadas a cursos y programas de postgrado en RFG/ ABD y a partir de ella tener una idea de lo que está ocurriendo con el entrenamiento en estos temas. No pretendía abarcar todo el universo de universidades agrícolas de América Latina sino recabar información de aquellos cursos/programas de cuya existencia se sabía o se presumía. Considerando que la formación universitaria en RFG/ABD es una actividad más bien reciente, no son muchas las universidades que ofrecen formalmente cursos o programas de postgrado en RFG/ ABD. Por tanto, no eran numerosos ni el universo de instituciones a las cuales se podía dirigir la consulta ni la muestra de quienes podían responderla. Lo importante aquí no son los números sino lo que indica la percepción de quienes atendieron la consulta.1 Realizada también en Asia y África Subsahárica aunque aquí sólo se reporta sobre América LatinaResumen ejecutivo vi Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado La consulta se hizo en 2006-2007, mediante una encuesta en línea administrada a través de SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey. com/) y complementada con entrevistas para ampliar información solicitada en la encuesta. Los cuestionarios aparecen en los Anexos 2 y 6 del informe.La consulta fue atendida por personas (15) directamente vinculadas a los cursos/programas, en su mayoría docentes, que han estado vinculados a ellos desde sus comienzos y han participado en su diseño e implementación. Tienen formación en ciencias biológicas o de las plantas. Casi la mitad (42.9%) son fitomejoradores y el resto son agrónomos, biólogos o botánicos, biólogos moleculares.La oferta de formación de postgrado en RFG/ABD que captó la encuesta consiste en una mezcla de maestrías y de cursos de RFG o temas afines, que se ofrecen dentro de un programa de postgrado en otra área o un énfasis o diplomado, es decir, una orientación particular dentro de un programa general, principalmente de fitomejoramiento. Ningún curso o programa de postgrado se refería a agrobiodiversidad (Cuadro 1, p. 7).Nueve programas (90%) otorgan el grado de Maestría, 7 el de Doctorado (70%) y 6 (60%) otorgan certificados o diplomas de especialización. Los programas de postgrado son de creación reciente; surgieron hacia el año 2000. La mayoría de los títulos de Maestría y Doctorado se empezaron a otorgar entre 2002 y 2004; dos diplomados o especializaciones se otorgan desde 2000.El registro de estudiantes es creciente en los tres niveles (maestría, doctorado y diplomado) y la frecuencia con que se ofrecen los cursos/ programas es estable. Un tercio de los alumnos registrados en el momento de la encuesta (más de 600) cursaba maestría, una cuarta parte doctorado, y una quinta parte un diplomado o especialización. Los graduados son en su mayoría de maestría, seguidos por los de certificado o diplomado y doctorado. El promedio de graduados por año, es de aproximadamente 25 en maestría, 8 en doctorado, 15 en diplomados o certificaciones.En cuanto a cobertura geográfica, los cursos/programas son de alcance nacional. La mayoría de los alumnos proviene del país en donde está ubicada la universidad que ofrece el curso/programa. La financiación proviene de fondos del estado (73.3% del presupuesto en tanto son ofrecidos por universidades públicas), donaciones y del registro de los estudiantes.vii Cada curso/programa se ha desarrollado de forma única aunque hay elementos comunes. Los programas son jóvenes, se han ido formando y consolidando gradualmente, tienen un contenido orientado al conocimiento de la diversidad genética y a la conservación. Se formaron en respuesta a prioridades institucionales, mandato del gobierno, y solicitud de los estudiantes, dada la necesidad de formación académica en el tema de la biodiversidad en los países.Las universidades han dedicado los primeros dos o tres años a la formación de los cursos/programas y los años siguientes a consolidarlos o pulirlos en contenido y forma de enseñanza, con base en la experiencia y en la retroalimentación de los estudiantes. No se hacen estudios, encuestas o sondeos formales del mercado para diseñar los cursos/programas.Los cursos/programas tienen fundamentos de biología/agronomía y temas clave o relevantes para la conservación de los recursos genéticos, ex situ e in situ. Algunos programas incluyen temas de actualidad como política, bioseguridad, valor de la biodiversidad, propiedad intelectual. Comparativamente, el contenido de los cursos/ programas no muestra un patrón como tampoco el que algunos cursos sean obligatorios o electivos.Los cursos/programas son presenciales, excepto en un par de casos en que 25% de ellos se hace a distancia. Todos combinan teoría, discusión y práctica. Los temas se introducen en conferencias magistrales cuyo contenido los estudiantes complementan con lectura asignada, discusión en clase, prácticas, trabajo de laboratorio, salidas al campo, visitas a colecciones o a otras instituciones, trabajos asignados, etc. En la presentación de los temas, todos utilizan ayudas audiovisuales. Los programas que tienen parte a distancia utilizan plataformas establecidas mediante convenios entre las universidades y organismos de otros países, fuertes en ese aspecto. Todos los cursos/programas contemplan el uso de sitios en internet para ubicar materiales de enseñanza complementarios o para leer.Los consultados se mostraron satisfechos con la forma de enseñanza y diversidad de medios que utilizan, y con la manera como se desarrollan los cursos. Se sienten limitados de recursos para traer profesores de otras organizaciones o países, llevar los estudiantes en viajes de campo y ofrecerles becas para que tengan dedicación exclusiva al programa de estudio.Las universidades reciben y dan apoyos puntuales y ocasionales. Las asociaciones se dan entre personas más que entre organizaciones dentro del marco de algún convenio. La colaboración con otrasConsulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado facultades dentro de las universidades o con organizaciones externas está asociada al grado de cultura de interdisciplinariedad o colaboración que haya en las universidades. La proporción y formalidad dependen también del tamaño de la universidad y del o número de facultades de donde se pueda traer experticia al curso/programa. La interdisciplinariedad se facilita donde hay un cuerpo docente común a varias disciplinas (profesores que enseñan su tema o materia en cursos de varias facultades). Las áreas favorecidas para este tipo de colaboración son biología, fisiología, genética, bioestadística, botánica/taxonomía, geografía (sistemas de información geográfica), suelos y etnobotánica.Para todos los consultados es conveniente y deseable contar en los cursos/programas con la participación de docentes de varias disciplinas, sean éstos de la misma universidad o de otras organizaciones. No se reportó colaboración con las redes de recursos fitogenéticos de las Américas o con redes por cultivo. Los consultados consideran que las alianzas colaborativas les permitirían intercambiar profesores, ofrecer cursos entre varias organizaciones o hacer proyectos de investigación, conseguir dinero para becas y pasantías, e incrementar opciones para el desarrollo de tesis, entre otros.Las reformas académicas ocurridas en las universidades son los eventos más determinantes en la evolución de los cursos/programas. Los cambios ocurren por políticas de las universidades y por influencia de los alumnos. La forma de enseñanza registra cambios sustanciales en unos casos y leves en otros. Los cambios consisten en actualizaciones de contenido de los programas para que reflejen nuevos métodos científicos y pedagógicos.Bioversity, desde su actuación como IPGRI, ha influido en todos los cursos/programas, prácticamente desde su concepción. Los consultados utilizan una variedad de productos de información y módulos de enseñanza publicados por la organización. Especialistas de Bioversity también han participado como conferencistas.Como fortalezas de los cursos/programas, los consultados destacaron el tener una masa crítica o un profesorado con doctorado o expertos en el tema con trayectoria en la investigación y la docencia son fortalezas percibidas por los consultados, al igual que tener acceso directo a recursos de información o a instalaciones para hacer trabajo práctico, como bancos de germoplasma y laboratorios. El combinar la teoría con la práctica y estar vinculados a programas de fitomejoramiento de la universidad o de instituciones vecinas también calificaron como fortalezas.ix Como debilidades se destacaron la indiferencia o incomprensión de las autoridades en las universidades para apoyar los programas de maestría, la escasa participación de docentes de talla internacional por falta de recursos para invitarlos o debido a la limitada relación que tienen con organismos internacionales. También se incluyeron el no poder ofrecer becas y pasantías a los estudiantes, el no poder cubrir todos los temas que quisieran o no tener buenas condiciones para la realización de prácticas y trabajo en campo.Los cursos/programas han pasado por evaluaciones internas de las universidades, con alguna participación de entidades externas. La mayoría (83.3%) de los cursos/programas han sido evaluados en los últimos cinco años. Las revisiones han ayudado a refinar los contenidos de los cursos, y en un par de casos, a crear capacidad para la investigación y a incrementar la cobertura geográfica de los programas.Las universidades captan opiniones y sugerencias de los estudiantes, profesores y miembros del personal de la universidad. Las evaluaciones en clase y las encuestas de satisfacción son los mecanismos más utilizados, seguidos por el buzón de sugerencias. Los cursos y docentes se evalúan mediante cuestionarios administrados al final de los cursos. También captan opiniones y sugerencias en las defensas de tesis y en eventos científicos. Hay poco seguimiento de los egresados para captar su satisfacción con el curso/programa.El empleador tradicional de los egresados de los cursos/programas de la consulta ha sido el estado, principalmente institutos nacionales donde hay bancos de germoplasma. Se han abierto nuevas fuentes de trabajo en la agroindustria. En algunos programas se fomenta el espíritu empresarial. Las universidades también se están abriendo a trabajar con instituciones nacionales y de desarrollo. Los egresados están trabajando con especies promisorias, particularmente frutales.Los mayores desafíos a futuro tienen que ver con la amplitud y la relevancia del contenido para el mercado laboral, no sólo nacional sino regional, y con el aprovechamiento de oportunidades de trabajo colaborativo con otras organizaciones y mayor interdisciplinariedad dentro de las mismas universidades.De la consulta surgieron varios interrogantes o temas para profundizar. Uno tiene qué ver con si la oferta de formación de postgrado se restringe a RFG o si hay ya una oferta para los temas de ABD y cómo éstos están siendo cubiertos. Otro interrogante es cómo compara el registro de estudiantes en RFG/ABD con el de otras disciplinas en lasx Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado universidades. Un tercer interrogante es sobre los criterios para incluir ciertos temas en los curricula y considerarlos obligatorios o electivos, y finalmente el de ver cómo los cursos/programas están satisfaciendo la demanda del mercado y las expectativas de los graduados.Un desafío a futuro es si las universidades quisieran plantearse formar profesionales para un mercado regional, de manera colaborativa y a partir probablemente de un curriculum básico común. Las actividades inherentes a la conservación y utilización de los RFG y la ABD son diversas y requieren conocimientos y destrezas en una amplia gama de temas, así como la participación de organizaciones de distintos sectores, incluyendo las universidades por su capacidad para formar personal. Quienes trabajan en RFG en los países enfrentan la falta de formación como una limitante para el avance de sus actividades.La necesidad de formar personal en RFG/ABD ha sido un tema recurrente en la última década, en foros, tratados y documentos de diagnóstico de países y regiones (FAO 1996a y b, FAO 2004, NORGEN et al. 2008). Reiteradamente, los países han señalado la necesidad de formar personal en cursos y programas universitarios, de integrar la capacitación sobre los RFG en programas amplios de formación sobre agronomía, biología e investigación y desarrollo, y de contar con módulos o materiales de enseñanza para esos cursos o programas, en las diversas disciplinas asociadas con el trabajo en RFG.Reconociendo la importancia de la formación para conseguir mejoras sostenibles en la conservación y utilización de los RFG para alimentación y agricultura (RFGAA), el Plan de Acción Mundial (FAO 1996b) planteó como un objetivo de largo plazo el poner a disposición de los países capacitación en todas las funciones relativas a la conservación y utilización de los RFG así como a la gestión y la normativa, objetivo ratificado posteriormente por el Tratado Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO 2004).Hasta cuando se plantearon estos objetivos, la formación en RFG era escasa y se daba en las organizaciones que trabajaban en el tema, particularmente las internacionales. Sólo algunas universidades tenían (e.g., U. de Birmingham, Reino Unido, MsC en RFG) o empezaban 1. introducción a organizar (e.g., U. de Zambia, U. de Filipinas en Los Baños y algunas otras) programas universitarios sobre RFG, con limitaciones en contenido e implementación. De ahí que el Plan determinara que se crearan instituciones y programas en cada región, capaces de impartir enseñanzas sobre RFG y fitomejoramiento, que se ayudara a los estudiantes a completar sus programas de estudio, se fomentara la colaboración entre las instituciones académicas de los países en desarrollo y desarrollados, y que los programas de enseñanza tuvieran acceso a internet de manera que los profesionales se pudieran comunicar y acceder a información y datos.El Plan recomendaba organizar cursos en forma de módulos que se pudieran aplicar ampliamente en distintas regiones, manteniendo al mismo tiempo una orientación distintiva regional, e impartirse en el idioma más adecuado para la región. Igualmente, recomendaba preparar material docente y organizar o coordinar cursos de capacitación, vincular la capacitación a las actividades de investigación en cursos, organizar e impartir cursos en estrecha colaboración con redes regionales y programas nacionales de RFG. Además, preparar programas avanzados en cooperación con asociaciones o consorcios académicos regionales.Con el fin de conocer qué había ocurrido con la formación en RFG/ ABD diez años después de formulados los objetivos del Plan de Acción Mundial, Bioversity (entonces International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI)), a través de la Unidad de Investigación y Apoyo en Desarrollo de Capacidades (UDC), decidió hacer una consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado en RFG y ABD ofrecidos por universidades de tres regiones -América Latina, África Subsahárica y Asia-para conocer y documentar qué formación se estaba ofreciendo en estos temas, qué características tenían los cursos y programas, qué fortalezas, debilidades y oportunidades percibían quienes formaban parte de ellos y qué se planteaban a futuro.El presente documento describe la consulta hecha en América Latina entre profesores y administradores de cursos y programas de postgrado en RFG/ABD ofrecidos por un grupo de universidades de esta región. La consulta 2 se practicó en 2006-2007 mediante una encuesta en línea y entrevistas a algunos participantes en la encuesta, para complementar información. El documento describe los resultados más sobresalientes de la consulta, discute algunos en el contexto de la educación superior en América Latina y presenta una Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgradoLa consulta pretendía recabar información de aquellos cursos/ programas de cuya existencia se sabía o se presumía, no abarcar todo el universo de universidades agrícolas de América Latina. Siendo la formación de postgrado en RFG/ABD una actividad más bien reciente, de la última década, es importante anotar que no son muchas las universidades que ofrecen formalmente cursos o programas de postgrado en RFG/ABD. Por tanto, no eran numerosos ni el universo de instituciones a las cuales se podía dirigir la consulta ni menos la muestra de quienes podían responderla. Lo importante aquí, pues, no son tanto los números como lo que indica la percepción de quienes atendieron la consulta.La consulta también incluía averiguar qué productos podrían ser de utilidad a quienes enseñan o administran los cursos/programas, y de qué manera Bioversity podría colaborar con las universidades o facilitar la cooperación entre ellas, para incrementar la oferta y mejorar la calidad de esos cursos/programas.La encuesta se administró en línea a través de Survey Monkey® (http://www.surveymonkey.com/), en marzo de 2006, en español, a una muestra de 42 universidades (incluyendo un centro regional de investigación) de 15 países de América Latina, que a conocimiento del IPGRI en ese momento tenían cursos o programas de postgrado en RFG, más otras que podrían haber ya incluido el tema en sus programas de formación en biología o agricultura. Las invitaciones a participar en la consulta y en la encuesta, el cuestionario de la encuesta, la lista de instituciones a las que se invitó a participar aparecen en los Anexos 1 a 4, al final del documento.Como complemento de la encuesta se hicieron entrevistas personales y por teléfono a un grupo seleccionado de funcionarios de las universidades para conocer más detalles de los cursos y programas de postgrado que ofrecen. La invitación a la entrevista aparece en el Anexo 5, y el cuestionario utilizado en las entrevistas en el Anexo 6.Los cuestionarios para la encuesta y las entrevistas se desarrollaron de manera colaborativa entre funcionarios de la UCD de Bioversity, tanto de la sede como de las regiones en donde se hizo la consulta. Se hicieron versiones en inglés, francés y español 3 , con el fin de formular las mismas preguntas en las tres regiones en una lengua relevante y poder analizar los resultados por región y globalmente. El cuestionario para la encuesta contenía 32 preguntas distribuidas en 5 secciones, así: Antecedentes del (de la) encuestado(a) (preguntas 1 a 4); Naturaleza del programa académico (preguntas 5 a 15); Oferta del programa y asociaciones colaborativas (preguntas 16 a 21); Cambios dentro del programa (preguntas 22 a 27) y Mecanismos de retroalimentación y seguimiento del programa (preguntas 27 a 32).Los encuestados recibieron una invitación por correo electrónico en la cual se indicaba el propósito de la encuesta, el vínculo para acceder a ella y cómo se pensaban usar los resultados. También se les indicaba la fecha límite para responder. Una semana después de iniciada la encuesta, los participantes recibieron otro mensaje en el cual se agradecía a los que habían contestado y se reiteraba la invitación a los que todavía no lo habían hecho. Los encuestados tuvieron un plazo máximo de 15 días para responder. Copias de los mensajes de invitación y de los recordatorios aparecen en el Anexo 4.Las entrevistas, que básicamente buscaban completar o ampliar información solicitada en la encuesta, se practicaron entre julio y septiembre de 2007 a funcionarios de cuatro universidades y a dos personas de un centro regional de investigación y enseñanza. Excepto una, se hicieron por teléfono, y tuvieron una duración de entre 1 y 2 horas. El cuestionario utilizado en las entrevistas, que aparece en el Anexo 6, contenía 26 preguntas, distribuidas así: Datos de la organización, el curso/programa y la persona entrevistada (preguntas 1 a 3); desarrollo curricular y orientación del curso/ programa (preguntas 4 a 7); nivel de calidad (fortalezas y debilidades, preguntas 8 y 9); interdisciplinariedad y colaboración dentro de la universidad en la forma de enseñar (preguntas 10 a 12); métodos de enseñanza y recursos utilizados (preguntas 13 a 15); aportes de socios externos y redes (preguntas 16 a 21); influencia de Bioversity en el desarrollo del curso/programa (preguntas 22 a 24); mercado laboral de los egresados (pregunta 25); información adicional (pregunta 26).Los resultados de la encuesta se tabularon con el programa de Survey Monkey®. Los cuadros y figuras con los resultados aparecen en el Anexo 7. Algunas preguntas requirieron análisis adicionales o modificaciones en las gráficas para presentar la información de manera visualmente más clara. La información recabada en las entrevistas se registró en formatos como el que aparece en el Anexo 6. De toda esta información existe copia impresa pero no se agrega a este documento dado su volumen.2. MetodologíaLa encuesta fue contestada por 15 de 42 invitados (35.7% de respuesta), tasa aceptable considerando la longitud y complejidad del cuestionario para una encuesta administrada por internet. La frecuencia de respuesta por pregunta fue inversamente proporcional al grado de elaboración o de información documental o cuantitativa que requirieran las respuestas. Cada curso o programa se desarrolló de forma única aunque se encontraron elementos comunes. En general, los programas son de 600) cursaba maestría, una cuarta parte (103) doctorado, y una quinta parte (60) un diplomado o especialización (Figura 6). Los graduados (Figura 7) son en su mayoría de maestría (74), seguidos por los de certificado o diplomado (46) y doctorado (23). El promedio de graduados por año, en conjunto, es de aproximadamente 25 en maestría, 8 en doctorado, 15 en diplomados o certificaciones.Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado jóvenes, se han ido formando y consolidando gradualmente, y tienen un contenido orientado al conocimiento de la diversidad genética y a la conservación aunque variable en algunos temas. Se formaron en respuesta a alguna prioridad institucional, por mandato del gobierno, por la necesidad de ofrecer formación académica en el tema de la biodiversidad en los países, a solicitud directa de estudiantes y por la importancia y pertinencia del tema en el ámbito regional y nacional (Figura 10).Algunos cursos surgieron por idea de algún profesor o decano que mostró interés en el tema de los RFG y como base para la formación en fitomejoramiento. Cada universidad aprovechó sus condiciones y masa crítica e hizo consultas con miembros de facultades relevantes dentro de la misma universidad, y con organizaciones de orden nacional, regional o internacional (incluyendo a Bioversity y a otros centros internacionales con sede en la región). Los primeros dos o tres años se dedicaron a ensamblar el curso/programa y los años siguientes a consolidarlo o pulirlo en contenido y forma de enseñarlo, con base en la experiencia que fueron adquiriendo y en la retroalimentación de los estudiantes. Ningún consultado mencionó que se hubieran hecho estudios o análisis, como una encuesta o un sondeo del mercado para definir un perfil de egresado previo al diseño del curso/programa. Todos coincidieron en que las razones que motivaron a las universidades a ofrecer los cursos/programas eran todavía válidas.El contenido se orienta a conocer y aprender a manejar el germoplasma tanto de cultivos clásicos como cultivos promisorios (frutales amazónicos, por ejemplo) y como fundamento para el fitomejoramiento. Tienen fundamentos de biología/agronomía (los estudiantes por lo general vienen de formarse como agrónomos) y temas clave o relevantes para la conservación de los recursos genéticos, ex situ e in situ. Comparativamente, el contenido no sigue un patrón (ver Cuadro 3, abajo); ciertos temas son obligatorios o electivos a discreción de la universidad (por ejemplo, el curso de RFG dentro de un programa de Maestría o Doctorado es una electiva en unos casos y un prerrequisito en otros). Algunos programas incluyen temas de actualidad como política, bioseguridad, valor de la biodiversidad, propiedad intelectual. Comunicación y sensibilización de la opinión pública 80Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgradoLos cursos/programas son presenciales, excepto en un par de casos en que 25% de ellos se hace a distancia (Figura 11). Todos combinan teoría, discusión y práctica. Los temas se introducen en conferencias magistrales cuyo contenido deben complementar los estudiantes leyendo los materiales asignados que luego son discutidos en clase y complementados con prácticas, trabajo de laboratorio, salidas al campo, visitas a colecciones o a otras instituciones, trabajos asignados, etc. Todos utilizan ayudas audiovisuales para presentar los temas (Figura 12).Los dos programas que tienen parte a distancia hacen uso de plataformas para educación a distancia establecidas por las universidades en convenios con organismos de otros países, fuertes en ese aspecto. Aun en los casos en que el programa es totalmente presencial, se hace uso de sitios en internet para ubicar materiales de enseñanza complementarios o para leer.La colaboración es variable y ocurre en un espectro que va desde colaboraciones ocasionales y puntuales solicitadas a profesores amigos de otras facultades donde no hay cultura de interdisciplinariedad hasta la participación moderada o intensiva de varias facultades y profesores de la misma universidad. La proporción y formalidad de la colaboración dependen de la cultura de interdisciplinariedad de la universidad, del tamaño de la universidad o del o número de facultades de donde se pueda traer experticia al curso/programa. Esto aplica tanto a la docencia como a la investigación y se relaciona también con la autonomía que la universidad de a los profesores para implementar sus cursos. Todos los consultados coinciden en que es conveniente y deseable contar con la participación de docentes de varias disciplinas, sean éstos de la misma universidad o de otras organizaciones.La interdisciplinariedad dentro de la misma universidad se facilita cuando ésta cuenta con un cuerpo docente común a varias disciplinas (profesores que enseñan su tema o materia en cursos de varias facultades), cuando tiene varias facultades o sedes y un cuerpo docente numeroso y diverso del cual se puede escoger, y cuando las directivas promueven o facilitan un ambiente colegial, de intercambio, de apoyo y de participación. Las áreas favorecidas por la interdisciplinariedad son biología, fisiología, genética, bioestadística, botánica/taxonomía, geografía (sistemas de información geográfica), suelos y etnobotánica.Las universidades reciben y dan apoyos puntuales y ocasionales (Cuadro 4 y Figura 13). Las asociaciones se dan entre personas más que entre organizaciones dentro del marco de algún convenio. Donde hay más interdisciplinariedad también se encontró colaboración con más organizaciones tanto del país donde está ubicada la universidad como organismos de otros países o internacionales. No se reportó colaboración con las redes de recursos fitogenéticos de las Américas o con redes por cultivo.Las colaboraciones son percibidas como algo deseable y positivo en que valdría la pena trabajar, puesto que las alianzas les permitirían crear y fortalecer vínculos con organizaciones, intercambiar profesores, ofrecer cursos entre varias organizaciones o hacer proyectos de investigación, conseguir dinero para becas y pasantías, incrementar opciones para el desarrollo de tesis, entre otros.Las reformas académicas ocurridas en las universidades son los eventos más determinantes en la evolución de los cursos/programas. Los cambios ocurren por políticas de las universidades y por influencia de los alumnos (Cuadros 5 y 6).La forma de enseñanza registra cambios sustanciales en unos casos y leves en otros. Estos cambios consisten en actualizaciones de contenido de los programas para que reflejen nuevos métodos científicos y pedagógicos, y ocurren a solicitud de estudiantes que quieren énfasis en nuevas áreas (biotecnología, protección de cultivos, sistemas de producción agrícola tropical sostenible, entre otras), a necesidades percibidas en la comunidad o a políticas de la universidad.Bioversity, desde su actuación como IPGRI, ha influido en los cursos/programas, prácticamente desde su concepción (Figura 14). Los consultados utilizan productos de información o módulos de enseñanza publicados por la organización. También ha habido participación de especialistas de Bioversity como conferencistas.Los consultados se mostraron satisfechos con la forma de enseñanza de los cursos/programas y con la diversidad de medios que utilizan.Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado Percibieron como fortalezas tener una masa crítica o un profesorado con doctorado o expertos en el tema con trayectoria en la investigación y la docencia, al igual que tener acceso directo a bancos de germoplasma, laboratorios, estaciones experimentales, bibliotecas y recursos de información, de la universidad o de organizaciones relacionadas. También se considera una fortaleza el que los cursos/ programas combinen la teoría con la práctica y estén vinculados a programas de fitomejoramiento de la universidad o de instituciones vecinas.Como debilidades incluyeron la indiferencia o incomprensión de las autoridades en las universidades para apoyar los programas de maestría, la escasa participación de docentes de talla internacional por falta de recursos para invitarlos. También se incluyeron la falta de alianzas estratégicas y de una visión de largo plazo, el no poder ofrecer a los estudiantes becas para dedicación exclusiva a los programas al igual que pasantías, el no poder cubrir todos los temas que quisieran o no tener buenas condiciones para las prácticas y el trabajo en campo.Los cursos/programas han sido evaluados por instancias de las mismas universidades, por organizaciones regionales, o por donantes, entidades nacionales o del gobierno del país donde están ubicadas la universidades (Figura 15). La mayoría (83.3%) han sido evaluados en los últimos cinco años. Ocasionalmente, participan en las evaluaciones asociaciones o grupos científicos y comunidades de colaboradores.Las revisiones han ayudado a refinar los contenidos de los cursos/ programas. En un par de casos, los cambios llevaron a crear capacidad para la investigación y a incrementar la cobertura geográfica del programa.Las universidades captan opiniones y sugerencias de los estudiantes y de los profesores o miembros del personal de la universidad (Cuadro 7). Las evaluaciones en clase y las encuestas de satisfacción son los mecanismos más utilizados, seguidos por el buzón de sugerencias. Los cursos y docentes se evalúan mediante cuestionarios administrados al final de los cursos. También captan opiniones y sugerencias en las defensas de tesis y en eventos científicos. Hay poco seguimiento de los egresados (Cuadro 8).El empleador tradicional de los egresados de los cursos/programas de la consulta ha sido el estado, principalmente institutos nacionales donde hay bancos de germoplasma. Se han abierto nuevas fuentes de trabajo en la empresa privada, particularmente en el sector de la agroindustria. En algunos programas se fomenta el espíritu empresarial, de manera que los estudiantes opten por crear nuevas empresas y puedan a futuro generar empleo para otros.Los egresados están trabajando con especies promisorias, particularmente frutales. Las universidades también están buscando oportunidades para trabajar con instituciones nacionales y de desarrollo, en proyectos multi-institucionales, o con el sector del fitomejoramiento.Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgradoLa consulta mostró que en la última década han surgido cursos y programas de postgrado en RFG, principalmente de nivel de maestría y en universidades públicas. Son presenciales, se financian con fondos del estado, donaciones y el registro de los estudiantes, y ya han graduado varias promociones. Son de alcance nacional y muestran una tendencia creciente en el registro de estudiantes tanto en maestría como en doctorado aunque no se sabe cómo compara el registro, dentro de las universidades, con el de otros cursos/ programas de postgrado en otras disciplinas.En contenido, los cursos/programas son diversos y están orientados hacia conocer los recursos fitogenéticos y conservarlos. Si está o no presente el tema de la agrobiodiversidad y de qué manera se enseña no fue evidente en la consulta como tampoco lo fueron los criterios para estructurar los planes de estudio. Conocer más sobre estos aspectos requeriría un análisis detallado de los planes de estudio vigentes.Los principales desafíos a futuro, en opinión de los consultados, tienen que ver con la amplitud y la relevancia del contenido para el mercado laboral, no sólo nacional sino regional, y con el aprovechamiento de oportunidades de trabajo colaborativo con organizaciones, incluyendo universidades, bancos de germoplasma, organismos internacionales, ONG, etc. Si bien los cursos/programas se diseñan con algo de consulta externa, no necesariamente se hacen con base en encuestas previas o en seguimiento de los graduados. Un estudio del mercado que incluyera seguimiento a los egresados de los diversos cursos/ programas ayudaría a conocer cómo la oferta está respondiendo al mercado y a las necesidades de la sociedad. Además, ayudaría a refinar los programas y a encontrar qué los hace atractivos al público.En los estudios recientes de oferta de educación superior para América Latina ), se enfatiza la necesidad de formar profesionales para un mercado globalizado, lo cual supone que profesionales con una formación amplia tendrán mejores posibilidades de competir que aquellos con un perfil limitado. Que las universidades que ofrecen cursos o programas de postgrado en RFG/ABD se planteen formar personal para un mercado regional es un desafío a futuro que quizás se quieran plantear en un esquema de colaboración y a partir de un curriculum básico común.Pensando en que la formación actual propende porque el alumno 'aprenda a aprender' de manera que se forme para aprender durante el resto de su vida (life-long learning), otro reto sería ampliar el espectro de modalidades o condiciones de aprendizaje y que los cursos/programas tuvieran componentes que desarrollen el aprendizaje autonómico. La modalidad a distancia también ayudaría a captar estudiantes que viven lejos de la universidad o aquellos que trabajan y no pueden hacer un programa de dedicación exclusiva.Exponer los alumnos a situaciones fuera del salón de clase también ayuda a darles una perspectiva más amplia. El que puedan visitar centros de investigación o empresas relacionadas con los temas de estudio constituye un atractivo para los estudiantes a la vez que una experiencia de observación y aprendizaje en el mundo real que se podría lograr mediante convenios de cooperación con organizaciones, que también podrían incluir oportunidades para pasantías y tesis. El desafío aquí sería el de establecer alianzas colaborativas con una diversidad de organismos, nacionales e internacionales, de diversos sectores.La consulta no reveló si las universidades buscan u ofrecen oportunidades para que los estudiantes entren en contacto con estudiantes de otras universidades que estén tomando cursos similares. Funcionar en red o en comunidades de práctica permitiría desarrollar en los estudiantes una mentalidad para el trabajo colegiado o en equipos virtuales, como ocurre actualmente en la sociedad del conocimiento o en muchas organizaciones internacionales.Consulta sobre la oferta de cursos y programas de postgrado AnexoS Anexo 1 invitación a participar en la consulta Estimado(a) colega:El Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (IPGRI www. ipgri.cgiar.org) está realizando, en varias regiones, un estudio de los procesos involucrados en el desarrollo y evolución de programas de postgrado en temas que involucran la agrobiodiversidad, los recursos fitogenéticos y campos relacionados. El objetivo de este estudio es elaborar un perfil del panorama académico en este campo, y establecer y documentar un conjunto de lecciones y buenas prácticas en el diseño y desarrollo curricular, y en la oferta y evaluación de planes de estudio.En los próximos días usted recibirá por correo electrónico una invitación oficial para participar en una encuesta en línea. Esta invitación contendrá un vínculo a la página de Internet donde está ubicada la encuesta, el cual usted sólo tiene que activar para contestarla. La encuesta es anónima.Esta comunicación tiene como fin invitarle a usted, o a la persona que la Universidad designe, a participar en este estudio. A cambio de una pequeña contribución en tiempo, la institución será incluida en un valioso estudio de la comunidad educativa en el tema de la agrobiodiversidad. Todos los participantes recibirán copias del informe final del estudio y serán informados en el futuro de iniciativas del IPGRI en desarrollo de capacidades.El informe resultante de esta investigación proporcionará al IPGRI y a las instituciones participantes un recurso valioso que podrán utilizar en futuros esfuerzos programáticos. Asimismo, servirá para realizar actividades de seguimiento como conferencias para discutir y compartir métodos y experiencias, y para mejorar el trabajo en red con organizaciones educativas de la región y de nivel mundial, en temas de agrobiodiversidad y conservación y uso sostenible de los recursos fitogenéticos.Después de que se hayan compilado y analizado los resultados, el equipo que realiza el estudio seleccionará, con base en las respuestas recibidas, un pequeño grupo de instituciones con las cuales realizará algunas entrevistas. Éstas se harán en marzo, en fechas mutuamente convenientes, sea personalmente o por teléfono, con un miembro de nuestro equipo. Si usted ha sido seleccionado para una entrevista de seguimiento, será contactado con anticipación para confirmar su disponibilidad para participar y escoger el día, la hora y la forma de comunicación para la entrevista.Esperamos que el informe final de este estudio esté listo y disponible en medio electrónico en abril. Si tiene acceso limitado a la Internet, podemos facilitarle una versión del cuestionario que pueda imprimir.Por favor indíquenos tan pronto como le sea posible y le enviaremos una copia de la encuesta, que podrá responder y enviar por fax o correo electrónico. Por favor responda la encuesta antes del viernes 3 de marzo de 2006.A nombre de todo el equipo de la Unidad del IPGRI sobre Investigación y Apoyo en Desarrollo de Capacidades le agradezco de antemano su tiempo y atención.Marleni Ramírez Directora Regional para las Américas Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (IPGRI) Anexo 1Anexo 2 Cuestionario para la encuesta en línea encuesta sobre la educación superior en temas de agrobiodiversidad y recursos fitogenéticosEl Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (IPGRI, www. ipgri.cgiar.org) está realizando, en varias regiones, un estudio de los procesos involucrados en el desarrollo y evolución de programas de postgrado en temas que involucran la agrobiodiversidad, los recursos fitogenéticos y campos relacionados. El objetivo de este estudio es elaborar un perfil del panorama académico en este campo, y establecer y documentar un conjunto de lecciones y buenas prácticas en el diseño y desarrollo curricular, y en la oferta y evaluación de planes de estudio.Esta comunicación tiene como fin invitarle a usted, o a la persona que la Universidad designe, a participar en este estudio. A cambio de una pequeña contribución en tiempo, la institución será incluida en un valioso estudio de la comunidad educativa en el tema de la agrobiodiversidad. Todos los participantes recibirán copias del informe final del estudio y serán informados en el futuro de iniciativas del IPGRI en desarrollo de capacidades.El informe resultante de esta investigación proporcionará al IPGRI y a las instituciones participantes un recurso valioso que podrán utilizar en futuros esfuerzos programáticos. Asimismo, servirá para realizar actividades de seguimiento como conferencias para discutir y compartir métodos y experiencias, y para mejorar el trabajo en red con organizaciones educativas de la región y de nivel mundial, en temas de agrobiodiversidad y conservación y uso sostenible de los recursos fitogenéticos.Esperamos que el informe final de este estudio esté listo y disponible en medio electrónico en abril. Si tiene acceso limitado a la Internet, podemos facilitarle una versión del cuestionario que pueda imprimir.Por favor indíquenos tan pronto como le sea posible y le enviaremos una copia de la encuesta, que podrá responder y enviar por fax o correo electrónico. Por favor responda la encuesta antes del viernes 3 de marzo de 2006.A nombre de todo el equipo de la Unidad del IPGRI sobre Investigación y Apoyo en Desarrollo de Capacidades le agradezco de antemano su tiempo y atención.Marleni Ramírez Directora Regional para las Américas Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (IPGRI) I Antecedentes del (de la) encuestado(a)  II Naturaleza del programa académico 5. ¿Cuál es el título de su programa de postgrado sobre agrobiodiversidad o recursos fitogenéticos? 6. Cómo se financia el programa? Por favor indique el porcentaje junto a la(s) alternativa(s) que escoja: Con fondos del estado Con dinero proveniente de donaciones Con la matrícula de los estudiantes Otra(s) fuente(s) (sírvase especificar esto en la siguiente pregunta) 7. Si su respuesta a la pregunta 6 fue \"otra(s) fuente(s)\", por favor describa estas fuentes de financiamiento a continuación: Si tiene dificultad para acceder a la encuesta por Internet, por favor comuníquese conmigo para enviarle una versión que pueda devolvernos luego por fax o correo electrónico.Por favor responda la encuesta antes del 3 de marzo.Gracias por su participación en este estudio y reciba un cordial saludo.Email: m.baena@cgiar.org Tel. (572) 445-0048/9 Fax (572) 445-0096 URL: http:/www.ipgri.cgiar.org Nota: Si no desea recibir más correos de parte nuestra sobre este tema, por favor active el vínculo que se indica a continuación, para que automáticamente se elimine su nombre de nuestra lista de correo. http://www.surveymonkey.com/r.asp?A=117445266E1299 Anexo 4 Anexo 7 Cuadros y figuras 1 Figura 1. Cargo de la persona que contestó la encuesta (15 respuestas, 100% de respuesta) 1 Junto al título de cada figura se incluyen el número de personas que respondieron la pregunta y el porcentaje de respuesta en relación con la muestra que contestó la encuesta. Figura 2. Área de especialización (14 respuestas, 93.3% de respuesta) 22 Algunas preguntas del cuestionario, como ésta, permitían escoger más de una opción; en estos casos, el lector observará que los porcentajes suman más de 100% pero lo que interesa es el porcentaje de respuesta por item seleccionado como indicador de frecuencia de respuesta.  Figura 13. Apoyo o colaboración prestada por la universidad a otros (5 respuestas; 33.3% de respuesta).Figura 13. Apoyo o colaboración prestada por la universidad a otros (5 respuestas; 33.3% de respuesta).   ","tokenCount":"7041"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1695460955.json b/data/part_1/1695460955.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7aa6b1e2f261c91e4aa688b90db63539a356ba57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1695460955.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c2c2fd3e7431e6e3f2cd77b1f67327c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6120ef96-87c2-4351-9616-20a4da3c6538/retrieve","id":"-1641683749"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e67435d-8dfc-45e2-86ac-9905ab1ed655","pagecount":"34","content":"T he concept of empowerment has steadily made its way onto the international development agenda. Batliwala (2007) traces its equivalents back several hundred years and across geographies in struggles for social justice. Feminists brought the concept of women's empowerment to the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where it gained traction, with the Beijing Declaration referring to \"enhancing further the advancement and empowerment of women all over the world\" (UN 1995, 7). Then, it was about collective struggles to challenge patriarchal structures, and intersecting structures of class, ethnicity, caste, and race, that shape women's (subordinate) position in society (Batliwala 2007). Twenty years later, \"empowerment\" animates the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG5): \"Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.\"The field of agricultural research for development (AR4D) recognizes women's empowerment for its instrumental value and its links with several desirable outcomes related to health and nutrition (Sraboni et al. 2014, Galiè et al. 2018, Heckert et al. 2019), 1 productivity (Diiro et al. 2018), and resource management (for example Sodhi et al. 2010). Its intrinsic value is also increasingly acknowledged as a goal in itself (Cornwall and Edwards 2014). Yet a lack of conceptual clarity around the term as mobilized in the international development agenda, along with the subversion of the term in neoliberal political agendas, has diluted the concept that social activists brought to the table in Beijing (Batliwala 2007, Cornwall and Rivas 2015, Nazneen et al. 2019).The complex, intangible, political, and context-specific nature of empowerment renders its assessment a formidable task. In 1999, Kabeer provided an in-depth discussion of the difficulties operationalizing the concept for measurement; today, the ethical, political, and epistemological debates that characterize such measurement continue to merit proper consideration (for example Newton et al. 2019). Despite these challenges, applied researchers and practitioners pursue their attempts at assessment, based on \"the realization that we must devise ways of checking whether the policies, resources, and strategies applied toward building more equitable, sustainable, rights-affirming, inclusive and peaceful societies are working effectively or not-whether they are producing the changes we wish to see\" (Batliwala and Pittman 2010, 3). On the global agenda and in AR4D initiatives, which increasingly define women's empowerment as a goal, such assessments-however imperfect-are important for advancing women's empowerment and gender equality.In this chapter, we ask: \"How is women's empowerment assessed in AR4D, and how can such assessments advance women's empowerment and gender equality?\" In so doing, we challenge those working in the field of agriculture to return to the foundational concepts, to move from instrumental to more political and transformative engagements as implied in the original concept of empowerment. We further bring recent developments in assessing empowerment in agriculture into the fold of the broader literature on the concept. This is relevant not only to strengthen assessments but also for the framing of empowerment in AR4D and in the agriculture and natural resource management (NRM) sectors, as \"what is measured-and not measured-influences discourse and confers legitimacy to certain categories of intervention or institutional change\" (O'Hara and Clement 2018, 112).We begin by defining the concept of women's empowerment as used in AR4D and how it relates to gender equality. We then argue that assessing women's empowerment in the context of AR4D can advance gender equalityalthough we highlight that tensions and challenges accompany such an effort. Next, we examine different methodologies, with a focus on tools, for assessing women's empowerment in agriculture and NRM in and beyond CGIAR. Finally, we raise critical questions related to assessing women's empowerment for a future AR4D agenda.It is perhaps unsurprising that multiple definitions of empowerment exist in the literature, given the term's use by scholars and practitioners from different disciplines, theoretical-epistemological backgrounds (for example Narayan 2005), and regional contexts (Ibrahim and Alkire 2007). This multiplicity of definitions reveals healthy debates and evolving thinking about the concept. In AR4D, many studies (including this book, see Chapter 1) refer to empowerment as \"the processes by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire such an ability\" (Kabeer 1999(Kabeer , 435, 2017)). This conceptualization draws from Sen's (1985Sen's ( , 1999) ) capability approach, and emphasizes people's freedom to define and lead the life they have reason to value. \"Strategic\" life choices are those that hold significance over one's life direction, such as those related to whether, who, and when to marry, family formation, or which type of livelihood strategy one will pursue. These defining choices set the parameters for practical, day-to-day decisions, with historical and structural conditions influencing the range of options people see before them and value (Kabeer 2005).We can conceptualize the ability to exercise choice over strategic decisions along three interconnected dimensions: \"resources (defined broadly to include not only access, but also future claims, to both material and human and social resources); agency (including processes of decision making, as well as less measurable manifestations of agency such as negotiation, deception and manipulation); and achievements (well-being outcomes)\" (Kabeer 1999, 435). Resources are the preconditions that enhance people's abilities to exercise choice-although women's strengthened agency can also unlock access to resources (Farnworth et al. 2019). Formal and informal rules, including norms, 2 mediate access to these resources in different institutional domains of society (for example the household, community, or market). Achievements are realized when people have agency and access to resources that enable them to define and act upon their goals. Achievements cannot be predefined, as in any given context different people may value and seek different ways of being and doing (Sen 1985).Agency-a person's ability to define and act upon one's goals-is at the heart of the concept of empowerment. It is often operationalized as decisionmaking but also takes the form of bargaining, negotiation, resistance, and critical reflection and analysis. Agency is exercised at individual and group levels, through collaborative relations and collective action 3 (collective agency or \"power with\"), and can be framed in both positive and negative terms in relation to power (as per Rowlands 1997). In positive terms, agency is when people recognize their self-worth and the purpose they bring to their actions (intrinsic agency, or \"power within\") and are able to act to realize their goals (instrumental agency, or \"power to\"), even when opposed by others or by social norms. In negative terms, it refers to actors superseding the agency of others, and exercising control or \"power over\" their lives and resources (Kabeer 1999). Empowerment, then, is about changes in these multiple manifestations of power, which interconnect and are mutually reinforcing to create unequal outcomes (Hillenbrand et al. 2015). Such changes in oppressive power relations can occur at the individual or group level (Eyben et al. 2008).There are fundamental contestations as to whether the expansion of individual women's agency represents empowerment, or whether empowerment is about something more-a critical consciousness 4 of women's rights, women's solidarity, and the collective challenge to patriarchal structures and power relations that curtail their freedoms. Feminist scholars and activists adhere to the latter perspective (Kabeer 1994, Cornwall and Rivas 2015, Ewerling et al. 2017), and critique mainstream development practice for treating empowerment as an individual pursuit focused on entrepreneurship and self-reliance (Nazneen et al. 2014). This framing reflects a co-optation of the concept in the neoliberal international development agenda that divests the state of its responsibilities by \"empowering\" local women to look after themselves (for example Batliwala 2007, Nazneen et al. 2019).Empowerment is generally considered a process, although it is sometimes treated as both a process and an outcome or as an outcome (Carr 2003). As a process, it refers to the changes in institutional structures, access to resources, critical consciousness, and so on that facilitate people's abilities to make, act upon, and achieve their strategic life choices. As an outcome, it embodies the degree of freedom people have to control and have positive impacts on their lives and futures (van Eerdewijk et al. 2017). Empowerment is relative: people are empowered (or disempowered) in comparison with others or with themselves at another point in time (Mosedale 2005). Importantly, empowerment necessarily requires women to be the prime movers. As such, interventions may \"be conceived not as empowering women but as clearing some of the obstacles from the path and providing sustenance for women as they do empowerment for themselves\" (Cornwall and Rivas 2015, 405).The plural definitions of empowerment imply the use of various frameworks to explain its multiple and interrelated dimensions. For example, van Eerdewijk et al. (2017) frame empowerment in terms of resources, agency, and institutional structures. Hillenbrand et al. (2015) argue that considering these three dimensions together is important to maintain a focus on collective responsibility and political engagement, rather than placing the burden of change on individual women. Narayan (2005) identifies key factors facilitating or constraining empowerment and broader development outcomesnamely, institutional climate, social and political structures, individual assets and capabilities, and collective assets and capabilities. Lombardini et al. (2017) (see also Lombardini and McCollum 2018) focus on measuring changes in empowerment at the personal, relational, and environmental levels. Personal empowerment relates to changes taking place within the person-in a woman's beliefs about her own worth, capacities, and actions. The focus here is on the immaterial, related to power within, self-perception, and critical consciousness, rather than on individual-level material elements. Relational empowerment refers to changes taking place in a person's relationships and in the power relations within which she or he FIGURE 9.1 Framework for assessing women's empowerment (2017,6). assessing women's empowerment in agriCultural researCh 333 is embedded-in a woman's position relative to others, such as her partner, family, community, local authorities, or social networks. Changes at the environmental level occur in broader societal institutions and structures. These can be formal (such as in political and legislative frameworks) or informal (such as in social norms, attitudes, 5 and beliefs). Changes at one level will stimulate changes at others, although these changes do not necessarily move at the same pace or in the same direction (Figure 9.1).We draw upon this framing to structure our analysis of tools for assessing women's empowerment; at the personal level, we also consider whether tools support an exploration of changes in material resources that can affect women's empowerment. The relational and environmental levels of the framework are of particular relevance for highlighting the power-laden and political nature of empowerment, and the fact that transformative change toward gender equality must go far beyond only \"changing women.\"Assessment to \"move the needle\" on women's empowerment and gender equality Assessing empowerment in AR4D can play an important role in advancing women's empowerment and gender equality in at least four ways. First, quantitative and qualitative assessments of empowerment can support holistic design of projects, programs, and policies. Multidimensional measures can support the development and prioritization of interventions that address women's empowerment, gender equality, and other project objectives. For instance, the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI, described below) allows projects to identify in which domains women are most disempowered, so they can develop and prioritize interventions that address these (Malapit et al. 2019). If no measures of empowerment are available, program implementers might concentrate on changes that can be measured and demonstrated, such as women's income, rather than less tangible changes that hold equal or greater importance for women's empowerment (Mosedale 2005).Evidence on how to advance women's empowerment and gender equality is also needed to shed light on the causal pathways that lead to empowerment, and on how women's empowerment correlates with other development goals. This can contribute to evidence-based interventions and policy-influencing (Lombardini et al. 2017). Bangladesh's Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages (ANGeL) 6 pilot project was designed based on results from the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), described below. Data from the WEAI demonstrated the extent of women's and men's disempowerment, the factors that contributed most to this, and the interrelationship between women's empowerment and household food security and dietary diversity of children (Sraboni et al. 2014).Second, assessments are needed to monitor whether and how initiatives such as projects, programs, policies, or social movements and efforts led by women's organizations are contributing-positively or negatively-to women's empowerment. Nuanced assessments are important for adaptive learning, to identify areas of strength as well as weakness in the strategies they deploy (Carter et al. 2014). Galiè (2013) discusses how a participatory plant-breeding project in Syria actively sought to address the needs of women farmers. Efforts to assess effects on women's empowerment revealed the stigmatization a young woman experienced for having traveled alone to a conference. Thereafter, the project took steps to reduce the risk of social ostracism by involving a larger group of women. Having sound and concrete bearings with respect to empowerment can thus encourage efforts to broaden or deepen strategies within institutions and their programming.Third, measuring and/or assessing empowerment serves to build upward and downward accountability and credibility (Batliwala and Pittman 2010). 7 For example, governments must be held downwardly accountable to their constituents, and in some cases upwardly accountable to international and regional organizations, for their commitments, such as reaching SDG targets. Most of the key strategic elements women's rights organizations advocated have been included as targets under SDG5 (Razavi 2016). Yet the SDG framework's weak accountability mechanisms, with no mandatory reporting requirements, essentially rely on the goodwill of governments to implement the agenda and track changes (Deere 2018). Close monitoring using adequate measures is needed to track progress and enable women's rights advocates and their allies to lobby for the agenda's proper implementation 6 This pilot project was developed by IFPRI and implemented at scale by the Bangladeshi Ministry of Agriculture to identify actions and investments in agriculture that would help increase farm household income, improve nutrition, and empower women (see https://www. ifpri.org/project/agriculture-nutrition-and-gender-linkages-angel). 7 Upward accountability refers to accountability to higher-level structures or institutions, such as from senior managers to boards or projects to donors; downward accountability is accountability to lower levels, such as from governments to citizens or projects to the local communities with which they work. (Razavi 2016, Deere 2018). This imperative has given rise to initiatives such as Data2X, which uses gender data to support global efforts to achieve gender equality. 8 Failing to track or using inadequate or narrow measures to monitor women's empowerment can augment the risk of selectivity and dilution of policies in the process of implementation. At a programmatic and project level, governments and donors use indicators in monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessments as the basis for judging performance and allocating resources. Inevitably, the things we measure are those that receive attention and on which we focus for change. Although a growing number of projects claim to advance women's empowerment, many such projects do not, in fact, make conscious efforts to define what empowerment means in their context, or to diagnose or address constraints to women's agency (Mosedale 2005). Danielsen et al. (2018) found that, out of a portfolio of 18 projects funded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund, which advanced gender integration as a key feature of its program, only about one third achieved \"women's empowerment sub-outcomes,\" including changes in gender norms, and increased women's recognition, control over decisions, and formal leadership. Likewise, reviewing 13 AR4D projects with the stated goal of empowering women, Johnson et al. (2018) found that many had neither strategies that would be expected to increase women's abilities to make strategic life choices nor ways of measuring whether such changes take place. Hence, the authors highlight that it is important to be clear about whether project objectives are to reach, benefit, or empower women; and about what women's empowerment may consist of in the context of AR4D.Assessments also hold programs and projects downwardly accountable. For example, in Galiè's (2013) study, women participants pushed to hold researchers accountable in supporting their empowerment, or in not pushing them too much if there was no support to be given. 9 Assuming that empowerment, as captured in certain measures, is necessarily what women want can be misleading, and highlights the importance of gathering perspectives from the women whose life experiences are being explored. In a normatively restrictive environment, women who are considered \"empowered\" can be frowned upon and socially shunned, and risk direct backlash in the form of intimate partner violence (for example Basu 1995, Jewkes 2002)-a risk not all women are willing to take without any safeguards.Fourth and finally, the assessment process itself can challenge power relations (Hillenbrand et al. 2015). For instance, engaging participants in deciding what, how, and when to measure, as well as who does the measuring, can be empowering (Morgan 2014, Newton et al. 2019). When we apply participatory approaches to measurement in a transformative way, and women drive the assessment process, they can facilitate critical reflection and action on norms and power relations that disempower women and cause gender inequalities (Kantor 2013, Cole et al. 2014, Cornwall and Sardenberg 2014, Newton et al. 2019). Privileging the voices of marginalized groups in the assessment process can validate their knowledge, shift power into their hands, and lead to locally demanded actionable change (Holland and Reudin 2012). Newton et al. (2019, 4) note that, \"Because empowerment is both an outcome and a process of transformative change it requires the participation of those being empowered to explain changes, as these may not be observed by others.\" Exploring local visions of empowerment and priorities of women and men should also be a key step in informing programming and assessment (Hillenbrand et al. 2015).Yet assessing women's empowerment is not necessarily empowering or desirable. Critical scholars and feminists flag the need to reflect on which measurements are meaningful and useful, at which conjuncture, and to challenge assumptions that it is possible, or should be, to assess abstract and intangible processes of social change (Batliwala and Pittman 2010). Difficulties associated with capturing \"power within,\" coupled with neoliberal biases, result in assessments privileging some dimensions of empowerment (such as economic) over others (such as psychological) (Narayan 2005). There are challenges with identifying appropriate methods to situate women's empowerment processes within their spatial, temporal, and historical contexts (Nazneen et al. 2014), and with defining global indicators of empowerment, given that forms of agency or achievements that indicate empowerment in some contexts may not be relevant in others (Mahmud et al. 2012). Different local understandings of empowerment pose difficulties with translating the concept itself into different languages (or cultural equivalents) (Tsikata andDarkwah 2014, Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019), and mean that externally determined indicators may not assessing women's empowerment in agriCultural researCh 337correspond with what is valued by those whose empowerment is assessed (Kabeer 1999).Measurement is a political process that privileges certain types of knowledge and knowing, and the priorities of some actors over others (Batliwala and Pittman 2010, Holland and Reudin 2012, Hillenbrand et al. 2015). There are thus ethical and epistemological issues related to why, and by whom, empowerment should be measured (Morgan 2014, Nazneen et al. 2014, Newton et al. 2019). The use of feminist methodologies to understand women's empowerment can flatten power hierarchies between researchers and participants, situate knowledge production within contexts and relationships, and foster the co-production of knowledge as part of a social change process (for example Cornwall and Sardenberg 2014). Yet current development and policy paradigms tend to favor quantifiable, \"objective\" indicators over qualitative analyses of trajectories of change in women's lives, expressed in their own words (Nazneen et al. 2014). Nonetheless, all methods make assumptions about what we can and cannot measure and the scale at which we can assess empowerment. For quantitative measures, this includes judgments about proxy indicators of empowerment, their validity, and their relative importance (weighting) (Box 9.1).Lastly, assessing empowerment as a process is challenging because it is often attempted at one point in time but must capture forward and backward movements and trajectories. Ideally, assessments capture \"different dimensions and sites of empowerment in a more holistic way, one that aims to understand the relational dynamics of power and positive change at a variety of levels, in different spaces and over time\" (Cornwall 2016, 345). Many measures are cross-sectional snapshots and must be applied longitudinally to provide a sense of change over time. Others ask for retrospective data, which can yield faster results but entails limitations associated with recall. Panel data on empowerment outcomes are better suited for examining longitudinal trajectories of women's empowerment and can complement qualitative assessments that focus on trajectories.Measuring empowerment requires a strong foundational understanding of the concept and its core dimensions, to guide the assessment, develop related indicators, and choose level(s) on which to focus (Narayan 2005, Ibrahim and Alkire 2007, Huis et al. 2017, Richardson 2018). Below, we review a selection of tools to measure empowerment in AR4D identified following a call to BOx 9.1 Methodological choices in development of the WEAI Most quantitative measures, recognizing the multidimensional nature of empowerment, use some form of aggregation to construct an empowerment scale or index. The WEAI measures women's empowerment across five domains in agriculture: 1) decisions about agricultural production; 2) access to and decision-making power over productive resources; 3) control over use of income; 4) leadership in the community; and 5) time use (Alkire et al. 2013). These domains, measured in 10 indicators, were based on the areas the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Initiative could directly affect through its programming.Two sections of the survey questionnaire proved difficult to administer in the field: the autonomy in production decisions module and the time use module. The desire to reduce survey administration time (and field costs) led to the development of the Abbreviated-WEAI (A-WEAI), with 6 instead of 10 indicators. Indicators that were controversial were removed, such as the \"speaking in public\" indicator, which was difficult to implement in areas that had experienced civil unrest.The choice of cut-offs or thresholds for the WEAI and A-WEAI involved value judgments on what made sense for an individual to be considered \"adequate\" under that indicator, and in many cases was informed by qualitative research in the area. The 80 percent threshold in WEAI (to be empowered, a woman has to be \"adequate\" in 80 percent of the indicators) was chosen because too high a threshold meant that it would be very difficult to achieve and may not be sensitive to short-term policy changes; and too low a threshold would be too easy to achieve and may not work as a programmatic target (Alkire et al. 2013).The WEAI co-developers opted for the use of fixed weights-an index rather than a scale-to facilitate comparability across a portfolio, as USAID wanted to compare countries in the Feed the Future Initiative. In WEAI, the five domains were equally weighted, but the indicators were not, as the domains did not have an equal number of indicators. This changed in pro-WEAI, which has 12 equally weighted indicators, equally distributed across the domains. Most agency indicators are instrumental (referring to \"power to\"), reflecting the areas that agricultural projects can affect directly. Collective agency indicators are few and in the early stages of development. Psychometric methods are being used for scale validation, including estimation of theoretically sound models that have good fit to the data (Yount et al. 2019). assessing women's empowerment in agriCultural researCh 339 CGIAR gender researchers and key partners and researchers. Some of these respondents also shared reflections on the strengths and limitations of their tools, and findings emerging through their use.Our framework to analyze these tools comprises five components:1. Dimensions of empowerment (resources, agency, and/or achievements); 2. Primary levels of inquiry (personal, relational, and/or environmental); 3. Participant focus (who participates in the assessment); 4. Attention (or lack thereof) to gender parity; and 5. Assessment perspective (etic versus emic). 10   Table 9.1 presents a brief summary of our analysis of the tools across these components, with attention to the quantitative or qualitative nature of the tools. Oftentimes, tools cannot be exclusively labeled as quantitative or qualitative based on the way they are operationalized and on how the data collected are analyzed. Hence, we do not distinguish between quantitative and qualitative methods in a strict or binary way but rather surface some of the strengths and limitations that methods steeped in different epistemological traditions can offer for understanding and assessing empowerment, and the value of bringing these together for richer and more complete assessments.We combine the first two components of our framework-dimensions and levels-in a light mapping of the tools to represent their relative placement along two axes (Figure 9.2). The horizontal axis indicates the multidimensionality of the measure and the vertical axis its multilevel character. Moving from the bottom left toward the top right, tools explore more dimensions and levels of empowerment.The tools cluster roughly into four groups. First, tools that use a unidimensional approach to assessing empowerment at one level are located in the bottom left corner. In contrast, tools that focus on one empowerment dimension but at multiple levels are located in the upper left corner. Third, a group of measures that use a multidimensional approach to assessing empowerment at one or more levels are located in the center of the figure. A fourth cluster consists of tools that explore the three dimensions of empowerment at participants identify key moments along their life trajectories in these spheres going back 10 years.they score significant moments and explain the reasons for their scores. an overall \"well-being\" trend line is developed based on the consolidated data. Notes: $ empowerment conceptualized along three interconnected dimensions: resources, agency, and achievements (well-being outcomes) (Kabeer 1999, 435).the three levels of inquiry-personal, relational, and environmental-located in the upper right corner. As mentioned above, the two tools situated in the bottom left corner measure only one dimension of empowerment at one point in time. Both measure one aspect of agency-decision-making within the household-to examine relational aspects of women's empowerment. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Women's Empowerment Index (WEI) scores women's participation in significant decisions within their households along a five-point scale (Achandi et al. 2018). The two extremes indicate that either the husband (WEI = 1) or the wife (WEI = 5) makes all decisions in the household solely, whereas a score of 3 indicates that spouses have an equal say in intrahousehold decision-making. Similarly, the Comparison of the Five Dimensions of Men's and Women's Empowerment tool examines women's and men's perceived ability to make intrahousehold decisions in relation to five domains of empowerment drawn from the WEAI (Mayanja et al. 2018).The tools located in the upper left corner remain focused on agency, and particularly on decision-making, but explore this dimension in relation to some of the structural (or \"environmental\") dimensions of (dis)empowerment: the norms that underpin gender inequalities and constrain women's abilities with regard to self-determination. The Women's Decision-Making Index and Gender Attitudes Index (WDI-GAI) maintain emphasis on women's Note: tool names are abbreviated here; refer to table 9.1 for full names and descriptions of the tools.decision-making, and examine gender attitudes to bring some of the beliefs that underlie decision-making patterns to light (Kosec et al. 2018). The qualitative GENNOVATE Ladder of Power and Freedom explores women's and men's sense of freedom to decide on important matters in their lives (Petesch and Bullock 2018). 11 Participants, either individually or in a focus group discussion (FGD), score this capacity along a metaphorical 5-step ladder, and reflect on changes and reasons for these over the past 10 years. These factors may include changes in resources, in formal or informal structures, in critical consciousness, or more. In this sense, although the tool explicitly asks about changes in agency, the number of dimensions of empowerment the tool addresses depends on participants' reflections on their experiences-as does the number of levels at which it captures changes in women's empowerment. Most of the tools reviewed, many of which relate closely to each other, sit in the central area of the figure, providing a more multidimensional and multilevel examination of women's empowerment. The WEAI (Alkire et al. 2013) and related measures focus primarily on agency, but also touch upon aspects related to resources. They explore empowerment at the personal and relational levels but are less suited to capturing the environmental level. The project-level WEAI (pro-WEAI) takes a mixed-methods approach to examine women's empowerment within project-specific contexts (Malapit et al. 2019, Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019, Yount et al. 2019). Compared with its precursors, it further unpacks agency by looking at three domains: intrinsic agency (\"power within\"), instrumental agency (\"power to\"), and collective agency (\"power with\"). It expands upon the WEAI, including with indicators related to intrahousehold harmony, attitudes toward intimate partner violence toward women, and mobility. The accompanying qualitative tools assess elements related to the environmental level. In the fisheries sector, the Women's Empowerment in Fisheries Index (WEFI) combines the WEAI and elements from the framework proposed by van Eerdewijk et al. ( 2017) with a gender attitudes scale (Cole et al. 2020). It assesses change in agency (in terms of decision-making about income) and in exercising choice to partake in livelihood opportunities (an expression of agency), resources (in terms of control over value chain assets), and institutional structures (attitudes toward inequitable gender norms). The gender attitudes scale captures additional elements of empowerment at the environmental level.In the upper right of Figure 9.2 sit two qualitative tools that explore the three empowerment dimensions at personal, relational, and environmental levels: the well-being timelines of the GENNOVATE methodology and CARE's Gender Indicator Monitoring Tool (GIMT). The former explores occupational, economic, social, psychological, and cultural histories to identify and understand the most significant milestones in a person's life. The tool offers deep insights into diverse aspects of agency, resources, and achievements, and sheds light on how individual capacities, relations and interpersonal dynamics, and social institutions affect these. The GIMT, developed by CARE as part of its Pathways Program, uses participatory outcome mapping (Hillenbrand et al. 2015) to identify incremental indicators of behavior change that demonstrate progress toward a vision of gender equality outlined by community members. The tool evaluates behavior changes around household decision-making processes; men's engagement in projects and their personal changes; and community leaders' views and practices. It privileges women's own definitions of empowerment, as do the GENNOVATE well-being timelines.Several key points emerge from this analysis. First, most of the reviewed tools recognize the multidimensional and multilevel nature of empowerment in assessments, which bodes well for bringing some of the complexity of the concept into AR4D thinking and practice. In this regard, the tools offer potential to consider the interactions among changes across dimensions and levels. Yet, studies based on these tools rarely perform such an analysis and, in general, the tools offer little guidance for analysis, such as interpreting how deep and broad, and of what scale, are the changes taking place.Second, many tools fall short of carefully exploring changes at the environmental level, and thus of shedding light on structural causes of gender inequality. Assessments that focus on the individual and relational levels reflect, and can reinforce, a programmatic and project focus on change at these levels. Such an emphasis on individual capacities risks ignoring power relations and structures that (re)produce gender inequalities and constrain women's capacities to make purposive choices (Kabeer 2005, Batliwala 2007, Woodall et al. 2012, Hillenbrand et al. 2015).Third, although many AR4D interventions focus on enhancing rural women's (and men's) resources-tangible and \"countable\" areas of change, such as income and assets, which are market-driven values (Narayan 2005, Cornwall 2014)-the tools we reviewed focus less on this dimension of empowerment. This may be because they are often integrated in larger monitoring and evaluation strategies, which include surveys that ask about changes in resources and (material) achievements. Within their focus on agency, most tools explore instrumental agency (\"power to\") rather than changes in \"power within\" and \"power with.\" This may owe to the difficulty of assessing the multiple dimensions of agency. Interventions may also privilege efforts toward what they consider they can most directly affect, such as instrumental agency (as decision-making over resources), rather than intrinsic and collective agency. These latter are difficult to address with short-term projects and funding, and may be considered out of scope and of lower value in a neoliberal development agenda.Placement of tools along the horizontal and vertical axes does not necessarily indicate the tools' ability to reveal the breadth of the changes taking place. Nor does it reflect the quality of the tools or the data they elicit per se. Data interpretation, on which most of the tools offer limited guidance, is also key to the quality of the assessments. Moreover, single tools can be integrated as part of a broader methodology that addresses other dimensions or levels of empowerment. For example, the Ladder of Power and Freedom tool constitutes one part of the GENNOVATE methodology, which combines different tools to study normative change and women's and men's empowerment in agriculture and natural resource management. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and WorldFish combined the Ladder of Power and Freedom tool with five others in qualitative case studies in Bangladesh; the other tools assessed village characteristics and wealth distribution, gendered divisions of labor, factors affecting participation in aquaculture value chains, intrahousehold decision-making processes, and access to resources and services (Choudhury et al. 2017). This combination offered insight into the informal institutional structures that influenced empowerment. Nonetheless, tools that adopt a narrow assessment focus risk reinforcing a limited and counterproductive understanding of empowerment. This calls for clarity on the scope and limitations of each tool, and on the need to implement them reflexively, considering their appropriateness and possible need for adaptation.While all tools focus their assessments of the agency dimension of empowerment mostly at the personal and/or relational level, the majority situate the analysis within the household, a formerly often neglected domain, and particularly looking at relations among spouses. Some tools rely on interviews of women only, whereas others rely on interviews with both women and men, often, but not exclusively, within the same household (Table 9.1).The WEAI and many of its related measures explicitly measure gender parity in empowerment between a woman and man within a household to understand if or how these relate to each other. Such a comparison can contribute to understanding whether and which facets of women's disempowerment result from oppressive gender regimes, and which owe to poverty and contextual constraints that disempower both women and men. Measures such as the WELI and WEI (IRRI) focus only on women, likely because of specific targets for projects set by institutions, donors, or researchers. In few cases, tools are administered to actors outside the household (such as to community leaders, in CARE's GIMT) or ask participants to reflect on empowerment at the community level (such as the 5DE and the GENNOVATE Ladder of Power and Freedom tools). Even when empowerment is assessed at the environmental level, it is done from the perspective of individuals who experience the (dis)empowering effects of societal structures.Most of the tools reviewed do not provide explicit guidance on sampling beyond the household level, as such decisions depend on the purpose of the study. Discussions of intersectionality in relation to measuring women's empowerment in AR4D are surprisingly limited in the literature and tools reviewed. Some studies provide insights into how the tools can surface how gender interacts with other axes of social discrimination to create disempowerment and marginalization. For instance, socioeconomic and demographic data collected for the WEAI and related measures enable analyses of correlations between degrees of empowerment and sex, age, marital status, and other variables.Bourdier's (2019) analysis of WEAI data in Ghana takes into account polygyny and highlights the importance of looking at which wives are sampled within a household. In Nepal, O' Hara and Clement (2018) iterate between the WEAI and subjective measures of critical consciousness, highlighting the importance of household structure (extended versus nuclear families) in affecting women's empowerment. In India, Hariharan et al. (2018) calculate the GEI-CSV in two states (Haryana and Bihar) and highlight the geographical unevenness of, and constraints to supporting, women's empowerment in different cultural contexts. In turn, Najjar et al. (2018) use 27 variables to create empowerment profiles of Egyptian women and men farmers with different land entitlements, to investigate the link between empowerment, sex of the farmer, and land access and ownership. Applied with women and men of different age and wealth groups, GENNOVATE tools enable comparative analyses that link empowerment processes with life cycle and socioeconomic status.The choice of approach, tools, and methods for assessing women's empowerment depends on the motives for the assessment, as well as its scale. Monitoring empowerment at a global level, for instance, often calls for measures that enable comparative analyses. Yet, as the concept of empowerment holds meanings only within the specific contexts it inhabits, balancing between the ability to measure across countries and assessments that capture the contextual nature of empowerment is important (Richardson 2018).Qualitative methods are particularly apt at providing contextual information and eliciting context-specific attributes of empowerment, and at grounding definitions of empowerment in the experiences of women of different backgrounds (see for example Newton et al. 2019 on participatory approaches). They are also valuable for shedding light on processes of change, including on when or how transformative change occurs (Morgan 2014, Elias andMorgan 2016). Qualitative narratives foreground the complex, emergent, and non-linear nature of empowerment, and how advances in empowerment in one area of life may, or not, be accompanied by advances (or setbacks) in another. Yet, compared with quantitative tools, qualitative tools offer less comparability, information on trends, and numerical information, which donors and decision-makers are often seeking. Quantitative tools can also be designed to be context-sensitive and comparable, if consistent guidelines and protocols for adaptation are developed.The quantitative tools reviewed here use an etic perspective when defining or conceptualizing empowerment, with some exceptions. The Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) (Galiè et al. 2019) adapts the WEAI and pro-WEAI to assess empowerment of women in the livestock sector. Two rounds of qualitative research-pre-and post-application of the survey-complement the mainly quantitative tool. A formative qualitative and participatory study captures universal dimensions of empowerment that allow for comparison across settings, and local meanings of empowerment that can be used for in-depth monitoring and assessment. Likewise, Oxfam GB's Women's Empowerment Index 12 -based on Lombardini et al.'s (2017) framework (Figure 9.1)-comprises a range of indicators that represent the characteristics of an \"empowered woman.\" These indicators are adjusted to the socioeconomic context under analysis based on qualitative fieldwork on perceptions of what constitutes an empowered woman, thereby allowing context-specific signs of empowerment to surface.The qualitative tools reviewed mostly, but not exclusively, use an emic perspective. The GENNOVATE Ladder of Power and Freedom tool takes an emic perspective in eliciting local understandings of what strategic decisions consist of and what influences ability to make them, but an etic perspective to analyzing the data. CARE's GIMT adopts a similar approach to defining empowerment using emic perspectives. The GENNOVATE methodology includes a module focused on life histories, which asks participants to identify, score, and explain the significance of key moments in different arenas of their life going back 10 years (Petesch et al. 2018). These well-being timelines reflect participants' emic understanding of the combinations, interactions, and sequencing of key events over their trajectories and their influence on subjective well-being. In general, open-ended, qualitative tools allow participants to express in their own words aspects related to resources, agency, and achievements; the different levels at which empowerment manifests itself; and their interrelationships. They also surface the relative importance of different factors in supporting or hindering empowerment.Quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing empowerment both have their strengths and limitations. Combining and triangulating methods can be valuable in both measurement and analysis. Qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to create measures, in the measures themselves, and in interpretation of results. Several tools have used qualitative methods to inform the development of quantitative measures. For instance, Oxfam uses FGD data to develop locally relevant thresholds and indicators for its Women's Empowerment Index (Lombardini and McCollum 2018). The pro-WEAI developed a suite of qualitative tools (including key informant interviews, FGDs, and life histories) to be used with the surveys. Together with past qualitative data from the project areas, these informed development of the domains, indicators, and thresholds of the index (Malapit et al. 2019, Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019). In particular, the negative views of women having \"power over\" others (notably men, but also over other women) informed the decision to exclude a domain on coercive power.The qualitative data also revealed differences between societies depending on whether individual or joint asset ownership or decision-making was considered (more) empowering. Thus, these indicators in the index accepted both individual and joint as \"empowered.\" Perhaps most importantly, the qualitative data reinforced the understanding that empowerment is relational and needs to be understood in the context of the entire family and community (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019). This underscores the importance of collecting pro-WEAI survey data from men and women or multiple members of extended families-that is, co-wives in polygynous households or mothersand daughters-in-law in extended families in South Asia.Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in the measures themselves is less common. One example, noted above, is CARE Pathways' use of FGD data on women's time use along with survey data on other indicators of women's empowerment. In CARE's GIMT, the assessment is qualitative in nature but the data collected can be quantified to demonstrate the direction of change in certain broad categories of indicators. Similarly, the GENNOVATE Ladder of Power and Freedom offers a qualitative assessment as well as a quantitative figure to show a direction and relative magnitude of change. However, combining qualitative and quantitative often entails converting qualitative to quantitative data, during which much of the nuance in and advantage of collecting qualitative data is lost.Joint or iterative use of qualitative and quantitative data for interpretation is one of the most valuable uses of mixed methods. CARE assesses women's empowerment by combining tools, such as the GIMT; the Women's Empowerment Index (Miruka et al. 2015) (see Table 9.1); the Women's Empowerment-Multidimensional Evaluation of Agency, Social Capital and Relations (WeMEASR) scale; and the Social Norms Analysis Plot (SNAP). The quantitative and qualitative data may contradict each other, but this is not a drawback of this method (ibid.). Rather, the creative tension between qualitative and quantitative findings should be anticipated and appreciated, and can be used to add nuance to the understanding and interpretation of results. For instance, by combining the WEAI, their constructed measure of critical consciousness, and qualitative data, O'Hara and Clement (2018) could better capture local understandings of empowerment within a broader cultural context that shapes values, meanings, and identities. Galiè et al. (2019) illustrate the value of integrating methods in interpretation. They combine data from the WELI and quantitative indicators of food security with FGD data from pastoralist households in Tanzania. They find no significant association between women's empowerment and household food security in the quantitative analysis; yet, in FGDs, women identified mechanisms through which changes in their time use and control over livestock and land resources had influenced their ability to provide sufficient nutritious food for their families. Further analysis points to gender differences in who is in charge of securing food versus nutrition at household level-men and women, respectively, in this context. Analysis of the qualitative data associated with pro-WEAI also reveals interconnections among the quantitative indicators. For instance, burdens on women's time as well as relations with their husbands and in-laws limit women's mobilities and abilities to participate in groups (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019). Projects that promote group membership should address such disempowering aspects, for instance by engaging with husbands and mothers-in-law.The growing number of tools and methods for assessing women's empowerment in agriculture and beyond reflects significant efforts to advance this field. Yet urgent political and ethical questions as well as substantive challenges remain. First, women's empowerment remains framed predominantly as a pathway for enhanced agricultural outcomes (for example FAO 2011, World Bank 2012). In this regard, women farmers are expected to adopt technologies to increase productivity and food and nutrition security, without questioning their roles and responsibilities. Accordingly, tools designed to assess such processes focus on individual women's access to material resources or visible forms of agency, such as decision-making. This reinforces flawed assumptions about how empowerment may be achieved through agriculture. Yet caution is needed: \"Such forms of agency might not lead to social change and to collective action that would allow women to challenge oppressive economic, social and political structures, as long as women do not critically reflect on gender inequalities and its structural causes\" (O'Hara and Clement 2018, 121). A renewed focus is thus necessary on critical consciousness and women's collective action, and their key role in empowerment and gender equality-and, more generally, meaningful social change.Challenging apolitical and instrumentalist views of empowerment in AR4D will require refocusing methodologies to explore women's collective and intrinsic agency (\"power with\" and \"power within\") and identify the power relations and structures-the environmental-level elements and the \"power over\"-that underpin women's disempowerment and gender inequalities. The pro-WEAI takes an important step in this direction by incorporating domains related to intrinsic and collective agency. So, too, does the emerging body of research on gender transformative approaches (see Chapter 10, this volume) that builds on efforts to assess normative change in the field of AR4D (CARE 2017) and beyond (BMGF 2018).Second, a focus on women's empowerment in agriculture should not lose sight of the possibility that agriculture itself is not always empowering for women (or men). The prospects agriculture can offer as a pathway toward empowerment depend on women's aspirations; and empowerment will ultimately require that women have the resources and agency to choose to pursue meaningful livelihoods within or beyond the sector. The agricultural focus of several tools presented offers important insights but may divert attention from other areas of rural women's lives that are at least as relevant for empowerment. More holistic measures that capture empowerment outside agriculture are needed, to avoid the risk of misclassifying women who have left agriculture as disempowered.Third and related, there is a need to systematically document how shifts in empowerment and transformative change occur within agriculture and NRM and beyond, at what level(s), and for whom. Qualitative or mixed methods approaches can help us focus on the change mechanisms and trajectories that enable women to empower themselves. These methodologies will also be highly valuable for incorporating a meaningful intersectional perspective. Representative samples that are comparable across social groups can also add to capturing the diverse, lived realities of marginalized groups (Yount et al. 2018).Fourth, measures of empowerment must be able to detect situations in which advances lead to backlash and setbacks in a change trajectory. Positive change in some dimensions can engender impediments in others. Women's economic empowerment does not necessarily correlate with familial, psychological, legal, political, and socio-cultural dimensions of empowerment (Bayissa et al. 2018). In fact, it can be a double-edged sword, leading to regressive change in certain dimensions. Serious challenges to social power structures can create resistance, which may be misinterpreted as a lack of effectiveness if assessments are not sensitive to this process. This potential backlash has implications from a programmatic perspective and has not yet been adequately resolved in measures of women's empowerment (for example Batliwala and Pittman 2010).Fifth, measures must grapple with the nuances and complexities of decision-making and agency. The WEAI and related measures have made progress in recognizing different degrees of \"jointness\" in decision-making among spouses or household members, and preferences for joint decision-making in some conditions and cultures (Acharya et al. 2010, Belcher et al. 2011, Farnworth et al. 2019). It is equally relevant to recognize that, in some situations, women may not wish to be involved in certain types of decisions (Nazneen et al. 2014). An ideal measure of empowerment should be able to discern such scenarios of \"choosing not to choose\" (Kabeer 1999) as a sign of agency rather than lack thereof. Measures and interpretations should also be sensitive to how heightened self-awareness and critical consciousness can give rise to a decreased sense of agency (Freire 1970). Women's exposure to new spaces, information, and critical reflections on their lives can lead them to (downwardly) reassess their own knowledge and sense of empowerment (for example Galiè 2013).The refocusing of methodologies, as outlined above, calls for significant changes within AR4D. Action-oriented research with multiple actors (such as researchers, diverse local groups, non-governmental organizations, local authorities, government, etc.) can be particularly well suited to understand and address some of the underlying causes of women's disempowerment and gender inequalities (see also Cornwall 2016). Such research, which engages with social hierarchies, is complex and messy, and can push AR4D researchers outside of their comfort zone. Yet it can also help unearth the structural barriers that create privilege and opportunity for some, and constraints, exclusions, and disempowerment for others.There is also large potential in \"using unconventional tools, creative use of conventional methods, and thinking outside the box for capturing the less researched aspects or developing a deeper understanding of women's empowerment\" (Nazneen et al. 2014, 59). These include participatory photography (Cornwall and Sardenberg 2014), storytelling and creative writing (Ali 2014), intergenerational life history narratives (Tsikata and Darkwah 2014), and other methods informed by feminist ethics and epistemological considerations (Cornwall and Sardenberg 2014). Visual methods have shown their worth for exploring relational agency and aspirations, and surfacing emotions and feelings that are difficult to express verbally (Eger et al. 2018), but are used only marginally in AR4D.Embracing less conventional and mixed-methods approaches to assessing empowerment will require new commitments from the AR4D community. It will mean learning to respect and dialogue across disciplines rooted in different epistemological traditions, and also adequate investment in strengthening capacities in (qualitative) research that demands a specific set of skills that is often in shorter supply in the sector. The AR4D ecosystem will need to move beyond a preference for quantitative data and experimental designs; reconsider assumptions that change follows a linear trajectory; open itself up to exploring unanticipated and negative outcomes; value changes in relationships that are often less visible, tangible, and thus measurable; and allow (and budget) for assessments (and changes) to take place well beyond short project cycles, considering that empowerment and social change can be lengthy processes (Morgan 2014). These efforts can bring us closer to the changes needed for women to empower themselves and advance gender equality through and beyond agriculture.  1990 1991-1999 2000-2005 2006-2010 2011-2015 2016-2021 Timeline for references cited","tokenCount":"8377"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1707888368.json b/data/part_1/1707888368.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..21546710b9a226a6b8067c0bd4efb86f68ed2884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1707888368.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6a4b4ce4166c95f0d0dadde307b71fc1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f261f9e3-5e73-4f9d-8f7f-95269cf44c9a/retrieve","id":"-2123383788"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d5171ca-0277-4354-8a66-93191e33202a","pagecount":"71","content":"Wild, Anna-Sophie. 2022. Women and African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs): Cultivation and the Informal Seed System in Vihiga County, Kenya. Master thesis at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (Austria).African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) play an important role for food sovereignty and nutritional security, with women central in the cultivation of ALVs on smallholder farms in Kenya. However, the main constraint of ALV cultivation in Kenya is the lack of available and accessible quality seeds. The aims of this thesis are to (1) identify which ALVs are cultivated and which factors influence cultivation, (2) to identify the sources of ALV seeds and which factors influence the informal seed system, and finally to(3) describe and analyze the extent in which women participate in and make decisions about the cultivation of ALVs. To fulfill these aims, data was taken from a 2018 baseline survey of 431 households in Vihiga County, located in the Lake Victoria Basin in Western Kenya. Over 88% of smallholder farmers in Vihiga County cultivate up to ten different ALV species, with over 90% of seeds stemming from three informal seed sources: the local market, own seeds, and farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Women are key actors in the cultivation of ALVs, more often responsible for ALV cultivation than men and more likely to cultivate ALVs. Women make most of the decisions regarding cultivation, sale and income through ALVs and are the central custodians in the ALV seed system. Understanding gendered intrahousehold dynamics and the gendered informal seed system of ALVs is essential for supporting ALV cultivation, ALV community seed bank initiatives and on-farm ALV seed conservation projects.African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) have an enormous potential for food sovereignty and nutritional security. The cultivation and consumption of ALVs in Kenya has been increasing over the past 30 years, in part due to the growing awareness of their high nutritional value (Gotor and Irungu 2010, Mwaura et al. 2013, Pincus et al. 2018), due to the multiple advantages of ALV cultivation for smallholder farmers compared to other crops (Abukutsa- Onyango 2007, Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999, Mwaura et al. 2013), and due to an increase in urban consumer demand (Chelang'a et al. 2013, Mwaura et al. 2013). However, the main constraint of ALV cultivation in Kenya is the lack of available and accessible quality seeds (Chadha et al. 2007, Pincus et al. 2018, Srinivasulu Rajendran et al. 2016), a challenge faced by smallholder farmers worldwide and a major contributor to rural food insecurity. Seed insecurity remains a yearly challenge, as the demand for ALVs seeds is in many cases far higher than what the informal and formal seed markets can deliver (Pincus et al. 2018). Informal seed systems are the main source of seeds for smallholder farmers in Western Africa (McGuire und Sperling 2016, Pincus et al. 2018) and are vital for in-situ conservation, maintaining and increasing agrobiodiversity and ensuring future crop improvement around the world (Badstue et al. 2006, Coomes et al. 2015, Stromberg et al. 2010).Women are responsible for the cultivation of many crops worldwide, such as ALVs in Kenya. However, women's perspectives, knowledge and experiences have historically been excluded from agricultural research and development (Chambers andMomsen 2007, Ferguson 1994). Not only are ALVs in western Kenya predominantly cultivated, handled and marketed by women (Nekesa andMeso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018), but women are as well responsible for seed production, selection, conservation, and storage (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002, Gill et al. 2013, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020). They are the holders of agroecological knowledge on seeds and varieties (Delêtre et al. 2011). Utilizing a gendered perspective on agriculture and in particular on ALV cultivation and seed systems highlights the gendered social organization of labor and power. Understanding women's participation and decision making ability, and access to and control over productive assets, is essential for gender equality, with intrahousehold power dynamics influencing who finally benefits from increases in household income through ALV cultivation (Doss 2013, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020, Quisumbing 2003b). Women-controlled resources can not only increase their bargaining power in the household, but can also improve the situation of women and children's health, nutrition, and education (Quisumbing 2003a). This thesis is embedded in the project from Bioversity International in Kenya: 'Improving access to and benefits from a wealth of diverse seeds to support on-farm biodiversity for healthy people in resilient landscapes'. It has the applied purpose of supporting ALV cultivation, ALV community seed bank initiatives and on-farm ALV seed conservation projects in Kenya. The aims of this thesis are to (1) identify which ALVs are cultivated and which factors influence cultivation, to (2) identify the sources of ALV seeds and which factors influence the informal seed system, and finally (3) to describe and analyze the extent in which women participate in and make decisions about the cultivation of ALVs.To fulfill these aims, data was taken from a baseline survey of 446 households done in 2018 in Vihiga County, located in the Lake Victoria Basin in Western Kenya.\"To define what is and what is not a vegetable was found to be far from easy, so that rather than attempting to redefine the meaning of the word, reliance was made on what local people considered to be vegetables.\" (Schippers 2000) Scientific publications use different terms, sometimes interchangeably, to describe the over 1000 species of vegetables that have been cultivated or gathered in many parts of Africa for generations (Pincus et al. 2018). These species are either indigenous or have become naturalized in the culture and are very diverse, reflecting not only the diversity of plants but of the African cultures as well. These vegetables typically fall under the category neglected or underutilized species, as they are seldom integrated in national and international development plans, are not sold on the global market, and are rarely researched (Chelang'a et al. 2013, Chweya andEyzaguirre 1999). However, these vegetables hold an enormous potential for food and nutrition security, sustainable livelihoods and are an integral part of localized culture and agrobiodiversity (Abukutsa- Onyango 2007, Towns andShackleton 2018). The terms used include African leafy vegetables, traditional leafy vegetables, indigenous vegetables, African indigenous vegetables, indigenous leafy vegetables, leafy vegetables and finally traditional vegetables (Towns and Shackleton 2018).I will use the term African leafy vegetables, or ALV, to describe vegetable species cultivated in Africa for consumption of their leaves. ALVs are indigenous or naturalized, in contrast to the main \"exotic\" vegetables found on the global market.The cultivation of ALVs has been increasing over the past 30 years, with most farmers in Kenya growing one or more species of ALVs (Gotor and Irungu 2010, Mwaura et al. 2013, Pincus et al. 2018). This increase is primarily consumer driven, with the demand for ALVs growing year by year (Mwaura et al. 2013). ALVs are now sold not only in rural areas, but as well in peri-urban and urban areas, with urban consumers willing to pay premium prices for ALVs (Chelang'a et al. 2013). ALV consumption in Kenya has also been increasing through a growing awareness of their nutritional value. ALVs are high in micronutrients, such as vitamin A, B, and C, as well as minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and potassium (Gotor andIrungu 2010, Pincus et al. 2018). A small portion of ALVs can contain more than 100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamins and minerals, as well as be an important source of protein for children (Abukutsa-Onyango 2007).There are four different ways in which ALVs can be cultivated or collected (Chweya andEyzaguirre 1999, Mbugua et al. 2011). First, they can be gathered from wild plants or bushes in the fields. Second, they can be semi-cultivated as \"weeds\", where the plants are either weeded out or left to grow alongside planted crops. Third, ALVs can be harvested from crops which are not primarily grown for their leaves, but rather for their seeds, tubers, or fruit. And fourth, ALVs can be explicitly cultivated solely for their leaves, with varieties selected specifically for their leaf characteristics. This last category of ALVs is the one I will focus on.In Vihiga county, Kenya smallholder farmers own between 0.5 and 5 hectares of land, of which around 5% to 30% is used for the cultivation of ALVs (Mary Abukutsa- Onyango 2007). ALVs are grown either in the home or kitchen garden, or as an intercrop between cereals, legumes, root crops, and fruit trees. As with other agronomical activities, everything is done by hand, from land preparation to planting and weeding. Seeds are either sown in rows or broadcasted on the plot, with no specific spacing (Chelang'a et al. 2013). Farmyard manure is the main source of fertilization. In general, ALVs are grown with few agricultural inputs (Pincus et al. 2018) and in Vihiga county, no farmers reported using chemical fertilizers for ALV cultivation (Mary Abukutsa-Onyango 2007). Seeding is done at the beginning of the two rainy seasons, i.e., in March and in September, with a continuous harvest starting around 4 weeks after sowing. Harvesting is done at a weekly basis, removing young shoots and leaves, and can continue for a period of three months. If seeds are desired, ALVs are matured for another two months until seed collection (Abukutsa-Onyango 2007).The following factors significantly influence farmers decisions to cultivate ALVs in the Kiambu District near Nairobi: income, primary occupation of the farmer, distance to market, access to extension services, access to technical support and distance to piped water source (proxy as access to water) (Mwaura et al. 2013). Income is negatively related with ALV production, with an increase in household income resulting in a decrease in the probability that a household cultivates ALV. At the same time, those households which depend primarily on farming are more likely to cultivate ALVs. Importantly, the distance to the market also plays a part, with those households closer to the market significantly more likely to cultivate ALVs than those farther off. There is a negative relationship between ALV cultivation and distance to piped water supply, i.e. the nearer a household is to a piped water source, the more likely the household cultivates ALVs. Access to extension services as well as access to technical support both have a significant positive influence on ALV cultivation. The following factors were not shown to significantly influence farmer's decision to cultivate ALVs in Kenya: household size, age, gender, education, marital status, experience in farming, land size, and credit (Mwaura et al. 2013).There are multiple advantages for smallholder farmers when cultivating ALVs. ALVs not only have a short production cycle, with a harvest possible within a few weeks, but also can be continuously harvested over the course of many months. In addition, ALVs have low nutrient demands and can therefore be cultivated in poor soils (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999), with little fertilization (Abukutsa- Onyango 2007). ALVs also have a high tolerance for biotic and abiotic stresses (Abukutsa-Onyango 2007). All these factors make it an ideal crops for smallholder farmers who often have small plots and limited resources (Mwaura et al. 2013).There are also many benefits of cultivating ALVs when compared to \"exotic\" vegetables, such as cabbage or spinach. ALVs have lower production costs due to lower fertilization requirements and less expensive seeds. Input costs can be lowered further if farmers produce their own seeds, as is possible with the open pollinating ALVs species but not for many \"exotic\" vegetables. Additionally, there is less of a pest and disease pressure for ALVs than crops such as kale and ALVs are more drought resistant (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999). The lower production cost is paired with an increase of harvests per year, as ALVs have a fast rate of maturity and can be continuously harvested (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999). Finally, there is a high consumer demand for ALVs, with not only relatively high prices but also a potential growth of the market (Muhanji et al. 2011).There are various potential agronomic advantages for smallholder farmers when cultivating ALVs. Certain ALVs, such as cowpea or slender leaf, are nitrate-fixing plants, and can be used as an intercrop with maize, thereby improving soil fertility and nitrogen levels in the soil (Mbugua et al. 2011). In addition, intercropping can reduce soil evaporation, enabling maize to withstand dryer periods. During the rainy season, the cover crop can reduce the impact of rainwater on the soil and soil erosion. Finally, intercropping ALVs can suppress other non-edible weeds and some ALV species can reduce parasite pressures (Mbugua et al. 2011, Nekesa andMeso 2018).With all the advantages mentioned, smallholder farmers still face many challenges with the production of ALVs. The main challenge is a limited access to seeds, as well as poor seed quality (Abukutsa- Onyango 2007). Other challenges include pest and disease pressure, drought and the lack of irrigation, low yields, and poor marketing channels, with low market prices, competition with \"exotic\" vegetables, and insufficient transport means to the market (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999, Mbugua et al. 2011) (Abukutsa-Onyango 2007). ALV markets and market chains are not really developed or established and face fundamental difficulties (Pincus et al. 2018). Leafy vegetables are highly perishable and face enormous challenges for proper storage (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999).While there has been an increase in ALV cultivation, there has also been a decrease in ALV collection in the wild, which faces many challenges due to population increase and climate change (Gotor and Irungu 2010). This is partnered with a continuous loss of indigenous knowledge regarding African vegetables. The loss of indigenous knowledge is attributed to the introduction of new \"exotic\" vegetables, to governmental agriculture and health policies, changes in lifestyles, and cultural stigma branding ALVs as a \"poor\" person's food (Dweba and Mearns 2011).There are over 200 species of ALVs cultivated in Kenya (Chelang'a et al. 2013), however I will focus on those ALVs which are explicitly cultivated solely for their leaves, with varieties selected specifically for their leaf characteristics. The following ALV species are the most cultivated species in Western Kenya: Vigna unguiculata (cowpea leaves), Amaranthus spp. (amaranth), Crotalaria brevidens/C. ochroleuca. (slender leaf), Solanum villosum/S. scabrum (African nightshade), Cleome gynandra (spider plant), and Corchorus olitorius (jute mallow). Additionally, Cucurbita spp. (pumpkin leaves), Brassica carinata (Ethiopian Kale), Basella alba (Vine/Malaba spinach) and Manihot esculenta (cassava leaves) are cultivated, although to a lesser extent (Abukutsa- Onyango 2005, Abukutsa-Onyango 2007, Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999, Croft et al. 2018, Onyango et al. 2013, (Weinberger et al. 2011). In the appendix, Table 4 provides an overview of the binomial nomenclature, the common English name I will be using, as well as the Luhya, Luo and Kiswahili name used by smallholder famers in Vihiga County, Kenya.Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) are indigenous to Africa and have been cultivated over centuries, leading to a plethora of varieties (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999). While there is extensive literature on cowpeas used as a pulse crop, the varieties grown primarily for their leaves have been sidelined, even though they are an important source of leafy vegetables in arid and semi-arid areas. Varieties grown for cowpea leaves are drought resistant, with deep roots able to access soil moisture in deeper levels (Schippers 2000).The main amaranth species grown in Africa are A. gracezians, A. thunbergii, A. blitum, A. spinosus, A. dubius, and A.cruentus. The most common amaranth species in eastern Africa are Amaranthus blitum and Amarnthus cruentus. A. blitum is thought to originally originate from the Mediterranean region. The most popular variety is the green-leafed variety, which goes by the Luo name of dodoo. A. cruentus has inflorescent large leaves which are twice as long as they are wide, as well as pointed leaf tips. It most likely originated from Central America and is a common weed in cultivated fields. In Kiswahili, this species is called mchicha (Schippers 2000).A. blitum and A. cruentas can be broad sown in a plant bed and harvested as a whole plant (and subsequently sold at the market) or it can be sown or transplanted in the kitchen garden, where side shoots and leaves are harvested continuously. Amaranth is a C4 plant, where the photosynthesis cycle works more efficiently when there is sufficient light, water, minerals, and a high temperature compared to C3 plants. Amaranthus can be harvested four to five weeks after sowing. The seeds are either collected and purposefully sown or are left to fall naturally from the plant to the soil and germinate the following year. Amaranth do appreciate fertilized soils, with high levels of nitrogen delaying flowering and thereby increasing the yield. Ideally, organic matter or well-fermented manure can be used as fertilization. Drought stress lead to an early flowering by Amaranthus. Therefore, irrigation would be ideal, although this is rarely done outside (peri)-urban areas (Schippers 2000).Amaranth species are anemophily plants, i.e. the pollen is spread by the wind. A. blitum and A. cruentus, are both monoecious, i.e. the staminate and pistillate are both on one plant. Due to the large amount of pollen produced and its anemophily, there is a high level of self-pollination, but it is also very easy for varieties to cross with one another. That is why different varieties need to be isolated and separated by at least 200 meters if cultivated for its seed (Schippers 2000).The genus Crotalaria is a leguminous plant, and two Crotalaria species are used in leafy vegetables in Eastern Africa, Crotolaria ochroleuca and crotolaria brevidens. Both species grow wild and are cultivated as a leafy vegetable. Slender leaf is grown either as a monocrop or intercropped with finger millet or other vegetables which benefit from the nitrogen fixating and nematode suppressing attributes of Crotalaria. This is also the reason why it is an ideal plant in a crop rotation system. While slender leaf is a nitrogen fixating plant, it does still grow stronger with fertilization. Slender leaf has few antagonistic pests or diseases and has a long taproot and long lateral roots, enabling it to reach soil moisture deeper in the soil. Farmers can either uproot the whole plant or harvest continuously after about 6 weeks. The side shoots can be harvested every two weeks and up to 15 times. The leaves are used fresh or dried and in soups (Schippers 2000).The seeds of slender leaf are broadcasted in the plot and germinate easily after a few days. Slender leaf will start seeding after the farmers stop harvesting, which is generally at the beginning of the dry season. Slender leaf is mainly self-pollinating, enabling farmers to collect relatively pure seeds. These seeds are comparably expensive and can generate an income if sold at the local market (Schippers 2000).African nightshade species belong to the Solanum nigrum complex. The most cultivated species in Eastern Africa are the purple-berried Solanum scabrum and the orange-berried Solanum villosum. Both species are indigenous to Africa and S. villosum has spread to southern Europe and the Middle East. African nightshade species are difficult to identify.African nightshade is either sown directly or seedlings are transplanted. African nightshade requires larger amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients than other ALVs and has a high pest intolerance. African nightshade is first harvested after around 5 weeks, when the stem is cut, allowing for new growth of the side shoots. For S. scabrum, the harvest continues every one to two weeks and up to 4 times per plant. If the plant is sufficiently fertilized and irrigated, it can be harvested up to 10 times. S. villosum can be harvested weekly, with up to 10 harvests per plant, or can be uprooted as a whole plant. African nightshade can be eaten fresh, dried, or made into a \"cake\" through boiling with milk, compressing and fermenting. This is used as a substitute for meat in western Kenya (Schippers 2000).African nightshades are predominately self-pollinating, with varieties easily stabilized and uniformed. However, there are bees and flies which can affect pollination. Therefore, plants cultivated for seed production should be planted in blocks, with the outer plants and their berries discarded. Collecting and preparing seeds from the berries of African nightshades is labor and time intensive. While S. villosum seeds can be bought from the Kenya Seed Company, seed availability remains a major constraint for African nightshade production (Schippers 2000).Cleome gynandra is a member of the Capparaceae family, indigenous to Africa and grown in many predominantly low-rainfall regions in central, eastern, and southern Africa (Onyango et al. 2013). Spider plant is a C4 plant, with an efficient photosynthetic cycle. This efficient vegetative growth declines though with flowering, which is why flowers are typically removed. There is a wide diversity of spider plant varieties, with purple or green stems, short or long pods, small or large leaves etc. Spider plants can be bitter and some varieties are used for medicinal purposes (Schippers 2000). Spider plant is important for women, as its nutritious properties are known and eaten especially by pregnant and lactating women (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999).Spider plant is often cultivated as an afterthought, with little attention given other than weeding. The plants can be left to reseed themselves, although farmers in drier areas do collect seeds and irrigate the crop. As a C4 plant, spider plant grows best in direct sunlight. Fertilization through farmyard manure and organic matter delays flowering, leading to higher yields of leaves. The seeds are sowed directly, as spider plant has a taproot, hindering transplanting. The seeds however do not typically germinate uniformly. Spider plant has a fast rate of maturity and can be continuously harvested after a few weeks or it can be uprooted as a whole plant, although this is seldom done (Schippers 2000).Spider plant is open-pollinated and are monoecious, with flowers that are either protandry (facilitating cross-pollination through temporal means) or self-pollinating (Chweya and Eyzaguirre 1999). Breeding therefore is done in isolation, where late flowering and large leaves are selected, although there has not been a lot of research and breeding done in the past (Schippers 2000).The genus Corchorus is most known for its species that produce fiber but there are several species which are cultivated and/or gathered as a vegetable, the most common one being Chorchorus olitorius. C. olitorius is considered to be indigenous to Africa, although there are many related species in Asia (Schippers 2000).Jute mallow is commonly broadcasted, although some farmers sow directly or transplant seedlings, as the seeds have a high dormancy rate, hindering uniform germination. Jute mallow requires high soil moisture, which is why over 80% of production is during the rainy season. Harvesting is done either continuously up to four times or through uprooting the whole plant. This depends on the variety of jute mallow, with some selected for late maturing. Harvest can already occur after 4 weeks, and jute mallow can be dried and preserved in a powder form. However, the market value of jute mallow is low compared to other TLVs (Schippers 2000).Farmers producing their own jute mallow seed select for rapid early growth, a late flowering, and large leaves. While C. olitorius is self-pollinating, up to 10% of seeds can be cross-pollinated. To produce jute mallow seeds, the dry stems and branches are beat with sticks to release the seeds from the capsule and then winnowed. If the capsules are harvested too late, the seeds are more likely to be dormant longer (Schippers 2000).Obtaining quality seeds that meet the needs of famers is one of the most essential parts of crop production. Nonetheless, farmers in the Global South continue to face challenges accessing preferred quality seeds. Not only are there challenges regarding the material and physical access to seeds, which depend on the availability of seeds, but as well the reliability and availability of information about the quality of seeds (Schöley andPadmanabhan 2017, Stromberg et al. 2010). These challenges are commonly addressed through three closely related concepts: seed security, seed sovereignty and seed systems.The concept of seed security originates from emergency seed aid literature (Mulesa et al. 2021) and builds on four parameters, originally derived from food security: availability, access, utilization, and resilience (McGuire and Sperling 2011). The availability of seeds refers not only to a spatial proximity, but also a temporal availability, i.e. when farmers need seeds at a specific time for sowing. Access to seeds includes the capability of farmers to produce their own seeds, the resources required to obtain seeds and the relevant information needed. Seed utilization refers to whether seeds can meet the farmer's needs regarding quality and quality. And finally, resilience refers to the knowledge, skills, and planting materials which farmers need to maintain adequate seed quality and quantity (McGuire and Sperling 2011).The concept of seed sovereignty builds on seed security and refers to the ability of farmers to control seed types, production, and distribution (Bezner Kerr 2013). Seed security does not automatically entail if farmers themselves have control or determination over the type of seeds they use or are included in breeding programs for new varieties. Farmer's control over seeds has been chipped away through the commercialization of breeding, the development of hybridization and genetic modification, and the subsequent development of national and international restrictive intellectual property rights (Kloppenburg 2010). Seed sovereignty addresses these issues by including the democratic principle of control over ones resources, bringing farmers to the forefront of seed policies, breeding programs, and conservation of agrobiodiversity (Bezner Kerr 2013).Seed system research addresses the issue of seeds from a systems perspective, focusing not only on the actors and institutions, but as well the structures that influence the development, distribution and use of seeds (Mulesa et al. 2021). The term seed system describes the network of seed channels which supplies farmers with seeds as well cuttings, pseudostems and tubers from (un-)domesticated plants. Literature on seed systems normally distinguish between two seed systems, the formal and informal system (McGuire 2008). The aim of seed system research is to improve seed security and seed sovereignty, as well as support crop and species diversity (Badstue et al. 2006).The formal seed system is characterized by (trans-)national regulations, certified seeds, and property rights of commercial breeders. The channels in the formal seed system, through which smallholder farmers access seeds, take place in research stations, (non-)governmental institutions and commercial seed suppliers, such as agro-vet shops. The formal seed system is a global system, impacted by global markets and global agro-businesses, especially trans-national seed corporations (Louwaars and Boef 2012). The historical development of the formal seed system in the Global North was partly advanced by new breakthroughs in genetics, such as heterosis, and the following commercialization of breeding. This development was on par with the general increase of inputs in farming, including fertilizers, chemical crop protections, and machines. This led to a more specialized and larger farm structure, with the formal seed sector supplying reliable and uniform seeds, protected by a range of new seed laws (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002).In the Global South, the development of the formal seed system took a different path, gaining in importance during the \"Green Revolution\" with the introduction of hybrid seeds of the major food crops, such as rice and wheat. The breeding programs were often initiated by public and private foundations, such as the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). These foundations focused on reaching as many farmers as possible in the Global South with high yielding varieties of the major food crops and were biased towards high potential areas. It is debated whether the \"Green Revolution\" improved the living conditions of farmers in the Global south, since the seed varieties were most successful in favorable agro-ecological conditions (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002). The formal seed system has several limitations when it comes to supplying seeds for smallholder farmers in the Global South. Even though national and transnational policies have focused predominately on the formal seed system and have had success in increasing the quality and accessibility of seeds, this has worked mainly for the few main cash crops that are sold on the global market (Louwaars and Boef 2012). Breeding and improving traditional vegetables for example is often not feasible and economic for seed companies, as the demand and growth potential is limited (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002). Formal markets are not able to react to the small quantities of seeds demanded by smallholder farmers, the dispersed and hard-to reach location of smallholder farmers and the changing demands made (McGuire and Sperling 2016). In addition, while formal seed markets are able to supply higher-yielding and higher quality seeds, they may not be able to supply seeds that have the same resilience to local biotic and abiotic stresses as farm-saved seeds. Finally, while NGOs have been increasingly investing in seed aid, these programs may be lowering the price of seeds on the local market, thereby limiting the development of local farmer-run seed enterprises (Croft et al. 2018).The informal seed system is characterized by social relations, cultural norms, and localized structures (Ricciardi 2015). Smallholder farmers access seeds through local markets, farmer-to-farmer exchanges, social networks including family relations, and by collecting and producing their own seeds (Louwaars and Boef 2012). Farmers use different types of transactions (cash based, trade, gift, inheritance etc.) to exchange predominantly local varieties, non-certified improved varieties, and openpollinated varieties (Schöley und Padmanabhan 2017). The informal seed systems are constituted by kinship relations, gender dynamics, market dynamics, development policies and regimes, and climatic factors (Ricciardi 2015).Although more research, development, and investment are focused on the formal seed system, the informal seed system remains a key pillar of farmer livelihoods and small-scale agriculture. Smallholder farmers in the Global South source over 90% of their seeds from the informal seed system (McGuire und Sperling 2016). Smallholder farmers save and exchange seeds to lower input costs, for experimentation of new varieties, to aqcuire planting material, to mitigate seed loss, etc. Farmer seed systems are sometimes the only source of local varities and underutilzed crops, which are not bred on the formal market (Schöley und Padmanabhan 2017).Farmer seed systems are not closed systems that just recycle older varieties and exchange them sporadically among farmers. Rather, farmers breed new varieties from genetic material found in their community, in the wild and in the formal seed system (Coomes et al. 2015). Through the exchange of seed varieties among farmers in relatively isolated networks, these seeds can adapt to specific production environments and lead to the development of local genotypes, thereby maintaining agrobiodiversity (Abay et al. 2011). Agrobiodiversity is a key part of food sovereignty and food security, especially in times of climate change, land use intensification, urbanization and structural change in the rural population (Pautasso et al. 2013). Farmer seed systems are vital for in-situ conservation, including genetic, morphological and varietal diversity of plant populations, increasing seed diversity and building the basis for crop improvement around the world. (Badstue et al. 2006, Coomes et al. 2015, Stromberg et al. 2010). Importantly, farmer seed systems are often the only source of seed for traditional crops and varieties, as well as neglected and under-utilized species (Gill et al. 2013).While informal seed systems have been the basis of seed supply for smallholder farmers (and continues to be the only source of seed for local and underutilized crops and varieties), it suffers from many limitations and marginalization. Seeds are not always available in the informal seed systems, with natural and social disturbances leading to seed shortages (Louwaars and Boef 2012). The quality of seeds may be compromised, stemming from disease pressure, poor germination capacity, degeneration etc. In general, there is little investment in the seed system, with minimal technical support for seed growers and breeders. The dominant agricultural development regime promotes large-scale policies and initiatives by agribusinesses, supporting the interests of (trans-)national seed companies. Quality seed is thought to only stem from commercial or governmental seed breeders, with the private seed sector the only avenue for the dissemination of seeds. Informal seed systems are considered inefficient, unreliable, with low quality seeds. This is why many countries have passed regulations weakening the informal seed system, as it is considered a hindrance for the modernization of agriculture (Coomes et al. 2015). Kenya's National Seed Policy recognizes the existence of the informal seed system, but excludes it from any development plans and bans farmer seed exchanges and informal purchases (Mucioki et al. 2018).Research on the informal seed system focuses on social system and networks of seed exchanges (Abay et al. 2011, Badstue et al. 2006, Badstue et al. 2007, Gill et al. 2013, Kiptot et al. 2006, Ricciardi 2015), on in-situ conservation, agrobiodiversity and the diffusion of new seeds (Leclerc and Coppens d'Eeckenbrugge 2012, Pautasso et al. 2013, Stromberg et al. 2010, Tadesse et al. 2017) and seed system development (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002, Coomes et al. 2015, Louwaars and Boef 2012, McGuire and Sperling 2013, Mucioki et al. 2018, Mulesa et al. 2021, Sperling and McGuire 2010). This is done through ethnographic studies, social network analysis, surveys, and genetic analysis. The aim is oftentimes conserving species diversity and strengthening human relationships in informal seed systems (Ricciardi 2015). Research on informal seed systems, while growing, is still underdeveloped and underfunded. Little is known about even seed networks of major crops such as maize, and even less of traditional and underutilized crops (Gill et al. 2013). Smallholder farmers in the Global South rarely keep records of their seed transactions and it is therefore difficult to make precise seed flows. When estimating seed flows, researchers are dependent on the recalled accounts given, and farmers will more likely remember their seed acquisitions in contrast to their seed distribution (Badstue et al. 2006).In the last 20 years, the number of seed sources utilized by smallholder farmers in the Global South has increased. In the past, farmers would obtain their seeds from two main sources: the farmers own seed stocks and neighboring farmers. The transaction type was primarily barter and the species primarily traditional varieties. This has changed, with smallholder farmers utilizing formal as well as informal seed sources and accessing traditional as well as \"improved\" varieties with a range of different transaction types (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017).While farmers do not always source their seeds each year from the same person per se, they are likely to use the same general source in the informal seed system, either the local market, own stock, friends/neighbors/relatives and/or community-based seed groups (Violon et al. 2016). A large study by McGuire and Spering (2016) showed that the local market is by far the main source for seeds, accounting for 50.9% of all seeds obtained. The second most import source was the farmer's own stock, accounting for 1/3 of the seeds sown and varying between 28% and 45% of seeds, depending on the site in Africa. Seeds from friends/neighbors/relatives accounted for almost 10% of the total seed, while seeds from community-based seed groups were less than 1%. The sources of seeds were highly determined by the crop cluster (cereals, legumes, vegetatively-propagated crops, and maize) (McGuire and Sperling 2016).The local market brings together many different types of seed traders and vendors, each working on different levels in the informal and formal seed system. At the top are big traders, who sell their seeds to distant areas and sell down to the medium-level traders. The medium-level traders may either get their seeds directly from farmers, seed collectors or grain millers, while supplying seeds directly to farmers. Collectors link farmers and bigger merchants, buying and selling seeds to farmers and traders. And finally, farmers themselves may sell at local markets, in addition to selling their seeds to collectors or medium-level traders (Sperling and McGuire 2010). In Tanzania, farmer-produced seeds are a stream of income for more than half of smallholder farmers, especially for local seed entrepreneurs (Pincus et al. 2018).Farmers source their seeds from local markets for multiple reasons. First, farmers use local markets to access new varieties, often buying only small amounts of seeds for experimentation. Second, farmers turn to markets in times of crisis, where their own seed stocks and those in their community are depleted. This depletion may stem from poor yields, where farmers will prioritize consumption or sale over storing seeds, or it may stem from seed loss due to poor storage, unforeseen crisis, insufficient germination, or loss of seedlings. Local markets are in many cases more flexible than seed aid, as farmers are more able to choose crops and varieties according to their needs. Third, there is a general trend away from seed exchanges between farmers and in the community and toward local markets. Social networks key for farmer exchanges appears to be eroding, due to commercialization and labor migration away from farming. Fourth, farmers are able to outsource seed production and storage through the local market. In cases where seed sellers are trustworthy, farmers access quality seeds and meet stricter standards in the national and global markets (Sperling and McGuire 2010).When selecting seeds in the local market, farmers weigh various factors, looking at variety quality and seed quality. In addition, farmers weigh the trustworthiness of different seed traders. Because local markets and the seeds sold there are not subjected to formal regulation and certification, farmers must rely on social regulation and certification to assess who sells quality seeds. Social certification is based on the experiences of the farmer and the sellers reputation (Sperling and McGuire 2010). Farmers perceive a considerable risk from sourcing seeds from an unrelated source, as the seed could have diseases or have other unfavorable characteristics (Badstue et al. 2007).The local and informal markets where seeds are sold have received little attention by researchers, policy makers and (non-)governmental organizations. This is because on the one hand, the production of on-farm seeds is over-emphasized in importance for seed security, with the use of off-farm seed channels interpreted as a sign of vulnerability. On the other hand, seeds from the local market are not considered seeds at all, as they are not labeled as such and could be used in the case for cereals, as food (Sperling and McGuire 2010).The second most important source of seeds for smallholder famers is the farmers own stock or onfarm seed production. Farmers have multiple reason for producing seeds on their farm: community respect, goods exchanges, home consumption, income from seeds, maintaining variety, seed exchanges, reducing input costs and a sense of security (Pincus et al. 2018). With on-farm seed production, farmers are not only able to control their own access to seeds, but they also have their own knowledge and experience regarding the traits of the seeds (Stromberg et al. 2010). In addition, some farmers perceive their own seeds with affection, with their seeds having a symbolic value. Saving seed contributes in some areas to the identity of a \"good farmer\" (Badstue et al. 2007).There are multiple reasons why farmers do not save seeds for replanting the next year but rather obtain seeds from external sources. One reason may be seed loss, hindering an adequate amount of seeds needed for cultivation. This can stem from crop failures, storage losses, a low production resulting in the consumption of all the crops or selling all the seeds. Another reason for obtaining seed from external sources is seed renewal, which is necessary to combat seed degeneration, inbred depression, and seed diseases. Finally, farmers also experiment with new species and varieties (Stromberg et al. 2010).Farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges refer to seed exchanges between relatives, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances (these categories not mutually exclusive). These exchanges are embedded in a social system, determined by the relationship between farmers. Obtaining seeds from close social relations has many advantages. In terms of cost, these can be lower due to social ties and responsibilities, and the transaction can be done ad hoc and part of an ordinary social interaction. In terms of trust, farmers will not only have confidence that they are obtaining seeds that match their preferred characteristics and quality, but also have first-hand experience on how they grow. In addition, the varieties have probably been cultivated and bred in the same community under similar conditions (Badstue et al. 2006).However, while farmers are most likely to source their seeds from in the village, they may utilize their social network to source seeds outside the village if seeds are scarce. For example, the agroecological condition of the farmland may be too poor for seed production, where farmers are unable to replace their seed every year. In this case, farmers may turn to other communities for seeds from relatives or non-relatives (Abay et al. 2011). Additionally, farmers do not solely source seeds for continuing their cultivation, but as well for experimentation. They experiment with new varieties and with new species. In Oaxaca, Mexico, the main reason for exchanging maize seeds is experimentation, with over 30% of maize seeds exchanged for this purpose (Badstue et al. 2007).When obtaining new seeds, trust is an important factor in the social seed networks of small holder farmers. Thereby, farmers obtain their seeds from trustful sources, predominately from relatives (Delêtre et al. 2011, Kiptot et al. 2006, Tadesse et al. 2017) or custodian farmers, who actively select, maintain, and disseminate agricultural biodiversity through seeds (Sthapit 2013). Sharing information and experiences between farmers who are family members, friends or neighbors was reported to be the most frequent way to obtain information about seeds. Additionally, sharing information enables farmers to broaden their seed sources, so that they are not dependent on one single supplier (Badstue et al. 2006).While farmer-to-farmer exchanges distribute seeds through social networks, this distribution is governed by social and cultural norms (Coomes et al. 2015). This means that structural discrimination influences who is able to access which seeds. Those who are most marginalized in society are most marginalized in their access to seeds, this including women (especially widows), orphans, tenant farmers, lower-caste farmers, Aids-affected households, migrant farmers etc. (Bezner Kerr 2013). At the same time, social and cultural norms influences the flow of seeds, determining the connectivity of individuals in the community and therefor the exchanges of seeds and information (Delêtre et al. 2011). Kinship systems, migration and ethnolinguistic boundaries can either promote or hinder the diffusion of seeds (Coomes et al. 2015).For many smallholder farmers in the Global South, seeds are not just an agricultural input, but rather a part of a farmer's identity as well as a source of wealth and pride. How seeds are seen by farmers defines with whom they are shared. In addition, if seeds are perceived as a source of wealth, seed sharing can be seen as charity and entail debt or obligation. This is why some farmers prefer to source their seeds from the local market instead of from their neighbors, which can be framed as begging or require money, seeds or service in exchange (Badstue et al. 2007, Coomes et al. 2015).While there are many advantages for obtaining seeds from close social relations, they only apply if a farmer has multiple sources of seed and can chose between the sources. While a farmer theoretically may trust their close social relations, this does automatically mean that the seed they obtain will have the preferred characteristics and quality they need. For crops where seed sources are scarce and hard to come by, farmers might obtain seeds from a neighbor or close relative with the knowledge that the quality is not good (Badstue et al. 2006).The origin of plant breeding and the development of domesticated cultivators stem from farmers saving and exchanging seeds in the community. The concept of community seed banks formed around three decades ago and refers to local, participatory institutions that select, conserve, multiplicate, exchange and improve seeds for local farmers. This happens outside the formal seed system, although most seed banks are heavily supported by NGOs (Vernooy et al. 2014).Community seed banks have three core functions. First, they enable communities to manage their agricultural biodiversity, contributing to in situ conservation (conservation of plant genetic resources on the farm and in the wild). Second, community seed banks can improve the access and availability of local crop diversity and third, can ensure seed and food security (Vernooy et al. 2014). Not only are farmers able to access a diversity of crops and varieties from community seed banks, but they are also able to exchange information between themselves, as well as receive knowledge, such as improved storage techniques, from the community seed bank itself (Porcuna-Ferrer et al. 2020).Community seed banks and participatory plant breeding initiatives can increase the access and availability of seeds of local varieties and improved cultivars for smallholder farmers (Sthapit 2013). Through its decentralized nature, community seed banks can also operate as a central node in the seed system, linking farmers with the formal seed system, national and international gene banks, and breeding programs These linkages were shown to increase the social-ecological resilience of local communities in Guatemala (Porcuna-Ferrer et al. 2020).One of the key drivers for implementing community seed banks is the access to local varieties. The number of farmers cultivating local varieties and collecting seeds is in a continuous decline, as well as the land used for cultivation. With farmers often only connected with a few farmers, access to local varieties becomes strained. In addition, new varieties, such as those coming from participatory plant breeding programs, often have minimal adoption rates because of low farmer-to-farmer exchange (Ricciardi 2015). Community seed banks sometimes become the only source of viable, traditional varieties (Sthapit 2013).Community seed banks may be able to provide marginalized households or groups with seeds since the seeds sourced from the seed bank are usually not paid with money, but rather with seeds harvested in the next season. In addition, in times of crisis, a community seed bank may be a back-up source if seeds are lacking on-farm and in the community (Vernooy et al. 2014). However, community seed banks are influenced by social and cultural norms and are not automatically egalitarian institutions. Women, resource-poor farmers and minorities are less likely to be involved in community seed banks, reflecting the structural inequalities of the community (Porcuna-Ferrer et al. 2020).Community seed bank initiatives face many challenges. Not only do community members participating in the seed bank often lack time and resources to fully implement the goals of the seed back, but members also have limited technical knowledge and skill for ensuring seed quality (Vernooy et al. 2014). Additionally, community seed banks have few linkages to other community seed banks and are rarely able to exchange seeds and information (Vernooy et al. 2014). Finally, community seed banks rely on the idea of collective action in genetic resource conservation (Badstue et al. 2006). If no collective action is found in a community, then it is questionable if community seed banks are a useful and successful tool. Interventions directed more towards individual farmers or toward already established local institutions that have a broader purpose may be a more effective strategy for ensuring seed diversity (Badstue et al. 2006).When looking at seed systems, it is not only important to understand which channels are used by smallholder farmers, but also to identify how they access seeds in each channel. Seed transactions can be classified into seven categories: purchase, inheritance (either after death of parents or when children become independent), exchange (between varieties and species), gift, aid from developmental or emergency seed programs, barter (exchanged for good or services), borrowed (seeds of future harvest are to be returned), or other (sharecropping, gleaning, ect.) (Badstue et al. 2006, McGuire andSperling 2016). Understanding seed transactions can be informative when looking at seed vulnerability and to what extent the community supports its members through seed gifts (Tadesse et al. 2017), to what extent farmers use cash to pay for seeds, and what farmers might be willing to spend (McGuire and Sperling 2016).In Kenya, smallholder farmers sourced their seeds using the following transaction types: 53.9% of seeds were bought, 36.1% came from their own stock, 4% came from direct seed distribution, 3.3. % were gifted, 2% were loaned, and 0.7% were exchanged, vouched or obtained through food aid (McGuire and Sperling 2016). However, these exchange types do not correlate with one specific channel. When obtaining seeds from a neighbor, exchanges could be with seeds, with labor, or bought etc. (Tadesse et al. 2017). Additionally, transaction types are not set in stone but can rather change with each exchange (McGuire and Sperling 2016).The relationship between the supplier and recipient influences the type of transaction, i.e. if it is a gift, bartered or purchased. Among those who are related to one another, inheritances and gifts are the most common transaction. Purchasing seed was one of the most common forms of transaction among all social relationships but especially among acquaintances and strangers. Badstue et al. (2006) conclude that with more social distance between supplier and recipient, the frequency of purchasing increases while gift and inheritance decreases. In the end though, no transaction type is restricted to one social relationship.Multiple studies have looked at the variables affecting why farmers choose different seed sources (Cavataasi et al. 2006, Croft et al. 2018, McGuire and Sperling 2016, Stromberg et al. 2010, Tadesse et al. 2017, Violon et al. 2016). These variables fall into the broad categories of household/farmer characteristics (crop, gender, age, education), resource availability (on-farm and off-farm assets) and market access (market participation, extension access) (Croft et al. 2018).When looking at household/farmer characteristics, the sources of seeds are highly determined by the crop cluster (cereals, legumes, vegetatively-propagated crops, and maize) (McGuire and Sperling 2016). Age can significantly influence selection, with younger farmers more likely to source seeds from the local market than older farmers (Croft et al. 2018) and older farmers more likely to provide seeds than acquire seeds (Wencélius et al. 2016). Education however was not proven to influence seed source determination (Croft et al. 2018).The economic situation of a household affects the ability to acquire seeds, especially in years that are climatically difficult for farmers (McGuire and Sperling 2016;Violon et al. 2016). Wealthier households that either have more land or off-farm income, are able to cope with uncertainty through their material and social resources (Croft et al. 2018), and are most likely to share their seeds or tubers with medium wealthy or poor farmers (Tadessee et al. 2017). Additionally, the larger the area of land cultivated by one household, the more likely they are to use their own stock for reseeding next year and the less likely they are to buy from the local market (McGuire and Sperling 2016). However, wealthier households are not as dependent on their own seed production, as they have more access to other sources (Gill et al. 2013). Vulnerable households, who cultivate on less land, have less material resources and rely more on their neighbors or the local market as seed sources (Violon et al. 2016). In difficult climatic years, farmers in Cameroon sometimes refrain from asking for seeds from their limited networks, as it is considered begging and therefore shameful (Violon et al. 2016). On the other hand, farmers in Ethiopia share their seed with others out of a feeling of social responsibility for their community (Tadesse et al. 2017).The ability of farmers to access markets either for sourcing seeds or selling crops can influence which seed source is utilized by the farmer (Cavataasi et al. 2006, Croft et al. 2018, Stromberg et al. 2010). In Peru, the proximity of markets can increase the income of farmers, thereby leading farmers to increase their input costs and buy seeds, instead of using land and labor-intensive seeds produced on their farm (Stromberg et al. 2010). Farmers in scattered Peruvian villages with inadequate infrastructure are more likely to rely on localized seed stocks, as they are more isolated from other villages and external seed sources (Stromberg et al. 2010). In Ethiopia, village isolation stimulates sorghum seed saving, but also hindered seed renewal (Cavataasi et al. 2006), and in Peru, linguistic differences are an isolating factor in seed flows (Stromberg et al. 2010).Seed systems are typically divided into two dichotomous categories, the formal and informal system. There are however certain critiques to this categorization. First, the depiction of a formal and informal seed system reinforces misconceptions about the later. While the informal seed system does not have the same legislative regulation as the formal system, it is not informal per se in that it does have social rules and norms which govern it (McGuire and Sperling 2016). In addition, it is greatly influenced by the decisions made in the formal system and therefor is not purely a local system. Second, the informal and formal systems do not work independent of each other but rather are intertwined by the farmers, traders and the seeds themselves (Coomes et al. 2015).However, other than through farmers, traders, and seeds, the formal and informal seed systems are seldom well connected with one another (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017). This has in part to do with the way each seed system is organized. The formal system is a one-directional chain, starting from the breeding programs, to seed production and distribution and ending with the farmer buying the seeds as an external input. With the case of many hybrid and GMO seeds, this is done every year, with a very small number of varieties. The informal system is organized by households and communities, with seed production, breeding and finally in situ conservation happening simultaneously (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002). To transcend and integrate the two systems, the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) framework was developed, which focuses on promoting interaction and cooperation between the two systems as well as researching why farmers choose which channel, for which crops and what influences their choices (Croft et al. 2018, Louwaars and Boef 2012, McGuire and Sperling 2016).It is through the \"active management of social-ecological relations\" with seeds by farmers that the formal and informal seed systems are linked (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017). Through connecting both seed systems, farmers are able to mitigate each systems weakness and disadvantages. Farmers are not passive consumers at the end of a long seed chain, but rather actively influence the flow of seeds. The informal does not exist in contrast to the formal system, but rather it is entwined through various flows led by the farmers themselves.The main constraints of ALV cultivation in Kenya is the lack of available and accessible quality seeds (Chadha et al. 2007, Pincus et al. 2018, Srinivasulu Rajendran et al. 2016). Seed insecurity remains a yearly challenge, as the demand for ALVs seeds is in many cases far higher than what the informal and formal seed market can deliver (Pincus et al. 2018). Public and private vegetable breeding is very limited in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nekesa and Meso 2018). While there has been an increase in vegetable breeding by international and regional seed companies in Kenya, these companies mostly develop hybrid seeds and do not breed improved open-pollinated seeds. Other private seed companies are active in the import and resale of seeds from Europe or South Africa, with those seeds seldomly adapted to local conditions (Afari-Sefa et al. 2012). However, Kenyan seed companies have started to sell their own ALV seed varieties, which are predominantly used by smallholder farmers to replace their stock or to experiment with new species and varieties (Kansiime et al. 2018). The new interest of Kenyan seed companies in ALV seeds is boosted by the increase in market demand for fresh ALVs in urban areas and the emphasis by governmental and non-governmental programs to promote ALV production and their nutritional value (Croft et al. 2018).The availability of seeds differs widely between counties and between different ALV species. 85% of farmers in the Western Kenyan counties of Kisumu and Bungoma source more than half of their seeds from their own farms (Pincus et al. 2018). However, 40% of Kisumu farmers are not able to reliably access slender leaf and in the county of Bungoma, which is only 100 km away, only 3% of farmers have difficulties accessing seeds. These discrepancies in access are unrelated to the demand of slender leaf, which is in both counties a popular leafy vegetable. The difference between counties underlines differences in the local informal seed systems and the ability of these to distribute and supply seeds (Pincus et al. 2018).Smallholder farmers in Kenya source the majority of their ALV seeds from the informal seed system (Pincus et al. 2018). ALV seeds from the informal system are in general more easily accessible, more likely to fulfill farmer preferences of local varieties, are less expensive and can have higher germination rates and yields than seeds from the formal seed system (Croft et al. 2018, Pincus et al. 2018). In Western Kenya, of the different sources in the informal seed system, self-produced seeds are the most frequent source, varying from almost 50% for cowpea leaf seeds to 75% for jute mallow seeds (Abukutsa- Onyango 2005, Nekesa and Meso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018). Seeds from farmer exchanges are the second most frequent source.While the main source of ALVs seeds is farm-produced, 40% of smallholder farmers turn to agro-vet stores for one species of ALVs, black nightshade. Pincus et al. ( 2018) surmise multiple possible reasons for the preference for agro-vet stores compared to the informal seed system. On the one hand, it could be that the quality of farm-produced seeds is not sufficient, due to production difficulties and disease pressures, since 30% of farmers reported the presence of disease pressure. This does not line up though with the fact that other species have lower mean germination rates than nightshade, but were still not predominantly bought from agro-vet stores. On the other hand, it could be that farmers are more willing to invest in perceived higher quality seeds from the agro-vet stores because fresh nightshade leaves are more marketable than other ALVs. Other reasons could include farmers wanting to try new varieties or farmers importing new seeds into their seed stock to mitigate a decrease in seed quality (Pincus et al. 2018).Farmer characteristics can influence which ALV seed source a smallholder farmer in Kenya utilizes. The location of the farmer, the species of ALV, the price of the seed and the salary of farmers all significantly influence source selection. However, other farmer characteristics are not proven to influence source selection, such as education level and age of the farmer, as well as market access (Croft et al. 2018).Farmers use different techniques to select, process and store their ALV seeds in Western Kenya. The selection of seeds is done by either choosing healthy plants (56% of households), random plants (19%), or by the maturity of the pods (24%). Seed storage lasts between 6 and 24 months depending on the species and environmental conditions. The seeds are either stored in a plastic pot with wood ash (63%), or are treated with wood ash first and then stored in a tin (27%), bottle (9%) or polythene bag (2%) (Abukutsa- Onyango 2005).For farmers to increase their ALV production, quality seeds are a key resource. However, germination and yield rates of ALVs are the major limiting factors in quality seeds (Afari-Sefa et al. 2012, Croft et al. 2018). On the one hand, smallholder farmers who save, exchange or sell their own seeds on the market do not always have the necessary knowledge, experience, or training on how to select, process and store seeds to maintain quality (Pincus et al. 2018). On the other hand, seeds accessed from the formal seed system are shown to have lower germination and yield rates (Croft et al. 2018). To improve seed quality and support farmers in their seed production endeavors, more information on the physiological characteristics and what they entail for seed production is needed. But as with many minor and underutilized crops, there is a lack of literature on the topic. Published research has only been done on spider plant and amaranth (Pincus et al. 2018).The demands of quality ALV seeds differs greatly between species, since ALVs come from many different plant families. Spider plant, African nightshade and jute mallow all have poor germination and dormancy problems attributed to the physiology of the seeds and the presence of growth inhibitors and parasites. With seed treatment, the germination rate can significantly improve. However, slender leaf, cowpea and amaranth do not in general have high demands regarding seed health and germination, with slender leaf having over 90% germination rates after 5 years of storage (Abukutsa-Onyango 2005).While farmer-produced seeds are often thought to have poor-quality, since they do not undergo a regulatory procedure, the germination rate and yield may be higher than seeds sourced from formal sources. Around 40% of ALV seed samples collected in western Kenyan were shown to have a germination rate of 70% or above (Pincus et al. 2018). When measuring seed germination, amaranth seeds from informal sources had a 148 % higher germination rate, while black nightshade had a 190% higher germination rate than seeds from formal sources (Croft et al. 2018). Additionally, the fresh weight (yield) from amaranth seeds from the informal sector was 57% higher than formal seeds, while nightshade yield did not show any significant difference between the two seed sources. However, yield from one year does give information about pest or disease resistance, which could be higher in formal seeds (Croft et al. 2018).\"Gender is a key factor in the division of labor, rights, and responsibilities and thus is tightly bound up with the management of local ecological systems.\" (Ferguson 1994) Researchers have historically collected data from the men of the household, excluding women and their perspectives, knowledge, and experience. Men are seen as the representatives of the households, thereby ignoring intra-household variability and oftentimes undermining women's position in the household as well as in society. Only recently have studies begun to differentiate between men and women, understanding the different gendered knowledge and perspectives in a household (Chambers and Momsen 2007).While more and more agricultural research and development includes or even focuses on women, the intersectionality, i.e. the intersection of social identities, is rarely taken into account. Little attention is given to different social factors, such as age, gender, class, ethnicity, etc. when planning and implementing programs. Changes in power dimensions through interventions in systems are not often thought through, with unintended consequences. All this stems from an technocratic viewpoint, where sociocultural and political contexts of agriculture are ignored (Ferguson 1994). Utilizing a gendered perspective in agriculture and in particular seed systems highlights the gendered social organization of labor and power, which underline agricultural practices and knowledge (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017).ALVs in western Kenya are traditionally cultivated, handled and marketed by women, supporting women's rural livelihood (Nekesa andMeso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018). Around 80% of the actors along the ALV supply chain in Kenya are women (Weinberger et al. 2011). ALV production is especially important for female-led households, generating a higher share of income than male-led households (Mwaura et al. 2013). However, even while women dominate the Kenyan ALV supply chain, men who are involved earn significantly higher incomes than women. Female elderly small retailers and female elderly farmers have the lowest income in the ALV supply chain (Weinberger et al. 2011).Labor on smallholder farms and in the household is commonly divided by gender, with women responsible for vegetable plants and spending more time interacting directly with them. Women are the ones who maintain and manage the plants, observing their growth, understanding their characteristics, and distinguishing between species and varieties. The gender division of labor leads to a \"gender-asymmetric person-plant relationship\", with women gaining expertise and in some cases authority when it comes to cultivating vegetables and exchanging seeds (Delêtre et al. 2011). When it comes to ALV cultivation in Kenya, men often consult female members of the household for information regarding planting and production methods, as they are seldom involved in the activities surrounding ALV cultivation (Nekesa andMeso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018) While women in Kenya are more responsible for the cultivation, processing, and sale of small-scale horticulture, it is more likely when the vegetables are grown first and foremost for subsistence. This can change if horticulture production is commercialized, thereby generating outside income (Weinberger et al. 2011). This shows that the commercialization of agriculture can change gender dynamics in the household. Gender roles typically determine the division of labor in the household, with men involved in the commercialized areas. If certain food crops, such as ALVs, become commercialized, there is a chance that the men in the household will appropriate the work and benefits (Orr et al. 2016).The importance of women in seed production has been ignored in the past, with breeding programmers often focusing on male farmers and integrating them in research and extension activities. However, women are often essential for seed production, selection, conservation, storage, as well as sourcing seeds for their fields and for their spouses (Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020). They are often holders of agroecological knowledge of seeds and varieties, more able to determine seed quality and identify diseases than the male members of the household (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002, Gill et al. 2013, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020). The informal seed system is based on complex and diverse social systems, where kinship systems play an integral part. Depending on the marriage structure of the community, women are key actors in the informal seed system, with the inheritance of seeds and its subsequent journey to new communities crucial for the agrobiodiversity and the distribution of species and varieties (Bezner Kerr 2013, Delêtre et al. 2011, Mucioki et al. 2016, Violon et al. 2016). In eastern Kenya, seed systems are matrilineal, where seed and knowledge are passed through generations of women. Women are responsible for selecting and saving seeds and teach their daughters these practices. When a woman in the family marries, she receives seeds saved by her mother to take with her to her new family, since she will move into her husband's household (Mucioki et al. 2016). However, the influence of marriage exchanges depends on the cultural and economic importance of the crop, as well as the designated \"gender\" of the crop. Whether a crop is subjugated to the realm of men or of women influences which social structures come into play when seeds are exchanged (Delêtre et al.).While matrilineal societies foster species and varietal diversity, it also reduces the ability of a community to control the seed system. The constant inflow of new species and varieties can increase the risk of importing viruses, pests, and other pathogens. That is why some communities in Gabon purposefully restrict the exchange of germplasm between communities. This is done indirectly through the social control of women to their daughter-in-law, by prohibiting matrilineal seed exchange (Delêtre et al. 2011).Gendered differences in the sourcing of seeds are not only constituted by kinship relations, but also reflect gendered division of labor and power, access to resources and gendered agency in institutions and the social system. Men are more active in the public sphere and have more access to formal and informal sources, especially those which are father away from the community. They are more likely to access new varieties and certified seed (Croft et al. 2018, McGuire and Sperling 2011, Mulesa et al. 2021). Female farmers are more often sidelined to the private sphere, where they access their seeds on their farm or from immediate social networks and kinship systems (Schöley andPadmanabhan 2017, Tadesse et al. 2017).The range of mobility is an important factor influencing which seed sources are used between men and women. For example, in India men source more seed from agriculture officers and family than women, as they usually own and drive motorcycles and are more able to access a wider range of sources and interact with formal seed sources (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017). However, the range of mobility is contextual, depending on infrastructure, social expectation etc. Contrary to the example from India, women in Cameroon source seeds from outside the village more frequently than men since they have more extensive networks outside the village which are based on kinship relations (Wencélius et al. 2016). Networks outside the village are vital in times of seed shortages (Violon et al. 2016). Additionally, women in India who are wealthier have more opportunity to leave their households and visit their kin in their native village than women from poorer and monogamous households (Wencélius et al. 2016).However, women and men often use the same channels for obtaining seeds. The difference between them is rather the importance of each channel and the plurality of actors used in each sector. Knowledge of the seeds, their characteristics and cultivation requirements, are exchanged with the seeds. This means that the same sources used for seed exchange are often used to obtain information (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017).\"Gender relations determine the division of labor, access to resources and decision-making power in agricultural dependent communities and households in developing countries\". (Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020) Development research and programs traditionally view households as unitarian, i.e. all members of the households have the same preferences and perspectives and all resources in the household are shared (Padmanabhan 2011). However, the neoclassical model of a household as a unitary entity is problematic since it cannot encompass different household members in different cultural contexts and their intrahousehold dynamics (Wencélius et al. 2016). This theoretical and methodological approach ignores gender asymmetry in the household, which, produced by patriarchy, are central to the women's bargaining power (Dolan 2001). Understanding women's decision making ability, and therefore access to and control over productive assets, is essential for gender equality (Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020).Household participation and decision making influences the bargaining power of the individuals in the household, thereby determining the resources that each individual has access to (Doss 2013, Quisumbing 2003b). The extent of decision making reflects intrahousehold power dynamics, reflecting who has control over what. Further distinction can be made between strategic, operational, and financial control. Strategic control is the ability to choose how resources are allocated, i.e., which crops receive which inputs. Operational control describes how resources are managed, such as which crops are chosen. Finally, financial control is the power to decide how the income from a crop is used (Orr et al. 2016).Intrahousehold power dynamics influences who benefits from commercialization and the resulting increase in income. Four examples from Kenya illustrate how the commercialization of certain crops influenced the household. The first example concerns horticulture production (specifically French beans), which is historically the responsibility of women, with cultivation geared towards household consumption and sale at local markets. However, through the intensification, commodification and export orientation of horticulture, men have appropriated production, resource allocation, and derived income, thereby depleting women's control in the household and undermining gender equity (Dolan 2001). The second example concerns the banana sector, where commercialization has led to an increase in male control over banana production and revenues. The loss of income for women in the household negatively affected dietary quality, as income controlled by women is more likely to be spent on food. However, when women were members of a farmer group, they were not only more able to withstand male appropriation, but could also increase their control of household income (Fischer and Qaim 2012). The third example involves ALV seed production. While ALV seed production was perceived to be of equal importance to both men and women, how much they earned from seed production differed, depending on who was the primary decision maker. If this was a women, the average income from seed production was lower than if the primary decision maker was a man (Pincus et al. 2018). Finally, the fourth example involves three western Kenyan communities where ALVs are cultivated. In Luhya (in Vihiga County) and Luo, women are the ones most often growing, processing, and marketing ALVs. However, in the Kisii district, where ALV cultivation is more commercialized, the division of labor has changed, with men more involved in ALV cultivation (Abukutsa-Onyango 2005).While the four examples mentioned above describe intrahousehold conflicts, the commercialization of crops cultivated by women can also be perceived as an opportunity for cooperation. Whether commercialization leads to cooperation or conflict in gender dynamics depends on the specific historical and cultural contexts of women's bargaining power (Orr et al. 2016). Resources in the household are not distributed equally, but rather favor men. Thereby, interventions aimed at improving the situation of women must increase the resources controlled by women, thereby increasing their bargaining power in the household. This increase of women-controlled resources and decision making increases yield or leaves yield unchanged, increases resource allocation towards education and importantly, improves women and children's health and nutrition (Quisumbing 2003a).This thesis is embedded in the project from Bioversity International in Kenya 'Improving access to and benefits from a wealth of diverse seeds to support on-farm biodiversity for healthy people in resilient landscapes' (P2). It has the applied purpose of supporting ALV cultivation, ALV community seed bank initiatives and on-farm ALV seed conservation projects in Kenya. This thesis has three main research aims, with eight research questions: In the Vihiga county, smallholder farmers own between 0.5 and 5 hectares of agricultural land (Abukutsa-Onyango 2005), with an average farm size of 0.86 hectares (Waithaka et al. 2007). While farmers have secure land rights, farm sizes have been declining in the past years (Kiptot et al. 2006). Farmers are involved in a mixed farming and livestock cropping system, with a lowexternal-input subsistence production.The main subsistence crop is maize (Zea mays L.) intercropped with beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (Kiptot et al. 2006) and the main livestock kept is local zebu (Waithaka et al. 2007). Other major crops include cassava, green grams, finger millet, sweet potatoes, soya beans, sesame, groundnuts, bananas, and various African vegetables, while livestock production can include dairy cattle, poultry, sheep and goats (Pincus et al. 2018). The main cash crops are sugarcane, coffee, and tea. Animal manure is the main source of fertilization, however the quantity and quality are oftentimes insufficient for maintaining soil fertility. Inorganic fertilizers are rare due to lack of sufficient funds by smallholder farmers (Waithaka et al. 2007).This thesis uses data from a quantitative baseline survey done within P2 in 15 sublocations in Vihiga County. The household and agricultural practices questionnaire was done in 2018. Eligible households were those with at least one child within the age of 6 -23 months and a woman in the reproductive age group (15 -49 years). Of all the households, a random sample was selected using the RAND function in MS excel. The number of households interviewed was 446. However, due to missing data and incorrect collection, 15 respondents were taken out of the final analysis, with the final sample population coming to 431 respondents (n=431). Data collection consisted of a semi-structured household and agricultural practices questionnaire, seen in the appendix, chapter 11.2. I used three parts of the questionnaire: demographic and socio-economic characteristics, household agricultural practices and farm diversity, and household decision making. All the quantitative data was entered in MS excel.Vihiga County has a population of 590,013 people distributed within 143,365 households. The average household size is 4.1 people per household. Vihiga county is a small county, consisting of only 563.8 square meters. However, Vihiga county has one of the highest population densities in Kenya, with 1047 people per square km (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2019). The average age of the household head is 51.1 years and 41% of households are managed by males (Waithaka et al. 2007). 87.2% of households are involved in crop farming, contributing to 64% of the Vihiga county's income. The poverty level is 41% (45.9% at national level). The dominant ethnic group is the Luhya, with subtribes such as the Maragoli, Banyore, Tiriki and Terek. The survey partly targeted the female household head or the spouse of the male household head as respondents. Eligible households were those with at least one child within the age of 6 -23 months and a woman in the reproductive age group (15 -49 years). Regarding age, the mean age of the respondents was 29.16 years, ranging between 17 and 78 years. While the range is high, 50% of the women interviewed were between the age of 23 and 33 years.Various social-demographic characteristics, such as relationship to household head, marital status, marriage relationship and education level, of the women were collected during the interview ( Table 5). Of the 431 women who participated in the survey, 66.8% of women were the spouse and 14.6% the daughter to the household head. Only 12,5% of women considered themselves the household head. The overwhelming number of women were in a monogamous marriage relationship structure (97%) and were married (81.7%). Very few women were widowed (2.5%) or separated (3.7%), which is most likely attributed to the fact that women with a child between the age of 6 and 23 months were targeted. Regarding education, over half of the women had either attended or finished upper primary school, while around one third of the women attended or finished high school. Only about 5% of the women attended college or university and about the same amount attended vocational schools.Sources of income that stem from on-farm production include the sale of grains, legumes/pulses, roots or tubers, fruits, ALVS, other vegetables (non-ALVs) and animals or animal products (Table 6). More than half of the households did not have any source of income stemming from on-farm production (53.4 %), with the average mean number of on-farm sources of income at 0.96 sources. Of all the seven on-farm sources of income mentioned, the sale of ALVs and other vegetables (non-ALVs) was the most frequent. 22% of households received income from the sale of ALVs, while 23.2% of households sold other (non-ALV) vegetables. The sale of animals or animal products was also an important source of income, with 18.6% of households mentioning it as a source of income.Off-farm sources of income include earnings as a petty trader, as a mechanic, as a casual laborer (with daily wages), as a hairdresser, as a boda-boda driver, as a metal worker or carpenter, as an employee (regular salary), as well as earning by sale of own produced or gathered goods and crafts, by income from remittances, by income from cash transfer programs, and finally earning from nonspecified off-farm sources (Table 6). 28.1% of households had no off-farm source of income, while 56.1% had only one source of off-farm income. In average, households had 0.9 sources of off-farm income. The most frequent occupation outside farming was a casual laborer (32.9%), followed by petty trader (16.2%) and an employee with a regular salary (10.6%).Whether or not the off-farm source of income is higher than that of the sale of on-farm production is also relevant (Table 6). Few of the off-farm sources of income generated more income than that of farming, with 80% of households not earning more from off-farm sources of income compared to farming. Only 7.9% of households reporting earning more as a casual laborer than from farming, while the other sources were of even less importance.The ownership of 24 different household assets was used to estimate the wealth of the household. The most frequently owned household asset was the hoe (91.2%), followed by the radio (74.7%), mobile (not smartphone, 72.4%) and a sofa set (52.9%) (Table 7). Regarding farming equipment, 40.4% of households had a spade or shovel, 20.6% a wheelbarrow, and less that 3 % had a water pump or a plough. The average amount of household assets was 5.82, ranging between 0 and 16 assets (Table 8).The time required to reach a market by foot for purchasing or selling food items not only differed greatly between households, but many households either did not go to the market in the first place or in general did not sell produce. It took the households between 1 and 180 minutes to reach a market to purchase food, with an average mean of 42.82 minutes. Only 92 households mentioned selling their produce at a market, with the time needed to reach this market ranging between 1 and 120 minutes, with an average mean of 37.59 minutes.To prepare the data for analysis, the data was cleaned, and new count variables were created in MS excel. Data cleaning included checking for missing data, transforming qualitative data into discrete quantitative variables, deleting variables which had high levels of inconsistency, and changing crop and species names into English without varietal differences, as the analysis of ALVs is on a species level. In addition, new count variables were created, which included sum-indexes of household assets, household income, and farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges.For data analysis, I used descriptive and inferential statistical tests in the software SPSS (IBM 2016).The selection of analyses was based on Bühl 2008 and Newing and Eagle 2010. In terms of descriptive statistics, this thesis includes frequency tables, means for interval and count data, and bar charts to illustrate nominal data. In terms of inferential statistics, all statistical tests were used with a level of p < 0.05 to determine statistical significance. Numerical data was tested with a two-tailed spearman rank correlation, as the data was not nominally distributed. The strength of Spearman's correlation coefficient rho (rs) was interpreted as follows: very weak (rs<0.2), weak (rs=0.2-0.4), moderate (rs=0.4-0.6), strong (rs=0.6-0.8), very strong (rs>0.8).To compare categorical (nominal and ordinal) variables, I used a multivariate cross-tabulation with a chi-square test of independence. If the basic assumptions of the Chi-square test were violated, I applied a Fisher's exact test. Additionally, I used a Bonferroni-adjusted post-hoc analysis for the multivariant chi-square test to account for the significant comparisons between sub-groups and a Cramer's V measurement to test the strength of association between variables. The strength of Cramer's V was interpreted as follows: no or very week (>0), weak (>0.05), moderate (>0.10), strong (>0.15), very strong (>0.25). Finally, I used a Poisson regression model and a negative binomial regression model for the count variables to determine which of the independent variables have a statistically significant influence on the dependent variables. I used a negative binomial regression model if the dependent variable did not show a Poisson distribution, in other words when the count data was over-dispersed, with a variance larger than the mean.To determine if and how various factors affect the ALV seed system, the ALV seed system was first measured through four variables: ALV seed sources mentioned in total per household, the diversity of different seed sources used per household, the total number of farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges in and outside the village, and the relationship between farmers in farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges. Second, the independent variables were defined by market access (the time needed to reach the market by foot to purchase food items, and income from sale of ALV products), household income (the number of sources of on-farm income, the number of sources of off-farm income and the total number of household assets), household and women demographics (sublocation of household, age, marital status, relationship to household head and level of education of the woman) and number of ALV species cultivated.To determine the participation of women in ALV cultivation, as well as their extent in making decisions in the household, six questions were surveyed. These include who decides whether to cultivate ALVs, who is responsible for ALV cultivation, who decides whether to sell ALV produce or products, who decides how money from the sale of ALVs is used, who makes the final decision which ALVs are cultivated and finally, to what extent can the woman in the household make her own personal decisions regarding which ALVs are cultivated. These questions were only answered by those households who cultivate ALVs, i.e. around 90% of households (n=431). In addition, only 25.7% households sell their ALV produce or products in the last 12 months, reducing the number of answers regarding sale of ALVs to 87 households.To determine the extent of participation and decision making by women in the informal seed sector, the same dependent variables were used as before: ALV seed sources mentioned in total per household, the diversity of different seed sources used per household, the total number of farmer-tofarmer seed exchanges in and outside the village, and the relationship between farmers in farmer-tofarmer seed exchanges. In addition, the sources for the individual ALV seeds were also analyzed with women participation and decision making.This study was non-invasive and participatory, involving local stakeholders and fostering community engagement and ownership. Written consent was obtained from all participants before the questionnaire was used and a small compensation of 2 packets of 500ml milk was given at house visits. The names of the participants were only collected for the purpose of identification, with each participant assigned a unique ID which was used for data entry and analysis. No names were disclosed at any point beyond field collection. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board and registered with the ISRCTN (International Standard Registered Clinical/soCial sTudy Number) registry.The major limitation of this thesis is that I did not collect the data myself and I do not have any personal experience of the situation in the field, making it in some cases difficult to properly understand and analyze certain data. As I did not participate in the data collection, I am obligated to trust in the quality of the data collection process since I had no influence on the process. This proved to be difficult when cleaning the data because there were major inconsistencies with certain variables, such as land size of the household, leaving me unable to analyze those variables. Different languages and units were a constant challenge, as well as inconsistencies in how to categorize missing data. Finally, my study is synchronic, in other words it is a snapshot of the situation (Newing and Eagle 2010). It consists of data collected in only one year, which can be affected by factors I cannot know.The sample population and the eligibility of households participating in the baseline survey are another limitation to the study, as they were chosen in accordance with the aims of P2. The data I used for analysis stemmed from an extensive baseline survey, which had a broad aim of collecting data for improving diets of households through ALV cultivation. Due to this nutritional focus, eligible households were those with at least one child within the age of 6 -23 months and a woman in the reproductive age group (15 -49 years). This limits the results and conclusions of my study, as the sample population does not intend to reflect the population of Vihiga county.Over 88% of the 431 smallholder farmers surveyed in Vihiga County cultivate ALVs (Figure 2). Ten different ALV species have been cultivated over the last two years: cowpea leaf, black nightshade, slender leaf, spider plant, jute mallow, amaranth, pumpkin leaf, Ethiopian kale, vine spinach and cassava leaf. Households cultivate an average of 2.13 different species of ALVs. The number of different ALVs cultivated range from zero species (49 households, or 11.4%) to nine species (only one household, or 0.2%). Over 70% of households cultivate either one, two or three ALV species. Certain ALV species are more frequently cultivated by households than other ALV species (Table 1). By far the most frequently cultivated ALV is cowpea leaves, with 74.7% of households cultivating cowpea leaves. Slender leaf, jute mallow and Ethiopian kale follow, with just under 1/3 of households reporting cultivation. Black nightshade (18.8%), pumpkin leaves (12.5%), spider plant (9.7%) and amaranth (7.7%) are less frequently cultivated. Vine spinach and cassava leaves are rare, with less than five households reporting that they cultivate those species.When focusing on those who do cultivate ALV species, the mean number of years cultivating range between 2.00 and 8.82 years (Table 1). The highest mean year of cultivation between species is jute mallow (mean: 8.82 years), followed by cowpea leaves (mean: 8.29 years). The high standard deviation of both species indicates that there is a wide spread of years cultivating in the sample. The remaining species (excluding cassava leaves and vine spinach) have been cultivated a mean average of 3.42 to 4.91 years. The importance of the different ALV species cultivated is measured by ranking the contribution of the ALVs for household income and food security from one to five. A low contribution is ranked with one, while a high contribution is ranked with five. Those households that either do not consume or do not sell their ALV produce were not asked to rank the contribution of the crop. All the ALVs are ranked higher individually and collectively for food security than for income, with the lowest ranked ALV for food security (slender leaf at an average mean of 3.02) still considerably higher than the highest ranked ALV for income (amaranth at an average mean of 1.62) (Table 2). In addition to being the highest ranked ALV for income, amaranth also has the highest mean rank for food security (3.62). Cowpea leaves, which is the most frequent ALV to be cultivated, has the lowest contribution rank for food security (3.02). The low rank of ALVs for income security is also visible in the low percentage of households who have sold their ALV products or produce in the last 12 months. Only 25.7% of households have sold ALVs in the last year, while the rest of the households did not sell any ALVs. To understand who is cultivating ALVs, the households interviewed are categorized into five groups: those who have not cultivated any ALVs in the past two years and those who have cultivated either one, two, three or four or more different species of ALVs (Table 3). There is a significant weak positive correlation between the age of women and the number of ALV species cultivated (rs: 0.32, p<0.01).The average age of women who do not cultivate any ALV species or who cultivate one ALV species is 27.94 years. As women get older, they are more likely to cultivate more ALV species, with the average age of women who cultivate four or more species 30.33 years.Various income indicators significantly influence if households cultivate ALVs, as well as the diversity of ALV species cultivated (Table 3). There is a weak positive correlation between the number of different on-farm sources of income and the number of ALV species cultivated (rs: 0.225, p<0.001).The mean number of different on-farm sources of income is 0.55 sources for those households who do not cultivate any ALV species. This mean increases with each additional species cultivated to an average mean of 1.28 sources of on-farm for those households who cultivate four or more ALV species.The number of off-farm sources of income showed the opposite tendency, with a very weak negative correlation (rs: -0.143, p<0.01). The average mean of off-farm sources of income for households who do not cultivate any ALVs was 1.08 sources and decreased with each additional ALV cultivated. For those who cultivated four or more ALV species the average mean number of off-farm sources of income was 0.77 sources. Finally, the average mean number of assets that each household owned had a very weak positive correlation (rs: 0.093, p<0.05) to the number of ALV species cultivated.The access to markets does not significantly influence whether households cultivate ALVs (Table 3). Access to markets for purchasing food items and selling produce is measured by the length of time in minutes needed to walk to the market. The length of time needed to reach the market to purchase food items in almost all cases greater than the length of time needed to reach the market to sell produce. The average mean amount of time needed to reach the market for purchasing food items ranges from 41.00 to 44.33 minutes. For those who cultivate four or more ALV species, the average mean time to reach the market for purchasing food items is less (41.23 minutes) than the average time needed to reach the market to sell produce (47.67 minutes). Finally, while the total value of ALVs sold at the market did decrease with each addition ALV species grown, this result was not significant. Smallholder farmers utilize many different sources to obtain ALV seeds needed for cultivation. Seeds of the six most common ALV species (black nightshade, spider plant, amaranth, cowpea leaves, jute mallow, and slender leaf) are obtained from the following eight sources: own seed, neighbors/fellow farmers/family members, local market, extension services, seed companies or traders, farmer groups, NGOs, and other sources. Of the 431 households, 14.6% did not mention any sources, which means they most likely do not cultivate ALVs.Over 90% (965 seed sources mentioned by all households, f=965) of the seeds from the six ALV species are obtained from only three main sources in the informal seed system: the local market, own seeds, and from neighbors, fellow farmers or family members. The most frequent source by far is the local market, with 87.5% of households (n=431) mentioning the local market as a main source for the different ALV seeds. This is followed by the use of own seeds, at 29.3%, and sourcing seeds from neighbors, fellow farmers and family members, at 11.1%. Formal seed sources are of marginal importance. The diversity of sources utilized is limited, with most households (62.2%) utilizing just one of the eight seed sources for all six ALV species and only 18.1% of households utilizing two different sources.The six main ALV species vary greatly not only in the frequency with which households source the seeds (Figure 3), but also in the sources utilized for obtaining seeds (Figure 4). Of the 431 households questioned, over two/thirds of the households source cowpea leaf seeds, and over half of the households source jute mallow as well as slender leaf seeds. The number of households sourcing different ALV seeds is similar to the cultivation rates of ALVs (Table 1).Smallholder farmers source their ALV seeds predominantly from the informal seed system, irrespective of the species of ALV (Figure 4). With the exception of amaranth, all seeds of the six ALV species are predominantly sourced from the local market. Over 80% of cowpea leaf and spider plant seeds are sourced from the local market. Amaranth has the highest percentage of seeds sourced from own production, at 36.1%, followed by jute mallow and slender leaf. Less than 10% of cowpea leaf seeds are produced at home. When comparing ALV species, the species that are sourced the most from neighbors, fellow farmers or family members percentage wise is black nightshade, at almost 20%.The formal seed system is of little relevance for smallholder farmers when obtaining ALV seeds (Figure 4). Black nightshade is the only ALV species sourced from extension services and jute mallow is the only ALV species to be sourced from a seed company or trader. Less than 2% of black nightshade seeds are sourced form farmer groups and less than 1% of jute mallow and slender leaf are sourced from farmer groups and from NGOs.The source of ALV seeds is significantly dependent on the individual ALV species (X 2 =251.422, p<0.001), with a strong association (Cramer's V= >0.5). A post-hoc comparison of all sources of seeds with all ALV species reveal that certain pairs of variables are highly significant in their relationship. Black nightshade has significantly higher rates than expected for the sources neighbor, fellow farmer or family members and extension services; amaranth has significantly higher rates for the sources own seed and other, as well as significantly lower rates for the source local market; and finally, cowpeas has significantly lower rates for the source own seeds and other, while having significantly higher rates for the source local market.  Farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges of ALVs are an important source of ALV seeds, with 34.6% of households reporting that they have exchanged ALV seeds with one or more farmers in the last year. These farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges consist of either obtaining or supplying other farmers with ALV seeds, either inside or outside the home village. While over a third of the farmers exchange seeds with other farmers, this is most often done with only one or two other farmers.Exchanges in the village are more frequent than exchanges outside of the village (Figure 5). Moreover, 1/3 of farmers supply other farmers in their village with ALV seeds. In comparison, 19% of households obtain ALV seeds from inside the village and only 8.4% obtain seeds from outside the village. The least frequent farmer-to-farmer ALV seed exchange is supplying seeds to other farmers who reside outside the village, with only 5.1% of households mentioning they had done this in the last year.Farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges are predominantly held between farmers who are related to one another, either by birth or blood, by marriage or by tribe. Only 27.7% of the seed exchanges are done between farmers who are not related. The most common relationship between farmers is by tribe, consisting of 31.4% of seed exchanges, followed by birth or blood (25%) and by marriage (15.9%). However, this is not the case when only exchanges outside and inside the village are signaled out.There is a strong significant association (X 2 =14.252, p<0.01, Cramer's V= 0.216) between the relationship of farmers in farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges inside and outside the village. The relationship with farmers outside the village influences if farmers exchange seeds. Over 40% of farmerto-farmer seed exchanges outside the village are done between farmers related by birth or blood to one another, compared to a mere 20% in the village.Similar to Figure 3, which shows the frequency of households sourcing different ALV species, the most frequent seed species exchanged are slender leaf, cowpea leaf, and jute mallow (Figure 5). However contrary to the general sourcing of seeds, slender leaf seeds (and not cowpea leaves) are exchanged the most between farmers (25% of exchanges). Amaranth is seldom exchanged in the village and never exchanged with other farmers outside the village. A chi-square test did not prove that ALV species influence whether farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges are inside or outside the village. Where farmers source their ALV seeds is significantly influenced by two factors: whether or not they have an income from the sale of ALVs and the total number of ALV species they cultivate. A chi-square test showed a strong strength of association between the source of ALV seeds and income from ALVs (X 2 =13.933, p<0.01, Cramer's V=0.168). This significance stems predominantly from the production of own seeds. Whether or not farmers have an income from ALVs significantly influences how likely they are to produce their own seeds. In other words, if farmers have an income from the sale of ALVs, they are significantly more likely to use their own seeds. In addition to income from ALVs, the total number of ALV species which are cultivated by farmers also significantly influences their source of seeds (X 2 =32.169, p<0.05, Cramer's V=0.256). This very strong association stems predominantly from the group of farmers who cultivate four or more species of TLVs. They are more likely to use their own seeds when cultivating ALVs and less likely to use the local market.The diversity of different seed sources used per household is influenced by the total number of ALV species cultivated (B: 0.139, p<0.01). The diversity of seed sources used increases with the diversity of ALV species cultivated. All other factors (market access, household income, household and women demographics, and income from the sale of ALV products) were not proven to significantly influence the diversity of seed sources used by households.The number of farmer-to-farmer exchanges a household uses to supply or obtain ALV seeds is influenced by three factors: the location of the household, the number of off-farm sources of income, and the number of ALV species cultivated. The negative binominal regression shows a positive relation between three sublocations and the number of farmer-to-farmer ALV seed exchanges. Farmers living in Bugina (B: 1.299, p<0.01), Ebunangwe (B: 1.368, p<0.01) and Ebuhando (B: 1.028, p<0.05) have significantly higher rates of exchanges than farmers in the other 13 sublocations. Farmer-to-farmer exchanges have a negative relationship to the number of off-farm sources of income (B: -0.359, p<0.01). This means that when farmers increase their off-farm sources of income, the number of exchanges between farmers decreases. A positive relationship was found between the number of exchanges and the number of ALVs species cultivated (B: 0.276, p<0.001), as was the case with the diversity of seed sources.Finally, no significant association was found between the relationship of farmers in farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges. Market access, household income, household and women demographics and the cultivation of ALVs were not shown to affect the relationship between farmers.The participation and decision making of women in ALV cultivation is high. Over three/fourths of women make the decision for the household whether to cultivate ALVs and are responsible for ALV cultivation (Error! Reference source not found.). When selling ALVs, the percentage of women able to decide whether to sell ALVs falls slightly to 65.5%, while falling even more to 57.7% when deciding how the money is used. Nonetheless, the trend is that women are more involved in ALV production and sales than men.When it comes to selling ALVs, men in the household gain in importance, becoming either the sole decision maker or in combination with the woman. Only slightly over 10% of men decide whether to cultivate ALVs, and even less are responsible for the cultivation. This changes with the sale of ALVs, where over one/fourth of households report that both the man and the woman decide how the money is spent. Other family members are rarely involved in the decision making of ALV cultivation, however in over 8% of households various family members are responsible for ALV cultivation. The final decision made in the household which ALVs species are cultivated is made predominantly by the woman herself (71.6%). Only 15.5% of the men make the final decision and in the rest of the households, other members are involved. In those cases where women do not make the final decision, almost 50% of women reported that they feel to a high extent that they can make their own personal decision regarding which ALV species are cultivated. Additionally, few women felt that they did not have any say regarding which ALV species are cultivated.There is a significant and strong relationship between who is responsible for ALV cultivation and the total number of ALV species cultivated (X 2 = 35.346, p<0.1, Cramer's V= 0.316). When men alone are responsible for ALV cultivation, they are significantly more likely not to cultivate any ALV species. This means not only are women in this case to a higher degree responsible for ALVs, but they are also more likely to cultivate (multiple) ALVs.When women are responsible for the cultivation of ALVs, they are significantly more likely to be able to decide whether to sell ALV produce and products (X 2 = 141.948, p<0.001, Cramer's V= 0.639). 81.3% of women who are responsible for cultivation decide whether to sell ALVs. At the same time, when women make the decision to sell ALVs, they are significantly more likely to be able to decide how this money is used, either alone or with their spouse (X 2 = 161.145, p<0.001, Cramer's V= 0.699).When women make the decisions to sell ALVs, 80% of them also make the decision how to use the money from the sale. When both men and women make the decision whether to sell ALV products, they are most likely to decide together what to do with the money (78.6%).In general, the extent of participation and decision making by women was not found to have a significant influence on the informal seed system. The only variable which is affected by the participation and decision making of women is the diversity of different seed sources used per household (X 2 = 29.134, p<0.01, Cramer's V= 0.167). When men are responsible for the cultivation of ALVs, they are more likely not to source any seeds. This plays into the finding that one, men are often not responsible for the cultivation of TLVs, and two, if they are, they are more likely not to cultivate ALVs. For this reasoning, it was difficult to find significant findings in the relationship between participation and decision making in the informal seed sector since there were too few men involved in cultivation.African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) continue to be a vital crop for smallholder farmers in Western Kenya, with most farmers growing one or more species of ALVs (Gotor and Irungu 2010, Mwaura et al. 2013, Pincus et al. 2018). The results of my study confirm the importance of ALVs, as over 88% of the 431 smallholder farmers surveyed in Vihiga County cultivate ALVs. They grow a wide range of species, including (in order of frequency of cultivation): cowpea leaves, slender leaf, jute mallow, Ethiopian kale, black nightshade, pumpkin leaves, spider plant, amaranth, cassava leaves, and finally vine spinach (Table 4 for binomial nomenclature and local names). The agrobiodiversity found on smallholder farms is an integral part of localized culture and sustainable livelihoods, with the potential to increase nutritional security and food sovereignty (Abukutsa-Onyango 2007, Towns and Shackleton 2018). However, even though ALVs contribute substantially to food security and are a part of livelihood strategies for smallholder farmers, they remain a neglected species, seldom integrated in development plans and policies and rarely researched (Chelang'a et al. 2013, Chweya andEyzaguirre 1999).While the increase in cultivation of ALVs in Kenya is attributed primarily to consumer demand, particularly from peri-urban and urban consumers (Chelang'a et al. 2013, Mwaura et al. 2013), smallholder farmers in Vihiga County do not primarily grow ALVs for income, but rather for food security. While ranking the contribution of the different ALV species for food security and income from one to five, all ALVs were ranked higher individually and collectively for food security than for income. The highest ranking ALV for household income, which is amaranth at an average mean of 1.62, is quite low. The minimal importance of ALV cultivation and sale for household income could be attributed to the fact that so few households sell their produce. Only 25.7 % of the households (n=431) sold their ALV products or produce in the 12 months preceding the survey. The access to markets was also not proven to significantly influence whether households cultivate ALVs (rs: 0.04, p>0.5). This contrasts with results from the Kiambu District near Nairobi, where those households closer to the market were significantly more likely to cultivate ALVs than those farther off (Mwaura et al. 2013).However, even though ALVs are ranked lower in terms of importance for household income and only one/fourth of the smallholder farmers sell their products or produce, the sale of ALVs and other vegetables is still the most frequent source of income stemming from on-farm production. This underlines the difficulties smallholder farmers face in acquiring streams of income, as over half of the households do not have any sources of income stemming from on-farm production. While off-farm sources of income are more frequent than on-farm sources of income, off-farm income is in 80% of the households lower than on-farm income. In conclusion, the sale of ALVs is still of importance to the income of households, but is embedded in the broader situation of smallholder farmers unable to sell their produce, contributing to the fact that 41% of households in Vihiga County live under the poverty level (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2019).Household income is significantly associated with the cultivation of ALVs, although the reasons for this association require further research. The number of different on-farm sources of income is weakly positively correlated (rs: 0.225, p<0.001) with the number of ALV species cultivated. Households in Vihiga County that primarily depend on income from the farm may be more likely to cultivate multiple ALVs, increasing the agrobiodiversity on their farm, as seen in the Kiambu District near Nairobi (Mwaura et al. 2013). Additionally, larger smallholder farms may be more able to cultivate diverse species of ALVs. These hythosesis could also be supported by the significant, although very weak, negative correlation (rs: -0.143, p<0.01) between off-farm sources of income and the number of ALV species cultivated. It may be that the less of an importance the income stemming from the farm is for household income, (which could be related to the size of the farm) the less smallholders farmers cultivate ALVs. However, land size was not shown to significantly influence farmer's decision to cultivate ALVs in the Kiambu District (Mwaura et al. 2013).Women are central actors in the cultivation of ALVs on smallholder farms in Kenya. Over three/fourths (n=431) of the women in Vihiga county are not only responsible for ALV cultivation, but also make the decision whether to even cultivate ALVs. Furthermore, women are significantly more likely to cultivate ALVs than men, with men more likely to not cultivate any ALV species (X=35.346, p<0.1, Cramers V=0.316). These results underline how labor on smallholder farms and in the household are often divided by gender (Delêtre et al. 2011, Schöley andPadmanabhan 2017) and also underline the importance of women for the cultivation of ALVs. The \"gender-asymmetric person-plant relationship\" (Delêtre et al. 2011) applies to women and ALVs, as they gain expertise and assert authority with the cultivation. Not only are men less likely to cultivate ALVs, they also consult the female members of the household for information regarding planting and production methods, as they lack expertise (Nekesa andMeso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018). Over 70% of women feel they have full authority regarding which ALVs species are cultivated and very few women feel that they do not have any say regarding species selection. Additionally, with an increase in age, women are more likely to cultivate multiple ALV species (rs: 0.32, p<0.01).While women are responsible for the cultivation of ALVs in Kenya, their perspectives, knowledge and experience have historically been excluded from agricultural research and development (Chambers andMomsen 2007, Ferguson 1994). This exclusion stems in part from the neoclassical model of the household as a unitary entity, focusing on the male head of the household and thereby ignoring the gendered social organization of labor and power (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017). A gendered perspective on agriculture highlights gender asymmetry and intrahousehold dynamics, especially intrahousehold power dynamics, which dictate who has control over what (Doss 2013, Dolan 2001, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020, Orr et al. 2016, Quisumbing, Agnes R. ed. 2003, Wencélius et al. 2016).Women in Vihiga County have a high operational control over ALV cultivation, as they decide which ALV species are chosen and how the resources are managed.When looking at the financial control in terms of deciding how the income of the sale of ALVs is used, the participation and decision making of women drops slightly but remains primarily in the control of women, with 57.7% of women in Vihiga County deciding how the money from the sale of ALVs is used.When women are responsible for the cultivation of ALVs, they are significantly more likely to be able to decide whether to sell ALV produce and products (X 2 =141.948, p<0.001, Cramer's V=0.639). Furthermore, when women make the decision to sell ALVs, they are significantly more likely to decide how the money is used (X 2 =161.145, p<0.001, Cramer's V=0.699). This is key to understand women's decision-making ability and is essential for gender equality (Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020). Womencontrolled resources, in this case the sale of ALVs, not only increases their bargaining power in the household, but also improves the situation of women and children's health, nutrition, and education (Quisumbing 2003a). As mentioned by Nekesa and Meso (2018): \"For anyone interested in rural women's welfare, African traditional vegetables offer an important entry point.\"ALVs can be an entry point but not the end point to women's welfare in Western Kenya. The patriarchal sociocultural and political system can hinder interventions geared towards gender equality through ALV cultivation (Ferguson 1994). First, even though women dominate the Kenyan ALV supply chain, men who are involved earn significantly higher incomes than women (Weinberger et al. 2011). This means that while supporting women in the cultivation and sale of ALVs can increase women-controlled resources, women still face discrimination every step of the way. Second, the operational and financial control of women over ALV cultivation is more likely when ALVs are first and foremost cultivated for subsistence, as is the case in Vihiga County. With the commodification, commercialization and subsequent increase in income from ALV production, gendered intrahousehold dynamics can shift, with men more inclined to participate and appropriate the work and benefits derived from ALVs (Weinberger et al. 2011). This has proven to be the case with multiple crops in Kenya (Abukutsa- Onyango 2005, Dolan 2001, Fischer and Qaim 2012). Therefore, supporting ALV cultivation does not automatically lead to an increase women's welfare, income, or emancipation.Developmental policies and programs which aim at improving the situation of women and children through the cultivation of ALVs need to be aware of gendered intrahousehold power dynamics and include strategies to increase the resources controlled by women. Commercialization can be an opportunity for cooperation and transformation in the household. However, this depends on the specific historical and cultural context of women's bargaining power and the kind of intervention (Orr et al. 2016). \"While taking existing gender norms into account is important, adapting to existing norms runs the risk of reinforcing them, rather than using the project as an opportunity to be gender-transformative or to engage men to support the project.\" (Quisumbing et al. 2015) The ALV seed system in Western Kenya is dominated by informal seed sources (Abukutsa- Onyango 2005, Nekesa and Meso 2018, Pincus et al. 2018). Over 90% of the seeds sourced by smallholder farmers in Vihiga County stem from three informal seed sources: the local market, own seeds, and neighbors, fellow farmers, or family members (i.e. farmer-to-farmer exchanges). This is consistent with patterns in the Global South, where smallholder farmers source likewise over 90% of their seeds from the informal seed system (McGuire and Sperling 2016). ALV seeds from informal seed sources are in general more easily accessible, are less expensive and can have higher germination rates and yields than seeds from the formal seed system (Croft et al. 2018, Pincus et al. 2018) Additionally, informal seed sources are often the only source for local varieties and neglected and underutilized crops (Gill et al. 2013, Schöley andPadmanabhan 2017), such as the ALV species cultivated in Vihiga County.While in the last 20 years, the number of seed sources utilized by smallholder farmers has increased (Schöley and Padmanabhan 2017)  (Sperling and McGuire 2010). Additionaly, social networks key for farmer-to-farmer exchanges appear to be erroding, leading farmers to seek out local markets. However, further research is required to understand why farmers utilize which ALV seed sources in Western Kenya.The source of ALV seeds utilized by smallholder farmers in Vihiga County is significantly and strongly dependent on the indiviual ALV species (X=251.422, p<0.001, Cramer's V >0.5). Except for amaranth, all ALV seeds are predominantly sourced from the local market. Amaranth is significantly more likely to be sourced from on-farm seed production, with 36.1% of households sourcing from on-farm production. The reliance on on-farm seed production for amaranth may be explained by the easy collectability of amaranth seeds, the high germination rate (Croft et al. 2018), and by seed dispersal characteristics, where seeds fall naturally to the soil and germinate the following year. Contrarily, black nightshade seeds are significantly more likely to be sourced from extension services than other ALV species. The shift to the formal system for black nightshade seeds may be explained by the labor and time intensive collection and preparation of black nightshade berries (Schippers 2000) and/or by the willingness of farmers to invest in perceived higher quality seeds, as fresh nightshade leaves are more marketable than other ALVs (Pincus et al. 2018).Even though social systems and networks underlying farmer exchanges appear to be eroding (Sperling and McGuire 2010) and the Kenyan National Seed Policy bans farmer seed exchanges and informal purchases (Mucioki et al. 2018), over one/third of smallholder farmers in Vihiga county have exchanged ALV seeds with one or more farmers in the last year. These farmer seed systems continue to be an important source of seeds and are vital for in-situ conservation, increasing seed diversity and building the basis for crop improvement around the world (Badstue et al. 2006, Coomes et al. 2015, Stromberg et al. 2010). However, it is difficult to estimate precise seed flows, as smallholder famers in the Global South rarely keep records of their seed transaction and researchers are dependent on the recalled accounts given (Badstue et al. 2006). Nonetheless, one/third of farmers recalled suppling ALV seeds to other farmers in their village in the past year, the most frequent type of exchange mentioned. These seeds could be supplied through sale, inheritance, gift, barter, lending or through another type of exchange (Badstue et al. 2006, McGuire andSperling 2016). Unfortunalty, data on the type of seed transaction was not collected and further research is necesarry to identify how farmers access their seeds. This can be informative when looking at seed vulnerability, community solidarity (Tadesse et al. 2017), and the willingness of farmers to invest in seeds (McGuire and Sperling 2016).The relationship between farmers is key in farmer seed exchanges, with farmers obtaining and supplying their seeds from trustful sources, predominately from relatives (Delêtre et al. 2011, Kiptot et al. 2006, Tadesse et al. 2017) or custodian farmers (Sthapit 2013). The reliance on relatives was evidently the case in Vihiga County, where over 70% of seed exchanges are done between farmers who are related to one another, either by birth or blood, by marriage or by tribe. Exchanging seeds through close social relationships can minimize transaction costs due to social ties and responsibilities and oftentimes are done ad hoc, as part of an ordinary social interaction (Badstue et al. 2006). Social relationships are especially relevant for seed exchanges outside the village, where farmers in Vihiga County are significantly more likely to exchange seeds with relatives. Additionally, the varieties have likely been cultivated and bred in the same community under similar conditions and farmers can share experiences and knowledge regarding cultivation (Badstue et al. 2006). However, a chi-square test did not show that ALV species influence whether farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges are inside or outside the village. Therefore, the relationship of farmers in farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges determines whether seeds are exchanged in or outside the village, not the ALV species.In Vihiga County, the diversity of ALV species cultivated (agrobiodiversity) was found to be the defining factor influencing the informal ALV seed system. Farmers cultivating multiple ALV species are more likely to produce their own seeds, less likely to source their seeds from the local market, have in general a higher diversity of seed sources and exchange seeds with more farmers. Farmers cultivating multiple ALV species are vital for agrobiodiversity and in-situ conservation of ALVs, especially in times of climate change, land use intensification, urbanization and structural change in the rural population (Badstue et al. 2006, Coomes et al. 2015, Pautasso et al. 2013, Stromberg et al. 2010). Additionally, they are not only more seed secure, able to control their own access to seeds and utilize multiple sources in times of crisis (Pincus et al. 2018), but they also have and are able to share their knowledge and experience regarding ALV cultivation and the traits of their seeds. Farmers cultivating many different ALV species thereby act as central custodians in farmer seed networks, actively selecting, maintaining and disseminating agricultural biodiversity through seeds and knowledge (Badstue et al. 2006, Sthapit 2013).Women are key actors in the informal seed system, crucial for agrobiodiversity (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002, Bezner Kerr 2013, Delêtre et al. 2011, Gill et al. 2013, Mucioki et al. 2016, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020, Violon et al. 2016). Not only are women more likely to cultivate ALVs, but they are also more likely to source ALV seeds and have a higher diversity of different seed sources than men (x=29.134, p<0.01). As women are more likely to cultivate multiple ALV species, and this agrobiodiversity indicates the centrality of farmers in the farmer seed network, women are thereby central custodians in the ALV seed system in Vihiga County. Seeds and knowledge are exchanged and passed through generations of women, as the seed systems in Kenya are matrilineal (Mucioki et al. 2016). Women are essential for seed production, selection, conservation, and storage and are the holders of agro-ecological knowledge on seeds and varieties (Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020). While women in general are central custodians in the ALV seed system, the extent of participation and decision making by women in the cultivation of ALVs was not found to significantly influence any other aspects of the informal seed system (such as seed source selection, the number of farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges or the relation between farmers in farmer seed exchanges).In addition to agrobiodiversity, households that have an income from the sale of ALVs are also significantly more likely to use their own seeds for cultivation (X=13.933, p<0.01, Cramer's V=0.168). These results contrast with former studies, where increases in income from on-farm production and the proximity of markets have led farmers to purchase seeds, instead of using land and labor-intensive seeds produced on their farm (Cavataasi et al. 2006, Croft et al. 2018, Stromberg et al. 2010). However, both on-farm sources of income and market access were not found to significantly influence the informal ALV seed system in Vihiga County. This aligns with the present lack of influence that market access has on the cultivation of ALVs in Vihiga County. It may be that households with an income from the sale of ALVs cultivate a larger area of land, and thereby have more means to produce their own seeds (McGuire and Sperling 2016). Another factor could be the general lack of available and accessible quality ALV seeds in Kenya (Croft et al. 2018, Pincus et al. 2018), leading farmers to rely heavily on their own seeds.With the exception of location and gender, household demographics were not shown to influence the informal seed system. Education level and age has previously been shown to not influence seed sourcing in Kenya (Croft et al. 2018), although in other contexts, an association between age and source selection has been detected (Wencélius et al. 2016). Regarding location, three sublocations in Vihiga County showed higher rates of farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Further research and analysis are necessary to understand what factors attribute to these higher rates of farmer-to-farmer exchanges. In addition, many factors were not included in this study, such as quality of seeds, accessibility, type of exchange, etc. Further explorative research is also necessary to understand the informal seed system, as this research field is underfunded, underdeveloped and little is known about even the informal seed systems of major crops such as maize (Gill et al. 2013).African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) continue to be a vital crop for smallholder farmers in Wester Kenya, with the potential to improve food sovereignty and nutritional security. Over 88% of smallholder farmers in Vihiga County cultivate up to ten different ALV species. However, ALVs are a neglected species, seldom integrated in national and international development plans and rarely researched (Chelang'a et al. 2013, Chweya andEyzaguirre 1999). My study, which uses baseline data from 431 households in Vihiga County, Kenya, highlights the continued prevalence of ALV cultivation, especially in the hands of women, and the importance of ALVs for food security. While ALV cultivation on smallholder farms has many agronomic advantages compared to the cultivation of \"exotic\" vegetables, smallholder farmers still face many challenges, with the main constraint being the lack of available and accessible quality seeds.My study shows that the ALV seed system in Western Kenya is dominated by informal seed sources, with over 90% of seeds sourced in Vihiga County stemming from three sources: the local market, own seeds, and farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Farmers cultivating many different ALV species in Vihiga County act as central custodians in the informal seed system, actively selecting, maintaining and disseminating agricultural biodiversity through seeds and knowledge (Badstue et al. 2006, Sthapit 2013). The informal seed system, a key pillar of farmer livelihoods and small-scale agriculture, is vital for in-situ conservation, maintaining and increasing agrobiodiversity and ensuring future crop improvement around the world (Badstue et al. 2006, Coomes et al. 2015, Stromberg et al. 2010). However, dominant agricultural development regimes promote large-scale policies and initiatives by agribusinesses (Coomes et al. 2015) and research on informal seed systems, while growing, is still underdeveloped and underfunded (Gill et al. 2013).Women are key actors in the cultivation of ALVs on smallholder farms in Vihiga County and in the informal ALV seed system (Almekinders and Louwaars 2002, Delêtre et al. 2011, Gill et al. 2013, Mucioki et al. 2016, Nkengla-Asi et al. 2020, Violon et al. 2016). My results show that women are more likely to cultivate ALVs, are more responsible for ALV cultivation than men and make most of the decisions regarding cultivation, sale and income through ALVs. Not only are women more likely to cultivate ALVs, but women are also the central custodians in the ALV seed system in Vihiga County. Future developmental policies and programs which aim at increasing ALV cultivation and consumption are strongly urged to not only include women but put women at the forefront of their programs. Additionally, developmental policies and programs, as well as research projects, which aim at improving the situation of women and children through the cultivation of ALVs need to be aware of gendered intrahousehold power dynamics and include strategies to increase the resources controlled by women. While ALV cultivation, sale and income through ALVs at present remain in the hands of women, the commodification, commercialization and subsequent increase in income from ALV production can lead gendered intrahousehold dynamics to shift, with men more inclined to participate and appropriate the work and benefits derived from ALVs (Weinberger et al. 2011). Supporting ALV cultivation does not automatically lead to an increase in women's and children's welfare, income, or emancipation. Understanding gendered intrahousehold dynamics and the gendered informal seed system of ALVs is essential for supporting ALV cultivation, ALV community seed bank initiatives and on-farm ALV seed conservation projects. Table 6: On-farm and off-farm sources of income household income (n=431).On-farm and off-farm sources of income household income yes (frequency) percentageOn farm source of income by sale of own produced grains 9.5%On farm source of income by sale of own produced roots or tubers 7.4%On farm source of income by sale of own produced fruits 7.2%On farm source of income by sale of own produced TLVs 22.0%On farm source of income by sale of own produced other vegetables (non-TLVs) 23.2%On farm source of income by sale of own produced animals or animal products 18.6%Off farm source of income as petty trader 16.2%Off farm source of income by sale of own produced or gathered goods/crafts 3.0%Off farm source of income as mechanic (motorcycle/bicycle repair) 4.6%Off farm source of income as casual laborer (daily wages) 32.9%Off farm source of income as hairdresser 4.6%Off farm source of income as boda-boda driver 5.1%Off farm source of income as metal worker or carpenter 2.1%Off farm source of income from remittances 1.6%Off farm source of income as employee (regular salary) 10.7%Off farm source of income from cash transfer programs 1.2%Off farm source of income -non-specified 5.3%Higher earnings as petty trader compared to farming 3.5%Higher earnings by sale of own produced or gathered goods/crafts compared to farming 2.1%Higher earnings as mechanic (motorcycle/bicycle repair) compared to farming 1.2%Higher earnings as casual laborer (daily wages) compared to farming 7.9%Higher earnings as hairdresser compared to farming 1.4%Higher earnings as boda-boda driver compared to farming 0.9%Higher earnings as metal worker or carpenter compared to farming 0.9%Higher earnings as employee (regular salary) compared to farming 3.9%Higher earnings from remittances compared to farming 0.7% Higher income from cash transfer programs compared to farming 0.0%Higher income from non-specified off farm source compared to farming 0.9%   Now I would like to ask you some questions about the land you use for farming and other activities, as well as the crops that you grow on your farm. These questions collect important information about your particular situation and form a baseline understanding for the rest of the survey.[Help the farmer to describe all the farms/land they have access to for purposes of farming grazing and residence then sketch the farms/plots and name them with codes eg F1, F2, for farms; P1, P2 for plots, HG1, HG2 for kitchen gardens and W1, W2 for woodlots]We would like to know during the last year how much land you owned, rented or shared for the following activities (in acres). Probe for all lands A: Land Ownership ","tokenCount":"21339"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1709675712.json b/data/part_1/1709675712.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a3e45c1aec8370b78547f61c60a8ae14dffac47b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1709675712.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1f0c3a7f5948cce8489a1572543f5f18","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00399b0a-b943-40fa-9170-1696cb8c20ab/retrieve","id":"-98730076"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b05b475-7c07-4555-9859-72265447097a","pagecount":"4","content":"Vietnam is a tropical country with high temperatures and precipitation, providing good conditions for climatesensitive diseases. Given global climate and land use changes, there is a need to determine the distribution and burden of climate-sensitive diseases to improve disease management. Moreover, studies are needed to evaluate people's perceptions and knowledge of climatesensitive diseases in Vietnam. Therefore, the Pestforecast project used health and climate secondary datasets to evaluate the seasonality of selected climatesensitive diseases and other climate risk factors associated with disease incidence. Risk maps were developed to aid surveillance and management. The project also evaluated the prevalence and level of Japanese encephalitis and leptospirosis in pigs and aflatoxins in maize, and perceptions and knowledge of climate-sensitive diseases among people in the study areas. Aflatoxins are poisonous carcinogenic substances produced by certain moulds in crops such as maize and groundnuts. There are limited studies on aflatoxicosis in Vietnam.We obtained national surveillance data for notifiable infectious diseases in Vietnam from the Ministry of Health for the last 30 years. In addition, meteorological data (precipitation, temperature and humidity) were obtained for the study period. Average incidence rates (per 100,000 people) for viral encephalitis, dengue fever, shigellosis and malaria were calculated monthly and associations with season and other climate risk factors were assessed (Figure 1). The different geographic regions under our studies were found to have different seasonal patterns and trends. Overall, increased incidence rates were observed during the wet season (May-October). There were associations between incidences of these diseases and temperature, humidity and precipitation in Vietnam. Our findings help better understand the geographical and seasonal patterns of diseases as well as the associated climate risk factors in Vietnam. Our studies provide evidence to help public health system planning and can be used by clinicians to ILRI RESEARCH BRIEF 85 December 2017improve diagnosis and foresee the timing of outbreaks. They can help raise public awareness during the peak seasons to prevent or reduce further potential outbreaks or onward transmission during an outbreak. A total of 2370 maize samples were collected from six provinces and analysed for the presence of aflatoxin B1, a highly carcinogenic mycotoxin (Figure 2). Of the collected samples, 799 (33.7%) had over 2 parts per billion (ppb) of aflatoxin B1 and 687 (29.0%) had over 5 ppb. Five ppb is the maximum acceptable level of aflatoxin B1 in maize for human consumption in Vietnam. We also interviewed 551 people from six provinces.The survey found that many people lacked awareness of aflatoxins, although awareness was slightly higher in southern Vietnam (25% in An Giang, 23% in Dak Lak and 6% in Dong Nai) than in provinces in northern Vietnam.A total of 1920 samples of pig urine were collected from slaughterhouses in five provinces. Overall, 53.9% of samples contained aflatoxin M1 at levels above the 0.15 ppb limit of detection (maximum 13.66 ppb; median 0.2 ppb; mean 0.63 ppb). Our studies confirm that aflatoxin B1 is present in maize in Vietnam at low levels and that pigs are exposed to it through feed; this may have implications for pig production as aflatoxins are known to have a range of negative effects on productivity at the levels found in our study. There was low awareness among farmers, indicating a need to boost awareness-raising efforts among the public and conduct more research in the region. Further investigation is needed on the possible health impacts of potential aflatoxins in pork; this will help in establishing regulations for animal feed.Leptospirosis is an infectious disease that causes symptoms such as fever, headaches and chills in people and a serious reproductive disease in pigs. A total of 1959 samples of sera from fattening pigs were randomly collected from slaughterhouses in Son La, Hanoi, Nghe An, Dak Lak and An Giang provinces. Serovars were identified by the microscopic agglutination test. Overall seroprevalence was 8.17% and serovar Tarassovi Mitis had the highest prevalence (2.19%) followed by Australis (1.94%), Javanica (1.68%) and Autumnalis (1.17%) using a cut-off titre ≥ 1:100 (Figure 3). Leptospirosis in pigs may be a useful indicator of the human and animal burden in Vietnam and a risk assessment tool. The presence of some of the identified serovars suggests that wildlife may play an important role in the transmission of leptospirosis to domesticated pigs in Vietnam. Therefore, strengthened monitoring and surveillance systems are needed to better understand the epidemiology of the disease and prevent or reduce infection in humans and animals.The findings of the Pestforecast project provide insights into the geographical and seasonal patterns of infectious and non-infectious climate-sensitive diseases in humans and animals and the associated climate risk factors in Vietnam, which can help target interventions to detect and prevent these diseases. The results of these largescale studies help better understand the prevalence and epidemiology of aflatoxins, Japanese encephalitis and leptospirosis in different provinces. Further investigation is needed in each region into the possible roles of environmental conditions and interaction with hosts in contributing to climate-sensitive diseases. The way forward includes developing decision support tools for animal and human health workers and policymakers at central and local levels to understand the risks of climate-sensitive diseases and thus help promote targeted prevention and interventions. The approach of this project could be used to study climate-sensitive diseases in southeast Asia and is already being applied in a project in Indonesia. ","tokenCount":"880"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1738300245.json b/data/part_1/1738300245.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..740eb220a9ae4bf1f5b6e1d5fbc97efa445ed610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1738300245.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c6410d94b3c0520f834f100f043d265e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/997eaf2f-50cd-45e8-bace-8a65751da4bd/retrieve","id":"-1692610925"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"800b4a94-70d0-4090-a9b3-bbbbc7e8aabf","pagecount":"2","content":"En las zonas rurales del Perú aún se mantienen altos los niveles de desnutrición infantil, particularmente de deficiencia de hierro, con un 41% de niños y un 21% de mujeres en edad fértil que padecen de anemia. En estas zonas las estrategias convencionales para combatir la anemia (tales como la suplementación y fortificación de alimentos) no son sostenibles, además el acceso a alimentos de origen animal es bajo, por lo que la biofortificación de cultivos agrícolas básicos constituye una opción para disminuir la desnutrición.La papa es un alimento básico en las zonas rurales alto andinas donde los niños y mujeres en edad fértil consumen en promedio 200 g y 600 g de papa al día, de manera que incrementando el contenido de hierro de la papa se espera contribuir a reducir los niveles de anemia de la población en estas zonas.La papa tiene un alto contenido de vitamina C, que es un promotor de la absorción de hierro, y bajo contenido de fitatos, que inhiben la absorción de hierro, por lo que la biodisponibilidad in-vitro del hierro de la papa es superior a la de otros cultivos como el maíz, el arroz, los frijoles y el trigo que tienen niveles bajos de vitamina C y niveles altos de fitatos.Conociendo esta realidad, el programa de mejoramiento del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), institución cuya investigación promueve el desarrollo con un enfoque en papa, camote, y raíces y tubérculos andinos; dedicada a brindar soluciones sostenibles basadas en la ciencia a los apremiantes problemas mundiales del hambre, la pobreza, la equidad de género, el cambio climático, la preservación de la frágil biodiversidad y los recursos naturales de la Tierra, así como a ofrecer oportunidades para el crecimiento de los negocios y el empleo juvenil; ha desarrollado nuevos clones de papa con mayor contenido de hierro y zinc (biofortificados).Las primeras papas biofortificados obtenidas fueron combinados con líneas de mejoramiento avanzadas con resistencia a enfermedades, para crear un nuevo grupo de papas que, además de mayor contenido de hierro y zinc, tengan resistencia a las plagas y otras enfermedades (caso del tizón tardío o rancha), así como rendimiento superior y buena calidad culinaria para agricultores y consumidores.El siguiente paso del CIP será seleccionar cinco potenciales variedades de papa biofortificada para ser posteriormente evaluadas y lanzadas formalmente, las cuales ayuden a mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de las familias en situación de vulnerabilidad en los Andes del Perú.Potenciales nuevas variedades de papa biofortificadas con altos contenidos de hierro y zinc, para contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional en la agricultura familiar alto andina. El paso a paso: descubriendo a las cinco mejores variedades 1 2 3Liberación de por lo menos dos variedades de papa biofortificadas cuyo consumo contribuirá a reducir los niveles de anemia en zonas alto andinas del país.Investigadores peruanos capacitados para desarrollar variedades de papa biofortificadas que contribuyan a reducir desnutrición el Perú.Información del comportamiento de 30 clones de papa avanzados con altos contenidos de hierro y zinc, disponibles para siete diferentes departamentos del Perú, así como semilla tubérculo.Base de datos sobre el comportamiento de los cinco mejores clones avanzados de papa biofortificada.Al menos, 10 investigadores del programa de papa de INIA mejoraran sus capacidades para para selección, evaluación y análisis de nuevos clones de papa biofortificada.","tokenCount":"546"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1741183031.json b/data/part_1/1741183031.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f7ee2159278809746cac37ff0f4e0eaf558f5df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1741183031.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be76a03489c677fc588a85da0a1551dc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5987ef51-7d0d-4af3-8aed-d69dbbd8955d/retrieve","id":"1543772978"},"keywords":["sorghum","landraces","dual-purpose","grain yield","fodder yield","grain mold","shoot fly","genetic gain"],"sieverID":"1af7d2b2-521a-4074-a1b5-181c2e9e2f63","pagecount":"15","content":"Sorghum is a climate-resilient cereal and staple food crop for more than 200 million people in arid and semi-arid countries of Asia and Africa. Despite the economic importance, the productivity of sorghum in India is constrained by biotic and abiotic stresses such as incidences of shoot fly, grain mold and drought. Indian sorghum breeding focused on dual-purpose (grain and fodder), short-duration varieties with multiple resistance/tolerance to pests and diseases and improved nutritional quality (high protein, iron and zinc and low fat). In this context, it is important to ascertain the genetic progress made over 30 years by assessing the efficiency of past achievements in genetic yield potential and to facilitate future genetic improvement. The current study determined the genetic gain in 24 sorghum varieties developed by the national and state level research systems during 1990-2020. The 24 varieties were evaluated for three years (2018-2020) at six locations in Telangana state for yield, nutritional characteristics and tolerance to shoot fly and grain mold. The absolute grain yield genetic gain from the base year 1990 is 44.93 kg/ha/yr over the first released variety CSV 15. The realized mean yield increased from 2658 kg/ha of the variety CSV 15 in 1990s to 4069 kg/ha of SPV 2579 developed in 2020s. The absolute genetic gain for grain mold resistance is -0.11 per year with an overall relative gain of 1.46% over CSV 15. The top varieties for grain yield (Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour L. Moench) is an important crop in the semi-arid and arid regions of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that are subjected to frequent droughts, low and erratic rainfall and high mean temperature (Reddy and Reddy, 2019). Sorghum is cultivated in 40.25 million ha in the world with a production of 58.70 million tonnes and productivity of 1458 kg/ha (FAO, 2021). The top 10 sorghum producers, the USA, Sudan, Mexico, Nigeria, India, Niger, Ethiopia, Australia, Brazil and China, contribute about 77% of world sorghum production (Aruna and Cheruku, 2019). It is the dietary staple for more than 200 million people in these regions and is a source of food and fodder, especially in the traditional, small-holder farming sector (Visarada and Aruna, 2019). Sorghum is considered as \"healthy cereal\" and is a good source of carbohydrates (68%), proteins (10%), micronutrients and phytochemicals with nutraceutical properties (Visarada and Aruna, 2019). The per capita consumption of sorghum is high at 75 kg/year in major sorghum growing regions in India and it contributes to more than 50% of the iron and zinc requirement in low-income group populations in India (Rao et al., 2006;Ashok kumar et al., 2011;Ashok kumar et al., 2013).Sorghum is a climate-smart C 4 crop with the ability to produce grain and fodder in harsh environments under low input conditions with high net returns (Hao et al., 2021). It is resilient to diverse environmental conditions with a forte to perform well in marginal conditions under water and temperature constraints without competing with other food crops (Griebel et al., 2019). Keeping in view the growing demand for limited freshwater source, growing usage of marginal farmland and changing climatic patterns, sorghum has a vital role to play in ensuring nutritional security of the world and more so in the context of ever-decreasing arable land and water (Deshpande et al., 2016) and frequent occurrences of environmental excesses like floods, water inadequacy and temperature extremes (Mickelbart et al., 2015).India is the second largest country occupying 13.6% of the sorghum cultivated area after Nigeria (14.16%). However, the productivity is very low at 1250 kg/ha compared to that of countries like China and USA at 4854 and 4594.6 kg/ha, respectively (FAO, 2021). Furthermore, the yield is also far less than the attainable yield of 3500 kgha -1 under good management practices. The low yield of sorghum is attributed to a wide array of reasons viz., lack of compatible improved varieties suitable for different agro-ecological zones, the incidence of abiotic and biotic stresses and use of traditional varieties and conventional production practices. Drought (rainfed sorghum), cold (postrainy season sorghum) and problematic soils (soil salinity and Al toxicity) are important abiotic constraints. It is estimated that about 32% of the sorghum crop in India is lost due to the incidence of insect pests during the rainy season (Borad and Mittal, 1983) and 26% during the post-rainy season (Daware et al., 2012). Sorghum shoot fly [Atherigona soccata (Rond.)] is among the most destructive pests in sorghum causing most damage during the seedling stage. Grain mold is the most important disease and causes yield losses ranging from 30 to 100% depending on the cultivars and weather conditions (Singh and Bandyopadhyay, 2000).Systematic research for sorghum improvement in India started with the establishment of the Accelerated Sorghum and Millet Improvement Project (ASMIP) in 1962 with the objective to initiate hybrid breeding (Tonapi et al., 2011). Since the release of the first sorghum hybrid, Coordinated Sorghum Hybrid 1 (CSH 1) in 1964 (Rao, 1982), remarkable progress has been made in sorghum improvement by diversifying the parental lines for yield, maturity, pest tolerance and quality by utilizing indigenous and exotic germplasm (House et al., 1996) resulting in the development and release of several hybrids (3.0-4.2 t/ha) and varieties (2.8-3.8 t/ha) in the next five decades. Since the 1990s, with increasing incidence of shoot fly and grain mold, sorghum breeding was re-oriented towards the development of dual-purpose varieties with high yield and tolerance to these two stresses. In Advanced Evaluation Trials (AET), it became mandatory that the entries are screened at the regional centres for tolerance to shoot fly and grain mold in addition to high yields before release at the national level. At present, sorghum research is being carried out at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR) in collaboration with the All India Co-ordinated Research Program on sorghum (AICRP on Sorghum) with 21 centres distributed across 10 states of India, and the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). To date, the coordinated efforts have led to the release of 35 hybrids and 30 varieties in grain, forage and sweet sorghum types (Aruna and Cheruku, 2019).Sorghum yield in India has increased considerably from 969 kg/ha in 1990-91 to 1210 kg/ha in 2020-21 (FAO, 2021)). Though these on-farm annual yield estimates provide useful information on trends in sorghum performance, it should be noted that they are a result of both plant breeding and agronomic practices (Pfeiffer et al., 2018) and do not necessarily reflect the improvement due to the efficiency of past breeding efforts alone in sorghum and hence may not provide precise information with the genetic progress made in improving the yield. The demand for sorghum grain has been on a consistent rise (Boyles et al., 2016) creating importance for grain yield but the progress has been slower in comparison to other cereals including maize and rice (Mason et al., 2008). Sorghum needs 15% gain in yield to be more competitive (Aruna and Cheruku, 2019) for which it is important to review the past yield gains to predict future gains from selection and assess the progress of past and present selection strategies. In this context, it is important to evaluate sorghum genotypes developed in different eras under equal environment and management conditions to establish the relative value of plant breeding efforts in yield gains (Smith et al., 2004;Duvick, 2005).There are extensive studies estimating the genetic gains achieved in major crops with the gains varying with crop, country and period. Genetic yield gain computed in rice ranged from non-significant (Muralidharan et al., 2019) to significant positive gain (0.68% under irrigated control; 0.87% under moderate reproductive stage drought stress; 19% severe reproductive stage drought stress) (Oluwaseun et al., 2022) for grain yield. In maize, positive genetic gains for grain yield were estimated to have increased by 109.4 kg/ha/yr (optimal conditions), 32.5 kg/ha/yr (managed drought), 22.7 kg/ha/yr (random drought), 20.9 kg/ha/yr (low nitrogen) and 141.3 kg/ ha/yr (maize streak virus) (Masuka et al., 2017); In potato, the annual genetic gains for tuber yield were small at Nordic region of Europe (0.3% per year) and Sweden (0.7% per year) (Ortiz et al., 2022). In soybean, positive genetic gains for seed yield were reported in Brazil in the South Region (0.33 to 0.42% per year) and Midwest region (0.47 to 0.77% per year) (Milioli et al., 2022).Several studies on the genetic gain in sorghum have been reported across the world in the regions of United States (Smith and Frederiksen, 2000;Pfeiffer et al., 2018), Australia (Stephens et al., 2012), Argentina (Gizzi and Gambin, 2016), Mali (Rattunde et al., 2016), Ethiopia (Chala et al., 2019), Haiti (Muleta et al., 2019). However, compared to other crops, there are far fewer studies examining the changes occurring due to long-term selection within sorghum breeding programs in India.To our knowledge, there is only one study conducted by Rakshit et al. (2014) estimating the genetic gain for grain yield over years in the Indian sorghum improvement program. The study used a historical set of data on the performance of genotypes from 1970 to 2009 and found that the genetic gain was prominent in rainyseason hybrid trials (18.5 kg/ha/yr) whereas it was insignificant in post-rainy season hybrid and varietal trials.The sorghum breeding programme in India which was initiated to develop hybrids was re-oriented during the 1990s to develop dual-purpose varieties with tolerance to shoot fly and grain mold to enhance the yield gains (Das et al., 2020). While the increase in sorghum yield from 1991 to 2020 was estimated at 25%, there have been no reports on the accelerated genetic gain in breeding progress of grain mold and shoot fly tolerant sorghum varieties generated during the last three decades, thus making it difficult to completely ascertain the genetic gain that has been made in grain yield in relationship to grain mold and shootfly tolerance in sorghum varieties that have been developed and released in India. Therefore, the current study was conducted with the following objectives (i) to determine the genetic gain for grain yield and fodder yield of sorghum with tolerance to shoot fly and grain mold, (ii) to measure changes in stress-tolerant traits that have accompanied changes in grain yield, (iii) to identify high yielding, protein-rich varieties with yield stability for commercialization in India.A total of 24 sorghum varieties were evaluated in this study (Table 1). Majority of the varieties were developed by using the pedigree method of selection where one variety is usually selected based on its proven performance and the other to complement the first variety. Selection of individual plants was continued from F 2 to F 4 /F 5 until the population reached near homozygosity, after which selection was practiced among the families. At F 6 stage, the varieties were screened separately for insect pest or disease tolerance in addition to grain and fodder yields.The plant material included eight varieties released at state/ national levels between 1990 and 2020 (Table 1). These were selected for their importance and features responsible for wide cultivation. Sixteen varieties which did not go through the AET I and II trials due to non-significant yield improvement over standard checks were also included in the study because of their superior characters. The varieties PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 were developed utilizing landraces with early maturity, good grain and fodder yielding qualities and high-end product consumer preference. The remaining varieties were developed using highyielding lines and tolerant germplasm (drought, grain mold and shoot fly) obtained from ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India and ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad, India. The seeds for conducting the trials were obtained from the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Palem, India.The 24 sorghum varieties were tested in six locations (Palem, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Tandur, Madhira and Hyderabad) for three years (2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21) for grain yield, fodder yield, and tolerance to shoot fly and grain mold. Two locations, grouped based on annual rainfall, sowing window, type of soils and end product consumer preference, and tested for three years were considered as one environment. The Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India. In all the six selected locations sorghum is cultivated during the rainy season under the rainfed system (Table 2).Evaluation of varieties for yield performance and screening for tolerance to shoot fly and grain moldEach sorghum variety was planted on six rows of 5 m length plot by using between-and within-row spacing of 45 and 10 cm, respectively. Nutrient management, inter-cultivation and weed management were carried out according to the technical recommendations for the sorghum crop. During harvest, the four central rows within each plot were sampled for grain yield and fodder yield. The number of plants with dead hearts was recorded at 28 days after emergence and shoot fly damage was calculated as the percentage of dead heart incidence (Sharma et al., 2003). All the 24 sorghum varieties were also evaluated in the sorghum grain mold nursery over the three rainy seasons (June-September) in 2018 to 2020 at all six locations under natural epiphytotic conditions for grain mold evaluation. Each genotype was sown in six rows of 5 m in length during the first fortnight of June so that the grain maturity stage coincided with the periods of frequent rainfall received in the ensuing August-September, thus predisposing the crop to grain mold disease. During rain-free days, high relative humidity (>90%) was maintained from the flowering to the physiological maturity stage by using sprinkler irrigation. About 10 uniformly flowering plants with the same flowering window were tagged in each row. The visual panicle grain mold rating (PGMR) was taken on each of the tagged plants at the prescribed physiological maturity by using a progressive 1-9 scale, where 1 = no mold infection, 2 = 1-5%, 3 = 6-10%, 4 = 11-20%, 5 = 21-30%, 6 = 31-40%, 7 = 41-50%, 8 = 51-75%, and 9 = 76-100% molded grains on a panicle (Singh and Bandyopadhyay, 2000;Thakur et al., 2007). All the trials at each location were conducted in a complete randomized block design with three replications.Whole grains of 24 sorghum varieties were collected from the field trials at Hyderabad in 2020 and analyzed for protein and fat by standard methods of AOAC ( 2016). The protein level was quantified by using the generic combustion method of analysis with the LECO F-528 nitrogen analyzer (LECO, St. Joseph, MI, USA) calibrated with ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid according to the association of official analytical chemists method (AOAC, 2016). The grain samples were ground to a suitable fineness to pass No. 20 sieve and dried at 102 ± 2°C for 2 h. A moisture-free sample weighing 200 mg was analyzed to estimate protein content. The total fat content was estimated by the automatic Soxtherm extraction unit (Gerhardt Analytical Systems, Königswinter, Germany) using petroleum ether (60-80°C) as the solvent. After evaporation, the sample was dried in the hot air oven at 100°C for 1 hour, cooled in a desiccator and weighed to estimate the fat content (%).The statistical analyses were performed using a linear model where variety, environment and repetitions within each environment and genotype × environment interaction were considered random effects, while the main effect was considered to be fixed in the model (Alvarado et al., 2015 andAlvarado et al., 2020). In this case, all random effects were assumed to be normally distributed. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) of the varieties were obtained for each trait using a linear model according to Alvarado et al. (2015). For the where Y ijkl is the evaluated trait, m is the mean effect; Env i is the effect of the ith environment, Rep j (Env i ) is the effect of the j th replicate within the i th environment; Gen l is the effect of the l th genotype; Env i × Gen l is the effect of the environment × genotype interaction; and ϵ ijkl is the error associated with the i th environment, j th replication, and l th genotype, which is assumed to be normally a n d i n d e p e n d e n t l y d i s t r i b u t e d , w i t h m e a n z e r o and homoscedastic variance s2 (Alvarado et al., 2015).The annual estimates of genetic gain were obtained as the slope of the regression analysis performed with the BLUPs of each evaluated trait (ordinate) against the year of development/ release of the variety (abscissa). For each trait, the absolute and relative rates of genetic gains were presented. The relative rates were calculated by dividing the absolute gain rates by the values for each trait predicted for the beginning of the historical series (De Felipe et al., 2016).The BLUPs of the joint analysis considering all environments (location × year) where each trait was evaluated were used for the presentation of the results. Simple linear and quadratic regression models were tested to identify whether the rates of genetic gain were constant or discontinuous across the years. The parameters in the linear and quadratic regression models were as follows:where y is the dependent variable (agronomic, phenological, and end-use quality traits), x is the independent variable (year of variety developed/release), a is the intercept, and b and c are the regression coefficients in different phases of the independent variable (Wang et al., 2016). The analyses were carried out using Meta-R software (Multi Environment Trial Analysis with R for Windows), version 6.0 (Alvarado et al., 2015). Regression analyses to obtain estimates of genetic gain, and construction of graphs were performed using SigmaPlot software, version 11.0. Pearson's correlation analysis between the BLUPs of the traits was performed using the Genes software (Cruz, 2016). The significance of the regression and correlation coefficients were verified by the t test, considering the levels of 5% (p< 0.05), 1%(p< 0.01) and 0.1% (p< 0.001) of error probability.In order to understand the relationship among grain yield, fodder yield, shoot fly damage, grain mold and protein content, the respective BLUPs and protein content were transformed into principal components and principal component analysis (PCA) was done R (cluster package; Maechler et al., 2014). Based on the year of development/release, the 24 sorghum varieties were categorized under three major improvement periods as varieties developed before the year 2005 (pre-2005), during the period 2005-2015 (2005-2015) and after the year 2015 (post-2015). The PCA biplot was plotted to simultaneously depict the relationship between the varieties (represented as points) and grain yield, fodder yield, grain mold score, shoot fly damage and protein content (represented as vectors).Analysis of variance and mean performance of the sorghum varieties for grain yield and other traits Combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) across the three test environments during 2018-2020 showed significant (p≤ 0.05) mean squares for environments, varieties, and environments × varieties interactions for grain yield, fodder yield, grain mold disease score and shoot fly damage (%) (Table 3). The grain yield across the environments ranged from 2290 (Palem 2) to 3866.34 kg/ha (SPV 2579) in PN region, 2775.83 (Palem 2) to 4332.34 kg/ha (SPV 2579) in AT region and 2356.67 kg/ha (Palem 2) to 4010 (SPV 2579) kg/ha in MH region and in overall performance in all the three environments, the grain yield ranged from 2474.17 kg/ha (Palem 2) to 4069.55 kg/ha (SPV 2579). Overall, the mean yield observed across the environments in 24 sorghum varieties was 3459.76 kg/ha with the highest recorded in AT region (3697.64 kg/ha) (Table 4).The fodder yield across the evaluated environments ranged from 7885 kg/ha (PSV 1) to 18670 (PYPS 2) kg/ha in PN region, 8828.34 kg/ha (PSV 1) to 19620 (PYPS 2) kg/ha in MH region and 8845 kg/ha (PSV 1) to 21876.67 kg/ha (PYPS 2) in AT region whereas the overall fodder yield across the three environments ranged from 8519.44 kg/ha (PSV 1) to 20055.56 kg/ha (PYPS 2). The average fodder yields observed in these three environments were 13743.36 kg/ha (PN region), 15596.82 kg/ha (AT region) and 14137.70 kg/ha (MH region) with an overall mean performance 14492.54 kg/ha for fodder yield (Table 4).Among the varieties, with respect to grain mold incidence, PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 showed low overall grain mold disease scores of 3.25 and 3.34, respectively whereas varieties Palem 2 and CSV 15 showed highest overall incidence of 7.64 and 7.53, respectively. Within each environment, both PYPS 2 (PN and MH regions) and PYPS 8 (AT region) performed the best with the lowest grain molddisease score and CSV 15 (PN region), Palem 2 (MH region) and SPV 2242 (AT region) showed highest grain mold incidence. The overall mean performance of the varieties for grain mold incidence seemed similar in all three environments with a mean disease score of 5.23 (Table 4).The shoot fly damage among the 24 sorghum varieties across the three environments in terms of the percentage of plants with dead hearts ranged from 26.12 (PYPS 8) to 58.04 (CSV 15). Both PYPS 8 and CSV 15 showed the lowest and highest percentage of dead hearts in PN region (23.18 and 59.43%), MH region (27.93 and 58.87%) and AT region (27.23 and 55.82%). The overall mean dead heart percentage of all the tested varieties across the environments was 41.33% (Table 4).Genetic gains in grain yield, fodder yield, grain mold disease score and shoot fly damage (%)The results showed significant and positive genetic gains for grain yield and fodder yield in PN, AT and MH regions and for overall environments. Similarly, significant but negative genetic gains were found for grain mold disease score and shoot fly damage (%). The absolute rate of genetic gain for grain yield was 44.93 kg/ha/yr (Figure 1A) with relative rate of 1.70% over CSV 15 and 1.29% over the means of all varieties. For fodder yield, the absolute rate of genetic gain for the overall environments was 331.63 kg/ha/yr (Figure 1B) and the relative rates were 3.67% over the oldest variety CSV 15 and 2.28% over the mean of all varieties for fodder yield. The BLUP values for grain mold disease score and year of development/release of the sorghum variety were regressed and found that there was a continuous decline in disease incidence in the sorghum varietal development over the last 30 years. The absolute genetic grain for the overall grain mold score in all the environments was -0.11/yr (Figure 1C). Overall, the relative rates of genetic gain for grain mold score were -1.46% over CSV 15 and -2.10% over the mean of all varieties. Regression analysis of shoot fly damage (%) against the year of development/release revealed negative rate of absolute genetic gain for the overall shoot fly damage in all the environments was -0.48% per year (Figure 1D) and the relative rate was -0.82% over sorghum variety CSV 15 and was over -1.16% over the mean of evaluated varieties.The protein and fat contents were estimated in 24 sorghum varieties at all the six locations during 2020-21. Significant differences were found among the sorghum varieties for protein and fat contents. However no significant differences were found across the locations. The overall mean protein percentage among the 24 varieties was 10.61% with the highest protein content in PYPS 8 (13.24%) followed by PYPS 2 (13.02%) and the lowest in SPV 2293 (8.7%). The overall mean fat content was estimated at 3.64% with the highest fat content recorded in SPV 2243 (4.20%) and the lowest in SPV 2293 (2.90) (Table 5).Using PCA, the five-dimension trait BLUPs were reduced to two dimensions explaining 86.0% of the relationship (Figure 2). The PCA biplot showed that the grain yield was positively correlated to fodder yield and was partially correlated to the protein content. Grain and fodder yields were negatively correlated with shoot fly damage and grain mold. Sorghum varieties CSV 15, Palem 2 and PSV 1, developed during the first improvement period (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005), showed high shoot fly damage and grain mold incidence. The sorghum varieties SPV 2578, SPV 2579, SPV 2678, SPV 2679 and SPV 2770 developed during the third period (2015-2020) were localized bottom right with high grain and fodder yields. The yellow pericarp sorghum varieties PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 located at the top far right showed high protein content with tolerance to grain mold.In this study, a total of 24 sorghum varieties developed during the period 1990-2020 were evaluated in three environments comprising six locations for three years. Significant and high mean squares detected for grain yield, fodder yield, incidences of grain mold disease score and shoot fly damage (%) in three environments indicated that the varieties responded differently across the environments, which seemed to be unique in identifying superior varieties. The presence of significant differences among the varieties for grain yield, fodder yield and incidence of grain mold and shoot fly indicated the existence of genetic variability among the varieties developed during 1990-2020.Three varieties SPV 2579, SPV 2678, SPV 2578 in AET-I stage during 2018-19 consistently showed highest mean grain GY, Grain yield (kg ha -1 ); FY, Fodder yield (kg ha -1 ); GMS, grain mold score; SFD, Shoot fly damage (%).yields whereas PYPS 2 (released in 2020) and PYPS 8 (AET-II stage and being proposed for release) showed highest mean fodder yields. Three oldest varieties used in the study (CSV 15, PSV 1 and Palem-2) had low grain and fodder yields. Overall, the grain yield increased substantially with the development of improved varieties. This is in agreement with other findings such as in chickpea, which also reported a significant increase in grain yield of chickpea varieties over the old ones (Tadesse et al., 2018). In another similar study, better seed yield of newly developed soybean cultivars over the first old variety was reported (Demissew, 2010). This gives an insight into possible future opportunities to exploit the genetic potential of the crop for enhanced sorghum production.In general, the genetic yield gain for grain yield in sorghum has been reported to be significantly lower than in other major field crops (Pfieffer et al., 2019). In absolute terms, we have found that the genetic gain in grain sorghum (44.93 kgha -1 yr -1 ) is similar to soybean (43 kg/ha/yr) (De Felipe et al., 2016) but it was lower than in maize (55-75 kg/ha/yr) (Apraku et al., 2022). In sorghum, we have reported much higher genetic gains for grain in varieties compared to that of 8.7 kg/ha/yr in hybrids of Argentina (Gizzi and Gambin, 2016) and 8 kg/ha/yr in both hybrids and inbred lines of USA (Pfeiffer et al., 2018). The low genetic gain in the former attributed to irregular breeding efforts for quality improvement (tannin concentration and fat content) could mean that the continuous sorghum breeding efforts in India were successful as evident by high genetic gains and also that breeding for stress-tolerance (grain mold and shoot fly tolerance)was more fruitful compared that of quality improvement (Gizzi and Gambin, 2016). The low genetic progress rates estimated by Pfeiffer et al. (2018) attributed to limited genetic diversity within their crop breeding program implied the high genetic diversity within the Indian sorghum breeding program.The 24 sorghum varieties were developed through pedigree method of selection involving hybridization between landraces and elite breeding lines, resistant germplasm lines and improved varieties. These lines were from the interior parts of southern India at the regional level, ICAR-IIMR and ICRISAT at the national and international level respectively, which might have contributed to the high genetic variability, as evident from the high mean square values. This in turn might have facilitated accelerated genetic gains from selection for improvements in grain yield and other traits with further scope for identification of sources of genetic variability for development of improved genotypes. This, however, is in contrast to the findings of Rakshit et al. (2014) who have reported very high genetic gains in grain yield (rainy season varieties) at 90 kg/ha/yr (which is double that of our study) fromRegressions between the year of development of 24 sorghum varieties and grain yield (A), fodder yield (B), grain mold score (C) and shoot fly damage (%) (D) for overall environments. Each data point is the best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) of grain yield, fodder yield, grain mold score and shoot fly damage (%) for a variety in the respective graphs, generated for overall environments.1970-1980 and after that until 2009, there were non-significant changes with the grain yield gain thus reaching a plateau. They also reported no significant changes in fodder yield for rainy season varieties compared to estimated gains of 331.63 kg/ha/yr in this study. This indicated successful varietal improvement for dual-purpose sorghum suitable for rainfed conditions during 1990s through 2020s where breeders gave equal importance to grain yield and fodder yield (Ashok Kumar et al., 2011;Reddy et al., 2012) compared to the hitherto efforts in the rainy season which were focused mainly on grain yield (Audilakshmi et al., 2011). Further according to Rakshit et al. (2014), the genetic gains for grain yield in post-rainy season sorghum varieties were compromised because the breeding focus was on developing dual purpose sorghum and low genetic variability, predominantly representing durra races (Sajjanar et al., 2011;Rakshit et al., 2012), has limited the genetic progress in postrainy reason sorghum. The wider genetic variability representing caudatum, bicolor, and their intermediary races (Aruna and Audilakshmi, 2008) available in the rainy season sorghum might have also contributed to the high genetic gains for grain and fodder yields estimated in our study. Besides, in our study there was no indication of yield potential plateau in sorghum varieties unlike the findings of Rakshit et al., 2014 implying that further improvement is possible to increase the yield and to further exploit the yield potential of existing varieties.Because the genetic gain measured in kilogram per hectare per year is positively associated with the quality of the environment (Rinker et al., 2014), it is important to use the relative genetic gain as a way to compare productive systems that have different starting points or average yields (Slafer and  , 1991), which is mostly the case for genetic gain studies in long term breeding programmes across the world. In our study, the relative genetic progress made in grain yield (1.70%) from sorghum breeding in India were higher than the progress made in seed/grain yields of other crops like groundnut (1.89%) (Hagos et al., 2012) and haricot bean (3.24%) (Bezawuletaw et al., 2006) and lower than barley (1.34%) (Fekadu et al., 2011), soybean (1.1%) (De Felipe et al., 2016), (0.33 to 0.77%) (Milioli et al., 2022) and chickpea (0.57%) (Tadesse et al., 2018). In maize, varying relative genetic gains reported at 0.5% (Curin et al., 2020), 0.62% (Liu et al., 2021), 0.83% (Di Matteo et al., 2016) were due to differences in the growth environments in their studies and the types of cultivars (single and/or double cross) etc. In sorghum, however, there are no reports of genetic gain expressed relative to the predicted yield for the oldest release year considered in the experiment.To our knowledge, this is the first study to report negative genetic gains for grain mold score and shoot fly damage (%) in sorghum indicating the genetic progress made in improving tolerance to both these stresses. Two dual-purpose sorghum varieties PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 showed tolerance to grain mold coupled with high grain and fodder yields. Similar findings were reported by Kumar et al. (2021). The positive correlation between the grain yield and fodder yield and their negative correlations with shoot fly damage and grain mold incidence suggested that the genetic gains in grain and fodder yields might be due to improved tolerances to the shoot fly and grain mold disease. In all the varieties and across the environments, shoot fly incidence (percentage dead hearts) was above 25% (except for PYPS 8 in PN region). Above 50% dead heart percentage was observed in varieties CSV 15, Palem-2, PSV 1 and PSV 56, all four of which were released during 1990-2010. Grouping the varieties based on the period of development in the PCA biplot also corroborated the same as indicated by the low grain and fodder yields of pre-2005 varieties CSV 15, Palem 2 and PSV 1 with high shoot fly damage and grain mold incidence. It was during this period that the sorghum research was re-oriented to include tolerance to shoot fly as a mandatory criterion for the development and release of sorghum varieties at the national level, the result of which was evident with moderate resistance observed in shoot fly incidence among the varieties developed post-2010. Currently, at the national level screening, the entries must show maximum shoot fly damage (%) of 30-35% or less to be considered for further evaluation. However, none of the varieties tested in this study were found resistant to shoot fly implying more intensive breeding efforts are required toward shoot fly resistance.While the significant genetic progress in sorghum yield and other traits in this study corroborate the success of breeding efforts to develop dual-purpose sorghum with grain mold tolerance, it is very critical that the old varieties are replaced by the new ones with higher potential productivity in achieving continuous genetic gains (Yadav et al., 2021). Breeding materials should be diversified with new germplasms, lines and varieties replacing old ones for developing good varieties for dual purpose. Pre-breeding with wild sorghum relatives will help in the development of diverse new varieties for higher genetic gains (ACIRP on Sorghum, 2022). New landraces need to be utilized for broadening the genetic base of the material. In this study, two yellow sorghum varieties PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 had overall low shoot fly and grain mold incidence with high grain and fodder yields. These were previously identified as best dual-purpose varieties with stability (Kumar et al., 2021). Even though the PYPS 2 was released in 2020, the variety found wide acceptance among the farmers and high consumer preference even before its release because of high grain mold tolerance, early maturity, high protein content and good flatbread making quality (Jaisimha, 2019). PYPS 8 is another high protein-containing sorghum variety currently in AET-II evaluation stage. Both PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 were developed from a pool of 11 parental landraces, which could offer potential new sources genes for high grain and fodder yields and stability (Kumar et al., 2021).Further, fast replacement of varieties with new ones allows farmers to exploit more fully the genetic gains from plant breeding (Singh et al., 2020). In the United States, the development of a new maize hybrid takes an average time of 6 years and remains in the seed chain for three to four years (Singh et al., 2020). However, in the Indian context, the average time for development of a sorghum variety through pedigree method takes around 10-15 years and usually, there is a delay of 4 to 6 years between the official notification of a variety and its commercial cultivation (Witcombe et al., 1998). The highyielding varieties under cultivation in India are about 15 years older than in a very efficient system and even halving the gap would result in 7-15% increase in yield for farmers growing these modern HYVs assuming a 1-2% genetic gain per annum. By growing older varieties, farmers are missing out on the benefits of many years of genetic gains from the breeding programs which are meant to serve them but are insufficiently linked due to dysfunctional varietal release and seed systems (Atlin et al., 2017). In developing countries like India, varieties used by the farmers should not be older than 10 years. These gains are transferred to the field through concerted efforts from regulatory bodies, breeding organizations, seed companies and national seed systems.In our study, we used single-trait BLUP which is the most widely employed selection method to estimate the genetic gains in sorghum. When traits are correlated and complex, genetic evaluation using multi-trait BLUP can be more efficient (Viana et al., 2010). Recently, de Souza et al. (2019) showed that multitrait BLUP predicted higher selection gain and demonstrated its efficiency in the genetic selection of grain sorghum for flowering time, plant height and grain yield. We found two protein-rich varieties PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 as high-yielding dual-purpose sorghum varieties, both of which were previously reported for their best and most stable performance in drought-prone environments (Kumar et al., 2021). Both PYPS 2 and PYPS 8 also contain high zinc content (Kumar et al., 2021), which is positively correlated with protein (Badigannavar et al., 2016). These could be further evaluated using Multi-trait BLUP to identify superior genotypes with improved nutritional traits in sorghum.Sorghum is one of the cheapest sources of energy and micronutrients in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. Biofortified sorghum is a cost-effective and sustainable solution for combating micronutrient deficiencies where sorghum provide more than half the dietary micronutrients to the low-income group, particularly in rural India, where both physical and economic access to nutrient-rich food is limited (Rao et al., 2006, Rao et al., 2010). Keeping in view the wide-spread nutritional deficiencies, improving grain nutritional traits (protein, iron and zinc) has been a recent addition to the breeding objective in sorghum. This study found significant differences in protein content among the 24 sorghum varieties with highest protein recorded in PYPS 2 and PYPS 8, both of which were earlier reported as high protein-containing genotypes (Kumar et al., 2021). High variability in protein ranges between 9-11% in genotypes grown under different conditions (Elbashir et al., 2008;Ahmed et al., 2014), 10-11% in germplasm collections (Weckwerth et al., 2020), 9-14% in lines developed from landraces (Kumar et al., 2021), 6-13% in landraces (Abdelhalim et al., 2021) has been reported previously suggesting the feasibility of genetic enhancement of protein. However, the key challenges associated with the use of sorghum as protein-rich food are low protein digestibility and poor protein quality (low lysine), which reduce its nutritional value especially for those who rely on sorghum as a staple food source. Breeding efforts to improve these were successful with hd (high digestible) proteins transferred into well-established sorghum hybrids resulting in improved protein digestibility by 25-40% (Teferra et al., 2019). More recently, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technique was used to develop sorghum variants with improved protein quality (increased lysine content) and digestibility (Li et al., 2018) thus presenting a new opportunity for more rapid and precise sorghum improvement. Future sorghum genetic improvement programs should focus on routinely evaluating the genotypes for protein digestibility and quality in addition to testing for nutritional contents to ensure sorghum becomes and remains a competitive crop with a maximum positive impact on human health particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions of India and Sub-Saharan Africa.The present study reports high overall genetic gains of 44.93 kg/ha/yr and 331.63 kg/ha/yr for grain yield and fodder yield respectively, over the first released sorghum variety CSV 15. Under the present climate change scenario, two dual-purpose, grain-mold tolerant and protein-rich varieties, PYPS 2 and PYPS 8, derived from superior landraces, are identified for cultivation in drought-prone regions of India. The study corroborated the successful breeding approaches employed towards sorghum varietal improvement India. The absence of yield plateau implies further possibility for yield improvement by exploitation of the existing varieties, landraces and wild sorghums through advanced genomic tools and precision selections to accelerate the breeding of sorghum in India and ultimately contribute to global nutritional, food and feed security","tokenCount":"6506"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1765542840.json b/data/part_1/1765542840.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d5b70c6821ef020fe5492c0476369963ea14aad7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1765542840.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"47d3d3eeaec2cc6a0d418498b6b3f19c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a7439fec-9a62-4823-9993-379c8184d50b/retrieve","id":"-1174558350"},"keywords":["OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report Contributing CRPs/Platforms:","WLE -Water, Land and Ecosystems Contributing Flagships:","F2: Land and Water Solutions for Sustainable Intensification (LWS) Contributing Regional programs: <Not Defined> Contributing external partners:","SLU -Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences"],"sieverID":"c2a70d66-b1ca-48f9-a242-5990dcfdcaa9","pagecount":"2","content":"acknowledges-icrisats-contributions-to-key-report-on-overco ming-water-challenges-in-agriculture/ Links to any communications materials relating to this outcome: <Not Defined> Part II: CGIAR system level reporting Link to Common Results Reporting Indicator of Policies : No Stage of maturity of change reported: Stage 2 Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs: • Agricultural systems diversified and intensified in ways that protect soils and water Is this OICR linked to some SRF 2022/2030 target?: NoDescription of activity / study: The Ethiopian Government has recognized land degradation as a major cause for low productivity. Rainfed system remained under high risks of climate change and variability that intensifies the competing claims for water resources. The collaboration of the ministry of Agricultures with international and national innovation and knowledge centers, and with GOs and NGOs supporting technology transfer is crucial to refine the knowledge base as well as to develop innovative tools and platforms that facilitate scaling up of technology packages.","tokenCount":"150"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1778161022.json b/data/part_1/1778161022.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..83caeeb8320b11548a04fb41c964757a6481e910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1778161022.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a8d5fa8fa873c2718bc5031674d8097d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8bf95d36-9e74-446b-9905-88d0ea48cccd/retrieve","id":"-166418075"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0fbede05-e69c-468a-a2b6-c9b5f0a07f13","pagecount":"54","content":"Fisheries are an important source of food and nutrition security, income and employment in the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) region (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Island and Seychelles). Approximately 200,000 people make their living directly or indirectly from the fisheries sector, already 130,000 in Madagascar alone. Fish consumption ranges from 7 kg/capita in Madagascar to 65 kg/ capita in Seychelles. The gross domestic product (GDP) contribution varies from 1.5% in Mauritius to 8% in Comoros, and fish trade often represents an important pillar of the economy (tuna in Mauritius and Seychelles, shrimp in Madagascar).The diversity of species and habitats in coastal areas provides a range of livelihoods opportunities, and the open access nature of many resources provides opportunities for the poor. However, overfishing and overcapacity within the artisanal fishery sector of the IOC is diminishing fishers' catches and reducing family incomes.While the artisanal fisheries sector plays a key role, it faces a number of important challenges in terms of co-management of the resources, interactions with industrial fisheries, effects of climate change, limited access to credit, poor landing and storage facilities, marketing, etc. Climate change is likely to affect species distribution and ecosystem productivity may further decline in the longer term due to increase surface water temperature. Coral habitats may be affected by rising temperatures, with serious implications for both fishing and fish farming. Ocean acidification may affect the delicate reef structures and marine organisms inhabiting these habitats.Policies and regulatory frameworks are therefore necessary to safeguard the interests of small-scale fisheries communities. While a number of national and regional initiatives are ongoing to support the development of the sector, much remains to be done, especially in terms of fisheries governance and how small-scale fisheries actors can better engage with policymakers in the region. The recent launch of the Regional Network of Artisanal Fisherfolk Organisations of the Indian Ocean (FPAOI) is a clear step in this direction and the network offers a promising forum for ensuring that the voice of small-scale fisheries stakeholders is better heard, in particular that of women, who play a critical role.Overfishing, declining fish catches and the sustainability of resources are major concerns for the region and need to be addressed.Notions of fish quality, preservation on ice, value addition and value chains are alien to the sector. To achieve an acceptable level of fish quality, much more needs to be done with regards to quality assurance and to reduce post-harvest spoilage. Provision of basic infrastructure in some countries would greatly enhance and preserve the quality of the catch.A value-chain approach to fisheries development is not very common in the region. There is a need to promote and encourage such an approach among actors within the sector, at the same time as improving coordination mechanisms among stakeholders and improving the gender responsiveness of fisheries value-chain initiatives.Improvements in information, communication and knowledge management are essential for effective dialogue among stakeholders and would need to be prioritised along with capacity building, which is also a prerequisite. A good communication strategy would enable stakeholders to network among themselves, prospect for new venues, develop appropriate marketing strategies and maximise opportunities. Probably this could be done through FPAOI.IOC countries must set up, support and strengthen coordination platforms to bring together value-chain actors across the region to discuss issues and find solutions to challenges that affect the value chain. In this context, facilitation of multistakeholder dialogue and policy engagement would certainly facilitate decisionmaking by authorities.Promotion of information and communication technologies for collection and dissemination of information and networking is an urgent priority to enhance the fisheries value chain.Intraregional trade, especially the development of niche markets, may be required to boost regional trade.Data collection and analysis must be enhanced to facilitate good decision-making by fisheries managers.Reunion Island was excluded from this study because it is an overseas department of France.This study was commissioned by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) to help guide the Centre's support to the fisheries sector in the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) region in the context of CTA's East Africa Regional Business Plan and its work on value chains.The study provides an overview of the fish value chains in four countries -Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius/Rodrigues and Seychelles -together with recommendations for future action. 1 Key actors and institutions, value-chain development initiatives, policies and regulatory frameworks are presented and analysed.The study maps out the following aspects:• Current key fisheries value-chain development initiatives (objectives, beneficiaries, type of activities, results, challenges, gaps) at the country level, including type and magnitude of support being provided by development partners, if any;• An overview of gender relations in fisheries value chains;• Key institutions/actors involved;• The extent to which fisheries value-chain development initiatives are anchored in respective Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) investment plans;• Type and strength of coordination structures/multi stakeholder platforms established to facilitate value-chain activities (Who are the members? How do these structures operate? What have been the results so far including key challenges and gaps if known/identified?The gaps may include information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the fisheries value chain; issues around policy analysis and advocacy; capacity strengthening of fisheries platforms; issues around knowledge and information and communications management);• Main policy and regulatory challenges, including trade policy issues; and• Suggestions/pointers on possible CTA involvement -key entry points, strategic partners, type of support.The main sources of information were desk research and a series of face-to-face and phone interviews with key people in the fisheries sector, including the private sector, parastatal bodies and the authorities. Various organisations such as the IOC/SmartFish programme, the Mauritius Federation of Cooperative Fishermen, the Fishing Boat Owners Association in Seychelles, fishers and other stakeholders from Comoros and Madagascar were also consulted and interviewed.The latest Annual Reports available from the concerned countries and other reports on the artisanal sector in the region were consulted. Value-chain studies carried out in the region were also checked, including valuechain studies related to the artisanal fisheries in Mauritius and Rodrigues, shark and crab value-chain analysis in Madagascar, and a regional report on value-chain analysis carried out by the ACP Fish II programme. Data used come mainly from UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Stats and from the various reports consulted, including a tuna by-catch study carried out in 2013. A field visit to Seychelles enabled further collection of data and constructive discussions for this study with concerned stakeholders.The IOC is comprised of five countries namely Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Island and Seychelles. Some 21.4 million people live in the region, out of which about 194,000 people make a living directly or indirectly from the fisheries sector. Fisheries resources are important to the national and regional economic development, and fish trade often represents an important pillar of the economy (tuna in Mauritius and Seychelles, shrimp in Madagascar). Policies safeguarding the interests of small-scale producers are therefore necessary to enable them to contribute to food security with products which supply nutritional quality for consumers and economic benefits for the producers.Capture fisheries consist of pelagics (swordfish and tuna species mainly), shrimp and cephalopods targeting the European market with frozen and canned fish and fish products. Demersal fisheries (groupers, emperors, snappers and breams) also exist but production has remained at low levels with some exports from Table 1 gives the total production of fish per country and the contribution of the artisanal fishery sector. The contribution of fisheries to GDP per country is also provided. Three distinct types of fisheries exist in the region:1. Industrial fisheries, that practice seine and longliner fishing (includes distant water fishing vessels (over 24 metres) from various countries including the EU);2. Semi-industrial fisheries, targeting mainly demersal fish and swordfish (in Seychelles) with boats between 12 to 20 metres in length, powered by inboard engines;3. Artisanal fisheries practised within inshore waters.Within artisanal fisheries, various types of fishing gear are used to catch fish in the region. These include basket traps, line fishing and drop lines, beach seine nets and harpoons. Each country has its own specific method of catching fish.In Comoros, there is no industrial fishing. Over 4,500 registered fishers use traditional boats with sails to fish in the near-shore waters.The main species targeted are tuna and other pelagic fishes, which constitute about 70% of the catch landed. Catches from traditional fishing activities have increased from 6,000 t in 1985 to some 16,000 t (2013) The increase in landings is probably due to the gradual motorisation of fishing boats, better fishing techniques and incentives such as fishing gears given to develop the sector. However post-harvest losses have been estimated to range between 30% and 40%, due mainly to an energy problem (daily unforeseen interruptions in the electricity supply), and lack of infrastructure, including refrigeration.Due to a lack of equipment and know-how for deep-sea fishing, offshore resources remain largely underexploited. Since 2011, a private sector company, ComPêche (100% Comorian shareholding), is operating in the semi-industrial fishing sector with an 18-metre fishing boat targeting mainly demersal species and some tuna. Landings average 600 t annually and ComPêche has its own cold storage facilities.Fishing plays an important role in Comoros by providing nutrition to a population where 33% are in absolute poverty. Fish consumption is usually around 29 kg/capita. The economic importance of the fisheries sector and fish trade in the IOC regionApart from tourism, Seychelles has limited opportunities for land-based development.As a result, the fisheries sector is critically important for both food security, and income generation from fish and fish products and exports from industrial tuna fishing activities. GDP growth rate for the fisheries sector was estimated at 7.7% in 2008 (NSB, 2010).The contribution from the small-scale fishing sector is on average between 1 and 2% of GDP, with an estimated 5,000 people directly employed. Local fish consumption is around 65 kg per person.Exports of fish and fish products amounted to SR 4.4 billion (€349.2 million), representing 95% of Seychelles' total merchandise exports which highlights the importance of the fisheries sector. Total imports amounted to SR 2.2 billion (€174.6 million). The European market is the main export destination (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK). Some commodities are also exported to Japan, Mauritius, Reunion (France), South-east Asian markets and the US.In Mauritius, fish is an important source of protein in the local diet. The per capita consumption of fish stands at 23 kg (representing one-quarter of animal protein intake). The fisheries sector has undergone fundamental changes and development in terms of technological advance and innovation. It accounts for 1.5% of GDP and employs some 12,000 people. The marine fisheries sector alone contributes approximately 1.5% of GDP, about €519 million. 3 The sector provides direct employment to 12,000 people, which represent approximately 2% of the active population.Though there is no industrial fishing in Comoros, fisheries play an important role in providing nutrition to a population where 33% are in absolute poverty. Fish consumption is usually around 29kg/capita. There is no export of fish and fish products from Comoros, though some fishermen do land their catches in Mayotte sometimes where better prices are obtained.In Madagascar, the fisheries sector is one of the pillars of the Malagasy economy along with mining and tourism. Production from the shrimp sector constitutes Madagascar's major fisheries exports. Since 2004 the sector has experienced difficulties due to: low profitability, climate change, low prices due to increased Asian and South American production, and an increase in price of petroleum products. The capture fisheries sector, including aquaculture, contribute 7% to GDP. Fish consumption is a major source of protein for the coastal population and stands at about 7 kg per capita per year. • Promotion of Port Louis as a seafood hub including improved facilities for foreign flag fishing vessels, investments in processing, and strengthening of information delivery on regional fisheries to improve the management of fisheries in the Indian Ocean.Mauritius is currently contributing 4.7% of its budget to the implementation of CAADP.In Seychelles, the government is implementing CAADP through the NAIP. Capacity building, as well as efforts to ensure effective participation by farmers and the private sector, is also being supported through continuous dialogue between stakeholders.The Seychelles CAADP Compact (Republic of Seychelles, 2011)   (Republic of Seychelles, 2003). The main focus is to achieve food security through sustainable agricultural production and development. For the fisheries sector, the NAFP prioritises:• The development of ancillary industries and services to provide inputs to the fishing industry to contribute to the development and integration of other sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, tourism and agriculture• Enhancement of food supply and food security• The promotion of safety at sea.In this context, a new Fisheries Act was enacted in 2014, laying the foundation for further improvement within the sector, including enhancing value addition and modernising the sector. Furthermore, with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Seychelles is implementing a biodiversity project with the ultimate aim of preserving its marine resources.Seychelles is currently contributing 6.8% of its budget to the implementation of CAADP.In Comoros fisheries play an important role in providing nutrition to a population where 33% are in absolute poverty. Fish is particularly important, as virtually all meat is imported and more expensive than fish. Unfortunately, at times of low output, the price of fish also increases, making it expensive for the poorest people. The overall objective is to improve food security, incomes of producers, growth of the rural economy and sustainable utilisation of natural resources.The Compact has five specific objectives:• Ensure food security by increasing and diversifying agricultural production• Promote sustainable agricultural production systems and natural resources management• Develop commercial value chains that the country has comparative advantages in• Create employment in agriculture and related sectors• Improve governance of the agriculture sector.It is unfortunate to note that despite the good intentions of governments within the region, no major development has taken place in the fisheries sector over the last decade, with the exception of the seafood hub led by the private sector in Mauritius and some projects in Seychelles (including the overhaul of the port sector and construction of a hub for value addition to fish in Providence). In Comoros the fisheries sector is also receiving some assistance from the Government of Qatar, in addition to EU funding under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA). However, the use of these funds within the fisheries sector remains low.There is much to be done with regards to value-chain, logistics, quality assurance and marketing in Comoros. Madagascar despite its significant potential has lacked investments in the sector and still needs to settle its internal political conflicts and seriously consider the development of fisheries to create wealth for its population.This chapter presents the main actors and institutions involved in the fisheries value chain in the IOC region. Key constraints/gaps have been identified and presented as information for any future interventions.Table 2 gives an overview of the actors directly involved in the IOC fisheries value chain as well as the institutions that enable its development.The local actors form an important link within the value chain and strengthening their capacities is essential for ensuring that stronger value chains are developed. Ensuring a proper distribution of the wealth generated is also essential to provide a boost within the sector.The role of governments and government agencies/authorities cannot be overstated as they play a crucial role within the value chain and they safeguard the population's health by ensuring only good quality products are sold. They also provide incentives and create the necessary conducive policy and regulatory environment for the expansion of the sector.The support of development partners and other regional and international actors are also crucial and complement development efforts within the value chain.Table 3 summarises the key constraints faced by various actors within the fisheries sector.The small-scale sector faces more constraints compared with the large-scale sector, particularly with regard to access to finance. It is important to note that in Mauritius and Seychelles the governments offer various incentives, including subsidised safety equipment, low interest loans for purchase of a boat and engine, and subsidised petrol. The occurrence and severity of constraints within the region vary. This could be due to different levels of development in each country and their fishing sectors. Climatic conditions are affecting every country within the region.Institutions and actors in the value chain  Lack of collateral has been a limiting factor for investment by the small-scale sector. In the aquaculture sector, the high cost of feed, technical assistance and construction materials has discouraged small-scale actors from venturing into aquaculture production. The small-scale sector needs technical inputs initially to ensure success.Climatic conditions do not permit year-round fishing operations, which affects profit margins. Cost of fishing gear is high and the cost of bait is increasing.High cost of operations (logistics, labour, repairs and maintenance).In the banks fishery in Mauritius fishing vessels are old (>25 years) and need to be replaced to operate efficiently. Additional constraints include high interest rates in some countries and climatic conditions; fishing activities cease in the winter.The enforcement of quality control and standards is limited. Seasonality of production limits investments.High cost of support factors (electricity, water, packing materials etc.)The processing sector has to purchase its raw materials from the EU distant fleet fishing in the region to qualify for export to the EU (e.g. tuna). The cost of freight, both for import and export of fish, is high.High cost of operations and other inputs.Beach net fishing is seasonal.Funding for the fisheries sector is limited and inadequate. Data collection in some countries, such as Comoros and Madagascar, has to be reviewed and enhanced. Capacity to control fish diseases for aquaculture projects is limited. Control and surveillance for illegal fishing in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) has improved, however Comoros is still lagging behind. In lagoons much still needs to be done: monitoring and evaluation is lacking; institutional coordination mechanisms among actors are inadequate; management of fisheries and fish stocks needs improving to allow fish to replenish the lagoons; in Mauritius signs of overfishing are evident; and there is a lack of coordination among various actors within the sector.Limited capacity and lack of coordination among actors. Funding mechanisms are inadequate and need to be revisited. Capacity building of staff is lacking.Inadequate funding for fisheries research, training and development.Funding and coordination mechanisms are inadequate. Need more coordination between organisations and countries with regards to the needs of individual countries.Source: Compiled by author Institutions and actors in the value chainFisheries value-chain developments within the region are summarised in Table 4. The bulk of the initiatives outlined in Table 4 focused on production. These targeted small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. Table 5 provides a summary of the value-chain nodes targeted and types of interventions.  The main source of financing for these initiatives was government budgets, donor agencies (FAO, IOC/SmartFish, UNDP/GEF, Qatar Government, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation). However, the quantity of investments is not documented.The following projects were implemented with assistance from donor agencies or from government funds. Women are not often involved in fishing activities within the artisanal fisheries sector, but they play a major role in fish trade in Comoros and Madagascar. The majority of women find employment in commercial processing industries such as the tuna industry (Mauritius and Seychelles employ 5,000 and 3,500 women respectively). In the artisanal fisheries sector in Mauritius only 35 women are directly involved in fishing activities out of a total of 1,800 active fishers. In Rodrigues 154 women are directly involved in octopus collection. They are known as the piqueuses d'ourites. 5 Many women are also involved in the purchase of fish/octopus for processing and sale at a local market or to exporters.The resale of fish and fishery products by women entrepreneurs is also quite common in Comoros. Within Comoros there are great differences in marketing practices between islands, even if the trend towards production has helped create the profession of 'dealer.' On Great Comoros women known as watchouzi 6 almost exclusively carry out this work. The fishermen either sell to a woman within his family (wife, mother or sister) or to another woman who does not live in his village. In Anjouan, fishers sell a portion of their production to consumers, but increasing production has caused resellers to appear (mostly men), which has enabled a more diverse flow to satisfy a broader market. Fishermen using outboard motors for their boats go to Great Comoros where they receive better prices for their catch. The fishermen carry their fish themselves because of slow shipping, and a lack of refrigeration facilities on their boats. On Moheli, there are also dealers, both men and women, but the fishermen often sell directly to consumers.5 Piqueuses d'ourites are women involved in collecting octopus using a spear. 6Watchouzi are women in Comoros involved in the sale and resale of fish purchased directly from fishermen.The same trends are observed in Madagascar where women play an active role in processing along the value chain. In fishing villages (CEEDS, 2012), women's traditional method of earning their livelihoods-fishing by foot-was being restricted by various marine conservation projects, and as a result, the women's economic contribution and societal status decreased compared with men's. From a value-chain perspective, coordination can be viewed as the ability to provide direction and enforce rules among the various stakeholders within the value chain.Coordination is necessary because of:• the interdependencies among the various actors;• the increasing complexity of market requirements;• risk management and unforeseen circumstances.In the fisheries value chain, the output of each participant is an input for the next one.A change at any point will therefore directly affect the rest of the chain. This highlights the importance of a coordination mechanism, using joint decision-making and problem-solving, to organise individual activities.A multi-stakeholder platform (defined as a decision-making body) -made up of different stakeholders within the value chain -is important to discuss and agree on actions to solve problems and minimise economic liabilities. This type of platform can play an important role as a focal point for policy dialogue with governments but also has many other functions. These include arbitration and regulation, setting or advising on grades and standards, promotion of trademarks or quality signs/logo, support to research, export and domestic market promotion, and provision of information and statistics.These structures in the fisheries sector in the IOC region are very limited for now.In Mauritius, the Agricultural Marketing Board (AMB) deals with agricultural products such as potatoes and onions but an agreement was recently signed between the Rodrigues Regional Assembly (RRA) and the AMB for the marketing of dried octopus.Most of the larger export-oriented companies have their own sales and marketing departments and deal mostly business-to-business. Therefore, it is fisher associations and cooperatives, which most act like a commodity platform when it comes to dialogue with the authorities. Some of the villages in Madagascar do regulate their fisheries in terms of the size of fish allowed and nets, in conformity with established rules and regulations.In Comoros, three types of organisation characterise the structure of professionals involved in the fisheries sector. These include grassroots groups (cooperatives, associations), regional unions (Moheli, Anjouan and Grande Comore) and the National Syndicate for Fisheries Development (SNDPC) in Comoros.The three hierarchical levels are characterised by serious malfunctions and extremely limited organisational capabilities. At the institutional level, a study highlighted the difficulties these organisations have in asserting themselves as leaders and responsible actors through finding solutions to their own problems, being open to the larger contexts, and effectively involving in decision-making related to fisheries management, both at the local and regional levels. Other difficulties constraining their growth include confusion over their respective organisation statutes overlapping, and incompetent managers who are struggling to create a framework for more structured and efficient work to strengthen their businesses and ultimately improve the sharing and use of information. At the operational level, the inability of associations to translate the ambitions of their statutes into concrete activities for various reasons, and offer a vision of what could be achieved in the medium and long-term, expresses the state of paralysis that associations find themselves in. These professional organisations are vulnerable.In Madagascar, only a third of traditional fishermen belong to an organisation. The reluctance of fishermen to come together is mainly due to their individualistic nature and lack of confidence in other fishermen or associations. Support for traditional fishermen whose level of education is generally low is lacking, and because their involvement and participation in organisation is generally low they do not influence government decisionmaking (though they land about 70% of the national production For the development of the fisheries sector, various policies, programmes and projects are being implemented at country and regional levels, focusing on increasing production and ensuring quality assurance. These policies/ regulatory challenges differ from country to country depending on the priorities of the particular country. A few key policy areas for each country are explored below.The New Economic Agenda In this context, the NEA stresses sustainable fisheries management:• Reducing the pressure on overfished lagoon resources and encouraging fishermen to benefit from off-lagoon fisheries, thus protecting lagoons from unsustainable fishing;• Building capacity of fishermen to fish outside lagoons -e.g in the FAD fishery demersal (>150 metres depth) fishery and the banks fishery (e.g. Nazareth and Saya de Malha Banks) and providing training and financial support to access larger/safe vessels;• Building institutional capacity and coherence of fishermen through associations (group dynamics and management, financial management, savings and credit etc.);• Value addition of fisheries products;• Development of aquaculture in the lagoons.As part of the government's strategy for the fishing sector, a 10-year plan for development of the fisheries sector was introduced in June 1997. The plan concluded that there was limited potential for further exploitation of marine capture fisheries and that Mauritius should aim to maximise returns from existing fisheries through transformation of the catch landed and value addition along the value chain.The plan also suggested more sustainable management of marine resources.The importance of functioning marine life as an attraction for tourism is being increasingly recognised. In view of the limited potential for growth of the fishing industry, efforts and investments have been concentrated on the development of a seafood hub in Mauritius.The seafood hub provides a one-stop-shop to facilitate imports and export of fish and fishery products, transhipment, processing, storage, distribution and re-exportation of value-added seafood products. In 2014, the seafood industry was the fastest growing sector with a turnover in excess of Rs 25 billion.The new Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands was set up to bring innovations within the sector and maximise benefits from the vast EEZ (2.3 million km 2 ). The government's objective, as detailed in the Economic Mission Statement, is to transform Mauritius into an environmentally sustainable, economically vibrant, technologically advanced and innovative country with modern infrastructure, global connectivity and a highly skilled workforce.The following priorities have been identified:• Ocean economy as an important industry to sustain economic diversification, job creation and wealth generation;• Pooling of all ocean-related activities under the new Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands;• A new legal framework to license, supervise, monitor and regulate the activities of ocean-related economic operators;• A new Fisheries and Marine Resources Bill incorporating international norms and practices for modernising the fisheries sector;• Capacity building and training to improve the livelihood of fishermen.The development of small-scale and commercial aquaculture remains the focus of the Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands. In this context, the Albion Fisheries Research Centre (AFRC) is being enlisted to provide technical support, provide juveniles and assist fish farmers to maximise production.The Fisheries and Marine Resources Act 2007 constitutes the legal and institutional framework governing fishing in Mauritius, and incorporates international provisions that apply to the sector.The Ministry of Fisheries is mandated to implement the strategy and manage fisheries development (detailed in five-year plans). The Ministry is assisted in this task by the AFRC with research, the Fisheries Protection Service with the enforcement of laws and regulations, and the Fisheries Training and Extension Centre with capacity building. Access to resources, by the semi-industrial, bank fishery and industrial (tuna) subsectors, is regulated by a licensing system. Artisanal fisheries are under an open access regime (with the exception of seine fishing, which requires a special permit).Seine fishing is also subject to some restrictions (no-take zones, annual closures of net fishing, etc.).The main objective for the fisheries sector in Seychelles may be defined as the reinforcement of frameworks, processes and capacities and its operationalisation in both the public and private sectors and in the civil society, to facilitate the planning, design and implementation of appropriate fisheries development and management policies -as the basis of a new governance framework for the sector.The achievement of the above goal requires:• Establishment of a fisheries co-management process;• Development of skill and capacity for stakeholders;• Coherent fisheries policy that is in line with other ministries.Policy coherence is a major challenge for the fisheries sector. There are three main issues:1. Lack of agreement on fisheries policy This requires a clearer understanding of the functions and objectives of the institutions with responsibility for the sector, including delivering government expectations and overcoming national macro-economic constraints.The conflict between commercial and recreational fishers concerns the management plans for pelagic and inshore demersal species. This issue would require a convergence of diverging interests and operational aspects of the two fisheries.There is a need to reinforce regional agreements between Indian Ocean states through international organisations that have responsibility for fisheries management, and in particular, that monitor tuna fisheries. National objectives must acknowledge these regional obligations and rationally manage their fish stock. There is also a need to strengthen specialised organisations and improve communication strategies.A renewed policy dialogue to reach a consensus on improved fisheries development is warranted (Catanzano and de Lestang, 2013).In compliance with national fisheries policy, Seychelles allocates fishing licences to several distant water fishing fleets, exclusively for offshore migratory species (tuna and tuna-like species). The main agreement in financial terms is the EU agreement (40 seiners and 12 long liners are authorised to be licensed). Other agreements with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also exist, as well as agreements with vessels flying various flags of convenience.The Ministry of Natural Resources and Industry sets fisheries policy guidelines and the SFA is the executive arm of the Ministry responsible for all fishery-related matters.A new Fisheries Act ( 2014) governs all aspects of the fisheries sector in Seychelles. Fisheries Amendment Acts regulate the fishing conditions for Seychelles and for foreign fishing vessels. The Licenses (Fisheries) Regulations (Ed. 1991), which complete this Act, define practical conditions of fishing licences issued for all vessels.The 2014 Fisheries Act calls for more efficient and effective provisions for the management and sustainable development of fisheries in accordance with international recognised norms, standards and best practice, recognising the importance of an overarching ecosystem approach for fisheries. The Act: a) outlines licensing requirements for foreign fishing vessels, joint venture tuna fishing vessels, and local fishing vessels; b) regulates sport fishing, sport fishing competitions, recreational fishing, fishing activities and fishing-related activities beyond Seychelles' waters; and c) gives authorised fishery officers the power to categorise criminal offences on the basis of their seriousness and impose higher penalties for the most serious offences.Other Until recently, Comoros did not have a proper fisheries policy and sectoral issues were addressed by agricultural policy department (ACP Fish II, n.d.). The lack of an appropriate framework for integrated planning of sectoral policy guidelines led the country to seek assistance from FAO for the implementation of a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) 2902 (2003)(2004), which provided a fisheries law framework and national development strategy.In August 2007, the fisheries sector was given a specific policy and legal framework through the enactment of Law No. 07-011/AT concerning fisheries and aquaculture for the Union of Comoros. Various consultations were held with the fishing community. The law is general in nature and was developed in line with usual practice in other south-western Indian Ocean countries where fishing activities are more developed. Nevertheless, the law provides for future development in the sector.The FPA concluded between the EU and Comoros covered the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2011 but was tacitly renewed for a period of seven years. The renewed FPA covers the period 1 January 2014 to 30 December 2016.Comoros receives an amount of €600,000, out of which €300,000 has been earmarked for the support of Comoros fisheries policy in order to promote fish sustainability in its waters under the FPA (EC, 2017).Currently, no official document specifically and clearly defines Madagascar's fisheries policy. In three successive master plans for the fisheries and aquaculture sector, the government has more or less retained the same overall objectives, namely: the increase of foreign exchange earnings for the state, securing food for the population, improving socioeconomic conditions of villagers, and job creation for small-scale farmers and fishermen. To achieve these objectives, the latest plan (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) has identified four strategic areas: (i) management for the sustainable use and preservation of the environment, (ii) development of the fish production sector and the export services, (iii) increase in fish production for the local market, and (iv) increase the availability of basic infrastructure such as fully equipped landing stations for fishermen and fish farmers. These could also be used for social activities. The 12 programmes planned to achieve this plan have yet to be completed due to a lack of resources.Source: IOC/SmartFish Programme (2012; p. 33).Some of the common key policy issues faced by countries within the region are listed below:Declining catches in the artisanal sector has been noted over the last few years. The same areas have been fished for centuries, however increasing capacity within the same areas over the last decade has led to overfishing and declining catches. Addressing capacity and infrastructure is a priority.This would lead to a pool of well-trained staff, competent to tackle problems related to quality, norms and standards and other issues related to fish handling and marketing, thus reducing post-harvest losses. Additionally, product development and innovation for the artisanal fisheries sector in the region could be enhanced.The recently launched Federation of Artisanal Fishers of the Indian Ocean could be tasked with building capacity for fishers and creating a network for increased communication and knowledge transfer between fishers.Encouraging further developments along the value chain is a logical step towards boosting regional exports and intraregional trade.This is a prerequisite for good decision-making at management level. Communicating reliable data to international organisations such as FAO is very important for further analysis and feedback.The artisanal sector in the region faces some common issues:• Overfishing, declining fish catches and the sustainability of resources is a major concern for the region and needs to be addressed.• Notions of fish quality, preservation on ice, value addition and value chains are alien to the sector. To achieve an acceptable level of fish quality, much more needs to be done with regards to quality assurance and post-harvest losses. Provision of basic infrastructure in some countries would greatly enhance and preserve the quality of the catch.• A value-chain approach to fisheries development is not very common in the region. There is a need to promote and encourage a value-chain approach among actors within the sector, at the same time as improving coordination mechanisms among stakeholders and improving the gender responsiveness of fisheries value-chain initiatives.• Information, communication and knowledge management are key factors for effective dialogue among stakeholders and would need to be prioritised along with capacity building, which is a prerequisite. A good communication strategy would enable stakeholders to network among themselves, prospect for new venues, develop appropriate marketing strategies and maximise opportunities. Probably this could be done through FPAOI.• Countries within the region must set up, support and strengthen coordination platforms to bring together value-chain actors across the region to discuss issues and find solutions to challenges that affect the value chain. In this context facilitation of multistakeholder dialogue and policy engagement would certainly facilitate decision-making by concerned authorities.• Promotion of ICTs as tools for collection and dissemination of information and networking is an urgent priority to enhance the fisheries value chain.• Intraregional trade, especially the development of niche markets, may be required to boost regional trade.• Addressing the issue of data collection and analysis to enable good decision-making at management level is vital across the region.The Albion Fisheries Research Centre (AFRC)The AFRC operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Island. Its main responsibilities are to: (i) carry out research, monitoring surveys and studies needed for the sustainable development and management of marine living resources (fish stocks, coral reef etc.); (ii) provide support services to stakeholders of the fishing industry (including those involved in aquaculture development); (iii) provide advice to policy-makers on matters related to the management and development of marine resources and the conservation of marine environments including the creation of marine parks and reserves in accordance with the provisions of the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act and the Environmental Protection Act; and (iv) act as a focal point for collaborative research and management with regards to regional and international fisheries and marine resources.The DBM is the financing arm of the government in the implementation of socio-economic programmes. Initially a parastatal body in 1964, it is now a private bank providing loan schemes in various sectors of the economy such as agriculture, large-scale manufacturing and tourism, small and medium enterprises and industrial estates. The main areas of intervention for the agricultural sector are sugar cane, vegetables, livestock and miscellaneous agricultural products, where loans are provided on concessionary terms.Originally founded as the School of Agriculture in 1914, the Faculty of Agriculture plays an important role in training and fostering intellectual development and research in the agricultural and food sectors. In addition to offering courses and training to students in the agricultural field, the faculty carries out research in various areas of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture.It also provides in-service training to the staff of institutions in the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors.Both FIT and FWF operate under the aegis of the Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands. The main objective is to empower fishermen and look after the welfare of fishers and their families. Annually, various scholarships are offered to the children of fishers to pursue studies at secondary and university levels.The Mauritius Ports Authority is responsible for port management.FiTEC builds capacity of fishers in fishing gears, fishing methods, safety at sea, etc.The Coast Guards work in collaboration with the Fisheries Protection Service (FPS) to enforce fisheries laws and assist fishers in distress. They also carry out Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) activities in Mauritian waters.The Ministry of Fisheries is in charge of ensuring the sustainable development and management of fisheries resources, conservation and protection of living aquatic resources and the marine environment in the waters of, and of interest to, Mauritius and continued socio-economic benefits to stakeholders.Annex 1ANNEX 1:The Ministry of Environment is responsible for the protection and management of the environment -so that its capacity to sustain society and its development remains unimpaired -and enhance quality of life of the population, environmental protection and sustainable development for present and future generations.The MoR represents the interests of the island of Rodrigues and is responsible for its administration and development. Together with the RRA, it is responsible for the formulation of policies for the development of Rodrigues, coordination with other ministries and NGOs to ensure timely implementation of all government policies, and the supervision of the Rodrigues Administration.The MFED, as the principal instrument of policy, is responsible for the financial soundness of the government's economic policy and for the proper control of revenue and expenditure.The MCA groups agricultural producers and other persons or firms connected with sugar and other agricultural crops and industries. Its basic objective is to promote and safeguard the interests of the agricultural community. In this respect, it provides a necessary forum where agricultural problems are debated and recommendations are made concerning the development of agriculture and agricultural industries.MACOSS is the umbrella organisation for NGOs seeking to promote social and community development. As of August 2003, 169 organisations were affiliated to the council in various areas such as education, community development, poverty alleviation and environmental and sustainable development.The MFCF caters for 33 fishers' associations. The MFCF is part-financed by the Ministry of Cooperatives.Fisher associations cater for all fishers on the island, however, not all the fishers are members of an association.These directorates are responsible for implementation of projects and providing services at a regional level. They work in collaboration with the councils for fishing and agriculture.AMPA is a public-private entity, assisting the authorities in financing, monitoring, and evaluating external fisheries and aquaculture projects, ensuring their sustainability and preservation of resources.ASH is responsible for ensuring the sanitary security of fisheries and aquaculture products, and controlling production conditions.SStat is responsible for the collection and management of data related to fisheries activities in Madagascar.The fisheries value chain may be defined as the full range of activities required to bring the fish to the consumer's plate, undergoing various processes such as production, primary and secondary processing, distribution, wholesale retail sales and finally consumption.The support/logistics include input supply, financial services, transport, packaging and labelling, market research and advertising.Value is added at each step along the chain until the final product reaches the customer. Each step is geared to meeting the needs of the market.Value addition may take various forms such as innovation in production units or better processing equipment and improved packaging.The following sections provide value chain analysis carried out in the region, mainly with regards to artisanal fisheries.This study implemented by the IOC/SmartFish programme and national authorities, and funded by the EU, aimed to assess existing markets for both traditional and artisanal shark fisheries in Madagascar to better understand the nature of relationships and linkages among buyers, suppliers, exporters and other market actors.In doing so, this analysis provided information that will help to quantify the financial benefits brought to Madagascar as a result of trade and export in these two fisheries.Despite the significant pressures on Madagascar's shark fishery and the enormous socio-ecological and economic value of the trade, the country has no coherent or functioning shark conservation strategy or legislation. The lack of a national strategy is largely due to deficiencies in data on fishing effort, catches, landings and discards in all commercial fisheries for shark. This is compounded by a paucity of information on shark ecology, fisheries status and the socio-economic value of the trade throughout Madagascar.Overfishing is causing dramatic declines in shark populations throughout Madagascar. The rapid decline of sharks is likely to have several negative socio-economic and ecological impacts, including the loss of livelihoods and protein for people who rely on them, and potentially altering the trophic structure of marine and coastal ecosystems. However, putting in place conservation measures and enforcing regulations remains a formidable challenge. Much of Madagascar's fishery takes place at remote fishing grounds scattered over thousands of kilometres of coastline; the fishers are highly mobile and move great distances to seek productive fishing grounds; the government lacks the means to monitor these fisheries and enforce regulations.There are different supply chains for shark fins and shark meat, the two main products of traditional shark fisheries in Madagascar. Both are quite complex and rather fluid with trading routes within the chains altering according to location (proximity to urban centres), price, buyer availability, personal contacts or knowhow of the individual fisherman, demand and product condition.The final destination for the vast majority of Madagascan shark fins is overseas markets such as Hong Kong. The price paid for fins depends on fin quality and processing (i.e. whether sold fresh or dried). The price also fluctuates substantially depending on the status of the export market. The data collected in 2012 indicates that there is a considerable mark-up in price as you move up the supply chain, although reliable information was only collected for the first two links in the chain. The data revealed that if fishers sold their ANNEX 2:fins directly to the main collectors rather than to local buyers they could increase their income by almost 40% for first quality fins, which in 2012 were equivalent to just under €18 and €26/kg for wet and dried fins respectively. Higher values can also be obtained for other fin grades (generally 50-60% increase) with the greatest percentage increase recorded for dried fourth quality fins (136%). There are no data for the costs to fishers of transporting fins to the main buyers or for the time spent drying and sorting fins. Sales are mainly to local collectors and main collectors in town. The supply chain for the trade of shark meat is also quite complex (Figure 2). Traditional fishers in the south-west returning daily to their home villages may keep fresh shark meat to feed their families, give it away for free to other members of the community (e.g. the poor or old), or sell any excess to other villagers or buyers for the local market. Fishers in more remote locations will dry and salt the meat before sale. Meat is sold as fresh or dried/salted in local and nearby urban markets. Generally fresh meat is sold and consumed locally while dried meat is bought by collectors and transported to inland urban markets in Madagascar. Some dried shark meat is also exported. The annual estimate of shark fin collection in Madagascar in 2012 fluctuated between €3.88 and €4.76 per kg for dried shark fin. The vast majority of fins collected by industrial fisheries, whether legally or illegally, do not enter the national fin trade. Data was not available from large-scale commercial vessels fishing offshore within the Madagascan EEZ. Almost none of the sharks caught by industrial trawlers are landed in Madagascar. The exception to this are some illegal shark fins sold to buyers in Antsiranana by tuna seiners when they land there. These fins would enter the same supply chain described for traditional and artisanal fisheries. Available production figures show that shark fisheries in Madagascar are now overexploited with overall shark production falling from 50 t in 1997 to 15 t in 2002 (Soumy, 2004). Legal exports of shark fins peaked in 1994 at almost 65 t, corresponding roughly to 6,500 t of live sharks. In 2010, shark fin exports were of 32 t, which was a 50% drop in exports over 16 years.The main challenges may be summarised as follows:• Ecological: Sharks have a relatively low productivity and therefore require careful management and monitoring if they are to be utilised sustainably. Some species have critical habitats such as a nursery, mating area and migration lane, which need special protection.• Due to paucity of data in the small-scale sector, assessment, monitoring and management are quite often inadequate. Management is also often poorly enforced or lacking. This particular gap needs to be urgently addressed.• Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in offshore Malagasy waters is a matter of concern. Establishing an effective MCS could address the situation to some extent.• There is a need to address the low income received by the traditional sector when selling shark fins to local collectors.The Ministry of Fisheries and Rodrigues commissioned a value chain analysis of artisanal fisheries in Mauritius and Rodrigues. This study was executed by the IOC/SmartFish programme and funded by the EU. Its principal objective was to assess the economic performance, production and marketing channels of the sector.A major concern for artisanal fisheries is the absence of a food safety and quality standard along the supply chain, from capture to consumption. Preservation of fish on board boats is rudimentary or non-existent. Flake ice is not always available around the island, particularly at fish landing sites. Traditional boats are not equipped with fish holds and iceboxes are simply not used.For the value chain assessment, artisanal fisheries were classified into five typical fishing units or enterprises using fishing gears and operational strategies as key determinants:• Handline fishery (HL)• Basket and Trap fishery (BT)• Large Net fishing fishery (LN)• Non-motorised handline fishery (N/M HL)• On-foot handline and harpoon fishery (On/FT) Data on costs and revenues were collected by secondary and primary surveys on each of the selected fishing enterprises in different regions of the country. Economic efficiencies/ profitability of these fishing units were determined by calculating the cost of production and profit margin. The break-even quantity fish that needed to be caught was determined by assuming a minimum salary of Rs 10,000 per month as the cost for fishing labour.Currently there are 2,066 fishers registered as artisanal fishers. They land their catch at 60 prescribed landing stations. Various species are caught by fishers and are sold fresh at landing sites. Since 2004, the catch from the artisanal fisheries has been declining due to overfishing and overcapacity within the subsector. Table A2.3 gives data on the catch over the last five years. The estimated catch of 650 t from sports fishery and landings from the banks has been excluded. The fresh fish market is supply driven and the market price is quite volatile. In fact, there are 400 active fishmongers chasing 830 t of fresh fish annually. An increasing number of fishmongers are owners of fishing boats as a business strategy to secure a regular supply of fish. Some others act as indigenous bankers to fishing enterprises to get priority in purchasing their catch. An increasingly large number of fishing enterprises in the coastal areas have also diversified into roadside fish retailing as a household business.The following fish marketing channels were surveyed:• Roadside fish vendor (supplied by a handline fishing enterprise)• Roadside fish vendor (supplied by a basket-trap fishing enterprise)• Supermarket fish stall (supplied by handline fishing enterprises)• Institutional fish market (supplied by a wholesaler)• Non-motorised fishing enterprise selling directly to end-consumers• On-foot fisher selling directly to end-consumers.The distribution of value-added fish and fish products between the fishing and sales people is equitable. The stakeholders in the value chain are dynamic, efficient and adaptive to uncertainties and high risks common to artisanal fisheries. Distribution of profit margin between production and marketing is also fair.The domestic markets of fresh fish are supply driven and the suppliers dictate the price. The market is highly flexible and adapts itself constantly to supply. The main marketing players are the fishmongers, commonly called \"Banyan\". The primary sale takes place at the fish landing stations (FLSs). There are about 400 fishmongers chasing about 830 t of fresh fish annually for the consumption of the local population and foreign visitors. The per capita consumption of fish and fish products in Mauritius was 23.1 kg in 2013 while the contribution of the artisanal fisheries to fish consumption is less than 1 kg. There is no VAT on fish and fish products.The marketing strategy of a fishing enterprise depends on the species targeted and the level of catch that fluctuates intra-annually and from year to year. Generally, a large net fishing unit harvests a relatively larger quantity of fish in a single fishing trip and requires a more significant distribution and marketing network. Hook and Line (HL) fishing enterprises target high-value demersal fish such as groupers, snappers and sea breams, which are sold directly to end consumers and restaurants at a premium price. The use of mobile phones is also becoming an increasingly important marketing tool for HL fishing units as they start marketing their catch at sea, before returning to shore.  The main strategy is to sell unloaded fish as soon as possible to avoid spoilage. A single fishmonger may act as a wholesaler and retailer to better cope with changing supplies and their sale capacity. It is noted that there is a serious problem of overcapitalisation in the artisanal fisheries. The study made the following recommendations:• There is a potential risk of overfishing in artisanal fisheries because the active fishing capacities significantly exceed the sustainable level. There is an urgent need to undertake a risk assessment of fish stocks harvested in the lagoons and off-lagoon.• The coastal ecosystem is under more intense pressure from an increasingly large number of (non-registered) professional, amateur and sport fishers. To curb the prevailing open access environment, a survey on the activities of these fisheries should be conducted, leading to the implementation of an appropriate regulatory framework to manage and monitor these fisheries, the same way artisanal fisheries are.• The current fisheries statistical model, including sampling and data-collection strategies, has outlived its purpose and should be replaced. A new system must be capable of integrating the activities of amateur and sport fisheries.• An appropriate bioeconomic 8 model for artisanal fisheries has to be developed to serve as a management tool.• There should be no compromise regarding safety and quality of fresh fish placed on local markets.• Prospects for the development of micro-and small-scale processing and value addition activities will grow progressively with an increase in the supply of fresh fish. FiTEC will have to adopt a pro-active and one-stopshop approach to assist potential investors through project facilitation, and training in technical and entrepreneurial skills and mentoring.8 Bioeconomic modelling is widely advocated as the paradigm to support integrated environmental management. The term 'bioeconomic' is broadly used to indicate that a model has both economic and biophysical components (Knowler, 2002).• To strengthen the management and extension capacities of AFRC, an Economic Observatory headed by a fisheries economist should be created. It will be responsible for all socio-economic issues related to the fisheries sector, including cost-benefit analysis of policy decisions, socio-economic surveys and technical support to FiTEC.• A pilot project is necessary to empower local fisher communities in local governance, leadership, participatory management, to lead to a shared commitment and responsibility in policy formulation and voluntary compliance. It is also important to improve infrastructure to co-manage local fisheries, such as through FLS.The Rodrigues study complements the study carried out for Mauritius in the artisanal fisheries sector. The objectives were to allow for objective planning for potential interventions, to assist in the move towards a more market driven and sustainable fishery that would enhance and contribute to the growing demand for fish in the country, and investigate and enhance exports from Rodrigues to markets in the region, namely Mauritius and Reunion island.This report also looked at the different types of fishing methods within the artisanal sub-sector, such as the handline (motorised and nonmotorised), basket trap, large net and on-foot fishery. It provides a detailed analysis and assessment of performance with respect to catch potential and capacity/overcapacity vs. stocks. The impact on local fishing communities, as well as the broader issues of increasing demand in the region is highlighted, and recommendations for short-term interventions are presented. Marketing infrastructure is virtually non-existent on the island. Raw fish is sold on the beach (at FLSs) or on the roadside. There are no sheltered FLSs that can be used for handling, sorting and grading of fish prior to sale. Simply improving landing facilities (better sorting and grading of raw fish by commercial category) will increase the revenue of a fishing enterprise by 5 to 10%.The use of isotherm boxes, flexible containers and ice flakes is necessary to enhance the value chain of high-value fish species on local and export markets. The implementation of world-class food safety, quality and traceability 9 Presently there is a tendency to leave the management/maintenance of the infrastructures with the authorities. 10 Women octopus collectors. standards in the seafood sector is a precondition for export-oriented market development. These are presently non-existent in Rodrigues.Efficient downstream logistics have to be developed. A refrigerated supply chain is more appropriate for industrial or largescale fisheries due to the high initial investment. In artisanal fisheries, refrigeration is more important for preserving unsold fish.Local leadership and community-based management capabilities have to be developed within the community to ascertain their active participation in voluntary MCS compliance with regards to coastal fisheries, fish handling, preservation practices and shared management of fisheries infrastructure 9 by the fishing community. There is a strong political determination to create an enabling business environment in Rodrigues. These efforts must result in the development of crucial infrastructure facilities such as FLSs, an integrated fishing terminal, export logistics for chilled fish and fish products, promotion of export market development, private local and foreign investments, joint venture/ strategic alliances with interested parties and domestication of foreign fishing and processing companies.Some 524 octopus fishers are registered with the FPS, out of which about a third (182) are women (known as piqueuses d'ourites). 10 Fishers aged between 41 and 50 years make up 46.7% of fishers. Octopus fishers work on foot and trampling destroys the delicate coral structures and the algal matting which form both a habitat and primary food source for many marine animals. Fishing is done at low tide when fishers equipped with iron rods/harpoons, pace up and down the coral barrier in search of holes where octopuses nest. This has led to a decline in the octopus population (the single most important species for Rodriguan fisheries) and landings have declined considerably.Fishers are aware of the problems affecting the octopus fishery and fully understand the connection between high fishing pressure and dwindling stocks and that poor fishing practices result in habitat degradation and a decline in the fishery.In July 2012, the RRA, working in collaboration with the SmartFish programme, adopted the closure of the octopus fishery for two months from August 2012 to October 2012. This has continued. The impact of this voluntary closure has been positive and larger-sized octopuses are being caught just after the closures, representing an overall greater annual catch as a result. Successive closures in 2013/14 have increased production and landings of octopus in Rodrigues (IOC, 2014). Middlemen (see Figure 5) may be defined as those collectors of octopus for further processing or for resale.As a further step to its commitments for Rodrigues, the SmartFish programme initiated a project to improve value addition for dried octopus, producing grilled and sliced octopus for eventual marketing in Rodrigues and Mauritius.Various recommendations have been made to enhance the value chain in Rodrigues.• Two major hurdles have to be removed in order to link local chilled fish value chains to the Mauritian seafood hub, namely cost-effective transportation (sea and air), logistics and compliance to international sanitary and health standards and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) alignment. Reunion Island has to be targeted as a prospective market for raw fish and fish products.• Establish coastal fisheries management to encompass effective MCS measures.• Enforce food safety and quality practices for fish and fish products sold in local markets and for export.• Develop refrigeration systems such as cold stores.• Extend activity of the competent authority to Rodrigues to build capacity in food safety, quality standards and HACCP alignment in the local seafood sector.• Regulate and monitor the activities of amateur, leisure and game fishers (including on-foot fishers) in coastal fishing zones.• Extend extension and facilitation services: training, re-skilling and mentoring.• Improve transfer of technology and capacity building in quality assurance.• Increase fisheries exploration and testing of more efficient fishing technologies.• Provide suitable loans for asset and working capital finance for fisher folk, artisanal processors and traders.• Promote a banking and saving culture.• Provide financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills (pricing and costing) and business management training.• Implement strategic alliance/partnership for partial processing of local catch and final processing in other markets.• Promote second and third cycle of processing activities (ready-to-cook and ready to eat products).• Improve product research and development.• Opening more export markets.• Increase market intelligence to obtain real-time market information.The IOC/SmartFish programme (funded by the EU) conducted a study in 2012 in collaboration with the local authorities on the supply chain of the mangrove crab (Scylla serrata). The exploitation of the crab in Madagascar is an exclusively traditional fishery, conducted on foot or with small non-motorised fishing boats, using very simple and inexpensive fishing techniques.In their marketing network, live crabs are usually handled with mud for preservation. Collectors, deputy collectors, as well as fish merchants and vendors at the local market, act as informal sector operators. They use few employees and have little capital. Their investments in collection processes are small, with most made using their own funds, often supplemented by their family. Access to credit is often non-existent. On the other hand, exporting collection companies have: i) inland infrastructure (processing plants) which meet European standards in most cases; and ii) modern collection equipment.Between 1985 and 2010, according to official statistics (which are greatly underestimated), crab fishing more than quadrupled. Its growth has accelerated markedly over the last three years, reaching 2,500 t/year.The main reasons for this growth include:• Strong demand accompanied by rising prices on the international market (75% of the total catch of Malagasy crabs are exported);• Underutilised potential in crab production (7,500 t/year);• Profitability of the sector, enabling export companies to pay fishermen, fish wholesalers and sub-collectors more.The value of the catch must be improved because of the following issues: a very high post-capture mortality rate (22% on average, but up to 50% or more during heavy rains); the predominance of some types of undervalued products (crab pieces: 93% in weight and 73.2% in value of total exports) exported; and few geographic destination of exports (over 80% to France).","tokenCount":"10148"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1811888156.json b/data/part_1/1811888156.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..03c89e276560ed2c0608131f6e4dfdf0c0e545fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1811888156.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e8e8575a5d467173acdc79c482956540","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e239ab8d-ce2c-45a3-85b6-06fb552aab69/retrieve","id":"1065633915"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"55bb3a3b-15c4-418a-b186-d10be361dee7","pagecount":"35","content":"Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) a été créé en 1983 dans le cadre de la Convention de Lomé entre les Etats du groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et l'union européenne.Le CTA a pour mission de fournir des services qui améliorent l'accès des pays ACP à l'information pour le développement agricole et rural, et de renforcer les capacités de ces pays à produire, acquérir, échanger et exploiter l'information dans ce domaine. Les programmes du CTA sont articulés sur trois axes principaux: le renforcement des centres d'information ACP, l'encouragement des contacts et des échanges entre les acteurs du développement rural, et la fourniture d'informations sur demande.La première partie du rapport fait le point sur la biométrie dans les pays ACP: insuffisance du nombre des biométriciens spécialisés, lacunes dans les connaissances de ceux-ci et des personnels de recherche en place, insuffisance des moyens statistiques et des ouvrages de biométrie, et difficultés d'accès au réseau internet. Le rapport fournit encore des arguments sur le peu d'utilité de nombreuses formations en biométrie organisées l'échelle nationale et internationale, cette faiblesse étant en partie liée l'insuffisance des publications scientifiques dans les pays La place que tient la biométrie l'intérieur des structures institutionnelles et le rôle insuffisant qu'il est donné aux biométriciens de jouer au sein de celles-ci et au niveau de la gestion des programmes, sont perçus comme étant des facteurs responsables du déclin des sciences biométriques, problème qu'aggravent les réductions de l'aide budgétaire la biométrie et la recherche dans cette discipline. Si toutefois les initiatives des organisations internationales et des associations professionnelles qui ont vocation de promouvoir la biométrie font l'objet d'éloges, ces efforts sont globalement inefficaces dès qu'ils sont le produit d'actions isolées.Dans la seconde partie sont énumérées un certain nombre de conditions et de recommandations auxquelles fait appel la nécessité de renforcer les efforts concertés des nombreux acteurs associés aux travaux de biométrie pour inverser cette tendance au déclin, tel que cela est perçu. En effet, les gouvernements et les institutions nationales doivent absolument comprendre que le développement durable et interdisciplinaire de l'agriculture passe essentiellement par l'adoption de politiques à long terme assorties de mesures et de recommandations précises qui reposent sur les travaux des professionnels de la biométrie pour assurer la qualité de la recherche agronomique. Par ailleurs, les organismes donateurs (organismes de financement, organisations internationales et régionales, associations professionnelles et instituts de formation) devraient intégrer un volet de biométrie moderne et informatisée dans tous leurs projets et programmes de formation. Les biométriciens, quant à eux, devraient s'attacher à gérer des problèmes agricoles concrets et à communiquer avec leurs collègues scientifiques dans des termes moins techniques de façon que ceux-ci comprennent mieux les tenants et les aboutissants de leur discipline. Il est également important que les biométriciens des pays ACP recherchent de nouveaux débouchés et directions durables qui puissent être compatibles avec les aides budgétaires limitées dont ils disposent.Enfin, les actions multilatérales doivent être renforcées. En effet, les recommandations résumées ci-dessus ne peuvent avoir de réel impact que si elles sont envisagées dans le cadre de projets à volets multiples. Ce rapport fait une présentation succincte d'un tel projet qu'il soumet au CTA pour examen et approbation. Un plan d'action détaillé pourra être soumis sur obtention d'un accord de principe.La recherche agricole s'est traditionnellement appuyée sur des études biophysiques approfondies réalisées selon des principes scientifiques rigoureux. Aujourd'hui, le phénomène de mondialisation se traduit à la fois par un élargissement du champ des études des bouleversements écologiques et des effets des technologies modernes sur l'environnement physique et les populations, et par une perte de rigueur dans la conduite de celles-ci.La conception et l'analyse des études portant sur l'agriculture sont devenues des processus plus complexes. En effet, la recherche dans son ensemble doit être appréhendée par différentes voies, des travaux de recherche fondamentale en laboratoire et en station de recherche aux études d'impact sur les agriculteurs, en passant par la recherche interdisciplinaire appliquée et adaptative sur le terrain et au sein des communautés concernées. La recherche peut tirer profit de la rigueur des sciences biométriques à chacune de ces étapes, qu'il s'agisse de la planification des projets, de la collecte, de la synthèse, de terprétation ou de la présentation des informations à tous les acteurs concernés. O des préciser des lignes d'action qui permettront de gérer les problèmes.Le projet était découpé en cinq étapes, chacune d'elles permettant de recueillir des informations et d'en présenter les résultats:Etape 1: Etude documentaire: collecte de données relatives au sujet, bilan des compétences en biométrie et des moyens logistiques mis à disposition dans les pays ACP;Etape 2: Questionnaire sur les problèmes liés à la biométrie;Etape 3: Organisation d'un atelier rassemblant les représentants de groupes cibles pour discuter de la situation de la biométrie et définir les orientations à prendre dans les étapes ultérieures;Etape 4: Etudes documentaires supplémentaires à partir des besoins reconnus lors de l'atelier:Etude 1: Evaluation des ouvrages de biométrie en usage dans les pays ACP; Etude 2: Interactions entre les biométriciens du GCRAI et les SNRA; Etude 3: Questionnaire auprès des biométriciens des pays ACP; Etude 4: Questionnaire auprès des scientifiques des pays de la région Pacifique.Etape 5: Préparation du rapport définitif.O n trouvera en annexe de ce rapport définitif la liste des publications concernant les étapes et ainsi que les références des comptes-rendus de l'atelier organisé à l'étape 3.Les activités relevant des étapes et ont été menées parallèlement au début de l'étude, l'étude documentaire ayant eu pour objet de recueillir les informations venant étayer les résultats du questionnaire réalisé à la deuxième étape. Les activités propres à l'étape étaient les suivantes:Recherche de tous documents traitant de la situation de la biométrie dans les pays Différentes sources d'informations ont été consultées telles que des bases de données électroniques internationales, le fonds documentaire de la Société internationale de biométrie, les bases de données sur CD-ROM de l'Office agricole du CAB, des programmes de formation de certaines universités de la région et le CIRAD, et le CNEARC.Visites et consultations auprès d'experts entretenant des rapports étroits avec des projets de recherche et de formation dans ces régions.Bilan des aides financières internationales accordées aux programmes de biométrie ou aux divers travaux de biométrie réalisés dans le cadre de programmes de développement agricole. O Lorsqu'il existe un poste de biométricien, celui-ci est le plus souvent occupé par une seule personne qualifiée qui est par conséquent isolée du reste de la communauté des biométriciens en poste dans les autres institutions, manquant ainsi de stimulation professionnelle.Les biométriciens spécialisés connaissant les nouvelles méthodes de biométrie sont peu nombreux; nombre d'entre eux dépendent d'organisations internationales ou régionales et ont donc plus de possibilités de se former. Les biométriciens dépendant des SNRA et des universités ont suivi leur formation dans des universités et instituts des pays ACP dont les programmes de formation ne répondent plus aux exigences de la recherche dans la mesure où ils ne familiarisent pas les biométriciens aux méthodes puissantes et précises de statistique moderne. Par ailleurs, les financements alloués la formation continue sont négligeables (voir la section 1.5 plus bas).O Les compétences en biométrie des personnels de recherche sont insuffisantes pour maintenir le niveau de rigueur exigé par la recherche scientifique internationale. La qualité de l'enseignement scolaire et universitaire, la propension des scientifiques au travail analytique et numérique, l'accès à la formation continue et l'importance et la qualité du soutien offert par des biométriciens spécialisés sont, par leurs insuffisances, en partie responsables de cette situation.O La formation mathématique dans les établissements scolaires et universitaires correspond plus à de l'apprentissage répétitif qu'au développement de la compréhension des données que les étudiants doivent traiter et des tendances que ces données révèlent. Il s'ensuit que les scientifiques ayant besoin de statistiques se sentent peu sûrs mêmes dans le traitement exploratoire des données.O Les formations universitaires en biométrie, que ce soit dans les pays développés ou en développement, sont perçues comme étant trop mathématiques, faisant appel à une pléthore de formules rigides dans leur approche de l'analyse statistique. Par ailleurs, il est reproché à ces curriculums de ne pas offrir de formation informatique qui puisse directement s'appliquer à la recherche interdisciplinaire entreprise sur le terrain.La recherche interdisciplinaire fait appel à des équipes de travail dont les membres peuvent être des sociologues ou des agents de vulgarisation. Leur formation de base ne comprend pas de travaux numériques ou statistiques, la perspective biométrique faisant par conséquent défaut dans les recherches qu'ils entreprennent.O Le manque de consultants spécialisés en biométrie contribue à perpétuer l'emploi de méthodes biométriques dépassées.O L'inaptitude à recruter des biométriciens spécialisés ou la compression de leur nombre en raison des réductions budgétaires, mène souvent à leur remplacement par des personnes non qualifiées dont l'expérience en biométrie se limite au mieux à un cours d'informatique ou à une brève formation à la statistique.O Les moyens physiques et logistiques mis en oeuvre pour les travaux de statistique sont insuffisants. Bien que de nombreux chercheurs et biométriciens disposent de matériel informatique, le potentiel de celui-ci n'est pas pleinement exploité. O Les règles des revues en matière de biométrie sont contradictoires et par conséquent décourageantes. Les données statistiques qu'exigent les comités de lecture et les éditeurs sont en général non conformes aux méthodes statistiques rationnelles qu'emploient les biométriciens spécialisés. Ces problèmes découlent essentiellement du fait que les professionnels de la biométrie ne sont pas appelés à siéger au sein des comités de lecture.O La structure institutionnelle des organismes nationaux et des universités ne favorise pas le développement de la biométrie en tant que profession. En effet, les biométriciens sont souvent affectés au sein de divisions administratives où leur plan de carrière ne trouve guère d'occasions d'évoluer. En outre, ils sont souvent isolés des autres biométriciens et comme ils n'ont généralement pas accès aux réseaux électroniques, l'échange d'informations est insuffisant et ils ont du mal mettre en valeur leurs compétences. Les biométriciens sont peu encouragés à poursuivre leurs recherches ou en publier les résultats dans les revues de biométrie internationales.O Dans de nombreuses institutions, la fonction des biométriciens est considérée comme un service qui consiste plus à analyser les données contribuer à toutes les étapes d'une étude comme le ferait tout autre collaborateur scientifique.O Les méthodes modernes de biométrie offrent peu de ressemblance avec les méthodes enseignées dans les programmes de formation agricole conventionnels. Les nouvelles orientations de la recherche interdisciplinaire incitent les scientifiques penser que la biométrie n'a plus rien à apporter leurs travaux dans la mesure où la structuration des études à laquelle ils étaient habitués n'a plus cours désormais, d'où la croyance que les biométriciens n'ont qu'un simple rôle de service à jouer. L'absence de mécanismes formels qui permettraient aux biométriciens de jouer un rôle de consultant auprès des scientifiques ne favorise pas l'interaction entre eux.O Une certaine peur de la biométrie est suscitée chez les scientifiques lorsqu'ils suivent des programmes de formation mal conçus, ce qui ternit les relations entre scientifiques et biométriciens. A moins que les biométriciens s'attachent dissiper ces craintes, les deux professions risquent fort de l'une de l'autre.O Les chercheurs sont souvent les premiers bénéficier de formations et recevoir des équipements informatiques.O Les biométriciens sont souvent promus à des postes de directeurs administratifs sans que leurs postes de biométricien ne soient ré-attribués.O Les mécanismes nécessaires assurer la qualité des publications scientifiques sont rarement mis en place et la qualité du contenu biométrique de celles-ci est rarement vérifiée par les biométriciens spécialisés.O De nombreux bailleurs de fonds et de décideurs ne réalisent pas que la biométrie contribue à l'efficience économique de la recherche agricole, comme on peut s'en rendre compte par le nombre insuffisant de biométriciens spécialisés employés dans des projets O Peu d'organismes de financement demandent des analyses biométriques comme conditions préalables à l'obtention de crédits pour la recherche agricole. Ceux qui en font la demande ne disposent pas toujours des mécanismes pour assurer que les travaux de biométrie soient de bonne qualité et constants.O Il n'existe pas de source internationale de financement pour la recherche biométrique fondamentale.O En raison des réductions budgétaires des gouvernements et des bailleurs de fonds, les instituts de formation et les universités réduisent souvent le nombre d'heures consacrées l'enseignement de la biométrie.O Les formations en statistique et en biométrie dispensées dans les pays développés sont souvent purement théoriques et ne s'appliquent guère aux problématiques spécifiques de l'agriculture. En particulier, l'inexpérience des conférenciers des pays développés, ou leur manque d'intérêt pour les problèmes rencontrés dans les pays en développement, exclut de ces formations les aspects d'application concrète.O En règle générale, ces stages ne comprennent pas de formation aux techniques de conseil, aux méthodologies de recherche, à la rédaction de rapports ou aux compétences tique requis, ce qui limite la participation d'un grand nombre de personnes travaillant dans des organisations nationales et des universités qui ne disposent pas d'une telle logistique. Quand l'internet sera accessible à un plus grand nombre de biométriciens et de chercheurs, les moyens d'interaction qu'offrent ces réseaux devront être renforcés et du matériel de formation devra être préparé et publié sur des sites prévus à cet effet.La Société internationale de biométrie, l'Institut international de statistique, la Société royale de statistique et les associations françaises de statistique, parmi d'autres, appuient des activités répondant aux enjeux des pays en développement, et satisfont aux demandes d'appui toutes les fois que cela leur est possible. Ces excellentes initiatives sont malheureusement peu nombreuses en raison de leurs coûts, et des efforts plus importants doivent être consentis par les organismes de financement. Toutefois, la promotion du développement théorique des statistiques par les associations professionnelles domine encore dans les forums et dans les publications internationales, et renforce de ce fait l'impression que la biométrie appliquée est une discipline de second rang. Les réunions de biométrie organisées au niveau local sont souvent calquées sur les conférences internationales, et aucun cas n'est fait des applications concrètes de la biométrie ou des études de cas.4. CADRE CONCEPTUEL apparaît, d'après les résultats de ce projet, que la qualité des travaux de biométrie pour la recherche agricole des pays ACP est insuffisante, et ce pour un certain nombre de raisons. apparaît également que les méthodes rigides de biométrie telles qu'elles sont traditionnellement enseignées, contribueront de moins en moins à la recherche agricole qui s'oriente désormais davantage sur l'interdisciplinarité et le long terme. L'enseignement des méthodes informatiques modernes et la promotion de la biométrie comme discipline permettant d'économiser des ressources financières dans les institutions agricoles nationales et les universités doivent être absolument privilégiés pour soutenir la recherche agricole dans ses efforts de protection et de gestion durable des ressources naturelles.Répondre à tous ces besoins n'est pas une mince affaire. En effet, si le problème pouvait être réglé facilement, cela serait déjà fait. Alors que des efforts considérables ont été consentis au cours des dernières années par certains bailleurs de fonds pour promouvoir la biométrie dans les pays ACP, ces initiatives ont eu un impact limité en raison des restrictions budgétaires touchant la recherche agricole et des nouvelles orientations de la recherche. A ces difficultés s'ajoute un problème d'attitude. En effet, il existe dans les pays développés une élite qui considère le développement théorique des méthodes statistiques supérieur à leur Cette attitude, répandue depuis longtemps dans les établissements de recherche et de formation ainsi que dans les associations professionnelles, entretient chez les professionnels de la biométrie appliquée un sentiment d'infériorité, et n'encourage pas les chercheurs à mieux comprendre la biométrie. Idéalement, les aspects tant théoriques que pratiques de la biométrie devraient être reconnus par leurs représentants respectifs comme ayant la même valeur dans leur soutien à la recherche agricole.Un effort concerté considérable est nécessaire pour sensibiliser les nombreux acteurs agissant aux différentes étapes du processus de recherche, de l'évaluation des besoins à l'adoption des méthodes par les agriculteurs et aux évaluations d'impact. Ces divers acteurs sont les gouvernements, les instituts de recherche et les universités du monde entier, les organismes de financement, les associations professionnelles et les biométriciens des pays développés et en développement. O n trouvera dans les sections 5, 6 et ci-après une série d'initiatives que ces différents intervenants devraient prendre. A la section 8 sont proposées des actions multilatérales, et à la section figurent des propositions faites au CTA pour mettre en oeuvre ces diverses initiatives.O Les gouvernements doivent reconnaître que pour maintenir une politique agricole solide et durable qui puisse anticiper certaines évolutions et introduire les changements nécessaires, ils doivent instaurer des politiques à long terme et favoriser la mise en place d'environnements de recherche à des conditions avantageuses.O Les directions d'instituts de recherche agricole et d'universités doivent reconnaître le rôle essentiel que jouent les biométriciens spécialisés au sein des équipes de recherche interdisciplinaire, pouvant donner des conseils importants qui permettront de réduire les coûts de la recherche. Des mécanismes et des financements sont nécessaires pour créer suffisamment de postes et pour encourager une collaboration efficace entre tous les membres de l'équipe. La substitution des scientifiques par des méthodes expérimentales traditionnelles si bonnes soient elles mais limitées n'est pas acceptable.O La formation des scientifiques aux techniques de biométrie touchant à leurs domaines de recherche devrait être assurée par des biométriciens spécialisés. Des mécanismes devraient être instaurés pour associer les biométriciens à la planification des programmes et projets de recherche et de développement. La formation des vulgarisateurs aux techniques de traitement des données devrait également être assurée par des biométriciens.O La profession des biométriciens en titre devrait être dûment reconnue, et le droit et les moyens de développer leurs compétences professionnelles dans des installations modernes et par la réalisation de recherches, la participation à des conférences et par des formations régulières sur les développements informatiques et biométriques les plus récents, devraient leur être accordés.Les institutions nationales et les universités devraient encourager leurs biométriciens à publier leurs travaux, conjointement ou non, et devraient encourager les échanges entre eux et d'autres organismes nationaux et internationaux pour stimuler leur curiosité et renforcer leurs compétences. Il est très important que les institutions nationales et les universités fassent siéger des biométriciens au sein de leurs comités de lecture afin que ceux-ci puissent veiller à la qualité des projets d'articles et des rapports.O Il est nécessaire que les décideurs et les bailleurs de fonds à tous les niveaux d'intervention et au sein de tous les départements soient davantage sensibilisés à l'importance que revêt la biométrie, et qu'ils accordent un soutien accru aux travaux de biométrie faisant partie des projets de valorisation agricole.O Les bailleurs de fonds et les directeurs de projets doivent être pleinement informés sur les avantages économiques qu'apporte le travail des biométriciens spécialisés car au stade de la planification des projets, leur apport peut contribuer à réduire les coûts du projet et à en accroître l'impact.O Les bailleurs de fonds devraient offrir aux chercheurs et aux biométriciens les moyens d'acquérir des ordinateurs et des logiciels de statistique performants, particulièrement des logiciels puissants pour les biométriciens. Ceci contribuerait à accroître l'efficacité des applications de la biométrie à la recherche agricole.O Les bailleurs de fonds doivent exiger que les propositions de financement de projets qui leur sont soumises incluent un volet biométrie pour lequel un expert sera mis à disposition par le projet. Le suivi des projets à toutes les étapes devrait inclure une tion de la planification des travaux de biométrie et de l'analyse biométrique.Les centres internationaux et régionaux doivent renforcer leurs travaux de biométrie et leurs dispositifs de formation en faveur des organismes agricoles nationaux et des universités. A cette fin, toute réduction dans le nombre des biométriciens du GCRAI doit être découragée. En particulier, doit appuyer le rôle que joue la biométrie dans le renforcement institutionnel des organisations nationales en matière de gestion des programmes et de formation.O L'enseignement des statistiques doit être offert à plusieurs niveaux: scolaire, universitaire et en cours d'emploi en formation continue. La formation ne devrait pas reposer sur de l'apprentissage par coeur ou sur la réalisation de tests de signification multiples et subjectifs, mais favoriser la compréhension de la notion de variabilité et des techniques de calcul de celle-ci.O Au niveau universitaire et en cours d'emploi, les stages de formation doivent être conçus différemment suivant qu'ils s'adressent aux chercheurs ou aux biométriciens.Pour les chercheurs, il s'agit d'une approche pratique faisant intervenir les techniques modernes de calcul statistique de base appliquées à de vrais problèmes rencontrés sur le terrain. Pour les biométriciens, une approche interdisciplinaire faisant référence aux divers éléments des systèmes de production agricole et à leurs interactions doit être privilégiée. Ces formations doivent aussi faire appel à des logiciels très performants pour traiter des séries de données multivariées très complexes. Au cours des formations au profit des biométriciens, les formateurs doivent insister sur l'importance de la biométrie tant au niveau de la recherche que du développement; les biométriciens devraient en outre être formés aux techniques de conseils, au matériel agricole, à la rédaction des rapports et à la présentation de leurs travaux.O Il faudrait également mettre au point des formations au profit des vulgarisateurs et des agents des disciplines sociales auxquels aucune formation statistique n'est habituellement offerte. Ces formations devraient offrir un apprentissage très pragmatique des procédures d'échantillonnage et de collecte des données pour permettre aux intéressés de présenter des données représentatives d'une manière aussi synthétique que possible.Des éléments de biométrie appliquée doivent être incorporés dans les formations sur les systèmes de production agricole.O Tout comme les instituts de formation des pays développés, les associations professionnelles doivent reconnaître la diversité des besoins des biométriciens intervenant dans des régions écologiques très différents et parlant souvent des langues différentes. Ces associations doivent appuyer les biométriciens des pays en développement, et intégrer ces initiatives de soutien dans le cadre général de leur activités. Ces initiatives ne devraient pas être réalisées isolément mais en étroite association avec d'autres structures afin de permettre aux personnes exerçant dans diverses régions de partager leur expérience. Les actions suivantes ne concernent pas toutes les pays ACP mais leur réussite est essentielle pour appuyer les biométriciens des pays Ces actions, même si elles seront individuellement bénéfiques à locale, ne pourront avoir de réel impact, large et durable, que si elles font l'objet d'une solide coordination entre elles.O Les biométriciens, les directeurs de recherche, les institutions nationales et les universités doivent convaincre les bailleurs de fonds à tous les niveaux d'intervention et dans tous les différents bureaux régionaux que les travaux et conseils biométriques de mauvaise qualité ont de lourdes conséquences sur la qualité de la recherche agricole.O Les biométriciens, les chercheurs, les instituts de recherche et les bailleurs de fonds doivent inciter les universités des pays développés, les centres de formation et les associations professionnelles à mettre en place des cours de biométrie appliquée qui se rapporte aux problèmes des pays en développement.O Les biométriciens des centres agricoles nationaux et des universités, ainsi que les personnels de recherche des centres internationaux et régionaux, doivent établir entre eux des liens plus étroits pour échanger des informations et se stimuler mutuellement. L'échange d'informations sur les problèmes de biométrie et sur les solutions d'intérêt spécifique pour les pays ACP doit être encouragée sur tous les réseaux existants, qu'ils soient électroniques ou personnels, par tous leurs utilisateurs et les bailleurs de fonds.O Les chercheurs, les biométriciens et les bailleurs de fonds doivent inciter les éditeurs et les comités de lecture à améliorer et garantir la qualité, l'utilité et la pertinence des travaux de biométrie dans la littérature scientifique.O Les ouvrages de biométrie doivent être rédigés pour différents niveaux d'utilisation, en mettant moins l'accent sur les calculs que sur la conception des études, la collecte des données et la compréhension de la notion de variabilité. Les manuels doivent traiter des systèmes de production, des divers éléments qui les composent et des relations qui s'établissent entre eux. Ils doivent en outre être rédigés, à l'initiative des biométriciens et des bailleurs de fonds et au profit des pays ACP, en français, anglais et portugais.O Les biométriciens, chercheurs et bailleurs de fonds doivent demander aux sociétés de logiciels de développer des méthodologies correspondant aux problèmes pratiques de la biométrie, des algorithmes irréprochables, de la documentation que les non statisticiens puissent comprendre, et des logiciels qui soient abordables pour les institutions des pays en développement.O Les bailleurs de fonds et les directeurs de recherche doivent encourager les échanges entre biométriciens des universités nationales et des instituts agricoles des pays ACP afin qu'ils puissent élaborer de nouveaux programmes de formation selon les besoins des institutions, et qu'ils facilitent les interactions entre les biométriciens débutants et professionnels dans les différentes institutions.Afin de mettre en oeuvre l'une quelconque des propositions des sections et 8 plus haut, et d'améliorer les travaux de biométrie au profit de la recherche agricole menée dans les pays ACP, il est nécessaire de mettre en place un projet comportant plusieurs volets, finement ciblé et solidement géré, auquel pourront s'associer tous les acteurs concernés: gouvernements, organisations nationales, bailleurs de fonds, centres internationaux et régionaux, associations professionnelles, biométriciens et chercheurs. Ce rapport présente, ci-après, une structure générale d'encadrement de cette initiative. Si celle-ci est approuvée par le CTA, elle fera l'objet d'une étude approfondie, y compris sur les sources de financement possibles. ","tokenCount":"4160"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1821797980.json b/data/part_1/1821797980.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fd4c083689bf154b4fe8ff273dede9129bd63d6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1821797980.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3a5af89cb3c4f8c6d00c6d6ae59b8663","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/21a1caa3-6bdd-41f4-8578-7a15efa3018f/retrieve","id":"236569391"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2de6c7d3-642a-442a-b21b-1003c34efc47","pagecount":"20","content":"As part of the project 'Catalyzing cohesive action on climate and security: bridging silos for enhanced humanitarian action' for USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, ODI, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) and the CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security Team at the Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) hosted a workshop on 4-5 March 2024 in Maputo, Mozambique, to discuss challenges and opportunities across climate adaptation, peace and security, development, and humanitarian aid to support climate-resilient development in Mozambique. Participants comprised representatives from the Government of Mozambique, donor agencies, and international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) currently working on climate, peace and security, development and humanitarian programming. Discussions focused on the challenges and opportunities to better link, layer and sequence interventions, to increase access to finance, and to catalyse more cohesive and coordinated action.Readers are encouraged to reproduce material for their own publications, as long as they are not being sold commercially. ODI requests due acknowledgement and a copy of the publication. For online use, we ask readers to link to the original resource on the ODI website. The views presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of ODI or our partners. This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. How to cite: ODI and CCS. (2024) Climate change and human security implications for humanitarian, development, disaster and climate risk management in Mozambique. Workshop report. London: ODI (www.odi.org/en/publications/meeting-report-climate-change-humansecurity-implications-mozambique) 2024. Photo credit: ODI-CCS teamAs part of the project 'Catalyzing cohesive action on climate and security: bridging silos for enhanced humanitarian action' for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs, ODI, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), and the CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security at the Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) hosted a workshop on 4-5 March 2024 in Maputo, Mozambique, to discuss challenges and opportunities across climate adaptation, peace and security, development, and humanitarian aid to deliver climateresilient development in Mozambique. The project aims to develop policy recommendations to make humanitarian assistance more sensitive to long-term climate risk and security dynamics.Mozambique is at a socioeconomic development crossroads. Prior decades of instability and conflict have held back socioeconomic development and created high vulnerability and exposure to climate-related hazards and extreme events such as droughts and tropical cyclones. Due to these high levels of exposure and vulnerability these hazards often become disasters. Following back-to-back tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019, which caused significant damage and destruction, Mozambique has also experienced repeated annual shocks from tropical storms and cyclones, while Cabo Delgado, Mozambique's northernmost province, has also been affected by conflict and ongoing insecurity since 2017, resulting in both displacement and food insecurity. Bringing together a selected group of experienced stakeholders from these fields in Mozambique, the workshop explored how actors can take more coordinated and coherent approaches that meet immediate needs while also contributing to longer-term climate resilience and stability, identifying entry points for strengthening existing efforts and collaboration in line with the objectives of the COP 28 Declaration, particularly Objective 13 which highlights the need to:Optimize the complementarity of mandates and expertise across climate, development, humanitarian, disaster risk management, and peace actors to further the efficiency, sustainability, and effectiveness of short-and long-term investments, including by providing earlier and more timely support, with the aim to yield cumulative increases in the adaptive capacity, recovery and resilience of people and communities [in] alignment with existing instruments, particularly national adaptation plans or other adaptation strategies.The priority areas and directions for future action that emerged in the plenary and working group discussions are highlighted below.• Increased access to finance is required to support the further development of climate adaptation, rehabilitation, disaster risk reduction and peace-positive programming, and to improve the linking, layering and sequencing of these programmes with humanitarian action. 1 Although interventions were identified that supported climate-resilient development and adaption, how these programmes were linked, layered and sequenced with relief, prevention and recovery programmes was not clear and requires further support and analysis. • Support adaptive management. Additional support and finance are required to further build the capacity to adapt to the challenges of the changing operational context in Cabo Delgado Province, including the development of durable solutions, social cohesion and peace-building initiatives, and the application of conflict-sensitive approaches. There is a need to further integrate climate considerations into the government's Northern Resilience and Integrated Development programme.The compounding impacts of cyclones, floods and conflict highlight not only the negative impact of insecurity on agencies' ability to support ongoing resilience and preparedness activities in Cabo Delgado, but also the knock-on effect of this response on agencies' capacity to continue to support resilience and preparedness programmes in other parts of the country, due to a combination of financial and capacity constraints.• Support the linking, layering and sequencing of interventions. The strengthening of information and knowledge sharing; the further development of integrated data and knowledge exchange platforms; and enhancing existing coordination structures were considered critical to further support policy implementation, and enable the development of more effective relief, recovery, development and climate adaptation programmes.In addition to the need to enhance coordination at national, provincial and district levels, and between government ministries and key development and humanitarian partners, there is a need to enhance the linkages among international donors/existing donor platforms, and within development agencies across humanitarian, development and climate programming silos.2024. Photo credit: ODI-CCS team• Document good practice and improve learning. There is a need to more fully document current practice to inform both future action and the application of policy at national, provincial, district and community levels. There is also a need to further strengthen local partners and civil society organisations and to integrate gender-sensitive and gender-responsive methodologies in preparedness, response and recovery activities at the community level. While there is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to climate resilience, existing in-country examples could offer important lessons for a number of key practice areas.An overview of the workshop sessions is provided in the Annex. Resilient  1). It was noted that this could be attributed to a number of factors, including:• learning and associated changes in the development sector over the last five to ten years and a concurrent shift in donor priorities;• a need to focus on relief and response, given constant and repeated shocks, and a perceived reduction in funding available for prevention and recovery;• a change in focus from disaster risk management to climate resilience; and• the impact and outcomes of relief and response interventions are considered simpler to demonstrate, measure and report.During subsequent discussions, participants highlighted the following needs: longer-term funding to support prevention and recovery programmes; to develop, share and identify metrics for measuring impact and resilience; and to mainstream climate and disaster risks into programme design.A number of participants indicated that they are actively considering and applying climate and disaster risk analysis into their interventions, while others noted that although it was their intention to do so their ability was constrained by a number of factors. These included the need to focus on developing the response to ongoing conflict and natural hazard impacts, and financial and capacity constraints.Although participants were able to map interventions across a number of the categories from Discussions were informed by participatory scenario planning sessions. These aimed to assist the participants to reflect on how various types of interventions could be coordinated and sequenced to prevent and reduce the disaster risks presented. These were not comprehensive, but aimed to illustrate possible futures based on two scenarios:1. successive extreme climate events disrupt the socioeconomic development objectives set by the government for Nampula Province and trigger cascading disaster risks; 2. a severe tropical cyclone causes widespread displacement and triggers cascading disaster risks in Cabo Delgado Province.Although the workshop's goal was not to examine the characteristics or the likelihood of the scenarios, participants felt that both scenarios were plausible given: the expected increase in temperatures and frequency and intensity of hazards (floods, cyclones, droughts); the negative impact of repeated extreme events on the vulnerability of local communities; and the capacity of humanitarian, development and climate actors to respond and develop interventions and strategies to support recovery and build resilience.The scenarios provided a platform for participants to consider challenges, barriers and opportunities to develop climate-resilient pathways.For Nampula Province, participants highlighted the need to develop effective climate-resilience strategies given the impact of recurrent shocks and protracted displacement. The importance of developing greater awareness of the need to develop interventions that take account of disaster and climate risk and of further developing coordination and planning mechanisms at the community level were highlighted. Challenges associated with implementing and developing recovery and livelihoods interventions given the impact of repeated shocks were also noted.A range of current responses to the impacts of cyclones, floods, unpredictable rainfall and internal displacement related to the cyclones and conflict impacts from neighbouring Cabo Delgado Province were described. Work on early warning, preparedness and disaster riskA 24-year-old father of four whose crops were completely destroyed by Cyclone Idai, 2019. Photo credit: IOM Mozambique reduction implemented with local government and communities were highlighted, including the development of cyclone and flood preparedness plans at the community level, and the construction and rehabilitation of schools to resilient building standards.Programmes providing support to displaced people and host communities -including components on livelihood support, protection and gender-based violence -were outlined.Participants also highlighted ongoing programmes on livelihood and agricultural recovery, including: seed distribution, sustainable agricultural practices, integrated water management, market development, village saving and loans groups, and youth employment interventions.For Cabo Delgado Province, participants outlined ongoing humanitarian interventions related to the compounding impacts of conflict, displacement and climate events. It was noted that the needs of internally displaced people and host communities are increasing over time due to the impacts of the conflict, the frequency of climate extreme events, and protracted displacement.Participants underlined the need for additional funding for emergency response, recovery, reconstruction and disaster risk reduction, including for the scale-up of early warning and protection activities, and the provision of resilient temporary accommodation. The importance of protection programmes for women and girls, and the impacts on schools, health centres and other key services were also highlighted.Although conflict was viewed as the primary driver of displacement, potential cyclone and flood risks for displaced people were considered to be high due to both their geographical exposure in areas of relocation, and the lack of shock-resilient temporary shelters.The impact of the shifting conflict and security landscape on programming priorities, implementation, and mid (1-5 years) to long-term (6-20+ years) strategic planning was noted.The negative impact of the conflict on the implementation of planned rehabilitation and recovery programmes was highlighted, this affecting for example, the implementation of programmes focused on the provision of water, agricultural and health infrastructure, and shelter for women and children; and programmes focused on livelihood diversification and climate-resilient agriculture.The importance of promoting social cohesion, and reducing conflict-related risks, particularly between host and displaced communities, was highlighted by all participants, while the contrasts between conflict and non-conflict areas were noted as potential peace dividends.The impact of conflict and insecurity on access to remote communities was also emphasised, with interventions in some areas implemented primarily through the work of local partners. The limitations on access to affected communities due to poor road conditions were underlined, with access to some areas during the rainy season considered to be impossible. Finally, participants discussed the role of defence actors in the region, noting both the possible benefits and risks of engagement and coordination to the humanitarian principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality.Participants emphasised the important role played by the National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD) in developing a range of mechanisms to support the development of information and data on disaster risk and vulnerability; the coordination of early warning, preparedness, response and recovery programmes; and the development of provincial, district and community capacity in disaster risk management and response.The important role that the INGD-supported local disaster risk management committees have played in supporting drought response and recovery programmes in Gaza Province, and cyclone and flood responses in Nampula Province, particularly in the dissemination of early warning information and messages developed by the National Meteorology Institute, was noted. It was also reported that INGD has begun to map the capacity needs of the disaster management committees, and has developed tools to enable vulnerability and risk mapping at community level.Ongoing work on early warning and anticipatory action, supported by the technical working group for drought, composed of government and NGO partners and led by INGD, was also noted. This has supported the scale-up of anticipatory action via the district disaster risk management committees, and it was reported that INGD is in the process of developing similar working groups to support anticipatory responses to floods and cyclones. One participant People gathered for the distribution of tarps in the wake of Cyclone Idai, 2019. Photo credit: IOM Mozambique noted that the process of developing and planning an anticipatory response to drought in Cabo Delgado, although not activated, had provided a useful platform for preparedness and response to conflict impacts.Participants developing climate-resilience and resettlement programmes reported effective coordination with the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA) and other relevant ministries at the provincial level, and were aligning their work with district adaptation plans where these were present.Challenges and barriers to achieving the transition to a more resilient pathwayIt was felt that that there was a need to further enhance collaboration and coordination around a cohesive vision in the mid to long term given the complex crisis faced by Mozambique.Participants noted the government's scale-up of actions to enhance disaster preparedness and response, to build resilience and to tackle climate change. However, it was felt that the connection between national policies and plans, and the application and implementation at provincial, district and community levels could be further improved and supported.A number of programmes focused on the training of district government, agency staff and local communities on disaster risk management were mentioned that could be usefully scaled up, while it was recognised that there was a need to improve the sharing and development of risk data at the local level. INGD was reported to have initiated work on the development of an integrated data management system to manage humanitarian assistance, bridging different platforms across government systems, with the aim of supporting more effective planning, response and targeting of vulnerable populations.Discussions indicated that although a large number of programmes were being implemented or under development to support medium-term resilient development and climate adaptation, how these programmes were linked, layered and sequenced with relief, recovery, prevention and recovery programmes, with a view to supporting climate-resilient development, was not clear. However, it was noted that district-level adaptation plans, which could inform planning and action, were available in a number of areas. It was also noted that national-level coordination mechanisms were in place to enhance climate adaptation planning and action, and that informal platforms to further enhance coordination on resilience and adaptation had been developed by international donor agencies.Participants spoke of the need to further enhance coordination on climate change and adaptation programming at national, provincial and district levels, between government ministries and implementing partners. During discussions on the role of international donors and organisations, it was mentioned that actors have begun to work in more integrated ways, including (for example) through the formation of an informal donor group.Some participants also recognised the risks that a siloed approach to programming could have within their own agencies, highlighting the need to enhance and more fully develop linkages within different areas and sectors, and among international donors and donor platforms. Finally, it was mentioned that actors on the ground may be more incentivised by the specific objectives of the organisations or donors that they represent or report to rather than by alignment with an overall strategy for action.Funding shortfalls in recent humanitarian appeals, and the constraints these placed on interventions and activities were noted. Such shortfalls were reported to often result in a need to rapidly redeploy or re-focus available funding on 'life saving' actions to the detriment and disruption (often mid-implementation) of resilience/development-focused programmes.Despite an improved focus and capacity to implement disaster risk management and climate resilience programmes, it was felt that there was often a gap in the funding available to implement resilience programmes. The need to increase access to finance for prevention, recovery and rehabilitation, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, protection and peace interventions was recognised as particularly important given Mozambique's high level of exposure and vulnerability to climate-related shocks as evidenced by the impact of recent extreme weather events.There was consensus that the current insecurity and conflict in Cabo Delgado Province compounded the level of exposure and vulnerability to the impact of extreme weather events and to conflict and violence. It was stated that the conflict inhibited climate action and resilience building due to a combination of factors, including: insecurity and its impact on access to affected populations; the impact on the functions of institutions, services and infrastructure; and the need to focus and respond to the changing humanitarian situation. The impact of the conflict on protracted displacement and host communities was also emphasised.The compounding impacts of climate-related hazards and challenges to peace and security in Cabo Delgado, through their indirect impact on funding availability, and agencies' capacities to prepare for and respond to shocks in other provinces, were identified as being a challenge to building systemic resilience. Although the need to focus on the response to the situation in Cabo Delgado was recognised, it was felt that this may detract from the need to build resilience in other regions and provinces that are equally, if not more, vulnerable to the impacts of climate-related shocks; for example, to drought and water insecurity impacts in the southern part of the country.Opportunities for achieving the transition to a more resilient pathwayExisting policies, frameworks and programmes were considered to provide a strong platform to support the further development of climate-resilient pathways given improved coordination, vulnerability and risk analysis; improvements in the sharing of information and good practice; together with an increase in access to humanitarian, development and climate finance.Participants were in agreement that considerable progress had been made in the development of disaster risk management approaches, as evidenced by the number of programmes in development focused on climate risk and resilience linked to local-level adaptation plans.It was recognised that the work of INGD in disaster risk reduction, early warning, preparedness, response and recovery, and the work of MTA in the coordination of environmental and climate change activities provided a strong platform that could be leveraged to further enable effective planning. Participants had direct experience of working with both INGD and MTA in the development of their interventions at district and provincial levels, and of inter-sectoral coordination in key sectors (e.g. water, agriculture, health, education) at provincial and district levels.Participants were less familiar with the institutional mechanisms in place at the national level that support coordination between INGD, MTA, other government ministries/sectors and international donors that could further enable the implementation of climate and disaster risk policy at provincial and district levels. They were also unfamiliar with issues related to the use of, and access to, international climate finance.Given the above, discussions focused on the need to leverage vulnerability and risk analysis at provincial and district levels to enable planning that could support the development of climateresilient pathways. The need to build capacity to support more effective collaboration and coordination at the provincial and district levels, which could also inform the strategies and programmes of international donors, was highlighted, as was the need to support and develop the capacity of local communities to adapt and build resilience.A number of examples of capacity-building programmes were highlighted that could be replicated and scaled up in vulnerable areas. Examples included: supporting the work of local communities and NGOs in developing disaster risk and resilience plans; establishing local disaster management committees; and strengthening district and provincial coordination structures. It was felt that capacity support provided to the drought-affected southern and central provinces had been successful, and could provide lessons that could be applied in other areas of the country.With a view to informing future action, it was noted that that there was a need to: more fully document and learn from preparedness, response, recovery and anticipatory action practice; and more fully consider the application and implementation of policy at national, provincial, district and community levels. This would further enable the linking, layering and sequencing of relief, response and prevention, recovery and climate programmes across key sectors (agriculture, food security, livelihoods, WASH, education, infrastructure and peace).The opportunity to support the most vulnerable through the expansion of social protection programmes was raised, for example through the expansion of cash-for-work programmes and the Basic Social Subsidy Program. A number of participants noted that while they were aware of current guidance in Cabo Delgado given operational and security constraints, there could be benefits from considering the future use of cash transfers to support affected displaced, resettled and host communities in the province.The need to focus on the opportunities to scale up a coordinated multi-sector approach to the situation in Cabo Delgado was underlined. It was noted there was an opportunity to bring together humanitarian, development, disaster risk reduction and climate actors to increase the resilience and protection of displaced and host communities through participation in the design and delivery of preparedness and response, anticipatory, recovery, and livelihoods and resilience programmes.The need to further build on current work on social cohesion and peace-building was also highlighted, as was the need to apply conflict-sensitive approaches, and consider how to more effectively build links with security actors while maintaining the key principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence.It was recognised that government policies, and current government and partners interventions to tackle climate change, build resilience and enhance disaster preparedness provide a solid platform for future action, which could be further developed with additional financial support, technical assistance and institutional strengthening. It was felt that there was a need to further: invest in building capacity to operationalise policies at provincial, district and community levels; develop the connection between national and sectoral plans; and to consider the linking, layering and sequencing of these interventions.The following were considered as key to supporting the effective implementation of current policies, and the development of more effective linkages with recovery, development and climate adaptation programmes:• increased documentation of disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, recovery and anticipatory action practice;• further support to the application of policy at national, provincial, district and community levels through, for example, enhancing existing coordination structures, capacity strengthening and the development of integrated data platforms;• a greater focus on learning and information and knowledge sharing.Programmes that could offer important lessons in a number of practice areas were noted, for example in building local community capacity; in coordinating efforts between local communities and district governments; in building local government and NGO capacity; and in developing approaches that are informed and guided by communities' understanding of local needs, vulnerabilities and solutions.The central role of INGD in improving the understanding of disaster risk reduction and in strengthening institutional capacities for early warning, preparedness, response and recovery was underlined. It was noted that this work could be further strengthened and supported to both build and coordinate national and international action, and further adapted to enable the development of climate-resilient pathways. The coordination role of MTA in environmental and climate change activities was considered to offer a similar opportunity, building on the current programmes implemented in collaboration with development and climate actors to inform future planning, and the linking, layering and sequencing of interventions.In addition to the need to further enhance coordination on climate change and adaptation programming at national, provincial and district levels between government ministries and key development and humanitarian partners, participants also highlighted the need to enhance and more fully develop the linkages among international donors/existing donor platforms, and within their individual agencies to work across humanitarian, development and climate programming silos.Although action to develop informal platforms to further enhance coordination between international donors has been taken, participants were not clear on the role of these platforms, or how they linked to existing government coordination structures. It was also noted that, although steps had been taken to enable more effective integration of humanitarian, development and climate programmes, there was a need to further enhance collaboration and coordination around a cohesive vision of their role in building climate resilience.There was consensus that the compounding impacts of cyclones and floods in Cabo Delgado had not only increased the vulnerability of affected people to the impact of natural hazards and conflict, but had also had a negative impact on the ability to implement and deliver recovery and climate adaptation and resilience programmes. The need to build on current support for social cohesion and peace-building was emphasised, together with the need to apply conflict-sensitive approaches across all interventions.The role that improved coordination and collaboration could play in driving change, reducing programming gaps and breaking down silos between humanitarian, development, peace-building, climate and disaster management actors was emphasised. This was considered to be central to building climate resilience, responding to and reducing current vulnerabilities, and to supporting the needs of host and displaced communities. Embedding climate more fully into the Integrated Resilience and Development Programme for the North of Mozambique was noted as a potential entry point to integrate these issues into future planning and programming.The current focus on the response to the situation in Cabo Delgado was felt to have had an impact both on the overall availability of funds, and agencies' capacities to prepare for and respond to shocks in other areas of the country. Additional and alternative sources of finance are required to ensure that the needs in one area of the country do not disrupt interventions in other regions and provinces, or result in a 'stop-start approach' to building climate resilience in areas where populations remain vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events and climate change.Finally, participants felt that there was a need for further awareness-raising and support to enable them to take forward climate-resilient development in their areas of intervention; to develop a deeper understanding of the current programme, policy and financing landscape; and to enhance the impact of their programmes.layered and sequenced differently to prevent or reduce disasters from occurring. Participants were divided into two break-out groups and provided with two scenarios, one for Nampula Province and one for Cabo Delgado Province:1. successive climate extreme events disrupt the socioeconomic development objectives set by the government for Nampula Province and cause cascading disaster risks; 2. a severe tropical cyclone causes widespread displacement and cascading disaster risks in Cabo Delgado Province.For each scenario, participants were asked to individually read through the scenario and then, in groups, engage with two sets of discussion questions, reporting back on group discussions in plenary.Session four was held in the afternoon of the second day, and consisted of a presentation on the objectives of the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace, followed by group work where participants were requested to brainstorm a number of areas including: the opportunities for humanitarian, development, peace and disaster risk management actors to work together to link and sequence interventions to support disaster and climate resilience; to identify the in-country mechanisms needed to strengthen collaboration; and the possible next steps to take this agenda forward in Mozambique.ODI is an independent, global think tank, working for a sustainable and peaceful world in which every person thrives.We ","tokenCount":"4578"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1869864017.json b/data/part_1/1869864017.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b550945365546279f2199395488dabc48465b193
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1869864017.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bcb4b58f665646d4a70364c111312d75","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/47e614fb-b6ac-474a-9485-35c822a36127/content","id":"-1234797249"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d9c01a6-ccef-4b8d-b91d-c44feae6bec6","pagecount":"17","content":" There are two stages of AIPs growth.• Stage one: scaling priorities, first 5-7 years of all AIP were dependent on donor, government and few private funds input.Stage two: more private capital became available, in addition to initial investments in collective-action-based market concepts. At this stage the AIPs that survived initial challenges are realizing broader dividends. A new model of training is emerging : balance between supply and demand, social business relations, good relations between farmer and business providers. Incomes at cooperative level are sustainably shared. Employment for AIP membership in investments is on skills/merit rather than gender. Policy awareness among AIP actors is key. RAB played a key role on this. Gendered access to benefits of SI depended on quality participation among women, men and youth.   Business Related Benefits: Processing, Producing market networks. Some of the business benefits are as follows: (i) credit, (ii) high income, (iii) Smaller agribusiness (iv) KIAI processes cassava, and therefore earns AIP members more income through value addition. It also offers cassava cleaning facilities, a service highly liked among women.","tokenCount":"177"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1870791188.json b/data/part_1/1870791188.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..11b042ac73632015d0e004324eccf9eb19fee8ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1870791188.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9633ce402d29e2603c48faf7e246119d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9b979d2-1ad9-4588-a379-f8b12b0a69ee/retrieve","id":"-415897452"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"49705f7e-ee76-47f2-8514-8498bccec738","pagecount":"121","content":"Mr. Chairman, our national objectives as they relate to bean research are meant to contribute to the country's food security and foreign exchange earnings. These objectives include efforts to increase and stabilize yields through the development of appropriate bean varietíes and improved technology in production, disease and ¡nsect pest management. The strategy for attaining the desired objectíves involves pathologists, breeders, agronomists, economísts and extensíon offícers.Ladies and Gentlemen, I havtl noted from the programme that many scientífíc papers will be presented in the course of this workshop, all attempting to provide answers to bean productíon constraints. In the course of this meeting, scientists from dífferent countries will have the opportunity to know one another and exchange scientific views. This could auger well for bean research and development in the region and internationally, but we should bear in mínd that our prime larget is the farmer. In thís respect, the results of your deliberations would have to be translated in a manner beneficial to the farmer.Mr Chairman, I would like to requesf you te come out with firm affordable strategies on how to address major constraints facing food beans in various countries of this region, partícularly concerning diseases.There is also need to train the scientists in bean research as well as provide adequate facilities and ínfrastructure. This meeting should also address the issue of information exchange on research methodology, bean germplasm, literature and results between national prograrnmes so that such information should reach not only ~bean researchers but also other scientists and policy makers.Mr Chairman, I would wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to CIAT tor facilitating this workshop and for the financial support.Before I conclude my remarks, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me wish you very truitful and successful deliberations in this workshop. I also wish our visitors a pleasant stay in Kenya.Ladies and Gentlernen, it is now my very pleasant duty 10 declare this \"Pan-African Plant Pathology VVorking Group Meeting\" officially open.Mr Chairman, I am informed that this workshop is the first of its kind addressing itself to pathological problems of beans to be held in Thika. We in Kenya feel privileged to be afforded the opportunity to host this important bean meeting.The role of beans in human nutrition in the region is indeed very important. It provides total dietary protein in Burundi and Rwanda and forms a major supplement to the stareh diets in Eastern Africa.In Kenya, dry bean is the most important food legume and ranks seeond to maize as a tood crop. Total area under bean cultivation is estimated at 500,000 ha with an average yield of 500 kg/ha. These yields are low considering the expected bean yield potential of 1500 kg/ha. The per capita consumption is 17 kg/year.Mr Chairman, the CIAT Regional Bean Researeh Network in Afriea, as most participants know, has three major objeetives. These could be summarized as:11 To increase productivity and production of the food bean through breeding and selection of higher yielding genotypes with resistance to major diseases and insect pests, 21 To develop more productive eropping systems and disease and inseet pest management strategies,3) To strengthen the National Researeh Programmes, and to make them appropriate and sustainable.To meet these objeetives, this research network has three separately funded regional programmes implementad in such a way that it exploits advantages of deeentralization, supports the national programmes in planning, carrying out field researeh, and eneourages and funds purposeful collaboration among national researeh programmes.I would like to point out that KARI supports this collaborative work facilitated by CIAT, aimed at finding solutions to baan production problems.Several national research institutions in Africa, in collaboration with the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIATl conduct research on beans aimed at increasing production. Bean pathology is one such area that receives considerable research attention with the aim of developing technologies that can be used in the management of local or regional key bean diseases. There are about 20 regional sub-prQjects on pathology or which have patho[ogy components within the three bean networks in Africa. The sub-projects are led by scientists 01 different national research institutions working in collaboration with CIAT, and consider diseases and themes of national and regional importance. Leaders of these sub-projects were invited to this working group meeting. They represent an important group of scientists working with coordinated efforts to alleviate the deleterious effects of diseases on bean production in Africa. This First Pan-African Pathology Working Group Meeting was thus meant to provide a forum whereby past strategies, efforts, progress, failures and orientation of future research in bean pathology could be appraised and discussed at a pan-A frica level. This meeting focused on fungal bean diseases. Specífic objectives 01 the meeting were: a. To review past strategies and activities, and assess progress in bean pathology research (under sub-projectsl on a pan-A frica n level b. To develop general and specific regional future research activities and priorities on bean diseases so as to increase effectiveness, efficiency and have impact at farm level c. To formulate ways for greater collaboration, sharing 01 responsibilities and exchange of information and results on bean pathology research d. To discuss the nature, testing and use of regional, pan-African and international disease nurseriesThe meeting brought together scientists Irom national research institutions and universities of the main bean growing countries in Africa. Scientists from Britain and CIAT (Africa and Colombia) collaborating with national institutions in pathology in Africa also participated. Before the start of the meeting, participants were given an opportuníty to indicate what their expectations were of the meeting. Their views are broadly grouped into three sections., -Development of strategíes that will have impe•.;r at farm level 21 On exchange of informatíon participants expected:-Knowledge of current research on bean patholog'{ -Identificatíon of knowledge gaps and problems -Status of bean pathology research in Africa and scope -Progress in pathology-breeder interface -Knowledge on methodologies in certain aspects of pathology -Informal interactíon between scientists •3) On collaboratíon:-Identificatíon of areas of collaboration and/or cooperatíon -Development of collaboratíon in common sub-projects or topics of research -Interactíon between researchers of the different bean networksThe meeting was structured ínto two maín parts; presentations and working groups sessions. In the first part, presentation and discussion on the status of past and current research activities of on-going sub-projects were made basically to highlight objectives, researchthemes, achievements, failures, and future plans. Sorne invited papers were also presented, Thís formed a basis for the second part of working groups.In the second part, partícipants worked in groups to consider in detail the diseases; anthracnose, angular leaf spot, rust, root rots, and ascochyta. AII other fungal diseases and issues whích are not specífic to each disease were considered separately. The PPO method was used to analyze problems, set priorities and elaborate a research agenda. This part was intended to:a. Hring out a globalview of the problems associated with each dísease and prioritize them b. Make an inventory of, and prioritize both research and complementary nonresearch (non-pathology) areas and activities essential in the success of disease management. Identify future research areas.c. Develop an approach for better collaboration and dívisíon of responsibilities for more efficíent use of diminishing resourcesThe resulting planníng matrix ís meant to provide steering committees of the three bean research networks in Africa with guidelines, along which they may approve or re-orient proposals for sub-projects 0'1 bean diseases.Thís document is a compilation of presentations that were made and results of the workíng group sessíons. Overview of current research on fungal bean diseases in AfricaAngular leaf spot (ALSI of beans caused by Phaeoisariopsis griseola is one of the major diseases that reduce yield in most bean growing regions ot the world, particularly in the Great Lakes region. Yield losses caused by ALS vary between 20 to 80% (Pyndji, 1987;Schwartz and Pastor-Corrales, 19891. Pathogenic variation of P. griseola has been reported and documented by different authors (Beebe and Pastor-Corrales, 1991;Buruchara, 1983;Correa-Victoria, 1987;Correa-Victoria er al., 19891. Determinatian ot pathogenic variability is considered impartant in the development of appropriate disease resistance strategies. Variation af ALS pathogen in the Great Lakes Region {GLR), was first reported by Correa-Victoria (19871 in studies where eight isolates collected from Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire were included. The eight iso lates could be classified into four different pathogenicity groups. Considering the diversity of ecological conditions in the region and the varieties grown, pathogenic variatíon of the ALS pathogen could be expected to be large, having implications on breeding tor ALS resistance.The main objectíve of this study was to determine pathogenic variability among iso lates of P. griseola collected throughout the GLR so that selectíon and breeding for ALS resistan ce can be based on existing variability .P. gríseola iso lates were collected in different bean growing areas of Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi during different growing seasons. The techniques for isolation, inoculum production, and inoculation have been described by various workers (Correa-Victoria, 1987;Pyndji, 19911. Isolation of the pathogen is done from sporulating lesions on either infected leaves or pods. Spore are picked from fungal synemma on infected tissues with a fine needle containing a small piece of agar. The latter is then placed in two drops of sterile water on water agar (WA) or acidified potato dextros e agar (APDA) medium, spread on the agar surface and incubated at 22-24°C tor 24 to 48 hr tor conidia germination to occur. Single spore isolation is made by picking a single germinated conidia by the aid of a stereomicroscope and then transferred to V-8 juice agar (200 mi V-8 ¡u ice, 3 9 of calcium carbonate, 15 9 of agar, and 800 mi distilled water) plates. Five or six transfers of single spores are made into each 9 cm diameter petri dish. The plates are then wrapped in aluminum foil or Kraft paper and incubated at 22-24°C for 14 to 21 days or until cultures reach a diameter of 5 to 10 mm.The surface of 14-21 days old single spore cultures are scrapped or ground in a steril:led petrí dish cover with so me drops of sterile distilled water. A conidial suspension obtained is spread on the surface of V-8 agar using a bent glass rod and plates are then incubated ¡¡S previously described for 10 to 14 days.A set of 22 differentíal varieties (including A 285 faund resistant in Mulungu research center by the Bean Pathology section) recommended by CIAT (Correa-Victoria, 1987) were used (Table 1). Each differential variety was sown in two (sometimes four or six) 15 cm diameter pots containing a mixture of sterilized soil and sand (5:1, v/v). Each pot containing three plants constituted a replication. Inoculation was done when seedlings were 19 to 24 days old (1 to 3 trífolíate leaves) with a conidial suspension at a concentration of 2.0 x 10' conidia/ml. A one litre hand sprayer was used to apply the spores on the leaves. Inoculated plants were covered with a plastic bag to maintain a high (saturated) relative humidity and then placed under greenhouse benches on the ground kept moist with running water for 72 to 96 hours. After this period, plants were kept on greenhouse benches at temperatures varying between 21 to 38°C.Eleven days after inoculatian, disease severity was evaluated according to a CIAT nine-point scale (CIAT, 1989) where 1 = no vísible symptoms, 3 = 2% , 5 = 5%, 7 = 10%, and 9 = 25% or more of leaf area covered with lesions. Evaluatíon was done at 11, 14, 17, and 20 days of inoculatíon (or until defolíation occurred).Disease reaction was classified in three categories: R = resistant (1-3), I = intermediate (4-61. S = susceptíble (7-9). To differentiate pathotypes 11 host varietíes were used (Table 2). A variety with a dísease severity less than 2% was considered resistant; one with more than 2% (from 3.1 to 9) as susceptible.The bean pathology seetion in eollaboration with the breeding seetion also earries out inoculations of various lines or populations from different erosses. A mixture of identified isolates has been used in the inoeulations whieh are done in the greenhouse and data taken as described aboye. The Great Lakes regional trials (ERGL) 01 bush and elimbing beans were also inoeulated wíth a mixture of tour iso lates namely; Cyangugu, Kidote, Bugarama, and Burhale.A reaetion of a variety was seo red resistant, intermediate, or susceptible on the basis of the mean disease severity seores reeorded after tour evaluations.  11.Moso ísolate from Burundí was the most pathogeníc one eausíng susceptible reaetion to all dífferentials except for A 285. Tshírumbi isolate was pathogenic to 19 varietíes, whíle Bukavu and Kavumu from Zaire and UNR-1 from Rwanda were each pathogenie to 18 varietíes.From the results in Table 2, 17 pathogeníeity groups eould be dístínguished out of the 21 isolates on the basis of 11 differentíals. Iso lates in groups 14 to 17 were the least pathogenic; in fact, they caused susceptible or intermediate reaction only to less than 3 cultivars, whil~ most of the differential varieties were resistant. Four groups among the seventeen were composed of two isolates each, causing the same reaction.Aecording to Beebe and Pastor-Corrales (19911, reaetion of so me differentíals to different Brazilian and Colombia n isolates was demonstrated during the 1983 BALSIT. BAT 332 had been found to express high degree of resistance in Popayén, Colombia. In greenhouse tests the same variety was found to have resistant or intermediate reaction to different isolates. No susceptible reaetion was observed.On the other hand, BAT 76, Caraota 260, and Jalo EEP 558 have shown an intermediate or resistant reactlon in two loeations of Brazil and Colombia. In the present study, the same varieties were also shown to give the same reaetion to different isolates; however, Jalo EEP 558 was susceptible to the isolate from Maso (results not-sIwwR hete).  In inoculations made on different lines or F2 populations from erosses made by the breeding seetion, a number of populations and lines expressed susceptible reaetion when inoeulated with a mixture of isolates. Results of these avaluations are diseussed in the presentation on \"Breeding for resistan ca to angular leaf spot\" (page 13-17).In conclusion, this study has shown once again tha existanca of pathoganie variation among the isolates from GLR. The differences among isolates varied within and batwaan locations. Consaquently, breeding for ALS rasistanee should be based on this variability. Moreovar, thesa results showed that isolates from diffarent locations where besns are grown season aftar sea son in tha sama plot were the most pathogenic. Thus. scraaning for disesse resistanee should be condueted in hot spot areas sueh as Mulungu-Tshirumbi. The choice of isolates tor use in a screening program should also be based on their ability to cause adequate disease levals. Finally, sorne differantial cultivars mainly Montealm, A 285, A 339, Caraota 260. and BAT 1647 should be eonsidered as the bes! indicators to demonstrata oceurrenee of new pathotypes in a given area.  Although our laboratory has mastered isolation teehniques, sorne diffieulties that have affeeted our work may be worth mentioning. These inelude the inability to culture many isolates at once due to the low capacity of our ineubator and the difficulties experienced in preserving iso lates for further work. Another technical difficulty is related to getting spore germination on WA or PDA from old isolates.In faet, we have observed that conidia viability decreases with the inerease in storage time of infected leaves or pods.After the identification of existing variation, the angular leaf spot sub-project should be able offer service to screen materíals from national and regional programs lar resistance to representative pathogenic variatíon characterized. This will enable national programs to identify and develop resistant varietíes with bread based resistance.We also plan to offer a similar screening servíce of material to eastern and southern Alrican bean regional pregrams interested in evaluating them (such as Malawi). Thus, this sub-project could serve all regional programs. Collaborative research is needed to determine lield reaction of ALS differentials and the distribution of pathotypes in bean growing regions 01 Alrica.Bean eonsumption in the Great Lakes Region is the highest in the world but produetivity of the crop is low due to many different eonstraints. One of the most important constraints associated with low yield is disease susceptibility in farmers' cultivars.Angular leaf spot (ALS) eaused by the fungus Phaeoisaríopsisgríseola Sacc. is one of the most prevalent diseases of bean in the region. It can cause considerable yieJd reduetion (Ferraz, 1980;Schwartz et al., 1981;Rava et al., 1985), and affeets seed quality.In the Great Lakes Region, most of the local varieties are very susceptible to angular leaf spot although they are adapted and accepted by farmers. Inheritance studies of the resistance to ALS, conducted elsewhere, have shown that disease expression may be controlled by recessive and dominant genes, depending upon the parental cultivars (Ferraz, 1980). But in the Great Lakes Region, no similar studies have been eonducted on the disease.Our breeding program has two objectlves; the flrst, to select disease resistant lines in segregating populations introduced f~om CIAT; and the second, to incorporate resistanee and study its inheritanee in progenies derived from erosses made at Mulungu station between local adapted cultivars and introdueed resistant eultivars.We present in this paper so me of the results obtained at Mulungu station on the seleetion work to identify resistant Unes te ALS and the hybridization work to ineorporate resistance into loeally adapted eultivars.Aetivities of the first objeetive started in 1986 with the introduction of F2 populations from CIAT, Cali obtained from eros,ses between so me sourees of resistan ce and local varieties from the region. The selection method used, has been one based on single plant selection in F2 populations followed by progeny rows in the F3. The bulk method has also been used in seasons when the disease pressure has been low. Seleetion has been done under natural infection and the parameters used are plant architecture, date of flowering, date of maturity, resistance to diseases, and plant efficiency. Homogenous and stable lines were selected in 1988 and 1989 and given the code \"MLB\" which means Mulungu Bush lines for preliminary yield trials. In 1991, a group of selected MLB lines were evaluated in PRELAAC-5 in different sites of the Great Lakes Region. Some MLB lines are presently being evaluated in different variety trials in the region and in some cases have entered on-farm trials.The second objective of the breeding program started with single crosses and backcrosses after the screening of sources of resistance to ALS in our region. The inoculum preparation and inoculation was done by the pathology section of PNL-Mulungu. After incubation andsymptom development, disease evaluation was done using a scale of 1 to 9 where 1 = no visible disease symptoms and 9 = 25% or more of the leaf surface covered by large sporulating and often coalescing lesions. The sources of resistance were small-seeded materials and local cultivars were large-seeded ones.From the selection work on ALS conducted at Mulungu on segregating populations introduced from CIAT, a group of 32 advanced lines were tested in the PRELAAC-5 in different research stations of the three national programs in the region. Results on ALS resistance at three stations, and on yield at two stations are shown in Table 1 for the best 10 ¡ines. The selected lines maintained a high level of resistance to ALS at Mulungu and several of them did not show disease infection at Rubona and Rwerere station. Since the three environments are completely different and the disease is always present in them, one can conclude that selection at Mulungu was effective in identifying resistant lines to ALS from segregating populations. The yield levels obtained at two stations also shows that the selected lines combine high disease resistance with high yield potential. One of theselines, MLB-49-89A, consistently yielded over 3000 kg/ha at each station and did not show any disease at Rubona and Rwerere.The same MLB lines were tested for other constraints in the region (results not shown) and gave satisfactory performance. Worth mentioning also is their resistance to root rots particularly to Pythíum spp and Rhízoctonía solaní, during a seVf.re attack of the latter at Rubona station in Rwanda. The MLB lines, thus, appear to combine multiple disease resistance and high yield potential and  MlS-38-89AOisa,.\" scal. 1•9 where high revols of resístanc8 1 ~3. íntermediete levels of tesi$tanee -= 4-6800 susceptible'\" 7-gTable 2 shows the average disease severity in 11 backcross populations obtained 20 days after inoculation with a mixture of four isolates of ALS (from Rubona, Mudusa, Kisanga and Kipopol. The table shows the number of plants in each of three disease categoríes. The average disease reactíon was in the susceptible range in all populations indicating a high frequency of susceptible plants. The results of 10 backcross populations inoculated with a different mixture of four iso lates (Kidote, Karama, Kayandja and Tchirumbil are shown in Table 3. Here the reliults also show high frequencies of susceptible plants.A,lthough at this preliminary stage, a genetic interpretation of the results is not possible, the tendency of all populations to show a large proportion of susceptible plants may indicate that recessive genes may be controlling the resistance to ALS in the donor parents. The results, as shown, may also be due to sampling errors caused by the relatively few number of plants tested in each population. New crosses are being made to clarify this issue. In the meantime the few resistant plants found in sorne of the populations will be used in new backcrosses to recurrent parents to develop new segregating backcrossed populations from which resistant lines with local parental features can be recovered..' r '5       The common bean (Phaseolus vu/garís L.) is one of the most important tood grain legume erop in Malawi; being second only to groundnuts in total production among grain legume crops (Edje et al., 1981).Bean production constraints in Malawi include lack of suitable varietíes, insects, pests and diseases. Díseases are the most important single factor limiting bean produetion in most bean growing regions of the country. Among the most important diseases are angular leat spot Great losses due to angular leaf spot are experieneed year after year, espeeially in regions where warm temperatures prevail during the growing season. The disease affeets yields largely due to damage caused by leat necrosis and premature detoliation resulting in loss of photosynthetic area (lnglis and Hagedorn, 1986).Phaeoisariopsis griseo/a survives during off season in seed as well as on erop debris, whieh aets as a souree of inocula for the following season. Control of ALS therefore, may be aehieved by use of cultural practiees sueh as rotation, burying or burning of crop residues. However, rotation is difficult 10 practice in smaltholdings due to land scarcity (0.8 ha per farmer). Another control measure is the use of chemicals. But in view of the fact that use of chemicals may not easily be within the reach of most smal1holders, the most effective control strategy for the disease is the use of resistant cultivars. The latter method is eheaper, easy to apply and the farmer can keep seed (Edje, er a/., 1981 l. The objective of this study was thus to sereen both local and introduced germplasm for resistance to angular leaf spot.         (i) As an on-going study with a general objeetive of screening the local bean germplasm for resistance to so me 01 the most important bean diseases, vis-a-vis angular leaf spot, rust, anthracnose, bacterial blights, floury leaf spot, ascochyta blight, scab and viral diseases, 1032 bean accessions have been evaluated mainly under field conditions. Each accession was planted in a plot of two 4 m rows spaced at.91 cm. Spacing between plants was 15 cm with one seed per hill.Observatlons on disease incidence and severity were done ón-fóliage, stem and pods during flowering and podding stages. Disease severity was evaluated based on a sea le of '-9 where 1 meant no disease symptoms and 9 meant a susceptible reaction.(ji! Bean accessions that gíve a \"favourable\" reaetion (wlth seo re grades of 1, 2 and 3) to angular leaf spot are seleeted for further sereening under both field and greenhouse conditions.The current study involved 1 00 bean aecessíons previously shown to have a •favourable\" reaetlon. Evaluatlon was done at Bünda College of Agriculture farm ín 1990/91 growing season. Each líne was sown on two 5 m ridges spaeed at 91 cm with intra-row spacíng of 15 cm wíth one plant per hill. Nasaka, a variety susceptible to angular leaf spot, was grown on alternate rows (between test lines) as a spreader.Inoculum preparation: Phaeoisariopsis griseola isolated trom infected bean pods at Bunda was maintained on yeast glueose chalk agar (10 g yeast extraet; 20 9 CaC0 3 ; 10 9 agar and 1000 I distilled water) by periodie transfer of spore suspensions to fresh plates. Inoeulum for inoeulation was multiplíed on potato dextrose agar 14 9 potato extract; 20 9 dextrose; 15 9 agar and 1000 I distilled water) plates ineubated for 10 days at 24 C.Flald inoculatlon and diseasa assessment: Two weeks after emergenee Iwhen plants were at 1st trifoliolate stage) plants were artifieially inoeulated with an ¡solate of Phaeolsariopsis griseo/a. Inoculum was sprayed as a fine. mist using a 7 litre hand spray on to the upper and lower leaf surfaees of all plants. Disease assessment was based on the CIAT sea le of 1 to 9. The sea le was categorized into three groups: resistant, intermediate and susceptible.Table 1 summarizes results of field evaluation. Bean Unes having values from 1 to 3 were considered resistant, 4 to 6 as intermediate and 7 to 9 as susceptible. Some Unes had disease seo re values of 9 suggesting that they were just escapes in the previous field evaluations (where they had been considered resistant).The results showed that out of the 100 lines screened, 65 were resistant, 15 were susceptible and 20 gave an intermediate reaction. Oisease occurrence was observed some 43 . 50 days after sowing and severity increased with time in some of the lines until there was very severe damage towards the end of the growing season. Most climbers gave a resistant reaction, while only a few of the dwarf were resistant (Table 1) which agrees with previous studies (Mbalule, 1986;Msuku and Bokosi, 1989;Zamadenga, 1991). There was no correlation between resistan ce and time taken to reach physiological maturity. It seemed that there was so me relationship between time taken to 50% flowering and reaction to the disease as most of those that flowered late showed so me resistance and most of those that matured early tended to be. susceptible. Bean anthracnose is prevalent in Northern Zambia, the Southern highlands and North Eastern Tanzania, as well as parts of Angola and Malawi. There are reports of high disease severity during most seasons (Kannaiyan el al., 1987;Kannaiyan, 1989). At a Planoiog Workshop held in Zambia io March 1991, aothracnose was ideotifled amoogst the top five coostraiots to beao productioo. lo fact, It was second only to bean fly as the top biotic constraiot. Some work has beeo carried out 00 yield loss assessmeot in the regioo IGreeoberg et al., 1987) but there is stlll little ¡oformatlon 00 actual yield losses caused by the disease in farmers' fields aod the exact boundaries of the disease. Knowledge of races present in the region is necessary for effective screeoiog of bean geootypes for resistaoce, but researchers io various countries have identified races using different sets of differeotials. Knowledge of existing races usiog uniform sets of differeotials would make it easier for the exchaoge of resistaot genotypes betweeo countries sioce their type of resistance would be koown .The working group 00 bean anthracoose in Africa which met at Ambo, Ethiopia in February 1991, recogoized these limitations aod identified resea[ch priorities for diftereot regioos. Among the recommeodations made were the oeed for studies 00 yield loss in farmers' fields. pathogenic variatioo using a uoiform ,set of differeotials and for the SADCC region, ao evaluation of cultivar mixtures for disease cootrol.Cultivar mixtures having resistant components have beeo reported to reduce the spread and severity of some bean diseases, e.g angular leaf spot IMukishi and Trutmann, 19891. Small scale farmers in Northern Zambia and Southern Tanzania prefer to grow beans in mixtures of landraces. This provides the possibility to control anthracnose using the farmers' established system. Sinca cultivar mixtures are only effective if they contaln resistant components. studies on mixtures would be most eftectlve If combined wlth screening for disease resistance.The obJectives of this study are:al to assess the importance of the disease through crop yield loss studies in farmers' fielda and surveys throughout the bean growing areas, bl to identify the prevailing pathogenic races and map out their distribution, and el to study diaease control measurea through cultivar mixtures and plant resistance. el In bean growing areas where ínformatíon is not available, surveys on disease severíty shall be made. The distribution and importance of the disease in different areas will be mapped out. Disease severity scores will be correlated with yield loss results. First and second season.During the survey, different isolates of the pathogen shall be collected. These will be isolated, purified and multiplied in the laboratory on artificial media. The different isolates will be used to inoculate the 12 CIAT differential varlatlas so as to identify the races.Disease control a) Together wíth already existing programmes, local and introduced germplasm will be screened for resistance to anthracnose. This will involve artificial inoculations 24    • with all the race~ identified in the race studies. These will be carried out during the first two years at Lucheche and Uyole. The promising genotypes will be tested at Kaka, Mwamba and Kapatu in Zambia, at Iyula, Itete, Nkundi and Mubugai in Tanzania and at sites to be selected in Angola and Malawi.bl Effective levels of resistant components in a mixture: Single factor replicated design with treatments being various combinations of a resistant and a susceptible variety, including pure stands of the components as controls. Large plots of at least 40 m 2 • Disease severity and spread will be monitored throughout the season. First season at Lucheche and Uyole, thereafter at 2-3 other sites in each country.cl Assessment of farmer's mixtures: Single factor replicated experimento Treatments will be 3-6 mixtures which are currentlYJlrown and pure stands of the components. Artificial inoculation of spreaders with a local isolate will be used. Disease progress will be monitored and yield between mixtures and their components compared. First two seasons at Lucheche and Uyole, thereafter at 2-3 sites in each country.In Zambia, a survey in four provinces (Central, Eastern, Luapula and Northern) was made during March and April 1991. Only the North Western province remains. A total of 113 fields in 18 bean growing districts were covered. The field size ranged from a few square metres to 2 hectares. The crop wasgrown on mounds except for the larger fields which had been prepared usingoxen and were flat. The beans grown usually consisted of mixtures of predominantly white and yellow coloured grain. Twenty six fields, mainly from Central and •Luapula provinces, had no anthracnose whereas 87 fields showed various levels of disease. In '44 fields, the disease level and distribution was low, in 36 fields the disease level was moderate with at least half the plants in the field affected and 7 fields had severe disease with nearly all plants affected. AII the seven severely affected fields were in Mbala district of Northern Province.A total of 155 anthracnose samples were collected from 87 fields. An additional 12 were collected from research trials at Msekera Research Station. Of these, 110 were successfully isolated, cultured and were placed in slants. As seed of the differentials beco me available, the cultured isolates will be used for inoculations. Twenty-six have so far been used to inoculate the CIAT differentials. However, there were difficulties in multiplying two of the differentials (Kaboon and Widusa) so these have not beeh~noculated.The 26 iso lates may be grouped into four groups. The first group, consisting of 4 isolates, infects only Michelite and Perry Marrow. The second group (4 isolatesl attacks the above and M.D.R.K. The third group (13 isolatesl attacks Michelite, M.D.R.K., Perry Marrow and Mexico 222. The fourth group with three iso lates is like the third group but attacks TU instead of Mexico 222 (Table 1 l The ultimate goal of research activities on bean anthracnose is to develop resistant varieties to the disease. Those varieties would then be recommended for diffusion within target zones or would be sources of resistance genes to breeders who would use them to improve the resístance of varietíes having other characteristícs desírable for farmers (hígh productívity, good taste, short cycle etc.l.Studíes on varietal resistance constitute one of the most important components of research on anthracnose in Rwanda. Several thousand entries of germplasm have already been screened through international (lBAT, VEFI. regional (PRER. PRELAACI as well as national (PPP. breeding nursery) nurseries.In order to develop bean varieties resistant or tolerant to different bean diseases and pests, CIAT, in collaboration with ISAR, developed, as of 1984, some specifie nursaríes: Phytoprotection Preliminary Nursery (PPPI and a regional nursery eonsisting of the best sourees of resistance in Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire (PRERI.As a result of these aetivities, some varieties resistant to anthracnose have been identified; these inelude: BAT 76, A 240, A 252, A 336, G 5971, ZAV 83009, ZAV 83059 and V 7920. In 1987, another regional nursery for evaluating the resistanee of advaneed lines for Central Afriea was established.In 1989, varietíes such as G 2333, G 2331, Ikinimba, G 2641, were confirmed to be resistant following evaluation ih PRER and PPP nurseries. At the same time, several bush and semi-climbing varieties such as ZAA 76, ANO 662, AFR 300, AFR 8, Ntekerabasilimu, and several climbing varieties such as 7/4, ANO 419, ANO 671, ANO 655 etc. proved to be resistant to anthracnose in the PRELAAC-3 nursery (Gasa na, 1991).Several crosses were also made in order to transfer resistance genes trom varieties sueh as G 2333, Ntekerabasilimu, Ikinimba, Kilyumukwe, RWR 45, BAT 76 etc. to susceptible commereial varieties such as Rubona 5, Ikinyange, Gisenyi 2bis etc. The first stable resistant lines obtained trom these crosses are now being tested in the tirst yield trials.In addition, advanced selection tests include some v!irii:lties which proved to be resistant in the PRELAAC-4 such as RWK 3, ANO 6, RWR 602 andRWK 5 USAR, 1989 and1990).Breeding for resistance to anthracnose in 1991 is described below.Field screening: Screening of bean germplasm (PRELAAC, IBAT) for resistance to anthracnose is carried out at Rwerere where natural conditions are favorable for the development of the disease, and in Rubona undef artificial inoculation. Multiplication of the inoculum of Rubona ¡solate is carried out in the laboratory on sterilized green pods contained in erlenmeyer flasks of 250 or 500 mi. Pods are cut in 5 cm long pieces, sterilized and put into the erlenmeyer. Spore suspension is introduced in the flask under sterile condítions and incubated at J9\"C for 7 days. The inoculum is then prepared and after adjusting the concentration to 10 6 conidia/ml, field inoculation is done in the evenings 15-6 pm) by spraying of the plants trom R5Ipre-flowering) to R7 (pod filling). Oisease pressure is also increased by planting a mixture of susceptible varieties after every 4 test rows to act as spreaders.Crosses and segregating populations: To improve resistance of susceptible commercial varieties, genes from sources of resistance have been used in a series of crosses earried out at Rubona. Segregating populations have also beeo evaluated under artificial field iooculation.PRElAAC screenlngResults show that most of the 36 varieties of climbing beans in PRELAAC•5 were rather resistant to anthracnose. 12 had no symptom of anthraenose under artificial. . The same twelve varieties were, however, susceptible to ascochyta blight at Awerere, angular leaf spot at Rubona and to virus diseases in both sites. Some of them such as LAS 295, GLB 5, RWV 180 and RWV 173 performed well in terms of yield and have been tested in the multilocational trials.A hundred bush and semi-climbing varieties were also evaluated in PRELAAC-5.Under artificial inoculation at Rubona, 46 were resistant to anthracnose; 21 out of the 46 did not show any symptoms at all. However, on the basis of vield exceeding 100 g/m 2 (1000 kg/ha by extrapolation) and tolerance to ascochvta blight (score s 4) and to angular leat spot (score s 6). only 14 remained (Table 2).It should be noted. however, that most of these varieties were susceptible to ascochyta and virus dlseases at Rwerere. Only SCAM-80-CMI14 and MLB-48-89Aseem to be resistant to almost all dlseases in both evaluation sites.The screenlng of germplasm for resistance to anthracnose also included 100 IBAT IInternational Anthracnose Nursery} entries from CIAT. Colombia. 81 entries out of 100 tested were highlV resistant under artificial inoculation with the Rubona isolate. At the same time sead of all variaties has baen multiplied for future yietd trials in order to identify the most productive varieties among the resistant ones. 5 5Crosses were made In 916 between varieties in PRELAAC-4 resistant to anthracnose and popular commercial varieties from ISAR such as Urugezi, RWR 221. Flora. or susceptible to anthracnose such as Rubona 5 and Ikinyange !Table 3). 53 hybrids will be evaluated in F1 to verify if the crosses were successful. At the same time seed will be multiplied forevaluation in F2 in 926. For bush and semi-climbing types, 68 F3 lines• from 25 F2 populations were planted at Rubona in the first season of 1991. Selection was based on plant vigour and architecture, but more so on resistance to anthracnose. Thus, 116 individual plants were selected to be evaluated in F4.For climbing types, 36 lines were evaluated for their resistance to anthracnose. As with most other climbing beans, several lines were resistant to the disease. However, selection took imo account other critería such as susceptíbilíty to rust and ascochyta, plant vigour and good architecture. 109 individual selections were thus made for testing in F4.Current breeding activities for resistance to anthracnose at ISAR include three types of trials:1. Screening segregating populations of bush and semi-climbing beans in F3, F4 and F5 at Rubona.2. Preliminary yield trials for stable lines obtained from selections made at Rubona, also called ftEssai de prétriage\" for anthracnose resistance. This trial is being carried out at Rubona and Rwerere.3. Advanced evaluation trial of materials found resistant to anthracnose in all evaluation sites. This trial is the first step towards the creation of the Regional Anthracnose Nursery.Constraints 1. Lack of sufficient and stable staft resulting in disruptions of programme implementation linoculation, follow-up).2. Lack of specialized training in phytopathology for programme technicians and scientists.3. Lack of information on on-going research activities on the disease.4. Lack of data on other aspects of anthracnose research (pathogenic variability, harvest losses etc.).Bean breeding for resistance to anthracnose in Rwanda has resulted in the identification of several resistant varieties, notably Ikinimba, Ntekerabasilimu, G 2333 and G 2331. However, since the pathogen causing this disease occurs in several races, research on resistant varieties should be a continuous work.In the process of breeding, PRELAAC provides sources of resistance that may be used in makinIJ crosses, but it also allows exchange of materials of interest at the regionallevel for other national programmes. This has been the case for resistant bush varieties such as MLB-36-89A, MLB-49-89B and MLB-48-89A contributed by PNL Mulungu (Zaire), if their good performance is confirmed in future tests.Crosses and evaluations of segregating populations-aim at exploiting as quickly as possible the resistance genes locally identified, and improving the resistance of commercial varieties.Artificial inoculations should be used in all screening trials in order to increase breeding efficiency.Introductions from CIAT of specific nurseries such as IBAT or F2 populations should be continued for some time to come in order to increase variability.Common bean Whaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important food legume crop and constitutes an essential part of the daily diet of millions of people especially in latin America, Central and Eastern Africa (Schwartz and Galvez, 1979). Haricot beans play an important role in the cropping system of Ethiopian farmers; beans are grown either as a relay crop or intercropped with cereals, coffee or enset. However, the average yields obtained by farmers are low due to a combination of several yield constraints among which diseases playa major role (Assefa and Gorfu, 1985). Important bean diseases are common bacterial blight, rust, anthracnose. angular leaf spot. floury leaf spot, phoma blight. web blight, halo blight and bean common mosaic virus. Of these, bean anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum Iíndemuthianum Sacc. is widely distributed in the major bean growing districts of Ethiopia. It is particularly important in the lower to middle agroecological zones with mean annual rainfall ranging between 700-2200 mm. It is a common disease in areas such as Awassa, Ambo, Bako, Arsi Negele, Kulumsa, Nazareth and Jima (Allen, 1983;Assefa and Gorfu, 1985).This paper is intended to briefly review the research work that has been carried out until 1991 on anthracnose of haricot bean in Ethiopia. In addition, on-going research activities of the anthracnose regional sub-project are highlighted.In 1989. a survey was initiated by the pulse pathology section of the Plant Protection Research Center (PPRC), Ambo, to assess occurrence and severity of anthracnose disease. This involved sampling of measured length of crop rows at randomly selected locations in a field to estimate disease per unit area. Individual plant samples were also collected.Results of the survey revealed differences in prevalence and severity of bean anthracnose among regions and farming practices. In the hot and dry areas of the Rift Valley, where rainfall is normally erratic and temperatures rather low, the most prevalent diseases were common bacterial blight and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). In southern Ethiopia where temperatures are moderate and rainfall is high, rust was severe. In the warm and humid regions of the country, anthracnose, angular leaf spot and floury leaf spot were much more prevalent (PPRC, 1990l.During the surVeY nearly 150 mycological specimens were collected and most of the pathogens associated with the diseases have been identified and documented.• Among them, 41 samples were anthracnose isolates (Table 1). The preliminary survey showed that anthracnose is predominant and severe at Ambo but occurrence at Areka is sporadic . Samples of bean anthracnose were collected from major bean growing regions with special emphasis to Ambo. Debre Zeit. Bako, Jima, Areka, Pawe and along the fift valley, Awassa, Ziway. The collected disease samples were isolated, purified•and multiplied using the following standard methods.Small segments or sections of the infected materíals were isolated by surface sterilizing with alcohol. After a thorough washing in distilled water, the ends of the tissue were sliced off with a sterile scalpel and the central part were placed on POA plates. After 24 hr at 20-25°C mycelium grew from which the pathogen was re-isolated (Schoonhoven and Pastor-Corrales. 1987;Barrus. 1918).Conídia ofthe isolates were transferred to POA and allowed to germinate. After 24 hr, 5•6 germinated mono-conidia were transferred to several plates of POA. Then they were incubated at 24°C for 12-13 days. Conidia suspension was then prepared from these 12-13 days old culture far inoculation in tn\" M~O,,; .. ,''o,..• (Schoonhoven and Pastor-Corrates, 1987;Hubbeling, 1977). Bean pod agar medium, sterilized pods and potato dextrose agar most often were used for culture growth (Schwartz and Galvez, 1979).Use of green bean pods: Green pods were collected from the field, washed and chopped into small pieces. 3/4 of a 250 mi flask was filled with pieces of chopped green pods. Then 15-20 mi of distilled water was poured in each flask and sterilized for 30 min at 121 oC, then excess water from the sterilized media was removed. About 1 mi of C. líndemuthianum conidial suspension was poured in each of the flasks and mixed gently for uniform distribution of the spores. The flasks were incubated at 24°C for 8 days. The pods were then blended and filtered. The concentratíon of conidia was determined usíng a hemacytometer and adjusted to a concentration of 1.2 x 10 6 conidia/ml using the formula where:Vo X Co = Vg X CgThis method of inoculum production was also used for field inocula tia n (Hubbeling, 1977).Greenhouse Three seeds of each differential variety (Table 2) were grown in a sterilized soil of 15 cm diameter pots in the greenhouse at about 21-30 o C. Ten days old seedlings (the first trifoliates) were inoculated by spraying the spore suspensions. Inoculated plants were placed in an incubator with nearby saturated atmosphere (85-100% of relative humidity at 18-22°CI for 4-5 days. Seven days after inoculation each inoculated plant was evaluated separately on a 1-9 scale, Le. 1-3 -= resistant and 4-9 = susceptible (Scnoonhoven and Pastor-Corrales, 1987). Inoeulation of differential varieties was repeated to confirm the observed results, shown in Table 2.Trifoliate leaves of beans were inoculated with suspension of conidia until completely wet, using Knapsack sprayer. Inoculation was repeated every 10 days when the disease symptom was not observed. The inoculation was done in the evening, when temperature was relatively low. The disease was recorded on a '-9 seale as jn the greenhouse. Of the 101 entries tested in 1991, the majority were resistant. However. only three entries (Negro 150. Mexieo 235 and Contanex) were highly resistant (Table 31. The local hybrid eultivars also showed resistant reaetion (seora 2-4). Considering the research work done on anthracnose of haricot bean, the following areas need more attention:1. Establish importance of anthracnose disease through systematic surveys in the major haricot bean growing areas of Ethiopia.2. Study yield losses due to anthracnose disease of haricot bean.3. Systematic evaluatíon of local and íntroduced haricot bean materíals for theír resistance to anthracnose disease.4. Study the biology of causal fungi and monitor the variability of the pathogen to support the breeding programme.Among the many bean díseases reported in Afríca, bean rust caused by Uromyces appendiculatus has a wide geographical distribution (Allen, 1983;Edje et al., 1973;Lowland and Macartrey, 1966;Leakey, 1963;Patel, 1975;Wallace, 1939;Wamoelo, 1973). Research information on the epidemiology of bean rust and understanding of the bean rust status under farmers' circumstances has been badly lacking.Prior to 1987, research in bean rust in Ethiopia was very much limited in scope and importance. Apart from evaluations of breeder's nurseries as part of the varietal development scheme and chemical control studies done in the western part of the country in the early 1970's, information on geographical distribution, relative importance vis-a-vis other foliar diseases, its economic importance, physiologic races, biological control, epidemic development in varietal mixtures and in intercrops, and development of resistant varieties with wide adaptation potentials was lacking. The situation remains the same for most parts of East Africa.Because of this, a rust sub-project was proposed in 1987 to study the epidemiology and control of bean rusto The major foci of the research were disease survey, crop loss assessment, p'athogenicity analysis, varietal mixtures and varietal resistance. Ethiopia acts as a coordinating country and collaborating countries include Uganda. Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia. Mauritius. Zaire and Madagascar. With most countries. except for Uganda, the main area of collaboration remains testing of bean rust regional nursery. Hence. most of the information obtained in this report come from research conducted in Ethiopia. Research results obtained in experiments conducted in 1988 and 1989 were reported elsewhere (Assefa. 1990) and this report summarizes results obtained in the 1990 and 1991 experiments.A survey of beans grown and bean diseases was conducted in 1990 and 1991 in the major bean growing areas of Ethiopia: central Rift Valley, southern, western and eastern regions.The survey results revealed Important differences among regions. The central Rift Valley is characterized by a mono-modal type of rainfall (June to Septemberl.Beans are grown as mono-crop o'nce ayear mainly as a cash crop. The dominant variety is Mexican 142. Farmers he re do not apply fertilizer or weed their bean crop. There is a large variation in sowing dates mainly depending on the arrival of the first shower. Important bean diseases are rust, anthracnose, and common bacterial blight ICBBl. Bean rust is widely scattered.In the relatively wet parts of the region, anthracnose is dominant but in areas where temperatures are high and rainfall limiting CBB is most prevalent. In areas where farmers use good, healthy seed the incidence of anthracnose was greatly reduced.The southern part of the country has two rain seasons. Hence beans are grown twice ayear IJuly to October and February to Mayl. Seans are either grown pure or in association with enset, maize, sweet or (rish potatoes. Beans are mainly grown tor food and the dominant variety is Red Wolaita. Because of good extension programs, farmers in this region practice row planting, weedíng and fertilizatíon resulting in higher yields (800-1200 kg/hal. However, plant density is low due to lack of seeds. As in the Rift Valley, sowing dates are extremely variable and dependent on the raíns and preceeding crop. Oiseases found here inelude rust, antHracnose, CSS and angular leaf spot. Rust is both dominant and wide spread. The incidence of anthracnose, CBB and angular leaf spot is slight and highly scattered. Red Wolaita is susceptible to all the díseases found in the region but, perhaps due to the use by farmers of healthy, clean seed and weed free fields, incidence of anthracnose and eBB are greatly reduced.In the Western part of the country both bush and climbing beans are grown.Climbing beans are traditionally grown as garden erops. Bush beans are grown as mono-crops or intercropped with maize or sorghum. Five diseases found to be associated with beans are rust, anthracnose, CSB, angular leaf spot and floury leaf spot. Oue to the humid conditions prevailing in the west, angular leaf spot and floury leaf spot are dominant. On elimbing beans the major disease is phoma blight (ascochyta blightl which is frequent!y found in most gardens. Slight and scattered incidence of rust is also found on c!imbing beans.In the Eastern highlands of Ethiopia, beans are grown as mono•crops or intereropped with maíze. sorghum or ehat. Farmers in this region traditionally grow varietal mixtures, differing in color and size. Oue to seeurity problems, a limited survey was made in this area which showed that rust and csa are the two widely distributed diseases.The large variations in elimate affect the level and type of disease oeeurring in any region. Of the six diseases mentioned in the survey report, rust, anthracnose and • CSS are the most widespread, while angular leaf spot. floury leaf spot and phoma blight have limited distribution and are restricted to the western parts of the eountry.There are also wide variations within regions which may be attributed to crop, agronomic and climatie factors. Further analysis of the survey data should indicate relationships between agronomic practices, climatic factors and disease severities.Information on the impact of bean rust on yield is very limited in Africa. Preliminary results on the importance of bean rust on beans (based on a single factor and critical stage analysisl in sorne parts of Ethiopia has been reported (Assefa. 19901.In 1990 and 1991, field experiments were designed to incorporate other crop and disease factors to determine the relative importance of rust in a multiple factor phenomena.The study was conducted at Ambo in 1990 and Debre Zeit in 1991. The use of varietal mixtures is a common traditional practice in the African bean production system. Varietal mixtures provide farmers with several unique advantages. including protection against diseases and pests.Effectiveness of varietal mixtures in the control of fungal diseases is well documented (Johnson and Allen, 1975;Leonard, 1969;Mundt and Leonard, 1986;Shaik, 1985). Effect of bean genotype mixtures on the development of rust was examined under field conditions in Ethiopia (Ambo and Debre Zeit) and Uganda (Kawanda) in 1990 and 1991. Due to high inter-plot interference as a result of poor performance of the soybean guard row, data collected in Kawanda did not reveal significant variation among the treatments. At Ambo and Debre Zeit the background noise was at acceptable level.The results obtained both at Ambo and Debre Zeit suggest that growing mixtures of resistant (Negro Mecentral) and susceptible (Mexico 142) cultivars resulted in a lower rate 01 disease expansion and increase than growing a susceptible genotype alone. The effectiveness of varietal mixtures increased with incre'asing levels of resistant varieties in the mixture. Mixtures with 20% susceptible cultivar were always more effective than mixtures of higher susceptible proportions.The relative wave velocity and rate 01 rust increase appears to be proportional to the log of the proportion 01 susceptible plants (Leonard, 1969). Partial resistance (PR) results in reduced epidemic build-up of a pathogen despíte a susceptible inlection type, and can be expressed at diflerent phases during the life cycle 01 a pathogen. In determining the rate of epidemic build up, latency period, infection efficiency, sporulation capacity and sporulation period were used as estimates of PR in several pathosystem !Parlevliet, 1981; Zadoks and Schein, 1979).In the bean-bean rust pathosystem, effects of genotypes, leaf age and spore density on latency period and infection efficiency were studied. Fifteen genotypes, three plant ages and three spore densities were selected and tested in a completely randomized design in a green house study at Melkassa Research Center.The study revealed a great deal of variation in both latency period (LP) and infection efficiency (lE) due to changes in genotypes, plant age and spore densities.LP was influenced by genotypes, plant age and to some degree by spore density. Among the 15 genotypes tested, LP varied between 9.5 to 16.5, 11.5 to 17.5 and 11.5 to 15.0 when inoculations were performed lO, 20, 30 days after planting   Improvement and selection for resistant varieties form the basis of any rust control strategy. Since 1989, a set of bean entries were composed and dispatched to several countries in Africa for rust evaluatíon across dífferent environments. Materíals were sent to Uganda, Maurítius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambía. To date, results are avaílable only from Uganda and Ethiopia. Hence, information reported hereafter refers to the data collected in these two countries. The rust regional nursery was composed of 80 entríes at Kawanda (Uganda) and 103 entries at Ambo (Ethiopia). In 1990, there was a good disease pressure at Ambo but the rust severity was slíght at Kawanda. In 1991, the regional nursery was not planted in Ethiopia but in Kawanda under a high disease pressure. In Kawanda, test entries were evaluated 5 times; at R5, R6, R7, R8 and R9. Of the 80 entries tested, 24 were found resistant, 43 intermedíate and 13 were susceptible. In Ambo, of the 103 entries examined, 40 were resistant, 43 intermediate and 22 susceptible. Varieties like PAN 134 and BAT 448 proved resistant in both locations.Bean rust is wide spread and an economlcally important dísease of beans in Africa.A survey of farmer's fields provided the informatíon on the relative importance of rust in a multi-pathosystem where other foliar diseases co-exist. The national bean yield average is about 850 kg/ha, The low yields may be attributed to two types of constraints: biotic factors, mainly diseases, and abiotic factors including drought, floods, and low soU fertility.Substantial losses are caused by two important diseases: rust and anthracnose.Rust constitutes a majar constraint to bean production in the main bean growing regions. Thís has been the basis for developing a sub-project on rust by the Legume Programme in collaboration with CIAT.Objectives of the sub-project:to determine the nature and extent of pathogenic variatíon in the country -to develop control measures mainly on the basis of resistant or tolerant varietíes for the different cropping systems and environments. Preliminary studies on bean rust undertaken so far, include evaluatlon of 25 selected bean varieties for their reactlon to rusto The objective of the trial was to ldentify rust resistant bean varieties, based on incubation period and dlsease severity.Twenty five bean varieties, eight of which are local, were planted in the field in a 5 x 5 triple lattiee design with three replications at two locations; Antanarivo and Antsirabe. Plot size was four rows, 4 m long, 40 cm apart. Evaluation was based on natural infeetion. Reaction to rust was evaluated on a scale of 1-5.In Antanarivo, (at the Agricultural Experimental Station of Nanisana) where planting was done in January 1992, rust appeared at pre-flowering stage. Based on their reaction to rust, the varieties could be classified into three categories; resistant, intermediate and susceptible. The following varieties were c1assified as resistant: Goiano Precoce, Carioca, PH 14-1. Rosinha G2, Bean Redlando, A 410. Blaek Turtle Soup, Bico de Ouro and Ikinimba.Goiano Precoce and Carioca were considered as highly resistant as no visible rust pustules were presento Among varieties that showed intermediate resistance are Ungot blanc, Menakely, Blanc de Majunga and Ex-Rico. Varieties that were classified as susceptible are Gallaroy and Gratiot.In Antsirabe, where sowing was done late, rust was present only on one variety, PH 14-1 which is a local variety. However, infection by other diseases such as angular leaf spot and ascochyta blight was severe.Future work will be to:-survey and determine importance of rust in the main bean growing areas -determine the influence of different ecological bean regions and cropping systems on incidence and severity of rust -determine pathogenic variation of the rust pathogen on the basis of the standard differential eultivars introduce and evaluate, international and regional rust nurseries and other sources of resistance to prevailing pathogenic variation Within the last five years, an increasa in incidence and severity of root rots has been raportad in tha Graat Lakas Region (GLR), particularly in Rwanda (eIAT, 1988(eIAT, , 1990(eIAT, , 1991;;ISAR, 1991) and has be en associated with a decreasing trend in bean yields. It is estimated that over 60% of bean producing areas in Rwanda suffer from root rot problems of varying severity (Rusuku, 1991). The areas most affected included the prefectures (provinces) of Kibuya, Butara, Gikongoro, Gitarama. and Cyangugu. During tha 1992A (1991/92) season for example, root rots were severe and a survey conducted by ISAR in collaboration with CIAT.showed that root rots were responsible for about 50% nation-wide yield 1055 (unpublished data).Root rot problems are usually associated with certain crop production systems and environmental conditions. In the GLR, baan production is charactarized by the following faaturas which may haya a bearing in the prevailing root rots problem:f. g. h.i.Beans are grown during both seasons (twice and sometimes three times) every year with no fallow periodo Rotation periods are short and ineffective due to high human population and reduced land sizes. Bush beans predominate and as a practice are grown in mixtures in the lowlands while climbers are grown in the highlands. High plant densities are used. Application of inorganic fertilizers is uncommon although beans may receive farmyard manure if available. Soil fertility is generally low with nitrogen and phosphorus being some of the limiting nutrients. Soils tend to be acidic and in some cases are compacto Root rot pathogens are widely distributed.Varieties grown are susceptible to most root rot pathogens.Consequences of such a system is a buíld up 01 inoculum 01 soil pathogens, less vigorous plants prone to attack by the latter, and severe dísease levels under ideal environmental and plant conditíons (Abawi, 1989). This presentatíon híghlights the strategies and technologies beíng developed ín the management 01 roo! roots in the GLR. Some of the results obtained are also highlighted.Considering the systems 01 bean production in the GLR, research conducted to develop root rol managemenl practices, has focussed largely on evaluatíon 01 germplasm and potentially useful cultural practices. Use 01 resistant bean cultivars is not only effeclive, but also appropriate for resource limited small scale larmers.Certain cultural practíces also influence the degree to which bean plants are prone lO infection by roO! rol pathogens and can be manipulated lo lessen the severity 01 root rot diseases. Gíven that tour or líve pathogens are responsible lor causing root rots in beans in the GLR, either ín isolation or in association, there may be limitations in using only genelíc or cultural methods. Thus the objective 01 these studies is to develop acceptable integrated disease management options based on genetío and cultural components. To achieve these goals, two closely related regíonal subprojects, one considering genetic, and another cultural and integrated approach were initiated in 1990.01 the several possible control optíons available, some were chosen for evaluatíon and development. These include 1. germplasm evaluatíon and 2. cultural methods (planting on raised beds, ridges and use 01 organic amendments). The choice of a management optioll for testing was based on:a. Farmer's opinion on the alternative control methods available. b. Present practices and circumstance of the farmers in the area. c. Effectiveness of the methods. d. Chances of being adopted. e. Complementarity in effects of the methods tested. ego complementarity of two cultural methods that may be applied together, or a variety and cultural method(s).The objective of this approach was to identily varieties resistant to prevalent root rot pathogens, which may be used directly or as sources of resistance in the improvement of local or popular but susceptible cultivars. To achieve this objective the following studies have been conducted:• Identification ot soilborne pathogens associated with root rot diseases: The types of soilborne pathogens associated with root rots and their relative prevalence were determined in 15 communes covering six prefectures (provinces) of Rwanda during the 1990A and B growing seasons. Randomly chosen bean samples were obtained from both research and farmer's fields. They were examined for disease symptoms in the field, and the causal agents were isolated on artificial media in the laboratory and subsequently identified.Identification of sources of resistance: To identify sources of resistance for direct use or as parents in crosses, certaín types of germplasm have been evaluated. This ¡ncludes the Int;ernational Bean Root Rot Nursery (lBRRN), and selected varieties from introduced or locally developed germplasm. IBRRN was evaluated both in the field and in the screenhouse. In the latter, entries were evaluated in naturally infected soils obtained from 12 communes representing tour prefectures; Kigali-Nord, Cyangugu, Gikongoro and Butare. Evaluation of selected varieties was done in on-station and farmers fields. The regional nursery Pépiniére Régionale d'Evaluation des Lignées Avancées en Afrique Centrale (PRELAAC) was evaluated under a natural but severe disease pressure during the 1992A season.Manipulation of certain cultural methods have been observed to influence the severity of root ro1s. In these studies, effectiveness and acceptability of certain cultural practices in the management of root rots were simultaneously evaluated, in on-station and in on-farm trials. The latter allowed us 10 evaluate constraints associated with a technology at farm level. The practices that have been or are being evaluated are:1) Planting on raised beds (1 m wide and about 30 cm high) and ridges (50 cm apar1). Raised beds is a system commonly used in areas prone to water logging and valley bottoms.2) Effects of different 1ypes of organic amendments mainly green manures of Leucaena, Sesbania, Calliandra, wattle bark and grass weeds in the management of root rots. Decomposing coffee pulp is also being evaluated.So me of the identified components have been evaluated separately and in association to determine if there are any complementary effects. For example, effects of growing a tolerant variety on ridges or with organic amendments have been tested.Results of the survey conducted in 1990, showed that about 40% of plants sampled at flowering, had root rot symptoms, 15% were dead, 21 % were affected by beanfly, 15 % were healthy and 9% were affected by other insects. There were wide inter-field variation. Average root rot incidence in the sampled communes of the prefectures of Gikongoro was 33%; Butare, 40%; Kibungo, 53%; Gisenyi, 60%; Cyangugu, 33%; and Kigali Nord, 19%. These findings show that roo! rots are widely dlstributed in Rwanda, but variations exist in relative importance from region to region. Other observations made also show that seasonal variation in importance and severity of root rots does occur.The fungi associated with root rots were Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium spp., Macrophomína phaseolína and to a lesser extent Sclerotíum rolfsii.The vascular wilt fungi Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. phaseolí was also associated with diseased plants. However, the most widely occurring fungi isolated were of the Pythium spp and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp phaseolí. Occu~rence and importance of these fungi have been observed to vary from region to region and from season to season depending on environmental conditions and varieties grown. In many cases, two or more fungi were isolated from the same plant specimen suggesting their occurrence in a complex.Some entríes of the IBRRN, have been shown to be resistant to root rots based on evaluations using naturally infected soils from various parts of Rwanda. These include A 295, BAT 868, A 191, BAT 1400, XAN 112, A 300, BAT 447, ICA PIJAO, A 70. and G 5059. However, some of them were shown to suffer from black root.In on-farm trials conducted in Runyinya (Prefecture of Butare), some varieties where shown to be resistant to root rots. However, the semi-c1imbing variety RWR 221 was shown to be both resistant to root rots and tolerant to poor soil conditlons. These attributes have made It receive wide acceptance by collaborating and neighbouring farmers. Variety G 2333 was also well rated but its susceptibility to Fusarium wilt, prevalent in the area, was cited as the maín dísadvantage. XAN 112 and A 300 were resistant to root rots but the former was very susceptible to anthracnose whíle A 300 did not perform well in poor soll condítíons and was susceptible to ascochyta makíng them less acceptable. Results from on-farm trials suggest that, because of the low fertility conditions prevalent, varieties which are resistant to root rots should also be tolerant to low soil fertility. Varieties resistant to root rots but not tolerant to low soil fertílity could benefit from fertílity improvement practices where possible. Much of the farmer's local mixture are susceptible to root rots whíle most climbing varieties appear resistant to dampingoff pathogens.. .During the 1992A season, heavy rains came when much of the crop was about 2-3 weeks old and resulted in asevere attack of root rots. The principie pathogens were Pythium spp and Rhizoctonia solaní. Evaluation of 100 entries of 'PRELAAC-5 showed that 22 lines showed very high levels of resistance. PRELAAC is a nursery composed of the best advanced lines contributed by each of the national programme in the Great takes region for testing for disease resistance in a number of sites in the region. Most of the resistant entries were contributed by the Zairian national program and were selections made at PNL-Mulungu from progenies of crosses made at CIAT for angular.leaf spot resistance. Some of the resistant lines contributed by Zaire were MLB-1 0-88B, MLB-13-88B, MLB-17-88A, MLB-36-89A, MLB-38~89A, MLB-39-89A, MLB-40-89A, MLB-42-89A, MLB-43-89A, MLB-47-89A, MLB-48-89A, MLB-49-89B. Those contributed by Rwanda were RWR 432 and RWR 719, and those by Burundi were EM 1616, EM 22/20, SCAM-80-CM/15, and MORE 90026. These entries exhibited high levels of resistance to damping-off at seedling stage and differences in their reaction from susceptible ones could be observed as early as V3 stage.Cultural Methods: Organic amendments and planting on raised bedsOn-farm and on-station trials conducted during the 91 A and B seasons, showed that Leucaena organic amendment (20 ton/ha) and raised beds had no significant advantage over the control in seedling emergence, and the number of plants harvested. However ,.organic amendment significantly reduced root rot severity and increased yields in both seasons, while raised beds had no effect in either season .Use of organic amendment resulted in a yield increase of 43% in 1991 A season and 60% in 1991 B season over the control (Table 1). In 1992A season when root rots were severe, the use of organic amendments and ridges were effective in reducing damping-off of plants due to root rots, reduced disease severity and increased yield. The 1992A season had asevere attack of root rots particularly due to Pythium and R. sotaní because of high rains wh[ch coineided with a young erop.oThe yield advantage in on-farm trials of using organic amendment (10 ton/ha) was 128% and that of using ridges was 139% on local varietal mixtures. The relative advantage of using these practices on the variety RWR 221 were less marked which emphasizes its resistant characteristies. However, the response of RWR 221 (in yield) was better at 5 than at 10 ton/ha of organic amendment whereas the contrary was true with the local mixtures.Organic amendment (both at 20 and 10 t/ha). has been shown in these studies to reduce severity of root rots and increase yields. These effects were most pronouneed in 1992A when severe root rots oceurred and to a lesser extent in 1991 A sea son (main bean growing season). In 1991 B, the yield advantage in using organic amendment was lower than the previous season. The rates of Leucaena used (20 ton/ha) resulted in increased plant foliage, a prolonged growing cycle amI infection by foliar disease mid-season.Growing beans on raised beds or ridges is beneficial during wet conditions as they increase aeration as well as decrease soil moisture around the root zone. They also promote deeper and greater root formatíon and thus allows more tolerance to root rots. Pythium rot severity is especially reduced on raised ridges. This was the case in 1992A where use of ridges was effective against asevere attack of root rots. In 1991A and B, raised beds had sorne but not significant effect on disease severity and yield, implying that conditions during the early and critical stages for damping-off pathogens such as Pythium spp. and Rhizoctonía solaniwere not ideal for their development. The root rot infection observed then, was the type characterized by slow rotting of roots, reduced vigour and discolouration. This condition is worsened by low soil fertility.Organic amendments with Leucaena appear to influence disease severity and at the same time improve the nutritional status of the soil thus exerting complementary effects. Well fertilized and vigorous plants are tolerant to damage caused by root rot organisms. Iso lates of Macrophomina phaseolína were obtained from infected sorghum, maize and beans from the charcoal rot \"hot spots\" of Kiboko, and Ishiara in Machakos and Embu districts respectively. Bits of fibrovascular bundles were obtained from fields infected with sorghum and maize plants, surface sterilized with 1 % sodium hypochlorite, and placed on the surface of potato-dextrose agar at 30•C. Thin si ices of infectad bean stems with sclerotia and pycnidia were also surface sterilizad. and placed on potato dextrose (PDA). After 7 days' growth in the laboratory, the fungus was further sub-cultured to remove any possible contamlnatlon. The pure cultura was then used to inoculate autoclaved whole grain rica (1:1/w:v rice seed to water) in 250 cc beakers which were incubated at 30•C. Within 20 days the rice was colonized by M. phaseolina and was subsequently used for the inoculation of beans in screening for resistance.The isolates from maize and sorghum were also tested for their pathogenicity on dry beans subjected to moisture stress at between 28-30°C. The isolate obtailled from infected bean plants was used in the greenhouse evaluation of the genotypes of the CIAT International Drought, and Macrophomina Nurseries and also the local cultivars. Colonized whole rice seeds were prepared as described by Abawi and Pastor-Corrales (1990) and used in the greenhouse evaluations.Three rates of colonizad rice seeds per bean saad were used to evaluate 18 lines of tha International Drought Nursery and five local lines. Tha ratas were 5, 3 and 2 colonizad rice seeds per bean seed. Seeds of each accession were planted in four 12 cm pots (five seeds per po!). There was a control with autoclaved uncolonized rice seeds.The second evaluation trial contained 24 accessions from the International Macrophomina nursery and five accessions from the local drought tolerant cultivars. The rate of three colonized rice seeds per bean seed was used in this tria!.Disease severity ratings (DSR) were recorded 14 days after inoculation ¡V3 growth stagel using the CIAT evaluation scale of 1 (no visible symptomsl to 9 (all stem tissues and growing tip affected; plants deadl. Inoculation procedure consisted of placing 3 colonized rice seeds in contact with the bean seed and covering with a layer of 4-5 cm sterilized sol!. Each accession was evaluated in 4 replications with a control.Isolates from maize, sorghum and dry bean diseased crop samples were all found to be pathogenic to the dry bean. The isolate from the dry bean from the charcoal rot hot spot of Kiboko was used in all the evaluations.The disease severity increased with the number of colonized rice seeds per bean seed. Five colonized rice seeds per bean seed gave very severe disease symptoms whereas two colonized seeds per bean seed gave moderate symptoms with the known susceptible check A 464. The inoculum level of three colonized rice seeds per bean seed gave moderate to severe disease symptoms and was chosen for subsequent evaluations.The 23 and 28 bean genotypes evaluated in the first and second green house trials consisted mainly of the International Drought and Macrophomina nurseries respectively. local genotypes were also evaluated and compared. The reactions of the 45 accessions evaluated are listed in Table 1 and 2 1. To test the inoculation method in the field in charcoal rot 'hot spot' areas 2. To evaluate more local and introduced dry bean genotypes for resistance 3. To screen improved breeders' lines for resistance 10 charcoal rot 4. To develop a regional M. phaseolina disease nursery is the second most important tood legume in Sudan, with major production areas in the northern region. Within the latter, 97% of the total bean acreage is in Shendi-Berber area with an average yield of 1.3 t/ha (Mohamed and Salih, 1990). Bean is grown as a winter crop under irrigation on flooded basins after the flood recedes. The area cropped with bean in 1991/92 sea son was estimated at 6000 ha.Root rots are widely distributed and economically important diseases of bean in Central and South America, Africa and other areas (Abawi and Pastor-Corrales, 1990). M. phaseolína is widely distributed in the warmer parts of the world (Tarr, 1955) and occurs in most Sudan soils.Thís paper reports the results of the different studies conducted on seedling blight and rOOl rots of beans at Hudeiba Research Station, Sudan.During field vísits to experimental plots at Hudeiba research tarm and farmer's fields in 1991/92 cropping season, bean plants with roOl rot symptoms were uprooted and brought to the laboratory. The roots were thoroughly washed under running tap water, cut into small pleces and surface disinfected in 2.5% sodium hypochlorite for one minute. They were rinsed in sterUe distilled water, blot dried on sterile filter paper and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). The plates were incubated at 22-25° C in an alternating light regime of 12 hr light and 12 hr darkness. Pathogenicity tests of fungal iso lates were performed on potted plants in the screenhouse.The reactions of 40 bean cultivars to seedling blight (M. phaseolina) were assessed in the field during 1990/91 cropping season. The local bean selections P1 and HRS 545 were also included tor evaluation. The local bean cultivar Ro/2/1 was planted after every two test entries to serve as a standard check. The experimental design employed was a randomized complete block. Each entry was sown in two rows 3 m long and replicated twice. Planting was done on 10 November 1990. The nursery was irrigated every 10 days. Other standard cultural practices were used.Incidence of seedling blight 1% mortality) was recorded at 4 and 8 weeks after planting. The reactions of bean cultivars to M. phaseofina were characterized as resistant, moderately susceptible or susceptible according to the rating system developed by Haware and Nene (1982) for chickpea wilt.Incidence of seedling blight in ralation to sowing data, cultivar and whitefly control in two soil typesThis study was conducted in 1987/88 season at Hudeiba research farm.Treatments ¡ncluded:• Sowing dates: 1 Oct, 20 Oct, 9 Nov and 29 Nov • Whitefly control: sprayed with Sumicidin and unsprayed • Cultivars: Ro/2/1 and P1The experiment was conducted in two soil types la sandy clay loam and clay soil).Treatments within each soil type were combined in a factorial randomized complete block design with four replications. Standard cultural practices were adopted. Incidence (% mortalityl of seedling blight was recorded. Oisease counts started two weeks alter planting and continued at 14•day intervals.Effect of seed treatment, pest control and sowing method on incidence of seedling blight and root mts in two so¡1 typesThe effects of seed treatment, pest control and sowing method on incidence of seedling blight and roOl rots of bean in two soil types Isandy clay loa m and a clay soil) were studied in a field trial at Hudeiba research farm during 1991/92 season.Treatments included:• Seed treatment: treated (dressed with Captan at 4 g/kg seed) and untreated. • Pest control: sprayed and unsprayed • Sowing method: ridge and flat planting The treatments were combined in a factorial randomized complete block design with four replications. Variety Ro/2/1 was used and planting was done on 8 November 1991. The experiment was planted with the cultivar Ro/2/1. Other standard cultural practices were adopted. Dísease counts started two weeks after planting and continued at 14•day intervals.Identification of root rots pathogens Isolatlon from roots and collar reglon of bean plants with root rot symptoms conslstently yielded Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli. M. phaseolina, the causal organism 01 seedling blight, was the most frequently isolated pathogen. Pathogenicity of the three fungí was confirmed. M. phaseolina was previously reported on bean in the Sudan (Tarr, 1955;Ibrahim, 1973;Freigoun, 1976) but the present reports of R. sotaní, IRhizoctonia root rot pathogen). and F. oxysporum, IFusarium yellows pathogenl. are probably the first on beans in Sudan.Of the 43 bean cultivars evaluated, 4 (CG/82-69, BAT 1289, HRS 545 and Ro/2/1 were resistant. 29 moderately susceptible and 10 susceptible (Table 1). It is necessary to confírm the resistance of the four cultivars in an artificially infested soil.Seedling blight incidence In reta tío n to sowing date, cultivar and whitefly control in two soil typesThe seedling bllght occurs early in the season about 2-3 weeks after planting, causing seedling mortality. Its incidence is influenced by sowing dates. Sowing in early October resulted in significantly (P = 0.01) higher disease incidence than later sowings (Table 2). probably due to the high temperatures (max. 40•C and min. 25°C) that prevailed during that periodo The effects of cultivar and whitefly control on incidence of seedling blight were not significant (Table 2). The seedling blight incidence was relatively higher in the sandy clay loam soil than in the clay soil.Seedling blight and root rot incidences in relation to seed treatment, pest control and sowing method in two soil types Dressing the seed with Captan significantly (P = 0.01) reduced seedling blight incidence in the sandy clay loam soil (Table 3). The incidence of seedling blight in the clay soil was not affected by the seed treatment. Neither pest control nor sowing method has any significant effect on incidence of seedling blight ir' both soí! types. None of the factors studied had any significant effect on incidence of root rot diseases. Ascochyta blight or Phoma blight caused by Phoma exigua var diversíspora is an important seed-borne disease of beans favoured by cool temperatures (20-24°C) and high humidity (Schwartz and Galvez, 1980). It is spread by rain splash, wind and cultural practices such as weeding. Under favourable conditions, the disease can result io plant death or variable degree of destruction of vegetative and reproductive tissues. In Africa, the disease is important in the highland areas of Rwanda. Burundi, Uganda, Zambia, Zaire (Schoonhoven, 1980;CIAT, 1987; Kainnaiyan et a/., 1986) and to a lesser extent in Tanzania and Kenya. A regional sub-project (supported by CIAT Eastern Africa Network) on Ascochyta blight was initiated in 1987 and was expected to facilitate access to a wide range of germplasm and environments. The objectives of the sub-project were:1. To screen a wide range of germplasm so as to identífy resistance sources.To study resistance across sites and exploit host-pathogen interactions within the regionTo study the inheritance of disease resistance so as to identify suitable breeding strategiesTo study the epidemiology of the disease in pure stand and in association with maizeA number of studies have been conducted to meet the aboye objectives but this paper reports on (i) germplasm screening for resistance and (ií) crop loss studies which have been conducted to províde informatíon on the relative importance of the disease.Screening for resistance done at CIAT in the early 80s (Lewnison, 1983;CIAT, 1987) led to the development of the I nternational Bean Ascochyta Nurseries (bush and climbing types). These nurseries were tested in Rwanda and Colombia (CIA T, 1986) and later in Uganda (Anonymous, 19871. Varietles evaluated under intercropping at Kachwekano were found to have higher ascochyta levels than those in pure stands, though the differences were not statistically significant. Subsequently, screening was done in apure crap. Over 1000 lines (Table 1). introduced through various nurseries (VEF, PRELAAC and AFBYAN I and 111 and local collections fram within Uganda have been screened for ascochyta resistance at Kachwekano in southwest Uganda. Recently, crosses made to introduce resistance to certain backgrounds have also been evaluated.Spreader varieties, Carioca and EMP 117 were planted at the perimeters of the trials. Test lines were planted in three meter rows with each entry replicated at least twice. One replicatíon was used for VEF nurseries. Spreader rows after each entry were planted two weeks belore planting test lines. So me of the trials were inoculated by spreading diseased leaves on plants at flowering stage (R6) especially in 1987 and 1988. A spore suspension prepared from infected leaves was used to inoculate plants in 1989. Oísease was evaluated on a 1-9 scale at flowering (R6). podfilling stage (R7) and pod ripening stage (R8) in inoculated trials and at R7 only for the non-inoculated trials (PRElAAC).Results of the screening trials were reported in a Workshop of Bean Research in Eastern Africa in 1990 and are hereby reproduced in Table 1. A comparison of the reaction of a few entries (bush types) across seasons (1989A and 1989B) was undertaken. Significant differences (P>0.05) were obtained for entry scores for ascochyta at R7 and RS while scores at R6 were not significantly different.Seasons vary considerably, and varieties that seem to be resistant in one season may be susceptible or intermediate in another. The methodology used may have allowed for disease escapes, since the inoculum concentration was not known. Initial disease development and spread was much dependent on rainfall; spreading taster within foliage in the wetter sea son possibly through rain splash. Soilborne inoculum may serve as the initial inoculum which may be spread to leaves by water-splash but as the canopy closes spreading occurs from leaf to leaf within the canopv providíng a micro-envíronment suitable for disease development. Thus• • some differences among varieties would be attributed to differences in growth habits.Tabla 1: Summary of trials and number of en tries screened for Phoma blight rasistance Rainfall distribution was variable in different seasons during experimentation and probablyaffected the rate of development of ascochyta blight, and other diseases especially halo blight and angular leaf spot and their interactions. This made evaluation tor ascochyta resistance in the field rather difficult.Climbing beans were generally less susceptible but our work concentrated on bush types (Type I and 111 sin ce they are the most widely grown. Resistance was found in BAT 1416, BAT 1569, G 17098 andG 4603 (Pintado) among the bush types.In climbing beans, resistance was found in VRA 81051, G 35182, G 12582 and G 10474 but flowering and pod production in the former three were very low, making them of limited value in the a breeding programme. The P. coccineus ssp polyanthus exhibited good resístance but no further assessment could be made as . • it beca me highly contaminated through cross pollination.Given the resistance expressed (continuous variation), it is unlikely that hígher resistance levels would be found among the bush beans. It has been suggested (Lewínson, 1983) that resistance observed in climbing beans may be due to disease escape, as the plant archítecture does not allow soilborne inoculum to reach much of the leaf canopy by water splash. Presently, entríes that show low susceptibility in breeding trials at Kachwekano are included in the crossing blocks, with the aim of increasing resistance levels through gene pyramiding. In 1991A season, six crosses that were tested at Kachwekano succumbed, but a cross between K 20 and G 4603 was resistant. The same crosses were tested at Rwerere, in Rwanda.In Africa, yield losses have been associated with a number of fungal diseases, ascochyta inclusive (Schoonhoven, 19801. However, the magnitude of 105s incurred in the case of a disease which is so environmentally dependent is extremely variable, and can range from no effect to 100% 1055. Yield loss estimates in Colombia (Schwartz el al, 1981) showed that the disease can cause up to 80% yield loss. Yield losses due to the disease in Africa have not been estimated. However, such studies are complicated by the occurrence of many fungal diseases in association with ascochyta. and lack of fungicides which are specific to a partícular disease. as well as the influence of the weather.al A splít-plot design was used, with the main plots consisting of three treatments namely: T 1 = natural infection, T 2 = plots protected with a weekly spray of the fungicide Dithane M45 at adose of 3 kg per hectare and T 3 = inoculated with the pathogen which causes ascochyta at weekly intervals starting at R5 so as to induce hígher ascochyta blight levels. Nine varieties known for their different reactions to ascochyta blight were used as sub-plots. A maize crop barríer separated treatments so as to avoid spray drift. The experiment was conducted during three seasons (1990B. 1991A and 1991B). It should be noted, however, that it was not possíble to keep the protected plots completely free of disease. The inoculum used was made from crushed leaves suspended in water and sprinkled over the relevant plots using a watering can. Plot yield data and disease records were taken as well as pod infection and pod load (pods ¡plant).bl In 1991 A sea son, an experiment aimed at assessing yield loss as related to disease pressure/disease initiation at different growth stages of variety K 20 was set up. Seven treatments were used namely: L 1 = natural infection, L2 = protected with fungicide from V 4 to maturity (R8), L3 = protected with fungicide R6 to RS, L4 = protected with fungicide from R7 to R8, L5 = inoculated with the pathogen once at R7 , L6 = inoculated at R6 and R7, L 7 = inoculated at R5, R6 and R7. The inoculum and the fungicide dos e were as described for the first trial aboye. There were seven replicates and plot yields were recorded.el In 1991 B season, the aboye experiment was expanded to include three varieties namely EMP 117 (susceptible). K 20 (intermediate) and G 4603 (resistant) and the seven disease levels were maintained. The design was a split-plot with disease le veis as the main plots and varieties as sub-plots. The trial was replicated three times.  Seasons 2.. bl Analysis 01 plot yields 01 variety K 20 showed that, there were no significant differences between the yields obtained for the first six treatments (L 1 to L6). However, treatment L 7 gave significantly (P = 0.05) lower yields implying that high ascochyta disease levels during the reproductive phase results in significant yield losses. Plots inoculated with ascochyta at R7 gave higher yields than those protected with fungicide Irom V4 10 maturity.cl No significant differences were obtained in the scores for ascochyta at Ra which may imply that plants may have similar reaction 10 ascochyta at early stages of growth. Disease levels had no significant effect on plot yields but the varietíes had significant differences in yield (Table 4). Variety mean yields progressively decreased with changes in the seven disease levels., ..; .,  The objective of this sub-project is to develop components of disease control that can be used in an íntegrated manner to control the disease in the Great Lakes Region (GLR): These include selection of resistant varietíes. chemical control, choice of good planting time etc.Segregating populations (F2) introduced from CIAT have been screened at a high altitude and a 'hot spot' (Rwererel for resistance to ascochyta. Entries in PRELAAC nurseries are also evaluated for resistan ce to ascochyta at both Rwerere and Rubona. To improve infection chances, plants are dusted with dust of infected bean leaves or debris.The effects of different fungicides (benlate, dithane M451 have been evaluated using local mixtures at different locations in the highland zone of Rwanda, namely, Byumba, Ruhengeri. and Gisenyi. Determination 01 the optimum number and frequency of application of dithane M45 has been evaluated in multílocational tríals using a mixture of varieties with different levels of susceptibility to ascochyta (Shikashike, PVA 705. Kilyumukwe, and Bataaf)...  Chemieal controlBenlate was shown to be effective in the control of ascoehyta but it is expensive and uneconomical to use (Table 31. Dithane M45 also gave good control of the dlsease (Table 4) and is cheaper. One application per week or every two weeks was found to give the best yield. So far, only germplasm with intermediate levels 01 resistance to ascochyta have been ídentífied. Some fungicides are relatively effective in controlling ascochyta. bUl the optimal rates and frequencies of application which are also economical, need to be determined. Based on these components (intermediate resistance, chemical control and cultural methods such as planting date), evaluation of their use in an integrated manner will be considered.Futura Plans -To continue the screening of germplasm and nurseries such as PRElAAC for resistance to ascochyta. -To determine the cost effectiveness of using dithane M45.-To evaluate the identified components in an integrated manner....Detailed studies of germplasm variability in bean mixtures in East Atrica have also been short-term and have produced speculation only about the dynamics and sustainability of the functional diversity in bean germplasm in this region. No work has been done to follow changes in bean variet'es or types, their frequencies, and resistance gene frequencies in individual components and mixtures over time. This is particularly important as farmers readjust their mixtures each season. More importantly, the effects that farmers have on the frequency of resistance genes in mixtures have not been studied. Under high disease pressure, seasonal advances towards higher levels of resistance may be lost by seasonal reconstitution of mixtures by farmers fer following plantings. A study involving one or several farmers would be a valuable complement to the work on disease control in mixtures and would contribute information tor future strategies to improve disease control in bean mixtures with minimal extra input.Available data suggests that mixtures have potentially provided farmers with more reüable yields under unpredictable pathological and environmental stresses. Diversity per se has been assumed to contribute to improved disease control and, by association, increased yield. No reliable estimates of the levels of disease control inherent in traditional bean mixtures, that is tunctional diversity, have been made.Studies by Teverson (1991) andTrutmann et al. (1992). have clearly demonstrated that both component and within-component variabillty for reactlon to diseases (halo blight and anthracnose, respectively) may contribute to disease control in bean mixtures. Knowledge of the types and range of resistances in traditional mixtures; their contribution to disease control under field conditions; and the effects of supplementing mixtures with additional resistances will facilitate assessment of the contribution of functional diversity to disease control in bean mixtures.A projeet was therefore developed between the Natural Resources Institute, National Bean Programmes in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa ano the CIA T Regional Bean Programmes to investigate functional diversity in bean mixtures. Laboratory and glasshouse studies will be carried-out at Horticultural Research International, Wellesbourne, which has extensive expertise wíth bean oiseases, while field studies will be made at several locations in Africa. The project will be earried out from April 1992 to March 1995.To characterize component and within-component reaction 10 important bean pathogens of selected bean mixtures in East Africa in collaboration with national and regional programmes, 2.To Quantify the inherent contribution of such mixtures to disease control under field conditions,To make a preJiminary assessment of the dynamics of one or two selected bean mixtures, 4. To supplement mixtures with resistant varieties and quantify their contribution to disease control and increased yield.Many diseases affeet beans in East Africa. Priorities for seleetion of diseases to include in the project were based on (a) their widespread and serious nature and (b) the appropriateness of control through the use of mixtures. That is, diseases for vvhich existing levels of resistance are currently inadequate (either due to insufficient levels of resistance or resistances available only in inappropriate backgrounds) and diseases whose pathogens are known to be extremely variable, necessitating supplementary strategies for stabilising good sources of resistance, were given high priority.The Diseases for whieh existing levels of resistance are currently inadequate (either due to insufficient levels of resistance or resistances available only in inappropriate backgroundsl include CSB and ALS while diseases whose pathogens are known to be extremely variable, necessitating supplementary strategies for stabilising good sources of resistance, include anthraenose and rust. Based on both eonsiderations above and the time frame of the project, diseases which will be given highest priority are ALS, anthracnose, rust, CBB, HB and BCMV.An assessment of the importance of bean mixtures, current research interests in mixtures, and the potential collaborative support from national and international programmes was made across countries of East Afriea. Tanzania is the country of first choice beca use of its decentralized bean research with a large range of field sites, the excellent laboratory availabte at the Selían Research Centre, Arusha; together with the interest shown by national and regional bean scientists which is partly based on their experience from past and on-going research on bean mixtures.It is hoped that trials may be carried-out in Uganda during Years 2 and 3 of the project.Three mixtures from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania were selected for detailed study. These include \"Mbimba\" with seven components, four of which make up more than 85% of the mixture; 'Sumbawanga\" with eight components, three of which make up about 78% of the mixture; and \"Masebe\" the most complex mixture with 15 components, six of which make up about 79% of the mixture.Representative bean mixtures were collected from traditional bean production zones in Tanzania and Uganda in collaboration with national bean scientists from Uyole Agricultural Centre, Mbeya, Tanzania and Kawanda Research Statlon, Kampala, Uganda in September to October 1991. Eight mixtures were collected from each country. Full documentation (particularly characteristics of the most important components of each mixture) was made at the time of collection through extensive farmer interviews. Three mixtures have been selected from each country for the project. National programme scientists provided valuable input during the collection of mixtures through their knowledge of local mixture culture. A sample of each mixture was deposited at a national institute in the respective countries.A fter collection, the mixtures were separated into components; documentation was completed; and the firsr multiplication of seed for characterization was completed at HRI, Wellesbourne. Up to 60 seed (20-60) per seed type of the common components (up to three) of each mixture will enter the initial multiplication phase to reta in as much of the within-seed type variability as possible in the common components. This seed will be essential for a comparative assessment of between and withln seed type variability and their relative contribution to disease control in the mixtures.At thls stage. although Rwanda is not being considered for field work, three Rwandan mixtures have been processed by HRI, Wellesbourne as part of a previous project. So me work has continued and will continue on these mixtures: including an assessment 01 within seed type variability for reaction to important diseases for the major components.Project Vear 1:. Arusha, Tanzanla: Inltlatlon 01 the project; lield multiplicatlon of seed; establishment 01 laboratory; development of fleld methodology. The Tanzanian mixtures will be multiplied for field trials In the following year which will also satisfy the Tanzanian quarantine requirements prior to the initiation of field trials in the second season of 1992. Local iso lates of key pathogens will be collected. Preliminary field • trials will develop and refine methodology for mixture triais. Attention will be paid to: al experimental design (plot size; arrangement of spreaders [eomplieated by the multi-disease objeetives of this projeetl; and plant spaeing; bl establishing the needs for field inoeulation of important pathogens and refining field inoeulation teehnique; el developing and defining methods of identifying individual eomponents in mixtures;'and dI finalising evaluation teehniques and seales. Field work will be kept as simple as possible under the requirements of the projeet.HRI, Wellesbourne: Multiplication and intensive eharaeterization of mixtures for reactions to important pathogens. Multiplication of mixtures (both components and sub-component variabilityl; charaeterizatiod of both components and subcomponents of mixtures for reaction to important diseases (ALS. rusto anthraenose. CSB. HB. and BCMVI. Note: Vears 2 and 3 will be spent in.$ervicing the project in similar activities.Year 2:Arusha. Tanzania: Basic field trials with mixtures to determine the inherent levels of disease control in traditional mixtures. Mixture trials comparing disease development. severity and yield of mixture components in pure stands and in mixtures will be carried•out. Although these trials are not dependent on prior knowledge of characterized components. it would be use tul to have as many of the components characterized as possible (to facilitate field evaluations). Although initial field trials will be done in Arusha. field trials will be conducted in other sites in Tanzania in subsequent seasons. especially in the Southern Highlands.HRI. Wellesbourne: Further characterization of mixture components; analysis of results of first field trials; planning further field trials. Results from first field trials in Tanzania will be analyzed; component and within-component characterization continued; and knowledge of the resistanees lacking in the mixtures from characterization studies and field trials will be developed; subsequent field trials will be planned. The contribution of within-seed type variabilíty to disease control in the mixtures will be compared with the contribution of between seed type variability. Characterization of within-component (seed-typel variability for common components of mixtures will form an important part of the work and will be extended to the field trials (possibility of seleeting within common farmer-preferred components tor superior varietiesl Year 3:The same timetable of defined periods in East Africa (April ro August and October to Decemberl and continued input from HRI. Wellesbourne will continue during Vear 3 of the project. Field trials in Tanzania and possibly Uganda and Rwanda will follow the same three basie steps: firstly. mixture components will be characterized tor reaction to the most common strains of the most important pathogens; secondly, field trials will assess the inherent levels of disease control in these mixtures; and thirdly. field trials will incorporate resistant varieties into mixtures as determined by those resistances that the eharacterized mixtures are lacking.Results from both characterization studies and 1ield trials will build-up detailed knowledge 01 the resistances lacking in the mixtures for use in field trials in Year 3 which will incorporate \"missing\" resistances in varying proportions in an informed manner. Close conaboration with national and international bean improvement projects in the region will identify promising tines to incorporate.A complementary proposal on the dynamics of bean mixtures -fol1owing changes in bean varieties or types, their frequencies, and resistance gene frequencies in individual components and mixtures over time will be linked to the project. An attempt will be made to document the effects that farmers have on the frequency of resistance genes in mixtures. Under high disease pressure, seasonal advances towards higher levels ot resistance may be lost by seasonal reconstitution 01 mixtures by tarmers for fol1owing plantings. A study involving one or several tarmers would be a valuable complement to the work on disease control in mixtures and would contribute information for future strategies to improve disease control in bean mixtures with minimal extra input.1.Quantification 01 the function of genetic diversity for disease resistance at the component and sub-component levels in bean mixtures in controlling major diseases under field conditions In East Africa.Potential strategies to improve the contribution 01 bean mixtures to the management 01 diseases while maintaining varietal diversity.A key opportunity will be taken to complement the diversity of national and regional Phaseolus vulgaris germplasm collections with mixture components and selections characterized for reaction to local strains 01 important pathogens.Since its domestication, the common bean {Phaseolus vulgaris LI has become distributed world wide and is now produced primarily in low income countries in Africa and Latin America (around 69% of world productionl where it is a major contríbutor to calories and, in particular, protein in rural sector diets. In A fricá it is the most widely produced legume and grown almost exclusively by resouree poor farmers, and yet the production of this very important legume is declining whilst the population continues to increase in this part of the world.In the period 1986-88 annual bean production for the 16 main producing countries in sub-saharan Africa averaged 2,025,200 tons, around quarter of world produetion. The aggregate growth in production for the period 1970-89 is estimated at 2.1 % annually, but all occurred in the first decade, and reflected an expansion in the area cultivated as no increase in productivity was evident. In the second decade, where no increase in productivity was again evident, FAO data tor the eight principal producing countries of the sixteen, showed that annual growth in productivity had declined in Burundi, remained unchanged in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda and increased by 1.0% in Malawi, 2.8% in Rwanda, 2.3% in Tanzania and 1.4% in Zaire (Grisley. 19911. With no growth in production in the second decade, combined with productivity increases that were less than the World Bank estimate of 3.1 % for population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, the per capita supply of beans is diminishing. For the eastern Africa region projected estimates indicate deficit of 417,000 MT of beans, equal to 18% of expected consumption by the year 2000 and similar deficits seem likely for the other regions. To counteract this trend requires significant increases in productivity which can be attained by alleviating the biological. edaphic and climatic factors that constrain yield.Marked yield increases are possible by the chemical control of fungal and bacterial diseases and pests, as can fertilizer application improve yield in nutrient deficient soils. but small farmers in Africa, growing beans for subsistence, have few or no resources to purchase such inputs. Genetic improvement of the crop, through the development of cultivars with heavier yield potential, greater resistance to pests and diseases and improved tolerance to infertile soils, therefore, has a key role to play in improving productivity. Such cultivars allow the farmer to attain increased productivity without recourse to inputs and are easily integrated into his production system. To achieve this objective with scarce resources that exist in many national programmes requires:that research prlorltles are clearly established based on quantitative evaluation of the factors constralnlng seed yield on the farm; a source of genetic reslstance for the constralnt(s); a selection strategy cognlzant of farmer and consumer requirements pertaining to cultivar acceptance.In the longer term the development of yield-increasing technologies of lmproved crop, soil and water management are vital to fully exploit the greater yield potential derlved from genetic improvements and sustain the natural resource base to help reduce the expansion of producers onto les s productive and fragile land.Amongst the CGIAR centres CIAT has responsibility for improvement of the common bean and in collaboration with other institutes has for many years foeused on identifying resistant or tolerant sourees to diseases and pests in the extensive world germplasm collectlon held at CIAT. Such sources are available to national programmes for augmenting their genetic resourees to assist in generating new cultivars with greater disease resistanee to endemic pathogens and thus heavier and more stable yields.Amongst the diseases, anthracnose, angular leaf spot (ALS), rust, common bacterial blight (CBB) and bean common mosaie (BCMV) virus are very widespread, can markedly reduce yield and are associated with beans in most bean-producing regions in Africa. Of the other diseases. aseoehyta blight, halo blight. charcoal rot, root rots and fusarium wilt, web blight and white mold can cause severe yield losses but are usually restricted to specific bean-growing regions where environmental conditions favour their development (Beebe and Pastor-Corrales, 1991).Estimates of yield losses from some of these diseases in Africa !table 1) have chiefly been obtained on research stations, where inoculation can be relied upon, and although they give some indication of the potential loss, they do not necessarily reflect the relative importance, particularly with respect to frequency and distribution, of a disease on the farm. With limited resources available to most National Programmes such base line farm data is essential to define research prlorities amongst the biotic constraints. Furthermore. continued on-farm monitoring of the disease spectrum and pathogenic variation provides forewarning to combat the onset of a new disease and/or the potential breakdown in a reslstance with the concomitant effect on production.86 Progress from selection for disease resistance depends on a so urce of genetic variation and effective screening method. Sources of resistance can and should initially be sought in locallandraces/cultivars to provide material of immediate and practical use, being well adapted to the existing production constraints. Material tor introduction can be obtained from a number of sources with major collections of beao germplasm preserved in gene banks at CIAT, USDA, the Pullman institute in the USA and at the University of Cambridge in the UK. CIA T has actively used the genetic resources in its collection to select resistant/tolerant sources to many bean diseases, and these have been assembled in internatiónal nurseries tor distribution to national programmes tor screening and selection.Whilst disease 'hot spots' have proved effective screening tools, often artificial inoculation methods are necessary to reduce 'misses' and clearly demarcate differing disease levels, especially where the variation tor resistance is inherited quantitatively. Moreover, the selection of a stable and deployable resistance requires exposing the source material to all the pathogenic variation existing in a production area and testing in an established yield evaluation system that is inherent in any breeding programme. Improved disease resistance, combined with a yield potential of existing commercial cultivars and/or landraces, are essential prerequisites for a release recommendation; it is all too easy to breed useless resisters.The wide scale adoption of relatively few released lines, however, can lead to a reduction of genetic variation on the farm, whereas Beebe and Pastor•Corrales (1991) consider that genetic diversity such as exists in landraces is the surest strategy for stable resistance to certain diseases and is a traditional disease control mechanism that should not be abandoned. To mimic this requires the deployment of resistance sources in a range of adapted lines with acceptable consumer characters, which in itself has particular relevance where farmers predominantly sow mixtures, rather than attempting the pyramiding of different resistances in one line. Whilst it may often be desirable and/or necessary to improve the resistance of a particular cultivar to a number of pathogens, the stabilizing effect of genetic diversity is not only important for diseases but also for edaphic and climatic factors that constrain yield.Often no resistance can be identified in local germplasm and must be sought in introduced material. However, such sources rarely have the required agronomic and consumer characteristics and yield potential needed for release in a given production zone, and more usually their resistance can only be deployed by incorporating it into an adapted background. Various crossing and selection methods are available for the transfer of resistant traits but in setting priorities in a resistance breeding programme the relative ease in transferring major gene or simply inherited traits, compared to the more complex procedures required for those under polygenic control, has to be balanced by the latter often considered the more stable and enduring form of resistance.In beans, strains or races have been reported for BCMV, halo blight, rust and anthracnose and genes for resistance to most races of these pathogens are available and have been deployed. No races of CBB were thought to exist until recent work in Uganda (Opio, pers. comm.l indicated evidence of races using differentials of Phaseolus coccineus, although prior to this, a number of authors had reported resistance in P. vulgaris, P. coccineus and P.acutifolius. The broad and narrow sense heritability recorded in P. vulgaris for resistance to CBB ranged from low to high (Singh, 1991), and where high was considered to reflect the action of a few major genes with modifiers, although other studies have reported quantitative inheritance. On-going work in Zaire have demonstrated the existence of races for angular leaf spot and both a single dominant and recessive gene have been implicated in the resistance.The transfer of single dominant genes through backcrossing is relatively uncomplicated compared to that for recessive genes or where the transfer of more than one gene is necessary, although success does depend on the intensity of heterozygote expression and the frequency of adverse correlations. Compared to backcrossing the recurrent selection programmes needed to transfer polygenically inherited traits require phases of crossing alternated with generations of selfing, with greater difficulty in identifying resistance determined by genes with a small effect. Further complications can arise in both types of crossing programme from multiple allelism, a not uncommon phenomenon.Inter-disciplinary interaction is vital to the practical deployment of resistant sources; screening methods must be developed and sources identified for breeding to manipulate and incorporate into heavy yielding, farmer/consumer acceptable cultivars.• • Uganda wlth the alm of soon extending this service to other national programmes in the region.Breeding for improved seed yield per seObjeetives and soureeThe objective of a disease improvement programme is to improve the disease resistance of commercial cultivars and/or advañce breeding lines being considered for release with no penalty on yield potential (any increase being an unsolicited benefit). In a yield breeding programme the principie ot¡jective ls to achieve significant Increases in productlvity, without any iñcrease necessarily sought in resistance to biotic and abiotic constraints, although this may arise out of the selectlon practised and such characters are routinely monitored in the yield trials.Active breeding research on beans as a subsistence crop in Africa dates back to the last 25 years and durlng this perlod national programmes have released a number of cultivars, utilizing genetic variation in landraces and local germplasm collections. Germplasm exchange between programmes has assisted to augment available variation, but historically thepotential for improvement is to a degree limited by the considered common origin of much of the African bean germplasm from the Andean region (Gepts and Debouck, 1991). Although crossing can generate additional variation, increasing the genetic base through the introduction and evaluation of new genetic material from other gene pool s is percelved as necessary to attain and sustain the productlvity increases needed to meet projected demando ,In this area, breeding and other disciplines at CIAT, aside from develpping disease resistant Ilnes, have utilized its genetic resources and interacted in developlng a wide range of breeding lines. These are available for distribution in breeding nurseries and trials, ranging from a non-replicated 'VEF' screening nursery with up to 1500 diverse lines to international trials comprised of relatively few lines of a particular class. AII the entries have acceptable agronomic and consumer characteristics and undergone testing that qualifies for further evaluation under a wide range of environmental conditions and are thus ideal for introduction, , screening and yield evaluation in national breeding programmes in Africa.The National Programme in Uganda has annually introduced up to 1 OOOlines in the 'VEF' screening nursery from CIAT for evaluation. Prior to 1989 initial selection emphasised improved disease resistance prior to yield testing, whereas after 1989 multisite seed yield evaluation, combined with monitoring of reaction to the principal diseases. was imposed early in the selection scheme.To examine the effect of the latter strategy on yield/disease relations for lines differing in yield potential, the mean yield and disease scores of the five heaviest (HYLI and the five lightest (L YL) yielding lines in three trials conducted at Kawanda (the principal research station) in 1990a are presented in table 3: the mean yield of the these two groups over all tour si tes at which they were tested is also included. In all three tríals the mean yield at Kawanda of the HYL línes was over double that of the L YL lines, whereas differences for the disease scores were small, and only in two ¡nstances was there a significant correlation (derived from all the test lines in a trial) between seed yield and disease score. Although this is only a small sample of trial data available, and the disease scores reflected reaction to natural infection. the results indicate that large differences in yield potential can exist amongst material with similar levels of disease resistance; the corollary belng that over ~mphasis for selectlon for disease reaetlon could hinder yleld improvement.With PPO the group goes through the following steps: 1 .Usting and checking all problems related to the subject 2.Organizing problems in cause-effect chains ---> problem tree 3.Converting the problem tree into a tree of objectives 4.Constructing the planning matrix 5.Quantifying resources needed tor planned actívitíes and attributing responsibilities 1.A first list of problems is obtained by having each participant write (e.g. three) cards, each expressing an important problem rel-ated to the subject. Problems are always formulated as negative situatíons. These cards are posted and if not understood by all participants they are clarified. Atterwards, the list is screened; is this a real problem? does it apply to all the countries? (if not, it has to be qualified). New problems or more precise formulations may come up during this screening. Discussions pt this stage ensure that all participants (and later actors in the projectl understand any one problem in the same way.A problem may be caused by one or several other problems. AII cards on the board are therefore organized in a logic of cause-effect, causes being placed below their effect on the board. This yields a kind of tree. with problems being at the base of most others as the finest roots, the central problem being the stem and cards representing negative effects of this central problem being the branches.The logíc of the method is based on the fact that the opposíte of the central problem (the positive formulatíon) will make a reasonable overall objective of the project. The opposite of direct causes of the central problem constitute the intermediary results. Thus. by converting the whole problem tree into a tree of objectives. a framework giving clues as to all possible interventions is obtained. The participants then have to decide, along which axes in this framework they want to plan their actions (considering the mandates, expertise and facilities of the institutions which they represent).The framework is then used to construct the planning matrix indicating the concrete activities necessary to reach the expected intermediary results and the objective of the project. For each result, objectively verifiable (quantitative and qualitative) indicators are formulated, and the sources for their verificatíon are determined. Factors putting at risk the success of the project are analyzed; it is determined if the risks can be eliminated by incorporating additional activities, if they are to be considered as 'rather unlikely' {and mentioned in the form of 'conditions' in the matrixL or if they are likely and consequently lead to drop a specific axe of intervention or the whole project.For each activity, the necessary resources are estimated and, especially if severa! institutions are involved, the responsibilities are attributed. The logical sequence of the activíties in time is also established.planning of activities (step 3). Objectively verifiable indicators were not discussed and no risk analysis was conducted (step 4', since this will have to be done at the level of individual sub-projects. Finally, in step 5, necessary resources per activity were only determined in terms of researcher-months.In addition to the standard PPO, all activities were prioritized to allow tor some flexibility in responding to availability of resources with individual actors; each participant was supplied with a number of votes and was asked to attribute them to activities of highest priority according to him. Participants agreed to take the following criteria into consideration tor attributing their priorities: Efficiency (benefit/cost), importance and integration in the overall plan, present state of the art on the topic, chances of success .The results: Problem analysisOn the following ten pages the six problem trees are presented (some trees go over two pages).As an example of the logic of the problem analysis, the tree of general problems related to fungal diseases on beans in Africa is discussed here:The central problem was characterized as Yield losses due to fungal díseases in general. This was attributed to be due to four immediate causes:Cultural practices: Participants argued that cultural practices to control diseases are often not adopted by farmers. Pan-Africa collaboration: Presently, the potential of pan-Africa collaboration in resístance breeding is not fully exploited. First, germplasm exchange wíthin Afríca could be more active, if there was in place an adyt1uate system ro produce clean seed and to move nurseries quickly wifhín Afríca. The present system is partly hampered by insufficien! access to recen! informatíon on pathogen dístribution (territorial checklísts). Secondly, sites for germplasm evaluatíon are often inadequate in terms of pathogen diversity, because, even If informatlon on pathogen diversity exists, it is not used efficlently by breeders, often beca use the underlying studies were no! oriented towards síte selectíon for disease evaluatíon. Thirdly, breeding tor resistance could be more efficient, it there existed a clear strategy to share disease evaluatíon responsibílítíes between different stations ('hot spots'j, 98. ,possibly in different eountries; sueh sharing of responsibility is often diseouraged, beeause information on nursery evatuation does not easily get back to the nursery eoordinator, whieh may have to do with resistance breeding sub-projects not being awarded to teams of pathologists-breeders. Fourthly, there exist presently no formal mechanisms to link sub-projects across regíons and they are not evaluated jointly, for which common planníng would be a prerequisite (tack of common planning in some countries is also at the root of other problems). Finally, there is untapped opportunity for more eollaboration on snap bean research.Genetic diversity: There is tack of strategies to maintaín gene tic díversity of beans, and genetie diversity is one of the main ways to reduce yield los ses due to diseases. This is all the more preoceupying, eqnsidering that market forces may erode díversity to an extent that minor but important (resistant) components in varietal mixtures or on bean farms are lost. The laek of strategies for maintaining diversity is due to searee information on the effect of varietal mixtures on the management of foliar diseases, no long term studies of the dynamies of farmers' mixtures exist and the agronomic and social strategies of farmers for composíng mixtures are known only for so me areas. Finally, in so me areas, there exists no collection, maintenance or evaluatíon of genetíc diversity of beans .Utilization of available resistance: The available resístance is not fully utilized in breeding programs. First, breeding programs have difficulties to identify and verify resistance for laek of standard pathogen spectra because there exists no strategy for pathogen conservatíon as the bes! methods for preservation of cultures to minimize pathogenic change are not known.   Robin A. BurucharaRelative Importance of Bean Diseases in AfricaGiven the limited avaílable resources, it is regarded essential to priorltlze both diseases and aspects that are considered themes tor research. This was the basis of an exercise by participants during the working group sessions to obtain a picture of the relative importance of bean diseases both at national, regional and pan-Africa levels {Table 1 l. ...  ,./1Participants from the 10 countries represented ranked bean diseases occurring in their countries in order of their importanee. This was based on frequency of occurrence and estimated effects of the diseases on yield. Data on yield loss due to bean diseases in most of the countries is scanty and need to be generated to eonfírm the picture obtained and maintain current research priorities or re-prioritize them in the future. Table 1 shows the ranking of bean diseases (fungal, bacterial and viral) for each country represented. Rank 1 means disease most important, highest value signifies least important. Means were caleulated for each disease on a network and pan-African basis (after correction of shared ranks). It is evident that eertain diseases are important nationally while others have regional and pan-African importance.Below is a summary of some of the salient issues brought out in the working group sessions. The reader is however referred to the preceding text (page 95 to 119) reporting on deliberations of the working group sessions for details.So me of the problems associated with bean diseases and research on the latter identified during the meeting are:' 1) Oespite some efforts that have been made to develop bean disease management technologies, certain diseases continue to be a problem to the farmer. This is thought to be due to the faet that:-Farmers continue to use local landraces (in pure or mixtures) which are susceptible. -Some of the technologies tested and found (or known) to be effective against certain diseases have not been widely adopted by farmers.2) There are not sufficient disease ~anagement technologies (resistant varieties, cultural methods etc.) which are also acceptable to the farmer.3) There is a lack of information in certain areas or aspects (e.g. pathogenic variatíon, effects of certain control mea sures etc.) essential in developing effective disease control technologies.7) There is a lack of adequate training for various players involved in the development and transfer of disease management technologies.To address the aboye problems, several specific activities were proposed which may be grouped in the following broad areas:11 Emphasis in developing genetic solutions in disease management should be continued and where effective, other control methods such as cultural methods should be integrated.2) Gaps in knowledge which limit effectiveness, deployment and full exploitation of genetic, cultural or integrated solutions (e.g. pathogenic variation, appropriate testing methodologies and sites, seed, genetic diversity, mixtures etc.) should be addressed.3) Factors which limit farmer-adoption of technologies developed to control bean diseases should be identified.4) Farmer participation in development and early testing of disease management technologies should be encouraged.","tokenCount":"20304"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1878731027.json b/data/part_1/1878731027.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aecf4564613aaf36167e870dae09f0e85d49d92a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1878731027.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fab2d2ace4583948ec5ca19e68a16b7d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e1c38bda-339b-4ed6-b61c-7c032ed6f270/retrieve","id":"1280588879"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"97e6d473-e735-4bfd-8e2a-8df68062181a","pagecount":"6","content":"Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites mainly produced by fungi known as Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. nomius. They are particularly important because of their effects on human health and agricultural trade. Aflatoxins cause liver cancer, suppress the immune system, and retard growth and development of children. Aflatoxincontaminated feed and food causes a decrease in productivity in humans and animals and sometimes death. Maize and groundnut are particularly susceptible to aflatoxin accumulation, but other crops such as oilseeds, cassava, yam, rice, among others, can be affected as well. Aflatoxin accumulation in crops can lower income of farmers as they may not sell or negotiate better prices for their produce. Because of the high occurrence of aflatoxin in crops, many countries have set standards for acceptable aflatoxin limits in products that are meant for human and animal consumption.Natural populations of A. flavus consist of toxigenic strains that produce variable amounts of aflatoxin and atoxigenic strains that lack the capability   strains is usually quantified to determine the most toxigenic strains that will be useful for competition with atoxigenic strains.The genetic diversity of the atoxigenic strains is also determined molecularly by examining the presence or absence of the genes responsible for aflatoxin production in each strain. The absence of these genes explains why potential biocontrol isolates would not produce aflatoxin after release into the environment. Amplification of any given marker is taken to mean that the area around that marker is relatively intact, although substitutions and small indels outside the primer binding site may not be detected. Nonamplification could result from deletion of that area, an insertion between the primers that would result in a product too long to amplify by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or mutations in the priming sites. Nonamplification of adjacent markers is probably best explained by very large deletions.Vegetative compatible group (VCG) is a technique used to determine whether the highly competitive atoxigenic isolates are genetically related to each other. In nature A. flavus species that are genetically related belong to the same VCG or family; those that do not exchange genetic material belong to different VCGs. This is an important criterion for selecting a good biocontrol agent to ensure that the selected biocontrol strains do not \"intermate\" with aflatoxin-producing strains after field application. With this technique, the distribution of a particular VCG within a country or region is also determined.  A VCG that is widely distributed is likely to be a good biocontrol agent because it has the innate ability to survive over years and across different agroecologies. On the contrary, atoxigenic VCGs that have aflatoxin-producing members within the VCG are rejected; atoxigenic VCGs that are restricted to a few locations may also not be selected.The in vitro test determines the competitive ability of the atoxigenic isolate to exclude the toxigenic isolate on the same substrate. The competition test is conducted in the laboratory by coinoculating the most toxigenic isolate with atoxigenic strains on aflatoxin-free maize grains or groundnut kernels. Grains/kernels inoculated with the toxigenic strain or not inoculated at all serve as controls.After incubation and aflatoxin analysis, atoxigenic isolates that reduce aflatoxin by more than 80% in the co-inoculated treatments are selected for unique vegetative compatible grouping. Strain selection criteria followed in developing competitive aflatoxin biocontrol agents.• Collect ~500 maize/groundnut samples from farmers' fields/stores from diverse agroecologies in the field • Isolate Aspergillus species (about 10 per sample) from the crop samples in the labIn the laboratory evaluate ~5,000 strains to select those that: ","tokenCount":"576"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1881357347.json b/data/part_1/1881357347.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c0c404c51a8f6a2b41c8c8b24edeea13a32f91a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1881357347.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9525db74db4f88841cc504a349b8fa24","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3114c5aa-5d5c-46a7-98fc-e09fc11d0cab/retrieve","id":"-903845568"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9bc8227e-cf2e-4977-b440-5c9d496b22ab","pagecount":"11","content":"Adoption of improved agricultural technologies has long been recognized as critical for reducing poverty through increased productivity, incomes, and asset accumulation. Using a nationally representative survey data from a sample of over 1500 households in Nigeria, this paper evaluates the impacts of adoption of improved cowpea varieties on income and asset poverty reduction using an endogenous switching regression model. The results showed that adoption of improved cowpea varieties increased per capita household income and asset ownership by 17 and 24 percentage points, respectively. The results based on the observed and counterfactual income and asset distributions further showed that adoption reduced both income poverty and asset poverty by 5 percentage points. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy options for increasing adoption and impacts of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria.Agricultural productivity growth has long been recognized as one of the most important and effective pathways through which agricultural research and technologies can increase rural incomes and reduce poverty (Gollin, Hansen, & Wingender, 2018). However, the link between agricultural research and poverty reduction is not straightforward as benefits may not be accrued uniformly across different income groups. In particular, the returns from agricultural productivity growth can be beneficial on average, albeit ineffective in improving the income of the most vulnerable and poor farmers, who are often constrained by structural barriers that make improved technologies inaccessible and less profitable for them (Wossen, Alene et al., 2019). Nevertheless, a plethora of empirical evidence suggests that agricultural productivity growth is extremely important for the development prospects of largely rural and agriculture-dependent countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). For example, the World Bank estimates show that GDP growth originating in agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty compared to the same magnitude of growth in other sectors of the economy (World Bank, 2007). Another study by Ligon and Sadoulet (2008) indicates that agricultural income growth has the largest impact on the poorest people in the poorest countries. In SSA, for example, Christiaensen, Demery, and Kuhl (2011) show that growth in the agricultural sector is at least three times more effective in reducing poverty compared to the same magnitude of growth in other sectors of the economy.In this paper, we examine how agricultural research that leads to the development and dissemination of improved crop varieties can be a key driver of productivity growth and poverty reduction. Over the past 50 years, investments in crop genetic improvement by national and international agricultural research have led to the development and release of a number of productivityenhancing improved crop varieties in many countries in SSA (Evenson & Gollin, 2003;Walker & Alwang, 2015). The adoption of such productivity-enhancing improved crop varieties is expected to reduce poverty directly by raising farm incomes and welfare of adopters through increased production for home consumption, higher gross revenues from sales, and lower production costs (Byerlee, de Janvry, & Sadoulet, 2009;de Janvry & Sadoulet, 2002;Moyo, Norton, Alwang, Rhinehart, & Deom, 2007). Adoption of new and improved crop varieties can also reduce poverty indi-rectly through lower food prices and higher wages (Byerlee et al., 2009). A few recent studies show that adoption of improved agricultural technologies is important in reducing poverty in developing countries including in SSA (e.g. Ali & Abdulai, 2010;Alene et al., 2009;Becerril & Abdulai, 2010;Kassie, Shiferaw, & Muricho, 2011;Kassie et al., 2018;Mendola, 2007;Renkow & Byerlee, 2010;Wossen, Abdoulaye et al., 2019).In this study, we focus on the poverty reduction effects of adoption of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria, the largest producer and consumer of cowpea in the world with an estimated 45% share of the global cowpea production and over 55% of the production in Africa (Alene, Abdoulaye, Rusike, Manyong, & Walker, 2015). Although the crop is largely produced by farm households as a staple food crop, it is fast becoming a major source of protein and cash income for these same households. The crop has between 22 and 30% protein, which makes it an important source of low-cost nutrition for the urban and rural poor who cannot afford meat and milk products. Given the importance attached to cowpea, increasing its productivity through adoption of improved varieties is therefore an essential policy objective in Nigeria. To this end, international and national research investments in Nigeria have developed and promoted improved cowpea varieties that are high yielding, drought tolerant, and resistant to striga, alectra and insect pests (Boukar et al., 2018;Singh, Ehlers, Sharma, & Filho, 2002). These efforts have resulted in the release of over 20 improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria since the early 1980s (NACGRAB, 2016).Despite these major efforts and the importance of cowpea for rural livelihoods, there is a lack of comprehensive and rigorous evidence on adoption rates and impacts of improved cowpea varieties on poverty, a key evidence to justify investment in research on crop genetic improvement. In this regard, estimating the impacts of adoption of improved cowpea on household income and poverty is critical because it gives a measure of the extent to which the technology actually affects household welfare (de Janvry, Dustan, & Sadoulet, 2011).Using a comprehensive household and plot level data, this paper estimates the poverty reduction effects of adoption of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria. We aim to contribute to the literature in the following ways. First, unlike previous studies, we used asset ownership to construct an asset-based poverty measure (e.g. Awotide, Alene, Abdoulaye, & Manyong, 2015;Carter & Barrett, 2006). This is critical as asset-based poverty measures highlight the structural nature of poverty by focusing on the productive capacity of a household based on its resource stock (Liverpool-Tasie & Winter-Nelson, 2011). Second, most of the previous studies mentioned above mainly established causality between adoption and poverty reduction at the household level, but haven't estimated aggregate poverty impacts in terms of the number of poor people lifted out of poverty. The few studies that have used this measure (e.g. Wossen, Alene et al., 2019;Zeng et al., 2015) focused on cassava and maize respectively and not on cowpea. Third, by estimating impacts on income directly, we overcome the reliance on often unreliable and sensitive demand and supply elasticities, which are required to translate household level productivity impacts to aggregate poverty impacts (e.g. Zeng et al., 2015). In doing so, our approach takes into account both direct and indirect mechanisms as our outcome indicator, income, captures both productivity and market price effects.The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 deals with the survey design and data collection whereas Section 3 presents the empirical approach, definition of variables, and descriptive statistics. Section 4 presents and discusses the empirical results and the last section concludes with a discussion of the policy implications.The data for this study come from a nationally representative sample survey of 1525 cowpea producing households conducted in 2017. A survey questionnaire was designed using computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) based software called Surveybe and administered by trained enumerators who collected data from households through personal interviews. The survey was conducted in 10 states -Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara -which represent about 75% of the total cowpea production in Nigeria. The above 10 states were grouped into two geopolitical zones: northeast and northwest These states mainly fall within the Sudan Savanna, which is the major agro-ecological zone for cowpea production in Nigeria. A multistage stratified sampling procedure was used to select the households. In the first stage, a list of villages and Local Government Areas (LGAs) used for conducting national census in Nigeria was obtained from the National Population Commission (NPC).In the second stage, 25 and 13 LGAs were selected in each geopolitical zone using probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling (only 13 LGAs were selected in the northeast region because only three states were considered (Borno, Bauchi and Gombe) and this was due to the security problems experienced in that region during the survey). In the third stage, five cowpea producing villages were then randomly selected from each of the selected LGAs. A sampling frame was developed for cowpea-growing households in the selected villages with the help of the extension agents from the Agricultural Development Programme (ADPs). In the final stage, eight households were randomly selected from each selected village resulting in a total sample of 1525 households (995 households in the northwest region and 530 households in the northeast region).The survey collected valuable information on several key socioeconomic variables at both plot and household levels. Seed samples of the popular local and improved varieties were used to facilitate the interviews with farmers about whether and when they have adopted particular improved varieties. The improved cowpea varieties (ICV) considered in the study are presented in Table A1 in the appendix. To address measurement errors commonly encountered with self-reported plot sizes, we used Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to measure the area under cowpea varieties. Data were also collected on production systems, technology choices and preferences, input use, farmers' patterns of resource use, and socioeconomic characteristics of the sample households.We model the adoption of ICV under the assumption that farmers choose between ICV and local cowpea varieties. The decision to adopt ICV may however be endogenous as farmers usually selfselect into adoption based on both observable and unobservable characteristics. Without controlling for this, the effects of adoption on the outcome variables (e.g. income and asset ownership) would be biased. To ensure that we account for endogeneity, we use the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model. The ESR model estimates two separate outcome equations for adopters and nonadopters along with a selection (adoption) equation simultaneously (Alene & Manyong, 2007).Following Pitt (1983) and Fuglie and Bosch (1995), let the adoption of ICV be a discrete choice resulting from the maximization of a utility function. The expected utility arising from the adoption of improved cowpea varieties, U A is compared to the utility of nonadoption U N . A farmer will adopt ifvariable that captures the expected benefits from the adoption choice with respect to not adopting and is determined by a set of exogenous variables, Z i and the error term l i :If a farmer adopts improved cowpea varieties, D i = 1 and zero otherwise. Eq. (1) represents the selection or adoption equation.The outcome equations, conditional on adoption, can be presented as two regimes following Alene and Manyong (2007), Fuglie andBosch (1995) andDi Falco, Veronesi, andYesuf (2011) as:Regime 1 ðAdoptersÞ :Regime 1 ðNon À AdoptersÞ :where y 1i and y 0i are the outcome variables for adopters and nonadopters respectively. The three error terms l i ,e 1i and e 0i are assumed to have a trivariate normal distribution with a mean vector zero and covariance matrix:where r 2 1 and r 2 0 are the variances of the error terms in Eqs. ( 2a) and (2b). r 10 is the covariance of e 1i and e 0i , r 1l represent the covariance of e 1i and l i ; and r 0l is the covariance of e 0i and l i . It can be assumed that r 2 l is equal to 1 since a is estimable only up to a scaler factor (Maddalla, 1983). As y 1i and y 0i are not observed simultaneously, the covariance between e 1i and e 0i is not defined. This implies that the expected values of e 1i and e 0i conditional on sample selection is non-zero because the error term in the selection equation is correlated with the error terms in Eqs. ( 2a) and (2b) and ordinary least squares estimates of coefficients b 1 and b 0 are biased. Sample selection occurs when factors not observed by the researcher but known to the farmer affects both technology choice and outcomes (Fuglie & Bosch, 1995). The expected values of e 1i and e 0i conditional on sample selection are non-zero and can be represented as:The inverse mills ratios or selectivity terms (k 1i and k 0i ) can be included in Eq. ( 2) to correct for selection bias. We use the efficient full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation procedure to estimate the endogenous switching model described above. The FIML also generates correlation coefficients i.e. correlations of the error terms of the selection and outcome equations (corr (e, u) = q). There is endogenous switching if q A or q N (which are correlation coefficients for adopters and non-adopters, respectively) are significantly different from zero (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014). The signs of the correlation terms have an important economic interpretation (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Fuglie & Bosch, 1995). If q A < 0, it implies positive selection bias, which suggests that farmers with above average income and assets, are more likely to adopt improved cowpea varieties. On the other hand, if q N > 0, it implies negative selection bias.Although the model may be identified by construction through nonlinearities generated in the selection equation, it is important for the Z variables in the selection model to contain an instrument for a more robust identification. We use the average number of years the farmer has been aware of ICV as the selection instrument. It is envisaged that the farmers' willingness to adopt would increase as they gradually become more cognizant of the benefits of ICV (Zeng et al., 2017). During the survey, farmers were asked which year they first knew or heard about a particular ICV variety. The number of years the farmer has known the ICV was then constructed as the difference between the year 2016 (the year before the survey was conducted) and the year a farmer first knew/heard about the ICV. It is important to admit that access to ICV seed is a necessary condition for a farmer to adopt because awareness alone may not essentially imply any knowledge of the characteristics of the technology (Diagne & Demont, 2007;Dontsop Nguezet, Diagne, Okoruwa, Ojehomon, & Manyong, 2013). Notwithstanding, some studies (e.g. Lunduka, Fisher, & Snapp, 2012;Negatu, 2002) have shown that improved variety knowledge is important for adoption. We believe that the years that a farmer has been aware is a good proxy for the knowledge of the characteristics of various ICVs being promoted in northern Nigeria. We establish the admissibility of the instrument by performing a simple falsification test: if a variable is a valid selection instrument, it will affect the decision to adopt ICV, but will not affect the outcome variables among non-adopting farm households (Di Falco et al., 2011). Table A2 in the appendix shows that the average number of years the farmer has been aware of ICV can be considered a valid instrument: it is statistically significant in the selection equation but not significant in the income and asset ownership equations. Further, since our instrument actually exploits exogenous variation in time lag (i.e., from the point of awareness to adoption), it would arguably be exogenous to current levels of productivity and income. To underscore the relevance of our instrument, we have included a test on the relevance of our instrument (first stage regression) in Table 3. The results show that the selected instrument is relevant as it is significant at 1% significance level.To estimate the impact of adoption of ICV on household incomes and asset ownership, we first specify the expected values of the outcome variables. For an adopter of ICV, the expected value of the outcome variable is expressed as:The expected values for the same farmer had he/she decided not to adopt ICV (counterfactual) is given asThe impact of adoption on the outcome variables for those who adopted ICV-i.e. the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT)-is calculated as the difference between Eqs. (4) and ( 5)We used the ESR model to estimate the observed and counterfactual income distributions (Eqs. ( 4) & ( 5)) which were then exploited to measure the impact of adopting ICV on poverty and asset poverty. To estimate poverty in our sample, we used the Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (1984) indices 1 defined as:where N is the total number of households, q is the number of poor households, y i is the household welfare measure (i.e. income per capita/day in our case adjusted for inflation), z is the poverty line and a is a parameter of inequality aversion. It follows that when a = 0 the formula reduces to the headcount index which shows the proportion of the population that lives below the poverty line.When a = 1, P a is the poverty gap index, which measures the average poverty gap in the population as a proportion of the poverty line (where the non-poor have zero gaps); and when a = 2, P a measures the severity of poverty and reflects the degree of inequality among the poor. The FGT class of poverty measures satisfies a convenient decomposability property (Ray, 1998). In our case, the FGT indices are appropriate because they allow us to assess poverty on the observed and counterfactual income scenarios. We use two poverty lines to estimate poverty and assess the robustness of our method (US$1.9, 2 and US$ 3.5). The first one is the revised current international poverty line of US$1.9 per day at 2011 purchasing power parity conversion factors (PPPs) from the previous US$1.25 per day at 2005 PPPs (Ferreira et al., 2016). The second one is the lower middle income class poverty line at 2011 PPPs. According to the World Bank (2018), Nigeria is ranked as a lower middle income country based on the gross national income (GNI) per capita. Asset poverty can be viewed as a household's failure to have access to adequate wealth resources to meet basic needs for a certain period of time (Awotide et al., 2015). To measure asset poverty, we used the relative poverty line since there is no established asset poverty line in Nigeria. We calculated the relative poverty line as two thirds of the mean value of assets (US$234) owned by the sample households (Awotide et al., 2015). We also used the mean value of assets (US$350) to assess the robustness of our results. Eq. ( 7) was then used to calculate the asset headcount, asset gap and asset severity indices.We draw on the vast literature on adoption and impacts of improved agricultural technologies to identify explanatory variables (Ali & Abdulai, 2010;Becerril & Abdulai, 2010;Feder & Umali, 1993;Feder, Just, & Zilberman, 1985;Kassie, Jaleta, & Mattei, 2014;Khonje, Manda, Alene, & Kassie, 2015;Mason & Smale, 2013;Zeng et al., 2015). We present the definition and descriptive statistics for the selected variables in Table 1. Variables that capture household welfare include yield, household income and asset ownership characteristics. For productivity enhancing technologies such as ICV, adopters are expected to realize more yields which consequently should result in increased household income and asset ownership. The average household incomewhich includes cash income from crops, livestock and livestock products, and off-farm income (salaries, remittances, farm labour wage income, pension income and income from business) -was approximately $662 per capita/year with an average per capita income of US$1.811 per day.Household total productive assets include household assets (e.g. furniture, radios and TVs), productive assets (e.g. farm implements, oxcarts, ploughs and sprayers), and livestock assets (e.g. cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, and donkeys) similar to the assets considered by Liverpool-Tasie and Winter-Nelson (2011). On average, sample households had assets with a value of US$350.About 42% of the households planted ICV in the 2016 cropping season. Household characteristics were captured by variables such as age, sex, education, cultivated land, number of adult females and males in the household and access to off-farm income. About 96% of the households were male-headed, with about 4% of the households attending junior secondary school education. Land is an indicator of resource endowment for the household and on average farmers cultivated 4.73 ha.The number of adult females and males between the ages of 15 and 59 are proxies for household labor endowment. Almost 85% of the sample households had access to off-farm income. This may affect the individual household's labour allocation and cash earnings and is also an indication of the dependence on off-farm employment in the household's community and among neighboring communities (Smale & Mason, 2014). We proxy ownership of agricultural implements and access to information using agricultural implement and information indices constructed using principal component analysis (PCA). The agricultural implements that were considered include ploughs, hoes, and ox/donkey carts among others. In the construction of the information indices, we considered all the information sources related to improved varieties and agronomic practices. Sources of information included farmer/cooperative groups, extension agents, neighbors/relatives, research centers and radio/TV. We conducted PCA on the agricultural implement holdings and information sources to reduce the dimensionality into single scores for implements and sources of information. Specifically, we used the first principal component because it explains the most variance in the data as opposed to multiple components. The factor scores from the first component were used as weights for each implement/information source in order to construct the indices for each individual household.Membership in crop marketing groups, distances to the output markets and seed dealers are important indicators of market characteristics. It takes an average of 41 minutes for farmers to transport produce to the market and about 69 minutes to access the market for inputs such as seed. Lastly, Table 1 indicates that on average most of the households have been aware of ICV for close to three years. Table 2 displays the means of variables by adoption status (1 = adopters and 0 = non-adopters). The results in Table 2 show that adopters obtained more yields per hectare, compared with non-adopters, although the difference is not significant. Adopters of ICV had on average higher incomes per day (US$ 1.918) compared with the non-adopters (US$1.736). Results also show that adopters were significantly distinguishable in terms of household characteristics such as sex and education of the household head. About 97% of the adopters and 95% for non-adopters were headed by males while about 2.4% more adopters than non-adopters attended junior secondary school education. The number of years that adopters were aware of ICV (5.13) was more than that for non-adopters (1.396).Table 3 presents the distribution of household income and asset ownership by the adoption of ICV. The population of the sample households was split into tenths ordered by income and asset ownership (decile groups) and the estimates shown are for the nine deciles (p10; p20; p30; p90). It is clear from Table 3 that adopters had more income and assets in all the decile groups as compared to non-adopters. The results in Table 3 further show that the poorest tenth of the sample households received about 2% (adopters) and 1.9% (non-adopters) of the total income as compared to the richest tenth who received 29% of the total income. So, the poorest adopters received slightly more income than the non-adopters. The distribution of the assets can also be interpreted in a similar way.4.1. Determinants of improved cowpea adoption and impact on household income and asset ownership Table 4 presents the full information maximum likelihood estimates of the ESR model. Results from the selection equation indicate that age, education, access to information and the number of years a farmer has been exposed to ICV are important determinants of adoption of ICV. The age of the household head and its square were significant determinants of adoption, implying that age has a non-linear effect on adoption of ICV. The results also show that farmers who completed at least 6 years of education were more likely to adopt ICV. Education has been widely cited as an important determinant of adoption of improved agricultural technologies in Africa with the main reason behind its importance being that educated farmers have better access to information and are able to understand the importance and benefits of growing improved varieties (Abdulai, 2016;Alene & Manyong, 2007;Foster & Rosenzweig, 2010;Manda, Gardebroek, Kuntashula, &    Alene, 2018). Information plays a very important role in the adoption of improved agricultural technologies as it is expected that farmers will only adopt an improved variety if they have enough information about the benefits of a particular technology (Adegbola & Gardebroek, 2007). The adoption of ICV is lower in the northeast region and this may reflect the unobservable differences in terms of the resources and weather pattern. This may also reflect the security problems being faced in the north eastern part of Nigeria which has impacted negatively on agricultural production in the area. The aim of the selection equation is not to perfectly explain adoption, but to account for unobserved heterogeneity that could bias the impacts derived from the outcome equations (Kabunga, Dubois, & Qaim, 2012). To account for any unobserved heterogeneity, we included an instrument (the average number of years the farmer has been aware of ICV) in the selection equation and not in the outcome equations.The likelihood ratio tests for the joint independence of the three equations and correlation coefficients are also displayed in Table 4. The test results show that the equations are dependent, hence if we had assumed that these equations were independent, biased estimates would have been obtained. As mentioned earlier, the correlation coefficients have an important economic interpretation. In both the income and asset equations, only the coefficient for adopters (q1) was significant, and this implies that there was endogenous switching, therefore ICV adoption may not have the same effect on the non-adopters, if they choose to adopt. The negative sign on q1 suggests positive selection bias implying that farmers with above-average incomes and assets have a higher propensity of adopting ICV. This is highly consistent with earlier studies (e.g. Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Alene & Manyong, 2007;Manda, Khonje, Alene, & Gondwe, 2017). Results 3 for the outcome equations are shown in columns 3 and 4 for income and 5 and 6 for asset ownership.Table 5 presents the estimated ATTs (impact) of adoption of ICV on household income and asset ownership from Eq. ( 6). The results show that the causal effect of adopting ICV was about US$0.22 per capita/day, which is equivalent to a 17 percentage-point increase in household income. This implies that current adopters would have foregone almost US$80 (US$0.22/day*365 days) per year per capita had they not adopted ICV. Similarly, adoption of ICV led to an average 24 percentage-point increase (US$50) in the value of household assets per capita. These results are consistent with the findings of Abdulai (2016), Awotide et al. (2015) and Zeng et al. (2015) in Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia, respectively.To estimate the effect of adoption on poverty reduction, it is necessary to know the outcome for the adopting farmers if they had not adopted. We therefore used the ESR model to estimate the observed and counterfactual income distributions (Eqs. ( 4) & ( 5)). The approach based on the observed and counterfactual income distributions to measure the impact of adoption on poverty is similar to the methodology used by Zeng et al. (2015) and Larochelle, Alwang, Norton, Katungi, and Labarta (2015). Fig. 1 shows the FGT (a = 0) cumulative distribution functions (CDFs)  for the observed and counterfactual household per capita daily incomes for the sample households. The graph indicates that the observed income distribution first order stochastically dominates the counterfactual income distribution. Fig. A1 in the appendix plots the differences between these two graphs and it shows that for most parts of the graph, the difference is non-zero. Applying the international poverty line of US$1.9 per person per day, the results show that 87% of the households would have been poor had they not adopted ICV while only 82% were poor with adoption. This implies that adoption of ICV reduced poverty by 5 percentage points among the sample households.In addition to the information provided in Fig. 1, Table 6 shows a similar pattern with regards to the depth and severity poverty indices, with the observed income distribution showing lower poverty indices as compared to the counterfactual distributions. The poor have on average an income shortfall of 31% of the poverty line in the counterfactual scenario compared to 28% with adoption of ICV (depth of poverty). Similarly, assuming equal transfers to the poor, the cost of eliminating poverty per year would be higher without adoption (US$215 4 ) than with adoption (US$194). The results are quite robust at the other poverty line of US$3.2, which indicate that adoption of ICV reduces poverty by 0.3 percentage points (Table 6). The results show a similar pattern with regards to the depth and severity poverty indices, with the observed income distributions showing lower poverty indices as compared the counterfactual scenarios. Finally, column 6 of Table 6 shows the percentage of people escaping poverty due to the adoption of ICV. The results show that about 6% of the poor cowpea producers escaped poverty in the 2016 production season due to adoption of ICV.Similar to the poverty results above, Fig. 2 shows the observed and counterfactual per capita asset distributions. The relative asset poverty lines were calculated as two-thirds of the mean value of the assets (US$234) and the mean value of the assets (US$305). The results show that reduction in asset poverty ranged from 4 to 5%, with highest reduction observed at the relative poverty line of US$234. Both the observed (66%) and the counterfactual (71%) asset poverty rates were lower than poverty headcounts above. So even though the percentage-point poverty reduction was the same in both cases, the asset poverty rates were relatively lower than the poverty rates based on income.Results in Table 7 further indicate that the depth and severity of asset poverty reduced by about 2.6 and 1.5 percentage points, and almost 7% of the asset poor households escaped asset poverty at the US$234 asset poverty line.Applying a procedure similar to the one used by Alwang and Siegel (2003), Zeng et al. (2015), Wossen, Alene et al. (2019), Wossen et al. (2017) and Manda, Alene, Mukuma, and Chikoye (2017), the percentage point reduction in the income poverty and asset poverty headcount indices estimated in Figs. 1 and 2 can be used to estimate the number of people who have been lifted out of poverty due to adoption of ICV in Nigeria. According to FAOSTAT (2016), the estimated area under cowpea in 2016 was 3.6 million ha and a total of 2.3 million households grew cowpea in the same year. In our sample, the estimated area under cowpea for each household was 1.58 ha while the household size was 8.3. Combining all these parameters, the 5 percentage-point reduction in poverty (Fig. 1) translates to about 929,450 farmers lifted out  poverty. The results for the other poverty lines can be estimated and interpreted in a similar manner. Similarly, about 971,310 people have been lifted out of asset poverty due to the adoption of ICV.Poverty reduction is an important policy objective for many developing countries including Nigeria. Through their yieldenhancing and income-increasing effects, the adoption of improved cowpea varieties offers a considerable promise in this area. However, empirical evidence that shows the impact of ICV on poverty is rather limited in Nigeria. Using a comprehensive household and plot level data from over 1500 households, this study analyzed the impact of adoption of improved cowpea on household income, asset ownership, poverty and asset poverty.Our endogenous switching regression results show that after accounting for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity, adoption was associated with an increase in household income and asset ownership by 17% and 24% respectively. Results from the counterfactual analysis indicate that adoption of ICV reduced poverty and asset poverty on average by 5 percentage points. This result is important in particular because it shows that adoption of improved cowpea not only increases income and asset holdings, but also reduces income poverty and asset poverty.The finding of a positive and significant effect of information and the years the farmers have been aware of improved varieties on the decision to adopt suggests that improving access to information on improved cowpea varieties would help in enhancing their adoption and diffusion in Nigeria. This is important because the poverty-reducing effects of ICV are expected to grow with increasing adoption. In this regard, considerable investments should be made to strengthen and improve the cowpea seed systems to ensure that improved seeds are readily available at affordable prices to the smallholder farmers.None.   ","tokenCount":"5345"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1887230889.json b/data/part_1/1887230889.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a08f8168709f7de345cd2b39ae3fa059e69a1c28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1887230889.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5885bb363e8094718f69c596b5f80083","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0708ff9a-52fe-4a4e-8433-17ef319e7d17/retrieve","id":"-2132779170"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"759c979b-fdf4-4e54-bfa7-b0b542aa8daf","pagecount":"12","content":"Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) is the oldest and most cultivated cereal crop in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and under Mediterranean climatic conditions. Morocco is one of the largest producer of durum wheat in MENA region, cultivated in more than 1 million ha area produced 2.5 million tons in 2020, which accounts for 17% of the total production in the region. In the region, rainfed production system is predominant, and with declining rainfall amounts with high variability, increasing water scarcity, and suboptimal input application, its productivity growth is low and needs to be increased to fulfill the growing demand. Developing context-specific management advisory is needed to improve productivity and resilience under such variable rainfed production environments. Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model was calibrated and evaluated using four years (2015-2019) of on-station experimental data from genotype × seeding time × water management experiment conducted at International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) research station, Morocco. Long-term (1984Long-term ( -2021) )  simulation was carried out to determine the contribution of Genotype × Environment × Management components for sustainably improving crop productivity. The results showed rainfall or supplementary irrigation (23-36%) followed by N fertilizer (28-38%), cultivar (9-14%), and seeding date (7-14%) have the largest contribution to the yield variance of durum wheat in Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi regions of Morocco. Under rainfed conditions, wheat yield was highest in Merchouch (4.5 t ha − 1 ) and lowest (1.8 t ha − 1 ) in Sidi El Aidi. Due to significant rainfall variability, the seeding date varies across year and location; however, generally, it is between 2nd week of November to 1st week of December. Under rainfed conditions, seeding after 1st week of December caused the average yield reduction of 120, 81, and 31 kg ha − 1 d − 1 in Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi, respectively. In all locations, short-duration varieties provided higher averaged yields with better resilience than medium and long-duration varieties. Decomposing yield variance caused by Genotype × Environment × Management provides the opportunity for risk reduction, improvement of wheat yield and resilience, and designing climate-smart adaptation strategies in rainfed Mediterranean conditions. Our findings highlight one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate and contextspecific tailored agronomic practices and suitable genotypes is crucial for achieving sustainability and resilience of wheat production in variable climatic condition in Morocco and similar production environment.Crop simulation models have become increasingly important in agriculture, as they can provide valuable insights into crop productivity, input use, and yield gap analysis. The Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model (Holzworth et al., 2014;Keating et al., 2003) can simulate a wide range of crops and cropping systems. It can simulate crop growth and development considering climate, soil, and management practices. The APSIM model considers the long-term effects of genotype × management × environment on growth, yield, and soil parameters for different soil types and climatic conditions.For exploring options for sustainable intensification, APSIM model has been used to quantify the effect of variety × management on sorghum (Ojeda et al., 2022), develop climate-smart adaptation strategies of wheat in semi-arid Central Region of Morocco (Briak and Kebede, 2021), assess the impact of crop management and environment at regional scale in potato (Ojeda et al., 2021), assess the contribution of genotype × fertilizer × irrigation to explore the site and climate specific agronomic solution in wheat cultivation in Nepal (Devkota et al., n.d.). It was used to determine the effect of sowing date × variety (three maturity duration) in rainfed Mediterranean region of Italy (Bassu et al., 2009). Hochman and Horan (2018) used APSIM to explore 'best management practice' in wheat to higher production frontier levels in the water-limited environment of Australia. It is capable of simulating wheat grain yields analyzing the effect of soil type (soil water-holding capacity), nitrogen rate and application time, soil moisture storage, cultivars, sowing dates and density, and supplemental irrigation (SI) in rainfed environments of Central and West Asia and North Africa region (Heng et al., 2007), in Tunisia (Bahri et al., 2019) and particularly in Morocco (Briak and Kebede, 2021;Moussadek et al., 2015).In rainfed Mediterranean conditions, it is well recognized that wheat yield is affected by genotype, environment, and management practices and their interactions (Devkota et al., 2022b;Devkota and Yigezu, 2020;Haq et al., 2017;Padovan et al., 2020). However, earlier studies lack systematic quantification of the contribution of genotype, management practices, and climatic conditions, which helps to develop bundled customized agronomic solutions for improving crop yield and resilience. Particularly under changing climatic conditions, appropriate genotypes and customized integrated management practices are paramount (Beres et al., 2020). Modeling studies can better extrapolate research findings over time and space, identify climate-smart integrated best management practices, and assess crop performance under varying soil and climatic conditions. Thus, the objectives of this study were to quantify the contribution of genotype, management practices, and climatic conditions and identify the appropriate genotype and context-specific management practices for sustainably closing the yield gap in diverse soil and climatic conditions of the Mediterranean environments of Morocco and similar environments.The climate of the experimental study site (used for model calibration) is typically Mediterranean with hot and dry summers and cold and wet winters and highly variable annual rainfall across years. The longterm  annual rainfall in the experimental site Merchouch was 440 mm, and in two simulation sites, Meknes and Sidi El Aidi were 560 and 320 mm, respectively (NASA POWER, 2023)  C and 12.5 • C) (Fig. 1). The soil in the experimental site is classified as a gray Vertisol of clay-loam texture (47.6% clay and 41% loam content) with large cracks appearing during the dry season. The soil is low in organic carbon content (1.65%) and available K 2 O (105 mg kg − 1 ) and high in assimilable P 2 O 5 . Additional soil characters across horizons are presented in Table 1.APSIM-wheat model was calibrated and validated using four years (2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, and 2018/2019) of field experiment data conducted at ICARDA research field in Merchouch (33 • 36′41″N, 6 • 42′45″W, 390 m a.s.l.), Morocco. Each year, those field experiments were conducted from November-June. Detail has been explained in (Devkota et al., 2023), Part-I. Days to emergence, anthesis, and maturity were recorded each year for each treatment based on whole plot observation. For yield estimation, the crop was harvested (from 6 m × 2.2 m area) using a plot combine harvester. Total aboveground biomass yield and yield attributes were estimated from two rows (rows 9 and 10) with 1 m length from two points in each plot were harvested manually.The APSIM-Wheat model was parameterized, calibrated, and validated as the procedure described in (Gaydon et al., 2017). The model was parameterized using input parameters directly recorded or   measured (climate variables, soil physical and chemical properties, crop management practices, and inputs applied). Other model parameters unable to measure directly, such as variety-specific coefficients were calibrated by iterative adjustment. The parameterized model was run for the most favorable year (2018) using irrigated treatments to derive variety-specific coefficients for three maturity duration varieties (short-, medium-and long-duration; SDV, MDV, and LDV) (Table 2). Simulated outputs were compared with observed and the discrepancies in cultivar coefficients were re-adjusted. Three years of independent experimental data (2016, 2017, and 2019) were used for model validation. Model evaluation include growth and development parameters such as days to anthesis, maturity, grain yield, and total aboveground biomass weight used for timely and late seeding under supplementary irrigated and rainfed conditions (i.e., four treatments). Among 10 cultivars evaluated, based on the days to maturity, they were categorized into three categories, i.e., 152, 160, and 168 days as SDV, MDV and LDV, respectively and cultivar coefficients were derived accordingly (Table 2). As wheat-fallow is the major cropping system in the rainfed drylands of the MENA region, exploration of adaptation strategy using MDV and LDV is advantageous. Thus, three category cultivars were parameterized and used for the long-term simulation.The model findings were assessed based on the mean, standard deviation, the ratio between simulated and measured, mean difference, absolute root mean square errors (RMSEa), mean absolute error (MAE), and normalized root mean square errors (RMSEn%) for the growth and yield parameters. It was assumed that the model reproduced experimental data best when the ratios between simulated and measured R 2 and D-stat were close to 1.0 (Timsina and Humphreys, 2006;Yang et al., 2014).Mean absolute error(MAE) =Normalized root mean square errorsWhere, Y i and X i are simulated and measured values, respectively, X i is the mean of all measured values (usually 3 replicates), and n is the number of measurements.2.2. Long-term simulation of genotype × environment × managementIn all treatments, initial root biomass of 500 kg ha − 1 was used to initialize the APSIM-Wheat model. Cultivar-specific parameters, planting date, emergence date, planting method, density, distribution, seeding depth and row spacing, fertilizer types and application rates, irrigation amount and date of application, and harvesting dates were recorded during the experimental period in all years. Those recorded parameters were used as input data for model calibration and validation.Initial soil physical properties used for model calibration, validation, and scenario analysis are presented in Table 1. The model was calibrated and validated using the measured data from Merchouch experimental station. For the scenario analysis, respective soil profile data from Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi were used (Table 1). The long-term  daily weather data (rainfall, minimum and maximum air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, and wind speed) required for running APSIM-Wheat, were downloaded from the NASA POWER project (NASA POWER, 2023) for all three sites.Simulations were created in APSIM-Wheat model in APSIM Next Generation to quantify the wheat yield gap and explore possible entry points for narrowing the gap in Morocco. After the satisfactory calibration and validation, the model was run for 37 years  for the weather and soil of Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi, the major wheat-growing regions in Morocco to explore: 2.2.3.1. Attainable yield and irrigation scheduling. We run the model for 37 years  under three water management scenarios: i. Rainfed (only seasonal rainfall) ii. Rainfed (seasonal rainfall) with initial high stored soil moisture (HSSM) iii. Seasonal rainfall with initial HSSM and supplementary irrigation (SI) (HSSM + SI)All three maturity duration varieties (short; medium, and long) were run for the long-term under all three water management conditions. Under rainfed conditions, the initial plant available water content (PAWC) was 112.6 mm in the top 40 cm soil profile (as in the normal rainfed conditions in the farmers field), while under HSSM, total initial PAWC in the top four soil profiles (0-95 cm depth) was 249 mm. HSSM mimics the water stored in the soil during the fallow period (as soil mulch), which is common practice in Morocco as a way to in-situ water harvesting. In 3rd scenario (HSSM+SI), SI was applied turning-on the automatic irrigation module of APSIM. SI was applied to the crop when PAWC dropped to 50% and irrigated up to 95% of the PAWC with maximum irrigation application of 30 mm in each irrigation and minimum 3 days for irrigation to return from 1st of September to 30th of March. In Morocco, irrigated wheat is grown in more than 0.85 million ha and needs to understand irrigation scheduling and explore the opportunity for sustainable intensification of wheat production through optimizing irrigation amount in SI.The optimal seeding date of wheat for three different climates (Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi) with 160-day (SDV, most common) variety was explored. Also, the optimal N rate for different seeding dates for three locations and the irrigation water required on different seeding dates in those locations was explored. Mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and percentage difference were calculated wherever applicable. Further, using the experimental data, APSIM-wheat model was calibrated and validated. The model ran for 37 years in three locations in the northern region of Morocco to explore the potential for closing the yield gap using genotype × environment × management. The main effect (ME) and total/interaction effect (TE) of rainfall, N fertilizer rate, variety, sowing date, and seed rate on yield variability were computed using equations (Eqs. 4 and 5). ME explains the share of the components to model output variability without interactions, i.e., if ME= 1, the assessed factors explain the entire proportion of model output variability, but if M< 1, residuals exist, which means additional factors are required to explain this variability. TE represents the interaction of a given factor with other factors, i.e., high TE values for a given factor denotes high interactions of that factor with other factors; therefore, TE does not include residuals (Ojeda et al., 2022(Ojeda et al., , 2021)).Where, E[Yield Xi] denotes the expected value of crop yield across all sources Xi (soil type, mean temperature, rainfall, global solar radiation, planting date and irrigation strategy), while E [Yield X_i] is the expected value of crop yield across all sources except Xi. Nitrogen use efficiency (Eq. 6) and attainable yield gaps (Eqs. 7,8) were presented as essential. There was a good agreement between measured and simulated grain yield, total aboveground biomass production, days to anthesis and maturity for all seeding date × water management experiments in all four years in both calibration and validation data sets (Fig. 2, Table 3). Less than 25% RMSEn, fairly low MAE, fairly low mean difference between simulated and observed, and close to 1 ratio of simulated to observed (Table 3) indicate that the model was well parameterized.On average, short duration variety (152 DAS) produced the highest yield (+17% than LDV and + 9% than MDV) followed by MDV and the lowest by the LDV (Fig. 4 A). Averaged across the location (with SDV), compared to the rainfed (3.5 t ha − 1 ), HSSM increased yield by 48% (1.6 t ha − 1 ) and HSSM+SI by 106% (3.7 t ha − 1 ). Averaged across varieties, under rainfed conditions, wheat yield was highest in Merchouch (4.5 t ha − 1 ) and lowest (1.8 t ha − 1 ) in Sidi El Aidi, while with HSSM+SI, yield was highest in Sidi El Aidi (7.6 t ha − 1 ). Results of the long-term simulation showed yield variability across the year was highest under rainfed (coefficient of variation of 43%) followed by HSSM (35%) and the lowest (21%) under HSSM+SI (Figs. 4B,4 C,4D). Similarly, under rainfed conditions, yield variability of all three varieties was nonsignificant (42-43%), while under HSSM, it was 32%, 36%, and 36% for SDV, MDV and LDV; and under HSSM+SI, it was 19%, 22%, and 23% for SDV, MDV and LDV, respectively.The long-term simulated yield under favorable environment (HSSM+SI and application of 200 kg N ha − 1 ) showed the highest attainable yield obtained when seeded in 1st week of December (highest mean yield) in Sidi El Aidi (8.36 ± 0.56 t ha − 1 ) compared to corresponding values for Meknes (8.3 ± 0.62 t ha − 1 ) and Merchouch (7.49 ± 0.90 t ha − 1 ) (Fig. 5). In all three sites, attainable yield was higher with low variation for early seeding (before 1st December), than late seeding (after 1st of December). After 1st week of December, attainable yield decreased by 99, 130 and 215 kg ha − 1 d − 1 in Merchouch, Meknes and Sidi El Aidi, respectively.Similarly, under rainfed conditions, the average attainable yield was highest in Merchouch (5.04 ± 1.69 t ha − 1 ) followed by 4.51 + 1.97 t ha − 1 in Meknes and the lowest 1.75 + 0.79 t ha − 1 in Sidi El Aidi when Fig. 2. Simulated and measured calibration and validation parameters of three maturity, i.e., short (A), medium (B) and long (C) duration varieties from the dataset from seeding dates x water management experiment from 2016 to 2019 at Merchouch, Morocco. The solid line is 1:1 line. seeded on 1st week of December (highest mean yield). The long-term simulation showed that seeding between 15th of November and 1st December is optimum for maximum potential yield under rainfed conditions. The average attainable yield decreased by 120, 81, and 31 kg ha − 1 d − 1 in Merchouch, Meknes and Sidi El Aidi, respectively when seeded after 1st week of December. There is 20% probability of getting > 7.5 t ha − 1 under a favorable production environment (HSSM+SI with 200 kg N ha − 1 ) and more than 4.0 t ha − 1 yield under rainfed conditions even under late seeding (up to 15th of January) but with high risk (CV of 33-60%) (Figs. 5C, 5D). In optimal sowing time (15 Nov to 01 Dec), the water-limited yield gap was highest in Sidi El Aidi (6.2 t ha − 1 , 76%) followed by Meknes (3.8 t ha − 1 , 46%) and lowest in Merchouch (2.6 t ha − 1 , 35%). During the same time, rainfed attainable yield gap was 1.5, 2.1 and 1.1 t ha − 1 (24%, 33% and 37%) in Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi, respectively.Variance decomposition of grain yield in terms of Genotype × Environment × Management to identify the major factors associated with grain yield showed the components vary across location and water management. Under rainfed conditions, for the main effect (Fig. 5, left), the major contribution was from rainfall (34-39%; mean 36%) followed by fertilizer (23-32%; mean 28%), variety (7-11%; mean 7%), and sowing date (5-8%; mean 7%) with residual of 16-24% (mean 20%). With supplementary irrigation (under both conditions), the contribution of rainfall and residual decreased, while the contribution of fertilizer, variety, and seeding time increased. Similarly, under HSSM, the contributions for the main effect were fertilizer (28-37%; 33%) followed by rainfall (26-37%; 31%), variety (8-13%; 11%), and seeding time (10-12%; 11%) with residual of 11-16% (mean 13%). Under HSSM+SI fertilizer (32-42%; 38%) followed by rainfall (18-30%; 23%), variety (11-18%; 14%), sowing date (13-16%; 14%), and residual (10-12%; 11%) were the major contributors for yield. Sidi El Aidi had highest contribution of rainfall than the other two sites. Similarly, the total or interaction effect (Fig. 5, right) varied across sites and the water management. Regarding the interaction effect, rainfall followed by fertilizer, seeding time, and variety (in descending order) are the major interacting factors under rainfed conditions. Under HSSM, N fertilizer followed by rainfall, sowing date, and variety; and under HSSM+SI, fertilizer rate followed by sowing date, rainfall, and variety are the major interacting factors.Nitrogen fertilizer rate varied across the site, water management and seeding date (Fig. 6). Under optimal seeding (15 November to 01 December), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was highest in Merchouch followed by Meknes and the lowest in Sidi El Aidi under rainfed condition. In Merchouch (Fig. 6A), the highest NUE was at 1st December seeding, where NUE was 25 kg grain kg − 1 N at 100 kg N ha − 1 in rainfed; NUE of 29 kg grain kg − 1 N at 100 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM; and NUE of 27 kg grain kg − 1 N at 150 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM+SI, indicated those could be the optimal N rate for Merchouch. A similar N rate can be applied for seeding between 15 November and 01 December. While seeding after 15 December, N rate should be lowered for maximizing NUE (~50 kg N ha − 1 for rainfed, ~100 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM, and < 150 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM+SI). Similar to Merchouch, in Meknes (Fig. 6B), the highest NUE was under 1st December seeding, where the highest NUE (22 kg grain kg − 1 N) was under 100 kg N ha − 1 in rainfed; NUE of 33 at 100 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM; and NUE of 31 at 150 kg N ha − 1 under HSSM+SI, indicated those could be the optimal N rate for Meknes. However, in Sidi El Aidi (Fig. 6C), there was no need for more than 50 kg N ha − 1 at all seeding dates under rainfed and HSSM conditions. However, under HSSM+SI, the optimal N rate can be up to 150 kg N ha − 1 under optimal seeding dates, where NUE was 20 and 22 kg grain kg − 1 N, respectively.Under HSSM+SI scheduling, Sidi El Aidi required the highest irrigation (204 mm) followed by equal amount (53 mm) in Meknes and Merchouch at optimal seeding date 15 November to 01 December (Fig. 7). There was a yield difference of 2.2 t ha − 1 under the condition of below and above long-term median rainfall (244.2 mm) (Fig. 7B).Simulation models provide decision support to generate contextspecific tailored selection of genotypes and agronomic management practices to diverse environmental conditions. In Morocco, wheat production area has increased but steadily over the years (FAOSTAT, 2023), where it has been challenged mostly due to declining water resources for supplemental irrigation, adverse effects of drought, heat stress, soil degradation, and low input use (Haddad et al., 2011;Karrou et al., 2016;Verner et al., 2018). In rainfed conditions, a yield gap of 1.2 t ha − 1 (Karrou et al., 2016;Silva et al., 2023), 1.6-2.5 t ha − 1 (Pala et al., 2011), and 0.57 t ha − 1 (Devkota and Yigezu, 2020) are reported. Our study showed a water-limited yield gap of 2.6-6.2 t ha − 1 (35-76%) and an attainable yield gap of 1.1-2.1 t ha − 1 (24-37%) under timely planting with optimal fertilizer application (Fig. 4). This study comprehensively decomposed the variance contribution of genotype × environment × management practices for closing the yield gap (Fig. 4) and found the contribution of different factors varies across the production environments and water management practices. Previous studies have assessed genotype × management × environment effects on yield variation of different crops. Variance decomposition is a sensitivity analysis that allows the decomposition of variance contribution of each production factor to the model output (Monod et al., 2006), and the approach has been applied to potato in Tasmania, Australia (Ojeda et al., 2021), sorghum across US environments (Ojeda et al., 2022), cereal grain crops in European environment (Webber et al., 2018), maize in New Zealand (Teixeira et al., 2017), and maize in US corn belt (Baum et al., 2020). Additional variance decomposition studies in wheat production as affected by variety, sowing date, supplemental irrigation, nutrient management, and integrated good agronomic management practices are required in the water-stressed production environments (Briak and Kebede, 2021). Our study showed the proportional variation of the contribution of individual factors as main and/or total effects, where rainfall and/or supplemental irrigation, N fertilizer, sowing date, and variety are the major yield-limiting factors for durum wheat production in Morocco. Those practices can be considered as a set of adaptive 'integrated good agronomic practices' for increasing resilience of wheat production in the rainfed production systems of Morocco and similar climatic conditions of the Mediterranean region.Application of supplemental irrigation (SI) during the water stress period increased yield by 35-76% in HSSM+SI (249 mm stored soil moisture at seeding + 53 mm SI) and by 24-37% in HSSM (249 mm stored soil moisture) compared to the rainfed condition (Fig. 4). Well distributed and > 300 mm rainfall amounts are crucial for higher yield, which is evidenced by the 38% years (probability) in Merchouch and 24% probability in Meknes having yield more than 5 t ha − 1 under rainfed condition of the timely sown wheat (15th November and 1st of December) (Fig. 4). With increasing rainfall variability and decreasing rainfall amount, supplemental irrigation plays a crucial role for narrowing the water-limited yield gap. In Merchouch and Meknes, on top of HSSM, 53 mm supplemental irrigation increased wheat yield to more than 6 t ha − 1 . However, yield increment due to supplemental irrigation varies across planting dates, such with supplemtal irrigation increased durum wheat productivity from 2.8 to 5.4 t ha − 1 in early planting and from 0.3 to 5.3 t ha − 1 in late planting in Central Morocco (Karrou et al., 2016). Despite narrowing the yield gap during the dry years, supplemental irrigation provides resilience to climate change and yield stability under such climate crises (Nangia and Oweis, 2016). Supplemental irrigation with 60 mm at 59 zadok stage increased wheat yield by 91% in rainfed Sais region of Morocco (Abderrazzak et al., 2013). The mean grain yield from rainfed to 1/3rd SI, 2/3rd SI, and full supplemental irrigation were 1.36, 3.82 (+181%), 5.18 (+281%), and 5.70 (+319%) t ha − 1 for bread wheat; and 1.24, 3.80 (+206%), 5.10 (+311%), and 5.75 (+364%) t ha − 1 for durum wheat, respectively in Hadya, Syria (Karrou and Oweis, 2012). Despite several advantages such as yield increment, improving resilience to variable weather conditions, yield stability, risk reduction, improving grain quality; in the context of declining water availability, applying supplemental irrigation for rainfed wheat may not be a feasible option in the future in Morocco and also in the MENA region. However, deficit supplemtal irrigation can be adopted for saving water, improving grain yield and quality, and improving water productivity in the irrigated production systems, such as Tadla perimeter (covers more than 100,000 ha of irrigated wheat (Kselik et al., 2008) of Morocco, and similar production environment in irrigated drylands. The lowest water-limited attainable yield gap (highest yield under rainfed) in Merchouch, followed by Meknes was mainly related to the heavy clay texture soil of Merchouch and the higher amount of rainfall received in Meknes (Fig. 1). There were inherent differences in soil properties (Table 1) and agroclimatic conditions (Fig. 1) such as temperature and growing season across those locations. Similarly, higher yield in Sidi El Aidi under HSSM+SI was readily available water under light soil texture (Table 1) with optimal fertilization. Similar results have been reported by (Lembaid et al., 2021;Nouri et al., 2016).Rainfall has a significant contribution on yield, highest main and the total or interaction effects in the rainfed (36%) followed by HSSM (31%) and 23% contribution under HSSM+SI conditions (Fig. 5). In rainfed wheat production system, where the total seasonal rainfall is the proxy of crop yield (Balaghi et al., 2008), total seasonal and rainfall during critical growth stages of wheat are critical (Latiri et al., 2010), rainfall accounts 75-88% of the total yield variation for barley, chickpea, wheat, and lentil (Devkota et al., 2022a), and Morocco's wheat production heavily dependents on large fluctuations in rainfall intensities (Berdai et al., 2011). Karrou and Oweis (2014) assessed the effect of rainfall variability in the major cereal production areas of Morocco and that for the period 1988-2008, yields fluctuated from 150 to 3000 kg ha − 1 with a coefficient of variation ranging between 30% and 50% in the Northern and 60-70% in the Southern region of the country. With global warming, Moroccan climate is becoming drier and hotter (Filahi et al., 2017). In this context, a reliable seasonal forecasting system may help to reduce the vulnerability of such weather risks by timely enabling adoption practices as reported by (Lehmann et al., 2020).Nitrogen fertilizer has a significant main effect, i.e., 28% under rainfed, 33% under HSSM, and 38% contribution under favorable environment, i.e., HSSM+SI in durum wheat yield variability in Morocco (Fig. 5). Also, there is significant interaction (total effect) of fertilizer with other factors such as variety, site, and seeding date (Fig. 5), and optimal N rate varies across seeding date and sites (Fig. 6). The general recommended nitrogen rate in Morocco is 84, 140, 210 and 280 kg N ha − 1 respectively for rainfed, favorable rainfed, supplementary irrigation, and irrigated production system (INRA, 2022). In the rainfed areas of the south-central region (Chaouia area) of Morocco, grain and biomass yield of wheat increase significantly up to 90 kg N ha − 1 (Ryan et al., 1997). However, these rates vary based on the PAWC, site, year (climate) and require field-specific adjustments and 'one-size-fits-all' approach is inadequate. In the Mediterranean region of Australia, N management is viable when plant available water content before seeding increases (higher than 130 mm) and above median rainfall (Moeller et al., 2009). Even in rainfed conditions, nitrogen is one of the most yield-limiting factors; however, due to uncertainty of the climatic conditions, farmers are reluctant to apply. In this case, an optimal rate is required considering the economic profitability as chronic under-fertilization may mine soil nutrients. At the same time, over-fertilization may cause nutrient loss and reduce fertilizer use efficiency, although low or no nutrient loss or nutrient storage is reported from the wheat fields in semi-arid Mediterranean climatic conditions (Savin et al., 2022).Seeding time is one of the major factors contributing to yield variability in different locations and water management, where the contribution of seeding time even increases under HSSM+SI (Fig. 5). The significant location × year × seeding date effect (p < 0.001) for the simulated grain yield indicated that seeding time varies with location and growing season. This variation was caused mostly by the variation of rainfall across the year (p < 0.001), where the yield difference was > 2.1 t ha − 1 due to rainfall (above and below median) (Fig. 7B) and seeding time mostly affected by rainfall amount and distribution. Wheat is sensitive to water deficit and temperature fluctuation during the reproductive and grain-filling period (Alghabari et al., 2014;Farooq et al., 2011;John and Megan, 1999). If irrigation is available, early seeding can provide a more stable yield, which holds true for rainfed conditions and provides an opportunity to store more than 50 mm of seasonal rainfall. Thus, in rainfed drylands, generally early seeding can be suggested, however customized seeding time based on weather forecasting (considering rainfall amount, rainfall frequency, and temperature) can maximize the effective use of available water, which leads to improved crop productivity and resilience.The more stable yield (low coefficient of variation) in the earlier seeding (37-44% in 15 October to 30 November, compared to seeding after 15 December (>55% CV under rainfed; and >37% CV under HSSM) indicates if sufficient soil moisture is available, advancing seeding time can narrow the yield gap especially as this can also benefit from the whole season rainfall. Even with late planting, irrigation improved grain yield by increasing available soil moisture and reducing canopy temperature (Amani et al., 1996). The physiological stages (anthesis, leaf area development, photosynthesis, and biomass accumulation) are more favored with early seeding because reduced rainfall and higher temperature coincide with the anthesis period under the late seeding conditions (Padovan et al., 2020). However, advancing the seeding date (earlier than optimal) requires an increased irrigation water supply (Fig. 7A). In the Mediterranean region, considering the rainfed dryland production systems with high rainfall variability, seeding time needs to be customized, and the optimal seeding date might be the one which demands low irrigation water without compromising the yield. The highest simulated yield in Merchouch for all seeding dates, compared to Meknes and Sidi El Aidi, was mainly due to low maximum temperature and difference between minimum and maximum with higher rainfall (greater difference between maximum and minimum temperature in Meknes and Sidi El Aidi) (Fig. 1).The beneficial effect of best agronomic practices can be limited without using suitable varieties and adopting appropriate varieties is a critical factor in achieving higher yields and better-quality grains (Kirkegaard and Hunt, 2010;El Mourid and Gharous, 2008). In drylands, environment × management explains the most yield variance, however the contribution of genotype cannot be underestimated as its potential is suppressed by climate, soil, water, and management practices. Our study showed 9%, 11% and 14% contribution of genotype in wheat yield variability under rainfed, HSSM, and HSSM+SI conditions of Morocco (Fig. 5). It indicated that tested varieties are more responsive for the irrigated and favorable conditions and much higher level of drought tolerant varieties are required for the rainfed conditions with highly variable rainfall. Under irrigated conditions, varieties can express their full potential (Ojeda et al., 2022(Ojeda et al., , 2021)). Yield of short duration (<155 days maturity) variety was more stable across the years under the optimal seeding date and fertilizer rates, where SDV, MDV and LDV had CV of 28%, 29% and 32%; and yield of 5.2, 4.8 and 4.5 t ha − 1 , respectively (Fig. 3). Grain yield of wheat varieties (comparing major varieties, e.g., Potam, Cocorit, Keyperounda) increased with the degree of earliness despite the similar amount of water used by the different cultivars (ElMourid, 1988;Mourid and Gharous, 2008). Moroccan wheat varieties have differences in adaptation; varieties released after 2003 have drought tolerance, while varieties released before 2003 possess a better ability to exploit favorable environments, and the earlier released varieties are widely adapted but do not possess high yield potential (Nsarellah et al., 2011).APSIM-Wheat model is capable of and can be used as decision support to determine the contribution of Genotype × Environment × Management components for sustainably closing the yield gap and developing climate-smart adaptation strategies. Rainfall or supplementary irrigation (23-36%), N fertilizer (28-38%), cultivar (9-14%), and seeding date (7-14%) have the largest contribution to the yield variance of durum wheat in Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi region of Morocco. Under rainfed conditions, wheat yield was highest in Merchouch (4.5 t ha − 1 ) and lowest (1.8 t ha − 1 ) in Sidi El Aidi. Due to large rainfall variability, the seeding date varies across year and location; however, generally, it is between 15 to 30 November. Under rainfed conditions, seeding after 1st week of December caused yield reduction of 120, 81, and 31 kg ha − 1 d − 1 in Merchouch, Meknes, and Sidi El Aidi, respectively. Short-duration varieties provided higher yields with better resilience than medium (170) and long (180) duration varieties. Decomposing yield variance caused by Genotype × Environment × Management approach provides the opportunity for risk reduction and improvement of wheat yield and resilience in rainfed Mediterranean drylands.  ","tokenCount":"5641"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1919617952.json b/data/part_1/1919617952.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2523bd639b87eb0a21c6e72e35c557e0554b0655
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1919617952.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34ac291dcd2f87739b1d7b1b72a4a4cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/20199d45-01fa-40d7-8f2f-7f6840a6c688/retrieve","id":"-175491705"},"keywords":["Climate change","agriculture","food security","gender","policies"],"sieverID":"57ebe373-b9fc-46d3-a48b-9adf7a506765","pagecount":"80","content":"To cite this report Marty E. 2021. Foresight as a mechanism for inclusion? Comparative analysis of gender and social inclusion within the CCAFS scenario-based policy formulation processes. CCAFS Report. CCAFS Wageningen, the Netherlands: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).Since 2010, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) scenarios team has been leading several future scenario-guided policy formulation processes in all regions under the FP1 Flagship Priorities and Policies for CSA, combining both stakeholders' workshops and quantitative modelling to guide planning for food and nutrition secure futures under changing climatic conditions. While earlier scenarios focused on the regional level, since 2016 the scenarios processes have expanded to encompass a wide range of regional and national policy development processes. The second phase of the scenario project also stressed the integration of gender, youth issues and other social inclusion considerations within the scenario-guided processes with the wish to use \"foresight as a mechanism for inclusion\" (CCAFS, 2017). As part of CCAFS research and reflection objectives, one of the FP1 milestones for 2019 was to conduct a \"Synthesis and comparative analysis of the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations within the CCAFS scenarios processes in all regions, in relation to process participation, empowerment, and equity considerations within resulting policies, strategies and investment plans\". The following working paper takes stock of the ways gender and social inclusion considerations were considered in 15 scenario-guided processes across Latin America, East and West Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. This provides the opportunity to take note of successes and challenges in addressing these issues within selected CCAFS scenario-guided processes.The findings suggest the need to make the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations a priority from the onset in scenario-guided policy formulation processes. As this was not explicitly prioritized in this round of CCAFS scenarios, the team in the different regions adopted a learning by doing approach. The diverse case studies presented below bring forward some of the challenges to integrating gender and social inclusion, notably constraints of time, format, dedicated funding, and human resources. Critically, the demanddriven and often opportunistic nature of the policy development processes within which the scenarios were used can restrict the ability of the scenarios team to integrate gender and social inclusion considerations. Nonetheless, the use of scenarios was key to level the playing field during the workshops themselves thanks to a focus on the future and the use of highly participatory methods. The different case studies also bring forward good practices for integration such as planning for side consultations with often marginalised groups, longer engagement with relevant stakeholders which gives more flexibility, or bringing in experts in gender and social inclusion and actively prompt for gender and social inclusion during the design of the scenarios. As the scenario processes become more popular and widely used to guide policy formulation processes, the question of who is involved will continue to become more and more crucial.From the mid-80s and building up in the 90s, further prompted by the failures of the structural adjustment programs to consider social factors, there has been a growing recognition of the need for more participatory approaches to policymaking and development planning (Mansuri and Rao, 2012). This is especially critical in the climate change sector as top-down and technology-centred responses can obscure uneven capacities to adapt to changing climatic conditions and contribute to increasing the marginalisation of disadvantaged groups (Nightingale et al., 2019;Rao et al., 2019;Eriksen et al., 2021). While the increased interest for participatory processes came along with more funding for such approaches, there remained, as Mansuri and Rao note (2012, p. 3), \"little systematic effort to understand the particular challenges entailed in inducing participation\".Similarly, while many now claim \"participation\", the meaning of the word has become fuzzier (Cornwall, 2008). However, a growing body of literature has developed, seeking to better understand, enable, and inform participatory processes for policy making and development planning (Cleaver, 1999;Cornwall, 2008;Gaventa and Barrett, 2012;Mansuri and Rao, 2012). The following section takes notes of the literature on participation, looking especially at gender and social inclusion integration in climate policies and planning, starting from the identified needs and gaps before looking at lessons learnt, and challenges encountered. The final section will look at recent efforts at measuring the successes of participatory processes for development and planning, taking note of the specific challenges reported in scenario-guided policy formulation processes, thus providing the basis for the development of the framework for this study.With climate change's negative impacts becoming more widely acknowledged and responses leading to many policy instruments to both mitigate and adapt, a growing body of scholars have expressed concerns over the top-down technological approaches frequently brought forward (Bassett and Fogelman, 2013;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Gonda, 2016;Howland, Le Coq and Acosta, 2019;Nightingale et al., 2019). The focus on technologies to adapt and mitigate, as well as the framing of climate change as an emergency needing swift actions, all contribute to a lack of considerations of social differentiation and contextualized vulnerabilities such as gendered dynamics in climate policies and planning efforts (Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Farnworth et al., 2017;Howland, Le Coq and Acosta, 2019). In the mitigation field, the pressure for scaling up technical and institutional solutions quickly has been noted to lead to most low emission development projects rating gendered differentiated impacts and outcomes as secondary and as something to be addressed at the local level (Edmunds, Sasser and Wollenberg, 2013;Farnworth et al., 2017). Rao et al. note that for adaptation, \"nearly all policies aimed at developing and strengthening the adaptative capacity of local communities, fail to recognize the gendered nature of everyday realities and experiences\" (2019, p. 14). Yet, gendered differentiated access, control and management of resources in everyday life leads to different capacities to adapt but also to different outcomes as efforts for adaptation can also deepen inequalities (Dankelman, 2010;Ribot, 2014). In the agricultural field, for instance, unequal access to climate information can be a source of reduced capacities while climatic changes exacerbate pressures on households, notably by increasing workloads for women in rural farming systems who frequently lack resources to hire additional farmhands (Perez et al., 2015;Huyer, 2016a). A study in Western Kenya also pointed out that women dairy farmers can resist efforts to increase productivity in milk production, a climate smart strategy to lower emission intensities, because of the loss of control over the milk income associated with formal sales compared to when sold informally (Tavenner and Crane, 2018). Specific attention to entrenched discriminations in access and decision making is most often missing in policy documents while some of the solutions brought forward, such as increase involvement in commercialized production, can further disadvantage women (Gumucio and Rueda, 2015).This leads to repeated calls for more inclusion of different \"capacity, needs, and priorities\" into policies as the failure to do so impairs the setting up of mitigation and adaptation actions (Ampaire et al., 2020, p. 44).Yet, in climate policies, the inclusion of gender has been an especially lengthy process (Huyer et al., 2020). Gender was first not considered altogether, including within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for twenty years (Farnworth et al., 2017). More recent efforts mentioning gender equality in relation to climate policy often do so at a superficial level which does not sufficiently consider and address root causes of inequalities (Huyer et al., 2020). Most Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) mention gender and women in relation to increased vulnerabilities to climate change but stop short of considering differentiated knowledges, roles and agencies (Huyer et al., 2020). The NAPs are noted to be doing slightly better which suggests a better understanding of gender dynamics in the adaptation field than in the mitigation sector (Huyer, 2016b;Huyer et al., 2020). Women are also vastly underrepresented in the making of climate policies themselves with for instance the highest number of women ever participating in one of the IPCC bureaus being 8 at the time of Nhama and Nhamo's study (2018), which represents less than 25% of the authors of the 2015 Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The IPCC has since then actively tried to include more female participants, but the previously mentioned study shows that this remains well below gender parity and that actual participation, in terms of direct contributions to outputs, remains heavily skewed towards male contributors (Nhamo and Nhamo, 2018).While gender remains one of the most visible axes around which social differentiation occurs, scholars have also pointed out the interplay of multiple factors such as wealth, age, social groups or place of living which in combination leads to differentiated capacities and outcomes (Kaijser and Kronsell, 2014;Gonda, 2016;Huyer et al., 2016;Rao et al., 2019).Gender is here understood as referring \"not to male and female, but to masculine and feminine -that is, to qualities or characteristics that society ascribes to each sex\" (FAO and CCAFS, 2013, p. 9). Considering the intersectionality of factors is crucial to move away from a static understanding of gender and vulnerability towards apprehending the ways climate solutions' impacts are embedded in a specific context and culture (Gonda, 2016). This goes with an understanding of \"the relationship between gender and the environment as a dynamic process in which culture and society play an integral role\" (Gonda, 2016, p. 151).Moreover, social inclusion as a concept was brought forward to help capture the \"interrelated dimensions of inequality and disadvantage beyond poverty\" by inviting considerations of multiple factors such age or disability (Arthurson and Baum, 2015, p. 2;Huyer et al., 2016). Social inclusion has notably been defined by the World Bank as \"improving the ability, opportunity and dignity of people disadvantaged on the basis of their identity to take part in society\" which necessitates increasing participation (Huyer et al., 2016, p. 11). By explicitly identifying excluded groups, it brings forward multiple facets of an issue to be considered for policymaking, ultimately leading to more well-rounded policies while challenging established power relations (Arthurson and Baum, 2015;Huyer et al., 2016). But to ensure that participation in programmes does not only favours \"the most literate, the least geographically isolated, and the most politically well-connected\" (Mansuri and Rao, 2012, p. 6) as has often been the case, and with the potential of climate change and associated responses to deepen inequalities (Eriksen et al., 2021), it is crucial to pay attention to \"who is participating, in what and for whose benefit\" as participatory processes themselves can reinforce workings of exclusion (Cornwall, 2008, p. 269).An important body of scholarship has looked at defining participation and considered the different conceptualizations of its mechanisms and aims (Cleaver, 1999;Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999;Cornwall, 2008;Gaventa and Barrett, 2012). Many earlier attempts to increase participation focused on increasing participation in community projects and were sometimes criticized, for instance for increasing the labour burden of disadvantaged groups such as women taking on additional unpaid work within development projects, or pointing out the risk of reprisals for the groups meant to be empowered (Kabeer and Subrahmanian, 1996;Gaventa, 2011;Mansuri and Rao, 2012;NORAD, 2013). Strikingly, the most common critique targets the easily made claims of participation which remains nonetheless, superficial in practice (Cleaver, 1999;Gaventa, 2011). To address these concerns and further push for inclusive processes, scholars have emphasised participation as inherent to citizenship, a \"legal right\" as Gaventa argues (2011, p. 72;Gaventa and Barrett, 2012).Merrifield in particular examines several cases where participation can be appreciated as a tool for citizenship education through the learning of rights for citizens, showing the potential of participation itself to build capacities (2002, p. 11).As efforts to increase participation have increasingly turned towards encompassing policymaking and governance processes, two different arguments in favour of increased participation remain prevalent in the literature (Cleaver, 1999;NORAD, 2013). On the one hand, one argument looks at it from an \"efficiency\" perspective, as more inputs contribute to better and more inclusive results (Cleaver, 1999, p. 598), or to more analytical rigour in assessing sustainability, notably by exposing differing \"values and interests\" as Stirling argues (1999, pp. 127, 130). Krizsan and Lombardo (2013) further note that wider participation can contribute to making implicit prejudices more visible among the usually involved stakeholders. On the other hand, others have emphasized the \"equity and empowerment\" argument, seeing participation as a way to empower disadvantaged groups (Cleaver, 1999, p. 598). This goes further than pushing for more consideration of differentiated local needs and priorities by actively becoming a way to counter social exclusion (Kabeer and Subrahmanian, 1996). At the centre is an understanding of empowerment as a \"process\", which stresses the \"degree, types of participation, or sense of feeling powerful as agents rather than recipients of change\" (Ransom, 2006, p. 44). The outcome is no longer strictly the policy developed itself but rather encompasses the development of capacities as well as the \"satisfaction\" and \"growth\" of individuals taking part as they develop a sense of \"having an impact on policy and community change\" (Ransom, 2006, p. 56)  (2020, p. 385). Yet, practically, multiple meanings and objectives can be found within a single endeavour (Cornwall, 2008), but as Cleaver remarks (1999, p. 597), it is much more difficult to provide evidence of success for the second goal of participation.The above still raises the question of how to enable such participation in policymaking and critically, how to assess its successes and shortcomings (Mansuri and Rao, 2012). In their analysis of citizen engagement, Gaventa and Barrett note that more than looking at participation from a normative perspective, it is critical to analyse \"the conditions under which it makes a positive difference\" (Gaventa andBarrett, 2012, p. 2408). Studies looking at participation in policymaking have generally focused on assessing it from a process or a content perspective with the former focusing on the proceedings leading to the proposed policy while the latter scrutinizes what is recorded in the policy itself (Ampaire et al., 2020).Scholars focusing on content have especially focused on discursive analysis, for instance, the ways gender issues are written in the policies (Ampaire et al., 2020). The two approachesprocess and content -are, however, not mutually exclusive as some have successfully combined both, arguing that taken together, they offer more information on the specific context within which policymaking takes place and participation will have an impact (Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013). In particular, Ferree and Gamson, focusing on gender in governing processes, differentiates an \"authority\" dimension, the \"gendering governance\" through participation in governance process from an \"autonomy\" dimension, the \"governance of gender\" conceptualized as \"the substantive outcomes of the decision-making process\" (2002, p. 35,36). Together, they form part of the empowerment of stakeholders for Krizsan and Lombardo (2013).Taking note of the literature on long-standing efforts to include gender considerations in policy-making yields valuable insights to consider to create an enabling environment for effective participation (Chen, 1995;Ampaire et al., 2016Ampaire et al., , 2020;;Farnworth et al., 2017). On the process side, scholars stress the need to pinpoint ahead of time women's groups or specific individuals that can push forward gender issues in climate policies as well as to ensure their involvement in early stages while strengthening capacities for effective participation (Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Mulema, Cramer and Huyer, 2021). Burns and Patouris's technical guide of the UNFCCC texts for the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), which focuses on entry points and gaps for gender-sensitive climate policies, is an example of a text aiming to prepare participants for a UN conference -in this case, COP20 in Peru ( 2014). Moreover, one should also take note of the extent to which women's groups and civil society groups are given sufficient authority during policymaking processes as well as pay attention to who exactly is involved (Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015). Capacities strengthening activities were also required to be needed for stakeholders involved in the policymaking process to build awareness (Chingarande et al., 2020;Mulema, Cramer and Huyer, 2021). This could mean targeting strategically well-positioned individuals and departments at different levels to ensure the need to consider gender and social inclusion issues is adequately recognized and lobbied for while ensuring that gender equality' complex and multifaceted aspects are adequately considered (IUCN, 2011;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Mulema, Cramer and Huyer, 2021).On the content side, scholars highlight the need for gender to be integrated into every policies' phases (Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Ampaire et al., 2020). The importance of a \"diagnostic phase\" in which the extent of what is known on gender inequalities is assessed is also stressed as well as assessing the national context and existing policy set-ups (IUCN, 2011;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015, p. 46;Huyer, 2016b). Chingarande et al.'s background paper on mainstreaming gender for adaptation planning also highlights the need for a gender analysis as the lack of data is reported as an important barrier for policymaking (2020). Likewise, gender equality should be explicitly stated in the aims and the document should refer to the current policy environment surrounding gender equality before making explicit policy implementation plans and allocation of resources with dedicated indicators, including sex-disaggregated ones (IUCN, 2011;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Huyer, 2016b).Ampaire's studies of gender integration in Uganda and Tanzania's climate policies also look at the budgeting for gender activities and associated monitoring as a way to evaluate how policies translated to impacts in the ground and the constraints to those (2020). This goes in line with the recognition that attention to the interlinkages between climate change and gender also \"necessitates efficient channelling of resources for successful interventions in the fields\" (Chanana-Nag and Aggarwal, 2020, p. 24). Krizsan and Lombardo point out the need to look at the quality of gender equality policies by focusing on the \"gendering\", looking at the ways gender is expressed throughout the document in question and the consequences for inequalities within a long term perspective (2013, p. 82). Ampaire et al.'s content analysis strikingly found that both genders were depicted as \"homogeneous groups delinked from other dimensions\" with women \"largely portrayed as marginalized and vulnerable without control over productive resources\" which has important effects for implementation (2020, p. 55). Other quality criteria proposed are the extent to which a structural understanding is included and inequalities are understood to be intersectional (Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013).Fast-growing in popularity in the environment research and planning space, participatory scenario planning often combines quantitative scenario modelling and qualitative narratives to explore different imagined futures in a way that encourages long-term and broader system thinking (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015;Pereira et al., 2021). Scenario planning exercises often bring together multiple stakeholders to develop scenarios and are growingly popular with governments seeking to think through uncertainties related to agriculture or food security in a changing climate (Wiebe et al., 2018). As participating stakeholders have a strong influence on the creation of the scenarios and their associated narratives, paying attention to the composition of the room is key (Wiebe et al., 2018;Pereira, Morrow, et al., 2021). A review by Oteros-Rozas et al. (2015) of 23 participatory scenario planning cases highlighted the strength of the approach in bringing together diverse stakeholders and facilitating a deeper understanding of socio-ecological systems and associated challenges, particularly in cases where workshops had been held at the local level and had involved historically marginalized groups. Selection of participants is often considered at the operationalisation stage of the process and is usually guided by the overall objectives of the scenario workshops which are noted to be mostly \"process-oriented\", seeking to empower participants, encourage innovation and social learning as well as integrating differentiated views and perceptions (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015, p. 2;Pereira et al., 2019). Yet, scholars have highlighted the challenges to involving an adequate diversity of participants and continuing that engagement over a longer time frame (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015, p. 9;Pereira et al., 2021). In particular, challenges regarding diversity were noted to be both the difficulty to engage with high-level stakeholders who are key to decision-making or possess high economic power and the difficulty to include marginalized groups with less authority, noting in particular gender imbalances (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015). Difficulties to engage with indigenous communities were also identified in some cases due to \"cultural barriers\" (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015, p. 9). The need to cater for and include contrasting views in the scenario building activities was highlighted with different methods brought forward to facilitate these at different scales (Pereira, Kuiper, et al., 2021). Yet, as Pereira et al. note, \"some form of power will inevitably enter into the convened space, including potential conflicts arising from pre-existing tensions or prejudices\", which points out the need to acknowledge historical bias and power relations, as well as ethical dilemmas, and reflect on those as they affect scenario processes (2019, p. 11).The above sections reviewed the ways participation in policy processes is understood and discussed in the literature, paying specific attention to the ways participatory processes have been evaluated and lessons have been drawn, including from efforts to integrate gender in environmental policies as well as diversity concerns in participatory scenario-guided processes. This literature feeds into the development of the framework used for this study.Yet, as Cornwall notes (2008, p. 276), full participation, while often claimed to be, is never fully possible, making the aim to be \"optimum participation\" with a focus on participation from a processual perspective for more social justice. Moreover, any attempts to assess successes and failures of participation needs to be grounded in an understanding of the specific context within which it occurred, otherwise running the risk of insufficiently recognising the extent of the progresses made (Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013). As the case studies are all future scenarios-guided policy formulation processes, the specificity of that format and its associated constraints also need to be acknowledged and considered in the analysis.The specific objectives of this framework are to ▪ Evaluate the degree of integration of gender and other social equity considerations within CCAFS scenario processes across all regions.▪ Compare successes and shortcomings between scenarios processes while taking into account specific contexts.▪ Learn from best practices while identifying gaps and opportunities for further integration.The following table give some indication on the variables considered for analysis. However, the material available for each case selected vary considerably. In some instances, the scenarios happened a few years ago which challenged retrieval of information as not all information is available for each case. The analysis thus follows a holistic approach which takes notes of the successes, and challenges to wider participation at the planning and implementation part, including the context for the selection of participants, facilitation team, methods used and outputs.Who was leading the selection of participants? What was the main goal of the scenario process? Were there strategies developed to push for inclusion of more diverse participants?Who facilitated the scenario workshops? Did the training of facilitators include a part on gender and social equity considerations? Were strategies put in place during the workshops to ensure efficient participation?Nb of women / % of participants Nb of representatives from women's organizations / % of participants Seniority/level of women participants? Nb of representatives from youth organizations / % of participants Nb of representatives from national organizations working on social inclusionWere social equity considerations explicitly prioritised in this scenario process? If yes, which ones were centred?Extent to which gender considerations were considered within scenarios, recommendations from the workshop, targets, budget allocation Extent to which youth specific considerations were considered within scenarios, recommendations from the workshop, targets, budget allocation Extent to which socio-economic disparities related issues were considered within scenarios, recommendations from the workshop, targets, budget allocation Extent to which disabilities related issues were considered within scenarios, recommendations from the workshop, targets, budget allocation Extent to which geographical disparities were considered within scenarios, recommendations from the workshop, targets, budget allocation Intersectionality of factors considered? Portrayal of gender issues?Drawing from (IUCN, 2011;Krizsan and Lombardo, 2013;Gumucio and Rueda, 2015;Howland, Le Coq and Acosta, 2019)  Adapted for the scenario-guided policy formulation workshops from the grading system developed by (Gumucio and Rueda, 2015, p. 47;Ampaire et al., 2020, p. 48)To apply this framework, a first round of exploratory interviews was conducted with the CCAFS team leaders in all regions to identify the cases to consider and documents available on the scenario processes. The documents were then reviewed before conducting a second round of interviews with the CCAFS team leaders and additional members of the CCAFS team to discuss the cases more in details.Qualitative interviews with individuals from the CCAFS scenario team in all regions were done in English using online communication tools, namely Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The interviews were recorded and afterwards transcribed. The interviews focused on discussing the context of each scenario processes selected for analysis, including factors that weighted in for the selection of participants, organization of the workshops and methods used. The interviews also aimed to provide some space for reflections on successes and challenges surrounding the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations in scenario processes. Some of the scenario processes were done a few years ago which sometimes challenged recollection of specificities.As each scenario process was unique, the output documents and information gathered varied significantly from case to case. In some cases, information on the gender of participants was directly collected while in other it was not. In the latter case, genderize.io was used to assess the gender of participants based on the first names. Genderize.io 1 has been used in multiple studies and rely on frequency to assert the likelihood of a name being more likely to be associated with women or men. Unfortunately, this also means that a margin of error is likely. For the categorization of organization, only national organization who presented a clear upfront goal towards addressing gender and social inclusion issues were categorized in the \"national organizations working on social inclusion\". Unfortunately, the age of participants was often not retrievable.The content analysis part is based on analysing the output documents for each scenario process, firstly considering the national scenarios refined and used before looking at the recommendations made on that basis for the policy under discussion. In cases where the scenario process was seen as having heavily played a role in the formulation of a specific policy, the policy was also analysed but its results are marked with * in the result table to indicate that while linked to the scenario process, it is the actual policy that is being reviewed and limited inferences can be made to the extent that the scenario process influenced the final text on these specific elements. The first table in each section clarifies the documents consulted. Following Table 2 and the adapted grading system, each scenario process was scored. The results table also detail on the way that gender and social inclusion considerations were referred to as it allows for synthesis on the ways these issues are presented across and between the cases.In line with the understanding of gender adopted for this study, this study recognises gender as being more than sex and being men or women but as comprehending diverse identities and sexual orientations as well as the \"social norms, attitudes and activities that society deems more appropriate for one sex over another\" (Nhamo and Nhamo, 2018, p. 5).However, for the purpose of analysis and based on the data available which does not allow to incorporate in depth reflections on the attention paid to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual and other identities (LGBTQA+), this study considers gender in a mostly limited way. For instance, when assessing the integration of gender in participation, the genderize.io tool identify participants as women and men only and is not based on participants' own self-identification. Similarly, almost none of the scenario processes touch on LGBTQA+ issues in content and this must be understood in the contexts of the countries in which these workshops took place as most do not allow for open discussions on and integration of diverse gender identities. A notable exception is the case of Costa Rica as is further presented in the results section.In Latin America, five scenario-guided policy formulation processes were selected for analysis. Table 3 presents these scenarios workshops, giving more information on their primary purpose, the context, selection of participants, facilitation team and main documents considered for the analysis of each scenario process.Across all cases in the CCAFS Latin America region, the workshops were used to review policies or planning documents in the preparatory stage. While four national scenario-guided policy formulation processes and one regional process are considered further for analysis, the regional scenarios created in 2013 for Central America laid the ground for future work in the region by introducing the future scenarios methods to many national stakeholders, building relationships, and deciding on overarching themes at the regional level through the creation of regional scenarios. The regional scenario process focused on the future of agriculture, considering dynamics related to climate change, food security, the environment, and livelihoods. The regional scenarios for Central America were then used during the workshops held at national levels and for the one for the SICA region, adjusting the scope to the countries or regional context and to the variables addressed in the policy to stir discussions and reviews of the proposed policy in each country and for the SICA region. The regional scenarios thus also already set an agenda on several topics, some relevant for the consideration of gender and social inclusion issues, for instance by putting the distribution of wealth among the four drivers of change considered or by pointing out the possible role of the large scale corporations appropriating natural resources and increasing inequalities and raising the issue of marginalized communities not being much included in decision-making.  As the above table presents, only two workshops, the 2016 SICA CSA policy workshop and the 2020 Costa Rica NDC workshop, had an equal number of men and women participating in the process while two were in the 30% range and one with less than 10% of women participants. For the SICA CSA scenario-guided policy formulation process, participants were representatives from the region, from ministries of agriculture and environment working in climate change as well as from technical groups focusing on climate change and risk management working under the SICA structure. CCAFS had an active role in the selection of participants thanks to its continued involvement in the SICA policy development process.The development of the Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy also included online consultations after the scenarios workshop with multiple stakeholders across the region. The other four scenario workshops were organized at the demand of specific ministries in Honduras and Costa Rica and based on topics related to agriculture and/or climate change.They did not comport an explicit focus on gender and social inclusion issues. As the impulse to organize these future scenarios workshops was demand-led to review or accompany a policy process, the different ministries primarily led and decided on participants selection.This can make it difficult for participants to be included beyond the main stakeholders first identified by the governments' ministries or departments and impacts the diversity of participants present during the workshops. The CCAFS team nonetheless reflects that it always strives to stir towards wider inclusion by reviewing in advance and suggesting improvements on the participants lists shared by the ministries, advancing the argument that more diverse participation results in better policies.In some cases, stakeholders from the government explicitly desired to include specific groups such as in the case of the review of the SAG strategy in Honduras, where the Ministry of Agriculture wished to include smallholder farmers in the future scenario workshop to ensure the policy would address their needs. This could explain why this process scores higher than the others regarding the presence of representatives from national organizations working on social inclusion issues. The CCAFS team also noted that it was easier to include women's organization as the workshop happened at the local level. For the 2020 enhancement process of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Costa Rica, there was an explicit wish from the NDC team to facilitate wider participation from the beginning. In this case, the planning and implementation of the workshops coincided with growing consciousness of rising social inequalities in the country, highlighted especially during the COVID19 pandemic. This was instrumental in expanding considerably participation with youth, activists, elderly, and indigenous groups in the NDC enhancement process. CCAFS also supports financially when needed, and depending on the funding available, transport or accommodation for participants to attend the workshop as was the workshops. In the case of the 2020 NDC enhancement process in Costa Rica, a consultant on gender issues was hired by the NDC team to help plan and facilitate the integration of gender and social inclusion during the workshops. Initially, the idea was to add specific drivers of change with gender and social inclusion elements to the scenario creation process, but this was abandoned due to lack of time:\"What she did in the end was that in every group that she participated she would always ask things that were related to gender so \"what does this mean for women\" or \"what does this mean for youth\", how do you imagine them in this scenario\" (CCAFS team, LAM region, personal communication, June 22, 2021) During the workshops themselves, participants are also divided into smaller groups decided in advance to represent a variety of stakeholders. However, gender and social inclusion concerns are not necessarily the main criteria when deciding on the groups composition as diversity of stakeholders was mainly considered in terms of activity, for instance ensuring to mix representatives from different government ministries and department, universities, or from the private sector. Moreover, while many efforts are made to open the workshops to diverse stakeholders not usually involved in decision-making such as indigenous groups in Latin America, the structure of the workshops themselves, being held for long hours in hotel rooms for instance, might not be what specific groups are used to which can limit their capacity to meaningfully take part. For the 2020 Costa Rica INDC enhancement process, separate consultation with elderly and indigenous groups was necessary due to the virtual set up for all sessions.Level of integration of gender and social inclusion in content Results from the above table show that while most scenarios documents mentioned gender, youth, and social disparities, these references remain mostly at a superficial level with few specific indicators or targets decided on and written in the outputs considered, with the 2020 Costa Rica NDC enhancement process a notable exception. Geographical disparities were the most often mentioned with all cases referring to agroecological differences and consideration of rural-urban dynamics. For the Honduras case, the location of the workshop, in Choluteca, one of Honduras' regions most vulnerable to climate change, and presence of smallholders' farmers and agronomy students might be an element of explanation regarding the medium to high consideration of youth, geographical and social disparities in the scenarios and outputs.Interestingly, generational dynamics with references to the youth were more likely to be mentioned than gender dynamics in two cases, the 2015 Honduras and the 2017 Costa Rica workshops. In the 2015 Costa Rica NDC enhancement process, references to youth issues were also absent while the cases of the 2016/2017 SICA workshop and the 2020 Costa Rica NDC process considered both. Most references to youth were linked to the need for training and capacity building. Specific attention to issues related to people living with disabilities was missing in all but one scenario process.The Costa Rica 2020 NDC enhancement process is the one scoring the highest for all categories, reflecting its high consideration of gender and social inclusion issues. The NDC policy document is the only output which considers intersectionality of social positions as well as take a non-binary approach to gender by referring explicitly to sexually diverse populations and rights of transgender. It also considers persons living with disabilities and presents disaggregated data -as well as plan for the collection of the same. The NDC also clearly mentions and aligns with existing policy framework for gender, youth and climate change for instance mentioning the fore coming Action Plan for Gender Equality and Change Climate. While the final document presents some lead in setting aside a budget, it does not yet contain a specific budget line for each target set out and concludes that more resources are needed for implementation which is why the grade of 4 was not fully given in this case.▪ The demand driven rationale for setting up the workshops complicates the capacity to influence selection of participants, especially towards including non-governmental groups and individuals.▪ Diversity in participants is often considered in terms of sectors and not necessarily following gender / social inclusion criteria.▪ Lack of time is often the major factor in preventing the in depth exploration of gender and social inclusion issues during the scenario workshops, this result in superficial consideration in most output documents.▪ Many efforts are made towards including more diverse stakeholders, mainly towards facilitating inclusive discussions during the workshops themselves through multiple methods aimed at creating space for different stakeholders to express themselves even with unequal power relations between actors.▪ Specific prompts on gender and social inclusion issues during the discussions are instrumental in pushing for the consideration of these issues across several themes.▪ Separate side processes can help engage diverse stakeholders in different ways such as with elderly people in the case of the 2020 INDC enhancement process which was done online.In West Africa, three scenario-guided policy formulation processes were considered for analysis (see Table 6). As was the case with the CCAFS Latin America region, the CCAFS regional scenarios developed at a regional level for Western Africa, developed between 2010 and 2012 during four workshops, provided the basis for the national level scenarios workshops which were then adapted for each country. The regional scenarios already set out two main questions to be considered, namely on the actors driving the change and the time priority of policies for thinking through food security, environments, and livelihoods issues. While two of the scenario processes considered used the scenario approach with the aim to review and update existing policies -considering new challenges and opportunitiessuch as the Burkina Faso's national plan for the rural sector and the Niger's Livestock Policy, the scenario process in Ghana was used to review a new policy for the livestock sector in its final stage of development.  or civil society. The CCAFS team for Western Africa pointed out that special emphasis is often put on getting stakeholders from different departments to broaden the scope of reflections for the policy under discussion, encouraging systems thinking. Efforts were also made towards including more marginalized groups representing smallholders, women, or youth, but in practice, the CCAFS team reflected that often, there is little permanent presence in the countries itself and the selection of participants often relied on the existing network developed by the government or other CG centres. This usually leads to more representation from government bodies and less so from civil society organizations, including marginalized groups. For instance, the scenario process in Ghana was noted to build on the Science-Policy platform established with mostly participants from government and academia. In contexts where there are more long-standing relations established with the government, it can also be easier to push further the government to send more women participants to the workshop as a team member reflected that he was able to joke to a department he had worked with for a long time that he would cancel the event if they did not diversify the participants list more. Time constraints were also noted to further restrict more attention to the participants lists, especially in instances where the use of scenario processes was more opportunistic.Similarly to the Latin America scenario processes, the workshops in West Africa used diverse methods to facilitate effective participation such as individual brainstorming on post-its before coming together in small group discussions. The facilitation was mostly CCAFS led with collaborations from partners. The CCAFS team noted that a lack of time for the training of the facilitation team also meant that the trainings were focused mainly on explaining future thinking and the methods used. In some cases such as the Burkina Faso workshop, the CCAFS team reflected that they had also try to encourage active participation from the few women participants during the workshops for instance by giving them an active role in the breakout groups to try to bring out different perspectives.Nonetheless, specific prompts during the workshops led to better consideration of gender and social inclusion issues. In the case of Ghana, the workshop facilitation team specifically prompted participants to think through the implications of the scenario developed for each of Ghana's regions, using of a map to make participants pinpoint the geography of the developments mentioned and think through cross-scale dynamics. Moreover, during the scenarios' adaptation, participants were also prompted to think through five broad contextual developments which included socio-economic and demographic developments as well as culture, norms, and values, which often led to discussions on gender, youth, and social inequalities.\"These are scenarios about broad societal changes which could happen in the coming decades so we take into account political developments, socio-economic developments, ecological developments, and of course climate change, but also developments in terms of values and rights, like changing diet can also be part of a scenario. That's also one of the rationales behind using the scenarios approach, we use contextual explorative scenarios we can broaden the scope\" (CCAFS team, WA region, personal communication, July 8, 2021)Interestingly, the CCAFS team noted that in some instances, age of participants also played an important role in power dynamics during workshops with seniority of participants weighting heavily on discussions. As the invitations for participation go first to high-level stakeholders, this tends to lead to more senior participants unless they designate younger experts to come. More recent workshops, such as the Niger one, were noted to have included more outspoken youthful voices, maybe prompted by the higher number of representatives from national organizations working on social inclusion. As can be seen in Table 8, gender, youth, social and geographical disparities were often mentioned but few recommendations comported explicit targets. In the CCAFS West Africa region, references to social and geographical inequalities centred mostly on access to resources, including land while cross cutting issues emphasised capacity building and collaboration between actors and levels.The Burkina Faso process brought forward detailed attention with multiple targets towards gender and social inclusion in the final policy. However, in the case of Burkina Faso, it seems that the use of a worst case scenario made participants more willing to focus on factors viewed as more directly threatening compared to gender equality which was qualified as a low priority for the short term. In the case of the Ghana and Niger scenario processes, the influence of the prompts on contextual development are visible as both scenario processes refer to cultural and social change and thinking through impacts on women and youth.However, this did not translate into specific recommendations for the policy.None of the scenarios considered the intersectionality of factors with women and youth being used as definite categories with less exploration of intersectional social differentiation such as differentiated access to land for pastoral women and men. People living with disabilities were not considered in all scenarios.The CCAFS team pointed out that the format of the scenarios, building on an existing policy, also restricted the scope or manoeuvre:\"The new adapted updated policy based on the scenarios recommendations is very much in line in terms of content with the original version of the policy so if there is a paragraph about climate smart agriculture, it is still going to be about climate smart agriculture in the end, but it is informed by the lessons learnt from the scenarios based exercise but, of course, sometimes it adds elements but not that often\" (CCAFS team, WA region, personal communication, July 8, 2021)The Ghanaian proposed policy did comport already an explicit section on gender inequality which considered women, youth and people living with disabilities, but the scenario process did not lead to discussions on that section or improvements on the same as other areas of the policy were under focus.▪ Reliance on the network of governments and CG centres often leads to more participants from government bodies and related organizations and less representation from civil society organizations.▪ Diversity in participants is often considered in terms of sectors and not necessarily following gender / social inclusion criteria.▪ Lack of dedicated time is the biggest hindering factor to further integration.▪ Use of worst case scenarios with multiple threats can make participants classify gender equality as low priority in comparison.▪ Issues pertinent to people living with disabilities were not considered during the scenario processes.▪ Specific prompts towards considering geographical disparities or contextual developments associated with the scenarios developed were instrumental in bringing forward gender and social inclusion issues.▪ When scenarios refer to gender and social inclusion issues, one could prompt further to elicit recommendations on the same for the policies.In the CCAFS East Africa region, two scenario processes were selected for further analysis, the scenario process to review the Tanzania's Environmental Policy and the scenario process surrounding the Rwandan Livestock Plan (see Table 9). As for the other regions, the national scenario processes built on the regional scenarios created this time for East Africa which had brought forward two main drivers of change with high uncertainty to be considered, namely the level of regional integration and mode of governance. Both scenario processes inscribed themselves within longer projects meant to bring stakeholders together to influence policies around the environment, agriculture, and climate change. For the Rwanda scenario process, women participants represented 13.89% of the total attendees. The CCAFS team noted that wider participation also depended on governments'willingness to invite stakeholders from other sectors, including the civil society, which was sometimes complicated in this region. Lack of time and reliance on existing networks further played into the participants selection. Age and seniority were also noted to have played a big role in shaping power dynamics during the workshop, even if more recent process had more youthful voices.Similarly to the scenario processes in the CCAFS WA region, the scenario process in Rwanda invited participants to think through broader contextual development, mainly political and institutional developments, socio-economic and demographic developments, culture, norms and values, technological developments and science, natural resources and ecological developments. For the Tanzania workshop which based itself on a draft policy which was quite broad already, small groups were made with each group looking at different aspects of the policy with gender being an explicit category in one of the groups. The groups then refined the East Africa regions scenarios to the Tanzanian context and explored how the categories under each policy axis would fit within each scenario, this allowed for more detailed attention to different themes and their possible implications, including to some extent ones relevant to gender and social inclusion. In the CCAFS East Africa region, all scenarios mentioned issues relevant to gender and social inclusion, but this mostly did not translate into specific recommendations for the policies.Capacity building was emphasized across in both cases.Interestingly, while gender issues in particular, women's access to resources, were mentioned in the scenarios developed for Tanzania, the output document does not comport explicit recommendations on gender. However, the earlier references comport an instance which considers both men and women labour roles, thus taking an approach to gender that sees it not only as a woman's issue but considering the household dynamics. The recommendations across for social inclusion issues remain quite limited with no explicit targets or indicators. The Tanzanian scenarios comport an explicit reference to a specific group of livestock keepers which are due to be very affected by climate change's negative impacts, namely the Maasais, with some text on possibility for livelihood diversification.Issues related to people living with disabilities remain unconsidered in both scenario processes for East Africa.For Rwanda, the adapted scenarios were then used to think through the different value chains for each types of livestock considered in the Livestock Master Plan and associated animal products. This meant the focus was more on the technologies and regulating policies surrounding animal health, feeds, etc with few considerations of gender and social inclusion issues. Similarly, there are few explicit recommendations or priorities set with the ones present remaining quite broad such as the recommendation to improve gender integration.▪ Wider inclusion of participants is constrained by governments' willingness, time available and exiting networks drawn from.▪ While gender and social inclusion elements are found in the scenarios, explicit and targeted recommendations on the same are missing.▪ Issues pertinent to people living with disabilities are not considered.Opportunities ▪ Integration of gender issues which consider relational household level dynamics, both men and women.▪ Using contextual developments prompts during refinements of the scenarios, for instance on socio-economic and demographic developments, can stir discussions towards gender and social inclusion issues.In South East Asia, three scenario processes were selected for analysis (see Table 12). One of these scenario processes, the 2014/2015 Cambodia review of the action plan for agriculture followed the usual format of using contextualized regional scenarios to the country's context In South East Asia, regional scenarios were developed from 2013 with 65 participants from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos taking part in the process. A regional workshop to develop the qualitative scenarios considering food security, environment and livelihood dynamics was held in November 2013 with 30 participants in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. CCAFS also conducted a stakeholder analysis, trying to map actors with influence, policymakers, agents of change and knowledge brokers in the region on topics related to climate smart agriculture. During the regional workshop, multiple drivers of change were decided upon -with 4 main ones considered as priority drivers of changes being markets, enforcement capacity and regional collaboration, agricultural investment and land degradation through land use change -but also pushed participants to consider additional factors of change, including the gap between the poor and the rich as well as gender equality which stirred discussions towards gender and social inclusion. Moreover, the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) took part in the regional workshop which set the scene for more collaboration with an arrangement decided during that time for a national workshop in Cambodia to review the draft action plan for agriculture.  As noted in the context section for SEA, the scenario process in Cambodia with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) followed the regional workshop as participants wished to use the future thinking methods to review and test the action plan for agriculture (CCPAP) that was already drafted. The collaboration took place over a period of nine months with the refining of the regional scenarios to Cambodia's context. However, the CCPAP was intended from the start as a document setting priorities and budget lines for action items before seeking funding for the different priority areas from donors. This context is important to understand as it shaped the process, including participation, as there was the wish keep consultations more internal to avoid some degree of external influence in the settings of priorities.For the Cambodia climate change action plan, the number of women participating in the workshop was quite limited. The CCAFS team also noted that while representatives from the women and social affairs departments are often invited, there are few instances where a representative came and, the representative often tended to be junior. In the Cambodian case, most of the women participants were junior with only one holding a more senior position. Nonetheless, the process helped to start developing a relationship with the Women Affairs department which sent a representative -the interest coming from the fact that the department of Women Affairs also had to develop a climate strategy at the time. Funding was mentioned as a major constraint to get more organizations to participate. Organizations invited also had to be approved by governments. In the Cambodia case, the CCAFS team also reflected that the high turnover of civil servants can also hinder the building of strong relationships over time. This was noted to be less the case in Lao People's DemocraticRepublic as the civil servants remain the same due to the different political set up.For the training with the Parliamentary Institute of Cambodia (PIC) for climate parliamentary diplomacy to the COP, the government departments selected candidates, but CCAFS could also input on the list provided by bringing forward some selection criteria. The latter were more towards minimum qualifications than gender and social inclusion issues but as participants were more from the technical side, being the people in charge of developing briefing and speeches as well as organizing meetings for senior executives, there tended to be more representation from women and younger people. The CCAFS team noted that as participants were also roughly from the same age category, interactions were easy and some of the dynamics for gender and social inclusion came up more easily -especially with more women in the room. Ongoing processes within governments were also sometimes favourable to bringing forward issues of gender and social inclusion. The CCAFS team noted that when the COP training for parliamentarians in Cambodia happened, the government had been working closely on gender issues for a year to align with international frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Lao's PDR, the participants were government officers only as well as the scenario process also took the shape of a training with sessions dedicated to introducing the scenario approach before different developing sets of scenarios. In total, 16 scenarios were created before discussing impact pathways related to the vision for the agricultural sector. The CCAFS team noted that there were specific prompts to stir discussions of geographical impacts for each scenario with participants identifying green, yellow and red zones for impacts and focusing on targeted crops. This was also thanks to a close partnership with the modelling and climate insight team but also largely due to more time -and funding -being available for this specific scenario process which took place over a period of two months and a half in total. This allowed to explore deeper some topics as well with \"cultural and gender context\" being considered as one of the axes for one of the set of scenarios.\"Being able to have that two months of kind of flexibility and readjusting the different material all the time with the different questions and being sure that we were not forgetting some of the aspects and being sure that we were responding as well to some of the needs, that was really good. Because when you do a training on three or four days, you just have the mission to do what you had planned. But when you have that kind of space and time, you can reformulate, you can integrate. And the participant itself have that time to digest.Come back with their own question. Come back with their own things. At that time factor is just it's really a luxury.\" (CCAFS team, SEA region, personal communication, September 10,In the Cambodia CCPAP case and the Lao People's Democratic Republic review of the vision for the agricultural sector, the team in SEA also used role plays as a way of shifting power dynamics in the room and encourage different stakeholders to join in. Role plays were also used in the capacity development activities with the trainees for the COP as negotiation is a key part of the COP processes. The CCAFS team also noted that the strength of the future thinking approach is also to make participants think of the future in a way that take away the responsibility of the present:\"Some of the stakeholders were divided into groups of key stakeholders of change in the agricultural sector. So some of them will have to act as farmers. Some of them will have to act as the policy makers. Some of them as private sector agents as well, and because of that, there was that kind of safe place because everyone had a different role, and everyone will take the place of someone else in a future that no one owns. It was taking that kind of exercise in such a light way for them to deresponsibilize the way they are thinking about the future so that they can actually be creative about the future.\" (CCAFS team, SEA region, personal communication, September 10, 2021) The CCPAP scenario process in Cambodia was also unique in bringing forward a detailed budget per action points, many related to gender, with the team reflecting on the importance to probe on these questions:\"Well, I think it was to really start about asking the question of what the world will look like with more gender sensitive agricultural practices and better access to agriculture related technology or innovations. It is important to bring those four sets of scenarios to test different pathways and understand them from the inside.\" (CCAFS team, SEA region, personal communication, September 10, 2021) Creating the space for inclusive participation during the workshops themselves as well as active probing is key but can be challenging in context where there is less knowledge of existing power dynamics. The team leader noted that due to more knowledge on Cambodia's culture and Cambodian language skills, it was slightly easier to comprehend and work within the local context. Similarly, to West and East Africa, age and seniority were also noted to play an important role with difficulty for younger people to contradict older established colleagues. The CCAFS team reflected that it became easier in recent years to bring forward more integrated and comprehensive gender and social inclusion issues due to regional and international framework and booming national gender policies.▪ Time, funding available and governments' aims restrict the scope of manoeuvre for participation and inclusion of topics.▪ It remains difficult to invite women participants and especially to have women in senior positions.▪ Turnover in government staff can make it difficult to continue building strong relationship and capacity.▪ Issues pertinent to people living with disabilities were not considered.▪ Scenario processes that take place over a longer period of time provide more opportunities and the flexibility to explore gender and social inclusion issues.▪ Sessions with participants of similar age and background make it easier to bring out these issues.▪ Role plays and effective prompts can help to level the playing field for effective participation and bring out issues.In South Asia, two scenarios were considered for analysis (see Table 15). The first one, held in 2014, fed directly into a policy formulation process, namely of the 7 th Five Year Plan for Bangladesh. The second scenario process, the Zero Hunger, Zero Emission (ZHZE) was not directly linked to a policy but aimed at bringing different groups together in conversation.For the Zero Hunger / Zero Emissions workshops, new scenarios were developed for Bangladesh with two main axes were decide upon, namely the type of governance system and the type of environmental management. scenario processes succeeded in bringing together different groups to develop new scenarios for Bangladesh and compare their alignment with current policies on climate change and food security over the course of two workshops and one learning event. For this, separate side processes were also planned for with four consultations with various community groups. In particular, there were conversations with youth groups, including students. Representatives from the youth groups also took part in the main workshops but care had been taken beforehand to record the concerns expressed in the side consultations meetings and present them during the second workshop to ensure that those would be taken into account even with high power differential:\"We did the separate two-day residential consultations with the youth group for the Zero Hunger Zero Emissions scenarios and that was extremely successful. We then invited representatives from that group to come to the main process, so we knew what they wanted to feed into the main process already, even if they weren't completely comfortable invoicing all their concerns or didn't have the time and space to do it at the main process. It's important that we factor in time and space for these various groups.\" (CCAFS team, SA region, personal communication, November 30, 2021) In this context, the CCAFS team also emphasized the need for the CCAFS facilitators to act as a bridge and work on the language and format to bring different stakeholders together. In the case of the Zero Hunger / Zero Emissions, the process of reaching out and organizing consultations was also facilitated by a partnership with Oxfam Great Britain and Oxfam Bangladesh who could draw on their networks and understanding of gender and social inclusion to organize the side meetings. The CCAFS team pointed out that this partnership was especially instrumental in keeping the focus on inclusivity amid competing priorities for the workshop due to limited time and a small organizing team.Similar to other CCAFS regions, the CCAFS team in South Asia reflected that over time, addressing and including these concerns had also become easier. Lessons have also been learnt surrounding the scenario processes with more attention and care put into the selection of participants for greater gender and social inclusion. This also came from the increased awareness that earlier scenario processes had not been as open as is needed for inclusive future planning. 7 Only refers to the scenarios developed and associated narratives.For the Zero Hunger / Zero emission scenario workshop, several breakout groups were made with specific points to consider, several being relevant to gender and social inclusion issues such as prompts to consider implications for the poor and marginalized and for youth groups or civil society. The scenario narratives also point out the needs to think through several elements on gender, youth, socio-economic and geographical disparities. The elements on gender include the consideration of women's role in processes of change linked to low carbon transitions with cross-sectional issues emphasizing the need for broader participation in decision-making. There is no integration of issues relevant to people living with disabilities.▪ Lack of time, funding, and human resources constraints the capacity to take into account gender and social inclusion consideration.▪ Invitations to participate going to higher-level stakeholders means a skewed distribution with few women and young people invited.▪ Issues pertinent to people living with disabilities were not considered.▪ Separate side consultations which then feed into the main workshop can help bring forward diverse voices even with high power differential.▪ Collaborations with organizations focused on gender and social organization can help to reach out and plan for consultations of different groupsAcross all regions, gender and social inclusion issues were not the main focus of the scenario processes and were not explicitly considered during the planning and implementation of the scenario processes. This was identified as the main obstacle towards integration by the CCAFS team. However, many efforts were made to push for wider participation and to level the playing field during the workshop themselves by using different methods and formats to create a safe space for effective participation. To stir for more inclusion in the content, including social and cultural issues in the drivers of changes considered while creating scenarios, probing for geographical impacts, engaging in side consultations and longer term engagement, was also instrumental in bringing out some considerations of gender and social inclusion in the outputs.As the results section highlight, only two scenario processes reached gender parity, the 2016 SICA CSA scenario-guided policy formulation process and the 2020 INDC enhancement process in Costa Rica. Another process was in the 40 to 50% range, one in the 30 to 40%, four were in the 20% to about 30% range of female attendees and four had less than 20% of attendees being women. There was also limited engagement with national and local women's groups as well as marginalized groups, although some cases such as the Honduras' participatory review of the SAG strategy had considerable representation of smallholder farmers. This can be explained by the fact that the CCAFS team primarily pushed for inclusion of different departments, sectors, and actors with perhaps, less attention to gender and social inclusion considerations. Likewise, limited planning time across all regions was noted to be the biggest hindering factor as some scenarios were opportunistic, working on a government's timeline and joined in at different stages of the policy development. The high time and energy cost of participatory scenario planning has been noted in the literature as a key challenge (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015). As most scenario processes are demand led by governments, it was also noted to be complicated to push for wider participation with limits to how much can be pushed for in some contexts, especially when policy makers do not wish to discuss policy content with a wider audience. The CCAFS team often used the efficiency argument, bringing forward that more diverse participation leads to better policy and the need for broad system thinking. Longer presence in the country and familiarity with the country's context from the CCAFS team can also facilitate this process as it fosters longer engagements with better knowledge of stakeholders and understanding of power dynamics.Beyond inviting diverse participants, members of the team also stressed the difficulty to have some groups join in. In some cases, it was noted to depend on the civil society/government relations at the time of the workshop as some participants from nongovernmental organizations might not feel that their participation would matter enough to come. In some cases, groups less used to policy-making spaces, such as indigenous groups, might also not feel comfortable with the settings. For instance, the use of specific technical terms commonly employed in policy spaces was noted to constrain effective participation in Belfer et al.'s (2019) analysis of the participation of indigenous groups in UNFCCC policy making processes. Relying on existing networks, as was the case in all regions, also means the key participants identified are often very demanded, such as was noted to happen for representatives of indigenous groups in Latin America. This might make them less willing to engage or reduce their availability. In other contexts, the democratic space is more restricted with important power dynamics, and it can be difficult to invite people beyond the choices made by the government. Facilitating effective participation from younger people is also often uneasy in climate policies (Thew, 2018;Kosciulek, 2020). Accordingly, several CCAFS team members felt that age and seniority in a given position were important power dynamics to consider during the workshops with few outspoken youths. It was also noted to be difficult to get women in senior roles to take part in the process while engaging with younger technical staff led to more gender balance in South East Asia.Limited time for the training of facilitators prior to a workshop meant that the training of facilitators was focused on the future methods and did not address gender and social inclusion issues as many noted that the thinking behind the futures approach is already complex to grasp in a short time. While gender parity in facilitators was noted to be often doable, in countries with less permanent CCAFS presence, it was more difficult to get local facilitators who might understand better the national context. However, in some cases, facilitators were from governmental bodies partnered with when there were staff very interested in the process and open to feedback on the draft policy under review. This fosters better engagement with key stakeholders but could also reinforce power relations in the room and prevent participation of some. The literature on scenario processes notes the trade-offs to consider between insider and outsider status of facilitators (Pereira et al., 2019). Nonetheless, the trainings across regions emphasized the need to foster inclusive participation, looking out for people not speaking much and trying different ways to open discussions such as individual writing on post-its, changing groups, or using role plays to disrupt power relations in the case of South East Asia. In one case in Latin America, a hired consultant focused on gender and social inclusion was instrumental in bringing a more detailed focus on these issues, especially by moving around groups and probing on the impacts for women and youth. In the case of the Zero Hunger / Zero Emission workshop in Bangladesh, the partner, Oxfam, had expertise in these topics and could also push for inclusion before and during the meetings. As the CCAFS team reflected that often someone moves around sharing findings from the quantitative models to the small groups to enrich discussions, the same could also be planned for questions surrounding gender and social inclusion. Thinking through and integrating different ways to communicate with diverse stakeholders around future scenario processes, for instance through art and other creative activities, has also been suggested in the literature (Oteros-Rozas et al., 2015;Pereira, Kuiper, et al., 2021).Members of the CCAFS team also noted that the emphasis on the future itself and not on current events also provide the space for more freedom of expression which is key as in some instances, participants were more used to working with models and quantitative data and seeing these as drivers of decision-making and were then less comfortable with qualitative scenarios and inclusive participatory processes. Focusing on exploring broader societal changes associated with each scenario was also instrumental in bringing out some consideration of gender and social inclusion as it pushed participants in some cases to reflect on changing societal norms, especially when it was directly put as a key driver to be considered. However, in the case of Burkina Faso, the focus on a scenario that brought forward many threatening elements also made the participants see gender equality as less important in comparison. Finding ways to make it relevant across and not just as a separate section is a key challenge.The COVID19 pandemic made it necessary to move some processes online which led to wider participation and inclusion. In the case of Latin America, the 2020 NDC process was done mostly online and enabled including a wider range of participants, including through some side processes which were more efficient in bringing in certain groups such as elderly and indigenous groups. The continuing pandemic had also highlighted important gender and social inequalities concerns that the participants were keen to address. The experience in Costa Rica suggests that side processes could be used more widely to include different and often marginalized groups in reviewing the policies such as indigenous, LGTBQA+ or elderly, as it allows for consultations. This does not imply that these groups must be in the same room as very powerful actors and comply with formal meetings rules. In South East Asia, online training sessions were set up over an extended period of time during the coronavirus pandemic. This meant more time to explore some topics, refine the approach and foster a conducive working environment. This might be more difficult to implement in non-pandemic times, but the approach over time allowed for more capacity strengthening and empowerment of participants, especially as the COP training was held with younger staff.These two elements, side processes and longer engagement, could be instrumental in moving beyond the efficiency argument for inclusion towards facilitating \"equity and empowerment\", making participation a way to empower often marginalized groups.Finally, to some extent, addressing and prompting on these issues during the workshops also depends on the sensitivity of the facilitators in each region. Some felt it was not their area of expertise or focus while others reflected that they had tried in different ways to integrate these concerns. One of the facilitators reflected that it is sometimes easier as a woman to bring up these issues in some contexts, being almost expected as normal for a woman to care about gender inequalities and discuss it in ways that might be more difficult for men. In several instances, the facilitators across regions also reflected that it was easier to prompt for social inclusion issues than gender issues as the former already comes up very strongly in many cases, for instance surrounding indigenous groups in Latin America or pastoralists in West and East Africa. However, some members of the team also pointed out that gender issues have become easier to talk about in recent years compared to a few years ago due to the international context and different national contexts that fostered a conducive environment as was the case in Lao PDR where the national government had spent a year with a task force working on gender equality.▪ Gender parity in participation was achieved in only one scenario process. Targeting high level stakeholders can mean less women in positions to be invited while reliance on existing networks can limit the knowledge and inclusion of stakeholders beyond academia and governments.▪ Limited time for planning as well as governments' willingness to extend invitations to a broader and more diverse audience were noted as key constraints across all regions.▪ Longer presence in the country and familiarity with each country's context can help to push for wider inclusion.▪ Side processes can also be an effective way to include often marginalised communities in different ways. Longer engagement over time gives more flexibility to choose topics to address and to bring in different groups.▪ Different methods such as role plays, visual prompts or active probing were useful in levelling up the playing field during the workshops and pushing for the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations.▪ As the scenario approach is complex, it was noted to be difficult to have the time to train the facilitators on gender and social inclusion. Facilitators are nonetheless key to facilitating discussions and can prompt for the integration of gender and social inclusion issues.▪ Collaboration with experts on gender and social inclusion can bring valuable expertise to the team.Across all regions, issues related to geographical disparities and to some extent, social inequalities, were the most likely to be mentioned and reported on in the outputs.Rural/urban dynamics often came out very strongly, mirroring the considerable issues for the agricultural sector of labour force migration to urban areas in many countries. Several scenario processes actively probed using maps such as in West Africa which was instrumental to get detailed explanations of differentiated geographical impacts envisioned in each scenario and for the eventual policy.Gender and youth issues often came up in relation to disproportionate climate change impacts on women and vulnerable groups and when discussing needs for capacities building with a focus on education and employment opportunities for the youth. Few cases also considered access to productive resources and decision making and planned for gender disaggregated targets. Moreover, gender was often readily understood as women's issues in the text with very few cases adopting a relational lens or looking beyond binaries with only one case considered the intersectionality of factors. The integration of gender and youth was also mostly not systematic across the themes discussed and often put aside as a separate component. The disproportionate focus on capacity building and vulnerabilities to climate change meant that consideration of women and young people's rights, agencies and roles in a changing climate and linked to certain livelihoods were less likely to be acknowledged or considered. These findings are consistent with recent attempts to analyse the integration of gender in climate policies in particular which have singled out the continued lack of attention to structural constraints and to understanding women's own capacities as opposed to singling out only existing vulnerabilities in a broad sense and considering it a women's issue to be addressed in a different section (Ampaire et al., 2020;Huyer et al., 2020). This has consequences for the ways these policies are enacted with the risk that gender remains treated as an \"add-on\" and is not sufficiently prioritised and integrated at all stages as was the case in most of the GCF projects analysed by Schalatek, Zimmerman and Mccullough (2021). Scholars have brought forward that dedicated capacity strengthening for policy-makers could be instrumental in creating the space to delve into these issues further, creating awareness on existing studies as well as gender and social inclusion policies in the country with the ultimate goal to ensure that gender is considered in a transformative way (Huyer et al., 2020, p. 583).When gender or social/cultural changes were included in the drivers/factors of change or prompted for actively, more considerations ensured and, critically, some discussions happened surrounding labour roles and responsibilities at the household level. However, in many instances, these discussions did not translate to recommendations or priorities set, which suggest that follow-ups may be needed when time allows. Similarly, focusing on key crops and livelihoods attached to these, brought up conversations of groups attached to these livelihoods in South East Asia, many of which are not often considered in policy making processes. This could be replicated in other contexts. In all CCAFS regions, the regional scenarios created also had a strong impact as they were decided as the starting point to adapt scenarios to the national context. As such, when some already had some elements related to gender and social inclusion, it was often adapted and kept in the national scenarios. This suggests the importance of setting the scene for gender and social inclusion already in those overarching scenario processes and particularly, in the drivers of changes / axis of transformation considered.Across all regions and except for the 2020 NDC enhancement scenario process in Costa Rica, issues related to people living with disabilities were not considered at all which remains an important gap that the CCAFS scenario processes should try to address more in the future.The focus on agriculture and often talk of mechanisation and intensification was seen as less conducive to discussions about the labour force with discussions often focusing on land uses, especially when the policies under discussion already had some predetermined sections. Yet, this also means that the possible adverse effects of some of these planned changes for women and other marginalised groups remain unconsidered.Similarly than for the process, the spaces to manoeuvre to integrate gender and social inclusion considerations in the content varies significantly from case to case and country to country, for instance in Costa Rica, the discussion on gender included references to sexually diverse populations and went beyond binaries which is often not possible in other countries which might not allow for such considerations. While addressing and integrating marginalized gender and sexualized identities is likely to be quite a challenge in many countries, thoughts should be put into how to do this, perhaps drawing from the successful example in Costa Rica which involved side consultations.Finally, doubts were expressed on the way priorities set or recommendations made translate and materialize in practice beyond the policies. This mirrors findings from studies noting the increased trend in the mainstreaming of gender in climate policies with the caveat that this can remain superficial as this highly depends on a specific country's context and is not often linked to specific targets and dedicated financial resources which prevents it from going further than the policy (Nhamo, 2014;Huyer et al., 2020).▪ Geographical disparities were most likely to be mentioned, in particular rural/urban dynamics.▪ The understanding of gender often frames it as women's issues with fewer cases adopting a relational lens and considering the intersectionality of factors.▪ Emphasis on vulnerabilities to climate change and capacity building for marginalized groups, less often the consideration of different roles and capacities in a changing climate.▪ Only one scenario considered issues relevant to people living with disabilities.▪ When issues related to gender, youth or social inequalities were integrated, it often did not translate into recommendations or targets in the output documents.▪ Adding social and cultural drivers in the contextual developments that participants must consider when creating the scenarios was instrumental in bringing out gender and social inclusion issues. Focusing on specific crops or practices to discuss livelihoods and social groups attached can also stir discussions.each country's context such as NGOs or consultants can also be instrumental in ensuring that the efforts to integrate do not add to the workload of the organizing team but remains sufficiently prioritized and address contextual dynamics.2. Consider increasing side consultations in various forms with diverse organizations and groups: Side consultations with often marginalized communities and groups, such as indigenous groups, women's organizations, or youth groups, could be planned more widely to gather diverse views and enable concerns and different existing capacities to be integrated in the scenarios developed at the national level without forcing everyone to be in the same room. The learnings from the side consultations can then be disseminated during the main workshop along with existing research on these issues which could strengthen stakeholders' understandings and capacities. This can be helpful in contexts where there is reluctance from the main partners to open the workshop to non-governmental stakeholders. Moreover, this can also enable for side processes to take different formats which are more effective in communicating with diverse groups. As this study as shown, each regional team has been involved in learning by doing with many lessons learnt across the years, sessions to share between different members of the organizing and facilitation teams could be useful.","tokenCount":"13448"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1924906052.json b/data/part_1/1924906052.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c928d3135d4da84e169373ea8401f24803bd3dc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1924906052.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a0ce70e7530dfc8eb5014e580ea6b48f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/54688b35-aafc-4b8f-981e-64dd55a3d79c/retrieve","id":"398198521"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0dd8295b-207e-4494-be52-ba8d5830a05a","pagecount":"1","content":"P43 -(SA-BIOVERSITY) Outscaling a citizen science approach to test climate adaptation options on farms Description of the innovation: Digital platform for scaled on-farm farmer-participatory evaluations of agricultural technologies New Innovation: No Innovation type: Research and Communication Methodologies and Tools Stage of innovation: Stage 3: available/ ready for uptake (AV) Geographic Scope: Global Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Applicable> Description of Stage reached: Scaling is ongoing during 2018 by ISSD-Ethiopia, who will reach over 100,000 accumulatively in a direct way (involvement in trials) and generating variety recommendations for several millions of farmers. Name of lead organization/entity to take innovation to this stage: <Not Defined> Names of top five contributing organizations/entities to this stage: <Not Defined> Milestones: No milestones associated Sub-IDOs: Contributing Centers/PPA partners: Evidence link: • climmob.net Deliverables associated: • D72 -ClimMob 2.0 -tool to design and analyze citizen science trials (triadic ranking) (www.climmob.net) Contributing CRPs/Platforms: • RTB -Roots, Tubers and Bananas • CCAFS -Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security","tokenCount":"160"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1927411955.json b/data/part_1/1927411955.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..41516186d5da1e8d4932150f8f09d59ea82f1ce6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1927411955.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4488e71db488f1ce4c41e2e930c506bf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ad11896f-e1e0-4c9c-a946-0f5cff545c3c/retrieve","id":"-916146238"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b0b411a9-81d6-42fc-b5ba-5a8bcc63d2e7","pagecount":"23","content":"Climate change is becoming one of the most serious challenges to Kenya's achievement of its development goals as described under Vision 2030. Kenya is already extremely susceptible to climate-related events and projections indicate that the impacts are likely to affect the country even more in the future. In many areas, extreme events and variability of weather are now the norm: rainfall is irregular and unpredictable; some regions experience frequent droughts during the Long rainy season, others severe floods during the Short rains. The arid and semi-arid areas are particularly hard hit by these climate hazards thereby putting the lives of millions of households and their social and economic activities at risk.In 2010, Kenya developed a National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS), which recognized the importance of climate change impacts for Kenya's development. This was followed by the development of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) in 2012. The focus of these initiatives has been the national level. As the country shifts towards County governance and focus, there is a need to mainstream climate change perspectives in programmes and development plans at the County level.In support of efforts to strengthen local capacities of stakeholders to reduce the near-, medium-and longterm vulnerability to current and future climate change and variability, the Kenyan Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF) is implementing the Kenya Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (KACCAL) project, with a grant from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)/ Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) through the World Bank (WB). The present study is part of the KACCAL project and aims to inform the County government and stakeholders on the climate change risks and opportunities for agriculture so that they are able to integrate these perspectives into their development plans and processes.Presented here is the County Climate Risk Profile for Taita-Taveta County, a County where climate variability has been accompanied by a significant increase in risks, as often reported in national news. In the past five years alone, Taita-Taveta residents have been among the hardest hit by intermittent cycles of drought and floods. In 2012In , 2014In , and 2015, the County suffered acute drought that destroyed crops and livestock and left many dependent on food aid. An estimated 87,000 people were affected by famine caused by drought, forest fires and the subsequent invasion by wild animals that destroyed surviving food crops in 2012. Three years later, approximately 81,000 people were reportedly starving due to acute water shortages that affected agricultural production and access to drinking water throughout the County but especially in Maktau, Kishushe, Mbololo, Kasighau, and Maungu 1 . The years 2013 and 2015 experienced torrential rainfall that caused flash flooding; the floods killed several people and hundreds of heads of cattle and destroyed thousands of acres of cropland 2 . The disastrous nature of extreme weather makes identification of impending climate risks urgent. Considering how practices that help citizens become more resilient in the face of imminent threats to their health, safety, and livelihoods is equally urgent. This profile is organized into six main sections, each reflecting an essential analytical step in studying current and potential adaptation options in key local agricultural value chain commodities. The text first offers an overview of the County's main value chain commodities key to food security and livelihoods, as well as major challenges to agricultural sector development in Taita Taveta. In the next section, the main climate hazards are identified based on analysis of historical climate data and climate projections. Then it continues with an analysis of the vulnerabilities and risks posed by the hazards deemed to be potentially most harmful to the respective value chains. Based on these vulnerabilities, current and potential onfarm adaptation options and off-farm services are discussed. The text also provides snapshots of the policy, institutional, and governance context that can enable adoption of resilience-building strategies, and finally presents potential pathways for strengthening institutional capacity to address potential future climate risks.1 As reported by the Star online newspaper (The Star 2015a, 2012). 2 As reported by online newspapers Floodlist (2013) and Citizen Digital (2015).The lower highland zone (LH2), found in Wundanyi at altitudes above 1680 m, receives more than 1,200 mm of mean annual rainfall.The upper midland zone 3 (UM3), found in Wundanyi at altitudes between 1,370 and 1,680 m, receives around 900 -1,200 mm of mean annual rainfall.The upper midland zone 4 (UM4), found in Wundanyi at altitudes between 1,220 and 1,520 m, receives 700 -900 mm of mean annual rainfall.The low midland zone 4 (LM4), including Wundanyi, Mwatate and Taveta at altitudes between 910 and 1220 m, receives 600 -800 mm of mean annual rainfall.The low midland zone 5 (LM5), including Wundanyi, Mwatate, Taveta and Voi, is situated at altitudes between 790 and 980 m and receives 480 -700 mm of mean annual rainfall.The low midland zone 6 (LM6), is located in Taveta National Park, Mwatate and Voi at altitudes below 790 m; it receives bimodal rainfall 4   The lowland zone 5 (L5) found in Mwatate, Taveta and Voi at altitudes between 610 and 790 m, receives 480 -680 mm of mean annual rainfall.The lowland zone 6 (L6) found in Tsavo National Park and Voi at altitudes below 610 m; it receives bimodal rainfall.Arable land constitutes about 205,500 ha or 12% of the total land area in the County and 3.7% of the national arable land. The larger part of the County is the two national parks, Tsavo East and West National Parks which cover approximately 1,065,000 ha, representing 62% of the total land area. Forest parcels gazetted as forests cover 1,489.8 ha while nongazetted forests cover approximately 9,000 ha (GoK, 2013). Agroforestry is widely practised in the County.The forests provide key ecological services including protection of water catchments, and serving as carbon sinks and wildlife habitats. The forests and wildlife play a critical role in ecotourism in the County. The forests also produce timber, fencing poles, wood fuel, herbal medicine, tubers, latex, gum, wild fruits, and honey. Charcoal is produced from ranches and private farms.  and 30014' East (GoK, 2013). Administratively, the County is divided into four sub-County units namely: Wundanyi, Mwatate, Voi, and Taveta 3 . The County headquarters is in Mwatate.Topographically, the County is divided into three major zones. The upper zone comprises Taita, Mwambirwa, and Sagalla hills regions with altitudes ranging between 304 and 2,208 m. The lower zone consists of plains while the third zone is the volcanic foothills zone covering Taveta region. There are two lakes, Jipe and Challa, both found in Taveta area and served by springs emanating from Mt. Kilimanjaro. The main rivers are the Tsavo, Lumi, and Voi. There are also springs like Mzima springs and other small springs and streams including Njukini, Njoro kubwa, Kitobo, Sanite, Maji Wadeni, Humas and Lemonya springs.The climate in Taita Taveta County is strongly influenced by the South-Easterly winds. The County is largely dry except for the Taita hills which are wetter. The hilly areas have ideal conditions for condensation of moisture, which results in relief rainfall. There are two rainy seasons -the Long rains between March and May and the Short rains between October and December. Rainfall distribution is uneven, with the highlands receiving higher rainfall than the lowlands. During the Long rains, on average the highlands record 265 mm while the Lowlands record 157 mm. Mean rainfall during the Short rains is 1,200 and 341 mm for the highlands and the lowlands respectively. The annual mean rainfall is 650 mm. The average temperature is 23 0 C; it falls to 18.2 0 C in the hilly areas of Taita, Mwambirwa, and Sagalla, and rises to about 25 0 C in the lower zones (GoK, 2013).The County is divided into eight Agroecological Zones (AEZs) (Jaetzold et al. 2010). These are:The population of Taita Taveta County was 329,383 in 2015. With a population growth rate 10 of 1.6% per annum, the population is projected to increase to 345,800 in 2017 assuming constant rates of mortality and fertility. The rural population is estimated to be 75%, while the urban population is 25% (GoK, 2013).The absolute poverty in the County is 57% 11 . Food poverty stands at 48%, implying that the County is not self-sufficient in food; it is 52 and 48% in urban and rural areas respectively. The nutritional status of children based on the indicators: stunting, wasting, and underweight is 34, 11.2, and 28.5% respectively 12 . About 79% of the population aged 15 years and above are able to read and write, while 15% are not able to read and write.The high level of poverty in the County is attributable to a number of factors including: erratic and inadequate rainfall especially in areas dependent on rain-fed agriculture; insufficient water for irrigation in the lowlands; poor agricultural practices; wildlife destruction especially in areas that border the Tsavo National Parks; population increase and hence large family sizes; and high rates of unemployment. The economic and social challenges posed by HIV/AIDS have also contributed to the state of poverty in the County. Those most affected by overall poverty include the aged, the disabled, small farm holders (with less than 0.05 ha), landless, and squatters, children, and female-headed households. Poverty pockets are concentrated in areas with marginal agricultural potential in the County 13 . Firewood and charcoal continue to be the main sources of cooking fuel at 69% and 24% respectively. The main lighting fuel is paraffin (81%), followed by electricity (15%) and solar energy (2%). The major sources of water are piped water and streams accessed by about 60 and 23% of the households respectively.5 However, the budget allocated to agriculture was 3% in the financial year 2014/2015. 6 There are three sisal estates 7 Excludes sisal estates 8 The ranches are either Kenya Government or private owned. The County is a major livestock rearing zone partly due to these ranches. Beef cattle mainly produced in the ranches.9 Participants in the County workshops rated the proportion of households engaged in maize production as 81-100%10 Against the national average estimated at 3% (KNBS, 2009) 11 Absolute poverty refers to population living by less than KES 1,562 per month.12 Stunting -height for age; wasting-weight for height; underweight-weight for age.13 Marginal farming refers to the subsistence system that largely depend on rainfed agriculture.Mining is a major activity in the County; major minerals include gemstones and industrial minerals such as iron ore, limestone, marble, magnetite, asbestos, graphite, kaolin clay, and mica. Other mining-related activities are quarrying for building stones, murram, ballast, and sand harvesting.Farming is the main occupation in the County, and plays a critical role in provision of food and employment creation 5 . It is the main source of food for households and provides raw materials to agro-based industries.The agricultural sector comprises both subsistence and large-scale commercial farming.Agriculture contributes 95% of household income (GoK, 2013). Income sources are not diversified within the agriculture sector where over 83% of the households depend on a single income source (GoK, 2014). Crop-and livestock-related activities contribute 26 and 15% respectively. Eighty-six percent of femaleheaded households and 42 and 21% of male-and youth-headed households respectively depend on income from crop-related activities. Thirty-two percent of male-headed households and 14 and 10% of femaleand youth-headed households respectively depend on livestock-related activities (GoK, 2014). Agriculture employs about 80% of the County's workforce.The average farm size for small-scale farmers is about 0.4, 1.3, and 4.8 ha respectively in the highlands, midlands, and lowlands. Large-scale farms (mostly sisal estates 6 ) occupy 7,400 ha each on average. The total acreage under food crops is 18,125 ha and that under horticulture 7 is 3,296 ha. Ranching is practised mostly in the lowlands. There are 28 ranches 8 with an average of 12,762.5 ha, covering a total of 77,350 ha. However, only 40% of the households have title deeds (GoK, 2013).A survey by Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme in 2014 indicated that the primary occupation of the households was crop and livestock production. Over 90% of the total households grow maize; 46% grow beans and 31% grow cowpeas 9 (GoK, 2014). Drought-tolerant crops including sorghum, millet, pigeon peas, green grams, and cowpeas are grown in the lowland areas, where ranching and sisal growing are also practised. In Taita Hills, tomatoes and cabbages are the most important horticultural crops.In Taveta, cultivation of tomatoes, onions and bananas is dominant.Agricultural value chain commodities in Taita Taveta The main storage facilities used by most households are improved granaries, traditional stores, and living houses. However, these facilities are not sufficient and farmers are sometimes forced to sell their produce at low prices to avoid post-harvest losses due to spoilage.15 The average area under maize is 2 -3 acres at household level 16 A bag equivalent to 90Kgs. National average in 2014 was 7.4 bags per acre (GoK,2015)Maize is a key staple food and a major contributor to livelihoods; it is grown in the entire County mostly as a rainfed crop. Between 61 and 80% of the County´s population is engaged in maize production mostly at small-scale level 15 . Twenty-nine percent, 11, and 6% respectively of male-, female-, and youth-headed households engage in maize production. In 2014, the County produced 9,142 bags of maize valued at KES 30 million, at an average production of 12.8 bags/ha 16 .Despite the ever increasing acreage under maize production, maize yields have continuously declined over the years due to climate change amongst other factors. In the vast rain fed crop production zones where most farmers grow maize, the crop starts showing moisture stress at tussling stage and eventually dries off thus significantly affecting the yields. Average productivity is 487, 178, and 168 kg/ha respectively for male-, female-and youth-headed households.The differences in production levels are attributable to differentials in access to services that support production. For instance, access to extension services is 80, 13, and 7% respectively for male-, female-, and youth-headed households. Overall productivity is very low, hence there is a need to adopt better farming technologies and drought-tolerant varieties.Despite the ever increasing acreage under maize production, maize yields have continuously declined over the years due to climate change amongst other factors. In the vast rain fed crop production zones where most farmers grow maize, the crop starts showing moisture stress at tussling stage and eventually dries off thus significantly affecting the yields. Persistent crop failure due to inadequate rains calls for introduction of more drought tolerant varieties.Dairy farming, practised throughout the entire County, is important for food security and income generation.The major breeds kept are local, cross, and exotic breeds comprising Friesian, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Guernsey. In 2014, the dairy cow population was approximately 27,472 animals and the milk produced was about 17.2 million kg valued at KES 758 million.The dairy sector employs 61-80% of the population and all gender types own dairy animals and are involved in production activities. According to the ASDSP survey of 2013, male-headed households own on average three local and exotic breed cows while female-and youth-headed households own one to two on average. Productivity varies with gender of household head.For local breeds, it is 4.5, 2.5, and 1.6 litres/animal/ day for youth-, male-, and female-headed households respectively. For exotic breeds, productivity is 12.0, 10.0, 8.0 liters/animal/day respectively for female-, youth-, and male-headed households. Feeding and milking are mostly the responsibility of female family members and the youth. The youth also provide most of the farm labour. For most households, men own the cows and control income from milk. Majority of the input suppliers are small and medium agrovets.The main value addition activities are boiling and fermenting, practised by about 60% of dairy farmers. Other activities in very small scale include economy. These VCCs have been selected from a list compiled from the available literature, interviews with various County experts, and a validation workshop.The indicators used for prioritization include: harvested area (hectares), production (90-kg bags), variation in production in the past 5 years, value of production (KES), dietary energy consumption (Kcal/capita/day), protein content (g of protein/100 g of product), iron content (mg of iron/100 g of product), zinc content (mg of zinc/100 g of product), and Vitamin A content (IU Vitamin A /100 g of product).Thus the VCCs selected were: maize, banana, dairy cow, and meat goat. The major indicators for prioritization were: indicator for maize -production and food security; bananas -economic and food security; dairy cow -production and economic security; while goat (meat) -production and economic security. Maize is grown in almost all the AEZs but mainly in UM3, UM4, and LM4. Banana is grown in AEZs UM3 and UM4. Dairy farming is practised mostly in UM3, UM4, and LM5 while meat goats are reared mostly in LM4, LM5, LM6, L5, and L6.cooling, bulking, and transporting. However, about 80% of farmers sell raw milk. This is largely due to farmers' low financial capacity and limited knowhow on value addition. Value addition can be increased through training and provision of electricity. The major marketing channels include local markets and cooperatives, which sell to processors and middlemen.The major challenges to the dairy sector include poor feeding, poor breeding, poor record keeping, unreliable input supply, lack of organized marketing structures for milk products, poor housing, and poor calf rearing. Diseases also pose a major challenge, especially tickborne diseases and mastitis. The poor road network makes marketing more difficult, especially during the wet season.About 61 -80% of the County's households keep goats for meat since they can survive harsher climatic conditions compared to other livestock types. In 2014, there were about 172,450 meat goats in Taita Taveta, producing roughly 159,000 kg of meat valued at KES 464 million (GoK,2015).The goat meat value chain in the County is dominated by medium-and small-scale service providers at input supply, production, and processing stages. The major stakeholders in the value chain are the farmers, who keep the animals, and the livestock production department, which provides extension services on input utilization and practices such as breeding. Others are NGOs such as Mazido which provides technical advice on water harvesting. The veterinary department and the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) play an important role in the value chain as they help with disease control through vaccinations. Brokers are the major marketing channel but farmers are forming cooperatives that have outlets (butcheries) to sell their goats. Some of the goats are sold to local butcheries and others to abattoirs outside the County. Main value addition activities undertaken by the farmers include drying and salting.The County is home to one of the largest national parks in the world, the Tsavo National Park, so wildlife population is exceptionally high. This, coupled with the fact that the park does not have an electric perimeter fence, has aggravated human wildlife conflicts. The animals destroy crops and harm, even kill people. This results in loss of livelihoods and food insecurity. Over the years, residents have suffered huge losses occasioned by herds of marauding elephants that invade farmlands destroying crops, besides causing injuries and death to humans. Some of the areas affected by the human wildlife conflict include Maktau, Mwachabo, Bura, Ghazi, Mbulia, Kishushe, Marapu, Birikani, Miasenyi, Kasigau, Challa, Ndara, and Jipe.The County is very favourable for livestock production; it has ranches that constitute about 22% of the total land area and are designated as disease-free zones. The ranches attract \"commercial\" grazers -livestock traders from outside the County who come and rent grazing grounds for a period. As a result, there is a two-way conflict with grazers taking their livestock to the parks and wildlife interfering with livestock in ranches and on farms. The farmers have to endure cases of livestock predation especially by lions. Thus there is need for measures to control the wildlife/ livestock movements including: erection of an electric fence around the park perimeter, construction of water pans to hold water for use during dry seasons, and surveillance to monitor animal movements.Inadequate storage facilities at the farm forces farmers to sell their produce at low prices to avoid post-harvest losses. This may lead to food shortages especially afterBanana is an important crop engaging about 41-60% of the population. It is produced across the County at small-scale level (average 0.2 -0.6 ha). Sixtythree percent, 29, and 8% of male-, female-, and youth-headed households respectively grow the crop. Productivity is 1415, 778, and 669 kg/ha respectively More youth-headed households are likely to adopt new technologies compared to male-and femaleheaded households. These include herbicides, basal fertiliser, organic manure, and storage pesticides. For instance, basal fertiliser use was 20% in youth-headed households compared to 17 and 15% in male-and female headed households.Farmers are involved in production activities and related services such as land preparation, weeding, harvesting and storing. The main value addition activities mostly undertaken by farmers are sorting and sometimes transporting the maize to the local markets.Challenges encountered in the maize value chain include: changing onset of the seasons, poor road network, high input prices, low farm gate prices, pests and diseases such as the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease [MLND]).for female-, youth-, and male-headed households. In 2014, a total of 129,736 metric tonnes valued at KES 1.2 billion were produced (GoK, 2015).Inputs such as fertiliser are supplied by small-scale traders normally found in local market centres. Improved banana seeds inputs such as tissue cultured seeds are not available in the local market but sourced from outside the county making it more costly to acquire.Bananas are aggregated at local market centres by small-scale retailers; they are then sold to wholesalers who transport them to Nairobi. Some of the produce finds its way into the local markets where the vendors are normally small-scale women traders. To tap into the increasing banana production in the County, cooperatives are developing value addition activities such as making crisps and juice.Past and future impacts of climate hazards in Taita Taveta This affects both the quantity and quality of produce. Lack of capacity to undertake value addition, coupled with limited storage facilities compel farmers to sell their produce at low prices, leading to low returns in the sector.Poor infrastructure in some parts of the County is an important challenge to the agricultural sector. In 2013, the County had 199 km of bitumen surface roads, 138 km of murram surface roads, and 1251 km of earth surface roads (GoK, 2013). During the rainy season, the roads without bitumen surface, which are common in the rural areas, become impassable. This leads to post-harvest losses and delayed land preparation.The budgetary allocation for the agricultural sector in the County is very low (3% in 2014/2015) compared to the minimum of 10% suggested by the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). This might be the cause of the inadequate service provision to farmers; for instance, the County has only one extension staff for over 600 farmers. Farmers reported that the extension service was inadequate; the extension personnel admitted that inadequacy of resources limited facilitation of extension services.Poor access to local and international markets, coupled with unreliable data and information management remains a constraint in both crop and livestock sectors.In addition, with minimal or no value addition at the farm level, the farmers receive lower incomes as they are often exploited by the middlemen.Agricultural productivity and output are low, due largely to low adoption of appropriate technologies such as high-yielding crop varieties, fertiliser and manure, and efficient tillage and cultivation methods.Access to farm inputs is low; this is brought about by the high cost of inputs which in turn results from the poor distribution network across the County. Most farmers use non-certified seeds and other planting materials. Access to credit remains low, reducing the potential to increase production.Climate change and variability: historic and future trends , show some small differences, but generally the same future projections, suggesting that climate change impacts will be fairly similar during this time frame regardless of the greenhouse gas emissions that occur.From the farmers' perspective, there has been observable variation in climatic conditions in Taita Taveta County over the years. Weather patterns have become more unpredictable compared to the past. The effects are in terms of soil degradation, reduction of water volumes in the rivers, landslides, deforestation, and drying of wells and rivers. The farmers relate this phenomenon to human destructive activities on the environment such as deforestation, poor land use, and pollution by industries.The onset of seasons has changed. Moreover, the rains have become more unpredictable and unreliable, causing shifts in planting time, moisture stress during the crop growing period and heavy rains during harvesting; the rains lead to increased post-harvest losses; they fall in portions in such a manner that even within a small area there can be rain in one portion and no rain at all in another. Intense rains occur in the highlands, causing flooding in the lower areas; this leads to destruction of the road infrastructure and loss of biodiversity.Significant temperature variation has also been observed by the farmers. They say it is now warmer, and crops like maize now have a shorter crop cycle.Bean farming is now favoured by the increased temperatures where areas that used to be very cold are warmer. However, the increased temperatures are also associated with higher incidences of pests and diseases which affect productivity both in crops and livestock. Extreme cold is responsible for frost experienced in the County.Climate fluctuations have had important economic and social consequences. Rains during harvesting often lead to post harvest losses as the crop is destroyed.Infrastructure is damaged, thus reducing access to markets. Farmers earn less and are unable to meet their needs. When temperatures rise, agricultural output is affected. Dairy animals yield less milk due to heat stress. Heat and moisture stress may lead to crop failure, exposing the farmers to food insecurity. Irrigation becomes necessary due to high evaporation rates, but the water in the County is too little to sustain serious irrigation. All these factors together contribute to high production costs and thus make agriculture less viable to many locals. During drought, women spend more time looking for water. Migration to urban areas in search of employment increases due to decreased incomes from agriculture. This reduces labour available for agricultural activities.The dairy cow is sensitive to drought associated with long dry spells and heat stress, as water and feed become scarce. During such periods, most fodder crops wilt and water sources dry up. Commercial feeds are prohibitively expensive for most small-scale farmers. The resulting poor nutrition leads to low fertility. Diseases such as Foot and Mouth, Lump Skin disease, and Rift Valley Fever become common due to suppression of immunity. All these factors culminate in a reduction in milk production and hence farm incomes.Input suppliers are affected since the reduced purchasing power of the farmers translates into reduced incomes for the suppliers.The workshop participants identified increased rainfall in some seasons and decreased rainfall in others as the most serious hazards for the banana value chain.Their effects become more serious as the weather becomes more unpredictable. Increased precipitation causes delays in land preparation as some parts are flooded and working on the farm is delayed as most land preparation is manual. More time is required for hardening, the demand for manual planting increases, and risks of pests and diseases are high. These factors reduce yields, and consequently the farmers reduce the area prepared for the crop in the subsequent season, reducing overall production. Reduced precipitation results in poor hardening of the seedlings and of course low yields. Utilisation of pesticides is limited since the chemicals scorch the crop during this period.Severity of intense rain is high in the banana value chain; the hazard increases both production and marketing risks. Production inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides become expensive due to high demand and impassable roads. Poor distribution of subsidy fertilisers exacerbates the problem. On-farm production also becomes a challenge as activities such as land preparation, weeding, and harvesting are greatly impaired.Production costs are highest during the wet season. Many production-related activities are hampered reduces farmers' ability to purchase inputs such as fertilisers and improved seeds. The cycle of low productivity and food insecurity therefore continues, especially for subsistence crop farmers.Drought in a previous season reduces availability of seed at the input supply stage of a subsequent season. Yields from a previous drought season would have been low and all of it consumed and/or sold by the farmer due to scarcity of food. Thus the capacity of the farmer to purchase inputs would be low. Extension services during dry periods are low as extension workers neglect crops during such periods. Maize planted during a dry spell grows poorly. The ground is hard and difficult to plough manually, germination is poor and the crop ripens early. These factors increase the susceptibility of the grains to storage pests such as weevils, a situation worsened by lack of good storage facilities. Moreover, poverty and low levels of education reduce the capacity of farmers to adapt to risks by, for instance, building water dams or using climate information in day-to-day decision making on the farm.during both seasons. Labour requirements on activities such as land preparation, weeding, and harvesting increase significantly. Farmers are also required to use more inputs during the rain season since the fertilisers and pesticides are washed away. The soils have not only been degraded due to erosion but have also become more acidic due to continued leaching; this reduces productivity.Destruction of roads during the rainy seasons exacerbates the marketing challenges. Gravel and earth roads are the most affected during such seasons. Farmers are therefore unable to transport their produce to the markets, especially in view of the bulkiness of bananas. Lack of capacity to undertake value addition mainly due to lack of funds, high power costs and scarcity of appropriate storage facilities for bananas such as cold rooms make the farmers very vulnerable.Poor farmer organization is also a contributing factor to the low adaptive capacity to the climate risks.At the farm level, the poor, uneducated farmers are the most affected. Resource limitation and low education make it difficult for them to recover. Similarly, labour becomes expensive during the rainy season as demand rises beyond supply. High temperatures lead to high costs of labour as the working hours decline when temperatures are high. The women are the most affected as they are the ones who provide most labour on the farm, especially during planting, weeding, harvesting, and sorting. Transport is provided mostly by men who consequently are affected by the climatic hazards.Long dry spells and heat stress were identified by farmers as major climatic hazards that affect the meat goat value chain. Effects of long dry spells are severe. They include inadequate availability of feed, which compels farmers to travel long distances in search of pastures. The animals become emaciated and some die. The rotation system is disrupted and collapses while the prevalence of pests and diseases increases, hence farmers have to spend more money and time on vaccination. Poor feeding, heat stress due to high temperatures and increased movement reduce meat production. Accessing markets at this period also becomes difficult due to the large number of poor-quality goats, which attract very low prices. Livestock keepers, livestock traders and consumers are impacted by the long dry spells.Heat stress has been associated with a disruption in grazing time, affected rotational timing, and increases in disease prevalence. The risk of losing livestock significantly increases especially during feeding and transporting. Demand for value added goat meat products during this season limits market access for the pastoralists who lack the capacity to add value to their meat. Both these hazards translate to low farm incomes. Poorer members of communities with smaller livestock holdings and less-developed social support networks are in general more affected by droughts and heat stress.Farmers in Taita Taveta County have adopted various strategies to cope with variability changes in climate conditions that affect agricultural production and food security. Consultations during this work coupled with literature available such as the ASDSP survey of 2013 show that over 80% of all farmers experienced climate hazards in their agricultural production activities (GoK, 2014). Consequently, the farmers have adopted strategies aimed at mitigating the effects of the climate hazard. However, their adaptation options are limited by factors such as lack of resources, low technology, and social constraints. Some of the adaptations are specific to certain value chains while others cut across the value chains.The underlying factors for the consequences of climatic hazards spread across socioeconomicand geographical issues. Poverty and low levels of education limit the ability of the farmers to adapt to technologies easily. Resource-constrained farmers are not able to adopt the strategies that can reduce the impact of climatic hazards such as water harvesting by constructing dams requiring huge financial investments. Women are the ones that provide most household labour and also support the households through other activities such as child care, hence the time available for productive activities is reduced.Communities are becoming increasingly sedentary.They are therefore more vulnerable as they do not migrate in search of pastures and water when hazards like drought occur. The available processors are small scale so they are also impacted severely by the climatic hazards, making the farmers more vulnerable. Absence of a livestock marketing policy coupled with inadequate market structures and funds is also a challenge that affects the farmers. Inadequate investments in the infrastructure, including road networks and processing plants is obstructing farmers' opportunity to access markets and add value to their products so that they can receive better prices and improve incomes.At the institutional level, inadequacy of resources allocated to agricultural activities reduces access to services such as extension, which farmers would have received from various organizations including the County government. In addition, poor farmer organization limits collective production and marketing as a strategy for reducing transport costs and increasing bargaining power. The negative perception towards financial institutions makes farmers avoid credit which they would have used to mitigate climatic hazards by constructing dams and water pans, for instance.In spite of these challenges, farmers in Taita Taveta, with the support of various stakeholders, have adopted a number of strategies to cope with climate hazards that affect agricultural production and food security. The County Government has supported climate change initiatives including promotion of drought tolerant crops, promotion of rain water harvesting techniques, tree growing among others. Other stakeholders include Community Interest Groups (CIGs) formed by the farmers and supported by organizations like Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Programme (KAPAP), transporters, processors, government organizations such as Kenya Forest Service (KFS), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), cooperatives, and NGOs such as World Vision for crop farmers.In responding to the various climatic challenges, farmers use various on-farm adaptation practices. Over 80% of the farmers have adopted several on-farm and off-farm adaptation strategies. More male headed households respond to climatic hazards compared to female-and youth-headed households (GoK,2014). This was confirmed by workshop participants during consultations for this work. Male-headed households are more likely to apply climate change adaptation strategies on their farms, given their higher access to productive resources, extension and training, and due to their higher decision-making power on household resource utilization compared to women and youth. Some adaptations are specific to certain value chains whereas others cut across the value chains.For the maize value chain, the strategies adapted currently include use of extension services, manual land preparation, oxen and tractor ploughing, selecting seeds from previous harvest, capacity building on organized markets, adoption of zai-pits technology 20 , farmer linkages to buyers, promotion by farmers and traders, improved seed varieties, diversification of crops, and use of indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK). The potential options raised by the farmers include more support to enhance crop rotation through provision of seeds for example, seeking weather data in advance, improving organized farmer groups, increasing irrigation uptake, increasing use of tractors, engaging in more contract farming, adopting farm mechanization and crop insurance, improving linkages to microfinance institutions for credit, increasing access to certified seed, formation of strong farmer cooperatives, increasing dissemination of market information, increasing access to agricultural mechanization services for land preparation, improving organization and support for bulking and storage facilities, insurance, using standardized measurements for price determination and enhanced product promotion by the farmer organizations. traders, improved varieties, diversification of crops, and use of indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK). The potential options raised by the farmers include private public partnerships (PPPs) on infrastructure such as banana hardening facilities, improving dissemination of weather information, improving on organized farmer groups, increasing irrigation uptake, increasing use of tractors, engaging in more contract farming, adoption of farm mechanization and crop insurance, improving linkage to microfinance institutions, developing hardening seedlings using greenhouse and tunnels, increasing access to certified seedlings, modern processing by farmers and cooperatives for value addition, formation of strong farmer cooperatives, increasing dissemination of market information, mechanization for land preparation, improving organization and support for bulking with shades and cooling facilities, arranging for organized transport with cold storage, using standardized measurements for price determination, and product promotion by the farmer organizations.For the dairy cow value chain, farmers have adopted strategies including feed conservation (hay and silage making and preservation), extension services, supplementing the feed during dry periods when pasture is scarce, utilization of on-farm by-products such as stover and banana stems, sourcing of feed from the low lands (for farmers in the upper areas), pest control measures such as deworming, bulking of produce such as milk for affordable transport and marketing, selling raw produce to consumers, selling to buyers on cash basis, monitoring of animals for pests and diseases, use of traditional deworming methods, changing to alternative livelihoods such as vegetable production, selling at household level to avoid the high cost of transportation, and farmer-to-farmer exchange of knowledge within neighbourhoods. At the same time, the farmers recognize that there are potential strategies in responding to the climatic hazards. They include increased fodder and pasture production, construction of community hay stores for storing hay, adequate feeding to enhance animal health and production, satellite storage facilities for milk before transportation, training on animal husbandry and agricultural tours to motivate and expose farmers to value addition techniques, value addition on farm produce for higher returns, forming more farmer organizations, promotion of alternative livelihoods, contract farming and enforcement of contracts, construction of more bulking/collection centres, increasing adoption of technologies such as Artificial Insemination, planting fodder trees at the household level and bulk purchases of drugs/vaccines by farmer groups to reduce costs.For the meat goat value chain, farmers mentioned adapting various strategies including feed conservation (hay), extension services, supplementing the feed during dry periods when pasture is scarce, utilization of on-farm by-products such as stover, pest control such as deworming, selling to buyers on cash basis due to breach of contracts, monitoring of animals for pests and diseases, use of traditional deworming methods, changing to alternative livelihoods such as vegetable production, selling goats at farm gate to avoid the high cost of transportation, using traditional methods of slaughtering, keeping breeding animals longer on the farm for breeding purposes, grazing animals early in the morning during hot periods, individual purchase of drugs/vaccines at household level, controlling breeding during stress periods using methods like an Anti-Mating Apron 21 , seeking alternative markets for goats where prices are better, restocking and multiplication to increase volumes for market, and adopting farmer-to-farmer exchange of knowledge within neighbourhoods. The farmers also identify the following potential strategies as necessary in mitigating the impacts of climate change: Increased fodder and pasture production, regular deworming programmes, construction of community hay stores for storing hay, adequate feeding to enhance animal health and production, enhanced training on animal husbandry and agricultural tours to motivate and expose farmers to value addition techniques, forming more farmer organizations, promotion of alternative livelihoods, contract farming and enforcement of contracts, feedlots for fattening meat animals before selling to fetch higher returns, bulking/collection centres, slaughtering in approved abattoirs, enhancing planning of annual vaccinations, adoption of technologies such as Artificial Insemination for cattle and even goats, planting fodder trees at the household level, bulk purchases of drugs/vaccines by farmer groups to reduce costs, introducing buck camps and promoting use of Anti-Mating Aprons and measures for improved enforcement of contracts.21 Anti-Mating Apron method involves tying an apron made of leather or canvas around the body of a ram/buck to prevent mating with female (s).Services accessible in the County include Off-farm adaptation options available in the County include early-warning information, financial services by banks, field days and input provision including Artificial Insemination, fodder conservation, financial services such as credit by banks, conservation agriculture, field days and workshops, input provision, and Artificial Insemination. The services are offered by government, non-government, private, faith-and community-based lead agencies.Agricultural-related services (including extension, research, finance, artificial insemination services) and climate-related services are mainly accessed from the private sector (71%). This is contrary to service provision, where the Public Sector provides more services than the Private Sector (55% and 45% respectively). Extension services are offered by almost all the organizations where farmers are taught the importance of using good agricultural practices that promote soil and water conservation, high-yielding, early-maturing crop varieties and animal breeds, and value addition. In addition, the current demanddriven approach in extension marginalizes most farmers from accessing the services due to the high cost implications. Moreover, the vastness of the County coupled with insufficient human and financial resources, low technology adoption rates and poor infrastructure add to the limitations of access to the services. These services are offered by both the public and private Sectors.Early-warning information which includes weather forecasts -mainly provided by the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) in collaboration with the MoALF and disease outbreak warnings -provided by the Kenya Veterinary Department (KVD) -informs farming plans and improves preparedness. The County is vast with few weather stations, limiting the accuracy of climate information. This has impacted the response of the farmers to early warning. However, in instances where farmers are ready to act on the early warnings, resource constraints deter them from taking the necessary precautionary measures.Financial institutions such as insurance companies, micro finance, banks and the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) offer credit services such as loans and insurance schemes to farmers. The loans enable farmers undertake adaptive measures such as water harvesting, value addition, and fodder conservation. However, perceptions of credit by farmers coupled with limited resources for collateral limits credit uptake.strategies across major value chain commodities However, although some policies and programmes have recorded successes, there are challenges to full realization of programme objectives. Such challenges include insufficient funds to enable wider coverage, poor road network and insufficient staff. Some cultural practices such as continued maize production, low fertiliser use, high dependency syndrome compounded with high poverty levels impair success and ownership of most of the programmes by the farmers. In addition, it was reported that for some programmes, coordination is inadequate, hence there is duplication. Factors such as minimal involvement of all stakeholders at all programme/project phases and lacking policies were the reasons identified as contributing to poor coordination. Climate Change and resultant effects are foreseen to continue in Taita Taveta County. With agriculture as the main economic sector, and heavily impacted by climate change, there is need to increase the capacity of the stakeholders to mitigate the climatic hazards. Thus development and implementation of both short-and long-term adaptation measures are critical.However, this study and literature available observe that there exist various mitigation measures in the County. These measures are initiated by the farmers and supported by institutions including government, NGOs, CBOs and institutions like banks and research institutes.The strategies adopted currently include on-farm practices that target water and soil conservation and management, such as water pans, agroforestry systems, crop rotation, and drought-tolerant crops and animal varieties. Off-farm services are provided to facilitate the adaptation strategies including extension services, credit and insurance services, technical support, capacity building for farmers, and early warning systems. However, uptake of these services is affected by factors such as poverty, low levels of education, culture and geographical location of these farmers.Therefore, it is imperative to adopt a multi-faceted approach in promoting adaptation to climate change. This involves ensuring that challenges along the various value chains are addressed if the interventions are to have impact. Thus without providing the necessary conditions for access to inputs, storage facilities and subsequent market facilitation, productivity in the value chain is affected and livelihoods and incomes of farmers remain at risk. To improve adaptation, measures such as ensuring inputs are available during the onset of rains; support for adoption of irrigation and farmer organizations can improve the preparedness of the farmers to cope with the climatic hazards.Moreover, there is need to address the factors that continue to limit the capacity of farmers to respond adequately to the climatic hazards, that is, the underlying factors. These factors, including poverty and low levels of education, can be countered by a deliberate attempt to devote resources in the provision of utilities such as education, electricity, potable water, health, and security. Such investments will support livelihoods, increase productivity and curb environmental degradation such as deforestation.There exist a number of policies that support climate change adaptations at the national level which are also applicable at the County level. However, awareness of these policies especially by farmers should be improved. Furthermore, implementation of the policies is not adequate and should be improved. The major challenge identified for the inadequate implementation of policies revolves around resources. Thus there is need to devote more resources both from public and private sources for agricultural activities and climate change response. These will enhance the institutional capacity to provide services such as extension and also provide subsidies where necessary. There is also need to build the capacity of farmers to form organizations that can improve their resilience such as cooperatives and CBOs. For the government departments, influence mainly comes from the national offices. Nevertheless, when it comes to planning and implementation of development interventions, the government departments in the County and NGOs have significant influence on the choice of approach and location of interventions. Some donors also have specific objectives which may not allow for adjustments at the County level. The source of funding also influences operations in that some encompass a lot of bureaucracy hence delaying operations. Other than planning for development interventions, the government departments also take part in responding to emergencies that are within their mandate. Coordination among these previously mentioned organizations exists at some stages of intervention design and implementation. Collaboration was noted within the government departments. However, NGO-to-NGO collaboration and NGO-to-government department collaboration could be strengthened. This may be due to the fact that most of these NGOs are autonomous in operation.","tokenCount":"7742"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/1986065686.json b/data/part_1/1986065686.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..93738e0420b1ba13049857f486673b589a387372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/1986065686.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a24ca76f2cc12929910fa16f055379e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/449132cc-7dc9-45a1-ae34-5add00401816/retrieve","id":"-268856821"},"keywords":["Antioxidant activity","extracts","Manihot esculenta","methanolic extraction","natural antioxidants","phenols"],"sieverID":"525ed65b-8819-4041-bfda-85ec2de3d323","pagecount":"10","content":"This study focused on the exploration of the potentials of extracting antioxidants from peels and stems of yellow-fleshed and white cassava varieties. The effect of particle size (0.2 and 0.5 mm) and variety on the phenolic content and antioxidant activity was assessed. The peels of the yellow-fleshed cassava variety with a particle size of 0.2 mm showed the highest phenolic content with 681.5 GAE mg 100 g −1 and antioxidant activity of 19% and 425 μM TE g −1 dry matter using DPPH and FRAP assays respectively. The stems of the white cassava with a particle size of 0.2 mm exhibited high phenolic content (442.4 GAE mg 100 g −1 ) and antioxidant activity of 12.8% and 234 μM TE g −1 , better than the stem of the yellow-fleshed cassava. These results indicate that phenolic and antioxidant extractions were influenced by variety, the plant parts and particle size for the antioxidant assays.Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the most important and dominant staple crops in the developing countries of tropical humid and sub-humid areas in Africa. According to de Carvalho et al. (2018), cassava is the fifth most important staple crop with a root production of about 285 million tons per year. In Nigeria, the average yield of cassava from over 40 cassava varieties is 10.6 t ha −1 (IITA, 2013). Presently, the newly bred yellow-fleshed cassava varieties known as provitamin A carotenoid (PVAC) cassava which contains a substantial quantity of β-carotene have been developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in partnership with the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Nigeria, with support from the HarvestPlus project (The Bulletin, 2014).Despite being native to South America, Nigeria is its largest producer, followed by Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia, with a global cultivated area of around 2.5 Mio. ha and average productivity of 11.4 t ha −1 (De  Carvalho et al., 2011). Plants, including root tubers, are a potential source of natural antioxidants and acts as secondary metabolites. Antioxidants are present not only in the flesh but also in the peel of the cassava root (Dusuki et al., 2020). According to Blagbrough et al. (2010), Prawat et al. (1995) and Reilly et al (2004), substantial amounts of bioactive compounds are present in cassava plants such as hydroxycoumarins, which consist of scopoletin, terpenoids and flavonoids. These compounds have several different functions such as protection against pests, the attraction of pollinators or the signalling of essential functions. They have usually been associated with plant growth and development apart from their primary biosynthesis. Natural antioxidants or phytochemical antioxidants such as phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanin and carotenoid possess many functions that prevent deterioration of tubers as well as extend its shelf life (Ghasemzadeh et al., 2012). Cassava also contains anti-nutrients such as phytate, polyphenols, tannins, oxalate, alkaloids and saponins, especially in their peels and stems, but some of these compounds can also act as anti-carcinogens and antioxidants (Anbuselvi & Balamurugan, 2014).Cassava being a highly perishable crop requires processing immediately after harvesting leading to an abundance of residues such as peels, starch bagasse, wastewater effluents and discarded stems, which are regarded as waste are indiscriminately dumped, thereby causing environmental pollution and health hazards (Jyothi et al., 2005;Cumbana et al., 2007). In Nigeria, about 14 million metric tonnes (Mt) of byproducts, comprising peels, stumps, woody and undersized root are disposed of as waste (Okike et al., 2015). An estimate of about 250-300 kg peels per ton of fresh cassava root is generated (FAO, 2001).About 144%-257% of the root weight makes up the residues of the cassava crop, which consist mainly the shoots of the plant after the harvest of the cassava roots (Viridiana et al., 2010). The under-utilised stems are burned, leading to environmental pollution (Zhu et al., 2015).The thin pericarp and the parenchyma are the two layers that make up the cassava peel (phelloderm) and are usually removed along with some part of the pulp that adheres to the peels (Kongkiattikajorn & Sornvoraweat, 2011). Cassava peels contain crude protein between 4.1% and 6.5%, dry matter 86.5%-94.5%, organic matter 81.9%-93.9%, neutral detergent fibre (hemicellulose and cellulose) 34.4% and lignin 8.4% (Kongkiattikajorn & Sornvoraweat, 2011).To adequately access the antioxidant capacity (TAC) in foods, several antioxidant assays that were developed may be applied. These include ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), 2,2-azino-di-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate (ABTS) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) assays (Huang et al., 2005) but for this study, only DPPH, FRAP and TPC assays will be implemented.To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the antioxidant activity of the newly bred yellow-fleshed cassava variety from Nigeria and white cassava peels and stems. Thus, the exploration of the antioxidants naturally present in cassava could be economically valuable as well as of great interest for applications in functional foods through the utilisation of the abundant biomass residues (peels and stems). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the presence and accessibility of antioxidant activity of the peels and stems of yellow-fleshed and white-fleshed cassava varieties and to correlate it to their phenolic content using DPPH and FRAP assays. 1, 1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent, Gallic acid, sodium carbonate, methanol and Trolox were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, Taufkirchen, Germany. All the reagents were analytical and HPLC grade.The peels and stems of the two cassava varieties were used. The roots were washed after harvest and airdried before gently scraping off the thin pericarp and parenchyma. The inner part (cortex) of the peel was peeled off in circular form to avoid losing part of the peels and mixing with the fleshy part. The peels (cortex) were dried in a cabinet dryer (Niji Lukas, Lagos, Nigeria) at 55 °C, packed in polyethene bags and stored at a room temperature of 28 °C before being shipped to the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart (Germany), for further analysis. The matured middle parts of the stem were washed and cut into pieces of 10 cm and dried in a cabinet dryer at 55 °C. The samples were milled by a hammer mill (Niji Lukas), packed in polyethylene bags and stored at a room temperature of 28 °C before being shipped to the University for further analysis. The peel and stem of the white cassava were prepared by the same procedure; the milling of the peels and stems was done using a coffee grinder (MKM6003; Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany) and a laboratory mill (Polymix PX-MFC 90 D; Kinematica AG, Luzern, Switzerland).The ground and sieved cassava peels and the stems sized 0.2 and 0.5 mm, were weighed separately into 50-mL falcon tubes and then extracted with 25 mL of 80% methanol in a thermostat-controlled ultrasonic bath (Transonic 780/H; Elma Schmidbauer GmbH, Singen, Germany) for 20 min at 25°C using the method described by Marinova et al. (2005). During the extraction, the tubes were held in a thermostatcontrolled ultrasonic bath, and the samples were covered to prevent oxidative changes through the presence of light. The samples were centrifuged using a tabletop cold centrifuge (Z326K Hermle Labortechnik GmbH, Wehingen, Germany) for 15 min at 4 °C at 14 000 rpm. The supernatant was then extracted carefully into another set of 50-mL falcon tubes. The extraction procedure was repeated by adding a second 25 mL of 80% methanol to the initial falcon tubes with sample residues for maximum extraction of the materials. The supernatant was collected, and the pooled extracts were stored at −23 °C for further analyses. Each sample was replicated thrice.Total phenolic content assay The total phenolic content (TPC) of the peel and stem extracts was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FC) and gallic acid standard by the method of Thaiponga et al. (2006). The FC measures the sample's reducing capacity. The ranges of sample dilution concentration values from the peel and stem extracts were chosen to fall within the limit of linearity (50 and 1000 μM) for the standard curve of gallic acid for total phenol. From the resulting diluted sample extracts, 150 µL was thoroughly mixed with 150 µL Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (0.25 N) and 2400 µL of HPLC water in a 15-mL falcon tube with a vortex mixer (Genius VG3; IKA-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Staufen, Germany). After 3 min of incubation at room temperature (23 °C), 300 µL of 1 N sodium carbonate solution was added to the entire sample extracts and mixed well with the vortex mixer before being incubated for 2 h in the dark at room temperature (23 °C). The same procedure was repeated for the blank and the standard sample using 80% methanol and gallic acid solution, respectively, in place of the sample extracts. 150 µL of the standard was prepared using the same procedure as before but without the sample extract. It was mixed with 150 µL Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and 2400 µL of HPLC water using the vortex mixer. The dilution concentrations were 1:5 and 1:10 mg mL −1 , respectively. The absorbance of the standards and sample extracts was measured at 725 nm after 2 h of incubation in the dark at ambient room temperature using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer (DR-6000; Hach Lange GmbH, D üsseldorf, Germany) at a wavelength of 725 nm. Concentration was calculated in a gallic acid equivalent (GAE) mg 100 g −1 sample to get the standard calibration curve, and the phenolic content was expressed as gallic acid equivalents. Samples were measured in triplicates. In order to assess the best possible condition for antioxidant activity and its extraction from cassava, based on the type of variety, plant material, particle size and dilution, TPC was used as the standard since it indicates the amount and presence or absence of polyphenolic contents in plants.Standard response. The concentration of gallic acid in the samples was calculated using the standard gallic acid calibration curve equation:where y is absorbance and x is gallic acid concentration (mg mL −1 ). Total phenolic content in the samples was determined as gallic acid equivalent (GAE mg 100 g −1 ) using the following equation;where TPC is the total phenolic content (GAE mg 100 g −1 ), c is the concentration of gallic acid (mg mL −1 ) from the calibration curve (x), v is the volume of the extract solution (mL), and m is the mass of the extract used (g).The 1, 1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH) was determined by adopting the method of Thaiponga et al. (2006). To prepare the stock solutions of DPPH and Trolox, 12 mg of DPPH (60 mM) was prepared in 50 mL of 80% methanol and stored at −23°C until needed. After that, 0.025 g Trolox (1 mM) was prepared in 100 mL of 80% methanol. The working solution was prepared by mixing 20 mL DPPH stock solution with 90 mL of 80% methanol to obtain an absorbance of 1.1 AE 0.02 at the wavelength of 515 nm using the UV-VIS spectrophotometer. 147 µL of each of the sample extracts, standard and blank solution (80% methanol) was added to 2800 µL of the DPPH working solution and thoroughly mixed with the vortex. Each of the samples, standard and blank mixtures, was incubated for 24 h, respectively, in the dark at room temperature (23 °C).The absorbance was read with the aid of the UV-VIS spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 515 nm. The standard calibration curve was prepared based on the range concentrations of the samples with the Trolox stock solution within the lower and upper limits of linearity of 25 and 800 µM. Samples were measured in triplicates, and the result was expressed in Trolox equivalent (TE) µM TE g −1 dry weight. The DPPH concentration in the samples was calculated using the Trolox calibration curve equation:where y is the absorbance and x is the Trolox equivalent (µM TE g −1 ).The following formula was then used to calculate the percentage scavenging inhibition activity of each extract of the DPPH radical; where A o is the absorbance of the blank and A 1 is the absorbance of the sample extract.The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was determined according to the method of Thaiponga et al. (2006). The stock solutions used were 9.69 g sodium acetate trihydrate in 50 mL of acetic acid (100%) solution with the pH adjusted to 3.6, 10 mM TPTZ (2,4,6-tripyridyl-s-triazine) solution in 40 mM HCl and 20 mM FeCl.6H 2 O solution. A fresh working solution was prepared by mixing 25 mL sodium acetate buffer, 2.5 mL TPTZ and 2.5 mL FeCl.6H 2 O solution.The mixture was heated in a water bath to 37 °C and used immediately. About 150 μL of each of the peel extracts, stem extracts, blank (80% methanol) and the standard were mixed with 2850 μL of the FRAP working solution and incubated for 30 min in the dark. The absorbance of the coloured sample products was read at 593 nm using the UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The concentration of FRAP in the samples was calculated using Trolox standard calibration curve equation:where y is the absorbance and x is the Trolox equivalent (µM TE g −1 ).The standard curve was based on the concentration ranges using Trolox as the standard. The linearity was between 25 and 800 µM, and the result was expressed in μM TE g −1 dry weight. The antioxidant assays were performed in triplicate for each extract.All data were expressed as mean AE standard errors of triplicate measurements, and statistical analysis was done by SPSS for Windows (ver.16.1). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan multiple range test were carried out to test any significant differences between means. An error probability value of P ≤ 0.05 was considered to denote a statistically significant difference. The Pearson correlation coefficients of determination (R 2 ) were calculated to determine the relationship between the three assays and the sample extracts.The total phenolic content (TPC) from the 0.2 mm sized particles of the yellow peel (YP), yellow stem (YS), white peel (WP) and white stem (WS), and the dilution concentrations (1:5 mg mL −1 and 1:10 mg mL −1 ) are shown in Fig. 1a. The TPC of the YP was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from the WP for the two dilution concentrations with the YP having the highest TPC activity of 681.5 GAE mg 100 g −1 and 674.7 GAE mg 100 g −1 dry matter for 1:5 mg mL −1 and 1:10 mg mL −1 dilutions, respectively. This may be attributed to their flesh colour, the age of the plant, location and varietal differences because the yellow-fleshed cassava is a newly bred variety enriched with beta carotene, as is evident from its yellowish flesh colour. The WS and YS showed no significant differences from one another based on the dilution concentrations. In Fig. 1b, the same trend was observed for TPC from a 0.5 mm particle of both plant materials for both dilutions except for WS and YS of 1:5 mg mL −1 dilution. The YP extract from 1:10 mg mL −1 dilution was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) with a higher TPC activity of 676.0 GAE mg 100 g −1 compared to that of the WP extract (253.4 GAE mg 100 g −1 dry matter) while the YS and WS were within the same TPC range with no difference. Meanwhile, observations recorded from 1:5 mg mL −1 dilution concentration revealed significant differences between the plant materials from both cassava varieties. Although WS showed no significant difference between the two dilutions for the stem extracts, it could be seen that the YS extract was significantly different, since the YS extract with higher dilution yielded higher TPC activity. This TPC activity observed could be attributed to the influence caused by the dilution concentration as a slight increase in concentration corresponded to a relatively higher TPC activity. In comparing the stem extracts of both particle sizes with dilution concentrations, it can be observed that a higher TPC activity was observed in Fig. 1a than in Fig. 1b, although Fig. 1a showed no statistically significant differences unlike the result in Fig. 1b. The TPC results obtained from the YP extract were higher than the cortex layer of the cassava variety (71.79 µg GAE g −1 ) as reported by Dusuki et al. (2020), and that of pomegranate peels (297.5-435 mg tannic acid equivalents g −1 ) reported by Malviya et al. (2014). The variations could be due to differences in the sample materials used, their farm soil compositions, climates and the different farming environment. Dusuki et al. (2020) reported that the composition of different cassava roots might vary due to the factors mentioned above. The deviation observed in the assay could be attributed to the fact that the antioxidant capacity (TAC) was not independent of the quantity of sample material used during the assay and could also be due to the solvent: sample ratio, which exerted a positive effect as indicated by the high yield observed in the yellow peel and white stem, respectively. It could also be as a result of the fact that different plants contain several polyphenol and nonpolyphenol antioxidants at various concentrations that react differently based on the source of radical assay applied. The TPC of the WP extracts from our results was relatively lower than for pomegranate but was also higher than that of the peels from purple and pigmented potato clones (3.0-12.5 GAE mg 100 g −1 ) as reported by Ji et al. (2012). The TPC results of the YP extracts from our study were similar to Chinese purple yam peels (695.1 mg GAE g −1 dry matter) as reported by Xiao-Xuan et al (2015). The TPC values of the WS and YS extracts from our study were within the same range as that reported by Malviya et al. (2014) except for 0.2 mm particle-sized WS extracts at both dilution concentrations, and for 0.2 mm particle-sized YS extract at higher dilution concentration that had a slightly higher TPC value.Differences in TPC have also been attributed to the cultivar/specie, environmental conditions, postharvest practices, processing and storage (Naczk & Shahidi, 2006). The presence of phenolic compounds in the peel and stem of cassava varieties due to their natural colour and varietal type (Kanatt et al., 2005;Ngadze et al., 2014) makes them similar to other root crops. The increase in the TPC values as indicated in the plant extracts could be due to the cell structure and chemical composition, which were broken down to allow the liberation of the bound phenolic compound from the cellular tissues (Haard & Chism, 1996). The TPC of both, the WS and YS, was in contrast to those reported by Deepanjan et al (2008) on the mangrove species, Ceriops decandra and Avicennia alba. The bark extract from the stem of the mangrove specie C. decandra had a TPC of 94.41 GAE mg 100 g −1 dry matter while that of the A. alba extract was 4.40 GAE mg 100 g −1 . This could probably be due to the type of plant species. The high TPC in the peels of the root crops could be an indication that the peels tend to contain more bioactive compounds as a high phenolic content is responsible for bioactivity and therefore is expected to exhibit good results in antioxidant activities.In Fig. 2, a significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) was observed in the antioxidant activities among WP, and YP extracts from the 0.2 mm sized particles. The YP extract had 19% scavenging activity while the WP had an SCA of 6.5%. The opposite was true for the cassava stem extracts as the WS had 12.8% higher SCA than the YS extract (9.5%). For the 0.5-mm particle size, the SCA 19.1% for YP extract was significantly higher than that of the WP extract of 6.2%. It was also observed that for the stem extracts of 0.5 mm particles, the YS extract had a slightly higher SCA of 11.3% than the WS extract (10.9%). The YP extract showed the best antioxidant activity (19.1%) at both particle sizes. Its efficacy was superior to the WP extract (6.5%). The SCA of YP particle sizes was not different from each other, and the same trend was observed for the WP extract as well.However, it was observed that for the 0.5 mm particle-sized YS extract with a SCA of 11.3%, it was significantly higher than the 0.2 mm particle-sized counterpart YS that had a SCA of 9.5%. While the 0.2 mm particle-sized WS extract had a slightly higher SCA of 12.8% than the 0.5 mm particle-sized WS extract that had a SCA of 10.9%. The differences observed in both varieties could be an indication of varietal differences enhanced due to particle size effect as it can be seen that the yellow cassava stem, unlike the white cassava stem, required higher particle size for the maximum extraction. The DPPH scavenging activity (SCA) of the extracts had low values compared to the results reported by Chidambara et al (2002), the YP seemed to have a higher scavenging activity than the YS, WS and WP, although much lower than that of the pomegranate peel (81%). This could be attributed to their different genre and phytochemical composition. According to Ji et al. (2012), the peel of the potato clones exhibited the most potent antioxidant activity while Dilworth et al. (2012) reported that water yam and dasheen had the highest percentage of DPPH inhibition activity with 95.83% and 93.41%, respectively. The high values for the antioxidant activity may be attributed to high levels of phenols and flavonoids coupled with other compounds such as phenylpropanoids and anthocyanin (Spina et al., 2008). The results obtained from the WS were in conformity with the notion that a reduction in particle size leads to increase in extraction yield as a relatively slight increase was observed between the twoparticle sizes while for the YS, the effect was in direct dissimilarity as reducing the particle size led to a decrease in the SCA even though no statistical difference was shown.Figure 3 shows the FRAP of the peel and stem extracts of both the white and yellow varieties. Irrespective of particle size, the FRAP of YP extract was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than the FRAP of all the other sample extracts except WS extract at 0.2 mm. All the remaining extracts have comparable FRAP values. In the FRAP results obtained (Fig. 3), it was observed that the YP of both particle sizes was significantly higher than the WP, YS and WS. Based on the intraparticle diffusion theory, the YS and WS met the criteria as they had more ferric reducing power when the particle sizes were reduced to 0.2 mm. The differences observed could be that the antioxidant activities (AA) in plant materials are dependent on the solvent: sample ratio utilised during the assay. This was also evident in the reports obtained from  (1999). They reported that the TEAC values are concentration-dependent in accordance with the linearity of the antioxidant activity, which can only increase by concentration up to a certain limit, after which more concentration increments above the linearity range will lead to a lower or no yield. The origin of the sample materials, their compositions and probably the solvent used in the extraction could also be a contributing factor.Dilution concentration (DC) and particle size (PS) effectsAccording to Stalikas (2007), the chemical nature of the plants' phytochemicals, the extraction method applied, the sample particle sizes, the solvent used and the presence of interfering substances all influence the extraction efficiency. Figure 1a,b showed the effect of PS against DC. The TPC of the WP extract for 0.2 mm PS at a low concentration was slightly higher than the TPC for 0.5 mm PS. A different trend was observed for the same PS at a higher DC except for WP and YP extracts that had similar TPC for both (individual) particle sizes, respectively. 0.2 mm PS samples from the result exhibited good antioxidant activity, and this could be related to the fact that the high antioxidant activity is positively correlated with the TPC activity. To determine the best condition for antioxidant activity and extraction in cassava based on variety type, plant material, particle size and dilution, TPC was used as an indicator since it indicates the amount and presence or absence of polyphenol contents in plants. The results from this study showed that YP extracts gave the highest TPC followed by the WS.The results obtained from the YP and WP extracts with low dilution concentration based on the particle size, and dilution concentration can be seen to be closely related to the intraparticle diffusion theory. It was observed that the TPC of these extracts increased at a low dilution concentration when the particle sizes were reduced from 0.5 mm to 0.2 mm. It is also important to note that a high phenolic content and antioxidant activity during extraction may be attributed to other compounds such as proteins and carbohydrates that are highly soluble in methanol (Zielinski & Kozøowska, 2000). standard solutions were carefully selected prior to the TP assay using gallic acid as a standard. The deviation observed in the assay could be attributed to the fact that the antioxidant capacity (TAC) values depended on the quantity of the sample: solvent ratio used which exerted a positive effect as indicated by the high antioxidant yields observed in the YP, YS and WS extracts, respectively. It could also be a result of the fact that different plants contain polyphenols and antioxidants at various concentrations.Correlation analysis on the antioxidant and the total phenolic contents (TPC) of yellow-fleshed and white cassava peel and stem extracts (Table 1) was performed. The Pearson correlation coefficient of TPC, DPPH and FRAP assays revealed a statistically significant linear relationship (P ≤ 0.01). The extracts of white and yellow cassava peels and stems were highly correlated at R 2 = 0.908; 0.920; and 0.972 for TPC-DPPH; TPC-FRAP; and DPPH-FRAP, respectively. TPC was positively and strongly correlated with DPPP and FRAP antioxidant activity, and therefore, it may be concluded that the antioxidant activity of the peel and stem extracts is related to the active component. Different correlation analysis between TPC and antioxidant activities (DPPH and FRAP) can be found in the literature (Mahattanatawee et al., 2006). The positive and strong correlation observed in this study was in agreement with the results of many research studies such as Deepanjan et al (2008) and Katalinic et al (2006) that reported a significant correlation between TPC and ferric reducing antioxidant power.Data obtained in this study highlighted significant variations in the antioxidant activities between the peels and stems of the two cassava varieties (yellowand white-fleshed) and also showing a strong correlation between the assays. The smaller particle size (0.2 mm) gave, the higher TPC, and antioxidant activity across the three assays in the following order YP > WS > YS > WP extracts. YP and WS extracts exhibited the most significant antioxidant activity at a low dilution concentration, while the 0.2 mm particlesized YS extract exhibited a higher antioxidant activity. For the other antioxidant assays, a variation of the particle sizes with less dilution concentration occurred as it highly depends on the linearity limits of the standard curve for the assay used. The peel from the yellow-fleshed cassava variety may be considered as a good source of natural antioxidants, and its availability as a by-product may be an added advantage. It can be promoted for the application as a food additive in functional foods and fat-based cosmetics. Their utilisation can serve in reducing the waste disposal problem and hence protect the environment.Supervision (supporting). Joachim Muller: Data curation (equal); Resources (lead); Supervision (lead); Validation (supporting); Writing-review & editing (lead).Ethics approval was not required for this research.The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/ijfs.14814.","tokenCount":"4605"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2006486032.json b/data/part_1/2006486032.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c81b071a2011f61fecf524a28fd6f8b454607b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2006486032.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dc1306f5dd403bcf1a22760c697b40af","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fe67b7de-f0ee-463e-ac48-b2f61e5bfdc7/content","id":"-1515053874"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e7fcc16c-6ff1-498f-b7a4-dc9134149209","pagecount":"35","content":"From 16-19 March 2015, the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern Africa (SIMLESA) organized a review and planning meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, with the objective of utilizing and building upon the results of the project's phase (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013), to produce a work plan, and to get feedback about the plans formulated from partners. About 120 SIMLESA partners, stakeholders and invited guests met to review activities to date and to plan for the 2015/2016 season.research and development. Chitsiko cited food production, economic growth and sustainable intensification as major avenues to unlocking Africa's agricultural development opportunities. \"Sustainable intensification of maize and legumes will increase resources productivity as well as reduce production risk,\" he said.Through the SIMLESA Project, smallholder farmers practice sustainable intensification principles, such as zero or minimum tillage, maize-legume intercropping, maize-legume rotations, growing new maize and legume varieties and appropriate fertilizer use.The project has tested promising smallholder maize-legume cropping systems, attempted to increase the range of maize and legume varieties available for smallholders and facilitated strong capacity building for agricultural research partners, among other achievements.Dr. Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA Project Leader, said the second phase of SIMLESA would complement the achievements of the first phase (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014), especially by scaling out good agricultural practices. Mekuria shared the objectives of the project's second phase, including the continuation of the original 10-year vision with ambitions to sustainably improve maize and legume productivity of selected maize-based farming systems in each target country by 30 percent from the 2009 average, and reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent for approximately 650,000 farm households. \"We will also strengthen innovation platforms where farmers and agribusinesses have a platform to share market information, agronomic practices and other technologies,\"Mekuria said.At the four-day meeting, national coordinators from the five countries gave an overview of SIMLESA I products. Leaders of each of the four thematic areas highlighted the major changes to each area in SIMLESA II. Cross-cutting areas such as gender mainstreaming and communications were also highlighted as crucial to the success and impact for SIMLESA II. Participants streamlined their work plans and aligned them to country priorities, which were linked to country financial budgets.In the first session of the meeting, there were a number of activities to help set the stage. The meeting kicked off with an overview of SIMLESA and expected outputs of the 5 th Annual Review and Planning Meeting (ARPM) and the Project Steering Committee.Dr Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA Project Leader, centered on \"What is Good-Difficult and Different? In SIMLESA 2 work. He gave a brief profile of the program. The ACIAR-funded SIMLESA program launch and planning was convened to plan for the implementation of SIMLESA II in Ethiopia, together with other partners such as CIMMYT and CIAT.He said the SIMLESA program implementation was being implemented by CIMMYT jointly NARS partners, with a financial grant form ACIAR (Phase 1 -2010 to 2014) and phase 2 (2014 to 2018). The program's regional and international partners include ICRISAT, QAAFI, ARC, ASARECA, and MU. The second phase includes CCARDESA, ILRI, and CIAT. SIMLESA I had gathered collective experience, produced the 2012 mid-term review report, held the third and fourth annual review planning meetings as well as a project steering committee meeting to inform the planning of SIMLESA II.Phase 1 of the program has empowered the National Agricultural Research Stations (NARS) in making important decisions regarding the program, build the capacity of the NARS to execute programs (programming, scientifically and financially).As a result of its achievements, SIMLESA is being considered as a model project among government and the donor community. The4 program has also participated in various regional and international conferences to advance its agricultural for development objectives.Dr Mekuria said SIMLESA is being institutionalized into NARS strategies especially the adoption of SIMLESA approaches into their operational models such as the agricultural value chain analysis, innovations platforms, gender mainstreaming and M&E institutionalization.In SIMLESA 2 the program was banking on its successes in conservation agriculture-based cropping systems which had raised productivity increasing technologies, NARS ownership of program work and capacity building.Challenges in implementation were highlighted as CA-based sustainable intensification in integrating other disciplines; risk reducing innovations and research designs, scaling out and business engagement (except maize seed), and M&E which supports management.The overall objective of SIMLESA II is the continuation of the original 10-year vision by the year 2023: to sustainably improve maize and legume productivity of selected maize-based farming systems in each target country by 30 percent from the 2009 average and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent on approximately an additional 650,000 farms in the SIMLESA countries.The combination of innovations with the aim to increasing productivity and profitability, reduce downside production risks, enhance sustainability and strengthen innovation platforms/systems. SIMLESA II implementation period is 2014 to 2018 with the following implication: continuation with adjustment to 1 st phase (2010-13) to build on SIMLESA-1 achievements and lessons/feedback with the aim of strengthening multi-disciplinary field teams, targeting, and scaling-out; refocus some research and capacity building and phase down on completed research. SIMLESA 2 would be different from SIMLESA 1 and changes would include the following: Broader technological focus with the core thrust on Conservation Agriculture (CA)-based sustainable intensification, system orientation-from plot to farm, impact orientation-adoption, impact pathways, value chain linkages; partnership and scaling up/out and the management of competitive and commissioned grants.There are several capacity building opportunities in SIMLESA II, such as: Training of at least 100 professionals on CA-based sustainable intensification, provided to build and enhance capacity of national and regional programs,  Train 50rained professionals on gender mainstreaming,  Train 25 professionals on seed systems,  Train 10 research managers,  Train 50 extension and scaling out professionals,  Opportunities to access competitive Australian PhD scholarships and ARC supported MSc.and PhD scholarships.SIMLESA II will use lessons learned from SIMLESA I. These are the following: Integrating value chains activities with technologies,  capacity building and local policy analysis,  Use of innovation platforms;  Consult women during project design and implementation and understand the incentives of all chain members and value chain dynamics within the broader market and trade context.In SIMLESA II there some new activities that would be implemented differently, such as:Objective 1:The objective will make use of the rich and comprehensive data set available. The objective will no longer be a socioeconomics \"silo\" but will be multidisciplinary. Typologies to be used for targeting purposes will also be introduced to evaluate developed SIMLESA options. The objective will implement the value chain analysis and market studies for farmer-market linkages and agribusiness development. In addition, objective 1 will adopt and monitor results to influence technology development and feed back to objective 2 and 3.Fine tuning of current options and new areas of research by all and not just agronomists. The program is expected to: revisit on station and on farm exploratory trials-numbers and sites;  package options for scaling out -objectives 1, 3 and 4;  Produce case farms studies;  going from plot to farm scale; and  Facilitate CIAT and QAAFI to collaborate on country specific soil science researchMaking available more new and resilient varieties of maze and legumes. There will be no more breeding as both legumes and maize breeding has a heavy investment by BMGF. The objective will help the program: refine the seed road maps per country;  strengthen seed companies;  to have more emphasis on legumes by strengthening the informal seed sector and capacity buildingObjective 4:This is now a new standalone objective. It is no longer a refugee under objective 2. There is a competitive grant for scaling out with current and new scaling out partners. The objective will strengthen and use agricultural innovative platforms (AIPs) for scaling out, and work with agribusinesses to facilitate scaling out. Another area of focus for the objective would be measuring and documenting scaling out experiences and lessons. At the conclusion of ACIAR funding in 2018, the program would have reached 650,000 households in the five core SIMLESA countries and the three spillover countries.Strengthened capacity building on specific country needs. This includes: However, Dr Mekuria said the road to SIMLESA success would not be smooth. Therefore, there was a great need to sustain the achievements of SIMLESA 1. But this would be more difficult as SIMLESA 2 had fewer resources than SIMLESA 1 although more activities were to be implemented in the new phase. SIMLESA 2 will coordinate a multi stakeholder program facing challenges in the area of limited capacity by partners to implement new areas of research and managing competitive grants and commissioned research. In addition, the program would be expected to get trust based data access, share policy issues and reach out to 650, 000 households. The innovation systems and local scaling out component was shifted to objective 4.In phase 1, objective 2 had the following outputs:1. Options for systems intensification 2. Develop functional local innovation systems 3. Evaluations of exploratory trials and characterization 4. Adjustments to the maize-legume systems 5. CA systems incorporated into farmers own fields 6. Farmer learning facilitated through exchange/study visits Phase 1 strategy focused on a number of activities, including farmer consultations and agreement on treatments; farmer field days; on -station trials and community awareness of agricultural interventions.The following were the key issues emerging from the implementation of the first phase:• Difficulties experienced in implementing all three principles: components, stepwise adoption. • Labor savings from CA were generally the key benefit especially in herbicide assisted systems. • Yield benefits were the most apparent from rotation systems.• Yield increases were not apparent in some situations especially waterlogged soils.• There were diseases in some maize varieties and environments under CA.• No significant improvement in soil properties in the short term (currently, 3-4 years).• Advantages of CA in soil moisture improvement was established • Residue availability is one of the main concerns in mixed crop-livestock farming systems and termite prone environments. • Weeding: labor cost, Nitrogen fertilizer availability, water conservation, herbicides, and farm mechanization challenges.Phase 2, has, therefore, the following outputs: Annually evaluate 150 on-farm trials of sequenced and refined CA-based intensification options for different types of farms across 15 maize-legume-forage/fodder production systems  Understanding productivity and soil health dynamics of CA based intensification practices  Lessons from CA-based intensification experiments shared and linked to targeting strategies The future of objective 2 is to address variety issues (intercropping, diseases, Nitrogen stress tolerance) through testing released materials e.g. Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. The program will develop alternative soil cover options and promote crop-livestock interactions as well as carefully design farm scale studies.There is also a need to strengthen the science outputs in phase 2. Partnerships with those organizations with a comparative advantage for quality enhancement would also be established. The program will develop strategies to work with the other SIMLESA objectives to achieve maximum results. Above, all the objective deliverables would also need to be aligned with the budget. What good activities were carried out during SIMLESA 1?  created ground for CA concepts for practices  supported scientific data generation and analysis  capacity building opportunities  better organized data collection (after 2 nd year) flexibility for improvement of project outcomes (need for better definition of outcomes?)  preliminary recommendations from success stories  encouraging documents and information for future efforts  increased adoption of legume varieties However, the objective had its fair share of challenges, such as: on-farm/on-station trials not site and context dependent  The extension system and mindset of people needed to be changed to accept CA  lack of site and socioeconomic specific recommendations that could convince policy change  reporting without well documented background information  insufficient incentive/credit for documentation and reporting  insect, pest and disease damage (integrated pest management strategy needed?)  lack of communication products for reporting results for wider use  working with the extension staff due to staff turnover and discontinuity (this challenge extends to research, NGOs and other partners)  NARS overburdened with many activities  poor early establishment of CA plots (requirement of breeding under CA?)The objective, would need to be aligned w2ityh the other objectives.Presentation 2: Economic and Environmental benefits of SIPs: Evidence from SIMLESA 1-Presented by Sarah Tione Tione outlined objective 1 achievements as follows:• About 508 research villages/communities were identified and characterized for demonstrating and evaluating technologies during SIMLESA-1 and 2. • Comprehensive household, plot and village level survey data from 3, 613 farm households [3020 male and 563 female] and 28 districts were collected in the five SIMLESA countries. • Survey reports which characterized target areas for each country were prepared. These reports were shared with all our partners. • At the level of markets, we produced value chain reports on input-output market constraints, opportunities and interventions.• Training on value chain, constructing farm household typology and adoption and impact analysis training was provided for about 15 national partners and CIMMYT staff.• Results have been presented at international conferences and SIMLESA annual meetings. • A number of policy and academic relevant peer reviewed papers on adoption and impacts, gender food security gap were produced and shared widely • Adoption monitoring surveys were carried out in each country for 2011 crop calendar and about 16, 860 farm households (male-10910 and Female-5950) were identified as adopters of SIMLESA technologies. • Five Baseline Survey Reports completed and distributed across multidisciplinary teams • Fifteen publications: peer reviewed, conference proceedings and discussion papers • Six policy briefs produced in 2014• Market and Value Chain assessment reports • Results presented in various international -including annual meetings Tione also gave an example on empirical lessons (Adoption):Group Membership: Those farmers belonging to groups had higher chance to adopt: In Ethiopia: Crop diversification and minimum tillage  In Kenya: Improved varieties and fertilizer  In Malawi: Soil and water conservationWhen close to markets farmers had a higher chance to adopt:  In Ethiopia: Crop diversification and manure use  In Malawi: Improved varieties  In Tanzania: Crop diversification and minimum tillageWith more assets in the household farmers had a higher chance to adopt: In Ethiopia: Soil and water conservation  In Kenya and Tanzania: Manure Tione added that objective 1 had five outputs and 16 activities which were to be achieved in 15 quarters.He outlined the outputs, as follows: Refined understanding of CA-based intensification and feed options in selected farming systems  Understanding maize, legume and fodder/forage value chains, focusing on institutional/agribusiness constraints and opportunities, costs and pricing patterns (gender specific)  Understanding farm risks (perception, attitude, exposure, sensitivity, interactions) and management responses/-innovations under different biophysical, socioeconomic and institutional settings.  Functional farm-household typologies matched to CA-based intensification options  Identified and refined recommendation domains and adoption and impact pathways for 15 maize-legume-forage/fodder production systemsIn SIMLESA 2, the focus would be on impact pathways to demonstrate milestones in agricultural research and development. Another focus would be on adoption pathways and feedback mechanisms on participatory farmer research extension and the development of the agribusiness model. This would pave way for modalities for diffusion of projects and provide opportunities for scaling up. The program would also work with agribusiness focusing on public investments as a way of supporting technology adoption among partners.The program will use a business model approach to modernize market linkages fora value chains. Communication and information dissemination came out strongly as an approach that would enable the program to achieve greater impact, and influence relevant stakeholders at various stages of the agriculture and research process in Ethiopia. In this regard, communication materials should be simple and user-friendly.Presentation 3: Seed Supply System and Seed Road Maps: Are farmers getting the latest maize and legume varieties-Presented by Pedro Fato (on Behalf of Team Members -Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and CIMMYT).Fato said objective three had the following focus: Increase range of maize, legume and fodder/forage varieties available for smallholders through accelerated breeding, regional testing and release and provision of quality seed.The main activities were: Short-listing new and best-bet maize, legume and forage varieties with potential adaptation to the conditions and farmer's needs in targeted maize-legume systems  Varieties mostly from ongoing breeding programs such as DTMA, TL-II  Evaluation of identified varieties in PVS and Mother-Baby Trials in target communities  Production and supply of different classes of maize and legume seeds of selected varieties Accelerated breeding  Regional nurseries composed of best-bet maize and legume varieties  Maize, inbred lines characterized per se and in testcrosses for priority traits (intercropping compatibility drought, N stress, pests, diseases)  G x E analysis and modeling in scaling out best varieties to promote into similar growing environments within and across countries Multilocation leading to: What is New in SIMLESA-II for Objective 3?• Linkage with objective 2 to identify varieties suitable for CA based systems The Objective 4 Team is concerned with the following issues in SIMLESA:1 Policy Options, organizational Models 2 Scaling multi-stakeholder interaction mechanization 3 Scaling CA-based intensification options 4 Knowledge sharing Objective 4 will prioritize the following: Build on SIMLESA 1-Lessons on AIP for the improvement of phase 2 and one of the strategies is to identify one national leadership per country to champion objective 4 activities. Prioritize and integration of several innovations as developed by SIMLESA activities. Aligning approaches to take into consideration gender and youth. It has been observed in SIMLESA that 40 percent of the adopters are women hence the need for such consideration as most technologies are not gender sensitive. There are gains and lessons that have been learned from SIMLESA 1, such as facilitation of PVA, seed bulking, on-farm CA-based technology testing that are important and should be included in phase 2 of SIMLESA. Scaling out strategies need to be intensified as well as looking at the sustainability of the interventions and technologies being introduced.In Eastern and Southern Africa where CIMMYT's Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program works, women hold the key to improving the quality of life and increasing the food security of rural families. While men may have greater access to land, credit, and market networks, women have the potential to be the drivers of agricultural productivity.SIMLESA strives to provide men, women and youth with equitable access to inputs, credit, markets, and training opportunities. We integrate gender sensitivity into all program activities, facilitate people's access to basic services, and continually evaluate results to maximize our impact on both men and women.As part of our agricultural research and development work, SIMLESA's commitment to integrating gender strives to bring time-and labor-saving technologies to women farmers in the region, for example. That's why SIMLESA, a program that aims to increase food security and incomes for smallholder farmers in five core countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania) is ensuring women are among those receiving the technical assistance that can help them reach their full potential in the agriculture sector.As SIMLESA begins its second phase, with all the excitement and energy, it is good to take stock of where we are on fostering gender equality and where we go from here. After all, our funding partners, ACIAR, the CGIAR system, CIMMYT, and national governments in all SIMLESA countries are committed to social inclusion broadly, and to gender equity in particular. Specifically, these institutions' gender policy positions challenge us to be vigilant about inclusiveness.Do our approaches reach all individuals in the communities we serve? In what ways may certain subgroups, such as women or men, be constrained in accessing and adopting improved technologies? What can we do differently to understand the various social contexts and develop ways to address them? If we pay attention to gender, what difference will it make in terms of ensuring food and income security and natural resource conservation?In SIMLESA II, we aim to consolidate the gains made during SIMLESA I. Through the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (ASARECA)'s leadership, SIMLESA I strengthened the capacity of over 1, 000 individuals by providing gender-sensitive training at times and places that were convenient for men and women to ensure they received equal access to the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in agriculture.Additionally, ASARECA documented in-depth case studies that improved our understanding of best practices for gender analysis and development practice. SIMLESA II is poised to build upon this solid foundation and effectively integrate gender. We are happy to report on four key pathways to integrate gender into agricultural value chains and ensure all household members benefit from expanded economic opportunities: a strong team of gender experts  a gender strategy  an gender Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E ) framework  solid commitment from the project leadership and team First, because SIMLESA operates in five core African countries, it is essential to have a strong coordination unit that helps to streamline and to an extent, standardize activities and tracking of progress. SIMLESA II engaged CIMMYT's gender specialist, Vongai Kandiwa, to lead and coordinate the integration of gender. Since joining the SIMLESA family in July 2014 and with the help and input from country coordinators, Vongai identified a strong team of country gender focal persons: Dr. Rehima Mussema (Ethiopia); Charles Nkonge (Kenya); Kenneth Chaula (Malawi); Maria Luz (Mozambique); and Vidah Mahava (Tanzania). This team will ensure that gender is taken into account during priority setting fora, such as country planning and coordination meetings, provide technical backstopping in-country and provide leadership on monitoring and evaluation of gender equality outcomes and processes.Second, SIMLESA produced and shared widely with SIMLESA team a draft gender strategy for the program. The strategy provides clear guidelines on where gender is relevant, delineates where action is feasible, what specifically needs to be done, by whom, at what level, at what cost, and how to track progress? The strategy is built upon three key principles:Understanding -we seek to critically examine and understand how, and in what contexts gender impacts in conservation agriculture (CA-based) maize-legume systems especially for adoption and scaling out.Opportunity -women are sometimes unable to influence the decisions that directly affect farm yields and household income. SIMLESA promotes agriculture as a family business, giving women the ability and autonomy to make decisions. We train women in leadership skills, negotiation, and group formation. We also endeavor to foster equal opportunities for men, women and youth to access information, markets, participate in demonstrations, trials and field days, receive training and provide leadership in local agricultural innovation platforms.Learning -we strive for continued learning on gender through research and practice. Overall, in SIMLESA II, we hope to minimize the chances of creating gender gaps in access to improved technologies and opportunities, bridge gender gaps where they exist and avoid creating new ones. The strategy was presented and discussed at the Malawi and Mozambique Planning meetings in August this year. It was also presented again at the Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania planning meetings before being finalized by end of November.Third, the SIMLESA gender strategy outlines clear and measurable monitoring and evaluation (M&E) indicators which will be integrated into the overall SIMLESA M and E framework. Most importantly, we do not only track standard quantitative indicators, but also qualitative ones such as approaches and processes that are effective in ensuring equal participation and benefits sharing between men and women in communities where we work. The idea is to share ideas, learn from one another, and constantly improve on our strategies.Looking ahead, what will it take to successfully integrate gender? Success on gender in SIMLESA will not entirely depend on what individual SIMLESA gender experts do. Rather, it is our collective commitments, responsibilities and efforts that matter. After all, many of the gender relevant activities will be led and carried out by other SIMLESA team members who are not necessarily gender specialists. In the most cases, project teams are never lacking commitment to gender. But, what is usually limiting is clarity on what needs to be done? With our SIMLESA gender team in place, a solid strategy and an M&E framework, we have no excuses. • Economic value for resources depend on market prices.• Markets give signals on the relative importance of resources, goods/services.• Benefits from efforts or investments depend on what markets pay for the products/services. • Markets distribute incentives created by policies.• But, markets:• May not exist all the time, or every where, or for every inputs, goods/services • Couldn't give value to everything (ecosystem services, culture, equity, etc.) • Investment in SIPs has both short-and long term benefit and cost structure.• Short and long term economic benefits from investments in SIPs depend on:• What the inputs cost in the market or to a farmer, and• What markets pay for the products.Which markets?• Inputs -Seed (improved/local) -Fertilizer (organic and/or inorganic) -Herbicides/pesticides -Labor -Fuel/lubricants livestock -Land -Storage materials, etc.Food crops Cash crops, Livestock/products,….• Single or multiple markets? -Decision in one market affects/is affected by the other market.-Production decisions depend on both inputs and outputs markets.-The first production-marketing interface or the whole chain? -Depends on the problem(s) to be analyzed.-Marketing problems in transitional periods of new products• When new commodities are introduced, there is a period when the marketed surplus might be higher than local demand but less attractive to long distance traders.- Pigeon peas 3kgs Repayment is as 1:2, after 3 years it is expected that NASFAM will buy everything from farmers and replace with new seed. Not many companies are aware of new varieties -grain marketing for pigeon is not as competitive  Seed inspections services is quite challenging for inspectors due to size of land.  To get good volume it takes time.  Be a member owned organizations farmers have high expectation on price as compared to other buyers ,this creates conflict in business.  NOTE: Our failures does not mean we are failures but did do it right .• Introduced pigeon peas in non traditional growing areas.• Farmers are able to produce the crops seed (2434 farmers involved)• Seed is readily available for large groups.• NASFAM has steady supply of seed for other members.• Trained 57 extension staff ( 15f and 42m), 345 lead farmers (114 f and 231m)• Rotation is made possible • Increase income for smallholder farmers because the market is available at door step. In Africa agriculture sector contributes over 60% of the national GDP and is the main source of employment.Agricult ure cont ribut es t he lar gest shar e of income in all count ries (no less t han 60 % in K enya and 75% in Et hiopia). It f ollows t hat increasing it s pr oduct ivit y is f undament al t o improve household w elf are. Non-agricult ural w age employment r at es are very low at a maximum of 13% in Kenya. Similarly, self -employment r anges bet w een 4% in Malawi and 17% in Tanzania.Income Diver sif cat ion St r at egies in Project Tar get Dist r ict s (%) In SIMLESA countries it was discovered that majority of farmers are not adopting CA holistically -incorporating all three major aspects of CA for instance rotation, mulching and minimum tillage. Farmers are rational they always choose what is good to them. Adoption pathways studies revealed that different farmers were able to select some or a combination of CA components as detailed below:In Africa, despite nearly twenty years of development and promotion by the national extension program and numerous other projects, adoption has been extremely low in the smallholder farming compared to in other continents such as South America, North America and Europe due to various constraints. This is attributed to various constraints which include: a low degree of mechanization within the smallholder system;  lack of appropriate implements; lack of appropriate soil fertility management options; problems of weed control under no-till systems; lack of access to credit; lack of appropriate technical information; blanket recommendations that ignore the resource status of rural households; Competition for crop residues in mixed crop livestock systems, and limited availability of household labour.The major problem being faced by CA farmers is multi-purpose of crop residue which makes it difficult to return as mulch. This is mainly due to competitive use of crop residue.SIMLESA is promoting CA based sustainable intensification which apart from farming system include use of improved seed varieties. Currently SIMLESA is promoting both maize and legume improved seed varieties. Why Malawi fertilizer use high and yet yields is are low?  Dr Menale Kassie: Poor crop husbandry practices have contributed a lot to the low yields particularly late weeding. Late weeding reduces the efficient use of the fertilizer by crops. Use of manual weed control through hand hoes is still common thus it take s longer to finish weeding on all fields.  Does the nutrient map show differences within the districts?  This map has been borrowed from AGRA. They are still mapping and thus with time variations within districts will be shown as well.ZimCLIFS project is being implemented in sub-humid and semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe, Mashonaland and Matabeleland provinces respectively. The goal of the project is increased agricultural production to improve food security, alleviate poverty and reduce food-aid dependency, in rural Zimbabwe through better integration of crop and livestock production and market participation.Objective 1: Increase productivity of smallholder crop-livestock farming systems in four districts in two contrasting agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe by identifying and adapting technologies and practices.Objective 2: Improve farmers' access to resources, technologies, information and markets by characterising and strengthening crop (maize, sorghum, legume) and livestock (goats, cattle) value chains.Objective 3: Increase knowledge and skills of research and extension services and agribusiness to target and scale out knowledge generated by the project elsewhere in Zimbabwe.The project integrates crop and livestock components which are key factors in attaining sustainable food security in Africa.Improved crop & livestock integration with synchronized activities, can generate complementary relationships without competition for farm resources. With the high competition of crop residue which used as mulch under conservation agriculture and livestock feed are well integrated in this project. The project resolved crop residue challenges through inclusion of fodder and legume crops within crop production. Project impact includes:• Improved yield ( 15-45%)• Cash income from the sale of fodder legume ( seed and feed)• saved labour -(1) ripping and direct seeding ( 45%) , (2) use of non-palatable legumes such tephrosia and mature sun hem as mulch,• greater economic benefits• better use of intermediate farm resources such as animal manure, draught power and crop residues. more efficient use of marginal and fallow land.• also saves on the purchases of fertilizer inputs and labour.SIMLEZA-Is promoting CA-based sustaininable intensification in Zambia. The project include a number various partners particularly governments institutions, seed companies and farmers groups. Farmers are now accessing improved seed varieties at national level due to SIMLEZA project.The sessions were done through 2 videos and powerpoint presentations on activities being promoted in Zambia and Zimbabwe under SIMLEZA_AR and ZimCLIFS respectively. Dr Mulugetta: How does ZimCLIFS and SIMLEZA _AR activities help SIMLESA? Dr Nyagumbo: SIMLESA can benefits by carrying out field visits to the ZimCLIFS sites in Zimbabwe in order to tap on the technologies on livestock i.e. fodder production and processing. These activities were not there in phase 1 and the livestock component has now been incorporated in the variation phase.  Dr Sitimela: SIMLESA can benefit from technologies such as Soyabeans inoculation which has been promoted in Zambia in the eastern province. Inoculant has proved to be a very cheap, efficient and fertilizer substitute for smallholder farmers.  Dr Olaf. The process is a 2 way in which projects mutually benefits from each other. Professor Sikhalazo Dube: SIMLESA can benefit a lot on forage technologies. The ZimCLIFS project will also benefit on how technologies have been up scaled in eastern and southern Africa under the SIMLESA project.The main objectives of the project are (1) to improve access to mechanization, (2) reduce labour drudgery, and (3) minimize biomass trade-offs in ESA, through accelerated delivery and adoption of 2WT-based technologies by smallholdersThe project is being implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and is a five year project ending February 2017 with total budget of Aus$ 3.9 M Major incentive in the less mechanized systems in developing countries: early planting (arising from the reduced number of operations required to prepare the land) (Haggblade and Tembo, 2003) Primary purpose of CA is establishing a crop with as little energy (= power × time) as possible. The concept is being complemented by mechanized equipment. FACASI strategy is mainly based on five main steps:1. Identifying tasks to be mechanized (low labor productivity and/or high labor drudgery, likely demand) 2. Identifying/manufacturing suitable machines 3. Creating demand (incentives for commercial actors)4. Building capacity and skills for mechanization and business (machines owned by farmers at an early stage, entrepreneurs specialized in hiring services later) Any Cultural/Gender issues related to the machinery?The technology has labour saving benefits and thus women will have more time for other activities.Dr Vonga Kandiwa: There is a misperception that when there is free labour, women will not use it productively. A study done in Malawi indicated that women will use that time productively for activities like home gardening and groundnut production.  How are the maintenance costs? They are reasonable. Analysis has shown that smaller machines with the same capacity as these tractors already exists in the communities and have been serviced cheaply and efficiently over years e.g. grinding mills  Are they available on the local market? Not yet but they are also working with potential companies to see if they can be manufactured locally.  Are they affordable? They currently cost between $2000 and$3000. The farmers who grow cash crops like tobacco can afford. There might be need however to link to loan providers so that farmers get them on a loan basis on agreed terms • Improving the delivery of information, including on technologies and market opportunities to smallholders,• Developing policy options and recommendations that favor these technologies  Ethiopia team: The team was advised to include ICRISAT for legume seed production. A forum for discussion has to be organised with ICRISAT Kenya team: The team was also advised to discuss collaboration issues with CIAT, including Tanzania. The scaling up of CA technologies in Kenya should also be properly targeted because the technologies may not the suitable for certain areas Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda and Botswana. Presentations were made in succession and no major comments arose apart from emphasizing on collaboration with ICRISAT on access to improved legume seed; CIAT for soil analysis ad use of soil analysis equipment; ASARECA on policy issues and communication. Most importantly, countries should harmonise messages on CA practices for easy policy dialogue.On the third day of the meeting, SIMLESA participants attended the CIMMYT-Southern Africa's 30th anniversary celebrations.Participants visited CIMMYT-SARO research activities at its main research station outside Harare. CIMMYT-SARO showcased a wide range of breeding, physiology, agronomy and seed system activities. On-farm visits to the farming communities and partner seed research farm demonstrated CIMMYT's involvement in technology development, testing and evaluation, and deployment to the ultimate beneficiaries.The colourful commemorative event, held amid pomp and fanfare, was attended by more than 300 people representing donors, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, Zimbabwe government departments, seed companies and farmer associations. The celebration included an on-station tour, with CIMMYT-SARO showcasing its work.CIMMYT-SARO has been operating in Zimbabwe since March 1985 with the support of the government of Zimbabwe, and other public and private-sector partners, including the University of Zimbabwe and the Department of Research and Specialist Services. In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT conducts experiments at its main station, as well as at Muzarabani and Chiredzi sub-stations. There are also on-farm trials across the country.Officially commemorating CIMMYT-SARO's 30-year anniversary (SARO@30), Zimbabwe's Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr. Joseph Made, said, ''The regional office has been focusing on developing new maize varieties adapted to smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and the mid-altitude agroecologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, the office has expanded to include development of research technologies for conservation-agriculture systems, sustainable intensification of production of smallholder farms and postharvest research activities.\"In a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Ringson Chitsiko, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Made applauded CIMMYT's research work on developing a stock of maize since this was a major staple in the country, and beyond. Although CIMMYT and its partners had produced various technologies for improving maize production, the organization had to develop more technologies to mitigate the effects of climate change.The minister advised: \"CIMMYT needs to work harder and be alert, especially in the face of the ever-growing population, climate change and variability, and new threats through maize diseases and pests. I urge CIMMYT to continue pursuing its mandate for the benefit of the Southern African region.\"In support of this goal and in recognition of CIMMYT's sustained presence and commitment to the SADC region and Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe government in 2012 renewed the Host Country Agreement, according CIMMYT-SARO diplomatic status. ''We are jointly working towards signing a new collaborative agreement to strengthen maize research to combat a new threat in the form of maize lethal necrosis [MLN] disease recently discovered in East Africa and which has a potential to wipe out an entire maize crop if it spreads to Southern Africa,'' Made said.MLN caused 100 percent crop loss for some Kenyan farmers between 2011 and 2012, and cases were also reported in Uganda and Tanzania.Speaking at the same occasion, Dr. Olaf Erenstein, Director of CIMMYT's Socioeconomics Program who represented Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General, said CIMMYT, since its establishment in Mexico in 1966 currently has 13 representative offices around the world, and has the mandate and mission of sustainably increasing the productivity of maize and wheat systems to ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The regional office, he said, has served its purpose in contributing to increasing food security.CIMMYT-SARO is part of the world's largest public drought and low nitrogen stress research network. Every year 500,000 envelopes of maize seeds are sent to over 70 institutions worldwide. The demand for CIMMYT-SARO maize germplasm extends from Zambia to Afghanistan.During the past 10 years, sustainable intensification strategies based on the principles of conservation agriculture (CA) have been successfully promoted in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Making use of the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, CA increases yields when compared to conventional agricultural practices after two to five cropping seasons. Trials on farmers' fields in Malawi, for example, increased yields by 20 to 60 percent. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields were increased by almost 60 percent using animal traction CA technologies.Major highlights during the 30 years existence of CIMMYT in Zimbabwe include the development and release of more than 50 maize hybrids and Open Pollinated Varieties (OPVs) adapted to drought-prone regions. These new varieties are expected to benefit almost 12 million people, helping to enhance food security, increase livelihoods and reduce poverty in Southern Africa.CIMMYT's seed system activities and support in training and technical assistance have led to the emergence of smaller domestic seed companies in the various Southern African countries. Farmers' access to seed has improved.The organization also trained more than 200 technicians and graduate students through short-and long-term training in their various disciplines. These trainees included close to 30 percent women and were from SADC, the rest of Africa, and beyond.Country partners presented national work plans which were later perfected after the contribution of conference participants, see attached country plans. PSC members presented project main issues and project recommendations1. The PSC recommends that ACIAR support an extra PSC Meeting to coincide with site visits organized as part of the MTR to facilitate the PSC's input to the review process while giving members exposure to SIMLESA's work with farmers in the field 2. QAAFI visibility was questioned specifically on documentation. There was no specific stand-alone QAAFI report as compared to country progress reports. It was discussed that since SIMLESA is operating in five countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, QAAFI activities are integrated within progress reports. QAAFI submits reports to CIMMYT twice per year which are consolidated together with country progress updates into one report. The report is shared with the donors biannually.The PSC recommends that reporting from the Australian program be made more widely available, especially at the ARPMs 3. The PSC recommends that project partners be alerted to the implication of changes in the currency exchange rate which need to be continually monitored 4. The PSC recommends that the project pursue and clarify an inclusive and broad approach to conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification including a basket of appropriate targeted options for farmers 5. The project was urged to clarify conflicting messages on conservation agriculture and the extension services. SIMLESA is promoting sustainable intensification CAbased systems. These conflicts should be minimized by policy briefs-ASARECA to be tasked to work on this in each country by assigning someone.The PSC recommends that ASARECA should be approached to work with SIMLESA to develop policy dialogues and prepare policy briefs 6. The PSC recommends that the allocation of competitive grant funds should recognise the vital importance of the area of legume seed production including making seed available and promoting it to farmers e.g. initially allocate 10-20% of funds 7. The PSC reiterates the importance of capacity building in SIMLESA to facilitate training of the next generation of scientists","tokenCount":"6865"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2014126827.json b/data/part_1/2014126827.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3e03986c574c319a9330d33b3ceb9ce9083a7875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2014126827.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd246654043e9a605a01b74ae8020207","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e199c870-0e28-4b20-9521-ee00e04a5aad/retrieve","id":"-1579210904"},"keywords":["COlECClON AISTO{¡CA -.","\"","'! ' . ' _"],"sieverID":"6e39c010-6b76-4613-9f9c-f45b428950cd","pagecount":"22","content":"Among the strategies that were tested and found to be effective are:  The secretary for the village information centre Visiting farmers raised questions and Bototo farmers responded as follows:Q.How did you construct the centre? R.The materials for building our centre were contributed by bean IPM group members (the plot for the building was a contribution from a group member), assistance was also received from the Local Area Chief andQ .Up to now, how many farmers have accessed the library? R.More than 200 farmers have already accessed the library.   Topping is the removal of the growing tips to encourage branching tor high leaf production. This is done 2 weeks after top dressing or when the crop is 20 cm high.   ","tokenCount":"119"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2024286995.json b/data/part_1/2024286995.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e6584148d87ca542327b058df42d9cc49978f5a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2024286995.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cfeaaa4940fce980ba04c6200b817ae8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/33e3463c-08ea-4bbe-869f-9fe45d31b8f2/retrieve","id":"-761365326"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4d14fe7e-d22d-4c2b-8309-8fc1382151e2","pagecount":"4","content":"The wider use of cultivated forages provides a significant opportunity to enhance Ethiopia's livestock productivity.• Reliable supply of good quality forage seeds is necessary to achieve this.• A quality declared seed (QDS) scheme for forages with strong institutional buy-in will help grow the livestock sector and motivate reputable small-scale producers to strengthen forage seed markets in Ethiopia.• To create conditions for a thriving forage seed sector involving small-scale producers the free seed handout culture needs to be addressed potentially through a code of conduct for bulk buyers.• As well as strengthening seed quality, smallscale producers require support in marketing arrangements for seed e.g. through branding and distribution through agri-business retail outlets.Cultivated forages, including grasses, herbaceous legumes and browse trees and shrubs are a promising way to properly and sustainably feed Ethiopia's livestock and contribute to food security, livelihoods, economic growth and environmental policy goals.Wide uptake of these crops is held back by lack of affordable quality-assured seeds as well as low market demand, especially from subsistence producers. As the livestock sector becomes more commercial, demand for high quality feeds will increase in response to demand for forages and business opportunities in the sub-sector.Introducing appropriate quality assurance mechanisms for forage seed is a key step in driving the uptake and use of forage crops and will ultimately help stimulate a thriving forage seed sub-sector.In Ethiopia, seed certification standards and schemes are already used for food crops but a full scheme is too demanding and costly to extend to forages. Instead, a quality declared seed (QDS) approach offers a way to advance progress in the shorter term. It places more responsibility on producers for the quality of their products and is more flexible, provided the standards are respected.Establishing such a scheme may give greater confidence to buyers but is unlikely to transform the market unless other steps are taken to link producers directly to users.For QDS to work, reputable producers must sign up to the scheme and agree to a code of conduct that helps maintain quality standards. Thus, the QDS approach can bring producers together in a way that also strengthens their marketing opportunities. The scheme is therefore as much about production and marketing as quality assurance.This brief sets out how quality-assured forage seeds can directly address challenges of feed scarcity, feed quality and forage seed availability that hold back livestock productivity in Ethiopia. The findings and recommendations draw on a consultation exercise conducted in 2019 (Turner et al. 2019) and a stakeholder workshop also conducted in 2019 (Assefa et al. 2019).Livestock production is central to the livelihoods of farmers in Ethiopia. It provides food for the family, supports crop production and makes a significant contribution to the national economy. Its importance as a key driver for change is recognized in policy documents such as the Livestock Master Plan (LMP), the Climateresilient Green Economy Strategy (CRGE) and the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II). All these documents propose interventions to increase livestock productivity, including through better feeding.In Ethiopia, as in many other countries, livestock productivity is constrained by insufficient year-round availability of good-quality feed. This leads to inefficient production, overgrazing, environmental degradation, high green house gas (GHG) emissions per kilo of product, low returns to producers and ultimately, a sector that is unable to feed the livestock needed to meet demands for livestock products.Currently, the main sources of livestock feed are natural grazing pastures, poor-quality roughage and crop residues. A promising approach to improve livestock productivity is to increase the use of cultivated forages in livestock diets. These forages are highly nutritious; can be tailored to specific production systems and locations; and grown close to farms on small spaces, roadsides and remote hard-to-reach locations. They offer other side benefits in farming systems, such as soil improvement, and can create business opportunities for growers and other players in the value chain.To capitalize on the opportunities that forages offer, Ethiopia needs efficient systems to produce, sell and distribute good quality and trustworthy seeds. A key component of such systems is a certification or other quality assurance scheme that ensures transparency and traceability and builds trust between seed purchasers and seed sellers, breeders and producers. 'Certified' seed provides a quality guarantee that increases confidence in the final product by all actors in the chain.Certification schemes are a key component of the formal seed sector in most countries. They provide comprehensive quality control mechanisms from the breeder to the farmer, based on the fundamental principle of traceability.Ethiopia has comprehensive seed legislation at the federal level and certification is a routine procedure for major cereal crops such as wheat, barley and teff. The mechanics of certification are handled by regional authorities and regional enterprises are the main seed suppliers for most crops.A special feature of the national seed system in Ethiopia is that the quality standards are prepared and published by the Ethiopian Standards Agency in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). A separate standard exists for almost every crop, including forages, and they are remarkably detailed. However, some aspects of these standards would be difficult or impossible to implement using the facilities at the disposal of the regional authorities.In principle, all elements of a certification scheme for forage seeds already exist in the published standards and they could be implemented immediately if desired. However, in practice, very little forage seed is produced within the formal seed system and the certification system is not invoked for these crops, perhaps because the market demand is insufficient.Despite recognising the need to improve feed supplies and the role cultivated forages could play in this, subsistence farmers on their own are unlikely to create a consistent demand for forage seeds because their commercial orientation is not strong. The breakthrough will happen when a more commercialised livestock sector emerges and creates the need for increased forage production, not only by livestock keepers, but also by arable farmers who could regard this as a cash crop. In some regions, the wider use of irrigation would also increase the productivity of forage crops and make them a more attractive component of the farming system.The marketing system for seeds and other inputs in Ethiopia has traditionally been administered through official channels which does not allow for direct connection between producers and users. The official nature of seed marketing has also been an impediment to the distribution of seeds of crops such as forages, which are currently uncertified. A direct seed marketing initiative is being rolled out and this model will facilitate the development of a real market for forage seeds by linking producers and farmers more closely in a supply chain.Discussion about certification schemes relates entirely to the formal seed sector, which still accounts for a small part of the total seed supply/requirement in all crops, except hybrid maize. Although cultivated forages were not part of the traditional farming system, there is a significant informal trade in these seeds. This is handled directly by farmers and traders who operate without regulation and sell directly to NGOs and other buyers. While this parallel production system does provide seeds to smallholder farmers who are clients of NGO projects, it inhibits the development of a more organized market because farmers are conditioned to receive free or subsidized seed. Furthermore, there are serious concerns about seed quality in this informal sector. This issue requires attention at the policy level if a sustainable and financially viable production model is to emerge.In these circumstances, preparing the technical and administrative details of a certification scheme is unlikely to energize the existing system sufficiently in the short term. It will require a strong commitment by key participants and stakeholders to provide the technical services for certification and to follow through with the delivery of seeds to end users. Such an initiative should probably be piloted at a regional level, where most of the seed system is now organized. Policy support from the regional bureaux of agriculture, and at national level from the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), would be helpful. The Seed Policy and Seed Proclamation are currently under review and, if possible, these key documents should reflect the importance of improving the forage seed supply, given that this has been a matter of concern for many years.Quality declared seed (QDS) could serve as an alternative to a full certification scheme; it places more responsibility on producers for the quality of their products and is therefore, more flexible, provided the standards are respected. QDS is recognized under the Seed Proclamation and should be considered as an alternative to certification as an intermediate step.Seed certification is a quality assurance system in which seed intended for market is subject to official control and inspection. At its simplest, the system certifies that a sack, packet or box of seed contains what it says on the label and that the seed was produced, inspected and processed in accordance with the requirements of a certification scheme.The immediate objective of seed certification is to supply to farmers and other growers high quality seeds true to identity, high in purity and germination capacity and free from certain pests and diseases.Key elements are:• All seed must be of a known variety registered with certain identity tests.• Each seed crop is inspected to confirm its identity and to ensure it meets standards.• Each variety must be kept separate from other varieties at all stages.• Seed lots must be clearly identified to facilitate subsequent traceability to allow post-planting monitoring.• Each container of seed is officially sealed to ensure that any tampering with the seed is evident. Containers are labelled to confirm the standard and identity of the seed and provide traceability.• All certified seeds are subject to official visual examination to ensure compliance with standards.Box 1: What is seed certification?The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a non-profit institution helping people in low-and middle-income countries to improve their lives, livelihoods and lands through the animals that remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture and enterprise across the developing world. ILRI belongs to CGIAR, a global research for development partnership working for a food-secure future. ILRI's funders through the CGIAR Trust Fund, and its many partners, make ILRI's work possible and its mission a reality. Australian animal scientist and Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty serves as ILRI's patron.You are free to use and share this material under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence . ILRI thanks all donors and organizations that support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.A QDS approach would be an easier first step because it would allow more flexibility than full certification and enable reputable producers to do much of the work themselves in a more timely and efficient way. QDS can be regarded either as the optimal solution, or as a step on the road to certification because the technical procedures are very similar. The key difference is the allocation of responsibilities between various parties.For QDS to work, there must be a strong commitment by a group of reputable producers to sign up to the scheme and agree to a code of conduct that will maintain quality standards for their own benefit. This should be carried through the marketing chain with a system of packaging and labelling that makes this seed more widely available at the networks of sales outlets that are being developed by various projects and agencies. Traceability of the product will be an essential element and the move towards direct seed marketing will support this process. In fact, the system of administered allocation and distribution that has been used for major cereal crops simply does not work for a more specialised product like forage seeds. This has probably been one of the constraints to wider adoption.Four key steps to make such a QDS scheme happen are:1. Identify the scope and operations of a scheme: a draft guideline for a forage seed QDS should set out the key procedures, standards and obligations so that all parties can see what is involved. The precise conditions and requirement should be confirmed with the MoA and regional authorities since they must validate the scheme and its participants. General QDS guidelines already exist in Ethiopia and a scheme for forages could take the form of an addendum setting out the specific requirements for forages.2. Establish appropriate institutional arrangements: such a scheme requires an association of some kind be established to provide coordination and focus to make it work in practice.The arrangements needed to achieve this key step will require careful consideration by the parties and, if possible, policy support to encourage participation by the main public sector actors, especially the regulatory authorities. Given that the key physical activities of the seed supply chain now take place in the regions, it would be logical to organize this scheme at a regional level initially and use one region as a pilot to commission the system.3. Define regulatory requirements: beyond the technical elements, suitable regulatory aspects are necessary to ensure smooth implementation. The newly formed National Seed Advisory Group is a key point of contact as it brings together a wide range of knowledge and expertise. Moreover, its recent document on transformation of the seed sector provides a comprehensive framework that can accommodate the special needs of forage seeds.4. Upgrade the informal forage seed trade: the scale and mechanisms of the informal seed trade used by NGOs should be investigated to assess its merits and limitations. Continued bulk purchase of forage seed from unregistered producers without any formal quality checks will weaken the business model for a formal QDS scheme. Ideally, the quality of seeds traded this way should be regulated and enhanced so producers and buyers become part of the new arrangements, boosting the availability of good quality seeds and improving the reliability of forages grown by producers and farmers.","tokenCount":"2290"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2034712770.json b/data/part_1/2034712770.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7f81001e3c685f571826e8d4fb5e30a2f691a9a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2034712770.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9af2bb7b6e65620177c9f3c94916b52e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1528a897-032b-45d2-8595-248f241046a8/retrieve","id":"-1967207789"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4202b41e-2463-44a9-a29d-08c3d6e283c0","pagecount":"28","content":"El Sistema de Optimización de Inversión de Recursos (RIOS por sus siglas en inglés) es una herramienta utilizada para la priorización de inversiones, ésta responde a la pregunta cómo y dónde invertir para obtener el máximo retorno ecológico con un presupuesto dado.Esta herramienta introduce un enfoque basado en la ciencia para dar prioridad a las inversiones en las cuencas hidrográficas mediante la identificación de sitios donde las actividades de protección o restauración puedan producir, al menor costo, los mayores beneficios para las personas y la naturaleza. RIOS puede facilitar el diseño de inversiones para una sola o varias metas de gestión a la vez, incluyendo el control de la erosión, la mejora de la calidad del agua (Retención de nutrientes para Nitrógeno y Fósforo), la regulación de inundaciones, la recarga de acuíferos, el suministro de agua en temporada seca, y la biodiversidad terrestre y de agua dulce.Otro aspecto importante de RIOS es que funciona independientemente de la escala o la ubicación (dentro de las limitaciones de los datos disponibles), lo que significa que se puede utilizar para informar a una amplia selección de temas prioritarios en escala continental, nacional o subnacional. Al utilizar los datos disponibles a nivel local, también será capaz de dirigir las inversiones y estimaciones de ganancias en cualquier región y a diferentes escalas.Una herramienta con esta flexibilidad y generalidad es el resultado de un desarrollo amplio. El desarrollo de RIOS comenzó en 2011 con un taller en la República Dominicana, durante el cual The Natural Capital Project (NatCap) y la Alianza Latinoamericana de Fondos de Agua consolidaron las lecciones y la experiencia de muchos fondos de agua existentes y emergentes en toda América Latina. Tras el taller, RIOS se desarrolló en colaboración con un grupo de trabajo de representantes de varios programas de TNC en Latinoamérica y personas expertas de NatCap en hidrología, ecología y modelamiento de servicios ecosistémicos.El presente manual no pretende reemplazar el manual oficial de RIOS elaborado por The Natural Capital Project, puesto que este detalla el diseño y las funciones de la herramienta RIOS con bastante profundidad. El objetivo principal del manual elaborado para el quinto módulo de CUNORI contendrá la información mínima requerida para correr RIOS exitosamente. Entre el contenido general del presente manual encontramos una descripción general de todas las pestañas del programa, flujo de trabajo de la herramienta, configuración y cuidados generales y referencias a documentos oficiales.Se invita a quien use el programa a que visite el Foro de Usuarios para consultar mayor información sobre RIOS, proporcionar comentarios o sugerencias.Introducción RIOS Figura 1. Esquema del módulo Asesor de Portafolio de Inversiones de RIOS.El foro está en línea (https://community.naturalcapitalproject.org/) y es posible suscribirse para recibir actualizaciones de software y participar en las discusiones.El paquete instalado de RIOS cuenta con dos módulos: \"RIOS 1.1.16 (1) Investment Portafolio Adviser\" (Asesor del Portafolio de Inversiones) que utiliza datos biofísicos, sociales información sobre el presupuesto y costos de implementación para construir un mapa de actividades priorizadas para restaurar la cuenca según objetivos seleccionados; y \"RIOS 1.1.16 (2) Portafolio Translator\". (Traductor del Portafolio) que permite al usuario generar escenarios que reflejan el estado futuro de la cuenca en caso de que el portafolio fuese implementado. Este último no se abordará en el presente manual.El módulo RIOS Asesor de Portafolio de Inversiones combina datos biofísicos, presupuesto e información sobre las actividades y sus costos asociados para desarrollar los portafolios de inversión. RIOS presenta una serie de preguntas que ayudan al usuario a ir paso a paso a través de estos componentes, tal como se presenta en la Figura 1 y 2.Figura 2. Esquema de trabajo del portafolio de inversiones.El esquema de arriba (Figura 1) muestra que la herramienta conecta cinco componentes básicos para crear portafolios de inversión. Cada pregunta en el diagrama se relaciona con las entradas de datos provistas por el usuario.Los \"Objetivos\" son los resultados que los inversores (terrateniente, alcaldías, gobiernos nacionales, empresa privada, organizaciones sin fines de lucro, entre otros) se proponen a alcanzar. Estos pueden ser seleccionados y definidos por normativas legales de manejo, experiencias de manejo pasadas, negociaciones entre donantes y beneficiarios. Incluso pueden ser informados por la opinión experta o literatura científica.RIOS se basa en la lógica de que los inversores no pueden simplemente elegir el uso del suelo y la cobertura vegetal de la zona por motivos meramente extractivos sin considerar elementos sociales o ecosistémicos. Más bien, deben elegir \"Actividades\", que son un conjunto específico de acciones que pretenden llevar a diferentes transiciones de uso de la tierra. Las transiciones representan los tipos de \"Cambios en el uso de la Tierra\" que los inversores quisieran lograr en realidad, con el fin de lograr sus objetivos. El manual de RIOS proporciona más información en este sentido en la página 8. La asignación de \"Presupuestos\" se puede centrar en lograr el mejor retorno de la inversión (RDI), enfocando los fondos en base a algún atributo del sistema (por ejemplo, la distribución proporcional de los fondos sobre la base del área de la cuenca o la densidad de los beneficiarios), con base en la experiencia previa o por medio de la negociación. El enfoque de la asignación presupuestaria por defecto en RIOS es impulsado por la rentabilidad, pero los usuarios pueden anular esta pre asignación de fondos entre actividades o asignar el presupuesto con base en algún otro atributo.Una vez que se eligen las actividades, se asignan los presupuestos y se realiza un \"Diagnóstico\". RIOS identifica en qué parte del paisaje es probable que se produzcan los mayores beneficios para un determinado presupuesto de inversiones (es decir, donde las actividades son las más rentables).El programa utiliza el enfoque de costo-efectividad, seleccionando las zonas con más alto rango por unidad monetaria hasta que se gaste el presupuesto definido. En conjunto, estas áreas seleccionadas forman el Portafolio de Inversiones. Para más información de esta evaluación diagnostica, lea la página 12 del Podremos descargar RIOS desde el siguiente vinculo: https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software. Una vez dentro de la página daremos clic a \"RIOS\" para acceder a los descargables (Figura 3).Figura 3. Programa RIOS en Natural Capital Project Seremos re-direccionados a un espacio donde notaremos una lista de descargables al lado derecho de la pantalla. Seleccionaremos el primer elemento de la lista (Download RIOS 1.1.16) para iniciar la descarga del programa. Desde acá podremos descargar la guía de usuario y las herramientas de pre-procesamiento (Figura 4).Podremos descargar RIOS desde el siguiente vinculo: https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software. Una vez dentro de la página daremos clic a \"RIOS\" para acceder a los descargables (Figura 4). A continuación, se describirá el entorno de trabajo que corresponde al módulo de Investment Portafolio Adviser. En la vista inicial de RIOS observaremos cuatro grupos de elementos. El primer elemento hace referencia a las opciones de \"Menu\" (Figura 5). Acá encontraremos las opciones de File, en donde podremos guardar (Save parameters) y cargar (Load parameters from file) la configuración de RIOS en un formato *.json.El segundo grupo de elementos identificados en la Figura 5 es el \"Report errors and Documentation\" (Documentación y reporte de errores). Encontramos la opción de Download model documentation; que nos transportará a la página de descarga del programa y Report an issue; vinculo que nos dirigirá al foro de Natural Capital para realizar consultas y reportar problemas.Al tercer grupo lo conforman las pestañas de Select Objectives (Selección de Objetivos) Edit Factor Weights (Editando Factores de Peso), Objective-Transition Weights (Incidencia de la Transición en el Objetivo), Transition Potential (Incidencia de las Actividades en la Transición) y Select Budget (Asignar Presupuesto) (Figura 5).El cuarto y último elemento que conforma es el de la \"Setting screen\" (Pantalla de configuración). El contenido de esta cambiará en dependencia de la pestaña que tengamos seleccionada. Seguidamente se explicará las opciones de configuración y llenado de cada una de las pestañas (Figura 5).La primera pestaña del Investment Portafolio Adviser. Es en esta parte donde seleccionaremos los objetivos de nuestra inversión. Todas las actividades a aplicarse dentro la microcuenca aportarán en cierta medida a cumplir estos objetivos. También, definiremos las características biofísicas del terreno y las actividades que aplicaremos para cada uso de suelo encontrado en el área de trabajo.Select Workplace (Seleccionar espacio de trabajo). Acá indicaremos la carpeta o espacio de trabajo donde serán guardados todos los archivos que resulten de los procesos de RIOS. Compruebe que haya suficiente espacio disponible en el disco y los permisos que permiten la lectura y escritura de los datos de esta carpeta (Figura 6).Figura 6. Primera pestaña Seleccionando Objetivos.LULC. Es en donde cargaremos el ráster de Uso de suelo creado en el módulo anterior (Figura 5). Esta capa contiene un valor numérico único asignado a cada uso de suelo digitalizado en la microcuenca que trabajamos (Figura 7).Figura 7. Mapa de Uso de suelo.LUCL Biophysical Coefficients (Coeficientes Biofísicos de LULC). En esta casilla localizaremos el archivo tabular en formato *.csv que contenga los parámetros biofísicos para cada uso de suelo encontrado en la microcuenca (Figura 7). La tabla de coeficientes biofísicos se relacionará con nuestro ráster de Uso de suelo a través del código numérico de identificación único (Tabla 1).Para más información acerca de la estructura y formato de la tabla y valores de coeficientes para cada uso de suelo, favor consulte la página número 77 del manual de RIOS. Descargable desde el siguiente link: https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software/rios.Nótese en la Tabla 1 el uso de suelo se vincula con los coeficientes biofísicos (columnas) usando la columna de \"lucode\". Estos valores del 1 al 13 corresponden a los códigos de uso de suelo encontrados en la Figura 7.Tabla 1. Tabla de coeficientes biofísicos.RIOS requiere una tabla de coeficientes con parámetros que se asignan a cada clase de cobertura/uso del suelo en el ráster LULC. Estos coeficientes se utilizan en los modelos de clasificación de impacto para determinar el impacto relativo de las diferentes transiciones en diferentes tipos de cobertura del suelo. En general, estos coeficientes se obtienen a través de una búsqueda en la literatura, para encontrar los valores que mejor representan las clases de cobertura, las prácticas y las condiciones en su área de interés. Los coeficientes biofísicos se detallan en la siguiente tabla:Tabla 2. Coeficientes biofísicos.LULC Classification CSV with Activites (LULC con Actividades). En este espacio agregaremos una tabla en formato *.csv (valores separados por comas), que contenga las actividades que se aplicarán en cada uso de suelo (LULC) (Figura 7). Las actividades indicadas en esta tabla habrán sido seleccionadas con anterioridad.Tabla 3. Coeficientes biofísicos.En la Tabla 3, nuevamente se aprecia la utilidad de la columna de \"lucode\" para asociar los códigos de uso de suelo con algún tipo de información tabular, en este caso, con la aplicación de actividades. El valor de \"1\" indica que la actividad se aplicará en el uso de suelo (lucode) indicado. Ejemplo: la actividad \"trees_grass\" (arboles forrajeros) únicamente se aplicará en suelos con código \"8\" en el ráster de Uso de suelo. Se escribirá \"0\" cuando no se aplique esa actividad.Es recomendable asignarle a cada actividad (campos de columna) un nombre código que no ocupe mucho espacio. En el caso de la Tabla 3: \"living_barr\" es el código para Barreras vivas, \"green_cov\" representa a la actividad de Cobertura verde, agroforestry es Agroforestería, irrig_dripp es Riego por goteo, reforestation es Reforestación, pasture_mgmt es Manejo de pasturas, tres_grass es Arboles forrajeros, forest_enrri es Enriquecimiento forestal, trees_plant corresponde a Plantaciones forestales por mencionar. Para aprender más acerca de la estructura de la Tabla de LULC con Actividades consulte la página número 67 del manual de RIOS.No es más que una cadena de texto opcional que será añadida al final de los nombres de los archivos de resultados en la forma de <Nombre del archivo>_<Sufijo>. Esto puede ser usado para generar nombres de archivos de resultados únicos que distingan escenarios múltiples o proyectos (Figura 7).Automatically open report when run is complete (Abrir reporte automáticamente cuando se haya completado la ejecución). Marcar esta opción permitirá a RIOS abrir automáticamente un reporte html (que muestra presupuestos y gastos en las actividades) cuando el procesamiento se ha completado. Cuando se desactiva este cajón, los usuarios pueden deshabilitar esta función (Figura 7). El deshabilitar la apertura automática de reportes es recomendada cuando se corre RIOS muchas veces por lotes.Objectives (Objetivos). Los objetivos de los servicios ecosistémicos usualmente son identificados tras conversaciones con locales e inversores. En este caso los objetivos deberán ser priorizados desde el grupo de trabajo. Para seleccionar los objetivos de manejo bastará con marcar la casilla que se encuentra al lado izquierdo del mismo (Figura 7).Una breve descripción de los objetivos se proporciona a continuación:• Erosion control for drinking water quality (Control de erosion para la calidad del agua potable). Ayuda a prevenir la excesiva erosión del suelo, mejorar la calidad del agua corriente abajo y, potencialmente, reducir los costos de tratamiento de agua potable y los impactos negativos en la salud.• Erosion control for reservoir maintenance (Control de la erosión para el mantenimiento de reservorios). El control de la erosión que mantiene los sedimentos fuera de los cursos de agua también puede evitar su deposición en los reservorios, donde se puede reducir la capacidad de producción de las instalaciones hidroeléctricas o dañar los reservorios e infraestructura de riego (turbinas, bombas, etc.), acortar el tiempo de vida del reservorio o aumentar los costos de la gestión de sedimentos (como el dragado).• Nutrient retention, Nitrogen (Retención de Nitrógeno). La capacidad de una cuenca para impedir la exportación de nitrógeno desde las fuentes aguas arriba puede mejorar la calidad del agua aguas abajo, y potencialmente reducir los costos de tratamiento de agua potable y los riesgos de salud relacionados con el nitrógeno.• Nutrient retention, Phosphorus (Retención de Fósforo) La retención del fósforo en una cuenca desde las fuentes aguas arriba puede mejorar la calidad del agua aguas abajo, los hábitats acuáticos y la biodiversidad, y potencialmente reducir los costos de tratamiento de agua potable y los riesgos de salud relacionados con el fósforo.• Flood mitigation (Mitigación de inundaciones). La inversión en las cuencas hidrográficas puede ayudar a interceptar las precipitaciones, disminuir el caudal superficial y aumentar el tiempo de viaje del agua del río, disminuyendo la magnitud del pico de las inundaciones. La reducción del tamaño de los caudales de inundación pico puede mitigar el impacto sobre la infraestructura y la propiedad privada, y reducir el riesgo para la vida humana.• Groundwater recharge enhancement (Mejoramiento de la recarga de acuíferos). Puede ayudar a interceptar las precipitaciones, disminuir el caudal superficial de agua y aumentar el potencial de agua que se filtre más allá de la superficie del suelo y el recargue de los acuíferos subyacentes. En las zonas que dependen en gran medida de las aguas subterráneas para su abastecimiento de agua, la mejora de la recarga de acuíferos puede ayudar a mantener los niveles freáticos, mejorar la seguridad del agua y disminuir los costos de extracción.• Baseflow (Caudal base en estación seca). La vegetación puede interceptar las precipitaciones, disminuir el caudal superficial de agua y aumentar el almacenamiento temporal de agua subterránea en los suelos, llanuras de inundación y corrientes, que más tarde se liberará lentamente durante la estación seca para aumentar la magnitud y la permanencia de los caudales bajos.• Biodiversity (Biodiversidad). La biodiversidad, la variación natural en las formas de vida, está íntimamente ligada a la producción de servicios ambientales. Los patrones de la biodiversidad son intrínsecamente espaciales y se pueden estimar mediante el análisis de los mapas de uso y cobertura del suelo en relación con las amenazas.• Others (Otros). Los usuarios pueden tener resultados de otros modelos o áreas de priorización que deseen tener en cuenta en el desarrollo de los portafolios de inversión. RIOS permite a los usuarios introducir mapas de puntaje para hasta tres \"otros\" objetivos, y elegir cómo se clasificarán las áreas que cumplan estos objetivos en relación con el resto de sus objetivos.Cada objetivo tiene asociado factores (fuente en píxeles, retención, factores de fuentes arriba y retención abajo, beneficiarios) que en combinación con las capas ráster añadidas al programa, logran influir en las diferentes transiciones a procurarse en la microcuenca. Los factores primarios son derivados de la revisión de la literatura.En esta pestaña podremos editar el peso de cada factor para cambiar la incidencia en cada transición (no se recomienda si no hay revisión bibliográfica antes). También, desde acá indicaremos la ubicación de los archivos ráster y las capas de pre -procesamiento que utilizaremos identificar las áreas de inversión con mayor retorno ecológico. (Figura 8)Debajo de las pestañas que conforman el tercer grupo de elementos de la pantalla principal de RIOS encontraremos otro grupo de pestañas. Este grupo de pestañas corresponde a los objetivos dispuestos en la pestaña de Select Objectives. Encontraremos habilitados únicamente aquellos objetivos que hayan sido marcados en la pentaña anterior.En caso de la Figura 8 solo aparece marcado el objetivo de \"Erosión Control for Reservoir Maintenance\".Seguidamente se presenta una tabla arreglada de tal manera que los factores de retención y erosividad del suelo están en las filas y las transiciones que llevaran a la microcuenca a su estado deseado, se encuentran en las columnas (Figura 8). La tabla define las ponderaciones asignadas a cada factor, con base en la importancia de la influencia del factor en cada tipo de transición, en relación con los demás factores enumerados. El valor 1 significa mayor importancia y 0 ninguna importancia. Estos valores se pueden ajustar basándose en el objetivo y el contexto específico de un proyecto particular. Consulte la página 8 y 28 del manual de RIOS para información adicional.Por último, especificaremos los insumos que RIOS utilizará para determinar que tanto los factores de retención y erosividad pueden contribuir al éxito de cada objetivo en los diferentes usos de suelo (Figura 8). Los insumos son en su mayoría las capas ráster creadas en el módulo anterior y estos pueden variar según el objetivo, exceptuando las entradas de archivos generadas por el conjunto de herramientas de Pre-procesamiento que están presentes en todos los objetivos.Los desarrolladores de RIOS crearon un set de herramientas llamadas \"RIOS Pre -Processing Toolbox\". Estas herramientas fueron creadas exclusivamente para usarse como extensión en el programa ArcGIS y se pueden encontrar en el siguiente enlace bajo el acápite de \"Download RIOS Preprocessor\": https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software/ rios. Otra opción es desde el foro de NatCap usando el siguiente link: https://forums. naturalcapitalproject.org/index.php?p=/discussion/1140/pre-processing-toolbox-forarcgis-10-4.En caso de no tener acceso al software ArcGIS para generar las capas provenientes de las herramientas de Pre -procesamiento, se aconseja al usuario descargar el manual proporcionado por los desarrolladores en el foro bajo el siguiente link https://community. naturalcapitalproject.org/t/rios-pre-processor-requirements/732. El manual muestra el paso a paso del cálculo de estas capas. Otra opción es la de utilizar el archivo \"RIOS_Pre_ Processing.py\" (script en python) que se descargará junto a la herramienta de pre-procesamiento.Para obtener las capas generadas tras el uso de la herramienta de Pre-Procesamiento se asignó una persona con acceso a ArcGIS como encargado dentro del grupo del diplomado. Esta persona ejecutará la herramienta bajo la tutela de los capacitadores y generará esta información para los grupos conformados. Así mismo, el resto de participantes serán debidamente entrenados para realizar este paso. Debido al poco tiempo disponible para el cálculo paso a paso en QGIS, la opción mencionada fue la indicada para dedicar tiempo en la solución de posibles errores. En esta pestaña se muestran el peso que tiene cada transición para asistir en el cumplimiento de cada objetivo. Estas ponderaciones pueden ajustarse como se desee, entre más cercano a 1 sea el valor, indica que es más efectiva para lograr el objetivo que otras.Si deja los valores por defecto (todas en 1) significa que todas contribuyen por igual para lograr el objetivo. Más información se puede ver en la sección de \"Ponderación de Objetivos y Transiciones\" en la página 15 del manual de RIOS.Figura 9. Segunda pestaña Editando Factores de Peso.En la pestaña Objective -Transitions Weights se podrán ponderar todos los objetivos seleccionados en la primera pestaña (Figura 9). La ponderación involucra un proceso de discusión entre los integrantes del grupo y consulta a conocedores del tema.Dentro de esta pestaña se dará un valor a las actividades que refleje su efectividad para lograr la transición. En cada fila de la tabla \"Activity -Transitión Table \" (Figura 10) se observan las actividades incluidas en el archivo csv \"LULC Classification CSV with Activites (LULC con Actividades)\" que incluimos en la pestaña de Select Objectives. En el caso de las columnas se observan las transiciones que RIOS trae por defecto.Figura 10. Cuarta pestaña Potencia de Transición.En la tabla \"Activity -Transition Table \" (Tabla de Transición -Actividad) se puede especificar la efectividad de cada combinación de actividad / transición, con un número entre 0 (0% efectivo, o no causa esta transición) y 1 (100% efectivo). Valores menos que 1 indican efectividad fraccional de las actividades.Especificación de diferentes valores de eficacia fraccional en la tabla \"Activity -Transition Table \" puede ayudar a equilibrar los costos de actividades con su eficacia, aspecto importante a considerar al momento de mapeo de actividades.Opcionalmente, en la sección Activity Preferences (Preferencias de Actividades) haga clic en Add another (Añadir otro) para ingresar shapefiles que contengan polígonos que definan las áreas donde la actividad debe permitirse o evitarse (Figura 10). Consultar la página 71 del manual de RIOS para mayor detalle.Finalmente, haga clic en la pestaña Select Budget para llenar las preferencias presupuestarias y los costos de las actividades. Más información se puede hallar en la sección Asignación presupuestaria en la página 16 del manual de RIOS. Note que el tipo de moneda usado no es importante con tal de que sea consistente en todas las entradas de presupuestos y costos. Ingrese la siguiente información:\"Number of years\" (Número de años). Número entero cuyo valor especifica para cuántos años va a llevarse a cabo el análisis. Se ingresará un valor de 1 para que los resultados corresponderán a un año de los gastos del presupuesto especificado. Si se ingresa un valor superior a 1, la totalidad del presupuesto especificado será gastado en todos los años y se creará un portafolio separado para cada año, así como un portafolio combinado que contendrá las actividades recomendadas que cubren todos los años (Figura 11).\"If activity money cannot be spent\" (Si el dinero de la actividad no se puede gastar). Cuando se restringen las actividades a ciertos usos de suelos, el uso del presupuesto que se le asignó a cada actividad puede verse limitado y por ende no gastarse (Figura 11). Hay dos formas diferentes para lidiar con este presupuesto sobrante:• Report the remainder (Reportar el resto): Para incluir en el reporte HTML el dinero que no pudo ser gastado. • Proportionally relocate (Reubicar proporcionalmente): La herramienta redistribuirá los montos sobrantes entre las demás actividades.\"Yearly Floating Budget\" (Presupuesto flotante anual). Es la primera forma de especificar la cantidad de dinero que se gastará en las actividades (Figura 11). El usuario proporciona un valor a mano alzada que RIOS puede asignar entre las actividades, teniendo en cuenta los resultados del diagnóstico y el costo de cada actividad. Si bien esto va a generar la solución más rentable, también es probable que se elija en gran medida la actividad menos costo-efectiva, produciendo un portafolio relativamente no diverso.\"Yearly Activity Allocation Table \" (Tabla de Asignación Anual de Actividades). El segundo método de asignación presupuestaria es especificar una cantidad de dinero que se gasta en cada actividad individual (Figura 11).Cada uno de estos métodos (presupuesto flotante y asignación por actividad) puede ser utilizado solo, o ambos pueden ser definidos al mismo tiempo. RIOS primero gastará el dinero preasignado en actividades específicas y luego gastará el presupuesto flotante en la forma más rentable en la zona que queda. Con el objetivo de comparar ambos métodos correremos RIOS individualmente con ambas opciones.En la sección de \"Activity Cost\" (Costo de las actividades) se podrá especificar cuánto cuesta implementar cada actividad. Se necesitan tres elementos de información para cada actividad (Figura 11):• \"Costo per unit\" (Costo por unidad de área): Valor de punto flotante para el costo de implementación por unidad de área.• \"Measurement unit\" (Unidad de medida): Difinir si los costos se dan en unidad de área (area) o por unidad longitudinal (lenght). Con base en el tamaño del píxel, RIOS convierte los costos ingresados en un costo por píxel para cada actividad con el objeto de calcular los puntajes de costo-efectividad. Es fuertemente recomendado que se usen costos basados en el área más que en la longitud, a no ser que la actividad vaya a ser implementada a lo largo de una sola longitud de cada píxel.• \"Lenght (m) or Area (m^2)\" (Longitud (m) o Área (m^2)): Valor que especifica el tamaño de la longitud (en metros) o de la unidad de área (en metros cuadrados).De esta manera habremos ingresado todos los requisitos de datos en el programa y hemos realizado las configuraciones respectivas. Solo queda dar clic en el botón Run situado en la parte inferior de la ventana (Figura 11).Figura 11. Quinta pestaña Seleccionando Presupuesto.Una vez que corramos exitosamente RIOS con las capas requeridas y la configuración apropiada se mostrará el mensaje \"Model completed succesfully\" (El modelo ha sido completado exitosamente) si se ejecutó el programa sin problemas (Figura 12). En caso de que el modelo de error se recomienda revisar principalmente las tablas de Coeficientes biofísicos y LULC con actividades, puesto que estas son la fuente principal de errores en el programa. Revisaremos la estructura (encabezados y filas), contenido, formato y posibles espacios al final de la tabla o en las celdas del archivo .csv.Figura 12. Corrida exitosa de RIOS.El proceso generará tres elementos en el espacio de trabajo seleccionado:Figura 13. Elementos generados por RIOS.El primer elemento es la carpeta \"1_investment_portfolio_adviser_workspace\", que su vez contiene los siguientes productos (Figura 13):activity_portfolios: carpeta que contiene los portafolios de las actividades seleccionadas. El principal archivo de interés es activity_portfolio_total.tif, que contiene todas las áreas de las actividades seleccionadas para el primer año del análisis. Si se ha especificado más de un año en la pestaña de Select Budget de la herramienta se guardarán portafolios separados en la carpeta \"continuous_activity_portfolios\".activity_scores: carpeta que contiene rásters que muestran el puntaje final acumulado a lo largo del paisaje para cada actividad. Ya se ha aplicado todas las preferencias y restricciones y tomado en cuenta los puntajes biofísicos divididos por el costo, para crear mapas de costo-efectividad.html_report: carpeta que contiene la página Web desplegada cuando la herramienta termina, con los detalles de cómo se gastó el dinero en las actividades. Cuando la corrida está completa, si se ha seleccionado \"Automatically open report when run is complete\" una página web se abrirá mostrando este reporte.En el \"Total Budget Report\" (Reporte de Presupuesto Total) aparecen los siguientes detalles:\"Actual Spent\" (Gastos reales), cantidad de dinero que la herramienta realmente ha gastado en cada actividad, lo que puede involucrar una combinación del \"Yearly Floating Budget\" y \"Yearly Activity Allocation Table \".\"Total Budgeted\" (Presupuesto asignado), cantidad de dinero que fue originalmente asignada a cada actividad.\"Area Converted (Ha) (Área Convertida)\", área en hectáreas que fue convertida en el portafolio resultante hacia la nueva actividad.\"Annual Budget Reports (Reportes del presupuesto anual)\" contiene información similar al \"Total Budget Report\", sólo que desglosado en los valores independientes para cada año. Si se especifica sólo un año, \"Total Budget Report\" será el mismo que \"Annual Budget Reports\".objectives: carpeta que contiene los resultados de cada objetivo seleccionado por el usuario. Dentro de cada carpeta de objetivo hay otras dos carpetas: normalized_input_ factors, con las versiones normalizadas de los factores ingresados para cada objetivo y objective_level_transitions, con las capas de los puntajes calculados para cada tipo de transición para el objetivo especificado. Si el tipo de transición no se usó en el análisis, el ráster resultante solo contendrá ceros.transition_scores: carpeta que contiene las capas de puntajes finales para cada tipo de transición, a lo largo de todos los objetivos.El segundo elemento es un archivo .json \"investment_portfolio_adviser_directory_file_ registry.json\". Contiene la configuración y las capas cargadas en el programa (Figura 12).Por último, encontramos los archivos de registro en format .txt (\"natcap.rios-log-2020-03-13--14_37_41.txt\"). Se generarán tantos como corridas hayamos realizado en RIOS. Muestran los procesos llevados a cabo por RIOS para manipular las capas (Figura 12).Los usuarios pueden explorar los resultados de GIS cargándolos en una herramienta de escritorio GIS como Quantum GIS o ArcGIS. Dentro de la carpeta del Espacio de Trabajo, los archivos de registro se guardan para cada corrida de RIOS, conteniendo todos los mensajes de salida escritos en la pantalla de la consola mientras la herramienta está abierta y en funcionamiento.Para el Asesor de Portafolios, el archivo de registro se llama rios-log-<fecha>-<hora>.txt. Cuando quiera comunicarse con el grupo del Proyecto de Capital Natural en relación con errores u otros problemas al ejecutar el modelo, por favor proporcione este archivo.Una vez concluido el proceso ejecutado por RIOS seleccionaremos desde la carpeta ac-tivity_portafolio, cargaremos el archivo formato .tif en QGIS y utilicemos una paleta de colores apropiada para observar las actividades. En la Figura 14 se muestran las actividades priorizadas por RIOS según la relación costo -efectividad (beneficio ecológico). El lugar donde se aplicarán las actividades estará definido en la Tabla 3 (Actividades para cada uso del suelo). El ejercicio mostrado en la Figura 14 corresponde a la microcuenca del Rio Taco, en Chiquimula.Figura 14. Portafolio de inversiones.A través del mapa de Portafolio de actividades podemos darnos una idea de las actividades que resultaron ser más efectivas para obtener un retorno ecológico al menor costo posible. Ahora, si se quisiera entrar en más detalle en cuanto al área cubierta por cada actividad según el presupuesto asignado y el costo de cada actividad, definido en la pestaña de Select Budget (Seleccionado Presupuesto), iremos al reporte generado en formato .html (Tabla 4).Tabla 4.Reporte de presupuesto.Con ayuda de la tabla podemos identificar aquellas actividades que sub utilizan el presupuesto asignado. Ejemplo de esto es la actividad de \"Cobertura Verde\" la cual tiene un presupuesto asignado de 40,000 dólares, pero usa menos del 20% (7,326 dólares) del dinero para distribuirse en todo el terreno de la microcuenca. Un caso más evidente de esto es la actividad \"Irrigación por Goteo\", que no utiliza el presupuesto asignado del todo.Por otro lado, podremos observar cuales son las actividades en las cuales RIOS decide invertir para generar mejores retornos ecológicos. Ejemplo de esto son: \"Agroforestería\" y \"Pasto con Árboles\", las cuales, por la priorización que RIOS calculó, sobrepasan el presupuesto asignado por el usuario (solo si se ha seleccionado la opción Reubicar proporcionalmente).El potencial de cada actividad para aportar más o menos al cambio (transición) y por ende a un mayor retorno ecológico, estará definido por el valor asignado en la tabla Transición -Actividad. Un valor más cercano a 1 para cualquier actividad, en cualquiera de las transiciones, resultará en una mayor priorización por parte de RIOS al momento de calcular el área de aplicación.Usualmente es necesario correr RIOS varias veces con diferentes asignaciones de presupuesto y diferentes ponderaciones de priorización en las actividades, para determinar cuál es la asignación de presupuesto apropiada para obtener una buena representatividad de actividades sobre la micro cuenca.","tokenCount":"5148"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2089371696.json b/data/part_1/2089371696.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..21d64f954d1cf047a4f6c9203d17dbfd4b72450d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2089371696.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"66aa1916e47fa0cca12af91c7f57c2be","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb965337-0c3a-47ca-95c8-c999f1fc6171/retrieve","id":"-480541150"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e7f433b2-1c94-4e45-bfed-1c07dcaf35ba","pagecount":"90","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Kỹ thuật truyền tinh nhân tạo (TTNT) cho bò là một tiến bộ kỹ thuật của cuộc cách mạng về công nghệ sinh học trong chăn nuôi từ giữa thế kỷ trước. Nhờ kỹ thuật này mà những con bò đực giống xuất sắc nhất thế giới có thể được nhân giống một cách nhanh chóng ở bất cứ nơi nào khi người ta muốn. Với kỹ thuật này chỉ cần số lượng ít đực giống thật xuất sắc đã được chọn lọc và với một thời gian ngắn đã có thể tạo ra đàn con chất lượng cao, số lượng nhiều với giá thành rẻ. Chính vì vậy mà kỹ thuật TTNT đã góp phần rất lớn đến tốc độ cải tiến di truyền đàn bò trên thế giới trong mấy chục năm qua. Nhờ TTNT mà chúng ta đã có những con bò lai F1, F2, F3, … HF giống sữa đạt năng suất 3,500-6,000 kg/chu kỳ, cao gấp 10 lần bò địa phương chỉ sau những bước lai tạo. Tương tự những con lai giữa giống bò thịt cao sản ôn đới với bò cái Việt Nam có thể cho năng xuất thịt cao gấp 1,5 đến 2 lần so với bò vàng Việt Nam.Tuy nhiên, việc áp dụng kĩ thuật này ở nước ta vẫn chưa thực sự rộng rãi và phổ biến ở các vùng trong cả nước. Tỷ lệ bò cái được TTNT hàng năm chưa tới 25%. Lý do căn bản là khả năng đáp ứng của thực tế đối với kỹ thuật này. Một chương trình TTNT chỉ có hiệu quả khi chúng ta có một đội ngũ dẫn tinh viên lành nghề và họ được xã hội chấp nhận coi đây là một nghề.Thành công của TTNT phụ thuộc rất nhiều vào kỹ năng chuyên môn và đạo đức nghề nghiệp của dẫn tinh viên. Những dẫn tinh viên tay nghề thấp sẽ làm hư hỏng bò cái, làm thiệt hại cho người chăn nuôi. Người dân mất lòng tin và có thể không chấp nhận kỹ thuật TTNT.Nhờ TTNT chúng ta có thể tạo ra con lai năng xuất cao, tuy vậy tiềm năng này chỉ trở thành hiện thực nếu con lai được chăm sóc tốt hơn, đáp ứng nhu cầu về dinh dưỡng của chúng. Khi con lai không được chăm sóc tốt chúng sẽ cho năng xuất thấp, bệnh tật và chết nhiều cũng tạo ra sự hoài nghi của người dân với kết quả của TTNT.Với cuốn tài liệu \"Kỹ thuật thụ tinh nhân tạo cho bò\" được biên soạn và chỉnh lý, bổ sung dựa trên các tài liệu tham khảo trong và ngoài nước kết hợp với kinh nghiệm thực tế và giảng dạy hàng chục năm qua của nhóm tác giả tại Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Bò và Đồng cỏ Ba Vì. Từ thực tế giảng dạy và hướng dẫn thực hành trên tiêu bản tĩnh và động mà tài liệu được hoàn thiện dần theo hướng chú trọng kỹ năng thao tác, thực hành. Tài liệu đã được dùng cho giảng dạy, tập huấn nhiều năm và được bổ sung, cập nhật thông tin hàng năm trên cơ sở của các Dự án hợp tác với các Chuyên gia nước ngoài để tài liệu không bị lạc hậu và giúp cho học viên cũng như các kỹ thuật dẫn tinh, các độc giả hàng năm được cập nhật thông tin mới.Dù đã có nhiều cố gắng nhưng cuốn tài liệu này vẫn không tránh khỏi những thiếu sót và khiếm khuyết. Chúng tôi mong nhận được những ý kiến đóng góp quý báu của các đồng nghiệp và bạn đọc để lần chỉnh sửa tiếp theo hoàn chỉnh hơn.Truyền tinh nhân tạo (TTNT) còn gọi là gieo tinh (Miền Nam) nhân tạo hay thụ tinh nhân tạo, có thể hiểu là những kĩ thuật được sử dụng để lấy tinh trùng của con đực đưa vào đường sinh dục của con cái mà vẫn cho hiệu quả thụ thai và sinh sản tương đương so với giao phối tự nhiên.TTNT ra đời từ năm 1322, thế kỷ XIV, đánh dấu bằng câu chuyện lấy giống ngựa của một tù trưởng người Ả Rập. Chuyện kể rằng: Ông này muốn có giống ngựa quý của bộ tộc láng giềng nên lệnh cho người chăn ngựa của mình phải làm cách nào đó để tạo được giống ngựa này. Người chăn ngựa tuân lệnh. Một hôm có một con ngựa cái trong chuồng của anh ta động dục, chờ đến tối anh ta lẻn sang chuồng ngựa của bộ tộc nọ và tình cờ thấy một con ngựa đực và một con ngựa cái đang giao phối. Chờ ngựa đực nhảy xong, anh ta lấy chiếc khăn của mình nhét vào âm đạo ngựa cái vừa được giao phối, rồi rút ra đưa về nhét ngay vào âm đạo của con ngựa cái đang động dục của mình. Sau đó, điều kì diệu đã xảy ra, con ngựa cái đẻ ra một con ngựa con giống hệt con ngựa đực của bộ lạc nọ -Sự kiện này đã làm chấn động cả một thời lúc đó và từ đó bắt đầu cho một hướng nghiên cứu đối với các nhà khoa học. Tuy nhiên, từ sự kiện này phải mãi đến thế kỷ XVII-XVIII thì TTNT mới được các nhà khoa học nghiên cứu và thực nghiệm rộng rãi trên nhiều đối tượng.Năm 1670, Malpighi nghiên cứu thụ tinh nhân tạo trên tằm.Năm 1763, Iacobi nghiên cứu thụ tinh nhân tạo trên cá.Năm 1677 hai nhà khoa học người Hà Lan phát hiện ra tinh trùng trong tinh dịch.Năm 1779-1780, Lazzaro Spallanzani (Italia) thụ tinh nhân tạo thành công trên chó với tinh dịch thu được bằng phương pháp xoa bóp.Năm 1898, Heape (Anh) phát hiện ra chu kì sinh dục của gia súc, làm nền tảng cho kỹ thuật TTNT. Cũng vào thời gian này, ở Mỹ, Pearson và Harrison đã áp dụng kỹ thuật TNTT cho bò và ngựa.Năm 1900, TTNT được áp dụng trên bò bởi Ivanov (Nga) trong khi đó TTNT cho chó phát triển mạnh ở Anh và Pháp. Tuy nhiên TTNT trên bò cũng chưa phổ biến do gặp khó khăn trong việc lấy tinh bò đực.Năm 1914, Joseppe Amatea (Italia) phát minh ra âm đạo giả để lấy tinh cho chó. Về sau các nhà nghiên cứu đã cải tiến dần âm đạo giả này để lấy tinh bò và ta có được một âm đạo giả lấy tinh bò thuận tiện như ngày nay.Sau khi lấy được tinh dịch bò, việc nghiên cứu môi trường pha loãng và phương pháp bảo quản tinh dịch được nhiều nhà khoa học quan tâm.Năm 1917-1923, Ivanov (Nga) đã nghiên cứu và đưa ra một loạt các môi trường pha loãng tinh dịch bò khác nhau và được dùng để pha loãng tinh dịch bò và cừu. Sau này cùng với Milovanov (1934) đưa ra cơ sở khoa học và thực tiễn về pha loãng và bảo tồn tinh dịch với chất điện giải (NaCl và KCl).Năm 1940, Phillips và năm 1943 Salisbury nghiên cứu cải tiến môi trường pha loãng và bảo tồn tinh với lòng đỏ trứng gà, kháng sinh, đã thúc đẩy sự phát triển của kỹ thuật TTNT tiến triển như ngày nay.Bước ngoặt quan trọng trong kỹ thuật bảo quản tinh dịch có thể đánh dấu bằng Hội nghị quốc tế về sinh sản gia súc (năm 1955). Tại đây, Polge và Rowson (Anh) đã công bố kết quả thí nghiệm về sản xuất tinh bò đông lạnh. Bảo quản tinh bò đông lạnh được nghiên cứu thành công từ 1949 và mở ra sự phát triển rộng rãi của kỹ thuật này trên toàn thế giới. Ban đầu, tinh bò được bảo quản ở nhiệt độ âm 79 0 C trong khí CO2 đông đá hay còn gọi là đá CO2 có thể dùng được trong một thời gian. Sau đó, các nhà khoa học Mỹ tại ABS đã dùng khí Nitơ hoá lỏng để bảo quản tinh bò ở âm 196 0 C. Tháng giêng năm 1951 con bê đầu tiên đã được Stewart (Anh) báo cáo sinh ra từ tinh đông lạnh. Ngày 29 tháng 5 năm 1953 tại Mỹ con bê đầu tiên sinh ra từ tinh đông lạnh.Vào những năm 30 của thế kỉ trước, ở Nga đã áp dụng rất rộng rãi kỹ thuật này, hàng triệu con bò và cừu đã được TTNT. Mãi đến nửa cuối những năm 30 kỹ thuật này mới được giới thiệu vào Mỹ và năm 1938 con bò sữa đầu tiên đựợc TTNT.Từ nửa sau của thế kỷ 20, việc ứng dụng TTNT vào chăn nuôi gia súc phát triển mạnh, nhất là ở các nước Mỹ, Anh, Pháp, Nga, Đan Mạch và Hà Lan. TTNT cho bò đầu tiên ở Đan Mạch vào năm 1937, ở Mỹ vào năm 1938, ở Anh vào năm 1942, ở Úc vào năm 1944. Ở giai đoạn 1955-1960, 50% đàn bò của các nước châu Âu đã được phối giống bằng biện pháp TTNT. Những năm gần đây số bò được TTNT tăng lên 90% ở châu Âu, ở Mỹ và New zealand là 60% và 45% ở Úc.Theo thời gian các kỹ thuật khai thác, pha loãng, bảo tồn tinh ngày càng hoàn thiện và quy trình sản xuất tinh càng hiện đại, chất lượng tinh ngày càng cao.Theo thống kê của FAO, năm 1991 cả thế giới mỗi năm sản xuất hơn 200 triệu liều tinh bò. Nhiều nhất là các nước thuộc khối EU và các nước Đông Âu (cũ). Pháp là nước sản xuất tinh bò nhiều nhất thế giới, mỗi năm sản xuất khoảng 40 triệu liều. Cộng hoà Séc 27 triệu liều. Ba Lan và Canada mỗi nước 18 triệu liều, Mỹ 16 triệu liều mỗi năm.Trong tổng số trên 200 triệu liều tinh bò sản xuất mỗi năm thì có trên 4 triệu liều tinh tươi, còn lại là tinh đông lạnh. Tinh tươi sản xuất chủ yếu ở Bangladesh, Ai Cập và Iran. Phân theo nhóm giống thì tinh bò sữa chiếm hơn một nửa, khoảng 124 triệu liều. Tinh của giống bò thịt 27,9 triệu liều. Tinh của giống bò kiêm dụng 51,3 triệu liều.Mỹ và Canada là hai nước xuất khẩu tinh chính, chiếm gần 24% số lượng tinh sản xuất mỗi năm. Các nước nhập tinh nhiều nhất là Nam Mỹ, bình quân mỗi nước nhập 120 ngàn liều năm mỗi, riêng Columbia nhập 1 triệu liều/năm. Tiếp đến là các nước châu Á, bình quân mỗi nước nhập 37 ngàn liều mỗi năm. Có 86,5% số nước trên thế giới nhập tinh. Ở một số nước xuất khẩu tinh nhưng họ vẫn nhập khẩu tinh, việc nhập tinh chỉ để cải thiện giống trong chương trình chọn giống.Từ năm 1980-1991 mỗi năm có 46-57 triệu lượt TTNT được thực hiện trên bò. Trong đó các nước Đông Âu (cũ) chiếm 41% (tương đương với 18,8-23,3 triệu lượt TNTT, các nước châu Âu còn lại 27%, Mỹ và Canada 9,5%. Các nước đang phát triển 17%. New Zealand, Úc, Nam Phi 4,5%. Số liệu này cho thấy các nước đang phát triển chiếm gần 70% đàn bò trên thế giới nhưng chỉ chỉ chiếm 17% số lần TNTT được thực hiện. Điều này suy ra rằng, ở các nước đang phát triển, chỉ có khoảng 7-8% tổng đàn bò được áp dụng kỹ thuật TTNT mỗi năm.Số liệu điều tra tại 104 nước đang phát triển, có 25 nước không áp dụng kỹ thuật TTNT (chiếm 24%). Nhiều nhất là châu Phi, 16 nước (chiếm 43%), châu Á có 6 nước (13%). Trong khi đó các nước cận Đông đều sử dụng TTNT cho trâu bò. Trong số 79 nước đang phát triển áp dụng TTNT, có 23 nước không sản xuất tinh, phải nhập toàn bộ số lượng tinh cần thiết, 56 nước còn lại có sản xuất tinh đáp ứng một phần nhu cầu tinh cho TTNT. Bốn nước sản xuất tinh bò ít nhất là Brundi, Lào, Senegal và Togo (dưới 1000 liều/năm). Nước sản xuất nhiều nhất là Trung Quốc: 12 triệu liều mỗi năm Ở các nước đang phát triển, việc thành lập mạng lưới TTNT không dễ dàng, khó khăn trong việc quản lý và duy trì họat động trên lĩnh vực này. Trước hết là người nông dân chăn nuôi nhỏ, phân tán, không chủ động phát hiện bò lên giống và áp dụng TTNT đúng thời điểm. mặt khác nông dân cũng chưa được cung cấp đủ thông tin về lợi ích của TTNT như cải thiện chất lượng con giống, hạn chế lây lan bệnh tật… Thiếu kỹ thuật viên TTNT có tay nghề cao, các dẫn tinh viên ít có điều kiện tái tập huấn để nâng cao trình độ và tay nghề. Nhiều dẫn tinh viên thiếu dụng cụ hành nghề cần thiết, nơi cung cấp nitơ lỏng, tinh đông lạnh ở xa đi lại không thuận lợi. Nhiều dẫn tinh viên có tổng số lần thực hiện TTNT dưới 300 lần/năm, không có điều kiện để nâng cao tay nghề và thu nhập không đủ sống bằng nghề TTNT. Đầu những năm 90, hàng năm cả nước chỉ có 5.000-12.000 con bò được phối giống bằng phương pháp TTNT.Sau năm 1995, nhờ các chương trình phát triển chăn nuôi, đặc biệt là chương trình cải tạo đàn bò (Sind hoá đàn bò) và phong trào chăn nuôi bò sữa phát triển mạnh, kỹ thuật TTNT được áp dụng rộng rãi vào thực tiễn sản xuất ở mức nông hộ.Trong khoảng 3 năm gần đây (2007)(2008)(2009) hàng năm Trung tâm Moncada sản xuất khoảng 600-800 ngàn liều tinh bò thịt và bò sữa, ước số lượng tinh nhập từ bên ngoài khoảng 50-60 ngàn liều. Tuy nhiên số lượng tinh được sử dụng thực tế để phối cho đàn bò ước có khoảng 500 ngàn liều. Như vậy, hàng năm nước ta có trên 250 ngàn bò cái được phối giống bằng kỹ thuật TTNT.Trên thế giới hàng năm có khoảng trên 50 triệu lượt trâu bò được phối giống bằng kỹ thuật truyền tinh nhân tạo. 99% số bò sữa được phối giống bằng truyền tinh nhân tạo. Ở Việt nam, phối giống cho bò sữa chủ yếu là áp dụng kỹ thuật truyền tinh nhân tạo. Lợi ích của truyền tinh nhân tạo, nhất là đối với bò sữa, bò thịt cao sản là hết sức to lớn.¨ Cần rất ít đực giống và chỉ chọn lọc những đực giống tốt nhất cho sản xuất tinh. Một bò đực giống tốt truyền giống được cho nhiều bò cái trên một khu vực rộng lớn nên đẩy nhanh tốc độ cải tiến di truyền. Tinh của bò đực ở một lần lấy, sau khi pha loãng làm tinh cọng rạ thì được 100 đến 150 liều (có thể phối có chửa cho 60-100 con bò cái) ¨ Giảm chi phí nuôi đực giống, chi phí vận chuyển bò đực giống từ nơi này đến nơi khác để khai thác hoặc phối giống (thay vì phải vận chuyển bò đực giống nặng hàng tấn nay ta chỉ cần mang theo một bình chứa ni tơ lỏng cùng với cọng tinh). ¨ Khắc phục được sự chênh lệch tầm vóc cơ thể khi truyền giống. Một bò đực Hà Lan thuần nặng 800-1000 kg khó có thể truyền giống trực tiếp cho bò cái lai Sind chỉ nặng 300kg. ¨ Tránh được sự rủi ro và lo sợ nguy hiểm khi nuôi đực giống. ¨ Sử dụng tinh từ đực giống đã được kiểm tra về khả năng thụ thai, năng suất sữa hoặc năng suất thịt sẽ tránh được những rủi ro và chắc chắn con lai có năng suất sữa hoặc năng suất thịt cao. ¨ Tránh được sự đồng huyết giữa các huyết thống ¨ Tránh được những bệnh lây lan qua đường sinh dục (Bò đực giống đã được kiểm tra bệnh). ¨ Giúp cho việc quản lý và thực hiện chương trình giống thống nhất trong cả nước. ¨ Khắc phục được những hạn chế về khoảng cách và thời gian. Tinh của bò đực giống tốt có thể được cất giữ sau 30 năm và trong thời gian ấy có thể truyền giống cho bò cái ở bất cứ nơi nào, bất cứ khi nào ta muốn.¨ Tỷ lệ thụ thai ở bò cái khi TTNT thấp hơn so với phối giống tự nhiên. ¨ Sự thành công của chương trình truyền tinh nhân tạo phụ thuộc rất nhiều vào trình độ quản lý, nhận thức và tập quán của người chăn nuôi. ¨ Cần có đội ngũ kỹ thuật viên được đào tạo, huấn luyện bài bản tốt, có nhiều kinh nghiệm và có đạo đức nghề nghiệp.¨ Đòi hỏi phải có những trung tâm nuôi dưỡng đực giống, khai thác, bảo tồn tinh dịch. Phải có những thiết bị cần thiết nhất định như bình nitơ bảo quản tinh, cung cấp tinh, súng dẫn tinh, ống gen, găng tay, cốc giải đông tinh, nhiệt độ… ¨ Dẫn tinh viên phải có trang triết bị: các dụng cụ dẫn tinh, bình chứa nitơ và gần nơi cung cấp nitơ. Điều kiện này không phải dễ dàng đối với một số nơi xa thị trấn, thị xã, nhất là vùng sâu vùng xa. Những hạn chế này đang được khắc phục và ngày càng được cải thiện. Chính vì thế, việc sử dụng TTNT là một giải pháp tốt mà hiện nay nhiều nước trên thế giới đã và đang áp dụng. -Ống dẫn trứng, tử cung, âm đạo và âm hộ (còn gọi là cơ quan sinh dục thứ cấp).Để có thể thao tác thực hành tốt, người dẫn tinh viên cần phải nắm được cấu trúc và chức năng của những cơ quan này.Cơ quan sinh dục của bò cái từ ngoài vào gồm: âm hộ, âm đạo, cổ tử cung, thân tử cung, sừng tử cung, ống dẫn trứng, loa kèn và buồng trứng.Là phần ngoài cùng, là cửa vào âm đạo. đạo, bằng dịch nhầy ở cổ tử cung và bằng niêm dịch tuyến nội mạc tử cung. Đối với bò, khi giao phối trực tiếp, tinh dịch được phóng vào cuối âm đạo, trước cổ tử cung.Từ ngoài vào khoảng 5-10 cm có lỗ thông với bàng quang. Trong TTNT, dẫn tinh quản có thể đâm vào ống dẫn niệu. Để tránh điều này, dẫn tinh viên khi đưa dẫn tinh quản vào phải hướng đầu dẫn tinh quản chếch lên trên, đẩy về phía trước khoảng 10 cm sau đó mới đưa ngang.Tận cùng của âm đạo loe rộng, bao quanh lấy phần nhô ra của cổ tử cung tạo thành một hốc cụt. Hốc cụt này có thể gây trở ngại cho những dẫn tinh viên ít kinh nghiệm khi cố đưa dẫn tinh quản vào cổ tử cung, dẫn tinh quản có thể trượt ra ngoài lỗ của cổ tử cung và đâm vào hốc cụt này.Là một bộ phận của tử cung nhưng đối với TTNT thì nó được xem như một cơ quan tách biệt. Là cửa ngăn cách âm đạo và tử cung. Bảo vệ tử cung khỏi sự sâm nhập của vi sinh vật gây hại từ âm đạo.Là tổ chức cơ cứng khi sờ nắn có cảm giác giống sờ vào cổ gà. Dài khoảng 7-12cm, đường kính 2-5 cm hoặc hơn (phụ thuộc vào tuổi và lứa đẻ của bò). Nhìn từ phía âm đạo, cổ tử cung có hình dạng như nụ hoa cúc với một lỗ nhỏ ở trung tâm. Lỗ này là cửa vào một lối hẹp xuyên suốt cổ tử cung. Lối hẹp này được đóng kín khi bò có chửa, chỉ mở nhỏ và được bôi trơn khi bò lên giống và mở hoàn toàn khi bò đẻ. Cổ tử cung có thành dày, rắn, chia làm 3-4 nấc do lớp cơ vòng co thắt không đều tạo nên. Giữa các nấc là các hốc cụt nhỏ. Trong TTNT rất dễ đưa đầu dẫn tinh quản vào các hốc cụt nhỏ.Là phần tiếp giáp với cổ tử cung. Tử cung gồm 2 phần là thân tử cung và sừng tử cung.Tử cung là đường đi của tinh trùng đến gặp trứng để thụ tinh. Là nơi thai phát triển và gắn kết mẹ con thông qua nhau thai. Tử cung có thể giãn nở ra rất lớn khi thai phát triển và nó cũng có thể thu nhỏ như bình thường chỉ một thời gian ngắn sau khi đẻ. Mặt bên trong của tử cung được gọi là nội mạc tử cung. Nó gồm những tuyến tiết ra các chất dịch khác nhau về thành phần hoá học và thể tích trong chu kì động dục. Có một số vùng đặc biệt hơi nhô cao lên bề mặt, gọi là tiền múm nhau. Trong thời kì mang thai, biểu mô tử cung tiếp xúc với màng nhau thai tại những điểm này tạo thành các núm nhau.Bình thường thân tử cung mềm, dài khoảng 1.5-2cm, khi sờ khám qua trực tràng ta có cảm giác như nó dài chừng 10-15cm nhưng thực ra bên trong đã có vách phân thành hai sừng tử cung. Có hai sừng tử cung hình trụ, bắt đầu từ thân tử cung, nhỏ dần và nối vào ống dẫn trứng. Sừng tử cung dài khoảng 20-40cm (theo tuổi và lứa đẻ). Sừng tử cung cong về phía trước, hướng xuống dưới, hướng ra ngoài và sau đó hướng lên trên giống như sừng cừu đực. Giữa hai sừng tử cung có rãnh tử cung, người ta có thể căn cứ vào rãnh giữa tử cung để chẩn đoán gia súc có thai và bệnh lý ở tử cung.Trong thời kì động dục sừng tử cung cương cứng hơn bình thường. Nếu trứng được thụ tinh, phôi phát triển nhờ chất dinh dưỡng tiết ra từ thành tử cung. Sau đó nhau thai phát triển, chất dinh dưỡng từ bò mẹ sang bê con thông qua các núm nhau.Có 2 ống dẫn trứng nối buồng trứng với mút sừng tử cung. Nó là đường đi của trứng sau khi rụng và cũng là nơi gặp nhau giữa tinh trùng và trứng do sự vận chuyển ngược chiều nhau, cũng là nơi xảy ra quá trình thụ tinh.Ống dẫn trứng nằm uốn khúc trên màng treo tử cung, đường kính rất nhỏ, hơi cứng, dài khoảng 20-30cm, bao gồm các phần: loa kèn để hứng trứng rụng, đoạn phình rộng là nơi xảy ra quá trình thụ tinh, đoạn eo gần với mút sừng tử cung là nơi hoàn thiện chức năng thụ tinh của tinh trùng.Trứng sau khi thụ tinh, hợp tử được chuyển dần về tử cung ở bên trong lòng ống dẫn trứng đồng thời xảy ra sự phân chia tế bào, nhưng không gia tăng thể tích.Tế bào trứng được thụ tinh bắt đầu phân chia thành 2; 4; 8; tế bào, thành phôi dâu (morula). Tiếp tục phân chia tạo thành xoang chứa đầy dịch protein gọi là phôi nang (blastocyte). Phôi đến tử cung thường ở giai đoạn phôi dâu hoặc phôi nang sớm, tức khoảng 5-6 ngày sau khi thụ tinh.Chỗ tiếp nối giữa ống dẫn trứng với sừng tử cung hoạt động như một cái van. Van này bình thường chỉ cho tinh trùng đi vào ống dẫn trứng khi bò động dục và nó chỉ cho phép trứng đã thụ tinh vào sừng tử cung ở ngày thứ 3 đến ngày thứ 4 sau khi thụ tinh. Sự trì hoãn tiếp nhận trứng đã thụ tinh vào tử cung là rất cần thiết vì môi trường tử cung chưa có lợi cho sự sống và phát triển của phôi trong 3-4 ngày sau động dục.Có hai buồng trứng hình elip nhưng hình dạng có thể thay đổi khi có sự hiện diện của nang trứng hoặc thể vàng. Kích thước trung bình của buồng trứng khoảng 3,5 × 2,5 × 1,5cm và có sự biến động giữa các bò cái và tình trạng hoạt động của buồng trứng. Khối lượng mỗi buồng trứng khoảng 14-19gam. ở bò vàng Việt Nam buồng trứng có trọng lượng nhỏ hơn.Buồng trứng sản sinh ra tế bào trứng và hai loại hóc môn sinh dục chính là oestrogen và progesterone, các hóc môn này được sản sinh ra dưới sự ảnh hưởng của những hóc môn khác tiết ra từ tuyến yên (FSH, LH), chúng tham gia điều tiết hoạt động sinh dục của con cái.Buồng trứng chứa các tế bào trứng. Một tế bào trứng được bao bọc bởi các tế bào chung quanh tạo thành nang trứng. Một vài ngày trước khi động dục, những nang trứng phát triển, nổi cộm lên trên bề mặt buồng trứng như những nốt phồng lên chứa Hình 22: Buồng trứng bò cái đầy dịch và sánh động, gọi là nang trứng chín. Mỗi nang chứa một trứng (đôi khi chứa hai). Thường chỉ có một nang trứng chín vỡ ra vào khoảng 30 giờ khi bò cái bắt đầu động dục. Khi nang trứng vỡ, trứng được phóng thích và được loa kèn hứng lấy. Nơi trứng rụng để lại vết lõm trên mặt buồng trứng (điểm rụng trứng) và chứa đầy máu gọi là thể huyết. Thể huyết được thay thế bằng thể vàng vào khoảng vài ngày sau đó nhờ sự tăng sinh nhanh chóng của lớp tế bào hạt, tế bào vỏ ngoài và tế bào vỏ trong của nang trứng.Thể vàng hình thành trên vỏ buồng trứng tại nơi trứng rụng, có thể sờ khám được vào ngày thứ 5 và đạt kích thước tối đa 2-3cm vào ngày thứ 13 của chu kì động dục. Thể vàng nằm sâu trong buồng trứng, chỉ có một đỉnh nhỏ nhô lên trên mặt buồng trứng.Khi trứng không được thụ tinh, thể vàng tiêu biến dần vào sau ngày thứ 16-17 của chu kỳ. Thể vàng tiết ra hóc môn progesterone, cần thiết cho quá trình thụ tinh và sự phát triển thân sừng tử cung đặc biệt là nhung mao tử cung và thúc đẩy quá trình tích lũy chất dinh dưỡng (glucoza) tạo ra \"sữa\" tử cung giúp cho hợp tử phát triển giai đoạn đấu và tạo khả năng bám \"rễ\" của hợp tử duy trì sự phát triển của thai-hocmone an thai.Kết quả điều tra ở Mỹ cho thấy có từ 8 đến 29% số bò cái có dấu hiệu bất thường tại một trong các phần của cơ quan sinh dục dẫn đến làm giảm sút khả năng thụ thai. Chính vì vậy sự phát hiện sớm sự bất thường ở cơ quan sinh dục bò cái là rất quan trọng. Một số dạng bất thường thường gặp ở con cái như khuyết tật bẩm sinh, viêm vòi trứng và freemartin.Khuyết tật bẩm sinh: Một điều tra cho thấy, sự phát triển không đầy đủ của một hoặc cả hai buồng trứng, giảm khả năng sản xuất trứng chiếm 13% tổng đàn một giống bò ở vùng cao Thụy Điển. Trong khi ở Mỹ, những bò có khuyết tật bẩm sinh như vậy chỉ chiếm 1,9%. Nếu xảy ra ở cả hai buồng trứng thì con vật không bao giờ có biểu hiện động dục. Nguyên nhân có thể là trong quá trình phát triển của phôi sự phát triển của ống dẫn trứng, tử cung đã bị cản trở.Viêm ống dẫn trứng: Viêm ống dẫn trứng, viêm vòi trứng chiếm tỷ lệ khoảng 1,3% đàn bò. Sự tích dịch trong ống dẫn trứng, sự tổn thương có thể gây nên viêm vòi trứng và tắc ống dẫn trứng và viêm dính tử cung. Tổn thương này thường xảy ra trong quá trình sinh bê, khi bóc thể vàng và bóc nhau thai bằng tay hoặc khi xử lý các vấn đề trong đường sinh dục của con cái với thao tác mạnh bạo.Freemartin: Đây là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ trường hợp bê cái sinh đôi cùng với bê đực. Trong trường hợp này bê cái sinh ra sẽ có cơ quan sinh dục không phát triển hoặc khiếm khuyết, khoảng 90% số bê cái đó sẽ vô sinh. Nguyên nhân thì không được rõ nhưng một số ý kiến cho rằng do có sự trao đổi hóc môn của thai đực và thai cái trong quá trình phát triển bào thai do cấu trúc mạch máu màng nhau nối với nhau.Những bê cái bị bệnh này có ngoại hình giống với bê đực và không có biểu hiện động dục. Âm đạo ngắn bằng 1/3 so với bê tơ bình thường cùng lứa tuổi. Sờ khám thông qua trực tràng cảm nhận một cấu trúc hình trụ cứng hoặc dạng nón cụt nằm phía trước khu vực tiền đình âm đạo nhưng cổ tử cung, tử cung và buồng trứng thì không sờ thấy được.Không có giải pháp điều trị và sự mang thai đối với trường hợp này là điều không thể. Cần khuyến cáo cho người chăn nuôi biết để họ loại thải bê cái sinh đôi cùng với bê đực vào diện nuôi bò thịt và cần phải cẩn thận trong việc mua bán. Trước khi thực hiện khám cơ quan sinh dục qua trực tràng, người kỹ thuật viên phải nắm được những thông tin căn bản của bò dự định khám từ người chăn nuôi như: ngày đẻ, tình trạng khi đẻ, ngày phối tinh, thời gian từ đẻ đến phối tinh lần đầu, sự biểu hiện động dục hoặc những trục trặc về sinh sản đã được xử lý trước đó.Kiểm tra tổng thể bên ngoài như thể trạng, màu sắc lông da, những bất thường về móng, phân cũng như các dịch thải bất thường quan sát được trên cơ thể bò hoặc nền chuồng (dịch, máu, mủ). Hình dạng và màu sắc âm hộ. Khám tổng thể bên ngoài nên được thực hiện trước khi khám bên trong thông qua trực tràng. Vì những dấu hiệu nhìn thấy bên ngoài phần nào đó là sự thể hiện những bất thường bên trong.-Hai mép âm hộ chùng, phần dưới của đường dọc phân chia hai mép hé mở -Hai mép âm hộ sưng lên -Hai mép âm hộ hơi nhăn -Hai mép âm hộ teo lại, lộ rõ từng nếp nhăn hằn sâu vào bên trong Mở nhẹ hai mép âm hộ để xem màu sắc niêm mạc bên trong cũng như có hay không sự hiện diện của mủ, dịch bất thường và niêm mạc khô hay ẩm.Cố định đuôi quặt về một bên và ngược về phía trước theo hướng bên hông của bò. Rửa và lau sạch âm hộ, kiểm tra âm đạo bằng mỏ vịt có nguồn chiếu sáng (nhớ bôi trơn mỏ vịt trước khi đưa vào âm đạo). Đưa mỏ vịt hướng lên trên và vào trong khoảng 10cm và sau đó chúc đầu mỏ vịt xuống, đồng thời trượt về phía trước. Mở rộng mỏ vịt một cách nhẹ nhàng và xem xét tình trạng niêm mạc âm đạo có xung huyết hay không, có dịch hoặc mủ hay không. Kiểm tra lối vào cổ tử cung đóng hay mở, có rò rỉ dịch hoặc mủ từ bên trong ra hay không? Nếu có dịch hoặc mủ bất thường thì có thể lấy mẫu để kiểm tra vi khuẩn (nếu thuận tiện). Khi khám xong, nhẹ nhàng đóng mỏ vịt lại và từ từ rút ra khỏi âm đạo. Tiếp theo, đưa tay đã mang găng vào trực tràng và móc hết phân và tiến hành kiểm tra từng bộ phận cơ quan sinh dục bên trong.Lối vào cổ tử cung được xác định bằng cách dùng ngón tay cái tìm lỗ vào và ước lượng sự mở của tử cung. Bình thường thì đóng kín với đường kính lỗ khoảng 10mm. Đường kính cổ tử cung khoảng 3-4cm (tính phần lõi cứng bên trong, không tính phần mềm bọc ngoài và cũng có thể lớn hơn hay nhỏ hơn tùy theo lứa tuổi và giống). Đường kính lối vào cổ tử cung thường thấy lớn trong trường hợp chưa trở lại bình thường sau khi đẻ, viêm cổ tử cung. Đường kính nhỏ thường gặp trong những trường hợp rối loạn phân tiết hóc môn. Đường kính của cổ tử cung được ước lượng bằng độ rộng của ngón tay trỏ để suy ra cm.Cổ tử cung dày và lối vào mở là hiện tượng trội của oestrogen và ngược lại là sự trội của progesterone.Đôi khi việc sử dụng dẫn tinh quản để đưa qua cổ tử cung cũng là một phương pháp kiểm tra độ mở của tử cung.Dùng ngón tay trỏ đỡ lấy phần trước và phía dưới ngã ba phân chia thành hai sừng để nâng tử cung lên và kiểm tra độ nặng của tử cung.Kẹp lấy sừng tử cung bằng ngón tay cái và trỏ rồi luớt nhẹ từ gốc đến mút sừng tử cung để kiểm tra bề mặt sừng tử cung cũng như ước lượng độ rộng, hình dáng và sự co bóp của cơ sừng tử cung.Hình dạng sừng tử cung được xác định ngay trước ngã ba sừng tử cung và chia thành 4 dạng: dạng hình tròn; dạng hình hơi tròn; dạng hình ovan và dạng dẹt Ở giai đoạn nang trứng phát triển (pha nang), khoảng trống bên trong sừng tử cung mở rộng ra đồng thời cơ nội mạc tử cung dày lên nên hình dạng sừng tử cung có dạng hình tròn hoặc hơi tròn ở bò tơ và dạng hình hơi tròn ở bò rạ. Ở giai đoạn thể vàng hoạt động (pha hoàng thể), sừng tử cung có dạng hơi tròn ở bò tơ và hơi tròn hoặc ovan ở bò rạ. Tình Hình 26: Nâng sừng tử cung trạng sừng tử cung dẹt là bất bình thường và đó có thể là kết quả của buồng trứng kém hoạt động hoặc u nang noãn kéo dài hoặc viên tử cung mãn tính. Gia súc sau một thời kỳ sinh trưởng và phát triển nhất định thì đạt đến thành thục về sinh dục. Khi đó cơ quan sinh dục và các đặc điểm sinh dục thứ cấp của bê bắt đầu đạt tới dạng trưởng thành. Trước khi thành thục sinh dục, tốc độ phát triển của cơ quan sinh dục cái tương đương với tốc độ phát triển chung của cơ thể. Bắt đầu từ tháng thứ 6 tốc độ phát triển của cơ quan sinh dục lớn hơn nhiều so với tốc độ phát triển của cơ thể. Đặc biệt vào khoảng 10 tháng tuổi cơ quan sinh dục phát triển rất nhanh để con vật hoàn thiện chức năng sinh dục.Buồng trứng của bê có sự thay đổi cơ bản. Một tháng tuổi trên buồng trứng đã xuất hiện nang trứng nhưng bê cái không động dục, trứng không rụng cho tới khi bê cái được 8-11 tháng tuổi. Có đến 70% chu kì động dục đầu tiên của bò cái tơ không biểu hiện rõ dấu hiệu mặc dù chúng có rụng trứng và hình thành thể vàng. Lần động dục tiếp theo, biểu hiện động dục rõ ràng và mạnh mẽ hơn.Tuổi thành thục về sinh dục ở bò khoảng 8-12 tháng và phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố, đặc biệt là dinh dưỡng. Giống bò lớn con thành thục về tính muộn hơn bò giống nhỏ con. Nuôi dưỡng tốt bò cái thành thục về tính sớm hơn so với nuôi dưỡng kém.Tế bào trứng được tạo ra từ miền vỏ của buồng trứng. Lúc bê mới sinh ra hai buồng trứng có toàn bộ số trứng trong suốt cuộc đời nó (khoảng 75.000 nang trứng nguyên thủy được hình thành trong các buồng trứng). Trong quá trình hình thành trứng, từ một tế bào nguyên thủy, trải qua phân chia giảm nhiễm và nguyên nhiễm để cho ra chỉ một tế bào trứng trưởng thành (khác với ở con đực, một tế bào sinh dục nguyên thủy qua phân chia cho ra 4 tinh trùng). Trứng trưởng thành nằm trong nang trứng. Màng nang trứng tiết vào trong xoang một lượng dịch nhầy đẩy tế bào trứng về một bên. Khi nang trứng phát triển đầy đủ, nổi cộm lên bề mặt buồng trứng gọi là trứng chín. Một đời con bò có thể cho từ 8-14 con bê, các tế bào trứng còn lại thoái hoá. Tế bào trứng có kích thước rất nhỏ, mắt thường không nhìn thấy được. Kích thước trứng giữa các loài không khác nhau mấy trong khi khối lượng cơ thể chúng khác nhau rất nhiều.Trứng của bò cái chỉ chứa một loại nhiễm sắc thể giới tính \"X\". Sự hình thành giới tính ở bê là kết quả của sự tổ hợp giữa tinh trùng có nhiễm sắc thể giới tính X hoặc Y Hình 27: Sự hình thành giới tính ở bê với trứng có nhiễm sắc thể giới tính X. Hợp tử có cặp nhiễm sắc thể giới tính XX sẽ phát triển thành bê cái, nếu là cặp XY sẽ phát triển thành bê đực.Đối với chăn nuôi bò sữa, mơ ước của người chăn nuôi là điều khiển giới tính bê theo ý muốn nhưng cho đến nay vẫn còn đang nghiên cứu trong phòng thí nghiệm, chưa thể áp dụng rộng rãi vì sự phức tạp về kỹ thuật và tốn kém về tài chính. Một trong những kỹ thuật có nhiều triển vọng trong tương lai đó là xác định giới tính của phôi trước khi chuyển cho bò nhận phôi.Khi con vật thành thục về sinh dục, dưới ảnh hưởng của FSH, một trong những nang trứng trên buồng trứng phát triển đạt kích thước 1-2 cm. Trong nang trứng này có một tế bào trứng trưởng thành hiện diện. Khi nang trứng phát triển đầy đủ, nó bắt đầu sản xuất hóc môn oestrogen. Oestrogen vào máu gây nên dấu hiệu động dục đồng thời làm giảm phân tiết FSH và tăng tiết LH từ tuyến yên.Thời gian động dục kéo dài trung bình khoảng 18 giờ (6-36 giờ). Giai đoạn động dục quan trọng nhất là giai đoạn đứng yên. Khoảng 90% số bò cái động dục đứng yên từ 10-24 giờ kể từ khi bắt đầu động dục. Đây là giai đoạn mà bò cái chấp nhận giao phối.Khi bò cái động dục, tuyến yên bắt đầu giải phóng LH với lượng lớn dần. Dưới ảnh hưởng của LH, nang trứng thành thục và \"chin\" vỡ ra và trứng được giải phóng. Đó là sự rụng trứng, rụng trứng xảy ra vào khoảng 10-14 giờ sau khi bò hết dấu hiệu động dục (Kết thúc giai đoạn chịu đực). Trứng di chuyển vào ống dẫn trứng. Quá trình thụ tinh được xảy ra trong ống dẫn trứng.Dưới ảnh hưởng của LH, chỗ nang trứng rụng biến đổi thành thể vàng. Thể vàng bắt đầu sản xuất progesterone và chúng được giải phóng ra sau khi trứng rụng 2-3 ngày. Nếu bò có thai thể vàng tồn tại và duy trì tác dụng trong suốt thời kỳ mang thai, nếu không mang thai thì thể vàng bắt đầu teo biến vào ngày thứ 16-17 của của chu kỳ Sự chuẩn bị tử cung cho quá trình mang thai được bắt đầu bằng oestrogen và tiếp theo là progesterone.Nếu gia súc cái không mang thai thì thể vàng bắt đầu từ từ tiêu biến, từ sau khi động dục 16-17 ngày do tác động của prostaglandin từ nội mạc tử cung. Vào ngày thứ 18-19 của chu kỳ, thể vàng hoàn toàn tiêu biến và tử cung trở lại bình thường. Lúc này tuyến yên lại bắt đầu giải phóng FSH và một vài ngày sau đó bò động dục lại.Nếu gia súc cái mang thai, thể vàng tiếp tục tồn tại và sản xuất progesterone. Đối với bò, từ tháng thứ 5 của thai kỳ trở đi thì chức năng của thể vàng giảm dần và màng nhau thực hiện chức năng này.Sự rụng trứng có chu kỳ, mỗi lần rụng trứng được biểu hiện ra bằng hiện tượng động dục. Khoảng cách giữa hai lần động dục gọi là chu kỳ động dục. Ở bò cái tơ chu kì động dục là 20±2 ngày, trong khi bò rạ chu kỳ động dục trung bình là 21± 4 ngày.Chu kỳ ngắn hơn là \"bất bình thường\" và thường có liên quan đến bệnh lý u nang noãn. Những trường hợp có chu kỳ dài, gấp đôi gấp 3 chu kỳ thường như 42, 63 ngày liên quan đến việc bỏ lỡ phát hiện động dục. Độ dài chu kỳ không tuân theo một quy luật nào như: 30, 50 ngày có thể do hiện tượng phôi bị chết hoặc không làm tổ được và bò động dục trở lại.Người ta chia chu kì động dục của bò ra thành 4 pha. Pha trước chịu đực, pha chịu đực, pha sau chịu đực và pha yên tĩnh.Pha này kéo dài từ 1-2 ngày. Progesterone giảm dần do thể vàng thoái hoá, nang trứng phát triển nhanh và hàm lượng oestrogen trong máu tăng dần.Giai đọan này bò có những biểu hiện hưng phấn sinh dục như: cố nhảy lên con khác, tìm kiếm bò cái khác hoặc bò đực trong chăn thả đàn bò thường ít ăn, hay đi lại và thích gần con đực, con cái nhưng không đứng yên khi bị bò cái khác hoặc bò đực nhảy lên lưng. Âm hộ bắt đầu có biến đổi như ướt, hồng và hơi phồng lên,Giai đọan này kéo dài khoảng 6-36 giờ (Ngày thứ 21 của chu kỳ). Hóc môn oestrogen (estradiol-17β) chiếm ưu thế. Đây là giai đọan bò cái biểu hiện động dục rõ nhất ra bên ngoài và chấp nhận giao phối. Dấu hiệu động dục dễ thấy là bò có biểu hiện kêu rống, giảm ăn, giảm sữa, âm hộ sưng (Phồng lên), niêm dịch chảy ra hay đi lại đứng yên cho bò khác nhảy lên. Thân nhiệt cao hơn bình thường khoảng 1 o C.Thời gian động dục đứng yên phụ thuộc vào giống và khí hậu. Ở các nước nhiệt đới, bò Hà Lan thuần có thời gian chịu đực kéo dài 10-12 giờ, ngắn hơn ở vùng khí hậu ôn đới là 18-20 giờ. Rụng trứng xảy ra 10-11 giờ sau khi kết thúc pha chịu đực.Pha này kéo dài 3-4 ngày khi oestrogen trong máu giảm thấp và bắt đầu hình thành thể vàng (Pha thể huyết). Hàm lượng progesterone tăng dần.Khoảng 2 ngày sau khi kết thúc giai đọan động dục, khoảng 90% bò tơ và 50% bò rạ có một ít máu chảy ra từ âm hộ. Sự chảy máu này không liên quan gì với sự đậu thai, nó chỉ có ý nghĩa là con bò đó đã trải qua pha động dục đứng yên 2-3 ngày trước đó. Ở những trường hợp động dục thầm lặng điều này giúp ta dự đoán bò động dục ở chu kì tiếp trung bình 21-2(3) = 19 (18) ngày sau. Pha này kéo dài 12-15 ngày và có đặc điểm là sự phát triển của thể vàng và phân tiết progesterone. Sự phân tiết progesterone giảm vào cuối giai đọan này.Là sự kết hợp của trứng và tinh trùng xảy ra ở ống dẫn trứng. Nó xảy ra khi một tế bào tinh trùng thực sự lọt vào tế bào trứng. Sự thụ tinh thông thường xảy ra ở 1/3 phía trên của ống dẫn trứng. Vì giới hạn thời gian tinh trùng có thể sống trong ống dẫn trứng nên không được phối tinh khi bò cái mới bắt đầu giai đoạn động dục. Một quy tắc quan trọng là phối giống hoặc dẫn tinh cho bò cái ở nửa sau của giai đoạn động dục đứng yên.Trứng sau khi được thụ tinh, tiếp tục di chuyển về sừng tử cung. Thời gian trứng đi hết ống dẫn trứng và đến sừng tử cung nơi làm tổ cần khoảng 4-7 ngày. Khi trứng được thụ tinh tạo thành hợp tử, hợp tử chuyển về đến tử cung thì thường ở giai đoạn 16-32 tế bào.Tỷ lệ đậu thai của bò rất cao, có thể trên 96% khi chất lượng tinh trùng tốt và phối giống đúng kỹ thuật. Tuy nhiên số bê sinh ra chỉ chiếm khoảng 46% trứng đã thụ tinh sau phối giống (D. Olds, 1969). Điều này có liên quan đến sự chết phôi và hư thai ở những tháng đầu. Bảng sau cho thấy tỷ lệ mất phôi xảy ra chủ yếu ở 3 tháng đầu. Bò sữa trong môi trường nóng như ở nước ta, tỷ lệ mất phôi chắc chắn còn cao hơn số liệu này, vì vậy trong thực tế ta gặp nhiều bò cái phối nhiều lần lặp lại, hệ số phối đậu cao (trên 2 lần). Sau khi được thụ tinh, trứng bắt đầu phân chia thành hai tế bào, từ hai tế bào phân chia thành bốn tế bào, rồi thành tám tế bào … (Goi là phôi) Trong thời gian đó, phôi di chuyển qua ống dẫn trứng đi vào một trong hai sừng tử cung. Ở bò, cừu và dê quá trình này mất 4-7 ngày, ở ngựa mất 8-10 ngày. Sự phân chia tế bào vẫn tiếp tục và sau một vài tuần những cơ quan của thai được hình thành.Vào ngày thứ 10 hình thành màng nhau ngoài (màng đệm). Ngày 17 hình thành màng ối. Màng niệu cũng được hình thành. Khoảng trống giữa các màng bào thai được chứa đầy dịch. Các màng kết hợp với nhau tạo thành nhau thai.Lúc 33-35 ngày thì phôi bò đạt kích thước 1-2 cm, lúc này phôi bám vào vách tử cung thông qua màng đệm và nhau thai sẽ dần dần bám vào núm nhau mẹ ở nội mạc tử cung. Cuối tháng thứ hai nó phát triển thành hình một con bê nhỏ có chiều dài khoảng 8 cm. Sau ba tháng có hình thù rõ ràng là một con bê.Thời gian mang thai của bò dao động từ 280 đến 290 ngày. Giống trâu bò khác nhau có thời gian mang thai khác nhau. Đực giống hình như cũng có ảnh hưởng đến thời gian mang thai. Thời gian mang thai con đực dài hơn 1-2 ngày so với thai con cái. Bò chửa đa thai thời gian mang thái ngắn hơn. Bò tơ có thời gian mang thai ngắn hơn bò rạ một vài ngày.Thông thường, một con bò chỉ đẻ một bê, thỉnh thoảng mới có bò đẻ sinh đôi. Sinh đôi có thể phát triển từ một trứng được thụ tinh (sinh đôi cùng trứng). Tuy nhiên, hầu hết nó phát triển từ hai trứng được thụ tinh (sinh đôi khác trứng).Sinh đôi cùng trứng có cùng kiểu di truyền, bởi vậy nó có cùng giới tính, hình dáng bên ngoài và các đặc điểm khác. Sinh đôi khác trứng không có cùng kiểu di truyền. Khi nó có giới tính khác nhau, con bò cái hầu hết là vô sinh (85-90%). Không động dục lại: dấu hiệu đầu tiên dự đoán bò có thể mang thai là không thấy bò động dục lại. Tuy nhiên, điều này không chắc chắn lắm vì có thể bò đã qua chu kì động dục nhưng không phát hiện được hoặc tồn lưu thể vàng.Kích thước bụng: khi bò mang thai 4 tháng trở lên, kích thước bụng tăng dần. Điều này có thể quan sát được khi đứng phía sau bò. Dạ cỏ đẩy tử cung sang bên phải.Bầu vú và sự tiết sữa: Bò tơ mang thai bầu vú phát triển và bắt đầu to dần. Ở bò vắt sữa sản lượng sữa ở bò mang thai giảm nhiều hơn ở bò không mang thai. Giảm nhanh khi thai được 5 tháng tuổi. Trong thời gian cạn sữa, trước khi đẻ 4 tuần, bầu vú bắt đầu căng lên là do sự phát triển của mô bầu vú và hình thành chất dịch. Trong thực tế không phải lúc nào ta cũng có đủ số liệu phối giống của một bò cái, vì vậy nhiều trường hợp ta phải khám thai để xác định bò đã mang thai chưa, nếu mang thai thì tuổi thai là mấy tháng. Bảng sau cho ta một vài chỉ báo giúp cho việc xác định tuổi thai trong trường hợp bò sẩy thai hoặc đẻ non.Khối lượng: khi bò mang thai được 4,5 tháng, bào thai đạt 10% khối lượng sơ sinh. Lúc 7 tháng, bào thai đạt được một nửa khối lượng sơ sinh. Khi bào thai lớn hơn, khối lượng tăng với tốc độ nhanh hơn.Bộ lông: khi bào thai được 7,5 tháng tuổi thì cơ thể được bao phủ hoàn toàn bằng lông.Chiều dài: lúc 6 tháng bào thai đạt được nửa chiều dài của bê lúc sinh ra. Thai dài bằng nửa chiều dài của con bê mới đẻ 7 tháng Khối lượng của bào thai bằng nửa khối lượng sơ sinh 7,5 tháng Bào thai có thể sống được nếu bò đẻ non 9 thángThai dài 80-90 cm, khối lượng 30-55 kg.Đẻ là tiến trình sinh lý nhằm đưa thai đã thành thục ra ngoài thông qua con đường sinh dục. Nó được bắt đầu bằng hiện tượng mềm và dãn cổ tử cung, tử cung bắt đầu co rút.Đầu tiên tử cung mở ra, thai và túi thai được đẩy vào âm đạo. Tiếp theo là túi thai vỡ lần thứ 1, nước trong túi thai chảy ra bôi trơn đường sinh dục cho thai ra dễ hơn. Thai đẻ bình thường thì đầu ra trước và 2 chân trước duỗi thẳng ra phía trước. Màng thai vỡ ra lần thứ 2 và nước ối tràn ra ngoài từ âm hộ và thai được đẩy hoàn toàn ra ngoài. Thời gian từ khi vỡ ối đến khi đẻ xong khá nhanh, ít khi kéo dài tới 2-3 giờ sau. Nhau thai sẽ ra sau đó trong vòng 3-6 giờ. Quá trình đẻ kết thúc khi thai và màng nhau được đẩy ra ngoài.Sau khi đẻ, nhiều bò cái sẽ rụng trứng trong vòng 20-30 ngày nhưng đa phần là động dục thầm lặng và chu kỳ ngắn. Những bò này sẽ có biểu hiện động dục lại vào ngày thứ 40-50. Dinh dưỡng thấp là Hình 35: Các tư thế thai khi sinh bê nguyên nhân chính gây nên chậm động dục sau đẻ, nếu dinh dưỡng thấp kết hợp với cho con bú hoặc bò sữa năng suất cao sẽ làm cho vấn đề này trở nên nghiêm trọng hơn. Kích thước tử cung của bò sau khi đẻ được hồi phục trở lại gần như bình thường vào khoảng ngày thứ 30 nhưng cần khoảng 15 ngày nữa thì trương lực tử cung mới được hồi phục hoàn toàn. Như vậy, quá trình hồi phục tử cung của bò sau đẻ, nếu không có biến chứng, cần khoảng 45 ngày và đây gọi là giai đoạn chờ phối chủ động. Vì thế, không nên phối giống cho bò trước 45 ngày sau khi đẻ.Để có kết quả sinh sản tốt là mỗi năm bò đẻ một bê. Có nghĩa là khoảng cách lứa đẻ bằng 365 ngày. Ví dụ như thời gian mang thai trung bình của bò lai Hà Lan là 278 ngày, nên bò cái phải thụ thai lại trong vòng 3 tháng sau khi đẻ. Vì không phải tất cả bò cái đều thụ thai sau lần phối giống đầu tiên (trung bình chỉ 60-70%), nên việc phối giống cho bò phải bắt đầu trước 3 tháng.Kinh nghiệm cho thấy những bò cái đẻ bình thường và có sức khỏe bình thường có thể phối giống lại vào khoảng 50 đến 60 ngày sau khi đẻ.Người chăn nuôi muốn biết sớm kết quả thụ thai của bò cái để có kế hoạch chăm sóc nuôi dưỡng và phối giống lại cho bò khi chưa đậu thai. Phương pháp khám thai qua trực tràng là phương pháp đơn giản nhất, tuy nhiên cần đến kỹ thuật viên lành nghề.Thời gian khuyến cáo cho phương pháp này là 70-80 ngày sau lần phối giống cuối cùng. Khám sớm hơn dễ bị sẩy thai, khám muộn hơn cũng có nghĩa là phát hiện chậm hơn những bò chưa có chửa.Căn cứ để khám thai qua trực tràng là dựa vào sự thay đổi của sừng tử cung, rãnh giữa sừng tử cung, vị trí, hình dạng và kích thước sừng tử cung khi mang thai. Những người có tay nghề cao hơn thì căn cứ thêm vào các dấu hiệu trên bề mặt buồng trứng, kiểm tra động mạch tử cung… Để kiểm tra thai cũng tiến hành các thao tác và kỹ thuật như kiểm tra cơ quan sinh dục đã trình bày ở trên. Sau đó mới kiểm tra chi tiết đến thai.Những người chưa có nhiều kinh nghiệm thì thì yêu cầu đầu tiên là phải tìm cổ tử cung. Bò tơ không có thai tử cung rất nhỏ nằm gần phía ngoài, chỉ cần đưa hết bàn tay vào trực tràng đè nhẹ lên thành xoang chậu là có thể cảm giác thấy cổ tử cung cứng hơn bình thường. Nắm lấy cổ tử cung, lần nhẹ lên sừng tử cung và kiểm tra sự cân đối của hai sừng và rãnh tử cung.Thai 1 tháng tuổi: Không khuyến khích khám nên không trình bày ở đây. Tuy nhiên khi lỡ khám rồi thì có vài dấu hiệu sau có thể tham khảo: Buồng trứng bên sừng tử cung mang thai có thể vàng tồn tại. Sừng tử cung chứa thai hơi to hơn và duỗi ra hơn so với sừng còn lại. Nghi ngờ có thai thì dừng không khám nữa để tránh sẩy thai.Thai 2 tháng tuổi: Rãnh giữa tử cung cạn. Hai sừng mất cân đối về độ cong và kích thước. Sừng mang thai to hơn gấp 2-3 lần, mềm và khi sờ thấy sánh nước. Buồng trứng bên có thai to hơn và có thể vàng.Thai 3 tháng: Bọc thai khá to và ở vị trí cuối xoang chậu. Sờ vào sừng chứa thai thấy to như trái bưởi, vỗ nhẹ sẽ đụng thai.Thai 4-6 tháng tuổi: Thai to và đi vào xoang bụng. Khi khám dễ nhầm với chưa có thai. Khi sờ không thấy cổ tử cung, không thấy sừng tử cung, nhưng nếu nắm được âm đạo nhấc lên thấy nặng chứng tỏ thai đã to và đi xuống dưới. Gặp trường hợp này ta không cố gắng sờ cho thấy thai, cũng không cần khám tiếp để dự đoán chính xác tuổi thai.Thai 7-9 tháng tuổi: Từ tháng thứ 7 đầu thai ngoi lên xoang chậu. Tùy vị trí thai vào xoang chậu và độ lớn đầu thai, độ căng của vú ta sẽ đoán được gần đúng tuổi thai.Chú ý: Mục đích của khám thai là để xác định sớm gia súc cái có chửa, không phải để thi tài đoán đúng tuổi thai. Vì vậy lần khám thai ở tuổi 70-80 ngày có ý nghĩa lớn hơn cả. Ở lần khám này nếu có nghi ngờ thì sau 10-15 ngày khám lại, không nên cố gắng tìm kiếm, sờ nắn mạnh tay sẽ gây sẩy thai.Hóc môn được sinh ra từ các tuyến và các mô trong cơ thể gia súc. Khối lượng phân tử từ 300 đến 70.000. dalton Phân loại hóc môn theo cấu trúc sinh hoá thành nhóm protein (và polipeptid), steroid, axit béo và amin… Gọi theo nguồn gốc nơi sinh ra thành hóc môn tuyến yên, hóc môn buồng trứng, hóc môn nhau thai. Nếu phân theo chức năng mà nó tác động thành hóc môn sinh dục, hóc môn tăng trưởng…Thùy trước tuyến yên có 5 loại tế bào tiết khác nhau, tiết ra 6 loại hóc môn. Hóc môn sinh dục gonadotropin gồm 2 hóc môn là hóc môn kích thích nang trứng (folliclestimulating hormone-FSH) và hóc môn thể vàng (luteinizing hormone-LH). Ngoài ra thùy trước tuyến yên còn tiết ra các lọai hóc môn khác như ACTH, TSH, PRL (prolactin). Trong đó hai hóc môn FSH và LH có ý nghĩa quan trọng nhất trong hoạt động sinh sản ở bò cái.FSH (Follicle stimulating hormone): bản chất là glucoprotein, khối lượng phân tử 32 ngàn (danton), có thời gian bán rã từ 2,0-2,5 giờ. Ở con cái hóc môn FSH kích thích nang trứng phát triển, thành thục, chín. FSH cùng với LH còn kích thích nang trứng trưởng thành tiết hóc môn estrogen. Khi thiếu FSH nang trứng không phát triển, con vật không động dục, hoặc nang trứng phát triển chậm, con vật chậm động dục.LH (Luteinizing hormone): bản chất là glucoprotein, khối lượng phân tử 30 ngàn, thời gian bán rã khoảng 30 phút. Ở con cái, LH làm tăng tiết dịch vào trong xoang trứng đã chín, gây nên sự rụng trứng. Sau khi trứng rụng, LH kích thích sự hình thành thể vàng, kích thích thể vàng tiết ra hóc môn progesterone. Ở con đực LH kích thích tế bào Leydigs sản sinh hóc môn sinh dục đực testosterone. Khi thiếu LH trứng chín mà không rụng được, gây ra chai noãn và u nang buồng trứng.Buồng trứng sản xuất ra 4 loại hóc môm: estrogen, progesterone, Inhibin và relaxin. Trong số này hóc môn estrogen và progesterone là quan trọng nhất.Estrogen (oestrogen hay estrus hormone): là steroid hormone, có 18 carbon, do bao noãn tiết ra (nhau thai cũng tiết ra estrogen). Estrogen có tác dụng tạo ra hành vi và sinh lý của bò cái như thúc đẩy sự sinh trưởng và phát triển của cơ quan sinh dục cái. Phát triển đặc điểm sinh dục thứ cấp. Cùng với các hóc môn sinh dục khác điều khiển chu kì động dục, rụng trứng và biểu hiện động dục ở con cái. Nó cũng kích thích sự phát triển của hệ thống ống dẫn của tuyến vú. Thúc đẩy quá trình đồng hoá và tích lũy chất dinh dưỡng. Chính vì chức năng này mà người ta gọi nó là hóc môn giới tính cái.Progesterone (pregnancy hormone): là steroid hormone, có 21 carbon, nó được chế tiết từ thể vàng, nhau thai và tuyến thượng thận (E.S. E Hafez, 2000). Progesterone được coi là hóc môn quan trọng thứ 2 của buồng trứng sau estrogen. Nó phối hợp với estrogen làm giảm biểu hiện động dục trong chu kì động dục và kích thích sự phát triển các nang tuyến ở vú. Giúp thành tử cung dày lên chuẩn bị điều kiện cho hợp tử làm tổ trong tử cung, đảm bảo sự an toàn cho sự phát triển của thai. Khi hàm lượng progesterone chiếm ưu thế thì bò cái không có chu kì động dục. Đó là lý do tại sao bò cái mang thai không động dục. Một số bò không mang thai nhưng có thể vàng tồn lưu (thể vàng bệnh lý) cũng không có chu kì động dục trở lại. Trong thời gian mang thai, progesterone có những chức năng sau:-Ngăn ngừa gia súc động dục lại.-Hạn chế chức năng của oxytoxin -Điều chỉnh những thay đổi của màng nhầy tử cung, cần thiết cho phát triển phôi.-Tham gia vào việc tạo lập mô bầu vú.Những hócmôn tuyến Yên cùng với hócmôn buồng trứng điều hoà chu kì sinh dục ở bò thông qua cơ chế thần kinh -nội tiết.Ngoài 4 hóc môn trên, một số hóc môn khác cũng được ứng dụng trong TTNT và điều trị rối loạn sinh sản của bò cái như: Prostaglandin (PG): là axit béo không no có 20 carbon. PG được sinh ra ở hầu hết các mô trong cơ thể. Có 2 loại PG liên quan chặt chẽ với hoạt động sinh sản là prostaglandin F2α (viết tắt PGF2α) và prostaglandin E2 (viết tắt PGE2). PG này được sản xuất nhiều ở nội mạc tử cung, buồng trứng và các màng của phôi (Sengen, 2003). Tác dụng chính của hóc môn này là làm co bóp tử cung góp phần vào sự vận chuyển tinh trùng trong đường sinh dục con cái khi phối giống. Làm thoái hóa thể vàng, làm giảm lượng progesterone trong máu, vì vậy mà gây động dục và rụng trứng ở những bò cái chậm sinh, vô sinh do thể vàng tồn lưu. Trong thực tiễn, prostaglandin F2α được ứng dụng để chữa trị các bệnh u nang buồng trứng, tồn lưu thể vàng, kích thích phát triển nang trứng, chống viêm.Hầu hết PG ảnh hưởng cục bộ tại nơi nó sinh ra vì vậy người ta không coi đây là một hóc môn theo đúng nghĩa.Oxytoxin: là protein, được sản xuất tại thùy sau tuyến yên và buồng trứng (do thể vàng tiết ra). Oxytoxin gây co bóp tử cung lúc bò sinh bê, gây co rút ống dẫn trứng vì vậy đẩy nhanh quá trình vận động của tinh trùng và di chuyển của trứng khi thụ tinh. Sau khi gia súc sinh, oxytoxin gây co bóp cơ trơn ống dẫn sữa của tuyến vú và kích thích quá trình xuống sữa.Các hóc môn FSH, estrogen, LH đóng vai trò quan trọng trong quá trình phát triển của tế bào trứng đến trưởng thành, hình thành nang trứng và rụng trứng.Dưới tác dụng của hóc môn sinh dục trong chu kì động dục, các tế bào nằm trên nang noãn phát triển rất nhanh tạo thành bao noãn, trong xoang chứa đầy dịch và tế bào trứng gọi là nang Graff. Ở những con bò tơ sau khi đã thành thục sinh dục, trong chu kì động dục xuất hiện 2 sóng phát triển nang trứng. Một hoặc 2 nang trứng phát triển đạt tới đường kính 16 mm vào ngày thứ 6-7 của chu kì, nhưng sau đó bị thoái hoá. Vào thời gian này một nhóm nang trứng khác bắt đầu phát triển nhưng thông thường chỉ có một nang trứng chín và rụng. Nang trứng này lớn lên rất nhanh khi con vật động dục và đạt đến đường kính 1,5-2,0 cm trước khi rụng trứng ít giờ.Người ta ghi nhận có sự gia tăng mạnh mẽ hàm lượng các hoc môn LH, FSH (hóc môn gonadotropin) vào thời điểm trước khi xảy ra sự rụng trứng. Đặc biệt là sự tăng tiết hóc môn LH gây nên quá trình rụng trứng gọi là \"sóng gây rụng trứng\". Trong nang trứng, ngay sau sóng gây rụng trứng là sự tăng tiết progesterone, estradiol và prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α). Các hóc môn này làm tăng dịch tiết vào xoang bao noãn và bào mòn thành bao noãn, vì vậy mà làm vỡ bao noãn và phóng thích tế bào trứng.Ở bò, thể vàng phát triển đầy đủ vào ngày thứ 7 của chu kì động dục. Nếu bò không đậu thai thì thể vàng tiêu biến vào ngày thứ 18 của chu kì.Thể vàng tiết ra progesterone có tác dụng an thai. Có 2 lọai tế bào trong thể vàng là tế bào lớn và tế bào nhỏ. Tế bào lớn hình thành từ các tế bào lớp hạt, còn tế bào nhỏ hình thành từ tế bào vỏ. Tế bào lớn tiết nhiều progesterone hơn tế bào nhỏ, tiết progesterone liên tục mà không cần sự kích thích của LH. Tế bào lớn cũng sản sinh ra oxytocin. Trong quá trình hình thành thể vàng, tế bào nhỏ cũng được chuyển thành tế bào lớn khi cần.Ngoài progesterone, thể vàng còn tiết ra hóc môn oxytocin, relaxin. Người ta cũng ghi nhận thấy sự gia tăng hàm lượng oxytocin cùng với sự hình thành thể vàng, cao nhất vào giai đọan thể vàng họat động, giảm xuống khi thể vàng thoái hoá, đạt giá trị thấp nhất ngay trước và sau ngày động dục. Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) có tác dụng làm thoái hoá thể vàng. Ở bò PGF2α trong máu tăng lên rõ rệt cùng với hiện tượng giảm progesterone khi thể vàng tiêu biến trong giai đọan sau của chu kì động dục. Thí nghiệm trên bò và dê cho thấy oxytocin kích thích nội mạc tử cung tăng tiết prostaglandin F2α làm thoái hoá thể vàng.Khi bò mang thai, thể vàng chu kì không tiêu biến mà chuyển thành thể vàng có chửa, tiếp tục chế tiết hóc môn progesterone. Ở bò phải đến ngày 18-22 kể từ khi thụ tinh thì phôi mới bắt đầu bám chặt vào nội mạc tử cung. Người ta nhận định rằng, động vật có thai nhận biết sự có thai không phải qua hiện tượng làm tổ của phôi mà qua dấu hiệu của phôi.  Kết quả chẩn đoán trên mẫu sữa với phương pháp trên cho kết luận có thai đạt độ chính xác 84% và không có thai đạt độ chính xác 100%.Sự họat động của các hóc môn tham gia vào quá trình đẻ có thể tóm tắt như sau: Adrenocorticotropic hormone -ACTH trong máu thai tăng lên làm tăng tiết hóc môn vỏ thượng thận (Adrenocortical Hormone). Sự tăng hóc môn vỏ thượng thận kích thích các enzyme trong nhau chuyển progesterone được sản xuất trong nhau thành estrogen. Trong máu bò mẹ, nồng độ progesterone bắt đầu giảm cùng với nồng độ estrogen tăng. Estrogen tăng tác động lên tử cung thúc đẩy sự tổng hợp prostaglandin. Hàm lượng prostaglandin tăng nhanh trước khi đẻ 1-2 ngày.Trong thời gian mang thai progesterone đã ức chế co rút cơ tử cung (để an toàn cho thai), khi progesterone giảm, sự ức chế bị vô hiệu hoá. Mặt khác estrogen tăng làm tăng tính nhạy cảm của tử cung với oxytocin, kích thích sự co rút tử cung. Estrogen tăng cũng làm mềm và giãn rộng đường sinh dục. Vào nửa cuối của quá trình đẻ, bào thai Hình 37: Động thái hóc môn trong chu kì động dục ở bò kích thích mạnh lên tử cung, thúc đẩy quá trình phóng thích oxytocin từ thùy sau tuyến yên. Tăng cường co rút tử cung đẩy thai ra ngoài.Cơ chế này được nghiên cứu chủ yếu ở cừu. Sinh đẻ ở bò được xem như một cơ chế giống với cừu. Tuy nhiên, ở bò nồng độ progesterone trong máu giảm dần trong 60 ngày chửa cuối. Estrogen tăng dần và đạt cực đại trước khi đẻ 1-4 ngày. Nồng độ Prostaglandin F2α bắt đầu tăng nhanh trước khi đẻ 24-48 giờ. Khác với ở cừu, ở bò không thấy progesterone chuyển thành estrogen trong nhau.Một số hóc môn đã được sử dụng cho mục đích này. PMSG là huyết thanh ngựa chửa, có chứa hóc môn tiết ra từ nhau thai được sử dụng với mục đích thúc đẩy sự lớn lên của nang trứng. Tuy nhiên do thời gian bán rã kéo dài gây nên hiện tượng đề kháng và làm giảm hiệu quả ở những lần sử dụng sau, đồng thời phôi thu được có chất lượng kém.Gần đây chế phẩm FSH tinh chế từ tuyến yên đã được bán và sử dụng rộng rãi trên thị trường. Khi tiêm FSH-P (dạng tách và tinh chế từ Antorin tuyến yên lơn nái) và LH cho bò cái gây nên sự chín và rụng nhiều trứng trong một lần động dục (bình thường chỉ có 1 trứng chín và rụng). Gần đây người ta còn dùng chế phẩm BFSH được chế từ công nghệ gen. Sử dụng BFSH cho kết quả tốt hơn và chất lượng phôi tốt hơn. Những nghiên cứu này cung cấp cơ sở và thực tiễn cho việc gây đa xuất noãn trong kỹ thuật cấy truyền phôi ở bò.Nồng độ hóc môn sinh dục và họat động của chúng trong quá trình điều khiển sinh dục của bò cái bị ảnh hưởng nhiều bởi dinh dưỡng và khí hậu. Theo Drew, tỷ lệ thụ thai lần đầu tăng từ 50% lên 69% nếu tăng cường thức ăn ngay trước và sau khi phối ở bò khi gây động dục đồng pha. Ở cừu, bổ sung lupin như một dạng thức ăn hỗn hợp giàu protein đã làm cho FSH đạt giá trị cao vào ngày thứ 5 trước khi động dục so với đối chứng. Theo Lotthammer và cộng sự, sự thiếu hụt β-caroten (tiền chất của vitamin A) dẫn tới rối lọan chức năng sinh sản. Thiếu vitamin A làm giảm phân tiết 17 β-estradiol từ buồng trứng, làm cho họat động chế tiết LH không đầy đủ dẫn đến động dục yếu, chậm rụng trứng, dễ gây u nang buồng trứng. Thiếu β-caroten thường gặp ở khẩu phần thiếu cỏ xanh hoặc cho ăn cỏ ủ kéo dài.Stress nhiệt (ẩm độ, nhiệt độ cao) cũng gây ra ảnh hưởng làm giảm chế tiết FSH, LH cũng dẫn đến gia súc biểu hiện động dục không rõ rệt, thời gian động dục ngắn, tỷ lệ đậu thai thấp, tỷ lệ chết phôi cao.Những năm gần đây, GnRH và các chất đồng đẳng (axetat fertirelin) đã được sử dụng rộng rãi trong thực tế để nâng cao tỷ lệ thụ thai. Tiêm GnRH với liều 100 µg đã khắc phục sự thiếu hụt hóc môn gonadotropin và tăng tỷ lệ thụ thai ở bò cái.Những đàn bò mà sự phối giống tự nhiên bởi bò đực (phối giống không có kiểm soát) thì phát hiện bò cái lên giống và thời điểm phối giống cho bò cái là \"công việc\" của bò đực thả chung đàn. Đối với những đàn mà việc phối giống cho bò cái bằng phương pháp truyền tinh nhân tạo thì phát hiện động dục và thời điểm phối giống cho bò cái là công việc của người quản lý và kỹ thuật viên. Đây là khâu đầu tiên quyết định thành công của kỹ thuật TTNT, quyết định thành tích sinh sản cuả bò cái.Phát hiện bò động dục cần được tiến hành ít nhất ba lần trong một ngày. Các nước nhiệt đới như nước ta, khí hậu nóng, thời gian động dục của bò ngắn hơn, dấu hiệu động dục thường không rõ ràng, phát hiện nhiều lần trong ngày sẽ tránh bỏ sót. Hầu hết người ta phát hiện thấy bò động dục trong khoảng thời gian mát trong ngày. Buổi trưa là thời điểm nóng nhất trong ngày, dấu hiệu động dục yếu. Vì vậy thời điểm phát hiện bò động dục tốt nhất là buổi sáng sớm, buổi chiều mát và buổi tối lúc khoảng 10 giờ. Lần phát hiện vào lúc 10 giờ đêm, khi bò đang nằm nghỉ là rất quan trọng bởi vì những bò cái động dục ngầm, không thể hiện dấu hiệu động dục nhưng dễ dàng quan sát thấy dịch nhày chảy ra ngoài khi chúng nằm. Đây là một dấu hiệu quan trọng để phát hiện những bò cái động dục yếu và thời gian động dục ngắn, hoặc phát hiện bò bị bệnh sản khoa.Đặc biệt bò sữa nuôi nhốt không có điều kiện để thể hiện ra bên ngoài dấu hiệu động dục như đối với bò chăn thả. Khi bò bị buộc, xích, cột, bò không thể nhảy lên con khác và không bị con khác nhảy lên. Vì vậy cần tạo điều kiện cho bò được tự do vận động trên sân chơi, ngoài bãi chăn tối thiểu một giờ sau khi vắt sữa buổi sáng và buổi chiều. Đây là cơ hội để bò cái thể hiện dấu hiệu động dục.Bò thịt chăn thả theo bầy cũng phải phát hiện động dục 3 lần trong ngày. Buổi sáng trước khi thả bò, buổi chiều khi bò về chuồng và buổi tối lúc khoảng 10 giờ đêm, dùng đèn pin soi phát hiện dấu vết dịch trên mông bò, có khi dịch chảy thành vệt tròn trên nền hoặc trên phân khi bò nằm. Khi muốn TTNT cho bò chăn thả theo đàn có bò đực thì lúc bò cái có dấu hiệu động dục phải tách riêng bò cái khỏi đàn, theo dõi tiếp quá trình động dục để có quyết định đúng trước khi áp dụng kỹ thuật TTNT.Thời gian cần thiết cho phát hiện động dục phụ thuộc vào số lượng đàn gia súc, kinh nghiệm của người phụ trách, điều kiện nuôi dưỡng (Nuôi nhốt hay chăn thả tự do). Nói chung, trong điều kiện nuôi nhốt với những đàn gia súc không lớn, cần ít nhất 10-15 phút mỗi lần để kiểm tra phát hiện động dục.Chủ trại chăn nuôi, người chăn nuôi là những người gần gũi với đàn bò và có nhiều thời gian tiếp xúc với đàn bò, vì vậy họ là những người chịu trách nhiệm chính phát hiện bò cái động dục.Khi áp dụng kỹ thuật TTNT, nếu phát hiện động dục không tốt thì nhiều chu kì động dục của bò cái bị bỏ sót, nhiều lần động dục bị bỏ lỡ không được phối giống, như vậy sẽ kéo dài khoảng cách lứa đẻ. Thực tế nếu gặp khoảng cách giữa các lần động dục, hoặc khoảng cách giữa hai lần phối giống xấp xỉ 42 ngày (2 chu kì) hoặc 63 ngày (3 chu kì) thì rất có thể một vài chu kì động dục đã bỏ lỡ. Hiểu biết đầy đủ và chính xác biểu hiện động dục giúp ta giảm thiểu nguy cơ bỏ lỡ chu kì động dục ở bò cái.Chu kì động dục ở bò cái từ 18-24 ngày, trung bình 21 này, thời giang này thường kéo dài 6-36 giò, mức độ tập trung thường 18-24 giờ nhưng thời gian phối giống có hiệu quả trong khoảng thời gian 10-12 giờ. Trong thời gian bò cái có biểu hiện động dục ra bên ngoài có thể quan sát được không dài, chỉ 1-2 ngày, gọi là thời gian động dục. Trong thời gian động dục đó được chia ra làm 3 giai đoạn.Thời gian này thường kéo dài 6-10 giờ Giai đọan này bò có những biểu hiện sau:-Ngửi bò khác, bồn chồn, đi lại nhiều, tìm kiếm bò cái khác hoặc bò đực -Cố nhảy lên con khác nhưng không đứng yên khi bị bò cái khác hoặc bò đực nhảy lên lưng.-Thích gần người, gần bò khác hơn thường lệ.-Bò kêu rống thường xuyên.-Âm hộ ướt, đỏ và hơi phồng lên.-Niêm dịch chảy ra màu trắng và trong suốt, không thành sợi -Bò giảm lượng ăn vào và sữa giảm.Các biểu hiện ở giai đọan này thay đổi nhiều và không giống nhau ở mỗi bò. Giai đọan này có thể kéo dài từ một vài giờ đến một ngày hoặc hơn. Gặp các dấu hiệu này cần báo ngay cho dẫn tinh viên biết để theo dõi và quyết định việc phối giống và thời điểm phối giống.Trong TTNT, không nên phối giống ở giai đọan này vì tỷ lệ đậu thai thấp và có thể gây tổn hại cơ quan sinh dục bò cái.Giai đọan này kéo dài khoảng 10-19 giờ và bò có biểu hiện sau:-Đứng yên cho bò khác nhảy lên.-Bồn chồn và kêu rống thưa dần, Thích ngửi cơ quan sinh dục bò khác.-Tai dựng lên, tỏ vẻ dễ gần hơn.-Xương sống lưng cong lên, phần thắt lưng lõm xuống, xương khum cong lên.-Âm hộ bắt đầu siu lại, giảm độ căng phồng và dịch nhờn tiết ra lúc đầu thành sợi màu trắng sau đặc màu đục và kéo thành sợi dài từ 15-20 cm.-Mạn sườn lấm bùn và lông ở khấu đuôi xù lên (do bò khác nhảy lên).-Tính thèm ăn giảm, giảm sữa.-Thân nhiệt cao hơn bình thường (1 o C).Khi không bị cầm cột biểu hiện của bò cái động dục ở giai đọan này rất dễ nhận biết. Cần phân biệt bò nhảy lên bò khác có thể không động dục nhưng bò đứng yên cho bò khác nhảy lên thì chắc chắn động dục và đang ở giai đọan chịu đực.Những bò cầm cột dấu hiệu dễ quan sát thấy là: ngơ ngác, mẫn cảm, tiếng kêu « tìm đực » rất dễ phân biệt với bò không động dục.Khi cho bò đực nhảy trực tiếp thì cho nhảy ngay từ nửa đầu giai đọan khi bò bắt đầu chịu đực.Thời gian động dục đứng yên phụ thuộc vào giống và khí hậu thời tiết. Bò sữa, bò chuyên thịt, thời gian này ngắn hơn so với bò địa phương. Bò HF nuôi ở xứ nóng thời gian chịu đực ngắn hơn so với khi nuôi ở xứ lạnh.Sau giai đọan động dục đứng yên, một số bò tiếp tục họat động. Những họat động này chủ yếu là thụ động và có biểu hiện:-Không cho con khác nhảy lên lưng.-Không ngửi bò khác và bị bò khác ngửi.-Dịch keo đặc từ âm hộ và có màu nâu đặc thường dính lên mông và đuôi.Khoảng 1-2 ngày sau khi kết thúc giai đọan động dục, ở nhiều bò có thể quan sát thấy có máu tươi chảy ra cùng với niêm dịch từ âm hộ. Điều này là sinh lý bình thường, không liên quan gì đến đậu thai hay sự rụng trứng, chỉ có ý nghĩa là bò đã đông dục trước đó 1-2 ngày.Những đàn gia súc lớn, việc phát hiện động dục bằng quan sát gặp nhiều khó khăn và dễ bị bỏ sót. Có một số phương pháp hỗ trợ con người trong phát hiện bò cái động dục đã được áp dụng.Sử dụng bò đực có họat động tính dục bình thường, đến khoảng 8 tháng tuổi (trước khi thành thục về tính dục) giải phẫu bẻ cong dương vật sang một bên (dời cả bao dương vật để dương vật vẫn nằm trên đường thẳng). Mục đích của việc làm này là để bò đực vẫn giữ nguyên tính dục. Bò đực chỉ giúp phát hiện bò cái động dục nhưng không thể giao phối trực tiếp vì dương vật không còn ở vị trí cũ. Bò làm nhiệm vụ này gọi là đực \"thí tình\". Phương pháp này có ưu điểm là sự tiếp xúc giữa bò cái và bò đực diễn ra tự nhiên theo đúng bản năng sinh học của chúng. Giúp phát hiện chính xác cả những bò cái động dục thầm lặng. Nhược điểm là việc phẫu thuật để di chuyển vị trí dương vật bò đực cần người có kỹ thuật và tay nghề cao mới thực hiện được. Mặt khác sau một thời gian bò đực mất đi tính hăng vì không được giao phối trực tiếp và xuất tinh như tự nhiên. Chỉ phù hợp với đàn có số gia súc cái đủ lớn để giảm chi phí nuôi bò đực thí tình.Công việc này gọi là \"thử đực\". Dùng bò đực bình thường có dây dàm, mỗi ngày 2 lần vào buổi sáng và buổi chiều dắt bò đực vào đàn bò cái để bò đực phát hiện bò cái động dục. Khi bò cái động dục, bò đực sẽ theo sát và bò cái biểu hiện sự ham muốn bò đực rất dễ nhận biết. Khi bò đực nhảy lên bò cái thì kéo bò đực xuống không cho nhảy. Dắt bò cái đi xa để bò đực tìm tiếp bò cái động dục khác. Ưu điểm của phương pháp này cũng giống như khi dùng bò đực \"thí tình\". Dễ thực hiện (không phải giải phẩu di dời dương vật bò đực), tính hăng của bò đực kéo dài và khi cần vẫn có thể cho phối giống trực tiếp. Phương pháp này thường sử dụng trên bò hướng thịt, bò địa phương, ít sử dụng trên bò sữa. Nhược điểm là cần người giám sát luôn đi cạnh bò đực. Khi bò đực quá hăng nhảy lên bò cái, người giám sát phải nhanh nhẹn và dũng cảm kéo dương vật bò đực lệch sang một bên ngăn không cho giao phối trực tiếp. Việc ức chế phản xạ giao phối và phóng tinh của bò đực lúc này có thể bị bò đực tấn công, gây nguy hiểm cho người giám sát. Khi không ngăn cản kịp bò đực thì giao phối trực tiếp vẫn xảy ra ngoài ý muốn.Phương pháp sơn khum đuôi hoặc dán KarMar: Dựa vào đặc tính sinh lý là khi bò động dục sẽ cho những bò khác nhảy lên. Vì thế, ở những đàn chăn thả không có bò đực theo đàn, người ta có thể dùng sơn để sơn lên vùng khum đuôi của bò cái một vài ngày trước khi dự kiến bò động dục. Nếu phát hiện vùng sơn bị bong đi chứng tỏ bò cái đó đã động dục. Đây là phương pháp có hiệu quả, rẻ tiền và được áp dụng rộng rãi ở những nông trại của Úc. Cũng trên nguyên lý này, ở Mỹ người ta sản xuất ra miếng dán gọi là KarMar để để dán lên vùng khum của bò cần theo dõi động dục. Khi miếng dán đổi màu từ trắng sang đỏ tức là bò cái đó đã bị con khác nhảy lên và kiểm tra để phối giống. Tuy nhiên, giá thành khá đắt trong điều kiện Việt nam.Phương pháp này dựa trên đặc điểm bò cái khi động dục sẽ hưng phấn, đi lại nhiều hơn một cách bất thường so với lúc không động dục. Dựa vào đặc điểm này, mỗi bò cái được đeo vào chân một vòng đặc biệt có khả năng đếm số bước đi trong ngày. Thông tin về số bước đi được truyền vào máy tính mỗi ngày và vẽ thành biểu đồ cho cả tháng cho mỗi bò cái. Những ngày có số bước đi nhiều hơn bất thường được thể hiện rõ trên biểu đồ, đây là một dấu hiệu đáng tin cậy của sự động dục. Người quản lý căn cứ vào đó để kiểm tra lâm sàng và quyết định có phối giống hay không. Phương pháp này có ưu điểm là không cần bò đực và sự quan sát trực tiếp của con người. Theo dõi một đàn lớn cả ngàn con chỉ cần nhìn trên màn hình máy vi tính. Nhược điểm là đầu tư thiết bị đắt tiền nên chỉ thích hợp với đàn lớn và được đầu tư cao. Kỹ thuật này áp dụng phổ biến ở Israel.Trong TTNT, thời điểm phối giống thích hợp là từ nửa sau của giai đọan động dục đứng yên (chịu đực) cho đến khoảng 6 giờ sau khi kết thúc giai đọan động dục đứng yên (Từ 9-18 giờ sau khi xuất hiện triệu chứng động dục đầu tiên). Nếu phối giống trực tiếp thì mang bò cái đến chỗ bò đực ngay sau khi quan sát thấy dấu hiệu đứng yên (chịu đực) trong thời kỳ động dục.Cần phải kiểm tra thường xuyên để biết khi nào bò bắt đầu động dục. Trong thực tế người ta thường áp dụng \"quy luật (Quy tắc): sáng -chiều\": nếu phát hiện thấy bò động dục bắt đầu ở giai đoạn động dục đứng yên vào sáng sớm thì phối giống vào buổi chiều cùng ngày. Bò động dục vào buổi chiều hoặc buổi tối thì phối giống vào sáng ngày hôm sau. Không được phối giống quá sớm (nhưng cũng không quá muộn-trễ).Đối với tinh phân li giới tính: Để đạt được hiệu quả thụ tinh cao bằng tinh phân ly giới tính người kỹ thuật cần phải được am hiểu hơn về tinh chất của tinh trùng phân ly giới tính và chính 02 đặc trưng trên của tinh trùng mà thao tác phối giống cần được xác định thời điểm phối giống thích hợp, có nghĩa là cần được xác định được trạng thái biến đổi sinh lý cơ quan tử cung, dịch tử cung, trạng thái nang trứng trên buồng trứng(trứng chín giai đoạn cuối)… để thực hiện việc dẫn tinh muộn hơn để tinh trùng \"không phải chờ\" tế bào trứng lâu trong ống dẫn trứng của bò cái. Điều này chỉ thực hiện được khi người kỹ thuật dẫn tinh có một trình độ tay nghề cao. Trên cơ sở lý thuyết và thực tế thí nghiệm đã chứng mình rằng nếu dẫn tinh phân ly giới tính muộn hơn tinh thường từ 3-6 giờ đạt hiệu quả cao (Tăng xuân Lưu &cs 2013, khuyến cáo của sexing Techlogogies). Mặt khác phải lựa chọn bò có tiêu chí sinh sản tốt, đó là mấu chốt của sự thành công trong phối giống cho bò bằng tinh phân ly giới tính mà các cán bộ kỹ thuật dẫn tinh hiện nay chưa được cập nhật thông tin về tinh phân ly một cách đầu đủ cũng như trình độ tay nghề. Vì vậy cần thiết phải được đào tạo kỹ thuật viên có trình độ cao để thực hiện công nghệ này (đào tạo nâng cao).Dẫn tinh cho bò cái trong TTNT nên thực hiện ở nơi yên tĩnh, mát mẻ, không để bò ngoài nắng khi nhiệt độ coa sẽ ảnh hươnhr tới tỉ lệ thụ thai. Bò cái phải được đối xử tốt, không được thô bạo (không đánh đập). Cố định bò chắc chắn (thí dụ trong chuồng ép). Trong lúc chờ dẫn tinh viên hoặc là sau khi gieo tinh, bò phải được ở trong chuồng mát, tắm nước mát khi trời nóng, cung cấp đầy đủ thức ăn và nước uống. Sau phối giống, bò chăn thả ngoài đồng trời nắng nóng làm thân nhiệt tăng, dẫn đến giảm tỉ lệ đậu thai và tăng tỷ lệ chết phôi ở những tuần đầu. Những nghiên cứu ở Ấn Độ, Israel và Mỹ cho thấy vào mùa nắng nóng tỷ lệ đậu thai của bò có khi chỉ đạt 8-10%, tỷ lệ chết phôi có thể lên đến 40%. Vì vậy, nên giữ cho bò ở nơi yên tĩnh và mát mẻ 3-4 ngày kể từ ngày phối giống. Trong thời kỳ trước và sau khi phối giống 1-2 ngày nên cho bò ăn thêm. Bình chứa nitơ lỏng có cấu trúc phức tạp. Vì thế, chúng có thể bị hư hỏng mà không thể sửa chữa được và cần phải bảo quản cẩn thận.Tốt nhất là dùng loại bằng inox hoặc thép không gỉ.Trong điều kiện không có kéo có thể dùng lưỡi dao lam để cắt cọng rạ.Là một bình nhỏ có dung tích khoảng 0,5 lít (chiều cao tối thiểu 15cm) để đựng nước ấm làm tan băng cọng rạ trước khi sử dụng. Trong thực tế nhiều dẫn tinh viên không có bình làm tan băng (bình giải đông), họ có thể làm tan băng bằng kẹp cọng tinh vào nách, nhưng đó không phải cách tốt nhất.Trong trường hợp có sử dụng dụng cụ làm tan băng thì cần phải có một nhiệt kế có chia độ thật rõ và chính xác để kiểm tra nhiệt độ nước làm tan băng cho thích hợp.Nếu có điều kiện nên trang bị một cái cốc làm tan băng bằng điện rất thuận tiện khi sử dụng.Là dụng cụ dùng để đưa tinh vào đường sinh dục bò cái. Được cấu tạo bằng chất dẻo, có loại 3 ngón, 2 ngón và lọai 5 ngón. Loại tốt và tiện lợi nhất, đảm bảo vệ sinh nhất là găng tay 5 ngón của Pháp (của Công ty IMV) và Đức. Tất cả các dụng cụ trên (trừ bình tinh) đều phải được bảo quản trong túi sạch, tránh nhiệt độ quá lạnh hoặc quá nóng, tránh nơi bẩn thỉu. Tốt nhất là nên sắm cho mình một hộp đựng \"đồ nghề\" bằng inox và tất cả các dụng cụ đều được bảo quản trong đó. Nếu không có hộp đồ nghề, có thể sử dụng ống nước ø34 dùng làm dụng cụ đựng súng và vỏ dẫn tinh quản.-Chuẩn bị dụng cụ đầy đủ -Nhận diện đúng bò cái trước khi phối tinh -Hỏi người chăn nuôi để biết được rõ ràng về lý lịch của bò cái -Kiểm tra bộ phận sinh dục bên ngoài của bò cái được phối tinh -Tiếp cận và cầm cột bò cẩn thận trong giá phối tinh. Kiểm tra âm đạo, tử cung để khẳng định chắc bò có động dục hay không? bò không có thai?-Lựa chọn đúng tinh dịch cần thiết.-Giải đông tinh (Làm tan băng) đúng phương pháp đối với từng loại tinh đông lạnh đang được sử dụng.-Chuẩn bị tốt súng dẫn tinh.-Xử lý vệ sinh súng bắn tinh và gia súc.-Kiểm tra âm đạo, cổ tử cung, tử cung thông qua trực tràng trước khi phối tinh.-Đưa dẫn tinh quản vào cổ tử cung hợp lý.-Bơm tinh dịch vào đúng vị trí trong đường sinh dục con cái.-Xử lý và làm vệ sinh tất cả các trang thiết bị một cách hợp lý sau khi phối tinh.-Ghi chép cẩn thận tất cả các thông tin liên quan đến ca phối tinh đã thực hiện.-Thả bò ra và căn dặn chủ nhà những điều cần thiết về chăm sóc bò sau phối tinh và phát hiện bò có biểu hiện lên giống vào khoảng 19-23 ngày sau hay không (trung bình là 21 ngày).Gồm bình nitơ chứa tinh và nitơ, súng bắn tinh, dẫn tinh quản (vỏ nhựa để bọc súng bắn tinh -ống gen), găng tay, vazơlin, cồn 70 o , panh kẹp, cốc để đựng nước làm tan băng hoặc cốc làm tan băng chuyên dụng, nhiệt kế, giấy vệ sinh, sổ sách ghi chép.Xác định đúng số hiệu hoặc tên của bò cần phối giống. Hỏi thông tin từ gia chủ về tình trạng sinh đẻ, phối giống của bò trước đó, thời điểm phát hiện bò động dục. Tham khảo sổ sách ghi chép của chủ nhà hoặc sổ theo dõi của dẫn tinh viên để kiểm tra lại các thông tin trên.Kiểm tra dấu hiệu bên ngoài như dịch nhờn, độ nhăn của âm hộ, màu sắc âm đạo. Cố định bò vào chuồng ép cho chắc. Kiểm tra qua trực tràng để xác định chắc chắn bò động dục và không có thai.Lưu ý: Chỉ làm các bước tiếp theo khi đã xác định đúng thời điểm phối tinh.Dựa vào giống, ngoại hình bò cái cần phối tinh và mục đích lai tạo để chọn giống bò và tinh bò đực. Dựa vào ký hiệu cho từng loại tinh trên miệng bình chứa tinh để lấy được cọng rạ cần thiết. Không bao giờ mang tinh ra ngoài bình để xác định loại tinh cần sử dụng.Lưu ý: không để xảy ra hiện tượng phối đồng huyết (phối lại tinh bò bố hoặc tinh bò ông ngọai).Chuẩn bị nước ấm để làm tan băng. Thông thường nước làm tan băng có nhiệt độ từ 35-37 o C. Không được vượt quá 40 o C vì sẽ luộc chín tinh trùng.Có thể sử dụng dụng cụ làm tan băng bằng điện và theo dõi nhiệt độ thích hợp bằng đèn báo hiệu.Mở nắp bình nitơ gác nắp lên miệng bình, nâng cóng đựng tinh lên ngang miệng bình, dùng panh kẹp cọng tinh. Bỏ ngay cọng tinh vào cốc làm tan băng theo chiều đầu bông xuống dưới và đậy nắp bình lại vị trí cũ.Thời gian làm tan băng trong vòng 30 giây.Lưu ý: Thời gian từ khi cọng tinh đã tan băng đến khi hoàn thành công việc phối giống không chậm hơn 20 phút. Tinh đã làm tan băng không được bỏ lại vào bình chứa tinh.Hình 45: Cách gắp cọng tinhTrong thời gian làm tan băng, tranh thủ chuẩn bị súng dẫn tinh. Nếu trời lạnh thì nên dùng giấy vệ sinh chà xát nhiều lần vào súng để nâng nhiệt độ của súng lên. Kéo pít-tông ra một khoảng ít nhất 13 cm và để ở vị trí thuận lợi, sạch sẽ chuẩn bị sẵn sàng cho nạp tinh vào súng.Nếu dẫn tinh quản có nút tiếp nhận bên trong thì kiểm tra lại vị trí sao cho nút tiếp nhận nằm cách đầu dẫn tinh quản khoảng 2-3 cm.Lưu ý: Kiểm tra đầu vỏ dẫn tinh quản có bị nứt hay không, nếu nứt thì bỏ. Nên nhớ rằng vỏ dẫn tinh quản chỉ sử dụng một lần.Làm tan băng xong dùng giấy lau khô cọng tinh, kiểm tra lại thông tin trên cọng tinh (giống bò, số hiệu bò đực). Nếu các thông tin ghi trên cọng rạ bị nhoè và không đọc được các ký hiệu ghi trên cọng rạ thì không nên sử dụng.Cầm cọng rạ phía đầu hàn vẩy nhẹ 2-3 lần để dồn tinh về phía kia. Cắt cọng rạ phía đầu hàn, vết cắt phải vuông góc và sắc ngọt để không bị dập bẹp, không bị xéo. Nếu cắt bằng kéo thì cắt xong dùng tay xoe nhẹ đầu cắt cho tròn.Đơm cọng rạ phiá đã cắt vào \"nút tiếp nhận\" nằm trong vỏ dẫn tinh quản, xoay nhẹ cho chặt. Đẩy cọng rạ trượt vào lòng dẫn tinh quản. Để cọng rạ dư ra ngoài dẫn tinh quản khoảng 1-2 cm.Lưu ý: Khi đẩy cọng rạ vào phải từ từ, nhẹ nhàng tránh cong hoặc cụp cọng rạ. Trong trường hợp dẫn tinh quản không có \"nút tiếp nhận\" thì đơm đầu bông của cọng rạ vào đầu súng, cho dư ra 2-3 cm.Đưa vỏ dẫn tinh quản vào súng. Đẩy thân súng trượt đến đầu tận cùng của dẫn tinh quản. Cố đinh dẫn tinh quản vào súng, tuỳ theo từng loại súng mà ta có cách cố định phù hợp. Cố định xong, nhẹ nhàng đưa pít-tông ăn vào đầu bông cọng rạ. Hướng đầu dẫn tinh quản lên trên ngang với tầm mắt, nhẹ nhàng đẩy piton từ từ cho phần không khí còn lại trong cọng rạ ra ngoài. Khi xong, quấn giấy vệ sinh vào đầu súng và giắt vào người hoặc ngậm ngang miệng để tránh súng bị nhiễm bẩn. Khi gặp thời tiết lạnh thì việc giắt súng vào người tỏ ra có hiệu quả. Tháo bỏ găng tay, vỏ dẫn tinh quản, giải phóng bò khỏi róng cố định.Vệ sinh và thu xếp dụng cụ, dùng cồn để sát trùng súng dẫn tinh.Ghi chép vào phiếu gieo tinh những số liệu cần thiết: số hiệu bò cái, ngày phối, lần phối, số hiệu đực giống, tên gia chủ (xem thêm ở phần ghi chép trong TTNT).Dặn dò gia chủ theo dõi sự động dục của bò trong chu kỳ tới (sau 19-23 ngày).Dù sử dụng bất kỳ loại tinh nào vẫn phải thực hiện đúng các bước đã đề cập ở phần trên. Trong phần này chúng tôi chỉ tóm lược kỹ thuật TTNT cho bò bằng tinh viên với những điều mà bạn cần phải lưu ý.Bình chứa nitơ để bảo quản tinh Dẫn tinh quản cứng, quả bóp bằng cao su (nếu không có quả bóp bằng cao su chúng ta có thể sử dụng xy-lanh nhựa 2cc).Nước sinh lý chuyên dùng cho tinh viên đã được đóng trong những ampun có dung tích 1,0-1,5ml.Panh kẹp, găng tay, giấy vệ sinh, vazơlin, sổ sách ghi chép …(như mục 2 phần kỹ thuật TTNT cho bò bằng tinh cọng rạ)Kiểm tra lại quả bóp bằng cao su, xem có bị thủng hoặc nứt hay không.Rút một phần của dẫn tinh quản ra khỏi bọc và tra quả bóp bằng cao su vào.Mở nắp bình nitơ, nâng giỏ chứa tinh ngang miệng bình, dùng kẹp dài gắp một viên tinh cần dùng cho ngay vào trong lọ nước sinh lý và đậy nắp bình lại. Kẹp lọ nước sinh lý có chứa tinh vào lòng hai bàn tay và lăn tới, lăn lui để giúp nâng nhiệt độ của nước sinh lý và viên tinh nhanh chóng hoà tan hơn.Lưu ý: không để mảnh vở thủy tinh rơi vào trong lọ nước sinh lý.Bóp xẹp quả bóp cao su, giữ nguyên tư thế như vậy và hướng đầu còn lại của dẫn tinh quản xuống đáy của lọ nước sinh lý có chứa tinh theo một độ nghiêng thích hợp.Từ từ nới dần quả bóp bằng cao su để tinh dịch được hút vào lòng dẫn tinh quản.Sau khi hút xong tich dịch có thể ngậm dẫn tinh quản ngang miệng rồi tiến hành các thao tác phối tinh trên bò cái.Lưu ý: Khi hút tinh dịch, nên lưu ý là hút từ từ sao cho tinh dịch được hút hết vào lòng dẫn tinh quản và dòng tinh không bị ngắt quãng tạo ra các bọt khí trong lòng dẫn tinh quản.(như mục 8 phần kỹ thuật TTNT cho bò bằng tinh cọng rạ)Bơm tinh xong, giữ nguyên quả bóp cao su ở tư thế xẹp và từ từ rút dẫn tinh quản ra, tay trong nâng nhẹ cổ tử cung lên.(như mục 9 phần kỹ thuật TTNT cho bò bằng tinh cọng rạ).Sinh sản ở bò là kết quả của chuỗi quá trình thụ tinh, mang thai và sinh ra những con bê bình thường. Quá trình này chịu ảnh hưởng của nhiều yếu tố như là quản lý, dinh dưỡng, stress, bệnh tật, điều kiện môi trường, độc tố và những nhân tố khác. Khi áp dụng kỹ thuật TTNT trên bò cũng đồng thời với việc có thêm những yếu tố chủ quan từ kỹ thuật này tác động đến quá trình sinh sản Tỷ lệ thụ thai của lần phối đầu là chỉ tiêu quan trọng đánh giá hiệu quả TTNT. Tỷ lệ này được tính từ số thai còn đến 90 ngày tuổi nhờ xác định bằng kỹ thuật khám qua trực tràng so với số lần phối đầu tiên. Thí dụ phối lần đầu cho 100 bò, đến 90 ngày sau khám thai có 60 bò có thai, ta nói tỷ lệ thụ thai lần phối đầu trong trường hợp này là 60%. Ở vùng nóng như nước ta tỷ lệ phối đậu thai lần đầu cần đạt từ 50% trở lên. Tỷ lệ thụ thai thấp dưới 50% có nguyên nhân từ lỗi kỹ thuật TTNT của kỹ thuật viên và quản lý đàn gia súc có thể liệt kê như sau:Các lổi nghiêm trọng trong kỹ thuật phối tinh có thể xảy ra đối với dẫn tinh viên nhiều năm kinh nghiệm và dẫn tinh viên mới được huấn luyện. Nên nhớ rằng, TTNT cho bò được xem là một động tác phẫu thuật và nguyên nhân lớn nhất gây ra các lỗi thường mắc phải là do chủ quan. Phần này chỉ ra các lỗi thông thường để lưu ý.Tinh đông lạnh có nhiệt độ tới hạn là âm 80 o C. Để tinh ở nhiệt độ tăng hơn nhiệt độ này rồi sau đó đông lạnh lại thì tinh sẽ bị chết. Tinh cọng rạ chỉ có một lần duy nhất lấy tinh ra khỏi bình nitơ là khi ta đem cọng tinh ra ngoài làm tan băng trong nước ấm. Tinh ampun có một giới hạn an toàn lớn hơn và có thể để tinh ampun ở môi trường bên ngoài 30 giây rồi đông lạnh lại.Thiếu hụt nitơ trong bình chứa tinh là lỗi thường gặp phải.Luôn luôn nhanh chóng đưa cốc chứa tinh vào vị trí cũ ngay sau khi gắp tinh cho vào nước tan băng. Đậy nắp bình nitơ ngay sau đó.Không được để mực nitơ trong bình thấp hơn miệng các cốc dự trữ tinh.Đừng bao giờ lấy tinh ra khỏi bình nitơ để làm tan băng khi ta chưa kiểm tra chắc chắn bò động dục và cố định bò (nếu cần phải cố định) Luôn luôn dùng kẹp để gắp tinh cọng rạ và thao tác càng xa và sâu dưới cổ bình càng tốt.Đừng bao giờ chọn tên và số hiệu tinh bò đực bằng cách mang tinh ra ngoài bình nitơ.Sự thu tinh cao nhất có thể đạt được khi ta bơm tinh vào ngay phần tiếp giáp giữa cổ và thân tử cung, như vậy tinh trùng nhanh chóng có thể chuyển đến cả hai sừng và ống dẫn trứng.Nếu ta bơm tinh tại ví trí quá sâu vào thân tử cung hoặc vào một sừng tử cung có thể làm giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai do tất cả tinh trùng chỉ di chuyển vào một sừng thay vì chúng cần hiện diện ở cả hai ống dẫn trứng.Dùng lực quá mạnh để đưa súng bắn tinh qua cổ tử cung có thể gây nên tổn thương nội mạc cổ tử cung. Nếu trường hợp này xảy ra có thể làm cho vùng tổn thương gây viêm kết dính hoặc tăng sinh làm biến dạng đường vào cổ tử cung.Trong trừng hợp đưa súng quá sâu vào thân hoặc sừng tử cung có thể làm tổn thương nội mạc tử cung, gây chảy máu và nguy hiểm hơn nữa là có thể dẫn đến vô sinh cho con cái do viêm nhiễm.Nếu không có sự tiếp xúc tốt giữa súng và vỏ dẫn tinh quản thì có thể một số tinh dịch thoát ra ngoài và lọt vào lòng dẫn tinh quản. Như vậy có thể làm giảm số lượng tinh trùng tối thiểu để giúp bò cái thụ thai.Kiểm tra lại đầu của vỏ tinh quản có bị nứt không, nếu nứt thì không dùng.Kiểm tra lại xem đầu pít-tông đã lọt vào trong cọng rạ, ăn khớp với đầu bông hay chưa. Nếu không, khi bơm pít-tông có thể trượt ra ngoài và làm cho tinh dịch chảy vào lòng dẫn tinh quản.Mở âm hộ trước khi đưa súng bắn tinh vào để không nhiễm bẩn dẫn tinh quản là một cách giữ gìn vệ sinh tốt nhất cho các bộ phận sinh dục bên trong của con cái.Nếu chúng ta coi thường khâu vệ sinh này thì có thể có rất nhiều nguy cơ đưa vi khuẩn và các chất bẩn khác từ bên ngoài vào âm đạo và tử cung.Thông thường lỗi này thường gặp đối với các dẫn tinh viên mới hành nghề. Trong trường hợp này bò sẽ phản ứng dữ dội. Khi đưa súng hoặc dẫn tinh quản qua âm hộ với một góc hợp lý sẽ tránh được đầu súng đi vào lỗ niệu đạo.Không phát hiện và phối tinh kịp thời cho bò động dục vì vậy bỏ lỡ chu kì động dục.Phối tinh cho bò không động dục thật sự. Có khoảng từ 5-10% số bò cái được TTNT trong tình trạng không động dục thật sự.Không nhận biết được bò cái (bò không có số, không có tên) dẫn đến sai sót trong ghi chép quản lý. Kỹ thuật phối tinh không thích hợp (như đã trình bày ở phần lỗi của dẫn tinh viên).Thời điểm phối tinh không thích hợp. Nguyên nhân này phổ biến trong thực tế khi chăn nuôi nhỏ lẻ, phân tán, người chăn nuôi thiếu thời gian và kinh nghiệm phát hiện bò lên giống. Dẫn tinh viên không có mặt kịp thời vào thời điểm truyền tinh lý tưởng… đều ảnh hưởng trực tiếp đến kết quả đậu thai.Cọng rạ Vỏ dẫn tinh quản Tinh dịch chảy ngược vào lòng ống Vết cắt bị vát Nút chặnMột số bò đực có tỷ lệ thụ thai thấp hoặc loại tinh đang sử dụng có chất lượng kém do bảo quản lâu, bảo quản không đúng kỹ thuật. Nghiên cứu cho thấy ngay cả khi tinh được bảo quản đúng kỹ thuật thì tỷ lệ đậu thai vẫn giản sau thời gian bảo quản do sức sống của tinh trùng giảm.Một số bò đực có tỷ lệ đậu thai thấp có liên quan đến yếu tố di truyền. Sự thụ tinh giữa tinh trùng và trứng với nhiễm sắc thể bất thường hầu như dẫn đến sự khác thường của bộ nhiễm sắc thể khi tiến hành phân chia tế bào. Từ đó ảnh hưởng đến phôi thai và gây nên chết phôi.Môi trường tử cung bò cái sau thụ thai rất quan trọng đối với sự phát triển của phôi.Phôi di chuyển trong ống dẫn trứng về đến tử cung trong vòng 4-7 ngày sau khi trứng thụ tinh và gắn vào nội mạc tử cung trong khoảng ngày thứ 30-40. Trong thời gian này, phôi sẽ hấp thụ chất dinh dưỡng được tiết ra từ tuyến tử cung gọi là \"sữa tử cung\". Sự thay đổi bất thường của bất kỳ một thành phần nào của sữa tử cung đều có thể dẫn đến sự thoái hoá và chết phôi.Nguyên nhân chủ yếu gây nên sự thay đổi bất thường về môi trường tử cung là viêm nội mạc tử cung. Hầu hết các trường hợp viêm tử cung sau đẻ đều ở thể mãn tính. Trong những trường hợp đã được chẩn đoán là viêm tử cung trong vòng 30 ngày sau đẻ thì tỷ lệ thụ thai giảm đáng kể nếu phối tinh trong vòng 60 ngày sau đẻ. Rối lọan hóc môn có liên quan trực tiếp đến cường độ động dục và chức năng thể vàng.Khi cường độ động dục mạnh thì dấu hiệu động dục càng rõ càng dễ phát hiện và dễ dàng xác định thời điểm phối tinh tối ưu và như thế tỷ lệ thụ thai sẽ cao hơn. Khi estrogen thấp cường độ động dục yếu phát hiện động dục khó và tỷ lệ đậu thai thấp.Bình thường sau khi thụ tinh thể vàng hình thành vào khoảng ngày thứ 5 và làm gia tăng hàm lượng P4 trong máu. Ống dẫn trứng dãn ra và nhờ vậy phôi dễ dàng được vận chuyển về tử cung. P4 còn gây nên sự sản xuất \"sữa tử cung\" để giúp cho phôi phát triển khi đến tử cung. Khi sự hình thành thể vàng diễn ra muộn hơn và không đủ lượng P4 được tiết ra thì làm cho ống dẫn trứng không dãn ra nên phôi nằm lại trên ống dẫn trứng, giảm tiết \"sữa tử cung\" bởi tuyến tử cung, ngăn cản sự phát triển của phôi và kết quả cuối cùng là làm giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai.Tỷ lệ thụ thai ở bò rạ thấp hơn so với bò tơ, tỷ lệ thụ thai cũng có xu hướng giảm khi số lứa đẻ gia tăng. Nguyên nhân của sự giảm này là do sự nhiễm khuẩn vào tử cung của bò trong khi đẻ từ đó dẫn đến sự rối loạn môi trường tử cung do sự viêm nhiễm nội mạc tử cung. Mặt khác sự nhiễm khuẩn trong quá trình phối tinh nhiều lần cũng có thể là nguyên nhân.Một nguyên nhân khác có thể là do bò rạ chịu nhiều stress từ sự tiết sữa, mất cân đối dinh dưỡng vào đầu kỳ sữa (thiếu năng lượng và thừa protein trong khẩu phần). Sau khi đẻ, cơ tử cung co bóp để thải dịch hậu sản ra ngoài và đồng thời làm giảm kích thước tử cung. Kích thước tử cung được hồi phục lại gần như trạng thái ban đầu của nó vào ngày thứ 20-30 sau khi đẻ. Tuy nhiên, sự hồi phục nội mạc tử cung xảy ra cho đến khoảng 30-45 ngày sau đẻ và đồng thời loại trừ vi khuẩn khỏi tử cung. Nếu có hiện tượng đẻ khó hoặc sót nhau thì sự hồi phục này đòi hỏi nhiều thời gian hơn. Do đó, nếu phối tinh quá sớm sau khi đẻ dẫn đến hiện tượng phôi về tử cung trước khi nội mạc tử cung được hồi phục hoàn toàn và vi khuẩn trong tử cung chưa được tống ra ngoài nên tỷ lệ thụ thai cao là điều không thể đạt được.Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy, tỷ lệ thụ thai rất thấp nếu phối tinh trong vòng 39 ngày sau khi đẻ. Tỷ lệ thụ thai cao ở lần phối tinh đầu tiên nếu bò được phối tinh vào khoảng 60-79 ngày sau đẻ. Tỷ lệ thụ thai sẽ cao hơn nếu phối tinh vào khoảng 100-120 ngày sau khi đẻ nhưng không mang lại hiệu quả kinh tế cao vì kéo dài đáng kể số ngày không mang thai sau khi đẻ.Điều kiện nuôi dưỡng có ảnh huởng đáng kể đến tỷ lệ thụ thai. Thiếu năng lượng và thừa protein trong giai đoạn cạn sữa và đầu chu kỳ sữa là nguyên nhân quan trọng làm giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai Điểm thể trạng được sử dụng như là một chỉ báo về mức độ năng lượng ăn vào. Đối với bò sữa, điều lý tưởng là điểm thể trạng nên được duy trì ở mức 3,5 điểm (thang điểm 5) ở giai đoạn cạn sữa và lúc đẻ, sau đó giữ được mức ≥ 2,5 điểm vào giai đoạn đỉnh sữa Thiếu năng lượng ăn vào sau khi đẻ dẫn đến sự giảm thể trạng đáng kể. Giảm thể trạng có liên quan chặt chẽ đến tỷ lệ thụ thai. Nếu điểm thể trạng đạt 3,5 điểm lúc đẻ và giữ được mức 3 điểm vào thời điểm 30 ngày sau đẻ thì tỷ lệ thụ thai ở lần phối đầu tiên khoảng 40% và cứ giảm 0,5 điểm thể trạng thì tỷ lệ thụ thai giảm 10%. Số liệu ở bảng sau sẽ giúp chúng ta hiểu rõ thêm vấn đề này.Điểm thể trạng lúc 30 ngày sau đẻ Tỷ lệ thụ thai ở lần phối đầu (%) 3.5 3.0 40 3.5 2.5 30 3.5 2.0 20Sau khi đẻ, tính ngon miệng của bò giảm và giảm lượng ăn vào. Thiếu hụt năng lượng ăn vào sau khi đẻ dẫn đến giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai, bởi vì nó gây nên sự hoạt động bất thường của buồng trứng và làm chậm đáng kể sự rụng trứng. Bên cạnh đó, nó còn gây nên hiện tượng động dục yếu hoặc động dục thầm lặng dẫn đến thất bại trong phối tinh. Nó cũng gây ảnh hưởng bất lợi đến sức sống của tế bào trứng, tế bào màng nang trứng trong quá trình nang trứng phát triển. Cuối cùng dẫn đến giảm khả năng thụ tinh của tế bào trứng và giảm chức năng của thể vàng được hình thành sau khi trứng rụng. Do lượng ăn vào sau khi đẻ giảm nên người chăn nuôi cố gắng khắc phục bằng cách tăng những loại thức ăn có tính ngon miệng cao vào khẩu phần hoặc tăng thức ăn tinh để cải thiện lượng ăn vào. Nhưng điều bất lợi là khẩu phần sẽ mất cân đối và thừa protein. Khi thừa protein sẽ làm gia tăng hàm lượng urê trong máu và trong sữa, dẫn đến sự thiếu hụt năng lượng trở nên nghiêm trọng hơn vì cần nhiều hơn năng lượng để chuyển hoá lượng protein thừa. Khi hàm lượng urê trong máu tăng sẽ làm cho pH trong tử cung giảm và giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai do tăng tỷ lệ chết phôi.Các yếu tố khác của dinh dưỡng như độc tố trong thức ăn hoặc thiếu một số vitamin và khoáng chất cũng làm giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai.Thực hành trên tiêu bản cơ quan sinh dục (CQSD) bò cái gồm 8 bài (từ bài 1 đến bài 8). Thời lượng 1 bài từ 7-9 tiết học. Có 03 bài thực hành trên khung xương chậu (KXC) có cơ quan sinh dục và 05 bài thực hành trên tiêu bản CQSD.Thực hành trên tiêu bản được tiến hành trong phòng thực hành. Trong phòng có bàn để tiêu bản. Bàn thực hành bằng inox hoặc kệ xây có lát gạch men. Độ rộng của bàn và kệ khoảng 1,0 m. Mỗi bàn sử dụng cho một nhóm từ 7-8 người. Nền phòng cần có độ dốc và thoát nước tốt sau mỗi lần vệ sinh.Phụ trách thực hành do những giảng viên có kinh nghiệm thực hành đảm nhiệm. Mục đích, yêu cầu và nội dung các bài thực hành sau đây chỉ là những định hướng cơ bản cho giảng viên thực hiện. -Ghi lại cảm nhận về độ cứng mềm, đàn hồi, dài ngắn, to bé của các bộ phận trong cơ quan sinh dục. Tìm sự khác biệt giữa các cá thể. -Để học viên quan sát bên trong các bộ phận của CQSD, đặc biệt lối vào cổ tử cung.-Thấy sự khác biệt về hình thái và cảm giác vật lý khi sờ nắn CQSD của các cá thể khác nhau.Nội dung tiến hành -Thực hiện các nội dung như bài 1 nhưng với thời gian rút đi một nửa.-Nửa thời gian còn lại, giảng viên tiến hành giải phẫu để học viên quan sát bên trong các bộ phận, đặc biệt là hình dạng cổ tử cung, các hốc cụt, vị trí nơi ống dẫn niệu đổ vào âm đạo.Tổ chức thực hành -Phân thành nhóm như bài 1. Mỗi nhóm có 1 CQSD không có xương chậu.-Sờ nắn, cảm nhận, mô tả các bộ phận của CQSD. Thay phiên nhau mỗi người khoảng 10 phút/lần.-Nửa cuối buổi, giảng viên mổ mẫu tiêu bản và giải thích lần đầu, sau đó các nhóm tự mổ và quan sát Yêu cầu đối với học viên -Vẽ lại các bô phận của CQSD sau khi giải phẫu.-Vẽ buồng trứng với nang trứng, thể vàng.-Có được cảm nhận về các bộ phận của cơ quan sinh dục ngay cả khi không nhìn thấy. -Lần lượt từng người vào sờ và mô tả những cảm nhận dưới sự giám sát của giảng viên hoặc người đã làm trước đó.-Khi mọi người đã làm xong thì cho nhìn và giảng viên đánh giá kết quả cảm nhận của từng người.Yêu cầu đối với học viên -Xác định đúng tên, ước lượng được kích cỡ, hình dạng, độ cứng mềm của từng bộ phận CQSD khi không được nhìn.-Phân biệt được độ cong của sừng tử cung, rãnh giữa sừng tử cung ở những CQSD bình thường và không bình thường (có chửa, viêm.) Thực hiện các yêu cầu sau:-Sờ và cảm nhận các bộ phận của cơ quan sinh dục, mắt không nhìn, gọi tên từng bộ phận của cơ quan sinh dục.-Tập cách cầm tinh quản. Cố định cổ tử cung. Đưa dẫn tinh quản qua cổ tử cung, mắt nhìn, xác định vị trí bơm tinh, các học viên khác cùng giáo viên hướng dẫn quan sát, nhận xét.Tổ chức thực hành -4-6 người một CQSD. Mỗi nhóm 3 đôi găng tay và 2 dẫn tinh quản.-Từng người một vào thực hành theo yêu cầu của giảng viên, thời gian một lần cho 1 người không quá 10 phút.-Gọi đúng tên và mô tả đúng kích cỡ, hình thái của các bộ phận CQSD khi đeo găng không nhìn tiêu bản -Cần dẫn tinh quản và cố định cổ tử cung đúng cách. Đưa được tinh quản qua cổ tử cung.Mục đích yêu cầu -Làm quen với các dụng cụ TTNT như bình nitơ, súng dẫn tinh, cọng tinh, dẫn tinh quản các loại -Đọc kí hiệu trên cọng tinh và hiểu ý nghĩa các kí hiệu. Biết cách ghi thông tin trên cọng tinh vào phiếu gieo tinh.-Biết cách đánh giá chất lượng tinh (hoạt lực, kì hình, chết) từ tinh cọng rạ trên kính hiển vi được nối với màn hình TV.Nội dung:-Thao tác với các loại dụng cụ như bình nitơ, cọng tinh, súng dẫn tinh và tinh quản. Cách sử dụng súng dẫn tinh.-Đọc kí hiệu và ý nghĩa các kí hiệu trên cọng tinh.-Ghi chép vào phiếu theo dõi.-Chuẩn bị dung dịch nhuộm màu tinh trùng nếu có. Soi tinh trùng trên kính hiển vi gắn với Ti vi (Nếu có). Xác định hoạt lực, hình thái tinh trùng, tinh trùng tiến thẳng, kì hình, tinh trùng chết từ cọng tinh.-Tính tổng số tinh trùng sống trong 1 cọng tinh. -Hiểu được ý nghĩa các kí hiệu trên cọng tinh của các hãng sản xuất tinh khác nhau -Biết tự mình đánh giá được chất lượng cọng tinh khi về địa phương dưới sự trợ giúp của kính hiển vi. -Thành thạo tư thế, thao tác khi dẫn tinh. Biết bơm tinh đúng vị trí.Nội dung -Tay đeo găng để bên trong trực tràng, mắt nhìn và đưa dẫn tinh quản qua cổ tử cung.-Tay trong trực tràng, mắt không nhìn, xác định mức độ cân đối giữa hai sừng, kiểm tra buồng trứng.-Thực hành kỹ thuật cố định cổ tử cung, loại trừ các hốc cụt và đưa dẫn tinh quản vào vị trí bơm tinh thích hợp.-Xác định đích đến của đầu tinh quản khi bơm tinh.-Chú ý đúng tư thế, thao tác và thời gian.Tổ chức thực hành -4-6 người một nhóm. Mỗi nhóm có 1 xương chậu có CQSD đủ cả trực tràng.Từng người một vào thực hành theo yêu cầu của giảng viên, thời gian một lần cho 1 người không quá 10 phút.-Chuẩn bị đủ số găng tay và dẫn tinh quản.-Tận dụng triệt để thời gian để thực hành. Học viên bắt buộc phải kiểm tra nội dung là quy trình thực hành đối với tinh cọng rạ. Bài thi được chia 02 phần để chấm điểm (các thao tác trên bình nitơ và các thao tác trên bò (trâu). Thời gian làm bài tính từ khi học viên mở nắp bình nitơ cho đến khi kết thúc thao tác trên gia súc sống. Tổng thời gian tối đa cho thi thực hành trên bò là 6 phút/người và trên trâu là 8 phút. Điểm thi thực hành hệ số 2.Tổ chức theo hình thức trắc nghiệm. Bài thi gồm có 20-50 câu hỏi, mỗi câu có 3-4 phương án trả lời, học viên chọn phương án trả lời đúng nhất. Nội dung bài thi lý thuyết không những liên quan đến những vấn đề thuộc giáo trình mà còn có những những vấn đề liện hệ đến thực tế. Điểm thi lý thuyết hệ số 1.-Điều kiện để cấp giấy chứng nhận Học viên có đủ thời gian dự học theo quy định (không vắng quá 1/5 tổng thời gian của khoá học), có điểm trung bình của phần thi lý thuyết và thực hành từ 5 điểm trở lên và không có môn nào có điểm dưới 3.Ghi chú:-Tiêu bản tử cung dùng cho thực tập phải có đầy đủ các bộ phận của cơ quan sinh dục cụ thể là: âm hộ, âm đạo, tử cung hoàn chỉnh, ống dẫn trứng và hai buồng trứng -Tiêu bản tử cung còn tốt, không bị viêm, hoại tử và có khối lượng từ 0,8 kg trở lên, không có mùi hôi.-Khung xương chậu và cơ quan sinh dục cũng có đầy đủ các bộ phận bao gồm cả: trực tràng, âm hộ, âm đạo, tử cung (hoàn chỉnh), ống dẫn trứng, buồng trứng, bóng đái (bàng quang), chất lượng tốt, không viêm nhiễm, hoại tử, không có mùi hôi.-Tiêu chuẩn bò (trâu) sống: đã thành thục về tính, không mang thai lớn tháng, cơ quan sinh dục có cấu trúc bình thường, không khuyết tật.-Tiêu chuẩn bò (trâu) để thi thực hành cuối khoá: không có thai, không có dị tật hoặc khuyết tật cơ quan sinh dục, đã thành thục về tính, khối lượng cơ thể tối thiểu 180 kg.-Trước khi tiến hành kiểm tra bộ phận sinh dục bên trong hoặc phối tinh, tốt nhất nên cố định bò vào chuồng ép (có thể dùng chuồng cố định hoặc tạm thời) nhằm đảm bảo an toàn cho người dẫn tinh và tránh những tổn thương có thể xảy ra cho bò cái Thực tế cho thấy, đối với bò Vàng Việt nam (bò nội) hoặc con lai Zebu, nhất là trong điều kiện chăn thả quảng canh, khi TTNT thì càng cần phải cố định cẩn thận.Đối với bò sữa, do đã được thuần dưỡng và hàng ngày luôn tiếp xúc với người chăn nuôi, bò trở nên hiền hơn, do vậy việc cố định có thể không cần thiết song vẫn cần phải đề phòng.Trước khi thao tác qua trực tràng, cần đeo găng tay dài có bôi vazơlin hoặc nhúng vào nước cho trơn.Xoa nhẹ vùng hậu môn để làm dịu đi sự co bóp của các cơ, đồng thời thử phản ứng của con bò đối với chúng ta khi bắt đầu tiếp xúc. Sau đó, đưa tay qua hậu môn, trước hết là đưa một ngón tay sau đó nắm chụm bàn tay lại tạo thành hình nón đồng thời tay ngoài nắm lấy và kéo đuôi con vật tạo ra một lực tương đương ngược chiều, như vậy có thể đưa được tay qua hậu môn vào trực tràng.Khi đưa hết bàn tay vào, các ngón tay từ hình nón được mở ra và lần từ bên này sang bên kia, như vậy có thể giúp nhận biết được khoảng rộng của xoang chậu, đặc biệt là xác định được bờ trên của khoang chậu. Tiếp tục lần tay đến đồng thời ấn nhẹ cạnh bàn tay xuống đáy khoang chậu, gần Hình 55: Chuồng ép Hình 56: Tìm cổ tử cung bờ trên, ở khoảng giữa đó ta có thể sờ thấy cổ tử cung, nếu chưa gặp, có thể lặp lại như thế sau khi tay bên trong được đưa sâu vào độ khoảng chiều dài bàn tay.Dẫn tinh quản sau khi đã nạp tinh xong có thể ngậm ngang miệng (đối với tinh cọng rạ thì tốt nhất là giấu súng dẫn tinh vào trong áo sơ mi nếu thời tiết lạnh).Nếu sử dụng tinh cọng ra: súng dẫn tinh được cầm giữa ngón tay cái, trỏ và ngón tay giữa tại vị trí gốc súng còn ngón tay áp út và ngón út thì nâng nhẹ để giữ lấy piton của súng dẫn tinh.Nếu sử dụng tinh viên: dẫn tinh quản được cầm giữa ngón tay cái, trỏ và ngón tay giữa tại vị trí 1/3 của dẫn tinh quản gần phía có gắn pepxi ( quả bóp cao su) Nhớ rằng thao tác cầm dẫn tinh quản hoặc súng bắn tinh (gọi chung là dẫn tinh quản) như cầm một cái \"lông gà\" hay như một \"nghệ sĩ cầm cần kéo đàn violon\" chứ không phải cầm một thanh kiếm.Đưa đầu súng qua âm hộ ở một góc từ 35-40 o , đẩy súng về phía trước một khoảng từ 6-10 cm đến khi đầu súng chạm vào vách trên của âm đạo, nâng gốc súng lên song song với cột sống và đưa dọc tới cổ tử cung. Cố định cổ tử cung: ép cổ tử cung vào thành bên của xương chậu.Dùng ngón tay cái hoặc ngón út để xác định lổ \"hoa nở\" đang mở của cổ tử cung, kéo cổ tử cung về phía âm đạo để cổ tử cung trùm lên đầu súng bắn tinh.-Các ngón tay bên trong trực tràng có thể uốn nắn theo các chiều khác nhau để đưa dần cổ tử cung vào dẫn tinh quản.Nên luôn luôn nhớ rằng đừng bao giờ cố đẩy súng dẫn tinh đi qua cổ tử cung, làm như vậy rất có thể gây nên tổn thương hoặc thủng vách cổ tử cung. Nếu là các hốc cụt nhỏ trong cổ tử cung: lắc nhẹ cổ tử cung theo các hướng đồng thời tay ngoài ấn một lực rất nhẹ vào súng bắn tinh.Điểm bơm tinh tốt nhất: điểm tiếp giáp của cổ tử cung và thân tử cung.Cách xác định: dựa vào sự biến đổi cảm giác cứng như sụn của cổ tử cung và mềm nhão của thân tử cung. Nơi giao nhau của hai sự biến đổi trên chính là điểm dừng để bơm tinh. Lưu ý khi sử dụng kỹ thuật như hình 36 để xác định điểm bơm tinh thì lực ở đầu ngón tay phải rất nhẹ nhằm tránh tổn thương niêm mạc tử cung bò.-Trong trường hợp không thể đưa được đầu súng qua được hết cổ tử cung để đến điểm bơm tinh tốt nhất thì có thể bơm tinh vào thân của cổ tử cung nhưng đầu súng phải qua được ít nhất là \"2 nấc\" của cổ tử cung.-Trong trường hợp phối tinh lặp lại nhưng dấu hiện động dục không rõ, hoặc thời điểm phối tinh còn sớm thì nên bơm tinh ở thân cổ tử cung.-Không đưa đầu súng dẫn tinh vào sâu quá 1cm trong thân tử cung.-Bơm từ từ theo nhịp từ 1 đến 5.-Tất cả tinh dịch đều được bơm vào cùng một vị trí.-Khi bơm được 1/2 tinh dịch, dừng lại kiểm tra một lần nữa cho chắc chắn là vẫn còn giữ đúng đích rồi mới bơm tiếp.-Khi bơm tinh ở thân của cổ tử cung, nếu cảm thấy nặng tay thì nên kéo lùi đầu súng lại một tý sau đó hãy bơm và cũng nên bơm từ từ.-Khi bơm tinh xong, dừng lại và chờ một chút sau đó rút súng bắn tinh ra một cách nhẹ nhàng và từ từ, đồng thời tay trong nâng nhẹ cổ tử cung lên nhằm đề phòng tinh dịch trào ngược trở ra. Trải qua các bước sau 1. Xác định loại tinh cần sử dụng, nếu trong bình có chứa nhiều loại tinh thì việc xác định dựa vào các ký hiệu trên cổ bình chứa tinh. -Gắp cọng rạ theo đúng yêu cầu dẫn tinh và thả ngập nhanh trong nước giải đông (làm tan băng) trong vòng 30 giây.-Hạ giỏ chứa tinh và đậy nắp bình. Hút tinh dịch vào dẫn tinh quản 6. Dùng miếng giấy nhỏ quấn lấy dẫn tinh quản, ngậm vào giữa hai hàm răng, tiến hành tiếp cận và thao tác trên bò.Như phần quy trình phối tinh bằng tinh cọng rạ.Rối loạn sinh sản là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ tình trạng rối loạn hoặc đình chỉ tạm thời hay lâu dài chức năng sinh sản. Những nhân tố gây nên bao gồm: chế độ nuôi dưỡng không thích hợp, khiếm khuyết di truyền, bệnh lý hoặc những dị thường về đường sinh dục, sự tiết không bình thường của một số hóc môn và thoái hoá giống do quản lý giống không tốt.Chuyên đề này chỉ đề cập đến một số dạng của rối loạn sinh sản do suy giảm chức năng buồng trứng, rối lọan hóc môn, chết phôi, sẩy thai, chết thai gây ra hiện tượng gọi là vô sinh tạm thời.Là trường hợp mà ở bò tơ 12 tháng tuổi hoặc bò rạ (Bò đã đẻ ) sau khi đẻ 40 ngày mà trên buồng trứng không có sự phát triển của nang rứng hoặc nang trứng phát triển đến một giai đoạn nhất định rồi thoái hoá mà không có sự rụng trứng nên không có dấu hiệu động dục. Dạng rối loạn này được phân thành các hình thức sau:Cả hai buồng trứng phát triển không hoàn chỉnh, buồng trứng rất nhỏ, dẹt và không có tính đàn hồi. Thân sừng tử cung kém phát triển, nhỏ, nhão không có sự đàn hồi.Buồng trứng không hoạt động: hình dạng buồng trứng thì bình thường nhưng nang trứng không phát triển hoặc chỉ phát triển đến một giai đoạn nhất định rồi thoái hoá mà không có sự rụng trứng. Hình dạng tử cung thì bình thường nhưng cũng có một số trường hợp tử cung nhỏ và không đàn hồi. Ơ bò rạ, thiếu năng lượng ăn vào sau khi đẻ dẫn đến sự phục hồi tử cung chậm cũng có thể gây nên trình trạng này.Hai buồng trứng trở nên nhỏ đi, chai cứng và dẹt. Bề mặt buồng trứng nhẵn,dày hoặc có những nốt lồi nhỏ có thể là nang trứng hoặc thể bạch nhưng không có nang trứng trội và nếu có nang trứng thì cũng không có rụng trứng. Tử cung thường nhỏ, nhão và không đàn hồi hoặc đàn hồi kém.Nguyên nhân trực tiếp gây nên những trường hợp này là do giảm chức năng của thùy trước tuyến yên trong việc tiết các gonadotropin. Và điều này cũng có liên quan đến việc giảm sự phân tiết GnRH từ vùng dưới đồi. Tuy nhiên những nguyên nhân gián tiếp bao gồm: nuôi dưỡng không hợp lý, thức ăn kém chất lượng và thiếu về số lượng hoặc chế độ dinh dưỡng thấp kém. Ở bò tơ, ký sinh trùng cũng là nguyên nhân gây nên những rối loạn này. Ở bò rạ, những trục trặc xảy ra trong giai đoạn gần đẻ như mắc một số bệnh khác và phải điều trị cũng có thể làm rối loạn sau đó. Di truyền cũng là một vấn đề gây nên trường hợp buồng trứng kém phát triển và thường gặp ở những giống bò lai nhiệt đới.Việc chẩn đoán có thể dựa vào sờ khám qua trực tràng. Nếu lần khám đầu tiên không đủ độ tin cậy thì nên ghi chép cẩn thận và khám lại sau đó 7-14 ngày. Lần khám thứ 2 sẽ kiểm chứng lại lần thứ nhất trên cơ sở so sánh những thay đổi nếu có.Nếu trạng thái sức khoẻ và thể trạng của bò kém mà nguyên nhân hoàn toàn là do nuôi dưỡng thì nên hướng dẫn người chăn nuôi cải thiện điều kiện nuôi dưỡng. Còn trạng thái sức khoẻ kém do bệnh lý khác gây nên thể trạng kém thì nên tiến hành song song việc điều trị bệnh và cải thiện nuôi dưỡng trước khi tiến hành xử lý rối loạn sinh sản. Việc xử lý hóc môn sẽ được thực hiện sau đó. Có như vậy mới hy vọng mang lại kết quả khả quan.Hiệu qủa sử dụng hóc môn phụ thuộc vào giai đoạn của sóng nang ở thời điểm cung cấp hóc môn vào cơ thể. Vì thế, khi sờ khám trực tràng và kiểm tra buồng trứng nhận thấy có những nang trứng nhỏ (10-15 mm) thì có thể tiêm (Chích):-1500-3000 IU Chorulon (LH) hoặc (HCG) -100 µg fertirelin acetate hay 10-20 µg buserelin hoặc 2,5-5 ml fertagyl. (GnRH) Việc sử dụng hóc môn này nhằm gây nên sự thành thục của nang trứng, rụng trứng và hình thành hoàng thể sau đó. Khoảng cách giữa lần rụng trứng thứ nhất và thứ hai sau khi xử lý hóc môn thường từ 8-15 ngày (tức là ngắn hơn so với bình thường). Vì thế, nên khuyến cáo người chăn nuôi quan sát động dục vào khoảng 8, 20 và 30 ngày sau khi xử lý hóc môn.Trong trường hợp buồng trứng không có nang trứng thì có thể tiêm (chích) 500-1000 IU PMSG hoặc chích đồng thời 500-1000 IU PMSG (Huyết thanh ngựa chửa) và 500-1000 IU HCG (hiện có sản phẩm chorulon trên thị trường Việtnam). Theo dõi động dục và phối giống sau đó vài ngày. Lưu ý có thể có hiện tượng đa thai do sử dụng PMSG.Trong trường hợp buồng trứng không hoạt động, có thể dùng CIRD, PRID đặt âm đạo trong thời gian từ 10-12 ngày sẽ có kết quả tốt về sự kích hoạt lại chu kỳ nhưng tỷ lệ đậu thai không được như mong muốn.Nhìn chung, nuôi dưỡng tốt vẫn là chìa khoá quan trọng để hạn chế những rối loạn này. Việc sử dụng hóc môn chỉ là hình thức cứu cánh. Không nên đặt hết hy vọng vào sự chữa trị bằng hóc môn. Vì đáp ứng với hóc môn sẽ khác nhau tùy thuộc rất nhiều vào các yếu tố khác, kể cả đáp ứng của bò nhận hóc môn.U nang buồng trứng là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ có sự hiện diện của nang bất thường trên bề mặt buồng trứng với kích thước lớn hơn 2,5 cm nhưng không rụng trứng. Có ba kiểu u nang:-U nang noãn (follcular cyst): có thành nang mỏng và mềm. Có thể là một nang hoặc nhiều nang trên một hoặc cả hai buồng trứng. Trong trường hợp này thì hàm lượng progesterone thấp, oestrogen cao nên có hiện tượng chảy dịch âm đạo. Trên 70% trường hợp gặp phải ở thể bệnh lý này.-U nang thể vàng (luteal cyst): thường chỉ có một cấu trúc nang trên một buồng trứng, thành nang dày hơn. Hàm lượng progesterone tiết ra ở mức trung bình -U nang kết hợp (co-existing): hiện diện cả nang trứng và thể vàng trên buồng trứng. Tần suất xuất hiện u nang noãn lớn hơn u nang hoàng thể. Những nang trứng có kích thước lớn hơn 2,5 cm và tồn tại dai dẳng trên buồng trứng rồi sau đó có thể thoái hoá mà không có sự rụng trứng gọi là u nang buồng trứng.Những yếu tố dẫn đến sự rối loạn này là:-Cho bò ăn quá nhiều thức ăn tinh nhưng thiếu vận động.-Stress từ vấn đề nuôi dưỡng, quản lý không thích hợp.-Cung cấp thức ăn không đảm bảo chất lượng và số lượng sau khi đẻ.-Cho ăn thức ăn có chứa nhiều phyto-estrogen (có nhiều trong bã đậu nành).-Di truyền cũng là một yếu tố gây nên những rối loạn -Sự lấn áp tổng hợp hóc môn prolactin và liberine ở bò có năng suất sữa cao.-Sự viêm nhiễm đường sinh dục sau để hoặc bò đẻ bị sát nhau và hậu can thiệp sát nhau.Nguyên nhân trực tiếp là do rối loạn sự phân tiết LH, cũng có thể do giảm độ nhạy của vùng dưới đồi đối với ostrogen nên kìm hãm sự phân tiết GnRH dẫn đến thiếu LH.Triệu chứng thường thấy là bò có dấu hiệu động dục thất thường với chu kỳ ngắn, loạn dục. Nếu kéo dài thì lõm khum đuôi có thể sụp xuống và khấu đuôi nhô cao hẵn lên. Âm hộ thường có dấu hiệu sưng, ẩm và xung huyết. Tuy nhiên, trong một vài trường hợp thì không có triệu chứng động dục xuất hiện. Sự xuất hiện u nang buồng trứng thay đổi tùy theo đàn với phạm vi khoảng 6-30%. Bò mắc phải bệnh lý này thường bị vô sinh tạm thời tuỳ thuộc vào sự hiện diện của nang. U nang buồng trứng thường xuất hiện trong vòng 60 ngày sau đẻ. Có thể có hiện tượng tự khỏi bệnh và hồi phục chu kỳ động dục mà không cần điều trị. Trên 50% số bò cái có sự phát triển u nang buồng trứng trước khi có hiện tượng rụng trứng lần đầu sau đẻ rồi sau đó tự khỏi mà không cần phải điều trị. Trong sản xuất, khi phát hiện bò bị u nang buồng trứng thì lập tức điều trị ngay bởi vì thời gian từ khi điều trị đến khi mang thai trung bình khoảng 50 ngày.Có thể chẩn đoán thông qua khám trực tràng. Có thể nhận thấy có một hoặc nhiều nang trên một hoặc cả hai buồng trứng với đường kính nang trên 2,5 cm. Thành nang mỏng và có chứa đầy dịch bên trong. Nếu không chắc chắn thì khám lại sau đó 7-14 ngày và so sánh với kết quả lần khám trước. Có thể có những nang trứng sờ khám ở lần trước thoái hoá đi nhưng không rụng trứng và những nang khác phát triển lên nhưng không phát hiện thể vàng trên buồng trứng. Vì thế, kỹ năng sờ khám qua trực tràng là rất quan trọng. Nếu có điều kiện có thể lấy mẫu sữa hoặc huyết thanh định lượng Progesterone ở phòng thí nghiệm, hoặc dung máy siêu âm để xác định Nếu nguyên nhân gây nên rối loạn là do nuôi dưỡng thì cần phải điều chỉnh khẩu phần ăn trước khi điều trị hoặc kết hợp song song giữa điều trị và nuôi dưỡng tuỳ vào thể trạng của bò.Phương pháp điều trị hiện hành là tiêm GnRH (fertagyl: 5ml) hoặc LH (Chorulon:1500-3000 UI) hoặc 2500-3500 UI HCG sẽ giúp cho bò khôi phục lại chu kỳ động dục bình thường trong vòng 30 ngày với hiệu quả khoảng 80%. Tiêm GnRH sẽ kích thích tiết LH từ tuyến yên còn tiêm LH thì có tác động trực tiếp. Khoảng thời gian từ khi điều trị đến khi động dục lại thường từ 18-23 ngày. Để rút ngắn khoảng thời gian này chúng ta có thể kết hợp sử dụng prostaglandin (25 mg Lutalyse) vào ngày thứ 9 sau khi tiêm GnRH hoặc LH.Người chăn nuôi có thể loại trừ bớt nguyên nhân nhân này bằng cách loại thải những bò cái bị u nang lặp lại nhiều lần hoặc không sử dụng tinh của bò đực mà đời con có tần suất xuất hiện u nang cao. Tuy nhiên đây là vấn đề khó bởi vì chúng ta không có hệ thống ghi chép cụ thể và cũng không có được thông tin di truyền của bò đực một cách rộng rãi.Phương pháp phòng bệnh bằng cách tiêm GnRH trong vòng 15 ngày sau khi đẻ sẽ gây rụng trứng đối với những nang trứng có kích thước lớn trên buồng trứng và làm giảm nguy cơ xuất hiện u nang buồng trứng và làm giảm số bò phải loại thải là ý nghĩa kinh tế. Tuy nhiên có thể gây nên chứng viêm tử cung tích mũ ở một số trường hợp.Là những nang có kích thước lớn nhưng không rụng trứng, phần bên trong xoang nang tích lũy lipoid và tạo thành xoang thể vàng. Có thể sự lutein hoá xảy ra một phần hoặc toàn bộ xoang nang.Không có triệu chứng lâm sàng biểu hiện ra bên ngoài ngoại trừ không có dấu hiệu động dục.Rất khó phát hiện khi sờ khám qua trực tràng. Rất khó để phân biệt giữa unang và u thể vàng vifchungs đều thể hiện dấu hiệu thành buồng trứng dày lên, nhưng trong trường hợp tay nghề thành thọa thì phân biệt u thể vàng bao giờ cũng hơi cứng và không có độ nhu động của dịch nang. Chỉ chính xác tuyệt đối khi dịnh lượng được Progesterone hoặc siêu âm. Trong trường hợp này thì sử dụng prostaglandin (lutalyse, Ezaprots. 25mg) để điều trị (cẩn thận là bò đã phối giống trước đó hay chưa). Nếu thật sự là u nang thể vàng thì bò sẽ động dục sau đó 2-4 ngày. Trong một vài trường hợp, có thể xảy ra sự tiêu biến xoang hoàng thể, nhưng thay thế vào đó là sự phát triển của u nang noãn, nên đôi khi ta cũng gặp trường hợp bò cái động dục liên tục sau khi xử lý bằng prostaglandin.Đó là trường hợp rối loạn tiến trình thoái hoá thể vàng, làm kéo dài chu kỳ động dục hơn bình thường nhưng bò không mang thai. Sự tiết nhiều progesterone sẽ kìm hãm sự phát triển của nang noãn và dẫn đến không xuất hiện động dục.Có hai cơ chế có thể dẫn đến sự rối loạn này. Một là có sự hiện diện những vật bất thường trong tử cung như là thai lưu, chứa dịch hoặc mủ trong tử cung hoặc những bất thường về nội mạc tử cung như viêm nhiễm mãn tính làm kìm hãm sự phân tiết prostaglandin từ nội mạc tử cung. Hai là sự tiết bất bình thường của gonadotropin từ thùy trước tuyến yên và điều này thường xuất hiện ở những bò sữa cao sản (không có sự bất thường về tử cung).Thể rối loạn này không có triệu chứng lâm sàng. Chỉ có thể chẩn đoán được khi sờ khám qua trực tràng phát hiện có sự hiện diện của thể vàng nhưng bò thật sự không mang thai. Thể vàng nổi rõ trên bề mặt buồng trứng và ranh giới giữa thể vàng và buồng trứng phân biệt rõ rệt. Bò không biểu hiện động dục và có xu hướng mập dần lên theo thời gian tồn lưu của thể vàng. Cần lưu ý xem xét cẩn thận ngày phối giống trước đó và có hay không có bò đực trong đàn.Nếu thật sự không mang thai nhưng khi khám tử cung nghi ngờ có chứa dịch hoặc mủ thì nên dùng dẫn tinh quản đưa qua cổ tử cung và hút lấy dịch để kiểm tra cho chắc chắn có hay không có sự kết hợp với viêm tử cung tích mủ.Phương pháp điều trị tương tự như u nang thể vàng và bò sẽ biểu hiện động dục trong vòng 2-3 ngày sau đó. Nếu có dịch trong tử cung thì phải tiến hành thụt rửa ngay sau khi sử dụng prostaglandin. Có thể hủy thể vàng bằng tay nhưng điều này không khuyến cáo rộng rãi vì có thể có những biến chứng xảy ra sau đó như xuất huyết, viêm kết dính buồng trứng và có thể dẫn đến vô sinh sau đó.Là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ sự bất thường về tiến trình rụng trứng và nó bao gồm sự chậm rụng trứng và không rụng trứng.Là hiện tượng kéo dài thời gian giữa bắt đầu động dục đến rụng trứng mặc dù nang trứng đã phát triển trên bề mặt buồng trứng. Ở bò, sự rụng trứng thường xảy ra khoảng 28-32 giờ sau khi bắt đầu động dục hoặc khoảng 10-14 giờ sau khi kết thúc động dục đứng yên. Như vậy trứng thường rụng sau khi kết thúc động duc 1 ngày, nhưng đôi với những con chậm rụng trứng thường có thời gian động dục kéo dài hơn bình thường 1-2 ngày.Là hiện tượng nang trứng phát triển đến một giai đoạn nhất định rồi thoái hoá hoặc hình thành u nang mà không có hiện tượng rụng trứng mặc dù nang trứng phát triển và có xuất hiện dấu hiệu động dục.Nguyên nhân trực tiếp dẫn đến rối loạn sự rụng là do sự tiết bất thường của LH từ tuyến yên. Sóng LH (gọi là sóng rụng trứng) xuất hiện muộn hoặc thiếu hoặc không có. Hoặc do rối loạn từ vùng dưới đồi trong việc tiếp nhận thông tin của oestrogen gây tiết LH theo cơ chế vòng ngược dương của oestrogen.Việc chẩn đoán rối loạn này thật sự khó, ngoại trừ kiểm tra buồng trứng vào ngày thứ 2 và thứ 7-10 sau khi động dục. Ngày thứ 2 kiểm tra xác định có hay không có điểm rụng trứng, còn ngày thứ 7-10 kiểm tra sự hiện diện của hoàng thể.Có thể sử dụng GnRH với liều 100-200 µg hoặc fertagyl 2,5 ml vào ngày dẫn tinh nhằm kích hoạt sự tiết LH. Hoặc chorulon với liều 1500-3000 IU ngay vào lúc dẫn tinh. Đối với những bò mà có biểu hiện động dục nhiều lần mà phối giống không có chửa thì theo dòi tiếp đến ngày thứ 18-19 của chu kỳ thì tiêm100-200 µg GnRH hoặc PMSG với liều 1000-1500 đvc/ con Ngoài ra chúng ta có thể sử dụng kỹ thuật OVSYNH để gây rụng trứng với hiệu quả khá cao.Phối giống nhiều lần không thụ thai là thuật ngữ chỉ về tình trạng vô sinh tạm thời hoặc vĩnh viễn mà không hiểu rõ nguyên nhân. Bò có dấu hiệu động dục và chu kỳ động dục biểu hiện bình thường, không phát hiện có sự bất thường nào về đường sinh dục khi sờ khám, nhưng không mang thai sau 3 lần phối tinh.Rất nhiều nguyên nhân gây nên hội chứng này, nhưng tập trung nhất là sự chết phôi sớm hoặc thất bại về sự thụ tinh được xem là nguyên nhân chủ yếu.Nguyên nhân dẫn đến thất bại về sự thụ tinh có thể do những bất thường về đường sinh dục hoặc những bệnh về đường sinh dục như viêm tử cung, viêm ống dẫn trứng, rối loạn sự rụng trứng cũng như sự giảm khả năng thụ thai của tế bào trứng và tinh trùng do thời điểm phối tinh không thích hợp.Nguyên nhân gây chết phôi sớm bao gồm nhiễm trùng tử cung, sự bất thường về môi trường tử cung, môi trường ống dẫn trứng, sự mất cân bằng giữa oestrogen và progesterone cũng như sự bất thường về tái tổ hợp nhiễm sắc thể. Yếu tố môi trường như nhiệt độ cao ẩm độ cao (stress nhiệt) hay nuôi dưỡng bất hợp lý cũng gây nên hiện tượng này.Để giải quyết vấn đề này cần có giải pháp tổng hợp, từ việc kiểm tra tay nghề kỹ thuật viên, thời điểm phối tinh, chất lượng tinh, tình trạng đường sinh dục, chăm sóc nuôi dưỡng để có thể tìm ra giải pháp cho từng đối tượng bò cụ thể.Tuy nhiên, trong thực tế để đi tìm nguyên nhân của rối loạn này rất khó. Vì thế, giải pháp điều trị là thụt rửa tử cung bằng nước muối sinh lý 2-4 lit (đưa vào bao nhiêu phải lấy ra hết bấy nhiêu) hoặc lugol 0,5-1% từ 100-150 ml. Sau khi thụt rửa 3-4 lần (cách nhật) thì xử lý hóc môn để kích hoạt lại chu kỳ. Khi bò động dục và phối giống thì tiêm thêm 1500 IU chorulon ngay vào lúc phối giống để phòng rụng trứng chậm. Sử dụng kỹ thuật OVSYNH cũng mang lại kết quả tốt trong trường hợp này. Một số kết quả nghiên cứu tại Nhật cho thấy nếu chúng ta tiêm LH vào ngày thứ 5 sau khi phối tinh cũng cải thiện đáng kể tỷ lệ thụ thai trong trường hợp này.Là tình trạng thai bị chết vào giữa thai kỳ, dịch ối, màng thai và nhau thai co lại đồng thời chuyển thành màu sôcôla do dịch bào thai đã được hấp thu còn các bộ phận khác còn lưu giữ lại trong tử cung một thời gian dài.Có nhiều nguyên nhân gây nên hiện tượng này như là thiếu ăn, stress nhiệt, nhiễm virút BVD, Neospora caninum, sự xoắn vặn của cuống nhau làm tắc nghẽn cung cấp dinh dưỡng. Ngoài ra, sự hiện diện của gen lặn trong cặp nhiễm sắc thể thường cũng gây nên hiện tượng này. Không có dấu hiệu động dục do cản trở sự phân tiết prostaglandin và gây nên lưu thể vàng.Không có biểu hiện lâm sàng của bệnh. Trường hợp này thường được nhận biết khi tiến hành khám qua trực tràng, khi mà quá ngày đẻ nhưng bò không có dấu hiệu đẻ.Trường hợp quá ngày đẻ, khi khám qua trực tràng rất dễ nhận biết vì kích thước bào thai lúc này rất nhỏ, chứa ít dịch hoặc không còn dịch ối. Bọc thai trở nên cứng. Nếu khám giữa thai kỳ, thì cảm giác chuyển động của bào thai không nhận biết được, động mạch giữa tử cung không phát triển. Kích thước bào thai nhỏ hơn so với bào thai cùng tháng tuổi.Có thể sử dụng prostaglandin để gây đẻ nhân tạo. Bằng cách tiêm khoảng 25 mg (lutalyse) và theo dõi diễn biến sau đó. Tuy nhiên đối với trâu bò, nếu thai trên 150 ngày tuổi thì việc sử dụng. Vì vậy, việc sử dụng kết hợp prostaglandin 25mg (lutalyse) với oestrogen (5-8 mg oestradiol benzoat) hoặc dexamethazone (25-30mg) thì kết quả sẽ tốt hơn. Đôi khi cần phải bơm gliserin, dầu ăn hoặc nước ấm có pha xà phòng vào tử cung để làm tăng độ trơn có thể kết hợp chuyền nước sinh lý để thúc cho quá trình để được xúc tiến được nhanh hơn. Thông thường sự đẻ sẽ xảy ra trong vòng 2-4 ngày sau khi tiêm hóc môn. Trong trường hợp điều trị không có kết quả thì mổ bụng lấy thai là giải pháp cuối cùng nhưng đòi hỏi phải có bác sỹ thú y có kinh nghiệm mới làm được và chi phí hậu phẫu khá tốn kém.Là hiện tương thai chết trong tử cung nhưng sự sẩy thai không xảy ra và thai tan rã trong tử cung mà không phải do tác động phân hủy của vi khuẩn, sau đó tạo thành dịch nhầy sền sệt và có cả xương thai.Giai đoạn đầu, cổ tử cung đóng kín nhưng sau đó thì cổ tử cung giãn mở từ từ và vi khuẩn xâm nhập vào tử cung gây tác động phân huỷ hiếu khí.Bò sẽ không có dấu hiệu động dục do thể vàng vẫn còn tồn tại trên bề mặt buồng trứng. Không có dấu hiệu lâm sàng về bệnh. Khám qua âm đạo nhìn thấy lối vào cổ tử cung hé mở và có dịch bẩn đồng thời có mùi hôi. Trong nhiều trường hợp, thai chết lâu ngày sau đó cổ tử cung mở thải ra dịch của bào thai có chứa lông, móng chân hoặc những mảnh xương vụn.Khám qua trực tràng có thể nhận thấy xương của bào thai nằm ở phần thấp của tử cung chứa thai.Hướng điều trị tương tự như thai lưu hoá gỗ và cần kết hợp điều trị viêm tử cung. Lưu ý sự hiện diện của xương thai trong tử cung trong trường hợp thai phân hủy hoàn toàn và nhất là thai chết khi tháng tuổi thai cao. Những đoạn xương đó có thể gây nên thủng tử cung do kích thích co bóp cơ tử cung. Vì thế, việc kết hợp kiểm tra độ mở cổ tử cung sau khi đưa thuốc vào cơ thể để quyết định sự trợ giúp tiếp theo là rất cần thiết. Đây là một dụng cụ đặt âm đạo, cấu tạo bằng chất dẻo cilicone trong lõi là thép không rỉ, dạng vòng xoắn có chứa 2 loại hormone là progesterone và oestradiol benzoat 17b.-Progesterone: 1,55gr Khi dùng progesterone với huyết thanh ngựa chửa thì có thể tiêm kèm theo HCG, khi bò bắt đầu có biểu hiện động dục liều tiêm 2000 UI/1 con-3000UI/1 con.Dùng prostagladine (PGF2µ) với các biệt dược thường gặp:-Cloprostenol có các tên thương phẩm là estrumate, dinolytic, enraprost.-Dinoprost: tên thương phẩm là lutalyse.-Luprostrol: tên thương phẩm là prosolvim.- Những bò nào không động dục sẽ tiêm lặp lại vào ngày 11, tất cả bò tiêm lần 2 sẽ được phối giống 2 lần vào khoảng 72-96 giờ sau khi tiêm (ngày thứ 14-15).Trong trường hợp bò bị u nang buồng trứng chúng ta có thể dùng HCG tiêm cách nhật cho bò từ 3 đến 5 lần với liều tiêm từ 2500 đến 3000 IU cho một bò, sau đó theo dõi sự chuyển biến của buồng trứng, nếu buồng trứng nhỏ đi, có thể vàng, có nhậy cảm tiên lượng tốt, bò sẽ động dục và phối giống.x.Quản lý sinh sản đàn bò cái Ngoài yếu tố di truyền chúng ta có thể kiểm soát được những vấn đề có liên quan đến khả năng sinh sản của bò cái.Thiếu năng lượng cũng như protein ảnh hưởng đến khả năng sinh sản ở bò. Việc cung cấp đủ năng lượng đáp ứng được khả năng sản xuất sữa, duy trì, nuôi thai, hoạt động là điều cần thiết. Nếu cho ăn quá nhiều thức ăn tinh có thể gây ra rối loạn chức năng buồng trứng.Thiếu phốt pho, ma-nhê trong thức ăn sẽ làm cho bò động dục yếu và buồng trứng kém hoạt động, thiếu kẽm làm cho niêm mạc thân sừng tử cung \"khô ráp\", thiếu vitamin A và E được coi là nguyên nhân của các chu kì động dục không đều, động dục yếu ...Có thể đạt được thông qua việc cải thiện môi trường sống và thức ăn cho bò bằng cách: tăng cường vận động hợp lý, cắt sửa móng hàng năm, tắm chải cho bò thường xuyên; Cải thiện điều kiện sống như chuồng trại, nền chuồng, thay đổi không khí chuồng nuôi (quạt gió), giảm thiểu stress nhiệt, vệ sinh chuồng nuôi, định kỳ tẩy uế; Định kỳ tiêm phòng vacxin tẩy giun sán; Kiểm tra, kiểm soát các rối loạn sinh sản, tăng cường chú ý phát hiện động dục trong thời kỳ chờ phối; Kiểm tra bò mẹ trong thời kỳ chửa cuối và sau khi đẻ để kịp thời chăm sóc nuôi dưỡng một cách hợp lý phòng tránh các bệnh có thể xảy ra như : bại liệt trước và sau khi đẻ, sát nhau, nhiễm trùng sinh sản...Tất cả mọi sự ghi chép có liên quan đến sinh sản (tuổi phối giống lần đầu, tuổi đẻ lần đầu, số liệu lần đẻ cuối, phối giống, động dục, bệnh tật, điều trị ...) phải được lưu giữ lại và chúng phải luôn được sẵn sàng. Đặc biệt người chăn nuôi phải nắm được đặc điểm động dục, ngày động dục, chu kỳ động dục của từng cá thể không bỏ sót một chu kì nào. Có như vậy mới nâng cao được khả năng sinh sản của đàn bò.Trên cơ sở theo dõi và điều trị các rối loạn sinh sản là chẩn đoán đúng và điều trị sớm. Bệnh tật ảnh hưởng nghiêm trọng đến khả năng sinh sản, nếu chúng không được điều trị kịp thời sẽ mất nhiều thời gian hồi phục nhất là liên quan đến tử cung và buồng trứng. Việc điều trị kéo dài liên quan đến kinh tế nghành chăn nuôi. Vì vậy việc kiểm soát và điều trị rối loạn sinh sản là điều cần thiết sớm và kịp thời.Trong điều kiện nuôi nhốt với những đàn gia súc không lớn, cần ít nhất 10-20 phút mỗi lần để kiểm tra phát hiện động dục.Là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ hiện tượng viêm nhiễm ở âm đạo. Nguyên nhân là do nhiễm khuẩn hoặc do thụt rửa âm đạo bởi những chất sát trùng gây kích thích và nhiệt độ dung dịch thụt rửa cao. Có thể là hậu quả của đẻ khó, sa âm đạo, giao phối hoặc phối tinh. Cũng có thể kế phát từ sót nhau, viêm nội mạc tử cung, viêm cổ tử cung.Trong trường hợp nhiễm khuẩn, chủ yếu là vi khuẩn định cư ở âm hộ, âm vật như Staphylococus spp; Streptococcus spp; Ecoli và Actinomyces pyogenes. Viêm âm đạo sẽ giảm sự thụ thai nếu kết hợp với viêm nội mạc tử cung, viêm cổ tử cung. Rối loạn này có thể tự khỏi trong trường hợp viêm nhẹ và không biến chứng.Nhiều khi nhìn thấy mủ chảy ra thất thường ở âm hộ và niêm mạc âm đạo xung huyết, sưng và có mủ ở thành âm đạo. Trường hợp viêm nặng, khám qua trực tràng và kích thích âm đạo sẽ thấy mủ chảy ra và bò có biểu hiện đau. Trong trường hợp có biến chứng kết hợp với viêm cổ tử cung, viêm nội mạc tử cung thì khi khám âm đạo bằng mỏ vịt sẽ thấy có dịch hoặc mủ rỉ ra từ lổ vào của cổ tử cung.Điều trị bằng cách sử dụng những chất tẩy rửa ít gây kích thích như nước muối sinh lý, lugol 0,1% hoặc biodine hoặc Iodin 0,1 % thụt vào âm đạo 2-3 lần mỗi lần cách nhau 1-2 ngày. Sau đó kết hợp bơm kháng sinh oxytetraxilin hoặc sulfamides vào âm đạo. Nếu có biến chứng viêm nội mạc tử cung hoặc viêm cổ tử cung thì cần điều trị theo hướng dẫn ở phần sau.Là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ sự viêm nhiễm ở khe hẹp nằm dọc bên trong cổ tử cung. Nguyên nhân có thể là nhiễm trùng kế phát từ sẩy thai, đẻ khó, sót nhau, đở đẻ không hợp lý hoặc viêm tử cung. Cũng có thể do tổn thương từ kỹ thuật phối tinh không tốt, kỹ thuật thụt rửa tử cung không hợp lý.Phần cổ tử cung nhô ra âm đạo xung huyết và sưng, các vòng nhẫn bên trong của cổ tử cung xung huyết. Lối vào của lổ cổ tử cung biến dạng và niêm mạc trở nên đỏ hoặc đỏ tía. Mủ chảy ra từ miệng cổ tử cung. Trường hợp viêm lâu ngày thì lối vào của cổ tử cung giãn nở rộng mặc dù có sự hiện diện của thể vàng trên buồng trứng. Cần phải xem xét cẩn thận vì viêm cổ tử cung ít khi đơn lẻ mà thường kết hợp với viêm âm đạo hoặc viêm nội mạc tử cung. Trong trường hợp viên lâu ngày mà không được can thiệp kịp thới thường dẫn đến viên chai, viêm tăng sinh dẫn đến tích mủ tạo bã đậu dẫn đến vô sinh.Một vài trường hợp bệnh có thể tự khỏi sau khi bò động dục. Điều trị bằng cách thụt rửa cổ tử cung bằng nước muối sinh lý hoặc lugol 0,1%. hoặc Iodil 10% Sau đó bơm kháng sinh vào dọc theo cổ tử cung kết hợp tiêm thêm 25-30 mg Dexametazon hoặc suanovin. Tiên lượng của bệnh này khá tốt nhưng nếu có viêm âm đạo hoặc tử cung thì cần phải kết hợp xử lý tốt.Là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ sự viêm nhiễm nội mạc của tử cung. Bệnh thường xuất hiện và lan rộng trên bề mặt tử cung và giảm tỷ lệ thụ thai do làm giảm sức sống của tinh trùng, làm giảm sự phát triển của phôi và trong trường hợp nếu phôi có làm tổ được trong tử cung thì cũng gây chết phôi sớm hoặc sẩy thai sau đó.Bệnh thường chia thành hai thể: thể nhiễm trùng do vi khuẩn, virút, nấm, nguyên sinh động vật và thể không nhiễm trùng.Thể nhiễm trùng thường thấy sự hiện diện của các loại vi khuẩn như Staphylococus spp; Streptococcus spp; E.coli; Actinomyces pyogenes và Pseudomonas aerugenusa và những vi khuẩn không truyền nhiễm khác định cư ở âm hộ, âm vật, trên cơ thể gia súc và chuồng trại. Thường thấy hiện tượng bội nhiễm của nhiều loại vi khuẩn. Loại vi khuẩn truyền nhiễm là Campylobacter foetus và Brucella abortus.Viêm nội mạc tử cung nhiễm khuẩn chủ yếu là tự phát hoặc do con đường nhân tạo thông qua cổ tử cung như phối tinh, chuyển phôi, sự thăm khám tử cung để chẩn đoán hoặc điều trị với dụng cụ nhiễm bẩn hoặc từ những tiến trình khác trong lúc đẻ như là đẻ khó, sót nhau, đỡ đẻ không vệ sinh. Cơ chế nhiễm khuẩn tử cung liên quan đến điều kiện sức khỏe, nuôi dưỡng của bò và có quan hệ chặt chẽ đến những hóc môn giới tính có bản chất steroid. Trong khi oestrogen có tác động bảo vệ tử cung chống lại sự nhiễm khuẩn còn progesterone kìm hãm tác động của oestrogen và tạo môi trường thuận lợi cho vi khuẩn phát triển. Tử cung giai đoạn đầu của pha thể vàng thường nhạy cảm với sự nhiễm trùng và viêm nội mạc tử cung. Những nguyên nhân viêm nội mạc tử cung không nhiễm trùng thường là do thụt rửa tử cung với những chất sát trùng gây kích thích và nhiệt độ dung dịch thụt rửa cao. Phương pháp điều trị cơ bản là làm sạch tử cung bằng cách thụt rửa với dung dịch nước muối sinh lý (39-40 o C, khoảng 2-4 lít và đưa vào bao nhiêu phải lấy ra bấy nhiêu) hoặc lugol (0,1 %) 100-120 ml/lần. Sau khi thụt rửa 2-3 lần thì có thể thụt kháng sinh như oxytretramycin hoặc ampicillin. Sau đó có thể lặp lại một ngày thụt lugol và một ngày thụt kháng sinh, lặp lại 3-4 lần sau đó cho đến khi thấy dịch trong. Tuy nhiên, trong nhiều trường hợp sự hồi phục là giả tạo. Vì thế, nếu thụt rửa 1-2 lần mà thấy dịch trong cũng phải điều trị tiếp vài ngày sau đó nữa mới dừng. Có thể kết hợp với dùng prostaglandin để tiêu hủy thể vàng (nếu có) và tăng co bóp tử cung để thải dịch ra ngoài. Hoặc kết hợp dung oxytoxin tiêm trong quá trình điều trị (Trong trường hợp viêm tích mủ cần được kết hợp điều trị bằng kháng sinh kết hợp chất tiêu viêm mạnh) Hiệu quả điều trị bệnh này chỉ được đánh giá là thành công khi phối giống đậu thai. Nếu bệnh không được điều trị kịp thới có thể biến chứng dẫn đến tắc ống dẫn trứng và vô sinh có thể xảy ra. Trong trường hợp bò bị tắc ống dẫn trứng, cấy phôi có thể là giải Hình 74: Mủ đặc chứa trong tử cung pháp khắc phục sự mang thai nhưng hiệu quả vẫn không cao, vì ở Việt nam tỷ lệ cấy phôi thành công thấp, chỉ khoảng 35-40% ở bò bình thường.Là trường hợp mủ tích tụ lại trong tử cung mà không thải ra ngoài được do cổ tử cung bịt kín.Bệnh này thường là kế phát của chậm thu teo tử cung sau đẻ, do đẻ khó hoặc sót nhau. Đôi khi cũng có thể do nhiễm vi khuẩn hoặc nấm trong quá trình dẫn tinh mà đặc biệt là dẫn tinh cho bò đã mang thai nhưng có dấu hiệu biểu hiện động dục.Sự tích mủ trong tử cung làm kìm hãm phân tiết prostaglandin và cũng gây nên tồn lưu thể vàng và bò không động dục. Do bò không động dục nên mủ ngày càng tích nhiều hơn. Lượng mủ có thể từ vài ml cho đến hàng chục lít. (Có những trường hợp ghi nhận lượng mủ lên đến 20-30 lít trong tử cung).Kiểm tra âm đạo thường thấy dấu hiệu niêm mạc âm đạo khô và lối vào cổ tử cung bịt kín giống như mang thai. Sừng tử cung giống như mang thai 2-3 tháng. Cần phân biệt với sự có thai, nếu không chắc chắn thì kiểm tra lại trong vài tuần sau đó.Việc điều trị có thể sử dụng prostaglandin hoặc các dẫn xuất của nó. Sau khi tiêm một vài ngày sẽ có dấu hiệu động dục và cổ tử cung sẽ mở cộng với co bóp tử cung khi động dục sẽ tống mủ ra ngoài. Đồng thời tiến hành thụt rửa bằng các biện pháp thông thường. Kết quả điều trị và sự mang thai lại sau đó tùy thuộc vào thời gian kéo dài bệnh lý này trước đó. Có những trường hợp phát hiện và điều trị quá muộn nên cơ nội mạc tử cung không thể phục hồi và sự mang thai sau đó rất khó đạt được.Là trường hợp tích dịch trong tử cung. Dịch này có thể là nước, dịch nhầy hoặc dịch nhầy có chứa những mảnh mô đã biến chất.Rối loạn này không có liên quan đến sự nhiễm khuẩn. Việc khám phá về sinh lý tổ chức mô người ta nhận thấy có sự thoái hoá những nang trên nội mạc tử cung và thành tử cung teo lại nhưng không rõ nguyên nhân gây nên. Rối loạn này có thể đi kèm với u nang buồng trứng hoặc tồn lưu thể vàng và xuất hiện ở từng cá thể (không lây) với sự bất thường về tử cung, lối vào cổ tử cung, âm đạo với màng trinh cứng và bịt kín (bò tơ). Khám qua trực tràng nhận thấy hai sừng tử cung lớn và dày lên. Thành tử cung mỏng và có hiện tượng sóng sánh ở bên trong. Nếu có cảm giác sền sệt là tích dịch và có hiện tượng \"ba động\" nhiều là tích nước.Trong trường hợp có thể vàng thì điều trị bằng prostaglandin hoặc các dẫn xuất của nó. Nếu là u nang noãn kèm theo đó thì điều trị như trường hợp u nang noãn đã nêu phần trước. Nếu màng trinh bịt kín thì có thể phẫu thuật ngoại khoa nhưng đôi khi gây viêm kết dính âm đạo hoặc gây đẻ khó sau đó.Nếu chẩn đoán và điều trị tốt thì dịch trong tử cung sẽ tiêu biến trong vòng 30-40 ngày sau đó. Nhưng trường hợp rối loạn này thường tái diễn lại và rất ít có cơ hội thành công. Vì thế, sau khi điều trị mà tái diễn thì nên loại thải.Bình thường, nhau ra hoàn toàn trước 12 giờ sau khi đẻ. Bò sau khi đẻ mà lưu nhau hơn 12 giờ sẽ làm gia tăng nguy cơ mắc bệnh tử cung so với bò không bị sát(sót) nhau. Tuy nhiên, nhờ co bóp của tử cung sẽ giúp tử cung thu teo nhanh chóng sau đó và chất bẩn sẽ được tống ra ngoài. Vì thế mà sát (sót) nhau ít ảnh hưởng đến sinh sản so với những nhân tố khác nếu như trong điều kiện khí hậu ôn hòa (Mùa đông hoặc ở xứ lạnh) Còn trong điều kiện nóng ẩm như nước ta việc sát (sót) nhau thường kéo theo quá trình thối rữa và nhiễm khuẩn là nguyên nhân dẫn đến viêm nhiễm đường sinh dục, viêm vú ở bò khai thác sữa.v.v..Nguy cơ sót nhau sẽ tăng cao trong các trường hợp đẻ sinh đôi, đẻ non hoặc già ngày, đẻ khó, thiếu vận động và thiếu canxi,chăn nuôi kém dinh dưỡng, thiếu nước trong thời kỳ chửa cuối của thai kỳ. Đôi khi sự thiếu hụt selenium, mage và vitamin E cũng gây nên sát (sót) nhau.Người chăn nuôi dễ dàng nhận biết được dấu hiệu sát (sót) nhau. Tuy nhiên, trong một vài trường hợp thì nhau nằm nguyên trong tử cung nên người chăn nuôi không thể biết được là nhau đã ra hay chưa và đây mới chính là nguy cơ làm nhiễm trùng máu. Vì thế, việc xử lý hậu sản là rất cần thiết.Khi bò bị sót nhau thường không biểu hiện những dấu hiệu lâm sàng nghiêm trọng, ngoại trừ dấu hiệu giảm tính ngon miệng và giảm sữa tạm thời. Khoảng 20-25% số bò bị sát (sót) nhau có thể dẫn đến viêm tử cung ở mức độ trung bình đến nghiêm trọng. Dấu hiệu lâm sàng là dịch thải ra có mùi hôi khó chịu, màng nhau treo lơ lửng ở âm hộ và khấu đuôi hoặc mông. Bình thường, phần nhau sót lại có thể được tống ra ngoài trong vòng 7-10 ngày nhưng một vài trường hợp có thể trên 15 ngày. Có nhiều quan điểm khác nhau trong việc xử lý sót nhau như bóc nhau, sử dụng viên đặt hoặc dung dịch kháng sinh (đơn lẻ hoặc kết hợp với bóc nhau), phương pháp bảo tồn nhưng có thể nói rằng không có giải pháp nào hoàn hảo.Hầu hết các nhà chuyên môn đều đồng ý rằng việc bóc nhau chỉ được thực hiện khi màng nhau đã tách ra khỏi tử cung và dễ dàng bóc tách phần còn lại bằng tay. Tuy nhiên, việc bóc nhau nên được thực hiện bởi những kỹ thuật viên có kinh nghiệm. Đặc biệt, cấm chỉ định bóc nhau trong trường hợp bò có biểu hiện nhiễm trùng máu. Điều không hay là hầu hết các kỹ thuật viên và nhà chăn nuôi đã quen với phương pháp cổ truyền này và cố gắng bóc nhau cho bằng được trong mọi tình huống, gây tổn thương niêm mạc tử cung bò mẹ cũng như khả năng sinh sản trong tương lai. Hiện nay hầu hết các nước tiên tiến trên thế giới người ta không sử dụng phương pháp này và người ta cho rằng dung phương pháp này là thô bạo mà người ta chỉ sử dụng phương pháp bảo tồn là chính.Nhiều nhà chuyên môn cho rằng việc tiêm oxytoxin trong vòng 24-48 giờ sau khi đẻ có thể mang lại hiệu quả trong việc hỗ trợ đẩy nhau ra ngoài. Tuy nhiên, nhiều nghiên cứu gần đây cho rằng không có sự khác biệt khi sử dụng liều đơn oxytoxin trong việc làm giảm nguy cơ sát (sót) nhau giữa bò đẻ bình thường và bò cần phải can thiệp khi đẻ. Việc sử dụng kết hợp với oestrogen ngay lập tức sau khi đẻ sẽ làm gia tăng hiệu lực của oxytoxin nhưng gây nên hiện tượng giảm khả năng sinh sản sau đó.(Ở Việt nam người dân thường hứng nước ối cho bò uống ngay sau khi đẻ để hỗ trợ cho quá trình ra nhau được nhanh hơn, kết hợp với một vài thủ thuuaatj khác như dung bùn oa đắp vào vùng xương mông dọc theo cột sống lưng, buộc vật nặng thoe cuống nhau thai, cho uống lá rau ngót(bầu ngọt)…)Nhiều nghiên cứu về xử lý sát (sót) nhau bằng kháng sinh mang lại kết quả trái ngược nhau. Một số kết quả thực nghiệm cho rằng, hiệu quả sinh sản của bò bị sát (sót) nhau được điều trị bằng cách thụt tetracycline hoặc oxytetraciclin vào tử cung tương đương với bò không bị sát (sót) nhau và tốt hơn so với những bò bị sát (sót) nhau mà không dùng kháng sinh. Một số kết quả thực nghiệm khác thì cho rằng, việc thụt tetracyclin vào tử cung khi bò bị sát (sót) nhau có thể làm giảm khả năng sinh sản sau đó và tỷ lệ thụ thai so với không sử dụng kháng sinh. Họ đưa ra khuyến cáo rằng việc sử dụng kháng sinh chỉ nên thực hiện khi bò sát (sót) nhau có dấu hiệu nhiễm trùng máu hoặc đẻ khó. Việc sử dụng kháng sinh không giúp phòng ngừa hoàn toàn viêm tử cung và hiện tượng viêm tử cung có mủ có thể phát triển sau đó. Vì thế, chúng ta phải cẩn thận và không nên quá tin tưởng vào sử dụng kháng sinh mà không có sự chú ý nào sau đó.Hiện nay ngưới ta đưa ra một khuyến cáo điều trị cho hiệu quả của phương pháp bảo tồn bằng kháng sinh như sau: Khi bò bị sát (sót) nhau người kỹ thuật thực hiện theo tình tự các bước:-Vệ sinh sạch sẽ phần ngoài và cắt bỏ những phần của nhau thai lộ ra bên ngoài như cuống, màng nhau -Đi ngăng tay và đặt 2 viên thuốc đặt (Oxytetraxiclin…) vào thân tử cung một đến hai lần -Ngay sau đó tiêm 5-10 mg oestrogen (một lần duy nhất) -Trong thời gian từ 5-7 ngày tiêm 30-40 ui oxytoxin/lần 2 lần / ngày (Nếu bò khai thác sữa thì việc thực hiện cần được tiêm trước khi vắt sữa). sau khoảng thời gian này thì nhau được đẩy ra ngoài, trong ngày thứ 6, thứ 7 nếu dùng 25 mg Protaglandin thì hiệu quả sẽ tốt hơn rất nhiều. Sau khi nhau ra hết hoặc trong thời kỳ thối sữa thí kết hợp thụt vào tử cung 1-2 lít dung dịch thuốc tím (KMnO4) 1-2 % 2-3 lần là tốt nhất Trong điều kiện nóng ẩm như Việt nam thì giải pháp được khuyến cáo là kết hợp thật hợp lý giữa hai phương pháp bảo tồn nhau bằng kháng sinh với việc theo dõi lấy nhau ra ngoài là tốt nhất.Là thuật ngữ dùng để chỉ tình trạng lộn hoàn toàn hay một phần tử cung ra ngoài sau khi đẻ.Bệnh này thường xảy ra trong trường hợp do đẻ khó: thai quá to, cổ tử cung bị xoắn vặn trong thời gian đẻ, sót nhau dẫn đến giãn dây chằng tử cung và nới hoàn toàn cổ tử cung. Nuôi nhốt bò tại chuồng mà nền chuồng dốc từ máng ăn về sau nhiều cũng là nguyên nhân dẫn đến trường hợp này sau khi đẻ.Thường thấy tử cung lộn ra ngoài còn dính cả màng nhau và thấy rõ núm nhau. Phần tử cung lộn ra ngoài dính đầy máu và có thể dính cả phân, bề mặt xung huyết và tụ máu nên bầm tím vì cản trở tuần hoàn. Nếu để lâu rất dễ dẫn đến chết do bí tiểu và ngô độc urê cũng như phần tử cung lộn ra bị hoại tử và nhiễm trùng máu. Triệu chứng toàn thân có thể xảy ra như sốt, bỏ ăn và đôi khi bại liệt. Cấy truyền phôi (CTP) là một quá trình đưa phôi được tạo ra từ cá thể bò mẹ này (bò cho phôi) vào cá thể bò mẹ khác (bò nhận phôi) phôi vẫn sống và phát triển bình thường trên cơ sở trạng thái sinh lý sinh dục của bò cho phôi phù hợp với trạng thái sinh lý sinh dục của bò nhận phôi hoặc phù hợp với tuổi cua rphôi (hay còn gọi là sự đồng pha). II. Ý NGHĨA CỦA CẤY TRUYỀN PHÔI 1. Nâng cao cường độ chọn lọc, khả năng sinh sản và tiến bộ di truyền của cả con đực và con cái, rút ngắn khoảng cách giữa các thế hệ, tăng số con sinh ra trong một đời con cái.2. Tạo ngân hàng phôi đông lạnh, bảo tồn quỹ gen và các nghiên cứu cơ bản khác: như xác định giới tính sớm từ giai đoạn phôi, cloning hay nhân bản gen động vật từ tế bào sinh trưởng.3. Thuận lợi cho việc nhập giống gia súc giữa các lục địa nhanh chóng, an toàn, kinh tế hơn so với nhập gia súc sống.Quy trình gây rụng trứng nhiều (GRTN)Bò cho phôi là những bò cái có năng suất cao về một hoặc vài tính trạng mong muốn và các tính trạng đó phải được di truyền cho đời sau. Để thu được nhiều phôi có chất lượng cao, bò cho phôi phải đảm bảo một số yêu cầu sau: + Năng suất về tính trạng mong muốn đặc biệt cao; tính trạng này có khả năng di truyền cho đời sau.+ Không mắc bất cứ một khuyết tật hoặc một bệnh di truyền nào). + Khả năng sinh sản tốt, quá trình sinh sản bình thường. Cổ tử cung dễ dàng khi đưa dẫn tinh quản, súng cấy phôi, đặc biệt là dụng cụ dội rửa phôi.+ Thể trạng, sức khoẻ tốt và được tiêm phòng định kỳ tất cả các bệnh quy định. + Không quá già (< 10 tuổi). + Chu kỳ động dục bình thường, biểu hiện chu kỳ rõ ràng. + Bộ phận sinh dục không bị viêm, trạng thái của chúng ở giai đoạn giữa của chu kỳ sinh dục. Buồng trứng mềm và hoạt động nhạy cảm, trên buồng trứng có thể vàng hoạt động tốt. Bò GRTN khi động dục có thể cho nhảy trực tiếp hoặc thụ tinh nhân tạo. Tinh dịch phối giống phải lấy từ những đực giống tốt nhất, đặc trưng cho giống về tính trạng mong muốn, tính trạng cao sản ở con đực giống phải được di truyền cho thế hệ sau. Chất lượng tinh về các mặt như hoạt lực, số lượng tinh trùng phải đảm bảo tỷ lệ thụ tinh cao, chất lượng hợp tử -phôi thu được tốt.Phải có kinh nghiệm, thao tác nhanh, nhẹ nhàng không làm xây xát, tổn thương đến bộ phận sinh dục bên trong cũng như bên ngoài. Không được sờ nắn buồng trứng.Dụng cụ, găng tay dùng cho việc dẫn tinh phải được sát trùng.Gây động dục đồng pha là quá trình kích thích cho cái nhận phôi động dục đúng vào thời điểm động dục của cái cho phôi. Đồng pha giữa cái nhận phôi và cái cho phôi còn có ý nghĩa trạng thái sinh lý sinh dục ở cái nhận phôi phù hợp với tuổi của phôi. Như vậy, khi tiến hành cấy phôi tươi, cái cho phôi và cái nhận phối phải đồng thời động dục. Khi cấy phôi đông lạnh, cái nhận phôi phải động dục trước đấy một thời gian, thường là 7 ngày (đúng với tuổi của phôi).Bò tơ hoặc bò đã sinh sản nhưng không quá già và hung dữ. Bình thường cứ một phôi đông lạnh cần chuẩn bị 2 bò nhận phôi. Còn một bò cho phôi kích thích GRTN cần chuẩn bị 20 bò nhận. Cái nhận phôi phải được chọn lựa theo yêu cầu sau: + Quá trình sinh trưởng phát triển bình thường, không khuyết tật, thể trạng tốt không quá gầy hoặc quá béo.+ Không mắc bất kỳ một bệnh di truyền hoặc truyền nhiễm nào, con vật phải được tiêm phòng định kỳ hàng năm đối với các bệnh quy định.+ Trạng thái sinh lý sinh sản bình thường. + Trong quá trình dội rửa, nếu bóng khí vỡ, phải rút foley cotherter ra thao tác lại bằng foley cotherter mới.+ Nếu niêm dịch trong đường sinh dục cái làm tắc đường ra vào của foley cotherter, người kỹ thuật có thể mở khoá cho nước chảy thêm vào để rửa niêm dịch hoặc xoay quả bóng bằng cách xoay foley cotherter. Nếu vẫn bị tắc, đành cho bóng khí xẹp, rút foley cotherter ra, thao tác lại bằng dụng cụ mới.+ Cần phải ghi chép, theo dõi riêng từng sừng tử cung dội rửa. + Trong quá trình dội rửa, nhẹ nhàng tránh gây tổn thương chảy máu tử cung. + Sau khi dội rửa xong, thụt rửa tử cung bằng kháng sinh (penicillin và streptomycin) hay bằng 1% lugol để chống viêm nhiễm tử cung, giúp tử cung nhanh trở lại bình thường. Cùng ngày hay sau 2-7 ngày, tiêm PGF2a để phá thể vàng, giúp con vật nhanh trở lại chu kỳ động dục.Sau khi đã dội rửa ra ngoài cơ thể, phôi dễ bị ảnh hưởng bất lợi của nhiều yếu tố như: Nhiệt độ, ánh sáng, điều kiện dinh dưỡng, sự vô trùng của dung dịch nuôi. Vì vậy, phải soi, tìm phôi càng nhanh càng tốt. Nếu thấy phôi phải chuyển ngay sang dung dịch dưỡng phôi vô trùng đã bổ xung 10-20% FCS.Cần phải lọc dung dịch bằng các phễu lọc để giảm số lượng dung dịch dội rửa thu được. Sau khi lọc, đổ một ít dung dịch còn lại ra đĩa petri và đưa lên kính hiển vi soi nổi để tìm phôi. Để thấy phôi nhanh, rõ chỉ cần độ phóng đại của kính từ 12-24 lần. Nhưng để đánh giá, phân loại phôi chính xác, phôi cần phải được phóng đại > 64 lần.Để đạt được tỷ lệ cao khi sử dụng hay bảo quản và cuối cùng là có tỷ lệ chửa cao của bò cái nhận phôi sau khi cấy, cần thiết phải đánh giá phân loại phôi. Phôi được đánh giá theo giai đoạn phát triển và chất lượng của chúng. a/Phân loại phôi theo giai đoạn phát triển: Phương pháp này dựa vào giai đoạn phát triển của phôi ví dụ như 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 tế bào ... phôi dâu, phôi nang.-Phôi dâu: Phôi phân chia đã được 32 tế bào, chúng tạo với nhau thành một khối liên kết chặt chẽ ít có tế bào tách rời, biên giới giữa các phôi bào rất rõ.-Phôi dâu chặt: Phôi có > 32 tế bào, chúng liên kết chặt chẽ và tạo thành khối, ít có tế bào tách rời.-Phôi nang sớm: Là loại phôi mà giưa các phôi bào đâ hình thành khe hở, khoảng trống. Nhìn qua kính hiển vi thấy có xoang nhỏ trong phôi.-Phôi nang: Là loại phôi mà xoang phôi đã lớn đẩy mầm phôi về một cực. Giai đoạn muộn hơn có thể thấy nó nở ra, màng ngoài phôi áp sát với màng trong suốt.-Loại rất tốt -loại A: Phôi có hình thái chuẩn, đúng với giai đoạn phát triển. Màng trong suốt tròn, đẹp. Khối tế bào đậm, phân chia đều, rõ. Các phôi bào liên kết với nhau chặt chẽ, không có tế bào rời hoặc mảnh vụn bên ngoài.-Loại tốt -loại B: Phôi có hình dáng kích thước tốt, phản ánh đúng giai đoạn phát triển, nhưng khối tế bào không đẹp, không đều, không rõ nét như loại A. Sự liên kết của các tế bào tương đối chặt, đôi khi có các mảnh vụn tế bào hoặc có một số tế bào rời nhau.-Loại trung bình -loại C: Phôi này có màu sắc phân bố không đều, các tế bào liên kết lỏng lẻo, nhiều tế bào rời, nhiều mảnh vụn xen kẽ hoặc tụ thành đám nhỏ. Khối tế bào nhỏ hơn bình thường. Màng trong suốt có thể nguyên vẹn nhưng có thể vỡ hoặc không tròn.-Trứng không thụ tinh -loại D. Phân loại phôi dựa vào giai đoạn phát triển và cấu tạo phôi để phân loại ","tokenCount":"30493"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2122006789.json b/data/part_1/2122006789.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7b55ce5323318b0230b6a0d696c27d66667e047d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2122006789.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b503d994ccd255bfb9f755b3987f0379","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/18b0dc28-109b-465f-9f1a-7ba602dbbb23/retrieve","id":"-727210154"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b9929722-0f03-43e0-8a69-6dff543108bf","pagecount":"26","content":"Pig production and consumption scenario in North East India vis-a-vis India average (2003) . Table 2:    Classical swine fever (CSF) or hog cholera, a viral disease of pigs, is endemic in South and Southeast Asia including India. The disease is a major constraint for the development of pig husbandry systems in the NE India where pig farming is one of the main sources of livelihoods for a majority of the households. The development of effective strategies to control the disease requires adequate knowledge on the epidemiology of the disease particularly among the small scale pig production systems that are more vulnerable to the disease. Some of the measures that can be used include culling of infected animals, quarantine or movement control, disinfection of infected premises and farm appliances, community awareness campaigns and vaccination.A survey to estimate incidence and impact of CSF among small holder farmers was implemented in 6 th June -20 th July 2011 in the NE India. A total of 60 villages distributed equally between 15 districts in Assam (5 districts), Nagaland (5 districts) and Mizoram (5 districts) states were used. The sample size (of 60 villages across the three states) was determined based on statistical and budgetary considerations. Data were collected using participatory epidemiological techniques. The participants recruited for the survey included farmers, veterinarians, and other key informants. The survey was implemented in each state by teams comprising 3 or 4 persons that had been trained on participatory epidemiological methods before the commencement of the work.Key observations made from the study are as follows: Pigs are kept by a majority (slightly over 80%) of the households in the NE India. It is also considered as being the most promising source of income in the area. However, further development of the of the existing pig enterprises is constrained by: (i) lack of feed and poor management practices, (ii) lack of capital and (iii) infectious diseases and poor infrastructure for managing them.The incidence, morbidity and case fatality rates of CSF were estimated to be 5.4% (95%CI: 3.5 -8.0), 28.1% (95% CI: 20.4 -36.6%) and 51.1 -94.5%, respectively. Piglets, as expected, suffer higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to the other age categories. The study also shows that an outbreak of CSF lasts for about 36 days (95% CI: 19.0 -53.8). This implies that CSF outbreaks run their full epidemic course as there is not an adequate infrastructure for implementing response measures. Behavioural practices such as selling off infected/potentially infected animals in the face of an outbreak by farmers in a bid to avoid mortality losses promote the transmission of the disease. Some of the husbandry practices used by the local producers such as use of untreated leftover food as pig feed, free ranging/tethering, and lack of proper housing are important risk factors for CSF transmission. Native pig breeds could also be playing an important role in the epidemiology of the disease. Ecological studies need to be done to assess the relative impact of the native (kept by a majority of the farmers) verses exotic pig breeds that are being raised by a majority of the farmers on the epidemiology of the disease. It is known that native breeds have longer survival rates compared to exotic breeds and therefore shed the virus in small quantities over a prolonged period of time.v  Farmers spent up to USD $ 450,000 to treat animals that contract the disease yet their uncoordinated interventions do not help in controlling such a trans-boundary disease that has a high incidence and morbidity rates. Farmers in the area also incur huge costs from mortality and productivity losses and the government should urgently develop a CSF control program.Classical swine fever (CSF) or Hog Cholera is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs caused by a single stranded positive sense RNA virus (CSFV). The virus is classified under the genus Pestivirus and family Flaviviridae. The disease was first reported in 1883 in Ohio, USA from where it spread to Europe and Asia. It is now endemic in the East and Southeast Asia, India, China as well as in South and Central America. In Northeast India, the disease was first reported in the state of Meghalaya (Murti and Hazarika, 1982) followed by Nagaland (Das et al., 1983), Mizoram (Verma, 1988) and Assam (Sarma and Sarma, 1998;Rahman et.al., 2001;Barman et al., 2003). The disease later spread to the other NE states (Francki et al., 1991).Susceptible pigs get exposed via direct or indirect contact with infected animals or inhalation of aerosolised viral particles (though the later mode of transmission is considered as not being important). The disease can manifest as an acute, sub-acute or chronic syndrome depending on the age of the animal affected, virulence of the virus and the time of infection (pre or postnatal) (Anon, 2004). Acute form generally results in high morbidity and mortality while sub-acute form exhibits atypical or less dramatic clinical sign (Rahman et al., 2001) and lower mortality rate. Chronic form of the disease causes reproductive disorders and birth of congenitally affected piglets (Van Oirshot, 1986).CSF is a major constraint to efficient and sustainable pig production in the North East India because pig farming is one of the major sources of livelihoods in the area. Pigs are mostly reared by tribal communities who raise about 28% of the total pig population in the country (Deka et al., 2008) approximated to be 13.5 million. The region is also the highest consumer of pork; Table 1 compares pig production and consumption statistics from the NE India with the national (India) averages.Measures that are often recommended for CSF control include culling, movement control, community awareness and vaccination. Furthermore, farmers are often encouraged to implement standard biosecurity measures including cleaning and disinfection of pig premises, farm equipment, proper disposal of contaminated material, etc. India currently produces CSF vaccine but the quantity of production is much lesser than its requirement possibly because of poor infrastructure for its production and distribution and inadequate availability of rabbits for production of lapinised vaccine. There are also reports of vaccination failure (Wright et al., 2010) but this has not been formally investigated.The development of effective strategies to control the disease is constrained by lack of knowledge on the epidemiology of the disease particularly among the small scale pig production systems. Most of the studies that have been implemented in the region have been geared towards characterising the CSFV that are prevalent in the area, developing diagnostic tools or evaluating vaccine candidates. This survey estimated the incidence and impact of CSF among small holder farmers in the NE India.The survey employed participatory epidemiological techniques to collate perceptions of farmers, veterinarians, and other key informants on the incidence of CSF based on a CSF-clinical case definition. The cost of perceived CSF outbreaks (classified into mortality, productivity, treatment and replacement costs) over a period of one year was also estimated based on the incidence estimates obtained from the survey. , was used. In this formula:-Z is the value that corresponds to 95% confidence level in a standard normal distribution, -p is a priori prevalence of CSF in the northeast India; 50% was used because there was no existing reference on CSF incidence in the NE India, -q is obtained as 100%-p; the product of p and q gives the variance of p, -L is the margin of error; 13% margin of error was considered in this case.The districts were selected purposively within each state to cover diversities within the state in terms of geographical location, ethnic groups involved, livelihood system, access to market and farm inputs and strategic importance from the standpoint of cross border transmission of disease. Within each district, 4 villages were randomly selected from a sampling frame that included villages that were expected to be having pigs. Each district also had 3 extra villages that could be used to replace villages that could not be accessed. The extra villages were serialised and used in the order in which they were selected. This means that village no 6 could only be used when village no. 5 has been used and village no. 7 could be used when both village no. 5 and 6 had been used.The survey was conducted by a team (one for each state) comprising of 3 or 4 persons representing the State Veterinary department, a local NGO partner and ILRI. Before the survey commenced, the teams were trained on participatory epidemiological techniques over a period of one week in May 30 th -June 5 th 2011. Topics covered in the training are outlined in Appendix 1. Survey instruments were also developed over the same period; these included a case definition for CSF, interview check list, data form and a list of the survey districts and villages. The CSF case definition, interview check list and data form were pretested during the training period.The survey was implemented in 6 th June -20 th July 2011. Surveys commenced with each team visiting Veterinary Offices in the districts to obtain secondary information on whether CSF outbreaks occurred in the past year (January 2010 -July 2011). If outbreaks fitting the case definition are recorded, the team sought more specific information on the names of the villages affected and the dates when such outbreaks occurred.At least one group and one key informant interviews were conducted within a village. Each group interview involved between 5 and 30 participants. The number of key informants that could be interviewed at any one time ranged between 1 and 3. They included vets working in the local veterinary dispensaries, village heads or progressive farmers. Women played a very important role in pig farming; therefore, group interviews had to include women. Topics covered in the interviews include:-Identification and ranking of sources of income used by village -Estimating the average income from five key livelihood activities identified above -Identifying promising sources of income not currently being utilized fully -Livestock species kept -Pig husbandry practices including: i. Rearing objectives (fattening, breeding or both and the percentage of the households in the village that raise pigs for the objectives mentioned) ii. Breeds of pigs kept in the village and the percentage of pigs in the village that could be classified into each breed type iii. Breeding practices and the percentage of the breeding sows served by the respective breeding method mentioned iv. Types of feed used and a ranking of the feeds depending on the frequency of use v. Rearing practices -tethering, semi-intensive, intensive or open.The expected rearing practices include tethering, open/free range system, intensive and semi-intensive pig keeping systems.-Diseases/syndromes in the last year (January 2010 to July 2011), while identifying: i. the main clinical signs ii. type of pig affected (piglets, growers, finishers and adults) iii. season when the disease occurred iv. the diseases were also ranked based on their impact on livelihoods -Estimating the costs of mortality, productivity losses, treatment costs and replacement costs due to CSF occurrence -2.4 Data management and analysisData were entered into a database developed using Microsoft Access. They were then cleaned and analysed using STATA (Version 10.1, College Station, TX, USA). Means were calculated for each quantitative variable and stratified by state. For qualitative data, e.g. the type of feed used, etc., frequencies were determined and also stratified by state. CSF incidence was determined by determining the number of outbreaks that were determined between January and December 2010 and the months at risk over the same period; incidence was then determined using the formula:No. of outbreaks Months-at-riskThe incidence, morbidity and mortality parameters derived above were used to estimate mortality, productivity, treatment and replacement costs of the disease. The incidence rate was used to determine the number of villages that would be affected by the disease over a period of one year while morbidity rate was used to estimate the number of pigs that would be affected in the affected villages. These estimates were derived at the pig level. The types of costs considered include: (i) mortality costs, (ii) treatment costs and (iii) replacement costs.The median number of households in the villages surveyed was 132.5; Mizoram had a relatively higher median number of households (177.5) surveyed compared to Nagaland (140) and Assam (77.5). Overall, the median percentage of households that kept pigs was 80.3 %. This proportion was equivalent across states (Assam 84.1%, Mizoram 82.8%, and Nagaland 80.0%).Common sources of income that were identified in the survey include agriculture (mainly the cultivation of paddy, maize and horticulture), livestock farming (pigs, cattle, poultry, mithun and bee keeping), casual labour, small business formal employment (in government offices). Other livelihood activities included rice beer making, fishing, and sale of firewood, handicrafts or pottery. In a decreasing order of importance, the participants identified crop farming, livestock rearing, wages, salary and business as the five most important sources of income to a majority of the households (Table 2). This ranking was more or less consistent across the states although agriculture was commonly practiced in Nagaland and Mizoram than Assam. Table 2 gives the distribution of responses for each income source. Crop farming, for example, was ranked as the commonest source of income (no. 1) by 36 villages (61% of the total), the second most frequently used income source by 15 (25.4%) villages and the third by 8 villages (13.8%). The overall ranks (described in text) were based on this distribution of responses for each livelihood activity (i.e., a high percentage of responses for agriculture (61%) identified this activity as being no. 1 income source, a high proportion of responses for livestock (45.5%) identified livestock farming as no. 2 income source, etc.). Response rate also matched with this ranking (except for the last 2 positions) since agriculture and livestock farming had the highest and second highest response rates than the other livelihood activities that were not being commonly used.Pig farming was identified by a large proportion (46.6%, 27/58) of villages as the most promising source of income. Others included cattle (including mithun) rearing (12.1%, 7/58) and rice farming (6.9%, 4/58). Villages in Mizoram and Nagaland identified pig farming and cattle rearing, in that order, as the most promising sources of income whereas those surveyed in Assam identified pig farming and rice farming. Constraints for the establishment of more productive pig enterprises that were enumerated by the participants include: Lack of feed and poor feeding management (29.6%, 8/27),  Lack of capital and high costs of replacement stock (piglets) (25.9%, 6/27),  Disease outbreaks and poor facilities for managing such diseases (25.9%, 6/27),  Other constraints such as poor knowledge on pig management, labour and time constraints.Constraints for cattle rearing were identified as lack of pasture, poor access to veterinary services and lack of funds to purchase replacement stock and fencing materials. The key constraint for rice cultivation was cited as lack of irrigation facilities.All the villages surveyed kept pigs and poultry. Goats and cattle were also kept by a majority of villages across the states while buffaloes and mithun were kept in a few villages. The livestock species kept were ranked based on their importance to households' livelihoods; the results of this analysis are given in Table 3. The ranking obtained, in the decreasing order of importance, was pigs, cattle, poultry, buffaloes and goats. Other livestock species had low response rates. There were slight differences in the rankings by state although all of them had pigs as the most important livestock species. The reasons given for this ranking is that pigs are prolific and give high returns (from the sale of piglets or pork). They are also used for ritual purposes. 3.2 Pig husbandry systemsA majority of the villages kept cross-breeds (Table 4). The other breeds kept were indigenous breeds and exotic breeds e.g. Hampshire/large white breeds. In general, a large percentage of households (median 90%) kept pigs for fattening purposes. Very few of them kept pigs for breeding (7.5%) or for both breeding and fattening (9%). This was a consistent observation across the three states. Almost all the villages used natural breeding practice as opposed to artificial insemination. The cost of each service ranged between Rs. 500-1000; a service could also be paid with a piglet.A majority of households in Assam used free-range system while most of those in Mizoram used intensive housing system (Table 5). Nagaland had a balanced distribution between households that used intensive housing systems verses those that used semi-intensive housing systems. The type of housing system influenced the type of floor used. The free-range housing system (in Assam) had earthen floor while the intensive and semi-intensive systems (used in Mizoram and Nagaland) were associated with slatted floors (made up of wooden planks). Cement floors were not commonly used because of the low temperatures in the region -the participants indicated that cement floors predisposed pigs to cold chills. Under the free range system, however, pigs are tethered when they are pregnant or during the paddy growing season. The table gives median percentages of households that use various types of pig husbandry systems (these percentages don't add up to 100% because medians are not proportions; they show the location of the 50 th percentiles).Table 6 gives the types of feeds that were commonly mentioned in the interviews, by state. These feeds are often mixed in various proportions before being used. For example, rice is usually mixed with kitchen waste, jungle leaves, wheat bran, flour or concentrate feed before being used. The participants also ranked the feeds identified (Table 6) according to the frequency of use. The ranking given, in a decreasing order of frequency included: rice bran, residues of rice beer and kitchen waste in Assam; rice bran, jungle leaves, and kitchen waste in Mizoram; and kitchen waste, rice bran and wheat bran in Nagaland. Maize and rice bran are usually more available during the harvesting seasons. Farmers also have perceptions on the effects of the different types of feeds on pig productivity. They, for example, believe that feeding pigs with tapioca leaves and roots make pigs grow faster.The participants listed diseases and syndromes that occurred in their villages in the past year (January to December 2010). These include:-Classical swine fever (28.2%, n = 38) -Skin diseases including mange (18.5%, n = 25) -Parasitic infestations e.g. ticks, maggots, etc (10.4%, n = 14) -Respiratory tract infections and pneumonias (6.7%, n = 9) -Foot and mouth disease (5.2%, n = 7) -Gastrointestinal worms (4.4%, n = 6) -Swine pox (3.7%, n = 5) Other diseases that were also mentioned, though not frequently, include brucellosis, swine erysipelas, collibacillosis, parturient paresis, anthrax, poisoning, and mastitis.Clinical signs that participants associated with the classical swine fever include high fever, lack of appetite, trembling/shivering, ocular and nasal discharge, watery discharge from the mouth, reddish discolouration of the skin on the ears, feet and the lower abdomen, diarrhoea in piglets and constipation in adults and high mortality (usually within 2-3 days in piglets and up to 7 days in adults). Skin diseases were associated with alopecia, itching, skin rashes, wrinkling of the skin, loss of appetite and retarded growth. Perceptions regarding the distribution of the cases by age are presented in Figure 1. Fifty percent of the villages surveyed indicated that CSF affects piglets only. A total of 29 outbreaks of CSF, which occurred between January 2010 and July 2011, were identified in the survey; 48% of these (n = 14) occurred in Assam, 37.9% (n = 11) occurred in Nagaland and 13.8% (n = 4) occurred in Mizoram. The incidence of CSF has been estimated based on the outbreaks that occurred in January -December 2010 to cover all the four seasons rationally. Figure 1 outlines the distribution of the number of the outbreaks by month and Table 7 gives estimates of the CSF incidence by state.The graph shows that the incidence of CSF peaked in April 2010. This was followed by a gradual decline until November -December 2010 when a few outbreaks were observed. During this period, the incidence of the disease was higher in Assam than in Mizoram and Nagaland (Table 7). The mean duration of an outbreak (based on the number of days between the start and end dates of each outbreak) was estimated to be 36.7 days (95% CI: 19.0 -53.8). Overall, the perceived Most of the villages (51/56) reported that they treat their pigs when they get classical swine fever. It was estimated that 64.1% (51.7 -76.5%) of the households from these villages treat their pigs with a majority (67.9%, n = 38) of the treatments being made by farmers themselves. The other treatments were provided by local veterinarians (16.1%, n = 9) or para-veterinarians (16.1%, n = 9). Most treatments made by farmers (30/38) utilize pharmaceutical products purchased from local agro-veterinary shops. A smaller proportion of these treatments (8/30) utilized traditional medicine.The numbers of treatments made by farmers versus those made by veterinarians and paraveterinarians vary by state. The proportions of farmer-treatments are higher in Mizoram and Nagaland while those for veterinarians or para-veterinarians are higher in Assam.The respondents also indicated that it is a common practice for farmers to sell pigs, particularly the adults, in the face of an outbreak in a bid to avoid outbreak-related losses e.g. morbidity, mortality and treatment costs. Such sales usually fetch only about 60% of the normal prices. Younger pigs (piglets and growers) are often slaughtered and consumed within the households rather than being sold.Impacts of CSF in terms of cost of mortality, productivity losses, treatment costs and replacement costs were estimated based on the annual incidence and case fatality rates estimated above. These costs were consideredImmediate costs of mortality is estimated by taking into consideration the proportion of villages that would be affected by the outbreak over a period of one year, multiplied by the proportion of pigs that would be affected by the outbreak in those villages and the case fatality rate to determine the number of pigs that would die following infection. This analysis is outlined in Table 8. The analysis shows that the costs of mortality would be much higher in Assam due to the higher population of pigs as well as the estimated CSF incidence. The average cost of treatment age category of pig was estimated as shown in Table 10. Most of the treatments were done by the farmers themselves. It is likely therefore that most of these treatments were not effective.  There is limited information on the epidemiology and impact of CSF in India -most of the studies that have been done focus on phylogenetic analysis of the CSFV. This study utilized participatory epidemiological techniques to collate perceptions on the incidence and impacts of CSF in the Northeast India. These techniques are increasingly being used to assess the impacts of important livestock diseases on livelihoods (Mariner and Paskin, 2000). The clinical case definition used in the study comprised key clinical signs that were thought to be consistent with CSF including diffuse reddish or bluish discolouration of the skin, especially at the extremities (feet, ventral side of the abdomen, etc), convulsions and staggering gait, huddling and congenital tremor (in the newly born piglets). Most of these clinical signs have been observed in recent CSF outbreaks reported by Kumar et al. (2007) and Basheer et al. (2009), etc. However, the usefulness of a variety of clinical signs and macroscopic pathological features in the diagnosis of CSF has been re-evaluated by Elbers et al. (2001), Elbers et al. (2002) and Elbers et al. (2003); they suggest that none of the signs or pathological lesions, alone or in combination, are sufficiently sensitive or specific for CSF. They recommend the use of laboratory tests to distinguish CSF from other diseases that present similar signs, in particular African Swine Fever (ASF), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), and bacterial septicaemia or pneumonia (Sandvik et al. 2005). In this study, laboratory tests were used in conjunction with participatory methods to increase the accuracy of the diagnoses made.CSF is thought to be endemic in India --farmers involved in the study could enumerate most of the clinical signs associated with the disease. Phylogenetic analyses of CSFV isolates show that CSF viruses circulating in the country belong to sub-groups 1.1 and 2.2 with the predominance of the former group (Patil et al., 2010). It has not been assessed, however, whether clinical presentation and epidemiological profiles of CSF vary with CSFV serotype as has been reported for other viruses such as blue tongue virus (Brenner et al., 2011). This would have implications on the disease surveillance particularly in remote areas where syndromic surveillance could play an important role.It is assumed that the clinical syndrome described in this study relate more with the serotype 1.1 given that CSFV isolated from Assam belong to this subgroup (Sarma et al., 2009).Measures of CSF-burden that are available in the literature have been obtained from surveillance activities implemented in the course of the disease outbreaks. Kumar et al. (2007), for example, indicated that the morbidity, mortality and case fatality rates of the disease following an outbreak in Punjab state were 88.2%, 77.5% and 87.8% in piglets <3 months of age and 20.5%, 8.2% and 40.0% in older pigs, respectively. Clinical signs observed included high fever, erythema of the skin of the ears, abdomen, and medial thighs, and greenish watery diarrhoea. Nandi et al. (2011) also reported that 63.3% of the samples collected from 12 states in India had CSFV antibodies while 76.7% of the samples collected from 13 states had CSFV antigens. The case fatality rates obtained from this study approximate those published by Kumar et al. (2007) but the incidence estimates vary because they measure different but related events. Incidence estimates published by Kumar et al. (2007) represent the number of animals affected in the CSF outbreaks studied while those obtained from this study represent the rate at which villages are affected by CSF outbreaks over a period of one year. All these findings show that young pigs suffer heavier mortalities compared to older animals. Wright et al. (2010) have characterised husbandry systems (feeds, housing, and breeds and breeding) used to raise pigs in north-eastern India. Their observations are very similar to those reported in this study. In general, most villages used low input-output husbandry systems. Given that the participants identified pig farming as the most promising source of income, this sector has the potential to grow provided that the constraints identified (i.e., lack of feed and poor feeding management, lack of capital, diseases and poor method for managing them and lack of adequate knowledge on pig farming) are addressed.The husbandry systems described in the study are associated with low biosecurity standards especially in Assam where a large proportion of villages kept pigs under free range system. Pigs raised in such a systems would have a greater risk of coming into direct or indirect contact with contaminated material, visitors and domestic or wild animals. Most villages in all the states also used unprocessed leftover food, residues of local beer and food feed crops as pig feed. The use of leftover food heightens the risk of introduction of CSF and other diseases such as foot and mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, transmissible gastroenteritis among other diseases. It is recommended that food waste or garbage fed to pigs must be heat-treated before being used to reduce the risk of disease transmission. With regard to the types of breeds kept, both native and improved pig breeds are fully susceptible to CSF infection (Blacksell et al., 2006). Native breeds, and to some extent crossbreeds such as those raised in the study area, however demonstrate longer survival times, have delayed onset of viraemia and pyrexia compared to improved pigs. This contributes to the maintenance and spread of the disease (Blacksell et al., 2006). With regard to pig marketing, Deka et al. (2008) have identified some of the biosecurity breaches that are likely to exacerbate the transmission of the disease. Traders often move from one farm to another looking for pigs to buy. Pigs purchased are often transported on bicycles, vans or public service vehicles. Mortalities encountered during transportation are usually slaughtered immediately and kept in cool boxes.Livestock farming (with pigs playing the dominant role) was the second most important source of livelihoods; this implies that the impacts of CSF were expected to be substantial. This study attempted to evaluate the costs of CSF at the farm level while cognisant of the fact that its economic impacts are much more complex and go beyond the immediate impacts on producers. The analyses did not also account for farmer adaptations, for example engaging in other livelihood activities in the event of an outbreak or market price adjustments (depending on whether the commodity produced can be consumed locally or exported from the affected area). The costs obtained are therefore not absolute but they should be considered as being indicative of the CSF losses. Productivity losses, for instance, were not fully analysed given that it has numerous parameters that are often difficult to determine in the village settings (e.g. amount of feed used and change in the conversion ratio, change in growth rates, delayed maturity rates, etc. Some of the productivity losses are long-term as their effects drag on for a prolonged period of time. There is also scanty information in the literature on the magnitude of these losses. Otte (1997) found out that productivity impacts of CSF in Haiti amounted to USD $ 2.7 million per year. Analyses of the treatment costs indicate that farmers spent about USD $ 450,000 in an attempt to treat CSF yet it is expected that reactive interventions do not work well particularly when implemented haphazardly. The government needs to develop a CSF intervention program given the fact that the control of a transboundary disease requires well coordinated regional programs. Future analyses of the costs of CSF in the NE India should therefore include the expected benefits from control interventions so as to inform the development of an inclusive CSF control policy.CSF can be eradicated through stamping out of infected and in-contact pig herds with destruction of carcasses. This however requires prompt identification and diagnosis to delineate affected herds.There are also concerns about the feasibility, costs and acceptability of such a measure. Alternative interventions include enforcement of sound biosecurity measures on-farm (Pritchard et al., 2005) in addition to vaccination. In cases of emergency responses, a modified live vaccine should be used since immunity develops rapidly following its administration (Suradhat et al. 2001;Van Oirschot 2003). The usefulness of vaccination campaigns have however been constrained by lack of effective vaccination regimes. Some of the factors that should be considered while developing a sound vaccination regime include: (i) presence of colostral antibodies in young animals, (ii) pig population dynamics and movement patterns, (iii) production system and presence of wild hogs in the target area, and (iv) the epidemiology of the disease.This was a preliminary participatory epidemiological study aimed at collating information on the incidence and impacts of CSF from farmers and a few key informants in the NE India. The conclusions drawn from the study include the following: Pigs are kept by a majority (slightly over 80%) of the households in the NE India. Pigs are also considered as being the most promising source of income in the area. However, further development of the of the existing pig enterprises is constrained by: (i) lack of feed and poor management practices, (ii) lack of capital and (iii) infectious diseases and poor infrastructure for managing them.The incidence, morbidity and case fatality rates of CSF were estimated to be 5.4% (95%CI: 3.5 -8.0), 28.1% (95% CI: 20.4 -36.6%) and 51.1 -94.5%, respectively. Piglets, as expected, suffer higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to the other age categories. The study also shows that an outbreak of CSF lasts for about 36 days (95% CI: 19.0 -53.8). This implies that CSF outbreaks run their full epidemic course as there is not an adequate infrastructure for implementing response measures. Behavioural practices such as selling off infected/potentially infected animals in the face of an outbreak by farmers in a bid to avoid mortality losses promote the transmission of the disease. Some of the husbandry practices used by the local producers such as use of untreated leftover food as pig feed, free ranging/tethering, and lack of proper housing are important risk factors for CSF transmission. Native pig breeds could also be playing an important role in the epidemiology of the disease. Ecological studies need to be done to assess the relative impact of the native (kept by a majority of the farmers) verses exotic pig breeds that are being raised by a majority of the farmers on the epidemiology of the disease. It is known that native breeds have longer survival rates compared to exotic breeds and therefore shed the virus in small quantities over a prolonged period of time. Farmers spent up to USD $ 450,000 to treat animals that contract the disease yet their uncoordinated interventions do not help in controlling such a trans-boundary disease that has a high incidence and morbidity rates. Farmers in the area also incur huge costs from mortality and productivity losses and the government should urgently develop a CSF control program.","tokenCount":"5506"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2129271872.json b/data/part_1/2129271872.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f0fc707109c872e2df2ee3056c6c3ddff63fb1d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2129271872.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce6f2e4050669828c74bbd05e7038a7b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2e3b55d1-efdc-475f-9aaa-43a80566e463/retrieve","id":"830267709"},"keywords":["New Innovation","Yes Innovation type","Social Science Stage of innovation","Stage 3","available/ ready for uptake (AV)"],"sieverID":"915a2a05-5a72-485b-8390-05b7326315b2","pagecount":"2","content":"P771 -Shaping equitable climate change policies for resilient food systems across Central America and the Caribbean Description of the innovation: This method details steps to build with local stakeholders local policies for climate adaptation. This method combines research outputs with local knwledge to create context-specific plans.Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Applicable>• HondurasThe method has been used successfully in 4 municipalities and 8 communities in Honduras.Name of lead organization/entity to take innovation to this stage: CIAT (Alliance) -Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -Regional Hub (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)• TNC -The Nature Conservancy• # of countries/states where CCAFS priority setting is used to target and implement interventions to improve food and nutrition security under a changing climate • Guidance on enhancing institutional capacities and enabling conditions for scaling food and nutrition security under climate change is disseminated and policy dialogues held in selected countries• 35 -Enabled environment for climate resilience • 45 -Increased capacity for innovations in partner research organizations • 29 -Enhanced adaptive capacity to climate risks (More sustainably managed agro-ecosystems)Contributing Centers/PPA partners:• CIAT (Alliance) -Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -Regional Hub (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)","tokenCount":"188"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2148114013.json b/data/part_1/2148114013.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..662e3ffd4e19284e35a6b1d5afff806b8e3a8aa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2148114013.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4956b9285565e6b0390d18aeff105797","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0ac5d822-5e0c-4a93-a1b1-bcc963e5150c/retrieve","id":"163980680"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dca87a10-a9a6-494e-89ba-84a37394906c","pagecount":"121","content":"trip to Gatersleben. A paper by GTZ on managing agrobiodiversity in rural areas was also presented, to acquaint workshop participants with German Technical Cooperation initiatives in their countries -particularly with activities related to the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources. The presentation ended on steps required in approaching GTZ for technical cooperation.Since 1999 DSE/ZEL and IPGRI have joined their resources to organise workshops that address the strengthening of national and regional policy and institution frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa, West and Central Africa and East Africa that are relevant for sustainable use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources. Whenever relevant and possible also the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) participated and provided resource persons or information to the workshops in view of the fact that nations world-wide have signed and ratified international agreements to implement measures for the sustainable use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic diversity, thus demonstrating their willingness to allocate resources towards that aim.Policy and institutional frameworks might be in place, but performance at the management and legal level has to be further developed, therefore this workshop brought participants from Eastern African countries together to exchange experiences, to acquire additional knowledge and to develop new skills that can contribute to the effective and efficient operation of the newly established regional EAPGREN network.DSE/ZEL and IPGRI like to thank the participants and resource persons to their dedication and endurance and, thus, to make this workshop a great success.Ms. Barbara Krause vii Executive SummaryPromoting the development of an East African Network on Plant Genetic Resources (EAPGREN) was the main objective of the international workshop held in Zschortau, Germany, in October 2002.The workshop aimed at contributing to the strengthening of the national level political and institution framework for the effective and sustainable use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources within countries of East Africa.The Director of ZEL training centre welcomed the participants and underscored the importance of addressing issues of teaming up, co-ordinating, networking, reaching agreements and building ownership. He stressed that these issues are important to good governance, linking it creatively to sustainable use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources.The workshop offered an appropriate occasion to present the example of a European network, 22 years after its formal establishment. A historical review of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR), a description of its current organizational structure and a summary of the main outputs delivered by the programme were presented, with analysis of the programme's strengths, weaknesses and future perspectives.It was hoped that the European experience could serve as an inspiration for the foundation of EAPGREN. Although ECP/GR developed in a different context compared to the current situation of East Africa, the overall experience of ECP/GR could offer a useful basis of comparison with EAPGREN, especially as the two networks share the general objective of improving plant genetic resources conservation and use in their respective regions.The importance of EAPGREN's contribution to better conservation and utilisation of PGR in Eastern Africa was enumerated as: Providing a forum for exchange of information, scientific knowledge and experiences among member countries.  Enhancing the capacity for research with a view to adding value to germplasm and advancing scientific knowledge on plant genetic resources conservation and use.  Training cadres of highly skilled plant genetic resources specialists in the region.  Collection and complementary conservation of germplasm important for agricultural production and healthcare.  Supporting the development of operational national plant genetic resources networks  Documenting plant genetic resources materials and activities in the region.  Strengthening the linkages between plant genetic resources conservation and utilisation with particular emphasis on community based user groups.  Providing a forum for exchanging plant genetic resources material for mutual benefit among member countries.  Adding value to plant genetic resources work in the member countries, the region and among ASARECA networks due to its crosscutting nature.  Ensuring gender equity and recognizing the roles played by different gender in plant genetic resources conservation and use, paying particular attention to involvement of women who are the major custodians of plant genetic resources at the smallholder production level.A framework was proposed against which the success or failure of networks for use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources can be assessed. Since the EAPGREN network is in its formative stage and this workshop aims to strengthen it, the introduction and adoption of such a framework by the network is timely.This initiative to establish a plant genetic resources network for Eastern Africa is a direct follow-up on gaps and needs as identified in the Global Plan of Action (GPA). In the discussions towards the establishment of a formal network on plant genetic resources for the region, it is fully recognised that countries of the region share common ecologies and threats to their plant genetic resources. Plant species and communities spread across their borders. The countries have limited financial and trained personnel for PGR activities. Some countries have already developed technical expertise and infrastructure that could be used for the common good of the region.Country reports were presented on Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.A mechanism for sustaining the network and its activities beyond the initial phase that is supported by Sida was discussed. This may be in form of country contributions and/or establishment of an endowment fund. The NARS need to mobilize more national resources for development of national plant genetic resource networks and subsequent implementation of the activities.Using guidelines prepared by IPGRI and FAO to enhance the involvement of stakeholders in national programmes for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), with the broader aim of helping countries to implement the GPA, the workshop was taken through a sequence of five steps suggested to assist national focal points to design and carry out a stakeholder involvement process. The importance of indicators of national programme success was discussed and the framework for assessing network success.The government, focal points of various international conventions (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity) gene bank curators and staff, breeders, breeders associations, research and training institutions, farmers and farmers' communities, and many others are deeply involved in or concerned with the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources.A participatory analysis and planning method, SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) was introduced to the participants, using the experiential learning approach (learning by doing), to enable them to use this tool in future on their own. By practising the SWOT method, the participants analysed during an intensive communication process in detail the PGR conservation and use in their home countries and developed from the conclusions future priorities and action areas for the EAPGREN Network.The elements of the Global System for the Conservation and Utilization of PGRFA were discussed, specifically the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT) and the GPA, as providing a comprehensive technical legal and policy framework for developing and strengthening conservation and use activities at the national and regional levels.Governments of the Eastern African countries that are members of EAPGREN were encouraged to ratify the IT and to actively participate in the preparatory processes for the second State of the World's PGRFA report and in the monitoring of the implementation of the GPA. The activities provide opportunities (and obligations) to countries to establish long-lasting processes, procedures and mechanisms to assess the current status of PGRFA. Countries are also able to monitor the status of the GPA implementation through participatory processes that involve key stakeholders and to jointly develop a national PGRFA information management system.The experience of Germany in national programme development was presented, with focus on the gene bank and breeding research on cultivated plants and matched with a fieldWelcome Address -Dr. W. Zimmermann I welcome you warmly at the International Training Centre of Zschortau. The institution in charge of the program is the Centre for Food, Rural Development and the Environment (ZEL) of the Deutsche Stiftung fǜr internationale Entwicklung (DSE). The workshop on \"Strengthening National and Regional Policy and Institutional Frameworks for the Sustainable Use, Exchange and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources\" is issued in close collaboration with the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), one of our most important partners.The DSE is an institution which provides a forum for development policy dialogue and offers advanced training of specialists and executive personnel from developing and transitional countries. In order to comply with a rich portfolio, DSE relies on several specialised training centers all over Germany. It maintains the larges documentation and information center on development co-operation issues in Germany.Since 1960 the DSE has given advanced professional training to more than 170,000 decision-makers, specialists and executive personnel from over 150 countries. Every year approximately 9,000 participants take part in the DSE's dialogue and training programmes.The center here at Zschortau is one of the DSE-training centers. The other one is based on Feldafing near Munich in the south of Germana7y. While the Centre at Feldafing is dedicated to \"Rural and Agricultural Development & Development Management\", the Centre at Zschortau focuses on \"Natural Resource Management & Transition\".The mission of the Centre is to contribute to future-oriented rural development, to sustainable natural resource use and to food security of our One World, within the framework of the world-wide poverty reduction strategies and the undertakings of AGENDA 21.In his Report of the Millenium, United Nations -General Secretary Kofi Annan pointed out the urgent and complex challenges faced by humankind, which, he says, demand new cooperative ways of problems solving. \"If we want to make the best out of globalisation and avoid the worst, we have to learn to improve on our performance for Good Governance, and we have to learn on how to improve it in doing it together\".This approach is based on partnership, where Nations and international institutions work together on ground of shared believes and common goals.I have studied the program. I denote that you will be dealing with issues like teaming up, co-ordinating, networking, reaching agreements and building ownership. That, too, is improving Good Governance! It is the new, the fourth dimension of sustainability, complementing ecological and economical and socio-cultural sustainability.The workshop aims at contributing to the strengthening of the national level political and institution framework for the effective and sustainable use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources within countries of East Africa. I am, therefore, very pleased to know, that this workshop will be addressing issues which are important to Good Governance linking it creatively to sustainable use, exchange and conservation of Plant Genetic Resources!Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are vital for national food security and development, especially in developing countries. Strong national PGRFA programmes can help countries improve the conservation and use of PGRFA and are the building blocks for efficient/well coordinated international PGRFA efforts. The need to strengthen national PGRFA programmes has been widely recognized both at a national level and in several international agreements. Effective planning and coordination are essential prerequisites to establish and operate a strong national PGRFA programme. They are particularly effective when combined with a third element, i.e. a high degree of stakeholder involvement in both these activities. Efficient and well-coordinated national programmes on PGRFA can contribute greatly to national socio-economic development. The recent broadening of interest in the management and use of plant genetic resources calls for the wider involvement of different sectors and stakeholder groups in national PGRFA programmes and planning processes. If PGRFA activities are to meet current and future national needs, they require effective coordination, both horizontally -across different sectors, ministries and stakeholder groups -and vertically -between policy, institutional and field-level activities. Such coordination can minimize duplication of effort and ensure complementarity between activities. In this paper the aforementioned key conditions and elements for adequate coordination, as well as participation of the important stakeholder groups, will be further explored. Similarly, arguments to convince the respective decision-makers on the above will be presented. First, the importance of good communication and exchange of information among key stakeholders of the national PGR programme will be addressed, followed by who these stakeholders are. The section on PGR being a vital component of a nation's cultural heritage underpins the critical importance of involving the stakeholders. Thereafter, it will be discussed how well-coordinated national PGR activities will contribute to sustainable conservation and use and how they can help in providing a solid basis for the effective participation in regional and international fora on PGR and related matters. In view of the increased awareness that states possess the sovereign rights over the genetic resources that occur within their borders it is argued that this has to lead to increased responsibility on the part of governments for their conservation. In addition, national policies and legislation that affect PGR should support regional and international obligations as well as national objectives. In the last section it is argued that for PGR to contribute to future agricultural development PGR have to be properly conserved and utilized. Exchange of information on plant genetic resources is necessary to allow adequate coordination and to facilitate effective participation of stakeholdersThe effective coordination of plant genetic resources efforts requires regular communication between stakeholders. Unfortunately, however, the flow of information among the many groups associated with conservation and use is often insufficient, irregular and ad hoc. The weakness or, in some cases, complete absence of communication channels between genetic resources conservationists and users can forestall the creation of coherent national policies and strategies. It also makes it more difficult for them to learn about each other's priorities and needs, and limits the collaboration and the interdisciplinary activities that do so much to support the implementation of national policies and plans. Although they do not substitute the rationalization and continuity provided by progressive planning efforts, national and local consultation workshops can provide excellent opportunities for promoting regular communication amongst stakeholder groups. Importantly, they also allow all stakeholders to have a voice and the opportunity to help shape national genetic resources policies and programmes. Countries are using such workshops more and more in planning and carrying out national programme activities.Networks are also a powerful way to promote communication. They provide a platform for information sharing, technology transfer and research collaboration. By forging links among individuals and institutions involved in plant genetic resources activities, networks promote the exchange and use of material. They also facilitate priority setting and defining responsibilities for collaborative activities, such as collecting, conservation, evaluation and pre-breeding and policy development. Most important of all, networks bring together people with complementary expertise and resources, allowing the collective achievement of objectives that would be beyond the scope of individual scientists or institutes. Networks are based on common regional, thematic or crop-based interests. Some examples of effective regional networks are the European Cooperative Programme on Genetic Resources (ECP/GR), the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) and its Special Programme on Genetic Resources (SPGR).The successful conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA requires action by a wide range of people in each country. The involvement of representatives of different stakeholder groups in planning and implementing the national PGRFA programme is vital because it instils a sense of ownership of the programme and hence a sense of responsibility for its success. Germplasm users, including both plant breeders and genebank curators, must be involved in the work of national programmes. Farmers' groups and other non-government organizations (NGOs) are still under-represented in most national PGRFA planning processes, although their involvement is growing. It must continue to do so if political and public acceptance of PGRFA activities is to be sustained. Given the increasing involvement of the private for-profit sector in PGRFA activities, national PGRFA programmes need to integrate private-sector concerns into their planning processes if they have not already done so. A more detailed list of the various stakeholders and partner institutions of a national PGR programme is given in the box below. In addition, in the chapter on monitoring the implementation of the Global Plan of Action details on the involvement of stakeholders in a national coordinated effort related to information management will be presented.PGRFA activities and the policies that provide the framework for their implementation often span different sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, natural resources, environment, rural development and even tourism. These activities and policies are becoming increasingly complex, often giving rise to problematic issues related to questions of ownership of knowledge and resources as well as which ministry should provide the coordination and the corresponding budget, etc. These circumstances underline the importance of and the need for adequate coordination between the different components of the national PGRFA programme. Coordination needs to be both horizontal -between different ministries and sectors -and vertical -between the policy-making or planning level and the institutional and field levels at which activities are implemented.Ministries: Agriculture, Environment, Science and Technology, Trade, Forestry, Foreign Affairs, Culture, Energy, Tourism Sectors: agriculture, farming, environmental protection, research and development, education, business, trade, economics, intellectual property, forestry, rural development, nutrition and health Institutions: national agricultural research centres, genebanks, plant breeding stations, managers of protected areas, farmers' organizations, agricultural extension services, agricultural credit services, universities and colleges, research institutes, botanical gardens and arboreta, agri-businesses, export promotion agencies, import substitution agencies, marketing, forestry, land use planning Stakeholders: farmers, rural communities, plant breeders, biotechnologists, pharmaceutical industry, indigenous communities, traditional communities, scientists and researchers, domestic and foreign NGOs, domestic companies, foreign companies, foresters, extension agents, traders, urban consumers, rural consumersCoordination at the policy level can enhance programme efficiency by, for example, ensuring that different ministries integrate their approaches to the development of different sectors, ironing out any confusion over objectives, roles and responsibilities. It is also important for the purposes of presenting a coherent national viewpoint at international fora. At the institutional level coordination is needed to avoid conflicts and promote synergism between the activities of different groups. This is particularly relevant given the funding cutbacks currently affecting the public sector, which necessitate greater programme efficiency. Coordination at the institutional level can also help increase the capacity of the programme and bridge gaps in its coverage, for example by enlisting universities and colleges in the collection and evaluation of germplasm in neglected species. Field-level coordination is important in linking the activities of different groups, notably farmers, NGO workers, extensionists and formal-sector scientists, many of whom can benefit from greater contact with one another, particularly in areas such as germplasm exchange.A well-coordinated national programme can help develop and express a national consensus on PGRFA issues, acting as an intermediary between the higher echelons of government and the many stakeholders in the country as a whole.Plant genetic resources are a vital element of a nation's cultural heritage and of rural development. The richness of a nation's cultural heritage is a good indicator of its wellbeing. Plant genetic resources are an important part of that heritage. The socio-economic value of PGR, together with the traditional knowledge that underpins their use, represents significant cultural assets, which shape national identity at the same time as the genetic resources themselves help provide for people's survival. The close relationship between people and plants can be seen in the central role that plants play as a source of traditional foods and medicines and as symbols in local cultural practices, religion, folklore and art.The diversity found in indigenous plants and traditional crops is a combined result of many years of adaptation to the environment and careful management by local communities. This management is based on traditional knowledge built up over generations and passed over from one generation to the next. Such knowledge can include strategies for landrace conservation, management of pests and diseases, selection and breeding, energyefficient farming and environmental monitoring. It also embraces information about the various cultural and social uses of the plants and their products.Traditional knowledge is reflected in folklore and cultural practices. For example, the neem tree that has for centuries been revered by people in India for its medicinal uses and pesticidal properties is believed to have miraculous powers and is referred to as \"the village pharmacy\" in some places. Local knowledge about the specific properties of plants is often reflected in the common names assigned to many plants, which frequently have their roots in the cultural beliefs and knowledge systems of the communities in which they occur.Because women's responsibilities in rural crop production systems usually extend from propagation, protection, harvesting, processing and storage through to the final preparation of food, they often have the most complete understanding of the distinct characteristics and uses of particular plants. The specialised knowledge of women about traditional plants and their uses is particularly evident in their prominent role in the management and use of the wide array of plants that grow in home gardens throughout the tropical and subtropical ecosystems of Asia, South and Central America and Africa. Home gardens are used to grow plants for food as well as for other purposes. For example, traditional leafy green vegetables, which often grow in home gardens, serve as supplements to the diet. Herbs are grown for use both as culinary spices, and as sources of traditional medicine, and a range of other home garden plants are used as fuel and for making traditional handicrafts, fabrics, etc.The plants with significant value to the livelihoods of local communities, whether as sources of food, fuel, medicine or fibre, include endemic species unique to the country as well as locally adapted varieties that originated elsewhere. Many countries have a wide range of crops that are considered relatively unimportant on a global level, but are economically and culturally important as local staples. For example, fonio, which is native to West Africa, is believed to be one of the oldest cereals grown on the continent. Used to make a nutritious porridge as well as serving as an ingredient in a range of traditional dishes, fonio forms an important part of the diet in many West African countries. It is adapted to marginal production areas and requires little labour. This traditional crop is also one of the world's fastest maturing cereals and provides an important safety net in the farm-cycle. Similarly, teff, which accounts for the largest proportion of (frequently water-locked) land under cultivation in Ethiopia, is grown primarily to use in a pancake-like bread called injera. In Amharic, the official language of the country, injera is often used as a metaphor for \"food\" and/or \"livelihood.\"Other crop plants that are closely linked to the socio-economic and cultural livelihoods of local communities include green gram in India, and local roots and tubers in the Andes. Such crops are frequently referred to as 'minor ', 'neglected', 'underutilized' or 'orphan' crops. They are often adapted to marginal production conditions such as highlands, semiarid areas and saline soils. Such crops can contribute significantly to food supplies in lean periods of the year and form an essential part of nutritionally balanced diets.Changes in land use patterns in rural societies, farming practices, and urban migration threaten the survival of plant genetic resources in many countries. The sudden disintegration of communities due to drought, war or civil strife can also result in the loss of genetic resources and the traditional knowledge associated with them. In the aftermath of such calamities, community rehabilitation and the re-establishment of traditional customs and practices linked to indigenous plant resources can be aided through seed distribution programmes, which return traditional crop varieties to the farmer. But this is only possible if the genetic resources are available from other communities or have been safely conserved somewhere else.If a nation wishes to preserve its cultural identity, it is important not to overlook the contributions of the people who cultivate, manage and use traditional plant genetic resources, keeping them safe for future generations. One of the best ways to ensure that these contributions continue is to empower local communities, for example, through systematic efforts to document traditional knowledge and customs relating to plant genetic resources, with a view toward sustaining and promoting their use within the communities. Raising public awareness of the role of local people as custodians of genetic resources is another important way to help ensure that their valuable contribution to a country's heritage receives the support needed for it to be maintained. Governments can also provide incentives for the continued maintenance of traditional plant genetic resources by local communities, through supporting broader social development programmes aimed at improving their livelihoods.National activities to conserve, improve and enhance the use of plant genetic diversity can best foster the development of the poorest segments of the population if the planning and implementation of these efforts involves the local communities. Their knowledge, and their needs for traditional crop genetic resources, should help steer any effort to manage and use these resources.Coordinated efforts are essential for the sustainable conservation and effective use of plant genetic resources. Many areas of a national economy are concerned with some aspect of plant genetic resources, including the food, agriculture, forestry, medicine, industry, transport, shelter, energy, tourism, and environmental sectors. Farmers, plant breeders, researchers, government agencies and private companies all contribute to and benefit from the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.Often, however, these sectors and individuals do not coordinate their activities and may not even be aware of each others work, no matter how closely it may relate to their own. The result may be fragmented or duplicated efforts and the development of national plans and strategies with conflicting objectives. It is critical that all activities to conserve and use these resources are well coordinated among the main stakeholders in order to realize the full benefit of national investment.Both the Convention on Biological Diversity and Agenda 21 emphasize that the strategic needs of countries can best be met if national plant genetic resources programmes bring together the full range of experience and knowledge about genetic resources that exists in the country. National coordination is very important in order to make the best use of available human, financial and technical resources and to maximize the overall effectiveness of efforts throughout the country.A key objective of this coordination should be to help promote the complementarity of local, national and international efforts as well as of strategies and plans of the formal and informal, public and private sectors. In many cases, this will require reconciling environmental concerns with development priorities. Currently, decision-making systems in many countries separate economic, social and environmental activities at the policy, planning and operational levels. Moreover, activities such as ex situ conservation and plant breeding usually fall under ministries of agriculture, while in situ conservation is usually under the remit of ministries or departments concerned with forestry, environment, natural resources and even tourism.There is no one ideal model for a coordinated national plant genetic resources programme but the common elements of strategic planning, coordination and communication are likely to apply in all cases. The adjustment or even fundamental reshaping of decision-making mechanisms may be needed if environment, agriculture and development concerns are to be fully integrated in national economic and political decision making. The sustainability of all of these efforts will depend upon long-term financial commitment by governments. Financial commitment in turn needs to be matched by commitments from stakeholder groups to ensure that policies and plans are put into action.National coordination provides a solid basis for participation in regional and international activities on plant genetic resources. There are many reasons why countries might wish to collaborate in the exchange and use of genetic resources, e.g. to increase their access to improved germplasm, technologies and information, but perhaps the most compelling argument for collaboration lies in the fact that no country is self-sufficient with respect to the plant genetic resources needed by its farmers and plant breeding programmes. A nation's food and agricultural production systems usually rely heavily on plant genetic resources and improved varieties from outside their borders. This interdependence makes international collaboration essential.Countries have much to gain from partnership with regional and international research and development programmes devoted to the conservation and use of genetic resources. Given the international character of agricultural biodiversity, and the significant global concern for its conservation and use, it is in the interest of all countries to play an active role in policy fora devoted to biodiversity issues, such as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT), or the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).The effectiveness of a country's participation in such international negotiating fora and the benefits that can be gained from that participation will depend on its capacity for national coordination and strategic planning. There is a tendency for both national and international activities to reflect the relatively narrow interests of the national institutions, ministries or international organizations involved. Within any one country the distinct mandates of the various ministries with an interest in plant genetic resources, such as agriculture, environment and trade ministries, for example, may result in a lack of harmony or even conflict among the policies and plans they develop relative to the conservation and use of these resources.Countries should give serious consideration to the establishment of national focal points for plant genetic resources and related agricultural policies as well as to procedures that contribute to harmonized views and approaches. A country may choose to identify a national committee, a national institution, or an inter-sectoral task force as its focal point. It is most important that the focal point is able to serve as a mechanism for sharing information on national needs and opportunities for collaboration with other countries and for allowing national policies and plans to be established in a transparent and participatory way. Currently, only a third of countries have national coordination mechanisms in place.Coordination at the national level will not only strengthen a country's negotiating position in international fora, it will also help to focus and make the most of a country's contribution to the emerging international plant genetic resources system and its ability to benefit from participation in such a system. Several of the planned activities by EAPGREN will illustrate the above and from the discussions during the workshop it became evident that most of the members of EAPGREN are in the process of strengthening their national coordination in order to contribute more effectively to the network as well as to benefit from the services it will provide.National sovereignty over plant genetic resources implies government responsibility for conservation and use. The IT (FAO, 2002) and the CBD (UNEP, 1992), both recognize the sovereignty of nations over the plant genetic resources within their borders. National sovereignty gives countries the authority to determine how and under what conditions these resources are exchanged, used and made subject to property rights. Among other things, sovereignty allows countries to set terms of access that give rise to benefit sharing.The authority conferred by sovereign rights is matched by a country's responsibility to ensure that its plant genetic resources are conserved and used in a sustainable manner. In exercising these sovereign rights and responsibilities, governments have a particularly important role to play.Plant genetic resources are essential for sustainable agriculture and food production. As such, they are vital to a nation's economy. Governments need to devise and enforce policies, strategies and programmes to achieve national food security and development goals, while ensuring that over-exploitation and economic activities damaging to the natural resource base are minimised.Genetic resources conservation requires a continuous and long-term commitment backed by adequate human and financial resources. While both public and private sector organizations will have an interest in genetic resources, many of the activities required for effective long-term conservation do not return sufficient profit to attract major investments from the private sector. Similarly, commercial incentives are lacking for activities that can help to promote effective and sustainable use. The responsibility for supporting these activities thus falls largely to the public sector, in particular to governments, as do measures to raise public awareness and to achieve adequate capacity in genetic resources management and research through training. National public sector investment in conservation and use can be significantly reinforced when a wide range of partners share the costs and benefits of research.Government policies in agriculture, trade and other sectors can sometimes inadvertently create situations that result in the loss of genetic diversity. Restrictive national seed legislation, which favours the trade of genetically uniform varieties, is one example of a policy that could lead to genetic erosion. Subsidy schemes, which encourage wide-scale adoption of high yielding modern crop varieties, are another. While such policies might improve production in the short-term and result in higher profits for private companies, they can indirectly discourage the continued use and maintenance of diverse traditional crops and landraces by farmers. The challenge for governments is to create incentives for continued use and maintenance of genetic diversity by farmers and plant breeders and to ensure that national policies in agriculture and other related sectors support these goals.Above all, the wide range of genetic resources stakeholders operating in any one country indicates the need for a national planning and coordinating authority. Given adequate government and stakeholder support, such an authority can play an important role in developing links between stakeholder groups in the country, helping to ensure an effective and participatory approach to meeting national responsibilities to conserve and use its biological resources.National policy and legislation affecting plant genetic resources should support both international obligations and national objectives.National authority to regulate access to plant genetic resources is a pillar of the CBD as is national responsibility for conservation and use; both are conditions of the Convention's recognition of national sovereignty over genetic resources. A country's ability to fully benefit from the potential of genetic resources to contribute to its socio-economic development and agricultural productivity will in large part depend on the development of coherent national policies and regulations.The adoption of several international conventions and treaties affecting genetic resources reflects a broader understanding of the interdependence of nations with respect to agricultural biodiversity. Some of the most significant treaties are the CBD, the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO/TRIPs) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. In developing national genetic resources policies, decision-makers should carefully consider the obligations imposed by these treaties on signatories.Genetic resources are important raw materials for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and industry, as well as being critical to the health of the environment. The genetic resources-related activities of these different sectors have traditionally been carried out in relative isolation. In many countries, different government ministries have established policies and procedures for the management and use of genetic resources. Developed independently, these policies and procedures do not always complement and may even contradict one another.Even when governmental policies are not directly concerned with genetic resources, they still can have a significant impact on conservation and use. For example, national trade policies and laws can either serve to facilitate or hinder the exchange of plant genetic resources. For this reason, to be truly effective, the process of developing national genetic resources policies and strategies should include all sectors dealing with these resources, whether directly or indirectly.In recent years, numerous international policy fora, with different interests and objectives, have emerged or have expanded their mandates to include matters affecting the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. Yet, despite a significant overlap in the issues treated by these diverse bodies, there has been little effort to coordinate their efforts. The closely linked issues of access and benefit sharing, for example, are currently under negotiation by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the World Trade Organisation, GATT/TRIPS and others. Only rarely do countries ensure continuity in representation to the various fora, nor have the different sectors been particularly successful in sharing with each other the developments in these fora.As a result, national decision-makers are faced with a bewildering array of policy positions in related, but quite distinct fora. Achieving clarity and harmony among these positions is critical to the development of a coherent national framework. Ensuring such harmony is one of the most crucial tasks facing governments. The chapter on PGR policy and legislation will provide more details and approaches how more harmonized policies and legislation can be achieved.In summary, governments need to review their existing policies and legislation relevant to genetic resources to ensure that they are consistent and that they support national objectives and priorities. Amendments or new policies and laws should be developed in consultation with all relevant sectors. Governments should also assess the full range of their international obligations with regard to biological resources and related issues, in order to identify possible synergies that could lead to more effective implementation as well as any inherent contradictions that might hinder it. This process of national review and assessment should be carried out with the support of relevant intergovernmental fora and should draw on regional cooperation. Such an approach will enable national governments to represent their concerns and interests more effectively at the international level. It will also increase the likelihood that national and international policies are developed and implemented more closely in harmony, to the benefit of countries, both individually and collectively.For plant genetic resources to contribute to future agricultural development, they must be used as well as conserved. Plant genetic resources need to be conserved now if they are to be used in the future. As raw materials for agriculture, these resources are integral to the sustainability of production systems and hence are key to development. In some cases, plant genetic resources will be maintained and hence \"conserved\" by the production system itself, as long as they continue to be useful to the farmer. In other cases, they may be subject of a deliberate conservation effort, which seeks to ensure that they remain available for future use.Some national conservation programmes actively promote the use of plant genetic resources and have strong links to breeders. Unfortunately, the management of genebank collections and protected areas in many countries is often not conducive to the use of the genetic resources they hold. Collections are often maintained in isolation from breeding programmes and other activities that promote use. Both Agenda 21, adopted in 1993, and the Global Plan of Action for plant genetic resources, adopted in 1996, recognize the importance of strengthening the links between the conservation and use of plant genetic resources and urge countries to develop strategies and plans that integrate both activities.Many curatorial and research activities related to plant genetic resources collections (e.g. genetic diversity studies, characterization, evaluation, the establishment of core collections and pre-breeding) add value to collections by making the conserved material, whether ex situ, in situ or on-farm, more accessible and easier to use. Sustained government support for these activities should be regarded as a long-term investment in a country's future. Collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders, supported and coordinated by public sector agencies, can also contribute to the sustainability and effectiveness of genetic resources activities. In most countries, such stakeholders will include ministries, scientific institutions, private and public sector institutions, NGOs and farmers.It is important for national agricultural and biodiversity planners to recognize that the strategic and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is vital for achieving their agricultural production, rural development and biodiversity conservation objectives, both now and in the future. The gene bank accessions have notably increased during the 50 years of gene bank activities in Gatersleben. In 1945/46, the gene bank started with about 3,500 accessions. In 1990, already 68,840 accessions were stored. Today, about 100,000 accessions of more than 2,400 species are available. The most numerous collections are in cereals, legumes and vegetables.The institute owns 75 acres of land, out of which 15 hectares are used for the reproduction of stored material as well as for the characterisation and evaluation work. The gene bank has a very good reputation and is intensively used by researchers, botanic gardens breeders and private persons.More than 20,000 accessions are distributed to users every year and still free of charge. However, like many other institutions, the gene bank has to reduce costs. Concerning the ex situ reproduction the strategy for saving money is: improve the storage conditions and avoid unnecessary duplicates. The total staffs of all the departments counts about 450 persons, among them 146 scientists. Temporary staff on research grants is supporting the teams.The tasks of the gene are:  Collection, conservation and documentation of PGR  Research on cultivated plants  Provision of plant material for research purposes For further information the following internet address can be used: www.ipkgatersleben.de Dr. Börner showed the visitors the spike collections of the IPK Gaterleben that serve, besides the herbarium and the seed collection, as a reference collection.He explained the required storage conditions of various species. Germination tests proved that e.g. wheat and barley can be stored up to 20 years at 0˚C without losing germination capacity.On the other hand Avena sativa and Secale cereale are pre sensitive. Regeneration on the field to get fresh seed material has to be carried out every 12 to 15 years. For storing the material even longer-15˚C are necessary.Then, Dr. Börner guided the participants through the storage rooms. First the cold store was visited. In an insulated building, four storage rooms (one with 10˚C two with 0˚C and one with -15˚C are available. The participants could watch the large seed collection stored in jars. Each jar has a little bag with silica gel on top of the seeds, which prevents the damage of the material due to humidity. |The seeds can be observed in the glasses at any time.On their way to the different institutes, the group could see some of the seed multiplication fields of the gene bank. Most of the crops had been harvested already. In the multiplication fields, the different accessions are arranged in a way that they cannot be cross-pollinated by other varieties of the same species. A number of multiplications of insect-pollinated gene bank material are carried out in small isolation houses. The isolated pollination in these houses is made by special populations of wild bees and other insects, which are kept and multiplied in a specialised lab. The participants also passed big number greenhouses, which are necessary for plants that are sensitive to frost.Afterwards, Dr. Knüpffer explained the work of the research group Gene Bank Documentation. Its information system offers plant breeders, researchers etc. a huge amount of knowledge on PGR. Today, passport data for more than 86,000 accessions are available via internet (Http://fox-serv.ipk.gatersleben.de). Another main task is the national and international co-operation in the creation of multi-institutional PGR databases. Dr. Knüpffer described some of the projects they are working on, such as the European Barley Database or the EVA project. In cooperation with other German institutions, a centralised federal information system for PGR is being established.These activities were intensified with the start of the project \"Federal Information System on Genetic Resources\" (BIG; http://www.dainet.de/genres/big/) in 1998. BIG is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. Data sources of IPK (departments: Gene Bank and Taxonomy), the botanic gardens in Germany and Nature Protection will be made jointly accessible through a common internet search interface. The first activities were dedicated to the development of a taxonomic database based on the \"Mansfeld World Catalogue of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops\" (www.ipkgatersleben.d/mansfeld).Dr. Keller, head of the in vitro storage and cryo-preservation research group, continued and explained that the gene bank collection also contains plants which have to be propagated vegetatively because the plants form bulbelts or are not able to set seed under our local conditions. At Gatersleben, these are species of the genus Allium (garlic, shallots, top onions tec.) as well as several vegetables, Dioscorea species and herbs. About 3,000 accessions of Allium are maintained in the collections of the gene bank and the taxonomy department. Accumulation of viruses has been found in accessions which have been maintained vegetatively in field plots. However, plants that does not form storable seeds or which have to be maintained as clones for breeding or research can be maintained apart from sources of infection by in vitro culture and cryopreservation. Both these methods belong closely together, but are in different states of development. Applied investigations as well as fundamental investigations are still necessary for their establishment.Then a visit to the different labs, the tissue culture room, storage facilities and the cryopreservation lab room was possible. The researcher discussed with the participants several points, like special aspects of in vitro propagation, slow growth storage and meristem culture for virus elimination in garlic and shallots. Some participants were also interested to know more about the detection of viruses in plant material, what is done by ELISA tests.The participants were welcomed by the head of the institute, Dr. Schumann. He started with an overview on the organisation and the tasks of the Federal Centre.The climate and the geological conditions in Central Germany proved ideal for see growing of agricultural and horticultural crops. From the Middle Ages on, Quedlinburg has developed into a centre of plant breeding and breeding research, as the natural conditions in this region are very favourable: rain shadow of the Harz Mountains, dry spells in autumn and fertile soils.With the reunification of Germany, chance was taken to unite the capacities of breeding research on cultivated plants in Germany in one research centre. By enactment of November 27, 1991, the Federal Centre for Breeding Research on Cultivated Plants (BAZ) was established on January 1, 1992, as part of the research sector of the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Nutrition and Agriculture. The BAZ comprises nine institutes and a gene bank at 7 locations in Germany.In general, the BAZ is a public institution with research concentrating on plant breeding. It produces the scientific basis to back up political and administrative decisions by the Ministry of Consumer Protection and it promotes the agricultural policy for ecologically sound farming and sustainable agriculture. In addition, BAZ supports private plant breeders, what is mainly done by developing new methods and by providing plant breeding material.There are two institutions situated in Quedlinburg, of which the Institute of Horticultural crops was visited by group. Dr. Schumann explained the tasks and research activities carried out there. The Institute of Horticultural Crops originated from merging two BAZ institutes founded in 1992, the Institute of Breeding of Vegetables, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and the Institute for Breeding Methods in Vegetables. Breeding research carried out by the institute is aimed at providing the conditions for an economically efficient plant breeding and an ecologically sound horticulture. It is application-oriented research, conventional breeding as well as biotechnology and gene technology. The main objectives of the institute are the generation of healthy plants, improved product quality, and the development of new breeding methods and strategies.In the field of breeding methodology, the institute favours an integrated approach of combining classical cross breeding, plant cell tissue and organ culture, molecular diagnosis and gene transfer techniques. The range of species investigated is determined by the current research requirements and their economic importance. At present, the main focus is on vegetables of the genera Brassica, Allium, Daucus and selected medicinal plants, e.g. Hypercium perforatum and aromatic plants like fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and caraway (Carum carvi).Guidelines were prepared by IPGRI and FAO to enhance the involvement of stakeholders in national programs for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), with the broader aim of helping countries to implement the Global Plan of Action (GPA). Stakeholders are people, groups, or institutions who are likely to be affected by the plant genetic resources program (either positively or negatively), or those who can affect the outcome of the program.The government, focal points of various international conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity) gene bank curators and staff, breeders, breeders associations, research and training institutions, farmers and farmers' communities, and many others are deeply involved in or concerned with the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources.These voices should be heard because their interests are at stake in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action.Monitoring progress and sharing information are essential components of the Global Plan of Action. Researchers, policy makers, development agencies, and many others involved in the field of PGR conservation and use need solid data and high quality information on which to base their decisions. Effective documentation and information sharing mechanisms are required to facilitate research & development, technology transfer and policy making at national and international levels.A national PGRFA program can gain a lot from stakeholder involvement both in terms of information and commitment. A multi-stakeholder approach for the management of plant genetic resources in the country is important because it engages more people in the conservation and use of PGRFA, a task that can only be implemented on the shoulders of the entire society. A good understanding of the tasks at hand, shared responsibilities, and an acceptance of same are the foundation necessary for this formidable responsibility.Participation in data collection, information sharing and decision making alerts stakeholders to their responsibilities and is likely to generate commitment because it usually increases the capabilities and motivation of the people involved. When stakeholders jointly review what they have done or not done, what worked well and what did not work, it helps them to understand each other's claims and concerns better. It tends to reduce stereotypical perceptions and to generate a larger portfolio of ideas. A well managed process of engaging stakeholders in decision making helps to:  Improve the quantity and quality of information in terms of content (as defined by the number and kind of indicators in monitoring GPA implementation) and coverage (the number and kind of information sources);  Enhance the quality of analysis and decision making through systematic utilization of expert knowledge. This is important because information sharing is only as useful as the conclusions, recommendations, and actions which it is able to credibly produce;  Improve the dissemination of information. Only if information is presented clearly and disseminated to the relevant stakeholders is it likely to make a useful contribution to practical improvements in PGRFA programs, projects, or policy environments.Other potential benefits of participation are increased trust between actors through transparent decision making and joint planning. Increased public understanding of and political support for PGRFA activities is likely to reduce delays for approvals and implementation. Stakeholder participation is thus part of the effort to make things happen.Individuals who participate in stakeholder meetings also stand to gain. The benefits range from individual learning to building social capital, allowing participants to:  influence the direction of the professional community;  meet peers and form new relationships with people who share interests or have different experiences;  gain additional perspectives to improve one's own performance;  learn about new challenges and help define ways to address them;  contribute to defining policies and strategies.The potential benefits of participation suggest that a long-term approach is needed to involving stakeholders in GPA implementation, information sharing, monitoring and other GPA related activities, whenever possible from the very beginning. It is worthwhile for the National Focal Point organizing the stakeholder process to assess what kind of institutional and individual benefits are most motivating to the stakeholders in the country and to design the activities accordingly.A sequence of five steps is suggested to assist National Focal Points to design and carry out a stakeholder involvement process. Steps 1 and 2 are related to planning for and preparing the stakeholder process and involve the National Focal Point and the national steering committee. Steps 3 and 4 are about engaging stakeholders in the development of a common strategy, action plans and implementation of activities to achieve common goals.Step 4 is an implementation phase during which the National Focal Point's and the steering committee role is focused on backstopping and assistance to stakeholders and working groups.Step 5 is about maintaining the momentum for follow-up. The National Focal Point resumes the initiative and responsibility at this stage for on-going follow up. In some cases, the sequence of steps may vary slightly from the one presented here to adapt to local conditions and requirements.The National Focal Point or the National PGR Committee initiates, designs, facilitates and organizes the whole stakeholder involvement process. First, decisions have to be made about the extent and intensity of stakeholder involvement or consultation. These decisions have to be taken on a case by case basis, depending on the particular requirements. The risks of not involving stakeholders in decision making range from sub-optimal data and knowledge to incomplete planning, to lack of commitment, and, in the worst case, resistance of some groups to the decisions taken. The consequence are poor decisions, or sometimes, no decision at all, and lack of implementation of decisions.Before beginning to engage stakeholders, National Focal points should make an initial assessment of the expected frequency and intensity of participation that is required or desirable. Will stakeholders attend a one-off meeting or will they need to attend several meetings and perhaps be actively involved between meetings? When stakeholders get involved over a longer period of time, the nature of their input and responsibilities will probably change from providing information to getting involved in planning and implementation.While different stakeholders may be involved in PGRFA to varying degrees, it is important to note that the Global Plan of Action is not neutral on the issue of the degree to which stakeholders should be involved. It recommends that stakeholders be actively involved. Countries have also recognized the benefits of active involvement of stakeholders, as was concluded by a number of East and Southern African countries which discussed the issue in 1998. A summary of their conclusions is shown in Box 1 below.Involving the full range of stakeholders can yield the following benefits concluded a workshop on national programmes at the Regional Meeting for Eastern and Southern Africa to Promote Implementation of the Global Plan of Action, Gaborone, Botswana, May 1998. Broadens the knowledge base and may reduce costs (through sharing of tasks) and increase effectiveness  Helps to establish national programme objectives through better understanding of needs  Increases sense of ownership and boosts morale of those involved  Builds a constituency for PGRFA conservation and use, which helps to generate political and practical supportThe advantage of assessing the desired degree of involvement is to alert participants in advance how often they are expected to participate in meetings and how long the overall process is expected to last. This information should be estimated before any stakeholder involvement process is initiated.Stakeholders need a clear sense of why they are being invited to participate early on because there can be very different reasons for involving stakeholders, with different requirements in terms of staff competencies. The general purpose and the goals to be achieved need to be communicated to key stakeholders and agreed by them before any process details are being worked out.It is of paramount importance to clarify the linkage of the stakeholder process with official decision-making. Many stakeholder processes are meant to inform policy makers and to improve decision making. The stakeholder process must be effectively linked to official decision making and the information it produces must be of high quality to receive the desired attention. Interagency collaboration needs particular attention and depends on active support from top management. Cross ministerial involvement processes for example can be very complex and require high level authority.The National Focal Point can consider preparing and signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or Terms of Reference (ToR) that will serve as a basis for the participatory process. The MoU can spell out components such as:  the purpose and expected outcomes of the stakeholder involvement exercise,  deadlines to be respected,  to whom the stakeholder group will report,  how outcomes will be integrated into the official decision making process,  types of information to be shared and agreements on confidentiality,  resources to be provided by each stakeholder group Participation requires financial resources for people to prepare for and attend meetings. The National Focal Point or a national PGR Committee in charge of organizing a stakeholder involvement process will need the necessary resources to convene stakeholders and followup on meetings. If each stakeholder will need to assume his or her own costs of attending meetings, this should be clarified in advance.Long-term participation processes need a stable funding base, including secretarial services and communication infrastructure. Staff resources will also be needed to coordinate the process, as joint decision making almost always requires more time than does making a decision without stakeholder involvement.In many cases, the National Focal Point should involve some key stakeholders in the design of the stakeholder involvement process. A steering committee with representatives from key stakeholders can be instrumental for getting high level buy-in to the process, the commitment of setting aside enough time, identifying the appropriate cross-section of people, and getting everybody to agree to stay engaged in the whole process, in other words for generating interest and commitment. As a coordinating group, it is essential for designing the details and running the participatory process. Stakeholder involvement starts with the nomination of this steering committee.Key considerations for composing a steering committee are diversity, balance, and championship. There is no substitute for having the key stakeholders represented in the steering committee. A productive steering committee may involve any number of people from 2 -20, but a very workable size for a steering committee is 4 -6 people. For GPA implementation for instance, the team could include one person for each of the four priority areas plus a chairperson and an impartial group facilitator.The initial planning meetings that have to be initiated by the National Focal Point are critically important for ensuring success. The issues to be addressed are largely set by the Global Plan of Action but in most countries the issues will need to be further defined and differentiated in the course of the process.Give enough time during the initial planning process to establish in the steering committee (and in the stakeholder group later on) a common understanding of the fundamental values that underlie the idea of stakeholder involvement and participation. The overall process will benefit from this initial investment later on. Key values of stakeholder involvement are accountability, effectiveness, equity and inclusiveness.Once basic principles are clarified, a more detailed plan should be developed for the stakeholder involvement process. Before stakeholders are being invited to engage in a productive collaboration, it must be clear to those who invite them what the task is. As the task description is being refined in the course of the preparations, it becomes easier to specify the anticipated outcome and identify the stakeholders who need to be engaged.In many cases the problems and opportunities to be addressed have already been outlined by government or by international conventions, to which the government is a member. This means that stakeholders are invited to participate in a process with a preset (governmental) agenda. However, this usually leaves plenty of room for decisions about how policy level decisions will be implemented, which may be as important or more important. It is essential that the scope of the authority and responsibility of stakeholders be clarified at the outset, so that misunderstandings do not arise.A stakeholder analysis is a technique to identify key people, groups of people or institutions that may significantly influence the success of the activity or project. People and institutions who are likely to be affected (positively or negatively) by the problem at hand or by the project are also stakeholders.The most relevant stakeholder groups (i.e. institutions, organizations, officers etc.) for GPA implementation are likely to be: Identify key stakeholder groups for each major activity or project and their representative 2.Determine stakeholder interests and concerns 3.Assess the balance of support and opposition to the project 4.Formulate a strategy to work towards a more favourable balance of supp The stakeholder analysis should be conducted as early as possible and refined as new information becomes available.The most important question in a stakeholder process is which bodies to approach to represent stakeholder groups and which persons to invite. Certainly people with information or expertise, people with authority and resources to act, and people who are directly affected by what happens should be considered stakeholders and included in the involvement process.A stakeholder is a person or a group likely to be affected by a decision or projectwhether it is their decision or not. People who think they will be affected are also stakeholders. At this stage, some stakeholders may already be involved in the steering committee, others may have their interests represented in the team. Others still have to be identified. The National Focal Point should identify the obvious categories of stakeholders with an interest in the topic as well as individuals who can represent those views. The key stakeholders should be asked to identify a second round of organisations or individuals who might be able to contribute to the GPA monitoring effort.A very important question is how exactly stakeholders are affected by the project. What exactly do they hope to get from the project? What exactly do they want to avoid? How important are the interests of this stakeholder for the success of the project? Some stakeholder interests and concerns are more obvious than others. Some interests are difficult to define, especially if they are in contradiction with the officially stated goals of an organisation or individual. To keep the analysis focused, each stakeholder should be linked directly to the proposed activity.Power and influence refer to the effect stakeholders can have on the project or policy. Stakeholder relationships are as important to consider as their individual relationship to the project or policy. The results of this analytical step will help in approaching the people who are going to represent stakeholder groups. It requires careful analysis and consultation in the steering committee to identify the individuals who need to be part of the process.The composition of the stakeholder group that will finally be invited to participate in meetings or in project activities will vary according to the task at hand and therefore evolve with time. If the focus of the stakeholder process is on public policy and requires government action, then officials may be more important than other stakeholders. If the focus is on economics, then the private sector may need to be heavily represented.Diversity is an important consideration when inviting participants to represent a stakeholder group. Make sure to get the right balance of people, for example from different regions, different technical and scientific background, different levels in the hierarchy and so forth. Meetings are normally more effective when there is diversity not only of stakeholders but also at the level of individuals. While it would not be legitimate to tell stakeholders which individual they should send, it might be acceptable to communicate preferences. Increased diversity makes divergence of views and even conflict more likely but is crucial for the quality of deliberations and decisions.Step 3 Engaging stakeholders Make sure meetings are well prepared and organized with regard to the agenda, time schedule, venue, transport, meals, chairing, documentation, reporting and so forth. Plenary meetings and workshops critically depend on the conditions and the atmosphere that are conducive to hard work, creative thinking, and proper communication. To ensure all this requires efficient organizational back-up and facilitation to be successful.Facilitators for meetings and other group processes need to be accepted by all the participants as impartial and familiar with useful group work techniques. Personal characteristics of a facilitator such as commitment, integrity, experience in political processes etc. can be a crucial success factor. Using several facilitators, for example from different stakeholder groups and on a rotating basis, is another option to consider. In any case, facilitators should have been involved in the design process to ensure they fully understand the issues and are committed to the steering committee's decisions. Some stakeholders might not be accustomed to voicing their opinions. A skilled facilitator is critical for navigating around tough spots, guiding the entire group through new experiences, and stimulating open discussions and negotiation. The facilitator must be a catalyst for setting the process (conference, meeting) in motion and for steering participants toward a closure that leads to action.Working groups need different types of support to perform effectively. This support will vary in relation to the different working group activities but should normally include methodological guidance through analytical steps, group decision making, and action planning. The basic duties of the facilitator are to make sure that everyone works on the same problem with the same approach, and that everyone participates in an equitable manner.The more diverse a stakeholder group is and the more important the issues that are being discussed the more likely it is that conflicts will emerge between stakeholder groups or between participants. Many conflicts cannot be solved once and for all, since divergent interests usually continue to exist and thus remain a possible source of friction. The aim is to achieve a constructive and dialogue-based approach to conflict management by the parties involved.Describe the goal of the stakeholder involvement exercise in terms of concrete goals, objectives and outcomes. Stakeholders will be more motivated and will find it much easier to provide useful and productive inputs if they are well briefed and can see a recognisable, easy to communicate output. . In some cases it may be useful to transmit the suggested goals in writing and well ahead of the first plenary meeting to the stakeholders so that they can put them to their constituencies for comments and modifications where necessary.Outline the sequence of steps and the timetable that will lead to the desired results. It is helpful to identify the intermediate products or results for each step. As a rule of thumb, intermediate goals should be achievable in less than 2-3 months.Even if specific tasks must be accomplished, there is always room for some negotiation of strategic goals and specific means by which goals will be accomplished. The space for negotiation should be communicated to stakeholders and their inputs taken into account in the initial stage of taking stock of stakeholder ideas.A common method for taking stock of ideas in groups is the brainstorm. Brainstorming is best undertaken as a group learning activity. A workshop environment involving up to 15 carefully selected participants is an appropriate forum for eliciting a comprehensive view on the reality of a topic, a problem or a program. A workshop approach is recommended for reaping the full benefit of expert meetings.Specifying the overarching goal to which the collaborative process is supposed to contribute is the first step in clarifying the thinking and challenging presumptions. Early clarity about the major goals of policy will allow for early consideration of alternative solutions and thus make the work more efficient.It is often assumed that benefits will arise from collaboration related to plant genetic resources management, but focal points and coordinators often fail to specify those benefits and ultimately to balance the benefits against the costs. This is important because where the benefits materialize affects how collaboration is perceived and the degree to which stakeholders become committed to it.One of the challenges in stakeholder processes is the move from general analyzing and talking to concrete planning and implementation. A good way to make the stakeholder process productive is to provide a set of draft proposals to focus the discussion. At the beginning of the planning process, project proposals should present a wide range of ideas or options. Only later on should the discussion be focused on a small set of proposals. Sufficient idea notes and perhaps even concept notes will be available from the previous step where stakeholders described the desirable future.The technical, organisational, and legal costs of information sharing, notably when new information technology solutions are envisaged, are a relatively new and unfamiliar territory for all public organisations. Defining and appraising the costs and risks will be an important step towards the most effective policies. Checking alternatives to collaboration is the very first step in the analysis of alternatives.In most cases it will be useful for the steering committee to prepare a draft action plan, which is then discussed and in some form adopted by the entire stakeholder group. The action plan should specify the details and sequence of implementation that defines what is to be produced by whom and when. Action plans are most effective if they specify intermediate deliverables that have to be produced by a given date. To do this, stakeholders have to determine the sequence of all major activities and to assume responsibility for delivery.Let stakeholders assume their responsibilities in plenary, so that everybody knows what can be expected from whom. It is useful to hold stakeholders responsible for signing and committing to the action plan. Stakeholder representatives should endorse the action plan in their own names even if their organisation or group is not able to commit collectively. Signatures should be interpreted as a commitment to do everything possible to assist with implementation.Seek agreement for a light procedure to monitor the implementation of the action plan. Responsibilities and methods for overseeing the implementation of the action plan should be specified in the written report of the first workshop. A mechanism by which the stakeholders and working groups can be re-assembled if a change in circumstances or a failure on the part of a working group to live up to their commitments suggests that another meeting is necessary.Once plans ideas are gathered, ground rules established, strategic directions set and action plans agreed, the next step is to begin to carry out the collaborative actions needed to meet the desired goals. This involves several steps, including establishing working groups or task forces if needed to break a large group or a large task into smaller, more manageable units. The coordinator is responsible for on-going monitoring of the group effort to ensure that trouble-shoot any problems that arise and redirect if needed, to ensure that timetables as agreed by the group are being respected and to provide communications linkages between stakeholders between face to face meetings. The coordinator or stakeholders with greater capacity may need to provide technical assistance to other stakeholders during the implementation phase by conducting site visits or on-the-job training. Results are collected and an initial analysis conducted. At this point, stakeholders should be reconvened to review and validate draft conclusions. Reports should be made back to higher level authorities and feedback collected from them before any work is considered complete. At this stage a final analysis can be made and results finalized.To achieve large and complex objectives, it may helpful to allocate the responsibility for implementation of smaller parts of the job to designated working groups appointed by the full set of stakeholders. Depending on the size of the countries and the scope and complexity of its activities in the field of PGRFA, a number of working groups may be needed. A possible grouping could be by major activity areas of the GPA: in situ conservation and development  ex situ conservation  use of plant genetic resources and  institutions and capacity development The steering committee can prepare suggestions about the need for working groups but the stakeholder plenary should decide how working groups should be used to achieve the objectives and how stakeholders should be represented on each group.Working groups are not independent and they are not permanent. They draw their mandate from the commitments made by stakeholders in the plenary. They need to have clear terms of reference listing as precisely as possible the assignment to be completed and specifying the reporting format and deadlines for submission of reports. Working groups should be free to organise their work within the terms of reference. They should not have decision-making responsibilities.Given the wide range of stakeholders involved in conservation and use of plant genetic resources in each country, there are likely to be widely differing capabilities among different stakeholders. Organizations based in capital cities for example, might have access to communications services that are unavailable to stakeholder in remote areas. Languages may differ from one part of a country to another. Some stakeholders will have computer equipment and the skills to use it, whereas others may have barely had an introduction to the technology. The coordinator should make an initial assessment of the capacities amongst different stakeholder groups to determine how differences might affect the ability of the stakeholders to work together to accomplish their collaborative programme of work. Means of overcoming differences in capacity should be discussed and negotiated among the stakeholders and assistance provided to weaker stakeholders to the extent possible. Assistance could be in terms of provision of supplies and equipment, or in terms of training or site visits to provide on-the-job assistance. Effective stakeholder involvement requires that differences be balanced out to the extent possible so that stakeholders can make effective contributions towards the programme of work.Focal points should monitor progress to address any problems that arise unexpectedly during implementation. Another important job of the focal point is to maintain communications between stakeholders during the implementation phase, so that a sense of common purpose is maintained, to discuss problems that may have arisen during implementation and to report on progress. Without regular communications from the focal point, participants may feel isolated from the group and lose motivation to continue to provide input towards the common objectives. It is important to remember that even though stakeholders have agreed to participate in carrying out a joint programme of work, that all of them have other responsibilities that also demand their time. Motivation and sense of common purpose must be stimulated by the focal point during implementation to help maintain the commitment of stakeholders to the common goals.When the individuals or working groups have completed their tasks, the whole group of stakeholders needs to engage in an analytical effort to look at the overall picture of a problem and broaden their thinking. This is largely achieved by having the \"whole system in the room\", that is by the diversity of the stakeholders who participate in the group. To take all relevant information into account and still being able to trigger creative thinking in the stakeholder group requires both efficient communication and sufficient time for the participants to process the information and make sense out of it. The principle of \"optimal ignorance\" applies here: Stakeholders need to see the big picture without getting lost in details and information overload.A second plenary workshop is suggested for analysis and validation. How should this second workshop be started? Preferably not with presentations of featured experts. Such an approach tends to prematurely narrow down the focus of the stakeholder meeting. Moreover, it takes away much of the time that would otherwise be available for stakeholders to make their points and to interact. And it tends to discourage the less eloquent stakeholders.If there is written information to be shared with stakeholders (reports, proposals, background papers etc.), this should be done beforehand. Providing written information in advance is beneficial because it forces the organisers of the stakeholder process to be precise and concise with regard to the information they are giving. And it gives stakeholders time to prepare and, where required, to consult within their constituencies.Often, the best way to focus a consensus building dialogue is for working groups to provide a set of preliminary data and information to focus the debate. But the findings of the working groups should be seen as only an input into the overall consensus building process. Differences in interpretation as well as conflicting interests among the stakeholders often mean that the results of the working groups will not be accepted unanimously. Preliminary data should be seen as a means to focus conversation, not to end it.The facilitator should create a visual record that captures the key points of agreement and disagreement. Recording can be done on large sheets of paper tacked up in front of the room. The important thing is to have an on-going visual representation of what the group has discussed and agreed. Such a \"group memory\" may use drawings, maps and other illustrations. The visual record ultimately needs to be written up in a summary and reviewed in draft by the participants to ensure that everyone agrees with the results.Individuals or single groups should not insist on claiming authorship of a particular set of data (for example in an effort to improve its standing with its constituents). This bears the risk of provoking criticism or counter-proposals. Consensus is much more likely to emerge if participants avoid attributing or claiming authorship of specific sets of data or information.As the dialogue proceeds, stakeholders should focus on \"improving\" consolidated sets of data and information prepared by the working groups. When changes to a set of data are made, try not to indicate where they originated. Preferably revisions should be accepted by the whole group and thus become the product of the whole group.Give stakeholders something back in return to the effort and information that they have provided. It would be very de-motivating for everybody if they provided inputs and did not get anything back for it. Document and communicate both the stakeholder process and its outcomes. A facilitator's summary will usually be a good choice. Endorsement by the stakeholders is a necessary component. All documentation should be made available to the stakeholder groups and become accessible for the public.Communicate stakeholder decisions and their implicit strategic orientation in simple concepts and plain language, so that the general public and other \"outside\" but interested parties who have not been involved in the process will understand the issues and have a chance to react. Transparent information about the stakeholder process and its outcomes is essential for coalition building and fostering public support. In the long run, it can help to make fund raising efforts more successful.Hold a dissemination workshop when the monitoring report is in its final draft stage. This will allow sharing of results of the stakeholder effort with a larger public at a stage when the findings have been drafted but before the report is finally endorsed.Mind the obvious. Participants usually appreciate good documentation. This can range from background papers that get prepared in the process, reports and other inputs from working groups, arguments and decisions from the plenary meetings. Many people do mind and appreciate simple things such as getting in time the list of participants with their addresses and telephone numbers.The best way to keep stakeholders engaged is to move consciously and boldly from information giving to information sharing and dialogue, and further on to joint implementation. The orientation on a specific product such as the monitoring report on the implementation of the GPA can be a valuable trigger for creating change energy and new partnerships.At this stage, concentrate on the implementation of the new projects and the new work procedures that came out of the stakeholder involvement process. Success will come from practical pilot projects that yield tangible results in a relatively short time. For this reason, it is important to break long-term outcomes down into intermediate outcomes that can be achieved faster and celebrated earlier.Do not worry about larger changes that may eventually be required. People and organizations do have an impressive capacity to respond to problems yet unknown to them (but likely to occur in future) and to find appropriate answers once they get the opportunity. Strategies and plans that stick too close to present day problems are unlikely to bring about significant improvements. The commitment and energy for the program will come from perceived opportunities and visions of the future. The time and effort invested in the elaboration, documentation, and dissemination of appealing images of the desired future will pay off now.Do not try to make detailed action plans with the whole stakeholder group. Large and diverse groups are not good at making operational plans. Rather spend time on getting strategies and outcomes clear and accepted by defining what will be produced and who will use the products. If there is consensus about fundamental strategic orientations, and if these orientations are widely communicated, the partners involved will develop solutions on their own. New working groups or sub committees can also be established to prepare operational plans and report back to the plenary in another workshop later on.When in doubt, or short of resources, go for a few projects only and focus even more on communication and participation. Stakeholders should decide on how to monitor and evaluate the implementation of their decisions. Monitoring and evaluation plans should also answer the question of what happens in the case of non-compliance.New knowledge can only grow and spread when it is accepted. Acceptance, however, is not automatic. The motivation of people to share and use information or knowledge can not be designed or ordered. It rather emerges (or not) in the usual modes of communication and information use, depending on the opportunities provided to enable participation and the processes used to enhance people's commitment.Even if agenda, rules of communication and so forth have been agreed at the outset, stakeholders will need a space for reflection upon that same process and how it is working. Meta-communication should be assured by the facilitators who can ask for reflections on the process at certain points in the process.Another good thing to do is to establish public channels through which the stakeholder group can register concerns and suggestions from non-participating parties at any time.Also plan for a systematic analysis of substantive (i.e. scientific and technical) experiences and lessons learnt in the course of implementation. This may be done periodically and in small groups. It is important to communicate the results quickly in order to avoid the emergence of \"island solutions.\" A key step in ensuring that results are brought to the awareness of higher level authorities is to hold a meeting to present results and discuss the application of the results to national decision making and priority setting. It helps to ensure that higher level decision makers are informed throughout the process to the extent feasible, but that they are actively engaged during the planning phase, when draft results are being analysed and in drawing conclusions and applications from the final results.At the end of every important step, the steering committee may want to conduct a selfassessment of the effectiveness of the process followed and the appropriateness of the approaches, tools and methods that were used.Burundi has 27 834 km2 and 5 to 6 millions inhabitants. More than 90% of the population is living in rural area depending on agricultural income. The main cash crops are coffee, tea, cotton, palm oil, sugarcane etc, which gives around 53% of the national gross product. The main food crops are maize, wheat, rice, sorghum, dry beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, banana, soybean, peanut etc. Fruits are mainly banana, orange, avocado and other tropical fruits. They are many minor crops based-community being lost due to lack mechanisms for proper conservation and use.The overall strategies to contribute to food security in line with the improvement of appropriate management of lands, soil fertility, water, forestry and natural resources protection. The specific target is to alleviate poverty at all community levels by maximizing available resources and developing technologies to increase crop production and income of the population. The ultimate objective is to transform agriculture of subsistence into the economy oriented market with regards to the promotion of a competitive national seed industry.Plant genetic resources activities involve the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and to some extent, the Ministry of Education.The Ministry of Environment is mainly involved in the conservation and protection of forestry, national reserves (parks) which house both plants and animals, water and land management and soil fertility.The Ministry of Education is responsible of training aspects in agricultural areas in collaboration with other agricultural.In the context of germplasm activities, the Ministry of Agriculture is dealing with animals and plant germplasm for food and agriculture. The National Agricultural Research Institute (ISABU) is the mandated public institution to carry out research activities related to crops improvement: collect, characterize, evaluate, conserve, exchange germplasm, breed, produce and supply improved varieties of seeds to producers and farmers. In other words, it provides new technologies to the population with respect to fit their needs.The main partners are:-the public and private universities of crop germplasm exchange, studies related to indigenous medical plants, to plant taxonomy, to wild crop related species, to botanical gardens etc. -the Sub-regional network Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (IRAZ) is dealing with germplasm activities and research in agrobiotechnology. -the public and private seed producers -NGOs are getting interested in proving funds for some research activities, seed production, and farmers working in association -farmers.The country is a member of ASARECA, EAPGREN, many other networks in the region, and International Agricultural Research Centres.The strategies related to PGR conservation have been established in the global plan of natural resources protection. This includes integrated sectorial development plan of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment which has a specific department related to agrobiodiversity protection and use.However, there is not yet a national technical committee on PGR activities involving all stakeholders to set up a global policy for conservation and sustainable use of PGR for food and agriculture. There is not yet a tangible training programme and capacity building at all levels to support the global plan for national conservation and use of PGRBurundi has ratified CBD, IT, FAO Commission, WTO, TRIPS, COMESA (Common Market for East and Southern Africa), etc. The Ministry of Environment has set off regulations related to natural resources conservation, forestry, water management, lands protection …… There are not yet specific regulations related to PGR for food and agriculture, but the programme on PGR activities related to food and agriculture is recently established as a component of the National Research Agricultural Institute. There exist drafts of crop seed legislation and phytosanitary seed regulations as well.Activities on PGR for Food and Agriculture are under planning process since the programme is at the early stage of development. In the sectorial development plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, primary activities in the field of conservation and use of crops and variety diversity focuses on:-the restoration of germplasm in rural agricultural system -the rehabilitation of seed centres for in situ conservation -the development on appropriate technologies related to post harvest and seed storage based-community level -the promotion of initiative of private seed sector development -the promotion of participatory research based on on-farm community-lack of legislation on PGR for food and agriculture -lack of coordination mechanisms among stakeholders -insufficient funding support at the national level -insufficient appropriate infrastructures for PGR conservation -neglected and under-utilized crops and related wild crops are being lost due to dynamic migration of rural population, over-utlization because of famine, overgrazing, high population growth rate, etc.National agricultural and Biodiversity Strategy  Agriculture led industrial development strategy  Federal and Regional Conservation strategies:--are broad and comprehensive -conform to international instruments etc.Organisations and stake holders involved institutional arrangements for PGRs conservations and use. -discontent between policies and conflict between conservation and development oriented institutions -lack of policy dynamism and impact assessment mechanism -a lot needs to be done.Eritrea has a wide and diversified agro-climatic conditions related with altitude which goes from below sea level up to 2400 m. and, few locations above. Based on agro-climatic and soils parameters, the region can be grouped in six zones (the central highland, western escarpment, south western low land, north western lowland and the green belt zone). Based on the diversity of agro-climatic conditions, Eritrea is one of the centres of diversity. The country therefore, has very unique genetic resources with a lot of intra and inter-specific diversity. It is a centre of diversity for such important crops as barley, durum, wheat, taff, sorghum, sesame, sunflower, chickpea, cowpea, etc. , this diversity has not been systematically documented and conserved over the years. This important germplasm is currently under threat due to over exploitation, overgrazing, prolonged war, drought, pests and diseases, introduction of improved varieties, and mechanized cultivation. It is therefore, important tot encourage the already established national centre for, plant genetic resources with gene bank facilities and equipment's to undertake responsibility for germplasm exploration, collection, conservation, documentation, evaluation and utilization.Eritrea is in the north-eastern country of the Africa bordered on national needs and opportunities.The Eritrean people and its economy have terribly suffered from the effects of a prolonged often combined with the occurrence of natural calamities (drought, outbreak of hazard pests, etc.) and is currently among the poorest countries in the world. Since the destruction of habitat and drought are one of the major factors causing genetic erosion, most probably several cultivars of the different crop species are seriously threatened to loss and some could have possibly irreversibly disappeared. In such a situation, it is extremely urgent to conduct an extensive program of crop germplasm exploration and collection to conserve the existing genetic diversity of land race materials and make available a reservoir of gene pool useful in the national and south by Djibouti, and the north and west by Sudan. It has a land area of 125,000 square kilometres and a population estimated 3.5 million. The country has an estimated annual population growth of 3.3%.Eritrea in spite of its limited area, a wide range of agro-climatic condition related with altitude which goes from below sea level up to 2400 m and, few locations, above. Based on agro-climatic and soils parameters, the region can be grouped in six Zones. The Agricultural sector plays a major role in Kenya's economy. The sector contributes 28% of GDP, generates over 60% of foreign exchange earnings and employs 70% of the population. The sector is characterised by small scale holders who account for 75% of marketed agricultural products. Kenya is endowed with unique heritage of diverse germplasm of forages (grasses and legumes and browse plants), cereals (sorghum and millets), pulses (pigeonpeas and cowpeas), tuber crops (Cassava, yams and sweet potatoes), oil crops (castor, groundnuts, sesame and vernonia), fruit tress (tropical and indigenous species) and vegetables including indigenous species such as cucurbits and amaranths.A taskforce was formed in 1996 to develop National Biodiversity strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) on Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) with the objective of implementing Article. 6a of CBD Vision: Kenya's National vision is that there will be a health environment providing abundant biodiversity resources and ensuring food security for the people. Our biodiversity resources will be sustainably conserved and utilised by sensitized and empowered communicates through participatory management practices and the application of modern and indigenous technologies. Best practices in biodiversity conservation will be integrated into national development planning and through good governance there will be sustainable utilization and equitable sharing of benefits ensuring improved social, cultural and economic status of the people of posterity.The Kenya government founded the National Environment Secretariat (NES) in 1974 as the lead environment agency to co-ordinate and oversee environment activities. These roles have been taken over by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) formed in the year 2002. NEMA coordinates the inter-ministerial committee which is multisectoral and multi-disciplinary team with members from the government departments, private sector, Non Governmental Organization (NGOs) Community Based Organizations (CBOs).Institutions like The National Genebank under Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), National Museums of Kenya, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Forestry department and Kenya Wildlife services (KWS) play a major role in germplasm conservation while Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) facilitate safe exchange of germplasm. NGOs such as Help Self Help Centre mobilize conservation and promote utilization and management of plant genetic resources at farm level. Other major stakeholders in PGR activir4s include universities, government departments, CGIAR, CBOs and International Research Organizations.Kenya has a National Biosafety Committee (NBC) hosted by the National Council of Science and Technology, which is a regulatory body on biotechnology.The following are some of the issues to be addressed on PGR:  Integration of PGR conservation in the constitution  Integration to address ECO-Tourism  (2000)(2001) by FOFIFA -SAGE/ONE (underutilized and wild relative crops). Collection of about 500 accessions belonging to more than 120 species (tuber root, sweet potatoes, cucurbita, leave legumes, wild fruits….) -After collecting, difficulties to find funds for:on field station transfer improving the knowledge of interesting accessions popularization of results Lack of public awareness -PGR was never seen as a priority for the development of the country by the decisionmakers -PGR is an unknown word even for high technicians which work in the agricultural domain -Course about plant genetic improvement was stopped by 1980 at the University -Weakness of plant genetic teaching at the primary and the secondary school.Rwanda is predominantly a rural economy with more than 90 % of its population (about 8 million people) dependent on peasant farming for their livelihood MINECOFIN, 2001a). The fact that less than 10 % of Rwandan population live in the urban and the semi urban areas make it the least urbanised country in the sub Saharan Africa (MINECOFIN, 2001a). The country is also densely populated (population density of about 300 inhabitants/km2), leading to threats towards the conservation of environment and biological diversity. Food insecurity resulting from continued land fragmentation and degradation is a serious constraint. Another challenging issue is long standing poverty. Sixty five per cent of the population live below poverty line, and the GDP per capita was estimated to be US $ 260 with a growth rate of 6.2 % in 2000 (MINECOFIN, 2001b).Conservation is mainly done in situ (forest reserves and national parks, swamps, on farm conservation for crops) and in cold rooms where different collections of germplasm exist. The government currently strongly support the conservation of PGR as evidenced by the on going formulation of the environmental policy and legislation (the two in preparation) Gatera (2001) and Mugemana (2001) respectively.Plant genetic resources (PGR) play a major role in different sectors of national economy: agriculture, livestock keeping, forestry, tourism, medicine, research and education. The existing regulations however are restrictive and community participation in management and utilisation of forest reserves for instance is not generally allowed. Only few activities are done under some agreements, or in some cases, against the legislation.As mentioned earlier, over 90 % of the Rwandan population depends on agriculture. The new National Agricultural Policy emphasises on transforming agricultural sector into a high value and high productivity so as to ensure food security. Market oriented agriculture is also aimed at in order to combat the outstanding poverty. As one of the strategies, a 14year World Bank funded Rural Service Support Project geared at fostering agricultural production to achieve the two major goals through environmentally sound agriculture was established. A strong emphasis is also put on the conservation of biological diversity. This is supported by the establishment of a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) (Twarabamenye and Gapusi, 2000), which is in the final stages of preparation.A number of partners in the conservation and use of PGR exist at all levels in the country. These include Governmental Research Institutes (NAR´s,); Departments (Forestry, Environment, Tourism, Land Management, ...); higher learning institutions, non Governmental Organisations and farmers and farmers´associations. Rwanda is a member of regional organisations such as the East African Sub Regional Development Centre (EASDC), Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the \"Institut de Recherche Agronomique et Zootechnique\" (IRAZ). It soon will be a member of East African Community (EAC). It further is a member to regional networks such as the The Rwandan government is developing an agricultural sector strategy with the objective of increasing rural income, enhancing food security, and converting the agriculture into a viable sector by moving away from subsistence to market oriented agriculture (MINECOFIN, 2001b). The agricultural policy therefore advocates for the ecologically sound, market oriented agriculture so as to increase food security and alleviate poverty.A strong support of environmental and biodiversity conservation exists, aimed at ensuring the protection of the environment and the biological diversity patrimony (Twarabamenye and Gapusi, 2000). A broad based national committee comprised of diverse number of partners has been established at national level, which advises the government on environmental and biological diversity conservation and technology transfer issues.Significant efforts to conserve the environment and the biological diversity have been and still are being made by the government. The indices include the existence of forestry policy and action plan, formulation of the environmental act and the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) (the two in preparation) Gatera (2001) and Mugemana (2001) respectively. Rwanda has also signed or in the processes of signing different international conventions dealing with the conservation of environment and/or the biological diversity. These include the following:  The Conservation of Biodiversity (CBD), signed and ratified on 10/6/1992 and 29/5/1995 respectively (Twarabamenye and Gapusi, 2000;Mugorewera, 2002)  Vienna convention for the protection of ozone layer, under signing process (Nyilimanzi, 2002)  Convention against desertification signed (Mugorewera, 2002)  Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants signed (Mugorewera, 2002)  Cartagena protocol for the prevention of boitechnological risks signed (Uwimana, 2002)  UN convention on climatic changes signed (Mugorewera, 2002)  Convention on international trade for the endangered species signed (Mugorewera, 2002) On going activities in the field of PGR Many plant species are conserved in their natural habitats. I this context, several conservation projects exist, examples including Akagera National Park Natural Resources Conservation Project funded by GTZ, Integrated Management and Protection of Critical Ecosystems Project funded by Global Environmental Facility (GEF), etc. Many crop species and varieties are mainly conserved on farm in their respective breeding programmes. Many collections, local as well as exotic, agricultural and forestry, exist in the breeding programmes at different stages along the breeding lines. Many others are conserved in seed production areas, seed stands, orchards and/or arboreta. Regeneration, characterisation, multiplication and evaluation activities are also carried out in different commodity crops/varieties in their respective breeding programmes. Gemplasm (seed) of different agricultural crops as well as forestry trees are stored for a short term in cold rooms to ensure their availability for future breeding programmes and use. Facilities for long-term germplasm conservation are however still lacking. This restricts our capacity to conserve germplasm in a long run, which has a serious effect in the conservation of endangered and/or rare species.Most of the germplasm for local use is produced locally, except for the little quantities imported for research purposes. Production and multiplication of improved germplasm is a primary objective so as to contribute to food security. Some PGR in wild ecosystems are being domesticated as high value trees under an IUCN/CEFDHAC funded project.Exchange of PGR with neighbouring countries in the region and at international level is mainly in small quantities of germplasm for research purposes. This is effected through regional networks and follows acceptable and legal procedures. Uncertified germplasm is also expected to be crossing borders in some places. This is because there may be no clear policies for the exchange of PGR germplasm across the region as well as the unawareness of the farmers on the existing procedures and legislation. Although most of tree seeds are used locally, some are exported to the neighbouring countries like Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.Preparation of draft laws related to PGR conservation and biodiversity strategy and action plans are in final stages. The latter is funded by GEF. In effort to make use of PGR, traditional medicine is not only being used by local communities but also there is a laboratory manufacturing various medicines from wild plants for curing different diseases. Many other small community projects exist using PGR. Examples include: farmers associations producing honey, mushrooms, art crafts, etc.In the light of limited resources, Rwanda is struggling to establish a strong PGR programme so as to effectively conserve, use and exchange the PGR. Its success is obviously expected to be fortified by an effective regional and international collaboration in the conservation, sustainable utilisation and exchange of PGR and information. Mobilisation of physical and financial resources, capacity building and effective co-ordination of PGR activities and stakeholders at national level, together with effective networking are necessary for the functioning of PGR programme in Rwanda.The United Republic of Tanzania, consisting of the mainland and Zanzibar, lies between longitudes 30˚ and 40˚ east and latitudes 1˚ and 12˚ south. The land area is about 95 million hectares (950,000 km 2 ) of which only 7% is cultivated and 26% is under various levels of protection. Protected areas contain a wide range of biological resources with a relatively high endemism. The population of Tanzania is estimated to be 36 million of which 80% depends on agricultural production for its livelihood. The rural population maintains a large number of traditional varieties of a wide range of crops.Several case studies carried out an inventory of in situ conservation of Plant Genetic Resources in the country and it indicated a serious loss of genetic diversity and threat of extinction of some species.Some of the major causes of these threats were identifies as:- A Seed Industry Development Programme was approved in 1992. The programme addresses the production of quality seed by the formal and informal sectors. As yet, there is not specific policy document on plant genetic resources. The NPGRCom has the responsibility of dealing with policy issues and will soon be involved in the preparation of relevant policies on PGR conservation and use. Similarly, there is no specific policy document prepared on agricultural Biosafety. However, National Biosafety Committee was recently established and it is reportedly working on a draft on biosafety policy and its administration mechanism.The government ratified the CBD, in 1996. The country is a member of WTO. Tanzania is a member of FAO and intends to be a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Preparations are underway, to sign and ratify the treaty.In order to support the efforts aimed at strengthening PGR conservation and sustainable use, the government of Tanzania has instituted various legal frameworks in accordance with changing trends.For example, the system of seed production in Tanzania is governed by the Seed Act No. 29 of 1973 and the Seeds (Registration of Standards) Act. The Tanzania Seed Certification Agency (TOSCA) is responsible for the implementation of this Act. Because several changes have occurred in the seed subsector, the Act is now being revised to include, among other things sections relating to Plant Breeders Rights and Farmers Rights. A Tanzania Seed Trade Association (TATSA) was established in mid-2002.To ensure safe exchange of PGR among countries, the Plant Protection Act of 1997 was promulgated and it is being implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS).The Government is in addition, due to enact laws on the following: -Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Use -Biosafety -Plant Breeders Rights -Implementation of the International TreatyThe NPGRC of Tanzania, in collaboration with various partners, is currently involved in carrying out eco-geographic surveys on PGR. This is necessary activity for the efficient collection of PGR from various parts of the country. NPGRC and its collaborators are also vigorously involved in carrying out germplasm collection and conservation. The Genebank has been actively involved in the commendation, multiplication and characterization of PGR already collected as a way of adding value to the collection and to promote its utilisation. The latter is achieved by providing materials to various users.The NPGRC has been providing training opportunities to its staff at all levels with support from Nordic Gene Bank, DANIDA, SIDA and IPGRI; but the resources available are limited and addition support Is needed.To keep abreast with advances in modern technology in the field of PGR conservation, the NPGRC is currently improving its infrastructure by acquiring modern equipment and establishing laboratories. Funds provided for this improvement are a small part of what is needed, but are nevertheless greatly appreciated.Uganda has an agrarian economy and the contribution of PGRFA to its economic growth will continue to be a central importance. PGRFA are the biological basis for the nation's food security as about 90% of the country's population live in the rural areas and directly depend on these resources for their livelihood. PGR activities are as old as agricultural research. The oldest research unit is the Entebbe Botanic Gardens, established in 1989 as a reception centre for introduced crop germplasm.By the 1920's agricultural research stations has opened up and gradually took over the role of germplasm.Uganda shares centers of origin and/or or diversity of several crop species like sorghum, finger millet, pigeon pea, yams, banana and plantain. Major crops have evolved great diversity of land races/farmers' varieties and breeder's lines.It is worthwhile to note that Uganda does not have a coordinated policy on PGR. What amounts to a policy to be found in various documents that touch on PGR. Even then the existing policies do not address the PGR on people's farms or in non-protected areas. Planned Activities 4. Establishment of documentation and information system in order to facilitate access to PGR information and thus enhance PGR utilisation 5. Enhancement of public awareness on PGR conservation and value so as to involve a cross section of the Ugandan community in safeguarding PGR and to appreciate their own role in PGR sustainable utilisation 6. Community traditional PGR management and on farm conservation with the purpose of obtaining the local community in-put on PGR management planning process. 7. Germplasm transfer and ex situ conservation. The purpose is to establish facilities that would reduce germplasm vulnerability in crop research programmes and ensure systematic collection, characterisation, utilisation and facilitation of germplasm exchange. 8. Genetic Diversity/Monitoring genetic erosion studies in order to assess the status of indigenous plant species and promote their protection in the natural and modified ecosystems.Regional institutional frameworks (including the Regional PGR Network) Importance of Regional Networks in the Conservation and Use of PGR: Framework for Assessing Network SuccessInternational Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, ItalyThis paper aims to propose a framework against which the success or failure of networks for use, exchange and conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR) can be assessed. Since the EAPGREN network is in its formative stage and this workshop aims to strengthen it, the introduction and adoption of such a framework by the network is timely. The framework could be used as:  A checklist to ensure that all key aspects related to successful management and implementation of the network are addressed during the planning phase  A set of indicators against which the network could be monitored and evaluated over time and  A tool for promoting and communicating network accomplishment and success.Networks are often expected to produce impressive results in a manner that is more efficient and effective than could be achieved by any partner operating alone. As a result more and more networks have been established in the last decade. However, networks do not always live up to the expectations of members and donors (Smutylo and Koala 1993). Assessing a network is important to tracking its progress towards achieving intended results, identifying changes that might be needed during implementation of the network's programme that can help to make the network more successful, and helping to ensure that the network has credibility with external parties. Certainly many donors require periodic assessment of their funded projects, and may expect that proposals include indicators against which of success can be assessed.While assessing success is important in promoting the network to outside supporters, it is also critically important to network members and management. Network managers need to ensure that the network is functioning well or make the necessary changes to maximize performance. Since they exist to benefit the membership, networks need to monitor such things as accomplishment of activities, leadership and coordination, and communication to ensure that the network remains relevant to its members (Smutylo and Koala1993). Network members need a thorough understanding of the benefits of networking and how performance can be improved. (USAID 2001).The need for collaboration and cooperation increases when knowledge becomes more specialized and problems more complex, and networking has emerged as an important means of increasing communication and collaborative research in the field of agricultural research (Hawtin 1991). When facing difficult problems, the old adage \"two heads are better than one\" applies. The realm of plant genetics resources is a complex technical area with political and social dimensions that might be characterized by the following types of challenges that could be addressed through a collaborative approach (Watts 2000): Genetic research, particularly biotechnology is undergoing a period of rapid growth and change.  Individual farmers, research scientists, institutions and governments have often failed to satisfactorily address emerging problems through their independent action.  Adversity increasingly characterizes the debate as different factions struggle to gain rights to plant genetic resources.  The amount of expertise, infrastructure, resources, information and power varies greatly among the different parties which have a stake in plant genetic resources conservation or use, for example, between developed and developing countries, or, within countries, between government and rural farmers and indigenous people, or between the public and private sectors.  Many different groups and individuals have vested interests in plant genetic resources including plant breeders, agribusiness, farmers, environmentalists, governments and international organizations.In the face of this complexity, networks have emerged as an important means of bringing people together to find solutions to commonly felt PGR problems and challenges. Plucknett, Smith and Özgediz (1993) remind us that networking is not new, just a new name applied to a phenomenon of human behaviour that has existed for millennia, humans working together to meet mutual needs. Simply put, networks are a mechanism for people to collaborate to find solutions for problems that are too great for them to solve on their own. Involvement in networks is significant within the field of agricultural research and technology. In 1990, the Food and Agriculture Organization was working with about 135 networks in such technical areas as agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development (FAO 1991). Most of these networks have come into being since 1980. Networking is one of the main means by which IPGRI conducts its work (IPGRI 1997). Due to the increasing confidence in networking as a tool to solve agricultural research problems, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) support to networks increased dramatically within a ten-year period. In the 1980's IDRC supported 79 networks and committed 24% of its annual appropriations to network activities (Smutylo and Koala 1993). In a 1997 study, IPGRI reported significant involvement in eleven regional plant genetic resources networks and nine international commodity focused networks. These numbers do not include numerous formal and informal research networks, or more recently established networks such as EAPGREN. A recent study identified 105 active networks related to genetic resources alone (Thormann 2000).While the potential benefits of networks are well known and widely discussed, there are also potential drawbacks to networks or pitfalls that networks may be encountered that will reduce their effectiveness. An analysis of 15 UNDP funded regional projects identified the following constraints (Hariri 1994): Incomplete survey of national institutions needs and interests  Long time needed to develop a country's own network policy and strategies  Low level of country commitment to the network  Long time frame between network launch and commencement of activities  Common activities not well defined  Attempts by networks to do too much with too few resources  Domination of networks by full time coordinators and their institutions In spite of expectations that networks will be more efficient and effective in achieving certain goals than any single country operating alone, it is not always certain that networking actually is more effective or efficient. High costs of coordination for example may mean that networking is less efficient than other alternatives. Goals may be poorly articulated in a network, or responsibilities not well defined, so that the network approach is less effective in accomplishing tangible outcomes than alternative approaches. Research scientists carrying out research for the network may be less accountable than they might be to their own supervisors and administration (Faris 1991).Networks can also be dominated by the network coordination, by stronger members, or by donors. This means that the needs of weaker members are not taken into consideration adequately, priorities and activities distorted in favor of stronger members and benefits not equitably shared.Networking can actually detract from the priorities of any individual country, if the network has enough resources to drive the research agenda of a small, poorly funded national programme. In one case (Riley 1993 andEyzaguirre 1996) a network was able to shift the oilseed research priorities in Nepal towards groundnuts, because the network brought in funding resources directed towards the crop, in spite of the limited economic value of the crop (and thus priority) within the national programme.Networks can have very high transaction costs that reduce efficiency. Network coordination costs can run as high as $500,000 per year for an international network with a coordinator paid an international salary, associated travel, and costs of meetings, communications and publications (FAO 1991). Benefits must clearly outweigh such costs, or costs must be kept at a more moderate level to better match the means of the network membership.Sustainability is the ability of the network to continue its activities and produce benefits over time. Financial sustainability is a problem of many networks, especially those that rely heavily on external funding support. Some networks rely on one or a few donors that have committed to a limited period of support or whose priorities may change. Other networks have failed to develop sufficient member commitment to support a basic level of operation or to complement external funding support. Networks in such situations face an insecure future.Monitoring and evaluation can help networks assess their success, identify strengths and weaknesses and make the necessary adjustments in order to improve their effectiveness. Broadly speaking, evaluation can be used to assess short-term or longer-term effects or impact or for decision-making related to planning and implementation (Horton et al 1993). Assessing success or the likelihood of achieving it is useful for network members, network coordinators and management to help them become aware of potential problem areas and readjust their programmes to avoid or address these problems and become more effective. External parties, such as donors are also interested in assessing success so that they have confidence that resources directed towards the network are being put to good use.A framework for assessing the effectiveness of a network might include three hierarchical levels at which success could be assessed, depending upon the key questions that need to be answered, funds available to carry out an assessment and data availability. The three levels at which a network might be assessed include: Impact  Outcome and  Operational processes Impact assessment evaluates the effect of the network and implies assessing concrete changes that have taken place as a result of the network activities. The key question at this level is \"To what extent has the network caused significant positive change in the areas upon which it focuses its work?\" The expected impact of networks will vary depending upon the goals of the network. However, generally speaking, regional PRG networks aim to improve PGR conservation and use through regional collaborative actions. Indicators of impact based upon such a goal might include: Proportion of the region's genetic resource conserved; and  Proportion of material conserved that is exchanged and used Impacts could also be thought of in terms of impacts to the research institutions involved. For example, facilitation of the flow of technology among network members could reduce overall research costs, and networks may be better able to attract international donor funding to the benefit of individual country members (Gómez and Pingali 2002). Indicators related to these expected impacts might include: Reduced research costs (presumably for national programmes); and  Increased funding for national research programmes (or on a regional basis) Studies could be done to assess changes in conservation, exchange and use of a region's genetic resources. An assessment could also be done of member institutions and their costs and funding. However, it should be recognized that impact assessment is one of the most difficult and expensive types of evaluation that can be carried out (Horton et al 1993). Impact assessment also implies establishing or assessing the causality between the network and the effect. Impact assessment of networks and other partnerships is even more complex since it may not be possible or practical to isolate the causal links between the network and accomplishment or failure to accomplish goals. Impact assessment is also generally conducted after the completion of a programme and is not normally designed with a goal of improving on-going programmes, which might be a higher priority for network managers and members (Mackay and Horton 2002).Outcomes refer to more tangible results produced directly by the network. A key question that can be addressed at this level is \"To what extent has the network achieved its planned outcomes?\" Outcome indicators will vary depending upon the objectives of the network, however, some probable indicators for many regional networks include: Percentage of relevant countries involved as network members  Information system established and functioning  Collaborative research conducted and expected outcomes produced  People trained (through regional training programmes) Most networks will report on their outcomes to members and donors and should plan for concrete outcomes that have been agreed upon by the membership. The ECP/GR network in Europe plans for established periods of 3-5 years and then reports accomplishments at the end of each period. Such reports serve as the basis for decisions about the design of subsequent phases and enable members to determine whether or not they wish to continue to participate in network activities (ECP/GR 2001).In addition to outcome indicators, many authors have promoted the development of a simple set of indicators that focus on network operations that can be used to assess the likelihood of a network being successful and to help improve network management and operations. Traditional impact oriented or outcome studies rarely provide the type of information needed by decision-makers to improve operations, whereas an operational focus could be more directed toward management information needs (Smith 2002).Operational level assessment asks the question \"To what extent is the network operating in a manner that will make it most likely to succeed?\" A number of studies have been conducted of network success over the years and have come to surprisingly similar conclusions about the operational traits of successful networks. These traits could be used as a checklist of networking effectiveness, which could be useful for network coordinators, members and donors to help ensure that the network is operating in a manner that makes it most likely to succeed. Operational indicators are discussed in the following section.Successful networks pay close attention to five broad categories of operational activity (Faris 1991) and the extent to which these are addressed by networks can provide a simple and practical set of indicators of probable network success. These categories are coordination, programme, membership, communication, and external resources. This section elaborates upon these five key dimensions.Effective coordination was identified by eight out of eight studies as a key characteristic of successful networks (Plucknett et al 1993). Network coordination generally consists of a steering body and a coordination unit. The coordination function varies between networks, but generally includes facilitation of processes to establish guiding principles, setting a research agenda and coordinating action among members to carry it out, promoting communication among members, facilitating network decision-making, and monitoring and reporting. The coordinator or coordination unit implements the priorities established by the steering committee. The coordinator must be a good communicator and must walk a fine line between providing leadership while not dominating the network. Several studies highlight the importance of the personal capabilities of the coordinator to communicate, facilitate interaction among members, provide leadership and establish and maintain effective working relationships with members, external parties and donors.A steering committee is usually established to guide planning and priority setting and for decision-making. The steering group is accountable to the membership either by being elected or appointed by members or by being composed of a representative from each country (Faris 1991). The coordinator normally serves as Executive Secretary of the steering committee. Many networks also have an advisory committee that helps to ensure that network objectives match national objectives, provide a means for making binding commitments from the country members and financial backing from national budgets (Perrault 2001). To help ensure adequate technical inputs and political support, advisory committees may be comprised of a scientist and an administrator from each member country.Indicators related to the coordination function include the following. Many of these indicators must be assessed by member perceptions, but some could also be validated by quantitative data and network records (for example, number of meetings, participation in meetings, agenda focus on problem solving and decision making): Effectiveness of network steering committee in establishing and communicating broad goals  Effectiveness of steering committee in establishing binding member commitment for network goals and plans  Effectiveness of network coordinator in translating steering committee goals into work plans  Ability of network coordination unit to stimulate and maintain communications among and between network members  Ability of network coordination unit to maintain effective communications with external parties  Effectiveness of coordination unit to raise and manage external funds for network activities (number of proposals and percentage of successful proposals, changes in amount of funding available, percentage of funding from external versus internal sources) Effectiveness of coordination unit in providing secretariat duties, such as organizing and facilitating meetings  Periodic election of coordinating unit or systematic reconsideration by network members of coordinating unit hosting institutionEffective networks are bound by a common research agenda that can best be addressed by working together. Without a firmly established research agenda based on a common problem, members are unlikely to devote the resources (time, physical and financial) needed to sustain the network.Needs assessment and priority setting are important activities undertaken by successful networks and are the foundation of network objectives and action. Successful networks undertake deliberate and systematic assessment of member needs, and reassess them periodically during the life of the network. These activities may take place through meetings, surveys or site visits to define the problem areas and explore the potential for a network to address them (Faris 1991). Meetings are a common means of establishing a common understanding of problems and agreeing that a network is the most reasonable means of addressing them. Successful networks move beyond problem identification to establish clear and concrete objectives that are formally agreed upon by the membership through binding decisions.Priority setting is necessary to isolate those areas upon which the network will focus from all of the possible areas needed to address identified problems. Priority setting establishes which areas need most urgent action, which need to be accomplished before action can be taken in other areas, and to identify cross-cutting issues that address the needs of the collective membership. Donor priorities also come into play to identify those areas most likely to attract donor interest. Because of the high transaction costs associated with networking, Perrault (2001) recommends that networks should focus on addressing those issues that cannot be effectively dealt with at the national level, either because the costs are prohibitive for an individual country, or because the solution to the problem requires regional coordination.Successful networks carefully plan for action by negotiating among the members a set of activities, complete with timetables, and clear responsibilities as to which members will undertake to do what. Action plans must be linked directed to objectives (Riley 1993) and should leave no uncertainty as to what must be done and who will do it (FAO 1991). Action plans must be realistic within the capabilities of the membership otherwise they will not be accomplished (Riley 1993). An FAO study (1991) suggests that networks are not suitable means for promoting an area of work in which the participants collectively have limited capacity, because of the substantial requirements of outside assistance. Networks may also not be suitable where rapid results are needed because of the extra time needed for coordination and cooperation and establishment of the network. Some authors suggest that action plans that address a small, but manageable number of items are more effective than ambitious plans that cannot realistically be accomplished, because they demonstrate tangible actions arising from the network, engage members in satisfying work that leads to results to address real problems, and are sustainable because they do not rely overly on external resources (which may or may not materialize) for their accomplishment (FAO 1991).Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms help ensure flexibility and responsiveness. They also help to reduce criticism by members or donors by demonstrating success and accomplishment, and ensure recognition of results. Monitoring on-going activities is a way of helping to ensure that actions are meeting member needs and to provide signals of changes needed if actions go off track (Perrault 2001).Indicators related to the research programme include:  Clear definition of the purpose of the network and its research objectives, normally in a founding document  Strongly held agreement among network members as to the network's purpose and objectives  Needs assessments carried out periodically and used as the basis for objective setting and priority setting  Criteria for establishing priorities developed and used in decision making  Action plans developed and periodically revised that address priority areas, identify tangible actions, timetables for completion and clear responsibilities shared among network members  Action plans agreed upon by the membership and actions planned within the capabilities of network membership  Monitoring and evaluation systems in place  Monitoring undertaken periodically during research implementation  Evaluations undertaken and used as the basis for future decision makingMembers participate in a network because of their expectation and ultimately, their experience that their interests will be served to a greater extent than they could be by acting alone. Benefits to network members were reported in a recent study to include the following (Watts 2002): Facilitated access to information, training, materials and resources  Efficiencies of scale achieved by pooling resources  Ability to overcome obstacles of political borders, problematic in plant genetic resources research where germplasm or knowledge must be shared across political boundaries  Funding support received as a result of participation in a network.  Positive professional development of individual scientists Perrault (2001) ties self-interest of members to network goal and objective setting. The focus on shared goals means that a network addresses only issues that cannot be tackled effectively at the national level, either because the costs are prohibitive for one country or the solution to the problem requires some regional coordination. These goals should become the core of regional programmes (like networks) to ensure maximum efficiency. If goals are not truly shared, a network may find itself in a situation where countries say that they are supportive of networking, but they fail to back this up with a firm commitment of resources. This implies that the self-interest is either not great enough or is not appreciated by the membership.If goals are truly shared, members should be expected to commit their own resources to the network. Effective networks define resource commitment by members in broad terms to include time, funding, physical facilities, and hosting of network activities. Some issues have also been identified that relate to defining the terms of membership (Watts 2002). It is important that the network clearly define the parameters of membership, for example, is membership by country, by individual research institute, or by participation on the basis of the individual scientist. Membership obligations and authorities should also be defined and agreed upon at the start.Membership indicators include the following:  Membership contributions expected, as stated in founding documents and accounted for in budgets  Membership contributions agreed for well defined periods of work, backed up with a formal country agreements  Staff time contributions, physical facilities, hosting of meetings costed and accounted for  Clear and agreed objectives agreed upon by membership  Tangible benefits recognized and reported by membership  Basic operations maintained at a level within the means of the membershipEffective networks facilitate effective communication among members. Meetings of the steering committee take place to review results, approve work plans, set priorities and make decisions. Information sharing mechanisms include training, site visits, and workshops convened to report findings and develop recommendations or an action plan. Many networks also communicate among members and with external parties through publications that capture research results and through newsletters that keep members up to date about network activities.Several studies indicate the importance of good direct communications among members rather than limiting communications with members through a central hub of coordination unit. (Plucknett et al 1993). Frequent face-to-face meetings are usually necessary to establish relationships between members and to foster a sense of trust and sharing (Plucknett et al 1990). Two kinds of meeting are normally needed. Steering committee meetings are convened to review programmes and policies and to make decisions. Scientific meetings convene researchers to present scientific results and share information and to foster the exchange of new ideas and techniques. A balance must be achieved between too much and too little face-to-face interaction, as meetings held too frequently can sap researchers' time and drain financial resources.Indicators related to network communications include:  Existence and effectiveness of meetings of the steering committee to review programmes and make decisions (meeting reports, agendas, action items and participant lists)  Existence and effectiveness of meetings of researchers to share research findings and techniques (meeting reports, agendas, action items and participant lists)  Communications related activities such as training, publications and newsletters planned, budgeted and implementedVery few, if any networks, are currently sponsored totally by their members, since most involve developing countries with limited resources to dedicate to plant genetic resources conservation and use. Therefore, most successful networks secure external resources to enable them to meet their objectives. However, successful networks carefully manage external resources to ensure that they are balanced with member contributions and that they are directed carefully towards network priorities.It is important that external contributions are balanced by membership contributions, to help ensure that member need remains the driving force for the network, rather than donor need. Buy-in to the network by members contributions in cash or in kind helps to ensure that the balance remains adequately focused towards the priorities of network, implying that network priorities are well established and agreed upon by the membership. This set of priorities is used as a basis for funding requests.External funding can stimulate the establishment of a network if it underwrites a minimum level of coordination and management (FAO 1991). Hariri (1994) suggests that external assistance (presumably funding, leadership, and technical support) can provide a catalytic effect during the beginning stages of network development by assisting potential member countries to identify their needs and objectives in being involved in the network. Once this pre-network national needs assessment and coordination is completed, potential member countries come together and negotiate the purpose and objectives of the network, and agree to its establishment. External resources could also support bringing potential members together for this establishment meeting.Hariri also recommends that the countries themselves should fund national level activities in the context of the network. If sufficient funds are not available, bilateral funding mechanisms should be established between donors and member countries to cover the gaps, rather than creating an expectation that the network itself will fund national level activities.Plucknett, Smith and Özgediz (1993) reported that external funding is needed for coordination, meetings and travel and as seed money during the establishment phase. However, they go on to say \"collaborators should not be bought: prolonged and heavy subsidies are not a good idea.\" If collaboration is not given willingly by the network membership, questions must be raised as to the extent to which member country research programme managers have made networking a priority, and create a sense of competition among members and lead to questions as to sustainability. It might also suggest an overly ambitious research agenda that exceeds the capabilities of network members.An over-reliance on external resources ultimately brings into question the long-term financial sustainability of the network, as donor interest inevitably waxes and wanes with time. Such uncertainty can seriously disrupt research progress and demoralize network members. Financial sustainability has been defined as the ability to generate over the long term the resources greater than or equal to the cost of maintaining the network (USAID 2001). Some problems identified by USAID that can lead to unsustainable finances include failure to account for the real costs of the network (including management and staff costs), lack of long range financial plans, reliance on one donor rather than a diversified and complementary funding base, in addition to problems identified above related to focus on network goals and membership contributions. Indicators related to external resources include: Projects funded by external resources are directed towards network objectives  External funding balanced with member contributions  Expectations for member contributions clearly elaborated in network plans and membership agreements  Member contributions accounted for and including financial, human, infrastructure and hosting  Financial plans and budgets elaborate the full and real cost of the networks, including management costs and costs of coordination and meetings  Adequate financial control and accounting systems in place  Development of a long range financial plan  Diversified and complementary funding base (bilateral development assistance, development banks, foundations, private companies, national, regional and international NGOs)Since EAPGREN is in the start-up phase, application of the operational indicators and identification of areas of potential operational weakness can be used by EAPGREN to help develop its action plan. In order to tailor the indicators for EAPGREN, a selection should be made of the appropriate indicators in terms of EAPGREN's specific objectives and goals. The indicators should be developed further to make them more concrete, good indicators being measurable and including dimensions of quality, quantity and time. Moreover, they should be practical and objective (Uribe and Horton 1993;USAID 1996). In terms of assessing the specific indicators to apply, EAPGREN should consider carefully how such information might be collected and the source of such information. If it is difficult or impossible to imagine a source of data and a means of gathering it, the indicator is probably not practical.As an example of transforming one of the suggested indicators into a more specific indicator for EAPGREN, the indicator related to membership, which was presented in general terms as \"Membership contributions agreed for well defined periods of work, backed up with a formal country agreements\" might be elaborated as follows for an imagined planning period from [2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008] The call for the development of indicators would help give the network and its members clear operational objectives towards which to aim, mechanisms to achieve the operational objectives and standards against which to guide the network towards eventual success even now during the network development process. Lessons from the literature suggest that if such an exercise to develop operational indicators is undertaken, and the network adopts these indicators as a set of broad operational guidelines, the network has a greater likelihood of success and a sustainable and productive future (Watts 2000, andKalaugher andVisser 2002).The network could use the logical framework approach as a planning tool that provides a hierarchical structure in which impact, output and operational goals, and their associated indicators can be elaborated. The development of a log frame can also help the network to consider how each indicator can be verified and the risks and assumptions that might influence success at each level. Operational level objectives could be included in a log frame as activities related specifically to network operations. Successful network operations could also be an assumption for the achievement of higher-level objectives; or vice versa related constraints could be expressed as a risk that operational weakness will be an obstacle to the network's achievements. Through this approach, the network can better assure itself that in order to assess impacts and outputs at a later point in time, the network has defined its expected outputs and impacts clearly at the start-up phase, has addressed operational issues that will affect network success and has developed monitoring systems to track progress along the way. countries resolved to establish the Eastern Africa Plant Genetic Resources Network (EAPGREN) with the initial participating countries being Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Sudan and Uganda. The representatives further resolved that the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA) be requested to have EAPGREN operating under its umbrella and this was approved by the ASARECA Committee of Directors in December 1997.Mission EAPGREN's mission is to harness, conserve, and to promote greater use of PGR for food security, improved health, and socio-economic advancement of the rural communities of the present and future generations. It will accomplish this mission largely through capacity building and developing sustainable linkages between PGR conservation and utilisation among the various stakeholders including rural farming communities, at the same time ensuring that gender considerations are internalised in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all the network activities.The overall goal of the network is to develop and to strengthen capacities in the countries of the region for more effective conservation and utilisation of PGR for food security and sustainable agricultural development while relying on interventions which are in conformity with the Global Plan of Action on PGRFA, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Agenda 21 of the UNCED. EAPGREN will strengthen collaboration, networking, and linkages between conservation and utilisation of plant genetic resources at both national and sub-regional levels through the pooling of resources and use of comparative advantages available in the various institutions and countries.The long-term objectives of the project are (a) to promote sub-regional collaboration and networking through exchange of information and material, research and development, capacity building, adoption of common approaches and methods, and regional integration in PGR activities, and (b) to ensure that all countries in the sub-region fully benefit from active crop-based and thematic regional and international networks.Towards achievement of the above, the immediate objectives of EAPGREN are as follows: To promote regional collaboration in identification, priority setting, and implementation of PGR activities through the establishment of a network of national programmes.  To build capacities for greater research output in priority areas as identified by national programmes and the network thematic working groups.  To enable the countries of the sub-region to optimally conserve and use their genetic resources by strengthening national programmes particularly the improvement of co-ordination mechanisms in the implementation of PGR activities.  To develop and adopt complementary conservation methods and strategies including ex situ, in situ and on-farm approaches for the conservation of plant genetic resources.  To facilitate the participatory utilisation of plant genetic resources through establishing linkages between conservation and utilisation at the formal and informal levels. To support human resource development through training of a minimum complement of staff for PGR responsibilities in each country.  To strengthen PGR documentation and information services for the region.  To advocate for policy changes and to increase the level of public awareness and support for PGR conservation and useThe network will contribute to better conservation and utilisation of PGR in the region by:  Providing a forum for exchange of information, scientific knowledge and experiences among member countries.  Enhancing the capacity for research with a view to adding value to germplasm and advancing scientific knowledge on PGR conservation and use.  Training cadres of highly skilled PGR specialists in the region.  Collection and complementary conservation of germplasm important for agricultural production and healthcare.  Supporting the development of operational national PGR networks  Documenting PGR materials and activities in the region.  Strengthening the linkages between PGR conservation and utilisation with particular emphasis on community based user groups.  Providing a forum for exchanging PGR material for mutual benefit among member countries.  Adding value to PGR work in the member countries, the region and among ASARECA networks and networks due to its crosscutting nature.  Ensuring gender equity and recognizing the roles played by different gender in plant genetic resources conservation and use, paying particular attention to involvement of women who are the major custodians of plant genetic resources at the smallholder production level.EAPGREN's activities are designed and implemented to avoid duplication, complement and add value to related national and regional initiatives. For example, EAPGREN activities will directly complement the existing and future crops networks in the areas of PGR conservation and use. In addition to crops and their wild relatives, EAPGREN will also have a focus on potentially useful species in the wild, which are currently not covered by national and regional networks. Moreover, through strengthening of national and regional networking, areas of potential duplication will be identified and avoided. Indeed, one of the specific tasks of EAPGREN regional thematic working groups will be to ensure that there is no duplication in efforts among participating institutions and individual scientists. In its organisational structure, EAPGREN has five thematic working groups in which members of other ASARECA networks and regional networks will participate in, depending on themes addressed.The identified immediate PGR tasks call for human resources and facilities way above that which is currently available. For example, the resources needed for comprehensive rangewide collections cannot be realized by any individual country in the region. Most countries in the region lack the critical mass of scientists needed for effective mainstream PGR activities of national networks. In these specific circumstances, great economies of scale can be achieved through networking. Network individual scientists, institutions, and countries will join efforts to accomplish tasks by capitalizing on economies of scale.The network will promote and support the efforts of scientists and institutions in keeping pace with developments in other countries even in situations where they may lack capacities or conducive environments for development. This additional value of networking can be critical in the working environments, which exists in some countries of the region. Since PGR is crosscutting in many other networks of national agricultural systems, it is to be expected that networking will catalyse other related activities.The success of EAPGREN will provide a good model for similar developments in the neighbouring regions. Its planned training activities will attract scientists from the neighbouring regions to catalyse the development of similar networks in those regions.It is important to recognise that EAPGREN has been born in the post-UNCED period when there are on-going global dialogues on PGR conservation and utilisation. These dialogues have important spill-in effects in the formulation and implementation of the network. Moreover, EAPGREN has the advantage of directly benefiting from the experience of the SADC Regional PGR network in the neighbouring region to the south.The network will work towards the convergence of PGR policies among participating countries of the region. It is expected that, through policy interventions, networking will promote and support the implementation of international commitments which the countries have ratified, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, relevant principles of Agenda 21 of UNCED, International Undertaking on PGR, and the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on PGRFA. These and other contributions, which EAPGREN may make to regional Intergovernmental agreements, will be important value addition of the proposed network.EAPGREN recognises the significant role of gender relations among farm families and communities in conserving and utilising PGR and places priority on increasing usefulness of PGR to breeders and farmers. Moreover, EAPGREN gives high priority to small-scale farmer based PGR conservation and use. It is in this regard that the network is expected to make additional impact in improving PGR services to farmers through the planned on-farm conservation and participatory germplasm enhancement activities.The countries of Eastern Africa (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda) and the Indian Ocean Islands (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles) are endowed with a great wealth of plant genetic resources and biodiversity. For example, Ethiopia/Eritrea region is a centre of origin and diversity of important crops such as coffee, barley, finger millet which are not only useful in the region but also in the rest of the world. The forests of Madagascar are very rich in the diversity of plant species with high levels of endemism. Countries of the Great Lakes have the easternmost extensions of the rich diversity of the Congolian Tropical Rain Forest while the expansive Somali-Maasai savannah and steppe is the centre of origin and diversity of important species of grasses. Yet the great wealth of PGR indigenous to the sub-region has been little explored, under-exploited, and highly vulnerable to genetic erosion despite the fact that the sub-region is an important centre of diversity of many crops and their wild relatives. PGR of the whole sub-region is under high degree of threat due to a variety of forces. Desertification, particularly in countries to the north, is rapidly changing plant associations with rapid loss of PGR. Deforestation is high in most countries of the sub-region with serious genetic erosion consequences. For example, estimates of deforestation in Kenya are as high as 5,000 hectares per annum. Much of this accelerated deforestation is for conversion to agriculture to meet the food requirements of the rapidly growing populations. Overgrazing and frequent wild fires cause large losses of PGR in the dry open woodlands throughout the sub-region. The extreme scenario is exemplified in countries like Eritrea and Somalia where the scale of loss of natural vegetation now threatens the country's agricultural productivity base and food security.Since 1960s, PGR activities including exploration, germplasm collection and conservation activities have been carried out in several constituent countries. Some of these activities have been supported by FAO and IBPGR/IPGRI. However, in the context of the whole PGR challenge, such efforts have been sporadic and insufficient. For example, except for a few cases, the efforts have not involved cross border collaboration for comprehensive range wide exploration and collection. In some cases, different methods of managing collections and documentation have been used in various countries making it difficult to compare the results. To date, countries of the sub-region lack both the platform and mechanism for coordinated cross border PGR activities. Moreover, the various countries are presently not uniformly and adequately endowed with capacity and facilities required for their PGR activities. However a baseline survey to assess the actual status of conservation infrastructure and plant genetic resources activities is necessary as a benchmark on which evaluation of progress made through the network could be based.In the region there is great variation in the capacities for, and level of PGR activities among the countries. Some of the countries are more advanced than others and could offer their technology, experiences and information related comparative advantages to the less developed ones. Currently there is no mechanism for facilitating horizontal transfer of knowledge from the more to the less developed national networks. However, such mechanisms could be created through study tours and exchanges visits that would enable members of the network to learn from each other and also transfer skills and knowledge to those who need them most.Most of the NARS in the region lack the necessary capacities in form of conservation facilities, equipment and critical mass to undertake plant genetic resources activities. In a number of countries such as Rwanda and Uganda, the existing conservation infrastructures need rehabilitation to make them suitable for use as gene banks. In most of the NARS the necessary conservation equipment is inadequate.Policy-makers and politicians in most countries of the region are not fully aware of the social, economic, ecological and political values of plant genetic resources. Many do not have a full appreciation of the importance of plant genetic resources in addressing their countries' food insecurity related problems. Awareness for policy makers is therefore essential in order to provide them with the necessary organizational and negotiation skills to enable them to participate effectively in both national and international policy fora. The regions participation in international fora (e.g. the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, the World Trade Organization) is inadequate. They also need information and skills for the development of policy options that will integrate PGR in the agricultural research agenda and overall economic development. Regional workshops would therefore be essential for creation of awareness through sensitization and demonstration of the importance of PGR to agriculture and food security. Such workshops are also crucial as platforms and mechanisms for discussions and debates on plant genetic resources policy issues affecting the region, development of common positions for international negotiations and discussing mechanisms for access and exchange of germplasm within the region. Despite the importance of plant genetic resources in agriculture, awareness among the public, the policy makers and the academia is still low in the region. A greater appreciation of the importance of plant genetic resources at all these levels would greatly contribute and increase commitment to their conservation and use. Policy awareness materials targeting different audiences therefore need to be developed and disseminated.Many of the region's plant genetic resources are poorly documented relative to what should be known about them for optimal conservation, access and efficient use. Documentation of wild relatives of crops and on-farm genetic resources located in situ is particularly poor. In ex situ collections, basic value-adding information such as descriptions of morphological and agronomic characters, viability tests results, pertinent ethnobotanical information, farmer and indigenous knowledge are largely lacking. It is essential that network endeavours to raise the level of priority given to data management documentation systems, GIS technologies and other related activities in formats that can be used not only to assist conservation efforts but also add value to plant genetic resources. Plant genetic resources activities in the region have not included a strong linkage to development in communication infrastructure, information management and exchange. Considering the growing importance of information technology it is imperative that the network provides a mechanism for communication and information access. This will facilitate information exchange thereby enhancing the integration of individuals and institutes as part of a framework in which their work is seen as a component. In this regard, a regional documentation and information training workshop will be useful in order to expose the network members to the various software packages. Adoption of similar documentation systems would be crucial in information and data standardization and exchange.EAPGREN has three main programmatic areas. These are:This includes development of operational and effective national programs, support for countries to develop minimal conservation facilities and equipment, assistance in conservation of ex situ collections and development of human resources.Research activities mainly focus on objectives that address national or regional PGR constraints including adding value to germplasm to make it more useful for enhancement and breeding programs; advancing the science of PGR conservation and utilization through the of appropriate technologies and methodologies. These research activities will include:  Carrying out strategic and applied research on exploration, inventory, collection, conservation, characterization and evaluation of PGR in consistence with identified national and regional priorities.  Use of complementary conservation strategiesThese comprise a compatible regional PGR information and documentation system as a platform for scientific exchange, information sharing and technology transfer; strengthening linkages between PGR conservation and use and; raising the level of awareness of the importance of PGR conservation at scientific, public and policy levels.EAPGREN maintains a simple organisational structure, which at the same time draws from technical and intellectual inputs from a wide range of the network partners, particularly through the national co-ordination mechanisms and regional thematic working groups (See Figure 1).It provides the overall policy guidance of the network activities including ratification of the Steering Committee members and approval of networks, budgets and work plans. In accordance with the ASARECA institutional framework, the General Assembly has been configured into the Stakeholders Meeting and will comprise plant genetic resources interest groups including NGOs and CBOs, Universities, private sector, Government departments and research institutions, CG Centres, relevant ASARECA networks and networks. Its functions are to provide guidance to the Steering Committee on key issues pertaining to the network's development such as priority setting and development of strategic plans.As the implementing agency, it will administer network funds including disbursements to NARS and sub-contracts with relevant technical backstopping institutions and oversee the implementation of the networks activities. It will be represented in both the Stakeholders meeting and in the Regional Steering Committee.The Committee provides the overall technical guidance in the implementation of the network activities and will oversee the development of budgets and work plans. The Steering Committee comprises lead professionals from the focal institutions in each of the participating countries. Additional members of the Steering Committee will be co-opted as necessary in order to fill identified technical gaps. Nominations to the Steering Committee will be ratified by the ASARECA Committee of Directors.The Unit will be headed by the Co-ordinator who will report to the Steering Committee and will be responsible for the overall co-ordination of network activities. He/she will develop mechanisms for the network's horizontal and vertical integration into the ASARECA regional framework and also serve as the convenor and secretary to the RSC and Stakeholders Meeting.Initially, five Thematic Working Groups on Ex Situ Conservation, In Situ Conservation, Utilisation, Information and Documentation, Policy and Public Awareness will be established. The Working Groups will not only provide an opportunity to a wide range of stakeholders to make specific contributions in their area of expertise but will also serve as a means for review and maintenance of scientific standards on thematic basis, promote collaboration for complementarity and avoidance of unnecessary duplication. The members of the working groups will be experts from in NARS, IARCs, NGOs, private sector, UN agencies, Universities, crop networks and regional networks. The Working Groups will take responsibility for synthesizing issues related to the theme, develop research network proposals and make recommendations for consideration by the Steering Committee. These recommendations will form the basis for scientific standards, priority setting of regional activities. The composition of the Working Group will comprise between 5-10 members in their individual capacities and will be broad-based within the limits of the theme. The Thematic Working Groups will be established by the Steering Committee and their functions overseen by the Secretariat.National organisational structure Co-ordination and networking at national level will be structured around national PGR Centres as focal points or the equivalent and clearing houses for all PGR activities in the country. The Centres will be the lead agencies and focal points of on all PGR activities inside and outside the country. The Centres will be directly linked to relevant country-based networks, institutions and individuals. It is important that the Centres maintain active linkages with all the major actors and beneficiaries including NGOs, CBOs, and the private sector.Regional networking will operate through the EAPGREN Co-ordinating Unit that will maintain direct linkages with national Centres and with relevant regional and international organisations. EAPGREN will build upon the existing regional crops networks. In addition, EAPGREN will sustain regional networking through an information and documentation system and the activities of five thematic working groups on (i) Information and Documentation, (ii) Ex situ conservation, (iii) In situ conservation, (iv) Policy and Public Awareness and (v) PGR Utilisation. In addition, countries will explore bilateral agreements and/or Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate such activities like exchange and duplication of PGR.The effective and efficient implementation of plant genetic resources activities will largely depend on the availability of a cadre of well-trained scientific staff in all the thematic areas the network addresses. The network will therefore initially carry out a needs assessment with a view of developing an effective strategy that will address both the short term and long term training needs. Of particular interest is the building of PGR training capacity in the local Universities in order to make training more cost-effective, relevant to the specific needs of the region and create sustainability on the long run.The efficient management of ex situ collections will only be ensured by the availability of minimal conservation facilities and equipment that are necessary for maintenance of the genetic integrity of germplasm on both short and long term basis. The network will therefore assist the countries to acquire and install cost-effective and flexible conservation equipment such as deep freezers for maintenance of germplasm to ensure that breeders have a continuous supply of high quality germplasm as raw material for the breeding networks.Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture provide the biological basis for world food security and support the livelihoods of the rural majority. These resources serve as the plant breeder's most important raw materials and the farmer's most essential input and therefore very essential for sustainable agricultural production. Gene bank collections should enable users to respond to new challenges and opportunities. Plant breeders and most other users are interested in having a manageable number of genotypes that possess or are likely to posses the traits needed in their breeding networks. Identification of those traits through characterization and the establishment of core collections are measures that can encourage greater and more efficient use of collections. Evaluation could also aid identification of germplasm with potential for more direct use by farmers. It is therefore necessary to increase and improve the ease of use of conserved plant genetic resources, facilitate innovative progress in plant breeding through promoting the identification of useful accessions or their genetic components for introduction into crop enhancement and plant breeding networks.The conserved germplasm will be characterized and evaluated and used in crop improvements network for the development of high yielding varieties through promotion of collaboration and complementarity between breeders, researchers, farmers and gene banks. The network will in particular work in close collaboration with ASARECA commodity networks and national gene banks and plant genetic resources centres to promote the characterization, evaluation and utilization of germplasm in the region for increased production and food security.The greater awareness on the role that \"minor crops\" play in the livelihood of people around the world is creating new opportunities for the rescue of their resource base. The focus on a few widely used species has helped to sustain the explosion in human population over the last two hundred and fifty years, but it has narrowed down dramatically the number of species upon which global food security and in general economic agricultural pursuits depend. With over half of humanity's calorific and protein needs being met by only three crops -maize, wheat and rice-humankind faces a highly vulnerable situation and an urgent action to promote crop diversification is needed.The narrowing base of global food security is limiting livelihood options for the rural poor, particularly in marginal areas in this region. Addressing their needs requires that we broaden the focus of research and development to include a much wider range of crop species. Many of these species occupy important niches, adapted to the risky and fragile conditions of rural communities. They have a comparative advantage in marginal lands where they have been selected to withstand stress conditions and contribute to sustainable production with low-cost inputs. They also contribute to the diversity-richness and hence the stability of agro-ecosystems. These species have a strategic role in fragile ecosystems, such as those found in arid and semi-arid lands, in mountains, savannas and tropical forests. Ethnobotanic surveys indicate that hundreds of such species are still to be found in each country, representing an enormous wealth of agro-biodiversity with potential to contribute to improved incomes, food security and nutrition in Eastern Africa. However, these locally important species are frequently neglected by science. Lack of attention by research and development has meant that their potential value is under-exploited. This neglect status places them in danger of continuing genetic erosion thereby further restricting development options for the rural poor. The network will raise awareness and also promote research, using both conventional methods and biotechnology applications, to increase their value and make them more widely available, would broaden their resource base and increase the livelihood options and food security for rural communities.Many of the regions' plant genetic resources are poorly documented relative to what should be known about them for optimal conservation, access and efficient use. Documentation of wild relatives of crops and on-farm genetic resources located in situ is particularly poor. In ex situ collections, basic value-adding information such as descriptions of morphological and agronomic characters, viability tests results, pertinent ethnobotanical information, farmer and indigenous knowledge are largely lacking. The network will therefore endeavour to raise the level of priority given to data management documentation systems, GIS technologies and other related activities in formats that can be used not only to assist conservation efforts but also add value to plant genetic resources. It is clear that historically, development in agriculture has not included a strong linkage to development in communication infrastructure, information management and exchange. Considering the growing potential that information technology has to offer, the network will provide sustainable communication and information access. This will facilitate information exchange thereby enhancing the integration of individuals and institutes as part of a framework in which their work is seen as an integral component. This will result in increased access to and better management and utilization of plant genetic resources through the compilation, exchange and provision of useful information.Increasing political support for PGR Political support for conservation and use of PGR is necessary for the long-term sustainability of the national networks. This will be sort through support to development of the necessary policies and legal frameworks for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. These policies will lead to recognition of plant genetic resources as an important and strategic natural resource worth giving high priority. It will also lead to integration of PGR conservation and use concerns into the economic development plans and they will also form the basis for more for allocation of national resources (financial and human) in conservation of PGR.A mechanism for sustaining the network and its activities beyond the initial phase that is supported by Sida is vital. This may be in form of country contributions and/or establishment of an endowment fund. The NARS need to mobilize more national resources for development of national plant genetic resource networks and subsequent implementation of the activities.Promoting the development of an east African network on plant genetic resources (EAPGREN) was the main objective of the international workshop held in Zschortau, Germany, in October 2002. This context offered an appropriate occasion to present the example of a European network, 22 years after its formal establishment. This paper contains a historical review of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR), the description of its current organizational structure and a summary of the main outputs delivered by the programme. The author's analysis of the programmes' strengths, weaknesses and future perspectives is also presented. It is hoped that the European experience can serve as inspiration for the foundation of EAPGREN. Although ECP/GR developed in a different context compared to the current situation of East Africa, it is possible that the overall experience of ECP/GR can offer a useful term of comparison for EAPGREN, especially considering that the two networks share the general objective of improving PGR conservation and use in the respective regions.The original concept of ECP/GR, a \"European Cooperative Project for Conservation and Exchange of Crop Genetic Resources\", was identified in the mid-seventies by the European office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as one area of useful cooperation to be established between east and west Europe. The preparation phase (1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979) of this project was based on the background evidence that, on one side, the rapid disappearance of older varieties could have limited the ability of plant breeders to respond to the needs of a changing world and, on the other end, the potential of plant material held in collections was not being fully exploited. It was considered that many different programmes under way at that time could have contributed to truly international genetic conservation efforts only if coordinated in a worldwide collaborative network. Considering that more than two thirds of the world's collected plant germplasm was maintained in Europe, the European Association for Research on Plant breeders (EUCARPIA) was undertaking efforts to develop inter-institutional links between genebanks in Europe. The role of ECP/GR would have been to strengthen inter-governmental and sub-regional links and coordinate activities, thus becoming the European component of a global network. At that time, four sub-regional initiatives for plant genetic resources were active in Europe, i.e. the European Commission Programme on Better Use of Gene Banks and Resistance Breeding (9 countries), the Genetic Resources Network of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) (7 countries in the eastern Europe), the Nordic Gene Bank (5 Nordic countries) and the Mediterranean Germplasm Programme of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), involving 13 countries of which 8 from Europe. The task to formulate the ECP/GR project was assigned to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as the executing agency and Ms Erna Bennet acted as the first coordinator of the programme in this preparatory phase. An intense series of consultative missions and discussions took place between 1975 and 1979, involving the UNDP European office, the EUCARPIA Gene Bank Committee, FAO and IBPGR (FAO 1979). A project document, finalized by a UNDP/FAO Coordination mission, was eventually unanimously endorsed in 1979 by the representatives from twenty-two countries (FAO 1980). A development objective was set as \"to contribute to development of agriculture in the member countries by the more effective use of plant genetic resources, which are well conserved and accessible, and to further the activities of national and sub-regional institutions for plant genetic resources in Europe, by strengthening cooperation between such institutions\". Immediate objectives were also defined as: 1) to create the means for full and free exchange of available plant genetic resources (PGR) and related data, in order to make this material available to all European plant breeders, 2) to coordinate collection and conservation of European PGR not yet existing in collection, 3) to make the above-mentioned PGR material and related data available to the plant breeders in developing countries and facilitate participation of Europe in the global network of PGR, 4) to coordinate evaluation of PGR, to be carried out by national and sub-regional centres for PGR in Europe and allow reduction of duplication of efforts regarding rejuvenation of PGR. A strategy was defined whereby each country would contribute in kind to the project, by inserting its national activities in the field of PGR conservation for plant breeding into the coordinated regional programme.Phase I (1980 -1982) The ECP/GR became operational on 1 October 1980, after the first eight countries had signed the project document. This initial two years phase was funded by UNDP, with FAO as executing agency. The executive secretary (Mr G. De Bakker) was based at the UNDP headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. A Governing Body was composed of members (21 member country representatives; UNDP; FAO; Executive Secretary, Chairman of Scientific Advisory Committee) and observers (sub-regional European organizations; IBPGR; other European countries; ECP/GR Scientifc Advisory Committee, UPOV; consultants to the Executive Secretary). Accomplishments of Phase I consisted in meetings of eight crop working groups, the appointment of national coordinators, stimulation to funding and organization of genetic resources activities by a number of countries, and training of scientists from various countries.Phase II (1983II ( -1986) ) At the request of the member countries, starting from 1 January 1983, the project was operated under the aegis of IBPGR, with FAO as the executing agency. An Executive Secretary (Mr P. Perret) was appointed and based in Rome. As initially planned, during Phase II the member countries matched the UNDP funding with 50 % of the programme's budget.A project evaluation mission, commissioned by UNDP/FAO during Phase I, clearly recommended not to impute to ECP/GR capabilities that it could not possess, such as \"creating the means for full and free exchange of available plant material…\". Consequently, a modified set of objectives, that would remain unaltered for the following 10 years, were defined (Table 1) Table 1. ECP/GR objectives (Phase II)  Create a system to facilitate: a) direct contact between workers engaged in genetic resources activities b) unhindered exchange of PGR c) establishment of information systems and data exchange between genebanks  To place at disposal of all interested plant scientists up-to-date information on collections of both seeds and living plants held by public institutions and private breeders in Europe  Establish for specific crops joint activities including: a) expeditions to collect genetic variants not held in existing collections b) characterization and evaluation of germplasm  Establish a self-sustaining cooperative network of genetic resources activities between the participating countries, which will be effective for Phase III and in the future without UNDP help.The Governing Board was replaced by a more agile Technical Consultative Committee, composed of scientists that would advise IBPGR in their individual capacity on decisions regarding the programme. The Programme work was based on Crop working groups and limited initially to six selected crops (Allium, Avena, Barley, Forages, Prunus and Sunflower).The first European Crop Databases were established and increased exchange of information lead to the production of preliminary inventories.Phase III (1987III ( -1989) ) and IV (1990IV ( -1993) ) In Phase III, the programme became completely self-sustained and the UNDP contribution ceased. In Phase IV the coordinator's time was reduced to ¼ time and the programme changed name into European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks, in order to give emphasis to its main networking function. The most impressive development in these phases was the implementation of crop databases for some 24 species, group of species or genera, located in 13 countries. The collaborative initiative promoted by the working groups also allowed significant developments in other areas: gaps in the collections were identified and coordinated collecting missions undertaken; descriptors lists were developed; standard reference varieties selected; core collections started to be defined; national programmes development was facilitated; training needs of genebank personnel were supported; and the flow of information and germplasm was largely improved.Phase V (1994 -1998) The reduced secretarial support of the previous phase was acknowledged to have led to a less proactive approach and provision for a full time coordinator was reintroduced in Phase V, along with a number of modifications to the general structure of the programme. The phase duration was increased from 3 to 5 years. Objectives were reviewed and more general targets were addressed, such as ensuring long-term conservation and encouraging increased utilization of PGR in Europe. Collaboration between national programmes remained a primary focus of the programme, aiming to increase joint activities and developing joint project proposals also in view of a new European Commission programme for conservation and use of genetic resources in agriculture. The strengthening of links between east and west European programmes characterized this period, after the fall of the Berlin wall and the threat to genetic resources programmes in eastern Europe (see Table 2). To ensure the long-term conservation and to facilitate and encourage the increased utilization of PGR in Europe  To increase the planning of joint activities  To strengthen links between east and west European PGR programmes  To develop joint project proposals to be submitted to funding agencies  To contribute to monitoring the safety of plant genetic resources collections and take appropriate action when required  To increase public awareness at all levels of the importance of PGR activitiesThe concept of networks (crop and thematic) was introduced, as broad organizational structures that accommodate activities contributing to general objectives of the programme. The operational units however remained the working groups. The programme was meant to provide funding for WORKING GROUP meetings and the publication of meetings' reports, while the working groups (eight at the end of Phase V) would agree on workplans of actions to be carried out by participating institutions as inputs in kind to the programme.The new structure (Figure 1) was planned to allow more flexibility and to extend the scope beyond a limited number of crops or themes. The Technical Consultative Committee was renamed Steering Committee, composed of national coordinators, with observers from the International Association of Plant Breeders (ASSINSEL, now ISF-International Seed Federation), the Euro-MAB Programme (Man and Biosphere), FAO, IPGRI, the Nordic Gene Bank and a representative from the European Non-Governmental Organizations. The European Commission was also invited to become a full member of the Programme, but a formal arrangement of this type was not established. Detailed functions of the Steering Committee, country coordinators, working group members and coordinating secretariat were defined (Table 3). After IBPGR became independent from FAO with the new name of IPGRI, the institute continued to provide the Coordinating Secretariat of ECP/GR, as requested by the Steering Committee.  3. Functions of the coordinating secretariat, working group members and national coordinatorsThis committee was composed of member country coordinators with the role to maintain the overall responsibility for the programme, approve its budget, provide technical and political guidance, decide the general scope of the networks and the establishment and termination of the working groups, provide guidelines, approve ad hoc activities and mandate the coordinating secretariat to carry out decisions.Coordinating Secretariat (provided by IPGRI):  Ensures implementation of the Programme, as mandated by the SC  Coordinates activities carried out in the framework of the programme  Is responsible for the financial management  Provides technical and financial reports to the SC  Initiates ad hoc activities  Gathers and distributes information  Assists in the formulation of project proposals for joint activities  Searches fo rdonors to support particular elements of workplans  Links with other regions  Contributes to public awareness Working group members  Attending and corresponding members have a representative role for the particular crop and are charged with 'taking home' the recommendations and the workplan agreed upon during the meeting Represent the ECP/GR to sponsoring Ministries and act as a liaison point between IPGRI, Ministries and participating institutes  Maintain close contact with working group chairmen or members to monitor progress and identify potential problems with databases and collections  Obtain the necessary governmental commitment to the programme and ensure that the required support is provided to institutes to allow them to make contributions in kind (maintenance of databases, of collections, collecting, etc.) Considering the role played by ECP/GR in the previous 15 years, and recognizing its new objectives and operational structure, the International Technical Conference on PGR held in Nitra, Slovakia, in September 1995, recommended that ECP/GR, the basis of which are active national programmes, be used as the platform to facilitate the implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the European region as part of the FAO Global System on PGR (IPGRI/FAO 1996).Phase VI (1999VI ( -2003) ) The European Symposium on the implementation of the GPA in Europe held in Braunschweig, Germany in October 1998, made a number of recommendations for ECP/GR to expand its scope, in order to cover a wide range of the priority activities defined by the GPA. However, it was impossible to secure a proportional increase of the annual country contributions. Nonetheless, during Phase VI the number of working groups expanded to 15 and activities were started in all the thematic groups, coordinated by appropriate task forces. The frequency of meetings of each working group was consequently reduced and an attempt was made to increase coordination at the network level with the establishment of Network Coordinating Groups, composed of working group chairs, vice-chairs and database managers. The structure of ECP/GR at the end of Phase VI, showing all the active networks and working groups is shown in Figure 2.Table 4 shows how the 5 years budget of Phase VI is broken down in percentage for the different budget items. Although the cost of coordination is significant, it can be argued that this is an essential element to ensure cohesion and functionality to the programme. passport descriptors, following their approval, as a standard format for data exchange, in a meeting of the ECP/GR Documentation and Information Network (Lipman et al. 1997). Many groups agreed to expand the list of descriptors for data exchange and include minimum lists of characterization and evaluation data. Since 1997, the European databases have become more visible on Internet (http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/links/selectcrop.asp). Most of them are now accessible via entry pages based on a common logic. These provide links to on-line searcheable or downloadable files and provide descriptions of the database and contact details of the contributors and of the managers. The Web-enabling of the ECP/GR databases was facilitated by a group of experts from the main Documentation Support Centres in Europe, who provided advice and technical support to the European central crop database managers. The high level of collaboration has allowed a number of databases, each managed by a different institution, to be temporarily hosted on the servers of the Nordic Gene Bank or the German Centre for Documentation and Information in Agriculture (ZADI).The ECP/GR Documentation and Information Network has been instrumental for the preparation of the EU-funded project EPGRIS (European Plant Genetic Resources Information Infra-Structure, http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/EPGRIS/Index.htm). This project was meant to support the creation of National PGR inventories in all the European countries. These inventories, to be implemented as part of the Clearing House Mechanism of the Convention on Biological diversity, will be the preferential source of data for the creation of the European search catalogue EURISCO. This catalogue, expected to be launched at the end of 2003, is planned to be frequently and automatically updated from the national PGR inventories and easily accessible via the Internet. The aim is to offer a single entry point guiding the user to the plant genetic resources information.Another visible output of ECP/GR is the production of information on PGR, mainly as a result of the exchange of information catalyzed by the working group meetings. The production of meetings' proceedings, including reports on country collections, as well as technical information and results of research, has characterized the entire ECP/GR cycle. These publications, available in paper copy free of charge from the Secretariat, can increasingly be downloaded from the Internet. The ECP/GR web site is also increasingly becoming a reference for information on the programmes' activities (http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org).ECP/GR has only rarely been able to allocate its funds to specific activities, such as documentation, characterization or evaluation of the collections. Working groups have generally had to rely on their own national resources to carry out agreed priority activities. National resources were always scarce and would not allow speedy and uniform implementation of the collaborative workplans. However, the launching in 1994 of the European Council Regulation 1467/94 for genetic resources in agriculture offered a new source of funds that could be used in a complementary way to implement agreed working groups' workplans. Several ECP/GR working groups found themselves in the optimal condition to submit proposals consisting in the range of activities that they had planned to carry out, but without adequate resources. A good number of projects (Allium, Avena, Brassica, Barley, Carrot, Maize, Prunus), developed within the ECP/GR networks, received EU support and were able to rapidly improve the level of characterization and use of the respective European collections. Just to quote one example, the Allium project (1996 -2000) resulted in the development of core collections for onion, leek and garlic, some sources of resistance to Phytophtora were identified in leek, resistances to Puccinia, Thrips and downy mildew were identified in onions. It was interesting to note that other EU-funded projects that were not developed within ECP/GR circles (Beta, Eggplant, Potato, Vitis) decided to apply for the establishment of formal ECP/GR working groups, either in the course of the project period or after its end. This process once more showed the natural complementarity between the aggregative and coordinating potential of ECP/GR and the financial resources of the EC.A shortcoming of the EU-funded projects was the risk to split the ECP/GR groups, due to ineligibility of the non-EU countries for EU funds. In many cases, ECP/GR ensured the participation of non-EU partners in the meetings of the EU funded projects and occasionally enabled them with small resources to carry out complementary activities.According to the IPGRI directory of germplasm collections, about 500 genebanks and other institutes in Europe currently maintain ex situ a total of approximately two million germplasm accessions. Although difficult to quantify with accuracy, the level of duplication of the collections is thought to be high. On the other hand, there are still gaps in the collections and high priority regions (such as the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Carpathian, the Caucasus, etc.) have been identified for collecting landraces or wild crop relatives threatened by genetic erosion.In the case of vegetables, there is no European country holding more than 30% of the total number of accessions held in Europe for a given crop. This example shows that a high level of interdependency characterizes this region and finding ways to share responsibilities and resources becomes imperative, also because public funding for maintenance of the collections often remains below a sustainable level.Centralized collections on a crop-by crop basis, whereby partner institutions maintain a crop collection on behalf of the region have been established. Formal commitment to maintain these on behalf of ECP/GR countries have been made in the case of the seed Allium species and cruciferous crops collection in Wellesbourne, UK, the European field collection of long-day Alliums at Olomouc, Czech Republic, the European field collection of short-day Alliums at Rehovot, Israel, and the wild Brassicas and related wild relatives collection in Madrid, Spain. Several ECP/GR working groups have also considered the possibility to formalize decentralized European collections, with the responsibility for conservation of relevant accessions being distributed among several countries. Theoretical mechanisms to implement such a system have been formulated by the working groups. The groups have also constantly contributed to improve mutual trust among the partners, by insuring continuing access to all germplasm and related information and promoting the use of high technical standards for storage, conservation, evaluation and documentation. Agreements for safetyduplication of the collections, mutual support for emergency regeneration and reconstruction of lost collections have also been concrete examples of responsibility sharing promoted by ECP/GR. A detailed account of the recent debate within ECP/GR and progress in sharing responsibilities for conservation can be found in Maggioni (2001).Twenty-two years after its establishment, the ECP/GR network can be said to have offered a successful framework for cooperation in Europe. This has facilitated maintenance of an open and continuous access to germplasm and related information. The most evident result of the network's presence has been improved documentation of germplasm and availability of data in the European region. Appropriate maintenance of the collections has also been encouraged.One of the main strengths of ECP/GR has probably been the sense of ownership that it has been able to develop in all the member countries. The frequent occasions to meet that it has created have facilitated continuous renewal of the commitment to work in collaboration and has also made it easier to prepare joint project proposals for submission to funding agencies. An effective coordinated Secretariat is thought to have acted as an essential glue of the network, but this would have not been sufficient without a clear commitment from the partners and their availability to contribute with inputs in kind.Weaknesses of the programme can be identified in the often-insufficient availability of funds to implement joint activities, leading to the risk that these only remain written on paper. Moreover, success leading to expansion of activities may bring with itself the risk of stretching the programme beyond its possibilities. The enthusiasm and good will originating in the working groups might also bring a sense of frustration whenever implementation of technical decisions is slowed down by the need for governmental approval.ECP/GR is now getting closer to the definition of its seventh phase of operation. Independently from the actual direction that the member countries will prefer to give to the programme, it is believed that the role of an effective Secretariat will still remain essential. Improvements will be expected if national programmes will be strengthened, since a coordinated approach can draw larger benefits when the basic elements of the system are strong and effective. It will also be important to maintain the focus on priority actions, so that the expected targets remain feasible. It is hoped that these considerations can be useful for any other regional network under development and that a coherent and efficient regional PGR strategy be promoted as a result of a well functioning networking environment.SWOT as a method for systematic analysis and planning in national and regional PGR frameworks The objective of this session was to present a participatory analysis and planning method, SWOT, to the participants and to enable them to use this tool in future on their own. By practising the SWOT method, the participants analysed during an intensive communication process in detail the PGR conservation and use in their home countries and developed from the conclusions future priorities and action areas for the EAPGREN Network.The starting point of the work was the common recognition that ...\"The sustainable use of its plant genetic resources is a complex task for a nation. It requires careful multidisciplinary planning -and re-planning as experiences arrive. Consequently, planning of PGR programmes needs to be a teamwork effort. A group as a whole is more than just the sum of its individuals and discussions in smaller subgroups are proven to be very helpful, not only for an exchange of experiences, but even more for intensified co-operation and communication that opens the way to solve problems more effectively and efficiently.\" 1  These considerations formed also the base for the session on network action planning. Before this session, the situation of conservation and use of PGR in different member countries of ASARECA had been explained by the workshop participants during their presentation of their national reports and it showed the great variety of existing strategies, institutional arrangements, legal frameworks, policies and key activities. The participants were able to exchange their experiences and they acquired deepened insights of the different national stages of development of PGR management issues.In addition, more information and motivation was provided by different resource persons. One presentation stressed the importance of well co-ordinated and structured national programmes 2 while others described the national programme development activities in Germany 3 . Concerning the regional institutional frameworks, the state of development of the Eastern Africa Plant Genetic Resources Network (EAPGREN) and its importance in the conservation and use of PGR was presented 4 . Also the results of several investigations of various networks were discussed, showing their strengths and weaknesses 5 . And another case study, the presentation on the European Co-operative Programme / Genetic Resources, gave an example how a network could function successfully over a long period 6 .The participants used their own experiences, as well as the lessons learnt from their colleagues and from the inputs of the resource persons, and conducted an analysis of the national as well as regional situation concerning conservation and sustainable use of PGR. They used the SWOT method in a process of three steps: The participants first elaborated the strengths and the weaknesses of their country's PGR system by dividing into two groups according to expertise and countries. They also looked at the opportunities and the threats in the different countries. During the plenary session, these group results were presented to all workshop participants and discussed in detail.  In a second SWOT session, the groups worked on elaborating the strengths and weaknesses of the EAPGREN Network. The opportunities of this network were noted and ideas on possible threats of the network were collected. The final plenary discussion enriched the network analysis.  The development of a regional action plan started from pre-formulated proposals which a workshop subgroup made to the plenary, developed from their past group work results 7 . Five outputs were presented to the plenary. The participants were split into the same two groups and then they worked on two respectively on three outputs. Again, the group members looked at the results developed so far, they mentioned the strengths, weaknesses, the opportunities and threats. Based on those, they developed suggestions to improve future performance, gave indications for the time frame, mentioned possible collaborators and responsible persons / institutions.SWOT, a participatory working method The SWOT method aims to make learning from experiences and mistakes more effective for groups of people. As a participatory method for project appraisals or evaluations it recognises that persons concerned have detailed knowledge of their environment and its utilisation, and that they are responsible for decisions they make -even if they are illiterate and not used to modern planning concepts. The advantages of the SWOT method are:  SWOT promotes participation in several ways. Firstly, it gives to the persons concerned a forum for regular discussions of existing problems and for solving many of them. Secondly, it encourages all group members to take part in discussions with the aim of solving problems existing there. Thirdly, the discussions focus on action and results. People who can contribute to solving problems are identified and tasks are allocated to them by the group. And fourthly, by solving existing problems the standing of the group (or network members) and its members is improved. The resulting pride in their own achievements can lead to development processes of the group.  The discussions of problems between the group members leads to increased awareness in the for example network. The SWOT method makes this process more effective by structuring the discussion and by recording it for later self-evaluation.  SWOT is particularly suited to raise the initiatives of groups or communities to solve their own realised problems. In this respect it differs greatly from other methods which concentrate on generating knowledge. SWOT is more of a management tool, particularly suited for only informally organised groups and communities.  By concentrating on past mistakes, not to blame but to use them constructively for learning processes, SWOT can help the groups to eliminate their mistakes and deficiencies.  In contrast to many other PRA methods which are sometimes in their application not very rapid, SWOT is a fast and simple method -and a cheap one. It is designed to concentrate on the perception and the initiatives of the participants and it keeps the role of the outsiders small. It is quickly understood and easily applied, provided its different steps are strictly followed.The principles of the SWOT method:The SWOT discussion starts just how most people start when they want to find out about a situation unknown to them, for example the situation of a researcher in an institute: By asking what activities are done and what were the advantages (or successes) and the failures (or the weaknesses) in the activities. But unlike many interviews, it does not stop at that but continues by asking who could contribute to eliminate those weaknesses, and how it could be done. SWOT does not only aim at finding information, it also wants to raise awareness about existing problems and promote initiatives, so that the group of researchers may solve those problems. The method is based on the following rationality:  Life is a succession of activities in the past, present and the future. This applies to individuals as well as to the life of organisations. Successful past activities are likely to be remembered. We call these our successes, although we know that the level of success might not have been 100%, and that different individuals may judge successes differently.  When we are able to repeat successes we can reach our aims in life, as is shown by the arrow of the diagram:Diagram of the SWOT analysis past futureOpportunities, Aims But other activities in the past proved to be errors, mistakes, failures etc.. Here we will call these our weaknesses.  Weaknesses may not harm us too much if we learn from them and avoid them in future. But if we repeat weaknesses often, we will get problems. We may say that many of our today's problems result from repeating weaknesses of the past. These weaknesses consumed time and money, in the past and until now. The question arises whether there are possibilities to overcome our weaknesses. In addition, we have to know the frame conditions, the threats which influence our institution.This can often be achieved by simply getting aware of the weaknesses and then eliminating them. This way we save time, money and other resources. But saving them is only one advantage. We can utilise them to even more benefit by investing them in new activities with more chances of success.The simple basic concept of SWOT can be employed in participatory situation and problem analysis leading to appraisals for projects and in evaluations of community based projects (and especially self-evaluations) in the following manner:Phase 1: Preparation  The moderators, single or in pairs, make an informal visit and hold discussions with different persons concerned in their places of work. The discussions may take up to a day. They give a first impression of the situation in the organisation.  A workshop is arranged with a relevant section of the target group, for example employees of co-operating departments. A moderator (who must be an outsider, capable of structuring a meeting, and a good understanding of the method's various steps) is appointed.Phase 2: Determining main successes/strengths and weaknesses  The persons concerned, for example researchers of several departments, are asked to describe and discuss their successful activities within the subjects of discussion. These are listed on green cards which are pinned to a board. When the relevant strengths/successes have been named, they are again read by the moderator for confirmation or altering.  The weaknesses contained in successful and other relevant activities are listed similarly, but on red cards. At the end they are also read aloud by the moderator for confirmation or altering.  The weaknesses are then divided into those which are largely due to external factors (which are important as background information but cannot be influenced by the participants) and those which can be influenced.Phase 3: Promoting initiatives and eliminating weaknesses  Each of the weaknesses which are within the influence of the participants is read aloud again. The participants must reach agreement if they do not want to alleviate it. Some weaknesses are considered unimportant, they do not lead to problems and they have become accepted as part of life. The most important weaknesses are chosen.  The causes for the weaknesses and their effects can be discussed. The persons who may be able to eliminate each of the important weaknesses are identified. The discussed and agreed solutions and their time frame are written on the back of the weakness cards or on boards. When all are finished, they are read aloud. This may be considered as the first planning step for alleviating the recognised weaknesses. This point will usually be the end of the first intensive group meeting.  If necessary, the persons who are considered able to alleviate the weaknesses draw a plan how to overcome them in the near future, together with some of the participants.  Alleviation of the weaknesses proceeds. Follow-up meetings are necessary to confirm that the weaknesses have been eliminated and to plan further action. Finally, the participants use the SWOT method to assess and evaluate the experiences they made while solving the problems and weaknesses.SWOT can be used for different situations, like planning or evaluation, and it has certain flexibility. It is possible to evaluate the internal situation of an organisation as well as its external linkages. Opportunities and threats can be analysed in detail, it will then be close to a situation analysis. The above described 8 points are leading to action faster, when the participants are persons with strong interest in the discussed subjects, if they are given deciding powers and are eager to take responsibilities.Experience has shown that precondition for a successful SWOT meeting are: A good moderator who is an outsider of the organisation; a fairly homogenous group able and willing to become active; selection of an appropriate topic for discussion; participation of the stakeholders concerned; and supportive political frame conditions.This chapter describes the subjects of the 3 working groups and how they are connected to each other. The working group results can be found in detail as copies in the annex of the report. Here the most important elements the groups have elaborated will be commented on. After brainstorming exercises and discussions in small groups and in plenary, the participants identified the following main sub-groups to which all collected ideas could be clustered to: Financial Resources allocated for the conservation and sustainable use of PGR,  Infrastructure like technical facilities or committees,  Human Resources, meaning the different kind of trained staff,  Activities from the different stakeholders in order to conserve, exchange or use PGR,  Policies and Laws setting the frame conditions for work and  Diversity/genetic Material in the country. Related to the existing strengths, it can be summarised that in all the above mentioned countries  Financial support is given, especially strong in Ethiopia and fairly good in Tanzania (mainly by donor support). In Burundi and Rwanda the financial support for PGR is still very \"limited\".  Concerning the infrastructure, it was stated by the group members that basic facilities are in all countries available, but the number and technical standards are very different and of course related to the financial inputs. Not surprisingly, in Ethiopia the ex situ as well as in situ facilities are strong in their performance, and also farmers' conservation associations are existing. NGOs are involved in the conservation and use of PGR.  The situation of human resources is considered \"relatively good technically with qualified man power\" in Ethiopia and \"fairly adequate\" in Tanzania. Also in Burundi and Rwanda there is PGR experienced staff available in the fields of characterisation and evaluation, in networking and in the general work of in situ and ex situ activities. In all countries, but especially in Tanzania, various kinds of in situ conservation is existing, like national parks or nature reserves. Besides, different research activities are going on in order to increase the use. For example the seed producers in Burundi use the genebank material for their work and in Rwanda tissue culture is used for multiplication and conservation activities.  Concerning \"policies and laws\", it can be summarised that all governments have realised the importance of PGR, and they signed international agreements like CBD, IT, WTO.The \"good will\", the commitment of governments to conserve PGR, is visible.  In all countries important genetic diversity is available.The mentioned weaknesses were:  Funding is given by the governments and donors, but in relation to the importance of PGR it is in all countries still inadequate, as noted by the group members,.  The basic infrastructure exists, but the technical facilities, the equipment and capacity of genebanks are insufficient. Besides, all countries have weak co-ordination of the different programmes and/or between the different stakeholders. Another weakness, seen by the colleague from Ethiopia, is the \"weak private sector involvement\" and \"limited involvement of local communities and NGOs\". That \"no national committee is established\" and that the PGR issue is not yet included in university curricula is seen as a weakness in Burundi.  All participants noted that the number of trained staff is insufficient. From Tanzania's side it was explained that also the \"high turn-over of human resources\" is a weak point in PGR work. Often, the staff's knowledge is not sufficient, especially in the field of policy and legal issues. And there is only \"limited training of farmers\".  Even where there are already a number of activities in the field of conservation, exchange and use of PGR, many activities receive too little support for the enormous tasks which need to be performed, for example: all countries mentioned \"limited awareness at all levels\"; others had specific problems such as \"lack of germplasm of under-utilised crops in ex situ conservation\". Inadequate linkage between breeders and genebanks, absence of impact assessment, lack of detailed action plans and insufficient inventory and documentation are more examples mentioned as weaknesses.  In the huge sector of policies and laws, a great number of missing elements was uncovered: for example \"some international agreements not yet signed\", legislative gaps, lacking PGR policy strategy and/or poorly defined responsibilities and overlapping of mandates.When the group members discussed the opportunities they looked at their institutional possibilities, but also outside their organisations and their countries. They concentrated on the possibilities they see for the future:  Concerning the financial resources, all participants were aware that international and national donors show the will to support PGR conservation and use.  The existing infrastructures offer different \"insurance mechanisms against loss of PGR\".The different existing networks involved in PGR, like the East Africa Subregional Development Centre (EASRDC) or the Great Lakes Initiatives of Collaboration (EASRDC) offer great potential.  As for the necessary human resources, experienced centres for learning exist, the interest of some universities in PGR is known and some partners in the region offer training already.  The chances in the field of activities are sharing of technical information and of critical germplasm among peoples and countries and the technology transfer from the North. Ethiopia and Tanzania focused in addition on a PGR duplication strategy for safety reasons. To \"improve the awareness on PGR activities\" and to \"increase the value of germplasm\" are further aims.  \"Policies and laws have to be refined\" is a general statement of the group members. For Burundi there is the wish that the private seed industry will be promoted. The presence of international organisations for partnership is seen as an opportunity.The threats for the future are seen as follows:  Though certain funds exist and possibilities for more financial resources are seen, the participants describe the dependence on external funding and the uncertain support as a threat.  A good use of the infrastructure is in all countries only possible if there is national coordination of PGR partners in place and no institutional rivalry exists. The sustainability of the network is also a crucial factor.  An important frame condition for successful work is the availability of qualified staff and their mobility.  \"Over-riding globalisation actions e.g. WTO, TRIPS\" and \"unpreparedness for disasters\" can become a threat to all other activities.  In the field of policies and laws the political instability and mistrust among partners are threatening the PGR programmes. Also the rapid population growth has to be taken into consideration.  Critical for all countries is the genetic erosion due to human and natural causes. Summarising remarks:  All four countries are facing threats to PGR from the need to feed fast growing populations.  Three of the four countries, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi, have suffered long periods of civil strife and war action. However, Ethiopia seems to have the best functioning PGR system of the four, while Rwanda and Burundi have the least developed ones.  Tanzania is probably leading with utilisation of its in situ conservation: its large area of national parks and other conservation areas also present a substantial part of the country's foreign exchange earnings.  On all levels of the agricultural sector low awareness on PGR issues are a major obstacle to future improvements. First SWOT working session, working group 2: This working group was composed of 8 participants: Mr. Haribenja Andriantsoavina and Mr. Jean Jaques Rakotomalala from Madagascar; Ms. Fiona Bayiga and Mr. John Mulumba Wasswa from Uganda; Dr. Esther Kimani, Mr. Zachary Muthamia Kithinji and Mr. Muchiri Bernand from Kenya; and Mr. Tesfaslassie G'Hebremariam from Eritrea. As resource person and facilitator the group was supported by Mr. John Mulumba Wasswa, and Dr. Issiaka Zoungrana.The working steps and the way of grouping the collected ideas was done nearly in the same way as in group 1 (see page 6).Strengths in the field of conservation and use of PGR in the above mentioned countries are:  The PGR diversity present in all countries, especially the existence of many wild relatives and endemic PGRFA in Madagascar.  In all the countries there are policies and laws on biodiversity and on environment in general. The participants from Madagascar noted as strengths that there is a biodiversity strategy and an action plan. In all the represented countries there are quarantine institutions in place. The basic facilities are available, and for Uganda and Eritrea strong linkages between environmental and agricultural institutions were reported.  Conservation activities are on-going in all the above mentioned countries, mainly on cereals, legumes and cash crops, and all the countries work with priority crops. Kenya has a genebank, the others concentrate on field gene banks.The weaknesses observed by the participants were:  There are inadequate financial resources for PGR conservation.  Under policies and laws the group stated that there is \"lack of mechanisms to enforce laws\". In all the countries there is \"lack of public awareness\" and \"lack of PGR teaching at the school\".  All learning institutions do not include PGR conservation in curricula. Just as in group 1, the weak collaboration between institutions (some exceptions see under strengths) and the overlap in mandate are seen as weaknesses.  A large number of activities was described as weak by the participants of group 2. All agreed that collecting, characterisation and evaluation is weak and that information and documentation systems are poor. The group noted difficulties due to no use of participatory PGR management approaches, as well as the breeding gap or the missing awareness on the possible benefits of use.  Looking at human resources, the same answers like group 1 were written down: the number and/or quality of trained staff is insufficient and there is a \"high staff turnover\". The participants from group 2 noted the following opportunities:  Concerning the financial resources, international and national donors are supporting PGR activities (same as group one).  Important opportunities in the field of policy and laws are the existence of environmental plans (in the case of Madagascar) and sectoral plans for rural development. The regional integration and the favourable international legal regime was noted from Uganda and for Kenya it was stated that international agreements are ratified and a laws' review on PGR issues is going on.  While for the other group safety and networking were the important key words under institution / infrastructure, this working unit stressed the possibilities of having NGOs present and that there are farmers' organisations existing. Positive was also the presence of several regional initiatives on PGR.  The participant from Eritrea noted among other ideas as opportunity to exchange PGR (give and take) and the existence of capacity building programmes. The most important threats discussed by group 2:  The dependence on donor funds poses a threat, according to all group members. And for the work with PGR it can be a threat, again ideas raised by all participants, when there are \"political interference in PGR conservation\", \"change in international policies\", \"genetic erosion due to biotic & abiotic stress\", \"GMOs\", \"climatic changes\" and \"institutional rivalry\".  Other factors mentioned were: \"change of culture and eating habits\" and population increase.  An important policy and legal aspect are the land tenure issues, the rural/urban migration and the increased rural poverty as noted down from Madagascar's side.  \"Theft of PGR material\" and \"undocumented indigenous knowledge\" are threats seen by the Eritrea colleague. Summarising remarks: Common strengths of the participants' home countries are the rich PGR diversity, the basic working facilities which have been provided, the different conservation activities done and the existing basic policy and legal framework.  As was also perceived by group 1, the countries do have rapid population growth, there is lack of awareness on the importance of PGR and an inadequate funding.  In addition, group 2 stressed the ineffective information systems and the weak information exchange.Identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in regional PGR networks: the EAPGREN case study.During this second SWOT session the young EAPGREN network was analysed by the group. Not all participants were so far actively involved in this network, but due to the given presentations and distributed handouts, constitution, logical framework for EAPGREN etc., all invited guests had a common background knowledge.All participants recorded in a brainstorming exercise the successes reached so far by the network, the strengths and positive preconditions. A substantial number of ideas appeared, as summarised in the following:  Governance: The elaboration of a \"working constitution\", the institutionalisation and the regional steering committee with representation by members is a strong point of the network.  Research programme: Its clear project documents such as the logical framework matrix are a valuable point for \"attracting donor funding\". The network provides a regional PGR forum. The identification of needs of partner countries was also noted as success.  PGR endowment: There is a \"great diversity of endemic PGR material\" and \"similarities in the ecology of the member countries\".  Regional support: The linkage with ASARECA, the co-operation with them, sharing their experiences and getting \"legal status available through ASARECA\" is a strong aspect of EAPGREN. In addition, other interregional and sub-regional institution exists like IRAZ, EAC. There is a good co-operation with IPGRI Regional Office and there are the \"experiences from similar networks on PGR in the SADC region\"  External support: Getting support from external donors like SIDA is seen as a important success. Positive is also the technical backstopping from IPGRI and NORDIC genebank.  Membership support: The different members of EAPGREN network get support by funding, human resource support (competent / well trained scientists) and the infrastructure possibilities: more institutions, greater capacity, participation of some strong national centres and complementarity of countries involved. The willingness of the network members, the commitment is another strength of this network.The weaknesses of the network experienced and seen by the participants so far were:  Membership support: Concerning the national issues it was experienced that not all potential members are catered for; a special lesson from Tanzania is Zanzibar. Limited public awareness and \"weak co-ordination mechanisms at national level as network building blocks\" were observed as well. With regard to the infrastructure it was stated that governmental policies and priorities are disparate. \"Lack of clarity on the commitment of members\", such as their financial contributions is a weakness for the network.  Communication: The lack of information exchange within and between countries was documented.  Research programmes: It is a weakness that there is a development of interest groups and the \"identification of collaborators is not exhausted\". The \"interests of NGOs, community based organisations and the private sector is weakly accommodated\". There is a failure to value PGR and the links between genebanks and breeding programmes are too weak.  Co-ordination: It was judged as weakness that co-ordination within EAPGREN has been only interim so far. There is a \"heavily dependency on national co-ordinators\" on the other side. The network development process was too long, the secretariat is not yet established and the \"regional steering committee does not widen the representation of the key stakeholders\".  Regional support: The ASARECA support can, besides the positives effects, lead to dependence. Negative is also that there is neither a clear strategy and nor policy at regional level from EAPGREN's side. It is feared that there will be competition with other networks for funds. The political context is a negative frame condition, the mistrust between the countries is a great weakness.  External support: The funding insecurity, the rivalry among donors and that there is only a single major source of external funding are crucial weaknesses.  Governance: The legal basis of the network is not clear enough.As the participants discussed the opportunities, they looked at the network's possibilities, but also outside their organisation, having in mind the objectives they want to reach in future:  Membership support: The possibilities of having young scientists in the network and the PGR training inputs from ASARECA country members are future chances. Concerning the PGR resources, the participants noted that sustainable use of PGR gives the opportunity to address development problems. The access to PGR resources will be increased, germplasm exchange and utilisation are opportunities, as well as safety duplication of PGR. For the members the available infrastructure can be used more efficient and effective, overall costs can be reduced, more institutions will be involved and the communication can be improved. In respect to policy matters it is a chance that there is an \"improved political environment\", the \"regional political climate is favourable\". There is \"collective action on common problems\" and there are many functional regional and subregional political and socio-economic organisations.  External support: As a network the chances to \"attract mega-donors\" can be improved, there can be a \"collective bargaining at project level\". Also the co-operation with international organisations such as IPGRI and other CGIAR centres is a notable opportunity. In addition, some of the network member countries are hosting international centres.  Other networks and research bodies' support: To use the experiences, the lessons learnt and the potentials from other regional networks, in the same region or elsewhere, is an opportunity to be used more, as mentioned by many participants.The threats for the network's future are seen as follows:  Financial: From the member country's side the uncertainty or even failure of financial commitment by all members is a negative frame condition. The lack of incentives for scientists hinders the network activity implementation. Also from external donors the financial support is uncertain, not available in time, or insufficient. Besides, the \"donor support will undermine ownership and sustainability\".  Equity amongst members: Domination of strong countries and unequal distribution of resources are threats for the network.  Stakeholders: The \"loss of farmers' indigenous knowledge\", the insufficient support and co-operation by farmers due to poorly defined farmers' rights and the \"insufficient participation of farmers in EAPGREN\" were noted as threats. Political context: On one side the political circumstances were described as improved and favourable, however, the threat of political instability and \"lack of trust between member countries\" are also recognised.  Policy and laws: \"Political divergence on PGR issues, for example GMOs and different or unclear PGR policies and strategies, are threatening the networks' function.  Loss of PGRs: The loss of genetic material by erosion or illegal means were seen as negative frame conditions, although all participants should be involved in working against it. This contradiction was partly resolved by stating that only the great dimension of this process has to be looked at as a threat. Also the question whether the agricultural development is a threat to PGR was perceived very different in the group (indicated by a flash on the board).  Governance, co-ordination: \"Unclear legal structures\" and \"lack of continuity of experts and officials in partner countries\" are noted as a threat.  ASARECA support: The negative side of ASARECA's support is the bureaucracy, the political tie to a young institution and the lack of technical understanding by CD.The development of a regional action plan for PGR conservation and utilisation: the EAPGREN case study.The results achieved so far during the group work sessions and during the discussions were used as basis for the development of a regional action plan. This will enable EAPGREN to discuss the results further, to work on the ideas presented and to start implementation of some activities.In order to use the limited time as efficient as possible, a subgroup formulated the following five outputs developed from past group work results: An effective PGR networking mechanism is developed in the region.  Capacity to manage PGR in the region is strengthened.  Enhanced availability of PGR management methodologies and technologies within the region.  Awareness of PGR issues is raised at public and policy level in the region.  More germplasm is accessed by local communities/farmers and utilised in crop improvement and enhancement programmes. The participants were split into the same two groups to work on two respectively on three of these outputs. And for each given output the following tasks were discussed by the groups: Identify two main priority activities that can be used to achieve the output.  Relate the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to the activities.  Discuss and suggest how the weaknesses can be addressed using identified strengths and opportunities.  Define key tasks for the identified activities and time frame.  Suggest collaborators for each identified activity. Group 1 worked on outputs 1, 2 and 4; Group 2 worked on outputs 3 and 5.The two selected main activities to contribute to the achievement of the output were: Setting up the legal framework, and  Setting up a co-ordination mechanism.The working document of the legal framework exists already and ASARECA's legal status is defined. However, the dependence on ASARECA may restrict the autonomy of the network and ASARECA's legal framework is described as weak. The increasing subregional and regional integration is an opportunity and the regional political climate is seen as favourable. In contrast, the uncertainty of political stability and the political divergence on various issues are threats for achieving the expected output.The suggestions of the participants are to improve EAPGREN's constitution and to have it approved. This should be done in collaboration with ASARECA and IPGRI within the next three years. The group proposed the steering committee and the secretariat of EAPGREN as leader.The group views the existence of a steering committee and the institutional framework of ASARECA as a positive basis for setting up a co-ordination mechanism. For the development of a sustainable mechanism for the network the weak co-ordination at national levels as network building blocks have to be considered. In addition, the operational mechanism are not fully refined. The existing networks can give lessons, however, the competition of the different ASARECA networks can become a threat, as well as the lack of awareness of the PGR value. To use the lessons learnt and to review and refine the operation mechanism is suggested. This should be realised during one and a half year with the same collaborators as above.Output 2: Capacity to manage PGR in the region is strengthenedThe group selected two priority activities which would ensure providing the required strengths to management: Institutional development, and  Human resource development.For the institutional development it is important that policy and legal instruments are established. Also developed decision making tools, national co-ordination and a developed conservation infrastructure are needed. Some facilities and programmes are available and the existing capacity can be shared. However, national co-ordination too weak and the legal framework is inadequate. The governments support PGR institutional development, nevertheless, there is political instability and institutional rivalry.The group suggested to strengthen national co-ordination mechanisms and to define the institutional role. These tasks have to be performed continuously, collaborators are the national focal points, led by the EAPGREN secretariat.Human resource development was selected as activity two for the necessary capacity improvement. It includes the development of human resources through training programmes and the promotion of PGR curricula in education systems. Some well trained scientists are available and PGR curricula exists, though this aspect was seen differently by several participants. On the other side, all group members agreed when the weaknesses, the high turn-over and the inadequate number of trained manpower was presented. The existence of training institutions and of PGR training consortium is an opportunity. The threats for achieving the output are the lack of motivation and the fear of no sustainability in funding, especially when outputs are below plans.The group's suggestions were to take advantage of the government's positive attitude, to develop policies and to motivate staff. A great number of collaborators were listed such as universities and institutions in the region and outside like DSE, IPGRI, Nordic genebank, Sida, FAO, Future Harvest Centres.The group selected as main activities: Research on PGR conservation, and  Research on characterisation and evaluation. 8 The network should focus on the development of guidelines on PGR conservation and effective seed conservation and regeneration procedures. Plant breeders and a regional organisation should collaborate. These activities should start immediately. Other tasks described by the group members are to adopt protocols of cryopreservation methods and of good in vitro conservation methods, activities which can be done with collaboration of IITA and IPGRI. The limited number of trained staff is a weakness, however, there are some basic tissue culture facilities available. Field genebank procedure development is a task which should be started immediately. Group 2 proposed to implement a monitoring system for onfarm conservation in co-operation with NGOs and INIBAP and to realise it also immediately. Further suggestions were: To conduct genetic erosion studies, to have an inventory of in situ resources and to work on germplasm duplication procedures are tasks that should be started this year.For the research on characterisation and evaluation good evaluation procedures for priority crops have to be established. Studies in characterisation and evaluation methods are needed and can be conducted immediately together with breeders and other crop networks. The use of molecular markers for characterisation and genetic diversity studies were planned as well.This seems an ambitious programme and it was not clear who will do the work. The question came up how far routine work should be addressed.The two chosen priority activities to raise awareness on both levels were: Development of public awareness mechanisms 9 and  Tools development.By organising workshops, seminars, and conferences for different target groups and by the development of a PGR sensitisation campaign programme public awareness will increase. Proposed also regional PGR documentation and information services. Policy and legal instruments exist already, however, there is only limited information exchange within the region and different languages have to be considered. Opportunities are that information is available and many kinds of communication channels exist. Not harmonised policies are a threat.The group members suggested to train staff in public awareness and public relation and to facilitate a harmonisation of policies. EAPGREN secretariat should guide the different collaborators, the national focal points, NGOs, local governments and mass media.The second priority activity was summarised tool development: the development of awareness creation tools and strategies, public relation tools for dissemination of information. The availability of databases and information systems and the existing communication technologies are strengths for the network, but facing insufficient public awareness materials and limited PR trained personnel. A chance is the access of PA material of other networks, the access to a dynamic ICT and favourable political environment.During the next one to two years activities should start together with Future Harvest Centres and universities. The participants selected the following activities: Documentation and information, and  Collaboration. Most important for the first chosen activity is the production of crop catalogues, secondly the establishment of databases and thirdly to publish information on potential germplasm. For all the tasks the network can build on existing institutions, however, information exchange is difficult and there are no policies at regional level to manage databases. As opportunity the group noted on one side the germplasm diversity and on the other the divers collaboration possibilities. Communication links are available. The high turn-over of experts and the inadequate participation by stakeholders are threats. Also the loss of farmer's indigenous knowledge and unclear legal regulations have negative effects. The collaboration is planned with Future Harvest Institutes and regional genebanks.Collaboration should focus on seeking co-operation in promotion of neglected crops and on strengthening the participation and linkages with the users of PGR. Strengths are in this context the existing sub-regional bodies, e.g. IRAZ, association with development partners and partnership with strong national programmes. As stated often already, the weaknesses are the disparity in government policies and priorities, lack of information exchange, weak link between breeders and genebanks and missing links to markets. The increased global PGRFA awareness, the regional and international donor support and interest are chances. But there are the well known threats, such as undefined farmers' rights and agricultural development contra PGR. The group suggested to collaborate with NGOs, extension services, development agencies and the private sector.Summarising remarks:  Decision-making powers were not enough represented amongst the participants. This is indicated by the rather superficial action plan.  As per output only two activities were discussed by the participants, the necessary described and proposed tasks are not at all complete.The theme of this workshop, the strengthening of national plant genetic resources programmes, is closely related to, and to a certain extent determined by, the various elements of the FAO Global System for Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources. The most important elements, i.e. the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT), the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA), and the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture report (SOW) will be dealt with in this paper to provide a general framework for discussion, especially in the context of networking conservation and utilization activities and how these elements can contribute to a strengthening of regional networks. These elements are important to all countries and they will provide a guide for developing and implementing national plant genetic resources (PGR) plans and programmes, and for the indispensable national, regional and international cooperation.In November 2001 the re-negotiation process of the International Undertaking, the legally non-binding international instrument of the FAO, established in 1983 to provide a legal framework for plant genetic resources, was finalized after a seven year long negotiation process among members of the Commission on Genetic Resources. The result is the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture that will enter into force 90 days after 40 countries have ratified this legally binding instrument and that is in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity. As this International Treaty differs rather significantly from the Undertaking and since it still has to be ratified by almost 30 countries it was thought pertinent to provide a general overview of its key features, especially since it provides the \"umbrella\" to all the other plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) related instruments. In this paper special attention will be given to cross-cutting aspects with regard to the GPA and the SOW report.The GPA was adopted during the 4 th International Technical Conference for Plant Genetic Resources of the FAO in Leipzig by representatives of 150 states. It provides a coherent framework for activities in the field of in situ and ex situ conservation, in sustainable utilization of PGR and in institution-and capacity building. Its recommendations and activities have logically developed from the State of the World Report. It is envisaged that the Plan be periodically updated and, thus, will enable the Commission to recommend priorities and to promote the rationalization and coordination of efforts. It was further agreed that national governments and other members of the FAO will monitor and guide through the Commission the overall progress in the implementation of the GPA and of related follow up processes and establish criteria and indicators to assess this progress.The first Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources has been developed through a participatory, country-driven process. This process resulted in the preparation and submission of 151 country reports by governments and these formed the information basis for the SOW report.During the recent 9 th Regular Session of the Commission the process of updating the SOW report, the monitoring of the GPA implementation and the establishment of a facilitating mechanism to implement the GPA were discussed and recommendations made. The salient features of the outcome of these discussions regarding the SOW report and the monitoring of the GPA will be presented in this paper and in the chapter that deals with monitoring of GPA implementation.As already mentioned in the introduction the IT was adopted during the 8 th Regular Session of the Commission and is currently in the process of ratification. For the full text of the agreement the reader is encouraged to visit the FAO website http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/docs9.htm or to consult the FAO publication of the integral text (FAO, 2002). In addition, several articles have been published with interpretations of the Treaty (Cooper, 2002). In the paragraphs below a brief summary is given of the IT with a special focus on the provisions that relate to access and benefit sharing.The Treaty's objectives are \"the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security\". Its scope is all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. An article on Farmers' Rights recognises \"the enormous contribution that the local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions of the world, particularly those in the centres of origin and crop diversity, have made and will continue to make for the conservation and development of plant genetic resources which constitute the basis of food and agriculture production throughout the world\". The responsibility for realising these rights lies with national governments, which should, as appropriate, and subject to national legislation, take measures to protect and promote Farmers' Rights, including the protection of relevant traditional knowledge, the right to participate equitably in sharing benefits, and the right to participate in relevant decision-making, at national level. This is the first time that such rights have ever been recognised in a binding treaty. Clearly, they are not intellectual property rights, but the basis for the recognition of the collective innovation on which agriculture is based.The Treaty also establishes a Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, applied to a list of crops established on the criteria of food security and inter-dependence, implemented through a standard material transfer agreement, to be adopted at the first meeting of the Treaty's Governing Body. The list of crops covers about 80% of the world's food calorie intake from plants. Parties to the Treaty will bring into the Multilateral System all such resources that are under their management and control and in the public domain. They will encourage natural and legal persons within their jurisdiction to include the resources they hold in the Multilateral System. The PGRFA held by the International Agricultural Research Centres of the CGIAR will also be brought in, by agreements which they are invited to sign with the Treaty's Governing Body.The Treaty lays out the conditions of access by legal and natural persons under the jurisdiction of Contracting Parties. Access shall be \"for the purpose of utilization and conservation in research, breeding and training for food and agriculture, provided that such purpose does not include chemical, pharmaceutical and/or other non-food/feed industrial uses\". Access shall be accorded expeditiously, without the need to track individual accessions and free of charge, or at minimal cost.The Treaty provides that \"Recipients shall not claim any intellectual property or other rights that limit the facilitated access to the plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, or their genetic parts or components, in the form received from the Multilateral System\". This text was the subject of intense negotiation and compromise.Access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture under development, including material being developed by farmers, shall be at the discretion of the developer, during the period of their development. Access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture protected by intellectual and other property rights shall be consistent with relevant international agreements, and with relevant national laws. Resources accessed under the System, and conserved, shall continue to be made available by the recipients. These provisions, and those regarding benefit-sharing, will be contained in a standard Material Transfer Agreement to be agreed by the governing body. Its conditions shall apply to the transfer of the resources to subsequent persons.The Treaty recognises that access is in itself a major benefit. The Parties agree that benefits shall be shared fairly and equitably, including through the exchange of information, access to and transfer of technology, and capacity-building. They agree to take measures to achieve commercial benefit-sharing, through partnerships and collaboration. They agree \"that a recipient who commercializes a product that is a plant genetic resource for food and agriculture and that incorporates material accessed from the Multilateral System, shall pay […] an equitable share of the benefits arising from the commercialization of that product, except whenever such a product is available without restriction to others for further research and breeding, in which case the recipient who commercializes shall be encouraged to make such payment\". Provision is made for the Governing Body, at its first meeting, to determine the level, form and manner of the payment, in line with commercial practice. It may decide to establish different levels of payment for various categories of recipients.Important features of the IT that should be noted and that elaborate some of the points above are the following: The recognition of the special nature of PGRFA, in particular, aspects such as the interdependency of states, its importance for food security, its (indirect) economic significance, the way these resources are being used, etc.  In view of the above, the members of the Conference of Parties of the CBD had requested FAO to bring the International Undertaking into harmony with the CBD, a request that finally has resulted in the IT.  One of the most fundamental notions of the CBD, the sovereign right of a state over the biological resources within its borders, is duly reflected in the Treaty. Directly related to this notion is the obligation that users of these resources equitably share the benefits that derive from this use.  The recognition that an integrated approach to conservation and use is essential for a sustainable agricultural development effort.  The recognition that farmers all over the world have significantly contributed to the creation and maintenance of PGRFA is reflected in the article on farmers' rights. The establishment of a multilateral system, including 35 selected crop and 29 largely temperate forage genepools, is possibly the most significant aspect. For these species detailed procedures have been established regarding their access and benefit sharing;  The IT covers explicitly ex situ germplasm collections maintained by the CGIAR centres, including those that have been designated as part of the International Network of Ex Situ Collections of the FAO as well as those maintained by other international institutions;  The IT specifically notes that the Global Plan of Action provides an internationally agreed framework for conservation, exploration, collecting, characterization, evaluation and documentation activities; It recognizes the importance of international PGR networks in the conservation and utilization of PGR and encourages their strengthening and/or development;  The establishment and strengthening of a global information system to facilitate the exchange of information is identified as an important activity and it is noted that such a system should be based on existing information systems, on scientific, technical and environmental matters and, among others, should provide for an early warning about hazards that threaten the efficient maintenance of PGRFA;  Contracting parties to the IT agree to cooperate with the Commission in its periodic assessment of the state of the world's PGRFA in order to facilitate the updating of the rolling GPA. From the actual text of the IT and from the above it can be concluded that the new Treaty provides for a legal framework on the difficult questions of access and benefit sharing, that will enter into force 90 days after the 40 th country has ratified the Treaty. This framework is well developed for the selected crops and species that are included in the multilateral system and, especially when the foreseen material transfer agreement will be concluded, it will greatly assist both, the suppliers of the germplasm accessions and recipients (i.e. the users) on how to correctly proceed with the exchange and utilization of PGRFA. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the Treaty encourages networks to assume more responsibility for the conservation and utilization of germplasm and, consequently, it is left to the network to also consider giving the same or a similar access and benefit treatment to other species that are currently not included in the multilateral system. In view of the foregoing it can be concluded that the Eastern Africa region will benefit from an active and strong regional PGR network, i.e. EAPGREN.As already mentioned in the introduction, the GPA was adopted during the Fourth International Technical Conference on PGR in Leipzig in 1996 through the active involvement of governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, researchers and farmers' groups. The 150 countries present in Leipzig committed themselves to take the necessary steps to implement the GPA in accordance with their national capacities. For details of the GPA the reader is referred to the full text of the Plan (FAO, 1996). In this paper special attention will be paid to the Facilitating Mechanism for the Implementation of the GPA as proposed to the Ninth Regular Session of the Commission (see also Commission paper number CGRFA-9/02/9 \"A Facilitating Mechanism for the Implementation of the GPA\"). Details on the monitoring process of the GPA implementation can be found in another chapter of this publication.The proposal made to the Ninth Session of the Commission on the Facilitating Mechanism establishes the fact that significant progress has been made with the implementation of the GPA, but that there is a need for renewed concerted action as much needs to be done at the local, national and international levels. In particular, the priority areas of the GPA on In Situ Conservation and Development as well as Institutions and Capacity Building are being singled out as in need of additional work. Furthermore, the proposal mentions the need for more (international) financial resources to be made available. It further states that coordinated implementation and associated financing of the GPA has not been realized and an effective implementation of the Plan through the FAO Global System for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of PGRFA is required.The above points with regard to the somewhat disappointing progress made with the implementation of the GPA can be partly explained by the absence of an effective international arrangement to facilitate the implementation of the GPA. The aforementioned proposal states that a coordinated and strategic approach must be employed while building on the knowledge and experience that already exists with the implementation of the GPA. Details of the organizational structure of the Facilitating Mechanism, its governance and the financing of its operation as well as the establishment of strategic partnerships are aspects that still need to be discussed and developed further, with the involvement of stakeholders wherever possible. These developments have to be guided by the Commission and its Inter-governmental Technical Working Group on PGRFA.Although no details of the Facilitating Mechanism currently exist it seems justifiable to conclude that the implementation of the GPA will be greatly facilitated through active networks. A network such as EAPGREN can play a similar role as the above-described Facilitating Mechanism at the regional level and, thus, ensure that the participating countries actually benefit themselves more from genetic resources they collectively harbour through targeted utilization and long-term conservation. Through a strategic and efficient coordination of the activities at the regional level the network will also contribute to an increased attraction of funds from donors and, most likely also from better targeted development projects that are based on the sustainable and equitable management of PGRFA.The first report on the State of the World's PGRFA (FAO, 1998) was produced as part of a country-driven preparatory process for the Fourth International Technical Conference, held in 1996 in Leipzig, Germany. This report was the first comprehensive world-wide assessment of the state of PGRFA and provided a solid basis for the preparation of the GPA. It has been decided by the Commission, and is also required by the Treaty, to periodically assess the state of the PGRFA world-wide in order to facilitate the analysis of changing needs and gaps and to contribute to the rolling GPA. Subsequently, it has been decided by the Commission to work towards a second report of the State of the World's PGRFA by 2006.The SOW-1 report contained the following chapters and appendices: 1: The state of diversity 2: In situ management 3: Ex situ conservation 4: Use of PGRFA 5: National programmes, training needs and legislation 6: Regional and international collaboration 7: Access and benefit sharing Annex 1: The state of the art: Assessing genetic diversity, vulnerability Methods for conservation Methods for use through breeding Legal and economic methods Annex 2: The state of diversity of major and minor crops Appendix 1: Status by country of legislation and programmes SOW report were given and recommendations made regarding the GPA. In total more than 100 countries were visited by the Secretariat and its consultants (i.e. predominantly IPGRI staff). In addition to the Country Reports also the World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS) database provided important information for the SOW and, subsequently, WIEWS was updated with information from the Country Reports. Finally, a number of scientific workshops were held that provided inputs into WIEWS as well as to the preparatory process of the Fourth International Technical Conference. The Commission endorsed during its Ninth Session the preparation of the second report of the State of the World's PGRFA (SOW-II). It stressed the importance of a country-driven process, a review of the Guidelines prior to their finalization and the fact that there should be a full integration of this preparation process with that of the monitoring the implementation of the GPA. It also endorsed the proposal that the scope and structure will be similar to the SOW-I report, with the following understanding: To include a comparison of the status of the PGRFA conservation and use as well as its related knowledge with that of the SOW-I, and to allow for trends to be identified;  To address the role of PGRFA in progress toward sustainable development;  To take the context of the framework provided by the IT into account;  To include more information on topics such as the capacities of countries in plant breeding and seed sector development as well as the impact of agricultural policies on PGRFA and their management. The following indicative outline for SOW-2 was agreed with the understanding that each chapter would include an update of the information from the corresponding chapter of SOW-I; new and emerging issues; highlights of progress in the implementation of the GPA activities; an analysis of trends; challenges and new opportunities; as well as a summary and conclusions. Content of sow-ii similar to sow-1, with some new identified issues and elements as well as an additional chapter on the contribution of PGRFA management to food security and sustainable development.The following Thematic Studies have been agreed upon:A: PGR of forages, pastures and rangelands B: Wild crop relatives C: Indicators of genetic diversity, erosion and vulnerability D: Methods and capacities for crop improvement E: Management of PGR in seed systems F: PGR, health and dietary diversity G: PGR in the agro-ecosystem H: PGR -Animal Genetic Resources interactions I: Impact of agricultural policies J: Biosafety and biosecurity issues. During the discussions on the preparation of the SOW-II report several challenges as well as areas for special attention were mentioned that could be of interest in the context of the current workshop to be mentioned. The importance of the active involvement of stakeholders;  To use the preparatory process (as well as the process for monitoring the implementation of the GPA) to build capacity at the national and regional level;  To pay special attention to information management at the national level, to assist in the development or strengthening of a national information management system, and to use the existing or improved viewers database;  To integrate information on plant breeding and seed sector; and  To strengthen the use of indicators in the preparatory process and for the identification of trends. The Commission agreed on the following Indicative Timeline: 2003: updating of country reports and preparation of thematic studies; implementation of pilot programmes on national PGR information systems; regional meetings to review country reports and selected thematic studies;  2004: analysis and compilation of sow-ii report; preparation of extended outline and report on main findings emerging from preparatory process; finalization of first draft sow-ii report;  2005: technical and governmental review of draft report; preparation of recommendations for GPA refinement;  2006: finalisation of the report and proposed GPA refinements; endorsement of sowii report and the refinement of the rolling GPA during the 11 th session of the commission.The above-described elements of the Global System for the Conservation and Utilization of PGRFA provide a comprehensive technical (in particular the GPA) and a legal and policy (in particular the IT) framework for the development and strengthening of conservation and use activities at the national and regional levels. The preparatory processes for the second State of the World's PGRFA report and for the monitoring of the implementation of the GPA provide opportunities (and obligations) to countries to establish long-lasting processes, procedures and mechanisms to assess the current status of PGRFA, to monitor the status of the GPA implementation through participatory processes that involve key stakeholders as well as to jointly develop a national PGRFA information management system. In view of these advantages it is recommended that the governments of the Eastern African countries that are members of EAPGREN are encouraged to ratify the IT and to actively participate in the various processes and activities described above.\"Managing Agrobiodiversity in Rural Areas\"K. Probst 10 Consultant on behalf of the GTZ Sectoral ProjectThe following paper was presented at a workshop of the East African Plant Genetic Resources Network (EAPGREN) held at the International Training Centre in Zschortau from 01-10 of October, 2002. The purpose of the presentation was to acquaint workshop participants with German Technical Cooperation initiatives in their countries -particularly with activities related to the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources. The presentation consists of three major parts: In the first introductory section, a brief overview is given of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), its mandate in development cooperation and the priority areas of GTZ's bilateral support in EAPGREN member countries. In the second section which constitutes the major part of this paper a more detailed insight is provided into the objectives, approach and activities of the GTZ Sectoral Project \"Managing Agrobiodiversity in Rural Areas\". Ultimately, some entry points for cooperation with GTZ are outlined -both for bilateral technical cooperation, as well as specific opportunities for cooperation with the Agrobiodiversity project.The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) is a service enterprise for Development Cooperation which is owned by the Federal German Government. GTZ operates as a private-sector enterprise, but on a public-benefit basis, channelling any surpluses back into its own development cooperation projects. GTZ's main client is the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); however, services are also provided for other German ministries, partner country governments, international organisations and institutions, such as the European Union, the United Nations and the World Bank. GTZ's mandate is to provide 'Technical Cooperation' which is only one form of Development Cooperation. The Federal German Government also supports Financial Cooperation, Personnel Cooperation, multi-lateral cooperation with international organisations, as well as work by churches, political foundations and independent executing agencies. Technical Cooperation does not refer purely to cooperation in the field of technologies. Rather it is understood as a means of transferring and generating the technical, economic and organisational skills and know-how for people and organisations to improve their living conditions through their own efforts. The many activity areas on which the GTZ offers consultancy range from economic and employment promotion through health and basic education to environmental protection, natural resource conservation and regional rural development. In recent years, governmental advisory services have taken on an ever greater role, in order to support changes in the political, economic and social framework conditions. Development Cooperation is governed by political criteria: Partner countries, for example, have to respect human rights and allow its citizens to take part in the political decision-making process. There must be rule of law and, also, social market economy that Agricultural biodiversity is the basis for global food security: It helps secure people's livelihoods and habitats, for instance by yielding building materials, fuels, clothing, medicines and means of transport, and by sustaining multifunctional agro-ecosystems. Moreover, plant and animal genetic resources are the primary source material for the further development of crop varieties and animal breeds by farmers and breeders. Biological diversity in agriculture safeguards the potential for natural adaptation to changes in the environment and ecosystems, and for adaptation to shifts in human nutritional requirements. The small farmers of Africa, Asia and Latin America -and above all the women, who are responsible for the greater part of food production in these countries -are particularly dependent upon genetic resources. A rich diversity of native plant varieties and locally adapted animal breeds secures these farmers' survival in the face of difficult climatic conditions and marginal soils. FAO data on the erosion of genetic diversity and the associated loss of knowledge give cause for concern. Even so, in many countries, plant and animal genetic erosion is ","tokenCount":"41401"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2154485300.json b/data/part_1/2154485300.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..88ca9f8fa9019b806bd541ea26bb555cbad4f58d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2154485300.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"041199ef17f486ab16b00050fe2ddfaa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d7561b94-c7c1-449c-806e-63680df098f8/retrieve","id":"1922756752"},"keywords":["Food system","Resilience","Assessment","Measurement","Methodology","Food security"],"sieverID":"1e46b210-97ea-4682-9b12-265f455d7f0d","pagecount":"22","content":"There is growing recognition that a better understanding of how food systems respond to crises is critical to build and protect the food security of local populations. But rigorous and reliable methods to measure food system resilience are still missing. In this paper, we build on the current literature to develop an analytical framework aimed at assessing the resilience of food systems at local level. The novel element of the analysis lies in the levels at which resilience is considered. Combining the individual actor level with the notion of 'emergent properties' of food systems, we argue that the overall resilience of food system results from processes that take place -and need to be measured -at both individual and system levels. The framework is structured around three components: (i) the mapping of the actors and the local food system; (ii) the assessment of the resilience of these actors and that of the food system, and (iii) the outcomes of this resilience, assessed in term of local population's food security. For each of those components, indicators are proposed and the ways to collect them are discussed. The paper then presents the types of analyses that would be necessary to complete to gain a better understanding of the situation regarding the resilience of the local food system under consideration, including the analysis of \"positive deviance\" among food system actors. The paper concludes with a series of reflections about the caveats and challenges that one may face when attempting to assess food system resilience.As a concept, food systems have been discussed in academic literature for some time (e.g., Sobal, 1978;Kneen, 1989;Ericksen, 2008;Ingram, 2011). In contrast, food systems resilience is a relatively new subject of (applied) research (Eriksen et al., 2010;Bizikova, et al., 2016;Meyer, 2020;Zurek et al., 2022). Though the literature on food system resilience is still relatively scarce, there is growing recognition that a better understanding of how local, national, or international food systems respond to shocks and adverse events is critical to build and protect the food security of vulnerable populations at local and national levels (Pingali et al., 2005;Dury et al., 2019;Agyemang & Kwofie, 2021;Béné & Devereux, 2023). In addition to the effects of extreme weather events, recent disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine offer vivid evidence of the urgency and global importance of the task (Dyson et al., 2023;Rabbi et al., 2023).In the context of humanitarian and food security crises, the concept of resilience is, itself, a contested construct, still debated between several schools of thoughts guided by different mental models and epistemological assumptions (Ansha et al., 2019;Birhanu et al., 2017). In this paper, we follow one of the most widely adopted interpretations of resilience (\"resilience-as-a-capacity\"), and propose an analytical framework, along with a series of principles and caveats, on how to assess the resilience of food systems.The novel element of the analysis lies in the levels at which resilience is considered in this new framework. Combined with the conventional individual or household level found in the majority of the resilience literature, we will introduce here the notion of 'emergent properties' of food systems, arguing that the overall resilience of the food system reflects both the resilience of individuals or households and the resilience at higher levels that result from interactions among food system components.Empirically the importance of elevating the analysis above and beyond the household and community level and to considering the higher level of resilience at the food system itself makes sense as it reflects more realistically some of the troubling observations often made in the context of protracted crisis or armed conflict affected areas (Maître d'Hôtel et al., 2023;Béné et al., in revision) where households may have managed to maintain/protect the resources and capacities necessary to remain (theoretically) resilient and food secure, yet end up in critical food and/or nutritional insecurity because the local food system and its actors are not resilient and have collapsed in the face of the crisis.The paper is conceptual and methodological in nature and is directed at researchers and practitioners interested in assessing food systems' resilience. It is general, out of necessity, to ensure that it remains pertinent across many contexts -even if it must be tailored to context before being applied. It is intended to offer methodological and technical recommendations on how to measure food system resilience at the local level. Although it does not offer an exhaustive review of the literature (see, e.g., Tendall et al., 2015or Zurek et al., 2022 for such reviews), it does acknowledge and build on those other works.2 Principles of food system resilience measurementFood systems encompass \"all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation consumption [and waste management] of food, and the output of these activities, including socioeconomic and environmental outcomes\" (HLPE, 2017, p.23).In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), local food systems are both comprised of, and benefit, many of the world's poorest citizens (Smith, 1998;Gómez et al., 2013). At the production end, they include the vast majority of smallholder farmers, pastoralists or fisherfolks in these countries who produce, and trade plant staples, fruits, vegetables, wild and domesticated livestock. These producers commonly sell to local or regional markets through a series of (often but not always informal) \"middlemen\" (aggregators, wholesalers and brokers) (Porter et al., 2007;Veldhuizen et al., 2020). Further down along the supply chain, the retailing segment is also dominated by informality, both in the structures (open markets, street vending, and corner stores) and in the transactional process (informal contracts, and agreements) (Roever & Skinner, 2016;Smit, 2016). Local food systems feed the majority of the rural and urban population in LMICs, a large number of which are living under or close to the poverty line.As such, those local food systems are often the only source of affordable, nutritious food for both rural and urban poor communities.As is often the case with new concepts, a growing number of definitions of food system resilience have been proposed in the literature (see e.g., Tendall et al., 2015;Bizikova et al., 2016). Building on this literature, we propose to define food system resilience as \"the ability of the different individual and institutional actors of the food system to maintain, protect, or successfully recover the key functions of that system despite the impacts of disturbances.\" This definition highlights several important considerations.First, under this definition, resilience is conceptualized as the ability (or capacity) of food system actors to act, or react, in the face of shocks and stressors. From a resilience perspective, such actions and/or reactions would have a positive effect on well-being -or otherwise be considered maladaptive. This interpretation puts emphasis on actors and their agency -enacted through their capacities -as the key component of food system resilience analysis. As such, this diverges foundationally from the concept of resilience portrayed as the probability of individuals or other entity (e.g., household, community) to remain above a certain poverty or food security threshold (see, e.g., d 'Errico et al., 2018;Cissé & Barrett, 2018;Vaitla et al., 2020;Hoddinott, 2023;Cattaneo et al., in press, for examples of this statistical approach to resilience). Instead, our proposed approach builds on the\"resilience-as-a-capacity\" 1 body of literature that has emerged in the past 10 years and which emphasizes actors' agency as the main entry point of resilience analysis (Bohle et al., 2009;Constas, Frankenberger & Hoddinott, 2014;TANGO, 2018;Henly-Shepard & Sagara 2018;Ansah et al., 2019). 1 Resilience capacity comprises three types of capacities: absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity. Absorptive capacity refers to the various coping strategies by which individuals and/or households moderate or buffer the impacts of shocks on their livelihoods and basic needs. Adaptive capacity involves making proactive and informed choices about alternative livelihood strategies based on changing conditions. Transformative capacity refers to systems-level transformative (structural) changes such as institutional reforms, behavioral shifts and cultural changes deemed to be necessary to ensure the long-term survival of the system (Béné et al., 2014;TANGO 2018;Manyanga et al., 2022).It is important to highlight here that the resilience-asa-capacity approach asserts unequivocally that resilience capacity is distinct from -but related to -\"realized resilience\" or resilience per se (Béné et al., 2015;FAO, 2020;Ansah et al., 2023). In the literature, realized resilience (hereafter referred to as resilience) translates into the stability/protection of household well-being (e.g., food security) over the course of a shock period (Smith & Frankenberger, 2022a). As a latent variable, it cannot be measured directly but can be approached by proxies such as self-assessed recovery to a specific shock (Béné et al., 2020;Langworthy et al., 2016). In contrast, resilience capacity can be directly measured and reflects a potential represented by the different assets and other resources that actors have at their disposal and that they may utilize to respond to a particular shock/stressor. Resilience and resilience capacity are therefore distinct, but both provide information critical for resilience analysis. The approach proposed here examines the relationship between resilience capacities, in this case of the food system actors, and resilience of the food system, as observed and assessed by the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious, and safe food for all in the face of shocks. This is akin to looking at resilience capacities and their relationship to well-being outcomes such as food security in household level analyses that also use the resilienceas-a-capacity approach.Second, this definition highlights the mixed nature of food system actors, including both individual and institutional actors, thus recognizing that the resilience of a food system will result from the combined actions of those two types of actors. By individual actors, we mean the different groups of actors engaged in economic activities related to a food system: producers (farmers, fishers, agro-pastoralists, etc.), processors, transporters, wholesalers, retailers/vendors, and consumers.By choosing the actors of the system as the main entry point for resilience analysis -as opposed to the food system's activities (farming, transporting, processing, retailing, selling) -we also reduce the difficulty created by the fact that in many local food systems, several of these functions are executed by the same actor(s). In LMICs, many producers also process and sell (part of) their own crops, livestock, etc. (Bisht et al., 2020), and in higher income countries, vertical integration means that the same company will often ensure transportation, processing, and storage (Becker, 2014).Food system actors can be of various sizes (micro, small, or even medium enterprises). They are, by definition, part of the private sector. Institutional actors, on the other hand, refer to the different local, municipal, (sub)national institutions (statal or parastatal) and private organizations (e.g., cooperatives, chambers of commerce) that are involved in the support, management or regulation of activities related to a food system. This involves, but is not limited to, policies, regulations, rules and actions regarding food safety standards and regulations, labor and business laws, taxes, and consumer access to information, among others.Third, the definition recognizes that food systems have several functions. We identify three of them as being instrumental in relation to individual and societal well-being. Often considered as the core function of food systems -and the one that should ultimately prevail -is ensuring the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious and safe food for all (Ericksen, 2008;Tendall et al., 2015). As such, our conceptualization of food system resilience is fully aligned with other works that stress that the ultimate outcome of resilience strengthening in development and humanitarian crisis contexts is well-being, usually at the household level (Béné et al., 2015;Constas, Frankenberger & Hoddinott, 2014;USAID, 2021). Thus, our approach builds on existing resilience measurement methodology related to resilience-as-a-capacity and realized resilience and applies it at the food system level.In addition, we argue that two other core functions of food systems should be considered: the generation of decent livelihoods and viable incomes/profits for those who are economically engaged in food systems (Anderson, 2008;Fanzo et al., 2021;Klassen & Murphy, 2020); and the protection (or restoration/rehabilitation) of the environmental integrity of agro-ecosystems (IPES, 2016;Ranganathan et al., 2016). Both functions can also be used as secondary well-being outcomes to measure resilience of the food system. Thus, our definition is important because it maintains a focus on food and nutrition security but also underscores the need to consider livelihoods and acknowledges the environmental dimension of food systems.Finally, our definition draws attention to the need to analyze the impact of disturbances. Building on the first three features means that it is necessary to conceptualize and analyze the ways in which various disturbances affect resilience capacities of different individual and institutional actors within the food system. It also means that it is important to understand how different functions (e.g., food nutrition security, livelihoods, and environment) are affected by disturbances, and the degree to which resilience capacities can be used to mediate these effects. This is consistent with household level resilience analysis that looks at the relationship between shock exposure, resilience capacities and well-being outcomes. However, in the case of food system resilience, the well-being outcome is the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious, and safe food for all despite those disturbances and, secondarily, the generation of decent livelihoods and environmental integrity of agroecosystems (i.e., the three food system core functions).In sum, the value-added proposition of our definition is that it offers an integrated conception of food systems resilience that illustrates work at the intersection of capacities, functions, and disturbances.The resilience of food systems can be considered at different scales; local, regional/subnational, national, and international/global (Fanzo, 2023;Tendall et al., 2015). In this paper, we are interested in establishing the methodology to assess food system resilience at the local level. We make this decision because focusing on the local level allows one to understand the food system at a level of specificity needed to diagnose and remedy the functional integrity of the above noted food systems functions. From a measurement perspective, the scale at which resilience is considered has implications for the nature of the indicators that will be included in the analysis and the types of data/ information that will be collected; but it does not (or should not) have implications for the way the overall assessment is to be conducted.At first, boundaries of food systems can appear somewhat fuzzy. For example, should the suppliers of agro-chemicals or feed for livestock be included in the food system under consideration? If so, what about the international petrol companies that supply the diesel fuel used to operate agricultural equipment and machines, or the electric service provider contracted by the wholesalers to supply energy to refrigerate their stored products? Where do we draw the line? And what about the food products that are imported from other parts of the world; should they be considered in or out of a local food system? Pragmatically, we propose to start the food system at the producer level by focusing on smallholder farmers/ fishers/agro-pastoralists, etc., 2 meaning suppliers (agrochemical, seeds, energy, etc.) would not be included as a primary object of measurement. 3 However, as will be detailed below, the potential effects of disruptions in activities or changes in strategies by those suppliers (referred to as \"ripple effects\" later in this document) will be accounted for. At the other end, the system will end with the consumers, considered as the ultimate beneficiaries of the principal core function of food systems (that is, the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious, and safe food for all), recognizing that all actors of the food system are themselves consumers, and in some cases, also consume their own production. By local food system, we mean, therefore, food system run by actors operating in a geographically delimited zone and connected through their livelihood and business activities. This could be conceived as a district or possibly a province and would include both rural and urban areas. In that sense it is slightly different from what some scholars refer to as a \"foodshed\" (Peters et al., 2008). The term foodshed is generally used to describe a \"region of food flows, from the area where it is produced (our emphasis), to the place where it is consumed, including: the land it grows on, the route it travels, the markets it passes through, and the tables it ends up on\" (Feagan, 2007). Under this definition, foodshed may include places in other regions in the same country, or even other parts of the world from where food is imported. In contrast, our definition of local food system is based on the actors living and operating locally, not on the flow of food products.Although actors (both individual and institutional) were identified as the main entry points for assessing the resilience of a local food system, we postulate that part of that resilience also results from emergent properties at the system level. Building partly on the existing literature on social and market resilience (Downing et al., 2018;Kummu et al., 2020;Berkhout et al., 2023), we observe that the following properties are often perceived (or assumed) to play a critical role in maintaining or building the resilience of food systems: connectivity, redundancy, diversity, rule of law/competitiveness, and inclusiveness. This assumption would have to be verified on the ground, but the incorporation of these system-level elements in the analysis -complementary to the assessment of individual actors -represents one of the major conceptual differences with resilience measurements as proposed so far in the literature. Indeed, most of the indicators that have been considered in the food security and humanitarian literature on resilience purport to characterize elements of resilience capacity at the household or community levels (e.g., Arouri et al., 2015;Birhanu et al., 2017;Tariq et al., 2021;Vaughn & Frankenberger, 2018). In the analysis proposed here, we will complement these approaches by adding indicators aimed at capturing system-level properties. Details about the nature of these emergent properties -and how we propose to measure them -are provided in Section 3.1.Our approach draws on a generic framework that has its origins in the work of the Resilience Measurement 2 The focus on smallholder farmers is justified by the fact that the majority of food production in developing countries is generated by smallholder farmers (Lowder et al., 2016;Paloma et al., 2020). 3 Although farmers who are also local seed producers would be included as farmers.Technical Working Group (RMTWG). 4 The framework (Constas, Frankenberger & Hiddinott, 2014;Constas, Frankenberger, Hiddinott, Mock et al., 2014), which was tested in various contexts (see e.g., Langworthy et al., 2016;Béné et al., 2020;Manyanga et al., 2022), highlights the importance of several key components: (i) the typology of shocks/stressors affecting the system/ community under consideration (ii) the identification of actors' individual and collective resilience capacities; (iii) the documentation of mitigating strategies (responses) adopted by these actors in the face of those shocks/stressors; and (iv) the long-term outcomes of the shock-response combination. 5  The approach we propose here builds on this initial framework and these components. The detailed content and structure of the framework have been adjusted given our new objective of assessing resilience at a local system level. These adjustments are discussed in the next section.The overarching organization of the framework is summarized in Fig. 1 with details discussed in the text below. Annex 1 provides additional details. The framework is structured around three complementary components.The task under Component 1 is to map the local food system under consideration and identify the different groups of individual and institutional actors engaged in it. This requires five different types of analysis, as follows:(i) Characterization of the local food system context. The objective of this initial element of the mapping is to gather general information about the status of the local infrastructure systems that are expected to play an important role in the ex-ante functioning and ex-post recovery of food system activities after an unexpected shock. These include road, energy, communications (e.g., mobile phone systems, internet connectivity), and market infrastructures, as well as more general contextual variables such as level of technological innovation and overall governance. The information could be obtained through focus group discussions (FGDs) organized with different food system actors, and their insights possibly triangulated with direct Comprised of approximately 20 international experts in food security measurement, the RMTWG operated under the Food Security Information Network under the auspices of the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization. https:// www. fsinp latfo rm. org/ resil ience-measu rement 5 Some authors also include the ability to recover as a proxy measure of resilience (see e.g., Béné et al., 2016Béné et al., , 2020;;Sagara & Smith, 2018).observational studies. We propose that quantitative or semi-quantitative indicators are used to assess the following variables (acknowledging that other contextual variables could also be considered):• quality and level of local market infrastructure • quality and quantity of local roads • quality and reliability of local electricity grid(s)• access to and quality of mobile phone networks• availability and quality of other contextual factors (e.g., environment, governance, innovation)These indicators will be used later as control variables in various econometric analyses.(ii) Food system actor typology. The objective of this second element is to identify the main groups of actors engaged in activities related to the functioning of the local food system and to develop a non-exhaustive list of individual actors for each of these groups. This list will constitute the pool from which a random sample for each group will then be drawn. The ambition is not to achieve a statistically representative sample of the entire system's population. Given that many of the small-scale actors engaged in local food system activities in LMICs are informal, using official lists of local businesses and enterprises would likely introduce a selection bias. Instead, the objective is to capture the diversity of the groups of actors engaged in foodrelated activities and, if possible, to gain a sense of the relative importance/size of each group. 6 (iii) Actors' resilience capacities. The objective here is to collect data regarding each individual actor's resilience capacities as well as some basic socio-demographic information using both quantitative and semiquantitative methods. This information will have to be collected through individual questionnaires administered to a sub-sample of randomly selected actors within each group. Resilience capacities include the different physical, financial, natural, social, political, and psychological capitals and assets that actors may use in response to an adverse event. For instance, financial assets and/or social capital are often reported as important elements for the recovery of farmers when they experience a shock (Aldrich, 2010;Woodson et al., 2016). Table 1 provides a list of variables to be collected as part of exploring the resilience capacities of food system actors. With the exception of business connectivity (i.e., the number of upstream suppliers and downstream clients with whom a given actor works), the other indicators are relatively similar to what is usually collected at the household level for resilience measurement and analysis.The subjective resilience element in Table 1 requires additional clarification. By \"subjective resilience\", we mean the perceptions that food system actors have about their own capacities to handle current or future adverse events. This concept of subjective resilience builds on the empirical observation that people usually acquire a cognitive understanding of the factors that contribute to their capacity to manage shocks and adverse events (Béné et al., 2019). As such, subjective resilience is strongly related to, and influenced by, psychosocial factors such as risk perceptions, cultural identity, religion, self-confidence and self-efficacy, and aspirations, as well as other more tangible elements such as individual's past experience to similar shocks or current socio-economic situation (Béné et al., 2019;Ensor et al., 2021;Jones & Tanner, 2015). Semi-quantitative psychometric indicators constructed using Likert scales can be used to quantify those different psychosocial factors at the individual level.Finally, in addition to information related to resilience capacity, standard socio-demographic information (age, gender, education, household size, etc.) should also be collected as part of this first survey.Complementing the capture of these resilience capacities at the individual level, we propose that elements of collective resilience capacities are also included in Conventionally, those would be measured at the community level (Ahmed et al., 2016;Álvarez-Mingote et al., 2020;Béné, 2020a;Thornley et al., 2014). In the case of a food system, the unit of analysis will now be the actor groups (producers, processors, transporters, etc.). Table 2 provides a list of proposed indicators for assessing these food system actors' collective resilience capacities. With perhaps the exception of the quality of the formal/informal transaction system, most indicators are comparable to what is collected at the community level when assessing the resilience capacities of farmers, pastoralists, or fisherfolks (see e.g., Bevington et al., 2011;Thornley et al., 2014;Saxena et al., 2016;Stanford et al., 2017). Semi-quantitative indicators should also be used to assess these collective resilience capacity indicators. Note finally that FGDs should not be used to generate this group-level information, because part of the data generated here is to be aggregated in the next analysis (emerging properties).Only individual data can be aggregated. (iv) Food system emergent properties. Aggregating the information presented in Tables 1 and 2 at the groupand subsequently at the systems -level will offer very important additional information that can be used to assess what we refer to as the emergent properties of the food system (i.e., systems-level indicators). These emergent properties (not to be confused with collective resilience capacities) are properties/characteristics that are generally considered to be essential to build resilience at a system level. They include connectivity (Turnbull et al., 2018), redundancy (Mackay et al., 2020;Vlajic, 2017), diversity (Hertel et al., 2021;Page, 2011), rule of law/competitiveness and inclusiveness (Campbell, 2014;Derks & Field, 2016;Kilelu et al., 2017). Table 3 offers definitions of emergent properties in the context of food systems. It is important to point out that most of the research on these emergent resilience properties derives either from the theoretical socio-ecology literature (e.g., Biggs et al., 2015) or from supply chain modeling (e.g., Ivanov et al., 2016) and often lacks empirical ground. Virtually nothing is known about those emergent properties in the context of food system resilience in LMICs. Importantly, because these properties are emergent, 7 they cannot be assessed at the individual level (i.e., food system actors). Rather, they emerge from Table 3 Food system emergent properties of interest for resilience analysis◾ connectivity Connectivity in a system can be defined by the degree and strength with which components of that system are connected to each other. In the context of food systems, connectivity could be proxied by the number of suppliers and clients with whom a given actor routinely interacts.Redundancy refers to the number of connections of the same nature or with the same function in a system. To some extent it is a sub-dimension of connectivity. In the context of a local food system, redundancy would be the average number of connections of the same nature that actors have upstream (suppliers) and downstream (clients). For instance, for transporters or wholesalers it could be the number of (urban or rural) markets they supply -or the number of producers from whom they get their merchandise. ◾ diversityIn the system literature, diversity can be defined in many different ways, is measured through (too) many different indices, and is often seen in opposition to redundancy. In the context of food system resilience, we propose that diversity refers to the different types of products that each actor handles or trades. As such, it complements connectivity and redundancy (in terms of operations between actors) by adding information about operations within an actor's business. ◾ rule of law / competitiveness Rule of law/competitiveness refers here to the degree to which each actor is able to conduct business transactions in a fair (equitable), transparent and trustworthy manner. These characteristics (fairness/ equity, transparency and trustworthiness) can be ensured and reinforced through either formal or informal mechanisms. This system property may sound more 'subjective' than the others above; it is however as critical, and it can be easily assessed and measured at individual level through self-reported semiquantitative techniques.Inclusiveness can refer to many different 'things' in the literature. Here we consider it is the degree to which each individual actor feels their voice is being heard in the management/functioning of the local food system. It reflects whether every actor can contribute to the governance of the system or, to the contrary, whether some (powerful) sub-groups have a larger influence on the decision-making process within -and between -each group (e.g., transporter group, processor group).the aggregation process at the group level. Practically, this means that no specific group survey questions are needed. Instead, questions within the individual actors' survey should be phrased to ensure that information collected at that level can be aggregated to generate the data relevant for assessing emergent properties at the group level. Documenting levels of individual and collective resilience capacities, along with food system emergent properties, before a particular shock/crisis occurs, and linking those to information about disruptions to individuals' businesses as well as their perceived ability to recover after a shock -and ultimately to the food security of local populations (see Section 3.2), will reveal critical information about what is important (or not) for maintaining the resilience of the food system and its actors, and for protecting the key functions of the food system. (v) Characterization of food system exposure to disruption. The last type of information to be collected as part of this initial mapping exercise relates to the different shocks and stressors that affect the actors of the food system. This information is similar to what is collected at the household level for resilience measurement and analysis (Choularton et al., 2015) and includes the nature, intensity, and frequency of the different types of adverse events that actors have experienced in the recent past (e.g., the last 12 months). Data is collected through recall techniques and self-reported information. Although part of the information (e.g., date of an event) can be triangulated with external or secondary data, we recognize (and emphasize) that the impacts of adverse events, even if covariate, are by nature specific to the individual or household. In that context, selfreported information is the only way this specificity can be correctly recorded and accounted for. Questions on adverse events reflecting this specificity should be precoded however, to allow for comparisons and rankings across actors. These questions should not focus just on shocks but also include indicators related to stressors. Paying attention to stressors, which are often less conspicuous than shocks, can help one assess how everyday systemic deficiencies (e.g., poor road infrastructure, weak governance, dysfunctional institutions) and challenging conditions (e.g., looming risks, existence of armed factions, eroding social cohesion) can threaten the integrity of local food systems and undermine the work of food system actors.Overall, it is therefore advisable to consider -but also distinguish -between, slow-onset stressors (e.g., drought, soil degradation) and sudden-onset shocks (e.g., war, flood, earthquake).The second component of the analysis (see Fig. 1) corresponds to assessment of the individual actor's resilience and is structured around four major elements. The important point to emphasize is that the information in this second component is to be collected from the same individuals sampled in Component 1, that is, based on panel data. In that regard, note that the two components are to be completed using two distinct questionnaires, as some information generated through Component 1 needs to be processed (for instance the identification of the specific shocks/stressors on which the resilience analysis will focused) before Component 2 can be implemented. Note also that only events that have been reported as covariate at the group level will be considered; idiosyncratic events affecting individual actors will not be included in the analysis. 8 The four major elements are as follows:(i) Direct and indirect effects of the most disruptive shock(s)/stressor(s). It is now well established that the impacts of shocks and stressors on people's livelihood and economic activities are exclusive and specific (Beauchamp et al., 2019;Choularton et al., 2015), as are the responses/ability to recover of the actors. From an analytical standpoint, it is therefore not advisable to pool together all the different adverse events that have impacted one particular actor (during the time frame of the analysis) as it would severely hamper one's ability to understand how households are affected by and respond to different types of shocks, and ultimately, how this affects their resilience. Instead, it is recommended to treat each of these adverse events -and the way actors responded to them -individually (Sagara & Smith, 2018). However, we also recognize that while it is analytically easier to treat shocks and stressors independently and separately, the reality faced by households (particularly in low-income countries) may seriously challenge this assumption, as several distinct adverse events often overlap and their impacts aggregate with each other (Béné et al., 2016). Survey questions should, therefore, be worded in such a way that they help respondents distinguish between individual events and their overlapping impacts. Following this rationale, the first task in this part of the analysis will be to identify a limited number of frequently occurring events that have happened (and are hopefully distinguishable) in the recent past and for which the resilience analysis will be completed. One possible approach is to select the most disruptive event(s) as perceived by the food system actors. An alternative would be to include in that list a specific event, if, for instance, this event is of particular interest to researchers/practitioners, or government, or donors. The important point is that all subsequent steps in the resilience assessment will have to be completed on a one-analysis-to-one-event basis because of the specific nature of adverse events and responses adopted by individual actors. Pragmatically, this means that the number of events considered in the rest of the resilience analysis should not be too large (we suggest one, perhaps two, and certainly not more than three events). If multiple events are chosen, each would still have to be investigated separately, which very rapidly increases the amount of information, number of questions and time necessary to conduct the survey.The information used to select the event(s) should come directly from the '\"characterization of food system exposure\" described above (cf. (v) in Fig. 1). Once (an) event(s) is/are selected, new information will be collected from individuals from the same subsample of actors that were interviewed in Component 1 (see Subsection 3.1 above) using a panel sampling approach. Table 4 summarizes what types of information should be included in the second round of this panel survey. With the exception of\"intensity/severity of the specific selected event\", the information is new and should include: (a) the direct effects of the selected event on the actors' business performance; (b) the (indirect) ripple effects inflicted on that actor's business by the responses of the other upstream and downstream actors of the system; and (c) changes observed in the col-lective capacities of the actors following the adverse event. All these new data should be collected using carefully crafted quantitative and semi-quantitative recall questions. (ii) Individual actors' response/mitigation strategy. In line with the principles of resilience assessment presented in the first part of this document, the next important task in the analysis will be to document the different responses and mitigation strategies 9 that the actors of the different groups adopted in anticipation of, or in response to, each adverse event selected for the assessment. Based on some recent research conducted in Burkina Faso (Maître d'Hôtel et al., 2023), we know that the nature and types of responses will differ, depending on the group of actors considered. Table 5 presents the type of responses/strategies that would be important to document, along with the groups of actors for which those responses are expected to be observed. (iii) Individual actor's business disruption. Even if they are successful at anticipating or responding to the direct effects of an adverse event and to the ripple effects induced by the responses of other actors/groups of actors, it is likely that individual actors will experience some degree of disruption in their own activity. Documenting the self-reported changes in (i) weekly income/ profit and (ii) weekly volume of activity 10 (i.e., changes in quantity of products harvested, transported, processed, traded, or sold) before and after a specific event is an astute way to assess the level of disruption faced by individual actors in relation to that specific event. This information can be estimated relatively reliably using recall techniques. (iv) Individual actor's self-assessed ability to recover. In addition to assessing the level of disruption that each individual actor has experienced following an adverse event, it is also important to explore the degree to which those actors consider they have recovered (or not) from those disruptions. This type of data, based on self-assessment techniques (Krosnick & Fabrigar, 1997;Schoch-Spana et al., 2019), has been used successfully in the context of producers' (farmers, fisherfolks) resilience measurement in several recent analyses (Béné et al., 2016;Smith & Frankenberger, 2022b).The idea is to replicate this type of analysis for all the different actors operating in the food system. (v) Positive deviance. Information collected through the last two elements of the analysis above (actor's business disruption and self-assessed recovery) can be used to identify what is called \"positive deviance\" among food system actors. Individuals whose businesses appear to have been less disrupted by a specific shock than the rest of their fellows, and/or those who appear to have recovered faster than the majority are referred to as\"positive deviants\". Applied to resilience assessment, the concept of positive deviance (Herington & Fliert, 2018) can be interpreted as empirical evidence of higher levels of resilience among some food system actors (Sagara & Smith, 2018). Looking for systematic trends or patterns within the resilience capacities of those actors (element (iii) in Fig. 1, and Table 1) as well as in their responses/strategies (element vii in Fig. 1), while controlling for the food system environment (element (i) in Fig. 1) and the actors' socio-demographic characteristics (gathered as part of element (iii)) will allow us to draw some very important conclusions about who the more resilient actors are (i.e., positive deviants) and the potential contributions of their resilience capacities and responses toward building their resilience.The third and last component in the food system resilience assessment is the analysis of the impacts that local food system actors' resilience (or lack thereof) has on the resilience of the food system itself and ultimately on the local population's well-being, in particular their food security and nutrition status. Conceptually, this is relatively similar to what is usually proposed as the last component of a resilience analysis at the household level (Béné et al., 2015;Henley-Shepard & Sagara, 2018;Ansah et al., 2019). We propose to document this through a two-step process, collecting information about (i) the resilience status of the food system and (ii) the immediate and mid-to-long term outcomes measured in terms of local population's food security and nutrition. This means we concentrate our attention on the core function of the food system, which is \"the ability of the system to maintain, protect, or successfully recover the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious and safe food for all.\" As such, this core function will be assessed through indicators of stability over time of four dimensions of the food system: price/affordability; physical availability; physical accessibility; and quality (safety) of food products. Table 6 provides a list of potential indicators for these four dimensions. For each of them, we aim to document potential changes before and immediately after the event under investigation. In the case of clearly time-bound events,\"immediately after\" means a few days. In the case of stressors (e.g., drought, economic or political crisis), the concept of \"immediately after\" is more difficult to define and likely to vary depending on the stressor. In the case of drought, for example, \"immediately after\" may be closer to a few weeks. Regardless, several different loci should be considered when collecting this information (see Table 6), which should be based on recall techniques.Information regarding the short-term and mid-to longterm consequences on the food security and nutrition status of the local population must also be collected. Table 7 provides a list of potential indicators (see also Fig. 1). Note that, with the exception of the IPC/CH score, it is unlikely that any of these indicators will have been recorded in the local system prior to the event under consideration. In those circumstances, recall techniques will have to be used and the reliability of the results will, in large part, depend on the attention with which the questions have been worded. Finally, it is worth noticing that many of those indicators may display some relatively high variability that will not be related to the effect of the event but to the way the data is collected (e.g., seasonality). Short-term changes (i.e., seasonal) will have to be interpreted with some caution.Assessing the immediate and mid-to long-term impacts of food systems' resilience on the food security of local population is hampered by an important limitation. Degradation in the different dimensions of food security as they may be observed at the household or individual levels following a particular event (cf. Table 7) may in some cases not result only from failure of the food system to deliver its core function; it may also reflect the effects that this event has on the livelihood and income/purchasing power of the households themselves. Figure 2 illustrates this combined effect.Local armed conflict is a relevant example to illustrate these combined effects. When insecurity and armed conflicts affect a province or an entire region, it is not just the actors of the food system who are affected. Often the entire local economy is impacted; many households experience disruptions or losses in their income and purchasing power (D 'Souza & Jolliffe, 2013;George et al., 2020;Serneels & Verpoorten, 2015), irrespective of, or in addition to, the disruptions taking place within the local food system. To a large extent, the COVID-19 pandemic is another insightful illustration of this issue. It is now well established that the increase in food insecurity observed in many high, middle, and low-income countries during the pandemic was not just the result of disruptions in global and local supply chains, but also -and possibly mainly -the loss of purchasing power that households experienced following the shutdown of entire economic sectors (Béné et al., 2021;Hamadani et al., 2020;Robins et al., 2020;Ruszczyk et al., 2021).The Implications for assessing the impacts of this type of event, be it armed conflicts or a global pandemic, are important. Untangling the respective effects of these events on the local food system and its actors from the direct effects that these types of events may have on households' food security and nutrition status is methodologically difficult unless the use of some form of (robust) counterfactual is possible.The overall framework presented in Section 3 lays out the types of information we consider necessary for assessing local food system resilience. In this section, we now review succinctly the type of analyses in which the collected data could be used. We focus our attention on Components 1 and 2 as well as the food system resilience (part of Component 3) for the reasons mentioned above: it is methodologically difficult to untangle the combined impacts that an adverse event has on a local population's food security through its direct impact on households' livelihoods and its indirect impacts on the food system and its actors. As a consequence, the immediate and mid-to-long term effects on household food security and nutrition (the other part of Component 3) are not discussed here.As such, two hypotheses are foundational to the entire assessment process and have critical implications from a policy or intervention perspective 11 :1. Hypothesis 1: the final outcomes of Component 2(measured in terms of disruptions in individual actors' businesses and their self-assessed ability to recover) are determined not just by the severity/nature of the initial shock/stressor under consideration, but also by (i) the resilience capacities (both individual and collective) that the actors have at their disposal and (ii) the type of responses that these actors adopted in anticipation of, or in response to, the event. 12 2. Hypothesis 2: the degree of disruption in actors' businesses and their abilities to recover are also influenced by food system level processes, in particular, the emergent properties of the food system itself as well as any ripple effects.These two assumptions, if confirmed empirically, would provide important information for identifying intervention and policy entry points. Hypothesis 1 would indicate which resilience capacities and positive responses should be supported through specific interventions/policies. This would also help identify those responses that turn out to be more detrimental or less effective from a resilience perspective (at the individual, group, and system levels) and should be discouraged. In parallel, Hypothesis 2 would provide relevant information about the type(s) of system-level emergent properties that are important for strengthening food system resilience. For instance, is redundancy more important than inclusiveness from a food system resilience perspective? Hypothesis 2 would also allow us to explore the additional complexity introduced by accounting for interactions between (groups of) actors. For example, adoption of responses that seem rational from an individual's business standpoint may create subsequent negative ripple effects for other actors within the food system (Béné, 2020b). A good example would be a transporter who decides to stop supplying rural local markets and instead focus only on townships and small urban centers due to a recent rise in roadblocks and illegal taxes imposed by local guerilla groups. From this individual's perspective, this strategy makes sense. But the implications for the local market actors in the remote rural areas previously served by the transporter are obviously more negative. This example is trivial but suffices to highlight the main point of this discussion: better understanding the extent to which some of these ripple effects appear to be systematically associated with larger disruptions to other food system actors' businesses is of relevance for policy and programme interventions. In particular, it is useful for better understanding concepts such as negotiated resilience (Harris et al., 2018). Adverse event e.g. economic crisis, armed conflict, natural disaster disrupƟon of the food system core funcƟon* disrupƟon of household livelihood, e.g. reducƟon in purchasing power Impact on local food system's actors, e.g. destrucƟon of infrastructureEconometric models can then be constructed to test the two hypotheses (or some variants) using the level of disruption in individual actors' businesses and the subsequent self-assessed ability to recover as dependent variables, while various combinations of the other indicators presented in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are used as explanatory or control variables. As mentioned earlier, analyses can also be run with the sub-sample of individuals identified as \"positive deviants\" to determine whether certain of their behavioral and/or structural characteristics diverge statistically from the rest of the actors and could explain their resilience relative to the rest of the group sample (Béné et al., in revision).Endogeneity is often identified as a potential issue in relation to resilience analyses (d 'Errico et al., 2016). It will be important to ensure that the structure of the econometric models and the choice of the indicators/variables included in these models address this point. An initial strategy would be to ensure that, whenever possible, explanatory variables are chosen amongst indicators reflecting the situation prior to the impact of the adverse event considered. This would apply in particular to the resilience capacities at the individual and collective levels as well as the emergent properties of the food system. In other cases, however, more advanced econometric techniques will be necessary to reduce the risk of mis-interpretation associated with endogeneity, especially when exploring the potential effects of food system actors' responses on their own ability to recover from a shock.An increasing number of development projects/programs implement activities aimed at strengthening or building the resilience of local food markets or local food systems (e.g., Choptiany et al., 2021;Hudner & Hemberger, 2022;Krishnan, 2021). This section discusses how the framework presented here can offer some insights for rigorous assessments of such food system resilience interventions.Generically speaking, development projects that claim to contribute to the resilience of local food systems are structured around activities targeting either (a) the different groups of actors engaged in economic activities within the food system (producers, processers, transporters, wholesalers, or retailers/vendors), or (b) the institutional actors that support these individuals/groups (chambers of commerce, cooperatives, etc.), or both. The objectives of these project activities are generally to build the individual and/or collective resilience capacities of the food system actors (i.e., element (iii) in Fig. 1 and indicators listed in Tables 1 and 2), or to improve the emergent properties of the food system (elements (iv) in Fig. 1 and indicators in Table 3). Those activities should, however, be informed by preliminary analyses that would identify which resilience capacities and food system properties are the most effective at supporting food system actors in their responses to specific shocks (cf. Section 4). Without such preliminary analyses, implementing activities would be equivalent to \"shooting in the dark\".Assessing the effectiveness of the project will then be done by comparing indicators of business disruption and self-assessed ability to recover (elements (viii) and (ix) in Fig. 1) between the groups of actors who benefited from project activities (recipients) but who were affected by a specific adverse event in the course of the project, and groups of actors who were not included in the project (controls) but were affected by the same event. Theoretically, we expect that the recipient group would be characterized by a lower level of disruption in their business than the control group; or that the recipients would display higher level of recovery than the control group, or a combination of both. Of course, those are ideal scenarios, and the empirical analysis is likely to be much less clear-cut, as empirical data is seldom behaving as neatly as the theory predicts. But those initial working hypotheses should be used to structure the assessment. Matching techniques (e.g., propensity score matching, coarsened exact matching) could then be used to increase the power of the statistical comparison between the two groups (recipients and controls); and, the same way than analyses of positive deviants may reveal very useful information in identifying factors that contribute to their apparent higher resilience (Béné et al., in revision), focusing on these positive deviants may also reduce drastically the apparent 'messiness' of the empirical data at the programme effectiveness testing stage. In addition, causal analyses could also be conducted by comparing the direct and indirect effects of the adverse event (elements (vi) and indicators listed in Table 4) as well as the different individual actor's responses (elements (vii) in Fig. 1 and indicators listed in Table 5) between the two groups (recipients and controls).In this section, we highlight several important caveats -or limitations -to our approach. The first one is certainly the fact that the framework we presented here is a general framework designed for data collection that is somewhat detached from the reality of resource and time constraints that generally limit empirical research, in particular when the research is led by LMICs governments.As previously discussed, analysis of food system resilience involves challenges introduced by the concurrence of two types of impact on households' food security and nutrition: the direct effects of an adverse event on households' livelihoods and purchasing power (e.g., flooding destroying farmers assets and crops) and the indirect effect it has through disruptions to the local food system and its actors (e.g., the same flooding destroying all the road infrastructure in a region, thus disrupting food distribution activities) (cf. Fig. 2).Adverse events, however, can also impact the other two core functions of the food system: i) the generation of decent livelihoods and viable incomes/profits for those who are economically engaged in food systems; and ii) the protection of the environmental integrity of agro-ecosystems on which the food system depends. Although some aspects of the impact on decent livelihoods and viable incomes are captured in the framework (through direct and indirect effects of adverse events on food system actors' businesses; cf. Table 4), the effects on the environmental integrity of agro-ecosystems are not considered in the framework. This does not, however, mean that the interactions between food system resilience and these two key functions cannot be explored; but the analysis would be substantially complicated by the strong feedback loops that link resilience of the food system with these two functions (Fig. 3). This follows from the fact that the resilience of a food system is, itself, strongly dependent on the viable incomes/profits that actors of that system derive from their activities and also rests on the integrity of the agro-ecosystems on which the food system is built. Without economic viability and environmental integrity, it would be impossible for food system actors to handle most of the shocks they are facing on a regular basis. 3 is also useful to illustrate that resilience is not the same as sustainability, even if the two concepts are often confounded in the literature.Resilience is a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve sustainability. Irrespective of whether we adopt a narrow interpretation of sustainability (i.e., environmental sustainability) or a more multi-dimensional definition integrating environmental, economic, and social considerations (Béné et al., 2019;Bhattacharyya, 2012;Eakin et al., 2016;Sharifi, 2021), sustainability should remain the ultimate goal of development (TANGO, 2009;Lomazzi et al., 2014); resilience is the means to achieve it. In our case, maintaining the environmental integrity of the agro-ecological system, along with the social and economic objective of generating viable and decent livelihoods, contributes to development programming's ultimate goal of sustainability, while the resilience of the food system is the means by which to secure those viability and integrity conditions in the face of an increasingly volatile and crises-affected world.Making the conceptual distinction between resilience and sustainability also means that the objective of any food system resilience programming should not be to improve the resilience of the food system per se, but to maintain or protect the well-being (including long-term food security and nutrition) of the population who depends on that food system.Evaluating resilience at the systems level Measurement of food system resilience and evaluations of food system resilience programming are also hampered by general limitations intrinsic to evaluating changes at a systems level; building counterfactuals at the system level is usually problematic. One will therefore need to remain realistic in one's ambition and make sure that no false expectations are created, especially with donors and other decision makers. That said, the framework presented above provides some clear guidelines Resilience as a latent variable Measuring resilience (that is, realized resilience) will always remain an \"incomplete\" exercise in the sense that we are not measuring an absolute value of resilience. Rather, when we claim that we are \"measuring resilience\", what we actually measure is a change or difference over time in a proxy indicator, such as food security or other well-being indicators (Béné et al., 2015;FAO, 2020;Sagara & Smith, 2018). As a consequence, the best that can be inferred is that i) the resilience of an individual actor (or group of actors) has changed over time, for example, as a result of an intervention, or ii) that an individual actor (or group of actors) at a certain point in time displays a higher (or lower) level of resilience than another. But we will not be able to assign an absolute value to resilience. Likewise, there is no threshold above (or below) which a food system can be said to \"be resilient\" (or \"not resilient\"). In that sense, referring to \"graduation\" in relation to resilience programs (e.g., UNHCR, 2017) may be misleading, as there is no such threshold above which recipients become resilient. Again, when observing changes in outcomes (e.g., food security) in the context of shocks/stressors, we can only say that some households or communities have become more (or less) resilient than they were before; or in our case, by measuring the level of disruption in food system actors' businesses, that some actors are more (or less) resilient than others, but we cannot say that those actors are resilient.Resilience trade-offs A direct corollary to the point above is the recognition that the resilience of some food system actors may be built to the detriment of other actors within the same system. This point was already mentioned in relation to the question of ripple effects (cf. Sub-section 3.2). However, beyond the technical issue of measuring ripple effects is the more fundamental issue of equity in resilience building (Makwatse et al., 2022;Williams et al., 2020). This issue was not considered critical when discussing building the resilience of (communities of) farmers or agro-pastoralists as it was assumed that the consequence of a change in behavior by the beneficiaries of the program was unlikely to have strong ripple effects on other beneficiaries in the same group. However, once the systemic nature of interactions and interdependence between groups of actors is included in the analysis, this assumption no longer holds. Instead, we now need to recognize that the change in behavior or in business strategy of a group of actors (in response to a shock/stressor) is likely to have significant -and potentially negative -consequences for other groups operating upstream or downstream within the same food system. These resilience trade-offs at the system level need to be considered, especially if they are created, or exacerbated, by program interventions.We also note the potential for trade-offs over time in that the resilience of food system actors at one point in time (i.e., the short-term) may disadvantage, or make difficult, resilience in the long-term for other -or even the same -individuals and/or for the food system itself. Specific changes in the short-term that appear to make a food system more resilient could have long-term detrimental consequences. For example, subsidizing access to fertilizer to improve crop yield in the short-term as a strategy for improving farmers' resilience generally have negative impacts on the environmental integrity of the agroecosystem, thus jeopardizing resilience of the whole food system in the long-term (Adhikari et al., 2018;Redlich et al., 2021).The informality that tends to characterize the vast majority of food system actors in LMICs was briefly mentioned but not discussed in detail in the framework. Yet it has tremendous implications for the way rigorous assessments of food system resilience can (or cannot) be implemented. In particular, the informality of the majority of the actors means that identifying/locating them may be a challenge. Working with farmers is (relatively) easy. Working with some of the other food system actors is far trickier. Consider, for instance the young men transporting vegetables (or other food commodities) on the back of their motorbikes in northeast Nigeria, or the women processing their garden products in their kitchens in Cono Sur (one of Lima's many slums). How do we make sure that these and the hundreds of thousands of other informal actors who operate in the back streets of small or mid-size towns in Africa, Asia or Latin America, those who make the backbone of food systems and ensure the food security of millions of people in both rural and urban parts of LMICs, are included in our resilience assessment? Specific sampling techniques that have been developed for mobile populations (e.g., hidden population sampling, respondent-driven sampling, Crawford et al., 2018;Heckathorn, 1997) can be used, but even those will have to be adjusted for the specific context of the system to be assessed.When it comes to potential interventions aimed at strengthening the resilience of food system actors, we need to make sure we don't consider only the tangible elements of resilience capacity such as income level, livelihood diversification, adoption of improved farming practices, enrolment in safety nets and other easily measured capacities. Evidence from numerous resilience analyses reveals that, beyond those tangible elements, a large part of people's resilience is built on less material, more'fuzzy ' -and difficult to measure -elements such as self-confidence, risk aversion or self-efficacy (Chantarat et al., 2011;Béné et al., 2019;Smith et al., 2019;Wang et al., 2021). We know from empirical experience, for instance, that social capital is key to resilience (e.g., Aldrich, 2010;Schwarz et al., 2011;Kerr, 2018). While most of this evidence has so far been generated with farmers or fisherfolk (Béné et al., 2016;Bunch et al., 2020;Stanford et al., 2017;Woodson et al., 2016), this was recently observed with food system actors in Burkina Faso, where it was shown that the number of people on whom food system actors can rely in times of crisis is critical to their resilience (Maitre d'Hotel et al., 2023).National level food systems Finally, national level food systems have not been considered here and the framework presented is not suitable for assessing food system resilience and subsequent impact on food security at that level. In essence, although it aims at assessing resilience at system level, the proposed framework is still by nature a bottom-up framework; the main unit of analysis (and sampling) is the individual actor, which makes it ill-designed for nationallevel system analysis. Beyond this intrinsic design-related issue, interventions at the national level are often more difficult to assess than interventions at lower levels. Their impact is more elusive and difficult to assess due to the challenge of constructing rigorous counterfactuals at high/country level (de Janvry et al., 2011;Khandker et al., 2010). For example, do policies that encourage food sovereignty contribute to (or erode) national food system resilience? Or, does a national strategy aimed at boosting agro-ecology practices strengthen food system resilience? Although answering these questions would be important (and of growing interest to many policymakers), it is difficult to propose an approach that would offer a rigorous assessment at the national/country level. Tackling the same question at a district level seems more feasible -even if we recognize it will remain methodologically challenging.This section offers a brief summary of the main points discussed in this paper and reflects on how our framework compare with other current approaches designed to assess household resilience.Our work builds on, and expands, one of the most widespread approaches of resilience (resilience-as-acapacity) as it was developed in the past 10 to 15 years in relation to humanitarian and food security crisis (Constas, Frankenberger & Hoddinott, 2014;Béné et al., 2014;TANGO, 2018;Henly-Shepard & Sagara 2018;Ansah et al., 2019). By deconstructing the relationship between resilience capacities, responses, and (realized) resilience in the context of specific shocks/stressors, the resilienceas-a-capacity offers important analytical gains over other approaches that focus only on outcomes, which reduces their ability to provide relevant programming information for resilience interventions.Our framework closely parallels, both conceptually and analytically, the way resilience is being measured in this resilience-as-a-capacity approach. Conceptually, both approaches define resilience as the ability of local actors to adopt response strategies that mitigate the impact of shocks and stressors on their well-being. Our framework also embraces the idea that resilience is a means, not an end, similar to the way it is now conceptualized in most of the food security literature (Ansah et al., 2019;Barrett et al., 2021). In the case of food systems, resilience is the ability of the system to maintain or successfully recover its primary function, that is, the availability and affordability of sufficient, nutritious, and safe food for all in the face of adverse events. Food systems resilience is also the means to ensure the long-term objective of the system, that is, its sustainability in performing this function. While such sustainability (understood as a multi-dimensional concept) cannot be achieved if the system is not resilient in the current context of increasing local and global shocks and stressors, eventually the ultimate objective is food system sustainability over the long-term.Intimately linked to food system sustainability is the wellbeing of local populations who depend on food systems. The emphasis on well-being in our conceptualization mirrors that of current assessments of resilience at the household level (Constas, Frankenberger & Hoddinott, 2014;Béné et al., 2015;USAID, 2021). The use of immediate and mid-tolong term indicators focusing on food security and nutrition encapsulates this well-being objective but recasts it into the specific context of this work on food systems -in a way comparable to when food security indicators are used as proxies of well-being in the case of household resilience assessments (Ansah et al., 2019;Smith & Frankenberger, 2022a).Analytically, the parallel with household resilience is also clear. First, the core elements of analysis remain the same ones: shock/stressors; resilience capacities; mitigating strategies (responses); and well-being outcomes. In our case, the details of these core elements are adjusted to the food system context with the recognition that we are not dealing just with one socio-economic group (the producers) but six different groups: producers, processors, transporters, wholesalers, retailers/vendors, and consumers. But the underlying causal model is the same: when affected by an adverse event (or in anticipation of it), individuals build on, or use, some of the resilience capacities at their disposal to develop responses that mitigate the impact of the event. Ultimately, their ability to recover and their longer-term well-being outcomes are determined by the combined effect of the initial adverse event and the type of response(s) they adopt.Second, when resilience-building programs are designed, they are generally expected to strengthen actors' resilience capacities in order to improve their abilities to adopt positive responses (those which help rapid and healthy recoveries) and deter the adoption of detrimental responses (those which may lead to further vulnerability). The theory of change is therefore somewhat comparable between resilience programs targeting households/communities and those targeting food systems.There are, however, some important differences between the food system framework presented here and the way household resilience analyses are conducted. In addition to the fact that our framework involves several groups of actors as opposed to one (see above) and that this implies accounting for ripple effects, the main conceptual difference lies in the fact that the resilience of the food system is here conceived and assessed at two levels: 1) the actors' individual and collective level and 2) the system level. Although resilience dynamics at the actors' level are conceptually comparable to those typically included in household resilience assessments in relation to humanitarian/food security crises (see Hypothesis 1), those at the system level are new and correspond to the system's emergent properties described in Hypothesis 2. The way we propose to measure these system level emergent properties is also worth noting; they are built from the aggregation of individual actors' properties, in line with the conceptual definition of such emergent properties (Gilpin & Miller, 2013;Perrings, 1998).This combination of actor and system level resilience processes is also what makes our approach unique and, we believe, conceptually more appropriate than some of the other recent frameworks proposed in the literature in relation to market system or value chain analyses (e.g., Campbell, 2014;Choptiany et al., 2021;Downing et al., 2018). In these analyses, the resilience of the system is assessed through market properties or flux of food or information. It means that perceptions, behaviors, and decisions of individual actors are not considered. The systems and their properties are therefore completely \"depersonalized\", which seems ill-fitted with the concept of food system where the social dimension is omnipresent and interactions/transactions between individuals/agents constitute the primary dynamic of the system.Finally, and in line with this last remark, a third hypothesis not yet discussed here, is that the two levels at which resilience is expected to materialize may not be of equal importance. In particular, we posit that individual actors' resilience is ultimately what determines the overall resilience of the food system; if all the actors fail to bounce back after a particular adverse event and cease to operate, the system itself ultimately collapses. Thus, the resilience of the overall system is built on the resilience of the individual actors and not the other way around. This last observation is an additional reason why a bottom-up, actor-centered approach is relevant and why conceptualizing food system resilience only through system level processes is ill-advised.To conclude, the approach presented here was motivated by the growing need for governments and humanitarian agencies to better understand how local, national, and international food systems respond -or fail to respond -to shocks and adverse events. Recent global crises and threats including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian war in Ukraine or the intensifying effects of extreme weather events, highlight the urgency and critical importance of the task. In this report, we propose an analytical framework and a series of technical recommendations for the measurement of food system resilience at the local level. It would be important to explore how similar analyses could be implemented at national/country (or multi-country) level.","tokenCount":"11347"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2160661399.json b/data/part_1/2160661399.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ddeac988f9c275dc3ccc20650a2dce90a6e245b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2160661399.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89606e5eae7b68d5f5f9acbb6ac2fde3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b7959997-2869-4d55-b631-2049ba18ba74/retrieve","id":"1703647830"},"keywords":["gender","gender-responsive","seed systems","climate change"],"sieverID":"66460966-1c92-47a2-a03c-389f40887c2d","pagecount":"38","content":"As a part of the larger programme of Climate Resilient Agriculture, ensuring seed security and enhancing productivity under rain fed farming systems, Pragati has been working on the agenda of seed value chain that include seed production, distribution and dissemination.Although the informal seed sector provides a dynamic and flexible system of seed supply and continuous use of untested seed inevitably leads todegeneration of seed quality. Farmers depend on their own seed for sowing, not only because ofinadequate access to seed from the formal seed sector, but also because the formal seed sectormore often provides seeds of a limited range of cultivars and varieties of food and fodder crops,which do not always fulfil the needs of farmers. On-farm growing and maintenance of locallyadapted landraces, cultivars and wild species help the farmer decrease the impact of a series ofproduction constraints like natural disasters, pests and diseases.Different models for seed production and conservation have been adopted like seed production clusters, demonstration of seed villages, in-situ conservation of seeds, establishment of community managed seed banks, strengthening social networks like seed fairs and seed exchange.Pragati has focused on strengthening seed systems and seed delivery models that address the needs and vulnerabilities of small and marginal farmers with an inclusive approach. Along with indigenous varieties of seeds, the certified and foundation seeds are also promoted. Pragati has been working with IRRI and ICRISAT for dissemination of certified and foundation seeds of stress tolerant varieties of rice, pulses and millets.This study is a part of the project \"Situational analysis of gender and social inclusion in seed systems and promoting women's entrepreneurship\" implemented by Pragati, Koraput with support of IRRI. It looks at the gender dimension of seed information, preferences, seed delivery pathways and how men and women are impacted differently and comes out with suggestions on production and conservation of indigenous seeds with the support of research institutions, empowering women in both the formal and informal seed systems by enhancing their knowledge, skills, access to information and institutions, enhancing the participation of women and youth in seed entrepreneurship.On behalf of Pragati,Koraput we express our gratitude to the CGIAR and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for their support to this study on gender and social inclusion in seed systems in Koraput district of Odisha.We thank Dr Ranjitha Puskur, Module Leader-Evidence, CGIAR GENDER Platform for her inspiring support in co-creating the study concept. We are thankful toDr Suchaita Tenneti, Dr Jummai Yila, and Ms Afreen Khan of IRRI for their valuable guidance, critical inputs and suggestions at every stage of this study.We also thank officials of the departments of agriculture and horticulture, scientists of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Koraput, traders and dealers in agricultural inputs, representatives of farmer producer groups (FPGs) and FPOs for giving us their insights.We appreciate the help given by farmers who made time for us during this study and shared with us their knowledge, experiences and challenges. It is often said that the art of agriculture was conceived by women. The historical association of women and agriculture is reflected in the traditions and culture of many communities. In ancient Egypt, Isis was deemed the goddess of agriculture. In Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of fertility and harvest. Hindu mythology has several goddesses: Bhudevi (earth goddess), Annapurna (goddess of grains), and Shakti (creator of vegetation) and so on. The common thread running through these myths is the reverence of a female deity as the saviour who taught mankind to cultivate grains for survival.Seeds are a critical input in crop production and thus are fundamental to food security. Farmers need quality seeds to be available at the right time. This is often a key challenge, especially in remote areas and particularly for women whose mobility tends to be handicapped by gender norms. History shows that informal seed systems led by farmers have had a great influence on the evolution of modern agriculture. Women in particular have played a crucial role in sustaining informal seed systems and ensuring food security over generations. The term seed system is defined as the combined activities of actors making use of plant materials and knowledge that together are necessary for supplying seeds to farmers [1]. A functional seed system should sustainably enable farmers to have access to quality seeds of their choice at the right time and at a fair price from their perspective.Seed systems can be formal, informal and integrated. In informal seed systems, farmers themselves produce, disseminate and access seeds directly from farmers' harvests, through exchange among friends, neighbours and relatives or through local markets. The varieties disseminated may be landraces or mixed races, and likely a heterogeneous mixture of different varieties that are not profitable for the private sector to produce. This system aids genetic diversity because landraces can differ even over short distances depending on the local agro ecology. The seed distributed in informal seed systems is of variable quality in terms of purity and physical and physiological parameters. While some farmers may grow seed separately, there is not always a distinction between seed and grain [2].In contrast, the formal seed system involves certified seed production, usually by research institutions, plant breeders and scientists and seed companies. Seeds in this system are disseminated by private companies or national and state seed corporations. Access to seed for farming households is through input dealers, seed companies, government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The formal seed system provides an essential link between development of new varieties and supply to farmers through demonstrations, participatory trials and other communication channels.There is also a third type of seed system: an integrated seed system in which some components are formal and some parts operated by farmers/farmer groups. This system includes production and marketing of seed by local farmers with financial and technical support from breeding centers and NGOs [3]. This alternative seed system is particularly important for crops that attract less investment interest from private seed companies or are covered to a lesser degree by public seed enterprises [4].Farmers may need different seed systems at different times. For millets and dryland crops, they may use farm-saved seeds and turn to traders or seed companies for vegetable, hybrid rice and maize seeds. It is necessary that farmers have unrestricted access to adequate quantities of quality seed at a time that is suitable to their agro ecological conditions and needs. Further, it is also necessary for interventions to enhance seed security to be inclusive, and subject to no disparities related to class, caste, gender or age. However, seed systems, especially the formal system, tend to provide limited space for women, be it in breeding, production, selection or distribution. Rural women in particular often have no decision-making power, economic resources, market access and inclusion in extension services, all conditions necessary for equitable participation in the seed sector. Women have less time to attend demonstrations and field trials conducted by the formal seed systems; and extension agencies tend to make little space for women's participation. With training opportunities thus limited, women hardly can participate in the seed breeding and production process initiated by research and extension agencies.This study is a situational analysis of gender and social inclusion within the formal and informal seed systems in Koraput district of Odisha. It has the following components: a) Gender-responsive seed delivery pathways; b) Synergies and coordination between formal and informal sectors; c) Women and youth engagement in seed systems; and d) Case studies of successful inclusive seed delivery systems.Any seed system involves a network of associated stakeholders operating along pathways by which farmers can access seed for a certain crop in a specific area [5]. The functioning of a seed system has three key dimensions: (1) seed availability, (2) seed access, and (3) seed quality [6]. Applying a gender lens to these dimensions requires examining the type and extent of differences between the participation of women and men in these seed systems, and the way in which these differences affect individual and household wellbeing. It is estimated that 90% of all seed demand in developing countries is met by local informal seed systems. Often, these are managed by women. In some cultures, in fact there are strong taboos that keep men away from seeds [7]. Women play a central role in informal seed systems, especially in relation to seed selection, production, storage and exchange. However, while they have better access to local seed varieties, their access to improved varieties is limited due to their lack of mobility, social taboos and patriarchal norms that exclude them from decision-making. Further, women also lack access to information from outside sources such as extension agents or institutions. Thus, gender gaps can be identified at various nodes across the seed value chain. These are associated with seed development, production, distribution and use [8]. Many seed improvement efforts focus on cash crops owing to their economic importance. This largely ignores local varieties that have lower market value but are highly important for smallholder farmers' food and nutrition security and for genetic diversity [ ]. A major constraint witnessed in seed systems relates to the affordability of seed and access to resources to purchase complementary inputs. Although this is a challenge that all smallholder farmers face, women farmers generally are more constrained in purchasing seeds and associated agricultural inputs that could potentially enhance agricultural productivity. These constraints arise from gender norms that restrict women's involvement in income-generating activities and hence limit their ability to control their incomes. The lack of funds to purchase seeds and complementary inputs affects the quality and quantity of seed that women farmers are able to purchase, which in turn increases their dependence on informal seed systems [10].Therefore, understanding the local social and gender context is critical in designing seed systems that empower women as users, producers and traders of seed. Seed system design should be based on a systematic analysis of gender roles and dynamics and the social norms and power relations that determine availability, access and use of quality seed. Koraput district lies in the extreme southern part of Odisha, spread over an area of 8,807 sq km between 18°13' and 19°10' N latitude and 82°5' and 83°23' E longitude. It borders Bastar district to the west, Rayagada and Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh) districts to the east, Nabarangapur district to the north and Vizianagaram and Vizag districts of Andhra Pradesh state to the south (Figure 1). The district is designated as a Scheduled Area under the Presidential Scheduled Areas Order, 1950. Administratively, it is divided into two revenue subdivisions (Koraput and Jeypore), 14 tehsils and 14 community development blocks, Gram Panchayats (village assemblies), 3 municipalities and 1 Notified Area Council.As per the last Census of 2011, the population of Koraput district is 1.38 million (0.68 million male, 0.70 million female) with 56.55% belonging to 13 tribes, namely, Kandha, Paraja, Bhatoda, Gadaba, Kotia, Bhumia, Duruba, Halva, Bhatra, Pentia, Kondadora, Soura and Omanatya. Population density is inhabitants per sq km with 83.61% living below the poverty line (BPL). Koraput has the second highest number of BPL families among districts in Odisha, second to Nuapada. The district's tropical climate is characterized by hot summers and cold winters separated by a rainy season. Winter commences in late November and lasts until the end of February. Winter temperatures range from 10°C to 13.5°Cin the valley plains but drop below 1°C at some places like Pottangi. The summer season commences in March and continues till mid-June with mean daily maximum temperature reaching 40°C and mean daily minimum temperature around 14°C. About 80% of the annual rainfall occurs due to the southwest monsoon between mid-June and mid-October. Average annual rainfall varies between 1,320 mm and 1,520 mm. Koraput is a drought-prone district because of the erratic and uneven pattern of rainfall.The total number of workers in the district is 6,93,406, which is 50.26% of the population. As per the Census, cultivators make up 29.88% of the total worker population while agricultural labourers are 41.91%. As per the Agricultural Census of 2010-11, there are 166734 number of operational landholdings with operational area of 270982 hectares, an average landholding size of 1.63 hectare (Odisha Agricultural Census 2011-12).There are 85,071 marginal landholdings and 53,743 small land holdings in Koraput District. 106,458 landholdings belonging to farmers in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and 18,004 landholdings belonging to those in the Scheduled Caste (ST) category. The holdings are fragmented and small in size, which limits the scope for farm mechanization. Tribal families in this district are not solely dependent on agriculture. They earn supplementary income from gathering of NTFPs (Non-Timber Forest Produce), animal husbandry and wage labor which, however, is not sufficient for the food and nutritional security of all households. Landless families depend on wage labor, collection of forest produce and income earned from migration for their livelihood. However, agriculture remains the primary component of the economy of Koraput district. Cultivated area in the district totals 3,04,000 ha, which is about 34.50% of the geographical area. Non-rice crops are more important than rice, which is limited to 1,4,000 ha, or 37.50% of the cultivated area. About 61.5% of the cultivated area is highland, and 12.5% lowland. A typical type of lowland called jholla is found in most villages where water is available throughout the year for two rice crops. Gross cropped area in Koraput district is 4,15,250 ha with a cropping intensity of 146% compared to the state average of 156% (Odisha Agricultural Statistics, 2018-19). Administrative blocks like Bandhugaon, Borigumma, Jeypore, Kotpad, and Narayanpatna have a higher percentage of irrigated land. Cereals account for 54.5% of the irrigated area followed by other crops (34.6%), coarse cereals (4.7%), horticulture and plantations (2.9%), pulses (2.5%) and oilseed crops (0.7%).Three types of seeds are used in Koraput: Farmers' seeds for local varieties (rice, millets, pulses), farm-saved seeds for improved open-pollinated varieties (rice, black gram, green gram) and commercial seeds in the case of high-yielding varieties and hybrids (rice, vegetables, maize).Smallholder farmers, particularly women, in Koraput district are subsistence farmers mostly restricted to production of food crops. They play a key role in the conservation of traditional seeds in the informal seed system. In most villages, localized seed systems coexist with the formal commercial seed system. Farmers rely on the latter for high-yielding and hybrid varieties mainly because of the prospect of increased yield, though there are other reasons as well like higher income, availability of subsidies and credit and lack of alternative options-as in the case of vegetables. However, small and marginal farmers encounter financial difficulties when acquiring these seeds; it often leads them into a cycle of debt. Once they adopt hybrid seeds, farmers get locked into a production chain in which traders and companies predefine the choice of inputs and utilization of the harvest.While marginal farmers have limited access to quality seeds and are mostly excluded from the formal seed system, small farmers are rendered vulnerable in the formal seed sector due to several reasons. These include their limited knowledge of innovations in the formal seed sector, limited discretionary capacity in selection of high-yielding and hybrid varieties most suited to their agro climatic and socioeconomic context, limited awareness of financial linkages, and their lack of mobility to access markets and extension services.To establish inclusive seed systems, in particular gender-responsive seed systems, there is a need to understand the existing gender dynamics, and the constraints and challenges that shape or limit choices and behaviour of communities and individuals in general and women in particular.As the majority of farmers in Koraput district cannot read or write, the seed quality information provided on labels is not accessible to them. Farmers thus are unable to make informed decisions about modes of production, crops, type and quantity of inputs and marketing of produce. Furthermore, expansion of the commercial seed sector has had adverse effects on local seed systems. In certain regions, prevalence of hybrid cultivars has resulted in a decline in traditional seed-saving practices and loss of local landraces. A consequence of this is the loss of indigenous knowledge regarding agro-diversity, traditional seed selection as well as seed production and storage practices. Diminishing control over seeds has notably reduced women's involvement in decision-making regarding cropping cycles and agricultural practices. Simultaneously, opportunities to participate in the formal sector continue to be limited for smallholder and women farmers.A mixed methods research design was used for this study. It included a literature review, household surveys, focus group discussions and interviews with stakeholders. These are described in detail below.The study was conducted in 5 blocks of Koraput district-Kotpad, Borigumma, Jeypore, Nandapur and Koraput-covering 18 villages. ( Table 1). A total of 495 respondents from 495 households, (25% of the total households in the surveyed villages), were selected for the survey. An ex post facto research design involving both purposive and random sampling techniques was used for the study. The blocks and villages were selected purposefully whereas the respondents were randomly selected. The chosen study areas have two different agroecological profiles: While Kotpad, Jeypore and Borigumma blocks are rice production clusters with access to irrigation, Koraput and Nandapur, having more uplands dependent on rainfed farming, practice milletbased cropping systems. These sites have high levels of poverty and are also vulnerable to climate change. Agriculture is the main source of livelihoods and food security in these sites, and the majority of farmers are smallholders. We reviewed existing materials and research reports related to the study. Journals, articles, research reports and books on seed systems in general and gender-responsive and inclusive aspects in particular were accessed online.Respondents in our survey of 495 households (25% of the total households from 18 villages) included primarily household members (all genders) who are engaged in cultivation of crops including rice, millets, vegetables, maize, pulses and oilseeds. The questionnaire was designed by senior team of Pragati Koraput with feedback from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) team., since the study is a part of the IRRI funded project \"Gender and Social analysis of seed systems and promoting women's entrepreneurship\". The blocks and villages for the survey were selected purposefully to include the villages closer to the block and district headquarters and those in remote locations. Within the villages, survey households were selected randomly.We conducted 61 focus group discussions (FGDs) with farmers in 18 villages to understand the role they play in the seed systems. Initially, the plan was to hold discussions in mixed groups of men and women but then the research team observed that men dominated such discussions. Women spoke more openly in womenonly groups.So, gender-exclusive discussion groups were organized, taking into account time and availability of women. This allowed women to freely discuss issues of concern to them, such as the gradual increase in the use of hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizer; men appropriating the decision to buy seeds as they can access markets; the challenge of agriculture extension services not being gender-responsive; and extension workers reaching out mainly to men to spread awareness about new seeds and field demonstrations.Separate FGDs were conducted for different age groups (Table 2): Senior citizen men and women more than 60 years old (10 groups); men farmers in the age group of 30-60 years (12 groups); women farmers -30-60 years old (15 groups); young women18-30 years old (13 groups); and young men 18-30 years old (11 groups).  The young men and women selected for the FGDs included those who were engaged in agriculture themselves or helped their parents on the family farm. The number of groups varied according to the category (age-wise) of people available in the villages. The number of participants in each group varied from 12 to 35 (12 being the minimum and 35 maximum). The FGDs focused on the needs and preferences of farmers, availability, access and control of seeds. The FGD sessions lasted an average of two hours.Stakeholder interviews for our study included one-on-one discussions with agriculture department officials i.e. Chief District Agriculture Officer(CDAO), Block Agriculture Officers(BAO) , two scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) 1 involved in extension, seed traders and dealers, and representatives of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to understand their perspectives on seed systems and how they approach men and women farmers on matters relating to seed production, trials, marketing, procurement, etc.A few case studies were documented on different aspects ofseed systems in Koraput district and the challenges faced by farmers.All the FGDs were conducted in Odiya, the lingua franca of Koraput, although it is not the spoken language of the farmers. The communities in the study area speak a local dialect called Desia.The facilitators spoke the local dialect during the FGDs to make the participants communicate comfortably. Documentation, however, was done in English. Some of the discussions were recorded after taking the consent of the farmers and transcribed in MS Word™ and Excel™ formats. Detailed field notes were taken during data collection. The activities were photographed for documentation purposes.KVK, is an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), aims at assessment of location specific technology modules in agriculture and allied enterprises, through technology assessment, refinement and demonstrations. KVKs have been functioning as Knowledge and Resource Centre of agricultural technology supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sector for improving the agricultural economy of the district and are linking the NARS with extension system and farmers.The demographic and socioeconomic profile of the respondents is summarized in Annexure - Only around 5% of the respondents were aged under 20, indicating that young persons are less likely to be actively involved in farming or more likely to have migrated out. The majority of respondents had no formal education. Except in the case of two young respondents, agriculture was the primary source of livelihood for all respondents and their households. Secondary sources of livelihood included livestock rearing and wage labor. All the adult members in these households work on their family farms with each surveyed household having 2-3 members engaged in agriculture. In almost all the households, youth were less involved in agriculture.In terms of annual income, 38% of the respondent households earned less than Rs 50,000; 25% of them have an annual income of Rs 51,000-75,000; 14% earned Rs 76,000-100,000; and 23% more than Rs 100,000. (Figure-11)Land is the primary form of property and the most valuable productive resource in these communities in Koraput district. The size of holding determines the class and category of farmers in this area. The holdings of a majority of households (almost 81%) are small, ranging from 0.5 ha to 2 ha (Figure -12). Only 19% of the families have more than 2 ha. In addition, 126 households use government land and forest land agriculture. As a result of the increase in population and the size of families, landholdings have become fragmented. Land ownership is limited to men as inheritance is patrilineal in Koraput district, except in the case of forest lands, for which deeds issued to married couples name both spouses as stipulated under the Forest Rights Act. Most of the individually-or familyowned lands are cultivated by married couples with the help of children and sometimes their elders.Women live and work on their husband's farms but have no legal rights to the land or the power to make decisions on land use. There are examples of widowed women having access to their deceased husband's land but not the right of ownership. In the entire study area, there were only 4 women who held the title to their land although their husbands did not have a male successor. Only in such cases do women have some autonomy in making decisions on crops, seeds, manure, marketing and control of the income. Also, they face challenges like dependency on hired labor for ploughing, harvesting and threshing.The major soil types found in the study area are matured red and lateritic soils (Alfisols), mixed grey soils (Inceptisols) and unaltered soils with coarse parent materials (Entisols). The Alfisols include red loamy and red sandy soils and are generally light textured with a pH between 6.5 and 7.3. These soils have average to good fertility while Ultisols are slightly acidic in nature with a pH between 4.5 and 6.0. We found that out of the 495 surveyed households, only 41 had done soil testing of their fields. Soil health cards were owned by men only. In the remote villages, we observed a lack of awareness among farmers with little attention paid to soil enrichment practices.Rice is the primary crop cultivated in Kotpad, Jeypore and Borigumma blocks whereas Nandapur and Koraput blocks cultivate millets. Vegetables are grown throughout the year as the climate in Koraput is conducive for it. Indigenous seeds are used for millets and upland rice whereas hybrid varieties are preferred for lowland rice and vegetable cultivation. In our FGDs with older farmers, we found that farmers in Jeypore, Borigumma and Kotpad blocks have switched to hybrid and high-yielding varieties (HYV) of rice to get higher yields even though investment costs are higher. The average yield of hybrid rice is 25 quintals per acre compared to traditional varieties which give a maximum of 5 quintals per acre. The government does not pay a higher price for purchasing indigenous rice grain, and consumers do not specifically demand indigenous rice. Hence, farmers have gradually shifted from traditional varieties to HYV and hybrid varieties because of higher productivity. The study villages present an agricultural continuum ranging from extensive traditional farming systems to intensive commercial cultivation. For instance, in villages in Nandapur and Koraput blocks, the majority of farmers grow millets and indigenous varieties of pulses while a few grow cash crops like ginger. In ricedominant blocks like Jeypore, Borigumma and Kotpad, some farmers grow maize, sugarcane and vegetables as cash crops. The adjacent presence in these villages of rice-based cropping systems and dryland farming systems makes it possible to conduct a comparative study of informal and formal seed systems, the former largely run by farmers based on local crop varieties such as millets that are adapted to dryland conditions, and the latter based on HYVs and hybrid seeds provided and/or distributed by governments, private seed companies and research institutions specifically for rice production.There are two main growing seasons: kharif 2 or rainy season, begins in June and extends into September and October; and rabi 3 or winter season, starts in October and ends in March. On lands having access to irrigation, farmers mostly grow vegetables including gourds, beans, tomato, eggplant, and cabbage. Rice and millets are the major grain crops cultivated as well as spices (chili, garlic) and cash crops (ginger, sugarcane)(Table 3). Minor millets likefoxtail millet and little millet currently occupy a much smaller area. The average growing period for kharif crops ranges from 90 days to 140 days with a staggered harvest. Women are engaged in transplantation and weeding operations and postharvest tasks such as drying, winnowing, dehusking, and threshing.Sowing for the rabi crops take place at the end of October and the harvest extends from January to March. Rabi crops include rice, pulses (green gram, chickpea, black gram), oilseeds (sunflower) and vegetables.Kharif crops or monsoon crops are domesticated plants cultivated and harvested during the rainy (monsoon) season, which lasts between April and October depending on the area. Rabi crops are agricultural crops sown in winter and harvested in the spring.The term is derived from the Arabic word for \"spring\", which is used in the Indian subcontinent, where it is the spring harvest (also known as the \"winter crop\"). The communities in Koraput celebrate several festivals during the cropping cycle from seed broadcasting to harvest. Bandapana Parab is celebrated in the month of August to signify the selection of healthy plants for seed collection. Men and women harvest the crop and transport it to the threshing yard. Women pick healthy panicles from the harvested crop and thresh them separately. After winnowing, the seeds are sundried and stored for use in the next sowing season. Paddy seeds are stored in locally made bamboo baskets plastered with cow dung which helps to maintain the moisture level and protects the seed from insects. Mud pots stuffed with insect-repellent leaves are used to store seeds of various pulses. These bamboo baskets and mud pots are kept in the house on a raised platform or hung from the roof to avoid damage due to moisture.The main crops cultivated in the study area are rice, finger millet, maize, pulses (black gram, horse gram, green gram, kidney bean), small millets, oilseeds (niger, groundnut, sunflower), vegetables, potato, ginger, and spices (chili, garlic, onion). Participants in our FGDs were asked to rank the three most important crops in two categories: Crops for household consumption and crops for sale. In all the 61 FGD groups, the participants said rice, finger millet and pulses were the most grown crops for consumption. Any surplus was sold to earn additional income. Farmers preferred hybrid rice to traditional varieties due to their yield potential. Crops like ginger, maize, vegetables, oilseeds and spices are the major cash crops.Most of these crops are grown in the kharif season, while vegetables are mostly grown in the rabi season.In almost 51% of the surveyed households, decisions on crop selection were taken jointly by men and women. (Figure -15) Men solely took the decisions in 40% of the households. Only in 13% of the households did women make independent decisions on the crops to be planted. These were mainly older women who had attended training programs and meetings organized by NGOs, the Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) and other government departments. Involvement of young individuals, especially women, in crop selection and agricultural decision-making was found to be very minimal as they were required to spend more of their time carrying out family tasks and taking care of small children. Boys and girls mostly assist their parents in doing manual labor on their farms. According to observations by some respondents, younger individuals prefer to migrate to urban areas to seek work as wage labourers rather than engage in agriculture, which they believe has lower income potential. This perception is a potential challenge for the future sustainability of farming in these communities.Gender roles in seed selection depend on the crop. Women play a key role in seed selection for crops like millets, pulses like horse gram, black gram, rice bean, a local pulse called Dangarrani (Vigna umbellata), kidney bean (rajma) and a few vegetables like pumpkin, ridge gourd, and beans. In the case of cash crops and hybrid varieties of rice, maize, and vegetables, men decide the type of seeds to be procured.( Figure-16)Women participants in FGDs said they have no say in purchase of seeds from traders/dealers, block-level entities and Large-Area Multi-Purpose Societies (LAMPS) 4 .Women also have no access to any information on the characteristics of seeds procured from external markets except the prices of hybrid seeds of rice and vegetables that men in the household might share with them. In the case of indigenous seeds normally stored in the household by women-such as millets, pulses, beans, tomato, eggplant, and pumpkin-women do play a role in decisions like when to plant/sow and which plot to plant in, etc.  The FGDs also revealed that changes occurring in the cropping patterns over the past 5 years have had an influence on seed systems and the role played by men and women in relation to access to and control over seeds. Some major concerns have arisen, such as the loss of indigenous varieties of seeds, loss of biodiversity, increasing dependence on external markets, increasing cost of production, and the adverse impacts of using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. These changes have resulted in a gradual decline in traditional seed-saving practices and the consequent loss of indigenous knowledge of traditional breeding, seed selection, seed production and storage practices.In 62% of the villages studied, mostly in the Borigumma, Kotpad and Jeypore blocks, hybrid rice cultivars have replaced indigenous varieties. In our FGDs with mixed groups of elder men and women, 88% of the women said that because of the increased use of hybrid seed, especially rice, maize and millets, they have no say on the type of seed to be used, nor the cost to be incurred, the type of fertilizer to be used, etc. Hybrid varieties of rice are preferred for their higher yield. The choice of variety is influenced by what can be sold in the mandi (market) for the minimum support price (MSP).In all our FGDs with elder farmers, participants said hybrid varieties of maize are promoted on a large scale by government schemes, exclusively from a marketing point of view. However, some farmers still cultivate indigenous varieties for household consumption. In FGDs with younger men and women, it was observed that while they do not know the names and characteristics of the traditional seeds used in their communities, they could name some of the hybrid and HYV varieties because they had seen the labelling on the seed packets. Their perception is that seeds available in the market are of good quality and hence using them would increase productivity.Farmers in the study villages expressed concern over erratic rainfall and the reduced rain window which has affected the crop cycle, crop diversity and crop yield. Earlier, the rainy season used to begin in the first week of June and go on till the end of September or even mid-October. According to older farmers, irregular rainfall, leading to drought-like situations and flash floods, has become more frequent in the past 10 years as a result of which farmers have stopped growing some minor millets (such as suan, janna) which used to be harvested in September. This has led to the gradual extinction of some indigenous varieties of rice, millets and pulses.The farmers' choice of crops and seed in the study area was analysed in relation to use of organic and chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Respondents from all the 495 surveyed households said they use farmyard manure and cow dung compost during land preparation. While 82% of them said they use chemical fertilizer for rice and vegetables (mostly hybrid varieties) to ensure marketability and profitability, 96% said they use only organic manure for millets and pulses (indigenous varieties mostly used for household consumption but also marketing it if there is a surplus). In the case of hybrid rice and vegetables, men take the role of farm managers whereas millets and pulses are mostly managed by women. Among the surveyed respondents, 249 women said they prepare and use organic manure as they learned of its benefits in training programs organized by NGOs and under government initiatives like the Odisha Millets Mission (OMM) and OLM.Promoted by the government as well as private dealers, use of chemical fertilizer has increased in hybrid rice, maize and vegetable cultivation though farmers agree that it has increased the cost of cultivation and led to adverse effects on soil and human health. In all our FGDs, farmers reported that seeds of hybrid crop varieties do not produce well without use of chemical fertilizer and, often, pesticides. Further, the dosage required increases every year. Procurement of chemical fertilizer is generally done by men as they have access to traders, market, and the agriculture department. Farmers sometimes buy these inputs on credit from dealers or take loans from moneylenders at the start of the farming season. As the loans have to be repaid immediately after the harvest, farmers often sell their produce at low prices.This study also explored access to information related to agriculture as well as seeds. Out of the 495 respondents, 60 women and 104 men reported they were aware of government schemes and subsidies related to agriculture, including seed procurement. About 42% of the farmers, mostly men, have accessed seeds from the block administration and the agriculture department. Similarly, 109 respondents, including 69 women, have accessed seeds-which included certified and foundation seeds-from NGOs working in their area. The sources of information included extension workers, NGOs, radio, television, mobile phone messages and social media (Figure -17 ).Since the seed information channels are most often gendered, men are more likely to get information from outside sources, such as extension agents even at block and district level, whereas women count on peer groups and neighbours.Participatory research appraisal was conducted during the FGDs to analyse the different roles played by men and women in agricultural activities across staple food (Table 4) and cash crop cultivation (Figure 18 & 19). It was observed that women are primarily engaged in labour-intensive tasks such as transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and postharvest work in staple food crops like rice and millets which often entail repetitive physical labor, potentially leading to drudgery due to the demanding nature of these tasks. Additionally, women are involved in seed selection and crop management of these staple crops, which can also become monotonous over time. Conversely, men predominantly play decision-making roles in cash crop cultivation, particularly in selecting crop varieties, making seed choices, marketing these crops, and dealing with market linkages. This division of labor where men handle certain decision-making roles and women engage in physically demanding tasks can increase women's drudgery.   Table 5 shows the array of sources upon which farmers rely for acquiring seeds. This includes their own saved seeds, exchange with fellow farmers, local markets, and support from agriculture and horticulture departments as well as other actors in the formal seed sector. Seed acquisition for crops such as millets, upland rice, pulses and specific vegetables happens predominantly through informal channels, notably through farmers' own saved seeds or exchange with neighbours. Women in particular exhibit a stronger dependence on informal sources owing to their familiarity with locally suitable varieties. In the FGDs, women emphasized their involvement in seed-saving practices primarily for millets, upland rice, a few vegetables, pulses, maize, etc. This involvement includes seed selection, sorting and drying of seeds and storing seeds for the subsequent planting seasons. They also engage in seed exchange within and across villages, often driven by reasons such as seed shortage, emergency consumption needs or safeguarding against damage by pests and rodents. They also exchange seeds at seed fairs organized by NGOs and government agencies.However, for hybrid rice and vegetables, 393 respondents (almost 79%) reported that they depend on local traders, input dealers and the agriculture department. Men mostly constitute to have access to seed sources. Extension services and private input dealers play a critical role in providing seed to farmers, especially for dissemination of new varieties or trial of newly bred varieties. Overall, more men than women mentioned extension services as a seed source. Women use seed from their own farms for millets, pulses and a few vegetables (tomato, eggplant, beans). For hybrid rice and vegetables, men access seed from seed dealers and extension services (KVK, NGOs, and agriculture and horticulture departments). (Figure-20)Lack of mobility, sociocultural barriers, low literacy, lack of finance and decision-making roles are the major factors restricting women's access to formal seed sources. Both men and women farmers expressed dissatisfaction with supply of seeds by government agencies because seeds are often distributed after the sowing period is over. Farmers also reported that there are a lot of uncertainties about the performance of crop varieties propagated by the formal sector and whether these varieties are suitable to local conditions. Limitations of both the formal and informal seed systems are given in Table 6.Table 6 : Limitation of formal and informal seed systems Informal Formal 1. The seed quality is often suboptimal due to biotic stresses and storage problems. 2. Seed exchange is limited to a geographical area. 3. Crop failures or low yields have a tremendous effect on the availability of seeds. 4. When a local seed system collapses ( emergencies/disasters), it is not easy to restore it in a short time. In such a situation, local varieties (land races) are easily lost and replaced by relief-supplied seeds.1. The varieties developed are often not adopted by small farmers due to complex environment stresses and low input conditions. 2. The formal seed sector has difficulty in addressing the varied needs of small farmers 3. They offer only a limited range of varieties. 4. The interest of the private sector may cease to be served once the varieties are sold to farmers because the latter tend to save their own seed for the next season and hence will not buy again. 5. Higher seed prices are a limitation for resource-poor farmers. 6. Poor logistics in seed diffusion and high seed demand constrain formal seed programs. 7. Formal seed systems are sensitive to natural disasters and political or other turmoil.Seed procurement depends on the type of seeds used. In our study area, farmers use HYV and hybrid varieties along with indigenous seeds. Seeds are procured by farmers from within their community (seed exchange, borrowing) and also from external markets (traders, input dealers), and NGOs, government agencies, and KVKs. Women procure seeds from within their community (informal seed system), and from self-help groups (SHGs), FPOs and NGOs. However, procurement from traders, input dealers, government and KVKs is mostly the domain of men. Certified and foundation seeds are mostly provided by extension agencies like NGOs, government and other agencies [ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), IRRI] through NGOs. Though NGOs strategically target women for demonstrations, they have to motivate male members too as it is they who take the ultimate decision on land use and crop/variety selection.Extension agents also find it easier to deal with men due to their mobility, decision-making role and control over finance. Subsidies for seeds and other farm inputs are credited mostly in the name of men as lands are owned by men. A few respondents did report that they accessed the subsidies through direct benefit transfer. However, these women have to submit proof that their husband, in-laws and parents are indeed owners of the land. It is very difficult for a woman to claim subsidies or other benefits if she is landless or tilling government land and if there is no land in the name of her family members.Women in the study areas are intimately involved in most aspects of agricultural activities including seed production. The seed production process starts at the beginning of the cropping season with farmers selecting good quality seeds for sowing after performing traditional rituals. The kharif season starts with the onset of the monsoon. The appropriate time and environment for sowing are part of the traditional knowledge of the community. The data presented in Table 7 depicts that in 90%and 97%,of the respondents households women are engaged in transplanting(Figure -21) and weeding respectively. Similarly, 76% women are involved in seed harvesting where as 67% of women are involved in seed conservation and seed storage. This shows the participation of women in most of the seed production activities. On the other hand, ploughing (99%) and crop protection activities are performed mostly by men since these farming operations by their nature are laborious and also culturally performed by men over generations. Almost all women participate in weeding activities indicating their significant contribution for better growth of the crop at early growth stage. Moreover, traditionally weeding is considered as women's task.Seed production extends over a long period as crops are harvested one after another depending on their duration. Generally, farmers start with the harvest of minor millets in early October and continue until the end of December (long-duration varieties). Seed production for rabi crops starts in March and April except for pulses (green gram, black gram) grown in rice fallows. Once seed selection is done, the seeds are sun dried by women. It takes at least three to four days for the seeds to completely dry. During this period, women keep strict vigil to protect the seeds from birds and animals. Women in these communities are the custodians of seeds. In all the study villages, farmers have been conserving the seeds they produce though the formal seed system is gradually gaining prominence. However, women play a significant role in storage and conservation of seed. Male respondents in our survey said they take the support of women in seed storage and conservation. Marketing of seeds is not common except in a few areas where farmers have sold seeds to FPOs and SHGs.Women take extreme care in selecting seeds for the next cropping season.  In all the study villages, it was women who conserved seeds. Male respondents said they feel reassured that seeds are in the safe hands of women. Seeds for the kharif and rabi crops are saved separately as different crops and varieties are grown in these two seasons. It was observed that women farmers and family elders play an important role in seed selection on the farm and subsequent storage. The skills required for preservation of seeds are passed down from generation to generation.Rudhichua, a remote village in Nandapur block, inhabited by tribal people has rich seed biodiversity. Farmers here conserve indigenous seeds of rice, finger millet (ragi), little millet (suan), sorghum (janna), maize, black gram, pigeon pea, rice bean (dangar rani), kidney bean (rajma), cowpea (jhudunga), soybean, beans, broad bean, pumpkin, chili, ginger, potato, onion, and tomato. \"Our village was self-sufficient in seeds and the women of the village were privileged owners of seeds,\" says Lachima Pangi, an elderly woman who has been engaged in agriculture for more than 50 years. Farmers here do not worry about seed because women select and store all the seed they need for their own cultivation. Farmers observe the rainfall pattern and start sowing/planting as per their need. They exchange seeds with their neighbours so that everybody has a diversity of grain for their household consumption. \"Our seeds had the capacity to withstand weather adversities,\" says Narayan Pangi, an elderly farmer.In 2011, for the first time, agriculture department officials brought hybrid rice to the village. Since then, farmers of Rudhichua have been exposed to external seed markets. They have started buying hybrid rice and vegetable seeds. Seeds are treated and stored in a way that prevents attack by pests or diseases and ensures that seed quality is retained (Table 8). Some seeds can be stored for a long time without any decrease in the germination rate while others can only be stored for a few months. This depends on the type of seed, moisture content and storage conditions. Good storage conditions for seeds are low moisture, low temperature, and protection against rodents, insect pests and diseases. The mode of seed preservation differs from crop to crop and depends on locally available material and practices. For example, paddy seeds are stored in bamboo baskets sealed with a layer of fresh cow dung(Figure -26). Mixing neem/bitter leaves and ash with seeds is a common practice for pulses and millets. Seeds are mixed with ash and neem leaves and placed in large baskets with a mixture of soil and cow dung.Seeds are mixed with ash and neem leaves and placed in large baskets with a mixture of soil and fresh cow dung. The study team engaged in one-on-one discussions with government officials. These included the Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO), Block Agriculture Officers (BAO), the District Project Manager of OLM, and two KVK scientists involved in extension services in addition to seed traders and dealers, and representatives of 5 FPOs operating in the study area. The purpose of these discussions was to understand these stakeholders' perspective on seed systems and how they approached farmers while dealing with seeds.The CDAO explained that the agriculture department organizes different kinds of agriculture activities in Koraput district such as training, exposure programs, demonstrations, distribution of improved seed, agriculture tools distribution, and soil testing camps. He observed that women found it difficult to participate in district-level training and exposure activities because it required them to travel a long way for which they would have to seek the permission of their family members. However, if the training programs were held at the block or village level, women found it easier to attend. In fact, at least 30% of the participants at these decentralized activities were women. However, when it came to a matter like introducing a new variety/crop, women were unable to take the decision themselves.Extension service providers including the KVK scientists disclosed that they found it more comfortable to reach out to men as they were more easily accessible and could take decisions on adoption of new varieties. It is mostly men who access extension service providers on issues like procurement of seeds, mainly on account of their mobility and control over income. To get around such barriers, some schemes operated by the OLM and the Integrated Tribal Development Authority (ITDA) distribute seeds and other material to women purposively.The discussions with seed traders and dealers also revealed that it is only the men who procure seeds, farm equipment, fertilizer and pesticides as they have mobility and control over income.The study team interacted with 5 FPOs that are involved in the seed business. Though women never source seeds from private seed dealers, more than 30% of the women farmers do procure seeds from FPOs. One reason for this may be that these women farmers may have membership of an FPO. Women who are members of a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) tend to have the confidence to access benefits, make themselves informed, acquire purchasing power and above all influence the men in their households. All the FPOs interviewed stated that demand for hybrid varieties of seeds, especially of rice and vegetables, has increased.-Timely availability of quality seeds is often a key challenge. This is particularly true for women due to gender norms and their restricted mobility. Though formal seed distribution channels may not be accessible to all rural communities, informal systems can play a key role in making seeds available. But informal systems often fail to provide enough quality seed at the time of planting.-Increased adoption of HYVs and hybrid varieties and the switch to commercial crops have led to a gradual decline in seed-saving practices and extinction of local landraces that are adapted to the climate and soil. This has further resulted in the loss of indigenous knowledge on agrodiversity as well as traditional breeding, seed selection, seed production and conservation practices. It has also resulted in gender inequity due to increased control of seeds and crops by men. -Women tend to be excluded from formal seed systems as they have no access to information and knowledge on seeds. Mobility constraints, lack of adequate access to extension service providers, and lack of control over income deprive women of access to quality seed.This study highlighted the need for gender-responsive and inclusive seed systems that enhance women's access to and control over seeds. To increase women's participation and empowerment, seed system interventions across informal, formal and integrated seed systems should purposefully target women. Access to quality seeds, distribution of high-yielding/hybrid varieties, training, exposure, information and extension services should be available to women and men equally. There should be scope for positive discrimination to give women the desired space.This study found that informal seed systems remain more important in remote areas than formal seed systems. Women mainly source seed through the informal seed system and through fellow farmers. Policy should support the informal seed system as a key strategy to guarantee for women regular and permanent access to quality seeds. As seed exchange among households was found to move along gender lines, further study of the potential effects of supplying quality seed to women farmers' networks is required. This might open up an avenue to reach more women farmers and build a network of women's collectives in which women would be empowered to play the role of key seed disseminators.To empower women in the seed value chain, barriers must first be identified. These major barriers include lack of access to infrastructure (land, water), information, technology, services, finance, and opportunities for training, extension, and participation in networks and collectives. They deny women a due role in decision-making on the crops to be cultivated, the variety of seeds to sow and the inputs to use. Empowerment of women in seed systems cannot be looked at in isolation without also empowering them in the wider agri-food system. This requires interventions to enhance their skills and knowledge, and organize them into collectives and FPCs.Informal seed systems continue to be the major source of seed for small and marginal farmers. Women play a critical role in this seed system. However, community systems of seed supply are under threat due to climate change and storage problems. Interventions are required to strengthen informal seed supply systems by establishing village-based seed banks managed by women. This can emerge as an alternative seed system to foster seed security. Community-level seed multiplication and conservation initiatives could be designed to make women farmers key actors in the seed value chain by enhancing their skills through training and support. NGOs, extension services, and KVKs can play an important role in improving women farmers' access to quality seed and help them link up with other seed producers, research institutions and small commercial seed companies working in similar agro ecosystems.There is a need to promote and build the capacity of FPOs with equal representation given to men and women as well as youth and link them to other actors in the seed value chain. These FPOs can play a significant role in enhancing the skills of women and youth in seed production and promotion of women/youth-led seed enterprises.Training and support services for women for quality seed production and storage Providing training and infrastructure support to women will enable them to produce quality seeds through participatory varietal trials to improve the physical and genetic quality of farmer-saved seed. Training programs can be designed to enhance the skills of women in seed conservation and storage techniques.This study found that rural women have no access to formal seed systems due to their lack of mobility, financial control and access to extension service providers. There is a need to enhance their access to formal seed systems through mobile seed shops, promotion of local markets accessed by women, and organizing them into collectives like FPOs.There is need for policy support for conservation of indigenous landraces, quality seed production, and seed distribution. Government initiatives should focus on the varietal needs of resource-poor farmers, with particular attention to the needs of women farmers. There is also a needto strengthen seed quality control processes for small-scale enterprises with appropriate incentives and credit schemes to facilitate emergence of seed enterprises.Women and younger farmers have limited access to information and a limited role in decision-making on seed procurement. They also have little control over resource use and income earned from agriculture. In formal seed systems in remote areas, smallholder farmers, particularly women, have limited access to quality seeds of preferred varieties. This situation demands establishment of inclusive seed systems and empowerment of women by increasing their access and control over seeds.This study reiterates the need for gender-responsive and inclusive seed systems. It shows that while designing seed systems, the local social and gender contexts should be taken into account. In particular, there is a need to empower women with better access to quality seeds, enhance their skills of seed production and support seed entrepreneurship by women. Interventions in the informal, formal and integrated seed systems should purposively target both women and men to increase women's participation and empowerment. Equitable access to resources, information and decision-making is critical for inclusive seed systems.Strengthening indigenous knowledge systems related to on-farm seed selection, collection, production, storage and exchange would be useful for the sustainability of informal seed systems, especially in the context of climate change and crop diversity. Integration of indigenous seed systems with the formal seed system would help to conserve traditional landraces. Access to and availability of improved varieties and quality seeds, seed distribution and dissemination channels, training and exposure programs should be inclusive irrespective of gender and social criteria.There is a need to promote and build the capacities of seed producer groups with particular focus on women and youth and link them to other actors in the seed value chain. This can be done by building on the existing social networks within informal seed systems, strengthening community-level and community-managed seed multiplication and seed saving systems through decentralized community seed banks via training, input and service delivery.","tokenCount":"9340"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2169245102.json b/data/part_1/2169245102.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bf988a2f3203668fb0698f9e9e6ab7dfefc40fd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2169245102.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5ed53460a2809b2cf66091c4775003a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0b5c52b9-9113-4f61-83ee-e205f96c6769/retrieve","id":"-868227843"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"178bd551-5c69-44c4-bec3-835b0db4f7b8","pagecount":"2","content":"This session will include researchers across the basins who are working closely on livelihoods issues in the selected basin sites to look critically at how proposed interventions may or may not have the desired impact on rural livelihood portfolios. In addition, this session will move towards providing some consensus across the basins on what exactly is meant by livelihoods and the aspects of livelihoods on which we can realistically have an impact. Specifically, we will highlight socio-cultural (including gender, social stratification, etc.) and political-economic factors that must be taken into consideration in proposed intervention design and impact assessment. Some of the questions to be addressed include: what kind of livelihood benefits do we foresee? How do these benefits have an effect on other aspects of the livelihood portfolio? How do benefits accrue to different community members? (men andInternational Forum on Water and Food women, youth, poor/better off, etc.). The session endeavors to bring together the social science and biophysical perspectives and to provide a useful synthesis and framework for analysis of work across all the basins. While all the basin projects aim to improve livelihoods, often these livelihoods are poorly understood and integration with biophysical work and modeling proposes challenges. This session intends to provide guidelines for managing and overcoming these challenges.","tokenCount":"212"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2173682903.json b/data/part_1/2173682903.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..646133c61fd28cf2388285282f64e7ae4e55dc71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2173682903.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fe51eda32b79a579b8c286cd18a9cc60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bbae949a-5f3a-4b02-973f-1c5fa71eb4f4/retrieve","id":"702046443"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9c550551-4ada-495d-8114-75e1b596996e","pagecount":"2","content":"ommunity-driven participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) systems offer new ways for people to strengthen learning and change at the community level. This approach to PM&E is unique as its focus is on a system that is developed, managed and supported by local communities for their own purposes. In this process, communities agree on their goals and what they need to do to achieve them, what changes they expect, what local indicators they can identify to track these changes and finally what the factors can make their projects succeed or fail. Throughout these processes local people are involved in collecting and analysing their own data, and make their own decisions on how to adjust their activities accordingly using locally defined indicators.CIAT's research in community driven PM&E focuses on the development and refinement of the PM&E process, the role it plays in empowering rural communities, strategies for scaling out of the process and the costs and benefits of it to both the communities and to the research and development (R&D) institutions working with them.The process of community-driven PM&E (outlined in the six steps below) is achieved through participatory and practical learning sessions. The facilitator aims to build practical skills and confidence within the group while remaining sensitive to social behaviour, gender and equity issues. The facilitator aims to build practical skills and confidence within the group while remaining sensitive to social behaviour, gender and equity issues.Visualisation tools (such as force-field analysis and the river code 1 ) are used to enable communities to develop shared goals and a common vision on what to monitor. The river code is a role-play (acted out by the community members) that enables them to analyse their current situation (one side of the river), their desired future situation (the other side of the river), what they need to do to move from the current to the desired situation (steps to cross the river) and the strategies they need to employ (how to cross the river). In force field analysis the community use a diagram to think about and record their opportunities, and the constraining factors, in reaching their goals.The concept of indicators for community driven M&E (which show whether the group is making progress, which direction it is moving in and how far it is from its predefined goals) is discussed using graphics and familiar stories from the farmers' lives (such as signposts to the market, for example).Community indicators for measuring change are developed during a brainstorming session of groups of farmers for each result or objective. Small group sessions ensure that there are contributions from the majority of the members of the community, representing its diversity. Different members have different perspectives on the indicators, influenced by their involvement in the project, their gender, wealth status or their expectations of a particular activity.A committee is elected by the group and charged with the responsibility of data collection, analysis and providing regular feedback to the community. This process involves a) the development of criteria for the selection of committee members; b) facilitating the development of simple tools for data collection, and c) training the committee on how to manage the PM&E processes (for example, when to collect data on the indicators, how to analyse, when to report).Communities manage the process of M&E using simple tools for collecting and analysing data. Some common data collection tools include resource maps to collect baseline data and changes that occur, attendance registers to record participation in community activities (Figure 1), visitors books to record linkages with others, and input, output and account registers to record enterprise profitability. The community perform simple analyses on their data (for example attendance levels data to demonstrate trends) with the assistance of the facilitator.This is a process that helps the community to analyse what is working, what is not working and why. Reflection allows members to reflect on the progress of the project towards achieving its goals and to adjust activities as required. It provides a forum for exchanging and evaluating information; and it allows community members to systematically review their activities. Reflections need to be carried out for each result (or activity or process) and its indicators, one at a time. This can be done using simple graphics or questions to examine the results of any data analysis. Decisions should be made within the group about the implications of the analysed information for stakeholders and on decision-making within the project.The purpose of community-driven PM&E is to empower the local community to initiate control over their own development projects and to take corrective action when necessary. Learning to manage the PM&E process builds the social and human capital assets of the rural poor, often resulting in better rural livelihoods through more relevant and timely improvements in local agro-enterprise projects. Effective PM&E systems are also useful in building local communities' capacity to make effective demands on service providers and in improving information flow between communities and R&D institutions.  ","tokenCount":"820"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2180797321.json b/data/part_1/2180797321.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0a9e0c8d027fe60a84e39b5f6a372ab62fe22d80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2180797321.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b1dc820044a690699e678737265b9ef5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4476f7c1-682b-46df-ac54-ddfb6b7430b6/retrieve","id":"1513542074"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b65cbc68-c5cc-47d4-a433-83a87e3b4a2f","pagecount":"79","content":"WLE is a global research-for-development program connecting partners to deliver sustainable agricultural solutions that enhance our natural resources and the wellbeing of people. WLE brings together CGIAR Centers, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the RUAF Global Partnership, and numerous national, regional and international partners to find integrated solutions. WLE is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and partners, and supported by CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.• Gender Equality, Youth and Social Inclusion benefited as we helped insurers maximize inclusiveness and reach of flood insurance, while the Innovative Food Systems Solutions platform connected youth to learn, share and act. We generated guidelines for mainstreaming inclusion in landscape restoration, and evidence on its gendered impacts.• Climate Adaptation and Mitigation efforts grew, from resilience assessment tools for cities to a climate sensitive development trajectory for South Africa and solar-powered irrigation business models. We deployed innovations to reduce climate shocks, from bundled insurance products to satellite data utilization to a smart farming platform for smallholders. This is just a part of the significant legacy that WLE is leaving for CGIAR and the wider world of research for development. The scale of our work is visible in a series of legacy knowledge products we released this year to synthesize our past research, available on a WLE science-driven solutions platform, with the aim of influencing future research, planning, policies and investments.Part A: NARRATIVE SECTIONWLE contributes to System Level Outcome (SLO) 1, \"reduced poverty\" and SLO 3, \"improved natural resources systems and ecosystems services,\" as well as to the health and nutrition benefits of SLO 2, though less directly. Impacts of natural resource innovations often take years to mature and be measurable (Table 1); and such impact measurement is methodologically challenging. Nevertheless, WLE has explored new and innovative impact methodologies for integrated systems research and prioritizes completing outcome-level assessments for accountability and learning.Preliminary evidence suggests that in 2021, WLE has made tangible contributions to achieving SLO targets. For example, in relation to the SLO target of 21 million farm households adopting improved (water and land) management practices, WLE/the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT created the Agua de Honduras platform to provide evidence-based support to improve water investments. It covers 44% of Honduras, and in 2021, it was expanded to three sub-Saharan African countries. The tool will be expanded to much of the Caribbean in 2022. Moreover, in Ethiopia, the expansion of flood-spreading weirs is improving food security in dry areas.In South Asia, WLE/IWMI and CCAFS have used advanced tools and modeling to strengthen farm households' resilience to climate change. Governments and insurance companies are beginning to scale out these new products to farmers, including women, in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and farmers are already receiving payouts for flood damage. Likewise, in South Africa, WLE/IFPRI and PIM partnered to help create evidencebased policies that build resilience into infrastructure investments and implement climate-sensitive development policies and programs (OICR).In 2021, WLE also contributed to the SLO target of assisting 5.74 million people (50% of whom are women) to exit poverty. In Ghana and Ethiopia, WLE/IWMI established farmer-led irrigation development partnerships with private sector actors to improve irrigated agricultural value chains (OICR). In one case in northern Ghana, such research-led partnerships increased solar irrigation water pump sales by over 80% in just one year.WLE can point to many such examples. Our contributions to the cross-cutting SLO \"capacity development\" also warrants special mention. Since 2019, when WLE/IWMI reported on the impact of its research on groundwater knowledge generation and management in Laos, policies and investment programs have begun benefiting groundwater-dependent communities: WLE-facilitated knowledge and capacity development are helping Laos establish a national groundwater roadmap and sub-national groundwater management plans (OICRs 2019 & 2021).This year was pivotal for the future of humanity and our home, Earth. The outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in September, the 26 th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November, as well as that of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (COP15) will likely help determine whether humanity makes the reforms and investments required to both achieve the SDGs and effectively confront the multiple challenges posed by climate change. WLE actively participated in all of these events, drawing on a decade of experience, innovative research and important outcomes to make major contributions to the key food and environmental systems events of 2021. WLE also contributed significantly to shaping the CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Agenda.The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI) was launched by WLE in 2020 to investigate the current level of investment in agri-food system innovation and explore how to overcome constraints to more rapid development and uptake of innovations. The Commission published a baseline study of the current level of investment in innovation in agri-food systems in the Global South. Only 7% of current agri-food innovation funding had explicit environmental objectives, and less than 50% of this also had explicit social objectives. It also co-published -with the UK's FCDO -an Innovation Investment Gap study. This study estimated a global investment gap of just over USD 15 billion per year by 2030 to meet the SDG2 hunger target and make progress toward other targets. This includes a CGIAR \"investment gap\" of at least USD 2.1 billion per year. The headline finding from this study is that reorienting global innovation funding to be more intentionally focused on sustainability is a critical priority. CoSAI has also produced evidence on two other main issues:• Innovation priorities: Mining the gaps: Mapping global agricultural research (small-scale farms); Paying for nature and society (financial instruments); and Urban and peri-urban agriculture (managed by WLE for CoSAI)• Innovation approaches: Pathways for innovation and Approaches and instruments for innovation.Furthermore, CoSAI established an international taskforce to propose principles and metrics for innovation for sustainable agri-food systems. The taskforce agreed on a pilot set of principles and scoring system, to be piloted in the first half of 2022.The UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS). WLE made significant contributions to the preparatory processes of the UNFSS, including the pre-Summit event in July 2021. WLE staff co-coordinated UNFSS Action Track 3 (nature-positive production); co-chaired the Land-Freshwater Nexus Solution Cluster, which promotes integrated land and water resources management in food systems; contributed to Action Track 5 (building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses); and co-organized and participated in several UNFSS Global and Independent Summit Dialogues. CoSAI's evidence on the innovation financing gap was presented to the UNFSS finance forum. CoSAI also partnered with the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) to host a side event, \"Capacity development for agriculture innovation systems\", and contributed to the Summit's cross-cutting \"Lever of Change\" on innovation and \"repurposing policy\" cluster. A key WLE focus was on strengthening the understanding of the importance of water governance and resilience for food systems transformations, water for food systems and nutrition, and the importance of considering biodiversity in agriculture. WLE produced other outreach materials as well. • Scaled ALWM solutions in three countries through private sector collaboration to pilot business models (OICR); and developed a tool to guide the scaling of farmer-led irrigation and applied it in four countries (OICR). This contributed to the World Bank Farmer-Led Irrigation Guide.• A WLE/ICRISAT watershed restoration model and flood-spreading weirs are being scaled out in Ethiopia (OICR).• Generated solar irrigation suitability maps in Ghana, Mali and Ethiopia; engaged with the GIZ Scaling Task Force to advocate an adaptive scaling approach for system transformation; and published papers and viewpoints on integrated ALWM investments.• The World Bank adopted WLE/IFPRI recommendations for including nutrition in irrigation investment planning (OICR).Progress on achieving improved irrigation scheme management (Outcome 2.2) included: • Worked with governments and insurance companies to test innovative bundled products (including weather advisories) in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (OICR).• Built Sri Lankan insurance companies' capacities to utilize satellite technology products.• Developed a smart farming ICT platform (GeoGoviya) through a public-private partnership in Sri Lanka to support decision making by farmers (some 1.6 million smallholders) and policymakers.• Transferred water resources and drought monitoring tools developed for Asia to Southern Africa.For Outcome 4.2, WLE:• Assessed poverty, growth and job creation linkages to sustainable groundwater development and supported new groundwater policies and investments in Laos (OICR).• Assessed the costs and benefits of solar versus diesel powered irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa and made recommendations on avoiding groundwater depletion.• Developed recommendations for a global groundwater quality assessment.• Led development of a water-energy-food-environment nexus framework for the Niger Basin Authority (OICR) and a water investment strategy for South Africa (OICR).Finally, VCR contributed to multiple global discussions -UNFSS, COP26, World Water Week and the International Wetlands Conference -and collaborated with FISH on integrating fisheries into irrigation and rice-fish systems.To enhance capacity to design and manage effective landscape level policies and programs (Outcome 5.1), ESA:• Co-developed learning modules on synergies and tradeoffs in food, land and water systems and contributed to curricula on landscape, biodiversity and food system transformations.• Released CoSAI findings on innovation investment gaps and opportunities.• Made available a global database on diversified farming effects on biodiversity and yields at local and landscape levels.• Launched the Innovative Food Systems Solutions platform that supports bundling and scaling peopleand nature-positive solutions (OICR).• Reviewed scaling approaches for business investments in natural resource recovery and reuse.To identify and incorporate synergies, tradeoffs and uncertainties into food and agricultural programs (Outcome 5.2), ESA:• Co-developed and employed tools for balancing agriculture and natural resources management in the Limpopo River Basin, Ethiopia, Zambia, India and Uganda.• Employed decision-support tools to leverage the potential of agrobiodiversity in multifunctional food systems (Agrobiodiversity Index [ABDI] applications); through the food and agriculture benchmark, ABDI is now used by 350 food and agricultural companies (OICR).• Provided recommendations on synergies between people and nature goals to UNFSS, COP26, CBD, new European Union-International Fund for Agricultural Development investments, and One CGIAR. In the project on resource recovery and reuse in refugee and host settlements in Eastern Africa, virtual training for enumerators was implemented for baseline survey work. Digital research was adopted where enumerators used phone calls to collect data using the KoBo Toolbox and a central database of 600 questionnaires for Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia were managed from Nairobi. For the same project a virtual training of trainers for project partners was adopted due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. This prepared the staff of an NGO based in the region to carry out training events for local refugee and host communities.COVID-19-related restrictions continued to undermine progress in all projects that depend on fieldwork (surveys, farmer training), in particular in offline areas and locations sensitive to pandemics such as refugee camps. Many projects had to apply for a no-cost extension. Other projects which are based on consultations, e.g., with municipal stakeholders, shifted to virtual meetings.Much of the work in VCR is focused on building resilience and so is relevant to COVID-19. In 2021, only limited funding was allocated to direct research on COVID-19; rather, WLE worked to ensure that research could be continued to the extent possible despite COVID-19 restrictions and challenges. One phone survey was implemented to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on women migrants in Bangladesh, as qualitative and quantitative in-person fieldwork was not possible from mid-2020 through most of 2021. Moreover, some activities had to be postponed from 2020 to 2021 and selected activities had to be cancelled, such as summer schools, or moved online, such as planned workshops. Finally, some activities, like face-to-face research that had to be moved from 2020 to 2021, could only be implemented in late 2021, as a result of which only early findings can be reported. Only one substantial activity, the gender study in the Gulf of Mottama, was seriously affected by the pandemic as well as the coup in Myanmar; field activities had to be replaced with more conceptual research.In response to COVID-19, ESA moved in-field capacity building to building a series of online e-learning modules with over 40 contributors from WLE partners, sharing insights and lessons learned, tools and approaches for better anticipating and actively managing synergies and tradeoffs in food, land and water systems. Otherwise, no major adaptation of ESA programs in response to COVID-19 was required.Have any promising research areas been significantly expanded? If so, for each example, please explain clearly where the demand came from (promising research results, demand from partners etc.). Where has the money for expansion come from?• RDL: Research on fertilizer recommendations and climate information expanded in Ethiopia to include climate advisory services, supported by GIZ and Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Change Research for Africa (AICCRA).• RUL: A new International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-funded activity in Quito and Lima, Peru, building on Quito's Food Strategy experiences. Lessons learned from three cities are used in new projects (UNICEF project in Zimbabwe through the EU HealthyFoodAfrica project).• VCR: Additional funding from WLE enabled synthesis of: i) WLE's work on renewable energy; ii) water governance; iii) water-related nature-based solutions; and iv) aquatic ecosystem health.• ESA: The Innovative Food Systems Solutions platform used WLE funds to expand youth engagement, connect investments and support innovation accelerators.• ESA: The research and learning modules on synergies and tradeoffs and landscapes approaches, particularly through Agrolandscapes, was expanded to support the One CGIAR portfolio.RUL's City Region Food System (CRFS) action planning in five cities was delayed due to COVID-19. The threecountry refugee project in East Africa suffered significant delays due to COVID-19, forcing a need to obtain a no-cost extension.Outcome 2.1 (LWS) deliverables were delayed due to the departure of a senior research leader to the World Bank. The planned deliverables were allocated to three other researchers with heavy workloads; hence they could not complete the deliverables in a timely manner. Furthermore, a sustainable finance study was cut back to focus on sustainable finance for irrigated cocoa production in Ghana.Some VCR research was re-oriented slightly to cope with political instabilities in some countries. This led to changes in fieldwork that had to be implemented later in 2021 or converted to phone surveys. Where some fieldwork became totally impracticable (Myanmar), more conceptual pieces of work were developed instead.RUL's Milestone under Outcome 3.1, \"Ten towns or cities created Urban Food Policies or Strategies\" does not align with the intent of the outcome, which is on capacity development toward policy change, but not the change itself. Nevertheless, various cities have developed Food Strategies or Food Policy Councils. On the other hand, elections (Quito, Lusaka, Toronto) have affected progress. Moreover, the work of RUL will continue under the One CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Urban Food Systems, which will provide opportunities to support outcomes and impact.• To coincide with the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, WLE/FTA/PIM co-produced a special issue of Ecological Restoration outlining how a feminist political ecology approach can address persisting inequalities through more socio-ecological, transdisciplinary approaches.• On request by the Society for Ecological Restoration, WLE/FTA/PIM coordinated an opinion article on people-centered rules for sustainable ecosystems, also presented in a webinar.• Flagship 1 produced guidelines for mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion in landscape restoration, providing evidence on how restoration impacts gender and other social inequalities.• Flagship 1/FTA research demonstrated that enhancing capacities of marginalized groups results in greater gains to land restoration interventions.• Flagship 2 policy outreach initiatives targeting the Government of India and practitioners vis-à-vis watershed programs were discussed at the WLE Securing inclusive land restoration webinar series.• Flagship 2/IWMI/IFPRI research in Ghana is exploring how to provide women better access to financing for purchase of solar irrigation pumps by using a market segmentation and client assessment scorecard to assess a customer's creditworthiness, targeting products and services to the right farmers in the right way, boosting technology uptake, and promoting gender equality.• Asset ownership and control over income and production decisions do enhance women's empowerment, but not significantly.• Flagship 3's Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) team and FTA described how natural resource competition and conflict in refugee settlements disproportionately impacts women and children, adding to women's drudgery. This calls for unpacking gender-energy challenges and addressing social equality aspects in 'clean energy' innovations.• Another Flagship 3 paper examined the gender dimensions of vegetable value chains in three West African cities.• Flagship 3/RUAF/IWMI published a special issue of Urban Agriculture Magazine on gendertransformative approaches to rural-urban food systems, targeting policymakers and practitioners.• A Flagship 3 report documented the gender roles and hierarchy in informal waste management institutions, practices and outcomes.• Three WLE projects presented in the CGIAR GENDER Platform and Wageningen University coordinated two sessions at the Cultivating Equality Conference 2021: What will it take to transform power relations in urban and peri-urban food systems and The challenges of interdisciplinary projects.• Flagship 4 research highlighted how complex nature-society interrelations shape the socio-ecological dimensions of wetlands.• Flagship 4 research on gender equality and social inclusion in the index-based flood insurance work in Bihar informed a CGIAR GENDER Platform grant to IWMI.• Working through local partner organizations, Flagship 4 supported private insurance companies to make flood insurance socially inclusive (OICR).• Flagship 5 found that a narrow focus on economic returns may lead to unsustainable outcomes in landscape intensification projects, including exclusion of women. Policymakers need to consider the social and human dimensions of sustainability.• The WLE Gender, Youth and Inclusion (GYI) Leader is a member of the One CGIAR GENDER Platform Steering Committee.b) Mention any important findings that have influenced the direction of the CRP's/Platform's work, and how things have changed.• The Gender Youth and Inclusion team designed and implemented an end of program reflection and evaluation, which contributed to the CGIAR GENDER Platform's Alliances-module institutional change initiative, and was selected as a CRP Golden Egg to inform future One CGIAR innovations. Key outcomes have informed an upcoming paper.• The Gender Youth and Inclusion team's two papers in the CGIAR GENDER synthesis were presented as best examples in a book-launch webinar.• Flagship 4/IWMI supported research on why young people are leaving agriculture behind, which informed a report on youth in agriculture by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE).• The special issue of Ecological Restoration on the political ecology of land restoration, led by WLE/FTA/PIM, was translated into an opinion article for policy outreach.• In Nepal, local FM stations were engaged to collect primary data through radio call-in programs for a migration project: a 4-part radio dialogue series and podcast were developed.• In an Ethiopian project, a webinar series replaced primary research to map the gender dimensions of land restoration.• In the Gulf of Mottama project in Myanmar, WLE developed a framework for inclusive restoration to support capacity strengthening of the local consultancy, pointB, to conduct primary research; a methodological workshop was held, but the work could not be completed due to the political situation in Myanmar.a) List any important CRP research findings, methods or tools, capacity development, policy changes or outcomes in the reporting year related to gender issues.• To address the gap that youth received a lower profile than other cross-cutting issues in WLE in previous years, in 2021, Flagships 3 and 4 have specifically focused on youth as a key component of cross-cutting inequalities.• Gender Youth and Inclusion's capacity strengthening on gender-transformative approaches included an intersectional focus on inclusion (gender, youth and other cross-cutting socio-political dimensions of inequality), which is reflected in revised WLE 2021 milestones, new projects, and knowledge and capacity strengthening of WLE researchers.• Primary data on COVID-19, youth migration, gender and rural agrarian transformation in Nepal was generated through a 4-part radio dialogue series on local FM stations, captured in this podcast. Findings were published in the AGRUMIG newsletter.• Under the same Flagship 4 project, a publication was produced on how COVID-19 has changed the context of global youth migrations.• WLE research informed a WorldFish output, Reeling in economic opportunities for Africa's youth, published by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.• Flagship 2 supported an analysis of the enabling environment for gender and youth inclusion in irrigated vegetable value chains in Mali and Ghana.b) Mention any important findings that have influenced the direction of the CRP's/Platform's work, and how things have changed.• Flagship 1: Adopting a social-ecological lens in restoration has required rethinking restoration planning, design and interventions by acknowledging the politics and diverse interests and mandates that shape restoration agendas.• Flagship 2: Tackling core challenges of gender and social exclusions in land and water systems requires tackling often subconscious and deeply held values and norms that shape behavior. For example, through the session Challenges of Interdisciplinary Projects in the Cultivating Equality Conference, researchers and academics agreed that researchers' positionality influences methodological choices, research solutions and policy interests as a result.• Flagship 3: Those left furthest behind, i.e. women, youth and children among migrant refugees, are also the most vulnerable to interlinked water, food and energy challenges.• Flagship 4: Food systems challenges, aspirations and opportunities for women and marginalized groups are shaped by intersectional inequalities, poverty, gender, ethnicity and age, as well as by economic, social, political and ecological contexts.• • Flagship 1 trained 114 people including three masters students and a doctoral student on soil health monitoring.• Twenty young people and selected farmers from Makueni county, Kenya were trained on subsurface water retention technology for sandy soils.• Flagship 3 trained 16 trainers (7 female) to conduct community capacity development in home gardening, agroforestry and energy through RRR in Ugandan refugee camps and host communities.• City teams in five cities received joint training and bi-weekly support under the Climate Resilient City Region Food Systems program.• Flagship 3 trained 30 participants (10 female) on food and nutrition security in an urbanizing society, including sessions on CRFS and the MUFPP Indicator Framework.• Flagship 3 enhanced the capacity of 50 Ghanaian local government officials in market-based sanitation initiatives.• Flagship 3 trained 25 WaterAid staff on the application of RRR in sanitation service delivery in West Africa.• Five hundred stakeholders in the MENA region were trained on agricultural use of wastewater.• Following a 2020 Flagship 3 case study, over 600 sanitation officers have been trained in India by the WASH Institute.• Flagship 4 facilitated a webinar on inclusive weather index insurance to share lessons on inclusion among stakeholders and partners, including insurers, donors and academia.• Flagship 4 organized a training workshop on climate insurance solutions for industry professionals in Sri Lanka.• A seven-unit online training course on wetland community management and monitoring was developed within the OpenLearn Create Platform, with translations into Sinhala and Tamil.• Flagship 5 led a cross-CGIAR series of innovative learning modules on synergies and tradeoffs in food and agricultural systems.• Flagship 5 contributed to university curricula and educational tools on landscapes, biodiversity and food systems transformations.In Colombia and Peru, Flagship 1 identified management practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in cocoa and oil palm and co-designed and began piloting these in Colombia. In Peru, small-scale oil palm growers were trained on carbon market opportunities and cashew nut producers were supported with climate information to enhance their pest management capacities. Flagship 2's business models to support scaling out solar-powered irrigation are a major contribution to helping smallholders adapt to climate change (OICR, OICR). The impacts of farmer-led irrigation on water use efficiency, reductions in conflict and improved agronomic and landscape management raise smallholder resilience to climate change impacts.Flagship 3 developed methodological guidelines that include climate change vulnerability assessments. Risk assessment fact sheets are available for Tamale, Ghana and Colombo, Sri Lanka (also here).The MENA ReWater project addresses water reuse as a climate change adaptation strategy. Factsheets, training materials, blogs and policy briefs are available on the project website.Flagship 4 has scaled out a drought monitoring system in Africa and worked with the World Bank to develop drought-risk profiles for 16 Southern African countries. In Sri Lanka, VCR researchers participated with business leaders in an online event, The business case for climate change adaptation for agribusinesses, and contributed to a South Asian regional webinar, Managing wetlands: Addressing the challenges of water security and climate change.Flagship 5 led an evidence review that recommended integrating more biodiversity into agriculture to support healthy diets while sequestering substantial CO2. This led to a call for action to integrate agriculture and biodiversity into climate, nutrition and food security, and has been feeding into the UNFSS, CBD and COP26. Flagship 5 has also integrated three global climate data layers into the Food Systems Dashboard and led development of climate change-focused learning modules on synergies and tradeoffs in food and agricultural systems. The participation of women in the management of WLE remained good, with the Independent Steering Committee and Management Committee composed of 60% women. WLE has also continued its strong partnerships with international organizations, UN agencies and major donors. For example, RUL, co-led by RUAF, has a very strong partnership on city regional food systems with FAO, the MUFPP Secretariat and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) MUFPP Secretariat. ESA and CoSAI collaborated with FCDO on an innovation investment gap study. Finally, WLE collaborated with multiple institutions to contribute to the UNFSS through global, national and regional dialogues and to multiple sessions at the Water Pavilion at COP26.WLE continued its close partnerships with five CRPs: A4NH, CCAFS, FISH, FTA and PIM (Table 9). Development of the site-specific fertilizer recommendation tool in Ethiopia was expanded by coupling it with other components such as best agronomic practices to support the Ethiopian Digital AgroClimate Advisory Platform (EDACaP). This expansion involved collaboration with Excellence in Agronomy, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), CIMMYT and AICCRA, led by CCAFS/Alliance/CIAT. WLE also collaborated with CCAFS to train young Ethiopian farmers on integrated land and water management.WLE is collaborating with FTA on a project with refugees in East Africa aimed at improving refugee women's livelihood strategies while reducing land degradation. In Asia, WLE continued collaborating with FISH, including IRRI and WorldFish, on including fish in multifunctional landscapes such as irrigation schemes, and investigating how diets and food production impact water and carbon footprints. WLE worked with PIM on social learning interventions and co-published a paper titled Games for triggering collective change in natural resource management.WLE, FTA, PIM and SPIA organized a workshop on Measuring impact of integrated systems research. It assessed existing and new methodological developments for monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment, and examined which are most suitable to evaluate complex, integrated systems research. WLE, IWMI, IITA and IFPRI collaborated on agricultural intensification and small-scale irrigation in Mali. WLE collaborated with A4NH to improve the Agrobiodiversity Index, along with private and public sector users. This included a global application, ten in-depth country profiles for the Mediterranean area, and advanced private sector use through the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), the Agrobiodiversity Accelerator and HowGood (OICR).N/AIn 2021, the unit co-hosted a four-day workshop entitled Measuring impact of integrated systems research with FTA, PIM and SPIA. The workshop took stock of existing and new methodological developments of monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment work, and examined which are most suitable to evaluate and assess complex, integrated systems research.In our last year, the unit focused on producing a number of synthesis learning reports. WLE encourages efficiency and development impact through collaboration with CGIAR Centers and CRPs on specific natural resource management and sustainable agricultural intensification issues. With this aim in mind, WLE furthered collective research and impact partnerships, described in Table 9 and section 2.2.2, such as the partnership with FISH and RICE to understand how integrating water, rice and fisheries management can achieve productivity gains and enhanced resilience for farmers in Southeast Asia; and the joint WLE/FTA initiative which seeks to improve refugee women's livelihood strategies. CoSAI completed a two-year body of research to bring together research on sustainable agricultural intensification solutions from inside and outside CGIAR, for greater efficiency in analyzing and promoting evidence.The WLE/FTA/PIM/SPIA workshop Measuring impact of integrated systems research was a key example of a jointly organized initiative, bringing the experience of three CRPs to bear on improving impact measurement in future integrated initiatives. WLE also documented lessons learned from research data collection to feed into future One CGIAR data processes coordinated by the BIG DATA Platform.The unintended efficiency gain of the reduction in travel due to COVID-19 restrictions continued in 2021. WLE held and participated in a variety of research, program and policy events, using virtual meeting tools and methods. These have allowed people to exchange ideas and publicize initiatives without the significant investment and environmental cost of extensive travel.Of 18 risks identified, four were considered to carry moderate residual risk:Financial. Due to cancellation of travel and fieldwork because of COVID-19, the risks of under-expenditure and inability to deliver planned outputs became more significant during 2021. Uncertainty around W2 income also brought a risk of overspend. Researchers planned alternative methods of delivery where possible, and expenditures were closely monitored each quarter with a view to adapting as needed.Infrastructure. To mitigate the risk of perceived job insecurity post-2021, WLE worked with IWMI to develop plans for program staff, which was challenging given the uncertainty of the future structure and funding arrangements. The Program Director left in early 2021; arrangements were made to ensure responsibilities were effectively covered and WLE could continue to thrive.CoSAI impact. CoSAI took a multifaceted approach to mitigating the risk of insufficient traction to make changes to investments in innovation, including increasing staffing for outreach, and close engagement with global and regional partners. CoSAI leveraged bilateral funding from two donors to support this, including a short extension to further publicize its results and continue advocacy in early 2022.Gender research. COVID-19 and mobility restrictions were a particular risk to gender research outputs. GYI addressed this by focusing their research on the end of program reflection and evaluation and a special issue of Ecological Restoration co-developed with FTA and PIM on gender, inclusivity and restoration. The team also worked with Flagships to monitor output timelines, providing strategic support where needed to ensure timely completion.W1/W2 funding was 30% of the 2021 WLE budget, allowing WLE researchers to progress on critical activities illustrated by the examples in Table 12, such as:Influencing and stimulating dialogue, and engagement in policy process -e.g., bringing insights from all Flagships to policy and research forums such as COP26 and UNFSS. CoSAI established an international taskforce to propose principles and metrics for sustainable agri-food systems and produced evidence reviews and studies to stimulate debate on, and advance the case for, investment in sustainable agriculture. WLE researchers engaged with decision makers in Africa, e.g., the African Ministers' Council on Water on groundwater expansion.Tailoring knowledge for delivery -translating research into investable processes or products, e.g., publishing guidelines for mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion into landscape restoration, and the dissemination of tools and technologies to unlock the potential of rain-fed and irrigated agriculture in the Nile Basin.Capacity Development -e.g., training officials in Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka on the Systematic Asset Management Software for Irrigation (SAMS) for improved irrigation performance, and incorporating lessons on the impacts of COVID-19 into training on the city region food systems process.Discovery -testing new concepts, e.g., piloting components of the Ethiopian Digital Climate Advisory Platform and fertilizer recommendations with a private sector partner, piloting low carbon practices in cocoa plantations in deforested areas of the Amazon, and researching complex nature-society interrelations that shape the socio-ecological dimensions of wetlands in Myanmar.2021 expenditure reports for all CRPs including WLE will be completed, audited and submitted by CRP Host Centers directly to the CGIAR SMO in April 2022. Part B: TABLES   Strong partnership platforms delivered proven soil health-promoting practices in the hands of smallholder farmers in Tanzania. (7,8) Global Soil Data Manager platform maintained and enhanced with data access functionalities.In Colombia, cocoa farmers of 2 departments trained on low emissions and restoration practices, and co-designed these for their specific conditions. (10)WeForest is using a stochastic impact evaluation tool to plan reforestation projects in Ethiopia.  The development of the site-specific fertilizer recommendation tool started in previous years with WLE and GIZ's support. In 2021, it was expanded by coupling this with other components such as best agronomic practices and wheat rust surveillance (using application programming interfaces), which together will support the Ethiopian Digital AgroClimate Advisory Platform (EDACaP). This expansion has been through a collaboration with Excellence in Agronomy (Incubation Phase), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, CIMMYT, and more recently with the project Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Change Research for Africa (CCAFS).Training young Ethiopian farmers on integrated land and water management, as an opportunity to engage youth effectively on farming, was conducted in collaboration with CCAFS.The new One CGIAR Initiative Design Team on Resilient Urban Food Systems, which will continue any unfinished work of Flagship 3 and build on the Flagship for its own work, includes several CGIAR Centers and other partners (e.g., CIP, IWMI, ILRI, IFPRI, IITA, World Vegetable Center, RUAF).WLE continued to work closely with FISH on fish in multifunctional landscapes, including on two policy briefs and two sessions at World Water Week. In Myanmar they continued the WLE funded joint project (with WorldFish and IRRI) investigating how diets and food production impact water and carbon footprints. ","tokenCount":"5468"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2181629590.json b/data/part_1/2181629590.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a13647052adf5be8f7addbf0baa6eb2436313dfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2181629590.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"10d02356f4e56f055ff39d5890fd1f89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0baef6fd-e40b-4a83-a21c-39537d2316f9/retrieve","id":"799560429"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"10dbaa3c-b38e-49c3-a81d-b06d53d14587","pagecount":"27","content":"Africa.• The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for collaboration through its research theme on market-oriented smallholder dairy.• Prof Lusato Kurwijila of Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania for sharing his technical expertise and knowledge of the dairy industry in Africa that was instrumental in developing the harmonised training guide and curriculum.• Dr Amos Omore (ILRI) for coordinating the work of the national resource persons and facilitating dialogue and exchange of experiences in improving the quality of milk sold in the informal sector.• Ms Tezira Lore (ILRI) for editing, proofreading and designing the layout of the guide.• Ms Lilian Ohayo for providing illustrations.• US Agency for International Development (USAID), Regional Economic Development Services Office for East and Southern Africa, for financial support.It is our desire and hope that the use of this guide in training programmes will contribute to the improvement of milk quality along the marketing chain and provide income generation opportunities for those involved. We look forward to continued collaboration with the above institutions as we strive to strengthen the dairy industry and cross-border trade in the region.As a dairy farm worker, you know very well how raw milk can get spoilt quickly if good hygiene is not practised during milking or if the milk is kept for long periods at high temperature before being delivered to the collection point. This guide is designed to give you basic knowledge on how to produce and handle milk hygienically. Not only will this help you reduce losses of milk due to spoilage, but it will also mean that the milk you produce at the farm is safe for human consumption. The aim of this guide, therefore, is to help you acquire basic knowledge and skills in the following areas:• How to produce clean milk that is fit for human consumption• How to handle milk in accordance with good hygienic practice• Procedures for carrying out basic milk quality testsThe guide is designed to be used during on-site training (2-3 hours per day) at your farm or for outreach training (1-3 days) by a business development service (BDS) provider at a suitable location near your farm. After the training, you will undergo a theory and practical test to evaluate your level of competence in hygienic milk production and handling. If you pass the test, you will be awarded a certificate in basic hygienic milking and milk handling.There are similar training modules for milk collection centre operators, transporters, small-scale traders and milk processors that cover the minimum competencies for hygienic milk handling and processing. A module on basic marketing and dairy business management is not mandatory for licensing of small-scale dairy operatives but is optional for those who desire basic training in this area.As dairy regulators in Eastern Africa, we recommend this guide for training and certification of farm-level workers. Milk from the udder of a healthy cow contains very few bacteria. Poor hygiene introduces additional bacteria that cause the milk to get spoilt very quickly. To ensure that raw milk remains fresh for a longer time, you need to practise good hygiene during milking and when handling the milk afterwards.Feeding A well-fed and watered animal will produce high quantities of milk of good composition. If cows are fed a diet that is low in forages and high in starch, the butterfat content may fall below 2.5%. Thus, a good balance of forage and concentrates is important. You may give the cow feed supplements but be sure to observe proper proportions. Do not feed the cow with silage during milking or shortly before milking, as this will give rise to off-flavours in the milk. It is recommended that silage feed be provided two hours before milking.An unhealthy cow will feed less and produce less milk of poor quality. Cows should always be kept healthy and clean because sick animals can transmit diseases like tuberculosis and brucellosis to milk consumers. If you suspect your cow is sick, contact a qualified veterinary practitioner immediately. When the cow is being treated with antibiotics, you must not sell or consume its milk until the withdrawal period is over.Zoonotic diseases like tuberculosis and brucellosis can be spread to humans through milk. Cows suffering from such diseases should be referred to a qualified veterinary practitioner who will decide on the fate of the animal. Farmers are encouraged to vaccinate their animals against brucellosis. Animals should also be checked periodically for all types of contagious diseases and treated promptly in case of infections.Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary glands in the udder caused by infection with disease-causing bacteria. These bacteria can also end up in the milk and result in illness if the milk is consumed. For this reason, milk from cows suffering from mastitis should not be sold or drunk. You can control mastitis by observing general hygiene and proper milking procedures. Hair at the udder should be kept short by trimming. Cows suffering from mastitis should be treated by a qualified veterinary practitioner. Milk from animals that are undergoing antibiotic treatment should not be consumed or sold until the withdrawal period has elapsed because antibiotic residues may cause allergies and drug resistance in consumers.It is important to remember that quality control must begin at the farm. That way, your milk will have fewer bacteria that cause spoilage and diseases. In order to ensure good quality and protect the health of consumers, you must always carry out milking in accordance with good hygienic practice. You should observe the following points:• Maintain clean and healthy cows. Sick animals can transmit diseases to humans through contaminated milk.• Keep a clean milking environment, free of dust and mud. Garbage and dung in the milking area provide a good breeding ground for rats, flies and cockroaches that may transmit dirt and bacteria to the milk.• Do not milk cows if you are suffering from communicable diseases like diarrhoea or typhoid, but seek medical treatment and resume milking only when you have fully recovered.• Do not mix colostrum (the milk produced for the first seven days after calving) with normal milk.• Wash your hands with soap and clean water before milking.• Wash the udder with a clean cloth and warm water.• Dry the udder with a clean dry cloth.• Make the first draw into a strip cup to check for mastitis and throw away from the milking area even if the milk appears clean.• U s e c l e a n c o n t a i n e r s f o r milking.• Cows with mastitis should be milked last and their milk discarded.• Milk from cows under antibiotic treatment should not be sold or consumed until 3 days after last treatment or as advised by the veterinary practitioner.• After every milking, dip the teats into an \"antiseptic dip\".• During milking, the milker should not: (a) have long nails, (b) sneeze, spit or cough, (c) smoke.• Release the cow from the milking area as soon as milking is finished.• After milking, sieve the milk through a strainer or muslin cloth to remove solid particles that may have fallen in during milking.• Cover the milk to avoid contamination.• Move the milk to a clean and cool area. It is important for you to know some of the things that can cause milk spoilage so that you can avoid unnecessary losses. Milk is very rich in nutrients. Because of this, the bacteria that cause spoilage can grow very quickly in milk. Bacteria cells grow by dividing into two. If milk is stored at high temperatures for a long time then the bacteria will grow and divide very fast and soon the milk will have a very high number of bacteria and thus get spoilt quickly. Also, if the milk had a high number of bacteria to begin with then it will get spoilt in a very short time. Poor hygiene during handling of milk and undesirable practices like addition of water and other substances can introduce the bacteria that cause milk to go bad.Here are some guidelines to follow in order to keep the numbers of bacteria in milk low and avoid milk spoilage:• Always handle milk in clean metal containers.• When transferring milk between containers, pour the milk instead of scooping. Scooping may introduce spoilage bacteria.• Do not milk cows or handle milk if you are sick. Seek medical treatment and resume your work only when the doctor says you are fit to do so.• Do not store milk at high temperatures.• Avoid keeping milk for a long time before it is delivered to the collection point.Because milk spoils easily if it is left at high temperatures for long periods, you need to keep it in a cool place soon after milking. The low temperatures reduce the rate of growth of the spoilage bacteria. If you do not have a refrigerator or cooler, you can store milk in a cold-water bath or wrap the milk can with a wet sack or blanket, but ensure that the milk container is well covered to prevent dirt from entering the milk. Always use certified foodgrade containers for milking, e.g. aluminium, stainless steel or foodgrade plastic jerry cans designed for single use only. Metal containers are preferable because these are easy to clean and sterilize.Do not store milk in plastic jerry cans that previously contained paint, herbicides and other chemicals because traces of these substances can taint your milk.There are various types of cleaning and sanitation agents that have been specially designed to clean and disinfect milk-handling equipment. You may also use foodgrade liquid soap, which is a good cleaning agent that also destroys bacteria. Always rinse your equipment properly after cleaning to prevent detergent residues from contaminating the milk.Cleaning agents should be stored properly and handled with care because some of them may be corrosive to the skin. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for proper use of detergents.Before re-using the milk container:• Pre-rinse the container soon after use.• Thoroughly scrub the container with warm water and detergent or soap (using a stiff bristled hand brush or scouring pad).• Rinse the container in clean running water.• Dip-rinse the container in boiling water for at least one minute to kill germs. You may also rinse the container by pouring hot water into it.• Air-dry the container in inverted position on a clean rack in the open.Dip-rinse the container in boiling water for at least one minute to kill germsAir-dry the container in inverted position on a clean rackThere are four simple tests for milk quality:• Sight-and-smell (organoleptic) test• Clot-on-boiling testThese tests are routinely carried out at milk collection points to ensure that only milk of acceptable quality is received. Usually during testing, only a small amount (sample) of milk from each container is assessed. If the sample of milk doesn't pass the test, the milk from that container will be rejected and you will bear that loss. Thus, it is important that you handle your milk in accordance with good hygienic practice. The procedures of these milk quality tests are described below so that when you observe the tests being carried out, you can understand and accept their results.This test is performed first and involves assessing the milk with regard to its smell, appearance and colour. This test is quick and cheap to carry out, allowing for segregation of poor quality milk. No equipment is required, but the tester should have a good sense of sight and smell. Milk that cannot be adequately judged in this way is subjected to tests that are more objective.• Open a can of milk.• Immediately smell the milk and establish the nature and intensity of smell, if any. The milk will not be accepted if it smells slightly sour or has foreign odours like paint or paraffin.• Observe the colour of milk. Deviation from the normal yellowish-white colour indicates damage to the udder (reddish-blood, or yellow-pus).• Check for any foreign bodies or physical dirt, which may indicate that the milking and handling were not done hygienically.• Touch the milk container to feel whether it is warm or cold. This indicates how long milk has taken since milking (if not chilled thereafter) and will influence the lactometer test for adulteration (see below).Abnormal appearance and smell that may cause milk to be rejected could be due to:• Type of feed or atmospheric taint• Cows in late lactation• Bacterial taints• Chemical taints or discolouring• Advanced acidification or souring Marked separation of fat may be caused by:• Milk previously chilled and subjected to excessive shaking during transportation• Adulteration with other solids (may also show as sediments or particles)• Boiling, if milk fat is hardenedThis test is quick and simple. It allows for detection of milk that has been kept for too long without cooling and has developed high acidity, or colostral milk that has a very high percentage of protein. Such milk does not withstand heat treatment hence this test could be positive at a much lower acidity.• Boil a small amount of milk for a few seconds in a spoon or other suitable container.• Observe immediately for clotting.• The milk will be rejected if there is visible clotting, coagulation or precipitation.The test is quick and simple. The specific type of alcohol used is known as \"ethanol\". This test is more sensitive to lower levels of acidity and can therefore detect bad milk that may have passed the previous two tests. It also detects milk that has kept for long without cooling, colostrum or milk from a cow with mastitis. Because this test is quite sensitive, milk that passes this test can keep for some hours (at least two hours) before it goes bad.• Use a syringe to draw equal amounts of milk and 70% alcohol solution into a small tube or glass cup (such as those used to administer medicine to children).• Mix 2 ml milk with 2 ml 70% alcohol and observe for clotting or coagulation.• If the tested milk sample coagulates, clots or precipitates, the milk will be rejected.This test is used to determine if the milk has been adulterated with added water or solids. Addition of anything to milk can introduce bacteria that will make it spoil quickly. Adulteration of milk is dishonest to consumers and is therefore illegal.The lactometer test is based on the fact that milk has a heavier weight or density (1.026-1.032 g/ml) compared to water (1.000 g/ml). When milk is adulterated with water or other solids are added, the density either decreases (if water is added) or increases (if solids are added). If milk fat (cream) is added to milk, the density decreases. The equipment used to measure milk density is called a lactometer. Most lactometers are usually marked from \"0\" (representing density of 1.000 g/ml) to \"40\" (representing density of 1.040 g/ml).• Leave the milk to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and ensure its temperature is about 20°C.• Stir the milk sample and pour it gently into a 200 ml measuring cylinder or any container deeper than the length of the lactometer.• Let the lactometer sink slowly into the milk.• Take the lactometer reading just above the surface of the milk.Mix 2 ml of milk with 2 ml of 70% alcohol If the milk coagulates, it fails the testIf the temperature of the milk is different from the lactometer calibration temperature (20°C), then use this correction factor:• For each °C above the calibration temperature, add 0.2 lactometer \"degrees\" (°L) to the observed lactometer reading.• For each °C below calibration temperature, subtract 0.2 lactometer \"degrees\" (°L) from the observed lactometer reading.• Note: These calculations are done on the lactometer readings (e.g. 29 instead of the true density of 1.029 g/ml).Examples of how to calculate the true lactometer readings when the milk temperature differs from the calibration temperature of 20°C If the milk is normal, its lactometer reading will be between 26 and 32. If the lactometer reading is below 26 or above 32, the milk will be rejected because it means that it has been adulterated with added water or solids.Quality assurance begins at the farm.Good hygiene practice in milk production and handling is the key to milk quality and safety.Cooling milk will slow down the growth of spoilage bacteria and prolong the milk's shelf life.But milk that already has many bacteria in it will not keep for long, even when cooled.Good milk quality means good profits for your farm.","tokenCount":"2727"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2183748386.json b/data/part_1/2183748386.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b2495f915b793e78ecf3dce9f51a54727bd0355c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2183748386.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bf1a763b8a145cb200f10dc28ca90030","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7fe8ba3c-7840-49da-8f05-2649b58d1ffe/retrieve","id":"1280334944"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4a1657a3-64f5-4382-9a5b-8c3e07594bda","pagecount":"10","content":"Schedule (Kenya-Busia) What should I do as farmer/peer farmer involved?On daily basis • Weigh each type of feed/forage given to the cow and record (kg)• Every day take a sample of the feed/forage (500 g) dry it in the sun and put it in sample bag • Put a label (write on the sample bag) to include: Week no., name of forage, date, farmers name, County) • If in a single day different, feeds/forages are given to the animal (under farmer practice), collect samples for each, and do as above. • If the same feed given within the week, don't collect it's sample daily but weekly• NOTE. Under either farmer practice or improved feeding the animal should have enough clean drinking water• If under farmer practice the animal was being given minerals salts, the same quantity should be maintained under improved feeding• If the cow was being given daily meal under farmer practice, the same quantity to be maintained under improved feeding.• If no dairy meal under farmer practice, there should be no dairy meal under improved feeding• On the morning of each day collect all the feeds/ forages refusals/remnants from the trough and weigh and record on the sheet• Every day, weigh morning and evening milk production and record (liters) in the sheet• In one of the counties, (milk samples will be analyzed for quality using lactosan. For these farmers samples from morning milking will be analyzed 3 times every week for the 5 weeks = each of these famers having 15 readings on quality ","tokenCount":"256"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2188972264.json b/data/part_1/2188972264.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ef555ec00292fa5acf47990975d33b3fe597ceb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2188972264.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4bd228848c1021825d968a94c363f445","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1c6b6393-259e-4ffd-baf1-0aade6942dbd/retrieve","id":"1304091455"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"85463b91-0931-425d-b81e-f4d6e0e8835f","pagecount":"154","content":"El presente documento de informaci6n bAsica, tiene por objeto condensar toda la informaci6n recopilada y analizada para el Seminario sobre Arroz, patrocinado por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical -ClAT.Con el prop6sito fundamental de encajar este documento dentro de un marco de referencia global, se esbozaron brevemente algunas de las caracterlsticas generales de la Economia Arrocera.El papel que desempefta el arroz en la alimentaci6n y su valor nutritivo en relaci6n con otros alimentos, no puede pasar desapercibido, ya que dicho cereal ademAs de ser el alimento de primera necesidad para aproximádamente la mitad del género humano, constituye la fuente principal de energla en la dieta de miles de personas.Al conocer en términos generales, \"c6mo estA en América Latina en conjunto\", obtenemos una visi6n global de la situaci6n latinoamericana y un contexto que nos sirve de base no s610 para formular politicas futuras, sino para analizar el por qué de las politicas actuales.Por este motivo y teniendo en cuenta que-el pre~ente documento estudia \"El Arroz en América Latina\", se escribieron algunos pArrafos sobre este aspecto.Finalmente, se establecieron algunas consideraciones bAsicss para los diferentes palses tratados en este documento. Dentro de éstas y a titulo informativo se indicaron brevemente no sólo algunos aspectos generales del pala y la polltica arrocera del mismo, sino que ademAs se analizaron aspectos relacionados con la producción y la productividad, la demanda y el consumo; eate paquete se com-plement6 con un breve anAlisia de precios relacionados directamente con la ventaja comparativa.CARACTERISTICAS GENERALES DE LA ECONOMIA ARROCERA El arroz, a pesar de ser considerado como el alimento de primera necesidad para aproximAdamente la ~itad del género humano, sigue siendo preponderantemente un cultivo de subsistencia: mAs de la mitad de su cosecha mundial no llega al mercado y queda absorbida por las propias fincas que lo producen; esta caracteristica especial de la economia arrocera, dificulta la tarea de incrementar la producción.Al mismo tiempo, es necesario tener en cuenta que existen factores tales como: asistencia técnica deficiente, rApida expansión de la población, escasa productividad en la agricultura, incipiente desarrollo in~ dustrial. defectuosos sistemas de comercializaci6n, barreras de orden institucional, y otros muchos aspectos de orden general que obstaculizan el crecimiento econ6m1co de estos paises en desarrollo e impiden aún mAs, el incremento de la producción arrocera.Respecto al consumo, el arroz sigue siendo uno de loe articulos de primera necesidad para millones de personas, otras lo prefieren a otros elementos bAsicos en cuanto tienen oportunidad de adquirirlo, bien por aumentos en los ingresos, o porque la emigración de las zonas rurales a las zonas urbanas lo permite; en gran número de paises, la urbanización misma, permite que en la alimentación habitual, se reemplacen los ceres• lea bAsicoa o las ralces emilAeeas 11 por el arroz.P~specto a los rendimientos, son muy grandes lss discrepancias que existen ya que varian no 8610 en relaei6n a la productividad de las !I Se refiere a aquellas ralees que contienen almidón, distintas zonas productoras y a los diferentes sistemas de cultivo, sino que mas bien son el resultado de la combinación de una serie de factores ecológicos, técnicos y economicos.Durante el decenio 1959-1968, se obtuvo un rendimiento medio por hectárea para América Latina de 1.714 kgs., superado por varios paises.Además de la carscteristica inicial anotada, el arroz ocupa ur.a posici6n dominante en las economlas internas de varios paises y descuella, ssl mismo, en las balanzas nacionales como articulo principal de importaci6n, o como fuente de divisas.A causa de la imPortancia que presenta este cereal, muchos planes gubernamentales de desarrollo económico fijan su atenci6n en el arroz.Actualmente, existe una gran poSibilidad para incrementar la pro-ducci6n de arroz, si se logran introducir con éxito las nuevas variedades que estin siendo desarrolladas.El análisis de precios para los paises objeto del presente informe, se hizo 6nicamente desde el punto de vista de la posición competitiva !I , para lo cual se estableció la relación de precios existente entre cada pais y el precio internacional. 11Se obtuvieron datos sobre precio promedio por mayor del arroz para 15 paises a partir de 1959 hasta 1967. Los paises involucrados en este análisis son: Argentina, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Rep6blica Dominicana Uruguay y Venezuela, teniendo en cuenta que existe una amplia gama de calidades dentro de una misma variedad de arroz, se encontró que para cada uno de estos paises habia mAs de una calidad cotizada a precios diferentes, por tal razón se obtuvo un precio promedio para cada pals. Ver cuadro l.Los precios en moneda nacional, por cada 100 kgs. de arroz, se convirtieron a dólares de los Estados Unidos al tipo de cambio oficial, sin embargo, es necesario seftalar que los tipos de cambio no siempre reflejan el poder adquisitivo, comparativo de la moneda de cada pals; igualmente, !I Dada una doble alternativa que permita satisfacer las necesidades mediante la producción directa de los bienes y servicios, o mediante la producción indirecta, es decir, a través de la producción de otros bienes y servicios que se puedan cambiar por los que nos son necesarios. es obvio que se escogerá aquella mediante la cual se obtenga un mayor beneficio.1/ Se denominó precio internacional el precio de exportación de ¡~ailandia.exist.en 1$18 .. \":08 paises h .. tinoamericar.os en 108 cuales existe me proceso inflacionario, y la ccnvet'ai6n d.e la moned\" al tipo de cambio oficial puede imprimir un sesgo ascender.te s la cotización expresada en d6lares estadounidenses.AdemÁS de los factores a~.ota.dos anteriormente: el tipo de cambio y el proceso inflacionario, ex18ten otros factores que i~ciden sustancialmente sobre los precios fi\"\"ales en los diversos paises; es necesario anotar que cads pa1s establece sus peliticaa nacionales a seguir y que éstaa varien de un pa1e a otro dependiendo de causas diferentes. Por ejemplc, algur~s peisas con el objeto de mantener una oferta constante y tr¿tar de fome~tar l~ pro-ducci6n interna establecen controles a las tmportecionea y a las exportac1o~ nes; en otros, se regulan los suministros, acuw~lar.do reservaa de grano importado y nacional, que se \"inyectan\" en el mercado cada vez que la oferta amen&za con escacearse; en algunos otros, con el objeto de ejercer un mayor control, se constituyen Juntas de Comercialización, las cua,lee interviene\", en el almacenamiento, compra y venta del arroz; otras '1eces, se est4blacen precios de sustentación como incentivo a la producción, edemas los si&temas de comerd.aliza.ci6n existe;:\\tas en cada pll.LS son diferentes ,,..lg'.lr_:ls SO\"\" mA.eficac~s que otros y su grado ¿¿ eficiencia se refleja en el precio final.El preciO de exporu,ci6n. de T!lllla::tdia, fu~ tomado como 1:c_dicativo psra establecer el precio mundial (ver cUllldro 2), ya que los precio~ del arroz tailandés dan un,'!! buer..a indicación de los movimientos del mercado internacional del arroz de grano largo y mediano. Ad_lB, los precios de exportación de los Estados Cnidos, siguen estrechamente las variaciones del arroz tailandés.La relaci6n usada para establecer la ventaja comparativa fu~: ~i donde: Pi -precio interno para cada pals P P -Precio de exportaci6n FOB del arroz tailand~s.La relaci6n ~i puede ser: unitaria, mayor que uno o menor que uno; P esta relación se observa en el cuadro 3.Una relaci6n ~i unitaria, implica que 108 precios internos del pala P son iguales al precio internacional; el pals en cuesti6n puede exportar si sus remanentes u otras condiciones consideradas lo permiten, ya que puede competir satisfactoriamente por concepto del factor precios.Si el precio interno del pals es superior al precio internacional, la relaci6n Ji es mayor que la unidad; los palses que atraviezan por esta situaci6n no se encuentran en condiciones de competir internacionalmente ya que los palses importadores solicitarln sus importaciones a aquellos paises que tienen un precio realmente \"competitivo\". Fuente:La informaci6n fué tomada de la Revista América en cifras, 1967, pAgo 33;1961, pAgo 26 Y 1963, pAgo 25.Sub-tipo mediano.y Tipo japonés.Precio promedio obtenido en 87 ciudades seleccionadas.Precio promedio en la c.pital~11 Precio promedio en el mercado de BogotA. §jPrecio promedio en la ciudad de Santiago.Precio promedio en la ciudad de Guayaquil.Precio promedio en la ciudad de San Salvador.Precio promedio mensual en la ciudad de Guatemala.10/ Precio promedio recabado semanalmente en un número seleccionado de casas comerciales en la ciudad de México.11/ Precio pagado por los mayoristas a los agricultores y traficantes en la ciudad de PanamA.111 Precio promedio recibido por el productor agr1cola.111 Precio promedio en las ciudades de Lima y Callao.!!:J . Precio promedio en la ciudad de Caracas • !I Tipo chacarero.W Se refiere a los precios del arroz El presente anAlisis de producción tlene por objeto establecer cual es la tendencia de la producción en los diferentes paises latinoamericanos y en la América Latina ~n conjunto.El propósito fundamental consisten en presentar proyecciones a 10 aftoso Estas proyecciones son tmportantes porque nos pe~ten obtener una visión general del comportamiento de la producción en América Latina, en ningún momento constituirán pron6sticos de producción y sólo nos darán una tendencia de lo que puede ser.A pesar de que existen varios factores que inciden sobre la perspectiva de la producción tales como: la rehabilitaci6n de tierras abandonadas o nuevas, las politicas oficiales de sustentación de precios; los nuevos sistemas de mecanización, la ampliación de los sistemas de riego y del avenamiento regulado; la mejora de los procedtmientos de cultivo; la semilla mejorada, el uso de fertilizantes y otros. Las proyecciones únicamente se realizaron partiendo de los datos existentes sobre: área sembrada, producción y rendtmiento. Estos se obtuvieron para un periodo de 10 aftas a partir de 1959.Los paises analizados son: Costa Rica, Cuba, República Dominicana, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Venezuela y Uruguay.Con el objeto de obtener una visión general de la situación arrocera en 108 diferentes paises en relación con la producción, se analizó durante todo el perlodo la incidencia que tanto el área sembrada como los rendl- Para cada uno de los paises, se elaboraron proyecciones sobre Area sembrada, prod~cclón y rendimientos.Para el área sembrada y la producción se calcularon, respectivamente, las ecuaciones de tendencia.Los rendimientos se obtuvieron en base a la siguiente relaci6n: R = p T donde: R = Rendtmientos P -Producci6n durante el periodo A = Area semorsda durante el periodo.Método utilizado para hallar la ecuación de una recta o curva de tendencia adecuada. De esta ecuaei6n se pueden calcular los valores de la tendencia.Las ecuaciones para el Area sembrada y la producción en la mayor parte de los casos obdecen a la forma: para el primer caso: El mayor porcentaje de la poblaci6n es urbano.Clima: Variedad de climas.Productor entre otros de: algodón, arroz, avena, bananos, cebada, center~, frijoles, garbanzos, r~gos, aceitUPAs, remolacha azucarera, frutas, tabaco y té.Criador de bovinos, cerdos, caballos, ovejas, cabras, mulas y asrws.Ademis, avicultura y pesca.Productor de petróleo, ademAs, carbón, hierro, plomo, gas natural, estafto, plata, sal, zinc, azufre y otros minerales.Productos de acero, hierro y aleaciones, vinos, aceite de oliva, harina de trigo, cerveza, az6car, cemento, automóviles, productos refinados de: petróleo, curtientes.Las principales exportaciones son de productos de ganaderia, cereales, aceites vegetales y semillas oleaginosas. Uno de los principales palses ganaderos del mundo. Cria bovinos, caballos, cerdos, ovejas, cabras, mulas y asnos. Ademls,practica la avicultura y la pesca.Gran productor de plomo y produce adernts, entre otros, carbón, hierro, petróleo, estano, ma~ganeso, oro, niquel, sal, tungsteno, cromo, bauxita, gas natural, rubias, esmeraldas y topacios.E~ el pa1a mAs industrializado de Sur América;Las principales exportaciones de Brazil son: café, algod6n, arroz, minerales y azOcar. Las principales importaciones son: materias primas y elaboradas, productos qutmicos y farmacéuticos, maquinaria y vehlculos.Durante el decenio 1959-1968, se dedicó un promedio anual superior a los 3 millones de hectAreas, al cultivo del arroz o La producción total durante el mismo, fué superior a los 59 millones de toneladas, las cuales equivalen a un promedio anual superior a los 5 millones. Respectivamente, representan'el 73 y 67% del total de América Latina.Esta circunstancia hace del Brazil el mayor productor de arroz de Latinoamérica.El Area sembrada sufri6 variaciones considerables durante el periodo, en general, aumentó un 66%. Los rendtmientos presentaron una tendencia levemente decreciente; disminuyeron en un 8% desde 1959 a 1968.La producción arrocera mUi!strs una tendencia ascender,ee, pero sujeta a considerables variaciones anuales; en el decenio aumentó en un 62X, gracias al incremento en la superficie sembrada que logró compensar la disminución en los rendimientos. Ver cuadros 1, 2 Y Jo La prodUCCión interna \"fué mis que suficiente\" para abastecer el consumo nacional. Durante el decenio, solamente en el ano de 1963. Rrazi1 no export6 arroz; éste fué ademAs, el único ano en el cual no hubo super-producci6n de arroz.El hecho de que la demanda interna se satisfaga plenamente con la producci6n nacional hacen del Braz11 un pals \"netamente exportador\" de la disminución total en los rendimientos serla de un 2Z2t.Medidas gue influyec en la producción y en la comercializaci6n del arroz Objetivos de la pollt!ca y metas de producci6nAumentar la producci6n con el prop6sito de incrementar laa exportaciones, es el objeto principal de la polltica arrocera.El gobierno ha establecido como po11tica general 108 precios de sustentación.Ayudas a la producción de arroz Los in~entivos principales existentes para aumentar la producción de arroz son:1. Altos precios de sustentación.2. Organización de cooperativas.3. Construcción de silos.4. Exención del pago de determinados impuestos a los productores.5. Asistencia técnica.6. Producción y distribución de semillas mejoradas.7. Concesión de créditos para la compra directa de fertilizantes y maquinaria.8. Fijación de tipos de cambio favorables para la importación de fertilizantes o insecticidas. 9. La Compaftta Nacional de Seguros Agrlco1as, vende seguros de cosechas a los cultivadores.En el pala existe el control de cambios tanto para las exportaciones como para las importaciones. productores, con el objeto de financiar los costos bAsicos de producciÓn.2. El gobierno realiza programas especiales de promoci6n, entregando a los cultivadores semillas bAsicas como crédito en especie, ademAs de los fertilizantes y plaguicidas.3. Actualmente, existen entidades especializadas en realizar investigaciones para obtener variedades de elevado rendimiento resistentes a plagas y enfermedades y mejorar las técnicas de producciÓn.4. En el pals se adelanta la Reforma Agraria que tiene como fin principal, modificar los sistemas de aprovechamiento y tenencia de tierras, preparaciÓn y rehabilitaciÓn de tierras, roturaciÓn de tierras vlrgenes e introducciÓn de técnicas modernas.El organismo oficial que interviene en la comercializaci6n de los productos agrlcolas en el interior y en el exterior es el IDEMA.Poli tic a oficial de existencias Con el objeto de normalizar en un momento dado, el suministro de los productos agrlcolas ante indicios de especulación, el IDEMA mantiene existencias que le permiten solucionar problemas de escasez. Con este fin, mantiene una red de a110s, dep6sitos rurales y almacenes.Medidas gue influyen en el consumo del arroz L El gobierno colombiano, a tra\",-és del IDEMA, abastece el mercado de consumo nacional mediante la creaci6n de mercados al por menor en centros de consumo para venta directa al público.En virtud del Decreto Ley 444 de 1967, se estableció la lihre ex-portaci6n para los productos agricolss, siempre que ello no perjudique ~l abastecimiento normal de la po~lación.Actualmente, el gobie~~ estimula las exportaciones mediante certificados de.,.exenci6n de impuestos (Certificado de \"'bono Tributario, CAT).El exportador, al presentar el certificado al Banco de la República, recibe el equivalente en pesos colombianos del 1St del valor total de la cantidad a que corresponden esos certificados, los cuales a su vez son negociables libremente como titulos al portador.Algunas entidades estatales facilitan el financiamiento de actividades directamente relacionadas con la exportaci6n.Colombia forma parte de acuerdos de integraci6n regional tales como, :O\" iY6!l 1'1 ',atsreeibió la m8xlma cantidau de divisas po:\" expc>ctncíon\"s, \"ce cuadros 6, 1, 8, ~, 11 , 12.,~\"su\"liendo, la poHtiea de comercio exterior aplicadll en el pals, pro-';\"jo un efee\"\" neto desfavorable a la bill.1nl':a corriente l/.~~,sembrada:Ver cuadro l.El área sembrada se proyeccó de acuerdo a la siguiente ecuación: Bc es favorable por el mayor \"ingreso\" (le divisas al paísBe es desfavorable por la mayor I! fUf;a ll dr.' (: bd sus.'::./ El ,,2 ' .,H ! \",,,,,,\",:0 coeficiente de correlación y se determina med tnntf; la $igHíel~t!:'. f6cuw:a:,--------Variación totalSi la V'-riaci6n explicada es cero, es decir, la variación total es to,la nó explicada, entonces r 2 es igual a cero. S' '\" variación no explicada es cero, es decir, la variación tota, es \"Hl¿'l explicada, entonces el r 2 eS i3un1 !I Al relacionar el consumo y la producción par capita con las importaciones, se observa que durante el periodo, el consumo total ascendi6 a 454.2 kg. por persona; la producción per capita fué de 217,7 kg.; esto implica la existencia de un déficit total en producción por persona de 23é.5 kg.; déficit que debia cubrirse con las importaciones.Las importaciones par capita durante el perIodo ascendieron a 225 kg,;este comportamie~to permite suponer la existencia de algunos remanentes de anoz, que agregados a las importaciones fueron inyectados al mercado. De aquí la expresi6n \"en BU mayor parte\".A pesar de que el consumo per capita disminuyó en un 67% durante todo el periodo, la producci6n nacional no permiti6 al pais aCU!!lular \"stocks exportables\" • Proyecciones Area sembrada: Ver cuadro 1.Para proyectar el Area dedicada al cultivo se utiliz6 la ecuación: Producci6n: Ver cuadro 3.Para elaborar la proyecci6n se utiliz6 la ecuación:3. POLITICA ARROCEPA Medidas que influyen en la producción y en la comercializaci6n del arroz Objetivos de la politica y metas de producci6nEn la República de Cuba, el 'rea dedicada al cultivo del arroz, se ha reducido con el objeto de incrementar el cultivo de la cana de azOcar y la ganaderla.Los objetivos generales de la politica arrocera son:1. Aume!:,tar los rer,,:!imiet!.tos por nect4rea.2. Lograr la mecanización mAxime de los cultivos.3. Mejorar la calidad del arroz.4. Aumentar la producci6n de variedades de arroz resistentes a las enfermedades.afio.D& acuerdo al rendimiento y calidad de los cultivos, varian los precios que se pagan a los productores. Las únicas deducciones autorizadas son las necesarias para costear los gastos de elaboraci6n y de distribuci6n, operaciones encomendadas a servicios especiales.  Criador de bovinos, ovejas, cerdos, caballos, mulas y asnos.Primer productor mundial de salitre, gran productor de cobre, también produce hierro, carbón, zinc, petróleo, gas natural, oro, plata, azufre, mercurio, sal y otros.Una de sus principales industrias es la del cobre. Productor ade-mAs de azúcar, v1~~s. harina de trigo, automotores, neumAticos, productos de petróleo, papel, pescado enlatado, tejidos de algodón, productos alimenticios, productos qu1micos, articulos eléctricos y otros.Las principales exportaciones son de metales, entre ellos el cobre.Importa entre otros, equipos de transporte, productos agrieolas, productos En relaci6n con las importaciones, el pats import6 un total de 147 900 toneladas por un valor superior a 108 U8$27 millones. A pesar de sus déficits productivos, igualmente se exportaron 34.800 toneladas, las cuales aportaron un ingreso superior a US$3.500.000. Esta situaci6n permite suponer que las exportaciones realizadas se efectuaron gracias a la politica general de existencias trazada en el pals.El resultado neto de las operac~one8 de Comercio Exterior realizadas fué desfavorable a la balanza corriente. Ver cuadros 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 Y 12.Area sembrada: Ver cuadro 1.El irea dedicada al cultivo se proyect6 en base a la ecusci6n: En relación con otros ¡¡abes, el r 2 it',,,sultante fué relativamente bajo¡ sin embargo, fué el r 2 mAs alte que se obtuvo, una vez aplicadas varias funcione!!.Medidas que influye~ eTh la producción y en la comercialización del arro~ Objetivos ,:le la poUtica y metas d~ producdór.!Los r\"cursos egr1coll.t& ne Chile ,,0 !Ion ab'Undantes y por tal razón, resulta mis eco~lco int~nsificar l~ pr~ucción incrementando 108 rendimientos de las tierras &c t\\lal&mt<E: cu1 tivadal'.s, que tratar de aumentar su extensi6n.El gotierno tie:::c® vivo :h:terés ®n fomentar la producción agrf.cola mEdiante la fil.jaci6n de pr\"cios remu~er~d,:-sres para el productor; este objetivo estA relacionado con el ¿eseo del gobierno de aminorar el ritmo del alza en 108 precios de los artic-:.Ilos de consumo, especialmente los de productos alimenticios.En relaciÓn COL los precios del arroz. el gobierno se limita a fijar un precio (ÍiC,ico sobre vag6n de ferrocarril, de afio en afto, para la totalidad del pds.AYudas a la producción de arroz Par!)) cor,tribu1r al fom$l~.to de la producción de arroz y en g~m¡;ral de los cu1ti'J\"oe agr1cclaa. el goct.\",rr,o subSidia ha~ ta en U::l 507. el cos to d\", los abonos distribuidos a 10$ agric\\ZltorEosIgual~~~te, existe un régimen especial de ~~enc10n de dete~inad08 gravimenes aduaneros, para la adquisición de ciertoe tipos d\" mtlquir.aria agrlcola.En Chile, \"La Empresó! de C=ercio Agrlcola -ECA\". interviene directamente en la ccmerc:l.alhaci6n del arroz. :::.a EeA se encuentra bajo la dirección del Ministerio de Eco~omla, Fomento y Réconstrucción Nacional, quien establece las normas generales. Existen, igualmente, cooperativas agrícolas de producción y comercialización y asociaciones profesionales de cultivadores de arroz y otros cereales en las distintas partes del pais.La ECA dispone de varios centros de compra y almacenes distribuidos en diferentes partes del pala. Tiene, sdem&s, varios silos y existen planes para constrúir varios m&s.Politica general de comercio exterior Las exportaciones, las importaciones,y dem~s operaciones del comercio internacional est&n a cargo del comité ejecutivo del Banco Central.De acuerdo al decreto No. 1272, pueden exportarae sin restricci6n, todos los productos o mercane1as, salvo aquellos casos de prohibición general o de imposición de cupos de diferencia determinada, por acuerdo del Ministerio de Economia, Fomento y Reconstrucci6n. El presidente de la República, tiene la facultad de suspender tedas las restricciones impuestas a la exportaci6n y fijar cupos minimcs de cinco saos de vigencia como m&ximc, para ciertos tipos de productos agr1co1as de primera necesidad.Esa facultad proviene de la ley de Reforma Agraria No. 15,020.El Ministerio de Economia, Fomento y Reconstrucción, debe fijar por decreto, en la primera quincena de diciembre y en la segunda quincena de abril de cada afta, la lista de los productos agricolas a los cuales ha de aplicárseles la prohlb1ci6n total o las restricciones de exportaci6n, en este 6ltimo caso debe de dar a conocer cuales son los cupos autorizados.El Ministerio de Agricultura, en la segunda quincena de noviembre o en la primera de abril, debe comunicar al Ministerio de Econom1a cuAles son los periodos de exportaci6n autorizados, En el mes de noviembre del ano inmediatamente anterior, se fijan los cupos definitivos de caea afta. Una vez publicados, el Ministerio de Economia, a propuesta del de Agricultura, puede levantar en todo o en parte les prohibiciones de exportaci6n y aumentar los cupos fij&doe para cualquier producto.Las exportaciones s610 se autorizan cuando re6nen las condiciones de cantidad y calidad estatlec1das por las autoridades competentes. El Banco Central y el Ministerio de Agricultura, son 108 encargados de hacer las inspecciones necesarias.Todas las exportacionES de productos bésicos estAn exentas de derechos arancelarios y de cargas tributarias con excepci6n del impuesto sobre la renta y la Contrlbu~i6n Rústics. El valor del impuesto sobre el precio de las mercand.as eltportedas, oscila entre 1 y 5% del valor totd de los Clima: Variedad de climas.Gran productor de bananos, cacao, algodón, arroz, batatas, café, cebada, maiz, frijoles, guisantes, habas, trigo, lentejas, cafta de azúcar.Criador de bovinos, ovejas, cerdos, caballos, cabras, mulas y asnos.La avicultura y la pesca, en menor proporción.Produce oro, 'plata, petróleo, sal, gas natural, cobre, azufre, zinc, carb6n, hierro, plomo, caol1n, lignito y yeso.Productor de cemento, azúcar, harina de trigo, productos de petróleo, neumAticos, pescado en conserva, cigarros, cigarrillos, tejidos de algodón, hilados y tejidos de lana y otros.El pala exporta principalmente bananos, café, cacao y arroz. Las principales importaciones son de mAquinas y vehlculos, articulos manufacturados, productos qu1micos, productos alimenticios..., 62 ...Un promedio .am¡a! de lú8. Medidas que influyen en la produccibn y en la comercialización del arroz Objetivos de la polltica y metas de producción Aumentar la producción con el propósito de incrementar los saldos exportables, es el objetivo fundamental de la polltica arrocera ecuatoriana.Los precios al productor se fijan en base a la calidad del grano. El estado por medio del Ministerio de Agricultura fija tablas de precios que garantizan el producto a un precio remunerativo, al cual se obligan los industriales compradores.La comercialización del arroz y en general de los granos, se realiza a través de la organización -EDIALGE -Edificaciones y Almacenes Generales, financiada por agricultores e industriales molineros; esta organización cuenta con varias instalaciones de silos en el pala.El aumento logrado en la superficie dedicada al cultivo superior a un 200%, unido con el aumento obtenido en los rendimientos, lograron aumentar la producci6n total en un 600% desde 1959 a 1968. Ver cuadros 1, 2 Y 3.Durante el periodo se dedicó un promedio anual de lS.800 hectireas al cultivo del arroz, La producción promedio anual fué de 37.700 toneladas, las cuales representan el 0.3% y 0.4% del total de América Latina, respectivamente. El resultado final obtenido en las variables anteriores es compatible con las politicas arroceras generales trazadas en el pals.Al inter-relacionar estas variables con la producción per capite, el consumo per capita, las importaciones y las exportaciones, observamos que durante los primeros cir~o aftos, la producci6n nacional no fué suficiente para satisf4Cer la demanda interna.El pals importó durante ese perlodo, 16.300 tor~ladas de arroz. las cuales, en \"su mayor parte\", se inyectaron ;en el mercado interno.En los cinco aftas siguientes, la producci6n nacional fué suficiente para auto~abastecer el pals, que a su vez logró disminuir sus importaciones en un 26' e incrementar sus exportaciones en 50.000 toneladas. El ingreso obtenido por exportaciones de arroz fué superior a los 9 millones de dólares, m1entra~ que sus importaciones no alcanzaron a los S millones. Ver cuadros Medidas gue influyen en la producci6n y en la comercializaci6n del arroz Obletivos de la poli tic a y metas de producci6nLa polltica arrocera practicada en la.Rep6bl1ca de El Salvador, se basa fundamentalmente en el plan quinquenal de desarrollo agrario (1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969). Este plan estA basado en dos necesidades bAsicas de cartcter general.1. Disminuir el paro rural.2. Obtener la máxima productividad en el trabajo agrlcola.Los objetivos generales del plan de desarrollo son los siguientes:1. Aumentar la producci6n de alimentos bAsicos para destinar a la adquisici6n de bienes de capital, las divisas actualmente empleadas en la importación de esos productos.2. Fomentar la producción agrlcola. con el propósito de lograr excedentes exportables que permitan costear las importaciones de bienes de capital.3. Elevar el estado de nutrición de la poblaci6n con el objeto de mantener la aptitud para el trabajo, aumentar la productividad del trabajador y proteger la salud.4. Brindar ayuda técnica y financiera a los productores del sector agrlcola, para lograr mejorar la calidad de los productos.Politica de precios a la producción El gobierno regula la oferta del arroz mediante la fijación de precios estables y equitativos para productores y consumidores,La ay~da que reciben los productores se refiere principalmente a la ayuda financiera. La banca privada, la Administraci6n de Bienestar Campe-~ino, (entidad oficial), y la Federación de Cajas de Crtdito, (entidad para estatal), son las entidades a las cuales acuden 108 agricultores para financiar sus cosechas.El gobierno intervie-we en la comercialización de los alimentos bAsicos, a través del Instituto Regulador de Abastecimiento.Igualmente, existen varias cooperativas agr1colas bajo la supervisi6n de la sección de promoción de cooperativas y la divisi6n general de Econom1aAgropecuaria del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganader1a que tambien intervienen en la comercialización.Politica oficial de existencias Cuando e.cacea la oferta, el Instituto Nacional de Abastecimiento conserva en su poder existencias suficientes para satisfacer la demanda interna.La polltica general de comercio exterior practicada por la Rep6blica En general, durante el periodo, la producción nacional fué suficiente para satisfacer la demanda interna; s610 en 1966 y 1967, se presentaron déficits en la oferta, coincidiendo igualmente, en los aftas en los cuales las importaciones alcanzaron sus máximos.En total se importaron 11.600 toneladas, las cuales agregadas a la producción nacional, subsanaron los déficits presentados y a su vez permitieron la acumulaci\\!ln de \"stocks exportables\" que aportaron un total de U5$1.020.000 al pats. Ver cuadros 6, 7, 8, 9, ll.y 12.En materia de comercio e~terior, a pesar de que las politicas del pals estAn orientadas a contribuir a la estabilidad econ6mica del mismo, el efecto neto en la balanza corriente fué desfavorable.Area sembrada: Ver cuadro l.El Area dedicada al cultivo se proyect6 en base a\"1a ecuaci6n: y • 9.5336 + 0.2848 X 6. Establecer lin sistema eficaz de diversificación de cultivos.7. Contribuir a la esta;ilidad económica del pals.Polltica de precios a la producción En el pais, se establecen precios de sustentación con el objeto de favorecer a los agricultores y a los consumidores.El Instituto Nacional de Fomento de la Producción, INFOP. contribuye a la estabilización del mercado arrocero, mediante sus instalaciones de almacenamiento y gracias a la ayuda financiera que presta a la industria elaboradora para las compras de arroz a precio fijo,Por conducto del Ministerio de Agricultura, el gobierno estA desarrollando Un programa de intensificación del cultivo de cereales bAsicos.En ejecución de este programa este gobierno estA prestando ayuda para: l. Adquisición y adaptabilidad de variedades selectas de mayor rendimiento.2. Asistencia técnica y financiera.3. Fomento de investigaciones agroeconómicas.4. Las importaciones de simientes, plantas y Arboles de calidad certificada que no se produzcan en el pals, estAn exentos del pago de arancelarios de imPortaciones.El gobierno lleva a cabo campaftas de nutrición, sanidad y educación, las cuales sirven de asistencia a los consumidores y a lá.:vee. son medidas indirectas que influyen en el consumo. La po11tica de estabilización de precios, también rinde efectos finales sobre el consumo del arroz. El desarrollo industrial del pats, ha intensificado la demanda de derivados de arroz, como por ejemplo, la cerveza de arroz.Medidas gue influyen en el comercio exterior del arroz Las 9011ticas de comercio exterior, practicadas por Guatemala, se basan en el Tratado de Integraci~n Econ6mica Centroamericana. Se ha procurado disminuir las importaciones de cereales y alimentos bAsicos que pueden producirse en el pais, mediante el establecimiento de ciertas res• tricciones.Las importaciones de simiente de arroz no estA sometidas a restricciones de ning6n tipo. -82 -El pals es esencialmente agrlcola, gran productor de arroz, cocos, Ganader1a Criador de bovinos. En menor escala la pesca.Gran productor mundial de bauxita. Explota ademAs magneso, oro, diamantes; posee yacimientos aprovechables de cobre y molibdeno.Las principales industrias son: industria azucarera, ron, melaza, margarina, cerveza, productos farmacéuticos y alimenticios, materiales de construcción y productos de aluminio.Las principales exportaciones son de azúcar, bauxita, arroz, ron, diamantes y maderas. Los paises compradores y vendedores principales son: Reino Unido, CanadA y Estados Unidos.Durante el periodo ¡:malizado, se dedicó en Guyana, un promedio anual de 106.200 hec tireas .al cul Uvo del arroz ~ la producción promedia anual obtenida fu' de 224.400 toneladas.Respectiv&nante, equivaler. al 2,5% y 2'1:. del total de América Latina.Tanto la 8~perficiG dedicada al cultivo como la producción, estuvieron sujetas a considerable. s variaciones anuales; sin embargo, aUlIlentaron en un te% y 19%, respectiílamer,te, a pesar de la tendencia deScendente registrada e~ los rendimientos; en general éstos disminuyeron durante el periodo, en un 26%; esta disminuci6\". f\"é compensada con creces por el incremento en el are a cultivada. Ver cuadros 1, 2 Y 3.Observando el comportamient.o general de la producción nacional y el cCi\"SlJlOO ir,terno, vemos que lista \"fué más que suficiente\" para a\\lto-abastecer le. poblaci6n, Guys::I1t jUrito con Surinam y Ps.namt., constituyen los paises en los cuales se consume mAs erroz. Este se ha convertido en el producto bAsico en la eC.:lr.om1a dd 'pah y por esta razón Guya.\"1a es \"netamente exportador\", El total de las exportaciones fué ligeramente inferior al registro obtenido &!t el Brazil.D~rante el periodo obtuvo un ingreso superior a los U8$123 millones ?zovenientes de la exportaci6~ de 844,300 toneladas de arroz. Ver cuadros 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 Y 12. Medidas gue influyen en la producci6n y en la comercialización del arroz Objetivos de la politica y metas de producci6nEl objetivo fundamental de la politica arrocera es aumentar la producción con el propósito de incrementar los excedentes exportables.La Junta de Comercializa~ión con el visto bueno del gobernador y del Consejo de Ministros establece unos precios minimos para el arroz ciscara y las distintas calidades de arroz elaborado.La Junta de Comercialización es la ünica entidad encargada de efectuar las compras y las exportaciones de arroz. Los precios oficiales de compra de las distinta$ calidades de arroz elaborado se calculan tomando como base los precios del mercado libre en las Indias Occidentales y otros lugares.El gobierno ha establecido algunos incentivos con el objeto de incrementar la producción del arroz, éstos son: l. A través del servicio de extensi6n del Ministerio de Agricultura, Montes y Suelos, se da asesor!a técnica a los agricultores. Las simientes de arroz de variedades seleccionadas son vendidas a los agricultores previo desarrollo de campanas de divulgaci6n para extender el cultivo de variedades nuevas.2. Bajo la direcci6n del Ministerio de Agricultura, la Junta de ~ercia1ización a partir de 1962, subvenciona las actividades emprendidas para combatir las plagas y las enfermedades de los arrozales.3. El gobierno patrocina las actividades de la Asociación de Productores de Arroz, entidad constituida para el fomento de la industria arrocera. La Asociación tiene representantes en todas las zonas productoras.4. El Instituto Oficial de Crédito, concede préstambs a los agricultores para la adquisici6n de tractores y cosechadoras.5. Se aplica una reducción de los derechos arancelarios que gravan las importaciones de maquinaria agr1cola. piezas de repuesto, abonos y otros.6. La equidad de los contratos de arrendamiento concertados entre propietarios y'cultivadores de arroz, estAn garantizados mediante la Ley de Arrendamientos Rústicos.El gobierno interviene en los precios de venta al por menor. El racionamiento del arroz no se considera necesario.En general, las exportaciones de arroz se encuentran exentas de gravlmenes.El objetivo principal de la polltica de comercio exterior es el abastecimiento total de los mercados arroceros de las Indias Occidentales.Las importaciones estAn prohibidas, si en un momento fuese necesario hacerlas, la Junta de Comercialización del Arroz seria la entidad regular.En el decenio, 1959-1968, se dedic6 un promedio anual de 145.500 hectAreas al cultivo del arroz. las cuales equivalen al 2.84 del total de América Latina.El Area sembrada, present6 algunas variaciones durante el periodo, pero en general, sufrió un incremento del 311. equivalente a 40.000 hec-tAreas.Igualmente, 108 rendimientos se incrementaron, aproximadamente, en un 284.El efecto final producido por estas variables, fué favorable a la producci6n ya que ésta logró incrementarse en un 744. Ver cuadros 1,Al observar el comportamiento de la producci6n per capita, el consumo per capita, las importaciones y las exportaciones, vemos que en general. la producci6n nacional fué suficiente para auto-abastecer el pais con excepción de algunos atlas en los cuales se presentaron \"brechas\" entre la demanda y la oferta.Las existencias que tenia el paiB,,,agregadas a las importaciones, cubrieron los déficits presentados y a su vez, permitieron la exportaci6n total de 123.600 toneladas por un valor superior a US$14.000.000.En el pais, se import6 un total de 53.900 toneladas, las cuales aportaron un ingreso superior a US$6.600.000. Ver cuadros 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 Y 12.Los resultados de las politicas arroceras del pais, tendientes a fomentar la producción para incrementar las exportaciones, tuvieron su efecto positivo en la bal~~za corriente.La ayuda prestada por el gobierno para estimular la producción na~ cional es de tipo técnico y financiero. La asistencia técnica se ha pres~ tado directamente a través de servicios de extensi6n agricola que dan asesoramiento gratuito a los agricultores para ayudarles a aplicar las técnicas de cultivo recomendadas, e indirectamente por medio de los programas de investigación desarrollados en el Instituto Nacional de Investigacionss Agrlcolas, con el objeto de obtener nuevas variedades o mejorar las existentes.La ayuda financiera estA relacionada con las facilidades crediticias que ofrecen el Banco Nacional de Crédito Ejidal, el Banco Nacional de Crédito Agrlcola y el Banco Nacional Agropecuario.Mientras que el mercado del arroz se basa en el libre juego de la oferta y la demanda, la industria de elaboraci6n estA protegida por el estado.Con el objeto de evitar especulaciones, la Compaftla Nacional compra una parte determinada de la producción total todos 108 aftoso Al final d3 cada campana vende su arroz en tiendas del estado; en caso de excedentes vende sus reservas en el mercado exterior.Pera fomentar el consumo del arroz por parte de las familias de bajos ingresos, la Compaftla Nacional vende arrot a través de las propias tiendas estatales o de cooperativas, a precios menores que los vigentes en el mercado.Hedidas gue influyen en la producci6n y en la comercialización del a~oz Objetivos de la politica y metas de producci6nFomentar la producci6n para auto-abastecer el pals y aumentar los saldos exportables son los objetivos principales de la politica arrocera.El gobierno'motiva a los cultivadores a fomentar su producci6n de arroz, a través del Instituto Nacional de Comercio Exterior e Interior -!NeEI. Este Instituto, antes de cada ciclo agrlcola, da a conocer los precios mlnimos de compra que regirAn durante el mismo. El método para aplicar los sistemas de precios al productor, se basa en estudios realizados para llegar a determinar un costo promedio de producci6n para cada cultivo, asegurando a la vez un margen de utilidad al productor. La efectividad del programa se asegura estableciendo agencias compradoras en las principales zonas de producci6n del pa1s.El estado garantiza el mercadeo de los granos bAsicos de consumo, incluyendo el arroz, a través del INCII. Su funci6n principal es: \"Procurar la conservación de los granos y otros productos agrlcolas de primera necesidad para el consumo popular, mediante la aplicaci6n de modernos sistemas de limpieza, desecaci6n, fumigaci6n y almacenamiento\".La polltica estatal en materia de existencias tiene como objetivo el almacenamiento de granos en ~antidades suficientes que garanticen el Ayudas a la producci6n de arroz Se está ampliando la investigaciÓn sobre nuevas y mejores variedades de mls altos rendimientos y la producciÓn de semillas certificadas especialmente de las variedades que tengan mayor demanda.Para ayudar a los productores, los insumas agricolas utilizados en la producciÓn están exentos del pago de impuestos; además se ha implantado una amplia politica de crédito agricola.No eXisten incentivos fiscales ni de ningún otro tipo para promover la exportacl6n del arroz.La importacl6n se regula de acuerdo con la oferta de la producciÓn local y se somete al proceso de cuotas.De acuerdo a 108 resultados de la proyecci6n. los rendimientos aumentadan, sproximldamente, en un 7%.Medidas que influyen en la producci6n y en la comercializaci6n del arroz Obletivos de la polleica y metas de producci6nEl Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia, de confo~idad con los objetivos de la politica econ6mica nacional, ha emprendido un programa cuyos objetivos generales se basan en:1. Diversificación de 108 cultivos.2. Mejorar la retribución de los trabajadores del campo.Dentro de esta diversificación de cultivos, se le ha dado especial importancia al cultivo del arroz. Respecto a este cultivo, los objetivos generales son:1. Abastecer el consumo interno con la producción local.2. Reducir los costos de 108 factores de producci6n con el objeto de llegar a tener un nivel de precios \"razonable\" que le pe~ta a la República del Paraguay competir satisfactoriamente en los mercados internacionales.El precio del arroz varia segBn las calidades. Los precios del arroz son el resultado del libre juego de la oferta y la demanda, no existe ningBn sistema oficial de protección a los precios del arroz.La ayuda suministrada a los productores de arroz, se resume a prestar asistencia técnica y ayuda financiera; ésta última se encuentra a cargo de los bancos del pala y es de cuantla limitada. En general, los créditos s610 cubren un 50~ del total de los costos de producci6n.En la comercializaci6n del arroz, no intervienen las empresas pri- Ayudas a la producci6n de arroz A partir de 1963, el gobierno ha emprendido diversos planes con el objeto de incrementar el cultivo del arroz. Uno de los planes mas importantes emprendidos es el de mecanizaci6n de la agricultura. En virtud de ese plan, los agricultores pueden comprar a crédito, equipo agricola, libre de impuestos a través del Banco Agricola de la Rep6blica.Los costos relacionados con compra de plaguicidas y sostenimiento de equipos de pulverizaci6n son sufragados en su mayor parte por el gobierno.Aunque no existe ningún mercado organizado, el Banco Agricola de la Rep6bUca es el principal comprador de arroz. El Banco establece diferentes precios de compra para el arroz cAscara y el arroz elaborado seg6n la calidad, con el objeto de garantizar unos precios minimos a los cultivadore~ de arroz; posteriormente, estas cosechas son vendidas a los comerciantes,No existe ninguna politica de existencias con objetivos determinados, tanto por lo que respecta al volumen de las mismas como a la capacidad de almacenamiento.No existen subvenciones directas ni programas de asistencia. Los precios m4ximos al consumidor son fijos. No hay racionamiento.Medidas que influyen en la producci6n y en la comerciallzaci6n del arroz Obletivos de la polltica y metas de producci6n El objetivo principal del gobierno de Surinam, es incrementar la pro-ducci6n de arroz, mediante incrementos en la superficie dedicada al cultivo y en los rendimientos. El gobierno ha llegado al convencimiento de la necesidad de incrementar la producci6n arrocera en base a las siguientes razones: l. Existe la posibilidad de incrementar los rendimientos de la pro-ducc16n de arroz cAscara a 3.5 toneladas por hectArea y cosecha, y a 4 toneladas como m1nimo en las fincas de mayores dimensiones, gracial al Servicio Oficial de Extensi6n Agrlcola, que se ha preocupado por la difusi6n de m6todos modernos de cultivo.2. La mayorla de los pequeftos agricultores de Surinam tiene una acentuada preferencia por el cultivo del arroz.3. El consumo per cApita de arroz es el mAs alto de los 21 palses estudiados; esta circunstancia, permite conocer la importancia del arroz en la alimentaci6n de la poblaci6n local. El gobierno ha establecido la polltica de protecci6n de precios en origen, con el objeto de proteger los intereses de 108 cultivadores, ssegurar el abastecimiento del mercado interno y fomentar las exportaciones, Para el logro de estos objetivos se han adoptado las siguientes medidas: l. Adquisición del arroz ciacara por el gobierno a precios garantizados que se fijan de afta en afta, para las distintas calidades.2. En los casos necesarios, el gobierne interviene en el comercio del arroz ctscara y arroz elaborado.3. Organizacicn de un servicio eficaz de exportaci6n de arroz.Por acuerdo entre los Ministerios de Agricultura, Gansderla y Pesca, Asuntos Económicos y Hacienda, el gobierno fija precios garantizados para cada c~afta arrocera.Por medio dd Serw:l.cio Oficial de Extensi6n Agrlcola, el Ministerio de Agricultura. Ganad&ria y Pesca, fomenta la mejora de 108 métodos de cultivo y la introducci6n de ~ariedades selectas mediante la distribuci6n a los agricultores de simientes seleccionadas a precios favorables.La Cooperativa de Exportadores de Arroz de Surinam. es la única entidad especializada en la exportaci6n de arroz.El gobierno ha establecido instalacion&$ de almacenamiento con el objeto de intervenir en caso necesario, en el comercio interior de arroz cAscara y arroz elaborado para garantizar a los cultivadores posibilidades normales de venta y para proteger el consumo interno de la pob1aci6n.Medidas gue influyen en el consumo de arroz En general, no se han adoptado medidas para fomentar el consumo del arroz. ya que los habitantes de Surinam conceden gran importancia al consumo del arroz para su alimentación.En el Decreto de Ordenación Arrocera de 1960, se encuentra establecida la polltica general que sigue el pals en relaci6n con el comercio exterior del arroz. Las exportaciones e imPortaciones de arroz cAscara, arroz elaborado y derivados de arroz, s610 pueden hacerse con licencia del Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos.Como se anot6 antetiormente, la Cooperativa de Exportadores de Arroz de Surinam, es la entidad encargada de las exportaciones.Con carActer general, las exportaciones de arroz cAscara, arroz elaborado y derivados del arroz, estAn prohibidas cuando esos productos no reúnen las condiciones de calidad establecidas para el arroz blanco, el arroz sancochado, el arroz descascarillado y el arroz quebrado. El ~n1s terio de Agricultura, Ganaderla y Pesca, es la entidad encargada de realizar las inspecciones necesarias.A petición de un exportador y previo informe favorable del Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos, la Dirección de Agricultura, Ganaderla y Pesca puede autorizar las exportaciones de arroz en condiciones de envasado y calidades distintas de las fijadas con carlcter general. Finalmente, para autorizar la exportaci6n. el comprador extranjero debe aceptar por escrito las condi-ciones de envasado y calidad que a juicio del Ministerio de Agricultura no perjudiquen el comercio arrocero de Surinam.Las importaciones y las exportaciones de arroz no estA sujetas al pago de gravlmenes arancelarios; los únicos recargos que existen son el llamado \"Derecho I!stadf.stico\" y el \"Derecho de. Licencia\" que ascienden a un 2~ del valor total. -135 -URUGUAY La mayor parte de la poblaci6n, se encuentra concentrada en las ciudades.Gran productor de linaza; produce ademAs, avena, cebada, mah, maDi, arroz, trigo, papas, remolacha y frutas.Es uno de los renglones mAs importantes, ya que aproximAdamente un 7O'L de la poblaci6n se dedica a la ganaderla. Es criador de bovinos, ovejas, cerdos, cabras, caballos, mulas y asnos; también avicultura y pesca.Productor de cuarzo, mlrmol, manganeso y otros minerales.Productor de az6car, carne, lana, vinos, derivados del petr61eo, hilados de ray6n y acetato, vidrio, porcelanas y pescado en conserva. Politice dé precios a le producción El p,aia emplea el sistema de establecer precios de sostenimiento por cuanto a través de ellos otorga confianza a los productores en la comercia-l1zación de sus cosechas.Ayudas a la producci6n de arroz El crédito constituye la herramienta mAs importante para el logro de las metas de producción establecidas. El gobierno uruguayo, a pesar de ser consciente de esta necesidad, se ha visto obligado a restringir el crédito con el objeto de controlar el proceso inflacionario. Dada la situación anterior, existen una serie de condiciones blsicas que todo prestatario debe cumplir antes de otorgArsele el préstamo. Autoridades del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganader1a, del Banco Central y del Banco de la Rep6blica, forman el Comité de Crédito Agrlcola.El pals no tiene una politica de comercialización propiamente establecida. En el Plan Decenal de Desarrollo se acordó respecto a este tópico, adoptar las siguientes medidas fundamentales:1, Mejoramiento de 108 medios de comunicación.2. El uso mls eficiente del actual parque de transporte y su adecuación cualitativa, 3. La organización de un mercado de cereales, con el objeto de darle mayor regularidad y agilidad a su comercialización, 4. Establecimiento de un servicio adecuado de noticias de mercados a los productores. Gran productor de bananos y mandioca; produce ademls, algod6n. cacao, arroz, caf~, frijoles, w~lz, tabaco, c1tricos y legumbres.Criador de bovinos, ovejas, cerdos, cabras, caballos, mulas y asnos.~ avicultura y la pesca en menor escala.Gran productor de petr6leo, hierro, ,gas natural, oro, sal, carb6n, aluminio, diamantes', fosfato, azufre, cal y otros.Industria.Uno de los paises industrializados de Sur América. Posee industrias de ensamble de automotores, derivados del petr61eo, cemento, derivados de la leche, abonos, tejidos, productos eléctricos, productos qu1micos y farmacéuticos, siderurgia, materiales de construcci6n y otras mis.Exporta principalmente petr6leo y sus derivados, hierro, oro, diamantes, productos de acero, pescado enlatado y productos agropecuarios.Las principales importaciones son de maquinaria y equipo de transporte, mita 6nicamente al caso del arroz. Los precios mlnimos. varlan segBn las zonas productoras y cubren en general los costos de producci6n. de transporte y otros gastos y a su vez permiten un margen de beneficio suficiente a los agricultores.Los precios mlnimos aplicables a cada producto, son establecidos por el Comit6 Nacional de Mercadeo Agropecuario, CONAMAG, este comit6 se reune dos veces al afta, tres meses antes del comienzo de las faenas de recolecci6n.Los precios se dan a conocer a trav6s de la prensa nacional.El gobierno adquiere el arroz a trav6s del Banco Agrlcola y Pecuario.BAP. el cual paga el arroz a los productores con arreglo a un sistema de prAstamos contractuales con garantla de la cosecha. No existen condiciones especiales para la entrega ya que la clasificaci6n por calidades se hace despu6s del secado. El volumen de las compras efectuadas por el Banco es de 80~ aproximadamente de la producci6n nacional.El Banco Agrlcola y Pecuario se encarga de vender el producto a las empresas de elaboraci6n o a la Asociaci6n Nacional de Industriales de Arroz.ASOMIDA. El producto de la venta, se abona a los productores previa deduc-ci6n de los gastos de almacenamiento. La producci6n nacional que no ha sido vendida al BAP. se comercializa por cauces privados.El gobierno posee varios sllos y almacenes de cereales con el objeto de mantener reservas suficientes para atender en cualquier momento las necesidades del consumo.Con el objeto de proteger los intereses de los consumidores y evitar el encarecimiento de la vida, el gobierno establece precios mlxLmos de venta al p6blico.Las importaciones no pueden efectuarse sin previa licencia del Ministerio de Fomento. Estén gravadas con un derecho arancelario de US$O.02 por kilogramo de arroz cAscara y US$O.05 por kilogramo de arroz descascarillado •• j j j j j j j j j j j j j","tokenCount":"8020"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2205529883.json b/data/part_1/2205529883.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a355f3e04f510dbd73684a5ef1360c712af620c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2205529883.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"09b2ce7d22c793c75a87b9965b2c352b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e308d846-beb7-4a73-86e5-82a72d409ba7/retrieve","id":"1836038323"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d6653f8e-1ea5-443b-8698-f0d2eb7919e9","pagecount":"4","content":"This study develops an index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) product for managing key livestock asset risks of pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid lands of northern Kenya, where insurance markets are effectively absent and uninsured risk exposure is a main cause of persistent poverty. It uses a combination of field experiments and surveys conducted in summer 2008, and pre-existing household-level panel data sets in: (1) designing a market-viable contract; (2) conducting ex-ante householdlevel welfare analysis; and (3) eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for the product among the targeted population. IBLI offers compensation based on a predicted location aggregate livestock mortality index constructed from a strong statistical relationship between household herd mortality rates and high quality, objectively verifiable, remotely-sensed measures of vegetative cover on rangelands that are not manipulable by insured parties. It thus has potential to resolve the transaction costs and asymmetric information problems that cripple traditional insurance. The presence of a threshold-based poverty trap in East African pastoralism leads to nonlinear IBLI valuation, as found both in the simulation-based welfare analysis and in WTP estimates elicited through field surveys and experiments. This implies that IBLI could be both a commercially viable insurance product for better-off pastoralists, as well as a pro-poor instrument to use as a safety net for pastoralists vulnerable to losing their herds and collapsing into chronic poverty. The  In Kenya's arid and semi arid lands (ASALs), catastrophic livestock loss, especially induced from drought, is the most pervasive hazard encountered by households on a widespread level. This is especially true for northern Kenya, where more than 3 million pastoralist households are regularly hit by increasingly severe droughts. In the past 100 years, northern Kenya recorded 28 major droughts, four of which occurred in the last 10 years. For livelihoods that rely solely or partly on livestock, the risk -and especially the realization -of catastrophic livestock mortality losses has devastating effects, driving them into extreme poverty and making it difficult for them to escape once they fall destitute.The economic and social returns to an effective program that insures the pastoral and agro-pastoral population against catastrophic livestock losses can be substantial. First, because it provides indemnity payments after a shock, livestock insurance should help stem the collapse of vulnerable-but-presently-non-poor households into the ranks of the poor following a drought due to irreversible losses from which they do not recover. Second, insuring assets against catastrophic loss lessens the high risk of investment in such environments. This should improve incentives for households to build their asset base and climb out of poverty. Third, private creditors presently unwilling to lend for such ventures due to the covariate risk associated with big shocks like drought might become willing to lend if the assets that secure their loans could be insured. Insurance can thereby \"crowd-in\" much-needed credit for enterprises in the region without leaving poor ASAL residents excessively vulnerable to losing assets when nature fails them.Formal insurance, especially against covariate livestock loss, is rarely available for small-scale pastoral households in high risk, infrastructure-deficient areas due to problems of asymmetric information, transaction costs and covariate risk. Index based livestock insurance (IBLI) offers a means to fill in this missing market. In contrast to traditional insurance, which makes indemnity payments based on the actual loss of the insured, IBLI pays out based on an objectively and transparently measured index (e.g., rainfall, predicted livestock loss based on objectively measured vegetative condition, etc.) that is strongly associated with insurable loss but cannot be influenced by both contract parties.By construction, IBLI thus avoids the twin asymmetric information problems of adverse selection and moral hazard as no contract party can influence the probability of insurance payment. Transaction costs of monitoring and verification of the insurance contracts can also be substantially reduced, as now insurance companies and insured clients need only monitor the index to know when a claim is due and indemnity payments must be made. They do not need to confirm the veracity and cause of individual losses. Finally, properly indexing locally covariate risk opens up opportunities for risk transfer into a broader risk pool via international capital markets. These advantages, however, come at a cost of spatial or intertemporal \"basis risk\", which results from the necessarily imperfect correlation between the index and any individual's loss experience.Given these tradeoffs and the novelty of the IBLI conceptespecially among a previously-uninsured population -the key challenges in developing IBLI in northern Kenya were:(1) identifying high quality data that could serve as an objectively measured indicator -it has to be available costeffectively in near-real-time and not manipulable by contract parties;(2) statistically establishing a an optimal insurance index based on a strong relationship between household-level livestock loss and the objectively measured indicator; (3) crafting contract terms that are easy to understand and that match the risk management needs of the targeted clientele; and (4) building informed demand for the contract among a target clientele largely unfamiliar with insurance.To Designing the IBLI contract. An empirical forecasting relationship between seasonal area-average livestock mortality and vegetation index was estimated using 10 years of ALRMP and NDVI data. The NDVI series were standardized to control for heterogeneity of non-climate factors across locations. Due to the cumulative nature of drought-induced livestock loss, cumulative vegetation variables were constructed as the main explanatory variables.The seasonal forecasting relationships were estimated using a regime switching model, where the cumulative vegetation outcome observed at the end of the season determines the regime (either good-vegetation year or bad-year regime) for which the empirical relationship between NDVI and livestock mortality was established. This approach captures how livestock mortality response to vegetation conditions differed between good and bad rainfall years.Ultimately, two spatially distinct clusters were identified, one for the Chalbi (a very arid zone of camel and smallstockbased pastoralism) and the other for Laisamis (a semi-arid zone with cattle and smallstock-based pastoralism). The predictive relationships performed very well out-of-sample (when tested against the PARIMA data), predicting household-specific mortality loss with 87% probability of forecasting errors within 10% of the true value, and correctly triggering insurance payout 75-88% of the time.A location-specific predicted seasonal livestock mortality index can then be constructed based on historical observations of NDVI data and the regime switching model estimates. Seasonal IBLI contracts were developed for each location using these predicted livestock mortality indices to trigger insurance payments. Pastoralists pay the premium before the season starts and receive an indemnity payment at the end of the season if the predicted morality index exceeds the pre-specified strike level. Both the premium and the indemnity are proportional to the total value of livestock insured, which the pastoralist chooses. The actuarially fair seasonal premium rates vary across locations due to heterogeneity in vegetation condition, from 2.2-4.9% of total insured livestock value for a 10% strike contract, down to 0.5-1.5% for a 20% strike contract. Risk exposure analysis of the insurance underwriter suggested that a high degree of spatial and temporal aggregate risk diversification could be achieved with IBLI.Simulated welfare analysis of IBLI contract. We then conducted an ex ante evaluation of the effectiveness of IBLI in northern Kenya, where prior empirical research has found strong evidence of threshold-based poverty traps characterized by at least one herd threshold of around 15 tropical livestock units (TLU) below which livestock accumulation collapses, and above which livestock grows over time to a much higher equilibrium herd size. We built a dynamic structural model of household wealth dynamics and parameterized it using rich panel data from ALRMP, PARIMA and experimental risk preference data elicited in the 2008 survey. The simulations allowed us to establish the likely welfare effects of IBLI and to investigate patterns of household-specific willingness to pay for this asset index insurance.The simulation results indicate that the welfare effects of IBLI vary greatly across households. Due to the asset threshold-based poverty trap, IBLI is most valuable to vulnerable non-poor households when it protects their herd from falling beneath the critical threshold and thus helps them avert a collapse into destitution. It provides the least welfare improvement for the poorest households, who are already beneath the herd size threshold and for whom paying for IBLI premium accelerates their decline into destitution. The largest, non-vulnerable herd owners benefit significantly from IBLI as well, although not as much as the vulnerable non-poor. The estimated welfare effects of IBLI are thus highly nonlinear in individual herd size, peaking for those at or slightly above the critical herd threshold. Initial herd size thus was found to be the key dominating determinant of IBLI performance in this setting, not basis risk, location or individual risk preferences.Since the greatest value of IBLI arises due to its provision of an effective safety net, we then explored the likelihood of commercial uptake among those who might otherwise need assistance. For the 10% strike contract that has the greatest estimated welfare effects, only those with relatively large herds would be willing to pay commercial mark-ups (above actuarially fair rates) of at least 20%, corroborating our survey evidence that WTP among vulnerable groups may not suffice to stimulate uptake of commercially viable contracts, which typically have mark-ups of 30-50% to cover insurer costs and profits. We then used simulations to show that targeted subsidization of IBLI premiums might serve quite effectively as a safety net program. Indeed, this appears more cost-effective in reducing headcount poverty measures than direct need-based transfers to the poor.Investigating demand for IBLI using field experiments. IBLI demand estimated using structural dynamic simulation models can be compared with the estimated willingness-topay (WTP) based on survey data. Pastoralists were asked to decide what proportion of their herd they would wish to insure. Then, conditional on their chosen proportion, they were asked a sequence of dichotomous WTP questions, responses to which were used to form bounds for their unobserved WTP. We then estimated WTP conditional on household-specific characteristics.Wealth, risk preferences, perceived basis risk and a herder's subjective expectation of herd loss are the key WTP determinants, conditional on understanding how IBLI works. The mean proportion of herd that respondents chose to insure was nearly 70%. Mean WTP only marked up the actuarially fair rate by an average of 15%, not enough to generate effective demand for a commercially viable contract. As in the simulation-based analysis, estimated aggregate demand appears highly price elastic. At a 30% mark up on actuarially fair rates, effective IBLI demand drops to only 16% of the sample. Those households most vulnerable to falling into a poverty trap exhibited the highest price elasticity of demand, despite their potentially higher dynamic welfare gains from the insurance.The on a new cash transfer program. These POS devices can be easily configured to accept premium payments and to register indemnity payments for certain insurance contracts. Financial sector interests are attracted by the potential economies of scope involved in introducing another range of products for devices otherwise used purely for government transfers and debit payments. It remains to be seen how large these economies of scope will prove and how replicable this model will be without the fortuitous existence of a POS network.Third, IBLI underwriters and their commercial partners must make difficult choices in balancing the administrative simplicity and marketing appeal of offering IBLI contracts priced uniformly over space and time, versus more complex pricing to guard against the possibility of spatial or intertemporal adverse selection. Little is known about these tradeoffs.These implementation challenges notwithstanding, IBLI shows considerable promise in the pastoral areas of East Africa. By addressing serious problems of covariate risk, asymmetric information and high transactions costs that have precluded the emergence of commercial insurance in these areas to date, IBLI offers a novel opportunity to use financial risk transfer mechanisms to address a key driver of persistent poverty. The basic design should be replicable in other locations where covariate risk exposure is significant and existing insurance products do not adequately meet households' insurance needs. Extended time series of remotely sensed data are available worldwide at high quality and low cost. Wherever there also exist longitudinal household-level data on an insurable interest (livestock, health status, crop yields, etc.), similar types of index insurance can be designed using the basic techniques outlined here.","tokenCount":"2011"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2207851054.json b/data/part_1/2207851054.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3e08775e2c2751894c44ed8e57236eb0c34f3583
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2207851054.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cc7da80a3a1f912f358c2aec83b4cca5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c54b3d1f-5aef-403f-a481-8fbba1f6e4e0/retrieve","id":"506876027"},"keywords":["Digestibility","Forage","Pearl millet","Silage","Sorghum"],"sieverID":"82c3cf79-e755-42d1-9e53-2859ff811edc","pagecount":"16","content":"Seven sorghum (CSH 20 MF, CSH 24 MF, GK 909, GK 917, HC 308, and five pearl millet (ICMA 00444 × IP 6202, Milkon, PAC 931, Poshan, and AVKB 19)  cultivars were compared with a forage maize (P 3546) reference using laboratory and in vivo analyses. The forages were harvested at 76 days from sowing, wilted, chopped, and ensiled in plastic drums, compacted without additives, and hermetically sealed for 94 days. When fed to growing Nellore ram lambs, cultivardependent variations for organic matter digestibility (OMD), organic matter intake (OMI), and nitrogen (N) balance were observed among the silages. The OMI of pearl millet silages was only about two thirds that of sorghum silages (mean-311 vs. 464 g/d). However, the digestibility of pearl millet was higher than sorghum silages (62.2 vs. 60.8%) although not-\\ significantly and the nitrogen balance of sorghum silage was 4.8 times that of pearl millet (3.0 vs. 0.6g/d). Of the seven sorghum forages, GK 909, GK 917, and SPSSV 30 had similar fodder quality to the forage maize. None of the pearl millet forages had fodder quality traits comparable to that of the maize forage. Except for nitrogen (N), across the silages the laboratory fodder quality investigated, neutral (NDF) and acid detergent (ADF) fiber, acid detergent lignin (ADL), dhurrin, and organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) were all unsatisfactory. None of the pearl millet forages had fodder quality traits comparable to maize or sorghum yet had generally favorable laboratory fodder quality traits but showed poor in vivo performance. Fodder quality factors seem to be at work that is not captured by routine laboratory fodder traits analyzed such as N, NDF, AF, ADL, IVOMD, and ME. Dhurrin was only recovered in significant amounts in pre-ensiled sorghum, not maize and pearl millet, but post ensiling sorghum cultivars had no dhurrin.Maize is globally one of the prime crops based on its versatile uses including for food and forage because of high dry matter yield, digestibility, and mineral composition (Blümmel et al,2013a;Vinayan et al, 2013). However, high water requirements for maize cultivation are a major constraint in semi-arid areas (Miron et al, 2007;Bean et al, 2013). The efficiency of water usage in livestock production can be increased by selecting forages for planting which have high water-use efficiency and high biomass yields, e.g., sorghum (Sorghum bicolor and hybrids) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) (Zhang et al,. 2016).However, when suffering moisture stress, sorghum forage can accumulate dhurrin, a cyanogenic glucoside (Emendack, et al, 2017) which is an anti-nutritional factor, while oxalates and nitrates can accumulate in pearl millet forages (Rahman et al, 2011;Sher et al, 2012). While there are numerous references in the literature on the feeding of stock with maize forage, only limited data are available on livestock per-formance when fed sorghum and pearl millet forages (Amer et al, 2012). Livestock productivity trials directly reflect the nutritive value of forages, while laboratory analyses provide only indirect indications until a close relationship can be established between the two sorts of measurements (Miron et al, 2007).Hence a study was conducted to assess the quality of silage made from sorghum and pearl millet forage harvested and conserved at 76 days from sowing in comparison with maize silage through both laboratory and in vivo studies, including Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS).Seven sorghum cultivars (CSH 20 MF, CSH 24 MF, GK 909, GK 917, HC 308, SPSSV30 and SSG PH 5000) and five pearl millet cultivars (AVKB 19, ICMA 00444 × IP 6202, Milkon, PAC 931 and Poshan) and a forage maize cultivar as a check (P 3546) were evaluated. These forage entries were selected based on suggestions from plant breeders at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRSAT). The sowing was performed in the 2014 post-rainy season in black soils (vertisols) at ILRI-ICRISAT, Patancheru, Hyderabad, India. The average monthly rainfall (mm), evaporation (mm), maximum temperature ( o C), minimum temperature ( o C), relative humidity (%) (at 700 and 1400 hrs) during the experiment from crop cultivation up to the in vivo trial is presented (Fig 1). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two 0.1 hectare replications for each entry. For maize spacing between rows was maintained at 75cm×10cm (spacing between plants), for sorghum and pearl millet plant density was maintained at 45cm×10cm. The basal dose of DAP (diammonium phosphate @100 kg/ha) was applied during sowing and standard management practices (weeding and earthing up) were followed. In 2014, the average rainfall during the crop growth was 65 mm (total rainfall was 312.87mm, Supplementary Table 1). Harvesting was undertaken manually, at 76 days after planting above ground level (5 inches) and the material was transported to an open area where plants were wilted and sub-sampling was taken from the wilted samples for the assessment of nutritional quality. Complete plants along with cobs/ panicles were ensiled.The crop was wilted under the sun after harvesting, for maize 24 hours and 7-8 hours for sorghum and pearl millet, chopped into pieces of 15-25 mm, and ensiled in plastic drums (0.88m height × 0.29m radius), with no additives included. The air was removed using large heavy metallic discs (same size as drum open end) placed on top of the chopped biomass, attached to a shaft for compacting. After topping up with chopped biomass material until complete compactness was achieved, where no more biomass could be added into the drum, the drum was tightly sealed. Silage drums were stored in the shed from October 2014 up to end of January 2015 (94 days), during which the average rainfall was 20.12 mm, temperature was 30 and 12 o C (maximum and minimum, respectively), and the relative humidity was 90 and 43%, (maximum and minimum, respectively).Seventy-eight growing Nellore brown ram lambs with an average body weight of 15.16 ± 0.27 kg were randomly segregated into 13 groups each consisting of six ram lambs. The experiment was conducted sequentially in two groups, first ten groups of six rams each and then three groups of six rams each immediately afterward, due to a limitation in the number of metabolic cages (60). The rams were kept in metabolic cages to facilitate the measurement of feed intake, feed digestibility, feed refusals, faeces voided, urine excretion by urinary funnels and nitrogen balance. A flat rate of 200 g of a concentrate mixture was offered daily from 08:00 to 10:00 h, after which silages were offered ad libitum. The ad libitum to groups was offered at about 10-15% above the amount consumed on the previous day, with a range of 2-5% variation of feed provided, allowing for about 10-15% of refusals. Refusals were removed each morning before daily feeding at 08:00 h. The faeces were weighed, dried and the urine, collected daily, was sampled (bulked later), 10 ml of conc. H2SO4 added and stored at a temperature of 4 o C. The faeces (dry matter basis) and urine were assessed for nitrogen content. This procedure was followed for an adaptation period of 3 weeks, measurements of feed intake and fecal and urine output was made and the data, recorded for the next 7 days, was used for an estimation of the in vivo traits.Silage samples were analyzed for nitrogen (N), NDF, ADF, acid detergent lignin (ADL), dhurrin, in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and ME by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) prediction, calibrated for the experiment against conventional wet chemistry analysis. The NIRS instrument used was a FOSS Forage analyzer 5000 with software package WinISI II.Samples at harvest and silage were placed in an oven at 60 o C until dried completely, then ground and sieved (100µ pore size). The samples were weighed (100 mg) into Eppendorf tubes (2 ml) containing 750 μl of 50% methanol. The tubes were immediately placed into a hot water bath at 75 o C for 15 min. The tubes were then cooled to room temperature; 750μl of 50% methanol was added to make the volume up to 1.5 ml, mixed and then centrifuged in an Eppendorf 5417C at 11000 rpm for 5 mins. The supernatant (1ml) was collected and transferred to fresh tubes and stored at 4 o C. The analysis was performed in an Acquity UPLC system (Waters, Model D13 CHA708G). The mobile phase was prepared with 10% ace-tonitrile and run on a C-18 column, with a photodiode array (PDA) detector. Dhurrin was detected by monitoring the absorbance at 232 nm (Nicola et al, 2011). Samples were injected automatically from the vials for analysis (5 µl). The peak corresponding to dhurrin was identified by comparing the retention time and spectra to that of pure dhurrin. The dhurrin standard was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (CAS Number 499-20-7, ≥95% (HPLC)).Feed leftover, faeces and urine samples were analyzed for nitrogen using 'Terbotherm' and 'Vapodest' (Gerhard, \"Königswinter\", Germany) analysers based on the micro-Kjeldhal method (AOAC 1997; procedure no. 4.2.02). Dry matter, and total ash were determined according to procedures (nos. 4.1.03 and 4.1.10) described by AOAC (1997). The traits measured were organic matter digestibility (OMD-%) and intake (OMI-g/kg LW/d), digestible organic matter intake (DOMI-g/kg LW/d), nitrogen (N)-balance (g/d) and N-balance (g/kg LW/d).Statistical analysis SAS 9.4 (2012) statistical package was used for analysis of variance (ANOVA) by the general linear model (PROC GLM) procedure. The model Yij=µ+ti+eij was used for the analysis of the data, where Yij represents j th observation (j=1,2…,ni) on the i th treatment (i=1,2….k ), µ is the overall mean, ti represents the i th treatment effect and eij represents the random error in j th observation on the i th treatment. The errors eij were assumed to be normally and independently (NID) distributed with a mean of zero and variance of σ 2 . The Comparison of means between treatments was determined using Fisher's least significance difference (LSD) test at 5% level of significance. Simple correlations among traits were determined by the PROC CORR procedure, stepwise multiple regressions between laboratory traits and in vivo measurements were determined by PROC REG.Quality parameters for silage (Table 1) show that the N concentration in maize silage was 1.7%, while the mean nitrogen concentration of the 7 sorghum silages was 2.0% (range 1.8-2.4%), with the highest nitrogen concentration in sorghum recorded for the cultivar SSG PH 5000 (2.4%). Whereas, pearl millet cultivars had an average nitrogen concentration of 1.6% (range 1. 3  1). Cultivar SPSSV 30 contained the highest concentration of dhurrin (226 ppm) which was reduced after ensiling (74.0ppm) among the sorghum cultivars.The in vivo feeding data of 13 groups of ram lambs (Table 2) showed significant (P <0.05) cultivar dependent variations for all the parameters. The average intake of sorghum silage (297 grams per day (g/d))was lower than maize (352 g/d) but higher than in the pearl millet cultivars (137 g/d). Among the sorghum cultivars, GK 909 had the highest silage intake of 343 g/d, followed by GK917 (319 g/d) and SPSSV 30 (306 g/d) whereas, for pearl millet, the highest silage intake was PAC 931 (172 g/d) followed by Poshan (132 g/d). The maize recorded highest OMD (63.5%) of all the entries tested. The pearl millet cultivars recorded an average OMD of 62%, and within the millet group in descending order was Poshan (63%), AVKB 19 (62.6%), and Milkon (62.3%). While in the sorghum cultivars, GK 917 (64%), SPSSV 30 (63.6%) and CSH 24 MF (62.9%) recorded the highest OMD and were the only ones above 60% out of the seven entries. The OMI g/kg LW/d was highest in sorghum cultivar SPSSV 30 (30.4  The forage breeding objectives can be prioritized into increasing feed intake, improving digestibility, and reducing anti-nutritional factors (such as Dhurrin in sorghum) (Harinarayana et al, 2005 andSmith et al, 1997). Our research findings are a good fit for these categories and will be discussed further accordingly.All research objectives were mostly addressed by tapping into the natural variation in the crop. In the current experiment the sorghum cultivars used was sourced from across a diverse range of types (a detailed description of the kind of sorghum) and all the pearl millet cultivars were of the forage type (Table 1).Feed intake depends mostly on animal preferences and the availability of quality feed/forage. However, basic quality criteria can be ensured before providing the feed to livestock. Of the many quality criteria, nitrogen content of the fodder is crucial as it forms the building blocks for protein. Further, nitrogen in sorghum silage was higher than in pearl millet and the reference maize cultivar. None of the cultivars in the current study recorded nitrogen concentrations lower than the critical level (1.0-1.2%) below which dry matter intake may be depressed (Van Soest, 1994). Hassan et al, (2015) and Rai et al, (2012) have suggested that low N concentration in forage millet was a major concern, as higher nitrogen concentration is usually correlated with a reduction in forage yields. Hence, in tropical forage-breeding programs it is a challenge to breed material for both high nitrogen concentration and forage yield. However, while breeding new forages, targeting both increased nitrogen concentration and high forage yield is essential and economical as suggested by Aruna et al, (2015) and Marsalis et al, (2010). The fiber fractions showed significant variations (P<0.05) which may be a genetic trait. This finding is similar to Amer et al, (2012), who showed that millet had more neutral and acid detergent fiber than forage sorghum when harvested at 45 days of crop growth. Contrastingly, in our study harvesting at 76 days of cutting from sowing has shown higher fiber fractions in sorghum than millet, indicating the influence of harvesting stage.Intake, digestibility, and nutrient retention are of vital importance to livestock productivity and these traits are related to one another. Logically, the higher is the digestibility the higher the intake of feed, which in turn would indicate higher nutrient retention. SPSSV 30 (19.3) performed similarly to the reference maize (20.1) in terms of digestible organic matter intake. Nevertheless, higher digestibility with lower intake was also observed in pearl millet. Organic matter intake of pearl millet was significantly lower than that of sorghum silage whereas, average digestibility of pearl millet silages was higher than sorghum silages.For reasons based on silage intake, organic matter intake and digestible organic matter intake, animals had a higher preference for sorghum silages than millet. Higher digestibility results in more nutrients available for absorption which can be measured by body weight gain or by nitrogen balance.Finally, putative anti-nutritional quality factors to rank the forages or silages of the crop species were explored. Dhurrin (cyanogenic glucoside-substrate) is localized in vacuole cells and dhurrinase (active enzyme in cleaving and releasing volatile HCN) in mesophyll cells. Dhurrin represents a potential problem to livestock when consumed in sorghum crops at the early stages of growth and the crop grown under stress (Sher et al, 2012, Patel et al, 2013, Vinutha et al, 2015a, 2015b). Patel et al, (2013) reported that ensiling provides a sufficient duration for the volatile HCN to disperse and thus reduces its recovery in silages. The effect of ensiling on nutritional traits was of keen interest, but there was no significant difference for pre and post silage analysis of feed except for dhurrin. The significant decreases in DHS in sorghum cultivars during ensiling were similar to the findings of Wheeler and Mulcahy (1989), where dhurrin concentrations in sorghum silage were significantly lower than in the fresh green forage. Hence, dhurrin is a potential tool to assess the anti-nutrition quality of sorghum forages before being fed to livestock. However, this is applicable only for sorghum quality assessment (and only when fed fresh as ensiling reduced it), not for pearl millets where oxalates are harmful to livestock (Patel et al, 2013).The in vivo and silage quality parameters did not show any significant relation with each other (Table 3).Yet, considering neither negative relation nor any trade-off observed amongst these traits, we can try to breed these as complementary traits (Hall et al, 2004). Within the pearl millet cultivars nitrogen is positively correlated with OMI and within sorghum silage intake is positively correlated with ME and IVOMD. No other laboratory trait was significantly correlated with any of the in vivo measurements across the 13 cultivars. The OMD (%) measured by the in vivo experiment and NIRS predicted IVOMD (%) is represented in Fig 2, the average OMD and IVOMD (%) for sorghum was 60.8 and 60.2 and 62.2 and 59.2 percent in pearl millet, respectively. The OMD (%) is highest in sorghum SPSSV 30 (63.7 %) and GK917 (63.9 %) followed by maize P 3546 (63.5 %) and then by CSH 24 MF (62.9%), the next top two entries are pearl millet -PAC 931 (62.3 %) and AVKB 19 (62.6 %). The highest IVOMD recorded in pearl millet was AVKB 19 (62.2 %), with SSG PH 5000 (62.4) and SPSSV 30 (63.3 %) in sorghum. The SSG PH 5000, SPSSV 30 and HC 308 had an N balance that is comparable to that of maize, whereas the pearl millet entries are lower than the maize silage (Table 2). In this study NIRS could predict IVOMD with an R 2 cal=0.98, while an R 2 cal =0.8 is considered as robust globally. Nevertheless, no statistically significant correlation was observed between quality and in vivo traits (as mentioned earlier). The silage intake for sorghum was significantly related to IVOMD and in pearl millet the OMI was significantly related to nitrogen (Supplementary Table 2).Correlation studies help to determine an association between traits and to optimize breeding objectives.Fodder quality traits were not significantly associated with any other traits which are true for digestibility traits from laboratory and in vivo trials. Thus, laboratory traits may have limited information (ex. presence and effect of anti-nutritional factors) compared to feeding trials for evaluation of cultivars for feed purpose. So, animal feeding experiments become a realistic approach to assess the feed quality of a particular crop species, accounting for factors like voluntary intake, digestibility and absorption of nutrients (Miron et al, 2007). In a study reported by Blümmel et al, (2013b), a difference of 5% units in in vitro digestibility (IVOMD) in sorghum stover was highly correlated with stover pricing. This was associated with a price premium of 20% and higher in the fodder market. In our current study, in comparison with maize for digestibility, only Milkon was significantly different in terms of digestibility. Hence, all of the sorghum and pearl millet cultivars (except Milkon) could potentially be used to replace maize under water limiting conditions. However, in terms of IVOMD, SPSSV-30 and SSG PH 5000 of the sorghum cultivars and AVKB 19 cultivar of pearl millet are similar to maize. Nonetheless, negative selection for dhurrin (negatively correlated with forage yield) (Tariq et al, 2012) and concurrent improvement in fodder yield and quality traits (independent traits) (Aruna et al, 2015) are the most reliable approaches for forage breeding.Sorghum could be a possible alternative in marginal areas where maize production is constrained by the agronomic requirements, mainly irrigation, as reported by Abdelhadi and Santini (2006) and Bean et al, (2013). Besides, the in vitro organic matter digestibility of sorghum (conventional forage and sweet sorghum) and maize silage did not differ significantly (694 vs. 705 g/kg DM) (Zhang et al, 2016). Among corn and sorghum silages the estimated total body weight production was more in sorghum silages (483 kg/ha) than corn silages (469 kg/ha) (Abdelhadi and Santini, 2006). Thus, there was more LWG/ha by feeding sorghum silage than maize. Additionally, an increase in milk yield when comparing different silages made from different kinds of (bmr and conventional forage) sorghum and maize was observed. Although maize silage (33.8 kg/d) yielded more milk over conventional forage sorghum (31.0 kg/d), bmr sorghum (34.1 kg/d) recorded more than maize (Oliver et al, 2004). Next is nitrogen balance, a higher nitrogen balance was observed in maize (3.3) followed by sorghum (3.0) and least in pearl millet (0.6).These differences were significant across the crops but not within the groups. Similarly, a high retention of nutrient was recorded in sweet corn than pearl millet silage in studies performed by Rao et al, (2014).Feed quality and acceptance by animals was inclined towards silages made from some forage sorghum cultivars which is equivalent to maize silage.   ","tokenCount":"3354"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2218473586.json b/data/part_1/2218473586.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..449cc2d501ec8873fc159d02fbbd3a1e5c31bdf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2218473586.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34d77bdd11cc9f3820f33cbf492139f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3831e0f1-ac88-4267-ad1e-32f4b2038755/retrieve","id":"910358977"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"061060d3-7290-402d-8aa8-edeeb982d08f","pagecount":"5","content":"Clusters are spatial aggregations of small businesses producing the same or related goods or services. Together, these businesses have the potential to contribute to economic development of rural areas by compounding the existing strengths of local producing communities. Cluster-based development has been successful where governments facilitate infrastructure and provide services to support existing clusters, often leading to spillover and expansion of these clusters to wider areas over time (Abdelaziz et al. 2021).Agrifood cluster development can occur via two broad mechanisms: (1) immanent development, where clusters of commercial farms as well as firms in the value chain that provide goods and services required by farms (for example, specialized production inputs, machinery, and transport), emerge spontaneously in co-located groups; and (2) organized development, where actors such as government, companies, or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) organize producers into groups to deliver extension services, inputs, or credit or to upgrade production practices, facilitate collective action to improve terms of market access, or enable compliance with standards or forms of branding such as geographic indications.The immanent development of clusters comprising commercially oriented small and medium farms and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a common pattern throughout Asia and some parts of Africa, particularly for higher value agricultural products such as farmed fish, poultry, and horticulture. These clusters usually form in places with suitable environmental conditions, geography, and infrastructure, such as access to water, reliable electricity supplies, and good transport links to cities that are major markets for high-value agricultural produce and the source of key inputs such as feeds, medicines, or ice. Typically, new clusters are initiated by small numbers of relatively well-resourced farmers or investors who start the development of a new value chain. Once these pioneering operations are established and have proven profitable, nearby farmers who have observed their success often begin to replicate the model. As the supply of product and demand for inputs from these farms grow, new firms (such as harvesting teams, traders, and transport rental businesses) emerge to provide these goods and services and specialized inputs (such as nurseries, feeds, agrochemicals, farm machinery, veterinary services, and equipment rentals). As clusters grow, the risks of market entry for new producers and the transaction costs associated with obtaining inputs and selling produce decline. Economies of agglomeration occur due to knowledge spillovers, reduced search and transport costs resulting from the local availability of specialized goods and services, and because specialization and horizontal integration among businesses increase the efficiency and productivity of operations.Organized development of clusters is based on interventions that foster the establishment of new clusters of economic activity, such as through the creation of special economic zones with preferential policies and infrastructure provision. Most often, such interventions work on a smaller scale by organizing existing farmers or firms into groups to enhance service delivery, create economies of scale, increase bargaining power, and brand products. There are numerous models of cluster-based intervention reflecting a range of objectives. These include co-operatives, group-based certification, and rural development programs such as Japan's One Village One Product (OVOP) and Thailand's One Tambon One Product (OTOP) schemes.Despite the numerous advantages of agricultural clusters, their development often faces many emerging bottlenecks.A common challenge is that once nearby farmers observe profitable opportunities created by successful entrepreneurs, many tend to follow suit and enter the business. Large numbers of new entrants mean more intense competition and lower prices. There are two ways to address the challenge of low prices. One is to lower the external costs facing the enterprises in the cluster, such as by expanding access to the outside market. The other option is process or product upgrading and differentiation, such as promotions for regional brands rather than individual marketing.Another common challenge is the high level of specialization of clusters, often in a single product. In the case of crop and livestock clusters, there is an increasing risk of disease associated with the concentration of agricultural production in one location. To manage associated risks, the government can support interventions such as early warning systems, disease inspections, quarantine centers, the provision of toxin-free seedlings, and other services.Other challenges associated with organized cluster formation include the elite capture of resources, such as where cluster leaders are locally influential people with the power to appropriate resources for direct personal gain or direct them to their clients along political or other patronage lines. In addition, the existence of deeply entrenched local institutions that conflict with cluster goals and prove difficult to disrupt, such as relationships between traders and farmers based on resource provision, can hamper cluster development.Importantly, challenges faced by agricultural clusters are often context and location specific. When planning to support cluster-based development, it is important to diagnose the bottlenecks and identify solutions. Many of these are indigenous and context specific, and thereby difficult for outsiders to identify. Local elites can play a more effective role than outsiders and upper-level government, given their informational advantage. In many cases, it is beyond an individual enterprise's capacity to tackle the challenges. Collective actions are called for instead.Odisha has a gross cropped area of about 4.5 million hectares and 85 percent of the population is rural (Deb Pal et al., forthcoming). In 2017-2018, Odisha contributed 3 percent to India's gross value added (GVA) in both agriculture and manufacturing, with mining contributing 9 percent. Per capita GDP in 2018 was about US$1,402, compared with India's overall per capita GDP of about US$1,974 for the same year. Employment in agriculture dropped from 62 percent in 2004/05 to 44 percent in 2018/19, consistent with a parallel drop from 56 percent to 42 percent in the rest of India for the same years. Odisha's agricultural GVA increased by 3.1 percent in the 15 years between 2004/05 and 2019/20, including a 4 percent increase in the crop subsector, 5 percent in livestock, 3 percent in forestry, and 8 percent in fisheries. In 2017/18, primary agriculture accounted for 78 percent of Odisha's agrifood system, while processing and input supply each accounted for 3 percent, and trade accounted for 15 percent. Economic and institutional reforms in Odisha target the improvement of per capita income and average standard of living. As Odisha's economy grows and urbanizes and its rural economy develops, it leads to changes in land-use patterns, market expansion and more nonfarm employment opportunities. However, the success of this economic transformation depends on effective strategy design, global lessonsharing, and a contextual understanding of Odisha's agrifood system. Cluster-based development is one potential avenue for achieving the government's goals. What are the lessons from other countries for Odisha? 1Cluster formation is a continuous process, encountering various binding constraints along the way, either on the supply side or the demand side, that are beyond the capacity of individual enterprises to address. Whether a cluster can grow and develop depends crucially on whether the bottlenecks can be resolved. Because the bottlenecks are context-and time-specific, it would be impossible for a planner or outsider to prescribe a one-size-fits-all intervention to overcome all binding constraints. Instead, as mentioned earlier, local elites, such as business leaders and local officials, are better placed to identify emerging bottlenecks and locally appropriate solutions. In China, for example, because local governments have an embedded interest in promoting local economic development, they are keen to provide local public goods or initiate joint actions to address successive binding constraints and facilitate cluster development. In comparison, the role of the local government is more muted in some African countries (such as Egypt), limiting the growth potential of agricultural clusters.It is important to align the incentives of local leaders with local economic development. However, it would be a daunting task to reform the incentive system of local officials in the short run. A more viable option is to encourage NGOs or business organizations, to play a more active role in initiating joint actions in countries lacking incentives for local officials.Thailand's OTOP program provides a good example of a long-running, government-facilitated, clusterbased rural development scheme. Under this scheme, established in 2001 as part of decentralization efforts, each tambon (subdistrict, equivalent to a tehsil in Odisha) selects one superior local product to receive formal branding as a \"starred OTOP product.\" These products include a wide range of foods (accounting for two-thirds of items), traditional handicrafts, and textiles. Community members receive assistance in improving the quality and marketing of their products through skills development and extension programs, product development assisted by universities, small business loan programs, support for digital marketing, and a national certification scheme that serves to promote the best quality products (Kurokawa 2009). The OTOP program's success lies in its coordination across multiple ministries, government departments, and state institutions, including banks and universities; and the linking of local initiatives to a larger scheme that offers local cluster members access to national and some international markets.In Bangladesh, clusters of aquaculture farms, supporting businesses, and third-party logistics services have emerged spontaneously over the past 25 years as a form of unplanned development, in response to buoyant domestic consumer demand. The clustered form of value chain development has lowered transaction costs and stimulated uptake of new technologies and practices, thereby increasing farm productivity and efficiency and giving rise to a value chain that functions effectively and relatively equitably. The cluster-based growth of commercial aquaculture in Bangladesh has increased the supply of fish and significantly reduced real fish prices, making fish more accessible to lower-income consumers, thereby contributing to national food and nutrition security. Although not arising as a result of direct intervention, these aquaculture clusters have been enabled by public investments in market-enhancing infrastructure such as a dense rural road network, high levels of rural electrification, and the establishment of numerous public and private rural-urban wholesale markets.These examples show some common challenges and opportunities for cluster-based development. Unleashing the power of cluster-based development will require more value-chain-and location-specific study. ","tokenCount":"1629"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2224228620.json b/data/part_1/2224228620.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aeade4a38cda5697de1aefd47bcefd397b067229
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2224228620.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"272d062fc72862154d1f48d6fca156dd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4036a3e6-4e58-4369-8ef4-3260ec9a9399/retrieve","id":"-1184946607"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6517590b-22b5-4759-a609-169af3fd6fc7","pagecount":"17","content":"• Summary of ISPC deliberations on framework for QR4D• QR4D in RTB Research ProgramISPC Framework for QR4D QR4D-ISPC status• ISPC to facilitate System-wide agreement on the nature and assessment of quality of science• broadened to Quality of Research for Development (QR4D)• CGIAR and donors concerned with both quality of programs and likelihood of delivery. ISPC to develop a frame of reference for QR4D across the CGIAR that gives guidance at different levels but without burdening the Centers and CRPs; and, to use that tool QR4D viewed as an integrated whole of four key elements: relevance, credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness (Belcher et al., 2016) \"importance, significance and usefulness of the research objectives, processes and findings to the problem context and to society, and CGIAR's comparative advantage to address the problems\"  ","tokenCount":"129"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2227626210.json b/data/part_1/2227626210.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4393c3b65f4a96ed7701daa15fa5785dfc77e2cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2227626210.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eeef0e8371c7c52f2010d48bff778a2e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/reports/Cameroon-VPA-Report.pdf","id":"1457239448"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da2f889c-a5ef-41a5-a365-999ed6dcff85","pagecount":"39","content":"v 29 Statement on whether the relevance of information received by SMEs and smallholders to support them to comply with legality requirements (N=100) 30 Statement on whether the processing of legal timber is technically and financially too constraining for SMEs (N=100) 31 Statement on whether SMEs provide better quality wood than before the start of the VPA process (N=100) 32 Primary markets for SMEs (N=100) 33 Secondary markets for SMEs (N=100) 34 Job opportunities in the forest sector (N=100) 35 Key reasons for increase in jobs (N=100) 36 Job opportunities for local communities and Indigenous Peoples (N=100) 37 Job opportunities for women, youth and marginalized groups (N=100) 38 Statements on whether the forestry sector works are better organised and have access to more secure jobs, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 39 Statement on whether the forest sector workers have more expertise, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 40 Statement on whether the curricula of training institutions better integrates subjects related to legality and sustainable forest management (SFM), since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 41 Awareness across groups about the consequences of poor forest management in the forestry sector (N=100) 42 Statement on whether the Civil Society is better organized than before the start of the VPA process (N=100) 43 Relevancy of the available information for different sectors (N=100) 44 Statement on whether independent observation contributes more to reduce corruption than before the start of the VPA process (N=100) 45 Causes of non-compliance of laws and regulations (N=100) 46 Statement on whether bureaucracy related to the VPA process created new opportunities for corruption, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 47 Statement on whether the level of corruption in the forestry sector decreased more than in other sectors, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 48 Statement on whether political will exists to prioritize the development of the forestry sector as much as the development of other sectors (N=100) 49 FERN indicators comparison, Cameroon (N=98) 50 Statement on whether being involved in a VPA gives a positive image of the country (N=100)Respondents per their associated sector (N=100) 3Average number of years of experience per sector (N=100) 4Respondent knowledge of sectors (N=100) 5Top motivating factors leading Cameroon to engage in the VPA process (N=100) 6Aspects of FLEGT-VPA respondents are/were most involved in (multiple choice possible) (N=100) 7Illegal logging in Permanent Forest Domains (PFD) (N=100) 8Illegal logging in non-Permanent Forest Domains (nPFD) (N=100) 9VPA contribution to decrease in illegal logging in the nPDF (N=100) 10 VPA contribution to decrease in illegal logging in the PDF (N=100) 11 Demand for legal wood on the domestic market (N=100) 12 VPA contribution to increasing the amount of timber being exploited with a legally obtained permit (N=92) 13 VPA contribution to reducing illegal timber on Cameroon's domestic market (N=96) 14 VPA contribution to reducing illegal timber on Cameroon's export market (N=97) 15 Collation of legal wood findings (N=100) 16 VPA contribution to providing civil society with a greater role in controlling legality and identifying irregularities (N=100) 17 What effects has the TLAS process had in Cameroon (N=100) 18 VPA contribution to a reduction in deforestation in Cameroon (N=100) 19 VPA contribution to better implementation of forest management plans in Cameroon (N=95) 20 VPA contribution to an increase in consultation of local communities and Indigenous Peoples (N=99) 21a VPA contribution to more consideration of the opinions of local communities and Indigenous Peoples in decision making (N=99) 21b VPA contribution to more consideration of the rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples (N=95) 22 VPA contributing to increasing the amount of legal tax earmarked for redistribution (N=93) 23 Statement on whether timber sector tax revenues have contributed to increased LC & IPs' well-being, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 24 VPA contribution to an increase in the number of hectares exploited with a private certification system (N=92) 25 Statement on whether the process of obtaining a legal certification (FLEGT) introduced new formal and informal taxes, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 26 Evolution of the number of SMEs (N=100) 27 Statement on whether the private sector is better organized, since the start of the VPA process (N=100) 28 Consideration of the opinions of LC & IP, SMEs and CS in decision making in the timber sector in Cameroon (N=98)vi Paolo Omar Cerutti, Raphael Tsanga, Tatiana Goetghebuer, Nastassia Leszczynska, Jean Newbery, Bruna Almeida, Johanna Breyne, Pamela Tabi, and Luisa van der PloegList of abbreviations countries, as well as international organizations and academia working on FLEGT.By covering three countries in different stages of VPA implementation, this study will present findings and lessons at both a country and global level, outlining where possible the bigger picture of impacts of the VPA process. This is important as a VPA, while being a legally binding trade agreement, is contingent on thorough and lengthy reform processes in the country's forestry sector. Including three countries at different stages of implementation 1 while using the same tool (see Methodology) supports comparative analysis and insights into what stage of implementation a VPA shows the most impact. It could also be used as a baseline scenario should future assessment be repeated on the same countries.1 At the time of research, Indonesia had received its FLEGT license, Ghana was close to receiving its license, while Cameroon was yet to implement the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) system.Although impacts have already partly been analysed and documented through research studies and preliminary national impact monitoring systems, they are often scattered among various specific thematic and geographic areas. This study seeks to gather, assess and demonstrate, where possible, the impacts of FLEGT-VPAs in a comprehensive way, through engaging key experts and stakeholders involved in the VPA process, using a similar approach in all countries.The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and Analysis for Economic Decisions (ADE) research teams were in Cameroon between 29 March and 08 April to collect data. This report will first briefly outline the methodology used 2 , before outlining the sample of respondents and presenting results under three broad headings: Environment, Economy and Governance. Results are further categorized and presented according to grouped indicators.This country report is an intermediary deliverable designed to feed the final synthesis report of the three countries. The report is not designed to be presented by the CIFOR/ADE team in-country, or to be distributed to a wider audience outside of the technical committee.• Thorough desk review undertaken for each country to identify prevailing hypotheses.• Questions formed around capturing VPA contribution to any perceived change.• Mixed methodology data collection tool deployed, using quantitative and qualitative components.• Positive respondent feedback received on the tool and format of interview.To measure impact brought about by a VPA, a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology was developed. This was rolled out across each of the three countries, with slight contextual modifications made for each. The methodology was also designed to be replicable over time and applicable to other VPA countries as required.The final data collection tool was developed and then deployed in Cameroon through three main stages: prioritising themes, reviewing the literature and interviewing key stakeholders. They are briefly described below.In the first stage, we identified the four most relevant themes to cover during the study, which would also form the main sections of the questionnaire. We limited the study to four themes to allow greater depth of research as opposed to covering more themes at a shallow level. To identify these themes, two rounds of consultation took place:FAO/EFI identified three of the four key thematic areas for the study from a pre-provided list, based on internal interest areas.The final thematic areas and then sub-themes within these four main themes were selected by preidentified domestic experts from each of the three countries covered by the study and international experts (EU-FLEGT FAO/EFI), via an online survey.We selected those experts based on answers with the highest frequency. Desk review and development of indicators were guided by selected themes and subthemes. The final four selected thematic areas are:• sustainable forest management and forest conditions (environment)• relation and development of the formal and informal forest sector (economic)• jobs and employment (economic)• law enforcement and compliance (governance).While concentrating on these four selected themes, the study is covering most (not to say all) expected and non-expected impact dimensions of FLEGT-VPA through the many sub-themes. This was confirmed by many respondents who mentioned the survey tackled the most important issues and themes.The second stage was a thorough desk review per country. Stakeholders were consulted to ensure the most relevant literature was identified and processed (in particular, literature focusing on impacts within the four themes resulting from the VPA implementation process). This allowed us to identify prevailing hypotheses on impacts that guided both questions to build indicators, and the data analysis because results could be substantiated against desk findings. The desk review also ensured the questionnaire could be tailored against differing country contexts and that questions were in line with the sorts of impact the VPA would be expected to bring about. This ultimately helped us to compare VPA expectations as found during the desk review against VPA progress and possible unintended effects.The review included the following categories of documents:• VPA annexes and documentation A full list can be found in Annex I.The third stage was rolling out the questionnaire, which had received multifaceted stakeholder inputs. It had to be structured around VPA impacts and tailored to the context of each participating country without losing the ability for cross-cutting analysis.A preselected sample of participants from the public administration, private, formal and informal sectors, civil society and local forest communities was invited to complete the questionnaire.All respondents were asked to sign a consent form before beginning the interview. In line with CIFOR's Ethical Review applied to all projects, the agreement reminded respondents about the anonymous and confidential treatment of information provided in the survey. Respondent were also reminded they could stop answering at any time if they were uncomfortable with the questions. Lastly, by signing the consent form, respondents agreed to their responses being used in this assessment.Total questionnaire time took between two and three hours, depending on levels of discussion and the number of participants. It was split into three approaches:A 15-minute introductory PowerPoint© presentation was shown to all participants. It touched upon the aim and scope of the assessment, the types of questions and answers that participants would find displayed on the tablets, as well as several slides with practical examples to illustrate the concept of \"impact\" and to agree on the meaning to be given to the various possible answers, e.g., from \"very positive\" to \"very negative.\"This is an important step because various participants from the same group of respondents, as well as from different groups, may have a different understanding of a \"very positive\" or \"very negative\" impact.Agreeing on the scale and on the meaning of various steps along the scale (e.g., \"weak,\" \"very weak,\" \"strong,\" \"very strong,\" etc.) provides the interviewing team and the respondents' group with a common language to be adopted while filling the questionnaire.Such common language also allows for more meaningful cross-country comparisons, as a \"very weak\" impact in the case of Cameroon is very likely to resemble a \"very weak\" impact in the case of other countries.The answers inputted directly into the tablet were designed to be individually completed using a Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing in a Group (CAPI-G® 3 ) approach. These individual sections were constructed using close-ended, multiple choice or Likert scale questions (0-5, 0-3, 0-100%) to capture respondents' personal opinions, hence allowing quantitative analysis.Questions were mostly designed to understand change trajectories, capturing the respondents' opinion on the current situation status within the different themes and sub-themes, their perception of the situation prior to VPA ratification (recall), and then their opinion on the feasible contribution of the VPA to any perceived (no-)change. Other questions were statement assessments, which either asked a respondent to select their agreement level on a statement using a scale of 1-5 or to select which statement they most agreed with.The individual questionnaire was broken up by pauses at the end of each theme, during which participants could share their opinion on the previous section in more detail, providing qualitative measures of change and specific examples. This anecdotal evidence allowed us to better explain findings contained in this report, and questions were tailored according to the group's subject-matter expertise. Indeed, the fact that, where feasible, participants belonged to similar (professional) categories ensured they felt free to talk and share their experience/vision.This approach was tested in Cameroon and proved effective. Data collection was bolstered by having two types of input: numerical (directly into the tablet, the results of which could be accessed daily) and qualitative with examples (detailed and anonymous notes taken during these sessions). Analysis could therefore draw on two information sources, as well as being able to direct results back to existing literature to better understand continuity/divergence.Feedback on the interview experience was also regularly sought from participants. Verbal feedback reported from respondents indicated they enjoyed the two-pronged approach, which allowed them to think about VPA evolution from numerous angles before engaging in often lively discussion with peers. They also commented that questions were easier to complete due to icons associated with the different answers. Quantitative answers also had a high response rate (as opposed to many \"don't know\" answers), validating the expert pool of respondents and the relevance of the questions.Through their connections and knowledge of the context, CIFOR/ADE research teams and EU-FLEGT FAO/EFI identified key experts and long-standing stakeholders in the forestry sector 4  If some pre-identified respondents were not available, we made sure they were replaced by someone with similar levels of expertise. We also offered the possibility to answer the questionnaire online and to have a skype/call discussion to receive qualitative input.As outlined above, respondents for the study in Cameroon were selected based on their relevance to, and experience with, the forest sector in general, and the FLEGT-VPA process in particular. CIFOR, in collaboration with EU-FLEGT FAO/EFI teams, identified potential respondents from different sectors, inviting them to participate in the study through an official invitation sent from the Cameroon EC delegation. The CIFOR in-country team then followed up by inviting respondents to preselected slots (based on sector) on a specific time and date (by e-mails and phone calls). Three team members also• 101 total individual respondents completed the questionnaire, either in Yaoundé, Douala or by online completion.• 16 group sessions were convened at CIFOR Yaoundé, in Douala or at the Ministry of Forest (see Annex I for agenda).• A large portion of respondents travelled to Yaoundé to participate in the study, making sure that representativity of all forest parts of Cameroon was high.travelled to Douala to meet with significant members of the private sector.The field team consisted of two experts from ADE, including the study Team Leader, and five from CIFOR (two from Nairobi and three from the Yaoundé office).As Cameroon was the pilot country, the first two days were spent together as a group testing and refining the data collection tool, further contextualising questions or easing understanding with prompts where required. Part of the team also met with the EC delegation on Tuesday 2 April to outline the purpose of the study and anticipated milestone dates.While the target number of study respondents was met in a very short period, some key lessons learned were applied to the next two countries:• More advanced warning is required, particularly for those travelling from afar. While two weeks' notice was provided, three would have been ideal.• While invitations were sent to the most relevant respondents, it was not always clear whether they would personally attend or send a representative from their office. Close follow-up to ensure their personal attendance is required. 5   • Related to the above, given that respondents would not always arrive at the same time, asking them to provide a thorough introduction was not always possible. However, one member of the team was dedicated to make the introductory presentation to all members who came later before they joined the room where the survey was conducted.• Participants from the private sector are often busy and much less available for this type of exercise. While a few meetings are attainable, individual completion of a questionnaire could be more challenging. In Douala, the field team adapted their method by asking the questions themselves, noting individual responses if more than one respondent was present. A short version of the questionnaire has also been developed to only capture VPA contribution answers and was implemented with CEOs of big companies (who had less time to devote to this exercise).• Interviewing wood market respondents was certainly useful in terms of focus group input. However, they had poor understanding of some terms and concepts in the questionnaire -including the VPA itself (along with SVL, PAF, FSC, OLB). Still, this does not invalidate their answers because their lack of knowledge is arguably a finding in itself. It shows that those buying and selling wood do not know of a measure put in place to regulate their daily work. This finding should be considered leading to clearer definitions where possible and a more thorough introduction. However, members of the team did take time to explain each concept to respondents (also note that a \"don't know\" response is always possible).Preparatory discussions about the FLEGT Action Plan and notably VPAs commenced in Cameroon around 2004. A forest law and its implementing decree were adopted in 1994 and 1995, respectively. However, at the beginning of the 2000s, several inconsistencies, conflicting regulations and toutcourt illegal acts remained. Official VPA negotiations with the EU started in 2007, before signing the VPA on 6 October 2010 and ratifying it on 9 August 2011.The first three-year preparatory phase was designed to lead the way to issuing the first FLEGT licence, with implementation of a Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS). At the time of research, no licence had been issued. Rather, the Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF) had only completed one official step towards the future issuance of FLEGT licences. Specifically, it had adopted a decree which, when fulfilled by logging companies, would grant them a \"certificate of legality.\" This certificate would then pave the way for companies to obtain FLEGT licences when available to be issued. 6   Cameroon has about 25  VC and PEBO have one salient difference. With VC, a maximum of 2,500 ha to be harvested over a maximum of three years is generally granted to industrial companies and their production can be exported. With PEBO, a maximum of 500 cubic metres to be harvested over a maximum of one year is generally granted to small-scale or individual enterprises and their production should be sold on the domestic market.So-called Community Forests (max 5,000 ha) must be granted in the nPFD. However, they are mandated by law to obtain a simplified version of a forest management plan. This guarantees sustainability of harvesting operations over the long term. To allow mean comparison test across group, respondents' associated sectors have been reduced to four:  On average, respondents had 17 years of experience in the forestry sector (the minimum was 13 and the maximum 44). Within respondent groups, those from Traditional Authorities had the most experience, and respondents were generally most knowledgeable about the artisanal private sector. This highlights the relevance of the expert pool identified and interviewed for the study.Table 2 presents the top three principal motivating factors for Cameroon to engage in the VPA process identified by both the VPA process and the TEREA evaluation (2016). They asked the same question and produced largely consistent results, if in a slightly different order of importance. • Balanced sample across respondents' categories: artisanal (32%), civil society (29%) and public administration (10%).• High respondent levels of involvement in FLEGT-VPA related activities (84%), with most having been involved in law enforcement and VPA development aspects.• 18% female representation.Almost half of respondents noted they were/had been involved in the law enforcement side of the VPA process. The four most answered options all involve VPA development aspects (e.g., TLAS, capacity building, etc.). About 16% answered they were not actively involved in any aspects of FLEGT-VPA. Their answers have been considered relevant for the remainder of the survey because \"not actively involved\" does not mean \"not knowledgeable.\" For example, respondents may not have been directly engaged with drafting and implementing TLAS-or transparency-related activities. However, their knowledge of the FLEGT-VPA process and the forest sector more broadly make them relevant respondents to assess the changes and impacts of those activities.The analysis presented below from section 3.2 takes the following format: presentation of quantitative  To improve access to the European market 1. To reduce illegal logging and trade (57%)To improve forest governance 2. To improve access to the European market (32%)To combat illegal logging and trade for sustainable management 3. To improve forest management (32%)Note: a Multiple choice question with a maximum of three responses per respondent. survey data starting with VPA contribution/impact; outline of any statistically different 9 views between respondent groups and any evolution in indicator from before and after VPA ratification in 2011; setting findings against literature in the desk review; and complementing findings with anecdotal evidence provided during the focus group discussions (FGDs).Most respondents thought that illegal logging (in volume) had decreased in PFDs and nPFDs, respectively, since VPA ratification. There are differences between groups: Public Administration was more positive regarding the decrease in illegal logging in the PFD compared to Artisanal Private Sector. Meanwhile, half of respondents in Others (which include the industrial private sector) estimated that illegal logging strongly increased in the nPFD, compared to most respondents in the three other groups who thought it had decreased. During FGD, it was pointed out that making observations about illegal logging in the PFD (i.e., into industrial concessions) was more difficult. It relies more on documentation that is not always relevant or available as opposed to physically tracking smaller timber quantities in the nPFD.In line with these estimates, the VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to the decrease of illegal wood in the PFD, while having no effect in the nPFD.In the nPFD, respondents from Others thought the 9 Where respondent group answers are within <0.1 of one another, e.g., where answers from the public administration differ more than 10% on any topic from those of -say -the private sector. • The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to the decrease of illegal logging in the PFD, while having no effect in the nPFD, where illegalities seem to have increased.The VPA was not considered to have had any effect in reducing deforestation in Cameroon.• Within Cameroon's domestic market, 61% of traded timber was still considered illegal; Illegal wood was still considered to make up 41% of timber on Cameroon's export market; and just over half of total timber production was said to have been exploited with a legally obtained permit.• About half (51%) of respondents agree or strongly agree that obtaining the FLEGT licence had already introduced new formal and informal taxes on operators.• We observed progress in civil society capacity: the VPA moderately contributed to providing civil society with a greater role in controlling legality and helped identify irregularities; their role and level of consultation is now considered moderate.The VPA was not considered to have helped local communities and Indigenous populations gain more recognition for their property rights. Nor was the VPA considered to have contributed to the status of women, youth and marginalized groups in questions related to forest management and logging. However, consideration of the opinions of these three groups increased slightly since before VPA ratification.The VPA was not considered to have had any effect on tax redistribution and by reflection on local well-being: 64% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that tax revenues from the timber sector helped improve the well-being of local communities and Indigenous populations.VPA had contributed slightly to the increase in illegal logging, while Artisanal Private Sector thought it had contributed slightly to the decrease in illegal logging, and Civil Society considering it to have had no impact. This is consistent with Carodenuto and Cerutti (2014) and Hoare (2014) who suggest the perceived rates of illegal logging have fallen considerably in the past decade, notably in the PFD, due in part to the international response to illegal logging. However, it is inconsistent with FERN (Nov 2017), who outlined that illegal logging was on the rise in Cameroon.During discussion, it was pointed out that the number of community forests had decreased between 2015 and 2019 from around 50 to 40.The VPA was considered to have contributed to a slight increase in timber exploited with a legally obtained permit. Just over half of total timber was said to have been exploited with a legally obtained permit, compared to just under half before the VPA.Artisanal Private Sector respondents considered the amount of wood exploited with a legally obtained permit was lower (38%) than the other groups, while Public Administration considered it higher (79%) than the other groups. These continuing difficulties in obtaining a permit are consistent with the leaked 2015 FLEGT Independent Auditor report, which highlighted numerous problems with the documentation associated with various logging titles.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to a reduction in the volume of illegal timber on Cameroon's domestic market. Whereas before the volume of illegal timber was said to have been 68%, it had declined to 61% at the time of research.Respondent group Others considered it at the highest level (69%) and Public Administration the lowest (57%). During discussion, lack of enforcement was cited as a key reason for such high current availability of illegal timber. While respondents mostly thought there was a very weak demand for legal wood on the domestic market, weak demand and high demand both received 17%. This highlights the disparity of opinions among groups. Among respondent groups, the Artisanal Private Sector thought there remained a very high demand. The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to a reduction in the volume of illegal timber on Cameroon's export market. Illegal wood was still considered to make up 41% of the export market, a reduction from 52% before VPA ratification. At one end, Artisanal Private Sector respondents thought 47% of exported timber was still illegal, while at the other Public Administration considered 28% was illegal. The literature points to the continuing difficulty in adopting a functioning TLAS and delivering FLEGT licences, as well as lack of progress in the verification process, as the main reasons that may explain these results (section 1.3.4).On average, the VPA was considered to have contributed moderately to providing civil society with a greater role in controlling legality and helping to identify irregularities. However, Artisanal Private Sector respondents thought the VPA had only a slight contribution to this effect. Respondents thought that civil society's role had changed from being weak before the VPA to relatively important.Respondent group Civil Society considered, at the time of responding, that civil society played the most important role, whereas Artisanal Private Sector and Others groups thought that civil society played a lesser role.The chart (Figure 17) outlines that discussions and activities towards adoption and implementation of a TLAS have had the most effect on civil society's capacity. This is in line with the EU FLEGT Evaluation (2016), which argued that civil society had become an indispensable tool for verifying legality, despite legality verification itself not being fully operational (EFI 2018).Despite a decrease in illegal timber logging outlined in section 3.2.1, the VPA was considered to have had no effect on reducing deforestation in Cameroon; respondent group Others considered the VPA to have had the least effect. This is not surprising given the growing body of literature indicating that shifting cultivation is the major contributor to deforestation in the Congo basin. Yet, forest degradation, to which logging contributes (especially when operations The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to better implementation of forest management plans in Cameroon. At the time of being asked, respondents thought that forest management plans were moderately implemented, improving since VPA ratification. There were significant differences between groups, with Artisanal Private Sector estimating the level of implementation of forest management plans to have been weaker than Civil Society and Others did. The Artisanal Private Sector group also thought that evolution in the level of implementation of forest management plans since VPA ratification was lower than Civil Society did. This is consistent with some literature. TEREA (2016) suggests that forest conversion to agroindustrial plantations was increasing, although forest management plans were not always fully implemented in forest concessions.Some reservations were expressed during discussion.One respondent spoke of a new company that took over from a previous one's concession. The previous company had a forest management plan issued by the MINFOF, but the department did not check regularly whether the new company was abiding by conditions of the plan. There was said to be no factfinding into the condition of the newly granted forest. This could potentially lead to further degradation of the forest if the new company was not mandated to adopt a modified management plan based on existing conditions of the forest.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to an increase in consultation of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Before the VPA, consultation was considered to have been weak; it increased to moderate after the VPA. Respondent group answers varied, however: Public Administration and Civil Society attributed the highest levels of VPA contribution, while the Artisanal Private Sector considered there to have been no VPA effect. Moreover, the Artisanal Private Sector considered the level of consultation of local communities and Indigenous Peoples to be weaker than the three other groups and its evolution since VPA ratification to be lower than Civil Society did.The literature points to the importance of the inclusion of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Tegenge et al. (2016) considers such inclusion essential for achieving effective and sustainable VPA implementation. Indeed, increasing and growing participation of civil society organizations, private sector and communities on forest governance is seen as the major impact of the Cameroon VPA process (TEREA 2016). In 2014, however, EFI indicated the move from negotiation to implementation led to some lost momentum in stakeholder engagement: no formal meeting to discuss VPA implementation took place until after VPA initialization.Similarly, the VPA was also considered to have contributed slightly to more consideration of the Consideration of the opinions of local communities and Indigenous Peoples in decision making increased from \"very weak\" before the VPA to \"weak\" after it. Artisanal Private Sector respondents thought the VPA had no effect on the positive change, and also gave overall lower scores than did Civil Society.Again, Artisanal Private Sector was the only group that thought the VPA had no effect on the positive change. However, the VPA was considered to have had no effect in contributing to more recognition of the property rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Nor was it considered to have had any effect in contributing to the status of women, youth and marginalized groups in questions related to forest management and logging. On status, Civil Society considered the VPA to have had a slight positive impact.Peoples. Before VPA ratification and at the time of responding, it was considered that only a small part of the Redevance Forestière Annuelle (RFA) expected to be redistributed from Councils to local communities and Indigenous Peoples had effectively reached the intended recipients. Of all groups, Artisanal Private Sector thought the VPA had the least effect on redistribution. These results corroborate much of the literature. They indicate the biggest failure with the RFA redistribution system is that most recipient Councils siphon off amounts received instead of using them for their intended purposes, i.e., local development projects.Indeed, during discussion and in line with recent changes in the legal framework, the RFA share was said to have increased for municipalities. However, how and whether it reached local communities were difficult to check.Discussions on the redistribution of the RFA (i.e., the only forest-related revenue legally mandated to be partly redistributed) led to further comments on the general topics of redistribution, forest taxation and illegal logging. The main argument linking these topics, as outlined by one respondent, is about communities' incentives to act against illegal logging. As the argument goes, an operator may cut forest portions illegally and the community will denounce it. In these cases, the wood would possibly be seized through sanction. This wood can then be resold at auction and possibly bought by the very operator who cut it down illegally in the first place. The communities receive no revenue because taxes on illegal timber are not returned to the populations. The question thus remains: what incentive is left for the community to work against illegal logging?Very much linked to the result above, 64% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that tax revenues from the timber sector contributed to improved well-being of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, in a more important way than before VPA ratification. This finding is consistent with the literature, which argues that redistribution mechanisms have not been effective in reducing poverty (Cerutti et al. 2016).The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to an increase in the number of hectares exploited with a private certification system delivered by a third-party, independent institution (e.g. OrigineLégale du Bois, or OLB). Conversely, half (51%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the process of obtaining a certificate of legality -as mandated by the MINFOF for companies preparing to obtain the future FLEGT licences -had introduced • 41% of respondents considered SME numbers to have increased since 2011 and 40% thought the number of jobs (formal and informal) in the forestry sector had increased slightly since VPA ratification.The VPA is considered to have had no effect in squeezing some SMEs out of business, nor to contributing to further disruption in the timber sector.• SMEs have better publicly available information about the requirements and verification of legality, and the information was found to strongly meet their needs; their opinions were being considered more frequently.The private forest sector and workers in the forest sector were better organized and had better expertise than before VPA ratification. The curricula of training institutions now better integrated subjects related to legality and sustainable management of forests.• The VPA was considered to have had no effect on helping improve access to the export market for SMEs. SMEs still paid 45% of their operating costs as informal taxes, and the legal harvesting of timber remained hampered by restrictive technical and financial terms.• This high level of informal taxation coincides with the perception that a strong amount of taxes (the term was left open) was being levied from the forestry sector.new formal and informal taxes. As expected, respondents from Public Administration strongly disagreed that obtaining a certificate of legality from MINFOF did not introduce new formal and informal taxes.A large majority of respondents considered the number of SMEs had increased since VPA ratification.To date, the VPA was considered to have had no effect on squeezing some SMEs out of business. This finding is not inconsistent with the literature (section 2.1.1), suggesting the VPA may lead to a decrease in the number of SMEs because of complex procedures and substantial costs associated with legality requirements. This is because while the number of SMEs may have increased since 2011, a fully functional TLAS requiring registration and tracking of their operations is still missing. This finding, and the fact that SMEs concentrate most of their activities in the nPFD, may also be related to the perceived increase of illegal logging in the latter, as reported above, especially from respondent group Others.The VPA did not contribute to more disruption in the timber sector, and about 67% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the private forest sector in Cameroon was better organized than before VPA ratification. 10 These two separated results are presented together because they may be related. The first result may seem inconsistent with the literature, suggesting the VPA may marginalize smallholders while causing further expansion and power concentration of the already dominant large industrial companies (section 2.1.4). However, the second result may be one natural response developing alongside the threat of (perceived or actual) disruption. In both cases, the respondents might have considered there was no effect because of the slow progress in VPA implementation and low levels of law enforcement.10 60% of respondents also agree or strongly agree that workers in the forestry sector were better organized since VPA ratification. The aggregate effect (showing in the two results combined) may be that members of the private sector have already started responding to expected changes. Consequently, they have improved their preparations for conditions that will become reality once FLEGT licences can be delivered. This seems to confirm the hypothesis of Carodenuto and Cerutti (2014) who suggested that VPA implementation would lead to better organization of the market (section 2.1.2).The VPA was also considered to have contributed slightly to better consideration of the opinion of SMEs and also to slightly better recognition of SME associations in the forestry sector. At the time of answering, however, respondents thought the opinion of SMEs was weakly considered when decisions were made concerning the forestry sector; they considered it was very weakly taken into account before VPA ratification. This result seems to confirm the hypothesis of Carodenuto and Cerutti (2014) who suggested that VPA implementation could strengthen local actor networks and their political power (section 2.1.2). Artisanal Private Sector respondents considered the evolution in the consideration of SMEs' opinion since VPA ratification to be lower than Civil Society and Others did.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to making information more readily available that enabled SMEs to conduct their activities legally. Moreover, most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that information made public about the requirements and verification of legality met the needs of SMEs. This seems to be consistent with the literature (section 2.2.2). FAO (2017) found much effort has been made to improve access to forest-related information. This is the case even though information is sometimes incomplete, and many actors still relied on informal channels for access to information (EFI 2018). Further, during discussion, it was said that many actors did not know where the documents/ manuals were, or that some documents were not made available for some actors.Likewise, the VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to improving the technical capacity of SMEs to conduct their activities legally. However, a substantial share of respondents agreed and strongly agreed that for SMEs, restrictive technical and financial terms hampered the legal harvesting of timber. This confirms research in the literature that suggests mainly that SMEs do not have the technical and financial capacities to comply with legal requirements. Most respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that SMEs in the forestry sector had reduced their impact on the environment since VPA ratification. Group Others disagreed the most.It is difficult to disentangle various concurrent effects. However, the results above and discussions with respondents seem to speak to a narrative indicating that SMEs would like a functioning VPA to increase access to exports. This is especially true for SMEs using logging titles and authorizations that allow for exportation, such as Community Forests. However, this is not yet the case, and the VPA was considered to have had no effect on helping to improve access to the export market for SMEs.This confirms the hypothesis in the literature that SMEs would be unlikely to invest in their own labour and capital in reaching out to new markets until TLAS, an improved legal framework for SMEs, and the ability for SMEs to engage in them are in place (section 2.1.3). In fact, when asked about the primary markets for SMEs before and after VPA ratification, respondents indicated that domestic and regional markets and the Asian market had increased. 11 Coherent official statistics do not exist on the subject. However, these perceptions may reflect, as highlighted during discussions, that the VPA has complicated exports to the EU for SMEs. In this way, it has diverted exports to 'less difficult' markets, notably China.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to a more efficient collection of taxes by the state in the forestry sector. While respondents thought a moderate amount of taxes was levied in the forestry sector before VPA ratification, they considered that a strong amount of taxes was levied at the time of responding. Of respondent groups, Public Administration and Civil Society thought that more taxes were being collected, although Civil Society respondents considered there to have been no VPA effect. There was limited information in the literature related to the efficiency of tax collection in the forest sector (section 2.2.5).The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to the reduction in costs faced by SMEs paid as 11 Domestic market from 57% to 62%, the regional market from 5% to 10% and the Asian market from 10% to 14%. In addition to the results shown above with focus on SMEs, the VPA was considered to have had a slight increase in jobs on the labour market overall. In all, 40% of respondents thought the number of jobs (formal and informal) in the forest sector had increased slightly since VPA ratification. More businesses and new types of jobs were considered to be the main reasons for the increase in the number of jobs in the forestry sector. Further, the VPA was considered to have slightly contributed to improving working conditions in the forestry sector. Almost half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that workers in the forestry sector had access to more secure jobs than before VPA ratification.There were few data on job creation in the literature. However, this result is consistent with others, notably those indicating an increase of SME operations in the nPFD and a diversification of jobs in the industrial sector.During discussion, some respondents noted there were more jobs, which had been created by a growing demand for wood rather than the VPA. Others said SMEs that had accelerated their illegal activities were driving informal employment because they would be unable to operate once the VPA became operational. Still other respondents pointed to the closure or reduced activity of many industrial companies (with a concurrent reduced number of FSC certificates), which contributed to generating more informal jobs. Most (44%) respondents thought that forestry sector employment opportunities developed for local communities and Indigenous Peoples had increased slightly since VPA ratification. Further, half of respondents thought that forestry sector employment opportunities developed for women, youth and the marginalized had not changed since VPA ratification. According to the main hypothesis in the literature, VPA implementation may threaten the jobs of local communities and Indigenous Peoples because of their difficulties in meeting the costs of verifying legality (section 3.1). Once again, the low level of law enforcement and of VPA progress in Cameroon may explain why this hypothesis is not verified with the collected data.Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that workers in the forestry sector had better expertise than before VPA ratification. They also agreed or strongly agreed that the curricula of training institutions now better integrated subjects related to the legality and the sustainable management of forests than before VPA ratification.These results seem to be in line with the literature as VPA implementation is expected to lead to improved competency and professionalism (section 3.2).During discussion, it was noted that some teachers had been trained (National School of Ebolowa), and that two new Master's programmes in forest governance were opening at the University of Tschang. Overall, respondents thought awareness had increased across all sectors of society about the consequences of poor forest management in the forestry sector as compared to the period before VPA ratification. There was less agreement among respondents about such an increase of awareness in the Artisanal Private Sector and Indigenous or local communities' groups.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to better coherence of the legal and regulatory framework of the forestry sector in Cameroon.Moreover, the VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to helping make the government more accountable for its actions in the forestry sector. The Artisanal Private Sector considered the VPA had contributed moderately to helping make the government more accountable.Respondents considered the VPA had contributed moderately to better consideration of the views of civil society when making decisions related to the forestry sector. The consideration of those views increased from weak to moderate after VPA ratification. Public Administration respondents thought that civil society's opinion was considered more than the Artisanal Private Sector did. The VPA had contributed moderately to better considering the views of civil society when making decisions related to the forestry sector.• 75% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that civil society in Cameroon was better organized than before VPA ratification.• 62% of respondents strongly agreed that the work of independent observation contributed more to the reduced acts of corruption in the forestry sector than before VPA ratification.• Since VPA ratification, the level of autonomy of civil society in its role as an independent observer in the forestry sector and the level of independent observation were considered to have increased, and information made public was considered to be more relevant.The VPA had contributed slightly to more enforcement of sanctions as outlined in the law and to helping slightly to make sanctions more credible.• While not directly relatable to the VPA, an increase in enforcement of sanctions and transparency since VPA ratification from \"weak\" to \"moderate\" was observed.The VPA process was closely linked to giving a positive image of Cameroon and to helping the country be considered as a more reliable business partner.• 43% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that bureaucracy related to the VPA process had created new opportunities for corruption, and 78% thought that an overall high level of corruption was the key reason why laws and regulations were poorly or not at all enforced in the forestry sector.  Sector. This is consistent with the literature. EFI reports suggest some progress offset by weak implementation of transparency provisions in Cameroon's Forest laws (1994; 1996); the range of information available in the public domain is also limited. Linked to the above point around access to information, one respondent in the discussion indicated that, to date, transparency was good but that actors did not know how to use information when it became available.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to a greater degree of autonomy of civil society in its role as an independent observer in the forestry sector. Before the VPA, the level of autonomy was considered weak. However, since ratification, and when asked, it was considered to have been moderate. Civil Society respondents considered the level of autonomy of civil society in its role as an independent observer in the forestry sector and its evolution to be higher than Artisanal Private Sector respondents did.Moreover, the VPA was considered to have slightly contributed to more effective independent observation (carried out by civil society) of the forestry sector. Civil Society respondents considered the VPA to have had the largest contribution. At the time of responding, the level of independent observation was considered to have been moderate, while before VPA ratification it was weak. This confirms findings in the literature that suggest independent forest monitoring exists, but that it is not formally recognised by the government. Furthermore, the literature suggests this monitoring is sometimes inadequate due to unavailable documentation and difficulty in the correct application of legal texts.Further, most (62%) respondents still agreed or strongly agreed that the work of independent observation contributed more to the reduction of acts of corruption in the forestry sector than before VPA ratification.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to more enforcement of sanctions as outlined in the law. Before VPA ratification, it was considered to have been weak. However, at the time of responding and since ratification, it was considered to have been moderate.Moreover, the VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to helping make sanctions more credible. This confirms what is suggested in the literature, where the role of MINFOF in audits, sanctions, fines, suspended licences and warnings had increased after the creation of the Standardised External Independent Monitoring System (SNOIE). If sanctioned, the guilty operator could be suspended, have their seized products auctioned, or be forced to repay several million francs to the state (EFI). This must be placed against the ongoing high levels of wood perceived to be illegal on the domestic market, however (see section 3.2.1). As outlined by one participant during discussion, the gain of illegal forestry practices could often be far superior to the value of any sanction. Moreover, this sanction could be negotiated; the process of arriving at the final figure could be opaque; and the incentive of stopping illegal activities could be low.Most (78%) respondents thought that an overall high level of corruption was the key reason why laws and regulations were poorly or not at all enforced in the During discussion, the example of the UN's Rapid Response Initiative, with a 100-day taskforce, was brought up. This initiative offered financial incentives to police and forest officers to denounce and sanction forestry fraud. This worked very well, but agents were again asking for 'envelopes' after the programme ended. The effect of this kind of measure was outlined to be unsustainable, requiring a more permanent solution imposed from the top.The VPA was considered to have contributed slightly to improving political will to fight corruption in the forestry sector. No change was believed to have been experienced before and after VPA ratification, a moderate political will being outlined by respondents in both cases. Of the four groups, Public Administration considered there to be the strongest political will.Opinions on the creation of new opportunities for corruption of bureaucracy related to the VPA process were diverse. Almost half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that bureaucracy related to the VPA process created new opportunities for corruption, 44% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing, with Public Administration doing so the most. Carodenuto and Cerutti (2014) suggested that additional controls and papers related to VPA requirements lead to burdensome procedures. This, in turn, might bring more opportunities to collect bribes. This theory seems to be partially confirmed, although a functioning TLAS is still not in place and thus the hypothesis cannot be proved yet.Responses on progress in reducing the level of corruption in the forestry sector were also divergent. Just over half (51%) of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that the level of corruption in the forestry sector decreased more than in other sectors since VPA ratification. On this question, respondent groups Artisanal Private Sector and Others disagreed the most. As one respondent cautioned during discussion, respect for legality in the VPA process could lead to additional expenses related to informal payments. This participant suggested the VPA had unintentionally led to increased corruption related to the rapid acquisition of documents, hence contributing to an ecosystem conducive to corruption. Responses on political will to give importance to forest sector development compared to other sectors to contribute to country development were divergent as well. Half of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement and almost another half agreed or strongly agreed. Indeed, one respondent outlined the Mining Code reform process had borrowed the VPA participatory approach to explain the nature of a large decision-making process to its stakeholders.During the study, questions duplicated those asked by the FERN study of 2016. This earlier study had adapted a methodology from guidelines established in the FAO-PROFOR Framework for assessing and monitoring forest governance (2011). In so doing, it sought to validate and/or understand differences in answers three years after the study took place. The questions addressed accountability, government co-ordination, participation, capacity, transparency and legal framework/justice using a scale of 0 (extremely poor, non-existent) to 5 (very good) based against a corresponding statement that respondents thought best matched the situation in Cameroon. FERN compared results from a baseline score assigned by combining respondents' input against available corroborating data to another created for the situation in 2016.As outlined in Table 3 and Figure 49, when results are compared, they are largely consistent. We observed a decrease in accountability; the answer of \"channels for reporting infractions and corruption exist, and are being used, but results are not timely and followup action is rare/non-existent\" was provided during this study. We also observed a slight decrease in Government Coordination, although the answer of \"Information sharing does happen and there is some coordination between national and forest policies, but in practice different agencies regularly work in silos\" still applied.We also observed increases since 2016 in Participation where the answer \"they collaborate with government bodies\" was now seen as the most relevant, and also very slightly relevant in Capacity.     Financed by the European Union and led by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), GML is a five-year project implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa that aims to address key knowledge, technical and policy gaps related to the global impacts of the FLEGT Action Plan, as well as forest and land governance, trade in informal and legal timber products, deforestationrelated commodity-based agribusiness, woodfuel and ultimately sustainable forest and land-use management and improvement of livelihoods.Governing Multifunctional Landscapes","tokenCount":"8867"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2235148633.json b/data/part_1/2235148633.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..caf9f5a3c96efb27b564f617849d76abfc6400a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2235148633.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4edb049ea34c5b9c913cbe50bdf56d8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6df8a47f-e5ec-4975-a647-4ad17c0d13cc/content","id":"1168921948"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"30070640-949e-41cc-96dc-1a4f679d1a93","pagecount":"2","content":"Location and context specific appropriate information is one of the primary requisite to enhance resilience and build a climate smart farming community.ICT based agroclimatic services one of the major component to build capacity and selfreliance.BISA-CIMMYT is disseminating agroclimate ICT services to 30,000 tribal farmers in Maharashtra state of India to enhance resilience and maintain sustainable productivity.Coping with climatic uncertainties with ICT services THE CHALLENGE Albeit ICT services are preparing them for adverse climatic conditions, literacy and lack of proper interpretation of delivered information laying some limitations. Constrains related to infrastructure, e.g. network coverage was also reported by the farmers.THE IMPACTS ICT based agro-climatic advisories proven to be effective as many farmers are managing their farms with the inputs from this services.An example of their reliance on this service is average listening duration (ALD) of automated voice services. The delayed monsoon in 2019 and mid-season irregularities triggered farmers to listen to this service more than average.Along with agro-climatic advisories, market related information and different govt. programs and schemes related to agriculture are also being disseminated. Coping with climatic uncertainties with ICT services Primarily relied on agriculture, the tribal community often faces severe crop losses. This agro-climatic information is helping them to take timely decision such as sowing and became essential service to them. ","tokenCount":"212"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2263140222.json b/data/part_1/2263140222.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..38702aadb0fdf8940c26a763cab22fa232e4017b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2263140222.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cac6119522fc5a4832c712a89ce82aa1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a49e9174-ecbc-4084-bea3-702cab56be4c/retrieve","id":"-412383159"},"keywords":["Itmayperhapsbearchaictotalkaboutold","traditionalweatherforecastingwhenthemodernworldhasmovedontoweather satellites.However","inmanycountries","particularlydevelopingcountries","modernweatherforecastsareeitherwrong","post-fact orhavenousetofarmers","andcannotbeutilizedwhenplanningfortheircroppingseasons.Theopinionpieceontraditional weatherforecastingstatesthatnaturalindicatorsarebestsuitedinsuchinstancesastheycanpredictandprovidevaluable informationforfoodproduction.RanjithAriyaratne","BenchmarkBasinCoordinatoratIWMI","assertsthatthisknowledge","gained overmillennia","shouldbepassedontonewgenerationsthroughschoolcurricula.Thearticle","Urban agriculture gets policy-level support in Sri Lanka's Western Province","makesavitalpointthathomegardensinurban/peri-urbanareascouldbethemeans togrowingthemuch-neededfoodtofeedrapidlyexpandingurbanpopulations","thesuccessofwhichhasalreadyconvinced policymakerstoaddressitspotential. Onafinalnote","IWMIispleasedtosupporttheSouthAsiaRegionalCenterforRainwaterHarvesting(SARCRH)","whoseofficeis locatedatthepremisesoftheheadquartersofIWMIinColombo.SouthAsiawillundoubtedlybenefitfromtheworkcarriedout bythisregionalofficeinalleviatingtheregion'swaterwoes Carolyn Fry","Consultant to IWMI"],"sieverID":"a62c02a4-6502-400b-b772-752bf8d37d7e","pagecount":"11","content":"IspentaninterestingeveningattheOpenAirTheatreinViharamahadeviParkinMarch,watchingthelaunchofthe'Ripples on Water'campaign.TheInternationalWaterManagementInstitute(IWMI)tookaninnovativeapproachinraisingawarenesson waterissueswiththiscampaign,whichcreativelycombinesart,scienceanddevelopmentinamannerthatengagesaudiences tounderstandtheimportanceofmanagingwaterbetter.Thiswasthefirstphaseofthecampaign,whichwaslaunchedwithalightshowandcontemporarywaterdanceperformanceby SriLankancontemporarydancecompany,nATANDA.'Ripples on Water'aimsatputtingwaterontheglobalagendabytaking thecampaigntomanyothercountriesaroundtheworld.Manypeoplebelievethatthere'splentyofwaterinSriLankaandsothere'snorealproblem.Butthefactsspeakforthemselves. Droughts have been responsible for a third of all crop losses over the past three decades. Even today, over 85% of rural householdsandaquarterofurbanhouseholdslackaccesstocleanwater.Althoughthiscountrydoeshavewater,itisdistributed unevenlyandseasonally.Astheeconomyimproves,morestressisbeingplacedonwaterresourcesandreserves.Betterwater managementcould,forinstance,doubleirrigationefficiency,andrevivingthetanksystemwillgivemorefarmersaccesstowater andalsoprovidevaluablewaterforwildlifeandtheenvironment. This is where the importance of research comes in, in identifying these areas of concern and in suggesting sustainable intensificationofuse.SeveralarticlesinthisissueofWater Mattersalsohighlightthisneedforsustainableintensificationofuseinviewofthemajor challengesthattheexploitationofgroundwaterpresents.'Counting farm wells in northern Sri Lanka',speaksabouttrackingthe increasingnumberofwellsthatarepumpinggroundwater,whichcouldbeonewayofkeepingtrackofoverexploitation.The criticalissueofsustaininggroundwaterqualityinJaffna,asresearchedbySutharsinyArasalingam,isaddressedinAssessing salinity levels to help protect Jaffna's water which advocates that steps should be taken to increase rainwater recharge to undergroundresourcesandtoconservefreshwateruse.TheworkcarriedoutbyMadarSamadetal.,explainedinWells and cells invigorate village agriculture,outlinesaninterestinginstanceofhownewtechnologywokeupasleepingtankcommunityto thevastpossibilitiesthatproductivelyharnessedgroundwaterbrings,butcautionsthatactiveinterventionsbytheauthoritiesis necessarytoavoidaccessdisparitiesandensuresecurityofproduction.Walk into the house of Mr. Amarapala in Galenbindunuwewa, a small village close to Medawachchiya, and you are met by an extraordinary sight: a carpet of shiny purple onions. House-brick stepping stones peek out of the onion layer to allow the family to hop in and out. Mr. Amarapala is a farmer with less than half a hectare of land area. But by using groundwater, pumped from a newly-dug open well, he has successfully been able to boost his production of onions and other high-value vegetables. He now has so much surplus that he has nowhere to store it other than on the floor of his house. How did this happen? Much of the rural population around Anuradhapura and Medawachchiya, in the heart of Sri Lanka's dry zone, are dependent on small tank irrigation for their livelihoods. Every village usually has one or two tanks that are part of a larger cascade. Traditionally, the tank system sustained not only a sizeable area of paddy, but also provided water for domestic needs, livestock and fishing. Water seeping from the tank also supported home gardens by keeping the soil moist. Community members cooperated with each other to ensure that there was a fair share of water for all.Then in the 1980s things began to change. The wide availability of cheap diesel and petrol pumps gave farmers a new option. They could now sink their own wells and pump groundwater. This meant that they could get as much water as they wanted, whenever they wanted. More profitable vegetables could then be grown on a much wider area of land. New road links to Sri Lanka's urban centers also opened up new markets, turning subsistence farmers into commercial market gardeners.A further innovation accelerated the transformation: mobile phones. As farmers got connected, they could check the market process on a daily basis and carefully choose when to sell to wholesalers to maximize their profits. Sales to wholesalers in the area rocketed from 5% of total output in the 1990s to around 85% today.The combined effects were remarkable. From the late 1990s, the number of wells in Galenbindunuwewa village increased by 93%, to around 117 today. Farm incomes have also risen, on average, by two and half times.All of this has been good news for local people. School enrolments have increased. Housing and health are also improving. So far, there has been no serious depletion of groundwater as regular rainfall has consistently recharged local aquifers.However, there is a catch: the benefits of this groundwater boom have not been shared equally. Essentially, access to land has meant access to water. As a result, the landless and more marginalized members of the community have not benefitted to the same degree as more wealthy farmers. There has also been increased encroachment on state land and enclosure of common property, depriving poorer households of easy access to shared land.The revival of traditional practices and customs are often proposed as a solution to contemporary problems of agriculture under small tank systems. The case study, conducted by Madar Samad, K. Jinapala and B. R. Ariyaratne, argues that such an uncritical approach is too simplistic. The present conditions in the villages are markedly different from their historical setting. The experience of Galenbindunuwewa demonstrates that there is enough water in Sri Lanka to grow all the food needed to meet growing demand. But unless we take an equitable overview of water, land, technology and infrastructure, we may not be able to guarantee food security for all of the island's people.First, it clearly demonstrates just what a valuable resource groundwater is. Provided underground aquifers are used sustainably, they have the potential to support a substantial expansion of agriculture. Overexploitation of aquifers can, of course, create huge problems. However, as long as a balanced and locally tailored approach is taken, groundwater can be a lasting farm-based solution to crop irrigation. It also raises some important issues for the future food security of Sri Lanka and other parts of South Asia. Food security, after all, is not simply the ability to grow enough food. It is also about ensuring that all members of society have access to affordable nutritional value. It is a challenge we would do well to remember.water-related matters, and it was decided to establish a SARCRH secretariat in Sri Lanka. This decision was ratified by a declaration at the 15 th SAARC summit held in Colombo in 2008, which emphasized the need to build capacity and promote research on rainwater harvesting to combat future water scarcity predicted in the region.Rainwater harvesting in Sri Lanka has increased substantially during recent years, with an estimated 30,000 systems now in operation island-wide. The technology has proved to be a boon to rural people, particularly for domestic water supplies in water-scarce situations.Sri Lanka has a National Policy on Rain Water Harvesting, in support of rainwater harvesting technologies for providing water to the people.The South Asia Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (SARCSA) set up its South Asia Regional Center for Rainwater Harvesting (SARCRH) on the premises of the headquarters of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in November, 2011. Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister for Water Supply & Drainage, was the chief guest at the inauguration.The setting up of the secretariat was a result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with IWMI, to support the rainwater harvesting technology and activities of SARCSA in the South Asian region.In September 2006, the Sri Lanka Government hosted a regional forum on \"Rain Water Harvesting,\" attended by ministers from nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) who are responsible forTraders at the Dambulla market.Minister of Water Supply & Drainage (WS&D) cuts the ceremonial ribbon at the inauguration of the SARCRH office.Lighting of the traditional oil lamp at the opening ceremony. Squeezed between the houses, roads and shops of Sri Lanka's urban sprawls, poor families have long grown their own food on small plots. These 'micro-farms' play an important role: providing cheap, fresh produce to poor and middleincome households. This makes an invaluable contribution to better nutrition and family health. The proximity of vegetable gardens to highly populated areas also has a further benefit: enterprising growers play an important role in recycling organic waste for use as plant fertilizer.The city of Gampaha in Sri Lanka's Western Province was typical in this regard. It is one of the country's fastest growing urban centers, and poverty levels are rising. Many hundreds of households grow produce inside the city boundaries, but little attempt was made to increase production or to market surpluses of food.To improve matters, the Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), a South Asian network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), in partnership with researchers from IWMI, introduced the 'From Seed to Table ' (FStT) program to the Gampaha District to improve the livelihoods of the urban poor and other marginalized smallholder farmers. The hope was that ultimately a citywide strategy could be developed to support urban farming systems. The international NGO, Practical Action, provided technical assistance on the ground.But few urban farmers manage to grow enough to be able to profitably sell a surplus. Productivity of urban plots is often low. A shortage of land tends to constrain further expansion. Unlike rural farmers, urban growers enjoy few support services such as those provided by micro-credit agencies and marketing cooperatives. City councils and other state institutions often fail to recognize the importance of urban gardening, or to develop policies to support it. Some growers have diversified to making chutneys, pickles and pastes.A family works in their home garden.An enterprising anthuriam grower.Traditional forecasting is still practicabWe were on a field trip to the scrub jungles of Siyambalanduwa in the Moneragala District and encountered Karunadasa, a farmer. His family had been cultivating paddy near the Karakolagaspitiya Wewa, a small village tank, for generations. His weather-beaten face creased with concentration as he was busy preparing his land for sowing. \"We must hurry,\" he explained, \"the divul trees are heavy with fruit, so the rains will be upon us soon, to replenish the tank.\" A first step would be to talk to rural folk to collect as much indigenous knowledge about our plants and animals as possible. This is urgent. Younger farmers are already losing these precious insights. We could then try to match this data with our scientific knowledge of the climate to see how it corresponds.We believe that this knowledge base should be revitalized starting with the very young, who can be taught to observe these natural phenomena in their surroundings and to use them to their advantage. Both physical and biological indicators have been used to describe and predict the climate. For instance, the full moon, the color and position of clouds, the direction of the wind gauged by cloud movements, all foretold monsoonal air flows. Night temperatures, their degree, season and duration of occurrence also predicted the incidence of rain. This instruction should begin with children of every age, starting from playschool. At a very young age they can be taught to identify the parts of plants and insects and weather patterns. At higher grades they could learn to review this data and to add some qualitative information based on time frames and measurements of diverse natural activities. This education will equip children to gain an in-depth understanding of the natural world and, who knows, by the time they leave school it may even have inspired them to take up this study as a worthwhile hobby or profession that spans a lifetime. As a first step, the program got together with the relevant provincial and city authorities to develop a coordinating agency: the 'Urban Green Force'. Project workers then identified team leaders in areas with multiple gardens. A farmers' company was set up to manage micro-loans through a revolving fund and provide expertize in bookkeeping. Using the team leaders as local advocates, over 100 farmer families joined the company hoping to improve their yields and incomes. RUAF provided training on packaging and marketing for products like polos and kos (two types of fruit common to the area), so that they could be sold on to supermarket wholesalers. Simple roadside shops and stalls, at which company members could sell their produce, were also established. Some members even diversified into making chutneys, pickles and pastes which could be sold at a premium. Women were often the most keen to make the most of the new opportunities.The poor often have to endure unreliable mains water supply and other options can be equally problematic. There is little room for rainwater storage, for instance, and groundwater can be heavily polluted. Accordingly, IWMI researchers working with RUAF provided advice on how best to use local water resources, including the efficient and safe recycling of domestic wastewater.\"We had been growing vegetables in a very small way, at home, just for our families,\" says Sudharma, a local grower. \"The project helped us to be more enterprising. Joining the farmer company gave us reassurance that we were part of a larger group, so we had the courage to face whatever comes -even failure. Now we are growing extra produce, for sale.\"The program also introduced the 'home garden' concept to the Gampaha Hospital. Not only did the produce grown benefit patients by improving the nutritional value of meals, but the garden also became an open-air classroom. Staff from the provincial Ministry of Agriculture set up 'crop clinics' and a plant hospital, which functioned as a center for resolving issues related to cropping.Impressed by the project, the provincial Minister for Agriculture recommended that it be expanded to other cities and towns. On his advice, the Provincial Council agreed to include urban agriculture in the Western Province's official development strategy for the first time. Now national policymakers are also taking notice.Policies on urban agriculture are now proposed for inclusion in Sri Lanka's national strategy for food production.<< continued from page 5 Photo Credit: Kannan Arunasalam The farmer company monthly meeting.Outside of the rainy season, the population of the Jaffna Peninsula depends almost entirely on underground aquifers for its water. Chunnakam is the main limestone aquifer on the peninsula, and protecting the quality and quantity of water in this resource is, therefore, vital for Jaffna's future.  Groundwater samples were collected from 44 wells used for a range of different purposes including domestic use, domestic with home gardens, public wells and farm wells.Out of the tested wells, only one public well was found to be above the maximum permitted salt level for drinking water (as set by the Sri Lankan Government) throughout the year. Three wells used for domestic purposes and for home gardens exceeded the maximum permissible level during certain months of the year. All farm wells, except one, were found to be acceptable throughout the year, although there were variations in electrical conductivity over this period. The five wells with severe salinity problems are located near the coastal areas in the Jaffna Peninsula, so their high salinity is likely to have been due to the presence of seawater. Higher salinity was clearly shown to be more common closer to the coast, and decreasing inland.\"The lessons for Jaffna are clear,\" says Dr. Manthrithilake, \"When groundwater is overexploited, saline water encroaches the underground reservoir because recharge from the rainfall is less than the extraction from wells. Hence, steps should be taken to increase the rainwater recharge to the underground resources and conserve the use of freshwater. Increased storage of rainwater above ground would also lessen the demands on the well water.\"Photo Credit: Sutharsiny Arasalingam Measuring salinity by assessing the electrical conductivity of water.Diagram shows the encroachment of saltwater into an underground freshwater reservoir due to overexploitation of groundwater.Groundwater use is increasing across South Asia at a dramatic rate. Cheap pumps and low energy costs have made extraction of groundwater an attractive proposition to many farmers. However, overexploitation of groundwater resources can create severe environmental problems. In Sri Lanka, wells are proliferating in many areas but nobody really knows just how many there are.To better understand the potential impacts of this trend, geographic information system (GIS)/remote sensing (RS) experts at IWMI are using remote sensing to analyze changes in the number of wells in northern Sri Lanka. The five-month study focussed on three agricultural areas lying in the dry zone of the country: Kalpitiya in the west, Anuradhapura in the center and Jaffna in the north. \"In the last few years, the number of agricultural wells in these areas has increased drastically,\" explained Salman Siddiqui, Manager of the GIS/RS/Data Management Unit at IWMI. \"However, there wasn't much data available on this because these areas, particularly Jaffna, were affected by the recent civil war. According to a rough estimate, there may be as many as 100,000 wells in Jaffna alone -that is one every 100 meters or so.\" \"If too many new wells have been dug this could have serious consequences on the quality of groundwater,\" says Salman. \"Lower groundwater levels can lead to increasing problems of salinity as it encourages seawater intrusion. Ultimately, this can permanently damage the shallow freshwater aquifer, which makes the water useless for agriculture or drinking purposes.\"The scientists acquired 0.5-m resolution satellite imagery from the IKONOS and QuickBird satellites to home in on one 'Divisional Secretariat' (an administrative subunit) in each district. They then analyzed the satellite images from the years 2003 and 2010 to see how the number of wells has changed over this time in each area.\"We found an increase in the number of wells of just over 37% between 2003 and2009 in Valikamam South Divisional Secretariat. At the same time, the area used for agriculture only increased by around 6%,\" says Salman. \"Next, we want to clarify the relationships between the number of wells and farm production or yields.\"\"For instance, there are several possible reasons why the number of wells may be increasingland fragmentation, new land coming into production and the replacement of old, dried up wells.Similarly, yields may increase if a well provides more regular irrigation or if farmers use better seed, new technology or fertilizer. Rainfall patterns may also make a difference. As we collect more data and understand the picture more completely, we will be better able to sustainably manage groundwater use,\" says Salman. ","tokenCount":"2788"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2265263892.json b/data/part_1/2265263892.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c578b01dc07ee9352ee6b589b0d3982f25d11ea7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2265263892.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"77b344ca9d8bac0327e9d1d71b77d3b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/349f8ab5-d7e3-4dac-ab58-e50cf9b0c022/retrieve","id":"685955415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c84707ff-b14b-4659-805c-7fbd58262445","pagecount":"6","content":" Food system transformations will require a new approach towards innovation to be able to deliver impacts at scale. Innovations need to be context-specific and respond to myriads of different famers' needs. Modular design is a 'new' way to design, bundle and scale innovations. This Info Note outlines the main principles and phases of modular design, with the example of Climate Information Services (CIS). Special attention would need to be given to aspects of inclusion, data ownership and a potential misuse of the approach to scale unsustainable practices.However, challenges remain for innovations to be adopted by farmers (as 'end users'), as they need to be contextspecific and respond to diverse end-users needs (Barrett et al. 2020). For example, Climate Information Services (CIS) that enable farmers to adapt to unfavorable climate and weather conditions, need to respond to different types of farmers, farming systems, agroecological contexts, and livelihood strategies, increasing the complexity and efforts required in designing and delivering \"actionable\" services.In the following, the Info Note will introduce the concept of 'modular design' as a methodology that can help on one hand to increase the variety of products or services offered to users, while on the other hand reducing the complexity for the product or service designers and providers. We will illustrate the concept with an example of designing and scaling CIS by outlining the five main phases to be undertaken for modular products or services. Finally, we will shortly discuss possible limitations or pitfalls of using such a modular approach.The concept of 'modular design' is a general set of design principles widely used by private sector actors with the aim to increase the offer made to users ('external variety'), while reducing the complexity for the product-or service providers ('internal variety').In a nutshell, modular design is about decomposing an innovation into its different parts ('components'), analyzing the relevance and interdependencies of these components, and then recomposing these components into modules (Figure 1). Components are parts that work together to form a functioning item. From there, different stakeholders can use, re-use, reconfigure, or repurpose these components or entire modules (Ernst 2005), thus multiplying possible uses, and/or accelerating the process from innovation development to scale.For example, a personal computer as modular system consists of different modules (e.g., monitor, keypad, disc player) which can be quickly changed. These modules again consist of different components (e.g., motherboard, central, or graphics processing units). These components can also be changed, but this would require more technical expertise, and to reopen the modules. In the context of agricultural research for development, modular approaches could be useful for downstream science applications, like climate services or digital applications.The concept of modularity can be applied widely to any system, be it an ecological system, cellular metabolism, traffic flows, a power grid, or an economy (Marta 2017). Modularization saves time and efforts by:  multiplying design options (including re-purposing) through mix and match of modules; allowing localized adaptation by non-expert users through bottom-up modularity; allowing decentralized design processes and parallelism in testing (Naik et al. 2020); therewith also creating new business opportunities through outsourcing modules across the value chain (Ernst 2005).However, modular approaches also have limitations and trade-offs, that need to be considered carefully: Creating new business opportunities for some, may also reduce the unique selling position, or relevance, of others. In the context of science, risks of 'oversharing' could be mediated by establishing which components must not be changed, and which ones can be modified by the users (Landor 2017). Stable standards and design rules may also have the opposite effect of slowing down of innovation when they 'predict too much' and thereby lock-in institutional strategies.Therefore, 'design rules need to be firm enough to encourage modular innovation and recombinationbut loose enough not to be constraining to the evolution of the system (Sabel and Zeitlin 2004)', and to maintain the independent modules' resiliency.CIS can support farmers, agricultural value chains and governments to take strategic, seasonal or immediate decisions on planning and managing agricultural production (Born et al. 2021). Many public and private initiatives experiment with innovative ways to develop and scale CIS, but often remain at project or pilot levels lacking mechanisms for scaling and long-term sustainability.Challenges on the information supply side include e.g., data gaps, limited institutional capacities for climate modeling and for cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. On the services demand side, challenges touch upon end-users' adaptive capacity enabling changes in behavior and agricultural practices, but also on addressing the differences in livelihoods context and strategies, cultural aspects, and gender and languages (Hansen et al. 2019).Generally, there is a mismatch between the current supply and potential demand for CIS. Albeit the climate and weather information supply are mostly generated at national levels by statal national-level meteorological institutions, the full process of translation into advisories, dissemination and access of the information is not fully accounted for in the service design. Implementation requires a myriad of actors across different levels working together for the service finally being used by farmers.Along the CIS 'value chain' a diversity of climate-informed products and services should address different needs of multiple next-and end users in terms of content (advisories) and frequency of delivery, formats, and communication channels (Figure 2). Furthermore, to sustain such services on the national level, beyond the lifetime of projects, CIS portfolios (of products and services), need to be underpinned with business or financing models and scaling mechanisms.There are different ways to structure modules and components. Brax and Toivonen (2007) suggest six different forms (Figure 3), which might be useful to illustrate different scaling pathways:Cut to fit modularity: Spreading the use of the same type of data and CIS to more locations and beneficiaries with the components and modules remaining largely unchanged. However, this is only applicable within the same agricultural, climate and socio-economic conditions.Component swapping / sectional modularity: Targeting CIS to different purposes and contexts will entail to adapt or modify the provided products and services, and their transfer channels, either by swapping components of an otherwise unchanged service, or putting all components newly together.Busor slot modularity: Governmental or institutional policies and regulations that level the playing fields, could be seen as bus-or slot modules. Equally, this could be all kinds of vehicles that could link and/or accommodate different components or modules, e.g., business models that offer different components or modules, that can form innovation bundles.Component-sharing modularity: Central to most, if not all, modules of CIS will be a certain component of climate or weather data. These might also be needed in different resolution levels, for which again a cut-to-fit modularity could be considered.The key goal of realizing modular designs is thus to group strongly interacting components or parts together and separate weakly interacting ones. For example, regarding CIS, crops and agro-ecosystems might be strongly interdependent factors, while the access to digital infrastructure might have a weaker relation to these factors. The most crucial step is to identify the boundaries of each system that shall be modularized, and the logic in which to decompose the system into different modules and their components, which then can be used, re-used, repackaged, or re-purposed (Ethiraj and Levinthal 2005).The following five-phase-guide is adapted from the MB Collaborations Modular Management Series (https://mbcollaborations.com/en/modular-system (retrieved 26 October 2021), which is to the knowledge of the authors is currently the most detailed, openly accessible guide available. These phases will be outlined, using the example of CIS value chains. The phases I -IV are further illustrated in Figure 4.Important to note, though, that the whole 'toolkit' of modular design consists of approximately 70 tools and 20 methods to choose from and to adapt in each phase.The objectives and a common vision of the modularization strategy are decisive for developing a modular product or value chain architecture. For example, a national portfolio of CIS might need to accommodate the different goals of the key actors: economic departments might focus on value chains of prioritized cash crops, while welfare departments might focus on the most vulnerable small holder farmers. Disaster and risk reduction departments might prioritize early warnings. While generally, governments would aim for social and economic impacts, private sector actors would be more profit-oriented and need viable business models. Design teams should therefore represent the main stakeholders' perspectives.With these different objectives in mind, the next step will be an analysis of the current product or service portfolio (in this Info Note: CIS), as well as the wished future portfolio. Aim is to prevent complexity already at the beginning of the value chain, while also providing for sufficient flexibility, since also end-users needs will change over time. The main steps are:Analyzing existing product program structure, trends, and economic key figures. With regard to CIS, key figures could be e.g., costs of investment and implementation, reach and impact indicators, and approaches, mechanisms and methodologies to reach farmers (the CIS last-mile).Identifying future trends and success factors, analyze and evaluate future scenarios. Regarding CIS, trends might be e.g., increasing digitalization, or planned future investments in extension services.High-level analysis of internal variety: Determine existing product components and variants. and evaluate the re-use potential of components between different product families. For example, a component of CIS could be the mode of delivery, with variants then being SMS, radio, TV dissemination. Potential for re-use could then be to use the same information provided via TV also for SMS services, or for TV but different crops (as different 'product family').This phase is the 'heart of the process', where main crucial components are defined, and composed into modules. This module cut will then form the reference frame for all product varieties. Differently than the previous phases, this phase concentrates on the different end-user needs, and the main factors that influence their decisions.Identifying the factors that influence current and future users' decisions. These can come partly from the portfolioanalysis, focus on users' needs and experience cycles, rather than on (or: adding to) static indicators. This exercise will result in different user groups/segments with different preference profiles. With regard to CIS, factors that would influence users' grouping could be e.g., the different crops and production systems, eco-systems, climate extremes and variability, but also the farmers' livelihoods, language, infrastructure and markets. User profiles are developed with tools and methodologies that lend from design thinking, e.g., users' value propositions, customer journeys and -experience cycles.The correct decomposition is decisive and will depend on the (mix of) module cut method(s). The right granularity must be found, and all variants of the product family must be captured, e.g., in a variant tree. This can also be an iterative process.Components are then grouped based on their relevance, and their interdependencies. There are different ways to arrive at the best suited grouping of components into modules, depending on the designers' respective goals, products or value chains, and capacities. Thus, modules could be based on components interactions ('Design Structure Matrix'), on social or technical driving forces ('Modular Function Deployment'), or on their functional structure ('METUS method').Regarding CIS, main functions that could structure modules could be the different purposes ('uses') of the CIS products, different modes of dissemination ('transfer'), entailing different ways of formatting and packaging ('translate'), and consequently, feed from different data sources and -formats ('generation').Finally, to find the most feasible balance between offering a variety of different products and services, while reducing complexity as much as possible, the variety of the module sets need to be optimized. The main steps are:Mapping of interdependencies between internal and external variety: How will a change of a user-related variable (e.g., change of crop), influence the technical characteristic (e.g., content of advisory) of the component (e.g., SMS service)? This can be made transparent, e.g., by using a visual tool such as a variance-analysis diagram (VAD).Variety reduction: Finally, the number of emerging varieties is reduced by prioritizing the strongest and most relevant dependencies, thus creating modular product families. For example, farmers with access to internet could technically be served by the digital product family of CIS. If, however, the translation of digital services into the local language of a small group of farmers would require more effort and resources than training the respective extension technicians, it would be more efficient to serve this farmer group by the 'offline' (personal extension) product family.This process of creating a shared modular product-(or service-) architecture will result in visualizations, road maps and distributed stakeholders' roles and action plans, that facilitate the evaluation and implementation of the new portfolio. For example, a national portfolio of CIS could be composed of different but complementing portfolios and road maps of the different key stakeholders, from the delivery of CIS all the way to how (and by whom) the respective data is generated, packaged, and translated.Modularization processes are established in series of workshops with relevant stakeholders and users. Time and resources must be invested in ensuring that vulnerable and marginalized people can be properly represented. However, a critical role will be to build in feedback loops, e.g., adding an interactive component to digital modules, where farmers could rate the services, and/or suggest new ones. This could help to ensure that the product-or service set-up remains relevant to changing needs and uses.For example, with increasing digitalization, more users could switch to online applications, which might entail extending these applications to other regions or crops. Feedback loops could also provide wins for user engagement and -learning components, and increase data collection points, e.g., through crowdsourcing data on the impacts of CIS. At the same time, safeguards must be built in right from the start on how to responsibly generate, disseminate and use farmers' data and ensuring their data ownership. A modular design approach could be used in the context of developing a national portfolio (menu) for CIS in Vietnam and/or Southeast Asia region. Main critical question would be if such approach, even if developed and applied to deliver impacts at scale, would be able to cater for the context-specific needs of smallholder farmers, and not lend itself to be mis-used as a scaling vehicle for large-scale, unsustainable practices and farming schemes.The project team plans to pilot an adapted approach for Vietnam in 2022, which will require to generate the respective instruments and data, engagement with the relevant stakeholders, and last not least, the demand for a modularized national CIS portfolio.","tokenCount":"2364"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2267102484.json b/data/part_1/2267102484.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..32967c324865a03cd23c590c83aafdb739ef6dd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2267102484.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b6d7f1e0dd941ee10acc8165e91e25d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/381632e0-b48e-4499-8f45-908cabf2f622/retrieve","id":"1490413818"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7801658e-0ea0-4e8a-a999-2702dbdf5c67","pagecount":"208","content":"o CIAT é urna institui¡;:ao sem f ins luc~ativos, dedicada ao desenvolvimento agr(cola e econó mi co das zonas tropicais OOixi'ls . Sua sede principal localiza-se numa area de 622 hectares perto de Cali, Colombia. Tal área é propriedade do governo colombiano , ° qua!. em sua qualidade de anfitri ao , dé apolo as atividades do CIA T. Este dispae igualmente de duas sub-esta¡;:oes de propriedade da Fundar. ; :oo para a EduC8l;ao Superior (FES): Quilichao , com uma extensao de 184 hectares, e Po payán, com 73 hect ares, ambas em Cauca. Junto COrn o Instituto Colombiano Agropecuário (lCAI. o CIAT administra o Centro de Investigacúes Agropecuárias Carimagua. de 22.000 hectares, nos Llanos~ orientais, e colabora com o citado ICA em várias de suas estacúes experimentais na Colombia, assim como com institui¡;:oes agr(colas nacionais em outros pa(ses da América Latina. Vários membros do Grupo Consultivo para él Investigac.ao Agr(cola Internacional (CGIAR) financiam os p rogramas do eIAT. Durante 1981, tais doadores foram: a Fund a ~o Rockefeller . a Fundac §o Ford , o Banco Internacional para Reconstrut;á'o e Fomento (BIRF) por in termédio da Associa¡;:iio Internacional d e Desenvol\",imento (IDA) , o Banco Imeramericano de Desenvol vimento IBIO), a Comunidade Económica Européia (CEE), ° F undo Internacional para o Desenvol\",imento Agr(cola (IFAOI. o Centro Internacional de Investiga¡;:oes para ° Desen\"'ol\",imento (CIIO) e as agencias de coopera¡;:ao internacional dos go\",ernos da Austrália, Bélgica, Canadá , Espanha , Estados Unidos, Holanda, Japao, Méx ico, Noruega, Reino Unido. República Fed eral da Aleman ha e Su(c;a . A demais, \"'ários projetos especiais sao financiados por algumas das citadas entidades, pela Funda-\"ao K ell ogg e o Programa das Nar.;:oes Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PN U D) . A informar.;:ao e as co nclu sOes co nt idas nesta publica¡;:oo nao ref letem necessa riamente a posi c;:ao de nenhurna das institui¡;:oes, fundac;:oes ou governos mencionados .o conteúdo do boleti m, além de focal izar os principaís problemas da cultura de mandioca , vem il ustrado com fotos coloridas que facilitam sobremaneira ao usuário determinar a maior parte dos pro blemas que ocorrem no cam po com a cultura.A forma e tamanho do boletim fa cilita se u uso pe los técn icos de campo, permitindo assim q ue os problemas encontrados em rnandiocais possam ter as suas causas determinadas a nível das lavou ras, abreviando ass im o encaminhamento das solucaes. o boletim ora editado pela EMBR A TER será portanto, de grande utilidade para engenheiros-agró nomos e técnicos agríco las em geral e em especial para os extensionistas do Sistema Brasileiro de Assist en c ia Técnica e Extensao Rural. .13Recomenda¡;:6es gerais sobre o controle de doen¡;as da mandioca em escala co mercial .A bacteriose (Xanthomonas campestris pv. manihotis)  .66A va d ola .. As pOdrid6es radiculares posteriores a colheita lNTRODU<;ÁO Os problemas patológicos, entomológicos, nutrici o nais e os distúrbios fisiológicos, que ocorrem nos cultivos de mandio ca (Mamhot esculenta Crantz), podem chegar a ser de grande importancia economica nao obstante em muitas ocasioes passarem desapercebidos. Estes problemas sao particularmente importantes, se levar-se em conta q ue a mandioca é de ciclo langa (de 8 a 24 meses), se propaga vegetativamen te e o produto comercial de maior va lor sao su as ra(zes, cuja qualidade e produyao só sao avaliadas na colheita.Por tratar-se de um cultivo de ciclo longo , as plantas estao ex postas a diversos ataques de pragas e doen9as e as flutuantes condi<;6es climáticas e edáficas que imperam em cada regiao. O controle de tais problemas, como os devidos as pragas, pode chegar a ser muito dificil ou impossível de ser feito (no caso de certos problemas edáficos e climáticos) durante o ciclo de cultivo. Por conseguinte, o agricultor deve pensar mais em prevení-Ios que em controlá-Ios.Se bem que a propaga<;ao vegetativa da mandioca seja relativamente fácil quando se usam estacas maduras, as condi~oes sanitárias, nutri• cionais e agronomicas de tais estacas determi• nam em grande parte, os rendimentos económi• cos e a estabilidade da cultivar na regiao ou do cultivo no mesmo lote. Conclui•se que as esta• cas sejam um dos fato res essenciais do exito, no que se refere aos rendimentos, presen~ e gravidade dos problemas patológicos e entomoló• gicos (ver publicac;ao Série GS•17, Apendice 3), Ocasionalmente, o agricultor sofre grandes decep~óes no momento da colheita•, seja pela baixa produtividade ou pelos apodrecimentos se• veros de raízes, como conseqüencia de nao haver previsto os problemas inerentes ao cultivo ou de ter•se despreocupado nas aten~oes que o cultivo requer . Considerar todas as práticas agronomicas e sanitárias, que tendam a fa vorecer o cultivo e a evitar as pestes, sem dúvida alguma redundará numa colheita satisfatória.Este manual descreve algumas doenc;as e pragas que atacam a mandioca, assim como os sin • tomas induzidos por deficiencias e toxicidades nutricionais e danos devido ao uso incorreto dos herbicidas. Nao obstante estarem inclu ídas algu • mas recomendac;oes gerais e específicas sobre o controle dos problemas descritos, para maiores informac;oes, sugere-se consultar as publica~oes do CIAT a respeito (ver apendice 3).A mandioca pode ser atacada por mais de 30 agentes bacterianos, fungos, vírus ou simil ares e micoplamas. As doen<;as da mandioca podem ocasionar perdas na implanta<;ao da cultura, diminuir o vigor normal das plantas, reduzir su a capacidade fotoss intética ou causar apod recimentas das ra ízes anteriores ou posterio res a colheita . Alguns ag~ntes patogenicos ataca m somente a rama, que é o material de propaga<;Jo normalmente usado, induzindo a mo rt e dos seus tecidos ou invadindo o sistema vascular sem mostrar dano visível mas constituindo fontes primárias de infec<;ao dentro das planta<;oes. Outros patógenos atacam o tecido fol iar e partes tenras da rama, causando manchas, queimaduras ou escurecimentos, desfolha<;ao, murchamento, morte descendente, hipertrofias e hiperplasias (alongamento exagerado ou pral ifera<;ao de gemas e entre-nós). E, finalmente, outros se limitam ao tecido radicular e á parte basal lenhosa da rama, causando apodrecimentos e/ou delor-ma<;oes radiciais anteriores a colheita . Os apodrecimentos radiciais se manifestam por um repentino amarelecimento, com murchamento e desfolhamento imediatos; estes sintomas podem ocorrer durante qualquer estádio de crescimento da planta, geralmente em épocas de chuvas lortes e persistentes.As raizes de mandioca recém colhidas podem apresentar podridoes suaves ou secas logo após serem arrancadas . Oitas podrid6es que parecem ser um efeito fisiológico -pat o lógico, estao freqüentemen te correlacionadas e sao aceleradas por dan os medin icos que sofrem as raízes no momento da colh eita .Recomendacéies gerais sobre o controle de doencas da mandioca em escala comercial A ma ndioca é uma planta perene, cultivada a pa rtir de pedacos de ramas de aproximadamente 20cm , durante um pe riodo de 08 a 24 meses. Pel o exposto , os problemas patológicos e entomo lógicos podem disseminar-se facílmente por meio do material de propagacao e perpetuar-se em um a regiao; adema is, num c iclo vegetativo tao longo , a mandioca pode estar exposta e diversas presséíes climáticas e edá fi cas e Ser atacada por diferentes agentes patogenicos e pragas. Conseqüentemente, se requer um contro le integrado das doen¡;as e pragas da cultura que inclua práticas culturais, controle biológico e resi ste ncia var ietal em tod o o processo de producao . Algumas recomendac5es prá ticas, que podem ajudar a reduzir os danos causados pela s doen cas a mandioca sao dadas a seguir:1. Selecione bem o 50 10_ Este deve ser solto , nao estar sujeito ao encharcamento e com um conteúdo nao muito alto de matéria organica. Nao plante mandioca em solos onde onte rioriormen te havia bosq ue ou culti-vos florestais ou perenes, pois poderia surgir uma alta percentagem de apodrecimento das ra Izes. Nestes casos, cultive um cereal (milho, sorgo etc), antes de plantar mandioca;2. Prepare bem o solo, instale um bom sistema de drenagem e plante em camalhoes, quando a precipita9ao pluviométrica for alta (maior que 1.200mm/ano, aproximadamente) ou quando o solo for pesado;3. Use as melhores cultivares da regiao ou as de comprovado rendimen to no d ito ecos--sistema. Nao introduza cultivares de outras regioes já que, por nao estarem adaptadas, podem ser atacas drasticamente por problemas existentes no ecossistema e produzir menos que as cultivares regionais depois de vários ciclos de cultivos consecutivos.4 . Use sempre \"semente\" sadia _ Produza e selecione seu material de plantio, tomando-o unicamente de planta90es e plantas sadias e vigorosas. Nao armazene as estacas; se houver necessidade, trate -as antes com Captan e Carbendazin (BCM) (ver publica9iio do CIAT Série GS-17).5. Seja cuidadoso com o material de propaga-9aO, evitando danos mecanicos durante seu preparo e plantio. Trate-o com uma mistura fúngica desinfetante de sementes, tal como Captan e Carbendazin (BCMl. submer• gindo as estacas durante tres minutos numa suspensao aquosa de 6% de cada produto comercial (aproximadamente 3.000ppm de pnnGÍplo ativo). Este tratamento evitará danos causados por patógenos do solo (ver publicac;ao do CIAT, série GS-17).6. Plante as estacas corretamente, deixando uma distancia adequada entre plantas, de acordo com a cultivar usada . Plante na época das chuvas, para assegurar uma boa brota-<;130 e o estabelecimento da cultura. Elimine as plantas invasoras, já que estas podem ser hospedeiras de patógenos.7. Nao utilize máquinas ou equipamentos agrícolas que tenham sido usados em outras plantacües , principalmente, se atacadas pela bacteriose; nao permita qu e trabalhadores de outras propriedades agrícolas visitem a planta-.;ao . Desinfete as ferramentas (fac6es) conl Formol comercial a 10%, quando se tratar de bactéria; ou com água e sabao, em caso de vírus. Também se usa flambar os fac5es, para desinfetá-Ios.8. Caso a plantac;ao apresente índices de apodrecimento de ra ízes, superiores a 3%, melhore a drenagem e faca rotac;ao com um cereal (mi-Iho ou sorgo) por um período nao inferior a seis meses , Estas práticas podem reduzir a ocorrencia da maioria das podrid5 es radiculares da mandioca. 9. Queime os resíduos de culturas anteriores de mandioca; nao deixe socas ou resíduos depois do preparo do terreno_ 10_ Evite danos ás raízes durante a colheita ; coloque-as, com cuidado, em embalagens apropriadas .11. Venda ou industrialize o produto colhido imediatamente ; caso contrário , col ha só o que pensar vender, industrializar ou utilizar. Sendo necessário preservar as ra ízes frescas por um período curto, use o seguinte sistema : podar as plantas duas a tres semanas antes da colheita, fazer trata mento com desinfetantes e embale-as em sacos plásticos (ver publicacoes do CIAT a respeitol.12 . Cumpra rigorosamente as medidas quarentenárias estabelecidas e trate de nao introduzir na sua plantacao material vegetativo de outras regiéies próximas_ As doencas e pragas podem disseminar-se facilmente através das estacas.Bacteriose rXanthomonas campestns pv, manihotisJ ~ urna das doem;::as mais graves da cu ltura. ¡; reconhecida pela presenc;:a de manchas angulares aquosas, escurecimento ou queimaduras, murcha parcial ou total das ramas, exsudac;:ao de goma ao longo da rama e porc;:3es terminais, morte descendente e seca de alguns feixes vascu lares da rama e das rarzes. Estes sinto mas s §o evidentes durante a época de chuva e sua intensidad e depende da suscetibilidade da cultivar afetada e do tempo transcorrido desde que se apresentou a doenc;:a.Geralmente, o agente patogenico é introduzido nurna plantac;:ao pelo uso de estacas tomadas de plantas pertencentes a culturas afetadas, ou por semente sexual vinda de culturas afetados .A melhor forma de evitar esta doenf;:a é usar sempre estacas retiradas de plantac;Oes sadias.A mancha angular bacteriana d3$.folhas t .(Xanthómonas campes tris pv. cassavae),- Para controlar esta doenca, devem-s e evitar estacas de plantac;:oes afetadas.A podridao bacteriana da rama (Erwinia carotdvora pv. carotovora)A doenc;:a se caracteriza pela podridao aquosa e com mal odor da rama, ou pela necrase medular da por~o lenhasa da planta . As plantas afetadas mostram murchamento dos brotas terminais. Na superfície da rama podem-se observar perfurar;c5es feitas por ¡nsetos do genero Anastrepha, que sao os agentes disseminantes da bactéria. Essas perfurac;:oes sao fáceis de distinguir pelas marcas do látex seco, exsudado depois da perfurac;:ao da rama. As estacas doentes usadas para o plantio, nao brotam ou produzem plantas raqu íticas, com um número limitado de raízes grossas.Use sempre \"semente\" sadia e prefira cultivares resistentes ao ¡nseto vetor; quei me as ramas afetadas. 24A galha bacteriana da rama (Agrobacterium tumefaciensJ Os sintomas desta doen¡;:a geralmente apare cem na parte inferior da rama e em plantas com mais de se te meses; caracter iza-se por galhas nas gemas da rama , as quais crescem consideravelmente e apresentam prolifera c;:ao de gemas em sua epiderme. As plantas afetadas podem mostrar raquitismo e quando a infeet.;:ao é nova, podem também apresentar marte descendente até urna das ga lhas principais. Urna mesma planta pode ter várias ga lhas ao longo da rama e também nas ramas da parte inferior da planta. mas a doenc;a geralmente se inicia a partir de infecc;5es ocasionadas por salpicaduras de solo infestado sobre as feridas deixadas na rama por folhas velhas ca ídas.A doenc;a é controlada por meio de rotac;ao com ou tro cultivo, quando mais de 3% da plantac;:ao está afeta• da; desinfetando•se os facoes (formalde(do comer• cial a 5%); utilizando sempre estacas vindas de planta• ¡;::oes sadias; e queimando•se todo o material do ente da planta¡;:ao. presenc;:a de áreas amare lec id as) de plantas adu ltas.Toda estaca procedente de pla nt as enfermas gera também plantas doentes; portanto, deve-se proibir terminantemente a introduc;:ao de material africano, já que a maiaria das p lantac;:5es da África se encon trJ afetada por esta doem;:a. Em áreas ao nde a doenc;:a es teja presente, devem ser usadas cult ivares resi stentes e estacas oriundas de plantas sadi as _ Fai observado na cultivar Secundina. urna das mais conhecidas da Costa Atlantica Colombiana. Seus sintamas sao similares aos do mosaico comurn, mas ocasiona maior d istorc;:ao foliar e áreas irregulares verde-amare ladas que predominam perto das nervuras, dando a aparencia de amarelecimento de veias em uns casos e. em outros, d a passagem das áreas amare ladas de urn lado para o outro; entretanto, examinadas de perto e, contra a luz. pode-se notar que tai5 lesoes se formaram como resul • tado da coalescencia de numerosos pontoS c!orótico5 acompanhados ocasu:malmente por manchas anelares. Os sintomas sao mais severos ao final do período chuvoso, quando se observa raquitismo exagerado. Em regi6es de estac;:ao seca quente, as plantas, mesmo enfermas, parecem sadias, possivelmente pelo fato das altas temperaturas exercerem um efeito negativo sobre o patógeno, Nesse caso, ao se iniciar o perfodo chuvoso os sintomas sao imperceptíveis .  Esta doen9a, descrita recente mente na Amér ica Lati • na, pode causar perdas de 50 a 100%, o que a converte em urna das mais perigosas, potencialmente, para a mandioca. Caracteriza-se pela reduc;:ao do engrossamento das ra (zes e a suberizac;:ao e engrossamento da epiderme, obtendo-se, portanto, urna produtividade bai xa, sem valor comercial. As rafzes sao finas, com a zona cortical grossa, quebradica , enrrugada, com fendas reticulo veolares. O parenqu ima de armazenamento é reduzido e de consisténcia fibrosa. As vezes aparecem ra ízes normais e doentes nurna mesrna planta. A parte aérea da planta e nferma nao mostra síntomas notór ios; geralmente a planta parece mais vigorosa e a base da rama é mais grossa, mas estes sintomas passam despercebidos pois sao difíceis de diferenciar. A planta afetada só pode ser idenficada plenamente no momento da colheita, mediante sintomas da doenc;:a exibidos pelas raízes. A doenc;:a é transm itida por estacas procedentes de plantas doentes e por enxerto. Ex istem evidencias de que a doen c;:a pode ser disseminada no campo através de ferramentas infes• tadas e pelo entre-cruzamento de raízes de plantas vizinhas.Para seu controle devem -se usar sómente estacas de plantas sadias, desinfetar os facces com água e sa bao e queimar toda a planta doente. 36 ~ encontrado no Brasil, Venez uela e México e na re9iao amazónica do Peru. Nao obstante sua incidencia nao seja considerável, o percentua l de superbrotamento nas plantas afetad as é mu ito mais alto que o de Qutras doenc;:as causadas por v(rus americanos. Existem vários tipos de sintomas, possivelmente dev ido as racas QU biótipos diferentes do agente causal. Entre eles os mais importantes sao: a) plantas que mostram ananismo e exagerada prol iferacao de gemas; os brotas tem entre--nós cu rtos e fol has pequenas, sem mostrar diston;:ao ou dorase ; b) proliferac;:ao de brotas a partir da estaca, os quais sao geralmente raqu fticos mas crescem sem exib irem Dutros sintomas visíveis da doenc;:a; cl as estacas produzem somente u ns poucos brotas nanicos e ra qult icos, que nunc a alcan<;;am o tamanho normal. Em geral, as plantas afetadas por micoplasma produzem até uns 80% menos que as sadias. Como a doen¡;;a se transmite mecanicamente e pelo uso de estacas prove nien tes de pla ntas doentes. a e limí -na¡;:ao destas e a desinfesta<;;ao dos facoes (flambando •os o u lavando-os com Formol comercial a 5%) é indispensáve l para seu controle. Use sempre materia l sadio para o plantío. ~ urna das doen~as mais comuns da mand ioca. Ocorre quase sem pre em plantíos localizados em áreas quen tes. Quando o plantío tem mais de cinco meses, a doen ~ é mais sa lien te e severa, co nforme a suscet ibilidade da cultivar. Caracteriza-se por manchas angulares de co lora• c;:ao marro m uniforme em ambas as faces da folha ; as manchas ti:1m urn fun do cinza-verde~liva devido a presenc;:a dos corpos de frutificac;:ao do agente causal. O centro das manchas pode ter um aspecto c¡nza-aveludada devido as frutifica<;oes do patógeno que se ap resentarn principalmente na face dorsal da folha.A mancha de anéis circulares iPhoma (PhVllostictaJ spp 1 Esta doenc;a apa rece durante a estac;;ao chuvosa. quando a temperatura é inferior a 20 a C. Causa severas desfolhac;oes em cult ivares suscetíveis e, as vezes, mor te descende nte ou to tal da planta. As manchas sao grandes, de colorac;;ao mar rorn , com margen s indefinidas e se locali zam até o ápice. nas bordas dos lóbulos ou sobre as nervuras principais e secundárias. Inicialmente , as lesoes mostrarn anéis co nce ntr icos sobre a face ventral, os quais sao fo rmados por corpos frutíferos do fungo (p icnídios). As lesces velhas nao apresentam estes anéis, porq ue sao lavadas pela água da ch uva, pare• cendo-se ent ao com as lesoes produzidas por C. vicosae (agente causal da mancha parda grande) . Na face dorsal mio sao produ zidos picn(dios e as lesOes sao de co lorac;ao marrom-escuro; as nervuras principa is e secundárias morrem, forma ndo fios negr os que surge m das manchas. O fungo invade o limbo foliar e, a seguir, o pecíolo e a parte verde da rama prod uzindo desfo lh amen to, morte desce nde nte ou total da planta atetada . A invasao da rama se inicia a partir de cancros, que se formam na bao se do peciolo da folha atetad a.Em áreas frias, plante somente c ul tivares resistentes ou altamente tolerantes. o superalongamento rSphaceloma manihoticola) É urna doenca descrita recentemen te: causa perdas consideráveis em mandiocais em que se plantam culti • vares suscetíveis. Reconhece-se pelo alongamento exa • gerado dos e ntre-nós da rama . A rama atetada é fina e fraca; as plantas doentes sao muito mais alta s elou raquíticas que as sadias; na parte tenra da rama . nos pedolos e limbo fo liar , observam-se deformacoes que es tao associadas com a fo rmacao de can cro s. Estes tem forma de lente e se encontram ao Jongo das nervuras principais e secundárias QU nos pecío lo s e ramas. As vezes acorre marte descendente da p lanta e morte parcial ou total da lamina foliar, dando como resultado um desfo lh amento consideráveJ. A doenc;a é mais severa em épocas chuvosas.Como essa doent;:a também pode disseminar-se pelo uso de estacas obt ida s de plantios atetados, utilize sempre estacas sadias para o plantio. Plante cultivares resistentes . Em regioes aonde a doe nc;a é endemica, devem-se trata r as estacas, submergindo-as numa solut;:ao de eaptafol 13 .000 ppm de principio ativo). 48 A cinza da mandioca ou Oídio (Oídíum maníhotísJ Esta doenc;:a acorre durante a esta¡;:ao seca do an o, senda mais cornum nas folhas situadas na parte inferior da planta . Caracteriza-se pela presen\\A3 de manchas foliares amare ladas. Inici a lmente aparece urn micélio branco que cresce sobre a superf(cie foliar; as zonas afetadas amarele cem, formando lesoes indefinidas de car amare lo--pálido , dentro das quais su rgem áreas de tecido morto que, por sua vez , formam manchas angulares, de colorac;:ao marrom-parda e de diferentes tamanhos. Os sintomas podem confundir-se com alguns danos causados por insetos e ácaros . A doenc;a é considerada de pauca impartáncia, no que se refere a reduc;ao da produtividade .  Aparece após eh uvas prolongadas e se caracteriza pela presenc;a de manchas foliares localizadas nas bordas dos lóbulos das folhas jovens; estas apresentam distar-<;Ces e morte parcial QU total do tecido afetado . O patógeno ataca também a parte tenra da rama, produzindo ca\"ncros e morte descendente. Em direcao a parte ceno tral destas lesces, geralmente se podem observar á reas rosadas formadas pelas frutificacoes do fungo. As plantas com menos de um mes de ¡dade sofrem danos mais severos; ataques posteriores po dem afetar a qu a lidade das estacas obtidas de plantas doentes.Use estacas sadias e náo as plan te antes dos perfados chuvosos mais intensos e prolongados do ano. Empregue cultivares resistentes. Em mandioca, já foram registradas sei s espécies d e agentes patogenicos da ferru gem, que se encontram em diferentes partes do mundo; e ntretanto, sua incidencia e seve ridade sao baixas. Parece que alguma s espécies de ferrugem ocorrem unicamente em zonas onde a temperatura é moderada e ocasionam maior dano até o final da estac;ao chuvosa. Dutras espécies predominam durante a estac;ao quente e seca do ano. A doenc;a caracteriza-se pela formac;ao de pústulas sobre as nervuras, peciolos e partes tenras das ramas; tais pústulas sao de co lorac;ao laranja ou marro m claro a escuro, dependendo da ¡dade da pústula ou da classe de frutificac;ao do fungo. As pústulas rgaduras mostram um alto micoparasitismo de Dar/uea f¡/um; algumas vezes estao rodeadas de um halo atnare ladn e geralmente induzem distorcoes das partes afetadas.A rama, que normalmente é utilizada para a propaga -Gao da mandioca, é atacada por patógenos de árvores lenhosas perenes. O tecido afetado apresen ta coloracQes diferentes do tecido sadio, especialmente na zona me• dular e vascular. In icialmente, a casca pode apresentar podrid6es supe rficiais e lago podem aparecer os corpos frut(feros do patógeno. Estes tem diversas formas, calaracao, tamanho, etc, segundo a espécie patogenica . A presenc;:a destas pOdrid5es é mais notada ao fi nal da estac;:ao chuvosa e em estacas que tenham sido armaze• nadas sob condic;:oes de alta umidade relativa por pe• ríodos superiores a 15 djas. Toda ferida causada por ¡nsetos ou durante os tratos culturais predisp5e a oeor• réncia destas enfermidades.Evite o p lantio de estacas eom sintomas de qualquer doenc;a.48. Prese n~a de rahas engrossadas em plantas oriundas de estecas atacadas pelo \"couro de sapo\"Como geralmente a parte madura (lignificada) da rama nao apresenta sin toma algum de infec~ao, estes devem ser procurados na parte superior da planta e geral. mente durante a época chuvosa, quando sao mais no-t6ri05.---~r 49. Brolo alongado oriundo de uma estaca infectada pelo sU/JerbrotamentoAs Podridoes Radiculares Suaves (vários patógenos) Phythophthora drechsleri, Pythium sp, outrosCertos fungos do solo que causam podrid6es radi o culares durante a esta.;ao chuvosa, prevalece m em sotos pesados, mal drenados, com alto co nteúdo de matéria organica. Phytophthora drechsleri é o mais comum e importante. Esses patógenos atacam plantas jovens ou maduras, especialmente quando estao próximas a canais de drenagem ou em solos encharcáveis, causando mur• cha repentina, severo desfolhamento e podrid6es suaves nas ra(zes. Estas exsudam um I(quido de odor repugnante e mostram completa deteriorac;ao.Selecione um solo apropriado para cultivar mandioca, drene bem o terreno e plante em cama lh6es. Caso a podridao radicular chegue a 3%, fac;:a rotac;ao com cerea is ou deixe de plantar mandioca, mantendo o terreno lim • po e drenado por um periodo n ao infer ior a seis meses .Algumas espécies de fungos causa m pOdrid6 es radio culares consideráve is durante os pe r(ados chuvosos, mas s6 em pl ant ac;6es de mandioca que ten ham sido plantad as im ediatam en te após cu ltivos flo restai s QU d a el iminac;:ao de espé cies len ho sas perenes . Entre aq ueJas, Rose -lIin;a necatrix é o patógeno mai s im portante das regioes mo ntanhos as d a Amér ica Latina. A doe nc;:a induzida por esse pa tó geno chama-se \"podrid ao negra\" devido el carac tedstica cor negra dos teeidos infectados e dos caneros radiculares q ue se fo rmam, Pa ra evita r este grupo de doen¡;:as, causadas por patógenos de esp écies de plantas lenhosas pe renes, é necessár io faze r rotac;:ao com cultivos nao susce t íveis (ce reais) , an t es de plantar mano dioca. Geralmente, estas da enl;:as sé sao observadas pouca antes ou por ocas iao da colh eita. Inicialmente, as planta¡;;6es afetadas ap re sentam am arelec im enta em rebale iras , seg uida de murchame nto e, fina lmente, desfa-Iha menta e marte descende nte.Fa¡;;a rota¡;;ao com cereais cada vez que a marte de plantas ou a podridao radicu lar chega r a 3 %. Elimine residuos d e man d ioca a Tetados e /a u res(duos de árvore s perenes (troncos e ram as em decomposi¡;;aol.67 total e morte descendente. Estes sintomas sao muito similares aos causados por Xc. mc1nihotis (veja bacteriose) mas se diferenciam porque D. manihotis produz grande quantidade de picnfdios sobre a parte afetada. O patógeno se dissemina, a grande distancia, pelo uso de estacas provenientes de plantac;:oes afetadas e dentro da mesma plantac;:ao, pela ac;:ao do vento e da chuva sobre as frutificac;oes do fungo, pelo uso de ferramentas infestadas, pela água de irrigac;:oo e durante a preparac;:ao do terreno para plantios posteriores. Para controlar a doenc;:a, deve ser feita rotac;:ao com cultivos nao suscetíveis (milho, sorgo). cada vez que a doenc;:a acorra em percentual superior a tres. Nao utilize material vindo de plantac5es afetadas e desinfeste as ferramentas de trabalho. Nao foi encontrada. até agora, resistencia varietal. As Podridiies Radiculares Posteriores a Colheita (efeitos fisiológicos e/ou patológicos)As ra l zes da mandioca se deterioram, geralmente, POUcas días apos sua colheita . Este f ato parece estar relacionado com a suscetibilidade da cultivar a deteriora!;ao e com os danos que sofrem as raízes durante a colheita . As ra¡'zes de algumas cultivares se deterioram rapidamente, ao passo que as de outras permanecem em boas con• dic;x3es por vários días; as raízes que nao sofrem danos mecanicos se conservam em bom estado por mais temo po, inclusi ve quando pertencem a cultivares suscetí• veis a deteriorac;ao. As causas deste problema mio estao ainda determinadas, mas parecem ser conseqüencia de fatares fi siológicos e/ou patológicos acorridos durante ou imediatamente após a colheita.Evite armazenar as ra(zes de mandioca . A poda das plantas, duas a trés semanas antes da colheita. permite armazená•las por tempo prolongado, mas as brotac;Oes devem ser evitadas.A mandioca é atacada por um grande número de insetos e ácaros, alguns dos quais causam danos económicos consideráveis. Por ser um cultivo de perfada vegetativo longo, a aplicayao cont(nua de defensivos para controlar as pragas seria bastante onerosa. Deve-se levar em canta que a mandioca tem boa capacidad e para recuperar-se do ataque de pragas, quando as condic;: Tetranvchus úrticae o dano é observado, inicialmente, nas folhas basais da planta e, a seguir, nas superiores, senda maís notório nas folhas maduras. Os sintomasde danos iniciais, geralmente, se manifestam na base da folha e ao longo da nervura principal. As colonias de ácaros se apresentam na face dorsal das folhas e em ambas as faces quando a popula-~ao é excessiva, observando-se grande quantídade de \"teías de aran ha\", O ponteado inicial toma urna colora-~o avermelhada ou de ferrugem, á medida em que a infestac;ao aumenta; o desfolhamento se processa de baixo para cima e, se as condi~es de seca se prolongarem, a planta pode marrer.Tetra nich us un icaeO/igonychus peruvianus ( . )A presenC;a deste ácaro se manifesta pela aparic;:ao de pequenas capas de teias de aranha que a femea constrói ao langa das nervuras e bordas da face dorsal da folha e nas folhas situadas na parte inferior e intermediária da planta. A fémea adulta coloca seus ovos sob a teia de aran ha, onde se desenvolvem as larvas e ninfas. Na face ventral da folha, inicialmente, se observam pequenas manchas amareladas, que lago adquirem urna colorac;ao café ou marrom. Estas manchas amare las estao delimitadas pelas capas de teia de aranha na face dorsal. o melhor controle é obtido pela utili zac;ao de culti• vares resistentes. Inseticidas sistémicos, tai s como Dime• to atho (1 a 1,5cm 3 de principio ativo/ litro de água) ou Thiometon ( ... ) (1 cm 3 / litro de água) propiciam um bom controle.Considerada a praga ma is importante da mandioca na América. As popu lac;:5es altas deste ¡nseto podem desfolhar, em curto tempo , planta9Ües extensas. Caso o desfolhamento acorra na fase inicial da cultura, a produtividacte é reduzida e as plantas jovens podem marrer. A temea é de hábito noturno e car cinza; coloca livremente até 1800 ovos de car verde sobre a superf(cie foliar. As larvas variam muito de car (amarela, verde, negra, etc) e alcan c;:a m a lO a 12cm antes de descerem ao solo, aande f ormam uma pupa marrom, castanha ou negra. A incidencia é maior geralmente no in ício das chuvas, mas esta praga é esporádica. podendo transcorrer vários ano s antes de se apresentar um ataque severo. o uso de práticas cu lturais adequadas, bom preparo do terreno e controle de plantas invasoras podem reduzir as pop ulac;5es de adultos e p upas. O uso de Dipterex sp 80 (2g de princ(pio ativo/ /Iitro de água) é efetivo contra as larvas mas deve ser evitado pois afeta os insetos benéficos, o que pode aumentar a freqüencia do ataque. Igualmente se podem utilizar armadilhas de luz negra \"tipo BL\" para capturar adultos. Estas armadilhas nao constituem um método de controle, mas permitem conhecer as flutuayoes do inseto nas plantayOes as quais, ajudam a planificar a aplicayao das diferentes alternativas de controle para esta praga. As larvas sao difíceis de ser controladas mas poderiam ser usados inseticidas sistemicos organo-fosforados (exemplo Dimetoato), nas doses comerciais. As plantas adultas (mais de tres ou quatro meses) nao sofrem tanto como as jovens; nao é necessário aplicar-se inseticida em plantas maiores de dois meses. Nao foram registradas perdas no rendimento, causadas pelo dano desse ¡nseto.A Mosca da Fruta Anastrepha pickeli, A. manihoti Es ta mosca tai detectada, ataca ndo co mumente frutos da mandioca, sem ca usar perdas económ icas; ent retanto , tambérn tai en oontrada causando danos severos na rama. O ataq ue el ra ma tem lugar 10 a 20 cent ímetros do ápice ande se ob serva urn peque no orifício de entrada ou de sald a. A fernea é amarelada e p6e os ovos na rama; tao logo sai do OvO, a larva, de car branco-amarelada , pe rfura a rama até a regiao medular. Foi encontrada urn a espécie bacteriana (ver \" podr idao bacteriana da rama\") assoc iad a a es ta larva , o q ue result a urna severa podridao da rama . No rmalmen te , é observada urna exsudac;ao de láte x branco que sai do s orif íeios feitos pelas lar vas. Os ataques severo s pode m causar a morte do b ro to , o qua l retarda o crescimento e induz a emissao de brotos late rais . A asso cia¡;:ao bactéria-inseto nao tem ocasio nado d ano por perdas na produtividade da planta, mas diminui a qua lid ade do material de plantio procedente de plantas afet ada s. Registraram-se perdas em produtividad e de 4 a 33%, quando foi plantado material infectado. Conclui-se a conveniencia de se fazer uma boa sele¡;:ao do material de plantío.Para obter material de pl an t io ern boas cond it;oes, deve-se aplicar inseticidas, como Fen thi on, ( * l. durante os primeiros tres mese s do cult ivo (1 a 1,5cm 3 de pri ncipio at ivo / litro de águ aJ. q ue controlam a larva da mosca. A mosca branca tem sido registrada na América, África e Asia. Bemisia tabaci é o vetor da doenca do mosaico africano (ver mosaico africano no capítulo ODen -<;:as Importantes), que causa grandes perdas na África e Asia. Como esta doenc;:a nao existe na América, e como B. tabad nao se al imenta de mandioca na América, esta espécie tem pauca importancia neste continente . A espé • cie mais conhecida nas Américas é A . socia lis, da qual se tem registrado severos ataques e perdas quando ex istem grand es populac;6es. Quando estas sao altas, podem causar o amarelecimento e secamento das folhas da parte inferior da planta e deformac;ao e amarelecimento das folhas apicais. As popula'foes de moscas adultas podem ser detectadas sacudinde os brotes das plantas para taze-las voar. As pupas e ninfas podem ser enoontradas na face dorsal das tolhas situadas nas partes inferiores e intermediárias da planta. A pupa de A . socialis é de cor negra com excrec;X5es de cera branca ao redor, sen do fácil detectá-Ia na fa ce dorsal da folha. A presenl;a de \"fumagina\" está comumente associada com o ataque da mosca branca. Em zonas de alta precipital;ao, se pode apresentar populal;oes da mosca durante todo o ario. Tem sido registradas perdas no rendimento em até 76%, em ataques severos durante 10 meses, em variedades muito suscet(veis. As vespinhas (Amítus sp e Eretmocerus ~p) parasitam a pupa.Para o controle da mosca branca, sugerem-se os seguintes inset icidas: Dimethoate ou Fent h ion nas doses de 1 e 1,5cm 3 de princípio ativo / litro de água. Os inseticidas só devem ser aplicados quando haja altas populal;oes de moscas; as populal;oes baixas nao afetam a produtividade. As Lagartas Cortadoras larvas de Agrotis ipsi/on e Prodenia eridania Existem várias espécies de cortadores que atacam a mandioca, as qua is podem agrupar-se na s segu intes catego rias :Cortadoras superficiais: a lagarta-rosca, Agrotis ¡psi/an, alimenta-se da pa rte basal da ra ma até a supe rficie do so lo. de ixando as plantas cortadas so bre o terreno. A larva é de cor cinza gordurosa a marrom, com franja mais cl ara.Cortadoras trepadoras : estas lagartas sobern na rama e comem as aemas terminais e a folhagem; também podem roer ao redor da rama, causando murchamento e merte da pr'rtc superior da planta. As larvas de Prodenia erid,1I1ia tem causado estes danos a muitas zonas mandioque ir as. Sao de cor cin za-escura a negra , com fran jas laterais amare las. 100 O dano principal é causado pel oadulto, ao cortar os bro-toS depois de sua emergen cia; há ocasioes em que podem atacar a base das plantu las, tornando-as suscet ¡veis ao tombamento pela ac;:ao do ven to.Todas essas larvas podem se r controladas, usando-se O co ntrole através d e pesticidas nao parece prático, já que é d ifíc il matar a la rva dent ro das ramas. Pode-se reduzi r as populac;:;5es, removendo e queimando as partes ou plantas in fes tadas e mantendo a cultura no limpo . Use sempre estacas sadias para o plantio.Várias espécies d e ¡nsetos escamosos atacam a rama e folh as da mandioca. A maiar incidencia pode acorrer quando se utili za material d e pl antío in festado de escamas. Nes tes casos, a p opul a~ao pode aumen ta r ra pidamente e causa r um dano mai ar as pla ntas, d ura nte seu desenvolvi mento. Verifi cam -se pe rdas de até 20% em produtividades. A. albus pode índ uzir o amarelecimento e queda das fol has; quando Qcorrem danos severos, a rama chega a cobrir-se completamente de escamas, podendo secar; as plantas atacadas nao crescem normalmente e tendem a mar rer. Al gum as espécies atacam as folhas. Entretanto, o maiar dano parece estar relacionado com a perda do mater ial de propaga<;:ao: as gemas das estacas muito afetadas tem má brota~ao e quando brotam, as ra (zes q ue produzem nao se desenvolvem normalmente e sao de baixa qualidade_ O maior ataque acorre durante os períodos secos, agravando -se com as secas prolongadas.O controle mais efetivo consiste em utilizar estacas sadias e em cortar e queimar as plantas infestadas, para prevenir dissemina~5es posteriores. Como, em baixas popula~5es, as escamas podem passar inadvertidas nas gemas, as estacas devem ser tratadas com as fórmulas n9 1 ou n9 2 , que aparece m no apendice 1, mas utilizando Malathion e.E. 57 %. Na Amé rica, as populac;:oes de cochonilha quase sempre tém se mant ido baixas, face ao abundante comple• xo de inimigos naturais; entretanto, em certas ocasi5es ocorrem altas populac;:6es desse ¡nseto, devido , pr inc ipa l• mente, ao mal uso de inseticidas 110 cultivo da mandioca .A cochonilha causa vários tipos de danos: um mecanica e d ireto, ao sugar a seiva, e outro indireto, ao produ-Lir urna substancia com um alto conteúdo de acúcar que serve como meio de crescirnento para uns fungo s conhecidos como fumagina, que podem chegar a cobrir as fo-Ihas e os pedolos, afetando a fotossíntese. As folhas apresentam amare lamento, chegando a produzir-se um des• folhamento severo que comeca pela parte basal da planta, no caso de P. gossypii e pela parte superior da planta quando o ataque for devido a Phenacoccus sp. e P. man/hoti. Parasitos -No CIAT foram encontrados sete parasitos, todos pertencentes a ordem himenóptera e distri-bUidos em quatro fam(l ias. A mais freqüente éAnagyrus sp. que tem sida registrado em todos os pa(ses ande se investiga sobre a cachonilha; é um parasito muito espedfico de ninfas e femeas. Os percevejos de renda ataca m a mandioca em vários pa(ses Sul e Centro-americanos. Na Colombia registro u-se a espécie V. manihotae e no Brasil V. i//udens. O dano económico causado por estas espécies nao foi determj• nado. O ataque acorre principalmente durante as esta-<;oe5 secas, agravando -se com as secas prolongadas. Os adultos sao de colora<;ao cinza e medem aproximadamente 3mm; tanto adultos como ninfas se encontram em grandes quantidades sobre a face dorsal das folhas . Normalmente as populac;:.6es se concentram sobre as falhas basais e intermediárias mas, quando o ataque é severo, podem chegar até as apicais. Os danos nas folhas sao similares aos causados por ácaros e se manifestam por manchas amarelas pequenas que lago se tornam marrom-avermelhadas. O dano a folhagem de uma planta afetada pode ser.. considerável. Há perda na taxa de fotossíntese e queda das folhas basais.Esta praga pode ser controlada pelo uso de fosforados organicos mas o ataque pode repetir-se em seguida e o uso contínuo de inseticidas é oneroso; ademais, este sistema de controle pode destruir os inimigos naturais das outras pragas. 112Os cupins OU termitas tem sido observados atacando a mandioca nas zonas baixas do trópico. Alimentam-se de material de plantio (estacas), de raízes ou de plantas em crescimento que apresentam partes em processo de secamento ou mortas devido a condicdes climáticas desfavoráve is, ou má qualidade da estaca. Seu efeito principal é o de disseminar os agentes patogenicos do cultivo, razao pela qual é necessário proteger as estacas no momento de estabelecer o cultivo para garantir urna boa brotaC;:8o das gemas e um bom desenvolvimento das plantas . Para esse fim se deve empregar misturas de fungicidas, como Captan + Carbendazin (SeMI a 3 gramas de princ(pio ativo por litro de água e posteriormente polvi lhar as estacas ou o solo com Aldrin utilizando doses de 0,259 de prindpio ativo por estaca ou Cava.  Essas pequenas moscas geralmente sao encontradas sobre a superficie foliar, onde depositam seus ovos. A larva ¡nduz um crescimento celular anormal, formando, sobre a fa ce ventral da folha, galhas amarelo-esverdeado a vermelha. estreltas na base e freqüentemente curvas.Aa abrí•las, se observa um túnel cilíndrico dentro do qual está a larva . Em gerar, considera-se que as verrugas sao de pouca importancia económica e, portanto, nao requerem controle algum. Entretanto. foram registrados retardamento no crescimento, quando ocorrem ataques severos em plantas jovens (de dois a tres meses).Para reduzir sua incidencia, recomenda-se coletar e destruir as folhas afetadas em intervalos semanais. 118 Ninfas e adultos deste ¡nseto se alimentam das raízes da mandioca por meio de um estilete fin o e forte que os permite chegar até ao parénquima da raiz. Aa remover a cutícula das raízes atacadas, notam-se pequenos pontos de cer marrom-negra que correspondem aos lugares ande o ¡nseto inse riu o estilete. Estes lugares constituem entradas para microorg anismos que causam, nas ra(zes, o complexo conhecido com a var{ola . Os adultos do percevejo sao neg ros, enquanto as ninfas tém o abd6mem de col orac;ao branco-creme. As patas sao curtas, com muitos acúleos fortes que os facil itam mobilizar-se no interior do solo. Estes ¡nsetos sao djf(ceis de serem encontrados devido ti sua cor e porque simulam estarem mortos; em cenas ocasioes. os percevejos saem grudados as ra (zes, no momento da colheita. Sua presenl;:a pode ser detectada pelo seu odor repugnante e porque o solo é visto remo • vida por causa das gaterias que fazem para se destocar. Severos ataques tem sido obse rvados em mandiocais aonde antes havia sido cultivada a cana-de-a<;:úcar ou pa stagens.Para controlar este ¡nseto, recomenda-se rotac;ao com cultivos nao suscet(veis. Os inseticidas ut ilizados para ca rnbater o \"pao de galinha\" podem ser igualmente efetivos . suas raízes absorvem grandes quantidades de potássio do solo, as reservas deste elemento podem esgotar-se com a produyao continua de mandioca sem urna adequada fertitizac;:ao. As deficiencias de macro nutrientes nem sempre produzem síntomas facilmente detectáveis mas que causam menor desenvolvimento da planta e baixz produtividade. Como resultado. muitos agricultores nunca notam a existencia dessas deficiencias, nem se conscienti-2am do potencial de produtividade real da cultura Entre as deficiencias de macronutrientes, a de fósforo é a mais comum nas vastas áreas de oxisolos, ultisolos e inceptisolos da América Tropical. Na África e Ásia, as deficiencias de nitrogenio e potássio sao possivelmente mais freqüentes. A mandioca também parece sens(vel as deficiencias de magnésio e enxofre. Entre os micronutrientes, a deficiencia de zineo é a mais comum, e o cultivo parece especialmente sens(vel a absor<;:ao insu• ficiente deste elemento nas primeiras etapas de seu de• senvolvimento. Outras deficiencias de micronutrientes sao pouro freqüentes, mas o cobre é um dos principais fatores limitantes nos so los de turfa do sul da Malásia.A mandio ca geralmente se adapta bem a solos ácidos. Apliea90es altas de calcário raras vezes sao necessárias e podem induzir deficiencias de micronutrientes, parti- A deficiencia de N nao é tao co mum em mandioca co mo em outras culturas, mas ela pode ser encontrada em solos are nosos inférteis QU em solo s ác idos (exem • plo: oxiso los e ultisolos). Nestes so lo s, a aplicac;ao de N deverá ser moderada (50 a 100kg/ ha) , já q ue a produt ivid ade das ra ízes di m inui ao ser apl icado N em ex -124 cesso. As ap licac;oes deverao ser feítas no plantío e logo após os dais ou tres meses, ou quando as plantas comec;am a crescer vigorosamente após um perlado prolongado de seca ou de ba ixas temperatu ras. Em solos arenosos, pode ser necessário aplicar N mai s de duas vezes e em dos es menores, a fim de prevenir a lIxi via!;:ao . As aplic a~es de fertilizantes ao so lo, após es tar ele coberto pela fo lhagem (usualmente 3 -4 meses após o plantia). sao poucos prát icas. Nao se tem observado difere n-¡;as significativas entre as diversas fontes de N, tai s como uréia, sulfato de amonio, n itrocálc io ou nitrato de só dio. As fontes Que liberam o N lentamen te , como uréia coberta com enxofre, nao foram supe rio res a uréia aplicada parcelad a mente.Os n (veis no rmais de N nas folhas superiores totalmente expandidas, tres a cinco meses depois do plan tia , flutuam de 4,5 -6,0% para as laminas foliares e de 1 -2% para os pecíolos, ao passo que as rama s e as ralzes tem um nível supremamente baixo deste elemento (0.25 e 1%, respectivam ente).A deficiencia de fó sforo pode reduzi r substancialmente o crescimento e os rendimentos da planta sem que esta mostre sintomas fo liares definidos (foto 118J. Neste caso, as plantas tem ramas finas, folhas estreitas e paucas lóbulos. A foto 119 mostra plantas deficientes ern P a esq uerda e plantas norma is a direita e ao fundo. Observe a diferen~a tao notória na al tura da planta e espessura da folhagem, mas a falta de sintomas claros nas plantas deficientes. Por conseguinte, as deficiencias pouco mareantes s6 se podem diagnost icar por meio de análises da planta e do so lo ou da experimentacao a nivel de campo. Entretanto, 50b condic;:6es seve ras, muitas cultivares mostram sintomas claramente reconhedveis: algumas folhas inferiores amare las , pendendo flacidamente, que mais tarde se tornam necróticas e caem (foto 120). Diferentemente da deficiencia de N, as folhas superio res mant em sua cor verde escura mas podem ser pequenas e pendentes (foto 1211 .A deficiencia de P é comum em oxisolos, ultisolos e certos inceptisolos (solos de cinzas vulcanicas). Pode-se corrigl'-Ia por meio da aplicac;:ao em faixas de fertilizantes fosforados altamente so lúveis como superfosfato tri p lo e simples, QU incorporando tontes menos soJúve is como escoria básica, termo fosfatos e rachas fosfóricas. As últimas sao boas fontes de P em solos ácidos. Todas as fo ntes de P devem ser aplicadas ao solo antes ou no momento do plantio .Os níveis normais de P nas láminas foliares mais joven s totalmente expandidas flutuam do 0,3 -0,5% e nos pedolos correspondentes de 0,12 -0,20%. O conteúdo cr(tico disponivel de P no solo é aproximadamente A deficiencia de K é ma is comum em solos ar eno sos e também em oxisolos e ultisolos com baixo nível de bases, enquanto que muitos solos de cinzas vulca nicas tem uma boa dispon íbilidade de K. As ralzes de mandioca tem um conteúdo relativamente alto de K, e por cada 25 t/ ha de ra ízes colh idas se remo ve do ter• reno aproximadamente 100 kg de K. Por consegu int e , a produc;ao continuada de mandioca sem a fert iliz a• c;ao fXltássica adequada pode esgotar este elemento no solo. U K geralmente se ap lica em faix as com KCQ, a nívei s de 100 -150 kg de K/h a, a metade no ma men• to do plantío e o restan te 2 -3 meses depois. As altas doses de K podem reduz ir a produtividade ao induz ir defic iencia de Mg, ou a deficiencia de S ind uz ida pelo cl oro. Em conseqüencia , em solos com conteúdo baixo de S recomenda•se ut ilizar K 2 S0 4 ou KC Q mistu ra do com S.Os níveis normais de K em lám inas foli ares mais jo' vens totalmente expandid as osci lam de 1,2 -2,0% e nos pec(olos correspo ndentes de 1,5 -3,0% enquan -tO que as ra (zes contém cerca de 0,5 -1,0%. Como oS peciolos superiores sao mais se nsíveis que as lam¡• nas foliares as flutua c;6es no fornecimento de K, para diagnosticar a deficiencia deste elemento , se recomenda tirar amostras dos peciolos. Os níveis crrticos de K no solo nao foram ainda estabelecidos, mas se fixo u ca • mo limites tentativos 0,09 -0,15 meq / l00g de solo seco extra ído com acetato de amónio.o cálcio é um elemento de pouca mobilidade no floema e por conseguinte nao é retranslocado facil mente na planta. Esta requer um fornecimento constante de Ca para seu desenvolvimento normal , e se aqueje é insuficiente, os síntomas de def iciencia desenvolvem -se principalmente no leeido mais jovem em crescimento ativo, tanto da parte aérea como das raízes. Portanto, a deficiencia de Ca se caracteriza por urna escassa for-ma<;:ao de raízes (fotogr afla 127) e por um amareleci• mento (foto 128) co m queima e deforma<;:ao do s ápices das folhas ma is jovens (fotografías 129 e 130) .Estes síntomas sao observados comumente em mandioca cultivada no campo. já que a maiaria dos solos tfm urna disponibilidade adequada de Ca, ou recebem urna quantidade suficiente deste elemento por meio de aplicac;:oes de calcáreo e superfosfatos simples. Além d o mais, a mandio ca é mai s tolerante aQS baixos níveis de Ca Que muitas outras es pécies. 136 127. Deficiencia de Ca no crescimenro de ra ftes 128. Deficibncia de Ca 137 A deficiencia de Ca ocorre mais provavelmente em solos arenosos ou em oxisolos e utisolos com um conteúdo baixo de bases, e altos n(veis de alumínio trocável. O alumínio trocável pode inibir fortemente a absorcao de Ca pela planta. O Ca geralmente se aplica com calcário calcitico ou dolomítico ou como óxido ou hidróxido de cálcio; também se pode utilizar sulfato de cálcio (gesso) em solos com n(veis nao tóxicos de alumínio ou manganes.es n(veis normais de Ca nas laminas fonares mais jove ns totalmente expandidas flutuam de 0 ,6 -1,5%, e nos pedolos correspondentes de 1,5 -3,0%. Diferentemente dos nutrientes móveis no flaema, as concen-trac5es de Ca tendem a ser mais altas nas folhas inferio• res que nas superiores. As ramas tem urna concentra¡;ao relativamente alta de Ca de 0,6 -1,0% enquanto Que as ralzes contem geralmente menos de 0,1 %.A deficiencia de enxo fre se caracter iza por urna dorase ou amarelecimento uniforme das folhas, si• milar ao produzido pe la deficien cia de N (Foto 133). Muito embora o S seja considerado geralmente como um elemento móvel no 1loema, na mandioca parece ter urna baixa mobilidade. Por conseguinte, os sintomas de deficiencia nao estaD necessariamente confinados nas folhas situadas na pon;:ao inferior da planta; de fato . em experimentos com solu~ao nutritiva, os síntomas fa• ram observados as vezes em folhas mais jovens (fotografia 134), enquanto que em mandioca cultivada no campo foram encontrados sintomas nas pareCes inferio • res e mediana da planta (fotograf ía 135) . A mandioca pode ser particularmente senslvel a deficiencia de S, poi s fo ram observados sin tomas numa localidade aonde ou • tros cultivos nao apresentaram nenhum sinal de defi • ciencia daquele elemento . Altas aplica¡;:Oes de K em fo ro ma de KCI induziram sintomas de deficiencia de S na mandioca.A deficiencia de S tem sido observada em multos oxisolos e ultisolos da América Latina assim como na Austrália. Grande parte da demanda de S da planta é satisfeita, em áreas próximas aos centros industriais, por meio do alto conteúdo de S no aro Em consequén• cia, a deficiencia de S é mais comum em áreas afastadas dos centros industriais. O S pode ser aplicado em doses de 10 -20 kg/ha como S elementar, como sulfato de potássio, magnésio ou amonio, como superfosfato simples ou gesso.Os níveis normais de S nas láminas foliares total• mente expandidas flutuam de 0,3 -0,4% e nos pecíiolos correspondentes de corea de 0,13 -0,15%. As folhas das pon;:oes inferiores da planta, as ramas e as raízes apresentam n (veis seriamente baixos de S.144 Deficiencia de Zinco (Zn)A deficiencia de zineo é comum na mandioca e produz urna clorose ínter-nerva l característica nas folhas superiores . Inicialmente aparecem pequenas manchas brancas ou amare las entre as nervuras (foto 136), mas a medida que a planta cresce cada folha que se forma sucessivamente é menor e mais clorótica, com lóbulos muito pequenos e est reitos, todos orientados para fora (foto 137). Nesta etapa, as folhas mais jovens sao de car verde mu ito clara, quase branca, e podem crescer agrupadas em roseta . Mu ito embora os sintomas de def iciencia de Zn apare1;am pr incipalmente nas folhas superiores, em alguns cultivares as folhas inferiores desenvolvem manchas necróticas, bastante similares as produzidas pela toxicidade de boro ou Phaeoramu!aria manihotis, como se observa na planta da direita na foto 138. No campo, as plantas com deficiencia de Zn sao geralmente pequenas e c!oróticas (foto 139). As altas aplicacoes de calcário em solos ácidos podem facilmente induzir a deficiencia de Zn e reduzir a produtividade . Tem sido constatadas grandes diferencas entre cultivares Quanto a suscetibilidade ~ deficiencia de Zn . 146 A defic iencia de Cu nao é comum na mandioca mas reduz cons iderave lmente a produtiv idade nos solos de turfa no sul da Malásia. Caracteriza-se por clorose uni• forme e deformidade das folhas jovens. Comumente os ápices foliares se torna m necr6ticos e as margens das folhas se dobram para cima au para baixa Ifata 140). Os entre-n6s da rama nao se encurtam substancialmente, e assim a altura da planta pode ser quase normal, inclusive com deficiéncias bastante severas de Cu. As falhas totalmente expandidas tendem a ser grandes e estao sustentadas por longos peda los pendentes (foto 141). Observaram -se síntomas similares em solos de turfa da Malásia deficientes de Cu Ifalo 142), Sob condi~oes muito severas, os ápices das ramas podem apresentar morta descendente seguida por novos brotos na base da planta. A deficiencia também pode afetar seriamente o crescimento das ra(zes como verifica-se na fotografia 143. 150 A deficiencia de Fe produz urna clorose uniforme das folhas mais jovens, bastante similar équela devida a defi• ciéncia de N. Inicialmente as nervuras permanecem verdes (foto 144) mas sob condic3es mais severas perdem sua cer verde e toda a folha , incluindo os pedalos, se tornando de cor amarela-pálida, quase branca (foto 145).As folhas nao se deformam, somente diminuem de tamanho; da mesma forma, a altura da planta se reduz (foto 146). Os n(veis tóxicos de Mn , ou mesmo as concentrac;:oes altas de Zn ou Cu, podem ¡nduzir defi• ciencia de Ferro na planta. A mandioca é mais tolerante a deficiencia de Fe que o milho ou o arroz. A deficiencia de Fe nao é comum em mandioca, mas tem sido observada em solos calcáreos da pen (nsula de Yucatan no México, em associa¡;:ao com deficiencia de Zn e de Mn (foto 147), Também deve ser esperada tal deficiéncia em solos de cinzas vuldinicas com alto con• teúdo de Mn. A deficiencia pode ser induzida calcarean• do solos arenosos ácidos com baixo conteúdo Fe ou aplicando doses altas de P. A deficiencia de Fe é controlada mais apropriadamente por meio da aspersao foliar de que latos de ferro ou sulfato ferroso de 1 a 2%. A imersao das estacas em sulfato ferroso a 5% durante 15 minutos antes do plantio nao teve efeito adversos na brota¡;:ao.Os n (veis normais de Fe nas lam inas foliares superio• res totalmente expandidas oscilam de 60 a 200 ppm, 80 passo que os pedolos corresponden tes contem tao so • mente 30•50 ppm de Fe. Por conseguinte, para tjns de d iagnóstico, as laminas e pec(olos nunca devem mis• turar,se nurna rnesrna amostra.A deficiencia de Mn ocas iona clorose inter-nerval das folhas jovens totalmente expandidas. Diferentemente da deficiencia de Fe, as folhas recém-emergitlas tendem a ser verdes (foto 148), ao passo que nas folhas cloróticas os limites entre as nervuras verdes e o tecido entre nervuras amarelo é geralmente difuso. Por conseguinte, as nervuras verdes sobressaem claramente no fundo amarelo semelhante a urna espinha de peixe. Sob condiQoes agudas de deficiencia de Mn, inclusive as folhas mais superiores se tornam amare las e as nervuras perdem sua car verde, como se pode apreciar na folha inferior esquerda da fotografia 149. Igual a deficiencia de Fe, as folhas afetadas nao se deformam mas podem ser menores, e a altura da planta também diminui (foto 150). Nao obstante os sintomas de deficiencia de Mn geralmente aparecerem nas folhas mais jovens, também podem ser encontrados em quase toda a planta (foto 151), já que as novas folhas sadias se formam tao depressa quando há melhoria da disponibilidade de Mn no solo. Isto geralmente sucede durante os perradas de precipita<;ao pluviométrica alta quando o alagamento temporário pode reduzir os óx idos de manganes mais altos, convertendo-os na forma Mn + 2 aproveitável pela planta.A def icie ncia de Mn nao é muito comum, mas foi observada em solos calcáreos da pen(nsula de Yacatán no México, em solos com pH alto no CIAT na Colombia, e em solos ácidos arenosos da Bahía. no Brasil. Também é freqüente em solos organicos.Pode-se corrigi r aplicando ao solo ó xido ou sulfato de manganés, ou aspergindo fol iar mente quelatos ou sulfatos de manganés: A imersao das estacas em su lfato de manganés a 5% nao prejudicou a brotacao .Os n(veis norma is de Mn nas laminas foliares superiore s totalmente expandidas flutuam entre 50 e 250 ppm, As folhas inf er iores tém maiores concentrac6es de manganes que as superiores, especialmente 50b condicees de alta disponibi lidad. de Mn .Os sinto mas de deficiencia de 8 paucas vezes sao ob• servados no campo, mas sao produzidos facilmente em soluc;:oes nutritivas. Como se trata de um elemento imó• vel no flaema, a deficiencia de B afeta principalmente os pontos de crescimento da parte aérea e das ra(zes , O de • senvolvimento das ra(zes laterais é detido e algumas ve• zes morre o ápice da raiz (foto 152). As plantas defi • cientes de B sao de porte baixo devido a urna reduCao acentuada do comprimento dos entre•nós até o ponto de ereseimento (planta esquerda, foto 1531 . As folhas superiores sao verdes escuras, pequenas e disformes e sao suportadas por peciolos curtos. As folhas infe riores totalmente expandidas desenvo lvem urna clorose em forma de manchinhas diminutas, cinzas, marrons ou púrpuras concentradas principalmente no ápice e mar • gens dos lóbulos fol iares (foto 1541. Urna earaetedst i• ca que destingue a deficiencia de B é o desenvolvimento de l~soes na rama e no pec(olo de ande exsuda urna substancia gomosa cor de café (foto 155). Posteriormente estas lesces formam can eros na rama. 162  A mandioca parece ser bastante tolerante ti deficie ncia de S, já que nao foi observado na Colómbia sintomas nem respostas ao S em solos com co nteúd o baixo deste elemento. En tretanto, no Sul da Ind ia obtive ram-se respostas significativas ti apl ieac;ao de B em OX Jsolos. Em soluc;5es nutritivas mantidas a d iversas temperaturas encont ro u -se que a defieiéncia de 8 se produzia mais faeil• mente a temperaturas baixas (lgoCJ . Por eonseguinte, a deficiencia de 8 pode apresentarr-se mais facilmente em regioes de clima fr io. Pode-se controlar por meio da aplicacao de ' -2 kg/ha de 8 em fo rma de Borax ou de outros boratos sódicos. As dose s al tas podem ser tóxicas, e a imersao das estacas nurna so luc ao de Borax corn mais de 1% produziu toxicidade de B (foto 158), Os níveis normais de B nas fo lhas m ais joven s tota lmente expandidas variam de 20 a 100 ppm.A tox icidade de B se caracter iza por manchas brancas ou marrons nas folhas inferiores (foto 156). As manchas estao geralmente rodeadas de um halo car de café escuro (foto 157). Posteriormente estas manchas podem tornar--se necr6ticas, unir-se e formar urna necrose de borda. depois da qual as folhas afetadas caem .A toxicidade natural de B nao foi observada em mand ioca, mas poderia apresentar-se em alguns solos alcalinos com alto conteúdo de B. Entretanto, os sintomas de toxicidade devidos a apl icacao excessiva e nao unifor-166 me de B tem sido observada em plantas cultivadas no campo (foto 158). Geralmente, as folhas inferiores se tornam cloróticas ao longo das margens, as quais se enrolam para cima; em seguida se apresentam necroses das bordas e as folhas caem. Estas plantas gera l• mente se recuperarn já que o B nao se redistribuí fa ei l• mente dentro da planta.As concentrac;6es de B na par te aérea, superiores a 140 ppm, indu zem sintomas de toxicidade.A toxicidade de Al se co nfunde com outraS problemas asso ciados com a acidez do so lo, como pH baixo QU deficiencia de Ca, Mg, Mo ou P. As coneen-tra¡;:5es altas de Al na soluc;:ao do solo afetam principalmen te a altura das planta s, o vigor e desenvolvi me nto da raiz. Com concentrac;:6es al tas de Al e com adequada dispon ib ilid ade de P e Ca, as p la ntas mostram urna clorose entre as nervu ras das folh as mais velha s. Algumas vezes se desenvolvem ma nchas necróticas dent ro da área clorót ica (foto 159), e estas folhas podem cair.Em geral, a mand ioca é tolerante aos n íveis altos de Al no so lo. mas existem diferenc;:as mareantes entre cultivares (fo to 160), O que perm ite selecionar cultivares que se desenvolvem bem em so los muito ácidos com n(veis altos de Al. Os n(ve is altos de Al trocável sao encontrados em ox iso los, utisolos e inceptisolos com valores de PH do solo menores que c inco_ Em geral a mandioca tolera um pH do so lo tao baixo como 4,6 e até 80% de saturacao de Al na capacidade de troca efetiva . Senda necessário, a toxicidade de Al pode ser red uzida por meio da calagem; nao obstante, as aplicacaes altas de calcáreo podem induzir deficiencias de micronutrientes, especia lmente de Zn.Os síntomas de toxicidade de manganes geralmente se desenvolvem primeiro em forma de manchas pequenas escuras de car marrom concentradas ao longo das nervuras das folhas inferiores (foto 161). Numa etapa mais avanc;::ada estas folhas se tornam amare las e pendem flaeida mente do pec(olo (foto 162), e com o tempo caem, A toxicidade de Mn também afeta o sistemjl radicular como se observa na planta da direita na foto 163: Se bem que o fornecimento excessivo de Mn inibe a absorc;ao de Fe, a parte superior da planta pode mostrar sintomas de deficiencia de Fe, muito embora as folhas inferiores mostrem síntomas de toxicidade de Mn (foto 164). A mandioca tem demonstrado ser mais tolerante a toxicidade de Mn que o caupi, o feijao é menos tolerante que outras espécies como o grao-de-bico e centrosema_ A toxicidade de Mn é comum em solos de cinza vulca nica, ácidos, com al to con teúdo de Mn, o mesmo aeontecendo em so los hidromórficos ác idos. Como os ó x idos mais altos de Mn sao reduzidos du,ante o alagarnento em formas aproveitáveis como M+2, a to x icidade de Mn é mais aguda em solos defic ientemente drenados durante a esta<;ao ch uvosa . Entretanto, na estacao seca pode se observar sín tomas severos de to xic idade de Mn e desto-Ihamento parcia l devido a ac um ulac;:ao excess lv a de Mn nas fol has inferiores durante pe rfodo s em que o crescimente foi retido. A toxicidade de Mn pode ser diminui da pela ca lagem e me lhorando a drenagem .Os n (ve is cr iticos pelos Qua is se apresenta to xicldade de Mn oscilam entr e 250 e 1450 ppm na pa rt e aérea de várias cult ivares. Um n(ve l de 1000 ppm na s folhas superiores to tal mente expand idas também se associa co m a toxicidade de Mn.Nao obstante a n1andio ca tolerar bastante bem os so lo s ácidos, é m ais sensíve l 80 p H alto e aos problemas associados a salinidade. alcalinidade e drenagem def.cient e. Ademais, nos solos com pH alto podem acor rer def iciencias de micronutrientes. Os sintomas devido a sa lin idade se caracterizam por um am arelame nto uniforme das folhas superiores que se este ndem em dire~ao descendente afetando a totalidade da plan ta (foto 165), As folhas se tornam necróticas nas extremidades e cae m ocas ionando marte descendente. Algumas cu ltivares sao muito mais tolerantes que oUlras, e pode se selecionar cu It iva res especiais para so los sal inos-alcalinos (foto 166).Os problemas de sali n idad e se apresentam com freqüencia em \" manchas sa linas\" iso ladas, co m pH alto, alta condutiv idade e, geralmente, alto conteúdo d e Na. Nestas áreas as plantas podem morrer, ao passo que outras das prox imidades, em lugares com pH relativamente mai5 baixo, pode m es t ar totalmente sadias. Em geral, a mandioca nao tolera um p H maior do que 7,8-8,0, uma condutividade de mais de 0,5 mmhos/cm OU urna satu racao d e Na supe r ior a 2,5 %.o uso de herbicidas pode substitui r as cap inas que a mandioca exige durante o seu ciclo de cresc imento. Os herbicidas pré-emergentes podem ser particularmente úteis para el iminar a competit;:ao das plantas invasoras durante as pr imeiras semanas do desenvolvimento e permitem , por conseguinte, obter urna produtividade má • xima. Há mu itos fatores que a fetam a efetividade e se• letividade dos herbicidas em qualqu er cultivo.Tratando -se da mandioca, rnuite s produtos pré•emergentes e pós-emerge ntes sao seletivos, quando emp regados adequadamente; ma s há casos ern que os herbicidas ca usa m danos as culturas. O mais freqüentes sao; 2. A utjliza~ao de urn produto OU de urna dose de aplica~ao nao recomendada para solos leves. A mesma dose nao deve ser empregada para todos os tipos de solo. Ouando o conteúdo de matéria organica é baixo e o solo tende a ser franco-arenoso ou arenoso, adose deve ser menor .  Diuron (usado como pré-emergente)Este herb icid a é recome ndado para controlar plantas invasoras da cu ltura da mandioca porque é no rma lmente seletivo. No entretanto pode ocasionar amareleci mento elou neerose das folhas da s pa rtes inferiores da plan ta q uando se utiliza urna superdose (urna dose 2 a 3 vezes superior a recomend ada) (foto 167) , em solo s. leves ou quan do se aplica em estacas q ue tenha m brotado parcia lmente . O amarelec imento QU a neerose co me <;a nas margens e nervuras foliares, Quando o efeito tóxico inicial termi na, as novas folha s q ue se formam nao ap resen tam os sintomas . Em al guma s varied ades ocasiona amare lamento entre as ne rvuras (foto 168 ) que se pode co nfund ir facil mente com a deficienci a de Mg (compare com as fotos 13 1 e 132). Os si ntom as do Linuron e Fluometuron seriam os mesm os porq ue pero tencem ao mesmo grupo q Ul'mico .Este herbicida pré-emergente é altamente seletivo no cultivo da mandioca e mata quase todas as plantas invasoras de folhas estreitas (gram(neas). Raras vezes ocasiona danos qu(micos, e estes só se apresentam quando se aplicam superdoses, por equ(voco. Neste caso, a mandioca mostra um amarelecimento acentuado das margens das folhas situadas nas porc;:aes basais da planta, se m necroses. O alaelor é empregado comumente misturado com diuron. Esta mescla controla eficazmente tanto as plantas invasoras de folha larga como as de folha estre ita.~ recomendado para\" mandioca e está classificado ca• mo moderadamente seletivo. ¡; eficaz contra as plantas invasoras de folhas largas e estreitas, e permite urna protef;30 de até 80 días após a aplic8f;BO em pré-emergencía. ~ seguro tanto para solos pesados como leves e normalmente nao é translocado da supertrcie do solo até as ra(zes. Depois de aplicá-Io em solo seco, solto, pode apresentar dano químico das folhas inferiores se chegar a chover e a eh uva salpicar as part(culas de terra com o herbicida (foto 171). Ouando se emprega uma superdose, pode apresentar-se um amarelamento leve mais QU menos uniforme das folhas inferiores juntamente com urn retardamento do crescimentb (foto 172) ; entretanto, a mandioca se recupera geralmente sem dano permanente. O oxifluorfen também é adequado para a aplicac;:ao em pós-emergencia. e mostra um efe ita aditivo em combinac;:ao com paraquat (Gramoxone). Esta mescla mata as plantas invasoras em crescimento e tem um efeito residual que evita o seu rebrotamento. 188 Estes herbicidas podem ser usados em aplicac;:áes dirigidas em pós-emergencia; entretanto, podem ocasionar a morte do tecido foliar pulverizado QU da totalidade da planta se nao forem aplicados como é devido . O para-qUflt -herbicida de contato -ocasiona neeroses do tecido verde foliar e manchas nas ramas, nas áreas pulverizadas, devido a destrui~ao dos cloroplastos da célula (foto 176). O glyphosate é sistemico e portanto é translocado na planta ocasionando distor~o. murchamento das folhas e morte de toda a planta 80 ¡nibir a s(ntese de um aminoácido aromático no metabolismo das plantas (foto 177). O dano ocasionado por estes herbicidas se apresenta quando os produtos nao sao aplicados devidamente, permitindo um contato excessivo com a mandioca . A pulverizac;ao de herbicidas pÓs -e mergentes adequadamente dirigida realiza-se empregando um bica com tela protetora e um espa~amento maior entre os sulcos ou cavas de mandioca, o qual deve ser compensado por uma distancia menor entre plantas para mante' a mesma popula,ao (foto 178). 192  ","tokenCount":"11579"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2279181813.json b/data/part_1/2279181813.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4923f92719804a63eda4fd76ff54dfc6c7d41d84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2279181813.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8fb0cd40ed57cde5b0e47b6f1c3e2ac6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/603902e0-bbb6-44d2-9e3c-73d8d31820cb/retrieve","id":"-1120638287"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2a23d16e-88a8-48b2-96ce-3e245891f5bb","pagecount":"29","content":"A study was carried out to assess existing and potential feed resources and constraints to livestock production in Koutiala and Bougouni districts in Southern part of Mali. A Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) which was developed by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was used to collect necessary data on the livestock production systems and feed resources. FEAST is a rapid systematic method to assess local feed resource availability and use. The assessment included focus group discussions and individual interviews.The results of the feed assessments showed that the main crops grown in the mixed crop-livestock systems of Koutiala and Bougouni were cotton, maize, sorghum, millet, groundnut, and cowpea. The largest proportion of almost all types of crop residues were used for livestock feeding rather than any other uses (about 75% and 60% for Bougouni and Koutiala districts, respectively). Livestock owned per household was almost the same in both study areas (Bougouni = 12.00±0.6 TLU; Koutiala = 11.99±0.67 TLU Ninety percent and 86.6% of the households interviewed in Koutiala and Bougouni, respectively kept at least one draught cattle primarily to support cropping operations.The main feed resources for livestock in the study sites were natural pasture, crop residues, shrub/tree leaves and agro-industrial byproducts especially cereal bran and cottonseed cake. The feed availability depends on season. Pastures and green forage (herbage) were the main feed for animal during the wet season (June to October), contributing more than 80% of animal diet during this period. The quantity and quality of pasture declined as the season advanced from wet to dry. Feeding of crop residues mostly begins soon after crop harvest in October/early November and extending up to February or early March. In both study areas, especially in Bougouni, as the dry season progressed the importance of crop residues as animal feed decreased while that of browse increased. Browses tended to form a significant part of the ruminant diet between February and May.The highest dry matter content of ruminants' total diet came from grazing (50 and 59 % respectively in Koutiala and Bougouni Yanfolila districts). The animals' protein and Metabolizable Energy (ME) requirements were also met largely from the grazing. Crop residue is second to grazing in the provision of the animal's dietary nutrient requirement. Although crop residues were produced in large amounts, their full and efficient utilization for livestock has been hindered by inadequate knowledge of farmers on feed processing and treatment, and lack of improved technologies for feed storage. Seasonal shortage in feed supply, stock route and lack of watering point were the major constraints facing livestock production in the study area. Training of farmers on effective feed resources utilization, and production of cultivated forage could be very important to raise the capacity of farmers to address these constraints.Livestock are important assets to the rural poor in developing countries and approximately 70% of the world's ruminant populations are located in developing countries, where they play multiple roles (ILRI, 2002). It is estimated that livestock contribute to the livelihoods of more than two-thirds of the world's rural poor and to a significant minority of the peri-urban poor (ILRI, 2002). For these populations, livestock play a critical role in both the sustainability and intensification of agriculture productivity in most farming systems. They provide nutritious food products for human consumption and income-generation opportunities. Their manure helps maintain soil fertility contributing to the overall sustainability of the farming enterprise ( Sere et al., 2008). Livestock provide also traction to cultivate fields. For many, livestock provide livelihood options available as they exploit common resources for private gain. In addition, in many rural societies poor women derive their income from livestock keeping.The common feed resources in sub-Saharan Africa for livestock production are pastures (herbaceous plant, fodder trees/ shrubs), crop residues, cultivated forage, and concentrate feeds (agro-industrial by products, grains, feed supplements etc.). The common problems with these resources are marked variation in availability and quality, and seasonal shortage, which have have been consistently reported as the major constraint to ruminant production (Leng and Devendra, 2011, Souvant, 2004;FAO, 2012) in the developing countries. Addressing feed problem can significantly increase livestock productivity.Due to growing population in Mali in general, the natural resource base for livestock production is under increasing threat and this can lead to natural resource degradation. Apart from demographic pressure, the other major causes of natural resource degradation are expansion of cropping fields into grazing areas, shortening of fallow period, continuous cultivation of crop fields with low addition of external inputs such as fertilizer, deforestation to grow crop particularly cotton in Sikasso region, and probably climate variability and change. Then, degradation of natural resources affects availability of feed resources.Feed resources are generally abundant in the wet season and the quality is good. Feed scarcity is a big problem in the late dry season (March to May). Despite the continued reduction in the size of pasture and cultivable areas for crop production, ruminants will continue to depend primarily on fodder from natural pastures and crop residues. Livestock feed supply from natural pasture is characterized by seasonal fluctuation in total dry matter(DM) production and nutritional quality because of the distinct seasonal variation in plant growth, in relation to the annual rainfall pattern (Hassen and al., 2010). In mixed farming system of southern region of Mali, crop residues such as groundnut haulm, maize stover, millet straw, sorghum straw, cotton hay, rice straw, etc. are important feed sources for ruminant livestock (Dembélé, 1995). Crop residues form the main feed resources for livestock in the region from November to March which is quite important both for the maintenance of the animals and production but the contribution of crop residues to animal nutrition declines from March to May when there is acute feed scarcity. Animals usually lose weight during this period (late dry season: March to May) despite significant consumption of browse (Leloup et al., 1996).In addressing this problem of feed shortage, it is necessary to assess the existing and potential feed resources, use, costs and gaps with respect to ruminant production to meet the requirements of livestock. These evaluations will guide the development of effective strategies to improve nutrition and livestock productivity based on locally available feed resources. Evaluation of the existing and potential feed resources is also important to develop strategies for efficient use of these resources by reducing waste. In addition, it is also necessary to promote proper management of natural resources, and the adaptation of livestock systems to available feed resources (Corniaux et al., 2005;Griffin, 2009;CIRAD, 2010 andDoré et al., 2011).The main reason for selecting the administrative district (\"cercles\") of Koutiala and Bougouni in the Sikasso region was the potential and the opportunities they present for the development of animal production. In addition, the study area has the highest production of cotton and cereal in Mali. Both districts also offer more opportunities in terms of available feed resources for better livestock productivity. Strategies for the development of livestock feed that consider the use of local resources already adapted to the local environment must be explored in this area.The result of this study will contribute to identification of improved feeding strategies for livestock. Besides, this study will help to define future interventions in developing livestock feeding systems to enhance productivity and viable integration of the crop and livestock sectors in southern region of Mali. Accordingly, this study was conducted with the objective to assess existing and potential feed resources and gaps at farm household level in order to enhance optimal use for improved farm productivity in Koutiala and Bougouni districts. The specific objectives of this study were to characterize the existing farming systems and livestock management in the study sites, and to assess locally available feed resources for livestock production.In this study, we are testing the hypothesis that the assessment of feed resources will promote the identification of innovative strategies to improve feed for livestock and therefore contribute to the improvement of livestock productivity and consequently the livelihood of smallholder farmers.The study sites included the following villages: Namposséla (-5.34º long; 12.33º lat), Sirakelé (-5.48 long; 12.51º lat) and Zanzoni (-5.57º long; 12.61º lat) in Koutiala district and Diéba (-8º long; 10.91º lat), Sibilira (-7.76º long; 11.44º lat) and Yorobougoula (-7.91º long; 11.52º lat) in Bougouni-Yanfolila district located in Saikasso, a southern region of Mali. These study sites are in the region with the highest agricultural production in Mali. Based on agricultural production statistics for 1984 to 2000, Sikasso region accounted for 37% of national millet and sorghum production, 63% of maize production, 13% of groundnut production and 95% of cotton production (Cellule de Planification et de Statistique, 2001). Koutiala zone is the cotton production capital of Mali followed by Bougouni. Annual precipitations in the two study sites range from 700 -1000 mm and 900 -1200 mm for Koutiala and Bougouni, respectively. Crop farming and livestock husbandry are the main sources of household income in Koutiala and Bougouni. As a result, there is a close interdependence between crop and livestock sub-systems in the study area. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate clearly the study area.The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) developed by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was used to evaluate the existing and potential feed resources in the study sites (Duncan et al., 2010). FEAST is a systematic method to assess local feed resource availability and use. It helps in the design of intervention strategies aiming to optimize feed utilization and animal production. FEAST consists of two components namely Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and individual farmer's survey. PRA exercise aims at capturing an overview of the farming system with particular emphasis on livestock feeds and description of major problems facing livestock production. The individual interview of the farmers aims at collecting quantitative information on crop-livestock production, feed availability and quality. The survey was conducted between October and November 2013 in three communities (Dieba, Sibirila and Yorobougoula) in Bougouni-Yanfolila district and three communities in Koutiala district (Nampossela, Sirakele and Zanzoni). For the PRA, 15 farmers including men (2/3) and women (1/3) in each study village were invited to a meeting of about half-a-day to assess the constraints and opportunities for improving livestock feeding systems. This meeting consisted of participatory diagnosis of livestock production systems, feed resources and availability and livelihood strategies. In total, group discussion was conducted with 112 farmers in all the six communities in the two study sites.The goal of the individual survey was to gather specific information from individual farmers about their farming practices. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Twelve farmers in each study village were selected for the individual interview relating to their farming systems and feeding practices. The twelve farmers selected were representative of 3 wealth categories in the community namely farmers with small, medium and large land holdings. Four farmers from each wealth category were interviewed in each community. In total, 72 farmers were interviewed in the six communities in the two study sites. The statistical analysis was carried out using SAS (1987) using Means procedure. T test was used to test if there is any significant difference between the two study sites for the dependent variables.Two distinct seasons occur in both study areas Koutiala and Bougouni-Yanfolila namely the dry season which occurs from early November till April and rainy season which occurs from May to the end of October. The peak period for rainfall is in July and August. However, in these last years, rainfall patterns are becoming unpredictable and unreliable (Table 2). Figure 3 showed the general distribution of rainfall in Koutiala and Bougouni-Yanfolila according to farmer's perceptions and meteorology service data. The trends are the same with both sources of information. According to the meteorology data, Bougouni-Yanfolila district receives more precipitation than Koutiala district. The shaded portion indicates the rainy season and the numbers show the magnitude of rainfall in each month on the scale of 0 (none) to 5 (highest) according to those interviewed. Cereal crops, cotton, groundnut, cowpea, okra, peas and potatoes were the main crops grown in the wet season. During the dry season leguminous crops (e.g. cowpea) are usually grown by irrigation.Small-scale irrigation is practiced in all the communities as presented in Table III. The number of household with access to irrigation was relatively high in Diéba, Zanzoni and Yorobougoula (100%, 90% and 80% respectively) villages while this was modest in Namposséla village (60%). Access to irrigation was minimal in Sibilira (15%) and Sirakéle (2%) villages due to the lack of water bodies for irrigation. Mixed crop-livestock systems are dominant in the study areas. Sere and Steinfeld (1996) define mixed crop-livestock systems as those in which at least 10% of the feed comes from crops and/or crop by-products or more than 10% of the total agricultural production comes from non-livestock farming activities. As population densities increase, there is pressure to intensify agricultural production, which leads to an increase in the interactions between crop and livestock production (McIntire et al., 1992). Average household size was 17.33±11.88 (Diéba= 19±15;Yorobougoula=16±11.15;Sibilira=18±17.5;Namposséla= 19±13.28;Sirakéle= 19±14.80;Zanzoni=13±8). Average land areas cultivated were 8.81 and 15.83 ha for Bougouni Yanfolila and Koutiala districts, respectively (Table 4). The land cultivated in Bougouni -Yanfolila was significantly lower than in Koutiala (p<0.05).This difference could be attributed to the diversification of livelihood activities in Bougouni-Yanfolila than in Koutiala. The other explanation that can be given for these results was the higher population in Koutiala than Bougouni which necessitate expansion of cropping area to meet the demand for food. This expansion of cropping area is often associated with an increased risk of degrading natural resources and increased incidence of conflict among users (Kebreab et al., 2005). From the 3 classes of resources endowment identified (small, medium and large) based on the amount of land utilized for farming, farmers with small land area was dominant class in all study area. Table 5 shows the percentage of farmers in each category of farmers. From household survey, agriculture is the main economic activity in both study areas. As presented by Traore (1998), the Southern Mali's economy is largely dependent on the production from the primary sector with 80% of agricultural production from rainfed agriculture. Study led by Dury et al., 2012 showed that cereal production in the Sikasso region is higher than in most other parts of Mali and the region of Sikasso is also renowned for rainfed cotton. The results showed that the main food crops grown in Koutiala and Bougouni-Yanfolila area are pearl millet, maize, sorghum, groundnut, cowpea and rice which are generally cultivated as monoculture. However, for many farmers cowpea is often intercropped with cereal. The intercropping consists of various spatial arrangements of maize/millet/sorghum and cowpea. Some other intercropping is practiced such as groundnut with Dah and cowpea with sesame.The main cash crop, known in the study area as \"white gold\" is cotton and its production is currently increasing compare to 1990s. Specifically, as shown in Table 6, maize, cotton and groundnut were the most dominant crop in Bougouni-Yanfolila with a mean cultivated area per household of 3.61±0.51 ha, 3.52±0.36 ha, and 2.08±0.27 ha, respectively. The main crops in Koutiala were pearl millet, sorghum and cotton with the overall mean cultivated area of 4.09±0.50ha, 4.03±0.44 ha, and 3.68±0.48 ha, respectively. The difference in cultivated area for each crop in Bougouni-Yanfolila and Koutiala is significant (p<0.05) except for rice.Ninety percent and 86.6% of the households interviewed in Koutiala and Bougouni-Yanfolila, respectively kept at least one draught cattle. Small ruminant (sheep and goat) are kept by all the households in Koutiala while there are a remarkable difference in number of household which kept small ruminant in Bougouni -Yanfolila. Sheep were kept by 54% while goats were kept by 83.3% of the households interviewed. The higher proportion of households which kept goats compared to those who kept sheep can be explained by the availability of shrubs and trees in Bougouni-Yanfolila district which is easily exploitable by goat as feedIn many dryland agroecosystems of West Africa, poor soil fertility and low and erratic rainfall are major limitations to crop production (Breman and de Wit, 1983). For many households, diversification into livestock reduces risk by providing insurance in the case of crop failure. In these systems, livestock are also a source of liquidity and investment capital in the absence of savings and credit institutions.As can been seen in figure 4, groundnut is cultivated by nearly all the households (100% in Bougouni -Yanfolila, 94% in Koutila) in both study sites. All the households interviewed in Koutiala cultivated sorghum whereas only a few number of households cultivated the crop in Bougouni-Yanfolila. In Bougouni-Yanfolila, women were more involved in groundnut and rice cropping than men. For example, the entire female farmers interviewed grown groundnut while eight out of ten farmers grown rice. As shown in Table 7, between 40 and 90% of the crop residue biomass for all types of crops were used for livestock feeding compared to other uses Crop residues are already the most important feed for ruminant in smallholder crop-livestock production systems of Africa and contribute substantially to the supply of nutrients animals in mixed farms of Latin America (Williams and al.1997). Crop residues are vital livestock feeds, especially in the drier parts of West Africa (Sandford, 1990). In addition to use as livestock feed, crop residues are also used as fuel and construction material, and are sold to provide income to meet household needs (Sandford, 1989;McIntire et al., 1992). Residues that remain in the fields are used for mulching and for erosion protection.  The proportion of crop residues sold in both study area was practically nil. This could be due to feed shortage in the area which necessitates using the crop residues for feeding household animals and the remaining part is generally used for fumigation or to make potash which is used in farmer's nutrition. According to the findings of Powell and al. (2004), feeding crop residues and using manure to fertilize cropland is perhaps a rational strategy. In many areas of West Africa, cereal crop residues remaining on the soil surface at the onset of planting are usually gathered and burned.Livestock feed production using cultivated forage species is not widely practiced in the study areas.Only 21 (29%.) farmers out of 72 interviewed grown some fodder for the sole purpose of feeding livestock (Bougouni -Yanfolila: 25%; Koutiala: 33%). The forage species grown in the study areas were cowpea (Sangaranka variety), Bracharia, Stylosanthes and forage sorghum. As shown in Table 8 below, the practice of cultivated forage is more developed in Koutiala than in Bougouni-Yanfolila area. The main reasons for the low level of cultivated forage were lack of forage seed and lack of awareness of the importance of the improved forage species. In addition, farmers in Koutiala also attributed this low practice of cultivated forage to shortage of land. Hassen et al. (2010) argued that the low practice of cultivated forage in smallholders' farmers is more due to the lack of awareness about the importance of improved forage species. Generally, the adoption of introduced forage in tropical developing countries has been limited. For example, although the value of fodder banks in West Africa was recognized by agro-pastoralists, its adoption was slow (Elibash and al., 1999 cited by Kebreab et al., 2005). Kebreab et al. (2005) conclude that the reasons for poor adoption appear to be the lack of evidence of economic profitability and the inadequate technical support. Livestock assets, their role and managementThe livestock species reared in the community are given in Table IX. Livestock number per household was almost the same in both study areas (Bougouni-Yanfolila = 12.00±0.60 TLU; Koutiala = 11.99±0.67 TLU). A generally high number of livestock in the study sites could be attributed to the settlement of Fulani herdsmen in the areas and investment of farm incomes in livestock (Bosma et al, 1996. Coulibaly, 2008). Cattle was the dominant species in the study sites Koutiala=8.64±2.93). Approximately 77% and 99% of the households interviewed in Bougouni-Yanfolila and Koutiala, respectively kept at least one pair of draught cattle for farm operations. Households that do not own any draught cattle normally hire it when required. As presented in Table 9, the high proportion of cattle in both study areas demonstrates the significance of cattle in the farming systems, particularly the draught animals. In the cotton zone of Southern Mali, 90% of family production units have cattle, and 60% have reproductive animals, in addition to draught oxen (Poccard-Chapuis et al., 2007).In some West African dryland areas, draft animals, most commonly cattle, but also donkeys, horses, mules, and even camels contribute to crop production through the provision of power to assist farmers in the production, harvesting, processing, and marketing of crops (Powell, 2004). In addition, cattle are kept to provide milk for household nutrition (Stangel, 1995). The average number of sheep kept in Koutiala was significantly higher than that in Bougouni-Yanfolila but the average number of goat per household was almost the same in both study areas. The main purpose of keeping sheep and goat is to generate cash income to meet household needs and as a source of meat especially for festivity. In time of insufficient crop harvest, sheep and goats are also sold to purchase grain and meet other family needs. Sheep and goats are also kept for manure and for sacrifice. Donkey are mainly used for transporting people and agricultural products to and from the homestead , drinking water for animal and human being, wood, crop residues and charcoal to market place. Poultry are kept as immediate sources of cash for family needs, and as meat, gift for strangers, and for sacrifice.Livestock can help cement social networks and for many poor households, livestock is the primary form of savings.All animal breeds kept in study areas are indigenous types (local breed). Ba (2011) shows in the study conducted in Southern region of Mali that cattle breeds present in the cotton zone in Southern Mali are mainly zebu, taurine trypanotolerant breed (N'Dama) and crossbred between Zebu and N'Dama locally called Méré. In both study areas, the management of livestock depends on the availability of feed resources and it varies with season. In general, cattle were herded during the day in the wet season and tethered at night without any supplementary feeding.During the dry season, herding and tethering of all cattle were still practiced in Koutiala but only by few herders in Bougouni-Yanfolila. In addition, some farmers do send their cattle on transhumance. Sheep and goats are normally tethered at homesteads and along the road side for grazing during the wet season and during the dry season they are allowed to free-range or sent on transhumance with cattle. During the dry season, all animals which were not sent on transhumance were supplemented (cereal bran, cottonseed cake, crop residues especially cowpea hay). The common feeding strategies in the area included grazing natural pastures and feeding crop residues. These results agree with report by Coulibaly et al. (2007) on feeding strategies for cattle around the town of Sikasso, located in the heart of the cotton area in southern Mali.The main feed resources for livestock in Bougouni-Yanfolila and Koutiala districts were natural pasture, crop residues, shrub/tree leaves and agro-industrial byproducts especially cereal bran and cottonseed cake as shown in Figure 5 and Table 10. The same feed resources were reported by Ba (2006) , Dembele (1995) and Susan et al. (1996) for the same region (Southern region) where we conducted our study. These feed resources are common in most livestock farming system in sub-Saharan Africa (Lukuyu et al. 2011, Hassen et al., 2010, Zingg, 2011and Powell et al., 2004).Among the feed resources, natural pasture and crop residues contributed the largest source of livestock feed in the study areas in terms of dry matter content, crude protein and metabolizable energy. Grazing, crop residues, naturally occurring and collected fodder, purchased feeds and cultivated fodder contributed 50, 30, 13, 6, and 1% of the total ruminant diet, respectively in Koutiala, and 59, 25,14,1 and 1% of the total ruminant diet, respectively in Bougouni-Yanfolila (Figure 6). have watering point for animals.  Results presented in figures 8 and 9 showed that in the study sites, grazing and green forage were the main feed sources for animal during the wet season (June to October), contributing more than 80% of animal diet. The quantity and quality of pasture declines as the season advances from wet to dry. The end of wet season coincides with the harvest period which implies that crop residues are available as animal feed.Crop residues feeding mostly begins soon after the crop harvest in October/early November and extending up to February or early March. During the cool dry season (October to December), cattle feed is based on crop residues from the household crop production. Cereal residues are grazed on crop field because due to the problem of labour to collect and transport crop residues. The problem of transportation of crop residues was mainly reported in Bougouni-Yanfolila. Cowpea hay is often collected and stored, and used to feed animal later in the dry season. For efficient utilization of crop residues, physical treatment of the straws should be promoted in the study areas. However, some farmers do store their crop residues in an open shade for later use as animal feed as shown in pictures 1 and 2. The distribution of stored crop residues and concentrates (cereal bran, cottonseed meal, etc.) is usually done in January according to the location and the available and is in addition to natural pastures and postharvest. They are given periodically and selectively.In both study areas especially in Bougouni-Yanfolila , the importance of crop residues decreases as the dry season progressed while that of browse increases. In this period of the year, fodder trees and shrubs play an important role for ruminant nutrition, providing proteins, minerals, vitamins and energy (Ickowicz and Mbaye, 2001;Ouédraogo-Koné, 2008). In Bougouni-Yanfolila, browses tended to form a significant part of the ruminant diet between February and May. The preference for browse species varied according to season and animal species. The preference for browse is high for goats than others species. However, regardless of animal species and zone, browse species are more frequently used as animal feed in the dry season (Zampaligré et al., 2013).To cope with the problem of feed scarcity towards the end of the dry season, most farmers had to purchase feed. The purchased quantity in both study areas were presented in table 11. Constraints to livestock production and potential solutions in the study areasFarmers in the study areas face a number of constraints regarding livestock production as shown in Table 13. The importance of these constraints is different from one village to another, but in general Bougouni-Yanfolila's farmers were mainly faced with problem of lack of water especially during the dry season, animal disease, and feed scarcity at the end of the dry season. In the case of Koutiala feed scarcity, problem of livestock passage and disease are the major constraints.The problem of lack of water especially during the dry season is due insufficient and depletion of standing pools and well, and lack of water infrastructure in the areas such as water pump.Farmers in both study area reported that disease and poor access to veterinary services are also major constraints limiting livestock production. Farmers suggested that this situation can be addressed by strengthening the capacities of community animal health workers and training of farmers in diagnosis of common animal diseases, how to prevent them and provide basic treatments.Feed scarcity is the other most important problem identified by farmers. Feed availability is only considered to be a problem towards the end of the dry season (March -May), when all crop residues have been consumed. During this time, the livestock are generally undernourished and thus become more susceptible to diseases.In the review of under-nutrition in smallholder ruminant production done by Kebreab et al. (2005), seasonal feed shortages were pointed out as the major constraints to increase ruminant productivity in developing country.The other problem listed by farmers was livestock stock routes and the associated conflicts. In the study area, farmers reported that they are no clear stock routes or where they existed, the livestock passage has been blocked by the through the encroachment by the expansion of field crops. Kebreab and al. (2005) reported that the expansion of cropping land and use of land for other activities lead to the decline in availability of grazing resources.The only solution the farmers see is the establishment of stock routes to reduce the conflict between farmers and herders during the cropping season.Table 14. Suggested solutions to constraints to livestock production in the study areas The dominant farming systems in the study sites are mixed crop-livestock systems which are critical to the household food security and /or income generation. The results of our study demonstrate the high degree of integration of livestock in the farming systems in both study sites. However, livestock production is seriously constrained by a combination of feed shortage, poor nutritional management, absence of stock routes for livestock, and poor adoption of appropriate technologies.","tokenCount":"4813"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2303087656.json b/data/part_1/2303087656.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..887212bc0acce8a7016041c2b0f42ff9668bd777
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2303087656.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e52e9a213f827dfecded54425c1a8fb6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2fa211bd-3cf0-4f40-b89f-c8d76a3f2f8c/retrieve","id":"1174970498"},"keywords":["Baseline","Bangladesh","village study","participatory mapping","organisations","access to information Community resources -participatory satellite imagery interpretation and"],"sieverID":"386ebb89-ca94-4ebe-8499-15a6e29aae65","pagecount":"37","content":"The tools and guidelines used for implementation of the village baseline study across all CCAFS sites, as well as the mapping outputs at a higher resolution can be accessed on our website (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/resources/baseline-surveys).The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is a strategic ten-year partnership between the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and Future Earth to help the developing world overcome the threats posed by a changing climate, achieve food security, enhance livelihoods and improve environmental management. In 2010, CCAFS embarked on a major baseline effort at household, village and organisation levels across its three target regions, namely East Africa, West Africa and South Asia (more information about CCAFS sites is available on our website http://ccafs.cgiar.org/regions). CCAFS trained survey teams from partner organisations in the three regions to conduct the baseline.The baseline effort consists of three componentsa household survey, village study and organisational survey. The household baseline survey, a quantitative questionnaire on basic indicators of welfare, information sources, livelihood/agriculture/natural resource management strategies, needs and uses of climate and agricultural-related information and current risk management, mitigation and adaptation practices, was implemented by CCAFS partners in 35 sites (245 villages) with nearly 5,000 households in 12 countries to date. CCAFS partners are implementing village baseline studies (VBS) and organisational surveys in one out of the seven villages within each CCAFS site where the household survey was implemented. The plan is to revisit these villages in roughly 5 years, and again in 10 years, to monitor what changes have occurred since the baseline was carried out. The goal is not to attribute these changes to the program, but to be able to assess what kinds of changes have occurred and whether these changes are helping villages adapt to, and mitigate, climate change.The focus of this site analysis report is the VBS. To date, 17 VBS were conducted. The VBS aims to provide baseline information at the village level about some basic indicators of natural resource utilisation, organisational landscapes, information networks for weather and agricultural information, as well as mitigation baseline information, which can be compared across sites and monitored over time.The objectives of the VBS are to: Provide indicators to allow us to monitor changes in these villages over time. In particular, changes that allow people to o Manage current climate risks, o Adapt to long-run climate change, and o Reduce/mitigate greenhouse gas emissions  Understand the enabling environment that mediates certain practices and behaviours and creates constraints and opportunities (policies, institutions, infrastructure, information and services) for communities to respond to change  Explore social differentiation:o Perceptions of women and men will be gathered separately to be able to present different gender perspectives. o Focus group participants will be selected to present perceptions of groups differentiated by age. The detailed tools and guidelines used for the implementation of the VBS across all CCAFS sites, as well as the manuals, data and analysis reports can be accessed on our website (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/resources/baseline-surveys) This report presents the results of the VBS conducted on December 1-3, 2012 in the village of Gabgachhia, Bangladesh (Khulna site) (Map 1). Gabgachhia village of Bagerhat Upozila (sub-district) is located near the Sundarbans and the Panguchhi River in the coastal region of Bangladesh's Khulna district. It takes half an hour to fly from Dhaka to Jessore airport and 5 hrs to drive from there to Khulna district city. Gabgachhia village is 50 Km and 1.5 hours from Khulna city on a fairly good road. Gabgachhia was chosen for the baseline survey because of its relative central location in the block. The survey team was composed of two facilitators, two note takers and two translators. Each pair was male and female. Consultations were made with the village authorities concerning time and place of meeting. They selected the Gabgachhia Primary School as an appropriate venue.Invitations were sent out by the site team leader to three sets of participants who were chosen using random sampling. Each group was composed of 15 men and 15 women. Three consecutive days were selected for the survey and on each day only one set of participants were expected to participate in the survey. The whole community was invited on the first day of the survey for an introductory session where this survey was explained to and results of an earlier household survey shared. After the introductory session the rest of the community was set free and only the invited group of 15 men and 15 women remained behind to carry on with the survey. This was repeated at the end of the third day when the survey was completed. The whole community was again invited to attend a debriefing session where summaries of the findings were shared.The survey used participatory methods of data collection. Throughout the data collection process groups of male and female members of the community worked separately. This was to allow for collection of gender-differentiated information.The task on day one was to introduce the community group to a satellite image of the block and work with each group to identify and map/sketch resources that are important to the community, their current state, their past state and what caused the changes. The outputs were maps and sketches. The process of working with the community to identify the resources that are important to them depended entirely on how well they were able to understand and interpret the image.The task on day two was to work with each group to understand the organisational landscape and the links that exist between the organisations in relation to food security in a normal year, in a year of crisis and in relation to natural resource management. The outputs were diagrams showing the organisational landscape. Information on each organisation was also captured cards. The links between the organisations were shown using lines and arrows on the diagrams.There were two main tasks on day three. One was to work with each group on understanding information networks in relation to weather elements and farming activities. The outputs were diagrams. The second task was to bring the two groups together and generate a vision of what the community would like their village to be like in the future. The output was a map/sketch showing \"the vision of the community.\"Information generated from the survey was captured on sketches, maps, flip charts, information cards and notes, which were brought together in an initial debriefing and ultimately this final report. Photographs were also taken of all the activities and information generated at each stage. The survey materials were then labelled and packed for off-site processing. The debriefing report was prepared in the field so that it could benefit from the presence of the site team. The photographed sketches and maps were inserted in the debriefing report. In this site analysis report proper maps and diagrams derived from the field outputs replaced them.Topic 1: Community resources -participatory satellite imagery interpretation and visioning Community infrastructure and resources and gender-differentiated access and utilisation of those resources have been analysed, based on a process of participatory visual interpretation of high resolution satellite imagery (RapidEye). The aim was to create a basic understanding of existing community resources, as well as of community dynamics in relation to its environment. The participants discussed the current state of those resources, in terms of quality, access, management, history and potential drivers of change. Later on, a mixed group developed an image of village resources and human well-being into 2030 to understand opportunities, constraints and aspirations for the future. The detailed approach to this exercise is outlined in the CCAFS Village Baseline Study Implementation Manual (follow the link to the baseline study from our website http://ccafs.cgiar.org/resources/baseline-surveys).Separate meetings of male and female participants took place at the community meeting grounds. To begin the identification of community natural resources and infrastructure, groups generated initial diagrams on the floor as a basis for discussion and consensus before final versions were transferred to flipcharts by the research team (Photo 1). Following this activity groups were shown satellite imagery of their region to compare and confirm their maps. The appreciation of scale was important for participants to get their bearings. The exercise could not be rushed and took a lot of time, but both groups were ultimately able to identify key features from the images. Photo 1. Current conditions mentioned by women regarding natural resources and infrastructure Maps 2 and 3 represent the current conditions in the community regarding natural resources (water, forest, grazing, farmland, degraded land) and infrastructure (roads, markets, education, health) according to, respectively, male and female participants. The maps lay out information prepared by the community participants super-imposed on a satellite image.  Male and female participants provided the following information on their community's resources, including infrastructure (building on Table 1).Forest: Currently, there is no forest in or around this community. There are few fruit trees around the houses of the villagers. The only forest is the Sundarban, which is across the Panguchhi River and is a 5-6 hour journey by powerboat. Women mentioned that going into the forest is dangerous due to tigers and crocodiles. The community uses the forest as a source of honey, wood and fish.The three main rivers are Charamolla, Panguchhi and Bisskhali. Women participants mentioned the Panguchhi River is used for irrigation, fishing, boating, etc. All these rivers are very narrow, half full of silt, and lacking fish. The Mollechar River, which is 1-2 hours away, contains freshwater during the rainy season and 3-4 months after. The rest of the year the river is saline due to tidal waves. The participants mentioned that this river needs silt clearing and saline water management.Canals: There is a small natural canal that is not of much use. Only some big farmers have deep tube wells that are used for boro rice paddy irrigation in the winter.Farmlands: Farmlands are mainly for rice farming. The Food Security Indicator Survey showed 87% of households have less than one hectare of land and the remaining have more than a hectare. Only 40% of households are fully food secure and there are limited options for income generation on and off the farm. Only 56% of households earn cash income from on-farm employment while 17% receive cash income from off-farm employment and 35% earn cash income from small business and small trading activities. Only 60% of land farmers have shrimp ponds.Sugarcane: It was being grown as a cash crop in the past, however this is decreasing due to increased soil salinity and erratic rainfall. There is no sugarcane industry around now. Farmers would like to grow sugarcane again if sufficient support is provided. More suitable and resilient varieties are needed for sugarcane production to be viable.Horticulture and Nurseries: Few vegetables and fruit trees are grown in the village, with the exception of beans, brinjal, tomato, gourd, sesame, chilli, red amaranth, cabbage, mango, safeda and guava. Nurseries are found mainly only for mango, sofeda, guava, coconut and beetle nut. Improvements are needed in soil and water management as well as condition-appropriate input development, such as high yielding, saline tolerant and submergible varieties.Plantations: There are some plantation trees along some of the roads belonging to the government, however not all roads have this coverage even if there is potential. Farmers have very few trees in their household areas. It increases greenery and improves the environment, of which the Parishad (the local government) and the community are already aware. Activities like soil conservation can be tied up with the roadside tree plantation/orchard programs to improve the natural resources and the environment.Ponds and Aquaculture: Most of the households have a small pond nearby. Ponds are not used for irrigation but are often used for drinking water or fish and shrimp production. There is a need for training in rainwater harvesting to increase available drinking water. Female participants mentioned they mainly use the ponds for fish rearing and washing clothes and utensils. There is only one community pond for aquaculture, located near the agricultural training center, and women mainly use it. The pond is also a source of drinking water for humans and animals. Production is constrained by lack of species diversity, increasing salinity, poor pond quality and erratic rainfall.Poultry: Few birds are found in households and those present comprise standard breeds and are raised in the open. Farmers typically do not provided birds with feed. Yields are low and birds suffer due to disease and cold temperatures.Livestock: Farmers mainly tend cows, sheep and goats at the household level. They reported low productivity due to lack of feed, fodder and support services. Poor breed quality is also an issue. Only 2-5% households reported doing it commercially largely do to lack of supply. Manure and fodder integration into soil could improve soil fertility and production.Mosques: There are two mosques that are used for religious and social purposes: village mosque and big mosque. They are mainly used for prayers and religious functions. Occasionally they are also used for social occasions, events and announcements.The Pangachhi Canal and Daibognyhati Bridges are 10-20 minutes away. Farmers mentioned the easy access to other areas these bridges provide and that both are functional.Market: Located in Gabgachhia village, which is 10 minutes away and used for daily shopping. The market is government supported and functional. Shops are individually owned. Participants did not report selling products in the markets.Men and women were both open with their input, however women were more reserved in front of the men and more vocal among only women. Men were generally more informed than women in many regards and were also largely literate while the majority of women are not. Women expressed more knowledge and concern about household and farming matters versus off-farm issues. Men were more focused on roads, transportation and off-farm income generation. Men also more clearly articulated challenges meeting their basic needs, including increasing lack of income opportunities and climate change impacts such as cyclones, sea level rise and increasing soil salinity. Both men and women identified many of the same resources, with men identifying more than the women. A key issue for both groups is the increasing salinity of farmland and the subsequent reduction in yields, particularly for rice. Sea level rise and its impact on inland farms and drinking water is a problem. Both groups also agreed that improvements are needed in the areas of education, health and income generation.Map 4. Overlay of current conditions, comparing men's and women's mapsMaps 5 and 6, and Table 2, show the most relevant changes in community resources as expressed by male and female participants. The community has seen dramatic changes in resources, as early as 1990, which they attribute to increased population pressures and climate change impacts. The immediate area used to have dense forests and mangroves but these no longer exist. Deforestation has resulted in less available firewood and reductions in the number of bird and animal species. Sea level rise and soil erosion is a major concern for the population. The Sundarban also used to be more dense and full of diverse species. Examples of the abundance that used to be in the area include crocodile, fish, dolphin, monkey, fox, deer, pig, porcupine, snake, tortoise, wild cat, vulture, crane, wild dog, and owl. Both groups highlighted rising temperatures, increased salinity and cyclones as drivers of diverse impacts. Earlier the rainfall was more timely and the temperature more moderate. The availability of freshwater has also decreased and the rivers used to be an abundant source. Rivers used to be wide, clean, less silted and full of wildlife. Farmland also used to be more fertile but less organic matter, increased salinity and water issues have decreased food production. Land degradation was not a problem they encountered prior. Men recalled more details of the better climate and diversity of animal species that used to exist. They also noted more technical and social changes. Women reported more changes in the land, natural resources and infrastructure, such as a decrease in area grasslands and canals, improvements in schools, mosques and roads, times when farmlands were surrounded by forest, and decreasing freshwater availability.Map 5. Major changes in resources (comparing past and present) for men With a mixed group of men and women, the goal was to develop an image of village resources and human wellbeing into 2030 to understand the opportunities and constraints, as well as aspirations for the future. This exercise built upon all the work completed in the previous sessions. In addition, the exercise took into account the photographs of the landscape, including things they are proud of and things that need to be improved upon in the future, that a group of young people had produced following instructions given on day 1. In the section below we include the map that encapsulates Gabgachhia village's vision of the future (Map 7). We also include a few of the photographs taken by the youth. These images operationalize the collective vision of the future.The group's vision focused on addressing fundamental constraints faced by the community and was similar among men and women. Expanded income generating opportunities, means to address rising salinity, increased production and access to freshwater are core aspects of their vision for the future.With more nurseries and access to appropriate varieties better suited to local conditions, such as salt tolerant and submergible varieties, the village could improve yields, increase food security and expand income-generating opportunities. Opportunities beyond the farm were also seen as important for men and women were interested in starting women's groups. Both groups agreed that increased freshwater availability could be expanded by more rainwater harvesting for home consumption, improvement and rehabilitation of irrigation canals, and the establishment of a water purification plant in the village. Infrastructure improvements would also benefit the village, including cyclone shelters, a good road to the village, electricity, and improved health and education services. Government, NGO and private sector engagement were seen as important to achieve the community vision. The groups felt challenged in achieving their vision due to lack of opportunity, risk aversion, limited decisionmaking power by women and a continually changing environment.Map 7. Future map of the communityThis topic aims to show evidence of organisational capacities that help address food security and manage resources. This will inform CCAFS about how prepared the village is to respond to the challenges envisaged as a consequence of climate change or other future challenges and to engage with CCAFS partners at a collective level.Specifically, this section presents the different formal and informal organisations involved in the community in general terms, as well as with respect to food security in different situations (i.e. average and crisis conditions), and natural resources management (NRM). It also elaborates on what types of activities the organisations are engaged in, who their members are, whether the organisations are useful, etc.Participants were asked to draw three large concentric circles on the ground. The inner circle would represent the community, the middle circle the locality and the outer circle beyond the locality.Participants were then asked to name organisations working in the area, whose names were written on cards, and place the cards in the appropriate circle. Thus, the group placed in the inner circle the cards of organisations that worked in the community, in the middle circle the cards of organisations operating in the locality, and in the outer circle those that operated beyond the locality. See Photo 2 for an example of the activity as carried out with the study participants. The results are shown in the diagrams that follow.Based on this structure, the men identified 36 organisations in the village while the women identified 28. Both groups listed many of the same organizations and ranked the Mosque and Gabgachhia Primary School as their top two organizations. Other organizations of importance to women were a women's institute providing training in tailoring, hospitals and schools. Men cited the Grameen Bank and Dhaka Chittagong Garment Factory as their additional important organizations, given their opportunities for loans and employment. The groups broadly identified organizations focused on religion, education, health, income generation, training, loans, local governance, agriculture, fisheries, water and disasters. Organizations were well known and participants easily detailed their activities. An analysis of linkages within and between organizations showed high levels of vertical linkages within organizations. They tend to work strictly as per the instructions of their offices and limit their participation and cooperation with others accordingly. Horizontal linkages and coordination were found to be very poor, especially with other organizations engaged in similar activities within the same area. This lack of linkages is from the planning to implementation stages as organizations work independently following individual missions. In Tables 4 and 5, more detailed information is provided on the five most important organisations as they were ranked by the men's and women's groups.Photo 2. The organisational landscape activity in progress Figure 1. Organisational landscape of the men's group  The goal of this exercise was to get an improved understanding of how the organisational landscape contributes to the food security of the group. Food security is mostly measured at the household level.Nonetheless, community-level organisations and interactions influence the food security of different groups within the community differently. Male and female participants were asked to discuss the concepts of food availability, access and utilization, and then review each organisation they had previously identified by asking which of them had activities that fell under these categories. Organizations identified by men and women are shown in Figures 3 and 4.Several of the organizations identified by the groups were involved in food production and food security. Both male and female groups mentioned in detail the involvement of Gabgachhia Primary School, Mosque, Union Parishad, Agriculture Training Center for Women (Lady Institute), Department of Agriculture, Department of Livestock, Department of Fisheries, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Community Development Centre (CODEC) and Grameen Bank in a range of ways to address these issues. Only women mentioned BRAC, the Association for Social Advancement (ASA), CODEC, Sonali Bank, and the fish-processing zone, while men only identifiedLGED and the Dhaka Chittagong Garment Factory. This was based on relevance to their lives and association. Linkages between the organizations and resources were also delineated. Almost all the linkages were found with Union Parishad, the lead and responsible local government organization with legal authority to coordinate all the development activities of the government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at the community level. All NGOs and stakeholders must make linkages and coordinate development activities with the Union Parishad, including and particularly during crisis periods. A summary of the major organizations involved in food security and their linkages is provided below. Gabgachhia Primary School: Supports nutrition through improved utilization and provides free biscuits to students.   The purpose of this exercise was to understand how organisations help people to cope in times of food crisis. Participants identified a food crisis situation that they all remembered (e.g. a bad year or the lean season), and discussed how the organisational landscape of food security operated in that situation. The participants were asked to define a time when there was a food crisis in the community, identify the organisations that were involved in providing supporting during that period, and indicate their role in a graph. These results are shown in Figures 5 and 6.Groups identified numerous famines and natural disasters that had impacted the community. Great famines were recalled in 1950 and after independence in 1973/74. The biggest cyclones were identified as Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009. Flooding was also a major problem in 1988 and 1998.Starting about 15-20 years ago the groups said increased soil salinity started to become a problem. During these periods food, resource and financial assistance often came in from government as well as local and international organizations. Organizations were cited as often working together on relief operations during crises. Groups also reported taking loans from relatives, friends and NGOs as well as relying on relief to cope during the disasters. In the minds of participants, food crises were tied to natural disasters and relief activities while the concept of food security was in relation to sufficient year round food production.Women specified that the government, BRAC, ASA and the Lady Institute provided food, clothes, drinking water, medicine and financial support for home construction during crises. Women also noted that BRAC was involved in disaster preparedness training, CODEC provided tree saplings, poultry, livestock and machinery to the victims, and the Grameen Bank provided some financial support. Men reported that during crises the Union Parishad distributes and allocates relief material.Other organizational activities during disasters included the provision of loans by the Grameen Bank and inputs and technology provision by Departments of Agriculture Extension and Fisheries. Table 6 below summarizes information on all the organisations identified separately by male and female participants. The organisations are classified according to their role in supporting food availability, access and/or utilization, as well as the provision of relief in times of food crisis, and the management of natural resources.Gabgachhia village is located near the Sundarbans and several rivers in the coastal region of Bangladesh's Khulna district. As the population, natural disasters and climate variability have increased its resources have become strained. The village does not have a waterway but is well connected via a descent road. Bridges, schools, mosques, markets and health services are close to the community, however their conditions vary. Rice and fish are the traditional sources of food and some households are also growing fruits and vegetables for home consumption. A community fishpond currently provides some fish. Access to land is limited and farmers typically work off less than one hectare and do not produce enough to market excesses. Few villagers are raising poultry or livestock due to lack of resources, services and disease. Flooding, erosion and salinity are having significant impacts on production and the village does not have year round food security or good nutrition. The community has limited access to fresh water for irrigation, livestock and drinking from ponds and few wells. No safe water facility or electricity is available in the village. The rivers surrounding Gabgachhia have become overrun with silt and no longer support life. Deforestation has also reduced the surrounding forests. Combined with limited off-farm employment options, the village is poor and faces a rapidly declining environment on which they are dependent. In the lifetimes of many residents, the forest used to be more expansive and supported diverse natural resources, rivers were clean and an important source of fish and freshwater, and land was fertile and provided robust crops of rice. Erratic rainfall, sea level rise, flooding, more dramatic temperature variation and typhoons are having direct impacts on Gabgachhia's livelihoods and food security.There are numerous organizations operating in and around Gabgachhia. Men identified 36 organisations in the village while the women identified 28. They include local and national government agencies, local and international NGOs, private sector entities, banks, mosques, schools and training institutes. The most important organizations among participants are the mosque and primary school. The local government is also core in providing and coordinating development services. The focuses of identified organizations vary and several address food and fish production, food security, access to finance, and capacity building on income generation, improved nutrition, water management, etc. The majority of these organizations are working in the village and in the locality, with fewer working beyond the locality. There is regular support from identified organizations as well as increased assistance during food crises, however it is not sufficient to meet needs and address the range of challenges faced by the village. During times of crisis, participants reported a shift in assistance to services focused on provision of food, clothing, drinking water, medicine and home construction. Resources are limited and coordination among organizations is poor, beyond linking with the local government as required. While several organizations were identified that focus on food related issues there were far fewer addressing NRM and infrastructure to protect and maintain the surrounding environment. Some organizations are supporting tree planting, environmental protection and canal repair.The most popular sources of information for men and women are neighbours, friends or relatives, government and radio and television. Participants identified a total of 11 sources on information. Women reported sourcing the most information on the weather, followed by poultry/livestock, agriculture and aquaculture. Men sought information firstly on agriculture, followed weather and natural disasters, and ultimately markets. The Mosque was cited separately as an important source of flood and cyclone information. Market related information was the lowest ranked topic of information, which appears due more to lack of need rather than lack of resources. A range of sources provided information on several topics, with friends and neighbours being a common source of information about rainfall, temperature, natural disasters and agriculture. Men and women often cited the same source as a means for accessing different types of information depending on the group.Future CCAFS work and that of other organizations will need to address improved technologies, resource conservation and management, sustainable production systems, and expansion of income generating opportunities to improve the resiliency, food security and livelihoods of the Gabgachhia population.In the last 20 years, Gabgachhia has seen the impact of climate change, population expansion, and poor natural resource management as the sea level rises, soil salinity increases, crops fail, climate variability and severity expands, and resources degrade and deplete, resulting in food insecurity and livelihood vulnerability for villagers. Without an expansion of efforts, Gabgachhia will continue to face a rapid decline that threatens the health and stability of the population. The needs of the village are numerous and each of critical importance. The increasing salinity and soils must be managed, more appropriate and resilient varieties made available, fresh water access expanded, off-farm employment opportunities increased, nutrition and sanitation improved, production systems for rice, vegetables, fish and livestock strengthened, and water management infrastructure developed. To meet these needs research, outreach, funding and coordination are key among government, NGO, private sector, international and other entities. While there are numerous organizations operating in and around Gabgachhia, the lack of linkages and resources limits their impact and effectiveness, given the immense challenges of this highly vulnerable region to climate change.Among the organizations noted by the groups, those presented in Table 8 are of particular interest for CCAFS. Viable partner options are low and organizations face significant challenges in terms of resources and personnel. Given the implications for CCAFS and the identified challenges for Gabgachhia, Table 9 provides a summary of targeted recommendations based on opportunities. ","tokenCount":"5060"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2327402611.json b/data/part_1/2327402611.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e727b0fc1e92b3d7047c8fd33778314b377654e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2327402611.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0cc995b445d55a0161dc86dd8e02a69d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4947f05c-9ebe-4d8e-9ca8-d17b3e13708d/retrieve","id":"-1503174879"},"keywords":["Pan-African sweetpotato virome","virus diversity","distribution","evolution","impacts","sweetpotato production"],"sieverID":"a505d839-b85e-4c12-9c22-f4b8414ecc7c","pagecount":"1","content":"Food security remains a huge challenge for the millions of Africans dependent on agriculture for their subsistence. A low-level agricultural productivity and a high percentage of poor and undernourished people are common in Africa, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. (Family Convolvulaceae), is among the most important food crops in the world and an extremely important food crop for subsistence farmers in SSA. It is grown throughout the African continent and currently around 34.5% of global sweetpotato area is in Africa. SSA produces approximately 7 million tons of sweetpotato annually, only about 5% of global production. One major limitation in sweetpotato production is cultivar decline, mostly due to the cumulative effect of virus infection on this vegetatively propagated crop. Thus, viral diseases are considered a major limiting factor in sweetpotato production worldwide, and particularly in SSA. However, there is a widespread lack of basic information and understanding of virus populations throughout Africa, even though such basic information is required to manage the spread and impact of these viral diseases. This project will focus on evaluating a novel approach, deep sequencing and assembly of small RNAs from field-grown sweetpotato samples collected throughout Africa, to systematically and efficiently identify virus genome. A Pan-African sweetpotato virome will be established, which will provide the scientific community and government unprecedented possibilities to understand sweetpotato virus distribution in Africa, guide phytosanitory requirements, predict risks of future epidemics, and suggest regional disease management strategies. In West-Africa the survey is expanded to include Cassava, Banana, Yams and Potato.","tokenCount":"254"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2335781466.json b/data/part_1/2335781466.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7d4a3f9487e4245e4c2eaff7081b5b469ea887c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2335781466.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0445282734a43cdb54a72ddce209ce6e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/257a8e33-de71-4378-bbeb-60bc09980ba1/retrieve","id":"87086648"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a17cae7-bfe1-4d80-938a-97cf91031ce4","pagecount":"2","content":"I n f o r m a t i o n p o u r l e d é v e l o p p e m e n t a g r i c o l e d e s p a y s A C P CTA SPORE N°79 FÉVRIER 1999 À qui appartient la société civile ? 1 Nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication : une révolution remarquable ! 4 EN BREF 6 BOÎTE POSTALE 380 10 POINT DE VUE Les organisations de la société civile se mobilisent bien elles-mêmes 11 ACTUALITÉS DU CTA 12 LIVRES ET REVUES 14 SOURCES D'INFORMATION La société civile s'organise, gagne en crédibilité et inspire confiance. Voyons comment évoluent les relations entre le Prince, le Marchand et le Citoyen, y compris le Citoyen Agriculteur.Site Web : www.cta.nlurant ces dix dernières années, l'expression \"société civile\" s'est brutalement engouffrée dans le langage du développement et parmi les priorités des bailleurs avec beaucoup de bruit, comme quand un vide est subitement rempli par un courant d'air. Dans l'histoire récente, c'est exactement ce qui s'est passé.Dans bien des pays ACP, les politiques d'ajustement structurel ont amené les États à abandonner de nombreuses positions sur la ligne de front du développement : ce vide de pouvoir et d'activités a été partiellement rempli par diverses composantes de la société civile. Dans les pays dits \"en transition\" de l'ancien bloc soviétique qui, il y a dix ans, se sont trouvés du jour au lendemain sans gouvernement, ni système de valeur, ni sécurité alimentaire, le vide a été occupé par des programmes destinés à renforcer la société civile.Bien que la société civile soit bien plus que la somme totale de toutes les organisations non gouvernementales d'un pays, c'est parmi les ONG que beaucoup ont d'abord cherché les organes des sociétés civiles d'aujourd'hui. Mais, selon l'anthropologue Chris Hann*, \"cette réduction récente au monde des ONG par les gouvernements et les agences d'aide constitue une vue appauvrie de la vie sociale\".Les ONG ont connu un boom phénoménal ces vingt dernières années, mais sont peut-être sur le déclin. Dans les seuls pays ACP, leur nombre est estimé à plus de 50 000, dont plus de 10 000 impliquées dans l'agriculture et le développement rural. Une étude réalisée pour le CTA en 1997 a calculé qu'il y a plus de 2 000 ONG et associations à Madagascar, dont 600 dans la seule capitale Antananarivo. Au Burkina Faso, plus de 25 organisations sont membres du service national d'appui aux ONG, et on estime à 6 000 le nombre d'associations locales de développement. L'Éthiopie compte 280 ONG enregistrées, dont plus de 10 % dans le domaine agricole.Dans certains pays, des mesures législatives ont été prises pour limiter l'influence d'un grand nombre d'ONG étrangères. À Madagascar, les ONG étrangères -c'est-àdire celles dont le conseil d'administration comprend au moins un membre non mal-gache -ont un statut plus précaire. En Ouganda, le collectif des agences nationales (Development Network for Indigenous Associations : réseau de développement des associations autochtones) est fier de compter 438 membres, dont au moins 50 sont impliqués dans l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire. Une telle discrimination positive \"patriotique\" incite les institutions locales à se renforcer, mais nécessite la compréhension de bailleurs étrangers bienveillants qui reconnaissent que leur rôle est de financer sans interférer -qualité peu fréquente.La récente domination des ONG a cependant laissé dans l'ombre l'essentiel de la société civile, et ce n'est que maintenant qu'une vue moins partielle commence à prendre forme. Dans L'Émergence du rôle de la société civile, Bruce Shearer décrit avec enthousiasme comment \"de nouveaux éléments de la société civile ont émergé avec une rapidité et une énergie sans équivalent à travers l'Amérique latine, l'Afrique, l'Asie, le moyens financiers de participer, mais aucun autre mandat que leur propre personne. Il faut dire que cela s'applique aussi à beaucoup d'ONG des pays ACP, qui sont de flagrantes tentatives individuelles de se brancher sur les systèmes de financement des bailleurs (voir encadré sur la Zambie).D'autres composantes de la société civile peuvent avoir plus de représentativité que les ONG. Les organisations communautaires de base peuvent facilement faire la preuve de leur soutien populaire. Les caisses de crédit sont une des formes les plus actives d'organisations communautaires locales dans bien des pays. Le Ghana seul en compte 237. Les syndicats ont fondamentalement foi en la démocratie authentique et sont de plus en plus impliqués dans un partenariat global avec les employeurs pour mettre en oeuvre des pratiques meilleures pour l'environnement et le développement du Sud. À titre d'exemple, on peut citer l'accord entre les géants de l'alimentaire Nestlé et Danone et l'Union internationale des travailleurs de l'alimentaire, qui regroupe les employés de la chaîne alimentaire. Construire des partenariats avec les organisations de la société civile est aussi bien sûr une politique de nombreuses organisations internationales, telles que le CTA et le Groupe consultatif pour la recherche agricole internationale (GCRAI). Ce dernier s'est souvent ému de la position critique prise par beaucoup d'OSC à l'encontre des priorités de la recherche agronomique, par exemple les biotechnologies. Il a reconnu la nécessité du dialogue et le défi qu'il constitue.La responsabilité et la transparence sont les deux clés qui peuvent permettre aux OSC de lever le verrou de la crédibilité et d'être prises au sérieux par le secteur public comme partenaires dans la gouvernance. Ce n'est pas que la volonté politique manque totalement : au plan national, certains pays acceptent leur rôle dans des assemblées officielles, comme le Sénégal et l'Afrique du Sud. À la Chambre des députés du Burkina Faso, 30 des 150 sièges sont attribués à des OSC représentant divers intérêts spécifiques (voir \"Point de vue\", page 11).Régionalement, les OSC sont de plus en plus impliquées dans le processus de décision de la Commission économique des Nations unies pour l'Afrique, à travers son Centre régional sur la Gouvernance, et dans le Forum de la Société civile du Grand Bassin caraïbe. Au niveau mondial, la Commission sur la Gouvernance globale a plaidé, en 1997, auprès des Nations unies \"pour réévaluer les relations entre les Nations Unies et l'ensemble impressionnant et croissant d'activités organisées non étatiques\". Le secrétaire général, Kofi Annan, a répondu en appelant les OSC à organiser une Conférence du Millénaire, ou un Forum de la Société civile. Plusieurs initiatives dans ce sens se sont brisées sur l'écueil du manque de fonds.La transparence de la société civile doit aussi venir de la démonstration de son autonomie financière, mais, dans beaucoup de pays ACP, c'est en fait très difficile à réaliser. La dépendance vis-à-vis de fonds extérieurs n'est pas la meilleure garantie de l'indépendance du message.Une autre voie qui s'offre aux OSC, si elles sont réellement et visiblement responsables devant un collectif, est de se transformer en \"entreprises sociales\". Là, les principes des affaires sont appliqués à des activités générant des revenus, comme des programmes adaptés de crédit, l'édition, les services Internet, la transformation et l'exportation de produits alimentaires, et les revenus sont ensuite utilisés pour financer les activités non lucratives de l'organisation. À ce niveau, le partenariat avec le secteur privé à but lucratif peut être bénéfique. Les organisations de la société civile, y compris du secteur agricole, produiront dans les dix ans qui viennent des leaders qui vont frayer leur voie dans la gouvernance nationale et globale. Le créneau qui demande le plus d'attention, et procure le plus de gratifications financières et sociales, se trouvera entre le Marchand et le Citoyen. Voir aussi \"Point de vue\", page 11, et \"Les agriculteurs ne parlent pas la langue de bois\", page 6.Pacifique et le Moyen-Orient\". S'appuyant sur les organisations existantes (partis politiques, syndicats, coopératives de production, associations d'entrepreneurs, églises…), ils les complètent aussi. Ils comptent des centaines et des milliers de groupes locaux de citoyens organisés informellement (associations communautaires, mouvements citoyens, groupes de bienfaisance, clubs d'épargne ou groupes de pression), ainsi que des ONG et des milliers d'institutions de soutien actives dans la mise en réseau, le financement ou les services.Beaucoup d'innovations dans le développement rural et la communication dans les pays ACP se développent sur le terreau fertile des organisations de la société civile (OSC), créant de nouvelles synergies. Il en est ainsi du regain des stations de radio rurale, qui sont devenues un véhicule essentiel des messages agricoles. En Ouganda, où ces radios sont nombreuses, la jeune et active Ugandan National Farmers' Association (Association nationale ougandaise des agriculteurs) a joué un rôle moteur en signalant les émissions dans son journal mensuel et en utilisant la radio pour informer ses membres.Au Mali, le Président ne rate aucune occasion de souligner que son gouvernement est enraciné dans le mouvement populaire des OSC, qui l'ont porté au pouvoir et ont joué un rôle actif pour la mise en oeuvre de la liberté de la presse et de l'expression des citoyens au début des années 90. De même, la façon dont la question de l'égalité des sexes est maintenant centrale dans la philosophie des secteurs public et privé -un peu moins dans les pratiquesest largement due à l'insistance patiente mais implacable de groupes de femmes comme le Collectif Sistren en Jamaïque ou le journal Sister Namibia.On a reproché, de l'extérieur, à beaucoup d'OSC de signaler plus de problèmes qu'elles ne recherchent de solutions. \"On assiste à une véritable explosion du nombre d'organisations enregistrées comme associations depuis la création de la III e République en 1991. Beaucoup sont créées par d'anciens fonctionnaires dont les postes ont été supprimés du fait de la déflation de la fonction publique. Les OSC établies de longue date sont très inquiètes, redoutant que ces nouvelles organisations ne soient pas à finalité éthique -une caractéristique essentielle des OSC -mais de vulgaires tentatives opportunistes de capter tous les financements possibles dans des temps difficiles où les ressources sont rares. Bien des militants s'inquiètent que les opportunistes donnent le ton à tout le secteur, portant préjudice au travail et à la réputation des autres OSC, et limitant leur possibilité de s'engager dans des collaborations avec le gouvernement ou le secteur privé.\" ","tokenCount":"1663"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2347420333.json b/data/part_1/2347420333.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f111ac8dc4e4793a1b577e54c86fda9e0effd41f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2347420333.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2de675661261a3cd1111542afcf1b47b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11a7d5dd-731f-4422-83cb-19b877c2d049/retrieve","id":"-23824507"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e8fa6617-fcce-434b-9b14-8e1010d8158b","pagecount":"6","content":"The ASSET project: participatory theories of change as a back bone R4D processes combining farming system, value chain/ market & institutional innovations A participatory theory of change at territorial (provincial) level Expected intermediary outcomes (prelim' consolidation)1. Local stakeholders (producers, collectors, urban traders and local consumers) are aware about the negative impacts of conventional agriculture and of the benefits from agroecological systems 2. The central and local governments improve the regulatory framework (standards, guarantee system) to support sustainable small-scale agriculture production 3. Public-private extension services are better coordinated and provide improved knowledge, awareness and training to farmers on AE and food safety 4. Producers are more competitive, productive and providing healthier and safer products through the implementation of AE-based sustainable practices e.g. agroforestry, organic, SRI/SRP, VAC, landscape agriculture, cropping system diversification, crop-livestock integration, ACP, nature-based etc. 5. Quality and safety are better managed all along agricultural products value chains 6. The linkages between the different actors involved in agricultural products VCs are closer/stronger, more transparent, and meet consumers' demand 7. Agriculture and rural development services and tourism offices work together to develop Agro-ecotourim","tokenCount":"182"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2353639773.json b/data/part_1/2353639773.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0d5008894f92f822b1e4984ff8b8257cef619401
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2353639773.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c90e68a2b28690959fa5f68e9926c99c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/048ad5cf-9991-4186-85bc-71fc224e763e/content","id":"1047238048"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f278ae0f-dcba-43c3-bc11-10ad4e13a885","pagecount":"18","content":"Genomic selection and high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) are promising tools to accelerate breeding gains for high-yielding and climate-resilient wheat varieties. Hence, our objective was to evaluate them for predicting grain yield (GY) in droughtstressed (DS) and late-sown heat-stressed (HS) environments of the International maize and wheat improvement center's elite yield trial nurseries. We observed that the average genomic prediction accuracies using fivefold cross-validations were 0.50 and 0.51 in the DS and HS environments, respectively. However, when a different nursery/year was used to predict another nursery/year, the average genomic prediction accuracies in the DS and HS environments decreased to 0.18 and 0.23, respectively. While genomic predictions clearly outperformed pedigree-based predictions across nurseries, they were similar to pedigree-based predictions within nurseries due to small family sizes. In populations with some full-sibs in the training population, the genomic and pedigree-based prediction accuracies were on average 0.27 and 0.35 higher than the accuracies in populations with only one progeny per cross, indicating the importance of genetic relatedness between the training and validation populations for good predictions. We also evaluated the item-based collaborative filtering approach for multivariate prediction of GY using the green normalized difference vegetation index from HTP. This approach proved to be the best strategy for across-nursery predictions, with average accuracies of 0.56 and 0.62 in the DS and HS environments, respectively. We conclude that GY is a challenging trait for across-year predictions, but GS and HTP can be integrated in increasing the size of populations screened and evaluating unphenotyped large nurseries for stress-resilience within years.In the face of global food security and climate change, breeding bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with highyield potential and improved resilience to stressed environments is crucial (Curtis and Halford 2014;Reynolds et al. 2016). Although conventional breeding has led to substantial improvements in wheat grain yield (GY), breeders are constantly challenged with extreme weather conditions and increasing drought and heat-stressed environments (Trnka et al. 2014;Tack et al. 2015;Mäkinen et al. 2017;Zampieri et al. 2017). Hence, breeding for tolerance to abiotic stress is one of the key goals of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in several megaenvironments (Braun et al. 1996). It was estimated that about 55% of the wheat-sown area in CIMMYT's target countries is threatened by the periodical occurrence of drought (Trethowan et al. 2002). Similarly, continuous heat stress is a severe constraint in one of CIMMYT's mega-environments including south and central India (Cossani and Reynolds 2012), and it is expected that 51% of the Indo-Gangetic plains might be reclassified as a heat-stressed mega-environment by 2050 (Ortiz et al. 2008). In addition, it was also predicted that global wheat production would decrease between 4.1 and 6.4%, for every °C rise in temperature (Liu et al. 2016).Breeding bread wheat for resilience to drought and heat stress involves identifying the key physiological and genetic drivers of GY in these stressed environments. For drought stress, physiological traits that increase water use, water-use efficiency, and partitioning of carbon to the grain are known to be involved in adaptation (Olivares-Villegas et al. 2007;Reynolds and Tuberosa 2008;Lopes et al. 2014). Similarly, for heat stress, traits that increase light interception, radiation use efficiency, and total assimilate partitioning are the principal drivers of GY (Farooq et al. 2011;Cossani and Reynolds 2012). Considering the genetic basis of GY under drought and heat stress, several quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified in previous studies (Kirigwi et al. 2007;Pinto et al. 2010;Bennett et al. 2012;Shukla et al. 2015). However, the current marker-assisted selection techniques are not very promising for GY selections, due to the low proportion of phenotypic GY variance explained by the markers, poor understanding of the genetic control of GY and genotype × environment interactions (G × E) in response to stress (Snape et al. 2007). Hence, to leverage molecular marker information for complex traits, genomic selection (GS) that incorporates genome-wide marker information to obtain the genomic estimated breeding values of lines was proposed (Haley and Visscher 1998;Meuwissen et al. 2001). In GS, the marker effects are estimated in a \"training population\" in which the lines are genotyped and phenotyped and subsequently used to predict the breeding value of lines in the 'validation population' that have only been genotyped. GS has indeed shifted the paradigm in plant and animal breeding and has the potential to deliver more accurate predictions, reduce cycle time, reduce the cost of phenotyping, and facilitate rapid gains from selection (Muir 2007;Heffner et al. 2009;van der Werf 2009;Jannink et al. 2010;Hayes et al. 2013). While several studies demonstrate the usefulness of GS for complex traits in wheat (Crossa et al. 2014;Battenfield et al. 2016;Hayes et al. 2017;Juliana et al. 2017a, b;Pérez-Rodríguez et al. 2017), one of our key objectives was to evaluate both forward and backward genomic predictions for GY across different nurseries and years, and also explore the potential of utilizing GS in breeding programs.Reliable, rapid, and inexpensive phenotyping tools will enable breeders to screen large breeding populations for GY in stressed conditions (Reynolds et al. 1999). In this context, high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) of lines that has the potential to improve the accuracy of selections could be useful. Among the physiological HTP traits that can be used for screening adaptation to drought-stressed (DS) environments is canopy temperature, that has been used widely due to its association with GY (Blum et al. 1989;Fischer et al. 1998;Reynolds et al. 1999;Olivares-Villegas et al. 2007;Lopes and Reynolds 2010;Mason and Singh 2014). In addition, spectral reflectances corresponding to different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be remotely measured in a nondestructive manner, integrate the performance of the crop over time periods, help select plants that are physiologically superior, are repeatable and highly heritable can also be used (Aparicio et al. 2000;Araus et al. 2002;Babar et al. 2006a).The advent of advanced HTP platforms like manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles like drones has enabled automated and precision phenotyping of large breeding populations for their spectral reflectances. These platforms have the potential to revolutionize selections, aid physiological screening, and help gain a better understanding of the genetic control of traits (Cabrera-Bosquet et al. 2012;Prasanna et al. 2013;Andrade-Sanchez et al. 2014;Haghighattalab et al. 2016). The spectral reflectances collected from HTP platforms can be used to build vegetation indices, which help determine the plant's green biomass, pigment content, water status, etc. (Aparicio et al. 2000;Araus et al. 2002;Babar et al. 2006b). Among the commonly used vegetation indices is the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is a measure of the plant's biomass and a reliable indicator of the greenness of plants. It is calculated from the spectral reflectances in the visible (400-700 nm) and near-infrared (700-1300 nm) regions as, NDVI = (nearinfrared − visible)/(near-infrared + visible)] (Babar et al. 2006a). It has shown significant association with GY under heat stress and has been used as a screening tool for the heat tolerance of genotypes (Cossani and Reynolds 2012;Lopes and Reynolds 2012).Indirect selection using correlated responses of high heritability for a target trait of low heritability is an effective breeding strategy in achieving rapid progress for traits of low heritability (Falconer 1960). In this regard, physiological HTP traits can serve as excellent correlated traits for predicting GY and may be particularly useful in early-generation breeding (Reynolds et al. 1999;Montesinos-López et al. 2016, 2018;Rutkoski et al. 2016;Sun et al. 2017). In addition, multivariate genomic prediction for traits of low heritability using correlated traits of high heritability is known to significantly increase the predictive abilities (Jia and Jannink 2012;Fernandes et al. 2017;Okeke et al. 2017). While statistical models that incorporate multiple traits in predictions have been developed, the model-fitting time for large datasets continues to be a significant challenge. A competitive approach that has been proved to be effective in addressing this challenge in several fields is the collaborative-filtering-based recommender system, which has been very successfully used in electronic commerce Web sites like Amazon (Linden et al. 2003), Netflix (Zhou et al. 2008). Recently, the 'item-based collaborative filtering' (IBCF) recommender system was applied for multivariate predictions of traits in plant breeding (Montesinos-López et al. 2018). In the IBCF approach, a database of preferences of users for different items is built and for a specific user, u s , the set of items that the user has rated in the database is considered. This information is then used to compute how similar they are to the target item, followed by the selection of the 'k' most similar items and computation of similarities between the 'k'-most similar items. A simple weighted average of the similar items is then used to predict the target item for a specific user. Hence, one of our major objectives was to evaluate the IBCF approach for multivariate prediction of GY using a correlated secondary trait (NDVI).The integration of cutting-edge technologies like GS and HTP has the potential to accelerate gains in breeding for high-yielding climate-resilient wheat varieties. Hence, the goal of this study was to evaluate these tools for potential application in sparse testing GY (minimize one or more years of testing) in the advanced yield-testing stage. For this purpose, we used the elite (second-year) yield trial nurseries (EYT) of CIMMYT's spring bread wheat for GY evaluated in DS, and late-sown heat-stressed (HS) environments. In addition, our specific objectives were: (1) to assess the phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY in stressed environments with days to heading (DTHD), plant height and green NDVI (GNDVI) (2) to compare genomic and pedigree-based prediction accuracies for GY within and across nurseries/ years (3) to compare genomic and pedigree-based predictions in populations with and without full-sibs, and gain a better understanding of the relative advantage of genomic predictions over the pedigree in populations with different family structures (4) to evaluate multivariate predictions of GY using GNDVI with the IBCF approach (5) to evaluate multivariate predictions of GY from GNDVI and relationships (genomic or pedigree) (6) to compare pedigree, genomic, and HTP-based predictions and identify the best approach for practical implementation in various stages of a breeding program.We used four different EYT nurseries comprising 4368 lines that were developed using the selected bulk breeding method and each EYT nursery comprised 1092 F 6 :F 7 derived lines. They were planted at the Norman E. Borlaug Research station, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, in the 2013-2014(EYT 13-14), 2014-2015(EYT 14-15), 2015-2016(EYT 15-16) and 2016-2017 (EYT 16-17) growing seasons. Each of these nurseries was sown in 39 trials, and each trial comprised 28 lines and two checks in an alpha lattice design, with three replications and six blocks. For the DS environment, the trials were sown at the optimum planting date (around the last week of November) in raised beds that received 250 mm of water in two irrigations. The late-sown HS environment was simulated by sowing later than the optimal time (around the last week of February) and naturally exposing the lines to high-temperature stress, particularly during the critical grain-filling period. This environment received an optimum of 500 mm of water in five irrigations.The DTHD (number of days from germination to 50% of spike emergence) and the height of the plant from the ground to the top of the spike in centimeters were recorded for all the lines. Harvested grain weight was calculated on a plot basis and used as a measure of GY. High-throughput phenotyping data were collected with a hyperspectral camera (A-series, Micro-Hyperspec VNIR, Headwall photonics Fitchburg, MA) from the Alava Remote Sensing Spectral Solution (ARS3, Alava Ingenieros, Madrid, Spain), that was mounted in a Piper PA-16 Clipper aircraft (Fig. S1). The camera's sensor had a 12-bit radiometric resolution, covered the light spectrum in the 400-850 nm region with a 7.5-nm full width at half maximum and the integration time was set to 18 ms. The flights were done around noontime and aligned to the solar azimuth angle at 300 m above the ground, resulting in a ground sampling distance of 30 cm. For each stressed environment, the aerial imageries were taken several days from heading through maturity. The observations were spaced at approximately seven to 10-day intervals, depending on the weather condition and cloudy or windy days were avoided. In the DS environment, HTP data were collected on the EYT 15-16 and EYT 16-17 nurseries and in the HS environment, data was collected on the EYT 14-15 and EYT 15-16 nurseries.Processing of the hyperspectral images was done using the ARS3 hyproQ software (http://www.grupo alava .com). Radiometric calibration of the sensor was done using coefficients derived from a calibrated uniform light source and an integrating sphere (CSTMUSS2000C Uniform Source System, LabSphere, North Sutton, NH, USA). Dark frame correction was performed for each flight dataset. Atmospheric calibration was performed using irradiance measurements acquired at the beginning and end of each flight using the aerosol optical depth from sun-photometer measurements (Microtops II, Solar Light Company, Glenside, PA) based on the SMARTS (A Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine) simulation model (Gueymard 1995). Finally, ortho-rectification and geo-referencing of the imageries was performed using PARGE (Parametric Geocoding Software, ReSe Applications Schläpfer, Wil, Switzerland, http://www.rese.ch/) based on data from the inertial navigation system attached to the camera (IG-500 N model, SGB systems S.A.S., Carrières-sur-Seine, France), as described in Zarco-Tejada et al. (2013). Hyperspectral reflectance data was extracted from the aerial imageries using the mean value of the pixels inside the central area of each observed plot (0.5 m from the plot borders was excluded). The plots were represented as polygons and adjusted to match the corresponding location of the plots on the imagery for each date. This was followed by the calculation of GNDVI (an indication of the photosynthetic area of the canopy) using the formula: GNDVI = (R 780 − R 550 )/ (R 780 + R 550 ) (Gitelson et al. 1996), where 'R' is the reflectance at the particular wavelength.The best linear unbiased estimates (BLUEs) for GY and GNDVI for each date of measurement were calculated using the ASREML statistical package (Gilmour 1997), with the following mixed model: where y ijkl is the observed GY or GNDVI, μ is the mean, g i is the fixed effect of the genotype, t j is the random effect of the trial that is independent and identically distributed (IID) t j ∼ N 0, 2 t , r k(j) is the random effect of the replicate within the trial with IID r k(j) ∼ N 0, 2 r , b l(jk) is the random effect of the incomplete block within the trial and the replicate with IID b m(jk) ∼ N 0, 2 b and ɛ ijkl is the residual with IID ijkl ∼ N 0, 2 . For across-nursery predictions, GY and GNDVI BLUEs for the different dates were obtained for each genotype by including the random effect of the environment in model (1) (the environments were used as random effects, because we were interested in the nonenvironment specific performance of the lines).Quality control of the phenotypic data was done by removing the outliers that were detected with the Huber's robust fit outliers method (Huber and Ronchetti 2009) in the 'JMP ' statistical software (www.jmp.com). Here, any value more than 'K' spreads (K was set to 4) from the center was considered as missing. For the GNDVI BLUEs, we calculated the across-date heritabilities across dates of measurement and removed the dates with low heritabilities. The GNDVI measurement dates were then classified into heading, grain-filling and maturity growth stages. A heatmap (1)illustrating the range of GNDVI at the grain-filling stage for some lines in an EYT evaluated in the HS environment is shown in Fig. 1.Genome-wide markers for the 4368 lines in the four EYT nurseries were obtained using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) (Elshire et al. 2011;Poland et al. 2012) done at Kansas State University, using an Illumina HiSeq 2500 with 190 samples pooled per lane. The TASSEL 5 (Trait Analysis by aSSociation Evolution and Linkage) GBS v2 pipeline (Glaubitz et al. 2014) was used to call marker polymorphisms, and the minor allele frequency for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery was set to 0.01. The markers were anchored to the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium's (IWGSC) first version of the reference sequence (RefSeq v1.0) assembly of the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring (The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium 2018). The alignment of 6,075,743 unique tags with Bowtie2 (Langmead and Salzberg 2012) resulted in the overall alignment of 63.98% of the tags, with 28.92% unique alignments and 35.06% multiple alignments. The SNPs at each locus were then tested for three criteria (1) Inbred coefficient: > 80% (2) Fisher Exact test: p < 0.001 (3) Chi-square: < 9.21 [the Chi-square value was used to check whether the number of observed genotype classes fitted the expected number of genotype classes (96%) due to inbreeding and the critical Chi-square value at two degrees of freedom and alpha of 0.01 was 9.21]. The 78,662 SNPs that passed at least one of these filters were further filtered for greater than 50% missing data, less than 5% minor allele frequency and greater than 5% percent heterozygosity, and we obtained 9285 markers. Imputation of missing marker data was done using LinkImpute (Money et al. 2015) in TASSEL (Bradbury et al. 2007) version 5. The lines that had greater than 50% missing data were also removed, and 3485 lines were obtained (766 lines in EYT 13-14, 775 lines in EYT 14-15, 964 lines in EYT 15-16 and 980 lines in EYT 16-17). The genotyping and phenotyping datasets for all the lines are provided in Supplementary File 1.The phenotypic Pearson correlation coefficients between DTHD, plant height, GY and GNDVI were obtained. We also calculated the square root of the broad-sense heritability (H) for GY and GNDVI across replicates, within each nursery on a line-mean basis using the formula, where σ g 2 is the genetic variance, σ ɛ 2 is the error variance, and nreps is the number of replications. The estimates of genetic and residual variances were obtained using the average information-restricted maximum likelihood algorithm (Gilmour et al. 1995) implemented in the 'R' package 'heritability' (Kruijer et al. 2015).The genetic correlations between DTHD, plant height, GY, and GNDVI were obtained using the 'R' package EMMREML (Akdemir and Okeke 2015) with the 'emmrem-lMultivariate' function. This function solves a multivariate Gaussian mixed model that has a known covariance structure and can be represented as:(2)wherewhere t is the number of traits, Y 1 to Y t are vectors of BLUEs (GY and GNDVI at different dates of measurement) or phenotypic values (DTHD, height) of n genotypes, X is the design matrix of fixed effects, Z is the design matrix of random effects, 1 to t are vectors of fixed effects for traits one to t, a 1 to a t are vectors of random effects for traits one to t and 1 to t are vectors of residuals for traits one to t. Here, the distribution of a is multivariate normal with N(0 (n×t)×1 , V G ⊗ K), where V G is the t × t additive genetic (co)variance matrix of traits, ⊗ denotes the Kronecker product and K is the known relationship matrix of order n × n. The distribution of is multivariate normal with N(0where Vɛ is the residual (co)variance matrix of traits and I n is the n × n identity matrix.(3) For within-nursery predictions, we used all the lines in the nurseries, subsets of lines with and without full-sibs and also lines within a narrow range of DTHD in the following designs (Table 1): 1. All the lines in a nursery In this design, lines from both within and across-families were considered. The lines in each EYT nursery were divided into fivefold, and four of them were used as the training population to predict the remaining lines in the fivefold or the validation population.and have no full-sibs In this design, we used a subset of each of the nurseries comprising only one progeny per cross and performed cross-validations.We evaluated the advantage of having full-sibs in the training population by using a subset of lines that had at least two other full-sibs in that nursery. We then used 50% of the full-sibs in the training population to predict the other 50% of full-sibs in the validation population. 4. Lines within a narrow range of days to heading in each nursery Since DTHD was moderately correlated with GY in several datasets, we created subsets of lines in each nursery by excluding the lines that were at the tails of the DTHD distributions and including only those that were within the standard deviation for DTHD. In the DS environment, the range of DTHD in the subsets was 78-87 days (EYT 13-14), 74-81 days (EYT 14-15), 79-85 days (EYT 15-16) and 70-79 days .Similarly, in the HS environment, the range of DTHD in the subsets was 59-66 days (EYT 13-14), 52-59 days (EYT 14-15), 55-61 days (EYT 15-16) and 56-62 days (EYT 16-17).In predictions across nurseries, we performed both forward and backward predictions using one nursery as the training population to predict the other, for every possible nursery combination. In addition, we also used all the other three EYTs to predict any given EYT. The across-nursery predictions were done using all the lines in the nurseries and also using only a subset of lines in each nursery within a narrow range of DTHD.  While several models are available for genomic predictions, their similarities have been reported in previous studies (Heslot et al. 2012;Rutkoski et al. 2012;Juliana et al. 2017b). So, we used only the genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) model with the genomic relationship matrix (G-matrix) calculated from markers (VanRaden 2008). The GBLUP model was implemented in the 'R' package BGLR (Pérez and de los Campos 2014) and can be represented as, where y i the response variable for individual i, μ is the general mean, u i is the additive genetic effect for individual i assuming that the joint distribution of the vector of additive genetic effects u is N (0, Gσ g 2 ), where G is the additive relationship matrix and σ g 2 is the variance component associated with markers and ε i is the error term assuming that the joint distribution of ε is N (0, Iσ e 2 ), where σ e 2 is the residual variance.For pedigree-based predictions, the genomic relationship matrix in model ( 4) was replaced with the pedigree relationship matrix (A-matrix) which captures the identityby-descent relationships. In addition, we also fitted model ( 4) with the combined genomic and pedigree-based relationships (G-and A-matrices). The Pearson's correlation between the GY BLUEs and the predicted breeding values was used as a measure of prediction accuracy for all the models. The prediction accuracies were not divided by the square root of the heritability, because the genotypes were not replicated across the years and the across-year heritabilities could not be estimated.We used the IBCF approach for multivariate prediction of GY using its similarity to GNDVI measured at different dates. In the IBCF approach, the following expression is used to predict the rating P i,j ′ for user i in item j ′ (Sarwar  et al. 2001), Here, the summation is over all other rated items ( j N ) for user i where N is the total number of rated items, w j,j ′ is the weight between items j and j ′ , and y i,j is the rating for user i on item j. An item-to-item similarity matrix (4)incorporating similarity between the items was built using the cosine similarity cos ( ) =), and used to obtain the weights used in Eq. ( 5) (Montesinos-López et al. 2018). We implemented IBCF for both within and acrossnursery predictions in the complete set of lines and also in the subset of lines that had a narrow range of DTHD using the 'R' package IBCF.MTME (Luna-Vazquez et al. 2018).Multivariate prediction of grain yield using the green normalized difference vegetation index and relationships (genomic or pedigree)We performed multivariate genomic (G-matrix) and pedigree-based (A-matrix) predictions using the model described in (3), along with the correlated responses (GNDVI BLUEs measured at different dates) using the 'R' package EMMREML (Akdemir and Okeke 2015).The phenotypic means and ranges of traits in the two stressed (DS and HS) environments were analyzed (Table S1). In the DS environment, average GY was the highest in EYT 16-17 (4.8 t/ha) and ranged between 2.2 and 5.8 t/ha across the four nurseries. Similarly, DTHD ranged from 59 to 96 days, and plant height ranged from 63 to 106 cm across the different nurseries. In the HS environment, average GY was the highest in EYT 14-15 (3.8 t/ha) and ranged between 1 and 5.5 t/ ha in the four nurseries. The DTHD ranged between 45 and 69 days, and plant height ranged between 48 and 88 cm in the HS environment. We also analyzed the phenotypic GY variance in the full-sib families within each nursery (Fig. S2) and observed that the deviation of the full-sibs from the family mean was low and ranged between 0.06 and 1.34 t/ha in both the environments.The phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY with DTHD and plant height were analyzed for all the lines in the nurseries and also for the subset of lines within a narrow range of DTHD (Fig. 2). In the DS environment, phenotypic and genetic correlations of DTHD with GY were moderate and negative (ranged between − 0.49 and − 0.58) in three nurseries, but slightly positive in EYT 14-15. Plant height had a positive low to moderate correlation with GY (ranged between 0.05 and 0.54).In the HS environment, phenotypic and genetic correlations of DTHD with GY were weak to moderately negative in EYT 13-14 and EYT 16-17, close to zero in EYT 15-16 and slightly positive in EYT 14-15. Plant height had positive correlations with GY in all the four nurseries that ranged from 0.16 to 0.45. The p values for the test of significance of the correlations indicated that most correlations, except GY with DTHD and plant height in EYT 14-15 of the DS environment and GY with DTHD in EYT 15-16 of the HS environment were significant at the threshold level of 0.001. Overall, the phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY with DTHD and plant height in the subset of lines were lower than the correlations in the complete set of lines in both the environments.We also analyzed the phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY, DTHD, and plant height across the DS and HS environments (Table S2). For GY in the DS and HS environments, the phenotypic correlations ranged between 0.12 and 0.31, while the genetic correlations ranged between 0.16 and 0.36. But, DTHD had high genetic correlations (ranged between 0.87 and 0.91), and plant height had moderately high genetic correlations across these environments (ranged between 0.51 and 0.59).The phenotypic and genetic correlations of GNDVI measured at different dates with GY in the complete set and subset of lines were analyzed (Table 2). In the DS environment, the highest phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY with GNDVI in EYT 15-16 (− 0.35 and − 0.51) and EYT 16-17 (− 0.44 and − 0.50) were observed around mid-March (that coincided with the late grain-filling stage or the maturity stage depending on whether the genotype was early or late) in the complete set of lines. However, in the subset of lines within a narrow range of DTHD, the correlations between GNDVI and GY were lower with a maximum genetic correlation of − 0.29 in EYT 15-16 and − 0.24 in EYT 16-17. In the HS environment, the highest phenotypic and genetic correlations of GY with GNDVI in EYT 14-15 (0.54 and 0.70) and EYT 15-16 (0.58 and 0.61) were observed during the grain-filling stage in the complete set of lines. Similarly, in the subset of lines, the highest phenotypic and genetic correlations between GY and GNDVI in EYT 14-15 (0.60 and 0.70) and EYT 15-16 (0.63 and 0.63) were also observed during the grain-filling stage and were slightly higher.The line-mean broad-sense heritabilities for GY ranged between 0.73 and 0.80 in the DS environment and between 0.65 and 0.91 in the HS environment (Table S3). Similarly, the line-mean broad-sense heritabilities for GNDVI in the different dates of measurement ranged between 0.77 and 0.97 in the DS environment and between 0.75 and 0.94 in the HS environment.The A-matrices and G-matrices for all the 3485 lines in the different nurseries were rescaled between zero and one and visualized by heat maps (Fig. S3). We observed a higher degree of relationships with the G-matrix compared to the A-matrix, which was most likely due to the realized relationships and the identity-by-state similarities in genomic regions under selection pressure captured by the G-matrix. In addition, there was no grouping of nurseries based on the genomic relationships indicating the existence of some genetic relatedness across the nurseries.The GY prediction accuracies for the complete set of lines in the nurseries and the subset of lines within a narrow range of DTHD were analyzed (Fig. 3). In the DS environment, the average cross-validation accuracies for GY within nurseries were 0.50 ± 0.06 with genomic predictions, 0.49 ± 0.07 with pedigree-based predictions and 0.55 ± 0.06 with the combined genomic and pedigree-based predictions in the complete set of lines. Similarly, in the HS environment, the average within-nursery accuracies were 0.51 ± 0.04 with genomic predictions, 0.46 ± 0.03 with pedigree-based predictions and 0.53 ± 0.03 with the combined genomic and pedigree-based predictions. The within-nursery prediction accuracies in the subset were similar to the prediction accuracies in the complete set of lines across all the models. Overall, genomic predictions resulted in accuracies that were similar to or slightly higher than the pedigree-based prediction accuracies, with a maximum increase of 0.10. The combined markers and pedigreebased model resulted in the best within-nursery prediction accuracies that were on average 0.04 higher than the genomic prediction accuracies.In across-nursery predictions, the average accuracies in the DS environment for the complete set and the subset of lines were 0.18 ± 0.06 with genomic predictions, 0.11 ± 0.07 with pedigree-based predictions and 0.17 ± 0.07 with the combined genomic and pedigreebased predictions. Similarly, in the HS environment, the average across-nursery accuracies were 0.23 ± 0.08 with genomic predictions, 0.14 ± 0.06 with pedigreebased predictions and 0.24 ± 0.08 with the combined genomic and pedigree-based predictions. Genomic predictions outperformed pedigree-based predictions across nurseries in most datasets and the average increase in accuracies by using genomic predictions over pedigreebased predictions was 0.07 ± 0.06 (maximum increase of 0.26) in the DS environment and 0.11 ± 0.07 (maximum increase of 0.27) in the HS environment.We also observed that the combined markers and pedigree-based model did not have a significant advantage over genomic predictions across nurseries. While the accuracies were similar in many datasets, the average increase in accuracies from the combined model over genomic predictions was only 0.02 ± 0.02 and 0.03 ± 0.04 in the DS and HS environments, respectively. We also observed a decrease in accuracies using the combined marker and pedigree-based model over the GBLUP, whenever the pedigree-based model had lower accuracies than the GBLUP. When all other EYTs were used to predict a given EYT nursery, the accuracies were generally similar or slightly lower than the predictions from single nurseries in both the environments, except in a few datasets. While the average increase in accuracies with three nurseries in the training population versus a single nursery was 0.04 ± 0.03 (maximum increase of 0.13), the average decrease in accuracies was 0.08 ± 0.04 (maximum decrease of 0.17).Genomic and pedigree-based prediction accuracies in populations with and without full-sibs in the complete set of lines were analyzed (Table 3). In populations with only one progeny per cross, the average genomic prediction accuracies were 0.31 ± 0.12, and the average pedigree-based prediction accuracies were 0.24 ± 0.11 in the DS environment. Similarly, in the HS environment, the average genomic prediction accuracies were 0.32 ± 0.12, and the average pedigree-based prediction accuracies were 0.22 ± 0.01. Overall, genomic predictions performed similar to the pedigree-based predictions in 50% of the datasets with only one progeny per cross and higher than the pedigree-based predictions in other datasets, resulting in increase in accuracies ranging between 0.09 and 0.20 in both the environments.When 50% of the full-sibs were included in the training population, the average genomic prediction accuracies were 0.56 ± 0.04, and the average pedigree-based Fig. 3 Genomic, pedigree and combined genomic and pedigree-based prediction accuracies for grain yield in the drought-stressed and latesown heat-stressed environments of the elite yield trial (EYT) nurseries using all the lines in the nurseries and only a subset of lines within a narrow range of days to heading. The within-nursery cross-vali-dations (CV) are represented by the nursery (i.e., , and the across-nursery predictions are represented by the nursery and the nursery that was used to predict it (i.e., EYT 13-14 from EYT 14-15) prediction accuracies were 0.59 ± 0.06 in the DS environment. In the HS environment, the average genomic prediction accuracies were 0.60 ± 0.04, and the average pedigree-based prediction accuracies were 0.58 ± 0.05. Overall, the genomic prediction accuracies were similar to the pedigree-based prediction accuracies across all the datasets in this design.We also observed that the genomic prediction accuracies in populations with full-sibs in the training population were on average 0.27 ± 0.10 higher than the accuracies in populations with no full-sibs/only one progeny per cross, resulting in 24-256% increase in accuracies in both the environments. Similarly, pedigree-based prediction accuracies in populations with full-sibs in the training population were on average 0.35 ± 0.10 higher than the accuracies in populations with only one progeny per cross, resulting in 54-321% increase in accuracies in both the environments.We used GNDVI in an IBCF approach to predict GY and observed that the average cross-validation accuracies in the DS environment were 0.41 in the complete set of lines and 0.22 in the subset of lines within a narrow range of DTHD (Table 4). But, in the HS environment, the average cross-validation accuracies were 0.58 in the complete set and 0.63 in the subset of lines. In acrossnursery predictions, the average accuracies were: 0.39 and 0.20 for the complete set and subset of lines in the DS environment and 0.56 and 0.62 for the complete set and subset of lines in the HS environment, respectively.We evaluated the ability of GNDVI combined with relationships (genomic or pedigree) to predict GY (Table 4). In the DS environment, the average cross-validation accuracies within nurseries using genomic relationships and GNDVI were 0.55 and 0.45 in the complete set and subset of lines, respectively. Similarly, with the pedigree relationships and GNDVI, the cross-validation accuracies in the complete set and the subset of lines were and 0.53 and 0.44, respectively. In across-nursery GY predictions, the average accuracies were 0.23 and 0.20 using genomic relationships with GNDVI and 0.13 and 0.06 using pedigree relationships with GNDVI in the complete set and the subset of lines, respectively.In the HS environment, the average cross-validation accuracy within nurseries was 0.59 in the complete set and subset of lines, using both genomic and pedigree-based relationships combined with GNDVI. In across-nursery predictions for the HS environment, the average accuracies were 0.27 and 0.26 using genomic relationships with GNDVI and 0.11 and 0.17 using pedigree relationships with GNDVI in the complete set and the subset of lines, respectively.We analyzed GY in four different EYT nurseries and observed that the DS environment had higher average GY (4.1 t/ha), compared to the HS environment (3.1 t/ha). Since the average GY under optimum conditions was 6.4 t/ha, it was reduced by 36% in the DS environment and 52% in the HS environment, thereby emphasizing the importance of breeding for resilience to these stresses. In the DS environment, plants headed almost at the same time as in the optimum environment but were on average 22 days earlier in the HS environment. This is due to the high temperatures and longer day length in this environment that are known to result in shorter cycles, quicker maturity, and accelerated crop development rates. These are considered as adaptations of plants to hot weather enabling them to avoid excessive stress (Zahedi and Jenner 2003;Fischer 2011;Semenov et al. 2014;Trnka et al. 2014;Mondal et al. 2016). The plants in the stressed environments were also shorter than in the optimal environment (average height reduction of 15 cm, and 35.5 cm in the DS and HS environments, respectively). We also observed that GY in both the stressed environments was negatively correlated with DTHD and positively correlated with plant height, as observed previously (Mondal et al. 2016). However, nursery EYT 14-15 evaluated in the DS environment was an exception to this general trend, where GY had no correlations with DTHD and plant height, because of the warmer temperatures observed in this year. A linear decrease in GY with increasing DTHD in the DS environment was also observed and indicated that in populations with a wide variation for DTHD, irrigation cut-off time is a key determinant of the sensitivity of genotypes to the stress (Fischer and Maurer 1978).Analysis of associations between GNDVI measured in different growth stages and GY indicated that the highest phenotypic and genetic correlations with GY were observed during the grain-filling stage in the DS environment and were negative. While GNDVI is generally positively correlated with GY, because of it being an indicator of the greenness or biomass of the plants, it was negatively correlated with GY in the DS environment as also observed previously (Rutkoski et al. 2016). This is most likely due to the range of DTHD in the populations used (the late lines were greener and had a lower yield). The decrease in correlations between GNDVI and GY in the subset of lines within a narrow range of days to heading, indicates that the higher correlations between these traits in the complete set of lines are most likely due to the broader range of DTHD and its correlation with GY. In the HS environment, the highest correlations of GNDVI with GY were positive and coincided with grainfilling, indicating it to be a critical stage in determining GY.This study evaluated GY predictions in empirical data from CIMMYT's bread wheat breeding program, and our results indicate that genomic predictions perform similar to or slightly better than the pedigree-based predictions within nurseries, and the combined marker and pedigree-based predictions resulted in the highest accuracies as also observed in several other studies (de los Campos et al. 2009;Pérez et al. 2010;Burgueño et al. 2012;Bartholomé et al. 2016;Juliana et al. 2017a, b). In across-nursery predictions, genomic predictions outperformed pedigree-based predictions, and there was no advantage of combining markers and pedigree.We also observed no improvement in prediction accuracies by increasing the number of lines/nurseries in the training population for across-nursery predictions. While this has also been observed in previous studies (Dawson et al. 2013;Lorenz and Smith 2015), substantial G × E interaction and difference in marker effects for GY in different nurseries/ years might explain why a higher number of lines in the training population did not boost the prediction accuracies. Hence, predictions from large training populations/multiple nurseries might be useful only in cases when the environments or years are correlated with the predicted year.In populations with no full-sibs in the training population, we observed that the genomic prediction accuracies were either similar or resulted in 27.3-91% increase in accuracies over the pedigree-based prediction accuracies. But, in populations with at least one full-sib in the training population, the genomic and pedigree-based prediction accuracies were similar. This indicates that the high accuracies obtained using the pedigree-based predictions are primarily due to, (1) the full-sibs in the training population (2) the minimal phenotypic GY variance among the full-sibs resulting from phenotypic GY selection in the first-year yield trials and (3) the minimal Mendelian sampling variance among the full-sibs, because of very small family sizes. These results indicate that GS will not be advantageous over pedigreebased selections in the EYT stage, given the family structure in these nurseries, highlighting the importance of implementing GS at the appropriate stage in the breeding program, where there is sufficient Mendelian sampling variation between the sibs. Nevertheless, predictions in populations with full-sibs in the training population compared to populations with only one progeny per cross, resulted in 24-321% increase in accuracies, clearly implying that genetic relatedness between the training and validation populations is crucial for good predictions as also reported in previous studies (Habier et al. 2010;Clark et al. 2012;Pszczola et al. 2012;Thorwarth et al. 2017).The successful application of the IBCF recommender system in multivariate prediction of GY using GNDVI was demonstrated in this study. For within-nursery predictions in the DS environment, the accuracies using GNDVI in an IBCF approach were only slightly lower than the univariate predictions using genomic/pedigree-based relationships. However, in the subset of lines within a narrow range of DTHD, we observed a decrease in accuracies using GNDVI indicating that the predictability of GY in the complete set of lines was mostly due to the confounding effect of DTHD. In the HS environment, using GNDVI in an IBCF approach resulted in accuracies that were slightly higher than the genomic/pedigree-based prediction accuracies in the complete set of lines, and a slight improvement in accuracies was also observed in the subset. While the IBCF approach is very competitive in terms of its speed compared to many other multivariate models, it can be effectively applied in scenarios where trait correlations with GY are moderate to high.Overall, for within-nursery predictions in the DS environment, the strategies that resulted in the highest accuracies were the genomic and pedigree-based prediction models that had 50% of full-sibs in the training population. In addition, the combined models including, (1) genomic relationships and GNDVI (2) pedigree relationships and GNDVI (3) genomic and pedigree relationships also resulted in high accuracies. However, in EYT 16-17, the GBLUP and pedigree models also performed well and resulted in accuracies that were only slightly lower than the combined models. In the HS environment, the models with genomic/pedigree relationships and GNDVI, GNDVI in an IBCF approach and the genomic and pedigree models that had 50% of full-sibs in the training population resulted in the highest within-nursery accuracies. While Rutkoski et al. (2016) and Sun et al. (2017) reported that secondary traits increased within-nursery GY accuracies by 70% in prediction models, the maximum increase that we obtained by integrating GNDVI was only 25% in genomic prediction models and 40% in pedigree-based prediction models. The scenarios in which GS and HTP can be successfully implemented in breeding for GY within-nurseries/years are, (1) when the training population has a reasonable number of full-sibs (2) when the HTP trait is highly correlated with GY. However, considering the cost, an integrated approach with the pedigree and HTP will be the most cost-effective for implementation at this advanced yield-testing stage used in this study.In across-nursery predictions, the best accuracies in the DS and HS environments were obtained using GNDVI in an IBCF approach. It is interesting that the relationship based predictions across years were not more advantageous than using GNDVI of the validation population in the prediction models, although the lines in the different nurseries had some genetic relatedness. This also highlights the importance of having some information on a line's performance in a particular environment (a correlated trait like GNDVI in this case) for successfully predicting GY and sparse testing should be considered cautiously when breeding for widely adapted and stable lines for diverse target environments.This study has identified several challenges for implementing GS and HTP in breeding for GY that are discussed below:The moderate to poor GY prediction accuracies across nurseries/years in this study result from the low heritability of the trait, vagaries of the weather, G × E interactions, non-homogeneity of stress conditions across years that can increase error variance, variations in management and soil heterogeneity (Blum 1988(Blum , 2005;;Lopes et al. 2014). However, even in controlled irrigations, non-uniform test conditions are not uncommon, because of the difficulty in uniform application of small quantities of water (Calhoun et al. 1994). In addition, climatic variability including temperature and precipitation variations account for about a third of the yield variability (Ray et al. 2015), and changes in these variables are known to affect crop yields and shift the phenology (Tao et al. 2006;Mondal et al. 2016;Albers et al. 2017) as also observed in this study. Therefore, the complexity of plant responses to stressed conditions resulting from G × E interactions, the difficulties in determining all possible genetic responses to all possible combinations of environments and the inability to phenotype large breeding populations avoiding confounding weather effects (Reynolds and Tuberosa 2008) hamper accurate predictions of GY. One potential approach to address this challenge would be to integrate crop growth models with genomic selection models (Rincent et al. 2017).Both, DTHD and plant height often confound screening tolerance to drought and heat stress, and unless populations controlled for these traits are used, only major genes associated with these traits will be associated with stress adaptations (Reynolds and Tuberosa 2008;Reynolds et al. 2009;Fleury et al. 2010;Lopes et al. 2014). In our study, the chromosomal locations of the loci significantly associated with GY in nurseries where DTHD had a high correlation coincided with the vernalization and photoperiod sensitivity genes (unpublished results). While these genes underlie adaptation of wheat to different environments (Yan et al. 2004;Cane et al. 2013), they also confound the expression of stress-adaptive minor genes and reduce our ability to distinguish between high GY due to adaptation to the stress and high GY by avoiding stress. The ability of genotypes that flower and mature early to escape drought by rapid phenological development and shorter life-cycle is referred to as 'drought escape' (Fischer and Maurer 1978;Blum 1988Blum , 2005)). It has also been advocated as a strategy to breed for drought-tolerant plants by reducing the coincidence of the sensitive stages of plant development with the stress (Loss and Siddique 1994;Blum 1996;Araus et al. 2002;Olivares-Villegas et al. 2007;Pinto et al. 2010). Similarly, genotypes that head early and have longer post-heading duration are considered to be toler-ant to heat stress (Talukder et al. 2014;Mondal et al. 2016).Breeders avoid the confounding effects of DTHD and stress escape by comparing GY of early and late lines with appropriate early and late check varieties. However, for both genomic and HTP-based predictions, it is important to control the effects of DTHD. So, we used subsets of lines within a narrow range of DTHD in this study and observed similar accuracies as in the complete set. However, several other approaches have been suggested to address this challenge that include: (1) using a covariate or a correction factor to adjust for DTHD (Fischer and Maurer 1978) (2) evaluating GS on early and late sub-populations and removing extremes of DTHD (Reynolds et al. 2009) (3) evaluating GS on lines that have a restricted range of DTHD of approximately 1 week (Reynolds et al. 1994) ( 4) using populations that are not segregating for major genes (Pinto et al. 2010) or characterizing populations for the major genes (vernalization, photoperiod sensitivity and plant height) and only using individuals monomorphic for these genes (Lopes et al. 2014) (5) using populations with a restricted range of DTHD for estimating marker effects like the Seri/Babax recombinant inbred line population (Olivares-Villegas et al. 2007), and the wheat association mapping initiative population (Lopes et al. 2015). While these options should be considered in designing training populations for prediction of GY in stressed environments, it should be emphasized that the effects of DTHD will be inevitable when data from large breeding populations is used for training the models.The promising cross-validation accuracies obtained in this study indicate several opportunities for implementing GS and HTP within nurseries/years, some of which are discussed below:Breeding programs that have multiple and expensive within-site replications can use GS-or HTP-based selections to minimize them if there is at least one reliable replication for training prediction models, as also observed in Juliana et al. (2018). The cost-benefits of minimizing replications will depend on the cost of phenotyping per unit of yield trial replication versus the cost of (1) tissue sampling and deoxyribonucleic acid extraction (2) genotyping (3) hyperspectral camera and the aerial platform (4) HTP data collection (5) data management and analysis. In addition, the time involved in the logistics of genotyping, collecting HTP data and processing HTP images should be minimal to facilitate implementation and quick selection decisions. 2. Scaling-up selections to larger nurseries within years that are not yield-tested in stressed environments While this study has evaluated cross-validations within the second-year yield trials, these EYT nurseries can also be used as training sets to predict the first-year yield trial nurseries (about 9000 lines) grown in the same year. These nurseries are generally not phenotyped for GY under stressed environments in CIMMYT, because of the cost, labor and resource constraints. Hence, GSand/or HTP-based predictions of GY in two stressed environments might result in cost-savings of about 180, 000 USD (assuming that the cost of a yield trial plot is 10 USD). However, given that the cost of genotyping 9000 samples (180,000 USD, at the cost of 20 USD per sample) is almost similar, real cost-gains can be achieved only when (1) breeding programs have higher GY phenotyping costs and (2) the cost of genotyping is lower or shared for predicting other traits. Nevertheless, phenotyping large populations also requires vast land area that might not be available for many breeding programs and GS can be a powerful selection tool in such a case. 3. Scaling-up selections to earlier generations that are not yield-tested While this study has applied the IBCF approach on nurseries of about 1000 lines, our ultimate objective was to scale this approach for predicting GY with HTP traits in several ten-thousands of F 5 :F 6 derived lines that are grown in small plots and not yield-tested or are too expensive for genotyping. This could result in huge costsavings, if the HTP measurements for lines in the small plots are well correlated with their HTP measurements and yields in large plots.The HTP trait based predictions can also be used to increase the selection accuracy in early-generation across-family selections. While within-family selections are not possible in early generations, HTP traits can enable selection of the best families for GY in stressed environments, that can then be advanced.In conclusion, predicting GY in stressed environments across years is challenging due to its complexity, plasticity, and G × E interactions. Hence, some information on a genotype's or a related individual's phenotypic performance in a particular environment is important for training prediction models and minimizing risks. In addition, assessment of the cost-benefits by integrating GS and HTP in a breeding program is critical for the effective implementation of these technologies. Nevertheless, this study has successfully evaluated GS-and HTP-based predictions in CIMMYT's EYT nurseries, and we conclude that they can be integrated in increasing the size of populations screened and evaluating unphenotyped large nurseries within years.","tokenCount":"8471"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2354281707.json b/data/part_1/2354281707.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7af51adda708303bbaea8038ad224736cc9ac6b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2354281707.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ebe18be107f687ddc7e6d13e8e698cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb5b6fa8-01de-4bb6-b922-39278e71aded/retrieve","id":"-673077809"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2c5874d0-13ce-4807-bbcb-a0c0d69727bf","pagecount":"10","content":"El Andropogon gayanus conocido comunmente como pasto Gamba en la India, es una especie africana perenne, macollada de considerable importancia económica en Africa Occidental y que segÚn datos obtenidos por Jones se ha mostrado promisoria en países como Australia, India, Jamaica, Brasil y Colombia.La semilla de esta gramínea fué introducida a Colombia por el Dr, Bela Gro! en 1973, iniciándose un estudio sistemático a partir de 1974, con trabajos realizados en CIAT-Palmíra, Carimagua, Santander de Quilichao; investigaciones que han sido apoyadas por trabajos regionales en países como Bolivia, Ecuador, Perú, Brasil, Venezuela y Nicaragua, Estos trabajos han permitido conocer una serie de características que hacen del Andropogon gayanus una especie con un alto potencial como forrajera en el área. Sin embargo, es importante resaltar que por ciertas características como su gran capacidad de auto-propagación y su adaptabilidad a un rango de tipos de suelo que incluyen suelos aluviales ricos, suelos de serpentinas, suelos arenoso-arcillosos bien drenados y de fertilidad media y alta y suelos Oxisoles y Ultisoles, lo pueden convertir en una maleza en sitios donde no se desea su crecimiento.En vista de esta situación se proyectó realizar este ensayo preliminar que lleva como objetivo principal el de realizar una evaluación de herbicidas para el control del Andropogon gayanus.machete) para uniformizar su altura.Los tratamientos que se describen en la Tabla 1 fueron aplicados 10 días después de haber realizado el corte, para lo cual se usó una aspersora experimental AZ accionada con CO 2 , proporcionando un método rápido de aspersión que no requiere bombeo y mantiene una presión constante. La solución del herbicida es transportada en un recipiente de vidrio encerrada en un protector de metal. Los componentes básicos de este aparato lo constituyen un sistema de tubos, boquillas, un cilíndrico de acero, un manómetro y un regulador de presión. Las boquillas utilizadas fueron del tipo de abanico plano de marca Tee-Jet 8004.La aspersora qe fue de 25 fue 2 m • calibrada con 800 m1 de agua para cada parcela experimental El diseño que se utiliza es el de bloques completos al azar, con ocho tratamientos y tres repeticiones. Las variables a medir son: índice de daño, porcentaje de control y residualidad del control.El ensayo tendrá una duración aproximada de tres meses, después de los cuales se procederá a la siembra de maíz.Los herbicidas post-emergentes son los que se aplican después de la emergencia del cultivo. Pueden ser aplicados en cualquier tipo de suelos y no dependen de las condiciones de humedad del suelo. No se deben aplicar cuando las plantas están mojadas de rocío O lluvia. Asimismo, deben transcurrir por lo menos ocho horas después de la aplicación, sin llover para alcanzar el máximo efecto(4).Muchas veces se recomienda el uso de surfactantes que permiten: a) Mejorar el cubrimiento al reducir la tensión superficial.bl Reducir la evaporación, ya que mantiene controlada la presión de vapor de los herbicidas volátiles.cl Aumenta la penetración. Produccos cOmO Dalapon, Paraquat, muestran una fuerte 'actividad al agregar surfactante a la solución.d) Facilita la translocación, el surfactante efecta las membranas de tal ~OrDa que las hace permeables al herbicida.e) Awnenta la peITlanen(!ia ya que ac:.5.an COr.1Q pegantes.f) Aumenta la sol:lbilidad del herbicida, lo que influye en la penetración g) Ca:mbia la sclubilización de la C\"c1tícula del follaje, ya que a~ecta las capas serosas, pe:r.ni tiendo que penetre :3.ás el producto. (4) 1) DescriDci6~ de Herbicidas Utili~ados:ATRAZE\\A: Es an polvo mojable, blanco y cristalino que se usa =p1i8lllente i I como herbicida no selectivo en praderas (5). El mecanismo de acción es la inhibición de la fotosíntesis. Se absorbe por la raíz y el área foliar, aunque la absorción foliar es poca en mucnas plantas en condición de campo por efecto del lavado, luego de la absorción el herbicida se trasloca al xilema y se acumula en los ápices del meristema y hojas de la planta.DALAPON: Es un herbicida usado para el control de gramíneas anuales y perennes. La adición de un agente para mojarlo ayuda mucho en su efectividad;se transloca fácilmente dentro de la planta y se acumula en las hojas jóvenes.Es de racil lixiviación y su poder residual no es alto debido a la acción de microorganismos. Actúa afectando las proteínas (5).DIURON: Blanco, sin olor y cristalino (SÓlido). Controla gramíneas -3perennes. Los mejores resultados se obtienen utilizándolo en forma pre-emergente.Se puede utilizar en post-emergencia hasta cinco centímentros de altura de la planta.GLIFOSATO: Es un herbicida sistémico aplicable al follaje y de amplio espectro, que puede controlar malezas perennes (2)pero su eficiencia puede afectarse por algunos factores ambientales como la luz, la humedad relativa, la temperatura, lluvia y el pH en la solución del suelo. (3). En dosis de 2.5 kg de i.a./ha, ha dado muy buenos resultados en el control de coquito, ya que luego de cinco aplicaciones en un año redujo la población en 98%. ( 6). ASl mismo, en aplicaciones de 3 a 4 litros por ha se han reportado excelentes resultados en el control de Andropogon bicornis (4).PARAQUAT: Es un herbicida de contacto. Da buenos resultados en aplicación post y pre-emergente. Es fácilmente absorbido por el follaje y no es facil de lavar por la lluvia.Afecta la fotosíntesis; s:.t acción es violenta y no selectiva, mata cualquier tejido verde que entre en contacto con esta sustancia. Dentro de la planta se transforma en lll1 radical, el cual reacciona con una molécula de oxíge,no para producir agua oxigenada (H 2 0 2 ) que es capaz de destruir los cloroplastos en poco tieropo, explicándose el porq:.te p:.teden apreciarse los efectos en 24 horas (4).IV. RES:;:~A;)CS y DISC;;Sro:;Antes de iniciar la discusión de los da~os obte~idas en esta evaluación, ~~eremos resaltar un hec~o que consideramos de mucha influencia en los resultados ob~enidos, en C:larlto a cor:trol de And:rOFogO!1; y es el hecho de qlJ.€ llovió :'uerter:;,ente pocas hora3 .Según Franke (1), toda sustancia que entra en contacto con la hoja, requiere un tiempo para penetrar y luego ser absorbida. Este tiempo varía. con el espesor de la capa serosa de la cutícula y cOn la hidratación de la lluvia.Cuando la lluvia cae inmediatamente o algunas horas después de la aplicación, el producto puede lavarse y en el suelo perder su ericiencia, lo cual coincide con la información de Doll, Robertson y otro (4, 5).V. CONCLUSIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES.Debido a que durante la conducción del ensayo se presentaron factores como:al Lluvia muy fuerte pocas horas después de haber sido realizada la aplicación de los tratamientos.b) El hecho de que uno de los tratamientos no pudo ser aplicado en su totalidad debido a cuarentena en la finca.Factores que consideramos determinantes en las respuestas de los tratamientos,   OBSERVACIONES Se de<~c a ':::ld.a l8.do de las estacas aspersora :... ;:'! x 5 ::l. = 20 :::1 de :;~rcela efec-:;;.iva ","tokenCount":"1122"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2365760224.json b/data/part_1/2365760224.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e812fe954a84a16b87e01234e5b09148f0ed6b20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2365760224.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5df1bdbd36697f932309e4ecfb22becf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5dabb07c-9e5a-49b2-afae-81144700da9f/retrieve","id":"578786040"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d10300fd-87f4-4268-931f-7ecefefd2d64","pagecount":"28","content":"This field gUide has been prepared to help you to:• recognize common cassava diseases and specify their causes,• specify how the diseases damage cassava plants, • identify the sources of cassava diseases.and understand how cassava diseases spread. and • combine appropriate practices to control cassava diseases and grow a healthy crop of cassava.Many diseases are caused by very tiny living things called pathogens. Pathogens are so tiny that you cannot see them even with the aid of hand lenses. Examples of pathogens are viruses, bacteria, and fungi. When a pathogen attacks a cassava plant. it multiplies and spreads inside or on the plant. As it spreads. it destroys the plant. The plant will show signs (symptoms) of attack. Damage symptoms of cassava diseases appear on the leaves (Figure I). stems (Figure 2). and storage roots (Figure 3) of the plant. Cassava diseases are recognized by their symptoms. such as discoloration of leaves. \"sores\" on the stems, and discoloration of storage roots . Some other diseases which you may notice in cassava are caused by nonliving things. Examples of such diseases are wilting due to drought and poor plant growth because of poor soils. The common diseases of cassava are cassava mosaic disease. cassava bacterial blight. cassava anthracnose disease. cassava bud necrosis, and root rots . Some of these diseases attack the leaves and stems of cassava plants while others attack the storage roots.Common leaf and stem diseases of cassava are cassava mosaic disease. cassava bacterial bl ight. cassava anthracnose disease. cassava bud necrosis. and brown streak disease.Cassava mosaic disease is caused by a virus which occurs inside cassava leaves and stems.Da m age symptoms: The leaves of cassava plants with the disease are discolored with patches of normal green color mixed with light green. yellow. and white areas (Figure 4). This discoloration is known as chlorosis. The chlorotic patches can be confused with cassava green mite feeding damage (Figure 5). When cassava mosaic attack is severe. the leaves are very small and distorted and th e plants are stunted. The disease symptoms are more pronounced on younger plants (Figure I), usually under 6 months. than on older plants.Me thod of spread : The main sources of the virus which causes cassava mosaic disease are cassava plants with the disease and the whitefly Bernisia rabae; (Figure 6). The virus occurs in the saliva of the whitefly. During feeding. the insect injects saliva containing the virus into cassava leaves. The virus multiplies and occurs in large numbers in the leaves and stems. Cassava mosaic disease is also spread by planting stem cuttings from plants infected with the disease.Othe r crops attacke d : Cassava mosaic disease attacks on ly cassava. Cassava bacterial blight is caused by a bacterium which occurs inside cassava leaves and stems.Damage sym ptoms: Initially, damage by cassava bacterial blight appears as water-soaked dead spots (lesions). The lesions occur be-[Ween leaf veins and are most evident on the lower surfaces of the leaves (Figure 7). The lesions are small. nO[ completely round in shape. and have a few angles at their edges. These angular lesions later join together into larger patches killing the leaf blade as they enlarge. The leaf blade turns brown with the watersoaked area at the leading edge of the brown patch. This damage symptom is known as leaf blighting (Figure 8). Severely blighted leaves wilt (Figure 9), die, and fall causing defoliation and shoot tip die-back (Figure 10) or complete death of the shoot. leaf blighting starts from the leaf blade and moves towards the petiole. The petiole retains a horizontal position before leaf fall (Figure 9). This is unlike cassava anthracnose-damaged leaves whose petioles droop before leaf fall (Figure 12). Drops of brownish gum may occur on the leaves, petioles. and stems of plants infected with cassava bacteria blight.The damage symptoms of cassava bacteria blight are more evident in the wet than in the dry season. The disease is more severe in young plants than in older ones.Me thod of spre ad: The main sources of the bacterium which causes cassava bacterial blight are cassava plants with the disease. The bacterium enters cassava plants through wounds and scratches on the stems and 8 leaves. It multiplies and occurs in large numbers in the leaves and stems. Cassava bacterial blight is therefore spread by planting stem cuttings from plants with the disease symptoms. Dead cassava stems and leaves with the bacterium also serve as sources of the disease if they are not destroyed after root harvest.The disease is spread naturally by raindrops which splash the bacterium from infected plants to hea lthy plants. Insects, for example. grass hoppers become contaminated with the bacterium and spread it to healthy cassava plants. Farm tools that are used to cut infected cassava plants should be cleaned after use to prevent the bacterium on them from spreading to other plants.Othe r c rops a ttacke d : Cassava bacterial blight attacks only cassava.    Cankers weaken the petioles so that the leaf droops downwards (Figure 12) and wilts. The wilted leaves die and fall causing defoliation and shoot tip die-back or complete death of the shoot. Soft parts of cassava stems become twisted under severe attack by the disease. The disease usually starts at the beginning of the rains and worsens as the wet season progresses.Method of spre ad: The main sources of the fungus that causes cassava anthracnose disease are cassava plants with the disease. The fungus spreads by wind carrying spores from cankers on the stems. or by planting stem cuttings with cankers. The fungus enters cassava plants through wounds and feeding punctures made by the bug Pseudomeroptus devastans (Figure 13). Dead cassava stems and leaves with the fungus also serve as sources of the disease if they are not destroyed after roOt harvest.Other crops attacked: The fungus that causes cassava anthracnose disease affects other crops as well as cassava. for example. coffee, pepper, and pawpaw. 10Cassava bud necrosis is caused by a fungus which occurs on the surface of cassava stems and leaves.Da m age sympto m s: The disease appears as patches of brown or grey fungal matter covering the stem. The fungal matter sometimes covers buds (\"eyes\") on cassava stem cuttings (Figure 14). The affected buds die. which reduces the sprouting ability of stem cuttings.Me thod of spread : The main sources of the fungus that causes bud necrosis are cassava plants with the disease. Dead cassava stems and leaves with the fungus also serve as sources of the disease if they are not destroyed after root harvest. The fungus spreads by wind. however. planting of infected stem cuttings is the main method by which the disease spreads.Othe r crops attacke d: The fungus that causes bud necrosis causes leaf spots on a variety of plants including grasses. cereal crops. banana. and mango. Cassava brown leaf spot disease appears as small brown spots with dark borders on the upper leaf surfaces (Figure 16). The brown spots occur between leaf veins, and their sizes and shapes are limited by the distance between these veins. The dead tissue in the center of brown spots may fall to give the leaf surface a \"shot hole\" appearance. Under severe attack the infected leaves become yellow. dry, and die prematurely.Cassava leaf blight disease appears as light brown lesions on the upper surfaces of the leaves. The lesions are not limited by veins. therefore they are usually larger than brown leaf spots. The lesions may enlarge to cover most of the leaf surface and cause leaf blighting (Figure 17). The blighted leaves lack watersoaked areas. which are typical of leaf damage by cassava bacterial blight (Figure 8). Leaf blight lesions also lack the dark borders of brown leaf spots and they do not develop into \"shot holes\" on the leaf surface. Damage symptoms: Damage symptoms of cassava brown streak disease appear on the leaves. stems, and storage roots of cassava plants. On the leaves. the disease appears as patches of yellow areas mixed with normal green color (Figure 18). The yellow patches are more prominent on mature leaves than on young leaves. The damaged leaves do not become distorted in shape as occurs with leaves damaged by cassava mosa ic disease (Figure I) . On the stems, the disease appears as dark brown \"streaks\" (Figure 19) with dead spots on leaf scars. These streaks are most prominent on upper, green portions of the stems. The diseased plants may show shoot tip die-back. Cassava brown streak disease distorts the shape of the storage roots and may cause cracks and discoloration in the storage roots (Figure 20).The main sources of the virus that causes cassava brown streak are cassava plants with the disease. The disease is spread through the planting of stem cuttings from diseased plants. The virus is also believed to be spread from plant to plant by insectS.Other crops attacked: Cassava brown streak disease is not known to attack other crops.  Method of spread: The important sources of cassava root rot fungi are soils. and cassava root and stem debris contaminated with the fungi. The fungi enter cassava plants through wounds caused by pests or farming tools or by piercing the roots by themselves. Farm tillage tools used in cassava farms with the disease should be cleaned aher use to prevent the fungi on them from spreading to other areas. Similarly. cassava plant debris in farms with the disease serve as sources of root rot fungi and should be destroyed by burning.Other crops attacked: Cassava root rot fungi attack a wide range of other crops including maize. soybean. sunflower. and coffee. Cassava pests are important because they re• duce the yield from the crop. They cause food and income losses from cassava in the following ways. loss of roots: Root rot and cassava brown streak diseases attack storage roots and cause immediate and direct losses. By damaging leaves and stems, cassava diseases generally interfere with the way by which the plant makes food for storage in the roots . This will reduce the growth of the plants. the number of storage roots they can form. and the ability of the storage roots to swell with food and mature for harvest (Figures 22 and 23). However, most cassava varieties can lose a lot of leaves before the root yield is reduced. Farmers should be discouraged from rushing to cackle control measures at the first signs of damage .Loss of planting material: Many cassava diseases contaminate cassava stems with viruses, bacteria, and fungLThis makes stem cuttings unhealthy and unsuitable for planting. Certain cassava diseases, for example, cassava bacterial blight, cassava anthracnose, and cassava brown streak diseases, reduce the quantity and quality of planting material by causing shoot tip die-back. Cankers of cassava anthracnose disease (Figure I I) cause cassava stems to break easi ly. Fungal matter of cassava bud necrosis (Figure 14) kills the buds (\"eyes\") on stems and reduces the ability of stem cuttings to sprout.In areas where cassava leaves are used as food. leaf diseases \"rob\" farmers and other consumers directly of the leafy vegetables (Figure 24). For example. cassava bacterial blight and cassava anthracnose disease defoliate cassava plants; cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown streak discolor the leaves, and cassava mosaic disease distorts the leaf shape and size. These kinds of damage will also reduce the ability of cassava plants to make sufficient food for storage in the roots.Increase in weeds and erosion: Diseases that defoliate and kill cassava shoot tips encourage weed growth in farms because the cassava plants are no longer able to block sunlight from reaching the weeds growing underneath. In loose soils, defoliation of cassava plants will expose the soil to erosion.Damage to other crops: In addition to cassava. the diseases can damage other crops. Examples of cassava diseases that attack other crops are cassava anthracnose. cassava bud necrosis. and cassava roOt rot diseases. Whe n are ca ssava diseases like ly to cause severe losses?The presence of diseases in cassava farms does not always mean that they will cause severe losses in food and income. The appearance of disease damage can be misleading. For example. leaf SpOt diseases are unlikely to cause severe losses in root yield because they usually attack plants dose to maturity. It is therefore very importam to know the conditions under which diseases can be serious problems. The following pointers will help you to know when the diseases are likely to cause severe losses in cassava farms.The cassava va r ieties you grow: Losses caused by diseases are less severe on some cassava varieties than on others. Table I lists some varieties with different levels of tolerance against cassava mosaic disease and cassava bacterial blight.The stage of pl a nt growth at attack: Generally. yield loss is greater if stem cuttings sprout with the diseases than in disease-free sprouts. Disease-free sprouts can. however, be infected with pathogens later on. If this happens. young cassava plants suffer more from disease attack than older plants. At 3-4 months after planting. the storage roots of most cassava varieties start to swell with food . At about 7 months after planting, the plants have formed the number of storage roOts they will carry during their growing period. This number will not increase much after this time. but the storage roots will continue to swell with food until they are harvested. Therefore. if diseases attack cassava farms aged 7 months or less. the plants will provide 20 fewer and smaller storage roots than if attacked later. For example. under cassava mosaic disease attack. yield losses will be higher if disease-free plants became diseased within 4 months after planting than if they became diseased later on. Also. leaf spot diseases occur mainly on mature and older cassava leaves. and normally on older cassava plants. usually more than 5-9 months old. Leaf SpOt diseases are therefore unlikely to cause severe losses in root yield.The plant pa rts attacke d : Diseases which damage the plant parts that you harvest \"rob\" you directly of food and income. For example. when cassava storage roots are damaged. the plants do not replace them with more roots nor do the roots become bigger to compensate for the damage. Diseases which cause this kind of damage are mainly cassava root rots and cassava brown streak disease. However, when diseases attack cassava lea\\les the plants may produce new leaves and later produce a good root yield.The season of attack: The effect of season on the extent of damage caused by cassava diseases varies according to the disease. The damage symptoms of cassava brown streak disease are more serious in the dry than in the wet season. Root rot damage can be se\\lere either in the wet or in the dry season, depending on me type of fungi that causes the disease. Damage symptoms of cassava bacterial blight and cassava anthracnose disease occur more in the wet than in the dry season. In the dry season you can notice plants with shoot tip die-back and defoliation caused by any or both of these diseases. However; mese symptoms are carried over from the wet season attack.   diseases in cassava farms?The best way to control diseases is to grow a healthy crop of cassava. This is especially so because you do not see the viruses, bacteria and fungi which cause diseases. In order to grow a healthy crop you will need to combine plant production and plant protection prac-[ices in growing the crop. Good farm sanitation helps to reduce the sources of the pathogens that cause cassava diseases in farms. For example. after root harvest you should destroy cassava stems with shoot tip die-back. cankers. fungus patches. streaks or any other disease damage symptom. Crop debris of storage roots. leaves. and stems with these symptoms harbor the pathogens and should be destroyed to reduce the sources of disease spread. Farm tools should be cleaned before and after tillage to reduce the spread of root rOt fungi through tools contaminated with the pathogen.If on ly a few stem cuttings sprout with disease it is advisable to remove them and replace 24 them with healthy stem cuttings. This is called roguing. Roguing of cassava plants is best done at 3-4 weeks after planting when controlling cassava mosaic disease .","tokenCount":"2710"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2374048489.json b/data/part_1/2374048489.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9072a9f512e3021583ef55a897aa6b754ffdac13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2374048489.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce3c34fe954c45f4926bb52242b39954","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ca47f78d-f541-4202-b881-df7c8f6635d3/content","id":"1533959121"},"keywords":["Validation","sensitivity analysis","CA","and Farm mechanization"],"sieverID":"a0e9c227-328f-4956-affb-cb15877be23a","pagecount":"29","content":"The uptake of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Southern Africa has been slow and low. As a result, most smallholder farmers continue to grow crops under degraded soils using conventional tools and human powered farm operations. This leads to low productivity. Therefore, spatially visualizing areas where conservation agriculture and farm mechanization can be targeted can be crucial to guide targeting and scaling. In this study, a geographical information systems-based multicriteria analysis using the analytical hierarchical process was used to map the suitability of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This included biophysical (soil, rainfall,  temperature, slope, elevation, land use and biomass)  and socioeconomic (population density, farming system and livestock ownership) as recommended domains. The Super Decision software 3.2.0 was used to generate the final weights through pairwise comparison. ArcGIS Pro 2.6 through fuzzy functions was used to standardise and generate the maps. The results show that over 95% of the land area in Zimbabwe, 73% in Zambia, and 67% in Malawi are suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization. Malawi, however, has a bigger proportion of land (1%) among the three countries with low suitability. There are regional differences with Lilongwe and Balaka in Malawi; Southern, Central, Eastern and Western provinces in Zambia; and Matebeleland South and North, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe being the most suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization. After validation, the suitability map based on varying weights showed higher levels of reliability, resulting in context-specific suitability maps and that the mapping process was robust. Thus, the suitability maps generated from this study can be used for targeting conservation agriculture and farm mechanization by stakeholders and decisionmakers in the three countries.Soil degradation has adversely affected the production capacity of most parts of Africa. The increasing animal and human population coupled with traditional methods of farming are putting more pressure on the soil in Africa (Decaëns et al., 2006). This has in turn affected people's livelihoods, including food security in many countries (Erenstein, 2003).Conservation agriculture has been identified to help reduce soil degradation, enhance crop productivity, conserve water, and maintain yield stability (Tesfaye et al., 2015, Baudron et al., 2012). Conservation agriculture is also crucial in improving the survival of crops during a flood or drought as well as mitigating climate change through soil carbon sequestration (Umar and Nyanga, 2011, Giller et al., 2009, Gjengedal, 2016). According to Marongwe et al. (2012), conservation agriculture promotes crop management, weed management and efficient use of inorganic and organic fertilizers. Therefore, conservation agriculture is one of the promising ways of sustainably growing food or crops in Africa and the world over (Shetto and Owenya, 2007).Several scholars (Erenstein, 2003, Tesfaye et al., 2015, Knowler and Bradshaw, 2007) contend that conservation agriculture adoption and performance differs from place to place due to varying levels of knowledge and mechanization. Thus, it is important to understand, ex-ante where CA and farm mechanization are most suitable to facilitate better targeting. In doing so, there is a need to recognise that factors or domains to consider for generating suitability maps for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization may differ from one country to another. This suggests the need for context-specific factors for mapping the suitability in particular geographical areas. Tesfaye et al. (2015) and Giller et al. (2009) argue that biophysical and socio-economic factors highly influence conservation agriculture and mechanization adoption and performance. Thus, both biophysical and socio-economic are key to map the suitability of conservation agriculture and mechanization. Some smallholder farmers in Southern Africa consider conservation farming to be labourintensive (Ngoma et al., 2016) as well as associated with increased weed pressure (Marongwe et al., 2011). This highlights the need for farm mechanization among smallholder farmers. The adoption of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization are complementary and are important to increase crop productivity, for sustainable food security, and profits while reducing soil disturbance and maintaining soil cover (Liao et al., 2022, Paudel et al., 2023).However, improved mechanization among smallholder farmers requires corresponding technical support to foster sustainability.Mapping suitable areas for conservation agriculture and mechanization practices is important because it can guide where conservation agriculture can be potentially adopted (Bahri et al., 2019). It can also be useful for up-scaling and out-scaling (Tesfaye et al., 2015). Mapping the suitability of conservation agriculture and mechanization can also be used to attract more research and investment in the identified areas. Various methods and approaches have been used to map suitable areas for conservation agriculture in Africa. Chief among the methods is the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). This is because GIS allows the integration of different sources of data. GIS is also effective in capturing, storing, and analysing geographically referenced data. Tesfaye et al. (2015) used slope, soil texture, rainfall and human population, market access livestock and livestock density to map potential areas for conservation agriculture in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi using ArcGIS 10.1. Muthoni et al.(2017) used K-means clustering and geospatial analysis to delineate recommendation domains for scaling improved crop varieties and good agronomic practices in Tanzania. However, both Tesfaye et al. (2015) and Muthoni et al. (2017) used equal weight to the recommended domains and did not conduct any sensitivity analysis. Therefore, the reliability of the results can be questioned.Due to the need to consider local conditions and the complexity and diversity of factors to be considered in producing suitability maps for conservation agriculture and mechanization, multicriteria approaches are ideal (Chakraborty and Mukhopadhyay, 2019, Ouma and Tateishi, 2014, Lin et al., 2019). In particular, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one approach that has been used in various fields as a multicriteria technique with GIS. This is because of its applicability in making decisions because of its simplicity and because various domains are rated as per experts' priorities (Li et al., 2011, Ghorbanzadeh et al., 2018). Furthermore, the AHP helps to solve complex problems by comparing two factors based on their relative importance (Saaty, 2013, Feizizadeh et al., 2014). However, the mapping of suitable areas for conservation agriculture and mechanization using GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in Africa, particularly East and Southern Africa using varying weights, has not been adequately explored. This is mainly due to the many and complex domains involved in mapping the suitability of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization as well as the failure of many scholars to have stakeholders participate in the mapping process. This approach has however been used in mapping flood vulnerability (Membele et al., 2023).To identify what was required for mapping suitable areas for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in East and Southern Africa, keywords \"mapping\", OR \"suitability mapping\", OR \"adoption\", AND \"conservation agriculture\", OR \"mechanization\" AND \"Africa\" were searched in three databases namely Web of Science, Science Direct and Google Scholar. Some literature was discarded based on the title and after reading the abstract. Additional literature was also considered on account of having been cited in the literature that was considered from the three databases. Hundred (100) journal articles, book chapters and other scholarly work were reviewed and only 40 were more related to the subject. Appendix 1 shows the literature reviewed, the countries covered in the literature, the crop, element, the biophysical and socioeconomic factors conservation agriculture, and farm mechanization they highlighted and whether some maps were produced or provided.Recommended domains that appeared four times or more were compiled and then subjected to experts in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi to ensure that context-specific domains for mapping conservation agriculture and farm mechanization were selected. Twenty-two experts were purposively selected on account of their knowledge of conservation and farm mechanization in Southern Africa. Six experts were from Malawi, nine from Zambia and seven from Zimbabwe. This information was collected using a structured digital online survey.Various open-source platforms were searched for geospatial data to use in mapping the suitability of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in the three countries. Only data that was available in all three countries was used to facilitate inter-country comparisons. The data collected was resampled to a spatial resolution of 1km x 1km for the three countries. The data was also projected to a uniform coordinate reference system. Fuzzy functions in ArcGIS Pro 2.6 of 0 (low suitability) to 1 (high suitability) were used to reclassify all the spatial data layers into a common scale. The data was aggregated into a composite map in ArcGIS Pro 2.6 using weighted overlay first using equal weights and finally using varying weights generated by experts familiar with Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Then Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) in Super Decision software was used to generate the final weights through pairwise comparison. The Super Decision software version 3.2.0 was developed by Saaty (Saaty 2007(Saaty , 2013) ) and it is a free tool that can be downloaded from https://www.superdecisions.com/.From the twenty-two recommended domains that were generated from a review of the literature, experts from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe generated twenty-four recommended domains (Table 1). From the biophysical factors, the climate domain was removed from the list generated from the review of the literature and was replaced by elevation. From the socioeconomic factors, the attitude domain was removed and replaced by years of conservation agriculture application. Furthermore, population density and farming systems were added by the experts.     When considering only socioeconomic domains, we see that Zambia has more areas suitable for conservation agriculture and mechanization than Zimbabwe and Malawi (Figure 4).   2).The other influential domains included soil (22%) and rainfall (16%). Based on the weight generated in the Super Decision Software's pairwise comparison using the Analytical Hierarchical Process, a final composite map showing the suitability of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe was generated (Figure 6). The map shows that many districts in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe were suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization. Furthermore, moderately suitable areas for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization were in the northern parts of both Zambia and Malawi, and the southern tip of Zimbabwe. The results also show that Malawi has a bigger proportion of land mass with low suitability (1%) for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization (Figure 7) when compared to Zambia (Figure 8) and Zimbabwe (Figure 9). The results further reveal that a considerably bigger size (32%) of land is moderately suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Malawi. Zimbabwe has the biggest proportion of land suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization (95%) followed by Zambia (73%). At subnational level, areas highly suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization and include Lilongwe and Balaka in Malawi; Southern, Central, Eastern and Western provinces in Zambia; and Matebeleland South, North, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe.The final suitability map that was generated using varying weights was subjected to both quantitative and qualitative validation. The quantitative validation involved overlaying the geolocations of households found to be practising some elements of conservation agriculture in a multi-country survey conducted by CIMMYT and IITA in 2021. Results from an overlay of suitable areas and households practising conservation agriculture show that almost all (98%) of the households that had adopted conservation agriculture in Balaka (Malawi), Choma (Zambia)and Bubi (Zimbabwe) matched. This gives credence to the suitability mapping approaches used in the analysis and suggests that they are both internally and externally valid. Furthermore, one of the experts from Malawi indicated that the suitability map reflected what was on the ground. For instance, the northern parts of Malawi were slow at adopting conservation agriculture and low-suitability areas matched the areas that were currently being used for rice cultivation. Several scholars (Ochola et al., 2010, Roy and Blaschke, 2013, Percival and Teeuw, 2019, Membele et al., 2022) that have used multicriteria approaches in mapping flood vulnerability, conservation agriculture, and water potential have used equal weight. However, results from this study show that the use of equal weight does not give a true picture of areas that are suitable for promoting conservation agriculture and farm mechanization. This is because the equal weight approach shows a gloomy picture with small areas suitable in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. However, the suitability map based on varying weights shows a more realistic picture of suitability in the three countries. In particular, the suitability map showed that Zimbabwe had larger areas suitable for targeting conservation agriculture. Several scholars (Membele et al., 2023, Usman Kaoje et al., 2021, Tesfaye et al., 2015), have used varying weights to map different phenomena. This is because it gives accurate and context-specific results. This situation could be because of the low rainfall that has been experienced in Zimbabwe for a long time. Several scholars (Musara et al., 2022, Mamombe et al., 2016)  Although climate was found in the literature to be an important domain to consider when mapping the suitability of conservation and farm mechanization, the experts removed it as it was already represented by rainfall and temperature. Furthermore, climate was difficult to measure when compared to rainfall and temperature. Rainfall is an important domain because it determines the kinds of crops to be grown in a particular area (Tesfaye et al., 2015, Thierfelder et al., 2015). In this study, areas of low rainfall were considered to have low suitability (Thierfelder et al., 2015, Rusinamhodzi et al., 2011). Areas of higher temperature were also identified to be areas highly suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization. This is because the advent of climate change has contributed to increased temperatures across the world. For example, Erenstein (2003) argues that mulching can help reduce the impact of solar radiation and reduce soil temperature stress in warm areas. According to Kidane et al., (2019), crop yield variability was lower in areas with higher elevation. Therefore, areas with relatively high elevation were considered to have high suitability while very flat and low areas were considered to have low suitability as they can be used for other purposes. Soil with heavy texture was considered to have low suitability due to them being prone to waterlogging while sandy and loam were considered to have high suitability for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization (Rusinamhodzi, 2011). Areas with relatively steep slopes were considered to have a higher chance of adopting conservation agriculture than flat areas (Tesfaye, 2015).Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used as a proxy for biomass. This is based on Chapungu et al. ( 2020), who argue that NDVI is a better proxy for above-ground biomass.NDIV is used to measure and monitor biomass production and vegetation cover. Land use is important because growing crops on unsustainable land reduces crop production and further degrades the land (Li et al., 2017).Livestock ownership has been a big issue in Southern Africa (Li et al., 2017, Giller et al., 2011, Tufa et al., 2023). This is because two schools of thought have emerged. The first school of thought argues that since conservation agriculture is labour-intensive, having more livestock supports the adoption of conservation agriculture. The second school of thought contends that having more livestock reduces residuals which are important in conservation agriculture.Therefore, increased ownership of livestock is not suitable for conservation agriculture. The second school of thought underpinned this study. Population density and farming systems were added to the socioeconomic domains by the experts. Population density was added because areas with high population density tend not to adopt conservation agriculture and farm mechanization as two are more suitable where there is need for intensification (Notenbaert et al., 2013). On the other hand, conservation agriculture promotes sustainable intensification by using improved management practices that foster soil fertility and resilience during dry periods (Marongwe et al., 2011, Thierfelder et al., 2012). Although the farming system was found to be the most important domain in influencing the suitability of conservation agriculture in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, it was hardly used in the literature in mapping the suitability of conservation agriculture so far (Tesfaye et al., 2015, Muthonia et al., 2017, Notenbaert et al., 2013). Therefore, using experts helps to better understand the local context to have more nuanced recommended domains. Tisdell (1996) argues that farming systems are important because they influence productivity. Niles et al. (2015), further argue that the impact of climate change in a particular geographical area was partly a function of farming systems.Due to climate change, some areas that are currently considered to have moderate or low suitability for conservation agriculture may become highly suitable. This is due to the expected changes in the rainfall and temperature. Furthermore, scholars like Thierfelder et al. (2015) argue that most areas in Southern Africa are suitable for conservation agriculture. This is also why the validation of the maps showed a high accuracy level of suitability for conservation and farm mechanization in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The validation of the final suitability map is very important in any suitability mapping process. This is because it enhances legitimacy, usability, and acceptance by the public and decision-makers (Rincón et al., 2018, Mahmoody Vanolya et al., 2019).Furthermore, the use of equal weights and different weights showed a different output of the suitability of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This shows that the mapping process was robust and passed the sensitivity test.According to de Brito et al. ( 2019), sensitivity analysis is important in checking the change in weights would result in a change in the output. Sensitivity analysis was crucial in fostering transparency in the suitability mapping results (Membele et al., 2022, de Brito et al., 2019).One limitation of this study was the availability of spatial data for different recommended domains. For instance, out of the sixteen socio-economic domains that were identified by experts, only three were used in this study. This is because the data was not easily available or was not consistent in the three countries. In a spatial data-scarce environment like developing countries, the unavailability of updated and accurate spatial data can be overcome by using proxy spatial data. In this study for instance cattle ownership was used as a proxy for livestock ownership. The availability of accurate, updated and consistent spatial data is a challenge in most developing countries (Kienberger, 2012, Hoque et al., 2019). There is, therefore, a need for developing countries to start working together to ensure that more updated and consistent spatial data is available on open-source platforms as this would increase the usability of spatial data in supporting planning and decision making.The need to better target development interventions has been recognized for a long time, however, interventions proceed without ex-ante guidance. This paper used a geographical information system-based multicriteria decision analysis using the analytical hierarchical process to map areas most suitable for conservation agriculture and mechanization in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The analytical hierarchical process is suitable for this purpose because of its ability to deal with complex decision problems. In particular, the involvement of the experts in generating recommended domains and assigning varying weights provided a more context-specific picture of suitable areas for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in the three countries. The analysis included biophysical (soil, rainfall, temperature, slope, elevation, land use and biomass) and socioeconomic (population density, farming system and livestock ownership) recommended domains. The Super Decision software 3.2.0 was used to generate the final weights through pairwise comparison. ArcGIS Pro 2.6 through fuzzy functions was used to standardise and generate the maps.Results suggest that farming system and the nature of the soil in the three countries were very significant in influencing the final suitability maps. This is because they highly influence the type of crops that can be grown and the potential for mechanization. Further, we found that both conservation agriculture and farm mechanization are suitable in over 95% of the area in Zimbabwe, 73% in Zambia and 67% in Malawi at national level. In Malawi, however, we found that at least 1% of the land area has low suitability for both conservation agriculture and mechanization. This is the largest proportion of land with low suitability among the three countries. There are regional differences with Lilongwe and Balaka in Malawi; Southern, Central, Eastern and Western provinces in Zambia; and Matebeleland South and North, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe being the most suitable for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization.Thus, suitable areas for conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are larger than previously thought. This means that there is a need for up-scaling and out-scaling programmes to encourage more farmers to adopt conservation agriculture in the three countries. With the advent of climate change, even areas that were depicted to have moderate suitability will become highly suitable for targeting conservation agriculture. After validation, the suitability map based on varying weights showed higher levels of reliability.Thus, assigning different weights to the recommended domains resulted in context-specific suitability maps as opposed to using equal weighting. It also showed that the mapping process was robust. As such, the suitability maps generated from this study can be used for targeting conservation agriculture and farm mechanization by stakeholders and decision-makers in the three countries.","tokenCount":"3477"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2390438092.json b/data/part_1/2390438092.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..860995ca97cbda76eb85926e37aa7688d596d124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2390438092.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79f19353972cec6b697ea6281d1e2b8d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/638b5c2b-f82c-424e-b740-988fb063c46b/retrieve","id":"-384550454"},"keywords":["sweetpotato","synergism","begomovirus","sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus","RNase3"],"sieverID":"a87de164-d4b4-4b61-a757-0d4f0c1cfc85","pagecount":"39","content":"Three hundred ninety four sweetpotato accessions from Latin America and East Africa were screened by PCR for presence of begomoviruses and forty six were found positive.All were symptomless in sweetpotato and generated leaf-curling and/or chlorosis in Ipomoea setosa. The five most divergent isolates, based on complete genome sequences, were used to study interactions with sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV), known to cause synergistic diseases with other viruses. Co-infections led to increased titres of begomoviruses and decreased titres of SPCSV in all cases, although the extent of the changes varied notably between begomovirus isolates. Symptoms of leaf curling only developed temporary in combination with isolate StV1 and coincided with presence of highest begomovirus concentrations in the plant. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) sequence analysis revealed co-infection of SPCSV with isolate StV1 lead to relatively increased siRNA targeting of central part of the SPCSV genome and a reduction in targeting of the genomic ends, but no changes to targeting of StV1 as compared to single infection of either virus. These changes were not observed in the interaction between SPCSV and the RNA virus sweet potato feathery mottle virus (genus Potyvirus), implying specific effects of begomoviruses on RNA silencing of SPCSV in dually infected plants. Infection in RNase3 expressing transgenic plants showed this protein was sufficient to mediate this synergistic interaction with DNA viruses, similar to RNA viruses, but exposed distinct effects on RNA silencing when RNase3 is expressed from its native virus, or constitutively from a transgene, despite a similar pathogenic outcome.Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) is a perennial plant and the sixth most important crop which the world depends on for their food security (FAO, 2013). Because sweetpotato is vegetatively propagated by taking cuttings from a previous crop (directly or from sprouted tubers), build-up of virus infections over generations is a major constraint and contributes to severe losses and cultivar decline (Clark et al., 2012). More than 30 viruses have been reported to infect sweetpotato and half of them are recently described DNA viruses belonging to the families Geminiviridae and Caulimoviridae (Clark et al., 2012). Geminiviruses (family Geminiviridae) are plant viruses that have a circular, single-stranded DNA genome encapsidated within twinned isometric particles (Fauquet & Stanley, 2003). They are grouped into four genera based on insect vector, host range, and genome organization (Fauquet & Stanley, 2003). Members of the genus Begomovirus are transmitted by whiteflies, have single or bipartite component genomes, and infect dicotyledonous plants. Within the genus Begomovirus the sweetpotato infecting viruses are monopartite but are distinct from other monopartite begomoviruses, forming a phylogenetically unique lineage, and are referred to as sweepoviruses as a group (Fauquet & Stanley, 2003, Wasswa et al., 2011, Esterhuizen et al., 2012, Albuquerque et al., 2012). Sweepovirus taxonomy is complex and the currently sequenced sweepoviruses have been suggested to correspond to up to 17 different species based on nt sequence identities (Albuquerque et al., 2012). However the occurrence of frequent recombinants and the lack of any complementing biological differences between suggested species currently render these classifications of little practical use and in this paper we will refer to them simply as sweepoviruses.Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Despite the lack of obvious symptoms associated with sweepovirus infections, yield reduction of between 10-80% have been reported in infected sweetpotato plants (Clark & Hoy, 2006, Ling et al., 2010). Since they can occur at relatively high incidences in crops they may thus be responsible for considerable crop loss on a global scale.Studies with several other sweetpotato infecting viruses have shown that most of them can cause severe synergistic disease complexes when co infected with sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV; species: Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus, Genus Crinivirus, family Closteroviridae) leading to increased yield losses. These include RNA viruses of the genera Potyvirus, Ipomovirus, Carlavirus and Cucumovirus as well as otherwise symptomless DNA viruses of the genera Cavemovirus and Solendovirus (Karyeija et al., 2000, Cuellar et al., 2011b, Mukasa et al., 2006, Untiveros et al., 2007).The best studied of these synergistic diseases is the one between SPCSV and sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV; species: Sweet potato feathery mottle virus, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) and has been shown to be mediated by the SPCSV encoded RNase3 protein, which can also mediate synergistic disease with two other unrelated RNA viruses (Cuellar et al., 2009). RNase3 is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-specific class 1 RNA endoribonuclease III that can digest long as well as short dsRNA and functions as an RNA silencing suppressor (RSS) (Cuellar et al., 2009, Weinheimer et al., 2014). RNase3 catalytic activity is required for its RSS activity (Cuellar et al., 2009), implicating RNA cleavage in the process of RSS suppression as well as synergistic disease induction. Whereas the exact mechanism of RNase3 action has not yet been elucidated it is clear that it is able to mediate increased susceptibility of sweetpotato to a wide range of viruses (Cuellar et al., 2009).Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Synergism between SPCSV and sweepoviruses has however not yet been reported. Wasswa et al. (2011) reported that a Ugandan sweepovirus isolate was not obviously synergized by co-infection with SPCSV, however our own observations with our reference isolate StV1 seemed to indicate this is not the case for all strains. Therefore, in the current study we screened a selection of sweetpotato germplasm for presence and variability of sweepoviruses and selected the six most diverse isolates for complete sequencing and co-infection experiments with SPCSV to determine if synergism with SPCSV is a general phenomenon for sweepoviruses as it is with other viruses. siRNA profiles in single and mixed infections were also determined with reference isolate StV1 and compared to those of the well-studied interaction between SPCSV and SPFMV.During standard virus indexing of germplasm material at CIP generally between 10-20% of samples are found infected with begomoviruses (data not shown). We took advantage of one of the batches of Latin American sweetpotato accessions (329 genotypes; Table S1) going through virus indexing to characterize the amplified begomovirus nucleotide (nt) sequences identified in 39 accessions. In addition we screened by PCR a collection of 65 (symptomless; Table S1) sweetpotato plants collected in East Africa, of which seven were found positive for begomoviruses. Symptomatology was recorded among the sweetpotato accessions from the Americas in the indicator plant Ipomoea setosa. No large variation in symptoms was observed among plants infected with begomovirus, but Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. they could be broadly characterized into three categories: typical upwards leaf curling, chlorosis, or both were observed in indicator plants with all isolates that were positive to sweepoviruses by PCR (Table 1); in several cases plants were co-infected by other viruses, nevertheless, the infected sweetpotato plants themselves were all symptomless.None of the samples used in this work were found co-infected with SPCSV.The sequences of the PCR fragment obtained using the universal sweepovirus primers SPG1 and SPG2 (Li et al., 2004) of forty six isolates identified in this study were determined and compared to those available in the GenBank by PASC and phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis using our sequences and others available in the genebank showed that the isolates sequenced in this study spanned the variability found in sweepoviruses except for the cluster corresponding to Ipomoea yellow vein virus and Sweet potato leaf curl canary virus (data not shown).The complete genomes of the most divergent sweepovirus based on the analysis of partial sequences described above, and found free of any other virus detectable by index grafting to I.setosa, were selected for complete genome sequencing together with our reference isolate. These were isolates StV1 (Saint Vincent), Mex31 (Mexico), Cub5 (Cuba), Jam12 (Jamaica), Per6 and Per10 (Peru). These isolates were then also used in double infection studies with SPCSV-m2-47 as described below. Complete genome comparison confirmed that all six viruses were quite different from each other with <89% nt identity over their genome except for Jam12 and Cub5 (91.7%) and StV1 and Per10 (93.1%). Isolates StV1, Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Per-6 and Per-10 are most similar to the ICTV approved species Sweet potato leaf curl virus (93, 93 and 98% identity to type isolate respectively), whereas Jam-12 and Cub-5 are most similar to Sweet potato leaf curl Georgia virus (91 and 95% similarity to type isolated respectively) and Mex-31 is most similar to Sweet potato leaf curl South Carolina virus (93% identity to type isolate). Alignment and phylogenetic analysis using 108 complete sweepovirus genome sequences available from the genebank confirmed the sequenced isolates were positioned well distributed among the known sweepovirus variability (Fig. 1). All sequences were deposited in the GenBank database (see Table 1 for Genbank accession numbers)Sweepovirus isolates StV1, Mex31, Cub5, Jam12, Per6 and Per10 were used as inoculum for synergistic interaction studies in sweetpotato cultivar 'Huachano'. Co-infection with SPCSV led to symptoms of upward leaf curling transiently around 3-4 weeks post inoculation only in case of the isolate StV1. This was repeated when plants were cut back and symptoms occurred again in the re-growth after about 3-4 weeks. None of the other five isolates caused any visible symptoms at any time-point. No increase in the severity of SPCSV symptoms was observed (i.e. purpling/yellowing of older leaves or stunting) in combination with any of the sweepovirus isolates. Signal intensity analysis of DNA dotblot hybridization (Fig. S1) from plants infected with the six sweepovirus isolates showed a significantly higher accumulation of the viruses in plants co-infected with SPCSV (Fig. 2) in all cases except isolate Cub5 for which the difference was not significant (p<0.05).Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. the different isolates, but could be generally divided into three categories. Hybridization signals of isolates StV1 and Mex31 were significantly different from the remaining isolates and showed the overall highest virus titres and a distinct titre development: sweepovirus titres initially increased much faster in mixed infected plants than singly infected plants during the first three weeks, reaching a peak between 4 to 5 weeks post inoculation and another peak at 10 weeks post inoculation. On the other hand, isolates Per6 and Per10 co-infected with SPCSV showed an increase in titres during the first 6 weeks (primary infection) as compared to singly infected plants and after cutting back at 6 weeks the re-grown sweetpotato plants (secondary infection) reached a peak in titers after one week, followed by a reduction. Finally isolate Cub5 and Jam12, although significantly different from each other, showed much lower titres and smaller differences between single and mixed infected plants during primary infection, whereas difference in secondary infection were more pronounced, especially in Jam12. In general the severity of symptoms caused in the indicator plant I.setosa correlated positively the titres determined in sweetpotato, with StV1 and Mex31 showing the most rapidly developing and severe symptoms in I.setosa and Cub5 the mildest symptoms. Isolate StV1 showed the strongest signals of all isolates tested and except for the first week showed the biggest differences in titer between singly and doubly infected plants throughout the experiment.It was also the only isolate to induce symptoms typical of begomovirus infection, upward leaf curling (Fig. 3a), although this only happened transiently during the 3 rd and 4 th week after infection and again 4 weeks after cutting back the plants. This happened in all plants co-infected with SPCSV and coincided with the time of maximum virus accumulation in the plants (Fig. 2).Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Whereas the dot-blot indicated increased titres of sweepoviruses in dual infections, qRT-PCR analysis of the SPCSV Hsp70 gene region (RNA2) in the same plants, indicated that average SPCSV RNA titres were significantly reduced (p<0.01) compared to those in SPCSV single infection in all combinations (Fig. 2, Table S2) and this was confirmed by TAS-ELISA tests (detecting the coat protein) with the isolate StV1 where a decrease in SPCSV antigen was observed (data not shown).To test if the observed increases in sweepovirus titres could be mediated by RNase3 alone as has been shown for RNA viruses, transgenic plants expressing RNase3 (Cuellar et al., 2009) were inoculated with StV1. The infected plants developed typical leaf-curl symptoms in the same temporary fashion as seen for non-transgenic plants co-inoculated with SPCSV and StV1 and a similar increase in virus titres (Fig. 3 corresponding to each virus as well as the regions to which they mapped, particularly in the case of SPCSV (Fig. 4-5 & S5). The relative number of siRNA reads corresponding to SPCSV increased by more than threefold from 7,500/million reads to 23,708/million reads, with most of the increase corresponding to RNA1 (Fig. 4). Relative amounts of begomovirus specific siRNA did not change, beyond the variation found between individual samples of the same treatment (+/-0.1%), in double infected plants as compared to singly infected plants (1.1 fold; from 82032 to 90275/million reads). StV1 specific siRNAs also mapped to similar positions in the genome, and no obvious differences could be observed (Fig. 5a). This was in stark contrast to the mapping of reads to the SPCSV genome, where a dramatic change could be observed in the relative amounts and positions to which the siRNAs mapped on the genome (Fig. 5b). This was characterized by a several fold increase in siRNAs corresponding to SPCSV (Fig. 4), a reduction in 21nt siRNA (reduced from 37% to 15.8% of all siRNAs corresponding to SPCSV) and corresponding increase in 22 and 23nt siRNA (increased from 39.6% to 47.1% and 12.8% to 26.5% respectively, of all siRNAs corresponding to SPCSV), as well as a near disappearance of siRNAs matching to the 5' regions of SPCSV (Fig. 5b) in plants co-infected with isolate StV1 as relative to single SPCSV infection. To determine if the effect of change in siRNA mapping to SPCSV was specific to the synergism between SPCSV and StV1 or a general response found in synergistic interactions with other viruses, we sequenced siRNAs from plants infected with SPCSV and SPFMV. No reduction in the mapping of siRNAs to the 5' region was observed in these plants (Fig. 5b), nor was there a change in the total amount of siRNAs corresponding to SPCSV (Fig.Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.When comparing distribution of StV1 specific siRNAs between StV1 and SPCSV coinfected plants and StV1 infected RNase3-expressing plants on the other hand a surprising difference could be noted, in that a several-fold reduction in 21 and 22 nt siRNAs could be observed in RNase3 expressing plants as compared to SPCSV coinfected plants and also StV1 singly infected plants (Fig. 5b).Until the beginning of this century, most surveys of sweetpotato viruses did not mention begomoviruses (Valverde et al., 2007). Nevertheless closely related begomoviruses have now been reported from all over the world including North America (Lotrakul et al., 2002, Lotrakul et al., 1998, Lotrakul, 2003), the Mediterranean (Lozano et al., 2009, Cohen et al., 1997, Banks et al., 1999, Briddon et al., 2006), Asia (Luan et al., 2007, Onuki et al., 2000, Bi & Zhang, 2012), South America (Fuentes & Salazar, 2003, Rodríguez-Pardina et al., 2012, Albuquerque et al., 2012, Paprotka et al., 2010) and Africa (Miano et al., 2006, Wasswa et al., 2011). Our report corroborates the common occurrence of sweepoviruses and reveals clear synergistic interactions of sweetpotato begomoviruses with SPCSV, another widely distributed virus and mediator of several synergistic interactions (Cuellar et al., 2011b, Karyeija et al., 2000, Untiveros et al., 2007, Mukasa et al., 2006).Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Few reports exist on synergistic interactions between RNA and DNA viruses. We previously showed that SPCSV can interact with members of the Caulimoviridae family of reverse transcribing viruses (Cuellar et al., 2011b), and here we show that this is also the case for sweepoviruses. However, our data also show that the extent of this synergism varies considerably between different sweepovirus isolates and that, in the majority of cases, it was not associated with clear symptoms. This observation may explain why such interactions have not been noticed before. Still, the fact that 5 out of 6 diverse viruses tested showed clear and significant increase in titers in co-infection with SPCSV indicates that this may be a common phenomenon among sweepoviruses. As has been shown for other synergistic interactions with SPCSV (Cuellar et al., 2011b, Mukasa et al., 2006, Cuellar et al., 2008) we also found that an increase in titre of the synergized virus is associated with a corresponding decrease in titre of SPCSV compared to single infection (Fig. 2). It is not yet clear why SPCSV titres are reduced in synergistic interactions, but it may simply be a result of competition for limited resources of the two co-infecting viruses in infected cells, where the association is favoring one over the other.Nevertheless, when we analyzed siRNA targeting of SPCSV in single as compared to dual infection with sweepovirus isolate StV1 we were able to detect a striking difference in the relative amount and distribution of siRNA reads. Total siRNAs corresponding to SPCSV increased several fold (Fig. 4), and 22 and 23nt siRNA increased relatively as compared to 21nt siRNA , whereas siRNAs matching to the 5' regions of SPCSV nearly disappeared (Fig. 5b) in plants co-infected with isolate StV1 relative to single SPCSV infection. This effect was apparently specific to the interaction of SPCSV with StV1, as Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. similar changes were not observed in the interaction between SPCSV and SPFMV (Fig. 4 and 5b).The specific changes in distribution and relative quantity of SPCSV specific siRNAs as a result of co-infection with StV1 suggests a modified and increased targeting of SPCSV by the plants RNA silencing system. A plausible explanation is that this is the result of interference by StV1 with the hosts RNA silencing machinery. Although this may seem counterintuitive, it has become clear in recent years that different branches of the RNA silencing system in plants compete with each other for access to cellular machinery (Jauvion et al., 2012). RSS suppression by sweepoviruses is more likely to affect pathways, inhibiting replication of DNA viruses in the nucleus, and this may not necessarily benefit, or even be detrimental to, replicating RNA viruses in the cytoplasm.Two RNA viruses with similar replication strategies on the other hand are less likely to compromise each-others silencing suppression. This alone may explain why similar changes are not seen in the interaction between SPCSV and SPFMV as compared to the interaction between SPCSV and SvT1. Also, although the tissue tropism of sweepoviruses has not yet been determined, many begomoviruses are phloem limited, similar to SPCSV, and if this is the case also for sweepoviruses the effects the two viruses may have on each other's replication may be expected to be more evident than in the case where tissue tropism is distinct such as SPFMV and SPCSV (Karyeija et al., 2000).Although RNA silencing suppressors (RSS) have not yet been reported for sweepoviruses, a number of studies have reported up to three RSS proteins encoded by single and Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. multipartite begomoviruses, including the (homologs of) V2, C2 and C4 proteins (Amin et al., 2011, Chellappan et al., 2005, Vanitharani et al., 2004, Buchmann et al., 2009, Zrachya et al., 2007, Zhang et al., 2011). These RSS have been found to suppress silencing both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, but not all homologous proteins from different viruses have RSS activity or necessarily function in similar ways (Raja et al., 2010, Amin et al., 2011). Thus although it can be expected that sweepoviruses encode RSS proteins, it is not possible to deduce which they will be or how they will function based on knowledge from other begomoviruses. On the other hand we can use our observations regarding relative changes in siRNA distributions to speculate which components of the RNA silencing machinery might be affected. The phenotype of reduced siRNA targeting of the 5' region and increased targeting towards the 3' of SPCSV is reminiscent to that found in CMV infected RDR1 defective Arabidopsis (Wang et al., 2010). This may indicate that StV1 interferes with RDR1 function. RDR proteins could be expected to fulfill an important role in antiviral silencing against geminiviruses, since they do not normally produce dsRNA. Nevertheless one must be careful to extrapolate conclusions from the one specific model system to sweetpotato because marked differences have been found between different geminivirus host combinations (Akbergenov et al., 2006, Rodríguez-Negrete et al., 2009, Miozzi et al., 2013).Previously we demonstrate that RSS encoded by SPCSV (RNase3) is responsible for the enhanced accumulation of co-infecting RNA viruses in synergistic interactions mediated by SPCSV (Cuellar et al., 2009). Although the exact mechanism of RNase3 function is Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. not fully elucidated its dsRNase activity is essential for silencing suppression as well as enhanced accumulation of viruses in transgenic plants (Cuellar et al., 2009, Kreuze et al., 2005). RNase3 has little substrate specificity in vitro, processing both long and short dsRNA including siRNAs and pre-miRNAs (Cuellar et al., 2009, Kreuze et al., 2005, Weinheimer et al., 2014). Nevertheless, its target in plants must be specific, since transgenic plants are phenotypically completely normal except for their extreme susceptibility to viruses (Cuellar et al., 2009). We hypothesize that the same mechanism is involved in SPCSV synergisms with RNA and DNA viruses. Indeed infection of RNase3 transgenic sweetpotato plants with StV1 (Fig. 3) as well as SPCV and SPVCV (Fig. S2) provoked characteristic symptoms as seen in plants co-infected with SPCSV. Surprisingly however siRNA distribution patterns of StV1 were perceptibly different in plants constitutively expressing RNase3 as compared to those from plants co-infected with SPCSV, in that 21 and 22 nt siRNAs were strongly reduced in RNase3 plants. This suggests that despite the biologically similar outcomes of enhanced StV1 viral titres and symptom induction, clear differences occur in how RNA silencing is affected in either situation. We offer two possible explanations for this discrepancy: i) constitutive overexpression of RNase3 in all plant cells results in a distinct effect of RNase3 on the silencing pathway as compared to phloem specific expression, or ii) RNase3 function is modulated by other SPCSV encoded proteins to limit its effect to certain sites in the silencing pathway. It is intriguing that in spite of its constitutive expression in all plant cells, RNase3 will not cause visible collateral effects on sweetpotato. Future analysis of siRNA sequences in RNase3 plants infected with different types of viruses may shed Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. more light on the exact target and mechanism of RNase3 provoked susceptibility to viruses.Although we did not analyze the potential effect on yield of the different virus combinations in the current study, the strong increase in sweepovirus titres found in some interactions suggests that yield impacts could be expected and this should be a priority for future studies. Indeed, other studies have already shown significant impacts of sweepovirus infection on yield of sweetpotato, despite being largely symptomless (Ling et al., 2010, Clark & Hoy, 2006). In addition, increases in sweepovirus titres in plant tissues could lead to an increased rate of transmission of the virus by its vector contributing to more rapid virus spread.The 39 begomovirus isolates described in this study (Table 1 &  vitro, where they were maintained as part of CIPs global sweetpotato collection. Samples acquired from other sources were obtained as in-vitro, vine cuttings or roots and in the latter cases established and introduced to in-vitro as described for the CIP collected materials. An additional 7 virus isolates were identified by PCR screening from 65 sweetpotato genotypes collected from different regions of East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania) and originally maintained under field conditions for breeding purposes and subsequently transferred to in vitro for transfer to CIPs sweetpotato collection at CIP-Lima. Metadata of the accessions in which sweepoviruses were identified are provided in supplementary Table S1. For synergism experiments SPCSV isolate m2-47, lacking the p22 gene (Cuellar et al., 2011a, Cuellar et al., 2008) and maintained in I. setosa was used.The SPCV and SPVCV isolates used are described in Cuellar et al. (2011b).The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines isolate (StV1) was isolated from sweetpotato accession CIP400025. The accession has been tested for 10 viruses by ELISA, and grafting onto I. setosa. To amplify begomovirus specific fragments from different sweetpotato accessions (Table 1) a simple and quick method of DNA extraction using sodium hydroxide was used to prepare template DNA for PCR (Wang et al., 1993).Shoots were collected from in vitro plantlets and homogenized in 0.5M NaOH buffer in ratio of 1/5 (tissue: Buffer). The samples were centrifuged at 12000 g for 10 min to spin down the debris. After a spin down samples were diluted 100 times with Tris-HCl 100mM (pH8) and 1 ul of leaf extract was used directly for PCR in a 25ul reaction using the 2X phusion polymerase readymade master mix (Finnzymes, Finland) and Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. sweepovirus specific primers SPG1: 5′-CCC CKG TGC GWR AAT CCA T-3′ and SPG2: 5′-ATC CVA AYW TYC AGG GAG CTA A-3′ (Li et al., 2004), designed to amplify a 901 bp region encompassing partial AC1 and AC2 ORFs.For cloning of the selected begomovirus genomes total DNA was extracted using a modified CTAB protocol (see below) followed by separation of small molecular weight DNA using a plasmid isolation protocol (Alkaline lysis) and the Wizard miniprep kit (PROMEGA, USA). The quality and amount of DNA was checked by agarose gel electrophoresis and by espectrophotometry using a nanodrop analyzer (ND-1000, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA), respectively. In the case of isolates Per10 and Jam12, 5 ug of small molecular weight DNA was used for amplification of circular DNA using Phi29 polymerase (New England Biolabs, USA) reaction with a 5X excess of random hexamer primers according to the manufacturer's instructions. The amplified DNA was then linearized using SmaI for Per10 and StuI for Jam12, resulting in the expected 2.7kb fragment. Isolate Per6, Mex31, Cub5 and StV1 were amplified by inverse PCR using a set of degenerate primers designed based on previously amplified and sequenced region (Bego-F: 5' CTG RCC TCC TCT AGC AGA TCK CC -3'; Bego-R: 5'-GAR CCT GCK CCT GGA TTG CAG AGR -3') resulting in the expected 2.3kb fragment.The PCR and digested Phi29 amplified products were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis and then excised and purified using a gel extraction kit (Promega-WI-Madison). The fragments were cloned into pGEM-T easy vector (Promega).Transformation of E.coli DH5α was done by heat shock at 42 o C for 90seconds. Using blue white screening putative transformants were screened and confirmed by restriction analysis using EcoRI enzyme prior to sequencing. The samples were then prepared for Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. sequencing (Macrogen, Korea) using SP6 and T7 primers and a set of specifically designed internal primers.Sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis were performed using MEGA5.1 (Tamura et al., 2011). Alignments were performed using Muscle and phylogenetic trees were generated after calculating the best fitting model: Maximum-Likelihood method with the General time-reversible model using Gamma distributed rates (with 5 discrete gamma categories) with invariant sites.Sweetpotato cultivar 'Huachano' (accession CIP420065) obtained from the germplasm collection of the International Potato Center (CIP) was used as a rootstock for graft inoculation of isolates StV1, Per-6, Per-10, Jam-12, Cub-5 and Mex-31 with or without SPCSV. SPCSV isolate m2-47 (Untiveros et al., 2007) was maintained in sweetpotato cv.Huachano through cuttings, and all sweepovirus isolates were maintained in I. setosa plants by serial grafting. Nodes from the middle part of virus-infected source plants were used as scions to graft inoculate sweetpotato. Four weeks old cuttings of sweetpotato cv \"Huachano\" were side grafted in the middle of the plant with SPCSV or healthy sweetpotato scions. Two weeks later, two nodes above the initial graft, plants were grafted with healthy or sweepovirus infected I.setosa scions, thus generating plants infected with SPCSV alone, SPCSV plus sweepovirus, sweepovirus alone, and mock inoculated. Three plants per treatment were inoculated and formation of graft union confirmed. Plants were cut back below the graft unions 6 weeks after the last graft inoculation and left to re-grow for 4 more weeks. Development of symptoms was Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. recorded every week after inoculation and total nucleic acid was extracted (see below for methods) from 10 mm leaf disks from a combination of three leaves collected from the apex, middle and bottom part of each plant at 1 to 10 weeks post inoculation for dot-blot detection of begomovirus and quantitative real-time RT-PCR detection of SPCSV. Leaf samples were stored at -20°C. Triple antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (TAS-ELISA) for SPCSV were carried out as described previously (Karyeija et al., 2000), 4-weeks after cutting back infected plants, only on plants with single SPCSV infection and mixed infection of SPCSV and isolate StV1. In a separate experiment three replicates of the RNase3 transgenic sweetpotato 'Huachano' event R3 (Cuellar et al., 2009) and three non-transgenic events were also infected with StV1 and tested by DNA dot blot together with non-transgenic plants infected with SPCSV and StV1 four weeks after cutting back infected plants.For detection by Dot-blot hybridization, total DNA was purified using the CTAB method (Doyle & Doyle, 1987). Frozen leaf tissues (250 mg) were processed immediately by grinding in 2 ml of CTAB buffer (2% CTAB 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH8.0, 20mM EDTA, 1.4M NaCl, 1.0% Na sulphite and 2.0% PVP-40) using polypropylene sack. The homogenate was centrifuged at 10,000 × g for 10 min and the supernatant (750 µl) was transferred to a 1.5-ml microcentrifuge tube and mixed with an equal volume of chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (24:1). The mixture was centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 10 min and the aqueous phase (500 µl) was transferred to a new 1.5-ml microcentrifuge tube before mixing in 550 µl of isopropanol. The mixture was incubated on ice for 10 min and Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 10 min at 4°C. The pellet was washed with 70% ethanol, centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 5 min, air dried and dissolved in 100 µl of NFW. 5 ug of total DNA in a total volume of 200 ul were used for hybridization. Standards of 125, 50 and 25 ng of plasmid DNA containing the region corresponding to the probe used were also added in duplicate to each membrane tested, to normalize and quantify results.Dioxygenin-labeled probes encompassing the Rep gene region (AC1) of StV1 were synthesized by PCR using primers SPG1 and SPG2 (Li et al., 2004), Taq polymerase (Promega) and Dioxygenin-labeled deoxynucleotides (Roche, UK). Total DNA from infected plants were transferred to a nylon membrane (Hybond-N; Amersham Biosciences AB) using Bio-Dot SF Cell (BIO-RAD), cross-linked by UV-irradiation (50mJ) in a cross-linking oven (Stratagene), prehybridized for 90 min at 65°C in 0.02% SDS, 5X SSC (750 mM NaCl, 75mM sodium citrate), 50% formamide, 2% (w v -1 ) Nlauroylsarcosine and then hybridized in the same solution at 65°C for the 16h after adding the DIG-labeled probe. After hybridization, membranes were washed twice in 2X SSC and 1% SDS at room temperature for 15 min, incubated for 30 min with anti-DIG antibodies conjugated with alkaline phosphatase, and washed twice with maleate buffer with 0.3% Tween-20. The reaction was developed using CSPD chemiluminescent substrate (Roche) and Omat-S film (Kodak). Signal intensities of the hybridized spots was measured from developed films using the Gel Doc equipment in conjunction with the Quantity One software (Biorad) under white light. Signal intensity was determined using volume circle tool, ensuring circles were all the same size and covered each spot exactly, with global background subtraction and avoiding overexposed pixels. The concentration of viral DNA inside each circle was then determined using a regression curve based on Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. the volumes of the plasmid standards within each membrane using the Volume Analysis Report and Volume Regression Curve within Quantity One. The estimated viral concentrations (in ng) were then used for statistical analysis using the SAS statistical package. Membranes were stripped and hybridized using rDNA specific probes (amplified using primers Ribosomal F: 5'-ACA GCA GAA CGA CCA GAG AAC GC -3', and Ribosomal R: 5'-GCA CGC TAG GTA CGA CCA CCA CT -3') to confirm equal loading of DNA between samples. First a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance was performed revealing highly significant (<0.0001) probability of interactions between timepoint, isolate and treatment. Subsequently an analysis of variance was performed for each time point to determine the effect of treatments and isolates at each timepoint. A full analysis of variance considering time and isolate as factors was also performed to determine the global effect of single vs. dual infection for each isolate.The same samples described for dot-blot hybridizations above were used to extract RNA using the CTAB method described previously, but modified to precipitate total RNA by adding an equal volume of 4M LiCl rather than isopropanol, and overnight incubation at 4°C followed by centrifugation at 10,000 × g for 20 min. The pellet was washed with 70% ethanol as described above and re-dissolved in 100 µl of NFW.A TaqMan real-time RT-PCR assay was then used for detecting SPCSV. One-step realtime RT-PCR assays were performed using the TaqMan Universal PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) in a 25-µl final reaction volume containing 2U of MMLV, 300 nM of each primer, 100 nM of the probe, and 2 µl of template RNA. The Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.following thermal cycling conditions were used: 42°C for 30 min (cDNA synthesis), 95°C for 10 min, followed by 40 cycles of denaturation at 95°C for 15 s and annealing/extension at 60°C for 1 min. Primers and probe for SPCSV were SPCSV-Uni-E-F(5'-CGG AGT TTA TTC CCA CYT GTY T-3') and SPCSV-Uni-E-R (5'-GGG CAG CCY CAC CAA-3') and probe SPCSV-Uni-E-P (5'-[FAM]-TCT GTC ACG GCT ACA GGC GAC GTG-[TAMRA]-3'), corresponding to the Hsp70h region on RNA2.Cytochrome oxidase (COX) was used as internal reference gene using the primers COX-F (5'-CGT CGC ATT CCA GAT TAT CCA-3'), COX-R (5'-CAA CTA CGG ATA TAT AAG AGC CAA AAC TG-3' and probe COX-P: 5'-[VIC]-TGC TTA CGC TGG ATG GAA TGC CCT-[TAMRA]-3'.Results were analyzed with MxPro QPCR Software and Statistical differences between single and mixed infections were determined for each timepoint/virus combination as well as each virus combination over all time-points using the Relative Expression Software Tool (REST) v2.0.12 (QIAGEN GmbH, Germany).Total RNAs were extracted from three leaves each of healthy, SPCSV infected, StV1 infected, SPCSV+StV1 infected, SPFMV infected and SPCSV+SPFMV infected 'Huachano' plants, as well as StV1 infected RNase3 transgenic 'Huachano' plants (Cuellar et al., 2009) at several months after inoculations using TRIZOL reagent. siRNAs were purified from 4% agarose gel and sent for library preparation and Illumina sequencing (Provider: Fasteris Life Sciences SA, Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland).Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Reads were mapped to the corresponding genomes using the MAQ software, and results were visualized using a custom script (Fuentes et al., 2012) and Microsoft Excel (barcharts). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. transgenic plants infected with StV1, b) wild-type plants singly and dually infected with SPFMV and SPCSV, or c) non-infected wild-type plants. Vertical axis shows total number of small RNA reads, and horizontal axis indicates size class of siRNA, and the exact numbers are tabulated below the graph including the sums and grand total.      ","tokenCount":"5928"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2391355347.json b/data/part_1/2391355347.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcbb81002aa668a536e04c16a57b4ad2430936dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2391355347.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e559b01aa923c0ed7e0aa5327a3d620c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/SCE_2023-04.pdf","id":"1986199446"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5b1bdab1-9eb5-4e2e-9889-25d9c4bcf861","pagecount":"40","content":"The authors would like to express our gratitude to Temasek Foundation (TF) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) for providing funding for this research. Our thanks go out to CIFOR-ICRAF, the University of Riau's Centre for Disaster Studies (PSB UNRI), Sedagho Siak, and other key research partners and institutions for all their collaboration, work and support. We would also like to thank the village governments, farmer groups, fire care community (MPA) groups and family welfare empowerment (PKK) groups in Penyengat and Kayu Ara Permai villages for all their help and cooperation.The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has been working with communities at the site level in Riau to ascertain the economic, social and political dynamics contributing to forest and land fires in the province, and determine their imaplications. During 2022 and 2023, with support from Temasek Foundation (TF) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), CIFOR is conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) with partners including the University of Riau (UNRI) and Sedagho Siak by working together with village governments, farmer groups, fire care community groups (MPAs) and family welfare empowerment groups (PKKs) in the villages of Penyengat and Kayu Ara Permai.The Community-Based Peatland Restoration Monitoring System (CO-PROMISE), originally developed in response to the need for a robust but viable means for monitoring peatland restoration efforts, combined participatory measurement, science and technology, and demonstrated the value of community-based observations in monitoring conditions in peatlands. The system provided an alternative for broadening existing monitoring coverage areas. Initially, CO-PROMISE was designed specifically for use in monitoring restoration activities in peatlands. However, due to the need for a community-based restoration monitoring tool that could cover not only peatlands, but other areas as well; and the need to mainstream the use of such a system for different ecosystems, CO-PROMISE was reworked to become the CIFOR-ICRAF flagship product known as the Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS). This guide was developed to provide an overview of, and step-by-step guidelines to using CBRMS as a means for involving local communities in monitoring the impacts of peatland restoration activities. It was prepared under the Scaling-up Community Based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration project supported by Temasek Foundation. It is intended for use mainly by villagers involved in monitoring groundwater level, soil temperature and plant growth variables in peatland restoration projects. Other potential users are community groups, smallholder farmers and field technicians.The authors 1 IntroductionTropical peatlands in Indonesia cover about 13.5 to 21 Mha area in several islands of Indonesia (Anda et al., 2021;Murdiyarso et al., 2010). Intact peat swamp forest in main Sumatera and Kalimantan islands of Indonesia is less than 7% of all peatland areas (Figure 1) (Miettinen et al., 2016). where about more than 90% had been degraded and covered by secondary forests, plantation forests, agriculture and shrubs Indonesian government has been enforcing peatland restoration to reduce emission from degraded peatland through rewetting and revegetation activities, and targets to reach 2 million ha by 2030 under its nationally determined contribution (Enhanced NDC). However, due to the need for a community-based restoration monitoring tool that could cover not only peatlands, but other areas as well; and the need to mainstream the use of such a system for different ecosystems, CO-PROMISE was reworked to become the CIFOR-ICRAF flagship product known as the Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS) (Figure 2).The new system offers the capacity to work offline, is compatible with more affordable smartphones, allows safe storage on cloud systems, is transparent and accessible, and facilitates local community involvement. It is designed as an organized system for collecting, processing and validating data necessary for measuring implementation progress and impacts, while empowering communities to participate in monitoring processes. The mobile application is designed to be user friendly and reliable, and offers high flexibility for modification based on user requirements.2 Monitoring system frameworksThe system is designed to facilitate monitoring processes on the ground; to process raw measurement datasets; to summarize information on restoration progress; and to present that information in a dashboard (Figure 3). Trained community members from multiple restoration sites are currently taking measurements in the field; inputting measurements into data forms; and submitting them to a cloud database using the Android-based CBRMS application. The mobile app was developed from an Open Data Kit (ODK) framework and has the flexibility to set up and/or modify forms. It can operate offline when inputting measurement data, though does require an internet connection to submit data to the cloud database. The system is designed to provide near real-time monitoring data. Once data is submitted from the field, the cloud database will update automatically, and the online dashboard will automatically calculate the new data and update the information in the CBRMS Interactive Dashboard.The Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS)In ensuring well-structured time series monitoring data, the database requires each monitored object to have a unique identification number (ID). The system uses alphanumeric identification to indicate multiple pieces of information; combinations of letters and numbers in an object's ID provide information on its site location and plot details, and any custom monitoring information that may be required.Long ID characters and large sets of data are time consuming to type manually, and typing errors can frequently be an issue. These were a persistent problem during the testing period. So, to eliminate human error and to shorten the time needed to input an ID, we introduced a barcode system for identification details (Figure 4).Barcodes can be printed in weather-proof material and attached to monitoring objects using cable ties to prevent accidental removal (Figure 5). The mobile app includes a feature that can read barcodes using the device's camera. Barcode scans are a more reliable and less time consuming and error-prone means for inputting ID details into the application's forms. Peatlands are greatly influenced by their hydrological conditions. Monitoring water table and soil moisture levels is critical for assessing a peatland's condition (FAO 2021). Most degraded peatlands have dried out following deforestation and/or been drained for conversion to agricultural land. The lower groundwater levels resulting from drainage lead to emissions from peat oxidation and subsidence, and increased fire risk.To restore peat hydrology in degraded peatlands, rewetting employs canal blocking to raise and maintain groundwater levels at recommended levels. Controlling groundwater levels can help retain soil moisture, prevent peat fires and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from peat decomposition. In peatland's groundwater level monitoring, the impacts of canal blocking in an action arena are gauged by determining groundwater level, soil moisture, and peat subsidence parameter values and comparing them to those in a control area where no canal blocking has been applied (Figure 6).Tree growth is a key ecological parameter for forests and thus of high importance as an indicator (Dobbertin et al. 2013). Increment is defined as tree growth within a defined period, and can be expressed as increases in height, diameter and volume parameters. In further analysis, these parameters can be linked to external and internal factors to ascertain growth performance in different sites and under contrasting environmental conditions. Fundamental to measuring trees is an understanding of how individual trees grow in different situations. Thus, tree growth over time is a key parameter for forest sciences such as forest ecology; growth ecology; silviculture (assessing site quality, planning treatments, etc.); assessing and predicting wood volume, biomass and carbon sequestration; and forest management (Woo et al. 2019). Survival rate is another critical field performance criterion, as no matter how well a species performs, there is little point in continuing to plant it if its survival rate is low (Elliott et al. 2013).Tree monitoring applies a census-based approach where each tree is measured periodically (Figure 7). Basic information on species and date of planting is collected to set the baseline for the growth period and identify each species' performance.The main measurement parameters are height, diameter and survival rate. Additional parameters, such as canopy width, disturbances or specific treatments, can also be included. Trees are generally divided into the following growth phases: seedling (height < 1.5 m); sapling (height > 1.5 m and diameter < 10 cm); pole (height > 1.5 m and diameter 10-20 cm); and tree (height > 1.5 m and diameter > 20 cm). Following planting, the initial parameter measured is height until the stand's height reaches 1.5 m (the sapling phase), after which stem diameter is also measured. Tree monitoring demonstrates which species perform well and are suitable for revegetation in specific peatland areas. Once planted number, species, survival rate and growth data has been recorded and submitted, it is translated to provide information on carbon sequestration rates, and displayed on the dashboard.Monitoring system frameworksThe Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS)The placement of dipwells and subsidence poles is important for monitoring and understanding the effects of rewetting through canal blocking (Figure 8). Dipwells are installed in action/treatment areas where groundwater levels are affected by canal blocks, and in control areas where canal blocking is absent. It is important to select control and action/treatment areas with similar baseline conditions. As canal networks are often found along both sides of roads, dipwells can be positioned in a control area on one side, and in a treatment area on the other side where baseline conditions are almost identical. Four dipwells and two subsidence poles should be installed in each action/treatment and control area. Two dipwells should be placed alongside the canal at a distance of 100 m apart, and the other two at distances of 100 m from the canal.Dipwells are made from 3 inch-diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes with lengths around 3 meters, or according to the groundwater depth in the monitoring site. The pipes are inserted into boreholes until around 20-25 cm are left to protrude above the peat surface. Before installation, small holes are drilled along the sides of tubes so water can infiltrate the dipwells. To prevent mud and litter entering and settling in the tubes, the holes are covered with mesh, and the top ends are sealed with tube caps. Dipwells can also be modified to incorporate floating small-diameter  Peat subsidence is measured periodically by using subsidence poles to determine the distance from the peat surface to the tip of the pole. Peat subsidence occurs as a result of carbon loss from peat compaction due to microbial decomposition, fire, or a combination of both. Subsidence poles are made from 13 mm threaded steel poles, the lengths of which can vary depending on the depth of the peat layer being measured.Where necessary, two or more poles can be welded together. Subsidence poles are installed beside dipwells, and should penetrate and pass through the peat layer to the mineral substrate below to ensure stability (Figure 12 and 13). In peatland restoration monitoring, the local community is responsible for taking measurements and submitting measurement data to the server. Training, mentoring and evaluation are essential at the beginning of the monitoring phase to ensure all parameter measurement processes follow standard procedures. Evaluations should continue until the relevant community group or person in charge is considered capable of carrying out the monitoring process independently. Training and mentoring are essential for data quality assurance and ensuring data is collected correctly and meets required standards (Figure 14).Appropriate monitoring intervals are important in determining changes in peatland condition dynamics, particularly hydrological conditions, and need to be agreed upon in every monitoring plan. Peatland hydrological parameters like groundwater level and soil moisture should be monitored at weekly intervals. Tree growth and peat subsidence, meanwhile, are gradual processes and do not necessarily need to be monitored so regularly. Six-monthly intervals are generally considered sufficient for determining tree growth and peat compaction dynamics. For reference, Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. P.15/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/2/2017 stipulates a two-weekly monitoring interval for manual measurement of peat groundwater levels, and daily for sensor-based measurement.Monitoring system frameworksThe Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS)Emission reductions in units of carbon dioxide equivalent ( CO2e) is a parameter commonly used in peatland restoration. The dashboard provides a feature for estimating emission reductions from rewetting and revegetation to gauge the impacts of peatland restoration. Avoided emissions from peat oxidation are estimated by comparing groundwater table data between areas where canal blocking has and has not been applied. Avoided carbon loss is calculated using the carbon loss and water table depth models from Hooijer et al. (2012).Carbon sequestration from revegetation is estimated from increments in aboveground biomass. Aboveground biomass values are calculated from tree growth parameters such as height and/or diameter using an allometric equation model (Figure 15). Stem diameter, measured as diameter at breast height (DBH), has a strong positive correlation with total aboveground biomass (Brown et al. 1991;Brown 1997;Chave et al. 2005).Where possible, the system uses species-specific allometric equations for estimating biomass. However, where such equations are unavailable, the system uses common allometric equations from Chave et al. (2014) and Kenzo et al. (2009), particularly during the seedling stage where only height data is available. • Download and install the CBRMS Android app from this link: https://data.cifor.org/ cbrms/images/android/CBRMS_Dev_FinalRelease.apk • Log in using the username and password of your CBRMS account to access the specified monitoring form. The system is designed so that each user only can access the specific monitoring form that connects to their username. • Select the icon at the top right of the screen to access the General Settings tab, or to log out of the app. • The General Settings tab consists of the user interface section, where you can select: Theme, Language, Text Font Size, and Navigation. • Tap on the \"Language\" tab to change the default language, then tap on your preferred language to select it for your CBRMS app. The default language will follow your phone language setting.• Fill: For opening a monitoring form as the first step for inputting data • Edit: To edit monitoring records • Submit: To submit monitoring records to the server • View: To view submitted records • Resubmit: To see a form that was submitted but rejected -the form must be edited before it can be resubmitted • Delete: To delete monitoring records 3. Check the label ID on the dipwell and fill in the Dipwell ID either by scanning the barcode or using the drop-down menu. Please note that when barcode scanning is successful, the select menu will disappear. Once completed, go to the next page by tapping the Next button.4. On this page, the Dipwell ID will automatically appear for cross-checking. Fill in the Monitoring Time by selecting the date and time. Default values refer to the device's date and time settings.Inputting measurement data 5. The bottom of the page contains queries on measurement. Measure Ground Water Table level, Soil Moisture, and Height of Subsidence Pole and fill out the form. Please refer to the default measurement units when filling out the form. Once complete, go to the next page by tapping the Next button.6. This page is about measurement documentation. Assign the dipwell's geolocation by tapping the Start GeoPoint button. After the coordinates have been acquired, information on latitude, longitude and accuracy will appear.7. Attach pictures of the barcode tag and measurement process, either by tapping on the Take Picture button to capture images directly from the device's camera, or the Choose Image button to select images from the device's gallery. There is a Notes field for adding notes where necessary.8. On the last page, check the displayed date and dipwell ID are correct, then tap on the Save Form and Exit button to finalize the measurement record.The Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS)1. On the home menu, tap on Fill and select the Tree Monitoring form to start data input.2. The first page is for identifying the plot and tree. First, select the action arena where the tree is located from the drop-down menu.3. In the beginning of monitoring phase, the tree will be given a tree ID in form of barcode label. Attach the barcode tag to the tree and fill in the Tree ID either by scanning the barcode or using manual input if the device fails to scan the barcode. The scanned result of the Tree ID will appear for cross-checking. If the Tree ID scan result did not match with the label in the tag, the label can be re-scan again using Replace Barcode button. Once completed, go to the next page by tapping the Next button.4. This page contains queries about tree condition, species, planting date and geolocation. The first queries are Tree Condition and Tree Species. When a tree is marked dead, no more queries will appear. The list in the drop-down menu under Tree Species can be set in the form setup. 6. This page is about documentation. Attach pictures of the tree barcode tag and the tree itself either by tapping on the Take Picture button to capture images directly from the device's camera, or the Choose Image button to select images from the device's gallery. There is a Notes field for adding notes where necessary. When complete, select Yes on the Survey completed! tab and go to the last page.7. On the last page, check the displayed date and tree ID are correct, then tap on the Save Form and Exit button to finalize the measurement record.• To edit saved information on the survey, select Edit and select the record you want to change. Identify the record from the listed name. • After completing the edit, tap on Save to save the new information.• To submit the form, select Submit to go to submit page. Select the record you want to submit, or you can check Select All to select all records, then tap on the Send Selected button. The submitted record(s) will then disappear from the Submit field and be displayed in the View field. Please note that data submission will require an active internet connection.Data visualization and interpretation are helpful for summarizing the prevailing situation (Figure 16-18). A spatially explicit dashboard has been developed to provide information on restoration progress in the field. It displays information on site conditions, numbers of trees planted, species names, tree survival rates, peat subsidence, and peat hydrological conditions such as groundwater and peat moisture levels for each restoration site. The dashboard also provides calculations of carbon sequestration from revegetation and avoided emissions from rewetting. To provide additional information, the dashboard has API connections linked to PEATMAP for peat layer data, and FIRMS for data on fire alerts. Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are important for ensuring data integrity and minimizing errors. As a proactive process, quality assurance involves training (Figure 19); providing step-by-step guides and instructions in question forms; reviewing and writing monitoring data in logbooks as backup in the early stages of monitoring; providing pictorial documentation; and maintaining communications between data managers and community members responsible for collecting measurement data. It is a continuous process of preventing, detecting and correcting measurement errors to ensure the quality of the system's data.Quality control, meanwhile, is a more reactive process incorporated into the system for detecting and preventing monitoring errors. It is applied through the use of barcodes for identifying objects of monitoring; defining types of data in forms; setting up accuracy tolerances for geolocation; applying mandatory fields for completion in forms; and applying data error ranges when forms are set up. Through quality control, the app can detect data inputting errors and prevent the user from proceeding to the next page in the form. Both of these processes were set up to prevent data loggers inputting erroneous monitoring data.  The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) envision a more equitable world where trees in all landscapes, from drylands to the humid tropics, enhance the environment and well-being for all. CIFOR and ICRAF are CGIAR Research Centers.Monitoring is a crucial element of any peatland ecosystem restoration process, and well-designed monitoring programmes can improve the e ectiveness of restoration e orts. Monitoring can measure progress toward restoration goals, and further improve the e cacy of the restoration process itself. Monitoring an ongoing project can also directly enhance restoration outcomes and improve future restoration decision making.Restoration monitoring does pose challen ges and frequently faces constraints, including limited funds and human resources. Internet of Things (IoT)-based monitoring systems are available for doing so, but their coverage is limited, and they are unable to show restoration impacts on a local scale. Accordingly, we developed the Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS). This CIFOR-ICRAF fl agship product o ers the capacity to work o ine, is compatible with more a ordable smartphones, allows safe storage on cloud systems, is transparent and accessible, and facilitates local community involvement. It is designed as an organized system for collecting, processing and validating data necessary for measuring implementation progress and impacts, while empowering communities to participate in monitoring processes. The mobile application is designed to be user friendly and reliable, and o ers high fl exibility for modifi cation to suit user requirements. This book outlines the monitoring system framework and provides guidelines for its application. We hope it can help practitioners and facilitators in monitoring progress made in restoration e orts on the ground.Sedagho Siak","tokenCount":"3502"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2409947264.json b/data/part_1/2409947264.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7da3caf6b687f3985b7f8c5f2298fca7be507859
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2409947264.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9d367d08fb8aa16ca750688ba4cedc1f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2b5b78a5-119e-44d7-ad19-01fcfe8d3e59/retrieve","id":"-811037934"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d767518-1993-419a-94dd-61d77d61b8e1","pagecount":"7","content":"La producción de fríjol en Africa asciende a más de 1.4 ro toneladas por año, pero las estadísticas varían según la fuente de datos. La información de los principales países productores indica que la producción real es mayor, dado que el 80-90% de la producción es para autoconsumo. La producción se concentra alrededor del Lago Kivu y el Norte del Lago Tanganyika (Rwanda, Zaire, Burundi); en Uganda, Kenya y Tanzania; y en las Provincias norteñas de Zambia y Malawi (Figura 1 ) . En cada uno de estos países existe una red de estaciones experimentales en donde se llevan a cabo investigaciones sobre fríjol. El programa de Uganda tuvo un período de investigación muy fructífero durante la década de los años 60, produciendo variedades mejoradas como Kabanima. Durante la década de los años 70 y entrando en los años 80, el programa de Kenya ha realizado muchos avances en la selección de variedades mejoradas y la producción de semilla certificada, disponible en pequeñas cantidades a precios favorables para el pequeño agricultor. Estos avances se deben principalmente a1 aporte del programa cooperativo holandés que tiene su sede en Thika, Kenya.Así mismo, en Tanzania se ha realizado investigación sobre fríjol en tres localidades (Moshi, Morogoro y Mbeya) desde hace varios años, con el apoyo \\ ',',' ... ' ,' ,' ' ,' ,'del programa cooperativo escandinavo, y recientemente del CRSP (USA).En todos los países del área, existen variedades mejoradas, pero en general estas han tenido relativamente poco impacto en la producción y productividad de fríjol, con la posible excepción de la variedad Misamfu Speckled Sugar en Zambia, y de las variedades mejoradas en Uganda. Esto se debe posiblemente al hecho de que las estaciones experimentales están ubicadas en tierras fértiles y planas, las cuales no son muy representativas de las áreas frijol eras y a la falta de investigación a nivel de finca que enfatice los sistemas de cultivo tradicionales.Aparte de los frijoles de tipo blanco pequeño par~ enlatados, el tipo de grano preferido es de tamaño mediano (250-400 mg), en casi todos los colores menos negro. Las preferencias varían de una región a otra . En general, los rojos se encuentran principalmente en Kenya y Tanzania, y los colores claros (cremas y amarillosl en el Sur. En las otras regiones se encuentra todo tipo de colores, muchas veces mezclados en los campos de los agricultores y en los mercados. En muchos casos, es posible reconocer el tipo de grano y el tipo de planta, y ubicar su zona de origen en América, p.ej . rojos y amarillos de los países andinos; rojos centroamericanos; pintos mejicanos . Por eso el CIAT, estando ubicado en el centro de origeno del fríjol, puede ofrecer un aporte importante en este esfuerzo colaborativo por mejorar la productividad y estabilidad del fríjol en Africa.No obstante el hecho de que casi todos los factores biológicos limitantes de la prOducción de fríjol se encuentran en su centro de orígen, hay algunos problemas en Africa que no ocurren en América. Estos son especialmente Bean F1y (Ophiomyia phaseo1i) y Bean Scab (E1sinoe phaseo1i). El primero es posiblemente el problema principal en toda la región. Otro problema es la reac-ciÓn necrótica al mosaico común (Black Root), debido a la presencia de cepas virulentas del virus tales como NL3, que conlleva a la necesidad de incorporar genes que protejan el gen de resistencia dominante 1, utilizado extensivamente en el programa de mejoramiento de CIAT.La colaboración del CIAT en Africa empezó a partir del año de 1976 con el env,o del IBYAN a Tanzania y a Malawi, y luego a los demás países. Como resultado de estos ensayos, se lanzó la variedad Diacol-Calima en Burundi y BAT 317 en Sur Africa en el año de 19B1. Actualmente se está multiplicando semillas de las l,neas Ecuador 131 en Burundi (voluble para las partes altas) y BAT 1253 y BAT 1254 en Zambia. Aparte de estas líneas, BAT 1296 y BAT 1297 han sido promisórias en varios ensayos en toda la región y BAT 561 en Zimbabwe.A partir del año 1982, se ba enviado el EP del programa de fríjol a varios países y en 1983 se empezó a evaluar en forma sistemática para Africa progenitores potenciales, materiales segregantes y líneas \"avanzadas (Figura 2). Como resultado de estas evaluaciones, se han identificado en Tanzania y Burundi varias líneas promisorias como fuentes de resistencia a Bean Fly (p.ej. A 30, A 62, BAT 93, BAT 1252}. Se está obteniendo también información sobre la estabilidad de la resistencia a mancha angular y a la antracnosis en Africa. Otros proyectos de importancia para Africa son la búsqueda de resistencia estable a añublo de halo, bacteriosis común, ascocbyta y bruchidos. Fuentes de resistencia a estos problemas han sido enviadas a los respectivos países. Los cruzamientos se realizan en el CIAT de acuerdo con las evaluaciones realizadas en Africa, y las poblaciones se avanzan en forma masal, generalmente hasta F 4 para su despacho al Afri~a. Para los proyectos en donde se puede evaluar materiales en Colombia (p.ej. añublo de halo, ascochyta, bruchidos), se está usando el método de selección recurrente .Para el mejoramiento de los principales cultivares de Africa, el banco de germoplasma del CIAT no dispone de suficiente germoplasma proveniente de Africa. Sin embargo, a través de la colaboración con el proyecto Titulo XII de USA, con . IVTA en Holanda y con Gembloux en Bélgica, es posible introducir las variedades necesarias para cruzamiento. El número de cruzamientos realizados en 1983 se muestra en el Cuadro l. Se está usando retrocruzamiento para introducir ciertos caracteres de líneas mejoradas de CIAT, y el método de selección masal (Bulk).En 1983, el Dr. Michael Dessert empez6 a trabajar en Rwanda como miembro del Staff de CIAT con financiaci6n Suiza. En 1984 se espera ubicar más personal en Rwanda y en Kenya. El flujo de material genético continuará mayormente de Colomóia hacia Africa, pero se proyecta en el futuro traer las líneas avanzadas seleccionadas en Africa a CIAT, para ser evaluadas en el VEF y proveer al programa de mejoramiento con nuevos progenitores.Hay algunos aspectos de metodología relacionados con el manejo de mezclas varietales y su mejoramiento que se tendrá que considerar. Algunas de éstas investigaciones se podrán realizar en CIAT, y otras en Africa.Hasta la fecha, cuatro fitomejoradores del Af~ica han recibido adiestramiento en CIAT y un total de han recibido adiestramiento en varias disciplinas. En 1983 se tuvo una reuni6n en CIAT sobre proyectos colaborativos para Africa. Para el futuro se espera realizar cursos de adiestramiento y reuniones de trabajo, incluyendo el aspecto importante de investigación a nivel de finca, en Africa. ","tokenCount":"1101"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2411409379.json b/data/part_1/2411409379.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..728b9966233fd82e9a1057ec4e61b09ae27f5499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2411409379.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"37e6d9ce136da8308e9879d49dee6c1e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00dee206-d94a-4c86-b0af-4096e1f7df09/retrieve","id":"1104610706"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fdb68f61-1c0a-4529-a7d5-52ce265b7809","pagecount":"188","content":"The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well-being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 Future Harvest Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. IPGRI has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Improving Livelihoods in Commodity-based Systems.The international status of IPGRI is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2005, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria,The Technical Bulletin series is targeted at scientists and technicians managing genetic resources collections. Each title will aim to provide guidance on choices while implementing conservation techniques and procedures and in the experimentation required to adapt these to local operating conditions and target species. Techniques are discussed and, where relevant, options presented and suggestions made for experiments. The Technical Bulletins are authored by scientists working in the genetic resources area. IPGRI welcomes suggestions of topics for future volumes. In addition, IPGRI would encourage, and is prepared to support, the exchange of research findings obtained at the various genebanks and laboratories.Preface ixPart I: Concept, approach and actors of species-based in situ conservation 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The concept of in situ conservation 1.2 Aims and purpose of in situ conservation of target species 1.3 Species-based or ecosystem-based approach to in situ conservation? 1.4 Putting species-based in situ conservation in the context of the ecosystem approach 1.5 In situ species conservation and global change 1.6 The costs of conservation 1.7 The international mandate: treaties and conventions 1.8 Regional and national mandates 1.9 Initiatives of the UN and other international agencies Part II: In situ conservation methodologies 2.0 The components of a conservation strategy 2.1 Priority-setting for target species 2.2 Planning, design and setting up in situ conservation areas 2.3 Management and monitoring of in situ conservation areas and populations 2.4 Incorporating the conservation strategy into national biodiversity strategy and action plans 2.5 Available guidelines on in situ conservation of wild speciesPart III: Global survey of in situ conservation activities-good practices and case studies 3.0 Introduction 3.1 Main findings 3.2 Rare and endangered (Red List) species 3.3 Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) 3.4 Forestry species 3.5 Crop wild relatives 3.6 Fruit trees and shrubs 3.7 Ornamentals 3.8 Miscellaneous target groups 3.9 Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects that involve in situ conservation of target speciesIn situ conservation of wild plant species viiJan Engels (IPGRI) and Douglas Williamson (FAO) Plants are of fundamental importance to life on earth. They form the backbone of Earth's ecosystems and provide a wide range of ecosystem goods and services. The benefits they provide include food, medicines, genetic material for crop improvement, clothing and shelter, and they have great economic and cultural value. They thus make an important contribution to human well-being.Over the last hundred years the trends observed in the loss of plant biodiversity have been a matter of great concern. Despite all the efforts made to conserve plant diversity, the situation today is still very alarming. Up to one-quarter of the estimated 400 000 species of plants are believed to be threatened worldwide.The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which came into force in December 1993, has been the major global instrument to rally world-wide efforts for the effective conservation of biological diversity. It calls for mechanisms to be put in place for both in situ and ex situ conservation (see Articles 8 and 9).A Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) has subsequently been developed and was adopted at the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the CBD held in The Hague in April 2002 (Decision VI/9). This strategy provides an innovative framework of 16 outcome-oriented targets aimed at achieving a series of measurable targets by 2010, of which targets 7, 8 and 9 relate to in situ and ex situ conservation of target species. Target 7 of the GSPC calls for \"60% of the world's threatened species to be conserved in situ\". This is taken to mean that populations of the species are effectively conserved in protected areas or through other in situ management measures. To be able to achieve this target of the GSPC, a major effort will be required to augment existing tools and methodologies for the effective conservation of plant biodiversity. The different approaches to in situ conservation that have been developed to date have been widely applied to a range of situations, but seldom to target species of wild plants.For many plant species of value to agriculture, including crop wild relatives, efforts to conserve threatened germplasm have led to a massive ex situ collection of over 6 million accessions conserved in over 1500 genebanks world-wide. In situ conservation efforts world-wide have mostly focused on establishing protected areas and taken an ecosystem-oriented rather than a species-oriented approach. Protected areas are seldom established for individual species, unless they are highly charismatic.Existing protected areas are often poorly managed and some have no management at all, as was revealed at the Fifth World Park Congress held in Durban, South Africa, in 2003. Effectiveness of protected area management depends on adequate human and financial resources, which in many places are not available. In addition to making up for existing inadequacies, protected area managers will have to face new threats such as invasive species, habitat degradation and destruction, as climate change and other global changes become apparent.In the past, priority has been given to the conservation of crop landraces 'on-farm', which the CBD defines as a form of in situ conservation in the place where the domesticated or cultivated species have developed their distinctive properties. There is an urgent need to also pay attention to the many economically important wild species that are neither on-farm nor in protected areas. The populations of many of these wild species are under heavy pressure due to over-exploitation, habitat degradation and invasive species. Their effective in situ conservation will be difficult to accomplish and therefore presents a huge challenge to conservationists.This review volume makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of in situ conservation of target species of different types, including medicinal and aromatic plants, crop wild relatives, fruit trees and shrubs, ornamental and other valuable species. It provides readers with an in-depth discussion of the different methodological options for in situ conservation and presents a number of case studies to illustrate some examples of good practice.viii IPGRI TECHNICAL BULLETIN NO. 11 In situ conservation of wild plant species ix Preface V.H. Heywood and M.E. Dulloo The aim of this book is to provide readers with a broad understanding of the concept and methodologies of in situ conservation for target plant species. The book is based upon a global survey, undertaken by the first author, of existing guidelines, methodologies, case studies and other relevant literature on the in situ conservation of plant species, as well as current activities in this area by national and international agencies. This global review was undertaken as part of a UNEP/GEF project (EP/INT/204/GEF) entitled 'Design, Testing and Evaluation of Best Practices for In Situ Conservation of Economically Important Wild Species', for which FAO was the executing agency.In preparing the review for publication as a book, we have taken the opportunity to revise the text and add further examples in order to make it suitable for the general reader interested in the subject of in situ conservation of species. We have tried to include examples from as many countries as possible, although much of the work in this area has up until now been undertaken in temperate regions. We have also provided an extensive bibliography which will allow the reader to explore many of the topics covered in the text in more depth. This book is divided into four parts. Part I deals with the concept, approach and actors of species-based in situ conservation and attempts to clarify the ambiguity of the concept of in situ conservation as it relates to target species. In the minds of many people, in situ conservation is taken to mean the creation of protected areas and implies a narrow ecosystem approach, with the inclusion of local communities and conservation of species being incidental. This concept is now rapidly changing, as more focus is placed on individual target species and the needs and well-being of local communities and people are beginning to receive more consideration. It is also clear that in situ conservation cannot be the sole mode of conservation: it will not be possible to turn the location of every population of wild plants into a protected area, due to cost considerations or other land-use reasons. In situ conservation will need to be complemented by ex situ conservation where appropriate and, in particular, some sites will need to be managed with local stakeholders in a participative manner. Global changes in population growth, land-use patterns and climate change will also affect the ways in which in situ sites are designed and managed (see Section 1.5). This part also discusses the most important international instruments which govern the conservation of wild plant species, notably the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Plan of Action, as well as other regional initiatives, and the role of major UN and international agencies dealing with wild species.Part II of the book focuses on in situ conservation methodologies and describes the various approaches of in situ conservation and the main steps needed for developing a conservation strategy for target species in situ. A number of initial steps are required before in situ conservation sites can be effectively planned and established. These include setting priorities for target species, establishing an information baseline through the carrying out of ecogeographical surveys, and estimating the amount and pattern of genetic diversity. Once this information becomes available, it is possible to prioritize conservation areas for protection and/or management. This part also describes the different types and the role of protected areas in species conservation, and discusses the conservation of species outside protected areas. Of even more importance is the management and monitoring of in situ conservation and populations: this aspect is one of the most neglected in protected areas management, as many protected areas do not have management plans or are not adequately managed, especially for target species. These issues need to be given more prominence by policy-makers.The global survey of in situ conservation activities is described in Part III. Examples of in situ conservation of various types of taxa, such as threatened species, medicinal and aromatic species, forestry species, crop wild relatives, fruit trees and shrubs, and ornamental and other miscellaneous groups across the world are provided as illustrations of their effective conservation in situ. Detailed information about specific case studies is provided in boxes throughout the text. Finally, Part IV offers some conclusions and recommendations.It is hoped that this book will provide managers of protected areas, conservation officers and government officials, as well as all stakeholders involved in in situ conservation, with valuable information and an in-depth understanding of in situ conservation methodologies. It should also be a valuable guide for students of ecology and others engaged in the study of plant genetic resources.x IPGRI TECHNICAL BULLETIN NO. 11In situ conservation of wild plant species xi 1.0 IntroductionIt is clear from reviewing the literature on biodiversity, conservation biology and genetic conservation that the concept of in situ conservation targeted at species, as opposed to the ecosystems in which they occur, is ambiguous and has been subject to a wide range of interpretations by different interest groups. Also noteworthy is the widespread interpretation of the term 'in situ conservation' itself as meaning the creation of protected areas or habitats, as opposed to ex situ conservation. The latter has been largely equated with the preservation of samples of species in seed banks or botanic gardens (and zoos). Even Frankel and colleagues in their excellent book, The Conservation of Plant Biodiversity (Frankel et al. 1995) remark that programmes for in situ conservation at the level of an individual species seem to be a contradiction in terms, as \"Strictly speaking, in situ conservation is conservation of the whole ecosystem\", i.e. of the community in its natural location without focus on any particular species. Likewise, in a review by the US National Research Council (1991) of the management of genetic resources of forest trees, in the section on in situ conservation, it is stated that:Although much of the literature is couched in terms of conserving particular populations, in situ conservation in reality involves preserving whole communities. The number of populations and species that require some protective measure in the wild is so large that it is impractical to design in situ conservation programs on the basis of individual species and their populations.The ambiguities concerning in situ conservation of species reflect the long-standing dichotomy in ecological and conservation thinking between ecosystem-and species-based approaches. There has been a tendency to dichotomize nature into species and ecosystems (Soulé and Mills 1992). This reflects the traditional dichotomy between ecosystem and population/species ecology; subjects which for almost three decades have ploughed their own independent furrows and developed their own paradigms, approaches and questions, as Lawton and Jones (1993) famously commented. It also reflects the tensions that are often observed in the conservation community between those who address their efforts to species as opposed to those who feel that the ecosystem is the proper focus of one's attention. These should not, however, be seen as alternatives, as we discuss below (see Section 1.1).The definition of in situ conservation given by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992) is, however, quite clear and comprehensive, covering both ecosystems and species: … the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.Despite this, nearly all the Convention's activities regarding in situ conservation have been focused on ecosystems and habitats. With the exception of the preparation of recovery plans for some highly endangered species by a number of countries, there has been little subsequent follow-up by CBD through the Conference of the Parties, its Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) or other groups as regards species conservation in situ. Woodruff (1989) wrote some 15 years ago that \"present commitments to species conservation are clearly inadequate\", and with the increasing threats to species and their habitats in the intervening years, the situation has become even more urgent.Again, in the fields of crop genetic resources and agricultural biodiversity, little attention has been paid to species conservation in situ, although there has been a revival of interest in the past decade in conservation of landraces 'on-farm'. Yet the principles of in situ conservation of genetic resources have been well established for some years (see e.g. Ingram 1984;Wilcox 1984;FAO 1989). On the other hand, forestry in Europe and North America, for example, has long been based on empirical approaches to management of natural resources, including target species, and a theoretical basis for this has been recognized in recent years. It is noteworthy that Aldo Leopold's essay 'The conservation ethic' was published in the Journal of Forestry (Leopold 1933) and in his A Sand County Almanac (Leopold 1949), which has been called 'the bible of the environmental movement', he wrote: Some species of trees have been 'read out of the party' by economics-minded foresters because they grow too slowly, or have too low a sale value to pay as timber crops: while cedar, tamarack, cypress, beech, and hemlock are examples. In Europe, where forestry is ecologically more advanced, the non-commercial tree species are recognized as members of the native forest community, to be preserved as such, within reason. Moreover some (like beech) have been found to have a valuable function in building up soil fertility. The interdependence of the forest and its constituent tree species, ground flora, and fauna is taken for granted.The view has been expressed (Hawkes 1991; see also Maxted et al. 1997a) that in situ genetic conservation techniques are still in their infancy and that we are not methodologically well equipped to proceed with the genetic conservation of plant diversity in its natural surroundings. While this is to some extent true, we will show in this review that much information does exist which could be applied, and it is widespread ignorance of what has been achieved for different groups of plants that is largely responsible for our present poor record of species-based in situ conservation.In situ conservation of individual target species, whether of economic importance or not, of necessity involves various levels of biodiversity, from genes and alleles to populations, ecotypes, species, and ecosystems, landscapes and ecoregions. It requires a broad perspective and cooperation between specialists of many different disciplines and between many different agencies. It is also largely dependent on the close and active cooperation and participation of local stakeholders.To make matters clear, the range of different situations covered by the notion of in situ conservation is as follows: 1. Conservation of natural or semi-natural ecosystems in various types of protected area, with various management aims such as: maintaining ecosystem diversity, biodiversity in general or special landscapes; and providing habitat for target species such as megavertebrates, birds, forest species, medicinal plants, or for concentrations of endemic species. Today this type of conservation is often interpreted as meaning conservation of the area and, non-specifically, the biodiversity contained therein. 2. Conservation of agricultural biodiversity, which may be defined as \"the maintenance of the diversity present in and among populations of the many species used directly in agriculture, or used as sources of genes, in habitats where such diversity arose and continues to grow\" (Brown 1999). This includes:• Entire agroecosystems, including immediately useful species (such as food crops, forages, and agro-forestry species), as well as their wild and weedy relatives that may be growing in nearby areas-see item 3 below. • Maintenance of domesticates such as landraces or local crop varieties in farmers' fields, often referred to as 'on-farm' conservation (Maxted et al. 2002), 'in agro' or 'inter situ' (Blixt 1994). 1 3. Conservation and maintenance of selected/target individual species in their natural habitats/ecosystems through conservation or management plans. This differs from general conservation of biodiversity in that particular (target) species are the subject of conservation attention or action. In the case of species of economic importance, the terms 'genetic conservation', 'gene conservation' or 'genetic reserve conservation' are commonly used (Yanchuk 1997). The areas where such conservation takes place are also known as gene or genetic reserve management units, gene management zones, gene/genetic sanctuaries, and crop reservations. This type of conservation may be defined as \"the location, management and monitoring of genetic diversity in natural wild populations within defined areas designated for active, long-term conservation\" (Maxted et al. 1997b). Detailed protocols for genetic conservation have been prepared. 4. Recovery programmes for nationally or subnationally threatened, rare or endangered wild species (whether of economic importance or not). Species recovery programmes are a special case of in situ conservation of target species. They may often require recovery of their habitats. 5. Restoration, recovery or rehabilitation of habitats. With the widespread ecological destruction now occurring around the world, habitat restoration has attracted growing attention and often environmental legislation requires habitat rehabilitation or restoration of areas affected by activities such as mining to be undertaken to mitigate the damage caused. 2 Likewise, species recovery programmes may require not only management and reinforcement of populations but also rehabilitation or restoration of the habitats in which the often fragmented populations occur.In situ conservation therefore covers not only species and ecosystems but also genetic variability. Unless we recognize the diversity of approaches involved in in situ conservation, we risk overlooking or obscuring some of the key issues involved. In practice, however, conservation of wild species or populations in situ is widely interpreted as meaning their presence within a protected area or habitat, i.e. with the focus primarily on the ecosystem. However, this may also involve the preparation and implementation of rescue, recovery or management plans for target species that are seriously endangered at the local, national or global level, to prevent their becoming extinct in the wild.Although this review is focused on in situ conservation of species and intra-specific genetic diversity, in practice, this depends on identifying the habitats in which they occur and then protecting both the habitat and the species through various kinds of management and/or monitoring. Thus, although in situ species conservation is essentially a species-driven process, it also necessarily involves habitat protection.In fact there is a case to be made for treating species conservation holistically, following the now widely accepted complementary or integrated approach (now a tenet of the CBD through the so-called 'ecosystem approach') and not considering in situ, inter situs and ex situ approaches separately as discussed in Section 1.4.This review is largely concerned with those plant species that have been selected (targeted) for particular conservation attention or action and which are commonly known as target species (also known as 'candidate species' or 'priority species').Most of the detailed literature that has been published on in situ conservation of species refers to nationally rare or endangered native species, irrespective of their actual or potential use, and extensive experience of conserving such species has been acquired in many countries. This target group is defined solely by being threatened or endangered, although such a designation involves a complex series of selection procedures, as discussed in Section 3.2. This group of species constitutes by far the largest number of those for which in situ conservation projects or recovery plans have been planned or implemented.On the other hand, most of the work on conserving species of economic interest refers to three groups of target species: crop wild relatives, forestry tree species, and medicinal and aromatic plants.Many factors can be taken into account in deciding on which of these species to select as targets.The amount and type of phenotypic, and genetic variation and the number of populations selected for in situ conservation will depend on the nature of the species and the objectives of gene conservation in any particular case. It is widely accepted that it is desirable to conserve as wide a range of genetic and other variation as possible so as to ensure the maintenance and functioning of viable populations of the species concerned, even in a changed environment (i.e. genetic adaptability, see Box 1). However this will be effective only if the changes in environmental conditions are gradual enough to allow adaptations to occur through evolutionary processes such as mutations, natural selection, or genetic drift.On the other hand, many of the species that may be targeted for in situ conservation because of their economic use are subject to exploitation. It should not be assumed that the conservation objective is simply to maintain the species in such a way that they will continue to evolve as natural viable populations; it may be that the emphasis will be more on sustaining the use itself for the benefit of the various stakeholders (Freese 1997) and this will affect the management objectives. As a recent review of sustainable use and incentivedriven conservation points out (Hutton and Leader-Williams 2003), these management objectives could be the conservation of the species (or its populations), the ecosystem in which they occur, or the livelihoods that depend on the exploitation. The complexities involved in devising management systems for exploited species can be illustrated by a recent study of the palm açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) harvested commercially for its palm hearts in the Amazon basin largely from natural stands (Clay 1997). Natural stands may be managed sustainably so as to maintain a steady supply of palm hearts, or to allow the fruit to be harvested as well as palm heart extraction, but these different approaches have cost implications for the processes of extraction, processing and distribution which may not be acceptable. Different management practices will also affect biodiversity adversely to different degrees.Box 1: Purpose and goal of in situ conservation of target speciesThe main general aim and long-term goal of in situ conservation of target species is to protect, manage and monitor the selected populations in their natural habitats so that the natural evolutionary processes can be maintained, thus allowing new variation to be generated in the gene pool that will allow the species to adapt to gradual changes in environmental conditions such as global warming, changed rainfall patterns, or acid rain.In situ conservation requires a focus on the biodiversity, dynamics and conservation of all components of the ecosystem. A recent review (Damania 1994) As long as genetic conservation and crop improvement are directly linked, any form of conservation will be judged by its short-term benefits to breeders, and in situ methods will attract considerable opposition. However, on-site conservation is more plausible if these two goals are decoupled, making biodiversity conservation an end in its own right [emphasis added].On the other hand, the same author reminds us that to fulfil their objectives, in situ conservation projects should be politically viable and share broad national development goals such as generating increased farm income. The involvement and acquiescence of local inhabitants, farmers, officials and other interested parties is crucial for the successful implementation of in situ conservation projects in most cases (Damania 1996). Setting aside large areas of land for the conservation of species whose economic potential is uncertain or cannot be easily perceived is difficult to justify and can be a serious constraint when selecting target species.Some specific aims of in situ species conservation that have been identified include:• Ensuring continued access to these populations for research and availability of germplasm. For example, native tree species may be important plantation species within the country or elsewhere and thus in situ conservation will allow access to these forest genetic resources in the future if needed (Rogers 2002). • Ensuring continuing access to or availability of material of target species populations that are exploited by local people, as in the case of medicinal plants, extracted products (e.g. rubber, palm hearts), and fuelwood. • Selection for yield potential, i.e. genetic potential that confers desirable phenotypic traits (Hattemer 1997), for example in forest trees, fruit or nut-producing trees (Reid 1990). • Conserving species which cannot be established or regenerated outside their natural habitats, such as: species that are members of complex ecosystems, e.g. tropical forests, where there is a high degree of interdependency between species; species with recalcitrant seeds or with fugacious germination; or species with highly specialized breeding systems, for instance those dependent on specific pollinators, which in turn depend on other ecosystem components (FAO 1989).• Enabling some degree of conservation of associated species which may or may not be of known economic value and which may be of importance in maintaining the healthy functioning of the ecosystem. This may provide additional justification for single-species conservation programmes.1.3 Species-based or ecosystem-based approach to in situ conservation?A focus on species conservation is readily comprehensible, since most people find it easy to empathize with biodiversity inherent in species, especially if they are charismatic or flagship species. Moreover, such a focus may well serve the interests both of conservation and of those who exploit species (Hutton and Leader-Williams 2003). The question that has to be addressed is whether a species-based approach to in situ conservation is feasible or even desirable. It is often stated that such an approach to conservation is not possible because of the sheer numbers of entities involved and the continuing rise in the numbers of threatened species (see Ricklefs et al. 1984), whereas a habitat/ecosystem-based approach allows a large number of species to be given some form of protection at the same time. There is, moreover, an increasing tendency today to shift the focus away from species and to view biodiversity conservation and sustainable use through the lens of the ecosystem, with an emphasis on maintaining the healthy functioning of the system. There is a great deal of justification for such a position, given that it is clearly unrealistic within the limited resources available to envisage wholesale programmes of in situ conservation of all those species for which a case could be made. However, this oversimplifies the situation. In many cases there is no substitute for focusing effort on species, as in the case of the large numbers of economically, culturally or socially important plants where it is the particular target species which are of direct concern. These include agricultural and horticultural crops, medicinal and aromatic plants, locally important wild food and fibre plants, non-woody timber products, and so on (Heywood 1993). Current actions to conserve in situ a substantial number of such target species of priority importance are very limited and patchy and a much greater effort is needed if a serious attempt is to be made to address these problems.The number of plants used by humans is in fact very much greater than is commonly realized (see Table 30.1 in Padulosi et al. 2002). Although it is true that only a few hundred plant species form the basis of our agricultural crops, about 7000 species have at some stage been cultivated and the total number of wild species that are used by humans in local or traditional agricultural systems or that are collected from the wild for food, fibre, oil, etc. runs into tens of thousands (Heywood 1999a). Then we must add those that are grown or collected as ornamentals. The number of plant species that are used in traditional medicines is not known with any accuracy but has been variously estimated at from 20 000 to 80 000, depending on the definition of medicinal plant employed (Heywood 1999b). The conservation needs of these species presents a major but, hitherto largely unaddressed, challenge.Then there are ecologically important species such as keystone, umbrella and focal species, whose presence is necessary in order to maintain the healthy functioning of the ecosystem and which may be used as surrogates for biodiversity conservation (see Andelman and Fagan (2000) for a critical review).As regards forestry species, the issue of whether or not to include a wide range of these in in situ conservation has been addressed in a thoughtful review by Namkoong (1986; see also discussion in Section 3.4). The author notes that even for the relatively small number of forestry species which have a recognized current commercial value, the amount of genetic management is limited and \"only very meagre funding is available for any but the most important commercial species in industrialized forestry\". As the vast majority of forest plant species have little known or potential commercial value or function that is not served by other species, it is simply not feasible or desirable to consider conserving these on a species-by-species basis and in practice the management objective most often followed is likely to be that of ensuring the continued existence of a sample of these populations or species in protected areas such as reserves or parks. Even this may be difficult to achieve in view of the lack of information available on the precise distribution and ecology of the species concerned, not to mention their demography, reproductive biology and other key attributes.The above considerations reflect the current situation in forestry (P. Sigaud, FAO, personal communication) which may be summarized as follows:• commercial timber is increasingly obtained from intensively managed plantations of a small number of species; • a relatively small forest area is devoted to enterprises such as agroforestry and urban forestry which play a small role commercially in global terms but are important nationally in poverty alleviation, in the provision of fuelwood, fruit trees, medicinal plants and other useful products; • the vast bulk of forest is wild, natural or semi-natural, and not managed.It follows, therefore, that in situ conservation of all but a small number of target species is not practicable or likely to be attempted by forest authorities.The vast majority of species are either of marginal utilitarian value or have little or no commercial value. Any value that would be gained from their genetic management would be of such a generalized nature and of such long-term interest only, that the general public would be the primary beneficiaries. In the light of this, it has been suggested that for the vast majority of species of no direct use we would have to look to international agencies involved in nature conservation, such as IUCN, for investment in in situ conservation programmes (Namkoong 1986), although it would be unrealistic to expect any direct financial support from such quarters.If we accept that targeted in situ conservation, with all the indepth work that is required, is unlikely to be undertaken for very large numbers of species in the foreseeable future because of the financial and human resources costs involved, it is a matter of critical concern to establish just how effective habitat-based approaches are likely to be. The evidence is far from unequivocal as we shall see.For species that are threatened or endangered, the removal or containment of the factors causing the threat means that some form of intervention is necessary so that a 'hands-off' approach is not appropriate. If the species is threatened as a consequence of habitat loss, as is increasingly common, then it is clearly essential to ensure that the remaining habitat is secured and, additionally, population reinforcement and other measures may be required.It is clear, however, that for many wild species the best that we can hope for is not some targeted form of action but simply to ensure their presence in some form of protected area where, provided the area itself is not under threat, and subject to the dynamics of the system and the extent of human pressures, some degree of protection may be afforded. But the fact is that most species occur outside currently protected areas and we need to look carefully at ways in which the owners of such land might be persuaded to undertake some form of non-destructive management. As the following section explains, targeted in situ species conservation must be viewed as part of a holistic conservation strategy.It must be emphasized that in situ conservation of target species is only one aspect of a broader strategy that may be required for the successful maintenance of a given species and its genetic variability. It is increasingly recognized that biodiversity conservation, whether of genes, species or ecosystems, should be viewed in the context of a mosaic of land-use options (Wilcox 1990(Wilcox , 1995)), each of which will require its own range of management approaches. Thus the conservation of target species may be undertaken in nature reserves and other protected areas; in private and publicly owned natural forests and plantations and other types of habitat; as trees, shrubs and herbs in agroforestry systems of various types, including home gardens; in homesteads; and along rivers and roads.Various forms of ex situ conservation may also be needed to supplement the in situ action, such as conservation collections in arboreta and botanic gardens, properly sampled accessions in seed banks, clone banks, field trials and seed production areas (Palmberg-Lerche 2002).In situ conservation thus covers a wide range of different activities and goals. The clear distinction between in situ and ex situ conservation traditionally recognized by conservationists (exemplified by protected areas and botanic gardens, respectively) breaks down when applied to crop and forest genetic resources where a range of situations occurs, reflecting the complete spectrum between wild and completely domesticated species (Heywood 1999). It has been suggested (Bretting and Duvick 1997) that it would be better to distinguish between the different approaches according to their specific objectives. Thus it has been proposed that the term 'static conservation' could be used to substitute for ex situ conservation and 'dynamic conservation' for in situ conservation.³ Another dimension that can be used is the extent of deliberate intervention needed to achieve a specific conservation objective (T. Hodgkin, personal communication 2003; see also Lleras 1991).Similarly, the distinction between species conservation in situ and ecosystem conservation is by no means clear-cut, as the two are interdependent. For example, the term 'circa situm' 4 has been used to refer to a type of conservation that emphasizes the role of regenerating saplings in vegetation remnants in heavily modified or fragmented landscapes, such as those of traditional agroforestry and farming systems (Cooper et al. 1992;Barrance 1997Barrance , 1999)). Thus in the south of Honduras, small farmers manage naturally regenerated trees of Cordia alliodora, Gliciridia sepium and Leucaena salvadorensis in their fields, pruning them as necessary to reduce competition with the local crops (Barrance 1997). Trees may also be transplanted from native habitats and managed within an in situ on-farm system using traditional sylvicultural techniques. The material is effectively managed within traditional farming systems by local farmers. Circa situm has also been termed \"conservation though use\" (Stewart 2001).In recent years, it has been increasingly recognized that because of the limitations of both species-based and ecosystem-based approaches, integrative (sometimes called holistic or complementary) methods for deciding conservation strategies should be adopted. Essentially, this recognizes that one should adopt whatever scientific and social techniques or approaches (such as in situ, ex situ, inter situs, reintroduction, population reinforcement) that are judged appropriate to a particular case and circumstances. A similar, but less unambiguous, strategy has been endorsed by the CBD in its promotion of the 'ecosystem approach' (see Box 2) in which what is essentially a holistic approach is adopted. 5 Key distinguishing features of the ecosystem approach are as follows (Smith and Maltby 2003):• it is designed to balance the three CBD objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits • it places people at the centre of biodiversity management • it extends biodiversity management beyond protected areas while recognizing that they are also vital for delivery of the objectives of the CBD • it engages the widest range of sectoral interests.The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use of these resources in an equitable way -UNEP/CBD. The ultimate goal is to ensure that wildland diversity and ecosystems are maintained and will survive as biologically intact and functional as possible for generations to come. An ecosystem approach broadly evaluates how people's use of an ecosystem affects its functioning and productivity. Implementation of an ecosystem approach will require a new look at ways of integrating human activities with conservation goals. National Parks and Protected Areas will have to fit within an overall strategy of landscape management that includes compatible human activities. An ecosystem approach has the following characteristics: • It is an integrated approach. It considers the entire range of possible goods and services and attempts to optimize the mix of benefits for a given ecosystem and also across ecosystems. • It reorients the boundaries that have traditionally defined our management of ecosystems. It emphasizes a systemic approach, recognizing that ecosystems function as whole entities and need to be managed as such, not in pieces. • It takes the long view. It respects ecosystem processes at the micro level, but sees them in the larger frame of landscapes and decades, working across a variety of scales and time dimensions. • It includes people. It explicitly links human needs to the biological capacity of ecosystems to fulfil those needs.Although it is attentive to ecosystem processes and biological thresholds, it acknowledges an appropriate place for human modification of ecosystems.• It maintains the productive potential of ecosystems. An ecosystem approach is not focused on production alone but views production of goods and services as the natural product of a healthy ecosystem, not as an end in itself. Such an approach presupposes that we know what values and functions we wish to maintain in the systems concerned. This poses a challenge, since both ecosystems and their component species are dynamic and will change over time due to the processes of evolution, which is indeed the main raison d'être for their conservation. Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems (World Resources Institute 2000).The ecosystem approach, although widely advocated, does have its critics (Hutton and Leader-Williams 2003), and there may be circumstances in which its adoption may not be fully compatible with particular conservation aims such as, specifically, the conservation and sustainable use of a target species. As they note, … the potential for future conflicts around sustainable use is alarming when, within an ecosystem approach it is quite possible to use a species sustainably within its biological limits, but for this to be deemed unsustainable in terms of ecosystem structure or function…. This concern is highlighted when it comes to considering what management approach to adopt.The distinction between an ecosystem approach and in situ approaches to conservation according to Poulsen (2001) are: • there may be more human interventions in in situ approaches than in ecosystem approaches to conservation • ecosystem approaches are more process-or function-orientated than in situ approaches • in situ conservation may be more species-specific and speciescentred than ecosystem approaches • in situ approaches are geographically more restricted than ecosystem-based approaches • ecosystem approaches primarily conserve habitats, often with little or no knowledge of the genetic resources present in those habitats, whereas in situ approaches often target specific genetic resources.One of the major factors affecting biodiversity conservation today is global change-demographic, land-use and climatic 6 (see Table 1)-yet the biodiversity movement and most conservation planners have so far largely failed to factor global change into their planning models and strategies (Hannah et al. 2002). Global change is causing a major transformation of the Earth's environment as a result of the numbers and growth of the human population (Steffen et al. 2004) and will have effects on both ecosystems and species and their populations and genes, and consequently on efforts to conserve these. Degradation, fragmentation, simplification and loss of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, caused by urbanization, industrialization and expanding agriculture will place many species at risk and even lead to the possible collapse of major systems such as the Amazon forest (Schellnhuber 2002) or of 'ecosystems' such as mangrove swamps.Population growth will intensify the demand for more food, some of which will be met by increased agricultural efficiency, and some by converting further land for agriculture, with inevitable consequences for biodiversity.The ways in which ecosystems respond to climate change will be complex and varied and will depend on the location and extent of changes in temperature and other climatic parameters. It is now widely accepted that global climate change poses a critical threat to ecosystems, species and biodiversity in general (IPCC 2002). Current patterns of habitat loss, fragmentation and loss of species diversity will be exacerbated by climate change and, as far as species are concerned, the rates of global warming will exceed the migration capacity of many of those affected. Global warming is expected to increase extinction rates significantly. The interplay between ecosystems and the species they contain under these changing circumstances will lead to novel situations and assemblages that will challenge ecologists and conservationists. Responses at the genetic and physiological levels within species, populations and individuals require detailed case studies and long-term monitoring. Increased fragmentation of populations within ecosystem fragments will lead to significant losses of genetic diversity within species and will add to the pressure for in situ genetic conservation of target species while they still retain their diversity. With the disruption of habitats, an increase in invasive and weedy species and others with high dispersal abilities is likely and this will impact on native species and natural ecosystems.Not only is it likely that global change will lead to an increased need for in situ species conservation but it will also have an effect on the way this is undertaken. It will, for example, have major impacts on conservation strategies and facilities such as protected areas, botanic gardens, field genebanks, clonal collections, and seed forests, and even the survival of some of these will be placed in jeopardy in some regions. If protected areas are put at risk, then any species conservation actions being undertaken in them may be adversely affected.The design of protected area systems will require serious rethinking and more flexibility in size and scale so as to provide a connected network of patches of different habitat types at various scales to allow species to migrate and adjust their ranges in response to the various kinds of change. The planning of in situ species conservation under such circumstances may well be difficult, if not impossible, in practice. The effects of global change on agricultural biodiversity and on agricultural patterns will be significant, but in some regions it will be possible to mitigate the adverse effects by adaptation much more effectively than in the case of natural ecosystems.Reviews of global warming and terrestrial biodiversity decline (Malcolm and Markham 2000) and of global warming and species loss in globally significant terrestrial ecosystems (Malcolm et al. 2002) have been published by WWF. The effects of environmental change on forests are considered in a recent IUFRO report (Sidle 2002) and a report on Forests and Climate Change has been prepared for WWF International (Dudley 1998), while the World Bank has issued a working paper on global change and biodiversity (dos Furtado et al. 1999). A critical review of the issues that should be taken into account when using ecological niche modelling to anticipate climate change effects on the geographical distributions of species is given by Martínez-Meyer (2005).An area of conservation that has been neglected is that of the costs involved. Many conservation strategies go into considerable detail about the actions planned or proposed but seldom provide an analysis or estimate of the finances required. Not only are there the direct costs of undertaking various conservation actions such as setting aside land as a protected area, collecting and maintaining seed samples in a genebank or drawing up and implementing a species recovery plan, but also the indirect or passive costs which often fall disproportionately on local stakeholders who may have to forgo the benefits they would otherwise have derived from an area set aside for conservation (Balmford and Whitten 2003). As Nicholls (2004) comments, Traditionally, conservation interests have talked up the benefits they will bring to the global community-saving species, habitats, ecosystems, and ultimately the planet. But conservation also has its costs, and these are usually borne by local people prevented from exploiting the resources around them in other ways.We are only now beginning to understand the economics of conservation and the various issues involved. One area where much more documentation is needed is in determining the costs of different conservation actions. Little has been published on this, but the limited data available suggest enormous variations between the costs of field conservation in different countries and/or regions. Some estimates take into account the costs of acquiring and maintaining the habitat or areas to be protected while others do not. The legislative costs alone can amount to very substantial sums. One of the few examples showing the costs of effectively managing a protected area system is a study by Blom (2004) of the Niger Delta-Congo Basin Forest region, where it is estimated that this would require the gazetting of an additional 76 000 km² and an investment of over US$1000 million (billion) for the total system plus US$87 million per year to maintain this system over an initial 10-year investment.Looking at the annual costs of 139 field-based conservation projects from around the world, Balmford et al. (2003) found that they ranged across seven orders of magnitude-from less than one dollar to more than a million dollars per square kilometre. Apart from establishment costs and recurrent expenditures of management of protected areas, Blom (2004) discusses other additional costs for such things as inventories, surveys, investment costs, technical assistance, national institutional capacity, training, monitoring and evaluation, all of which must also be considered in implementing an effective protected area.A typical European EU LIFE Nature species management programme 7 costs €50 000-150 000 over a period of 5 years and this is in line with some US Fish and Wildlife recovery plans which run at around US$30 000 a year over up to 10 years. On the other hand, the cost of a 5-year EU LIFE project (2001-2005) for the conservation of the relictual Sicilian fir (Abies nebrodensis) in its only known locality, the Riserva Integrale in the Parco delle Madonie in Sicily, amounts to €1 161 535.The question of financing the Natura 2000 Network of protected areas in Europe has been reviewed by an expert working group (see Article 8 Working Group Final Report). 8 On the basis of data generated by a literature review which was compared to and combined with the estimates generated from a Member State questionnaire, a broad-brush range of average figures for the cost of managing Natura 2000 in the EU was between €3.4 billion and €5.7 billion per year between now and 2013. There are many reasons to believe that these estimates are conservative.It is not possible to extract in situ species conservation costs as such from these and other estimates, but what it does highlight is the wide range of activities that may be involved, in addition to the conservation management or restoration measures required by the species and habitats themselves (see Box 3). It is also clear that the costs of in situ species conservation are species-and location-specific, as has been found for ex situ conservation and genebank operations (Saxena et al. 2003; see also Koo et al. 2002Koo et al. , 2003Koo et al. , 2004)).Of course, as in all considerations of the costs of conservation, the question 'What are the costs of taking no action?' has to be asked, although in most cases this is even more difficult to estimate.Box 3: Activities that may be involved in establishing and maintaining a network of protected areas The two main international agreements that confer a mandate for the in situ conservation of wild plant species are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the FAO Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA).The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) treats in situ conservation of species upfront in the Preamble: … the fundamental requirement for the conservation of biological diversity is the in-situ conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and Article 8 of the CBD, which refers to in situ conservation of species reads:[Each contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate:…] (d) Promote the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings.Yet curiously little attention appears to have been paid subsequently by SBSTTA or COP to the part referring to \"maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings\". In addition, Article 9(c), on ex situ conservation, reads Adopt measures for the recovery and rehabilitation of threatened species and for their reintroduction into their natural habitats under appropriate conditions thereby introducing an element of confusion, since recovery plans are essentially in situ and do not necessarily include an ex situ component. Although there may have been political reasons for including this clause under ex situ conservation, it does little to clarify the ambiguities surrounding in situ species conservation.The Handbook of the CBD (CBD Secretariat 2001), in its consideration of Article 8(d) by the Conference of the Parties, notes: Most consideration of this issue is implicitly included in the discussion of protected areas above [consideration of articles 8(a-c) by the COP] but there is no mention specifically of species or populations there. It is only recently that countries have been faced with a specific call to take action in this area through the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), as agreed by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (CBD/COP Decision VI/9 2003), which includes as Target 7: \"60 per cent of the world's threatened species conserved in situ\", to be achieved by 2010 (CBD 2002a). The rationale behind this is given as: Conserved in situ is here understood to mean that populations of the species are effectively maintained in at least one protected area or through other in situ management measures. In some countries this figure has already been met, but it would require additional efforts in many countries. The target should be seen as a step towards the effective in situ conservation of all threatened species (CBD 2002a).It is clear from this and subsequent GSPC discussion documents (CBD 2002b(CBD , 2002c(CBD , 2002d(CBD , 2003) ) that the target requires considerable clarification. It also seems that perhaps too much emphasis has been given to the role of protected areas in meeting the target and not enough to the actual mechanisms and procedures of in situ conservation of species populations. An exception is the review of the scope, terminology, baseline information, technical and scientific rationale of the draft targets (CBD 2002e) which recognized for Target 7 that, amongst other requirements: in situ information on these threatened species is needed. Few protected areas can produce a reliable inventory of either all plant species within the area, or just the threatened ones, and even less often information on numbers, genetic variability, population trends, and threats posed to these species. A concerted effort on producing this information is needed if threatened species are to be conserved in situ. Key information includes number and size of populations, the spatial distribution of populations, identification of important associates such as pollinators and seed dispersers, critical habitat identification, and trend information that can be related to environmental changes and patterns of disturbance.Echoing the CBD, Target 7 also overlaps substantially with the second component of Target 8: \"…10% of [threatened plants] included in recovery and restoration programmes\", which necessarily deals with the population-related information mentioned above. As already noted, species recovery programmes involve essentially in situ conservation of threatened species. The Target 8 Stakeholder Consultation Report notes that Through the implementation of coordinated restoration and recovery programmes, Target 8 can make a significant contribution to the implementation of Target 7 (BGCI 2003) although proposed actions for this target focus mostly on ex situ conservation (CBD 2003).There is also an overlap with Target 3: \"Development of models with protocols for plant conservation and sustainable use, based on research and practical experience\", which is extraordinarily wide-ranging.Apart from these considerations, the implementation of Target 7 hinges to a large extent on an interpretation of 'effectively maintained'. Also, 'occurrence' within a Protected Area is by no means the same as 'successful protection'. Moreover, effective conservation of a species would require surveys of its distribution and ecology and of the extent and pattern of genetic variation within the species and its populations to allow an informed decision to be made about the number of individuals and the number of populations to be included to achieve this. Then action would need to be taken to remove or contain the threats to the species populations-the effectiveness of the conservation measures adopted can be judged by whether the species is any longer threatened (and vice versa). It is, therefore, perhaps misleading to claim, as some have done, that the target is already met by the UK (and other countries in a similarly fortunate situation of having a restricted flora but ample human and financial resources). The first published UK response to the GSPC (JNCC 2004) in fact lists a series of ongoing actions, and high, medium and low priority additional work that is needed to meet the target.Furthermore, as pointed out below, many protected areas, especially in developing countries, are not adequately managed or even secure. These issues are discussed further in Part III.The reference to threatened species in the GSPC Target 7 should be noted. The relevant article in the Convention itself does not restrict itself in this way but such a narrow focus is in line with most of the work on species conservation in situ that is undertaken by many countries, especially in the more developed ones. The reference to threatened species echoes the emphasis given by many countries to preparing Red Books and Red Lists of threatened species and giving protection to these through various forms of action including habitat and species action, management or recovery plans.In fact Target 7 as a whole is far from clear: it makes no mention of which kinds of species are to be included, such as those of economic importance, although the CBD itself does make reference in Article 7 (Identification and Monitoring) to the indicative list of categories given in Appendix 1 which refers to: species which are threatened; crop wild relatives; species of social, economic, or cultural importance; or species of importance for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, such as indicator species. Target 7 of the GSPC should therefore be interpreted in this context and its implementation should include species of economic importance.Target 9 of the GSPC is that 70% of the genetic diversity of crops and other major socio-economically valuable plant species be conserved and associated indigenous and local knowledge maintained. It is clear that this will include in situ approaches so that close liaison with the activities envisaged under Target 7 will be needed.The Global Plan of Action (GPA) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO 1996a) sets out a global strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture with an emphasis on productivity, sustainability and equity, and thus complements the CBD. This plan was instigated by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources which was held in Leipzig, Germany from 17 to 23 July 1996. The GPA, together with the first report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, were adopted by representatives of 150 countries during the Leipzig conference. The Conference of Parties of the CBD supported the development of the GPA at its second session in 1995 specifically for the subset of plant genetic resources pertaining to food and agriculture.The report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO 1996b) forms the basis on which the GPA has been developed. The report describes the situation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture at the global level at this time and, more importantly, identified the gaps and needs for their conservation and sustainable utilization as well as for emergency situations. The GPA was thus developed to fill the gaps, overcome constraints, and face emergency situations identified during this first global survey of the status of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in the world, as well as helping to focus resources on identified priorities. One important aspect of the GPA is that it is a rolling plan, meaning that it will be periodically updated in order to adjust to changing priorities and to promote rationalization and coordination of efforts as may be recommended by the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.The GPA is intended as a framework, guide and catalyst for action at community, national, regional and international levels. It seeks to create an efficient system for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources, through better cooperation, coordination and planning and through the strengthening of capacities. The GPA contains 20 priority activities grouped into four thematic areas: in situ conservation and development, ex situ conservation, use of plant genetic resources, and institution and capacity building. The Plan contains a specific recognition of the need to promote in situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production (Priority Activity Area 4: Promoting in situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production-see Box 4). The long-term objective for this activity is to promote the conservation of genetic resources of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production in protected areas and on other lands not explicitly listed as protected areas. The Plan calls for some recognition of the valuable role that wild crop relatives and wild plants play in food production, which should be taken into account in planning management practices. In addition, the importance of women in terms of their knowledge of the uses of wild plants for food production and as sources of income is acknowledged. Another important objective is to create a better understanding of the contribution of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture to local economies, food security and environmental health, and to promote complementarity between conservation and sustainable use in parks and protected areas by broadening the participation of local communities as well as other institutions and organizations engaged in in situ conservation. The importance of conserving genetic diversity for these species in order to complement other conservation approaches is also highlighted.The Plan also provides national and international policy guidance to enable the implementation of the priority activity. Governments are called upon to integrate conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture into priorities for national parks and protected areas and other land-use plans, while at the same time involving farmers and communities who live near protected areas and recognizing the roles and rights of indigenous communities in managing wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production in protected areas. Partly as a result of this, there is now much more focus by many countries on the need to conserve target species of economic importance in situ. 1.7.3 Convergence between the CBD and the GPA A significant development that followed from the CBD and the GPA was the convergence of interest between bodies such as FAO and IPGRI and conservation and development organizations and agencies such UNESCO-MAB, IUCN, WWF and ITDG (Heywood 2003b). One the one hand, the CBD recognized that agricultural biodiversity is a focal area in view of its social and economic relevance and the prospects offered by sustainable agriculture for reducing the negative impacts of biological diversity, enhancing the value of biological diversity and linking conservation efforts with social and economic benefits. On the other hand, it is recognized by FAO and IPGRI that the Global Plan of Action covers a number of multidisciplinary areas such as in situ conservation of wild plants and crop relatives in natural ecosystems that extend the traditional activities of sustainable agriculture and plant genetic resource conservation. Its successful implementation will require the development of new partnerships with a range of intergovernmental Box 4: Assessment of in situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production• Natural ecosystems hold important plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, including endemic and threatened wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production. • Many are not managed sustainably.• This genetic diversity, because of interactions which generate new biodiversity, is potentially an economically important component of natural ecosystems and cannot be maintained ex situ. • Unique and particularly diverse populations of these genetic resources must be protected in situ when they are under threat. • Most of the world's 8500 national parks and other protected areas, however, were established with little specific concern for the conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production. • Management plans for protected and other areas are not usually broad enough to conserve genetic diversity for these species to complement other conservation approaches.Source: FAO (1996a).and non-governmental organizations, as well as with indigenous and local communities.The COP has welcomed the GPA and the contribution that it makes to the implementation of the CBD. Much of the CBD's work on agricultural biodiversity has been undertaken in cooperation with FAO, which plays a key role in the implementation of the CBD's Decision III/11: \"Conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biological diversity\" and its work programme by the Parties.In Europe, as well as the obligations that signatory countries have acquired under the CBD and GPA, there are regional mandates that include the protection of wild species and their habitats under the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive of the European Union.The Council of Europe's Bern Convention 9 is a binding international legal instrument in the field of nature conservation, which covers the whole of the natural heritage of the European continent. It has a threefold objective: to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats; to promote cooperation between states; and to give particular emphasis to endangered and vulnerable species, including endangered and vulnerable migratory species. A Group of Experts on the conservation of plants makes proposals to the Standing Committee on which species are in need of conservation and, if approved, these are listed in Appendix I of the Convention: \"Strictly protected flora species\". The Convention's activities include monitoring species and encouraging conservation action with the long-term aim of recording the conservation status of the populations of species in the appendices of the Convention and detecting problem populations, so as to reverse negative trends. In the medium term it aims to draw up and follow Action Plans for threatened species, establish strategies for the protection of some groups of species, elaborate Red Lists, identify threats to biological diversity in different ecosystems, and strategies to combat invasive alien species. In situ conservation of target species is included in the mandate of a number of UN and other international agencies or organizations.In situ plant conservation is addressed to some extent by both the agriculture and forestry divisions of FAO.In situ conservation of target species of economic importance has not been a major concern to FAO Agriculture, although several initiatives have drawn attention to the need for such actions, such as the International Undertaking, the International Treaty and the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources. The objectives of the Treaty are: the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security (FAO 2002b).The relevant activities of the IT PGRFA as regards in situ conservation are (see Article 5-Conservation, exploration, collection, characterization, evaluation and documentation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture):• Survey and inventory plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, taking into account the status and degree of variation in existing populations, including those that are of potential use and, as feasible, assess any threats to them; • Promote in situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production, including in protected areas, by supporting, inter alia, the efforts of indigenous and local communities; • Monitor the maintenance of the viability, degree of variation, and the genetic integrity of collections of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.The CGRFA reviews and advises FAO on policy, programmes and activities related to the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the utilization of genetic resources of relevance to food and agriculture (see http://www.fao.org/ag/ cgrfa/default.htm).When dealing with the issue of in situ conservation, the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (later the Commission on Genetic Resources) expressed its concern at the lack of effort in this area and proposed a strengthening of work on this topic. However, the Commission's work has been focused largely on ex situ conservation of crop plants and the only in situ conservation activities have been on the conservation of primitive cultivars/ landraces on-farm.The role of FAO in developing awareness of the need for in situ conservation of wild species (other than in forestry) has been largely through the work commissioned and undertaken for the report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture prepared for the International Technical Conference (FAO 1996b). The preparatory process was country-driven and the Country and Regional Reports were major inputs into the process. An expanded version of the report was subsequently peer-reviewed and published (FAO 1998). Chapter 2 is entitled 'The state of in situ management'. A second report is under preparation and one of the studies being undertaken in preparation is on the conservation of crop wild relatives which will build on the GEF UNEP/IPGRI project on the conservation of wild crop relatives (see Section 3.5).The FAO Forestry Department has played a major advocacy role over the past 25 years in developing awareness of the need for conservation of forest genetic resources in situ and has commissioned a series of reports on the subject (FAO 1968(FAO -1988(FAO , 1975(FAO , 1984(FAO , 1989(FAO , 1993;;FAO/UNEP 1981, 1985, 1987). As early as 1980 it held an expert consultation jointly with UNEP on the in situ conservation of forest genetic resources (FAO/UNEP 1981). The relevant FAO activities in various aspects of forest genetic resources under the regular programme are described below.FAO's policy on the conservation of forest genetic resources covers both in situ and ex situ (i.e. in conservation stands, genebanks, arboreta, botanic gardens etc.) projects, and it has actively contributed to the elaboration of methodologies for both approaches. Since the early 1980s, in situ conservation has been emphasized. Collaboration with national institutes has continued in research and pilot activities, and in studies underpinning genetic conservation. Countries involved have included, among others, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In collaboration with IPGRI, the DFSC (DANIDA Forest Seed Centre, Denmark, now Forest and Landscape, Denmark) and other partners, FAO is developing a practical guide on the conservation of forest genetic resources, which will complement earlier documents related to conservation (FAO/DFSC/IPGRI 2001).FAO publishes an annual bulletin, Forest Genetic Resources (formerly Forest Genetic Resources Information) in English, French and Spanish, with a global distribution, also available on the Internet. In addition, FAO has continued developing the World-wide Information System on Forest Genetic Resources, REFORGEN, in close collaboration with national institutes and relevant international organizations. The system, which stores data on species and institutions, is intended to support policy and technical decisions for genetic conservation at national, regional and international levels.At the request of the 13th Session of the Committee on Forestry (1997), FAO supports country-driven processes for the elaboration of strategies and action-oriented plans on forest genetic resources at a sub-regional and regional level. FAO joins forces with national and international partners to help organize regional workshops on the conservation, management, sustainable utilization and enhancement of forest genetic resources, which aim at reviewing the status and trends of the genetic resources of major and important tree and shrub species, and elaborating relevant programmes amenable to regional cooperation. The first of these workshops targeted the Sahelian sub-region of Africa and was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in September 1998(see FAO 2001a, 2001b). Similar workshops have been held in the South Pacific Islands (Apia, Samoa in 1999) (Sigaud et al. 1999;FAO 2001c)  The main involvement of UNESCO in in situ conservation is through its programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) (see http://www.unesco.org/mab/about.htm) and its system of Biosphere Reserves (UNESCO 1992). Since its inception in the early 1970s the conservation of natural areas and the genetic material they contain has been one of the component project areas of MAB. Several of the individual reserves are concerned with the conservation of target species in situ such as the Arganeraie MAB Biosphere Reserve, in the Souss Valley, Agadir region, Morocco, where the endemic argan tree (Argania spinosa) is of main conservation interest. Another is the Sierra de Manantlán, Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, which houses a maize wild relative (Zea diploperennis) which is endemic to the area of the reserve. It was the discovery of this species in the mid-1970s that was a major stimulus to the subsequent denomination and designation in 1987 of Sierra de Manantlán as a biosphere reserve.Other biosphere reserves that conserve target species include the Fenglin Biosphere Reserve in China, which houses Pinus koraiensis, or the various biosphere reserves in the Russian Federation and Central Europe which conserve wild fruit trees.The Biosphere Reserve model, with its emphasis on sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity, and the improvement of the relationship between people and their environment, is an important one to take into account when planning in situ conservation programmes. The operation of Biosphere Reserves is detailed in the Seville Strategy for Biosphere Reserves (see http:// www.unesco.org/mab/docs/Strategy.pdf), which identifies the specific role of biosphere reserves in developing a new vision of the relationship between conservation and development.UNESCO is a key player in the WWF/UNESCO/Kew People and Plants Initiative (see http://peopleandplants.org/), which publishes The People and Plants Handbook, a source of information on applying ethnobotany to conservation and community development (Issue No. 7 is Growing Biodiversity: People and Plant Genetic Resources).The World Bank is involved in in situ conservation through various projects on medicinal plants and implicitly in its Forest Strategy (World Bank 2002). As the Strategy notes, Bank client governments do not, by and large, wish to borrow funds for forest protection. The reality, therefore, is that, unless significant additional funds at highly concessional or grant terms blended from multiple sources can be made available for protection, or effective markets for the ecosystem values of forests developed, the problem is likely to worsen.The World Bank and WWF, through the World Bank/WWF Alliance for sustainable forest conservation and use, are working together with governments, the private sector and civil society to achieve three targets by the year 2005: namely, 125 million acres of new forest protected areas, 125 million acres of existing but highly threatened forest protected area to be secured under effective management, and 500 million hectares of the world's production forests under independently certified sustainable management. 1.9.5 CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research)Several of the International agricultural and forestry centres that are members of the CGIAR alliance, most notably IPGRI and CIFOR, include in situ conservation in their remit.The mission of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is to undertake, encourage and support research and other activities on the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity, especially genetic resources, to create more productive, resilient and sustainable harvests. The aim is to promote greater well-being of people, particularly poor people in developing countries, by helping them to achieve food security, to improve their health and nutrition, to boost their income, and to conserve the natural resources on which they depend (IPGRI 2004). The new mission of IPGRI puts the wellbeing of people at the centre of its agenda and aims to achieve this by conservation and deployment of agricultural biodiversity. It hopes to achieve its mission through six strategic areas (see Appendix 1). In situ conservation is a relatively new area for IPGRI. Much of the past work of IPGRI has been on the conservation of crop genetic resources through ex situ techniques. As regards in situ conservation, the work of IPGRI has focused mainly on:• developing strategies and techniques such as ecogeographical surveying (IBPGR 1985) and guidelines for collecting plant diversity (Guarino et al. 1995 In 1991, the CGIAR expanded its mandate to include forestry and agroforestry, with IPGRI's role covering forest ecosystems and genetic resources. Over the years, IPGRI, in close collaboration with relevant partners, has developed the basis for a comprehensive and coordinated research programme in this area.The specific goal of IPGRI's Forest Genetics Resource programme is to ensure the continuous availability of forest genetic resources for present and future use, through in situ and ex situ measures that allow species adaptation and evolution to changing environments.• Strengthening institutional frameworks and contributing to international collaboration and policy making in the conservation and use of forest genetic resources • Generating knowledge and developing appropriate methods and tools for conservation and use of forest genetic resources.A major element of IPGRI's programme is increasing international collaboration through networking. In most cases their programmes of activities do not at present involve in situ species conservation, although some involve on-farm conservation, but some of them do recognize the need for such work. The EUFORGEN (European Forest Genetic Resources Networks) networks do address issues of forest genetic resource conservation, including in situ strategies, and some of the CWANA (Central and West Asia and North Africa) networks also address conservation of wild species medicinal and aromatic plants. In situ conservation is the specific concern of the ECP/GR In situ and On-farm Conservation Network, which was established and became operational in May 2000 with a joint meeting, held in Isola Polvese, Italy, of two task forces for Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves and for On-farm Conservation and Management (Laliberté et al. 2000).CIFOR has very similar objectives to IPGRI but focuses on conserving forests and improving the livelihoods of people in the tropics. It is an international research and global knowledge institution that helps local communities and small farmers gain their rightful share of forest resources, while increasing the production and value of forest products (see www.cifor.cgiar.org for a summary of CIFOR's activities). CIFOR's work on in situ conservation has previously been through its conservation programme, which was aimed at developing criteria and indicators to assess the changing status of biodiversity and ensure the conservation of forestbased biodiversity. Now there has been a paradigm shift towards environmental services and sustainable use of forests, with research now focusing on biodiversity as a means to sustainably manage and harvest forest products. CIFOR , IPGRI and ICRAF (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, now the World Agroforestry Centre), have developed a joint programme on in situ conservation of forest genetic resources, whereby the role of each centre is better defined and complementary.The Physiology and Genetics Division of IUFRO contains units on conifer breeding and genetic resources and on genetics, covering fields such as population, ecological and conservation genetics, breeding theory and progeny testing, molecular biology and cytogenetics.The terms of reference of its Task Force on Management and Conservation of Forest Gene Resources (FGR) include the gathering and synthesis of scientific information on: • scientific knowledge necessary for the conservation of FGRs: management of base and breeding populations, maintenance of representative diversity, including rare populations • case studies on in situ and ex situ conservation • interaction between human activity and integrity of FRGs: silviculture, forest operations, agroforestry, forest and landscape management, and others • effects of environmental factors on the integrity of FGRs: insect pests, diseases, air pollution.The parts of the Union that are most concerned with the topics of this review are described below.The Species Survival Commission (SSC), with more than 7000 members, advises the Union on the technical aspects of species conservation, and mobilizes action by the conservation community for the conservation of species threatened with extinction and those important for human welfare. The members of the 34 SSC Plant Specialist Groups cover a wide range of plant groups and geographical areas and undertake extensive work on the conservation of rare and endangered species. Several of these groups have produced Action Plans that include conservation strategies such as those for palms (Johnson 1996), cycads (Donaldson 2003), cacti and succulents (Oldfield 1997), orchids (Hágsater and Dumont 1996) and conifers (Farjon and Page 1999).The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) consists of a global network of protected area specialists. It has set up a Task Force on Management Effectiveness which is addressing two issues: (1) the management of existing protected areas (Are the existing protected areas effectively managed?); and (2) the location and design of new protected areas (Will the protected area network represent and effectively retain both regional and national biodiversity?). It produces a series of Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines (see http://www.iucn.org/bookstore/pro-areas-2.htm) and, jointly with the IUCN/WWF/GTZ Forest Innovations Project I, it held an international Workshop on Management Effectiveness of Protected Areas, 14-16 June 1999 at CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. 10  The IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), as part of a joint working group with the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SERI), has prepared a joint rationale on why ecological restoration is a critical tool for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development (see http://www.iucn. org/themes/cem/ourwork/ecrestoration/index.html).1.9.8. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)The WWF is an international network and runs more than 280 projects which contribute to plant conservation worldwide. Many of these are concerned with the conservation of habitats rich in plant diversity, rather than with the conservation of individual plant species. WWF-India and WWF-South Africa are among the WWF national organizations that are most involved in plant conservation.The Endangered Species Programme of WWF does not have an in situ component and like its Flagship Species Project is heavily biased towards animals. The International Plant Conservation Unit (see http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/plant_conservation_ and_wwf.pdf) is the main focus of plant conservation activities. Much of its work on plant species comes under the People and Plants Programme, a joint initiative of WWF-UK, UNESCO, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, aimed at promoting the sustainable use of plant resources, and the reconciliation of conservation and development, by focusing on the interface between people and the world of plants.Part II: In situ conservation methodologiesIn situ conservation strategies for target species involve a range of complex to simple pragmatic activities, depending on the species concerned and their characteristics, distribution, genetic variation, the habitat(s) occupied, economic importance, the degree of urgency (or threat), and the resources available. The main elements involved in developing a strategy for the conservation of target species in situ can be broadly divided as follows: The order in which these elements are applied may vary and not all components are essential. Although a model has been proposed as suitable for widespread application and is being tested in several projects around the world (Maxted et al. 1997c), a point that comes out clearly in this review is that there is no simple single strategy for genetic conservation of target species that is appropriate to all situations, or even generally applicable.The number of wild plant species requiring specific conservation efforts is far too numerous to include all of them in conservation programmes (Sutherland 2001). Even within the main groups of target species of economic importance (wild relatives, forest tree species, medicinal and aromatic plants), the number of species to consider is greatly in excess of any reasonable expectation of conservation possibilities. In the case of wild relatives, it has been suggested that the number of candidate species is presumably at least an order of magnitude higher than the crops to which they are related (Brown and Brubaker 2001) and it has even been suggested that \"for practical purposes, this group alone, if fully investigated, represents more than can be attempted in the foreseeable future\" (Holden et al. 1993). If a conservation strategy depends, as it often will, on the results of ecogeographical surveys and analyses of genetic and biological variation, all of which require considerable investments of time, money and expertise, not to mention any management interventions and monitoring, then effective action will not be possible for most of the species identified. This is even true even for such programmes as those for endangered species of the Center for Plant Conservation in the USA (Holsinger and Gottlieb 1991). It follows that the selection of target (candidate) species is a key element of any in situ programme. A useful review of the principles of priority setting in species conservation, although in an ornithological context, is included in a recent volume on conserving bird biodiversity (Mace and Collar 2002). The prioritysetting systems applied most widely in the USA are those developed by The Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (see Elzinga et al. 1998a: pp. 29 et seq.).Some general principles for the selection of target species are widely applied (Maxted et al. 1997d) (see Box 5). In addition there are special factors that may have to be taken into account in particular cases or types of plant (for example crop wild relatives, forest species, medicinal plants, ornamental plants etc.) and these may affect the selection process, or may be applicable only at a later stage, such as the extent of management needed. The main factors are:Coverage and distribution: The coverage and distribution of the target species in time and space is an important factor to consider. The degree of coverage or the percentage of the total cover occupied by the species and their populations as well as their general distribution pattern (widespread, disjunct populations, narrow localized species, metapopulations) will affect the genetic architecture, population structure and the amount of variation. For example Millar and Libby (1991) discuss strategies for conserving variation in widespread species such as northern-hemisphere conifers. Furthermore, their occurrence in marginal habitats as opposed to optimal habitats will also determine the pressures affecting the populations and the types of conservation management intervention required.The existence of different types of variation (ecotypic/genecological, chemical and clinal) and how they are distributed will also be another major consideration to take into account. Special desirable features such as chemical variation (Heywood 2002) would need to be covered in the populations selected in the case of medicinal and aromatic plants.The degree to which species and their populations are under threat from genetic contamination might well affect their genetic integrity and would call for special consideration in the management of in situ populations. The competitive ability of the species to withstand invasion of their habitat by alien species may affect the degree of management intervention required and their capacity for natural regeneration.Box 5: General criteria for selecting target species Modified and amplified from Maxted and Hawkes (1997), Mace and Collar (2002) Extent of utilization: The extent of utilization of the target species; whether it forms part of provenance and breeding programmes or is simply harvested from the wild or used by local communities, would also be important factors to take into account.The successful in situ conservation of target species will depend a to a large extent on how much is already known about the species' biological characteristics (e.g. taxonomy, breeding system) and whether the species is unambiguously delimited, readily available and easy to locate and sample. Pragmatic decisions based on the above will be required in order to ensure the likelihood of conservation success and sustainability.The relative monetary costs of conservation actions would be yet another key determinant.Species selection can take two approaches, namely single target species or multiple species approaches. For single-species approaches, different criteria have been developed in relation to the forestry species and medicinal plants. For forestry species, there is no general forum for discussing and deciding on which species to select and which can be safely ignored (Namkoong 1986). However, the FAO statutory body, the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources, whose role is to help plan and coordinate FAO's efforts to explore, utilize and conserve the gene resources of forest trees, includes in its recommendations lists of priority species by region, species and operations/activities. In assessing priority species, degree of threat is not the basis of selection but rather a balance of socio-economic, environmental and cultural values (Palmberg-Lerche 2001). The FAO Draft Technical Guidelines for Identification and Definition of National Priorities prepared for use in regional workshops on forest genetic resources (FAO 1999), includes a detailed discussion on the identification of target species according to perceived value and attributes/uses, present management and occurrence, and level of security and threats (see also Namkoong 1986Namkoong , 1999;;Namkoong and Koshy 1997;Koshy et al. 2002).For medicinal plants, the following criteria have been proposed (Vieira and Skorupa 1993) to define priority:• species with proven medicinal value including those containing known active substance(s) or precursor(s) used in the chemicalpharmaceutical industry with proven pharmacological action, or at least demonstrating pre-clinical and toxicological results• species with ethnopharmacological information widely used in traditional medicine and which are threatened with extinction or are vulnerable • species with chemotaxonomical affinity to botanical groups which produce specific natural products.Other common criteria for selecting species include their endangerment status, the extent and pattern of their distribution, and their occurrence in protected areas or centres of plant diversity.Endangered species are a widely accepted focus for conservation attention both nationally and globally and are frequently afforded high priority. Lists of endangered species are compiled with little regard to the economic, social or scientific importance or the biology of the species involved. It has been pointed out that in the USA many 'endangered' species are peripheral (and often not viable) populations if the whole range of the species is taken into account (Godown and Peterson 2000;Peterson 2001) and this may well be true of other countries as well. If, however, the species are endemic to the country concerned then there is much greater justification to choose them as targets for conservation. An emphasis on threatened species is not just confined to national species recovery programmes for Red List species. Although endangerment is but one of many criteria that may be employed to determine conservation priorities, it is often employed as a filter after other factors have been considered. Thus in a review of work on collecting and research on wild potatoes (Solanum spp.) of the southwest USA (Bamberg et al. 2003), it is considered that future in situ research should involve precise documentation of the locations of living populations so as to provide \"an essential platform for in situ projects to identify which populations are most valuable, and which are in danger of extinction or are otherwise threatened\". The presence of a target species in a recognized Centre of Plant Diversity or 'hotspot' (Myers et al. 2000) may be considered beneficial in that by definition these locations contain concentrations of endemic species and so the effective conservation of the habitat as a whole will be more likely (although by no means guaranteed). The IUCN/WWF three-volume Centres of Plant Diversity (Davis et al. 1994(Davis et al. -1997) ) is a major source of information.While many of the species targeted for in situ conservation are restricted in distribution, if not rare, attention has also been focused in some cases on species which are widespread and of economic importance, such as major forest trees (Millar and Libby 1991). Sampling and conservation strategies for such species may involve including genetic core areas, important ranges of diversity, particular ecotypes or ranges of clinal variation, and outlier or marginal populations.Most of the above considerations apply to single target species but in some cases an alternative strategy is to design a strategy that conserves the target species jointly with other species in the same ecosystem, as has been proposed for example in the case of ash (Fraxinus spp.) (Pliúra 2003). This is not the same as the incidental protection of other species as a by-product of the conservation of a target species-in such a case, any conservation of the nontarget species is 'hands-off', and no specific strategy for them is involved.The multi-species approach is suggested in the US National Research Council review of managing genetic resources of forest trees, which says that \"There may exist well-correlated sets of cooccurrences of species that can for immediate conservation purposes be considered to be distinct assemblages, if not communities\" (National Research Council 1991) but, as it goes on to say, in areas where several species are being conserved at the same time in a reserve, it is a problem to ensure that the number and distribution of the populations of the species concerned are adequate for maintaining genetic variability in either single or multiple reserves. Not only this, but joint species conservation strategies need to be based on the same principles as single target species, and in the case of Fraxinus spp. \"should be dynamic, evolutionary oriented, and based on [the] multiple breeding system (MPBS) concept\" (Pliúra 2003). The MPBS approach as applied to joint breeding and conservation strategies by Namkoong (1983Namkoong ( , 1989) ) means that the gene resource population selected is split into small subpopulations over a range of environments and is thus exposed to natural selection, and in turn to evolution, in a variety of directions.On the other hand, multi-species recovery plans for endangered species have been proposed by several countries, such as Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. In the latter, recovery plans under the US Endangered Species Act include some in which several species have been grouped together under the same plan. The advantages of a local, multi-species or regional approach are that it can focus efforts on specific populations of animals and plants and can develop local community campaigns to help implement the necessary recovery actions. Further benefits include the avoidance of duplication, greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and the ability to bring together a broader range of interested groups and individuals (Boyes 2001).It should be noted, however, that a recent review indicates that the decisions on which species to include have not been influenced by the similarity of threats to which they are exposed but rather by their taxonomic relatedness or geographical proximity (Clark et al. 2002) and suggests that multi-species plans are less effective than singlespecies plans, probably because less time and money is spent per species (Boersma et al. 2001). Criteria for deciding whether singlespecies or multi-species plans are more appropriate are suggested in the South Florida Multi-Species Recovery Plan (Jewell 2000).What is clear that there is no single factor that can be applied unequivocally to all situations or groups of species. When different variables are recognized, some kind of decision support system, such as the application of qualitative or numerical values to the factors chosen, and the use of a matrix so as to determine priorities, may be employed (Yanchuk 1997).The first step in any in situ conservation programme for target species is to establish a baseline of available information before other activities are initiated. The process of gathering this information is sometimes referred to as an ecogeographical survey or study (Maxted et al. 1995) and is considered central to all issues of conservation and a key requirement in the development of any in situ conservation strategy (Ouédraogo 1997). Choosing species to include in an in situ conservation programme requires that adequate information is available to make proper decisions and set the right priorities. Box 6 shows some of the different kinds of information that should be gathered. A word of caution, however, is needed. It is important to gather as much information as possible from as many sources as possible, but the validity of this information should then be double-checked (USDA 1999). Once the knowledge baseline has been established, this will allow gaps in the knowledge to be identified and will inform the implementation of the subsequent steps.The concept of ecogeographical surveys gained wide currency after the publication of a booklet Ecogeographical Surveying and In Situ Conservation of Crop Relatives by IBPGR (later IPGRI) in 1985. The term applies to various systems of gathering and collating information on the taxonomy, geographical distribution, ecological characteristics, genetic diversity, and ethnobiology of the target species, as well as the geography, climate and the human setting of the regions under study (Guarino et al. 2002). Ecogeographical information can be used to locate significant genetic material and representative populations can be monitored to guide the selection of representative samples for conservation and utilization (IBPGR 1985). IBPGR (1985) described ecogeographical surveying as the determination of: • distribution of particular species in particular regions and ecosystems • patterns of infra-specific diversity • relations between survival and frequency of variants and associated ecological conditions. Maxted et al. (1995) have reviewed in detail the various steps involved in undertaking an ecogeographical study or survey, which in essence consists of three main phases: project design, data collection and analysis, and product generation (see Box 7). It involves the collation and analysis of large and complex data-sets obtained from the literature and from the passport data associated with herbarium specimens and germplasm accessions (Maxted and Kell 1998). The ecogeographical data analysis produces three basic products: the database, which contains the raw data for each taxon; the conspectus, which summarizes the data for each taxon; and the report, which discusses the contents of the database and conspectus (Maxted 1995;Maxted and Kell 1998). The results of the data analysis can be predictive and are prerequisite to better conservation of genetic resources of plants whether ex situ or in situ.Box 6: Elements needed for knowledge baseline 1. bring together information on the main wild species of economic use in the country or region on:• the correct identity • distribution • reproductive biology • breeding system • demography • conservation status 2. gather information on how they are used, including local traditional knowledge 3. gather information on the nature and extent of trade in these species 4. gather information on the extent to which (if relevant) they are harvested from the wild and the consequences of this on the viability of wild populations 5. gather information on their cultivation and propagation 6. gather information on their agronomy if cultivated 7. establish which of them occur in Protected Areas 8. gather information on the availability of germplasm and authenticated stock for cultivation 9. gather information of what (if any) other conservation activities (including ex situ, ecogeographical surveys) on the species existThe results can be used to assist in the formulation of collecting and conservation priorities (Maxted et al. 1995). Specific examples of the application of ecogeographical studies and surveys on crop and wild species germplasm include: Vicia (Maxted 1995;Bennett and Maxted 1997;Maxted andKell 1998), Hordeum (von Bothmer et al. 1991), Trifolium (Bennett and Bullitta 2003), Coffea (Dulloo et al. 1999), annual legumes (Ehrman and Cocks 1990), Corchorus (Edmonds 1990), Medicago (Rihan 1988), Phaseolus (Nabhan 1990), Lens (Ferguson et al. 1996) and Leucaena (Hughes 1998). The different ecogeographical studies undertaken on the forage species of Vicia illustrate well the extent to which such studies can be applied. Maxted (1995) carried out a detailed ecogeographical study on the genus Vicia subgenus vicia throughout its geographical range, based on herbarium specimens held in 18 major international herbaria and supplemented by field trips. In his study, conservation priorities were defined and specific targets for ex situ and in situ were identified. Bennett and Maxted (1997) restricted their study on the Vicia narbonensis complex and V. bithynica to a herbarium survey and genebank accessions. Maxted and Kell (1998) focused on one geographical area, Turkey in this case, to illustrate the use of ecogeographical techniques in identifying centres for in situ conservation. Bennett and Bullitta (2003) made an ecogeographical analysis of six species of Trifolium from Sardinia with the aim of designing future collection missions and for the designation of important in situ reserves in Sardinia. A similar ecogeographical approach was used to map genetic diversity hotspots of wild Coffea species from Mauritius and as a basis for developing genetic reserves (Dulloo et al. 1999;Maxted et al. 1999).Much of the initial work involved in undertaking an ecogeographical survey is desk-based and this then needs to be complemented by field work. Maxted and Guarino (1997) make a distinction between an ecogeographical study and an ecogeographical survey. A study involves a more detailed analysis and interpretation phase than a survey. For instance, Ehrman and Cocks (1990) were able to propose a detailed list of conservation priorities for annual legumes in Syria based on an ecogeographic study, including field work, which collated data over several years. At the other extreme, a brief period spent collecting ecogeographic survey data from herbarium specimens and germplasm accessions passport data, combined with information from the literature, provides the very useful and necessary background data for a single germplasm collecting expedition and subsequent ex situ conservation. The examination of herbarium specimens may be an important source of information (Pearce and Bytebier 2002) and is an important step in preparing an ecogeographical survey (Maxted et al. 1995). In a recent study on American wild potatoes (Bamberg et al. 2003), a survey of available herbarium material was undertaken to help determine the location and distribution of the species and collection potential sites; information was also obtained from local botanists. A simple herbarium-based ecogeographical survey of African Corchorus, Hibiscus and related species carried out by Edmonds (1990) showed the usefulness of ecogeographical surveys in locating potential wild species of jute for genetic improvement of this crop (Edmonds 1990).While herbaria are often seen as a very good starting point for providing good sources of ecogeographical data, there are very often significant gaps in ecological data from herbarium specimens, especially older ones, and sometimes these also lack curatorial and geographical data such as collector's name, collecting date and locality details (Maxted 1990;Bennett and Maxted 1997;Dulloo et al. 1999). An ecogeographical study of Coffea species based on herbarium specimens found that data on soil type, altitude and habitat were present in only 0.8%, 2.4% and 6.5% of specimens recorded (Dulloo et al. 1999). Maxted et al. (1995) discusses in detail the value of herbaria in the collection of ecogeographical data and concludes, however, that often herbaria are the only sources of geographical information for determining distribution of target taxa, especially non-crop species, for diversity and conservation studies. For less well-collected taxa, in particular wild species or wild relatives, a desk-based ecogeographical survey needs to be supplemented by field exploration (Maxted and Guarino 1997). However, herbaria have an important role to play in determining or verifying the identity of material sampled, although it must be noted that many herbarium specimens are misidentified, even in leading herbaria.Correct identification of the target species is an essential step in any conservation strategy as it provides not only the key to the associated literature but establishes the basis for repeatability (Miller et al. 1989). The correct naming of the plant material sampled is also essential and a prerequisite for its proper use and conservation. Great caution should be exercised in the use of common names to identify material. They are often locally specific but not unique over larger areas, and are often inaccurately associated with scientific names (Kanashiro et al. 2002).However, when dealing with species conservation, the choice of which units of biological diversity should be adopted is a matter of considerable debate (Bruford 2002). In most cases, the species is used as the basic unit, but the conservation focus may be more on infraspecific units or populations within the species targeted. Conventionally, plant species are defined in taxonomic terms, i.e. based on morphological or phenetic discontinuities that are believed to reflect breeding discontinuities, although the question of species concepts is still highly contentious and there are currently seven or eight different species concepts in use (phenetic, biological, recognition, ecological, cladistic, pluralistic, phylogenetic and evolutionary) and no agreement between the different practitioners about how to develop a coherent theory of systematics at the species level (Heywood 1998). In addition, species concepts differ from group to group and there are often national or regional differences in the way in which the species category is applied (Gentry 1990;Heywood 1991) which make comparisons difficult.The methods used to determine the distinctiveness of species and other biological units will in turn determine whether or not they are selected for conservation action or legal protection (Olfelt et al. 2001). There is growing evidence to suggest that the use of conventionally defined species (taxonomic or biological) may not lead to the adequate conservation of the diversity with future evolutionary potential that is needed. Increasingly in conservation studies, mainly of animal groups such as birds, the concept of Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESU) rather than species, subspecies or ecotypes, is being employed as the basic unit for conservation management and establishing priorities (Ryder 1986;Waples 1995Waples , 1998)). For plants of agriculture whose genetics and breeding relationships have been well studied, there may be serious discrepancies between conventional taxonomic treatments and classifications that reflect primary, secondary and tertiary genepools or similar systems based on degree of actual or potential gene exchange, such as the ecosystem/ecospecies/coenospecies/ comparium hierarchy which is often used in biosystematic or genecological classifications (Spooner et al. 2003).It is likely that in the majority of cases, however, a taxonomic species concept will be employed for identifying target species and in practical terms, the Standard Flora(s) 11 of the country should be used for their identification and the nomenclature adopted therein should be followed unless it is possible to determine the correct name (if different) through other sources. For examples, lists of Standard Floras exist for Europe (Tutin et al. 1964(Tutin et al. -1988(Tutin et al. , 1993) ) and the Mediterranean region (Heywood 2003c) as well as Euro+Med PlantBase for the combined Euro-Mediterranean region. 12 In addition, regional treatments such as the Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 1964(Tutin et al. -1988(Tutin et al. , 1993) ) and Med-Checklist (Greuter et al. 1984(Greuter et al. , 1986(Greuter et al. , 1989) ) are also available. Furthermore, a comprehensive taxonomic database and information system for the combined region is currently at an advanced state of preparation. 13 If a monographic treatment exists, this should be followed. A guide to the standard Floras of the world has been compiled by Frodin (2001).While it is likely that in the case of known rare and endangered wild species few problems of identification will arise, for widespread species which occur in more than one country, care should be taken, as the same species may occur under different names in different Floras in the different countries and in the absence of any agreed nomenclature, specialist taxonomic advice should be sought. This is not a trivial issue, as incorrect identification could have serious consequences. Infraspecific variants such as subspecies, ecotypes or chemical races or individual populations rather than species may be the focus of attention (Yanchuk 1997). Increasingly, molecular methods are now being used to identify or characterize populations and plant genetic resources (Graner et al. 2004).With certain exceptions, the patterns of distribution and abundance of species and their populations is poorly known, especially in the tropics (Gentry 1992). A recent review of 10 years of collecting and research on wild potatoes of the south-western USA concluded that finding and precisely documenting locations of living potato populations in the USA provides an essential platform for in situ research projects to identify which populations are most valuable, and which are in danger of extinction or are otherwise threatened (Bamberg et al. 2003).Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used in ecogeographical surveys of target species. GIS can be defined as a \"database management system that can simultaneously handle data representing spatial objects and their attribute data\" (Jones et al. 1997). Examples include FloraMap (see Box 8) which was developed at CIAT (Jones and Gladkov 1999;Jones et al. 2002) and DIVA-GIS (Hijmans et al. 2001). A recent review surveys the use of spatial analysis of georeferenced data generated during the various processes involved in the conservation and use of genetic resources (Guarino et al. 2002) and a list of references on spatial analysis and GIS applied to genetic resources management has been compiled by IPGRI. 14   The maps obtained by GIS can be used for prospecting and for identifying in situ conservation sites. A PowerPoint presentation on Mapping the distribution of five species of Passiflora in Andean countries is available (see http://www.floramap-ciat.org/ing/ poster-ppt.htm). GIS has also been used in developing medicinal plant conservation parks in India.A detailed understanding of the structure of genetic variation in a species and its populations is needed if a strategy that captures a desired level of genetic variation is to be adopted. The pattern and way that the variation is organized will determine the conservation strategy in terms of which and how many populations are selected for inclusion in which areas. It would be misleading, however, to Box 8: FloraMap -A software tool for predicting the distribution of plants and other organisms in the wild FloraMap is the product of more than 20 years of research at CIAT. The program makes precise, detailed maps that eliminate much of the guesswork from the slow, expensive process of finding and recovering wild species. It was developed for predicting the distribution of organisms in the wild when little is known of the physiology of the species concerned. With its user-friendly software linked to agroclimatic and other databases, biodiversity specialists can create maps showing the most likely distribution of wild species in nature. Such maps are extremely valuable for tasks such as planning collection expeditions and deciding where to locate projects for in situ conservation. Early versions of the program have been used successfully to guide plant collecting, to study the taxonomic and genetic variation of particular species, and to map the distribution of crop pests and their natural enemies. The pre-release version was thoroughly evaluated by a select panel of genetic resources experts. An example of its use is in mapping the probability distribution for each of the 68 wild species of Arachis across their geographical range in the whole of central South America to help determine conservation status and assess conservation priorities.Source: CIAT (http://www.floramap-ciat.org/) and Jarvis et al. (2003) suggest that such information is likely to become available for a large number of species in the foreseeable future. As has been pointed out by Graudal et al. (1997), A total survey of the genetic variation of all species identified for genetic resource conservation is neither practical nor economically possible. The study of genetic variation in adaptive traits requires in general that the species should be tested for long periods and at many sites. A survey based on the use of ecological data in combination with biochemical markers and data from already established field trials is probably a possible way to approach the problem for many species within a realistic time span. Such surveys are, however, not possible for all species. For the time being, the required number and the optimal geographic distribution of the conservation stands must be decided by other means.And as has been commented recently (Kjaer and Graudel 2000):Considering the thousands of tropical tree species, we dare say that for more than 99.9% of the potentially important tree species we have nothing but qualified guesses about their genetic structure. One can say that the dilemma is that an urgent need for conservation is recognised without really knowing what to conserve!\" Moreover, it is often difficult to assess the significance of the genetic variation information uncovered. In a study of Solanum in the USA, the comment has been made that we are at a pitiable state of ignorance about which populations are most valuable … geographic or environmental clues are usually not too helpful. Our recent unpublished data shows that the genetic distinction of some populations of S. verrucosum in Mexico is very well associated with proximity to other potato species. The two species are generally thought to not be very likely introgressors, but what if, in fact, the distinctive S. verrucosum populations are really so only because they have common bands from S. hjertingii? So … physical clues to the vigor of a population are not very reliable, especially in the southwest USA. Location and environmental distinctions are not very indicative either. So we test DNA variation directly, but that also can give misleading conclusions if we have inappropriately set the genetic pool of study to a set of populations (Bamberg [29 May 2003, in litt.]).The methods currently available for assessing the genetic variation in a species include studying morphological and metric features in the field and a range of biochemical and molecular markers in the laboratory. For example, in the case of wild grapes in the USA, the characterization of inter-and intra-population genetic variation by morphological and molecular analyses was able to determine which populations represented significant genetic resources (Pavek et al. 2001).Good accounts of the ways in which genetic diversity in species can be measured are included in texts on biodiversity (Mallet 1996) and conservation (Newbury and Ford-Lloyd 1997). Molecular markers (RAPD, RFLP, AFLP, SSR) may be used for rapid surveys of genetic variation within and between populations (Hamrick 1994), but as they do not identify the distribution of adaptive traits, their value in guiding genetic conservation is limited (Theilade et al. 2000). A recent review concluded that genetic markers should be used with care unless combined with observations on quantitative traits such as growth and survival (Kjaer and Graudel 2000).It is possible to predict to some degree the patterns of genetic variation from ecogeographical variation. It is generally accepted that similarity in ecological conditions implies similarity of genetic constitution (Theilade et al. 2000). A comparison of a species' distribution with well-defined ecological zones may provide an indication of the genetic variation within the species. Although this assumption is often made, it is not true in some cases; for example in natural populations of wild lentils (Lens spp.) (Maxted and Ford-Lloyd 2003).An area within which it is acceptable to assume that populations are genetically similar is sometimes termed a 'genecological zone' (Graudal et al. 1997;Theilade et al. 2000). Genecological zonation is considered a practical tool for the selection of populations to be conserved (Theilade et al. 2000) (Box 9). In the absence of genetic studies, ecogeographical studies have been used to outline genecological zones for conservation of genetic variation in Zambesi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga) (Theilade et al. 2001).The planning and design of conservation areas is an enormously complex issue about which a great deal has been written (see Soulé 1986;Maxted et al. 1997a;Sutherland 2001; FAO/FLD/IPGRI 2004). The primary determinant of the design must be the purpose(s) for which they are being proposed (Meffe and Carroll 1994;Cavalcanti et al. 1999;Sutherland 2001) Design principles are of course closely linked to the question of the amount of genetic variability it is aimed to conserve, as discussed above.The main design principles for ecological conservation reserves have been summarized in a recent review by Neel and Cummings (2003b) and they are also discussed in many published management plans. Although genetic diversity plays a significant role in the persistence of species and populations, most reserve selection and design efforts focus on ecological characteristics, species distribution patterns or on community-level diversity (Neel and Cummings 2003b). It is widely assumed that the application of ecological approaches to species conservation will also allow the conservation of genetic diversity but it should be noted that according Box 9: Genecological zonation Genecological zonation is a practical tool in the selection of populations to be conserved. It consists of identifying areas with uniform ecological conditions and subject to none or limited gene flow from surrounding areas. Genecological zonation may be prepared as one common system for several species or as a specific system for one species. It is usually based on existing data on natural vegetation, topography, climate and soil. If available, information from provenance trials and genetic marker studies may be used to test the validity and adjust the zonation. Compared to ecogeographic zones, genecological zones differ in at least one aspect. An ecogeographic zone may be composed of a group of ecologically similar but geographically separate areas. If the geographic separation constitutes barriers to gene flow, such areas should most likely be considered as different genecological zones. The close relationship between ecogeographic zones and genecological zones implies that the latter can be used as a starting point to develop genecological zones for Zambezi teak in Zambia. However, geographically separate areas included in the same ecogeographic or agro-ecological zone have to be considered different genecological zones. Genecological zonation should ideally be specific for individual species, or at least for major groups of species. Different target species in a given gene resource conservation programme may diverge in several ways. They may vary in reproduction biology, they may react differently to environmental clines, and they may reflect entirely different life histories in terms of evolution, migration, hybridization events, or human utilization. Thus species with the same distribution may show entirely different patterns of genetic variation within that area. Species-specific zonation will require the same basic data as common zonation. For economic reasons, and due to lack of species-specific data, such specific systems will generally be limited to species of major economic importance.Source: Theilade et al. (2000) to a recent study, selecting populations according to ecological reserve guidelines generally did not capture more genetic diversity than selecting populations at random (Neel and Cummings 2003b). What is important is that the number of populations included in the reserves and the number of sites needed to capture all alleles may be substantially greater than the five that are currently recommended.Genetic reserves (gene management zones/units) are a particular kind of reserve where the purpose is the long-term conservation of genetic diversity in wild populations of target species (see Section 2.2.5). Principles of genetic reserve design have been proposed (Maxted et al. 1997a) but they do not necessarily apply in particular cases, such as the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), where there are too many habitat restrictions to allow their application (Rogers 2002).A basic restraint is that reserves (of whatever type) are usually small parts or fragments of larger, more continuous, ecosystem or landscape units with all the consequences that fragmentation brings with it, both for the ecosystem and the constituent species and their populations.The main approach to biodiversity conservation is the setting aside of as much land as possible as protected areas. As agreed at the Fourth World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas in 1992 (IUCN 1994), a protected area is defined as An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.In the medium to long term, protected areas only work if they really are protected (WWF 2004). The establishment of protected area systems by countries is the major component of most national biodiversity conservation strategies. According to the 2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas (Chape et al. 2003), globally there are more than 100 000 protected areas, covering more than 11% of the earth's terrestrial surface.Public protected areas are supplemented in some countries by extensive private reserves or other forms of protection. In the USA, for example, the Nature Conservancy currently owns and manages approximately 15 million acres of the national territory and globally protects more than 116 million acres of the most ecologically important places in the USA and 28 other countries. A recent review notes that, in Amazonia and elsewhere, rural people are defending far bigger areas of tropical forest from unfettered deforestation and logging than are parks, thereby conserving the ecological services provided by these forests and the majority of their component plant and animal species (Schwartzman et al. 2000).Many of the populations of the target species selected for in situ conservation will be found to grow in one or more protected areas and consequently benefit from some degree of protection (but see below). On the other hand, in some countries the extent to which natural ecosystems have been destroyed or modified makes it impossible to design a protected area system that will cover a large proportion of the native flora. In Central America, for example, in southern Honduras the few remaining areas of continuous forest cover which have attracted conservation interest to date are highly dispersed and cumulatively represent only a very small proportion of the landscape within which they lie. The bulk of the germplasm of native tree species lies in the dominant 'agroecosystem' which surrounds and separates the forest fragments (Barrance 1999).Yet the protected area approach often seems to be predicated on the belief that there is \"some pristine Garden-of-Eden like state for all, ecosystems, from which they have been disturbed by human actions\" (Lawton 1999). Ecosystems are continually changing and so the question of deciding what to conserve, what state of an ecosystem to conserve, is not a scientific question since there is no benchmark original state against which to measure it. The establishment by countries of protected area systems, however scientific one would like the selection of sites to be-for example so as to cover the maximum complementarity of biodiversity in the minimum area-is ultimately a politically determined process moderated by aesthetic, ethical, social and other considerations. Moreover, we have tended to overlook the dynamics of the ecosystem, the landscape and, overarching all, global change. As has recently been observed: the current paradigm of conservation management set against a static environment must be replaced by an approach that incorporates the realization of the dynamic character of the environment and of the species assemblages (Huntley 1999).There is in fact a triple dynamic: (1) that of the environmental factors (climatic, edaphic, biotic) that affect the ecosystem itself and today involves a new factor-that of global change; (2) that of the ecosystem itself which may show considerable change over short periods of time; and (3) that of the populations of the species that make up the ecosystem that may fluctuate considerably in size, distribution, genetics and composition even from one year to another (Box 10).Once a decision has been made on which species to target for in situ conservation and basic information on the geographical distribution of the target species and the target areas in which they occur has been obtained, a decision has to be made on which areas should be chosen for detailed survey and sampling. This in turn will allow a decision to be made on how many populations and which populations are to be conserved, their size and proportions, how much genetic and other diversity they should contain, as well as their geographical distribution (Hodgkin 1997). The choice of precise sites for conservation of target species is an essential component of a conservation strategy and involves setting goals, targets and scales (Balmford 2002). Apart from technical considerations, priority may well be given to sites that are protected areas or centres of plant diversity or are centres of crop origins or diversification. In practical terms, the size of the sites in which the target species occur in is also an important consideration, as this may well determine viable population size.With certain exceptions mentioned below, selecting some populations and some individuals from these populations will have genetic and conservation consequences.The number of individuals needed to maintain genetic diversity within populations has been the subject of considerable work and a great body of literature exists on topics such as population viability analysis (PVA), minimum viable population size (MVP), minimum effective population size, and in the case of metapopulations, the minimum viable metapopulation size (MVM) and minimum available suitable habitat (MASH) (Hanski et al. 1996). The minimum available habitat is a relatively new concept which has great potential in restoration, sampling for alleles or heterozygosity. It would not be appropriate to try and review these concepts here but they are defined in Box 11 and references given to key literature.In any case, some of these concepts are empirically still poorly documented and almost untested and many of the 'rules' or guidelines suggested are only applicable in certain circumstances. The realities of the field situation often determine how many and how much. Although the generally accepted paradigm of in situ conservation of species is the maintenance in their natural habitats of viable populations that will allow the species to continue to maintain itself and evolve, in practice other factors can come into play. For example, the widely employed concept of minimum viable population (MVP) implies that within a given habitat there is a threshold of a number of individuals below which survival or persistence of the population is not possible (Menges 1991). Unfortunately there is no agreed MVP for most species or even groups of species, as this will vary according to factors such as the biology, life form and ecogeographical pattern of the species.The primary concern of in situ conservation is to ensure that the population sizes selected are large enough to allow the long-term maintenance and continuing evolution of the target populations and their genetic diversity. In the case of more widespread species, the aim is to capture sufficient of the species so as to include the most significant variation. However, for rare or endangered species, the number of populations and individuals is often so reduced that there are no options other than to try and save what is available rather than any theoretically recommended minimum viable population. Indeed, population reinforcement is often employed as an option to try and ensure the survival of the remnants of the species.Examples of species with dramatically reduced population sizes are found particularly in island floras such as that of the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean (see Box 12). Examples of critically Population viability analysis (PVA) is the methodology of estimating the probability that a population of a specified size will persist for a specified length of time. A comprehensive analysis of the many environmental and demographic factors that affect survival of a (usually small) population (Morris and Doak 2002). The minimum viable population (MVP), a concept introduced by (Soulé 1986) to population biology, is the smallest population size that will persist some specified length of time with a specified probability. The minimum amount of suitable habitat (MASH) is the number (as a rule of thumb 15-20) of well-connected patches needed for the long-term survival of a metapopulation (Hanski et al. 1996;Hanski 1999). The minimum viable metapopulation size (MVM) is an estimate of the minimum number of interacting local populations necessary for long-term survival of a metapopulation (Hanski et al. 1996).endangered tree species being conserved in protected areas, and the threats to which they are subjected, are given in a recent review of forest genetic resources (Thomson and Theilade 2001); these include Hibiscadelphus woodii of which fewer than ten individuals remain in the Napali Coast State Park, Kaui, Hawaii, USA, and Maillardia pendula, which is known only from a few individuals on Grand Terre, in the Aldabra Strict Nature Reserve, Seychelles.Unlike Red List wild species, where the selection of sites is seldom an issue because of the restricted distribution of the species, in the case of species of economic importance which are subject to human exploitation to a greater or lesser degree, selection of sites is an important consideration so as to include populations which contain important genetic, chemical or phenotypic variants. Moreover, enhancement of the genetic variation in populations may also be recommended, and often a combination of both natural in situ conservation units and managed in situ conservation units will be desirable (Lefèvre et al. 2001).In the case of species that are fragmented and form metapopulations, rather than small, isolated stands, as in the case of Populus nigra in Europe, it is recommended that in situ conservation activities should not consider local sites or conservation units in isolation but should instead consider them as part of the complete network of interlinked local populations (Lefèvre et al. 2001). In such cases networks of natural and managed in situ conservation units should be established, covering the most important genetic resources of the target species throughout its whole area of distribution.Box 12: The devastated flora of the island of Rodrigues Rodriques in the Indian Ocean was once covered with a rich and luxuriant evergreen forest, but as a result of three centuries of human habitation all the original plant communities have gone and the island is today mainly barren hillsides, dotted with trees or covered with a usually monotypic shrub or thicket of introduced species; only a few areas of degraded native forest exist. According to the Plant Red Data Book for Rodrigues (Strahm 1989), at least 18 endemic plant species have become extinct, and of the surviving 36-38 endemic flowering plants, [19][20][21]7 Vulnerable and 8 Rare, with 9 of these endangered species reduced to fewer than 10 individuals and 3 known from only a single wild individual. If the combined floras of Rodrigues and the neighbouring island of Mauritius are considered, 120 taxa are known from either fewer than 20 individuals or just one or two populations, and 28 species are known from fewer than 10 individuals in the wild (Strahm 1996). Despite this apparently hopeless situation, the work of Strahm and others during the last 15-20 years, through a programme of careful management, fenced-in areas, artificial propagation of both plants and animals, replantation, weeding and promotion of conservation awareness, plus the designation of several areas as nature reserves, has enabled many of these species to be rescued from total extinction (Dulloo et al. 1996).Sources: Strahm (1989Strahm ( , 1996)); Heywood (1999), Dulloo et al. (1996) The number of populations needed to conserve the genetic diversity of a species will depend on the way that diversity is partitioned among the different populations as well as on the conservation aim. For ex situ conservation the five-population standard proposed for rare species has been widely adopted. Brown and Briggs (1991) suggested that sampling five populations would be sufficient to have a 90-95% probability of capturing all common alleles for ex situ conservation (see also Falk 1991). For plant genetic resources, the Marshall and Brown strategy of 50 populations is generally used but there is less agreement on the number of populations needed to conserve genetic diversity that should be selected specifically for in situ conservation.A recent review (Neel and Cummings 2003a) questions the effectiveness of current conservation targets and concludes that in the absence of genetic diversity data it is necessary to conserve 53-100% of sampled populations to meet the standard for common alleles.Likewise, the so-called SLOSS ('single large or several small') debate over whether it is better to have one large reserve or several smaller ones is often inapplicable simply because of the lack of suitable habitats, as in the case of the Monterey pine, where large contiguous genetic reserves are not possible for some or most populations (Rogers 2002).As we have seen, the potential number of candidate species for in situ conservation is vastly in excess of the resources or finances available for this purpose. The strategy of protecting enough habitat so as to ensure the presence of viable populations of all the native species of a region, as has been suggested, is a laudable aim but seldom possible, and is fraught with difficulties. For most wild species the best that we can hope for is their presence in some form of protected area where, provided the area itself is not under threat and subject to the dynamics of the system and the extent of human pressures, some degree of protection may be afforded. This approach has been widely advocated and is known as the 'hands-off' or 'benign neglect' approach. In the words of Holden et al. (1993), \"…for species which are not under threat of destruction, the most sensible and effective policy is to leave the material to conserve itself, in the wild…\". It is also known as 'passive' conservation (Maxted et al. 1997a) in that the presence of particular species in the protected area is coincidental and passive, and not the result of active conservation. This approach can be contrasted with 'active' conservation in which positive action promotes the sustainability of the target taxa and the maintenance of the natural, semi-natural or artificial (e.g. agricultural) ecosystems which contain these taxa. This latter approach implies the need for associated habitat monitoring.If examined in detail, such a hands-off strategy is somewhat problematic and may frequently lead to the loss of those very species or assemblages whose conservation one wishes to ensure. The most obvious problem is that, even if not ostensibly under threat, many-if not most-protected areas are not effectively managed: as noted below, protected areas are very diverse as is their degree of management. A report commissioned by the World Bank/World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Alliance and carried out by IUCN revealed that less than one quarter of declared national parks, wildlife refuges, and other protected areas in ten key forested countries were well managed, and many had no management at all. This means that only 1% of these areas is secure from serious threats such as human settlement, agriculture, logging, hunting, mining, pollution, war, and tourism, among other pressures. A further report entitled How Effective are Protected Areas? undertaken by WWF provides a preliminary analysis of the management effectiveness of nearly 200 forest protected areas in 34 countries using a tracking tool developed by the World Bank and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WWF 2004).Even when good management plans are in place, protected areas may still be at risk, as in the case of the Coto Doñana Biosphere Reserve, Spain, which has been subjected to a series of major threats in recent years from chemical pollution, adjacent urbanization and agriculture. Another example is the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, where the main threats to the biodiversity of the area include illegal logging, excessive harvest of firewood for fuel, forest fires caused by agricultural burns especially during dry seasons, overgrazing and browsing in forests, and poaching mammals and bird species to sell in the black market (Lobeira 1999).Thus, the focus shifts from the target species to the state of endangerment of the ecosystem, given that without securing the conservation of the habitat, there is little chance of maintaining the species they contain. The well-documented large-scale loss and fragmentation of forest and other habitats worldwide simply emphasizes the need to take action to extend the protected area systems as far as possible; and in deciding which additional areas to target, the conservation of genetic diversity of wild species should be given much greater prominence than hitherto (Holden et al. 1993).Without effective management, the populations of target species in existing protected areas are at risk of change in size and genetic composition because of the dynamics involved. Moreover, protected areas in some regions will be put at risk as a result of global change (Malcolm and Markham 2000;IUCN 2003) and as global change intensifies, more areas and many of the species they house will be placed at risk. The mere presence of target species in a protected area is therefore no guarantee of its conservation. Frequently some form of intervention or management of the populations of the target species is needed to ensure its successful maintenance and continued evolutionary development.Of course, many species that will be selected as targets do not occur in areas that are currently protected and the chances of setting up areas for them, even without proper species-orientated management, are very limited.It may be concluded that while there is no doubt that protected areas play a significant role in strategies aimed at protecting target species, the maintenance of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings, identified by the CBD as a fundamental requirement for the conservation of biological diversity (Preamble and Article 8(d)), is very unlikely to be achieved in the short or medium term for most species. The target proposed in the Global Plant Conservation Strategy of 60 per cent of the world's threatened species conserved in situ by 2010 will require a series of actions that are not currently being addressed by most Protected Area managers. For example, a recent WWF survey (WWF 2004) notes that very few protected areas report having comprehensive monitoring and management programmes, yet these are just two of the kinds of activities that will be needed if threatened species are to be effectively conserved within their boundaries.Although maintaining species that cannot survive outside natural or near natural conditions and providing an 'ark' for threatened species are now amongst the roles perceived today for protected areas, most of them were not set up with conservation of particular species in mind (nor do their management plans cover this) and in many, if not most, cases no proper inventory has been made of the species that they contain so that the occurrence of species of economic importance in them is often not known. It should be noted, however, that for the network of Biosphere Reserves, considerable efforts are under way to undertake inventories of the species they contain.Another concern is that the representation of target species in protected areas is usually inadequate. For example, in a study of wild peanut (groundnut) (Arachis spp.) in South America it was found that the current state of in situ conservation areas poorly represents the distribution of the species, with only 48 of the 2175 georeferenced observations being from National Parks (Jarvis et al. 2003).On the other hand, some Protected Areas are being developed so as to preserve the resources they contain. An example is the series of Natural Protectorates designated in Egypt to be managed to meet the requirements for in situ conservation of particular groups of species (see http://www.eeaa.gov.eg/English/main/Protectorates. asp). These include the Ras Mohamed Protected Area and National Park and the Nabq Protected Area, Sinai, which contain the unique northernmost mangroves in the world (Avicennia marina); the Elomayed Natural Protected Area in Matrouh Governorate, which contains numerous species of economic importance including medicinal plants, fuel, food, landscaping and soil stabilization; and the Saint Catherine Protected Area in south Sinai which houses 22-28 species that exist there alone and contains about 44% of Egypt's endemic flora. The latter area has been the subject of an EU-sponsored development programme that involves not just the protection of target species of plants and animals but maintenance of the Bedouin way of life and livelihoods. It includes a pioneering Bedouin Support Program: the inclusion of Bedouin as paid members of the protectorate staff. Seventeen men were selected to be 'haras al biaa' (literally, keepers of the environment), or as they have come to be known, community guards, who will work hand in hand with park rangers. The candidates must be local Bedouin, acceptable to the both the community and the protectorate, not in paid employment requiring their presence outside the area, and, if possible, literate to some degree.The project aims at creating a programme administered according to the Bedouin management system. In terms of in situ conservation, the Protected Area Management Unit [PAMU] has started a programme for monitoring and conserving the endemic species and 37 plant enclosures are used both for the conservation and monitoring changes of representative and endangered plant species. These enclosures are all in the mountains around St. Catherine and a team of botanists regularly monitors them. The St Catherine's Protectorate is now also included in a UNDP/GEF project on medicinal plants.Another example is the National Parks of the Canary Islands, where the Park Master Plans and Recovery Plans include management of natural resources, especially threatened species (Bañares et al. 1995).The role of protected areas and forest reserves in the conservation in situ of forest genetic resources is considered in several publications (Cossalter 1991; FAO/DFSC/IPGRI 2001). A number of Protected Areas are, however, specifically managed to conserve genetic resources of forest trees, such as the Riserva Integrale in the Parco delle Madonie in Sicily-the only known locality of the Sicilian fir (Abies nebrodensis), which is reduced to a population of fewer than 29 adults and 20 saplings, according to a recent survey (Morandini et al. 1994;Farjon and Page 1999). A small number of Protected Areas have been set up in south-east Asia specifically to conserve genetic resources of forest trees such as the Khong Chiam In Situ Gene Conservation Forest in north-east Thailand, which was established to protect an important population of Pinus merkusii as well as affording protection to a number of other forest trees.Sometimes it will be possible to enhance the capacity of protected areas to protect target species, provided that the management plans for the areas permit this. In the case of forest genetic resources, the sequence of stages that may be followed so as to achieve this improved conservation capacity is given in a review by FAO, DFSC and IPGRI (Thomson and Theilade 2001).It should also be noted that the surroundings of an area that is protected or proposed for protection may be just as important as the reserve itself (Perfecto and Vandermeer 2002). If it is proposed to locate an in situ management project for a target species in a protected area, it is important before going ahead to assess the overall management effectiveness of the area, given that, as we have seen, many protected areas are non-viable. A framework for the assessment of the effectiveness of protected areas has been prepared for the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (Hockings et al. 2000) and the Nature Conservancy (1996,1999,2001,2004).A great diversity of different types of protected areas exists, depending on the conservation objectives, the degree of human activity permitted and the extent of involvement of stakeholders. Some of these are specifically tailored for the genetic conservation of target species. The major types of protected areas include those of the IUCN Protected Area management categories, biosphere reserves, genetic reserves, sacred groves, sanctuaries, reserves and other systems involving local communities and specific plant species.The IUCN Commission on Protected Areas has provided a classification of protected areas into six categories of (see Box 13). They may be of interest for in situ conservation of target species. For example, an example of in situ conservation in a Category V Protected Landscape is the Parque de la Papa in Peru, where seven Quechua communities are planning to establish a 'Potato Park'-a community-based, agrobiodiversity-focused conservation area, which will help conserve native plant genetic resources, including landraces and wild relatives of domesticated plants and animals. It will be managed through an integrated landscape conservation model following the Management Guidelines for Category V Protected Areas (Phillips 2002).It should be noted that in practice many, if not most, countries use different or additional categories and definitions. As species do not recognize political boundaries, some of them occur in more than one country. A growing number of Transboundary Conservation Areas (TBCA) has been created during the past 15 years and the World Commission on Protected Areas has issued a series of Guidelines for Transboundary Protected Areas (Sandwith et al. 2001).Box 13: The IUCN Protected Area management categories Category Ia: Strict nature reserve/wilderness protection area managed mainly for science or wilderness protection -an area of land and/or sea possessing some outstanding or representative ecosystems, geological or physiological features and/or species, available primarily for scientific research and/or environmental monitoring. Category Ib: Wilderness area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection -large area of unmodified or slightly modified land and/or sea, retaining its natural characteristics and influence, without permanent or significant habitation, which is protected and managed to preserve its natural condition. Category II: National park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation -natural area of land and/or sea designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area, and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible. Category III: Natural monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features -area containing specific natural or natural/cultural feature(s) of outstanding or unique value because of their inherent rarity, representativeness, aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Category IV: Habitat/species management area: protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention -area of land and/or sea subject to active intervention for management purposes so as to ensure the maintenance of habitats to meet the requirements of specific species. Category V: Protected landscape/seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation or recreation -area of land, with coast or sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such an area. Category VI: Managed resource protected area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural resources -area containing predominantly unmodified natural systems, managed to ensure long-term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while also providing a sustainable flow of natural products and services to meet community needs.Source: IUCN (1994) (http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/theme/categories/categories.htm)The identification of 'hot spots' or other centres of diversity is one of the approaches to establishing priorities for biodiversity conservation. Other approaches have been proposed based on complementarity or taxonomic or phyletic uniqueness. Hotspots are areas that feature exceptional concentrations of species and are experiencing exceptional loss of habitat. Following an earlier analysis of plant hotspots (Myers 1988), a later study (Myers 1990) has shown that as many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the earth. This, it is suggested, \"opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk\". Moreover these later findings accord well with other prioritysetting analyses-showing a 68% overlap with Birdlife's International Endemic Bird Areas, 82% with the IUCN/WWF Centres of Plant Diversity, and 92% with the most critical and endangered ecoregions of WWF/US's Global 200 List. The number of hotspots has been increased in a recent revision from 25 to 34 (Mittermeier et al. 2005).The Centres of Plant Diversity initiative, developed by IUCN and WWF, identified 234 major sites of plant diversity of global importance, based on their species-richness (and the area had to contain a large number of endemic species); additionally other characteristics such as diversity of habitat types present and presence of genetic resources of plants useful to human activities were applied.A major drawback of such approaches is that they can lead to the neglect of areas that are ecologically important or otherwise deserving of conservation but do not contain a sufficiently large number of species to be selected. It is to address such concerns that projects such as the European Important Plant Areas project sponsored by Planta Europa has been developed (Anderson 2002) (see Box 14).However, the success of any of these methods depends on the practicalities of their implementation. In the case of the 234 sites recognized by the Centres of Plant Diversity, worldwide, fewer than one in four (21%) are legally protected in full and only about one-third (35%) have more than 50% of their area occurring within existing protected areas. Even more serious is the fact that a large proportion of the sites that are officially protected are not effectively managed. For example in the south-east Asia region, of the 41 sites in this region only three are considered to be reasonably safe or secure (Davis 1995).Even where the protected area system is fairly good (as in Borneo), because of the large number of endemic species and high level of diversity of plants and animals, some species will be missed by the parks, occurring in small areas or fragments, or simply not incorporated in the protected areas system. Most tropical moist forest reserves in the Indo-Pacific region are not large enough to conserve entire ecosystems and maintain minimum viable populations of many of the species they house. Maintaining species in small reserves will often require intensive management to deal with the demographic, genetic and environmental threats of extinction which face the small isolated populations that grow there. The dilemmas associated with managing numerous small populations will be the legacy conservationists' brief for the next generation unless these reserves are incorporated into larger conservation units.The type of protected area known as a biosphere reserve can play a major role in ensuring the in situ conservation of target species (Arora and Paroda 1991). The now classic structure of a zonation system of a biosphere reserve consists of: • a legally strictly constituted core area(s) devoted to longterm protection, according to the conservation objectives of the biosphere reserve, and of sufficient size to meet these objectives • a buffer zone(s) clearly identified and surrounding or contiguous to the core area or areas, where only activities compatible with the conservation objectives can take place • an outer transition area where sustainable resource management practices are promoted and developed, can be applied to accommodate different types and intensities of human use (Batisse 1982;Bridgewater 2002). There are 459 biosphere reserves in 97 countries (as of November 2004).The biosphere model may enhance sustainable management of native forests by traditional dwellers. Examples include the sustainable extraction of allspice, chicle and xaté in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, and the production of valuable oil from the Argania spinosa woodlands in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in Morocco. The biosphere reserve status ensures the technical structure and scientific backing for sustainable harvesting and efficient marketing, and creates a moral obligation for local authorities to invest the income in the rural communities.On the other hand, it has to be noted that although there are 459 biosphere reserves, it has often proved difficult in practice to implement the model, especially the use of the buffer zone (Wells and Brandon 1993;Tuxill and Nabhan 2001).Gene conservation forests are forested areas that have been reserved with the objective of protecting the genetic resources of local tree species. An example is the Khong Chiam In Situ Gene Conservation Forest (GCF), in Ubon Ratchathani Province, north-east Thailand, which was set aside specifically to conserve the lowland form of Pinus merkusii, one of only six known lowland populations in Thailand, all of which are highly threatened (Granhof 1998).Genetic reserves can be defined as dynamic units of conservation of the genetic variability of particular populations of species of actual or potential use, including crop wild relatives, medicinal and aromatic plants, timber and fruit trees, and other species of socioeconomic importance. The term 'gene conservation area' has been applied to areas that have been designated for conservation of the genetic variation found in populations of target species in natural or plantation forests (Graudal et al. 1999).A gene management zone (GMZ) is a type of genetic reserve or longterm monitoring site that contains one or more diverse populations of target species designated for in situ conservation (Tan and Tan 2002). They were developed for a major GEF-supported project on in situ conservation of genetic diversity in wild species in Turkey. GMZs should consist of core and buffer zones and their selection criteria are:• target species must be the primary consideration • they should capture as much genetic variation as possible • sites to be considered as GMZs should be accessible, sustainable and suitable for efficient population management• their size and the number of target species should be determined in terms of evolutionary potential, genetic integrity and protection values • they can be established in either natural or semi-natural environments.Another example of the use of gene management zones is the GEF project on in situ conservation of landraces and their wild relatives in Vietnam. According to the project the aim of a GMZ is to maintain the natural evolution of plants for future generations. It is an in situ conservation and long-term monitoring site that contains one or more diverse populations of target species to be conserved. Each GMZ has specific management requirements adapted to different species and environmental conditions to ensure natural evolutionary processes, hence serving as an open laboratory, permitting continued evolution and conservation of the component species. A series of GMZs is often required to represent the ecogeographic ranges needed for the selected species and populations in order to support sufficient environmental heterogeneity. GMZs should be easily accessible, relatively isolated from exotic gene flow and include a wide range of biological diversity and of the genetic diversity of the target species. Important elements for determining the size include:• The current threats to the genetic resource: if there are major threats a larger area may be needed. • How the species reproduce: the area has to be large enough to support species reproduction. • What is known about the ability of the selected species to maintain its biological sustainability (Gene Management Zones. Available from: http://www.undp.org. vn/projects/vie01g35/gmz.htm.)Gene Parks or Sanctuaries are parks or reserves established specifically to conserve material of wild relatives of certain crops. The first gene sanctuary established was that set up in the Garo Hills, north-east India, to conserve populations of wild orange, Citrus indica (Gadgil and Vartak 1974;Singh 1981).Genetic resources management units (GRMUs), a concept introduced some 20 years ago (Riggs 1982), have been defined as \"any designated forest area that meets minimum genetic management objectives\".An important type of traditional nature conservation, practised as part of the religion-based conservation ethos of ancient peoples in many parts of the world, is the protection of patches of forest as sacred groves or forests and of particular tree species as sacred trees (Saraswati 1998). It is characteristic of such traditional ecosystem approaches that they require a belief system which includes a number of prescriptions, such as taboos, that regulate human behaviour and lead to restrained resource use (Colding and Folke 1997;Gadgil 1998). An annotated bibliography of ethnoforestry with a detailed table of different kinds of indigenous forest management has been issued for comment (Narayan Pandey and Kumar 2000).An international workshop on The Importance of Sacred Natural Sites for Biodiversity Conservation was held in Kunming and Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve (China) in February 2003 (see http://www.unesco.org/mab/docs/WorkshopReport.pdf). Participants decided to create an International Network on Sacred Natural Sites for Biodiversity Conservation with the scientific objective of better understanding the mechanisms of culture-based environmental conservation, using specific case studies and with the policy-relevant objective of preparing policy guidelines on the recognition and management of sacred natural sites based on the voluntary cooperation of local communities.The Mahafaly and Tandroy communities of southern Madagascar, the local authorities and the Malagasy government are applying community-based sustainable management to sacred forests so as to conserve the biodiversity they contain, including medicinal plants, as an initiative of WWF (2003a). Another example is the Emberà, a group living in the forests on the Colombia-Venezuela border, who reserve large areas of old-growth forest in upper watersheds and along the crests of mountain chains which they regard as protected by spirits; the areas that benefit from this protection are remarkably similar to those typically set aside as protected areas (Harp 1994).In Morocco, the sacred forests (bois sacrés or forêts maraboutiques) that are found around the Qubbas (holy places where the Marabuts are buried) house remnants of natural vegetation, including some important species. Although not legally conserved, they are protected from clearing by the local people on religious grounds (Deil 2000).The term extractive reserve is applied to reserves where defined groups of local people are given exclusive rights to exploit and extract non-timber forest products, provided they adopt sustainable forestry practices and do not use clear-cutting except on a small scale for growing their own crops. Such reserves have been established in various parts of Meso-America, Kalimantan and in several states in Brazil. Best known are those in the Brazilian Amazon, which depend largely on rubber latex (Hevea brasiliensis) and Brazil nuts (Berthelottia excelsa). The effectiveness of extractive reserves as types of community-based conservation is debatable (Salafsky et al. 1993;Moegenberg and Levey 2002).There are also other sanctuaries and conservation areas named after the target plants they afford protection to. For example, areas rich in orchid species have been given protection as 'orchid sanctuaries' in various states of India such as Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Mizoram, and more are planned. Some of them are sacred forests and other are associated with orchid research centres and nurseries. Over 20 species of wild orchids are recorded in the Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, which extends over 100 km² in the Dafla Hills of Arunachal Pradesh.The term 'Medicinal Plant Conservation Area' has been applied to the network of 54 in situ reserves, each about 200 ha, which captures inter-and intra-specific medicinal plant diversity and which has been set up across different forest types and altitude zones in five states of peninsular India. Five such areas have also been established in Sri Lanka.The in situ conservation of crop/weed complexes that have developed in centres of origin or diversity of crop plants present special problems (Pickersgill 1981;Hammer 1991;Hammer et al. 1997). The weeds can be wild relatives of the crops with which they are associated and therefore candidates for conservation. Examples of crop/weed complexes are found in the Fertile Crescent and other areas in south-west Asia (Hordeum, Triticum/Aegilops) and in the Sierra de Manantlán (Zea diploperennis/Z. mays) (see Box 15). Situations where the cultivation of landraces' wild relatives co-occur may require a combination of both on-farm conservation and in situ protection, as in the case of rye and its wild relative (Secale strictum) in south Italy (Hammer and Perrino 1995).Microreserves are small-scale protected areas, usually less than one or two hectares, with a high concentration of endemic, rare or threatened species (Laguna et al. 1998;Laguna Lumbreras 2001b;Serra et al. 2004). They may be considered as an option in areas where the vegetation has been subject to fragmentation and the species populations they contain are similarly reduced or fragmented. Because of the small area they occupy and their frequent simplicity in legal and management terms, it may be possible for them to be established in great number and to complement the larger, more conventional, protected areas. On the other hand their longterm viability must remain in question, especially in the light of global change. The concept of microreserves was developed in the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain, where a large network of over 150 such areas has been created since 1991, and it is expected that this number will soon increase to about 250, covering the entire threatened Valencian flora (Laguna Lumbreras 2001b).Increasingly, local communities are becoming involved in the planning and management of various types of protected area. The concept of People's Protected Area (PPA) (Sharma 2003) has developed in India: its aim is to address the core concerns of food security, health provision and assured employment through the adoption of an integrated ecosystem approach. In the state of Chattisgarh, 32 PPAs have been established as models of conservation through use. They involve community-based participatory management, resource assessment methodologies, non-destructive harvesting, biodiversity prospecting and partnerships, equitable benefit sharing, and enabling policy and legal framework.In the high valleys of the Himalayas, members of local communities are being encouraged to protect medicinal and aromatic plants in their private/community lands known as dhangs, which basically Box 15: Sierra de Manantlán and maize and its wild relativesThe discovery in the mid 1970s of wild maize -the endemic perennial Zea diploperennis -in its natural habitat in Jalisco in western Mexico, led to the declaration of the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve in 1987. Populations of the wild annual relative, Z. mays subsp. parviglumis, and the Tabloncilo and Reventador races of maize traditional for this area, are further targets for conservation. Although limits on external inputs (such as exotic improved germplasm and chemicals) may need to be set so as not to endanger the wild relative, plant geneticists are optimistic that Z. diploperennis and the three other taxa can be conserved in situ, as long as ways can continue to be found to provide opportunities for the cultivators involved in managing the system. Indeed, research has shown that populations of Z. diploperennis virtually require cultivation and grazing in adjacent fields in order to prosper.Source: MAB (http://www.unesco.org/mab/sustainable/chap2/2sites.htm) serve as the areas for grazing and for collecting fodder. Women's groups in different villages are also being motivated to adopt neighbouring natural sites as in situ conservation areas for protecting them from excessive grazing and unscientific harvesting.Given that most species, and consequently many potential target species, occur in areas that do not currently receive any form of legal protection, i.e. outside public or private protected areas, consideration needs to be given to the policy options available for such cases, whether for strict in situ species conservation or for an untargeted or 'hands-off' approach. The maintenance of genetic resources outside protected areas has been carried out traditionally in forestry, albeit not consistently, nor in all cases consciously carried out as an act of conservation (C. Palmberg-Lerche, personal communication 2003).According to the USDA, approximately 90% of global forest area lies outside of public protected areas and a World Bank study (Putz et al. 2000) notes that while existing parks and protected areas are the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation, they are insufficient on their own to assure the continued existence of a vast proportion of tropical forest biodiversity. Promoting more biodiversity-sensitive management of ecosystems outside protected areas, especially of those known to contain target species, needs to be given high priority. This is especially applicable to forests that are already subject to some form of management such as for timber production. Indeed Poore et al. (1999) suggest that there should be no forests without management and the World Bank study cited above suggests that priority must be given to ensuring that the greatest possible amount of biodiversity is conserved outside protected areas by changing logging or timber harvest patterns. Some of the key issues involved are discussed in an FAO review of conservation of forest genetic resources and tropical forest management, including strategies for in situ conservation in production forests (FAO 1993; see also Kemp 1992).The conservation and management of plant resources outside protected areas is a major challenge and involves close collaboration with the relevant stakeholders. The USDA report also notes that Private landowners, including local communities, have often had little if any incentive to collaborate in conservation strategies because governmental 'command and control' conservation policies have not provided incentives for conservation and suggests that private landowners will be more likely to employ conservation management practices if they are likely to benefit from implementing them.The relevance of areas not under protection to the in situ conservation of target species resides in two aspects: on the one hand there is the need to address what actions may be taken to ensure that such areas, whether on public or private lands, do in fact afford a sufficient degree of protection to the selected species so as to ensure maintenance of viable populations. In a sense, in that such actions will amount to some form or degree of protection for the species concerned, the concept of conservation outside protected areas in such cases ceases to be valid. On the other hand, actions may be proposed so that many areas which are not protected as such and that are found to house target species will be maintained in such a way as to ensure their protection at the ecosystem or landscape level both by positive management policies and by the prevention of certain forms of activity. This may be done in such a way as to both involve the local community in their management, and to preserve their livelihoods and their rights to benefit from the biodiversity of these areas. Such a communitybased management approach is based on the premise that renewable natural resources, such as woodlands, grazing and wildlife, can only be conserved if their management is firmly in the hands of those whose lives depend upon their continued availability.Increasing attention is being paid to the role of communal lands in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity such as the CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) programme in Zimbabwe mentioned later (see Section 3.9). Another important example is the Wildlife Integration for Livelihood Diversification Project (WILD) in Namibia and the application of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in communal areas conservancies in the Kuneni and Caprivi regions of the country over the past 10 or so years (see Box 16;Long 2004). These communal area conservancies have contributed to the protection of wildlife species, some of which have actually increased in numbers, and to improved wildlife management practices. Although the focus at the species level has been on wildlife (i.e. animal) species, such approaches are also applicable to the forestry sector and by extension to other target plant species. Similar community-based management practices are also applied in other African countries such as Malawi, Mali, Uganda and Swaziland, and in Asia and tropical America and the Caribbean. 15 They are not without their problems or drawbacks, and in the case of Namibia run the risk of outstripping the capacity of both government and NGOs to provide the necessary support.Other examples of approaches that contribute to biodiversity conservation outside protected areas are the use of easements-legal agreements that allow landowners to voluntarily restrict or limit the kinds of development that may occur on their land. Such agreements are legally binding and can afford permanent protection. They can be used to conserve land that houses biologically significant values, and at the same time the landowner can continue to own and use the property. An example is the Grassland Reserve Program administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service. 16 It is a voluntary programme that helps landowners and operators restore and protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland, and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as grazing lands. The programme emphasizes support for grazing operations, plant and animal biodiversity, and grassland and land containing shrubs and forbs under the greatest threat of conversion. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) have created a programme with the same name to conserve native grasslands in the USA.Another approach, albeit one that has sparked a great deal of controversy, which has been developed in the USA is the so-called The objectives of the policy are: • To establish ... an economically-based system for the management and utilization of wildlife and other renewable living resources on communal land so that rural communities can:• participate on a partnership basis with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and other Ministries in the management of, and benefits from, natural resources • benefit from rural development based on wildlife, tourism and other NRM • improve the conservation of natural resources by wise and sustainable resource management and the protection of biodiversity. • To redress the past discriminatory policies and practices which gave substantial rights over wildlife to commercial farmers, but which ignored communal farmers. • To amend the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1975 so that the same principles that govern rights to wildlife utilization on commercial land are extended to communal land. • To allow rural communities on state land to undertake tourism ventures, and to enter into cooperative agreements with commercial tourism organizations to develop tourism activities on state land. The policy states: • The right to utilize and benefit from wildlife on communal land should be devolved to a rural community that forms a conservancy in terms of the Ministry's policy on conservancies. • Each conservancy should have the right to utilize wildlife within the bounds of the conservancy to the benefit of the community. Once a quota for each available species has been set, the conservancy members may decide how these animals may be utilized. They may decide to allow hunting by members of the conservancy, culling of game for meat, the sale of animals for trophy hunting, or the live sale of game.Source: Long (2004) system of Habitat Conservation Planning (HCP). This was introduced under the Endangered Species Act to address the issue of landowners using their land for legitimate purposes in such a way that might unintentionally endanger a listed species (Nelson 1999). It allows private landowners who undertake development, logging, or other actions that negatively affect land known to house listed species to destroy some endangered species habitat through a permit system. They are required to design and implement a plan that will minimize and mitigate harm to the impacted species during the proposed project. HCP has been criticized for not providing adequate protection measures for many of the listed species they cover (see the review by Kareiva et al. 1999). As of 15 July 2003, 425 Habitat Conservation Plans have been approved, covering approximately 38 million acres and protecting more than 532 species.In San Diego County, California, the Habitat Conservation Plan was taken a stage further because of the large number of sensitive and endangered species occurring there. This led to the development of the concept of a Multiple Species Conservation Program Plan to address a large number of species at the same time. It assessed 85 species of plants and animals that were already listed as rare and endangered, and involved the creation of a 69 500-ha preserve as the centrepiece to secure key areas of natural habitat (see http://www. dfg.ca.gov/nccp/mscp/mscp_faqs.htm). Note should be taken, however, of the findings of the review of US Endangered Species Act recovery plans, that putting species together in recovery plans may be better justified on the basis of the similarity of the threats to which they are exposed rather than on their taxonomic relatedness or geographical proximity (Clark et al. 2002).The majority of wild species have of course managed to survive, at least up till now, outside protected areas, but the chances of their survival in the longer term in the face of global change and worldwide habitat loss and fragmentation will be enhanced if the areas in which they occur are managed or set aside for some nonconservation purpose or reason that does not cause harm to the ecosystem (Primack 1993). Examples include land that is set aside for military use, airport protection zones, and grounds of public and private institutions such as hospitals, universities and commercial companies. Some of the side-effects of war may also be beneficial for biodiversity, such as demilitarized zones or 'no-man's lands', some of which can be very substantial, such as the demilitarized zone of the Korean peninsula which provides a biodiversity sanctuary for many native species, including some that are elsewhere rare (McNeely 2003). Such survival is of course subject to the prevailing dynamics of the system and may not result in a sufficiently broad or representative sample of the species being maintained. In a broad biodiversity conservation context, it is, however, valuable but cannot be regarded as full in situ species conservation.Another issue that needs to be addressed is the effect, both direct and indirect, on protected areas and their component biodiversity, which management regimes and practices that are applied in areas outside them will have. Examples are pest management, fire and grazing regimes, and soil and water management. Although such considerations may seem somewhat divorced from in situ conservation of species, they could be critical in some cases if what happens outside protected areas adversely affects the health and functioning of the ecosystems within the protected areas in which target species occur; it may even impact upon the populations of the species themselves. For this reason, it is important to adopt a broad landscape or bioregional approach to in situ conservation and sustainable use, whereby all kinds of land use within the landscape matrix are taken into account. In other words, threats to the maintenance of protected areas and the species they house may come from outside their immediate territory.Another reason to adopt a broad territorial perspective is highlighted by Miller (1996) in a review of the bioregional approach:Since the landscape is fragmented and much wildland has been converted to other use, the boundaries and coverage of some protected areas may not conform to the size and shape of the ecosystems that are to be maintained and managed ... Moreover, in landscapes where protected areas have not been established, key genetic, taxonomic, and ecological elements of diversity that once may have been found in wildlands, or extensive farm or forest operations, are now relegated to isolated patches in intensively managed farms, pastures, timber-harvesting sites, and suburban, urban, and industrial areas.This problem is especially acute on islands, where no large areas of land are available to set aside as reserves.Once conservation areas have been established, the populations of the target species within the protected areas or outside protected areas must be managed and monitored so as to ensure the long-term sustainability of the populations. This involves the development of species management plans and site management plans. In situ conservation is a long-term objective and all conservation areas should have a management plan, their main purpose being to ensure that there is continuity and stability of management of the reserve. A management plan is a planning tool that contains a set of prescriptions and interventions to meet the objectives of the reserve area. The process of developing management plans and their content has been described by several authors. Hirons et al. (1995) provide a detailed description of the prescriptions to be included in to a management plan for an ecological reserve. Maxted et al. (1997a) describes how to prepare a management plan for a genetic reserve. The Nature Conservancy Council (1988) provides a guide for preparing management plans for national nature reserves. Thomson et al. (2001) also describe the formulation of a management for forest genetic resources.The level of complexity of a management plan will depend on a case-by-case basis. However any management plan should contain, as a minimum, a fair description of the conservation site, an evaluation and the conservation objective of the site and the prescriptions of interventions planned, as well as location map and other miscellaneous useful information. Box 17 provides the elements of a minimum management plan. Management plans should not be construed as rigid frameworks for action but rather should be flexible to adapt to changes at the site; feedback mechanisms should be incorporated in the plan. They should also include control mechanisms that allow revision of the Plan for the short, medium and longer terms, and for this purpose a monitoring system is required. Maxted et al. (1997e) describe in detail the monitoring regime required for a genetic reserve and provide a schematic model (Fig. 1).Increasingly, the use of targets is being employed to assess the success or failure of interventions in biodiversity conservation. Targets necessitate the use of indicators whose function is generally to simplify in order to make complex phenomena quantifiable, so that information can be communicated. Biodiversity indicators support communication about the state and trends of biodiversity and of the causal relationships for changes (Delbaere 2002). As the CBD notes, \"Indicators of status, trends and causes of biodiversity loss as well as of the effectiveness of response options are needed to inform decision makers and civil society whether these targets are being met\" (for more information about biodiversity indicators, see Box 18 and http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/cross-cutting/ indicators/default.asp). However, while some progress has been made in developing indicators for certain sectors such as forestry, 17  the situation for indicators of biological diversity is less advanced, partly due to the notorious difficulty of measuring biodiversity in a precise and consistent manner, partly to scientific uncertainty as a result of poor understanding of complex ecosystem processes and functions, and the limited availability of suitable time-series data.Until recently, about the only widely reported biodiversity indicators were lists of endangered species, statistics on the amount Which taxa to monitor ?Where to sample?How to assess abundance?How to sample?How much to sample?Feedback to reserve management plan and prescription of 'wilderness' areas left and the percentage of land afforded some degree of protection (Hammond et al. 1995). On the other hand, an enormous variety of indicators has been developed in the last few years to assess aspects of biodiversity at the national, international or global scale-indeed 655 biodiversity-related indicators are listed in a report for the European Environment Agency although only a limited number of them are actually used on a regular basis (EEA 2003). An important review of recent approaches to biodiversity indicators is given by Hansson (2001), who distinguishes between policy indicators and those used for management and monitoring.He also discusses single-species vs community indicators, statistical indicators and functional indicators, and refers to the suggestion by Noss (1990) that hierarchy theory should be applied in the selection of indicators. It is evident that to address the whole of biodiversity and its composition, structure and function, many different indicators need to be applied at the different levels of organization but, as Delbaere (2002) notes, \"Despite the efforts that have been made to develop sound indicator sets and monitoring schemes, there is still a big discrepancy between the scientific development and policy requirements.\"The CBD has developed a list of indicators covering a wide range of topics, many of which are relevant to in situ species conservation (see Box 19), although a special subset may need to be developed to address particular issues that are specific to this area.One of the aims of many in situ species-orientated conservation programmes is the recovery of species, i.e. to achieve such a level of recuperation of the species concerned that their populations become secure and self-maintaining within their natural habitats and no longer in need of intervention or protection. Recovery of species (and the ecosystems in which they grow) is the ultimate goal of the US Endangered Species Act (see http://endangered.fws.gov/).Recovery plans are concerned essentially with in situ conservation of threatened species. They are often complex documents: some idea of their diversity may be obtained from perusal of the list of species or populations with recovery plans of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which is the largest system of its kind globally (see https:// ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/TESSWebpageRecovery?sort=1#Q).Recovery plans may cover single or multiple species: an outstanding example of the latter is the South Florida Multi-species Recovery Plan which covers 24 animal and 35 plant species (US Fish and Wildlife Service 1999). The recovery criteria for each of the listed species in this plan consist of several or all of the following short, narrative statements: (1) a statement that requires amelioration of threats to the species or its habitat, (2) a statement of the probability of persistence for the species (that is, 95 percent probability of persisting for 100 years), (3) the rate of increase to measure over a specific period of time, (4) the minimum number of populations (or subpopulations) to establish, (5) a minimum population size, and (6) a habitat condition over a particular geographic area (or areas).The Recovery actions at the species level fall into the following broad categories: (1) determining the distribution of the species in South Florida; (2) protecting and enhancing populations; (3) conducting research on biology/ecology; (4) monitoring populations; and (5) informing and involving stakeholders and the general public in the recovery process. Another significant multi-species recovery programme is the Recovery Plan for Oahu Plants which covers 66 plant taxa listed as endangered, all of which are endemic to the eight main Hawaiian islands (US Fish and Wildlife Service 1998).A variety of procedures is used to recover listed species such as: • protective measures to prevent extinction or further decline • reintroduction or reinforcement of populations • consultation to avoid adverse impacts of other activities • habitat acquisition and restoration • other on-the-ground activities for managing and monitoring endangered and threatened species, such as restoration of the ecological community in which the target species occurs; fencing to prevent damage by stock, vehicles, etc; rabbit control; weed control; assessing role of fire in e.g. regeneration, disease prevention; labelling, marking populations to advise the public.Under the Australian revised recovery guidelines for nationally listed threatened species and ecological communities (Environment Australia 2002), the requirements of a recovery plan are that it: • must provide for the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline, and support the recovery, of the listed threatened species or listed threatened ecological community concerned so that its chances of long-term survival in nature are maximized; • will state what must be done to stop the decline, and support the recovery and survival, of the species or ecological community; • must specify the actions needed to achieve the objectives;• will state what must be done to stop the decline, and support the recovery and survival, of the species or ecological community, including action to manage and reduce threatening processes; • must identify the habitats that are critical to the survival of the species or community concerned and the actions needed to protect those habitats; • will state what must be done to stop the decline, and support the recovery and survival, of the species or ecological community, including action to protect and restore habitat; • must identify any populations of the species or community concerned that are under particular pressure of survival and the actions needed to protect those populations; • will state what must be done to stop the decline of, and support the recovery and survival of, the species or ecological community, including action to protect important populations. Under the US Endangered Species Act, if recovery measures are deemed successful, species may be taken off the list but the Service is required to monitor the populations for a minimum of 5 years to confirm that they are effectively self-maintaining. Two plants have been delisted as a result of successful recovery, while six have been removed as a result of taxonomic revision or other new information.Recovery plans have mainly been prepared for endangered wild plant species and seldom applied so far to species of economic value such as forest trees. However, some of the endangered species which are the subject of recovery plans are of economic importance, although this fact is not necessarily highlighted in the documentation. Certainly the many published recovery plans are a major source of information and contain pointers for the preparation of management plans for target species of economic importance. On the other hand, recovery plans by definition deal with species which possess few remaining populations and usually little natural habitat so that opportunities for genetic conservation are limited (Rogers 2002).It is now widely accepted that local people need to share in the benefits that can be derived from protected areas and this is best achieved through their playing a role in the management and protection of such areas. This is reflected in WWF's global work on protected areas which has as its theme 'Partnerships for People and Nature' (WWF 2003b) and in its participation in the People and Plants Initiative along with UNESCO-MAB and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.As noted in one of the regional preparatory reports for the Leipzig Conference one of the shortcomings of the development of policies on plant resources … has been that formulation and implementation has largely excluded the local people … leading to lack of conservation responsibilities at community level (FAO 1995) and to negative attitudes emanating from feelings of alienation of people from their resources. The involvement NGOs and local communities adjacent to protected areas or those that use these areas with in situ conservation is growing, and it is becoming clear that full participation of the local people is just as important as the development of practical strategies for integrated resource conservation and its sustainable utilization by the primary custodians. In addition, the involvement of local communities for in situ conservation of species located outside protected areas is of even more crucial importance.A very considerable literature on participatory management now exists and a Participatory Management Clearinghouse (PMC) was established in 2000 jointly by IUCN, WWF and the Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar). It is a global initiative that pools information regarding participatory management around the world, gathers grey literature as well as publications produced in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions so as to facilitate a free exchange of experiences and perspectives from local practice to global debates, through making relevant research reports and documents available beyond academia or the NGOs.A review of the effectiveness of wildlife community-based management in terms of social, political, economic and environmental factors is given by Roe et al. (2000) and the role of people participation in protected area management is provided by Pimbert and Pretty (1995). An example of a co-management strategy is given by Metcalfe (1995) for Zimbabwe, illustrating the CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) programme (Bonger 1999).Although the role of local people has not figured highly in most examples of in situ conservation of rare and endangered species or in recovery plans, except perhaps as a nuisance factor, when we deal with species which have an economic or social value or otherwise impinge on the interests of local communities, such an approach is no longer tenable. This is especially true in the case of medicinal and aromatic plants where community involvement in the conservation and management of such species is becoming increasingly common. Examples are community participation in the management of Prunus africana in the Mount Cameroon region (Gabriel 2003), in situ conservation and use of medicinal plants by Afro-Colombian communities in Colombia (IDRC 2001), and community-based conservation of medicinal plants in Kenya. Other examples are given in Section 3.3.In the case of forestry species, various initiatives have recognized the usufruct rights of local communities and their role in community or participatory management, for example in China (Lai 2003), Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mexico (Gómez-Pompa andBainbridge 1993) and India. In India, some 35 000 villages participate in the Joint Forestry Management Programme (Pandey 2003).The participation of people (and the role of government) in the conservation of forest genetic resources is the subject of a DFSC Guideline and Technical Note (Isager et al. 2002). This draws attention to the fact that, in many countries, plans to protect forest resources in reserves and protected areas have often failed to take into account the needs and knowledge of local people who live in or on the edges of forests, especially in the tropics (Tuxill and Nabhan 1998). It considers that engaging in participatory processes and creating an appropriate legal and administrative environment for them to proceed are complementary aspects of forest genetic resource conservation. It offers a model that lists the steps that can be involved in the participatory process.The precise role of local people in the development and implementation of in situ conservation programmes for target species will, of course, vary according to the particular circumstances and the nature of the operations involved. They are more likely to be involved in management and protection than in more technical issues but what is certain is that in many cases, without their active participation, conservation will be difficult to implement. Some of the problems of community participation in forestry conservation are discussed in a review by Donovan (2001).It is essential that all relevant stakeholders should be identified and their needs and concerns taken into account when developing an in situ conservation strategy. General principles to be taken into consideration are as follows (Palmberg-Lerche 2002):• build from the bottom up: review and consider the priorities and needs of the full range of local users and interested parties and, to the degree possible, incorporate them into national strategies for conservation and resource management; • ensure feedback and links among all levels of users and interested parties; • ensure links between conservation management and related activities in other sectors at both the local and national levels; • give due consideration to regional and global needs and priorities. This calls for greater efforts to create awareness among stakeholders of the concept and importance of in situ conservation. Although considerable publicity has been given by conservation agencies and NGOs to the plight of nationally rare or endangered wild species facing extinction, little public awareness exists about the need for conservation of wild species of economic importance. Much greater attention needs to be paid to informing the general public when conservation plans are being formulated for the in situ conservation of target species, and when local populations are directly affected their role as stakeholders should be clearly recognized and they should be involved in both planning and management whenever possible and appropriate.To be effective, any conservation strategy developed for the in situ conservation of target species should be incorporated into the appropriate policy instruments of national agencies. This is called for in several articles of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992). In particular, Article 8 of this Convention deals specifically with in situ conservation and Section 8b calls on contracting parties to \"regulate or manage biological resources important for conservation of biodiversity whether within or outside protected areas, with a view to ensuring their conservation and sustainable use\". Further, Section 8k specifically requests contracting parties \"to develop or maintain necessary legislation and/or other regulatory provisions for the protection of threatened species and populations\".Article 6 of the Convention, dealing with the general measures for conservation and sustainable use, obliges contracting parties to develop appropriate national strategies for the implementation of the Convention in accordance with their particular conditions and capabilities. Section 6a specifically states: \"Develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or adapt for this purpose existing strategies, plans or programmes which shall reflect, inter alia, the measures set out in this Convention relevant to the Contracting Party concerned\". Section 6b further requires that biodiversity consideration be mainstreamed into all aspects of national planning: \"Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies\". Further, article 10(a) states that each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and appropriate: \"Integrate consideration of the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources into national decisionmaking\".To facilitate this process, several international organizations such as UNEP, UNDP, World Resources Institute and IUCN have developed guidelines for contracting parties to prepare National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. In particular UNDP and UNEP in collaboration with the Institut de l'Énergie et de l'Environnement de la Francophonie and the Quebec Environment Ministry published a guide with the support of the Global Environment Facility fund to help member countries to prepare and implement national strategies and action plans (UNDP/UNEP 2000). To date (January 2005), 94 countries have published their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans with the assistance from the CBD Secretariat, and many others are in the process of preparing theirs (see www.biodiv.org/ world/nbsaps.asp). For the in situ conservation of target species, it is important that appropriate national agencies should be informed (if they are not already involved) and conservation strategies for these species should be included in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. This does not yet appear to be common practice in many countries, although an exception is the case of forestry species, where a number of countries have national programmes for forest genetic resources.Another important issue which should be considered in the policy and legal support of in situ conservation areas concerns the use of economically important wild species and the benefit-sharing arising from the use of local resources. The successful management of these conservation sites will depend on the cooperation of local communities, as the most important stakeholders, and the incentives provided to them to enable a sustainable protection and management of the resources. Policies are thus required to bring together the effective protection of conservation sites while ensuring that local communities are adequately motivated through economic or other incentives and benefits to ensure the success of the conservation of the resources.A wide range of guidelines or planning documents relating to various aspects of in situ conservation of wild species, such as enhancing the effectiveness of protected areas to achieve this, for sampling, monitoring, species recovery and related topics, can be found in the literature. 18 These vary from the cursory to the highly detailed. Some of them are general conservation planning approaches that include targeted species as part of a whole planning process. Several countries have produced their own guidelines and although targeted at the national situation, they may be much more generally applicable and are therefore included here. Some of the guidelines are generally applicable to plant genetic conservation while others are aimed at particular groups of plants. Selected examples of guidelines are given Appendix 3.Part III: Global survey of in situ conservation activities-good practices and case studiesA survey was undertaken of the extensive literature on in situ conservation of species, as well as the data collected in the process of country reporting during preparations for the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources, 19 and the National Biodiversity Actions Plans and Strategies and National Reports prepared by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (under Article 6). The main results are discussed in this section, as are examples given of good practice and case studies, illustrating the problems and issues involved in carrying out in situ conservation activities in different parts of the world and in different target groups of plants.The review found that only a small number of countries have active programmes that systematically address the in situ conservation of the whole range of target species such as forest tree species, medicinal and aromatic plants, fruit trees or crop wild relatives, although the activities for some groups may be limited. For example, while the USA has one of the world's most extensive recovery programmes for threatened species, action on forestry species and crop wild relatives is more sporadic. As the USA Country Report to the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources notes At the present time, in situ conservation of wild crop relatives occurs fortuitously, for the most part, on protected lands and other wilderness areas … Greater efforts need to be made to promote in situ conservation of native crop genetic resources within the USA. The land management agencies in the USA should be alerted to the presence of wild crop genetic resources on their lands so that management of these lands can preserve these resources.In the case of in situ-related work on wild potato relatives in the USA, undertaken by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, for the past decade, the approach has been to begin with thorough documentation and sampling of the existing populations, trying to understand their genetic structure, reproduction and what might threaten their diversity in the wild and genebank. We have taken no active steps for protection, although we have thought a lot about what factors would make a site high priority for such work (J. Bamberg, personal communication 2003).Another, larger, group of countries have undertaken preliminary steps such as inventory and ecogeographical surveying of some target species, but have not yet implemented conservation actions.In many countries, in situ conservation activities are largely restricted to ecosystem conservation and protected areas, and only exceptionally with target species. For example, in East Africa, to quote from the Sub-Regional Synthesis Report for the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources (FAO 1995):The conservation of genetic resources in situ has been primarily in the form of habitats and ecosystems conservation (Appendix 8). The in situ conservation and related programmes, projects and activities are diverse in nature and they include indigenous forest conservation and management programmes e.g. COMIFOR and KIFCON in Kenya; inventories of threatened habitats, in situ conservation sites and species e.g. in Kenya and Uganda; establishment and management of national parks and protected areas (Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi); in situ conservation education and awareness creation (Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda) and in situ conservation of wetlands plant species (Kenya, Uganda, Sudan). Many of these projects have benefited from financial and technical support from such international NGOs as IUCN, WWF, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and World Conservation International (WCI). There are also a number of programmes for in-situ conservation in the National Forestry Action plans in Kenya and Ethiopia. Natural forests management and conservation programmes and projects exist in all the countries in the region.Likewise in the United States, For many economically important crop species native to the USA, such as blueberries, cranberries, pecans, and Rubus species, in situ conservation may be accomplished through the designation of existing parks, wildlife refuges, or other protected areas as in situ reserves. The status of species or populations conserved in these areas would have to be monitored and the information could be maintained in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) database (USA Country Report 1996).Many countries recognize the importance of in situ conservation and have identified the kinds of actions that are needed, as in the case of Vietnam (Nguyen 2003); others have no specific plans to take action. A report on neglected and underutilized species of Cyprus notes that Wild relatives of crops such as Hordeum spp., Aegilops spp., Vicia spp., Avena spp., Lathyrus spp. and others are found in abundance in Cyprus. However, no direct measures have been taken yet for protecting them in their natural habitats (Della 1999).Frequently in the literature, attention is drawn to the need for in situ conservation of particular target species but action is planned for the future. Examples are the important medicinal rhizomatous herb Podophyllum hexandrum from Garhwal Himalaya, India, which is reported to be in need of immediate action (Bhadula et al. 1996); Prinsepia utilis Royle, a wild edible shrub of the higher Himalayas, India (Maikhuri et al. 1994); and ecotypes of grasses and fodder crops and some fruit trees in Czechoslovakia (Dotlacil et al. 2001). 20  Some countries draw attention to the lack of understanding of the principles and methodology of in situ conservation, especially of target species, and on issues such as effective population sizes, recommended sizes and areas of in situ sites (FAO 1995), while many countries do not recognize in situ species conservation as an issue and make no direct reference to it in their National Reports.On the other hand, many countries, especially in the developed world, have devoted very considerable efforts to the identification, management, maintenance and recovery of rare or endangered (Red List) wild species without regard to their economic importance, as discussed in Section 3.2.As far as can be determined, no single country has a fully integrated policy for in situ conservation of wild species that covers rare and endangered (Red List) species and those of importance in agriculture and forestry. Even for those countries that do have a range of ongoing species-orientated conservation programmes, none of them has a mechanism that covers all groups of species. This is probably because of the large number of different government departments and agencies that are involved for the different groups of species and activities. The Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research in Ethiopia (see http://www.telecom.net.et/~ibcr/ index.htm), does, however, cover plant genetic resources (including field crops, pasture and forage, horticultural crops, medicinal plants and forest genetic resources), ecosystem conservation and ethnobiology.A major constraint that affects the prosecution of speciesorientated in situ activities is the range of disciplines involved, requiring a considerable amount of inter-agency cooperation. Even agencies within the same Ministries often do not have mechanisms for such joint action, or it may be difficult to reach agreement because of their different mandates. Cooperation between ministries can be even more difficult and these are issues that have to be addressed at a national planning level. Even planning to work within Protected Areas can lead to problems or lack of full cooperation.The literature review and consultations make it quite clear that most effort on in situ conservation has been focused on two main groups of plants-rare and endangered wild species and forest trees. In addition, substantial work has been initiated recently on crop wild relatives and on medicinal and aromatic plants. Also, there is a body of work on fruit trees and shrubs and on various types of plants of economic importance including coffee, rattans, potatoes, multipurpose trees, onions, ornamentals, forages, etc. No precise estimate can be given for the total number of potential candidate species of all groups for in situ conservation but it runs into many tens of thousands; nor do we have reliable estimates for the individual groups (forestry, wild relatives, medicinal, etc). Currently, only about 1% of the total number of plant species (c. 400 000), are the subject of in situ conservation or recovery programmes or activities, most of them rare or endangered wild species identified by national Red List programmes, so that globally the situation is a matter of serious concern.Not surprisingly, the level of activity or engagement in in situ conservation of species varies enormously, not only between developed and developing countries but within each bloc from country to country. With the exception of work on medicinal plants reported elsewhere in this review, there is little organized or structured in situ conservation activity targeted at plant species in most developing countries. On the other hand, a great amount of activity and many projects are reported in the more developed countries, especially on rare and endangered species.The following examples or case studies of the way in situ species conservation is being tackled in the main target groups are given by way of illustration of the diversity of approaches. Some examples of the ways in which in situ conservation activities are organized at a national level are also given.Globally, a large part of the effort that has gone into in situ conservation of species has been directed at rare and endangered species, often referred to as Red List species, through rescue or recovery programmes, and a very considerable literature on theoretical and methodological considerations has been published, much of it under the heading 'Conservation biology' (e.g. Soulé 1986Soulé , 1987;;Falk and Holsinger 1991;Fiedler and Jain 1992; numerous articles in the journals Conservation Biology and Biological Conservation).Most of these species are not of known economic importance and the main criterion that led to their selection was their state of endangerment, most of them occurring in national, regional or local Red Lists or Red Data Books or similar documents. On the other hand it should be noted that it has been suggested that a majority of rare US plant taxa are congeners of species of economic significance in agriculture, forestry, industry, pharmaceuticals or horticulture (Falk 1991). An example is Zizania texana (Box 20), a near relative of commercial wild rice, which was once a troublesome weed of irrigation ditches and is now reduced to a single population and is the subject of a recovery plan (US Fish and Wildlife Service 1995).Many countries have produced national Red Lists or Red Data Books, although they are more common in temperate zones. Examples of Red Books or Lists for tropical or subtropical countries include those for Ecuador (see Box 21)  (Valencia et al. 2000), India (Nayar and Sastry 1987, 1988, 1990;Ahmedullah 2001;Ahmedullah and Nayar 1999;cf Kameshwara Rao et al. 2003), Sri Lanka (Dela et al. 2001) and Vietnam (Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment 1992). The Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET) has produced a volume listing the threatened plants of ten southern African countries-Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Golding 2002)-in which about 4100 plant species are classified according to the older IUCN categories and criteria.Most European countries have produced Red Data Books and they are usually a valuable source of information for in situ conservation, containing distributional and ecological data and information about the degree and nature of the threats. A good example is the recently published Atlas and Red Book of the Threatened Vascular Flora of Spain: Priority Taxa (Bañares et al. 2003) whose preparation involved 30 teams of botanists and ecologists in the study of threatened taxa, and 236 contributing authors. Texas wildrice (Zizania texana Hitchc.) is a rare and endangered emergent aquatic grass whose natural distribution is limited to a 1½-mile length of spring-fed headwaters of the San Marcos River, Hays County, Texas to which it is endemic. Only 140 clumps exist in one unprotected population. It typically occurs adjacent to the deepest part of the river channel in gravel or soft, muddy sediments forming dense stands. Texas wildrice is listed as an endangered species by both U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Factors which threaten its survival include reduced spring flow from the San Marcos springs, reduced water quality in the San Marcos River, competition and predation by non-native species such as Nutria (Myocaster coypus) and Hydrilla verticillata, absence of sexual reproduction in the wild, and alteration of sediments in the river bottom. The Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan recommends that a public education programme be established, aimed at minimizing recreational disturbance of wildrice in the San Marcos River. Ultimately, long-term protection will require a management programme to balance the water needs of the human population with the requirements of a healthy San Marcos River ecosystem. Conservation research is being undertaken on genetics, demography and ex situ collections and conservation efforts have been focused on building an ex situ refugium from plants collected in different regions of the river and maintained in a fish hatchery raceway as a means of maintaining some of the genetic diversity (Richards 2004). Texas wildrice is closely related to annual wild rice (Zizania aquatica), an economically important plant that grows abundantly wild in the northern, central, and eastern wetland areas of North America but not in Texas. It is probable that much of the genetic diversity that once occurred in the populations of the species may have already been irretrievably lost. Research is underway into its beneficial properties and efforts have been made to combine certain highly desirable genetic traits of Zizania texana with a native North American cereal, Indian (northern) wild rice (Zizania palustris), a commercially successful species, so that if these efforts succeed, it is likely that genes from Zizania texana could contribute to the wild rice industry.Based on Eckhardt (1995) and Beaty (2002) Box 21: Red Book of the Endemic Plants of Ecuador (Valencia et al. 2000) This book, edited by Renato Valencia, Nigel Pitman, Susana León-Yánez and Peter Moller Jørgensen, represents the combined work of more than 40 authors and five institutions. It is the first to bring together all the information available about the endemic plants of Ecuador and covers 4011 species. It gives an overview of all the information needed for their study, management and protection and includes a synopsis of the abundance and distribution of each species, based on the history of the collection records, and determines their threat level according the latest IUCN categories. The introductory chapters give a sorry synopsis of state of the endemic flora of the country: • more than a third of the number of endemic species currently registered are known from a single population • fewer than 25% of the species have been recorded from within the Protected Area system of Ecuador • a majority of the endemic species are not represented in Ecuadorian herbaria and 282 of the endemic species are Critically Endangered • three Galapagos species have been confirmed extinct and there is a high probability that 50 mainland Ecuadorian species have had a similar fate.The profiles for the individual species consist of a single page for the extinct (EX), the vulnerable (VU), near threatened (NT) and least concern (LC) taxa, while a double-page spread is given for the critically endangered (CR) and endangered taxa (EN). The information given includes, apart from the Family and scientific name, a brief description of the salient features of the taxon, a colour plate, paragraphs on identification, distribution, biology, habitat, demography, threats, conservation measures adopted and conservation actions proposed, a table listing populations identified, a box summarizing chorological data, a Red Fiche indicating the IUCN category of threat and the relevant legislation applying to the taxon, a box summarizing basic ecological and biological features, references and a distribution map using a UTM grid of 10×10 km squares (deliberately less than the sampling, which used a 500×500 m grid, so as to avoid precise localization of the populations) and an inset reference map, and references to literature. In addition, there are chapters on organization and methodology, including a commentary on the IUCN categories of threat and some interesting proposals for their refinement, an analysis of the state of conservation of the Spanish flora and proposals for future action, a catalogue of the important areas for the conservation of the Spanish flora and the issue of invasive plant species as a new problem in conservation strategies. By way of contrast, the first volume so far published of the Red List of Phanerogams of Colombia (Calderón et al. 2002), one of the world's richest countries for plant diversity (c. 50 000 species), covers an evaluation of the status of only 222 species and includes up-to-date information on the biology of 71 threatened species belonging to three families, Chrysobalanaceae, Dichapetalaceae and Lecythidaceae, and representing less than 1% of the total flora of the country. About half of the threatened species are endemic to Colombia and 24% of these are known from only a single locality (about half from the type specimen only).Lists of endangered species are critical foci of conservation attention and receive special attention in priority-determining systems for conservation, whether at national or international level. The various editions of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2004) constitute the only available global factual summary of threatened species, although seriously incomplete in their coverage, and serve as an indicator of likely species loss. An in-depth analysis of the data contained in the 2004 IUCN Red List has been undertaken and the results are presented in a separate publication: A Global Species Assessment (Baillie et al. 2004). The numbers of globally threatened plant species (in 2004) are given in Table 2.At a national level, inclusion on an endangered list can have important consequences, as in the USA, where the Endangered Species Act (ESA) affords immediate protection to areas known to hold populations of endangered species.The way in which the designation, conservation and recovery of threatened species is structured varies considerably from country to country. Likewise the range of conservation actions is diverse and includes survey, monitoring, ex situ sampling and cultivation so as to build up stocks for population reinforcement, as well as in situ maintenance.Perhaps the most developed system is to be found in the USA, where the management and conservation of rare and endangered species is enormously complex, with responsibilities and legislation at both Federal and State level. In California, for example, the management of the State's rare plants has been described as being under \"a tangled web of laws, regulations, policies and agencies\" (Roberson 2001). Thus lands under Federal management, or projects under Federal control, are subject to laws that include the Federal Clean Water Act, National Forest Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Endangered Species Act. The landmark Endangered Species Act is also complex and controversial, and a useful summary has recently been published (Villa-Lobos 2003).The conservation of endangered species is dealt with by a number of Federal programmes such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Act and the Bureau of Land Management, and by a large number of programmes at State level. In addition, the Nature Conservancy, whose mission is to \"preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive\", plays a major role in the long-term conservation of biodiversity in the USA through land acquisition, public land management and conservation funding (including debt for nature swaps). Under Section 4 of the US Federal Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service is directed to develop recovery plans for all listed species. Several hundred of the listed species and populations have Recovery Plans as of 5 May 2003 (see http://ecos.fws.gov/ tess_public/TESSWebpageRecovery?sort=1#Q) but there is no legal requirement that the plans be implemented. In fact a shortage of budgetary resources means that for many species, the recovery plans often gather dust (Roberson 2001). These should not be confused with Habitat Conservation Plans, which are tools to resolve conflicts between land developers and species conservation. They are \"regulatory and legal documents, not biological documents\" (Moser 2000) and have been the subject of considerable controversy since their introduction.The USA Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Threatened and Endangered Species Management Activity addresses the conservation and protection of plants and animals that are listed, proposed for listing, or are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as well as species designated by the BLM as 'sensitive'. BLM public lands support at least 306 Federally listed species (171 Federal endangered, 114 Federal threatened, 13 proposed endangered, and 8 proposed threatened), 59 Federal candidate species, and an additional 1500 BLM sensitive species. Collectively termed special status species, these occur over significant areas of the 264 million acres of public land managed by the BLM.The BLM carries out programmes for threatened, endangered, proposed, and candidate species and the ecosystems upon which they depend, with the ultimate goal of bringing these species and their habitats to a point where the protective provisions of the ESA are no longer necessary. Section 102(a) (8) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires the BLM to manage the public lands in a manner that protects resource values (such as scientific, historical, ecological and scenic) while allowing appropriate land uses. This Activity funds inventory and monitoring of special status species populations; development of recovery plans and conservation strategies; implementation of recovery plan actions and conservation strategies; and restoration.In addition, an important player is the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA), which is a consortium of ten federal government Member agencies and over 145 non-federal collaborators representing various disciplines within the conservation field: biologists, botanists, habitat preservationists, horticulturists, resources management consultants, soil scientists, special interest clubs, non-profit organizations, concerned citizens, nature lovers, and gardeners, who work collectively to solve the problems of native plant extinction and native habitat restoration, ensuring the preservation of the ecosystems of the USA. Then there are 28 State Wild Flower Societies which undertake a wide range of conservation or conservation-related activities, including in situ.Numerous programmes exist for the in situ conservation of rare and endangered species in various countries in Europe. These programmes may be at a national or subnational level, an example of the latter being the UK, where there are separate arrangements for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In Spain, responsibility has been devolved to the autonomous governments (Autonomías) and programmes for the conservation of threatened species are well developed. For example, in the autonomous community of Andalucía, where a large part of the threatened flora is officially protected (Hernández Bermejo and Clemente Muñoz 2001), recovery plans or programmes have been made for 50 endangered or vulnerable species. In the autonomous community of Valencia, an extensive series of programmes is in place for the conservation of the flora, including in situ actions such as a network of microreserves (Laguna Lumbreras 2001a); a similar situation obtains in the Balearic Islands (Gradaille 2001), and in the Canary Islands, where over 20 species are the subject of recovery plans within the well-developed protected area system (Bañares et al. 2001;García Casanova 2001). The in situ activities form part of integrated conservation programmes in which botanic gardens such as those of Córdoba, Las Palmas, Sóller, and Valencia play a major role.A novel and unique approach has been taken by the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development to the conservation of rare and endangered plants through the creation of a network Box 22: Conservatoires Botaniques Nationaux, FranceThe Conservatoires Botaniques Nationaux comprise a network of specialized centres for the conservation of threatened wild plant species that grow on French national territory. They have an agreement with the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development under which they are responsible for an area consisting of a group of Départements with common biological and geographical features to: • gather detailed knowledge of the local flora and habitats of the region for which they are responsible • conserve by all appropriate means of the species identified as rare and threatened both in their natural or seminatural habitats (in situ) and by cultivating them or building up stocks of seed (ex situ) • act as centres of scientific assistance to local public and territorial bodies and undertake expert missions regarding natural and semi-natural habitats • develop information systems and public education to encourage respect for the country's plant heritage. Some of the conservatoires are also botanic gardens, others are associated with research centres or national parks. Together they form a federation which coordinates and harmonizes their working methods and motivates national programmes for the knowledge and conservation of the wild flora and its habitats. Between them, the conservatoires are involved in in situ conservation activities for a diverse range of species -see, for example, the website of the Conservatoire botanique national du Basin parisien at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (http://www.mnhn.fr/mnhn/cbnbp/).of Conservatoires Botaniques Nationaux (Box 22). There are eight in mainland France and one in the island of Réunion (Box 23) and others are planned.At a regional European level, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (the Bern Convention) is a binding international legal instrument. Its aims are to conserve wild flora and fauna, especially endangered and vulnerable species, and their natural habitats and to promote European cooperation in that field. In Recommendation No. 30 (1991) on conservation of species in Appendix I to the Convention, paragraph No. 4 reads Box 23: The Conservatoire botanique national de Mascarin, La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean)The Conservatoire botanique national de Mascarin (CBNM) is located on the tropical volcanic island of La Réunion, about 50 km west of Mauritius and 780 km east of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean. The flora is rich, with c. 240 fern species and more than 500 flowering plant species described. About 160 of these species are endemic to La Réunion (an endemism level of nearly 30%) and six endemic genera are recognized. The Conservatoire, originally created in 1986, is a garden of approximately 12.5 ha. Until 1996, the main goal of CBNM was primarily focused on ex situ conservation; the cultivation and the propagation of rare and threatened plants endemic to La Réunion, and managed to bring 60% of the endangered flora of Réunion into cultivation in the garden as well as material from the other Mascarene islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Madagascar. It is currently devoting much of its efforts to the management and monitoring of species and populations in their natural habitats, including the study and control of invasive plants which are recognized as one of the major threats to island native floras. Among the completed and ongoing conservation programmes are:• field surveys and botanical investigations, which have resulted in a significant increase in the number of locations for rare endemics such as the highly endangered Ruizia cordata, Sterculiaceae (from one known location to five) and Carissa xylopicron, Apocynaceae • assessment of natural areas of high conservation value for their protection or sustainable management by local authorities • a recovery programme for the endangered species Lomatophyllum macrum (Liliaceae), including in situ population reinforcement (or restocking) • the study of the seed germination and reproductive biology of endemic plants such as the rare tristylous liana Hugonia serrata (Linaceae), or the lavaflow pioneer shrub Antirhea borbonica (Rubiaceae), in collaboration with the Université de La Réunion. Future projects include:• the publication of an atlas of 15 protected plant species which are considered highly endangered in La Réunion (based on the 'Mascarine' database), with their status, present and past distribution • seed storage of threatened endemic plants, and the creation of an arboretum (field genebank) in the gardens of the CBNM • collaboration with the Université de La Réunion on population genetics of rare endemic plants • the setting up a 'Green List' of native and endemic plants for replanting on a wider scale in urban areas, as an alternative to the cultivation of potential or known invasive species, and in order to reduce pressure on plants in the wild. Information/education of the public (local people and tourists, children and adults) is an important role for the CBNM, and the scientific team contributes to this effort by preparing posters, giving talks, training a network of about 60 local amateur botanists on plant identification, and promoting nature conservation. The CBNM is viewed as a conservation tool for local and French authorities, and a link between theoreticians (researchers) and practitioners (land managers, foresters, horticulturists) on La Réunion.Based on Meyer (2001) as a matter of urgency, formulate and implement conservation or recovery plans for endangered and, if necessary, vulnerable species listed in Appendix I, giving priority to in situ conservation action.To date, the number of recovery plans which have been implemented is disappointingly low.The Habitats Directive of the European Union 21 has as its central aim conservation of biodiversity across the area of the Community. Under the Directive, Member States have a responsibility to preserve habitats and species of Community interest and to identify and designate, as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), sites which are important for the protection of the species and habitats covered by the Directive. In addition, the European Union recognizes \"priority species of Community interest\" (Council Directive 92/43/EEC, Annex II) and an example of a conservation action programme, under the Life-Nature Project LIFE99 NAT/IT/006217, is EOLIFE99 which addresses the conservation of such priority plant species in the Aeolian Islands (Box 24) (also see http://web.tiscali.it/noredirect-tiscali/ecogestioni/eolife/summauk.html).The situation in Australia for the conservation and recovery of threatened species is also well developed. The conservation of threatened plant (and animal) species in situ is covered by the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The EPBC Act provides for: • identification and listing of Threatened Species and Threatened Ecological CommunitiesBox 24: Conservation of priority plant species in the Aeolian Islands, Sicily, ItalyThe priority species selected are:• Cytisus aeolicus Guss. (Fabaceae), a small tree endemic to the Aeolian Islands • Bassia saxicola (Guss.) A.J. Scott (Chenopodiaceae), whose known populations occur only in three small islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea • Silene hicesiae Brullo and Signorello (Caryophyllaceae) described on plants from Panarea and recently reported for Alicudi and one site in Sicily • Ophrys lunulata Parl. (Orchidaceae), an endemic orchid occurring in Sicily. All of these species have numerically small populations with very narrow distributions and high biological value. Their loss would cause (in one case at least) the global extinction of the species. The project aims at ensuring the survival of the four target species through in situ (gathering field data) and ex situ actions (establishment of seed banks, propagation with the aid of biotechnology, cultivation), and 'pilot' re-introductions to reinforce natural populations, reducing the risks linked to direct or indirect human activities. On the whole, they are complementary actions external to the sites where the target populations occur. All of these sites were proposed as SCI (Sites of Community Interest) and most of them are included in Protected Areas (Regional Natural Reserves).• development of Recovery Plans for listed species and ecological communities • recognition of Key Threatening Processes, and where appropriate reducing these processes through Threat Abatement Plans. All States have had involvement in the preparation and implementation of recovery plans, often in cooperation with the Commonwealth's Endangered Species Programme. Several hundred species are included in recovery plans that have been adopted, are under review or in preparation. 22 These include a wide range of species-herbs, shrubs and trees-and ecological communities such as threatened species-rich shrublands. There are 39 plant species with management, monitoring or recovery plans in South Australia (as at September 2000). The programmes are focused on single species or in some cases are multi-species, as in the case of the threatened plants of the Tiwi Islands, North of Darwin, Australia (see Box 25).The Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) has as its major aim the integration of all approaches to plant conservation. Membership of the Network includes botanic gardens, conservation agencies, mining companies, community groups (Landcare, Society Box 25: Recovery Plan for the Threatened Plants of the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory of Australia 2004Australia -2009 The recovery plan covers 20 listed threatened mainly rainforest plant species, nine of which are endemic to the Northern territories, found on the Tiwi Islands. The objectives of the recovery plan are: • to increase knowledge of the species and their management requirements • to monitor existing populations in a manner that allows the detection of any changes in the status and distribution of species • to assist in the long-term protection of the rainforest habitats where 15 of these species are found • to develop and apply sound conservation management practices for existing populations as well as any further populations found to ensure that the wild populations are conserved in both number and extent • to promote Tiwi Land Council involvement in, and awareness and ownership of, the conservation of these species and their habitats. Recommended recovery actions are: • to control or eradicate the recently discovered population of feral pigs on Melville Island • to fence two populations of Burmannia D61177 Bathurst Island and monitor the effects of exclusion of disturbance by pigs • to collect propagation material of Dendromyza reinwardtiana, Garcinia warrenii and Tarennoidea wallichii and establish these species in the George Brown botanic gardens • to establish five sampling stations at each of three locations for 16 of the species (i.e. a maximum of 240 stations) to determine the ecology, health and trends in the populations of these species. The other four species included under the plan will be adequately monitored under the Plantation Forestry Strategic Plan • fire management to be informed by the results of monitoring of the health of populations via the monitoring programme under the Plantation Forestry Strategic Plan • to eradicate known infestations of gamba grass.From Gibbons and Taylor (2003) for Growing Australian Plants), researchers, local government, power authorities and farmers.Since the publication of the Chiang Mai Declaration (see Akerele et al. 1991, p. xix), issued by the 1988 WHO/IUCN/WWF Consultation on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants, which drew attention of the United Nations, its agencies and Member States, other international agencies and their members and non-governmental organizations to the vital importance of medicinal plants in health care and of the need to take the necessary steps to ensure their continuing availability, there has been a considerable increase in initiatives aimed at the conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants both in situ and ex situ. The International Council for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ICMAP) (see http://www. icmap.org), which is a scientific activity of IUBS, was established in 1993 with the general objective of promoting international understanding and cooperation between national and international organizations on the role of medicinal and aromatic plants in science, medicine and industry, and to improve the exchange of information between them. Its activities include the promotion of conservation of genetic resources both in situ and ex situ of medicinal and aromatic plants species. The Species Survival Commission of IUCN created in 1994 a Medicinal Plants Specialist Group (MPSG) (see http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/mpsg/) which is a global network of experts contributing within their own institutions and in their own regions to the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. Its programme includes the following objectives: • to identify priority medicinal plant taxa and habitats threatened by non-sustainable harvest, high levels of trade, environmental degradation, and other factors contributing to loss of species and genetic diversity • to work with local, regional, national, and global partners to design and implement conservation action plans for priority medicinal plant taxa and habitats • to support the development of tools and methods needed for a coordinated effort on medicinal plant conservation at all relevant levels, such as data management systems, research methods and guidelines, and basic research, monitoring, and networking tools (bibliographies, directories, etc.).A number of examples of programmes or projects that have been instituted at a national level are given below.In Indonesia, the FAO/IBPGR/UNEP project on The Conservation of Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants by Partnerships Approach in Meru Betiri National Park, East Java, Indonesia includes:• an inventory of biodiversity of medicinal plants, research on active chemical components • study on marketing, study on ecology of species priority, study on cultivation techniques • study on harvesting from nature techniques, and study of socio-economic conditions of the community living around the National Park. More than 25 formula folk medicine and health drinks have been developed with women, local people and the local health division, to produce folk medicine for hypertension, reduction of blood lipids, diabetes, etc. Starting in 1999, medicinal plants have been cultivated as an agroforestry system in partnership with the local people (c. 1500 people/families) in an area of 2000 ha (rehabilitation land of Meru Betiri National Park). Now the local Government, especially the Ministry of Health, has decided to use folk medicine for the Centre of Village Health in Jember District.In Sri Lanka: the Sri Lanka Conservation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal Plants Project was the first approved by the World Bank that is focused exclusively on the conservation and sustainable management of medicinal plants. Originally to be implemented between 1998 and 2002, it was been extended to 2004. The World Bank is the implementing agency for the fund (see Box 26).In India, the in situ conservation group of the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) has been Box 26: The Sri Lanka Medicinal Plants ProjectThe objective of the project is to secure the active conservation of globally and nationally significant medicinal plants, their habitats, species and genomes, and promote their sustainable use through three initiatives to: • Establish five medicinal plant conservation areas (MPCAs) where plant collection from the wild is particularly intensive and develop a conservation strategy for each; implement village action plans to reduce dependency on harvesting from the wild; collect basic socioeconomic and botanical data; and promote extension and education on medicinal properties of species within these conservation areas. • Increase nursery capacity to develop the cultivation potential of select species and support research on propagation and field planting techniques. • Collect and organize existing information on plant species and their use and promote an appropriate legal framework through production of draft regulations to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights. This project is expected to yield important environmental and social benefits. It will help conserve more than 1400 medicinal plant species used in Sri Lanka, of which 189 are found only there and at least 79 are threatened. It will spread knowledge about sustainable growth, crop yields, biological cycles, and the danger of depleting plant resources; maintain critical habitats for medicinal plants; and increase the diversity and quantity of threatened species. The project will also preserve indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants and their use, promote policy and legal reforms, involve tribal people and local communities in efforts to reduce dependency on wild resources, and generate alternative income opportunities for the rural population. Thirty-one species of medicinal and aromatic species with high priority for germplasm collection and conservation in Brazil have been identified, of which 12 are conserved in situ (see Table 2 in  Vieira 1999).An example of a medicinal plant which has attracted a great deal of publicity and research is the African species Prunus africana. It illustrates the difficulties of implementing effective conservation even when the situation is well understood (Box 27).Conservation of genetic resources of forest trees has followed a different approach from that employed for other groups of species (Hattemer 1997). It is often suggested that the conservation of genetic resources of forest trees is a special case and various kinds of in situ conservation have traditionally been practised, although in a wider sense than that adopted for other groups of plants (Palmberg-Lerche 1993). Thus it covers not only the setting aside of areas of natural forest habitat as reserves but also the regeneration or rehabilitation of forests that have been affected by logging or depleted through other causes, both stochastic and human-induced. The conservation of forest genetic resources has been described as being at the interface between the conservation of the genetic resources of cultivated species and the conservation of sites (Lefèvre et al. 2000).A great deal of attention has been paid to Prunus africana, a small tree that is a well-known medicinal plant species. It occurs in scattered populations in Afromontane forest islands in mainland Africa and in outlying islands such as Madagascar. An extract from its bark is used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, with a substantial international trade. It is used locally for medicine, timber, furniture, poles, fuelwood, charcoal, and as tools, and has been a major source of income for local people for the last 35 years. It is subject to heavy exploitation in some parts of its area, notably in Cameroon, and the level of harvesting is unsustainable. Much research is carried out into its distribution, local use, harvesting, genetic variation, trade and protection but only a limited amount of in situ conservation of this tree has been carried out (Cunningham 1996;Dawson et al. 2000;Dawson and Powell 1999;Ewusi et al. 1997;Jaenicke et al. 2002). Scientists with the Nairobi-based International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) are working to establish a sustainable source of Prunus africana through conservation of wild tree populations. However, despite various in situ and ex situ conservation efforts, the tree is still at risk of extinction because of increased demand. In the Mount Cameroon region, consultations led to an action plan that put in place a community management model (Gabriel 2003). This has greatly checked unsustainable Prunus exploitation in the region and will allow the resource base to be maintained for some years.Forest tree genetic resources are defined in a recent feasibility study on the state of forest genetic resources in the world (Bariteau 2003) as \"the set of trees having an actual or potential value as a pool (reservoir) of genetic diversity\". Forest trees have special characteristics, such as: • they often contain greater genetic diversity than other species (Müller-Starck 1995, 1997) • there may be poor differentiation with respect to nuclear markers • there is generally high differentiation among populations for adaptive traits • the longevity of the individuals.In a review of genetics and forests of the future, Namkoong (1986) makes a distinction between three groups of forestry plant species in terms of the kind of genetic management required: 1. Species of current socio-economic importance and management for commercial development 2. Species with clear potential or future value and management for potential commercial use 3. Species of unknown value given present knowledge and technology, and management of non-commercial populations.With regard to the third group, Namkoong points out that \"The vast majority of forest plant species have little recognized current or future commercial value, or no function that is not otherwise served by other species\".A considerable number of forest tree species have been the subject of in situ conservation/management action. Many examples are found in the review of forest genetic resources management published by FAO/DFSC/IPGRI (2001). The EUFORGEN Networks (see http:// www.ipgri.cgiar.org/networks/euforgen/) also deal with a range of species for which management guidelines are produced. Other examples of regional or national initiatives are given below.A series of networks has been developed by IPGRI in different regions of the world and some of these engage in in situ conservation activities (see Appendix 4 and http://www.ipgri. cgiar.org/catalogue/theme.asp?theme=5). In these and other such networks, the focus is often almost entirely on plantation forestry or agroforestry, while management of genetic resources in natural forests has received little networking attention. The ECP/GR In situ and On-farm Conservation Network mentioned above deals specifically with the preparation of guidelines for the in situ conservation of plant genetic resources.In the South Pacific Region, a forestry network, the South Pacific Regional Initiative on Forest Genetic Resources (SPRIG), exists for a number of island states. Funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the network deals with practical aspects of forest and tree management and an important goal is to develop strategies for the conservation and sustainable management of priority species (Thomson 1998). Ten priority indigenous trees have been selected for conservation strategies, three of which have already been prepared (for Agathis silbae and Endospermum medullosum in Vanuatu and Dacrydium nausoriense in Fiji). A strategic plan for heilala (Garcinia sessilis), the national tree of Tonga, has also been prepared.In Korea, 33 natural forest stands have been set aside for in situ conservation of forest genetic resources of 19 species (Lee 2002).In Zambia, the Dry Forest Management Project initiated in 1987 under the Forest Research Division provides the best example of in situ activities carried out in the country. The project was located within the teak production forests of Western Province in Sesheke district. 23 A complete list of species included and their respective uses is given in Box 28.A programme for the provision of practical advice on in situ gene conservation stands of forest tree species to assist countries in the planning and implementation of conservation of genetic resources of forest tree species was initiated in 1996/97 by FAO, Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC) and relevant national institutions. It was agreed that conservation plans for four tropical tree species would be developed, focusing on in situ conservation, and the plans for three of these-for Zambezi teak in Zambia (Theilade et al. 2001), for Pinus merkusii in Thailand (DFSC 2000) and for teak (Tectona grandis) in Thailand (Graudal et al. 1999)-have been published.  Malaya (1990) In Thailand, Pinus merkusii is afforded legal protection at most of its remaining natural sites and the eastern populations are conserved in the Khong Chiam In Situ Gene Conservation Forest (GCF), located in Ubon Ratchathani Province in the north-east of the country-one of the few areas in south-east Asia which has been set aside specifically for the conservation of forest genetic resources. In 1983, an area of about 700 ha was reserved, with the objective of protecting the genetic resources of local tree species, especially the lowland form of Pinus merkusii. Other important tree species conserved in the Khong Chiam include Anisoptera costata, Dalbergia cochinchinensis, Dipterocarpus costatus, Ivingia malayana, Peltophorum dasyrachis, Pterocarpus macrocarpus and Schima wallichi (Granhof 1998;Isager et al. 2002).Wild relatives of crops are a group of target species that has attracted considerable interest in recent years. A series of workshops on the conservation of wild relatives of European cultivated plants was held under the aegis of the Council of Europe and the Proceedings published (Valdés et al. 1997) as well as a catalogue of the wild relatives of cultivated plants native to Europe (Heywood and Zohary 1995). A survey of work on crop relatives was commissioned by IPGRI as part of a UNEP/GEF PDF/B project (Meilleur 2001;Meilleur and Hodgkin 2004) (see also Section 3.9).An example of work on the in situ conservation of genetic diversity in crop wild relatives is the series of studies produced by the Bureau des Ressources Génétiques, France, on Beta vulgaris, Brassica insularis, B. oleracea and Olea europaea (Soupizet 2002).The landmark studies on the in situ conservation of wild relatives of cereal crops in the Near East, known as the Ammiad Project (Box 29), on wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) (Safriel et al. 1997) are perhaps the most extensive published to date.A wide range of crop wild relatives was selected as target species for in situ conservation in a major project on conservation of genetic diversity in Turkey (Firat and Tan 1997;Tan 1998;Tan and Tan 2002).The Erebuni Reserve, which is located not far from Yerevan City, Armenia, is reported to be the only reserve in the world established specifically to protect wild relatives of grain crops. It was established in 1981 and covers some 89 ha on either side of the road from Yerevan to Garni and houses populations of Triticum araraticum, T. boeoticum, T. urartu, Secale vavilovii and Hordeum spontaneum. Unfortunately it is inadequately fenced, lacks a buffer zone, and is being encroached upon by urban development. There is currently no active management, or even a management plan.Extensive work on the genetics and demography of wild bean populations (Phaseolus) has been undertaken by IPGRI, the University of Gembloux, and the University of Costa Rica. This has given some insight about two critical aspects when contemplating in situ conservation: the genetic identity and distinction of populations and the minimum size of populations for retaining a certain amount of genetic diversity and thus the potential for further evolution (D. Debouck, personal communication 2003;see also Zoro Bi et al. 2003 and references therein).A worldwide survey of in situ conservation of wild relatives of Lathyrus has been undertaken (Maxted et al. 2003).The US National Germplasm System has initiated a series of pilot projects on in situ conservation of the wild relatives of various native crops: • Vitis rupestris Scheele, V. shuttleworthii House, V. monticola Buckl (Pavek et al. 2001(Pavek et al. , 2003  (Bamberg in Pavek and Garvey 1999).A celebrated case study of wild relatives is the work undertaken on the conservation of Zea diploperennis¸ a wild relative of maize, in the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve (see Box 15).Box 29: The Ammiad Project for the Dynamic Conservation of Wild Emmer Wheat in IsraelTriticum dicoccoides (T. turgidum var. diococcoides) is the wild tetraploid wheat species which is considered to be the progenitor of most cultivated tetraploid and hexaploid wheats. It occurs in patches throughout much of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. In 1984 the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology commissioned a multidisciplinary 5-year scientific project named Dynamic Conservation of the Wild Wheat in Israel, which undertook a series of studies on the genetic diversity and conservation of a Triticum dicoccoides population at Ammiad, a mountainous rocky, pastureland belonging to a farming settlement in eastern Galilee. The site is very small (1 ha) but has been subjected to extensive studies and analysis of spatial and temporal population dynamics, phenotypic and genotypic variability, phenotypic plasticity and sensitivity to pathogens. It was found that groups of genes exist as stable clusters or complexes associated with specific geographical features, such as north-facing slopes. The results obtained give an unrivalled insight in to the nature of the population and the issues that are important for the management of a population of this type.Based on Anikster et al. (1997) and Safriel et al. (1997) During the past 25 years there has been growing interest in the conservation of germplasm and wild relatives of fruit trees and shrubs (for a review of the issues involved see Arora and Ramanatha Rao 1998;Smith et al. 1992). In most tropical regions the rich diversity of native tropical fruit species is an important and valuable resource in enhancing nutritional security, reducing poverty and protecting the environment, although many of the species are currently underutilized (van den Hurk 1998). Many of the species concerned are threatened or vulnerable because of loss of habitat or overexploitation. For example, a high degree of genetic erosion has been recorded for jackfruit, Citrus spp. and Litchi chinensis (Haq 1994).In Asia, the Pacific and Oceania, IPGRI is undertaking several activities on conservation and use of diversity of priority fruit species. Early work was carried out in 1986-1988 by IBPGR/ WWF, which undertook ecogeographical surveys of the wild mangoes of Borneo and west Malaysia and found that a significant fraction of the rich genepool, including wild and semi-cultivated species, was already then on the verge of disappearance, notably Mangifera blommesteinii, M. leschenaulitii, M. superba and M. paludosa (Kostermans and Bompard 1993). It concluded that adequate practical measures needed to be rapidly implemented to ensure the long-term survival of mango genetic resources, by both ex situ and in situ conservation (Bompard 1993). Some wild species of mango and their relatives occur in biosphere reserves, national parks or other reserves in India, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka, but little targeted in situ genetic conservation is being carried out.In 1998, a comprehensive project on Conservation and Use of Native Tropical Fruit Species Biodiversity in Asia was developed by IPGRI, in collaboration with ten Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, and funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The fruit species in the project included mango, citrus, rambutan, mangosteen, jackfruit and litchi and work was carried out on germplasm collecting, characterization and evaluation, documentation, identification of elite lines, ex situ and in situ conservation, socio-economic analysis, human resource development and capacity building, as well as regional and international collaboration.This ADB-funded project also facilitated the establishment of the Asia Fruit Genetic Resources Network (AFGRN). The network has helped to promote regional cooperation among the members to access and share the information through its website (http://www. afgrn.net).In Europe, the Fruit Network established by the ECP/GR in 1999 (see http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/Networks/Fruit/fruit. htm) includes in its activities discussions on establishing uniform standards for the conservation of fruit germplasm and of the most appropriate methods for fruit tree conservation (such as cryopreservation, in vitro growth, in situ, ex situ, etc.). Strategies for ex situ and in situ conservation of wild Malus germplasm in Kazakhstan have been proposed (Hokanson et al. 1998) and a survey of the European wild relatives of Prunus fruit crops is given by Hanelt (1997) and of wild apples and pears by Zohary (1997).A series of case studies on the collection, utilization and preservation of fruit crop germplasm in the USA was presented at the 96th International Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) and includes species of Prunus, Vaccinium, Fragaria, Malus and Rubus (Hokanson 2001).Several countries have initiated in situ conservation activities for Citrus wild relatives. In India, there is an in situ gene sanctuary for citrus in the Garo Hills located in Nokrek National Park in the north-east of the State of Assam. This 10 000-acre sanctuary was set up to safeguard populations of the wild orange or 'ghost orange' as it is known locally (Citrus indica) (Singh 1981). It is surrounded by a buffer zone which provides the local people with fuelwood and other resources, so reducing the impact on the core area. This was apparently the first reserve set up specifically for the purpose of genetic conservation of a tropical shrub (Smith et al. 1992). In Vietnam, Citrus spp. are included in six Gene Management Zones (GMZs) whose aim is to maintain the natural evolution of plants for future generations. 24 As explained above, a GMZ is an in situ conservation and long-term monitoring site that contains one or more diverse populations of target species to be conserved. Each GMZ has specific management requirements adapted to different species and environmental conditions to ensure natural evolutionary processes, hence serving as an open laboratory, permitting continued evolution and conservation of the component species. A series of GMZs is often required in order to represent the ecogeographical ranges needed for the selected species and populations so as to support sufficient environmental heterogeneity.Because of their frequent use by local people, either for the target species or for other components of the ecosystem, the maintenance of genetic reserves for tropical fruit trees and shrubs will often depend to a considerable degree on community participation in their management. An example is the conservation of yamamomo (Myrica rubra), which occurs in southern China, Taiwan and central Japan. The fruits are eaten fresh or used for making a wine or liqueur. A forest genetic reserve exists at Ukiyamma on the Izu Peninsula, Japan. The management of this forest was under the direct control of the Samurai government in the 19th century and only the local inhabitants were permitted to harvest the ripe fruits. Because of the economic importance of the crops, the penalty for cutting a trunk or even a shoot was death by decapitation. Resort to such drastic measures to conserve the trees is no longer the practice there or elsewhere, and today Myrica rubra is protected through a common property agreement by the local villagers.Although ornamental plants are a large, diverse and economically important group, very few efforts have been made to conserve ornamentals, especially in situ (Heywood 2003a). As Metzger (1996) comments,The genetic conservation of ornamental plant species, whether in situ or ex situ has been poorly served. Genetic materials for ornamental plants are not centrally collected and maintained anywhere in the world.Attention is, however, being paid to the conservation needs of some ornamental species in the Mediterranean region, such as bulbous monocotyledons like Narcissus, Cyclamen, Galanthus, Tulipa, Leucojum and Crocus in Turkey, which are exported on a large scale and are at risk of becoming rare or endangered: 25 Tulipa sprengeri for example, is extinct in the wild as a result of overharvesting by commercial collectors. However, most of the steps taken to counter these threats are focused on regulation of collection and export and on cultivation, but in situ measures such as genetic reserves for such species are rare although studies on population size and the effects of collecting on some species are being undertaken (Entwistle et al. 2002).Many cacti and succulents are commercially important ornamentals. Some of them are the subject of recovery or management plans such as the spineless hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. inermis) in the States of Colorado and Utah in the USA where it has endangered status (US Fish and Wildlife Service 1986). In Mexico, many attractive ornamental species of cacti are being placed at risk because of habitat destruction or conversion, uncontrolled tourism and poaching, which make their often small populations vulnerable to extinction (Rojo and Peters 2003)  (Garpow 2001). However, these UMAs are focused on animal species, and cacti and other plant species are protected only incidentally and it appears that no in situ management or recovery plans targeted at these cacti are planned so far.One of the few reserves for ornamental species is the orchid sanctuary maintained by the Botanic Garden, Orchid Research and Development Centre, Tippi, Arunachal Pradesh, India, and there are other such orchid sanctuaries in the country. The in situ conservation of target ornamental species within ecosystems is still in its infancy and the effectiveness and viability of gene sanctuaries or microreserves is still largely untested.Examples of other groups of target species which have been the subject of in situ conservation include:Incense: A project is under way to make a Protected Area of Wadi Doka (Dhofar, Oman), with the aim of preserving and restoring the natural habitat where approximately 1200 trees of Boswellia sacra (frankincense), one of the frankincense-producing trees, grows (Raffaelli et al. 2003a(Raffaelli et al. , 2003b)). The Oman Government has shown interest in the creation of a Natural Park in the area, already listed by UNESCO (2000) as one of the World Heritage Sites, and in order to set up suitable protection for the Park, it has recently begun a project with the Italian Mission to Oman that aims to prevent damage by human activity, monitor incidental parasite attacks and restore the natural area by saving the present plants and future seedlings.Bamboo and rattan (Rao and Ramantha Rao 2000; also see http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/apo/inbar.html): A project to conduct studies on the species of Johannesteijsmannia H.E. Moore (Palmae) to provide information necessary to effectively manage the conservation as well as sustainable exploitation of the species is being undertaken by the Department of Biological Sciences of The National University of Singapore, the Forest Research Institute, Malaysia, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Work is in progress on the genetic diversity of Johannesteijsmannia altifrons and this will be extended for all four species in the genus for all known and accessible populations in east and west Malaysia and southern Thailand. So far no conservation management has been undertaken (Hugh Tan Tiang Wah, personal communication 2003). IPGRI's work programme on the conservation of genetic resources includes work on bamboo and rattan species (Hong et al. 2001).Coffea spp.: a project to assess the amount of variability present in wild Coffea taxa in the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Réunion) at the genetic and taxonomic level using molecular and morphometric tools has been carried out as a basis to develop a sound conservation strategy. The project also carried out an in-depth ecogeographical study of coffee species and examined the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving genetic diversity of coffee (Dulloo et al. 1998(Dulloo et al. , 1999)). Another project, funded by BMZ (Germany), on the conservation and use of wild populations of Coffea arabica in the montane rainforest of Ethiopia, aims to assess the diversity and the economic value of the Ethiopian coffee genepool and to develop a model for conservation and use of the genetic resources of Coffea arabica in its centre of diversity in Ethiopia, based on the conservation of the montane rain forests as the natural habitat of the wild coffee populations, and the traditional use of the wild coffee populations in the forest coffee systems (Denich et al. 2002;Gole et al. 2002).In situ conservation of several major food crops is virtually unknown. For example, referring to banana, Sharrock and Engels (1997) wrote:There are no known records of wild Musa species being conserved in existing protected areas. The method must surely have potential however for the conservation of species known to exist in the rainforests of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, such as Musa ingens. Before embarking on such in situ conservation programmes for Musa however, there is a need for more information on the distribution of wild Musa species, on minimum habitat size and on population dynamics. The establishment of good links between those responsible for the management of protected areas (typically Ministries of the Environment or Forestry), and those responsible for the conservation of crop genetic resources (usually Ministries of Agriculture) will also be essential.3.9 Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects that involve in situ conservation of target species Turkey: In Situ Conservation of Genetic Diversity in Turkey. This major 5-year project on in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity in Turkey was initiated in 1993. The goal of the project was to develop in situ gene conservation programmes for target plant species selected from wild relatives of crop, fruit tree and globally important forest tree species in selected pilot sites (Tan and Tan 2002). A list of the target species is given in Box 30. The main activities undertaken were:• Surveys and inventories conducted to help identify and assess suitable sites in Turkey containing wild crop relatives, focusing on wheat, chickpea, lentils and barley as priority species, but also including other herbaceous and woody species. • Development of a national plan for in situ conservation supported.Regional: Wild Relatives. The GEF/UNEP project on In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives through Improved Information Management and Field Application: a PDF-B project involving Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan has been successfully completed and the full project has been approved by the GEF Council; implementation began in June 2004. The full project will pool existing information from a wide variety of sources on crop wild relatives in each of the five countries and an information exchange network will be set up, allowing scientists and breeders to identify promising traits for improving crop production. The project will pinpoint ways on how to best conserve the rich genetic resources of the countries concerned and will enhance conservation measures already undertaken and make available resources in order to build upon these. The project will: • Develop national information systems for crop wild relatives, drawing together information from national sources and including aspects of species biology, ecology, conservation status, distribution, crop production potential, local community uses and existing conservation actions. • Bring together information from national and international sources on the identity, status, distribution and potential use of crop wild relatives in the five participating countries. • Create an international information system accessible through the World Wide Web to link global and national information resources and to allow determination of conservation status and needs for specific crop wild relatives. • Explore and optimize procedures to link information on species distribution, spatial data and information from ecogeographical surveys so as to make better conservation decisions for these species. • Identify conservation actions for species and populations identified as having highest priority for interventions and develop national plans for conserving crop wild relatives. • Develop action plans for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives involving local communities so as to combine security for the crop relatives with improved use and benefits for local people. • Develop management plans for crop wild relatives in protected areas. • Raise awareness within the countries of the importance of crop wild relatives and their value for improving agricultural production. Ethiopia: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal Plants. The project will include an inventory of medicinal plants and in situ conservation activities in the Bale Mountains Massif and National Park, one of the most important conservation areas in Ethiopia. It aims to facilitate development of safe and efficacious healthcare relying on traditional medicine and medicinal plants while protecting the resource base and implementing measures to reduce pressure on wild populations of rare and endemic species.Regional: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dryland Agrobiodiversity in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. This project aimed at promoting the conservation of wild relatives and landraces of important agricultural species in the Fertile Crescent (Near East region), by introducing and testing in situ and on-farm mechanisms and techniques to conserve and sustainably use agrobiodiversity. Selected sites in each of the participating countries (Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Syria) were used for the in situ conservation of 16 target crops or crop groups of global significance and their wild relatives. Among these field crops are Triticum, Hordeum, Lens, Vicia, Lathyrus, Medicago, Trifolium and Allium species. The project also planned to conserve wild and local varieties of Olea (olive), Prunus spp. (apricot, cherry, plum, almond), Pyrus (pear), Pistacia (pistachio) and Ficus (fig) that originated in the Near East.Jordan: Conservation of Medicinal and Herbal Plants Project. This conservation project will support Jordan's capacity to sustainably manage the wild genetic resource base of its medicinal and herbal plants, diminish threats to the species, and identify and protect key biodiversity areas. A total of 485 species of medicinal plants, which belong to 330 genera and 99 families, has been recorded in Jordan. The project will also establish an operational database, genepool and monitoring system, improve the livelihood of rural communities, promote public awareness and environmental education on medicinal/herbal plants, and engage local communities in conservation, management and income-generating programmes. In situ conservation of these plants will take place at three pilot sites in Jordan. In addition, the project will establish a long-term plan for conserving and managing these plants, while strengthening the capacity of local and national institutions to meet the objectives of the conservation plan. An important element of this project will be the participation of women from local communities, who play a key role in conserving these ecosystems and in identifying curative and healing characteristics of plants.Central Asia: 1. GEF/World Bank. Central Asia Transboundary Biodiversity Project in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan. This project will improve habitat management and species protection in the Protected Area Network of the West Tien Shan, a mountain range shared by the three countries located on the western edge of the Himalayan mountain system that includes wild relatives of horticultural, agricultural, and medicinal plants.2. In Situ/On-farm Conservation of Agrobiodiversity (Horticultural Crops and Wild Fruit Species) in Central Asia. Following a successful PDF-B operation, this project will, inter alia, develop methods and guidelines for analysis, documentation, and in situ/on-farm management of horticultural crops and wild fruit species and these will be made available to stakeholders in the five project countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). It will focus on crops selected during the PDF-A phase and tested during the PDF-B phase: apricot (Prunus armeniaca), alycha (Prunus cerasifera), grapevine (Vitis spp.), pomegranate (Punica granatum), pear (Pyrus spp.), fig (Ficus carica), almond (Amygdalus communis), sea buckthorn (Hippophae spp.), walnut (Juglans regia), peach (Persica vulgaris), pistachio (Pistacia vera), and apple (Malus spp).Peru: In-Situ Conservation of Native Cultivars and Their Wild Relatives. This project will target 11 important crop species such as lima beans, peppers and tomatoes, including several local varieties and wild relatives, for conservation of their genetic diversity within functioning agroecosystems. Genetically important areas (micro gene centres) or 'hot spots' were selected according to the following criteria:• presence of a significantly large number of native varieties of one or more of the 11 target species • species endemism • existence of conservation-oriented farmers or communities that manage a number of species and varieties • presence of traditional agricultural systems • include diverse agroecological zones • some traditional form of seed exchange through 'seed routes'.Sri Lanka: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal Plants. The project will design and implement a medicinal plants conservation programme. It will support the following activities for five botanical reserves where medicinal plants are collected from the wild: baseline research, monitoring, conservation planning, community organizing, enrichment plantings, research on traditional medicinal plant knowledge, sustainable economic activities relating to medicinal plants or taking pressures off wild resources, improved marketing of such plants, and education.Vietnam: In-situ Conservation of Native Landraces and their Wild Relatives in Vietnam. This project concerns the conservation of six important crop groups (rice, taro, tea, litchi-longan, citrus and ride bean), including native landraces and wild relatives, in three ecogeographical areas of Vietnam: the northern mountains, the northern midlands, and the north-west mountains. Its main components are: • establishment of Genetic Management Zones (GMZs) through the creation of an appropriate enabling environment • operationalization of GMZs through capacity building, training, and removal of barriers • targeted research, information management and analysis in support of GMZ establishment and operationalization • public awareness, education and information dissemination in support of the replication of the GMZ approach. The expected outcomes are that:• native landraces and wild relatives will be conserved in dynamic agriculture/forest landscapes • replicable models will be established of community-based Gene Management Zones (GMZs) • an enabling environment will be established to support conservation of agrobiodiversity. Zimbabwe: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Traditional Medicinal Plants in Zimbabwe. The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is an approach to development and conservation in Zimbabwe. 27 The essence of the CAMPFIRE approach is that it gives some ownership, control and benefits of wildlife to the local community rather than central control. The concept includes all natural resources, although the focus has been upon wildlife management in communal areas, particularly those adjacent to National Parks, where people have to live with the costs of having wildlife in the area. Under the GEF project, it will be adapted to the conservation of medicinal plants in four districts where CAMPFIRE is already operational. Floristic surveys will be conducted to establish the distribution of endemic medicinal plant species and the degree of threat in the pilot areas. Local communities, through their traditional leaders, will be encouraged to map out no-use zones, corridors, and buffer zones in areas that are rich in the threatened medicinal plants, using physical barriers, and to formulate local bye-laws that regulate the use of the areas where endangered medicinal plants are particularly over-exploited. In these areas, sites may be chosen for enrichment planting of appropriate medicinal plants by the local people, using seed from non-degraded areas. This component will also promote the adoption of a benefit-sharing mechanism for plants on common property (through CAMPFIRE principles). The adoption of a CAMPFIRE approach to benefit-sharing will ensure that local communities are sufficiently motivated to participate in the activities.Part IV: The way forward, conclusions and recommendationsAs has been noted several times in this book, the number of candidate species for in situ conservation is far in excess of those for which human and financial resources are likely to be made available for the preparation and implementation of management, action or recovery plans for them. The Convention of Biological Diversity, in recognizing that the fundamental requirement for the conservation of biological diversity is the in-situ conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings does not suggest restricting action to those species that are threatened. But threatened plant species alone are estimated at around 80 000-100 000, which again is such a high figure that even restricting effective conservation action to these is very unlikely to be possible. It is clear, therefore, that if a major impact is to be made on this problem, a range of different conservation scenarios needs to be considered and a multi-level strategy will have to be adopted.A first requirement is that lists of priority species at global, regional and national levels need to be agreed for each of the major target groups of species-e.g. forestry, medicinal, aromatic, crop relatives, ornamentals, industrial-and then filtered according their degree of endangerment so that efforts can initially be directed preferentially at these. Secondly, the presence of these priority species within protected areas should be recorded. Then a strategy needs to be devised that will provide at least some degree of in situ protection for as many species as possible, whether threatened or not, even though this falls short of full effective conservation.Although presence in a protected area(s) is a preferred option for in situ conservation, this is not a prerequisite nor in itself a necessary guarantee that any particular species will be adequately protected. The present coverage of protected areas is insufficient to include most species in need of in situ conservation. In addition, protected areas are seldom selected with the conservation of individual plant species in mind; they are often sited in marginal areas; the populations that occur within them are often not representative of the genetic diversity of a species; their management plans do not normally address individual species or groups of particular species; and their management effectiveness is often poor. It is likely that this situation will improve in time but not significantly in short-and medium-term planning horizons.On the other hand, the very presence in a protected area affords some degree of protection, at least in the short term, for the species that they house, and so another high priority is to ensure that the area is effectively managed and conserved. As a recent report on the effectiveness of protected areas observes (WWF 2004) \"…in the medium to long term, protected areas only work if they really are protected\".In adopting a multi-level strategy, a number of different situations will be found to occur, depending on whether the species is known to be threatened or not, whether or not it occurs in a protected area and whether it is of economic importance or not. Thus: • For widespread species which are not currently known to be threatened and of no known particular economic importance, a minimum goal is identification and monitoring of the populations of the species concerned and effective management of any protected area(s) in which they occur; or monitoring their presence and the habitat conditions if they occur outside any protected areas . • For species of known economic importance that are not threatened, ecogeographical surveying should be undertaken to establish the amount and distribution of genetic variation and how much of it is represented in protected areas, and an assessment of conservation and monitoring needs undertaken. • For threatened species, whether of known economic importance or not, which occur in protected areas, ecogeographical surveying should be undertaken, the extent of the genetic representation in the protected area assessed, and further areas for eventual protection identified to ensure that an adequate representation of the diversity is covered. Then action should be taken to control or remove the factors that cause the threats and, if the species is considered of sufficient priority, any necessary further conservation action that is needed, such as detailed management or recovery, should be planned and implemented. Prioritydetermining mechanisms for determining which species to select for priority conservation management and the various steps that such management may involve are described in the appropriate sections of this volume. Clearly, the more threatened the species is, the more intensive the conservation interventions needed are likely to be. Multi-species as opposed to single-species plans are an option, provided that the different species face the same or similar threats, although experience suggests that for many such plans this is not the case and their effectiveness is in proportion to the amount of time and money that is devoted to the individual species. • In the case of threatened species that are found outside protected areas, if considered of sufficiently high priority, efforts should be made to protect a sufficient amount of the area in which they occur so as to allow the representation of viable populations that cover a sufficient sample of the genetic variation. If this is not possible, alternative means of protection, including community participation, easements or habitat conservation planning should be considered (see Section 2.4).The in situ conservation of target species of economic importance, often termed genetic conservation, normally requires a much more structured and focused approach, as described in Part II of this review, than that for species of no known economic value. The exception is those species for which recovery actions need to be implemented if they are to continue to survive as viable populations.• Conservation of species or populations in situ is a widely misunderstood process and covers a range of different situations that includes wild population and species, domesticates, ecosystems, agroecosystems, landscapes and bioregions. Conservation in situ of target species in natural or semi-natural habitats should be seen as but one component of an overall species conservation strategy; for many species, where no structured in situ conservation is possible, alternative approaches should be considered. • The maintenance of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings is identified as a fundamental requirement for the conservation of biological diversity by the Convention on Biological Diversity. However, effective in situ conservation of target species can be a complex, multidisciplinary, timeconsuming and expensive process, often involving different agencies, which because of the restricted resources and finance available, can only be applied to a small minority of species, even those that are endangered. Consequently, it cannot be considered for the majority of species for which various less formal (and usually less effective) approaches may be adopted. • The number of potential candidate species that might be selected for in situ conservation in the various target groups such as forestry, medicinal, aromatic, ornamental and industrial species, crop relatives, and species of scientific importance, is so high (tens of thousands) that effective conservation management of only a small selection of those that are identified as targets is possible. Priority mechanisms for selecting target species is therefore a critical process and the criteria adopted will depend on the group of species, national priorities, and economic and environmental considerations. It is likely that within any group greatest priority will be given to species that are known to be threatened. • Even if the wild populations of target species selected for in situ conservation need little direct management or intervention, the processes involved in the assessment of their distribution, ecology, demography, reproductive biology, and genetic variation and in the selection of number and size of populations and sites to be conserved, as well as undertaking monitoring and containing or eliminating any threats to their survival, are onerous.• For the majority of potential target species, therefore, no formal conservation management strategy is possible and for these the burden of effort must fall on Protected Area systems and managers and on local communities. At a minimum, awareness of the presence of target species in protected areas should lead to some form of monitoring if no further action can be taken towards meeting the conservation needs of the species. • The target of 60 per cent of the world's threatened species conserved in situ by 2010 proposed in the Global Plant Conservation Strategy will not be practicable in a formal sense (management, action or recovery programmes) except for a minority of these. For the majority of threatened species (which have been recently estimated as numbering roughly 80 000-100 000), other kinds of action, such as strengthening the role of protected areas in which they occur, surveying and monitoring of populations, moderating or removing the source of the threats, may afford some degree of protection. Local communities should be expected to play a significant role in these actions in many cases. It is recommended that the SBSTTA and the CBD review the whole issue of in situ species conservation as a matter of urgency. • A key requirement for assessing the requirements for in situ conservation of species is an adequate information base. This is not available for most countries and no global assessment of in situ conservation needs exists. • National lists of target species in the various priority groups should be prepared and then information gathered on the distribution, ecology, demography, variation patterns and conservation status of the species listed. • On the other hand, there is greatly increased awareness of the need for in situ conservation of species following the publication of the CBD and the FAO's Global Plan of Action. Consequently, in a growing number of countries considerable effort is going into establishing baseline information on which species are candidates for selection for in situ conservation action and undertaking ecogeographical surveying that will allow such programmes to be planned. Many countries, however, have no plans to take action in this area. Likewise, most conservation organizations have not given in situ conservation of species much prominence, other than for those that are on Red Lists. • In priority-determining strategies, many factors can be taken into account, some of them obvious, some of them more complex, while others may only be applicable in particular cases or types of plant; others may be applicable only at a later stage of the process, such as degree of management needed. • Degree of threat or endangerment is widely adopted as a filter for all groups of target species, including those of economic importance. Although this is understandable, it does run the risk of excluding conservation measures being taken for widespread species of major economic importance, such as forestry species or crop wild relatives, where the need to preserve particular values such as alleles, genotypes or ecotypes for present and future use, while they still exist, is justified. It should also be recognized that information on which species are threatened and the nature of the threats is not available for most species that occur in tropical biomes. • Protected areas play a major role in the in situ conservation of species of economic importance, as habitats where many of them will be found to occur. A first requirement is that the long-term protection of such areas should be effective. It should be emphasized that simple presence in a protected area is not sufficient to constitute an adequate conservation plan for the target species, as this would require a selection to be made of which and how many populations and individuals in each population are needed to ensure the maintenance, survival and continued evolution of a significant part of the genetic variability of the species concerned. • Most protected areas were not set up with conservation of particular species in mind and even the presence in the area of those that are identified as target species will not be known in many cases. Floristic inventories of protected areas should be given priority as part of national strategies for in situ speciesorientated conservation.• Protected Area managers should consider the possibility of enhancing the level of protection to be afforded to the populations of species of economic importance that are found to occur within their reserves, through modifying the management of the area where possible. Although this would fall far short of effective in situ conservation of such species, it would contribute to the overall goal. • Apart from the different categories of protected areas recognized by IUCN, a wide range of specialized types of protected areas designed for genetic conservation exists, but much more work needs to be undertaken to establish their effectiveness. • In the case of species of economic importance that are directly harvested or consumed (such as medicinal plants or fruits), in situ conservation needs to be closely integrated within an overall framework of sustainable resource management. • The in situ conservation of species outside protected areas, where the majority of them occur, is a subject that deserves much further consideration by conservation agencies. While the very act of taking steps to protect, manage or conserve species populations in such areas effectively brings them under the umbrella of protected areas, there are other indirect means, such as easements, whereby some degree of protection to the species can be afforded through agreements to reduce the level of exploitation or to contain threats. Much greater attention should be paid in engaging local communities in protecting species in their natural habitats and in their sustainable utilization. • Promoting more biodiversity-sensitive management of ecosystems outside protected areas, especially of those known to contain target species, needs to be given high priority. National authorities should be encouraged to develop regulatory mechanisms to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of these resources, in line with Article 8b of the Convention on Biological Diversity. • Numerous guidelines exist for the various components of in situ conservation strategies; some are general while others are highly detailed; some apply to particular classes of target species while others are focused on particular species. It is not possible to make a useful synthesis of these guidelines apart from some basic elements they have in common, and great care needs to be taken when adopting any particular set of guidelines to ensure that they are appropriate to the species involved. It is clear from this review that the circumstances and requirements in each particular case of in situ conservation of target species is unique and that there is no single set of procedures which can be applied, although of course some general principles apply.• The future effects of the various components of global change on in situ conservation programmes are difficult to predict but it seems likely that in some regions, not only will the individual species but the ecosystems in which they are occur or are conserved in situ be put at risk.Extract from IPGRI's New Strategic Directions-Diversity for Wellbeing: Making the Most of Agricultural Biodiversity (IPGRI 2004)People today and in the future enjoy greater well-being through increased incomes, sustainably improved food security and nutrition, and greater environmental health, made possible by conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests.IPGRI undertakes, encourages and supports research and other activities on the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity, especially genetic resources, to create more productive, resilient and sustainable harvests. Our aim is to promote the greater wellbeing of people, particularly poor people in developing countries, by helping them to achieve food security, to improve their health and nutrition, to boost their incomes, and to conserve the natural resources on which they depend. IPGRI works with a global range of partners to maximize impact, to develop capacity and to ensure that all stakeholders have an effective voice.The purpose of IPGRI's work is to ensure that individuals and institutions are able to make optimal use of agricultural biodiversity to meet the current and future development needs of people and societies. To achieve this purpose, and in support of its mission, IPGRI will carry out a range of activities to meet six broad objectives.Demonstrating the benefits: Demonstrating the social, economic and environmental benefits of agricultural biodiversity.Biodiversity for income and food security: Ensuring that agricultural biodiversity is conserved, characterized and used to improve productivity.Researching agricultural biodiversity: Generating knowledge about agricultural biodiversity through research and making such knowledge available.Enabling and empowering: Developing human and institutional capacity to conserve and make effective and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity.Supportive policies: Analysing policies and fostering an environment that supports the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity.Getting the word out: Raising awareness of the values of agricultural biodiversity and the importance of the conservation of genetic resources.Appendix 2: IUCN/SSC plant conservation strategy [2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005] Goal: The extinction crisis is acknowledged as a global problem, and the current rate of loss of plant diversity is decreased Objective 1: Sound interdisciplinary scientific information underpins decisions and policies affecting plant diversity OUTPUT 1.1: The SSC Plants Programme promotes conservation of important plant areas by refining the criteria for identification of Centres of Plant Diversity and other priority plant areas, and assisting in implementing programmes to conserve such sites at appropriate regional, national and local scales. Activity 1: Undertake a review of criteria for selecting priority plant conservation areas involving appropriate stakeholder groups, with a view to refining criteria at a range of geographical scales. Activity 2: Develop a Centres of Plant Diversity and Important Plant Areas booklet, that provides guidelines and criteria for selection (along the lines of the Red List Criteria), together with models for associated conservation action. Activity 3: Through workshops encourage the process of selecting important plant areas at regional, national and local levels, in association with IUCN members, IUCN regional offices and other appropriate organizations and agencies. Activity 4: Through partnerships with national, regional and local networks, facilitate one or more workshops for the development of site-based Action Plans for priority plant areas and plant area clusters, and ensure that these plans are available to local groups. Activity 5: Promote and develop appropriate monitoring programmes for tracking action and implementation of site-based Action Plans.OUTPUT 1.2: The SSC Plants Programme participates in projects on specific conservation issues, such as the conservation of wild plants of importance for food and agriculture and other selected economic plants, and the study and mitigation of major threats by providing inputs to the development and implementation of these projects. Plants Programme as a core activity and to plan plant conservation actions primarily through Plant Specialist Groups, which are encouraged to seek their own strategic alliances with appropriate local groups (both within and outside IUCN).Objective 3: Modes of production and consumption that result in the conservation and restoration of plant diversity are adopted by users of plant resources OUTPUT 3.1: Activities promoting the sustainable use of plant resources are identified and supported through the SSC by Specialist Group programmes and strategic links to other SSC and IUCN activities and appropriate non-IUCN partnerships. Activity 17: Maintain and develop collaboration with appropriate organizations and programmes (such as the Sustainable Use Specialist Group) to achieve standards for assessing and managing the impact of use on wild plant resources. Activity 18: To promote the dissemination of the sustainable use concept for plants and ensure inclusion in national, regional and local planning documents, and ensure that Action Plans and activities involving plants take into account the sustainable use of plants.The SSC Plants Programme participates through the Medicinal Plants Specialist Group in inter-agency collaboration on the conservation and use of medicinal plants with particular reference to sustainable production, benefit-sharing and community participation.Objective 4: SSC's plant policy recommendations, guidelines, and advice are valued, adopted, and implemented by relevant audiences The IUCN Species Survival Commission has commissioned a series of Action Plans which contain conservation strategies/guidelines for a number of plant groups such as palms (Johnson 1996), cycads (Donaldson 2003), cacti and succulents (Oldfield 1997), orchids (Hágsater and Dumont 1996) and conifers (Farjon and Page 1999).Genetic sampling guidelines for conservation collections of endangered plants have been proposed by the US Center for Plant Conservation (Center for Plant Conservation 1991). Although these are aimed at ex situ collections, they are partly relevant to in situ conservation.The Guidelines for the Conservation of Medicinal Plants (WHO/IUCN/ WWF 1993) arising from the WHO/IUCN/WWF International Consultation on Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Chiang Mai, 21-26 March 1988, were the first to be specifically aimed at medicinal and aromatic plants. Although in need of revision, they are still a useful source of information. 28  The US Plant Conservation Alliance Medicinal Plant Working Group (http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/index.htm) is engaged in what it terms an 'evolving strategy' for medicinal plant conservation.A considerable number of guidelines and methodologies for genetic conservation of forest trees has been issued. The first appears to have been that published by FAO in 1975(FAO 1975), including a substantial section on in situ conservation. An important contribution is Volume 2 in the series Forest Genetic Resources: Conservation and Management (FAO/DFSC/IPGRI 2001; see also Patiño-Valera 2002) which contains guidance and a checklist for developing a programme of in situ conservation of target species or a group of species, based on local conditions and specific objectives, and includes a step-by-step approach to enhancing the conservation of role of protected areas for forest genetic resources. Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management which \"includes a balance of productive, protective, environmental and social components\", as it relates to forest genetic diversity, are summarized in a paper on status and trends of forest genetic diversity (McKinnell 2002). More specifically genetic aspects are reviewed in an FAO working paper (Namkoong et al. 2002) on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in terms of assessment and monitoring of genetic variation.• selection of target taxa • compiling species information • field and laboratory procedures • proposing preserves.A set of recommendations on in situ conservation of wild relatives was made to the European Symposium on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action in Europe, Braunschweig, Germany 1988 (Heywood and Firat 1999).Although not in the form of Guidelines, the Proceedings of the three workshops on Conservation of the Wild Relatives of European Cultivated Plants: Developing Integrated Strategies (Valdés et al. 1997), held under a Council of Europe initiative, contain articles on most aspects of in situ conservation, as noted above.A review of in situ conservation of tropical fruit germplasm, including a series of guidelines, is included in the workshop on Tropical Fruits in Asia: Conservation and Use (van den Hurk 1998).Conservation strategies and management guidelines for wild Prunus genetic resources have been prepared for Spain (Vivero et al. 2001).A recent review (Heywood 2003a) notes that the conservation and sustainable use of those wild species that may have potential for introduction as new ornamental crops or as sources of genetic material that can be used in the development of existing crops, needs a much more coherent strategy than at present exists. This should be implemented at a national level and cover areas such as:• surveying at national level of the various holdings, both in cultivation and in seed banks, of the different categories of species of ornamental or amenity value • An assessment of the conservation status and needs of these resources • information and documentation resources and needs • identification of priority species or other taxa in need of urgent conservation action • assessment of the role of protected areas for the in situ conservation of target ornamental species • sampling methodologies • the capacity of germplasm banks, botanic gardens and other institutions for the exploration and maintenance of genetic resources of ornamentals • the role of the nursery trade in the conservation of ornamentals • research on germination, propagation and regeneration of seeds of ornamental species • setting achievable targets.A set of recommendations for the Conservation of Genetic Resources in Protected Areas was made at a Workshop held at the IV World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas, Caracas (Heywood et al. 1993).The sequence of steps involved in enhancing the management of protected areas that contain genetic resources of forest tree species, so as maintain the target species as well as the ecosystem, is given in a recent review of the conservation and management of forest genetic resources (Thomson and Theilade 2001).The most comprehensive set of guidelines on measuring and monitoring plant populations is that produced by the US Bureau of Land Management-Measuring and Monitoring Plant Populations (Elzinga et al. 1998a; see also Elzinga et al. 1998b). This is a major technical reference work that should be widely available for consultation on many aspects of species conservation, not just monitoring. The various chapters cover, in 477 pages, topics such as setting priorities and selecting scale, management objectives, principles of sampling, sampling objectives and design, field techniques for measuring vegetation, data management, communication and monitoring plans, statistical analysis, demography and reporting results.A guide for the management of biosphere reserves has been published as a UNESCO MAB Digest (Bioret et al. 1998). A set of guidelines for the buffer zones in tropical forests has been prepared by IUCN (Sayer 1991) A review and set of guidelines for the participatory approach in the conservation of forest genetic resources is published in the DFSC Guidelines and Technical Notes series (Isager et al. 2002). The Proceedings of an international seminar on Participatory Approaches to the Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources has been published by IPGRI (Friis-Hansen and Sthapit 2000).The Re-introduction Specialist Group of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission has prepared the IUCN/SSC Guidelines for Re-Introductions (IUCN/SSC 1995). These policy guidelines were prepared as a response to the growing occurrence of reintroduction programmes worldwide. Although now somewhat dated, they still provide a useful summary.A handbook for reintroduction of plants to the wild has been published by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (Akeroyd and Wyse Jackson 1995).A Reference List for Plant Re-introductions, Recovery Plans and Restoration Programmes was prepared by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in 1995 but has not been subsequently updated (Atkinson et al. 1995).In 1998, the Plant Conservation Alliance initiated a project to create a comprehensive Restoration Directory which includes both restoration experts and native plant sources. It is currently available on the Society for Ecological Restoration International's website (http://www.ser.org/about.asp).The Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) (Mill 2002) has published Guidelines for Germplasm Conservation for the conservation, recovery and management of threatened flora (ANPC 1997a; see also Stephens and Maxwell 1998) and for the translocation of threatened plants in Australia (ANPC 1997b), that have been supported by the Standing Committee on Conservation of the Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (the Council of Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Ministers). Recovery Plan Guidelines for Nationally Listed Threatened Species and Ecological Communities have been published for Australia by the Federal Government (Environment Australia 2002).A valuable introduction to restoration genetics has been prepared for the Society for Ecological Restoration (Falk et al. 2001) and a useful volume on strategies for the reintroduction of endangered plants has also been published (Falk et al. 1996).A 400-page manual Plant Conservation: Approaches and Techniques from an Australian Perspective, a practical guide of issues and methods prepared by a series of experts for the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) has been published (Brown et al. 2003).1. The term should be, correctly, inter situs (between sites); in fact the term situs (fourth declension masculine), according to Stearn (1973), means 'position occupied by an organ', while site in the sense of place is locus (second declension masculine) but the terms in situ and ex situ are entrenched in the literature. 2. It is important to distinguish between the terms rehabilitation and restoration. The former refers to the re-establishment of a functioning ecosystem not necessarily with the same set of species that were present at the site, while restoration technically means reproducing the community or ecosystem that was once present with extant species or their analogues (Bradshaw 1987). 3. The term is, however, ambiguous in that it covers both the conservation of wild relatives of crops in their natural habitats and the creation of artificial populations that are grown on a large scale in farmers' fields or in experimental areas, which allow the various ongoing human and natural selection pressures to operate on them. 4. Also referred to as circum situm and, incorrectly, as circum situ or circa situ-cf.Note 1. 5. The consistent use by the CBD of the term 'the ecosystem approach' is somewhat misleading, as it recognizes that there is no single way to implement it, depending as it does on local, provincial, national, regional or global conditions. It is also mades clear that it \"does not preclude other management and conservation approaches such as biosphere reserves, protected areas and single-species conservation programmes, but could, rather, integrate all these approaches and other methodologies to deal with complex situations\" and also states that \"there are many ways in which ecosystem approaches may be used as the framework for delivering the objectives if the Convention in practice\" (CBD/COP Decision V/6 Annex A; see also UNESCO 2000). 6. IUCN (2003)  ","tokenCount":"48545"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2446485513.json b/data/part_1/2446485513.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e47889165aa42780f54d0255937c2e8024161068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2446485513.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1f0cc6caa57734a29ba844ef6d1c972","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f5d02302-5b5e-4b0c-9497-0330f0077b50/retrieve","id":"-250185185"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8c40a4a8-5d50-4cde-898d-cd9682d8834c","pagecount":"88","content":"• to make commercial use of the work.Under the following conditions:• Attribution -You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).With the understanding that:• Waiver -Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.• Public domain -Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.iii• Other rights -In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:• Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;• The author's moral rights;• Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.Notice -For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).Although the authors have used their best efforts to ensure that the contents of this book are correct at the time of printing, it is impossible to cover all situations. The information is distributed on an 'as is' basis, without warranty.Neither the authors nor the publisher shall be liable for any liability, loss of profit, or other damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by following the guidelines in this book.The Africa Soil Health Consortium (ASHC) mission is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers through adoption of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) approaches that optimize fertilizer use efficiency and effectiveness.ASHC books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases. Special editions, foreign language translations and excerpts can also be arranged.ISBN (paperback): 978-1-78064-554-4 ISBN (e-book): 9781780645971 Typeset by Sarah TwomeyThis is the full-colour version of the maize-legume cropping guide.French and Portuguese versions are also available. Black and white (easy print) versions are also available in all three languages.This cropping guide is one in a series being produced for extension workers by the Africa Soil Health Consortium (ASHC).The series also covers banana-coffee, cassava, groundnut, rice, sweetpotato and sorghum-millet systems, but this one is focused on maize-legume systems. For legumes, it mostly focuses on the 'big five' -common bean, groundnut, cowpea, soybean (also called soya bean) and pigeonpea.The guide aims to provide, in a single publication, all the most important information needed to design and implement effective systems which combine maize and legumes -but with the primary focus on maize. It starts with simple clear explanations of the underlying principles before going on to provide practical guidance.ASHC is primarily focused on the needs of smallholder farmers in Africa but the content will also likely be relevant and useful to emerging and commercial farmers.The ASHC mission is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers through adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) approaches that optimise fertiliser use efficiency and effectiveness. The overarching framework for the guide is therefore provided by ISFM.The overall objective is to provide guidance on how to achieve sustainable increases in yields through the adoption of best practises that exploit the advantages of maize-legumes systems, increasing maize yields from around 0.5-1.2 tonnes per hectare (or even less) to 1.5-6 tonnes per hectare and increasing legume yields from less than 0.5 tonnes per hectare to 1-3 tonnes per hectare.Maize does well in suitable sub-humid zones. Increasingly, however, farmers are growing maize in more marginal areas. Maize can be successfully grown even in areas sometimes considered to be too dry. This guide therefore provides practical guidance for growing maize-legumes in the sub-humid zones as well as in more challenging environments.This guide has a bias towards East, Central and Southern Africa -due to the experience of the authors -but it will also be relevant and useful in West Africa.This chapter explains the principles which determine which options should be used in maize-legume systems. This is followed in the next chapter by practical guidelines based on these underlying principles.Maize grows well in deep fertile soil that is well drained, with good water holding capacity and rich in organic matter. The soil can range from heavy clay to light sandy soil but loam or sandy-loam soils are preferable.Ideal soil pH is 5.6 to 7.5 (slightly acidic through neutral to slightly alkaline).The optimum air temperature for maize growth ranges between 18 and 32°C. Growth is severely reduced at air temperatures above 35°C and below 10°C.Germination will be faster and less variable at soil temperatures of 16 to 18°C.Maize usually needs about 500-1500 mm of rainfall per growing season although some maize types can do well with as little as 250 mm of rainfall. The crop requires more moisture during flowering and grain filling. Actual rainfall requirements depend on type of maize.If intercropping, the choice of the legume intercrop should be based on presence of soil and climatic conditions that meet the requirements of both maize and the legume of choice (see Table 1).For sole-cropped legumes, rainfall requirements during the growing period (not total annual rainfall) are about 300-500 mm for most beans; climbing types, which take longer to grow, can require up to about 1000 mm; 400-900 mm for cowpea; 700-1000 mm for soybean and 500-700 mm for groundnuts. Maize is commonly grouped according to the approach used to develop varieties and also according to the length of growing/ maturity periods.Several maize plants with different characteristics can be allowed to cross among themselves and produce seed. These types of maize are referred to as 'open pollinated' varieties (OPVs).Traditional maize types fall under this category. These maize types tend to have modest yields (Table 2) and after successive generations yields become poor.Sometimes, seed from several OPV genotypes is grown together and encouraged to cross to form a 'composite' variety -this mixture is normally promoted as 'improved OPV'.For OPVs, farmers can use seed from the previous crop for 2-3 seasons after which they should obtain fresh seed.When two inbred lines are crossed by skilled plant breeders, the yield of the plants grown from the resulting seed can be greatly increased compared with that of the parents. Such plants are called hybrids. Hybrids also have better yields than the OPVs, especially when grown under favourable conditions.Grain from a crop grown from hybrid seed should not be used as seed -fresh hybrid seed has to be acquired every season as yield from such seed would be much less than that obtained in the first crop. Maize varieties can also be grouped according to the time taken to reach maturity after planting (Table 3). For example, some varieties mature in about 3 months while others can take 6 months or more. A variety will mature earlier at lower altitudes where it is warmer than at upper, cooler altitudes. Legumes can be grouped into three main groups depending on how they are used: grain legumes provide food for people, fodder legumes are used to feed livestock and tree legumes provide fodder and wood.This guide focuses on grain legumes because they are most associated with the maize systems -here the term 'legume' will in most cases be used to refer to grain legumes.Important grain legumes in Sub-Saharan Africa include common bean, soybean, cowpea, pigeonpea, groundnut as well as lentil, chickpea, faba bean, green gram, field pea, dolichos bean and butter bean. This guide will focus more on the first five of these which are the most widely grown in the region.Different legume types can be grouped according to their architecture (e.g. erect, bush, creeping, runner or climbing varieties), duration to maturity (see examples in Table 4), whether all pods mature at about the same time requiring one harvest or over a long period requiring several harvests, seed size and seed colour.Climbing beans yield better than non-climbing types (up to 3-times more) and fix more nitrogen (N) and therefore can contribute more to improved soil fertility. Many varieties of climbing beans do well at high altitudes but there are also varieties suitable for medium altitudes. Climbing beans can also grow in poor soils and some are more tolerant to diseases like root rot and ascochyta blight than bush beans. A disadvantage of climbing beans is that they need something to climb up, such as wooden stakes (see also Box 5).To meet the plant's requirements for water, early maturing legume types should be grown if the expected duration of rainfall is short or if planting is done late after onset of rains.Sometimes growing seasons are long enough to allow growing of two crops, one after the other. For example, an early maturing cowpea variety can be planted at the beginning of the rainy season and harvested after two months and then maize can be planted soon after and harvested at the end of the season.Medium and late maturing pigeonpea varieties can be intercropped with early maturing maize as the maize will mature early and competition between the two crops will not be intense. Early maturing pigeonpeas are not suitable for intercropping. Unlike medium and late maturing pigeonpeas, early maturing types have peak nutrient demands at about the same time as maize. They also do not have a very deep tap-root (Box 1): a deeper taproot allows the plant to access moisture and nutrient reserves at deeper depths. Box 1: Pigeonpea compared to other legumes Pigeonpea can do well even in low phosphorus (P) soils. The deep root system of medium and late maturing types allows uptake of nutrients at greater depths. Some of these nutrients become available to the next crop.Pigeonpea is drought tolerant.If parasitic yellow witchweed (Alectra vogelii) is an issue -pigeonpea and dolichos bean are less susceptible than soybean, cowpea and groundnuts.Maize-legume cropping systems can be divided into two major classes: 'simultaneous' systems, in which the components are grown together at the same time, and 'sequential' systems or rotations, in which one crop follows the other in the next cropping season.The simultaneous systems include all types of maize-legume intercropping.Examples of sequential systems are grain legumes in rotation with maize.Some systems have features of both types; for example, in relay intercropping, grain legumes are planted into the developing maize crop and become a sole legume crop once the maize is harvested and removed from the field.The primary interactions between plant species in simultaneous systems are direct and can be either negative (interspecific competition) or positive (facilitative).Interactions in sequential systems are principally due to modification of the environment for the succeeding crop, often termed residual benefits.Whether it is best to grow legumes and maize together as intercrops or separately in rotations depends on the balance between complementarity in growth and competition, as well of course as the priorities given to yields from the different crops.The advantages of growing maize and legumes simultaneously result from many factors, including benefits from nitrogen-fixation, more efficient capture and use of resources for growth such as light and water, and reduction of pest and disease damage due to avoiding a monoculture.The advantage of intercropping over sole cropping is commonly expressed in terms of the land equivalent ratio (LER) (see Box 2). This is simply an expression of the relative area required by sole crops to produce the same yield as intercrops. A value of LER greater than 1 indicates an overall biological advantage of intercropping.The crops should be grown at their optimal densities in both sole stands and mixtures otherwise the advantages of intercropping may be overestimated. Of course the economic value of crops and other reasons for growing legumes, such as impacts on household nutrition, must also be considered when evaluating benefits from intercrops.The benefit of growing maize and legume intercrops can be assessed by calculating the land equivalent ratio (LER) where:LER = [ yield of intercrop maize ] + [ yield of intercrop legume ] yield of sole crop maize yield of sole crop legumeThis equation provides the means to compare the yield of intercrop with the yield of sole crops per unit area. The LER is greater than 1 when the intercrop yields more than sole crops grown on the same area. For example, if the yield of sole maize is 2 tonne/hectare and sole legume yield is 0.5 tonne/hectare and the intercrop yields 1.5 tonne/hectare maize and 0.25 tonne/hectare legume, the LER is:LER = [ 1.5 ] + [ 0.25 ] = 1.25 2.0 0.5In this example, the overall yield is greater in the intercrop compared with the sole crops. This means that an area planted as a sole crop would require 25% more land to produce the same yield as the same area planted in an intercrop combination.However, to tell if the increased yields were profitable, it is important to compare benefits and costs (see Section 6: Economics of maize-legume systems).The interactions between crop species can be divided into competitive interactions in which the crops compete for the same resource, and facilitative interactions in which one crop alters the environment of the other in a positive way so as to benefit the growth of the other species. Most of the benefits of growing crops in intercrops come from differences in the way they exploit the environment, for instance by rooting to different depths and thus exploiting different parts of the soil (Figure 1), or by having leaf canopies at different heights which might increase the total amount of light intercepted, leading to greater overall resource capture. In such examples the benefits of intercropping are due to weak competition for resources. In maize-legume intercrops, the benefits of increased N uptake by the cereal are due to the nitrogen-fixing plant 'sparing' soil N, rather than a direct contribution of fixed N for use by the intercropped maize.There are many ways that maize and legumes can be planted in intercrops: within row intercropping is when maize and legumes are planted in alternate planting stations within rows; row intercropping is when maize and legumes are grown in alternate rows; strip intercropping is when two or more rows of maize are alternated with two or more rows of legumes, close enough to allow interaction between the crops but wide enough to allow their separate cultivation.The best spatial arrangement to use depends on the farmers' priorities for maize or legume production, the relative (economic) value of the two crops, but above all on which legume crop is grown: the major grain legumes have different varieties with a wide-range of growth habits (from erect bush varieties to creeping, runner or climbing varieties) and growth durations (from as short as 60 days to maturity to up to 270 days). This means that the choice of legume variety is also important when considering what planting arrangement should be chosen.Intercrop planting arrangements often involve the substitution of maize with the legume so that the total number of maize plants per hectare is decreased. Other arrangements are additive where the maize is maintained at the same population density as in the sole crop and the legume is simply planted in between.A good example of an additive maize-legume intercrop is maizepigeonpea intercropping.Medium and late maturing pigeonpea are ideally suited to grow as an intercrop with maize as they develop slowly in the seedling stage and therefore do not compete strongly for water or nutrients (unlike early maturing pigeonpea which would compete with maize). Medium and later maturing pigeonpea should be sown at the same time as maize, in a mixed or row intercropping arrangement. The pigeonpea continues to grow into the dry season, after maize is harvested.The impacts of maize-pigeonpea intercropping can be spectacular! For example, after three years continuous cropping with no fertilizer added, monocropped maize in Mozambique was yielding less than 0.5 tonnes per hectare due to infestation with witchweed (Striga asiatica -Figure 2). By contrast, intercropped maize yielded almost 5 tonnes per hectare with an additional 0.3 tonnes per hectare of pigeonpea grain.In this example, an NGO was previously recommending to intercrop maize with pigeonpea by substituting rows of maize, which gave less than half the maize yield (less than 2 tonnes per hectare) than when pigeonpea was grown within the maize rows in an additive design. In the additive mixed intercrop design three maize plants are planted per station rather than evenly spaced within the row, which leaves space for stations of three pigeonpea plants in between. This local planting arrangement gives the same maize plant population as when maize is evenly spaced within the row, but gives space for planting a legume intercrop. Perhaps surprisingly, the yield of maize when grown in these clusters of three plants was the same as if the same number of plants was spaced individually -i.e. the competition effect on the maize was minimal. In different locations and contexts the results may, however, differ.The benefit of the pigeonpea to maize is due to the large amount of nitrogen-rich pigeonpea leaves that fall to the ground as the crop matures and adds a lot of organic mulch (and nitrogen) to the soil for the next crop. The decision on whether to intercrop or rotate maize with legumes should depend on careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages. These in turn depend on many factors including which varieties are available and the biophysical and socioeconomic conditions under which the farmer is operating.The following are advantages of growing maize and legumes as intercrops:Soil fertility improvement: With the presence of the right bacteria (rhizobia) in the soil, legumes can fix nitrogen gas from the atmosphere thereby reducing the need for nitrogen from mineral fertilizers or manure. Some grain legumes with deep roots, such as pigeonpea and lablab, also take up nutrients from deep soil layers thereby recycling nutrients leached from the surface. The fixed nitrogen and other nutrients in the legume intercrop become available to the subsequent maize crop when the nitrogen-rich leaves and roots decompose.• Improved utilization of resources: Intercropping allows for a more efficient use of available resources (sunlight, moisture and soil nutrients) and can result in higher productivity per field when the yields of both crops are taken into consideration.Properly chosen intercrops, such as pigeonpea, may be grown in the same field as maize without reducing maize yields -so, the pigeonpea becomes a 'bonus' yield. Also, the next crop can benefit from the residual fertilizer applied to the previous crop; for example, the legume can utilize residual phosphorus applied to a previous maize crop.• Improved soil cover: Intercropping results in better soil cover. This has advantages of better weed control, reduced erosion and nutrient leaching, and improved soil structure and soil microbial activity.• Reduced risk: Different crops have different periods and patterns of growth. If one of the crops fails because of adverse conditions, such as drought, disease, or attack by pests, the other crop may not respond in the same way to the stress and may give some yield. This will help improve food security in the household.• Improved diet for farming households: Carbohydrates from maize can be supplemented with protein-rich legume grains, and vitamin and mineral-rich legume leaves for improved nutrition and health.• Improved availability of fodder and manure: The nitrogenrich residues of legume can be fed to livestock. The manure produced can be applied in the field to recycle back the nutrients contained in crop residues.• Reduced impact of pests and diseases: Pest and diseases can be less serious in intercrops. This is because the pest or disease may not spread as easily in the intercrop as in the monocrop.One crop may produce substances that drive away the pests from the other crop or may attract their natural enemies. For example, when maize is intercropped with desmodium (a fodder legume), desmodium produces a chemical that 'pushes' stem borer moths away from maize plants.• Provision of staking materials: Climbing beans planted in relay with maize: the stem of the maize plant can act as staking material.The following are disadvantages of growing maize and legumes as intercrops:• Limited scope for some agronomic operations in intercrops:Carrying out operations, such as weeding and even harvesting, can be more difficult than in sole crops.• Depending on the intercrops, competition for water, light and nutrients may give lower yields: This is why it is important to select the correct spatial arrangement for the intercrop being grown to minimize competition between the two crops, e.g. adopting the MBILI system instead of alternate rows (see Types of intercropping maize and legumes).As described above, residual benefits are seen when legumes enhance the growth of maize grown in the next cropping season.Intercropped legumes can also have residual effects, though these are likely to be less than with sole crops as the overall legume biomass, and hence the amounts of N added to the system, are generally reduced.Legumes have the ability to take nitrogen gas from the atmosphere by forming nodules with soil-inhabiting bacteria called rhizobia. The legume plant supplies the rhizobia with energy as carbon from photosynthesis and in return the rhizobia fix nitrogen gas into a form of combined N that is released into the root nodule and used by the plant for growth (Figure 3). Legumes vary widely in their ability to form root nodules with rhizobia found naturally in the soil. Some, like soybean and chickpea, nodulate with a restricted number of rhizobial strains or species and are thus considered as 'specific' in their rhizobia requirement. Cowpea, however, is 'promiscuous'-it nodulates with a wide range of rhizobia.In many cases, therefore, soybean and chickpea need inoculation unlike cowpea and groundnut. Some soybean varieties are promiscuous -but inoculation can still improve their yields (see Box 3).Inoculation simply means bringing the appropriate rhizobia into contact with legume seeds. Some companies in Africa now formulate, package and market inoculants that contain carefully chosen species and strains of rhizobia for use with specific legume crops. How to use the inoculants varies between products; farmers should check the instructions on the package or ask an agro-dealer or extension worker.The situation with common bean is less clear. Most experimental results indicate small and highly sporadic responses to inoculants, though some scientists recommend inoculation with rhizobia.Some of the benefits of successful biological nitrogen fixation include:• Reduced uptake of soil N by the legume therefore sparing soil N for use by other crops, e.g. maize in maize-legume intercrop.• The stover and fallen leaves from the legume enrich the soil with N, hence successive crops are able to use the released nutrients.• Research or previous experience shows it is beneficial. The number of rhizobia in the soil may be inadequate or of poor quality.• If the legume is being newly introduced to an area. Effective rhizobia for the legume may be absent in the soil.• If more effective rhizobia for a legume, or for a legume variety, have been identified and packaged for use.Conventional tillage involves cultivating the soil using either a hand-hoe or ox or tractor pulled tools, such as ploughs and harrows. In the process the soil is physically loosened and broken down into a fine tilth, and usually the soil is turned over -surface layers are incorporated and deeper layers of soil brought to the surface. Crop residues and weeds are buried. Most smallholder farmers in Africa practice conventional tillage, many using handhoes.Some experts believe that conventional tillage systems cause a range of problems including:• Leaving soil exposed to rain, wind and sun leading to soil losses• Destruction of soil organisms• Soil compaction, especially if using heavy tractors or draft animals• Increased water evaporation • In the long-term, soil crusting which impedes rainfall infiltration, increases surface runoff and reduces groundwater recharge, and development of a hardpan at the bottom of the ploughed or hoed layer which reduces water infiltration and root penetration.An alternative system has been developed to address these issues -it is called conservation agriculture and has been heavily promoted in Africa over the past few decades, although few smallholder farmers have adopted it.Conservation agriculture is based on three major principles: disturb the soil as little as possible (minimum tillage); keep the soil covered as much as possible (crop residues and slashed weeds as mulch and also cover crops); and use of intercrops and crop rotations.In conservation agriculture, planting holes in which the seed is planted are dug by hand or alternatively an ox or tractor pulled ripper is used to cut narrow furrows. The soil between the narrow furrows (or planting holes) is left undisturbed and even in the furrows the soil is not turned over as it is in conventional tillage.The seed is then planted along the ripped furrow.In conventional tillage systems, weeds are destroyed by burying them during hoeing or ploughing. A major disadvantage of conservation agriculture is that far more effort is needed to control weeds during the growing season. A solution to this problem is to use herbicides, such as glyphosate, at planting time. Some researchers have concluded that conservation agriculture is only viable if farmers have access to appropriate herbicides.Using herbicides, however, brings additional challenges including the availability of herbicides; the cost of purchasing the herbicides and equipment (sprayers) to apply them; and knowledge about how to use the herbicides in a safe and effective way. Unless farmers have access to expert local advice on conservation agriculture and safe and effective use of herbicides, they would probably be better advised to practice conventional tillage.The choice of practices should depend on slope of land, labour availability and financial status of the farmer.As a general guide:• If slope is slight, less than 2% 1 , then intercropping and planting in rows running across the slope (not up and down the slope), and also carrying out farm operations (e.g. ploughing) across the slope, can reduce soil loss and run-off.• If slope is steeper, 2-5%, physical barriers like trash lines (e.g. made from maize stover), stone bunds (stone lines), or grass strips, all laid across the slope, can be used. Also, the soil can be ridged to trap or slow movement of water down the slope.• If slope is very steep, more than 5%, terraces (e.g. fanya-juu) should be used. Terraces can also be used on slopes of less than 5% if the soils are easily washed away or drought is a problem. Compared with other practices, terraces and ridging require more labour and are therefore more expensive.These practices can be used in combination, especially for slopes greater than 5%. For example, grass can be grown on the sharp edge of the terrace, ploughing should be across the slope, and maize can be intercropped with beans.1 2% slope means for every 100 m travelled horizontally, the ground drops 2 m. This is also called a 1:50 gradient.See Box 4 for tips on additional management practices for growing maize in dry environments.See Box 4 for tips on additional management practices for growing maize in dry environments.Box 4: Tips for growing maize in dry environments• Tied ridges increase water infiltration and improve rooting depth.• Use wider spacing within and between rows to reduce competition for soil moisture, especially under drought conditions -up to 1 metre between rows.• Deep ripping of dry soil allows for early land preparation and trapping and conservation of moisture. Ripping means cutting a narrow slot or furrow in the soil about 5-10 cm deep; unlike ploughing, the soil is not turned over. Ripping is done using a special tool, a ripper, pulled by oxen or a tractor. It looks like a chisel and is attached to the plough frame in place of the ploughshare.• Choose early maturing varieties.For maize select deep fertile soil that is well drained, with good water holding capacity, rich in organic matter with ideal pH of 5.6 to 7.5. Loam or sandy-loam soils are preferable.Ideal air temperature for growing maize is 18-32°C.Depending on maize type, rainfall of 500-1500 mm is usually needed during the growing season. In drier areas special techniques, such as tied ridging, ripping, planting at wider spacing and choosing short duration varieties, will be beneficial.Choose a maize type suitable to the area, cropping system of choice, target yield and whether the farmer wants to recycle seed from harvested crop or use fresh seed next season.Spatial arrangements for maize-legume intercrops depends on farmers' prioritisation of either maize or legume and also the relative value of the two crops, but above all on the legume being grown -whether it is erect, spreading or climbing, and how long it takes to be ready for harvest.There are advantages and disadvantages associated with intercropping maize with legumes. Advantages include improved soil fertility, increased utilisation of resources, better soil cover, reduced risk, improved household diets, improved availability of fodder and manure and reduced impact of pests and diseases. Disadvantages include increased difficulty of carrying out some farming operations and potential decreases in yields if correct spatial arrangements not selected.Legumes should be inoculated with rhizobia if it has been proven to be beneficial or a new legume is being introduced to an area.Use conservation agriculture only if expert local advice is available, especially for safe and effective use of herbicides.To reduce soil loss and run-off, if slope is less than 2%, intercrop and plant in rows running across the slope and carry out farm operations across the slope; if slope is 2-5%, use physical barriers like trash lines, stone bunds, or grass strips laid across slope, or make ridges across the slope; and if slope is more than 5%, make terraces across the slope.The objective of land preparation under a conventional tillage system is to produce a seedbed that is weed-free, with aerated soil into which water can percolate and in which maize seeds can have close contact with the soil, and from which the seedling can emerge easily. This can be achieved by hand using a hand-hoe, or with a plough and sometimes also a harrow pulled by oxen or a tractor.Soon after harvesting, weeds should be slashed and ploughed or dug into the soil so they can start to rot down and release their nutrients. Any crop residues present can also be incorporated into the soil at this stage.Preparing a conventional maize seed bed by hand using hoes requires about 8-10 days of manual labour per hectare.Too fine a seed bed, especially on sandy soils, leaves the plot vulnerable to wind erosion. A coarser tilth reduces the risk of wind eroding the soil but still allows water to infiltrate. Clod sizes should be about 6 cm or less and the soil should be cultivated to a depth of 15-30 cm.Unless farmers have access to expert local advice on conservation agriculture (no or minimal tillage) and access to and knowledge about the use of inputs such as herbicides, they would be better advised to practice conventional tillage.Intercropping of maize with grain legumes can be practical and beneficial on small farms (less than 2 hectares): on large, commercial farms intercropping makes mechanized procedures such as weeding and application of fertilizer or pesticides more difficult and so it tends not be used.Higher yields are achieved when the intercrops have different rooting systems, a different pattern of water and nutrient demand, and a different above ground growth habit. This results in more efficient use of water, nutrient and sunlight. Many grain legumes meet these criteria and are therefore suitable for intercropping with maize.Intercropping should be practiced in areas with soil and climatic conditions that meet the requirements of both maize and legumes as indicated in Table 5.The choice of the legume intercrop should be based on local recommendations which are adjusted to the agro-ecological conditions, growing season crop and local demand. Spatial arrangement of maize and legume is critical in determining the growth, yield of intercrops and other benefits accruing from intercropping.Intercrop planting arrangements often involve the substitution of maize with the legume so that the total number of maize plants per hectare is decreased. Other arrangements are additive where the maize is maintained at the same population density as in the sole crop and the legume is simply planted in between.See Figure 4 for examples of plant arrangements. Note: The figures are not drawn to scale, and spacing between and within rows is not representative of actual spacing. Growing maize and a legume in well-defined rows. Sometimes the plant population for the two crops can be close to that found in sole crops. For example, maize is planted at its recommended planting density, but every-other row is shifted to provide a wider alternate inter-row for legume. This arrangement works best where peak nutrient demands and duration to maturity for the two crops differ. A good example is maize-bean, in which maize and beans are planted in alternate rows, and the spacing of maize is close to that found in sole crops (e.g. spaced at 75 cm between rows, 50 cm within rows, 2 plants per hole).Strip intercropping -Figure 4 (c): Growing maize and legume in strips wide enough to permit independent cultivation but narrow enough for the crops to interact. This plant arrangement permits more light to reach the shorter legume. Legumes that benefit from this arrangement include groundnut, soybean, common bean and cowpea. In strip cropping the maize plant population may be lower than in sole crops but similar yields can be achieved. A good example is the MBILI system: two rows of maize alternating with two rows of legume. This arrangement gives better yields and is more profitable than row intercropping. It requires less labour and gives better increase in yield on application of modest amounts of fertilizer.Mixed intercropping -Figure 4 (d): Traditional practice where maize and a legume are grown together in no distinct row arrangements.Relay intercropping -Figure 4 (e): Planting legume into a standing crop of maize. The aim is to avoid the legume smothering young maize plants and reduce competition compared to if both are planted at the same times. For good yields, the rainfall distribution should allow for adequate moisture during peak growth periods and dry periods during harvesting of both crops.A good example is sowing of cowpeas about 6 weeks after the maize is sown. This ensures that the faster growing cowpea does not smother maize plants. In case of drought, there is a good chance that cowpea will give some yield even if maize fails to give any yield. Within row intercropping -Figure 5: Growing maize and legumes in alternate planting stations within rows. A good example is the additive mixed intercrop design for maize-pigeonpea intercrop.The maize is planted in stations of three plants rather than evenly spaced within the row, which leaves space for stations of three pigeonpea plants in between. This arrangement gives the same maize plant population as when maize is evenly spaced within the row, but gives space for planting a legume intercrop. Perhaps surprisingly, the yield of maize when grown in these clusters of three plants can be the same as if the same number of plants is spaced individually -i.e. the competition effect on the maize is minimal.Hybrid maize must be grown from seed bought every season from a registered dealer.Seed for OPV maize and legumes can be purchased from registered dealers every season or can be purchased once then subsequent crops for the next 2-3 seasons can be grown from saved seed.If farmers are planning to save seed from the current crop, undesirable plants should be rogued out before harvesting. To ensure a high germination percentage, seed should be saved only from healthy plants and threshing should be done carefully to avoid damaging seed.For crops like soybean and bean, threshing can be done soon after harvesting and seed stored for use in the next season. For groundnut, seed should be stored in pods and then removed from pods by hand about 1-2 weeks before planting.If threshing before storing, seed should be cleaned by removing damaged seed and other material, such as stones.For groundnuts, immature, mouldy and small pods should be removed before storing seed.Seed should be stored separately from grain to be used for food, in a dry area that is well ventilated.A germination test can be a useful guide to how many seeds should be sown to get the desired plant population. The test gives an idea of how many 'normal' seedlings can be expected from a given number of seeds. Normal means the root and shoot parts are not deformed and look healthy, not diseased.The test can be done at 10 days or more before time of planting. About 50 to 100 seeds can be sown onto a seedbed. The seedbed should be kept moist.The number of normal seedlings that emerge in about 5-7 days should be counted and % germination calculated:(Number of seeds germinated/number seeds sown) x 100 = % germinationAlternatively the test can be done in the house. For this, 50 to 100 seeds of the selected maize variety are placed between moist newspaper sheets. The paper with the seeds is placed in a safe area where neither children nor animals can disturb it. The paper and seeds are kept moist. After four days of incubation, count the number of seeds that have germinated and express it as a percentage.If germination rate is over 95%, the number of seeds sown can be same as the desired plant population as most of the seeds planted will emerge. But if germination is 80%, on average only 4 of the 5 seeds planted will emerge -so to get the desired plant population, the number of seeds planted should be increased by 25%. If the germination percentage is 50%, it means out of the 2 planted, on average only one will emerge. In such a case it is advisable to double the seed rate.Factors that need to be taken into account with regard to sowing maize seed are:Quality seed: Only plump, undamaged seed should be sown; shrivelled or damaged seed should be discarded.When to sow: Maize seed should be sown in moist but not waterlogged soil, when the soil moisture has reached at least 30 cm deep. This will usually occur soon after the onset of the rains. Delaying planting once the rains have started risks significantly reducing yields.Spacing of planting holes: Spacing of planting holes will depend on the cropping system.The normal recommendation for spacing of monocrop maize is 75 cm between rows with 50 cm between planting stations and 2 plants per planting hole. This gives a plant population of about 53,333 plants per hectare.In drier areas, with less than 500 mm rainfall during the growing season, the spacing between rows and plants should be increased, which will give a lower plant population (see Box 4).Spacing for intercrops varies with the legume being grown:Maize is planted at the same spacing as for maize monocrop and the beans are planted in rows between the maize rows. The number of maize plants per hectare is therefore the same as for monocropped maize. For climbing beans, see Box 5.Climbing beans have some advantages over non-climbing beans. They yield better than non-climbing types (up to 3-times more) and fix more nitrogen (N) and therefore can contribute more to improved soil fertility. Many varieties of climbing beans do well at high altitudes but there are also varieties suitable for medium altitudes. Climbing beans can also grow in poor soils and some are more tolerant of diseases like root rot and ascochyta blight than bush beans.A major disadvantage of climbing beans is the need to provide stakes to support the climbing plants.Some researchers have experimented with growing climbing beans intercropped with maize, so the maize stalks act as living stakes for the beans.In some cases the beans have been planted 10-14 days after the maize, while in others the beans are planted as the maize is becoming ready for harvest (relay intercropping).There is, however, no consensus as to whether this is a useful intercrop. Some of the factors to consider before choosing this intercrop are:• Planting densities of both crops have to be reduced compared to either as sole crops: although the combined crop may be greater, the yield of either crop compared to a sole crop will be lower. Smallholders need to decide which crop they are prioritising and whether a lower yield of that crop is acceptable.• Proven recommendations for planting patterns and spacing are not widely available so smallholders will need to experiment on their own farms or look for local extension advice: as with any experiment, the outcome is unknown -it may be beneficial but it may also be disadvantageous.• Relay intercropping ties up the land for longer.• The maize stalks may not be strong enough to support the beans, in which case they will fall over and yields will be reduced.• There may be other demands for maize stalks, such as feeding to livestock, so leaving them in the field may not be an attractive option.Maize is planted with 75 cm between rows and 75 cm between planting stations, with three plants per planting station. Clusters of 3 pigeonpeas plants (medium to late maturing varieties) are planted within the row, between each maize planting station. This gives the same number of maize plants per hectare as for monocropped maize.Mbili system: In this system 2 rows of maize are planted with a row spacing of 50 cm with a one metre gap before the next pair of maize rows. In the gap, 2 rows of legumes are planted, such as groundnut, cowpea or common bean. The spacing within the row for maize is 50 cm. This arrangement gives the same number of maize plants per hectare as for monocropped maize.Maize should be sown deeper in lighter and drier soils. On sandy loams with adequate rainfall a planting depth of 2-3 cm is recommended; on dry, sandy soils a planting depth of 5-10 cm is recommended to enable a deeper root system to develop.For monocropped maize and most of the legume intercrops, the target is 2 maize plants per planting station. For maize-pigeonpea (see above), the target is 3 maize plants per planting station with the within row spacing increased accordingly to 75 cm between stations.If the germination rate is above 95% then the number of seeds per planting station should be the same as the target plant population.To achieve a plant density of 53,333 plants per hectare requires between 20-25 kg maize seed per hectare, assuming germination rate above 95%: if the germination test shows a lower rate of germination, more seed will be needed, for example, if the germination rate is 50%, the number of seeds per planting station should be doubled.Ideally, farmers should use fertilizer at optimum rates in their local area. This should be based on knowledge of the nutrients present in the soil and of local agricultural practices, such as intercropping with suitable legumes and incorporation of manure and crop residues into the soil, and also on expected returns to investments.Very often, however, such optimum recommendations are not available. In this case, some blanket recommendations are provided below.The aim of these recommendations is not to maximise production; rather it is to increase yields from around 1 tonne of maize grain per hectare, or even less, up to as much as 6 tonnes per hectare (see Table 6, below). Although even larger yields than this are possible, and commonly achieved on large-scale commercial farms in developed countries, the aim here is to increase yields in a cost-effective way that is likely to be within the reach of smallholder farmers in Africa.The recommendations are intended primarily for use when improved varieties are being grown: it is less likely to be costeffective to use fertilizer on traditional varieties. The way that maize and other crops respond to fertilizer on responsive soils (see Box 6: Responsive and non-responsive soils) can be described by a nutrient response curve (see Figure 6): this shows the impact of increasing amounts of nutrients (fertilizer) on yield. As the figure shows, to begin with the yield increases steeply as more fertilizer is added but, as the amount of fertilizer applied increases, the extra yield achieved decreases. Eventually adding more fertilizer will have no further impact on yield.The best return on investment in fertilizer is achieved where the response curve is steepest -it is here the greatest increase in yield is achieved per unit of fertilizer added. So, the recommendations given below aim to fall on the steepest part of the response curve.Actual increases in yield will vary, however, depending on many variables. These include:• the characteristics of the site; for example the soil may be deficient in one or more nutrients in addition to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), which are the focus of the recommendations• whether the soils are responsive or non-responsive to fertilizer (see Box 6)• weather -especially rainfall• varieties used• intercrops and rotations• pest and disease attack• management practices, such as plant density and arrangement, weeding, timely fertilizer application, incorporation of organic material to the soil• quality of mineral fertilizer being used: some fertilizers are substandard -they may not contain the amount of nutrients shown on the label So, if target yields are not achieved following these recommendations, then expert assistance should be sought.Soils vary. Some soils respond well to application of mineral fertilizer -the yields achieved increase as more fertilizer is applied (as shown by the nutrient response curve in Figure 6): such soils are called 'responsive soils'. Responsive soils are usually of medium fertility.Other types of soil do not respond to application of mineral fertilizer -yields increase little or not at all when fertilizer is applied: these soils are called 'non-responsive soils'.There are two types of non-responsive soils: 1) fertile soils that already contain high levels of nutrients; and 2) soils having another parameter limiting plant growth such as chemical (e.g. soil acidity), physical (e.g. soil hard pan), or biological (e.g. presence of striga weed) constraints, or a combination of all these, and also degraded soils.Degraded soils are often caused by human activity, such as clearing of natural vegetation and growing of crops such as cereals as monocrops and removing both the grain and the crop residue.Even though degraded soils are likely to contain low levels of nutrients, often they will need large amounts of organic materials to be applied for a number of years before they respond to application of mineral fertilizers.The guidelines below are based on the '4Rs' -that is the right source, the right rate, the right time and the right placement of fertilizer.If site specific fertilizer recommendations are available these should be followed. In case these are not available, Table 7 provides some examples of basal and top-dressing options for neutral to alkaline soils (pH greater than 6.5) and Table 8 for soils with acidic soil (pH of 6.5 or less).Usually nitrogen is the first limiting nutrient for maize production followed by phosphorus, so these guidelines focus on just these two key nutrients.In addition to N and P, potassium (K) should be applied on sandy soils or soils low in or lacking potassium: Table 8 includes N, P and K.Basal fertilizer is applied when the plot is being prepared for planting or at the time of sowing seed. It provides nutrients needed by the crop early in its growing cycle and also nutrients which are slowly released over the growing season. The main nutrient needed by maize at this stage in the growing cycle is phosphorus (P). About a third of the recommended fertilizer nitrogen (N) rate can also be applied at planting.Top-dressing is application of fertilizer after the crop has started growing. It provides nutrients, especially nitrogen, that are needed later in the crop's growing cycle and also nutrients which, if applied earlier, would be easily lost from the soil before the plant could take them up. The main nutrient needed by maize at this stage in the growing cycle is nitrogen (N). About two thirds of the recommended fertilizer N rate can be applied as top-dressing.  6) 80 ( 3) 160 ( 6)1 Current yield assumed to be around 1 tonne per hectare.2 Based on spacing of 0.75 m between rows and 0.5 m along rows, equivalent to 26,667 planting holes per hectare, with 2 plants per hole. 3 Not more than 100 kg N should be applied per hectare. 4 If applying top dressing only once, apply the amount recommended for the first and second top dressing together, e.g. for a target yield of 2 tonnes per hectare apply 40 kg per hectare of urea.DAP and urea can make soils more acidic. Maize does not grow well in acidic soils so, for soils with a pH of 6.5 or less, other fertilizers should be used, such as an NPK fertilizer at planting and topdressing with CAN. Table 8 provides examples of suitable basal and top dressing fertilizer recommendations for acidic soils. For a legume intercrop, fertilizer P can be applied at planting at a rate of about 20 kg P per hectare (e.g. about 100 kg of TSP or DAP per hectare). If the legume is grown after a maize crop that had P applied, then the legume can benefit from any residual P left in the soil, although yields are likely to be higher if P is applied.It is difficult for farmers to know what 2.3 g of DAP or 5.6 g of NPK fertilizer looks like and they will not have access to weighing scales.The solution to this problem is to identify a locally available container, such as metal crown cork bottle-top for beer or soda 1 . The bottle-top can then be used as a scoop for measuring fertilizer.Different fertilizers have different densities, so while a bottle-top full (level, not heaped) of NPK 15-15-15 will weigh 3 g, a bottletop full of DAP will weigh just under 5 g.For those with access to the internet, a tool (the OFRA fertilizer calibration tool) is available at the CABI-ASHC website (www. africasoilhealth.cabi.org). This tool enables the user to calibrate any circular or rectangular container filled with a range of fertilizers.See the table below for other fertilizers: values in this table have been calculated using the OFRA tool.To apply 2.3 g of DAP per planting hole, about 1 bottle-top measure is needed for every 2 holes.To apply 5.6 g of NPK 15-15-15, about two bottle-top measures are needed per hole.Once farmers have some experience of using the measure they will know what the appropriate amount of a given fertilizer looks like. If they wish, they can then stop using the measure and apply a pinch of fertilizer which corresponds to the right amount. From time to time it would be advisable to check that their pinch is delivering the right amount of fertilizer. The basal fertilizer should be placed in the bottom of the planting hole and covered with a little soil. The seed is then planted on top at the right depth (see How deep to sow, page 29) -the seed and fertilizer must not touch as this can damage the seed. The hole is then covered with more soil.Before the top-dressing is applied, or at the same time, the plot should be weeded so the fertilizer benefits the maize not the weeds. The top-dressing fertilizer should be applied when the maize is knee-high (45-60 cm tall). In high rainfall areas (greater than 1000 mm during growing period) and also where soils are sandy it is best to top dress in two equal splits, at 3 and 6 weeks after germination.Top dressing should be done when the soil is moist. Fertilizer can either be applied in a circle around each plant or along the row; in both cases the fertilizer should be applied about 10 to 15 cm away from the base of the plants. The fertilizer should not be allowed to touch the plants. It should be covered with soil, for example by hoeing.Farmers need to think carefully before they decide to top dress their maize crop as they could be wasting their money. Topdressing can lead to increased yields, but only if the crop is developing well under favourable climatic conditions; increased yields can then be profitable if good crop prices are expected. The value of the expected increase in yield should be at least twice the total cost related to fertilizer use. If the crop has developed poorly because of poor rainfall and/or the price of maize is expected to be low, top dressing can be cancelled and the fertilizer set aside for the next planting season.When available, livestock manure can be an important resource for improving maize yields. Applying manure together with mineral fertilizers gives better yields than using either manure or fertilizer alone.Other than N and P, manure also contains potassium, calcium and magnesium in addition to other nutrients. These nutrients become available to plants as the manure decomposes.Apart from contributing to improved soil fertility, manure also:• improves soil structure, soil aeration, soil water infiltration rate and soil water-holding capacity• if soil is acidic, helps reduce soil acidity -this improves the capacity of the soil to store nutrients.These attributes make manure a key resource in low production systems on smallholder farms across sub-Saharan Africa, particularly on sandy soils.However, manure contains a lower amount of nutrients compared to mineral fertilizers and the nutrient content varies due to management and other factors: as an example, 100 kg of farmyard manure might typically contain about 1 kg of N and 0.8 kg of P (1.8 kg P 2 O 5 ); in comparison, 100 kg of the mineral fertilizer urea contains 46 kg of N, and 100 kg of DAP contains about 18 kg N and 22 kg P (46 kg P 2 O 5 ).If the same amounts of nutrients provided by mineral fertilizers in Table 6 were to be supplied only by farmyard manure, the farmer would need to apply 5-10 tonnes per hectare, or about 200-400 g per planting hole, to meet the demand for nitrogen for just a 1 tonne per hectare increase in yield. In most cases, this amount of manure will not be available; even if it is, it might not be cost-effective to transport the manure to the field and pay for labour to apply it.Because using manure in combination with fertilizer gives better yields than using either input alone, if possible some manure should be applied. Compared to mineral fertilizer alone, applying both farmyard manure and mineral fertilizer means that the amount of mineral fertilizer can be reduced. However, unlike for mineral fertilizers where nutrients are readily available to plants for uptake, not all nutrients in manure are readily available immediately after application -they will become available over the next few years as the manure decomposes and releases its nutrients. So, for example, in Table 6 above, for every 1 tonne of farmyard manure applied per hectare, the amount of urea can be reduced by 12 kg per hectare in the first year after manure application, 6 kg in the second year and 3 kg in the third year. So, for example, if the target yield is 2 tonnes per hectare, in which case the recommended first top dressing would be 20 kg per hectare urea, this could be reduced to 8 kg in year 1, 14 kg in year 2 and 17 kg in year 3.There is a wide range of organic inputs other than manure that are used by farmers for soil fertility management. These include:• Cereal residues, for example maize stover. These residues have low nutrient contents: they do not have as much N as legume residues and take longer to decompose and release nutrients.• Legume residues, for example soybean, cowpea and groundnut residues. These residues have more N and take less time to decompose than cereal residues.• Organic inputs derived from nitrogen-fixing trees or green manure crops, which generally have relatively high N contents and release nutrients in the short term.For conventional tillage, avoid too fine a tilth, especially on sandy soils. A coarser tilth with clods about 6 cm across reduces risk of wind erosion but still allows water to infiltrate into the soil.Purchase hybrid maize seed from registered dealers every season.Either buy OPV maize and legume seed either every season, or purchase one season and then grow subsequent crops for the next 2-3 seasons from saved seed.If planning to use seed from the current crop, select healthy plants of desirable type for seed, thresh carefully to remove seed, clean seed by removing damaged seed and other materials, dry and then store the seed. For groundnuts, store seed in pods; remove seed from pods by hand about 1-2 weeks before planting.Store seed separately from grain to be used for food, in a dry area that is well ventilated.Before planting, test the germination of the seed by sowing 50 seeds in a moist seed-bed or indoors using damp newspaper.If over 95% germinate, sow the same number of seeds as the desired plant population, if 80% germinate, increase the amount of seed by 25%, and if 50% germinate, double the seed rate.Sow maize when soil moisture has reached 30 cm deep, soon after start of rainfall.Usual maize spacing is 75 cm between rows and 25 cm between plants in row with 2 plants per station -space wider in dry areas. Sow deeper (5-10 cm) on dry, light soils; 2-3 cm on sandy loams with adequate rainfall.Apply basal fertilizer at time of planting and top dress when maize reaches knee-high. Basal fertilizer needs to supply N and P, such as DAP or NPK; top-dressing needs to supply N, such as urea or CAN. In high rainfall areas, above 1000 mm per growing season, apply top-dressing in 2 or 3 equal splits. For legumes, apply P fertilizer at planting.Weeds compete with crops for nutrients, water and light, and can harbour pests and diseases that can attack crops. Weed seeds can contaminate grain at harvesting.Monocrops require more weeding than intercrops as more soil surface is exposed. If crops cover the ground surface, weeds are smothered or have less opportunity to grow.If using a hoe, damage to roots of crops can be reduced by digging to a depth of less than 5 cm. Digging deeper should only be done if necessary, for example to remove weeds with rhizomes that go deep into the soil.If weeds are tall and few, weeds can be uprooted by hand.Pre-emergent herbicides, which control weeds at the germination stage, can be applied to the soil immediately after planting, before weeds and crops emerge.Post-emergent herbicides, which control young growing weeds, can be applied once crops and weeds emerge (see examples of herbicides in Table 9).The decision on whether to weed manually or to apply herbicides should be based on which is the most cost-effective. There are more options for herbicide use in monocrops than intercrops. This is because herbicides used in maize tend to target broad-leafed plants, which include legumes, while those used in legumes target grass-like weeds and will also kill maize. Inactivated by contact with soil * The herbicides listed here are the active ingredient (chemical name). In the agrodealer's shop products based on these chemicals will be sold under different tradenames in different formulations made by different manufacturers. The instructions on the herbicide pack must be followed carefully to avoid damaging crops and prevent potential harm to people's health or the environment. See Guidelines for safe use of agricultural chemicals, page 81.The most critical stage of weed competition in the life of a maize plant is during the first 6 to 8 weeks after emergence. Weeds that emerge when the crop is young cause greater damage than those that emerge when the crop is older: the benefits gained by removing weeds that emerge when the crop is close to maturity are less than the benefits related to weeding when the crop is young. Also, as the crop grows weed density decreases: the growing crop canopy shades short weeds, therefore discouraging their growth.First weeding should be 2-3 weeks after maize emergence and second weeding 2-4 weeks after first weeding. In high rainfall areas a third weeding may be necessary 3 weeks after second weeding.In an intercrop, if maize matures after the legume (e.g. where maize is intercropped with beans or cowpeas), only the first 2 weedings (2-3 weeks after crop emergence, then 2-4 weeks later) may be required if the crop canopy provides good ground cover before 8 weeks after planting. If legume crop matures after maize (e.g. pigeonpea), the crop canopy may not provide good ground cover early and a third weeding may be necessary.If legumes are grown in monocrop, the legume should be kept weed-free up to time of flowering, which is usually about 5-6 weeks after emergence. The first weeding can be at 2 weeks after emergence and the second weeding 2-3 weeks later. Tall scattered weeds that appear after the second weeding can be pulled by hand.Weeding depends on presence of weeds and weed load, and whether the value of yields gained by weeding will be more than the costs associated with weeding, such as hired labour or purchased herbicides. So, the numbers and timings of weedings proposed above are guidelines and not strict recommendations.In addition:• At legume flowering, weeding or other activities should be avoided as flowers can easily fall off if knocked.• Weeding should preferably be done in the morning when soils are moist, to avoid soil moisture loss.• Weeding using implements, hand tools, draught animal or tractors, should not be carried out during dry spells. In such cases, manual uprooting of weeds or use of herbicides is better as disturbance to the soil is reduced or avoided -which reduces loss of water from the soil.• Uproot weeds before they flower and set seed.• If weeds have a lot of soil attached to roots after uprooting, shake off soil from roots of weeds and leave the uprooted weeds on soil surface.• Ideally, fields should be free of weeds at time of applying fertilizer. If weeds are present at time of fertilizer application, covering the fertilizer and weeding can be done at the same time.To control Striga, a parasitic weed that attacks maize, an integrated approach is needed that takes advantage of the fact that Striga is less of a problem in fertile soils. This includes:• If available, Striga-tolerant maize varieties should be planted.• Remove Striga by hoeing and spot weeding before they flower and seed.• Spot spraying with herbicide.• Rotation and intercropping with legumes (e.g. soybeans, cowpea, groundnut).• Applying nitrogen-rich fertilizer (such as urea) or applying manure or growing legumes that fix nitrogen.Striga gesnerioides (also known as cowpea witchweed) in cowpea and Alectra vogelii (also known as yellow witchweed) in cowpea and many other legumes are important parasitic weeds. Alectra is a serious pest to cowpea in East, Southern and West Africa, and groundnut in East and West Africa, and also many other legumes, but does not seem to attack pigeonpea. Striga is also a serious pest to cowpea in West and Central Africa. It can also attack common beans but damage tends to be negligible. Both weeds tend to be a problem in the arid areas with poor soil fertility.The visible sign of the maturing maize plant is senescence-dying back of leaves starting from the lower leaves continuing upwards.The crop is mature when the plant has become light brown and the grain hard; some of the cobs will droop downwards. Cob maturity can also be tested by checking for the black layer that forms at the base of grains (where they connect to the cob). The layer can be seen by removing grains from the cob and scraping the base with your fingernail. Harvesting is done by removing cobs from plants. The cobs are dried then threshed.Legumes are harvested when the pods are dry. If all pods dry at the same time, harvesting can be done by uprooting whole plants.If some pods are ready for harvesting while others are not, several harvestings may be necessary. The pods or uprooted plants are dried in the sun, then threshed on a clean surface, Both maize and legume grains are sorted and chaff and foreign materials removed. The grains are dried further before storage (see Box 8 and 9 for examples of tests that can be used to check if grain is dry enough for storage). Storing grain before it is dry can lead to loss in quality due to attack by storage pests, moulds and diseases.Dried grains may be treated with recommended storage chemicals to control attack by storage pests.Farmers should bear in mind that:• Returning crop residues to the soil, or feeding such residues to livestock and then applying the manure to the soil, recycles but does not add nutrients to the system.• Removal of plant parts from the field depletes the nutrient capital contained in the maize-legume system.• Applying residues of crops/plants that have been grown elsewhere to the field/farm adds nutrients to the system.• Grazing livestock in other fields (e.g. grazing lands on hillsides) and using manure from such livestock on the farm adds nutrients to the system.Apart from supplying nutrients, applying crop residues to the soil also provides benefits including:• Conservation of soil moisture.• Mulch layer helps to reduce soil erosion on sloping land.• Weed suppression and reduced requirement for weeding operations.• Replenishment of soil organic matter.Based on experience, it is possible to tell if grain is dry enough for storage, for example from the way it looks and the feel when a hand is dipped into a pile of grain. You can also tell if grain is dry enough by carrying out simple tests. For example:Take a few grains and bite them. If the grains crack, then the maize is dry enough for storage.Alternatively, pour grain into a dry bottle until it is two-third full.Then add 3 tablespoons of dry salt. Shake for a minute, then let the bottle rest for 15 minutes and shake again. If salt sticks to sides of the bottle, then the moisture content is above 14-15% and the grain should be dried further. If the salt does not stick to the sides of the bottle, then grain is dry enough for storage.Note: Confirm that salt is dry enough for use in test by placing salt in empty bottle and shaking. Dry salt does not cling to sides of bottle.Bite or pinch grain with your finger nails -if grain bends or sticks between teeth or fingernails, it is not dry enough for storage and should be dried further. When dry enough, grain should break or crack when bitten or pinched between finger nails.thoroughly after working in infested fields before working in clean fields.Harvest maize by removing cobs from plants when plants become light brown, the grain is hard, some cobs droop downwards, and there is a black layer at the base of grains (where they connect to the cob).Harvest legumes when the pods are dry. If all pods dry at the same time, uproot whole plants but if not all pods are ready for harvesting, pick ready pods and harvest the rest later.Dry maize cobs, legume pods or uprooted legume plants in the sun, then thresh on a clean surface.Remove chaff and foreign materials from maize and legume grains and dry the grains further.Treat grains with recommended storage chemicals to control damage by storage pests, especially if storing in containers that are not air-tight.Return crop residues to the field, or feed residues to livestock and then apply manure from these livestock to the field.Plants need nutrients to grow well. If nutrients are deficient, symptoms may be observed on plant parts during crop growth and at harvest for both maize (Tables 10) and legumes (Table 11).If deficiency symptoms show in one crop but not on other crops grown in a cropping system (e.g. in maize but not in the legume in an intercrop or rotation), it is best to assume that the deficiency can affect all crops in the system.It is not always possible to address deficiencies during the current growing season (in which symptoms are observed) but measures can be taken when preparing for the next crop to prevent these symptoms appearing again (Table 12).  Add organic manures before sowing. Also, apply soluble salts of manganese, such as manganese sulphate, as basal fertilizer.Per hectare, mix 3.0 kg zinc sulphate and 1.5 kg of slaked lime in 500 litres water, 2-3 weeks after seedling emergence.Add organic manures before sowing crop.Apply 25-30 kg zinc sulphate or 10 kg zinc chelates per hectare once in 2 years in zinc deficient soils. Do not mix Zn-fertilizers with phosphate fertilizers.* The suggested ways of addressing nutrient deficiencies in the current crop, for all nutrients except N are more applicable to commercial than smallholder farmers.Not all soils have large responses to improved seed and fertilizer inputs. In some soils, the response to improved seed and fertilizer inputs is small -these soils can be referred to as non-responsive soils and they can be either already highly fertile or degraded. Some of the techniques which may be required to improve responses in degraded soils include use of soil amendments, organic inputs and micronutrients, and deep tillage. See Box 6.Crops can be attacked by insect pests and diseases during the growing period. Pests can also attack the grain after harvesting. Regular field visits are required to scout for pests and diseases.If possible, pests and diseases should be managed using an integrated approach.Integrated pest management (IPM) involves integrating a number of approaches to control pests and diseases in ways that are effective, environmentally friendly and economically sound. Attacks are prevented by use of varieties that are resistant or tolerant to pest attack, fields are monitored for attacks and control is carried out only if deemed to be economically viable.Early detection is important before the pest or disease spreads, so that control is only required over small areas to save on cost of treatment and reduce impact.Diseases can be carried on seeds so, if using seed from previous crop, only use seeds from disease-free field. Certified seed purchased from shops tends to be disease free.Good pest management in maize-legume systems includes:• Rotating legumes with maize and growing other crops after a maize-legume intercrop to reduce attack by insect pests and diseases left in the field from the previous season.• Early planting at onset of rains, when soil is moist to at least 30 cm depth, so that the crop matures early and escapes attack by pests, or is strong enough to withstand infestation for pests that become serious as the season progresses, and also so that the crop does not have to compete early with weeds.• Crops that are well supplied with nutrients, disease-free, strong and healthy can withstand pest pressure better.• Remove plants that look infected if the infestation has not spread and also plants growing from grain that was left in field at harvesting of the previous crop to reduce spread of disease.If infestation looks severe consider controlling using chemicals.• Keep fields weed-free. Some weeds can act as alternate hosts for some pests and diseases, and can also host insects that transmit disease from plant to plant.Insect pests damage plants and can interfere with movement of nutrients in plants.Both maize and legumes can be attacked by cutworms, which are moth caterpillars that hide in the soil by day and feed at night. Cutworms attack seedlings below or at the soil surface and can kill seedlings. The plants can wilt before dying if cutting is partial, or can fall over if the lower stem is cut through. In older plants, the insects feed on leaves. Control can be by ploughing in crop residues, turning the soil to expose the larvae to sun and bird feeding and controlling weeds.If replacing affected plants, damaged plants should be removed. If cutworm can be seen in the planting hole it should be removed and killed, before a seed is placed in the hole. Also if attack is localized, the pest can be controlled by digging it out of the soil and killing it -digging should be up to 5cm deep.Apart from cutworms, other main insect pests of maize are the stem borers, chaffer grubs, termites, maize weevil and larger grain borer.Stem borers (first-instar larvae) eat leaves and make 'windows' in the leaves. Older larvae tunnel extensively in stems, eating out long frass-filled galleries which may weaken stems and cause breakages. The pests survive in crop residues after maize is harvested. The pests can be controlled by spreading crop residue on the soil surface in the hot sun after harvest, removing crop residues from field and feeding them to livestock or making compost. Intercropping maize with non-host plants, such as cowpeas or cassava, will reduce the damage. Adult moths will lay eggs on the non-host plants, but the larvae are unable to feed on them and will die. Alternatively, maize can be intercropped with a repellent plant such as silver leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) and a trap plant, such as Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) as a border crop around this intercrop to protect maize from stem borers. The trap plant draws the adult female away from the crop. More eggs are laid on the trap plant than on the crop but the larvae develop poorly or not at all on the trap plant. This practice is known as \"push-pull\". Rotate maize with a non-host plant, such as a legume, this will break the cycle of the stem borer. Other control measures include planting early at on-set of rains and applying of insecticides; for example in many countries insecticides (e.g. trichlorfon) are applied, as granules placed into the funnel of young plants.Chaffer grubs feed on the rots of young maize plants causing them to dry and die. They are controlled by early planting at onset of rains, practising crop rotation, and applying animal manure that is well-decomposed instead of fresh or partially decomposed.Chafer grubs cause more damage in farms where cow dung which has not completely rotted and cooled is used as manure in the field. Chaffer grubs can be controlled by crop rotation; plant maize one season, the following season grow a different crop such as beans or cowpea in that field. Chafer grubs do not like eating roots of beans or cowpea, so they will not survive to attack maize the following season.Termites damage above ground biomass, cause lodging (plant falls over) and also damage maize cobs. In young seedlings leaves can be damaged. In plants at different growth stages the inside of roots and stems can be eaten out then be packed with soil and the outside of the stem can also be coated with soil. The plants can topple over and the termites then destroy the whole plant.Termites can be controlled by destroying their nests and removing the queen and by intercropping maize with legumes instead of growing it as a sole crop.The larger grain borer can attack crops in the field -symptoms are holes on stalk and end of cob. Both maize weevil and larger grain borer can attack grain during storage. To reduce attack in store, cobs should be harvested as soon as crop is ready for harvesting, grain should be cleaned by sorting out damaged grain and foreign materials, and the clean grain should be dried properly in the sun (dried to 14% moisture content) (see Box 8).Grain should be coated with insecticides (e.g. pirimiphos-methyl + permethrin, fentrothion+fenvalerat) to kill insects if present and stored in airtight containers such as polythene bags to prevent air that insects require for survival from getting into container. Storage containers should also be clean and dry.In legumes, pests attack different parts of the plant when the crop is in the field and also attack harvested grain (Table 13). Many of these pests can be controlled by early planting, rotations, and other management practices. Use chemicals only when necessary (see Box 10 on how to store grains without applying storage insecticides) and use them safely (see guidelines in Appendix). The PICS (Purdue Improved Crop Storage) bag is a triplelayer plastic bag that can be used to store grain under air-tight conditions. Initially developed for storage of cowpeas, it is now being evaluated for use in other crops. One polyethylene bag is fitted inside another, and then the two bags are placed inside a sack composed of woven polypropylene. Grain is placed inside the innermost bag, the bag is then tied tightly, then the middle bag is tied, and finally the outermost bag is tied.The inner bags reduce the movement of air across the wall of the bag and if the grain is infested by insects before storage, the insects soon die from lack of oxygen and dehydration.Insects cannot move into bags to attack grain that is stored.There is no need to coat grain with insecticides before storage.The GrainPro Super grain bag is similar consisting of an airtight inner bag which is placed inside jute or other ordinary sacks.As with insect pests, maize has fewer and less important diseases than legumes. For maize, this guide will concentrate on disease of storage grains as these diseases are common and affect yield and quality of grain.Aflatoxins are dangerous chemicals that are produced by Aspergillus flavus, a greenish-yellow fungus. Maize becomes contaminated with aflatoxins due to the presence of this and other fungi in the field and during storage. Aflatoxins are invisible but they cause severe disease and death in people and livestock which eat contaminated grain. Even if the fungus cannot be seen, maize may still be contaminated with aflatoxins.Risk of infection with Aspergillus flavus in the field is greater if maize plants are stressed, e.g. drought conditions and nutrient deficiencies. Good agronomic practices, such as timely planting to ensure adequate rainfall to support growth but harvesting occurs in the dry season, application of fertilizer observing the '4Rs', control of insect pests and effective and timely weeding, will help avoid or minimize the risk of aflatoxin contamination.In the store, infection is greater if grain is harvested in wet conditions, stored while wet or gets wet during storage. Infected cobs may rot and leaves covering the cob may be stuck to the cob. Infected grain may have an odour, slimy surface and moldy appearance, e.g. may be green, red or black, or may have white streaks. After harvesting, if grain is too wet, the cob should be dried before threshing to avoid damaging the grain -damaged grain is more easily attacked by storage diseases. Grain should be dried soon after harvesting and as rapidly as possible. Before grain storage, infected and broken grain should be sorted and removed. Grain for storage should have moisture content of 14% (see Box 8). It should be stored in airtight containers and checked regularly for infection.Important diseases in legumes include anthracnose, bacterial blight and rust (Table 14). Many of the diseases can be controlled by good management practices. To control pests and diseases, fields should be kept weed-free as weeds can act as alternate hosts for some pests and diseases, and can also host insects that transmit disease from plant to plant.Many of the changes required for improved production require use of scarce resources like fertilizer, manure, seeds and labour.It is important to have an idea of whether a new farming practice will be profitable (before introduction) and whether the technology is actually profitable (after introduction). The likely benefits of a new practice are calculated based on estimated data while actual benefits are based on actual data collected on introduction of the new farming practice.It may not be easy to assess whether investments in maizelegume system are worthwhile due to the complexity of farming systems. However, simple calculations that can provide useful insights into the likely costs and benefits, which only need a minimal amount of data/information, can be done.The minimum increase in yield required to recover expenses incurred while implementing the new technology can give an idea of whether the new practice could be worthwhile. For example, if a farmer who has been planting hybrid maize varieties with application of 1 bag of DAP but has not been topdressing, would now like to apply 2 bags of DAP at planting and top-dress with 3 bags of urea, the increase in yield required to recover additional cost of fertilizes (if price of DAP is USD 70 per bag, urea is USD 50 per bag and price of maize is USD 500 per tonne) can be calculated as: So, in this case for every USD 1 invested in the new fertilizer regime (the cost) the farmer would generate an additional USD 4.5 (the benefit), which would make this investment worthwhile.A VCR of 1 means that the additional benefits are equal to the additional costs (break-even point). In general, a VCR needs to be 2 or more to make the investment worthwhile.If the maize in the above examples was grown with a legume intercrop and the legume grain yield increases from 0.5 tonne to 1.2 tonne per hectare with the new fertilizer regime and the price of legume grain is USD 1000 per tonne, the VCR can be calculated as: So, in this case for every USD 1 invested in the new fertilizer regime, the farmer would generate an additional USD 7.7, which would make the investment very worthwhile.If additional information, for example on costs of labour, weeding, and pest control is available, more detailed calculations can be carried out.A point to note is that prices of inputs and produce, and yields of crops can vary. For example, if secure storage facilities are available, higher income can be obtained by storing produce after harvest and selling when the market is not flooded and the price is higher. Also, less fertilizer should be applied when rains are late and drought is expected, and more fertilizer can be used when rains are on time and adequate.• Keep materials for handling spillages ready for use if needed • Wash off chemical that comes into contact with body with water and soap • Wash your hands with soap and water before eating, smoking or going to the toilet • Bathe and change clothes after spraying • Wash containers used to mix and spray chemicals • Visit doctor if sick after spraying. Provide doctor with name of chemical and the information leaflet for chemical to read.• Dispose excess diluted chemical as per manufactures' guidelines • Do not leave empty containers lying around • Follow manufacturers' instructions on disposal ASHC works through multidisciplinary teams including soil scientists and experts on cropping systems; communication specialists, technical writers and editors; economists; monitoring and evaluation and gender specialists. This approach is helping the ASHC to facilitate the production of innovative, practical information resources.A set of soil fertility management practices that necessarily include the use of fertilizer, organic inputs and improved germplasm combined with the knowledge on how to adapt these practices to local conditions, aiming at optimizing agronomic use efficiency of the applied nutrients and improving crop productivity. All inputs need to be managed following sound agronomic and economic principles.The Integrated Soil Fertility Management Cropping Systems Guide series is an output of the Africa Soil Health Consortium (ASHC), which is coordinated by CABI.","tokenCount":"13788"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2447108892.json b/data/part_1/2447108892.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e9e08a3b10709f3322ea2d0cd66492300ab63672
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2447108892.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c18a1e13d78ba7ba06473c7a6a36c7dc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4b5aea46-2d63-4206-a30a-11270da1355d/retrieve","id":"1942288027"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b47881a-d51e-432a-a8f3-258c9f0a0eaf","pagecount":"95","content":"CacaoNet est un réseau international pour les ressources génétiques de cacao coordonné par Bioversity International avec un comité de pilotage et des groupes de travail, composés de représentants de diverses institutions travaillant dans le domaine du cacao et d'organisations qui soutiennent la recherche sur le cacao. CacaoNet vise à optimiser la conservation et l'utilisation des ressources génétiques de cacao comme fondement d'une économie cacaoyère durable (des agriculteurs aux consommateurs, en passant par la recherche), en coordonnant et en renforçant la conservation et les efforts de recherche d'un réseau mondial d'acteurs des secteurs public et privé. http://www.cacaonet.org/ Bioversity International est une organisation de recherche pour le développement. Nous avons comme vision que la biodiversité agricole nourrit les hommes et préserve la planète. Nous apportons des preuves scientifiques et proposons des solutions pratiques et politiques pour utiliser et sauvegarder la biodiversité agricole afin d'atteindre une sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle durable à l'échelle mondiale. Nous travaillons avec des partenaires dans les pays à faibles revenus dans les différentes régions où la biodiversité agricole peut contribuer à l'amélioration de la nutrition, de la résilience, de la productivité et à l'adaptation au changement climatique.Bioversity International est membre du Consortium CGIAR, un partenariat mondial de recherche pour un futur sans faim.Ces directives présentent les procédures techniques permettant de minimiser le risque d'introduction d'organismes nuisibles lors des mouvements de matériel génétique pour la recherche, l'amélioration et la sélection végétales, l'exploration ou la conservation. Soulignons que ces directives ne sont pas destinées aux envois commerciaux liés à l'exportation et l'importation de matériel génétique ou de fèves de cacao.La collecte, la conservation et l'utilisation des ressources phytogénétiques et leur distribution mondiale sont essentielles aux activités de recherche sur lesquelles s'appuie la mise en oeuvre des programmes internationaux d'amélioration des espèces agricoles et forestières.Inévitablement, les mouvements de matériel génétique font courir le risque d'introduire accidentellement des organismes nuisibles 1 lors du transfert de la plante hôte, tout particulièrement pour les pathogènes à tendance asymptomatique, comme les virus. Pour réduire ces risques, il est nécessaire d'observer des mesures préventives et de pratiquer des tests rigoureux afin de s'assurer que le matériel distribué est indemne d'organismes nuisibles qui pourraient s'avérer un danger phytosanitaire.Ainsi, tout mouvement de matériel phytogénétique, tant international qu'interrégional pour la recherche (dont les biotechnologies végétales), à des fins de conservation et d'amélioration, s'adosse à une information complète et actualisée du statut phytosanitaire du matériel phytogénétique. En outre, il est essentiel de connaître les réglementations nationales pertinentes et actualisées régissant l'exportation et l'importation de matériel phytogénétique dans les pays concernés.Les recommandations énoncées dans ces directives s'appliquent aux petits envois spécialisés utilisés dans les programmes de recherche, tels la collecte, la conservation et l'utilisation aux fins d'amélioration des ressources phytogénétiques. Les normes en matière de mesures phytosanitaires, par exemple l'évaluation du risque des organismes nuisibles (IPPC 2016), doivent être prises en compte lors de la collecte et du transport du matériel génétique.Cette révision des directives techniques pour le cacaoyer a été conduite par le groupe de travail Safe Movement de CacaoNet 2 , un réseau international pour les ressources génétiques du cacaoyer. Des experts des ravageurs du cacaoyer ont contribué à titre personnel à l'élaboration de ces directives techniques et ne représentent pas ou ne sont pas mandatés par les organisations pour lesquelles ils travaillent. Ces directives sont destinées à procurer la meilleure information phytosanitaire possible aux institutions impliquées dans l'échange de matériel phytogénétique à petite échelle à des fins de recherche. Bioversity International et les experts ayant contribué ne peuvent être tenus responsables d'éventuels problèmes résultant de l'utilisation de l'information contenue dans ces directives techniques. Celles-ci reflètent le consensus et la connaissance des spécialistes ayant contribué à cette révision mais les informations fournies demandent à être régulièrement mises à jour. La liste des experts ayant contribué à ces directives techniques est présentée dans cette publication. Toute correspondance quant à cette publication devra être adressée à Bioversity International.Ces directives sont écrites dans un style concis pour alléger ce document et en faciliter la mise à jour. Outre les références spécifiques citées dans le texte, des lectures complémentaires sont suggérées (surtout pour la distribution géographique, les milieux et autres informations spécifiques).Ces directives sont divisées en deux parties. La première partie énonce les recommandations générales et techniques sur les procédures sécurisées de transfert de matériel génétique de cacaoyer et indique les structures de quarantaine intermédiaire existantes quand cela est approprié. La deuxième partie couvre les phyto-ravageurs à prendre en compte lors de la circulation internationale ou régionale du matériel génétique de cacaoyer. L'information donnée sur un organisme nuisible particulier n'est pas exhaustive mais se concentre plutôt sur les aspects les plus pertinents concernant la sûreté des mouvements de matériel génétique. Il est extrêmement difficile d'éradiquer des pathogènes d'une région ou d'un pays, et même de faibles niveaux d'infection ou d'infestation peuvent aboutir à l'introduction de pathogènes dans des secteurs vierges. C'est pourquoi, aucune information spécifique sur les traitements sanitaires n'est indiquée dans les descriptions de ravageurs. Une analyse du risque phytosanitaire 3. Centres de quarantaine intermédiaire et régionauxLe rôle des centres de quarantaine intermédiaire est d'empêcher la diffusion des organismes nuisibles et des maladies lors des mouvements de matériel génétique d'une région à une autre en soumettant ce matériel à un processus de quarantaine dans un pays où le cacaoyer n'est pas cultivé (afin de minimiser le risque d'introduction de ravageurs/pathogènes dans le système). La quarantaine intermédiaire est particulièrement importante quand le matériel à planter est transporté sous forme de baguette de greffage, matériel pouvant héberger des virus latents.Les centres de quarantaine intermédiaire actuels sont les suivants: Des stations de quarantaine post-entrée sont présentes dans certains pays producteurs de cacao et sont utilisées principalement pour le matériel nouvellement importé dans le pays en question. La durée de la quarantaine post-entrée peut varier de six mois à deux ans. Dans quelques cas, les structures de post-entrée sont aussi utilisées pour des mouvements de matériel génétique dans le pays.Les centres de quarantaine post-entrée en fonction pour le cacaoyer sont les suivants :Outre les directives spécifiques pour les organismes nuisibles/maladies présentés dans les sections suivantes, les recommandations générales ci-dessous s'appliquent : L'analyse des risques phytosanitaires doit précéder le mouvement du matériel génétique (voir les sections sur les organismes nuisibles spécifiques).Le matériel génétique doit être obtenu de la source la plus sûre possible, par exemple à partir d'une collection en quarantaine intermédiaire testée pour les pathogènes. L'envoi de cabosses entières est FORTEMENT DÉCONSEILLÉ.Le mouvement de plantes entières en terre, ou même de plantes entières à racines nues, présente un risque très élevé de transférer des organismes telluriques et des ravageurs associés aux racines et aux parties aériennes du végétal. C'est pourquoi, une extrême prudence doit entourer tout transfert de plante entière. Le transfert de matériel génétique entre des régions est FORTEMENT déconseillé, à moins que le matériel ne soit transféré à partir d'une structure de quarantaine.En cas de transfert de matériel comme des semences, un substrat inerte et stérile (vermiculite ou perlite, par exemple) est préférable à un substrat organique (par exemple, la sciure de bois). Le matériel d'emballage utilisé doit être incinéré ou autoclavé après usage.Le transfert de baguettes de greffage de région à région doit s'effectuer via un centre de quarantaine. n cas d'échange international, les baguettes de greffage doivent être traitées avec un mélange fongicide/pesticide approprié lorsque cela est spécifié sur le certificat d'importation du pays destinataire.Après greffage dans le pays destinataire, tout matériel végétal superflu doit être incinéré ou autoclavé.Le transfert de matériel génétique doit avoir lieu en consultation avec les autorités phytosanitaires régionales appropriées tant dans les pays d'exportation que dans les pays d'importation. Les normes internationales pour les mesures phytosanitaires, telles que publiées par le Secrétariat de la Convention internationale pour la protection des végétaux (CIPV) (https://www.ippc.int/) doivent être respectées.Conformément aux règlements de la CIPV, tout matériel transféré au niveau international doit être accompagné d'un certificat phytosanitaire.C'est la façon la plus sûre de transférer du matériel génétique de cacaoyer. Toutefois, il faut s'assurer de ne sélectionner que des cabosses saines et d'effectuer les traitements fongicides adéquats pour éviter toute contamination concomitante.Il faut noter que certains organismes nuisibles peuvent se transmettre par les semences (Tableau 5.1).Tableau 5.1. Pathogènes transmis par les semences du cacaoyer. Transporter du matériel génétique de cacaoyer sous forme de baguettes de greffage se pratique quand le destinataire demande une copie génétiquement identique d'un génotype particulier (par exemple, si le génotype en question possède des caractères utiles particuliers en sélection). Lors de la coupe des baguettes, il est conseillé de suivre les recommandations générales suivantes :1. Le matériel doit être prélevé sur des plantes qui ne montrent aucun signe visible d'une activité phytopathologique ou phytoparasitaire.2. Les outils de coupe doivent être stérilisés (par exemple en utilisant de l'éthanol à 70%) entre chaque plante. Le matériel in vitro doit être envoyé dans des boîtes transparentes scellées contenant un milieu stérile. Il doit subir un examen avant son expédition et immédiatement à sa réception à destination. Idéalement, le matériel in vitro doit être indexé pour la présence de pathogènes systémiques dans une structure de quarantaine. Tout matériel infecté ou contaminé doit être détruit.Les expéditions de pollen ne sont PAS conseillées à partir des zones où la présence de Moniliophthora est avérée en raison de la possible contamination des échantillons de pollen par des spores du champignon.Lors d'envois vers d'autres régions, le pollen doit être examiné en microscopie optique pour déceler la présence d'organismes nuisibles visibles. Tout pollen contaminé doit être détruit.Les bourgeons floraux peuvent être transférés pour une utilisation en culture de tissu. Ils doivent être stérilisés en surface avant envoi.Thresh JM. 1960. Mesures de quarantaine destinées à intercepter le matériel de propagation du cacaoyer infesté par les virus sévissant en Afrique occidentale. (Quarantine arrangements for intercepting cocoa material infected with West African viruses). FAO Plant Protection Bulletin 8:89-92.   Les plantes infectées présentent une nécrose des nervures (Fig. 7.1.1), le long de la nervure centrale et des nervures principales et, aux premiers stades de l'infection, un dépérissement terminal des tiges. Aucun gonflement ne se développe dans les racines ou les tiges.Cette maladie est rapportée au Nigeria et au Ghana (Owusu 1971, Thresh 1958).Probablement par un nématode vecteur (Kenten 1977). Le même auteur décrit une transmission par les semences de 24% dans les hôtes herbacés Glycine max, Phaseolus lunatus et P. vulgaris. Une transmission mécanique ou par la sève a aussi été décrite par Adomako et Owusu (1974) en utilisant la technique développée pour le Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV).Les particules sont isométriques et d'un diamètre de 25 nm.Aucune. Une plante infectée ne peut être soignée.Comme pour le CSSV: Genre: Badnavirus. Greffer sur un porte-greffe Amelonado (cultivar de cacaoyer sensible) et rechercher la présence de symptômes sur toutes les parties de la plante résultante (Voir Section 5.2 Baguettes de greffage).  Mise à jour: H Dzahini-Obiatey 1 , O Domfeh 1 et GA Ameyaw 1 et AC Wetten  (Kouakou et al. 2012, Oro et al. 2012, Abrokwah et al. 2016, Chingandu et al. 2017). Le Cacao mottle leaf virus est un synonyme du CSSV (Brunt et al. 1996).Les Bénin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Togo (Brunt et al. 1996, Kouakou et al. 2012, Oro et al. 2012, Abrokwah et al. 2016).L'infection naturelle par le CSSV a été décrite pour Adansonia digitata, Bombax spp., Ceiba pentandra, Cola chlamydantha, Cola gigantea, Theobroma cacao et d'autres espèces forestières de malvaceae, Corchorus spp., ont été infectées expérimentalement.Le CSSV est transmis par au moins 14 espèces de cochenilles (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae).Alors que des résultats PCR positifs ont été obtenus par l'utilisation d'amorces spécifiques du CSSV sur de l'ADN de plantules issues d'autofécondation d'arbres infectés, aucune expression du CSSV n'a pu être décelée chez ces plantules, ni visuellement, ni par \"transcription inverse\" (RT) PCR (Ameyaw et al. 2010). Il n'y a donc aucune preuve de transmission du CSSV par les semences. Par ailleurs, les plantes peuvent être infectées quand les graines sont inoculées par les cochenilles vectrices infectées ou par transmission mécanique avec du virus purifié.Les particules sont bacilliformes et mesurent 121-130 x 28 nm.Aucune. Une fois qu'une plante est infectée, elle ne peut être soignée. Toutefois, le passage par l'embryogénèse somatique s'est révélé produire des clones indemnes de virus à partir de plantes donneuses infectées par le CSSV (Quainoo et al. 2008)  Ce virus est décrit seulement en Sierra Leone (Blencowe et al. 1963, Brunt et al. 1965).Présence de zones jaunes visibles sur les feuilles. Aucun gonflement sur les tiges ou les racines.Pas de transmission par les semences. Facilement transmis par inoculation de sève par le biais de nombreuses espèces herbacées.Les particules sont isométriques et mesurent environ 25 nm de diamètre.Aucune. Une plante infectée ne peut être guérie.Se référer au paragraphe ci-dessus Cacao swollen shoot virus et à la Section 5.2Blencowe JW, Brunt AA, Kenton RG, Lovi NK. 1963   Mise à jour: Karina P Gramacho 1 et Nara GR Braz 21 CEPLAC/CEPEC/SEFIT. Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna, km 22. Itabuna, BA, Brésil Email: Karina@cepec.gov.br 2 UESC, Rodovia Ilheus-Itabuna, km 16, Bahia, BrésilParmi la variabilité existante de ce champignon, on cite deux principaux biotypes, les biotypes C et S. Des variants du biotype C semblent exister selon l'origine géographique (par exemple Equateur, Pérou, Brésil, Bolivie).Bien que M. perniciosa induise de nombreux symptômes sur les pousses végétatives, les fleurs, les coussinets floraux et les cabosses, l'hypertrophie de la croissance des méristèmes végétatifs infectés (balais) reste le symptôme le plus caractéristique de la maladie du balai de sorcière (Fig. 8.1.1,Fig. 8.1.2).Actuellement, cette maladie est présente en Bolivie, Brésil, Colombie, Equateur, Guyane française, Grenada, Guyana, Panama (à l'est du canal de Panama), Pérou,  Autres familles: Vernonia difusa, Bixa orellana, Arrabidaea verrucosa, Entadas gigas, Coussapoa eggersii, Barringtonia spp., Cecropia spp., Bambusa spp., Musa spp.Les basidiospores, seules propagules infectantes de M. perniciosa, peuvent infecter tous les tissus méristématiques du cacaoyer (Purdy et Schmidt 1996). Peu après l'infection, le pathogène établit une relation biotrophique avec son hôte, durant a b claquelle le champignon est homokaryotique, intercellulaire et non ramifié (Calle et al. 1982, Muse et al. 1996, Orchard et al. 1994, Silva et Matsuka 1999). À ce stade, il cause une hypertrophie des tissus, une perte de la dominance apicale et la prolifération des bourgeons axillaires. La dissémination se fait par le vent.Bien que M. perniciosa semble pouvoir être transmis par les semences, le transfert des fèves reste la méthode la plus sûre de transporter le matériel génétique. Les fèves peuvent être collectées sur des cabosses apparemment saines, traitées par un fongicide au cuivre ou au métalaxyl pour réduire le risque de transmission du pathogène.Il est conseillé de maintenir le matériel nouvellement introduit dans une serre protégée des insectes et sous stricte surveillance dans une station de quarantaine pendant un an en testant l'absence de maladie avant sa libération pour les utilisations communes.a récemment été décrite au Salvador (Phillips-Mora et al. 2010) et aussi dans une région de la Jamaïque (IPPC 2016, Johnson et al. 2017) malgré les efforts actuels faits pour la contenir.Apparemment, toutes les espèces sont étroitement inféodées aux genres Theobroma et Herrania, les plus importantes étant les espèces cultivées T. cacao (cacao) et T. grandiflorum (cupuaçu).M. roreri semble être un champignon anamorphe; cependant, un mécanisme cytologique, qui semble peu actif dans la nature, lui permettrait une reproduction sexuée (Evans et al. 2002).Les cabosses sont infectées par les spores qui restent viables pendant plusieurs semaines et peuvent résister à l'exposition à la lumière solaire. La dissémination se fait par le vent. Les infections naturelles ont seulement été observées sur les cabosses, bien que l'inoculation artificielle de fèves par des spores ait produit de jeunes plants infectés. En conditions naturelles, la transmission de la maladie par des graines infectées n'a pas été observée et est peu probable.L'homme est responsable de la propagation de cette maladie sur de grandes distances et au-delà des barrières géographiques. Les infections cachées peuvent avoir un rôle très important dans la dissémination de la maladie dans de nouveaux secteurs. En plus des précautions à prendre lors des mouvements de matériel végétal décrites ci-dessous, il faut noter que les spores peuvent aussi survivre sur les vêtements, les chaussures et sur le corps humain. Donc, après la visite d'un secteur infecté, des mesures appropriées doivent être prises avant d'entrer dans une région non infectée (destruction ou lavage approprié des vêtements, d'équipement et des chaussures utilisés, pas de visites dans des zones indemnes de maladie pendant quelques jours, etc.).Puisque les fruits sont les seules parties de la plante de cacaoyer infectées par M. roreri dans les conditions naturelles, les efforts de quarantaine doivent essayer d'empêcher tout transfert de fruits à partir des zones infectées vers de nouvelles exploitations, territoires ou pays.La maladie n'est pas transmise par contamination interne des fèves. Cependant, les spores d'une grande longévité peuvent être transportées sur des plantes entières ou leurs parties (fèves, feuilles, baguettes, etc.). Les spores pulvérulentes adhèrent aisément à de tels tissus et restent viables dans cet état pendant de nombreux mois. Par conséquent, le transfert de telles parties végétatives dans des secteurs indemnes de maladie doit seulement être effectué après une désinfection. Mise à jour: G Martijn ten Hoopen 1,3 , S Nyassé 2 et R Umaharan Transport par les hommes : Les hommes sont les coupables les plus probables de la dispersion sur de longues distances de Phytophthora, soit par négligence lors du transport des matériels végétaux (cabosses, bourgeons, etc.), de terre, soit à cause des activités humaines comme la création de route et les randonnées pédestres.NB: Comme P. megakarya est plus agressif et cause des pertes de rendement plus importantes que P. palmivora (Appiah 2001), il faut rester spécialement prudent lors du transport de matériels végétaux/terre au Ghana, au Togo et en Côte d'Ivoire où P. palmivora et P. megakarya sont présents par endroits. Certaines zones de production dans ces trois pays ne sont pas encore affectées par P. megakarya. Le symptôme initial le plus caractéristique de ce dépérissement avec nécrose vasculaire est une chlorose généralisée d'une feuille, habituellement sur la deuxième ou troisième pousse foliaire en dessous de l'extrémité, avec des taches vertes de 2-5 mm de diamètre, ça et là (Keane et Prior 1991). Cette feuille tombe en quelques jours et les symptômes se développent progressivement sur les feuilles adjacentes (Fig. Avocatier.La formation de basides et la libération de basidiospores se produit principalement la nuit après que les basidiocarpes (fructifications fongiques) aient été humidifiés par la pluie (Keane et al. 1972). Prior (1982) a montré que la tombée de la nuit stimule aussi la sporulation. Des basidiospores ont été produites 8-12 h après que les basidiocarpes aient été soumis à l'obscurité, tandis que ceux exposés à la lumière artificielle continue pendant la nuit n'ont pas sporulé. Il semble qu'une baisse de température de 5°C ait aussi stimulé la sporulation sur des basiodiocarpes au laboratoire (Prior 1982). Les basidiocarpes restent fertiles pendant environ dix jours seulement sur des branches vivantes d'arbres; mais sur des branches coupées, ils cessent de répandre des spores après seulement deux jours.Les basidiospores sont grandes (15-25 µm x 6,5- Les basidiospores ne présentent pas de dormance et de l'eau libre est nécessaire pour la germination des spores et l'infection. Elles germent en 30 minutes si les feuilles restent humides mais la croissance s'arrête une fois que l'eau s'est évaporée (Prior 1979). Le premier signe de pénétration se produit après 12 heures, avec un gonflement de l'extrémité du tube germinatif pour former un appressorium qui adhère à la surface de la feuille. Des cellules épidermiques adjacentes ont montré un brunissement suite à la présence du champignon. Souvent l'infection ne progresse pas plus loin, mais parfois des hyphes de pénétration se forment sous les appressoria. Il n'a pas été observé d'hyphes pénétrant dans les éléments du xylème des nervures bien que Prior (1979) ait observé des stries de cellules mésophylliennes décolorées allant de la surface à la gaine entourant le xylème. Au laboratoire, après dépigmentation et coloration, les hyphes en croissance ont été observés dans la feuille inoculée aux alentours des nervures (Keane 1972, Prior 1979) mais cela n'a pu être relié aux spores vides restées sur la surface foliaire. Il a été montré (Prior 1979) que la rosée se forme en premier sur les poils et les glandes situés sur les nervures des jeunes feuilles de cacaoyer. Cela pourrait piéger les spores et pourrait expliquer les cas de pénétration juste sur les nervures, comme observé par Keane (1972).Le champignon peut être isolé à partir de matériel végétal infecté et transféré sur un milieu de culture pour Corticium (CCM, Kotila, 1929)  Jusqu'à présent, les tests de pathogénicité n'ont réussi qu'avec des plantes inoculées exposées aux conditions naturelles de température et de dépôt de rosée. Tout comme la sporulation, il semble que l'infection exige des conditions très particulières, difficiles à simuler en laboratoire. Dans ces essais, les symptômes se déclarent chez de jeunes plantules de 3 semaines environ 6-9 semaines après leur infection par les basidiospores pendant les périodes nocturnes de rosée (Keane 1981) ou après qu'elles aient été inoculées par une suspension de basidiospores (Prior 1978) ; chez de jeunes plants de 6 mois, les symptômes se développent après 10-12 semaines (Keane et al. 1972).Les pics d'occurrence de la maladie au champ s'observent quelques mois après les pics de pluviométrie saisonniers (Prior 1980(Prior , 1981)). Le champignon pénètre les feuilles jeunes qui commencent alors à se développer après le début des pluies. La branche ou le jeune plant pousse encore pendant trois à cinq mois avant que le champignon ne se soit suffisamment ramifié pour provoquer les symptômes de la maladie dans les feuilles attaquées ; en conséquence, les premiers symptômes apparaissent sur la deuxième ou troisième poussée foliaire derrière l'extrémité en croissance.Ceratobasidium theobromae peut coloniser le système vasculaire des cabosses : cela peut se révéler important pour les mesures de quarantaine et la potentialité de transmettre la maladie via des cabosses infectées distribuées pour les semences. Cependant, aucune infection n'a été jamais détectée dans la graine et Prior (1985) a écarté la possibilité de transmission par les semences.Voici une liste des parties végétales susceptibles d'être porteuses du champignon lors de leur commerce/transport :-Fruits (cabosses) : Hyphes ; à l'intérieur ; invisibles.-Feuilles : Hyphes ; à l'intérieur ; visibles à l'oeil nu.-Racines : Hyphes ; à l'intérieur ; invisibles.-Tiges (aériennes)/tiges/troncs/branches : Hyphes, organes de fructification ; à l'intérieur ; à l'extérieur ; visibles à l'oeil nu.Parties végétales non connues pour être porteuses du champignon lors de leur commerce/transport :-Milieu de culture accompagnant les plantes -Graines.Des plantes entières ou des boutures ne doivent pas être envoyées à partir de zones infestées par C. theobromae. Lorsque du matériel clonal est exigé, il doit provenir, si possible, sous forme de baguettes, de régions indemnes de maladie. Les baguettes de greffage provenant d'une région infestée doivent être envoyées à une station de quarantaine intermédiaire dans une région indemne de maladie et greffée sur des porte-greffes issus de graines collectées dans des régions indemnes de maladie. Le greffon doit être conservé pendant trois poussées de croissance et confirmé comme indemne de C. theobromae avant prélèvement des baguettes et envoi à la destination finale.Dans des pays comme la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, il a été constaté qu'une période de quarantaine post-entrée de six mois dans une serre d'ombrage bien isolée permet de détecter le VSD et ce traitement a remplacé l'ancienne recommandation d'une période de quarantaine post-entrée sur une île isolée.L'examen microscopique des sections transversales de baguettes de greffage et de pédoncules de cabosses est une précaution supplémentaire contre les risques de transmission de la maladie parce que les hyphes du pathogène sont de grande taille et facilement détectés. Les hyphes ont été décelés dans les pédoncules et le placenta des cabosses issues de branches malades mais les graines de ces cabosses ont germé normalement et il n'y avait aucune preuve de transmission par les semences. L'immersion de graines dans une solution de 1g/L de propiconazole + 5g/L de métalaxyl a causé une réduction faible mais statistiquement significative de la hauteur de tige du jeune plant. Cependant, la longueur de racine et le pourcentage de germination n'ont pas été affectés et ce traitement prophylactique des graines peut être utile lorsque les autorités de quarantaine exigent des précautions complémentaires.L'examen microscopique des sections transversales des baguettes de greffage, pour vérifier la présence d'hyphes de C. theobromae dans le xylème peut être une précaution complémentaire pour assurer l'absence d'infection à la station de quarantaine et est conseillé (Prior 1985).Bien que les fèves ne semblent pas transmettre la maladie, une immersion de précaution dans un fongicide du groupe des triazoles a été préconisée (Prior 1985). Les autorités de quarantaine en Malaisie exigent actuellement que les graines soient traitées avec du thirame.Les méthodes de lutte ont été passées en revue récemment (  Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, CEP 37200-000, Brésil Email: mlucio@ufla.brVerticillium dahliae KlebahnIl existe plus de 200 espèces principales de dicotylédones, dont des plantes annuelles herbacées, pérennes et forestières, qui sont les hôtes des verticillioses (Agrios 2005). Les symptômes généraux sont l'épinastie (Fig. 8.5.1A), le jaunissement, la nécrose et le flétrissement ou l'abscission des feuilles (Fig. 8.5.1B-D), suivies de retard du développement ou de la mort de la plante (Resende et al. 1996). Selon Fradin et Thomma (2006), le flétrissement débute en général à l'extrémité d'une feuille infectée, dans les plus vieilles tiges puisque l'invasion est acropétale (de la base à l'apex). Dans le cacaoyer, les plantes infectées présentent généralement un flétrissement soudain suivi d'une nécrose de la feuille et des poussées foliaires. Des types semblables de symptômes défoliants (Fig. 8.5.1B) et non défoliants (Fig. 8.5.1C) peuvent se produire sur le cacaoyer comme sur d'autres hôtes. Par exemple, sur le coton, Schnathorst et Mathre (1966) ont décrit des pathotypes de V. dahliae défoliant ou non défoliant, mais d'autres auteurs (Bell 1973, Ashworth Jr 1983) ont suggéré un continuum de symptômes lié à l'agressivité relative parmi les souches de V. dahliae, plutôt que l'existence de pathotypes distincts. Généralement, on pense que le symptôme de flétrissement survient à cause du stress hydrique causé par l'occlusion vasculaire alors que la défoliation peut aussi impliquer des déséquilibres des régulateurs de croissance. Ainsi, Talboys (1968) a suggéré que la défoliation est liée au niveau de stress hydrique, tandis que Tzeng et DeVay (1985) et Resende et al. (1996) ont mis en évidence une augmentation de la production d'éthylène, respectivement, chez des plants de coton et de cacaoyer inoculés avec des isolats défoliants comparés à ceux infectés par des isolats non défoliants.Dans des sections de tige, on peut voir une décoloration brune des tissus vasculaires (Fig. 8.5.1 E, F). Un brunissement, des thylloses (Fig. 8.5.1 G) et des dépôts de gommes et de gels (Fig. 8.5.1 G) peuvent être observés à l'intérieur des nervures. Les niveaux des symptômes observés dépendent principalement de la concentration d'inoculum, du pathotype de Verticillium, de la variété végétale et du stade de développement de la plante, de la température, de l'humidité du sol et de la nutrition, particulièrement la teneur en potassium (Resende 1994). L'infestation des racines par les nématodes parasites peut augmenter l'occurrence et la sévérité des maladies causées par des champignons telluriques comme V. dahliae (Johnson et Santo 2001).Les Verticillium spp. sont des champignons telluriques de distribution mondiale, responsables d'une maladie vasculaire aboutissant à des pertes sévères du rendement et de la qualité chez plusieurs espèces cultivées (Subbarao et al. 1995).Verticillium dahliae et V. albo-atrum sévissent dans les régions tempérées et subtropicales, mais sont moins destructeurs sous les tropiques. Par déduction de sa distribution géographique, V. dahliae semble être favorisé par des températures plus élevées que V. albo-atrum (Fradin et Thomma 2006, Resende 1994). Verticillium dahliae est plus destructeur dans des climats plus chauds tandis que V. albo-atrum sévit sur les espèces cultivées dans des latitudes nordiques avec des climats humides. Des attaques sévères, après des conditions particulièrement sèches ou d'engorgement, peuvent causer la mort d'un cacaoyer apparemment sain et vigoureux la semaine précédente (Resende 1994).Au Brésil, la verticilliose est un grave problème dans les États de Bahia et d'Espírito Santo (Resende et al. 1995, Agrianual 2009). Cette maladie, plus commune dans des régions soumises à des précipitations insuffisantes, cause jusqu'à 10 % de mortalité annuelle sur des cacaoyers en zones non ombragées (Almeida et al. 1989).La verticilliose fait partie des maladies graves du cacaoyer en Ouganda causant jusqu'à 30 % de perte de rendement (Emechebe et al. 1971). Sa présence ancienne dans ce pays pourrait expliquer pourquoi le cacao n'est pas devenu une culture d'importance en Ouganda (Leakey 1965, Resende et al. 1995, Sekamate et Okwakol 2007). La verticilliose a récemment été rapportée de la Province du Nord Kivu en République démocratique du Congo, très probablement suite à une diffusion depuis l'Ouganda. Verticillium dahliae a aussi été trouvé sur le cacaoyer en Colombie (Granada 1989, Resende et al. 1995).Le coton et de nombreuses espèces dicotylédones.Verticillium dahliae Kleb. est un champignon colonisant les racines avec un cycle de vie nécrotrophique. Cette forme anamorphe d'ascomycète, appartenant à la famille des Plectospharellaceae, classe des Sordariomycètes, est un agent causal commun de maladies de dépérissement chez de nombreuses espèces cultivées (Domsch et al. 2007).Le mycélium végétatif de V. dahliae est hyalin, habituellement ramifié, septé et multinucléé (Fig. 8.5.2A). Les conidiophores sont érigés, portant les spires de phialides divergentes en forme d'alêne mince. Les conidies sont ellipsoïdes à ovoïdes (Fig. 8.5.2A), de 15-50 (-100) µm de diamètre, hyalines, principalement unicellulaires, de 3-8 µm de long et sont produites sur de longues phialides positionnées en spirale autour du conidiophore verticillé (Resende 1994, Gomez-Alpízar 2001, Fradin et Thomma 2006). Les microsclérotes, qui sont les structures de latence, sont généralement observés.Les deux espèces de Verticillium, V. dahliae Klebahn et V. albo-atrum Reinke et Berthold, sont très similaires. Taxonomiquement, V. dahliae se distingue de V. alboatrum principalement par la présence de microsclérotes (Fig. 8.5.2C) comme structures de latence pouvant résister aux conditions environnementales défavorables jusqu'à 13 ans (Schnathorst 1981, Resende 1994). Les températures semblant favoriser V. dahliae sont de 25 -28°C ; elles sont de 20 -25°C pour V. alboatrum de (Resende 1994). V. dahliae induit une maladie monocyclique, ce qui signifie qu'un seul cycle de maladie et de production d''inoculum se produit pendant une période de pousse. Verticillium albo-atrum peut, au contraire, produire des conidies sur les tissus végétaux infectés, transmises par voie aérienne et propageant la maladie. Les maladies causées par V. albo-atrum peuvent donc parfois être polycycliques (Fradin et Thomma 2006).Comme la verticilliose est une maladie monocyclique, les taux d'inoculum de V. dahliae dans le sol (microsclérotes par g de sol) à la plantation jouent un rôle essentiel dans le développement du flétrissement chez de nombreuses espèces cultivées (Xiao et Subbarao 1998, 2000). De nombreux genres et espèces sont colonisés par V. dahliae, y compris des membres des familles Malvaceae, comme le cacaoyer et le coton, les Solanaceae, les Compositae, les Convolvulaceae, les Papilionaceae, les Labiatae et les Chenopodiaceae (Resende et al. 1994).Le cycle de vie de V. dahliae peut être divisé en trois phases : l'une dormante, l'autre parasitaire et la dernière saprophyte. Une adaptation unique de ces organismes est que, jusqu'aux stades avancés de la colonisation vasculaire, le pathogène se limite exclusivement au xylème, lequel contient des fluides à faibles teneurs en sucres, acides aminés et sels inorganiques divers (Resende 1994). La germination des microsclérotes dans des sols infestés est stimulée par les exsudats racinaires et le tube germinatif pénètre dans l'hôte par les racines, poursuit sa croissance inter-et intracellulaire dans le cortex et s'étend au xylème. L'invasion systémique se produit quand des générations successives de conidies sont produites et transportées par la transpiration du xylème aux parties aériennes de la plante (Veronese et al. 2003). Il a été décrit que la colonisation de la plante à ce stade semble alterner des cycles de prolifération fongique et d'élimination fongique, l'élimination étant vraisemblablement induite par les réponses de défense de la plante (Fradin et Thomma 2006). Pendant la nécrose tissulaire ou la sénescence de la plante, le champignon entre dans la phase saprophyte. En plus des tissus vasculaires, les tiges et les racines de la plante sont aussi colonisées. Dans le cas d'une infection par V. dahliae, de grandes quantités de microsclérotes sont produites (Fig. 8.5.2 B et 8.5.2 C).Des efforts doivent être faits pour empêcher l'introduction du pathogène dans les principales régions productrices de cacao. Il est nécessaire d'appliquer des restrictions aux mouvements de matériel génétique dans les secteurs où la maladie est absente et de collecter des baguettes de greffage dans des secteurs indemnes. Si le matériel végétal provient de zones infectées, il doit être placé dans une station de quarantaine, aux fins d'observation et d'analyses puisque le champignon peut rester latent à l'intérieur des tissus végétaux. Des symptômes de décoloration vasculaire sont souvent observés. L'absence du pathogène doit être confirmée par l'isolement direct dans un milieu gélifié alcoolisé avant l'envoi (Freitas et Mendes 2005). Verticillium dahliae peut être isolé à partir du xylème de racines, de tiges, de branches, de branchettes, de feuilles voire de graines. Les travaux récents de détection des deux espèces de Verticillium ont principalement porté sur l'utilisation de sondes d'hybridation d'ADN. Un test ELISA sur V. alboatrum est utilisé en France pour évaluer des pélargoniums certifiés (CABI/EPPO).Selon Pereira et al. (2008), la lutte contre cette maladie peut être effectuée par l'utilisation de la résistance génétique associée à des mesures culturales, comme l'utilisation de plantules saines, la destruction des résidus végétaux infectés, une fertilisation équilibrée, l'irrigation et l'application appropriée de fongicides systémiques, bien que l'utilisation de ces produits puisse être impraticable, puisque le champignon peut survivre dans les débris végétaux ou dans le sol, comme les microsclérotes. Une résistance génétique serait souhaitable mais aucun matériel doté d'un niveau de résistance satisfaisant n'est encore disponible, bien que le cv. POUND 7 se soit révélé partiellement résistant à la maladie à la suite de tests de \"criblage\".L'Organisation européenne et méditerranéenne pour la protection des plantes (OEPP) recommande que le matériel de plantation provienne d'un champ où la verticilliose ne s'est pas déclarée durant les cinq dernières années et que les envois et leurs plantes mères se soient montrés indemnes de la maladie dans la dernière période de pousse. De telles mesures sont appropriées tant dans le cadre d'une Carmen Suárez-CapelloUniversidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo (UTEQ), Quevedo, Equateur, Email: csuarez@uteq.edu.ecLe Les arbres infectés montrent un feuillage mou et brun, sur une branche unique ou sur l'arbre entier, selon que seule une branche ou la tige principale a été infectée. Le premier symptôme est un jaunissement et un flétrissement lent de la partie de la branche ou de l'arbre infectée, qui brunit progressivement. En général, le Mal de machete se reconnaît par un feuillage brun et mou restant accroché à l'arbre et ne tombant pas, même en secouant la branche ou l'arbre (Fig. 8.6.1). Les scolytes à ambrosia du genre Xyleborus sont attirés par les arbres malades et forent dans les branches ou la tige principale (Saunders 1965). Leurs déjections sont poussées à l'extérieur de la tige ou de la branche et se déposent à la base de l'arbre en masses légères, pulvérulentes, premier signe positif du Mal de machete (Fig. 8.6.2). Il est fréquent de repérer les déjections avant même le jaunissement visible de l'arbre.Cette forme specialisée du complexe Ceratocystis est apparemment associée aux hôtes Theobroma cacao et au genre apparenté Herrania, d'autres espèces de Theobroma ne se sont pas révélées sensibles (Engelbrecht et al. 2007).Le flétrissement du cacaoyer par Ceratocystis (comme Ceratocystis fimbriata Ellis et Halstead) a été décelé à l'origine sur le cacaoyer en Équateur occidental en 1918 (Rorer 1918). Il a été rapporté en Colombie après 1940, au Venezuela en 1958 (Thorold 1975), au Costa Rica en 1958 (Thorold 1975) et également en 1958 à Trinidad (Spence et Moll 1958). Les rapports concernant la maladie s'étendent du Guatemala (Schieber et Sosa 1960) et de l'Amérique centrale au nord de l'Amérique du Sud, y compris l'Amazonie péruvienne (Soberanis et al. 1999), l'Equateur, la Colombie et le Venezuela (Thorold 1975). Au Brésil, la maladie a été repérée dans le sud-ouest de l'Amazonie (Rondônia) en 1978 (Bastos et Evans 1978) et plus récemment à Bahia (Bezerra 1997), qui est à l'extérieur de l'aire d'origine de T. cacao. La maladie serait aussi présente en Guyane française (M. Ducamp, com. pers.).Deux sous-lignées étroitement apparentées existent dans cette espèce, l'une d'Équateur occidental et l'autre comportant les isolats du Brésil, de Colombie et du Costa Rica. Les deux sous-lignées diffèrent peu dans leur morphologie mais sont inter-stériles et possèdent des marqueurs microsatellites uniques (Englebrecht et al. 2007). Englebrecht et Harrington (2005) différencient l'espèce C. cacaofunesta par sa pathogénicité sur le cacaoyer et la localisent en Equateur occidental, au Brésil, au Costa Rica, et en Colombie. Cette différenciation explique certainement la variation de l'agressivité observée en inoculations artificielles (C Suárez-Capello, observation personnelle).En général, C. cacaofunesta s'introduit dans les plants de cacaoyer par des blessures récentes, comme lors de l'émondage ou des blessures de récolte des cabosses (Malaguti 1952) et se déplace dans l'hôte via le xylème secondaire. Les scolytes à ambrosia du genre Xyleborus attaquent souvent le bois d'arbres infectés (Saunders 1965), d'abord attirés par l'odeur forte de banane que le champignon dégage. Les déjections qui sont poussées à l'extérieur de la tige ou de la branche quand les scolytes creusent leurs galeries, contiennent un inoculum viable du champignon (comme spores asexuées; conidia et aleurioconidies à parois épaisses) (Iton et Conway 1961) et peuvent faciliter sa diffusion par le vent ou les éclaboussures) vers les blessures d'autres arbres (Iton 1960). Les lames des machettes sont un autre moyen efficace de propagation du champignon (Malaguti 1952).Le champignon se déplace dans le xylème, se concentrant souvent dans les faisceaux vasculaires, les teintant profondément partout où il croît. Il se déplace systémiquement et lentement dans la plante comme un champignon de flétrissement vasculaire, mais il tue plus aisément le tissu parenchymateux. Le champignon tue aussi les tissus du cambium et de l'écorce, provoquant un chancre sur la tige ou la branche, d'habitude associé à un affaiblissement de l'arbre. Les chancres par Ceratocystis sont seulement visibles à la fin du processus d'infection sur des arbres matures; sur des jeunes plants âgés de six mois inoculés par le champignon, les symptômes peuvent mettre six à huit mois à se déclarer, selon le degré de résistance de la plante.Le champignon sporule abondamment sur les surfaces de coupe de branches malades. Ces tapis de spores produisent des périthèces (organes de fructification) (Fig. 8.6.3) qui exsudent des masses de spores gluantes qui seront dispersés par les insectes. Ces tapis se caractérisent par une odeur de banane qui attire les scolytes qui s'en nourrissent, devenant ainsi vecteurs extérieurs en plus de faciliter la dissémination du champignon dans le tissu de cacaoyer par leurs galeries.Les arbres infectés le sont sévèrement à leur base, peut-être à cause de blessures infectées près du niveau du sol. Les spores dans les déjections dispersées par le vent ou les spores véhiculées par les insectes se nourrissant du champignon peuvent infecter des blessures récentes. Le terme 'Mal de machete' vient de l'association de telles infections avec les blessures provoquées par une machette.Le mycélium du champignon est aussi infectieux que les spores (tant les conidies que les ascospores) ; ces dernières germent aisément sur l'eau sans dormance; après pénétration, le mycélium croît de manière importante dans les tissus de cacaoyer bien avant qu'un quelconque symptôme ne soit visible.Les parties végétatives susceptibles de propager le parasite lors de leur commerce/transport sont les suivantes:-Racines : Hyphes ; installées intérieurement; invisibles -Tiges (en surface)/pousses/troncs/branches : Hyphes, organes de fructification ; portés intérieurement et extérieurement ; visibles à l'oeil nu.Parties végétales non connues pour véhiculer le parasite lors de leur commerce/transport :-Graines.  trouve souvent ensemble sur le cacaoyer (Aranzazu et al. 1999, Ten Hoopen et Krauss 2006). Les symptômes d'un des pathogènes pourraient masquer la présence de l'autre.Rosellinia bunodes et R. pepo sévissent dans les zones tropicales d'Amérique centrale et du Sud, en Afrique de l'Ouest, dans les Caraïbes et en Asie. La distribution de R. pepo est probablement plus restreinte que celle de R. bunodes (Waterston 1941, Saccas 1956, Sivanesan et Holliday 1972, Holliday 1980)  (Waterston 1941, Saccas 1956, Booth et Holliday 1972, Sivanesan et Holliday 1972, Aranzazu et al. 1999, Ten Hoopen et Krauss 2006).Nombre de ces hôtes sont souvent trouvés en association avec le cacaoyer.Les attaques de Pourridié à Rosellinia se caractérisent souvent par une apparition en foyers (Fig. 8.7.4) qui s'étend circulairement en raison de la façon dont le pathogène infeste les plantes environnantes. Il est généralement admis que les Rosellinia spp. se propagent par contact direct des racines entre plantes hôtes (Aranzazu et al. 1999) et à ce jour, le rôle des ascospores ou des sclérotes n'est pas clair dans l'épidémiologie. Il n'existe aucune preuve que les outils des agriculteurs jouent un rôle dans la propagation de la maladie.Les points d'infection initiale sont souvent associés avec des arbres d'ombrage mourant ou déjà morts. Le système racinaire en décomposition permet l'infection par Rosellinia qui produit par la suite assez d'inoculum pour pouvoir infecter des arbres sains (Ten Hoopen et Krauss 2006). L'impact économique de Rosellinia se traduit par la perte progressive des arbres producteurs, la destruction des arbres infectés et les coûts directs de la lutte. En outre, un agriculteur ne peut pas replanter une parcelle infectée pendant plusieurs années.Rosellinia bunodes et R. pepo ont des besoins similaires en termes de sols et de conditions climatiques. Les deux organismes sont souvent associés aux sols acides, riches en matière organique (Waterston 1941, López et Fernández 1966, F Aranzazu, FEDECACAO) Mendoza et al. 2003). Dans ces zones où les deux espèces sont présentes, il n'est pas rare que toutes les deux infectent un arbre en même temps.Les parties végétales suivantes sont susceptibles de véhiculer la maladie :-Racines -Troncs/branches -Milieu de culture des plantes pouvant héberger un inoculum de Rosellinia.Parties végétales peu susceptibles de véhiculer la maladie :-Cabosses -Les graines ne semblent pas transmettre la maladie -Feuilles.Les plantes entières ou des parties de plantes ne doivent pas être envoyées à partir de zones infestées par Rosellinia. Lorsque du matériel clonal est exigé, il doit être fourni sous forme de baguettes provenant si possible de zones indemnes de maladie. Les baguettes provenant de zones infestées doivent être envoyées à une station de quarantaine intermédiaire située dans une zone indemne de maladie et greffées sur des porte-greffes issus de graines collectées dans des zones indemnes. Si la baguette provient d'un secteur infesté, il faut faire attention que l'arbre mère et tous ses voisins ne montrent pas de symptômes de la maladie.  Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen) (Lepidoptera: Gracillaridae).Les cabosses immatures infestées montrent des taches jaunes avant la maturation (Fig. 9.2.1). Les trous d'entrée des larves sur la surface de la cabosse sont rarement visibles à l'oeil nu mais peuvent être détectés en arasant l'enveloppe. Les larves laissent des trous de sortie de 1-2 mm de diamètre dans les parois des cabosses (Fig. 9.2.2). Les fèves des cabosses infestées s'agrègent souvent et sont difficiles, voire impossibles, à extraire (Fig. 9.2.3). Les fèves peuvent commencer à germer dans la cabosse infestée quand elles sont presque mûres (Azhar 1986).Ce ravageur est largement distribué à travers l'Asie du Sud-Est, dont la Malaisie, l'Indonésie, les Philippines et la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. Le cycle de vie du ravageur est illustré dans la Fig. 9.2.4. Les femelles peuvent pondre de 40 à 100 oeufs (maximum 300). Les oeufs ovales, fortement aplatis et mesurant 0,6 mm de long, sont habituellement déposés séparément près des sillons sur la surface de la cabosse. L'éclosion des oeufs se produit en à peu près trois jours, passant lors de leur maturation d'une couleur orange à presque translucide. Les larves nouvellement écloses forent immédiatement les parois des cabosses (Fig. 9.2.5). À l'intérieur de la cabosse, les larves s'alimentent pendant 14 à 21 jours de mucilage, de pulpe, de placenta et parfois des téguments des cotylédons. Une fois matures, elles forent la paroi de la cabosse (Fig. 9.2.6) et entament leur pupaison dans des cocons soyeux sur les feuilles, les cabosses ou dans les litières de feuilles séchées au sol (Fig. 9.2.7). Les pupes changent de couleur au cours de leur maturation passant de vert clair à gris sombre.  Colin Campbell   Les larves de cette mite forent dans les tiges ligneuses, les branches et les racines du cacaoyer en l'Afrique de l'Ouest et centrale, aboutissant à la mort de parties affectées ou des jeunes arbres. Les femelles adultes n'ont pas de pièces buccales mais chacune peut pondre plus de 1600 oeufs durant leur brève durée de vie de 4 jours (Adu-Acheampong et al. 2004). Les oeufs, de forme ovale mesurant 400 x 600 µm, sont de couleur jaune pâle à rose. Ils peuvent être déposés sur n'importe quelle partie de l'arbre, et éclosent après environ onze jours d'incubation. Les larves nouvellement écloses forent immédiatement un trou dans les tiges tendres. Cependant, les tiges inférieures à 1,5 cm de diamètre ne vont probablement pas être attaquées, donc chaque tige collectée pour servir de greffon au-dessus de cette taille doivent subir une inspection soigneuses pour détecter les éventuels trous de pénétration indicateurs de la présence de larves, protégées des effets d'une immersion insecticide dans leurs tunnels.   1979, Afolami 1982, Afolami et Ojo 1984, Campos et Villain 2005).Le nématode à galles des racines du cacaoyer a été décrit pour la première fois en 1900 (Sosamma et al. 1979). L'infestation par les nématodes sur le cacaoyer est répertoriée dans la plupart des régions productrices de cacao du monde (Tableau 10.1). Elle a été décrite partout en Côte d'Ivoire, au Ghana, au Nigeria, à São Tomé, en Inde, en Malaisie, à Java, aux Philippines, en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, en Jamaïque, au Venezuela, au Costa Rica, au Brésil, en Equateur, au Pérou, en Bolivie (Sosamma et al. 1979, Lopez-Chaves et al. 1980, Sharma 1982, Crozzoli et al. 2001, Wood et Lass 2001, Campos et Villain 2005, Arévalo 2008). En Amérique centrale et du Sud, M. exigua est un ravageur important de Coffea arabica. Il existe quelques hôtes supplémentaires recensés dont le cacaoyer (Oliveira et al. 2005, Taylor et Sasser 1983, Sasser et Carter 1985).Nombreux sont les nématodes phytoparasites associés aux plantules malades de cacaoyer. Les bananiers, en tant que plantes d'ombrage, sont la première source d'inoculum. Les sols infestés dans les pépinières induisent l'infestation des plantules qui dissémineront les nématodes dans les plantations. Les eaux de ruissellement contribuent aussi à leur propagation (Campos et Villain 2005).Il est crucial d'effectuer une inspection minutieuse du matériel à planter pour détecter la présence de nématodes lors de toute procédure de quarantaine (Oostenbrink 1972). Les plantules obtenues dans la pépinière doivent être examinées avec attention pour la présence de Meloidogyne avant leur transplantation. Si une infestation est suspectée, le matériel végétal ne doit pas être transplanté avant un traitement des racines par de l'eau chaude. Quand cela est possible, des matériels résistants ou immunes aux nématodes doivent être utilisés pour la propagation (Taylor et Sasser 1983). La lutte chimique par des produits némastatiques contre Meloidogyne dans les racines des espèces pérennes déjà établies n'est pas efficace. Au Nigeria, Alofami (1993) a contrôlé les nématodes dans un sol de pépinière par un traitement au nématicide Basamid et une stérilisation du sol par la vapeur.","tokenCount":"7826"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2451604996.json b/data/part_1/2451604996.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..405c27a6801eca58ec410ab5a43eb070f5beb2c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2451604996.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9c5f20b961233e0e817c56b3a8638b8c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/249898ab-bb40-4570-9955-ed164b37e57c/retrieve","id":"-1548239570"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"398ba736-6328-4f2d-adf9-ca4f5682a901","pagecount":"1","content":"Six weedy rice accessions representing the diversity of types found in the plots of Colombian farmers (Figure 1) were selected to conduct gene flow analysis and identify indicators for easy tracing and monitoring of genetic introgression in the crop-weedy rice complex. The selection included weedy types susceptible to the rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), with high flowering synchrony with rice, and easily distinguishable using specific microsatellite markers detecting polymorphism for various SSR specific alleles. Gene flow was assessed using as pollen donor a transgenic line (A3-49-60-12-3/Cica 8-2) carrying the RHBV-N protein-transgene conferring resistance to RHBV, and the gus and hph (hygromycin resistance) marker genes, and a non-transgenic rice variety locally known as Purple, characterized by having purple leaves, tillers, and grain apiculus, and dominant inheritance of anthocyanins.gus transgeneOne of the major obstacles to rice production in Latin America is the lack of stable yields due to several major diseases and pests, in addition to weeds, whose control accounts for about 30% of the production costs. Of the weeds affecting rice production, weedy rice is the main constraint. The presence of weedy rice in paddy fields is frequently the result of the predominant use of farmer-saved seed instead of certified seed source, and of direct seeding system for rice cultivation by farmers. The problem is exacerbated by the lack of crop rotation and the common practice of several crop cycles per year. In contrast to temperate regions where weedy rice is mainly composed by Oryza sativa f. spontanea (red rice), in tropical America the weedy rice complex is broadly diverse and apparently composed by numerous Oryza species (mostly annual and diploid, AA genome), usually with feral traits (taller, awned seeds with red pericarp, and shattering), varying degree of sexual compatibility (Oka and Chang, 1961;Vaughan and Tomooka, 1999), and flowering overlapping with the crop in different environments. There are indications that under temperate conditions genes placed in rice may transfer quickly into weedy rice (Langevin et al. 1990). Gene introgression not only presupposes physical proximity of the crop to its wild/weedy relative(s) and overlapping flowering so pollination can effect gene transfer, but also genetic compatibility of the crop and its immediate wild/ weedy relative(s) as well as fitness of the derived hybrid. This work is part of a project directed to analyze the gene flow from non-transgenic or transgenic rice into wild/weedy relatives in the Neotropics, and its effect(s) on the population genetic structure of the recipient species. The current report summarizes the progress on setting up the use molecular markers to assess and trace gene flow from transgenic and non-transgenic rice into weedy rice under controlled conditions in confined field plots. The morphological, phenological, and genetic diversity of weedy rice collected from farmers fields in Colombia was initially analyzed to determine the genetic structure prior to gene flow, and to select the best combinations of transgenic or non-transgenic rice and weedy types to assess the gene flow.Langevin S.A., Clay K. and Grace J. B. 1990. The incidence and effects of hybridization between cultivated rice and its related weed red rice (Oryza sativa L.). Evolution 44: 1000-1008. • In the greenhouse, hybridization rates of 7%-42% were found in manual crosses and confirmed by microsatellites. About two fold rates were obtained when rice was used as male parent. • In the field, preliminary results suggest a natural gene flow rate from transgenic/non-transgenic rice to weedy rice of about 0.03 % to 0.4% that is significantly lower respect to manual crossing. • There is a high correlation between phenotypic markers and SSR as tools to trace gene flow, however microsatellites allowed to detect some false negative/positive hybrid plants. • Analysis of gene flow distance and direction respect to the pollen source, and effect of the wind on gene flow rate is currently in progress. • F 2 plants derived from the confirmed hybrids will be evaluated for resistance to RHBV and fitness performance.In the greenhouse, higher crossing rates was observed in manual-made crosses respect to the natural hybridization in the field. In general, higher hybridization rates in manual crosses was obtained (at least 2-fold) when rice was used as the male parent (pollen donor) and weedy rice as the female parent (pollen recipient). A lower hybridization rate was noted in the reciprocal crosses (using weedy rice as the pollen donor), probably suggesting a preferential gene flow rate from rice into the weedy rice.Hybridization rates from 7% up to 42% in manual crosses in the greenhouse were confirmed by microsatellite analysis.In the field trials, flowering was synchronous between rice and the different weedy types. Hybridization rates of about 0% to 0.3% were obtained when either transgenes or the anthocyanin marker genes were used to trace gene flow in about 24,000 derived progeny plants, and confirmed by microsatellite markers (Figure 3). All derived transgenic hybrids confirmed by microsatellite express gus gene and display the region of the promoter 35S CaMV (Figure 3). Confirmed hybrids derived from the purple variety showed anthocyanins in the corresponding tissues.Outcrossing rates < 1% from transgenic/non-transgenic rice to weedy rice/rice varieties had recently been reported by other authors under temperate conditions (Noldin et al. 2001;Zhang et al. 2003 andMesseguer et al. 2004). But the cumulative hybridization rate (in consecutive years/period) may be higher under tropical conditions as compared with temperate conditions because of the lack of crop rotation and several crop cycles per year. Gene introgression dynamic over time and hybrid fitness analysis between rice/ weedy rice needs to be assayed at landscape level in farmers field. Towards that end our group will examine the gene flow/introgression dynamics in the crop/wild/weedy rice complexes using microsatellites complemented with organelle (maternal inheritance) polymorphism as a tool to trace the direction of gene flow. Two experimental field-plot designs were used. The first design (multiple-square assay) consisted in randomized plots planting rice intermingled with 20% weedy rice in square plots, simulating farmers field conditions and reflecting the economic threshold level for weedy rice infestation in Colombia (Figure 2A). The second design (concentric circles assay) was used to measure gene flow distance by inter-planting pollen donor plants (transgenic and non-trasngenic) within a concentriccircle design at the middle of the plot. Weedy rice plants were planted in concentric circles from the center (the pollen source) using a Statistic Latin Square Design (Figure 2B).Manual reciprocal crosses were made between the different weedy rice types and the transgenic/non-transgenic rice varieties, according to Sarkarung (1996). These F 1 plants were used as controls.An optimized methodology using bulk DNA and PCR-based analysis allows the assessment of large number of seed samples with a high precision to detect hybrid candidates (Figure 4). This methodology is useful for tracking and monitoring gene flow at large scale in farmers' fields and in crop-to-wild contact zones. The scoring of phenotypic trait alone (i.e. gus expression, non-transgenic anthocyanin vegetative tissues) could either under or overestimate the level of hybridization rate. Similar results had been found in other works scoring herbicide resistance. Because of these potential errors, it is advisable that phenotypic data from putative out outcrossing events in a particular crop/year be confirmed with molecular techniques that can specifically identify the original parents or trait/gene(s). When handling thousands of samples, bulk DNA could first be assayed for the presence of the transgene(s) allowing the detection of 1 hybrid in 200 plant-bulk (Figure 4A and 4B), and the putative bulk then split in smaller samples allowing the detection of 1 hybrid in 40 plant-bulk with microsatellite (Figure 4C and 4D). SSR are valuable genetic markers because they are simple, codominant, allow detection of high levels of allelic diversity, and are easily and economically assayed by PCR. The analysis using microsatellites will give a better understanding of the gene flow/introgression dynamics in crop/wild/weedy complexes and of the potential impact on biodiversity. Gene flow was either traced at the phenotypic level by detecting gus expression or anthocyanin presence in plant tissues and putative hybrids were then confirmed by microsatellite molecular markers, or directly at the genetic level by bulking DNA samples of various plants to proceed with the molecular analyses without knowing the phenotypic profile. PCR analysis was conducted to trace the presence of transgenes and SSR analysis to confirm the hybrid nature of recovered F 1 plants (Figure 3). ","tokenCount":"1370"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2451939897.json b/data/part_1/2451939897.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ec3541a01ebec074fdc999d103da640952b83ec6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2451939897.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f14f5dc30a9c7700c5f63e9f95a4c1fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/046d3637-6bfa-4f58-b4b5-7039551ec6f5/retrieve","id":"-1223337464"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"076a06d3-a66b-4349-918d-61f6c872ff78","pagecount":"4","content":"Export marketing of livestock, particularly small ruminants, is the leading source of income and livelihood in Somaliland.Besides the various intermediaries involved in the Somali livestock trade (exporters, agents of exporters, small-scale livestock traders and brokers), thousands of livestock producers constitute an important part of the livestock export value chain.• A survey was conducted on market participation among men and women small ruminants' producers including awareness, exploitation and experience with the grading system used in export marketing of livestock in northern Somalia/Somaliland.• Besides results confirming the importance of small ruminants as income earners in producer households, knowledge about the grading system was generally widespread save for extreme details.• Factors that significantly influenced market participation included number of animals kept, gender of sales decision-maker, age of household head and livelihood zone.Livestock is the leading economic sector in Somaliland accounting for 40% of GDP and 80% of forex earnings. Sheep and goats are the most important type of livestock reared and marketed in Somaliland. In 2012, over 3 million sheep and goats worth over USD 200 million were traded and exported from the port of Berbera (SLCCIA 2013). The main importers of livestock from Somaliland include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Apart from the various intermediaries involved in the Somali livestock export trade: exporters, agents of exporters, small-scale livestock traders and brokers (Negassa et al. 2008;Mugunieri et al. 2012), thousands of livestock producers are also important actors in the livestock export value chain.Besides export marketing, a significant number of the small ruminants are marketed domestically generating employment for the local population especially women who are popularly involved in domestic meat selling and production of valuable by-products such as soap and ornaments. Household income from animal sales and other livestock-related activities is used to buy food and other necessities thus impacting on food security and poverty. Promotion of greater participation in livestock marketing among producers, including sale of higher quality animals which fetch better prices, provides a way of improving the livelihoods of many Somalis.Livestock marketing in Somaliland is characterized by use of an indigenous animal grading system that is based on levels of important traits including age (adults vs. young), conformation (excellent, good, and fair), body condition (fat, normal, and thin), and sex (only male animals are exported). Animals are grouped into three export quality grades: grades I, II, III, and a local quality grade (Negassa et al.A survey was conducted on market participation among sheep and goats producers including also their awareness, exploitation and experience with the indigenous grading system used in livestock markets in Somalia. This genderbased study covered both men and women producers (144 households) in 12 settlements located in three livelihood zones (Hawd pastoral, West Golis pastoral and Togdheer agro-pastoral) in Somaliland. Descriptive statistics and a Heckman two stage selection model (Heckman 1979) were applied to explore the determinants of producers' participation to the livestock market.The scale of small ruminants' operations in Somaliland is appreciable with a household on average keeping a flock of 53 animals and this includes 38 goats and 15 sheep. Flock sizes are relatively larger among pastoralists (on average 58-72 animals) than agro-pastoralists (29 animals) (Figure 2). The small ruminant enterprises exhibit strong involvement of women authenticated by the relatively high number of women who either solely, or jointly with spouses, participate in the activity as animal owners (48% of households), decision-makers (55% of households) and/ or labour providers (65% of households). Besides small ruminants, producers also keep other species of livestock including cattle, camels and chicken but these are relatively less popular than sheep and goats both in terms of numbers of producers involved (up to 44%) and also stocks of animals kept (on average up to 8.6 animals in a household).2008; Mugunieri et al. 2012). Figure 1 provides a schematic representation of the grading system. Grade I marks the highest quality animals that fetch the best price. Lower grades are discounted. The local quality grade includes mostly female animals and these are traded and consumed locally. Clearly, this grading system offers an opportunity for producers and other intermediaries to make higher profits through quality improvement of animals sold.  Sale of sheep and goats is widespread (>80% of households) and also regular across households standing at an average of about 10 animals per household in a year. These results attest the importance of small ruminants as a source of household income to livestock producers in Somaliland. Sale of animals is rather less prevalent in the agro-pastoral (on average 6.2 animals per year) than in pastoral areas (mean = 9.2-14.7 animals per year) where livestock activities are often the only viable productive activities for residents. Farm gate is the most popular point of sale for agro-pastoralists compared to 'regional' and 'local' markets among the pastoralists.  Participation in livestock selling exhibits interesting relationships with numerous factors. Small ruminant producers are highly likely to engage in selling in cases where:• The number of animals kept is high. This provides a justification for development agents to continue investing in interventions designed to safeguard stocks of small ruminants held by producers.• Household heads are relatively younger, consistent with the higher demand for income often faced by relatively younger parents at a stage where many of their children are highly dependent on them. Often, young adults will not have accumulated much wealth in other forms making them more dependent on sale of sheep and goats whose production is relatively easier to get into.Market participation tends to be more intensive in:• Households where sales decisions were made by either a male household head or collectively by both spouses compared to cases where these decisions were solely made by women.• Pastoral areas where alternative economic activities tend to be limited than in agro-pastoralist areas where people also practice crop farming.• Small ruminants are important sources of household income which justifies investments aimed at safeguarding livestock assets and improving its productivity for the poor.• Participation by women in the rearing and marketing of small ruminants was strong, implying that these activities provide a good entry point in promoting gender parity in economic welfare in producer households.The informal livestock grading system in Somaliland provides an opportunity for producers to raise their income through sale of higher quality animals.• There is a need to educate and promote fattening of animals among livestock producers coupled with efforts to address the problem of feed availability.Sheep and goats on sale in Burao regional market, SomalilandAwareness and utilization of livestock grading system to boost earnings from animal sales Knowledge about livestock grading, including attributes considered during grading, is widespread among producers. Grade I animals form about 40% of the small ruminants sales compared to 29% for grade II, 15% for grade III and 16% for the local grade (Figure 3), which reflects the orientation of the production practices to serve the export market.A grade I animal fetches USD 67.4-76.1 compared to USD 58.6-66.7 for grade II, USD 42.8-54.7 for grade III and 29.4-52.4 for the local quality grade. The quality composition of animals sold and prices fetched shows that there is scope for producers to raise their incomes though sale of higher quality animals.Numerous producers make deliberate efforts to exploit the grading system for better incomes. Efforts made mainly include:• Fattening of animals before sale (39% of producers)• Buying of poor-grade and low-cost animals which are then fattened for sale at higher prices (23% of producers).The fattening of animals commonly features grazing in communal land during the wet season (45% of cases) and/ or use of purchased feed (31% of cases). There is need to educate and promote fattening of animals among livestock producers. This should be coupled with efforts to address the problem of feed availability possibly through promotion of feed; production, conservation and trading. ","tokenCount":"1295"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2454074113.json b/data/part_1/2454074113.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..87a5520482aba99f7c17b594e727f1c4ab5d4b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2454074113.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1029eaea9e097ea531399016ea142a3d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d66549dd-821b-46ce-959e-b7dd028eaa67/retrieve","id":"-894614381"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b4015e2-5809-473c-a648-e32b7455b28b","pagecount":"1","content":"PROGRESS IN SCALING is rapid. 80,000 households, including 2,000 from Phase l's action research, are being supported by development partners to implement Africa RISING technologies.LANDSCAPE APPROACHES integrated to ensure that scaling across wider areas does not compromise sustainability.A first full season of action research with farmers recruited to the project. An elective approach to recruit ment and early engagement of development partners later pays dividends for wider scaling activities during the project's second phase.    CAPACITY SUPPORT to develop ment partners continues & beneficia ries of scaling rises to around 200,000 households. Ongoing expansion of research to consolidate learning from the project's unique implementation of the R4D approach to sustainable intensification (SI). Technology testing with farmers and ex tension services reveal PROMISING SI STRATEGIES around G x Ex M for crops, integrated feed production and high value crops and their combinations.DIAGNOSTIC STUDIES commence across the biophysical, socio-economic and institutional domains to identify con straints to and opportunities for SI. A series of short-term, ''quick win'' projects seeks to establish partnerships on the ground and the project's future approaches to action research.Africa RISING thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: https://www.cgiar.org/funders/","tokenCount":"200"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2460546942.json b/data/part_1/2460546942.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..17cad8f528837aacc99a2230e14ddac799d8ab3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2460546942.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"45edc7ab4940a1cfdcc373b0b746e258","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/340c1e9c-63a3-4e81-a6c2-5edbeaad3274/retrieve","id":"1034988845"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08fe5db0-a63d-41b4-b9b7-ac8b83e5f946","pagecount":"20","content":"Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) have been playing an increasing role in interventions aiming to generate and scale innovations in agricultural systems. However, the contribution of MSPs in achieving innovations and scaling has been varied, and many factors have been reported to be important for their performance. This paper aims to provide evidence on the contribution of MSPs to innovation and scaling by focusing on three developing country cases in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. Through social network analysis and logistic models, the paper studies the changes in the characteristics of multistakeholder innovation networks targeted by MSPs and identifies factors that play significant roles in triggering these changes. The results demonstrate that MSPs do not necessarily expand and decentralize innovation networks but can lead to contraction and centralization in the initial years of implementation. They show that some of the intended next users of interventions with MSPs-local-level actors-left the innovation networks, whereas the lead organization controlling resource allocation in the MSPs substantially increased its centrality. They also indicate that not all the factors of change in innovation networks are country specific. Initial conditions of innovation networks and funding provided by the MSPs are common factors explaining changes in innovation networks across countries and across different network functions. The study argues that investigating multi-stakeholder innovation network characteristics targeted by the MSP using a network approach in early implementation can contribute to better performance in generating and scaling innovations, and that funding can be an effective implementation tool in developing country contexts.Stakeholder involvement is essential to overcome complex agricultural and environmental problems and achieve development outcomes. Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) are seen as an effective vehicle to support stakeholder involvement in multi-stakeholder processes [1][2][3][4]. For instance, in agricultural innovation systems, MSPs are expected to contribute to creating an enabling environment for technological and institutional innovation, and to facilitate effective up-and out-scaling of these innovations to achieve development impact [3]. The increasing popularity of multi-stakeholder and innovation platforms in agriculture and development fields shows optimism about the possibilities for MSPs to foster change and development deliberately and effectively [3,5]. However, bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders in a platform will not automatically lead to innovation or scaling; MSPs have also been reported to fail in delivering their objectives [6][7][8].MSPs bring together a group of stakeholders working in different sectors. Depending on the issue at stake, these stakeholders can include farmer, private sector, government, research, and extension actors [9]. In the course of the MSPs, participating stakeholders, i.e. individuals, groups, and organizations [8] (hereafter MSP stakeholders), come together and \"get things done\" [10]. What is \"done\" depends on stakeholders' characteristics such as their capacity and motivation [11] and how they integrate into multi-stakeholder innovation networks (hereafter innovation networks) that give them access to different benefits such as information, markets, and finance [12]. Integration into these innovation networks is effected through other stakeholders in these networks, i.e. innovation network stakeholders, and depends on the connections among them [12] both in and outside MSPs. In other words, the characteristics of innovation network stakeholders affect what is done in MSPs and therefore also the MSPs' contributions to innovation and scaling.The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of MSPs on innovation networks. We focus on three characteristics-size, connectivity, and configuration-of innovation networks to study the changes and explore the factors contributing to these changes. We use three cases, one each from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (henceforth referred to as DRC), and Rwanda, implemented by a CGIAR research programme called Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) for more than a year. The paper addresses two research questions: What changes do MSPs trigger in the characteristics of innovation networks? What other external factors shape the changes triggered by MSPs in innovation networks? The implications for the contributions of MSPs to innovation and scaling without empirical testing are then discussed.Description of MSPs and Humidtropics programme. The MSPs studied in this paper started to be operationalized in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda in mid-2013. They were initiated in May 2013 in Bukavu, DRC, and in July 2013 in Bujumbura, Burundi, and in Kigali, Rwanda. MSP field-based activities were implemented in Gitega province of Burundi, Ngweshe in DRC, and Kadahenda and Kayonza in Rwanda (Fig 1). The MSPs targeted multiple goals: improving income and nutritional status of the poor, improving farm productivity without causing environmental degradation, empowering women and youth, and improving the innovation capacity of agricultural innovation systems. They aimed to optimize the achievement of these goals by investigating and dealing with synergies and trade-offs among the goals.In each country, MSP activities were organized through multiple events in which different numbers and types of stakeholders participated. These events included research events such as setting up, monitoring field trials, and researcher meetings; management events like platform event preparation, sub-groups, and reflection meetings; and other events such as capacity building activities, promotion, and fundraising events for the platform. These events were organized mostly by the lead organization of the Humidtropics programme or in some cases by other MSP participants. The number and sequence of the events varied in each country. In addition to organizing and funding events, the Humidtropics programme (1) identified MSP facilitators and funded the salaries of these facilitators, (2) provided inputs to support some of the activities identified in the MSP, (3) funded small research projects prioritized by the MSPs, i.e. platform lead research projects, (4) supported or established groups or innovation platforms to better organize activities located in places distant from the capitals (where MSPs events mostly take place), and (5) managed the administration, monitoring, and evaluation of the small research projects and managed other expenses incurred for the MSPs.Stakeholders were initially selected through a combination of two approaches. The first approach was to send invitations to the representatives of the organizations with which the intervention managers had a long history of collaboration. These included central and local government actors, international organizations, and NGOs specialized in the sector intervention. The second approach was to organize open events and calls to encourage the involvement of stakeholders operating in the target locations. Stakeholders enrolled by these two methods were given the same support in their involvement in the intervention events to minimize the bias of positive selection of stakeholders with a history of collaboration.Data collection and cleaning. Data were gathered through written surveys in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda in August 2014 (t = 1) and in October 2015 (t = 2). For both surveys (t = 1 and t = 2), the MSP participants were asked to provide the following information: (1) name, gender, age; (2) all organizations/institutes/companies with which they were affiliated; (3) all organizations in their professional network with which they collaborated; (4) the five organizations from their network that they found to be the most important for knowledge exchange; and (5) the five organizations from their network that they found to be the most influential (S1 and S3 Files). During the second survey, seven questions relating to the functioning of the MSP were added. These included three questions on whether the MSPs had enforced their collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread (ranking agreement on a 5-point scale); two questions on which types and scales of organizations they think more effective in improving capacity to innovate and upscale innovations, i.e. key organizations; and two questions on connections of key organizations among themselves and other organizations influential (S2 and S4 Files). The data collected by the initial round of surveys was published in another research paper by Hermans et all [14].Data were entered and cleaned by researchers and the MSP facilitators to enable the matching of organizational abbreviations and full names, to synchronize French and English abbreviations of organization names, and to decipher handwriting and misspelling of names and abbreviations. Where necessary, the organization names were validated through online search.The accounts of the implementing organization were used to identify the funding allocated to individual organizations and different events. Events organized by the MSPs and the activities targeted by them were identified by using an event-based monitoring and reporting system: learning system for agricultural research for development (LESARD) [15]. The coauthors of this paper also attended MSP events. Our participatory observations in these MSP events contributed to our understanding of the data and results.Data analysis. This paper provides two snapshots of different innovation networks in two different time periods. We used a two-tiered approach in the analysis. Firstly, a social network approach was used to investigate the changes in the size, connectivity, and configuration characteristics of the innovation networks in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda. Network analysis was used to calculate network statistics for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread networks using the concepts and measurements presented in Table 1. Size and tie information provided by the network statistics was complemented with network maps to further explore the changes in configurations of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread networks. Network properties were analysed and visualized using Gephi v.0.9.1 [16].Secondly, we used logistic regressions to explore statistically the factors that contributed to the changes in the characteristics of the networks. Variables entering the models were selected by forward stepwise selection using a likelihood-ratio test [17]. We explained (1) the dichotomous continuation status of the ties in the collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread networks at the initial survey, i.e. continue or drop, and (2) the factors that differentiate the characteristics of the ties joining the networks from the ones that were there at both times, using the factors presented in Table 2. We used SPSS v.23 for the logistical models. Typology of stakeholders in livelihood and innovation systems based on their involvement in interventions with MSPs. Stakeholders in livelihood systems differ in their involvement with MSPs and with the interventions that MSPs organize. A subset of stakeholders participate in the intervention platform and have a direct chance of influencing the MSP's agenda and events (Table 3). A second group of stakeholders are involved in the intervention like the MSP stakeholders but are not involved in the platform. Therefore, they can influence the agenda and events of the intervention but not as directly as the MSP stakeholders. As the second group of stakeholders collaborate with the MSP stakeholders in developing the innovations targeted by the intervention, we refer to the combination of MSP stakeholders and the second group as innovation network stakeholders (Table 3). A third group of stakeholders are not involved in the intervention but can influence the impact of the innovation on livelihood systems. They can be collaborating with the stakeholders in the innovation network, or they may be part of a distinct innovation network whose members are connected to the intervention's innovation network (Fig 2). As the stakeholders in the innovation network and the third group of stakeholders define the boundaries of the stakeholders who can influence the impact of the innovation on livelihood systems, we define their combination as a new stakeholder group, innovation system stakeholders. Finally, there is a fourth stakeholder group, who are not involved and do not have any influence on the agenda and events of the intervention. Moreover, they do not have any direct influence on the impact of the intervention on livelihood systems. They constitute all the stakeholders in the livelihood system other than the stakeholders in the innovation system. In terms of stakeholder types based on value-chain functions, MSP stakeholders consisted mostly of researchers in the cases studied. Network-based stakeholder typology, scaling out, and scaling up. The innovation system literature commonly describes the dissemination of the use of innovations among different stakeholder groups as scaling out, whereby innovations developed by livelihood interventions are used in another geographical location [18,19], or scaling up whereby innovations are institutionalized and are commonly used at different geographical locations and in different institutional setups [20][21][22][23].Both definitions are based on geographical location, and scaling up also includes an element of institutional embedding. Spreading the use of innovations from MSPs to outside (Fig 2 ) implies a change in functional stakeholder types, such as from researchers to policymakers, and mostly entails institutional embedding. Therefore, such movements can be considered as scaling up. Spreading an innovation between the same stakeholder type, such as from one innovation network to another, can be considered as scaling out as it does not imply institutional embedding. The network-based typology captures both scaling up and scaling out dimensions of innovation processes (Fig 2). In addition, it captures the cases of descaling, where innovations become less used by similar types of actors or the institutional support behind the innovations is lost.Multi-stakeholder platforms as network interventions. Social networks influence individuals' practices in various aspects of life, including personal and work practices, and they can be leveraged to achieve behavioural and social change. Network interventions are interventions that use the leverage of these social networks purposefully [24] and are shown to improve the dissemination and spreading of innovations [25]. Understanding the impact of interventions such as MSPs requires interaction between the actors and their dynamics, i.e. their networks [26]; and MSPs' aim to enhance an enabling environment for the creation, upscaling, and out-scaling of innovations [3] requires behavioural and social changes. Therefore, MSPs can be considered as network interventions. Moreover, studying network interventions can contribute to better understanding the complexity and multi-dimensionality of innovation processes [27] and effectiveness factors, and to making better informed decisions about stakeholder strategies [28]. It also offers governments new opportunities to stimulate agricultural innovation [29]. Thus, we chose a network intervention approach to study changes triggered by MSPs in innovation networks.The MSP literature reports several performance factors. Firstly, the role of the institutional environment in which innovation networks and MSPs operate has often been found [3,4] to be a factor that influences how MSP perform. Moreover, funding has been identified as an important performance factor for MSPs [6,8,30]. A further factor for the performance of multi-stakeholder interventions such as MSPs is the type of problem targeted by them [31,32]. In addition, some types of activities (e.g. entrepreneurial) have been reported to play a role in innovation processes [33] and influence the performance of MSPs [26].Some other performance factors reported in the literature depend on the initial conditions in the innovation networks. One such factor is the initial strength of the connections [34]. Another is the type of stakeholder in innovation networks. Participation by farmers, NGOs, research organizations, government actors, and the private sector has been reported to make different contributions to MSP performance [1,8,35]. In addition, the scale at which a stakeholder operates affects the scaling potential of an innovation network in that innovation system [3,36]. Therefore, we consider the number of existing organizations and connections, and the change in type and scale of configurations of the innovation networks. In brief, in this paper, we focus on the institutional environment (1) of the country in which the innovation system, the innovation networks, and the MSP operate (2), the number of organizations and strength, type, and scale of existing connections in these innovation networks (3), type of activities in which MSPs engage (4), changes in MSP funding (5), and problems on which MSPs focus (6).Multi-stakeholder network characteristics influencing innovations and scaling in agricultural innovation systems. A first characteristic of innovation networks that influences innovations and scaling is the size of the network. A bigger innovation network will imply a stronger position vis-à-vis other innovation networks [37], and innovations are considered to have a better outreach if the size of the networks in which they operate is larger [23]. A second characteristic reported to be influential in innovations and scaling is the connectivity of the stakeholders in innovation networks. As the connectivity of innovation networks has been shown to be positively related to the outreach of the innovations and the speed of innovation diffusion [23,24], MSPs can be more effective if they trigger an increase in the connectivity of innovation networks. In other words, the size and the connectivity of an innovation network influence the likelihood of successful innovation and scaling.The characteristics of (1) overall collaboration [17,30], the general category of working together without specification, and two major aspect of collaboration (2) knowledge exchange [29] and (3) influence spread [11,17] between stakeholders of innovation networks are considered to play a role in innovation and scaling. In brief, changes in collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread in the innovation networks over the course of MSPs can elucidate the effects of MSPs on innovation and scaling. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on the size and the connectivity of innovation networks in terms of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread (hereafter innovation network functions). We support the results with network maps to further explore change in the network configurations.The MSPs in Humidtropics were organized in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda using the same management approach. The Humidtropics programme identified and funded facilitators, provided backstopping for events and innovation platforms, managed MSP administration, and provided funding in all the country cases. However, there were several differences in the MSPs across the countries, such as individual funding provided to individual organizations. Other differences are presented in Table 4.Changes in the characteristics of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread presented both similarities and differences. In terms of network size and connections, Burundi and Rwanda experienced similar changes, and DRC experienced different ones (Table 5). Most of the MSPs (Fig 3A) maintained their intermediator role between the organization managing the MSPs and the other stakeholders, which are combinations of national and international organizations (Fig 3B). However, some MSPs left the collaboration (c). In each country,  Collaboration networks. Across all the countries, the size of collaboration networks decreased between the observation periods at t1 and t2 (Table 5). The highest decrease was observed in DRC with 40%, followed by Rwanda 26% and Burundi 17%. Apart from Rwanda, the number of collaboration connections, or ties, also decreased. Across the countries, multiple ties between the same organizations decreased less than the single ties in the collaboration networks. In Burundi and Rwanda, the number of such multiple ties increased by 184% and 88%, respectively.Knowledge exchange networks. Knowledge exchange in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda experienced different changes in comparison to changes in collaboration. In Burundi and Rwanda, the number of organizations exchanging knowledge increased despite the contraction in collaboration (Table 5). The number of organizations exchanging knowledge increased from 31 to 36 in Burundi (nodes with orange ties-Fig 4) and from 23 to 25 in Rwanda (nodes with green ties-Fig 4). In DRC, the number of organizations exchanging knowledge decreased from 34 to 24. Similarly, knowledge exchange ties and the ratio of multiple ties increased in Burundi and Rwanda but decreased in DRC. However, in all three countries, the ratio of the organizations exchanging knowledge in innovation networks increased, as the contraction of the knowledge exchange was smaller than the collaboration. The ratio of the organizations exchanging knowledge increased from 26% to 36% in Burundi, 14% to 16% in DRC, and 23% to 33% in Rwanda.Across the countries, the MSPs' managing organization increased its knowledge exchange connections. All knowledge exchange clusters not directly linked to the managing organization Influence spread networks. Influence spread networks experienced different changes in the countries. Whereas the number of influential organizations increased in Burundi by 44%, it decreased by 5% in Rwanda and by 63% in DRC (Table 5). Most of the contraction in Burundi and DRC was attributable to the disappearance of some influence clusters (Fig 5A). An increase in the MSP managing organization's influence ties (Fig 5C ) was the major driver of the increases in mean degree of influence in Burundi and Rwanda. In Burundi and Rwanda, the participation of small groups (Fig 5B ) of influential organizations in the innovation networks and, in Burundi, the increase in the influence ties of some organizations (Fig 5C ) supported the major driver. However, no such continuing influential organization was observed in DRC.Factors explaining the changes in the configurations of the collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread networks differed in terms of the two major changes observed: i) incumbent stakeholders leaving and ii) new stakeholders joining the networks (Table 6). For both, correctly predicted percentages were more than 80%.Our study indicated two major common aspects of change in innovation networks following MSPs: heterogeneity of change in innovation network functions and centralization of innovation networks. Our results showed that the changes in size and connectivity depended on the specific innovation functions. Whereas network size and the number of ties decreased in collaboration networks, they increased in knowledge exchange and influence spread networks (Table 5). Moreover, the changes in collaboration varied more not only across countries, but also in terms of factors that play a significant role in the changes. Changes had higher variability across countries, and the number of significant factors was higher in collaboration networks than in knowledge exchange and influence spread networks (Table 6). This confirms the distinction-suggested by the literature on agricultural innovation systems [17,29] as well as other sectorial innovation systems [11,38]-between the changes in different functions fulfilled by innovation networks.Secondly, our data show that MSPs did not necessarily lead to decentralized networks where different innovation network stakeholders have high collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence connections. On the contrary, the MSPs' lead organization (represented by the largest node in  5). Although a central position for the MSPs' lead organizations is neither rare nor necessarily problematic [32], it indicates that their point of view will be more represented in the networks [39], and the needs and participation of some stakeholders will be undermined [26]. This is a risk for innovation and scaling, as the influence of MSPs' lead organizations can disrupt the existing networks, can outcompete other organizations from the networks [40], and create a situation where stakeholders are willing to collaborate with the lead but not with one another [30]. In our cases, outcompeting was evident in all networks (Figs 3-5) apart from those in Rwanda. Moreover, the increasing connectivity of the lead organization was not accompanied by increasing connectivity of other innovation network stakeholders, again apart from Rwanda, indicating an increasing willingness to collaborate with the lead but not with one another. In brief, centralization occurred in all countries in terms of all network functions, but the risks of outcompeting and preference for connectivity to the lead depended on the case.The data from the Humidtropics programme in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda indicate that the MSPs did not increase the collaboration in innovation networks (Table 6) during the period of our investigation. On the contrary, the number of organizations collaborating in the innovation networks and the connections between them decreased in all three countries (Table 5). This supports the argument that organizing MSPs does not automatically lead to more collaborative participation [6,8,41].Despite the decreases in collaboration network size and number of ties in Burundi and Rwanda, knowledge exchange network size and number of ties increased (Table 5). Our data indicate that the drivers of the increase were (1) participation of new organizations in knowledge exchange (Fig 4) especially through the establishment of regional knowledge linkages with other countries in the region (Fig 4C ) and (2) increasing knowledge integration of separate knowledge exchange clusters into main knowledge exchange group (Fig 4E). These data Table 6. Results of logistic regressions explaining the factors that affect multi-stakeholder innovation network configurations. Initial characteristics of the innovation networks and funding were significant both in term of incumbent stakeholders' decision to stay and new stakeholders' decision to join. . All models are significant with p values less than 0.01. ( Ã ) and ( ÃÃ ) denote significance level for individual factors at 0.05 and 0.01.Country of operation and number of problems targeted at t1 were not significant in any of the innovation networks. Farmers belonging to type configuration and national and supranational organizations in scale composition were not significant for any innovation networks. None of the event variables, i.e. number of events; share of innovation-generation, -diffusion, and -use events; aggregation of all innovation events; management or backstopping events, was significant. As Platform Lead Small Research was provided only to Rwanda at t2, the variable was highly correlated with country, and it was dropped from the models.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197993.t006confirm that MSPs coincided with increasing expectations from several isolated organizations [24], triggering their participation. However, at the same time, all existing sub-knowledge clusters connected to the main knowledge exchange networks in Burundi and DRC in the initial data collection period disappeared (Fig 4A). Thus, it can be argued that loosely connected knowledge exchange networks with local clusters can result in competitive behaviour in the knowledge exchange network, forcing some organizations out. However, once the competitive clusters are out, innovation networks can start building higher connectivity through network closure [42]; this was visible especially in Rwanda, where no initial knowledge cluster was not connected to the MSP's managing organization (Fig 4). These changes imply that interventions disrupt existing knowledge exchange networks and create \"winners\" and \"losers\" in terms of innovation actors' connectivity in the areas targeted. Change in the influence spread networks' size and number of influence connections was case specific. Except in Burundi, influence spread network size decreased. Downward pressure on the influence spread networks attributable to the disappearance of some influence clusters (Fig 5A ) was mitigated by the participation of new influential organizations (Fig 5B ) and increasing influence size of the managing organization (Fig 5C). In Burundi, the number of influential participants was sufficient to substitute the decrease, but not in DRC and Rwanda.Our study showed that initial innovation network characteristics and funding provided by the MSP had significant roles in explaining the decisions of the innovation network stakeholders to continue in the networks and in explaining the difference between the continuing group of stakeholders and the stakeholders joining the innovation networks in terms of all functions (Table 6).In our study, the number of connections at the initial survey was a significant factor explaining the changes in the innovation networks (Table 6). The likelihood of a connection between two organizations staying in the innovation networks increased significantly as the number of connections between these organizations increased in the initial period. Moreover, the number of new connections between two organizations was lower than the number of existing connections in the collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence spread networks. In other words, in the period of our study, connections between two organizations persisted more if they were connected in multiple channels, and it took time to increase the number of connections when they were new in the innovation networks. Moreover, in our study, none of the event factors, i.e. number of events, number of specific event types, or the share of the event types, was significant, despite the variability across the countries (Table 4). Time could be a possible reason for the insignificant results, given that the effects of MSP activities involving research processes are reported to show their effects only after a time lag [32,[43][44][45]. In brief, our study confirms that changes triggered by MSPs happen slowly, as commonly recognized in the MSP and innovation systems literature [46][47][48][49].The data in our study indicate that country was not a significant factor in explaining changes in innovation network functions in our cases. As the institutional context surrounding innovation networks has been shown to play a role in the effects triggered by MSPs [3,45,50]) insignificant country variation implies that the role of the institutional environment was reflected through other significant factors in our models: initial innovation network characteristics, funding provided, and type of activities targeted by MSPs (Table 6). Of these factors, decisions on funding and type of activities targeted by MSPs are less likely to be influenced by the specifics of the institutional environment, as in our three cases the managing organization had the dominant role in making funding and activity decisions. Thus, in our cases, initial innovation network characteristics have a high chance of sufficiently representing the effects of the institutional environment on changes triggered by MSPs.Our data show that the likelihood of staying in all three networks increased if the organization received direct funding. Moreover, the likelihood of new collaboration, knowledge exchange, and influence connections increased significantly as the share of events funded by the MSP increased (Table 6). As limited resources cannot satisfy an increasing number of stakeholders in innovation networks [8], the fact that funding is a significant aspect implies that the number of stakeholders that can be financially incentivized is also limited. The decrease in network size and the number of connections in collaboration networks, which were relatively higher initially, combined with increasing network size and number of connections in knowledge exchange and influence spread networks, which were relatively lower in the beginning (Table 5), supports the existence of limitations introduced by funding in our cases. In addition, the data show that MSP events were highly dependent on the funding provided by MSPs (Table 6). For instance, at least two thirds of the events were fully funded by the MSPs. Dependency on funding has been reported to be high, especially in developing countries where organizations are forced to prioritize funding [35], and the number of opportunistic organizations is high in relation to the size of innovation systems [12]. In our study, all three cases are developing countries. In brief, our cases support the assertion that, in developing countries, funding dependency and opportunistic behaviour by organizations limit MSPs' ability to affect innovation networks.In terms of the decision to stay in the collaboration networks, multiple factors were significant. In addition to the initial characteristics of the innovation networks, number of initial connections, type and scale configuration of stakeholders, funding provided to organizations directly and to events, and type of activities undertaken by the MSP were all significant (Table 6). Multiple significant factors might suggest that stakeholders make their collaboration decisions based on different purposes such as accessibility to information, knowledge, and capacity development [32,45].Among the factors, share of events funded by the MSP has the largest effect. The likelihood of staying in innovation networks decreased dramatically as share of the events funded by the MSP increased. This confirms our previous statements on the importance of funding and dependency on funding to stay in the networks. As MSPs have limited resources, higher dependency on MSP funding for events implies less room for an organization to benefit financially from such events. When funding is important for the participating organizations, having less room for financial benefits leads to a lower likelihood of staying.An increase in the number of types of activities decreased the likelihood of continuing and increased the likelihood of new connections in collaboration. When the first survey was administered, the priority was agronomy work through implementing activities on the ground (Table 4). It was considered that showing tangible activities would attract the interest of farmers and governments, help show progress to donors, and prevent interventions appearing to be \"talking clubs\". Thus, field activities, which present activities on the ground, were operationalized, and field trials were established in many project locations. When the second survey was conducted, other goals such as improvement in nutritional status (in Burundi and DRC) and capacity building in gender issues (in Burundi) started to be implemented (Table 4). As farmer organizations are less involved with the provision of new types of activities such as nutrition and gender work, targeting nutrition and gender and implementing related activities coincided with the decreasing likelihood of farmer organizations staying in comparison to other types of innovation network stakeholders. Moreover, the relative participation of NGOs in Burundi and DRC, where they are the major providers of nutrition and gender work, increased. In brief, as the diversity of the activities increased, new stakeholders engaged in the new activities-NGOs-joined the networks, and there was a decrease in the likelihood of farmers staying in the networks, even though these had been very involved with initial activities.Change, in terms of thematic focus, in the configuration of the innovation networks implies that thematic diversity of the objectives of the intervention is an important factor to consider in utilizing MSPs in interventions aiming to scale innovations. If the scaling of the target innovation depends on improving conditions cutting across different themes, a more intense monitoring and a more adaptive stakeholder involvement facilitation approach might be necessary in comparison to what might be required for scaling innovations that have a narrow thematic focus.Significant factors explaining the changes in knowledge exchange and influence spread networks were fewer in number in comparison with those for collaboration networks. This confirms that collaboration networks reflect a greater diversity of participation purposes than knowledge exchange and influence spread networks. In the latter networks, in addition to the previously discussed factors (initial number of connections, funding provided to specific organizations and to events), the number of organizations in the innovation networks was initially high. As the number of organizations increased, the likelihood of organizations staying in knowledge exchange and influence spread networks decreased. Table 7 provides an overview of the changes, factors, and implications of using MSP interventions to scale innovation.We have confirmed that MSPs do not necessarily increase stakeholders' participation and connectivity in innovation networks in the first few years of implementation. In addition, MSPs do not necessarily result in decentralized innovation networks. Using a participatory approach in the MSPs does not prevent centralization of innovation networks around a central actor that dominates some network functions. Although centralization does not necessarily inhibit innovation and scaling, as shown by some of our cases, it can introduce risks for innovation and scaling by crowding out some important stakeholders. Monitoring the process of change in the characteristics of innovation networks can help to identify this risk carried by MSPs.We have shown that the influence of MSPs with the same approach to participation, connectivity, and configuration characteristics of innovations can be different. The changes in these three characteristics differ not only among the three countries studied, but also among different innovation network functions. This supports the contextual character of MSP influence on innovation networks. However, our study has also shown that there are common factors that influence the innovation network characteristics in the same manner across countries and functions, such as initial network characteristics and funding.Initial network characteristics, especially the number of existing connections in innovation networks, were significant factors for the changes in the innovation network characteristics across all three cases. Moreover, all the innovation networks in our cases presented a high degree of continuity in many characteristics. In addition, we have shown that the influence of the case-specific institutional environment on innovation networks can be sufficiently captured by initial network characteristics. Thus, investigating innovation network characteristics using a network approach in the early phases of MSPs can contribute to MSP performance in improving innovation and scaling by capturing the effect of contextual characteristics and identifying target organizations and connections among innovation networks. Financial incentivizing of organizations, either directly or indirectly through events, can be an effective tool for MSPs to influence the change in innovation networks towards better innovation and scaling.We should, however, acknowledge that, although the MSPs studied used the same approach and were managed by the same organization, heterogeneities can occur, as commonly observed in complex interventions. Further exploration of the heterogeneities of MSPs could improve our study's conclusions. We also anticipate a difference in the speed of change in innovation networks in different countries and for different functions. As our data did not capture a long period and time was a factor in the changes in the innovation networks, a better understanding of the phases of the innovation networks can shed further light on changes triggered by an MSP in innovation networks.","tokenCount":"5915"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2466116290.json b/data/part_1/2466116290.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7f39e5178c40c59958f4ef54d886dbe27e94fe86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2466116290.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"96a4630809299a304345d95ea2fd92f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5e0ab89c-363c-4cfa-8994-139a488c2995/retrieve","id":"-1614257849"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f4d26996-8b51-4cf3-9eb0-67424f9c2f59","pagecount":"14","content":"A convergence of several risk drivers creates the compound crises we see across the globe today. At the same time, the global humanitarian community and national institutions in affected countries are increasingly resource constrained. In this context, existing financing mechanisms should be evaluated for their potential to create synergies between social protection, peace, and inclusion objectives on the one hand and climate resilience outcomes on the other. The existing international architecture of climate change mitigation and adaptation policy and financing holds, in principle, the potential to address not only its main purpose of climate action, but also to contribute to development outcomes and address multiple risk drivers. Examples of this exist, but for these mutual benefits to emerge, and for climate finance to contribute more significantly to crises prevention, the agendas must become more aligned. Aligning several factors may enable coherence: i) Timeframes, from shortterm response to multi-year programming; ii) Planning and targeting, moving towards conflict-sensitive area-based approaches and universal access to services; iii) Institutional arrangements and partnerships, coordinated national planning and jointly implemented local action.24 billion, but despite this high figure, most humanitarian appeals remain underfunded, including in countries with high levels of food insecurity and crisis risk [1].In this context, existing financing mechanisms, particularly international and regional ones, must be evaluated for their potential to create synergies across development goals, crises prevention, and climate action [2][3][4][5]. For example, there is considerable potential for climate funds to support improved social protection while furthering adaptation goals [2]. Further, the Green Climate Fund, in principle, can and seeks to contribute to peacebuilding and security [6], (though its results management framework still does not make direct reference to conflict and peacebuilding) [7].Current levels of climate financing for adaptation, however, remain insufficient. Of the US$ 68.3 billion of bilateral and multilateral public funding for climate action in developing countries in 2020, only 34 per cent was dedicated to climate adaptation [8]. Moreover, there are severe global inequalities in accessing development finance [9,10]. Most climate finance, whether for mitigation or adaptation, still comes in the form of market-rate loans and balance sheet financing, rather than as grants of subsidised loans, further increasing debt burdens of low-and middle-income countries [11]. Limited financing options make it essential for countries affected by climate change to ensure that the financing they access can create synergies with humanitarian and development budgets [12].Climate finance has an established political framework (i.e., the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC) and a series of financing mechanisms (e.g., the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, etc.). This financing holds the potential, in principle, to address not only its main purpose of climate mitigation and adaptation, but also to address multiple risk drivers. Conversely, reducing environmental degradation, poverty and inequality, and displacement as well as investing in social protection, food security, peacebuilding and disaster risk reduction can directly mitigate the negative impacts of climate change as well as contribute to transforming food systems, which are at the heart of most crises [13].For these mutual benefits to emerge, and for climate finance to contribute more significantly to crises prevention, the agendas across the various domains must become more aligned. This alignment must take place beyond political statements and global policy frameworks. Rather, it must become a core feature of local and national investment planning cycles. Aligning several factors may enable coherence: the timeframes for planning, implementation, and monitoring; the principles and mechanisms of targeting action; the choice and modalities of existing and new partnerships and institutional arrangements at local, national, and international levels.For this review, we examine how investments in food, land and water systems can reduce the risk of crises if aligned to harness multiple benefits. While previous literature has highlighted how climate finance can accelerate the achievement of the SDGs [14] or contribute to development goals in specific sectors [15], this review highlights how existing and new investments in strengthening food systems, in land use planning and in integrated water resources management have the potential to simultaneously reduce crisis risk across several domains by contributing to peacebuilding, increased social cohesion, reducing displacement and increasing food security.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its latest Assessment Report has identified several key adaptation categories for the most representative climate risks [16]. A global review of science and evidence from the ground, the IPCC categories include practices from agriculture, land and water management, livelihoods support and food systems strengthening. Here we group the IPCC categories according to the main action areas needed to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis: de-risking, rerouting, and realigning [17] (Table 1). This allows us to better understand how alignment of practices and links to climate finance can contribute to building resilience.De-risking actions focus on securing resilient livelihoods and value chains through early warning systems and adaptive safety nets. Rerouting actions stimulate climate-resilient sustainable practices. Realigning actions focus on improving policies and finance. The examples presented for each of these three action areas, show how existing investment in food, land and water systems can generate higher returns. However, several enabling factors also must be considered as they contribute to more coherent and effective programming for these action areas. These are timeframes and planning horizons, the targeting of investments, and the partnerships and institutional arrangements that need to be in place.Aligning timeframes for planning and implementation across relevant programs and institutions, particularly at national and local levels, is possibly the lowest hanging fruit in the coherence agenda, with a significant multiplier effect. Most importantly, aligned or at least compatible planning horizons are a prerequisite for climate finance to become accessible and useful to humanitarian actors. Whereas humanitarian response within acute crises understandably operates on shorter time horizons than climate adaptation or social protection programming, in the areas of peacebuilding and displacement response and prevention, this does not have to be the case. The challenge lies in tying together the currently divergent mandates, and consequently the time frames of planning and implementation across these domains. For example, frontloading coherent and conflict-sensitive humanitarian and development investments pre-crises (anticipatory action) can improve inclusion of relevant stakeholders when the institutional infrastructure is mobilized in response to a disaster or conflict. During crises, climate-sensitive investment in food, land, and water systems can contribute not just to meeting basic needs, but also to transforming livelihoods and strengthening social cohesion. Examples include, for pre-crisis, forecast-based mechanisms, with allocation of financial resources and interventions agreed in advance for the implementation of early actions [89]. Anticipatory action in the form of cash transfers ahead of forecast flooding in Bangladesh (see Table 1  [23]) is an example of how punctual, short-term yet timely interventions-sometimes delivered by humanitarian agencies-can have mid-to long-term benefits in increased resilience. Post-conflict, environmentally sustainable agricultural practices have the potential to promote social cohesion. For example, fostering such practices among cocoa producers in Colombia and Co ˆte d'Ivoire can provide a valuable contribution to post-conflict peacebuilding, constituting an example of aligning timeframes for climate change adaptation and crisis prevention [90].The most critical factor in aligning efforts is the connection and sequencing of funding timelines. In international cooperation, the current country development frameworks negotiated between host governments and UN country teams, for example, offer a potential platform for aligning timelines in support of multi-year development strategies-from planning to implementation to monitoring. Several international humanitarian agencies have shifted from reactive programming to multi-year country and regional proactive strategic planning. For example, the World Food Programme has begun to develop 5-year Country Strategic Planning Frameworks that are supposed to be accompanied by longer-term and coherent yet flexible budgets that allow for emergency programming to be delivered in a timely manner but also in pursuit of the long-term objectives [91]. Early warning about droughts, floods, pests, food, and fertilizer prices.Early-warning, early-action (EWEA) systems provide alerts of potential food crises, variables included are climate, conflict, food availability, among others. While there is still much improvement needed, EWEA systems, promote early action to decrease harm, suffering, grievances, and conflicts [18]. Forecastbased finance schemes, for example, support decision-making and trigger access to humanitarian funding early [19].Seasonal and extreme events early warning systems that support seasonal migration or short-term evacuation respectively, reduce the risk of longterm displacement in Bangladesh [20,21] and Philippines [22].Anticipatory cash transfers to households forecasted to experience extreme flooding in Bangladesh led to significantly improved child and adult food consumption and improved wellbeing even 3 months after intervention, as well as significantly reduced asset loss and costly borrowing in times of drought [23]. Famine and drought early-warning systems have helped avoid starvation among the world's most vulnerable people [24].Agricultural insurance and micro-credit, index-based insurance, market, and price insurance, flood insurance, collective insurance schemes.Insurance helps transfer risk out of farming households and in general provides safety nets and protective coverage, which unlocks safer productive investment. Existing research shows that increases in income reduce social tensions and build communal trust [25].Access to financial services is often limited for displaced populations, either due to lack of documentation, lack of assets that can act as collateral, or high interest rates. Inclusive financial services, including savings or microinsurance schemes, can act as catalysts for durable solutions to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees [26].Commercial disaster insurance schemes such as micro-insurance can act as a social protection instrument to respond to climate shocks, especially when the premiums are subsidized and/or the main target group for the schemes are small farmers [27]. In Kenya, households with index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) coverage made more productivity-increasing investments, reduced distress sales of livestock during droughts, and increased their income [28].Improve and increase local food production, availability, access, and distribution. Shortened supply chains, improved food storage, local food production and chains.Adapting food systems in a climate crisis is crucial for peace and security; climate change and variability can impact food security and food insecurity can exacerbate the drivers of insecurities [13,29]. Moreover, conflict and climate events significantly disrupt food systems and value chains.Increasing the resilience of value chains vis-a-vis climate and conflict shocks can stabilize food security and therefore contribute to sustaining peace [30].The connection between food insecurity and displacement is clearly documented and there are examples of both humanitarian action and development investment that can reduce the risk of displacement by investing in food systems [31,32]. Food insecurity has also been shown to be both, a cause and a consequence of conflict and displacement, and solutions include significant investments into local food production and distribution systems [33].A study analyzing the impacts of large, one-time cash transfers and farm management plans among farmers in Senegal, show that crop production and livestock ownership were higher in the transfer group relative to the group that only received visits [34]. In Malawi and Zambia, there is evidence that the receipt of a cash transfer is able to generate investments that can influence household productive capacity [35].Diversifying income-generating and livelihood activities within the food systems sector and beyond. Diversification of crops, off-farm employment, seasonal migration, etc.Diversification of livelihoods can increase and stabilize incomes and reduce poverty e.g., in Zimbabwe [36]; in El Salvador and Honduras [37]; and in the Brazilian Amazon [38], reducing competition over scarce resources and potential conflicts [39]. It can also reduce the opportunity cost of joining armed groups, especially for children and youth [40].Using diversification of livelihoods and seasonal strategies to avoid the need to move, e.g., from drought-affected regions. For example, destocking and combining livestock rearing with agricultural activities by pastoralist communities in Ethiopia to reduce drought displacement [41]. Seasonal migration can be an effective adaptation option for farmers beyond the usual lean season, when climate variability and extremes result in crop failure e.g., in Niger or Northern Ghana [42].Social assistance combined with economic inclusion and livelihoods approaches (such as livelihoods diversification, financial services, training and skills development, etc.)can contribute to adaptation behaviors such as climate-smart agriculture, or planned relocation and migration [27].(Continued ) Adapting farming systems and practices in combination with managing and transferring risk can mitigate insecurity and grievances and contribute to peace in the Sahel [43].Improved irrigation systems in the MENA region as a contribution to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity on displacement risk or introduction of conservation agriculture practices to build resilience of farming communities otherwise compelled to migrate [44].A global study shows that households that made 10 adaptive changes, were food secure for an additional 47 days yearly [45].Increasing forest cover, detect and manage forest pests, reduce pollution and eutrophication, sustainable fisheries harvest, increasing connectivity between natural areas, agroecology, vegetation corridors, greenspace, wetlands, mangrove habitat restoration, restoring coasts, rivers, wetlands to reduce flood risk, urban green space to reduce temperatures.Environmental resource management can contribute to a continuum of peace outcomes by addressing security at multiple levels, contributing to livelihoods and the economy, and enhancing political and social relations [46]. There is growing evidence of environmental peacebuilding, the multiple approaches and pathways by which the management of environmental issues is integrated in and can support conflict prevention, mitigation, resolution and recovery [47]. Conversely, there is evidence showing if restoration and creation of natural areas are not carried out in a participatory and inclusive way, interventions can create more conflict and tensions [48].Significant correlations between climate change impacts, ecosystem losses and migration found in the Marshall Islands with people using mobility as an adaptation strategy [49].Migration in the face of ecosystem decline can enhance resilience, as opposed to resettlement, which tends to undermine people's agency [50]. In addition to ecological ecosystems, \"cultural ecosystem services\", such as social relations, cultural heritage and education, or identity and sense of place, can ease resettlement of displaced persons and increases overall wellbeing, including mental health [51].Social protection can facilitate measures that build \"ecological resilience\" to slow onset events, for instance through public works approaches that combine cash transfers with measures that help reduce environmental degradation [27]. A social protection scheme in Ethiopia increased tree cover by 3.8% between 2005 and 2019, with larger increases in less densely populated areas and on steep-sloped terrain [52]. Brazil's Bolsa Floresta programme supports lowincome households with a monthly payment if they commit to zero deforestation and enroll their children in school [53].Water use and demand management; supply and distribution; capture and storage.Precision/drip irrigation, managed aquifer recharge, cooperative policies across multiple sectors, constructing irrigation infrastructure, inter-basin transfers, water reuse, farm ponds and revival of water bodies, multi-purpose water reservoirs and dams.In Nepal, an EU-UNEP project using a community-led process to improve water infrastructure and management that reduced incentives for conflict over water and improved capacities to cope with increasing weather extremes [54].In Mali, the Community Violence Reduction project helped to defuse conflicts by building a locally managed solar powered well to better serve people and livestock [55].Example of Lebanon water stress and water management in refugee contexts show that Interventions to rehabilitate the water networks can reduce water stress to lower levels than pre-conflict [56]. Urban water supply can be a means to facilitate access to water for displaced populations in cities [57].Wastewater reuse for food production in refugee camps and host communities in East Africa has shown to boost incomes, food and human security in resource constrained communities which may otherwise experience resource conflict [58] In small island states, such as those in the Caribbean, models of integrated water resource management provide examples for maintaining ecosystem services while improving economic welfare [59]. Sharing water resources across sub-sectors and users is especially complex in situations of scarcity. Cross-sector wastewater reuse and wastewater-freshwater swaps can complement coping strategies, improve economic water productivity, and promote resilience [60].Raising of dwellings, improved drainage, seawalls, dykes, revetments, groynes or tidal barriers, land reclamation, retreating from coastal areas relocation and resettlement.Mainstreaming of human security into adaptation planning and implementation in the Mekong Delta has been shown to require more attention from both research and policy perspectives, as adaptation can generate unexpected human security risks and may potentially lead to conflicts when these risks are not addressed [61].Advance responses, such as the creation of artificial land above the sea, allowing people to remain in place and avoiding or deferring resettlement and managed retreat [62]. Migration and planned relocation as adaptation to avoid disaster displacement in small island states [63], Philippines [64], and West Africa [65]. Using traditional knowledge in fishing communities for adaptation in the Pacific, allowing atrisk communities to stay in place [66].Promoting migrant-friendly, climateresilient secondary cities in Bangladesh, as managed retreat and to avoid displacement [67].Successful coastal embankments can help people avoid poverty traps in Bangladesh by reducing exposure to flood events [68]. Migration supported by social protection systems can be sustainable for poor populations [69]. A combination of asset transfers along with complementary interventions like building plinths through the Chars Livelihoods Programme in Bangladesh improved food security in flood-prone areas [70].(Continued )Aiming for the mutual benefits that climate action and investing in connecting social protection, solutions to displacement, disaster risk reduction, and peacebuilding may bring has implications for processes of planning and targeting. Currently, land rehabilitation or food security often target particularly vulnerable communities rather than take an area-based approach, which may be more appropriate in the context of larger climate financing programs.In the context of social protection, including consideration of climate change may require expanding the coverage of regular social protection schemes that provide basic welfare and seek to address chronic poverty and livelihood challenges for groups considered most at risk of climate shocks. As previously shown, managing the poverty impacts of climate change may not mean new social protection policies need to be put in place, but rather that existing ones need to be ramped up or refined [53]. For this, new approaches to targeting will have to be A policy coherence analysis for the climate security nexus in Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe shows that while policy documents from across all the sectors show evidence of understanding to some extent the conditions and circumstances that may heighten the chances of climate-related security risks emerging, translating this awareness into concrete policy measures remain a persistent challenge [71,72]. An analysis of the Green Climate Fund shows that there is huge potential of embracing climate conflict sensitive programming to achieve multiple peace and climate adaptation benefits [73].Out of the 166 nationally determined contributions (NDC) submissions to the UNFCCC before COP27, 55 per cent explicitly recognize human settlements as a priority area for adaptation, including the need to respond to human mobility needs and forced displacement [74]. In addition to the recognition of migration and displacement in more than half of the NDCs submitted. It is important to note that the Paris Agreement has formally included references to migration and displacement [74] and the Global Compact on Migration explicitly acknowledges the impacts of climate change on migration patterns and proposes climate change adaptation and risk reduction to reduce adverse drivers of displacement [75].Despite their potential as a policy response to climate change, the integration of social protection policies and schemes within the climate policy agenda is currently limited [27]. Social protection policies rarely integrate climate change challenges strategically while climate policies seldom recognize the potential of social protection in climate change adaptation or mitigation [76,77].Transboundary fishing agreements, collective water management, indigenous water-sharing systems, enforcing the land rights of indigenous populations, international compact on migration, policies for adaptive governance.Participatory land use planning can increase the level of social cohesion and reduce conflicts. In the Philippines, the International Alert has developed the Resource Use and Management Planning (RUMP) which uses geospatial intelligence and inclusive processes to design land use maps in more than 400000 hectares in conflict affected zones in Mindanao, Bataan, and Palawan [78]. Land expropriation and lack of land rights have caused the insurgence and increase of grievances by indigenous groups, especially in Africa [79]. Providing and systematizing land rights can help reduce these grievances and contribute to sustaining peace [80].Several agreements govern human mobility at global and regional levels, including migration and displacement related to climate extremes and climate change. In principle, these include provisions for protection and support to people on the move as well as aim to build resilience and reduce forced movements in the future, and support regional stability and prosperity. They include the Global Compact for Migration [81] and regional free movement agreements, such as the IGAD protocol for the Horn of Africa [82], the AU free movement of persons protocol [83] the Great Lakes Protocol [84], and the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility (under development).Social protection is an important element of citizenship and the social contract and can support important societal issues such as equal pay for women [85,86]. A study in Tanzania shows how cash transfer programs contribute to trust in government and civil society [87] (Evans et al., 2019).Research in Pakistan reveals that cash transfers promote trust in government and support for government and the political system (e.g., over extremist groups that position themselves against the state)-with the largest effects when feelings of relative deprivation and poverty are [88] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000355.t001found, however, to buffer both idiosyncratic shocks that affect only individual households as well as covariate shocks that have an impact on whole communities. In the context of climate change where whole areas are affected by negative impacts of environmental shocks or disasters rather than just specific population groups, targeting for social protection may need to take a different form, moving towards area-based approaches and including more explicit resilience objectives in its food security and land management activities [92]. For example, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in India has the potential to contribute to climate change adaptation by moving from predefined target groups and works outputs to participatory priority setting involving the whole community [93]. In addition, such public works schemes can increase climate resilience by investing in construction in risk-prone areas and in physical adaptation measures. In Ethiopia, social protection schemes were coupled with reforestation goals, increasing tree cover by almost 4 per cent over a 15-year period (see Table 1).In the context of displacement, similarly, long-term resilience building of displaced communities often already requires approaches that include the host communities. The need for a more inclusive universal approach that goes beyond specific targeting will be particularly relevant in climate change affected regions where more communal land use and water management, resource allocation, and livelihoods diversification are critical components of durable solutions [94]. For example, inclusive, area-based approaches to planning for relocation in the face of sea level rise risk in the Pacific can ensure sustainable climate adaptation and long-term resilience building of at-risk communities through consultation and negotiation [95].In fragile and post-conflict contexts, climate adaptation actions that ensure an equitable distribution of adaption benefits can contribute to ongoing peacebuilding efforts (see Table 1  [46,47,96,97]). More coherent targeting of investment may be required, however, through conflict-sensitive National Adaptation Plans and by developing climate adaption and peacebuilding interventions within climate vulnerable areas and communities [98]. To promote coherence at national and local level, donors have an important role to play, in that they can not only increase their support for conflict-sensitive and more flexible adaptation funding but can also tweak common targeting criteria in social protection and livelihoods programmes. Making targeting requirements more flexible overall, allowing for a move from targeting certain socioeconomic and demographic groups to targeting broader communities and locations at risk from climate change, and including a broader range of eligibility criteria that are relevant to climate security, can create new conditions for climate-smart and conflict sensitive programmes across development outcomes.Finally, current approaches to both climate change adaptation on the one hand, and investments in poverty reduction, social protection, solutions to displacement, and peacebuilding on the other, often have a limited understanding of intersectional inequalities and how they relate to climate risks [99][100][101]. Programmes are often created in ways that are blind to the different ways in which climate change impacts are mediated by gender, sex as well as age, disability, ethnicity, caste, and other characteristics; this limits effective targeting that could produce climate adaptation benefits as well as various development outcomes and stability. Therefore, for certain areas, such as social protection or solutions to displacement, programme design may need to go beyond aiming for resilience at the household level and instead think of resilience at the individual level, considering specific challenges as well as capacities [99]. For example, designing social protection to better support women's climate resilience entails both supporting women's ability to respond to climate change and reducing root causes of their disproportionate vulnerability such as differences in resource control, livelihoods, and empowerment. Gender-related considerations for social protection program design can include assessing the feasibility of targeting women as the main recipients of intervention, providing complementary programming that may be particularly relevant to women's needs such as training on climate-smart practices, considering time burdens and safety of program activities, framing activities to households and communities in view of local norms such that women are able to fully participate, and ensuring women's preferences are incorporated in the design and delivery of programming.For mutual benefits to emerge more strongly from climate action on the one hand, and efforts to reduce poverty, displacement, and conflict on the other, organizational alignment is necessary within different types of institutional arrangements: from policies to budget planning, from working groups and programme coordination to funding streams, from national coordination mechanisms to international partnerships. While there are some exceptions, coordination between different development and humanitarian sectors, climate action, and peace and security programmes often are ad-hoc and lack a common vision. Such a vision at national as well as regional levels, underpinned by adequate financing, is the foundation for the types of institutional arrangements that will be required in the future.Negotiating climate finance, including support for national adaptation to climate change, has become a matter of strategic importance to countries. As a result, the development of national adaptation plans (NAPs) and updating National Determined Contributions (NDCs) today are usually under the leadership of senior figures within a government. While specifically dedicated positions and departments can create siloes, the central position of climate action planning in many countries carries the possibility of enhanced coordination and cooperation across line ministries and sectors. Where such alignment is happening at the national level, in principle this could be more easily recreated at provincial and district levels, with more coordinated planning of budgets down to the community level. Further, even though integrating climate solutions in national-level strategies is crucial, it is equally important to involve representatives from local and sub-national levels in this integration process. Participatory land-use planning as for example done in Mindanao, Philippines (see Table 1  [78]), can contribute to the triple outcomes of strengthened social cohesion, increased climate resilience and reduced conflict risk. Such inclusive approaches provide a solid foundation for implementing actions that are tailored to local contexts and have the requisite support for effective implementation [102].Importantly, international actors such as humanitarian agencies or development cooperation and research partners can tap into existing national visions and coordination mechanisms as well as actively support and strengthen them. There are examples of social protection programmes that have adopted such a national vision that includes climate risks, such as India combining social protection and water conservation through the MGNREGA programme or Ethiopia using its Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) [27]. However, coordination across relevant but distinct and sometimes institutionally distant sectors is inherently difficult as different political agendas, technical languages, and administrative processes need to be accommodated. In addition, international humanitarian and development actors must learn to engage with a new set of and in support of more effective engagement, this may need to review their own institutional set-up and processes.Working at the triple nexus of humanitarian response, development investment, and peacebuilding, means renewing the focus on truly collaborative partnerships between local institutions from both government and civil society. As most conflict arises from local grievances and insecurities, escalating to national or regional levels, linking community-based response, climate action, and peacebuilding may be most effective in creating the transformative processes required for lasting change. Importantly, financing will have to reach local levels more directly and predictably, and with longer timeframes than currently allowed for under humanitarian budgets.A convergence of several risk drivers creates the compound crises we see across the globe today. At the same time, the global humanitarian community and national institutions in affected countries are increasingly resource constrained. In this context, existing financing mechanisms should be evaluated for their potential to create synergies between social protection, peace, and inclusion objectives on the one hand and climate resilience outcomes on the other. Climate finance has an established political framework and financing mechanisms, which can, in principle, address multiple risk drivers. Real-world examples, creating multiple benefits across development goals, crises prevention and climate action, as presented here, already exist. For these mutual benefits to emerge, however, and for climate finance to contribute more significantly to crises prevention, the currently disparate policy and program timeframes, planning horizons, targeting practices, and institutional set-ups need to be become better aligned. While there is growing recognition of this requirement, coherence between the ministries and departments responsible for the different policy areas is still a challenge and partnerships between the providers of currently separate services rare. By incentivizing increased alignment through its climate and development financing architecture instruments, however, national governments and the international donor community can accelerate progress and increase the economic and social return on its investment.","tokenCount":"4883"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2468868529.json b/data/part_1/2468868529.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4994527d730992c7cfd121e78462a04c19e4895b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2468868529.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"93438e7015b5b594cd9dd4be3859df66","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/781f93a0-f994-4552-bc92-03d9085d75e2/retrieve","id":"-502691728"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c7e4020a-e4ab-4025-bcfd-33033d81f98b","pagecount":"6","content":"Titukulane was designed to reduce the number of chronically food insecure households by enhancing the capacities of local and national governance structures to implement resilience-focused policies. To achieve this Titukulane is implementing interventions that build resilience and improve food security and nutrition outcomes for communities. Specifically, under Purpose area 3, these interventions are aimed at building institutional and local capacities to reduce risk and increase resilience among ultra-poor and chronically vulnerable households. Specific interventions implemented under Purpose 3 are disaster risk management, natural resource management and overall coordination of the National Resilience Strategy especially at district level.Purpose 3 Technical Leads organized a three-day Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting from November 9th to 11th, 2022, with the arrival date being November 8th, in Liwonde. The objectives of the meeting were fourfold: to appreciate the implementation of purpose three field activities in Zomba, to review the purpose 3 performance indicators, to strategize the implementation of the FY23 purpose activities, and to realign the plans for FY23 Q1. On the first day of the meeting, there was a field visit to Zomba to appreciate the implementation of purpose 3 field activities.The Purpose 3 Technical Working Group (TWG) is composed of the Disaster Risk Management Natural Resource Management and NRS coordination teams under Titukulane, including technical leads and coordinators who are based at Titukulane, is a five-year USAID Resilience Food Security Activity being implemented by CARE together with partners (Emmanuel International, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM), Save the Children, and WaterAid). Titukulane aims to reach 723,111 people in 290,413 households directly over five years, including 72,595 adolescent girls and boys (aged 10-19) and 80,528 young women and men (aged 20-29) who face uncertain futures as farming becomes less viable. The Activity aims to support implementation and ensure effectiveness of the Malawi National Resilience Strategy (NRS), which is established to guide investments in agriculture, reduce impacts and improve recovery from shocks, promote household resilience, strengthen management of Malawi's natural resources, and facilitate coordination between government institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners. The correct composition of community level committees is an important aspect of community participation and ownership in development programs. The government of Malawi guidelines on VCPC composition aim to ensure that all members of the community are represented and have a voice in decision-making processes. This is essential for promoting social inclusion, reducing inequalities, and empowering marginalized groups.The adherence to these guidelines is a positive development that supports the principles of good governance and accountability. It ensures that the interests of all members of the community are taken into account and that decisionmaking processes are transparent and participatory.The construction of dyke is a positive development that provides protection to farm fields and people. Dyke are essential for reducing the risk of floods and ensuring the availability of water for irrigation and other purposes. This is particularly important in rural areas where agriculture is the main source of livelihoods.The ability of communities to construct dyke that meet the standards despite their limited skills is a positive development that demonstrates the effectiveness of Titukulane's DRM technical staff and government staff in providing technical guidance and support to the community. This is in line with the principle of capacity building, which emphasizes the importance of equipping communities with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to take ownership of development programs and sustain their impact.The technical guidance provided by Titukulane's DRM technical staff and government staff is essential for ensuring that the construction of dyke is done in a safe and effective manner. This includes providing guidance on the appropriate materials to use, the design of the dyke, and the construction techniques to be employed. It also includes providing training and support to the community members involved in the construction process.The fact that the communities were able to construct dyke that meet the standards is an indication of the success of this approach. It demonstrates that with the right support and guidance, communities can take ownership of development programs and effectively implement them. It also shows that disaster risk reduction measures can be integrated into community-led development programs, resulting in sustainable and resilient communities.The construction of dyke demonstrates Titukulane's commitment to supporting disaster risk reduction measures and improving the resilience of communities. It is a proactive approach to addressing the impacts of climate change, which is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts.Beehive Productivity: The field visit identified that VNRMCs need to ensure that all beehives have bees to maximize production. This highlights the need for improved beekeeping practices, which could include training on hive management, swarm prevention, and disease prevention, as well as providing access to quality beekeeping equipment and resources. To address this issue, Titukulane should provide technical support and training to VNRMCs on beekeeping best practices and facilitate access to quality beekeeping equipment and resources.The field visit also noted that specialist involvement in dyke designing and construction is necessary to ensure that the standard is the same in all sites. This is important for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of dyke in reducing the risk of floods. To address this issue, Titukulane should engage with technical experts to provide technical support and guidance to VNRMCs involved in dyke design and construction.The field visit identified a governance issue related to the representation of each village in group level VNRMCs. It was discussed that it is better to work with VNRMCs at village level, than the model that Titukulane is using of having a VNRMC at GVH level. However, the justification of working with GVH VNRMC was to minimize the groups that require direct capacity building from Titukulane, with the assumption that the GVH VNRMC is now responsible for further capacity building at village level. To address this issue, Titukulane should engage with community leaders to develop a more inclusive and participatory governance structure for VNRMCs, which ensures representation from all villages and facilitates effective decision-making and implementation.The field visit also identified the need to improve coordination with government counterparts at the district level. This is important for ensuring the alignment of Titukulane's activities with national policies and programs, as well as for facilitating access to government resources and technical support. To address this issue, Titukulane should strengthen its partnerships with government counterparts at the district level, through regular meetings and consultations, and by aligning its activities with national policies and programs.The field visit noted the importance of women's participation and engagement in leadership positions in VCPCs. However, it was observed that women are often included in VCPCs to meet the quota, without being empowered to have a voice and contribute to decisions made in their committee. To address this issue, Titukulane should prioritize the inclusion and empowerment of women in VCPCs, through training and capacity building on gender mainstreaming and leadership, as well as by ensIncrease Cash for Work Beneficiaries: The field visit identified that increasing the number of cash for work beneficiaries under watershed management could significantly benefit project participants, especially during the lean season when people do not have enough food. This gives them an option to buy food, while conserving the watershed. To address this issue, Titukulane should increase the number of beneficiaries under the cash for work program and prioritize those who are most vulnerable and in need. This can be done through regular consultations with community leaders and by assessing the needs of the community.Monitoring: The field visit also noted that there is a need to improve the role of district councils in the implementation and monitoring of activities for sustainability. This is important for ensuring that the activities implemented by Titukulane are aligned with national policies and programs, and that they are sustainable in the long-term. To address this issue, Titukulane should engage with district councils to establish partnerships and collaboration, and involve them in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of activities.The field visit also identified the need to increase monitoring visits to empower beneficiaries. This will also ensure that issues are swiftly addressed, such as the distance between trees planted in some areas not being according to the standard. Frequent visits would also provide guidance on how to attract bees to maximize the productivity of beehives that Titukulane has provided to the VNRMCs. To address this issue, Titukulane should increase the frequency of monitoring visits, and provide technical support and guidance to beneficiaries to ensure that activities are implemented effectively and in line with the standards.The field visit identified the need to sign a memorandum of understanding with landowners where the dyke is passing through to avoid conflicts after constructing on their land, as well as conflicts arising with their families when the owner of the land had moved elsewhere or died. This is important for ensuring that the dyke construction process is transparent, participatory, and accountable, and that it is aligned with the needs and interests of the community. To address this issue, Titukulane should engage with community leaders and landowners to establish partnerships and collaboration, and involve them in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of dyke construction activities.Integration-Involvement of Different Sectors: The field visit suggested that the integration-involvement of different sectors is necessary to provide guidance and disseminate key messages. This is important for ensuring that activities implemented by Titukulane are aligned with national policies and programs, and that they are sustainable in the long-term. To address this issue, Titukulane should engage with different sectors, such as agriculture, health, and education, to establish partnerships and collaboration, and involve them in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of activities.The field visit also noted that promoting tree species that will thrive in the environmental conditions of a specific area is essential for the success of the tree planting initiative. This includes selecting tree species that are adapted to the local climate, soil conditions, and water availability. To address this issue, Titukulane should work with community leaders and technical experts to identify suitable tree species for each area and provide training and support to VNRMCs on tree planting techniques.Vegetable Gardens within Tree Nurseries: The group also suggested that incorporating vegetable gardens within tree nurseries could supplement diets and income for VNRMCs. This is important for ensuring food security and income generation for the community. To address this issue, Titukulane should provide technical support and resources to establish vegetable gardens within tree nurseries and provide training and support to VNRMCs on vegetable gardening techniques.Providing Space for Veranda on Beehive Door: The field visit noted that providing space for a veranda on the beehive door is necessary for the safety of beekeepers. The veranda provides a landing platform for the bees before they enter the hive, which can reduce the risk of them dropping nectar or pollen before entering the hive. This can increase the cleanliness of the hive and improve the overall health of the colony. In addition, having a veranda can also provide ventilation for the hive, which is important for regulating the temperature and humidity inside the hive. This can reduce the risk of diseases and pests, and improve the overall productivity of the hive. Overall, the design of beehives is an important consideration for maximizing honey production and improving the health of the bees. Providing space for a veranda on the beehive door is one way to achieve these goals and should be considered in the design of beehives.In reflecting on the Technical Working Group meeting and the subsequent field visit, it becomes evident that the principles of USAID's Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) approach have been instrumental in driving the effectiveness of Titukulane's interventions. By weaving together collaboration, learning, and adaptation, Titukulane fosters an environment conducive to sustainable development. Table 1 below further illustrates how these core elements of the CLA approach are embedded in Titukulane's strategies, their field observations, and proposed recommendations. -Proposed involvement of specialists for dyke design and construction to ensure uniform standards.-Identified the need for a more inclusive and participatory governance structure at VNRMCs, involving community leaders in the process.-Increased collaboration with government counterparts to ensure alignment with national policies, gain access to resources and technical support.-Recommended signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with landowners to avoid future conflicts related to dyke construction.-Suggested establishing partnerships with different sectors such as agriculture, health, and education for wider outreach and impact.-Identified need for improved beekeeping practices through field visits, leading to the suggestion of technical support and training.-The field visit also highlighted the need for specialist involvement in dyke design and construction -Governance issues at VNRMCs were identified, which led to the discussion on the betterment of governance structures.-The need to increase the number of cash for work beneficiaries under watershed management was learned during the visit.-Understood the importance of increased monitoring visits to empower beneficiaries and ensure proper tree plantation.-Recognized the need for promoting tree species suitable for the local environmental conditions.-Suggested adding a veranda to the beehive design after understanding its importance in bee safety and hive productivity.-Increase the number of cash for work beneficiaries, aligning activities with national policies, and initiating regular meetings with government counterparts.-Promotion of suitable species for the local environmental conditions.-Incorporating vegetable gardens within tree nurseries as a means to provide additional nutrition and income for the VNRMCs.-Modifications to beehive designs to increase productivity and safety.The Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting organized by Titukulane's Purpose 3 Technical Leads is a positive development that enables diverse stakeholders to leverage their collective expertise and experience towards the effective implementation of resiliencefocused policies. The TWG is aligned with USAID's collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approach, which allows technical staff to reflect on implementation outcomes, identify areas for adaptation, and review the success of previous adaptations. The good coordination observed during the field visit and the correct composition of community level committees demonstrate the effectiveness of involving all stakeholders in decisionmaking and implementation processes across different interventions for sustainable outcomes. The TWG provides a platform to address areas for improvement and introduce new approaches that can enhance the resilience and food security of communities. By increasing the involvement of different sectors, promoting tree species that thrive in contextual environmental conditions, and incorporating vegetable gardens within tree nurseries, Titukulane can improve the success of its interventions and contribute to the reduction of chronically food insecure households.","tokenCount":"2379"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2517139968.json b/data/part_1/2517139968.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..30540da441cc4bd696d90cedac7e8df10fbcd1b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2517139968.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca9bdd434069e981128259d5fa940736","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/601f9c19-f9ed-496e-8cca-0033dfa36320/content","id":"-1419402582"},"keywords":["Montesinos-López, O.A.","Carter, A.H.","Bernal-Sandoval, D.A.","Cano-Paez, B.","Montesinos-López, A.","Crossa, J. A Comparison between kernels","tuning","genomic prediction","Gaussian kernel","grid search","Bayesian optimization"],"sieverID":"e500da14-a361-43f8-b66d-caca544f481f","pagecount":"17","content":"Genomic prediction is revolutionizing plant breeding since candidate genotypes can be selected without the need to measure their trait in the field. When a reference population contains both phenotypic and genotypic information, it is trained by a statistical machine learning method that is subsequently used for making predictions of breeding or phenotypic values of candidate genotypes that were only genotyped. Nevertheless, the successful implementation of the genomic selection (GS) methodology depends on many factors. One key factor is the type of statistical machine learning method used since some are unable to capture nonlinear patterns available in the data. While kernel methods are powerful statistical machine learning algorithms that capture complex nonlinear patterns in the data, their successful implementation strongly depends on the careful tuning process of the involved hyperparameters. As such, in this paper we compare three methods of tuning (manual tuning, grid search, and Bayesian optimization) for the Gaussian kernel under a Bayesian best linear unbiased predictor model. We used six real datasets of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to compare the three strategies of tuning. We found that if we want to obtain the major benefits of using Gaussian kernels, it is very important to perform a careful tuning process. The best prediction performance was observed when the tuning process was performed with grid search and Bayesian optimization. However, we did not observe relevant differences between the grid search and Bayesian optimization approach. The observed gains in terms of prediction performance were between 2.1% and 27.8% across the six datasets under study.For breeders to be able to increase genetic gain, they must accurately predict breeding values or phenotypic values. This goal is not so complex when the traits of interest have a simple genetic architecture. However, in traits such as grain yield with a complex genetic architecture that is not well understood, it is more challenging to produce an accurate prediction of breeding values or phenotypic values [1]. For example, in complex trait prediction it is very difficult to accurately model genetic interactions such as epistatic effects, which are common in plant and animal sciences, as well as in biology [2][3][4][5][6], and are difficult to detect and to model efficiently. For this reason, some models had been proposed to capture these complex interaction effects more efficiently and, in this way, quantify the level of influence in understanding the genetic architecture of these traits, thus increasing the accuracy.Genes 2022, 13, 2282 2 of 17 One popular method in plant and animal breeding used to model complex interactions more efficiently is the reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) regression [7,8]. The main idea of an RKHS regression is to project the given original input data available in a finite dimensional space onto an infinite dimensional Hilbert space. Kernel methods can be applied with any statistical machine learning algorithm since they transform the input data using a kernel function, which is then used for applying any conventional statistical machine learning method. Empirical evidence suggests that most of the time, better results are obtained with the transformed input. For this reason, RKHS methods are becoming more popular for analyzing nonlinear patterns in datasets collected in plant and animal breeding.RKHS methods are equally efficient, and popular, for regression and classification problems. One of the most popular methods for classification based on kernels is the support vector machine (SVM) which was proposed to the computer science community in the 1990s by Vapnik [9]. This method has been successful in many fields of study such as speech recognition, text categorization, image recognition, face detection, faulty card detection, junk mail classification, credit rating analysis, and cancer and diabetes classification [10,11].RKHS methods are also very attractive because in addition to being efficient for capturing nonlinear patterns, they are also efficient for data compression, as the transformed input has less dimensionally than the original input. For example, when the input is a matrix of dimension of order 100 × 100,000, the transformed input has a dimension of order 100 × 100, which has less dimension and as such, can reduce the computational resources required during the training process. There are many transformations (kernel functions) used to capture nonlinear patterns in the original input, and each type of transformation is specialized for capturing some type of nonlinear patterns, but it is impossible to capture all patterns for conventional linear statistical methods.In the context of genomic selection (GS), RKHS methods are becoming more and more popular since empirical evidence supports that they help increase the prediction accuracy regarding linear methods. For example, Long et al. [12] in a study about body weight of broiler chickens reported a better prediction accuracy of RKHS methods over linear models. Crossa et al. [13] and Cuevas et al. [14] in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) found that the RKHS methods outperformed the linear methods. However, some authors have also reported minimal differences between RKHS methods and linear models, which is expected when the nonlinear patterns in the data are minimal or non-existing [12,15,16].However, when an appropriate tuning process is not performed, the prediction performance of RKHS methods regarding linear models is not improved. For example, when the Gaussian kernel is implemented, the bandwidth hyperparameter is set to the median of the average distances or to 1, which in some cases is not optimal and can cause the resulting prediction performance to be equal or worse than conventional linear models. This means that when a nonlinear kernel wants to be implemented, additional work is required to select the best hyperparameters and increase the probability of a better prediction performance. This asseveration is also true for all those machine learning methods that need some hyperparameters to be tuned, since only an optimal tuning process can take the most advantage of the machine learning method at hand. However, it is also true that some default hyperparameters often do a decent job in terms of prediction performance, even though they are not always optimal. For this reason, to obtain all the power of any statistical machine learning method, a careful tuning process should always be performed.As such, in this paper we carry out a benchmarking study to compare the prediction performance implementing Gaussian kernels in the context of genomic prediction using the univariate Bayesian genomic best linear unbiased predictor (GBLUP) model.As the material used was the Bayesian GBLUP model, six real datasets of wheat (datasets 1 to 6 (wheat data) and metrics were used to evaluate the prediction performance. Next, the model used is described, followed by the datasets, and finally, the metrics used to compute the prediction accuracy.For prediction performance, the Bayesian GBLUP model implementing Gaussian kernels was used. Since the Gaussian kernel only depends on one hyperparameter, only this hyperparameter was tuned under the following three strategies: (1) no tuning setting to the bandwidth parameter, (2) tuning using the grid search method, and (3) tuning using the Bayesian optimization method.The model used waswhere E i are the fixed effects of environments, g j , j = 1, . . . , J, are the random effects of lines, gE ij are the random effects of genotype by environment interaction, and ij are random error components in the model assumed to be independent normal random variables with mean 0 and variance σ 2 . Furthermore, it is assumed that g = g 1 , . . . , g J T ∼, where K is the Gaussian kernel (GK) that mimics a covariance matrix to capture the degree of similarity between lines, such as the genomic relationship matrix (Linear kernel) proposed by VanRaden (2008) [17], but is now computed assuming a nonlinear kernel such as the GK, where denotes the Hadamard product. The GK was computed using the GK function:where x i and x j are the marker vectors for the ith and jth individuals (genotypes), respectively [18]. It is necessary to point out that the GK function was reparametrized as:using the variable change (ρ = e −γ ). Subsequently, the three strategies for tuning the bandwidth (γ) hyperparameter used in this implementation are listed as follows:(1) Manual tuning (no tuning, denoted as NT) setting, using the value of γ = 1, which is equivalent to setting ρ = e −1 . (2) Tuning using a grid search (GrS) strategy with 26 values in the grid for the values of ρ between 0.01 and 0.999 with increments of 0.04, this means that 26 values of ρ were evaluated. The normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) was used as metric for choosing the optimal ρ value in the inner testing set. (3) Tuning ρ using the Bayesian optimization (BO) method. The NRMSE was also used as metrics to select the optimal ρ value in the inner testing set.The implementation of this model with the three strategies of tuning the ρ hyperparameter of the GK was carried out in the R statistical software [19] using the BGLR library [20].Spring wheat lines selected for grain yield analyses from CIMMYT first year yield trials (YT) were used as the training population to predict the quality of lines selected from early year trails (yet) for grain yield analyses in a second year. More details of these datasets can be found in Ibba et al. [21] where the analyses were conducted for 14 traits but in this study, we used only the trait grain yield for each of the six sets of data reported below:-Dataset 1, Wheat_1 All the lines were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). The TASSEL version 5 GBS pipeline was used to call marker polymorphisms, and a minor allele frequency of 0.01 was assigned for SNP discovery. The resulting 6,075,743 unique tags were aligned to the wheat genome reference sequence (RefSeq v.1.0) (IWGSC 2018) with an alignment rate of 63.98%. After filtering for SNPs with homozygosity >80%, p-value for Fisher's exact test <0.001 and χ2 value lower than the critical value of 9.2, we obtained 78,606 GBS markers that passed at least one of those filters. These markers were further filtered for less than 50% missing data, greater than a 0.05 minor allele frequency, and less than 5% heterozygosity. Markers with missing data were imputed using the 'expectation-maximization' algorithm in the 'R' package rrBLUP [22].In each of the six datasets, the seven outer fold cross validation was implemented [18]. For this reason, 7 − 1 folds were assigned to the outer-training set and the remaining were assigned to the outer-testing set, until each of the 7 folds were tested once. For tuning the bandwidth, hyperparameter in the Gaussian kernel five nested cross-validations was used, that is, the outer-training was divided into five groups where four were used for the inner training set (80% of the training) and one for the validation (inner-testing) set (20% of the outer training). Next, the average of the five validation folds was reported as the metric of prediction performance to select the optimal hyperparameter (bandwidth of the Gaussian kernel). Then, using this optimal hyperparameter (bandwidth), the GBLUP model was refitted with the whole outer-training set (the 7 − 1 folds), and finally, the prediction of each outer-testing set was obtained. The mean square error [MSE= 1  T (∑ T i=1 y i − f (x i )), with y i denoting the observed value i, while f (x i ) represents the predicted value for observation i] and the normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE = RMSE y ), where, was used as a metric to evaluate the prediction accuracy.To compare the three strategies of tuning in terms of MSE, the relative efficiencies were computed between the prediction performance strategy NT and GrS,where MSE NT and MSE GrS denote the MSE under the strategy of NT and tuning using GrS, respectively. When RE MSE > 1, the best prediction performance in terms of MSE was obtained using the GrS strategy, but when RE MSE < 1, the NT strategy was superior in terms of prediction accuracy. When RE MSE = 1, both strategies of tuning were equally efficient. We also computed the relative efficiency in terms of MSE between the strategy of NT and tuning using BO strategy and between the GrS and BO strategy. The relative efficiencies just mentioned above were also computed in terms of NRMSE, and the interpretation is the same as in the terms of MSE.The results are provided in three main sections, one for each dataset (Datasets 1-3). For each dataset, results are presented based on prediction performance in terms of MSE and NRMSE. Results of datasets 1-3 (wheat 1-3, respectively) are described below. Results from dataset 4-6 (wheat 4-6, respectively) including figures and tables are given in Supplementary Materials. Only three datasets are provided in this section to avoid both redundancy and making the results section unnecessarily long. The MSE for environment YT_13_14 was 0.128, 0.128, and 0.138 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively, and for YT_14_15 environment, the MSE observed was 0.123 (BO), 0.123 (GrS), and 0.133 (NT), while across environments (Global), the observed MSE was 0.125 (BO), 0.125 (GrS), and 0.135 (NT). (Figure 1A and for more details, see Appendix A Table A1.)of NT and tuning using BO strategy and between the GrS and BO strategy. The relative efficiencies just mentioned above were also computed in terms of NRMSE, and the interpretation is the same as in the terms of MSE.The results are provided in three main sections, one for each dataset (Datasets 1-3). For each dataset, results are presented based on prediction performance in terms of MSE and NRMSE. Results of datasets 1-3 (wheat 1-3, respectively) are described below. Results from dataset 4-6 (wheat 4-6, respectively) including figures and tables are given in Supplementary Materials. Only three datasets are provided in this section to avoid both redundancy and making the results section unnecessarily long.The MSE for environment YT_13_14 was 0.128, 0.128, and 0.138 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively, and for YT_14_15 environment, the MSE observed was 0.123 (BO), 0.123 (GrS), and 0.133 (NT), while across environments (Global), the observed MSE was 0.125 (BO), 0.125 (GrS), and 0.135 (NT). (Figure 1A and for more details, see Appendix A Table A.1.)  The observed relative efficiencies in terms of MSE for the comparison NT/BO were 1.077, 1.088, and 1.079 for environments YT_13_14, YT_14_15 and across environments (Global), respectively. Therefor BO had a better prediction performance than NT in every environment by 7.7% (YT_13_14), 8.8% (YT_14_15) and 7.9% (Global). For the comparison NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.077 (YT_13_14), 1.081 (YT_14_15), and 1.077 (Global). That is, GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 7.7% (YT_13_14), 8.1% (YT_14_15) and 7.7% (Global). The observed relative efficiencies for the comparison, GrS/BO, were 1.001 (YT_13_14), 1.007 (YT_14_15) and 1.002 (Global). Results showed that The observed relative efficiencies in terms of MSE for the comparison NT/BO were 1.077, 1.088, and 1.079 for environments YT_13_14, YT_14_15 and across environments (Global), respectively. Therefor BO had a better prediction performance than NT in every environment by 7.7% (YT_13_14), 8.8% (YT_14_15) and 7.9% (Global). For the comparison NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.077 (YT_13_14), 1.081 (YT_14_15), and 1.077 (Global). That is, GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 7.7% (YT_13_14), 8.1% (YT_14_15) and 7.7% (Global). The observed relative efficiencies for the comparison, GrS/BO, were 1.001 (YT_13_14), 1.007 (YT_14_15) and 1.002 (Global). Results showed that both GrS and BO methods had similar performance in every environment. These results can also be observed in Figure 1B and for further details see Table A2.The NRMSE for environment YT_13_14 was 0.846, 0.846, and 0.877 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For environment YT_14_15, the NRMSE was 0.799 (BO), 0.802 (GrS), and 0.837 (NT), while for Global, the NRMSE was 0.460 (BO), 0.461 (GrS), and 0.478 (NT) (see Figure 1C and Appendix A Table A1 for further details).The relative efficiencies in terms of NRMSE for comparison NT/BO were 1.037, 1.047, and 1.038 for environments YT_13_14, YT_14_15 and across environments (Global), respectively. Method BO outperformed NT in every single environment by 3.7% (YT_13_14), 4.7% (YT_14_15) and 3.8% (Global). For comparing NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies observed were 1.036 (YT_13_14), 1.043 (YT_14_15), and 1.037 (Global). The GrS method had better performance than the NT method in all three environments by 3.6% (YT_13_14), 4.3% (YT_14_15) and 3.7% (Global). Regarding GrS/BO, the observed efficiencies were 1.000 (YT_13_14), 1.004 (YT_14_15), and 1.001 (Global). Thus, results showed that both GrS and BO had similar prediction accuracy with only very small differences (see Figure 1D and for more details, see Appendix A Table A2).Results on MSE for environment YT_14_15 were 0.072, 0.072, and 0.083 for BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For the YT_15_16 environment, the MSE was 0.116 (BO), 0.117 (GrS), and 0.149 (NT), while across environments (Global), the MSE was 0.083 (BO), 0.084 (GrS), and 0.101 (NT) (Figure 2A, Appendix B Table A3).Genes 2021, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 18both GrS and BO methods had similar performance in every environment. These results can also be observed in Figure 1B and for further details see Appendix A.2.The NRMSE for environment YT_13_14 was 0.846, 0.846, and 0.877 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For environment YT_14_15, the NRMSE was 0.799 (BO), 0.802 (GrS), and 0.837 (NT), while for Global, the NRMSE was 0.460 (BO), 0.461 (GrS), and 0.478 (NT) (see Figure 1C and Appendix A Table A.1 for further details).The relative efficiencies in terms of NRMSE for comparison NT/BO were 1.037, 1.047, and 1.038 for environments YT_13_14, YT_14_15 and across environments (Global), respectively. Method BO outperformed NT in every single environment by 3.7% (YT_13_14), 4.7% (YT_14_15) and 3.8% (Global). For comparing NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies observed were 1.036 (YT_13_14), 1.043 (YT_14_15), and 1.037 (Global). The GrS method had better performance than the NT method in all three environments by 3.6% (YT_13_14), 4.3% (YT_14_15) and 3.7% (Global). Regarding GrS/BO, the observed efficiencies were 1.000 (YT_13_14), 1.004 (YT_14_15), and 1.001 (Global). Thus, results showed that both GrS and BO had similar prediction accuracy with only very small differences (see Figure 1D and for more details, see Appendix A Table A.2).Results on MSE for environment YT_14_15 were 0.072, 0.072, and 0.083 for BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For the YT_15_16 environment, the MSE was 0.116 (BO), 0.117 (GrS), and 0.149 (NT), while across environments (Global), the MSE was 0.083 (BO), 0.084 (GrS), and 0.101 (NT) (Figure 2A, Appendix B Table B.1).  The relative efficiencies for NT/BO were 1.161, 1.278, and 1.211 for environments YT_14_15, YT_15_16 and across environments (Global), respectively. BO had a better prediction performance than NT in every environment by 16.1% (YT_14_15), 27.8% (YT_15_16), and 21.1% (Global). For NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.156 (YT_13_14), 1.266 (YT_14_15), and 1.205 (Global). Results showed that GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 15.6% (YT_14_15), 26.6% (YT_15_16), and 20.5% (Global). The relative efficiencies for GrS/BO were 1.004 (YT_13_14), 1.009 (YT_14_15), and 1.005 (Global). Both GrS and BO methods had similar performance in every environment (Figure 2B, Appendix B.2). The relative efficiencies for NT/BO were 1.161, 1.278, and 1.211 for environments YT_14_15, YT_15_16 and across environments (Global), respectively. BO had a better prediction performance than NT in every environment by 16.1% (YT_14_15), 27.8% (YT_15_16), and 21.1% (Global). For NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.156 (YT_13_14), 1.266 (YT_14_15), and 1.205 (Global). Results showed that GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 15.6% (YT_14_15), 26.6% (YT_15_16), and 20.5% (Global). The relative efficiencies for GrS/BO were 1.004 (YT_13_14), 1.009 (YT_14_15), and 1.005 (Global). Both GrS and BO methods had similar performance in every environment (Figure 2B, Table A4).When comparing the three tuning strategies based on NRMSE, for environment YT_14_15, the NRMSE was 0.930, 0.933, and 1.001 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respec-tively, and for YT_15_16 the NRMSE was 0.885 (BO), 0.889 (GrS) and 1.000 (NT). For the environment across traits (Global), the NRMSE was 0.586 (BO), 0.588 (GrS), and 0.645 (NT). (Figure 2C and Appendix B Table A3.)The comparison of NT/BO for NRMSE was 1.076, 1.130, and 1.100 for environments YT_14_15, YT_15_16 and across environments (Global), respectively. Thus, the BO method outperformed NT in every environment by 7.6% (YT_14_15), 13.0% (YT_15_16), and 10.0% (Global). For NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.073 (YT_14_15), 1.125 (YT_15_16), and 1.097 (Global). Clearly GrS had better performance than the NT in all three environments by 7.3% (YT_14_15), 12.5% (YT_15_16), and 9.7% (Global). Concerning GrS/BO, the efficiencies were 1.003 (YT_13_14), 1.004 (YT_14_15), and 1.003 (Global). Results showed that both tuning methods GrS and BO had similar prediction accuracy (Figure 2D and Appendix B Table A3).The observed MSE for environment YT_15_16 was 0.062, 0.063, and 0.067 for tuning methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For environment YT_16_17, the MSE for the different tuning methods was 0.199 (BO), 0.197 (GrS), and 0.215 (NT). Across environments (Global), the MSE was 0.103 (BO), 0.102 (GrS), and 0.110 (NT). These results can be observed in Figure 3A and Appendix C Table A5.When comparing the three tuning strategies based on NRMSE, for environment YT_14_15, the NRMSE was 0.930, 0.933, and 1.001 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively, and for YT_15_16 the NRMSE was 0.885 (BO), 0.889 (GrS) and 1.000 (NT). For the environment across traits (Global), the NRMSE was 0.586 (BO), 0.588 (GrS), and 0.645 (NT). (Figure 2C and Appendix B Table B. 1.) The comparison of NT/BO for NRMSE was 1.076, 1.130, and 1.100 for environments YT_14_15, YT_15_16 and across environments (Global), respectively. Thus, the BO method outperformed NT in every environment by 7.6% (YT_14_15), 13.0% (YT_15_16), and 10.0% (Global). For NT/GrS, the relative efficiencies were 1.073 (YT_14_15), 1.125 (YT_15_16), and 1.097 (Global). Clearly GrS had better performance than the NT in all three environments by 7.3% (YT_14_15), 12.5% (YT_15_16), and 9.7% (Global). Concerning GrS/BO, the efficiencies were 1.003 (YT_13_14), 1.004 (YT_14_15), and 1.003 (Global). Results showed that both tuning methods GrS and BO had similar prediction accuracy (Figure 2D and Appendix B Table B.2).The observed MSE for environment YT_15_16 was 0.062, 0.063, and 0.067 for tuning methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. For environment YT_16_17, the MSE for the different tuning methods was 0.199 (BO), 0.197 (GrS), and 0.215 (NT). Across environments (Global), the MSE was 0.103 (BO), 0.102 (GrS), and 0.110 (NT). These results can be observed in Figure 3A and Appendix C Table C.1.  The observed relative efficiencies in terms of MSE of the BO, GrS, and NT tuning methods for NT/BO were 1.069, 1.081, and 1.074 for environments YT_15_16, YT_16_17 and Global, respectively. Results showed that BO had a better prediction performance than NT by 6.9% (YT_15_16), 8.1% (YT_16_17), and 7.4% (Global). For the ratio NT/GrS, the relative MSE efficiencies were 1.066 (YT_15_16), 1.088 (YT_16_17), and 1.077 (Global). That is, GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 6.6% (YT_15_16), 8.8% (YT_16_17) and 7.7% (Global). For GrS/BO results were 1.003 (YT_15_16), 0.993 (YT_16_17) and 0.997 (Global). Thus, both tuning methods GrS and BO had similar performance in every environment, as displayed in Figure 3B and shown in Appendix C.2. The observed relative efficiencies in terms of MSE of the BO, GrS, and NT tuning methods for NT/BO were 1.069, 1.081, and 1.074 for environments YT_15_16, YT_16_17 and Global, respectively. Results showed that BO had a better prediction performance than NT by 6.9% (YT_15_16), 8.1% (YT_16_17), and 7.4% (Global). For the ratio NT/GrS, the relative MSE efficiencies were 1.066 (YT_15_16), 1.088 (YT_16_17), and 1.077 (Global). That is, GrS outperformed NT in every environment by 6.6% (YT_15_16), 8.8% (YT_16_17) and 7.7% (Global). For GrS/BO results were 1.003 (YT_15_16), 0.993 (YT_16_17) and 0.997 (Global). Thus, both tuning methods GrS and BO had similar performance in every environment, as displayed in Figure 3B and shown in Table A6.Next, we provide the results in terms of NRMSE, where we can observe that for environment YT_15_16, the NRMSE was 0.846, 0.848, and 0.874 for methods BO, GrS, and NT, respectively. While for environment YT_16_17 the NRMSE was 0.864 (BO), 0.861 (GrS) and 0.900 (NT). For across the environment (Global), the NRMSE was 0.522 (BO), 0.521 (GrS), and 0.541 (NT) (Figure 3C and for further details, see Appendix C Table A5).The observed relative efficiencies in terms of NRMSE in the comparison NT/BO were 1.034, 1.042, and 1.037 for environments YT_15_16, YT_16_17 and across environments (Global), respectively. Clearly BO outperformed NT in every environment by 3.4% (YT_15_16), 4.2% (YT_16_17) and 3.7% (Global). For the NT/GrS ratio, the relative efficiencies in terms of NRMSE were 1.031% (YT_15_16), 1.046% (YT_16_17), and 1.039 (Global). The GrS tuning method had a better prediction accuracy than NT in every environment by 3.1% (YT_15_16), 4.6% (YT_16_17), and 3.9% (Global). When comparing GrS/BO, the relative efficiencies were 1.002 (YT_15_16), 0.996% (YT_16_17), and 0.998% (Global) were very similar (Figure 3D and Appendix C Table A6).Genomic selection (GS) is revolutionizing plant and animal breeding, as it saves significant resources for selecting the candidate individuals without phenotypic measures of the traits of interest. A statistical machine learning model is trained with a reference population that was genotyped and phenotyped, which is subsequently used to produce predictions of the breeding values or traits of interest used for the selection process [23]. However, the successful implementation of the GS methodology strongly depends on the quality of the predictions. High prediction accuracy requires a successful GS application, but with low prediction accuracies, the outcomes of the GS can be misleading. As such, to improve the accuracy of the outcome of the GS methodology, many factors that impact the performance of the GS methodology need to be optimized.Since the GS methodology is a predictive methodology, one of the key factors for optimization is the use of the statistical machine learning methods. For example, when the traits to be predicted contain nonlinear patterns, it is obvious that specific statistical machine learning algorithms are required. Kernel methods are powerful tools that capture complex nonlinear patters in the data. For this reason, these methods: (a) are considered promising tools for large-scale and high-dimensional genomic data processing; (b) further improve the scalability of conventional machine learning methods since they can work with heterogeneous inputs; (c) exploit complexity to improve prediction accuracy, but not so much as to increase the understanding of the complexity; (d) contain kernels with great versatility and composite kernels can be built; however, only some can be computed in closed form while others require an iterative process; and (e) kernel methods can be implemented with any statistical machine learning method, which makes these methods really versatile [18]. Nevertheless, the implementation of these methods increases the complexity to obtain a successful implementation since additional hyperparameters need to be tuned; many kernels contain at least one hyperparameter that requires tuning.However, to guarantee a successful application of kernel methods, it is of paramount importance to choose not only the statistical machine learning algorithm with which the kernels will be implemented, but also carry out a careful tuning process to be able to take the major advantage of its power [24]. The selection of appropriate hyperparameters maximizes model accuracy, considerably reducing the risk of overfitting and producing a model with a variance that is too high. Nevertheless, we need to be aware that the right tuning process is more expensive in terms of computational resources, since hyperparameters are not learned directly through the training process including model parameters. For example, in the grid search approach that was used here to select the optimal hyperparameter, we manually defined a subset of 26 values for the bandwidth hyperparameter space and exhausted all combinations of the specified hyperparameter subsets, that is, each combination performance was evaluated using cross-validation and the best performing hyperparameter combination was chosen. Then, with this optimal hyperparameter combination, the model was refitted to the whole training set, and finally with this model, the predictions were made for the testing set. Since the model is evaluated with each combination of hyperparameters before the final training with the optimal combination of hyperparameters to produce the predictions, the increase in the required computation power is directly proportional to the size of the grid. For this reason, the grid search approach is the most expensive method for hyperparameter tuning, and even the Bayesian optimization is less expensive and more efficient than grid search-even though it requires considerable computation resources. Bayesian optimization is more efficient since it builds a probabilistic model for a given function and analyzes this model to make decisions where to subsequently evaluate the given function. The two main components of Bayesian optimization are: (a) a prior function that captures the main patterns of the unknown objective function and a probabilistic model that describes the data generation mechanism; and (b) an acquisition function (loss function) that describes how optimal a sequence of queries is, usually taking the form of regret [25]. Although these are clear advantages of the Bayesian optimization algorithm, it still requires considerable computational resources.In this study, we found that the Bayesian optimization required around only 15% less time for the implementation regarding the grid search approach, and the grid search is approximately 20 times more expensive in computation resources than manual tuning. For this reason, the tuning process, most of the time (when nonlinear patterns are present in the inputs) improves prediction accuracy, although it is significantly more time consuming when it comes to implementation. However, it is important to point out that here the grid search approach was slightly more costly than the Bayesian optimization, since the size of the grid contain 26 values, but if the size of the grid is increased, the grid search is expected to be more expensive in terms of computational resources than the Bayesian optimization.Our results show that when using the grid search and Bayesian optimization methods, better prediction performance was obtained regarding the strategy of no tuning. In terms of MSE, we observed gains in prediction accuracy between 7.7 and 8.8% (dataset 1), 15.6 and 27.8% (dataset 2), 6.6 and 8.8% (dataset 3), 15.5 and 16.8% (dataset 4), 4.1 and 10.8% (dataset 5) and 4.5 and 10.8% (dataset 6). On the other hand, in terms of NRMSE, the gains were between 3.6 and 4.7% (dataset 1), 7.3 and 13% (dataset 2), 3.1 and 4.6% (dataset 3), 7.2 and 8.2% (dataset 4), 2.1 and 5.2% (dataset 5), and 2.1 and 4.4% (dataset 6). These results corroborate that an appropriate tuning process is necessary to take advantage of the data and kernel methods. However, we did not find relevant differences between the grid search and Bayesian optimization methods, which in part can be because we used a grid with 26 values for selecting the optimal hyperparameter, which is not a small tuning subset. In addition, the gain in prediction performance between the six datasets was heterogenous, which can be interpreted as the level of nonlinear patterns between the data being are different, because we did not use any criteria to use the six particular datasets.Finally, with this application we illustrate the important role of the tuning process in Gaussian kernels, and thus are able to take more advantage of kernel methods. This is necessary to guarantee the near or optimal use of kernel methods not only in the context of genomic prediction but in all type of prediction problems. However, the price that we pay for the optimal use of kernel methods is that more computational resources are required to be able to choose the optimal hyperparameters. Moreover, this asseveration applies not only for other types of kernel methods but to all machine learning methods that contain hyperparameters that need to be tuned. Nevertheless, the larger the number of parameters to be tuned, the greater the computational resources are required to obtain the optimal hyperparameters.In this research, we compared three tuning strategies (manual, grid search, and Bayesian optimization) using the bandwidth parameter of the Gaussian kernel in the context of genomic prediction under a Bayesian best linear unbiased predictor model (GBLUP). We found that manual tuning produced sub optimal results, when with anticipation, the value of the bandwidth hyperparameter was fixed. However, when the grid search and Bayesian optimization were implemented, we obtained better prediction performance, which means that using these two strategies significantly increases the probability of reaching the optimal hyperparameter values. The superiority of the grid search and Bayesian optimization was observed in the six datasets under study and the gain observed in terms of prediction performance was between 2.1 and 27.8%. However, we did not find a significant difference in the prediction performance between the grid search and Bayesian optimization. In part, this can be attributed to the fact that we used 26 values in the grid search method for the tuning process of the bandwidth hyperparameter. Even though our results are not conclusive, we have empirical evidence corroborating that performing an appropriate tuning process is necessary in order to take advantage of the data and statistical machine learning implemented.The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/genes13122282/s1 with results from Datasets 4-6 (Wheat 4-6) Figure S1. Dataset 4 (Wheat 4) (A) Mean squared error (MSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search Optimization (GrS) and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 4. (B) Relative efficiency in terms of the mean squared error (RE_MSE) computed by dividing the MSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 4. When RE_MSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. (C) Normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods: Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search optimization (GrS), and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 4. (D) Relative efficiency in terms of the normalized mean squared error (RE_NRMSE) computed by dividing the NRMSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 4. When RE_NRMSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. Figure S2. Dataset 5 (Wheat 5). (A) Mean squared error (MSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods: Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search optimization (GrS), and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 5. (B) Relative efficiency in terms of the mean squared error (RE_MSE) computed by dividing the MSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 5. When RE_MSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. (C) Normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods: Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search optimization (GrS), and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 5. (D) Relative efficiency in terms of the normalized mean squared error (RE_NRMSE) computed by dividing the NRMSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 5. When RE_NRMSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. Figure S3. Dataset 6 (Wheat 6). (A) Mean squared error (MSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods: Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search optimization (GrS), and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 6. (B) Relative efficiency in terms of the mean squared error (RE_MSE) computed by dividing the MSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 6. When RE_MSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. (C) Normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) and the corresponding standard error (SE) of the methods: Bayesian optimization (BO), grid search optimization (GrS), and no tuning (NT) for each environment and across environments of dataset 6. (D) Relative efficiency in terms of the normalized mean squared error (RE_NRMSE) computed by dividing the NRMSE of NT and BO; NT and GrS; or GrS and BO. Prediction performance is reported for each environment and across environments in dataset 6. When RE_NRMSE>1, the denominator method outperforms the numerator in terms of prediction performance. Table S1. Prediction performance for every environment and across environments (Global) of the dataset 4 in terms of their mean squared error (MSE), normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) under three methods of tuning (BO, GrS and","tokenCount":"6037"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2542340945.json b/data/part_1/2542340945.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..37f79d581ba663b1409a55a2f1d998ceeffc1aa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2542340945.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0efe46c9f4a2022730205b42a41766ad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ca6f2fb2-2dfc-46fb-96ad-1f71c2b20f37/retrieve","id":"533231158"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4c0242a4-2474-435f-acd3-a2490f457a8a","pagecount":"126","content":"Hides and skins have a wide importance mainly as a source of foreign currency of the leather industry to the country. The consumption of these products is low for reasons of low quality and market imperfection. Measures to solve the problem in the area were limited because of little research and consideration. The objectives of the study were to identify the roles of the major actors and market channels, analyze strengths and weakness of the marketing system, and estimate the potential demand of the hides and skins. A survey was conducted in which data and information were collected from 15 local collectors 5 butcheries and 6 hides and skins traders using structured questionnaire. Secondary data including prices, marketing, and purchase and sales of the raw material were collected from government bodies and private organizations. In addition, the production and quality of hides and skins were studied by selecting 121 sample rural household heads from 4 villages of the wereda using two stage random sampling. Formal and informal data collection tools of both primary and secondary data were also used. In analyzing the marketing conditions of the raw materials, descriptive statistics and SCP paradigm were used. Results indicate that 66% of rural households sell hides and skins to local collector in rural areas, while 34% supplied to the wereda wholesalers. Buying process was done without following the grading standards of hides and skins, by simple sorting based on visible defects. The concentration analysis indicated that the market was highly oligopolistic with narrow range of market concentration. The marketing margin and marketing cost analysis showed transport charges, income and municipality tax, labour cost, preservation material cost and store rent were costs that influenced the marketing margin. High market concentration, barriers to entry in terms of capital and credit, and high marketing margin in the study area reveal that hides and skins marketing was inefficient. Therefore, to improve marketing system, correcting malpractices, implementation of standard grades and provision of market information, capacity building for all actors in the chain, strengthening the extension service on the product handling and management to farmers were recommended.It is difficult to thank all those people and institutions that have helped me in accomplishing my thesis research work, but the following deserve a special mention.First and foremost I would like to thank my advisor Berhanu G/Medhin (PhD), in providing me the required materials, liaison me with the sponsoring institution, offering helpful and constructive comments, guiding and encouraging me in all moments since the research proposal preparation. His comments on the survey instruments greatly helped me to come up with good and comprehensive data set for the thesis. Without exaggeration, the finalization of this thesis report would have been hardly possible without his guidance and heart full support.I extend my deepest appreciation to ILRI/IPMS project for offering me sponsorship of the research works and giving training regarding research work. I want to thank the staff of IPMS for their sincere cooperation.I sincerely acknowledge Ato Assefa Yohannes, the supply manager of Sheba Tannery P.L.C., the government institutions (MoTI, CSA, Tigrai BoARD, Atsbi Wemberta WOARD and WOTIT) with their staff for their kind cooperation during the data collection.Thanks are also presented to the Adigrat and Atsbi Wemberta woreda hides and skins traders, producers and the enumerators. The commitment of the enumerators during the data collection is highly appreciable. I am extremely thankful to my uncle W/Michael Gezhagne for providing me with the necessary facilities like laptop computer, moral support and encouragement, and my friends Dr. Zenebe G/her, Ato Taddese Berhe and Ato Samuel Adola in providing their precious advices, reference materials and unreserved help in technical aspects during the research write up. Special appreciation is given to BoFED, for sponsoring me the scholarship of MA and their constant encouragement and help in all my endeavuors. I extend my appreciation to IRLDS for repeatedly rearranging the programs and giving lectures with high commitment for the benefit of the students at Mekelle. I want also to thank the staff of IRLDS for their genuine and heartfelt cooperation. Above all, I extend my special thanks to the Almighty God for everything of merits is due to his benevolence. Agricultural growth, particularly through improved productivity and market access, is one of the principal routes to reducing poverty in developing countries. There is considerable diversity across countries with regard to the importance of smallholder livestock keeping in rural livelihoods. Ethiopia possesses one of the world largest livestock populations: eighth for cattle, twelfth for sheep and lambs, and eighth for goats (FAO, 2001).Ethiopia's economy is predominantly agricultural where the livestock sub-sector plays substantial role. Its share of livestock holdings is 2.4%, 3.1%, 11.15%, 23% and 35.5% when compared with the total livestock population of the world, developing countries, Africa, COMESA member countries and East Africa respectively (FAO, 2001).Though different data sources put different figures for the number of animals in Ethiopia, according to Belachew et al (2003), there are approximately 35.4 million cattle, 25.5 million sheep, 18.9 million goats, and 1.1 million camels in the country.The livestock sector in Ethiopia contributes 12 and 33% of the total and Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP), respectively, and provides livelihood for 65% of the population. The sector also accounts for 12-15% of total export earnings, the second in order of importance, in 1998. Of the total household cash income from crop and livestock, livestock account for 37-87% in different parts of the country, and the higher the cash income the higher is the share of livestock, indicating that increased cash income come primarily from livestock (FAO, 1999). It is an integral part of the national agricultural wealth and serves as sources of power, meat, milk, egg, hides and skins, manure, and other products.In Ethiopia hides and skins contribute much to the export earnings from the livestock sector. In addition, it has a large contribution to the leather industry in the country.Girma (2003) described that, Ethiopia has been exporting hides and skins in the past 100 years. The country has big potential to develop the sub-sector. In 2002 hides and skins represent major source of foreign exchange earnings for the country accounting for 14-16% of the total export revenue.Ethiopia's leather industry is at the forefront of the leather sector development of the Eastern and Southern African region. The industry has reached an advanced stage of development and a reputation for excellence in the international market (MoTI, 2008). The export performance of the sector showed very encouraging trends during [2005][2006][2007]. The major export contributor of the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia is the leather and footwear industries, which contributed 70% of the export earning for the year 2005-2007(MoTI, 2008)). The total value of the export of the leather and leather products is USD 66.9 million, 75. In Tigrai there is broad consensus that investment in livestock is central both as a pathway out of poverty for many smallholder households, and food security strategies. The population of livestock of Tigrai region, according to 1997 census projection, is cattle 3.04 million, sheep 935,337, goats 1.46 million, equine 318,932, camel 10,417 and chickens 3.76 million (BoANRD, 2000).Hides and skins is important economic component of the region, which contributes significant amount to the regional economy. In the region there are around 120 wholesalers and about 350 local collectors working in hides and skins trading. Hides and skins supplied to the market in 2006/07 from the region is 85,960 cattle hides, 408,741 sheepskins, 871,786 goatskins of which 25% is sold to the regional wholesalers and 75% is supplied directly to tanneries from wholesalers. The hides and skins grade according to the regional experts is mostly from first to third, measured by taking samples.The organizational structure for extension service and quality control of the product is set under Agricultural Products Quality Control Team in the regional Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, junior experts at wereda level and livestock development extension agent at village level.Different policies adopted by the Federal Government of Ethiopia, availability of cheap labor force and availability of the resource base create conducive environment especially for being competent in trading of hides and skins in the world market.However, the trade in the sub-sector is constrained by various structural, production, information exchange, and promotional problems, as well as financial constraints.Hides and skins are important livestock products providing income for the poor people living in the rural areas of the region. They are supplied to domestic and foreign markets. Since they have significant economic importance, much effort is needed to improve the quality and increase the quantity so that there will be effective and efficient utilizationTraditionally farmers treat their animals when they get sick or injured. Of the different traditional methods of treating animal practiced by the farmers branding is the common and this has a significant negative effect on the quality of the hides or skins produced from branded animal. Hides and skins are meat by-products and there is still little consideration given to the care required for the collection and processing of the hides and skins in to high quality leather (Adugna, 2004).Limited studies were conducted regarding the extension and quality of the byproducts. However, there is no detail study on marketing aspects of the raw materials. Sheep skins of the wereda are of high natural quality and significant number out of the region (4%), but the efficiency of the market is not assessed. Thus, it is important that the continuum of the product marketing system be examined.The study is important to smallholder farmers to enable them achieve efficient market thereby better price. It is also vital to specify ideas about the flow of the market information about hides and skins in the study area. It also contributes to better understanding of the quality of livestock products and its effect on market prices.Therefore, the study analyzes how hides and skins marketing is functioning in the domestic market, focusing on Atsbi wemberta Wereda, which is one of the major hides and skins supplying areas in Tigrai region. By identifying the major problems of quality and marketing system of hides and skins in the study area, the study will help to inform policy makers to implement specific and efficient institutional and other relevant options to develop efficient marketing system and extension program that would benefit the smallholders in the rural area.Hence, the research findings would inform policy makers and practitioners to rethink and pinpoint about the constraints and solutions of the current marketing system of hides and skins so as to develop efficient marketing system.To assess the condition of the existing markets and analyze constraints and opportunities of the marketing chain of hides and skins in the study area.1. To identify the roles of the major actors and market channels of raw hides and skins 2. To analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the marketing system of raw hides and skins 3. To estimate the potential demand of hides and skins in the study area and nearby markets1. Who are the major actors? What are their characteristics and roles in the marketing of the hides and skins? What do the market channels of raw hides and skins looks like?2. What are the structure, conduct and performance of raw hides and skins market system in the study area? What are the constraints of the market?3. Where are the potential demand areas of hides and skins of the study site?The study has focused on the functioning of the market and the relationship among the actors within the marketing channels from producers up to tanneries.More specifically, the study focused on the different market levels, roles of marketing actors in the marketing channel, price formation, bargaining characteristics of producers, traders' buying and selling strategies, traders' behavior in relation to transport and information, and the process of competitions has been assessed.Furthermore, institutions involved directly or indirectly in hides and skins marketing have been assessed to generate relevant data. The study was delimited to a single wereda, for the obvious reason of time and financial resource constraints.Unavailability of records and recall problem of traders, particularly in continuous information like buying and selling prices and profits, which was finally supplemented by secondary data obtained from wereda office of agriculture and rural development (WOARD). Lack of pertinent data and information like time series data also one of the limitations of this study.Information required from tanneries is not obtained except Sheba tannery. The tanneries declined to give price and quality (grade) related information which they considered top business secret of their firm. As a result, information regarding tanneries was based only on information obtained from Sheba tannery.The wereda was selected purposively for the reason that the interest of the sponsor organization was geared the researcher to work on Atsbi wemberta wereda, since the wereda is one of the IPMS sites of ILRI. In addition, the observations of the researcher about the quality of sheep skins initiated to study on the area.Researchers do not agree on the sample size and sampling procedures that should be used in each segment of the marketing chain. The decisions involved are partly a function of the information currently known, time and resources available, accessibility to and openness of the marketing participants themselves, as well as the estimated size of trading population (Mendoza, and Rosegrnat 1995).To select manageable and representative sample a two stage random sampling procedure for farmers have been implemented. First, four villages out of the 16 villages in the wereda were selected randomly, and then 2% of farmer households have been randomly selected from each village in which the researcher expects representative and manageable from the sample frame (annex 5 and annex 6). In addition, all 5 butcheries, all 15 local collectors (village traders) of raw hides and skins at local market, and all 3 wholesalers in the wereda have been identified and interviewed. Similarly, from Adigrat the existing one regional wholesaler and two wholesalers, as well as Sheba Tannery from Wukro having relation with the wereda trade route have been purposively selected and interviewed.The sample frame of villages, and farmers was taken from Atsbi wemberta wereda office of agriculture and rural development. The data was collected to get information of marketing aspects of raw hides and skins; focused on access to market and market price information, livestock ownership, demography, contact to extension service, income from farm and non-farm activities, etc.Questionnaire was prepared to collect information of the channel, difference of quality and price between farm-gate and terminal market, and analyze price margin based on the information of farmers, local collectors, and wholesalers of the wereda, regional wholesaler and Sheba tannery. Information regarding the factory preference for quality and other characteristics of the hides and skins and the period of peak supply and demand has been gathered from informal discussions with traders, tannery, experts of agriculture and rural development and different documents.Relevant secondary data was also collected from wereda, regional and federal government organizations (WOARD, WOTIT, WOFED, BoARD, BoTIT, MoTI, and CSA).Both informal and formal survey methods have been conducted to collect the primary information. For the informal survey Rapid Market Appraisal (RMA) using checklists and observation has been implemented. RMA is a tool to understand how a product or commodity flows to end users, and to understand of how a commodity system is organized, operates and performs. RMA provides a quick flexible and effective way of collecting, processing and analyzing information and data about the markets and marketing systems. RMA helps to realize how valuable market information is. It will inspire farmers to learn and to develop new ideas on commodity they produce and test their marketability by asking customers what they think of the commodities.The formal survey has been conducted using pre-tested structured questionnaire.Enumerators have been recruited and trained to manage the formal survey, using the structured questionnaire with farmers, local collectors and butcheries.The data have been analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. In this study, the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) model is mainly used as a framework to analyze hides and skins market structure, efficiency and behavior of actors participated in the hides and skins trading at different channels.Generally in this study descriptive statistics like mean, ratios and percentiles have been also used to examine and explain basic characteristics of the channel members and market functions.Relevant computer software packages such as SPSS have been used to analyze the relational data among actors in the hides and skins market chain.Market structure can be defined as characteristics of the organization of a market, which strategically influence the nature of competition and pricing behavior within the market (Bain, 1987cited in Girma 2002). Structural characteristics may be used as a basis for classifying markets.To evaluate the concentration of firms as a characteristic of the organization of the market and the strategic influences on the nature of competition and pricing within the market would be estimated by market concentration ratio. The study preferred to use the concentration ratio, barriers to entry and product differentiation due to widely applicability in many researches.The concentration ratio is expressed in the terms CR x , which stands for the percentage of the market sector controlled by the biggest x firms. A CR 4 of over 50% is generally considered a tight oligopoly; CR 4 between 25 and 50 is generally considered a loose oligopoly, and CR 4 of fewer than 25 is no oligopoly at all. A CR 4 of over 50%, a CR 3 of over 60% or a CR 2 of over 80% should be considered a super tight oligopoly (Kohls and Uhl, 1985;Shughart, 1990).The mathematical formulation for concentration ratio /C/ is:Where: S i is the percentage market share of i th firm, r is the number of largest firms for which the ratio is going to be calculated, and C is the market concentration ratio.Many studies indicated the existence of positive relationship between market concentration and gross margin. It is generally believed that higher market concentration implies a non-competitive behavior and thus inefficiency of markets (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992).The ease with which potential participants can enter various functions is commonly used as a means of assessing the degree of competition in an industry (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992). Stigler (2005) suggests about four points that can create barriers to entry: legal barriers (franchise and patents), economies of scale, superior resources, and pace of entry.Market structure is most commonly evaluated by examining trends in the numbers and sizes of firms relative to each other, and to number of consumers and producer, in particular times and places (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992).Interviewing traders about barriers to entry might be difficult since all have entered the market. Rather, observation of the different sizes of traders and the extent to which fluctuations in the number of active traders follow rises and falls in profitability can be considered. Hence, observation of the wereda wholesalers on how they are functioning, and their ups and downs was considered to evaluate barriers to entry and exist.Both hides and skins are used as raw materials for the tanning industries, which produce leather and leather products. Prices of hides and skins depend, among others, on quality, the requirement of the buyer and method of preservation. It is not only that sheepskin is preferred to cattle hide and goatskin, but also within the same sheepskins, there are variations in price depending upon grades, which determine the commercial value of the hide or skin.There are two mandatory standards in Ethiopia, which deal with leather products, namely, raw hides and skins standards and leather standards set out in regulationNo. 12/1990(Mulat, 1999, cited in Girma, 2002). Cattle hides and sheep or goatskins are classified into various grades (1-4 and reject) according to quality, weight range, size and appearance in order to determine the commercial value and the type of leather to be produced.It is the pattern of behavior of enterprises in determining prices, sales promotion, and coordination policies and the extent of predatory or exclusionary tactics directed against established rivals or potential entrants (Pomeroy and Trinidad, 1995). The determinants of conduct indicators indicated in USAID ( 2008) market guidance, are price setting behavior, buying and selling practices, advertising, merging together, and others that makes traders profitable. Market conduct refers to the practices or strategies of traders in maximizing their profits. Among these practices are the use of regular partners, long-term relations with clients, and suppliers, the use of intermediaries, and trade within personalized networks (Wolday, 1994) In this case to analyze market conduct, to detect indications of unfair price setting practices, buying and selling practices, and the conditions under which such practices are likely to be prevailing would be used.According to Abbott and Makeham (1981) market performance is how successfully the firm's aims are accomplished, which shows the assessment of how well the process of marketing is carried out. Is produce assembled and delivered on time and without wastage? Is it well packed and presented attractively? Is its quality reliable and are terms of contract observed? Is the consumption of the products increasing and sales in competitive market expanding? There are such practical indicators of how well a certain marketing system is operating. In addition quantity supplied, equity (distributional and informational), access to market information are main performance indicators (USAID, 2008).Marketing efficiency is essentially the degree of market performance. It is defined as having the following two major components: (i) the effectiveness with which a marketing service would be performed and (ii) the effect on the costs and the method of performing the service on production and consumption. These are the most important because the satisfaction of the consumer at the lowest possible cost must go hand in hand with maintenance of a high volume of farm output (Ramakumar, 2001).The two approaches used in this study to measure marketing performance are marketing margin and the analysis of market channel efficiency.In a commodity subsystem approach, the institutional analysis is based on the identification of the marketing channels. This approach includes the analysis of marketing costs and margins (Mendoza et al, 1995). A marketing margin can be defined as a difference between the price paid by consumers and that obtained by producers; or as the price of a collection of marketing services that is the outcome of the demand for and supply of such services (Tomek and Robinson, 1990). It measures the share of the final selling price that is captured by a particular agent in the marketing chain (Mendoza et al, 1995).As Mendoza et al (1995) argued, when there are several participants in the marketing chain, the margin is calculated by finding the price variations at different segments and then comparing them with the final price to the consumer. The consumer price is then the base or the common denominator for all marketing margins. Computing the total gross marketing margin (TGMM) is always related to the final price or the price paid by the end consumer and expressed as a percentage.In a marketing chain with only one trader between producer and consumer, the net marketing margin (NMM) is the percentage over the final price earned by the intermediary as his net income once his marketing costs are deducted. Thus, the net marketing margin of hides and skins traders can be calculated using the average values from all traders or by specifying a typical trader in the study area. In this case, to estimate producers net margin, the average values of all producers and for traders due to the shortage and inability of estimating major costs by the majority is used. A typical trader was selected who has been able to estimate well the basic operation costs and benefits to measure the net profit margin.The analysis of marketing channels is intended to provide a systematic knowledge of the flow of the goods and services from their origin (producer) to their final destinations (consumers) (Mendoza et al, 1995). This is acquired through studying the participants, with the first step to determine what and which final markets are.While the sources and destinations are clearly identified the study of participants within the channels, the activities they perform and the overall actions can easily be investigated. Ramakumar (2001) identified the different marketing channels from which he computes ranking based on different performance indicators to arrive at marketing efficiency. The indicators included were producer's share in the consumer's price, marketing cost of intermediaries, marketing margin of intermediaries and returns per money of investment.In this study, volume passed, producer's share, marketing margin of traders and rate of return were taken to evaluate the efficiency. The The term \"hides and skins\" are often used as if they were interchangeable, but according to the British standard definitions;Hide is the raw skin of a mature or fully-grown animal of larger kinds, e.g. cattle and horses and also other large animals.Skin is the skin of a mature or fully grown animal of smaller kinds, e.g. sheep, goats, pigs, reptiles, birds and fishes, or of immature animals of the large species, e.g. calves and colts.Hides are divided according to age and weight of the animal. Accordingly:Calf skins usually weigh from 0-6 kg., in green condition.Adult animal hides which are categorized in to three, light, medium and heavy.Light: Hides from young heifers/bulls with a weight of 6-11kg., in green state.Medium: Hides from young cows and bull which weigh 11-17kg.Heavy: Hides from full-grown cows or bulls which weigh more than 17kg.Sheepskins are divided into hairy and wool types subject to the type of the hair cover.Goatskins are highly valued as the raw material because of their high quality for upper leathers.The quality of hides and skins for production of different types of leather is determined by certain characteristics of the raw material and these are (PIC, 1990):-The thickness, and evenness of the thickness over the surface -The weight -The density -The presence of defects Hides and skins differ in their structure depending upon the habit of life, season of year, age, sex, and breeding.The various operations involved in the preparation of hides and skins are most easily classified according to when they occur with respect to the time of slaughter.Accordingly, the first of three such periods is designated pre-slaughter. It covers the greater part of the animal's life, from its birth to about the time it is collected for delivery to the butchery. In fact it may be argued that the period begins even earlier, since some of an animal's characteristics are genetically determined. Any selection and breeding program that may be operated on the farm or ranch will inevitably affect many features of the offspring of a particular mating including certain characteristics of the hide or skin. Environmental ones often obscure genetic factors, in particular by the consequences of nutrition (Russell et al, 1980).The pre-slaughter operations that affect the quality of the hides and skins available to the tanning industry are principally the result of the quality of the husbandry applied by those who looked after the animals-herders, farmers, ranchers, feedlot staff, veterinarians, hides and skins merchants and transport operators. In some circumstances, domesticated animals may receive almost no attention throughout their lives. These are the animals left to graze or forage (sometimes in open grassland), which may only be handled immediately before dispatch to the abattoir.By way of contrast, some dairy animals kept under intensive systems may be subject to almost continuous scrutiny. In between these two extremes there exist large ranges of animals' production systems, which can present more or less of a hazard to the quality of the animal's hide or skin (Russell et al, 1980).In many livestock production systems, disease control is a major aspect of animal's husbandry. Any fatal disease that leads to the condemnation and destruction of the animal, or a serious disease that affects the productivity of the herd will have an adverse effect on the supply of hides and skins (Russell et al, 1980).The final part of the pre-slaughter operations involves the supply and transportation of the animal to the market and ultimately the butchery. Special attention is required at this stage since any damage to the animal will not have time to heal before the animal is slaughtered, so any defect will remain on the hide or skins as an open wound. The range of different problems that can occur at this stage is extensive, and many others associated with improper transportation (Russell et al, 1980).Hides and skins supplied to the tanning industry generally come from two different sources, controlled slaughter in designated establishments and slaughters and deaths elsewhere. The latter includes the significant quantities of hides and skins sometimes available from special festivals (Leach et al, 1993).Since the primary purpose of slaughter is to provide meat for human consumption, it should be done under the best possible conditions of hygiene and safety. This is most easily achieved in controlled slaughterhouses. This type of operation is also likely to provide the best conditions for hides and skins preparation. In those places where proper slaughtering facilities do not exist, it may be necessary to improvise and prepare carcasses under condition, which would not generally be considered acceptable (Leach et al, 1993).Hides and skins from designated slaughtering operations may come from any one of a range of places including backyard activities, shambles, slaughter slabs, slaughterhouses and abattoirs. The facilities available at these establishments vary tremendously. At worst, they may consist of no more than a small space and a few small items of equipment such as knives. At best, they may consist of purpose-build structures with all mains services (electricity, steam, water, effluent treatment, etc.)and highly trained staff. Irrespective of the size of the establishment the slaughter facilities should conform to certain minimum standards, which are prescribed by law in most countries (Leach et al, 1993).Preservation is the name given to a variety of procedures, which can be applied to hides and skins in order to reduce, or stop spoilage. Preservation can only maintain quality. It follows that a bad preservation will allow deterioration of all a skin, irrespective of its original quality (Leach, 1995).Most hides and skins are preserved in one way or another before being shipped to a tannery, but it is not always necessary in the manufacture of leather (Haines, 1975) freshly flayed hides and skins may be dispatched immediately to the tannery and made into leather. Unfortunately, few tanneries are sited close enough to their source of raw material to be able to receive fresh skins. Generally though, tanneries are still geographically isolated from their raw material. This has significant implications in the utilization of hides and skins.If freshly prepared hides and skins cannot be delivered directly to the tannery, they must be preserved. They should also be preserved if the delivery to a tannery is likely to be delayed, especially when the tannery is a long way from the butchery, and it may not be possible to deliver the fresh hides or skins quickly enough. Without preservation, the hides or skins would spoil before they were received in the tannery (Haines, 1975). Assessing the quantity of hides and skins available for collection is certainly much easier than determining the quality. The problem is that quality means different things to different people because they have different expectations or requirements (Leach, 1995). Accordingly, when considering quality it must be done in context of:1. What quality is required currently?2. What quality might be required in the near future?Only after such preliminary considerations is it possible to begin to answer questions about the scope for improvement of quality. Most of the time, the answer will be that the present quality is capable of being improved. However, the improvement efforts must be commensurate with the objectives. It would, for example, be quite unnecessary to introduce a new technique of preservation in a place where the existing techniques could more easily be improved, to provide acceptable quality hides and skins (Leach, 1995).Traditionally, the determination of defects on hides and skins was the basis of grading operations carried out routinely before, during or after, preservation. These assessments received considerable attention though they often failed to reveal the majority of defects. Some defects simply cannot be seen in preserved hides and skins while the consequences of others may not be fully appreciated by those people doing the grading. In short, the most reliable way to determine the utility of hides and skins destined for the tanning industry is to submit them to tanning (Leach, 1995).When hides and skins are exported, it may be difficult to obtain the results of tanning assessments for use by the original supplier. Now though, a lot of hides and skins are processed domestically. In these cases at least, feedback on the tanning characteristics of raw materials should be more readily available (Leach, 1995).The concept of exchange and relationships lead to the concept of market. It is the set of the actual and potential buyers of a product (Kotler and Armstong, 2003).Conceptually, however, a market can be visualized as a process in which ownership of goods is transferred from sellers to buyers who may be final consumers or intermediaries. Therefore, markets involve sales locations, sellers, buyers, and transactions.According to Kotler and Armstrong (2003), marketing is managing markets to bring about profitable exchange relationships by creating value and satisfying needs and wants.In broad terms, marketing system may be defined as the totality of product channels, market participants and business activities involved in the physical and economic transfer of goods and services from producers to consumers. Marketing system operates through a set of intermediaries performing useful commercial functions in chain formations all the way from the producer to the final consumers (Islam et al., 2001).Formally, a marketing channel is a business structure of interdependent organizations that reach from the point of product origin to the consumer with the purpose of moving products to their final consumption destination (Kotler and Armstong, 2003).This channel may be short or long depending on kind and quality of the product marketed, available marketing services, and prevailing social and physical environment (Islam et al., 2001).Technical efficiency is concerned with the manner in which physical marketing functions are performed to achieve maximum output per unit of input. Technological changes can be evaluated to determine whether they reduce marketing costs per unit of output. New methods of packing and processing, for example may reduce waste and prevent deterioration in quality (Abbot and Makeham, 1981).Price efficiency is concerned with the accuracy, precision, and speed with which prices reflect consumers' demands and are passed back through the market channels to producers. Pricing efficiency is, thus, affected by rigidity of marketing costs and the nature and degree of competition in the industry. Activities that may improve pricing efficiency are improvement of market news and information, and competition (Cramer and Jensen, 1982). The objective of pricing efficiency is to improve the operation of buying, selling, and pricing aspect of the marketing process, so that it remains responsive to consumer's preference (Kohls and Uhl, 1985).Most research and development organizations agree that improved market access is crucial if the competitiveness of rural areas and its producers is to be enhanced.Promoting collaboration along the market chain, among different stakeholders, is a promising approach to: Increase efficiency in the market chain, by lowering the production and transaction costs which occur between the different market chain actors. Enhance the value of the products and services generated along a market chain, so justifying higher consumer sale prices (Bernet et al, 2006).Stimulating positive market chain collaboration from the outside is a tricky issue.Market chain actors compete with regard to price and quality in their day-to-day business, which apparently inhibits the development of trust and concerted action (Bernet et al, 2006).An ongoing process of innovation is needed along the market chain, which should enable those involved to constantly identify and take advantage of new market opportunities, thus positively affecting rural producers. To make this happen, the actors involved must be given the opportunity to fruitfully interact and build mutual trust. Only in this way will optimum use be made of available resources, which are transformed into products and services that are of value to market chain actors and consumers (Bernet et al, 2006).Strategic linkages between geographic areas and competitive market chains are essential. Local actors, linked to primary production, must collaborate with those actors who are able to enter the market with products and services that are valuable to consumers and profitable to all involved in the production process for those actors based in rural areas (Bernet et al, 2006).A major challenge faced by any effort to link rural areas with competitive market chains relates to quality standards.Participatory processes also help economically and geographically marginalized actors to access new opportunities by forming links with other market-chain actors.Such collaboration not only increases income, it acts as a viable strategy of \"empowerment\" by enhancing people's access to knowledge, skills and contacts (Bernet et al, 2006).Supply chains, often buyer-driven, can span several countries and regions, as marketing and manufacturing agents set up global production networks. To enter new markets, the sector must integrate itself at national, sub regional and regional levels. However, effective integration is difficult. Each stage of the supply chainfrom recovering hides and skins, to converting them into leather in tanneries, to manufacturing and marketing leather products -requires specific policies, human skills and support systems (Rienstra, 2004).The study of marketing involves various approaches. The most common are the functional, the institutional, and the commodity approaches (Cramers and Jensen, 1982).Functional approach studies marketing in terms of the various activities that are performed in getting farm product from the producer to the consumer. These activities are called functions (Cramers and Jensen, 1982). Using the functional approach, it is feasible to \"cost\" these functions and to compare them against others (middlemen) doing the same job or against standard of performance (Cramers and Jensen, 1982). And this approach helps to compare cost and benefits of different Marketing of agricultural products consists primarily of moving products from production sites to points of final consumption. In this regard, the market performs exchange functions as well as physical and facilitating functions. The exchange function involves buying, selling and pricing. Transportation, product transformation and storage are physical functions, while financing, risk-bearing and marketing information facilitate marketing (Cramers and Jensen, 1982).Institutional approach examines the activities of business organizations or people in marketing. The institutional approach focuses on the study of the various institutions, which perform the marketing activities. These organizations or people are middlemen who perform the operations necessary to transfer goods from the producer to consumer, because of the benefit of specialization and scale that exist in marketing as well as production (Cramers and Jensen, 1982).In a commodity approach, a specific commodity or groups of commodities are taken and the functions and institutions involved in the marketing process are analyzed.This approach focuses on what is being done to the product after its transfer from its original production place to the consumer (Kohls and Uhl, 1985). It helps to pinpoint the specific marketing problems of each commodity as well as improvement measures. The approach follows the commodity along the path between producer and consumer and is concerned with describing what is done and how the commodity could be handled more efficiently.The development of reliable and stable market system has been an important element in commercialization and specialization in the agricultural sector. In order to study the functioning of markets many researchers have applied the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm. The SCP approach was developed in the United States as a tool to analyze the market organization of the industrial sector and it was later applied to assess the agricultural system and this framework was to evaluate the performance of industries in the USA (Meijer, 1994). Subsequently, it was applied in the functioning of markets in agricultural sector, and served as a tool to evaluate the performance of the commercial system.In order to study the functioning of markets many researchers have applied the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm. It was applied in the functioning of markets in agricultural sector, and served as a tool to evaluate the performance of the commercial system. The framework distinguishes between three related levels;the structure of the market, the conduct of the market, and the performance of the market (Meijer, 1994).As a method for analysis the SCP paradigm postulates that the relationship exists between the three levels distinguished. One can imagine a causal relations starting from the structure, which determine the conduct, which together determine the performance (technological progressiveness, growth orientation of marketing firms, efficiency of resource use, and product improvement and maximum market services at the least possible cost) of agricultural marketing system in developing countries (Meijer, 1994).The relationships between structure, market behavior and performance must not be interpreted in isolation. Other factors, such as firms' objectives, barrier to entry, economies of scale, and assumptions about rival firms' behavior, will be relevant determining factors of the degree and relationship between them (Schere, 1980). The structure and the conduct of market participants have a direct implication for the nature of production price relationships between different marketing levels and the direction of causality (Scarborough and Kydd).Market structure depicts the institutional environment among others in which transactions take place, which influences competition and pricing is considered to be fixed in the short run for actor in the marketing channels. Market structure is defined as characteristics of the organization of a market, which seem to influence strategically the nature of the competition and pricing with in the market (Meijer, 1994).Market concentration can be defined as the number and size of sellers and buyers in the market. Concentration is believed to play a large part in the determination of market behavior within an industry because it affects the interdependence of action among firms. The relationships between concentration and market behavior and performance must not be interpreted in isolation. Other factors, such as firms' objectives, barrier to entry, economies of scale, and assumptions about rival firms' behavior, will be relevant in determining the degree of concentration and relationship between concentration and behavior and performance (Schere, 1980).Structural characteristics may be used as a basis for classifying markets. Markets may be perfectly competitive; monopolistic; or oligopolistic (Scott, 1995). The organizational features of a market should be evaluated in terms of the degree of seller concentration, entry barriers (licensing procedure, lack of capital, know-how, and policy barriers), degree of transparency and degree of product differentiation that condition or influence the conduct and strategies of competitors (Wolday, 1994).The common indicators (attributes) of market structure are buyer and seller concentration, barriers to entry and exit, vertical integration and product differentiation (USAID, 2008). Kohol and Uhl (1985) suggest that as rule-of-thumb, a four largest enterprise concentration ratio of 50% or more is an indication of strongly oligopolistic industry, 33 -50% a weak oligopoly, and less than that, an un concentrated industry. Oligopoly is a market structure in which there are a few large firms and entry is difficult but not impossible. Oligopoly is different from other market structures because firms are interdependent: any action taken by one firm usually provokes a reaction by other firms.The structure and the conduct of market participants have a direct implication for the nature of production price relationships between different marketing levels and the direction of causality (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992).According to Abbott and Makeham (1981) conduct refers to the market behavior of all firms. In what way do they compete? Are they looking for new techniques and do they apply them as practicable? Are they looking for new investment opportunities, or are they disinvesting and transferring funds elsewhere?Market conduct deals with the behavior of firms that are price-searchers are expected to act differently than those in a price-taker type of industry (Cramers and Jensen, 1982). Price-searchers can determine their selling prices or quantity of output they sell. In addition, they could use their market power to weaken or eliminate competitors, example-reducing price.According to Abbott and Makeham (1981) market performance is how successfully the firm's aims are accomplished, which shows the assessment of how well the process of marketing is carried out. Is produce assembled and delivered on time and without wastage? Is it well packed and presented attractively? Is its quality reliable and are terms of contract observed? Is the consumption of the products increasing and sales in competitive market expanding?As a method for analysis the SCP paradigm postulates that the relationship exists between the three levels distinguished. One can imagine a causal relations starting from the structure, which determine the conduct, which together determine the performance (technological progressiveness, growth orientation of marketing firms, efficiency of resource use, and product improvement and maximum market services at the least possible cost) of agricultural marketing system in developing countries (Meijer, 1994).The history of livestock production and the hides and skins they provide are inextricably linked with the history of human development. It is likely that humans have always exploited animals for various purposes. Initially perhaps, wild animals would have been killed simply to prevent those attacking settlements. Later, they would have been hunted or trapped to provide food, fuel for lighting and other materials for tools and clothing. The first attempts to use hides and skins must have been quite crude and may have involved no more than collecting the hair, fur or wool and using it to form soft bundles to make mattresses and pillows. Larger numbers of better quality hides and skins probably started to become available with the domestication of livestock during the Stone Age (Leach, 1995).More widespread use of hides and skins would have required the development of special processing techniques. Raw hides and skins are of little use in their natural state and spoil quickly. The simplest way of protecting and processing them is by drying, which causes major changes in their physical characteristics. Dried hides in particular, are hard and durable and have always been widely used in the past. Some of the applications for dried hides include the manufacture of personal armor, shields, musical instruments (such as drums) and upholstering chairs. Dried skins have also been used for similar purposes and, because of the abundance of hair, fur or wool that commonly occurs on them, skins have long been used to make clothes particularly suitable for use in cold climates (Leach, 1995).One of the most enduring applications for hides and (more particularly) skins is their use as writing materials. At one time, almost all documents were written on parchment. By far the most important application for hides and skins, in terms of both value and volume, are their use at the principal raw material in the manufacture of leather. Tanning, which is synonymous with leather manufacture, may refer specifically to the one crucial step in processing, which changes hides and skins into leather. Alternatively, tanning may be applied to a whole series of related operations.In fact, the whole sequence of procedures involved in the manufacture of leather consists of more than a dozen different steps (Lockhart-Smith and Elliott, 1974).The development of the tanning industry in the last century was closely linked to the industrial revolution, and the associated demand for leather items required operating machines, the provision of leather for footwear and other goods. The demand for raw material was considerable (Leach, 1995).Until recently the general trade in hides and skins consisted of exports from developing countries to developed countries. Only in the 1970s did the net trade in raw materials balance and then change with developing countries starting to import more hides and skins (FAO, 1986).The principal cause of this change was the establishment of tanneries in developing counties, which eventually required more than their own domestic supplies of raw materials. The newly established tanning industries provided valuable employment locally and the low cost of labour provided trading advantages. Rather than exporting low value raw materials, developing countries were now able to trade in more valuable leather or leather products. The development was encouraged to some extent by stricter controls on effluent discharges in developed countries, which discouraged tanners there from undertaking the preliminary tanning operations (which produce major effluent problems). As a consequence, there have been amajor increased in tanning operations in developing counties and an increase in the trade of semi-processed and finished leather, as well as leather goods (Leach, 1995).While many agricultural commodities are the primary products of a particular enterprise, hides and skins are not. With a few minor exceptions (in the case of some fur-bearing species such as mink) animals are not kept to provide hides and skins. In different countries, the primary reason for keeping animals varies. In general though, livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats are maintained to provide meat, milk, wool, draught power or to provide a source of wealth (Leach, 1995).Upon the death of the animal, by deliberate slaughter or natural causes, the meat is usually the most important product and receives considerable attention. Hides and skins are often dismissed as being of secondary importance and tend to receive inadequate attention. Since hides and skins are by-products, their supply is not primarily affected by the demands of the tanning industry. Deliberate slaughter of animals for meat production accounts for most of the hides and skins available to the tanning industry. In some countries, significant numbers of most hides and skins may also be provided by fallen or casualty animals. Though deliberate slaughter usually occurs in response to the demand for meat, they may be influenced by other factors.For example, prior to 1992, policy changes in the European Union (EU) lead to increased slaughter of dairy animals, and droughts throughout parts of Africa necessitated the widespread slaughter of livestock (Leach, 1995).Despite the significance of activities undertaken in slaughterhouses, it is generally accepted that the facilities available in most developing countries are less than ideal.In some instances, the problem is a general lack of money for the provision or improvement of facilities (Leach et al, 1993). Although hides and skins from conventional slaughtering operations constitute the bulk of raw materials for the tanning industry in some places, those from fallen animals and game animals may provide another useful source (Leach et al, 1993).Market globalization poses a considerable challenge to farmers and those living in rural areas in developing countries, where inadequate infrastructure and limited access to information and technology increase both production and transaction costs.So, how can producers compete in such markets, which are more and more demanding with regard to product quality and timely delivery should be considered (Bernet et al, 2006).The CNFA strategy is focused and flexible which is born out of rich experience in Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa, the strategy is designed to address the multiple production, value-adding, and marketing challenges faced by developing agriculture.Typically working at three systemically linked levels of the agricultural economy (markets, enterprises, and farmers), CNFA strengthens the linkages between producers and buyers, enabling producers to access new technologies, improve quality and ultimately, to expand sales and incomes (CNFA, 2003).Before CNFA undertakes certain projects, the economists and business specialists conduct thorough analyses of enterprises in a market chain, weak or broken linkages between those enterprises, and the unique competitive advantages of each market chain in regional markets. As a result, the program is more targeted -designed to address specific market chain weaknesses (CNFA, 2003).Trade in hides and skins, semi-processed, tanned leather goods is a lucrative business. This is particularly the case for some developing countries where the dynamism of the sector has led to a move up the value-added chain and strong market positions. As a result, developing countries hold a 45% share of world trade in leather manufactures. Many have substantially increased their share of world footwear production in relation to developed countries (Rienstra, 2004).Exports of hides and skins have fallen in recent years to below 4%, yet leather is ranked very high as an export commodity in several African countries. The countries' tanning capacity has fallen from 9.2% to 6.8%. At the same time, the livestock population has jumped about 25% over the last decade, faster than the world trend (Rienstra, 2004).The livelihood of the smallholders is highly dependent on the cash income derived from livestock and livestock products. Alleviating constraints to marketing, improving market information and upgrading marketing infrastructures will potentially increase the welfare of smallholder producers and urban consumers and improve the national balance of payments. The more farmers are aware of the market demand and price, the higher will be their bargaining power that could improve their income through getting a larger share of the consumer spending. Market infrastructural and institutional set-ups will improve the access of producers to potential markets whereby they could supply more volumes with higher share of the end market price (Ayele et al, 2003).Tannery and leather industries find themselves in precarious situations in all the three countries. Firstly, there are more tanneries than the locally available volume of raw hides and skins. Cheap and subsidized imports of leather products and articles are also out-competing the local leather processing industries and forcing them to close down in Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. The tannery industry is fraught with cash-flow problem. It is difficult to envisage how these industries can survive for long unless the respective governments take some critical measures to safeguard them from total collapse (Yacob, 2002).Leather is a leading export for many African countries. The gap between resources and production is wide, but exposes the potential of the industry. Reducing the gap is critical in this important sector, which is strategic for economic and industrial development. By boosting exports, the entire continent stands to benefit. Because leather is a by-product of the meat industry, the supply chain begins with animal husbandry, the lifeblood of many rural communities (Rienstra, 2004).The expert group meeting held during Meet in Africa ( 2005) identified a number of obstacles: The quality of hides and skins. A poor and deteriorating infrastructure of roads, power supply and telecommunications that affects all of the supply chain.  A lack of foreign investment.  Low labour productivity, poor management and outdated training services.  Inadequate levels of technological development, productivity and workmanship.  Limited or no access to secure working or low-cost capital.  Environment protection measures.  A lack of marketing information, expertise and control.\"The problems, constraints, challenges and solutions are interrelated and as a result, require an integrated approach,\" says (Giovanni Dadaglio, Senior Market Development Officer at ITC's Market Development Section cited in Riensra, 2004).Meet in Africa ( 2005), launched in Cape Town in 1998, followed by Casablanca in 2000, Tunis in 2002 and Addis Ababa in 2004, is now an international crossroad, combining a trade fair involving buyers from all over the world with events including seminars, expert group meetings, buyers-sellers meetings and factory visits. In this forum, firms and institutions identify measures to be taken and valuable partnerships are forged. It also brings together professional associations, trade support institutions, customs, transport companies and various ministries of the host country to coordinate each event.To become a strong global player, African countries must overcome many obstacles, including trade challenges, and a wide range of difficulties embedded in the supply chain, due to both internal and external pressures. The sector has a major opportunity if it can effectively bridge the gap between resources and production. Its major strength is the availability of raw hides and skins, as global forecasts predict that world demand for leather in the coming decade will outstrip supply (Meet in Africa, 2005).Lack of or asymmetric livestock price information was characteristic of the Kenyan livestock sub-sector. Taking this as an example, Gatere and Dow (1980) cited in Ayele et al (2003), studied the possibility of an improved Livestock Market Information System (LMIS). They recommended the use of mobile, vehicle-mounted, weighbridges and VHF radio to collect rural price data based on animal quality. Then such information was envisioning be broadcasting by national radio, television and newspapers regularly, or diffusing by agriculture extension agents.Animal by products that have been least intervened with respect to marketing are hides and skins. The only intervention to improve both the quality and marketing of hides and skins is the issuance of a regulation by government that proved very difficult to observe. The trade, here as well, is functioning smoothly except for the continued deterioration in the quality of especially skins (Sintayehu, 2003).Hides, skins, leather and leather products are the most widely traded commodities in the world with their total export value of US$ 44 billion. These products combined rank first in important exportable agricultural commodities like, meat, rubber, cotton, coffee, tea, rice and tobacco. The value takes 41% of the combined export values of these commodities (FAO, 2001).Export of finished products is negligible. Traditional tanners also absorb substantial quantities of hides and skins for processing and manufacture of traditional household articles including farm implements, furniture, saddles and traditional musical instruments (Girma, 2003).In Ethiopia annual per capita consumption of food of animal origin, particularly of meat is very low (7.4 kg). However, this is assumed to grow with the improvement in income per head and population growth, leading to increased slaughter of animals and hides and skin production (Girma, 2003).In Ethiopia off-take rate is estimated at about 8% (FAO 1998, as cited in Yacob, 2002) for cattle, one of the lowest in Africa in terms of proportion to the livestock population. This amounts to between 2.2 and 2.8 million head of cattle per year. Offtake for sheep and goats is estimated at 40.5% and 34% respectively or a total of about 14.5 million shoats annually. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that the FAO estimate may not include the off-take that takes place through the cross-border trade to Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya. Thus the off-take level of livestock particularly for shoats and to some extent cattle could be relatively higher than both estimates (Yacob, 2002).Ethiopia has been exporting more of hides and skins relative to its meat and live animals export. The channels for the collection of hides and skins to the tanneries are relatively well established but need significant improvements to reduce damages caused by thorns, ectoparasitic diseases, poor flaying and storage methods.Whereas achieving significant improvements on the former two may not be easy given the country's' under developed animal health delivery system and livestock grazing habits, technical improvements on the latter two are within reach given some commitment (Yacob, 2002).Hides and skins are the basic raw material for the production of leather for footwear, clothing, upholstery, industrial uses, etc. A good proportion of this raw material comes from the farmer, village trader, trader, and country butcher and therefore these producers must make all possible efforts to maintain a high standard of quality of the raw materials (PIC, 1990).Cattle hides: Probably the best-known types of mammalian hides used by the tanning industry are those provided by cattle. In 1990, based on the level of recorded slaughtering for meat production, cattle would have provided about 28% of the total number of all hides and skins. On the basis of weight, cattle hides may have contributed as much as 90% of the tanning industry's raw materials from conventional sources.Sheep skins: are important sources of raw materials for the tanning industry, providing 48% of the pieces in 1990 or 7% of the weight of raw material from conventional sources. They are considerably smaller than hides, with medium-sized skins.Goat skins: are the third principal sources of raw materials for the tanning industry, providing 24% of the pieces in 1990, or 3% of the weight. They are about the same size as sheep skins, but slightly lighter at 2-5 kg and thinner at 1-2 mm. They are generally considered by tanners to be one of the best materials for leather manufacture. The papillary layer constitutes about 50% of the thickness of the dermis, but it does not seriously weaken the skin. Girma (2002) mentioned, the emergence of modern tanning in Ethiopia dates back to 1918, through ASCO and Awash (currently Addis Ababa and ELICO). The introduction of modern system of improvement of hides and skins in an organized form in the country could be looked at in three different stages of development:The first was the establishment of Livestock and Meat Board in 1964 and continued introducing the system of moving the traditional method of preservation of hides and skins (ground drying, smoking and pegging of sheep and goat skins etc.) to modern preservation frame drying technique, so as to promote the production and supply of better quality raw material and to discourage the improperly preserved hides from reaching the central market. This resulted in a systematic procedure of marketing (Ahmed, 2000). The Board has been involved in the employment, training and assignment of hides and skins technicians at potential hides and skins production centers such as Shashemene, Addis Ababa, Dessie, Mekele and Gondar.The second stage was the establishment of the Second Livestock Development Project (SLDP) in 1972 for the improvement of livestock marketing infrastructure and quality of hides and skins (Girma, 2002), planned to intensify the improvement scheme initiated in phase one of the Meat Board, and has contributed greatly to the proper handling of hides and skins in the country.In the third stage of development, the government tried to have a broader outlook of the hides and skins industry of the country and a detailed work was done. A series of comprehensive hides and skins development programs and projects were also systematically prepared and launched. The hides and skins improvement responsibilities were decided upon in 1980, to be under the MoA, which was represented in all 14 provinces and in each province there were a number of extension workers responsible to properly execute the extension programs in their respective areas.Under such a scheme, the specific responsibility of hides and skins improvement development was then vested in the MoA. The Animal Resources Marketing Department (ARMD) in the Ministry, whose mandate covers both extension and regulatory activities, took over these responsibilities together with the hides and skins improvement staff of the SLDP that were transferred to the MoA (Girma, 2002).To implement the foregoing of the Ministry found necessary to establish an autonomous and responsible public authority with appropriate powers and duties.Therefore, an animal products and by-products marketing authority, known as Livestock Marketing Authority (LMA) has been brought into being by proclamation as an autonomous Federal Government body having juridical personality (Wilson et al., 1999, cited in Girma, 2002).The objective of the Authority as given by the Proclamation is to promote the domestic and export marketing of animals, animal products and by-products (hides and skins) by increasing their supply and improving their quality. Its mandate is wide ranging including direct involvement in the construction and establishment of marketing infrastructure, abattoirs and processing facilities.The Military Government (Derg) in accordance with the general framework of socialist oriented economic growth; a number of fundamental and far-reaching reforms and institutional changes were introduced since early 1975 (Ahmed, 2000). -To improve hides and skins qualities to compete in the world market; -To advertise both at home and abroad the quality of Ethiopian hides and skins -To publicize daily international hides and skins prices as well as future trends; and -To introduce a countrywide system of buying and selling on an established grade and weight system; and to provide a regular supply of hides and skins for the tanneries. The Corporation had participated in the local and export trade of the commodities.Gearing towards the expansion of the business, the Corporation offered premium prices and incentive for both high volume supply (above quota) of better grades and weights of hides and skins (Girma, 2002). Besides, efforts have been made by the same corporation to train slaughter home people, and hides and skins merchants in order to properly handle and maintain hides and skins.Second, establishment of the National Leather and Shoe Corporation (NLSC) in recognition of the economic importance of the leather sector in Ethiopia, and having in mind the raw material availability and market opportunities, in 1976. The NLSC, under the MoTI, was determined to reshape and administer the nationalized leather sector including 8 tanneries, 6 shoe factories and one garment factory (LMA, 1999).Third, establishing and expanding Agricultural Service Cooperatives organized from three to five peasant associations, and cooperative marketing were became the important rural institutions to provide economic and social services to their members.In addition to the corporations and service cooperatives, there were many types of traders who were involved in the exchange of hides and skins during the era of Derg, although their roles were limited. These include collectors, urban assemblers, wholesalers and big dealers (Addis Ababa). Besides, there were also agents and brokers who played active roles in the rural, towns and terminal markets (LMA, 1999).The major constraints of hides and skins marketing faced were reflections of the economic policy which were characterized by socialist-oriented development and centralized planning system: nationalization of major industries, financial institutions, allocation of quotas, fixing prices, legal monopoly of corporations, restriction of trade movement and the like (Girma, 2002). Apart from the problems that stemmed from the system, the main constraints in the marketing of hides and skins included an inadequate network of primary buyers, lack of facilities for slaughtering, preservation, storage and transportation, 'lack of incentives for improvement' and limited effectiveness of government extension service (Ahmed, 2000).Following the demise of Derg in May 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) led government, introduced a series of significant policy reforms. The total changes of the economic and institutional environment of the country focused on stabilizing the economy and deregulating economic activities, which were previously characterized by central planning. The role of the state was limited; the trade regime liberalized; capital ceiling of private sector removed; private traders allowed in the domestic and foreign trade sector; private investment procedure simplified and other significant reforms enacted (Girma, 2003).For thousands of years, Ethiopian farmers have consciously and unconsciously selected locally adapted animals. Their characteristics now are more often relevant to survival and to minimizing the risk of total loss than to have high levels of production.These traditional species and breeds still dominate the livestock sub -sector in the country. In view of its varied climatic and topographic conditions, its ethnic composition and the size of its livestock population, Ethiopia is clearly a major repository of farm animal resources and genetic diversity (Wilson et al., 1999).In the history of world leather market, the Ethiopian hides and skins which are byproducts of these locally adapted animals, have proved special suitability for the production of different leather products; and so that they have won international reputation for their unique natural substances of fineness, cleanness, compactness of texture, thickness, flexibility and strength (Darge, 1995).The Ethiopian sheep skins of the highlands which are estimated to constitute above three-fourth of all the country's sheep population are categorized as \"hair sheep/ Sellalie sheep skins\" and are internationally known to be of the world's finest and highly compacted texture. They are globally recognized as an excellent raw material particularly for the production of high quality leather for dresses, glove and other garments. This unique feature of the Ethiopian sheepskins enables them to fetch higher prices in the international leather market (Darge, 1995).Goatskins from the highlands are categorized as Bati-genuine and those from the lowlands as Bati-type in the international market. Bati-genuine is associated with highest quality class goatskins in the world. They are characterized by thicker, highly flexible and clean inner surface and are known worldwide for being excellent raw material for the production of high quality suede leather. The lowland goatskins that are classed as Bati-type have less substance as compared with Bati-genuine, yet, they also command high demand in the international market for suede leather production. The Ethiopian cattle hides are classed as \"Zebu-type\" and are internationally popular for their fine grain pattern and fiber structure; and are well suited for the production of quality upper leather (Darge, 1995).The production of hides and skins is found principally in the farms of the mountain and high plain areas; this environment gives hides a considerable thickness. Hides that are not dried in direct sunlight are large, with a good quality surface, apart from defects resulting from branding, and from insects (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).Ethiopian highland sheepskins, estimated to comprise about 70% of the national sheepskin production, have an international reputation for a unique combination of characteristics of fine quality, thickness, flexibility, strength and compact texture.They are very suitable for the production of high quality leather garments, sports gloves and are in great demand on the world market (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).The available research results for livestock marketing in Ethiopia are outdated.Current knowledge on livestock market structure, performance and prices is poor and inadequate for designing policies and institutions to overcome perceived problems in the domestic and export marketing systems (Ayele et al, 2003).Livestock and livestock products are the major foreign exchange earners, only second to coffee, with hides and skins contributing the most. The share of live animal exports in total livestock and livestock products export earnings have declined in recent years. Skins and hides exports increased during this period while meat exports remained relatively constant (Zewdu 1995). As Yacob (2002) indicated, Livestock prices drop down during droughts and peak up during holidays (Christian, Muslim or other public).Transport constitutes a major cost factor in livestock trading. As a result, transport costs determine the level of profits accrued by livestock traders. Those traders with their own means of transport accrue the highest profit margin from high turn over volume and savings in transport costs (Yacob, 2002).There has been a marked growth in the establishment of new private tanneries in Ethiopia since 1992, though many of them don't operate at full capacity due to shortages in raw skins and hides supplies. Most of the skins and hides exported are semi-processed (as pickled, wet blue or crust). Finished leather goods and articles are produced mainly for the domestic market and to some extent for the export markets. Hides and skins generate the second foreign exchange earnings after coffee (Yacob, 2002).There are 20 tanneries in operation, which have created direct job opportunities for 3975 people. Of the 20 tanneries, 9 are 100% export oriented in semi-processed skins, 14 have facilities for the treatment of effluents. A further four tanneries are expected to start operations in the near future and licenses have been issued for the establishment of an additional 18 tanneries. The processing capacity of the tanneries far exceeds the supply of hides and skins, particularly raw sheep and goatskins. This has created an unhealthy competition among tanners; with the results that skin prices are high. This raises the price of leather to the local manufactures of leather products and affects the capacity to compete in the export market (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004) According to Yacob (2002), following the structural adjustment program a slow market liberalization process has been taking place in Ethiopia. Formerly Government-owned industrial abattoirs and tanneries (except three of the latter) have been fully privatized. Livestock and livestock products marketing are carried out entirely by the private sector.The Government didn't have any specific policy on livestock marketing until the establishment of the Livestock Marketing Authority (LMA) in 1998. The LMA was set up with the objectives of promoting domestic and export markets by initiating policies, laws and regulations, issuing quality control directives on exportable and importable materials, encouraging and establishing staging points and quarantine stations for domestic and export trade, promoting the organization of livestock markets, abattoirs, skins and hides sheds, encourage the condition of research on the marketing of animal and animal by-products etc (Yacob, 2002).In Ethiopia, hides and skins are traded in accordance with international free market conditions in terms of price. But this system works to the advantage of the big traders and tanneries that have the opportunity and capacity to follow world market price trends and fluctuations; the rural farmer /primary producer lacks this opportunity.Traders supply about 70% of the hides, and 90% of the sheep and goatskins to the industry (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).The marketing chain for the hides and skins trade is principally from the primary producer (rural farmer) to rural markets, to small dealers and agents-collectors, to town traders and shed owners (where the hides and skins are frame-dried and /wetsalted), to the big traders in Addis Ababa (the central market) -and finally to the tanneries. The hides and skins produced in butcheries and abattoirs are auctioned to big traders and to tanneries, both public and private (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).In general, in different cross-border trade outlets, prices do not move in the same direction, indicating some sort of market failure. Thus, there are no established spatial price differences (price ratios) that can be linked to this trade pattern. And there is no market integration, making it difficult to prescribe policy interventions to combat this trade (Tegegne et al. 2001).The advantage of applying the value chain permits the development of an integrated approach to the analysis of problems and constraints throughout an industry, thus leading to the identification of solutions to problems within specific components that will positively affect other components, and the chain as a whole (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).The leather value chain begins with animal husbandry, the source of its raw materials. It then has four stages -three processing stages and the marketing, composed of several elements that are critical to the functioning of the chain: marketing of hides and skins, the basic raw material, and the marketing of intermediate and of final products. The leather value chain, with all the inputs, policies and support system that it requires, is clearly a high complex system, where problems and constraints and the search for their solutions are interrelated (UNIDO, MoTI, 2004).The market chain is stretched in space and time starting from the point of slaughter to the markets where end products are supplied. The commodity passes through different hands with or without changing its form (Girma, 2003).As Girma (2003) explained, the market is generally very wide with long channel in which different market forces with different trading capacities are involved. These are primary producers, collectors, big suppliers, butcherys and abattoirs, traditional tanners, tanning industries, and transport enterprises. Source: (Yacob, 2002cited in Girma, 2003) Livestock in the region is an essential component of over all farming system serving as a source of draught power, milk, meat, and manure, and cash income for the farm family. Hides and skins as a livestock products are one of the different animal products and by -products offered to the central as well as foreign market to earn foreign currency (Adugna, 2004). Despite the regional economic importance of the livestock, the sub sector has remained untapped due to many problems, which directly or indirectly have negative impact on the production of quantity and quality of hides and skins. Out of them poor livestock management, poor genetic potential, high prevalence of disease and parasites, and lack of improved processing and marketing system (BoANRD, 2004).Regarding the participation of local tanners in the raw hides and skins marketing, they mainly use cattle hide and goat skins that better quality and they pay relatively The type of animals being slaughtered for meat, however, differs from place to place reflecting the distribution of animal types, feeding habit and income of the people.The most commonly slaughtered animals in the region, therefore, are poultry, cattle and shoats.Tigrai is one of the largest suppliers of hides and skins preceded by Oromiya and Amhara regions. The amount of hides and skins channeled to the central market is increasing from year to year. All hides and skins collected and preserved by the wholesalers are graded based on the quality defects identified before being transported to different tanneries. Of the total hides and skins offered to the central market so far, 46%, 35%, 13%, 6% and 0.2% are graded as first, second, third, fourth and rejected, respectively (BoaNRD, 2004).Lack of price incentives to the primary producers, illegal cross-border traders, competition from local tanners are major obstacles to the improvement of hides and skins collection and quality improvement efforts of the region. In addition, defects like flaying cuts, putrefaction, improper shape, branding, scratches, disease and parasites as well as storage and transport are the major hides and skins marketing problems (BoANRD, 2004).Regarding utilization of hides and skins assessment of CSA in 2007 holder's utilization practices of the region shows 69% and 62.5% of hides and skins for sale, respectively. Out of the five zones, east zone have highest share of sale (92% and 86% of hides and skins) respectively. While western Tigrai utilize for household consumption 37% and 61% of hides and skins respectively, this is largest proportion in the region (CSA, 2008).Atsbi Wemberta Wereda is found in Eastern Zone of Tigrai National Regional State.The Wereda is located between Atsbi wemberta wereda has around 2% cattle, 4% sheep, and 0.4% goats of the region. Livestock are integral part of the farming system. Oxen provide almost the entire traction and threshing power. Sheep appear to be more important in pulse/livestock farming system, and goats are also important in the escarpments to the east and in the midlands (apiculture/livestock farming system). Apiculture is an important source of household income in both farming systems.Hides and skins are an important commodity in both farming systems. Sheep skin comprises of more than 70% of the marketed skin in the wereda. It is reported that the skins in this wereda are of high quality because of their high fiber content (ILRI/IPMS, 2004). Cattle hides and shoats skins have been taken as one of the major important marketable commodities for the purpose of this study. This chapter deals with the findings of descriptive analysis on hides and skins marketing focusing on marketing channels, and the role and linkage of marketing agents. It also discusses the analysis of quantifying costs and margins for key marketing channels and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of hides and skins marketing in Atsbi Wemberta wereda.As Mendoza (1995) pointed out, some traditionally accepted definitions help to identify and classify participants in the marketing process. In the real world, these classifications are by no means mutually exclusive. In this regard, producers, local collectors, wholesalers, transporters, and tanneries were identified as the hides and skins market participants in the study area.In the sub-sections that follow characteristics of farmers related to demography, market participation, extension access, credit and information access, farming and non farming experience, income, and resource ownership are described. Traders' characteristics related to demography, trade experience, income and resource ownership are also discussed.The demographic characteristics of farmers in terms of sex, religion, educational level, age, and family size of household head are presented in Table 1 below.The table below indicates 99.2% of sample household were male. The educational background of the sample household heads is believed to be an important feature that determines the readiness of household heads to accept new ideas and innovations. In the table, about 13.4% of the sample household heads were illiterate, about 37.8% can read and write, whereas 42.1% and 6.7% had joined elementary and secondary schools, respectively. The average age of the sample household heads was 46. The available data indicates that the average family size of the household is 6. In the study area, farming is the main source of income for the households. The average annual income from farming of the sample household for the year 2006/07 for example was Birr 5464 with high variability. These facts are shown in Table 3.1 above.  3.2 it can be understood that non-farming is the major source of income next to farming for 54% of the sample households. The sample households have annual average non-farming income of Birr 1655 per household. These households had a mean of 5 years on non-farming experience.With respect to the distance of the market places, where they sold their hides and skins respondents reported that the average walking time to local and wereda markets was 0.30 hour and 2.15 hour, respectively.Resource ownership is characterized in terms of land, livestock, types of house owned, and farm implements. These are indicated in Table 3. The livestock species found in the study area are cattle, goat, sheep, donkey, mule, horse, poultry, and bee colony. Livestock is a means of generating income, in addition to serving as food and traction power. To assess the livestock holding of each household, Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) per household was calculated. The study indicates that the sampled households had an average of about 4 cattle, 16 shoats, and 5 equines. Land is one of the necessary resources of the households in the study area. The results also show that about 35% of the total sample households had mud-roofed houses, and 65% of iron sheet-roofed houses (partial or fully). As discussed with wereda experts before five years, only 20% of the households had iron sheet-roofed houses, but the livelihood and demand for iron sheet -roofed houses of the farmers is improving in the last five years.Producers are the first link in the marketing chain. In the Wereda there exist two types of producers, i.e. town dwellers (butcheries, individual meat users) and farmers. The ultimate decisions on what, how much and when to slaughter are made by them. They sell their hides and skins to whoever they expect pays fair price.Farmers in the Wereda mainly supply hides and skins to the local collectors. Even those who reported that they negotiate with buyers indicate that the final decision is of the buyers.The demographic characteristics of local collectors defined in terms of sex, religion, education level, age, and family size of the household heads are presented in the table below. According to the table, all local collectors are male. Despite women households are around 30% in the area their participation in hides and skins' trading is nil. The educational background of the local collectors is important in determining the capacity of local collectors to provide proper care to ensure the quality of the hides and skins. About 13.3% of the local collectors were illiterate, 53.3% can read and write, whereas 26.7% and 6.7% had joined elementary and secondary school respectively. The above data also indicates that the average family size of local collectors is nearly seven members. The majority of the local collectors had of more than 10 years experience on hides and skins trading.Hides and skins trading is the main source of local collectors' income in the study area. In this regard, the result shows that the average annual income of the local collectors from hides and skins trading for the year 2006/07 was Birr 31,203 with high variability. In the same year, they earned an average of Birr 4,410 from farming activities.The nature and development of markets and villages for extension service can play a major role in determining patterns of sale. Where markets are well developed and competitive, local collectors can respond largely to the profitability of alternative hides and skins supply.With respect to the distance of the markets where they sold their hides and skins, the respondents were asked whether the wereda market place is far or not from the local market. Accordingly, the average walking time of local collectors from their locality to dry and all weather roads was 25 and 51 minutes, respectively and to wereda market was 2.45 hours.Resource ownership of local collectors is characterized in terms of types of house, store/shed, and slaughtering materials owned. These are indicated in the table below. Local collectors are the first link between producers and wholesale traders. For instance, local collectors in the Wereda purchased 66% of the farmers' marketed hides and skins in 2006/07. They mainly buy small lots of hides and skins directly from farmers and sell to wholesalers depending on the agreement made prior and/or fairness of the price offered. Their sources of money and market information in most cases are wholesalers.Wholesale traders provide both information regarding price and some times advance payments for selected reliable clients (local collectors). Wholesale traders had relatively a timely price information access from tanneries. They absorbed the hides and skins supplied to the wereda market and mainly sell to tanneries and regional wholesalers after preservation. Besides, 2% of their sales circulated between them in the wereda, while their supply to regional wholesalers and tanneries is 98%. Hence, in most cases they played the leading role in price determination during purchasing at wereda level. On the other hand, all are price takers when selling the hides and skins as shown in table 2.6 below. Source: survey result, 2008Tanneries are processors who buy hides and skins from wholesalers and produce pickle, wet blue, crust and finished leather, and supply to domestic and external markets. As the informal discussion with MoTI experts indicated, the tanneries are well equipped with the necessary capital, facilities and knowledge. This category of traders is mainly concentrated in Addis Ababa. All of them have been identified as holders of specialized hides and skins (semi processed and processed) export license. Farther all have reported having good access to timely market information.The Despite the region's huge and extensive investment in promoting farmers extension works, the study result revealed that only 45% of the sampled farmers received extension services regarding livestock husbandry and products management. In this regard, 6.2% of the respondents reported receiving veterinary service, and very little (3.1%) about hides and skins management with significant variability among villages.In addition, the contact of development agents with farmers regarding hides and skins was not frequent and regular. Only 6.6% of the respondents got extension service weekly, 38.8% monthly and 19.8% at different time. The result from the RMA shows that some development agents do not have the time to offer enough technical advices on hides and skins due to the fact that they are assigned to other agricultural extension activities like soil and water conservation and household packages. From the study, it is learned that transport shortage was not the major problem.Rather, the problem is shortage of stock. Since hides and skins, by their nature, cannot be transported with other commodities transporting small stock increases the unit cost of transport.In the study area, most local markets of the villages have access to dry and allweather roads. In fact, all are coarse gravel and soil made, which cannot be used easily by all types of vehicles. From the informal discussion with traders, it is learned that those local collectors located near the all weather road of Atsbi to Wukro have the advantage of getting truck vehicles at lower cost. These help local collectors to lower their cost and increase selling price, which is sometimes higher than that of Atsbi Endaslasie market.Local markets in villages faraway from the main road faced a problem more than the marketing sites located along the main road which had the chance to get trucks rent at low charges. The average transport cost from local markets to wereda market has been calculated for local collectors. The result revealed that the average transport cost of local collectors from their local market (village market) to the wereda market (town) was birr 10/pack animal or 100/truck load for about 20 km distances that ranges from Birr 3 to 4 Birr/ hide, or Birr 1 to 2 Birr/ skin, and constituted 62.6 % of their total operation costs.Kelisha Emni which is on the way to Afar region with dry weather road is more than 45 km far from the Wereda town. The distance has an impact on price determination.Even though producers around Kelisha Emni produce highly demanded hides and skins, they receive lower price due to the poor roads and the longer distance.The distance from Atsbi Endaslasie town to Wukro, Adigrat and Addis Ababa was 25km, 100km and 850km respectively. The average costs of transport from Atsbi Wemberta to Wukro, Adigrat and Addis Ababa have been Birr 300, 500 and 3500 per truck load, respectively. The mean transport cost for wholesalers constituted 46% of their total marketing costs. Transport cost to Addis Ababa is sometimes higher than the normal rate that is from Birr 3500 to 4500 per truck due to the raw material that couldn't be transported with other commodities.Market information is said to be more perishable than the commodity itself. Access to timely and accurate market information is therefore vital not only for hides and skins marketing but also for the marketing of other commodities. Tschirley et.al (1995) argues that the existence of information barriers results in unexploited market opportunities, seasonal gluts and produces with inadequate quality specification and control, inequitable returns to producers and fundamentally poor returns to production and marketing system as a whole.Accurate and timely market information enhances market performance by improving the knowledge of buyers and sellers concerning prices, price trends, production, supply movements, stocks, and demand conditions at each level of the market (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992). Although producers, traders and tanneries are the direct beneficiaries of the reliable and timely market information, ultimately, there are benefits to the consumers (users of leather products) and government, as a result of market efficiency and enhanced competition. Hence, producers, traders and tanneries require information on the most current prices and market conditions in domestic and international markets.In the study area, producers had limited market access and weak bargaining power partly due to dearth of market information. The study result shows that over 84% of producers accept reported market prices. Only 15.7% of the sampled farmers have access to market information with significant difference in access among farmers in the different villages. It is also interesting to note that 96.7% of the sample farmers in all the sites reported that they had no price information prior to going to the market for selling the hide or skin to the collectors or traders or before visiting the nearby markets. Otherwise the source of information is neighboring farmers who happen to visit the nearby local or wereda markets, or local collectors in their vicinity.This study found out that wholesalers and tanneries have market information access with significant difference on timeliness and quality of information. Generally, the quality and the timeliness of the information is the critical problem for most channel members, except regional wholesalers and tanneries. At local level, personal visit to markets, nearby farmers, client traders, and sometimes telephones serve as the sources of market information. For the better off traders (wholesalers and rarely local collectors) the main information channel is through telephone. None of the studied individuals (neither producers nor traders) responded having used radio as a source of information due to lack of radio dissemination due to lack of the source. In the Tigrai region major crops' price information is disseminated regularly via the voice of \"Dimtsi Weyane\" radio while the price of livestock and livestock products, except honey, is not. Source of market information of each site's producer is presented in Table 3.9 below. Some producers try to get scanty and outdated price information from the local collectors and wholesale traders. Basically, wholesalers do in all cases obtain relatively timely price information and make purchase decision based on the existing market situation as compared to the local collectors and producers. Generally speaking, tanneries had best access to all information through electronic media and the internet, and played significant role in price decision. In the existing marketing system, local collectors and wholesalers basically follow the price trends of big institutional buyers (regional wholesalers and tanneries) in price setting.In addition to the non-accessibility and poor quality of the available information, Wolday (1994) explained that absence of centralized MIS and lack of stronger analytical skills to interpret the available sources are major constraints in marketing.Based on this rationale, Tschirley et al. (1995) argued that Ethiopia must take the leading role in creating MIS to facilitate production and marketing activities.The buyers at different levels get information from different sources namely tanneries and regional wholesalers. The wholesalers who have the capacity to supply hides and skins to the tanneries and regional wholesalers receive information from the tanneries through telephone. The wholesalers who lack the capacity to supply hides and skins to the tanneries, on the other hand, obtain secondary information from the regional wholesalers. This has given the primary information receivers the advantage to enjoy superior market power. In contrast, in the study area the scarce market information coupled with limited availability of working capital has pushed a wholesaler out of the market.There are a number of highlighted constraints that hamper further development of the hides and skins sector in Atsbi Wemberta as well as in the region. The following production and marketing problems are indicated by various respondents.Farmers reported a number of problems related to production and marketing of hides and skins. Low husbandry and management of livestock product decrease the quality of hides and skins and create problems in marketing.Most important husbandry related quality defects of the products are livestock diseases and parasites, like mange, as well as lack of veterinary services were indicated as the major hindrance of quality by 73.6% of the sample farmers. Injury, flay cut and drought also have significant effect on reducing the quality of hides and skins. Of the sample farmers, 26.4% responded that they face rejected grades from the traders, due to low quality of hides and skins caused by drought, flay cut and injury, forcing them to sell at lower price. and unstable hides and skins prices also have significant problem to the farmers.The problems faced by hides and skins traders include poor quality, capital shortage, administrative problems, poor telephone services, and unstable prices. Government facilitating and regulatory support, access to credit or nearby bank service, transport, storage, information flow, are also reported as the problems of the traders. Only some of the most important problems are briefly discussed below:Improving the quality of hides and skins involves improving husbandry, slaughtering, transport, and storing. As noted earlier, all of the traders confirmed that the hides and skins brought to markets have quality problems due to disease and parasites, injury and flay cuts. Two traders respond that local collectors are reluctant to sell their produce on time due to lack of actual price information and low price offer for their hides and skins.The wholesale traders reported capital shortage and lack of access to credit as limiting factors in operation and business expansion. The problems in acquiring loan resulted from lack of bank in the wereda. Because, taking credit from other distant banks is not safe for transporting their money. Hides and skins trade is seasonal and its profitability is doubtful for informal lenders. Therefore, nobody was interested to lend for hides and skins traders easily. The other problem is unstable price of hides and skins which causes deficit. Some of the traders sold their hides and skins to tanneries on credit, which aggravates their financial problem.The survey revealed that wholesale traders complain that the government does not focus on hides and skins trade by accessing them to credit facility. They also complain that they could not get regular buyers and could not sell their hides and skins on free market basis unless they have network with regional wholesalers and/or tanneries. This, according to them, is because hides and skins trade is seasonal and operated only for a few months (on and off). Farther problems include lack of transparent service delivery of the municipality, double (municipality and Inland Revenue) charge and telephone service in that they have no connection to their home.The other infrastructural problem relates to the poorly paved roads that connect local markets with the Wereda/ town market. Human portages and pack animals are the most frequently used means of transport as some of the roads to the local markets are difficult for vehicles during rainy season. It was observed that Isuzu trucks are the best means of transport for local collectors and to move hides and skins from local (village) markets to wereda market. All local collectors reported that they could get transport only on market days or on contract basis. Because of transportation problems they couldn't reach to the market on time. Under such circumstance, local collectors will be unable to sell their products at fair prices.Wholesale traders who supply hides and skins to tanneries reported that purchasing prices and actual grades of hides and skins based on standard grades were not made public immediately after purchase. Rather they were announced after the hides and skins are sorted and actually graded based on quality defects, in which case the process to announce takes several days, even weeks. Thus, the trader will go back to his destination without collecting his sales revenue. For instance, one trader reported that collects his sales revenue after two months from Ethiopia tannery was found to suffer from shortage of money to run his business. Similarly, the same trader reported that price information was communicated from the tanneries to the suppliers mostly when the world market prices of hides or skins were low. Further, in the informal discussion with the wholesalers, those traders who sell to regional wholesalers collected their money immediately after sells. In fact they buy by simple sorting the hides and skins, without actual standard grading. Some of them prefer to sell to regional wholesalers at lower price to get their money immediately.According to the World Bank ( 2005), the estimated off-take rate for sheep in Ethiopia is 40%; and UNCTAD ( 2002) estimated the off-take rate for goats and cattle, which is 37% and 6.5%, respectively. Taking these estimations to the region as well as to the wereda, since there is no specific off-take rate for regions, the expected supply of hides and skins from the wereda to the market is 36,153. But the actual hides and skins marketed in 2006/07 are 52,861, and this exceeds the expected number. The main reason, according to the informal discussions with the target groups, is that hides and skins are also bought from Afar region and other bordering weredas. In addition, cattle and shoats from southern zone are sold in the wereda market as reported by the wereda experts.The increment of supplied hides and skins is also due to the increased consumption of meat by the society, which in turn results from increased income of households.The average throughput of the samples per household per year is two. On the other hand, in some drought areas increase of deaths due to drought increased the supply of low quality hides and skins, as explained by the experts.The supply of hides and skins fluctuates from time to time, increasing on holidays (New Year, True Cross (Meskel), X-mass and Easter) and decreasing at other times.  , 2008). It is important to note that the tanneries are currently shifting from semi processed to processed leather and leather products.The hides and skins supplied from Tigrai region in 2006/07 was 1,366,485. Sheba tannery bought 1,009,395 in the same year, out of which only 49% was from Tigrai, while 51% was from Amhara, Addis Ababa and Oromiya (Jimma). Out of the hides and skins produced in the wereda, only 19% was supplied to Sheba tannery in Wukro. The reason for not buying more than this, as explained by the tannery, was shortage of supply of good quality. On the other hand, the Wholesale trader in Atsbi reported that the reason for not selling to Sheba tannery is the low price offered by the tannery and the long process that grading of each hide or skin requires.This section describes the size and distribution of firms in the market, and their behavior, which are important determinants of how well the markets perform various functions.In what follows, the characteristics of the organization of the market that may influence the nature of competition and pricing within the markets including degree of buyers' concentration, entry barriers, product differentiation and market transparency are discussed.Market concentration refers to the number and relative size of buyers or sellers in a market. Many studies indicate the existence of some degree of positive relationship between market concentration and gross marketing margins (Scot, 1995). It is generally believed that, higher market concentration implies a non-competitive behavior and thus inefficiency. However, some studies also warn against the interpretation of such relationships in isolation from other determinant factors like barriers to entry and scale economies (Scot, 1995).In this study, the degree of market concentration was measured using one of the common measures of market concentration, i.e. Concentration Ratio. Considerable attention was given to wholesale traders, as they were the centers that link the producers and collectively agents to the tanneries. Hence, CR 1 of the wholesalers was calculated from the volume hides and skins purchased (annex 5 and 6).   In summary, the concentration ratios reveal that in both towns very few traders controlled the volume of hides and skins trade. It is therefore, important to look into the entry barriers so as to find out if there are major impediments to people who want to get involved in the trade of hides and skins in the study areas.Trade barriers have often laid the groundwork for market imperfection. Whether by intent or not, many regulatory actions by state or local units have the result of restricting freedom to entry and the free flow of goods and services (Kohls and Uhl, 1985).It is difficult to interview the traders about barriers to entry since all have entered the market. Rather, observation of the extent to which fluctuations in the number of active traders follow rises and falls in profitability can be considered.Even though some barriers were intrinsic to certain traders and others were erected by the single or combined actions of the incumbent traders, the barriers to entry and stay in the trade of hides and skins in the study areas included lack of working capital, loose regulatory activity, unreliable price information, and risk and administrative barriers. The main barriers to entry will be discussed as follows:The survey result revealed that an initial outlay was required to participate in the trade of hides and skins. This is explained by the high working capital requirement and investment capital required for purchasing hides and skins, and to construct stores and curing sheds. Therefore, based on the volume of purchase, an amount varying from Birr 50,000 to 100,000 Birr was required to construct stores and curing sheds for hides and skins. Although the working capital required was reported to vary depending upon the price level and quantity of the raw material to be purchased, the working capital of wholesalers was reported to be varying from Birr 30,000 to Birr 50,000 to exist in the competition.Therefore, traders are in need of credits from financial institutions to address their financial requirements. Yet, they have no access to the institutions in the wereda, and they regret to borrow from other towns due to security issues to travel long distance carrying their money. Those traders who had no access to official credit sources due to absence of banks borrowed from informal lenders, relatives and friends. As a result, they were forced to pay high interest rate.The traders' access to working capital determines the structure and conduct of the market. That is, those who have a good amount of money can buy in bulk and pay immediately to producers. Even they have the capacity to increase the purchasing price. Capital provided insights into relative market bargaining powers, conditions of demand, and of competition and key opportunities on the trade of the raw materials.There are wholesalers who extend some amount of capital, as advance payment, to collectors to assure good collection of hides and skins. This has limited the freedom to freely trade through forcing credit receivers to retain hides and skins until the wholesaler asked for the delivery. In other words, a collector's indebtedness to a wholesaler narrows his choice to a single trader.On the other hand, the difference in capital between traders has contributed to the divergence in terms of rate of accumulation of hides and skins and therefore in degrees of competition. Thus, according to the survey, lack of capital is the major problem in hides and skins marketing in the area. It is the real barrier to enter into and stay in the hides and skins markets.About 15 years ago, licensing was a major bottleneck to get involved in raw hides and skins trading. A license holder was forbidden to perform any activity other than the one for which he was licensed. At present, however, getting a license simply requires having facilities such as store, curing shed and other materials irrespective of whether one is engaged in other activities or not. A license can be issued to a wholesaler with a minimum initial working capital of Birr 5,000 (BoTIT, 2006). And sectors responsible for the issuance of the certificate and license, respectively, are the wereda office of agriculture and rural development and office of trade industry and transport. Before the issuance of the working certificate to the traders, the appropriate livestock expert does technical evaluation of the established internal facilities including stores and curing sheds from the WOARD. Once the establishments were found to meet the required standards, the Work Permit was issued by the WOARD. The facilities were not only evaluated during issuance of working certificate, but they were also regularly inspected for their continuous compliance with the standards at least once a year before annual renewal of trade license. However, in addition to the Work Permit, wholesalers must get a trade license from the WOTIT if they fulfill the initial capital requirement.The local collectors were registered by the WOARD for technical fitness to work on hides and skins trade/collection and have temporary certificate that is renewable every six months, but no trade license.The traders believe that the weak inspection of the establishments has contributed to the recurrent quality deterioration of hides and skins in the study sites. Some traders were buying by 'commission agents' outside the market place and the agents put the hide or skin on dust without caring for the quality. In this intent, in addition to influencing the quality of hides and skins, the condition has led to unhealthy competition among trade participants.The tax that hides and skins traders have to pay depend on the level of license, and the amount of hides and skins they sell. The tax paid by the traders ranged from Birr 800 -3000 in the survey period. According to the WOTIT, a licensing fee of Birr 165 was required to get a license and the renewal fee was Birr 52.00. The respondents reported that there is additional payment for the municipality, which ranges from Birr 300 -600.Hides and skins trade in the study area was subjected to price risk. In spite of this, there was disagreement among participants on whether shortage of supply or increased demand was a risk in the hides and skins marketing system. Two wholesale traders in the wereda argued that although there was unstable supply of hides and skins, production of the raw material had rather increased. Thus, they underlined that the only risk factor was the stiff competition among traders due to high demand for the raw material in the tanneries, resulting from attractive leather price in the world market. On the other hand, one wholesale trader pointed out that shortage of supply was an important problem in the hides and skins market for economies of scale due to the unsatisfied demand. The same trader, of the same order reported that at present, as a result of the free market policy in the country, the numbers of tanning industries and leather product factories have been increasing over years. These industries and factories use a large volume of raw hides and skins and leather.The increase in demand for the raw material has created a cutthroat competition, which can only be withstood by potential traders with good capital and credit performance. Some wholesalers reported that the networking between few wholesalers, regional wholesalers and tanneries is also a great barrier for new traders to enter and compete in the market.There are two mandatory standards in Ethiopia, which deal with leather products, namely, raw hides and skins standards and leather standards set out in regulationNo. 12/1990(Mulat, 1999, cited in Girma, 2002). Cattle hides and sheep or goatskins are classified into various grades (1-4 and reject) according to quality, weight range, size and appearance in order to determine the commercial value and the type of leather to be produced.Accordingly, the traders in the study area reported that they tried to classify and offer different prices for hides and skins based on size, weight and presence of visible defects. But to follow the standards strictly, they have fear of loosing customers, since they assume their competitors do not follow the standards. According to the traders, hides and skins obtained from butcheries fetch better prices compared with backyard slaughter, which lack quality due to improper slaughtering technique, place, and preservation method. Sheep and goat skins supplied in fresh state and wet salted are first choices of traders provided they have no visual defects. The rejected hides or skins, most of the time, are sold to the tanneries at lower prices.Practically, according to producers, since they didn't pay better prices for hides and skins of better quality based on size, weight and absence of defects, no care and attention is paid in the raw material handling to improve the quality.The main defects attributed to quality deterioration were flaying cuts, Hole, putrefaction (due to delayed care) and scratches (Mulat, 1999, cited in Girma, 2002).According to the regional experts of hides and skins, the reason for decrease in quality of hides and skins was explained by improper slaughtering practices and delay in supply by producers and poor preservation methods exercised by traders.The volume and grade of hides and skins supplied from the wereda to the secondary or terminal market are shown in Table 12 below.  , 1999, , cited in Girma, (2002) ) noted that though standards are the prerequisites for quality control and certification activities, as a result of limited skill and experience, nature of judgment which is highly subjective, absence of strict follow up and supervision and above all, due to market influence, traders and tanneries do not efficiently utilize the standards set in regulation No. 12/1990. However, it is clear that there is room for significant improvement of hides and skins. During discussions with the concerned parties, it was emphasized that purchasing by grade standard was the only means that could improve quality. In principle, there was no dispute on this issue. However, there was equally broad concern and apprehension as to the mechanism of implementation, for fear of being disadvantaged due to market influence of hides and skins and high competition among participants. The producers, rural collectors and wholesalers do not deep knowledge and apply the standards clearly.Market information is not transparent among traders and producers in the study area.In the sample markets all actors had information through different sources. Local collectors rely on contact with wholesalers to obtain market information regarding price in tanneries. Moreover, information of price in the nearby market is unevenly distributed among the traders. Survey result indicated that the majority of the channel members got price through the combination of telephone, personal observation and other traders. It was observed that many local collectors staying for longer time to get telephone service on the market day to check wholesale price to purchase from farmers. On the other hand grading is not on the basis of the standard indicators of grading, rather subjectively by simple sorting which is not clear to the sellers.It is difficult to generalize about pricing behavior where the number of firms is small and no collusion exists among such firms. Each must take account of what other firms will do in response to a particular pricing decision (Tomek and Robinson, 1990).Even though the price of hides and skins is a reflection of world market price and the behavior of traders in pricing, an attempt was made to examine the collusive, discriminating or competitive pricing strategy for hide and skin traders in the study area during the survey period. The findings show that no evidence was found to support the popular assertion of collusive pricing associated with a concentrated market, because the survey assessed that there is high competition between the traders and disagreement among them.According to the traders, a price change made by one of the traders will be immediately followed by a similar change by other traders. If the price paid by a trader is below the price prevailing in the market, he will end up by losing his customers. However, the rigor of price competition among traders was moderated by added incentives they give to the collectors. Other forms of incentives given by wholesalers include provision of transportation services or covering transfer costs, and lending working capital. These incentives include some of the mechanisms of establishing long-term partnership with the agents. Thus, marketing agents differentiate among others on the basis of the network they have between them.Although there are other potential buyers within the same towns, an agent's indebtedness to a trader narrows his choice to a single trader. This credit marketing arrangement enabled the traders to exercise some form of price fixation or price discrimination in each of the market areas.Though tanneries are concentrated around Addis Ababa, informal discussion with wholesalers revealed that, the tanneries mostly use networking with most wholesalers, as a result of which a newcomer finds difficulty in selling his hides and skins. All traders reported that tanneries have no transparent measuring system of quality standards. They didn't give clear grades for the supplied hides and skins;rather they put 1-3, 4 and reject grades and they pay the same (lump sum) price for grades 1-3 rd , and separate price for grade 4 and the rejected. Further, most of the time, they didn't give the money immediately. Instead they gave them after weeks, and even months, and the prices were determined absolutely by the tanneries.To see the details of tanneries, the researcher faced difficulty due to their denial to give data quoting \"quality and price information are confidential\". But Sheba tannery cooperated in giving data and information. Accordingly, actual (final) grading is not possible before processing, responded by the tannery so it was buying on gross basis then averaging 1-3, 4 and rejected by sorting based on visual defects, because grading according to the standards during purchasing takes long time and thus might loose his clients and some of the indicators are identified after processing. Payment was done on the basis of the international market immediately or some times on credit basis.Further insights into the economic efficiency of markets, and particularly the costs of market imperfections, can be obtained through an examination of the ways in and degrees to which price behavior departs from that predicted by the model of perfect competition (Scarborough and Kydd, 1992). In this study, the pricing behavior was examined in order to determine the level of operational pricing efficiencies. Towards this end, analysis of marketing margin, marketing costs and market channels was made (table 14).With liberalization of the economy and lifting of the price control mechanisms after 1991, at present, participants in the marketing chain function freely. Thus, in this study, computation of the marketing margin depends on values of hides and skins under such circumstances. The time series data used in the margin estimation, to a much larger extent, were price information obtained from the respective wereda agricultural offices and Sheba tannery in Wukro.There are numerous participants in the marketing chain of hides and skins in general.However, it was difficult to obtain time series data for all participants, except wholesalers who transfer the same product to Wukro, Adigrat and Addis Ababa in 2006/07. Therefore, wholesalers were mainly considered in this study. At the same time, prices of all segments coupled with cost accounts of the same agents were used to carry out the margin calculation. Hence, the study analyzed the data on the supply of hides and skins that went into and out of the town in 2006/07.The producer prices were prices at which the traders purchased cattle hides, sheep or goatskins from urban or rural residents who slaughtered cattle, sheep and/or goats and marketed the hides and skins either fresh or dried. The average annual hide and skin prices in the town were used for the calculation of the marketing margin. The total marketing margin (TMM) is obtained by subtracting the producer prices in the market from the tannery prices in the same markets. The difference between the gross margin from the tanneries in the terminal market and the corresponding wholesale marketing costs in the town is the net marketing margin (NMM) of the wholesaler. On top of this, producer's portion, the price paid by the end consumer that belongs to the producer (the producer's gross margin (GMM P )), is calculated as a difference of price paid by the consumer and gross marketing margin.The relative margins expressed as percentage, cannot be compared between them when margin calculations are done using different denominators as if they belong to the same chain (Mendoza, 1991). Thus, to get rid of errors and misunderstanding that can be encountered as a result of using different bases, the consumer price which, in this case, is the tannery price, is employed as a common denominator for relative margin calculations expressed as a percentage. Therefore, based on the data on the buying and selling prices and applying the gross marketing margin calculation formulae (GMM), the marketing margins for trade participants in the marketing chain are shown in table 14.The marketing margin in the hides and skins marketing system includes marketing costs and typically some additional net income by the different market participants in the system. Hides and skins traders incur costs when performing marketing The predominance of transport costs in the hides and skins marketing system signifies two important consequences. Firstly, the marketing has closely followed the rate of increase in transport costs. Secondly, the transport costs in the hides and skins marketing have introduced a downward rigidity in the marketing margin.The chain connecting both producers and tanneries was found to be complex. Hides and skins markets are librated, and government institutions provide only technical support, licensing and regulatory work. The basic and important hides and skins marketing channels identified during the study are diverse and a little bit different from the chains of other commodities; that the hides and skins were traded to Adigrat and goes back to Wukro and Addis Ababa.The initial links for hides and skins marketing channels are producers that kill animals either on festivals or occasions and sell the outer covering and the final destinations are tanneries that process the raw material to semi-processed and finished leather, and sell to domestic and export market. In between, lots of actors existed which play significant roles for the movement of the product to its final destination.The various agents involved in the marketing process of hides and skins in the study area include producers, local collectors, wholesalers and tanneries. Producers are the initial sources and consist of individual meat consumers and butcheries and agents could be of local collectors, wholesalers and tanneries.The magnitude of these channel participants was measured based on 2006/07 business transaction. As per the findings of the study, the number of marketed hides and skins that would flow to the market through the identified channel members was 52,861 (1,504 hides, 38,989 sheep skins, 12,368 goatskins). Hence, the shares are estimated based on the reports from the survey participants and WOARD data sources.The urban producer who kills animals at home or backyards sells the fresh or dried hides or skins to the wholesale trader. On the other hand, farmers sell mostly fresh or dried hide or skin in their farm gate or local markets to local collectors (66%), who in turn sell to wholesalers. In some cases farmers sell their produces to wholesalers (34%), after transporting to the wereda market, in expectation of better price offer.Of the region's raw hides and skins supplied to wukro, Gonder, Dessie, Addis Ababa and Modjo 75% comes directly from wholesalers and 25% through regional wholesalers of the region. Hides and skins that are preserved and assembled at wholesale levels of the wereda are passed to regional wholesalers (Adigrat and Addis Ababa, 29%) and/or tanneries (Sheba and Ethiopia, 71%). Most of the hides and skins of the wereda are directly supplied to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia Tannery).Tanneries process the hides or skins purchased; either in the form of air dried or salted states from their suppliers, to semi-finished or finished leather for both domestic and export markets.The channels that were considered for the analyses are as follows: Seven lines of market channels were identified for hides and skins. Two of them went through regional wholesalers in Adigrat and Addis Ababa to tanneries, while the others directly from wholesalers of the wereda to tanneries.Besides, the volume that passed through each channel was compared, and based on the result the channel that stretched from producer-local collector-wholesalertannery (AA) hosted the largest followed by channel that went through producerwholesaler-tannery (AA) shouldering a volume of 25,181 and 12,158 respectively.As observed from table 13 the largest producer's share obtained through a channel when a sale from producer -wholesaler -tanneries (Wukro) (channel 2) is made seconded by producer-wholesaler-tannery (AA) (channel 1). Even though these channels were very impressing from the perspective of producers and consumers (better producer share and low buying price for tanneries), the volume of hides and skins that passed through channel 2 was very insignificant amounting 1859. Still comparing based on the total gross marketing margin the channel that stretched from producer-wholesaler-tannery (channel 2) is better.However, using one indicator as sole parameter would not give appropriate result to judge the efficiency of the channel. Hence, following the works of Ramakumar (2001) all the four parameters were taken simultaneously. The four parameters that were included, encompassed volume handled, producers share, total gross marketing margin, and rate of return. Using these parameters the overall rank indicated channel 1 becomes first seconded by channel 6. In all cases the inefficient channel was channel 7 (low producers share, high GMM, long channel, ranked last). The main objective of this thesis was to analyze the marketing system of hides and skins in Atsbi Wemberta Wereda. The specific objectives included identifying the roles of major actors and market channels, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the marketing system, and estimating the potential supply and demand of hides and skins.Different respondents at all stages of the market channels were interviewed. The analysis of the strength and weakness of the market was made with the help of descriptive and SCP tools employing SPSS software.A total of 121 farming respondents drawn from four kebles, all 15 local collectors, all 3 wholesalers from Atsbi, 1 regional wholesaler and all 2 wholesalers from Adigrat, as well as Sheba tannery were interviewed using structured questionnaires. Rapid market appraisal using key informant discussions was the other tool employed in the process of primary data collection. Secondary data was also used in the study.Analysis of data collected from farmers showed that the average family size was about 6, the average experience in farming and non-farming activities was 21.31 and 5.26 years, respectively and the farming and non-farming income earned were Birr 5,464 and 1,655 respectively indicating non farming income is subsidiary to the farmer. The house types of the sample farmers were 65% iron sheeted and 35% mud roofed. There is an improvement of life style of the farmers. The sampled households had an average of 4 cattle, 16 shoats and 5 equine and one bee colony with high variability.The producers sell their hides and skins to whoever pays better price. Out of the producers 59% did not acquire any power in price decision as they are price takers. Most farmers of the wereda supplied their hide or skin mainly to local collectors due to distance and information factors.Local collectors are the significant actors in the local market of hides and skins; they buy 66% of the total supply and sell to wholesalers depending upon prior agreements and/or fairness of the price offered, and have an average of 10.31 years experience in collection, earning average annual income of Birr 31,203 from this job in the survey period.Wholesale traders from the area are bulk purchasers of all channel members in the wereda and play significant role in price making at wereda level because of having timely price information from tanneries, directly or through regional wholesalers.Atsbi Wemberta WOARD is the core extension service giving institution. Three Producers have limited access to market and weak bargaining power partly due to dearth of market information. Wholesalers seemed to control the major channel (due to asymmetric market information) which resulted in an exploitative market behavior in raw hides and skins market.Hides and skins of the wereda were marketed to Adigrat, Wukro and Addis Ababa. Out of the estimated marketed hides and skins, 8,140 (15.4%) were sold to Adigrat (regional wholesaler), 4,961(9.4%) to Wukro (Sheba tannery) and 39,760 (75.2%) to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia tannery and regional wholesaler).The production and marketing system was constrained by a number of problems.Livestock diseases and parasites as well as lack of veterinary services were indicated as the major hindrances to quality of hides and skins as reported by 73.6% of the sample farmers. Injury and flay cut, and drought also have significant effect on reducing the quality as reported by all trade agents. Quality grading practiced by traders is not based on the standards and specifications of the country. They are subjective and not transparent. Lack of access to market (information and distance) also causes significant problem to the sample farmers.Hides and skins traders in the wereda faced quality problems, capital shortage and lack of access to credit due to lack of bank service. Unstable price of hides and skins is the other problem of the traders. Delayed payment is a cause of financial problem for the wholesalers. Two wholesale traders complained that there was no enough government support (poor service delivery of municipality, double charging) and they couldn't sell on free market basis due to networking of some wholesalers and tanneries. There was shortage of supply of good quality hides and skins due to husbandry and management problems. Low price information and low price offer for hides and skins made local collectors reluctant to sell on time waiting for price increase. Lack of access to transportation is also another problem of the local collectors.Supply of hides and skins is mainly dependent on livestock ownership and extension service in the area. The supply of hides and skins, especially goat skins from the area is decreasing from year to year. According to the informal discussions with target groups and WOARD experts, the reasons for the decrease in supply include producers in the border to other wereda may sell to the neighboring weredas, due to nearness of the markets, and loose follow up and control.The potential demand of the wereda hides and skins were regional wholesalers and tanneries in Adigrat, Wukro (Sheba tannery) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia tannery). The demand was increasing throughout the year due to increasing value of hides and skins in domestic and export markets. In fact, currently the prices are falling down drastically.The rising of new tanneries in the country and their improved capacity of processing explore the demand. All supplied hides and skins in the year were marketed at different prices. The price fluctuated mainly due to international market instability.Market concentration of the licensed traders in the studied markets (Adigrat and Atsbi) was analyzed using concentration ratio. Market concentrations (for the wholesale traders of hides and skins) in the markets were very high (87% and 73% for Adigrat and Atsbi in 2006/07, respectively), resulting in a state of oligopolistic market structure. From the findings the same individual participants were dominating the trade throughout the years.The relationship between access to credit and market power was a useful finding in the study. Those traders who had received loans from formal sector in Adigrat benefited and increased their purchasing activities. i.e., traders with high working capital had huge collection of the raw stock due to effective control of the quantity of hides and skins supplied to the market than Atsbi traders.Lack of capital and credit, coupled with unreliable market information, made the traders in the wereda weak in their market decisions and increasing market risks, which are characteristics of inferior market.As a result of free market policy in the country, numbers of tanning industries and leather product factories have been increasing thereby using a large volume of hides and skins, and leather. The wholesalers reported that the networking between some wholesalers and tanneries is also a barrier for new traders to enter and compete in the market.Moreover, the entry of new trader was hampered, among others, by the urban municipality delayed service in leasing land. This has dissuaded traders from building stores and curing sheds, which are basic structures for proper handling and marketing of hides and skins. The cumbersome process of the municipality to lease land led the existing traders to rent houses which are not conducive for proper handling of hides and skins. Thus, the expenditure for rent in addition to a shortage of capital made the traders practically difficult to stay in the competition.There are mandatory standards of raw hides and skins, and leather legally issued in Ethiopia. Based on these standards there are grades (1-4 and reject). Wholesale traders in the study area reported that they were buying partially based on the quality standards, but according to the producers and informal discussions with experts as well as the observation during the survey period, they didn't pay better prices for good quality hides and skins. The wholesale traders reported the reason for not differentiating price based on the quality standards is that if one followed these standards he would expect to loose his customers, because others didn't follow the standards due to loose control of government body. In fact, they are serious for reject grades. Due to this and low extension service, producers didn't care for and no attention was paid to the raw material handling and to improve the quality.During discussions with the concerned parties, it was emphasized that purchasing by grade was the only means that could improve quality. In principle, there is no dispute on this issue. However, there was equally broad concern and apprehension as to the mechanism of implementation, for fear of being disadvantaged due to market influence of hides and skins and high competition among participants. Marketing margins of tanneries is highest, in channel 7. Profit margins for all marketing agents are positive. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the markets are operating profitably with significant difference among channel members.Finally, though there are potential opportunities for the production and marketing, the raw hides and skins is constrained by many factors. Some of the constraints identified include: Shortage of finance, lack of timely and accurate market information, weak extension services on livestock product management, inability to explore the potentials of the world hides and skins market, poor infrastructures like credit institutions and telephone services, high cost of transportation, loose controlling and facilitating institution.Informal discussion with Ethiopia Tanneries Association reveals few tanneries (Ethiopia tannery, ELICO, Dire) share more than 70% of the leather supply of the country. This non-competitive structure has resulted in considerable price uncertainties and price differences among regional markets. Hence, the availability of price /market information in the short run could help in reducing undue variations in prices and in the long run it will result in the most profitable allocation of resources.Designing of efficient market channel, establishment of purchase by standard grade system for raw hides and skins, skill development of market forces, delivery of current market information, and developments of product promotion strategies and training of extension agents are some of the recommended solutions below. There is an effort on extension system to improve livestock and livestock management in the region, but the extension approach is general and less effective in improving the production/quality and market of hides and skins. The study result farther confirmed that only 45% of the target hides and skins producers have access to extension agent's contact on livestock products management and even the contact was irregular and less frequent. Attention should be given to this sub sector, hence, it is recommended to make a reform on the organizational structure, train the extension agents and updating their capacity with improved production and marketing matters thereby to transfer their knowledge to the producers. There should also be training for the local collectors and wholesale traders involved in the preservation of the raw materials. Marketing of hides and skins should depend strongly on quality, which in turn relies upon the treatment of the animal during its lifetime and the way in which the hide or skin is removed, treated, stored and transported prior to tanning. Therefore, care and proper handling of hides and skins both on stock and curing shed as well as transporting is very essential to raise quality and foreign exchange earnings. The weakness is in the first link of the market chain; raw hides and skins are of poor quality due to branding, scratching, flay cut, and diseases and parasites; poor butchery; and lack of a proper hides and skins marketing system, including a proper pricing system based on quality standards. Provision of efficient and effective veterinary service to the animals and effective extension service to the producers is crucial for the quality improvement. The sorting of hides and skins into standard grades is a facilitating marketing function which constitute an agreed upon market language. Therefore, concerned government and private bodies should reinforce and mainstream the system of selling/ buying of hides and skins on standard grade basis. This has a greater incentive for quality improvement as those who produce better quality of hides and skins are paid attractive prices. The existing hides and skins markets are loosely integrated due to lack of accurate and timely information or information asymmetries that have made the markets non-competitive. Thus, a market information system is required that allows stakeholders to get information on quantity and price, both on the domestic and foreign markets. Therefore, public or private market information service rendering agencies should be involved in the area of hides and skins marketing in providing reliable and timely information. The SCP analysis of the channel members clearly indicated that the channel has not too much routes of hides and skins market. The CR 1 measures of market structure indicated the tight oligopolistic nature of hides and skins market at woreda level markets. Successful commercialization can be achieved only when it is supported by an efficient marketing system. The Atsbi Wemberta hides and skins market had much inefficiency due to the monopoly of product handled and farmers' weak bargaining power due to lack of market information. Therefore, emphasis should be given to improve the facilities of the market like credit and telephone as well as information access to make the market efficient and competitive. For a tremendous expansion and effective utilization of our livestock industry is therefore, to device an integrated approach in the livestock sub-components such as veterinary and husbandry as well as feed management and marketing to improve production of animals eventually production and marketing of hides and skins. Further, market research needs to be undertaken to identify the detailed problems and constraints in the production and marketing system of hides and skins of the region and to know the requirements of the national market. This helps to design policies and strategies that can bring effective production and marketing system of hides and skins and to match the supply with the demand. No defects visible in the butt; defects in the shoulder or belly assessed at not more than 5 defect units in total and 90-100% usable.Grade 2 Defect in the butt, shoulder & belly assessed at not more than 12 defect units in total of which not more than 8 in the butt and 80-89% usable.Defects assessed between 12 and 24 defect units at the most and 70-79% usable.Grade 4 defects assessed at more than 24 defect units, the unusable area of the hide being at the most equal to 50-69% of the total area Large Cattle Rejects Hides of which more than 50% of the surface is unusable.No visible defects, which are likely to depreciate the skin, appearing beyond 2.5 cm from the edges and 90-100% usable.Defects assessed to a total of 1-3 defect units and 80-89% usable.Defects assessed to a total of 4-8 defect units and 70-79% usable.Defects assessed at a total of more than 8 defect units, the usable area being at the most equal to 50-69% of the total area.Skins of which more than 50% of the area is unusable. a. Name, -----------------------------------b. Name, -----------------------------------Address --------------------------Address --------------------------Quantity --------------------Quantity -------------------c. Name, -----------------------------------d. Name, -----------------------------------Address --------------------------Address --------------------------Quantity --------------------Quantity --------------------25. What was the amount and selling price of the hides and skins you sold in 1999  a. Ourselves ----------------c. Buyers (specify) -----------------b. Set by demand and supply (negotiations) ---------------d. Sellers ----------------e. Other (specify) ------------------------","tokenCount":"22777"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2545218906.json b/data/part_1/2545218906.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..02e8957ed4dbc411c4efffaebd6f292e4f188d40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2545218906.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8561be432e9418c9211c4e2ebb941a69","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fbefcc70-251e-4fb0-acfd-a3a8fde0e7f4/retrieve","id":"-467946258"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f0ca968d-0a3a-4580-9c62-be5cca5cf328","pagecount":"4","content":"The instruments that we propose for the equitable distributi on of environmental benefi ts in Andean watersheds are mechanisms based on dialogue and social consensus and not just on the payment of environmental services.As a starti ng point for the discussion and consensus, investment in scienti fi c research and monitoring is fundamental as they allow us to have clear diagnoses of the interventi on zone and proposals that may generate tangible benefi ts for the stakeholders in watersheds.Water is fundamental for food, producti on, transportati on and health, but also for the integrity of ecosystems. For this reason, the applicati on of modern concepts for its proper management allows us to care for the functi ons that it has for society and for the conservati on of ecosystems; management with a holisti c vision that combines cultural, environmental and social elements.Environmental Services?Environmental Services (or Ecosystem Services) are benefi ts that people obtain from ecosystems. For example, we receive clean water if we have a good vegetati on cover in areas of the watershed where it rains most.Hydrological Environmental Services are water related services that society receives from ecosystems, like in the previous example. They include the regulati on of the hydrological cycle, high water yields, the maintenance of water quality and the recharge of aquifers.The correct handling of environmental services allows good environmental management which results in human wellbeing.Human beings that enjoy a state of wellbeing, have a greater capacity to realize good environmental management, ensuring therefore the provision of these services through a virtuous circle between human beings and the ecosystems they inhabit.However, there exist various diffi culti es in achieving good environmental management. In the case of water, those who benefi t from its use oft en live in a diff erent area from those who take care of the ecosystems where it is generated.For this reason, a questi on has been posed to connect these human groups: How can we make the people who benefi t from hydrological services (for example, those who consume water in the city or those who use irrigati on water for agricultural producti on) contribute to the wellbeing of those who guarantee its generati on and conservati on (such as communiti es whose territories include Andean forests, paramos and puna)?Based on this questi on, we thought about ways of building cooperati ve relati onships through sustainable and effi cient benefi t sharing mechanisms, which are: processes of collecti ve acti on that seek to guarantee the sati sfacti on of collecti ve and individual interests without prejudicing the basic resources, the quality of life and the wellbeing of the populati on and the actors involved in the watershed.In the Andean region, some of these are being implemented. The one which has received most att enti on in recent years is compensati on through a payment (in cash or kind) to the people taking care of ecosystems, for the service generated. Nevertheless, there exist other mechanisms, such as water funds, and parti cipatory conservati on budgets, among others.One of the recurring problems for the implementati on of benefi t sharing mechanisms is the low level of involvement and exchange between academic and practi cal knowledge, which weakens both.Despite the existence of a relati vely broad base of knowledge about hydrology in the Andes, the relati onship between the promoted acti viti es and the provision of environmental services is based on assumpti ons.Even though in some cases the assumpti ons are logical and valid, in others they are not (for example, some afforestation activities have a negative effect on the hydrology of Andean ecosystems).Another problem is the lack of adequate baseline (the hydrological state before a project is begun) and a monitoring program that allows the identification of a complementary benefit of the measure.Another challenge around the implementation of benefit sharing mechanisms is the establishment of a political and regulatory framework.It is a reality that various successful cases have been implemented despite there is not legislation or a regulatory agency for these types of mechanisms.This has demonstrated that it is not necessary to have a large amount of legislation. Nevertheless, it is true that the absence of a minimum regulatory framework can generate legal uncertainty (regarding \"property rights\" and \"user rights\", among others) and an insufficient consideration of issues of equity and efficiency (known as sharing costs and benefits).The required policies of knowledge should focus on transparency, precaution and monitoring.Transparency entails democratization of information; the opening up and dissemination of knowledge in different spaces, especially among the least favored groups directly related with the benefit sharing mechanisms.Precaution implies ensuring that decisions are not taken without a sufficient base of knowledge about eventual impacts.Monitoring entails ensuring that actions whose impacts are not previously known are accompanied by a process of measuring their impacts and the disposition for applying an adaptive management of the action. Good governance of information should be promoted, including clarifying who should produce this information and who should disseminate it.Action. Collective processes of dialogue need to be initiated and maintained, in which there is an interchange of findings and experiences, enriching the knowledge of the different actors.A policy framework around the benefit sharing mechanisms should not solely focus on environmental services per se, but also on their source: the ecosystems. The advantages of having a general legal framework are that they reduce the administrative costs of transaction, facilitate the integration of compatibility between policies, making more effective the application of policies across sectors regarding the use of hydrological services.Andean ecosystems, especially mountains with snow and ice, punas, páramos, wetlands and forests, provide multiple hydrological services to society.Despite the widely recognized importance of Andean ecosystems for society, human activity that negatively affects them is on the rise. Productive activities, such as agriculture, rearing of livestock, industrial forestry and mining are significantly altering the hydrological behavior of natural ecosystems (Buytaert et al., 2006) and therefore their capacity to generate hydrological services.Great efforts have been made to conserve ecosystems through control mechanisms and diverse projects. However, these have not achieved the desired results, principally due to the need to implement projects being greater than the capacity of governments and environmental organizations.Finally, the instruments that should be promoted have to be directed towards the redistributi on of the benefi ts (benefi t sharing mechanisms), because if a policy does not promote equity, it will not be sustainable.","tokenCount":"1063"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2564350857.json b/data/part_1/2564350857.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3a4ae407eab01b60250eec86b28406898b67b7dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2564350857.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79e48ef165666643a0a12887c7d7b1a6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/efb8f5c0-e1f6-4351-b6c6-d06649062fd8/retrieve","id":"-252198635"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ae37a6e-1f3e-4893-8fbd-4f2e8115e6b5","pagecount":"1","content":"A total of 15 SSR markers revealed 108 alleles among the 214 white lupin landrace accessions studied. Thirty landraces and the two control genotypes harbored one or more private alleles (from the total of 39 private alleles). AMOVA showed that 89% of allelic diversity was attributed to individuals within populations (P < 0.001) while only 11% was distributed among populations.At 70% similarity level, the dendrogram generated based on the UPGMA displayed 13 clusters comprising 2-136 landraces, with the two control genotypes and five landraces remaining distinct and ungrouped.Molecular Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Ethiopian White Lupin Landraces: Implications for Breeding and Conservation 1,3 Mulugeta A., 2 Yao, N., 3 Kassahun, T., 2 Martina, K., 3 Kifle D., and Dagne Wegari White lupin has been traditionally cultivated for several thousand years along the Nile valley, including in Ethiopia, and offers a wide range of functions. However, farmers production has not yet been supported by research and/or technology interventions under Ethiopian condition. Hence, this project is aiming to uncover and document crucial genetic information on Ethiopian white lupin landraces. These include: 1) molecular genetic diversity and relationship, 2) population structure; and 3) biodiversity conservation, all aiming at setting up practical national breeding programs to develop improved white lupin varieties to impact smallholders livelihood. The information generated from this project would be used to advise national breeding programs and will lead to variety development and biodiversity conservation. Improved white lupin varieties will contribute to increase production and ultimately improve livelihoods.Meanwhile, improving production level will especially target the less resourced people, women and youth for consumption, and income generation particularly through marketing of lupin grains and products.Deploying more lupin production in the farming system has a paramount importance at the farm level and the ecology at large scale, specially in marginal growing environments and under climate change constraints where other crops do not strive well.• Long time cultivation experience by Ethiopian smallholder farmers and low production input requirement of lupin could significantly contribute in scaling up of an improved technology/variety that could be developed based on the basic information generated by this project.• Its high social value among smallholders, consumption in bad crop harvest years by less resourced communities; coupled with significant involvement of women and youth in the marketing of lupin processed products and grains, would facilitate adoption and positively impact livelihood.White lupin phenotyping experiment in Ethiopia","tokenCount":"395"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2617633461.json b/data/part_1/2617633461.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b4450f8e0cd4445ae93444c6bc0cb05caf4c9263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2617633461.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f16ca34acb9336122a710b3b8ce041e5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42d673b6-2bdd-4820-a840-0d8eecf6a1db/retrieve","id":"-1656415901"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"89e3fbe1-6993-440b-99c9-e098a457877f","pagecount":"6","content":"Climate services are essential for adaptation to climate variability and change. The endorsement of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), whose intent is \"to strengthen the production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and services,\" by 155 nations at the 2009 World Climate Conference-III attests to this. The Global Framework aims to bridge the gap between the climate information being developed by scientists and service providers and the practical needs of end-users. 1 The GFCS implementation plan targets gaps in climate services in support of four initial climate-sensitive sectorsagriculture, health, disaster reduction and water -especially for those most vulnerable. This will be achieved through the development and incorporation of science-based climate information and predictions into planning, policy and practical decision-making. Effective climate services will facilitate climate-smart decisions that will, for example, mitigate the impacts of climate-related disasters, improve food security and health outcomes, enhance water resources management, and bring better outcomes in disaster risk reduction.As climate services continue to rise in prominence on national, regional and global agendas for climate adaptation and mitigation, it is important to re-examine what is meant by climate services and to look at the more difficult challenge.A climate service is a decision aide derived from climate information that assists individuals and organizations in society to make improved ex-ante decision-making. A climate service requires appropriate and iterative engagement to produce a timely advisory that end-users can comprehend and which can aid their decision-making and enable early action and preparedness. Climate services need to be provided to users in a seamless manner and, most of all, need to respond to user requirements. actually experience. For most users climate and weather are mutually interchangeable. It is, therefore, imperative for climate and weather services to operate in close tandem, so as to be seamless to the end-user. The seamless delivery of services from the long-to short-term time scales is critical to ensure effective and consistent use of information for various real-world decision-making contexts. Timescales are key in understanding climate services.The end-users perspective is a key in the tailoring of climate services. The \"end-users\" are in fact a heterogeneous mix of stakeholders from the national, sub-national and community levels. Each user can derive a benefit -potential or actual -in using climate services.However, not all users are end-users. Some recipients of climate information, such as trend projections and forecasts of various climate and weather parameters, interpret, analyze and process it in light of sector-specific knowledge in order to produce a useable, tailored and integrated climate service that can be communicated to end-users. For example, agricultural experts employed by departments of agriculture may receive 10-day rainfall forecast bulletins (climate information) to which they overlay information based on their knowledge of the growing season for farmers in a given region of the country, such as stage of planting, plant phenology, etc (sector-specific knowledge), in order to produce a tailored rural advisories (climate services).These \"intermediary users\" are the partners of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in producing climate services. They work hand-in-hand with forecasters to transform climate information into a climate service. They are, in practice, the national stakeholders in charge of processing climate information (input) to produce sector-tailored climate services (output).Intermediary users or service co-producers are different from the final end-users of climate services who often do not need climate information/data, but a finished useable climate advisory service or product that they can input into their decision-making. The latter category encompasses farmers, fishermen, vulnerable communities, etc., as well as national decision-makers and planners who need finished climate information products at longer timescales (climate projections). This distinction is important when mapping the user community in a given country and setting out to produce tailored climate services to meet decision-making needs. An ideal climate service delivery chain includes end-users both at the beginning and at the end of the service production and delivery process. Production of climate services begins with a thorough identification of the needs of each set of end-user then builds and grows through feedback and re-assessment of end-user needs.Delivering tailored climate services that can effectively inform the decision-making is a multi-front challenge. It requires multi-disciplinary and cross-sector collaboration, and an agreed upon framework within which such collaboration can take place. Based on good practice evidence from climate service pilot projects implemented recent years by WMO 3 and its partners in implementing the GFCS at regional and national levels, five steps have been identified to achieve this.Step 1: Understand the demand side What appears as an intuitive step, asking end-users what they need, is often overlooked in the design phase of initiatives aiming to deliver salient information services in support of local/national climate risk management efforts. However, end-user participation in the assessment of their climate service needs is a pre-requisite to the success of any national program aiming to build resilience to climate variability and change.Climate service needs are minutely context specific, varying from one village to the next. Examples from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India, and Kaffrine, Senegal, targeting women farmers in the design and delivery of climate services, show how one can effectively conduct an ex-ante assessment of farmer climate service needs, using tailored participatory action research tools to gauge end-user needs ahead of project design 4 . A mapping of farmer adaptation and climate service needs in every target region or sector is required.Identifying end-user needs also means valuing local sources of information. The community should be asked to identify the information gaps and needs that they 3 WMO pilots National Workshops in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger to support establishment of Frameworks for Climate Services at the National Level. More at: www.wmo.int/pages/ gfcs/office/Dialogue_SE1.php 4 See: \"Identifying farmer's information needs to manage production risk in the Indo Gangetic Plains of India\" and \"Communicating climate services to three target communities in Kaffrine (Sénégal)\". For more info: iri.scalingup.columbia. edu.have observed. Climate service projects in northern Tanzania and western Kenya 5 offer promising examples of ways to integrate traditional indicators with scientific techniques for seasonal forecasting.Following identification of the context-specific climate service needs of end-users, their continuous involvement in the production, delivery and evaluation of climate services is key to ensure adherence of delivered climate services to identified needs. This is the role of the User Interface Platform, one of the most critical components of the GFCS.Step 2: Bridging the gap between climate forecasters and sector expertise This is the most challenging component of climate service delivery to overcome. The lack of interaction between NMHSs and their essential partners from national technical departmentsagriculture, disaster management, public health planning, etc. -hinders efforts to tailor climate information.Various participatory processes have mediated two-way dialogues and brokered effective partnership between NMHSs and technical sector experts, based on complementary expertise. Always centered on the needs of end-users, these dialogues have brought forecasters face-to-face with expert planners and managers in climate-vulnerable sectors to identify how they can work together. As a result, multi-disciplinary working groups and national frameworks for the co-production of climate services were established. However, their numbers are limited, a lot more is needed.The Early Warning > Early Action workshops conducted across Africa from 2009-2012 (see Tall et al., forthcoming 6 ) provide a good example of a participatory approach. They brought together vulnerable communities, technical departments from climate-sensitive sectors, communication intermediaries and forecasters in national dialogues that identified needs and co-designed response services. Using participatory or scenario games, the workshops encourage communities and experts to work together to identify possible solutions and means of supporting end-users in managing climate risk. Facilitated discussions generated an environment of openness and trust to ensure that all participants were comfortable and felt secure enough to share and explore each other's experiences.These games are also used to train intermediaries who can continue employing them in vulnerable communities to facilitate the translation of complex, often technical climate information into a format that can be easily understood. This is particularly important as intermediaries often work in communities where socio-cultural constructs can pose a significant challenge (see May and Tall, 2013 7 ). This trusting relationship is critical to achieve effective climate services.The GFCS Office initiated a series of four pilot projects in West Africa in 2012 aimed at identifying the critical elements for the establishment of national frameworks for climate services for the most vulnerable users. Thus, the meteorological offices of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger carried out stakeholder mapping at the national level and reached out to key stakeholders and potential users across all climate-sensitive sectors in their individual country. National Workshops on Climate Services followed, launching dialogue between the providers and users of climate services on the appropriate institutional mechanisms for establishing a perennial framework for climate services. The interaction created a national communication chain for climate services, linking climate science and early warning information 7 Sumiko May and Arame Tall, 2013. \"Developing a methodology for the communication of climate services at scale through intermediaries in Africa and South Asia-White paper for the CCAFS Expert Workshop on Climate Services, 12-14 June 2013, Nairobi, Kenya\". Available online at ccafs.cgiar.org.with the technical services in climate-sensitive sectors to produce targeted climate service which, in turn, linked with local end-users and the most vulnerable communities. The chain has built-in channels for feedback from end-users in order to continuously refine climate service development. It is hoped that these national frameworks will overcome the obstacles to climate information access and use. The GFCS Office aims to replicate the West Africa pilots in other regions. 8 The above experiences underscore the necessity of face-to-face dialogue to bridge the gap between forecasters and other sector specific staff. However, the process has to be mediated and pro-actively inserted into efforts to develop climate services for end-users. For the interaction to be sustainable, all major players in the chain of climate services will have to discuss and agree on clearly delineate roles and responsibilities for the production, communication and delivery of climate services for end-users.This game and others can be found here: http://petlabparsons. edu/redCrossite/The next essential step is the production of climate forecasts and advisory services that respond to enduser needs. In the food security sector, for example, the successful development of tailored agro-climate advisories that respond to farmers' decision-making needs requires the following critical steps:• downscaling existing climate information to achieve local detail and bridge geographical scales;• adding value to climate information by complementing it with agricultural knowledge on, for example, which farm-level and agro-pastoral practices ought to be adopted to thwart predicted impacts of climate-related anomalies 9 ; and• developing suites of advisory products tailored to needs within the established integrated frameworks for climate service production (e.g.: multi-disciplinary teams of climate, agricultural, soil, pest, water, seed and extension experts).For examples, readers are invited to read the FAO article \"Localizing Climate Information Products and Services for Agriculture\" that present a series of case studies in the agriculture sector.Step 4: Communicate to reach 'the last mile'It is vital to ensure that the final advisory product is efficiently and effectively communicated. Assessments of delivery channels are necessary to ensure that vulnerable communities and national planners receive the climate support services destined to them. There are many options: rural radio, SMS, voice recorded messages, \"agro-met bulletin boards\" posted across strategic locations, etc. The format should be suited to local needs. For example, radio alert for farmers should be sent when they are available to hear them, in the local language and timed to inform ongoing farm operations.9An example of value-addition in practice can be found in the good practice case: \"Testing the Design and Communication of Downscaled Probabilistic Seasonal Forecast & Evaluating their Impacts at Wote (eastern Kenya)\". More information on this case: at iri.scalingup.columbia.edu.In the early warning > early action game, participants take turns to play the role of a decision-maker having to select an early action based on a received early warning. (Source: Pet Lab & Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre 8 .)Two important channels through which remote rural communities can be accessed and their inputs fed back to providers:• Information and Communications Technology platforms such as SMS or voice messaging; and• through partnerships with other intermediaries -media communication professionals, non-governmental organizations, community based organizations, women's associations -to serve the \"missing link\" between communities at risk and forecasters.Step 5: Assess and re-assess Participatory Action Research tools have proven instrumental for enabling, for example, farmer's learning and innovation to steer the continued tailoring of available climate and agricultural information to meet their needs. Farmers in the Kaffrine project, for instance, suggested new more effective channels to reach women farmers -SMS on their children's cell phones in the local Wolof language or by spreading the word at the water boreholes, where they gather each morning to fetch water. Similarly, farmers surveyed in the India's Integrated Agro-meteorological Advisory Service (IAAS), the largest of its kind in the world, suggested that agro-meteorological bulletin boards in local language be posted at strategic outposts across their villages where they can be read as the farmers go about their daily activities.As such, re-assessments of climate service needs provide a pretext to open spaces for iterative triple loops of learning feeding into product design, and enabling social learning for more effective co-design and tailoring of services to meet the critical information needs of end-users 10 . boundaries of their community's socio-cultural norms. Therefore, it is important to target specifically these sub-groups in the various steps of the design and deliver of the national climate services programs.The end-to-end approach outlined herein offers a way forward to achieving targeted climate service delivery. Together the five good practice components map out an innovative, achievable blueprint to establish an integrated framework for the production, communication and evaluation of climate services.It is a multi-front challenge and will require concerted work across disciplines in order to be successful in equipping communities at risk with climate information and advisory services that enable them to make improved decisions under a variable and changing climate. The most difficult step will be to bridge the gap between climate forecasters and sector-specific expertise in order to move from climate information to a useable climate service. To this end, the GFCS West African pilots offer a model for future initiatives.Supporting countries to establish such frameworks for climate services is an urgent priority. Regardless of the model adopted, climate information will need to be tailored and packaged appropriately to serve the needs of end-users in all climate sensitive sectors. In a world where exacerbated climate variability and uncertainty is projected as significant consequences of climate change, equipping policy-planners and the most vulnerable communities with early climate/weather information and advisories to anticipate climate-related shocks and changes is an urgent priority.","tokenCount":"2434"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2636453058.json b/data/part_1/2636453058.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0181983dff43fe9c6c3ab0cb615118b580334b5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2636453058.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"01b8226b1fb50f303ed7e06f10dbc914","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H031103.pdf","id":"-237850274"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5de385f9-e170-4277-aa2b-9836157784a6","pagecount":"18","content":"Although under the title 'watershed management' a variety of activities is being pursued, the goal of most watershed projects is to increase agricultural productivity by improved soil and water conservation at the level of the micro-watershed. However, watershed projects might also involve reduced siltation of downstream water tanks, decreased water pollution and/or the implementation of integrated water management (Worldbank, 2000). Springgate et al. (2001)  define watershed development as \"the development of a watershed through changes in structural and non-structural activities taken up in a watershed, and the resultant changes in ecological variables (such as land use, vegetative cover, in situ soil moisture and groundwater level) and their economic impact\". On the macro level, the watershed is nothing less then a river basin, on the micro level the watershed is the hydrological unit from which all waters drain to a common stream.In time, the design of watershed development projects has changed from mere attention for the implementation of technical soil and water conservation measures to the broader socio-economic and hydro-ecological context in which the watershed is used. Natural resource management became an important part of watershed development as the sustainable management of upstream natural resources (forests, grazing lands) improves the water availability and quality of the land downstream. Poverty reduction increasingly became important as evidence indicates equity to be an important prerequisite for the sustainability of water and natural resources management (Adolph, 1999). Since 1990, the Government of India has invested on a large scale in watershed development through the \" National watershed development project for rainfed areas\". Andhra Pradesh is at the forefront of implementation, receiving in the 90s up to 50% of the total budget available. Besides the watershed development projects implemented by the government of Andhra Pradesh, international donors and local NGO's are investing in the development of micro-watersheds as well. Some of the major projects by international donors taking place at present involve projects of the Worldbank, DFID (AP Rural livelihoods programme) and several bilateral projects (APWELL), besides numerous projects by local and international NGO's.For a number of reasons watershed development is increasingly seen as the central focus for rural development:-Agricultural production in irrigated areas is stagnating and further development of rainfed areas is necessary to take up the momentum of productivity growth. -The increased scarcity of water is affecting rural livelihoods in multiple ways. In fact, increased water scarcity is seen as the major constraint for livelihood security and rural development in India' s semi-arid zones (ICRISAT 2001). -The degradation of natural resources (soil erosion, groundwater depletion, deforestation etc) affects rural livelihoods and has made the current development pathway unsustainable -The increasing 'privatisation' of the common resource base has left landless and marginalized households with a lack of access to the resources necessary to sustain their livelihoods.Although the main focus in watershed development has been on the improvement and development of agricultural land and water uses (improved soil moisture, increase productivity of rainfed agriculture, increased water security), attention is now spreading to non-agricultural water uses (livestock, drinking water), non-land based livelihood strategies (forest products, off farm employment) and groundwater issues as well.The few ex-post evaluations that have actually analyzed the outcomes of watershed development show quite disappointing results: the results are so-far not so positive and most of the improvements that were realized were short-lived. Although several reasons can be identified on the assessment side of why this might be the case (complexity of the evaluation, long time scale for ecological effects, non-tangible project effects), attention is focusing on the question how the effectiveness of watershed projects might be improved. The evaluations all point in the same direction; Participatory, demand oriented projects that were responsive to community needs have been most successful. The problem is that these are also the projects that were most site specific and difficult to replicate; not accidentally the most successful projects were NGO led. Besides, the sustainability of these projects is yet to be assessed, as even the projects that were implemented first cannot yet prove community resource management to work.The following will review some of the literature with regard to watershed development in India's semi arid tropics. Some attention will be paid to the socio-economic characteristics of India's semi-arid tropics and the institutional setting in which watershed development takes place as well. The review will end with a first screening of some research that is being done with regard to the issues of replicability and sustainability of watershed development. The aim of the review is not to cover the whole literature on participatory watershed management in India's semi-arid tropics, but to have a first screening of relevant topics for further research.Watershed development in Andhra Pradesh/SAT India Although watershed development has received a lot of attention in the last two decades, the concept is not new. Since 1939 the government of India has stimulated the development and protection of watersheds, and since the 1970s the state and national government have been actively involved in soil and water conservation of microwatersheds (Springgate et al 2001). At the level of the community, the history of land and water conservation is much and much older, many communities sharing a tradition of collective, village level water harvesting and distribution, soil conservation, grazing and forest management. In most villages these traditional techniques have been deserted however, and little traditional collective land and water management arrangements still persist. Opinions differ about the reasons why, although research indicates increased population pressure, economic development, and the centralization of natural resource management to have probably played an important role. (Springgate 2001, Adolph 1997).Fact is that, the loss of management systems for common property resources has been a critical factor in the increased over-exploitation, poor upkeep and physical degradation of the natural resource base (Pretty & Ward 2001). Elsewhere, private ownership or operation of surface and groundwater use for irrigation have replaced the collective systems, with has often marginalized the position of the landless and rural poor. As the range of NGO's involved in watershed development is quite large, it is difficult to give a general picture of the approach used. Most NGO's however regard watershed development as a means to improve the livelihood security of the rural poor. As such, they generally pay a lot of attention to community needs and to the capacity of communities to manage their resources in a sustainable and equitable way. As many of the rural poor are landless, much attention is paid to improve the availability of nonagricultural land and water uses, to ensure that the rural poor benefit from watershed development as well. An extra reason to make sure the poor benefit is that if the poor are unable to maintain or enhance their livelihood through access to existing or new benefits streams, the tendency is for common-property resource arrangements to break down, resulting in a downward spiral of poverty and natural resource degradation. (Farrington)To get a picture of the extent to which improved watershed management might actually contribute to the further development of India's SAT, it is important to understand the mechanisms through which poverty, natural resource degradation and low agricultural productivity are related. As mentioned before, there are effectively 4 routes through which the rehabilitation and development of water scarce watersheds is expected to contribute to rural development:1. Increased agricultural productivity 2. Increased water security 3. Improved quality of natural resources and sustainability of agricultural production 4. A more equitable and sustainable management of the common resource base Before elaborating the ways in which watershed management is expected to contribute, it is important to have a picture of the broader socio-economic and biophysical characteristics of SAT India. The green revolution that greatly improved agricultural productivity in other regions of India largely bypassed SAT India. The poor natural resource base of these areas did not seem to provide a very secure basis for agricultural development and the expected productivity gains were relatively low. However, as agricultural production in the irrigated, ' Green revolution' areas is stagnating, policy makers are increasingly looking at rainfed agriculture to take up the momentum of productivity growth (Rosegrant et al, 2001). Besides, for the 300 million people that depend on these regions, agriculture is the main source of income. To improve rural conditions, public investments and policy interventions are needed, not only for agricultural development, but for the alleviation of poverty and sustainability of the natural resource base as well. The question is how watershed development might contribute to these goals.First, watershed development can contribute by making rainfed agriculture more productive. In degraded watersheds, fertile soils and scarce water get lost, degrading the resource base on which agriculture depends. By capturing the rainwater (in soil, tanks, ponds or groundwater aquifers) both soil degradation and water scarcity can be reduced, increasing the availability of (irrigation) water and reducing the risk of drought. Besides, rainfed agriculture is relatively knowledge extensive, with many potential improvements to be made. The development of drought resistant varieties and on-plot soil and water conservation can improve agricultural productivity in a major way, agricultural R&D being one of the main drivers of further agricultural development (ICRISAT 2001, Wani et al 2000). As far as the economics of dryland agriculture are concerned, strategies that reduce the uncertainty of rainfed agriculture are important as the agroclimatic conditions of low and uncertain rainfall, soil heterogeneity and a short cropping season have a strong effect on the household and village economics of the region (Walker and Ryan, 1990). This will involve attention for mechanisms to improve water security, farming practices that allow farmers to react to uncertain rainfall in a flexible way, soil and water conservation measures to increase soil moisture and agricultural R&D to improve the drought resistance of crops.However, although increased productivity of rainfed agriculture might be important from a food security point of view, it remains unclear to what extent rural households actually depend on rainfed agriculture for their livelihood. In fact, the land and water conservation mechanisms required to improve the productivity of rainfed agriculture are so labour intensive, that small scale producers are often reluctant to invest. With increased out migration, they earn more working elsewhere then they would by farming their low productivity lands. Besides, land holdings are on average so small, that the space needed for conservation measures is relatively large. Finally, a large part of the rural poor has no access to land and an increased agricultural productivity will not directly serve their needs. However, they might benefit indirectly, as increased productivity would involve increased employment opportunities as well.Second, watershed management contributes to poverty reduction by improving the availability of water. Have the advantages of increased water availability already been discussed with regard to agricultural water use, an increased security of water has some important other benefits as well. The rural poor, as well as the rural non-poor for that matter, depend on surface and/or groundwater in different ways. The different water uses might be grouped under three categories:1. Reproductive water uses Drinking water, water for household food production, cooking and washing etc.Agricultural water use, water for livestock, other direct productive water usesIndustrial water use and hydropower (employment), ecological water usesThe availability of water not only influences livelihood security by its direct and indirect water uses, but through the security of its supply as well. Floods and droughts for example have a large impact on livelihood security, as the poor have little means to insure themselves against such external shocks. The inability to deal with external shocks is in fact part of the definition who the poor are: using the definition of livelihoods by Chambers, livelihood insecurity might be defined as the inability to cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, the inability to maintain the capabilities and assets available while at the same time undermining the natural resource base. Poverty in these terms is nothing less then a vicious circle of degraded resources, degraded assets and degraded capabilities, that all increase the susceptibility of poor households to shocks. In principle, sound watershed management should be capable of breaking this circle, by managing the scarce water and land resources in a sustainable and equitable way.Third, watershed management is supposed to improve the quality and sustainability of the natural resource base, by reforestation, protection of common lands from over grazing, ground water recharge and a reduction of soil erosion. This serves rural development in a couple of ways both through the increased agricultural productivity and improved water security already mentioned, but also through the direct benefits households derive from the environmental services the natural resource base provides. Most important will be an increased availability of fuel and fodder. Other benefits might involve the use of medicinal plants, wild foods, construction material and non-timber forest products, assuming that the harvesting is managed in a sustainable way. Improving the sustainability of resource use will benefit long-term agricultural development as well:Halting groundwater depletion will be essential for future agricultural production.Finally, watershed development contributes to rural development by stimulating a more equitable and sustainable use of the common resource base. To illustrate the increasing 'privatisation' of the common resource base in SAT India the changes in agricultural water use might serve as an example. In the last 30 years, the source of agricultural water use changed from communal tank irrigation to private well irrigation. This shift started already in the 70s, but the use of tubewell/ groundwater irrigation really increased in the last 10 years. The growth of tubewell irrigation was possible because of the increased availability of cheap electricity and borewell drilling techniques. The advantage of using groundwater over surface water irrigation is that no valuable land is lost to store water. Besides, the evaporation loss of aquifer water storage is much lower then that of tank water storage and as long as groundwater does not get depleted, water security is relatively high. The increased use of groundwater irrigation improved agriculture productivity. However, the shift also represents a shift from communal to private water sources, leaving households that could not afford to drill a well without access. The security of some came at the expense of others, as the lowering groundwater level negatively affected other water uses as well. Although in time, the technology of borewell drilling is expected to become cheaper, the rate at which groundwater is currently used does not seem to be sustainable, in other words; those with access are using up the common resources of all. Whether the change from communal to private water sources has actually resulted in increased income differentiation at the village level remains unclear, but to use groundwater irrigation as strategy for rural development, both the sustainability and equity of ground water use would need to be improved.Farrington (1999) mentions two concerns why an equitable watershed management is important. First, the poor own only limited private resources, and thus depend more heavily on access to common resources. The commons constitute a high proportion of individual watersheds and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Second, there are important linkages between equity and sustainability, both institutional and environmental. For instance, if the poor are unable to maintain or enhance their livelihood through access to existing or new benefits streams, then the tendency will increase for common-property resource management arrangements to break down into an open access ' free for all'. Similarly, if common pool resources are taken over by the more wealthy and so effectively privatized, then public funds effectively subsidise the creation of a private resource by the more wealthy. Increases in population pressure have in some cases led to the breakdown of traditional common property arrangements, leading to a vicious spiral of free-for-all open access and inability of the poor to engage in long term environmental restoration. The key step to a win-win dynamics is the creation of equitable and transparent institutions to manage the commons.Managing watersheds for rural development thus seems to be a potentially important strategy to reduce poverty, improve the management of natural resources and increase agricultural productivity. But what has watershed development been able to achieve in practice? This will be addressed in the next paragraph.employment. Box 1 Village and household economics in India's semi-arid tropics: 1974-1985(Walker & Ryan, 1990) The main difference that distinguishes dryland farming from agriculture in non-SAT regions is rainfall uncertainty at planting. This has an impact on other factors as well, like the increased importance of synchronic timing of operations, the impact of covariate production risk and the increased impact of soil heterogeneity. Although all dryland agriculture depends on the southwest monsoon of June-October, the standard deviation of rainfall security and intensity in SAT is quite high. This, together with the large variety in soil types, makes that agrcoclimatic conditions (soil moisture, cropping season etc.) are variable for the different SAT regions as well. Land is mostly privately owned, and around 30% of the population is landless (mainly dalits). Land is unequally distributed: in 1975 60% had holdings smaller then 2 ha and only 5% of holdings exceeds 10 ha. In all villages, irrigation increased during the study period: in 1975 about 12% of total gross cropped area was irrigated, but by 1984 the area had increased to 20% (mainly groundwater irrigation) Since then, groundwater irrigation has increased even more. In the same time the area of common lands, used for grazing, fuel and fodder, steadily decreased: in 1950s 20% was common, in 1989 this was less then 10%.Although the study villages were selected on the basis of the least possible external influences (roads, government interventions etc.) they were representative for SAT India. Seasonal out-migration was even in these isolated villages quite important, with over 40% of all population leaving for work elsewhere. The average village had around 14-22 different castes, dalits constituting 10-25%, muslims or buddists less then 10%. To give an impression of differences in productivity of dryland vs irrigated farming: the same farmer who harvests 200-400 kg per ha of dryland crops, harvests 2 to 4 ton per ha of paddy on irrigated fields. Lower lands (with potentially more water and/or irrigation ) are saved for high value crops. Agricultural practices and crop choice varied widely in the study villages, ranging from traditional, low input to modern, intensive cropping systems. With regard to income, crop revenues and labor earnings were dominant income sources. Livestock was less important, contributing on average 15% to household income, and 8% to wealth. Poorer households, like landless shepherds, derived a much larger part of their income from livestock, and also for women livestock seemed to play an important role. Still, 2/3 of the rural poor had livestock to supply them with manure, milk, meat and/or draught power and as cash buffer and insurance. For the use of livestock for draught power, bullocks, buffalo's en cows were used. Still, many smallholders could not afford to keep this type of livestock as because of fodder scarcity the costs of maintenance were high.Average income did not differ much for different farm sizes: landless were on average not worse off then medium size landowners. Apparently, in these dryland villages, the resource base of small and medium size holdings was not sufficiently well endowed to enable their owners to attain higher per capita incomes then landless laborers. 2/3 of the households moved in and out of poverty during the study period. Households that did not fall below the poverty line had often both a secure income source (government job) and more diversified income sources. However, the structurally poor are disproportionally low caste with small or no land holdings. During the study period some upward mobility could be recorded, but much more downward mobility, spurred by bad luck (investing in dry holes looking for groundwater, diseases), alchoholism, gabbling and/or dowry problems (many daughters) Household income variability was on average 30%, (most stable 10% most unstable 80%), variability being larger in drought prone areas and for landless households. Labor earnings were important to dampen household income variability: households with no able bodied, healty family member available suffered most from income variability. Although remittances and gifts played a role in mitigating household volatility, the main income smoothing took place through the local financial market (consumption credit).With regard to household risk management, two types of risks were examined: a) severe and prolonged drought b) rainfall insecurity affecting income but not threatening existence. In face of severe covariate risk like droughts, farm management methods are usually ineffective in preserving crop income (and external interventions are needed). In more normal years, crop diversification and intercropping partially ironed out fluctuations in crop income, at least in the rainfall assured regions. Rural public works (food for work) were the main institutional response in times of scarcity. Intermediate to moderate levels of farmer risk aversion often did not have a direct bearing on decisions in technology choice because tradeoffs between risk and expected profitability were nonexistent or negligible. The labour was hardly segregated by caste, but strongly by gender; Men supply most of the labour for crop production, women for the hired labour market. Wages of women were 57% from those of men Women generally worked 10-30% longer hours, as they are responsible for domestic work, food and fuel gathering/processing and handicrafts. There were some regional differences in crop labor use intensities, although in general smaller plots were more labour intensive then larger plots. Asset ownership seemed to be strongly and inversely related to labor market participation. Because of a decrease in the number of landless labourers (due to land distribution, out-migration) and the increased profitability of non-agricultural activities (toddy and livestock production, small enterprises) local labor markets were tightening at the time.The results of watershed development in India's semi-arid tropics. Although in the last decade in India 500 million dollars has annually been invested in government related watershed development, the impact of this investment has to date been quite disappointing. Few studies have been able to actually assess the effects as the complexity of watershed management and the intangibility of the benefits have complicated the evaluation. Besides, few projects have been completed long enough to actually measure their long-term performance (time lag ecological effects, time lag to measure the sustainability of institution building efforts).The most extensive evaluation of watershed development in India's semi-arid tropics, has been the study by Kerr et al (2000), who evaluated the performance of 86 watershed projects, implemented by both government agencies and NGO's, in different villages in Maharahstra (70) and Andhra Pradesh ( 16). Their analysis compared pre and post conditions in the study villages, studying performance indicators such as changes in access to irrigation and drinking water, employment opportunities, soil erosion and protection of uncultivated lands and the revenues from common lands (fuel and fodder). At the plot level performance indicators included changes in cropping intensities, yields, soil erosion and annual net returns. The analysis was supplemented by qualitative information about the effect of the project on different interest groups, like farmers with and without access to irrigation, landless people, shepherds and women. Kerr et al. distinguish two types of watershed projects in SAT India: increased water harvesting and improved rainfed agriculture (Kerr et al, 2000) In hilly regions (mainly Maharahstra), water harvesting projects are most popular, as these projects allow for an increase of irrigated area with large productivity gains as result. In flat areas (mainly Andhra Pradesh), opportunities for water harvesting are much less and attention focuses on improving the productivity of rainfed agriculture with on site water and soil conservation and improved cropping patterns. In fact, the projects of the Department of Agriculture (NWDPRA) mainly focus on improving the productivity of rainfed agriculture, while the projects of the Department of Rural development (DPAP) focus on water harvesting. NGO's usually do both, especially those in Andhra Pradesh (the ones in Maharasthra mainly focus on water harvesting).Findings supported the hypothesis that more participatory projects (implemented by NGO's) performed better then their more technocratic, top-down counterparts (implemented by government agencies) (Kerr et al 2000). In fact, the projects that provided both a participatory approach and sound technical know how (NGOgovernment collaborations) performed best of all. Participatory projects were more successful in managing common lands, reducing soil erosion, expanding the area under irrigation (mainly in Maharashtra) and improving the productivity of rainfed agriculture. Landless and farmers without access to irrigation indicated to have benefited less from the projects then those with access to land and water: they were less satisfied with the outcome of the project. (Kerr et al, 2000). but to what extent this was a result of the project remained unclear. The same held for yield increases, which were highly variable among villages, and among project and nonproject villages as well. As the analysis performed was qualitative, outcomes were not very robust. However, groundwater availability did seem to have improved in the study villages as well as soil moisture in the vicinity of check dames. Did the benefits of soil moisture mainly accrue to the households owning the land near the check dam, the benefits of increased groundwater availability were shared by all.Farrington et al (1999) give an overview of several watershed project evaluations as well. Results indicate that successful projects have in fact reduced rainwater run-off and recharged ground and surface water aquifers, improved drinking water supply, increased the irrigated area, changed cropping patterns, crop intensity and agricultural productivity, increased availability of fuel and fodder, improved soil fertility and changed the composition of livestock. An evaluation of the watershed portfolio of the Worldbank (2000) showed similar results: successful projects contributed to both agricultural productivity, natural resource protection and reduced soil erosion. The impact of successful projects on poverty alleviation and the long-term sustainability of project results were less clear: Although some projects did seem to have paid attention to the needs of the landless and poor, their impact on poverty reduction was not assessed.Has the potential of watershed development to serve as a catalyst for rural development been proved in some projects, the majority of interventions has failed to deliver results. Besides, of even the most successful projects the effects on poverty reduction remained unclear. In some cases, the poor actually became worse off, because the measures for soil and water conservation restricted their access to common resources (forests, common lands). Failing to account for the needs of the poor not only makes watershed development less effective in reaching one of it's main goals, it also affects the sustainability of the total results. If the poor are unable to maintain or enhance their livelihood through access to existing or new benefits streams, the tendency will increase for common-property resource management arrangements to break down.To get more grip on the factors that actually determine project success, the following will focus on the factors that made the participatory NGO approach so successful. As this question has been at the centre of much of the literature on common property management, social capital and community participation, some attention will be paid to this literature as well. The aim again is not to give a complete overview, but to merely perform a first screening of relevant issues for further research.What is it that made the approach of NGO's so successful and how can this approach be scaled up? In his study, Kerr distinguishes two features that make NGO programs differ from government projects: scale of operations and staffing time. While government projects have huge budgets and work in hundreds of villages, NGO's mostly work in a handful of villages. They devote more staff time per village and they often work on a variety of activities in addition to watershed management. Although NGO projects are on average 20-40% more expensive, they are still more cost-effective then the cheaper, but not so effective, top-down approaches. Second, while government employees concerned with watershed management are almost exclusively trained in agricultural sciences and engineering, NGO staff members include more non-technical staff trained in community organization. NGO's typically devote a lot of time to project preparation: in fact, many NGO's first get involved in other village development activities before venturing off in watershed development.Similar factors were found to explain the success of several Worldbank projects. Demand orientation and responsiveness to community needs were key to the success of the better performing watershed projects with community participation in the planning and design of the project from the very start. Efficient, committed and accountable project management proved important as well, especially with regard to the projects ability to deal with the recurring institutional constraints. Then, successful projects made sure that the technologies chosen responded to the farmers own felt needs and that locally available resource were used for project implementation. Finally, the sequencing of activities seemed important, focusing activities first on the generation of short-term results. This way, farmers became interested and more susceptible to the need to invest in measures to generate long-term benefits as well. (Boersema, 2000) Both studies point to the importance of project preparation, demand orientation and institution building as key factors to determine project success. In all these, community participation is central, as the community will need to sustain the results after the project has gone. Participation in itself will not guarantee the outcomes to be sustainable. In fact, Boersema (2000) argues that in many projects high subsidies and other inducements have distorted the true nature of demand. While impressive rates of participation might be achieved on the short term, the uncertainty of benefits on the long term and lack of mechanisms to ensure long term cooperation might lead unsustainable results once the project ends. In many instances, this has derived from a mistaken assumption that what might be socially optimal in terms of overall environmental improvements will also be optimal from an individual point of view. After all, many of the benefits watershed development generates are long term and collective, the watershed being a typical example of a common good.In fact it might be argued that the main reason why watersheds became degraded in the first place is because of a lack of mechanisms to manage the common resource base in an effective way. Although traditionally, collective mechanisms did exist, these institutions were in time replaced by either private property rights (drilling of private borewells, redistribution of common lands) or not replaced at all. Historical studies in South India reveal that the number of communal water harvesting structures (tanks) increased with population density up to a level of 220 persons/km2. Above this level the number of communal irrigation tanks started to decline, supposedly because of the deterioration of administrative structures for tank maintenance and repair and the increasing pressure on the catchment area (Van Oppen andSubba Rao, 1980, in Adolph, 1999). Other mechanisms might have existed for the management of common resources like ground and surface water, forests and grazing lands as well, but due to the increased population pressure and other developments affecting local resource use these institutions eroded as well.Institutions are needed to regulate the rights and duties of individuals and to enforce commonly agreed rules and regulation. Without institutions to coordinate resource use, demand might easily exceed supply resulting in a so-called ' tragedy of the commons' where resources get depleted and everybody is worse of. Wades work (1988) in South India shows that large differences exist with regard to the existence of institutional mechanisms to coordinate the use of common resources. In villages where common resources are scare and the externalities of over-use are high (environmental costs of resource degradation, loss of revenue from common lands, reduced availability of water etc), villagers have developed rules and regulations to cope with externalities, as well as institutional arrangements to enforce them (quoted in Adolph, 1997) However, the extent to which communities are able to manage their resources depends on the characteristics of the community as well. For example, homogeneous communities will more often be capable to establish effective coordination mechanisms then heterogeneous societies. A study in Ethiopia (McCarthy et al 2001) showed cooperation to be positively related to factors that increase the profitability of common resource use, but negatively related to the total number of households, the use of the common resource by non-community members and the heterogeneity of wealth. Also, common property resources became increasingly privatized when levels of cooperation were low. This last trend might apply to India as well, were the decline of collective tank irrigation was preceded by an increase in private well irrigation. The dynamics of common property management might in fact follow an inverse U-curve, increasing with population pressure up to a certain point, after which the pressure on the resource base becomes thus that private mechanisms start to take over. This would not be a problem if public access could be guaranteed; the increased 'privatisation' of common resources could actually improve resource efficiency and sustainability, as ownership induces maintenance and investment as well. The problem is that public access is not guaranteed and the poor are left with less access to the resources most important for their livelihood.In the last 10 years a lot of attention has been paid to common resource management. Social scientist, policy makers and NGO's have been trying to understand the mechanisms that make collective coordination mechanisms work, and much experience has been gathered with regard to community participation and local institution-building to make groups of people responsible for the long term management of their resource base.In a review of experiences, Pretty & Ward (2001) estimate that in the last decade around 408.000-478.000 local groups have been established, in an effort to build local institutions for the management of watersheds, forests, irrigation, farmers research, micro credit and integrated pest management. They conclude that there is surprisingly little empirical evidence about the differing performance of these groups, and that little is known about the factors that determine whether these groups will be sustainable in the long run.The lack of empirical research has made it difficult to test the hypotheses derived from the many models developed to analyse how collective management institutions work. Much of the non-conceptual work on social capital, collective action and community participation is rather descriptive, listing the factors that have contributed to the success of a specific project or case. Although this information is useful to help replicate participatory and collective action approaches on a larger scale, it does not answer the question why. This question will need to be answered to actually design projects with sustainable results. Ostrom (1990Ostrom ( , 1993) ) has addressed this issue with regard to irrigation. Her conclusion with regard to the question why so many investments in irrigation have proved not to be sustainable is because of adverse incentives in the design, finance, construction, operation, maintenance and use of the infrastructure developed.Farrington et al (1999) reach a similar conclusion when analyzing the factors that determine watershed development success. Although not stated explicitly, the indicators he distinguishes to help explain successful approaches are in fact all positive incentives for increased cooperation. Incentives are little else then a combination of motivation, knowledge, trust and all these other factors that determine whether people or organizations are willing to become active and engage in interaction or not. Adverse incentives arise when people or organizations act on behalf of reasons that are different then the transaction concerned (strategic behaviour) or when the information on which decisions are based has been distorted. Without wanting to elaborate the issue of incentives and institutional arrangements at this point any further, it is important to note that for a thorough understanding of the question why certain institutional arrangements work it is necessary to understand the mechanisms underneath.Finally, a workshop by Knox et al ( 2001) brought together the key research findings with regard to collective resource management in watersheds. With regard to the factors that determine watershed management to be sustainable they concluded the following:-Robust collective management is likely to depend on the level of existing community organization and social capital, that is, the strength of the norms and social relations that enable people to work together to achieve their goals -Existing community organizations rarely incorporate all of the stakeholders with interests in watershed management. However, the extensive nature of resources and the interdependency of users at the watershed level make it very important for all stakeholders to participate in the development and implementation of watershed management techniques and practices. -Attempts to organize collective action along strict hydrological boundaries generally fail -The size and social structure of communities sharing the watershed are likely to be important: small communities are usually more unified. -Market forces can either weaken or strengthen the incentives for collective action -Insecure property rights to cropland can reduce incentives to invest in soil and water conservation. -Watershed systems are highly complex, with multiple users, over multiple scales, making conflict resolution mechanisms important.The objective of this paper was to perform a first screening of relevant issues for further research. Although only part of the literature on watershed development has been reviewed, some general conclusions might be drawn.First, in the process of transformation from soil and water conservation to integrated rural development, the relation of the concept of 'watershed development' with the watershed has become more abstract, and the term ' watershed development' more diffused. To address the main problems of India's semi arid tropics, it seems important to restrengthen the relation with the watershed and make water leading. Water scarcity being the main constraint of India's SAT, focusing watershed development on improving the security and accessibility of water resources on the long run seems an important strategy for sustainable development. Putting water management at the front of watershed development will not only contribute to rural development by increasing the security of agricultural water use, it will improve livelihood security in other ways as well (drinking water, water for livestock and all other water uses that directly or indirectly affect rural livelihoods).Bringing water back into watershed development has implications for the scope and scale of analysis. With regard to the scope of analysis, the analysis would not be confined to water use alone: Land and water are intrinsically linked, and what happens in the catchment will affect water resources, be it in the quality or the quantity of the water available. Looking at land and water uses the analysis would need to include all livelihood activities that use the watershed in one way or the other, ranging from household production (collection of fuel, drinking water, food production), agriculture and the use of the forest and the common resource base (livestock, fishing, forestry).With regard to the scale of analysis, by definition 'watershed management', implies a scale that is larger then the village. After all, the watershed is nothing less then a river basin, all waters draining to a common stream. This stream, the water flow, should be accounted for when analysing issues concerning watershed development, as water saved in one place might lead to a reduction elsewhere: This might solve issues at one location, but at the cost of a worsening of conditions elsewhere. From an institutional perspective, choosing the watershed as the functional unit greatly complicates the analysis as on the level of the watershed usually no coordination mechanisms exist. This has led several authors (Kerr et al, 2002, Farrington et al. 2000, Knox et al 2001) to conclude watershed projects should chose the village as the scale of analysis, assuming collective action and common resource management on the level of the watershed won't work.Examples from Sri Lanka (Jinapala et al. 1999) and Europe (EU Waterframework Directive, 2000) have proven this assumption wrong, and although complicated, the establishment of watershed and river basin authorities can be an effective way of accounting for up/down stream issues in watershed management.Second, improved livelihood security being the most important objective for the development of India's semi-arid zones, it is of crucial importance that watershed development addresses the needs of the poorest. For a long time, poverty alleviation was regarded as synonymous with agricultural economic growth, as increased agricultural productivity was supposed to result in increased incomes for the rural poor. Without contesting the importance of productivity growth, by now it has become clear that poverty is affected by more then income alone. To ensure their livelihood, rural households pursue a whole range of activities, depending on the assets and capabilities available to them. Rainfed farming is one of them, but livestock production, off-farm employment and natural resource harvesting might be important livelihood activities as well. A framework that allows for a more integrated analysis of the means and mechanisms with which households try to ensure their livelihoods is the sustainable livelihood framework promoted by DFID (1999). Looked at from the livelihood perspective, poverty alleviation should focus on reducing the risk of livelihood insecurity, a livelihood being sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain and enhance its capabilities and assets while not undermining the natural resource base. Understanding the way watershed development can contribute to livelihood security is important to improve the impact of watershed development on the poor. This will require insight into the way households cope with water scarcity and other environmental risks in the activities they pursue to secure their livelihood.Third, to improve the effectiveness of watershed development, empirical research is needed in to the mechanisms through which poverty, natural resource degradation and low (agricultural) productivity are related. The few evaluations that have been performed to improve the effectiveness of watershed management have mainly focused on the way projects have been implemented. The participatory NGO approach being more successful then the top down approach used by the state, participatory watershed management has become the main strategy to improve project implementation. However, less attention has been paid to the influence local conditions have had in explaining the projects success.The heterogeneity of SAT India, both in terms of agro-ecological and socio-economic characteristics, affects project implementation in different ways. Regions with good market access and a well-developed non-agricultural sector might depend less on the watershed for their livelihood security then areas that are more remote, while the environmental impact of land and water use will be determined not only by household water use but by the bio-physical characteristics of the ecosystem as well. To be able to design effective interventions it will be necessary to understand the influence of local conditions on project performance and to identify the trade-offs between equity, efficiency and sustainability that locally exist. This will need to involve not only an analysis of the broader welfare effects of land and water uses in the watershed (environmental impact and economic value of the different land and water uses) but of the accessibility of land and water resources as well (access of the poor to land and water)Fourth, to ensure watershed projects to be sustainable in the long run, more insight is needed into the mechanisms that make community watershed management work.Although attention has focused on improving the success of implementation, the key step to a win-win dynamics is the creation of equitable and transparent institutions to manage the watershed on the longer term. Might household level analysis answer the question how households cope with resource scarcity and environmental risks, households alone are not in the position to influence the circumstances that determine the security of their resource base. Can households to some extent manage the quality of their lands (a private resource), the security of the common land and water resources depends on the extent to which the community (or even communities at the scale of the watershed) is capable of managing these in a sustainable and equitable way. Although much research has been done with regard to common resource management, empirical research into the conditions that determine community watershed management to be successful has been lacking. Recent micro-scale empirical research has shown a large heterogeneity in environmental management by the rural poor to exist (Scherr 2000). Local endowments, conditions affecting the adoption of resource conserving technologies and local institutions supportive of the poor proved to be key in determining the outcomes. Getting insight into the conditions that determine local communities to be successful in the management of their common resource base (homogeneity of the population, scarcity of natural resources, external costs of over use, distribution of assets, size of the population) will help increase the sustainability of watershed development, not only for project implementation but for the long term management of the watershed as well. ","tokenCount":"7377"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2641699267.json b/data/part_1/2641699267.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..606f3611583a347dcfda9fce1932f58f957c008c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2641699267.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7fdafdd9c2678f2320d7dc8f2eefe692","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H041599.pdf","id":"1767913472"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0ba716b2-89bc-4400-bce1-222f490fec67","pagecount":"14","content":"Attaining the Millennium Development Goals in developing countries, where land and water resources are scarce, calls for sustainable increases in productivity-led agricultural growth. This has been achieved in areas where individuals and communities have adopted resource-conserving and yield-enhancing technologies and management practices to increase the goods and services provided by a given land unit. Such areas are commonly referred to as 'bright spots'. Bright spots offer the following local benefits to the individuals and communities that create them: (i) increased agricultural output and income; (ii) improved soil fertility; (iii) enhanced productivity of scarce land, water, nutrients, labour, energy and capital resources; and (iv) improved agrobiodiversity and enhanced resilience (Bossio et al., 2004;Noble et al., 2006). Bright spots also offer additional society-wide benefits such as: (i) increasing employment opportunities and income; (ii) empowerment of local communities for more effective technology transfer; (iii) better utilization of local skills and resources; (iv) creating opportunities for the poor to enhance land-and wateruse benefits; (v) enhanced carbon sequestration; and (vi) reduced vulnerability.Bright spots are most often defined at farm or community levels, and it is assumed that their scaling-up will result in a better situation for all. Examining bright spots using a basin perspective raises questions associated with their scaling-up. First, a bright spot in one location may cause problems elsewhere in a basin. How can the extent of the problems and associated losses be reduced? Second, bright spots can also benefit hydrologically linked communities by improving the water situation in terms of quantity, quality and timing. What water cost and benefit-sharing arrangements should upstream and downstream communities establish to manage externalities in ways that are acceptable to all? Third, bright spots benefits do not generally scale-up linearly; that is, if a bright spot creates one unit of net benefit, one hundred bright spots will not necessarily generate a hundred units of net benefit. The unit benefit tends to decline while the cost of establishing subsequent bright spots tends to increase, mainly because later bright spots emerge in less favourable areas. The very poor, in less favourable areas, tend to be late adopters and generally fail to seize opportunities arising from such bright spots. What propoor strategies are needed to facilitate the adoption of bright spot technologies by the poor in less favorable areas? And fourthly, would widespread adoption of bright spot technologies enhance basin-wide total net benefits, equitably and sustainably?This chapter sets out to answer some of these questions. We do this by developing an analytical framework to improve our understanding of the complex interplay between bright spots and water-related externalities and of options for optimizing basin-wide benefits associated with bright spots. We use the analytical framework to better understand how bright spots and their externalities have been managed in three case study areas. Then we draw lessons from these case studies on how bright spots can effectively contribute to addressing basin-wide land degradation challenges and to enhancing total net benefits equitably and sustainably (and so make a basin shine more brightly).This analytical framework seeks to enhance understanding of: (i) flows in and out of a land unit, the relative contribution of water-related flows and how these flows influence the productivity status of a land unit; (ii) water-related externalities and how they are transmitted from one land unit to another; and (iii) impacts of externalities and strategies for managing them.The productivity status of a given land unit is determined by stocks and internal processes and whether or not they create more favourable soil characteristics for plant and animal production. Insofar as plants are concerned, the main constituent stocks that determine their productivity include soil depth, soil organic matter, plant nutrients, soil water, soil oxygen content, salts in the soil, and weeds, pests and disease. These stocks are mainly determined by natural-and human-induced flows and to a limited extent by internal process such as nitrogen fixation. The main flows are: (i) lateral inflows and outflows of water, soil, organic matter, nutrients, salts, pests, disease and seeds; (ii) externally sourced input flows such as agrochemicals; (iii) internal recycling flows such as the use of crop residues and farmyard manure; and (iv) export flows associated with harvested material removed from that land unit. The consequences of these flows on the constituent stock and the productivity status of the land unit are summarized in Table 10.1.Analysis of different flow components and their impact on the productivity status of land units is particularly useful in assessing the relative importance of lateral flows and their on-and offsite impacts.An externality occurs when an action by one agent results in an intended or unintended cost or benefit to a third party. Externalities occur where the following coexist: (i) there are lateral flows across a landscape; (ii) there are people that deliberately or accidentally reduce or increase lateral flows and associated costs or benefits to a third party; and (iii) there are people who bear the costs or receive the benefits associated with changes in the nature and magnitude of a lateral flow from one land unit to another (Swallow et al., 2001;van Noordwijk et al., 2004). Within a basin, the main lateral flows that produce externalities are water, soil particles and nutrients, plants, animals and microorganisms, chemical compounds, fire, smoke and greenhouse gases. We confine ourselves to externalities associated with water flows and the associated translocation of soil particles, microorganisms, nutrients and other chemical compounds. Examples of potential externalities associated with bright spots are presented in Table 10.2. Understanding the types of externalities and hydrological links between them helps us identify land units that cause the externalities, ameliorate or aggravate them, and the people who are affected by the externality. The managers of these land units are the key stakeholders to be involved in assessing the nature, extent and value of the externalities and in negotiating response options.The externalities identified in Table 10.2 are transmitted by lateral water flows: (i) along hill slopes; (ii) from hill slope to a valley bottom; (iii) from a land unit to a water body; (iv) from one river reach to another; (v) from river mouth to receiving water body (inland lake or sea); and (vi) also flows associated with soil water and groundwater interaction, and surface water and groundwater interactions. The nature, extent and impact of the externality are shaped and determined by: (i) the magnitude of the externality at its most upstream source location; (ii) cumulative effects (additions and removals) as it cascades along the water pathway; (iii) the quantities, flow rate and timing of water flow, which transmit the externality from one location to another; (iv) water pathways that determine the hydrological connectivity of different land units and their users; (v) drainage network and topography, which create source and sink areas; and (vi) the way in which different externalities combine in a given location and whether they aggravate or abate the impacts (Table 10.3). The externalities and options for managing them are dependent on location and seasonal (or temporal) and spatial scales. While the impact of externalities at very local scales may be evident, such a perspective will fail to capture the evolution of such externalities across space and particularly the cumulative effect of externalities from other parts of the basin. Similarly, a focus on flows during only one or several seasons may fail to capture the externalities associated with the cumulative effect of slow processes such as groundwater pollution, reservoir siltation and a gradual decline in dry-season river flows. A basin-scale focus may well reveal hotspot sources without capturing cumulative effects at local scales, which may collectively make the largest contribution to a problem. Hence, the need to scope for externalities at nested spatial and temporal scales.The third condition for an externality to occur is that there are people who bear the costs or receive the benefits associated with changes in the nature and magnitude of lateral flow from one land unit to another (van Noordwijk et al., 2004). In the past, upstream development projects were planned and implemented without adequately considering negative externalities,  impact on soil productivity the groundwater to the soil, such as groundwater-inducedTap groundwater to a level that does not negatively impact soil soil salinization, or a favourable soil regime productivity Subsurface flow associated with Groundwater augments surface flow and surface water Manage the interaction in ways that reduce the transmission of surface water-groundwater recharges groundwater along the river profile. This interaction externalities interaction can transfer externalities from surface to groundwater and vice versaFlow from one river reach to another Transfer of water from one reach to the next transfers Use natural and man-made wetlands to shield downstream reaches externalities downstream from negative externalities Flow from river mouth to receiving The complex interaction of surface, groundwater and seawater Reduce negative externalities of river modification water body that exists at river outlets determines the nature and extent of Manage sea-fresh water interaction in coastal areas seawater intrusions, sedimentation and expansion of river deltas, rise or fall of coastal groundwater levels particularly those affecting the environment and the poor. In other cases, the concerns of downstream communities are simply ignored, perhaps because they are in any case marginalized or are in a downstream riparian country. Barbier (2003) argues that failing to take into consideration the negative externalities of upstream development is poor economics, as it increases the benefits to an upstream community at the expense of a downstream community. To avoid such costly mistakes, there is a growing recognition of the need to use ex ante impact assessment as a basis for decision making on whether to proceed with an upstream project, and if so, how to plan and implement it in ways that minimize negative externalities.To address the key question raised in the title of this chapter, the impacts of bright spots and their externalities need to be understood and strategies put in place to minimize negative impacts. We surmise that a basin shines more brightly as total net benefits increase, as the distribution of benefits among basin inhabitants becomes more equitable and as the provision of the desired goods and services become more sustainable. Indicators of local impact, change in total basin-wide net benefits, equity and sustainability are needed to communicate information on the extent to which a basin shines and to identify areas requiring improvement (see Table 10.4). In practice, these measures will be difficult to quantify for both ex ante and ex post impact assessment, but could be included in a checklist of variables that should be taken into consideration and the outcomes discussed and negotiated as a part of planning and adaptive management processes.Externalities can be managed at source, at some intermediate land unit (such as a wetland) and at the land unit where their impact is experienced. Externalities can be managed in a variety of ways, but are usually addressed through reactive approaches, which tend to address problems on an ad hoc basis.Three case studies are used here to explore issues associated with bright spots, their evolution, their externalities and how these are managed. We focus on bright spots arising from the adoption of resource-conserving agriculture (Machakos and Yellow River basin) and of technological and management practices for water quality improvements (New York City watersheds).The upper watersheds of the Athi River basin, situated in Kenya's Machakos district, cover an area of 13,700 km 2 and experienced severe vegetation and soil degradation in the 1930s.The combined effect of degradation and recurrent droughts depressed crop and livestock outputs and created the perception, amongst colonial administrators, that the district's farming systems were unsustainable and in some cases in a state of terminal decline. In 1937, Maher was to comment[e]very phase of misuse of land is vividly and poignantly displayed in this Reserve, the inhabitants of which are rapidly drifting to a state of hopeless and miserable poverty and their land to a parching desert of rocks, stones and sand.(Colin Maher, Senior Soil Conservation Officer, 1937 quoted in Tiffen et al., 1994) Low agricultural outputs and an increasing population led to further conversion of forest, grassland and wetlands into cropland and in most cases continued vegetation, soil and water degradation (Tiffen et al., 1994). By the 1960s many springs were reported to have dried up, and approximately 63% of the surface reservoirs were completely silted up (Gichuki, 1991).A series of programmatic interventions promoted soil and water conservation and good farming practices (Gichuki, 1991;Thomas, 1991). Soil and water conservation measures, particularly terracing, were adopted by 78% of farmers, with on-farm coverage varying from 15 to 95%. Soil and water conservation and good farming practices contributed to alleviating water and fertility constraints to crop production and supported agricultural intensification, diversification and in some cases a shift to high-value crops. A typical farm had cut-off drains, on-field soil conservation structures and bananas planted in pits. Runoff harvesting for crop production, mulching, manuring, mixed cropping with fruit trees, beans and maize, and live fences used as windbreaks and as a source of fuelwood were common practices. With improved management of grazing land, livestock-carrying capacity rose from only 0.24 to 0.33 livestock units supported per ha to 0.63-2.50 livestock units per ha, depending on agroclimatic conditions and the nature and extent of pasture improvement.Local bright spots emerged in site-specific locations to take advantage of a variety of enabling conditions and potential benefits, including proximity to the road and market, runoff accumulation, soil and water conservation incentives, high-yielding crop varieties, and so on. These changes came about against a background of strong social capital, which accelerated the adoption of high-yielding and resource-conserving technologies (Tiffen and Gichuki, 2000). A wide range of bright spots scattered throughout the upper watersheds increased agricultural output from 0.4 to 1.2 t/capita between 1932 and 1989. During the same period, the farm value output per ha increased fivefold and the agricultural economy (mainly coffee, fruit, vegetable and food crops and livestock) supported a sixfold increase in human population (Tiffen et al., 1994). The siltation of reservoirs declined and dry-season river flows improved (Gichuki, 1991). Local impact : what are the Productivity -ratio of output to input, which serves as a measure of the total benefits derived from relative suitability of a bright spot or a measure of resource-use bright spots? efficiency Incremental yield or income over the traditional system Profitability -net benefit accruing from the bright spot Stability/reliability/resilience -the absence or minimization of seasonto-season or year-to-year fluctuations in the level and/or value of output of a bright spot Diversity -risk-minimizing strategy associated with: (i) diversification of the production system -crop, livestock, trees, fisheries within the bright spot; (ii) diversity of outputs from a given bright spot, for example milk, meat and draught power from cattle production;(iii) diversity of the ways that the produce is used -consumed, sold, stored, processed; and (iv) diversity of income sources Time dispersion -the degree to which production inputs, output and income are spread over time The Yellow River is considered to be the most sediment-laden river in the world, with a longterm average sediment delivery of 1.2 billion mt/year (Fu and Chen, 2006;Wang et al., 2007). The Loess Plateau contributes 80-90% of the river's total sediment load, and approximately 191,000 km 2 of land on the plateau loses 5000 t/km annually (YRCC, 2001). Each year approximately 400 million t of sediment is trapped in the reservoirs and irrigation systems of the basin. Of the sediment entering irrigation systems, approximately 40% ends up on irrigated fields, where it has positive impacts on crop yields (Giordano et al., 2004). Another 400 million t silts the river channel and the rest is deposited at the river's mouth. As a consequence, the Yellow River delta grows by 0.42 km 2 and adds 23.5 km 2 of land every year to the coast (Yan-chun, 1998).In the Yellow River basin, the main factors that constrain the emergence of bright spots over the entire Loess Plateau are: (i) unfavourable biophysical conditions -steep slopes, highly erodible soils and erosive rainstorms; (ii) the high costs of rehabilitating degraded land; (iii) conflicting policy objectives; and (iv) concerns that although re-vegetation and the construction of key dams reduces the sediment load, these measures also reduce water yield and availability for downstream uses (Lu and van Ittersum, 2003;Xing-min et al., 2004). A series of programmatic, community-level and individual interventions have alleviated some of the above problems. We highlight those associated with the Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project (LPWRP), which was launched in 1994 and completed in 2002. This programme made a direct investment of US$250 million, which spurred the emergence of many bright spots in the 15,600 km 2 area in which it operated. The main project achievements included the terracing of 90,500 ha, the afforestation of 90,900 ha, and shrub trees were planted across 136,000 ha. In addition, 7100 ha of irrigation was developed, and 149 key dams were constructed along with other dam and control structures (Shaojun et al., 2004). This ingenious system of dams created fertile farming land, provided flood defences and water storage for dry-season use in what were once deep gullies (Chunhong et al., 2004). The above interventions, combined with other agricultural and marketing interventions, are reported to have contributed to increasing grain output from 427,000 to 700,000 mt, fruit production from 80,000 to 345,000 mt and farmers' incomes from US$44 to US$155 (Shaojun et al., 2004).There is some controversy over whether these bright spots save water for the basin, specifically whether or not it improves the flow regime in the lower reaches. The two contrasting views are: (i) while upstream conservation works do save water, these savings are rapidly used up in situ to increase production, yielding no benefits to downstream water users; and (ii) water is saved because the programme has reduced the water requirements for sediment flushing downstream. Studies have established that the vegetative measures of soil erosion control deplete 3-16 m 3 of water through evapotranspiration for a reduction of one t of sediment in the lower reaches, whereas flushing one t of sediment requires 33-60 m 3 (Xing-min et al., 2004). Based on this relationship, it was estimated that between 1970 and 1996, soil and water conservation practices reduced soil loss by an average of 1.495ϫ10 8 mt annually in the river section between Hekou and Longmen and saved 4.88ϫ10 9 m 3 of water that would have been needed to flush out sediments.New York City gets its water from Catskill/ Delaware and Croton watersheds. The decline of the rural economy -based mainly on family farm agriculture, woodlot forestry and outdoor recreational tourism -triggered land-use and management changes, mainly agricultural intensification, commercial forestry, road construction, vacation homes and urban centres (Appleton, 2002). Securing livelihoods for the watershed communities through commercial agriculture (locally perceived bright spots) created externalities associated with increasing point and non-point source pollution. Industrial livestock production units were the main source of water pollutants. Environmental regulations aimed at reducing pollution were ineffective at controlling these externalities.Traditional models of command and control regulation did not work when the economic livelihood of individual farmers and other rural landowners was at stake. Non-point source water quality regulations had and have failed to articulate a clear coherent set of obligations for individual landowners to follow, and have never given such landowners any incentive to follow them. (Appleton, 2002, p. 3) Watershed communities, struggling to remain in business, viewed water quality regulation as unrealistic, arbitrary and top-down thinking by urban interests.According to Appleton (2002), proactive approaches to addressing the problem were urgently needed, since allowing the deterioration of water quality in the watersheds and then spending massive sums to treat it was not considered an ideal solution to the problem. To meet strict water quality guidelines, New York City had two options to deal with the pollution problemto upgrade water treatment works or provide incentives for the watershed communities to undertake interventions aimed at reducing water pollution. A series of studies established that watershed water quality improvement at a cost of US$1.5 billion invested over a 10-year period was cheaper than upgrading the New York City water treatment facilities at a capital and annual operating cost of US$6 billion and US$300 million, respectively (Perrot-Maître and Davis, 2001). For many, addressing non-point pollution associated with both agriculture and suburban development through a watershed management programme was unlikely to succeed (Appleton, 2002). After much consultation and negotiation, however, stakeholders agreed on a package of innovative financing arrangements to facilitate water quality improvements in the watersheds. The intervention package included: (i) purchase of land from willing sellers at full market price to ensure that it was conserved in such a way that enhanced its natural water-filtering capabilities; (ii) conservation easements -a transfer of usage rights, which created a legally enforceable land preservation agreement; (iii) upgrading water treatment, sewage and storm water management facilities; and (iv) supporting the implementation of best management practices in forests, farms and riparian zones (Perrot-Maître and Davis, 2001).Although the programme to implement best on-farm management practices was voluntary, its goal was to obtain the participation of 85% of all farmers within 5 years. The incentives and benefits to farmers, as well as the conservation ethic of some of them, resulted in 93% of farmers participating in the programme, a reduction of agricultural pollution by 75% and economic stabilization of farming in the watersheds (Appleton, 2002).Bright spots emerge where biophysical, socioeconomic and institutional conditions are favourable (Noble et al., 2006). The emergence may be spontaneous or driven by programmatic interventions. In all the above case studies, the bright spots are closely linked to major development programmes. In the Machakos case study, a series of development projects created conditions in which most of the bright spots emerged spontaneously as communities and individuals took advantage of a series of favourable conditions. In the Yellow River, bright spots are concentrated in areas where soil and water conservation initiatives have been most successful. Hotspots still remain in the most fragile and heavily degraded parts of the Loess Plateau. In the case of the New York study, the financial incentives and technical support provided the impetus needed to adopt appropriate technologies and management practices.Bright spots can be brightened or dimmed by lateral flows. For example, on-farm runoff harvesting in dry areas entails sacrificing some land for runoff collection. Efforts to control sediment in the Yellow River basin using silt dams created opportunities for bright spots to develop where such dams created fertile cropland and secured dry-season irrigation water. In such cases, lateral flows were major determinants of land productivity. In the case of New York City, lateral flows associated with industrial livestock production units were the major source of a negative externality. The presence of an intermediate land unit that provides a buffering effect plays a key role in shielding downstream communities from negative externalities. At the hill slope level, a cut-off drain may provide the required buffering, as was the case in Machakos. At the watershed level, small dams trap sediments, reducing flooding in valley bottoms and increasing dry-season water availability. Such developments therefore act as a buffer for communities immediately downstream. At the basin level, a combination of natural and man-made wetlands provides buffering for a number of externalities. In the Yellow River basin, sediment is a major component of the lateral flow, and when deposited in reservoirs and irrigation canals it increases operation and maintenance costs, but contributes to soil fertility enhancement when deposited in irrigation fields. Li and Zhang (2003) reported that organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and total potassium were 0.42, 0.025, 0.157 and 2.16%, respectively of the total sediment deposited in irrigation fields. The combined effect of soil conservation in upper watersheds and water storage and irrigation development in middle reaches since the 1950s has contributed to reducing sediment flow into the sea. Wang et al. (2007) reported that the mean annual (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005) sediment load reaching the sea was 300 billion mt/year, one-third of the 1983 estimates. Dam reservoirs enhanced water supply in dry seasons and facilitated agricultural intensification and diversification but affected downstream communities in various ways.The links between the bright spot and the area where externalities are felt are in some cases short and clearly evident, as in the case of hill slope runoff and erosion processes and their impact on a neighbouring farmer. In semi-arid areas of Machakos, downstream farmers benefit from runoff that they can store for supplemental irrigation but suffer from the sediment, particularly if siltation takes place in farm ponds and drainage ditches and/or contributes to road damage (Gichuki, 1991;Barron et al., 2003). In such a case, the impacts can be easily quantified and attributed to an upstream land user. In the New York City case study, there was an obvious and direct link, albeit diffused, between water quality deterioration and upstream land and water management practices. As the number of land and water users increases, however, it is difficult to pinpoint the sources, particularly if there are no clearly evident water pollution hotspots. In the Yellow River basin, for example, the links between soil erosion in the catchment and degradation in the delta are blurred because there are so very many potential hotspots within the basin.To what extent did basins shine and why? In all the above case studies, interventions comprised a wide range of measures implemented over a long period. Bright spots emerged at different times and synergistically contributed to arresting the degradation problem and improving productivity. Table 10.5 shows that there are multiple externalities associated with bright spots and they affect downstream communities in many diverse ways.Performance measures (yield, soil loss, sedimentation, income, water use, water availability) employed in the study areas can be used to generate a rough indication of the extent to which these basins shine. These indicators suggest that some parts of these basins shine as a result of this variety of interventions. The full potential of bright spots has not, however, been tapped. This is attributed to the site-specific nature of some bright spots and to factors that constrain their widespread adoption. The total net benefit, equity and sustainability measures proposed in the framework are ideal but not achievable for lack of data. We note that the performance measures that are widely used fail to adequately capture both equity and sustainability considerations. They also present piecemeal information: for example, reporting on yield increases alone instead of providing complementary indicators that capture the effect of natural resources management and crop production technology on yields and how this varies under different climatic conditions.Because bright spots emerge in locations with favourable marketing, social and biophysical conditions, benefits are not necessary equally shared by all. The Machakos case study illu-strates the fact that some bright spots can be established with very low capital inputs. Hence, opportunities are also available to the poor. Positive externalities do benefit poor communities utilizing wetlands and those who rely on sediment for their soil fertility enhancement and on runoff for supplemental irrigation. Certain levels of resource use in upstream areas may, however, result in upstream-downstream inequity. This is illustrated by Barbier (2003), who argues that the gains in irrigation benefits upstream of the Hadejia-Jama're and Hadejia Nguru floodplain wetlands accounted for approximately 3-17% of the losses in floodplain benefits. Specific economic losses associated with reduced flows into the floodplains included: (i) increased cost of domestic water -a 25% increase in domestic water collection time and increased cost of groundwater estimated at US$0.12 per household for a 1 m drop in groundwater level; (ii) an annual loss of US$82,832 to vegetable farmers for a US$1 million drop in groundwater level; and (iii) a system-wide loss ranging between US$2.6 million and US$24 million, depending on the quantity and timing of floodwater releases from upstream dams.Bright spots have high local and significant society-wide benefits, as noted in the case studies here and reported elsewhere (Bossio et   , 2004;Mati, 2004;Noble et al., 2006). The case studies illustrate that the way externalities cascade down a river system is complex and results in a combination of negative and/or positive impacts. The nature and extent of an externality is influenced by: (i) biophysical and chemical factors, which determine the quantity of the externality at source and how it accumulates or is transformed along the waterway; and (ii) human factors, which determine the value and cost attached to externalities. At the landscape and small-watershed scale, linkages are easier to establish. Beyond this scale, linkages are difficult to establish owing to: (i) complex pathways; (ii) long time lags; and (iii) difficulties in establishing attribution, particularly when other factors contribute to the externality. Externalities exhibit a high temporal variability, generally associated with rainfall and stream flow variability, with high peaks occurring infrequently and over short periods of time. Some externalities have very long time lags. For example, the hydrological impacts of deforestation may take a long time to become clearly evident because deforestation generally takes place over many years, with some areas experiencing recovery and others degrading; climatic variability may mask the effect and/or deforestation may be accompanied by other waterand land-use changes that may either abate or exacerbate the externality (Calder, 2004).We conclude by noting that bright spots can play a key role in enhancing positive externalities and reducing negative externalities associated with agricultural production. Programmes and projects that seek to scale-up and -out bright spots-related technologies and management practices should identify externalities and assess their ex ante impacts. Interventions aimed at scaling-up bright spots should be guided by the following principles:• Scale-up appropriate bright spots in ways that optimize positive and minimize negative externalities. • Generate more local benefits from bright spot interventions.• Manage externalities at appropriate scales by focusing on hotspots, critical links, key actors and major stakeholders.We surmise that making a basin shine is often a slow process that needs to be supported by:• Appropriate technical solutions, such as barrier and buffer strips placed at the edge of fields, farm boundaries and riparian zones that can effectively reduce the transmission of externalities, and good planning to avoid costly mistakes. • Conducive legal frameworks, such as property rights to encourage long-term investment and enforceable agreements on compensation for environmental goods and services. • Effective incentives, such as payments for environmental services and fair prices for goods and services, using approaches that reduce negative externalities. • A usable knowledge base containing information on trade-offs, which facilitates multistakeholder consultation and negotiation. • Supportive partnerships of key actors at different scales that work synergistically to secure sustainable development.We argue that a basin perspective is required to manage externalities because of the complexity of linkages and the convolution of externalities as they move from farm to hill slope to watershed to sub-basin and ultimately to basin scale. Such a basin perspective would involve planning and implementing interventions at several spatial scales so as to achieve optimal levels of participation.Research should focus more on generating the information needed to improve understanding of externalities and their impacts and to address trade-offs associated with alternative intervention strategies. Tools are also needed for quantifying and valuing externalities.","tokenCount":"5146"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2650174070.json b/data/part_1/2650174070.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eba61a52f2a6c11f3c3719e78c8a298d5823bed8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2650174070.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a7b6b4fd5fcc6ea1690b0a4ea0491042","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/OLYELW/C9CHEI","id":"1056304167"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ac9af1b6-ca07-406a-be9c-637f20588dd1","pagecount":"78","content":"The survey contains three forms: a main form, a female form, and a male form. The sample is composed of five groups. Groups 1-3 are in the jute area, while Groups 4-5 are in the mung bean area. Each of the groups is described below. Not all groups complete all of the three forms. Some sections or questions within the form are only asked to certain groups. The table on the next page provides an overview of which sections of the questionnaire are asked to which groups. You do not have to remember this information, as the survey program will display the questions automatically based on the ID number you have entered.Group 1 households are farmer households producing jute who were interviewed at baseline and at midline. Group 1 households will complete the main form and the female form. Group 1 households do not complete the male form. Roster information for Group 1 members will be preloaded in Module B of the female form. The primary activity of Group 1 households is jute farming.Group 1 households are farmer households producing jute who were interviewed at midline but were not interviewed at baseline. Group 1 households will complete the main form, the female form, and the male form. Roster information for Group 1 members will be preloaded in Module B of the female form. Once the roster module has been completed in the female form, the interviewer must copy the roster information displayed on the tablet onto the form provided. This information should then be entered when completing the male form. The primary activity of Group 2 households is jute farming.Group 3 households are input seller households who provide inputs to jute farmers in the study area. Group 3 households will complete the main form. Group 3 households do not complete the female form or the male form. Group 3 households do not complete a full household roster, but will complete a shortened roster on the input seller only, as part of the main form. The primary activity of Group 3 households is selling agricultural inputs.Group 4 Households Group 4 households are farmer households producing mung beans. Group 4 households have not been interviewed before. Group 4 households will complete the main form and the female form. Group 4 households do not complete the male form. Roster information will not be preloaded in the female form. The program will prompt the interviewer to list all of the members of the household prior to completing the individual level roster questions. The primary activity of Group 4 households is mung bean farming.Group 5 households are input seller households who provide inputs to mung bean farmers in the study area. Group 5 households will complete the main form. Group 5 households do not complete the female form or the male form. Group 5 households do not complete a full household roster, but will complete a shortened roster on the input seller only, as part of the main form. The primary activity of Group 5 households is selling agricultural inputs. x xIf the main respondent (listed in the tablet) is still a member of the household, the interview should be conducted. If the main respondent is no longer in the same household, but still resides in the same union AND is still engaged in the primary activity of the household, the main respondent should be interviewed along with the members of their new household. If the main respondent is no longer in the same household, and no longer resides in the same union OR is no longer engaged in the primary activity of the household, interview the members of the original household. If the entire household is no longer present in the union, the interview cannot be completed and the reason should be recorded as 'moved away'. Group 4 & 5 Households Only: If the household cannot be interviewed, contact your supervisor who will provide a replacement household.The main respondent for the form will be preloaded in the survey program. The main respondent is the person in the household who is most responsible for the primary activity of the household (farming or selling inputs). This person should answer all the questions in the main form. If the person preloaded is no longer the person who is most responsible for the primary activity of the household, then the person who is now most responsible for the primary activity should now act as the main respondent for the formFor Group 1 & Group 2 households the respondent will be preloaded from the most recent interview. If they are not available, or for Group 4 households:-If the main respondent of the form is male, the respondent for the female form should be the spouse or partner of the main respondent. If they do not have a spouse or partner, then another adult female member of the household should act as the respondent for the female form. If there are no adult females in the household, the female form should be completed by the main form respondent. -If the main respondent of the form is female, the main respondent should also be the respondent for the female form.The respondent will be preloaded from the midline interview. If they are not available:-If the main respondent of the form is male, the respondent for the male form should be the main form respondent.-If the main respondent of the form is female, the male form respondent should be the spouse or partner of the main respondent. If they do not have a spouse or partner, then another adult male household member should act as the respondent for the male form. If there are no adult males in the household, the male form should not be completed.Unless otherwise specified in the question text, the recall period for the survey is the 12-month period prior to the day of the interview. For questions relating to agriculture, this should include the completed 2017 Kharif season and the 2017/2018 Rabi season. For example, if the interview is taking place in May 2018 and the respondent plants their main crop in April-November each year, ask about the 2017 season, not the crop they currently have planted. For mung bean only we will ask for both the most recent Rabi season (2017/2018) (including if not yet harvested) and the previous season (2016/2017).The electronic survey form requires that all applicable questions be answered. If a respondent does not know the answer to a question, is unable to respond, or declines to answer, use code '9999'. Do not enter any other value for these cases! A household is a group of individuals who eat from the same pot, and sleep under the same roof. Someone is a member of the household if he or she was in the household at least 3 out of the last 6 months, and at least 4 days per week. Exceptions: if someone just moved out with the intention of not moving back soon, then this is not a household member. If someone recently moved in or was born, and the intention for the person is to stay in the household, then this is a household member.The survey program will load a list of members who were listed in the household at baseline or at midline. For each member, the respondent will be asked to confirm if they are still a member of the household. The respondent should provide the number of additional members (for example: newborns) who were not listed in the previous survey(s). The surveyor should then complete one row for each member. After completing the list of names, you will be prompted to select the male and female form respondents from the list of household members.Group 4 households will not have any roster information loaded in the program. One row of questions B1_01-B1_24 should be completed for each of the members listed under B1_00_1. Question B1_00_2 is not asked to Group 4 households. After completing the list of names, you will be prompted to select the male and female form respondents from the list of household members.hhid Please enter the household ID A_13Religion of the household head  we are conducting a survey that will provide IFPRI with necessary information to carry out research that is designed to help promote the welfare of Bangladeshis; particularly, to improve food consumption and nutrition of the people and women's status, and to enhance agricultural development and income generation.Your household has been chosen by a random selection process.We are inviting you to be a participant in this study. We value your opinion and there are no wrong answers to the questions we will be asking in the interview. We will use approximately 3-4 hours of your time to collect all the information. If you prefer, we can do the interview in two visits.There will be no cost to you other than your time. There will be no risk as a result of your participating in the study. Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue participation in this study at any time.This study is conducted anonymously. You will only be identified through code numbers. Your identity will not be stored with other information we collect about you. Your responses will be assigned a code number, and the list connecting your name with this number will be kept in a locked room and will be destroyed once all the data has been collected and analyzed. Any information we obtain from you during the research will be kept strictly confidential. Your participation will be highly appreciated.The answers you give will help provide better information to policy-makers, practitioners and program managers so that they can plan for better services that will respond to your needs.The researcher read to me orally the consent form and explained to me its meaning. I agree to take part in this research. I understand that I am free to discontinue participation at any time if I so choose, and that the investigator will gladly answer any question that arise during the course of the research. Group 2 Households ONLY ENUMERATOR: You have now completed the household roster for the female form. This information will later be used in completing the male form for this household. From this point onward, you should not make changes to the household roster. If you do need to make a change, you must re-complete the household roster section, copy down the updated information, then re-complete modules G2 onward. Do not edit the roster section then skip forward-doing so may cause serious data discrepancies and you may be required to redo the interview.The following information is a summary of the name, age, sex & PID of each member listed in the roster. Using the sheet provided make a careful copy of this information. This information should then be entered in to the first section of the Male Form to identify the household members. Please take care to ensure all data is copied and re-entered correctly. Gain more income for household 3.More interesting 4.Less hard work 5.Shorter hours 6.Move convenient hours 7.Allows me to work on my own 8.Allows me to work with family members 9.Allows me to work with female friends/peers 10. Allows me to visit other places 11. Other, specify1.Does not provide enough income 2.Spouse does not allow it 3.Other family member does not allow 4.Tradition / local custom prohibits it 5.Not safe / Fear of harassment 6.Too far from home 7.No time 8.Other, specify G2.11 Of all these activities, which one would you prefer your spouse to participate in the most?  An account can be used to save money, to make or receive payments, or to receive wages or financial help. Do you, either by yourself or together with someone else, currently have an account at any of the following places: a bank or other formal institution (e.g., post office)?   Much less time 3.Somewhat less time 4.The same amount of time 5.Somewhat more time 6. ..... Much more time 3 Personal care 1.No time at all 2.Much less time 3.Somewhat less time 4.The same amount of time 5.Somewhat more time 6. ..... Much more timeNo time at all 2.Much less time 3.Somewhat less time 4.The same amount of time 5.Somewhat more time 6.Much more time  Now I am going to read you some stories about different farmers and their situations regarding different agricultural activities. This question format is different from the rest so take your time in answering. For each I will then ask you how much you are like or not like each of these people. We would like to know if you are completely different from them, similar to them, or somewhere in between. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.Are you completely the same or somewhat the same?  The following questions ask how satisfied you feel with your life as a whole, on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 means you feel \"very dissatisfied\" and 5 means you feel \"very satisfied.\"  Module A: Household Identification (ALL GROUPS)    C4_16b … when using broadcast sowing?(Don't know = 9999)C4_17a Now we would like to know when it is better to grow tossa jute, or deshi jute.What is better when you have high lands, where rain water does not stand? Which month is the best month to plant mung bean?[MONTH] C4_29 Which month is the best month to harvest mung bean?[MONTH] C4_30 Which method of sowing mung bean seed is better for yield, broadcast sowing or line sowing? Ok we are done now. The researchers will randomly pick one set of farmer and seller envelopes and send the seller envelope from that set to an input seller. The input seller will then decide how much to return to you.In a few days from now, we will let you know how much you earnt and give you the money. Do you have any questions for me now?Input Seller Households Only (Groups 3 & 5) You will play this game with 4 different farmers, so there is a seller envelope for 4 different farmers, but the researchers will randomly pick only one of the four sets of envelopes. The money that you put in the farmer envelope for the randomly selected farmer will go to that farmer; and the money you decided to keep from that farmer will go to you. This is the money that you put in the selected seller envelope. So only your choice for that set will be paid by my supervisor. Ok? Each of your sets of buyer and farmer envelopes has an equal chance of being picked, and it will not depend on how much money you put in the envelope.I will ask you to put money in the envelope for each farmer separately. We will do this as follows. I give you the first envelope and tell you how much is in it. Then you decide how much money to put back in the envelope while I turn away -so you can make your choice in private. Then, once you are ready, I will give you the second envelope and tell you again how much is in it. Then again you decide how much money to put back in that second envelope while I turn away. We follow this procedure for all envelopes. And then we are done. Ok?The researchers will then give the farmer the money in the envelope, plus whatever the farmer decided to put in the farmer envelope. We will not tell him that the money is coming from you. So he will never find out that you were playing with him. Ok we are done now. One of the farmers will be randomly selected and you will receive real money in the amount that you decided to keep when playing with that farmer. My supervisor will also give the farmers real money for the amount they earnt; so that is the amount that you gave back in the envelope for the farmer, plus the amount the farmer decided to keep. Do you have any questions for me now?Module A: Household Identification ","tokenCount":"2684"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2657019299.json b/data/part_1/2657019299.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1748201d3a9d124de8f6946c7775f3f15c0e8ed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2657019299.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"095afa4913f000085d6f27a9033be028","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/cfbceb3c-4c26-4074-bf48-70e4e24f30da/content","id":"1561837265"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"68bc7a92-19fe-4a51-85cf-2217be9dddfb","pagecount":"200","content":"Dr. Anderson has been working in the areas of wheat breeding and genetics since 1989. He has contributed to the development of 11 released wheat cultivars and authored/co-authored 61 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His major research effort is the genetic investigations of complexly inherited traits including grain quality and disease resistance. Recent research has focused on Fusarium head blight and leaf rust resistance and incorporating resistance into new cultivars using marker-assisted selection. Dr. AndersonThe Honoree John W. Dudley is an emeritus Professor of Plant Genetics at the University of Illinois. Prior to his retirement he was the inaugural holder of the Renessen Endowed Chair in Corn Quality Trait Breeding and Genetics. Dr. Dudley's breeding career has spanned 49 years and three important crops: maize, alfalfa, and sugar beets. Dr. Dudley is most well known for his research on longterm selection for protein and oil in the classic University of Illinois experiment, selection for the simultaneous improvement of multiple traits, particularly yield and disease resistance, developing methods for choosing parents for use in breeding programs, and the application of biotechnology to plant improvement. Dr. Dudley has been extremely active in academia, has published over 155 papers, served on the editorial board of the esteemed journal Crop Science in various capacities from 1964 to 1976, and served as associate head of the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Dr. Dudley is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received the DEKALB Crop Science Distinguished Career Award, the National Commercial Council of Plant Breeders Award, and the Crop Science Research Award (CSSA).Jorge A. Acosta-Gallegos Dr. Jorge A. Acosta-Gallegos is a traditional plant breeder that has a passion for exploring the Mexican mountains in search for wild Phaseolus beans. As a result of that hobby he has contributed with a few hundred accessions to the germplasm banks of INIFAP and CIAT. After graduating as an agronomist in 1972 he started working at the National Agricultural Research Institute (now INIFAP) on rainfed dry beans of the semiarid highlands of the state of Durango. The main emphases of his breeding efforts In Durango were drought adaptation and disease resistance, mainly to root-rots and anthracnose. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1988, he released several improved cultivars, the most important of which was \"Pinto Villa\", a cultivar that dominated its commercial seed class in the semiarid highlands of Mexico for over a decade. He has also collaborated in the Latin-American project of the Bean/Cowpea-CRSP for more than twenty years. From 1991 until 2002 he worked in a sub-humid temperate environment in Central Mexico, mostly concentrating on breeding beans with multiple disease resistance. During the last four years he has built a new breeding program in the Bajío region where he now lives. There, he aims to develop bean cultivars belonging to half a dozen commercial seed classes that are adapted to either irrigated or rainfed conditions. During the course of his carrier, Dr. Acosta has participated in the development of more than twenty improved dry bean cultivars. projects, and Director of Research for developing country research cooperation. He received B.Sc. and M Sc. degrees from University College, Cork, Ireland, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York, and he was formerly Charge de Recherche at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Dr. Barry is co-inventor on 20 patents, co-author of more than 50 research articles, and has been a frequent invited speaker at international conferences.Most often cited for his discovery of bias in estimates of genetic effects from QTL analyses of segregating populations (the \"Beavis Effect\"), Dr. Beavis gained extensive experience in the application of statistical genetic methods during his twelve years at Pioneer-Dupont. Since joining NCGR in 1998, Dr. Beavis has been the principal investigator for a variety of bioinformatics projects, including The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR), GeneX and GeneX-Lite gene expression systems, the Legume Information System (LIS), the Legume Information Network (LIN) and the Genome Explorer and Survey of Immunological Response (GEySIR) system. Currently, Dr. Beavis is developing novel methods, based on Bayesian inference, to identify global gene expression patterns associated with genotypes. Dr. Beavis received his Ph.D. degree in Plant Breeding and Statistics from the Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He holds an M.S degree in Interdisciplinary Biology-Statistics from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM and a B.S. degree in Range Management from Humboldt State University, Arcata, California. Since 2003, Dr. Beavis is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at University of New Mexico and an adjunct scientist at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute.Rex Bernardo is a professor and endowed chair in corn breeding and genetics in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota. He obtained a B.S. degree in agriculture at the Visayas State College of Agriculture in the Philippines in 1984, and a Ph.D. degree plant breeding and genetics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. Dr. Bernardo's research focuses on the use of quantitative genetics theory and molecular markers to improve the efficiency of plant breeding methods, particularly for corn. Dr. Bernardo teaches a graduate course on the application of quantitative genetics to plant breeding and a graduate course on publishing in plant science journals. He is currently director of the Applied Plant Sciences graduate program at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Bernardo has served on the editorial boards of Crop Science and Theoretical and Applied Genetics. He received the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) Young Crop Scientist Award in 1999, is a Fellow of CSSA and the American Society of Agronomy, and is currently chair of the Crop Breeding and Genetics division of CSSA.became the Team Leader for the Molecular Breeding Informatics and Quantitative Applications Team. This team was responsible for development and implementation of informatic tools that support the analysis of molecular marker information. In January of 2001, Sam also assumed leadership of the Molecular Breeding Project Coordination program, which is responsible for implementing molecular breeding project plans in cooperation with the breeding programs. In September of 2005, Sam became the North America Corn Line Development Director.Gebisa Ejeta is a professor of plant breeding and genetics in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University. His research focuses on the improvement of the sorghum crop for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses as well as for value-added, nutritional quality and end product development. He has full responsibility for teaching the first graduate level course in plant breeding and assists in teaching of a number of other courses at Purdue University. Dr. Ejeta is involved in a variety of programs in international agriculture through Purdue University, international research centers, foundations, and other agencies. He has contributed to agriculture in developing countries through sorghum cultivars and hybrids that he developed, programs that he initiated, and graduates students he has trained. Dr. Ejeta is a member and fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.Walter Fehr is a Charles R. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and director of the Office of Biotechnology at Iowa State University. He is a soybean breeder in the Department of Agronomy and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in plant breeding. He obtained his B.S. and M.S degrees at the University of Minnesota and his Ph. D. in plant breeding and cytogenetics at Iowa State University. His research has emphasized evaluation of breeding methodologies, development of novel traits, genetic and agronomic analysis of novel traits, and cultivar development.André Gallais is Professor Emeritus of the \"Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon\" (INAPG, Paris, France) where he was Professor Genetics and Plant Breeding from 1982 to 2005 in charge of a graduate course. He was the head of the research Station of Genetics and Plant Breeding of Le Moulon (Gif/Yvette, France) from 1982 to 1999. Dr Gallais first developed theoretical research on quantitative genetics and the breeding of autopolyploid species, with application to the breeding of two autotetraploids species cocksfoot and alfalfa. Simultaneously he developed theoretical work on the best combination of recurrent selection and variety development. Since 1982 he has been working mainly on corn, where he has developed studies on genetic resources, recurrent selection, marker-assisted selection and more recently on the genetics and breeding of nitrogen use efficiency. His main interest is the use of quantitative genetics theory and molecular markers to increase the efficiency of breeding methods.Dr. PD Christiane Gebhardt is a senior scientist and research group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. In 1978, she obtained a diploma degree in biochemistry from the University of Tübingen, Germany. She did her PhD work at the Friedrich-Miescher Institute in Basel and graduated 1982 from the University of Basel (Switzerland). After postdoctoral positions at CSIRO in Canberra, Australia, and Rothamsted Experimental Station (Harpenden, UK) she took up her current position at the MPI for Plant Breeding Research in 1985. In 1995, she habilitated at the University of Cologne. Her group's research focuses on genome analysis (DNA-based markers, molecular maps, QTL analysis, population genetics) of potato (Solanum tuberosum), the world's forth most important crop. Dr. Gebhardt served six years on the Board of Trustees of CIAT and is associated editor of Theoretical and Applied Genetics.Elcio Perpetuo Guimaraes received his BSc degree in Agronomy from the \"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz\" in Brazil. His MSc is on Genetics and Plant Breeding from the same University in Brazil. In 1976 he began working as a rice breeder at EMBRAPA. He obtained a PhD degree in 1985 from University of Iowa in USA, also on Genetics and Plant Breeding. From 1989 to 1996 he worked as rice breeder at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in Cali, Colombia. In 1996 he returned to EMBRAPA where he remained until the end of 2001 when he became a senior officer at FAO. In his career he has been responsible for releasing several rice varieties in Latin America and has published and edited several books and technical articles.Dr. Arnel R. Hallauer is a retired C. F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Iowa State University, a member of the National Academy of Science, and a member of the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service's Science Hall of Fame. Hallauer has influenced plant breeders around the world through his teachings, publications, and breeding accomplishments. His book, Quantitative Genetics in Maize Breeding, is considered a standard textbook for corn breeders. He conducted and established full-sib reciprocal recurrent selection as an effective breeding method for maize. Hallauer graduated with a BS degree in 1954 with a major in plant science at Kansas State University. After military service, he entered Iowa State University where he got his MSc in 1958 and his PhD in 1960. Hallauer started his professional career in 1958 with the USDA/ARS. After having completed over 30 years of federal service, Hallauer retired from with key performance characteristics and positioning DEKALB as an industry leader in implementing genomic information in seed product development. She led efforts to establish transgenic product development programs for Syngenta in cotton, wheat, barley, rice, and plantmade pharmaceuticals in safflower. She has extensive experience in developing Quality Systems to safeguard transgenic event identity and purity through Research, Development, and Commercialization phases of seed product development. She is a named inventor on three U.S. patents, one of which includes the GA21 source of glyphosate tolerance in corn.Tom Osborn is Director of Genetic Resources Development at Seminis Vegetable Seeds in Woodland, CA since 2004. Prior to joining Seminis, he was Bascom Professor of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin, where he taught and conducted research on molecular breeding and genetics of crop plants. He received a B.S. in Horticulture and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin.Wolfgang H. Pfeiffer is the Plant Breeding Coordinator for HarvestPlus; based at CIAT, Colombia. He obtained his Ph.D. and MSc. degrees in Agricultural Sciences from Stuttgart -Hohenheim University in Germany. Before joining HarvestPlus, Wolf was Head Plant Breeder/project manager (small grains), Intensive Agro-ecosystems Program, at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico and responsible for applied and strategic bread wheat, durum wheat and triticale improvement under CIMMYT's global germplasm development mandate. Wolf has over 20 years' experience in International Agriculture in crop improvement, the development and implementation of research strategies and methods, human resource development, and the coordination of global and regional networks and projects. His expertise is in Crop Improvement and International Agriculture.Wayne Powell is Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Cambridge UK. Previous appointments include Head of the School of Agriculture and Wine, University Adelaide, Australia; Deputy Director of the SCRI, Dundee, UK; he also worked at the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. He has reviewed crop science research sponsored by CGIAR in Latin America, Africa and the Near East and has been a member of the external review teams for VIB (Belgium), Rothamsted (UK) and INRA (France). He is Chairman of the Program Advisory Committee for the Generation Challenge Program and Honorary Research Fellow at CIMMYT, Mexico; Member of the JIC Governing Council, Norwich and is an Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.Personal research interests are at the interface of plant genetics, genome science, plant breeding and conservation of genetic resources with a strong emphasis on the delivery of 'public good' outcomes. He has published over 225-refereed scientific papers, presented numerous invited papers at international meetings and successfully supervised 20 PhD students and numerous visiting workers. He maintains an active research group, continues to write grants to support his research from a diverse range of funding sources and has an extensive international network of collaborators and contacts.Matthew Reynolds is Head of Wheat Physiology at The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). He obtained his bachelors degree in Botany at Oxford University in 1984 and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Cornell University in 1989. He also is Special Professor at Nottingham University and serves on the editorial board of Journal of Agricultural Science. His main professional activity is to develop and transfer wheat breeding technologies to increase productivity in developing countries with a special focus on marginal environments. As Head of the Global Wheat Physiology Program, a principal role is to develop partnerships with investigators worldwide that enable appropriate technologies to be applied to the problems facing resource poor farmers. His work has contributed to the understanding of the fundamental limitations to wheat yield potential in irrigated environments as well as identifying rapid and efficient early generation selection tools such as canopy temperature, which have been adopted in major wheat breeding programs. His work on developing conceptual models of wheat to highlight its genetic limitations under stress are used as decision support tools in strategic breeding, exploration of genetic resources, and QTL mapping of stress adaptive traits. He has also been involved in developing agronomic recommendations for wheat in marginal environments, supervises young scientists in the area of application of crop physiology to breeding, and has organized a number of international workshops addressing strategies to increase wheat production.Roberto Tuberosa is a professor in Biotechnology Applied to Plant Breeding in the Department of Agroenvironmental Sciences and Technology, University of Bologna, Italy. He obtained a B.S. degree in Botany at the University of Bologna and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the University of Minnesota. The research of Dr. Tuberosa focuses on the use of genomics approaches to unravel the genetic basis of the response to drought and to improve the sustainability of cereal production, particularly corn and durum wheat. Dr. Tuberosa teaches a number of courses related to the application of biotechnology to plant breeding and is a member of the Editorial Board of Maydica, Molecular Breeding, Plant Biotechnolgy Journal, and Plant Genetic Resources. Dr. Tuberosa is also a member of the Board of Plant Genomics European Meetings and of the EUCARPIA Maize and Sorghum section.Wilfred Vermerris recently joined the University of Florida Genetics Institute as Associate Professor of Agronomy. He has a Master's degree in Bio-molecular Engineering from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and a Ph.D. in Genetics from North Carolina State University. He was on the faculty at Purdue University from 2001-2006. His research focuses on cell wall biosynthesis in grasses, with an emphasis on maize and sorghum. He is an expert on the brown midrib mutants in these two species. Research on these mutants has been the basis for the development of maize and sorghum lines with improved biomass conversion properties that can be used for the production of fuels and green chemical feedstocks. He has taught Plant Genetics, Physiology and Biochemistry of Crop Improvement, and a lab course on PCR. Plant breeding and the creation of new cultivars is worldwide a very important part of agricultural production. The cultivar's characteristics affect both quantity and quality of crop production and are also one of the guarantees of economic profitability. On the other hand, a unilateral way of plant breeding can cause many negative impacts in agro-ecosystems (for example, selection of virulent races of crucial pathogens and subsequent decreases in resistance). Progressive methods of plant breeding, including gene technologies, clearly influence all society events, especially changes in world-view aspects. Consequently, it is necessary to identify correctly all events related to plant genotype exchanges during the breeding process, with the aim of satisfying farmers, agricultural processors and consumers. It is necessary to pass know-how understandably not only to the agricultural community, but also to the general public, reflecting on the processes and results of plant breeding and their direct impacts on the environment. As a consequence, study programs in the FAFNR in CUA Prague give plant breeding considerable attention. Aspects of breeding are included at three different levels. Although only general aspects and theoretical essentials of the plant breeding are included within the scope of BSc. programs, at the level of MSc. study there is an independent plant breeding study program. The third level is intended for postgraduate students. This paper presents the essential objectives, possibilities and forms of education in plant breeding in CUAP-FAFNR.Plant pre-breeding and allelic discovery ). Also, the higher response of modern cultivars to environment was confirmed. However, some landraces and old cultivars proved comparable in response to modern ones (Bila od Dukovan, Brauner Fuchs, Barbu du Maconnais, Baltischer Winterweizen and Gammel Svensk Landhvedte). Old cultivars had lower yield variability, particularly in less productive environments.Dreisigacker, S. 1 *, Warburton, M. 1 , van Ginkel, M. 1 , Balfourier, F. 2 , Xueyong, Z. 3 , Miloudi, N. 4 , Thachunk, C. 1 and Crossa, J. During the same period (1983-2000), modern barley cultivars have been introduced and adopted by farmers on a large scale. The study shows that in-situ conservation of barley landraces by farmers is not a guarantee for their preservation and purity maintenance. To prevent the loss or erosion of valuable genetic resources of barley, it is therefore essential to implement a strict program of genetic resources preservation through cold seed storage in gene banks or through insitu conservation in specially controlled fields.Fernández, L. 1 , Castiñeiras, L. 1 , Fundora, Z. 1 , Shagarodsky, T. 1 , Cristóbal, R. 1 , García, M. 2 , Giraudy, C. 3 , Harper, V. 4 , Acuña, G. 1 , Puldón, G. 1 , Pérez, M.F. 1 and Figueroa, M.B. Corresponding author e-mail: lfernandez@inifat.co.cuMaize is an important food crop and has potential as a crop of primary economic importance for the people of Cuba. The objectives of this research were: to determine the number of varieties on farm in rural areas of the eastern and western provinces of the island; to identify and characterize the current Cuban landraces of maize, taking into account morphological and agronomic characteristics; and to compare the variability of this crop in the two rural areas. The research was carried out in 28 farms, 14 each in the western and eastern areas. A total of 55 accessions were collected and 25 ears per variety were evaluated and characterized; in addition 10 kernels per variety were analyzed. Sixteen characters (nine quantitative and seven qualitative) were measured directly on the ears and kernels. A frequency study was made of the qualitative characters. The quantitative characters were statistically studied through a principal component analysis and a hierarchical cluster, using the statistical package SPSS version 10.0. This research aims to identify and characterize the Cuban landraces and to develop further strategies for the conservation of maize germplasm in rural household farming systems (in-situ), within an overall effort to understand the management of this crop by farmers.Gutierrez, L. 1-2* , Jannink, J.-L. 1 and Nason, J. The genus Triticum includes diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid species. The wheat genome has been shaped by major events including polyploidisation and domestication. Studying genetic diversity of wheat species along this continuum provides an opportunity to understand the impact of polyploidisation, domestication and selection on levels of diversity. The sequence of the chloroplast genome of wheat is publicly available. Microsatellites have been identified in the sequence, and have been demonstrated to be useful markers for assessing genetic diversity in wheat. The slow rate of microsatellite mutation and the conserved nature of the wheat chloroplast make it an ideal genome for evaluating diversity fluxes in wheat. Here we use five chloroplast microsatellite markers to evaluate the genetic diversity of wheat chloroplasts in seven wheat species. We demonstrate the impact on diversity of the domestication of tetraploid wheats and the subsequent bottlenecks associated with the formation of hexaploids by polyploidisation.12. Identifying Argentine maize populations as a source of favorable alleles for grain yield Lorea, R.D. Research was initiated to identify Argentinean maize (Zea mays L.) landraces as a potential source of alleles for improving grain yield of three single crosses representing the three major heterotic patterns used in Argentina. Sixteen landraces were crossed to three elite inbred lines (LP612 and LP122-2 (flint kernel type) and Mo17 (dent)). The 48 crosses, the hybrids LP612 x LP122-2, LP612 x Mo17, and LP122-2 x Mo17 and the inbred lines were evaluated in replicated trials. Experiments were conducted in 2004/05 in three locations. Grain yield, kernel weight and number of kernels m -2 were recorded. Data were analyzed following Dudley's method (1987) for identifying populations as a source of favorable alleles not present in parental inbreds. Most of the landraces would be useful for improving yield of the single crosses. For LP612 x LP122-2, populations, development of new inbreds should require a backcross generation to LP612 or LP122-2. For flint x dent single crosses, backcross to Mo17 would be convenient only for improving LP122-2 x Mo17. These results suggest that breeding populations obtained from crosses of some of these landraces to the elite inbred lines used here would be useful for the development of new inbred lines and hybrids.MacKay, I. and Powell, W. National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Cambridge, CB3 0LE, UK Corresponding author e-mail: wayne.powell@niab.comIn the UK, data from series of integrated trials are used to register new winter wheat varieties for the National List (NL) and Recommended List (RL). Over several decades, these have resulted in the accumulation of data on many varieties for multiple traits, measured at multiple sites, over at least two years. While most of these varieties are no longer grown, remainder seed exist and can be used for genotyping. This has enabled association mapping in this extensively phenotyped collection of varieties. For this process to be implemented most efficiently, information is required on the extent and strength of linkage disequilibrium, the optimum method for integration of historical trait data from different varieties tested in varying numbers of years and sites, and optimum methods of analysis to control for the increased frequency of false positive associations arising from population stratification and unknown pedigree relationships among varieties. In collaboration with breeders and industry, initiatives are underway to genotype this valuable historical data set. Using genotype data collected for other purposes, we have carried out some proof-of-principal analyses to illustrate the problems and opportunities for mapping in this dataset.14. Genetic diversity for abiotic stress tolerance of maize landraces selected for 100 years in southern AfricaMagorokosho, C 1 *, Bänziger, M 2 , and Betrán J environments may possess some unique physiological attributes that may not be present in germplasm not exposed to abiotic stress. This study characterizes the genetic diversity among maize landraces, assesses the impact of farmers' selection on adapting maize landraces to specific agro-ecologies in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and compares the impact of farmers' selection with progress from formal selection under abiotic stress conditions. This poster details the results of the maize landrace collection mission carried out in the three countries, the morphophenological classification of the varieties, the SSR diversity of the varieties, and abiotic stress tolerance of the collected landraces in comparison to the commercially-bred maize varieties available in southern Africa.15. Pre-breeding on Portuguese maize landraces: biometric and pest evaluation Moreira, P.M. 1 *, Santos, J.P. 1 , Antunes, M., P. 1 , Moura, R. 1 , Santos, J.P. 1 , Vaz Patto, M.C. 2 and Pêgo, S. Pre-breeding programs are being carried out to increase the utilization of Brazilian autochthonous accessions. The main objective is to broaden the genetic basis available for breeding programs by the introgression of genes from wild species using both intra-and inter-specific crosses to transfer desired characteristics. Depending on the species, the specific goals are: i) Ananas: Genotype identification and crossability with wild species of Pseudoananas with intense color and highly durable peduncle/fruit connection for stronger ornamental plants; ii) Arachis: Introgression of resistant genes for fungal diseases from wild species (diploid) using synthetic allotetraploid lines in crosses with a cultivated species; iii) Capsicum: Identification and introgression of disease resistant genes from wild and semi-domesticated species; iv) Manihot: Crossability studies among M. esculenta and wild species for disease and drought resistances. Among the preliminary results, highlights include: i) Ananas: Sixteen accessions identified for promising ornamental characteristics in addition to the evaluation of 5,070 plants from various species; ii) Arachis: Seven sterile diploid hybrids (genome AB), five synthetic amphidiploids (AABB), four complex hybrids, and 17 distinct hybrid combinations between A. hypogaea and wild species (backcrosses 1 and 2); iii) Capsicum: Although germination was non-uniform, plantlet establishment was achieved. Incompatibility was noticed in most of the crosses; iv) Manihot: Hybrids between M. esculenta x M. glaziovii were obtained and are being evaluated. These results will be used to evaluate the potential benefits from the utilization of autochthonous Brazilian germplasm in breeding programs. 3 Centro de Investigación Regional del Pacífico Centro (CIRPAC-INIFAP)A diversity of native maize germplasm remains in Mexico, thanks to the efforts of communities that have selected their corn kernels and thereby maintained their preferred maize types. This research contributes to the chemical characterization of 69 accessions from northwest Mexico, analyzing them for protein, lysine and tryptophan content. These accessions were collected in November 2004, mainly from farmers' plots in the states of Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora. Analysis at INIFAP's Maize Quality Laboratory revealed differences between accessions in three measurable variables. The accessions with the best quality protein were the Tabloncillo and Blandito races collected in the state of Nayarit. This indicates that quality is associated with a floury endosperm and low protein content. The accessions with the highest tryptophan (0.79 mg/100g protein) and lysine (3.3 mg/100g protein) content, were Tabloncillos from the state of Nayarit, characterized by deep blue-black kernels with a floury texture. This race would contribute 56% and 61% respectively to the tryptophan and lysine contents of preschool children's diets, according to established FAO (1992) requirements. The accessions with the lowest quality protein were also of the Tabloncillo race, though from Sinaloa. Three Blandito race accessions were notable for their high lysine content and low percentage of protein. These had a floury kernel and were spotted purple. The Chapalote race, characterized by small flinty brownreddish kernels, had the largest percentage of protein (11.9%) and the lowest quality protein. The identification of accessions with good quality protein may expand the genetic base for improvement programs.White, J. 1 , Smith, S. 2 , Law, J. 1 , Powell, W. 1 * and Wolters, P. 3 1 National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Cambridge, CB3 0LE, UK 2 Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Johnston, USA, IA 50131 3 Dupont, Delaware, USA *Corresponding author e-mail: wayne.powell@niab.comIt is often asserted that the genetic diversity of the wheat crop has reduced through the 20 th century as a consequence of modern plant breeding techniques. This poster presents data from a study of 93 US and 93 UK wheat varieties genotyped using 62 SSR markers and c500 DArT markers. The variety sets represent varieties first commercialized during the period 1930-2005. Diversity is measured both as aggregate genetic distance between contemporaneous groups of varieties in a rolling time series and as areas of convex hulls on a decadal basis. Diversity is shown to rise and fall during the sampling period but the level of diversity in 2005 is similar to the average diversity for the whole sampling period. The USA variety set is shown to be consistently more diverse than the UK set. The major contributor to changing levels of diversity is shown to be the diversity of breeding programs contributing to the variety set at any time. The authors conclude that: 1) It is true that a few popular varieties may represent a very high proportion of the acreage at any time and thus give the appearance of reduced diversity; 2) The regular supersedure of varieties and the presence of a range of competing breeders has, so far, ensured that there has been no reduction in the genetic diversity of varieties available; 3) The key metric may not be diversity deployed but rather diversity available.Yánez, C. 1 , Franco, J. 2 , and Taba, S. Ecuador has a great diversity of maize. Of 29 races of maize recognized, 17 belong to the highlands. The varieties cultivated in the provinces depend on farmers' preferences and customs.The core collection constitutes a limited set of accessions, representing much of the genetic variability of the total germplasm collection. For analysis, 13 variables were considered: nine continuous variables (days to female flowering, days to male flowering, number of kernel rows, plant height, ear height, root lodging, stalk lodging, ear length, ear diameter), and four discreet variables (ear quality rating at harvest, ear shape, grain type and grain color). Accessions were grouped according to the multivariate analysis of the Ward-MLM. The number of distinct groups in the Ecuadorian highland collection was determined based on the criteria of Pseudo F, Pseudo t 2 , and profile of verisimilitude. The number of accessions of each group to be included in the core collection was determined according to a logarithmic strategy and the accessions were chosen at random. A total of eight distinct diversity groups in the collection were found with a high probability of 0.98 on average. The accessions were not necessarily grouped by their race classifications. Grain type, grain color and collection site better classify the accessions into the different diversity groups. The 140 accessions of the core collection represent 20% of the original collection. They represent the maize diversity of all the provinces and races of the Ecuadorian highlands in the original collection.22. Effect of developmental stage length on yield and some quality traits of Turkish durum wheat (T. turgidum L. Conv. durum (Desf.) M. K.) landraces Zencirci, N. 1 and Karagoz, A. This study aimed to explore durum wheat landraces to be utilized in breeding programs. 566 single durum wheat plants, selected from 117 populations collected from 12 provinces, were studied. The selected material was planted in order to characterize some of their qualitative and quantitative traits such as percent vitreousness, pearling index, grain protein content, seed yield and thousand kernel weight; as well as determining the time frame for germination-tillering (G-T), germination-shooting (G-S), germination-heading (G-H), germination-maturity (G-M), tillering-shooting (T-S), tillering-heading (T-H), tillering-maturity (T-M), shooting-heading (S-H), shooting-maturity (S-M), and heading-maturity (H-M). Mean, coefficient of variation (CV), and confidence intervals (0.95) were computed for each of the 12 provinces, for altitudinal origins with 200-meter ranges, and for each of two geographical regions separately. The highest variation existed for number of days between T-H and the lowest for number of days between T-S. The highest variation within developmental stages was observed in samples from Diyarbakir with a CV of 32.96 %; from the 600-799 meter altitudinal range with a CV of 18.86 %; and from Southeast Anatolia with a CV of 20.12 %. Diallel studies to identify good combining inbred lines suitable for hybrid production in our environment is in progress. Open pollinating varieties and hybrids have been extensively tested on farmers' fields resulting in the release of SAMMAZ-14 (Obatanpa) in August, 2005 for production in the short run. Yields of the varieties and hybrids introduced from Ghana and CIMMYT (Mexico and Zimbabwe) fall in the range of 3-8 t/ha which is very similar to adapted normal maize planted by farmers. More QPM varieties will be developed to protect QPM from pests and diseases that might become significant threats to a single variety extensively grown.International QPM germplasm testing in collaboration with CIMMYT continues.Bayuelo-Jiménez, J.S. 1 *, Rivera Alcantar, N. 1 , Ochoa, I. ) and Obatanpa. The single, 3-way and top-cross hybrids and synthetics will be evaluated extensively and the best will be released for dissemination to farmers who are now demanding QPM, following promotional campaigns in Tanzania of the benefits of QPM.The main goal of this work was the detection of allelic variation, which encodes high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) lying on the long arm of the chromosome 1B of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). HMW-GS are important for wheat dough quality and final breadmaking quality. Proteins merit special focus because they are basic factors of wheat quality.The locus encodes two types of high molecular weight glutenin subunits -type x and type y. The PCR method was used for the detection of allelic variation. A set of samples of Czech native and worldwide common wheat varieties was analyzed. These alleles are key markers for wheat breeding programs with high breadmaking quality, allowing selection of required genotypes during early ontogenetic stages. Quality protein maize (QPM) contains the opaque-2 mutation, which increases the concentration of lysine and tryptophan in the grain endosperm and roughly doubles the biological value of maize protein, as well as additional modifier genetic systems to maintain tryptophan and lysine content in the endosperm and to make the endosperm vitreous and similar to that of normal maize. Developed by CIMMYT and partners, QPM can improve the diets of the poor in areas where maize is a staple crop and also serves as a low-cost, high-quality animal feed. A primary goal of CIMMYT is to identify maize cultivars that perform well under marginal agronomic environments managed by resource poor farmers, as well as under optimal conditions. Such yield stability can be evaluated by running yield trials at multi-locations. This study was carried out to determine the yield performances and yield stability of 43  Corresponding author e-mail: manithanase@yahoo.frIn Burundi, maize is the most important cereal in terms of total food production and area under cultivation. At high altitude, maize is the predominant crop and the staple food. Recently, drought has become a major constraint to production, besides low soil fertility, streak disease and stem borers. Early adapted drought and low nitrogen-tolerant varieties are needed, as well as disease and insect resistant material. There is also a need for quality protein maize (QPM) in Burundi.During 2004, the ISABU maize program, in collaboration with CIMMYT Kenya and Ethiopia, conducted a series of varietal trials aiming at finding solutions to these problems. The trials were planted at Moso research station (1200 masl) in the lowlands and at Gisozi (2150 masl) in the highlands. An alpha lattice design was used with 2 to 3 replications depending on trial type. Plots comprised two five-meter rows (spacing 0.75 x 0.50m, 2 plants per hill after thinning). Ten tons per hectare of farmyard manure were applied, together with chemical fertilizer. Emphasis was put on grain yield; results were analyzed using GENSTAT statistical software. At Moso, the QPM trial with 14 varieties did not show significant differences. The extra early trial, with 20 varieties at Moso, showed highly significant differences between varieties: ECA-EE-21 /NIP25(BC1)F1-# and ECA-EE-54 were the most promising materials. The drought and low nitrogen trial at Moso, with 39 varieties did not show significant differences. At Gisozi, the trial of 14 streak resistant materials plus 2 checks did not show significant differences.Menkir, A. 1 *, White, W. 2 , Maziya-Dixon, B. 1 and Rocheford, T. with complimentary carotenoid profiles to develop breeding populations. Elite tropical inbred lines selected for relatively high (2.95 to 5.95 μg/g) and low (0.83 to 2.20 μg/g) pro-vitamin A content were used to form hybrids, which were evaluated for carotenoid profile and agronomic traits. The hybrids exhibited significant differences (p<0.001) in pro-vitamin A content, grain yield and other agronomic traits. Five hybrids from this trial produced over 5 tons/ha grain and contained nearly 7 μg/g pro-vitamin A. Combining complementary carotenoid profiles through hybridization should increase these nutrients to levels significant for human nutrition.Sixty-six spring and winter bread wheat genotypes from Central Asian breeding programs were evaluated for grain concentrations of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). Iron showed large variation among genotypes, ranging from 25 to 56 mg kg -1 (average 38 mg kg -1 ). Similarly, Zn concentration varied among genotypes, ranging between 20 and 39 mg kg -1 (average 28 mg kg -1 ). Spring wheat varieties possess higher Fe-grain concentrations than winter wheats. By contrast, winter wheats showed higher Zn-grain concentrations than spring genotypes. Within spring wheat, a strongly significant positive correlation was found between Fe and Zn. Grain protein content is also very significantly (P= 0.001) correlated with grain Zn and Fe content. A strongly significant negative correlation was found between Fe and plant height, and Fe and glutenin content. Similar correlation coefficients were found for Zn. In winter wheat, significant positive correlations were found between Fe and Zn, and between Zn and sulfur (S). Manganese (Mn) and phosphorus (P) were negatively correlated with both Fe and Zn. Based on mean grain yield over locations, the single cross CML175 x CML176 revealed the highest grain yield (10.4 t/ha), followed by a three-way hybrid CML144 x CML159 x CML176 (9.5 t/ha). Several other QPM lines, OPVs and hybrids were evaluated; selected materials are at various breeding stages. Intensive breeding work was also started to convert local maize varieties to QPM and develop QPM lines, hybrids and synthetics. Two OPVs are being converted to QPM using two donor parents (CML144 and CML159); at present the breeding populations are at BC 2 F 1 level. Together with regional CIMMYT scientists, several hundred QPM inbred lines are being developed and currently the S 3 lines are planted to be advanced to S 4 . Simultaneously, the S 3 lines are top-crossed to two testers (CML144/CML159 and Obatanpa). The resulting inbred lines, top-crosses and synthetic populations would yield potential materials that could be promoted to end-users in the immediate future.Taboada-Gaytan, O.R. 1 , Pollak, L. 2* , Johnson, L. 3 , Fox, S. 3 and Duvick, S. Corresponding author e-mail: toswaldo@iastate.edu Corn (Zea mays L.) is the main crop in the United States and starch is the most important derived product from the corn grain. This study was conducted to determine whether Corn Belt lines introgressed with exotic germplasm from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Cuba and Florida have appropriate wet milling characteristics. Ten lines from the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize project were chosen on the basis of starch yield. The highest and the lowest starch-yielding lines for each of the five different germplasm sources were selected. These ten lines were crossed to three testers (LH283, LH283Bt, and IN510) that provided to the progeny different wet-milling efficiency. The compositional characteristics of the lines and the hybrids (moisture, starch, protein, and oil content) were estimated by using the Near-Infrared Transmittance (NIR) technology using a FOSS Infratec 1241 Grain Analyzer. The wet milling characteristics of both the lines and the hybrids were obtained by milling two samples using the 100g modified wetmilling procedure. This procedure yields starch, gluten, fiber, germ, and steepwater fractions. The wet milling efficiency of exotic corn lines and their hybrids was correlated positively with starch content. Statistical differences (Alpha=0.05) were found for yield of the wet milling fractions.Our results indicate that the use of exotic corn germplasm in a wet milling breeding program will enhance available genetic diversity.Palacios-Rojas, N., Beck, D., Bänziger, M., Rocheford, T. and Pixley, K. Maize Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico D.F., Mexico.Corresponding author e-mail: n.palacios@cgiar.org Iron, zinc and vitamin A deficiencies afflict hundreds of millions of people, particularly women and children. Because cereal grains are staple foods, genetic fortification or biofortification of these cereals with vitamins and/or minerals could contribute to alleviating micronutrient malnutrition. HarvestPlus project partners are working to increase provitamin A carotenoids, iron and zinc concentrations in maize kernels. Grain concentrations of iron and zinc are largely dependent on environmental conditions like soil composition. Analysis of >1,000 genotypes from different environments showed little variation for iron (average 20±5 ppm), and moderate variation for zinc concentration in grain (15-35 ppm). Analyses of genotypes with yellow to dark orange kernels have identified large variation in their content of provitamin A molecules (0.5 to 8.8 ug/g dry weight) and their carotenoid profiles. Furthermore, studies of crosses among lines with contrasting provitamins A concentrations suggest that non-additive effects are important for determining these traits. Thus, our breeding strategy includes: 1) selecting genotypes with high provitamins A content, 2) seeking crosses with favorable specific combining ability for high concentrations of provitamins A, and 3) identifying alleles favorably affecting enzyme activity for key reactions along the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. Although a substantial breeding effort is needed, genetic variation appears adequate to achieve nutritionally significant concentrations of provitamins A and zinc in maize grain. Efforts to understand and exploit allelic variation for enzymes regulating the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, or variation in concentration of enhancers or inhibitors of iron and/or zinc bioavailability, may offer new options for breeding biofortified maize.Reddy, B.V.S. 1 *, Ramesh, S. 1 , Longvah, T. 2 , Elangovan, M. 3 and Upadhyaya, H.D. Malnutrition due to iron, zinc and vitamin A micronutrient deficiency can cause blindness and anemia, especially affecting women and pre-school children of south and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic enhancement of sorghum, a staple in these regions, for these micronutrients maybe cost-and health-effective. Research involving a diverse set of 86 sorghum lines at ICRISAT indicated significant genetic variability and high broad-sense heritability for grain iron, zinc and ß-carotene contents. The iron content ranged from 20.1-37.0 ppm with an average of 28 ppm; zinc content ranged from 13.4-30.5 ppm with an average of 19 ppm; and grain β-carotene content ranged from 0.56-1.13 ppm in yellow-endosperm germplasm lines. The variance due to genotype × environment [managed soil fertility levels] interaction was nonsignificant. Significant and fairly higher positive correlation between grain iron and zinc contents and their poor correlation with agronomic traits such as days to 50% flowering, plant height, and grain size and grain hardness indicated the possibility of selecting for higher micronutrients contents with desired maturity and grain traits.Shimelis, H. 1 , Mashela, P. 1 and Hugo, A. Two laboratory procedures were performed at the same time for the analysis of quality protein maize (QPM) and lysine content, with the aim of improving the quality of protein in the maize kernel. Eighty-six lines of the BC 3 F 1 population and sixty BC 1 F 2 lines were analyzed with the opaque2 specific SSR marker. An opaque2 specific micro-satellite marker (umc1066) facilitated the differentiation of QPM lines carrying opaque2 from the non-opaque genotypes. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the SSR marker in QPM genotype discrimination and could potentially contribute towards the effective utilization of elite QPM lines in Korea's maize breeding program. There was no significant difference in protein content between QPM and non-QPM lines, but significant differences in lipid content, ash, and crude fiber were expressed. An amino acid auto analyzer (Hitachi L-8800) was used to determine amino acid content. QPM lines and non-QPM lines showed no difference in methionine and cystine contents or sulphurcontaining amino acids. However, the lysine content of QPM lines was 38% higher than that of non-QPM lines.Abertondo, V.* and Lee, M. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50010, USA *Corresponding author e-mail: vja@iastate.edu Random mating within a mapping population creates more opportunities for recombination. Therefore, the probability of observing recombination events between linked loci is increased and more reliable genetic maps may be produced. The intermated B73xMo17 (IBM) population is the most widely used common resource for maize mapping. It was developed by intermating the F2 for four generations before recombinant inbred lines were derived. In order to increase number of recombinants to reach a higher map resolution, a second population of double haploid lines was created after six additional cycles of intermating, and it was termed IBM-10. It is known that intermating was effective in creating a higher frequency of recombinants in IBM-10 than IBM (Jaqueth, 2003). However, there is no information about how intermating affects the phenotypic variation of these populations. IBM and IBM-10 populations are being compared in terms of phenotypic variance, population means and correlation coefficients for a set of traits. The phenotypic variance and correlation coefficients may increase or decrease with repulsion or coupling phase linkage. The presence of new recombinants at the IBM-10 could reveal new epistasis interactions, modifying the effect of the alleles in such recombinants, which might produce a shift in the population mean. Moreover, additional cycles of random mating might cause a change in the allele frequency, which also may affect the population attributes.quantitative trait loci for host-resistance to multiple foliar pathogens of maize Asea, G. 1 , Bigirwa, G. 1 , Vivek, B. 2 , Lipps, P.E. 3 and Pratt, R.C. Corresponding author e-mail: asea@naro-ug.org Maize (Zea mays L.) production in sub-Saharan Africa is threatened by multiple foliar diseases including northern corn leaf blight (NCLB), gray leaf spot (GLS) and maize streak virus (MSV).Most of these diseases are managed using partial resistance conferred by the action of multiple resistance factors. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) conditioning partial resistance to several pathogens have been identified. Validation in new genetic backgrounds of candidate QTL presents marker-assisted selection as a potential strategy for pyramiding resistance to several pathogens. We examined the utility of consensus QTL to determine their effectiveness in improving hostresistance. Genetic gains were calculated for simultaneous improvement of host-resistance following phenotype-based, marker-based, combined phenotype-and marker-based selection (MAS), and a randomly selected control population. Field evaluations and selections were conducted independently for each disease in a population of 410 F 2:3 lines derived from hybridization between inbred line CML202 with known resistance to NCLB and MSV, and a breeding line with known resistance to GLS. Analyses of marker-trait associations in the major QTL positions were highly significant. Estimates of narrow-sense heritability were 0.22, 0.25 and 0.39 for MSV, NCLB and GLS, respectively. Genetic gains varied with traits and selection treatments employed. For all diseases, gains from marker-based selection represented a significant improvement over random selection that ignored QTL information; MAS was the most effective. Our results validated the position and effect of four out of six QTL controlling partial resistance. The lack of confirmation of two QTL highlights the need for validation of resistance loci in new populations. . These results illustrate the potential of using CMTV to identify candidate genes involved in insect resistance in order to identify target regions for the incorporation of durable and broad-based insect resistance into elite maize lines and varieties.Novaris, J. 2 , Fonseca, R. 2 , Grift, T. The development of a healthy root system is an important part of the overall plant development program. Root branching and architecture are tightly linked to plant survival under abiotic (e.g., drought, flooding, nutrient deficiencies) and biotic (e.g., competition among plants, diseases, pests) stress conditions. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a large set of maize recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from the four times random mated IBM (Intermated B73×Mo17) population for primary root complexity characteristics, including fractal dimension and entropy estimates and their dynamics, and to map and characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting the complexity of primary root systems in maize. For each of the 231 RIL, multiple primary root systems were produced applying a replicated incomplete block design. Digital images of each root system were taken at days four and eight after germination. For each root system, its fractal dimension and entropy were determined. Root systems were also evaluated for a comprehensive set of morphological characteristics. Applying composite interval mapping using a set of 1167 molecular markers, a large number of QTL (N > 12 QTL) was found for all traits and their dynamic change in the early phase of root development. All root mutants with known chromosomal position were located in chromosomal BINs carrying QTL for root complexity. The large number of QTL not associated with known root mutants will guide us to additional candidate genes involved in primary root architecture.Butruille, D. 1 , Diniz Silva, H. 1,4 , Bockelman, D. 2 and Tianxing Zhang Our ability to increase the resolution in quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping studies is limited by the amount of recombination present in the population being analyzed. Historically, most of the maize marker-QTL associations detected have used segregating populations derived from crosses between two inbred lines. In these populations, the resolution is of the order of 10-20 centiMorgans (cM). More recently, to leverage historical recombination present in the germplasm, several large association studies with a resolution of a few centiMorgans or lower have been proposed or completed. The next stage in the quest of ever-increasing resolution would have to resort to multiple generations of random-mating or using populations that have been intermating for many generations. In the present study, we selected 20 historical openpollinated varieties and synthetics, derived from these a balanced bulk of haploid kernels, and planted these haploid kernels. Tissue from individual haploid plants was sampled and genotyped at short nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) loci belonging to clusters of tightly linked markers. The advantage of this type of genotyping is that haplotypes can be identified unambiguously in a haploid progeny (no determination of linkage phase is required). Based on this, we are presenting information on linkage disequilibrium, and heterozygosity of each of these populations.Choe, E. and Rocheford, T. Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, 1304 E. Mchenry St., Urbana 61801, IL, USA. E-mail: echoe1@uiuc.eduDue to an increasing Asian-American population and market, breeding and genetic research on waxy corn for U.S. fresh consumption is needed. The objectives of this study were to detect QTL for pericarp thickness, which affects tenderness, and for ear inflorescence architecture traits relevant to consumer preference and yield; and to study genetic relationships among traits using principal components analysis (PCA). Evaluations were performed on 264 (BH20xBH30)F 3 families. BH30 has a thinner pericarp than BH20; both are waxy corn inbreds from South Korea. 100 SSR markers were mapped. Forty-one QTL were detected for five different pericarp thickness traits measured on upper germinal, lower germinal, upper abgerminal, lower abgerminal and crown regions. QTL for pericarp thickness traits explained phenotypic variation ranging from 31.7 to 42.3%. Most alleles for thin pericarp thickness were from BH30. PCA showed the first principal component (PC) explained 87.6% of pericarp trait variation, and eight PC-QTL were detected. Forty-six QTL were detected for ear inflorescence architecture traits measured on cob length, ear and cob diameter, kernel depth, number of kernels per row, number of rows per ear, kernel thickness, ear and cob weight, and kernel weight. QTL for these traits explained phenotypic variation ranging from 8.7 to 32.8%. Four PCs for ear inflorescence architecture traits explaining 81.8% of total phenotypic variation, and 22 PC-QTL were detected. Notably, QTL regions significant for two or more ear inflorescence architecture traits and PC-QTL were detected in bins 1.08(id1), 3.04(ts4, lg3), 4.05(fea2), 7.02(ra1) and 8.05(knox5), which have inflorescence mutants and genes.Hassan, L. Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-02202, Bangladesh. E-mail: lutfulhassan@yahoo.co.ukThis project aims to develop improved rice genotypes/varieties for the Southern Coastland of Bangladesh. These areas are cultivated by marginal farmers, who are able to grow only one crop of traditional low-yielding rice per year. The traditional rice varieties that are grown here are well adapted to the saline coastal area and are likely to contain genes or Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) governing adaptability to saline soils. This study attempts to identify molecular markers for salinity. Seedlings of 38 selected rice accessions from the germplasm collection were screened for salt tolerance in a glasshouse using a salt solution of 12 dS/m. They were categorized into tolerant (three varieties), moderately tolerant (20 varieties) and sensitive (15 varieties). Several rice varieties with differing salt tolerance reactions were initially screened for DNA profiles (extracted using a Nucleon PhytoPure DNA extraction kit from 21 day old seedlings) using 30 RAPD primers. Of these, six primers exhibiting polymorphism were used to screen all 38 rice varieties. Primer OPS 3 produced a specific band for salinity tolerance at 510 bp. The band OPS 3 510 was present very distinctly in the three salt tolerant varieties and was absent in all moderately tolerant and sensitive varieties and is considered as unique to tolerant accessions. The development of backcross progenies is underway and may provide improved varieties that can be released after multiplication to be grown in the coastal areas. The identified QTL can also be used to shorten further breeding programs using the traditional rice as donors.60. Use of the TRAP (Trace Relevant Allele Polymorphism) approach in breeding for complex traits -a wheat example Kobiljski, B. Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, M.Gorkog 30, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia E-mail: kobboris@ifvcns.ns.ac.yu Despite the fact that in the vast majority of papers published in the last ten years molecular markers have been successfully associated with quantitative trait loci (QTL), they have had very limited usefulness in plant breeding programs. Today, more than ever, it seems that many researchers were right in saying that we urgently need to modify the present \"single cross -QTL mapping -validation -use\" strategy in order to diminish the huge gap which exists between the potential of modern biotechnology and its application in breeding. In order to narrow this gap the TRAP (Trace Relevant Allele Polymorphism) approach has been proposed and tested in the wheat breeding program in Novi Sad, Serbia. This concept is starting from the top of the pyramid (i.e. grain yield itself) instead from the bottom (major or minor QTLs) and implies searching for certain alleles associated with desirable (undesirable) performance of complex traits. Later, this approach allows us to follow, by molecular markers, the \"main route\" from a complex trait towards its main components, subcomponents and subunits. There is a risk of a marker-trait association being \"false positive\", but still, \"real-positive\" ones could bring a benefit to breeding programs at a much higher rate than is the case today. The proposed approach is discussed in detail with emphasis placed on the problems and prospects of such an approach in the wheat molecular and breeding context. . Genes Vrn1 and Vrn2 are the major genes, which control the process of vernalization. The difference between the dominant and recessive alleles of Vrn1 is located in the promoter. The recessive allele of vrn1 was found to be present in thirteen genotypes. The recessive allele of the vrn2 gene was present in all evaluated genotypes. These results show the usefulness of the markers tested for identifying some resistance genes and the two genes controlling vernalization in wheat. detection of the RB and R1 genes, the genes conferring resistance to Phytophthora infestans in potato, which have recently been cloned from Solanum bulbocastanum and S. tuberosum. Specific PCR markers for the RB gene and R1 gene were developed using publicly available bioinformatics tools (BLASTN, Primer3). We show that the utility of BLASTN and Primer3 generated specific PCR markers for R genes in marker assisted selection (MAS) is mainly based on a number of homologues known for a particular R gene, the premix setup and the PCR product carry-over prevention system. A simple and low cost PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) protocol was established to confirm the specificity of the PCR markers designated for the detection of R genes. Furthermore we found the PCR-SSCP method to be a great tool for the detection of novel homologues of R genes. To overcome this problem, we combined the benefits of QTL analysis (to identify genomic regions affecting trait variation) and classic diallel analysis (to obtain insight into the general inheritance of the trait) by analyzing multiple mapping families that are connected via shared parents. We first provide a theoretical derivation of main (general combining ability (GCA)) and interaction (specific combining ability (SCA)) effects on F2 family means relative to variance components, in a randomly mating reference population. We then use computer simulations to generate F2 families derived from 10 inbred parents in different partialdiallel designs. These show that QTL can be detected and that the residual among-family variance can be analyzed. We apply standard diallel analysis methods to reveal the presence and mode of action (in terms of GCA and SCA) of undetected polygenes. We demonstrate that QTL detection and estimation of the genetic architecture of polygenic effects are competing goals. This should be explicitly addressed in experimental design. Our approach provides a general strategy for exploring the genetic architecture, as well as the QTL, underlying variation in quantitative traits.66. Is it possible to complement the Shiltz scale with biochemical and molecular analysis to evaluate tobacco varieties' (Nicotiana tabacum L.) resistance to blue mold?Pérez Lara, E. 1 , Rodríguez, L. 2 , García, H. 1 and Valdez, M. Seven Cuban tobacco varieties were tested using the Coresta scale described by Shiltz in 1974 to evaluate their resistance to blue mold (Peronospora hyosciami f. sp. tabacina). This scale was the only test used in Cuba to evaluate resistance to blue mold and it depends on natural attack by the pathogen. Recently, molecular and biochemical characteristics of plants have been used to study varieties' behavior in the presence of pathogens. Isozymes and total protein electrophoresis are frequently used, as well as ISTR (inverse sequence-tagged reverse) analysis. This work aimed to evaluate the physical behavior of the tobacco varieties under natural attack by blue mold, and to find isozyme bands and ISTR that are probably related to resistance. Leaf samples were collected 25 days after transplant, when the plants begin to show resistance but in the absence of the pathogen. A total extract was done for protein electrophoresis and DNA extraction was carried out. Following a natural attack by blue mold about 35 days after transplant, we evaluated the varieties using the Coresta scale and prepared a second total extract for protein electrophoresis. The varieties showed different levels of stress under attack, according to the Coresta scale.Isozymes and total proteins showed a higher number of band patterns and stronger color resolution of some bands when the plants were under stress than before the attack. Isozymes could be related to the results of the Coresta scale, but ISTR analysis showed low polymorphism, not permitting inferences about the bands involved in resistance.Poland, J.A. 1 *, Wisser, R.J. 1 , and Nelson, R.J. 1,2 1 The Institute for Genomic Diversity, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. 2 Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.*Corresponding author e-mail: jap226@cornell.eduRecurrent selection (RS) is commonly used for trait improvement in crop species. Using RS, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) achieved significant gains for resistance to northern leaf blight (NLB), a disease of global significance, in eight diverse subtropical maize populations. In two of the populations, putative quantitative trait loci (QTL) for NLB resistance were identified by RS mapping, an approach to locate significant changes in allele frequency in RS populations. We examined the extent to which common loci or chromosomal segments were associated with RS in separate, but similarly selected populations.In the populations, 101 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were evaluated. In the two populations, 28 and 25 loci exhibited significant deviations from drift. Of these, nine loci exhibited significant deviations in both populations. However, the alleles which increased in frequency in the two different populations were not the same. The results presented here suggest that there were several common loci associated with NLB selection between these populations but there is little correlation between the SSR allele(s) that increased in frequency.Silva, H.S. and Rocheford, T.R. Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA E-mail: ssilva@uiuc.edu Kernel composition traits in maize and other cereal crops are of great economic importance.There is, therefore, interest in modifying levels and properties of kernel composition traits for specific end uses. An example is breeding for higher levels of starch to enhance fermentation efficiency to produce ethanol. Starch is a major component of mature maize kernels, along with oil and protein. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with kernel composition traits would facilitate the development of maize inbreds and hybrids with desirable properties and levels of components, enabling better and more efficient conversion to secondary products. The Illinois Low Protein cycle 90 (ILP 90 ) strain was selected for low protein for 90 generations resulting in an extremely high concentration of starch. Thus, by evaluating kernel composition traits in a (ILP 90 ×B73)B73 background we are assessing for donor alleles in the ILP strain that would improve inbreds and likely increase hybrid starch levels. Protein, starch, oil, and kernel weight were measured in grain samples of (ILP 90 ×B73) B73 S 1 families using a Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) instrument. A genetic linkage map with 144 markers was used to map QTL for the individual traits and Principal Components using Composite Interval Mapping. We want to compare QTL identified using the different approaches, as multivariate analysis might be advantageous in detecting QTL on correlated traits. QTL associated with starch concentration did not appear to map to starch structural biosynthetic genes, suggesting that unknown regulatory loci may influence quantitative variation for starch concentration. In an attempt to characterize wheat germplasm for resistance to leaf rust, stem rust and stripe rust, 143 wheat lines from the CIMMYT international spring wheat screening nursery were tested with respective Australian pathotypes of Puccinia triticina, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici in greenhouse and field experiments. The greenhouse tests identified seven known seedling leaf rust resistance genes (Lr1, Lr3ka, Lr13, Lr20, Lr23, Lr26 and Lr37), five stripe rust resistance genes (Yr3, Yr7, Yr9, Yr17 and Yr27) and five stem rust resistance genes (Sr2, Sr9g, Sr30, Sr31 and Sr38) with a high frequency of the linked genes Lr26, Sr31 and Yr9. Several lines showed a low infection type to all pathotypes tested for each of the rusts. Resistance in these lines may be due to uncharacterized resistance gene(s) or gene combination(s) that could not be identified with the pathotypes used. A high proportion (approximately 80%) of the lines that were susceptible at seedling growth stages expressed high levels of adult plant resistance (APR) to leaf and stripe rust when tested with seedling virulent pathotypes in the field. The unexplained seedling resistances and APR genes identified represent a potentially new pool of rust resistance diversity for Australian germplasm enhancement and breeding programs. The lines will be subjected to detailed tests and genetic studies to permit further utilization.Singh, D. 1 , Park, R.F. 1 , Snape, J. 2 , Simmonds, J. 2 and Bariana, H.S. 1 1 Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, Private Mail Bag 11, 2570 Camden, NSW,Australia. E-mail: dsingh@camden.usyd.edu.au 2 John Innes Centre, United Kingdom Genetic studies were conducted on crosses involving two European winter wheat cultivars, Beaver and Rialto, to determine the mode of inheritance of leaf rust resistance at the seedling and adult plant growth stages using two doubled haploid populations (Beaver/Soissons -B/S and Spark/Rialto -S/R). Seedling studies indicated the involvement of Lr13 and Lr26 in governing leaf rust resistance in both Beaver and Rialto. An uncharacterized seedling resistance gene (RF Park, unpublished) was also detected in the cultivar Beaver. The population B/S showed monogenic inheritance for this gene when tested with a pathotype recently identified in Australia that is virulent on Lr13 and Lr26. Adult plant resistance (APR) in the field with pathotypes carrying virulence individually for Lr13 and Lr26 showed trigenic inheritance for the B/S population, whereas the S/R population segregated for three to four genes. Preliminary quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping studies on the B/S population identified four QTL on chromosomes 1BL/1RS, 2B, 3B and 4B. In contrast, three significant QTL were identified on chromosomes 3A, 3B and 6A in the S/R population.Singh, R.K. 1 *, Gregorio, G.B. 2 , Adorada, D. 1 , Mendoza, R. 1 and Sajise, A.G. Saline soils are characterized by other soil stresses, in particular zinc deficiency, iron toxicity, phosphorus deficiency and submergence. A \"Diallel Selective Mating System\" (DSMS) with little modification is employed for the rapid development of multiple, abiotic stress tolerant rice genotypes, with a much wider genetic base, using marker assisted selection (MAS) to support conventional breeding. The objective is to increase the frequency of the desirable alleles in the population; inter-mating of only selected alleles based on MAS and phenotyping to increase the probability of desirable recombinants and improve the inherent adapted/mega rice varieties using the back cross series. Traits like tolerance to salinity, submergence, and zinc deficiency are considered along with semi-dwarf to intermediate height, erect plant type, complete panicle exsertion with medium slender, long bold and long slender grain types. The modifications in the original scheme are: MAS is applied to F 2 / F 3 plants for specific traits; an additional backcross series is introduced to convert the mega varieties/adapted varieties with improved tolerance to abiotic stress; and a modified bulk-pedigree method is followed to advance the generations, instead of mass selection. So far MAS based selective mating is followed for seedling stage salinity tolerance and submergence tolerance. However, it could be extended to other traits like reproductive stage tolerance for salinity and iron toxicity when reliable markers are identified. Phenotypic selection is being used for other traits like zinc efficiency, grain quality and other agronomic parameters.Stamati K 1 , Mackay I. Udine, Italy *Corresponding author e-mail: wayne.powell@niab.com Heritable differences in gene expression are now considered to be a fundamental mechanism responsible for determining the genetic control of complex, multifactorial traits. It is predicted that such mechanisms are pervasive and control the response of crop plants to stresses such as those induced by limited water, salinity or high temperature. Reliable identification of genetic variants affecting gene regulation and causatively associated with important, complex traits will allow the identification and isolation of mechanistically functional alleles for deployment in breeding programs. Our objective is to develop a method that allows the identification of sequence polymorphisms that are linked in cis to regulatory variants and to predict which nucleotide differences are responsible for changes in gene expression. This assay will be exploited to analyze and identify novel alleles for abiotic stress tolerance in barley germplasm.The approach is based on the hypothesis that the relative abundance of allelic transcripts, estimated for individuals in the heterozygous condition, is devoid of trans-acting influences and environmental factors. We have established an allelic imbalance assay for barley and scanned 12 genes for putative cis-acting variation. One gene, aquaporin (ABC01216), (a class of membrane proteins that facilitate water diffusion across cell membranes, implicated in environmental stimuli as diverse as low temperature, drought, salinity, light (daily rhythm) and nutrient deprivation or supply) has shown a significant imbalance in gene expression. Studies are being extended to include genes involved in stress and nitrogen metabolism to quantify the extent of cis-acting regulatory variation in the barley genome.77. Participatory plant breeding: a maize case study from Cuba Acosta Roca, R.*, Ríos Labrada, H., Martínez Cruz, M., Miranda Lorigados, S., Ortiz, R., Ponce Brito, M. PhD Students, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Institute of Agricultural Science, La Habana, Cuba *Corresponding author e-mail: rosa@inca.edu.cu, rosaar_cu@yahoo.es Nowadays, one of the discussions in the field of plant breeding is focused on how to combine the advantages of the formal and informal seed systems with the objective of increasing yield, at the same time as increasing or conserving genetic diversity. In this sense, Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) is an efficient methodology that involves farmers in breeding varieties and facilitates their participation in the different areas of seed selection and multiplication. There are some reports of the advantages of PPB in terms of increasing genetic diversity and yield in the target environments, as well as increasing farmers' decision-making abilities in the participant communities. However, the relationship between traditional practices and the genetic diversity of a local maize seed system, the genetic advance that farmers obtain through selection in the communities, as well as an estimate of the varietal demand through differential selection in a certain productive system, have rarely been documented. Results, based on farmers´ criteria for varietal selection, indicate that the use of only one variety is not sufficient to adapt to specific conditions. In this work we identified farms as units of maize genetic identity, based on farmers´ criteria and the GxE interactions in each farm. This could be of significant interest to farmers involved in PPB and in maize breeding systems in Cuba.Aguirre, A., C.* and Crisóstomo P., F. Gensiagro Huancayo-INCAGRO, Pje. Salazar Bondy 315, Urb. Siglo XX, El Tambo, Huancayo, Junín, Perú.*Corresponding author e-mail: caguirre@hotmail.comIn 2004, we planted 4 observation plots in the Peruvian highlands (3250 masl) for early evaluation of inbreeding tolerance with populations where selfing was used to generate lines from S1 and S2. We evaluated three early populations (Orcotuna, Jauja and Huacan) with 120 entries each, including 55 S1 lines, 55 S2 lines and 10 S0; and one late population (Cusco) with 120 entries, including 110 S1 lines and 10 S0. Data collected include plant height, ear height, grain yield/plant, cob length, and cob diameter at tip and base; from these last three we generated a Cob Index for each entry. Five plants were evaluated for each line, and the corresponding five ears used to obtain the mean and standard deviation. Inbreeding tolerance was assessed as the lowest inbreeding depression (ID) based on cob index values. Early populations show variable ID; inbreeding tolerance is also expected to vary. Huancan, and Jauja show a small reduction: farmers plant these populations in small plots and retain small seedlots, causing a sample size effect and some inbreeding. They therefore tolerate selfing better. Orcotuna suffers a strong ID in all characters. For Cusco, the ID for plant and ear height is approximately as expected, but not for grain yield/plant. Some of these populations may have greater ID because they carry a higher genetic load. An inbred line recycling process in early generations will eliminate these genes faster. ID for yield is essentially linear with increased homozygosity, accounting for more than 99% of variation for yield.Valley of Mexico: morphological and molecular characterization for silage Alarcón-Zúñiga, B. 1 , Cervantes-Martinez, T. 2 and Warburton, M. 3 1 Animal and 2 Crop Science Departments, Universidad Autonoma Chapingo (UACh), CarreteraMéxico-Texcoco km. 38.5, Chapingo, Mexico 56230. 3 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600Mexico D.F., Mexico Corresponding author: b_alarcon_zuniga@yahoo.com.mxHeterosis in maize (Zea mays L.) is well studied for grain yield, but little is known about silage maize biomass components and forage quality predictors. In conjunction with field trials in a wide range of environments to identify heterotic groups, novel SSR markers can be used to support breeding strategies, classify inbred lines and define heterotic groups. This study aimed to (i) quantify heterosis and combining ability for grain yield, forage biomass components and forage quality; (ii) study genetic diversity and distance for SSR within a set of tropical inbred populations, and (iii) identify correlations between heterosis and genetic distance. Eight maize inbred populations represented in a partial diallel study, were evaluated in three environments in the Central Valley of Mexico. Nineteen SSRs pair primers identified high genetic diversity among inbred populations, with 4.23 alleles/locus and polymorphic information content ranging from 0.37 to 0.91. High-parent heterosis across environments was 120% (stem), 145% (ear biomass), and 112% (grain yield). No heterosis was identified in total biomass, plant height, ear number, and forage quality predictors (crude protein, in vitro DM digestibility, NDF, ADF, and soluble carbohydrates). Genetic distance based on SSRs primers classified the inbred populations into three main clusters, and were positively correlated with high-parent heterosis and combining ability in grain yield and ear number; no correlation was found with silage biomass components and forage quality estimators. Results were significantly affected by environment. Polymorphism data within three candidate genes for lignin biosynthesis are presented for the improvement of silage maize digestibility.Arcos, A.L., Medina, S., Narro, L.A.* and Salazar, F. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia Corresponding author e-mail: l.narro@cgiar.org Aluminum (Al) toxicity is an important limiting factor of maize production on acid soils in the tropics. Callose formation in root apices is an excellent indicator of Al injury and provides a physiological marker for Al sensitivity. The objective of this work was to study the genetic inheritance of callose using tropical maize inbreds. Fourteen inbreds selected for different reactions to acid soils were chosen and a diallel between them was generated. Seed were put in a growth chamber into filter paper soaked with CaSO4 solution. After 72 hours, seedlings were transferred to nutrient solution in plastic pots constantly aerated. After 48 hours, 25 µM Al was added to each plastic pot for 12 hours. A check with 0 Al treatment was also included. Three root tips for each cultivar (inbreds and crosses) in each replication were taken and maintained in ethanol 96%. Callose was calculated using water blue as a stain and callose sirofluor complex measured by fluorescence spectrophotometer. The diallel was analyzed as proposed by Hallauer and Miranda (1988). Significant differences were found for parents and crosses but not for parents versus crosses. Average callose content for parents was 139 and 141 for crosses; which means that heterosis was not important for callose content for this set of inbreds. On the other hand, general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were highly significant meaning that additive and non-additive gene effects were important for callose inheritance. SCA sum of squares (SS) was 1.5 fold the GCA SS.Cervantes-Martínez, J.E. The breeding program at INIFAP's Southern Tamaulipas Experimental Station in Mexico has developed high-yielding inbreds. Information about how elite inbreds of different origins combine and perform in hybrids will facilitate the selection of parents and breeding strategies for hybrid development. Our objectives were to estimate the general (GCA) and specific combining abilities (SCA) for grain yield and secondary traits among inbreds from different sources, and to identify potential heterotic relationships among them. Nine white inbreds developed from tropical germplasm (LMST-1, LMST-2, LMST-3, LMST-4, LMST-5, LMST-6, LMST-7, LMST-8 and LMST-9) and five yellow inbreds of temperate origin (LMCB-1, LMCB-2, LMCB-3, LMCB-4 and LMCB-5) were evaluated in a diallel experiment with three planting dates (environments) through 2005-2006. The new hybrids showed similar yields to commercial checks. Across environments, GCA effects were highly significant for grain yield and for agronomic traits. On the basis of GCA effects, LMST inbreds had later maturities and shorter plants than most LMCB inbreds. The top ten best-yielding hybrids and highest SCA effects resulted from crosses among inbreds from both sources (Tropical x Tropical and Tropical x Temperate): LMST-9 x LMCB-1, LMST-9 x LMST-2, LMST-9 x LMST-6, LMST-9 x LMST-8, LMST-8 x LMCB-2, and LMCB-2 x LMST-9. Inbreds developed in different regions could represent potential heterotic groups for use in hybrid development and to improve tropical germplasm for breeding purposes.Choukan, R. Maize Program, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, 31585 Karaj, Shahid Aahmideh, Iran E-mail: r_choukan@yahoo.com Information on the relationships among elite germplasm is essential in crop improvement. The main objective of this study was to establish heterotic groups among maize inbred lines using genetic distance as measured by the SSR markers. Fifty-six late and 36 early maturing Iranian maize inbred lines were fingerprinted with 46 and 43 SSR markers, respectively. UPGMA clustering grouped each maturity group into four clusters, which were consistent with the pedigrees or known information about the source materials. Within the late maturing inbred lines, the highest distance was found between the cluster of Reid Yellow Dent related lines and the cluster of Lancaster Sure Crop related lines. However, in early maturing inbred lines, the highest distance was found between the lines originating from CIMMYT germplasm and the cluster containing the Lancaster Sure Crop related lines. This information can be used by breeders for planning future crosses among these inbred lines.Denic, M. 1 , Mariote, D. 1 , Chauque, P. 1 , Fato, P. 1 , Senete, C. 1 and Haag, W. 2 1 Institute for Research in Agriculture of Mozambique (IIAM), Maputo, Mozambique, and 2 SG 2000, Maputo, MozambiqueCorresponding author e-mail: denicm@eunet.yu Agriculture is the most important sector in the Mozambican economy. Maize is the principal crop and major staple food in many zones of Mozambique. Therefore increased production of high quality protein maize (QPM) is essential for the improvement of the nutritional value of the daily diet. However, maize production faces serious constraints. Among the agro-ecological conditions, the main constraints are: lack of rainfall; low soil fertility; poor weed control; diseases and pests (maize streak virus and downy mildew, borers and storage pests); and stem/cob rots, leaf blights, gray leaf spot and rusts. Among the socio-economic production constraints are: lack of use of improved varieties; a serious shortage of trained manpower; insufficient management expertise and poor cultivation practices. To alleviate many of these constraints, appropriate field-based breeding methodologies to select for multiple stress tolerance were implemented to develop desirable varieties. These approaches are mainly based on: a) Crossing selected genetic resources, developed by the local program, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), with more desirable stress tolerant traits; b) Using the disease/pest spreader row method, combined with testing and selection of created genotypes (progenies) under strong to intermediate pressure of multiple stress factors in nurseries; and c) Evaluation of the varieties developed in multi-location trials under low and \"normal\" inputs. Several varieties were developed. Data obtained using these approaches are presented.Diallo, A.O. 1 , Kanampiu, F. 1 , Mugo, S. 1 , and Mbogo, P. Corresponding author e-mail: a.o.diallo@cgiar.orgThe parasitic weed Striga is a major limiting factor to maize production in sub-Saharan Africa. A recently developed Striga control technology involves coating Imidazolinone-resistant (IR) maize seed with a low-dose of Imazapyr™ herbicide (a.i. Imidazolinone, a systemic acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor). The technology delivers a season-long Striga-free crop, doubles grain yield, and also depletes the Striga seed bank in the soil. In this study, the general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities of elite, mid-altitude CIMMYT maize lines (CMLs) and their three-way cross (TWC) hybrids, were evaluated. Twenty-six TWC IR hybrids were formed by crossing 13 of the IR CMLs (converted to IR using the backcross method) with IR single-cross testers. Yield performance of the hybrids was assessed under Striga-free and infested conditions at 11 sites in eastern and southern Africa. CML445-IR, CML78-IR, and CML312-IR, the parental lines of the five highest-yielding TWC IR hybrids had the highest positive GCA across sites. Under optimum conditions, the grain yields of the TWC IR hybrids were similar to those of the best commercial hybrids (5.1 to 5.6 tons ha -1 ). However, under Striga infestation, nine of the TWC IR hybrids gave significantly higher grain yields (14-71%) and lower Striga counts (3 vs. 135 Striga plants m -2 ) than all commercial checks. The best TWC IR hybrids were announced to collaborators for them to initiate the registration process for commercialization.The choice and sequence of parents for each maize hybrid is generally defined in the breeding process by plant breeders. However, in some cases it is necessary to change the parental sequence. The factors influencing changes to the line order are good performance in female and male aspects in: 1) seed productivity, 2) seed quality, 3) flowering synchrony from female to male, and 4) seed availability. In single crosses the changes are not complicated because there are only two parents, but in Mexico this kind of hybrid is not common. Three way hybrids are now more common for INIFAP in Mexico. Double crosses were very popular for three decades from 1950 until 1987. Many Quality Protein Maize (QPM) hybrids, three way and single cross hybrids, were evaluated from 1997 until 2001. Some of the three way hybrids had higher yield than the check but it can be difficult to obtain certified seed. We have evidence that this will improve when the sequence of the parents is changed. In the case of the single crosses it is necessary to develop technology and seed production in order to increase the yield of the parents; the lowest acceptable seed yield must be 2.5 tons per hectare. This paper shows some results with the criss cross method (ie. interchange of line order) in normal and QPM hybrids. We confirm that the parents of some hybrids need to be changed even after release, in order to improve the seed production process.García-Lara, S. and Bergvinson, D.J. Maize Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico D.F., Mexico. E-mail: sgarcia@cgiar.orgReducing the rate of seed deterioration is an important trait for seed producers and farmers who store maize from one year to the next. However, small-scale, resource poor farmers cannot afford appropriate storage structures to achieve ideal seed storage conditions. While all seeds undergo deterioration in storage, the rate is dependent on storage conditions (e.g. temperature and humidity) and the seed (seed moisture and genotype). This study was conducted to evaluate the response of quality protein maize (QPM) varieties to deterioration under accelerated seed ageing conditions (30 ± 2 °C and >90% relative humidity) for six months to observe genotype differences and to quantify biochemical changes associated with seed deterioration. Physiological (germination and vigor), biophysical (hardness and seed moisture), and biochemical (peroxidase, total carbohydrates and protein) characteristics were determined. Variation among 36 genotypes for physiological, biophysical and biochemical traits were significantly different. Seed viability decreased, together with vigor and seed harness, while seed moisture increased progressively over time. Seed viability was correlated with a reduction in total carbohydrate content and peroxidase activity. Significant change was also observed for total protein content. QPM varieties that retained the highest seed viability were: P62 C3 QPM-F2, P65 C6 QPM-F2, and Ac7740-F2. A breeding scheme has been developed for both maize and wheat to select for seed tolerant to deterioration under stress storage conditions that are often found in tropical agroecologies.Magulama, E.E. Corresponding author e-mail: dmakumbi@neo.tamu_edu Farmers in Uganda need high yielding hybrids to increase maize production and improve food security. This work aimed to: (i) identify three-way cross hybrids adapted to mid-altitude ecology; (ii) estimate combining abilities of new inbred lines; and (iii) classify inbred lines into potential heterotic groups based on grain yield. Seventy-four maize inbred lines were crossed to two single cross testers generating 148 three-way cross hybrids. The testcrosses, three commercial hybrids and a double cross hybrid were evaluated at three eastern African locations. Significant differences were detected among hybrids for grain yield at all locations. General (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability effects for grain yield were significant at all locations and across locations. Significant GCA x environment and SCA x environment interactions were observed for grain yield. The variability due to GCA and SCA accounted for 55% and 44% of variation among hybrids across locations, respectively, suggesting the importance of both additive and non-additive genetic effects in determining grain yield. The best hybrid yielded 8.07 Mg ha -1 across locations. Inbred lines 5 and 73 had the highest significant GCA effect for grain yield across locations (3.88** and 3.00** Mg ha -1 , respectively) and produced some of the superior hybrids. Based on SCA effects, 18 inbred lines were classified into two heterotic groups, A and B. Twenty hybrids yielding over 6.5 Mg ha -1 will be advanced to national performance trials; outstanding hybrids will be recommended for release. Inbred lines showing good GCA will be used to predict three-way and double cross performance.Mariote, D. 1 *, Denic, M. 1 , Haag, W. 2 , Chauque, P. 1 and Fato, P. Furthermore, where farmers recycle seed from the previous season, the loss will not be drastic as this will be, in effect, an OPV. Therefore, availability of early stress varietal hybrids will enhance the farmers' ability to increase maize production in the dry mid-altitude ecology of Kenya. Seventy early varieties including 29 varietal hybrids, 30 open pollinated parents, six newly released OPVs and five checks were evaluated at 12 sites in Eastern Africa under stressed and unstressed conditions. Three of these hybrids have been nominated for National Performance Trials in Kenya.*Corresponding author e-mail: s.mugo@cgiar.orgIn Kenya, stem borers destroy an estimated 400,000 metric tons or 13.5% of farmers' annual harvest of maize costing over US$72 million. Bt maize, developed using modified genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, controls stem borers without harming humans, livestock or the environment, and is now sown to 90m ha globally. Our objective was to test nine public events of Bt maize in confined field trials (CFTs) for the control of four major Kenyan stem borer species. The Bt maize contained cry1Ab::ubi, cry1Ab::act and cry1Ba::ubi genes. Leaf damage scores in the field showed that Bt maize effectively controlled the spotted stem borer (Chilo partellus) with mean scores of 1.2 compared to 2.7 for the non-Bt, CML216 control. Laboratory bioassays using leaves from the CFT showed that control was achieved for the sugarcane borer (Eldana saccharina Walker) and the pink stem borer (Sesamia calamistis), with mean larval mortality of 64% and 92%, respectively. However, complete control was not observed for the African stem borer (Busseola fusca) as the larval mortality rate was equal to that of the control.The tests showed that Bt maize will control three of the four major stem borers in Kenya.Backcrossing the lead events into adapted maize inbred lines is now underway to develop insect resistant Bt maize varieties for Kenya and other African countries.107. Effects of low nitrogen and drought on grain yield and endosperm hardness of quality protein maize single cross hybrids Ngaboyisonga, C. 1 , Njoroge, K. 1 , Kirubi, D. 2 and Githiri, S.M. Corresponding author e-mail: cbpascual22@yahoo.com Source of resistance to important diseases is an integral component of breeding for high yield and stability. Resistant germplasm is also the most effective and environmentally safe measure to manage plant diseases. In some cases, the use of genotypes with a moderate level of resistance can be integrated with other control measures to provide sufficient disease control. The objectives of this study were to identify sources of resistance to maize leaf blight and ear rot caused by Stenocarpella macrospora and to determine the effect of different levels of resistance to disease development. In 2002, out of more than 300 maize accessions evaluated using artificial inoculations for leaf blight and ear rot, six inbreds were found to be resistant to leaf blight and 12 to ear rot (including the six leaf blight resistant lines). To accurately determine the degree of host plant resistance, the resistant inbreds were evaluated for disease reaction continuously for three years. During seasons of frequent rains and cold weather, they became moderately susceptible, except CML 425 which showed relatively stable resistance to leaf blight and ear rot. Results of the study on leaf blight progress of 12 corn inbreds with varying levels of resistance to the disease showed that CML 425 gave the lowest lesion size, 17.58 mm The utilization of site regression models (SREG) on multilocation testing allows the detection of significant differences in the genotype x environment interaction, even though these may not be detected by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results can be graphically displayed using the Biplot technique, revealing the additive effects on genotypes and genotype x environment interaction across years. A total of 66 uniform field trials conducted by INIFAP's maize breeders in tropical and subtropical environments were grouped in five sets of experiments. The objectives of this work were to identify mega-environments, superior hybrids for each environment and mega-environment, stable hybrids with good performance across environments, and the most suitable environments for evaluation as well. An individual SREG analysis for each set of experiments and their combined analysis were conducted to assist in the graphic representation by the Biplot methodology. Results revealed that the constructed Biplots, graphically allowed the identification of superior hybrids, and the proper environments to conduct hybrid evaluation trials; however, it was not a reliable option for grouping test-sites in mega-environments. Corresponding author e-mail: f.salazar@cgiar.org High aluminum (Al) and low phosphorus (P) are important limiting factors for maize production in 917 million hectares of tropical acid soils available in South America. The objective of this work was to study the inheritance of P using maize inbreds tolerant to acid soils. Twelve parents with contrasting responses to P absorption and utilization were chosen. A complete diallel was formed; parents and crosses were evaluated on two acid soil locations with 55% Al saturation and two levels of P (low = 4 ppm and high = 15 ppm). The experimental design was an α lattice with 3 replications. Genetic analysis was performed as proposed by Hallauer and Miranda. Highly significant differences for grain yield were found for parents, crosses, and parents vs. crosses both on low and high P levels. Parents vs. crosses sum of squares (SS) were 58% and 66% of genotypes SS meaning that heterosis was important in both P levels. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were highly significant on low and high P levels. SCA SS was 3 fold the GCA SS, meaning that non additive gene effects for grain yield in P deficient soils are more important than additive gene effects.Setimela, P. 1 , Vivek, B. 1 , Bänziger, M. 1 and Crossa, J. Inheritance of resistance to the fungi Cercospora spp., causal agents of gray leaf spot in tropical maize, has not been previously reported. Inheritance of resistance was studied by generating and evaluating a diallel mating 1 model (Griffing model I), using ten maize inbred lines with contrasting levels of disease reaction. Parental lines and their crosses, both direct and reciprocal, were evaluated in three environments using conservation tillage and artificial inoculation using gray leaf spot-infected leaves from farmers' fields. Analysis of variance for the variable disease index (scale, 1: resistant; 5: highly susceptible) was performed as suggested by Hallauer and Miranda (1988). In the combined analysis, highly significant differences were found for parents, crosses (direct), general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA); no significant differences were found for parent vs. crosses or direct vs. reciprocal crosses. Consequently, heterosis was not important in the Cercospora index (mean for parents was 2.97 and for crosses, 3.03). No maternal effects were observed for this set of lines (mean for both direct and reciprocal crosses was 3.03). GCA sum of squares (SS) was three times the SCA SS, meaning additive gene effects were more important than non-additive effects. No parent x location interaction was observed, allowing identification of the most tolerant and most susceptible parents for the generation mean analysis, the next phase of our study. Interaction of location with crosses, GCA and SCA were highly significant; however, the different performance of crosses across locations does not change the results. Corresponding author e-mail: ahmed.kz@link.netThis study screened 13 elite Egyptian wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars for anther culture ability. Five agar-solidified media were used. Greatly differing frequencies of calli and green plants were obtained from different cultivars and media. The callus initiation frequency varied from 0.3% to 18.9%. Modified P-4S medium containing 1.5 mg/1 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/1 Kinetin and 0.26M sucrose, was most effective. Regeneration frequency varied from zero to 139.9% on the 190-2 medium. The green plant percentage varied from 18.2% to 86.3%. A highly significant genotype x medium interaction was observed on all traits. Mitotic investigations of primary calli revealed considerable variation in chromosome number (7 to >42), and the haploid chromosome number 21 was the most frequent. The genotype, as well as the type of anther culture medium, had a profound effect on chromosomal variation. With long-term subculturing of anther calli, haploid cells decreased from 64.4% to 30.6%, and regeneration ability also decreased. Cytological analysis of anther-derived plants revealed that 79% of the regenerated green plants were haploid. They were treated with colchicine for chromosome doubling, and 53.5% survived the treatment. Genetic differences appear to affect the sensitivity to colchicine, which is why the treated plants varied in their ability to withstand the treatment, to diploidize, and/or to be fertile. The viability of the pollen grains of mature plants ranged from 41.3% to 95.9%. Plants with low pollen viability (below 54%) were completely sterile. Plants with spontaneous chromosome doubling had higher pollen viability and fertility, compared to the colchicine-treated plants. Corresponding author e-mail: mgkinyua@africaonline.co.ke Infection of bread wheat by yellow rust is widespread in the wheat growing areas in Kenya.Severe epidemics of yellow rust occur annually on both commercial bread wheat and introductions, being erratic over years and sites. In the past, resistance for most released cultivars became ineffective in less than six years and now even the latest cultivar releases have succumbed to yellow rust infection. A study was carried out countrywide over four years (2001,  2002, 2004 and 2005) in six sites to evaluate the reaction of existing wheat varieties to rust disease under natural infection in the country. The main entries were the commercial cultivars and CIMMYT germplasm. The disease is widespread in all the wheat growing areas in the country being more severe in the high altitude areas. Yellow rust is still a serious threat to all the wheat commercial cultivars grown in Kenya because most of the cultivars are susceptible. However, wheat cultivars such as Africa Mayo, Kenya Kudu, K. Leopard, K. Plume, Frontach and Trophy, released in the sixties, appear to retain their resistance for a longer time. Data on the wheat rust revealed that the disease is on the increase in Kenya and all wheat growing areas are prone to the disease. There were significant differences in the resistance reactions of the varieties tested. There was also a site by variety difference. Commercial cultivars and some of the old varieties, which have remained resistant/ moderately resistant to yellow rust can be utilized in the breeding program.Osmanzai, M. Country Coordinator, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), PO Box 5291, Kabul, Afghanistan. E-mail: m.osmanzai@cgiar.orgAfghanistan is a land-locked country with arid and semi-arid climates. Before 1978, the irrigated area covered roughly 85% of food and industrial crops. The current area under annual crops is approximately 3.7 million ha, with over 2 million ha under wheat. The national average wheat yield is 1.5 t/ha, while the potential is much higher. The main constraints to wheat production are: lack of improved adapted varieties; inefficient and ineffective production technologies; lack of quality inputs, farm machinery and equipment; damaged irrigation systems and poor market infrastructure. Important aspects in improving crop productivity in Afghanistan are improving the genetic basis of productivity and stability; agronomic, and plant protection measures. Developing and adapting appropriate technologies in wheat-based production systems has shown a significant increase in productivity. The approaches undertaken to improve wheat productivity are through applied research, training, and technical support in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Systems, and partners. Improved germplasms were obtained and evaluated from 2002 -2006. A few improved high yielding varieties have been released, and many candidate cultivars are in the pipeline for release. It is expected that sustainable wheat improvement in production and productivity can assure food security, and contribute to a reduction in poverty and an overall improvement in livelihoods.Parodi, P.C. Departamento de Ciencias Vegetales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile. E-mail: pcparodi@uc.cl Nitrogen (N) efficiency use (NUE) in wheat has been estimated at 33-36%. Therefore, approximately two thirds of the N fertilizer applied to the crop is lost through different pathways.In order to obtain high commercial yields, farmers N applications tend to be above the desired sustainable rates, thus making the crop less competitive because of high production costs, and additionally contaminating the soil, water and atmospheric components of the environment. Many wheat breeding programs conduct their selection procedures under high N levels, a practice that frequently precludes the identification of genotypes differentiated by higher NUE. Over 3 years, we have analyzed durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) advanced lines at four N rates, in order to identify genotypes that use N more efficiently, as expressed in grain yield, protein content and commercial quality. To maximize yields under restricted N inputs, productivity restricting management factors, such as weed infestation, disease and pest incidence and irrigation have been maintained at optimal practical levels. Results demonstrated that over 25% of the analyzed genotypes have some degree of enhanced NUE, which has allowed the selection of material that expresses competitive yields and quality parameters under limited N fertilizer rates.  Australia. E-mail: scott.chapman@csiro.au Linear mixed model analyses were conducted on 122 on-farm trials of commercial and nearcommercial sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids grown over 15 years in 32 locations of central Argentina to quantify increases in oil yield and to determine the contributions of change in characteristics of germplasm pools to such yield increases. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) from this analysis can be regarded as measures of 'Relative Peak Performance' of hybrids in environments for which they were selected. The BLUPs of 49 commercial hybrids released between 1983 and 2005 showed a genetic gain of 11.9 kg ha -1 yr -1 , 0.19 % yr -1 and 16.1 kg ha -1 yr -1 for oil yield, grain-oil concentration and grain yield, respectively. Special purpose hybrids that were converted for single traits or that were developed for low-technology markets lagged by 5 to 15 years in terms of genetic gain. Based on the data and the estimated time lag between commercial release and peak of use, the improvement in oil and grain yield of conventional hybrids in central Argentina will be sustained until at least 2010, with evidence that the new germplasm pools still have substantial genetic variance to be exploited. A biplot of genotype-by-attribute BLUPs summarized 20 years of breeding to demonstrate how the merging of two germplasm pools of differing maturity, achene type and grain-oil concentration resulted in step-wise improvements in grain yield and grain-oil concentration and a move toward an intermediate maturity.In soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], manual cross-pollination is difficult and time consuming, and not conducive to an economical way of producing large quantities of hybrid seed. Male sterility systems identified in soybean, combined with insect-mediated cross-pollination have been shown to produce large quantities of hybrid seed that can be useful for the identification of heterotic patterns in soybean. This procedure was used in this study to produce hybrid seed for the conduct of replicated yield trials. The objective of the study was to evaluate yield in hybrid soybean lines developed by single-crosses, three-way crosses, four-way crosses, and backcrosses (BC 1 F 1 and BC 2 F 1 ). Parental genotypes were male-sterile lines and a group of male parents selected by their agronomic performance. In 2003, eight F 1 single-cross families were evaluated in replicated experiments at three locations. Three-way and BC 1 F 1 crosses for each family were evaluated in 2004, and in 2005. Also in 2005, four-way crosses, and BC 2 F 1 crosses were evaluated at one location. Parental lines were evaluated each year. High-parent heterosis (HPH)for yield in single-crosses ranged from -41.11% to +11.19%; three-way crosses from -30.21% to -3.57%, four-way crosses from -44.2% to -26.04%, BC 1 F 1 crosses from -33.64% to + 41.97%, and from -31.32% to -8.17% for BC 2 F 1 . The finding of positive HPH values suggests that hybrid soybean production may become possible for US farmers. The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is frequently found in agricultural crops affected by Fusarium head blight (FHB). DON is toxic and causes reduced feed intake, a considerable loss of body weight and vomiting in exposed animals; it also inhibits the synthesis of DNA and RNA. The aim of this work was to evaluate 39 winter wheat, 8 barley and 5 oat cultivars for DON accumulation in the grain and for the percentage of Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) in 2004 and 2005, after artificial inoculation with F. culmorum, and to identify possible sources for resistance breeding. Differences were found in FDK and the DON content between wheat, barley and oat and between cultivars. The highest content of DON was found in cultivars of wheat (165,3 mg.kg. Corresponding author e-mail: zhang.xianguang@saugov.sa.gov.au Aluminium (Al) toxicity is the predominant plant growth-limiting factor in acid soils. A better understanding of the genetic basis of Al stress tolerance is of fundamental importance in establishing an effective breeding strategy for crop plants. Alfalfa (or lucerne) is a particularly valuable perennial fodder plant in Australia but it is limited by acid soil intolerance. This study was made to quantify the genetic variability and then to estimate the number of genes that might be involved in Al tolerance, to facilitate the planning of breeding programs aimed at improved Al stress tolerance and hence enhanced plant productivity. Root regrowth was measured for relative Al tolerance using a hydroponic system in controlled glasshouse conditions. A full diallel analysis was made with 4 genotypes in winter active lucerne (winter vigor ranging from 6 to 8). Considerable variation due to both general combining ability (GCA) effects and specific combining ability (SCA) effects indicated the importance of both additive effects and nonadditive effects in Al tolerance. The number of effective factors for Al tolerance was estimated at 1.9, suggesting that the genetic control of variation for Al tolerance is a complex polygenic system involving at least 2 pairs of genes in those genotypes used. Selection of favorable parental lines is an essential requirement for breeding success. For this purpose all available information should be used. However, as breeders get only phenotypic information about lines and especially if all line testing trials are considered, the selection decision will be biased. Often the genetic relationship among potential lines (pedigree or marker information) is not part of the estimation process. Predicting breeding values using best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP), which is commonly applied in animal breeding, is able to integrate relationship information and to manage even extremely unbalanced data. In our study we generated a virtual parental population of 500 inbred lines by computer simulation. Each line was influenced by 150 loci each with 2 to 7 alleles, the respective additive and additive x additive epistatic effects which form the genotypic value, and environmental and genotype x environmental effects. Coefficient of coancestry is possibly a biased estimator of relationship information among inbred lines, especially when the selection pressure is high. We compared BLUP(E+GS) (considering genetic similarities as an alternative to coefficient of coancestry) and BLUP(E+A) (using coefficient of coancestry) in self-pollinating crops. Regarding traits with a medium to low heritability, both BLUP(E+GS) and BLUP(E+A) increased the selection response. Assuming unbiased conditions, BLUP(E+GS) leads to a marginally higher selection response than BLUP(E+A). Hence, we discuss the replacement of coefficient of coancestry by genetic similarities in BLUP of self-pollinating crops. Further studies are needed to determine the limitations of genetic similarities (number of markers, distribution, etc.) in this application.","tokenCount":"17325"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2667273696.json b/data/part_1/2667273696.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..421b934bcf0f396ab1a13be16fdbd355ab1b825d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2667273696.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4efee68d93eab7b1d169a40b681607ae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ab1fe1b9-9c47-4936-9b5c-19384798435b/retrieve","id":"-484215385"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5b18f844-9f2e-4ce8-8fe1-edf225a67bbd","pagecount":"48","content":"L'abonnement est gratuit pour les pays en développement. Les lecteurs sont invités à envoyer lettres et articles. La rédaction se réserve le droit d'abréger ou de reformuler les textes publiés pour des raisons de clarté et de concision. INFOMUSA ne peut s'engager à répondre à toutes les lettres reçues, mais s'efforcera de le faire dans un délai raisonnable. La reproduction de tout extrait du magazine est autorisée à condition d'en spécifier l'origine. INFOMUSA est également publié en anglais et en espagnol. Une version électronique est disponible à l'adresse suivante : http: //www.inibap.org/publications/infomusa/ infomusa_fre.htm Changement d'adresse : Merci d'en informer la rédaction d'INFOMUSA à l'adresse indiquée ci-dessus avec si possible six semaines de préavis afin d'éviter toute interruption de réception de la revue.ournir un appui en matière d'information à la communauté travaillant en recherche et en développement sur Musa a toujours été considéré comme une activité essentielle au sein de l'INIBAP. INFOMUSA est un élément clé de cette stratégie de diffusion de l'information. Au cours des 20 dernières années, nous nous sommes, dans une certaine mesure, adaptés au développement des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication (NTIC) en produisant des versions électroniques de nos publications mais nous avons toujours résisté au « tout électronique ».L'une des raisons est que la portée d'INFOMUSA est beaucoup plus large sous format imprimé que sous format électronique (près de 60% des abonnés d'INFOMUSA n'ont pas d'adresse électronique). C'est pourquoi nous n'envisageons pas pour l'instant d'arrêter de publier la version papier d'INFOMUSA. Cependant, des contraintes financières -et notamment la diminution des fonds discrétionnaires dont nous disposons pour publier cette revue -pourraient nous obliger à réduire le nombre de numéros publié annuellement.Ne produire INFOMUSA qu'en version électronique entraînerait, de toute évidence, une réduction des coûts de production, même en tenant compte des frais de réalisation de pages HTML (actuellement INFOMUSA est uniquement disponible sous la forme d'un fichier PDF reprenant la mise en page sur deux colonnes de la revue, un format qui ne se prête guère à la lecture à l'écran et transfère au lecteur la charge de l'impression). De fait, nous envisageons de développer ce service dans le cadre de notre stratégie visant à améliorer l'accès à nos produits d'information via notre site web.Un recours accru aux NTIC pourrait nous aider à élargir l'éventail de notre lectorat. Un bulletin électronique d'information, par exemple, attirant l'attention sur des articles publiés dans INFOMUSA et sur d'autres types de nouvelles, pourrait être envoyé non seulement à nos abonnés mais aussi à des donateurs, partenaires et médias. Progressivement, et dans la mesure où la fracture numérique se résorbe, nous pourrions envisager de publier une partie d'INFOMUSA seulement sous forme électronique.Pendant que nous cherchons l'équilibre le plus approprié entre solutions conventionnelles et high-tech pour pouvoir continuer à diffuser de l'information de façon efficace et économique, nous aimerions avoir votre opinion. Et, dans le but d'améliorer la communication avec nos abonnés, nous prions tous ceux qui ont acquis une adresse électronique après s'être abonnés à INFOMUSA, de nous la faire parvenir à : inibap@cgiar.orgInfoMusa -Vol. 14 N°2 Décembre 2005 2 L a croissance démographique de la population malgache crée un contexte favorable à l'augmentation de la production de banane qui concourt pour près de 20% de l'approvisionnement en fruits de la population. Les bananes dessert, dénommées localement Batavia ou Bitavia, appartiennent principalement au sous-groupe variétal des Cavendish et représentent plus de 75% de la production nationale de banane. La banane est également consommée cuite, principalement dans les zones de production. Cette consommation a augmenté récemment, se substituant au riz pendant la période de soudure dans la zone côtière de l'Est de l'île.La production de bananes de Madagascar a connu une croissance rapide jusqu'en 1975 où elle a atteint son plus haut niveau, environ 400 000 tonnes, impulsée par des sociétés d'assistance technique pour l'émergence des exportations 1 (vers la France entre 1961France entre et 1971)). La production a ensuite chuté puis s'est stabilisée en 1979 (Figure 1). Depuis 1994, sa croissance est régulière mais lente et s'est stabilisée à 290 000 tonnes à partir de 2002 (FAOSTAT). Cette augmentation est insuffisante au regard de la croissance de la population. Les disponibilités annuelles en bananes par habitant ont chuté de 60 kg en 1974 à 18 kg en 2002 (Figure 2). En posant pour objectif de retrouver un niveau de disponibilité par habitant de 26 kg (moyenne des disponibilités calculée sur 20 ans) et en tenant compte de la croissance démographique actuelle (2,8% par an), il faudrait presque doubler la production de bananes à Madagascar en moins de cinq ans, c'est-à-dire produire plus de 230 000 tonnes supplémentaires. L'objet de cet article est de s'interroger sur les conditions de production et de commercialisation qui déterminent la capacité d'ajustement de cette filière aux enjeux quantitatifs que pose la sécurité alimentaire du pays. Les principes méthodologiques mobilisés sont ceux d'une approche filière. Ils conduisent successivement à localiser les principales zones de production, à étudier le processus de formation des prix et à caractériser le fonctionnement du système de commercialisation pour analyser son efficacité.Hormis quelques plantations commerciales, la culture de la banane se fait, de manière dominante, dans de petites exploitations familiales d'une superficie moyenne de 0,3 ha, soit 500 à 700 pieds par producteur (Bé 2003, Randrianavoson 2002). Ces exploitations, de par leur structure et leurs contraintes financières, n'ont pas ou très peu la possibilité de s'approvisionner en intrants (engrais, insecticides...).Avec une moyenne de 6 tonnes de bananes par hectare, les rendements sont très faibles au regard des potentialités que l'on peut obtenir en station, qui peuvent atteindre jusqu'à 100 tonnes/ha dans des systèmes de production très intensifs et des conditions particulières. Les données disponibles (FAOSTAT) rendent compte d'une chute des rendements entre 1983 et 2004 (Figure 1). Ces données globales ne permettent pas d'apprécier l'évolution des rendements en fonction de la localisation géographique et des systèmes de production. Les travaux réalisés soulignent l'importance croissante des contraintes phytosanitaires, principalement la maladie des raies noires, le charançon et d'autres maladies en cours d'identification, mais aussi du manque de soin à la culture, notamment la nutrition des plantes (surtout azotée et potassique).Entre 1976 et 1986, la province de Toamasima dans l'est contribuait pour une moyenne de 51% à l'offre nationale. En 1999, avec 61 108 tonnes, cette province ne contribuait plus que pour 36% de la production du pays (Rakotomalala 2003). Cette chute de la production est principalement liée à une forte croissance des contraintes phytosanitaires (Scanagri 2003).Analyse économique Economie de la filière bananière de Madagascar L. Temple, A.H.J. Rakotomalala et T. Lescot  Les prix (INSTAT 2000) sont issus d'une moyenne calculée sur trois ou quatre marchés d'Antananarivo (Figure 3). La tendance a été à l'augmentation jusqu'en 1994, suivie par une stabilisation autour de 1000 Fmg*/kg jusqu'en 1999. Depuis lors, les prix augmentent très rapidement et sont de plus en plus instables : les variations d'une année sur l'autre ont des amplitudes de plus en plus fortes. La saisonnalité (variation intraannuelle) est relativement faible. Pour mieux comprendre les déterminants potentiels de cette instabilité, il est apparu nécessaire de caractériser la structure du système de commercialisation afin d'analyser son efficacité (Figure 4).Il n'existe pas vraiment de marché spécifique de gros. Chaque marché assure la fonction simultanée de gros et de détail, mais la fonction dominante varie selon l'heure de la journée, voire le jour de la semaine. On différencie plusieurs opérateurs principaux : les grossistes transporteurs, les grossistes mûrisseurs, les clients et les revendeurs.-Les grossistes transporteurs disposent de leur propre camion et s'approvisionnent principalement auprès de grossistes collecteurs au niveau des lieux de déchargement des radeaux. Les grossistes transporteurs ne disposent pas de lieu de stockage en ville. La banane est vendue immédiatement à leur arrivée auprès de « clients ». Un camion de 10 tonnes sera écoulé en moyenne auprès de 8 à 12 clients, soit une moyenne d'environ une tonne par client. Les pertes physiques post-récolte sont liées à la durée de stockage dans le camion. Entre le chargement et le déchargement (2 jours), on peut perdre 700 kilos de fruits, mais au-delà de 3 jours, les pertes peuvent atteindre 2 à 3 tonnes. Ces pertes sont principalement liées à l'évapotranspiration des régimes et à leur écrasement dans les camions (hétérogénéité parfois des stades de coupe).-Les grossistes mûrisseurs ou « clients» fixent le prix d'achat de la banane auprès des grossistes transporteurs dans les zones urbaines. Les grossistes mûrisseurs sont en contact principalement avec des grossistes transporteurs d'une zone géographique donnée. Ils s'approvisionnent difficilement à partir de zones différentes. Selon les observations faites, les grossistes mûrisseurs sont partiellement spécialisés dans une variété donnée. Chacun possède sa mûrisserie. Elle est constituée d'un four rectangulaire en terre (8m x 5m x 3m) d'une capacité maximale de trois tonnes, chauffé avec un mélange de bois sec et de sciure. Le métier de mûrisseur implique de maîtriser les techniques de construction des fours et de disposer d'emplacements libres non construits à proximité des marchés, sachant que le prix du foncier est élevé. Ce savoirfaire et ce capital se transmettent parfois depuis plus de 300 ans. * 1 € = environ 11 000 Francs malgaches (Fmg)  Le grossiste mûrisseur régule l'approvisionnement du marché, car il peut stocker les bananas « en vert ». La quasitotalité de la production consommée sur Antananarivo, soit environ 25 000 tonnes, transite par ces mûrisseries artisanales. Avec une capacité moyenne annuelle approximative de 300 tonnes par mûrisserie, on peut estimer leur nombre entre 80 et 100. Ces mûrisseries sont juxtaposées à un entrepôt de stockage des bananes. Chaque grossiste mûrisseur mûrit sa propre marchandise. Il n'existe pas (ou peu) de prestations entre grossistes.Si la banane se conserve verte entre 15 et 30 jours, en revanche, une fois mûre, la durée de conservation sans froid est de seulement 2 à 3 jours. Les mûrisseries ont donc pour fonction principale de réguler l'approvisionnement des marchés de détail en bananes mûres à partir de stocks en vert.La perte de tonnage que subit le grossiste mûrisseur sur la quantité achetée (découpe du régime en mains, perte de poids liée au passage en mûrisserie, qui assèche les bananes) est d'environ 25 à 30% pour les bananes en provenance de Brickaville et 20% pour les bananes en provenance de Mananjary (variété à peau plus épaisse qui diminue l'évaporation dans la mûrisserie et teneur en humidité initiale plus faible).Le grossiste mûrisseur vend ensuite ses bananes mûres auprès de revendeurs. La vente se fait au kilo. Toutes les variétés et les qualités sont censées être mélangées. Le grossiste conditionne sa banane en « garrabes » (panier d'une capacité moyenne de 20 kg), mais l'unité de transaction et de négociation reste le prix au kilo. Une tonne approvisionne de cinq à six revendeurs situés sur des marchés différents de la ville. Les revendeurs vendent aux consommateurs sur les marchés ou sur des points de vente le long des axes de communication.La succession de ces opérateurs permet d'identifier les circuits de commercialisation (Figure 4) qui approvisionnent la ville. Sans détailler la complexité de ce système, notamment liée à la polyvalence des opérateurs selon les périodes, il est nécessaire, à partir des données collectées, de s'interroger sur son efficacité.La décomposition des coûts de commercialisation (Tableau 1) permet de calculer les marges bénéficiaires par kilo au niveau de chaque type d'opérateurs et d'identifier ceux qui réalisent les marges bénéficiaires les plus importantes.Les marges des grossistes collecteurs et des grossistes transporteurs (environ 7 Fmg/kg) n'apparaissent pas très impor-tantes au regard des volumes mensuels d'activité d'une part, des risques encourus et des investissements en capital nécessaires d'autre part. En revanche, les marges des grossistes mûrisseurs (315 Fmg/kg) interrogent fortement sur leur justification. L'exercice n'a pu être réalisé sur le dernier opérateur de la filière, le détaillant sur les marchés.Le diagnostic sur le système de commercialisation aboutit à deux observations convergentes. Les enquêtes auprès des opérateurs ont révélé que le prix directeur de la filière est déterminé par les prix qui se forment entre le grossiste mûrisseur et les grossistes transporteurs. Les analyses de marges soulignent l'importance des marges bénéficiaires au niveau des grossistes mûrisseurs pour des volumes de transaction importants.La compression des marges de commercialisation se fait au niveau des mûrisseries. Par hypothèse, cette compression pourrait permettre simultanément d'augmenter les prix aux producteurs (condition favorable à l'augmentation de la production) et diminuer les prix aux consommateurs (condition favorable à l'augmentation de la consommation). Cette compression peut passer par des innovations au niveau de la circulation de l'information sur les prix ; l'émergence d'organisations de commercialisation en aval et en amont des mûrisseries, et l'amélioration des techniques de stockage et de mûrissage actuelles.La production de bananes à Madagascar répond à une demande intérieure en rapide augmentation tant dans les villes pour la consommation en fruits que, de manière récente, dans les zones rurales pour la consommation en «légume » pendant la période de soudure. Elle se localise principalement dans le Sud-Est et l'Est de l'île, sur de petites exploitations de type familial avec des rendements très faibles du fait, notamment, de contraintes phytosanitaires et nutritionnelles croissantes.  Eradication de la maladie des raies noires de régions productrices de bananes en Australie R. Peterson, K. Grice et R. Goebel Lutte contre les maladiesn Australie, les bananiers sont cultivés principalement dans le nord du Queensland, le long de la côte tropicale humide, autour des villes de Tully et Innisfail (Anon. 2002). Cette région est relativement humide (3000 à 5000 mm de pluie par an) et lors de la saison humide (novembre à mai), les conditions sont très favorables aux maladies foliaires et tout particulièrement à la maladie de Sigatoka, causée par Mycosphaerella musicola Leach. Le restant de l'année est soit frais soit généralement sec.La maladie des raies noires (MRN), causée par Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet, est la principale maladie affectant les bananiers dans le monde. Elle est endémique en Papouasie Nouvelle Guinée et dans les îles du détroit de Torres. Elle a été détectée pour la première fois sur le continent australien, en 1981, dans la région sèche du Cap York qui frange le détroit de Torres (Jones et Alcorn 1982). Entre 1981 et 2000, elle a été enregistrée dans six autres sites de la région du Cap York. Ces infestations résultent probablement d'une ou de deux introductions de plants infectés provenant de la région du détroit de Torres. La MRN a été éradiquée à chaque site par la destruction de toutes les feuilles et par la réintroduction de cultivars résistants.En avril 2001, la MRN a été détectée dans la région de Tully, dans le nord du Queensland et, après un état des lieux de l'infestation, un programme d'éradication a été mis en place.L'étendue de l'infestation a été déterminée à l'aide d'enquêtes menées dans toutes les régions bananières du nord du Queensland, incluant les zones résidentielles. Des échantillons de feuilles malades ont été transmis au Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries laboratory à Mareeba. L'identification d'échantillons douteux a été confirmée par le test de la réaction en chaîne par polymérase (PCR) (Henderson et al. 2002).Après avoir délimité l'infestation, la Région Productrice de Bananes de Tully (RPBT) a été décrétée zone de quarantaine. La RPBT couvre 4400 km 2 et comprend les 4500 ha de bananiers aux alentours des communes de Tully et de Mission Beach. L'objectif était que chaque bananier de la RPBT présente un niveau de « maladie indétectable ». Des pénalités étaient prévues pour les propriétaires qui ne se conformaient pas aux règles. Les tissus de feuilles présentant des symptômes de la maladie devaient être prélevés et placés à même le sol afin de se décomposer.Le but du programme d'éradication (Peterson 2002) était d'éliminer tout inoculum de MRN dans la région et d'appliquer un programme intense de traitements par arrosage, afin d'empêcher le développement de nouveaux foyers d'infection. Etant donné que l'incidence de la MRN était relativement faible par rapport à celle de la maladie de Sigatoka, le fait de réduire l'inoculum de cette dernière à des niveaux extrêmement faibles, devait assurer par la même occasion l'éradication de tout inoculum de la MRN.Toutes les parcelles figurant sur les cadastres de la RPBT ont été inspectées dans le but de détruire l'inoculum de tous les bananiers non commerciaux. Les propriétaires, qui voulaient garder leurs bananiers, étaient tenus de les maintenir à un niveau de « maladie indétectable » en les effeuillant, avec ou sans traitement. Les propriétaires qui ne respectaient pas ces consignes, risquaient de voir leurs plantes détruites, cette démarche étant à leur charge. Tous les bananiers indésirables, y compris ceux sans propriétaires (bananiers sauvages), ont été échantillonnés et détruits.Des Du personnel formé a inspecté toutes les plantations commerciales toutes les quatre à six semaines, de septembre 2001 à mai 2002 ; toutes les plantes ont été examinées à la recherche des signes de la maladie. Après les deux premières séries d'inspection, tout agriculteur ayant la maladie sur ses terres a été considéré comme ne respectant pas les consignes et des pénalités (aucun transport de fruits) lui ont été imposées, jusqu'à ce que le niveau de « maladie indétectable » soit atteint. Tous les tissus malades détectés ont été échantillonnés et l'agent causal identifié.La réussite du programme d'éradication a été évaluée en contrôlant la réapparition de la maladie de Sigatoka et de la MRN pendant 12 mois, de mai 2002 à mai 2003, dans des plantations soumises à un programme moins intense d'arrosage, sur des bananiers non commerciaux et sur des plants de surveillance (pièges) (Peterson 2003). Les données météorologiques ont été enregistrées et le programme d'éradication des bananiers sauvages audité.La législation a été modifiée et le niveau de maladie permis dans la RPBT est passé du niveau de « maladie indétectable » à un maximum de 5% de tissu malade sur n'importe quelle feuille. Le programme de vérification (Anon. 2003) consistait en des périodes de surveillance de six fois deux mois. A chaque période, la totalité des plantations étaient inspectée et tous les bananiers non commerciaux présents sur des propriétés résidentielles étaient inspectés deux fois par mois. Des bananiers de surveillance (des lots de 5 à 10 bananiers 'Williams' non traités) ont été mises en place sur 138 sites sur des sections de 1 à 10 km, autour de tous les sites où la MRN avait été détectée. Les bananiers de surveillance ont été plantés à plus de 25 m des bananiers commerciaux afin de ne pas être exposés aux fongicides, et à plus de 10 m de la canne à sucre, afin de ne pas être exposés aux herbicides. Les plants de surveillance n'ont pas été placés dans des zones de pâturage ou impropres à la culture des bananiers, tels que les marécages, les forêts humides et les parcs publics. Tous les plants de surveillance ont été méticuleusement contrôlés une fois par mois et tous tissus malades ont été échantillonnés.Les valeurs de température et de précipitation ont été enregistrées dans trois sites à travers la RPBT. Une période caractérisée par au moins trois jours pluvieux consécutifs (> 1 mm de pluie), avec des températures minimales supérieures à 18°C, a été considérée comme étant une période d'infection. Pendant la phase de vérification du programme, le nombre de périodes d'infection et le nombre cumulé de jours pluvieux durant les périodes d'infection, ont été comparés à la moyenne des dix années précédentes.Au début du programme d'éradication, tous les sites où des bananiers avaient été détruits lors du programme d'éradication des plants sauvages ont été de nouveau contrôlés, afin de s'assurer de la réussite de l'éradication. Le programme d'éradication des plants sauvages a été audité vers la fin du programme de vérification, avec plus de 10% des parcelles à haut risque revisitées, notamment autour des sites où la MRN a été détectée, pour s'assurer qu'aucun bananier n'échappe au programme d'éradication.Sur un total de 2657 feuilles de bananiers échantillonnées pendant l'inventaire de délimitation de la maladie dans la RPBT, 20 échantillons ont révélé la MRN (tableau 1).  Dans toute la région de la RPBT, l'incidence de la maladie de Sigatoka a augmenté tout au long des 12 mois du programme de vérification. La maladie de Sigatoka a été Le programme d'éradication a réussi en partie parce que la détection de la maladie a été précoce, lorsque sa distribution était encore réduite. De plus, la concordance de l'arrivée de la saison sèche et de la biologie du champignon a également contribué au succès du programme. Sur la plante, les ascospores peuvent survivre environ 20 semaines dans le tissu foliaire, alors qu'une fois à terre, ils ne survivent que 6 à 8 semaines dans le tissu foliaire d'après Peterson et al. (2000), ou aussi peu que trois semaines d'après Gauhl (1994). Les champignons n'ont pas d'autres hôtes (Calpouzos 1955, Meredith 1970) ni de structures qui leur permettraient de survivre plus longtemps.Sur la base des résultats du programme de contrôle, le modèle statistique suggère, avec un très haut degré de confiance, que la MRN n'est plus présente dans le district de Tully. epuis le début des années 1980, le secteur de la banane dans le nord du Queensland, qui représente 80% de la production australienne, a recours, pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka (causée par Mycosphaerella musicola), au mancozèbe, un fongicide à action préventive, ou à des fongicides systémiques à base de triazole comme le propiconazole ou le tébuconazole mélangés à de l'huile minérale, en procédant jusqu'à 20 à 25 applications par an (Kernot 1998). Or, d'autres produits chimiques ont montré leur efficacité dans la lutte contre un certain nombre de maladies foliaires (Hewitt 1998) et certains comme les fongicides à base de triazole, JAU 6475 et époxiconazole, sont considérés comme des produits de substitution possibles.Les fongicides à la strobilurine sont des analogues de synthèse des métabolites fongitoxiques produits naturellement par le basidiomycète des forêts Stobilurus tenacellus (Ypema et Gold 1999). Malheureusement, le mode d'action extrêmement spécifique des strobilurines accroît le risque de développement d'individus résistants (Ypema et Gold 1999). Néanmoins, les stratégies anti-résistance reposant sur les recommandations du Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC) devraient contribuer à prévenir la formation de souches résistantes (Gouot 1998). L'acibenzolar, un activateur végétal, est un analogue fonctionnel de l'acide salicylique qui s'accumule dans les plantes exposées à un agent pathogène (Sticher et al. 1997). L'acide salicylique joue un rôle de signalisation important pour l'activation des réactions de défense de la plante soumise à l'attaque d'un pathogène (Sticher et al. 1997). En 1998En , 1999En et 2001, nous avons réalisé des expériences en champ pour évaluer l'action de fongicides à base de strobilurines (trifloxystrobine, azoxystrobine et pyraclostrobine), de fongicides à base de triazole (JAU 6475 et époxiconazole) et de l'acibenzolar, un activateur végétal, pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka Le développement de la maladie et l'efficacité de chaque traitement ont été évalués à la floraison, sur cinq plants de même maturité sur chaque parcelle, en observant la plus jeune feuille nécrosée (PJFN) (Stover and Dickson 1970). La PJFN est la première feuille entièrement déployée qui présente au moins dix lésions nécrotiques distinctes. Dans les deux semaines suivant la récolte, le nombre total de feuilles par plant et l'indice de sévérité de la maladie ont été évalués sur cinq plants de bananier de même maturité par parcelle en appliquant la modification de Gauhl du système Stover d'évaluation de la sévérité de la maladie (Gauhl et al. 1993). La proportion de la surface de la feuille présentant des symptômes a été rapportée à une échelle de 0 à 6, se décomposant de la manière suivante : 0 = aucun symptôme de la maladie 1 = <1% présence de symptômes 2 = 1-5% 3 = 6-15% 4 = 16-33% 5 = 34-50% 6 = >50% Un indice de sévérité de la maladie a été calculé comme suit :Σnb/[(N-1) x T] où n = nombre de feuilles pour chaque degré de l'échelle, b = degré de l'échelle, N = nombre de degré de l'échelle utilisés (7), et T = nombre total de feuilles évaluées sur chaque plant.L'indice tient compte de l'âge des feuilles nécrosées sur le plant, qui est important pour évaluer l'intensité globale de la maladie (Stover et Dickson 1970). Le nombre total de feuilles par plant a également été calculé.Cette expérience a été réalisée sur des plantules issues de culture de tissus, plantées le 11 décembre 1997. La vaporisation de trifloxystrobine à 90 et 112,5 g d'agent actif par ha, d'azoxystrobine à 100 g d'agent actif par ha et d'acibenzolar à 40 g d'agent actif par ha, qui a été associé à du Dithane OC ® à 1000 g d'agent actif par ha tous les 28 jours, a commencé le 15 avril 1998 et neuf applications au total ont été faites pendant l'expérience (voir le tableau 2 pour plus de détails sur les traitements). Les fongicides ont été mélangés à de l'huile de paraffine (BP Miscible Banana Misting Oil ® ) à un dosage de 5 L/ha, sauf dans le cas du mancozèbe (Dithane OC ® ) qui contenait 412 g/L d'huile de pétrole. Les traitements ont été comparés aux produits industriels propiconazole et Dithane OC ® .Cette expérience a été réalisée sur le second cycle de culture. La vaporisation de trifloxystrobine à 75 et 112,5 g d'agent actif par ha et d'acibenzolar à 40 g d'agent actif par ha, qui a été associé à du Dithane OC ® à 1000 g d'agent actif/ha tous les 14 jours, a commencé le 2 mars 1999. Au total, 12 applications ont été faites (voir le tableau 3 pour plus de détails sur les traitements). Les fongicides ont été mélangés à de l'huile de paraffine (BP Miscible Banana Misting Oil ® ) à un dosage de 5 L/ha, sauf dans le cas du mancozèbe (Dithane OC ® ) qui contenait 412 g/L d'huile de pétrole. Les traitements ont été comparés aux produits industriels propiconazole et mancozèbe sous forme de Dithane OC ® et Dithane DF ® .Cette expérience a été réalisée sur le quatrième cycle de culture. La vaporisation de trifloxystrobine à 75 g d'agent actif par ha (seul ou en association avec du mancozèbe), de pyraclostrobine à 100 g d'agent actif par ha (seul ou en association avec du mancozèbe), d'azoxystrobine à 100 g d'agent actif par ha (seul ou en association avec de l'acibenzolar), de JAU 6475 à 50 g d'agent actif par ha, d'époxiconazole à 75 g d'agent actif par ha et d'acibenzolar à 20 g d'agent actif par ha a commencé le 4 mars 2001, et 10 applications au total ont été faites (voir le tableau 4 pour plus de détails sur les traitements). Tous ces produits ont été mélangés à l'huile de paraffine BP Miscible Banana Misting Oil ® pour un dosage de 5 L/ha. Et les traitements ont été comparés aux produits industriels propiconazole et mancozèbe sous forme de Dithane M45 ® .Une analyse de la variance (ANOVA) a servi à analyser la plus jeune feuille nécrosée, le nombre total de feuilles et l'indice de sévérité de la maladie. Le test de comparaison entre les moyennes a été effectué avec la procédure de la plus petite différence significative à P=0,05.La mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée, faite à la floraison après huit opérations de pulvérisation, montre que l'application de trifloxystrobine, puis d'azoxystrobine, a été nettement plus efficace que tous les autres traitements (tableau 2). Les parcelles traitées à la trifloxystrobine ont été bien moins touchées par la maladie de Sigatoka que celles traitées à l'azoxystrobine. L'indice de sévérité de la maladie enregistré deux semaines avant la récolte a confirmé la plupart des résultats obtenus en mesurant la plus jeune feuille nécrosée (tableau 2). Cet indice montre que l'application de trifloxystrobine puis d'azoxystrobine a été nettement plus efficace que tous les autres traitements, à l'exception du programme de vaporisation acibenzolar/ mancozèbe. L'acibenzolar appliqué avec du mancozèbe (Dithane OC ® ) a nettement amélioré la lutte contre la maladie de Sigatoka par rapport à l'utilisation du seul Dithane OC ® . Toutefois, une phytotoxicité a été observée sur les feuilles (décoloration orange) dans les parcelles traitées à l'acibenzolar/mancozèbe et le nombre de feuilles a fortement baissé par rapport à ce qui a été constaté pour tous les autres traitements.La mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée, faite après 11 opérations de pulvérisation, montre que la trifloxystrobine à 75 et 112,5 g d'agent actif par ha a permis de lutter plus efficacement contre les lésions des feuilles que tous les autres traitements (tableau 3). L'indice de sévérité de la maladie montre également que la trifloxystrobine a donné de meilleurs résultats pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka que les produits industriels classiques comme le propiconazole et le mancozèbe (Dithane DF ® et OC ® ) (tableau 3). Ajouter du mancozèbe (Dithane OC ® ) à l'acibenzolar tous les 28 et 42 jours a permis de réduire la sévérité de la maladie par rapport au cas de figure où seul du Dithane OC ® est appliqué. Les deux traitements à l'acibenzolar n'ont pas donné de résultats très différents pour la lutte contre la maladie de Sigatoka. Sur les parcelles traitées à l'acibenzolar/mancozèbe, le nombre de feuilles a baissé par rapport à ce qui a été constaté pour tous les autres traitements.La mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée, faite après 12 opérations de pulvérisation, montre que la trifloxystrobine (appliquée seule et avec du mancozèbe) et la pyraclostrobine ont donné de meilleurs résultats que le propiconazole et le mancozèbe (Dithane M45 ® ) (tableau 4). Le JAU 6476 a été plus efficace pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka que le Dithane M45 ® . L'indice de sévérité de la maladie a confirmé la plupart des résultats de l'évaluation de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée (tableau 4). Il a également montré que tous les traitements, excepté celui à l'acibenzolar, avait plus fortement réduit la maladie que l'application du seul Dithane M45 ® . Il y avait moins de feuilles dans les parcelles traitées au JAU 6475, à l'acibenzolar seulement et à l'acibenzolar associé à l'azoxystrobine que dans celles traitées au propiconazole.Tableau 2. Evaluation en champ de 1998 des produits chimiques utilisés pour lutter contre la maladie Sigatoka, après la mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée à la floraison et le calcul du nombre total de feuilles par plant et de l'indice de sévérité de la maladie deux semaines avant la récolte (n=15). Les moyennes de la même colonne qui sont suivies de la même lettre ne présentent pas de différence significative à P>0,05.Tableau 3. Evaluation en champ de 1999 des produits chimiques utilisés pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka, après la mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée à la floraison et le calcul du nombre total de feuilles par plant et de l'indice de sévérité de la maladie deux semaines avant la récolte (n=15). Les moyennes de la même colonne qui sont suivies de la même lettre ne présentent pas de différence significative à P>0.05.Les degrés de sévérité de la maladie ont été relativement uniformes dans les trois expériences, les lésions sur les feuilles dans les rangs de garde allant de modéré à sévère.Les fongicides à la strobilurine (trifloxystrobine, pyraclostrobine et azoxystrobine) se sont révélés plus efficaces pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka que les produits industriels classiques comme le propiconazole et le mancozèbe. La trifloxystrobine et la pyraclostrobine, en particulier, ont produit des effets jamais observés jusqu'ici sur des bananiers, lors d'évaluations en champ en Australie. Des résultats similaires ont été mis en évidence dans la lutte contre la maladie des raies noires (causée par Mycosphaerella fijiensis) dans des expériences en champ menées en Amérique centrale (Perez et al. 2002). Nos résultats indiquent par ailleurs que l'efficacité des strobilurines n'est pas menacée quand elles sont vaporisées avec du mancozèbe, comme phytoprotecteur et produit industriel classique.Ces programmes de pulvérisation font partie intégrante des stratégies visant à prolonger la durée de vie utile des fongicides modernes (Gouot 1998).Cette étude a mis en évidence un aspect intéressant, à savoir que la lutte contre la maladie de Sigatoka était plus efficace quand l'activateur végétal, l'acibenzolar, était utilisé conjointement avec du mancozèbe. Nos observations montrent également que l'acibenzolar associé au mancozèbe peut être phytotoxique pour les feuilles et réduire fortement le nombre de feuilles. Des chercheurs au Costa Rica ont obtenu des résultats similaires pour la lutte contre la maladie des raies noires quand l'acibenzolar était appliqué avec une huile vaporisée sur les bananiers (Madrigal 1998). Comme nous, ils ont observé une phytotoxicité sur les plus vieilles feuilles des plants de bananiers et ont conclu que l'acibenzolar associé à une huile vaporisée, à un dosage supérieur à 5 L/ha, pouvait altérer les feuilles. Dans notre étude toutefois, nous avons appliqué l'huile à un dosage de 3,6 L/ha, ce qui donne à penser que la phytotoxicité avait une autre cause.Les fongicides à base de triazole, le JAU 6475 et l'époxiconazole, ont donné des résultats similaires à ceux du propiconazole, produit industriel classique. En 2004, l'époxiconazole (Opus 75 ® ), la trifloxystrobine (Flint ® ) et la pyraclostrobine (Cabrio ® ) ont été déposés comme produits de traitement pour la lutte contre la maladie de Sigatoka chez le bananier.Tableau 4. Evaluation en champ de 2001 des produits chimiques utilisés pour lutter contre la maladie de Sigatoka, après la mesure de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée à la floraison et le calcul du nombre total de feuilles par plant et de l'indice de sévérité de la maladie deux semaines avant la récolte (n=15). Lutte contre les maladies L a maladie des raies noires (causée par Mycosphaerella fijiensis) et la maladie de Sigatoka (causée par Mycosphaerella musicola) font partie des maladies qui affectent de manière significative la culture de la banane plantain car elles augmentent les coûts de production, tout en réduisant les zones productives et les revenus des producteurs. Pour remédier efficacement à ces maladies, on utilise des produits chimiques qui augmentent en général les coûts de production, l'incidence sur la santé des ouvriers, le risque que les plants acquièrent une certaine résistance aux fongicides, sans oublier la contamination du fruit et de l'environnement.Les composés naturels obtenus à partir de microorganismes présentent des avantages certains sur les produits vendus dans le commerce car ils sont moins nocifs pour l'écosystème et parce que la microflore environnementale ellemême les biodégrade in situ pour les transformer en composés non toxiques (Sánchez Rodríguez et al. 2002). La recherche de nouveaux produits d'origine naturelle ne polluant pas l'environnement représente un élément important de l'agriculture durable (Sánchez Rodríguez et al. 2002).Les acides fulviques extraits du rachis du bananier plantain contiennent une forte concentration de potassium qui tend à induire une résistance à certaines maladies (Álvarez et al. 2002). Les études réalisées par Stindt et Weltzein (1990), Weltzein (1992) et Yohalem et al. (1994) et celles citées par Alvarez et al. (2002) rapportent que les lixiviats ont été utilisés pendant de nombreuses années dans les aspersions de feuilles pour le contrôle des maladies fongiques des plantes. En outre, dans les études publiées par Álvarez et al. (2002), les auteurs affirment que les applications à 5% d'acides fulviques provenant du lixiviat de bananier plantain réduisent la sévérité du mildiou poudreux chez la rose.Dans cette expérience, l'utilisation d'acides fulviques extraits du rachis du bananier plantain se présente comme une option efficace qui facilite le traitement des maladies foliaires causées par les Mycosphaerella spp. pour un faible coût et sans contaminer ni le fruit ni l'environnement.L'étude a été effectuée entre juin 2002 et juillet 2003 à la ferme Montelindo de l'Université de Caldas, située dans la région Santágueda, commune de Palestina (Caldas), à 5º 05' de latitude nord et 75º 40' de longitude ouest, à une altitude de 1050 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer, avec une température moyenne de 22,5ºC, une humidité relative de 76%, des précipitations annuelles de 2100 mm et un ensoleillement annuel de 2010 heures.Un dispositif en blocs de Fisher avec cinq traitements, quatre répétitions et neuf plants par répétition, a été utilisé. La plantation a été effectuée le 8 mai 2002 avec des rhizomes d'environ 500 g, en laissant un espace de 2 m entre les plants et 3 m entre les sillons, sur une superficie de 2160 m 2 , pour un total de 180 plants. C'est la variété de banane plantain 'Dominico hartón' qui a été plantée car elle est fortement sensible à la maladie des raies noires et la maladie de Sigatoka. Afin de s'assurer un environnement propice à la maladie, les parcelles expérimentales furent plantées autour d'un champ de bananiers plantain qui n'avait reçu aucun traitement contre les champignons. La gestion agronomique s'est effectuée suivant les recommandations établies pour la culture de la banane plantain dans la région, incluant fertilisation, oeilletonnage, élimination des bractées et des feuilles séchées et désherbage.InfoMusa -Vol. 14 N°2 Décembre 2005La durée de l'expérience, de la plantation au moment de la récolte, fut de 14 mois.Les traitements évalués furent les suivants : 1) acides fulviques 0,5% ; 2) acides fulviques 100% ; 3) 1,75 L/ha de mancozèbe ; 4) 0,4 L/ha de propiconazole et 5) sans application (témoin). La solution d'acides fulviques 100% fut appliquée au feuillage sans dilution, tandis que pour obtenir une solution 0,5% on a ajouté de l'eau.Les acides fulviques sont lixiviés par biodégradation du rachis de banane plantain 'Dominico hartón' ; ils ont une conductivité électrique de 24,75 mmho/cm, un pH de 3,95 et sont composés de 260 ppm de phosphore, de 155 ppm de potassium, de 49,74 ppm de calcium, de 32,36 ppm de magnésium, de 9,94 ppm de N-NH 4 , de 6,49 ppm de sodium, de 0,33 ppm de fer et de 0,28 ppm de manganése. Le biodégradateur de rachis de banane plantain pour l'obtention d'acides fulviques a été construit dans la ferme Montelindo.Le mancozèbe est un fongicide protecteur, issu de la coordination du zinc et de l'éthylène bisdithiocarbamate de manganése, qui inhibe la respiration des champignons. Le propiconazole est un fongicide à action systémique qui exerce son action par l'intermédiaire d'un blocage de la biosynthèse de l'ergostérol et l'inhibition de la déméthylation des stéroïdes.Les acides fulviques et le mancozèbe ont été appliqués tous les 7 jours et le propiconazole tous les 14 jours. Tous les produits ont été appliqués au feuillage. Selon des études réalisés par Alvarez et al. (2002), les lixiviats du rachis du bananier plantain à une concentration de 5% réduisent le mildiou poudreux chez la rose, tandis qu'une concentration à 50% entraîne la phytotoxicité du feuillage. Conformément à ces résultats et en prenant en compte la zone foliaire plus grande et la plus épaisse du bananier plantain, on a appliqué des traitements à base d'acides fulviques à 0,5% et à 100%.Des évaluations hebdomadaires de tous les traitements ont été pratiquées sur tous les plants de chaque répétition, à partir du premier mois qui a suivi la plantation, jusqu'à la récolte. L'indice de sévérité (IS) de la maladie, déterminé à l'aide de la méthode de Stover modifiée par Gauhl et al. (1995), a été calculé selon la formule suivante :x 100 (N -1)T où n = nombre de feuilles pour chaque degré de l'échelle, b = degré de l'échelle (0 = aucun symptôme ; 1 = moins de 1% du limbe présentant des symptômes ; 2 = 1 à 5% du limbe avec symptômes ; 3 = 6 à 15% du limbe avec symptômes ; 4 = 16 à 33% du limbe avec symptômes ; 5 = 34 à 50% du limbe avec symptômes ; et 6 = 51 à 100% du limbe avec symptômes), N = nombre de degrés utilisés dans l'échelle (7) et T = nombre total de feuilles évaluées.On définit également le taux de développement (r) de la maladie en appliquant l'équation suivante :où t 1 = temps final, t 0 =temps initial, X 1 = indice de sévérité final et X 0 = indice de sévérité initial (Castaño Zapata 2002).Au moment de la floraison et de la récolte les variables suivantes ont été évaluées : (1) la plus jeune feuille malade, c'est-à-dire, la feuille la plus jeune qui présente des stries clairement visibles depuis le sol (Orjeda 1998) ; (2) la plus jeune feuille nécrosée, qui correspond à la première feuille totalement ouverte, en comptant les feuilles de haut en bas, qui présente 10 (ou davantage) lésions discrètes nécrosées et mûres ou une grande zone nécrosée de couleur claire (Stover et Dickson 1970) ; et (3) le nombre de feuilles fonctionnelles.Au moment de la récolte, le poids du régime a été enregistré ; poids de la seconde main ; poids du doigt central de la seconde main ; longueur du doigt central de la seconde main ; et diamètre du doigt central de la seconde main.Il convient de signaler que la présente recherche a été menée en un seul cycle de culture.L'analyse de variance de l'indice de sévérité des maladies a révélé des différences statistiques hautement significatives entre les traitements et l'interaction traitement*évaluation hebdomadaire. L'indice de sévérité moyen le plus bas durant l'étude a correspondu au traitement à base d'acides fulviques à 0,5%, avec une valeur de 42%, tandis que la sévérité la plus élevée était présentée par le témoin, avec 59%. On n'a enregistré aucune différence significative concernant le mancozèbe et le propiconazole (tableau 1).Le traitement à base d'acides fulviques à 0,5% a révélé les valeurs les plus élevées de la plus jeune feuille malade et de la plus jeune feuille nécrosée lors de la floraison et de la récolte, ce qui est probablement dû aux fortes teneurs en potassium de la solution. Le potassium rend les parois cellulaires des feuilles plus résistantes et, en conséquence, la germination des conidies et des ascospores plus difficile.Les auteurs ont observé des différences statistiques hautement significatives pour la variable du nombre de feuilles fonctionnelles au moment de la floraison et de la récolte (tableau 1). Les études réalisées par Molina Tirado et Castaño Zapata (2003) dans la même zone indiquent que 'Dominico hartón' est parvenu jusqu'à la récolte sans feuille fonctionnelle. Dans cette étude, le témoin est parvenu jusqu'à la récolte avec une feuille fonctionnelle. Dans ce sens, les traitements évalués dans notre étude ont démontré un meilleur contrôle de la maladie.Le taux de développement de la maladie n'a révélé aucune différence statistique significative entre les traitements évalués, mais il fut considérablement plus lent dans les traitements, comparé au témoin (tableau 1).Comme on peut le constater dans le tableau 2, le poids, le diamètre et la longueur du doigt central de la seconde main n'ont présenté aucune différence statistique significative entre traitements. En ce qui concerne le poids du doigt central, on a observé que le traitement à base d'acides fulviques à 0,5% a dépassé de 50 g le témoin, en raison principalement de son effet de contrôle. Ce traitement a également montré une zone photosynthétique plus étendue et, par conséquent, une plus grande accumulation d'hydrates de carbone dans le régime avec pour conséquence un poids de régime supérieur de 4,9 kg à celui du témoin, en raison principalement des fortes teneurs en substances nutritives présentes dans les acides fulviques, principalement en potassium.Ces résultats indiquent que les acides fulviques à 0,5% constituent une option viable et non contaminante pour l'environnement dans le traitement des maladies du bananier plantain causées par les Mycosphaerella spp. Plusieurs études ont décrit la variabilité génétique globale de M. fijiensis (Carlier et al. 1994(Carlier et al. , 1996) ) essentiellement à partir de l'analyse d'isolats de champignons venant de différents continents, à l'aide de marqueurs RFLP et PCR-RFLP (Rivas et al. 2004). Faire des études au niveau local pourrait contribuer à améliorer la gestion de la lutte contre la maladie ainsi que les programmes d'amélioration travaillant sur la résistance à la maladie des raies noires.En Colombie, la maladie des raies noires a été observée pour la première fois en 1981 (Mourichon et Fullerton 1990) dans la région de production bananière de l'Urabá d'où elle s'est probablement étendue au reste du pays. En Colombie, les grandes zones de production bananière sont situées dans les régions d'Urabá et du Magdalena où cette culture est pratiquée à forte densité dans de grandes plantations et traitée avec des fongicides chimiques (figure 1). Les zones de production de bananes plantain se trouvent principalement dans les régions du Tolima et de l'Arauca où elles sont cultivées essentiellement dans des exploitations de petite et moyenne taille, en association avec du café, du cacao ou d'autres plantes, et sont peu ou pas du tout traitées avec des produits chimiques.Dans la présente étude, des marqueurs microsatellites ont été utilisés pour faire une enquête préliminaire de la variabilité génétique de 40 isolats de M. fijiensis venant des grandes régions productrices de bananes et de bananes plantain en Colombie.  Génétique des populations volume de 25 ml de solution tampon contenant 2 mM de MgCl 2 ; 0,2 mM de dNTP ; 12,5 pmole de chaque amorce ; 0,625 unités de Taq polymérase (Promega, Californie) ; 1X de solution tampon PCR (50 mM de KCl ; 10 mM de Tris HCl ; pH 8,3) et 10-50 ng de la matrice d'ADN. Après la dénaturation initiale, les amplifications ont été effectuées dans un thermocycleur (MJ Research PT-200, Mass.) programmé pour 2 min à 94°C ; 30 cycles de 30 s à 94°C, 45 s à 55°C et 45 s à 72°C, avec une extension finale de 7 min à 72°C.Pour déterminer la taille des allèles, un volume de 2 ml du produit PCR, combiné à 3 ml de tampon de dissociation (formamide (w/v) à 80%, 10 mM d'EDTA pH (8,0), 1 mg/ml de bleu de bromophénol et 1mg/ml de xylène cyanol FF) a été dénaturé à 98°C pendant 5 min. Ce mélange a été chargé sur un gel de polyacrylamide dénaturant à 6%, contenant 7 mol/L d'urée. L'électrophorèse a été effectuée avec un tampon 1X TBE (Tris-borate EDTA) dans un système Sequi-Gen ® (Bio-Rad). La taille des allèles a été estimée à l'aide de l'échelle d'ADN 10bp (Gibco BRL).Les données ont été considérées comme haploïdes car l'ADN a été isolé à partir d'une culture d'une seule ascospore. Le nombre d'allèles a été calculé pour chaque locus. La diversité génétique a été estimée à l'aide de l'indice Nei (h) (Nei 1978) et la diversité génotypique à l'aide de l'indice G de Stoddart et Taylor, en considérant chaque génotype comme un haplotype multilocus (Hayden et al. 2003). Pour comparer les échantillons de tailles différentes, la valeur de G a été divisée par la taille de l'échantillon. Les calculs de diversité génétique ont été effectués à l'aide du programme informatique GDA -analyse des données génétiques - (Lewis et Zaykin 2001).La différentiation génétique a été estimée avec la méthode statistique Fst de Wright, telle que décrite dans Weir et Cockerham (1984), à l'aide du logiciel Arlequin (Schneider et al. 2000). Les différences statistiques entre les valeurs de Fst ont été évaluées avec la méthode décrite dans Excoffier et al. (1992), sur la base de 3024 permutations.L'estimation de la diversité génétique de l'échantillon prélevé en Arauca (0,42) a donné un résultat supérieur aux valeurs obtenues pour les régions de l'Urabá (0,33) et du Magdalena (0,36), bien qu'en l'absence de test approprié, il soit impossible de distinguer entre les échantillons (tableau 1). Avec neuf marqueurs microsatellites, comprenant les sept microsatellites utilisés dans notre étude, Molina et Kahl (2004)   (Blomme 2000). Il serait bien plus rapide d'estimer la taille du système racinaire en faisant un carottage sur les racines. Pour la fraise (Fragana xananassa Duch.), Fort et Shaw (1998) ont mis en évidence une forte corrélation entre la variabilité des échantillons prélevés par carottage et la masse des racines du plant entier, indiquant que l'évolution de la croissance du système racinaire pouvait effectivement être estimée à partir des carottages. Le prélèvement des échantillons par carottage a pris, au plus, 10% du temps nécessaire pour collecter et traiter l'ensemble du système racinaire du plant. Blomme (2000) a appliqué cette méthode sur des plants de bananiers cultivés en plein champ à la station de l'Institut international d'agriculture tropicale au Nigeria et a observé que les caractéristiques du système racinaire de la touffe pouvaient être convenablement estimées à partir des échantillons prélevés par carottage. En outre, dégager les racines des échantillons obtenus n'a demandé qu'une fraction (5% par exemple pour deux échantillons) du temps nécessaire pour déterrer et évaluer la totalité du système racinaire d'un plant adulte.Cette étude a pour but de voir si la méthode par carottage peut fournir des informations suffisantes pour estimer la taille du système racinaire de la touffe sur une large gamme de variétés de bananiers d'Afrique de l'Est, cultivés dans les exploitations agricoles.Cette étude a été réalisée dans des exploitations des districts de Masaka et Bushenyi, deux importantes régions de culture bananière du sud-ouest de l'Ouganda. Le site de Masaka-Lwengo appartient au système banane-café tandis que celui de Bushenyi appartient au  (FAO 1998).Sur chaque site, huit variétés de Musa -les bananiers des hauts plateaux d'Afrique de l'Est 'Mpologoma', 'Lwadungu', 'Nakitembe', 'Mbwazirume' et 'Kibuzi' (AAA-EAHB), la banane dessert 'Sukali ndizi' (AAB), la banane plantain 'Gonja' (AAB) et la banane à bière 'Kayinja' (ABB) -ont été soumises aux essais. Vingt plants par variété ont été étudiés sur chaque site, avec deux à cinq touffes par ferme. Les touffes sélectionnées avaient dépassé le quatrième cycle de production et étaient constituées d'une plante mère prête pour la cueillette et de deux à trois rejets. Le choix des variétés AAA-EAHB a été fait à partir des ensembles de clones pour avoir une variété représentative de chacun des quatre ensembles de clones (Karamura et Pickersgill 1999).Le système racinaire a été étudié avec la méthode du carottage (Blomme 2000). Trois carottes ont été prélevées sur chaque touffe : à l'endroit situé juste à côté du rejet le plus grand et à 90° et 180° du rejet le plus grand, en allant dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre. Les échantillons faisaient 25 cm de diamètre et 80 cm de haut. Ils ont été délimités avec un anneau en métal et prélevés avec une petite bêche. Puis, ils ont été nettoyés pour enlever les particules de terre ; les données concernant le poids sec des racines adventives et la longueur des racines ont été collectées sur chaque échantillon prélevé (Tennant 1975). Ensuite, les plants ont été entièrement déterrés et les mêmes caractéristiques ont été mesurées sur toute la touffe.L'analyse statistique a été réalisée avec l'ensemble statistique Genstat (Genstat 1999). Une analyse ANOVA a été faite pour déterminer l'incidence de l'emplacement du plant et du La plupart des racines ont été observées dans un rayon de 60 cm autour du plant de bananier et jusqu'à une profondeur de 50 cm. Les échantillons ont été prélevés par carottage dans la zone ayant la plus forte concentration de racines. Cette densité était d'autant plus faible que l'on allait plus profond dans le sol.Les racines des échantillons représentent entre 5 et 8% du système racinaire de la touffe (tableau 1). Ces ratios sont supérieurs à ceux de 1,1 et 2,7% relevés au Nigeria (Blomme 2000). Ces écarts pourraient s'expliquer par des différences dans la nature des sols (les sols sablonneux du Nigeria permettraient aux racines de s'étendre comparativement aux sols limoneux plus compacts de l'Ouganda, où les racines sont plus concentrées autour de la touffe) ou alors par des réactions propres aux variétés.L'endroit du carottage n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur la longueur des racines adventives ni sur le poids sec des racines qui ont été mesurés dans les échantillons (tableau 2). L'interaction entre les plants avait manifestement plus d'impact sur les résultats que le lieu d'échantillonnage. Bien que chaque touffe comprenait une plante mère et deux à trois rejets, de grandes variations de stature de la plante ont été observées. Ces différences de taille de la plante, et donc du système racinaire, pourraient expliquer le coefficient élevé de variation entre les valeurs que l'on note dans le tableau 1.Une analyse de régression a été faite sur le poids sec des racines et la longueur des racines adventives dans les échantillons prélevés, et les caractéristiques correspondantes obtenues à partir de la touffe. Les valeurs R² des échantillons simples, doubles et triples ont été obtenues pour les huit variétés (tableau 3). Les échantillons simples et doubles ont donné les valeurs R² les plus faibles tandis qu'une valeur R 2 minimum de 0,68 a été obtenue pour les échantillons triples (tableau 3). Cela signifie qu'au moins 68% de la variation observée entre les caractéristiques des racines de la touffe pourraient s'expliquer en faisant une estimation sur trois échantillons.Les études faites sur le site du Nigeria sur les plants du premier cycle de production ont indiqué qu'il serait possible d'expliquer au moins 73% de la variation des caractéristiques des racines de la touffe avec deux carottages, et 81% avec trois carottages (Blomme 2000). Sur ce même site, des études plus approfondies qui ont été menées sur les repousses ont indiqué qu'au moins 80% de la variation des caractéristiques des racines de la touffe pouvait être expliqué en prélevant deux échantillons et 85% en en prenant trois. Ces résultats tendent à indiquer que, lorsque l'on fait une estimation sur les plants dans les exploitations, il faudrait prélever au moins trois échantillons par carottage pour pouvoir expliquer plus de 70% des variations concernant les caractéristiques des racines de la touffe. Cette méthode est séduisante étant donné que prélever trois carottes et faire les estimations voulues ne demande que 8% du temps nécessaire pour déterrer et mesurer la totalité du système racinaire d'un plant de Musa adulte. En outre, la méthode par carottage peut fournir des renseignements détaillés sur la dynamique des racines qui est essentielle pour comprendre l'impact de l'environnement sur le développement des racines ainsi que pour faire des recherches sur les différences génétiques relatives aux caractéristiques du système racinaire, entre un grand nombre de cultivars. fin de lutter contre la prolifération des ravageurs et maladies des bananiers, les agriculteurs sont encouragés à utiliser soit des vitroplants (Robinson et al. 1993, Robinson 1996) soit des rejet parés (Nampala et al 2001). Ces plants sont bien plus petits que les rejets non parés conventionnels utilisés communément en Ouganda et où la taille du trou de plantation recommandée est de 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm. D'après les travaux de Swennen (1990), la taille du trou de plantation pour un rejet paré de bananier ou un vitroplant doit être d'au moins 30 cm de diamètre et 30 cm de profondeur, particulièrement dans les plantations commerciales où les bananiers sont cultivés comme culture annuelle. La taille réduite des vitroplants ou des rejets parés, permettrait de mettre en place une bananeraie à partir de trous de plantation moins profonds. La réduction de la taille du trou de plantation pourrait accélérer l'établissement des plants car la zone porteuse des racines de bananiers serait placée au niveau de la terre de surface riche en nutriments. Swennen et al. (1988) ont rapporté, que la zone porteuse de racines des bananiers est géotropiquement négative, c'est-à-dire que les nouvelles racines sont formées dans les couches de terre de surface. Le but de cette étude a été de comparer les performances de croissance de plantes issues de vitroplants et de rejets, plantés dans des trous de différentes profondeurs.L'expérience a été mise en place en mars 2002, à l'institut de recherche agricole de l'université de Makerere, à Kabanyolo, en Ouganda. Auparavant, le champ avait été mis en jachère pendant cinq ans. Les sols sont des terreaux bruns rouges jusqu'à 25 cm de profondeur et sont classés comme ferralsols eutriques (Yost et Estwaran 1990).Des trous de deux profondeurs ont été testés. Dans la première méthode, utilisée par les agriculteurs, le trou creusé faisait 60 cm de diamètre et 60 cm de profondeur (figure 1A). Le sol de surface des trente premiers centimètres a été mélangé avec le sol de surface pris aux alentours du trou et 10 kg de fumier de vache composté. Ce mélange a été remis dans le trou à la plantation. Dans la deuxième méthode (figure 1B), un trou de 60 cm de diamètre et 40 cm de profondeur a été creusé. La couche profonde située entre 35 et 40 cm a été ameublie et laissée dans le trou. Le sol de surface a été mélangé avec 10 kg de fumier de vache composté et a été mis par-dessus la terre ameublie. Dans les deux méthodes, les trous de plantation ont été remplis jusqu'à 5 cm du niveau du sol. Au remplissage du trou, le mélange de sol de surface et de compost a été légèrement compacté.Les plants étaient des vitroplants et des rejets baïonnette parés appartenant à deux cultivars de bananiers des hauts plateaux de l'Afrique de l'Est, 'Entaragaza' et 'Siira' (AAA-EAHB). Le pseudotronc des rejets baïonnette a été coupé à 10 cm au-dessus du rhizome avant la plantation. Les rejets baïonnette étaient homogènes en taille et pesaient en moyenne 2 kg après le parage. Le bord coupé du pseudotronc du rejet paré a été positionné au niveau du sol du trou de plantation, pour les deux génotypes et les deux profondeurs de plantation, plaçant ainsi la zone porteuse de racines du plant dans la couche de sol de surface riche en nutriments. Les vitroplants ont été couverts de terre jusqu'au-dessus du collet. Vingt grammes du pesticide Furadan 3G (Carbofuran) ont été ajoutés au mélange terre-fumier avant Effet de la profondeur du trou de plantation sur le développement du plant et des racines de Musa spp. Le schéma expérimental utilisé était un bloc subdivisé (split-plot) dans un dispositif en blocs de Fisher, avec deux répétitions. Le facteur principal était la profondeur du trou de plantation et le facteur secondaire était le type de plant initial (vitroplant ou rejet). Pour chaque type de plant, les deux variétés ont été désignées comme facteur tertiaire.Deux champs avoisinants de 48 plants chacun, ont été utilisés pour évaluer les caractéristiques agronomiques 24 semaines après la plantation (premier champ) et à l'émergence de la fleur (second champ). Dans les deux champs, l'espace entre les plantes était de 3 m x 3 m. Pour chaque profondeur de trou de plantation et chaque génotype, les données ont été enregistrées pour six plantes issues de vitroplants et six plantes issues de rejets. Les plantes ont été totalement déterrées pour leur évaluation. Deux champs adjacents aux précédents et disposés de la même façon, ont été utilisés pour évaluer la distribution des racines, c'est-à-dire la longueur des racines adventives en fonction de la profondeur du sol, 24 semaines après la plantation (premier champ) et à l'émergence de la fleur (second champ). Chaque champ avait 24 plantes. Pour chaque profondeur de trou de plantation et chaque génotype, les données ont été enregistrées sur trois plants dérivés de vitroplants et trois plants dérivés de rejets.Les données ont été analysées à l'aide du logiciel SAS à modèle mixte (Littell et al. 1996) dans lequel les répétitions étaient considérées comme aléatoires alors que la profondeur du trou de plantation et le type de matériel de plantation étaient fixes. Le génotype n'a pas été pris en compte dans les analyses suivantes car, à part la taille de la plante, les variations lui étant dues n'étaient pas significatives. Les moyennes ont été séparées par un test t de comparaison multiple des moindres carrés moyens. Afin d'établir une relation entre la longueur des racines adventives et la profondeur du trou de plantation, nous avons tracé la courbe de la longueur des racines adventives en fonction de la profondeur du sol pour chaque type de matériel de plantation.La profondeur du trou de plantation n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur les caractéristiques des parties aériennes, du rhizome et des racines des touffes dérivées de rejets, 24 semaines après la plantation (tableau 1). Par contre, le poids du rhizome, la longueur des racines adventives et le poids sec des racines des plants dérivés de vitroplants étaient significativement (P<0.005) plus élevés dans les trous de 60 cm de profondeur que dans les trous de 40 cm de profondeur. Aucun effet significatif de la profondeur du trou de plantation sur les caractéristiques mesurées de croissance des plantes issues de vitroplants et de rejets n'a été observé à la floraison (tableau 2).La distribution des racines était semblable pour les deux profondeurs de trous, pour les plantes évaluées 24 semaines après la floraison ou à la floraison (figure 2).Les résultats suggèrent que le trou le moins profond n'a pas entravé la croissance des deux types de matériel de plantation bien que des résultats complémentaires in situ seraient Tableau 1. Valeurs moyennes des caractéristiques agronomiques évaluées 24 semaines après la plantation de deux types de matériel de plantation de bananiers des hauts plateaux de l'Afrique de l'Est plantés dans des trous de profondeurs différentes (n=12). nécessaires pour confirmer ces résultats préliminaires. Swennen (1990) a rapporté que la taille minimale du trou de plantation pour des bananiers pouvait être aussi faible que 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm. Au lieu de planter le rhizome dans une couche inférieure, ceci assure à la zone porteuse de racines d'être placée dans la couche de surface riche en minéraux. Etant donné que la plupart des racines de bananiers poussent dans la couche de surface (Araya et al. 1998et Sebuwufu 2002), le fait de planter le rhizome au niveau de la couche supérieure riche en minéraux, pourrait améliorer la croissance de la plante. La profondeur du trou de plantation la plus faible dans cette étude réduirait les coûts de main d'oeuvre de moitié. En effet, un manoeuvre serait payé 300-500 UgSh [1$=1850 UgSh] pour creuser un trou de plantation « classique », alors que pour creuser un trou moins profond, seuls 150-250 UgSh seraient nécessaires. Dans le premier cas, le fait d'enlever la sous-couche compacte est un travail plus physique qui nécessite plus de temps. Bakhiet et Elbadri (2004) ont planté des rejets baïonnette à différentes profondeurs et leurs résultats indiquent qu'augmenter la profondeur de plantation augmente le poids du régime et réduit le temps à la floraison, et que l'effet persiste sur des cycles de production successifs. Mais alors que Bakhiet et Elbadri (2004) ont varié la profondeur à la quelle le rejet était planté, nous avons planté les rejets et vitroplants au niveau de la couche de surface et avons fait varier la profondeur du trou de plantation.D'autres études sont nécessaires pour évaluer la rentabilité, la croissance de la plante, le rendement et surtout la stabilité sur plusieurs cycles de production. Des études complémentaires en station et à la ferme pourraient évaluer l'effet de différentes profondeurs de trous de plantation et des types de sols qui auraient subis différents traitements (avec ou sans jachère, avec ou sans compaction du sol, etc.). Des méthodologies participatives à la ferme, ou des méthodologies participatives similaires, pourraient être utilisés pour mettre au point la profondeur du trou de plantation et d'autres aspects liés à la méthode de gestion de l'agriculteur et du système de production. Des essais menés sur des fermes donneraient des résultats qui seraient représentatifs de l'environnement propre à l'agriculteur et permettrait de faire des recommandations qui lui seraient adaptées.   'importance des nématodes parasites comme une contrainte à la production de Musa n'est pas à mettre en doute (Gowen et al. 2005). Cependant, l'attention a été concentrée sur l'épidémiologie des nématodes parasites de plantes qui affectent Musa, leur gestion et l'identification d'une résistance contre Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne. Il devient cependant de plus en plus clair qu'une telle attention devrait être élargie pour inclure d'autres espèces de nématodes qui, selon l'endroit et le génotype de Musa, peuvent avoir une importance plus grande que celle de R. similis (Speijer et Fogain 2000, Gowen et al. 2005). Des nématodes tels que Helicotylenchus multicinctus (Cobb) Golden, Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus coffeae (Zimmerman) Filipjev, Schuurmans et Stekhoven, par exemple, ont été identifiés comme les premières contraintes dues aux nématodes sur le bananier plantain en Afrique de l'ouest (Speijer et al. 2001, Brentu et al. 2004) et considérés comme une menace considérable pour Musa dans d'autres régions, comme l'Inde (Sundararaju 2001), la région du Pacifique (Bridge et Page 1984, Bridge 1988) et l'Amérique centrale (Stover 1972). L'évidence de la pathogénicité de H. multicinctus (Barekye et al. 1999, Brentu et al. 2004, Ssango et al. 2004) et de Meloidogyne spp. (Brentu et al. 2004) sur Musa augmente.L'identification de cultivars résistants aux ravageurs et maladies, incluant les nématodes, est une étape initiale vers le développement d'une option de gestion. Un travail important a été réalisé sur le développement de procédures de criblage pour identifier la résistance aux nématodes chez le bananier (Pinochet 1996, Speijer et De Waele 1997, De Schutter et al. 2001, Severn-Ellis et al. 2003). En utilisant de telles méthodes, plusieurs génotypes de Musa présentant une résistance à R. similis (Pinochet 1996) ont été identifiés. Cependant, la procédure d'identification de la résistance reste très longue.La possibilité de cribler rapidement de nombreuses variétés locales ou génotypes créés par les sélectionneurs rendrait cette procédure plus efficace en réduisant le temps et l'espace nécessaires. Sur ce sujet, De Schutter et al. (2001) ont développé une méthode qui utilise des racines isolées et évalue la multiplication des nématodes sur une période de huit semaines, mais elle a été développée pour une seule espèce, R. similis. Les activités de recherche de résistance ont commencé par prendre en considération les nématodes les plus importants (voir par exemple Stoffelen et al. 1999, Van den Bergh et al. 2000), bien que H. multicinctus soit resté un nématode difficile à cultiver, ce qui empêche les activités de criblage. Avec l'attention portée sur l'identification de la résistance à d'autres espèces de nématodes que R. similis et la résistance à des espèces multiples, il est nécessaire de développer des méthodes de criblage efficaces et pratiques. Le criblage de nombres élevés de génotypes contre plus d'une espèce de nématodes peut créer des complications et nécessite plus d'espace et de temps. De plus, la disponibilité en rejets, spécialement ceux des hybrides, peut être limitée. Une utilisation maximale du matériel disponible est donc capitale.Cette étude a été réalisée pour adapter et développer la méthode de criblage d'une racine isolée de De Schutter et al. (2001) à des espèces de nématodes multiples. Le bananier plantain 'Agbagba' (AAB), qui est un bon hôte pour R. similis (Price 1994, De Schutter et al. 2001) a été utilisé. Les rejets utilisés comme matériel de plantation d'un site de multiplication ont été choisis par rapport à l'absence de dégâts causés par les charançons. Ils ont été parés soigneusement pour enlever les racines et les tissus du corme infestés par les nématodes et traités avec de l'eau chaude (53 o C à 55 o C) pendant 20 minutes (Colbran 1967) avant la plantation. Six rejets par traitement et par méthode d'inoculation ont été plantés dans de la sciure dans des cadres en bois (1,0 m x 2,0 m x 0,3 m) placés sur une feuille de plastique sur le sol en ciment de la serre. Chaque cadre en bois a été divisé en trois compartiments égaux contenant chacun un rejet.Des racines individuelles ont été inoculées selon la méthode de De Schutter et al. (2001). Environ quatre semaines après la plantation, des racines primaires au même stade de développement ont été sélectionnées sur chaque rejet. Deux jours avant l'inoculation, un segment de racine de 8 cm de long, distant d'au moins 5 cm du corme, a été placé avec soin dans un petit gobelet en plastique (8 cm de diamètre, 5 cm de hauteur) contenant du sol sablo-argileux stérilisé à la vapeur (figure 1). En utilisant une pipette, chaque segment de racine a été inoculé avec 1,0 ml d'une suspension aqueuse contenant 50 nématodes vermiformes. Après l'inoculation, chaque segment a été soigneusement recouvert de sol stérilisé à la vapeur.L'inoculum de nématodes avait été obtenu à partir de cultures sur des disques de carotte (Pinochet et al. 1995) pour R. similis et P. coffeae. L'inoculum a été préparé en rinçant avec de l'eau distillée les boîtes de Petri contenant les disques de carotte et en récoltant les nématodes dans un bécher. L'inoculum d'H. multicinctus a été obtenu en extrayant les nématodes de racines infectées de plants d''Agbagba' cultivés dans des pots contenant du sol stérilisé à la vapeur. L'inoculum de Meloidogyne spp. a été obtenu comme celui d'H. multicinctus, en utilisant des Meloidogyne spp. isolés à partir de bananiers plantain de l'état de Rivers, au Nigeria, et identifié comme étant sans doute un mélange de M. incognita et M. javanica. Les racines ont été coupées en morceaux de 0,5 cm de long et macérées dans un broyeur ménager pendant deux périodes de 10 secondes, séparées par un intervalle de 5 secondes. Les nématodes ont été extraits en utilisant la technique de l'entonnoir de Baermann modifiée (Speijer et De Waele 1997).Les essais ont été achevés dix semaines après l'inoculation. Les récipients en plastique contenant les segments de racines ont été déterrés avec soin. Les segments de racines de 8 cm de long ont été récoltés, lavés à l'eau courante, séchés avec du papier absorbant, pesés, coupés en fragments de 0,5 cm et macérés dans broyeur ménager pendant deux fois 10 secondes avec un intervalle de 5 secondes. Les nématodes vermiformes (juvéniles uniquement pour Meloidogyne spp.) ont été extraits selon la technique modifiée de l'entonnoir de Baermann. Les extraits ont été décantés une première fois au bout de 24 heures, puis de nouveau 24 heures plus tard (à 48 h). A 24 h, de l'eau distillée a été utilisée pour remplacer l'extrait décanté. Pour chaque segment de racine, le volume de l'extrait a été ramené à 10 ml et les densités en nématodes évaluées à partir de trois aliquots de 2 ml de la suspension.Deux méthodes (la méthode à espèce unique et celle à espèces multiples), utilisant chacune quatre espèces de nématodes -M eloidogyne spp., H. multicinctus, P. coffeae et R. similis -ont été comparées entre elles. Dans la méthode à espèce unique, trois racines par rejet sont inoculées avec 50 nématodes d'une même espèce. Dans la méthode à espèces multiples, chaque rejet est inoculé avec quatre espèces de nématodes, soit une espèce par racine (50 nématodes) et trois racines par espèce. Chaque rejet comporte donc 12 racines inoculées, chacune inoculée avec l'une des quatre espèces de nématodes. Les essais ont été organisés selon un dispositif en randomisation totale avec six répétitions par Le taux de multiplication des nématodes, le poids frais des racines et les lésions causées aux racines ont été évalués sur les plantes inoculées et les résultats comparés entre espèces de nématodes et entre les deux traitements pour chaque espèce de nématode. L'index de nécrose racinaire (INR) a été estimé suivant une échelle de 0 à 20 (Speijer et De Waele 1997) pour chaque racine, en notant chaque moitié d'une racine coupée longitudinalement et en calculant une valeur moyenne pour les trois racines par rejet.Les densités de populations de nématodes ont été transformées par log 10 (x+1) avant analyse (Gomez et Gomez 1984) pour stabiliser les variances. Une procédure de modèle linéaire général (SAS Institute Inc. 1999) a été utilisée pour comparer la reproduction, le poids frais des racines et l'INR entre les racines inoculées par des espèces de nématodes différentes. Les moyennes des résultats entre les méthodes pour chaque traitement avec une espèce de nématode ont été comparées en utilisant le test T de Student avec SAS.Des quatre espèces de nématodes évaluées, Meloidogyne spp. et H. multicinctus ont été récoltées à des densités plus faibles que R. similis ou P. coffeae (tableau 1). Malgré ces faibles densités, des nécroses ont été observées en association avec Meloidogyne spp. et H. multicinctus. L'INR était le plus élevé pour P. coffeae, à la fois avec la méthode à une espèce et la méthode à espèces multiples.L'INR plus élevé associé à P. coffeae indique le haut potentiel de dégâts de ce nématode, ce qui corrobore des observations faites au Ghana sur des microparcelles (Brentu et al. 2004). Seules des densités limitées de Meloidogyne spp. au stade juvénile et de H. multicinctus ont été récupérées en fin d'essai. Les résultats obtenus avec Meloidogyne spp. sont comparables à des résultats d'études similaires d'une durée de huit semaines (Stoffelen et al. 1999). A notre connaissance, aucune étude similaire de criblage n'a été entreprise pour H. multicinctus, principalement à cause de la difficulté rencontrée pour cultiver ce nématode. A la place, des évaluations de la résistance à H. multicinctus ont été faites à partir d'études de terrain (par ex. Speijer et al. 2000, J. Hartman non publié).Aucune différence dans la densité en nématodes et l'INR n'a été observée entre les deux méthodes pour toutes les espèces (tableau 2). L'INR pour toutes les espèces de nématodes était relativement plus élevé (mais pas significativement différent) dans la méthode à espèces multiples que dans la méthode à espèce unique. Seules des différences dans le poids frais des racines ont été observées entre les méthodes, mais pas entre les espèces de nématodes.Le poids des racines était sans doute plus faible du fait du niveau de parasitisme de nématodes plus élevé avec la méthode à espèces multiples, avec 12 racines inoculées contre trois dans la méthode à espèce unique. Les résultats indiquent que plus d'une espèce de nématodes parasites  Le poids des segments de racines des rejets inoculés avec quatre espèces de nématodes était plus bas que celui des segments de racines des rejets inoculés avec une espèce de nématode (tableau 3). La plupart des variables mesurées différait entre les trois essais réalisés (tableau 3).Il est possible qu'en utilisant la méthode à espèces multiples, la résistance à une espèce de nématode puisse être supprimée à cause du stress induit par l'inoculation de nombreuses espèces de nématodes. Dans les situations rencontrées au champ, les plants de Musa sont plus souvent exposés à des espèces de nématodes multiples, et il pourrait donc être bénéfique d'observer une telle rupture de résistance à un stade précoce. Il serait donc utile d'utiliser la méthode à espèces multiples pour évaluer la réaction de cultivars connus pour être résistants à une espèce donnée de nématodes. La méthode pourrait également être utilisée pour évaluer des isolats différents de la même espèce chez laquelle il est connu que des variations du pathotype se produisent, comme chez R. similis (Pinochet 1987, Dochez 2004). ans les plantes supérieures, la production en excès de formes oxygénées activées (ROS -reactive oxygen species), telles que le peroxyde d'hydrogène et les radicaux hydroxyle, est une caractéristique intrinsèque du métabolisme soumis à divers stress abiotiques. Quand les ROS ne sont pas correctement éliminés, il se produit souvent un stress oxydant, caractérisé par des réactions délétères entre les ROS et des macromolécules importantes, comme les protéines, les lipides et l'ADN, qui peuvent provoquer des lésions cellulaires (Inze et Van Montagu 1995).Les études réalisées sur diverses espèces cultivées ont révélé que les plantes tolérantes au stress sont généralement dotées de bons systèmes de défense contre l'oxydation (Jagtap et Bhargava 1995, Sairam et al. 1998). De même, les plantes transgéniques produisant en excès des enzymes antioxydantes, telles que la superoxyde dismutase et la glutathion réductase, ont aussi présenté une meilleure tolérance au stress (Allen et al. 1997, Aono et al. 1995). L'objectif de ces travaux était d'étudier la tolérance de plants de bananiers au stress oxydant, un sujet peu étudié.'Berangan' (AAA) et 'Mas' (AA), deux des principaux cultivars bananiers de Malaisie, ont été utilisés pour cette étude. 'Mas' est la banane dessert la plus appréciée avec une consommation annuelle de 2,7 kg par personne. La variété 'Berangan' se situe au troisième rang avec une consommation annuelle de 0,5 kg par personne, mais c'est aussi la banane dessert la plus exportée par la Malaisie (Rohizad 1999).Des plantules de 'Berangan' et 'Mas' cultivées in vitro ont été préparées en suivant la méthode de Novak et al. (1985), avec quelques modifications mineures. Les rejets lancéolés ont été la source des apex pour l'initiation de la culture. Les rejets sains ont été collectés dans un champ situé à environ 600 m du laboratoire de l'Universiti Putra Malaysia. Les rejets collectés ont été rapidement transportés au laboratoire en moto, un trajet qui a pris cinq minutes.Pour la préparation des milieux d'initiation de la culture, le milieu de base de Murashige et Skoog (1962) a été enrichi avec 1 mg/L de thiamine, 100 mg/L d'inositol, 30 g/L de sucrose, 10 μM de 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) et 5 μM d'acide indole-3-acétique (AIA). Le milieu de culture a été solidifié avec de l'agar à 5 g/L et le pH ajusté à 5,8 avant la stérilisation en autoclave. Le milieu de multiplication était semblable au milieu d'initiation de la culture, hormis l'ajout de 20 μM de BAP et la suppression de l'AIA. Le milieu d'enracinement était analogue au milieu d'initiation, moins la BAP. Les cultures en milieu semi-solide ont été placées à 25 ± 2°C avec une photopériode de 12h/12h (lumière/obscurité) et une densité de flux de photons photosynthétiques de 65 μmol m -2 s -1 . Les cultures en milieu liquide ont été placées sur un agitateur orbital (50 t/m) et incubées à 25 ± 2°C, avec une photopériode de 12h/12h (lumière/obscurité) et un flux de photons photosynthétiques de 20 μmol m -2 s -1 .Pour le démarrage de la culture, les apex des deux cultivars ont été placés dans le milieu d'initiation pendant trois semaines. Les cultures initiées ont ensuite été transférées dans le milieu de multiplication et repiquées toutes les trois semaines. Puis les pousses ont été placées deux fois quatre semaines dans le milieu d'enracinement.Pour induire le stress oxydant, des plantules uniformes (avec trois feuilles complètement développées et les racines émondées) ont été traitées avec 10 ml d'une solution de paraquat (méthylviologène, catalogue N° M-2254, Sigma) à 10, 20 et 40 μM. Le paraquat est réputé induire un stress oxydant dans les cellules végétales en accroissant la production de radicaux superoxyde dans le choroplaste (McKersie et Leshem 1994). La solution témoin était de l'eau déionisée. Les plantules ont été mises dans un agitateur orbital (50 t/min) et incubées à 25 ± 2°C, avec une photopériode de 12h/12h (lumière/obscurité) et un flux de photons photosynthétiques de 20 μmol m -2 s -1 . Après 24 heures, la troisième feuille de chaque plantule a servi aux analyses biochimiques.La concentration en malonaldéhyde (MDA) et la libération relative d'électrolytes ont été mesurées pour comparer la tolérance au stress oxydant des cultivars. La concentration en MDA a été déterminée suivant les indications de Chai et al. (1999). La libération relative d'électrolytes indique le degré de perméabilité de la membrane cellulaire. L'hypothèse est que la dégradation et la porosité de la membrane cellulaire entraîneront une augmentation de la libération des solutés cytoplasmiques dans le milieu aqueux dans lequel le tissu foliaire est immergé (Prasil et Zambien 1998). La libération relative d'électrolytes dans des morceauxChai Tsun-Thai, Nor'Aini M. Fadzillah, M. Kusnan et M. Mahmood de feuille (1 cm x 0.5 cm) a été déterminée en suivant la méthode de Kraus et Fletcher (1994). Les morceaux ont été placés, pendant 24 heures, dans des tubes à essais contenant de l'eau déionisée puis la conductivité (c 1 ) a été mesurée. Les tubes à essais ont alors été plongés dans de l'eau bouillante pendant 20 minutes et la conductivité (c 2 ) a de nouveau été mesurée. La libération relative d'électrolytes est le rapport de c 1 sur c 2 .Le rôle de certaines enzymes antioxydantes réputées conférer une tolérance au stress oxydant a également été examiné. La superoxyde dismutase (SOD) est une enzyme contenant des métaux qui élimine les radicaux superoxyde dans les cellules végétales (Inze et Van Montage 1995). L'activité de la SOD permet de mesurer la capacité de l'enzyme à inhiber la réduction du nitrobleu de tétrazolium (NBT) par des radicaux superoxyde (Beauchamp et Fridovich 1971). Les tissus foliaires ont été homogénéisés avec une solution tampon de phosphate de potassium à 50 mM (pH 7,0) contenant du polyvinylpyrrolidone à 1% et l'activité de la SOD a été mesurée dans le surnageant de l'homogénat centrifugé. Une unité de l'activité de la SOD est équivalente à une baisse de 50% du taux de référence de réduction du NBT dans l'échantillon témoin. Le taux de référence de réduction du NTB a été déterminé en remplaçant le surnageant par un volume égal de solution tampon de phosphate de potassium à 50 mM (pH 7,8). Le contenu total en protéines du surnageant a été établi selon la méthode décrite par Bradford (1976).L'ascorbate peroxydase (APX) est considérée comme étant l'enzyme la plus importante pour extraire le peroxyde d'hydrogène dans le cytosol et le chloroplaste des cellules végétales (Inze et Van Montagu 1995). L'activité de l'APX permet de mesurer la capacité de l'enzyme à oxyder l'acide ascorbique en présence de peroxyde d'hydrogène (Nakano et Asada 1980). Les tissus foliaires ont été homogénéisés à l'aide d'une solution tampon de phosphate de potassium à 50 mM (pH 7,0) contenant du polyvinylpyrrolidone à 1% et de l'acide ascorbique à 1 mM. L'activité de l'APX a été mesurée dans le surnageant de l'homogénat centrifugé. Le contenu total en protéines du surnageant a été déterminé suivant la méthode décrite par Bradford (1976).La glutathion réductase (GR) catalyse la réduction du glutathion oxydé (GSSG) qui donne du glutathion réduit (GSH), un important antioxydant cellulaire (McKersie et Leshem 1994). L'activité de la GR permet de mesurer la capacité de l'enzyme à oxyder le NADPH avec un apport de GSSG (Hodges et al. 1997). Les tissus foliaires ont été homogénéisés avec une solution tampon de phosphate de potassium à 50 mM (pH 7,0) contenant du polyvinylpyrrolidone à 1% et de l'EDTA à 0,01 mM. L'activité de la GR a été mesurée dans le surnageant de l'homogénat centrifugé. Le contenu total en protéines du surnageant a été déterminé suivant la méthode décrite par Bradford (1976).La catalase (CAT) est une enzyme peroxysomale qui élimine le peroxyde d'hydrogène (Inze et Van Montagu 1995). L'activité de la CAT permet de mesurer la capacité de l'enzyme à décomposer le peroxyde d'hydrogène (Fadzilla et al. 1997). Les tissus foliaires ont été homogénéisés avec une solution tampon de phosphate de potassium à 50 mM (pH 7,0). L'activité de la CAT a été mesurée dans le surnageant de l'homogénat centrifugé. Le contenu total en protéines du surnageant a été déterminé suivant la méthode décrite par Bradford (1976).Les résultats se présentent sous la forme de moyennes et d'écarts type pour les quatre expériences répétées et le test de Student a servi à évaluer les différences entre les traitements et les cultivars.Le paraquat a augmenté la concentration de MDA dans les cellules foliaires des plantules de 'Berangan' et 'Mas' (tableau 1). Le MDA, un produit issu de la peroxydation des lipides membranaires, est considéré comme étant un marqueur des lésions par oxydation (Zhang and Kirkham 1996) et une augmentation de sa concentration indique que l'induction du stress oxydant a réussi. Le fait que les doses de MDA soient plus fortes dans 'Mas' que dans 'Berangan' montre également que 'Berangan' est plus tolérant aux lésions oxydantes.Bien que le degré de peroxydation des lipides soit plus élevé dans les plantules de 'Berangan' traitées avec du paraquat à 10 μM et 20 μM et dans celles de 'Mas' traitées avec du paraquat à 10 μM, la libération relative d'électrolytes n'a pas sensiblement varié avec ces traitements (tableau 1). L'augmentation des concentrations de MDA constatée dans ces plantules peut pour une large part s'expliquer par une plus forte peroxydation des lipides à l'intérieur des cellules foliaires. Toutefois, la perte d'intégrité de la membrane cellulaire observée dans les plantules de 'Mas' traitées avec du paraquat à 20 μM et 40 μM, dans lesquelles une augmentation importante de la concentration de MDA a été accompagnée par une forte hausse de la libération relative d'électrolytes, donne à penser que la peroxydation des lipides s'est étendue à partir de composants de la cellule, comme les chloroplastes, à la membrane plasmique.Le fait que la libération relative d'électrolytes soit sensiblement moins importante dans les plantules de 'Berangan' que dans celles de 'Mas' traitées avec du paraquat à 20 μM et 40 μM indique que la membrane plasmique chez 'Berangan' a subi moins de lésions, ce qui concorde avec la constatation que cette variété est plus tolérante au stress oxydant.L'activité de la SOD a été sensiblement plus importante dans les plantules de 'Berangan' que dans celles de 'Mas' (tableau 2), ce qui montre que 'Berangan' a une meilleure aptitude à éliminer les radicaux superoxyde. Nos résultats concordent avec les précédentes observations selon lesquelles l'activité de la SOD est associée à un renforcement de la protection contre les lésions oxydantes (Van Camp et al. 1996, Sen Gupta et al. 1993).L'activité de l'APX dans les plantules de 'Berangan' soumises à un stress oxydant a été sensiblement plus forte que dans celles du groupe témoin tandis qu'elle est restée inchangée ou a été réduite dans les plantules de 'Mas' (tableau 2). Pour ce qui est des différences entre les cultivars, l'activité de l'APX a été plus importante dans 'Berangan', ce qui donne à penser que cette variété détoxifie mieux que 'Mas' le peroxyde d'hydrogène.Chez 'Berangan', la plus grande activité de l'APX a été clairement mise en rapport avec la plus forte protection contre les lésions oxydantes. Par ailleurs, l'activité de l'APX, qui a été réduite ou inchangée chez 'Mas' traité avec du paraquat à 20 μM et 40 μM, peut avoir contribué à l'accumulation de peroxyde d'hydrogène dans les cellules foliaires, laquelle a entraîné la baisse de l'activité de la SOD observée à ces concentrations. Selon Casano et al. (1997), l'activité de la SOD peut être inhibée par le peroxyde d'hydrogène. Une action réelle d'élimination et la préservation de l'activité de la SOD dépendent en partie du fonctionnement du système d'extraction du peroxyde d'hydrogène dans les cellules végétales.L'activité de la GR mesurée dans les plantules de 'Berangan' a été sensiblement plus forte que dans celles de 'Mas' (tableau 3). Dans les plantes génétiquement modifiées pour réaliser la surexpression de la GR, une corrélation positive a été observée entre l'activité de la GR Tableau 1. Concentration du malonaldéhyde (MDA) et libération relative d'électrolytes dans les cellules foliaires de 'Berangan' et de 'Mas' après un traitement de 24 heures à différentes concentrations de paraquat (n= 4).et la tolérance au stress oxydant induit par du paraquat (Allen et al. 1997).Par ailleurs, l'activité de la CAT a été moins importante dans 'Berangan' que dans 'Mas' (tableau 3) bien que 'Berangan' ait été mieux protégé contre le stress oxydant induit par le paraquat que 'Mas'. Nos résultats montrent que l'augmentation de l'activité de la CAT n'est pas liée à la baisse des concentrations de MDA ni à celle de la libération relative d'électrolytes. Etant donné que le paraquat provoque un stress oxydant dans le chloroplaste (McKersie et Leshem 1994), il est possible que la compartimentation de la catalase dans les peroxysomes ait limité le rôle que joue l'enzyme pour restreindre la production de peroxyde d'hydrogène dans les plantes soumises au stress oxydant.Nos résultats mettent en évidence que 'Berangan' est plus tolérant au stress oxydant que 'Mas', comme l'a montré la plus forte activité de la SOD, de l'APX et de la GR. D'autres recherches en laboratoire et dans des conditions naturelles sont nécessaires pour confirmer la contribution de ces enzymes à la tolérance. Il serait intéressant de déterminer s'il y a une corrélation entre un accroissement de la capacité antioxydante et de meilleures chances de survie ou une plus forte croissance quand les plants de bananiers sont exposés à un stress.La luzerne transgénique modifiée pour produire en excès de la SOD est moins sensible à un manque d'eau et à de très basses températures, dans des conditions naturelles (McKersie et al. 1996, McKersie et al. 1999). Il est possible que le renforcement, par des manipulations génétiques, du système de défense contre l'oxydation permette de produire des plantes plus tolérantes. Sur la base de nos résultats, nous proposons qu'une attention particulière soit portée à l'APX, la SOD et au GR, en tant qu'enzymes antioxydantes, dans les programmes de recherche en génie génétique visant à améliorer la tolérance au stress abiotique des cultivars de bananiers.  Deux ans plus tard, la parcelle de terrain stérile avait été transformée en une bananeraie florissante. Aussi loin que porte le regard, on peut voir des plants de bananiers sains portant de lourds régimes (Figure 2).Une telle métamorphose n'est pas passée inaperçue aux yeux des fermiers locaux qui, au début, se montraient très sceptiques vis-à-vis du projet. Balayan se trouve dans une région qui était renommée pour ses bananes jusqu'à la fin des années 90, moment où la production fut abandonnée à cause de la dissémination rapide du virus du bunchy top du bananier. Les paysans avaient des difficultés à croire que des    Le projet est un succès non seulement auprès des jeunes fermiers de Virlanie (Figure 3), qui veulent tester d'autres nouveaux hybrides, mais également auprès des agriculteurs locaux qui veulent se remettre à la production de la banane.Un nouvel effort est en cours pour promouvoir l'utilisation de la diversité de Musa sous la forme d'une stratégie globale de conservation du bananier et du bananier plantain.Les programmes d'amélioration existants utilisent seulement une fraction de la diversité génétique cachée dans les espèces sauvages et cultivées de Musa. Par exemple, l'écologie de différentes espèces sauvages suggère que des sources de résistance aux stress abiotiques existent chez les Eumusa à la périphérie nord de leur aire de distribution, incluant des mécanismes de tolérance au froid (Musa sikkimensis, Musa basjoo, Musa thomsonii), à l'exploitation dans l'eau (Musa itinerans) et à la sécheresse (Musa balbisiana, Musa nagensium). Des récentes expéditions de collecte dans le nord de l'Inde et en Malaisie laissent supposer que d'autres zones de diversité peu connues ou inexplorées ont de grandes chances d'abriter d'autres caractéristiques agronomiquement intéressantes. De plus, le développement, par des initiatives telles que le Consortium global sur la génomique de Musa, d'outils moléculaires puissants offre une opportunité sans précédent d'utiliser la diversité disponible dans les Musa sauvages et cultivés.La vaste majorité de la diversité de Musa, au moins sous sa forme cultivée, est conservée dans les quelques 60 collections nationales dédiées à Musa. Plus de 6000 accessions sont maintenues dans des collections en champ et 3000 autres sont conservées sous la forme de plantules dans des tubes à essais (collections in vitro). La collection mondiale de Musa du Centre de transit de l'INIBAP (ITC), hébergée par la Katholieke Universiteit Leuven en Belgique, contient près de 1200 accessions sous forme de plantules et est en train de réjuvéniliser et de cryoconserver la collection entière. Une nouvelle collection de feuilles lyophilisées est également en cours de mise en place afin de fournir des échantillons pour la recherche moléculaire.   L'évaluation et la conception de tels systèmes de culture innovants nécessitent l'utilisation d'outils de modélisation spécifiques qui rendent compte des caractéristiques particulières du système. Un modèle spécifique appelé SIMBA a été développé dans ce sens. SIMBA simule l'évolution de la structure du peuplement de bananiers au cours des cycles de culture, point clé qui conditionne l'ensemble de la dynamique du système. La composante parasitaire, qui influe sur la pérennité de la bananeraie et conditionne l'emploi des produitsPhilippe Tixier phytosanitaires est également prise en compte. Le parasitisme des nématodes phytoparasites est simulé, en interaction avec la croissance et la structure du peuplement, l'état du sol et l'emploi de nématicides. SIMBA simule également la croissance des bananiers et leur productivité, la structure du sol, la couverture du sol et le bilan hydrique. Des indicateurs qualitatifs et intégrateurs, conçus spécifiquement, permettent, couplés à ces modules biophysiques, l'évaluation au cours du temps de risques environnementaux comme le risque de pollution des eaux par les produits phytosanitaires et le risque d'érosion. Les pratiques culturales sont prises en compte à travers des règles de décision qu'il est ainsi possible d'évaluer. Le modèle SIMBA, en fournissant des sorties agronomiques, environnementales et économiques (marge brute), permet ainsi l'évaluation multicritère de systèmes de culture simulés selon plusieurs points de vue.SIMBA a ensuite été utilisé selon une méthode originale de prototypage en deux étapes (exploration globale puis optimisation spécifique). Les résultats obtenus ont permis d'identifier certains systèmes de culture qu'il conviendra de tester au champ. Cette approche systémique et fonctionnelle, qui a permis des avancées significatives au niveau de la modélisation des systèmes bananiers, constitue un outil performant pour la conception de systèmes de culture durables.Thèse (PhD) soutenue en 2004 à la Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh La gestion après récolte des bananes au Bangladesh a été étudiée. La procédure après récolte, l'élimination du latex, le système de transport et la procédure de mûrissement de trois variétés de bananiers, 'Sabri', 'Amrita sagar' et 'Chinichampa' ont enregistrés dans 49 endroits du Bangladesh entre juillet 1999 et décembre 2000. Un total de 5 658 207 régimes comptant 579 566 633 doigts ont été examinés. Les mauvaises procédures de récolte, le chargement et le déchargement, ainsi que les vibrations et la compression pendant le transport ont causé des craquements, des coupures et des taches.Botryodiplodia theobromae* a été isolée de manière régulière chez les bananes affectées par la pourriture des doigts, la pourriture de l'extrémité de la tige, la pourriture de l'extrémité distale et Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sur des fruits montrant des symptômes d'anthracnose. Les blessures de la surface des fruits accéléraient l'infection. Des analyses biochimiques ont indiqué que la qualité nutritionnelle des trois variétés diminuait du fait des pourritures. Les pertes sur le marché attribuées aux blessures et aux pourritures des fruits ont été estimées respectivement à 1,5 million $US et 10,5 millions $US. L'application de Bavistin (1000 ppm) et de Tilt (2000 ppm) avant l'infection s'est révélée efficace pour empêcher le développement des pourritures des fruits chez le bananier. L'efficacité des bactéries endophytes contre le BBTV a été testée dans un essai en pots en utilisant des plants de bananier 'Robusta' (AAA) et dans des essais en champ en utilisant des rejets et des vitroplants de 'Virupakshi' (AAB) qui avaient été exposés à des bactéries endophytes lors de l'endurcissement, de la transplantation, et 3, 5 et 7 mois après la plantation. Différentes combinaisons de bactéries endophytes ont conduit à des réductions significatives du BBTV.Thèse (PhD) soutenue en novembre 2004 à la Faculty of Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Inde En Inde, la présence du virus du bunchy top du bananier (BBTV) a été rapportée dans tous les états où l'on cultive la banane, les infestations les plus sévères étant observées dans les basses collines de Pulney du district de Dindugal, dans l'état du Tamil Nadu. Dans cette région, 'Virupakshi' (AAB), un fruit prisé qui a autrefois été cultivé sur plus de 18 000 hectares comme culture pérenne non irriguée, a été dévasté par le Bunchy top et la zone de culture réduite à 2000 hectares. CetteThèse Thèse recherche a été menée pour évaluer l'effet d'une résistance systémique induite contre le BBTV chez 'Virupakshi' et 'Robusta' (AAA).Une étude a été menée dans le district de Dindugal du Tamil Nadu pour collecter des fruits de 'Virupakshi' apparemment sains. Les plantes collectées ont été examinées pour la présence du virus en utilisant l'analyse par ELISA et RAPD. Les plantes testées négatives par ELISA ont été micropropagées. Les 40 plantes produites ont été testées pour la présence du virus. Un essai au champ a été conduit dans une zone du Tamil Nadu infestée par le BBTV, pour tester l'efficacité de diverses bioformulations contre le BBTV sur 'Virupakshi'. L'essai a été organisé selon un dispositif en blocs de Fisher avec huit traitements et trois répétitions. Chaque traitement comportait 20 plantes par répétition, espacées de 2 m x 2 m. Deux souches de Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf1 et CHA0) ont été utilisées dans cette étude, avec ou sans chitine, à différents stades de croissance des plantes : au moment de la plantation et à 3, 5 et 7 mois après la plantation. Un autre essai en champ a été mené avec des vitroplants de 'Virupakshi' afin de tester l'efficacité d'un mélange de souches de Pseudomonas (Pf1, CHA0 et EPB22). Ces souches ont été appliquées au stade primaire et secondaire d'endurcissement, à la transplantation et 3, 5 et 7 mois après la plantation.La souche de P. fluorescens CHA0, appliquée avec de la chitine à la plantation et 3, 5 et 7 mois après la plantation, a augmenté la hauteur du pseudotronc, sa circonférence, le nombre de feuilles et la surface foliaire et a réduit l'incidence du BBTV en serre et au champ. L'application d'un mélange de souches sur des vitroplants de 'Virupakshi' à l'endurcissement, la transplantation et 3, 5 et 7 mois après la plantation a également amélioré les performances agronomiques et a réduit l'incidence de la maladie, en serre et au champ.Thèse (BSc) soutenue en 2004 à l'University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australie La contamination bactérienne des cultures de tissus de Musa est un problème important et largement répandu. On pense que les contaminants bactériens qui posent des problèmes dérivent de l'explant initial. Cette étude visait à vérifier si les bactéries endophytes qui résident dans l'explant initial peuvent être une source de bactéries posant des problèmes, et à développer et évaluer une méthode indépendante, basée sur la PCR, pour la détection de routine de ces bactéries.Les bactéries ont été isolées et identifiées par analyse partielle de la séquence de l'ADNr 16S de 6 des 72 explants utilisés pour initier la culture de tissus. Ces bactéries ont été identifiées comme une Klebsiella sp., un Herbaspirillum sp., un Agrobacterium sp. et une bactérie appartenant aux Enterobacteriaceae, toutes des bactéries endophytes connues. Herbaspirillum sp. et Agrobacterium sp. ont été isolées à nouveau à partir des vitroplants obtenus et toutes les cultures dérivées des explants contaminés ont été de nouveau contaminées après une période de croissance latente. Paenibacillus sp. a également été isolé sur des vitroplants qui étaient visiblement contaminés malgré plus de 12 mois de culture apparemment axénique.Une méthode a été développée avec succès pour la détection d'une large gamme de bactéries dans les tissus de Musa, qui n'était pas compliquée par la co-amplification de plastides d'ADNr 16S dérivés des plantes. Une limite de contrôle de détection d'approximativement 1 x 10 5 cellules d'Escherichia coli extraites (équivalent à approximativement 7 x 10 3 copies d'ADNr 16S par PCR) a été déterminée. Les paramètres de la PCR, tels que le nombre de cycles, la concentration en MgCl 2 et la température d'annélation ont été optimisés. La large applicabilité de cette méthode a permis de détecter de l'ADN bactérien contaminant provenant de la polymérase Taq de l'ADN et d'aérosols exogènes, ce qui était un problème significatif.Ce travail a apporté l'évidence directe que des endophytes résidant à l'intérieur Détection moléculaire et caractérisation des contaminants bactériens dans des vitroplants de bananier (Musa spp.) K.G. Wasmund de l'explant initial peuvent être une source de contaminants bactériens qui posent des problèmes pour les vitroplants de Musa, et qu'une méthode de détection indépendante de la culture est justifiée. Cependant, afin de mettre au point une méthode sensible et fiable basée sur la PCR pour la détection de ces bactéries, la PCR doit viser des groupes spécifiques de bactéries, et la méthode à large spectre développée dans cette étude est extrêmement sujette aux contaminations.Thèse (PhD) soutenue en mai 2005 à la Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgique Les bananiers et les bananiers plantain (Musa spp.) sont sujets à nombre de maladies et ravageurs qui entraînent de sérieuses pertes de rendement. La biotechnologie offre aux sélectionneurs des outils importants pour accélerer la production de variétés améliorées. Des cultures d'apex à fort pouvoir de régénération et de multiplication -également appelées cultures de méristèmes multiples (CMM) -sont d'une très grande valeur pour diverses applications biotechnologiques chez le bananier. Le développement de CMM de haute qualité correspond à la première phase in vitro cruciale pour réussir à établir des suspensions cellulaires embryogènes (SCE) via 'la méthode du scalp'. Des SCE de haute qualité sont le meilleur matériel cible pour l'ingénierie génétique chez le bananier.Dans la première partie de notre étude, une nouvelle méthode a été développée pour produire des CMM de qualité élevée. En plus de la variation en taille des explants initiaux (apex excisés de vitroplants enracinés), la majeure partie de nos recherches a consisté à évaluer la meilleure combinaison de régulateurs de croissance (RC). La réduction de la longueur initiale de la pousse (de 1,5 cm à 0,5 cm) et l'utilisation de 10 µM de thidiazuron (TDZ) comme RC (sélectionné parmi 242 combinaisons auxine/cytokinine) a conduit à : 1) une proportion égale ou supérieure de tissus méristématiques par opposition à des tissus de corme ou de feuilles différenciés et 2) à une réduction du temps requis pour obtenir des CMM (de 1 à 6 mois selon la variété). Ceci, combiné à une étude comparative du comportement in vitro entre le maïs et le bananier, a contribué à notre connaissance de l'origine des bourgeons multiples chez le bananier. Alors que la formation de bourgeons adventifs a été obtenue relativement facilement chez de nombreuses Optimisation de la culture in vitro de méristèmes multiples et de suspensions cellulaires embryogènes chez le bananier (Musa spp.)Hannelore Strosse monocotylédones, la prolifération de bourgeons axillaires chez le bananier n'a pu être obtenue par aucune des 242 combinaisons de RC testées.La seconde partie de notre étude concernait l'induction de l'embryogenèse chez des tissus méristématiques ('scalps'), l'établissement de SCE et le contrôle de la qualité. La fréquence de l'embryogenèse a augmenté deux à quatre fois lorsque les cultures poussaient dans l'obscurité et lorsque du TDZ était utilisé au lieu de la benzylaminopurine (BAP) pour préparer les explants initiaux. L'induction de l'embryogenèse a été obtenue avec succès chez 17 des 22 variétés testées. La fréquence embryogène moyenne parmi les types de bananiers adéquats pour l'embryogenèse (plantain, Cavendish et bananes à cuire) variait de 1,9% à 18,1%. Environ un tiers des complexes embryogènes formés ont donné des SCE qui étaient constituées de plus de 75% d'amas de cellules embryogènes. La capacité des SCE testées à former des embryons variait entre 36 -466 x 10 3 embryons/ml de cellules sédimentées, alors que les fréquences moyennes de conversion des embryons en plantes variaient de 8 à 46%. En moyenne, la qualité des SCE déclinait deux ans après leur initiation, même quand les suspensions étaient régulièrement repiquées et que les structures non régénérables étaient supprimées. Chez 5 des 59 lignées de suspensions cellulaires analysées par cytométrie en flux, des aberrations génomiques telles que la mixoploïdie et la polyploïdie ont été détectées. Ces aberrations génomiques étaient associées à une réduction drastique de la capacité de régénération des cultures cellulaires. Cependant, c'est encore sur les plantes régénérées que la variation somaclonale est le mieux évaluée. Enfin, des essais préliminaires ont été conduits pour rechercher si la réponse in vitro de variétés différentes pouvait être liée à des concentrations différentes d'hormones endogènes.Selon les résultats d'une fouille archéologique en Ouganda, le bananier serait arrivé sur le continent africain il y a plus de 4000 ans, soit quelque 2000 ans avant la date généralement admise de son introduction dans la région. Cette nouvelle donne est publiée dans le numéro de janvier 2006 du Journal of Archaeological Science (Vol. 33(1):102-113). Les auteurs, B. Julius Lejju, Peter Robertshaw et David Taylor, appuient leur conclusion sur des phytolithes de bananiers découverts dans des couches sédimentaires qui dateraient de 4000 à 4500 ans. Les phytolithes sont des corps microscopiques en silice qui s'accumulent dans les cellules végétales et acquièrent des formes distinctes.Il y a quelques années, la découverte au Cameroun de phytolithes de bananiers vieux de 2500 ans (Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2001, 10:1-6) avait suscité la controverse car elle contestait l'idée que les bananiers avaient été introduits en Afrique de l'Est par des commerçants il y a environ 2000 ans. Les récentes fouilles en Ouganda viennent conforter la position de ceux qui plaident pour une arrivée très ancienne du bananier sur le continent africain. Musa tonkinensis peut être différenciée des autres espèces rhizomateuses de Musa par son bourgeon mâle très particulier. L'apex du bourgeon mâle est nettement imbriqué et les extrémités des bractées sont soigneusement disposées en une belle spirale, d'une manière très différente de ce que l'on voit chez les autres espèces de Musa. Alors que les bractées matures sont, à l'extérieur, de couleur violette avec des bords verts, les jeunes bractées, non exposées, sont d'un jaune profond. Les extrémités exposées des bractées imbriquées se dessèchent rapidement et deviennent marron. Ces particularités servent de caractères distinctifs pour M. tonkinensis.La morphologie de M. itinerans ssp. annamica est très proche de celle de l'espèce commune M. itinerans, mais elle peut facilement être différenciée par le mode d'ouverture très spécial des bractées. Celles-ci s'enroulent sur les côtés quand elles s'ouvrent, au lieu de s'enrouler vers le haut comme on le voit généralement chez les autres espèces de Musa. Les autres caractéristiques distinctives concernent les fruits. Les fruits de la sous-espèce annamica sont allongés et légèrement plus étroits à leurs deux extrémités tandis que ceux de la sous-espèce itinerans sont courts et obovoïdes, se faisant plus larges près de l'apex et progressivement plus étroits vers le pédicelle. Les fruits mûrs d'annamica prennent une couleur marron et ont la peau qui craquèle tandis que les autres jaunissent et ont un péricarpe qui reste lisse.Les noms latins de l'espèce tonkinensis et de la sous-espèce annamica ont été choisis pour indiquer les régions où les spécimens originaux ont été collectés. Tonkin était un empire s'étendant sur le nord du Vietnam et le sud-est de la Chine alors qu'Annam était un royaume situé dans le centre du Vietnam.","tokenCount":"17503"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2671025115.json b/data/part_1/2671025115.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b797f4a5c4de7886666d3c6502f0b046df7a51c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2671025115.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2def04580a720f7d86c1ce2effbe9504","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b978ddc2-a65c-46b1-82f9-37d4f90ae8eb/retrieve","id":"770924463"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02936aa1-af90-4d46-97ec-a53050c07bd2","pagecount":"48","content":"In 2013, the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) made significant advances in adjusting its science and research for development approach and in directing the program towards its strategic objectives.A key component of the harmonization was clearly articulating WLE's added-value within the wider set of CGIAR research programs through a stronger thematic and regional integration across its 11 partners. This exercise will culminate in the 2015-16 WLE extension plan where WLE promotes a more cohesive approach to sustainable agricultural intensification, in which the overall health of ecosystems is the entry point for sustainable natural resource management, human well-being and resilient food systems. The WLE approach adds value to the set of CGIAR Research Programs by working across scales, taking a landscape perspective and exploring land and water development scenarios which address possible negative trade-offs for ecosystem services. WLE provides evidence-based solutions and investment scenarios to different clients such as governments, development banks, private sector and regional bodies. The development of the WLE impact pathway took advantage of the successful completion of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) to build on its regional partnerships, trust and structures.To ensure a stronger thematic and regional focus, WLE initiated a strategic planning meeting of all partners, regional and thematic leaders in December 2013 in Amman, and regional planning meetings in the four priority regions. The progress was documented in 2013 through a number of success stories; the approved WLE gender strategy; a proposed monitoring, evaluation and learning strategy; a communication and knowledge management strategy; a draft ecosystem and resilience framework; and a draft partnership strategy.A major structural investment was the adoption of a focal regional approach, where increasing fund allocations in initially four regions (West Africa, East Africa, Greater Mekong and Ganges) will complement WLE's global mandate with a high level of thematic integration along clearly defined impact pathways. WLE further initiated an Innovation Fund to inspire and energize innovative research and uptake processes, which are aligned with the program's strategic goals and outcomes including those of WLE's gender strategy. Additional funds from the Consortium Office were only made available in December thus limiting the operationalization of the Focal Regions in 2013.complemented by WLE's framework for decision making under uncertainty, which explicitly quantifies uncertainties and risks associated with intervention investments.Finally, WLE's emphasis on agriculture-ecosystem linkages were demonstrated in 2013 in several benchmark publications with a variety of key partners, namely the \"Management of Water and Agroecosystems for Food Security\" with UNEP (CABI, 2013) and \"Wetland Management and Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa\" (Routledge, 2013). Through this, WLE has established a clear thematic research focus around the tight but fragile connection between natural resources management and strong ecosystems services. The Steering Committee and Management Committee have captured this new approach in a paper written in 2013 and to be prominently disseminated in 2014.A second noteworthy achievement was the reorientation of the program in designing focal regions. Here the Steering Committee set out a vision to pilot an integrated approach to achieving the paradigm shift. The WLE focal region approach seeks to identify incentives to improve how ecosystems are considered in large-scale investments and national and regional policies and how evidence based research can best support this. An example of this approach is the newly established WLE Mekong Focal Region program that builds upon the successful engagement of CPWF around the issue of sustainable hydropower in the region. With more than 150 dams in various stages of development, hydropower in the Mekong is taking place at a unique scale and is a primary driver of change to the water resource of the region with potentially significant impacts across the water-foodenergy nexus as well as ecosystem services. Building on evidence-based research, WLE (involving CPWF, the International Water Management Institute, the International Food Policy Research Institute and WorldFish) cooperated with more than 60 local partners to maximize the benefits from hydropower including for agricultural productivity, while mitigating potential negative impacts. One output was the first comprehensive and interactive open-access online map that details the location and sphere of influence of all planned, under-construction, and operating dams in the Mekong region. The map provides a sound basis for considering the opportunities from hydropower development beyond energy generation and provides a focus for wider regional stakeholders to understand the scale of dam building and add their own information. The media has used the map extensively.Hydropower development is a highly contested space and improvements in planning and implementation require a change in perception from the developers and financiers. Based on initial participation in a project comparing compensation and resettlement policies and ground reality, Sinohydro Power, one of the most influential private sector representatives in the region, has expressed interest to further cooperate with WLE including trial testing the International Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol. Likewise, another dam developer, Mega First, which is constructing the politically sensitive Don Sahong Dam, has expressed interest in collaborating with WLE on the company's fish monitoring work. A third firm, Theun Hinboun Power Co. (THPC), supported testing of a WLE recommended integrated rice-fish system as part of a compensation scheme and is now evaluating whether to scale this up to other relocated areas. These very encouraging partnerships and developments were possible through the trust that WLE's regional work can build on, symbolized by seven MOUs between CPWF and various governmental agencies and a constructive, objective and neutral collaboration with the hydropower sector. WLE's original plan of activities for the year was based on a W1 and W2 budget of USD 25.37 million. The mid-year CGIAR financing plan forecast a reduction in funding for WLE with a W1 and W2 budget of USD 21.85 million, which was increased to USD 22.92 million in August, 21% less than the 2012 budget of $29,06 million. Partners reduced work plans and budgets accordingly, with some centers, notably IWMI, agreeing to use reserves to cover the shortfall. In late December 2013, the Consortium Board agreed that an additional USD 12 million (as an adjustment to the 2013 fund allocation) would be allocated to WLE to cover this shortfall, which may be used to fund activities in 2014.W1 and W2 expenditures in 2013 were USD 23.77 million. W3, bilateral and other expenditures were USD 34.69 million, almost USD 3 million above the original budget. The Gender budget target was set at 10% of all expenditures in 2013; although confident that this target is likely to have been reached, financial reports received from partners show total gender expenditures of USD 14.68 million, or 25% of the total program expenditure. Clarifications are being sought from some partners on the basis for these figures, and this may consequently reduce.The WLE intermediate development outcomes (IDOs) underwent a review in early 2013 and are now guiding the program. These comprise the following;Improved land, water and energy productivity in rainfed and irrigated agroecosystems.Increased and more equitable income from agricultural and natural resource management, and ecosystem services in rural and peri-urban areas.Increased decision making power over, and benefits from, agriculture and natural resources for women and marginalized groups.Increased ability of low-income communities to adapt to environmental and economic variability, demographic shifts, shocks and long-term changes. Environment Increased resilience of communities through enhanced ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.The WLE Theory of Change and Gender Theory of Change can be found at the embedded links.Impact pathways were developed in June for major research areas. The pathways are indicative of the output and outcomes that WLE is aiming for. Some of the main outputs include: assessment and recommendations, returns on investments, tools and models. The outcomes that WLE seeks include: national and regional policy and legislative changes, changes in investment patterns and guidelines and tools used in decision-making -all leading to livelihood improvements. In support of a new thinking on the fundamental linkages between water, land and ecosystems, a number of key outputs were published with support of WLE in 2013:• A state-of-the-art review was launched on the 'Management of Water and Agro-ecosystems for Food Security', in collaboration with UNEP and CABI, with contributions from Bioversity, FAO and IWMI.• Different WLE partners contributed to the Routledge publication on \"Wetland management and sustainable livelihoods in Africa\". The authors argue for a shift in the way African wetlands are considered. Current policies and wetland management are too frequently underpinned by a perspective that views agriculture simply as a threat and disregards its important contribution to livelihoods, in particular via wetland agriculture and fisheries.• In a joint effort by the Ramsar Convention, FAO and IWMI, \"Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth\" was published, highlighting key opportunities for linking wetlands management with sustainable agriculture. Land use change maps were produced based on high-resolution satellite images and other data products for the Upper Tana Basin in Kenya, as part of a partnership between the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and TNC. The project focuses on ecosystem-based approaches to mitigate sedimentation and erosion in the predominantly rural upstream watersheds, while also providing an adequate quantity and quality of water for downstream users. The maps show how land use contributes to degradation and will aid in recommendations on how to control destructive quarry chains. It is anticipated that the Kenyan government and UNEP will use the data in land management decision-making processes.A flood risk mapping and analysis tool was developed in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) to determine flood risk areas in South Asia. The tool is being expanded to Southeast Asia as part of WLE's Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) research -the concept that aims to capture catastrophic floods by recharging shallow aquifers -for use for small-scale groundwater irrigation in subsequent years.The Flood Mapping tool also proved relevant for disaster response. In July 2013, heavy monsoon rains arrived early in the northern India state of Uttarakhand causing severe flooding. Researchers contributed to the relief coordination efforts through the preparation of flood inundation maps.Researchers captured and mapped the impacts of the floods using satellite images and supplied the maps to the Indian National Disaster Management Authority as well as to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) for wider dissemination.In Sudan, a service was established 2013 whereby information on extent and duration of flooding is being delivered to pilot farmers through easy-to-understand SMS text messages. More than 130 farmers in the Gash Irrigation Scheme participated and benefited using Smart-ICT platform and online portal called Fieldlook. Irrigation authorities, water users associations and agriculture extension agents were able to find out if farmer fields were inundated and their performance in crop productivity.Based on the outcomes, managers of the Gezira Irrigation Scheme in Sudan, are now interested in scaling up the results.The Water Information System for Sri Lanka was developed in 2013 and officially launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2014. The GIS-based tool is available free online and is the first of its kind for helping scientists and policymakers in Sri Lanka to accurately monitor the dynamics of the country's water resources. It also provides a secure platform for cooperation among all the agencies involved in water management to share their data. IDO 1: Improved Land, Water and Energy Productivity A WLE pilot project in the Mekong River basin has spurred hydropower companies and district officials to consider new options to improve the livelihoods of relocated communities in and around reservoirs in Laos and Vietnam. In each area, researchers spent time to gain the trust and cooperation of local officials and dam operators. In the Theun-Hinboun area of Laos, rice-fish farming systems were identified as a potential option for livelihood diversification from rice monoculture based on a detailed feasibility study conducted by the researchers. Theun Hinboun Power Company (THPC) supported the pilot financially and based on the results of the pilot, THPC is currently evaluating whether to promote an integrated rice-fish system in wet season rice farming areas of the THPC relocation sites. In the draw-down area of Yali Dam in Vietnam, researchers, in close collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), conducted a pilot project in 2012 and 2013 that tested other promising varieties of cassavas. Farmers reported their incomes almost doubled due to higher selling prices and higher yields, while input costs remained roughly the same.Due to the pilot's success, DARD and Yali Hydropower Co. have entered into an agreement to expand dam draw-down agriculture to other areas. Yali Hydropower also has agreed to provide local communities with a reservoir water level calendar and to compensate for labor and seedlings in the case of crop damage caused by the hydropower company.In poor countries, increasing urbanization is placing greater pressure on already strained water and land resources. Rural-urban food flows result in the degradation of farmlands, while waste accumulates in urban centers and leads to severe sanitation problems. The 'Business opportunities for resource recovery and reuse' study screened more than 150 resource recovery and reuse (RRR) success stories across Asia, Africa and Latin America for the most interesting business cases, and eventually assessed 60 of these cases comprehensively. Based on this analysis, about 20 promising business models for the safe reuse of nutrients, energy and water were developed. The feasibility of implementing these models at scale is currently being studied in 10 locations across the globe (Kampala, Hanoi, Bangalore, Lima, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Dhaka, Colombo and Hyderabad) and will result in production of investment briefs. So far, donors have pledged USD 4 million to test RRR business models, including a public-private partnership model to turn fecal sludge into fertilizer pellets that started in Accra in 2013. The product is in the process of been trademarked as Fortifer, and underwent field tests in northern and southern Ghana. The trials showed that cabbage and maize yields were as high with Fortifer as with the use of an inorganic fertilizer.In Zimbabwe, WLE scientists, through the CPWF Limpopo Basin Development Challenge, have demonstrated the value of investing in mixed crop-livestock systems in dryland areas to increase household incomes. The researchers, led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), used an innovation platform approach to bring farmers, the government and traders together. The platform in Gwanda has helped to create a strong local market for goats, which led to an increase in the value of one goat from USD 10 to USD 60. This has proved to be an enormous incentive for farmers to invest in their goats by growing their own stock feed, complementing it with (purchased) commercial feed and improving their rangeland management techniques, which have significant positive environmental impacts. The results are of great interest to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, as it examines new ways to targeting food security.In order for women to benefit from agriculture and natural resource management, there is a need for them to be involved in decision-making processes. In India, an IFPRI-led activity assesses how communities can better manage scarce groundwater and surface water resources. The work is taking place in both Colombia and India. Work will be scaled up through NGOs in both countries. The study explores the use of experimental games in helping communities understand, visualize and quantify the gains from collective action in groundwater and surface water management. Experimental games were held with communities (women's and men's groups separately) to simulate crop choices, resulting water use, and changes in overall resource availability. Preliminary findings indicate that women were at least as likely as men to over-extract groundwater resources; funding has been raised to further explore gender issues. NGO staff in India were trained on how to run the experimental games, and work with communities to better manage water collectively. The Indian NGO, Foundation for Ecological Security, has since explored expanding this tool to other issues, such as forests and rangelands, in Andhra Pradesh where it works with more than 5,000 villages. In Colombia, Engineers without Borders will be able to use the results of the study to determine whether they need to tailor their outreach strategies for men and women.WLE has been instrumental in influencing wetland management policies globally, through its research and involvement in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the only global environmental treaty that deals with specific ecosystems. WLE scientists in particular have contributed to the discourse on conservation versus sustainable use of natural resources and influenced thinking about the \"wise-use\" of wetlands. Since 2008, IWMI has contributed to 10 Ramsar resolutions, which provide a framework for the convention's 168 signatory countries to manage wetlands wisely. In 2013 specifically, WLE researchers worked with FAO to influence thinking in advance of World Wetlands Day (February 2014) by producing a series of publications on wetlands and agriculture: \"Wetlands and People\" and \"Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth\" An IWMI/WLE researcher currently is coordinating the Ramsar working group on wetlands and poverty alleviation, while another is leading the working group on wetlands and agriculture.IDO 5: Environment WLE has worked in six sites of the floodplains of Bangladesh and India to strengthen communitybased organizations (CBOs), by building leadership skills, ensuring access and benefits to the poor, and increasing fish production. Pilot farmers in turn are successfully demonstrating new crops and practices, which are being adopted by other farmers. Seasonal floodplains in Bangladesh provide a diverse range of livelihood and ecosystem services, and require broad-based consultation to identify solutions for sustainable use. They are also an essential source of food for some of the poorest in the region. The seasonal floodplains are under private, public/private and public ownerships. CBOs lease an area from a land authority for three years, and pay rent to private ditch owners within the floodplains (fish are plentiful in the ditches at times). During the wet months, CBOs stock fingerlings by setting up fences in water inlets. This allows un-stocked small fish from surrounding areas free movement for breeding. Both the production of stocked fish and un-stocked small fish have increased as a result, providing benefits to fishermen, poor landless people and consumers. The floodplains under the fish culture project also make it easier to grow rice with less water and fertilizer, which is a topic that is similarly being studied in the Tonle Sap floodplains of the Mekong.Two examples are presented below of how WLE intends to move toward impact using an integrated multi-level approach. This focuses on influencing major investment decisions at different levels while still providing innovative research.Further achievements were made in Peru based on work carried out in the The Cañete River Basin.CIAT and CPWF have worked since 2005 to better understand how benefit-sharing mechanisms can be seen as an institutional innovation to improve water resources management and livelihoods in the Andes region. In a region with wealth inequities, the goal is to improve the distribution of economic benefits through a system of valuing the ecosystem services provided and sharing the benefits. It is also hoped that the program will help avert potential water-related conflicts. The Cañete River Basin, important for its water flow and biological diversity, was designated by the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio del Ambiente [MINAM]) of Peru as a pilot project to guide the development of PES and benefit-sharing mechanisms. Two significant achievements were made in 2013. First, IFAD agreed to contribute start-up capital for an ecosystem services program in the Cañete River Basin, which will allow for the benefit-sharing mechanism to be fully implemented. Second, draft legislation to catalyze such schemes was approved by a congressional committee, and is expected to be voted on by the full Congress in Peru this year. If passed, it will recognize the role of a benefit-sharing mechanism as a central element of PES schemes and the program could be replicated in as many as 53 basins along the Peruvian coast.WLE has incorporated much of the work of the multi-partner AgWater Solutions Project which has continued to be influential in helping to generate funding for programs that will benefit smallholder farmers in Africa. For example, the project influenced the USAID-funded 'Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-scale Irrigation' project (2013-2018, USD 12 million), and the USAID/Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)-funded 'Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development' project (USD 25 million). The 'Feed the Future' component is led by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University along with IWMI, IFPRI, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and North Carolina A&T State University. The project focuses on small-scale irrigation expansion in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. Building on the progress reported last year, the AgWater Solutions Project resulted in several African countries considering an increase in budgets or policy changes to boost smallholder farming. Recently, Nigeria decided to fund a project that will, in part, replicate components of the AgWater Solutions Project. IWMI has also been working closely with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency to encourage the adoption of water-lifting devices for irrigation in four regions of the country.Gender-specific research gained ground in 2013 with each of the SRPs focusing resources on a gender-specific research project. WLE developed a comprehensive gender strategy, which focuses on bringing issues related to power, equity, and roles of men and women in decision-making to the forefront. The strategy recognizes that decisions are influenced by cultural values and norms and tests the hypothesis that gender equity is a pre-requisite to achieve ecosystem-based sustainable intensification. Thus, gender is seen as a critical means to improve management of natural resources, rather than an end unto itself.Reflecting its commitment, WLE is setting aside at least 10% of its budget for gender-related work, including innovative gender research, and initial reports show that this is likely to have been exceeded in 2013. Gender audits are being undertaken to benchmark and assess the activities already being carried out within the SRPs. This is a challenging task due to the limited information available, but a framework is emerging that will enable WLE to identify gender research areas, interventions and data.WLE's gender analysis in 2013 found that four of nine of its \"flagship\" research products have explicit targets for women farmers. Three of nine flagship products, 20 percent of the tools and one of the technologies were assessed for likely gender implications (see indicators of progress). The analysis found that WLE is making good progress in doing gender analysis, so research users can make decisions that improve the livelihoods of women as well as men. WLE will be providing further support to partners in 2014 to better monitor and evaluate gender-related targets.WLE's gender component also looks at specific research gaps within the water, land and ecosystems dialogue. Knowledge generated on gender will improve WLE interventions at the policy, programming and community implementation levels.WLE held 'A Community of Practice on Gender and Water' in Sri Lanka in November 2013 to increase the gender research capacity within IWMI and WLE partners. The workshop was also used to pool and share resources, discuss indicators for gender equity in WLE, and initiate a cohesive portfolio of gender research. A conference to discuss the status of women's leadership skills in the water sector was held in early 2014 in Manila, Philippines in the lead up to a global conference to be held in South Africa later in the year.An important aspect of the gender work is to ensure that it is leading and supporting work that demonstrates how to foster approaches and data that implement WLE's mandate. For example:• WLE gender funds were used to introduce more fuel-efficient cooking stoves, in efforts to reduce women's fuel collection time, and combat land degradation and climate change. Gender funds also examined the innovative use of gender-related data in hydrological modeling (Soil and Water Assessment Tool, or SWAT model, that quantifies the impacts of land management practices in large, complex watersheds) to improve watershed management in Gondar. • CPWF and Australian Aid supported Oxfam's 'Balancing the Scales' project that produced a Gender Impact Assessment Manual, which provides an analysis of the laws and regulations that protect women's rights in the Mekong, and makes recommendations for strengthening assessment tools to consider women's rights and gender. • A study of 121 integrated landscape initiatives in Latin America highlighted the need to include gender and youth in the visioning and planning stages of project management. As part of the review, WLE asked program managers to identify priorities that brought multi-stakeholder groups together to work on integrated natural resource management. Responses indicated that women and youth were typically not included in project design, and only became integrated at the project execution stage.WLE recognizes the critical role partners play in achieving its vision of sustainable and equitable agricultural intensification. WLE outcomes and theory of change depend on an effective partnership strategy. More than 340 partner organizations have been identified in the 2014 WLE workplan, amongst which government institutions and authorities, which are key partners for any policy-related impact pathway, are well represented. For example, WLE has a close relationship with key ministries in India and was asked to assist in drafting the irrigation component for the latest Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) and is influencing the next five-year plan.Another major partner of WLE is FAO. A meeting was held in March to develop a more collaborative plan of work. Almost all WLE research themes work with FAO, and FAO national and regional offices will be used to help engage and influence decision-makers at the these levels.In WLE currently conducts capacity building, mostly on an individual project basis. In 2013, WLE facilitated short-term capacity building programs for almost 5,900 male and 2,250 female trainees, and long-term programs for 144 men and 51 women trainees. At least 22 multi-stakeholder R4D innovation platforms have been established.In 2014, WLE will conduct an assessment of the role of capacity building to reach outcomes. The discussion will include whether capacity building needs to be re-oriented with a more formalized, strategic approach linking to impact pathways.Capacity building highlights for 2013 included the following: While precise background details are available for indicators related to publications, deliverables and other materials, as well as outreach initiatives such as stakeholder meetings and platforms (as noted in the section, Progress towards outputs), estimating and measuring data related to outcome-and impact-themed indicators has been difficult, e.g., those related to agroecosystems and their populations. Indicators for policy analysis and outcomes on the ground have been reported in detail by some partners, but have gone unreported from others; it is likely that WLE has had a higher impact in these areas than the data currently available show. WLE needs to define certain targets and indicators better to ensure that partners have the same interpretation; indicator 8 'users of databases', for example, could be measured by individuals registered to a system, or by the number of downloads, which produce different figures in terms of scale. It would be useful to reconsider what the program is trying to measure through the agroecosystem and population-related targets and potentially reformulating these: Is WLE trying to estimate the entire population in agroecosystems or direct beneficiaries of the program? Once defined, WLE will need to develop clear guidance on what is required for measuring outcome-and impact-related targets, and build capacity within its partners in order to improve on reporting against indicators in the future.Still in the early stages of the program, WLE's strength is at 'Stage 1' in terms of policy development, i.e., the analysis stage. There has been some progress into 'Stage 2' with five policies being presented to stakeholders. WLE still has work to do in ensuring women natural resource managers are targeted and gender disaggregated impacts are measured within activities -these aspects are not well represented in the 2013 set of indicators. WLE will need to find out whether this is not being adequately addressed or whether it is considered but not reported.A major lesson learned has been how WLE articulates its transformative agenda. In 2012, WLE explored the use of 'development trajectories', but this did not sufficiently explain the ethos of the program or incorporate the innovative work on ecosystems services. In 2013, WLE began articulating a 'paradigm shift' for how it sees the role of ecosystem service-based approaches as a means to improve sustainable intensification of agriculture, improve livelihoods and influence large-scale investments. This paradigm shift has become a central tenet of the program. In order to operationalize this, WLE has initiated the focal regions and the Innovation Fund which will develop tools and approaches to embed ESS within the focal regions. The design of the focal regions will incorporate this from the start; the Innovation Fund will also concentrate on developing tools and approaches to support the integration of ESS. The next challenge is to communicate this approach in practical ways to policymakers and others, highlighting that it is an idea worth supporting. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) combines the resources of 11 CGIAR centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and numerous national, regional and international partners to provide an integrated approach to natural resource management research. WLE promotes a new approach to sustainable intensification in which a healthy functioning ecosystem is seen as a prerequisite to agricultural development, resilience of food systems and human wellbeing. This program is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and is supported by CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future.Cumuative Financial SummaryFrequency/Period:Every April 15th  ","tokenCount":"4874"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2673204963.json b/data/part_1/2673204963.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..63b606985b2b659333b7d84514d46b5d01ca3446
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2673204963.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4cbdd2b32f44966524edf075194f2e25","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9febfd87-5f54-4e48-b229-2cb3c013f61c/retrieve","id":"-930274953"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9e0773fa-6a5e-4dd6-93be-b26abd815114","pagecount":"6","content":"Participating allows your voice to be heard and counted! All MGNREGA workers, that is, those who have a Job Card, have a right to participate in the Gram Sabha, Palli Sabha or Ward Sabha and collectively propose the works and the order of priority to be taken up under MGNREGA for their Panchayat.works are only for your household.works under the MGNREGA. IndividualCommunity works can serve multiple households, the whole village, or multiple members of your self-help group.Many types! The government has identified a list of works that are allowed under the Act.Some assets are declared by the Government as priority for 2023-24.For this year, assets related to natural resource management, agriculture and livelihoods works on individual land and livestock shelters for individual households are priority.You can check what is allowed with government officials (Gram Rozgaar Sewak (GRS)/Sarpanch) or Odisha government.Assets that have been created in your area so far include roads, community ponds, individual nurseries, land development works like land leveling and clearing, dug wells, farm ponds, goat shelters, horticulture plantations, and aquaculture, among others.Who is preferred for individual works?The following households are preferred for individual assets on land or homesteads:Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, nomadic and de-notified tribes.BPL households, women, or households headed by the physically handicapped.Land reform beneficiaries, beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin, beneficiaries under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006Small and medium farmers with less than 5 acres of land, landless and manual casual labour households.Their household has a job card.At least one household member is willing to work on the project undertaken on their land or homestead.So long as...The process kickstarts from October 2! This process happens every year. If you don't have an idea for this year, please consider an asset for next year!The Government has suggested that the Gram Panchayat level discussion and planning by ward/palli/Gram Sabha start on Gandhi Jayanti and continue over the next three months.Requests for assets can be raised at the ward /palli sabha. Special Gram Sabha for approval of the Gram Panchayat level annual action plan usually happens between October 3rd and November 30th.The Gram Panchayat has to submit the GP level plan to the Block Panchayat by December 5th.Timelines might be delayed this year due to the sarpanch strike -check with your sarpanch or Gram Rozgaar Sewak (GRS).For more information, speak to your GRS, ward members or panchayat members!","tokenCount":"400"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2684854710.json b/data/part_1/2684854710.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..647fe4ddff1004c6308ce539d4f3cff187666734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2684854710.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"67ff242858662f65f2e3bb532c2f3868","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/be519754-ac22-42b4-9fc2-a32eb52f8a17/retrieve","id":"-781376266"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"72b5a2ff-bf5b-4843-a173-6c98c881cd0e","pagecount":"6","content":"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development used cumulative ILRI evidence on food safety burden and management in informal markets to shape their first joint investment in food safety. In response to the call, six grants totalling $13 million were awarded. Evidence-based interventions will be tested at a large-scale, potentially reducing food-borne disease risks for millions of consumers in Ethiopia,Food safety is a relatively new focus for international agricultural research and food safety in informal food markets has long been an area of neglected research. Over the past decade, research carried out by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with partners has filled evidence gaps on food safety burden and management in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2018, ILRI evidence was used by two investors, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), to shape their $13 million research for development investment in food safety.The recommendations to invest more in local, informal markets to improve domestic health outcomes instead of investing in export markets were at the core of their first call on food safety. According to the investors, the interplay between good nutrition and food safety is striking: \"We know nutritious and varied diets are essential to achieving nutritional outcomes, yet it is in fact some of the most nutritious foods, like fresh fruits, vegetables and animal source foods, which are the most at risk of contamination by biological hazards. As incomes rise in LMICs, and more people are able to access a varied diet, it is critical that we invest in food safety.\"Their statements echo ILRI's same evidence-based messages. Nearly half of the references in the request for applications cited ILRI research, research which showed through risk-based approaches that all value chain actors from farm to fork are risk managers and that training informal value chain actors who receive business benefits from training has been more successful than training primary producers alone. The call cited the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned report, which synthesized research gaps and opportunities on food safety and informal markets, and a BMGF commissioned paper for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria, which summarized evidence for questions like: Which sectors should be targeted to ensure food safety investments have greatest impact? Which food safety hazards should be prioritised? Which foods and value chains to invest in? Which investments are most likely to succeed?In response to the call, six grants were awarded. Evidence-based interventions will be tested at a large-scale, potentially reducing food-borne disease risks for millions of consumers in six countries in Africa -Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania -and India.• 210 -Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UK Department for International Development make major joint investment in food safety research for development (https://tinyurl.com/2zu6bq4f)Sub-IDOs:• Reduced biological and chemical hazards in the food system Over the past 15 years, ILRI research has directed the focus to domestic, informal markets that feed the majority of the domestic population. Our research approach has adopted participatory methods for food safety risk analysis, which led to identification of critical control points other than primary production (ergo farmer training) and includes risk communication at different levels (e.g. value chain actors, enablers (regulators), regional economic communities, international investors). • The first project led by ILRI and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ through GIZ) that tested the use of risk-based approaches for animal sourced food safety management in informal markets in sub-Saharan Africa documented that all supply chain actors from farm to fork are risk managers [2]. • Training informal value chain actors who receive business benefits from the training has been more successful than training primary producers alone; new technologies, growing public concern and increased emphasis on food system governance can also improve food safety [3]. • A white paper published by ILRI in 2017 and commissioned by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned report, which synthesized research gaps and opportunities on food safety and informal markets [4], • A BMGF commissioned paper for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria [5], which summarized evidence for questions like: Which sectors should be targeted to ensure food safety investments have greatest impact? Which food safety hazards should be prioritised? Which foods and value chains to invest in? Which investments are most likely to succeed?Food safety is a relatively new focus for international agricultural research and food safety in informal food markets has long been an area of neglected research. Over the past decade, research carried out by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with partners has filled evidence gaps on food safety burden and management in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2018, ILRI evidence was used by two investors, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), to shape their $13 million research for development investment in food safety [1].The recommendations to invest more in local, informal markets to improve domestic health outcomes instead of investing in export markets were at the core of their first call on food safety [1]. According to the investors, the interplay between good nutrition and food safety is striking: \"We know nutritious and varied diets are essential to achieving nutritional outcomes, yet it is in fact some of the most nutritious foods, like fresh fruits, vegetables and animal source foods, which are the most at risk of contamination by biological hazards. As incomes rise in LMICs, and more people are able to access a varied diet, it is critical that we invest in food safety.\"Their statements echo ILRI's same evidence-based messages. Nearly half of the references in the request for applications cited ILRI research [1], research which showed through risk-based approaches that all value chain actors from farm to fork are risk managers [2] and that training informal value chain actors who receive business benefits from training has been more successful than training primary producers alone [3]. The call cited the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned report, which synthesized research gaps and opportunities on food safety and informal markets [4], and a BMGF commissioned paper for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria [5], which summarized evidence for questions like: Which sectors should be targeted to ensure food safety investments have greatest impact? Which food safety hazards should be prioritised? Which foods and value chains to invest in? Which investments are most likely to succeed?In response to the call, six grants were awarded [6]. Evidence-based interventions will be tested at a large-scale, potentially reducing food-borne disease risks for millions of consumers in six countries in Africa -Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania -and India [6,7].Other cross-cutting dimensions description: Equity is an underlying motivation for A4NH's research on food safety. Animal products are vital components of the diets and livelihoods of people across sub-Saharan Africa. About 80% of these food products frequently traded in local, mostly unregulated markets -we call them informal markets. These markets are the target group of our food safety work. Much attention has been paid to the perceived role of informal markets in maintaining and transmitting diseases but little to their role in supporting livelihoods and nutrition. (see reference [2] above Roesel and Grace). Food-borne illness and animal disease are of growing concern to consumers and policymakers alike. Consumers respond to scares by stopping or reducing purchases with knock-on effects on smallholder production and wet market retail. Policymakers often respond to health risks by favouring industrialization and reducing smallholder access to markets. Our research applies risk-based approaches to food safety including participatory methods for risk assessment and risk management, as well as capacity building of regulators and food handlers. This approach aims to ensure market access for poor producers, while adopting a realistic and pragmatic strategy for reducing the risk of food-borne diseases for consumers. ","tokenCount":"1304"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2694109355.json b/data/part_1/2694109355.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..689a0b34a0b6abb21ede8bc77a7a6d4df2078851
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2694109355.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"03f8945bea1ca7c0439e99594efc4a8d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bc896032-4673-4cd7-9d92-c458d05121da/retrieve","id":"24230636"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f952893-f1d6-4c13-864f-c7f33d09bd39","pagecount":"57","content":"This paper hypothezises that Colombian I ivestock sector should grow at a higher rate than in the past, in ~rder to offset the current and forseen gaps between tonsumption and potential demando It is also argued that technólogical change is the best alternative.A historical analysis is made, and production projections are presented, using trigonometric functions which are proper tools in analyzing production cycles. Potential demand is projected by using observed consumption in a given year, ¡ncome elasticity of demand for beef, and growth rates of per capita and human population real income. It is observed that in time, the exlstent and projected gaps between consumpt ion and potent la,l demand ~Ill become•broad~r. objectives relatea to short ana long-term ¡ncomes (sales policy).It is cóncluded that given the importance of livestock products wlthin national consumption. Its influence on the cost of living. and that • low Immediate profitability does not allow production increases via area Increases (mainly in \"Iarge productive areas). a technica,l change is Imperative to Increase productivity and production in order to satisfy domestlc consumption and generate e~portable surplus at competitive prlces In foreign markets. La ganadería vacuna de Colombia cuenta con un apreciable volumen de recursos en términos de tierra y de ganado; no obstante, su desempeño histórico ha estado por debajo de s~s pos.lbi l ¡dades y de las necesidades del país.Los productos aportados por el sector ganadero. carne y leche.tienen gran importancia dentro del consumo nacional, representando cerca de un tercio del gasto total en alimentos y las variaciones de sus precios Influyen notoriamente sobre ej' nivel de costo de vida.En este trabajo se plantea la hipótesis que el sect~r ganadero de Colombia debe crecer a una tasa superior a la observada en el pasado, para cubrir la brecha existente y prevista entre consumo.y demanda potencial y que la alternativa es el cambio tecnológico.Se efectúa un análisis histórico y se elaborañ proyecciones de producción. éstas últimas usando funciones trigonométricas que son herramientas adecuadas para el anál isis de los ciclos de producción. la demanda se proyecta utilizando el consumo observado de un año dado, la elasticidad ingreso de la demanda por carne vacuna y las tasas de crecimiento del -ingreso real per cápita y de la población humana. Es notorio que la brecha existente y proyectada entre consumo y demanda potencial se amplía con el transcurso del tiempo.Uno de• los mayores problemas para el análisis de la ganadería del país, es la escasez de estadísticas básicas confiables y en ,especial de cifras relativas a inventarios. Se desarrolla un modelo de simulación que reconstruye las series históricas de existencias util izando los 'sacrificios observados y e i er tos parámetros técn icos que se asumen. El modelo genera un nivel de inventario de. 11.5 millones de cabezas en 1951 y de 27 millones en 1979.• ' '. 'Como se plantea que la alternativa es el cambio tecnológico y siendo • la reglón de los Llanos Orientales una de las áreas de frontera del país, ' que más posibilidades tiene de un desarrollo ganadero inmediato y que los esfuerzos de investigación de CIAT, en materia de ganadería a nivel de Colombia, se concentran en esa región. Se elaboran estimaciones de oferta para consumo bajo nueva tecnolog1a, simulando mediante el modelo HATSIM la productividad de la ganaderfa de los Llanos Orientales con tecnología tanto tradicional como mejorada y asumiendo diferentes patrones de adopción. Los resultado$ del cambio técnico dependerán en gran medida del patrón de adopción que sigan los productores de la región\"y de sus objet\"ivos en cuanto a ingresos a corto y a largo plazo (política de ventas).Se concluye que dada la Importancia de los productos ganaderos en el consumo nacional y su influencia en el costo de vida y'que la baja rentabilidad inmediata de la actividad no permite aumentos en producción vía incrementos en el área utilizada, principalmente en las grandes zonas productoras, se hace imperativo un cambio técnico que aumente productividad y producción para satisfacer el consumo interno y generar excedentes exportables a precios competitivos en mercados externos.      Este trabajo es parte de un estudio conjunto desarrollado por FAO y CIAT para caracterizar en términos económicos y téc.nicos 1\" ganadería latinoamericana en base a estudios de caso. FAO desarrolla los estudios de Argentina, Chile y Uruguay, y CIAT lo's trabajos de Colombia y Brasil. Se considera .que estudiando la ganadería de los principales países productores, tanto de la región tropical como de la región templada, se puede llegar a una buena aproximación de la situación ganadéra de América Latina • La presentación del trabajo comprende cuatro partes a saber:(1) Descripción general del sector ganadero de Colombia, con énfasis en su importancia dentro de la economía del país.(2) Anál isis histórico de los ciclos de producción ganadera y proyecciones de producción y demanda .. (3) Modelo de simulación para generación de existencias ganaderas.(4) Est imac ión de oferta para consumo en los Ll anos Ori enta I es dados di ferentes patrones de adopción de nueva tecnología. La hipótesis general que se plantea es que la ganadería de Colombia debe crecer á una tasa superior a la actual para cubrir la brecha prevista entre oferta'y demanda.• Dadas las actuales circunstancias, la alternativa para reducir la brecha es el cambio tecnológico •En el transcurso del tiempo el área en pastos del país, se ha incrementado notoriamente. En 1950 el hectareaje en pastos era de 12 millones de hectáreas, pasando a 21 millones en 1978. La participación de los pastos en el total de tierra disponible se incrementó de 11 a 18% en el mismo período (Cuadro 1).• la ganadería de Colombia se encuentra diseminada a través de toda la La ganadería vaéuna aporta aproximadamente un 9% del valor de la • producción total del país, permaneciendo esa participación mas o menos es-• table a través del ti,empo (Cuadro 3).En términos de empleo generado por la ganader,ía, se aprecia que ésta contr.jbuye con cerca de un 18% del empleo generado po; el sector agropecuario y que si bien su participación en el empleo total ha dismlnuído. esta baja es minima en comparación con la baja observada en el subsector agríco-• la (Cuadro 4). Dent ro de la d ' i eta de I 'pa í s, ca rne vacuna tiene gran importanci a, representando un porcentaje que varía entre Iq y 25% del gasto total en alimentos. El estrato más pobre de la población gasta en carne vacuna aproximadamente una quinta parte del gasto total en alimentos, aumentando s~ar.tlcipación a medida que cr~e el nivel de ingreso (Cuadro,5). ~x t' ~ \"t-J. a;,:. f\",,\" d a c_ \\ N '\\ ,J ~ \\ . 1:1 . ,,~ ..\\.Conjuntamente los gastos en leche y. carne representan cerca de un tercio del gasto en alimentos, indépeñdientemente del nivel de Ingreso y de la ubicación geográfica (Figura 2).las exportaciones bovinas han tenido relativamente poca importancia dentro del conjunto de las exportaciones totales del país, siendo muy variable su volumen, el cual depende en gran medida de la situación coyuntural de los mercados externos. En 1972 las'exportaciones bovinas constituían el 5% del valor de las exportaciones totales, bajando a 3% en, 1978; en contraste las exportaciones agrícolas durante los mismos años incrementan su participación de 6q a 75% (Figura 3). las exportaciones bovinas registradas constituyen un porcentaje muy bajo de la extrácción total, fluctuando ese porcentaje ent,e 2 y 8% (Cuadro 6). En resumen, las exportaciones bovinas no han tenido gran importancia, ni dentro del total de exportaciones de Colombia, ni dentro de la extracción total.Observando la serie histórl,,!<a de consumo aparente por habitante de carne vacuna, se aprecia una clara tendencia decreciente, de un consumo de O.lq cabezas por habitante en 1950, este declina hasta llegar en 1978 a 0.11 cabezas per cápita (Cuadro 7) • En los últimos años el país ha gastado significativas cantidades de divisas en Importaciones de leche, las proyecciones para las próximas décadas Indican que el déficit de leche. se Incrementará, de continuar las actuales tendencias de la producción. Segun estimaciones de FADEGAW 1 en 1980 el déficit equivalía a 33% de las necesidades del país y se estima que para 1/ FADEGAN, \"Segundo Foro Nacional Ganadero\", Medellín, Agosto 2 y 3, 1979.el año 2000 ese déficit estará en el orden del q3% de las necesidades (Cuadro 8). la rentabilidad de la ganadería ha sido uno de los temas de mayor controversia, en razón de la generalizada idea de que una de las principales causas para el bajo nivel de adopción de nuevas tecnologías es la baja rentabilidad de la actividad ganadera.Según estimaciones de Planeación Nacional y del ICA, la rentabilidad inmediata de la ganadería extensiva de doble propósito en áreas como el Magdalena Medio, la'Costa Atlántica y el Piedemonte llanero, fluctúa entre 1.7 y 2.2%. la ganadería de leche en regiones como la Sabana de Bogotá y Nariño, con climas apropiados para razas lecheras de alt~ rendimiento, está en el orden del 10 al 13%. la rentabi lldad inmediata de la ganadería comparada con la rentabilidad de activos financieros de poco riesgo y I iquidez inmediata es igualmente muy baja (Cuadro 10).Caracterizando el sector ganadero del país en términos de sus Indicadores socio-económicos, se encuentra que en 1978 la ganadería aportó el 21% del valor de la producción del sector agropecuario, que constituye el 6% del valor de la producción nacional bruta, aportó el 23% del valor agregado del sector agropecuario, generó empleo para 410.000 personas, y el consumo observado por persona fue de 20 kg de carne y 81 kg de leche (Cuadro 11). 'Si bien el 'sector ganadero de Colombia cuenta con un volumen apreciable de recursos, en términos de tierra y ganado, su desempeño a través del tiempo ha\" estado por debajo de su potencial y de las necesidad~s del país, al observarse un consumo por habitante cada vez menor y un deterioro creciente del abastecimiento de leche.En la mayoría de los países productores de carne se observan ciclos de producción ganadera. la presencia de los ciclos de producción obedece a razones económicas y'técnicas. las razones económicas están relacionadas con los movimientos del precio real del ganado; cuando se produce un alza del precio y se espera que sea persistente durante un cierto lapso, los productores visualizan que la inversión en ganado se hace más rentable y deciden invertir, pero el ganado como bien económico tiene la doble caracterfstica de ser un bien de consumo final y un bien de inversión (máquina productora de carne). Lo cual implica que ante aumentos en precios del ganado, los productores retengan animales disminuyendo la disponibilidad para consumo, siendo más notoria la retención de hembras que la de machos (Figura \").El aspecto técnico del ciclo se refiere a que el período de producción en ganadería es más o menos largo, existiendo un intertanto entre el momento en que se toma la decisión de producir y el momento en que se materializa dicha decisión. Por esta causa ante aumentos de precios, la respuesta de la oferta no es inmediata, pero una vez que .Ia prod~cción aumenta, los precios declinan y se entra en una nueva fase del ciclo.El ciclo ganadero puede esquematizarse como en la Figura 5, en donde el movimiento cíclico se produce a 10 largo de una línea de tendencia. El ciclo puede ser caracterizado por dos parámetros, período o longitud y amplitud. El período se define como la duración de una oscilación completa alrededor de la línea de tendencia. La amplitud es la distancia existente entre la línea de tendencia y los puntos críticos, por ésto en cada dclo se observan dos amplitudes, una positiva con respecto a la tendencia y otra negativa con respecto a la misma línea. Las formas matemáticas que describen las oscilaciones cíclicas corresponden a las funciones trigonométricas seno y coseno.En el caso de la ganadería de Colombia, el ciclo de hembras es mucho más marcado que el de machos, constituyendo el principal componente de las oscilaciones cíclicas de la producción total (Figura 6) .En el período 1950/78 se observan tres ciclos completos en la producción de hembras, ellos' cubren los períodos 1956/62, 1962/69 Y 1969/75. La duración promedio del ciclo de hembras es de seis años y su amplitud media es de 139.000 cabezas (Cuadros 12 y 13). En el caso de los machos también se observan tres ciclos completos en los períodos 1956/61, 1961/67 Y 1967/78, con una duración media de siete años y una amplitud de 93.000 , cabezas. Una vez caracterizados los ciclos en términos de sus parámetros, se ajustan funciones trigonométricas a efectos de elaborar proyecciones de producción.En la figura 7 se muestran los valores observados y estimados, en .. base a una función trigonométrica, del sacrificio de hembras. En los pri-• meros años se nota una perfecta concordancia entre los puntos críticos de la función estimada y los puntos cr:íttcos obs~rvados; a medida que transcurre el tiempo se presenta un desfase entre los puntos críticos de las dos funciones; probablemente ésto ocurre porque en la función estimada Se utilizan valores,promedios tanto de amplitud como de período, el modelo es susceptible de ser mejorado utillzándo amplitudes y longitudes que sean JJviiones del tiempo; sin embargo, para efectos de proyecciones el R 2 de ~-para la función estimada indica que es una función aceptable. En el Cuadro 14 aparecen las proyecciones del sacrificio de hembras, las cuales tienen dos componentes, un componente de tendenc la Ilnea.1 y un componente cíclico, también aparecen los valores de los sacrificios observados. Igual metodología se util Iza para elaborar las proyecciones del sacrificio de machos que aparecen en el Cuadro 15.Para proyectar la demanda se parte de una relación funcional del ,siguiente tipo:donde: DT a es demanda potencial total en el período t+l C t = consumo per cápita observado en el período t y = tasa de crecimiento del ingreso real per cápita N y = elasticidad ingreso de la demanda PH t + 1 • población humana en el período t+l Se trata de una demanda potencial porque en l'as estimaciones se asumen precios reales constantes. la demanda potencial nos indica cuál hubiese sido el nivel del consumo de haber permanecido los precios reales constantes.En la Figura 8 aparecen las estimaciones de demanda potencial, calculadas en base'al consumo de 1950, una tasa de crecimiento del Ingreso real per cápita de 1.6% y una elasticidad ingreso de la demanda de 0.7. En Colombia el principal determinante de la demanda global ha sido el crecimiento poblacional, unido ésto a una alta elasticidad ingreso de la demanda, aunque en los últimos anos se observa Una declinación en la tasa de crecimiento de la población. En la Figura-8 aparece tambrén el consumo observado, se nota claramente que la brecha entre demanda potencial y consumo observado se hace cada vez mayor.Para disminuir esta brecha, el camino es el incremento de producti~i-.dad via el cambio tecnológico que eleva la producción y el consumo. El cambio técnico debe ser de tal naturaleza que permita satisfacer el consumo Interno y generar excedentes de exportación a precios competitivos en los mercados internacionales. En el Cuadro 16 se presentan las proyecciones de sacrIfico para consumo interno, en base a las funciones trigonométricas anteriormente descritas, y las proyecciones de demanda bajo dos ~ipótes¡s de crecimiento del ingreso, una que asume un crecimiento del ingreso real per cáplta de 2% y otra de 2.6% por año, para estas proyecciones se util iza el consumo de 1979 como base. Del análisis de las cifras se infiere que ,con la hipótesis de ingreso bajo, el déficit del consumo con respecto a la demanda fue 10% en 1979 pasando a ~O% en el año 2000, ésto de continuar las actuales tendencias de la producción, vale decir sin cambio tecnológico.Uno de 10$ principales inconvenientes al anal izar el desempeRo histórico del sector ganadero de Colombia, es la falta de información estadística básica confiable. las cifras disponibles sobre inventarios ganaderos se refieren a diferentes períodos y fuentes, en muchos casos son inconsistentes internamente y comparadas con otras fuentes, en algunos casos no se define claramente la metodología de cálculo. El nivel y variaciones de los inventarios ganaderos son claves para el diseño de las pol•íticas dirigidas al sector, por ésto se decidió elaborar un modelo de simulación para estimar las series históricas de existencias ganaderas a partir de los sacrificios y de ciertos parámetros técnicos que se asumen.• . . la idea es que los animales que nacen en un per-íodo inicial t, van pasando anualmente de una categoría a otra, previos los descuentos por muertes y sacrificios, hasta llegar a una edad máxima de sacrificio en donde desaparecen los últimos de los animales nacidos durante t. la Figura 9 es Ilustrativa al respecto.En la Figura lO aparece la estructura general del modelo con sus diferentes categorías de vacunos; se asumen que los nacimientos ocurren en igual proporción, tanto de machos como de hembras y. a partir de ellos se generan todas las categorías del inventarlo ganadero. El inventario de machos comprende las categorías de 0-1 año, de 1-2 años, de 2-3 años, de 3-4 años y de 4-5 años. El inventario de hembras está constituido por las categorías de 0-1 año, de 1-2 años, de 2-3 años, de 3-4 años y las vacas de cría. El inventario de toros y toretes está conformado por animales de 0-1 año, de 1-2 años, de 2-3 años, de 3-4 años, de 4-5 años y los toros reproductores.Además de las series de sacrificios el modelo utiliza parámetros tales como: tasas de mortalidad a diferentes edade!i. (mil, relación toro: vaca (a), proporción de terneros machos que se apartan para reproducción (a). proporción de vaquillas de 2-3 años que se trasladan al hato de cría (a), proporción de vaquillas de 3-q años que pasan al hato de cría (p) y coeficientesde distribución de Jos sacrificios según edades. las Figuras 9 y 10 pueden expresarse en términos matemáticos de la siguiente forma:[1] SM56(¡+5) = De la expresión [lJ se despejan los nacimientos que constituyen la ..la expresl6n [2J calcula' los nacimientos anuales en base a sacrificios en distintos períodos, tasas de mortal)dad a diferentes edades y proporción , de terneros machos que se apartan para r:eproducci6n. Una vez generados los nacimientos tanto de machos como de hembras se estiman todas. las categorías del Inventario mediante las siguientes relaciones contables:Existencias Ganaderas : .[,J M1(i+l) = NM(ilF -SMl O) Existencias de Hembras: las existencias de hembras se expresan como:HI(I+1) e hembras de 0-1 año al comenza r i + 1 H2{i+2) = hembras de 1-2 años al comenzar i+2 H3 (¡+3) '\" hembras de 2-3 años al comenzar 1+3 Hld i+l¡) '\" hembras de 3-!¡ años al comenzar I+!¡ H5(1+5) '\" hembras de cría al comenzar 1+5Para el cálculo del inventario de hembras de cría se requiere conocer el inventario de esta categoría un año antes \"del inicio de la recomposición del Inventario de la misma.Existencia de Toros y Toretes: El Inventario de toros y toretes se calcula mediante relaciones si\"mllares a las anteriores:[14] T1 (i+1) '\" aNM (il (l-ml)   [15J T2(i+2) e TI 0+1) (l-m2)[16]donde: T1 (1+0 = toretes de 0-1 año al comenzar 1+1 T2(i+2) '\" toretes de 1-2 años al comenzar i+2 T3{i+3) '\" toretes de 2-3 años al comenzar i+3 TI¡ ( i +I¡) '\" toretes de 3-1¡ años al comenzar i+!¡ Para correr el modelo se usaron diferentes conjuntos de parámetros técnicos; los mejores resultados desde el punto de consistencia de las cifras, tasa de natalidad dentro de límites razonables y crecimie~to del inventario, se obtuvieron con los parámetros técnicos que aparecen en el Cuadro 17, los cuales están dentro de los rangos establecidos por varios estudios de la ganadería del país.Una dificultad para correr el modelo era que no se conocía la distribución de los sacrificios por edades; las cifras reportadas por el DANE los discriminan por sexo más no por edad; para conocer las edades de matanza había dos posibilidades, una era efectuar muestreos en los mataderos y mediante el conteo de Jos dientes de los animales sacrificados establecer sus edades. la otra posibilidad era asumir una distribución de las edades de sacrificio y usando ciertos parámetros conocidos definir dicha distribución. •Se optó por la segunda alternativa porque la primera a más de ser costosa requiere mucho tiempo. Partiendo del supuesto que la edad media de los machos sacrificados es de 48 meses y que el 99% de ellos está en edades -entre 2~ y •72 meses, se definió la distribución del sacrificio de machos (Cuadros 18 y 19).En el caso de las hembras es difícil establecer una edad promedia de sacrificio, se supuso que el 90% de las hembras sacrificadas perteñece a la categoría de hembras de cría y que el 10% restante pertenece a las categorías de 2-4 años.Los resultados del modelo, bajo los supuestos anteriores aparecen en el Cuadro 20. De acuerdo con ellos en 1951 el inventario ganadero era de 11.5 millones de cabe~as, pasando en 1974 a 25 millones y en 1979 a 27 millones de cabezas. la tasa de crecimiento del inventario total en el período 1951/74 fue en promedio por año de 3.3% y en el período 1951/79 de 3.1%.Cabe acotar que el modelo sólo genera nacimientos hasta 1974, porque para calcularlos 'nacimientos de un determinado año, se requiere información sobre sacrificios del año en referencia y de los cinco años siguientes. Por ejemplo, para generar los nacimientos de 1975 se requiere información de sacrificios hasta 191:1' 0, la cual para ese último año aún no está disponible. las existencias de 1975 en adelante se calculan suponiendo una tasa de natalidad que corresponde al promedio 1970-74.La población 9anadera del país, según el modelo, se distribuye en 32% machos y 68% hembras y del total el 36% corresponde a animales menores de dos años y 64% a mayores de dos años, estos porcentajes no difieren sus tan-cial~ente de los estimativos de Planeación Nacional (Cuadro 21). la tasa de natal idad es. una variable endógena del modelo, ya que él determina tanto el número de nacimientos como el de hembras de cría; En el Cuadro 22 aparecen los valores de la tasa de natalidad, la cual tiene un va lar med io de 49% y un ran90 de var i ac i ón entre 37 y 56%. Nótes,e que en los últimos años la tasa de natalidad decae sensiblemente, es posible que exista algún problema en relación con las cifras de sacri'ficio usadas, puesto que si bien los datos sobre sacrificios oficiales son bastante con-.fiables, existe una extracción adicional que corresponde a sacrificios y 'exportaciones ilegales. Los sacrificios oficiales fueron ajustados en un 10% a,nual correspondiente a sacrificio Ilegal y se les adicionó los estimativos de ¡OEMA sobre exportaciones ilegales. Es posible que estos ajustes distorsionen un poco los resultados obtenidos.El modelo ha sido programado en FORTRAN IV para el Sistema 34 de IBM y puede ser utilizado para: determinar los niveles del inventario total por categorías de sexo y edad, ensayar diferentes conjuntos de parámetros técnicos para establecer cuál ha sido el conjunto de parámetros técnicos más probables que ha tenido la 9anadería en el curso de su desarrollo histórico, determinar con diferentes tecnologías, vale decir cón distintos conjuntos de parámetros técnicos, cuál sería el nivel de los inventarios y efectuar proyecciones de los mismos.En.la medida en que los sistemas de información estadísticas del paísmejoren y se genere información básica más precisa sobre parámetros técnicos y sacrificios, los resultados de un modelo de esta naturaleza se afinarán y tendrán un menor margen de error • 4. Estimación de Oferta de Carne Vacuna bajo Condiciones de Nueva Tecnología en los Llanos Orientales Se trata de un análisis ex-ante ~n virtud de que el proceso de adopción de nueva tecnología recién comienza en la región en referencia.En este contexto se define la tecnología tradicional como aquella que emplea exclusivamente pradera natural, el suministro de sal está por debajo del requerido, no hay rotación de potreros, ni selección de vacunos. En oposición, la tecnología mejorada se define como aquella que utiliza pasto mejorado, aproximadamente un 10% de la finca en mezcla de leguminosa y gramínea mejorada, el suministro de mezcla mineral es de unos 22 kgiaño/UA, se efectúa rotación de potreros y selección de vacunos. El• comp~nente principal del paquete tecnológico es el germoplasma producto de la investigación de CIAT y de las agencias nacionales colaboradoras .La región de los Llanos Orientales, comprende el Oriente de .Cundinamarca, la Intendencia de Casanare y las Comisarías de Arauca y •Vichada, tienen una extensión de aproximadamente 20.5 millones de hectáreas discr.iminadas así: 2.5 millones en el Piedemonte, 12.5 millones al Sur del Río Meta y 5.5 al Norte de Casanare. El 15% de este terr.itor io corresponde a bosques y el resto está cubierto de pastos naturales en su mayor parte.El área total de los Llanos es aproximadamente una quinta parte del área del país. La mayor re.stricción .para la producción de carne en la región son los problemas nutricionales derivados de la baja productividad de las praderas naturales y por la escasez estacional de pastos. Los suelos de los Llanos se caracterizan por su baja fertil idad y por problemas de saturación de aluminio y deficiencias de fósforo.La nueva tecnología pretende levantar esta restricción nutricional mediante la introducción de variedades de gramíneas y leguminosas que se adapten a las condiciones del ecos.istema de la región y que genere incre-mentas en productividad por unidad animal y por hectárea.' Para la estimación de la oferta para consumo hay que enfrentar dos problemas, el primero se refiere a determinar la productividad tanto de la tecnología tradicional como de Ia tecnología mejorada, el segundo problema es ~stablecer cuál va a ser el posible patrón de adopción a través del 'tIempo de la nueva tecnología.Para resolver el primer problema se emplea el. Modelo HATSIM f que simula el desarrollo del hato y determina su productividad en términos de producción de carne para consumo por cabeza en Inventario.El HATS1M simula el desarrollo del hato a partir de los parámetros técnicos que aparecen en el Cuadro 23'y una política de ventas dada. La política de ventas se refleja en la proporción de animales que anualmente se extraen de las diferentes categorías para sacrificio. En virtud de que las hembras son el principal determinante del crecimiento del inventario, en este caso la política de ventas' se define como la proporción de hembras de cría 'que anualmente se extrae del hato para el consumo. Los resultados de la simulación se muestran en el Cuadro 2ij.En el caso de la tecnología tradicional cuando el porcentaje de hembras ,extraído es Igual a la tasa de desecho (14%), se tiene una tasa de • crecimiento promedio anual del inventario de 1.4% por año y una producción para consumo de 20 kg por cabeza\"\"en inventario; al aumentar la extracción de hembras a 21% la tasa de crecimiento del inventario resulta negativa, es decir se está liquidando la inversión en ganado, la producción para consumo alcanza los 27 kg por cabeza en inventario por año (Cuadro 24).Cuando bajo condiciones de tecnología mejorada se extrae 'el 20% de las hembras de cría, se observa una tasa de crecimiento del hato de aproximadamente 8% anual y Una producción por cabeza en inventario de 39 kg.Existe una relación directa entre porcentaje de ventas y producción para consumo y una relación inversa entre porcentaje de ventas y tasa de crec i- Para cada una'de las hipótesis planteadas se determinan tres puntos los cuales definen el patrón de adopción; empleando el método estadístico de puntos elegidos se estiman los valores de K, a y e para las tres curvas de adopción hipotéticas. En el Cuadro 25 aparecen los puntos elegidos y en la ,igura 12 las curvas de adopción resultantes.Una vez definida la productividad de las tecnologías, los posibles patrones de adopción y la tasa de crecimiento del inventario dadas las poli~ ticas de venta, se estima el nivel de inventario ganadero, tanto bajo tecno-logía tradicional, como bajo-tecnología mejorada y los niveles de producción de carne para consumo.En los Cuadros 26 a 29 aparecen las estimaciones de oferta asumiendo la hlp6tesis más optimista y la más pesimista. la primera hipótesis se • refiere a una política moderada' de ventas tanto en el sector de tecnología , ,tradicional como en el sector de tecnología moderada y un patrón de adopción rápida de nueva tecnología.política agresiva de ventas lenta de nueva tecnología. la hipótesis más pesimista se refiere a una en los dos sectores y un patrón de adopción Si la difusión es baja y la política de ventas es agresiva, ello impl ica una tasa de crecimiento promedio anual de la producción para consumo, de 1%, en contraste con una tasa de cr~cimiento cinco veces mayor cuando la --difusión es alta y la política de ventas es moderada. El ,hato ganadero de la región permanece estable a nivel de 2.Q millones de cabezas bajo la hipótesis más pesimista; bajo la segunda hip6tesis el inventario pasa de un nivel de 2.4 millones de cabezas en 1980 a 3.6 millones en el año 2000, vale decir un incremento de~ 50% con respecto a1980.Es arriesgado elaborar proyecciones para todas las regiones ganaderas del país en base a la nueva tecnología, diseñada para los llanos Orientales, puesto que aún no se conoce su grado de adaptación y productividad en ecosistemas diferentes al' de los llanos .Orientales.Colombia cuenta con un importante volumen de recursos dentro del sector ganadero en términos de tierra en pastos e inventario de ganado.Dentro del consumo nacional carne y leche tienen alta participación, representando cerca de un terc~o del gasto total en alimentos e implicando qué alzas en estos productos tengan gran influencia sobre el nivel del costo de vida.Pese a su volumen considerable de recursos, el sector ha estado por debajo de su potencial productivo y de las necesidades del país, reflejándose en un deterioro creciente del consumo por habitante, en un gasto cada vez mayor de divisas en importaciones de leche y en una brecha en aumento entre consumo observado y demanda potencial. la rentabilidad real inmediata de la ganadería (sin incluir valorización de activos), es baja aún comparada con inversiones fáciles, de liquidez inmediata y eScaso riesgo. las posibilidades de incrementar producción vía incremento del área utilizada, especialmente en las grandes zonas productoras, son remotas debido a esa baja rentabilidad ya que la ganadería tiene que competir por tierra con la agricult~ra que es una actividad de alta rentabilidad.Dado 10 anterior\" la posibilidad planteada es el cambio técnico que eleve la productividad de los recursos del sector, aumentando,producción, consumo y generando excedentes exportables a un costo competitivo en los mercados internacionales .       -----------------'000 de personas ----------------- . '. .• .         de la producción Tasa de crecimiento de la producción 1.--------------\"000 de cabezas ---------------------porcentaje ------- -----------------'000 de cabezas -----------------  ---------'000 de cabezas ----------.--------'000  • 'ti' .. ","tokenCount":"5130"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2697985528.json b/data/part_1/2697985528.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c17ae3a264163221e2dc808324f64cbe60cdb961
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2697985528.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8650c462f306123328e571eeec0c6416","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d5348d0c-da5f-4b2b-adcd-60db6e14617f/content","id":"-1599022798"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ecd8298a-53c8-4d6b-9329-0d8c2f40916b","pagecount":"12","content":"Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) is a nutrient-dense, relatively drought-tolerant cereal crop cultivated in dry regions worldwide. The crop is under-researched, and its grain yield is low (< 0.8 tons ha −1 ) and stagnant in the major production regions, including Burkina Faso. The low productivity of pearl millet is mainly attributable to a lack of improved varieties, Striga hermonthica [Sh] infestation, downy mildew infection, and recurrent heat and drought stress. Developing high-yielding and Strigaresistant pearl millet varieties that satisfy the farmers' and market needs requires the identification of yield-promoting genes linked to economic traits to facilitate marker-assisted selection and gene pyramiding. The objective of this study was to undertake genome-wide association analyses of agronomic traits and Sh resistance among 150 pearl millet genotypes to identify genetic markers for marker-assisted breeding and trait introgression. The pearl millet genotypes were phenotyped in Sh hotspot fields and screen house conditions. Twenty-nine million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) initially generated from 345 pearl millet genotypes were filtered, and 256 K SNPs were selected and used in the present study. Phenotypic data were collected on days to flowering, plant height, number of tillers, panicle length, panicle weight, thousand-grain weight, grain weight, number of emerged Striga and area under the Striga number progress curve (ASNPC). Agronomic and Sh parameters were subjected to combined analysis of variance, while genome-wide association analysis was performed on phenotypic and SNPs data. Significant differences (P < 0.001) were detected among the assessed pearl millet genotypes for Sh parameters and agronomic traits. Further, there were significant genotype by Sh interaction for the number of Sh and ASNPC. Twenty-eight SNPs were significantly associated with a low number of emerged Sh located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. Four SNPs were associated with days-to-50%-flowering on chromosomes 3, 5, 6, and 7, while five were associated with panicle length on chromosomes 2, 3, and 4. Seven SNPs were linked to thousand-grain weight on chromosomes 2, 3, and 6. The putative SNP markers associated with a low number of emerged Sh and agronomic traits in the assessed genotypes are valuable genomic resources for accelerated breeding and variety deployment of pearl millet with Sh resistance and farmer-and market-preferred agronomic traits.Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br., 2n = 2x = 14) is a highly nutritious and a key staple food crop in dry regions worldwide. It is the major crop of the Sahel region, including Burkina Faso 1 . In Africa, pearl millet is cultivated on an estimated area of 13.8 million hectares (ha), with an average yield of 0.7 tons ha −12 . In Burkina Faso, an estimated area of 1.2 million ha is devoted to pearl millet production. However, the mean yield of the crop in the country is low (< 0.81 tons ha −1 ), lesser than the global average of 0.9 tons ha -12 . The low grain yieldin the farmers' fields is attributable to various biotic and abiotic constraints, including the use of low-yielding landraces, Striga hermonthica (Sh) infestation, bird damage, insect pests, diseases, heat and drought stresses 3,4 .Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. is the most significant biotic constraint to pearl millet production and productivity in Burkina Faso and yield losses vary between 40 and 55% 5,6 . The parasite infests several other major cereal crops, including rice (Oryza glaberrima Steudel and O. Sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolour [L.] Moench), and fonio (Digitaria exilis [Kippist] Stapf) 7,8 . Farmers often abandon Sh-infested fields and switch from pearl millet to other non-host crops, reducing the crop's overall production and economic value 9 . Striga is a highly prolific parasite in Burkina Faso attributed to the host crop being mostly grown in semi-arid parts of the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones, which are dominated by poor soil fertility, low and erratic rainfall, and high temperatures that favour germination, growth and spread of the weed 3 .Striga control is difficult because each parasitic plant can quickly disperse and deposit thousands of seeds into the soil seedbank. Furthermore, Striga seeds can remain viable in the soils for more than 14 years 10 . Striga hermonthica is a major threat to food security, exacerbating hunger and poverty in many African countries 11,12 . Monetary losses ranging from 117 to 200 billion US$ is incurred annually due to crop damage, and increases by US $30 million annually 13 .Several Striga control strategies are recommended, including hand weeding, mulching crop fields with biomass of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) as a bio-control agent, optimal fertilizer application, and soil moisture management 7,14 . These strategies improve the soil properties, promote crop growth and development, and retard germination and growth of Striga 15 . Herbicides are less effective in controlling the effect of the parasite after emergence, and they are unaffordable for smallholder farmers.The use of Striga-resistant pearl millet varieties is the most sustainable and environment-friendly management option for smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions. Resistant cultivars support fewer Striga plants and yield higher 16,17 . However, with the paucity of locally adapted and Sh-resistant donor sources, breeding for Striga resistance in pearl millet is still challenging compared to other cereals [18][19][20][21] . In the past decade, intensive research on the interaction of Striga with the host at the molecular level has opened opportunities to develop new management strategies 22 . For instance, 154 candidate genes associated with Sh resistance traits were identified in maize 23 . Adewale et al. 24 reported 13 associated markers with the Sh resistance trait in early maturing tropical white maize inbred lines.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has been used in pearl millet for the identification of putative genes related to flowering time 25 , iron, zinc and protein content 26 , downy mildew resistance 27 and Sh resistance 28 . Also, GWAS has been used in finger millet for the identification of genes associated with Striga resistance 29 and grain nutritional contents 30 and for genetic diversity analysis 31 . GWAS is a valuable genomic tool to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to Striga resistance for marker-assisted selection. GWAS results depend on the genetic marker and its density, genetic composition and diversity of the test populations.Genetic markers are landmarks on chromosomes that help pinpoint the location of genes of interest. They can be detected through morphological and molecular markers 9 . Genetic markers such as GRMZM2G077208, GRMZM2G164502, GRMZM2G018508, and GRMZM2G171986, located on chromosomes 3, 5, 7, and 9 were reportedly significantly associated with Sh count in tropical maize germplasm 32 . SNP markers are instrumental in the dissection of complex traits such as Striga resistance, and their association with the trait can be revealed through GWAS. Identification of genomic regions linked to Striga resistance in pearl millet breeding would speed up the development of Striga-resistant varieties. Genetic markers improve the efficiency of novel Striga-resistant genes introgression and pyramiding into high-yielding elite varieties through backcross method. Therefore, the objective of this study was to undertake genome-wide association analyses of agronomic traits and Sh resistance among 150 pearl millet genotypes to identify genetic markers for marker-assisted breeding and trait introgression.Pearl millet genotypes differed significantly (P < 0.001) for days to 50% flowering (DTF), plant height (PH), number of tillers per plant (NT), panicle length (PCL), panicle weight (PWT), thousand-grain weight (TGW), and grain weight (GW) under Sh infestation. Genotypes differed significantly (P < 0.001) for the area under the Striga number progress curve (ASNPC). The genotype by Striga interaction was non-significant for the NT and ASNPC. The genotype by environment interaction differed significantly (P < 0.001) for days to 50% flowering (DTF), plant height (PH), number of tillers per plant (NT), panicle length (PCL), panicle weight (PWT), thousand-grain weight (TGW), and grain weight (GW) under Sh infestation (Table 1). Genotypes with missing data were excluded from the analysis.Table 2 presented the best linear unbiased prediction means for the response of pearl millet genotypes evaluated under Sh infestation. The DTF and PH ranged from 60.13 to 64.95 days and 132.57 to 159.74 cm in the naturally-infested field and the screen house conditions, respectively. The TGW ranged from 7.60 to 9.03 g under Striga infestation in field and in screen house. Several emerged Striga were recorded during the second counting, particularly in the plastic pots (Fig. 1A) and the hotspot field (Fig. 1B) conditions compared to Strigafree field condition (Fig. 1C). Thousand-grain weight markedly reduced due to high Striga infestations compared to Striga-free field (Table 2).A low broad-sense heritability value was computed for the number of emerged Sh SN1 (18.17%) and SN2 (28.61%), while high heritability values ranging from 75.07 to 92.42% were recorded for the DTF, PCL, TGW, and PH (Table 2).The number of emerged Sh count on the Manhattan plot is presented in Fig. 2. BLINK model analysis for Sh traits led to identifying candidate genetic regions associated with Striga resistance.Twenty-eight SNP markers were significantly (P < 0,001) associated with Sh resistance located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. Two SNPs, S3_113184999 and S3_113184999, were located on the same position and were associated with the number of Sh counted (Table 3). Three significant (P < 0,001) SNP markers, S1_75620319, S3_1159738, and S6_231436300, were associated with Striga resistance in the naturally Striga-infested field on chromosomes 1, 3, and 6. In the greenhouse, 10 significant SNPs were associated with Sh-resistance, while 15 SNPs were associated with Sh-resistance on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 in a pooled analysis. Table 1. Mean squares and significant tests for pearl millet and Striga parameters when evaluating 137 genotypes with and without Striga infestation under the field and screen house environments in Burkina Faso. *, and *** = denote significant differences at 0.05, and 0.001 probability levels, respectively; ns = not significant; DF = degree of freedom; DTF = days to 50% flowering; PH = plant height at maturity (cm); NT = number of tillers; PCL = panicle length (cm); PWT = panicle weight (g); TGW = thousand-grain weight (g); GW = grain weight per plant (g); ASNPC = area under the Striga number progress curve. BLINK model analysis of pearl millet agronomic traits under Sh infestation identified candidate genetic regions associated with DTF, PCL, and TGW (Fig. 3). Eleven SNP markers were associated with the assessed pearl millet phenotypic traits. Four SNPs were associated with DTF on chromosomes 3, 5, 6, and 7 in the naturally  The assessed genotypes exhibited significant differences in agronomic traits and Sh parameters (Table 1), suggesting substantial genetic variation for selection. The results allowed marker-trait association analysis to be valuable for current and future selection and new variety design and commercialisation. A significant genotype by the Sh interaction effect existed (Table 1), revealing the potential existence of genes controlling Sh resistance among the populations. This concurs with the deductions made by Mrema et al. 8 and Shayanowako et al. 33 , who reported significant variation and differential genotypic responses to Sh infestation among sorghum and maize genotypes, in that order. Thus, the population set evaluated in the current study was suitable for marker-trait association analyses for Sh resistance and economic traits.Reduced DTF and PH were recorded on pearl millet genotypes under Striga infestation (Table 2), indicating the negative impact of the parasite on the measured traits. These findings concur with reports by Ransom and Odhiambo 34 . Wilson et al. 18 reported a negative correlation between the number of emerged Sh and DTF in pearl millet. Similarly, a reduction of PH by 28% under Sh infestation was reported in pearl millet by Graves et al. 35 . Badu-Apraku 36 reported a negative correlation between Striga damage rating and DTF in maize in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor crop growth and subsequent low productivity result from the Striga plant attachment and siphoning of nutrients from the host plant's roots.The recorded TGW of 7.60 to 9.03 g in the present study (Table 2) aligns with the 6.9 to 12.9 g reported by Kanatti et al. 37 . The relatively high ranges of values in the current results are probably attributed to the large grain size, which increased the yield of pearl millet 37,38 . The broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) for agronomic traits ranged from 75.07 to 92.42% and 18.17 to 28.61% for emerged Sh count (Table 2). The high broad-sense heritability estimates of 75.07 to 92.42% computed for DTF, PH, PCL, and TGW indicated that the traits are mainly governed by genes with limited influence by the test environment 39 . Traits with high heritability are easy Single nucleotide polymorphisms were plotted on the x-axis according to their positions on each chromosome against association with pearl millet-related traits on the y-axis (−log 10 p-value). The top line indicates genomewide significant threshold. Note: Blink.Greenhouse_PclL = the Bayesian-information and linkage-disequilibrium iteratively nested keyway of panicle length in screen house; Blink.Field_PclL = the Bayesian-information and linkage-disequilibrium iteratively nested keyway of panicle length in the field; Blink.VarStr_PclL = the Bayesianinformation and linkage-disequilibrium iteratively nested keyway of panicle length for genotypes with Striga infestation; Blink.Greenhouse_TGW = the Bayesian-information and linkage-disequilibrium iteratively nested keyway of thousand-grain weight in the screen house, Blink.Var_TGW = the Bayesian-information and linkagedisequilibrium iteratively nested keyway of thousand-grain weight for genotypes in the screen house. to select and improve using marker-assisted selections and pyramiding in a desirable genetic background. The lower broad-sense heritability estimates of 18.17 and 28.61% for the number of emerged Striga (SN1 and SN2) (Table 2) suggests that the genetic variation was small and genetic gain for those traits will be slow because both genetic and phenotypic constituents of the genotypes are affected by Striga infestation stress 39 . Robert 40 and Kaewchumnong and Price 41 reported a low heritability estimate for Striga resistance-related traits in sorghum and rice, respectively. The seven pearl millet chromosomes harbour several genes (Table 4) conditioning Striga resistance and agronomic traits. Each chromosome had at least two significant marker-trait associations in the present study. After successful validation, the 28 significant SNP markers associated with Sh emergence on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 (Table 3) can be used for marker-assisted selection and trait introgression to improve Sh resistance in pearl millet. Dawud 28 identified 16 SNP markers associated with the area under the Striga number progress curve on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in pearl millet. The findings confirm that the chromosomes harbour some beneficial alleles influencing Sh resistance. Dawud 28 reported significant gene markers related to Striga resistance on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, and 5 in pearl millet. Markers associated with Striga resistance traits have also been reported in sorghum and maize 44,45 . The two SNP makers located adjacent to each other and associated with the low number of Sh count could be tightly linked and co-segregating. Hence, the respective candidate genes can be selected and introgressed simultaneously 24 . Identifying genetic markers associated with agronomic traits will facilitate marker-assisted breeding in pearl millet (Fig. 3). Using SSR markers, Kannan et al. 46 detected significant markers associated with pearl millet panicle length and thousand-grain weight in Striga-free conditions. In maize, some quantitative trait loci associated with grain yield and ear aspect have been reported by Stanley et al. 47 and Badu-Apraku et al. 23 . Dawud 28 also reported Significant SNP markers related to the number of tillers in pearl millet. This study identified 28 SNP markers associated with low Sh emergence on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7, involving genetic analysis of 150 genetically diverse pearl millet genotypes in Burkina Faso (Fig. 3). The candidate markers and genotypes are novel genomic and genetic resources for Striga resistance breeding programs in the country and elsewhere.A field experiment was conducted in the 2019/20 main growing season in a naturally infested Striga hotspot field at the Didri site in Burkina Faso, and a screen house evaluation was conducted at the main station of the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) in the offseason of 2020/21. The Didri site is located at 12° 12′ 15\" N and 1° 14′ 13\" W and is a hotspot site for Sh affecting pearl millet, maize and sorghum crops. The site received an annual rainfall of 748.5 mm for 46 days during the 2019/20 rainy season and has sandy soils. The INERA site is located at 12°28/27 N and 1°33/31W.The study used 148 pearl millet genotypes collected from the International Crop Research Institute for the Semiarid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Niger and two elite breeding lines from INERA/Burkina Faso. The descriptions of the test genotypes are summarised in Table 5. The pearl millet genotypes acquired from ICRISAT are part of the pearl millet germplasm association panel (PMiGAP) comprising 250 inbred lines representing cultivated germplasm from Africa and Asia. They are included in the present study to identify unique genetic resources with unique agronomic and farmers' preferred traits, and because of their wide genetic diversity.The field and greenhouse experiments were laid out using a 10 × 15 alpha lattice design with two replicates. In the greenhouse, 5L plastic pots were used and filled with a soil medium composed of clay, sand, and organic manure at a ratio of 2:1:1 respectively. Two weeks before planting, each pot was infested with a scoop of sand mixed with 0.05 g of 1-year-old Sh seed collected from farmers' fields in Burkina Faso. Pearl millet seeds in the naturally Striga-infested field (hereafter designated as GenInf), were sown during the main crop growing season from June to October 2019. Genotypes were established in 4.2 m long rows spaced at an inter-row spacing of 160 cm and intra-row spacing of 60 cm, providing a total plot size of 6.72 m 2 per genotype. Four seeds were initially sown per hill and later thinned to one plant two weeks after planting. A total of three plants was selected randomly from the middle of the experimental unit and tagged for agronomic data collection. In the greenhouse, one healthy and vigorous plant was grown per pot for the test genotypes with Sh (hereafter denoted as GenStr), and genotypes without Sh (hereafter referred to as control) treatments. Standard agronomic practices recommended for pearl millet production were followed. Experimental units were fertilized using nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK: 14:23:14) and applied as a microdose of 3 g per hill 15 days after planting. Hand weeding was routinely done after the first hoeing to remove all other weeds except Striga.The following agronomic parameters were collected from pearl millet: days-to-50%-flowering (DTF) were recorded as the days when 50% of the plants in each plot had intruded stigma. Plant height (PH) was measured in cm from the base to the top of the panicle of the main tiller. The number of tillers per plant (NT) was recorded by counting the number of tillers with panicles for the tagged plants. Panicle length (PCL) was measured in cm from the base to the top of the main tiller panicle. Panicle weight (PWT) was recorded in grams by weighing the harvested panicles for each entry after 14 days of sun-dry, and thousand-grain weight (TGW) was determined in grams by weighing one thousand-grain for each of the entries. Grain weight per plant (GW) was determined in grams by weighing the grain after threshing and dividing it by the number of harvested plants for each plot.For Striga parameters, the number of emerged Sh plants per plot were recorded at 70 and 96 days after sowing in the naturally infested field for each row, excluding the borders. The number of emerged Sh plants were counted per pot 116 and 144 days after sowing in the greenhouse. The area under the Striga Number Progress Curve (ASNPC) was computed using the successive Striga counts according to Haussmann et al. 48 where n is the number of Striga assessment dates, Y i is the Striga count at the ith assessment date, Y (i+1) is the Striga count at the ith plus 1 assessment date, t i is the number of days after planting (DAP) at the ith assessment date, t (i+1) is DAP at the ith plus 1 assessment date.Both the crop and Striga data were subjected to analysis of variance using GenStat 19th Edition (http:// www. genst at. co. uk). Homogeneity of variance test was done for each site using the Bartlett 49 procedure before combined analyses. The treatment, genotype, and genotype × treatment interaction significance tests were computed using GenStat. The Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) was calculated according to Haslett and Puntanen 50 to predict the accuracy and to aid selection. The area under the Striga number progress curve was drawn using R. ASReml-R Version 4 was used to fit the linear mixed models using Residual Maximum Likelihood (REML) in R 51 .To assemble the pearl millet genome, whole genome shotgun (WGS) and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequencing were used. Ten small inserts (of ~ 170, 250, 500 and 800 bp) and 13 large inserts (of ~ 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 kb) WGS libraries were constructed using Tift 23D2B1-P1-P510 genotype. These libraries were sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2000, and 520 Gb of sequence data, representing 296 × genome coverage. Two BAC libraries, with an average insert size of ~ 120 kb, were constructed from Tift 23D2B1-P1-P5 using EcoRI and HindIII. Nine hundred seventy-two Gb of sequence data were generated from 100,608 BAC clones at ~ 80 × genome coverage. In brief, 1.49 Tb of sequence data, after stringent filtering and correction steps, were assembled into 1.58 Gb of contigs and 1.82 Gb of scaffolds (https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ nbt. 3943). A raw marker set consisting of 29 million SNPs generated from 345 pearl millet genotypes from which 148 genotypes used in the study was sourced from the Nature Paper Pearl Millet (https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ nbt. 3943) and filtered using Tassel v4.2 for site coverage of 90%, minor allele frequency of 0.1, taxa coverage of 30% and maximum heterozygosity of 50%. The resulting final set of variants contained 256 K SNPs was used for the current analysis. Phenotypic data collected from 150 genotypes were available for marker-trait association analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) was calculated, and the resulting eigenvalue (7) was used for genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) following multiple methods procedures generated from GAPIT v3.0 52 . The Bayesian-information and linkagedisequilibrium iteratively nested keyway (BLINK) software was used to determine the significant variations among pearl millet and Sh traits owing to its ability to produce fewer false positives and more true positives than the GWAS method, FarmCPU 42 . Liu et al. 43 reported the power of BLINK to outperform FarmCPU relative to statistical capabilities vs False Discovery Rate (FDR) and statistical power vs type I error.The current study detected significant genetic variability and markers for Sh resistance and agronomic traits through GWAS involving 150 pearl millet genotypes in Burkina Faso. There were significant genotypes by Sh interaction for assessed agronomic traits, the number of Sh and ASNPC. Twenty-eight SNPs were associated with Sh traits on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. SNPs markers associated with DTF, PCL, and TGW were located on chromosomes 2, 5, 6, and 7; chromosomes 2, 3, and 4; and chromosome 6, respectively. After successful validation, the new markers would be deployed for marker-assisted breeding emphasising the above agronomic traits and Sh resistance in pearl millet in Burkina Faso or related agro-ecologies.","tokenCount":"3883"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2726541396.json b/data/part_1/2726541396.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f9ab0e1e721158a01c7aed1e4259b27ba69e58d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2726541396.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7c30c9d119995319e2b24543bbff17ba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/db610285-31dc-4ae7-b2e6-1606d935335f/retrieve","id":"-660192365"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"41d30d24-d6c6-4e9d-a1ad-1dbb1fcd4639","pagecount":"36","content":"Rapidly rising demand for milk, meat and eggs in low-and middle-income countries is opening up big new opportunities to establish and grow businesses and create jobs. This demand is being driven by rapid population growth, higher incomes and urbanization. With a view to ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for all, in 2015, the international community adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Helping to ensure that hundreds of millions of poor small-scale livestock farmers, processors and marketers, many of whom are women, benefit from these opportunities will be crucial to achieving many of these goals.The consumption of small amounts of livestock food products provides essential nutrients that contribute to food and nutritional security. Introducing some animal-source foods-just a glass of milk or an egg a day-into the diets of children would improve their physical and cognitive development. Improving livestock production practices in low-and middle-income countries could significantly increase productivity in the sector as well as cut emissions in livestock-related greenhouse gases by up to 30%.Rapid change in livestock systems, however, poses a range of environmental, health and equity challenges across the highly heterogeneous livestock production systems worldwide. Some production systems need fewer farmers capable of producing more animal-source foods in ways that mitigate the environmental and public health risks of livestock production. In more fragile livestock systems, the emphasis needs to be on enhancing the important role farm animals play in increasing the resilience of people, communities and environments to variability in weather, markets or resource demands. This diversity of needs and endowments will require a range of development responses to feed and sustain our planet into the future. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works closely with national and international research, private-sector, government and non-governmental organizations in providing evidence to decision-makers, facilitating the adoption at scale of science-based livestock practices and building capacities of key stakeholders. In furthering better lives through livestock, the outcomes of our research-for-development approach-the scientific evidence, proven technologies and development pathways-directly contribute to meeting the SDGs.This report provides examples of how ILRI and its many partners are helping to meet specific SDGs. These include: reduced incidence and impact of livestock diseases; increased household incomes; improved food safety; greater gender equity and inclusive growth; climatesmart as well as more productive livestock; mitigation of livestock-generated greenhouse gas emissions; and enabling policies and partnerships for a healthy, safe, sustainable and equitable livestock sector.Our work demonstrates that targeted investment in sustainable livestock research for development can provide much more food to nourish the world's rapidly growing population. It can enhance the efficiency of livestock and related value chains, produce large employment opportunities, particularly for women and young people, and drive inclusive economic growth. Importantly, such investment-intellectual, political and financial-is essential to strengthening the resilience of developing-country peoples and conserving the natural resources upon which their wellbeing, and that of all people and the planet, depend.Alleviating the prevalence of chicken diseases builds the resilience of livestock farmers living in extreme poverty >60% of poultry businesses run by women >50% of poultry producers are smallholders contributes to 8% of GDPImproving control of a chicken disease supports the livelihoods of Kenya's womenWomen play critical roles in the small-scale livestock systems that remain ubiquitous in the developing world. While these women typically face severe inequities in being able to own or even access land, capital and other productive resources, they often own or at least manage their household's farm animals, particularly chickens and other small stock. Requiring little space and start-up capital, poultry farming in Kenya is growing rapidly and remains largely dominated by women, who typically invest most of their earnings in feeding their families and educating their children. That is why controlling major poultry diseases, which can wipe out whole flocks, is so important.Infectious bursal disease is an acute, highly contagious, viral disease of young chickens. The bursa is a specialized organ in birds, located at the hindgut, necessary for development of the immune system's B cells. The disease causes small-scale poultry farmers huge economic losses, both from the many birds that die outright and from lost productivity among surviving birds. Suffering from immunosuppression, surviving chickens become susceptible to other diseases and do not respond well to vaccination. In the last five years, infectious bursal disease has been detected among vaccinated chickens, causing frustration among farmers. The disease has forced many Kenyan farmers out of the poultry business altogether, seriously damaging their livelihoods. Working closely with scientists from ILRI and the University of Nairobi, Githinji found that some of the virus strains in Kenya's bird populations were far more genetically diverse than previously believed. During her genetic analysis of the virus strains, the first molecular characterization of the infectious bursal disease in Kenya, Githinji also discovered unique amino acids in some of them. Using a technique known as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to replicate a DNA segment from the virus, Githinji designed a diagnostic tool with which to characterize and detect virus variants. While further research is needed to verify the efficacy of existing vaccines, this breakthrough allows for more effective tests for infectious bursal disease.The Directorate of Veterinary Services-responsible for animal health policy formulation and regulation in Kenya-will now be able to use the findings to develop improved vaccination, surveillance and control strategies for infectious bursal disease, such as procedures for virus diagnosis. For instance, if deployed at border inspection posts, the tool would help prevent the importation of infected chickens. Githinji also plans to share the knowledge and methodological approaches acquired at the BecA-ILRI Hub with her colleagues as is it also applicable to the study of other livestock diseases. In Tanzania, a study on the impacts of the use of this vaccine found that 167 small-scale farmers who had vaccinated their animals reduced expenditure on acaricide spraying by 75%. Other benefits reported included increased milk yields, reduced water usage, increased manure with which to fertilize croplands and better traction for pulling ploughs and carts from healthier animals.Scientists, including ILRI and partner researchers, have taken a two-pronged approach to East Coast fever vaccine deployment and development; both have made substantial progress. The first approach focuses on decreasing wastage by reducing the number of doses per vaccination straw from 40 to 10. Once thawed and diluted, each straw needs to be used within four hours or discarded. This can be challenging as small-scale farmers have few animals. By reducing wastage, this method is expected to drive down the cost of vaccination per animal. The second approach harnesses the latest advances in biotechnology to develop proof-ofconcept for a next-generation vaccine based on parasite molecules rather than live parasites, which should make it safer, cheaper and easier to manufacture and administer.Henry Kiara, scientist, epidemiologist h.kiara@cgiar.org Enhancing food safety through the implementation of early warning and risk reduction systems Enhancing food safety through the implementation of early warning and risk reduction systemsTranslating food safety research into policy action in VietnamThe agri-food sector, particularly livestock, plays an important role in the economy, livelihoods and nutritional security of Vietnamese people. Regular consumption of pork makes it an integral part of Vietnam's diverse and rich culinary tradition.Typically eaten daily with steamed rice and vegetables, pork is an affordable as well as favourite protein source, accounting for 40% of household expenditure and 75% of the meat consumed. More than 83% of pork is produced by small-scale farmers and sold in traditional fresh-food markets, and 65% of rural households depend on pig farming for their livelihoods.Rising urbanization and a growing middle class have driven changes in dietary patterns, leading to increased pork consumption. In recent years, the Vietnamese government has acknowledged scope for evidence-based decisionmaking in reducing the prevalence of food-borne disease in traditional markets. Improved safety in the food supply chain has the potential not only to protect the health and welfare of poor livestock producers, sellers and consumers, but also to grow the economy through the increased competitiveness of Vietnam's food products and the opening of premium markets. Conversely, food safety hazardsor perceptions thereof-impose a significant economic burden, impeding value chain development and exports.In 2013, scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) teamed up with national and international partners to establish the Vietnamese National Taskforce of Food Safety Risk Assessment. The taskforce conducted a series of cutting-edge studies on risk assessment and the cost of illness and, based on the findings, developed guidelines and support materials to enhance food safety in pork value chains. These materials have been used in assisting key ministry officials and researchers to bring risk-based approaches to food safety management. For instance, national researchers have used the materials and ILRI training to undertake risk assessment of food safety in pig value chains in Vietnam and provide training to national and regional counterparts.After establishing a track record of providing timely evidencebased pro-poor policy proposals on food safety to the authorities, ILRI was invited to join the nascent Vietnam Food Safety Working Group in 2015. The initiative, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was set up to bring together government agencies and international development partners to share knowledge and support policymaking in the country. Two years on, Vietnam's government is responding with changes in food safety policy-moving from an inspectionand-enforcement approach to a risk-based inspection and monitoring system bolstered by compliance incentives.With the publication of a comprehensive report by the working group-Food safety risk management in Vietnam: Challenges and opportunities-the government has committed to implement measures to improve risk assessment, communications and management and the surveillance of food-borne diseases. The Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Hai Phong city authorities have begun developing plans to implement the report's recommendations.According to the World Health Organization, measures reducing the impact of food-borne diseases could save the Vietnamese economy up to USD1 billion a year due to improved production, health and related market efficiencies. ILRI-led research found that improved food handling and cooking practices could save up to USD6 million in reduced pork Salmonella-related hospitalization costs alone. Most rural people in Zimbabwe depend on crop-livestock farming, growing cereals and legumes, and raising goats and cattle. In recent years, overdependence on rain-fed irrigation, poor soil fertility and a lack of access to inputs, particularly animal feed, have hindered productivity. In addition, falling yields, cash constraints and inefficient links between smallholders and consumers have contributed to food deficits, limiting livelihood opportunities and forcing much of the population to rely upon food aid. But with growing food demand, the adoption of crop and livestock technologies and more efficient markets offer opportunities to enhance agricultural production, food security and resilience in rural Zimbabwe.In 2012, research by a host of national and international partners, including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), identified opportunities to introduce crop and livestock technologies and improved practices along six target value chains in six rural districts in the Zimbabwean provinces of Mashonaland East, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North. Appropriate cereal and legume cropand-livestock technologies were introduced to farmers and on-farm research generated empirical evidence to support the adoption of promising technologies and practices, including nitrogen fixing crops and improved feeding practices.The formation of productive partnerships among private and public institutions-via the multi-stakeholder platformshelped facilitate regular dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building. With support from agricultural extension personnel and project staff, multi-stakeholder platforms increased understanding among supply chain actors of market mechanisms. Participating farmers also organized themselves into cooperatives to buy inputs more cheaply in bulk and sell their livestock for greater profit. And scientists evaluated the outcomes and shared their findings through the platforms.Five years on, more than 170,000 farmers have translated this increased knowledge and capacity into higher incomes. Enhanced soil fertility has improved grain and biomass yields, better feed and feeding practices have driven livestock productivity growth, and better links with markets have increased crop and livestock sales.The production of livestock feed-for household and commercial use-has improved through increased use of forage legumes (Lablab purpureus and Mucuna pruriens) and higher quality crop residues (e.g. stalks and leaves of groundnut). Giving livestock improved feeds on-farm rather than off-farm grazing, where they often fall prey to wild animals, has led to higher milk yields and fewer deaths. Among 80,000 participating farmers using Mucunabased supplements, the net profits from beef production increased by 7-10%. In Nkayi district alone (Matabeleland North), steer and breeding goat prices received by nearly 22,000 farmers rose by up to 150% (from USD400-1,000) and 250% (from USD20-70) respectively.Participating farmers who employed conservation agriculture practices-minimizing disruption to soil structure, composition and biodiversity-and practised rotations of cereals and legumes reported improved household food security. Nearly 40,000 farmers-who alternated maize with a nitrogen-fixing legume crop-produced an extra 1.3 tonnes of maize on average, from 0.7 in 2012 to 2 tonnes per hectare in 2016, increasing annual net profits by USD185 per household, enhancing soil fertility and reducing the need to apply inorganic fertilizers.The solutions developed are now being taken up in neighbouring districts and beyond. In some districts, the technologies, approaches and experiences have been mainstreamed into cross-cutting government schemes, such as Zimbabwe's command agriculture scheme, loan schemes, safety nets and nutrition programs.They have also been transferred to other research and development programs across the country and in the region, for instance, in the European Unionfunded crop-livestock integration projects in Malawi. The measurement of GHG emissions faces significant challenges in quantifying the environmental impact of livestock in Africa. Guidelines to estimate GHG emissions provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest an approach for regions in which in-situ data is scarce or unavailable, such as sub-Saharan Africa. This approach involves extrapolating estimates, referred to as Tier I estimates, based on the knowledge and GHG emission factors of livestock systems for farm animals raised in high-income countries often on sophisticated diets tailored to maximize productivity. These livestock systems, however, are mostly high-intensity dairy and beef farming systems with very different breeds, feeding regimes, veterinary services, climatic regions and landscapes than those found in sub-Saharan Africa.The assumptions upon which the extrapolation is based may well be misleading; in other words, there may be large uncertainties in their applicability to African livestock systems. A body of knowledge needs to be built upon which to draw sounder conclusions for policymakers wishing to achieve mitigation targets through interventions in the livestock sector. Countries require accurate in-situ baseline (Tier II) GHG emissions estimates upon which to measure progress towards minimizing GHG emissions. African nations need to know whether the practices they are adopting are truly contributing to more sustainable and resilient food production, while reducing the environmental impact of their livestock.The Mazingira Centre research findings present a snapshot of the GHG emissions from a few cattle breeds in selected livestock systems in western Kenya; more work is required before reliable baseline data can be estimated for the country and ultimately the continent. The new data will be incorporated into the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and eventually used to update the existing Tier I estimates. ILRI is also testing and quantifying potential mitigation strategies based on the recently derived data.  Since their introduction to Africa thousands of years ago from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, cattle breeds have gradually adapted to cope with hugely varying environments, from the Sahelian desert to the subhumid tropical forests. These cattle are important sources of meat, milk, traction and manure across the continent. With rapid population growth and a rising urban middle class, they will become even more significant as demand for meat and milk is expected to more than double in sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2030.Identifying the genetic basis underlying heat tolerance and resistance to killer diseases-major production constraints-offers huge opportunities to increase meat and milk productivity to meet rising demand. It opens the way to the scaling up of breeding programs for these specific key traits, potentially enhancing the incomes of hundreds of millions of smallholders worldwide.The greatest challenges facing researchers are cost and time. Though the cost has dropped in recent years, the opportunity to explore this treasure trove may be short lived, as the nature of cattle breeding on the continent today is contributing to a significant loss of diversity. Africa is witnessing major transformations of its agricultural systems and rapid loss of indigenous livestock, representing an irreversible loss of unique traits that may serve as vital insurance against future challenges, such as increasing drought or emerging pests.Conscious of these challenges, scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners selected five of the 150 breeds of cattle in Africa-analysing DNA samples of 48 animals-based on their economic importance to smallholders, representativeness of the sample to each breed and geographical spread throughout the continent. They analysed the genome of each animal and looked for characteristics particular to the breed. And their ground-breaking findings identifying useful genetic adaptations have justified the decision to proceed with a relatively small number of breeds.Scientists pinpointed the specific genes involved in helping African cattle cope with rising temperatures and disease, such as the tsetse-fly-transmitted trypanosomiasis which in Africa has been estimated to cause up to USD4.5 billion in annual losses due to illness and death. They then generated a catalogue of genetic variants in the breeds and identified the unique DNA of each breed that gives them an advantage. Genes were identified associated with feeding capacity under tropical climatic conditions in the West African taurine N'Dama, horn development and coat colour in the Central African Ankole, and heat tolerance in the three zebu breeds (Boran, Ogaden and Kenana) from East Africa. Genes associated with tick resistance were also identified in all five breeds. The findings will better inform breeding and crossbreeding programs designed to improve cattle productivity and resilience in sub-Saharan Africa, while preserving the unique genes in these indigenous cattle species.These findings have helped scientists secure funding to undertake the DNA sequencing of a further 50 cattle, chicken and sheep breeds. In line with the Nagoya protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity on fair access to and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, ILRI's broader aim is to catalogue the genetic information on all 10,000 breeds of domestic livestock in the world before that diversity disappears. The good news is that the exciting new science of genomics enables geneticists to unravel the genetic make-up of cattle breeds and to identify, and breed for, those traits best suited to the world's diverse environments, while helping government institutions conserve this precious diversity. This work would cost approximately USD70 million, a small investment for such a large global public good. Livestock is the world's fastest-growing, highest-value agricultural subsector, accounting for about 40% of agricultural gross domestic product globally. Driven by rising incomes, demand for animal-source foods in Africa and Asia is expected to increase up to 200% by 2030. Efficient crop and livestock production and natural resource use will drive employment, environmental, nutrition and income gains in a subsector likely to be dominated by smallholders.In 2012, the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish began working in nine countries to increase access to animal-source foods by the poor by strengthening targeted value chains in which the poor benefit significantly. The initiative-led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-took a solution-driven research-for-development approach. In Uganda, scientists selected the pig value chain, a major livestock source for more than 1.1 million households, because of its relatively high return-on-investment potential. Pigs grow quickly, feed on leftover food and crop residues, can be sold to meet household needs and provide investment capital to grow crops. Investment in research offers major opportunities to increase productivity and build partnerships to enhance knowledge and technology transfer.ILRI mapped the stakeholders in five main pig producing districts and identified the opportunities and challenges along the value chain. Scientists identified disease prevalence as a key production constraint-particularly the highly contagious, often fatal, African swine fever. The findings informed priority interventions along the pig supply chain, including the development and testing of tools and training materials for the control of African swine fever. Local district extension and veterinary officials then supported producers to participate in best-bet interventions rolled out as pilot programs, such as the application of farm-level protocols to prevent and control disease outbreaks and capacity building of butchers on appropriate pig slaughter and pork hygiene. ILRI-led evaluations involving 960 farmers and 300 input and service providers, traders and butchers revealed significant progress in the adoption of practices to prevent the spread of African swine fever.Drawing on ILRI-led research and technical support, local extension and veterinary officials, pig producers and traders, service providers and retailers established multistakeholder platforms. The platforms have since become dynamic at local, regional and national levels, raising awareness of the importance of the subsector as a public policy and investment priority. For instance, the 2016-2020 government agriculture strategy highlighted the role of the pig subsector in protecting nutritional security and set aside USD5.5 million to control African swine fever.Ugandan pig farmers readily embraced collective action. The regional platforms have facilitated the creation of market linkages, for example, between input suppliers, auxiliary service providers and farmers. In the greater Masaka region, the stakeholder platform catalysed the establishment of 10 pig farmer cooperatives and dozens of pig producer groups. The pig cooperatives in turn came together to establish the Greater Masaka Pig Cooperative Union to further strengthen their advocacy activities and improve pig production and marketing in the region. And the national multi-stakeholder platform has begun engaging with ministry officials on the incorporation of improved standards into the revised national animal feeds bill, a process which is ongoing.The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock will build on this model to enhance efficiency of the pig value chain through the adoption of improved technologies by increasing the number of small-and medium-scale farmers and businesses and market-oriented policies in Uganda. The Uganda pig value chain is expected to make important contributions to the ambitious 2022 program targets, which include poverty alleviation, inclusion and equity for nearly 11 million women and young people worldwide through the adoption of improved technologies and market-oriented practices. The CGIAR research portfolio of activities are multi-centre, multi-partner initiatives based on three core principles: impact on the CGIAR system-level outcomes (reduced poverty, improved food and nutrition security, and improved natural resources and ecosystem services) and the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals; making the most of the centres' strengths; and building strong and effective partnerships.The portfolio comprises CGIAR Research Programs (CRP) and platforms. The CRPs are structured around two interlinked clusters of challenge-led research. The first of these is the innovation in agri-food systems which involves adopting an integrated, agricultural systems approach to advancing productivity, sustainability, nutrition and resilience outcomes at scale. The second cluster consists of four cross-cutting global integrating programs framed to work closely with the agri-food systems programs within relevant agro-ecological systems.ILRI leads the CRP on Livestock which works to increase the productivity of small-scale livestock systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor available and affordable in nine developing countries-Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam. ILRI also leads 'Food Safety' and co-leads, with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 'Improving Human Health'-two of five flagships of the CRP on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and makes a substantial contribution to the CRP on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).In ","tokenCount":"3884"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2736936569.json b/data/part_1/2736936569.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5a1bfd6df49152c3539383df591c6ab170fa806a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2736936569.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1c9e2d98363af11b73a95405e8f64f55","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7edac3a7-0a28-46f4-9905-fc9d0ce2f04c/content","id":"1781616839"},"keywords":["Shandong Denghai Seed Corp. China L1J*~~#~JR{)}~~~0RJ Crop Improvement","Phenotypic era","Genotypic era Section I: Maize Breeding Corn-Origin","History","Technology and Com-Origin","History","Technology and Summer maize","Heterotic groups","Breeding strategies Landraces","Variability","Heritability","Genetic advance","Divergence","Clusters Maize","Genetic diversity","Bulk sampling","SSR 8 3 progeny","Testcross","Maize","Improvement","Inbred","Hybrid S3 progeny","Testcross","Maize","Improvement","Inbred","Hybrid 'Proceedings 01 the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop Maize","Landraces","8SR markers","Population genetics","Agronomic performance 'Proceedings o/the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop Maize","Landraces","SSR markers","Population genetics","Agronomic performance Maize","SSR marker","Hybrid","Varietal identification","Purity test","Variety protection section I: Maize Breeding Maize","Breeding method","Early generation testing","Synchronous directive shuttle breeding","SDSB Maize","Genetic diversity","Inbred lines","SSR","F 1 hybrids Maize","Genetic diversity","Inbred lines","SSR","F 1 hybrids Average heterosis","Variety effect","GCA","Specific heterosis","Variety diallel","Maize section I: Maize Breeding Participatory plant breeding","Quality protein maize","Participatory variety selection Maize","Genetic diversity","SSR","Doubled haploid lines","Hybrid breeding","Vietnam Maize","Genetic diversity","SSR","Doubled haploid lines","Hybrid breeding","Vietnam Maize","Hybrid","Open pollinated variety","Stability Maize","Single cross hybrid","Combining ability","Heterosis","Genetic diversity Genetic diversity","Combining ability","SSR makers Section I: Maize Breeding Lines","Testers","Combining ability","Kernel sugar","Sweet corn Maize hybrids","Parental lines","SSR markers","Fingerprinting section I: Maize Breeding Heterosis","Combining ability","GCA","SCA","Maize Maize","Hybrid breeding","Vietnam Maize","Mass selection","SSR markers","Genetic diversity Corn","Maize","Promising hybrids in South -East Asia Corn","Maize","Promising hybrids in South -East Asia Production","Leveling-off","Demand","Maize","Feed","Food industry Maize","Zea mays","Excessive moisture","Water-logging","Tolerance mechanism Maize","Banded leaf and sheath blight","Host resistance Maize","Variabilit. Banded leaf and sheath blight Zea mays","Maize dwarf mosaic","Resistance genes","Dominant complementary genes","Molecular tagging Zea mays","Maize dwarf mosaic","Resistance genes","Dominant complementary genes","Molecular tagging Drought","Maize","Stress","Anthesis-silking interval Thiourea (TU)","Bio-regulator","-SH group","Photosynthetic activity","Harvest index","Maize Thiourea (TU)","Bio-regulator","-SH group","Photosynthetic activity","Harvest index","Maize. 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Mai ze\"--W' -' -o=rks=ho=p _ Maize","Zea mays","SUbmergence stress","Suppression subtractive hybridization","SSH","cDNA microarray","Regulation of gene expression Double no-till","Indo-Gangetic plains","Maize-wheat system","Profitability","Water productivity Resistant","Maize varieties","Against leaf blight Resistant","Maize varieties","Against leaf blight Maize stem borer","Chilo partel/us","Insect resistance","Natural infestation screening method","Maize (Zea mays L. ) Maize stem borer","Chilo partel/us","Insect resistance","Natural infestation screening method","Maize (Zea mays L. ) Maize","PFSR resistance","Fusarium moniliforme","Cephalosporium maydis","Macrophomina phaseolina Maize","PFSR resistance","Fusarium moniliforme","Cephalosporium maydis","Macrophomina phaseolina Drought","Maize","Morpho-physiological traits Drought","Maize","Morpho-physiological traits Summer maize","Nitrogen fertilizer","N application rate","Water-use efficiency","Nitrogen-use efficiency","Soil N budget section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress Maize","Stalk rots","Fusarium moniliforme","Host plant resistance","10M Maize","Stalk rots","Fusarium moniliforme","Host plant resistance","10M section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress Maize","Maize weevil","Sitophilus zeamais Motsch Pink stem borer (PSB)","Resistance","Leaf injury rating","Dead hearts","Maize Downy mildew resistance","Quantitative trait loci","Maize lsohybrid","Bacillus thuringiensis","Trichogramma","Orius","Micraspis","Spiders lsohybrid","Bacillus thuringiensis","Trichogramma","Orius","Micraspis","Spiders Section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress Trichogramma chilonis","Economic threshold","Dry season","Natural enemies","Yield reduction","Spot application section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress Chilo parfel/us","Maize","Genetics","Resistance","Stem borer Maize lines","Hybrids under drought stress 'Proceedings ollhe Ninth Asian Regional Maize Worl<shop Maize lines","Hybrids under drought stress Morphological trait","RIL population","QTL","Epistasis","N response Maize","Waxy corn","Super sweet corn","Bicolor waxy corn","Value-added corn","Corn breeding Maize","Waxy corn","Super sweet corn","Bicolor waxy corn","Value-added corn","Corn breeding Waxy corn","Glb1","Speciation Quality Protein Maize","Vulnerable groups","Health products","Nutrition security Quality protein maize","Inbred lines","Combining ability Quality Protein Maize","Combining ability","Gene action","Heterosis Quality protein maize","MAS (Marker Assisted Selection)","SSR","AFLP Quality protein maize","MAS (Marker Assisted Selection)","SSR","AFLP QPM","Marker-assisted selection","Protein quality Oil corn","Micro-endosperm","Super-high oil","Grain weight","Oil percentage","Breeding Gene bank","Core collection","UPGMA","Maize","Protein","Starch High oil maize","Quality protein maize Maize","QPM","Top crosses","GCA","SCA","Grain yield Maize","QPM","Top crosses","GCA","SCA","Grain yield Maize","Zea mays L.","Starch content","Genetic main effects","GE interaction effects","Heritability Maize","Zea mays L.","Starch content","Genetic main effects","GE interaction effects","Heritability QPM","Development","Lysine","Tryptophan","Lndonesia OPM","Development","Lysine","Tryptophan","Lndonesia Seed production","Seed quality","Pre-sowing treatment","Transplanting","Parental line","Maize Maize","Protein","Energy","Lysine Maize","Protein","Energy","Lysine 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop Heterofertilization","Opaque-2","Marker assisted selection","Simple sequence repeat","Unequal crossing over","Maize Heteroferti/ization","Opaque-2","Marker assisted selection","Simple sequence repeat","Unequal crossing over","Maize Productivity","Community Based Seed Production","Open Pollinated Variety","Hybrids 'Proceedings of 1I1e Ninth Asian Regional Maize ytrkshop _ _ _ _ _ _ _1 Section IV : Technology Dissemination Seed","PVS","CBSP","Farmer preference Informal research and development","Community-based seed production and distribution","Farmers' seed system","Conflict Technology dissemination","Community-based seed production","Open-pollinated variety Adoption","Probit","Tobit","Ethnicity","Maize","Socioeconomic Adoption","Production efficiency","Maize","Nepal PVS","CBSP","Partnership","Gender","Food security","Inclusion","Livelihoods Section N: Technology Dissemination On-farm research and outreach","Corn-based technologies","Local government units Maize","PRA","PVS","PPB","Mother trial","Baby trial Maize","PRA","PVS","PPB","Mother trial","Baby trial .Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop Ow nitrogen tolerance","Maize inbreds","AMMI analysis Maize","Seed production","Seed priming","Technology adoption Maize","Seed production","Seed priming","Technology adoption Maize","Hybrids","Yield performance","Yield stability Technology","Community","Yield","Marketing linkage Maize","Production","In cambodia Section rJ : Technology Dissemination Biodiversity","Seed distribution systems","Rural livelihood","Participatory plant breeding"],"sieverID":"ee857509-5994-4659-a1da-f8bd8bc96e87","pagecount":"386","content":"11t51WffrJ (~) 5*1it~i ;IJ.:E1 f~. a~~($) i~H~1Ift i!flW~~~B. M. (~p)jt) *$JT~~J!!l P. H. (~p OC) *m~:9t~* Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop _:lLJiiID!i+I.3i**~~)e_made the 9 th Asian Regional Maize Workshop (9 th A RMW) a great success and assisted in many ways in bringing out these proceeding of this important scientific event in Asia. We express our gratitude and thanks to Ministry of Agriculture, China and to Institute of Crop Science, CAAS for thanking the initiative and most willingly offering to host the workshop and taking care of all the logistics arrangements prior to, during and even posterior to the workshop.We also would like to thank the co -sponsors at different leveh-;. Golden co -sponsors: Shandong Denghai velopment Bank also had gratefully given a fund to 9 th ARMW, supporting the travel expense of some scientists who gained the grants in Asia and CIMMYT. OUf sincere thanks to several CIMMYT staffs and some Chinese Scientists and staffs who helped in designing the meeting logo, formalting and assisting in blinging this document to the current form.We wish to finally thank all the people who had contlibuled into initiation, organization and being any driving force behind 9 th ARMW. We would like to thank them for their sincere and dedicated efforts.National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaResearch Centre developpernent internationaL made the 9 th Asian Regional Maize Workshop (9 th A RMW) a great success and assisted in mallY ways in bringing out these proceeding of this important scientific event in Asia. We express our gratitude and thanks to Ministry of Agriculturc, China and to Institute of Crop Science, CAAS for thanking the initiative and most willingly offering to host the workshop and taking care of all the logistics arrangements prior to, dU11ng and even posterior to the workshop.We also would like to thank the co -sponsors at different levels. velopment Bank also had gratefully given a fund to 9 th ARMW, supporting the travel expense of some scientists who gained the grants in Asia and CIMMYT. Our sincere thanks to several CIMMYT staffs and some Chinese Scientists and staffs who helped in designing the meeting logo, fOlmalting and assisting in b11nging this document to the current form.We wish to finally thank all the people who had eontlibuled into initiation, organization and being any driving force behind 9 th ARMW. We would like to thank them for their sincere and dedicated efforts.The Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop (9 th ARMW) had been organized and successfully held in September 5 th _9 th , 2005 in Beijing. Like its predecessors, the 9 th ARMW was three years later than 8 th ARMW. It was an important scientific event that brings together maize researchers region wide to interact, exchange ideas, share knowledge, and review progress of important research activities. This happens to be the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop organized jointly by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( CAAS), China and CIMMYT. I was very impressed with the scientific program as well as the logistical arrangements and wish to thank both CAAS and CIMMYT staff for doing such an excellent job and for choosing Zhongyuan Hotel. I would also like to recognize other national institutions and seed industry groups, who kindly and successfully assisted in various deliberations.More than 230 participants were from almost all the maize growing countries in Asia and several from outside of the region. The scientific presentations with oral or poster form which were compiled in the proceedings to form a witness of the meeting and how excellent the research had been done in the past years by the scientists of this region. The research that is presented here is top quality and very necessary to meet the demand of the region and will contribute to increasing sustainable productivity and profitability of maize in Asia. Demand for maize, especially for feed com is growing at a brisk pace, especially with the surging economy in many countries of Asia. As living standards improve, dietary habits change and the shortage of maize from being a food crop to a feed and industrial crop becomes more apparent. The demand for energy also drives the demand of com production into transformation biological energy from com starch. This workshop addresses some of these issues and focuses on both increasing productivity as well as utilization of maize forming the sections as maize breeding, abiotic and biotic stress, technology dissemination and value-added maize products. Outstanding scientists from the United States, European countries, CIMMYT and Asian countries addressed the com production at different aspects. The proceedings are the very products of their ideas.I am pleased to note that Indonesia is undergoing the organization of the 10 th Asian Regional Maize Workshop. CIMMYT, as always will continue to playa catalytic role towards this goal. As we know, Chinese maize research activities will be very active in the following events under this frame.Finally, I am confident that the maize breeders, agronomists, and other relevant expertise surely the participants and any readers of the proceedings will find the information and ideas herein useful in guiding future research programs.Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences November 10th, 2007The Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop (9 th ARMW) had been organized and successfully held in September 5 th _9 th , 2005 in Beijing. Like its predecessors, the 9 th ARMW was three years later than 8 th ARMW. It was an important scientific event that brings together maize researchers region wide to interact, exchange ideas, share knowledge, and review progress of important research activities. This happens to be the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop organized jointly by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( CAAS), China and CIMMYT. I was very impressed with the scientific program as well as the logistical arrangements and wish to thank both CAAS and CIMMYT staff for doing such an excellent job and for choosing Zhongyuan Hotel. I would also like to recognize other national institutions and seed industry groups, who kindly and successfully assisted in various deliberations.More than 230 participants were from almost all the maize growing countries in Asia and several from outside of the region. The scientific presentations with oral or poster form which were compiled in the proceedings to form a witness of the meeting and how excellent the research had been done in the past years by the scientists of this region. The research that is presented here is top quality and very necessary to meet the demand of the region and will contribute to increasing sustainable productivity and profitability of maize in Asia. Demand for maize, especially for feed com is growing at a brisk pace, especially with the surging economy in many countries of Asia. As living standards improve, dietary habits change and the shortage of maize from being a food crop to a feed and industrial crop becomes more apparent. The demand for energy also drives the demand of com production into transformation biological energy from com starch. This workshop addresses some of these issues and focuses on both increasing productivity as well as utilization of maize forming the sections as maize breeding, abiotic and biotic stress, technology dissemination and value-added maize products. Outstanding scientists from the United States, European countries, CIMMYT and Asian countries addressed the com production at different aspects. The proceedings are the very products of their ideas.I am pleased to note that Indonesia is undergoing the organization of the 10 th Asian Regional Maize Workshop. CIMMYT, as always will continue to playa catalytic role towards this goal. As we know, Chinese maize research activities will be very active in the following events under this frame.Finally, I am confident that the maize breeders, agronomists, and other relevant expertise surely the participants and any readers of the proceedings will find the information and ideas herein useful and Zhengdan 958 are the most important hybrids as 4 milestones in the history of maize hybridization in China. These lines and hybrids benefited both farmers and seed companies for the good performance in commercial maize production.Some 70% of the maize is consumed as feeding stuff, almost 19% are used for starch and ethanol industry, and 11 % are used as food in the mountainous areas in 2004. China imported or exported maize depending upon the harvest of maize and the weather in the crop seasons in some years.The animal production has been increasing and will continue to increase at a high rate of 5 % annually as economic development in China. The demand for feed com doubled during the past two decades and will continue to double again in the coming 2 decades. That means the demand for feed com will be keeping at a high rate of 4% in the coming decades. Also the demand for com consumed in biofuel industry will be continuing to increase in the future. But maize productivity will increase at 2% annually, although it is much higher than rice and wheat, which will be 1% annually, and there is a big gap between the demand and domestic supply.According to the FAO statistics, there are still significant gaps between China and America and also big potential to push maize production in China in the fu- and Zhengdan 958 are the most important hybrids as 4 milestones in the history of maize hybridization in China. These lines and hybrids benefited both farmers and seed companies for the good performance in commercial maize production.Some 70% of the maize is consumed as feeding stuff, almost 19% are used for starch and ethanol industry, and 11 % are used as food in the mountainous areas in 2004. China imported or exported maize depending upon the harvest of maize and the weather in the crop seasons in some years.The animal production has been increasing and will continue to increase at a high rate of 5 % annually as economic development in China. The demand for feed com doubled during the past two decades and will continue to double again in the coming 2 decades. That means the demand for feed com will be keeping at a high rate of 4% in the coming decades. Also the demand for com consumed in biofuel industry will be continuing to increase in the future. But maize productivity will increase at 2% annually, although it is much higher than rice and wheat, which will be 1% annually, and there is a big gap between the demand and domestic supply.According to the FAO statistics, there are still significant gaps between China and America and also big potential to push maize production in China in the fu-\"Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop ture. China produced as 49% of maize on 86% area as USA, and the yield potential was only 57% as USA in 2005.The increase of both maize production and yield potential has been slowdown after 1997 although the number of hybrids used in commercial maize production doubled during the past decade. The problem is that the yield stability has been ignored in breeding programs, due to the lower population density and poor drought stress tolerance.and Priorities Setting in R&D netic contribution of exotic germplasm to maize production is estimated as high as 60% in China. A research revealed that the CG germplasm contributed some 25kglha annually and US germplasm contributed lOkgl ha (Li HM et al., 2005).We can see that 4 of 5 subgroups came from 1 or Biotic stress is also more complex and severe than that in the US Corn Belt. Predominant diseases and insects include:3. 2 Abiotic stress is the first constraint in maize production Investment in maize production is lower, and these abiotic stresses have been being ignored by both commercial and public sectors due to the central planning economic constitution.The bottleneck of maize breeding program in China is lacking of germplasm. The genetic background of maize production is getting narrower as hybrids replaced traditional OPVs, although the yield level has been rising dramatically during the past four or five decades.Chinese farmers grew at least 12000 OPVs on 10 million ha of acreage 50 years ago. Today, maize acreage is more than 25 million ha, but farmers have only 200 hybrids. Most of the inbred lines were derived from 5 germplasm sources. Nearly 34% of the maize hybrids contains Lancaster germplasm, but most of parental lines are derived from Mo17 and its relatives in China.PA (Reid), Sipingtou and PB are very important germplasm in maize production, but all of them are derived from only one kernel of corn grain imported as feeding stuff from the US or an anonymity single cross or a pioneer commercial hybrid, respectively. Lvda Red Cob is the only germplasm that derived from a local OPV III north China, which shares less and less acreage.Recycling was a useful method, but is difficult to develop elite lines and hybrids with multi -disease re- Fusarium spp., Pythium spp.\"Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop ture. China produced as 49% of maize on 86% area as USA, and the yield potential was only 57% as USA in 2005.The increase of both maize production and yield potential has been slowdown after 1997 although the number of hybrids used in commercial maize production doubled during the past decade. The problem is that the yield stability has been ignored in breeding programs, due to the lower population density and poor drought stress tolerance.3 Challenges in Maize Production and Priorities Setting in R&D netic contribution of exotic germplasm to maize production is estimated as high as 60% in China. A research revealed that the CG germplasm contributed some 25kglha annually and US germplasm contributed lOkgl ha (Li HM et al., 2005).We can see that 4 of 5 subgroups came from 1 or 2 commercial hybrids or one inbred line respectively with only one exception of Lvda Red Cob. The genetic vulnerability is significant in maize production and research program in China. Therefore, germplasm enhancement, improvement and development are set as a top priority in maize research program in the country.Biotic stress is also more complex and severe than that in the US Com Belt. Predominant diseases and insects include: Investment in maize production is lower, and these abiotic stresses have been being ignored by both commercial and public sectors due to the central planning economic constitution.The bottleneck of maize breeding program in China is lacking of germplasm. The genetic background of maize production is getting narrower as hybrids replaced traditional OPVs, although the yield level has been rising dramatically during the past four or five decades.Chinese farmers grew at least 12000 OPVs on 10 million ha of acreage 50 years ago. Today, maize acreage is more than 25 million ha, but farmers have only 200 hybrids. Most of the inbred lines were derived from 5 germplasm sources. Nearly 34% of the maize hybrids contains Lancaster germplasm, but most of parental lines are derived from Mo17 and its relatives in China. PA (Reid), Sipingtou and PB are very important germplasm in maize production, but all of them are derived from only one kernel of com grain imported as feeding stuff from the US or an anonymity single cross or a pioneer commercial hybrid, respectively. Lvda Red Cob is the only germplasm that derived from a local OPV III north China, which shares less and less acreage.Recycling was a useful method, but is difficult to develop elite lines and hybrids with multi -disease re-  That means a big gap of maize breeding efforts between China and the US, and is a big challenge in front of maize scientists.Some people tend to develop <;upper corn hybrids to break through the yield barrier. More people emphasize into overcoming the r;onstraints for maize production through releasing yield potential of hybrids under stress conditions. Here involves 3 concepts to deal with yield improvement: actual yield, edge yield and genetic yield potential.The genetic yield defined as the highest yield potential achieved in cultivation triab by agronomists or physiologists, was 19. 5 tonslha in Denghai Seed Shandong province in 2005. The actual yield defined as the The actual yield gain was 127kg/halyr, ancl the edge yield gain was 120kg/ha/yr during 1980 through 1995 although the genetic yield gain was only 226kgl haly1'. During the past 10 year::; the vield gain reduced significantly. The aetual yield gain was 30kg/ha/yr due to the lower edge yield gain of 95kg/ha/yr during 1995 through 2005, although the genetie vield gain was as high as 850kg/ha/y1'. The gains data suggest that the gap between genetic and actual yields is magnified and the genetic yield is of a news maker only, and the real force to push the actual yield increase should be lhe edge yield. Breeders can contribute to this force through developing and releasing stresses lolerant hvbrid\". 25 , ---------------------------- What is th(\" commercial concept of yield? This is not clear for most of breeders overemphasized yield and heterosis abstractively, but ignored stress tolerance of hybrids. This is the reason why we developed so many riskY varieties, which looked very tall plant stature, full season and setting a big and good looking ear, but were usually susceptible to lodging and other ahiotic stresses such as population density, drought stress, low nitrogen and ultra temperature. Some people proposed a new concept of Super Corn to meet policy makers favori tes, which emphasized high yielding, abstractively, but ignored stress toleran(;e. Super Corn is neither the reasonable approach to increase the yield at the national level nor the farmer's choice for varieties. We should develop early hybrids with satisfied tolerance to both biotic and abiotic stresses, with high and stable yield potential over mega -environments to meet farmers favorites and requirements.Quality of products has been being ignored during the era of central planning economic constitution. High moisture at harvest in northeast provinces reduced the commercial quality of maize products. Starch and protein contents are lower in some area's products.Investment in both cultivation practice and technology dissemination has been being ignored since the constitutional reformation. Chinese farmers used 2. 3 times fertilizer application, but produced only 57 % of cereals as USA, and the costs of products are higher than USA and some other countries. Labor consumption and fertilizer application in China are significantly higher than other countries. This is the reason why the competition ability of maize products is weak in the market after China entered WTO. R&D for reducing the costs of products is also a top priority in the coming decades.Maize breeders developed and released a lot of new hybrids annually with high yield potential, but the gap between genetic and realized yields is still very big due to stress tolerance ignored, and thereafter the potential to meet the gap is very high. Heterosis is very important but not the only choice to increase the yield potential of hybrids, and breeding efforts should countermine the constraints, mostly abiotic stress tolerance.Research activities of maize in China focus on:1) Germplasm enhancement and improvement;2) Genetic diversity analysis of domestic and exotic germplasm;3 ) Gene discovery for resistance to SCMV, MRDV, head smut, BLSB, drought tolerance and others;4) Marker assisted selection; Mass selection was usually used to adapt tropical and subtropical germplasm under long -day conditions in temperate (Hallauer et al., 1988; Troyer et al.,   1976, 1985). CIMMYT pools and populations are being improved for adaptation in north China using biparental mass selection method successfully (Zhang et   al. 1995). We introduced 4 dozens of tropical and subtropical populations from CIMMYT, and will Improve and utilize some selected of them in maize breeding programs. These tropical populations are undergoing evolutionary improvement with bi -parental mass selection method and relayed from south to north provinces gradually. At least 14 institutions from 12 provinces are interested in this project. Bi -parental mass selection has been recognized as the common method of population improvement for adaptation. We also utilize the exotics by introgressive hybridization, e. g. crossing tropical and subtropical germplasm with adapted ones, and then select lines from the 650 semi -exotics after 2 -3 cycles of bulk pollination.Seven sub -tropical populations have been adapted to the northeast conditions and 13 CIMMYT populations have been adapted to the summer maize area in the north China. Twelve composites have been developed based on the heterotic pattern of CIMMYT and domestic populations or OPVs. We hope that this project will broaden the genetic base of hybrid maize breeding programs in China. We also introduced 30 Canadian and 18 US synthetics and hundreds of inbred lines with special quality, good combining ability, disease resistance, and early maturity from European countries and USA. These germplasm have been issued to maize breeders and used in breeding efforts.Heterotic pattern is the philosophical base of germplasm enhancement, improvement and development. We adopted 3 methods to reduce hundreds of lines to heterotic groups used in China. There are pedigree analysis, quantitative genetic analysis and molecular markers.The grouping analysis documented that there are at least 3 groups among inbred lines used in China, and distinguished 6 common testers for 6 sub -groups, respectively. These testers are Huangzao 4 for Sipingtou, Dan 340 for Lvda Red Cob, Mo17 for Lancaster, B73for BSSS, Ye 478 for PA and Qi 319 for PB subgroups, respectively (Zhang, 2002).430 maize inbred lines were assorted into 6 clusters based on the genetic similarity of SSR polymorphism from 70 SSR loci across the genome, and then the 6 clusters were merged into 3 heterotic groups. Heterotic Group (HG) A consists of Reid, and PA, which is compatible with Reid. HG B consists of Lancaster and PB, which is compatible with non -Reid. There is another group named as Domestic (HG D) which is consisted of Lvda Red Cob and Sipingtou germplasm.When HG D splits, Lvda Red Cob will go to HG A, and Sipingtou will go to HG B, based on the SCA effects of HG D lines to common testers in maize breeding efforts in the future. Maize breeders have been trying to exploit heterotic patterns to facilitate breeding activities. Breeders experience showed that new lines can be derived from crosses between sub -groups within an HG, and it is more efficient to develop hybrids between HG.The genetic linkage maps for mapping of SCMV, MRDV, head smut, BLSB and drought tolerance have been constructed, and the target traits have been investigated in the F 2 : 3 family lines. For example, a genetic linkage map of 1659cM including 130 SSR and 119AFLP markers have been constructed with the (X178 X B73) F 2 population. Two major QTLs for SCMV resistance explaining between 48.6% and 55.7% of the phenotypic variance have been detected on chromosomes 3, and 6 in a two -year replicated field trial under artificial inoculation at four growth stages in the 216 F 2 : 3 family lines. These two QTLs mainly showed additive and partial dominant gene actions (Chen et at., 2005) .With the (Huangza04 X Mo17) F2 population, a linkage map of 1956cM including 84 SSR and 135AFLP markers, has been completed. Five QTLs conferring resistance to head smut have been detected, one each on the chromosomes 1, 3 and 8 and two on chromosome 2 based on the field investigation of 184 F 2 : 3 family lines. Two major linked QTL on chromosome 2 explaining 44. 6% and having mostly additive or dominant gene action, have potential use in molecular marker -assisted selection for head smut resistance in maize ( Shi et at., 2005).The 213 F2 : 3 families derived from X178 X B73 F2 population were also evaluated for drought tolerance in the field in three sites. Composite interval mapping on the linkage map of 1659cM including 130 SSR and 119AFLP markers identified two QTLs involved in expression of ASI, ear setting rate and grain yield consistently on chromosomes 1 and 9 under normal irrigation and drought stress (Hao et at., 2005). j 02/02 endospenns are opaque (chalky) in appearance, and the 22 kDa family of zeins are substantially reduced, resulting in a marked alteration in the amino acid content of the collective proteins, specifically, the lysine and tryptophan contents are greatly enhanced.The changes in the amino acid profile result from the less quantities of zeins present. There is no change in the amino acid composition of the nonzein proteins.Three microsatellite markers were found within the 0-paque2 gene and fonn the basis for three PCR -based SSR markers mapping to the short ann of chromosome 7, bin 7.01. The SSR markers, phi057and phi112 developed at Pioneer Hi -bred, and umc1 066 developed at the University of Missouri, Columbia (Missouri Maize Project) mapping to the short ann of chromosome 7 (www. agron. missouri. edu/ssr. html) give amplification products of about 140 -160bp. These markers have been used in MAS for-development of QPM lines (Tian et at., 2004)   Maize breeding efforts have been being commercialized since the 1990s in China, which will influence the maize research activities and the relationship between the public and private sectors. Demand for maize will continue to increase in the coming decades in China as the development of economics, and the public invest- The United States produces 40% of the world's com harvest. Records of annual com yields in the UnitedStates may be divided into four different time periods.The first period was from 1866 to 1930, when farmers planted open pollinated com varieties. The average yield was about 1 695 kglha or 27 bu/a. Figure 1 clearly shows that there was no yield increase over this time period. The second period was from 1930 to 1960, when the double cross hybrids were dominating the market at first, but gradually replaced by single cross hybrids. The average yield was about 3 138 kgl ha or 50 bu/a, and yield steadily increased at a rate of about 2 % per year. The third period was from 1960 to 1996, when all com acreage planted in United States was single cross hybrids. The average com yield increased by about 2. 1% per year from 1960 to 1996 ( Table 1, Figure 1), although yields appear to be more varied and therefore less stable from year to year. The forth period was from 1996 till present, when transgenic single cross hybrids carrying genes resistant to pests and tolerant to herbicides dominate the seed market.The highest record com yield in the United States was 23 203 kglha or 370 bu/a in 1985 by Herman Warsaw in Illinois and in 2003 by an Iowa Farmer. It is estimated that the maximum com yield potential IS 43 898 kglha or 700 bu/a (Mumm, 2004).Since transgenic com hybrids aim to mInImIZe yield loss from insects, weeds and!or environmental stress, this technology might serve the function to stabilize com yield under stress or unfavorable growing condition. In line with this is the observation that yield appears to be relatively consistent in the last eight years (Table 1) which is coincident with the introduction of transgenic com hybrids. The large com seed companies have made a real commitment to R&D programs in biotechnology and continue to make significant investments in gene transformation. The middle and small size com seed companies now focus their efforts in licensing transferred genes from an originator and mainly try to do gene conversion to their existing inbred lines. Therefore, some of the new hybrids from biotechnology are actually sister hybrids carrying single, multiple or stacked transgenic genes. These genes help yield stability, but do not directly help increase yield. Thus,Modem com growing in United States was introduced from Mexico 3 000 years ago. The domesticated hybrid com nowadays is the result of centuries of continuous breeding and selection efforts for human needs and for adapting to the changing environment. In this process, com moved from a long season tropical area with moderate climate in southern Mexico, to a shorter season temperate area the United States Com Belt (Troyer, 2004) with more variation with day length, season length, temperature, and rainfall. Com growing areas started about 3 000 years ago became 72 million acres in 2000. In the last eighty years, com yield increased steadily, and finally reached 10 billion bushels or 260 million tons in 2003. This great success in com production can be attributed in significant part to com breeding efforts, which applied very careful trait selections to the inbred -hybrid method. Now com is one of the most important crops for the United States. Com products have very significant influence for the Economy and for a typical American's daily life. Com is an amazing crop for the United States.The United States produces 40% of the world's com harvest. Records of annual com yields in the UnitedStates may be divided into four different time periods.The first period was from 1866 to 1930, when farmers planted open pollinated com varieties. The average yield was about 1 695 kg!ha or 27 bu/a. Figure 1 clearly shows that there was no yield increase over this time period. The second period was from 1930 to 1960, when the double cross hybrids were dominating the market at first, but gradually replaced by single cross hybrids. The average yield was about 3 138 kg! ha or 50 bu/a, and yield steadily increased at a rate of about 2 % per year. The third period was from 1960 to 1996, when all com acreage planted in United States was single cross hybrids. The average com yield increased by about 2. 1% per year from 1960 to 1996 ( Table 1, Figure 1), although yields appear to be more varied and therefore less stable from year to year. The forth period was from 1996 till present, when transgenic single cross hybrids carrying genes resistant to pests and tolerant to herbicides dominate the seed market.The highest record com yield in the United States was 23 203 kg!ha or 370 bu/a in 1985 by Herman Warsaw in Illinois and in 2003 by an Iowa Farmer. It is estimated that the maximum com yield potential IS 43 898 kg!ha or 700 bu/a (Mumm, 2004).Since transgenic com hybrids aim to mInImIZe yield loss from insects, weeds and!or environmental stress, this technology might serve the function to stabilize com yield under stress or unfavorable growing condition. In line with this is the observation that yield appears to be relatively consistent in the last eight years (Table 1) which is coincident with the introduction of transgenic com hybrids. The large com seed companies have made a real commitment to R&D programs in biotechnology and continue to make significant investments in gene transformation. The middle and small size com seed companies now focus their efforts in licensing transferred genes from an originator and mainly try to do gene conversion to their existing inbred lines. Therefore, some of the new hybrids from biotechnology are actually sister hybrids carrying single, multiple or stacked transgenic genes. These genes help yield stability, but do not directly help increase yield. Thus, despite the obvious investment and optimism there are concerns about effects of investing in biotechnology, which may slow down genetic gain. The application of enhancements in breeding as well as gene transformation can couple with doubled haploid method to speed up new inbred line development and new hybrid release (Forester and Thomas, 2005). There is no doubt that there is a continuing need for future improvements in breeding and biotechnology for better crop protection, agronomic performance and yield.Table 1 United States com acreage (million acl\"1!S) , average yield per harvested acre (bushel!acre) and total production (million bushels) in selected years from 1866 to 2000 (Tracy, Goldman Tiefenthaler and Schaber, 2004) Tanaba in 1966, U. S. No. 3616221), white and red meats, candy bars, ice cream, beers, bourbon whiskey, industrial chemicals, ethanol in gasoline, penicillin and in the paper sizing of a glossy magazine (Wilkes, 2004). Considering the importance of corn to the American way of life, it is remarkable that so few appreciate and understand the uniqueness of the com plant (Wallace andBrown, 1956,1988).The huge volume of corn grain harvested every year has to go through various channels for consumption. Com supply and demand has to be balanced by various means. When supply is greater than demand, the corn price is going to drop which unfortunately reduces a farmer's profit margin, the government is going to be burdened with a huge amount of corn surplus inventory, the corn acreage is going to drop next year to reduce corn production, and the next year the demand may be greater than supply to cause corn shortage.Thus supply and demand has to be balanced. The corn production needs to be stabilized as well. Figure 2  for ethanol, 24. 9 million tons or 10% for food industry and the rest 2. 5 % for liquors. Currently, com yield is despite the obvious investment and optimism there are concerns about effects of investing in biotechnology, which may slow down genetic gain. The application of enhancements in breeding as well as gene transformation can couple with doubled haploid method to speed up new inbred line development and new hybrid release (Forester and Thomas,2(05). There is no doubt that there is a continuing need for future improvements in breeding and biotechnology for better crop protection, agronomic performance and yield. Most corn grain produced in United States is mainly for animal feed. Relatively little is a direct food source for human consumption, which includes mainly the specialty grains for specific utilization such as popcorn, white corn, food -grade corn, waxy corn and fresh edible sweet corn. Thus a typical American way of life depends heavily on corn products. This comes directly from such products as corn flakes, chips, sweet corn, corn oil, and indirectly from a vast array of products such as milk and milk products like cheese and butter on the breakfast table, eggs, drinks containing HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup patented by Takasaki and 5ecIIon I: Maize Bleeding 1 0 0 0 0 . -------------------, 8000+--------------------1111'-1';;'~6 OOO+--------------jr-HiI-t----'~4000+----------------1'1-------1OL..--...,.--.....,...--,------,-----,r--...,.----' 1866 188619061926194619661986 Year Year Figure 1 Annual average U. S. maize yields (kglha) from 1866 to 2000 (Tracy, Goldman  Tiefenthaler and Schaber, 2004) Tanaba in 1966, U. S. No. 3616221), white and red meats, candy bars, ice cream, beers, bourbon whiskey, industrial chemicals, ethanol in gasoline, penicillin and in the paper sizing of a glossy magazine (Wilkes, 2004). Considering the importance of corn to the American way of life, it is remarkable that so few appreciate and understand the uniqueness of the corn plant (Wallace andBrown, 1956,1988).The huge volume of corn grain harvested every year has to go through various channels for consumption. Corn supply and demand has to be balanced by various means. When supply is greater than demand, the corn price is going to drop which unfortunately reduces a farmer's profit margin, the government is going to be burdened with a huge amount of corn surplus inventory, the corn acreage is going to drop next year to reduce corn production, and the next year the demand may be greater than supply to cause corn shortage.Thus supply and demand has to be balanced. The corn production needs to be stabilized as well. Figure 2 is a simplified flowchart of 2003 United States corn production and utilization. In Summary, a total of 258 million tons of corn grains were produced that year. Among those, 156.8 million tons or 60.5% were consumed as feed, 2. 54 million tons or 1% as silage, 41. 2 million tons or 15.9% for export, 26 million tons or 10. 1% for ethanol, 24. 9 million tons or 10% for food industry and the rest 2. 5 % for liquors. Currently, corn yield is about 140 bushels per acre. It is estimated, with a 2% yield increase per year, that the average yield in 2020 will be 198bu/a, in 2040 will be 286bu/a, and in 2050 will be 348bu/a. If the corn acreage maintains the same, overall US corn production will definitely increase significantly in the near future.There are many underlying causes of increased corn productivity in United States. Changes that had a large impact in increasing productivity include genetic improvement, management and cultural practices, new technol-ogIes, economics, expansion and utilization ( Warren, 1998;Tracy et at. , 2004). All new inventions or technology advancements did not happen at once, but occurred in a gradual, continuous, overlapping and sometimes transitory fashion. Therefore, it is very difficult to define achievements in a very specific time period. But for purposes of describing the corn breeding progress in United States, it is possible to document certain major advancements during each decade in 20 th century as follows.1920s: Use open pollinate corn varieties, such as Reid Yellow Dent.1930s: Establish inbred-hybrid method, develop double cross and single cross hybrids.1940s: Establish multiple years, replicates and locations yield test.1950s: Mechanization, apply fertilizers, lITIgation, herbicides, insecticides.1960s: Application of cytoplasmic male sterility.1970s: Pollen mutagenesis, tissue culture, haploids, somaclonal variation.1980s: Molecular techniques (isozymes, DNA Fingerprinting) .1990s: Biotechnology and Gene Transformation.Future Surely continued investment in Breeding.The Illinois long term selection for high oil, low oil, high protein and low protein is the best example to describe the significant breeding results that can be achieved simply by targeted selection ( Dudley and Lambert, 2004). Cyril G. Hopkins initiated the long-term selection experiment for oil and protein in corn at the University of Illinois in 1896. The original objective was to determine whether the chemical composition of the corn kernel could be changed by selection. Results indicated that kernel oil and protein content could be either increased or decreased gradually through targeted selection. In addition, the oil and protein content could be switched back or reversed from low to high, or from high to low at any point. Many other traits respond well to selection, such as ear length, stalk strength and maturity (Hallauer et at., 2004;Troyer, 2000). Selecting for genetic difference is the basis for breeding. The quantitative \"simple\" genetic traits usually respond quickly to selection, whereas the qualitative \"complex\" traits respond more slowly and require several cycles of selection (Redei, 2004).In United States, great achievements in corn breeding were centered on the application of single cross hybrids and the theory of hybrid vigor. Breeders focused on many factors including: improving inbred line performance to reduce inbreeding depression, understanding the genetic basis of heterosis, classification of heterotic groups and heterotic pattern to better describe combining ability and yield, improved source populations and selection efficiency, applicatiori of cytoplasmic male sterility in seed production, developments in double haploid method to quickly produce fixed pure elite lines, improved cultural practice and farm management, utilization of molecular techniques to fix unknown variables during breeding process, and the application of transgenic traits from gene transformation.were the two scientists who laid -down the foundations for maize inbred -hybrid breeding method. They independently rediscovered the phenomenon of inbreeding depression and hybrid vigor in maize, and separately reported their results in 19'08. Shull coined the term \"heterosis\" to describe hybrid vigor (Duvick, 2001).The term inbreeding depression describes the reduction in vigor often observed in progeny from continuous selfings or from matings between close relatives. It is thought to be due to the expression of homozygous recessive deleterious alleles. Heterosis or hybrid vigor defines the increased vigor of growth, plant form, survival and fertility of hybrids than their two homozygous parents. It usually results from crosses between two genetically different, yet highly compatible elite inbred lines (Schlegel, 2003). In theory, heterosis may come from genetic dominance or overdominance, but the real mechanism is not clear.The term heterotic group describes a group of genotypes that have similar combining ability or heterotic response when crossed to genotypes from other heterotic groups. A heterotic pattern defines a specific pair of heterotic groups, such as Stiff Stalk Synthetic and Lancaster, Reid Yellow Dent and Lancaster, Stiff Stalk Synthetic and non-Stiff Stalk Synthetic and so forth. G.H. Stringfield initiated grouping inbred lines for breeding purposes in 1947. At that time, no useful tool or information was available to define line differences and the inbred lines were arbitrarily assigned to either group A ( odd test number) or group B (even test number) .The rule was that lines within each group could be crossed to each other, but lines between groups should never be crossed. This method unavoidably put many closely related sister lines into different groups. The originating station was responsible for shifting lines to provide for maximum genetic diversity between groups.This policy was on hold until the late 1980s. With great improvements in tools and data, it is now possible to assign inbred lines more precisely to the heterotic group to which it belongs. Tools include genetic divers~ty, yield based combining ability and RFLP based genetic distance (Tracy andChandler, 2004, 2005).A good lesson in classifying lines into different heterotic groups came from studies of two heterotic groups, Stiff Stalk and non-Stiff Stalk (mainly lodent) , which were actually derived by conventional breeding for com hybrid development from the same source:Reid Yellow Dent. Going through the breeding process and analysis using molecular marker polymorphisms, it section I: Maize Breeding was found that the inbreds from the pre-heterotic group era formed one large cluster with no clear groupings.Surprisingly, the modem Stiff Stalk and non-Stiff Stalk inbreds form discrete groups divergent from one another and discrete from the pre-heterotic group cluster ( Tracy andChandler, 2004, 2005) (Figure 2). The SSR polymorphism data indicate a clear divergence between the allele profiles of the inbreds created by pedigree breeding in the Stiff Stalk and non-Stiff Stalk heterotic groups ( Duvick et at., 2004). Thus it appears that the modem heterotic groups were created by careful long-term selection and did not exist in the original germplasm. -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 Dimension 1Figure 2 Scores for 94 inbreds contributing to the Era hybrids on the first two dimensions of the multidimensional scaling analysis of the SSS polymorphism data for 298 SSR loci (R 2 =O. 45 for the two dimension model) (Duvick et al. , 2004) During the early stages of hybrid com development shortly after 1908, the phenomenon of inbreeding depression became obvious. All the inbred lines generated at that time were weak and low yielding. Therefore, the cost for seed production became too high to make it profitable until the application of double cross hybrids in 1918. It was the double cross hybrids that kept the com hybrid breeding going for the next twenty years.At the same time, the com breeders worked very hard to eliminate most deleterious or undesirable genetic traits from their source materials. The plant vigor, stress tolerance and yield of the newer inbred lines were getting better and better, and seed production gradually became more and more profitable. In the 1940's, the double cross com hybrids were gradually replaced by the single cross com hybrids, and in 1960's the single cross hybrids completely took over the whole market.Duvick detennined that 60% of the com yield increase could be attributed to genetic improvement. Most of those traits are basically improvements of the inbred line itself for better yield, better resistance and stress tolerance, such as increased seed row number, increased stalk strength and root strength, stay green, decreased number of barren stalks and silk delays, reduced ear drops, tolerance to higher nitrogen fertilization, increased drought and heat tolerance, smaller leaf angle, and improved pest resistance (Duvick et ai. , 2004). The other 40% could be contributed to cultural practices, such as better weed control, more mechanization, more fertilizer, more plants per acre and better pest control (Duvick, 1992;Troyer, 2000).There are two breeding strategies for furthering com diversity in United States. First, breeders are introducing early flint germplasm into mid-west dent com to improve earliness in maturity and to move com growth further north to cooler environment (Troyer, 2000). Second, breeders are introducing late tropical gennplasm into mid -west dent com to enhance useful genetic traits and to avoid genetic vulnerability and economic risk (Pollak, 2003). The Latin American Maize Project (LAMP) was initiated in 1987 by $ 1. 5 million donation from Pioneer Hi -Bred International and was completed in 1992. Twelve countries were involved as cooperators and 12 000 accessions comprising 74% of the known races of maize were evaluated .. Selected useful germplasms from LAMP project were carried over by the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize (GEM) project with limited funding from public and private donation. Results are quite promising. Certain useful breeding materials with high protein, high oil, unique starch properties and improved silage qualities were released. Other genetic traits, such as disease resistance, stalk rot and ear rot resistance, pest resistance, and stress tolerance are in breeding progress (Blanco et ai. , 2005).Biotechnology is the coming wave for crop improvement. Yields of hybrid corn can be stabilized by various transgenes that minimize pest damage and reduce the competition from weeds or some kinds of natural stress. There are some mixed feelings about genetically modified (GM) products from gene transformation and biotechnology, but many Unites States farmers like the outcome and are willing to pay more money for the GM products ( Duvick, 2001). The GM products, such as Bt and RoundUp Ready, work perfectly well in controlling European Corn Borers and Weeds. The demands are so high from farmers, retailers, sales agents and brokers, that every good size seed company now invests a huge amount of money III licensing GM products and gene conversion, testing and marketing. According to news in Iowa Farmer Today ( August 24 '\\ 2004), there were 685 hybrids sold in Iowa in 2004 (Table 2). Among those, 535 hybrids or 78% come from biotechnology and are carrying at least one transferred gene, 144 or 21 % come from conventional breeding, and 6 or 1 % are organic hybrids. Only a few companies control those GM products. For example, genes on the market for production, marketing and sales are available under appropriate licensing agreements from: Monsanto having RoundUp Ready, Yield Guard Corn Borer, Yield Guard Root Worm; Bayer having Liberty Link; Dow AgroScience having Herculex 1; BASF having Clearfield ( a non GM product); and Syngenta having Btl Yield Guard/LL. Table 3 listed various transferred genes used separately, combined or stacked in those transgenic hybrids. According to the USDA 2005 statistics, U. S. com growers planted 52% of their corn acres with varieties developed using biotechnology. That represents a 5 % increase from 2004. Iowa farmers planted 60 % of their com acres with biotech this year ( Des Moines Register, July 17 '\\ 2005). Obviously, gene transformation is going to continue to be a big picture for the future com breeding and hybrid development.  The com seed business in United States is operated by the private Sector. All private seed business has its right to compete with each other freely for its market share and future expansion. The responsibilities of the government and public institutions are mainly focused on basic research, education, service and maintaining germplasm resources. Therefore, direct investment in com breeding from public sector is very limited. According to the survey by Frey in 1996, there were 2 241 scientific years devoted to plant breeding. Among those, 1 499 (67 %) were in private companies and 545 (24%) were involved in com breeding. Among those 545 in com breeding, 512 (94%) were In private sector (Fowler and Lower, 2005).Hybrid seed com enterprises in United States started in 1920s. During early 1930s, four com seed companies dominated the market, and each one had about 20% to 25% market share (Duvick,2(01). These four companies were Hi -Bred Com Company, founded by Henry A. Wallace, DeKalb Hybrid Com, founded by Thomas Roberts, Sf., Funk Brothers Seed Company, founded by Eugene D. Funk, Sf., and Pfister Associate Growers, founded by Lester Pfister (Crabb, 1992).DeKalb Hybrid Com developed many superior hybrids during 1960s and expanded to over 40% of the total market share. For example, DeKalb XIA5 that was release in 1963, could adapt to grow anywhere from New   York to California, and from Canada to Texas (Troyer, 2004). The other three companies were losing their market share. During 1970s, Pioneer Hi-Bred gradually caught up and produced many superior hybrids. Those hybrids helped Pioneer Hi-Bred to quickly expand its market share over 40% and Pioneer has dominated the hybrid seed com business since then. During 199Os, large chemical companies stepped into seed business and started purchasing seed companies. With all the change of ownership, mergers, de-mergers, and going out of business, the number of independent seed businesses today is estimated now to be less than 300 companies. The following is a short list of some of the major changes (Beck, 2004). The development of molecular technologies and their applications in Bioscience has gradually changed the content of conventional com breeding. The precise information collected at the DNA level reduces the amount of unknowns or variables. The art part of corn breeding is gradually diluted and the science part is becoming more determinate. With the assistance of genetic based molecular data for various useful traits, com breeders can now make accurate determinations to choose the best candidate from breeding materials.Corn hybrids carrying stacked genes with multiple protections against environmental stress and tolerance to between-plant competition are the most promising commercial products for future com hybrid seed market.Hybrid corn yield unquestionably is going to continue to increase worldwide. Because of the abundance of hybrid com production, the impact on world food supply now becomes less significant. In the near future, a slower growth rate of com yield increase from corn breeding may be expected and acceptable. According to analysis of 968 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) alleles on all selected hybrids from one major seed company in Iowa from 1930 to 2000, there were and only 26 in the 2000s hybrids (Duvick et al., 2004). It implies that many of the favorable alleles are now fixed in the existing breeding materials, and genetic diversity appears to be decreased greatly. This suggests that it is going to become more difficult to continue to breed for higher yielding com hybrids. On the other hand, the most important mission for com breeders now is to focus on the practical application of gene transformation as well as all other accurate means to policy changes of those' seed businesses could affect the whole com-breeding landscape.During 2003 ASTA (American Seed Trait Association) Conference, a panel discussion was conducted for potential release of private -sector inbreds to the public. In general, breeders support the idea to release the old commercial inbreds, but there were certain concerns raised during the debate. On one side there were opinions that it was acceptable to own genotypes and rearrange or tweak them into elite genotypes by conventional com breeding. On another side it was argued that the vast collection of natural genes should be available Com breeding is very complicated, yet profitable.to all in order to maintain the cooperative spirit that led Private seed com businesses compete with each other to the modem com varieties (Geadelmann, 2003). On for market share and profitability and therefore use vari-the other side, commercial breeders still fear that such ous means to cut down direct communications as well as release of their old elite inbreds could reveal knowledge using the best forms of intellectual property protection of valuable genes or gene complexes that were unique to for its inbreds and hybrids (Fowler and Lower, 2005). their own breeding programs. Allowing other companiesTrade secrecy and patenting remain important tools and to identify and use such genes would give rival breeders seed companies cooperate less and less for materials a new competitive advantage: one that they would not and information. The important outcome is that no one have had, if the\" old elite\" inbreds had not been recan freely use patented materials for future breeding ap-leased for research purposes (Duvick, 2003). In conplication and fewer good materials are available in pub-elusion, com breeding has generated a vibrant and lie domain. Thus the future fate of com breeding devel-profitable industry already full of important achieveopment is in the hands of fewer large seed business and ments with an exciting prospect of many more to come. There are hundreds of companies involved in the maize breeding sector in the summer maize region. As more seed companies become involved in breeding, the development and release of new hybrids has speeded up.According to the Variety Approval System in China, hybrids must be evaluated in Regional Variety Trials (RVT) for two successive years, and in Strip Trials (ST) for one year. In addition, each province has established a provincial approval committee. In recent years, the National Crop Variety Approval Committee has approved 40 -50 varieties annually. In each province, 10 -20 varieties are released each year. For the summer maize region, as per national needs, the National RVT has approved 39, 58 and 70 varieties, respectively, during 2002 -2004 (Liao et at., 2002-2004). In each provincial RVT, many crosses are evaluated annually ( 100 -300). Although 60% -70% of the varieties are developed by companies, and only 30% -40% are from public institutions, those developed by the public sector usually perform better. Moreover, public institutions have released the most elite Liming Wang, Qingfa Guo, Zhaodong Meng, Zhijing Han, Xinxue Gao, Zhixian Liu and Xiaoqing Zhang Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong, P. R. China, E-mail: Imwang@saas.ac.cnThe major constraints for summer maize production in China are the short crop season, hurricanes, severe biotic and abiotic stresses, all of which reduce yield under summer maize conditions. The yield potential for summer maize hybrids in farmers' fields should reach 12 Vha. Elite hybrids should be early in maturity, resistant to diseases, tolerant to drought stress and lodging resistant at a planting density of 75 000 plants/ ha. The yield potential of the inbred lines per se should reach 6 Vha and 9 Vha, respectively, in the summer and spring maize regions. For summer maize breeding, the three dominant heterotic groups are Reid, Sipingtou and PB. The top three heterotic combinations are Reid x Sipingtou, PB x Reid, and PB x Sipingtou. The best strategy of inbred lines development, is to enhance the selection pressure by increasing population density (to over 100 000 plants/ha) in the nursery, and to especially focus on lodging resistance. Germplasm improvement, should involve important germplasms such as Sipingtou (representative line, Huangzao 4), Reid (Ye478), PB (Qi319), and their relatives. The other two major heterotic groups namely Lancaster and Luda Red Cob used in spring maize breeding programs are susceptible to diseases in the summer maize area, and it is better to introduce exotic germplasm to improve the domestic populations. There are hundreds of companies involved in the maize breeding sector in the summer maize region. As more seed companies become involved in breeding, the development and release of new hybrids has speeded up.According to the Variety Approval System in China, hybrids must be evaluated in Regional Variety Trials (RVT) for two successive years, and in Strip Trials (ST) for one year. In addition, each province has established a provincial approval committee. In recent years, the National Crop Variety Approval Committee has approved 40 -50 varieties annually. In each province, 10 -20 varieties are released each year. For the summer maize region, as per national needs, the National RVT has approved 39, 58 and 70 varieties, respectively, during 2002 -2004  (Liao et ai., 2002(Liao et ai., -2004)). In each provincial RVT, many crosses are evaluated annually (100 -300). Although 60% -70% of the varieties are developed by companies, and only 30% -40% are from public institutions, those developed by the public sector usually perform better. Moreover, public institutions have released the most elite The crop season for summer maize is shorter, being usually planted after wheat. It is hard to meet the demand of nutrition for big ears during a short season. So the breeding goal is to develop hybrids with compact plant type and medium-large ears. The yields of some hybrids in small plots (0. 07 ha) trials were up to 15 tI ha. In contrast, average yields in farmers' fields are only 4 -6 tlha. A major goal is to increase yields in farmers' fields. The breeding goals for the high yielding maize are that the yield potential should reach 15 tlha in experimental plots (1 -2 ha), and 12 tlha on farmers' fields. Elite hybrids should be lodging resistant at population densities of 75 000 plants/ha and resist-ant to major diseases. The maturity should be early or medium. Not only the hybrids should perform very well, but also the parental lines per se should be good in agronomic characteristics. The yield of inbred lines and seed production fields should reach 6t1ha in the summer maIze region, and 9t1ha in the spring maize region.In recent years, unfavorable weather, drought and severe disease epidemics have been the major factors affecting yield stability in summer maize production.It was estimated that more than 2. 6 million ha (50% of the area) of maize in Shandong is affected by drought annually. Average yields III Shandong reached 5 790 kg/ha in 1991, but dropped to 4 210 kg/ha in 1997 because of severe drought. The major diseases in the summer maize region are southern leaf blight, stalk rot, smut, SCMV and northern leaf blight (Table 1). More recently, southern leaf rust and curvularia leaf spot have become more important. Asian corn borer is not a serious pest for summer maize production. Heterotic patternsA lot of research work has been carried out on maIze germplasm since the mid -1980s (Zhang et at., 2000, Guo et at., 2000). During 1980During -1998, the four major heterotic groups were Reid, Lancaster, Sipingtou and Luda Red Cob, and the predominant combinations were ~eid x Sipingtou, Reid x Luda Red Cob, Lancaster x Sipingtou, and Lancaster x Luda Red Cob. The germ-plasm has changed since 1999, as a number of new lines (named as PB group) were derived from American materials containing some tropical germplasm (Table 2). The Reid and Sipingtou groups still maintain high levels of use in summer maize, but the Lancaster and Luda Red Cob groups have dropped rapidly (Table 2) .From 1999 to 2004, with the widespread extension of new hybrids, viz. LudanSO, CAUl08, Ludan981 and Zhengdan958, their parental lines Qi319, X178 (PB group), Zheng58 (Reid), Lx9801, and Chang7-2 (Sipingtou) have become the most predominant germ-plasm in the summer maize area.Table 2 Current heterotic groups predominating in the summer maize areaWhen a new variety disseminates successfully and shares a large proportion of the growing area, its parental lines also become the predominant germplasm.These lines should possess good combing ability, excellent agronomic characteristics and high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The predominant inbred lines (germplasm) in the summer maize region are Ye 478 (Reid), Huangzao 4 (Sipingtou), Qi319 (PB) and their derivatives.Improvement of Ye 478 and its derivative lines:Inbred line Ye 478 was derived from the cross U8112 X Shen5003. Its original parents, derived from American commercial hybrids, are of the Reid group. Ye 478 has compact plant-type, which is adaptable to high plant densities. Its disadvantage is disease susceptibility.Improvement of this germplasm should focus on disease resistance, such as SCMV, MRDV, stalk rot and curvularia leaf spot.Improvement on Huangzao 4 and its derivative lines: Huangzao 4, the core germplasm of the Sipingtou group, is an excellent domestic line, especially for summer maize breeding and production. It possesses an erect plant type, with abundant pollen, short grain filling period, early maturity and good fecundity. This group has incomparably high combing ability, but r:equires enhanced lodging resistance and disease resistance, such as leaf rust and northern leaf blight. The light color of the kernel is undesirable in the marketplace.Emphasis research on PB group: A number of inbred lines were derived from American commercial hybrids that are presumed to contain some tropical or subtropical germplasm. This group of lines includes X178, Qi319, P138, Shen137 and others. The outstanding The need for multi-location trials to accelerate variety developmentIn the past, hybrids were evaluated at only 1 -2 locations for 2 -3 years before RVT. To accelerate the release of new hybrids, breeding programs are now adopting multi-location trials requiring more seed of each combination for 5 -6 locations. We usually test 10 000 combinations at 2 -3 locations and about 300 -500 outstanding combinations are selected annually. The promising combinations are evaluated at 5 -6 locations in the following year. Then, 20 -30 elite crosses are selected and promoted to the provincial and national RVT.For elite breeding materials, it is better to make testcrosses at the S3 generation. Currently, breeders usually produce testcrosses in winter nurseries in Hainan, a south subtropical island of China. Early generation testing (EGT) enables breeders to drop poor inbred lines, and to improve the combing abilities of the remaining lines. The challenge of EGT is for highly variable agro-'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop nomic traits. The scale of breeding programs is another challenge. Although there are 200 -300 groups involved in summer maize breeding programs, most of them are small companies employing only 1 or 2 breeders or technicians, working on only about 1 -2ha. Even in the public sector, the SI ( F 2 ) population is small, usually less 100 individuals. For the segregating population, the S\\ should contain at least 1 000 plants.For many breeding programs, lodging resistance is extremely important. Because of lodging, many high yielding varieties have to be planted at less than optimal densities, that do not permit achievement of the overall yield potential. High density planting is an effective approach to identify lodging resistance III breeding nurseries. The population density of S\\ -S2generations should be 100 OOOplants/ha, and the S3 -S5 could be 90 OOOplants/ha. For variety evaluation trials, the densities should be 75 000 plants/ ha, whereas planting densities in farmers' fields are only 45 000 -60 OOOplants/ha. It is impossible to meet the huge yield gaps, relative to the USA, under such low densities.The successful dissemination of new hybrids not only rely on yield potential, but also on the productivity of parent lines per se. High seed productivity, (ow photoperiod sensitivity, simple seeding technology and synchronous male and female flowering are also important aspects for commercial application of elite inbred lines. In farmers' fields, there are still many late maturing varieties with big ears, tall plants, and low densities. Such hybrids may be good in appearance, but are at risk during unfavorable seasons.There remains a big gap between the yield potential and the real yield. More emphasis must be given to the real yields achieved by farmers. Varieties for summer maize production should be early maturing and have good kernel characteristics with minimal risks for extensive cultivation at high population densities.Maize is the second most important staple food crop in Nepal and is the major food crop in the hills. Playing a vital role in the livelihood strategy of more than 10 million hill people in Nepal, it is produced in three distinct agroclimatic zones--the Terai and inner Terai (below 900 m asl) , the mid-hills (900 -1 600. m asl) , and high hills (above 1 600 m asl). The greatest area of production (70%) is in the hills, followed by Terai (22%) and high hills (8%) (Pathic, 2002).More than 90% of maize is cultivated under rainfed conditions with minimum use of inputs. The crop is mainly grown during the summer (April-September) as a single crop or relayed with millet in the later season.It is cultivated for food, feed, and fodder. Maize has occupied about 24% -25% of the area under food crops in the country during the last two decades. In terms of edible food grain production, maize had contributed 26% -31 % of the total cereal production in the same period (Paudyal and Ransom, 2001). The annual growth rate of maize during the last 10 years was 1. 87 %, of which O. 71 % was attributed to expansion in maize area and 1. 13% to actual increases in yield.The rate of yield increase was less than that of population growth rate (2. 3% ), indicating that the increase in maize production was not enough to improve the food security situation in the country (Paudyal and Ransom, 2001).The main constraint to low production and productivity of maize in Nepal was the lack of varietal options for growing improved varieties. The unavailability of seeds of released improved varieties was another impor-tant constraint (Paudyal and Ransom,2(01). The National Maize Research Program (NMRP) has so far developed and released a total of 15 open pollinated varieties (OPVs). Of these released varieties, nine were recommended for the Terai, four for the mid-hills, and two for the high hills. This shows the very limited selections available to Nepalese farmers to enable them to grow improved OPVs. Because of these constraints, a large proportion of maize areas are still grown to maize landraces. Rajbhandari (2002) stated that about 33% of the maize areas are occupied by landraces and only 67% are covered with improved OPVs. The area covered by improved OPVs was about 20% in the mid and far western hills (Gurung, 1999). Similarly, in the western hills, it was nearly 50% (Karki et at.,2(02). Paudyal and Ransom (2002) reported that the use of improved maize in accessible areas in the hills was up to 62%; it was below 30% in inaccessible areas.The current adoption rate of improved varieties clearly indicates the dependence of maize farmers on landraces for their livelihood. Efforts in the past were made to incorporate desirable traits from these landraces into composite varieties such as Hetaunda composite, Janaki, Sarlahi Seto, and Aru-I. But these were discontinued. To develop varieties, the maize breeding program was largely dependent on exotic materials.Consequently, the strength and weakness of our own landraces were not fully studied and thus their potential has not been truly exploited and utilized in breeding.Maize landraces are important sources of genetic variability, being well adapted to the local socioeconomic production environments. There is an immense future value for exploiting important traits from these landraces such as drought tolerance; disease and insect resistance; and preferred grain color, taste, flour quality, grit recovery, and storability characteristics. These traits, which are preferred by farmers, need to be incorporated to ensure farmer adoption. The superior landraces with desirable traits can either be used directly as a variety to boost productivity or used indirectly as source of disease and pest resistance (Sharma, 1989).Considering these valuable assets for use in future tive and quantitative traits (Gurung et at., 2002). Of the total number of landraces characterized, 27 superior ones were selected on the basis of yield potential and preferred traits. These were further evaluated under both hill and terai environments. The objectives of this study were to estimate their genetic variability and measure their genetic divergence for use in breeding programs.Twenty-seven landraces were included III the study. of N and all P and K were applied during planting; the remaining half dose of N was applied at knee-high stage.In both environments, data were recorded for days to 50% tasseling and silking, plant height, ear height, number of kernels per row, number of rows per ear, number of ears per plant, ear circumference, shelling percentage, maturity, and grain yield per hectare.Plots were hand-harvested and grain yield per hectare was calculated using 80% shelling at 15% moisture content. The data were subjected to biometrical analysis. The Mahalanobis method using D 2 statistics measured genetic divergence. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation, broad -sense heritability, genetic advance and genetic advance in percent were calculated. Similarly, D 2 values, grouping of clusters, intercluster distances, and contribution of each character toward genetic divergence were estimated. The significance of the D 2 values was tested against the table value of X 2 for p degrees of freedom, where p is the total number of characters included in the study.The genetic variability among 31 genotypes in terms of phenotypic coefficient of variation (peV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GeV) was estimated. Heritability in the broad sense, genetic advance, and genetic advance in percent of the characters under study were also worked out. The pev ranged from 4. 31 for shelling percentage to 174. 45 for yield (Table 1). The maximum pev was observed in grain yield (174.45), followed by ear height ( 21. 11), number of kernels (15. 39), plant height (14.58), days to tasseling (DAT) (11.86), and 1 OOO-grain weight. The minimum pev was exhibited by shelling percentage (4. 31), ear circumference ( 6. 02), number of rows per ear (7. 7), and days of maturity (8. 06) .The highest value of GeV was recorded for gram yield ( 123. 93); followed by ear height ( 20. 32) , number of kernels per ear ( 14. 89), plant height (13.71), DAT and DAS (11. 47) respectively).The minimum GeV was observed in shelling percentage (3. 89), ear circumference (5. 26), and number of rows per ear ( 6. 80). The least differences between pev and GeV values were exhibited by DAT and DAS, number of kernels per ear, shelling percentage, maturity days, and grain yield (Table 1). Grain yield, number of ears per plant, 1 OOO-grain weight, and number of rows per ear showed maximum differences between pev andGeV values. This implies that these characters are less stable and their expression is influenced by the environment.  On the basis of divergence, landraces and standard checks were grouped into five clusters (Table 2). The largest, cluster II, consisted of 12 landraces, whereas cluster IV accommodated eight landraces. Cluster V contained two landraces and all checks Cluster I has four landraces and Cluster III has only one landrace.Heritability ranged from 50.46. for grain yield to 93.6for number of kernels per ear (Table 1). A higher heritability was observed in number of kernels per row (93.6); followed by DAT (93.4) The maximum intercluster distances (divergence) were observed between clusters I and IV, followed by III and IV, I and II, and II and III (Table 3) . The maximum intercluster distances were found between I and III clusters, followed by II and IV, I and V, and The estimate of genetic advance ranged from O. 12 for number of ears per plant to 2 930. 3 for grain yield (Table 1) . The maximum genetic advance was exhibited by number of kernels per row ( 121. 58), followed by plant height (70. 83), and ear height (57. 87). The minimum values were recorded for number of ears per plant (0. 12), ear circumference (1. 35) and number of rows per ear ( 1. 65). The genetic advance in percentage ranged from 7. 27 (shelling percentage) to 42. 12 (grain yield). Maximum values were observed in ear height (40.28), followed by, number of kernels per row (29.67), plant height (26. 72%), DAT and DAS (22.83 and 20. 36) respectively). The minimum genetic gain in percentage was observed in shelling percent (7.27), ear circumference (9.49) and number of ears per plant ( 11. 48) .Using D 2 statistic to measure genetic divergence, al! 31 genotypes were grouped into five clusters according to the closeness of their D 2 values (Table 4) The D 2 values for the 465 possible comparisons were made between pairs of genotypes. The D 2 values in 463 cases were found highly significant at 1% level (27. 69) , whereas one was significant at the 5 % level (23. 36) .A nonsignificant difference was found in only one case for D 2 value. This shows that the landraces are diverse. The number of kernels per ear ( 44. 3) contributed most to genetic divergence, followed by grain yield (16. 77%), shelling percentage (9.03%), maturity days (7. 95 % ), ear length (6. 66% ), and 1 ODD-grain weight (5. 80% ) (Table 1). The minimum contribution was made by ear height (0. 43 % ), followed by ear circumference (1. 93 % ), and number of rows per ears (2. 79% ). Days to silking and number of ears per plant had contributed nothing toward genetic divergence.Grain yield, ear height, number of kernels per ear, plant height, grain yield, and 1 ODD-grain weight showed high variability. The variability in these characters can be exploited to create variability for crop improvement. Days to tasseling and silking, number of kernels per ear, shelling percentage, and days to maturity had the least difference between PCV and GCV values. These characters are more stable and selection will be effective for these characters. Both the maximum and minimum divergences were found in clusters IV, III, and II and the landraces from these clusters are genetically more divergent than those from other clusters.Landraces from these diverse clusters should be utilized in hybrid -oriented breeding programs. Number of kernels/ear, grain yield shelling percentage, days to maturity, ear length, and 1 ODD-grain weight contributed maximum genetic divergence. Days to silking and number of ears per plant had no contribution to genetic divergence. The superior landraces can be recommended as varieties. These landraces can be utilized in forming different heterotic groups and, from these heterotic groups; a number of potential inbred lines can be ob-.tained for hybrid cultivar development as well as population improvement.   Genetic diversity in maIze plays a key role for future breeding progress (Reif et at. ,2003). The narrow genetic background is the first constraint for maize (Zea mays 1.) breeding efforts in China. The strategy to meet this challenge is to enhance and improve the domestic and!or exotic germplasm. Germplasm improvement has been restricted because most of the lines were recycled from commercial hybrids, and the research activities on open -pollinated varieties (OPVs) with broader genetic backgrounds have been ignored for decades. The Chinese com belt is one of the most diversified regions in terms of geographical mega -environments, climatic conditions, agroecosystem, and biological diversity, which resulted in numerous'OPVs adapted to specific regional conditions and needs of farmers . (Reif et at., 2005). Therefore, OPVs that have not served as germplasm source for current breeding programs may contain useful untapped allelic variation.* Corresponding author: cshzhang@ public. bta. net. cnMost of the studies with molecular markers fingerprinted a group of individual genotypes sampled from maize populations (Reif et at., 2003). In contrast, some authors ( Dubreuil et at. ,1999;Rebourg et at. , 2001Rebourg et at. , , 2003;;Gauthier et at., 2002) analyzed bulk samples consisting of individuals with RFLP markers and estimated the marker allele frequencies from band intensities. This RFLP analysis of bulk samples was recommended as a cost-saving strategy for large-scale grouping of OPVs. Reif (2006) analysed five European flint maize populations with SSR. By comparing the results based on individuals with those based on bulk samples they drew the conclusion that the results were significantly correlated (r = O. 92). SSR analysis of bulk samples promises to be a cost-saving strategy to characterize large numbers of populations.The development of molecular markers provides a tool for assessing the genetic diversity at the DNA level in plant species (Melchinger and Gumber, 1998). In particular, SSR markers showed potential for large-scale DNA fingerprinting of maize genotypes due to the high levels of polymorphism detected (Smith et al., 1997).The purpose of this study was to investigate the re- The materials used m the study comprised 44 Chinese OPVs (Table 1) collected from the Northeast China (Jilin-lO varieties), Huang-huai-hai plain (Henan-6;Shandong-9; Shaanxi-4) and the Southwest mountain. Microsatellite loci were scored individually and alleles were recorded as 1 for presence and 0 for absence. The The materials used III the study comprised 44 Chinese OPVs (Table 1) collected from the Northeast China (Jilin-lO varieties), Huang-huai-hai plain (Henan-6;Shandong-9; Shaanxi-4) and the Southwest mountain. Microsatellite loci were scored individually and alleles were recorded as 1 for presence and 0 for absence. The genetic similarities among the 44 OPVs based on SSR data were calculated according to the SM coefficient using NTSYS-pc version 2. 11. Cluster analysis was performed based on the similarity matrices with the unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic average ( UPGMA), and the dendrogram was constructed based on the similarity matrices. The genetic distance among the 44 .OPVs were calculated according to Nei (1972); cluster analysis was perfonned using Mega2. 0 ( Molecular evolutionary genetic analysis) .To estimate the minimum number of SSR loci and alleles required to reveal genetic relationships in the 44OPVs, we designed 7 different allelic levels between 25 and 292. For each level, we selected the alleles randomly as much as possible for 10 times. Each time, the SM matrix was created first, and then the MX-'.COMP program in the NTSYS-pc was applied to determine the correlation coefficient ( r) between pairs of SM matrices estimated with the random alleles and the global similarity matrix (292 allels). The average value of correlation coefficients in the nine simulations was used as an estimator for the value of r between the allelic numeric levels with the global similarity matrix.Polymorphism of the 44 OPVs revealed by SSR SSR analysis with 70 pairs of selected primers yielded a total of 292 alleles in 176 samples. The average number of alleles per locus was 4. 17 and ranged from 2 to 8. Averages for each province are listed in Table 2.The highest average number of alleles (55.25) detected among the 5 provinces was Shaanxi, while Jilin had the lowest (23. 3). Guangxi had the highest standard deviation (SD), whereas the SD of OPVs from Henan was the lowest. The dendrogram based on 292 alleles discriminated all _ the 44 .OPVs were calculated according to Nei (1972); cluster analysis was perfonned using Mega2. 0 ( Molecular evolutionary genetic analysis) .To estimate the minimum number of SSR loci and alleles required to reveal genetic relationships in the 44OPVs, we designed 7 different allelic levels between 25 and 292. For each level, we selected the alleles randomly as much as possible for 10 times. Each time, the SM matrix was created first, and then the MX-'.COMP program in the NTSYS-pc was applied to determine the correlation coefficient ( r) between pairs of SM matrices estimated with the random alleles and the global similarity matrix (292 allels). The average value of correlation coefficients in the nine simulations was used as an estimator for the value of r between the allelic numeric levels with the global similarity matrix.Polymorphism of the 44 OPVs revealed by SSR SSR analysis with 70 pairs of selected primers yielded a total of 292 alleles in 176 samples. The average number of alleles per locus was 4. 17 and ranged from 2 to 8. Averages for each province are listed in Table 2.The highest average number of alleles (55.25) detected among the 5 provinces was Shaanxi, while Jilin had the lowest (23. 3). Guangxi had the highest standard deviation (SD), whereas the SD of OPVs from Henan was the lowest. The dendrogram based on 292 alleles discriminated all This means that about 50 loci are enough to reveal genetic relationships reliably. This is consistent with the results of Warburton et at. (2002) which indicated that about 250 alleles were enough to reveal population relationships.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop  Maize (Zea mays 1.) breeders have always tended to choose the more productive lines but have hesitated to discard those with mediocre yields because of the possibility that some lines might possess superior combining ability (Homer et al., 1977). Therefore, an effective method is needed for breeders to identify good lines which have both high seed yield and high combining ability with other lines. Selection for selfed progeny (SI or S2) and testcross performance has been widely used for that purpose.The selfed progeny method is used by maize breeders, where stable and high -yielding female lines are needed. The methods are expected to be more effi-cient due to the lack of the genetic contribution of the tester. Moreover, they are more efficient in utilizing additive genetic variance than the testcross method, when selecting for combining ability ( Comstock, 1964). Consequently, the effective method for improving the yields of populations per se as well as the combining ability of improved populations and resulting in- Maize (Zea mays 1.) breeders have always tended to choose the more productive lines but have hesitated to discard those with mediocre yields because of the possibility that some lines might possess superior combining ability (Homer et al., 1977). Therefore, an effective method is needed for breeders to identify good lines which have both high seed yield and high combining ability with other lines. Selection for selfed progeny (SI or S2) and testcross performance has been widely used for that purpose.The selfed progeny method is used by maize breeders, where stable and high -yielding female lines are needed. The methods are expected to be more effi-cient due to the lack of the genetic contribution of the tester. Moreover, they are more efficient in utilizing additive genetic variance than the testcross method, when selecting for combining ability (Comstock, 1964). Consequently, the effective method for improving the yields of populations per se as well as the combining ability of improved populations and resulting inbred lines, should be more investigated in the related populations.The objective of this research was to compare S3 progeny (S3) and S3 testcross (TC) methods for population improvement and inbred and hybrid development in two subpopulations of Suwan 3 ( S) C4 (F) (A) and Suwan 3( S) C4( SF) (B). Genetic variability among the progenies evaluated over both subpopulations showed that the S3 method was 4. 3 times greater than the TC method for all of 14 agronomic characters measured, and 2. 4 times for grain yield (Table 1). The S3 method gave greater genetic variability among the S3 lines than among the S3 testcrosses of the TC method because the S3 lines per se did not have the interference of the genetic contribution of the tester.The greater genetic variability of the S3 method agreed with the theoretical study of Comstock (1964) and comparative studies of SI and testcross (half-sib) performance of Genter and Alexander ( 1962), Lonnquist and Lindsey ( 1964), Duclos and Crane (1968), Carangal et ai. (1971), Genter (1973), Lamkey andHallauer (1987), andAekatasanawan (2002).Correlation coefficients between the two methods were 0.248 for grain yield and O. 211 for 14 agronomic traits. The low correlation between line per se and test-Section I: Maize Breeding cross performance was less than O. 5 which was in good agreement with the theoretical study of Smith ( 1986) and comparative studies of Lonnquist and Lindsey (1964), Hallauer and Lopez-Perez (1979), Jensen et   ai. (1983), and Aekatasanawan (2002) due to the masking effects of favorable dominant alleles in the tester. Over both subpopulations, numbers of common S3lines of 1O-highest and 10 lowest-yielding groups were 4 and 0 lines, respectively. As S3 lines, the S3 method gave higher mean yield of the 10-highest yielding group than the TC method by 36. 70%, but had lower mean yield of the 1O-lowest yielding group than the TC method by 55.47% (Table 2). As testcrosses, the TC method gave higher and lower mean yields than the S3 method by 16.33 and 27. 84%, respectively.  exander, 1966;Burton et at. ,1971;Carangal et ai. , 1971). Theoretical comparisons of different methods of recurrent selection indicated that, in the absence of overdominance, the 51 or 52 method is expected to be appreciably more effective than the TC method for changing population gene frequencies (Comstock, 1964;Wright, 1980).I The underlined figure is the mean of the selected group for the indicated method and paired figures in the same column are averages of the same lines for the other testing methodsAs 5) linesAs 5) linesAs 5) linesSelection method  1AB \" Suwan 3( S) C4; A \" 5uwan 3( 5) C4( F); B = 5uwan 3( 5) C4(SF). LSD (0.05) = 0.87t1ha; LSD (0.01) = I. 15t1ha\"ProceedinlIS of the Ninth AsIan Regional Maize Workshop  exander, 1966;Burton et at. , 1971;Carangal et at. , 1971). Theoretical comparisons of different methods of recurrent selection indicated that, in the absence of overdominance, the 51 or 52 method is expected to be appreciably more effective than the TC method for changing population gene frequencies (Comstock, 1964;Wright, 1980).I The underlined figure is the mean of the selected group for the indicated method and paired figures in the same column are averages of the same lines for the other testing methodsAs 53 linesAs 5) linesAs 5) linesSelection method   In conclusion, the 53 method was more efficient in evaluating 53 lines than the TC method for improving yields of populations per se and populations crossed with inbreds (topcrosses). However, the TC method was more efficient in improving yields of population crosses. Both methods were not different in selecting high-yielding inbreds and hybrids.The landraces of maize have immense potential for deriving elite gennplasm with enhanced productivity and adaptive ability. These landraces/locals are developed and selected for different environments and for specific morphological characteristics by the fanners, in many cases for more than a century. The genetic diversity of landraces is, therefore, the most immediately useful part of maize biodiversity. In the 1990s, maize landraces occupied 42% of the land under production in less developed countries (CIMMYT, 1994). However, genetic resources used in the maize breeding programs around the world have been reported to represent less than 10% of alllandraces, indicating that much of the genetic diversity remains to be effectively utilized.The maize in India is interesting because diverse, genetically isolated populations have been cultivated 10-cally, sometimes for over a century. Intensive selections by the farmers for genetic uniformity, local adaptation as well as for diverse agronomically important characters led to the derivation of some unique maize germplasm. In the North Eastern Himalayan (NEH) region of India, particularly in the tribal areas of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim, significant diversity with respect to maize landraces was earlier reported (Singh, 1977 ). Molecular technologies can complement the conventional breeding efforts in the effective characterization and utilization of such genetic resources. Recent studies in India highlighted the utility of the maize SSR markers in DNA fingerprinting and analysis of genetic diversity in the elite Indian maize inbred lines, besides QTL mapping (Prasanna and Hoisington, 2003). However, the NEH landraces or evenThe landraces of maize have immense potential for deriving elite germplasm with enhanced productivity and adaptive ability. These landraces/locals are developed and selected for different environments and for specific morphological characteristics by the farmers, in many cases for more than a century. The genetic diversity of landraces is, therefore, the most immediately usefuJ part of maize biodiversity. In the 1990s, maize landraces occupied 42% of the land under production in less developed countries (CIMMYT, 1994). However, genetic resources used in the maize breeding programs around the world have been reported to represent less than 10% of all landraces, indicating that much of the genetic diversity remains to be effectively utilized.The maize in India is interesting because diverse, genetically isolated populations have been cultivated 10-cally, sometimes for over a century. Intensive selections by the farmers for genetic uniformity, local adaptation as well as for diverse agronomically important characters led to the derivation of some unique maize germplasm. In the North Eastern Himalayan (NEH) region of India, particularly in the tribal areas of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim, significant diversity with respect to maize landraces was earlier reported (Singh, 1977 ). Molecular technologies can complement the conventional breeding efforts in the effective characterization and utilization of such genetic resources. Recent studies in India highlighted the utility of the maize SSR markers in DNA fingerprinting and analysis of genetic diversity in the elite Indian maize inbred lines, besides QTL mapping (Prasanna and Hoisington, 2003). However, the NEH landraces or even those from other regions of India have not been systematically analyzed using molecular markers. A study was therefore undertaken with the specific objectives of molecular characterization and population genetic analysis of selected Indian maize landraces, and evaluation of their agronomic performance.The maize accessions selected for this study include (i)  ). Two Indian maize inbred lines, CM139 and CM140, which were comprehensively characterized using molecular markers, were used as \"reference lines\". The selected accessions were analyzed using a DNA pooled -sampling strategy (Dubreuil et al., 1999). Seven maize locals and five of the NEH accessions (AI, K2, M21, N35 For each SSR marker, \"Polymorphism Information Content\" (PIC) was determined as per standard procedure (Mohammadi and Prasanna, 2003). Genetic similarity (GS) based on SSR data was calculated for all possible pairs of genotypes using Jaccard's (1908) coefficient, and further analyzed to produce an agglomerative hierarchical classification by employing UPGMA clustering algorithm (using NTSYSpc ver. 2. 11 ) .Bootstrap analysis was undertaken on the SSR dataset The present study is the first detailed assessment of the genetic diversity in the Indian maize landraces using SSR markers. Data from 27 SSR loci covering various locations in the maize genome were utilized for statistical analysis. Ninety-six SSR alleles were found for the 27 SSR loci, at an average of 3. 55 alleles per locus.Twenty-one out of the 96 SSR alleles were found to be \"unique\" or \"rare\", with frequency less than or equal to O. 10. The maximum number of such unique alleles (12) could be observed in the maize landraces/locals, followed by the \"reference\" inbreds (10 alleles  1 Population genetic diversity parameters estimated for the selected Indian maize landraces/locals Wright's F statistics were estimated based on the SSR dataset for the landraces under study (Table 1). The mean number of effective alleles per locus was 2. 56 and 2. 78 for the landraces/locals from the non-NEH region and the NEH region, respectively, while the overall allelic richness was 3. 33. A higher percentage of polymorphic loci was found in NEH lines (85. 19%) as compared to other OPVs/locals (77. 78%). Observed heterozygosity was higher in the landraces from the non -NEH region (0. 35) than that of the NEH (0. 31) , while the overall heterozygosity across all the entries was O. 33. The overall Fit mean value was O. 312 which meant that 31. 2 % of total variation was between the populations and 68. 8% of the total variation observed was within the populations. The Fst values, indicating the reduction in fixation index due to differences among the sub-populations, ranged from 0.27 (um.d014) to 0.94 (phi057) , with the overall mean Fst value being 0.62. The Fst value for the NEH maize lines (0.60) was significantly higher than that of the locals (0. 47) .These observations clearly revealed that these popula-   Varietal identification includes seed purity testing and genuineness discrimination. Genuineness discrimination also includes identity and parentage identification ( such as triplet parentage identification and alleged parentage identification, ). Traditional methods, such as morphological traits, isozymes and storage proteins have been investigated for varietal identification, but showed obvious limitations, and were often easily influenced by environment. DNA molecular markers, in particular SSRs, have emerged as a powerful tool in varietal identification. The purpose of this study was to establish SSR protocols, for generating a DNA fingerprinting database and applying it in varietal identification and intellectual property protection of maize hybrids.Two hundred-and-twenty-two maize (Zea mays 1.) inbred lines and 86 Chinese commercial hybrids were used for fingerprinting. Sequences of SSR primers were quarried from the Maize GDB (2003), and synthesized by the Shanghai -Sangon Company.PIC (polymorphism information content) value, an important parameter for SSR primers, was calculated according to Bostein et ai. (1980):DP (discrimination power) is critical for primers used in identical identification. The higher the DP, the stronger the discrimination power of the primer is. DP was calculated according to Rou et al. (2001):) TDP (total discrimination power) for multi-primers:EP (Excluding probability of paternity) is critical for parentage identification. The higher the EP, the stronger the excluding power of a primer for the non-real parent is. EP is calculated according to Ohno et al. (1982) :where Pi' Pi is the frequency of i'h and j'h allele, respectively (i ¥-J), and n is allele number:CEP (Cumulate excluding probability of paternity) for multi-primers:'Proceedings of the Nillth Asian Regional Maize Workshop k =1 -IT =1(l-EP) , LR (Likelihood) is the ratio of Al and A z ' where Ai is the probability that a RH (Random hybrid) is the known hybrid, and A z is the probability that a DH (Disputed hybrid) is the accuser's known hybrid.Based on a great deal of statistical analysis, a critical point threshold (0. 001) for identity identification was determined in advance. It is sure for LR <0. 001 whenever DH is a tortuous case. Following the protocols developed in CIMMYT ABC (1998), standard DNA fingerprinting procedures especially for varietal identification were optimized and established, including rapid DNA extraction, PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, silver staining, and data scoring (Li et at., 2003).Based on clear amplification profiles, good reproducibility, PIC> O. 500, and co-dominance, 50 primers were selected from 320 candidate primers using 15 elite inbred lines, and then used to establish the DNA fin-gerprinting database of 86 maize hybrids and the relevant parent lines. Ten core primers were selected and employed in identical identification and parentage identification (Table 1) .We developed a unified kit for 86 hybrids, including SSR primers, and standard markers, which can be used for rapid tests of seed purity. It was clear that SSR markers were more advantageous than isozymes or storage proteins in seed purity tests. For example, they separated CAVI08 (Figure 1) and Yuyu27 (Figure 2), which cannot be distinguished using storage proteins.  The critical point thresholds for identity identification and parentage identification of maize were determined and a Fingerprinting Database Management Software was developed. Figures 4 and 5 show the window interfaces of software where SSR is used in identity identification and parentage identification, respectively.An ID code (01100001010001000100011001010 0000010010110010010001) of a disputed hybrid was compiled in identity identification ( Figure 3), in which it was matched with those of all the known hybrids in tum in the fingerprinting database. The database management software automatically calculates the appropriate PI of all possible combinations, saves the maximum PI, and generates an identification report (Figure 4) .The ID code of an unknown hybrid (01100001010 0010001000110010100000010010110010010001) was validated in parentage identification, in which it was matched in tum with those of all the known parent combinations in the fingerprinting database. The database management software automatically calculates the appropriate PI of all possible combinations, saves the maximum PI, and generates an identification report (Figure 5) .      Maize is an open-pollinated crop. The inbred-hybrid method is an effective conventional breeding method to utilize F1 heterosis ( Duvick, 2001).  and adaptability (Borlaug, 1995; Braun et at. , 1996) .The combining ability of late generations is correlated with that of the early ones (Liu, 2001), accordingly it should be reliable to select the hybrids in early generations directly by early generation testing. Based on these principles, the objective of this study was to develop a new method of synchronous directive shuttle breeding (SDSB) in maize, by which shuttle breeding between north and south was combined with early generation testing on individual plants selected from the Sl segregating generation using elite inbred lines as testers followed by multi-location trials on the resulting testcrosses to obtain S2 lines of desirable characters and high combining ability with specific testers. This procedure is repeated on S3 to get S4 lines. Such an approach enables us to develop superior hybrids and inbred lines synchronously, thus overcoming shortcomings of being time-consuming and non-directive in conventional maize-breeding programs and increasing breeding efficlency.In Yield heterosis of the early generation testcrosses:In the early segregating generations derived from the base population, the testcrosses between the best single plant and testers showed strong yield heterosis. Three S2 testcrosses had 15% yield heterosis over the check hybrids. In the same manner, the corresponding S4 testcrosses had over 20% heterosis (Table 1). This demonstrated that the directive selection of the early generation testcrosses based on heterosis was reliable, and might correlate with the hereditable combining ability.  In Sichuan maize regional trials, three hybrids had noticeable yield increases compared with the check hybrids in two successive years (Table 2). Among them, ZH002 and ZH006 ranked first in the two-year-trial.   -2365 (55) in 2001, 48-2 x K236 in 2002; ZHOO6 = 3163-1693 (55) x 698-3 in 2001, K169 x698-3 in 2002; ZH1l5 = K169 XThe test results from the Chengdu Food and Feed Quality Supervision and Inspection Center under the guidance of the National Foodstuff Bureau (Table 3) indicated that three hybrids had excellent commodity char-acters, fine comprehensive quality and wide usage potential. They have not only excellent fodder quality, but also good raw material qualities for use in food processing ( except Zhenghong 115) and starch fermentation. After 2 years of identification by artificial inoculation from the Plant Protection Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, it was shown that the three hybrids had middling to high resistance to six major maize diseases and com borer, except that Zhenghong 2 was infected by head smut. However, the check, Chuandan15, was infected by head smut, banded leaf and sheath blight and MDMV, and the check Chengdanl4, by turcicum leaf blight, maydis leaf blight and MDMV. This indicated that the comprehen-sive resistance index of the hybrids to diseases and insect was higher than that of the checks. The hybrids had strong root systems, stiff and tensile stalks with strong resistance to lodging and drought, while Zhenghong 2 showed higher tolerance to barren soil and thus wider adaptability.After the investigations in Sichuan for 3 years, the major characters of two inbred lines, K169 and K236, were identified and are compared in TableIn Sichuan maize regional trials, three hybrids had noticeable yield increases compared with the check hybrids in two successive years (Table 2). Among them, ZH002 and ZH006 ranked first in the two-year-trial.  The test results from the Chengdu Food and Feed Quality Supervision and Inspection Center under the guidance of the National Foodstuff Bureau (Table 3) indicated that three hybrids had excellent commodity char-acters, fine comprehensive quality and wide usage potential. They have not only excellent fodder quality, but also good raw material qualities for use in food processing ( except Zhenghong 115) and starch fermentation. After 2 years of identification by artificial inoculation from the Plant Protection Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, it was shown that the three hybrids had middling to high resistance to six major maize diseases and com borer, except that Zhenghong 2 was infected by head smut. However, the check, Chuandan15, was infected by head smut, banded leaf and sheath blight and MDMV, and the check Chengdanl4, by turcicum leaf blight, maydis leaf blight and MDMV. This indicated that the comprehen-sive resistance index of the hybrids to diseases and insect was higher than that of the checks. The hybrids had strong root systems, stiff and tensile stalks with strong resistance to lodging and drought, while Zhenghong 2 showed higher tolerance to barren soil and thus wider adaptability.After the investigations in Sichuan for 3 years, the major characters of two inbred lines, K169 and K236, were identified and are compared in Table 4. In addition, both inbred lines had strong resistance to major maize diseases and corn borer. Their root systems were well developed and the stalks stiff and tensile with strong resistance to lodging and drought. They were insensitive to photoperiod with a wide adaptability. Furthermore, inbred line K169 also had high combining ability with testers 48-2 and 698-3. In SDSB, the excellent individual plants derived from SI were selected for selfing in winter in the south of China, and they were simultaneously test-crossed.Through the identification of S2 testcrosses in the north in the following year, a great number of S3 lines derived from poor S2 lines could be rejected in the early generations, and thus attention could be focused on' the few excellent S3 lines.. The selection process was repeated until the inbred lines became almost homozygous and stable. In this way, not only the breeding populations were maintained at lower population levels, saving manpower, material resources and expense, but also the new inbred lines with high combining ability with the testers could be selected accurately and efficiently.After repeated multi-location trials for the early S2and their corresponding S4 testcrosses, the best combinations could be directly selected. When the elite testcrosses were identified, the characters, including growth period, plant type, ears and kernels, among the individual plants for inbred lines were almost homozygous and stable (S5)' and the selected combinations could be reproduced for regional trails. This procedure allowed the breeding of inbred lines and hybrids to be carried out synchronously, hence greatly accelerating the advancement of hybrid breeding.In summary, SDSB did not follow the conventional maize breeding process. Through the shuttle breeding between north and south and the repeated test-crossing individual plants selected from the early SI and its derived S3 segregating generations with elite testers, followed by multi-location trails and directive selection, the breeding of maize inbred lines and hybrids could be achieved synchronously and directionally. With this method, the inbred lines K169 and K236, and their corresponding hybrids Zhenghong 2, Zhenghong 6 and Zhenghong 115 were developed within 5 -6 years. Our results proved that SDSB was highly applicable to maize breeding.In recent decades, progress in crop breeding, in general, and maize breeding, in particular, has significantly benefited with the finding of the association between the genetic straits and molecular marker ( Baumon et at. ,  1996; Bemado et at., 1992, 1994; Dudley et al. ,  1994; Lanza et at., 1997; Godshalk et al., 1990).Information on the relationship between breeding materials is important for the efficient choice of parents in maize breeding program ( George et at., 2004). Pedigree information (by convenience methods) is useful for assessment of the genetic relationship of breeding materials, but this information is sometime incomplete, unreliable or unavailable. One of the markers used for estimation of genetic diversity and assigning plant geno-types into different heterotic group is SSR. SSR is a genetic marker that can show high polymorphism and reflect relatively accurate and full pedigree information among the materials. SSR marker is successfully used for the studies in arabidopsis (Depeigel et al., 1995), barley (Dow et al., 1995), sugarcane (Morchen et at., 1996), potato (Jarret et at., 1994), paspalum (Liu et at., 1995), wheat (Plaschke et at., 1995) and maize (Senior and Heun. 1993;Smith et at., 1997, Ajmone Matsan et at., 1998, Matsuco et at. , 2002;George et al., 2004;Yoseph et al., 2005).Previous studies on maize microsetellites have shown that they provide powerful tools for genome mapping and germplasm evaluation (Smith et at., 1997).SSR markers have been exploited as tools to measure genetic distance and diversity, assigning heterotic In recent decades, progress in crop breeding, in general, and maize breeding, in particular, has significantly benefited with the finding of the association between the genetic straits and molecular marker ( Baumon et at. ,  1996; Bemado et at., 1992, 1994; Dudley et at. ,  1994; Lanza et at., 1997; Godshalk et al., 1990).Information on the relationship between breeding materials is important for the efficient choice of parents in maize breeding program ( George et at., 2004). Pedigree information (by convenience methods) is useful for assessment of the genetic relationship of breeding materials, but this information is sometime incomplete, unreliable or unavailable. One of the markers used for estimation of genetic diversity and assigning plant geno-types into different heterotic group is SSR. SSR is a genetic marker that can show high polymorphism and reflect relatively accurate and full pedigree information among the materials. SSR marker is successfully used for the studies in arabidopsis ( Depeigel et at., 1995), barley (Dow et al., 1995), sugarcane (Morchen et at., 1996), potato (Jarret et at., 1994), paspalum (Liu et at., 1995), wheat (Plaschke et al., 1995) and maize (Senior and Heun. 1993; Smith et at.,  1997, Ajmone Matsan et at., 1998, Matsuco et at. ,  2002; George et at., 2004; Yoseph et at., 2005).Previous studies on maize microsetellites have shown that they provide powerful tools for genome mapping and germplasm evaluation (Smith et at., 1997).SSR markers have been exploited as tools to measure genetic distance and diversity, assigning heterotic 'Proceedings ofllle Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop CLC288 had 20% heterozygosity. Therefore, the above five inbred lines were removed from list for study. Genomic DNA extraction, SSR-PCR and PAGE method were done following AMBIONET Service Laboratory protocol (2004). Data were scored and analyzed on NTSYSpc2. 1 software program (following ASL protocol). Genetic similarity (GS) was estimated from the allele data using Jaccard's similarity coefficient. Dendrogram of the inbred lines was constructed from similarity matrix using the UPGMA method.In which: Hmp = Means of mid-parent heterosis, MP = Averaged yield of parents (PI, P2)A total 72 inbred lines were used in this study, including 51 lines from the National Maize Research Institute of Vietnam, 20 lines from CIMMYT including 6 reference lines and one line from the USA. Fifty-two SSR primers were used for analysis of the extent of genetic diversity.Experiments were grown in a BCBD layout with 3 replications. Collected data were statistically analyzed using Excel 5.0 program. Mid-parent heterosis was calculated as follows:  Association between GD, heterosis and yield of F 1 hybridsBecause of limited time and resources, all possible crosses according to pedigree tree could not be made.Therefore, only key inbred lines in each group were selected for test cross as follows:-Group 1: VNL71; Mol7 -Group 2: VNLSO -Group 4: VNLS.-Group 5: CMLlO; VNlAl.-Group 6: VNLl1 VNLS9 was O. 57. In contrast, the high yield in cross combinations ( > 80 quintals per hectare) was resulted from the higher value of GD (0. 60 -O. 80). Therefore, in order to obtain higher frequency of crosses having higher yields, breeders should pay attention to pedigree, genetic distance and heterotic groups.  Application of SSRs markers system in estimation of genetic diversity, assigning them into different heterotic groups can enhance efficiency of a hybrid maize-breeding program.Early  and grain yield (g/plant). Data were analyzed following analysis II of Gardner and Eberhart (1966) and as per the procedures given by Singh (1978) .Analyses of variance due to variety (vJ, heterosis (hi) and the components of heterosis were performed for the traits (Table ]). Variations due to variety effects ( vJ were significant (P =::;;; o. 0]) for all the characters, except ear length. For heterosis, the var-  'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize WorkshopThese crosses involved at least one parent with good gca for the trait. Both the parents of Megha X Mahi Kanchan had high desirable vi and gi for grain yield. This cross was, thus, predicted the most superior cross for use as broad base population towards development of composites through population improvement method.      Stage I: Initially a range of maize varieties were grown and farmers were asked to select varieties of their choice in a participatory variety selection (PVS ) programme, but none of these proved to be very popular.They preferred yellow-grained, high yielding and early     1) .These improved maIze populations were tested at the research farm of BAD, GVT, on-farm of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and in different locations of the all India co-ordinated trials.         -2003 and K-2004) where it surpassed the national check and was promoted for final evaluation during Kharif 2004 (Table 2). BYM-8 was tested during Kharjf 2004 in both QPM and normal majze trials of early maturity group but did not qualify for QPM (Anonymous, 2004). It was promoted to advanced evaluation trial in non-QPM early maturity group (Table 2). The QPM traits may further be introgresscd to harvest high yield potential of BYM-8.Experimental results obtained during Kbari[ 2002 and onwards are diseusst'd in detajl.(A) Participatory Plant Breeding: The improvement in sub-populations resulted in several composite varieties. Besides BYM-2, extracted from C, of random mating, whidl was the first composite maize developed through participatory plant breeding, a number of varieties (BVM4-1, BVM-6, 7, 8 and 9) were developed (Table l) .(B) Performance on station of BAU and GYT.The yield potential of these experimental varieties m station trials of BA U and GYT are shown in   (Anonymous. 2003). The same genotype was tested in normal maize trial of extra early maturity group for two years (K-2003 and K-2004) where it surpassed the national check and was promoted for final evaluation during Kharif 2004 (Table 2). BVM-8 was tested during Kharjf 2004 in both QPM and normal maize trials of early maturity group but did not qualify for QPM (Anonymous, 2004). It was promoted to advanced evaluation trial in non-QPM early maturity group (Table 2). The QPM traits may further be introgressed to harvest high yield potential of BYM-8.Experimental results obtained during Kharif 2002 and onwards are discussed in detail.( A) Participatory Plant Breeding: The improvement in sub-populations resulted in several eornposite vmieties. Besides BYM-2, extracted from C, of random mating, which was the first composite maize developed through participatory plant breeding. a number of varieties (BVM4-1, BVM-6, 7, 8 and 9) were developed (Table I) .        The three yellow-grained and three white-grained maize used in our breeding programme were either identified in the trials or had traits liked by farmers in the trials (Virk et at., 2005). The population was subjected to several cycles of random mating and farmers were invited to the research farm for selection of desired plant types. According to Witcombe and Virk (2001), the strategy of developing and exploiting a single population in maize is equivalent to using few crosses in an inbreeding crop.In another breeding programme, white-grained QPM strain, i. e. ZM-421 was crossed with different populations having yellow-grained seed for better result. Tiwari (2001) used four schemes of crossing to breed new white-grained varieties and concluded that the approach of crossing white-and yellow-grained parents was the most effective because it proved most de-.sired by farmers.\"Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop  The three yellow-grained and three white-grained maize used in our breeding programme were either identified in the trials or had traits liked by farmers in the trials (Virk et at., 2005). The population was subjected to several cycles of random mating and farmers were invited to the research farm for selection of desired plant types. According to Witcombe and Virk (2001), the strategy of developing and exploiting a single population in maize is equivalent to using few crosses in an inbreeding crop.In another breeding programme, white-grained QPM strain, i. e. ZM-421 was crossed with different populations having yellow-grained seed for better result. Tiwari (2001) used four schemes of crossing to breed new white-grained varieties and concluded that the approach of crossing white-and yellow-grained parents was the most effective because it proved most de-.sired by farmers.Breeding of pure maize lines that accumulate high combining ability, stability and tolerance to adverse weather conditions is one of the objectives for the hybrid maize development program in Vietnam. In order to save time needed to develop a new line, many efforts have been made with focus on creating inbred lines by anther culture (Foronghi-Wehr, 1982;Beckert et al. , 1984;Barloy, 1990;Heurg et at. ,1994;Buter, 1994Buter, , 1996;;Marilca, 1998), which is being widely applied in commercial breeding.In Vietnam, anther culture technology has been intensively studied in recent years to develop initial materials being capable of being responsive to culture media, embryo formation, and plant regeneration, and fertile doubled haploid line. Some of these lines have been involved in some commercial hybrid combinations. However, in order to effectively utilize the doubled haploid line nurseries in hybrid breeding, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate genetic polymorphisms, since this is an important information that helps breeders select parents for hybrid combinations (George et at., 2004). The relationship between breeding materials was based only on information about pedigree, geological origin, morphological characteristics, types of endosperm, and testing their cross combinations ( Hallauer et at., 1988). This traditional method, although useful, can not fully aid in estimating genetic relation-Breeding of pure maize lines that accumulate high combining ability, stability and tolerance to adverse weather conditions is one of the objectives for the hybrid maize development program in Vietnam. In order to save time needed to develop a new line, many efforts have been made with focus on creating inbred lines by anther culture (Foronghi-Wehr, 1982;Beckert et at. , 1984;Barloy, 1990;Heurg et at. ,1994;Buter, 1994Buter, , 1996;;Marilca, 1998), which is being widely applied in commercial breeding.In Vietnam, anther culture technology has been intensively studied in recent years to develop initial materials being capable of being responsive to culture media, embryo formation, and plant regeneration, and fertile doubled haploid line. Some of these lines have been involved in some commercial hybrid combinations. However, in order to effectively utilize the doubled haploid line nurseries in hybrid breeding, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate genetic polymorphisms, since this is an important information thal helps breeders select parents for hybrid combinations (George et at., 2004). The relationship between breeding materials was based only on information about pedigree, geological origin, morphological characteristics, types of endosperm, and testing their cross combinations ( Hallauer et at., 1988). This traditional method, although useful, can not fully aid in estimating genetic relation- The       Maize growing environments are highly diverse for rainfall, irrigation, soil fertility, farmers' fertilizers application rates, pests and diseases and other abiotic stresses (Subandi et at., 1988). The agro-ecosystem diversity of maize affects the ability of varieties to produce grain yield. Varieties have different responses to the changes in growing environments. In variance analysis, the response difference among varieties can be seen by significant interaction between genotype (G) and environment ( E). Allard and Bradshaw ( 1964) showed that the interaction between two genotypes at two environments could be of 24 types. Significant genotype by en-vironment interaction has been reported by several researches (Slamet et at., 1988;Subandi, 1981;Subandi et al., 1978). The GxE interaction causes a limitation for breeders when selecting superior genotypes.The breeder's approach is to select the genotypes with high yield in a specific environment, or to select the stable genotypes across environments. Stability concepts have been discussed by Finlay and Wilkinson ( 1963), Eberhart and Russell (1966), and summarized by Lin et at. (1986) .Stability theory related to yield variation of genotypes in diverse environments indicates that the more heterogeneous of populations should have less variation for yield performance. The coefficient of variation (CV) for yield of single cross (SC) hybrids at diverse locations was smaller than the CV of their parental lines, but greater than that of double cross (DC) hybrids (Allard and Bradshaw, 1964). The CV of OPVs will be smaller than that of hybrids since OPVs are heterogeneous populations.This paper discusses the grain yield stability of both early and late maturing released hybrids compared to oPVs.The grain yield data used in this paper were derived from maize hybrid multi-location trials conducted from  Grain yield of hybrids Semar 5, Semar 6, Semar 7, and Bisi 2 was stable as indicated by b-value not significantly different from 1. 0 and deviations from regression not significant. By contrast, OPV Bisma was not considered as stable, having b less than 1. O. This result meant that hybrids were more responsive to environments, which was also indicated by regression slopes for hybrids' yields on Bisma's yield which were higher than 1. 0 (except for Bisi 2). The grain yield range and CV were also in line with stability b and regression slope which indicated hybrids had yield potential higher than that of OPV Bisma. Grain yield correlations between hybrids (Semar 5, Semar 6, Semar 7, and Bisi 2) and OPV (Bisma) were significant; however, the correlation between hybrid Semar 7 and Bisma was lower than that of the other hybrids with Bisma.The regression coefficient of Semar 7 on Bisma showed that the response of yield increase of Semar 7 was equal 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop to the yield change of Bisma. The yield of those three hybrids ranged from 118% to 120% of the yield of Bisrna.Based on the stability coefficient b, hybrids Semar 10 and Bima 1 showed high response to environmental changes, while hybrid Bisi 2 was stable with b-value not significantly different from 1, and Bisma showed lesser response to environmental changes. This was also indicated by regression slope of Semar 10 and Bima 1 much higher than 1. 0, and Bisi 2 less than 1. O. Grain yield range and CV of Semar 10 and Bima 1 showed wider spread than that of Bisi 2 and Bisma (Table 1).The relative mean yield of Semar to, Bima 1, and Bisi 2 were 138%, 135%, and 136% of the Bisma yield.The predicted yield of hybrids on the lowest Bisma yield (2. 73t1ha) were 3.59, 3.64, and 4. 51t1ha for Semar to, Bima 1, and Bisi 2, respectively. The predicted yield of Semar 10 and Bima 1 for highest yield of Bisma was 8. 97t1ha and 8. 72t1ha, while for Bisi 2 it was 7. 78t1ha.For the late hybrids, the b-value of OPV Bisma was less than 1. 0, suggesting that this OPV was less responsive to environmental changes than hybrids (Table 1). This was due to the fact that Bisma always ranked the lowest among all genotypes tested in the trials. Achieving food security for the ever increasing population is the greatest challenge before society. Since half of the world population resides in Asia, it becomes necessary to enhance our food basket with cereals like maize, which is the third most important cereal crop in Asia. Exploitation of heterosis by emphasizing on the development of single cross hybrids provides great hope for increasing the productivity of maize, especially in Asia where the potentiality of single cross hybrids has not been fully explored (Paroda, 1995; Vasal et at. ,   1995). Considering the wide variations in the agro-climatic conditions of the region and the influence of environment on performance of the hybrids, it is necessary to develop specific hybrids suitable to these regions.Information regarding genetic diversity among the breeding material is an important requirement for choosing parental lines for hybrid combinations, assigning lines to specific heterotic groups and precise identification for ensuring plant varietal protection. This has usually been assessed based on morphological data, pedigree record of inbred lines and amount of heterosis expected for the hybrid. However, this approach faces several limitations. Among the different DNA markers, analysis using SSR has potential advantages of reliability, reproducibility, discrimination, standardization and cost effectiveness over RAPD and RFLP markers ( Gupta et al., 1996). Furthermore, molecular diversity would provide for prediction of heterotic performance of hybrids thus enhancing the efficacy of maize breeding programmes.The present study encompassed thirteen maIze inbred lines and forty hybrid combinations amongst them. The eight inbred lines used as female parents were derived from three different source populations namely AD-609 (four), A-64 (two) and MDR (two). The five testers used as male parents included those lines derived from different composites as well as parental lines of a commercially cultivated hybrid.The forty single cross combinations from 8 lines and 5 testers, along with the 13 parental lines were evaluated during 2002 Kharif season at two locations, Delhi and Kamal, using a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The performance of the parents and their crosses was assessed on the basis of twelve characters and compared with three released single cross hybrids. For analysis of combining ability of the experimental crosses, procedures suggested by Kempthome (1957) were followed.The twelve inbreds were characterized for 28 specific traits, which included 22 qualitative and 6 quantitative traits at the winter nursery (Amberpet farm, Hyderabad) during Rabi 2002. The different possible alleles for each trait were scored as per the standard specifications. They were scored in binary digits 1 or 0 indicating the presence or absence of each allele, respec~ive ly. The pattern of genetic diversity using cluster analysis was depicted in the form of a dendrogram. Eight parental lines (4 lines and 4 testers) were selected for further characterization at molecular level using a set of 42 microsatellite markers chosen on the basis of bin locations and previous knowledge of their amplification.Genomic DNA from each of the genotypes was extracted from a bulk of 10 -15 plants, using a modified CTAB procedure and amplified products were resolved on aSection J: Maize Breeding 3.5% high resolution agarose gel [ superfine resolution (SFR) agarose; Amresco, USA] on a submarine gel electrophoresis system. Genetic similarity between genotypes was calculated using Jaccard's coefficient. The similarity matrix was analyzed using NTSYS-pc to produce an agglomerative hierarchial classification, by employing UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method Using Arithmatic Averages) with average linkage.The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the plant characters as well as yield and yield components showed significant variance due to parents and hybrids in both the locations. Combined ANOVA indicated significant G X E interaction for all the parameters studied except for number of rows of kernels/ear. This highlights the need for multi-location trials to know the true worth of inbreds and their crosses, and also emphasizes the necessity to evolve location-specific hybrids. Genetic analysis revealed that both additive and non-additive components of gene action are important as variance due to females, males, and males X females was significant. For traits like days to maturity, and yield parameters like 100-grain weight, five-cob weight and cob length, dominance variance was higher and this was in conformity with reports by Debnath and Sarkar (1990) and Satyanarayan et at. (1994). For yield and yield parameters, line X tester interaction contributed more than 50% of variance as compared to lines and testers individually at both the locations.Combining ability across the environments showed that male X female X location (SCA X location) effect was more significant than male X location and female X location (GCA X location) effects. Hence, The present study encompassed thirteen maIZe inbred lines and forty hybrid combinations amongst them. The eight inbred lines used as female parents were derived from three different source populations namely AD-609 (four), A-64 (two) and MDR (two). The five testers used as male parents included those lines derived from different composites as well as parental lines of a commercially cultivated hybrid.The forty single cross combinations from 8 lines and 5 testers, along with the 13 parental lines were evaluated during 2002 Kharif season at two locations, Delhi and Kamal, using a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The performance of the parents and their crosses was assessed on the basis of twelve characters and compared with three released single cross hybrids. For analysis of combining ability of the experimental crosses, procedures suggested by Kempthome (1957) were followed.The twelve inbreds were characterized for 28 specific traits, which included 22 qualitative and 6 quantitative traits at the winter nursery (Amberpet farm, Hyderabad) during Rabi 2002. The different possible alleles for each trait were scored as per the standard specifications. They were scored in binary digits 1 or 0 indicating the presence or absence of each allele, respec~ive ly. The pattern of genetic diversity using cluster analysis was depicted in the form of a dendrogram. Eight parental lines (4 lines and 4 testers) were selected for further characterization at molecular level using a set of 42 microsatellite markers chosen on the basis of bin locations and previous knowledge of their amplification.Genomic DNA from each of the genotypes was extracted from a bulk of 10 -15 plants, using a modified CTAB procedure and amplified products were resolved on a The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the plant characters as well as yield and yield components showed significant variance due to parents and hybrids in both the locations. Combined ANOVA indicated significant G X E interaction for all the parameters studied except for number of rows of kernels/ear. This highlights the need for multi-location trials to know the true worth of inbreds and their crosses, and also emphasizes the necessity to evolve location-specific hybrids. Genetic analysis revealed that both additive and non-additive components of gene action are important as variance due to females, males, and males X females was significant. For traits like days to maturity, and yield parameters like 100-grain weight, five-cob weight and cob length, dominance variance was higher and this was in conformity with reports by Debnath and Sarkar ( 1990) and Satyanarayan et at. (1994). For yield and yield parameters, line X tester interaction contributed more than 50% of variance as compared to lines and testers individually at both the locations.Combining ability across the environments showed that male X female X location (SCA X location) effect was more significant than male X location and female X location (GCA X location) effects. Hence, Group II: DMB 5154, 5157, 5159.It was observed that the genotypes used as testers clustered separately and were genetically diverse from the lines, thereby supporting their choice as testers and their use in analyses of combining ability, as well as to obtain information about best or most-heterotic single cross hybrids among the crosses (Zamberi et al., 1987).For the best heterotic hybrids for yield, namely Knowledge about the relationships among breeding materials is useful for selecting inbred lines for making crosses. The identification of inbred lines that will produce superior hybrids is the most expensive and timeconsuming stage in maize hybrid development. Diallel analysis is a conventional method of identifying parental lines that could be used for synthetic and hybrid development. However, this method becomes impractical when a large number of lines is involved because the number of crosses increases proportionally with the number of lines used, eventually becoming unmanageable and prohibitively expensive. An alternative way to maximize the use of germplasm at the same time reducing the cost is the use of factorial mating design based on groupings of lines using molecular markers. Molecular markers are tools that can help to define heterotic groups and assign inbred lines into existing heterotic groups (Melchinger, 1999). SSRs, having the advan-tages of reliability, reproducibility, discrimination, standardization, and cost effectiveness over those of other marker types, have become the marker of choice for many genetic analyses (Smith et al., 1997). This study was undertaken to (a) assess the genetic diversity of 11 yellow maize inbred lines using SSR markers, ( b) determine their combining ability, and (c) compare the efficiency of factorial and diallel mating designs in finding promising breeding materials.Eleven yellow maize inbred lines were crossed in a dial-leI fashion to form 55 crosses and then evaluated for  1999). The general and specific combining ability effects were estimated using diallel software program (Burrow and Coors, 1994) following Griffing's method 4 (model I) (Griffing, 1956). DNA extraction, PCR, silver staining, and band scoring were done using the protocol of CIMMYT-AMBIONET service laboratory (AMBIONET, 2004). Only markers with <20% heterozygosity and lines with < 15% missing data were included in the analysis. Out of 39 markers, 238 polymorphic alleles were generated. Genetic similarities (GS) among pair-wise comparison of inbred lines were calculated using Jaccard's similarity coefficients (Jaccard, 1908). Genetic distance (GD) was calculated as GD = 1 -GS. A dendrogram was generated using NT-SYS pc ver 2. 1 software Program (Rohlf, 2002). Bootstrap analysis with 400 repetitions was employed using WINBOOT software program (Yap and Nelson, 1996) to determine the stability and robustness of the clusters.The germplasm in this study had a wide range of genetic variability. The genetic distance (GD) between lines in the 55 single crosses (SC)  Mean squares and percent sum of squares for yield and other agronomic traitsSignificant differences among the crosses were noted for all the traits observed (Table 2). Both general and specific combining ability effects (GCA and SCA) were significant. Except for ear height, majority of the variation were due to SCA effects contributing 78 % for The relative importance of additive and nonadditive effects for grain yield in diallel crosses is an indication of the type of gene action (Baker, 1978). In this study, the GCA and SCA effects were both significant but SCA effects predominate over GCA effects, indicating that nonadditive gene action is operating in these germplasm. The nonadditive gene action was further supported by low ( <1) GCAISCA ratios. However, the significance of GCA and SCA depends on the type of germplasm used in the diallel analysis and the environ--1  A total of 34 crosses were produced by factorial mating based on three clusters, while 55 crosses were produced by diallel mating. This means that 21 crosses could be saved from using factorial mating. Comparing these two methods, 9 promising SC were identified out of the 34 crosses (26%) by factorial mating while 14 were identified out of the 55 SC (25%) by diallel mating (Table 4). While the two methods have comparable efficiency in identifying good crosses, factorial mating would involve less number of crosses, and thus would . require less time and resources. This result supports the finding of Magulama and Sillote (2003) who also obtained greater number of better cultivar crosses when crossing was made between cultivars belonging to different groups.crosses and demonstrate the utility of marker technology in expediting plant breeding work. Maize is one of the most important cereal crops world over, and is cultivated in an area of 137 M ha, with an average yield of 4 tlha. Maize is a unique crop which can be used at any stage of its growth, and can be used as food, feed or fodder, in addition to hundreds of industrial uses (Tracy and Hallauer, 1994). lt ranks 5 th in area and 3 rd in production in India, and considering its high productivity and untapped potential, it is felt that there is need for diversification and value addition of maize. With a change in food habit and shift in cropping pattern, specialty corns like sweet corn assume tremendous potential in Indian Agriculture.Sweet corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) is one of the most popular vegetables in countries like USA and Canada. Various strategies have been suggested to enhance variability in the sweet corn germplasm (Palacios et at., 1991;Tracy, 1990). Although sweet corn is be-coming increasingly popular in India, its improvement has received very little attention and no single cross hybrids with enhanced sugar content are available in the public domain. So as an initial step, the present investigation aimed to characterize 23 sweet corn inbred lines derived from adapted and introduced sources (with Su and Sh2 types) for various qualitative, quantitative and biochemical traits.Thirty two sweet corn inbred lines (including the parents used in a line x tester analysis) were character-  (1957).For characterization of sweet com inbred lines, the data on 16 qualitative traits were taken into account. Of these, 10 descriptors were either dimorphic (for LW, LO, LT, LSP, CC, TT, TSB & HC) or polymorphic (for LC and GRC). These descriptors are useful in both line maintenance and discriminating among the inbred lines.The data for mean performance of inbred lines revealed that SCI-5, SCI-12, SCI-22 had high mean for yield and yield components. The inbred 1'3 had the highest grain yield per hectare (2. 5 tlha). Inbred lines SCI-4 and SCI-8 were early maturing. There were significant differences among inbreds for number of kernel rows/ear, kernels/row, ear weight, grain yield, days to 50% silking and ear placement.Highly significant differences among inbred lines were detected for total sugar content and non-reducing sugar level (%) at dry kernel stage. However, not much variation was found among these inbreds for reducing sugar content ( % ). Similar results were reported by Zhao et at. (2002). The most promising parental line (L 3 ) had around 16% total sugar and 13 % non-reducing sugar. Parent T 3 and hybrid T z x T 1 had the largest grain yield among parents and hybrids, respectively. The analysis of variance for lines, testers and hybrids indicated significant variability for yield, plant height, and ear placement among the parents.Hybrids differed significantly for many traits except for ear length, ear diameter and number of kernel rows per ear.The analysis of varIance for combining ability effects for the 12 characters revealed significant differ-ences among the females, males and females X males.Variance due to females was significant for number of kernels per row and plant height, while variance due to female X male was significant for all the traits except ear length, ear width, number of kernels per row and days to 50% silking. Among the yield and yield component characters, only kernels/row exhibited significant variances due to males and females. The characters like kernel rows/ear, ear weight, 100 kernel weight, yield!plant and yield per hectare exhibited significant variance only for the F X M interaction component. For most of the traits, significant variance due to F x M was detected, indicating that non-additive gene action was important for these traits and hence the materials in this study are suited for a hybrid breeding program. Similar results were reported by several workers (Wolf et at., 2000;Zhao, 1999).The estimates of general combining ability effects (GCA) indicated that L z was the best general combiner for ear weight, yield per plant and yield/ha; and L 3 was the best for kernels per row. Similarly, T 1 among the male lines was the best general combiner for kernels/row, yield/plant, yield/ha, and ear diameter. However, none of the parents displayed desirable GCA effect for all the traits. This means that there is scope for improving GCA of parents for specific traits.Highly significant SCA effects for grain yield, ear weight, 100-seed weight and ear length were detected in the cross L z X T1. Other notable crosses with desirable effect included L 3 x T3 and L 6 X Tz for yield! plant and ear weight; L s X T s and L s X T 3 for ear diameter.Results of the present study indicated that large heterosis for grain yield was often associated with large heterosis for yield attributes. For instance, the cross L z x T[ exhibited highest better-parent heterosis for grain yield per plant, and also had largest heterosis for 100-seed weight. A majority of the hybrids expressed more than 50% better-parent heterosis. Based on standard heterosis over both \"Madhuri\" and \"Priya\", seven hybrids with more than 40% heterosis for grain yield were detected, out of which fiveT 2 , ~X T 3 , L 2 X T] and L 4 x T 3 ) could be consid- as genetic markers in maize genetic studies, including the analysis of genetic diversity and evolution (Senior et at., 1998;Lu and Bernardo, 2001;Matsuoka, 2002). Molecular fingerprinting of hybrids and their parental lines is important for protecting them and ensuring their genetic identity. The objectives of our present study were to characterize the genetic identity of hybrids and parental lines, and to detect any heterozygosity in inbred lines by using SSR markers.The four commercially cultivated maize hybrids in Indonesia and their parental lines that were used (Table 1) in this study were obtained from ICERI. The bulk of ten young leaves were used for DNA extraction according to Saghai-Maroof et at. (1984) with slight modifi-     n.4SClIphr\"ondh' (\"(lrTeJ:.llillll 1'1'l~m~'ipllll I r)n.::\"7The [our hyhrid\", and Ifwir pareZital lilies were gnllifwd into two ('Ill:>!er\" ( Figufl' 2).  'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop matched those with their inbred parents, while some alleles in several loci in the Semar-9 and Semar-lO hybrids did not match those of their inbred parents ( data not presented). Three-way cross hybrids ( such as the Semar-9 and Semar-lO), are more difficult to maintain than single cross hybrids (such as Bima-l) be- Coefficient of similarity  The experimental material was generated by crossing 15  (1963). The combining ability analyses were done as per the method suggested by Kempthome (1957) .The analysis of variance (ANOVA) exhibited highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied showing sufficient genetic variability. The combining ability analysis of variance revealed that mean squares due to line and testers were highly significant for all the characters studied. However, mean squares due to lines were greater than that due to testers indicating greater diversity among the female lines than in the males for all the characters studied.The lower magnitude of mean squares due to line x testers suggested that the hybrids were more uniform than their parents (Table 1) .The success of a breeding program depends mainly on the selection of parents for the development of suitable hybrids and improved population. This requires information on the genetic architecture of the parents for the inheritance of economic traits. Combining ability analysis carried out using line x tester mating design is one such approach to assess the gene actions involved in the inheritance of various characters in large number of parental material (Kempthorne, 1957). In the present study, the gca and sca variances indicated the role of both additive and non-additive gene effects. However, the magnitude of sca varianes was much higher than that of gca variance indicating the preponderance of non-additive gene effects. Similar findings have also been reported by Hang et at. (1991) and Joshi et at. (1998). The estimates of gca effects revealed that line L 3 , L 5 , L 7 , L IO and L 15 were good general combiners for grain yield per plant. Out of these lines, L 5 , L IO and L I5 have also resulted in the production of best single crosses (L 5 X T 1 , L IO X T I and L I5 X T3) with high sca effects. Further, these lines also possess significant and desirable gca effects for various yield components. Hence, these may be considered for the development of synthetics as well as in hybrid breeding program, aimed at higher yield. Among the testers, T I was observed to be a good general combiner for seed yield per plant, days to silking, number of leaves per plant and number of grains per row ( Table 2) . The parental lines L 3 , L s ' ~, L IO , L 14 , LIS and testers T \" and T z were found to have significant gca estimates (8. 22, 6. 88, 9. 36, 9. 28, 12. 32, 8.01, 3. 48 and 5.01, respectively) for grain yield. This indicates the contribution of additive X additive type of gene action in their cross combinations. The crosses L z X T \" L s X T \" L , X T z ' and L I5 X T 3 involved at least one good general combiner, indicating additive x dominance type of interaction.The standard heterosis for a cross is observed when it desirably exceeds the best check variety with respect to the trait under consideration. For grain yield per plant, the heterosis ranged from 9. 76 (L s X T, ) to 27.93 (L IO x T, ). These crosses involved at least one parent with high gca effect. Only one line L I4 showed significant yield heterosis with all the three testers. Of the 19 heterotic crosses, 9 crosses seemed economically viable because they exhibited 20% or more heterosis.The crosses L IO X T[, L 5 X T z , L I4 X T z and L I5 x T 3 being heterotic for grain yield were also heterotic for number of grains per row and 100-grain weight. These findings are consistent with those of Jha and Khera (1992), Joshi et al. ( 1998), Sain-Dass et al. ( 1998) and Reddy et al. (2003) .In conclusion, the crosses L 5 X T l' L 7 X T I' L IO X T I and L I5 x T3 showed positive heterosis for grain yield per plant along with significant sca In Vietnam, Maize is ranked as the second most important crop after paddy rice. The Government of Vietnam highly evaluates maize as a crop that contributes for food security of the country. Because in Vietnam, maize is considered as a crop that has a potential to expand the area and yield for reducing import of grain for animal feeding. Furthermore, it has also been recognised as a major factor in shifting crop cultivation into animal husbandry. Therefore, many sound policies and measures were in practice and are still on-going with a view to enhancing maize production, especially.        In recent years, the prob'Tam lc)!\" hybrid maize development of Vietnam has obtained many signillcant breakthrough, not only in methodologies, practical methods but also in output of research. These can be briefed as follows:Breeding germplasrn:   YIeld (ctiHa)Aoreage,average grain yield,total production (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004) \"Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop Conclusions ogy;In reccnt years, the pWb'Tam j()r hybrid maize development of Vietnam has obtained many signillcant breakthrough, not only in methodologiE's, practical methods but also in output of research. These can he briefed as follows:Breeding gerrnplasm:  Not only can population improvement optimize the genetic constitution of breeding materials, but it can also accumulate beneficial genes and break the linkages between beneficial and detrimental genes. Thus, the population yield and agronomic traits can be improved greatly and the improved populations can be applied directly in agriculture (Hallauer, 1987 ). Peng and Zhang (2000) applied mass selection to improve traits with high heritability, such as yield, ear length, ear position and resistance to disease and insects. At the same time, this method is convenient for handling larger basic and!or effective population sizes, and it permits higher selection intensity without increasing the inbreeding coefficient. Obviously, it is effective in adapting exotic germplasm to local conditions (Zhang et   al., 2000).Various workers have applied molecular markers to study genetic diversity in maize germplasm. Populations BSCB\\ and BSSS, which had undergone reciprocal re-current selection for 12 cycles, were evaluated by 82RFLPs (Labate et al., 1997)  Approximately 300 plants from each cycle of pob32 ( MW964) were grown at low densities (37 500 plants/ ha) in Ya'an in 2003. This location is 28°to 30°N latitude, and belongs to the semitropical region. The experiment was designed as a complete block with 3 replica-  Relative genetic improvement was estimated as (X'i -XJIX x 100%. Mean heterozygosity (Nei, 1975) was calculated as: H = I,hjlr for r loci. Genetic distance was calculated using the package NTSYS-pc2. 1. The Shannon genetic diversity index (Wachira et ai., 1995) was used for determining the diversity index ( HO), average diversity index (Hpop), and diversity index of whole populations ( Hsp) , as well as the diversity index distributions of intra-populations and interpopulations (Hpop/Hsp and 1-Hpop/Hsp) .H o = -I, Il)nlt whereas ear length and 100-kernel weights were significant. Clearly there were positive responses to selection. However, the differences for plant height, ear position and row numbers/ear were not significant, indicating a lack of response to selection for these traits. Most of traits had evident improvements (Table 1 and 2   3, the heterozygosity detected by some primers increased following population selection, but for other markers the heterozygosity level remained stable. This indicated that some loci had a great range of genetic diversity, and that heterozygosity was maintained through new combinations of alleles. It is important to know the numbers and frequencies of alleles in populations in order to evaluate and compare the genetic structures before and after selection (Liu, 1999 NOT IN REFERENCES). In this experiment, the initial number of alleles for Pob32 Co was 418, and the frequency distribution was dispersive. The allele numbers of the C  (Guo 1993).Generally speaking, some rare alleles tended towards extinction due to genetic drift and some alleles tended to remain stable in frequency. Thus genetic drift resulted in a decline of diversity and heterozygosity in the populations. For example, genotype A at locus Phi065 was 6.7% in Co, and I was 3.3%, but disappeared in C l . Overall, allele numbers tended to decrease with selection. It is important to know the numbers and frequencies of alleles in populations in order to evaluate and compare the genetic structures before and after selection (Liu, 1999 NOT IN REFERENCES). In this experiment, the initial number of alleles for Pob32 Co was 418, and the frequency distribution was dispersive. however, alleles g and h appeared in C 2 , not in C j • It was possible that both allelic combinations and freq~en cies changed following mass selection (Guo 1993).Generally speaking, some rare alleles tended towards extinction due to genetic drift and some alleles tended to remain stable in frequency. Thus genetic drift resulted in a decline of diversity and heterozygosity in the populations. For example, genotype A at locus Phi065 was 6.7% in Co, and I was 3. 3%, but disappeared in (2001) studied genetic differentiation in intra-populations for wheat, and indicated that the correlation coefficient between gene heterozygosity and ratio of polymorphic loci reached O. 99 (P <O. 01). The results of gene heterozygosity, ratio of polymorphic loci, and genetic diversity index were all consistent with the phenotypic variation . We conclude that it is important to detect genetic diversity when evaluating improved populations, and integrating phenotypic and SSR molecular markers analyses is a useful approach.Based on the results of the evaluation trial, sufficient genetic diversity was maintained and the adaptability of the population was improved in a short time by means of mass selection. MW964 , which was Pob32 before 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop improvement, is a tropical gennplasm from CIMMYT.It is one of the exotic gennplasms that is well adapted to Sichuan conditions, and also possesses remarkable genetic diversity. Xia et at. Due to very limited space, we would explain in short as follows:1. The coordinator in each country or private company will send either early maturity (less than 100 days) or late maturity hybrids (4 kg of seed per hybrid; limit of two hybrids per country) along with phytosanitary and _GMO-free certificates. These should be sent through FAO pouch in each country to Dr. Gamini Keerthisinghe, Senior Plant Production Officer, FAO-RAP, 39, Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.2. TAMNET-The coordinator and teamwork will prepare the seeds, organize the trials and dispatch them to participants through FAO pouch as soon as possible. There were 9 hybrids with grain yield (6 825 kg!ha and 7 889 kg! ha) superior to the check (6 548 kg!ha) across 10 locations in 5 countries (Table 1).  (Chutkaew, 1989(Chutkaew, , 1993(Chutkaew, , 1996;;Chutkaewet at., 2000;TAMNET, 1993TAMNET, -2000)). In The difficulties experienced by TAMNET include: Delay in delivery of seeds to the coordinator, poor seed germination, insufficient seeds provided for the trials, incomplete data recorded in field sheets, delayed return of data after harvest, as well as problems in communication. It would be good if some budget were provided to member countries for carrying-out the trials. --=-=--=-=---===-- .   = average from 7 locations, Loc. 9 (Indonesia -2) , Loc. II (Tak Fa) , Loc. 12 (Tak Fa), Loc. 13 ( KU) , Loc. 14 (Kok Charoen), Loc. 17 ( Vietnam -2) , Loc. 18 ( KU) 3 = average from 6 locations, Loc. 9 (Indonesia -2) , Loc. II (Tak Fa), Loc. 13 (KU) , Loc. 16( Vietnam -1), Loc. 17 (Vietnam -2), Loc. 18 (KU) 4 = average from 6 locations, Loc.ll(TakFa), Loc. 12(TakFa), Loc. 13(KU), Loc. 16(Vietnam-l), Loc. 17 The changes in per capita income, population growth and urbanization are the driving factors in changing the diets of billion of people toward animal products in developing countries, especially in Asia (Hutabarat, 2003). With increase in demand of animal product the utilization of feed grain also increases as feed grains are raw materials for animal feed. In Indonesia, maize is a major component of animal feed, accounting for about 51 % of feed ingredient (Tangendjaja et at., 2003).Maize is also the second most important food crops after rice, as indicated by the percentage of area planted to maize (about 19% of the total area planted to food crops). Rice occupied about 61 % area (Kasryno, 2002). In terms of utilization, the Maize Balance Sheets data showed that in 2002 about 64. 4% of maize was used for food, including direct food and food industry and about 22 % for feed industry.During past four decades, maize production in Indonesia grew at an average rate of 3. 61 % per year. The . .----\"..   The highest growth of maize demand was for food industry, such as for maize flour, coffee mixed, cooking oiL snacks, corn. corn flake etc.sugar free sweetener, popIt was rapidly increasing from 1 sequence is that there will be a rompelition in terms of demand for maize, between feed mills and food industry. In view of this then:' is a good prospect for farmers to increase maize production both as feed and food crops. The important question is then. whetherSectioo I ~Biotic and Abiotic Stressor not Indonesia will be able to meet its domestic exploding demand for maize, following the rapid growth of feed and food industries? The answer will be depending upon efforts to encourage fanners to grow more maize using modern technology.---+---Feed Industry Direct Food The projection is done by uSll1g growth trend during 1990 ~2002 in production (3.05% per year) and consumption (4.19% per year), and applied for their fulure growth. The estimation is applied by assuming that the future growth will be approximately following the last decade growth of production and consumption. The results are presented in Table 1, which shows that maize production is projected to increase from 9. 65 million tons in 2002 to 12.28 million tons in 2010 and 16.58 million tons by 2020. On the other hands, the demand for maize is also projected to increase at a higher rate from 10.79 million tons in 2002 to about 14. 99 million tons in 2010 and 22. 59 million tons by 2020. Thus, there will be a deficit of about 2. 71 million and 6.01 million tons in 2010 and 2020, respectively. Therefore, without any breakthrough in technology and economic policy, Indonesia will not be able to 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop maIze.Table 1 The projected production and consumption of maize in Indonesia, 2002 -2020 meet its domestic exploding demand for maize from domestic production.References farmers with subsidized and simple credit and (iv)strengthen farmers group to improve their bargaining position.  1. Maize consumption changed structurally from direct food to feed and food industries, due to an increase in per capita income and knowledge of people about dietary food. Maize is considered as inferior food if it is directly consumed, however, it is no longer inferior when it is processed into manufactured food.food industry resulted into substantial increase in demand for feed, and finally mounting demand for maize as a major component of feed and a raw material for food industry.3. After 1975, the growth of maIze production could not meet the growing demand for maize. therefore, Indonesia has become an importing country for 4. Presently, maize production in Indonesia tends to leveling-off, while its demand for both feed and food industries is exploding. Therefore, in future without a significant breakthrough, Indonesia is projected to have an increasing maize deficit.To reduce the dependency of Indonesia on maIze import, there should be some strategic policy efforts, In the tropics, maize crops grown during Kharif (rainy) season frequently face extreme climatic conditions and various biotic/abiotic pressures that limit yield potential. Among the abiotic stresses, excessive soil moisture caused by contingent/intermittent flooding or water-logging is one of the most important constraints for maize production in the Asian region. In South and SE-Asia alone, over 15% of the total maize growing area is affected by floods and water-logging problems ( Rathore et   at., 1997). In India, out of a total of 6. 6 million ha of maize, over 2. 5 million ha are prone to excessive moisture conditions, which causes on average 25% -30% loss of the national maize production almost every year.The extent of damage due to excessive moisture ( EM) stress varies significantly with developmental stage; however, considerable genetic variability has been identified in maize (Rathore et al., 1997;Zaidi et al., 2003). The response of maize plants to excessive moisture stress has been studied extensively. At the physiological level, anoxia affects phytohormone homeostasis (Jackson, 1990); affects plant morphology and anatomy (Jackson, 1990); resulted in stunted growth, considerably reduced dry matter accumulation, leaf area development, transpiration, prolonged anthesis-silking interval (ASI) and eventually resulted in poor grain yields (Rathore et aI., 1997;Zaidi et at. , 2003). However, systematic information on the cascade of events conferring the stress tolerance is not yet established, which is essentially required for genetic enhancement of tropical maize germplasm for improved tolerance to excessive moisture situations. In the present study, we attempted to identify various stress-adaptive changes in the relatively tolerant maize genotypes and their importance in overall performance of the germplasm under excessive moisture stress.The experiment was conducted during Kharif ( rainy Observations on various morphological traits were recorded one week after the completion of the EM stress treatment. Surface rooting was scored using 1 -5 scale (1 = poor to 5 = extensive). Root porosity was measured in underground adventitious roots using the pyc-section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress nometer method (Noordwijk and Brouwer, 1988). Data on final grain yield were recorded at 15 % moisture at harvest. Sampling for ADH-activity and leaf/root ethanol concentrations was done on alternate days, starting from the first day of waterlogging and continuing until 8 days after the stress treatment. Sampling for ethanol concentration was also done on alternate days on the plants exposed to EM stress during \"cup screening\" and in water samples from the trays holding the cups, starting from the 5 1h day after planting and continuing until the 2] 'I day.Analysis of variance was computed using MSTATc with completely randomized block design (2-factors) for the cup experiment and randomized complete block design (2-factors) for the field experiments. For all experiments, data from two years were pooled on the basis of test for homogeneity of error variance of the twoyear datasets using Hartley's Fmax test (Ott, 1988).Correlation coefficients and linear regression between secondary traits and grain yield were also computed using MSTATc.Under . .Nodes with brace roots/surface rooting score 10 20 30 Root porosity (%)   . ..5 ., .. roots. EM-induced nodal roots in maize genotypes have been found to have large air-spaces in their cortical region, which increase root porosity and help increase the supply of oxygen, nutrients and water, and improve anchorage where severe damage of primary roots under ex-ceSSIve moisture has already occurred (Zaidi et al., 2004). In maize, fonnation of aerenchyma is not a constitutive trait; rather it seems to be a stress-adaptive trait that develops with exposure to excessive moisture stress (Zaidi et ai., 2003). Analogous to brace roots, expression of this trait as well was nominal under normal moisture condition, which indicates that it is a stress-induced trait and an adaptive strategy to exces- mg protein min -1 ) and ethanol concentration( flIIloV g) in leaf and root tissues of maize inbred lines during excessive moisture stress applied at V7 stage III ADH activity in both susceptible and tolerant genotypes (Figure 2). ADH activity was slightly higher for tolerant lines as compared to susceptible lines, but this difference was statistically non-significant. Ethanol concentration, both in root and leaf tissues, was comparatively much higher in susceptible genotypes than tolerant ones (Figure 2). Daily monitoring of ethanol in root, shoot and inundated water in cup screening showed that the amount of ethanol in water was comparatively much higher with tolerant entries than susceptible ones. These findings indicate that ethanol was extruded from the roots of tolerant germplasm to the growth medium, which explains the low ethanol concentration in root and particularly in leaf tissues of tolerant entries, in spite of slightly higher ADH activity in these genotypes.  .. . .Nodes with brace roots/surface rooting score roots. EM-induced nodal roots in maize genotypes have been found to have large air-spaces in their cortical region, which increase root porosity and help increase the supply of oxygen, nutrients and water, and improve anchorage where severe damage of primary roots under ex-ceSSIve moisture has already occurred (Zaidi et al., 2004). In maize, formation of aerenchyma is not a constitutive trait; rather it seems to be a stress-adaptive trait that develops with exposure to excessive moisture stress (Zaidi et at., 2003). Analogous to brace roots, expression of this trait as well was nominal under normal moisture condition, which indicates that it is a stress-induced trait and an adaptive strategy to excessive moisture stress. Root porosity was strongly related to grain yield under excessive moisture stress (Figure  of Latin America and Africa. BLSB has been a cause of concern due to its devastating potential. The disease can reduce grain yield up to 100%, particularly when the ear rot phase of the disease is predominant ( Sharma et al., 2000). The disease symptoms are manifested on sheaths, leaves, ear husks and kernels but not on stalks.In spite of the advance of knowledge on aspects such as etiology and epidemiology of the disease, identification of host resistance and the genetic nature of resistance to BLSB remain an Achille's heel for maize scientists all over the world. One of the biggest handicaps A total of 2 025 maize inbred lines from CIMMYT (Mexico, Asia, and Zimbabwe) and India were planted during 2002 in 3 -meter-long rows (75 cm x 25 cm spacing from row-to-row and plant-to-plant, respectively), with two replications in India ( Delhi and Pantnagar), China (Guangxi) and Indonesia (South Sulawesi). Nonnal agronomic practices of crop husbandry were followed. Mter every 20 entries, a susceptible check was planted as an indicator to judge the effectiveness of inoculation procedures. In China and Indonesia, the source of inoculation was sclerotia collected from the previous season; a few sclerotia were placed between the stalk and sheath of lower internodes. In India, sterile barley grains were used for multiplication of inoculum for field inoculation, and the test entries were artificially inoculated by placing 4 infected barley grains between the stalk and sheath of 2nd or 3 rd internode when the plants were 40 days old. Disease scoring was done 4 -5 week after inoculation using a 1 -5 scale, where score of 1 indicated BLSB on one sheath only, with few small, non-coalescent lesions; 2 = BLSB moved up to four sheaths with coalescent lesions; 3 = disease present on all sheaths except the internode near the ear; 4 = disease up to the internode bearing the ear shoot, but not affecting the shank; and 5 = the fungus affected the entire ear and led to premature death of plants (Ahuja and Payak, 1978). Entries with disease rating of 2. 5 or less were considered as somewhat resistant, 2. 6 to 3. 5 tolerant and 3. 6 to 5 susceptible.SecIIon II: BioIIc and AblolIc Sb1SsMaize gennplasm evaluation against BLSB under artificial inoculations was successful as indicated by consistent highly-susceptible reaction (3. 8 to 5.0) of the susceptible check at least in two locations in India during 2002. The extremely high disease levels not only ensured high pathogenicity of BLSB isolates but also helped in reliable classification of somewhat tolerant genotypes under study. The evaluation of BLSB reaction for 2 025 materials mainly in inbred background was conducted at four locations, i. e. Delhi and Pantnagar ( India), Guangxi (China) and South Sulawesi (Indonesia). The disease ratings at the four locations were averaged for reaching conclusions. On the basis of mean disease rating across locations, 24 lines with yellow kernels (Table 1) and 16 with white kernels were found to be tolerant (Table 2). However, perusal of disease intensity at the four locations indicated that disease development in China and Indonesia was of low magnitude, and hence reliable discrimination between resistance and susceptibility appeared doubtful at these sites. It was, therefore, decided to rely only on the disease reaction data from Delhi and Pantnagar. The average disease rating at these two locations ranged from 3. 8 to 5.0, thereby indicating optimum level of disease development for reliable disease screening.Therefore, on the basis of data from India, eight mate- A total of 2 025 maize inbred lines from CIMMYT (Mexico, Asia, and Zimbabwe) and India were planted during 2002 in 3-meter-long rows (75 em x 25 cm spacing from row-to-row and plant-to-plant, respectively), with two replications in India ( Delhi and Pantnagar), China (Guangxi) and Indonesia (South Sulawesi). Normal agronomic pmctices of crop husbandry were followed. Mter every 20 entries, a susceptible check was planted as an indicator to judge the effectiveness of inoculation procedures. In China and Indonesia, the source of inoculation was sclerotia collected from the previous season; a few sclerotia were placed between the stalk and sheath of lower internodes. In India, sterile barley grains were used for multiplication of inoculum for field inoculation, and the test entries were artificially inoculated by placing 4 infected barley gmins between the stalk and sheath of 2nd or 3 rd internode when the plants were 40 days old. Disease scoring was done 4 -5 week after inoculation using a 1 -5 scale, where score of 1 indicated BLSB on one sheath only, with few small, non-coalescent lesions; 2 = BLSB moved up to four sheaths with coalescent lesions; 3 = disease present on all sheaths except the internode near the ear; 4 = disease up to the internode bearing the ear shoot, but not affecting the shank; and 5 = the fungus affected the entire ear and led to premature death of plants (Ahuja and Payak, 1978). Entries with disease rating of 2. 5 or less were considered as somewhat resistant, 2. 6 to 3. 5 tolerant and 3. 6 to 5 susceptible.SecIIon II: BiolIc and AbIolIc SlressMaize germplasm evaluation against BLSB under artificial inoculations was successful as indicated by consistent highly-susceptible reaction (3. 8 to 5.0) of the susceptible check at least in two locations in India during 2002. The extremely high disease levels not only ensured high pathogenicity of BLSB isolates but also helped in reliable classification of somewhat tolemnt genotypes under study. The evaluation of BLSB reaction for 2 025 materials mainly in inbred background was conducted at four locations, i. e. Delhi and Pantnagar ( India), Guangxi (China) and South Sulawesi (Indonesia). The disease ratings at the four locations were averaged for reaching conclusions. On the basis of mean disease rating across locations, 24 lines with yellow kernels (Table 1) and 16 with white kernels were found to be tolerant (Table 2). However, perusal of disease intensity at the four locations indicated that disease development in China and Indonesia was of low magnitude, and hence reliable discrimination between resistance and susceptibility appeared doubtful at these sites. It was, therefore, decided to rely only on the disease reaction data from Delhi and Pantnagar. The average disease rating at these two locations mnged from 3. 8 to 5.0, thereby indicating optimum level of disease development for reliable disease screening.Therefore, on the basis of data from India, eight mate-white kernel colour were found to possess a moderate/tolerant level of resistance (i. e. rating of 3. 5 or below) .Identifying sources of resistance to maize diseases including BLSB, combined with good yield potential. is a priority for CIMMYT in collaboration with National Programmes. Balla et ai. (2000) screened quite a few lines for resistance to Sorghum downy mildew and BLSB. For BLSB, lines in late and early maturity groups were evaluated in China, India and Indonesia, and line CA003134 was found to be the best as it had a mean disease rating of 2. 5 across locations, with a maximum rating of 3. 3, both in India and Indonesia.The differences observed in disease rating of lines at these locations were not only due to magnitude of disease pressure, but also due to differential reaction of lines at different locations. The main bottleneck in the development of disease resistant cultivars has been the non-existence of host resistance to BLSB. The materials identified during these evaluations may serve as a basis for developing resistant genotypes for deployment in BLSB endemic areas.       The unstable and ephemeral nature of resistance to banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB) has led to considerable difficulty in the identification of stable resistant genotypes for resistance breeding. An understanding of variability in pathogen vis-a-vis its reaction to different genotypes, thus is imperative. Ten isolates of Rhizoctonia solani f. sp. sasakii from different locations in India were studied for morphological and sclerotial characters on PDA, and for their molecular diversity. Isolates from different locations could be grouped into two color classes namely butter yellow and brownish. The colony texture also formed two groups; one with profuse fluffy, cottony mycelial growth and the other possessed a compact and dense growth. Ultra-structure of sclerotia indicated surface pits in some isolates. All isolates were of multi-nucleate nature. Likewise, all the isolates belonged to AG-1 1A anastomosis group. Remarkable differences in reactions of 10 inbred lines to BLSB isolates were noticed. RAPD analysis using 60 primers resulted in 626 bands out of which 528 were highly polymorphic. The unstable and ephemeral nature of resistance to BLSB has led to considerable difficulty in identification of stable resistant genotypes for resistance breeding.Understanding the variability in pathogen vis-a-vis its reaction to different genotypes thus is imperative. Observations of morphological and cultural characters, anastomosis grouping, differential reaction and enzymatic pattern form the basis for the study of variation among isolates. However, molecular and biotechnological tools have been found to be more neutral than virulence markers, because they are usually not exposed to selection pressure by the host. This paper presents information on the morphogenetic variability among 10 Indian isolates of the BLSB pathogen with a view to facilitate efforts to enhance resistance to BLSB in maize.In  ( 1978 and 1981). Observations of disease reaction was taken 35 days after inoculation with the pathogen. Disease intensity was recorded 45 days after inoculation, following the rating scale suggested by Ahuja and Payak ( 1981). Observations were also taken for the type of symptoms and their formation pattern. Lines and cultivars with disease rating 1 and 2; 2.5 to 3. 0 and 3. 5 to 5.0 were classed as resistant, moderately resistant and susceptible to highly susceptible, respectively.DNA polymorphism of the pathogen isolates was analysed using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) molecular markers (Williams et al., 1990). Nucleic acid from all isolates was isolated by the Citrimide tetradecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (C TAB) method (Zolan and Pukilla, 1985). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions were standardized and primer screening was carried out using 60 primers from OPM, OPN and OPB series (Operon Technologies, Inc., USA). The reproducible and scorable amplifications were used in the analysis of genetic variability of the isolates. The data matrix thus generated was used to calculate Jaccard's similarity coefficient for each pair-wise comparison (Jaccard, 1908) and for in silica apalyses. The regions of the rDNA and ITS 2 were amplified using PCR with ITS primers of conserved regions of the eukaryotic rRNA gene (White et al., 1990). The amplified PCR products were cloned and The morphological diversity of isolates studied on the basis of colony characteristics and sclerotial ultra-structure indicated high variability among the isolates.Based on colony colour, isolates from different locations were, grouped into two classes, namely yellowish brown and brown. Similarly, the colony textures were of two types, with some of the isolates having profuse, fluffy, cottony mycelial growth, and the other group possessing compact, dense growth. Ultra-structure of sclerotia indicated characteristic surface pits in some isolates, while such pits were absent in others. However, all the isolates were of multi-nucleate nature, and the Ludhiana isolate exhibited the maximum number of nuclei per cell. Likewise, all isolates belonged to the same anastomosis group (AGI 1A) based on their anastomosis with reference isolate (Indian Type Culture Collection Accession number-4087) .Pathogenic diversity among isolates was noticed based on a susceptibility index of the host and a virulence index of the pathogen. Remarkable differences in reaction of inbred lines were noticed (Table 1).Maximum disease was incited by the Dhaulakuan  Genetic diversity of isolates based on DNA polymorphism was studied by RAPD using sixty decamer primers. In all, 626 bands could be scored, of which 528 were highly polymorphic. Maximum polymorphism was observed in RAPD-PCR with primers aPM 2 and aPM 4, with 100% polymorphism as all the bands obtained were polymorphic for these primers. aPM 15 and aPM 14 closely followed them with 95% and 92%  The current research clearly reveals why there exists a high degree of instability of disease manifestation caused by Rhizoctonia solani in different geographical locations and environments. This fact is quite important because it suggests that identification of a universal resistance source will be difficult if not impossible. ThisMaize dwarl mosaic is one of the devastating and widespread virus diseases in maize worldwide. In recent years it has been increasing steadily in China, becoming more and more serious due to the planting of susceptible cultivars (Wang and Ma,2003). The virus strain has been usually considered to be maize dwarl mosaic virus strain B ( MDMV-B) based on host range and serological tests, but it is referred as SCMV-MDB after reassignment of the sugarcane mosaic subgroup of potyviruses (Shukla and Ward, 1989). Owing to the non-persistent transmission of the virus by the aphid vector, control of the disease is ineffective by agronomic and chemical means. Therefore, breeding and cultivation of resistant varieties is the most important way to prevent yield losses, which is based on screening of resistant germplasm and understanding the genetic basis of resistance.Resistance sources against SCMV were initially investigated in USA maize germplasm. The most intensive-ly studied inbred line, Pa405, shows complete resistance to MDMV and SCMV under both field and greenhouse conditions after artificial inoculation. However, the genetic basis of resistance was not consistent in different studies. Rosenkrantz and Scott ( 1984)  Jianyu Wu 1  , Junqiang Ding 1 , Yanxiu 00 1 and Yanbo Xu 1Maize dwarl mosaic is one of the devastating and widespread virus diseases in maize worldwide. In recent years it has been increasing steadily in China, becoming more and more serious due to the planting of susceptible cultivars (Wang and Ma,2003). The virus strain has been usually considered to be maize dwarl mosaic virus strain B ( MDMV-B) based on host range and serological tests, but it is referred as SCMV-MDB after reassignment of the sugarcane mosaic subgroup of potyviruses (Shukla and Ward, 1989). Owing to the non-persistent transmission of the virus by the aphid vector, control of the disease is ineffec- high-resolution molecular mapping, two major quantitative trait locus (QTI..) , Scmv1 and Scmv2, were detected on chromosome arms 6S and 3L for resistance to SC-MV in line FAP1360A (Melchinger et ai., 1998;Xu et ai., 1999;Du Ie et ai., 2000;Du Ie et ai., 2(03).Based on the maize germplasm in China, one common ( recessive) resistance locus near the centromere of chromosome 6 from inbred line Huangza04 was identified based on Mendelian or quantitive resistance models (Wu et ai., 2002;Zhang et ai., 2(03), which is not suitable for the manipulation of the SCMV resistance in maize breeding program. Therefore, to broaden the resistance base and to identify the resistance genes further work is required.In a previous study, we screened 87 inbred lines for resistance to SCMV-MDB. These lines have been widely used in breeding programs in China. The resultsshowed that Siyi expressed complete resistance to SC-MV-MDB and showed high general combining ability when crossed with other lines screened from main maize heterotic groups (Tangsipingtou, Lvda Red Cob, Reid and Lancaster) used in China (Wu et al. ,2(01). However, information regarding the genetic basis of the resistance to SCMV-MDB in Siyi is still lacking. The objectives of the study here were (1) to determine genetic basis ofresistance to SCMV-MDB in line Siyi by Mendelian genetic analysis;(2) to identify molecular markers tightly linked to the resistance gene( s); (3) and to confirm the genetic model by microsatellite analysis.SCMV-MDB resistant maIze inbred line Siyi and sus-• ceptible line Mo17 were mated in various ways to generate the following populations: (Mo17 X Siyi) F 1 , (Mo17 X Siyi) F 2 , (Mo17 X Siyi) X Mo17 and (Mo The SCMV -MDB VIruS strain used in the current 'Proceedings ofll1e Ninth Asjan Regional Maize Workshop high-resolution molecular mapping, two major quantitative trait locus (QTI..) , Scmv1 and Scmv2, were detected on chromosome arms 6S and 3L for resistance to SC-MV in line FAP1360A (Melchinger et at., 1998;Xu et at., 1999;Du Ie et at., 2000;Du Ie et at., 2(03).Based on the maize germplasm in China, one common  The SCMV -MDB VIruS strain used in the current 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asjan Regional Maize Workshop high-resolution molecular mapping, two major quantitative trait locus (QTI..) , Scmv1 and Scmv2, were detected on chromosome arms 6S and 3L for resistance to SC-MV in line FAP1360A (Melchinger et aI., 1998;Xu et aI., 1999;Du Ie et aI., 2000;Du Ie et aI., 2(03).Based on the maize germplasm in China, one common SCMV-MDB resistant maIze inbred line Siyi and sus-• ceptible line Mo17 were mated in various ways to generate the following populations: (Mo17 X Siyi) F I , (Mo17 X Siyi) F 2 , (Mo17 X Siyi) X Mo17 and (Mo The SCMV -MDB VIruS strain used in the current To perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR), genomic DNA was extracted from leaf tissue with the cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) method (Sambrook et   at. , 1989). Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were selected from MaizeGDB website (http/Iwww. maizegdb. org) and synthesized by Bioasia Biotech Lt.Co., Shanghai. The basic SSR procedure was as follows: each assay contains 10 X PCR buffer, O. are totally 18 possible phenotypes of the markers and resistance genes, the recombination ratios of the two resistance genes and the markers were named as rI and r 2 , respectively. The likelihood function will be obtained by polynomial theorem, then; r 1 and r 2 was calculated according to the maximum likelihoods of estimate parameters. The genetic distance between SSR markers and resistance genes will be obtaines using the Kosambi ( 1944)  Further testing of the genetic model was performed by genotyping the progenies of backcross and F 3 populations. In total 6] plants subjected to genotyping analysis were randomly selected from 713 offspring individuals of( Mo17 X Siyi) X Mo17 and 506 plants from F u families from randomly inter-mated 36 F 2 plants were also genotyped after resistance evaluation in field trails during summer 2003.The two parents Siyi and Mo17, Fl' F2' backcrosses progenies were inoculated with SCMV-MDB in the experimental farm station of Henan Agricultural University in year 2001, 2002 and 2003. Genetic analyses of disease reaction are summarized in Table 1. During three successive years, the parents Siyi and Mo17 significantly differed in SCMV-MDB reaction. Siyi, together with the F j and its backcross with Siyi, expressed complete resistance during the whole developmental stage, whereas the SCMV-MDB symptoms on Mo17 leaves began to develop about 5 -7 days after initial inoculation, and five weeks later, all the leaves of Mo17 plants displayed typical mosaic symptoms. However, both the F 2 and( Mol7 x Siyi) x Mo17 populations showed signifi-population and a ratio of 1r: 3s in the( Mo17 X Siyi) X Mo17 population. 36 F z :3 families were also planted in summer seasons of year 2003, by which x Z -test fitted to excepted ratios was also conducted.To perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR), genomic DNA was extracted from leaf tissue with the cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) method (Sambrook et   at. , 1989). Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were selected from MaizeGDB website (http/Iwww. are totally 18 possible phenotypes of the markers and resistance genes, the recombination ratios of the two resistance genes and the markers were named as r\\ and r z , respectively. The likelihood function will be obtained by polynomial theorem, then; r\\ and r z was calculated according to the maximum likelihoods of estimate parameters. The genetic distance between SSR markers and resistance genes will be obtaines using the Kosambi ( 1944)  Further testing of the genetic model was performed by genotyping the progenies of backcross and F 3 populations. In total 6] plants subjected to genotyping analysis were randomly selected from 713 offspring individuals of( Mo17 X Siyi) X Mo17 and 506 plants from F Z : 3 families from randomly inter-mated 36 F z plants were also genotyped after resistance evaluation in field trails during summer 2003.The two parents Siyi and Mo17, Fl' Fz' backcrosses   Combined with the phenotypic data of 242 F 2 progenies, the genetic distances between the resistance genes and markers linked with them were calculated using the specially developed software for this study (see Methods for details). Genetic maps with Rscmvl and Rscmv2 were constructed (Figure 1). In total, five and four markers were mapped with Rscmv1 conferring resistance to SCMV-MDB were identified.The two resistance genes were mapped with tightly linked flanking markers. While the SSR markers were not completely linked with the resistance genes they should be useful for preliminary sceening by breeding   ping (Xu et al., 1999; Du Ie et al., 2003). In the present study, more substantial evidence for two dominant complementary genes was obtained It seems that complementary gene inheritance may be a common for resistance to SCMV in maize. However, the molecular mechanism of the complementary resistance gene model and its relation with the widely accepted gene-for-gene hypothesis are still poor. Among the cloned and well characterized genes conferring resistance to plant viruses, two complementarily inherited genes, RTMI and RTM2, cooperatively function to block long-distance movement of tobacco etch virus (TEV) in arabidopsis (Whitham et al., 1999;Chisholm et al., 2001). This provides us good model for understanding the function of the genes for resistance to SCMV in maize.Many genes for resistance to various pathogens are clustered in in the maize genome (McMullen and Simcox, 1995). The resistance gene Rscmvl located on . chromosome bins 6.00/6.01 IS m the same region asMdml for resistance to MDMV, Scmvl for SCMV, Wsml for WSMV, Rhml for southern com leaf blight, and a gene conferring resistance to high plains virus (Marcon et at., 1997). The resistance gene Rscmv2 The sets of tropical late yellow maize germplasm from NS- Days from planting to anthesis (AD) and silking (SD) were calculated from the date on which 50% of the plants begun pollen shedding or silks emerged from the husk. Anthesissilking interval (ASI) was obtained by subtracting AD from SD. Chlorophyll content (CHE) was measured in the ear leaf at the mid-flowering stage using SPAD-502 (Minolta).Leaf rolling score (LRO) was measured in each plot using Analyses of variance among inbreds, hybrids and OPV indicated significantly different effects due to genotypes for all traits (Table 1). GY of inbred, hybrid and OPV ranged Nei432001 and Nei452008 had least ASI ( -O. 3 days) compared to 3. 9 days of overall mean of the trial (Table 4). EPP of Nei452026, Nei452003 and Nei432001 was 1. 3, 1. 0 and 0.9, respectively, which were significantly  Under water stress condition during flowering stage, the average yields of inbred, hybrid and OPV were 772, 3 837 and 2 388 kg/ha, with ASI averaged 3.9, 2.6 and 6.2 days, and EPP averaged 0.5, 0.6 and 0.6, respectively. Positive correlation was found on GY with EPP, CHE and SPR, while the correlation was ASI and LRO with grain yield was negative.   In India, maize occupies an important place due to its high yield potential and greater demand as food, feed and industrial raw material. Being a rainfed crop coupled with marginal production environments, its productivity fluctuates, depending upon quantumand specially the distribution of rainfall. Therefore, the actual yield at farmers' field lags far behind the potential yield of the crop. The genetic improvement efforts have been successful by influencing photo-assimilate partitioning for increased crop yields ( Gifford and Evans, 1981). However, the possibilities of increasing efficiency of photosynthetic process have so far remained unexplored in practical terms. In maize, most of the carbohydrate in the grain is im-ported from photosynthesis' after anthesis ( Carr and Wardlaw, 1965). Therefore, photosynthetic efficiency and duration after anthesis are of considerable importance for yield realization, particularly under marginal conditions. The increase in harvestable yield is ultimately linked to rate of photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide per unit of land area and the subsequent partitioning of photoassimilate between harvested and non-harvested portions of crop. Foliar spray of thiourea has a significant role in increasing yield and yield attributes of maize probably VIa Improvement of photosynthetic efficiency and canopy photosynthesis ( Sahu et aI., 1993). Thiourea, [ CS ( NH z ) z] is a non-biological thiol compound ( Jocelyn, 1972) having following structural formula:In India, maize occupies an important place due to its high yield potential and greater demand as food, feed and industrial raw material. Being a rainfed crop coupled with marginal production environments, its productivity fluctuates, depending upon quantum .and specially the distribution of rainfall. Therefore, the actual yield at farmers' field lags far behind the potential yield of the crop. The genetic improvement efforts have been successful by influencing photo-assimilate partitioning for increased crop yields ( Gifford and Evans, 1981). However, the possibilities of increasing efficiency of photosynthetic process have so far remained unexplored in practical terms. In maize, most of the carbohydrate in the grain is im-ported from photosynthesis' after anthesis ( Carr and Wardlaw, 1965). Therefore, photosynthetic efficiency and duration after anthesis are of considerable importance for yield realization, particularly under marginal conditions. The increase in harvestable yield is ultimately linked to rate of photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide per unit of land area and the subsequent partitioning of photoassimilate between harvested and non-harvested portions of crop. Foliar spray of thiourea has a significant role in increasing yield and yield attributes of maize probably VIa Improvement of photosynthetic efficiency and canopy photosynthesis ( Sahu et ai., 1993). Thiourea, [ CS ( NH 2 ) 2] is a non-biological thiol compound ( Jocelyn, 1972) having following structural formula:TV may play bio-regulatory roles in plants as -SH group has diverse biological activities (Jocelyn, 1972).Involvement of -SH groups in phloem transport of sucrose has been reported (Giaquinta, 1976). TV has been reported to exhibit cytokinin like activity (Erez, 1978). As cytokinins are well known for delaying leaf senescence (Woolhouse, 1974), TV may also increase the photosynthetically active leaf surface during grain filling in cereals.Wellbank et at. (1968) suggested that the translocation rate or the capacity of the grain to accept carbohydrates may be an important factor determining the economic yield. Since, -SH group is essential at the substrate binding site of amino acid carrier, TV may also enhance formation of ternary complex, sucrose -H +carrier, thus improving phloem loading of sucrose and hence translocation of photosynthate (McCormick and Johnstone, 1990). The rate of the photosynthate translocation, in turn, influences the partitioning of dry matter between grain and vegetative parts of the crop plant. Sahu and Solanki (1991) reported that sulphydryl compounds play a role in improving dry matter partitioning in maize. In view of this we studied the foliar spray of TV was tested for improving the productivity of rainfed maize.The study was conducted on maize for three consecutive P20slha. Spray solution of 600 liter/ha was applied at knee high, tasseling and grain filling stages at 35, 45 and 55 days after sowing, respectively. Observations were recorded on grain!cob, number of green leaves/ plant at physiological maturity (15 days before harvest), while test weight (1 000 grain weight), biological and grain yields were recorded after harvesting the crop. The pooled results for three years were analyzed and are presented. Harvest index as a measure of dry matter partitioning to economic yield was computed by formula given by Singh and Stoskopf ( 1971) .Water spray applied at any of the crop stages, exhibited non-significant improvement in yield attributes, yield and harvest index over unsprayed control (Table 1).However, TV spray at both the concentrations significantly increased yield attributes, grain and biological yield over unsprayed control. However, the higher concentration of TV (0.2%) was more effective than lower concentration (0. 1%). Further, the crop response to TV spray was more pronounced at grain filling stage as compared to tasseling and knee high stages. Data indicate that O. 2 % TV at grain filling stage recorded significantly higher number of green leaves (8. 53/plant) and number of grains/cob (392. 48), but at par to those recorded with 0.2% spray at tasseling stage. The treatment resulted in higher number of green leaves/plant by 2. 15 as well as number of grains/cob by 24.66% over unsprayed control.Maximum test weight of 234. 9 gm was obtained through spray of O. 2% TV at grain filling stage, which is 10.33% higher over unsprayed control (212. 9gm).The treatment also resulted in significant increase in biological yield ( 19. 35%), grain yield (26.93% The effects of TV on yield attributes and yield of maize was probably not due to nutritional impact of N and S because the quantities of nutrients added through 0.2% TV were very small (about 0.4 and O. 5kg/ha, respectively). Sahu and Solanki ( 1991) concluded that TV foliar spray at 2. 0 kg/ha increased the grain yield by 34. 1% while foliar sprays of urea (2. 0 kg/ha) had no effect on maize grain yield. The results of present investigation indicate significant improvement in yield attributes, yield and harvest index of maize through 0.2% foliar applied TV, and it is through bioregulatory role of TV due to its reactive Sulphydryl content ( Erez, 1978, Sahu and Solanki, 1991and Sahu et at., 1993). In plants, TV is well known for its dormancy breaking and germination stimulating effects. Bokarev and Satarova (1957) have also concluded that activity of TV in breaking dormancy of potato tubers depends on its ability to isomerize to a form with -SH group, whose presence is necessary for an active compound. Significant increase in number of green leaves/plant, number of grains/cob and biological yield by TV O. 2 % foliar spray in present study provides enough support that TV might have delayed leaf senescence, stimulating photosynthetic carbon fixation mechanism and hence in-creased canopy photosynthesis. These results are in agreement with Halmann ( 1990). It can be further assumed that TV O. 2% foliar spray at grain filling stage might have resulted in the creation of larger photosynthetically active leaf area and its duration during pendency of grain filling, as evidenced by the fact that individual plant was maintaining higher number of green leaves at physiological maturity under this treatment. In our study, TV foliar spray at O. 2 % at grain filling stage resulted in significant improvement in weight, which might have resulted due to enhanced metabolic transport of sucrose to grain via effects of TV on phloem loading (Jenner and Rathjen, 1972). Significant increase in harvest index with O. 2% TV at grain filling stage lends further credence to the role of TV in improving dry matter partitioning to grains (Sahu and Solanki, 1991). However, further experimentation is needed with more doses of TV, methods and timings of TV application to refine this agrobiotechnology for rainfed maize. Studies at cellular and molecular level are also necessary to ascertain the site( s) of action of TV in plants. Conclusively it is proposed that the chemicals possessing-SH group or those capable of potentiating-SH turnover could prove to be useful means of improving cereal food production via bio-regulation and improvement in photosynthetic efficiency of crops.  Stress from submergence during the maIZe seedling stage leads to a reduction of oxygen available to roots, followed by injury to roots through anaerobic stress.Previous studies showed that two sets of proteins were synthesized in maize roots under low-oxygen condi-, tions. One is transit peptides, synthesized in the earlier stage (0 -5h) of stress, followed by a marked decrease. The other is anaerobic peptides ( ANPs) , continually synthesized after 1. 5 h of low-oxygen treatment. Many ANPs are identified as enzymes of glycolytic and fermentation pathways, such as AOH, LOH, poe and ALD ( Sachs et ai. , 1996). More gene products, implicated in processes other than glycolysis and fermentation, were involved in response to low oxygen stress. This suggests that many other biochemical and metabolic processes are modulated during low oxygen stress ( Klok et ai., 2002). Submergence results in a dramatic reduction in overall protein synthesis, select- L1nder~tand metabolic and cellular adaptations ofTwo inbreds, Mo17 and Hz32, were germinated in an incubator, and then planted in pots until the three-leaf stage when they were divided into t'wo sets and grown at Response at the transcriptional level to submergence stress .00CK lhiCK 2h1CK 4h1CK CK thiCK 2h1CK 4h1CK  4.00CK lhiCK 2h1CK 4h1CK CK lhiCK 2h1CK 4h1CK and Mo17, indicating they may be related to response differences between Hz32 and Mo17.Maize-wheat is the 5 th predominant cropping system mainly concentrated over 1. 13 million hectares of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India (Yadav and Subba Rao, 2000). Traditionally, maize and wheat are grown either in row geometry or by random broadcasting, mostly after thorough tilling the field for good field emergence. In the traditional practice of broadcasting these crops have limitations, such as inconvenient input management and uneven plant population, which results in inefficient utilization of resources and plant competition leading to low productivity and input effi-CIency.Tillage practices contribute greatly to the labour cost in any crop production system resulting in lower' economic returns (Labios et al., 1997). Intensive tillage systems cause decreased soil organic matter and biodiversity ( Biamah et al., 2000). Reduced or conservation tillage systems are gammg more attention in recent years with the rising concern over natural resource degradation. Hence, conservation tillage practices, such as zero and minimum tillage and permanent beds, may be introduced to offset the production cost and other constraints associated with land preparation.The farmers in IGP are yet to grow maize and wheat under double no-till system either on flat or raised beds; though it is a common practice in many western countries. Bed planting of maize helps in proper plant establishment, increases input efficiency and yields, and Section ,,; Biotic and Abiotic Stressdatasets were analyzed lIsing standard statistical techniques.Maize productivity was highest (5. 66 t/ha) under FIRB system followed by NT and lowf:st (4. 39 t/ha) under conventional-tillage (CT) with an average productivity of 4. 93 tlha, whereas, wheat yield was highest (5. 56 tlha) under no-till system followed by FIRS and conventional systems. Overall productivity of maize-wheat system was maximum ( 10. 84 tlha) under FIRB system of pIHnting followed bv NT Hnd CT systems, respectively (Figure I) .opens up avenues for double no-till system.Adoption of no-till praetice helps in timely seeding for either of the crops, hence leads to increase in productivity. Paliwal (2003) demonstrated how a successful zero-till maize crop could be grown using different management practices. Various on-farm pa11iC'ipatory trials revealed little or no difference in zero-till maize when compared to best managed conventional crop (Gupta et aI., 2002). They fUl1her reported that despites the similar yields, the economic advantage with The The ilTigation water use (m 3 Iha) in both maize and wheat was highest (3 231 and 3 700) under conventional till followed by zero-till (2 723 and 2 934) and the lowest being (2 030 and 2 619) under FIRB planting system, respectively. The water productivity (kg grainl m) water) was also computed which showed that FIRB system pelfOlmed best in both maize and wheat crops but the extent was more in maize than wheat. Remarkably higher water productivity (kg grain/ m 3 water) of either crop of maize and wheat was recorded in FIRB planting (2.79 and 1. 98) follo\\vedhy flat no-till (I. 74 and 1. 89) and lowest ( 1. 36 and 1. 38) in conventional till system ( Figure 4). The increase in water productivity was the result of both increasE' in yield and saving in inigution water.Important soil physical propelties (bulk density, pene-   China is an important country for maize production and consumption. As one of the staple crops, maize is threatened by a number of diseases and insect pests causing annual yield losses of more than 10%. About New evaluation guidelines were developed and were adopted by the national and provincial institutes. These include standardized methodologies for field design, inoculation/infection and assessment for 13 diseases and 1 pest (listed in Table 1) .Germplasm is assessed in the regions where the particular diseases and pests are most severe. In the north- The responses to diseases and Asian com borer are evaluated using artificial inoculations according to standardized methods except for southern com rust which depends on natural infection. The methodologies include:( 1) standardized field designs for screening nurseries;(2) appropriate resistant and susceptible lines as controls;(3) standardized methods for culturing and preparing inoculum (fungal and virus pathogens);( 4) standardized inoculation methods; (5), uniform scoring and data recording; (6) specified data collection and statistical methods; and (7) a universal rating system; a 9-class rating scale was adopted in 1996; the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are used to describe different levels of infection on leav~s and ears, with the percentage range of infected plants or disease index also being recorded. These responses can also be described uniformly as: highly resistant (HR), resistant ( R), moderately resistant ( MR), susceptible (S) and highly susceptible (HS) .A summary of data collected for the period 1986-2004 is given in Table 1.The numbers of accessions highly resistant ( HR)and resistant (R) to each disease and pest are given in Table 2. In most cases accessions responding in the HR and R categories were confirmed in repeated tests.Some germplasms were resistant to three or more diseases and pests.During 2001 -2004 more than 700 new hybrids were evaluated and some resistant hybrids were specific-'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop ally released to control turcicum leaf blight, maydis leaf blight, head smut and maize dwarf mosaic. Among the inbred lines evaluated, Qi319 and Shen137 were resist-ant to 9 diseases; ZhongziOl, CN165 and Dan9046 were resistant to 8 diseases; and P138, Ji412 and Dan599were resistant to 7 diseases. ! Hybrids approved released by national maize committees 200 I -2004 With data of this type we can provide accurate information to breeders and, most importantly, we know the resistance levels of inbred lines and new hybrids before they are released.Future ProjectionsIn the next 5 to 10 years we will complete the technical system on identification of maize resistant germplasm. This system will provide a nation-wide commonly understood database on the disease and pest responses of our main germplasm groups. An importantSection II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress objective for the future will be to identify the resistance genes and develop molecular markers for them. The markers can then be used for identifying resistance gene in new germplasm, and by breeders for transferring the resistance genes between breeding populations.Maize  Van Hall (Semangun, 1993).In order to address the problem, government has organized coordination meeting in Jakarta on January The experiment was conducted in the endemic area of Exserohilium leaf blight, i. e. Kutagadung Seed Center Farm of Berastagi District, Karo Regency, North Sumatera Province (1 350 masl) .Samples of TUTcicum leaf blight infected maize leaves  Van Hall (Semangun, 1993).In order to address the problem, government has organized coordination meeting in Jakarta on January The experiment was conducted in the endemic area of Exserohilium leaf blight, i. e. Kutagadung Seed Center Farm of Berastagi District, Karo Regency, North Sumatera Province (] 350 masl) . Recommended fertilizers were applied in form of urea, SP36 and KCI with the dosage of 300 100 and 100kg/ha, respectively. The total amount of SP36 and KCI was applied at the planting. However, fertilizer urea was applied in three splits, i. e. -100 kg/ha each at the time of planting and at 3 and 6 week after plantmg.The climate was cool with day temperature ranging from 17 -22\"C and fogy at night. Humidity ranged between 70% -96%, total monthly rainfall ranged between 115 -399 mm with rainy days between 14 -20 day/month (Table 1 Turcicum leaf blight infection was recorded twice, L e. Microscopy observation showed the morphology of the conidia ( Figure 1) similar to the conidia of H. turcicum (Figure 2A) according to Shurtleff (1980) .The infection of Turcicum leaf blight on the trial was very high (Figure 3), with the susceptible check and 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop some genotypes scored 5 (five) and resistant check (Pioneer-12) score varies from 3 -4. wi.th an average score of 3.5 (Table 2). Eleven varieties/lines showed better resistance than Pion~er-12 with a maximum disease score 3.     (Figure 4).Be!iirle Turcicwn leaf blight that occurred sJIlce early vegptatiVf stage, another natural infection disease was developed after generative ::.tage. The symptom of the disease was ill from of leaf streak between two veins 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop  et al., 1969;Sarup, 1973;Mathur et al., 1981;Kant et al., 1994, Sekhon et al., 1994). Maize crop grown in midhills, foot hills and plains below 1 700 m altitude (Terai) are often severely damaged by this pest ( Attri and Sharma, 1968). In the inner Terai subtropical region of Nepal the pest passes through five gen-erations III a year ( April-October) -three in maIze (April-August) and two in rice (August-October);thereafter during winters it remains as mature larvae in rice stubbles until to February and passes through pupal to adult stages when temperature gradually rises from February onwards. Pest activity reaches to peak during summer (July-August) causing maximum damage to rainy maize every year ( Coppel et al., 1985). Host-plant resistance is considered to be the most important component in developing effec-  et al., 1969;Sarup, 1973;Mathur et al., 1981;Kant et al., 1994, Sekhon et al., 1994). Maize crop grown in midhills, foot hills and plains below 1 700 m altitude (Terai) are often severely damaged by this pest ( Attri and Sharma, 1968). In the inner Terai subtropical region of Nepal the pest passes through five gen-erations III a year ( April-October) -three in maIze (April-August) and two in rice (August-October);thereafter during winters it remains as mature larvae in rice stubbles until to February and passes through pupal to adult stages when temperature gradually rises from February onwards. Pest activity reaches to peak during summer (July-August) causing maximum damage to rainy maize every year ( Coppel et al., 1985). Host-plant resistance is considered to be the most important component in developing effec- Resistance of eighteen maize genotypes ( DPVs), including both enzootic and exotic, was evaluated during summer (June-September) by natural infestation method, partially based on CIMMYT screening method, using a leaf damage rating on a 0 (no damage) to 9(dead plant) scale of Guthrie et al. (1960) Among the eighteen maize genotypes (DPVs) evaluated for stem borer resistance, six were resistant, six were moderately resistant, four were moderately susceptible and two were susceptible (Table 1 with > 45% of ( MD + HD) plants i. e. < 55% of ( UD + SD) plants. Genotype \"S97TLYGHAYB ( 3) \" with 4. 9% of (MD + HD) plants, was identified as the most resistant within the six genotypes from CIMMYT and hybrid \"Gaurab\", with 53. 8 % of ( MD + HD) plants, was identified as the most susceptible one within the two susceptible maize genotypes. Levels of resistance of the tested maize genotypes are depicted and compared in Figure 1.have identified the level of resistance in some enzootic and exotic maize germplasm against maize stem borer evaluated under natural infestation condition.Resistance of eighteen maize genotypes ( OPVs), mcluding both enzootic and exotic, was evaluated during Among the eighteen maize genotypes (OPVs) evaluated for stem borer resistance, six were resistant, six were moderately resistant, four were moderately susceptible and two were susceptible (Table 1 with > 45% of ( MD + HD) plants i. e. < 55% of ( UD + SD) plants. Genotype \"S97TLYGHAYB ( 3) \" with 4. 9% of (MD + HD) plants, was identified as the most resistant within the six genotypes from CIMMYT and hybrid \"Gaurab\", with 53. 8 % of ( MD + HD) plants, was identified as the most susceptible one within the two susceptible maize genotypes. Levels of resistance of the tested maize genotypes are depicted and compared in Figure 1.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop  reported to cause a reduction of 18. 7 % in cob weight and 11. 2% in 1 OOO-grain weight in the infected plants (Cook, 1978).The disease incidence, recorded in India ( Karnataka), ranged from 10% to 42% (Desai et al., 1991), 25% to 32% (Kumar et al., 1998) and 10. 18% to 31. 08 % (Harlapur et al., 2002). In India, the disease is prevalent in most of the maize grow- reported to cause a reduction of 18. 7 % in cob weight and 11. 2% in 1 OOO-grain weight in the infected plants (Cook, 1978).The disease incidence, recorded in India ( Karnataka), ranged from 10% to 42% (Desai et al., 1991), 25% to 32% (Kumar et al., 1998) and 10. 18% to 31. 08 % (Harlapur et al., 2002). In India, the disease is prevalent in most of the maize grow- The pathogen over-winters as sclerotia in soil and may penetrate roots and lower stems during growing season.A characteristic sign is the presence of numerous, minute and black sclerotia, particularly on the vascular bundles and outside the rind of the stalk. In the diseased plants, the outer rind and pith tissues are rotten, whereas the vascular bundles remain intact.Late Wilt ( Cephalosporium maydis Samra, Sabet.& Hingorani) kills the plant prematurely at or after flowering stage (Payak et al., 1970). The infected plants are at first dull green, then yellow and eventually dry. In the advanced stage, the lower internodes become dry, shrunken and hollow.PFSR can be avoided by crop rotation, adequate potassium fertilization, appropriate plant population, proper irrigation, and use of resistant hybrids w.ith good stalk strengths. Although significant improvements in disease management have been made, the stalk rots continue to be a serious problem (White, 1999). Most of the commercially grown cultivars Two-hundred inbred lines were evaluated across the four locations. After continuous selfing, year after J year, during 2001 -2004, 23 inbreds were selected (Table 1). Among these, three inbreds namely PF-   phaseolina, some of the genotypes such as CM-500-2-117-2 showed tolerant reaction at Ludhiana and resistant reaction at Delhi. CM-117-3-3, CML-90-BB-1 was 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop year, during 2001 -2004, 23 inbreds were selected (Table 1). Among these, three inbreds namely PF-SR 13-5, lCY z -2-4-1-1-1-1 and lCY 3 -71-2-1-b-l, showed resistance ( > 5) against all three pathogens   phaseolina, some of the genotypes such as CM-500-2-117-2 showed tolerant reaction at Ludhiana and resistant reaction at Delhi. CM-117-3-3, CML-90-BB-l was tolerant at Ludhiana and susceptible at Delhi, whereas CM 117-3-2 was susceptible at Ludhiana and resistant at Delhi. This may be due to the pathogenic and genetic variability among the isolates of M. phaseolina.Presence of variability both pathogenic and genetic has been demonstrated by Shekhar (2004) through RAPD analysis of the seven isolates of M. phaseolina, pathogen of maize stalk rots.Ten populations were also evaluated and maIntained against Cephalosporium maydis at Hyderabad and M. phaseolina at Delhi. Out of 10 populations initially screened, seven populations are maintained at both the locations (Table 2). PFSR (Y) -Cl, Extra-early (white), P-loo, P-300, P-345 showed resistant reaction ( > 5) whereas PFSR (Y) -CO, PFSR (White) showed tolerant reaction ( > 6) at both the locations.  Early maturing white seeded 20 inbred lines were crossed with 3 testers in line x tester design during ra- Early maturing white seeded 20 inbred lines were crossed with 3 testers in line x tester design during ra-  under drought stress have been reported (Dass et ai. ,   2001; Subramanyam, 1992). Mean of other physiological traits like leaf senescence, leaf rolling, tassel score, chlorophyll stability index and desiccation toler-  (2000). Pena and Martin ( 1993) also reported that ears per plant and harvest index were the characters most correlated with yield under drought condition.Significant negative correlation with grain yield were observed for characters like days to 50% tasseling, days to 50% silking, day to 50% maturity, anthesis-silking interval, leaf rolling and desiccation tolerance (% injury) in stressed environment ( E 2 ). ASI showed significant negative correlation with grain yield in E 2 indicating that short ASI is linked to higher grain yield under stress. The strong dependence of grain yield on ASI under stress condition was also reported by Balanos and Edmeades (1996), Dass et ai. (2001) and Edmeades et ai. (1993). Focusing on traits that are indicator of assimilate partitioning in plants at flowering (ears per plant and ASI) will hopefully result in increased harvest index and grain yield in all water regimes (Balanos and Edmeades, 1996). Grain yield per plant was negatively correlated with chlorophyll stability index in E 2 environment (Kumari et ai., 2004).   (Balanos and Edmeades, 1996). Grain yield per plant was negatively correlated with chlorophyll stability index in E 2 environment (Kumari et al., 2004). ASI exhibited significant negative relationship with ears per plant in both E j and E 2 environments as also reported by Srinivasan et at. (1996). Traits like desiccation tolerance (% injury) showed positive correlation with ASI, leaf senescence in E j , and with harvest index and chlorophyll stability index in E 2 • Premchandra et at. (1989) reported that cell membrane stability or desiccation tolerance was negatively correlated with leaf rolling.We conclude that further progress could be achieved with emphasis on morphological characters like ears per plant, 1OO-seed weight and harvest index and combination of physiological trait such as ASI, leaf senescence and desiccation tolerance. Drought tolerant lines selected on the basis of these morpho-physiological traits can be used in future breeding to constitute population to extract productive drought tolerant lines.     The Yield, water use efficiency, and nitrogen use efficiencyThe data in Soil Yield, water use efficiency, and nitrogen use efficiencyThe data in Soil Summer maize is grown during a period with sufficient rainfall, when plants normally develop very fast and absorb more N. Therefore, N supplied either by fertilizer or soil is usually not sufficient, leading to soil N deficit (SND) for all treatments at the end of the growing seasonSection II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress (Table 2). Moreover, plants accumulated only slightly more N with 180 kg N/ha than with low Of zero N levels (Table 1). Hence, more N was left in the soil in the 180 kg N/ha treatments after summer maize, as was explained by the extent to which N deficit was reduced by the increased N rate (Table 2) . 2) NUE = (N uptake in fertilized plants -N uptake with zero N) / fertilizer N amount X 100Table 2 Apparent budget of soil nitrogen (kg N/ha) at sowing to 9-leaf (SW-9L), 9-leaf to silking (9L-SL), S i1king to dough (SL-DU) and dough to maturity (DU-MT) among treatments Clear phase-character. was found on the ABSN in the work of Wang et al. (2004), in which SND ap-peared to be mainly at DU-MT and SW-9L, followed by SL-DU; while SNS appeared at 9L-SL in most of the 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop treatments of ZD958. In treatments of NDl08, SND appeared mainly at DU-MT and SW-9L, while SNS appeared at 9L-SL and SL-DU in most of the treatments (Table 2). Thus, ABSN was influenced by genotypes, types of N fertilizers and N rate. At some growing stages of summer maize (e. g. 9L-SL, SL-DU), there were differences on ABSN between cultivars and among fertilizer types (Table 2) due to the different N uptake by the different cultivars (Table 2) and the release rate of the different fertilizer types.Yield and water-use efficiency were increased by increased N application rates, while nitrogen use efficiency was reduced. WUE was significantly and slightly improved by applying compound fertilizer, while coated urea showed the least effect on improving WUE for both cultivars. Clear genotype differences in WUE and NUE were observed. WUE of Zhengdan958 was greater than that of Nongda108, and relative NUE of the two cultivars was the reverse.Soil N deficit (SND) was observed in all treatments after summer maize, and the application of N fertilizer was able to alleviate the extent of deficit. The deficit in Zhengdan958 was greater than in Nongda108.The SND with compound fertilizer was the highest, whereas it was lowest with urea. N fertilization im-proved NUE of summer maize through improving plant N uptake, which in tum led to strong SND. In practice, SND of summer maize might affect the growth of winter wheat due to the depletion of the soil N pool.Therefore, low N level (90 kg/ha) in summer maize season is necessary in order to reduce N losses and improve NUE, and more N fertilization needs to be applied for the winter wheat season to cover the N deficits.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop treatments of ZD958. In treatments of NDl08, SND appeared mainly at DU-MT and SW-9L, while SNS appeared at 9L-SL and SL-DU in most of the treatments (Table 2). Thus, ABSN was influenced by genotypes, types of N fertilizers and N rate. At some growing stages of summer maize (e. g. 9L-SL, SL-DU), there were differences on ABSN between cultivars and among fertilizer types (Table 2) due to the different N uptake by the different cultivars (Table 2) and the release rate of the different fertilizer types.Yield and water-use efficiency were increased by increased N application rates, while nitrogen use efficiency was reduced. WUE was significantly and slightly improved by applying compound fertilizer, while coated urea showed the least effect on improving WUE for both cultivars. Clear genotype differences in WUE and NUE were observed. WUE of Zhengdan958 was greater than that of Nongdal08, and relative NUE of the two cultivars was the reverse.Soil N deficit (SND) was observed in all treatments after summer maize, and the application of N fertilizer was able to alleviate the extent of deficit. The deficit in Zhengdan958 was greater than in Nongda108.The SND with compound fertilizer was the highest, whereas it was lowest with urea. N fertilization im-proved NUE of summer maize through improving plant N uptake, which in tum led to strong SND. In practice, SND of summer maize might affect the growth of winter wheat due to the depletion of the soil N pool.Therefore, low N level (90 kg/ha) in summer maize season is necessary in order to reduce N losses and improve NUE, and more N fertilization needs to be applied for the winter wheat season to cover the N deficits.Fusarium stalk rot, caused by Fusarium rrwniliforme A virulent culture of Fusarium rnon,iliforme (ITee A virulent culture of Fusarium rrumiliforme (rree 20571  i. ) Iha] were followed, but no fungicide was used. Sixty day-old plants in four rows of each plot were inoculated with F. rrwniliforme by the \"tooth-pick method\", while the remaining four rows were kept uninoculated. Following the inoculations, 100 plants in each category (dis-Farm, Udaipur, and was used in the present study.Pathogenicity of the culture was confinned by inoculating pot-grown 60-days-old maize plants of the susceptible maIZe cultivar (VL-42) using tooth-pick method (Young, 1943). Typical symptoms of Fusarium stalk rot developed due to inoculations under controlled conditions (Figure 2). Maize plants of cultivar VL-42 were Section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress gradually declined (Table 1). The disease caused significant reduction in the grain and fodder yields. In VL-42 the reduction in grain and fodder yield was 14.2 and 24. 4 per cent, respectively, while 5. 2 per cent reduction in grain yield was recorded in Sartaj. Reduction in test weight in VL-42 was 15.6 per cent, while in Sal1aj it was 2. 2 per cent (Table 2). In the inoculated plants of VL-42, length and circumference of the cobs, number of seed rows per cob, and number of seeds per row were reduced by II. 8, 8.0, 7.9, and 25.4 per cent, respectively. For other traits like plant height, number of the leaves and the nodes per plant and length of the internodes reduction was 4.9, 0.4, 2. 7 and 4. 5 per cent, respectively, which were statistically non-significant. It was expected because the disease occurs late in the season, when the vegetative phase of the plants is almost over, and the nutrient flow to the developing cobs is impaired.   Figure 4 The contrast of discoloration and non -disdoration of internode tissue in sorghum Post harvest losses during storage can be very high due to grain consumption by insects and also fungal attack, which forces most farmers to sell the output right away even at the low price. Therefore, local dealers and also dealers at terminal market need storage facilities to keep maize supply before sending it to the other marketing channels and also getting a higher price. The average storage period was about 4 months (Wattanutchaiya et al., 1991). Maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motsch., is the most serious storage insect pest in Thailand. Maize grain damaged up to 90% has been reported during storage due to the infestation of this weevil (Sukprakan et al., 1982). At the moment, there is no maize variety in Thailand which is resistance to maize weevil; therefore insecticide must be used for insect control in stored product. The high cost of insecticide, the danger of resistance building up and hazards of insecticide are now seriously considered. The integrated management system with incorporation of resist-ant varieties for the protection of stored maize is considered to be the long-term goal. The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of damage on promising hybrids and inbreds under laboratory condition by the infestation of S. zeamais Motsch., and the use the superior maize genotypes in our maize breeding for insect resistance project in Thailand.Hybrids and inbreds are separately screened for the damage caused by maize weevil (S. zeamais Motsch. ) in no choice tests using assessment methods proposed by Bergvinson et al. (2002) . Thirty-six hybrids and 48 inbreds, obtained from breeding project, were planted separately in the field. All ears from each genotype were harvested and the cobs were shelled. Grain of hybrids and inbreds were cleaned and sun dried to bring the grain moisture content to 13% -14%. The stock cultures of weevil were established in the laboratory ( 27\"C ± 1\"C and 75% ± 5 % RH) in order to produce \"Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop centages of grain weight losses was also highly significant (r = O. 76 * *).   Analysis of variance in the hybrid experiment indicated that performance of hybrids was significant differences ( P <O. 05) for all evaluated parameters ( Table 1) .The average number of adult weevil emerged was Correlation between the percentages of grain damage and the percentages of grain weight losses was also highly significant (r = o. 94 * *). Among the parameters evaluated, the percentage of grain weight loss was the most important economic indicator as a resistance measurement (Horber, 1987). However, the three evaluated parameters in each experiment were highly correlated, indicating that either would provide an adequate measure of resistance. As the maize weevil resistant variety were not provided in the experiments, the varieties/lines that revealed the least number of adult weevil emerged, percentages of grain damage and especially percentage of weight loss to 5. 0 or less were explained in terms of resistance.Our Correlation between the percentages of grain damage and the percentages of grain weight losses was also highly significant (r = O. 94 * *). Among the parameters evaluated, the percentage of grain weight loss was the most important economic indicator as a resistance measurement (Horber, 1987). However, the three evaluated parameters in each experiment were highly correlated, indicating that either would provide an adequate measure of resistance. As the maize weevil resistant variety were not provided in the experiments, the varieties/lines that revealed the least number of adult weevil emerged, percentages of grain damage and especially percentage of weight loss to 5. 0 or less were explained in terms of resistance.Our results suggest there are several hybrids and inbred lines having promising level of resistance. The three hybrids (NSX 022001, NSX 022013, NSX 982013 )and two inbreds (Kill, Nei 452008 ) had lowest value of all evaluated parameters, especially percentage of weight loss not more than 5. 0, is considered for further   Pink stem borer Sesamia inferens Walker is an important pest in the winter maize especially in peninsular India and parts of northern India. The grain yield losses due to pink borer ranged from 25. 7 to 78. 9 per cent in various maize cultivars in India (Chatterji et al., 1969).Host plant resistance is one of the methods that has been successfully used in the control of lepidopterou$ stem borers. The present study was initiated to develop resistant materials in a systematic manner to pink stem borer (PSB) which are agronomically desirable. There was also an effort to develop/improve hybrid oriented source germplasm from the resistant materials. The gains of resistance in the different lines over cycles of selection under artificial infestation are presented in  Thorough and partial recombination of the PSB resistant lines through the dianel and chain crossing also showed significant improvement in the level of resistance to PSB in terms of leaf injury and dead heart formation under artificial infestation across cycles (Table 2). Leaf injury was found to reduce by 7.6% over 6 cycles of selection in AEB (Y) and only from 1. 7 to The ANOVA for evaluation of best seven lines and their dianel crosses showed that both GCA and SCA variance was significant indicating prevalance of both additive and non-additive gene action for grain yield (Table 3) .Twelve of the 21 crosses showed significant SCA The gains of resistance in the different lines over cycles of selection under artificial infestation are presented in  Thorough and partial recombination of the PSB resistant lines through the diallel and chain crossing also showed significant improvement in the level of resistance to PSB in terms of leaf injury and dead heart formation under artificial infestation across cycles (Table 2). Leaf injury was found to reduce by 7.6% over 6 cycles of selection in AEB (Y) and only from 1. 7 to The ANOVA for evaluation of best seven lines and their diallel crosses showed that both GCA and SCA variance was significant indicating prevalance of both additive and non-additive gene action for grain yield (Table 3) . showed that the yield of best five crosses varied between 5.37 to 6.81 tlha with a heterobeltosis of 121 % to 182% ( Table 7). Thus the selection for resistance/ tolerance to pink stem borer and selection for desirable agronomic attributes like yield in the materials studied seems to be correlated.  'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian I!ellionaJ Maize Wor1cshopThe method of simultaneous infestation and inbreeding to derive agronomically desirable materials with tolerance to Pink stem borer is validated in this study. There is a response to selection for improvement of resistance to this pest. A leaf injury rating of 2. 5 may be set as benchmark for grading materials as highly resistant to PSB. The combining ability information of the improved PSB resistant lines generated would be of added interest in evaluating these materials to other related maize stalk borers across the tropics and sub-trop-ICS.Downy mildew is one of the most destructive diseases of maize in Indonesia. This fungus has been reported to cause an economic loss of 100% in the susceptible variety (Subandi et ai., 1996). Breeding for resistance seems to be the only practical way of controlling the downy mildew of maize, as chemical control is expensive. The downy mildew resistance is controlled by polygenes, and governed by additive genes with predominant (Kaneko and Aday, 1980); therefore, selecti~n will take a longer time to complete. Selection based on molecular marker analysis has emerged as an efficient and complementary breeding tool, especially when selections are to be done on quantitative traits. We now refer to the polygenes by a more catchy acronym QTL ( Quantitative Trait Loci). A QTL is defined as \"a region of the genome that is associated with and effect on a quantitative trait\". Conceptually, a QTL can be a single gene, or it may be a cluster of linked genes that affect a trait. QTL mapping provides dependable detection, localization and characterization of genetic factors contributing to the variation of polygenically inherited traits (Young, 1996).The present study IS an integral part of Asian Maize Biotechnology Network (AMBIONET) project in Indonesia. The purpose of the study was to estimate genetic variances and to map the genomic regions involved in resistance to downy mildews in Maros and Bogor in Indonesia.The Ki3 X CML139 population consisting of 135 RILs (Groh et ai., 1998)  Analysis of variance components for each location and combined data were calculated based on Randomize Complete Block Design using software package IR-RISTAT for Windows, version 5. O. The broad sense heritability estimates (H) were based on the entry mean, as proposed by Fehr ( 1993) .Genotyping of the 135 RILs (Ki3 x CML 139) based on analysis using 145 RFLP markers (provided by Groh et at., 1998), 5 SSR markers and 48 RGA markers (provided by AMBIONET Service Lab, 2004) aided in construction of a linkage map using software package MAPMAKER for PC version 3. 0; LOD threshold and Theta threshold =0.4 (Lander et at., 1987).Genetic map distance between markers was estimated by recombination frequencies and transformed into eM (centi Morgan) using the Kosambi mapping function (Kosambi, 1944). The method of composite interval mapping (CIM) (Zeng 1994)  The components of variance and broad sense heritability estimates for RILs are presented in Table 1. Analysis of variance components for each location and combined data were calculated based on Randomize Complete Block Design using software package IR-RISTAT for Windows, version 5. O. The broad sense heritability estimates (H) were based on the entry mean, as proposed by Fehr ( 1993) .Genotyping of the 135 RILs (Ki3 x CML 139) based on analysis using 145 RFLP markers (provided by Groh et ai., 1998), 5 SSR markers and 48 RGA markers (provided by AMBIONET Service Lab, 2004) aided in construction of a linkage map using software package MAPMAKER for PC version 3.0; LOD threshold and Theta threshold = 0.4 (Lander et at., 1987).Genetic map distance between markers was estimated by recombination frequencies and transformed into cM (centi Morgan) using the Kosambi mapping function (Kosambi, 1944). The method of composite interval mapping (CIM) (Zeng 1994)  The components of variance and broad sense heritability estimates for RILs are presented in Table 1.   1). From analysis of combined data for Maros and Bogor, we detected one QTL of smaller effect located on chromosome 6 (bin 6. 05), three QTL significant peaks one each on chromosome 6 (bin 6. 05 and 6. 06) and three on chromosome 7 (bin 7. 01 and bin 7. 02). The QTLs detected seemed to be pathogen-specific for DMR, whereas QTLs detected on chromosome 6 was specific to strain at Maros and on chromosome 7 to strain at Bogor. Wakman and Kontong (2003) identified differences at the morphological level of conidia between Java and Sulawesi DM strains. The QTL x environment interaction was significant for the QTL identified on chromosome 7, indicating a large influence of the environment on the expression of resistance to this disease. The additive QTL effect consistently showed negative values.The resistant line (Ki3) seemed to reduce the DM susceptibility of the progenies equal to its additive values.The additive effect of these QTLs is consistent with results from previous field studies based on classical quantitative genetic analysis (Rifin, 1983). Percentage of phenotypic variation (R 2 ) explained by each QTLs wasI6.13% on chromosome 6 at Maros and 5.5% on chromosome 7 at Bogor. The estimates of vanance components between RILs were significant at Bogor location. Genotype x enVl-ronment was significant. The QTL of DMR were located specifically on chromosome 6 (at Maros) and on chromosome 7 (at Bogor) .-gen shifts its virulence, which may result in a change of section II: Biotic and Abiotic Stress genotype X environment interaction.  2, Figure 1). From analysis of combined data for Maros and Bogor, we detected one QTL of smaller effect located on chromosome 6 (bin 6. 05), three QTL significant peaks one each on chromosome 6 (bin 6.05 and 6.06) and three on chromosome 7 (bin 7. Oland bin 7. 02). The QTLs detected seemed to be pathogen-specific for DMR, whereas QTLs detected on chromosome 6 was specific to strain at Maros and on chromosome 7 to strain at Bogor. Wakman and Kontong (2003) identified differences at the morphological level of conidia between Java and Sulawesi DM strains. The QTL x environment interaction was significant for the QTL identified on chromosome 7, indicating a large influence of the environment on the expression of resistance to this disease. The additive QTL effect consistently showed negative values.The resistant line (Ki3) seemed to reduce the DM susceptibility of the progenies equal to its additive values.The additive effect of these QTLs is consistent with results from previous field studies based on classical quantitative genetic analysis (Rifin, 1983). Percentage of phenotypic variation (R 2 ) explained by each QTLs wasI6.13% on chromosome 6 at Maros and 5.5% on chromosome 7 at Bogor. The estimates of vanance components between RILs were significant at Bogor location. Genotype x enVl-ronment was significant. The QTL of DMR were located specifically on chromosome 6 (at Maros) and on chromosome 7 (at Bogor) .'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop  The Asian corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia fumacalis ( Guenee), is still the most damaging insect pest of corn in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian cotlntries. Yield losses due to ACB is about 20% but could reach to as high as 80% when corn is planted late. The use of insecticides is the most common method employed by farmers to control the pest. However, the synthetic insecticides are not only costly, but are also dangerous to the non-target organisms and may be ineffective when improperly applied.The Trichogramma, which parasItIzes the ACB egg masses, is very effective against the pest. AlthoughTrichogramma is being mass-produced in the Regional Crop Protection Centers throughout the country, the Bacillus thuringinesis is only one of the many biological control agents against ACE. Other natural enemies of ACB include the egg parasitoid (Trichogramma spp. ), the predatory insects such as flower bug ( Orius tantillus Mots. ), earwig (Euborellia annulata Fabr. ) , coccinellid beetle (Micraspis discolor Fabr.) and lacewing (Chrysopa sp. and Pseudomicromus igorotus Banks). Since these biological control agents are abound in corn agroecosystem and that most ACB larvae die after feeding on Bt com, there is a Widespread concern that Bt might affect these beneficial arthropods.Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the impact of Bt corn on the effectiveness of Trichogramma and on the population of other beneficial arthropods.In Influence of Bt corn on ACB popUlation and its in- In addition, the population of Orius, Micraspis (both feed on ACB eggs and young larvae) and spiders were also higher in Bt com plants than in isohybrids ( Figure 1) .No ACB damage was observed in Bt com plants.In spite of the very high egg mass population, the isohybrids were almost totally free from ACB damage due to very high natural enemy population. As a result, yield of Bt com plants did not significantly differ from the isohybrids (Figure 2) .Influence of Bt corn on ACB population and its influence on Trichogramma and other natural enemies (wet season)Trichogramma parasitism was not recorded in both locations. Likewise, the predator populations (Orius, Micraspis and spiders) were generally low. Despite the fe- Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the impact of Bt corn on the effectiveness of Trichogramma and on the population of other beneficial arthropods.In Influence of Bt corn on ACB popUlation and its influence on Trichogramma and other natural ene-More number of ACB egg masses were found in Bt corn than in its isohybrids. The adult ACBs may have preferred Bt corn plants because of its more luxuriant growth and fewer leaf damage caused by insects other than ACB. Despite the absence of field releases of Trichogramma, egg mass parasitism ranged from 35 % to 50% at 30 DAP, and increased to 100% parasitism at 59 DAP in both Bt corn plants and its isohybrids.In addition, the population of Orius, Micraspis (both feed on ACB eggs and young larvae) and spiders were also higher in Bt corn plants than in isohybrids ( Figure 1) .No ACB damage was observed in Bt corn plants.In spite of the very high egg mass population, the isohybrids were almost totally free from ACB damage due to very high natural enemy population. As a result, yield of Bt corn plants did not significantly differ from the isohybrids (Figure 2) . ,/  The Asian com borer (ACB), Ostrinia .fum.acalis ( Guenee) is generally the most dominant and most destructive insect-pest of com, hence many pest management researches have focused on this pest. In our study, however, ACB population was negligible, rather com earworm, Helicaverpa armigera (Hubner) was the dominant insect. Since earworm damage in com in the experimental site is quite alarming, farmers use frequent insecticide spray to control the pest. In view of this the experiment was planned to evaluate the IPM recommendations for ACB, with certain modifications, against H. armigera.The major IPM component recommended against ACB is the field releases of Tricfwgramma evanescens, which is reported to cause 40% -100% egg mass parasitization (Tran and Hassan, 1984; Tran-Gruher, 1987; Morallo-Rejesus et al., 1988). Similarly, the field releases of T.chilonis against H. armigera caused 66% -79% egg parasitization in cotton (Solsoloy, 1981) and 45% -65% in tomato (Gonzales and Medina, 1994). On the other hand, the detasseling technique, proved to be effective in reducing ACB population (Morallo-Rejesus and Javier, 1985).Apart from this, there are some selective insecticides that could be integrated with detasseling technique or even with the release of Tricfwgramma parasitoids. Since there is no report on the effectiveness of T. chilonis against H. armigera in com, the treatments were slightly modified to study whether the IPM technology developed for ACB will be effective against earworm.The study was conducted in Brgy. Year 1: (December 1999 -April 2000)The com borer was encountered at very low density in two of the farmer cooperators and was absent in one of the cooperators. The dominant insect pest encountered was the corn earworm (Table 1). Damage was primarily inflicted on whorled leaves during the vegetative stage and on ear tips at reproductive stage. In order to reduce earworm population, a tentative economic threshold level (ETL) of 40% plant damage as suggested by Dr. B. Morallo-Rejesus was followed in Tl for insecticide treatment. Trichogramma chilonis was released in Tl and TI only when earworm damage on the leaves reached about 15%. In one of the farmer cooperators (H. Reguyal), carbofuran was not applied in the whorl in Tl since the tentative ETL for com earworm damage was not reached.In contrast, for the two other farmer-cooperators (F.Lopez and H. Reguyal), the tentative ETL of 40% damaged plants was exceeded; hence spot treatment of carbofuran was applied in Tl.  The two field releases of T. chilonis at the rate of 50 Tricho cards/ha in Tl and 1'2 for all the fanner cooperators reduced earworm population (Table 1). It should be noted that there is a possibility that the T.chilonis released in T1 and T2 were able to transfer to 1'3 and '1'4 since there was a decrease in earworm population prior to insecticide application. Presence of wind might help in the transfer of Trichogramma in the unreleased fields.The dominant predators encountered in the field are the ladybird beetles Micraspis sp. (95 %) and the spiders (5 % ). Although the ladybird beetles show preference for aphids, they are also known to prey on .the eggs and early instar larvae of lepidopterous insectpests. These predators helped in the reduction of earwonn population in T1. T2, T4 and even in '1'3.The average grain yield, which ranged from 2. 10 to 4. 58 tons/ha, did not significantly varied among the treatments and the control (Figure 1). This suggests that insecticide application is not desired, especially when eanvorm damage is less that 50% .'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize WorkshopPlant Infested with Corn Earwonn (% ) Name of fanners/Days TREATMENTS 2 after Planting (DAP) ----------------T11'2 1'3 T4 References has the highest earworm infestation (44%). This is probably the reason why V. Lagare applied carbofuran in T1 even if earworm damage is only about 39% . Average grain yield which again ranged from 1. 89 -3. 70 tons/ha. The differences on grain yield of vanous treatment was statistically non-significant (Figure 2) . The results strongly suggest that insecticide application directed against the corn earworm is indeed not required when percent damage plants are less that 50%.Based on the profitability analysis on corn earworm management, the average net income for the first and second croppings does not significantly differ among the treatments. Results further suggest that corn earworm damage was not significant enough and, therefore, implementation of control strategy like insecticide application may not be required. A few inbred lines developed at CIMMYT, possessing multiple borer resistance viz. CML67, CML70, CML71 and CML72, have been found to be resistant to maize stem borer under Indian conditions (Siddiqui et al., 1995). Earlier studies indicated that resistance to C. partellus is multigenic with important additive, non-additive and complementary non-allelic gene interaction effects. However, the genetics of resistance to C. partellus in CML67 and CML70 was unknown, and detailed information on this aspect was generated to assist in manipulating resistance genes present in these lines.The breeding material was developed as explained below (Season-wise) : IV Monsoon: Seven generations i. e. PI' P z , F I , F z , F 3 , BC I and BC z of both the crosses were evaluated for U and ST but only six generations i. e. PI' P z , F I , F z , BC I and BC z were evaluated for LS, LW, and LP. Goodness of fit was calculated on the basis of Chi-Square test and Gene effects were calculated for the above-mentioned characters according to the procedure outlined by Mather and Jinks ( 1982) .A cluster of 20 -25 egg was pinned in the whorl of each plant.Plants to be evaluated were placed in the labeled battery glass jars.Twenty newly hatched maize borer l~ae, obtained from the culture, were released in the whorl of each plant very gently using a fine camelhair brush. The mouth of the jar was then covered with a piece of thick cloth, tied tightly with rubber band. The larvae fed on the whorl of the plants, after which small cut stem pieces were provided as food to larvae. The food was changed at an interval of 3 -4 days. The insects were reared until pupation on each genotype. Various parameter of biology of maize borer viz. LP, LS and LW were recorded. Leaf injury, L/: The mean U for seven genotypes ranged from 2. 02 on CML67 to 8. 04 on LM5. Lines CML67, CML70 were resistant, while LM5, Tuxpeno.B73 and LM6 were the most susceptible genotypes.Deadheart incidence, DHI: The genotypes differed significantly for percent DHI, the least occurring in CML67 and CML70 (no deadheart) and the highest in LM5 (54.95%).  Mather and Jinks (1982) .A cluster of 20 -25 egg was pinned in the whorl of each plant.Plants to be evaluated were placed in the labeled battery glass jars.Twenty newly hatched maize borer l~ae, obtained from the culture, were released in the whorl of each plant very gently using a fine camelhair brush. The mouth of the jar was then covered with a piece of thick cloth, tied tightly with rubber band. The larvae fed on the whorl of the plants, after which small cut stem pieces were provided as food to larvae. The food was changed at an interval of 3 -4 days. The insects were reared until pupation on each genotype. Various parameter of biology of maize borer viz. LP, LS and LW were recorded. The number of plants of each entry per replication was 3 for PI' P 2 and FI' 30 for BC I and BC 2 , and 40 for F 2 for LS, LP and LW.Leaf injury, L/: The mean U for seven genotypes ranged from 2. 02 on CML67 to 8. 04 on LM5. Lines CML67, CML70 were resistant, while LM5, Tuxpeno.B73 and LM6 were the most susceptible genotypes.  1 and 2); this is characteristic of traits inherited by major genes with complete dominance. Chisquare values for all the combinations were significantly different from zero. When F 3 families were examined for their segregation behavior, monogenic inheritance was indicated (Table 1) . These results strongly suggest the involvement of a single major gene for mean U. Though, we recorded Stem Tunneling: The F 2 data were neither normal nor bimodal in distribution; rather, they were skewed towards the negative side. The chi-square analysis on the assumption of monogenic, digenic or trigenic inheritance was performed, but none of these models produced a good fit.Highly significant chi-square values for the segregation behavior of F 3 families (Table 2) also indicated the absence of simple monogenic inheritance. When data on percent ST were transformed to degrees using the arcsine transformation, the resulting F 2 distribution was normal. Therefore, ST in degrees showed quantitative inheritance.Laroal Period, Laroal Weight and Laroal Suroival:Significant chi-square values and normal distributions of F 2 for these characters prove their quantitative inheritance beyond any doubt.  1 and 2); this is characteristic of traits inherited by major genes with complete dominance. Chisquare values for all the combinations were significantly different from zero. When F 3 families were examined for their segregation behavior, monogenic inheritance was indicated (Table 1) . These results strongly suggest the involvement of a single major gene for mean U. Though, we recorded Stem Tunneling: The F 2 data were neither normal nor bimodal in distribution; rather, they were skewed towards the negative side. The chi-square analysis on the assumption of monogenic, digenic or trigenic inheritance was performed, but none of these models produced a good fit.Highly significant chi-square values for the segregation behavior of F 3 families (Table 2) also indicated the absence of simple monogenic inheritance. When data on percent ST were transformed to degrees using the arcsine transformation, the resulting F2 distribution was normal. Therefore, ST in degrees showed quantitative inheritance.Laroal Period, Laroal Weight and Laroal Suroival:Significant chi-square values and normal distributions of F 2 for these characters prove their quantitative inheritance beyond any doubt. The estimates of scaling tests and their respective standard errors indicated that epistasis might be involved in the inheritance of ST. In the cross Cl (Table 3), all the six parameters were significant, indicating the presence of additive x additive [i], additive x dominance[j] and dominance x dominance [1] gene effects. Potence ratio in this cross was -2.95, indicating the predominance of dominance effects. This component character showed higher dominance property (63.795) than additive property (13. 577). Also, epistatic effects (49.286) were higher than main effects (39.91). Among epistatic effects, [1] interaction effects were predominant. But in the cross C2, model involving additive[j] and [1] gene effects had the best-fit.[h] effects were found non-significant. In both the crosses, [I] effects were higher than the other epistatic effects present. In spite of the high magnitude of dominance property of the genes, its exploitation is tedious because of the opposite signs of [ h] and [I], indicating the presence of duplicate type of epistasis.   The estimates of scaling tests and their respective standard errors indicated that epistasis might be mvolved in the inheritance of LS in the cross Cl, but perhaps epistasis is absent for C2. All six parameters were significant for C1, indicating the possibility of the presence of higher order interactions and linkage between the interacting genes in this cross (Table 3).However, [i] effect was positive showing the predominance of associated gene pairs. Dominance ( Implications: The monogenic nature of LI was observed in the present study, but it has been reported a polygenic trait in earlier studies (Pathak and Olela, 1983;Panwar and Sarup, 1987;Ajala, 1993). The polygenic nature of ST as observed in the present studies has also been reported by (Pathak and Olela, 1983;Panwar and Sarup, 1987) The estimates of scaling tests and their respective standard errors indicated that epistasis might be involved in the inheritance of LS in the cross Cl, but perhaps epistasis is absent for C2. All six parameters were significant for Cl, indicating the possibility of the presence of higher order interactions and linkage between the interacting genes in this cross (Table 3).However, [i] effect was positive showing the predominance of associated gene pairs. Dominance ( I [h] I + Implications: The monogenic nature of LI was observed in the present study, but it has been reported a polygenic trait in earlier studies (Pathak and Olela, 1983;Panwar and Sarup, 1987;Ajala, 1993). The polygenic nature of ST as observed in the present studies has also been reported by (Pathak and Olela, 1983;Panwar and Sarup, 1987). It was observed that, in general, [d] effects were more important in genetic control of characters like larval period, while the [h] effects were more important than [d] effects for percent ST, LW and LS. Some earlier studies have also indicated the presence of additive and non-additive effects for ST (Pathak and Olela, 1983;Panwar and Sarup, 1987), but so far no study of inheritance has come to light with regard to LP, LW, and LS. [h] effects were enhanced whenever epistasis was prevalent in most of the characters; this was quite clear in the in-heritance of 5T. Gamble (1962) has also pointed out that when the inheritance of quantitative traits becomes more complex, the contribution of dominance gene effects to their inheritance becomes greater.In general, both fixable and non-fixable gene effects, along with duplicate epistasis, were prevalent for various component characters ( except for LI). This presents a limitation to the simultaneous improvement of various components of resistance. Thus, generating a resistant cultivar following a single breeding strategy will be difficult.  However, there is lack systematic effort in the area of development of drought tolerant maize germplasm.Therefore, it is an urgent need to initiate a systematic study on drought tolerance in maize to develop the promising tolerant inbred lines and hybrids suitable hybrids for drought prone rain-fed conditions.Trials and experiments were conducted in Ha Tay and Thai Nguyen provinces from spring 2000 to winter 2004. A total 49 inbred lines (Table 1), including 27 normal and 8 QPM lines from CIMMYT, 10 lines recycled from commercial hybrids and populations from Vietnam since 1998, along with four check entries DF7check 1 and DF5-check 2 (parents of commercial hybrid LVN4) , DFl-check 3 and DF2-check 4 (parents of commercial hybrid LVNI0). The entries were plan-ted using simple lattice design with two replications.All the entries were planted at high (95 000 plants/ha) and normal densities (71 000 plants/ha) under rainfed conditions across Northeast and the Red river delta Drought treatment was imposed at 3 -4 leaf stage and at flowering. One set was kept at well-watered regime.Data recorded on wilting scores at 3 -4 leaf stage (Banziger, 2000), stay-green trait 25 days after flowering (using scoring system given by CIMMYT) and other criteria given by CIMMYT (CIMMYT, 1986). Drought index (DI) was calculated using the formula given by Fischer ( 1983), as follows:Where DY is yield of variety under drought, WY is yield under well-watered condition, DYA is yield of all entries including DY under drought condition, WYA is yield of all entries including WY under well-watered condition. If DI > 1 variety is considered as drought tolerance, if DI < 1 it is considered as sensitive one.Relative water content (RWC) in the leaf under drought was calculated as follows:Where FW is fresh weight under drought ( g); DW is dry weight (g); SW is saturated weight (g) .Analysis of variance and selection index were analyzed using Alpha Lattice software of CIMMYT ( 1999) .Stability of lines and hybrids were estimated by GGEbiplot (Yan, 2001). Specific combining ability of selected lines was analyzed applying model Griffing 4.Yield stability of some hybrids following model of Eberhart ( 1966)  Across the trials, coefficient of variation at normal density (5.3% -8.5%) was smaller than that at high density (14.3% -26.8%). There were significant differences among genotypes in all trials at two locations over 6 crops (Table 2). Therefore, the result is considered to be used for analysis of selection index and yield stability. At both normal and high density, 13 out of 45  Using selection index, 14 lines selected across the densities are TCH3, TCH4, TCH8, TCHI2, TCHI3, TCHI4, TCHI5, TCHI6, TCH21 (CML52), TCH31 , TCH38, DF5 (check 2), DF7 (check 1), and DF2( Check 4). These lines yielded 2. 84 -3. 30 t/ha at normal and 2. 47 -3.59 t/ha at high densities. Selection index was 9. 6 -14.0 at high density and 10.2 -14. 6 at normal density, which indicate that at high density there were more chances to select elite lines.Result of stability analysis (  ----r-----r---J was similar to a double cross hybrid P-ll (5.9 t/ha).However, LCH9 had a regression coefficient near 1 ( 1. 065) and smallest regression deviation (0. 014) , while these figures for P-ll were O. 826 and O. 153. This suggested that LCH9 is more stable than poll. In case of hybrids (Table 4), HQ2000 and LCH9 under flowering stage drought condition showed a little higher DI than DK999, a drought tolerant hybrid check from Thailand (Manupeerapan, 1997). Stability analysis for LCH9 across 5 locations in North Vietnam (Table 5) showed that average yield of LCH9 (6. 34 t/ha) Studies on the general and specific combining ability of some lines involved in development of LCH9 (Figure 3. 3) showed that among studied lines, TCH38 had the highest general combining ability and TCH31 had highest specific combining ability. Figure 3.4 also suggested that TCH31 combined best with TCH38. This combination was provisionally released as LCH9.TCH31 (CML161) and TCH34 (CML165) were released as parents of HQ2000. was similar to a double cross hybrid P-1l (5.9 t/ha).However, LCH9 had a regression coefficient near 1( 1. 065) and smallest regression deviation (0. 014) , while these figures for P-11 were O. 826 and O. 153.This suggested that LCH9 is more stable than poll.Modcll,SVP 1 2=28....PCI=45....Sum=7weight of root was relatively higher under drought for most of the entries, including TCH38 (167%), TCH31 (250%) and TCH34 (144%) TCH21 (144%), except in case of susceptible entries such as TCH30 (20%). RWC was also significantly higher than that of TCH30 (78.3%) in most of the tolerant entries, e. g. -TCH38 (85.4%), TCH31 (86.2%) and TCH34 (82.2%) and TCH21 (85.3%). These results suggest that TCH38, TCH31 and TCH34 were tolerant to drought to the tune of TCH21 (CIMMYT check -CML52) at vegetative stage. In case of hybrids (Table 4), HQ2000 and LCH9 under flowering stage drought condition showed a little higher DI than DK999, a drought tolerant hybrid check from Thailand (Manupeerapan, 1997). Stability analysis for LCH9 across 5 locations in North Vietnam (Table 5) showed that average yield of LCH9 (6. 34 t/ha) Studies on the general and specific combining ability of some lines involved in development of LCH9 (Figure 3. 3) showed that among studied lines, TCH38 had the highest general combining ability and TCH31 had highest specific combining ability. Figure 3.4 also suggested that TCH31 combined best with TCH38. This combination was provisionally released as LCH9.TCH31 (CML161) and TCH34 (CML165) were released as parents of HQ2000.In order to enhance selection efficiency of lines for development of drought tolerant maize hybrids suitable for rainfed conditions, it is recommended to evaluate lines under high densities with rainfed conditions, using criteria such as ASI, green leaves alter flowering 25 days, bare cob tip, ear aspects, eras/plant, kernels/ear.From our study we conclude that TCH12, TCH14, CTH31 (CMLl61) and TCH38 are the drought tolerant lines in Vietnam. CMLl61, which is tolerant to drought, has high general and specific combining ability with CTH38.       The selection of morphological traits of maize such as plant height, ear leaf area and length of ear leaf, is important for maize breeding. Gardner et at. (1953) reported that additive variance was more important than dominance for plant height and ear position. The inheritance of plant height and ear position in maize was analyzed by several authors (Lai et at. , 1981;Wang et at. ,1993;Wu et at. ,1995;Yin, 1987). Lai et at.( 1981) and Wang et at. (1993) also studied the inheritance of average length and width of leaves above the ear position, leaf area, and other traits. More than 70 genes and QTLs relevant to plant height were identified and some important genes have been cloned during the past decades (Coe and Polacco, 1995) .In this study, an SSR marker linkage map was constructed with a population of recombinant inbred line (RIL) from Mol? x Huangza04 (HZ4). Through QTL and gene effect analysis of plant type under two nitrogen levels, molecular genetics of morphological traits of maize was studied and variation inplant height Plant material: An F 9 RIL population from a cross between inbred lines, Mo17 (the representative inbred of the Lancaster group) and HZ4 (genetically unrelated to Mo17) was used to construct a genetic linkage map.The map contained 98 SSR markers covering 68 bin locations on all 10 chromosomes and had a total length of 1 364.3cM, the average distance between markers being 13.9 eM. QTLs with additive effects: The results of the QTL analysis are given in Table 1. QTLs with additive effects: The results of the QTL analysis are given in Table 1. Among the epistatic interactions, EP, LP and LL were each influenced by 3 pairs of epistatic regions.The epistatic effects were both positive (effects of parents were larger than those of the RILs) and negative (effects of the parents were less than those of the RILs). Among the epistatic effects significantly influencing LL, for example, an effect of 7. Ocm was estimated for qLLI-2 on chromosome 1 and qLL2-1 on chromosome 2, the effect of the RIL (negative, Table 2) was larger than that of the parent, and the explained phenotypic variation was 54. 17%. WL was notably influenced by 3 pairs of interaction effects, for which all the epistatic effects of the parents were greater than those of the recombinants. LA was affected by two interaction effects, both of which were negative. The interaction effect between qLA2-1 and qLA2-2 (both on the chromosome 2) was 27. 9cm 2 , explaining 15.24% of the phenotypic variance.In the 14 instances of epistasis, 4 pairs of epistatic regions were detected between a single QTL and an epistatic pair (type II), and the other 10 involved unlinked loci (type III). Type I epistasis was not detected in this study. Among the the 43 QTLs detected, only 15 displayed additive effects (type I), and 4 had not only additive effects, but also showed epistasis (type II) (LP, LL, WL and LA). The others showed only type III. epistasis. There were no obvious differences between several effect values of additive effects and epistatic effects for plant type traits, which indicated that these genetic effects of additive loci and epistatic loci had almost the same effect on plant type.  Among the epistatic interactions, EP, LP and LL were each influenced by 3 pairs of epistatic regions.The epistatic effects were both positive (effects of parents were larger than those of the RILs) and negative (effects of the parents were less than those of the RILs). Among the epistatic effects significantly influencing LL, for example, an effect of 7. Ocm was estimated for qLLI-2 on chromosome 1 and qLL2-1 on chromosome 2, the effect of the RIL (negative, Table 2) was larger than that of the parent, and the explained phenotypic variation was 54. 17%. WL was notably influenced by 3 pairs of interaction effects, for which all the epistatic effects of the parents were greater than those of the recombinants. LA was affected by two interaction effects, both of which were negative. The interaction effect between qIA2-1 and qIA2-2 (both on the chromosome 2) was 27. 9cm 2 , explaining 15.24% of the phenotypic variance.In the 14 instances of epistasis, 4 pairs of epistatic regions were detected between a single QTL and an epistatic pair (type II), and the other 10 involved unlinked loci (type III). Type I epistasis was not detected in this study. Among the the 43 QTLs detected, only 15 displayed additive effects (type I), and 4 had not only additive effects, but also showed epistasis (type II) (LP, LL, WL and LA). The others showed only type III. epistasis. There were no obvious differences between several effect values of additive effects and epistatic effects for plant type traits, which indicated that these genetic effects of additive loci and epistatic loci had almost the same effect on plant type. The results of this study on QTL mapping indicated additive effects influencing morphologic traits in the parents. Several lines whose traits were superior to the parents were found in the RIL population. This proved that the QTLs controlling morphologic traits were dispersed in the parents. The aggregation of QTL can produce lines with more ideal plant type than the parents. j backgrounds. Meanwhile, the expression of QTL was easily affected by environments.Plant type of maize has a close relationship to yield. So studying morphological traits is important for developing the production of non-irrigated farmland.The results of this study on QTL mapping indicated additive effects influencing morphologic traits in the parents. Several lines whose traits were superior to the parents were found in the RIL population. This proved that the QTLs controlling morphologic traits were dispersed in the parents. The aggregation of QTL can produce lines with more ideal plant type than the parents.Micronutrient malnutrition IS sometimes referred to as \"hidden\" hunger, because its symptoms and effects are.often not readily identifiable or recognized. Nevertheless, billions of people have micronutrient malnutrition that is associated with reduced cognitive development, lower resistance to infections, and increased risk of child and maternal morality (Misra et al., 2004).Globally, iron and zinc deficiency are estimated to affect 2 billion -3 billion people, whereas vitamin A de-   (Islam, 2004) Islam ( 2004) also found large variations in the carotenoid profiles of maize-inbred lines which had similar calculated dietary provitamin A activity when expressed as vitamin A (retinol activity) equivalents (Table 2) . This suggests that a breeding approach in which inbred lines are chosen as parents for hybrids based on complementary provitamins A profiles may be feasible. The HarvestPlus maize team is in the process of evaluating two mapping populations among maize lines with widely different provitamins A profiles (DEexp3 X CI7; and A619 X SC55). The results will provide insights about the expected segregation among the progenies of crosses of parents with widely different provitamins A profiles;for example, we hope to obtain some families with transgressive values for total provitamins A concentration. We also expect to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with high provitamins A concentrations, and will be able to draw conclusions about the feasibility of applying marker assisted selection approaches in breeding for increased provitamins A concentrations.'Proceedings of the Nilllh Asian Regional Maize Workshop From a nutritional perspective, maize protein IS deficient in the essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan (Olson and Frey, 1987). Although maize is primarily a provider of energy, it also provides about 15% of all food-crop protein (National Research Council, 1988). Breeding efforts at CIMMYT from the late 1960's to present have used the opaque-2 gene to develop a lysine-and tryptophan-enriched maize known as \"Quality Protein Maize\", or QPM (Bjarnason and Vasal, 1992). QPM has 60% -100% more lysine and tryptophan content relative to normal maize, and has biological value (BV) of about 80% compared with 40% -57% for normal maize and 86% for eggs (Bressani, 1992). Moreover, the protein of normal maize has a BV of about 40% that of milk, whereas that for QPM is 90% (National Research Council, 1988).Several studies have demonstrated the superior nutritional value of QPM relative to normal maize for humans (Bressani, 1991). Substituting normal maize with QPM could benefit populations where maize is a staple food supplying important amounts of dietary protein (Rahmanifar and Hamaker, 1999). This paper describes HarvestPlus' activities and strategies to develop maize with enhanced iron, zinc and provitamin A carotenoid concentrations, and describes CIMMYT's philosophy to combine QPM and micronutrient breeding objectives. The simplest breeding approach to increase the carotenoid concentration in maize is to visually select seed with the darkest orange or yellow color. However, the correlation of grain color with total carotenoid concentration is only moderate [e. g. ,. Menkir (unpublished) found r =O. 59 for 63 maize inbred lines], and the correlation between total carotenoid and provitamins A concentrations is lower yet (perhaps 0.1 -0.2). Islam (2004) found large variations in total carotenoid, zeaxanthin, and lutein concentrations, and lesser but also significant variation in provitamins A (l3-carotene, l3-cryptoxanthin and a-carotene) in 200 maize lines (Table 1). The findings of a small number of crosses among inbred lines with contrasting provitamins A concentra- Islam ( 2004) also found large variations in the carotenoid profiles of maize-inbred lines which had similar calculated dietary provitamin A activity when expressed as vitamin A (retinol activity) equivalents (Table 2) .This suggests that a breeding approach in which inbred lines are chosen as parents for hybrids based on complementary provitamins A profiles may be feasible. The HarvestPlus maize team is in the process of evaluating two mapping populations among maize lines with widely different provitamins A profiles (DEexp3 x CI7; and A619 x SC55). The results will provide insights about the expected segregation among the progenies of crosses of parents with widely different provitamins A profiles;for example, we hope to obtain some families with transgressive values for total provitamins A concentration. We also expect to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with high provitamins A concentrations, and will be able to draw conclusions about the feasibility of applying marker assisted selection approaches in breeding for increased provitamins A concentrations.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize WorkshopFrom a nutritional perspective, maize protein IS deficient in the essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan (Olson and Frey, 1987). Although maize is primarily a provider of energy, it also provides about 15% of all food-crop protein (National Research Council, 1988). Breeding efforts at CIMMYT from the late 1960's to present have used the opaque-2 gene to develop a lysine-and tryptophan-enriched maize known as \"Quality Protein Maize\", or QPM (Bjarnason and Vasal, 1992). QPM has 60% -100% more lysine and tryptophan content relative to normal maize, and has biological value (BV) of about 80% compared with 40% -57% for normal maize and 86% for eggs (Bressani, 1992). Moreover, the protein of normal maize has a BV of about 40% that of milk, whereas that for QPM is 90% (National Research Council, 1988).Several studies have demonstrated the superior nutritional value of QPM relative to normal maize for humans (Bressani, 1991). Substituting normal maize with QPM could benefit populations where maize is a staple food supplying important amounts of dietary protein (Rahmanifar and Hamaker, 1999). The simplest breeding approach to increase the carotenoid concentration in maize is to visually select seed with the darkest orange or yellow color. However, the correlation of grain color with total carotenoid concentration is only moderate [e. g.,. Menkir (unpublished) found r =O. 59 for 63 maize inbred lines], and the correlation between total carotenoid and provitamins A concentrations is lower yet (perhaps 0.1 -0.2). Islam (2004) found large variations in total carotenoid, zeaxanthin, and lutein concentrations, and lesser but also significant variation in provitamins A (l3-carotene, l3-cryptoxanthin and (X-carotene) in 200 maize lines (Table 1).  ble 3) (Tanumihardjo, 2002). Other compounds in food can influence bioavailability (Table 3), and hence breeding for increased levels of enhancers ( such as inulins, which increase the absorption of iron and zinc) or decreased levels of inhibitors (such as phytic acid, which reduces availability of iron and zinc) may present viable breeding strategies to help combat some micronutrient deficiencies. Interestingly, Garcia-Casal et at. Based on existing knowledge, at least three approaches can be used to breed maize for increased concentrations of provitamins A: 1) Select maize genotypes with increased concentration of total provitamins A; 2) Develop hybrids among parents with complementary profiles of provitamins A and with good specific combining ability with each other; and 3) identify and use alleles for highly effective or ineffective enzyme activity for key reactions along the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway (for example, increased activity of phytoene synthase, decreased activity of epsilon cyclase, or decreased activity of hydroxylases that catalyze the conversion of l3-cryptoxanthin to zeaxanthin) . Once provitamins A are consumed, they are absorbed and converted to retinol or vitamin A. Many factors including age, gender, genetic factors, health status, the food matrix, and the amount and type of carotenoids in the meal affect the bioavailability or efficiency with which provitamins A are absorbed in the intestine (Table 3) (Tanumihardjo, 2002). Other compounds in food can influence bioavailability (Table 3), and hence breeding for increased levels of enhancers ( such as inulins, which increase the absorption of iron and zinc) or decreased levels of inhibitors (such as phytic acid, which reduces availability of iron and zinc) may present viable breeding strategies to help combat some micronutrient deficiencies. Interestingly, Garcia-Casal et al. Recent success in developing \"Golden Rice\" with up to 37 f.Lg/g of l3-carotene (Paine et al., 2005) highlights • 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop the potential of transgenic approaches to achieve quantum gains in ~-carotene concentration in cereal grain.The use of transgenic approaches to increase the provitamins A concentration for maize has been less successful than that for Golden Rice, but we are optimistic that future transgenic events will achieve nutritionally meaningful levels. Our current breeding strategy focuses on non-transgenic approaches because micronutrient levels are higher for conventionally-developed germplasm than for transgenics, and because deployment of transgenic cultivars will be complicated by regulatory and biosafety concerns. We propose to evaluate crosses between transgenic and best non-transgenic maize lines to assess whether gains for provitamins A concentration will be additive.Ample and recent data indicate that QPM hybrids are competitive with the best non-QPM commercial and experimental maize hybrids in many -although certainly not all -countries ( e. g., Cordova et at., 2005). This is evidenced by recent QPM cultivar releases in India, Indonesia, Mozambique, PerU, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, and elsewhere. CIMMYT's strategy is to preferentially use QPM materials in our Fe, Zn, and provitamins A breeding work, but QPM will only be used when this does not delay progress toward an agronomically acceptable product. For example, the popular African QPM open-pollinated cultivar \"Obatanpa\" has been crossed with source germplasm and is being selected at CIMMYT for enhanced concentration of provitamins A.Controlling micronutrient malnutrition that affects billions of people worldwide requires a concerted and multi-dimensional approach. Breeding crops with enhanced micronutrient concentration or bioavailability promises to be an important component. The Harvest-Plus maize strategy is to pursue several breeding approaches, including selecting for increased micronutrient concentrations or for increased or decreased activity of various enzymes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, combining genotypes with complementary profiles of provitamins A, selecting for increased concentration of enhancers or decreased concentration of inhibitors of micronutrient bioavailability, and transgenic events.Ensuring good access to micronutrient enriched crops can be an important component of a comprehensive and sustainable strategy to control micronutrient malnutrition.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop the potential of transgenic approaches to achieve quantum gains in ~-carotene concentration in cereal grain.The use of transgenic approaches to increase the provitamins A concentration for maize has been less successful than that for Golden Rice, but we are optimistic that future transgenic events will achieve nutritionally meaningful levels. Our current breeding strategy focuses on non-transgenic approaches because micronutrient levels are higher for conventionally-developed germplasm than for transgenics, and because deployment of transgenic cultivars will be complicated by regulatory and biosafety concerns. We propose to evaluate crosses between transgenic and best non-transgenic maize lines to assess whether gains for provitamins A concentration will be additive.Ample and recent data indicate that QPM hybrids are competitive with the best non-QPM commercial and experimental maize hybrids in many -although certainly not all -countries ( e. g., Cordova et at., 2005). This is evidenced by recent QPM cultivar releases in India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Peru, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, and elsewhere. CIMMYT's strategy is to preferentially use QPM materials in our Fe, Zn, and provitamins A breeding work, but QPM will only be used when this does not delay progress toward an agronomically acceptable product. For example, the popular Mrican QPM open-pollinated cultivar \"Obatanpa\" has been crossed with source germplasm and is being selected at CIMMYT for enhanced concentration of provitamins A.Controlling micronutrient malnutrition that affects billions of people worldwide requires a concerted and multi-dimensional approach. Breeding crops with enhanced micronutrient concentration or bioavailability promises to be an important component. The Harvest-Plus maize strategy is to pursue several breeding approaches, including selecting for increased micronutrient concentrations or for increased or decreased activity of various enzymes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, combining genotypes with complementary profiles of provitamins A, selecting for increased concentration of enhancers or decreased concentration of inhibitors of micronutrient bioavailability, and transgenic events.Ensuring good access to micronutrient enriched crops can be an important component of a comprehensive and sustainable strategy to control micronutrient malnutrition.In the tropics, maize crops grown during Kharif ( rainy) season frequently face extreme climatic conditions and various biotic/abiotic pressures that limits yield potential. Among the abiotic stresses, excessive soil moisture caused by contingent/intermittent flooding or water-logging is one of the most important constraints for maize production in Asian region. In South and SE-Asia alone, over 15% of the total maize growing area is affected by floods and water-logging problems ( Rathore et at., 1997). In India out of total 6. 6 million ha area of maize over 2. 5 million ha is prone to excessive moisture conditions, which causes on average 25% -30% loss of national maize production almost every year.The extent of damage due to excessive moisture stress varies significantly with developmental stage; however, considerable genetic variability has been identified in maize ( Rathore et at., 1997;Zaidi et at. , 2003). In past, the response of maize plants to excessive moisture stress has been studied extensively. At physiological level, anoxia affects phytohormone homeostasis (Jackson, 1990), affects plant morphology and anatomy (Jackson, 1990), resulted in stunted growth, considerably reduced dry matter accumulation, leaf area development, transpiration, prolonged anthesis-silking interval (ASI) and eventually resulted m poor grain yields (Rathore et at., 1997; Zaidi et at.,   2003). However, systematic information on the cascade of events conferring the stress tolerance is not yet established, which is essentially required for genetic enhancement of tropical maize germplasm for improved tolerance to excessive moisture situation. In the present study, we attempted to identify various stress-adaptive changes in the relatively tolerant maize genotypes and their importance in overall performance of the germplasm under excessive moisture stress.The experiment was conducted during Kharif ( rainy under EM-stress. Entries were grown using \"cup method\" in which they were exposed to excessive soil moisture from planting till 20 days after sowing (Zaidi et at., 2003). One set of all the entries was kept under at normal moisture. Simultaneously, all the entries were planted in field with 4 row plots, row length-3. Om, row-to-row distance 0.75m and plant-to-plant distance of o. 25m. The field experiment was planted using completely randomized block design (RCBD) with three replications. Excessive moisture treatment was applied at knee-high (V7) stage continuously for 7 days with an average ponding depth of 10. 0 (0. 5cm) .Observations on various morphological traits were recorded one week after the completion of EM -stress treatment. Surface rooting was scored using 1 -5 scale (1 poor and 5 = extensive). Root porosity was measured in underground adventitious roots using the pycnometer method (Noordwijk and Brouwer, 1988). Data For all experiments, data from two years findings were pooled on the basis of test for homogeneity of error variance of the two-year datasets using Hartley's Fmax test (Ott, 1988). Correlation coefficient and linear regression between secondary traits and grain yield was computed using MSTATc.Under excessive moisture situation a drastic change in root geotropism, i. e. -root growth toward ground surface has been observed in some maize genotypes. Within 2 -3 days of waterlogging in field a large number of root tips (white tips) were visible around the maize plants. However, the white tips were relatively more around the plants of susceptible genotypes. The surface rooting might have some temporary role to cope up with excessive moisture stress because the visible root tips and shallow roots are placed under hypoxic rather than anoxic condition, and therefore, may maintain partial aerobic respiration. After release of the stress, however, such changes in root geotropism resulted in highly inefficient root system to support further growth and development for plants (data not shown), and probably, therefore, it has poor relationship with yield under EMstress (Figure 1). In the tolerant genotypes surface rooting was negligible, rather these genotypes responded with initiation of aboveground nodal roots. EM-induced nodal roots in maize genotypes has been found to have large air-spaces in cortical region, which increases root The experiment was conducted during Kharif ( rainy season) 2003 and 2004 at maize research farm, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. A total 25 inbred lines were selected from the line evaluation trials conducted on tropicaVsubtropical lines (S4 -Sn) during past five years ( 1998 -2003) to identify the tolerant sources of germplasm for EM-stress. Out of total 25 inbred lines selected for this study, 10 were highly susceptible, 7 moderately tolerant and rest 8 lines (CML-3274-2-1-3, WL-7-* -* -1, WLl4-*-* -1, WLl5-* -* -2, WI28-* -* -2, WI29-* -*-2, CML-311-2-1-3-B, CML425-3) were known for their repeated performance as highly tolerant germplasm under EM-stress. Entries were grown using \"cup method\" in which they were exposed to excessive soil moisture from planting till 20 days after sowing (Zaidi et al., 2003). One set of all the entries was kept under at normal moisture. Simultaneously, all the entries were planted in field with 4 row plots, row length-3. Om, row-to-row distance 0.75m and plant-to-plant distance of O. 25m. The field experiment was planted using completely randomized block design (RCBD} with three replications. Excessive moisture treatment was applied at knee-high (V7) stage continuously for 7 days with an average ponding depth of 10. 0 (0. 5cm) .Observations on various morphological traits were recorded one week after the completion of EM -stress treatment. Surface rooting was scored using 1 -5 scale (1 poor and 5 = extensive). Root porosity was measured in underground adventitious roots using the pycnometer method (Noordwijk and Brouwer, 1988). Data For all experiments, data from two years findings were pooled on the basis of test for homogeneity of error variance of the two-year datasets using Hartley's Fmax test (Ott, 1988). Correlation coefficient and linear regression between secondary traits and grain yield was computed using MSTATc.Under responses need to be further investigated. porosity and help in increasing the supply of oxygen, nutrients and water, and improve anchorage where severe damage of primary roots under excessive moisture has already occurred (Zaidi et at., 2004). In maize, aerenchyma is not a constitutive trait; rather it seems to be a stress-adaptive trait that develops with exposure to excessive moisture stress (Zaidi et at., 2003). Analogous to brace roots, expression of this trait as well was nominal under normal moisture condition, which indicates that it is a stress-induced trait and an adaptive strategy to excessive moisture stress. Root porosity was strongly related to grain yield under excessive moisture stress (Figure 1) . Data on ADH activity revealed that the enzyme activity was nominal under normal moisture in case of both tolerant and susceptible germplasm. However, under excessive moisture conditions there was many-fold increase in ADH activity in both susceptible and tolerant group of genotypes (Figure 2). ADH activity was slightly higher in case of tolerant lines as compared to susceptible group of lines, however, the difference was statistically non-significant. However, ethanol concentration, both in root and leaves tissues, was comparatively much higher in susceptible genotypes than tolerant ones (Figure 2). Daily monitoring of ethanol in root, shoot and inundated water in cup screening showed that amount of ethanol in water was comparatively much higher with tolerant entries in comparison to susceptible ones. The finding indicate that the ethanol was extruded from the roots of tolerant germplasm to the growth medium, which explains the low ethanol concentration in root and particularly in leaf tissues of tolerant entries, in spite of slightly higher ADH activity in these genotypes.Our studies suggest that mechanism of exceSSIve moisture tolerance in maize germplasm involves mor- Cluster analysis grouped the lines into six clusters that were generally consistent with their pedigrees. A diallel study, consisting of six P-efficient and six P-inefficient lines, was done under stress (low P, 4 ppm) and non stress (high P, 15 ppm) soil conditions at two sites in the Colombian savannahs. Positive and moderate correlation between GO and F, (r '\" 0.52) and MPH (r '\" 0.43) was found among all crosses under high soil P conditions. However, these correlations became insignificant under low P. Higher correlations in both GO and F 1 (r '\" 0.80) and GO and MPH (r '\" 0.77) were seen in crosses between lines within a cluster (ave GO '\" 0.45) than in crosses between lines from different clusters (ave GO '\" 0.62) under high P. No correlations were found in crosses between lines above a! GO threshold of >0.66. The correlations between GO and F 1 and between GO and MPH were moderate for crosses between P-inefficient lines (r '\" 0.65 and r '\" 0.58, respectively) and slightly higher between P-efficient lines (r '\" 0.73 and r = 0.70, respectively). However, only the correlations in crosses between the P-inefficient lines were stable under P stress.The identification of parental inbred lines that fonn superior hybrids involves extensive crosses and field evaluations. This process is time consuming and expensive, and thus, predictors of single-cross hybrid value or heterosis between parental inbred lines have potential to greatly enhance the efficiency of hybrid breeding programs.Genetic diversity information and the correlation between genetic distance (CE) and hybrid performance.may aid in predicting future hybrid performance. In temperate maize, molecular markers have been used to analyze the genetic relationships among maize lines and to examine the relationship between DNA marker-based GD and single-cross grain yields ( Lee et at., 1989;   Godshalk et ai., 1990; Boppenmeier et ai., 1992;   Melchinger, 1993). This relationship IS not as well studied in tropical maize, which has a broad genetic base and shows greater genetic diversity than temperate maIze. Furthermore, the influence of abiotic stresses on the use of CD as a predictor of hybrid performance is not well understood.The objectives of this study were to assess the ( i) genetic diversity for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) within a set of tropical lines which have been characterized for P use efficiency; (ii) F] yield performance ( F1) and midparent heterosis (MPH) under P stress and non-stress soil conditions; (iii) correlation between the CD with F] and MPH, and (iv) the effect of the environment on these relationships.Plant materials/field evaluations Cluster analysis grouped the lines into six clusters that were generally consistent with their pedigrees. A diallel study, consisting of six P-efficient and six P-inefficient lines, was done under stress (low P, 4 ppm) and non stress (high P, 15 ppm) soil conditions at two sites in the Colombian savannahs. Positive and moderate correlation between GO and F 1 (r = 0.52) and MPH (r = 0.43) was found among all crosses under high soil P conditions. However, these correlations became insignificant under low P. Higher correlations in both GO and F j (r = 0.80) and GO and MPH (r = 0.77) were seen in crosses between lines within a cluster (ave GO = 0.45) than in crosses between lines from different clusters (ave GO = 0.62) under high P. No correlations were found in crosses between lines above a! GO threshold of >0.66. The correlations between GO and F, and between GO and MPH were moderate for crosses between P-inefficient lines (r = 0.65 and r = 0.58, respectively) and slightly higher between P-efficient lines (r = O. 73 and r = 0.70, respectively). However, only the correlations in crosses between the P-inefficient lines were stable under P stress ..The identification of parental inbred lines that fonn superior hybrids involves extensive crosses and field evaluations. This process is time consuming and expensive, and thus, predictors of single-cross hybrid value or heterosis between parental inbred lines have potential to greatly enhance the efficiency of hybrid breeding programs.Genetic diversity information and the correlation between genetic distance (CE) and hybrid performance.may aid in predicting future hybrid performance. In temperate maize, molecular markers have been used to analyze the genetic relationships among maize lines and to examine the relationship between DNA marker-based GD and single-cross grain yields (Lee et ai., 1989;Godshalk et al., 1990;Boppenmeier et ai., 1992;Melchinger, 1993). This relationship IS not as well studied in tropical maize, which has a broad genetic base and shows greater genetic diversity than temperate maIze. Furthermore, the influence of abiotic stresses on the use of GD as a predictor of hybrid performance is not well understood.The objectives of this study were to assess the (i) genetic diversity for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) within a set of tropical lines which have been characterized for P use efficiency; (ii) F] yield performance ( F j ) and midparent heterosis (MPH) under P stress and non-stress soil conditions; (iii) correlation between the CD with F] and MPH, and (iv) the effect of the environment on these relationships.Thirty six tropical inbred lines were used in this study.These lines were previously evaluated in 2002 at the Colombian savannahs as part of a collection of 457 lines ill the CIMMYT-South America maize breeding program. The experiment was done in an acid soil environment that was conditioned to 55 % Al saturation and two levels of P (4 and 15 ppm) using an augmented block design. Ninety contrasting lines were selected for their reaction to P and re-evaluated under the same conditions using a lattice design with 2 replications.Based on P acquisition and P use efficiency, 12 contrasting lines were then selected and a diallel with these lines was assembled. The F] of this diallel (66 crosses)and their parents were evaluated under the same conditions using a lattice (6 x 13) design with 3 replications. Capacitance (related to the mass root), leaf area, P content in the plant, chlorophyll content, ASI and grain yield were recorded. Data analysis was performed using the MIXED procedure from SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).Thirty six SSR markers, representing 3 -4 bins per chromosome, were selected for uniform genomic coverage (MaizeDB, http://www. agron. missouri. edu) .The primers were synthesized through Research Genetics, Inc. (Huntsville, AL, USA). The protocols for DNA extraction, amplification and detection were as described in George et at. (2004). Allele scoring was done based on standard allele markers with known molecular weights. Data were scored as present ( \"1 \") or absent (\"0\") while bands that were diffused or too difficult to score were considered as missing data ( \"9\") .In cases when a line has multiple bands of varying intensity, the most intense band is scored as \"1\". A matrix of binary data was analyzed with NTSYS-pc ver.sion 2. 02 (Rohlf, 1999). We used Jaccard coefficient to calculate the matrix of genetic similarities among pair-wise comparisons of genotypes. Cluster analysis was done with the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and the relationships between inbred lines were visualized in a dendrogram.Polymorphism information content (PIC) was calculated according to Smith et at. (1997). Pearson cor- The level of genetic diversity among the 36 inbred lines was only moderate (H = 0.423 ± 0.037). A total of 116 alleles were observed, with an average of 3. 1 alleles per locus and a range of 1 to 7 alleles per locus.Majority of loci had between 1 -3 alleles and only five of the loci had >5 alleles. More than a quarter of the alleles had frequencies > 0.50. Two of these alleles, located in loci (phi108411 and phi213984) were fixed, having a frequency of 1. O.Perhaps due to the limited number of genotypes included in this study, the observed average number of alleles per locus was slightly lower than those reported in temperate maize (Livini et at., 1992;Dubreuil et at., 1996), and much lower than those in the more diverse tropical maize, where averages as high as 9. 2 alleles per locus in 218 lines ( Franco et at., 2001). The SSR markers in this study had an average PIC value of 0.40, with a range from 0 to 0. 73 (phi109188 and phi064) .Cluster analysis based on data from 36 SSR markers revealed six groups of lines which were generally consistent with their pedigrees (Figure 1).Three lines, P-5 and P16 and P-21, did not cluster with any group.Overall, the average GD among the 36 inbred lines in the study was 0.56. The line P7 had the closest relationship with other lines in the study, having the lowest average GD (0.47) while the lines P12 was the most distant, with the highest average GD (0. 67). The sister lines P-20, P-24 and P-27 were the most closely related lines with a GD of 0. 14 while the line P-19 was most distant from lines P-28 and P-29, having the highest GD of O. 83 (Figure 1) .'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Reg ional Maize WorkshopHybrid grain yields averaged 4. 5 tlha under high P and decreased to 1. 6 t/ha under low P soil conditions (Table 1). The highest grain yield (4. 8 t/ha) was in the set of crosses having the highest GD, while the lowest (3. 7 tlha) was in the set of crosses having the lowest GD. Grain yield for inbred lines averaged 2. 1 tlha under high P to 0.8 tlha under low P (data not shown) .Midparent heterosis averaged 214%, with the highest average occurring in the set of between-cluster and NE x NE crosses (245% and 244% respectively). The two sets of crosses averaged even higher heter-osi~under low P stress conditions (294% and 338%, respectively) .Overall, the expression of heterosis was greater under low P stress than under nonstress conditions (Table 1) due to the poor performance of the inbreds under stress. Under high P, MPH ranged from 79% to 343%. Under low P, the highest MPH was 668%, expressed by the hybrid between P-l and P-3 (data not shown) .Grain yield for hybrids was positively, although only moderately, correlated with MPH, slightly more so under low P stress (r = 0.68) than when there is no stress (r = O. 58) .Performance Among all crosses, positive and moderate correlation of GD with F] (r = 0.52) and with MPH (r = 0.43) was found under high P. This correlation was drastically decreased under P stress (Table 1) .Under high P, much higher correlations (r = 0.80 for GD; F j and r = 0.77 GD and MPH) were seen in crosses between lines within a cluster (ave GD = 0.45) than in crosses between lines from different clusters (ave GD = 0.62). The highest correlation (r = 0.83 for GD; F]) was seen in crosses between lines having an average GD = 0.40. Beyond a GD threshold > O. 66, no correlations were found regardless of soil condition. Similar results have been found in temperate maize (Godshalk et at., 1990; Boppenmeier et at., 1992; Melchinger, 1993).The correlations of GD with F] and with MPH were moderate for crosses between P-inefficient lines (r = 0.65 and r = 0.58, respectively) and between P-efficient lines (r = O. 73 and r = O. 70, respectively) but only those between the P-inefficient lines were stable under stress (Table 1) .That the environment can differentially affect the performance of inbred lines and hybrids was observed by Beltran et al. (2003). In their study, drought and low N stresses distorted the relationship between GD and heterosis.Genetic distance has been used to predict hybrid performance and its predictive value was greater with crosses between inbred lines from the same heterotic group than in crosses between inbred lines from different heterotic groups (Melchinger, 1999). In this study, F 1 , compared to MPH, had stronger correlation with GD across P soil environments. Because of the differential responses of inbred lines to stresses relative to hybrids, F] may be a more efficient predictor of superior hybrid value than heterosis, which is dependent on the relative performance of inbred parents and the corresponding hybrids.   This program places special emphasis on eating quality by incorporating sweet taste from super sweet com, creaminess from sweet com and sticky texture from waxy com. Other agronomic traits such as early maturity, short harvesting period, short plant, disease resistance and wide adaptability will also be our targets for improvement. We expect that new attractive products in term of appearance and quality will expand consumption and create marketing opportunities. Income improvement for both growers and processors is foreseeable.  ( 1965), and the breeding procedure for improving sweet com quality proposed by Galinat in 1975 (Figure 1) (Boyer and Shannon, 1984) were used to develop waxy com with improved eating quality. As a result, \"Sumlee Esarn\" a new open-pollinated, large-eared, white kemelled cultivar was released in 1999 (Lertrat and Budsarakul, 2000). This unique cultivar was developed by crossing glutinous and super sweet corns.These two types of com are controlled by different single recessive genes, waxy (wx) for glutinous com and shrunken-2 (sh2) for super sweet com. By combining these two genes, this new variety has blended soft sticky texture from glutinous com and sweet taste from super sweet com with a ratio of 3: 1. This variety has vigorous plants with ear height of 84 -103 cm and plant height of 180 -200 cm. Silking date is about 42 -58 days and harvesting date is 61 -78 days. The ears are 4 -5 cm x 14 -16 cm with 12 -16 rows of white kernels. This cultivar is well accepted by consumers and growers in some areas in Thailand. Factors limiting wider acceptance of this cultivar are tall plants, non-uniform ear size, ear shape, ear quality and long harvesting period. However, consumer and growers' preferences for acceptable eating quality and better yield prompted further development.'Proceedings oflhe Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop This program places special emphasis on eating quality by incorporating sweet taste from super sweet com, creaminess from sweet com and sticky texture from waxy com. Other agronomic traits such as early maturity, short harvesting period, short plant, disease resistance and wide adaptability will also be our targets for improvement. We expect that new attractive products in term of appearance and quality will expand consumption and create marketing opportunities. Income improvement for both growers and processors is foreseeable.1I2/S1I,  ( 1965), and the breeding procedure for improving sweet com quality proposed by Calinat in 1975 (Figure 1) (Boyer and Shannon, 1984) were used to develop waxy com with improved eating quality. As a result, \"Sumlee Esam\" a new open-pollinated, large-eared, white kemelled cultivar was released in 1999 (Lertrat and Budsarakul, 2000). This unique cultivar was developed by crossing glutinous and super sweet corns. Three large eared single cross hybrids, \"KKU white waxy\" and two \"KKU bicolor waxy\" were obtained.The hybrids have unique taste and texture as expected, resulting from the development of hybrids with various combinations of endosperm mutants, as has been done elsewhere for sweet com. Two types of kernel are produced on each ear by using two recessive alleles at two different loci, wx and sh 2 • Seed that is sown has one gene homozygous ( wx/wx) and the other heterozygous (Shz/sh 2 ). Following pollination in the field, the heterozygous gene segregates on ears produced for con-section I: Value-added Maize sumption, with 25 % of kernels homozygous for both endosperm mutants (sh 2 /sh 2 wx/wx). The double mutant kernels have higher sugar content, which is detectable by consumers (Creech, 1965;Tracy, 1997). This is like sprinkling sugar on sticky com.The new value added hybrids have high yields, early maturity, short plants, short harvesting period, and good adaptability (Table 1). The response to the new hybrids has been favorable from both growers and consumers. From growers' standpoint, the hybrids provide higher yield and better eating quality than openpollinated cultivars and hybrid checks. After testing these hybrids, growers ask to buy commercial seed.New market opportunities can be created by the sale of these specialty waxy com hybrids with value-added traits such as elevated sweet taste. Increased markets for new waxy com are possible. Commercial hybrid seeds will be available in 2006.Additional hybrids with improved eating quality and disease resistance are in the pipeline. The use of these hybrids in frozen products is being tested. However, evaluations are needed so that producers will know the compositional characteristics, as well as the agronomic characteristics of cultivars. Information is also needed to ascertain trends attributable to season or region of production.\" --=-:...:..::.==e'-\"''-'''''-'..:.::c.::.:.:c=:::.:..:.:==c.:.:.:::==-=='''''- Waxy corn is a special type of maize cultivated in China. It has many excellent characters and higher economic value, that makes it an important raw material for food industries, textiles, paper-making and feed.The origin, evolution, speciation and domestication of waxy corn remains obscure (Zeng, 1992;Huang et al., 1998;Tian et al., 2003;Liu et al., 2005).We studied DNA variation in a 1. 2-kb region of the glbJ locus from multiple individuals of several taxa.GLBI, one of the most abundant proteins in maize embryos (Kriz and Schwatz, 1986), is encoded by a single gene located on the long arm of chromosome 1. It has been suggested that glbJ would be an excellent marker for the analysis of genetic variation because the gene is single copy and highly variable (Belanger and Kriz, 1991). The same taxa, except waxy corn, have also been studied at the adhl locus (Eyre-Walker et al., 1998;Hilton and Gaut, 1998). We analyzed glbl data to study the systematic position of waxy corn in genus Zea, and to investigate the genetic consequences of speciation of waxy corn. Sequence analysis: To display the genetic diversity within Zea, we calculated both, the average pairwise difference between sequences (Tajima, 1983), andWatterson's estimator of (Watterson, 1975). Both have expected values of 4N/-L' where N is the population size and /-L is the mutation rate per locus per generation.Estimation of and was based on all sites (Hilton and Gaut, 1998;Eyre-Walker et al., 1998).Sequence analysis was performed, in part, with the program DNASP 4. 10.2. We tested for deviation from the evolutionary neutral equilibrium model using the tests of Tajima ( 1989). Recombination rates were estimated with the methods developed by Hudson and Kaplan (1985) and Hey A. and Wakeley (1997).Phylogenetic reconstruction: Fixed differences and shared polymorphisms among taxa were calculated with the program DNASP 4. 10. 2 (Rozas and Rozas, 2005).A gene tree was constructed for the glbl data including the three sequences from T. dactyloides as an outgroup Gaps in sequences were treated as missing data. The most parsimony method with Kimura two-parameter distances (Kimura, 1980) was performed to reconstruct the systematic tree, as implemented in PAUP4.08b (Stan-. ford, 2000). One thousand bootstrap replications were used to assess confidence in the phylogeny.DNA sequence variation and tests for deviation from neutrality: The aligned glbl sequence was 1 228bp, of which 357 nucleotide sites were variable and 177 were parsimony-informative.  Measures of variation can be used to examine the history of natural selection and have the same expected value, but is more greatly influenced by low-frequency polymorphisms. Tajima's D measures the discrepancy between these two measures (Tajima, 1989). Estimates of D are negative in waxy corn and paroiglumis and almost zero in Z. luxurians (Table 1). None of these values differ significantly from zero, and the hypothesis of neutrality cannot be rejected.We estimated the minimum number of recombination events within the samples of waxy glbl sequences by the method of Hudson and Kaplan (1985). Highfrequency recombination somewhat spuriously increased the sequence diversity of the sampled glbl and made the distribution of ~so complicated that the genetic relationships between waxy corn and both maize and parviglimis could not be decided.Genetic relationships among taxa based on sequence polymorphisms: We assessed relationships among the sampled taxa in two ways: (1) comparing the numbers of shared polymorphisms and fixed differences between taxa and (2) building a gene tree of glbl sequences.Section I: Value-added Maize The numbers of fixed differences and shared polymorphisms for glbl are listed in Table 2. There were five fixed differences and two shared polymorphism between waxy corn and Z. luxurians. This indicated a genetic distinctness between the two taxa. There were no fixed differences and a large number of shared polymorphisms (Table 2) between the waxy corn and other Zea taxa, indicating only very recent, or no divergence between the taxa.There are many shared polymorphisms between waxy corn and both maize and paroiglumis (Table 2) .The shared polymorphism revealed that there has been a low level of divergence between waxy corn and both maize and parviglumis, but the presence of shared polymorphisms also revealed that genetic drift had not been sufficiently strong to erase the variation that existed in the common ancestor of the three taxa. Parsimony analysis generated a single most-parsimonious tree with a tree length of 666, a consistency index (el) of O. 6426, and a retention index of O. 6350 (Figure 1). Some features of this tree are remarkable. First, sequences from T. dactyloides form a distinct outgroup. Second, Z. luxurians sequences form a distinct monophyletic group consistent with the distribution of fixed differences and shared polymorphisms. Third, some allelic lineages of waxy corn are basal to the Z. luxurians group suggesting that waxy corn allelic lineages date to the common ancestor of the three Zea taxa. This suggestion is supported by high nucleotide diversity in waxy corn relative to maize and paroiglumis (Table 1). However, the high nucleotide diversity may be caused by the high-frequency recombinations (Table 1)indicating the need for further study. Finally, waxy corn sequences do not form a distinct group. Rather, It is commonly thought that crops are bereft of genetic variation compared to their wild relatives ( Tanksley and Mccouch, 1997). In the apparently neutral genes glbl and adhl, maize contains 60% and 83 % , respectively, of the amount of sequence dive~sityfound in its presumed progenitor ( Gaut et al., 1996;Hilton and Gaut, 1998 ;Eyre-Walker et al., 1998). Pearl millet is the only other crop in which the contrast between domesticated and progenitor populations have been made at the sequence level, and domesticated millet contains 67% of sequence diversity found in its wild progenitor (Gaut and Clegg, 1993 ), a similar level to that found in the present study'. Hence it appears that the domesticates contain a substantial proportion of the genetic diversity found in their wild relatives. In our study waxy corn had greater sequence diversity than the other taxa. Even if we allow for artifacts in the sampled sequences, the high sequence diversity is very significant and indicates that existent Zea species cannot be the ancestor of waxy corn. More work is required to examine tlIe phylogenetic relationships of waxy corn.We thank Yang JunPing, Tan Jun, Zhang JunJie for assistance or comments.Health and nutrition are the most important contributing factors for human resource development in the country.Nutrients that we obtain through food have vital effects on physical growth .and development, maintenance of normal body function, physical activity and health. Out of all, protein is one of the most important nutrients because it is the primary structural and functional component of every living cell. The quality of protein depends upon the kind, amount, number and arrangement of its constituent amino acids. The lack of high quality protein in diets generally leads to Protein Energy Malnutrition. The little supply of quality protein especially during vulnerable periods of life such as infancy, childhood, pregnancy and lactation, and during old age can lead to harmful consequences such as growth retardation, Protein Energy Malnutrition (Kwashiorkor, mar-'----_ _ asmus and marasmic kwashiorkor), anaemia, free radical damage and aflatoxin poisoning, etc. Hence, high quality protein must be provided at all stages of life to save the population from a series of problems. A healthy and productive population plays a big role for the all-round development of any nation.Animal proteins are of high quality as they provide all the essential amino acids in right proportion, while plant or vegetable proteins are not of the same quality because of the low content of some of the essential amino acids. However, a combination of cereals/millets and pulses is advocated because the amino acids present in them complement each other to a great extent to provide better quality proteins. But in most countries throughout the world, people depend on staple foods for their health and well-being. Thus, if the staple is improved for high quality, it will be a faster and easier 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop way to meet the protein needs of the population than increasing income. Fortunately, maize, n staple cereal food has been improved for quality protein, answering these problems.Quality Protein Maize (QPM) has high content of lysine and tryptophan. These are the essential amino acids the human body cannot sy'nthesize and therefore, must be provided through diet. Common maize is lacking in these essential amino acids thereby decreasing the nutritional quality of its proteins. It directly affects the biological value, which shows the availability of proteins for human beings. Among the cereals, QPM has the highest biological value (80% ), which is similar to cow's milk (84 % ). The biological value of oth-er impOltant cereals such as common maize (45%), wheat ( 66 %) and rice (68 %) is far below that of QPM as shown in Figure 1, The superior nutritional benefits of QPM over common mai:>:e have been observed in many investigations (Mertz et at., 1965;   Nelson, 2001; Singh, 2001) the food products (Figure 2). As well, consumers' needs and preferences for food products will have to be kept in mind.A number of factors intensify the urgent need for nutri- These foods can be adopted as an enterprise by our unemployed youth. In this way the Quality Protein Maize has the ability to assure economic security too, besides ensuring nutritional security.Quality protein maize (QPM) is superior III terms of nutritional value to normal maize, and QPM research has been of major interest in maize breeding. However, there have been problems for QPM breeding in China.For instance, the genetic base for QPM germplasm is narrow, most of the endosperm is soft, disease resistance and adaptability are poor and yields are lower than normal maize. Current QPM breeding materials do not meet the needs of the diverse environments of China.Consequently, it is urgent to explore new germplasm resources, especially germplasm with hard endosperm, that can adapt to temperate regions. Vasal et ai.(1992) and Beck et ai. (1991) showed that trorical maize germplasm is genetically diverse and possesses a good root system, stem structure and excellent resistance to stresses. Additionally, they gave heterosis with temperate germplasm. Tropical maize germplasm therefore provides potentially promising genes for utilization in temperate regions.The CIMMYT germplasm has a wide genetic base, and a numbers of elite QPM inbreds and hybrids with hard endosperm have been developed through many years of improvement (Bjamason et ai., 1992; Vasal   et ai., 1993a, b). The nine QPM inbreds (Table 1) were crossed by  Data for grain yield per plant, plant height, ear position, ear length, ear diameter, number of rows per ear, number of kernels per row, thousand kernel weight and endosperm hardness were collected for each environment. The fixed model, Griffing IV (Griffing, 1956) was employed to determine the general combining ability ( GCA) , special combining ability (SCA) and hereditary parameters. The analysis was performed using DPS statistical software (Tang and Feng, 2002).The results of ANOVAR for the various traits (all significantly variable), GCA, SCA and hereditary parameters are provided in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5.The results of ANOVA showed that differences in general combining ability (GCA) and special combining ability (SCA) for grain yield per plant, plant height, ear position, ear length, ear diameter, number of rows per ear, number of kernels per row, thousand kernel weight and endosperm hardness were highly significant.The additive variance was higher than the non-additive effects, and the magnitudes of additive variance by genetic variance was plant height > ear position > endosperm hardness > number of rows per ear > thousand kernel weight > ear length > number of kernels per row > ear diameter> yield per plant.From the results of combining ability for all characters, it can be concluded that 3 of the 4 tropical lines and the introgressed line No 5 (Table 1) generally performed in a superior way. The inbreds with most potential in Yunnan were CML166 and Qi205. Thus, among the lines used in the study, inbreds with greatest potential in Yunnan were either tropical types or introgressed lines derived from tropical X temperate types. Tan et   al. (2002) came to similar conclusions by showing the GCA effects for 14 CIMMYT improved populations were significantly higher than those of 13 Chinese temperate populations. The possible cause of the earlier poor performance of Chinese QPM was its narrow genetic base.Additionally, the soft endosperm of those materials is a severe constraint to their widespread use. It seems that CIMMYT tropical QPM lines not only possess high combining ability, good tolerance to diseases and stresses and good quality, but they also possess modifier genes which overcome problems associated with the 02 gene (Wessel et al., 1985).    Maize plays an important role in Indian agriculture as food, feed and industrial raw material. Major portion of maize production has been utilized for feed (55%) and food (38%). Maize as an ingredient of human food is growing in non-conventional maize areas also. Feed use.of maize has been steadily increasing. The projections are that demand for meat will double by 2020, due to increasing human consumption, which in turn will reflect on demand for maize, to raise poultry and other live stocks. Cereal proteins in general, maize protein in particular, are of poor quality, because of lack of balance in amino acid composition. Hence, genetic manipulation for improved amino acid composition has been considered as a noble goal. The discovery of high lysine mutant opaque-2 ( 02), followed by other mutants and modifiers led to the concept of Quality Protein Maize (QPM). The genetic materials and breeding approaches provided by CIMMYT and publications ( Vasal et at. ,1980;Bjarnason and Vasal, 1992) paved the way for development of high lysine QPM maize varieties and hybrids. Therefore, the present study was planned to draw genetic inferences by involving QPM inbreds. In response to the growing interest ill maize hybrids, many international, national and private research pro- In the present study, the analysis of vanance (ANOVA) indicated that the variances due to the genotypes were highly significant for all the thirteen characters studied, indicating the existence of wide variability among the genotypes. Further, fragmentation analysis also indicated significant variation among parents, among crosses among F l \" and among reciprocal F)\",showed the potential genetic differences among the parents chosen and their prepotency. The variance due to parents vs hybrids with one degrees of freedom revealed the existence of significant heterosis in resultant hybrids and the variance due to F I \" vs reciprocal Fl'g with another one degrees of freedom signified the presence of considerable reciprocal differences.The variances due to gca and sca effects were significant for all the characters except grain breadth. For grain breadth, the variance due to sca was alone significant. This implied that both additive and non additive variances were significant for all the characters except grain breadth, for which the non-additive variance alone significant. The estimates of genetic components of variation showed the predominance of SCA variance over GCA variance for all the characters. The low GCA:SCA variance revealed by all characters indicated the predominance of non-additive gene action. It is known that dominance variance should be more than the additive variance for heterosis to occur. Hence, the predominance of dominant gene action revealed by the grain yield and its component traits indicated the possibility of exploiting promising hybrids identified in the present study for heterosis breeding.The success of any breeding program depends on the choice of good parents and the potentiality of the parents are judged by their per se performance as well as gca effects. The mean values and gca effects of six parents for grain yield and grain tryptophan content are given in Table 1.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop In response to the growing interest m maIze hybrids, many international, national and private research pro- given in Table 1.The overall view of mean and gca effects showed that none of the six parents had high gca as well as high per se performance for all the economic and quality traits. The parent UMI 124 had desirable mean value and gca effect for five characters viz., cob length, grain breadth , number of grains per cob, grain yield and grain protein. The parent UMI 217 also seemed to be a promising parent for QPM breeding, since it possessed significant gca for both grain yield and tryptophan; its mean grain yield was on par with parental mean and tryptophan value was significant. and tryptophan content ofO. 75 gl16 g N, also seems to be a promising QPM hybrid for exploitationIn hybrid maize breeding, the flint and dent genotypesThe overall view of mean and gca effects showed that none of the six parents had high gca as well as high per se performance for all the economic and quality traits. The parent UMI 124 had desirable mean value and gca effect for five characters viz., cob length, grain breadth , number of grains per cob, grain yield and grain protein. The parent UMI 217 also seemed to be a promising parent for QPM breeding, since it possessed significant gca for both grain yield and tryptophan; its mean grain yield was on par with parental mean and tryptophan value was significant. and tryptophan content ofO. 75 gl16 g N, also seems to be a promising QPM hybrid for exploitationIn hybrid maize breeding, the flint and dent genotypes are considered as divergent entries and exploited for the development of heterotic hybrids. Moreno-Gonzalez (1988) and Vasal et at. (1993) reported that dent X flint and flint X dent hybrids gave heterotic combinations. Vasal ( 1993) also stated that crosses between parents with yellow kernels were generally low yielding, compared to the crosses between yellow X white kernel parents. To validate these findings, the top ten high yielding hybrids were analysed (Table 2), whichshowed that seven hybrids with high yield were from yellow X yellow, three from yellow X white and one from white X yellow parental combinations. The yellow X white combination hybrid UMI 217 x CML 176 happened to be the best among the hybrids. The seven yellow X yellow high yield hybrid combinations comprised of three dent X flint, two flint X dent, one dent X dent, and one flint X flint combinations.These observations clearly suggested that the best performing hybrids can be obtained from dent X flint or flint X dent or yellow X white cross combinations. All the ten yield components considered in the present study were found to have positive association with grain yield. Six characters viz., number of grains per cob ( O. 806 ), grain length (0. 640 ) , gram breadth (0.501), cob length (0.486), cob girth (0.433) and ear height (0. 384) showed significant and positive correlation with grain yield. Hence, these six traits were observed as the indicators of grain yield for making selection in hybrids. Both grain protein and tryptophan had negative but non-significant association with grain yield. The association between grain protein and tryptophan was also negative but significant. These findings indicated that grain yield improvement combining protein and tryptophan can be made by careful selection.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop are considered as divergent entries and exploited for the development of heterotic hybrids. Moreno-Gonzalez (1988) and Vasal et at. (1993) reported that dent X flint and flint X dent hybrids gave heterotic combinations. Vasal ( 1993) also stated that crosses between parents with yellow kernels were generally low yielding, compared to the crosses between yellow X white kernel parents. To validate these findings, the top ten high yielding hybrids were analysed (Table 2), whichshowed that seven hybrids with high yield were from yellow X yellow, three from yellow X white and one from white x yellow parental combinations. The yellow x white combination hybrid UMI 217 X CML 176 happened to be the best among the hybrids. The seven yellow X yellow high yield hybrid combinations comprised of three dent X flint, two flint x dent, one dent x dent, and one flint X flint combinations.These observations clearly suggested that the best performing hybrids can be obtained from dent X flint or flint x dent or yellow X white cross combinations. All the ten yield components considered in the present Three SSR markers, phi1J57, phil12 and umd066, identified as internal repetitive sequences within the 02 gene, were used successfully in the efforts to convert nonnal maize lines into QPM at CIM- MYT ( Dreher et at., 2003). The markers could be used in confinning the homozygous 02 gene, thus avoi-• Corresponding author: cshzhang@ public. bta. net. cn ding the need to detennine lysine contents during QPM breeding programs. Moreover, the marker assisted breeding strategy obviated the need for selfing and lysine examination after each backcross, thus markedly shortened the breeding duration. This procedure to convert nonnal elite lines into QPM was improved and was applied to the breeding program in AMBIONET China-Lab (Tian et at., 2004).  Homozygous recessive 0202 genotypes were found in most of the advanced inbred lines developed from the populations, such as CA, R, and CD lines, except for the CB lines (Table 1, Figure 3 and Figure 4). The results were in agreement with the actural lysine contents in the advanced inbred lines. The 02 gene was lost during the development of the CB series. The remarkable genetic drift of the 02 locus during the development of inbred lines possibly resulted from the complexity of the improved populations and adventitious pollen during development. Therefore, it was important to confirm the lysine content or the presence of the 02 allele during development of the of QPM lines from the populatiops.Primary selection of 02 in the effort to convert normal elite lines into QPM It was considered that converting elite normal lines into QPM was an effective approach to broaden the genetic basis of QPM germplasm, especially the domestic QPM development program in China. In the BC I progenies of (NEL x QPM) x NEL, .each of 30 seedling samples from the BC I progenies was profiled with primer phi057 (Figure 5 and Figure 6), and the 0202: 0202 genotype ratio in BC l F I was 1: 1. Only the heterozygous seedlings were selected, transplanted into the field, backcrossed with the recurrent normal lines to proceed to BC z ' .a~d only the heterozygous individuals revealed with the, primer were selected successively for further improvement. Combined with the selection for agronomic characters and modifier genes under the light table, the QPM lines will be developed after further selfing and selection for h?mozygous 0202 genotypes.In the two BC l populations in which the recurrent par.:ents were elite inbred lines HZ4 and X178, about 50 heterozygous genotypes identified with primer phi057 were characterized with 12 polymorphic AFLP primer combinations. More than 380 loci were characterized for each population, in which about 200 polymorphic loci were detected. It was found that the similarity to the recurrent parents in the two populations averaged 88.8% and 91. 3%, respectively. Individuals with the highest genetic similarity to the recurrent parents were We showed that the SSR primer phi057 could be effectively used in MAS for QPM line development. The primer was successfully used in th~identification of 0202 genotypes in QPM populations and advanced lines developed from the populations. The method also enabled the lines that had lost the 02 allele to be identified. While the SSR primer was used in primary selection to convert elite normal lines into QPM by backcrossing, polymorphic AFLP markers proved powerful in enabling selection of the individuals with the most similar backgrounds to the recurrent parent.   ton, 1998). While marker-assisted foreground selection (Tanksley, 1983 andMelchinger, 1990) helps in identifying the gene of interest without extensive phenotypic assays, marker-assisted background selection (Young and Tanksley, 1989;Hospital et ai., 1992;Visscher et ai., 1996;Frisch et ai., 1999a, b;Babu et ai. , 2004)  In this study, distinct polymorphism could be observed between the normal and QPM inbred lines with all the three SSR markers. However, the nature of polymor- We defined the optimum population size as the minimal number of individuals that need to be genotyped at each generation so that there is a 99% probability of obtaining at least one double recombinant latest by the second BC generation along with maximum proportion of recurrent parent genome. We combined the salient features of a priori (Hospital and Decoux,2(02) and posteriori (Frisch and Melchinger, 2001) approaches and selected three individuals in the BC I generation that were single recombinants at the opaque2 locus with the closest flanking marker, bnlg1200 and calculated the population size of the BC 2 generation using the Popmin program, specifying the initial genotypes selected. In a practical QPM breeding program, selecting for a single individual in the BC I generation as suggested in a priori approach could be a risky proposition considering the possible unforeseen problems, such as poor germination, ear rot susceptibility and poor pollen quality (Ribaut et al., 2002).Background selection in BC 2 generatiol'l .The average recurrent parent genome content of the BC 2 generation was 78.4%, while the donor genome content was 9.9%. The proportion of unexplained variation ( either due to unknown allele type or missing data) was 11. 7 %. A total of 14 BC 2 progenies had more than average recurrent parent genome content (87.5%).Plant No.7 (P-7) had the highest proportion of recurrent parent genome of 95. 75%, while plant No. 56 (P-56) and Plant No. 73 (P-73) had 93. 25 and 92. 75%, making them suitable candidates for developing further selfed generations. The objective of the background/whole genome selection is to recover rapidly maximum proportion of recurrent parent genome at non target loci through markers that are distributed evenly throughout the genome (Young and Tanksley, 1989;Hospital et al., 1992;Visscher et al., 1996 andFrisch et al., 1999a, b).We followed a two generation marker-based breeding program in which whole genome background selection at non-target loci was applied only in the BC 2 generation. We selected markers representing each estab-_J 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Worllshop lished bin location on all the chromosomes of maize genome as per the SSR consensus map available in public domain ( www.maizegdb. org). Although it has been demonstrated through simulation studies that increasing the number of markers to more than three per non-carrier chromosome was not efficient at early generations (Hospital et at., 1992), care needs to be taken in a Phenotypic selection in BC 2 F 2 and BC 2 F 3Based on the agronomic evaluation, 25 BCzF z progenies from P-7, 23 from P-56 and 23 from P-73 were selected. Several classes of kernel modification were observed in each population of BC z Fz. Among the harvested ears of 53 BCzF z plants (from P-7) that were homozygous for opaque2 gene, varyi~g proportions of 4 classes of kernel opaqueness viz., less than 25%, 25% -50%, more than 50% and 100% opaque were identified. Phenotypic screening of the individual kernels under transmitted light and selection of kernels that have less than 25 % opaqueness is by far the most convenient and efficient strategy employed in all the QPM breeding programs (Vasal et at., 1993 a, b). The very low frequency of 100% opaque (soft) and completely modified (hard) kernels in the three BC z Fz families corroborated the earlier findings of Lopes and Larkins ( 1995) that kernel modification in QPM is governed by more than one minor gene. We preferred kernels with less than 25% opaqueness over 25% -50% and more than 50% opaqueness due to the semi-soft/soft nature of the endosperm and susceptibility to ear rot of latter catego-ries (Vasal et at., 1993a, b). The biochemical analy-, sis of the three classes of kernel modification showed that tryptophan concentration in protein, the chief indicator of protein quality was enhanced significantly in all the three classes as compared to original recipient line.The rapid line conversion strategy outlined in this investigation brings together the salient features of both marker-aided and phenotypic selection approaches, such as fixing the large segregating generation for target the locus, reduction of the linkage drag by selecting for flanking markers of recipient allele type, recovery of maximum amount of recurrent parent genome within two BC generations and provides ample scope for exercising phenotypic selection for as many desirable agronomic and biochemical traits as possible.'ProceedinQs of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Wort<shop lished bin location on all the chromosomes of maize genome as per the SSR consensus map available in public domain ( www.maizegdb. org). Although it has been demonstrated through simulation studies that increasing the number of markers to more than three per non-carrier chromosome was not efficient at early generations (Hospital et at., 1992), care needs to be taken in a Phenotypic selection in BC 2 F2 and BC 2 F3Based on the agronomic evaluation, 25 BC z Fz progenies from P-7, 23 from P-56 and 23 from P-73 were selected. Several classes of kernel modification were observed in each population of BC z Fz. Among the harvested ears of 53 BCzF z plants (from P-7) that were homozygous for opaque2 gene, varyi~g proportions of 4 classes of kernel opaqueness viz., less than 25%, 25% -50%, more than 50% and 100% opaque were identified. Phenotypic screening of the individual kernels under transmitted light and selection of kernels that have less than 25 % opaqueness is by far the most convenient and efficient strategy employed in all the QPM breeding programs (Vasal et at., 1993a, b). The very low frequency of 100% opaque (soft) and completely modified (hard) kernels in the three BC z Fz families corroborated the earlier findings of Lopes and Larkins ( 1995) that kernel modification in QPM is governed by more than one minor gene. We preferred kernels with less than 25% opaqueness over 25% -50% and more than 50% opaqueness due to the semi-soft/soft nature of the endosperm and susceptibility to ear rot of latter catego-ries (Vasal et at., 1993a, b). The biochemical analy-, sis of the three classes of kernel modification showed that tryptophan concentration in protein, the chief indicator of protein quality was enhanced significantly in all the three classes as compared to original recipient line.The rapid line conversion strategy outlined in this investigation brings together the salient features of both marker-aided and phenotypic selection approaches, such as fixing the large segregating generation for target the locus, reduction of the linkage drag by selecting for flanking markers of recipient allele type, recovery of maximum amount of recurrent parent genome within two BC generations and provides ample scope for exercising phenotypic selection for as many desirable agronomic and biochemical traits as possible.The com (Zea mays L.) kernel can be separated into embryo, endosperm (including aleurone layer) and pericarp. Among them, the embryo is a significant component containing important materials, such as 85% of the total oil in the grain[ll, as well as Vitamin E, oryzanol, plant sterol, phytic acid and plant calmodulin [2]. Although the embryo of com is a very important raw material for industry, no cultivar with a kernel consisting only of an embryo has been developed.Generally, the oil percentages of com range from 4. 0% to 5. 0%, and cultivars with levels beyond 6. 0% are called high-oil com. Extreme high or extreme low oil-percentage-coms can be obtained by selection, and both extremes have been selected in a famous ongoing experiment at Illinois Agricultural Experimental Station since 1896. In its 75th generation of selection, the \"Illinois Low oil\" strain contained less than O. 75% oil, and * E-mail: wuzikai@ gxu. edu. en the mean oil content of the \" Illinois High oil\" strain reached 18.2%, with individual ears as high as 20.6% [3 1 • While varieties of high-oil com are used in commerce at present because of their higher calorie yield/ha, com is still very much a \"starch crop\".Our aim is to explore whether oil-bearing corn can be bred. Com oil is considered a nutritous and healthy high quality oil, because its fatty acids are mainly oleic acid and linoleic acids, which make up 26. 6% and 58. 7%, respectively, of the total[2 J • At present, com oil is extracted from ordinary high-oil corn, which still produces mainly starch. Before extraction, the embryo must be stripped from the grains, and this makes the process complex. If an oil com could be bred, an extracted oil rather than a macerated oil, could be obtained in the same way as with other oil-bearing crops such as rape, sesame and soybean. This would not only _ _ _ _ _J 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop simplify the process of extracting oil but also would improve the edible quality of the oil.Some corn strains that contain little endosperm, or only an aleurone layer, have been bred since 1994; they are called micro-endosperm corn l4j • Grain weights have been improved to ensure their normal germination and growth in the field. Measurement of oil percentage on a single grain basis has been done with a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMK) instrument since 2002.Corn with an oil percentage is ~20% is called superhigh oil corn, or micro-endosperm super-high oil corn considering the two characteristics lS ] • Micro-endosperm corn is a very good material for studying the physiological, biochemical and agronomic characters of the embryo without disturbance from endosperm, because of its very low endosperm content. The embryo is the main component and grain product in microendosperm corn and its greatest potential is as an oilseed crop. Some initial studies on the basic characteristics of micro-erdosperm corn are reported in this paper.All 7 groups of materials used in this experiment were obtained from our micro-endosperm corn program, including types I, II and mwhose genotypes were different. Group 1. Sown in spring 2002, 16 ears, 5 grains per ear, 80 grains selected.Group 2. Sown autumn 2002, 66 ears, about 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6 604 grains were sampled, 6 ears of ordinary high-oil corn were taken as check.Group 3. Sown spring 2003, 30 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampled, including 20 parental strains and 10 F 1 combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 9 000 grains; 2 strains of super-sweet corn taken as check.Group 4. Sown autumn 2003, 8 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampled, including 5 parental strains and 3 FI combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 2 400 grains. One super-sweet corn was taken as a check. In addition, 11 strains of micro-endosperm corn were selected and selfed continuously for 3 generations for each strain, sampling 3 ears per strain, 100 grain per ear in each generation. Group 5. Sown spring 2004, 23 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampll\\,d, including 13 parental strains and 10 FI combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6 900 grains; one strain of super-sweet corn taken as a check. Group 6. Sown autumn, 2(X)4, parents and F] combinations from the 5th group were selfed, sampling 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6900 grains. One super-sweet corn strain was taken as a check. Group 7. Sown autumn 2004, 93 F 1 combinations from randomly sampled strains of micro-endosperm cprn sampled and their 100 grain weights and oil percentages per grain measured, sampling 300 grains per combination. One super-sweet strain taken as a check for determining 100 grain weight.Single grain weights were measured using electronic scales. The oil percentage of each grain was measured using an MQ20 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) mstrument.Embryo weights and oil percentages were measured on 50 grains per genotype. The embryos were stripped from grains after soaking in water for about 24h, and dried at 60'(; until constant weight, weighed separately, and the embryo weight ratio (EWR), i. e. embryo weight / whole grain weight, was computed.Then the oil percentage of embryos was measured.Variance analysis and estimate of broad sense her-1\\ itability ( h~): The statistical analyses were based on completely random field designs. Broad sense heritabil-1\\ ities h ~were estimated from the genetic variance components. Correlation analyses were determined using data from the Group 5 experiment.The ranges in grain weights and oil contents are given in Table 1.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop simplify the process of extracting oil but also would improve the edible quality of the oil. Some corn strains that contain little endosperm, or only an aleurone layer, have been bred since 1994; they are called micro-endosperm corn l4j• Grain weights have been improved to ensure their normal germination and growth in the field. Measurement of oil percentage on a single grain basis has been done with a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMK) instrument since 2002.Corn with an oil percentage is ~20% is called superhigh oil corn, or micro-endosperm super-high oil corn considering the two characteristics lS ] • Micro-endosperm corn is a very good material for studying the physiological, biochemical and agronomic characters of the embryo without disturbance from endosperm, because of its very low endosperm content. The embryo is the main component and grain product in microendosperm corn and its greatest potential is as an oilseed crop. Some initial studies on the basic characteristics of micro-erdosperm corn are reported in this paper.All 7 groups of materials used in this experiment were obtained from our micro-endosperm corn program, including types I, II and mwhose genotypes were different. Group 1. Sown in spring 2002, 16 ears, 5 grains per ear, 80 grains selected.Group 2. Sown autumn 2002, 66 ears, about 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6 604 grains were sampled, 6 ears of ordinary high-oil corn were taken as check.Group 3. Sown spring 2003, 30 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampled, including 20 parental strains and 10 F 1 combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 9 000 grains; 2 strains of super-sweet corn taken as check.Group 4. Sown autumn 2003, 8 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampled, including 5 parental strains and 3 FI combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 2 400 grains. One super-sweet corn was taken as a check. In addition, 11 strains of micro-endosperm corn were selected and selfed continuously for 3 generations for each strain, sampling 3 ears per strain, 100 grain per ear in each generation. Group 5. Sown spring 2004, 23 genotypes of micro-endosperm corn sampll\\,d, including 13 parental strains and 10 FI combinations, 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6 900 grains; one strain of super-sweet corn taken as a check. Group 6. Sown autumn, 2(X)4, parents and F] combinations from the 5th group were selfed, sampling 3 ears per genotype, 100 grains per ear, amounting to 6900 grains. One super-sweet corn strain was taken as a check. Group 7. Sown autumn 2004, 93 F 1 combinations from randomly sampled strains of micro-endosperm cprn sampled and their 100 grain weights and oil percentages per grain measured, sampling 300 grains per combination. One super-sweet strain taken as a check for determining 100 grain weight.Single grain weights were measured using electronic scales. The oil percentage of each grain was measured using an MQ20 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) mstrument.Embryo weights and oil percentages were measured on 50 grains per genotype. The embryos were stripped from grains after soaking in water for about 24h, and dried at 60'(; until constant weight, weighed separately, and the embryo weight ratio (EWR), i. e. embryo weight / whole grain weight, was computed.Then the oil percentage of embryos was measured.Variance analysis and estimate of broad sense her-1\\ itability ( h~): The statistical analyses were based on completely random field designs. Broad sense heritabil-1\\ ities h ~were estimated from the genetic variance components. Correlation analyses were determined using data from the Group 5 experiment.The ranges in grain weights and oil contents are given in Table 1.The grain weights of micro-endosperm com were significantly less in high-oil and super-sweet com types. There were only a few of grains of micro-endosperm com with a grain weight higher than the lightest of the check. The lowest content of many grains of micro-endosperm com was less than the lowest value of check, but the range was much wider than the check, Section I: Value-added Maize and most oil percentages were much higher than the checks. The genotypes in group 7 were all hybrid combinations, but no significant heterosis was found for grain weight. However, their oil percentages were generally high and oil contents as high as 32.54% (mean 26. 89%) were found. These high oil percentages cannot be reached with any other kind of com. Numbers in brackets are for the checks with high-oil com above, and super-sweet com belowThe 11 selling lines ( L}) group 4 had been selfed from one to three generations differentially; these were selfed again for two generations to obtain L z and L 3 , planted separately in spring and autumn, 2004. The mean genotypic oil percentages for L 1 , L z and L 3 are given in Table 2. The oil percentages of reserved seed for planting were also given in Table 2 for L} and L z . In the lines which had higher oil percentages (i. e. lines 1, 2, 3 and 4), the seeds having higher oil percentages were selected as reserved seed for planting in next generation, and in the other low oil percentage lines, the seeds having less oil percentage were reserved.The aA NOVAR showed no significant difference for oil percentage between L} lines and ~lines. However, the difference between Lz and both L 1 and ~were very significant (P <O. 01) (Table 2). This was very likely because L} and ~were sown in different seasons. The expression of the oil % of lines in the 3 generations was consistent with levels in the selected seed.The high correlation coefficients between oil percentages from L 1 , Lz and ~(r}Z =0.8930, r 13 =0.8769, r 23 = O. 8957, P <O. 01) showed that the oil percentage of micro-endosperm com was inherited between selling generations.Mean 100 grain weights and oil % of 23 FI combinations and parents of groups 3, 4 and 5 appear in Table 3.The mean 100 grain weights for 15 F} combinations exceeded the respective higher parents, showing heterosis, but 3 F} combinations were even lower than the mid-parental values. There were only 6 F} combinations with oil percentages greater than the respective higher parents, and 4 were lower than the lower parents, Thus in regard to oil content there was no predictable outcome. The correlation coefficients between F 1The grain weights of micro-endosperm corn were significantly less in high-oil and super-sweet corn types. There were only a few of grains of micro-endosperm corn with a grain weight higher than the lightest of the check. The lowest content of many grains of micro-endosperm corn was less than the lowest value of check, but the range was much wider than the check, Section I: Value-added Maize and most oil percentages were much higher than the checks. The genotypes in group 7 were all hybrid combinations, but no significant heterosis was found for grain weight. However, their oil percentages were generally high and oil contents as high as 32. 54% (mean 26. 89%) were found. These high oil percentages cannot be reached with any other kind of corn. Numbers in brackets are for the checks with high-oil com above, and super-sweet com belowThe 11 selfing lines ( L}) group 4 had been selfed from one to three generations differentially; these were selfed again for two generations to obtain L 2 and L 3 , planted separately in spring and autumn, 2004. The mean genotypic oil percentages for L}, L 2 and L 3 are given in Table 2. The oil percentages of reserved seed for planting were also given in Table 2 for L} and L 2 • In the lines which had higher oil percentages (i. e. lines 1, 2, 3 and 4), the seeds having higher oil percentages were selected as reserved seed for planting in next generation, and in the other low oil percentage lines, the seeds having less oil percentage were reserved.The aA NOVAR showed no significant difference for oil percentage between L} lines and ~lines. However, the difference between ~and both L} and ~were very significant (P <O. 01) (Table 2). This was very likely because L} and ~were sown in different seasons. The expression of the oil % of lines in the 3 generations was consistent with levels in the selected seed.The high correlation coefficients between oil percentages from L}, ~and ~(r}2 =0.8930, r 13 =0.8769, r 23 = O. 8957, P <O. 01) showed that the oil percentage of micro-endosperm corn was inherited between selfing generations.Mean 100 grain weights and oil % of 23 F 1 combinations and parents of groups 3, 4 and 5 appear in Table 3.The mean 100 grain weights for 15 F] combinations exceeded the respective higher parents, showing heterosis, but 3 F} combinations were even lower than the mid-parental values. There were only 6 F} combinations with oil percentages greater than the respective higher parents, and 4 were lower than the lower parents, Thus in regard to oil content there was no predictable outcome. The correlation coefficients between F} 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop mean and mid-parent values (r 12 ) or female parent ( r13) or male parent (r14) values (Table 3) for both traits were significant at P = 0.05 or P = 0.01. This generally indicated that the best hybrid values should come from parents with the highest trait values and that the female parent may have an influence.   ...The ratio of embryo weight to whole grain weight is called embryo weight ratio ( EWR). The results of Section I: Value-added Maize EWR from groups 3 and 5, including 35 selfed lines and 25 F 1 combinations, are given in Table 4. The EWR of almost all populations were more than 30%, compared with about 25% for the super sweet check. Therefore, an EWR of 30% or higher can define a base level for micro-endosperm com. Its distribution range, 26.31 % to 50. 14%, is very wide and provides a good germplasm base for increasing EWR.The Broad sense heritability of grain weight and oil percentage /\\Broad sense heritability ( h;) of grain weight and oil percentage were computed from the variance analysis of data from groups, and 5 and the results are given in Table 5.Heritability of oil percentage was consistently higher than that of grain weight indicating that the influence of environment on oil percentage is less than that on grain weight. Correlations between oil percentage and other traits, especially grain weight, conducted on information from group 1 to 5, are summerised in Table 6. From Table 6 it can be seen that the negative correlation between oil percentage and grain weight was not significant, indicating it may be possible to improve the two characteristics at the same time.However, the positive correlations between oil percentage and embryo weight ratio, or possibly embryo oil percentage, may be significant constraints to improvement.Basic characteristic of micro-endosperm cornCom germplasm, with EMR generally more than 30% , or sometimes more than 40%, has been bred over the last 10 years, and lines with acceptable emergence and growth in the field have been developed. Oil contents of the lines range from 5. 85% to 32. 54%. This paper 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop addresses the possible development of \"micro-endosperm super-high oil com\" with ;;:=40% EWR and ;;:= 20% oil content based on currently available germplasm.There were wide variations for the important traits, grain weight and oil percentage (Table 1). The variation in the oil percentage was much wider than grain weight and the heritability of oil percentage was higher than grain weight. Thus there is great potential for increasing oil percentage, and the genetic gain will be obtained irrespective of selecting on the basis of grain or ear as with ordinary high-oil com[6 1 • The results ( Tables 2 and 3) show that the trait of oil % in selfing lines or F j generations can be improved. Data from the present work and elsewhere suggest that the inheritance of oil content is mainly additive; the current continuous selfing will quickly lead to inbreeding decline.Therefore, to increase the oil percentage of micro-endosperm com, recurrent selection methods should be applied[8 l .The correlation analyses (Tables 3 and 6) between oil percentage and other characteristics indicated no significant negative correlation between grain weight and oil percentage, so the two characteristics can he improved at the same time. Besides EWR and embryo oil percentage, no other easily selected traits correlated with oil percentage were found. Thus selection for increased oil percentage can be conducted only by selecting oil percentage itself.The shriveled grain of micro-endosperm com IS the greatest constraint. Although the grain weight has clearly increased by selection over many years, increases in grain weight are still not as great as those of oil percentage. The potential in genetic improvement, or the possible genetic gain obtained for grain weight, IS less than oil percentage because grain weight has a lower range of variation. Therefore, if micro-endosperm com can be produced economically, grain weight is a key issue to be considered. The highest yield of hybrids so far, was about 3 050 kg/ha, a rather low level.Considering the fact that breeding has been carried out for only 22 crop generations, and the high quality of com oil compared to other edible vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, micro-endosperm com has considerable potential if its yield level can be increased to approach that of soybean.In 2004, about 30kg of micro-endosperm com, which were eliminated through selection, were pressed with an ordinary oil press in a small oil mill; 2. 8kg ( 10. 7 %) of com oil was extracted after heating at 150 -170\"(;. In 2005, 21. lkg (6.0%) oil was extracted from 127. 5kg grains in similar condition. The results of quality analyses of the extracted oil from micro-endosperm com and macerated com oil from the market place are given Table 7. The extracted oil was clearly superior in quality. There were wide variations for the important traits, grain weight and oil percentage (Table 1). The variation in the oil percentage was much wider than grain weight and the heritability of oil percentage was higher than grain weight. Thus there is great potential for increasing oil percentage, and the genetic gain will be obtained irrespective of selecting on the basis of grain or ear as with ordinary high-oil com[6 1 • The results ( Tables 2 and 3) show that the trait of oil % in selfing lines or F] generations can be improved. Data from the present work and elsewhere suggest that the inheritance of oil content is mainly additive; the current continuous selfing will quickly lead to inbreeding decline.Therefore, to increase the oil percentage of micro-endosperm com, recurrent selection methods should be applied [8] .The correlation analyses (Tables 3 and 6) between oil percentage and other characteristics indicated no significant negative correlation between grain weight and oil percentage, so the two characteristics can be improved at the same time. Besides EWR and embryo oil percentage, no other easily selected traits correlated with oil percentage were found. Thus selection for increased oil percentage can be conducted only by selecting oil percentage itself.The shriveled grain of micro-endosperm com IS the greatest constraint. Although the grain weight has clearly increased by selection over many years, increases in grain weight are still not as great as those of oil percentage. The potential in genetic improvement, or the possible genetic gain obtained for grain weight, IS less than oil percentage because grain weight has a lower range of variation. Therefore, if micro-endosperm com can be produced economically, grain weight is a key issue to be considered. The highest yield of hybrids so far, was about 3 050 kg/ha, a rather low level.Considering the fact that breeding has been carried out for only 22 crop generations, and the high quality of com oil compared to other edible vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, micro-endosperm com has considerable potential if its yield level can be increased to approach that of soybean.In 2004, about 30kg of micro-endosperm com, which were eliminated through selection, were pressed with an ordinary oil press in a small oil mill; 2. 8kg ( 10. 7%) of com oil was extracted after heating at 150-170\"C. In 2005, 21.1kg (6.0%) oil was extracted from 127.5kg grains in similar condition. The results of quality analyses of the extracted oil from micro-endosperm com and macerated com oil from the market place are given Table 7. The extracted oil was clearly superior in quality. under short-term conditions and the information consists of passport data, characterization and preliminary evaluation data. No further evaluation data is found, and the passport and characterization data were partial descriptors for maize recommended by FAa and IPGRI.In summary, the collection consists of: 237 accessions with characterization for 10 descriptors, 255 accessions that have been characterized for 9 descriptors, 10 accessions with characterization for 7 descriptors, 7 ac-cessIOns with characterization for 6 descriptors, and 422 accessions with only passport data.Regeneration, computerized documentation system and further evaluation are the principal challenges to improve in the KazARI maize collection management.Provided that the main objectives of the maize breeding program cover an ample range of improved features, research on genetic diversity and identification of special traits in the collection using both morphoagronomic and biochemical analyses, are important needs. Thus, the development of a \"core collection\" and its evaluation (agronomic and biochemical) would Improve our knowledge of the genetic diversity kept in the entire collection.Due to the difficulty to manage large amount of information that is produced in genebanks, Otto Frankel in the size of the core collection has to be determined, and the choice of number of entries per group has to be made; and (iv) Choice of accessions: the last step is the choice of accessions from each group that are to be included in the core. A core would be considered acceptable if 70% or more of the genetic diversity is captured from the entire collection.From 931 accessions, the subset of 509 samples was used because it possesses evaluation data for 6 to 10 descriptors; the rest 422 accessions only have passport data or heterogeneous evaluation for less than 6 descriptors, and for this reason were omitted from the data set.Then, the resulting domain was the subset of 509 accessions with agronomic data.The descriptors were days to anthesis, days to female flowering, 1 000 seed weight, ear shape, grain type, Grain color, plant height, ear height, number of leaves, grain yield per plant. From this list of 10 de.scriptors, 3 were rated on scale. They were: ear shape (1 to 3), grain type (1 to 5), and grain color (1 to 11) .The initial 509 accessions with data for 6, 7, 9 and 10 descriptors were standardized to a mean zero and variance of one. After that, multivariate hierarchical clustering analyses, UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average) were carried out.Seven cores collections were developed using three sampling strategies and various percentages of the domain (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) as follows: (i)Random sampling: four cores were developed by choosing random samples of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of the domain, 25, 50, 75 and 100 entries respectively;(ii) UPGMA stratified by groups of descriptors: two cores were developed making cluster analysis for each group of 6, 7, 9 and 10 descriptors, and following assemble of the entries. The resultant dendrograms were \"cut\" in order to have two core collections with 57 entries (approximately 11 % of the domain), and 77 entries (15% of the domain); and (iii) UPGMA with geographical stratification by country of origin: a core, representing over 42 countries, was developed usmg cluster analysis for each group origin country with more than three accessions and allocating one entry in the groups with less than three accessions. The result was a core with 74 entries, approximately 15% of the domam.For the random sampling the procedure was to choose empirically different sizes, and at random, allocate the entries. It was expected that a bigger size a major quantity of diversity can be captured in the core. In this way cores with 25, 50, 75 and 100 entries were developed (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively).In cores developed by cluster analysis the diversity was measured by the Euclidean distance that is a dissimilarity coefficient. Skinner et at. (1999) proposed allocation of the entries in the core collection for the annual medicago collection in Australia using the Euclidean distance in each group. Then, a small average Euclidean distance will be found for \"typical accessions\", those most like all other accessions in the data set, while a large average Euclidean distance would be found for the more unusual types. This approach permits to capture a major number of extreme values from the agronomic data, this means to capture 1984 suggested and defined the concept of core collection as \"a limited set of accessions representing, with a minimum of repetitiveness, the genetic diversity of a crop species and its wild relatives\". Mter this definition, several methodologies have been developed for creating core collections. Theo van Hintum (1999) summarizes a general methodology in the following steps: (i) Definition of the domain: the first step in creating a core collection is defining the material that should be represented, i. e. the domain of the core collection; (ii) Division in groups: the second step is dividing the domain in groups, which should be genetically as distinct as possible; (iii) Allocation of entries:the size of the core collection has to be determined, and the choice of number of entries per group has to he made; and (iv) Choice of accessions: the last step is the choice of accessions from each group that are to he included in the core. A core would be considered acceptable if 70% or more of the genetic diversity is captured from the entire collection.From 931 accessions, the subset of 509 samples was used because it possesses evaluation data for 6 to 10 descriptors; the rest 422 accessions only have passport data or heterogeneous evaluation for less than 6 descriptors, and for this reason were omitted from the data set.Then, the resulting domain was the subset of 509 accessions with agronomic data.The descriptors were days to anthesis, days to female flowering, 1 000 seed weight, ear shape, grain type, Grain color, plant height, ear height, number of leaves, grain yield per plant. From this list of 10 de.scriptors, 3 were rated on scale. They were: ear shape (1 to 3), grain type (1 to 5), and grain color (1 to 11) .The initial 509 accessions with data for 6, 7, 9 and 10 descriptors were standardized to a mean zero and variance of one. After that, multivariate hierarchical clustering analyses, UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average) were carried out.Seven cores collections were developed using three sampling strategies and various percentages of the domain (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) as follows: (i)Random sampling: four cores were developed by choosing random samples of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of the domain, 25, 50, 75 and 100 entries respectively;(ii) UPGMA stratified by groups of descriptors: two cores were developed making cluster analysis for each group of 6, 7, 9 and 10 descriptors, and following assemble of the entries. The resultant dendrograms were \"cut\" in order to have two core collections with 57 entries (approximately 11 % of the domain), and 77 entries (15% of the domain); and (iii) UPGMA with geographical stratification by country of origin: a core, representing over 42 countries, was developed using cluster analysis for each group origin country with more than three accessions and allocating one entry in the groups with less than three accessions. The result was a core with 74 entries, approximately 15% of the domam.For the random sampling the procedure was to choose empirically different sizes, and at random, allocate the entries. It was expected that a bigger size a major quantity of diversity can be captured in the core. In this way cores with 25, 50, 75 and 100 entries were developed (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively).In cores developed by cluster analysis the diversity was measured by the Euclidean distance that is a dissimilarity coefficient. Skinner et ai. (1999) proposed allocation of the entries in the core collection for the annual medicago collection in Australia using the Euclidean distance in each group. Then, a small average Euclidean distance will be found for \"typical accessions\", those most like all other accessions in the data set, while a large average Euclidean distance would be found for the more unusual types. This approach permits to capture a major number of extreme values from the agronomic data, this means to capture ,.,~qli;\" t. , .,.,' ;;:''Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop more diversity.To evaluate how well the different cores captured the variation from the original domain, the mean, variance and range of each of the 10 agronomic descriptors for each core, was divided by the mean, vanance and range of the corresponding 10 agronomic descriptors from the domain set of 509 accessions. Thus, values of 1 in the range ratio, means that the both extreme values for the character were captured. Table 1 shows how different cores captured extreme values from the total 20 extremes of 10 agronomic descriptors found in the do-maIn. 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00Figure 1 Cluster analysis (using UPGMA) of 27 accessions from the Kazakh maize core collection for grain protein content (Low content 8 % -14 %; medium 14 % -16 %; and high content over 16 % )The mean of ratios obtained for range, mean and variance was used to compare cores. Cores developed using cluster analysis captured more than 90% of the genetic diversity from the original data, unlike the 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop more diversity.To evaluate how well the different cores captured the variation from the original domain, the mean, variance and range of each of the 10 agronomic descriptors for each core, was divided by the mean, vanance and range of the corresponding 10 agronomic descriptors from the domain set of 509 accessions. Thus, values of 1 in the range ratio, means that the both extreme values for the character were captured. Table 1 shows how different cores captured extreme values from the total 20 extremes of 10 agronomic descriptors found in the domam. 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00Figure 1 Cluster analysis (using UPGMA) of 27 accessions from the Kazakh maize core collection for grain protein content (Low content 8 % -14 %; medium 14 % -16 %; and high content over 16 %)The mean of ratios obtained for range, mean and variance was used to compare cores. Cores developed using cluster analysis captured more than 90% of the genetic diversity from the original data, unlike the cores developed at random, that showed poor results, between 60% and 75% (see Table 1, range ratios).According to these results, the core UPGMA stratified by groups of descriptors, with 15 % size shows the best capture of diversity (97. 5% ), and was therefore chosen as core collection for further analysis.In cores developed by cluster analysis, the ratio values for variances and means were over one. This means that variances and means were greater in the core collections than in the entire collection. It is because, from the cluster analysis a more uniform sampling of accessions across the domain permitted to represent the extreme values at a higher frequency than in the total collection.After assembling the core in summer 2004 the grain quality analyses of protein content and starch were conducted in 27 accessions from the core which had enough quantity of seed to carry out these analyses. Descriptive statistics was carried out for each trait, and later, cross tabulation and cluster analysis in order to group the samples according to their performance.Cereal proteins vary in protein content but in general are of poor quality because of lack of balance in amino acid composition. The crude protein content in normal maize varies from 8% till 11 % ( Vasal, 2003).In our case we found promising samples with higher protein content than normal maize.The protein content in the studied accessions varies in a range of 8. 62% to 17.04%, showing an interesting number of accessions with higher protein content, over the normal average. Thus, we found that 18 accessions have protein content over 14%, of which 4had more than 16%. It was also possible to see the negative correlation between protein and starch contents; accession with the highest protein possessed the lowest starch percentage. Cluster analysis was carried out in order to group the accessions according to the content of protein and starch. Three clusters were found, grouping accessions with low, medium and high protein content. cores developed at random, that showed poor results, between 60% and 75% (see Table 1, range ratios).According to these results, the core UPGMA stratified by groups of descriptors, with 15 % size shows the best capture of diversity (97. 5% ), and was therefore chosen as core collection for further analysis.In cores developed by cluster analysis, the ratio values for variances and means were over one. This means that variances and means were greater in the core collections than in the entire collection. It is because, from the cluster analysis a more uniform sampling of accessions across the domain permitted to represent the extreme values at a higher frequency than in the total collection.After assembling the core in summer 2004 the grain quality analyses of protein content and starch were conducted in 27 accessions from the core which had enough quantity of seed to carry out these analyses. Descriptive statistics was carried out for each trait, and later, cross tabulation and cluster analysis in order to group the samples according to their performance.Cereal proteins vary in protein content but in general are of poor quality because of lack of balance in amino acid composition. The crude protein content in normal maize varies from 8% till 11 % ( Vasal, 2003).In our case we found promising samples with higher protein content than normal maize.The protein content in the studied accessions varies in a range of 8. 62% to 17.04%, showing an interesting number of accessions with higher protein content, over the normal average. Thus, we found that 18 accessions have protein content over 14%, of which 4had more than 16%. It was also possible to see the negative correlation between protein and starch contents; accession with the highest protein possessed the lowest starch percentage. Cluster analysis was carried out in order to group the accessions according to the content of protein and starch. Three clusters were found, grouping accessions with low, medium and high protein content. cores developed at random, that showed poor results, between 60% and 75% (see Table 1, range ratios).According to these results, the core UPGMA stratified by groups of descriptors, with 15 % size shows the best capture of diversity (97. 5% ), and was therefore chosen as core collection for further analysis.In cores developed by cluster analysis, the ratio values for variances and means were over one. This means that variances and means were greater in the core collections than in the entire collection. It is because, from the cluster analysis a more uniform sampling of accessions across the domain permitted to represent the extreme values at a higher frequency than in the total collection.After assembling the core in summer 2004 the grain quality analyses of protein content and starch were conducted in 27 accessions from the core which had enough quantity of seed to carry out these analyses. Descriptive statistics was carried out for each trait, and later, cross tabulation and cluster analysis in order to group the samples according to their performance.Cereal proteins vary in protein content but in general are of poor quality because of lack of balance in amino acid composition. The crude protein content in normal maize varies from 8% till 11 % ( Vasal, 2003).In our case we found promising samples with higher protein content than normal maize.The protein content in the studied accessions varies in a range of 8. 62% to 17.04%, showing an interesting number of accessions with higher protein content, over the normal average. Thus, we found that 18 accessions have protein content over 14%, of which 4had more than 16%. It was also possible to see the negative correlation between protein and starch contents; accession with the highest protein possessed the lowest starch percentage. Cluster analysis was carried out in order to group the accessions according to the content of protein and starch. Three clusters were found, grouping accessions with low, medium and high protein content. genetic advance as percent of mean (Burton, 1952;   Johnson et al., 1955).Significant differences between the test entries were observed for all the agronomic and quality parameters (   The genetic advance as percent of mean, along with heritability estimates, were highest for grain yield per plot, followed by protein yield, indicating that the genetic variances for these two traits were largely determined by additive gene effects (Johnson et at., 1955)   and that there is good scope for improvement of these ing. Thus the present results confirm the earlier findings of Satyanarayana and Sai Kumar ( 1996), Tusuz and Balabanli (1997) and Venugopal (2000).Grain yield and protein yield are the most important parameters to be considered for effective selection of parental lines to develop high-yielding quality protein maize (QPM) hybrids, because these traits exhibited high variability and heritability combined with high genetic advance as percent of mean. Among 169 QPM and high oil maize genotypes evaluated, ten best lines were identified for their good agronomic and quality parameters (Table 2), and their use is suggested in breeding programmes to develop high-yielding QPM hybrids.  The genetic advance as percent of mean, along with heritability estimates, were highest for grain yield per plot, followed by protein yield, indicating that the genetic variances for these two traits were largely determined by additive gene effects (Johnson et at., 1955)   and that there is good scope for improvement of these ing. Thus the present results confirm the earlier findings of Satyanarayana and Sai Kumar ( 1996), Tusuz and Balabanli (1997) and Venugopal (2000).Grain yield and protein yield are the most important parameters to be considered for effective selection of parental lines to develop high-yielding quality protein maize (QPM) hybrids, because these traits exhibited high variability and heritability combined with high genetic advance as percent of mean. Among 169 QPM and high oil maize genotypes evaluated, ten best lines were identified for their good agronomic and quality parameters (   Maize is grown worldwide in an area of about 140 M ha with total production of about 600 M tonnes for human food, animal feed as grain and fodder, and many other industrial products like starch, oil and glucose. In India, maize occupies an area of about 7. 4 M ha with total production of 14. 9 M tonnes (2004 -2005). Maize has 9% -12% grain protein, which is nutritionallypoor due to low contents of two essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, and an undesirable ratio of leucine to isoleucine. The opaque-2 mutant gene, if incorporated into any population, inbred line or other maize germplasm, improves the nutritional status of maize by enhancing the concentrations of lysine and tryptophan in endosperm protein. Opaque-2 maize that has been modified to have hard endosperm and vitreous kernels is termed \"Quality Protein Maize\" (QPM). The QPM may make its greatest contribution by improving the protein quality of the diet of maize-eating populations. During the past few years many developing countries have released new QPM hybrids and varieties, and several countries including India have launched major QPM promotion programmes. In an effort to generate new material and subsequently draw inferences about its use, the present investigation used a line x tester analysis to study the performance of 14 QPM inbred lines and their crosses with 3 testers for yield and its component characters. Table 1 summarizes information for heterosis, combining ability, heritability, correlation and path-coefficients, calculated using standard statistical techniques.The analysis of variance revealed significant genotypic differences for all traits. In this study, the extent of heterosis was measured over the mid-parental value ( average heterosis), better parent (heterobeltiosis) and standard check (standard heterosis) for all the characters. Most of the crosses had positive average heterosis for grain yield. Average heterosis was maximum for the cross L s x T], followed by L] x T3' L s x Tz' L s x Tz, L s xTl' L z X T], L 13 X T 3 , L 3 X T] and L s X T 3 • Similar trends were observed for heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis. This same pattern of positive heterosis was also reported by Debnath (1984), Lamkey (1986), Beck et at. (1990), Tomov and Do-Ngo-min (1990), Ganguli et at. (1989), andGhosh (1994).The results obtained thus suggested that there was sufficient heterosis among the experimental materials for grain yield and its components.The combining ability analysis was performed using the line x tester technique (Kempthome, 1957) to sort-out promising QPM inbred lines that may have good potential for yield and may be utilized for commercial production of hybrids. Variance due to specific combining ability effects (SCA) was considerably larger than variance due to general combining ability effects (GCA), indicating prevalence of non-additive gene action, for all characters except plant and ear heights.The larger contribution of line x tester interaction, than of line and tester effects to the total sum of squares for hybrids for all the characters except days to tassel and silk indicated that the variability among the crosses for these characters was mainly due to interaction of lines with testers. The estimates of GCA effects for the lines showed that L 8 was good for ear length, ear diameter, kernel rows per ear, 100 kernel weight and grain yield; LIZ and L 13 were the other good general combiners. These results were in accordance with EL-Hosary (1985), Coomin et at. (1991), andSingh (1994).Various crosses showed good SCA effects for one or more characters. The crosses L 3 ~T I and L 3 x T z showed good positive SCA for ear length, ear diameter, 100 kernel weight and grain yield; L 14 x T 3 , L I X T 3 and L 4 x T j were the other good specific cross combinations for one or the other characters. The crosses showing good SCA for most of the characters have been used as single cross hybrids. Similar results were reported by Beck et al. (1990), Ordas et at. (1991) and Singh (1994).Highest broad sense heritability was found for grain yield, followed by ear diameter, kernel rows per ear, ear length and 100 kernel weight, whereas other characters like days to 50% tassel and silk, ear height and plant height showed moderate to low heritability.Similar observations were reported by Debnath and Sarkar (1987) and Debnath ( 1987). Based on the inter-character associations, grain yield showed highly significant genotypic correlations with all the characters. Similar pattern was observed for phenotypic correlations, except for days to 50% tasselling and silking. Genotypic correlations, in general, were higher than phenotypic correlations and in the same direction. Similar results were obtained by Laptov ( 1980), Tyagi et at. (1988) and Kumar and Kumar ( 1997). As observed from path-coefficient analysis at phenotypic level, highest direct effects and positive correlations with grain yield were exhibited by 100 kernel weight followed by plant height, ear height, ear length, kernel rows per ear and ear diameter, which indicated that these characters played major roles in yield determination. Remarkable indirect effects were also recorded for 100 kernel weight through plant height, ear height, ear length and kernel rows per ear, which suggested that these characters were also important in exercising effective selection for grain yield. All of the inbred lines and their crosses were moderately resistant to both the foliar diseases, BLSB and BSDM. Lines L IO , L I3 and L 14 ( scores of 1. 0 for BLSB, and 1. 0 for BSDM) , and crosses L I X T z , L 9 X T 3 , L IO X T I , L IO X T z , L IO X T 3 , L 13 X T I and L 13 X T z showed better resistance (1. 0, 1. 0) to these diseases as compared to the standard check (1. 5, 2. 0). The cross L 3 X T z had highest protein content ( 11. 5% ) , whereas maximum lysine (3.92%) and tryptophan (0. 95 %) contents were shown by crosses L 4 X T3 and L l1 X T I , respectively. The cross L 13 X T 3 superceded the standard check for protein (9. 74%) , lysine (3.24%) and tryptophan (0.81 %).  .17-1.16 -1.88-0.72 -3.82-18.95 -1282-44.14 -1.94-15.85 22.7 2.87 Days to 50% silk 0.096 0.011 56.24 48. 00 -58. 33 -1.32 -0. 96 -2.40-1.27 -3. 24 -18.18 -1.78 -41. 66 -2.38 -5.95 20.2 2.48 Plant height ( em) 0.464 ' '0. 198 168.36 111. 33 -199. 66 -5.73 -10.38 -17.74 -12 35 -7.08 -31. 72 -11. 65 -41. 36 -13.54 -7. 79  32.4  9.00Ear height ( em) 0.441 ' '0.165 70.29 40.66 -85.66 -5.98 -7. 24 -7.76 -7. 73 -6.12 -40. 96 -11.42-95.19 -1238-2238 21. 0 7.29 Ear length 0.417' '0.111 12.66 6.17 - 15.40 -1.50 -6. 24 -2.65-1.65 -23. 01 -73. 77 -38. 32 -53. 10 -33. 96 -12 64 48.2 19.5 Ear diameter ( em)O. 333 ' '0. 033 2.98 1. 16 -3.56 -0.30 -0. 30 -0.74 -0.46 -30.66 -71. 20 -37.71 -so. 70 -26.91 -fe. 82 58.8 22.9   Number of kernel rows O. 362 ' '0. 762 12.76 6.93 -14.80 -1.57 -1.25 -3.27 -1. 88 -34.98 -20. 53 -36. 23 -SO. 72 -40. 54 -28. 19   48.1  16.8   per ear 100 kernel weight (g) O. 532 ' '0. 298 20.87 7.27 -25.05 -3.92-2.08 -10.21-6.28 -63.55-58.99 -65.56-26.08 -70.51 -36.84 39.5 30.6 Grain yield ( q/ha) 25.94 11. 72 -48.99 -5.32 -7. 47 -13.04 -13. 00 -44.37 -88.40 -58.47 -59. 01 -37.16 -135. 54 73.8 60.5Maize (Zea mays L.) is the major source of starch produced worldwide, and native or modified maize starch is widely used in food and non-food industries ( White,200] ). Increasing kernel starch content of maize through breeding may result in higher value products from starch processing (Goldman et ai., 1993).The maize kernel is a new generation different from the maternal plant that provides nutrients, and consequently, kernel quality traits may be controlled by genetic effects of seed and!or maternal plant or its cytoplasm (Zhu and Weir, 1994;Zhu 1996Zhu , 1997)). Fur-.thermore, kernel quality traits are affected by genotype X environment (GE) interaction effects ( Genter et ai., 1956;RysavCt, 1994). Several researchers have reported on the inheritance of maize starch content. Lechworth and Lambert (1998) observed significant maternal effects on starch content. Most of the QTLs (quantitative trait loci) involved in the inheritance of starch content showed additive gene action ( Goldman et ai., 1993;Berke and Rocheford, 1995). Ten maize inbred lines (PI = Ye 478, P z = Mo17, P 3 =Chang 7-2, P 4 =E28, P s =Ye 107, P 6 =BTl, P? =Ji 446, Pg = Chuan 48-2, P 9 = Huang C, and Maize (Zea mays L.) is the major source of starch produced worldwide, and native or modified maize starch is widely used in food and non-food industries ( White,200] ). Increasing kernel starch content of maize through breeding may result in higher value products from starch processing (Goldman et ai., 1993).The maize kernel is a new generation different from the maternal plant that provides nutrients, and consequently, kernel quality traits may be controlled by genetic effects of seed and!or maternal plant or its cytoplasm (Zhu and Weir, 1994;Zhu 1996Zhu , 1997)). Fur-.thermore, kernel quality traits are affected by genotype X environment (GE) interaction effects ( Genter et ai., 1956;Rysav6., 1994). Several researchers have reported on the inheritance of maize starch content. Lechworth and Lambert (1998) observed significant maternal effects on starch content. Most of the QTLs (quantitative trait loci) involved in the inheritance of starch content showed additive gene action ( Goldman et ai., 1993;Berke and Rocheford, 1995). Ten maize inbred lines (PI = Ye 478, P z = Mo17, P 3 =Chang 7-2, P 4 =E28, P s =Ye 107, P 6 =BTl, Grain samples of parents, F 1 sand F 2 s were analyzed for starch content (%) by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (Wei et al., 2004). Starch contents (%) of all entries are summarized in Table 1. A genetic model including genetic main effects and GE interaction effects (Zhu and Weir, 1994;Zhu, 1996Zhu, , 1997) ) for quantitatively inherited traits of triploid endosperm in cereal crops was employed. All the data were analyzed on a PC with C program.    Additionally, the significant residual variance component (Ve) showed errors existed in experimental process such as sampling and quality analysis.The total narrow-sense heritability consisted of general heritability (h~), which is applicable to multiple environments, and interaction heritability (h~E)' which is applicable only to specific environments (Zhu, 1996(Zhu, , 1997)). Since there are seed, cytoplasmic and maternal genetic effects, general heritability can be further partitioned into seed (h~), cytoplasmic (h;) and maternal (h~) heritability components. Similarly, the interaction heritability included seed X environment heritability ( h~E)' maternal x environment heritability (h~E)'and cytoplasm x environment heritability (h~E) .  of the area in the country is currently planted to this variety (Cordova and Pandey, 2002; Prasanna et al. ,   2001 ). In different countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Mexico) QPM OPVs and hybrids have been released (Vasal, 2000). of the area in the country is currently planted to this variety (Cordova and Pandey, 2002; Prasanna et al. ,   2001 ). In different countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Mexico) QPM OPVs and hybrids have been released (Vasal, 2000).   1) as per methods suggested by Singh and Chaudhary (1985) and Einsensmith (1988). Stability statistics were used to compare Srikandi putih-l and Srikandi kuning-l with the normal maize checks (white: MS-2 or Tuxpeno sequia C6, Bayu, and Pulut; yellow: Bisma and Lamuru). The results showed that there was a highly significant interaction of entries with the locations (Table 1) . The average potential yields of Srikandi putih-l and Srikandi kuning-I under 11 locations were 4. 92 t/ha and 4. 81 t/ha, respectively (Table 2 and   Table 3). The highest check normal maize for white MS-2 yielded 4. 34 t/ha and yellow Lamuru was 4.72 t/ha. Srikandi putih-l recorded 13.4% higher yield than the normal maize, and Srikandi kuning-l was 2. 0% higher yielding than the checks. The concentration of lysine and tryptophan in Srikandi putih-l were O. 360% and 0.071 %, respectively, which were 39.5% and 26.7% higher than ~S-2 normal maize, respectively. Srikandi kuning-l recorded 0.456% and O. 085 % lysine and tryptophan, which were 64. 71 % and 60.0% higher than the normal maize Bisma. Pixley and Bjamason (1993) and Bjamason et ai. (2002) showed that the percent tryptophan in the endosperm of QPM was 2 -3 fold higher than the normal, and simultaneous improvement of both protein quality and grain yield was possible.* * Significant at 1% level    Thus, the present study was undertaken to explore feasibility of seed production of the parental lines of maize hybrids under northern Indian conditions and to develop a hybrid seed production technology for north-west and north-eastern India.Studies on seed production of parental lines of five commercial hybrids viz. , Ganga-5 [( CM202 Environmental factors have immense effect on field emergence and crop growth of maize (Aldrich et at., 1975). The results of the study indicated that temperature, RH and rainfall had significant influence on field emergence, early growth, flowering behaviour and seed Thus, the present study was undertaken to explore feasibility of seed production of the parental lines of maize hybrids under northern Indian conditions and to develop a hybrid seed production technology for north-west and north-eastern India.Studies on seed production of parental lines of five commercial hybrids viz. , Ganga-5 [( CM202 Environmental factors have immense effect on field emergence and crop growth of maize (Aldrich et at., 1975). The results of the study indicated that temperature, RH and rainfall had significant influence on field emergence, early growth, flowering behaviour and seed    The demand for maize for production of feedsAccording to 2004 statistics (Anonymous, 2004), the annual national yield of maize is about 130 mt, and * E-mail: wkn@ sicau. edu. en the amount needed for feeds is close to 100 mt. Pig production in 2004 was about 600 million head, and average personal pork consumption was 45 kg, with 17kg of eggs, 6. 3kg of milk and 30kg offishery products. Assuming that 3kg of feed produces 1kg pork, 2kg of feed produces 1kg of other animal products, and that maize content of feeds is 50%, the total demand for maize would be 140 mt per year. Following the increments of population and consumption, the requirement for feed maize would increase too. If the population increases 10% in the next 10 years, then the consumption for meat, milk, eggs, and fishery products will need to increase by 10% also, and the demand for feed maize would exceed 160 mt. Considering the present maize consumption of 100 mt, the gap is 60 mt. Even considering total maize production (130 mt), the gap is 30 mt per year. At present, 60% -70% of pigs are not raised on compound feeds, and if all the pigs were raised on compound feeds, the demand for maize would increase 10%.Obviously, to meet these projected requirements there is a great need for increased maize production. The demand for maize for production of feedsAccording to 2004 statistics (Anonymous, 2004), the annual national yield of maize is about 130 mt, and * E-mail: wkn@ sicau. edu. en the amount needed for feeds is close to 100 mt. Pig production in 2004 was about 600 million head, and average personal pork consumption was 45 kg, with 17kg of eggs, 6. 3kg of milk and 30kg offishery products. Assuming that 3kg of feed produces 1kg pork, 2kg of feed produces 1kg of other animal products, and that maize content of feeds is 50%, the total demand for maize would be 140 mt per year. Following the increments of population and consumption, the requirement for feed maize would increase too. If the population increases 10% in the next 10 years, then the consumption for meat, milk, eggs, and fishery products will need to increase by 10% also, and the demand for feed maize would exceed 160 mt. Considering the present maize consumption of 100 mt, the gap is 60 mt. Even considering total maize production (130 mt), the gap is 30 mt per year. At present, 60% -70% of pigs are not raised on compound feeds, and if all the pigs were raised on compound feeds, the demand for maize would increase 10%.Obviously, to meet these projected requirements there is a great need for increased maize production. Clearly, we must increase unit area yield and increase the energy content ( oil content) in maize.For normal maize varieties variations of DE and  (Anon, 2004) are shown in Table 1. For highlysine maize, although the crude fat content is 2 % higher than normal maize, reaching 5. 3 %, the crude fiber content has increased 1 %, and there is not much increment for DE and ME content for pigs and poultry. However, Han et al. (1987) found that following the increment of oil content in maize, there was a significant increment trend for the contents of crude protein, lysine, carotenoids and gross energy. The increment of gross energy would reach to 20 %, so there should be obvious increments for DE and ME for pigs and poultry (Table 2). Adeola and Bajjalieh (1997) also reported that, compared with normal maize, the DE and ME of high-oil maize would increase by 1 -1.5kJ/g. Clearly, we must increase unit area yield and increase the energy content ( oil content) in maize.For normal maize varieties variations of DE and  (Anon, 2004) are shown in Table 1. For highlysine maize, although the crude fat content is 2 % higher than normal maize, reaching 5. 3 %, the crude fiber content has increased 1 %, and there is not much increment for DE and ME content for pigs and poultry. However, Han et al. (1987) found that following the increment of oil content in maize, there was a significant increment trend for the contents of crude protein, lysine, carotenoids and gross energy. The increment of gross energy would reach to 20 %, so there should be obvious increments for DE and ME for pigs and poultry (Table 2). Adeola and Bajjalieh (1997) also reported that, compared with normal maize, the DE and ME of high-oil maize would increase by 1 -1. 5 kJ/g. Reducing nitrogen excretion and environmental pollutionIn view of the fact that lysine is the most limited amino acid in pig feeds, when other amino acids are sufficient, lysine is deficient by 20% -30%. If the deficiency is not made up by added crystalline lysine, 20% -30% of the nitrogen in feeds cannot be utilized and will be excreted. This is not only detrimental to animal production, but also increases the feeding costs and causes unnecessary environmental pollution. If the usage of high-lysine maize could improve the lysine content in compound feeds by 10%, nitrogen excretion would be reduced by about 30% .How to reduce the requirement for maize and soybean mealBy the increasing the oil, protein and lysine contents in maize, the demand for maize and soybean meal in China will be reduced. According to estimates, for every 1% improvement in oil content in maize, we will need a 1. 5% increase in normal maize production. So highoil maize means the possibility of reducing the demand for normal types of maize. If the oil content in maize reaches 15%, the demand for maize would be reduced by 15%.Based on the present soybean meal requirement of 30 mt (35 mt of soybean) per year, for every 1% improvement of in the protein in maize, the requirement The conclusion is that high-oil, high-protein and high-lysine maize will have a huge impact on the future development of animal industries in China.The phenomenon where embryo and endospenn differ genetically was described as heterofertilization by Sprague ( 1929). In maize kernels, heterofertilization occurs only in the presence of a certain gene or complex of genes. Some strains show no heterofertilization among thousands of kernels, whereas in others it may be as high as 10%: even higher rates of 25 % were reported (Sprague, 1929;1932). Sarkar and Coe (1971) reported a frequency of 1. 15% heterofertilization in the analysis of 8 430 seeds, and a range of 0.0% -5.0% heterofertilization was found on individual ears (Robertson, 1984), thus the frequency itself QCL3028, 717 and Taixi23 are homozygous recessiveThe phenomenon where embryo and endosperm differ genetically was described as heterofertilization by Sprague ( 1929). In maize kernels, heterofertilization occurs only in the presence of a certain gene or complex of genes. Some strains show no heterofertilization among thousands of kernels, whereas in others it may be as high as 10%: even higher rates of 25 % were reported (Sprague, 1929;1932). Sarkar and Coe (1971) reported a frequency of 1. 15% heterofertilization in the analysis of 8 430 seeds, and a range of O. 0% -5. 0% heterofertilization was found on individual ears (Robertson, 1984), thus the frequency itself QCI3028, 717 and Taixi23 are homozygous recessive genes. QCL3021 and QCL3024 are homozygous recessive 016016 lines with opaque endosperm, but are homozygous dominant at the 02 locus (Yang et al., 2005) .Three crosses, QCL3028/QCL3021, 717/QC1.3024 DNA isolation, peR amplification, gel electrophoresis, silver staining, and chemical analysis oj lysine contentDNA samples were prepared according to Zhang et al. (2000). The sequences of primer pairs for phi112 and phi057 were obtained from www.maizegdb.org. Each PCR product was obtained by using the phi112 or phi057 primers, and 6 fLl of each DNA template. The PCR reaction, gel electrophoresis, silver staining, and analysis of lysine content of kernel were conducted according to Yang et al. (2004).  QCL30241ITaixi23. In the process of heterofertilization, 02 male gametes could come from recurrent parents because the genotype of recurrent parents is 0202. However, 02 male gametes might derive from variation of 02 male gametes of recurrent parents.The characteristics of maize kernels are related to quality and yield. Endosperm with 02 has nearly twice lysine content of normal maize. Hence, the investigation on this character is required for raising quality, yield and breeding efficiency. In our experiment, the phenomenon of heterofertilization was observed in backcross populations.Our results showed a 0% -5% frequency of heterofertilization in backcross populations, indicating that there is a 0% -5% difference between selections I 0202 lines with opaque endosperm and without modifier genes. QCL3021 and QCL3024 are homozygous recessive 016016 lines with opaque endosperm, but are homozygous dominant at the 02 locus (Yang et al., 2005) . DNA isolation, peR amplification, gel electrophoresis, silver staining, and chemical analysis oj lysine contentDNA samples were prepared according to Zhang   et al. (2000). The sequences of primer pairs for phil12 and phi057 were obtained from www.maizegdb.org. Each PCR product was obtained by using the phi1l2 or phi057 primers, and 6 f.LI of each DNA template. The PCR reaction, gel electrophoresis, silver staining, and analysis of lysine content of kernel were conducted according to Yang et al. (2004). In the process of heterofertilization, 02 male gametes could come from recurrent parents because the genotype of recurrent parents is 0202. However, 02 male gametes might derive from variation of 02 male gametes of recurrent parents.The characteristics of maize kernels are related to quality and yield. Endosperm with 02 has nearly twice lysine content of normal maize. Hence, the investigation on this character is required for raising quality, yield and breeding efficiency. In our experiment, the phenomenon of heterofertilization was observed in backcross populations.Our results showed a 0% -5% frequency of heterofertilization in backcross populations, indicating that there is a 0% -5% difference between selections 'PnDedInas ofthe NInIIt AsIan Regional Maile Workshop based on endosperm phenotype and on plant genotype.Thus selection for endosperm traits by direct phenotyping may not be accurate because of this difference.Thus, we suggest that to avoid the effects of heterofertilization, selection should be based on plant genotype for which excellent molecular markers derived from the 02 locus are available.The 0202 genotype of No. 59 plant was discovered in the BC I F 1 population of Taixi23/QCL302411Taixi23 when phi057 marker was used for detection of plant genotype (Figure 1). There should have been no contamination from extraneous pollen, because 3 opaque kernels were found from 113 seeds in its BC 1 F2'The genotypes of BC I F 1 plants should only be two types of 0202 and 0202 in that the F 1 genotype of Taixi231 QCL3024 was 0202 and the genotype of the recurrent parent Taixi23 was 0202. The 0202 genotype should come from the 02 male gamete produced through variation of male gamete of paternal parent Taixi23. The endospermous genotype may be 020202 (normal fertilization) or 020202 (heterofertilization) with vitreous endosperm. The variation of male gamete may have resulted from an unequal crossover event within the 02 gene in the spermoblast genome at meiosis. The 3 opaque kernels among 113 kernels in BC1 F2 may have also come from unequal crossovers within the 02 gene in either male or female gametes, thus producing kernels with 0202 (020202) genotype.In the same population, the dominant allele band of the heterozygous pattern of plant No. 37 had an insertion if it resulting in an altered mobility compared with the others even though the endosperm phenotype was not changed. The embryo (plant) genotype seemed to be heterozygous for reason of segregation in its progeny (Figure 1). The explanation for this could be unequal crossing over within the 02 gene in meiosis leading to a fragment being inserted into the oocyte genome. However, it was just a kind of dominant allelic variation, not to change the genotype of the oocyte.As mentioned above, in the BC I F 1 population of Taixi23/QCL30241ITaixi23, .there may be 2 events, 4.2% (2/48). This rate is much higher than the 10 -3 -10 -2 thought to be a high mutation rate of SSRs per locus per gamete per generation among the fastestevolving DNA sequences (Weber and Wong, 1993).However, these frequencies are also similar to the highest frequencies of intragenic recombination at the al, wx, bz, rpl and rp3 loci (Brown and Sundaresan, 1991;Dooner and Martinez-Ferez, 1997;Okagaki and Weil, 1997;Sun et al., 2001;Webb et al., 2002).In Nepal, maize (Zea mays L.) is the second staple food crop in general, while in the country's hills, it is the principal crop for food, feed, fodder and fuel.Maize is produced in three agro-ecozones: the terai and inner terai (below 900 m), the mid hills (900-1 800 m) and high hills (above 1 800 m). The mid hills occupy 70% of the maize production area, followed by the terai-inner terai (22%), and the high hills (8%) (Table 1). 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop tion of 1 590 097 tons ( MOAC/ABPSD 2003-2004) .The productivity trend from 1990 to 2004 is significantly improving and current productivity growth rate is 2.27% (Figure 1).In the hills of Nepal, maize is produced in small scale, low-yielding, sloppy land settings operated by subsistence farmers under rainfed conditions in various cropping systems (Ransom, 2001). These areas suffer chronic food deficits. On the other hand, in the terai and inner terai, demand for maize as a major component of animal feed and industrial use, is rising much faster and thus, maize is a high-input, high-yielding commercial crop in these areas (Adhikari, 2000). It is estimated that for the next two decades the overall demand for maize will be increased by 6% -8% per annum, largely as a result of the increased demand for food in the hills and feed in the terai-inner terai. This increased demand must be met by increasing the productivity of maize per unit of land (Paudel, 2001;Pingali, 2001).  0 1990 19911992 19931994 1995 19961997 1998 1999 2000 20012002 20032004 year • Future demand for maize in Nepal IS expected to grow by 6% -8% per year for the next 20 years as driven by an increased demand for food in the hills and livestock feed in the terai and inner terai .• There is a gradual shift in maize production from a subsistence to commercial orientation but yield jump from OPVs is limited (Kim, 2005), thus inbreds-hybrids program using well-adapted OPVs is a reliable option.• Return from rainfed, Uplands maize-based farming system in the hills is pivotal to the survival of farm families and there is no alternative other than to improve and sustain the rainfed maize-based production system.• Declining soil fertility due to soil erosion and intensive cropping systems (heavy soil nutrient mining) in the rainfed marginal hills, which make up 80% of the area.• Degradation of forests and the exclusion of grazing • In response to market demand and also to meet their specific-case requirements, farmers are changing their cropping patterns to include vegetable and other cash crops in their rotation systems.Improvement on targeting of technology development• GIS based maize Almanac, done in collaboration with CIMMYT, defined the agro-ecozones for maize production in Nepal.• A synthesis report ( Rapid Rural Appraisal) of maize production system in Nepal was produced. CVT, Full Season, Hill Set• The genotypes DRACOSYNFlIDRBCOSYNFl (6. 1tlha) were found superior for grain yield.• IQUITOS S9328 (5. 8 tlha), ZM 421 (5. 7 tlha) , CFFT, Full Season, Hill Set• ZM 621 (6. 7 tlha) had the highest grain yield followed by Population 44ClO (6.6 tlha) and Pop 45ClO ( 6. 6 tlha). These three genotypes were significantly superior to the standard and local checks.• A proposal for the release of ZM-621 and Population-44 CIO for general cultivation will be submitted to the National Seed Board of Nepal.• CRAVINHOS-S-9531, POZARICA-S-9531, IQUI-TOS-9328 RE) and S 97 TLYGH \"AYB\" (3) were found promising.• CFIT Upahar, S97TLYGH \"AYB\" (3), Across 9331 RE and Narayani were also promising genotypes.• The following hybrids were found superior: • In studies on stored grain pests, both moths and weevils were equally damaging in the low hills, but in the mid-hills, the moth was more damaging. In the higher hills, neither insect cause serious losses.• The indigenous fungus Metarhizium anisopliae showed promise for controlling white grubs in maize in the hills. Strains isolated from white grubs were more virulent than isolates from the soil.Objective 2: To Facilitate the Dissemination of Appropriate Maize Technologies Through Extension and Input delivery Channels• Seventeen released and pre-released OPVs were tested, as part of PVS across the mid-hills through various partners involving farmers. These OPVs were evaluated using the mother-baby trial scheme.  • In studies on stored grain pests, both moths and weevils were equally damaging in the low hills, but in the mid-hills, the moth was more damaging. In the higher hills, neither insect cause serious losses.• The indigenous fungus Metarhizium anisopliae showed promise for controlling white grubs in maize in the hills. Strains isolated from white grubs were more virulent than isolates from the soil.Objective 2: To Facilitate the Dissemination of Appropriate Maize Technologies Through Extension and Input delivery Channels• Seventeen released and pre-released OPVs were tested, as part of PVS across the mid-hills through various partners involving farmers. These OPVs were evaluated using the mother-baby trial scheme. The overall feedback received was only 13%, partly due to several blockages and a weak communication system in the rural areas. In general, the improved va-  The security situation in the countryside is still deteriorating due to the insurgency. The programs were not seriously affected, but certain adjustments had to be made. The conduct and monitoring of some of the ongoing as well as new activities were hampered. As a result, activities implemented in remote areas by HMRP partners were not fully monitored. As part of the adjustments, the essential shift of most activities to more secure areas (e. g. closer to main roads) had to be implemented, which was not envisioned initially. Furthermore, several workshops had to be postponed due to general strikes. To mitigate the problem, some of the workshop and training planned in the field had to be shifted to safer sites. Despite this, to our knowledge, The overall feedback received was only 13%, partly due to several blockages and a weak communication system in the rural areas. In general, the improved va-  The security situation in the countryside is still deteriorating due to the insurgency. The programs were not seriously affected, but certain adjustments had to be made. The conduct and monitoring of some of the ongoing as well as new activities were hampered. As a result, activities implemented in remote areas by HMRP partners were not fully monitored. As part of the adjustments, the essential shift of most activities to more secure areas (e. g. closer to main roads) had to be implemented, which was not envisioned initially. Furthermore, several workshops had to be postponed due to general strikes. To mitigate the problem, some of the workshop and training planned in the field had to be shifted to safer sites. Despite this, to our knowledge, The overall feedback received was only 13%, partly due to several blockages and a weak communication system in the rural areas. In general, the improved va-  The security situation in the countryside is still deteriorating due to the insurgency. The programs were not seriously affected, but certain adjustments had to be made. The conduct and monitoring of some of the ongoing as well as new activities were hampered. As a result, activities implemented in remote areas by HMRP partners were not fully monitored. As part of the adjustments, the essential shift of most activities to more secure areas (e. g. closer to main roads) had to be implemented, which was not envisioned initially. Furthermore, several workshops had to be postponed due to general strikes. To mitigate the problem, some of the workshop and training planned in the field had to be shifted to safer sites. Despite this, to our knowledge, Due to the nature of the crop, maize seed deteriorates rapidly under the farmers' growing circumstances. The advantages of improved varieties can be achieved only when pure seed is made available to farmers. For this, there is a need to promote a range of varieties to suit specific crop production niches and socio-cultural preferences, and to strengthen the farmers' seed production and supply system (Joshi, 2002). In the hills, the average productivity of improved maize seed is 92. 17% higher than those of the local varieties (MoAC, 2003).An annual sale of improved seed in Nepal was lowest in  et at. , 2004). Several researchers reported that CBSP of farmers' preferred varieties enabled self-sufficiency in quality seed, increasing productivity and generating income of beneficiaries in target environments (Koirala et at., 2004). Therefore, PVS and CBSP were launched to increase adoption rate of improved varieties, make farmers self-sufficient in quality seed and raise their income.  Farmers' field trials: Grain yield differences among the -1 Grain yield and other quantitative traits are summarized in Table 1.  2 and 3). In 2003, at Jyamrukkot of Myagdi district, farmers preferred Mana      In spite of nearly 40 years of research and development efforts on maize, productivity has remained very low, as shown by a yield gap of over 3 t/ha between the experimental yield (5 t/ha) and the national average yield (1. 9 t/ha). The growth rate for the productivity of maize is only 1. 6 % (which is even lower in the hills and mountains), which is far below the population growth rate of 2. 3% (Sherchan, 2004;UNDP, 2003). In the rural areas presence of government organisations (GOs) is nil and even the presence of non-government organisations (NGOs) is also very thin because of the conflict. As a consequence, there is widespread use of either degenerated or traditional varieties by the farmers with home-saved seeds. Thus, seed replacement rate for new maize varieties is < 1% (Baniya et al., 2000).However, seed-based technologies offer the easiest and cheapest means of increasing crop productivity.For the farmer, the genetic improvement of crops offer,s the most cost effective means of increasing or maintaining profitability (PBI, 1990). According to Tanksley et al. (1989), over 50% of increased world food output over the past 50 years can be attributed to improved varieties alone. Thus, the widespread use of modem varieties of maize could be the most relevant option for improving maize productivity, and thereby enhancing food and livelihood security of resource-poor farmers. Several studies indicate that 80% to 90% of all the seeds section r-J: Technolo!!y Dissemination planted in developing countries come from farmer-tofarmer seed networks, which operate on a small scale at the community level in the form of seed saving and sales; exchanges and gifts through kinship or friendship (Cromwell et al., 1992; Almekinders and Louette,   2000; Baniya et al., 2000; Tripp, 2001). This system is also most important in Nepal, partly because of the difficulty of transporting seed over the mountainous terrain, but largely due to poorly developed formal research, exteQsion and seed supply systems, and due to the on-going conflict. In the current context of the social conflict, delivering seeds of choice to the farmers living in remote hill and mountain areas with vast diversity of growing conditions, farmers' preferences for different traits is very challenging and options are very limited. Hence within the context of on-going conflict the following approaches could be proposed for producing and disseminating the seeds of improved maize varieties.The informal research and development (IRD) approach was designed for reaching the difficult terrains, remote areas beyond the reach of formal research and extension services (Joshi and Sthapit, 1990). It is very rapid in increasing adoption (Table 1) and effective in providing the benefits of new genetic materials five to six years in advance of the formal system. It is simple, practical and more cost effective (about 10 times cheaper than other methods) (Joshi et al., 1997;Joshi and Witcombe, 2002).Because of the current conflict, unrestricted movement of staff from GOs and NGOs is not feasible in sev- • low, as shown by a yield gap of over 3 t/ha between the experimental yield (5 t/ha) and the national average yield (1. 9 t/ha). The growth rate for the productivity of maize is only 1. 6 % (which is even lower in the hills and mountains), which is far below the population growth rate of 2. 3% (Sherchan, 2004;UNDP, 2003). The reasons for the low productivity of maize are manifold. It is grown under rainfed conditions (95%) with limited fertility that is inadequate to support higher productivity, whereas the screening and development of I In the rural areas presence of government organisations (GOs) is nil and even the presence of non-government organisations (NGOs) is also very thin because of the conflict. As a consequence, there is widespread use of either degenerated or traditional varieties by the farmers with home-saved seeds. Thus, seed replacement rate for new maize varieties is < 1% (Baniya et al., 2000).However, seed-based technologies offer the easiest and cheapest means of increasing crop productivity.For the farmer, the genetic improvement of crops offeI1l the most cost effective means of increasing or maintaining profitability (PBI, 1990). According to Tanksley et al. (1989), over 50% of increased world food output over the past 50 years can be attributed to improved varieties alone. Thus, the widespread use of modem varieties of maize could be the most relevant option for improving maize productivity, and thereby enhancing food and livelihood security of resource-poor farmers. Several studies indicate that 80% to 90% of all the seeds section r-J : Technology Dissemination planted in developing countries come from farmer-tofarmer seed networks, which operate on a small scale at the community level in the form of seed saving and sales; exchanges and gifts through kinship or friendship (Cromwell et al., 1992; Almekinders and Louette,   2000; Baniya et al., 2000; Tripp, 2001). This system is also most important in Nepal, partly because of the difficulty of transporting seed over the mountainous terrain, but largely due to poorly developed formal research, exteQsion and seed supply systems, and due to the on-going conflict. In the current context of the social conflict, delivering seeds of choice to the farmers living in remote hill and mountain areas with vast diversity of growing conditions, farmers' preferences for different traits is very challenging and options are very limited. Hence within the context of on-going conflict the following approaches could be proposed for producing and disseminating the seeds of improved maize varieties.The informal research and development (IRD) approach was designed for reaching the difficult terrains, remote areas beyond the reach of formal research and extension services (Joshi and Sthapit, 1990). It is very rapid in increasing adoption (Table 1) and effective in providing the benefits of new genetic materials five to six years in advance of the formal system. It is simple, practical and more cost effective (about 10 times cheaper than other methods) (Joshi et al., 1997;Joshi and Witcombe, 2002).Because of the current conflict, unrestricted movement of staff from GOs and NGOs is not feasible in sev- acted and the distances covered, although it could be a rather slower process (Witcombe et at., 1999;2001).However, there was always a higher percentage of seed dissemination in IRD villages (Joshi and Witcombe, 2002) . The presence of improved varieties, either open-pollinated (OPV) or hybrid, has significantly increased. maize yields. However, the adoption of improved varieties in Indonesia has been quite slow; as a result, the share of improved varieties was 26.66% in the period of 1986 to 1987 (Subandi et at., 1988), and in 1997 the share of improved variety reached 44% (CIMMYT, 1994). Lately, the share of improved varieties used by farmers has increased to 80% (consisting of 24% hy brids and 56% OPVs) throughout the country. Similar data were reported by Nugraha and Subandi (2002) for 19 provinces in which the share of improved varieties reached 75%, consisting of 48% improved OPVs and 27 % hybrids, while the remaining 25 % was local varieties. However, Kasryno (2002) estimated that the use of real hybrids (F 1 ) by farmers was only 10%, because some farmers planted F2 or F3 generation seed due to high price of F] hybrids. The improved OPVs planted by farmers were mostly regenerated seed, resulting in low yield. The maize production area has been classified into three major regIOns, i. e. dryland (65% -70%), rainfed lowland (20% -30% ), and irrigated lowland 10% -15 % (Kasryno, 2002). The large dryland area contributes to low average maize productivity. The major constraints to enhancing maize growing area in the drylands are soil acidity and drought. The use of drought tolerant and early maturing varieties is one option to solve the limited water availability to the crops.Most of the maize area (57% -60%) in Indonesia is on the main island of Java, which contributes about 61 % of the national maize production. Based on land availability, the potential areas for expansion of maize production are outside of Java, due to decreasing agricultural areas in Java because of continuing land conversion to non-agricultural purposes. Therefore, in the future, Java's farmers may shift to grow horticultural crops instead of food crops. However, there are several constraints that occur in the outer Java islands, such as marginal lands (soil acidity, drought, low N), limited seed availability of newly released varieties, limited labor, and poor infrastructure.National maize productivity in 2002 was relatively low, with an average of 3.09 tlha, although in East Java maize productivity was 3. 54 tlha (Table 1). The higher productivity in this area was attributed to higher adoption of better production technology by farmers, such as improved varieties, cropping systems and the availability of good quality seeds of high-yielding varieties. The dominant seed distributed in 2000 was Bisma (820 kg), followed by Lagaligo (520 kglha) and Lamuru (330 kglha). In 2002 and 2003, the dominant seeds distributed were Lamuru followed by Bisma.Lamuru was dominant in uplands with uncertain rainfall or short duration of rainfall distribution, i. e. in west Nusa Tenggara (NTB), and the southern part of South Sulawesi, especially in lowlands and uplands. On the other hand, Bisma was preferred by farmers with adequate water supply, and was not only produced as grain but also for fodder ( used for silage) due its highest biomass production among the OPVs that ICERI has released so far.In 2004, the most seed distributed by ICERI were for Sukmaraga, followed by Lamuru. These seeds were mainly distributed to the Seed Centres at provincial level. However, in some cases, this system of seed distribution did not work as expected, because the Seed Centres are mostly located in the capital cities of each province, whereas the seed growers are mostly in villages that ~e quite far from the capitals. As a consequence, in some maize growing areas many farmers faced problems in accessing seeds as required. To overcome these problems, they used recycled seed of either hybrid or OPV, especially in uplands with inadequate 'Proceedingsof the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop rainfall and limited access to transportation. The farmers realise that the yield obtained from recycled seeds will be much lower than the yield obtained from F1 seeds, but they have no alternatives. Most farmers in marginal areas were not able to buy hybrid seed because of high prices.To accelerate the dissemination of new high-yielding varieties, either OPV or hybrid, ICERI conducted vari- ( 1) in drylands, fanners prefer to have an early maturing variety besides high productivity to solve the risk of crop failure against short distribution of rainfall;(2) the shelling ratio should be as high as Bisi-2 hybrid to get a good price; (3) grain colour should be deep yellow ( orange); (4) it should be easy to harvest the ears; (5) it can be consumed as green corn, and 'Proceedingsof the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop rainfall and limited access to transportation. The farmers realise that the yield obtained from recycled seeds will be much lower than the yield obtained from F1 seeds, but they have no alternatives. Most farmers in marginal areas were not able to buy hybrid seed because of high prices.To accelerate the dissemination of new high-yielding varieties, either OPV or hybrid, ICERI conducted vari-  ) show that the maize production growth in the hills remained lower than population growth until 1997. The trend was changed for the better since then and the production growth was 2. 92% per annum, which was higher than population growth of 1. 97 % per annum during 2000 -2004 (Figure 1). However, a substantial part of this growth was due to growth in area under the crop. There is little scope of maize area expansion without deteriorating the environment as almost all the cultivable area in the hills is already under cultivation. Therefore, any increase in maize production must largely come through the adoption of high-yielding varieties.A wide gap among the potential yield (5 t/ha) , attainable yield (3.5 t/ha) and actual yield (1. 9 t/ ha) has been observed (Tiwari, et al., 2005). This indicates that there is a wide room to get the most out of the potential yield. The adoption of modem varieties and associated technologies seem to offer an opportunity to substantially increase output and income. However, in the past, there had been limited success in the adoption of HYV and component technologies of maize cultivation due to several socio-economic and institutional constraints (Paudyal et. al., 2001). The present paper sought to identify the factors that determine the a-doption of improved HYV maize in two hill districts of Nepal.The study was conducted in Ramechap and Sindhupal- Out of the 316 sample households, 176 (56%) re-Section rv: Technology Dissemination ported having cultivated improved maize varieties in the past. Reported adoption rate was higher in Ramechhap (57%) than in Sindhupalchowk (54%) district. One of the reasons of higher level of adoption in Ramechhap might be its better access to market. Among the different ethnic groups, the Brahmin were the ones to adopt most. More than 68 % of Brahmins adopted improved technology, followed by Majhi (67%) and Newar (62%). A lower proportion (44%) of Dalit ( lower caste) households adopted improved technology.The results of Probit analyses for district and combined data are presented in Table 1. The coefficients for age, land type and education (literacy) of farmer were positive and significant for Ramechhap.Distance from the road had a negative significant effect on the adoption of improve maize, indicating that as the distance from the road head increases, the probability of adoption would decrease. Coefficients for total area cultivated and family size were positive and significant for Sindhupalchowk district whereas coefficients for both of the variables were non-significant for Ramechhap. The combined data analysis shows that education of farmer, number of extension contact and type of land has positive significant impact on the adoption of improved maize. The other pOSItIve variables for adoption were total number of training taken, total area of the farmer, membership of an organization and borrowing.  The education of a farmer and his contact with extension agents are identified to be driving forces in the adoption will not be able to achieve this goal in reasonably short period of time.  -----------  Results of on-farm participatory research has demonstrated that attainable yield of improved maize under farmer management conditions in the hills was 2. 9 t/ha (Tiwari et al., 2003) against the present average of The study was based on a sample household survey of In( maize production) j = ao + al In (land) i + azIn( farm yard manure) i + az In (nutrient from fertilizers) i + a3 In( human labor) i + a 4 In( animal labor) i + a 5 ( variety dummy) i + 8 i •Where au = vector of parameters and 8 i = Vi -U i (as explained earlier) . The study was based on a sample household survey of  Where au = vector of parameters and 8 i = Vi -U i (as explained earlier) . Seed, manure and chemical fertilizer are the major physical inputs used in production of maize. There were no wide variations observed in the quantity of seed used which averaged from 24 to 32 kg/ha for the different sites. The average quantity of manure ranged from 6 to 12 tlha. Average fertilizer use ranged from 22 to 41 kg of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potash) /ha. Some 77 to 101 man days of human lahor and 11 to 18 pair-days of draft power was reportedly used per ha of maize cultivation on average. Average maize productivity ranged from 1. 2 to 1. 8 tlha.The results of stochastic frontier production function are presented in Table 1. The models were significant at the one percent level as indicated by the respective log likelihood ratios. Among the explanatory variables, elasticities for land were the largest and were, significant at one percent level. This indicates that one percent change in land will result in 0.54% and O. 49% increase in maize production in OR and non-OR sites, respectively. The second most important elasticity was O. 22 for animal labor in OR sites but it was not significant for non-OR sites.Farm yard manure which is the only reliable source of soil fertility for all of the farmers in the hills, was significant in both cases. The variety dummy, which is defined as one if the field was sown with type-lor type-2 seeds and zero otherwise, was positive in both of the sites but it was significant for non-OR sites only. The negative sign associated with the coefficient for fertilizer in non-OR sites is difficult to interpret.A closer look into the data, however, revealed that 18 of the 96 sample farmers did not use fertilizer and among the farmers that used it, the average quantity was only 26 kg of nutrient per ha. The estimates of gamma were O. 80 and O. 96 for OR and non-OR sites, respectively, which were significant at one percent. This means that some 80% and 96% of the differences between actual output and maximum possible output were caused by differences in technical inefficiency in maize production across OR and non-OR site fields, respectively.     3). This clearly means that there is a possibility of increasing the productivity of maize at current levels of input use through better crop management practices.The growing demand of maize as a staple food and the non-availability of suitable land for area expansion in  The estimated frontier yield was higher than the observed yield in all cases. The average yield gap caused by inefficiency of the farmers in maize production was 420 to 490 kg/ha depending on the site. If farmers were fully efficient, yield would have been 1. 87 t/ha in OR and 1. 73 t/ha in non-OR sites. The yield loss caused by inefficiency is estimated to be between 29% to 39% of observed yield (Table 3). This clearly means that there is a possibility of increasing the productivity of maize at current levels of input use through better crop management practices. The growing demand of maize as a staple food and the non-availability of suitable land for area expansion in the hills have forced farmers, scientists and policy makers to find ways to increase the productivity of upland maize in the hills. Constrained by the unavailability of inputs and the lack of purchasing power, farmers in the hills have been using low levels of inputs, especially fertilizer and plant protection materials. Farm yard manure is the best substitute for fertilizer in the hills. But with dwindling grazing areas and Training Researchers measured grain yield in mother trials from the established plots. Farmers, in local units, recorded the grain yield from the baby trials. The grain yield recorded in local units was converted to kg/ha (Tiwari, 2005).Qualitative data from farmers' perceptions were summarized using freelance software. The grain yield data from mother trials were subjected to analysis of variance as a randomized complete block design. In mother trials, farmers were blocks. Least significant differences (LSD) were computed at different probability levels for comparing the mean yields of varieties ( Data not shown). For baby trials, grain yield was analyzed as a completely randomized design. The stability analysis, obtained by regressing the value of individual varieties against the trial means, of only selected varieties are presented here.The results of only a few farmer preferred varieties (ZM-621, Pop44, Mana-3 and Pop45) are summarized in this report.Pre-haroest traits: ZM-621 , Pop44, Pop45 and Mana-3 were good with respect to foliar disease tolerance, large ears, shorter and stronger stems than the local varieties. These traits conferred tolerance to lodging. They also had improved stay green characteristics that guaranteed improved fodder value for the livestock.However, ZM-621 and Pop44 in general were poor in husk cover tightness, therefore, they had a higher degree of storage loss than other varieties tested. Besides the open' husk character, late maturity and dent type grains were frequently found to be negative traits on these improved varieties.Post-haroest traits: Local varieties were found by farmers to be better for taste, storability, and market Fanners' skills have heen enhanced through field trainings and they were successful in producing greater amount of quality seeds every year ( Figure 3) . Seed production: To provide ac(;ess to new seedsIn remote areas, the HMRP conducted maize seed pro-Food security: There is a significant improvementIn yield gain at the household level (20% -50%) ( Figure 4). Fanners have realized these gains under their own management. The national average yield is 1. 9 tlha in the hills (MoAC, 2004). One of the par-  Equity and livelihoods: Although an impact assessment of these programs has yet to be conducted, _we learned, while interacting with participating farmers in the program sites, that the program's impact even on the resource-poor farmers has been high (Figure 5) . 1 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop HMRP's strong focus on gender issues and poverty reduction. We need to be even more proactive, innovative, and competitive.For several decades, the transfer of technology (TOT) paradigm has been the dominant feature of agricultural development in the Philippines. The TOT is premise? on the fact that technology developed as a product of science is superior to what the farmers are using. However, literature shows that this is not so. Some introduced technologies are not adopted by farmers or, if adopted, did not bring about the expected production level and productivity. The efforts done in the past was to intensify extension activities to convince the farmers to use the technology by providing necessary support, such as subsidized input, credit, technical assistance, infrastructure, and marketing. However, these efforts did not necessarily result in the desired outcome (Labios et at., 1998 and 2004) .These experiences showed that non-adoption and the unattained improvement in productivity and income are not only due to the farmers' poor capability and poor institutional support. There are also weaknesses in the technology developed when used under the conditions of the farmer. Thus, the On-Farm Research and Outreach (OFRO) to improve technology adaptation with the participation of farmers was introduced.OFRO operates within the concept of technology adaptation (Villancio, 1994). Once a technology is in-'Proceedings oflhe Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop troduced to a particular fanning system, this is subjected to the existing social, economic, institutional, technical, and policy circumstances of the farm and the household. If the technology fits, then the technology is utilized in a given fanning system. More often, however, the technology does not fit, thus, it could be rejected or subjected to adaptation processes i. e. technology and social adaptation.Corn is the second major cereal crop in the Philippines after rice. Two types of corn, white and yellow, are cultivated. White corn is a staple food of 20% Filipino while yellow corn is a major component of feeds for the livestock and poultry industry, as well as a source of raw material for the manufacturing sector (Labios and Villancio, 2001). From 1. 5 M ha area planted to white corn in 2003, about 74% of the area is planted to traditional varieties (TV), 12% to open pollinated varieties (OPV) and 14% to hybrids (BAS, 2004).Among the 845 000 ha of yellow corn planted in 2003, about 84% is planted to hybrids. However, despite the potential yield of more than five to eight tons per hectare, actual yield reported for yellow hybrids is about 3. 3 t/ha, while OPV is about 2. 20 t/ha. Among the reasons for the gap between farmer's yield and that obtained in research stations is the low or non-adoption of improved technologies by the farmer.OFRO aims to narrow this yield gap through experimentation and innovation at the farmer's field and by giving the fanners freedom to choose and evaluate the most appropriate technology for their fanns. OFRO, likewise, finds adaptable and sustainable solutions for production constraints, enhances farmer-extensionist-researcher relationship, and exposes researchers/scientists to the specific needs of the fanners in the community ( Labios et at., 1998( Labios et at., , 2001( Labios et at., and 2004;;Eusebio and Labios, 2001). Through OFRO, technologies introduced to a particular farming system are subjected to the existing biophysical, social, economic, institutional, and policy circumstances of the farm and the fann household (Labios et at., 1998(Labios et at., , 2000(Labios et at., , 2004(Labios et at., , and 2005) ) .The corn OFRO projects beginning in 1991 up to the more recent collaborative corn high impact projects make use of the process described in Figure 1   vey at the start of the project, continuous field interviews while the project is ongoing, seasonal and focused monitoring surveys, and direct field measurements and observation (Labios et al., 2001(Labios et al., , 2004(Labios et al., , and 2005) ) .The OFRO process provides a mechanism to sustain the gains of project experience, learnings and lessons.   vey at the start of the project, continuous field interviews while the project is ongoing, seasonal and focused monitoring surveys, and direct field measurements and observation (Labios et ai., 2001(Labios et ai., , 2004(Labios et ai., , and 2005) ) .The aFRO process provides a mechanism to sustain the gains of project experience, learnings and lessons. The strategy used by fanners to cope with these problems goes beyond technology adaptation. This is where the fanners' organization either as an association or as cooperatives helped (Labios et at., 2001).  1) . Fanners' perceptions from baby trials were recorded on household-level questionnaire (HLQ) and paired \"t\" test (Snedecor and Cochran, 1973) was applied to analyze the results.Participatory rural appraisals (PRAs)The PRA results indicated that farmers need early maturing white composite for chapatti making while yellow is more preferred for cob roasting. They need semi-flint, early maturing, drought tolerant, lodging resistant and high yielding varieties. The percent ratio of preference for white: yellow grain was 55: 45 (Figure 1) . The participatory varietal selection (PVS) trialsThe test entries of mother trials were selected based on\" PRA results, with the objective of selecting the superior white-seeded variety. For this purpose, five genotypes including local check were evaluated for two consecutive years in mother trials in two representative villages. The significance of cultivar mean revealed that the perfonnance of test entries in mother trials was quite variable. Location x Year interaction was significant, indicating that environments were different (Table 2) .Cultivar x Location and Cultivar x Year interaction was non-significant, indicating that cultivars perfonned consistently across location and year.Based on mean performance of cultivars tested at two locations, GM-6 emerged as the superior test entry among the white cultivars with a grain yield of 3 461 kg/ha (Table 3). All the test entries were metrically ranked for characters like germination, plant height, days to tasseling, days to silking, grains/cob row, yield, maturity, fodder quality, in-and evaluate on their own farms. 2003, a total of 52 and 37 baby trials were conducted, respectively (Table 1). Farmers' perceptions from baby trials were recorded on household-level questionnaire (HLQ) and paired \"t\" test (Snedecor and Cochran, 1973) was applied to analyze the results.Participatory rural appraisals (PRAs)The PRA results indicated that farmers need early maturing white composite for chapatti making while yellow is more preferred for cob roasting. They need semi-flint, early maturing, drought tolerant, lodging resistant and high yielding varieties. The percent ratio of preference for white: yellow grain was 55: 45 (Figure 1) . The participatory varietal selection (PVS) trialsThe test entries of mother trials were selected based on\" PRA results, with the objective of selecting the superior white-seeded variety. For this purpose, five genotypes including local check were evaluated for two consecutive years in mother trials in two representative villages. The significance of cultivar mean revealed that the performance of test entries in mother trials was quite variable. Location X Year interaction was significant, indicating that environments were different (Table 2) .Cultivar X Location and Cultivar X Year interaction was non-significant, indicating that cultivars performed consistently across location and year.Based on mean performance of cultivars tested at two locations, GM-6 emerged as the superior test entry among the white cultivars with a grain yield of 3 461 kg/ha (Table 3). All the test entries were metrically ranked for characters like germination, plant height, days to tasseling, days to silking, grains/cob row, yield, maturity, fodder quality, in-'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop sect and diseases and overall liking. All entries were metrically ranked considering higher rank as the more preferred one. The farmers in villages where mother trials were planted gave maximum points to GM-6.This ranking was based on overall preference by farmers. GM-6 scored maximum ranks due to its ear- \"t\" tests showed that there were significant differences between cultivars for grain yield (Table 5) and on average, GM-6 was superior to the local cultivar. Analysis of varietal preference data (Virk and Witcombe, 2002) showed the calculated Z value (2. 705 * * , > 1. 96 at 5% probability) to be higher than the tabulated one.We conclude that a significantly large number of farmers perceived GM-6 to be higher yielding than the check variety. --------------------------------------------  Moreover stability in the agronomic performance of the inbred is also essential under both low and high nitrogen levels for successful hybrid seed production.Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate inbred lines for important agronomic traits and to study their stability in different nitrogen levels.The germplasm used in the study were 24 inbred lines The mean values recorded for the genotypes under different levels of N showed significant variation for all the 13 characters studied (Table 1)      Good quality seed produces vigorous and uniform seedlings resulting in good stand establishment in the field.To produce such seed, producers must keep in mind that many factors are capable of reducing the quality at every step of seed production. For instance, seed must be harvested at an optimum time because seed quality differs at different stages of development (Rench and Shaw, 1971;TcKrony and Hunter, 1995). In rainfed areas, the second planting of the male or female inbred, intended to ensure synchronized flowering and successful pollination, is at risk of insufficient soil moisture. Thus, attempts have been made to hasten germination and plant stand establishment by priming the seed before planting (Harris et ai., 1999 and2001;DFID/PSP, 2001). The single cross hybrid \"NSX 982013\" will soon be released; therefore techniques for seed production must be developed and transferred to farmers.Seed Production To produce such seed, producers must keep in mind that many factors are capable of reducing the quality at every step of seed production. For instance, seed must be harvested at an optimum time because seed quality differs at different stages of development (Rench and Shaw, 1971;TcKrony and Hunter, 1995). In rainfed areas, the second planting of the male or female inbred, intended to ensure synchronized flowering and successful pollination, is at risk of insufficient soil moisture. Thus, attempts have been made to hasten germination and plant stand establishment by priming the seed before planting (Harris et at., 1999 and2001;DFID/PSP, 2001). The single cross hybrid \"NSX 982013\" will soon be released; therefore techniques for seed production must be developed and transferred to farmers. This experiment was set up to increase germinability of the female inbred (Nei 402011) which was planted 4 days after the male inbred (Nei 9202). The study was carried out in summer, rainy and late rainy seasons in 2004 at NSFCRC. Plots were arranged in randomized complete block designs with 5 replications; four treatments consisted of seed priming for 12, 18, 24 hours and no priming before planting. Priming was done ov~r night and primed seeds were surface dried before planting the following day. Planting was performed depending on rainfall to imitate farmer field conditions, thus there was no irrigation for the plots after planting except for the experiment conducted in summer.Results showed that priming seeds before planting had no benefit on germination, vegetative growth or yield of Nei 402011. Number of seedlings emerged at ] 4 days after planting was not higher for primed seedsSection IV: Technology Dissemination than for non primed seeds. Plant height, leaf area at 56 days after planting, days to 50% silking and yield for primed seeds were not significantly different than for non-primed seeds (Table 2). To examine vegetative growth at the early stage of development, seeds were germinated between moist papers in the laboratory to avoid effects of field stress. It was found that shoot and root growth of the seedlings of primed and non-primed seeds were not different at 3 and 7 days (Table 3).Since this experiment did not show benefit of seed priming, this technique was not recommended to farmers. Therefore when planting high quality seed-in this study initial germination was 96% priming was not necessary although a four day interval between male and female inbred planting dates was used.In      Therefore, many commercial hybrid maize seeds from private companies were distributed into the market.However, the yield potential of each hybrid depends on genetic factors, environment and interaction between genotype and environment. This experiment was conducted to investigate the performance of hybrids from both private companies and public sectors that distributed hybrid seeds in the market; the hybrids were compared to the check varieties (from public sector) for either adaptability to a wide range of environments or specifically to environments in term of yield stability.The results of this experiment will enable the farmers to choose appropriate hybrid for their location.In each trial, there were 16 hybrids from 5 compames and 2 public agencies together with NS 72 (a hybrid check) and NS 1 (an OPV check) from Nakhon Sawan Maize (Zea mays 1. ), after rice, is the second most important traditional staple crop for food, feed and fodder on slopping bari land (rainfed upland) in the hill areas of Nepal. This study was done in the Deurali site in Palpa district of Nepal, a typical upland maize cultivation area. Being the main crop of the farmers .in the site, maize is directly related to food security and poverty reduction issues. Too raise maize productivity, the adoption of new improved maize technologies and farm management practices is important. In Nepal, maize is cultivated in 834 285 ha with an average yield of 1 906 kg/ha (MoAC, 2004). The improved maize varieties Manakamana 3, Hill Pool Yellow, Hill Pool White, Rampur Composite, Khumal Yellow, and   Ganesh 2 were suitable for cultivation in the study site; however, their rates of adoption were limited due to lack of quality seeds and their timely availability.The objective of this paper was to assess the factors contributing to enhanced productivity of improved maize technology for improving the food security in rainfed areas.Lumle, the Deurali site under the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) (Tables 1 and 2), was selected to comparative study of intervention with maIze technologies in farmers' fields for the last 4 years, with non-intervention in a nearby village. Fieldlevel quantitative and qualitative information and data were gathered and analyzed by using SPSS package.Financial analysis of the data was made to assess the impact of maize production. Cobb-Douglas production function models were used to assess the response of different inputs with improved and local varieties....Proceedingsof the Ninth Asian Regional Maize WorkshopThis study used a group approach to produce quality maize seed in the farm community with participatory ac-tion research involving farmers, extension experts/ workers and researchers. The aim was to maintain the varietal purity at the farmer level, ultimately to lead to increased production and productivity as well as to generate income for the farmers. A chi-square test of farmer's perception of the trend of maize productivity in the AER site revealed that it is significantly different from that in the non-AER site because of adoption of improved maize varieties and improved management practices (Figure 1, Tables 3 and 4).Farmers used inputs such as seeds, urea, di-am-momum phosphate (DAP) and farm yard manure (FYM) in the study sites (Figure 2). The farmers varied the dose of chemical fertilizer from variety to variety. Moreover, farmers recycled seeds at the local level over the period of study; a practice that still prevailed even though the introduction of the improved varieties took place 15 -20 years ago. Thus, a maize replacement system through community based seed production is highly desirable to sustain the increased yield. Yield Gap need to be in place.The yield gap ( Figure 3) was quite high in the study  Marginal values of products (MVP) indicate the value of additional output that can be attained by using an additional unit of input. In the case of Cobb-Douglas.function, these are calculated as given below:Xi where L = Response elasticity or the co-efficient of the input Xi, Y = Geometric mean of the output and X = Geometric mean of the inputs. Loss of soil fertility, especially in the upland rainfed area, is an important problem ranking as second priority constraint for maize production in Thailand ( Ekasingh et at., 2003). Cultural practice of farmers is one of the causes of soil fertility loss, for exampleplanting maize followed by sorghum without fertilizer application for a long time caused severe loss of soil fertility and maize yield ( Kitbamrong et at., 1986).Although chemical fertilizer applications directly provide nutrients to crops, but if they were not applied correctly and efficiently the nutrients in soil will be imbalanced (DOA, 1999). Experiments on cropping systems showed that in maize-sorghum cropping system average maize yield of 1999 -2002 was only 1. 70 tiha which is about 56% less in comparison to the same system from 1981 -1985 (2.60 tiha). Application of 6. 25 tiha chicken manure at the time of land preparation for 13 years gradually improved soil fertility and increased maize yield. From 1990 -2002, average maize yield in chicken manure application plot was 4. 54 tiha higher than that with no fertilizer application (2. 44 tiha) , which resulted in approximately 86% increase in maize yield (La-ied, 2003).A long term experiment on soil fertility conservation was conducted at Nakhon Sawan Field Crops Research Center on brown forest soil (Typic Haplustools; very-fine monmorilonitic) from 1999 -2004. The experiment was planted in randomized complete block design (in 2 X 3 X 2 + 2 factorial) with three replications. Factor A consisted of two cropping systems, mungbean-maize and lab lab-maize. Factor B consisted of three fertilizer application for the first crop, chicken manure application at the rate of 6. 25 tiha, chemical fertilizer application at the rate 19: 56: 38 kglha N: P205: K 2 0 and no fertilizer application. Factor C consisted of two rates of nitrogen application, 31 kglha and 62 kglha, for the second crop. Two checks were mungbean-maize and lab lab-maize without fertilizer application. Maize planting was done with a plot size of 6m X 6m with row-row spacing 75 cm and plant-to-plant spacing 25 cm. The first crops, mungbean and lab lab were planted in May and maize was planted in late July. Economic analysis by Partial Budget Analysis (CIMMYT, 1988) was calculated by using Marginal Rate of Return (MRR).T 1 h = Net benefit X 100 ota costs t at varyEffects of fertilizer application on mungbean grain yield in mungbean-maize system Results from 1999 -2004 showed that mungbean with chicken manure application gave highest yield (1. 64t/ ha) win comparison to chemical fertilizer application ( 1. 52 t/ha) and no fertilizer application (1. 43 t/ha).Application of N fertilizer in maize as the second crops had no effect on yield of mungbean. The check, mungbean-maize with no fertilizer application, gave lowest yield of 1. 28 t/ha (Table 1) .Results showed that maize grain yield in lab lab-maize system was 4. 79 t/ha which was higher than mungbean-maize system (4.02 t/ha). Maize yield of two checks, mungbean-maize without fertilizer and lab lab-maize without fertilizer, were 2. 73 and 4. 23 t/ ha, respectively. With fertilizer application in the first crop, it was found that chicken manure application produced higher maize grain yield (4. 81 t/ha) than chemical fertilizer application ( 4. 35 t/ha) and no fertilizer application (4.07 t/ha). Fertilizer application in the second crop showed that chemical fertilizer applied at the rate of 62 N kglha gave higher maize yield ( 4. 57 t/ha) than at the rate of 31 N kglha (4. 25 t/ ha) (Table 2) .Economic return by calculating partial budget analysis showed that in mungbean-maize system by growing mungbean and applying chicken manure followed by growing maize and applying 62 N kglha gave highest net benefit. The net benefit of the system with fertilizer Section IV : Technology Dissemination application was approximately 667 $ /ha higher than without fertilizer application (Table 3). By calculating Marginal Rate of Return (MRR), it was found that growing mungbean without fertilizer application followed by growing maize with 62 N kglha fertilizer application exhibited highest MRR (Table 3). However, for soil fertility conservation and sustainable maize production farmers are recommended to apply chicken manure every year at the rate of 6. 25 t/ha. With this recommendation, MRR is 110%, which is lower when compared with the system without fertilizer application. However, farmers could get profit from mungbean and maize, and moreover soil fertility is gradually conserved.Soil pH was similar among different management systems, fertilizer application for the first crop and fertilizer application for the second crop (Table 4). In mungbean-maize system, it was 6. 84 and in lab labmaize system 6. 79. Among fertilizer application treatments, soil pH was in the range of 6. 73 -6. 89. This indicates that soil pH property did not easily change even though the experiments were continuously tested for 6 years. Organic matter was 2. 31 % in lab labmaize system, which was relatively higher that mungbean-maize system (2.21 %) and the checks ( mungbean -maize without fertilizer 2. 19 % and lab lab-maize without fertilizer, 2. 26% ). With fertilizer application of the first crop, it was found that chicken manure application produced significantly higher organic matter (2. 41 %) than fertilizer application (2. 18 %) and no fertilizer application (2. 17%). Chemical fertilizer in the second crop showed it has no effect on soil organic matter (Table 4). Cropping systems had no effect on available P. In lab lab-maize system, available P was 34 ppm and mungbean-maize gave available P was 31 ppm. With fertilizer application of the first crop, it was found that chicken manure application increased available P which was 49 ppm, which was relatively higher than chemical fertilizer application (32 ppm) and no fertilizer application ( 17 ppm) . Fertilizer application in the second crop had non-significant effect on changes of soil available phosphorus (Table 4). In ' -------. ;Section N : Technology Dissemination     The maize production in Cambodia for seven years IS given in Table I. From 1997 to 2003, the total planting area of maize increased by 1. 9 times, while   Cambodia soils are derived from acidic or basic rock and are the result of colluvial deposit derived from either or both of these. However, black or brown soil occurring in the Northwest provinces and along the Mekong River is suitable for cultivating rice, corn, vegetables, fruit trees, and subsidiary crops. Similarly,.land areas in the northeast, especially the red soil, are well suited to rubber and corn crop. Farmers have been growing maize on the alluvial and brown alluvial soil 'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop (pH about 6. 7 to 7. 5) along the riverbanks, the delta of river and the central lowland (paddy soil). The reddish brown, volcanic soil (pH 6 -6. 5) of the northnortheast, where there are highlands, are also well suited to com production. In general, these are impoverished and acidic soils that have a low pH buffering capacity, low organic matter content and low CEC (Bo Phal, 1997).Maize farming practices vary considerably between the agro-ecosystems where maize is grown. There are two agro-ecosystems; upland (including permanent upland and slash and bum cultivation) and river delta. In slash and bum cultivation which is practiced by ethnic people in high sloping areas, land preparation is done by slashing and burning forest, bush or grassland before the onset of the monsoon rain, and is continued with hand tools. Dry seeds were dropped to the holes that are randomly made by hand pushing of wooden or bamboo stick. Traditional maize is cultivated most often with other fruit vegetables such as pumpkin.In permanent upland area, maize is cultivated in wet season and depends heavily on rainfall. The first main-field ploughing is usually after the first rains, which soften soils. Because the soils compact easily, the second ploughing, usually followed by harrowing, is practiced one day before or on the day of planting.Draft, hand tractor and tractor are used for land preparation. Hand planting by making a hole and dropping 2 -3 seeds per hole are commonly practiced, but some farmers plant maize in row.Along the river delta, maIze is grown before the soil is flooded by water rising in the rivers and!or after water recedes. Land preparation involving one ploughing and harrowing is done by draft, hand tractor or tractor for hand planting either in rows or randomly.Traditional maize is commonly grown in this area.Weeding in maize fields is done manually one or two times per season. The first weeding is done at 15 -20 days after maize seed germination, the second after 25 -30 days. Fertilizer application is usually done (for permanent upland and rive delta) first before sowmg the seed and during weeding.Irrigation is not common in the upland maize growing areas, but a supplementary irrigation is practiced for maize growing along the river delta.Maize is harvested by hand. After harvesting, farmers either transport the produce to the farmhouse, or they shell the maize immediately on the field. Maize is shelled either b~hand or by a hired shelling machine. Farmers growing traditional or improved OPVs for local consumption usually sell fresh maize on the field or directly after harvesting. After shelling on the field, maize grain is sold to traders who transport maize to drying facilities and sell it to feed companies, or farmers transport the produce to their house and sell it after sun-drying. Most of the farmer do not store their maize to wait for higher prices, as they cannot afford the potential storage losses.Farmers harvesting grain from 10caVtraditional varieties and OPVs select large and good-looking ears to store as seed for the next season. The ears were sundried, bunched and stored inside the house in plastic bags and no chemicals were applied to protect them in storage.Waxy and flint maize is considered a traditional crop for The Besides that, CARDI also has started to work on nutrient, pest and agronomic management for upland maize, but this work is limited.Four hierarchical layers in the varietal testing pathway • OYT: A systematic arrangement is used with one replicate. The trial is generally conducted at 1 -3 sites with many breeding lines or varieties originating from different sources.• PYT: A randomized complete block design (RCB)with two replicates is used. PYT are generally conducted at two sites. Entries in PYT are usually tested for two seasons before being promoted to AYT.• AYT: A RCB design with four replicates is used.AYT are generally conducted in at least six locations around the country. Varieties and!or lines that perform well across locations for at leat 2 years and with acceptable grain quality with high yield will be multiplied.Results of performance for these varieties and!or lines The area and production of maize in Cambodia is significantly increased due to introduction of improved OPVs and hybrids. However, the yield is relatively low compared to other countries. To achieve the yield potential of the introduced maize, improving crop management is necessary and the appropriate testing system should be  (Brush, 2000).We argue that a new approach to agricultural development research is needed in order to conserve agricultural diversity, improve crops, and produce quality food for all. Such an approach should enable small farmers (women and men) on marginal lands to participate in research as equal partners with agricultural scientists, fairly sharing their know-how, expertise and seeds. This will require fundamental changes in agricul-' tural and related policies, as well as legislation.Through a PPB case study we illustrate how farmers and plant breeders are working together in a diversity of agro-ecological, socio-economic and political contexts to put this new approach into practice. These innovators are contributing to the development of a research paradigm and practice that has as cornerstones, social constructivism, decentralization and participation, and a holistic perspective. The study demonstrates that through strong collaborative and sound participatory methodologies involving researchers, farmers, extension agents and government staff, both productivity and diversity can be enhanced while at the same time strengthening research management and organizational capacities.The PPB project follows a study carried out from 1994.to 1998 by CIMMYT to assess the impact of CIMMYT's maize germplasm on poor farmers in Southwest Cliina (Song, 1999). That study critically analysed the processes of technology development and diffusion. A key finding was the systematic separation of formal agencies' and farmers' seed systems. This resulted in inadequate variety development, poor adoption of formally bred MVs, an increasingly narrow genetic base for breeding, and a decrease in genetic biodiversity in farmers' fields (Song, 1999). Nanning (Vernooy and Song, 2003;CCAP, 2004).They plan to sell seed of their varieties at these fairs.The above activities have led attitude changes and policy reconsiderations in formal agencies.  March, 2002 (Vernooy andMcDougall, 2003) .The Chinese government has realized the need for the sustainable use of biological resources in order to maintain crop yields that can keep pace with the increasing population while facing more demanding environmental limitations. China, the most populated country with the lowest amount of arable land per capita in the world has no choice but to keep food security high on its agenda. The Thirteen DA-RFUs were given funds to produce planting materials and supply quality com seeds to farmers.To ensure efficient implementation of com projects, RIARC staff were given training on the production of quality com seeds and then to train farmers to produce their own com seeds in their own fanns.The  The • There was a dramatic improvement in the coordination of projects activities among implementers such asLGU, DA-RFU, private seed/fertilizer companies and farmers. All stakeholders actively participated in all activities from planning, implementation and evaluation projects.• Provision of counterpart funds and in-kind contribution such as research staff time by LGUs, DA-RFUs, private seed and fertilizer companies and UPLB.• Improved capability of research staff and farmers in implementing com projects.• Increased com production areas because of the promising benefits from com-based technologies.• Continuation of adoption of these technologies by farmers because of their low cost.'Proceedings of the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop• Improved awareness of farmers on the economic and social benefits of these technologies.• More active involvement of farmers in planning, Implementation and evaluation and promotion of corn projects.• Infestation of corn borer and corn hopers on susceptible corn varieties.• Lack of post harvest facilities like drier during wet season. Because of this, farmers paid higher fees for drying and shelling.• Lack of irrigation water especially in the critical stages of corn production.• Non-availability of agricultural supplies within the barangays or locality such as Trichograma and BIO-N, registered seeds and other inputs.• Inadequate new information materials on corn production and post production management, particularly in remote areas. This is needed in encouraging farmers to better understand corn farming and its benefits.• Poor farm-to-market roads to haul corn produce to other municipalities.• Strengthen linkages of corn farmers with provincial and municipal governments to obtain financing for post-harvest facilities such as drying pavements, shellers, etc.• Strengthen existing corn seed grower associations, particularly for OPV seed production, to make good quality seeds always available during planting time.• Further strengthen existing linkages between farmers with LGUs, private seed and fertilizer companies, national and regional DA offices, and SCUs to avail of services and financial support.• Provision of regular refresher courses on new cornbased technologies to researchers, farmers and other stakeholders to enhance their technical capabilities.In general, forging meaningful working relationships with farmer-partners brings about sustainability of collaborative projects at the farm level. The research team must continually campaign and enlist the cooperation and support of the LGUs, private seed and fertilizer industries, and key stakeholders.","tokenCount":"74363"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2755447050.json b/data/part_1/2755447050.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..712df036f7a31bbb774fb15482b9fbc4b61df774
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2755447050.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cd66521b1fdecd88ce4a665e03dfde45","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7b1ea3d1-7c44-4a08-88e0-bdc27026cf95/retrieve","id":"-282095178"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ad6b7ede-5ff4-4216-a07f-b4979a7fb264","pagecount":"24","content":"The Africa RISING project has been organizing several field days since 2013 for a range of participants at its 4 sites and 8 research kebeles.The mid-season, end season and larger field days aim to demonstrate on-farm research interventions and get feedback from participating and non-participating farmers and other local and CGIAR partners. The field days also help identify technologies and management practices that suit farmers' needs under local environmental conditions. Field days have proved to be a strong mechanism for cross-project learning as they have engaged farmers, extension, NGOs, Universities, market dealers, industries and other value chain actors across the whole project stakeholder spectrum.The project organized a field day in two research kebeles on 1 December 2015 and demonstrated crop, livestock, trees/fruit trees and soil fertility management related interventions to local and CGIAR partners.","tokenCount":"134"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2763910879.json b/data/part_1/2763910879.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..51439a85079d955b014e6dd9a8f70bf17189914a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2763910879.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"665cd1871fa586aeaf0931ccc158a076","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/57669cc9-7e59-4c80-86da-051ed0d02764/content","id":"1602092465"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"19c01cba-bfd1-444e-9321-53e2a742f39a","pagecount":"2","content":"The first wheats introduced into Mexico were landraces from Spain. Some are still grown in parts of Mexico ( 3), but most were replaced by high yielding semidwarfs. Tilletia laevis has been reported in Mexico from 6 states (2), but there is no data on disease incidence. Surveys were conducted to confirm its presence in Coahuila State. For the surveys, heads of the dominant wheat landrace types were selected and whenever possible, a sample of each variant. Sites sampled in the Gral. Cepeda area in 1990 were: El Alamo, San Isidro, San Jose del Refugio, and Predio Dolores as well as Ejido Bella Vista Union in Arteaga County; in 1994: El Jaralito, Macuyo, Ojo de Agua, Ejido 2 de Abril and San Antonio in Gral. Cepeda, as well as Ejido Tierras Prietas and 18 de Marzo in Arteaga. One hundred heads at random in three different points of a field from 1 m 2 were evaluated to determine the incidence level. In 1990, common bunt was found in all sampled sites with an incidence range of 40-60%. Bunted heads were found on all wheat types. In 1994, it was found only in 2 of the 8 sites in Gral. Cepeda. Incidence levels were 35-38% in El Jaralito, and 20-65% in Ejido 2 de Abril. Common bunt was also found in irrigated fields. Since farmers use their own seed without chemical treatment, the disease is continuously disseminated. Landrace cultivars often do not reach the market because they are planted by subsistence farmers in small areas; however, in some of these areas in Coahuila, losses can reach 100% because of the number of bunted heads, and their effect on quality. The fungus was identified as T. laevis according to the descriptions by Duran and Fischer (1).","tokenCount":"294"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2778305692.json b/data/part_1/2778305692.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6d28a038f4b3f6c5eb8667905b9d4c2ebd94008e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2778305692.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8eba3da258ff7ee56a88eca81b33da86","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7dd27083-a5aa-4557-bdd9-159a4eadc618/retrieve","id":"-1526097122"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02f7dee6-cf41-494f-85a5-3ee8a2bf780e","pagecount":"79","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) leads action-oriented research to equip decisionmakers with the evidence required to develop food and agricultural policies that better serve the interests of poor producers and consumers, both men and women. PIM combines the resources of CGIAR centers and numerous international, regional, and national partners. The program is led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). www.pim.cgiar.org CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.orgBackground This literature review was developed by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as part of the Policies, Institutions and Markets Program of the CGIAR. Its objective is to gain a better understanding of scale up processes, strategies and practices in programmes aimed at reducing poverty through improved markets. Its focus is the dissemination of new behaviour through these markets as a result of the interventions of said programmes.The review explores what works and what doesn't; how promising interventions and institutional innovations in market systems become accepted and used by large numbers of people; and, the knowledge gaps that could be addressed by further research.The impacts of development interventions depend on the capacity of the implementers to bring about widespread behavioural change (Simpson 2015, p. 1). This is particularly important in the field of inclusive market development (also known as value chain promotion or development) which promises to get large numbers of people out of poverty through ongoing initiatives of entrepreneurs and policy-makers, driven by strong incentives to add and extract value.Yet, despite the importance of behaviour change and the benefits that market development programmes could generate if they invested in stimulating lasting behaviour change, there is limited scientific literature on how to generate these changes (Campbell 2013, p. 20).The lack of knowledge about behaviour change and its relationship with market properties, such as productivity, efficiency, innovation and resilience, hampers the capacity of market development initiatives to monitor and manage their interventions.This is a desk-based review of literature from the fields of inclusive market systems development (MSD) 1 , diffusion of innovations and behaviour change. It includes peer reviewed papers, case studies, evaluation reports, grey literature and other literature reviews.The review identified strategies used by MSD programmes to get from pilot to scale and the factors at play in this process. It uses Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory as a reference point 1 It is very difficult to estimate with certainty the size of the MSD field. Experts still debate key MSD principles, concepts and methods; and there is no single, widely accepted definition of what an MSD project is. Furthermore, there are projects that could be considered MSD but are not being reported as such. Based on their own experience, studies referenced here and the BEAM Exchange Programme Index (which includes circa 45 projects), the authors calculate that there are currently around 60 MSD projects worldwide investing an average of USD 1.5 million annually. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the MSD field is approximately USD 100 million per year and growing. It should be noted that there are likely more value chain projects than MSD projects so total donor spend on these topics is likely substantially greater.to assess the relevance and current use of said factors, as well as those that are not being used and that could increase the scale-up effects of MSD interventions.The review found that MSD programmes use five scale-up strategies and two implementation practices. The scale-up strategies are classified under 'driving strategies' and 'enabling strategies'.There are two types of driving strategies: network-driven and firm-driven. In the network-driven strategy, the programme pilots business model innovations with a select group of market actors and helps them find the best way to work together. In the firm-driven strategy, the programme stimulates scaling-up by aiding the expansion of a strategically positioned business with the capacity to influence relatively large numbers of suppliers and buyers. The network-driven strategy appears much more frequently in the literature than the firm-driven one.There are two enabling strategies: improving policies and quality standards and improving supporting functions and Business Development Services (BDS). Enabling strategies play a key role in unleashing the potential of networks and lead firms to attract investment and scale-up technologies, behaviours and practices.Implementation practices include engaging, supporting and enabling 'movers and shakers' 2 ; and building the capacity of marginalised actors. These practices are used as part of the implementation of the scale-up strategies to increase their chances of success.The review identified 13 factors commonly used by MSD programmes that seem to play important roles in the scale-up process. These factors were classified under six domains: -Risks and uncertainty.-Barriers to access.-Costs (of running the business). -Benefits and business sense. -Communication of progress, results, lessons, evidence of impacts and benefits.-Capacity to innovate.-Capacity of early adopters and opinion leaders. -Incremental change and learning.The six domains are briefly described below, together with the matching elements in DOI theory and the main findings regarding the use of scale up factors in MSD programmes. Domain description: This domain focuses on the characteristics of products or services that enable or hamper their adoption and dissemination. The most commonly mentioned characteristics are appropriateness, affordability, flexibility and standardisation. Matching DOI elements: Relative advantage, compatibility with users' values and needs, ease of use, trialability, observability of effects.There is evidence of MSD programmes using and paying attention to most of elements highlighted by DOI.DOMAIN 2. PERCEPTIONS  Domain description: This domain refers to all the strategies, mechanism and tools that MSD programmes have at their disposal to, on the one hand, reduce the perceptions of risk and uncertainty linked to the adoption of an innovation and, on the other, to reduce barriers that potential adopters may face to adopt the innovation. Subsidies, contracts, information, and technical assistance were frequently mentioned. Matching DOI elements: Exposure to and basic understanding of the innovation; formation of positive or negative attitudes towards it; acting to adopt or reject it; putting it into use; reinforcing decision and maintaining it in use.There is evidence that a few MSD programmes consider some innovation-decision stages. For example, trial periods, free samples and subsidies are used to increase market actors' exposure and knowledge about new products and services; and technical assistance and peer-support groups are used to help market actors implement the innovations. What is not clear is to what extent MSD programmes are using DOI theory (or any other theory) to plan and implement the process that market actors must go through from exposure to sustained adoption. Domain description: This domain refers to the collaboration and coordination of market actors to make and sell products or services. Costs and benefits (profitability) of running the business model were frequently mentioned, together with the need to help potential participants make sense of the business opportunities therein. Matching DOI elements: No match. DOI theory does not talk about business models. This could be because DOI approaches innovation as a discrete idea, practice or object, not as a diffused entity that manifests in one or more networks. Nevertheless, a business model is an innovation and its design should consider the characteristics proposed by DOI (see Design domain above). Evidence of use in MSD: The MSD literature includes many references to the idea of business model innovation and there are programmes that are carefully considering the design, context and requirements for business models to be effective, sustainable and scalable. Domain description: This domain refers to the commercial and personal connections established between market actors. The most commonly mentioned characteristics were trust-based relationships and networking, dialogue between market actors and dialogue between the programme team and the market actors with whom the team engages directly. Matching DOI elements: Three aspects of social systems: structure, norms and actors.  Evidence of use in MSD: There is significant evidence of MSD programmes considering actors, relationships and norms. However, there are very few examples of MSD programmes considering structural properties and patterns of networks, such as size, density, centrality and connectedness, to make strategic decisions. Domain description: This domain refers to the flow of information between market actors through different channels and with varying levels of formality (from formal documentation to informal and even non-verbal information). The most common types of information in MSD programmes are about progress made, results achieved, lessons learned and evidence of impacts and benefits. Matching DOI elements: Mass media, interpersonal channels and diversity between actors (homophily and heterophily).There is evidence of MSD programmes using mass media and interpersonal communications. The use of homophily (e.g. peer-support, farmer-tofarmer communications and local sales agents) seems to be more planned and intentional than that of heterophily, which appears to be done in a more opportunistic and ad-hoc way (e.g. selection of market actors participatory analysis and co-creation of solutions). Domain description: This domain refers to the combination of competencies and skills that market actors require to find, test and evaluate innovations, as well as the competencies and skills they build through their exposure to the innovations. The most frequently mentioned characteristics where capacity to innovate, incremental change and learning, and capacity of early adopters and opinion leaders. Matching DOI elements: Innovativeness of individuals (innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards). Evidence of use in MSD: MSD programmes frequently use capacity building as part of their scale-up strategies, mostly focused on market actors with whom the MSD programmes work closely. Some MSD programmes recognise that different market actors have different baseline levels of innovative capacity, but only a few use changes in innovativeness to assess systemic change. No evidence was found of intentional efforts by MSD programmes to (i) assess the levels of innovativeness of the market actors before they are trained; (ii) select trainees accordingly; and (iii) build their capacity not just to help them adopt new behaviours but also to equip them to influence others to adopt new behaviours. The late majority is still a neglected group when it comes to awareness raising, engagement and influence.MSD programmes are increasingly aware of the importance of behaviour change for scalability and sustainability. However, more work is needed before MSD programmes systematically apply behavioural change science to maximise their impacts.The MSD approach has a general theory of change, based, on the one hand, on the initiative of a relatively small group of innovators and early adopters with whom the programme interacts closely and, on the other, the responses of an 'early majority'. Beyond this point, it is very difficult for MSD programmes to know what happens with innovations and changes in behaviour of the 'late majority'. The multiplicity of factors that contribute to systemic change mean that a causal connection with the programme's interventions is hard to establish. However, there is increasing interest in innovative M&E methods to detect early signals of shifts towards structural change. Behaviour change science can contribute a great deal to this exploration.The superficiality or absence of detailed analysis of the facilitation strategies used by MSD programmes is notable. This is crucial, given the paramount importance of facilitation in the adoption and adaptation processes. Programmes may plan and execute the facilitation process well, but in most cases these details do not make it into their reports or case studies. When they do, there are no theoretically-grounded explanations of why certain facilitation strategies were used or why they worked or not. There is no explicit intention to scientifically test (within the limitations of social science research) the effects of their facilitation strategies on adoption, scale-up and sustainability.Recommendations for future research Product, service and business-model design: This is one of the strongest areas in MSD programmes but systematic application of DOI theory and behaviour change science to it can contribute to increased adoption rates.Stakeholder innovativeness: Are there specific combinations of stakeholders with different levels of innovativeness that maximise diffusion of innovations in MSD initiatives? How can this knowledge be used to identify innovators and early adopters and bring them together to stimulate scale up?Innovativeness-aware capacity building: Many MSD programmes already invest in building the capacity of different market actors to adopt new practices and of lead firms to expand. However, a better understanding of how to tailor capacity building interventions according to the innovativeness levels of different stakeholders could increase the effectiveness of these interventions.Network structure: Despite the challenges in measuring and monitoring network structures, it is important for MSD practitioners to increase collaboration with social network experts to gain a better understanding of how network analysis techniques can be used in different sectors and contexts.Driving strategies and governance: The market actors involved in both the network-driven and firm-driven strategies have different levels of power, decision-making and influence. This influences how market actors build trust, collaborate, share information and invest. It is, therefore, important to understand the effects of the scale-up factors identified by this review on these two strategies.Perceptions: Research in this area can help MSD programmes improve their facilitation processes and strategies by providing a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of market actors throughout the innovation-decision process. How do the collaborators perceive the MSD team and how does this affect rates of adoption? How do market actors (both public and private) calculate the benefits and risks of innovation in different contexts? There is already abundant knowledge about these issues in fields like marketing, psychology and behavioural science but it must be applied systematically to the contexts in which MSD programmes operate.Strategic niche management (SNM): SNM and MSD pursue a similar objective: the creation of the right conditions for new pilots to work, take root in their local context and disseminate to the point that they displace other technologies and behaviours, transforming the broader system where they operate. MSD and SNM practitioners could benefit greatly from a joint research agenda. Initially, the scope of the review encompassed interventions to drive change at scale in agricultural market systems 3 , with emphasis on changes in incentives, the enabling environment and relationships between market actors. However, as the exploration progressed, the scope was broadened to include findings from the market development, diffusion of innovations and behavioural science literature. For instance, the importance of changes in the characteristics of an innovation and the composition of stakeholders.Literature and examples from other sectors (e.g. ICTs, water and sanitation and health) were also included; first, to acknowledge the efforts that donors and practitioners have been making The impacts of development interventions depend on the capacity of the implementers to bring about widespread behavioural change (Simpson 2015, p. 1). This is particularly important in the field of inclusive market development (also known as value chain promotion or development), which promises to get large numbers of people out of poverty through ongoing initiatives of entrepreneurs and policy-makers, driven by strong incentives to add and extract value. Yet, despite the importance of behaviour change and the reasonably well documented case that market development programmes can benefit if they invest in stimulating lasting behaviour change, there is limited scientific literature on how to generate these changes (Campbell 2013, p. 20).The lack of knowledge about behaviour change and its relationship with market properties, such as productivity, efficiency, innovation and resilience, hampers the capacity of market development initiatives to monitor and manage their interventions.\"Donors and practitioners are working to improve their understanding and application of systems concepts within inclusive market system development while also seeking better ways to detect, measure and evaluate systemic changes\" (Fowler and Dunn 2014, p. 1). This requires more analysis and experimentation about how individuals and groups of market actors behave (Jalil and Bekkers 2015, p. ii).This is a desk-based review of literature from the fields of inclusive market systems development, diffusion of innovations and behaviour change. It includes peer reviewed papers, case studies, evaluation reports, grey literature and other literature reviews. The literature includes anecdotal and empirical evidence obtained using both qualitative and quantitative research.All the cases were selected based on the authors' claims about evidence of diffusion and scaleup in market development programmes. Some of the authors were involved in the programmes (e.g. as a member of staff) while others were studying them from the outside (e.g. as independent researchers). Their claims and results were taken at face value and were not triangulated or contrasted due to resource constraints. The relatively new field of market systems development -which for many represents a paradigmatic change in how international development is done, is going through a process of maturation and conceptual convergence, but some key concepts and practices are still contested; therefore, it is important to explore some basic definitions before diving into the review.According to Williams and Hummelbrunner (2011, p. 16), \"there is no single, concise and generally agreed-upon definition [of system]\". However, Meadows (2008, p. 188), provides one that is appropriate for this review 4 . She defines it as \"a set of elements or parts that is coherently organised 5 and interconnected in a pattern or structure that produces a characteristic set of behaviours, often classified as its 'function' or 'purpose'\". Networks, institutions, communities, companies, formal and informal institutions, social norms and collective discourses used to describe reality are examples of such patterns and structures. Meadows (2008, p. 188) also proposes a set of principles related to the definition of system; two of which are relevant for this review. First, that \"the least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system's behaviour; and second, that the structure of the system is the source of its behaviour, which \"reveals itself as a series of events over time\".There is a dynamic and synergic relationship between the elements and the patterns or structures of a system. The combined behaviours and interactions of the parts produce emergent patterns and these patterns, in turn, influence the behaviours and interactions of the parts.Figure 1. Relationship between the elements and patterns of a system. Source: Jenal (2016, p. 3).According to The Springfield Centre (2015, p. 3),A market system is a multi-function, multi-player arrangement comprising the core function of exchange by which goods and services are delivered and the supporting functions and rules which are performed and shaped by a variety of market players.The following is a popular representation of the above definition, highlighting two important aspects: First, that all the elements of the system gravitate around transactions and transformations of a specific product or service, which make up the 'core market'; and second, that a market system is much more than the exchange of products and services; it includes a wide range of supporting functions and rules.Figure 2. The M4P 'doughnut' -A model of the market system according to The Springfield Centre (2015, p. 3).A complementary definition is provided by Campbell (2014, p.2):A market system is a dynamic space-incorporating resources, roles, relationships, rules and results -in which private and public actors collaborate, coordinate and compete for the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.The behavior and performance of these actors are influenced by other actors' decisions, and by rules, incentives and the physical environment. Market systems are composed of vertically and horizontally linked firms and the relationships embedded in these linkages; end markets, input and support service markets; and the environment in which they operate, which may include socio-cultural, geographic and political factors, infrastructure and institutions.The following diagram represents this definition:Figure 3. A complementary market system model (Campbell 2014, p. 2).The above definition highlights the dynamic nature of markets, the ways in which market actors behave (collaboration, coordination and competition), the interrelation and interdependence of market actors, and the contextual forces that shape their behaviour. It also suggests that the links between firms are rich in relationships that have social and cultural meaning and purposes that go beyond profit-making.Campbell's paper also states that market systems are underpinned by one or more value chains. However, in many sources, these two terms are used interchangeably. This begs the question: \"What is the difference between these two terms?\"Market system or value chain?According to Miller and Da Silva (2007, p. 143), \"a value chain is often defined as a sequence of value-adding activities, from production to consumption, through processing and commercialization\". However, the term overlaps with many others, such as commodity chains, value systems, production networks and value networks (Gereffi, Humphrey, Kaplinski and Sturgeon 2001, p. 2).Another term that makes it into the literature is 'supply chain', though not as frequently as 'value chain'. Meyer-Stammer and Wältring (2007, p. 8)  Looking at the definition of market system in the context of supply and value chains, it possible to argue that the evolution of practices to reduce poverty through market incentives follows a pattern of increasing humanisation: From an emphasis on logistics and resource allocation to power dynamics, governance and resource distribution to -more recently-household and gender dynamics, trust, perceptions, social norms, cognition and behaviour 6 .For the purposes of this review, the terms 'market system' and 'value chain' are used interchangeably.This is another highly contested and debated term. Where do we draw the line between what is and what is not systemic change? What does systemic change look like in different contexts?What are the indicators we should use to detect it? Can it be predicted or forecasted? How do we know it will be sustained after the development agencies have left?According to Taylor (2016, p. 2), \"[s]ystemic change has been defined countless times, in fields as diverse as biology, education, health, philosophy and engineering. However, beyond semantics, there is little variation in definitions\".Based on Foster-Fishman (cited by Harris et al. 2015, p. 9), systemic change can be defined as:the transformation of \"underlying [functions,] structures and supporting mechanisms which make the system operate in a particular way. These can include policies, routines, relationships, resources, power structures and values\". Examples of other definitions can be found in Fowler and Dunn (2014, p. 3).6 Authors like Checkland (cited by Foster-Fishman, Nowell and Yang 2007, p. 199) have contributed to this humanisation and to a shift from 'hard' to 'soft' system methodologies by \"challenging the notion that systems built around human activity (e.g., a system for addressing poverty) are subject to the same assumptions of functional objectivity used in understanding systems in the natural/physical world. Specifically, Checkland argues that properties of human activity systems (e.g., the function or purpose of the system, definitions of the problem, and relevant system boundaries) are often subject to the eye of the beholder and therefore may be experienced and understood differently by different stakeholders, based upon their position, role, and experiences\".In all available definitions, systemic change seems to take place at a 'deep' level; not at the surface. The changes that matter involve patterns, relationships, boundaries, perspectives, discourses, rules and behaviours, all of which are difficult to pin down, define and measure.Hence, there is a pervasiveness to it: it is a change that permeates, connects and cuts across different elements; it is not contained by clearly defined boundaries. Finally, it is a change that tends to 'stick'; it is long-lasting. Once this type of change takes place, it is very hard for the system to come back to its original state (prior to the events that triggered the change).Thanks to the work of researchers like Watson in the 1910s and Skinner in the 1930s, human behaviour started to be approached as a scientific subject, not only to understand it but also to predict it and influence it using rewards and punishments.Since the 1930s, the evolution of behavioural sciences has been strongly influenced by the Standard Neo-classical Economics Model, which \"assumes that people are rational, act based on full information, have stable preferences and always maximise utility\" (Simon 1955, p. 99).This model has been \"a useful predictor of choice over a very wide range of phenomena\" but, its limitations in some contexts have motivated theorists to build bridges between economics and psychology. These efforts resulted in the emergence of behavioural economics (Darnton 2008, p. 5), which embraces the fact that humans have limited cognitive abilities and a great deal of trouble exercising self-control (Heshmat 2017).Lessons from behavioural economics can be used, on the one hand, to create environments or architectures that influence people's decisions (Thaler and Sunstein 2008) and, on the other, to implement strategies for citizens to deliberate about new behaviours (John et al. 2011).According to Dolan et al. (2011, p. 265), the first approach -known as Nudge -focuses on the way individuals respond to the environment and \"recognises that people are sometimes seemingly irrational and inconsistent in their choices, often because of the influence of surrounding factors\". The second one -known as Think -puts the emphasis on influencing what people consciously think about and assumes that people analyse incentives to calculate costs and benefits and act in ways that reflect their best interests. One approach tries to change contexts, whilst the other tries to change minds; i.e., how people reflect about their surrounding environment.The efforts to explain and change human behaviour continue to evolve and produce many models, theories, methods and tools; so much so that the literature covering them is \"enormous\" and \"bordering on the unmanageable\" (Darnton 2008, p. 5). Reviewing it in detail is out of the scope of this document but the findings described below show that, intentionally and unintentionally, they play a key role in MSD strategies and interventions. For example, in the use of vouchers to promote new commercial relations between farmers and agro-dealers, and multi-stakeholder platforms to enable co-creation of ideas to overcome challenges and exploit business opportunities.Innovation as a noun is defined by Rogers (1995, p. 11) as \"an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption\", such as groups, companies and government agencies. It is not necessary for an idea to be absolutely new to be considered an innovation; \"[if it] seems new to an individual, it is an innovation\". The original definition of innovation only mentioned ideas, practices and objects. However, a closer look into Rogers' original theory (1995) and his more recent work (e.g. Rogers et al. 2005) shows that it includes behaviours as well as hard and soft technologies.In this review, most of the time, innovation is understood as a noun. However, innovation in some cases or interventions, innovation must be seen as a process, defined by some experts like Fagerberg (2006, p. 4)  The authors question this definition in the context of MSD and propose that a more appropriate definition should include two broad components: \"the percentage of the population in a given system that has adopted the behavior or received the benefit an intervention sought to induce, and […] the process by which the change took place, allowing an observer to judge the degree to which an observed change was directly engineered by a project versus the degree to which behaviors or benefits changed owing to self-sustaining waves of influence within local networks\". All the cases included in this review show signs of these two components.Diffusion Rogers et al. (2005, pp. 3-4), in a paper that establishes connections between the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory and Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) models, define diffusion as \"the process through which an innovation spreads via communication channels over time among the members of a social system\" and explain that \"[d]iffusion occurs in complex systems where networks connecting system members are overlapping, multiple, and complex\". Rogers (1995, p. 7) recognises that some authors, such as Greenhalgh et al. (2004), \"restrict the term 'diffusion' to the spontaneous, unplanned spread of new ideas, and use the concept of 'dissemination' for diffusion that is directed and managed\". This review, uses \"the word diffusion to include both the planned and the spontaneous spread of new ideas\".Comparing the definitions of scale and diffusion above, it is possible to argue that the former gives dimension and a sustainability 'flavour' to the idea of impact; whereas the latter provides it with movement.Curiously, there seems to be no explicit definition of scale-up in the MSD literature. A dictionary definition states that it is the process of making something larger in size or amount. However, a combination of the concepts of scale and diffusion can be the basis of a more appropriate definition for MSD. This review proposes the following:Scale-up is the process whereby an innovation (e.g. a new behaviour, technology, etc.) spreads throughout a market system, impacting on the actors who adopt it, adapt it or are exposed to it, and transforming the system's rules, structures and dynamics in ways that increase one or more of its properties (e.g. investment, jobs, energy efficiency, consumption, etc.)This definition responds to the fact that in market systems it is impossible to separate the scaleup of a new behaviour or a practice from that of a business model or firm.What is MSD?According to Humphrey (2014, p. 5), \"[t]here is an extensive literature relating to market systems approaches [and other closely related approaches, such as] local economic development, value chains (particularly by GIZ and USAID), and Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P, supported by DFID and SDC)\". All these approaches 7 take the scalability and sustainability tenets of systemic change into the socio-economic domain of the markets.The Operational Guide for the M4P Approach (The Springfield Centre 2008, p. 5) defines MSD as \"an approach that aims to improve the long-term efficiency and inclusiveness of the systems that matter most to poor women and men: those systems upon which their livelihoods rely and those that provide access to basic services\".In contrast with the neutrality of the concept of systemic change defined above (which can have positive of negative effects), MSD aims to create positive change on the lives of the poor. The approach is deeply rooted on the idea of systemic change and, consequently, it focuses on stimulating changes in the behaviour of market actors (The Springfield Centre 2015, p. 3) and the long-term relationships between them 8 . Its systemic nature creates strong incentives for MSD practitioners to address poverty not only from an economic perspective (i.e. lack of resources) but also from a relational perspective, and therefore, also as the result of fragmentation and marginalisation.Recognising the marginalisation and vulnerability of the poor, the MSD approach strives to engage them as active consumers and producers, or as actors who are already deeply embedded in different markets. They have needs, but also the potential to add value to customers, sellers and suppliers. There is, in fact, a two-way, symbiotic relationship between the poor and the markets they inhabit.Strategically, MSD proposes that the interventions of external development agents must be temporary; that any long-term effect on poverty reduction must be driven by changes in the behaviour of many different public and private actors, including the poor; and that their new behaviours must be sustained by an alignment of interests and capabilities.The literature review reveals the following characteristics of MSD programmes. The list below is not exhaustive, but it does show a pattern: MSD programmes must deal with many moving parts at the same time and rely heavily on the private sector for innovation, sustainability and scale up.Multiple collaborators 9 : MSD programmes directly support and engage with different actors to enable them or boost their capacity to drive change throughout the market system. These can be large companies, SMEs and marginalised actors. Government agencies are also important drivers, especially for policy change and investments in large infrastructure. Large companies: These are well established, well-connected companies with the capacity to expand their operations relatively quickly. For example, hiring more workers, buying from more providers and reaching out to marginalised actors with appropriate and affordable inputs and services. SMEs: These can be of many different sizes and capacities. They can be producers, consumers or input/service providers. Marginalised actors: These can be individual opinion leaders and very small enterprises and collectives (e.g. cooperatives, producer groups, savings-led groups and informal networks) operating in very difficult and unstable conditions and frequently affected by scarcity of resources and skills. Government agencies: These can be agencies at any level; from local to national to international.Seasonality: This is a particularly important characteristic in sectors that are very sensitive to changes in weather and rain regimes, such as agriculture, water and sanitation and health. With seasonal changes come changes in prices of products and services (e.g. agricultural produce and veterinary services), household and commercial routines and migration patterns, to name just a few. These changes, modify incentives, perceptions of risk, and ultimately, behaviour.Multiple entry or leverage points: MSD programmes focus on different blockages and opportunities to kick-start, unleash or catalyse market transformations. These transformations are expected to be driven by collaborators and \"second-movers\" These entry points can be mapped against the three M4P 'doughnut' components (see fig. 2): Core market; e.g. helping a lead firm buy from marginalised producers  Rules or enabling environment; e.g. improving quality standards and trade policies  Supporting functions; e.g. helping agro-dealers to provide appropriate information and training to smallholder farmers and mobilising government funds to improve rural roads.Multiple levels: Interventions can take place at micro (e.g. firm performance), meso (e.g. relationships and networks) and macro (e.g. policies, informal norms and large infrastructure) 10 .Interventions at the meso level are one of the main characteristics of MSD programmes because it is at this level that connections between firms, networks, and subsystems can be created and improved.Multiple 'directions' (push and pull 11 ): A strategic combination of interventions to build the capacity of marginalised actors to engage more effectively with other market actors (push) and expand the quality and diversity of opportunities in the market for this engagement to be more successful (pull).Multiple end markets: The strategies can go from local to international markets, depending on market demand and capacity of the actors involved.Business-driven innovation: Business interests drive both technological as well behavioural innovation in the MSD approach. The review done by Brand, Fowler and Campbell (2015, p. 18) recommends to \"[f]ocus on the business model as much as on the technology\". The merits of the technology alone are not enough for it to scale-up; it needs to make business-sense, add 10 See Fowler and Dunn (2014) for an explanation about why the multi-level nature of MSD interventions makes impact evaluation, and detection of scale up, challenging.11 For a detailed description of the push/pull approach in MSD, see Garloch (2015).value and create competitive advantages for market actors to adopt it and adapt it. The same rationale applies to changes in behaviour or practices.Before exploring in more detail how MSD works in practice and the role that behaviour change plays therein, it is important to have a general understanding of how MSD is supposed to happen in theory. In other words, its overall theory of change.A theory of change explains how interventions are understood to produce a series of outputs,   (Jalil and Bekkers 2015, p. 5).\"This pathway is at the core of the MDF implementation process. The MDF programme theory of change (or 'hierarchy of objectives') and each partnership designed and negotiated by MDF follows the same impact logic that enables poor women and men to take part in and benefit from growth\" (Jalil and Bekkers 2015, p. 5). Dunn (2014) presents another version of a theory of change where emphasis is given to the types of actors that the programme interacts with, namely primary and secondary contacts, and a sequence of \"spaces\" or processes that show how the MSD process moves away from the programme's interventions to the creation of wealth that involves and benefits people in other markets systems through \"multiplier effects\". 13 An additional, in-depth explanation of the AAER framework is provided by Taylor (2016).improve other functions and rules that support the piloted innovations, to enhance responsiveness and sustainability.\" The Piloting PhaseAccording to Nippard et al. (2014, p. 7), \"[t]he purpose of the piloting phase is to test and prove a […] pro-poor innovation -with market players. Pro-poor innovations may be products; services; role changes and the uptake of new or changed responsibilities; amendments or additions to business models and how organisations cater to a particular segment; but, are always, in some shape or form, behaviour/practice changes. By the end of the piloting phase, the behaviour/practice changes trialled should have 'stuck' with the market players -be fullyowned, undertaken, overseen, and paid for by the players themselves, not the programme\".The pilot phase is composed of interactive processes of adoption and adaptation, defined inThe Operational Guide (p. 32) as:Adopt: A market player has successfully adopted a behaviour/practice change to the ultimate benefit of the poor producer/worker/consumer, recognises the value of continuing with these changes irrespective of programme inputs, and has accordingly made plans to invest in upholding these changes and covering associated recurrent costs.Adapt: The market player that adopted the behaviour/practice changes pioneered during the pilot has made qualitative and/or quantitative investments that allow them to continue with or augment changed practices, without programme support. These actions, independent of the programme, constitute an 'acid test' for whether pro-poor outcomes will be sustained. Expand: A number of market players similar to those that pioneered the propoor behaviour/practice changes have adopted comparable changes -either direct copies or variants on the original innovation -that are upheld without programme support.Respond: The emergence and continued presence of the pro-poor changes lead market players in supporting systems to react by re-organising, assuming new/improved roles, developing their own offers, or repositioning to take advantage of opportunities that have been created. This response enables propoor behaviour/practice changes to further evolve. It indicates a new capability within the system and suggests it can support pro-poor solutions to emerge and grow in future.According to Nippard et al (2014, p. 9), \"the different components -adopt, adapt, expand, and respond -[do not necessarily have to happen in sequence] (i.e. 'respond' may occur autonomously before 'expand')\". In fact, Robinson and Rust-Smith (2017, pp. 20-25) present several examples where the components take place in a different order or some components are missing (e.g. crowding-in starting as a result of the piloting interventions).As the programme moves from adoption to response, it becomes harder for it to influence the behaviour of market actors directly. Hence, as the scale-up process unfolds, paying attention to contextual factors, such as norms and infrastructure, and designing interventions to influence them (rather than individual market actors) becomes critical. The following diagram represents this loss of control due to increased stakeholder ownership and scale-up. The review of the general MSD theory of change and its variations show that, despite differences in detail and complexity, all programmes follow the following general pattern:1. The programme creates conditions to change the behaviour of a relatively small number of market actors who agree to collaborate with it to drive change within the system (collaborators). These conditions can be created at the micro (e.g. businesses), meso (e.g. relationships and networks) and macro (e.g. policies and large infrastructure) levels.In this phase, the programme has a close relationship with these collaborators; informing, training, connecting and subsidising them, amongst other supporting activities.2. Changes in the behaviours of the collaborators result in innovations such as new business models, networks and agreements that improve the levels of inclusion, productivity and efficiency of the market system.3. The programme creates conditions for a larger group of market actors to (i) copy and adapt the nascent innovations to their contexts; (ii) invest in the expansion of the innovations; and (iii) respond to new economic, social or political opportunities created by the innovations.4. As more actors copy, adapt, invest, expand and respond to the new behaviours and innovations, improvements in the system become the norm. Some routines, discourses, networks and institutions disappear; others appear, grow and become deeply rooted in the lives and decisions of market actors.5. These structural transformations reinforce each other and benefit marginalised people through economic growth (e.g. more and better jobs and incomes) and improved access to products and services (e.g. agricultural inputs, education, energy and water), which in turn manifest as sustainable poverty reduction at scale.In practice, MSD programmes must use a higher level of detail than the one provided by a general theory of change when it comes to designing and implementing their In fact, a good example of the strategic adaptations that MSD programmes must make, depending on the contexts they operate in, is provided by the Market Development Facility (MDF):\"In some sectors and countries, especially those with a large pool of relatively mature market players and no significant entry barriers, companies may take over best practices that have been demonstrated to work by an early adopter ('crowding in'). In other sectors and countries the entrepreneurs, their skills or their (financial) capacity may simply not be there for this to happen in an autonomous manner and other pathways to systemic change may need to be considered, such as those involving more donor support or other sectoral change agents (e.g. government or banks) […] Whatever the exact pathway, the end goal is that gradually the improvements in the market will become entrenched and market players will possess the incentive and capacity to continue and/or further improve over time leading to a greater number of beneficiaries.\" (Jalil and Bekkers 2017, p. 7).Regardless of the level of detail used to understand the MSD theory of change, it is obvious that it relies heavily on a process of diffusion of new behaviours and practices, from a few collaborators to many market actors.This section uses a set of reviews and studies that cover a large body of MSD literature and programmes that show evidence of scale-up driven by market actors themselves.The following table aggregates similar recommendations and lessons learned from a wide range of MSD programmes and classifies them under two categories: strategies and practices 14 . It must be noted that some of the strategies and practices shown below may not be appropriate for specific contexts.  (Brand et al. 2015, pp. 11, 12, 22).Bring together a variety of value chain actors. Contract farming and outgrower schemes. (Campbell 2013, pp. 5, 18, 23).Improve links between firms and other actors in the chain (Humphrey and Navas-Alemán 2010, p. 22).Reduce transaction costs to attract buyers to procure from smallholder farmers. Overcome short-term 'trading' mindset among buyers and promote long term commercial engagement by building trust and better contract compliance. (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2).Support Business Member Organisations (Davies 2016).Achieve scale through 'big' actors that can reach large numbers of marginalised actors (Davies 2016, p. 8).Large firms (e.g., input manufacturers or wholesalers, exporters) have proven better able to continue growing their outreach post-project compared with smaller entities (Fowler and White 2015a, p. 3).Leverage lead firms 15 . Typical interventions: Supplier development, linkages to agricultural producers and improvements of labour conditions. (Humphrey and Navas-Alemán 2010).Increased intra-regional trade of agricultural products, where large companies play a significant role, can help to stabilise prices (Campbell 2013, p. 33).Facilitate policies that drive behaviour changes for technology adoption, and spur demand-and supply-side scaling of agricultural technologies (Brand et al. 2015, p. 11).Strengthen or reform rules and regulations (Davies 2016, pp. 13-14).Leverage institutional structures and formal rules, such as tariffs and import subsidies (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2).Policy reform seems to be one of the main attractors of private sector investment (Campbell 2013, p. 21).(Closely linked to the one above)Enforce minimum quality standards and increase punishments to those who flout them (Davies 2016, p. 25).Improve production quantity and quality. Standards play key role to clarify and communicate end market requirements. (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 1).Facilitate information flows & professional networks (Brand et al. 2015, p.11).Facilitate communication among stakeholders along the chain. Help farmers, intermediaries, and processors understand the entire supply chain. (Campbell 2013, p. 19).Improve flows of knowledge and resources between firms in the chain (Humphrey and Navas-Alemán 2010, pp. 19, 20-22, 99).Improve supporting functions and Business Development Services (BDS)Create or strengthen supporting functions (Davies 2016, p. 13).Leverage five types of input-supply drivers: input suppliers, village-based microentrepreneurs, lenders, farmer collectives, and buyers (Fowler and White 2015a).Invest in agricultural extension services to address lack of knowledge (Fowler and White 2015b, pp. 11, 13, 16).Facilitate financial service provision. Strengthen markets for servicing and repair of technologies. Support extension service delivery through various market system actors. Work with R&D systems to stimulate local, market-driven processes. (Brand et al. 2015, pp. 11, 12).Increase vertical and horizontal coordination. Incentivise buyers to provide improved inputs, services and technical assistance. Consider agent networks for private sector input dealers. (Campbell 2013).Engage, support and enable 'movers and shakers'Work with 'first movers' to create demonstration effect and actively support 'second movers', especially if demo effect fails (Davies 2016, pp.10, 12).Different programmes analysed by Fowler and White (2015a) rely on the collaboration with first movers and the creation of conditions for second-movers to adopt and adapt business models.Encourage market actors to target 'early adopters' to drive adoption and technology improvements. Ensure local opinion leaders are adequately informed about technologies. Buy down the risk of market actors taking on new behaviours. Use piloting and local testing to confirm the potential of an innovation (Brand et al. 2015, pp. 11-12).The adoption of new behaviours by project beneficiaries can stimulate behaviour change in other actors (Campbell 2013, p. 19).Leverage village-based microentrepreneurs and farmer collectives (Fowler and White 2015a, p. 2).Build the capacity of technology distributors to understand features that act as drivers for scaling (Brand et al. 2015, p. 12).Skills, such as group and financial management, marketing and natural resource management, are necessary for the \"market readiness\" of producer groups (Campbell 2013, p. 20).Work with the weakest link (Humphrey and Navas-Alemán 2010, p. 20).The analysis of the recommendations and lessons gathered and organised in the table above suggests there are four strategies and two implementation practices that are commonly used by MSD programmes to achieve scale. The strategies can be classified under 'driving strategies' and 'enabling strategies'.The driving strategies depend on networks of market actors (i.e. network-driven strategy) and lead firms (i.e. firm-driven strategy). In the network-driven strategy, the programme pilots business models with a relatively small and selected group of market actors and help them find the best way to work together. In the firm-driven strategy, the programme stimulates scaling-up through a relatively large business and helps it to expand its operations.The enabling strategies focus on changing policies (which include quality standards and norms), improving infrastructure and creating or strengthening supporting functions 17 and Business Development Services (BDS) 18 . These are used to enable the driving strategies, but there is a synergy between them. For example, growing businesses can gain enough influence to lobby for policy change and better policies enable further businesses growth.Enabling strategies play a key role in unleashing the potential of networks and lead firms to liberalization of the agriculture sector, land reform, and the development of regulatory institutions), and support for agricultural research and extension\".Implementation practices include engaging, supporting and enabling 'movers and shakers' 19 and building the capacity of marginalised actors. These practices are necessary to implement the main strategies and increase their chances of success.The following diagram shows the driving and enabling strategies and the implementation practices, and the relationship between them.  A network-driven strategy was explicitly used in some of the market systems that the programme focused on. For example, regarding the shea kernels market, Propcom identified and engaged potential new processor and buyer partners and helped them build supply networks directly with women's groups in rural areas. The programme also \"improved the quality of shea kernels through capacity building support to procurement officers recruited by processors and buyers, who then trained women producer groups\" (Lopez-Gomez et al. 2016, p. 4).In the case of the tractor market, according to Posthumus and Wanitphon (2015, pp. 2), Propcom found that tractor vendors were mainly selling to the central and state governments, rather than tapping into the potential demand in the private sector. The programme thus aimed to develop a private sector-led tractor market in Nigeria by supporting the creation of innovative financing mechanisms and marketing systems for tractors, assisting the government to review existing policies to make them more conducive to private sector actors, and strengthening the tractor owners and operators' associations to lobby and offer skills training for their members.The programme forged partnerships with a bank, a tractor vendor and two associations of tractor service providers to pilot a tractorleasing business model that works as follows: the bank provides loans to association members so that they can procure tractors from tractor vendors; the owners then lease out the tractors to tractor operators who move around the country to provide services to smallholder farmers. The farmers pay rent to the tractor owners who then pay off the bank's loan (Azam 2018). Posthumus and Wanitphon (2015, pp.3) explain that \"the agreement included three important safety mechanisms. All tractors were provided with GPS tracking systems. These allowed the owner to track his operator (and ensure all fees were paid) and also enabled the bank to know the whereabouts of the tractor. Secondly, a default buffer deposit fund was created as a safeguard for the lessor to recover costs in case of defaulting tractor lessees. Thirdly, a buy-back guarantee was provided by the tractor vendor to the lessor in case of defaulting lessees\".The pilot -they add -was instrumental in triggering more banks and tractor vendors to start offering similar tractor leasing services. \"In order to promote this 'crowding in' of other market players, this intervention aimed to demonstrate to the Government of Nigeria that leasing tractors is a viable business but that it is hampered by unfavourable credit risk guarantees set by the financial sector regulators\".Propcom claims that, between 2012 and 2017, the tractor-leasing model contributed to the leasing of 471 tractors that benefited 156,000 farmers (14% of which are women), including savings of £10 million 20 . The programme also shows a sustained increase in the number of farmers benefited:Propcom Mai-karfi is a good example of scale-up that starts with a pilot business model, facilitated by the programme but driven by a network of market actors where leadership and decision-making power are distributed -not necessarily in equal measure-across more than one market actor; for instance, the bank and the tractor vendor. In this case, the pilot must work to create demonstration effect and stimulate crowding-in.It is also interesting to see how Propcom combines a network-driven strategy (the leasing business model) with an enabling strategy (financial policy change) and an implementation practice (building capacity of marginalised actors) to stimulate scale-up. Firm-driven scale-up: Supporting a single business to grow Sometimes pilots are required \"to learn something or prove a concept, mitigate risk or initiate a process.[But] piloting also costs money and time, adds steps that may fail and may not fit the structure of a sector\" (Wilson 2016).In this strategy, the programme focuses directly on the response component of the crowding-in phase, skipping the pilot phase altogether, and facilitating the expansion of a business that requires a minimum scale or critical mass for it to succeed.It is possible to argue that this strategy is appropriate and stands a good chance of successwhen the business has the potential of benefiting large numbers of people on its own and there is, or could be, a high degree of vertical integration between the lead firm and other actors up and down the chain.Case 2. MarketMakers 21 : Enabling a lead firm to growThis youth employment programme operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina \"skipped the pilot and went directly for scale\" (Wilson 2016). It exploited an unexpected opportunity presented by an experienced entrepreneur who wanted to create a hub to bring together IT companies from Sarajevo under the same roof and promote public-private dialogue around IT. The idea included also an IT academy, an incubator and a co-working space, so that freelancers and start-ups could be in the same space with more seasoned entrepreneurs.The programme team knew enough about the sector to make an informed decision. They took the risk when the entrepreneur proposed the idea. The team provided significant technical support to produce robust business plans and invested 50,000 Euro to help relevant companies cover some of the costs of moving into the Hub. This helped to \"crystallise the concept [and] lent credibility to the initiative\". Eventually, other donors joined the initiative.21 This example was presented by Andrew Wilson (2016) from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation at the BEAM Conference in 2016.In less than a year, the Hub was full. Then, it \"spilled over\" into a nearby abandoned building and shopping mall. By 2016, there were plans in place to build new facilities to keep on expanding.The programme started noticing some spontaneous changes that they thought were going to require additional interventions. For example, increased awareness between young people about IT as an attractive career choice. This could have been the result of more than a thousand students trained by the IT academy sharing their experiences with friends, and a \"clever use\" of formal and social media.With increased visibility in the media, politicians started to catch on, motivated by the political opportunities (e.g. re-election) that an initiative like this had due to its potential to create jobs for young people in a context with high unemployment rates. This motivated politicians to engage in a productive dialogue with IT professionals and gain a better understanding of the importance of IT for the region. \"Within a few months IT was declared a strategic sector […] by two different levels of government\".Wilson claims that, by 2016, the programme had increased technology employment in the country by 5% but he thinks that \"this is just the tip of the iceberg\". However, further job creation and other changes showing how the market system is responding to the growth and dynamism of the IT Hub -for example, legislative change, will take more time.The Hub model is also replicating -not in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in Croatia, and neighbouring countries which are already showing interest. This could be due to the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with relatively small cities. For example, Sarajevo has less than half a million inhabitants. \"It wasn't really that realistic that we would get a lot of expansion inside Bosnia […]\", claims Wilson.The example of MarketMakers provides the following three lessons:First, if it is the success of a business model that is supposed to drive structural changes in the market system and this depends on economies of scale and network effects, it is very likely that the programme needs to bypass the pilot phase and go directly to the crowding-in phase. The IT Hub concept needed to be large from the very beginning to offer value to companies. No typical IT company would join a cluster with just a few other companies; they join partly because of the possibility of interacting with a large number of other companies and experts.Second, going directly into the crowding-in phase is riskier and more demanding than starting with the pilot phase (something confirmed by Davies 2016). This is why the programme must rely on extremely committed and capable collaborators -which are also hard to find. In the case of MarketMakers, it was a \"visionary leader\" with enough funds to invest and who came to the programme with the right idea at the right time (the programme knew enough about the IT sector to assess the risks quickly and had the flexibility to embark in this venture).Third, as the business that drives systemic change expands, it is very important for the MSD team to create a reinforcing dynamic between media exposure (both formal and social media)and government involvement and support. According to Wilson, this caused the most important changes in MarketMakers.In this strategy, the programme prioritises work to \"change rules or regulations through government or other non-private actors\" (DCED 2014, p. 9). Here, the rationale is that changes in policies and formal norms create an environment that enables behaviour change and adoption of new ideas and technologies.An example of policy-driven behaviour and technology change comes from the Market Assistance Programme; a multi-donor funded programme managed by the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT). It works across different sectors, including water. In this case, KMT \"is not bringing water directly to the people, which in practice would mean working directly on the water point.Instead, the team intervenes at a higher level, for example, by changing policies [e.g. government policy and actions however, for both these associations, either their scope remains narrow or more acceptance is required from the market in terms of representation. For MDF it makes sense to wait for a period (12 to 18 months) to identify the right partner to work with. As the situation stands now, policyrelated work will likely require a long-term strategy to create sustainable impact.\"It is also important to remember that MSD programmes must pay attention not only to the change in policy but also to the processes, networks (from the most formal of institutions to the most informal of groups) and coalitions (from formal partnerships to lose coordination) that shape and enforce policies. This means that business membership organisations (BMOs), public-private partnerships (PPPs), agricultural research centres, natural resource management committees and any other group interested in the construction and protection of public goods are important actors in this strategy.Special mention must be made of social norms; which is part of the 'rules' component of the MSD market system model (Fig. 2), together with formal policies and standards. Bangladesh, which \"took a 'positive discrimination' approach to select more women participants during [its] first phase\". This gave women a chance to demonstrate that they could be \"more successful than their male counterparts in the value chain and were also able to change their own lives\" (Jones 2016, p. 11).Talking about shifting social norms to tackle violence against women, Alexander-Scott et al.(2016, p. 4), state that despite some progress, \"the evidence base on what works to tackle social norms that drive violence is at an early stage in scope and scale\". They explain that this is the case because \"until recently, very few programmes have used social norms theory to guide programme development [and that] there has been a lack of consensus on the key metrics with which to measure social norms change […]\". This explanation also applies to normtransformative MSD interventions.There are two more reasons that help explain why, in MSD programmes, norm-transformative interventions are expected to continue being less common than norm-aware ones: First, changing social norms is a means to the ultimate MSD end, which is \"intervening in market systems so that they function more efficiently and sustainably for poor women and men\" (The The strategies and practices identified in the sections above are a model of what most MSD programmes do in their efforts to achieve scale. In most cases, however, the structure of the market systems or sub-systems that MSD programmes target is such that a pure firm-driven or network-driven strategy is not enough to stimulate structural, scalable transformations.Navigating this messy reality requires a combination of strategies, purposeful experimentation, constant learning and adaptation. MSD programmes and donors are increasingly aware of this; however, only a few manage to do this effectively. This is reflected in the fact that the evidence of scalable and sustainable impacts still appears to be weak or dubious and both independent and ex-post evaluations are hard to come by (Robinson and Rust-Smith 2017, p. 16).According to a study of 26 interventions from 11 MSD projects done by Keddie et al. (2016, p. 13), \"a considerable proportion of project intervention strategies had objectives and targets limited to achieving [adoption], rather than aiming for impact at scale [through adaptation and/or expansion]\". Robinson and Rust-Smith's (2017, pp. 6, 22) analysis of systemic changes in six MSD programmes that produced \"high confidence\" evidence of impact confirms Keddie et al.'s conclusion. They also found that the second most common systemic change process was expansion; that adaptation and response were equally scarce; and that \"there was a prevalence of interventions in supporting functions to the core market […], such as skills/ human capacity, and access to information\".The following example seems to be one of those exceptions where all four processes (adopt, adapt, expand and respond) are visible.Case 3. SOBA: Blending strategies and adapting to reach scaleThe Sierra Leone Opportunities for Business Action (SOBA) programme addressed the challenges of low agricultural productivity, reliance on imports and malnutrition across the country. The team knew that fertiliser subsidies from the government were distorting the market at the provincial level and contributing to a fragmentation of commercial distribution networks.Provincial agro-dealers would purchase fertiliser from recipients who preferred to sell their allocation rather than to use it or procure it illegally through the government programme. Consequently, there were no incentives for Freetown-based input distributors to trade with provincial agro-dealers or expand their operations to reach out to more farmers. This contributed to shortages of good quality fertiliser, seeds and crop protection inputs, and limited technical advice for farmers.The programme's scale up strategy focused on improving the effectiveness of Freetown-based distributors to leverage change up and downstream. This involved (i) building the capacity of these lead firms to deploy effective distribution strategies targeted to smallholder farmers, namely in areas of inventory management, accounting and financial planning, marketing and human capital; (ii) coinvesting in their distribution networks and setting up agro-dealer programmes; (iii) providing technical assistance; and (iv) attracting interest from international input suppliers to bring new products and improved agronomic information and technical assistance. The following is an illustration of SOBA's vision for the structure of the agriinputs market:ADOPT: In 2015, SOBA partnered with TJAL Enterprises, a relatively small but \"enthusiastic first-mover\" to develop an agent distribution network. TJAL expressed eagerness to innovate and expand investment in Sierra Leone but they lacked the necessary set of skills. In the first phase of partnership, SOBA provided Business Development Services to TJAL to help them address challenges related to basic financial management, inventory control and recordkeeping.After a year, TJAL showed remarkable improvements and SOBA helped them launch an agent distribution business model that proved to be \"highly successful\" at building stronger commercial relationships amongst market actors and delivering affordable and appropriate inputs to farmers.SOBA continued providing TJAL with technical assistance and BDS to improve their marketing plan, customer relationship tools, delivery processes, forecasting capabilities to deal with seasonality and manage inventory, human resources management and organisational culture.ADAPT: \"TJAL now has a national network of 32 agents and 224 sub-agents and independent retail shops taking increasingly large credit lines to trade quality fertiliser, seeds and agrochemicals. The network serves an estimated 40,000 smallholder farmers. It has grown its monthly sales -primarily fertiliser -from USD 1,750 in June 2015 to USD 174,000 in June 2017\".EXPAND: Distributors who previously only focused on Freetown-based contracts began taking \"keen notice of the rapid rise of TJAL from a small two-shop outfit to the largest agro-dealer network in the country\" and are now proactively investing to service smallholder farmers themselves.As of the first half of 2017, the number and quality of relations, transactions, exchanges of information and provision of technical advice between distributors and agro-dealers have improved. TJAL and a competitor (SeedTech) have established wholesale shops in major centres outside of Freetown and agents downstream are \"investing to strengthen their relationships with their resellers, who in many cases are becoming sub-agents, receiving credit [and embedded services] through their dealers\". SOBA is a good example to show how programmes can combine all the strategies and implementation practices identified earlier in real conditions. Their target was a distribution network that revolves around TJAL, a distributor based in the capital city. This is in fact a hybrid sub-system where the influence of TJAL on the whole network is clear but limited because agrodealers in the provinces can buy from TJAL's competitors. When the reality and challenges of a hybrid structure became evident, SOBA adapted their strategies to directly and quickly build the capacity of the weaker provincial agro-dealers (not just that of TJAL).The provision of technical assistance and BDS to a keen and dynamic first mover like TJAL allowed SOBA to demonstrate the benefits of this new business model. It was not long before TJAL competitors (second movers) started to crowd the market in.Finally, knowing that the strong distortions produced by the government's fertiliser subsidy programme were one of the root causes of market dysfunction, SOBA started working with MAFFS to build evidence about the benefits of smarter subsidy schemes with the hope of kickstarting and contributing to a much-needed policy change.As shown earlier, market dynamics are deeply influenced by the interaction between the behaviour of individual actors and the patterns and institutions that emerge out of the interactions amongst large numbers of actors (see fig. 1). This means that an appropriate theory to understand scaling up of behaviour change in market systems must be able to accommodate as best as possible individual actors' cognition (i.e. how each one of them makes sense of the world around them); the relationships between them and the importance of contextual forces and structures (both in terms of how they affect the market actors' behaviour and how they can shape them).After a revision of theories and models that seemed relevant for MSD 22 , Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) model appears to be the most appropriate one to build a conceptual bridge between MSD and behavioural sciences, mainly because of the following characteristics: DOI is robust: Despite being a relatively old theory (1960s), DOI has withstood the test of time and continues to be one of the most influential theories in diffusion research. DOI is generalisable (to a large extent) and applicable to many different fields, including MSD: \"Studies have explored many characteristics of innovations. Meta-reviews [such as the one done by Greenhalgh et al. (2004)] have identified several characteristics that are common among most studies. These are in line with the characteristics [of DOI]\" (Wikipedia n.d.). DOI is broad: its focus goes beyond technological innovation and adoption of technologies.It can be adapted to adoption of new behaviour and practices. DOI is compatible with the networked nature of markets: Darnton (2008, p. 3) classifies DOI under the category of theories of change via social networks (together with Network Theory, Social Capital Theory and Gladwell's 'mavens', connectors and salesmen 23 ). DOI is comprehensive and systemic by nature: it recognises the importance of individuals, networks, organisations, relationships, context, space/geography, time, channels of information, etc. In fact, most of the issues that MSD is concerned about. DOI can be complemented with other theories: It can be enriched and adapted to the needs of MSD without requiring major, structural changes.DOI theory 24 focuses on how innovations (i.e. ideas, practices or technologies that are perceived as new in a given context) spread through a system in a specific time and space (Rogers 25 1995).DOI research helps to understand behavioural and social change processes more accurately \"if 22 For example, theories and models focusing on suicide or drug addiction were discarded. 23 Gladwell's work, published in his book The Tipping Point, was heavily influenced by that of Roger's.24 Also called a \"model\" (e.g. Rogers et al. 2005 andRogers 1995, p. 98), an \"approach\" and a \"paradigm\" (Rogers 1995, p. 98).25 Rogers (1995) provides the key elements that constitute this section. It is cited abundantly. Therefore, when only page numbers are specified between parentheses, it means that this reference was used.the spread of an idea is followed over time as it courses through the structure of a social system\" (p. 98).Roger's study on the diffusion of innovations, first published in 1962, contributed -firstly, to the recognition of the previously \"invisible\" cliques of diffusion researchers that, throughout the 20 th Century, had been studying diffusion in different sectors, such as agriculture, education and health, and -secondly, to the convergence of diffusion research under a coherent paradigm that continues to evolve today. (pp. 38-39).The following are key characteristics of innovations that help to explain how fast they are adopted by individuals (adapted from Rogers 1995, p.15 and LaMorte 2016): Relative Advantage: The degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the one it replaces. Compatibility: The degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the values, experiences, and needs of the potential adopters. Complexity: The degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and/or use. Trialability: The degree to which an innovation can be tested or experimented with before a commitment to adopt is made. Observability: The degree to which the results of an innovation are visible and understood by others.Note here that the perception of potential adopters is more important that objective reality or the perceptions of external change agents. \"Innovations that are perceived by individuals as having greater relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability and less complexity will be adopted more rapidly than other innovations [keeping everything else equal]\" (p. 16).Diffusion is in essence a communication process \"in which the message content that is exchanged is concerned with a new idea\" (p. 17 \"Homophily is the degree to which two or more individuals who interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status, and the like\". People have a tendency to interact with others who are similar to them. This similarity makes their communication more effective and rewarding (p. 18). However, innovation usually has to happen between two or more people who are different in one or more relevant aspects; normally their knowledge and mastery of an innovation. \"In fact, when two individuals are identical regarding their technical grasp of an innovation, no diffusion can occur as there is no new information to exchange\" (p.).An ideal combination of homophily and heterophily that would maximise diffusion would be two individuals who are different only regarding their technical knowledge and mastery of an innovation but equal in all the other variables (p. 19).Case 4. When diffusion is hampered because \"they are not like us\"The Operational Guide for the M4P Approach provides an example of \"[a] programme in East Africa [that] used a lead farmer model to promote better farming practices. The 'best' farmers were identified and selected to take part in pilot interventions. These tended to be farmers with access to more resources, including finance and information. The programme found that the influence of these farmers was limited. The wider community felt these farmers were 'not like them' and that they were therefore unable to farm like them\" (The Springfield Centre 2015, p. 32).A systematic review of 92 impact evaluation studies and 20 qualitative studies on Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in Low-and Middle-income Countries (Waddington and White 2014, pp 20-21) shows that participant farmers benefit with improved knowledge and practices that increase yields and profits and reduce pesticide use. However, \"[t]here is no convincing evidence that […] field schools offer sustained diffusion to [non-participant] neighbouring farmers who live in the same communities as field school graduates\". The authors argue that in some cases like Indonesia, socio-economic differences between these two groups explain why diffusion does not happen.The innovation-decision process (pp. 169-203) is basically the process through which an individual (or any other decision-making unit) passes; from the moment they know about the innovation to the moment they confirm or reject the adoption. Rogers (p. 162) describes it using the following stages: Knowledge: when an individual is exposed to an innovation's existence and gains some understanding of how it functions. Persuasion: when an individual forms a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards the innovation. Decision: when an individual engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation. Implementation: when an individual puts an innovation into use. This stage includes the process of re-invention, which is \"the degree to which an innovation is changed or modified by a user in the process of its adoption and implementation. Re-invention is part of the adaptation process (Adapt) described by the AAER model described earlier. Confirmation: when an individual seeks reinforcement of an innovation-decision already made or reverses a previous decision to adopt or reject the innovation if exposed to conflicting messages about it.These stages are similar to the ones proposed by the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behaviour Change, also known as TTM (Prochaska et al. in different publications cited by Lefebre 2000, pp. 10-11 andRogers 1995, pp. 189-191): Precontemplation: people are aware of the problem and begin to think about overcoming it but are not intending to take action in the foreseeable future. Contemplation: people indicate that they are planning to change their behaviour. Preparation: people indicate that they will take action in the near future and have a plan of action. Action: people have made specific behavioural changes. Maintenance: people in this phase are working at preventing relapse and use different processes and strategies to help them maintain their changes. Termination: people in this stage are sure they will not return to their old behaviour or habit.TTM assigns specific time ranges to each stage (e.g. people are contemplating a change if they are thinking of making that change within the next six months).Besides these stages, TMM also considers the processes that people use to progress through these stages, as well as other aspects, such as temptation to stick with a habit and how people consider pros and cons of change.TTM has been designed for and used in the public health sector, for example, to increase physical activity levels or quit smoking. The application of TMM to the market systems development field is not totally straightforward but the popularity and usefulness of the model's stages (Lefebvre 2000, p. 9) reinforces the idea, already identified by Rogers in his Diffusion of Innovation work (p. 189): that \"an individual must pass from knowledge change to behaviour change in a cumulative sequence of stages […]\". However, it is also true that people can regress to earlier stages (Prochaska and Velicer 1997, p. 39). The key is to gain a better understanding of the processes, drivers, barriers and enablers involved in the transition between stages so that regression is minimised.One of most well-known aspects of Rogers' DOI theory is the classification of individuals under the following categories (adapted from Rogers 1995, pp. 22 and26, andLaMorte 2016): Innovators: People who want to be the first to try an innovation. They are venturesome and interested in new ideas. They are very willing to take risks and are often the first to develop new ideas. They tend to have a high degree of mass media exposure and their interpersonal networks are broader than those of other less innovative people, reaching out beyond their local system. Very little, if anything, needs to be done to appeal to this population. However, precisely because of these characteristics, innovators can be perceived as outliers with low credibility, which hampers their capacity to convince others to follow them. For innovators' ideas to spread, they require the help of early adopters. Early Adopters: People who \"have the greatest degree of opinion leadership in most systems\" (p. 264). They are role models who enjoy leadership roles and are respected by  Early Majority: People who are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the average person. That said, they typically need to see evidence that the innovation works before they are willing to adopt it. Strategies to appeal to this population include success stories and evidence of the innovation's effectiveness. Late Majority: These people are sceptical of change and will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority. Strategies to appeal to this population include information on how many other people have tried the innovation and have adopted it successfully. Laggards: People who are bound by tradition and very conservative. They are very sceptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board. Strategies to appeal to this population include statistics, fear appeals, and pressure from people in the other adopter groups.Rogers' categorisation of adopters is represented in this graph:Figure10. Adopter categorisation on the basis of innovativeness (Rogers 1995, p. 262).\"The rate of adoption is usually measured by the length of time required for a certain percentage of the members of a system to adopt an innovation […] Most innovations have an S-shaped rate of adoption. But there is variation in the slope of the 'S' from innovation to innovation: [the faster the diffusion, the steeper the slope […] There are also differences in the rate of adoption for the same innovation in different social systems\" (p. 23). The following is a representation of this property:Figure 11. Rate of adoption for three different innovations in the same system (Rogers 1995, p. 11).A social system is \"[a] set of interrelated units [e.g. be individuals, informal groups, organizations, and/or subsystems] that are engaged in joint problem-solving to accomplish a common goal […] This sharing of a common goal is what binds the system [or subsystems]together\" (pp. 23-24).Rogers (pp. 23-28) highlights three important aspects of a social system: Structure (pp. 24-25): It is \"the patterned arrangements of the units in a system\". It increases regularity, stability and predictability of human behaviour. There are formal (visible/bureaucratic) and informal (invisible/social) structures. They can facilitate or impede the diffusion of innovations in a system. The application of structure in diffusion research in general, and in MSD in particular is relatively new (see case 5 below). It is also difficult to put in practice because of the invisibility of some relationships (to an external researcher) and because people are not always fully aware of (or can't properly explain) the influences that these relationships have on their decisions to adopt or reject an innovation. Norms (p. 26): They are \"the established behaviour patterns for the members of a social system. They define a range of tolerable or expected behaviour and serve as a guide or a standard for the members' behavior in a social system\". Actors (nodes, individuals or adoption units): In Rogers' work, the emphasis is on opinion leaders 26 . However, opinion leaders are early adopters, which were already described above. Exclusive emphasis on opinion leaders underplays the importance that the other types of system actors have in defining the identity of a system's structure. Therefore, this review proposes the broader category of actors.Case 5. Using data like number of nodes or actors and actual connections between them, network analysis can provide information about the structure of the system, such as density, closeness, reciprocity, centrality and betweenness, which can inform MSD strategies and interventions. For example, LINC could detect the need for more investment towards increasing the influence of employment agencies, and the connectivity between business associations, vocational institutions and employers, to name just a few recommendations.The following is a network map of one of the regions in Nicaragua studied by LINC:Source: Sommerville et al. (2015).Diffusion of Innovations has proven to be quite a useful and versatile theory; \"[it] has been applied to numerous contexts, including medical sociology, communications, marketing, development studies, health promotion, organizational studies, knowledge management, and complexity studies […]\" (Greenhalgh et al. cited in Wikipedia n.d.).However, like with any other theory, DOI has limitations and criticisms. For example, that diffusion is difficult to quantify, and its causes are hard to detect and define (Damanpourt 1996, cited in Wikipedia n.d.); and that the capacity of DOI theory to predict and explain how innovations (including new behaviours) scale up depend on the type of context or system (Plesk and Greenhalgh 2001) and the type of innovation (Lyytinen and Damsgaard 2001). Rogers (1995, pp. 99-130) identified four main types of criticisms and weaknesses of DOI theory:Pro-innovation bias: \"[It] is the implication […] that an innovation should be diffused and adopted by all members of a social system, that it should be diffused more rapidly, and that the innovation should be neither re-invented nor rejected\" (p. 100). This presents a challenge to any study or literature review about diffusion of innovations and scaling up because the innovations that are researched and documented are those that look successful, are spreading fast and are being continued; not those that are spreading slowly or failed to spread, or those that were rejected and discontinued. This is \"understandable from the viewpoint of financial, logistical, methodological, and policy considerations. The problem is that we know too much about innovation success, and not enough about innovation failures\" (p. 105). One of the recommendations that Rogers makes to overcome pro-innovation bias is to \"investigate the broader context in which an innovation diffuses, such as how […] policies affect the rate of diffusion, how the innovation is related to other innovations and to the existing practice(s) that it replaces, and how it was decided to conduct the R&D that led to the innovation in the first place\" (p. 109).The individual-blame bias: \"[It] is the tendency to hold an individual responsible for his or her problems, rather than the system of which the individual is a part\" 27 (p. 114). The other side of the coin is what Rogers calls \"system-blame\", which is frequently underestimated (p. 115).Individual-blame bias influences how social problems are defined and how people try to solve them (pp. 115-117). There is an important implication of the individual-blame bias for MSD programmes regarding stakeholder selection and engagement: \"[…] a stereotype of later adopters by change agents and others as traditional, uneducated, and/or resistant to change can become a self-fulfilling prophecy\". MSD programmes may not engage certain market actors because they perceive them as late adopters who will not contribute to adoption. This deprives them from any information or assistance, which will make them even less likely to adopt (p.The recall problem in diffusion research: This problem is \"caused by inaccuracies when respondents are asked to remember the time at which they adopted a new idea\" (p. 129).According to Rogers (pp. 122,124), diffusion research has relied heavily on \"correlational analyses of cross-sectional data gathered in one-shot surveys of respondents […] when it should be using methods like field experiments, longitudinal panel studies, point-of-adoption studies and case studies with triangulation in order to trace […] the sequential flow of an innovation as it spreads through a social system\". Furthermore, \"one-shot surveys can't tell us much about time-order, or about the broader issue of causality\" (p. 123). Has a market actor adopted a new behaviour because they are more wealthy or cosmopolitan; or are they more wealthy and cosmopolitan because they are more prone to experiment with new behaviours and practices than others?The issue of equality in the diffusion of innovations: It is often the case that \"the diffusion of innovations widens the socioeconomic gap between the higher and the lower status segments of a system\" (p. 125). This can occur in any system, but it has been especially noted in developing countries. This is important for MSD programmes because it forces us to ask questions not only about the diffusion process itself but also about the socio-political aspects of Behaviour change in MSD: Key factors for scaling-upIn this section we use DOI theory as a framework to analyse what MSD programmes do to scaleup new behaviours and what is missing from their strategies and execution.We could identify 13 factors commonly used by MSD programmes that have managed to reach significant levels of scale 28 in different sectors (e.g. agriculture, health, water and sanitation and ICTs).These factors were classified under six domains as follows: -Risks and uncertainty.-Barriers to access.-Costs (of running the business). -Benefits and business sense. -Communication of progress, results, lessons, evidence of impacts and benefits.-Capacity to innovate.-Capacity of early adopters and opinion leaders. -Incremental change and learning.The following list is an inventory of the evidence that supports each one of the domains and factors. They are comments, insights, study results, lessons learned and conclusions from MSD literature from different contexts and sectors.This domain focuses on the characteristics of products or services that enable or hamper their adoption and dissemination. The most commonly mentioned characteristics are appropriateness, affordability 29 , flexibility and standardisation. The first three are more within the control of individual designers/producers, whereas standardisation is quite social and political, and -therefore-highly dependent on the Relationships, Communications and Capacity domains. \"Projects should resist over-designing solutions, but instead allow partners to adapt models to the context\" (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"To reduce side-selling, forward purchase contracts should allow flexibility for farmers to sell some portion of their produce elsewhere\" (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2). Propcom Mai-karfi helped banks to design appropriate interest rates and incentives and vendors to increase efficiency of after-sales services (Apuyo 2016). \"Price indeed plays a key role as to whether or not a household will adopt [a technology]\". For most goods, the higher the price, the lower the consumption and vice versa (Whitehouse et al. 2017, p. 5). Choose the right product, based on your target market. Consider logistical constraints: \"are locally designed [clean cook] stoves available, or is it possible to train local artisans and reach a sufficient level of quality? Would imported stoves be cheaper, even taking into account transportation costs?\". Consider also users' needs, preferences, and financial means (SNV n.d.). Bundling products and services with different life cycles can help the actors selling expensive and durable products, such as cooking stoves, lower their risks by \"ensuring them a more stable income, and allowing a bigger customer turnover for products with a short lifetime\". For example, bundling clean cooking stoves with bed nets, anti-malaria treatments, de-worming pills, lightbulbs and seeds (SNV n.d.). Quality standards are more likely to be adopted by farmers when associated with price premiums (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2). Private-sector grading standards clarify and communicate end market requirements (Fowler and White 2015b, pp. 1, 10). Standardised production packages for smallholders ensure appropriate ratios of inputs and increased access to credit (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 1)  A consistent brand, backed by standardisation of service quality and licencing from a reputable institution such as the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, have played a key role in the expansion of a pharmacy network in Kenya called PharmNet (PSP4H 2015).Case 6. Improving affordability in the seed market through changes in packaging designProjects like FIELD-support in Bangladesh, Propcom Mai-karfi in Nigeria (case 1 above) and NAFAKA in Tanzania, have contributed to increase marginalised, smallholder farmers' access to quality seed. This was achieved by assisting local seed companies to develop and market mini-packets of quality seed. Package size was reduced from 20-50 Kg to 1-10 Kg.In Bangladesh, \"farmers reported that they liked and trusted brand-name packaged seeds because of the seeds' reliability, familiarity, proven results and high quality.Results included increased sales of high quality seeds, expansion of seed companies' rural distribution networks, small-scale producers accessing new markets and crowding-in of new seed companies\".In the period between May 2013 and February 2014, more than 2,000,000 seed packets were sold to approximately 450,000 poor and ultra-poor Bangladeshi farmers, who benefited from more than $10 million in additional cumulative income and increased consumption of nutrientrich vegetables.Sources: Robinson and Rust-Smith (2017, p. 21) and Fowler, B. andD. White (2015a, p. 20) andFHI360 (2013, p. 7).This domain refers to all the strategies, mechanism and tools that MSD programmes have at their disposal to, on the one hand, reduce the perceptions of risk and uncertainty linked to the adoption of an innovation and, on the other hand, reduce the barriers that potential adopters may face to adopt the innovation 31 . Subsidies, contracts, information, and technical assistance 31 Price can be an important barrier to access. The price of a product or service, or the costs related to the adoption of a new idea or practice, have been placed under the design domain. However, the use of subsidies or any other strategy/tool by the MSD programme to reduce price has been located under the PERCEPTIONS domain.were frequently mentioned. See for example the mechanisms used by Propcom Mai-karfi (case 1) to reduce perceptions of risk. Develop contracts and enable the communication of market signals to decrease perceived risks (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 1). In MarketMakers (case 2), the lack of information about IT sector opportunities was a constraint for the programme (Wilson 2016). Use programme funds to implement pilots and provide total or partial subsidies and use the reputation of the programme to give credibility to the initiatives of strategic market actors;this can reduce the perception of risk of other market actors and investors (Wilson 2016). Invest in technical assistance and underwrite major risks during the early stages of the programme. Co-invest if necessary to subsidize business model discovery. Loan guarantees are useful to increase both propensity of banks to lend money and probability to recover programme funds if default rate is low. Demonstrate to key stakeholders that risk is much lower than they expect (Apuyo 2016). \"Finance can help or hinder the development of constructive commercial relationships; projects should be wary of introducing credit too early in an intervention\" (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"Value chain development projects need effective mechanisms to manage the inherent risks of the facilitation approach. While the reliance on lead firms to serve as catalysts for change is one of the strengths of the value chain development approach, it also creates risks due to the fact that project implementers lack control over factors [that affect lead firms' performance and decisions]\" (Dunn et al. 2011, p. ix). \"[Provide] funding only to share the initial risks of innovation or to trigger a desired behaviour. Once success has been demonstrated, market players should continue the innovation themselves without inputs from the facilitator\" (Hakemulder and Wilson n.d.,p. 14). \"Strong crop demand is a necessary but insufficient condition for input demand. Without confidence in their ability to sell their crops at attractive prices or adequate risk sharing mechanisms, smallholders will hesitate to buy higher quality inputs, particularly if this necessitates going into debt. Intervention design should therefore assess the existence and accessibility of ready markets for farmers, and consider the risks and incentives associated with investments in inputs\" (Fowler & White 2015a, p. 4). \"Avoid utilising standardised cost-sharing modalities -the cost-share agreement should always be based on the actual risk. [The partner should be] motivated by the change, not by the potential short-term gain from your offer (The BEAM Exchange n.d.). \"Fear of side effects [of family planning] and misconceptions that there is no need for contraception when having sex infrequently and when unmarried are by far the most common reasons for not using contraceptives [according to studies on Kenya]\" (Cardno 2015, pp. 2-3). \"Even for farmers who have received important information on good agricultural practices, other factors [such as social pressure, how information is presented and by whom and aspirations] have a critical role in influencing [adoption]. In some contexts, smallholder farmers do not operate their farming activities to maximize their returns. Other goals, such as asset accumulation or risk mitigation, are often more important.\" (Fowler and White 2015a, p. 13). Lower financial barriers. However, before providing finance consider whether the price range of the proposed product or service is well-suited to the target population (affordability), and that repayments can be monitored and enforced (SNV n.d.). Be mindful of negative effects of subsidies on adoption rates. For example, the unwillingness of beneficiaries to pay unsubsidised prices because they have always paid subsidised prices (anchoring), and possibility of reduced prices signalling reduced quality (Whitehouse et al.,p. 6). Be careful when applying the rule of thumb that less price increases consumption and vice versa; \"[t]he relationship between pricing and usage rate is likely to be product-and context dependent\". Cost-sharing is preferable to zero cost or full subsidy. If full subsidy is used, consider introducing opportunity cost to the user; e.g. time and effort required to access the subsidised product/service. Subsidies, or any other factor that increases the appeal of a product/service (e.g. brand, design, status-signalling), should be leveraged to form habits; i.e.get people to do things in 'auto-pilot'. Make any subsidy explicit to users and consider telling them the real cost of the product/service (Whitehouse et al.,p. 6). \"[P]redictable availability of the products and predictability of prices is essential to sustain a habit\" (Whitehouse et al.,p. 9).This domain refers to the collaboration and coordination of market actors to make (e.g. design, purchase raw materials and manufacture) and sell (from finding and reaching customers to completing the transactions) products or services 32 . Costs and benefits (profitability) of running the business model were frequently mentioned, together with the need to help potential participants make sense of the business opportunities therein. The business model domain is closely linked to the following domains: design (e.g. determines price), relationships (e.g. influences trusts and collaboration to bulk-buy and reduce costs) and communications (e.g. collective learning, productive conflict resolution, and effective use of standards). See for example the business models used by Propcom Mai-karfi (case 1) and SOBA (case 3).32 Adapted from Ovans (2015). See also in that article different examples of basic forms of business models, such as brokerage, bundling, crowdsourcing, disintermediation, fractionalisation, subscription, etc. Al-Debei, M., R. El-Haddadeh and D. Avison (2008) review and classify several definitions of the business model concept.What is a business model?From a systemic perspective, a business model is not simply and \"organization's core logic for creating value [or] the explanation of how it makes money\", as proposed by Linder and Cantrell (in Al-Debei et al. 2008, p. 2). A definition of business model that is more in line with the MSD literature reviewed is proposed by Torbay et al. (2001):\"The organization's architecture and its network of partners for creating, marketing and delivering value and relationship capital to one or several segments of customers in order to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams\" (cited in Al-Debei et al. 2008, p. 3). The programme supported the tractor owners' association to increase the utilisation of tractors and improve repayment rates. \"Your partners will see the business sense almost immediately\" (Apuyo 2016). \"[Support new \"business models\" that address unmet needs in the market system while making good business sense for those who take up the new models\" (Hakemulder and Wilson n.d.,p.14). Keddie et al. (2016, p.13) \"found that two fundamental commercial/financial considerations [are] particularly associated with successful scaling up:o Transaction capability: The business innovation could operate through existing business networks linking partners, competitors and target beneficiaries; ando Profitability: The business innovation was profitable for all parties involved (partners, competitors, enablers and target beneficiaries)\". \"Where vertical relationships were established and sustained […], there were positive outcomes in terms of farmer adoption of upgraded practices.[…] Where these linkages did not materialize or could not be sustained, such positive outcomes were not observed.Awareness of improved production practices is a necessary precursor to upgrading, but linkages to higher value markets must be in place to provide farmers with enough economic incentives to invest in upgrading their production and post-harvest practices\" (Dunn et al. 2011, p.xi). Reduce transaction costs to attract buyers to procure from smallholder farmers. These cost reductions can be achieved -for example-through better aggregation, either on the supply side through producer collectives, or on the demand side through buyer coordination mechanisms. (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2). The coordinating point that best reduces procurement costs varies and should be evaluated in each context and chosen by project partners, not by project staff (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 14). \"[One of the] constraints that frustrate the diffusion of new technologies [is their] fixed costs\" (Cunningham 2018).This domain refers to the commercial and personal connections established between market actors. The most commonly mentioned characteristics were trust-based relationships and networking, dialogue between market actors and dialogue between the programme team (the facilitators) and the market actors that the team engages directly with (the collaborators).Trust-based relationships and networking \"Overcome the short-term 'trading' mindset among buyers and promote a long-term beneficial commercial engagement by market actors by building trust, better contract compliance, and ultimately investment in smallholders.[…] In some cases, projects introduced technologies to increase transparency and trust in these commercial transactions\". Trust and communication among buyers and sellers are more important than formal contracts, which, together with memoranda of understanding are only weak proxies for trust itself (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"[Clean cook]stove distributors should seek to build durable relationships and gain the trust of their targeted community\" (SNV n.d.). In MarketMakers, fragmentation and distrust between firms was the \"keystone\" problem linking all the key constraints. (Wilson 2016). Projects should screen potential partners for trustworthiness. If advocacy and institutional reform are important, projects should allocate the time and resources to build relationships and trust with decision makers (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"A […] success factor is the enterprise's ability to leverage local institutions, networks, and entrepreneurs in order to reach out to a larger pool of customers and reduce distribution costs\" (SNV n.d.). \"[E]ven the temporary presence of corporate buyers with transparent purchasing practices was enough to transform trading practices in the [marketplace]. Transparent linkages between farmers and corporate buyers, even when they were not sustained, broadened farmers' marketing experiences and altered farmer expectations.[…]\" (Dunn et al. 2011, p.ix). \"Trust and interaction among companies has increased, but this has not yet led to significant numbers of larger or joint projects. [Owners and managers agree that part of the explanation is time] but increased trust and interaction created an environment where entrepreneurship and innovation are valued, encouraging small companies and start-ups to grow more aggressively\" (Hakemulder and Wilson n.d.,p. 20). \"Our research indicated that the systemic drivers around access to […] seeds are trust, and convenience of the purchasing location. Farmers prefer to purchase seeds from a trusted partner within their existing social network\" (Matthews 2017). \"Networking platforms for women […] may be a helpful tactic to raise awareness of social norms across varying economic circumstances [… This] can encourage new ideas, practices and acceptance among more isolated groups\" (Miller and Markel 2016, p. 10). Linking producers with buyers beyond the farm gate spot market can benefit geographicallyconstrained female producers (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"Crowding-in interventions tend to focus on building relationships between players, as well as stimulating and advocating for positive responses from players in supporting systems\"(The Springfield Centre 2015, p.36).Case 7. Leveraging pre-existing trust in the solar products market \"SunnyMoney, a social enterprise importing energy-efficient solar devices from China, sells products across East and Southern Africa by using relationships developed with schools and education systems. Sunny Money takes advantage of the trust placed in headteachers and their link to an important target market: families with school-age children who can benefit from solar energy products\" A \"dramatic\" example of scale-up took place in Tanzania. In 2012, only 3% of households were using solar products. After three years of SunnyMoney's work in the Lake Zone, more than 50% of households in the Mwanza, Mara, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Geita and Kagera regions were using solar lighting products.In 2015, after considering that the market in Tanzania had reached a point where other social enterprises and small businesses could take over, SunnyMoney scaled back operations and pulled out. They did the same in Kenya back in 2016.Source: SolarAid (2016).Dialogue 33 between market actors  Private-public dialogues are important to create a more effective environment for advocacy (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 2). Promote dialogue and reflection within communities (Markel et al. 2016, p. 7). Lack of public-private dialogue was a constraint for the programme. (Wilson 2016). 33 In most of the sources reviewed, dialogue was approached as something more than just functional conversation, exchange of information, discussion or debate. Programmes where dialogue was an important component used it to generate new solutions to complex market problems; respectfully considering the perspectives of a multiplicity of market actors and other key stakeholders (including those that are outside of the system that is being intervened). Expressions like \"listen carefully\", \"allow the market actors to explore\", \"give market actors enough time to make sense of the situation\", \"be responsive\", etc. were common in these programmes. \"Dialogue has led to initial steps to improve the business environment, which should result in more investment and more job opportunities, however this will only happen on a relatively long timescale\" (Hakemulder and Wilson n.d.,p. 19). Projects should prioritize farmer collaboration over the development of organizational structures (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3).Dialogue between programme team (facilitators) and market actors (collaborators) Listen to and learn from your partners -they are risking their own money. Spend more time with them. Actively monitor feedback from stakeholders on their results (Apuyo 2016). Prepare your first engagement with the target communities carefully. Understand well the customer base, the products or services that are needed and the strategies that are likely to give the best results given the local constraints (SNV n.d.). \"Present business opportunities and allow self-selection\" (Jones 2016, p. 12). Select partners according to the area and the local constraints: \"in urban and peri-urban areas, partnering with large distributors can be particularly effective in order to reach out to a large number of customers; in rural areas, where such distributors are often inexistent, less conventional options can be examined, both among existing and potential entrepreneurs -including women-and local community networks of various natures\" (SNV n.d.). \"We found that the choice of pilot partner according to strategic fit between the pilot and their existing business, and their financial and management capability were important to intervention success and achieving impact at scale\" (Keddie et al. 2016, p. 13). Be patient; \"[n]ormative change does not happen at once\". It also operates at different levels of a system \"and require the participation of members of the community to uphold and reinforce expectations about men and women's roles in society\" (Burjorjee et al. 2017 p. 4). \"[Support] programme teams to recognise and address social norms at different stages of program design and implementation. [This can help them] to speak frankly and openly about gender norms and to navigate local contexts with sensitivity\" (Markel 2016, p. 6). \"Speak the language of your market actors and suggest appropriately packaged incentives\" (Miller and Markel 2016, p. 10). Listen to the needs, aspirations, barriers, and motivators of everyone involved (iDE n.d.).This domain refers to the flow of information between market actors through different channels and with varying levels of formality (from very formal documentation to informal and even nonverbal information 34 ). The most common examples in MSD programmes are information about progress made, results achieved, lessons learned and evidence of impacts and benefits.34 E.g. facial expressions and body language.Communication of progress, results, lessons, evidence of impacts and benefits  Communicate results (Apuyo 2016). Improving companies' information flows can support better management and strategic decisions (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). If a product has a long life-cycle, local demand saturation is a risk and, therefore, it \"may be very useful to reach out to a large pool of customers (e.g. several communities). For this, above-the-line (ATL) marketing, that is, indirect and large-scale advertising in the form of TV or radio spots for example, is useful as it can help build product awareness and a strong brand image\" (SNV n.d.). \"Normative messages delivered through an individual's most proximate group of friends or peers have a more substantial impact than messages that come from outside of his or her direct social network\" (Burjorjee et al. 2017, p. 3).  \"Programs that focus on gender-specific norms change […] should approach gender equality as an abundant resource that is good for the entire community and offers benefits to all\".Engaging both men and women \"in addressing social norms change is important in ensuring transformative change [For example,] highlight the benefit of women's greater financial inclusion to the whole family […] and minimize the disadvantages of changing gender roles\" (Markel et al. 2016, p. 7). \"A higher percentage of farmers reported that they would likely practice behaviors if they were exposed to multiple BBC [behavioural change communications] mediums. For BCC to be most effective, it is important to ensure that as many households as possible are exposed to multiple campaign messages\" (Danya Africa 2015, p. 24). \"[D]ue to illiteracy, […] farmers are generally not reading the package, but they are using [experience] to verify product quality […]\" (Matthews 2017). \"[I]ndividuals often fail to clearly understand and process […] messages that involve a percentage chance. Salient, simple messages that do not overstate the probabilistic effect of the product are most likely to work\" (Whitehouse et al.,p. 8). \"[R]eminder messages are quite effective in encouraging (correct) use\" (Whitehouse et al.,p. 8). Household structure (e.g. polygamy, monogamy, single-parent, migrant parent, extended family child care) and who receives the information in the household matters. Information might not always be shared between household members or, even when it is shared, the resulting decision will depend on their preferences and bargaining power. E.g. mothers attaching more importance to the health of their children than the fathers. (Whitehouse 2017, p. 9). Source: Robinson and Rust-Smith (2017, p. 20).This domain refers to the combination of competencies and skills that market actors require to find, test and evaluate innovations, as well as the competencies and skills they build through their exposure to the innovations. The most frequently mentioned characteristics where capacity to innovate, incremental change and learning, and capacity of early adopters and opinion leaders. Build farmers' capacity to find and evaluate profitable opportunities and increase the capacity of buyers and processors to source from smallholders. (Fowler and White 2015b, p.2). Provide technical assistance (Wilson 2016). Transferrable skills in opportunity identification are key. Projects should avoid viewing market actors solely through the lens of a single crop or commodity (Fowler and White 2015b, p. 3). \"Input application knowledge is an important complement to input access. Without knowledge of appropriate application, and the incentives to apply them, the delivery of improved inputs will have minimal or even negative effects.[…] It is essential that those investing in input delivery invest simultaneously in extension services to address this significant barrier to scale.\" (Fowler and White 2015a, p. 4). \"[Support] market players to innovate and improve their existing roles or take on new roles\" (Hakemulder and Wilson n.d.,p. 14). \"Think twice before assuming a 'lack of capacity'. Consider the behaviours, incentives and attitudes among people who appear to lack capacity. Why haven't they acquired that capacity?\" (Seely 2016). Build on existing business models and strategies of partners. Partners have their own strategies -do not impose your own \"innovative strategy\" (Apuyo 2016). Institutional change processes are lengthy. Export market access is complex and often expensive for producers and suppliers. Small, incremental shifts in farmer production systems are more likely to be adopted than larger shifts Pilots should be conservative and ensure that market commitments are in-line with realistic changes in farmer production systems in a single season. The complexity of commercial relationships means they must be built gradually, starting with simple business models that both parties understand (Fowler and White 2015b, pp. 12, 18-19, 21). \"We found that business innovations developed largely by the partner, or by the partner and the project together, were more likely to be successful than innovations developed by the project which then induced the partner to adopt\" (Keddie et al. 2016, p. 13). \"[M]ost health products are 'experience goods', meaning that households need to learn how to use them and what their effects are while using them. In theory, subsidies […] might allow households to […] learn about the product [and] incentivise the household to sustain use, even after the subsidies have been removed\" (Whitehouse et al.,p. 5). If people show interest in an innovation, it is important to create conditions for them to experience it first-hand. For example, \"local demonstrations, trial periods and free services like […] installation for new users\" (SNV n.d.). \"Farmers can readily learn upgraded practices from other farmers, but well-qualified technical and extension personnel are needed to initiate the learning process\" (Dunn et al. 2011, p. ix). \"A key requirement for any successful stove distribution is a capable and committed sales force\". Sales agents need to be rigorously selected. Some criteria are experience (e.g. in retail), motivation and reputation. \"[P]roper capacity-building, incentives and oversight should also be put in place and ensured on an ongoing basis.\" (SNV n.d.). \"One of the most effective ways to reach out to communities and convince them of the lifechanging impacts of owning an improved stove is to rely on peer connections and word of mouth […] When it comes to generating actual demand, trusted community members and family members can relay the benefits of a new product\" (SNV n.d.). Bring \"recognition and visibility to early adopters for behaviours consistent with social norms that promote women's empowerment\" (Markel et al. 2016, p. 7). \"Confidence and competency appear to be a key ingredient for [a] comfortable interaction [between women service providers and other market actors]\" (Jones 2016, p. 9). \"[I]dentify sub-sectors where a large number of women are already working, and where some women have already been empowered economically. These role models can help other women become exposed to potential alternative roles\" (Miller and Markel 2016, p. 10).Practically all the excerpts presented above are part of a rich and complex context. Extracting them from their contexts and categorising them as domains is useful to detect patterns of practice but we should always remember that these domains are interdependent and contextual and that no single factor is enough for scale-up to happen. For example, standardisation can reduce the costs of a business model but at the same time introduce barriers for some users.The following diagram proposes a model showing the relationship between each one of the six domains: The following table is a comparison between the main components of DOI theory and the findings from the MSD literature review, as synthesised in the Six Domains model: There is evidence of MSD programmes paying attention to some of the characteristics highlighted by DOI, particularly: Appropriateness and flexibility: Similar to compatibility.  Affordability: Similar to relative advantage.  Standardisation: This could be similar to complexity; however, standardisation can make an innovation more or less complex (not always less complex).Trialability can have a significant effect on perceptions of risk.Observability contributes strongly to the communications domain (the more 'observable' the effects of an innovation, the easier it will be to communicate them).Trialability and observability are also linked to the idea of demonstration effect.Innovation-decision process: Knowledge: Exposure to & basic understanding of innovation.There is evidence that some MSD programmes take into account one or more of the innovation-decision stages. For example, trial periods, free samples and subsidies are used to increase market actors' exposure and knowledge about new products and services; and Reinforcing decision and maintaining innovation in use.technical assistance and peer-support groups are used to help market actors implement the innovations.What is not clear from the literature is to what extent MSD programmes are using DOI theory (or any other similar theory) to plan and implement the process that market actors must go through to adopt an innovation and keep on using it.The term is not used in DOI theory (Rogers 1995). This gap may be explained by the fact that his DOI theory approaches innovation in a punctual or discrete way: an idea, practice or object (p. 11), not as a diffused entity that manifests in one or more networks.A business model is indeed an innovation andtherefore, its design should consider the characteristics proposed by DOI (see the Design domain in this table, above). However, it is much more than a discrete entity; it is a 'networked' entity that brings together different types of market actors around the objective of value addition through relationships of collaboration and coordination. These relationships are not only of an economic and technological nature; they are also social, cultural, emotional and so on.The MSD literature includes many references to the idea of business model and there are programmes that are carefully considering the design, context and requirements for business models to be effective, sustainable and scalable.Social system: Three aspects of social systems: structure, norms and actors.There is significant evidence of MSD programmes considering actors, relationships and norms. This is to be expected because these characteristics are inherent to the MSD approach and it would be impossible for an MSD programme to function without them.However, there are very few examples of MSD programmes considering structural properties and patterns of networks, such as size, density, centrality and connectedness, to make strategic decisions. The use of network analysis techniques is relatively new in the MSD field and there are significant technical challenges and high costs involved due to data scarcity, fragmentation, subjectivity and secrecy. Nevertheless, some MSD programmes that have used these techniques report that they have helped them quantify and monitor structural change in market systems. (See case 5).Communication and communication channels:Two main types: Mass media and interpersonal.Diversity: Homo and heterophily. How much variance between market actors?There is evidence of programmes using both mass media and interpersonal communications to stimulate scale-up.It is more frequent to find examples of the latter but interest in strategic use of mass media in MSD is growing.Some programmes make use of homophily in the form of peer-support, farmer-to-farmer communications, and local sales agents. However, there is no mention of strategic use of heterophily, for example in stakeholder selection and interventions that bring different types of stakeholders together to address market blockages.Innovativeness of individuals:Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.As it was shown in table 1 above, capacity building is one of the most common practices in the implementation of scale-up strategies. However, most MSD programmes still focus their capacity building efforts on those with whom the programme works closely with the aim of helping them adopt new practices and behaviours.Some MSD programmes recognise that different market actors have different levels of 'innovativeness'. Only a few, such as the Market Assistance Programme in Kenya 35 , use these differences to assess systemic change.No evidence was found of intentional efforts by MSD programmes to (i) assess the levels of innovativeness of the market actors before they are trained; (ii) select the trainees accordingly; and (iii) build their capacity not just to help them adopt new behaviours but also, and mainly, to drive their diffusion and promote scale-up.There are programmes where mass media play a central role that also pay attention to the early majority, but their interventions focus on information and awareness raising; not on training or coaching.There is no evidence of explicit considerations about the characteristics and capacity needs of the late majority.This literature review shows that MSD programmes are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of behaviour change for scalability and sustainability. However, more work is needed before MSD programmes embrace behavioural science in a systematic way to boost their impacts.The MSD approach has a general theory of change which depends, initially, on the engagement of a relatively small group of innovators and early adopters with whom the programme interacts However, DOI has weaknesses and gaps. An example of a weakness is the so called 'individualblame bias' (i.e. the tendency to hold an individual responsible for his or her problems, rather than the system of which the individual is a part), which has important consequences for the selection and engagement of market actors. An example of a gap is the lack of attention to business models as niches of innovation and drivers of diffusion and scale up. In this area, MSD can contribute to the fields of behaviour change, diffusion of innovations and scale-up. A closer connection and a richer conversation between experts in these fields could bear important fruits for MSD programme effectiveness and efficiency.Another finding is the absence of detailed descriptions and analysis of the facilitation strategies used by the programmes. This is crucial, given the paramount importance of facilitation in the adoption and adaptation processes (as proposed in the AAER model). It is possible that programme teams plan and manage the facilitation process well, but in most cases these details are not described in their reports or case studies. When they are, there are no theoretically-grounded explanations of why certain facilitation strategies were used or why they worked or not. In other words, there is no explicit intention to scientifically test (within the limitations of social research) the effects of their facilitation strategies on adoption, scale-up and sustainability.It is clear from this review that MSD programmes have curiosity and desire to learn more about the ways in which facilitation, systemic change and behaviour change interact to produce scaling-up. But unless implementers and donors recognise that MSD is as much about process as it is about outcomes, the valuable lessons that these teams are learning about how toIn the MSD literature most of the attention is paid to building the capacity of different market actors to adopt new practices and of lead firms to expand. Of particular importance here is Driving strategies and governance: In the first half of this review, we identified two driving strategies: network-driven and firm-driven strategies (see fig. 9). The second half shows the factors that must be considered to execute these strategies effectively (see table 2). A relevant area of research could attempt to explore how these factors affect the scale-up strategies in different ways. Within this area of research, there is a specific question about governance that should be studied in detail. 'Value chain' governance -as proposed by Gereffi and others back in the 1990s (Gereffi et al. 2005, p. 82) -is deeply related to the relationships that market actors develop to do business, innovate and learn from each other.For example, in a firm-driven strategy, the MSD team will most likely be dealing with 'captive value chains' (one of the five types of governance 37 ), high levels of vertical integration and -in some cases-dominant market position (oligopoly or even monopoly). This is different to a network-driven strategy, where the team will most likely be dealing with 'market' or 'relational' linkages, low vertical integration and relatively low switching costs to other buyers and suppliers.Taking these differences into account, a reasonable research hypothesis is that the scale-up 36 To some readers this might sound like an old and tired recommendation but this deficiency at the policy and practice levels is still hampering the effectiveness of systemic development programmes. For example, in 2014, Schut and his colleagues reviewed 107 publications to study the relation between crop protection and systems approaches to innovation. They found that \"[a]pproaches focussing on structural transformations to enhance the overall crop protection system's capacity to generate and respond to change are discussed, but generally receive little attention\" (Schut et al. 2014, p. 105). 37 The five types of value chain governance proposed by Gereffi et al. (2005, pp. 83-84) are -from low to high costs of switching to new relationships: markets (low costs of switching), modular value chains (tailored services), relational value chains (reputation and family and ethnic ties), captive value chains (small suppliers highly dependent on lead firms) and hierarchy (full vertical integration).factors identified in the second half of the review (e.g. product design, risks, costs, trust-building and capacity building) will have different impacts on the behaviour of the market actors depending on the prevailing chain governance structures.Perceptions: This area of research can help MSD programmes improve their facilitation processes and strategies by providing a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of market actors throughout the innovation-decision process? How do market actors -in particular early adopters-perceive MSD programme staff and how does this affect rates of adoption? How do market actors (both public and private) calculate the benefits and risks of innovation in different contexts? There is already a lot of knowledge about these issues in fields like marketing, psychology and behavioural science, but the MSD community could benefit greatly by applying this knowledge to MSD programmes in a more systematic way.Strategic niche management (SNM): Studying MSD in detail it is hard not to make a connection with the SNM approach, which \"suggests that sustainable innovation journeys can be facilitated by creating technological niches, i.e. protected spaces that allow the experimentation with the co-evolution of technology, user practices, and regulatory structures\" (Schot and Geels 2008, p. 537). This is an approach that has specialised since the 1980s in something very similar to what MSD has been trying to achieve: the creation of the right conditions for new pilots to work, take root in their local context and disseminate to the point that they displace other ideas (technologies, behaviours, practices) and transform the broader system where they operate.The recommendation here is to promote more dialogue and mutual learning between the MSD and SNM communities of practice.","tokenCount":"20019"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2788668955.json b/data/part_1/2788668955.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b621829f3e8606962be6fbda07e1be172e20e753
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2788668955.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b254b4667b04057bf96552f74e490065","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/04d46267-a698-4567-a414-dc39f3b4a812/retrieve","id":"802349178"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e1a9929-c72c-450a-9048-24409b11d067","pagecount":"4","content":"It is crucial for smallholder farmers and pastoralist to access and use relevant information and knowledge in order to adapt and respond successfully to changing opportunities and challenges in a market oriented development environment. The delivery of extension services in such contemporary environment requires innovative and inter-related approaches of knowledge management and capacity development.Agricultural knowledge management is a rather new concept in Ethiopia with only few projects trying out the approaches and extracting lessons. System for knowledge sharing and learning among all stakeholders of the county's agricultural sector was weak. Identifying this gap, Improving Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Smallholders (IPMS) project introduced agricultural knowledge management system in areas the project operates to enable institutions, practitioners, farmers and pastoralists to innovate and/or adopt appropriate technologies from research and development institutions for improved efficiency and increased output. Knowledge management closely links with capacity development in that certain sets of skills (technical, managerial) are required to implement interventions in most fruitful way. Though capacity development is an age old tool for agricultural extension in Ethiopia, the importance of linking it with Knowledge Management (KM) and designing such training in an innovative way is a recent experience. Both KM and capacity development takes place in a complex social, political and economical environment.This paper looks into KM and capacity development experiences and lessons of a donor funded development project in Ethiopia, Improving Productivity and market Success (IPMS) from 2004-2012, by discussing the process and approaches used in KM and capacity development and extracting good practices in KM to transform subsistence agriculture system into market oriented agricultural development.The delivery of extension services in the contemporary environment of developing countries requires innovative and inter-related approaches of knowledge management, skills development and partner linkages. IPMS project has been testing different tools and processes that give emphasis on market demand, knowledge sharing, capacity development and public-private partnership for improving the extension service delivery in 10 pilot districts of four regional states of the country. Taking into consideration of the three socially enacted processes of Knowledge Management: Knowledge capturing/ generation, storage/retrieval, and sharing/transfer, IPMS devised and tested various tools and approaches to achieve its objective in knowledge management. The three process of knowledge management represents both its cognitive and social nature and utilization both at individual and collective practices and culture. KM in IPMS was also divided into internal-within the project, and external-beyond the project. Project benchmarks and progress indicators were identified in the first quarter of the project implementation with regular follow-up on the processes.Various project documentations on knowledge management, capacity development, and project monitoring and evaluation reports both at headquarters and sites were consulted to compile this paper.Of the objectives of IPMS, managing its organizational knowledge meant availing and amplifying knowledge created by project partners and staff at all levels as well as crystallizing and connecting tacit knowledge with explicit knowledge in such a way that it magnifies the development endeavor.The KM system of IPMS considered increased awareness and understanding of knowledge requirements for managing the priority commodities of the farming systems; increased access to appropriate technologies by target groups; establishment of a National Agricultural Information Resource Center (NARIC) and deployment of ICT infrastructure to support the KM activities and make them functional at regional, zonal and district levels. The expected output of the overall KM intervention at startup phase was development of a sustainable knowledge management system that makes use of advanced technologies to capture, synthesize, store and share knowledge.Communication tools are often necessary to enable the knowledge transfer process, although this does not always mean ICT tools. For explicit knowledge, more and more information and communication tools are available, such as the Internet, databases, expert locators, workflow systems, etc. Depending on the context, capacity and efficiency, IPMS have managed to use the above tools for project management and internal communication as well as to reach wider audiences. These tools, through which data, information, and knowledge are transferred and transformed from one state to another are categorized into three KM processes;Knowledge Capturing: This comprises activities associated with the entry of new knowledge into a system, and includes knowledge development, discovery and capture (Newman and Conrad, 1999). Tools identified for capturing knowledge by IPMS are: research by Bachelors and Masters students; field days and study tours at different levels; and setting up knowledge centers where experts and development agents find knowledge and information in different formats-books, CDs, DVDs, internet and the like. Research by graduate students proved to be more relevant and practical solution-oriented in a context especially when institutions, employees and intended research output users are involved in the processors. Study tours and field days are age old tools of KM. They are both for knowledge capturing and sharing. These tools enable participants to learn about new technologies, practices, and get inspired from others' experiences through evaluating their own journey, challenging their perception, creating new ideas, and benefiting from such reflections. It also provides opportunities to network with like-minded individuals who are also engaged in endeavors they are trying to adapt.Knowledge Storing: includes all activities that preserve knowledge and allow it to remain in the system once introduced (Newman and Conrad, 1999). IPMS and the Ministry of Agriculture collaborated and developed the Ethiopian Agriculture Portal www.eap.gov.et after realizing the challenge and impact of not having easier access to up-to-date documents on good practices, research outputs, and capacity development for market oriented agricultural development. Many documents currently available on the portal were heretofore only available in hard copies and even then in very limited distributions. In addition to the Ethiopian Agriculture Portal, IPMS also had its own website www.ipms-ethiopia.org for storing and sharing project documentations.Knowledge Sharing: refers to activities associated with the flow of knowledge from one party to another. This includes communication, translation, conversion, filtering and rendering. Agricultural knowledge centers (AKC) at regional, zonal and district levels were used as tools for building a culture of informal knowledge sharing among extension staff. They also served as places for knowledge capturing and knowledge storing. Methods used to make the AKC functional include; hosting seminars by experts from the regional agricultural research institution on new technologies/systems in agriculture development; knowledge sharing platform after a certain visit in or outside of the organization; as a place of brainstorming and reflection on the agricultural practices; a place to re-play recorded sessions of seminars. Field visits and other activities in the local area. Short videos, Participatory Agricultural Radio Series, Posters and flyers were other means of knowledge sharing. The tools were prepared in local languages for increased awareness and knowledge of commodity value chains by producers and development agents.IPMS focused on strengthening innovation capacity of farmers, pastoralists, community-based and private sector organizations, and agriculture and natural resource management public organizations, through technical and entrepreneurial skills development and, facilitating linkages between relevant actors. In the mean time the project facilitated the development of skills and capacity of the service providers through formal support for in country Masters and Bachelors degree training.The IPMS project felt that strengthening and enhancing the capacity of Farmer Training Center (FTC)based training and knowledge services is important to leverage and optimize the potential contribution of FTCs to market-led and knowledge-based development of smallholder agriculture. Accordingly, IPMS carried out various KM and capacity building interventions such as; strengthening capacity of development agents through formal in-service training and involving DAs in knowledge sharing and learning events such as study tours, participation in commodity platform; equipped selected FTCs with computers, printers, audio-visual equipment (TV sets and DVD players), training and extension materials (printed publications as well as audio and video based materials), and telephone and Internet connections. They were provided with technical assistance and linkage facilitation service.The IPMS project followed systematic and step-wise approaches of knowledge management and capacity development by support of various ICT and non ICT tools that facilitated multidirectional knowledge flows, empowerment of practitioners and linkage creation to improve productivity, profitability and sustainability of market oriented agricultural development. Major tools and processes that brought the intervention to fruition include; establishment of agricultural knowledge centers for up to date and relevant information resource delivery, enhancement of program delivery and technical skills through participatory training; establishing partnership with various stakeholders and institutions at all levels; and developing a web based platform, Ethiopian agriculture portal www.eap.gov.et, for availing agricultural resources relevant to Ethiopian agriculture. A lesson from IPMS on implementing the above components include; the need for an overall understanding of knowledge as a critical 'input' to agricultural development being internalized among program implementers at all levels; importance in building capacity of actors.","tokenCount":"1423"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2789661618.json b/data/part_1/2789661618.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5500ed02c63d84221c56a2805b45b15c8ae7a54d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2789661618.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d739adcff7c3622b18f439d316e203c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee7e15a9-ae5c-41ba-aedb-db68430b6f3a/retrieve","id":"1180849886"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"075e47ee-f1e2-4f12-85b3-32ade24126ad","pagecount":"36","content":"anagement of postharvest food loss and waste (FLW) is an important strategy in efforts to sustainably meet the food and nutrition needs of the world's growing population. Sustainable food systems are critical to achieving food security and nutrition for all, now and in the future. Food systems cannot be sustainable when a large proportion of the food produced using limited resources is lost or wasted in the supply chain. At the global level, it is estimated that poor postharvest management means this is the case for 30 percent of the food produced for human consumption (FAO 2011(FAO , 2019)).The figure for Kenya is similar (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives 2018). The 2021 Food Waste Index Report (UNEP 2021) indicates that every Kenyan wastes about 100 kg of food every year, which adds up to 5.2 million metric tons1 per year, excluding food loss that happens upstream, from production to retail. In monetary terms, wasteful consumption accounts for slightly over US$500 million annually (Mbatia 2021). FLW exacerbates food insecurity and has negative impacts on the environment through waste of precious land, water, farm inputs, and energy used in producing food that is not consumed. In addition, postharvest losses, caused by poor storage conditions, reduce income to farmers and contribute to higher food prices.\"Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life\" (World Food Summit  1996). Food and nutrition security for all remains an elusive global goal, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in five people suffer from some form of food insecurity. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2021), about 26 percent of Kenya's population 1 Tons refers to metric tons throughout this volume.is food-insecure, a situation that has been aggravated by events such the COVID-19 pandemic, locust plagues, and insufficient rainfall.With an estimated growth rate of 2.3 percent per year, Kenya's current population of 53 million is set to rise to more than 100 million by the year 2050 (World Bank 2021). This calls for a paradigm shift in food production and consumption. Significant efforts have been made to increase production through expansion of agricultural land; increased inputs such as seed, water, and fertilizers; and overall intensification of production. However, increasing production of food that is ultimately not eaten, whether it is lost during the production and transformation processes or wasted at the consumption stage, entails a waste of economic and natural resources (HLPE 2014). Achieving food and nutrition security for the current population should not compromise the economic, social, and environmental bases for generating food security and nutrition for future generations. To create resilient and sustainable food systems, we must look beyond increasing production. Efforts must be made to ensure the food produced is used efficiently to reduce pressure on limited and inelastic production resources.FLW reduction has become a subject of interest at the global, regional, and national level. At global level, it is enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, under SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production, target 12.3 calls for halving per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels and reducing food loss along production and supply chains, including postharvest loss, by 2030. At the regional level, the African Union Heads of State and Government included in the 2014 Malabo Declaration a call to reduce postharvest losses by 50 percent by 2025. In Kenya, acknowledging the critical role of FLW reduction in efforts to address food and nutrition security, the Big Four agenda, under the Food and Nutrition Security pillar, sets a target of reducing FLW to 15 percent by 2022.The benefits of FLW reduction in the food supply chain are subject to discussion, with opinions varying. In efforts to reduce FLW, there are both gainers and losers (HLPE 2014;FAO 2019). There is a cost to FLW reduction, and those who bear it may not necessarily enjoy the benefits of their efforts. The impact of FLW reduction on various actors in the supply chain (farmers, distributors, traders, processors, or consumers) depends on how the effect on food prices is distributed along the supply chain (FAO 2019). Therefore, in analyzing the impact of FLW reduction, optimal levels of FLW must be considered from both a private and societal perspective. Moreover, some level of FLW is unavoidable and tolerable and therefore acceptable as part of doing business (HLPE 2014).Nevertheless, FLW represents needless use of limited resources to produce food that is not consumed and that ends up in landfills, with an even greater negative impact on food systems. Production, transportation, and handling of such food also has a significant negative impact on the environment. The total carbon footprint of food wastage is around 4.4 GtCO 2 eq per year, which is about 8 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions (WRI 2020). As such, FLW exacerbates the climate change crisis, thereby negatively affecting food production now and for future generations. Acknowledging the definition of \"sustainable food systems\" as ensuring food security and nutrition for all without compromising the economic, social, and environmental bases for generating the food security and nutrition of future generations (HLPE 2014), the critical role of FLW reduction is undeniable.FLW is a complex food systems problem, which varies significantly with the context. Therefore, efforts to address FLW must be contextualized. Relevant factors include differences in region or location, including agroecological, socioeconomic, sociocultural, and geopolitical variations. The causes and extent of FLW also vary significantly across food commodities, according to type, species, and even variety/breed within the same species. Food commodities have been categorized into five groups, namely cereals and pulses; fruits and vegetables; roots, tubers, and oil-bearing crops; animal products; and fish and fish products (FAO 2019).In this chapter, we describe and discuss FLW in Kenya with a focus on the fruits and vegetables commodity group. We present a case study of mango because of its importance and contribution to Kenya's horticulture subsector. Over 80 percent of horticultural farmers in Kenya are smallholders who derive their livelihoods from 2-5 acres of land. Horticultural food crops produced in Kenya for the domestic and export market include fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. Among these, mango is the second most important fruit (by volume) produced in Kenya for the domestic and export markets (HCD 2018). Mango has great potential as a source of income and therefore economic empowerment for many smallholder farmers. The fruit is suited to different agroecological zones in Kenya (from sub-humid to semiarid) and therefore is grown in most of the 47 counties of Kenya as a cash crop. A steady increase in demand for mango, in both the domestic and the global markets, has led to expansion of the area under mango production from below 40,000 ha in 2015 to more than 50,000 ha in 2018 (HCD 2020).However, as production volumes continue to increase in Kenya, high postharvest losses have been reported in the mango value chain. Such losses and other challenges in the mango value chain have hindered realization of the potential benefits of increased production volumes. Therefore, mango represents a good case study to highlight the importance of addressing FLW to complement efforts to increase production. The fruits and vegetables commodity group, to which mango belongs, sees high FLW (40-50 percent) (FAO 2011). The causes of and interventions to address FLW described in this chapter for mango are also relevant to other fruit and vegetable value chains.To tackle the problem of FLW, there is a need for a common understanding of what it means-the extent of FLW and the causes or drivers, including the critical loss points. In addition, to trigger the necessary action, the impact of FLW on food and nutrition security and its environmental footprint must be demonstrated. Further, there is a need to highlight regional and national initiatives in place to reduce FLW.FLW refers to the decrease in the mass of food (quantitative FLW) and the nutritional and/or economic quality of food (qualitative FLW) that was originally intended for human consumption. Food loss refers to food that is spilled, spoilt, or otherwise lost, or incurs a reduction of quality and value prior to the retail stage of the supply chain. Food loss typically takes place at the production, postharvest, processing, and distribution stages in the chain. It is a result of decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retailers, food service providers, and consumers (Figure 17.1). Food waste refers to food of good quality and that is fit for consumption that is not consumed because it is deliberately discarded. Food waste typically (but not exclusively) takes place at the retail FIGURE 17.1 The distinction between food loss and food waste Source: Authors' illustration.Transport Processing Retail Consumptionand consumption stages in the food supply chain (Figure 17.1). It results from decisions and actions by retailers, food service providers, and consumers. A dimension of loss that is often ignored or sees little reporting is qualitative loss. Food quality loss or waste refers to the decrease of a quality attribute of food (nutritional, safety, or other aspect) that is linked to degradation at any stage of the food chain from harvest to consumption. Qualitative losses may occur without a decrease in the quantity of food and is therefore hardly reported. Decreases in nutritional value (for example, a decrease in vitamins) or economic value (for example, because of noncompliance with set standards) are examples of qualitative losses. Loss of quality can also lead to unsafe consumption that has a long-term effect on population health (HLPE 2014).Globally, an estimated 30 percent of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted (FAO 2011, 2019. According to FAO (2011), FLW ranges between 26 and 36 percent globally but the distribution of food loss versus food waste along the supply chain differs across regions. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, where FLW is estimated to be 36 percent, the highest losses ( food loss) occur upstream at the production, postharvest handling, and storage stages. These stages alone account for 72 percent of total FLW, while the consumption stage accounts for only 5 percent. Developed economies in Europe and North America grapple more with downstream losses ( food waste), with the retail and consumption stages accounting for most of the FLW (FAO 2011;HLPE 2014).Certain value chains are more prone than others to FLW. For example, FLW in cereals and pulses is estimated to be about 8 percent, whereas 22 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost between production and the retail stage (FAO 2019). In Kenya, FLW in fruits and vegetables is even higher (40-50 percent or more) depending on the commodity. For mango in particular, FLW ranges between 35 and 45 percent (Gor et al. 2012;Snel et al. 2021). A major reason for high losses in fruits and vegetables is their perishability, which predisposes them to deterioration right from the point of harvesting up to consumption. The high losses in these nutritious food commodities have a negative effect on nutrition security, as Kenyan diets are generally deficient in fruits and vegetables.Identification of causes of FLW is critical in efforts to find context-appropriate solutions. Causes of FLW along the food supply chain are interrelated such that actions at one stage can affect all the rest. Immediate or direct causes of losses are linked to individuals' actions in dealing with the primary effects of a biological, microbial, chemical, biochemical, mechanical, physical, physiological, or psychological nature that lead to FLW. However, these immediate causes could be a result of other secondary reasons beyond the control of the individual actors.Broadly, the causes of FLW can be organized into three levels, as micro-, meso-, and macro-level causes, based on the actors involved and the level of economic activity at which FLW is produced (HLPE 2014). Micro-level causes are primary causes of FLW that are attributed to actions or lack of action by individual actors at each stage of the supply chain from production to consumption. Meso-level causes are secondary or structural causes of FLW attributed to organizations or relationships of actors, the state of infrastructure, and other  factors beyond individual actions. They contribute to the occurrence and extent of micro-level losses. Macro-level causes are attributed to systemic issues such as an inadequate institutional or policy environment to enable proper functioning and coordination of food system actors. Macro-level causes point toward a food system malfunction.Causes of FLW can also be categorized as direct and indirect (FAO 2019). The FAO describes direct causes as those attributed to actions (or lack of action) of individual actors that lead to FLW along the chain. Indirect causes are more systemic and concern the economic, cultural, and political environment of the food system in which the actors operate, and which may influence their decisions that lead to FLW. From a policy perspective, the indirect causes affect the decisions of individual actors that must be addressed so as to establish targeted interventions. It is noteworthy that, often, the losses observed at one stage of the supply chain could be a result of actions (or lack of action) at a different stage. Therefore, the supply chain should be viewed as a conveyor belt whereby the action of one actor at one stage could compromise the whole chain. Therefore, interventions to address FLW should be holistic and not isolated to the apparent causes at a single stage.Mango is a climacteric fruit (like many other tropical fruits and vegetables), making it highly perishable, with a short shelf life after harvest. In postharvest handling, fruits such as mango are considered \"living.\" This is because they still perform physiological functions such as respiration and transpiration, which are critical for living. As a climacteric fruit, mango can be harvested at physiological maturity and left to continue ripening after harvest. During ripening, the fruit undergoes compositional changes that transform the inedible form into the edible form with desirable eating characteristics. Biological/physiological processes that continue after harvest and that contribute to deterioration of mango fruits after harvest include respiration (which leads to depletion of stored food reserves), transpiration (which results in water loss), softening (which makes the produce prone to mechanical damage and subsequent rotting), and ethylene evolution (which triggers ripening and/or deteriorative changes). The rate of these biological processes depends on environmental factors including the temperature, humidity, and gas composition of the environment in which the fruit is stored or handled. Therefore, measures to preserve postharvest quality and slow deterioration and consequent FLW in mangoes are premised on the need to manage the biological and environmental factors that contribute to deterioration.Poor harvest practices; poor handling of the harvested fruits; inappropriate storage practices, including poor cold chain management; and lack of capacity to transform the perishable fruit into shelf-stable products are some of the upstream micro-level causes of losses in mangoes and other fruits. At the meso level, poor public infrastructure, including roads, not only contributes to mechanical injuries during transport but also affects accessibility to markets. In addition, poor organization of actors in the value chain and stringent market standards are some of the meso-level drivers of FLW in mango value chains. At the macro level, FLW in mango is attributed to the impact of poor policies, laws, and regulations. For example, taxation regulations that deter the import of postharvest technologies have a negative impact on access to affordable technologies. Moreover, lack of investment in research and extension services by the government has negative impacts on efforts to develop and disseminate homegrown solutions to FLW. Figure 17.3 depicts the organization of common causes of FLW in the mango value chain (and those of other fruits and vegetables) at micro, meso, and macro levels.  Addressing the causes of food loss and waste in the mango value chainThe solutions to FLW, like the causes, can also be organized at three levels (micro, meso, and macro) depending on the value chain. In the sections below, the interventions described focus on the mango value chain but are also applicable to most fruit and vegetable value chains in the Kenyan context.Interventions to address FLW must be designed to be context-appropriate, with attention to the characteristics of the geographic region, commodity, scale of operation, and stage of the supply chain, among other key considerations. There is no single intervention that can be recommended to holistically address the drivers/ causes of postharvest losses. However, a set of technologies, practices, and other interventions may be combined to reduce FLW. Simple technologies and practices that individual actors (or actors organized in groups) can apply at different stages of the supply chain to preserve quality and reduce losses are described.Poor harvest and immediate postharvest handing practices contribute significantly to postharvest losses in mango and other fruits and vegetables. Poor harvest practices result in mechanical injuries leading to immediate and/or later spoilage of commodities because they are predisposed to biological agents of deterioration. Although the injuries may not be evident at the time of harvest, they ultimately manifest at later stages of the supply chain, leading to disposal of the fruits (Snel et al. 2021). Therefore, harvesting practices should be aimed at minimizing mechanical injuries to the fruits. For example, in mango, simple harvesting tools such as fruit pickers can be used instead of the common practice of shaking tall trees to fell the fruits. After harvest, presorting the fruits to remove those that are infected or infested by pests and diseases is important to avoid contamination of the whole batch (Kader 2005). Further, sorting the fruits based on the size and stage of ripening can reduce on-farm losses because it reduces handling further down the supply chain.Rough handling of produce during packaging for transport also results in mechanical injuries that affect the quality of the produce. Other handling practices such as using inappropriate containers may either cause injuries or predispose the fruits to faster deterioration as a result of the unfavorable environment in the packaging containers. Common materials used for packaging fruits and vegetables by smallholders in developing countries like Kenya include wooden or plastic crates, nylon sacks, polythene bags, woven palm baskets, and jute sacks (Teutsch 2018). The aim of the packaging process is to protect the fruits from mechanical damage; to prevent physical, chemical, and biological contamination; and to avoid tampering with the fruits (Prasad and Kochhar 2014). Some of the packaging materials used by farmers and traders to package mango fruits, such as nylon sacks and polythene bags (Figure 17.4, plate C), accelerate produce deterioration leading to qualitative and quantitative losses.Crates have been promoted as the preferred containers for handling fruits and vegetables. Traders prefer wooden crates because of the cost but their rough surfaces inflict injury on fruits. Packaging and handling of fruits and vegetables is shifting to plastic crates, which are clean, light, and durable. They deliver satisfactory protection against compression damage. Notably, unlike wooden types, they have a smooth inside finish, are easy to clean, and are reusable and stackable (Accorsi et al. 2014). A standard bread crate with a capacity of 20-30 kg (plates A and B) costs approximately $6. Special crates that are stackable, nestable, or collapsible cost a little more ($15-25) but have the advantage of saving space when empty. Nestable crates are especially recommended because they can be nested/stacked when packed with produce without causing any injuries to the produce.Maintenance of low but safe temperatures during handling from harvest to end-user (the cold chain) is critical to preserve the quality of perishable produce such as mango (Ambuko et al. 2016). The cold chain for perishable produce ensures that cool temperatures are maintained as the fruit is handled during harvest, collection/aggregation, transport, storage, processing, and marketing until it reaches the final consumers (Kitinoja 2014). This includes minimizing delays between harvesting and cooling of the produce that could result in significant quantitative and qualitative losses (Kader 2002). Handling of perishable produce at suboptimal temperatures aggravates deterioration from biological agents. Research shows that an increase in temperature by 10°C above optimum increases the deterioration rate in perishable commodities two to threefold (Kader 2005).A cold chain is often perceived as a complex and sophisticated system with high-tech facilities such as conventional cold rooms and refrigerated transport. However, a 2021 study of mango by Amwoka and colleagues revealed that an appreciable cold chain could be achieved through appropriate harvest and postharvest handling practices coupled with simple low-cost storage technologies. During harvest, the time of day at which harvesting is carried out has a significant effect on the postharvest longevity of the fruits (ibid.). For the majority of mango farmers, harvesting is a continuous process that can take place at any time of day as long as there is a buyer. However, harvesting produce at cooler times of day reduces the heat load on the produce that results from high temperatures and exposure to direct sunlight when fruits are harvested at hotter times of the day (Kiaya 2014;Amwoka et al. 2021). Harvested produce should be transported from the field to storage immediately. Delays in the field can expose the produce to more heat, leading again to a high heat load in harvested crops, which negatively affects shelf life and quality (Kiaya 2014). After harvest, mango fruits destined for long-term storage benefit greatly from precooling to remove the field heat. Precooling not only saves energy during cold storage but also ensures uniform produce temperature during storage (Amwoka et al. 2021).Proper cold chain management practices complement storage technologies to preserve the quality of harvested produce. Conventional cold rooms provide the best temperature-controlled storage environment for fruits and vegetables. However, the cost of installation and maintenance of conventional cold rooms is beyond reach for most small-scale farmers in developing countries like Kenya. Unreliable access to electricity also presents a major constraint in adopting such technologies.To overcome the challenge of access to conventional cooling for smallholders, there have been research efforts to find low-cost alternatives that are suited for rural areas in Kenya. These include off-grid evaporative cooling technologies, solar-powered cold storage, and affordable on-grid technologies. Off-grid evaporative cooling operates on the principle of evaporative heat exchange. When hot air from outside passes over a wetted pad/medium, the water in the wetted pad evaporates as it draws heat from the surrounding air, creating a cooling effect (Lal Basediya, Samuel, and Beera 2013). The cooler and more humid conditions inside the evaporative cooling chamber preserve the quality and extend the shelf life of perishable horticultural produce. Research has shown that a temperature difference of 2-15 o C between ambient air and inside an evaporative cooling chamber can be achieved depending on the time of day and season (Appendix 17.1). In addition, high relative humidity (≥99 percent) has been achieved in evaporative cooling chambers (Ambuko et al. 2017;Amwoka et al. 2021).Various evaporative cooling technologies have been tested and proven effective at preserving quality in perishable produce. Examples of these include the evaporative charcoal cooler, the zero energy brick cooler, the pot-in-pot cooler, and the hessian sack cooling chamber. Appendix 17.1 describes the zero energy brick cooler and the evaporative charcoal cooler.Other, off-grid solar-powered, cold storage technologies that have been promoted for application in mango and other perishable produce include Freshbox2, Solar Freeze3, and JuaBaridi, among others. Although these off-grid technologies have proven effective in preserving postharvest quality of mango and other fruits and vegetables, their adoption rate is still very low.Low-tech on-grid solutions have also been proposed to overcome the cost constraints of conventional cold rooms. An example of this is the Coolbot™ cold room, which is a walk-in on-grid cold room that offers a low-cost alternative to conventional cold rooms. The Coolbot controller is an electronic gadget that uses multiple sensors and a programmed microcontroller that directs the air conditioner to operate at the desired temperature without freezing up (Dubey and Raman 2014). A 4 m by 4 m unit can cool up to 200 standard bread crates of stored fresh produce to temperatures as low as 4 o C. The Coolbot technology is environmentally friendly, uses little energy, and has very low carbon emissions. The technology was introduced in Kenya on a pilot scale in 2015 and is available on order. On-station and on-farm studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in preserving quality and extending the shelf life of mango fruits (Karithi 2016;Ambuko et al. 2018a;Amwoka et al. 2021). Even though the Coolbot has significant cost advantages over conventional storage facilities, the costs are still out of reach for many smallholder farmers. A standard 4 m by 4 m unit can cost between $3,000 and $6,500 (compared with $10,000 for a conventional facility with similar capacity) depending on the level of sophistication and the availability of materials used in its fabrication (Kitinoja 2014;Karithi 2016;Ambuko et al. 2018a). However, the Coolbot has the advantage of low installation and maintenance costs compared with conventional cold rooms.In addition to improved practices and cold chains, there are complementary technologies that can be applied to enhance quality preservation in mango and other fruits. Examples of these are modified atmospheric packaging (MAP), the application of edible coatings and waxes, and natural plant hormones that can reduce losses. These technologies extend shelf life and preserve quality by reducing the rate of deteriorative processes such as respiration, transpiration, ethylene evolution, and pathological breakdown. For example, MAP using the right film has been shown to preserve the postharvest quality of mango fruits (Githiga et al. 2014). However, these beneficial effects of MAP can be realized only when the right film, whose permeability characteristics have been optimized to suit the physiological characteristics of the fruit, is used. In addition, the right storage temperature is important. A combination of the Coolbot cold room and MAP has been shown to extend the shelf of mango further compared with cold storage alone (Ambuko et al. 2018b).The shelf life of mango fruits can also be extended through application of edible coatings or waxes. The thin film lowers the loss of water and slows gas diffusion resulting in reduced shriveling and respiration rates in the stored fruits. In addition, the thin film prevents fruit bruises during handling. Waxing effectiveness in mango has been demonstrated in the Apple mango variety, where waxing extended the fruits' shelf life by at least five days relative to unwaxed fruits (Maina et al. 2019).The use of natural hormones can also improve the shelf life of fruits such as mango. An example of natural hormone-line compounds that have application in fruit quality preservation is 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). It is a competitive inhibitor of the ripening hormone, ethylene, which is known to trigger ripening and the related physiological processes that lead to spoilage of fruits and vegetables. The effectiveness of 1-MCP in extending the shelf life of mango fruit has been demonstrated in various mango varieties of commercial importance in Kenya, including Tommy Atkins and Apple (Ambuko et al. 2016). Although 1-MCP is widely used globally in fruit and vegetables, its adoption is limited in Kenya, and mainly in avocado fruits. Efforts are being made by the parent company, AgroFresh4, to promote the use of 1-MCP in Kenya for other fruits and vegetables.Although the technologies described above have been shown to be effective and have the potential to reduce FLW in mango and other perishable commodities, their adoption is limited. Factors that limit adoption include high initial costs of installation (particularly for individual farmers), lack of scale to generate a positive return on investments, and absence of financial incentives to improve the quality of produce. This last issue arises because, especially in the local market, pricing is not guided by any quality standards. The organization of actors into groups can overcome these barriers and facilitate better vertical integration and market access. Operationalization of this can be achieved using different approaches. The sections below describe two approaches to the organization of horticultural farmers and linking them to markets (horizontal and vertical integration). The approaches represent meso-level interventions that have been tested and proven to work in Kenya's context.Produce aggregation can help farmers achieve the scale traders demand. In groups, farmers can collectively demand premiums for quality and share the costs of expensive technologies. In Kenya, the concept of produce aggregation has been pursued among smallholder mango farmers under the Rockefeller Foundation's YieldWise initiative. In this, smallholder mango farmers who are organized in groups gain access to cold storage facilities, allowing them to aggregate their individual small volumes over time to achieve the quantities traders demand. In addition, such centers set standards for the produce to be delivered by smallholder farmers, and thus accept only high-quality produce. This approach assures not only the quality but also the quantity and consistency of the produce aggregated. Box 17.1 describes the Karurumo smallholder horticultural self-help group (in Embu county in Kenya), which is one of the beneficiaries of the initiative's pilot. The farmers affiliated with the group have been able to aggregate their produce for targeted traders including exporters and local anchor buyers and traders.BOX 17.1 Smallholder horticulture aggregation and processing centers: Mango case study It is estimated that 40-50 percent of mango fruits produced in Kenya goes to waste, especially during the peak season between November and March. Because farmers lack storage facilities for the highly perishable fruit, they are at the mercy of brokers. A price survey conducted in 2017 and 2020 revealed that, while most traders buy mangoes at a paltry KSh 3-5 at the farmgate, the same fruits retail for as much as KSh 100 in Nairobi's retail outlets. In 2017, the University of Nairobi Postharvest Project team set out to change this with support from the Rockefeller Foundation's YieldWise initiative. The project sought to demonstrate the potential of smallholder aggregation and processing to reduce postharvest losses in fruits such as mango.A smallholder horticultural aggregation and processing center was established for the Karurumo horticultural self-help group in Embu county. The center is a full-scale aggregation and processing center with cold storage facilities for aggregation complemented by simple equipment for small-scale wet and dry processing. The installed cold facilities include an evaporative charcoal cooler and two zero energy brick coolers as well as a Coolbot cold room. Based on best practices for horticultural produce handling and cold chain management, produce is sorted and graded based on the market destination. Thereafter, it is precooled in the evaporative coolers to remove the field heat prior to storage in the Coolbot cold room.Installed small-scale processing facilities include a juice processing line and two solar tunnel dryers. These have enabled farmers to transform the unsold fruit into shelf-stable products. During the peak season, the fruits that are too ripe for the market or that have some defects that make then unsellable are pulped and pasteurized. The pulp is later used to make other products, such ready-to-drink juices, juice concentrates, and jam. With these facilities, farmers are no longer forced to sell the fruits to brokers at low prices. Meanwhile, with cold storage, they can aggregate produce that meets the requirements of traders, in quantity, quality, and consistency terms. This means they can collectively negotiate for better prices from traders. At this point, farmers have been able to negotiate KSh 10 per piece-more than twice the standard farmgate price paid by traders. And if traders are unwilling to pay better prices, farmers can transform the perishable fruits into shelf-stable products. With market access, these processed products have been shown to fetch even better returns than the fresh fruits. When mango fruits are out of season, farmers can use the storage and processing facilities for other fruits and vegetables.Source: Ambuko (2020).Production of fruits and vegetables must be linked to markets and consumers through stable value chains to ensure sustainability (FAO and CIRAD 2021). Long and inefficient supply chains contribute to high postharvest losses that affect supply. They also affect access to and affordability of fruits and vegetables, especially for low-income consumers (as seen in Chapter 4). Most urban consumers in Kenya depend on informal markets for their supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. The informal supply chain is highly inefficient, with very high postharvest losses reported at each stage. The cost of the losses is borne by smallholders and consumers, who end up paying for the inefficiencies in the supply chain.Recognizing that 90 percent of the retail market in sub-Saharan Africa is informal and highly inefficient, Twiga Foods Ltd. (TFL)5 saw a business opportunity that would address inefficiency by removing the many layers of intermediaries. This would in turn reduce postharvest losses and lower the cost of food, especially for urban consumers. Since the company entered the Kenya market space in 2014, it has revolutionized the retail trade that connects small-scale fruit and vegetable farmers in rural areas to traders in cities. TFL has addressed the market access challenge of smallholder farmers by replacing the unscrupulous brokers who take advantage of farmers by offering below-market prices for the produce or fail to buy produce during peak seasons. With the entry of TFL, farmers are assured of markets for their produce and fair pricing as TFL collects produce directly from them. TFL has registered traders who place orders through a sales representative or directly on TFL's app. The company then dispatches the order within 24 hours using its vehicles-free of charge. Payment to farmers is made within 24 hours of collection through the mobile money platform M-Pesa. This short and highly efficient chain has contributed to a reduction of postharvest losses from 30 percent to 4 percent for produce sold through the TFL platform. If this model could be replicated countrywide for various fruits and vegetables, it would not only reduce postharvest losses but also make fruits and vegetables accessible at affordable prices for many, while improving incomes for farmers.Food processing minimizes undesirable biochemical changes that alter the nutritional and sensory composition or wholesomeness of food and thereby prolongs food shelf life. Food processing can be a game changer in sustainably reducing food loss and waste, boosting food security, contributing to livelihoods through gainful employment, and increasing national GDP. Processing perishable produce into shelf-stable products is especially important for perishable commodities such as fruits and vegetables where high postharvest losses are reported.Mango is a highly perishable seasonal fruit with significant postharvest losses reported during the peak season, which occurs between November and March in Kenya. To minimize such losses, the perishable fruit can be transformed to shelf-stable products through small-scale processing. Mangoes can be processed in a variety of ways, and each type of processing adds value to the final product, as shown in Appendix 17.2 (Owino and Ambuko 2021). For small-scale processors, some of these options are more viable than others. For example, preparing fresh cut mango is relatively low cost, and fresh cut mango is in demand in urban areas and can help improve the nutritional quality of street food. However, food safety remains an issue, and to assure fresh-like quality, minimize microbial contamination, and extend the shelf life of fresh cut mango, there is a need to use hygienic water with a combination of disinfectants, antimicrobials, anti-browning, and texture-maintaining preservatives (ibid.).Mangoes can also be processed into pulp, to serve as a base for juice, wine, probiotic dairy drinks, or jellies (wet processing). The promotion of fruit-based beverages over soda can improve dietary quality. If mangoes are processed as dried fruits (for example, dehydrated), they can be added as supplements in formula or baked goods to increase micronutrient intake. In the case of drying, the type of mechanism used changes nutrient retention. For example, refractance window drying leads to better-quality and more nutritious mango leather than does solar drying (Owino and Ambuko 2021). The waste products of mango processing-peels and kernels-can be incorporated into other food products, cosmetics, and animal feed.Kenya is well placed to take advantage of food processing as a way to reduce FLW, boost food security, generate value for small farmers and enterprises, and build food systems resilience. Both the demand and supply conditions are in place for transformative effects through processing. Data from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) reveal that Kenya spends $2.4 million on imports of food and beverages, pointing to local market demand for processed food products (KAM 2018). This demand is expected only to increase in coming years as a result of a growing middle class and urbanization.The food processing subsector is already one of the largest in Kenya's manufacturing sector, contributing about 2.5 percent to national employment and 5.1 percent to Kenya's GDP (Chapter 2), while accounting for 15.3 percent of exports in 2021 (KIPPRA et al. 2023). The sector contains large-scale processors but is dominated by small and medium food processing enterprises (food processing SMEs) as well as informal businesses. In 2020, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics economic survey (KNBS 2020) showed that the middleclass made up 44 percent of the population and was expected to continue expanding by an average annual rate of 5 percent. These rising numbers mean that more and more Kenyans have more disposable income and hence are demanding healthier diets (Chapter 4). Further, by 2030, 63 percent of the population is expected to reside in urban areas, where consumers are increasingly buying from supermarkets and county/municipal markets and turning to a more diversified diet, but also to easy-to-cook and highly palatable meals. These population trends point toward increased demand for processed, nutritious, and healthy food products, and consequently an opportunity for the expansion of food processing SMEs.On the supply side, Kenya is the third-largest mango producer in Africa, with a production area of 50,550 ha, a production volume of 772,700 tons, and a value of KSh 11.72 billion in 2017 (TechnoServe 2021). Makueni, Machakos, Kilifi, and Kwale are the leading counties in terms of mango production, accounting for 28.2, 21.5, 15.0, and 7.7 percent shares, respectively. Only 3 percent of mangoes are exported, pointing toward a strong local market (SNV Netherlands and ProFound 2019; Mujuka et al. 2020). However, processed mango makes up a small portion of domestic sales: the domestic fresh market accounts for about 90 percent of mango produced while only about 5 percent is processed. With a short harvest season, more than 40 percent of production goes to waste as a result of processing and demand constraints. To take advantage of the potential of mango processing, several initiatives have been launched (Box 17.2).Although marketing of mangoes as fresh whole fruits is the most common practice among small-scale farmers in developing counties, processing the fruit into nutritious and safe products has the potential to accrue bigger profits for farmers and other actors (Owino and Ambuko 2021). As Figure 17.5 shows, any value addition to mango yields better returns compared with fresh mango sales. The most lucrative processed product from mango fruit is wine, with a net profit of $5,500 per ton of mango fruit. However, a sophisticated system is required to BOX 17.2 Mango processing initiatives A number of private and public sector initiatives for mango processing have been undertaken recently in Kenya. For instance, Makueni county government established the county-owned Makueni Fruit Processing Plant in 2017. Its objectives are to process mango pulp into purees and juices so as to stabilize fruit prices, reduce mango postharvest losses, provide local farmers with sustainable channels to generate an income, train farmers on new technology and processes, and create employment opportunities for community members.Revival of the Tana River-based mango pulp manufacturer, Galole Fruit Processing Factory, in 2020 by the Coast Development Authority was intended to reduce mango postharvest losses, improve the living standards of over 30,000 coastal smallholder mango farmers, and create employment for youth in Tana River, Lamu, and Kilifi counties. The mango processing plant has the capacity to crush over 1,200 tons of mangoes per year.Kitui Enterprise Promotion Company is a private business based in Kitui county that has taken advantage of the processing potential of mango and is involved in the production and distribution of mango juice, mango flakes, mango powder, and fortified flour, targeting mainly the local market. produce the quality and quantity needed to compete favorably with imported wines in the Kenyan market. Mango puree requires only pulping and pasteurizing capacity, and is a common product for many small-scale processors but also the product with the lowest returns. The net profit on pulp from 1 ton of fruit is $700 (Owino and Ambuko 2021).One of the simplest processing options for smallholder farmers/processors is drying (dehydration) because it does not require sophisticated equipment or facilities. The dried products include mango chips and mango leather (rolls). Mango chips and leather from 1 ton of mango fruits can fetch a net profit of $1,300 and $1,600, respectively. If mango drying is conducted using recommended good manufacturing practices and high hygiene standards, which ensure preservation of quality (nutritional and aesthetic) and safety, the dried products are highly recommended for small-scale farmers/processors in developing countries.Processing of mango (and other fruits and vegetables) in Kenya faces a number of challenges, particularly for small-scale processors. These challenges have hindered the contribution of small-scale processing to FLW reduction among smallholder farmers in mango (and other fruit and vegetable value chains).First, lack of an all-season access road network, especially in rural areas, limits the ability to access high-quality raw materials for processing. Long transit times, high fuel consumption, and increased vehicle wear and tear increase the cost of transportation. It also hampers the distribution of processed products in rural markets, particularly during periods of heavy rain. In addition, the high cost and unreliable supply of electricity increases the production costs of small processors. Kenyan electricity tariffs are the fourth-highest in Africa, but the government has announced a 15 percent reduction across the country as a way of reducing production costs for locally manufactured products (KPLC 2021). However, voltage fluctuations and blackouts remain an issue, and substitution of alternative sources, such as diesel, is insufficient to reduce production costs, especially with the recent dramatic rise in global fuel prices.Other than infrastructural issues, the high initial investment costs of setting up a processing plant, and difficulties in obtaining the proper machinery and equipment are major roadblocks to expanding the processing sector. Availability of and easy access to suitable machinery and equipment; a good and reliable supply of spares; equipment maintenance and other after-sale services; technical skills to operate the machinery; and efficient technology upgrading and advisory services are essential in the production of competitive food products. Currently, most food processing machinery and spare parts are imported from European countries, China, India, or Brazil, among others. This entails high import declaration fees, among other levies. Inability to accurately determine if foreign-manufactured machinery will suit local conditions can lead to the importation of inappropriate items. Availability of spares or service repairs may also be costly for imported machinery and equipment (Diao, Silver, and Takeshima 2016). Meanwhile, local manufacturers of processing machinery face a myriad of challenges, including high import duty on raw materials, poor aesthetics of locally fabricated equipment, high electricity costs, and proliferation of comparatively cheaper and aesthetically better food processing equipment (Ampah et al. 2021). The result is that many producers use obsolete equipment, which drives up their costs and makes their products less competitive on the market.Access to finance has been one of the key challenges in expanding the activities of food processing SMEs, especially in their early growth and start-up phase, when they need to procure the prerequisite equipment and have sufficient operational capital. The perception of formal finance providers that there is a higher risk in lending to food processing SMEs leads to higher interest rates and an excessive collateral requirement, which, in turn, raises the cost of borrowing and limits access to finance (Were 2016).The unpredictable supply of mango also constrains processers. Climate change impacts include adverse and erratic weather conditions, making supply fluctuations more common. High costs of production inputs (seed, fertilizer, etc.) can also result in a decline in levels of production, thus increasing the cost of raw materials for food processing SMEs. Maintaining the quality of the food raw material after harvest is another major constraint. This is partly the result of inadequate infrastructure for transporting or storing raw food materials, especially during periods of glut (Mujuka et al. 2020;George et al. 2021;Musyoka, Isaboke, and Ndirangu 2021;Snel et al. 2021).In terms of marketing, food processing SMEs tend to produce and sell similar products to those of their competitors, with very few innovations to vary the composition, aesthetics/packaging, or even price. This lack of diversity weakens their positioning in the market since customers end up with limited variety (Chikez, Maier, and Sonka 2021). Further, counterfeit food products are displacing legitimate products in the market through informal channels. These are generally (although not always) retailed at lower prices than their legitimate equivalents, and with time they can squeeze the latter out of the market, reducing revenues for law-abiding companies. Despite the existence of quality inspection of imported food products by government agencies, counterfeit products still find their way into and distort local markets, affecting the profitability of food processing SMEs. Occasionally, counterfeit food products are seized and destroyed. However, it appears that government agencies lack capacity or willingness to deal with violations of regulations on the importation of counterfeit processed food.Lack of expertise in processing constrains the sector too. Effective food processing depends on the availability of technical specialists. In general, most food processing SMEs are owned by local entrepreneurs, who generally have access to some capital to start the business but few to no technical skills in processing. Those food processing SMEs that engage experts with high levels of processing knowledge and management skills are more predisposed to adopt technologies and expertise that enable their products to penetrate markets and survive competition. Lack of adequate knowledge and management skills is one of the major causes of smallholder processing enterprise failure.Academia is a source of knowledge creation, innovation, and technological advance, and ideally should generate the knowledge and technologies demanded by food processing SMEs. However, R&D in the food processing sector is largely governed by universities and research institutions, with very little involvement of the food industry. Universities are still regarded as ivory towers, generating knowledge without solving the challenges that would result in economic advancement for food processing SMEs.Finally, the current regulatory framework poses a challenge to the sector. Kenya's national food safety system comprises 22 pieces of food safety and quality legislation that have been passed through various acts of parliament, and is managed by various agencies under different ministries and laws. The food processing SME business registration process and regulatory requirements are quite stringent and can be time-consuming. For instance, a business needs a Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) certificate to operate. To obtain this, it needs processing facility approval by the public health authority, a hazard analysis and critical control point plan, compliance with labeling requirements, a National Environment Management Authority certificate, a public health certificate, and a medical certificate for each staff member. KEBS has 20 regional offices at which application for certification can be carried out. However, food products have to be sampled and taken for analysis at food laboratories in Nairobi, so the certification process can drag on for quite some time. Then there are taxes and levies, including municipal and county taxes and distribution levies, which can be prohibitive and drive food processing SMEs to informal operations.Unless these challenges are addressed, the contribution of small-scale processing to FLW reduction efforts may not be realized in full.Although micro-and meso-level interventions have a direct effect on FLW reduction, an enabling policy environment is key to their success. Macro-level interventions are linked to the policy and regulatory environments that will affect actions (or lack thereof) by actors at the micro and meso levels.The African Union Commission's Continental Postharvest Loss Reduction Strategy developed in 2018 recognizes lack of relevant policies and coordination as one of the macro-level causes of FLW in most African countries. For example, in Kenya, although several national programs and strategies contain components of postharvest management, there is no specific policy to guide FLW reduction initiatives. A draft national strategy for postharvest management 2018-2025, cascaded from the continental strategy, is anchored on four pillars identified as drivers of postharvest loss reduction in Kenya: policies, institutions, reduction practices, and reduction services. Under the policy pillar, the strategy acknowledges that there is no policy focus on FLW reduction, along with no specific legislation and regulations on postharvest losses in Kenya. The overall framework on food losses is provided for in various laws. These include the Constitution of Kenya (2010), the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act (Cap 254), the Crops Act (No. 16 of 2013), the Agriculture and Food Authority Act (No. 13 of 2013 revised 2015), the Meat Control Act (Cap 356), the Fisheries Act (Cap 378), the Dairy Industry Act (Cap 336), and the Standards Act (Cap 496), among others.In addition, over the years, the Kenyan government has put in place several programs and strategies that have components aimed at addressing the drivers of FLW. Although these are not designed specifically to address postharvest loss reduction, there are initiatives therein aimed at FLW reduction. Examples include the National Agribusiness Strategy 2012, Kenya Youth Agribusiness Strategy 2018-2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries Strategic Plan 2013-2017, the National Food and Nutrition Policy 2017-2022, the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy 2019-2029, and the food and nutrition pillar of the Big Four Agenda 2018-2022. All these strategies/programs allude to the importance of postharvest loss reduction through technology adoption, value addition, capacity building, and market access/ linkages. The food and nutrition pillar of the Big Four Agenda has a set target to reduce overall postharvest losses from 30 percent in 2018 to 15 percent in 2022 and to increase agro-processing from 16 percent in 2018 to 50 percent in 2022.These documents reflect the government's acknowledgement that FLW reduction is critical to the goal of attaining food and nutrition security. However, action on and support to FLW reduction initiatives remain limited. It is for this reason that Kenya falls short in the African Union's biennial review on progress toward realization of the 2014 Malabo targets for FLW reduction. For example, in the 2019 review, on the commitment to end hunger by 2025, Kenya scored 4.04 out of 10 against a target of 5.04 . On the commitment to postharvest loss reduction, Kenya scored a paltry 0.02 against a target of 3.00 out of 10. This indicates that Kenya is not on track to halve postharvest losses by 2025. Although this dismal performance is attributed in part to lack of data, it may also reflect a lack of commitment to assigning the resources to address the challenges identified. The national (draft) and continental strategies reveal that existing subsector policies focus more on boosting production and promoting markets, with less emphasis on FLW reduction along food supply chains. The strategies recommend a review of and update to existing FLW reduction policies and the development of policies that directly address FLW reduction.National institutions engaged directly or indirectly in FLW reduction activities require adequate capacity to collaborate with county governments, other public institutions, and the private sector in FLW reduction efforts. There is a need to strengthen existing institutional capacities toward effective implementation of FLW reduction interventions at national and county levels. This will require assessment of the existing institutional setting for FLW reduction and then strengthening technical capabilities, interaction and partnerships, reduction information management, and human capital and skills development.Globally, disproportionately small amounts of agricultural resources have been invested in the preservation of food (5 percent, compared with 95 percent invested in food production). Likewise, little research funding is allocated to postharvest management (Kitinoja et al. 2010). Education also puts more emphasis on production-inclined disciplines. It is noteworthy that most of the research in Kenya on postharvest management, including FLW reduction solutions, is supported by development partners. Therefore, research to find homegrown and context-appropriate solutions to FLW reduction is urgent. To address the knowledge and skills gap in postharvest management, capacity building at all levels is recommended. Very few tertiary institutions in Kenya offer diploma or degree programs in postharvest management (or anything closely related). This means that graduates lack hands-on skills in this domain. Curricula and short courses that target practitioners in food systems would help bridge the knowledge and skills gap among practitioners and extension agents.In Kenya, access to extension services by farmers has continued on a downward trend over the years as the extension workforce ages and leaves the service. The devolution of agriculture and consequently extension services has aggravated the situation. Strengthening extension capacity is therefore critical to ensure extension agents are well equipped to reach out to farmers (and other practitioners) with the most current knowledge and skills on best practices and technologies for postharvest management.Examples of food loss and waste reduction efforts that incorporate micro-, meso-, and macro-level solutions FLW reduction requires multifaceted, multistakeholder, and complementary approaches that are context-appropriate. Such an approach is envisaged to include the application of appropriate technologies and practices, research to find sustainable solutions, education and training of food supply chain actors, and enabling policies. This section highlights two examples of multifaceted strategies that have been tested and proven effective to address FLW among smallholder fruit and vegetable farmers.As described above, one approach to FLW reduction entails the smallholder aggregation and processing centers piloted under the YieldWise initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. This has proven effective in addressing FLW among smallholder mango farmers.The YieldWise initiative recognizes five barriers to addressing FLW reduction:   Countries/companies should set targets for FLW reduction that are aligned with the SDG 12.3 target of halving FLW by 2030 or the Malabo 2014 target of halving FLW by 2025. The hypothesis is that such targets will create ambition that will motivate action toward FLW reduction.Each entity (government/company) should measure its own FLW. This is premised on the assumption that quantifying FLW within borders, operations, or supply chains can help decision-makers better understand how much food is lost/wasted, and where and why food is being lost or wasted. This evidence base provides a solid foundation for targeted and prioritized FLW reduction interventions. It is also key to monitoring progress toward achieving the set targets.Urgent action toward FLW reduction is needed to deliver results and progress on the set targets. There is no one solution to FLW that ts all, no silver bullet. All actions/interventions should be context-speci c, taking into consideration the socioeconomic dynamics for each situation. There is a call to action by all actors in the food supply chain.To address these barriers, the YieldWise strategy, which has been piloted in mango (Kenya), maize (Tanzania), and tomato and cassava (Nigeria), has focused on four intervention areas (Figure 17.6).Although the pilot among smallholder mango farmers in Kenya faced some challenges that may have hindered full realization of the intended benefits, this is a promising approach that has been scaled to other commodities.The Target-Measure-Act approachThe World Resources Institute proposes a multisectoral and multidisciplinary strategy for FLW reduction (Flanagan 2019). The strategy is anchored on three interventions-Target-Measure-Act, as Figure 17.7 shows. The generic model can be customized in the Kenyan context to target prioritized commodity value chains at the national or subnational levels or by individual companies.The need to address FLW in our food supply chain is urgent, not only to realize food and nutrition security in sustainable food systems but also to ensure that the carbon footprint and negative impacts on the environment are reduced. The food system is complex, with diverse commodities and contexts, and requires solutions that are tailormade to each scenario. There is no single solution to FLW that fits all.This chapter has used mango as a case study to represent the fruits and vegetables commodity group, which in Kenya and globally reports the highest losses. The causes of FLW in mango at the micro, meso, and macro levels and the corresponding solutions, as highlighted in this chapter, can be contextualized to other fruits and vegetables. Simple solutions, including low-tech postharvest handling practices and technologies for FLW reduction, have been described. These must be considered in context to achieve the intended impact.Key to FLW reduction efforts is continued research to find homegrown and context-appropriate solutions, as well as capacity building of food supply chain practitioners on proper postharvest management. Similarly, there is a need to strengthen outreach and extension programs to ensure target users adopt research outputs. In addition, better coordination in supply chains in an enabling policy environment is a key ingredient to complement best practices and technologies adopted by individual actors in the supply chain. respect to capacity, stability, and longevity. There have been efforts to improve this through adaptive research. The improved ZEBC is larger and reinforced with steel rods to ensure stability of the structure, since the bricks are simply interlocked and not cemented. Figure A17.1 shows two versions of a ZEBC designed and fabricated by biosystems engineers from the University of Nairobi.The ZEBC can achieve a temperature difference of between 2 o and 15 o C when compared with the ambient temperature and a relative humidity difference of up to 50 percent relative to the ambient room humidity. The relatively cool temperature and high humidity have been shown to extend the shelf life of mango fruits by 5-10 days in comparison with ambient room conditions (Amwoka et al. 2021).Evaporative charcoal cooler (ECC): The evaporative charcoal cooler is a larger, walk-in, structure wherein the medium that holds water is charcoal. The charcoal is sandwiched between a double wall, usually made from chicken wire. The cooling efficacy of the ECC is similar to that of the ZEBC (Ambuko et al. 2017). There are various designs, with the choice depending on available resources and the prevailing conditions. Figure A17.2 shows the traditional charcoal cooler and an improved version, designed by biosystems engineers from the University of Nairobi. The improved version has been reinforced with an external fiberglass wall, which makes it stronger and able to withstand hard environmental conditions. The charcoal cooler can extend the shelf life of mango fruit by four days to two weeks depending on the harvest maturity of the fruits and the prevailing weather conditions.Figure A17.3 presents a comparison of the cooling efficiency of the ZEBC and the EEC relative to ambient air conditions. Figure A17.4 shows differences in relative humidity for the evaporative cooling technologies and ambient air.     Relative humidity (%)","tokenCount":"9712"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2824380765.json b/data/part_1/2824380765.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8d920aa3d65b6bed0254efca133a45047a07cd4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2824380765.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4a5803c5e385d001c78c4e807be1e6d5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e7515c6-e502-4f94-a307-1ca98871a29d/retrieve","id":"720132956"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"694f039f-9e7a-43fb-9e6d-1f78dd46d202","pagecount":"114","content":"Chapter 3 assesses the emissions pathways literature in order to identify their key characteristics (both in commonalities and differences) and to understand how societal choices may steer the system into a particular direction (high confidence). More than 2000 quantitative emissions pathways were submitted to the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report AR6 scenarios database, out of which 1202 scenarios included sufficient information for assessing the associated warming consistent with WGI. Five Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) were selected, each emphasising a different scenario element as its defining feature: heavy reliance on renewables (IMP-Ren), strong emphasis on energy demand reductions (IMP-LD), extensive use of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the energy and the industry sectors to achieve net negative emissions (IMP-Neg), mitigation in the context of broader sustainable development (IMP-SP), and the implications of a less rapid and gradual strengthening of near-term mitigation actions (IMP-GS). {3.2, 3.3} Pathways consistent with the implementation and extrapolation of countries' implemented policies until the end of 2020 see greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reaching 54-61 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2030 and to 47-67 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2050, leading to a median global warming of 2.2°C to 3.5°C by 2100 (medium confidence). These pathways consider policies at the time that they were developed. The Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) permit a more systematic assessment of future GHG emissions and their uncertainties than was possible in AR5. The main emissions drivers include growth in population, reaching 8.5-9.7 billion by 2050, and an increase in global GDP of 2.7-4.1% per year between 2015 and 2050. Final energy demand in the absence of any new climate policies is projected to grow to around 480-750 EJ yr -1 in 2050 (compared to around 390 EJ in 2015) (medium confidence). The highest emissions scenarios in the literature result in global warming of >5°C by 2100, based on assumptions of rapid economic growth and pervasive climate policy failures (high confidence). {3.3}Many pathways in the literature show how to limit global warming compared to pre-industrial times to 2°C (>67%) with no overshoot or to limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot. The likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot has dropped in AR6 compared to the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR1.5) because global GHG emissions have risen since the time SR1.5 was published, leading to higher near-term emissions (2030) and higher cumulative CO 2 emissions until the time of net zero (medium confidence). Only a small number of published pathways limit global warming to 1.5°C without overshoot over the course of the 21st century. {3.3, Annex III.II.3} 1 Immediate action in modelled global pathways refers to the adoption between 2020 and at latest before 2025 of climate policies intended to limit global warming to a given level. Modelled pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) based on immediate action are summarised in category C3a in Table SPM.2. All assessed modelled global pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot assume immediate action as defined here (Category C1 in Table SPM.2).Cost-effective mitigation pathways assuming immediate action 1 to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) are associated with net global GHG emissions of 30-49 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2030 and 14-26 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2050 (medium confidence). This corresponds to reductions, relative to 2019 levels, of 13-45% by 2030 and 52-76% by 2050. Pathways that limit global warming to below 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot require a further acceleration in the pace of the transformation, with net GHG emissions typically around 21-36 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2030 and 1-15 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2050; thus, reductions of 34-60% by 2030 and 73-98% by 2050 relative to 2019 levels. {3.3}Pathways following Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) announced prior to COP26 2 until 2030 reach annual emissions of 47-57 GtCO 2 -eq by 2030, thereby making it impossible to limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot and strongly increasing the challenge to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) (high confidence). A high overshoot of 1.5°C increases the risks from climate impacts and increases the dependence on large-scale carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. A future consistent with NDCs announced prior to COP26 implies higher fossil fuel deployment and lower reliance on low-carbon alternatives until 2030, compared to mitigation pathways with immediate action to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower. To limit warming to 2°C (>67%) after following the NDCs to 2030, the pace of global GHG emission reductions would need to accelerate rapidly from 2030 onward: to an average of 1.4-2.0 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 between 2030 and 2050, which is around two-thirds of the global CO 2 emission reductions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and around 70% faster than in immediate action pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%). Accelerating emission reductions after following an NDC pathway to 2030 would be particularly challenging because of the continued buildup of fossil fuel infrastructure that would be expected to take place between now and 2030. {3.5, 4.2}Pathways accelerating actions compared to NDCs announced prior to COP26 that reduce annual GHG emissions to 48 (38-52) GtCO 2 -eq by 2030, or 2-9 GtCO 2 -eq below projected emissions from fully implementing NDCs announced prior to COP26, reduce the mitigation challenge for limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) after 2030 (medium confidence).The accelerated action pathways are characterised by a global, but regionally differentiated, roll out of regulatory and pricing policies. Compared to NDCs, they see less fossil fuels and more low-carbon fuels until 2030, and narrow, but do not close the gap to pathways assuming immediate global action using all available least-cost abatement options. All delayed or accelerated action pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) converge to a global mitigation regime at some point after 2030 by putting a significant value on reducing carbon and other GHG emissions in all sectors and regions. {3.5}Pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower exhibit substantial reductions in emissions from all sectors (high confidence). Projected CO 2 emissions reductions between 2019 and 2050 in 1.5°C (>50%) pathways with no or limited overshoot are around 77% (31-96%) for energy demand, 115% (90-167%) for energy supply, and 148% (94-387%) for agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU). In pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%), projected CO 2 emissions are reduced between 2019 and 2050 by around 49% for energy demand, 97% for energy supply, and 136% for AFOLU (medium confidence). {3.4}Delaying or sacrificing emissions reductions in one sector or region involves compensating reductions in other sectors or regions if warming is to be limited (high confidence). Mitigation pathways show differences in the timing of decarbonisation and when net zero CO 2 emissions are achieved across sectors and regions. At the time of global net zero CO 2 emissions, emissions in some sectors and regions are positive while others are negative; the ordering depends on the mitigation options available, the cost of those options, and the policies implemented. In cost-effective mitigation pathways, the energy-supply sector typically reaches net zero CO 2 before the economy as a whole, while the demand sectors reach net zero CO 2 later, if ever (high confidence). {3.4}Pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower involve substantial reductions in fossil fuel consumption and a near elimination of the use of coal without carbon capture and storage (CCS) (high confidence). These pathways show an increase in low-carbon energy, with 88% (69-97%) of primary energy coming from these sources by 2100. {3.4}Stringent emissions reductions at the level required for 2°C (>67%) or lower are achieved through increased direct electrification of buildings, transport, and industry, resulting in increased electricity generation in all pathways (high confidence). Nearly all electricity in pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower is from low-or no-carbon technologies, with different shares of nuclear, biomass, non-biomass renewables, and fossil CCS across pathways. {3.4}The measures required to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower can result in large-scale transformation of the land surface (high confidence). Pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower are projected to reach net zero CO 2 emissions in the AFOLU sector between the 2020s and 2070, with an increase of forest cover of about 322 million ha (-67 to 890 million ha) in 2050 in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot. Cropland area to supply biomass for bioenergy (including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage -BECCS) is around 199 (56-482) million ha in 2050 in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot. The use of bioenergy can lead to either increased or reduced emissions, depending on the scale of deployment, conversion technology, fuel displaced, and how/ where the biomass is produced (high confidence). {3.4}Assessment Model (IAM) pathways cannot be directly compared with those reported in national GHG inventories (high confidence). Methodologies enabling a more like-for-like comparison between models' and countries' approaches would support more accurate assessment of the collective progress achieved under the Paris Agreement. {3.4, 7.2.2.5}Pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) require more rapid near-term transformations and are associated with higher upfront transition costs, but meanwhile bring long-term gains for the economy as well as earlier benefits in avoided climate change impacts (high confidence). This conclusion is independent of the discount rate applied, though the modelled cost-optimal balance of mitigation action over time does depend on the discount rate. Lower discount rates favour earlier mitigation, reducing reliance on CDR and temperature overshoot. {3.6.1, 3.8}Mitigation pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) entail losses in global GDP with respect to reference scenarios of between 1.3% and 2.7% in 2050; and in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, losses are between 2.6% and 4.2%. Yet, these estimates do not account for the economic benefits of avoided climate change impacts (medium confidence). In mitigation pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%), marginal abatement costs of carbon are about 90 (60-120) USD2015 tCO 2 in 2030 and about 210 (140-340) USD2015 tCO 2 in 2050; in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, they are about 220 (170-290) USD2015 tCO 2 in 2030 and about 630 (430-990) USD2015 tCO 2 in 2050. 3 {3.6.1}3 Numbers in parenthesis represent the interquartile range of the scenario samples.The global benefits of pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) outweigh global mitigation costs over the 21st century, if aggregated economic impacts of climate change are at the moderate to high end of the assessed range, and a weight consistent with economic theory is given to economic impacts over the long term. This holds true even without accounting for benefits in other sustainable development dimensions or nonmarket damages from climate change (medium confidence).The aggregate global economic repercussions of mitigation pathways include the macroeconomic impacts of investments in low-carbon solutions and structural changes away from emitting activities, co-benefits and adverse side effects of mitigation, (avoided) climate change impacts, and (reduced) adaptation costs.Existing quantifications of global aggregate economic impacts show a strong dependence on socio-economic development conditions, as these shape exposure and vulnerability and adaptation opportunities and responses. (Avoided) impacts for poorer households and poorer countries represent a smaller share in aggregate economic quantifications expressed in GDP or monetary terms, whereas their well-being and welfare effects are comparatively larger. When aggregate economic benefits from avoided climate change impacts are accounted for, mitigation is a welfare-enhancing strategy (high confidence). {3.6.2}The economic benefits on human health from air quality improvement arising from mitigation action can be of the same order of magnitude as mitigation costs, and potentially even larger (medium confidence). {3.6.3}Differences between aggregate employment in mitigation pathways compared to reference scenarios are relatively small, although there may be substantial reallocations across sectors, with job creation in some sectors and job losses in others (medium confidence). The net employment effect (and its sign) depends on scenario assumptions, modelling framework, and modelled policy design. Mitigation has implications for employment through multiple channels, each of which impacts geographies, sectors and skill categories differently (medium confidence). {3.6.4}The economic repercussions of mitigation vary widely across regions and households, depending on policy design and level of international cooperation (high confidence). Delayed global cooperation increases policy costs across regions, especially in those that are relatively carbon intensive at present (high confidence).Pathways with uniform carbon values show higher mitigation costs in more carbon-intensive regions, in fossil fuel exporting regions and in poorer regions (high confidence). Aggregate quantifications expressed in GDP or monetary terms undervalue the economic effects on households in poorer countries; the actual effects on welfare and well-being are comparatively larger (high confidence). Mitigation at the speed and scale required to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower implies deep economic and structural changes, thereby raising multiple types of distributional concerns across regions, income classes and sectors (high confidence). {3.6.1, 3.6.4}Chapter 3 takes a long-term perspective on climate change mitigation pathways. Its focus is on the implications of long-term targets for the required short-and medium-term system changes and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This focus dictates a more global view and on issues related to path-dependency and up-scaling of mitigation options necessary to achieve different emissions trajectories, including particularly deep mitigation pathways that require rapid and fundamental changes.Stabilising global average-temperature change requires reducing CO 2 emissions to net zero. Thus, a central cross-cutting topic within the chapter is the timing of reaching net zero CO 2 emissions and how a 'balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks' could be achieved across time and space. This includes particularly the increasing body of literature since the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR1.5) which focuses on net zero CO 2 emissions pathways that avoid temperature overshoot and hence do not rely on net negative CO 2 emissions. The chapter conducts a systematic assessment of the associated economic costs as well as the benefits of mitigation for other societal objectives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, the chapter builds on SR1.5 and introduces a new conceptual framing for the assessment of possible social, economic, technical, political, and geophysical 'feasibility' concerns of alternative pathways, including the enabling conditions that would need to fall into place so that stringent climate goals become attainable.The structure of the chapter is as follows: Section 3.2 introduces different types of mitigation pathways as well as the available modelling. Section 3.3 explores different emissions trajectories given socio-economic uncertainties and consistent with different long-term climate outcomes. A central element in this section is the systematic categorisation of the scenario space according to key characteristics of the mitigation pathways (including e.g., global average-temperature change, socio-economic development, technology assumptions, etc.). In addition, the section introduces selected Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) that are used across the whole report. Section 3.4 conducts a sectoral analysis of the mitigation pathways, assessing the pace and direction of systems changes across sectors. Among others, this section aims at the integration of the sectoral information across AR6 WGIII chapters through a comparative assessment of the sectoral dynamics in economy-wide systems models compared to the insights from bottom-up sectoral models (from Chapters 6 to 11). Section 3.5 focuses on the required timing of mitigation actions, and the implication of near-term choices for the attainability of a range of long-term climate goals. After having explored the underlying systems transitions and the required timing of the mitigation actions, Section 3.6 assesses the economic implications, mitigation costs and benefits; and Section 3.7 assesses related co-benefits, synergies, and possible trade-offs for sustainable development and other societal (non-climate) objectives. Section 3.8 assumes a central role in the chapter and introduces a multidimensional feasibility metric that permits the evaluation of mitigation pathways across a range of feasibility concerns. Finally, methods of the assessment and knowledge gaps are discussed in Section 3.9, followed by Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).Chapter 3 is linked to many other chapters in the report. The most important connections exist with Chapter 4 on mitigation and development pathways in the near to mid-term; with the sectoral chapters (Chapters 6-11); with the chapters dealing with crosscutting issues (Chapters 12 and 17, e.g., feasibility); and finally also with AR6 WGI and WGII.Within the overall framing of the AR6 report, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 provide important complementary views of the required systems transitions across different temporal and spatial scales. While Chapter 3 focuses on the questions concerning the implications of the long-term objectives for the medium-to-near-term transformations, Chapter 4 comes from the other direction, and focuses on current near-term trends and policies (such as the Nationally Determined Contributions -NDCs) and their consequences with regards to GHG emissions. The latter chapter naturally focuses much more on the regional and national dimensions, and the heterogeneity of current and planned policies. Bringing together the information from these two chapters enables the assessment of whether current and planned actions are consistent with the required systems changes for the long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement.Important other linkages comprise the collaboration with the 'sectoral' Chapters 6 to 11 to provide an integrated cross-sectoral perspective. This information (including information also from the sectoral chapters) is taken up ultimately also by Chapter 5 on demand/services and Chapter 12 for a further assessment of sectoral potential and costs.Linkages to other chapters exist also on the topic of feasibility, which are informed by the policy, the sectoral and the demand chapters, the technology and finance chapters, as well as Chapter 4 on national circumstances.Close collaboration with WGI permitted the use of AR6-calibrated emulators, which assure full consistency across the different working groups. Linkages to WGII concern the assessment of macroeconomic benefits of avoided impacts that are put into the context of mitigation costs as well as co-benefits and trade-offs for sustainable development.The assessment of mitigation pathways explores a wide scenario space from the literature within which seven Illustrative Pathways (IPs) are explored. The overall process is indicated in Figure 3.5a.For a comprehensive assessment, a large ensemble of scenarios is collected and made available through an interactive AR6 Scenarios Database 4 . The collected information is shared across the chapters of AR6 and includes more than 3000 different pathways from a diverse set of studies. After an initial screening and quality control, scenarios were further vetted to assess if they sufficiently represented historical trends (Annex III.II.3.1). Subsequently, the climate consequences of each scenario were assessed using the climate emulator (leading to further classification). The assessment in Chapter 3 is, however, not limited to the scenarios from the database, and wherever necessary other literature sources are also assessed in order to bring together multiple lines of evidence.In parallel, based on the overall AR6 assessment, seven illustrative pathways (IP) were defined representing critical mitigation strategies discussed in the assessment. The seven pathways are composed of two sets: (i) one set of five Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) and (ii) one set of two reference pathways illustrative for high emissions.The IMPs are on the one hand representative of the scenario spac but also help to communicate archetypes of distinctly different systems transformations and related policy choices. Subsequently, seven scenarios were selected from the full database that fitted these storylines of each IP best. For these scenarios more strict vetting criteria were applied. The selection was done by first applying specific filters based on the storyline followed by a final selection (Box 3.1 and Figure 3.5a).Compatible With Long-term Goals?Scenario and emission pathways are used to explore possible long-term trajectories, the effectiveness of possible mitigation strategies, and to help understand key uncertainties about the future. A scenario is an integrated description of a possible future of the human-environment system (Clarke et al. 2014), and could be a qualitative narrative, quantitative projection, or both. Scenarios 4 Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5886911. All figures and tables in this chapter source data from the AR6 Scenarios Database, unless otherwise stated.typically capture interactions and processes that change key driving forces such as population, GDP, technology, lifestyles, and policy, and the consequences on energy use, land use, and emissions. Scenarios are not predictions or forecasts. An emission pathway is a modelled trajectory of anthropogenic emissions (Rogelj et al. 2018a) and, therefore, a part of a scenario.There is no unique or preferred method to develop scenarios, and future pathways can be developed from diverse methods, depending on user needs and research questions (Turnheim et al. 2015;Trutnevyte et al. 2019a;Hirt et al. 2020). The most comprehensive scenarios in the literature are qualitative narratives that are translated into quantitative pathways using models (Clarke et al. 2014;Rogelj et al. 2018a). Schematic or illustrative pathways can also be used to communicate specific features of more complex scenarios (Allen et al. 2018). Simplified models can be used to explain the mechanisms operating in more complex models (e.g., Emmerling et al. 2019).Ultimately, a diversity of scenario and modelling approaches can lead to more robust findings (Schinko et al. 2017;Gambhir et al. 2019).It is common to define a reference scenario (also called a baseline scenario). Depending on the research question, a reference scenario could be defined in different ways (Grant et al. 2020): (i) a hypothetical world with no climate policies or climate impacts (Kriegler et al. 2014b), (ii) assuming current policies or pledged policies are implemented (Roelfsema et al. 2020), or (iii) a mitigation scenario to compare sensitivity with other mitigation scenarios (Kriegler et al. 2014a;Sognnaes et al. 2021).No-climate-policy reference scenarios have often been compared with mitigation scenarios (Clarke et al. 2014). A no-climate-policy scenario assumes that no future climate policies are implemented, beyond what is in the model calibration, effectively implying that the carbon price is zero. No-climate-policy reference scenarios have a broad range depending on socio-economic assumptions and model characteristics, and consequently are important when assessing mitigation costs (Riahi et al. 2017;Rogelj et al. 2018b). AsThe literature shows a wide range of possible emissions trajectories, depicting developments in the absence of new climate policies or showing pathways consistent with the Paris Agreement. From the literature, a set of five Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) was selected to denote implications of choices on socio-economic development and climate policies, and the associated transformations of the main GHG-emitting sectors (Figure 3.5b). The IMPs include a set of transformative pathways that illustrate how choices may lead to distinctly different transformations that may keep temperature increase to below 2°C (>67%) or 1.5°C. These pathways illustrate the implications of a focus on renewable energy such as solar and wind; reduced energy demand; extensive use of CDR in the energy and the industry sectors to achieve net negative emissions and reliance on other supply-side measures; strategies that avoid net negative carbon emissions, and gradual strengthening. In addition, one IMP explores how climate policies consistent with keeping limit warming to 1.5C (>50%) can be combined with a broader shift towards sustainable development. These IMPs are used in various chapters, exploring for instance their implications for different sectors, regions, and innovation characteristics (Figure 3.5b).Chapter 3 Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals 3 countries move forward with climate policies of varying stringency, no-climate-policy baselines are becoming increasingly hypothetical (Hausfather and Peters 2020). Studies clearly show current policies are having an effect, particularly when combined with the declining costs of low-carbon technologies (IEA 2020a; Roelfsema et al. 2020;Sognnaes et al. 2021; UNEP 2020), and, consequently, realised trajectories begin to differ from earlier no-climate-policy scenarios (Burgess et al. 2020). High-end emission scenarios, such as RCP8.5 and SSP5-8.5, are becoming less likely with climate policy and technology change (Box 3.3), but high-end concentration and warming levels may still be reached with the inclusion of strong carbon or climate feedbacks (Hausfather and Peters 2020;Pedersen et al. 2020).Mitigation scenarios explore different strategies to meet climate goals and are typically derived from reference scenarios by adding climate or other policies. Mitigation pathways are often developed to meet a predefined level of climate change, often referred to as a backcast.There are relatively few IAMs that include an endogenous climate model or emulator due to the added computational complexity, though exceptions do exist. In practice, models implement climate constraints by either iterating carbon-price assumptions (Strefler et al. 2021b) or by adopting an associated carbon budget (Riahi et al. 2021). In both cases, other GHGs are typically controlled by CO 2 -equivalent pricing. A large part of the AR5 literature has focused on forcing pathways towards a target at the end of the century (van Vuuren et al. 2007Vuuren et al. , 2011;;Clarke et al. 2009;Blanford et al. 2014;Riahi et al. 2017), featuring a temporary overshoot of the warming and forcing levels (Geden and Löschel 2017). In comparison, many recent studies explore mitigation strategies that limit overshoot (Johansson et al. 2020;Riahi et al. 2021). An increasing number of IAM studies also explore climate pathways that limit adverse side effects with respect to other societal objectives, such as food security ( van Vuuren et al. 2019;Riahi et al. 2021) or larger sets of sustainability objectives (Soergel et al. 2021a).Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are critical for understanding the implications of long-term climate objectives for the required near-term transition. For doing so, an integrated systems perspective including the representation of all sectors and GHGs is necessary.IAMs are used to explore the response of complex systems in a formal and consistent framework. They cover a broad range of modelling frameworks (Keppo et al. 2021). Given the complexity of the systems under investigation, IAMs necessarily make simplifying assumptions and therefore results need to be interpreted in the context of these assumptions. IAMs can range from economic models that consider only carbon dioxide emissions through to detailed process-based representations of the global energy system, covering separate regions and sectors (such as energy, transport, and land use), all GHG emissions and air pollutants, interactions with land and water, and a reduced representation of the climate system. IAMs are generally driven by economics and can have a variety of characteristics such as partial-, general-or non-equilibrium; myopic or perfect foresight; be based on optimisation or simulation; have exogenous or endogenous technological change amongst many other characteristics. IAMs take as input socio-economic and technical variables and parameters to represent various systems. There is no unique way to integrate this knowledge into a model, and due to their complexity, various simplifications and omissions are made for tractability. IAMs therefore have various advantages and disadvantages which need to be weighed up when interpreting IAM outcomes. Annex III.I contains an overview of the different types of models and their key characteristics.Most IAMs are necessarily broad as they capture long-term dynamics.IAMs are strong in showing the key characteristics of emission pathways and are most suited to questions related to short-versus long-term trade-offs, key interactions with non-climate objectives, long-term energy and land-use characteristics, and implications of different overarching technological and policy choices (Clarke et al. 2014;Rogelj et al. 2018a). While some IAMs have a high level of regional and sectoral detail, for questions that require higher levels of granularity (e.g., local policy implementation) specific region and sector models may be better suited. Utility of the IAM pathways increases when the quantitative results are contextualized through qualitative narratives or other additional types of knowledge to provide deeper insights (Geels et al. 2016a;Weyant 2017;Gambhir et al. 2019).IAMs have a long history in addressing environmental problems, particularly in the IPCC assessment process (van Beek et al. 2020). Many policy discussions have been guided by IAM-based quantifications, such as the required emission reduction rates, net zero years, or technology deployment rates required to meet certain climate outcomes. This has led to the discussion about whether IAM scenarios have become performative, meaning that they act upon, transform or bring into being the scenarios they describe (Beck andMahony 2017, 2018). Transparency of underlying data and methods is critical for scenario users to understand what drives different scenario results (Robertson 2020). A number of community activities have thus focused on the provision of transparent and publicly accessible databases of both input and output data (Riahi et al. 2012;Huppmann et al. 2018;Krey et al. 2019;Daioglou et al. 2020), as well as the provision of open-source code, and increased documentation (Annex III.I.9). Transparency is needed to reveal conditionality of results on specific choices in terms of assumptions (e.g., discount rates) and model architecture. More detailed explanations of underlying model dynamics would be critical to increase the understanding of what drives results (Bistline et al. 2020;Butnar et al. 2020;Robertson 2020).Mitigation scenarios developed for a long-term climate constraint typically focus on cost-effective mitigation action towards a longterm climate goal. Results from IAM as well as sectoral models depend on model structure (Mercure et al. 2019), economic assumptions (Emmerling et al. 2019), technology assumptions (Pye et al. 2018), climate/emissions target formulation (Johansson et al. 2020), and the extent to which pre-existing market distortions are considered (Guivarch et al. 2011). The vast majority of IAM pathways do not consider climate impacts (Schultes et al. 2021). Equity hinges upon ethical and normative choices. As most IAM pathways follow the cost-effectiveness approach, they do not make any additional equity assumptions. Notable exceptions include Tavoni et al. (2015), Pan et al. (2017), van den Berg et al. (2020), and Bauer et al. (2020). Regional IAM results therefore need to be assessed with care, considering that emissions reductions are happening where it is most cost-effective, which needs to be separated from who is ultimately paying for the mitigation costs. Cost-effective pathways can provide a useful benchmark, but may not reflect real-world developments (Calvin et al. 2014a;Trutnevyte 2016). Different modelling frameworks may lead to different outcomes (Mercure et al. 2019). Recent studies have shown that other desirable outcomes can evolve with only minor deviations from cost-effective pathways (Bauer et al. 2020;Neumann and Brown 2021). IAM and sectoral models represent social, political, and institutional factors only in a rudimentary way. This assessment is thus relying on new methods for the ex post assessment of feasibility concerns (Jewell and Cherp 2020;Brutschin et al. 2021). A literature is emerging that recognises and reflects on the diversity and strengths/ weaknesses of model-based scenario analysis (Keppo et al. 2021).The climate constraint implementation can have a meaningful impact on model results. The literature so far includes many temperature overshoot scenarios with heavy reliance on long-term CDR and net negative CO 2 emissions to bring back temperatures after the peak (Rogelj et al. 2019b;Johansson et al. 2020). New approaches have been developed to avoid temperature overshoot. The new generation of scenarios show that CDR is important beyond its ability to reduce temperature, but is essential also for offsetting residual emissions to reach net zero CO 2 emissions (Rogelj et al. 2019b;Johansson et al. 2020;Riahi et al. 2021;Strefler et al. 2021b).Many factors influence the deployment of technologies in the IAMs. Since AR5, there has been fervent debate on the large-scale deployment of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in scenarios (Fuss et al. 2014;Geden 2015;Anderson and Peters 2016;Smith et al. 2016;van Vuuren et al. 2017;Galik 2020;Köberle 2019). Hence, many recent studies explore mitigation pathways with limited BECCS deployment (Grubler et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2019;Riahi et al. 2021;Soergel et al. 2021a). While some have argued that technology diffusion in IAMs occurs too rapidly (Gambhir et al. 2019), others argued that most models prefer large-scale solutions resulting in a relatively slow phase-out of fossil fuels (Carton 2019). While IAMs are particularly strong on supply-side representation, demandside measures still lag in detail of representation despite progress since AR5 (Grubler et al. 2018;Lovins et al. 2019;van den Berg et al. 2019;O'Neill et al. 2020b;Hickel et al. 2021;Keyßer and Lenzen 2021). The discount rate has a significant impact on the balance between near-term and long-term mitigation. Lower discount rates <4% (than used in IAMs) may lead to more near-term emissions reductions -depending on the stringency of the target (Emmerling et al. 2019;Riahi et al. 2021). Models often use simplified policy assumptions (O'Neill et al. 2020b) which can affect the deployment of technologies (Sognnaes et al. 2021). Uncertainty in technologies can lead to more or less short-term mitigation (Grant et al. 2021;Bednar et al. 2021). There is also a recognition to put more emphasis on what drives the results of different IAMs (Gambhir et al. 2019) and suggestions to focus more on what is driving differences in result across IAMs (Nikas et al. 2021). As noted by Weyant (2017, p. 131),'IAms can provide very useful information, but this information needs to be carefully interpreted and integrated with other quantitative and qualitative inputs in the decision-making process.'IPCC reports have often used voluntary submissions to a scenario database in its assessments. The database is an ensemble of opportunity, as there is not a well-designed statistical sampling of the hypothetical model or scenario space: the literature is unlikely to cover all possible models and scenarios, and not all scenarios in the literature are submitted to the database. Model intercomparisons are often the core of scenario databases assessed by the IPCC (Cointe et al. 2019;Nikas et al. 2021 Since 2014, when the first set of SSP data was made available, there has been a divergence between scenario and historic trends (Burgess et al. 2020). As a result, the SSPs require updating (O'Neill et al. 2020b).Most of the scenarios in the AR6 database are SSP-based and consider various updates compared to the first release (Riahi et al. 2017).To facilitate this assessment, a large ensemble of scenarios has been collected and made available through an interactive AR6 WGIII scenario database. The collection of the scenario outputs is coordinated by Chapter 3 and expands upon the IPCC SR1.5 scenario explorer (Huppmann et al. 2018;Rogelj et al. 2018a Vetted scenarios in database ( n=1686) Vetted scenarios in database (n=1686) results of MAGICC are shown in this chapter as it adequately covers the range of outcomes. The emulators are calibrated against the behaviour of complex climate models and observation data, consistent with the outcomes of AR6 WGI (Cross-Chapter Box 7.1). The climate assessment is a three-step process of harmonisation, infilling and a probabilistic climate model emulator run (Annex III.II.2.5). Warming projections until the year 2100 were derived for 1574 scenarios, of which 1202 passed vetting, with the remaining scenarios having insufficient information (Figure 3.3 and Table 3.1). For scenarios that limit warming to 2°C or lower, the SR1.5 classification was adopted in AR6, with more disaggregation provided for higher warming levels (Table 3.1).These choices can be compared with the selection of common global warming levels (GWLs) of 1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C and 4°C to classify climate change impacts in the WGII assessment.In addition to the temperature classification, each scenario is assigned to one of the following policy categories: (P0  action ( 634) and (P2a) without any transfer of emission permits -435, (P2b) with transfers -70; or (P2c) with additional policy assumptions -55; (P3) globally coordinated climate policies with delayed (i.e., from 2030 onwards or after 2030) action (451), preceded by (P3a) no mitigation commitment or current national policies -7, (P3b) NDCs -426, (P3c) NDCs and additional policies -18; (P4) cost-benefit analysis (CBA) -2. The policy categories were identified using text pattern matching on the scenario metadata and calibrated on the best-known scenarios from model intercomparisons, with further validation against the related literature, reported emission and carbon price trajectories, and exchanges with modellers. If the information available is enough to qualify a policy category number but not sufficient for a subcategory, then only the number is retained (e.g., P2 instead of P2a/b/c). A suffix added after P0 further qualifies a diagnostic scenario as one of the other policy categories. To demonstrate the diversity of the scenarios, the vetted scenarios were classified into different categories along the dimensions of population, GDP, energy, and cumulative emissions (Figure 3.4). The number of scenarios in each category provides some insight into the current literature, but this does not indicate a higher probability of that category occurring in reality. For population, the majority of scenarios are consistent with the SSP2 'middle of the road' category, with very few scenarios exploring the outer extremes. GDP has a slightly larger variation, but overall most scenarios are around the SSP2 socioeconomic assumptions. The level of CCS and CDR is expected to change depending on the extent of mitigation, but there remains extensive use of both CDR and CCS in scenarios. CDR is dominated by bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and sequestration on land, with relatively few scenarios using direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS) and even less with enhanced weathering (EW) and other technologies (not shown).In terms of energy consumption, final energy has a much smaller range than primary energy as conversion losses are not included in final energy. Both mitigation and reference scenarios are shown, so there is a broad spread in different energy carriers represented in the database.Bioenergy has a number of scenarios at around 100 EJ, representing a constraint used in many model intercomparisons.Successive IPCC Assessment Reports (ARs) have used scenarios to illustrate key characteristics of possible climate (policy) futures. In AR5 four RCPs made the basis of climate modelling in WGI and WGII, with WGIII assessing over 1000 scenarios spanning those RCPs (Clarke et al. 2014). Of the over 400 scenarios assessed in SR1.5, four scenarios were selected to highlight the trade-off between short-term emission reductions and long-term deployment of BECCS (Rogelj et al. 2018a), referred to as 'Illustrative Pathways' (IPs). AR6 WGI and WGII rely on the scenarios selected for CMIP6, called ScenarioMIP (O'Neill et al. 2016), to assess warming levels. In addition to the full set of scenarios, AR6 WGIII also uses selected Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs).In WGIII, IMPs were selected to denote the implications of different societal choices for the development of future emissions and associated transformations of main GHG-emitting sectors (Figure 3.5a and Box 3.1). The most important function of the IMPs is to illustrate key themes that form a common thread in the report, both with a storyline and a quantitative illustration. The storyline describes the key characteristics that define an IMP. The quantitative versions of the IMPs provide numerical values that are internally consistent and comparable across chapters of the report. The quantitative IMPs have been selected from the AR6 scenario database. No assessment of the likelihood of each IMP has been made.The selected scenarios (IPs) are divided into two sets (Figures 3.5 and 3.6): two reference pathways illustrative of high emissions and five Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs). The narratives are explained in full in Annex III.II.2.4. The two reference pathways explore the consequences of current policies and pledges: Current Policies (CurPol) and Moderate Action (ModAct). The CurPol pathway explores the consequences of continuing along the path of implemented climate policies in 2020 and only a gradual strengthening after that. The scenario illustrates the outcomes of many scenarios in the literature that project the trend from implemented policies until the end of 2020. The ModAct pathway explores the impact of implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as formulated in 2020 and some further strengthening after that. In line with current literature, these two reference pathways lead to an increase in global mean temperature of more than 2°C (Section 3.3).The Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) properly explore different pathways consistent with meeting the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. They represent five different pathways that emerge from the overall assessment. The IMPs differ in terms of their focus, for example, placing greater emphasis on renewables (IMP-Ren), deployment of carbon dioxide removal that results in net negative global GHG emissions (IMP-Neg), and efficient resource use and shifts in consumption patterns, leading to low demand for resources, while ensuring a high level of services (IMP-LD). Other IMPs illustrate the implications of a less rapid introduction of mitigation measures followed by a subsequent gradual strengthening (IMP-GS), and how shifting global pathways towards sustainable development, including by reducing inequality, can lead to mitigation (IMP-SP) In the IMP framework, IMP-GS is consistent with limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) (C3), IMP-Neg shows a strategy that also limits warming to 2°C (>67%) but returns to nearly 1.5°C (>50%) by the end of the century (hence indicated as C2*). The other variants that can limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) (C1) were selected. In addition to these IMPs, sensitivity cases that explore alternative warming levels (C3) for IMP-Neg and IMP-Ren are assessed (IMP-Neg-2.0 and IMP-Ren-2.0).The IMPs are selected to have different mitigation strategies, which can be illustrated looking at the energy system and emission pathways (Figure 3.7 and Figure 3.8). The mitigation strategies show the different options in emission reduction (Figure 3.7). Each panel shows the key characteristics leading to total GHG emissions, consisting of residual (gross) emissions (fossil CO 2 emissions, CO 2 emissions from industrial processes, and non-CO 2 emissions) and removals (net land-use change, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage -BECCS, and direct air carbon capture and storage -DACCS), in addition to avoided emissions through the use of carbon capture and storage on fossil fuels. The IMP-Neg and IMP-GS scenarios were shown to illustrate scenarios with a significant role of CDR. The energy supply (Figure 3.8) shows the phase-out of fossil fuels in the IMP-LD, IMP-Ren and IMP-SP cases, but a less substantial decrease in the IMP-Neg case. The IMP-GS case after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C ( ≥50% needs to make up its slow start by (i) rapid reductions mid-century and (ii) massive reliance on net negative emissions by the end of the century. The CurPol and ModAct cases both result in relatively high emissions, showing a slight increase and stabilisation compared to current emissions, respectively. Trends for these factors are not independent, and scenarios provide a consistent outlook for these factors together (Section 3.2). Marangoni et al. (2017) show that in projections, assumptions influencing energy intensity (e.g., structural change, lifestyle and efficiency) and economic growth are the most important determinants of future CO 2 emissions from energy combustion. Other critical factors include technology assumptions, preferences, resource assumptions and policy ( van Vuuren et al. 2008). As many of the factors are represented differently in specific models, the model itself is also an important factor -providing a reason for the importance of model diversity (Sognnaes et al. 2021). For land use, Stehfest et al. (2019) show that assumptions on population growth are more dominant given that variations in per capita consumption of food are smaller than for energy. Here, we only provide a brief overview of some key drivers. We focus first on so-called reference scenarios (without stringent climate policy) and look at mitigation scenarios in detail later. We use the SSPs to discuss trends in more detail. The SSPs were published in 2017, and by now, some elements will have to be updated (O'Neill et al. 2020b).Still, the ranges represent the full literature relatively well.Historically, population and GDP have been growing over time. Scenario studies agree that further global population growth is likely up to 2050, leading to a range of possible outcomes of around 8.5-11 billion people (Figure 3.9a). After 2050, projections show a much wider range. If fertility drops below replacement levels, a decline in the global population is possible (as illustrated by SSP1 and SSP5). This typically includes scenarios with rapid development and investment in education. However, median projections mostly show a stabilisation of the world population (e.g., SSP2), while high-end projections show a continued growth (e.g., SSP3). The UN Population Prospects include considerably higher values for both the medium projection and the high end of the range than the SSP scenarios (KC and Lutz 2017; UN 2019). The most recent median UN projection reaches almost 11 billion people in 2100. The key differences are in Africa and China: here, the population projections are strongly influenced by the rate of fertility change (faster drop in SSPs). Underlying these differences, the UN approach is more based on current demographic trends while the SSPs assume a broader range of factors (including education) driving future fertility.Economic growth is even more uncertain than the population projections (Figure 3.9c). The average growth rate of GDP was about 2.8% per year (constant USD) in the 1990-2019 period (The World Bank 2021).In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis resulted in a considerable drop in GDP (estimated around 4-5%) (IMF 2021). After a recovery period, most economic projections assume growth rates to converge back to previous projections, although at a lower level (IMF 2021; OECD 2021) (see also Box 3.2). In the long term, assumptions on future growth relate to political stability, the role of the progress of the technology frontier and the degree to which countries can catch up (Johansson et al. 2013). The SSP scenarios cover an extensive range, with low per-capita growth in SSP3 and SSP4 (mostly in developing countries) and rapid growth in SSP1 and SSP5. At the same, however, also scenarios outside the range have some plausibility -including the option of economic decline (Kallis et al. 2012) or much faster economic development (Christensen et al. 2018). The OECD long-term projection is at the global level reasonably consistent with SSP2. Equally important economic parameters include income distribution (inequity) and the type of growth (structural change, i.e., services vs manufacturing industries). Some projections (like SSP1) show a considerable convergence of income levels within and across countries, while in other projections, this does not occur (e.g., SSP3). Most scenarios reflect the suggested inverse relationship between the assumed growth rate for income and population growth (Figure 3.9e). SSP1 and SSP5 represent examples of scenarios with relatively low population increase and relatively high-income increase over the century. SSP3 represents an example of the opposite -while SSP2 and SSP4 are placed more in the middle. Nearly all scenarios assessed here do not account for climate impacts on growth (mostly for methodological reasons). As discussed in Section 3.5 these impacts can be considerable. An emerging area of literature emphasises the possibility of stabilisation (or even decline) of income levels in developed countries, arguing that such a trend would be preferred or even needed for environmental reasons (Anderson and Larkin 2013;Hickel and Kallis 2020;Kallis et al. 2020;Hickel et al. 2021;Keyßer and Lenzen 2021) (see also Chapter 5). Such scenarios are not common among IAM outcomes, that are more commonly based on the idea that decarbonisation can be combined with economic growth by a combination of technology, lifestyle and structural economic changes. Still, such scenarios could result in a dramatic reduction of energy and resource consumption.Scenarios show a range of possible energy projections. In the absence of climate policy, most scenarios project the final energy demand to continue to grow to around 650-800 EJ yr -1 in 2100 (based on the AR6 Scenarios Database, Figure 3.9b). Some projections show a very high energy demand up to 1000 EJ yr -1 (comparable to SSP5). The scenario of the IEA lies within the SSP range but near the SSP1 projection. However, it should be noted that the IEA scenario includes current policies (most reference scenarios do not) and many scenarios published before 2021 did not account for the COVID-19 crisis. Several researchers discuss the possibility of decoupling material and energy demand from economic growth in the literature, mainly in developed countries (Kemp-Benedict 2018) (decoupling here refers to either a much slower increase in demand or even a decrease). In the scenario literature, this is reflected by scenarios with very low demand for final energy based on increased energy efficiency and less energy-intensive lifestyles (e.g., SSP1 and the LED scenario) (Grubler et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018). While these studies show the feasibility of such pathways, their energy efficiency improvement rates are considerably above the historic range of around 2% (Gütschow et al. 2018;Jeffery et al. 2018;Vrontisi et al. 2018;Haberl et al. 2020;Roelfsema et al. 2020;Giarola et al. 2021;Höhne et al. 2021;IEA 2021a;Höhne et al. 2021;Sognnaes et al. 2021). These scenarios also show clear differences in food consumption and the amount of land used for agriculture. Food demand in terms of per-capita caloric intake is projected to increase in most scenarios (Figure 3.9d). However, it should be noted that there are large differences in dietary composition across the scenarios (from more meat-intensive in scenarios such as SSP5 to a decrease in meat consumptions in other scenarios such as SSP1). Land-use projections also depend on assumed changes in yield and the population scenarios (Figure 3.9f). Typically, changes in land use are less drastic than some other parameters (in fact, the 5-95th percentile database range is almost stable). Agriculture land is projected to increase in SSP3, SSP2, and SSP4 -it is more-or-less stable in SSP5 and is projected to decline in SSP1. Global emissions (GtCO 2 -eq yr -1) Greenhouse gas emissions Only CO 2 C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%)C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) The higher categories (C6 and C7) mostly included scenarios with no or modest climate policy. Because of the progression of climate policy, it is becoming more common that reference scenarios incorporate implemented climate policies. Modelling studies typically implement current or pledged policies up until 2030 (Vrontisi et al. 2018;Roelfsema et al. 2020;Sognnaes et al. 2021) with some studies focusing also on the policy development in the long term (Höhne et al. 2021;IEA 2021a;Jeffery et al. 2018;Gütschow et al. 2018).Based on the assessment in Chapter 4, reference pathways consistent with the implementation and trend from implemented policies until the end of 2020 are associated with increased GHG emissions from 59 (53-65) GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 in 2019 to 54-60 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2030 and to 47-67 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2050 (Figure 3.6). Pathways with these near-term emissions characteristics lead to a median global warming of 2.2°C to 3.5°C by 2100 (see also further in this section). These pathways consider policies at the time that they were developed. A recent model comparison that harmonised socioeconomic, technological, and policy assumptions (Giarola et al. 2021) found a 2.2°C-2.9°C median temperature rise in 2100 for current and stated policies, with the results sensitive to the model used and the method of implementing policies (Sognnaes et al. 2021). Scenario inference and construction methods using similar policy assumptions lead to a median range of 2.9°C-3.2°C in 2100 for current policies and 2.4°C-2.9°C in 2100 for 2030 pledges (Höhne et al. 2021). The median spread of 1°C across these studies (2.2°C-3.2°C) indicates the deep uncertainties involved with modelling temperature outcomes of 2030 policies through to 2100 (Höhne et al. 2021).The lower categories include increasingly stringent assumed climate policies. For all scenario categories, except the highest category, emissions peak in the 21st century. For the lowest categories, the emissions peak is mostly before 2030. In fact, for scenarios in the category that avoids temperature overshoot for the 1.5°C scenario (C1 category), GHG emissions are reduced already to almost zero around the middle of the century. Typically, CO 2 emissions reach net zero about 10 to 40 years before total GHG emissions reach net zero. The main reason is that scenarios reduce non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emissions less than CO 2 due to a limited mitigation potential (Section 3.3.2.2). Figure 3.10 also shows that many scenarios in the literature with a temperature outcome below 2°C show net negative emissions. There are, however, also exceptions in which more immediate emission reductions limits the need for CDR. The IMPs illustrate alternative pathways to reach the C1-C3 temperature levels.Figure 3.11 shows the possible consequences of the different scenario categories for global mean temperature calculated using a reduced complexity model (RCM) calibrated to the IPCC AR6 WGI assessment (see Annex III.II.2.5 of this report and Cross-Chapter Box 7.1 in AR6 WGI report). For the C5-C7 categories (containing most of the reference and current policy scenarios), the global mean temperature is expected to increase throughout the century (and further increase will happen after 2100 for C6 and C7). While warming would more likely than not be in the range from 2.2°C to 3.5°C, warming up to 5°C cannot be excluded. The highest emissions scenarios in the literature combine assumptions about rapid long-term economic growth and pervasive climate policy failures, leading to a reversal of some recent trends (Box 3.3). For the categories C1-C4, a peak in global mean temperature is reached mid-century for most scenarios in the database, followed by a small (C3/C4) or more considerable decline (C1/C2). There is a clear distinction between the scenarios with no orThe reduction in CO 2 emissions of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was estimated to be about 6% (Section 4.2.2.4 and Table 4.SM.2) lower than 2019 levels (Forster et al. 2020;Friedlingstein et al. 2020;Liu et al. 2020c;BP 2021;Crippa et al. 2021;IEA 2021;Le Quéré et al. 2021). Near-real-time monitoring estimates show a rebound in emissions levels, meaning 2021 emissions levels are expected to be higher than 2020 (Le Quéré et al. 2021). The longer-term effects are uncertain but so far do not indicate a clear structural change for climate policy related to the pandemic. The increase in renewable shares in 2020 could stimulate a further transition, but slow economic growth can also slow down (renewable) energy investments. Also, lifestyle changes during the crisis can still develop in different directions (working from home, but maybe also living further away from work). Without a major intervention, most long-term scenarios project that emissions will start to follow a similar pathway as earlier projections (although at a reduced level) (IEA 2020b; Kikstra et al. 2021a;Rochedo et al. 2021). If emissions reductions are limited to only a short time, the adjustment of pathways will lead to negligible outcomes in the order of 0.01K (Forster et al. 2020;Jones et al. 2021). At the same time, however, the large amount of investments pledged in the recovery packages could provide a unique opportunity to determine the longterm development of infrastructure, energy systems and land use (Andrijevic et al. 2020b;Hepburn et al. 2020;Pianta et al. 2021).Near-term alternative recovery pathways have been shown to have the potential to influence carbon-price pathways, and energy investments and electrification requirements under stringent mitigation targets (Bertram et al. 2021;Kikstra et al. 2021a;Pollitt et al. 2021;Rochedo et al. 2021;Shan et al. 202). Most studies suggest a noticeable reduction in 2030 emissions. However, much further reductions would be needed to reach the emission levels consistent with mitigation scenarios that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower (see Chapter 4). At the moment, the share of investments in greenhouse gas reduction is relatively small in most recovery packages, and no structural shifts for climate policies are observed linked to the pandemic. Finally, most of the scenarios analysed in this Chapter do not include the 2020 emissions reduction related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of the pandemic on the pathways will likely be very small. The assessment of climate mitigation pathways in this chapter should be interpreted as being almost exclusively based on the assumption of a fast recovery with limited persistent effects on emissions or structural changes.At the time the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were published, they included three scenarios that could represent emission developments in the absence of climate policy: RCP4.5, RCP6 and RCP8.5, described as, respectively, low, medium and highend scenarios in the absence of strong climate policy ( van Vuuren et al. 2011). RCP8.5 was described as representative of the top 5% scenarios in the literature. The SSPs-based set of scenarios covered the RCP forcing levels, adding a new low scenario (at 1.9 W m -2 ). Hausfather and Peters (2020)   For both energy and AFOLU sectors, the positive and negative values represent the cumulated annual balances. In both panels, the three bars per scenario category represent the lowest 5-15th percentile, the average value and the highest 5-15th percentile. These illustrate the range of scenarios in each category. The definition of C1-C7 can be found in Table 3.1.The trajectory of future CO 2 emissions plays a critical role in mitigation, given CO 2 long-term impact and dominance in total greenhouse gas forcing. As shown in Figure 3.12, CO 2 dominates total greenhouse gas emissions in the high-emissions scenarios but is also reduced most, going from scenarios in the highest to lower categories. In C4 and below, most scenarios exhibit net negative CO 2 emissions in the second half of the century compensating for some of the residual emissions of non-CO 2 gases as well as reducing overall warming from an intermediate peak. Still, early emission reductions and further reductions in non-CO 2 emissions can also lead to scenarios without net negative emissions in 2100, even in C1 and C3 (shown for the 85-95th percentile). In C1, avoidance of significant overshoot implies that immediate gross reductions are more relevant than long-term net negative emissions (explaining the lower number than in C2) but carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is still playing a role in compensating for remaining positive emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.CH 4 and N 2 O emissions are also reduced from C7 to C1, but this mostly occurs between C7 and C5. The main reason is the characteristics of abatement potential: technical measures can significantly reduce CH 4 and N 2 O emissions at relatively low costs to about 50% of the current levels (e.g., by reducing CH 4 leaks from fossil fuel production and transport, reducing landfill emissions gazing, land management and introducing measures related to manure management, see also Chapter 7 and 11). However, technical potential estimates become exhausted even if the stringency of mitigation is increased (Harmsen et al. 2019a,b;Höglund-Isaksson et al. 2020). Therefore, further reduction may come from changes in activity levels, such as switching to a less meat-intensive diet, therefore reducing livestock (Stehfest et al. 2009;Willett et al. 2019;Ivanova et al. 2020) (Chapter 7). Other non-CO 2 GHG emissions (halogenated gases) are reduced to low levels for scenarios below 2.5°C. Short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) also play an important role in climate change, certainly for short-term changes (AR6 WGI, Figure SPM.2) (Shindell et al. 2012). These forcers consist of (i) substances contributing to warming, such as methane, black carbon and tropospheric ozone, and (ii) substances contributing to cooling (other aerosols, such as related to sulphur emissions). Most SLCFs are also air pollutants, and reducing their emissions provides additional co-benefits (Shindell et al. 2017a,b;Hanaoka and Masui 2020). In the case of the first group, emission reduction thus leads to both air pollution and climate benefits. For the second, group there is a possible trade-off (Shindell and Smith 2019;Lund et al. 2020). As aerosol emissions are mostly associated with fossil fuel combustion, the benefits of reducing CO 2 could, in the short term, be reduced as a result of lower aerosol cooling. There has been an active discussion on the exact climate contribution of SLCF-focused policies in the literature. This discussion partly emerged from different assumptions on possible reductions in the absence of ambitious climate policy and the uncertain global climate benefit from aerosol (black carbon) (Rogelj et al. 2014). The latter is now assessed to be smaller than originally thought (Takemura and Suzuki 2019;Smith et al. 2020b) (see also AR6 WGI Section 6.4). Reducing SLCF emissions is critical to meet long-term climate goals and might help reduce the rate of climate change in the short term. Deep SLCF emission reductions also increase the remaining carbon budget for a specific temperature goal (Rogelj et al. 2015a;Reisinger et al. 2021) (Box 3.4). A more detailed discussion can be found in AR6 WGI Chapters 5 and 6.For accounting of emissions and the substitution of different gases as part of a mitigation strategy, typically, emission metrics are used to compare the climate impact of different gases. Most policies currently use Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) with a 100-year time horizon as this is also mandated for emissions reporting in the Paris Rulebook (for a wider discussion of GHG metrics, see Box 2.1 in Chapter 2 of this report, and AR6 WGI, Chapter 7, Section 7.6). Alternative metrics have also been proposed, such as those using a shorter or longer time horizon, or those that focus directly on the consequences of reaching a certain temperature target (Global Temperature Change Potential -GTP), allowing a more direct comparison with cumulative CO 2 emissions (Allen et al. 2016;Lynch et al. 2020) or focusing on damages (Global Damage Potential) (an overview is given in Chapter 2, and Cross-Chapter Box 3 in Chapter 3). Depending on the metric, the value attributed to reducing short-lived forcers such as methane can be lower in the near term (e.g., in the case of GTP) or higher (GWP with a short reference period). For most metrics, however, the impact on mitigation strategies is relatively small, among others, due to the marginal abatement cost curve of methane (low costs for low-to-medium mitigation levels; expensive for high levels). The timing of reductions across different gases impacts warming and the co-benefits (Harmsen et al. 2016;Cain et al. 2019). Nearly all scenarios in the literature use GWP-100 in cost-optimisation, reflecting the existing policy approach; the use of GWP-100 deviates from cost-optimal mitigation pathways by at most a few percent for temperature goals that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower (Box 2.1).The dominating role of CO 2 and its long lifetime in the atmosphere and some critical characteristics of the Earth System implies that there is a strong relationship between cumulative CO 2 emissions and temperature outcomes (Allen et al. 2009;Matthews et al. 2009;Meinshausen et al. 2009;MacDougall and Friedlingstein 2015). This is illustrated in Figure 3.13, which plots the cumulative CO 2 emissions against the projected outcome for global mean temperature, both until peak temperature and through to end of century (or 2100). The deviations from a linear relationship in Figure 3.13 are mostly caused by different non-CO 2 emission and forcing levels (see also Rogelj et al. 2015b). This means that reducing non-CO 2 emissions can play an important role in limiting peak warming: the smaller the residual non-CO 2 warming, the larger the carbon budget. This impact on carbon budgets can be substantial for stringent warming limits. For 1.5°C pathways, variations in non-CO 2 warming across different emission scenarios have been found to vary the remaining carbon budget by approximately 220 GtCO 2 (AR6 WGI Chapter 5, Section 5.5.2.2). In addition to reaching net zero CO 2 emissions, a strong reduction in methane emissions is the most critical component in non-CO 2 mitigation to keep the Paris climate goals in reach (Collins et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018) (see also AR6 WGI, Chapters 5, 6 and 7). It should be noted that the temperature categories (C1-C7) generally aligned with the horizontal axis, except for the endof-century values for C1 and C2 that coincide.The WGI assessment has shown that the increase in global mean temperature has a near-linear relationship with cumulative CO 2 emissions (Chapter 5, Section 5.5, Box 5.3 of AR6 WGI report). Consistently, WGI has confirmed that net zero CO 2 emissions are required to halt CO 2 -induced warming. This permits the estimation of carbon budgets consistent with specific temperature goals. In Chapter 3, we present the temperature outcomes and cumulative CO 2 emissions associated with different warming levels for around 1200 scenarios published in the literature and which were classified according to different warming levels (Section 3.2 and Annex III. II.3.2). In this box, we discuss the consistency of the assessments presented here and in IPCC AR6 WGI. The box summarises how the remaining carbon budgets assessed by AR6 WGI relate to the remaining cumulative CO 2 emissions until the time of net zero CO 2 emissions in mitigation pathways (Tables 3.2 and SPM.1) assessed by AR6 WGIII.In its assessment, AR6 WGI uses a framework in which the various components of the remaining carbon budget are informed by various lines of evidence and assessed climate system characteristics. The AR6 WGIII, instead, uses around 1200 emission scenarios with estimated warming levels that cover the scenario range presented in AR6 WGI but also contain many more intermediate projections with varying emission profiles and a combination of CO 2 emissions and other greenhouse gases. In order to assess their climate outcomes, climate model emulators are used. The emulators are reduced complexity climate models that are provided by AR6 WGI, and which are calibrated to the AR6 WGI assessment of future warming for various purposes (a detailed description of the use of climate model emulators in the AR6 WGI and WGIII assessments can be found in Cross-Chapter Box 7.1 in the AR6 WGI report, with the connection of WGI and WGIII discussed in Annex III.2.5.1).The AR6 WGI estimated the remaining carbon budgets from their assessment of (i) the transient climate response to cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (TCRE), and estimates of (ii) the historical human-induced warming, (iii) the temperature change after reaching net zero CO 2 emissions, (iv) the contribution of future non-CO 2 warming (derived from the emissions scenarios assessed in the Special Report on 1.5°C Warming using WGI-calibrated emulators), and (v) the Earth System feedbacks (AR6 WGI Chapter 5.5, Box 5.2). For a given warming level, AR6 WGI assessed the remaining carbon budget from the beginning of 2020 onwards. These are 650/500/400 GtCO 2 for limiting warming to 1.5°C with 33%/50%/ 67% chance and 1350/1150 GtCO 2 for limiting warming to 2°C with 50%/67% chance. The estimates are subject to considerable uncertainty related to historical warming, future non-CO 2 forcing, and poorly quantified climate feedbacks. For instance, variation in non-CO 2 emissions across scenarios are estimated to either increase or decrease the remaining carbon budget estimates by 220 GtCO 2 . The estimates of the remaining carbon budget assume that non-CO 2 emissions are reduced consistently with the tight temperature targets for which the budgets are estimated.Cumulative CO 2 emissions until net zero estimated by AR6 WGIII The AR6 WGIII provides estimates of cumulative net CO 2 emissions (from 2020 inclusive) until the time of reaching net zero CO 2 emissions (henceforth called 'peak cumulative CO 2 emissions') and until the end of the century for eight temperature classes that span a range of warming levels. The numbers can be found in Table 3.2 (330-710 GtCO 2 for C1; 530-930 for C2; and 640-1160 for C3).Comparing the AR6 WGI remaining carbon budgets and remaining cumulative CO 2 emissions of the AR6 WGIII scenarios A comparison between AR6 WGI and WGIII findings requires recognising that, unlike in WGI, cumulative emissions in WGIII are not provided for a specific peak-warming threshold or level but are instead provided for a set of scenarios in a category, representing a specific range of peak-temperature outcomes (for instance the C4 category contains scenarios with a median peak warming anywhere between approximately 1.8°C and up to 2°C). When accounting for this difference, the AR6 WGI and WGIII findings are very consistent for temperature levels below 2°C. Figure 1 compares the peak temperatures and associated cumulative CO 2 emissions (i.e., peak cumulative CO 2 emissions) for the WGIII scenarios to the remaining carbon budgets assessed by WGI. This shows only minor differences between the WGI and WGIII approaches.After correcting for the categorisation, some (small) differences between the AR6 WGI and WGIII numbers arise from remaining differences between the outcomes of the climate emulators and their set-up (IPCC AR6 WGI Cross-Chapter Box 7.1) and the differences in the underlying scenarios. Moreover, the WGI assessment estimated the non-CO 2 warming at the time of net zero CO 2 emissions based on a relationship derived from the SR1.5 scenario database with historical emission estimates as in Meinshausen et al. (2020) (AR6 WGI Chapter 5). The WGIII assessment uses the same climate emulator with improved historical emissions estimates (Nicholls et al. 2021) (AR6 WGI Cross-Chapter Box 7.1). Annex III.II.2.5.1 further explores the effects of these factors on the relationship between non-CO 2 warming at peak cumulative CO 2 and peak surface temperature.Estimates of the remaining carbon budgets thus vary with the assumed level of non-CO 2 emissions, which are a function of policies and technology development. The linear relationship used in the AR6 WGI assessment between peak temperature and the warming as a result of non-CO 2 emissions (based on the SR1.5 data) is shown in the right panel of Figure 2 (dashed line). In the AR6 WGIII approach, the non-CO 2 warming for each single scenario is based on the individual scenario characteristics. This is shown in the same figure by plotting the outcomes of scenario outcomes of a range of models (dots). The lines show the fitted data for individual models, emphasising the clear differences across models and the relationship with peak warming (policy level). In some scenarios, stringent non-CO 2 emission reductions provide an option to reach more stringent climate goals with the same carbon budget. This is especially the case for scenarios with a very low non-CO 2 warming, for instance, as a result of methane reductions through diet change. The left panel shows how these differences impact estimates of the remaining carbon budget. While the AR6 scenarios database includes a broad range of non-CO 2 emission projections the overall range is still very consistent with the WGI relationship and the estimated uncertainty with a ±220 GtCO 2 range (see also Figure 5 in Annex III.II.2.5.1).Overall, the slight differences between the cumulative emissions in AR6 WGIII and the carbon budget in AR6 WGI are because the non-CO 2 warming in the WGIII scenarios is slightly lower than in the SR1.5 scenarios that are used for the budget estimates in WGI (Annex III.2.5.1). In addition, improved consistency with Cross-Chapter Box 7.1 in Chapter 7, AR6 WGI results in a non-CO 2 -induced temperature difference of about about 0.05K between the assessments. Recalculating the remaining carbon budget using the WGI methodology combined with the full AR6 WGIII scenario database results in a reduction of the estimated remaining 1.5°C carbon budget by about 100 GtCO 2 (-20%), and a reduction of about 40 GtCO 2 (-3%) for 2°C. Accounting also for the categorisation effect, the difference between the WGI and WGIII estimates is found to be small and well within the uncertainty range (Figure 1). This means that the cumulative CO 2 emissions presented in WGIII and the WGI carbon budgets are highly consistent.A detailed comparison of the impact of different assessment steps (i.e., the new emulators, scenarios, and harmonisation methods), has been made and is presented in Figure 6 in Annex III.II.3.2 . ). The adjustment to the nearest 0.1°C intervals is made using AR6 WGI TCRE (at the relevant percentile, e.g., the 67th-percentile TCRE is used to adjust the 67th-percentile peak warming), with the 5-95% range of adjusted scenarios provided by the black bar. The AR6 WGI remaining carbon budget is shown, including the WGI estimate of at least a ±220 GtCO 2 uncertainty due to non-CO 2 emissions variations across scenarios (grey bars). For median peak warming (panel a) projections below 2°C relative to 1850-1900, the AR6 WGIII assessment of cumulative carbon emissions tends to be slightly smaller than the remaining carbon budgets provided by WGI but well within the uncertainties. Note that only a few scenarios in WGIII limit warming to below 1.5°C with a 50% chance, thus statistics for that specific threshold have low confidence.The concept of a finite carbon budget means that the world needs to get to net zero CO 2 , no matter whether global warming is limited to 1.5°C or well below 2°C (or any other level). Moreover, exceeding the remaining carbon budget will have consequences by overshooting temperature levels. Still, the relationship between the timing of net zero and temperature targets is a flexible one, as discussed further in Cross-Chapter Box 3 in this chapter. It should be noted that the national-level inventory as used by UNFCCC for the land use, land-use change and forestry sector is different from the overall concept of anthropogenic emissions employed by IPCC AR6 WGI. For emissions estimates based on these inventories, the remaining carbon budgets must be correspondingly reduced by approximately 15%, depending on the scenarios (Grassi et al., 2021) (Chapter 7).One of the uncertainties of the remaining carbon budget is the level of non-CO 2 emissions which is a function of policies and technology development. This represents a point of leverage for policies rather than an inherent geophysical uncertainty. Stringent non-CO 2 emission reductions hence can provide -to some degree -an option to reach more stringent climate goals with the same carbon budget. The coloured lines show the regression at median for scenarios of the eight modelling frameworks, each with more than 20 scenarios in the database and a detailed land-use representation. The red dotted lines indicate the non-CO 2 uncertainty range of AR6 WGI Chapter 5 (±220 GtCO 2 ), here visualised around the median of the eight model framework lines. Carbon budgets from 2020 until 1.5°C (0.43K above 2010-2019 levels) and 2.0°C (0.93K above 2010-2019 levels) are shown for minimum and maximum model estimates at the median, rounded to the nearest 10 GtCO 2 . Panel (b) shows the relationship between the estimated non-CO 2 warming in mitigation scenarios that reach net zero and the associated peak surface temperature outcomes. The coloured lines show the regression at median for scenarios of the eight modelling frameworks with more than 20 scenarios in the database and a detailed land-use representation. The black dashed line indicates the non-CO 2 relationship based on the scenarios and climate emulator setup as was assessed in AR6 WGI Chapter 5.The near-linear relationship implies that cumulative CO 2 emissions are critically important for climate outcomes (Collins et al. 2013). The maximum temperature increase is a direct function of the cumulative emissions until net zero CO 2 emissions is reached (the emission budget) (Figure 3.13, left side). The end-of-century temperature correlates well with cumulative emissions across the century (right panel). For long-term climate goals, positive emissions in the first half of the century can be offset by net removal of CO 2 from the atmosphere (net negative emissions) at the cost of a temporary overshoot of the target (Tokarska et al. 2019). The bottom panels of Figure 3.13 show the contribution of net negative CO 2 emissions.Focusing on cumulative emissions, the right-hand panel of Figure 3.12b shows that for high-end scenarios (C6-C7), most emissions originate from fossil fuels, with a smaller contribution from net deforestation. For C5 and lower, there is also a negative contribution to emissions from both AFOLU emissions and energy systems. For the energy systems, these negative emissions originate from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), while for AFOLU, they originate from reforestation and afforestation. For C3-C5, reforestation has a larger CDR contribution than BECCS, mostly due to considerably lower costs (Rochedo et al. 2018). For C1 and C2, the tight carbon budgets imply in many scenarios more CDR use (Riahi et al. 2021). Please note that net negative emissions are not so relevant for peak-temperature targets, and thus the C1 category, but CDR can still be used to offset the remaining positive emissions (Riahi et al. 2021). While positive CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels are significantly reduced, inertia and hard-to-abate sectors imply that in many C1-C3 scenarios, around 800-1000 GtCO 2 of net positive cumulative CO 2 emissions remain. This is consistent with literature estimates that current infrastructure is associated with 650 GtCO 2 (best estimate) if operated until the end of its lifetime (Tong et al. 2019). These numbers are considerably above the estimated carbon budgets for 1.5°C estimated in AR6 WGI, hence explaining CDR reliance (either to offset emissions immediately or later in time). 3Creating net negative emissions can thus be an important part of a mitigation strategy to offset remaining emissions or compensate for emissions earlier in time. As indicated above, there are different ways to potentially achieve this, including reforestation and afforestation and BECCS (as often covered in IAMs) but also soil carbon enhancement, direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) and ocean alkalinisation (Chapter 12). Except for reforestation, these options have not been tested at large scale and often require more R&D. Moreover, the reliance on CDR in scenarios has been discussed given possible consequences of land use related to biodiversity loss and food security (BECCS and afforestation), the reliance on uncertain storage potentials (BECCS and DACCS), water use (BECCS), energy use (DACCS), the risks of possible temperature overshoot and the consequences for meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Anderson and Peters 2016;Smith et al. 2016;Venton 2016;Peters and Geden 2017;van Vuuren et al. 2017;Honegger et al. 2021). In the case of BECCS, it should be noted that bioenergy typically is associated with early-on positive CO 2 emissions and net negative effects are only achieved in time (carbon debt), and its potential is limited (Cherubini et al. 2013;Hanssen et al. 2020); most IAMs have only a very limited representation of these time dynamics. Several scenarios have therefore explored how reliance on net negative CO 2 emissions can be reduced or even avoided by alternative emission strategies (Grubler et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018) or early reductions by more stringent emission reduction in the short term (Rogelj et al. 2019b;Riahi et al. 2021). A more in-depth discussion of land-based mitigation options can be found in Chapter 7. It needs to be emphasised that even in strategies with net negative CO 2 emissions, the emission reduction via more conventional mitigation measures (efficiency improvement, decarbonisation of energy supply) is much larger than the CDR contribution (Tsutsui et al. 2020).In addition to the constraints on change in global mean temperature, the Paris Agreement also calls for reaching a balance of sources and sinks of GHG emissions (Art. 4). Different interpretations of the concept related to balance have been published (Rogelj et al. 2015c;Fuglestvedt et al. 2018). Key concepts include that of net zero CO 2 emissions (anthropogenic CO 2 sources and sinks equal zero) and net zero greenhouse gas emissions (see Annex I: Glossary, and Box 3.3).The same notion can be used for all GHG emissions, but here ranges also depend on the use of equivalence metrics (Box 2.1). Moreover, it should be noted that while reaching net zero CO 2 emissions typically coincides with the peak in temperature increase; net zero GHG emissions (based on GWP-100) imply a decrease in global temperature (Riahi et al. 2021) and net zero GHG emissions typically require negative CO 2 emissions to compensate for the remaining emissions from other GHGs. Many countries have started to formulate climate policy in the year that net zero emissions (either CO 2 or all greenhouse gases) are reached -although, at the moment, formulations are often still vague (Rogelj et al. 2021). There has been increased attention on the timing of net zero emissions in the scientific literature and ways to achieve it.Figure 3.14 shows that there is a relationship between the temperature target, the cumulative CO 2 emissions budget, and the net zero year for CO 2 emissions (panel a) and the sum of greenhouse gases (panel b) for the scenarios published in the literature. In other words, the temperature targets from the Paris Agreement can, to some degree, be translated into a net-zero emission year (Tanaka and O'Neill 2018). There is, however, a considerable spread. In addition to the factors influencing the emission budget (AR6 WGI and Section 3.3.2.2), this is influenced by the emission trajectory until net zero is reached, decisions related to temperature overshoot and non-CO 2 emissions (especially for the moment CO 2 reaches net zero emissions). Scenarios with limited or no net negative emissions and rapid near-term emission reductions can allow small positive emissions (e.g., in hard-to-abate-sectors). They may therefore have a later year that net zero CO 2 emissions are achieved. High emissions in the short term, in contrast, require an early net zero year.For the scenarios in the C1 category (limit warming to 1.5°C (>50% with no or limited overshoot, the net zero year for CO 2 emissions is typically around 2035-2070. For scenarios in C3 (limiting warming to 2°C (>67%)), CO 2 emissions reach net zero around after 2050. Similarly, also the years for net zero GHG emissions can be calculated (see Fig 3 .14b. The GHG net zero emissions year is typically around 10-40 years later than the carbon neutrality.Residual non-CO 2 emissions at the time of reaching net zero CO 2 range between 5-11 GtCO 2 -eq in pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower. In pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%), methane is reduced by around 19% (3-46%) in 2030 and 46% (29-64%) in 2050, and in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot by around 34% (21-57%) in 2030 and a similar 51% (35-70%) in 2050. Emissions-reduction potentials assumed in the pathways become largely exhausted when limiting warming to 2°C (>50%). N 2 O emissions are reduced too, but similar to CH 4 , emission reductions saturate for stringent climate goals.In the mitigation pathways, the emissions of cooling aerosols are reduced due to reduced use of fossil fuels. The overall impact on non-CO 2 -related warming combines these factors.In cost-optimal scenarios, regions will mostly achieve net zero emissions as a function of options for emission reduction, CDR, and expected baseline emission growth (van Soest et al. 2021b). This typically implies relatively early net zero emission years in scenarios for the Latin America region and relatively late net zero years for Asia and Africa (and average values for OECD countries). However, an allocation based on equity principles (such as responsibility, capability and equality) might result in different net zero years, based on the principles applied -with often earlier net zero years for the OECD (Fyson et al. 2020;van Soest et al. 2021b). Therefore, the emission trajectory until net zero emissions is a critical determinant of future warming (Section 3.5). The more CO 2 is emitted until 2030, the less CO 2 can be emitted after that to stay below a warming limit (Riahi et al. 2015). As discussed before, also non-CO 2 forcing plays a key role in the short term.The earlier global net zero CO 2 emissions are reached, the lower the cumulative net amount of CO 2 emissions and human-induced global warming, all else being equal (Figure 1a in this Cross-Chapter Box). For a given net zero date, a variation in the shape of the CO 2 emissions profile can lead to a variation in the cumulative net amount of CO 2 emissions until the time of net zero CO 2 and as a result to different peak-warming levels. For example, cumulative net CO 2 emissions until the time of reaching net zero CO 2 will be smaller, and peak warming lower, if emissions are reduced steeply and then more slowly compared to reducing emissions slowly and then more steeply (Figure 1b in this Cross-Chapter Box). C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) REMIND-MAgPIE NGFS2 Delayed Transition GEM-E3 EN-NPi2020-1000 POLES EN-NPi2020-800 Net zero CO 2 emissions are reached between 2050-2055 (2035-2070) in global emissions pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, and between 2070-2075 (2055-…) in pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) as reported in the AR6 scenarios database (median five-year interval and 5-95th percentile ranges). 5 The variation of non-CO 2 emissions in 1.5°C-2°C pathways varies the available remaining carbon budget which can move the time of reaching net zero CO 2 in these pathways forward or backward. 6 The shape of the CO 2 emissions reduction profile also affects the time of reaching net zero CO 2 (Figure 1c in this Cross-Chapter Box). Global emission pathways that more than halve CO 2 emissions from 2020 to 2030 can follow this rapid reduction by a more gradual decline towards net zero CO 2 and still limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot, reaching the point of net zero after 2050. The literature since SR1.5 included a larger fraction of such pathways than were available at the time of SR1.5. This is the primary reason for the small backward shift in the median estimate of reaching global net zero CO 2 emissions in 1.5°C pathways collected in the AR6 scenario database compared to SR1.5. This does not mean that the world is assessed to have more time to rapidly reduce current emissions levels compared to SR1.5. The assessment of emissions reductions by 2030 and 2040 in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot has not changed substantially. It only means that the exact timing of reaching net zero CO 2 after a steep decline of CO 2 emissions until 2030 and 2040 can show some variation, and the SR1.5 median value of 2050 is still close to the middle of the current range (Figure 1c in this Cross-Chapter Box).Pathways following emissions levels projected from the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) announced prior to COP26 until 2030 would result in substantially (>0.1°C) exceeding 1.5°C. They would have to reach net zero CO 2 around 5-10 years later 7 than in pathways with no or limited overshoot in order to reach the net negative emissions that would then be required to return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot by 2100. Those high overshoot pathways have higher transient warming and higher reliance on net negative CO 2 emissions towards the end of the 21st century. As they need to reach net zero CO 2 emissions in only limited amount of time but from much higher 2030 emissions levels, their post-2030 CO 2 emissions reduction rates are substantially higher (by around 30%) than in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot. (Section 3.5).Pathways following emissions levels projected from the implementation of NDCs announced prior to COP26 until 2030 would have to reach net zero CO 2 around 5 years earlier 8 than cost-effective pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%). While cost-effective pathways take around 50-55 years to reach net zero CO 2 emissions, those pathways would only have 35-40 years left for transitioning to net zero CO 2 from 2030 onwards, close to the transition times that 1.5°C pathways are faced with today. Current CO 2 emissions and 2030 emission levels projected under the NDCs announced prior to COP26 are in a similar range (Sections 3.5 and 4.2).The amount of CO 2 -equivalent emissions and the point when net zero GHG emissions are reached in multi-GHG emissions pathways depends on the choice of GHG emissions metric. Various GHG emission metrics are available for this purpose. 9 GWP-100 is the most commonly used metric for reporting CO 2 -equivalent emissions and is required for emissions reporting under the Rulebook of the Paris Agreement. (Cross-Chapter Box 2 in Chapter 2, Annex I and Annex II.9)A small fraction of pathways in the AR6 scenarios database that limit warming to 2°C (7% for C3 and 14% for C4) do not reach net zero CO 2 emissions during the 21st century. This is not inconsistent with the fundamental scientific requirement to reach net zero CO 2 emissions for a stable climate, but reflects that in some pathways, concurrent reductions in non-CO 2 emissions temporarily compensate for ongoing warming from CO 2 emissions. These would have to reach net zero CO 2 emissions eventually after 2100 to maintain these warming limits. For the two classes of pathways, the 95th percentile cannot be deduced from the scenario database as more than 5% of them do not reach net zero CO 2 by 2100.The AR6 WGI Section 5.5 estimates a variation of the remaining carbon budget by ±220 GtCO 2 due to variations of the non-CO 2 warming contribution in 1.5°C-2°C pathways. This translates to a shift of the timing of net zero CO 2 by about ±10 years, assuming global CO 2 emissions decrease linearly from current levels of around 40 GtCO 2 to net zero.Pathways following emissions levels of NDCs announced prior to COP26 to 2030 and then returning warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after high overshoot by 2100 reach net zero during 2055-2060 (2045-2070) (median five-year interval and 5-95th percentile range).Pathways that follow emission levels projected from the implementation of NDCs announced prior to COP26 until 2030 and that still limit warming to 2°C (>67%) reach net zero CO 2 emissions during 2065-2070 (2055-2090) compared with 2070-2075 (2055-…) in cost-effective pathways acting immediately to likely limit warming to 2°C (median five-year interval and 5-95th percentile range). See Footnote 5 for the lack of 95th percentile (Section 3.3 and Table 3.2).Defining net zero GHG emissions for a basket of greenhouse gases (GHGs) relies on a metric to convert GHG emissions including methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), fluorinated gases (F-gases), and potentially other gases, to CO 2 -equivalent emissions. The choice of metric ranges from global warming potentials (GWPs) and global temperature change potentials (GTP) to economically oriented metrics. All metrics have advantages and disadvantages depending on the context in which they are used (Cross-Chapter Box 2 in Chapter 2).For most choices of GHG emissions metric, reaching net zero GHG emissions requires net negative CO 2 emissions in order to balance residual CH 4 , N 2 O and F-gas emissions. Under foreseen technology developments, some CH 4 , N 2 O and F-gas emissions from, for example, agriculture and industry, will remain over the course of this century. Net negative CO 2 emissions will therefore be needed to balance these remaining non-CO 2 GHG emissions to obtain net zero GHG emissions at a point in time after net zero CO 2 has been reached in emissions pathways. Both the amount of net negative CO 2 emissions and the time lag to reaching net zero GHG depend on the choice of GHG emission metric.Reaching net zero GHG emissions globally in terms of GWP-100 leads to a reduction in global warming from an earlier peak. This is due to net negative CO 2 emissions balancing the GWP-100-equivalent emissions of short-lived GHG emissions, which by themselves do not contribute to further warming if sufficiently declining (Fuglestvedt et al. 2018;Rogelj et al. 2021). Hence, 1.5°C-2°C emissions pathways in the AR6 scenario database that reach global net zero GHG emissions in the second half of the century show warming being halted at some peak value followed by a gradual decline towards the end of the century (AR6 WGI Chapter 1, Box 1.4).Global net zero GHG emissions measured in terms of GWP-100 are reached between 2095 and 2100 (2050-…) 10 in emission pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot (median and 5-95th percentile).Around 50% of pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot and 70% of pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) do not reach net zero GHG emissions in terms of GWP-100 before 2100. These pathways tend to show less reduction in warming after the peak than pathways that reach net zero GHG emissions. For the subset of pathways that reach net zero GHG emissions before 2100, including around 90% of pathways that return warming to 1.5°C after a high overshoot (>0.1°C) by 2100, the time lag between reaching net zero CO 2 and net zero GHG is 12-14 (7-39) years and the amount of net negative CO 2 emissions deployed to balance non-CO 2 emissions at the time of net zero GHG is around -7 (-10 to -4) GtCO 2 (range of medians and lowest 5th to highest 95 percentile across the four scenario classes that limit median warming to 2°C or lower) (Section 3.3 and Table 3.2).The timing of net zero CO 2 or GHG emissions may differ across regions and sectors. Achieving net zero emissions globally implies that some sectors and regions must reach net zero CO 2 or GHG ahead of the time of global net zero CO 2 or GHG if others reach it later. Similarly, some sectors and regions would need to achieve net negative CO 2 or GHG emissions to compensate for continued emissions by other sectors and regions after the global net zero year. Differences in the timing to reach net zero emissions between sectors and regions depend on multiple factors, including the potential of countries and sectors to reduce GHG emissions and undertake carbon dioxide removal (CDR), the associated costs, and the availability of policy mechanisms to balance emissions and removals between sectors and countries (Fyson et al. 2020;Strefler et al. 2021a;van Soest et al. 2021b). A lack of such mechanisms could lead to higher global costs to reach net zero emissions globally, but less interdependencies and institutional needs (Fajardy and Mac Dowell 2020). Sectors will reach net zero CO 2 and GHG emissions at different times if they are aiming for such targets with sector-specific policies or as part of an economy-wide net zero emissions strategy integrating emissions reductions and removals across sectors. In the latter case, sectors with large potential for achieving net negative emissions would go beyond net zero to balance residual emissions from sectors with low potential, which in turn would take more time compared to the case of sectorspecific action. Global pathways project global AFOLU emissions to reach global net zero CO 2 the earliest, around 2030 to 2035 in pathways to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower, by rapid reduction of deforestation and enhancing carbon sinks on land, although net zero GHG emissions from global AFOLU are typically reached 30 years later, if at all. The ability of global AFOLU CO 2 emissions to reach net zero as early as in the 2030s in modelled pathways hinges on optimistic assumptions about the ability to establish global cost-effective mechanisms to balance emissions reductions and removals across regions and sectors. These assumptions have been challenged in the literature and the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (IPCC SRCCL).The adoption and implementation of net zero CO 2 or GHG emission targets by countries and regions also depends on equity and capacity criteria. The Paris Agreement recognises that peaking of emissions will occur later in developing countries (Art. 4.1). Just transitions to net zero CO 2 or GHG could be expected to follow multiple pathways, in different contexts. Regions may decide about net zero pathways based on their consideration of potential for rapid transition to low-carbon development pathways, the capacity to design and implement those changes, and perceptions of equity within and across countries. Cost-effective pathways from global models have been shown to distribute the mitigation effort unevenly and inequitably in the absence of financial support mechanisms and capacity building (Budolfson et al. 2021), and hence would require additional measures to become aligned with 10The 95th percentile cannot be deduced from the scenario database as more than 5% of pathways do not reach net zero GHG by 2100 (Section 3. 3 and Table 3.2.), hence denoted by -….equity considerations (Fyson et al. 2020;van Soest et al. 2021b). Formulation of net zero pathways by countries will benefit from clarity on scope, roadmaps and fairness (Rogelj et al. 2021;Smith 2021). Achieving net zero emission targets relies on policies, institutions and milestones against which to track progress. Milestones can include emissions levels, as well as markers of technological diffusion.The accounting of anthropogenic carbon dioxide removal on land matters for the evaluation of net zero CO 2 and net zero GHG strategies. Due to the use of different approaches between national inventories and global models, the current net CO 2 emissions are lower by 5.5 GtCO 2 , and cumulative net CO 2 emissions in modelled 1.5°C-2°C pathways would be lower by 104-170 GtCO 2 , if carbon dioxide removals on land are accounted based on national GHG inventories. National GHG inventories typically consider a much larger area of managed forest than global models, and on this area additionally consider the fluxes due to human-induced global environmental change (indirect effects) to be anthropogenic, while global models consider these fluxes to be natural. Both approaches capture the same land fluxes, only the accounting of anthropogenic vs natural emissions is different. Methods to convert estimates from global models to the accounting scheme of national GHG inventories will improve the use of emission pathways from global models as benchmarks against which collective progress is assessed. (Section 7.2.2.5).Net zero CO 2 and carbon neutrality have different meanings in this assessment, as is the case for net zero GHG and GHG neutrality. They apply to different boundaries in the emissions and removals being considered. Net zero (GHG or CO 2 ) refers to emissions and removals under the direct control or territorial responsibility of the reporting entity. In contrast, (GHG or carbon) neutrality includes anthropogenic emissions and anthropogenic removals within and also those beyond the direct control or territorial responsibility of the reporting entity. At the global scale, net zero CO 2 and carbon neutrality are equivalent, as is the case for net zero GHG and GHG neutrality. The term 'climate neutrality' is not used in this assessment because the concept of climate neutrality is diffuse, used differently by different communities, and not readily quantified.Cross-Chapter Box 3 (continued)Table 3.2 summarises the key characteristics for all temperature categories in terms of cumulative CO 2 emissions, near-term emission reductions, and the years of peak emission and net zero CO 2 and GHG emissions. The table shows again that many pathways in the literature limit global warming to 2°C (>67%) or limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot compared to pre-industrial levels. Cumulative net CO 2 emissions from the year 2020 until the time of net zero CO 2 in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot are 510 (330-710) GtCO 2 and in pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%), 890 (640-1160) GtCO 2 (see also Cross-Chapter Box 3 in this chapter). Mitigation pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) compared to pre-industrial levels are associated with net global GHG emissions of 44 (32-55) GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 by 2030 and 20 (13-26) GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 in 2050. These correspond to GHG emissions reductions of 21% (1-42%) by 2030, and 64% (53-77%) by 2050 relative to 2019 emission levels. Pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot require a further acceleration in the pace of the transformation, with GHG emissions reductions of 43% (34-60%) by 2030 and 84% (73-98%) in 2050 relative to modelled 2019 emission levels.The likelihood of limiting warming to below 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot of the most stringent mitigation pathways in the literature (C1) has declined since SR1.5. This is because emissions have risen since 2010 by about 9 GtCO 2 yr -1 , resulting in relatively higher near-term emissions of the AR6 pathways by 2030 and slightly later dates for reaching net zero CO 2 emissions compared to SR1.5.Given the larger contribution of scenarios in the literature that aim to reduce net negative emissions, emission reductions are somewhat larger in the short term compared to similar categories in the IPCC SR1.5. At the same time, the year of net zero emissions is somewhat later (but only if these rapid, short-term emission reductions are achieved). The scenarios in the literature in C1-C3 show a peak in global emissions before 2025. Not achieving this requires a more rapid reduction after 2025 to still meet the Paris goals (Section 3.5).  i Emissions milestones are provided for five-year intervals in order to be consistent with the underlying five-year time-step data of the modelled pathways. Peak emissions (CO 2 and GHGs) are assessed for five-year reporting intervals starting in 2020. The interval 2020-2025 signifies that projected emissions peak as soon as possible between 2020 and at latest before 2025. The upper five-year interval refers to the median interval within which the emissions peak or reach net zero. Ranges in square brackets underneath refer to the range across the pathways, comprising the lower bound of the 5th percentile five-year interval and the upper bound of the 95th percentile five-year interval. Numbers in round brackets signify the fraction of pathways that reach specific milestones. j Percentiles reported across all pathways in that category include those that do not reach net zero before 2100 (fraction of pathways reaching net zero is given in round brackets). If the fraction of pathways that reach net zero before 2100 is lower than the fraction of pathways covered by a percentile (e.g., 0.95 for the 95th percentile), the percentile is not defined and denoted with '…'. The fraction of pathways reaching net zero includes all with reported non-harmonised, and/or harmonised emissions profiles that reach net zero. Pathways were counted when at least one of the two profiles fell below 100 MtCO 2 yr -1 until 2100. k The timing of net zero is further discussed in SPM C2.4 and Cross-Chapter Box 3 in Chapter 3 on net zero CO 2 and net zero GHG emissions. l For cases where models do not report all GHGs, missing GHG species are infilled and aggregated into a Kyoto basket of GHG emissions in CO 2 -eq defined by the 100-year global warming potential. For each pathway, reporting of CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O emissions was the minimum required for the assessment of the climate response and the assignment to a climate category. Emissions pathways without climate assessment are not included in the ranges presented here. {See Annex III.II.2.5 } m Cumulative emissions are calculated from the start of 2020 to the time of net zero and 2100, respectively. They are based on harmonised net CO 2 emissions, ensuring consistency with the WGI assessment of the remaining carbon budget. 50 {Box 3.4} n Global mean temperature change for category (at peak, if peak temperature occurs before 2100, and in 2100) relative to 1850-1900, based on the median global warming for each pathway assessed using the probabilistic climate model emulators calibrated to the AR6 WGI assessment. 12 (See also Box SPM.1) {Annex III.II.2.5; WGI Cross-Chapter Box 7.1} o Probability of staying below the temperature thresholds for the pathways in each category, taking into consideration the range of uncertainty from the climate model emulators consistent with the AR6 WGI assessment. The probabilities refer to the probability at peak temperature. Note that in the case of temperature overshoot (e.g., category C2 and some pathways in C1), the probabilities of staying below at the end of the century are higher than the probabilities at peak temperature.Detailed sectoral implications are discussed in Section 3.4 and Chapters 5-11 (see also Table 3.3). The stringency of climate policy has clear implications for mitigation action (Figure 3.15). There are a number of important commonalities of pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower: for instance, they all rely on significant improvement of energy efficiency, rapid decarbonisation of supply and, many of them, CDR (in energy supply or AFOLU), either in terms of net negative emissions or to compensate residual emissions.Still, there are also important differences and the (IMPs) show how different choices can steer the system into alternative directions with different combinations of response options. For decarbonisation of energy supply many options exist, including CCS, nuclear power, and renewables (Chapter 6). In the majority of the scenarios reaching low GHG targets, a considerable amount of CCS is applied (Figure 3.15d).The share of renewables is around 30-70% in the scenarios that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) and clearly above 40% for scenarios that limit warming 1.5°C (>50%) (panel c). Scenarios have been published with 100% renewable energy systems even at a global scale, partly reflecting the rapid progress made for these technologies in the last decade (Creutzig et al. 2017;Jacobson et al. 2018;Breyer and Jefferson 2020). These scenarios do not show in the graph due to a lack of information from non-energy sources. There is a debate in the literature on whether it is possible to achieve a 100% renewable energy system by 2050 (Brook et al. 2018). This critically depends on assumptions made on future system integration, system flexibility, storage options, consequences for material demand and the ability to supply high-temperature functions and specific mobility functions with renewable energy.  This is explored further in Section 3.5. The different strategies are also clearly apparent in the way they scenarios reach net zero emissions. While IMP-GS and IMP-Neg rely significantly on BECCS and DACCS, their use is far more restricted in the other IMPs. Consistently, in these IMPs residual emissions are also significantly lower.Mitigation pathways also have a regional dimension. In 2010, about 40% of emissions originated from the Developed Countries and Eastern Europe and West Central Asia regions. According to the projections shown in Figure 3.17, the share of the latter regions will further increase to about 70% by 2050. In the scenarios in the literature, emissions are typically almost equally reduced across the regions.At the moment, climate change impact on mitigation potential is hardly considered in model-based scenarios. While a detailed overview of climate impacts is provided in IPCC AR6 WGII and Section 3.6 discusses the economic consequences, here we concentrate on the implications for mitigation potential. Climate change directly impacts the carbon budget via all kinds of feedbacks -which is included in the ranges provided for the carbon budget (e.g., 300-900 GtCO 2 for 17th-83rd percentile for not exceeding 1.5°C; see AR6 WGI Chapter 5, 2021). Climate change, however, alters the production and consumption of energy (Section 6.5). An overview of the literature is provided by Yalew et al. (2020). In terms of supply, impacts could influence the cooling capacity of thermal plants, the potential and predictability of renewable energy, and energy infrastructure (van Vliet et al. 2016;Turner et al. 2017;Cronin et al. 2018a;Lucena et al. 2018;Yalew et al. 2020;Gernaat et al. 2021). Although the outcomes of these studies differ, they seem to suggest that although impacts might be relatively small at the global scale, they could be substantial at the regional scale (increasing or decreasing potential  Climate change can impact the potential for AFOLU mitigation action by altering terrestrial carbon uptake, crop yields and bioenergy potential (Chapter 7). Carbon sequestration in forests may be positively or adversely affected by climate change and CO 2 fertilisation. On the one hand, elevated CO 2 levels and higher temperatures could enhance tree growth rates, carbon sequestration, and timber and biomass production (Beach et al. 2015;Kim et al. 2017;Anderegg et al. 2020). On the other hand, climate change could lead to greater frequency and intensity of disturbance events in forests, such as fires, prolonged droughts, storms, pests and diseases (Kim et al. 2017;Anderegg et al. 2020).The impact of climate change on crop yields could also indirectly impact the availability of land for mitigation and AFOLU emissions (Calvin et al. 2013;Bajželj and Richards 2014;Kyle et al. 2014;Beach et al. 2015;Meijl et al. 2018). The impact is, however, uncertain, as discussed in AR6 WGII Chapter 5. A few studies estimate the effect of climate impacts on AFOLU on mitigation, finding increases in carbon prices or mitigation costs by 1-6% in most scenarios (Calvin et al. 2013;Kyle et al. 2014).In summary, a limited number of studies quantify the impact of climate on emissions pathways. The most important impact in energy systems might be through the impact on demand, although climate change could also impact renewable mitigation potentialcertainly at the local and regional scale. Climate change might be more important for land-use related mitigation measures, including afforestation, bioenergy and nature-based solutions. The net effect of changes in climate and CO 2 fertilisation are uncertain but could be substantial (Chapter 7).  Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals 3This section describes the role of sectors in long-term emissions pathways (Table 3.3). We discuss both sectoral aspects of IAM pathways and some insights from sectoral studies. Sectoral studies typically include more detail and additional mitigation options compared to IAMs. However, sectoral studies miss potential feedbacks and cross-sectoral linkages that are captured by IAMs. Additionally, since IAMs include all emissions sources, these models can be used to identify pathways to particular climate goals. In such pathways, emissions are balanced across sectors typically based on relative marginal abatement costs; as a result, some sectors are sources and some are sinks at the time of net zero CO 2 emissions. For these reasons, the mitigation observed in each sector in an IAM may differ from the potential in sectoral studies. Given the strengths and limitations of each type of model, IAMs and sectoral models are complementary, providing different perspectives.Cross-sector LinkagesMost IAM pathways rely heavily on supply-side mitigation strategies, including fuel switching, decarbonisation of fuels, and CDR (Creutzig et al. 2016;Bertram et al. 2018;Rogelj et al. 2018b;Mundaca et al. 2019) Figure 3.18 shows indicators of supply-and demand-side mitigation in the IMPs, as well as the range across the database. Two of these IMPs (IMP-SP, IMP-LD) show strong reductions in energy demand, resulting in less reliance on bioenergy and limited CDR from energy supply. In contrast, IMP-Neg has higher energy demand, depending more on bioenergy and net negative CO 2 emissions from energy supply.    C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) ). These studies find that substantial mitigation is required to limit warming to a given level, even if SRM is available (Moreno-Cruz and Smulders 2017; Emmerling and Tavoni 2018b; Belaia et al. 2021). SRM may reduce some climate impacts, reduce peak temperatures, lower mitigation costs, and extend the time available to achieve mitigation; however, SRM does not address ocean acidification and may involve risks to crop yields, economies, human health, or ecosystems (AR6 WGII Chapter 16; AR6 WGI TS and Chapter 5; SR1.5 SPM; and Cross-Working Group Box 4 in Chapter 14 of this report). There are also significant uncertainties surrounding SRM, including uncertainties on the costs and risks, which can substantially alter the amount of SRM used in modelled pathways (Tavoni et al. 2017;Heutel et al. 2018;IPCC 2018;Helwegen et al. 2019;NASEM 2021). Furthermore, the degree of international cooperation can influence the amount of SRM deployed in scenarios, with uncoordinated action resulting in larger SRM deployment and consequently larger risks/impacts from SRM (Emmerling and Tavoni 2018a). Bridging research and governance involves consideration of the full range of societal choices and ramifications (Sugiyama et al. 2018). More information on SRM, including the caveats, risks, uncertainties, and governance issues is found in AR6 WGI Chapter 4; AR6 WGIII Chapter 14; and Cross-Working Group Box 4 in Chapter 14 of this report.Mitigation in one sector can be dependent upon mitigation in another sector, or may involve trade-offs between sectors. Mitigation in energy demand often includes electrification (Pietzcker et al. 2014;Luderer et al. 2018;Sharmina et al. 2020;DeAngelo et al. 2021), however such pathways only result in reduced emissions if the electricity sector is decarbonised (Zhang and Fujimori 2020) (Chapter 12). Relatedly, the mitigation potential of some sectors (e.g., transportation) depends on the decarbonisation of liquid fuels, for example, through biofuels (Pietzcker et al. 2014;Wise et al. 2017;Sharmina et al. 2020) (Chapter 12). In other cases, mitigation in one sector results in reduced emissions in another sector. For example, increased recycling can reduce primary resource extraction; planting trees or green roofs in urban areas can reduce the energy demand associated with space cooling (Chapter 12).Mitigation in one sector can also result in additional emissions in another. One example is electrification of end use which can result in increased emissions from energy supply. However, one comparitively well-researched example of this linkage is bioenergy. An increase in demand for bioenergy within the energy system has the potential to influence emissions in the AFOLU sector through the intensification of land and forest management and/or via land-use change (Daioglou et al. 2019;Smith et al. 2019;Smith et al. 2020a;IPCC 2019a). The effect of bioenergy and BECCS on mitigation depends on a variety of factors in modelled pathways. In the energy system, the emissions mitigation depends on the scale of deployment, the conversion technology, and the fuel displaced (Calvin et al. 2021). for the IMPs. Definitions of significant and very significant are defined relative to 2019 and vary between indicators, as follows: fossil energy (significant >10%, very significant >50%), renewables (>150 EJ yr -1 , >200 EJ yr -1 ), bioenergy (>100%, >200%), BECCS (>2.0 GtCO 2 yr -1 , >3.5 GtCO 2 yr -1 ), AFOLU (>100% decline, >130% decline), energy crops (>150 million ha, >400 million ha), forest (>5% increase, >15% increase). Source: AR6 Scenarios Database.Limiting or excluding bioenergy and/or BECCS increases mitigation cost and may limit the ability of a model to reach a low warming level (Edmonds et al. 2013;Calvin et al. 2014b;Luderer et al. 2018;Muratori et al. 2020). In AFOLU, bioenergy can increase or decrease terrestrial carbon stocks and carbon sequestration, depending on the scale, biomass feedstock, land management practices, and prior land use (Calvin et al. 2014c;Wise et al. 2015;IPCC 2019a;Smith et al. 2019Smith et al. , 2020a;;Calvin et al. 2021).Pathways with very high biomass production for energy use typically include very high carbon prices in the energy system (Popp et  Based on sectoral studies, the technical potential for bioenergy, when constraints for food security and environmental considerations are included, are 5-50 EJ yr -1 and 50-250 EJ yr -1 in 2050 for residues and dedicated biomass production systems, respectively (Chapter 7). Bioenergy deployment in IAMs is within the range of these potentials, with between 75 and 248 EJ yr -1 in 2050 in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot. Finally, IAMs do not include all potential feedstock and management practices, and have limited representation of institutions, governance, and local context (Brown et al. 2019;Butnar et al. 2020;Calvin et al. 2021).The inclusion of CDR options, like BECCS, can affect the timing of emissions mitigation in IAM scenarios, that is, delays in mitigations actions are compensated by net negative emissions in the second half of the century. However, studies with limited net negative emissions in the long term require very rapid declines in emissions in the near term (van Vuuren et al. 2017). Especially in forest-based systems, increased harvesting of forests can perturb the carbon balance of forestry systems, increasing emissions for some period; the duration of this period of increased emissions, preceding net emissions reductions, can be very variable (Mitchell et al. 2012;Lamers and Junginger 2013;Röder et al. 2019;Hanssen et al. 2020;Cowie et al. 2021). However, the factors contributing to differences in recovery time are known (Mitchell et al. 2012;Zanchi et al. 2012;Lamers and Junginger 2013;Laganière et al. 2017;Röder et al. 2019). Some studies that consider market-mediated effects find that an increased demand for biomass from forests can provide incentives to maintain existing forests and potentially to expand forest areas, providing additional carbon sequestration as well as additional biomass (Dwivedi et al. 2014;Kim et al. 2018;Baker et al. 2019;Favero et al. 2020). However, these responses are uncertain and likely to vary geographically. C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) Scenarios are grouped by their temperature category. Primary energy is reported in direct equivalent, where one unit of nuclear or non-biomass renewable energy output is reported as one unit of primary energy. Not all subcategories of primary energy are shown.Chapter 3 Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals 3Without mitigation, energy consumption and supply emissions continue to rise (high confidence) (Kriegler et al. 2016;Bauer et al. 2017;Riahi et al. 2017;Mcjeon et al. 2021) (Section 6.7). While the share of renewable energy continues to grow in reference scenarios, fossil fuel accounts for the largest share of primary energy (Bauer et al. 2017;Price and Keppo 2017;Riahi et al. 2017). In scenarios that limit warming to 2°C or lower, transition of the energy-supply sector to a low-or no-carbon system is rapid (Rogelj et al. 2016(Rogelj et al. , 2018b;;Grubler et al. 2018;Luderer et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018). CO 2 emissions from energy supply reach net zero around 2041 (2033-2057) in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot and around 2053 (2040-2066) in pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%). Emissions reductions continue, with emissions reaching -7.1 GtCO 2 yr -1 (-15 to -2.3 GtCO 2 yr -1 ) in 2100 in all pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower.All pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower show substantial reductions in fossil fuel consumption and a near elimination of the use of coal without CCS (high confidence) (Bauer et al. 2017;van Vuuren et al. 2018;Grubler et al. 2018;Luderer et al. 2018;Rogelj et al. 2018a,b;Azevedo et al. 2021;Mcjeon et al. 2021;Welsby et al. 2021) (Figure 3.22). In these pathways, the use of coal, gas and oil is reduced by 90%, 25%, and 41%, respectively, between 2019 and 2050 and 91%, 39%, and 78% between 2019 and 2100; coal without CCS is further reduced to 99% below its 2019 levels in 2100. These pathways show an increase in low-carbon energy, with 88% (69-97%) of primary energy from low-carbon sources in 2100, with different combinations of low-carbon fuels (e.g., non-biomass renewables, biomass, nuclear, and CCS) (Rogelj et al. 2018a,b;van Vuuren et al. 2018) (Sections 3.4.1 and 6.7). Across all pathways that limit warming to 2°C and below, non-biomass renewables account for 52% (24-77%) of primary energy in 2100 (Creutzig et al. 2017;Pietzcker et al. 2017;Rogelj et al. 2018b) (Chapter 6 and Figure 3.22). There are some studies analysing the potential for 100% renewable energy systems (Hansen et al. 2019); however, there are a range of issues around such systems (Box 6.6).Stringent emissions reductions at the level required to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or 1.5°C are achieved through increased electrification of end use, resulting in increased electricity generation in all pathways (high confidence) (Rogelj et al. 2018a;Azevedo et al. 2021) (Figure 3.23). Nearly all electricity in pathways likely to limit warming to 2°C and below is from low-or no-carbon fuels (Rogelj et al. 2018a;Azevedo et al. 2021), with different shares of nuclear, biomass, nonbiomass renewables, and fossil CCS across pathways. Low-emissions scenarios also show increases in hydrogen use (Figure 3.23).Global final energy use in the building sector increases in all pathways as a result of population growth and increasing affluence C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) (Figure 3.24). There is very little difference in final energy intensity for the buildings sector across scenarios. Direct CO 2 emissions from the buildings sector vary more widely across temperature stabilisation levels than energy consumption. In 2100, scenarios above 3°C [C7-C8] still show an increase of CO 2 emissions from buildings around 29% above 2019, while all scenarios likely to limit warming to 2°C and below have emission reductions of around 85% (8-100%). Carbon intensity declines in all scenarios, but much more sharply as the warming level is reduced.In all scenarios, the share of electricity in final energy use increases, a trend that is accelerated by 2050 for the scenarios likely to limit warming to 2°C and below (Figure 3.23). By 2100, the low-warming scenarios show large shares of electricity in final energy consumption for buildings. The opposite is observed for gases.While several global IAM models have developed their buildings modules considerably over the past decade (Daioglou et al. 2012;Knobloch et al. 2017;Clarke et al. 2018;Edelenbosch et al. 2021;Mastrucci et al. 2021), the extremely limited availability of key sectoral variables in the AR6 scenarios database (such as floor space and energy use for individual services) prohibit a detailed analysis of sectoral dynamics. Individual studies in the literature often focus on single aspects of the buildings sector, though collectively providing a more comprehensive overview (Edelenbosch et al. 13 2019 values are from model results and interpolated from other years when not directly reported. 2020; Ürge-Vorsatz et al. 2020). For example, energy demand is driven by economic development that fulfills basic needs (Mastrucci et al. 2019;Rao et al. 2019a), but also drives up floor space in general (Daioglou et al. 2012;Levesque et al. 2018;Mastrucci et al. 2021) and ownership of energy-intensive appliances such as air conditioners (Isaac and van Vuuren 2009;Colelli and Cian 2020;Poblete-Cazenave et al. 2021). These dynamics are heterogeneous and lead to differences in energy demand and emission mitigation potential across urban/rural buildings and income levels (Krey et al. 2012;Poblete-Cazenave et al. 2021). Mitigation scenarios rely on fuel switching and technology (Knobloch et al. 2017;Dagnachew et al. 2020), efficiency improvement in building envelopes (Levesque et al. 2018;Edelenbosch et al. 2021) and behavioural changes (van Sluisveld et al. 2016;Niamir et al. 2018Niamir et al. , 2020)). The in-depth dynamics of mitigation in the building sector are explored in Chapter 9.Reference scenarios show growth in transport demand, particularly in aviation and freight (Yeh et al. 2017;Sharmina et al. 2020;Müller-Casseres et al. 2021b). Energy consumption continues to be dominated by fossil fuels in reference scenarios, with some increases in electrification (Yeh et al. 2017;Edelenbosch et al. 2020; Yeh et al.   Chapter 3 Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals 3 2017). CO 2 emissions from transport increase for most models in reference scenarios (Yeh et al. 2017;Edelenbosch et al. 2020).The relative contribution of demand-side Across all IAM scenarios assessed, final energy demand for transport continues to grow, including in many stringent mitigation pathways (Figure 3.25). The carbon intensity of energy declines substantially by 2100 in likely 2°C (>67%) and below scenarios, leading to substantial declines in transport sector CO 2 emissions with increased electrification of the transport system (Figure 3.23).The transport sector has more detail than other sectors in many IAMs (Edelenbosch et al. 2020); however, there is considerable variation across models. Some models (e.g., GCAM, IMAGE, MESSAGE-GLOBIOM) represent different transport modes with endogenous shifts across modes as a function of income, price, and modal speed (Edelenbosch et al. 2020). 15 However, IAMs, including those with detailed transport, exclude several supply-side (e.g., synthetic fuels) and demand-side (e.g., behaviour change, reduced shipping, telework and automation) mitigation options (Pietzcker et al. 2014;Creutzig et al. 2016;Mittal et al. 2017;Davis et al. 2018;Köhler et al. 2020;Mittal et al. 2017;Gota et al. 2019;Wilson et al. 2019;Creutzig et al. 2016;Köhler et al. 2020;Sharmina et al. 2020;Pietzcker et al. 2014;Lefèvre et al. 2021;Müller-Casseres et al. 2021a,b).   As a result of these missing options and differences in how mitigation is implemented, IAMs tend to show less mitigation than the potential from national transport/energy models (Wachsmuth and Duscha 2019;Gota et al. 2019;Yeh et al. 2017;Gota et al. 2019;Wachsmuth and Duscha 2019;Edelenbosch et al. 2020). For the transport sector as a whole, studies suggest a mitigation potential of 4--5 GtCO 2 per year in 2030 (Edelenbosch et al. 2020) with complete decarbonization decarbonisation possible by 2050 (Gota et al. 2019;Wachsmuth and Duscha 2019). However, in the scenarios assessed in this chapter that limit warming to below 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, transport sector CO 2 emissions are reduced by only 59% (28-% to 81%) in 2050 compared to 2015. IAM pathways also show less electrification than the potential from other studies; pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot show a median of 25% (7-to 43%) of final energy from electricity in 2050, while the IEA NZE scenario includes 45% (IEA 2021a).162019 values are from model results and interpolated from other years when not directly reported.Reference scenarios show declines in energy intensity, but increases in final energy use in the industrial sector (Edelenbosch et al. 2017b). These scenarios show increases in CO 2 emissions both for the total industrial sector (Edelenbosch et al. 2017b(Edelenbosch et al. , 2020;;Luderer et al. 2018)   C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) chemicals sector (Daioglou et al. 2014). Many scenarios, including stringent mitigation scenarios, show continued growth in final energy; however, the carbon intensity of energy declines in all mitigation scenarios (Figure 3.26).The representation of the industry sector is very aggregated in most IAMs, with only a small subset of models disaggregating key sectors such as cement, fertiliser, chemicals, and iron and steel (Daioglou et al. 2014;Edelenbosch et al. 2017b;Pauliuk et al. 2017;Napp et al. 2019;van Sluisveld et al. 2021). IAMs often account for both energy combustion and feedstocks (Edelenbosch et al. 2017b), but IAMs typically ignore material flows and miss linkages between sectors (Pauliuk et al. 2017;Kermeli et al. 2019). By excluding these processes, IAMs misrepresent the mitigation potential of the industry sector, for example by overlooking mitigation from material efficiency and circular economies (Sharmina et al. 2020)  C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) these studies include more mitigation options than IAMs (medium confidence) (Chapter 7).Limiting warming to likely 2°C (>67%) or lower can result in large-scale transformation of the land surface (high confidence) (Popp et al. 2017;Rogelj et al. 2018a,b;Brown et al. 2019;Roe et al. 2019). The scale of land transformation depends, inter alia, on the temperature goal and the mitigation options included (Popp et al. 2017;Rogelj et al. 2018a;IPCC 2019a). Pathways with more demand-side mitigation options show less land transformation than those with more limited options (Grubler et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018;IPCC 2019a). Most of these pathways show increases in forest cover, with an increase of 322 million ha (-67 to 890 million ha) in 2050 in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, whereas bottomup models portray an economic potential of 300-500 million ha of additional forest (Chapter 7). Many IAM pathways also include large amounts of energy cropland area, to supply biomass for bioenergy and BECCS, with 199 (56-482) million ha in 2050 in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot. Large land transformations, such as afforestation/reforestation and widespread planting of energy crops, can have implications for biodiversity and sustainable development (Sections 3.7, 7.7.4 and 12.5).Delayed mitigation has implications for land-use transitions (Hasegawa et al. 2021a). Delaying mitigation action can result in a temporary overshoot of temperature and large-scale deployment of CDR in the second half of the century to reduce temperatures from their peak to a given level (Smith et al. 2019;Hasegawa et al. 2021a). IAM pathways rely on afforestation and BECCS as CDR measures, so delayed mitigation action results in substantial land-use change in the second half of the century with implications for sustainable development (Hasegawa et al. 2021a) (Section 3.7). Shifting to earlier mitigation action reduces the amount of land required for this, though at the cost of larger land-use transitions earlier in the century (Hasegawa et al. 2021a). Earlier action could also reduce climate impacts on agriculture and land-based mitigation options (Smith et al. 2019).Some AFOLU mitigation options can enhance vegetation and soil carbon stocks such as reforestation, restoration of degraded ecosystems, protection of ecosystems with high carbon stocks and changes to agricultural land management to increase soil carbon (high confidence) (Griscom et   Category C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) forest regeneration, can help to remediate and slow any decline in the forest carbon sink, for example by restoring degraded forest areas, and so go some way towards addressing the issue of sink saturation (IPCC 2019) (AR6 WGI Chapter 5; and Chapter 7 in this report). The accumulated carbon resulting from mitigation options that enhance carbon sequestration (e.g., reforestation, soil carbon sequestration) is also at risk of future loss due to disturbances (e.g., fire, pests) (Boysen et al. 2017;de Coninck et al. 2018;Fuss et al. 2018;Smith et al. 2019;IPCC 2019a;Anderegg et al. 2020) (AR6 WGI Chapter 5). Maintaining the resultant high vegetation and soil carbon stocks could limit future land-use options, as maintaining these carbon stocks would require retaining the land use and land-cover configuration implemented to achieve the increased stocks.Anthropogenic land CO 2 emissions and removals in IAM pathways cannot be directly compared with those reported in national GHG inventories (high confidence) (Grassi et al. 2018(Grassi et al. , 2021) (Section 7.2). Due to differences in definitions for the area of managed forests and which emissions and removals are considered anthropogenic, the reported anthropogenic land CO 2 emissions and removals differ by about 5.5 GtCO 2 yr -1 between IAMs, which rely on bookkeeping approaches (e.g., Houghton and Nassikas 2017), and national GHG inventories (Grassi et al. 2021). Such differences in definitions can alter the reported time at which anthropogenic net zero CO 2 emissions are reached for a given emission scenario. Using national inventories would lead to an earlier reported time of net zero (van Soest et al. 2021b) or to lower calculated cumulative emissions until the time of net zero (Grassi et al. 2021) as compared to IAM pathways. The numerical differences are purely due to differences in the conventions applied for reporting the anthropogenic emissions and do not have any implications for the underlying land-use changes or mitigation measures in the pathways. Grassi et al. (Grassi et al. 2021) offer a methodology for adjusting to reconcile these differences and enable a more accurate assessment of the collective progress achieved under the Paris Agreement (Chapter 7 and Cross-Chapter Box 6 in Chapter 7).This subsection includes other CDR options not discussed in the previous subsections, including direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), enhanced weathering (EW), and ocean-based approaches, focusing on the role of these options in long-term mitigation pathways, using both IAMs (Chen and Tavoni 2013;Marcucci et al. 2017;Rickels et al. 2018;Fuhrman et al. 2019Fuhrman et al. , 2020Fuhrman et al. , 2021;;Realmonte et al. 2019;Akimoto et al. 2021;Strefler et al. 2021a) and non-IAMs (Fuss et al. 2013;González and Ilyina 2016;Bednar et al. 2021;Shayegh et al. 2021). There are other options discussed in the literature, such as methane capture (Jackson et al. 2019), however, the role of these options in long-term mitigation pathways has not been quantified and is thus excluded here. Chapter 12 includes a more detailed description of the individual technologies, including their costs, potentials, financing, risks, impacts, maturity and upscaling.Very few studies and pathways include other CDR options (Table 3  1 Cumulative CDR from AFOLU cannot be quantified precisely because models use different reporting methodologies that in some cases combine gross emissions and removals, and use different baselines.This section assesses the relationship between long-term climate goals and short-to medium-term emissions reduction strategies based on the mitigation pathway literature. After an overview of this relationship (Section 3.5.1), it provides an assessment of what currently planned near-term action implies for limiting warming to 1.5°C-2°C (Section 3.5.2), and to what extent pathways with accelerated action beyond current NDCs can improve the ability to keep long-term targets in reach (Section 3.5.3).The assessment in this section shows that if mitigation ambitions in NDCs announced prior to COP26 2,18 are followed until 2030, leading to estimated emissions of 47-57 GtCO 2 -eq in 2030 19  (Section 4.2.2), it is no longer possible to limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot (high confidence). Instead, it would entail high overshoot (typically >0.1°C) and reliance on net negative CO 2 emissions with uncertain potential to return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) by the end of the century. It would also strongly increase mitigation challenges to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) (high confidence). GHG emissions reductions would need to abruptly increase after 2030 to an annual average rate of 1.4-2.0 GtCO 2eq during the period 2030-2050, around 70% higher than in mitigation pathways assuming immediate action 1 to limit warming to 2°C (>67%). The higher post-2030 reduction rates would have to be obtained in an environment of continued buildup of fossil fuel infrastructure and less development of low-carbon alternatives until 2030. A lock-in to fossil fuel-intensive production systems (carbon lock-in) will increase the societal, economic and political strain of a rapid low-carbon transition after 2030 (high confidence).The section builds on previous assessments in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (Clarke et al. 2014)  In this section, the emissions range associated with NDCs announced prior to COP26 (or original NDCs) refer to the combined emissions ranges from the two cases of implementing only the unconditional elements of NDCs announced prior to COP26 (50-57 GtCO 2 -eq) and implementing both unconditional and conditional elements of NDCs announced prior to COP26 (47-55 GtCO 2 -eq), if not specified otherwise.The close link between cumulative CO 2 emissions and warming has strong implications for the relationship between near-, medium-, and long-term climate action to limit global warming. The AR6 WGI Assessment has estimated a remaining carbon budget of 500 (400) GtCO 2 from the beginning of 2020 onwards for staying below 1.5°C with 50% (67%) likelihood, subject to additional uncertainties about historic warming and the climate response, and variations in warming from non-CO 2 climate forcers (Canadell and Monteiro 2019) (AR6 WGI Chapter 5, Section 5.5). For comparison, if current CO 2 emissions of more than 40 GtCO 2 are keeping up until 2030, more than 400 GtCO 2 will be emitted during 2021-2030, already exhausting the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C by 2030.The relationship between warming limits and near-term action is illustrated in Figure 3.29, using a set of 1.5°C-2°C scenarios with different levels of near-term action, overshoot and non-CO 2 warming contribution from a recent study (Riahi et al. 2021). In general, the more CO 2 is emitted until 2030, the less CO 2 can be emitted thereafter to stay within a remaining carbon budget and below a warming limit. Scenarios with immediate action to observe the warming limit give the longest time to exhaust the associated remaining carbon budget and reach net zero CO 2 emissions (see light blue lines in Figure 3.29 and Cross-Chapter Box 3 in this chapter). In comparison, following projected NDC emissions until 2030 would imply a more pronounced drop in emissions from 2030 levels to net zero to make up for the additional near-term emissions (see orange lines in Figure 3.29).If such a drop does not occur, the remaining carbon budget is exceeded and net negative CO 2 emissions are required to return global mean temperature below the warming limit (see black lines in Figure 3.29) (Clarke et al. 2014;Fuss et al. 2014;Rogelj et al. 2018a).The relationship between warming limits and near-term action is also affected by the warming contribution of non-CO 2 greenhouse gases and other short-lived climate forcers (Section 3.3; AR6 WGI Section 6.7). The estimated budget values for limiting warming to 1.5°C-2°C already assume stringent reductions in non-CO 2 greenhouse gases and non-CO 2 climate forcing as found in 1.5°C-2°C pathways (Section 3.3 and Cross-Working Group Box 1 in this chapter; AR6 WGI Section 5.5 and Box 5.2 in Chapter 5). Further variations in non-CO 2 warming observed across 1.5°C-2°C pathways can vary the median estimate for the remaining carbon budget by 220 GtCO 2 (AR6 WGI Section 5.5). In 1.5°C-2°C pathways, the non-CO 2 warming contribution differs strongly between the near, medium and long term.Changes to the atmospheric composition of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) dominate the warming response in the near term (AR6 WGI Section 6.7). CO 2 reductions are combined with strong reductions in air pollutant emissions due to rapid reduction in fossil fuel combustion and in some cases the assumption of stringent air quality policies (Rao et al. 2017b;Smith et al. 2020c). As air pollutants exert a net-cooling effect, their reduction drives up non-CO 2 warming in the near term, which can be attenuated by the simultaneous reduction of methane and black carbon (Shindell and Smith 2019;Smith et al. 2020b) (AR6 WGI Section 6.7). After 2030, the reduction in methane concentrations and associated reductions in tropospheric ozone levels tend to dominate so that a peak and decline in non-CO 2 forcing and non-CO 2 -induced warming can occur before net zero CO 2 is reached (Figure 3.29) (Rogelj et al. 2018a). The more stringent the reductions in methane and other short-lived warming agents such as black carbon, the lower this peak and the earlier the decline of non-CO 2 warming, leading to a reduction of warming rates and overall warming in the near to medium term (Harmsen et al. 2020;Smith et al. 2020b). This is important for keeping warming below a tight warming limit that is already reached around mid-century as is the case in 1.5°C pathways (Xu and Ramanathan 2017). Early and deep reductions of methane emissions, and other short-lived warming agents such as black carbon, provide space for residual CO 2 -induced warming until the point of net zero CO 2 emissions is reached (see purple lines in Figure 3.29). Such emissions reductions have also been advocated due to co-benefits for, for example, reducing air pollution (Rao et al. 2016;Shindell et al. 2017aShindell et al. , 2018;;Shindell and Smith 2019;Rauner et al. 2020a;Vandyck et al. 2020).The relationship between long-term climate goals and near-term action is further constrained by social, technological, economic and political factors (Cherp et al. 2018   ). Diagnostic analysis of detailed IAMs found a lag of 8-20 years between the convergence of emissions pricing and the convergence of emissions response after a period of differentiated emission prices (Harmsen et al. 2021). This provides a measure of the inertia to changing policy signals in the model response. It is about half the time scale of 20-40 years observed for major energy transitions (Grubb et al. 2021). Hence, the mitigation pathways assessed here capture socio-technical inertia in reducing emissions, but the limited modelling of socio-political factors may alter the extent and persistence of this inertia.The implications of near-term climate action for long-term climate outcomes can be explored by comparing mitigation pathways with different near-term emissions developments aiming for the same climate target (Riahi et al. 2015;Vrontisi et al. 2018;Roelfsema et al. 2020). A particular example is the comparison of cost-effective pathways with immediate action to limit warming to 1.5°C-2°C with mitigation pathways pursuing more moderate mitigation action until 2030. After the adoption of the Paris Agreement, near-term action was often modelled to reflect conditional and unconditional elements of originally submitted NDCs (2015-2019) (Fawcett et al. 2015;Fujimori et al. 2016a;Kriegler et al. 2018a;Vrontisi et al. 2018;Roelfsema et al. 2020). The most recent modelling studies also include submission of updated NDCs or announcements of planned updates in the first half of 2021 (Network for Greening the Financial System 2021; Riahi et al. 2021). Emissions levels under NDCs announced prior to COP26 are assessed to range between 47-57 GtCO 2 -eq in 2030 (Section 4.2.2). This assessed range corresponds well to 2030 emissions levels in 2°C mitigation pathways in the literature that are designed to follow the original or updated NDCs until 2030. 20 For the 139 scenarios of this kind that are collected in the AR6 scenario database and that still limit warming to 2°C (>67%), the 2030 emissions range is 53 (45-58) GtCO 2 -eq (based on native model reporting) and 52.5 (47-56.5) GtCO 2 -eq, respectively (based on harmonised emissions data for climate assessment (Annex III.2.5.1); median and 5-95th percentile). This close match allows a robust assessment of the implications of implementing NDCs announced prior to COP26 for 20The intended design of mitigation pathways in the literature can be deduced from underlying publications and study protocols. This information was collected as part of this assessment to establish a categorisation of policy assumptions underpinning the mitigation pathways collected in the AR6 scenario database (Section 3. ). The emissions gap gives rise to a number of mitigation challenges (Kriegler et al. 2013a(Kriegler et al. , 2018a,b;,b;Luderer et al. 2013Luderer et al. , 2018;;Rogelj et al. 2013a;Fawcett et al. 2015;Riahi et al. 2015;Fujimori et al. 2016b;Strefler et al. 2018;Winning et al. 2019;SEI et al. 2020; UNEP 2020): (i) larger transitional challenges post-2030 to still remain under the warming limit, in particular higher CO 2 emissions reduction rates and technology transition rates required during 2030-2050; (ii) larger lock-in into carbon-intensive infrastructure and increased risk of stranded fossil fuel assets (Section 3.5.2.2); and (iii) larger reliance on CDR to reach net zero CO 2 more rapidly and compensate excess emissions in the second half of the century (Section 3.5.2.1). All these factors exacerbate the socio-economic strain of implementing the transition, leading to an increased risk of overshooting the warming and a higher risk of climate change impacts (Drouet et al. 2021).The challenges are illustrated in Table 3.6 and Figure 3.30, surveying global mitigation pathways in the literature that were collected in the AR6 scenarios database. There is a clear trend of increasing peak warming with increasing 2030 GHG emission levels (Figure 3.30a,b).In particular, there is no mitigation pathway designed to follow the NDCs until 2030 that can limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot. Our assessment confirms the finding of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (Rogelj et al. 2018) for the case of NDCs announced prior to COP26 that pathways following the NDCs until 2030 'would not limit global warming to 1.5°C, even if supplemented by very challenging increases in the scale and ambition of emissions reductions after 2030' (SR1.5 SPM). This assessment is now more robust than in SR1.5 as it is based on a larger set of 1.5°C-2°C pathways with better representation of current trends and plans covering a wider range of post-2030 emissions developments. In particular, a recent multi-model study limiting peak cumulative CO 2 emissions for a wide range of carbon budgets and immediate vs NDCtype action until 2030 established a feasibility frontier for the existence of such pathways across participating models (Riahi et al. 2021). Emissions data based on harmonised emissions used for the climate assessment. All scenarios that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower are coloured blue or red (see p67 peak warming in panel (b)). The large majority of blue-coloured scenarios act immediately on the temperature target, while red-coloured scenarios depict all those that were designed to follow the NDCs or lesser action until 2030 and orange-coloured scenarios comprise a small set of pathways with additional regulatory action beyond NDCs (Section 3.5.3). Grey-coloured scenarios do not limit warming to 2°C (>67%) due to temporary overshoot or towards the end of the century. Large markers denote the five Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) (legend in Panel (h); Section 3.2). Shaded yellow areas depict the estimated range of 2030 emissions from NDCs announced prior to COP26 (Section 4.2.2). Dotted lines are inserted in some panels to highlight trends in the dependency of selected output variables on 2030 GHG emissions levels (Section 3.5.2).  3.2): (i) immediate action to limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, (ii) near team action following the NDCs until 2030 and returning warming to below 1.5°C (>50%) by 2100 after a high overshoot, (iii) immediate action to limit warming to 2°C (>67%), (iv) near term action following the NDCs until 2030 followed by post-2030 action to limit warming to 2°C (>67%). Also shown are the characteristics for (v) the combined class of all scenarios that limit warming to 2°C (>67%). The classes (ii) and (iv) comprise the large majority of scenarios indicated by red dots, and the classes (i) and (iii) comprise the scenarios depicted by blue dots in Figure 3.30. Shown are median and interquartile ranges (in brackets) for selected global indicators. Emissions ranges are based on harmonized emissions data for the climate assessment with the exception of land use CO 2 emissions for which uncertainty in historic estimates is large. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5, with the exception of cumulative CCS, BECCS, and net negative CO 2 emissions rounded to the nearest 10.   The 2030 emissions levels in the NDCS announced prior to COP26 also tighten the remaining space to limit warming to 2°C (>67%). As shown in Figure 3.30b, the 67th percentile of peak warming reaches values above 1.7°C in pathways with 2030 emissions levels in this range. To still limit warming to 2°C (>67%), the global post-2030 GHG emission reduction rates would need to be abruptly raised in 2030 from 0-0.7 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 to an average of 1.4-2.0 GtCO 2 -eq yr -1 during the period 2030-2050 (Figure 3.30c), around 70% higher than in immediate mitigation pathways confirming findings in the literature (Winning et al. 2019). Their average reduction rate of 0.6-1.4 GtCO 2 yr -1 would already be unprecedented at the global scale and, with a few exceptions, national scale for an extended period of time (Riahi et al. 2015). For comparison, the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy is projected to have lead to a decline of around 2.5-3 GtCO 2 of global CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry in 2020 (Friedlingstein et al. 2020) (Section 2.2).The increased post-2030 transition challenge in mitigation pathways with moderate near-term action is also reflected in the timing of reaching net zero CO 2 emissions (Figure 3.30d and Cross-Chapter Box 3 in this chapter). As 2030 emission levels and the cumulated CO 2 emissions until 2030 increase, the remaining time for dropping to net zero CO 2 and staying within the remaining carbon budget shortens (Figure 3.29). This gives rise to an inverted v-shape of the lower bound on the year of reaching net zero as a function of 2030 emissions levels. Reaching low emissions in 2030 facilitates reaching net zero early (left leg of the inverted v), but staying high until 2030 also requires reaching net zero CO 2 faster to compensate for higher emissions early on (right leg of the inverted v). Overall, there is a considerable spread of the timing of net zero CO 2 for any 2030 emissions level due to variation in the timing of spending the remaining carbon budget and the non-CO 2 warming contribution (Cross-Chapter Box 3 in this chapter).There is also a profound impact on the underlying transition of energy and land use (Figure 3.30f-h and Table 3.6). Scenarios following NDCs until 2030 show a much smaller reduction in fossil fuel use, a slower growth in renewable energy use, and a smaller reduction in CO 2 and CH 4 land-use emissions in 2030 compared to immediate action scenarios. This is then followed by a much faster reduction of land-use emissions and fossil fuels, and a larger increase of nuclear energy, bioenergy and non-biomass renewable energy during the medium term in order to get close to the levels of the immediate action pathways in 2050. This is combined with a larger amount of net negative CO 2 emissions that are used to compensate the additional emissions before 2030. The faster transition during 2030-2050 is taking place from a greater investment in fossil fuel infrastructure and lower deployment of low-carbon alternatives in 2030, adding to the socio-economic challenges to realise the higher transition rates (Section 3.5.2.2). Therefore, these pathways also show higher mitigation costs, particularly during the period 2030-2050, than immediate action scenarios (Section 3.6.1 and Figure 3.34d) (Liu et al. 2016;Kriegler et al. 2018a;Vrontisi et al. 2018). Given these circumstances and the fact the modelling of socio-political and institutional constraints is limited in Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) (Gambhir et al. 2019;Köhler et al. 2019;Hirt et al. 2020;Keppo et al. 2021), the feasibility of realising these scenarios is assessed to be lower (Gambhir et al. 2017;Napp et al. 2017;Brutschin et al. 2021) (cf. Section 3.8), increasing the risk of an overshoot of climate goals.If near-to medium-term emissions developments deplete the remaining carbon budget, the associated warming limit will be overshot. Some pathways that return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) by the end of the century show mid-century overshoots of up to 1.8°C median warming. The overshoot tends to be higher, the higher the 2030 emissions. Mitigation pathways with 2030 emissions levels in the NDCS announced prior to COP26 consistently overshoot 1.5°C by 0.15°C-0.3°C. This leads to higher risks from climate change impacts during the time of overshoot compared to pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot (Schleussner et al. 2016a;Mengel et al. 2018;Hofmann et al. 2019;Lenton et al. 2019;Tachiiri et al. 2019;Drouet et al. 2021). Furthermore, even if warming is reversed by net negative emissions, other climate changes such as sea level rise would continue in their current direction for decades to millennia (AR6 WGI Sections 4.6 and 5.6).Returning warming to lower levels requires net negative CO 2 emissions in the second half of the century (Clarke et al. 2014;Fuss et al. 2014;Rogelj et al. 2018a). The amount of net negative CO 2 emissions in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C-2°C climate goals varies widely, with some pathways not deploying net negative CO 2 emissions at all and others deploying up to -600 to -800 GtCO 2 . The amount of net negative CO 2 emissions tends to increase with 2030 emissions levels (Figure 3.30e and Table 3.6). Studies confirmed the ability of net negative CO 2 emissions to reduce warming, but pointed to path dependencies in the storage of carbon and heat in the Earth System and the need for further research particularly for cases of high overshoot (Zickfeld et al. 2016(Zickfeld et al. , 2021;;Keller et al. 2018a,b;Tokarska et al. 2019). The AR6 WGI assessed the reduction in global surface temperature to be approximately linearly related to cumulative CO 2 removal and, with lower confidence, that the amount of cooling per unit CO 2 removed is approximately independent of the rate and amount of removal (AR6 WGI TS.3.3.2). Still there remains large uncertainty about a potential asymmetry between the warming response to CO 2 emissions and the cooling response to net negative CO 2 emissions (Zickfeld et al. 2021). It was also shown that warming can adversely affect the efficacy of carbon dioxide removal measures and hence the ability to achieve net negative CO 2 emissions (Boysen et al. 2016).Obtaining net negative CO 2 emissions requires massive deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the second half of the century, on the order of 220 (160-370) GtCO 2 for each 0.1°C degree of cooling (based on the assessment of the likely range of the transient response to cumulative CO 2 emissions in AR6 WGI Section 5.5 in Chapter 5, not taking into account potential asymmetries in the temperature response to CO 2 emissions and removals). CDR is assessed in detail in Section 12.3 of this report (see also Cross-Chapter Box 8 in Chapter 12). Here we only point to the finding that CDR ramp-up rates and absolute deployment levels are tightly limited by technoeconomic, social, political, institutional and sustainability constraints (Smith et al. 2016;Boysen et al. 2017;Fuss et al. 2018Fuss et al. , 2020;;Nemet et al. 2018;Hilaire et al. 2019;Jia et al. 2019) (Section 12.3). CDR therefore cannot be deployed arbitrarily to compensate any degree of overshoot. A fraction of models was not able to compute pathways that would follow the mitigation ambition in unconditional and conditional NDCs until 2030 and return warming to below 1.5°C by 2100 (Luderer et al. 2018;Roelfsema et al. 2020;Riahi et al. 2021).There exists a three-way trade-off between near-term emissions developments until 2030, transitional challenges during 2030-50, and long-term CDR deployment post-2050 (Sanderson et al. 2016;Holz et al. 2018;Strefler et al. 2018). For example, Strefler et al. (2018) find that if CO 2 emission levels stay at around 40 GtCO 2 until 2030, within the range of what is projected for NDCs announced prior to COP26, rather than being halved to 20 GtCO 2 until 2030, CDR deployment in the second half of the century would have to increase by 50-100%, depending on whether the 2030-2050 CO 2 emissions reduction rate is doubled from 6% to 12% or kept at 6% yr -1 . This three-way trade-off has also been identified at the national level (Pan et al. 2020).In addition to enabling a temporary budget overshoot by net negative CO 2 emissions in the second half of the century, CDR can also be used to compensate -on an annual basis -residual CO 2 emissions from sources that are difficult to eliminate and to reach net zero CO 2 emissions more rapidly if deployed before this point (Kriegler et al. 2013b;Rogelj et al. 2018a). This explains its continued deployment in pathways that exclude overshoot and net negative CO 2 emissions (Riahi et al. 2021). However, given the time scales that would likely be needed to ramp-up CDR to gigatonne scale (Nemet et al. 2018), it can be expected to only make a limited contribution to reaching net zero CO 2 as fast as possible. In the vast majority (95%) of 1.5°C-2°C mitigation pathways assessed in this report, cumulative CDR deployment did not exceed 100 GtCO 2 until mid-century. This adds to the risk of excessively relying on CDR to compensate for weak mitigation action until 2030 by either facilitating massive net CO 2 emissions reduction rates during 2030-2050 or allowing a high temporary overshoot of 1.5°C until the end of the century. If international burden-sharing considerations are taken into account, the CDR penalty for weak action could increase further, in particular for developed countries (Fyson et al. 2020). Further assessment of CDR deployment in 1.5°C-2°C mitigation pathways is found in Section 3.4.7.There already exists a substantial and growing carbon lock-in today, as measured by committed emissions associated with existing longlived infrastructure (Section 2.7 and Figure 2.31). If existing fossil fuel infrastructure would continue to be operated as historically, it would entail CO 2 emissions exceeding the carbon budget for 1.5°C (Section 2.7.2 and Figure 2.32). However, owner-operators and societies may choose to retire existing infrastructure earlier than in the past, and committed emissions are thus contingent on the competitiveness of non-emitting alternative technologies and climate policy ambition. Therefore, in mitigation pathways, some infrastructure may become stranded assets. Stranded assets have been defined as 'assets that have suffered from unanticipated or premature write-downs, devaluations or conversion to liabilities' (Caldecott 2017).A systematic map of the literature on carbon lock-in has synthesized quantification of stranded assets in the mitigation pathways literature, and showed that (i) coal power plants are the most exposed to risk of becoming stranded, (ii) delayed mitigation action increases stranded assets, and (iii) sectoral distribution and the amount of stranded assets differ between countries (Fisch-Romito et al. 2021). There is high agreement that existing fossil fuel infrastructure would need to be retired earlier than historically, used less, or retrofitted with CCS, to stay within the remaining carbon budgets of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C (Johnson et al. 2016;Kefford et al. 2018;Pfeiffer et al. 2018;Cui et al. 2019;Fofrich et al. 2020;Rogelj et al. 2018a). Studies estimate that cumulative early retired power plant capacities by 2060 can be up to 600 GW for gas and 1700 GW for coal (Iyer et al. 2015a;Kefford et al. 2018), that only 42% of the total capital stock of both operating and planned coal-fired powers plants can be utilised to be compatible with the 2°C target (Pfeiffer et al. 2018), and that coal-fired power plants in scenarios consistent with keeping global warming below 2°C or 1.5°C retire one to three decades earlier than historically has been the case (Cui et al. 2019;Fofrich et al. 2020). After coal, electricity production based on gas is also projected to be phased out, with some capacity remaining as back-up (van Soest et al. 2017a). Kefford et al. (2018) find USD541 billion worth of stranded fossil fuel power plants could be created by 2060, with China and India the most exposed.Some publications have suggested that stranded long-lived assets may be even more important outside of the power sector. While stranded power sector assets by 2050 could reach up to USD1.8 trillion in scenarios consistent with a 2°C target, Saygin et al. (2019) found a range of USD5-11 trillion in the buildings sector. Muldoon-Smith and Greenhalgh ( 2019) have even estimated a potential value at risk for global real estate assets up to USD21 trillion. More broadly, the set of economic activities that are potentially affected by a low-carbon transition is wide and includes also energy-intensive industries, transport and housing, as reflected in the concept of climate policy relevant sectors introduced in Battiston et al. (2017). The sectoral distribution and amount of stranded assets differ across countries (Fisch-Romito et al. 2021). Capital for fossil fuel production and distribution represents a larger share of potentially stranded assets in fossil fuel-producing countries such as the United States and Russia. Electricity generation would be a larger share of total stranded assets in emerging countries because this capital is relatively new compared to its operational lifetime. Conversely, buildings could represent a larger part of stranded capital in more developed countries and regions such as the USA, EU or even Russia because of high market value and low turnover rate.Many quantitative estimates of stranded assets along mitigation pathways have focused on fossil fuel power plants in pathways characterised by mitigation ambition until 2030 corresponding to the NDCs followed by strengthened action afterwards to limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower (Bertram et al. 2015a;Iyer et al. 2015b;Lane et al. 2016;Farfan and Breyer 2017;van    3.6) compared to immediate action pathways. Stranded coal power assets are evaluated to be higher by a factor of two to three if action is strengthened after 2030 rather than now (Iyer et al. 2015b;Cui et al. 2019). There is high agreement that the later climate policies are implemented, the higher the expected stranded assets and the societal, economic and political strain of strengthening action. Associated price increases for carbonintensive goods and transitional macro-economic costs have been found to scale with the emissions gap in 2030 (Kriegler et al. 2013a).At the aggregate level of the whole global economy, Rozenberg et al. (2015) showed that each year of delaying the start of mitigation decreases the required CO 2 intensity of new production by 20-50 gCO 2 per USD. Carbon lock-in can have a long-lasting effect on future emissions trajectories after 2030. Luderer et al. ( 2018) compared cost-effective pathways with immediate action to limit warming to 1.5°C-2°C with pathways following the NDCs until 2030 and adopting the pricing policy of the cost-effective pathways thereafter, and found that the majority of additional CO 2 emissions from carbon lock-in occur after 2030, reaching a cumulative amount of 290 (160-330) GtCO 2 by 2100 (Section 2.7.2). Early action and avoidance of investments in new carbon-intensive assets can minimise these risks.The risk of stranded assets has implications for workers depending on those assets, asset owners, assets portfolio managers, financial institutions and the stability of the financial system. Chapter 6 assesses the risks and implications of stranded assets for energy systems (Section 6.7.3 and Box 6.11) and fossil fuels (Section 6.7.4). The implications of stranded assets for inequality and Just Transition are assessed in Chapter 17 (Section 17.3.2.3). Chapter 15 assesses the literature on those implications for the financial system as well as on coping options (Sections 15.5.2 and 15.6.1).On the other hand, mitigation, by limiting climate change, reduces the risk of destroyed or stranded assets from the physical impacts of climate change on natural and human systems, from more frequent, intense or extended extreme events and from sea level rise (O'Neill et al. 2020a). The literature on mitigation pathways rarely includes an evaluation of stranded assets from climate change impacts. Unruh (2019) suggest that these are the real stranded assets of carbon lockin and could prove much more costly.A growing literature explores long-term mitigation pathways with accelerated near-term action going beyond the NDCs (Graichen et al. 2017;Jiang et al. 2017;Kriegler et al. 2018a;Roelfsema et al. 2018;Fekete et al. 2021;van Soest et al. 2021a). Global accelerated action pathways are designed to transition more gradually from implemented policies and planned implementation of NDCs onto a 1.5°C-2°C pathway and at the same time alleviate the abrupt transition in 2030 that would be caused by following the NDCs until 2030 and strengthening towards limiting warming to 2°C thereafter (Section 3.5.2). Therefore, they have sometimes been called bridging scenarios/pathways in the literature (IEA 2011;Spencer et al. 2015;van Soest et al. 2021a). They rely on regionally differentiated regulatory and pricing policies to gradually strengthening regional and sectoral action beyond the mitigation ambition in the NDCs.There are limitations to this approach. The tighter the warming limit, the more likely it is that disruptive action becomes inevitable to achieve the speed of transition that would be required (Kriegler et al. 2018a). Cost-effective pathways already have abrupt shifts in deployments, investments and prices at the time a stringent warming limit is imposed, reflecting the fact that the overall response to climate change has so far been misaligned with long-term climate goals (Fawcett et al. 2015;Rogelj et al. 2016;Schleussner et al. 2016b;Geiges et al. 2020). Disruptive action can help to break lock-ins and enable transformative change (Vogt-Schilb et al. 2018).The large literature on accelerating climate action was assessed in the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (de Coninck et al. 2018) and is taken up in this report primarily in Chapters 4, 13, and 14. Accelerating climate action and facilitating transformational change requires a perspective on socio-technical transitions (Geels et al. 2016a;Geels et al. 2016b;Geels 2020), a portfolio of policy instruments to manage technological and environmental change (Fischer and Newell 2008;Goulder and Parry 2008;Acemoglu et al. 2012Acemoglu et al. , 2016)), a notion of path dependency and policy sequencing (Pierson 2000;Meckling et al. 2017;Pahle et al. 2018) and the evolvement of polycentric governance layers of institutions and norms in support of the transformation (Dietz et al. 2003;Leach et al. 2007;Messner 2015). This subsection is focused on an assessment of the emerging quantitative literature on global accelerated action pathways towards 1.5°C-2°C, which to a large extent abstracts from the underlying processes and uses a number of stylised approaches to generate these pathways. A representative of accelerated action pathways has been identified as one of the Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs) in this assessment (IMP-GS, Figure 3.31).One approach relies on augmenting initially moderate emissionspricing policies with robust anticipation of ratcheting up climate action in the future (Spencer et al. 2015). If announcements of strong future climate policies are perceived to be credible, they can help to prevent carbon lock-in as investors anticipating high future costs of GHG emissions would reduce investment into fossil fuel infrastructure, such as coal power plants (Bauer et al. 2018b). However, the effectiveness of such announcements strongly hinges on their credibility. If investors believe that policymakers could drop them if anticipatory action did not occur, they may not undertake such action.Another approach relies on international cooperation to strengthen near-term climate action. These studies build on international climate policy architectures that could incentivise a coalition of like-minded countries to raise their mitigation ambition beyond what is stated in their NDC (Graichen et al. 2017). Examples are the idea of climate clubs characterised by harmonised carbon and technology markets (Nordhaus 2015;Keohane et al. 2017;Paroussos et al. 2019;Pihl 2020) and the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) (Jewell et al. 2019). Paroussos et al. (2019) find economic benefits of joining a climate club despite the associated higher mitigation effort, in particular due to access to technology and climate finance. Graichen et al. (2017) find an additional reduction of 5-11 GtCO 2 -eq compared to the mitigation ambition in the NDCs from the successful implementation of international climate initiatives. Other studies assess benefits from international transfers of mitigation outcomes (Stua 2017;Edmonds et al. 2021). Edmonds et al. (2021) find economic gains from sharing NDC emissions-reduction commitments compared to purely domestic implementation of NDCs. If reinvested in mitigation efforts, the study projects an additional reduction of 9 billion tonnes of CO 2 in 2030.The most common approach relies on strengthening regulatory policies beyond current policy trends, also motivated by the finding that such policies have so far been employed more often than comprehensive carbon pricing (Kriegler et al. 2018a;Roelfsema et al. 2018;Fekete et al. 2021;IEA 2021a;van Soest et al. 2021a). Some studies have focused on generic regulatory policies such as low-carbon support policies, fossil fuel-sunset policies, and resource-efficiency policies (Bertram et al. 2015b;Hatfield-Dodds et al. 2017). Bertram et al. (2015b) found that a moderate carbon price combined with a coal moratorium and ambitious low-carbon support policies can limit efficiency losses until 2030 if emissions pricing is raised thereafter to limit warming to 2°C. They also showed that all three components are needed to achieve this outcome. Hatfield-Dodds et al. (2017) found that resource efficiency can lower 2050 emissions by an additional 15-20% while boosting near-term economic growth. The International Energy Agency (IEA 2021a) developed a detailed net zero scenario for the global energy sector characterised by a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, a massive clean energy and electrification push, and the stabilisation of energy demand, leading to 10 GtCO 2 lower emissions from energy use in 2030 than in a scenario following the announced pledges.The Paris Agreement has spurred the formulation of NDCs for 2030 and mid-century strategies around the world (cf. Chapter 4). This is giving researchers a rich empirical basis to formulate accelerated policy packages taking national decarbonisation pathways as a starting point (Graichen et al. 2017;Jiang et al. 2017;van Soest et al. 2017b;Waisman et al. 2019). The concept is to identify good practice policies that had demonstrable impact on pushing lowcarbon options or reducing emissions in a country or region and then consider a wider roll out of these policies taking into account regional specificities (den Elzen et al. 2015;Fekete et al. 2015Fekete et al. , 2021;;Kriegler et al. 2018a;Kuramochi et al. 2018;Roelfsema et al. 2018). A challenge for this approach is to account for the fact that policy effectiveness varies with different political environments in different geographies. As a result, a global roll out of good practice policies to close the emissions gap will still be an idealised benchmark, but it is useful to understand how much could be gained from it.Accelerated action pathways derived with this approach show considerable scope for narrowing the emissions gap between pathways reflecting the ambition level of the NDCs and costeffective mitigation pathways in 2030. Kriegler et al. (2018a) find around 10 GtCO 2 -eq lower emissions compared to original NDCs from a global roll out of good practice plus net zero policies and a moderate increase in regionally differentiated carbon pricing. Fekete et al. (2021) show that global replication of sector progress in five major economies would reduce GHG emissions in 2030 by about 20% compared to a current policy scenario. These findings were found in good agreement with a recent model comparison study based on results from nine integrated assessment models (IAMs) (van Soest et al. 2021a). Based on these three studies, implementing accelerated action in terms of a global roll out of regulatory and moderate pricing policies is assessed to lead to global GHG emissions of 48 (38-52) GtCO 2 -eq in 2030 (median and 5-95th percentile based on 10 distinct modelled pathways). This closes the implementation gap for the NDCs, and in addition falls below the emissions range implied by implementing unconditional and conditional elements of NDCs by 2-9 GtCO 2 -eq. However, it does not close the emissions gap to immediate action pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%), and, based on our assessment in Section 3.5.2, emission levels above 40 GtCO 2 -eq in 2030 still have a very low prospect for limiting warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot.Figure 3.31 shows the intermediate position of accelerated action pathways derived by van Soest et al. (2021a) between pathways that follow the NDCs until 2030 and immediate action pathways limiting warming to 2°C (>67%). Accelerated action is able to reduce the abrupt shifts in emissions, fossil fuel use and low-carbon power generation in 2030 and also limits peak warming more effectively than NDC pathways. But primarily due to the moderate carbon price assumptions (Figure 3.31b), the reductions in emissions and particular fossil fuel use are markedly smaller than what would be obtained in the case of immediate action. The assessment shows that accelerated action until 2030 can have significant benefits in terms of reducing the mitigation challenges from following the NDCs until 2030. But putting a significant value on GHG emissions reductions globally remains a key element of moving onto 1.5°C-2°C pathways. The vast majority of pathways that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) or lower, independently of their differences in near-term emission developments, converge to a global mitigation regime putting a significant value on GHG emission reductions in all regions and sectors.A complete appraisal of economic effects and welfare effects at different temperature levels would include the macroeconomic impacts of investments in low-carbon solutions and structural change away from emitting activities, co-benefits and adverse side effects of mitigation, (avoided) climate damages, as well as (reduced) adaptation costs, with high temporal, spatial and social heterogeneity using a harmonised framework. If no such complete appraisal in a harmonised framework exists, key elements are emerging from the literature, and assessed in the following subsections: on aggregated economy-wide global mitigation costs (Section 3.6.1), on the economic benefits of avoiding climate impacts (Section 3.6.2), on economic benefits and costs associated with mitigation co-benefits and co-harms (Section 3.6.3) and on the distribution of economic implications between economic sectors and actors (Section 3.6.4).Most studies that have developed mitigation pathways have used a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) framework, which aim to compare the costs of different mitigation strategies designed to meet a given climate change mitigation goal (e.g., an emissionreduction target or a temperature stabilisation target) but does not represent economic impacts from climate change itself, nor the associated economic benefits of avoided impacts. Other studies use modelling frameworks that represent the feedback of damages from climate change on the economy in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) approach, which balances mitigation costs and benefits. This second type of study is represented in Section 3.6.2.The marginal abatement cost of carbon, also called carbon price, is determined by the mitigation target under consideration: it describes the cost of reducing the last unit of emissions to reach the target at a given point in time. Total macroeconomic mitigation costs (or gains) aggregate the economy-wide impacts of investments in low-carbon solutions and structural changes away from emitting activities. The total macroeconomic effects of mitigation pathways are reported in terms of variations in economic output or consumption levels, measured against a reference scenario, also called baseline, at various points in time or discounted over a given time period. Depending on the study, the reference scenario reflects specific assumptions about patterns of socio-economic development and assumes either no-climate policies or the climate policies in place or planned at the time the study was carried out. When available in the AR6 scenarios database, this second type of reference scenario, with trends from implemented policies until the end of 2020, has been chosen for computation of mitigation costs. In the vast majority of studies that have produced the body of work on the cost of mitigation assessed here, and in particular in all studies that have submitted global scenarios to the AR6 scenarios database except (Schultes et al. 2021), the feedbacks of climate change impacts on the economic development pathways are not accounted for. This omission of climate impacts leads to overly optimistic economic projections in the reference scenarios, in particular in reference scenarios with no or limited mitigation action where the extent of global warming is the greatest. Mitigation cost estimates computed against no or limited policy reference scenarios therefore omit economic benefits brought by avoided climate change impact along mitigation pathways, and should be interpreted with care (Grant et al. 2020). When aggregate economic benefits from avoided climate change impacts are accounted for, mitigation is a welfare-enhancing strategy (Section 3.6.2).If GDP or consumption in mitigation pathways are below the reference scenario levels, they are reported as losses or macroeconomic costs. Such cost estimates give an indication of how economic activity slows relative to the reference scenario; they do not necessarily describe, in absolute terms, a reduction of economic output or consumption levels relative to previous years along the pathway. Aggregate mitigation costs depend strongly on the modelling framework used and the assumptions about the reference scenario against which mitigation costs are measured, in particular whether the reference scenario is, or not, on the efficiency frontier of the economy. If the economy is assumed to be at the efficiency frontier in the reference scenario, mitigation inevitably leads to actual costs, at least in the short-run until the production frontier evolves with technical and structural change. Starting from a reference scenario that is not on the efficiency frontier opens the possibility to simultaneously reduce emissions and obtain macroeconomic gains, depending on the design and implementation of mitigation policies. A number of factors can result in reference scenarios below the efficiency frontier, for instance distorting labour taxes and/or fossil fuel subsidies, misallocation or under-utilisation of production factors such as involuntary unemployment, imperfect information or non-rational behaviours. Although these factors are pervasive, the modelling frameworks used to construct mitigation pathways are often limited in their ability to represent them (Köberle et al. 2021).The absolute level of economic activity and welfare also strongly depends on the socio-economic pathway assumptions regarding, inter alia, evolutions in demography, productivity, education levels, inequality, and technical change and innovation. The GDP or consumption indicators reported in the database of scenarios, and synthesized below, represent the absolute level of aggregate economic activity or consumption but do not reflect welfare and well-being (Roberts et al. 2020), that notably depend on humanneeds satisfaction, distribution within society and inequality (Section 3.6.4).Chapter 1 and Annex III.I give further details of the economic concepts and modelling frameworks, including their limitations, used in this report, respectively.Estimates for the marginal abatement cost of carbon in mitigation pathways vary widely, depending on the modelling framework used and socio-economic, technological and policy assumptions. However, it is robust across modelling frameworks that the marginal abatement cost of carbon increases for lower temperature categories, with a higher increase in the short term than in the longer term (Figure 3.32, left panel) (high confidence). The marginal abatement cost of carbon increases non-linearly with the decrease of CO 2 emissions level, but the uncertainty in the range of estimates also increases (Figure 3.33). Mitigation pathways with low-energy consumption patterns exhibit lower carbon values (Méjean et al. 2019;Meyer et al. 2021). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, Kikstra et al. (2021a) also show that a low-energy-demand recovery scenario reduces carbon prices for a 1.5°C-consistent pathway by 19% compared to a scenario with energy demand trends restored to pre-pandemic levels.For optimisation modelling frameworks, the time profile of marginal abatement costs of carbon depends on the discount rate, with lower discount rates implying higher carbon values in the short term but lower values in the long term (Emmerling et al. 2019) (see also 'Discounting' in Annex I: Glossary, and Annex III.I.2). In that case, the discount rate also influences the shape of the emissions trajectory, with low discount rates implying more emissions reduction in the short term and, for low-temperature categories, limiting CDR and temperature overshoot.Pathways that correspond to NDCs announced prior to COP26 in 2030 and strengthen action after 2030 imply higher marginal abatement costs of carbon in the longer run than pathways with stronger immediate global mitigation action (Figure 3.32b) (high confidence).  C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) Aggregate economic activity and consumption levels in mitigation pathways are primarily determined by socio-economic development pathways but are also influenced by the stringency of the mitigation goal and the policy choices to reach the goal (high confidence).Mitigation pathways in temperature categories C1 and C2 entail losses in global consumption with respect to their baselines -not including benefits of avoided climate change impacts nor co-benefits or co-harms of mitigation action -that correspond to an annualised reduction of consumption growth by 0.04 (median value) (interquartile range [0.02-0.06]) percentage points over the century. For pathways in temperature categories C3 and C4 this reduction in global consumption growth is 0.03 (median value) (interquartile range [0.01-0.05]) percentage points over the century. In the majority of studies that focus on the economic effects of mitigation without accounting for climate damages, global economic growth and consumption growth is reduced compared to baseline scenarios (that omit damages from climate change), but mitigation pathways do not represent an absolute decrease of economic activity level (Figure 3.34b,c).However, the possibility for increased economic activity following mitigation action, and conversely the risk of large negative economic effects, are not excluded. Some studies find that mitigation increases the speed of economic growth compared to baseline scenarios (Pollitt and Mercure 2018;Mercure et al. 2019). These studies are based on a macroeconomic modelling framework that represent baselines below the efficiency frontier, based on non-equilibrium economic theory, and assume that mitigation is undertaken in such a way that green investments do not crowd out investment in other parts of the economy -and therefore offers an economic stimulus. In the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, it is estimated that a green investment push would initially boost the economy while also reducing GHG emissions (IMF 2020; Pollitt et al. 2021). Conversely, several studies find that only a GDP non-growth/degrowth or postgrowth approach enable reaching climate stabilisation below 2°C (Hardt and O'Neill 2017;D'Alessandro et al. 2020;Hickel and Kallis 2020;Nieto et al. 2020), or to minimise the risks of reliance on high energy-GDP decoupling, large-scale CDR and large-scale renewable energy deployment (Keyßer and Lenzen 2021). Similarly, feedbacks of financial system risk amplifying shocks induced by mitigation policy and lead to a higher impact on economic activity (Stolbova et al. 2018).Mitigation costs increase with the stringency of mitigation (Hof et al. 2017;Vrontisi et al. 2018) (Figure 3.34b,c), but are reduced when energy demand is moderated through energy efficiency and lifestyle changes (Fujimori et al. 2014;Bibas et al. 2015;Liu et al. 2018;Méjean et al. 2019), when sustainable transport policies are implemented (Zhang et al. 2018c), and when international technology cooperation is fostered (Schultes et al. 2018;Paroussos et al. 2019)  C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) 2018; Napp et al. 2019;Giannousakis et al. 2021), on the representation of innovation dynamics in modelling frameworks (Hoekstra et al. 2017;Rengs et al. 2020) (Chapter 16), as well as the representation of investment dynamics and financing mechanisms (Iyer et al. 2015c;Mercure et al. 2019;Battiston et al. 2021). In particular, endogenous and induced innovation reduce technology costs over time, create path dependencies and reduce the macroeconomic cost of reaching a mitigation target (Section 1.7.1.2). Mitigation costs also depend on socio-economic assumptions (Hof et al. 2017;van Vuuren et al. 2020).Mitigation pathways with early emissions reductions represent higher mitigation costs in the short-run but bring long-term gains for the economy compared to delayed transition pathways (high confidence).Pathways with earlier mitigation action bring higher long-term GDP than pathways reaching the same end-of-century temperature with weaker early action (Figure 3.34d). Comparing counterfactual history scenarios, Sanderson and O'Neill (2020) also find that delayed mitigation action leads to higher peak costs. Rogelj et al. (2019b) and Riahi et al. (2021) also show that pathways with earlier timing of net zero CO 2 lead to higher transition costs but lower long-term mitigation costs, due to dynamic effects arising from lock-in avoidance and learning effects. For example, Riahi et al.(2021) find that for a 2°C target, the GDP losses (compared to a reference scenario without impacts from climate change) in 2100 are 5-70% lower in pathways that avoid net negative CO 2 emissions and temperature overshoot than in pathways with overshoot. Accounting also for climate change damage, van der Wijst et al. (2021a) show that avoiding net negative emissions leads to a small increase in total discounted mitigation costs over 2020-2100, between 5% and 14% in their medium assumptions, but does not increase mitigation costs when damages are high and when using a low discount rate, and becomes economically attractive if damages are not fully reversible. The modelled cost-optimal balance of mitigation action over time strongly depends on the discount rate used to compute or evaluate mitigation pathways: lower discount rates favour earlier mitigation, reducing both temperature overshoot and reliance on net negative carbon emissions (Emmerling et al. 2019;Riahi et al. 2021). Mitigation pathways with weak early action corresponding to NDCs announced prior to COP26 in 2030 and strengthening action after 2030 to reach end-of-century temperature targets imply limited mitigation costs in 2030, compared to immediate global action pathways, but faster increase in costs post-2030, with implications for intergenerational equity (Aldy et al. 2016;Liu et al. 2016;Vrontisi et al. 2018). Emissions trading policies reduce global aggregate mitigation costs, in particular in the context of achieving NDCs (Fujimori et al. 2015(Fujimori et al. , 2016a;;Böhringer et al. 2021;Edmonds et al. 2021), and change the distribution of mitigation costs between regions and countries (Section 3.6.1.2).The economic repercussions of mitigation policies vary across countries (Aldy et al. 2016;Hof et al. 2017): regional variations exist in institutions, economic and technological development, and mitigation opportunities. For a globally uniform carbon price, carbonintensive and energy-exporting countries bear the highest economic costs because of a deeper transformation of their economies and of trade losses in the fossil markets (Stern et al. 2012;Tavoni et al. 2015;Böhringer et al. 2021). This finding is confirmed in Figure 3.35. Since carbon-intensive countries are often poorer, uniform global carbon prices raise equity concerns (Tavoni et al. 2015). On the other hand, the climate economic benefits of mitigating climate change will be larger in poorer countries (Cross-Working Group Box 1 in this chapter). This reduces policy regressivity but does not eliminate it (Taconet et al. 2020;Gazzotti et al. 2021). Together with co-benefits, such as health benefits of improved air quality, the economic benefits of mitigating climate change are likely to outweigh mitigation costs in many regions (Li et al. 2018(Li et al. , 2019;;Scovronick et al. 2021).Regional policy costs depend on the evaluation framework (Budolfson et al. 2021), policy design, including revenue recycling, and on international coordination, especially among trade partners. By fostering technological change and finance, climate cooperation can C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%)Weaker short-term action generate economic benefits, both in large developing economies such as China and India (Paroussos et al. 2019) and industrialised regions such as Europe (Vrontisi et al. 2020). International coordination is a major driver of regional policy costs. Delayed participation in global mitigation efforts raises participation costs, especially in carbonintensive economies (Figure 3.35a. Trading systems and transfers can deliver cost savings and improve equity (Rose et al. 2017a). On the other hand, measures that reduce imports of energy-intensive goods such as carbon-border tax adjustment may imply costs outside of the policy jurisdiction and have international equity repercussions, depending on how they are designed (Böhringer et al. 2012(Böhringer et al. , 2017;;Cosbey et al. 2019) (Section 13.6.6).An equitable global emission-trading scheme would require very large international financial transfers, in the order of several hundred billion USD per year (Tavoni et al. 2015;Bauer et al. 2020;van den Berg et al. 2020). The magnitude of transfers depends on the stringency of the climate goals and on the burden-sharing principle. Some interpretations of equitable burden sharing compliant with the Paris Agreement leads to negative carbon allowances for developed countries and some developing countries by mid-century (van den Berg et al. 2020), more stringent than cost-optimal pathways. International transfers also depend on the underlying socio-economic development (Leimbach and Giannousakis 2019), as these drive the mitigation costs of meeting the Paris Agreement (Rogelj et al. 2018b). By contrast, achieving equity without international markets would result in a large discrepancy in regional carbon prices, up to a factor of 100 (Bauer et al. 2020). The efficiency-sovereignty trade-off can be partly resolved by allowing for limited differentiation of regional carbon prices: moderate financial transfers substantially reduce inefficiencies by narrowing the carbon price spread (Bauer et al. 2020).Figures 3.36 and 3.37 show increased investment needs in the energy sector in lower temperature categories, and a major shift away from fossil fuel generation and extraction towards electricity, including for system enhancements for electricity transmission, distribution and storage, and low-carbon technologies. Investment needs in the electricity sector are 2.3 trillion USD2015 yr -1 over 2023-2050 on average for C1 pathways, 2 trillion USD for C2 pathways, 1.7 trillion USD for C3, 1.2 trillion USD for C4 and 0.9-1.1 billion USD for C5/C6/C7 (mean values for pathways in each temperature category). The regional pattern of power sector investments broadly mirrors the global picture. However, the bulk of investment requirements are in medium-and low-income regions. These results from the AR6 scenarios database corroborate the findings from McCollum et al. (2018a) C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%)   C1: limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot C2: return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot C3: limit warming to 2°C (>67%) C4: limit warming to 2°C (>50%) C5: limit warming to 2.5°C (>50%) C6: limit warming to 3°C (>50%) C7: limit warming to 4°C (>50%) C8: exceed warming of 4°C (≥50%) Bars show the median values (number of pathways at the bottom), and whiskers show the interquartile ranges. For definition of regional classifications used see Annex II Table 1.In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, Kikstra et al. (2021a) show that a low-energy-demand recovery scenario reduces energy investments required until 2030 for a 1.5°C consistent pathway by 9% (corresponding to reducing total required energy investment by USD1.8 trillion) compared to a scenario with energy demand trends restored to pre-pandemic levels.Few studies extend the scope of the investment needs quantification beyond the energy sector. Fisch-Romito and Guivarch (2019) and Ó Broin and Guivarch (2017) assess investment needs for transportation infrastructures and find lower investment needs in low-carbon pathways, due to a reduction in transport activity and a shift towards less road construction, compared to high-carbon pathways. Rozenberg and Fay (2019) estimate the funding needs to close the service gaps in water and sanitation, transportation, electricity, irrigation, and flood protection in thousands of scenarios, showing that infrastructure investment paths compatible with full decarbonisation in the second half of the century need not cost more than more-polluting alternatives. Investment needs are estimated between 2% to 8% of GDP, depending on the quality and quantity of services targeted, the timing of investments, construction costs, and complementary policies.Chapter 15 also reports investment requirements in global mitigation pathways in the near term, compares them to recent investment trends, and assesses financing issues. Mitigation reduces the extent of climate change and its impacts on ecosystems, infrastructure, and livelihoods. This box summarises elements from the AR6 WGII report on aggregate climate change impacts and risks, putting them into the context of mitigation pathways. AR6 WGII provides an assessment of current lines of evidence regarding potential climate risks with future climate change, and therefore, the avoided risks from mitigating climate change. Regional and sectoral climate risks to physical and social systems are assessed (AR6 WGII Chapters 2-15). Over 100 of these are identified as Key Risks (KRs) and further synthesised by WGII Chapter 16 into eight overarching Representative Key Risks (RKRs) relating to low-lying coastal systems; terrestrial and ocean ecosystems; critical physical infrastructure, networks and services; living standards; human health; food security; water security; and peace and mobility (AR6 WGII Section 16.5.2). The RKR assessment finds that risks increase with global warming level, and also depend on socioeconomic development conditions, which shape exposure and vulnerability, and adaptation opportunities and responses. 'Reasons For Concern', another WGII aggregate climate-impacts risk framing, are also assessed to increase with climate change, with increasing risk for unique and threatened systems, extreme weather events, distribution of impacts, global aggregate impacts, and large-scale singular events (AR6 WGII Chapter 16). For human systems, in general, the poor and disadvantaged are found to have greater exposure level and vulnerability for a given hazard. With some increase in global average warming from today expected regardless of mitigation efforts, human and natural systems will be exposed to new conditions and additional adaptation will be needed (AR6 WGII Chapter 18). The range of dates for when a specific warming level could be reached depends on future global emissions, with significant overlap of ranges across emissions scenarios due to climate system response uncertainties (AR6 WGI Tables 4.2 and 4.5). The speed at which the climate changes is relevant to adaptation timing, possibilities, and net impacts.The AR6 WGII also assesses the growing literature estimating the global aggregate economic impacts of climate change and the social cost of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (AR6 WGII Cross-Working Box ECONOMIC: Estimating Global Economic Impacts from Climate Change and the Social Cost of Carbon in AR6 WGII Chapter 16). The former represents aggregate estimates that inform assessment of the economic benefits of mitigation. This literature is characterised by significant variation in the estimates, including for today's level of global warming, due primarily to fundamental differences in methods, but also differences in impacts included, representation of socio-economic exposure, consideration of adaptation, aggregation approach, and assumed persistence of damages. The AR6 WGII's assessment identifies different approaches to quantification of aggregated economic impacts of climate change, including: physical modelling of impact processes, such as projected mortality rates from climate risks such as heat, vector-or waterborne diseases that are then monetised; structural economic modelling of impacts on production, consumption, and markets for economic sectors and regional economies; and statistical estimation of impacts based on observed historical responses to weather and climate. The AR6 WGII finds that variation in estimated global economic impacts increases with warming in all methodologies, indicating higher risk in terms of economic impacts at higher temperatures (high confidence). Many estimates are non-linear with marginal economic impacts increasing with temperature, although some show declining marginal economic impacts with temperature, and functional forms cannot be determined for all studies. The AR6 WGII's assessment finds that the lack of comparability between methodologies does not allow for identification of robust ranges of global economic impact estimates (high confidence). Further, AR6 WGII identifies evaluating and reconciling differences in methodologies as a research priority for facilitating use of the different lines of evidence (high confidence). However, there are estimates that are higher than AR5, indicating that global aggregate economic impacts could be higher than previously estimated (low confidence due to the lack of comparability across methodologies and lack of robustness of estimates) (AR6 WGII Cross-Working Box ECONOMIC).Conceptually, the difference in aggregate economic impacts from climate change between two given temperature levels represents the aggregate economic benefits arising from avoided climate change impacts due to mitigation action. A subset of the studies whose estimates were evaluated by AR6 WGII (5 of 15) are used to derive illustrative estimates of aggregate economic benefits in 2100 arisingCross-Working Group Box 1 (continued) shows the implied aggregate economic benefits in 2100 of a lower temperature increase. Economic benefits for point estimates are computed as a difference, while economic benefits from the curve HS17 are computed as ranges from the segment differences.from avoided climate change (Howard and Sterner 2017;Burke et al. 2018;Pretis et al. 2018;Kahn et al. 2019;Takakura et al. 2019). Burke et al. (2018), Pretis et al. (2018) and Kahn et al. (2019) are examples of statistical estimations of historical relationships between temperature and economic growth, whereas Takakura et al. (2019) is an example of structural modelling, which evaluates selected impact channels (impacts on agriculture productivity, undernourishment, heat-related mortality, labour productivity, cooling/heating demand, hydro-electric and thermal power generation capacity and fluvial flooding) with a general equilibrium model. Howard and Sterner (2017) and Rose et al. (2017b) estimate damage functions that can be used to compute the economic benefits of mitigation from avoiding a given temperature level for a lower one. Howard and Sterner (2017) estimate a damage function from a metaanalysis of aggregate economic impact studies, while Rose et al. (2017b) derive global functions by temperature and socio-economic drivers from stylised aggregate cost-benefit-analysis (CBA) integrated assessment models (IAMs) using diagnostic experiments. Cross-Working Group Box 1, Figure 1 summarises the global aggregate economic benefits in 2100 of avoided climate change impacts from individual studies corresponding to shifting from a higher temperature category (above 3°C, below 3°C or below 2.5°C) to below 2°C, as well as from below 2°C to below 1.5°C. Benefits are positive and increase with the temperature gap for any given study, and this result is robust across socio-economic scenarios. The Figure provides evidence of a wide range of quantifications, and illustrates the important differences associated with methods. Panel a puts the studies used to calculate aggregate economic benefits arising from avoided impacts into the context of the broader set of studies assessed in WGII (Section 16.6.2 of this report, AR6 WGII Cross-Working Group Box ECONOMIC,). However, economic benefits in 2100 arising from avoided impacts cannot be directly computed from damage estimates across this broader set of studies, due to inconsistencies -different socio-economic assumptions, scenario designs, and counterfactual reference scenarios across studies. Furthermore, these types of estimates cannot be readily compared to mitigation cost estimates. The comparison would require a framework that ensures consistency in assumptions and dynamics and allows for consideration of benefits and costs along the entire pathway.Aggregate benefits from avoided impacts expressed in GDP terms, as in Figure 1, do not encompass all avoided climate risks, adaptation possibilities, and do not represent their influence on well-being and welfare (AR6 WGII Cross-Working Group Box ECONOMIC). Methodological challenges for economic impact estimates include representing uncertainty and variability, capturing interactions and spillovers, considering distributional effects, representing micro-and macro-adaptation processes, specifying non-gradual damages and non-linearities, and improving understanding of potential long-run growth effects. In addition, the economic benefits aggregatedCost-benefit analyses (CBA) aim to balance all costs and benefits in a unified framework (Nordhaus, 2008). Estimates of economic benefits from avoided climate change impacts depend on the types of damages accounted for, the assumed exposure and vulnerability to these damages as well as the adaptation capacity, which in turn are based on the development pathway assumed (Cross-Working Group Box 1 in this chapter). CBA IAMs raised criticism, in particular for omitting elements of dynamic realism, such as inertia, induced innovation and path dependence, in their representation of mitigation (Grubb et al. 2021), and for underestimating damages from climate change, missing non-monetary damages, the uncertain and heterogeneous nature of damages and the risk of catastrophic damages (Stern 2013(Stern , 2016;;Diaz and Moore 2017;NASEM 2017;Pindyck 2017;Stoerk et al. 2018;Stern and Stiglitz 2021). Emerging literature has started to address those gaps, and integrated into costbenefit frameworks the account of heterogeneity of climate damage and inequality (Dennig et al. 2015;Budolfson et al. 2017;Fleurbaey et al. 2019;Kornek et al. 2021), damages with higher persistence, including damages on capital and growth (Moyer et al. 2014;Dietz and Stern 2015;Moore and Diaz 2015;Guivarch and Pottier 2018;Ricke et al. 2018;Piontek et al. 2019), risks of tipping points (Cai et al. 2015(Cai et al. , 2016;;Lontzek et al. 2015;Lemoine and Traeger 2016;van der Ploeg and de Zeeuw 2018;Cai and Lontzek 2019;Nordhaus 2019;Yumashev et al. 2019;Taconet et al. 2021) and damages to natural capital and non-market goods (Tol 1994;Sterner and Persson 2008;Bastien-Olvera and Moore 2020;Drupp and Hänsel 2021).Each of these factors, when accounted for in a CBA framework, tends to increase the welfare benefit of mitigation, thus leading to stabilisation at a lower temperature in optimal mitigation pathways. The limitations in CBA modelling frameworks remain significant, their ability to represent all damages incomplete, and the uncertainty in estimates remains large. However, emerging evidence suggests that, even without accounting for co-benefits of mitigation on other sustainable development dimensions (see Section 3.6.3 for further details about on co-benefits), global benefits of pathways that limit warming to 2°C outweigh global mitigation costs over the 21st century: depending on the study, the reason for this result lies in assumptions of economic damages from climate change in the higher end of available estimates (Moore and Diaz 2015;Ueckerdt et al. 2019;Brown and Saunders 2020;Glanemann et al. 2020), in the introduction of risks of tipping points (Cai and Lontzek 2019), in the consideration of damages to natural capital and non-market goods (Bastien-Olvera and Moore 2020) or in the combination of updated representations of carbon cycle and climate modules, updated damage estimates and/or updated representations of economic and mitigation dynamics (Dietz and Stern 2015;Hänsel et al. 2020;Wei et al. 2020;van der Wijst et al. 2021b). In the studies cited above that perform a sensitivity analysis, this result is found to be robust to a wide range of assumptions on social preferences (in particular, on inequality aversion and pure rate-of-time preference) and holds except if assumptions of economic damages from climate change are in the lower end of available estimates and the pure rateof-time preference is in the higher range of values usually considered (typically above 1.5%). However, although such pathways bring net benefits over time (in terms of aggregate discounted present value), they involve distributional consequences and transition costs (Brown et al. 2020; Brown and Saunders 2020) (Sections 3.6.1.2 and 3.6.4).The standard discounted utilitarian framework dominates CBA, thus often limiting the analysis to the question of discounting. CBA can be expanded to accommodate a wider variety of ethical values to assess mitigation pathways (Fleurbaey et al. 2019). The role of ethical values with regard to inequality and the situation of the worse off (Adler et al. 2017), risk (van den Bergh andBotzen 2014;Drouet et al. 2015), and population size (Scovronick et al. 2017;Méjean et al. 2020) has been explored. In most of these studies, the optimal climate policy is found to be more stringent than the one obtained using a standard discounted utilitarian criterion.Comparing economic costs and benefits of mitigation raises a number of methodological and fundamental difficulties. Monetising the full range of climate change impacts is extremely hard, if not impossible (AR6 WGII Chapter 16), as is aggregating costs and benefits over time and across individuals when values are heterogeneous (Chapter 1; AR5 WGIII Chapter 3). Other approaches should thus be considered in supplement for decision-making (Chapter 1 and Section 1.7), in particular cost-effectiveness approaches that analyse how to achieve a defined mitigation objective at least cost or while also reaching other societal goals (Koomey 2013;Kaufman et al. 2020;Köberle et al. 2021;Stern and Stiglitz 2021). In cost-effectiveness studies too, incorporating benefits from avoided climate damages influences the results and leads to more stringent mitigation in the short term (Drouet et al. 2021;Schultes et al. 2021).at the global scale provide limited insights into regional heterogeneity. Global economic impact studies with regional estimates find large differences across regions in absolute and percentage terms, with developing and transitional economies typically more vulnerable. Furthermore, (avoided) impacts for poorer households and poorer countries can represent a smaller share in aggregate quantifications expressed in GDP terms or monetary terms, compared to their influence on well-being and welfare (Hallegatte et al. 2020;Markhvida et al. 2020). Finally, as noted by AR6 WGII, other lines of evidence regarding climate risks, beyond monetary estimates, should be considered in decision-making, including Key Risks and Reasons for Concern.Cross-Working Group Box 1 (continued)Mitigation actions have co-benefits and trade-offs with other sustainable development dimensions (Section 3.7) beyond climate change, which imply welfare effects and economic effects, as well as other implications beyond the economic dimension. The majority of quantifications of mitigation costs and benefits synthesized in Sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2 do not account for these economic benefits and costs associated with co-benefits and trade-offs along mitigation pathways.Systematic reviews of the literature on co-benefits and trade-offs from mitigation actions have shown that only a small portion of articles provide economic quantifications (Deng et al. 2017;Karlsson et al. 2020). Most economic quantifications use monetary valuation approaches. Improved air quality, and associated health effects, are the co-benefit category dominating the literature (Markandya et al. 2018;Vandyck et al. 2018;Scovronick et al. 2019;Howard et al. 2020;Karlsson et al. 2020b;Rauner et al. 2020a,b), but some studies cover other categories, including health effects from diet change (Springmann et al. 2016b) and biodiversity impacts (Rauner et al. 2020a). Regarding health effects from air quality improvement and from diet change, co-benefits are shown to be of the same order of magnitude as mitigation costs (Thompson et al. 2014;Springmann et al. 2016a,b;Markandya et al. 2018;Scovronick et al. 2019b;Howard et al. 2020;Rauner et al. 2020a,b;Liu et al. 2021;Yang et al. 2021). Co-benefits from improved air quality are concentrated sooner in time than economic benefits from avoided climate change impacts (Karlsson et al. 2020), such that when accounting both for positive health impacts from reduced air pollution and for the negative climate effect of reduced cooling aerosols, optimal GHG mitigation pathways exhibit immediate and continual net economic benefits (Scovronick et al. 2019a). However, AR6 WGI Chapter 6 (Section 6.7.3) shows a delay in air pollution reduction benefits when they come from climate change mitigation policies compared with air pollution reduction policies.Achieving co-benefits is not automatic but results from coordinated policies and implementation strategies (Clarke et al. 2014;McCollum et al. 2018a). Similarly, avoiding trade-offs requires targeted policies (van Vuuren et al. 2015;Bertram et al. 2018). There is limited evidence of such pathways, but the evidence shows that mitigation pathways designed to reach multiple Sustainable Development Goals instead of focusing exclusively on emissions reductions, result in limited additional costs compared to the increased benefits (Cameron et al. 2016;McCollum et al. 2018b;Fujimori et al. 2020a;Sognnaes et al. 2021).Beyond aggregate effects at the economy-wide level, mitigation pathways have heterogeneous economic implications for different sectors and different actors. Climate-related factors are only one driver of the future structure of the economy, of the future of employment, and of future inequality trends, as overarching trends in demographics, technological change (innovation, automation, etc.), education and institutions will be prominent drivers. For instance, Rao et al. (2019b) and Benveniste et al. (2021) have shown that income inequality projections for the 21st century vary significantly, depending on socio-economic assumptions related to demography, education levels, social public spending and migrations. However, the sections below focus on climate-related factors, both climatemitigation actions themselves and the climate change impacts avoided along mitigation pathways, effects on structural change, including employment, and distributional effects. Mitigation affects work through multiple channels, which impacts geographies, sectors and skill categories differently (Fankhaeser et al. 2008;Bowen et al. 2018;Malerba and Wiebe 2021). Aggregate employment impacts of mitigation pathways mainly depend on the aggregate macroeconomic effect of mitigation (Sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2) and of mitigation policy design and implementation (Freire-González 2018) (Section 4.2.6.3). Most studies that quantify overall employment implications of mitigation policies are conducted at the national or regional scales (Section 4.2.6.3), or sectoral scales (e.g., see Chapter 6 for energy sector jobs). The evidence is limited at the multinational or global scale, but studies generally find small differences in aggregate employment in mitigation pathways compared to baselines: the sign of the difference depends on the assumptions and modelling frameworks used and the policy design tested, with some studies or policy design cases leading to small increases in employment (Chateau and Saint-Martin 2013;Pollitt et al. 2015;Barker et al. 2016;Garcia-Casals et al. 2019;Fujimori et al. 2020a;Vrontisi et al. 2020;Malerba and Wiebe 2021) and other studies or policy design cases leading to small decreases (Chateau and Saint-Martin 2013;Vandyck et al. 2016). The small variations in aggregate employment hide substantial reallocation of jobs across sectors, with jobs creation in some sectors and jobs destruction in others. Mitigation action through thermal renovation of buildings, installation and maintenance of low-carbon generation, and the expansion of public transit lead to job creation, while jobs are lost in fossil fuel extraction, energy supply and energy-intensive sectors in mitigation pathways (von Stechow et al. 2015(von Stechow et al. , 2016;;Barker et al. 2016;Fuso Nerini et al. 2018;Perrier and Quirion 2018;Pollitt and Mercure 2018;Dominish et al. 2019;Garcia-Casals et al. 2019). In the energy sector, job losses in the fossil fuel sector are found to be compensated by gains in wind and solar jobs, leading to a net increase in energy sector jobs in 2050 in a mitigation pathway compatible with stabilisation of the temperature increase below 2°C (Pai et al. 2021). Employment effects also differ by geographies, with energy-importing regions benefiting from net job creations but energy-exporting regions experiencing very small gains or suffering from net job destruction (Barker et al. 2016;Pollitt and Mercure 2018;Garcia-Casals et al. 2019;Malerba and Wiebe 2021). Coal phase-out raises acute issues of just transition for the coal-dependent countries (Spencer et al. 2018;Jakob et al. 2020) (Section 4.5 and Box 6.2).Mitigation action also affects employment through avoided climate change impacts. Mitigation reduces the risks to human health and associated impacts on labour and helps protect workers from the occupational health and safety hazards imposed by climate change (Kjellstrom et al. 2016(Kjellstrom et al. , 2018(Kjellstrom et al. , 2019;;Levi et al. 2018;Day et al. 2019) (AR6 WGII Chapter 16).Mitigation policies can have important distributive effects between and within countries, either reducing or increasing economic inequality and poverty, depending on policy instruments' design and implementation (see Section 3.6.1.2 for an assessment of the distribution of mitigation costs across regions in mitigation pathways; Sections 3.7 and 4.2.2.6, and Box 3.6 for an assessment of the fairness and ambition of NDCs; and Section 4.5 for an assessment of national mitigation pathways along the criteria of equity, including Just Transition, as well as Section 17.4.5 for equity in a Just Transition).For instance, emissions taxation has important distributive effects, both between and within income groups (Cronin et al. 2018b;Klenert et al. 2018;Pizer and Sexton 2019;Douenne 2020;Steckel et al. 2021). These effects are more significant in some sectors, such as transport, and depend on country-specific consumption structures (Dorband et al. 2019;Fullerton and Muehlegger 2019;Ohlendorf et al. 2021). However, revenues from emissions taxation can be used to lessen their regressive distributional impacts or even turn the policy into a progressive policy reducing inequality and/or leading to gains for lower-income households (Cameron et al. 2016;Jakob and Steckel 2016;Fremstad and Paul 2019;Fujimori et al. 2020b;Böhringer et al. 2021;Budolfson et al. 2021;Soergel et al. 2021b;Steckel et al. 2021). Mitigation policies may affect the poorest through effects on energy and food prices (Hasegawa et al. 2015;Fujimori et al. 2019). Markkanen and Anger-Kraavi (2019) and Lamb et al. (2020) synthesize evidence from the existing literature on social co-impacts of climate change mitigation policy and their implications for inequality. They show that most policies can compound or lessen inequalities depending on contextual factors, policy design and policy implementation, but that negative inequality impacts of climate policies can be mitigated (and possibly even prevented), when distributive and procedural justice are taken into consideration in all stages of policymaking, including policy planning, development and implementation, and when focusing on the carbon intensity of lifestyles, sufficiency and equity, well-being and decent living standards for all (Section 13.6).Mitigation pathways also affect economic inequalities between and within countries, and poverty, through the reduction of climate change impacts that fall more heavily on low-income countries, communities and households, and exacerbate poverty (AR6 WGII Chapters 8 and 16). Higher levels of warming are projected to generate higher inequality between countries as well as within them (AR6 WGII Chapter 16). Through avoiding impacts, mitigation thus reduces economic inequalities and poverty (high confidence).A few studies consider both mitigation policies' distributional impacts and avoided climate change impacts on inequalities along mitigation pathways. Rezai et al. (2018) find that unmitigated climate change impacts increase inequality, whereas mitigation has the potential to reverse this effect. Considering uncertainty in socio-economic assumptions, emission pathways, mitigation costs, temperature response, and climate damage, Taconet et al. (2020) show that the uncertainties associated with socio-economic assumptions and damage estimates are the main drivers of future inequalities between countries and that in most cases mitigation policies reduce future inequalities between countries. Gazzotti et al. (2021) show that inequality persists in 2°C-consistent pathways due to regressivity of residual climate damages. However, the evidence on mitigation pathways' implications for global inequality and poverty remains limited, and the modelling frameworks used have limited ability to fully represent the different dimensions of inequality and poverty and all the mechanisms by which mitigation affects inequality and poverty (Rao et al. 2017a;Emmerling and Tavoni 2021;Jafino et al. 2021).Rapid and effective climate mitigation is a necessary part of sustainable development (high confidence) (Cross-Chapter Box 5 in Chapter 4), but the latter can only be realised if climate mitigation becomes integrated with sustainable development policies (high confidence).Targeted policy areas must include healthy nutrition, sustainable consumption and production, inequality and poverty alleviation, air quality and international collaboration (high confidence).Lower energy demand enables synergies between mitigation and sustainability, with lower reliance on CDR (high confidence).This section covers the long-term interconnection of sustainable development and mitigation, taking forward the holistic vision of sustainable development described in the SDGs (Brandi 2015;Leal Filho et al. 2018). Recent studies have explored the aggregated impact of mitigation for multiple sustainable-development dimensions (Hasegawa et al. 2014;Bertram et al. 2018;Fuso Nerini et al. 2018;Grubler et al. 2018;McCollum et al. 2018b;Soergel et al. 2021a;van Vuuren et al. 2019). For instance, Figure 3.38 shows selected mitigation co-benefits and trade-offs based on a subset of models and scenarios, since so far many IAMs do not have a comprehensive coverage of SDGs (Rao et al. 2017a;van Soest et al. 2019). Figure 3.38 shows that mitigation likely leads to increased forest cover (SDG 15 -life on land) and reduced mortality from ambient PM2.5 pollution (SDG 3 -good health and well-being) compared to reference scenarios. However, mitigation policies can also cause higher food prices and an increased population at risk of hunger (SDG 2 -zero hunger) and relying on solid fuels (SDG 3 -good health and well-being; and SDG 7 -affordable and clean energy) as side effects. These trade-offs can be compensated through targeted support measures and/or additional sustainable development policies (Cameron et al. 2016;Bertram et al. 2018;Fujimori et al. 2019;Soergel et al. 2021a).The synthesis of the interplay between climate mitigation and sustainable development is shown in Figure 3.39. Panel a shows the reduction in population affected by climate impacts at 1.5°C compared to 3°C according to sustainability domains (Byers et al. 2018). Reducing warming reduces the population impacted by all impact categories shown (high confidence). The left panel does not take into account any side effects of mitigation efforts or policies to reduce warming: only reductions in climate impacts. This underscores that mitigation is an integral basis for comprehensive sustainable development (Watts et al. 2015).Panels b and c of Figure 3.39 show the effects of 1.5°C mitigation policies compared to current national policies: narrow mitigation policies (averaged over several models, middle panel), and policies integrating sustainability considerations (right panel of Figure 3.39, based on the Illustrative Mitigation Pathway 'Shifting Pathways' (IMP-SP) (Soergel et al. 2021a)). Note that neither middle nor right panels include climate impacts.Areas of co-benefits include human health, ambient air pollution and other specific kinds of pollution, while areas of trade-off include food access, habitat loss and mineral resources (medium confidence).For example, action consistent with 1.5°C in the absence of energydemand reduction measures require large quantities of CDR, which, depending on the type used, are likely to negatively impact both food availability and areas for biodiversity (Fujimori et al. 2018;Ohashi et al. 2019;Roelfsema et al. 2020).Mitigation to 1.5°C reduces climate impacts on sustainability (left).Policies integrating sustainability and mitigation (right) have far fewer trade-offs than narrow mitigation policies (middle).   Fujimori et al. 2019;Roelfsema et al. 2020). For associated methods, see also Cameron et al. (2016) and Rafaj et al. (2021). The reference scenario for Fujimori et al. (2020a) is no-policy baseline; for all other studies, it includes current climate policies. In the 'Food prices' and 'Risk of hunger' panels, scenarios from CD-LINKS include a price cap of USD200 tCO 2 -eq for land-use emissions (Fujimori et al. 2019). For the other indicators, CD-LINKS scenarios without price cap (Roelfsema et al. 2020) are used due to SDG indicator availability. In the 'Premature deaths' panel, a well-below 2°C scenario from Fujimori et al. (2020a) is used in place of a 1.5°C scenario due to data availability, and all scenarios are indexed to their 2015 values due to a spread in reported levels between models. SDG icons were created by the United Nations.  These findings indicate that holistic policymaking integrating sustainability objectives alongside mitigation will be important in attaining Sustainable Development Goals (van Vuuren et al. 2015Vuuren et al. , 2018;;Bertram et al. 2018;Fujimori et al. 2018;Hasegawa et al. 2018;Liu et al. 2020a;Honegger et al. 2021;Soergel et al. 2021a  (Bertram et al. 2018;Grubler et al. 2018;van Vuuren et al. 2018;Kikstra et al. 2021b;Soergel et al. 2021a). This is especially true for reliance on BECCS (Hickel et al. 2021;Keyßer and Lenzen 2021). Options that reduce agricultural demand (e.g., dietary change, reduced food waste) can have co-benefits for adaptation through reductions in demand for land and water (Bertram et al. 2018;Grubler et al. 2018;IPCC 2019a;Soergel et al. 2021a).While the impacts of climate change on agricultural output are expected to increase the population at risk of hunger, there is evidence suggesting population growth will be the dominant driver of hunger and undernourishment in Africa in 2050 (Hall et al. 2017) There is high confidence (medium evidence, high agreement) that the eradication of extreme poverty and universal access to energy can be achieved without resulting in significant GHG emissions (Tait and Winkler 2012;Chakravarty and Tavoni 2013;Pachauri et al. 2013;Pachauri 2014;Rao 2014;Hubacek et al. 2017b;Poblete-Cazenave et al. 2021). There is also high agreement in the literature that a focus on well-being and decent living standards for all can reduce disparities in access to basic needs for services concurrently with climate mitigation (Section 5.2). Mitigation pathways in which national redistribution of carbon-pricing revenues is combined with international climate finance, achieve poverty reduction globally (Fujimori et al. 2020b;Soergel et al. 2021b). Carbon-pricing revenues in mitigation pathways consistent with limiting temperature increase to 2°C could also contribute to finance investment needs for basic infrastructure (Jakob et al. 2016) and the achievement of the SDGs (Franks et al. 2018).Several studies conclude that reaching higher income levels globally, beyond exiting extreme poverty, and achieving more qualitative social objectives and well-being, are associated with higher emissions (Ribas et al. 2017(Ribas et al. , 2019;;Hubacek et al. 2017b;Fischetti 2018;Scherer et al. 2018). Studies give divergent results on the effect of economic inequality reduction on emissions, with either an increase or a decrease in emissions (Berthe and Elie 2015;Lamb and Rao 2015;Grunewald et al. 2017;Hubacek et al. 2017a,b;Jorgenson et al. 2017;Knight et al. 2017;Mader 2018;Rao and Min 2018;Liu et al. 2019;Sager 2019;Baležentis et al. 2020;Liobikienė 2020;Liobikienė and Rimkuvienė 2020;Liu et al. 2020b;Millward-Hopkins and Oswald 2021). However, the absolute effect of economic inequality reduction on emissions remains moderate, under the assumptions tested. For instance, Sager (2019) finds that a full redistribution of income leading to equality among US households in a counterfactual scenario for 2009 would raise emissions by 2.3%; and Rao and Min (2018) limit to 8% the maximum plausible increase in emissions that would accompany the reduction of the global Gini coefficient from its current level of 0.55 to a level of 0.3 by 2050. Similarly, reduced income inequality would lead to a global energydemand increase of 7% (Oswald et al. 2021). Reconciling mitigation and inequality reduction objectives requires policies that take into account both objectives at all stages of policymaking (Markkanen and Anger-Kraavi 2019), including focusing on the carbon intensity of lifestyles (Scherer et al. 2018), attention to sufficiency and equity (Fischetti 2018), and targeting the consumption of the richest and highest-emitting households (Otto et al. 2019).In modelled mitigation pathways, inequality in per-capita emissions between regions are generally reduced over time, and the reduction is generally more pronounced in lower-temperature pathways (Box 3.6, Figure 1). Already in 2030, if NDCs from the Paris Agreement, announced prior to COP26, are fully achieved, inequalities in per-capita GHG emissions between countries would be reduced (Benveniste et al. 2018).The remainder of this section covers specific domains of sustainable development: food (Section 3.7.2), water (Section 3.7.3), energy (Section 3.7.4), health (Section 3.7.5), biodiversity (Section 3.7.6) and multi-sector -cities, infrastructure, industry, production and consumption (Section 3.7.7). These represent the areas with the strongest research connecting mitigation to sustainable development.The links to individual SDGs are given within these sections. Each domain covers the benefits of avoided climate impacts and the implications (synergies and trade-offs) of mitigation efforts.The goal of SDG 2 is to achieve 'zero-hunger' by 2030. According to the UN (2015), over 25% of the global population currently experience food insecurity and nearly 40% of these experience severe food insecurity, a situation worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic (Paslakis et al. 2021).Climate change will reduce crop yields, increase food insecurity, and negatively influence nutrition and mortality (high confidence) (AR6 WGII Chapter 5). Climate mitigation will thus reduce these impacts, and hence reduce food insecurity (high confidence). The yield reduction of global food production will increase food insecurity and influence nutrition and mortality (Hasegawa et al. 2014;Springmann et al. 2016a). For instance, Springmann et al. (2016a) estimate that climate change could lead to 315,000-736,000 additional deaths by 2050, though these could mostly be averted by stringent mitigation efforts. Reducing warming reduces the impacts of climate change, including extreme climates, on food production and risk of hunger (Hasegawa et al. 2014(Hasegawa et al. , 2021b)).Recent studies explore the effect of climate change mitigation on agricultural markets and food security (Havlík et al. 2014;Hasegawa et al. 2018;Doelman et al. 2019;Fujimori et al. 2019) There are many other synergistic measures for climate mitigation and food security. Agricultural technological innovation can improve the efficiency of land use and food systems, thus reducing the pressure on land from increasing food demand (Foley et al. 2011;Popp et al. 2014;Obersteiner et al. 2016;Humpenöder et al. 2018;Doelman et al. 2019). Furthermore, decreasing consumption of animal products could contribute to SDG 3.4 by reducing the risk of noncommunicable diseases (Garnett 2016).Taken together, climate changes will reduce crop yields, increase food insecurity and influence nutrition and mortality (high confidence) (see 3.7.2.1). However, if measures are not properly designed, mitigating climate change will also negatively impact on food consumption and security. Additional solutions to negative impacts associated with climate mitigation on food production and consumption include a transition to a sustainable agriculture and food system that is less resource intensive, more resilient to a changing climate, and in line with biodiversity and social targets (Kayal et al. 2019).Water is relevant to SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 15 (life on land ), and SDG Targets 12.4 and 3.9 (water pollution and health). This section discusses water quantity, water quality, and waterrelated extremes. See Section 3.7.5 for water-related health effects.Global precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff and water availability increase with warming (Hanasaki et al. 2013 However, the effect of socio-economic development could be larger than the effect of climate change (high confidence) (Arnell and Lloyd-Hughes 2014;Schlosser et al. 2014;Graham et al. 2020).Climate change can also affect water quality (both thermal and chemical) (Liu et al. 2017), leading to increases in stream temperature and nitrogen loading in rivers (Ballard et al. 2019).The effects of mitigation on water demand depends on the mitigation technologies deployed (high confidence) (Chaturvedi et al. 2013a,b;Hanasaki et al. 2013;Kyle et al. 2013;Hejazi et al. 2014;Bonsch et al. 2016;Jakob and Steckel 2016;Mouratiadou et al. 2016;Fujimori et al. 2017;Maïzi et al. 2017;Bijl et al. 2018;Cui et al. 2018;Graham et al. 2018;Parkinson et al. 2019). Some mitigation options could increase water consumption (volume removed and not returned) while decreasing withdrawals (total volume of water removed, some of which may be returned) (Kyle et al. 2013;Fricko et al. 2016;Mouratiadou et al. 2016;Parkinson et al. 2019). Bioenergy and BECCS can increase water withdrawals and water consumption (high confidence) (Chaturvedi et al. 2013a;Kyle et al. 2013;Hejazi et al. 2014;Bonsch et al. 2016;Jakob and Steckel 2016;Mouratiadou et al. 2016;Fujimori et al. 2017;Maïzi et al. 2017;Séférian et al. 2018;Yamagata et al. 2018;Parkinson et al. 2019) (AR6 WGII Chapter 4). DACCS (Fuhrman et al. 2020) and CCS (Kyle et al. 2013;Fujimori et al. 2017) could increase water demand; however, the implications of CCS depend on the cooling technology and when capture occurs (Magneschi et al. 2017;Maïzi et al. 2017;Giannaris et al. 2020). Demand-side mitigation (e.g., dietary change, reduced food waste, reduced energy demand) can reduce water demand (Bajželj et al. 2014;Aleksandrowicz et al. 2016;Green et al. 2018;Springmann et al. 2018). Introducing specific measures (e.g., environmental flow requirements, improved efficiency, priority rules) can reduce water withdrawals (Bertram et al. 2018;Bijl et al. 2018;Parkinson et al. 2019).The effect of mitigation on water quality depends on the mitigation option, its implementation, and the aspect of quality considered (high confidence) (Ng et al. 2010;Flörke et al. 2019;Sinha et al. 2019;Smith et al. 2019;Fuhrman et al. 2020;Karlsson et al. 2020;McElwee et al. 2020).Energy is relevant to SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy). Access to sufficient levels of reliable, affordable and renewable energy is essential for sustainable development. Currently, over 1 billion people still lack access to electricity (Ribas et al. 2019).Climate change alters the production of energy through changes in temperature (hydropower, fossil fuel, nuclear, solar, bioenergy, transmission and pipelines), precipitation (hydropower, fossil fuel, nuclear and bioenergy), windiness (wind and wave), and cloudiness (solar) (high confidence). Increases in temperature reduce efficiencies of thermal power plants (e.g., fossil fuel and nuclear plants) with air-cooled condensers by 0.4-0.7% per °C increase in ambient temperature (Cronin et al. 2018a;Simioni and Schaeffer 2019;Yalew, S.G. et al. 2020). Potentials and costs for renewable energy technologies are also affected by climate change, though with considerable regional variation and uncertainty (Gernaat et al. 2021). Biofuel yields could increase or decrease depending on the level of warming, changes in precipitation, and the effect of CO 2 fertilisation (Calvin et al. 2013;Kyle et al. 2014;Gernaat et al. 2021). Coastal energy facilities could potentially be impacted by sea level rise (Brown et al. 2014).The energy sector uses large volumes of water (Fricko et al. 2016), making it highly vulnerable to climate change (Tan and Zhi 2016) (high confidence). Thermoelectric and hydropower sources are the most vulnerable to water stress (van Vliet et al. 2016).Restricted water supply to these power sources can affect grid security and affordable energy access (Koch et al. 2014;Ranzani et al. 2018;Zhang et al. 2018d  et al. 2018). Some mitigation scenarios show price increases of clean cooking fuels, slowing the transition to clean cooking fuels (SDG 7.1) and leaving a billion people in 2050 still reliant on solid fuels in South Asia (Cameron et al. 2016).In contrast, future energy infrastructure could improve reliability, thus lowering dependence on high-carbon, high-air pollution back-up diesel generators (Farquharson et al. 2018) that are often used to cope with unreliable power in developing countries (Maruyama Rentschler et al. 2019). There can be significant reliability issues where mini-grids are used to electrify rural areas (Numminen and Lund 2019). A stable, sustainable energy transition policy that considers national sustainable development in the short and long term is critical in driving a transition to an energy future that addresses the trilemma of energy security, equity, and sustainability (La Viña et al. 2018).SDG 3 (good health and well-being) aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Climate change is increasingly causing injuries, illnesses, malnutrition, threats to mental health and well-being, and deaths (AR6 WGII Chapter 7). Mitigation policies and technologies to reduce GHG emissions are often beneficial for human health on a shorter time scale than benefits in terms of slowing climate change (Limaye et al. 2020). The financial value of health benefits from improved air quality alone is projected to exceed the costs of meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement (Markandya et al. 2018).Chapter 3 Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals 3 3.7.5.1 Benefits of Avoided Climate Impacts Along Mitigation PathwaysThe human health chapter of the WGII contribution to the AR6 concluded that climate change is increasingly affecting a growing number of health outcomes, with negative net impacts at the global scale and positive impacts only in a few limited situations. There are few estimates of economic costs of increases in climate-sensitive health outcomes. In the USA in 2012, the financial burden in terms of deaths, hospitalisations, and emergency department visits for ten climate-sensitive events across 11 states were estimated to be 10 (2.7-24.6) billion USD2018 (Limaye et al. 2019).Transitioning toward equitable, low-carbon societies has multiple co-benefits for health and well-being (AR6 WGII Chapter 7). Health benefits can be gained from improvements in air quality through transitioning to renewable energy and active transport (e.g., walking and cycling); shifting to affordable low-meat, plant-rich diets; and green buildings and nature-based solutions, such as green-and-blue urban infrastructure, as shown in Figure 3.40 (Iacobucci 2016).The avoided health impacts associated with climate change mitigation can substantially offset mitigation costs at the societal level (Ščasný et al. 2015;Schucht et al. 2015;Chang et al. 2017;Markandya et al. 2018). Models of health co-benefits show that a 1.5°C pathway could result in 152 million ± 43 million fewer premature deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2100 in comparison to a business-as-usual scenario, particularly due to reductions in exposure to PM2.5 (Shindell et al. 2018;Rauner et al. 2020a;Rafaj et al. 2021). Some of the most substantial health, well-being, and equity benefits associated with climate action derive from investing in basic infrastructure: sanitation, clean drinking water, clean energy, affordable healthy diets, clean public transport, and improved air quality from transformative solutions across economic sectors including agriculture, energy, transport and buildings (Chang et al. 2017).The health co-benefits of the NDCs for 2040 were compared for two scenarios, one consistent with the goal of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs and the other also placing health as a central focus of the policies (i.e., health in all climate policies scenario) (Hamilton et al. 2021), for Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the USA. Modelling of the energy, food and agriculture, and transport sectors, and associated risk factors related to mortality, suggested the sustainable pathways scenario could result in annual reductions of 1.18 million air pollution-related deaths, 5.86 million diet-related deaths, and 1.15 million deaths due to physical inactivity. Adopting the more ambitious health in all climate policies scenario could result in further reductions of 462,000 annual deaths attributable to air pollution, 572,000 annual deaths attributable to diet, and 943,000 annual deaths attributable to physical inactivity. These benefits were attributable to the mitigation of direct GHG emissions and the commensurate actions that reduce exposure to harmful pollutants, as well as improved diets and safe physical activity.Cost-benefit analyses for climate mitigation in urban settings that do not account for health may underestimate the potential cost savings and benefits (Hess et al. 2020). The net health benefits of controlling air pollution as part of climate mitigation efforts could reach trillions of dollars annually, depending on the air quality policies adopted globally (Markandya et al. 2018;Scovronick et al. 2019b). Air pollution reductions resulting from meeting the Paris Agreement targets were estimated to provide health co-benefits-to-mitigation ratios of between 1.4 and 2.5 (Markandya et al. 2018). In Asia, the benefit of air pollution reduction through mitigation measures was estimated to reduce premature mortality by 0.79 million, with an associated health benefit of USD2.8 trillion versus mitigation costs of USD840 billion, equating to 6% and 2% of GDP, respectively (Xie et al. 2018). Similarly, stabilising radiative forcing to 3.4 W m -2 in South Korea could cost USD1.3-8.5 billion in 2050 and could lead to a USD23.5 billion cost reduction from the combined benefits of avoided premature mortality, health expenditures, and lost work hours (Kim et al. 2020).The health co-benefits related to physical exercise and reduced air pollution largely offset the costs of implementing low-CO 2 -emitting urban mobility strategies in three Austrian cities (Wolkinger et al. 2018).Just in the USA, over the next 50 years, a 2°C pathway could prevent roughly 4.5 million premature deaths, about 3.5 million hospitalisations and emergency room visits, and approximately 300 million lost workdays (Shindell 2020). The estimated yearly benefits of USD700 billion were more than the estimated cost of the energy transition.Biodiversity covers life below water (SDG 14) and life on land (SDG 15). Ecosystem services are relevant to the goals of zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being (SDG 3), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) and responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), as well as being essential to human existence (IPBES 2019).Terrestrial and freshwater aquatic ecosystems Climate change is a major driver of species extinction and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems destruction (high confidence) (AR6 WGII Chapter 2). Analysis shows that approximately half of all species with long-term records have shifted their ranges in elevation and about two thirds have advanced their timing of spring events (Parmesan and Hanley 2015). Under 3.2°C warming, 49% of insects, 44% of plants and 26% of vertebrates are projected to be at risk of extinction. At 2°C, this falls to 18% of insects, 16% of plants and 8% of vertebrates and at 1.5°C, to 6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates (Warren et al. 2018). Incidents of migration of invasive species, including pests and diseases, are also attributable to climate change, with negative impacts on food security and vector-borne diseases. Moreover, if climate change reduces crop yields, cropland may expand -a primary driver of biodiversity loss -in order to meet food demand (Molotoks et al. 2020). Land restoration and halting land degradation under all mitigation scenarios has the potential for synergy between mitigation and adaptation.Marine ecosystems are being affected by climate change and growing non-climate pressures including temperature change, acidification, land-sourced pollution, sedimentation, resource extraction and habitat destruction (high confidence) (Bindoff et al. 2019;IPCC 2019b).The impacts of climate drivers and their combinations vary across taxa (AR6 WGII Chapter 3). The danger or warming and acidification to coral reefs, rocky shores and kelp forests is well established (high confidence) (AR6 WGII Chapter 3). Migration towards optimal thermal and chemical conditions (Burrows et al. 2019) contributes to large-scale redistribution of fish and invertebrate populations, and major impacts on global marine biomass production and maximum sustainable yield (Bindoff et al. 2019).Mitigation measures have the potential to reduce the progress of negative impacts on ecosystems, although it is unlikely that all impacts can be mitigated (high confidence) (Ohashi et al. 2019).The specifics of mitigation achievement are crucial, since largescale deployment of some climate mitigation and land-based CDR measures could have deleterious impacts on biodiversity (Santangeli et al. 2016;Hof et al. 2018).Climate change mitigation actions to reduce or slow negative impacts on ecosystems are likely to support the achievement of SDGs 2, 3, 6, 12, 14 and 15. Some studies show that stringent and constant GHG mitigation practices bring a net benefit to global biodiversity even if land-based mitigation measures are also adopted (Ohashi et al. 2019), as opposed to delayed action which would require much more widespread use of BECCS. Scenarios based on demand reductions of energy and land-based production are expected to avoid many such consequences, due to their minimised reliance on BECCS (Conijn et al. 2018;Grubler et al. 2018;Bowles et al. 2019;Soergel et al. 2021a). Stringent mitigation that includes reductions in demand for animal-based foods and food waste could also relieve pressures on land use and biodiversity (high confidence), both directly by reducing agricultural land requirements (Leclère et al. 2020) and indirectly by reducing the need for land-based CDR (van Vuuren et al. 2018).As environmental conservation and sustainable use of the Earth's terrestrial species and ecosystems are strongly related, recent studies have evaluated interconnections among key aspects of land and show a pathway to the global sustainable future of land (Popp et al. 2014;Erb et al. 2016;Obersteiner et al. 2016;Humpenöder et al. 2018). Most studies agree that many biophysical options exist to achieve global climate mitigation and sustainable land use in future. Conserving local biodiversity requires careful policy design in conjunction with land-use regulations and societal transformation in order to minimise the conversion of natural habitats.This subsection focuses upon SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). However, increasing urban density or enlarging urban green spaces can increase property prices and reduce affordability (Section 8.2.1). Raising living conditions for slum dwellers and people living in informal settlements will require significant materials and energy; however, regeneration can be conducted in ways that avoid carbonintense infrastructure lock-in (Chapters 8 and 9). Cities affect other regions through supply chains (Marinova et al. 2020).Sustainable production, consumption and management of natural resources are consistent with, and necessary for, mitigation (Chapters 5 and 11). Demand-side measures can lower requirements for upstream material and energy use (Chapter 5). In terms of industrial production, transformational changes across sectors will be necessary for mitigation (Sections 11.3 and 11.4).Addressing multiple SDG arenas requires new systemic thinking in the areas of governance and policy, such as those proposed by Sachs et al. (2019).The objective of this section is to discuss concepts of feasibility in the context of the low-carbon transition and pathways. We aim to identify drivers of low-carbon scenarios feasibility and to highlight enabling conditions which can ameliorate feasibility concerns.Effectively responding to climate change and achieving sustainable development requires overcoming a series of challenges to transition away from fossil-based economies. Feasibility can be defined in many ways (Chapter 1). The political science literature (Majone 1975a,b;Gilabert and Lawford-Smith 2012) distinguishes the feasibility of 'what' (i.e., emission reduction strategies), 'when and where' (i.e., in the year 2050, globally) and 'whom' (i.e., cities). It distinguishes desirability from political feasibility (von Stechow et al. 2015): the former represents a normative assessment of the compatibility with societal goals (i.e., SDGs), while the latter evaluates the plausibility of what can be attained given the prevailing context of transformation (Nielsen et al. 2020). Feasibility concerns are context and time dependent and malleable: enabling conditions can help overcome them. For example, public support for carbon taxes has been hard to secure but appropriate policy design and household rebates can help dissipate opposition (Murray and Rivers 2015;Carattini et al. 2019).Regarding scenarios, the feasibility 'what' question is the one most commonly dealt with in the literature, though most of the studies have focused on expanding low-carbon system, and yet political constraints might arise mostly from phasing out fossil fuel-based ones (Spencer et al. 2018;Fattouh et al. 2019). The 'when and where' dimension can also be related to the scenario assessment, but only insofar that the models generating them can differentiate time and geographical contextual factors. Distinguishing mitigation potential by regional institutional capacity has a significant influence on the costs of stabilising climate (Iyer et al. 2015c). The 'whom' question is the most difficult to capture by scenarios, given the multitude of actors involved as well as their complex interactions. The focus of socio-technical transition sciences on the co-evolutionary processes can shed light on the dynamics of feasibility (Nielsen et al. 2020).The when-where-whom distinction allows depicting a feasibility frontier beyond which implementation challenges prevent mitigation action (Jewell and Cherp 2020). Even if the current feasibility frontier appears restraining in some jurisdictions, it is context-dependent and dynamic as innovation proceeds and institutional capacity builds up (Nielsen et al. 2020). The question is whether the feasibility frontier can move faster than the pace at which the carbon budget is being exhausted. Jewell et al. (2019) show that the emission savings from the pledges of premature retirement of coal plants is 150 times less than globally committed emissions from existing coal power plants.The pledges come from countries with high institutional capacity and relatively low shares of coal in electricity. Other factors currently limiting the capacity to steer transitions at the necessary speed include the electoral-market orientation of politicians (Willis 2017), the status-quo orientation of senior public officials (Geden 2016), path dependencies created by 'instrument constituencies' (Béland and Howlett 2016), or the impacts of deliberate inconsistencies between talk, decisions and actions in climate policy (Rickards et al. 2014). All in all, a number of different delay mechanisms in both science and policy have been identified to potentially impede climate goal achievement (Karlsson and Gilek 2020) (Chapter 13).In addition to its contextual and dynamic nature, feasibility is a multidimensional concept. The IPCC SR1.5 distinguishes six dimensions of feasibility: geophysical, environmental-ecological, technological, economic, socio-cultural and institutional. At the individual option level, different mitigation strategies face various barriers as well as enablers (see Chapter 6 for the option-level assessment). However, a systemic transformation involves interconnections of a wide range of indicators. Model-based assessments are meant to capture the integrative elements of the transition and of associated feasibility challenges. However, the translation of model-generated pathways into feasibility concerns (Rogelj et al. 2018b) has developed only recently. Furthermore, multiple forms of knowledge can be mobilised to support strategic decision-making and complement scenario analysis (Turnheim and Nykvist 2019). We discuss both approaches next.Evaluating the feasibility of low-carbon pathways can take different forms. In the narrowest sense, there is feasibility pertaining the reporting of model-generated scenarios: here an infeasible scenario is one which cannot meet the constraints embedded implicitly or explicitly in the models which attempted to generate it. Second, there is a feasibility that relates to specific elements or overall structure characterising the low-carbon transition compared to some specified benchmark.In order to be generated, scenarios must be coherent with the constraints and assumptions embedded in the models (i.e., deployment potential of given technologies, physical and geological limits) and in the scenario design (i.e., carbon budget). Sometimes, models cannot solve specific scenarios. This provides a first, coarse indication of feasibility concerns. Specific vetting criteria can be imposed, such as carbon-price values above which scenarios should not be reported, as in Clarke et al. (2009). However, model solvability raises issues of aggregation in model ensembles. Since model solving is not a random process, but a function of the characteristics of the models, analysing only reported outcomes leads to statistical biases (Tavoni and Tol 2010).Although model-feasibility differs distinctly from feasibility in the real world, it can indicate the relative challenges of low-carbon scenarios -primarily when performed in a model ensemble of sufficient size. Riahi et al. (2015) interpreted infeasibility across a large number of models as an indication of increased risk that the transformation may not be attainable due to technical or economic concerns. All models involved in a model comparison of 1.5°C targets (Rogelj et al. 2018b) (Table S1) were able to solve under favourable underlying socio-economic assumptions (SSP1), but none for the more challenging SSP3. This interpretation of feasibility was used to highlight the importance of socio-economic drivers for attaining climate stabilisation. Gambhir et al. (2017) constrained the models to historically observed rates of change and found that it would no longer allow to solve for 2°C, highlighting the need for rapid technological change.Evaluating the feasibility of scenarios involves several steps (Figure 3.41). First, one needs to identify which dimensions of feasibility to focus on. Then, for each dimension, one needs to select relevant indicators for which sufficient empirical basis exists and which are an output of models (or at least of a sufficient number of them). Then, thresholds marking different levels of feasibility concerns are defined based on available literature, expert elicitations and empirical analysis based on appropriately chosen historical precedents. Finally, scenario feasibility scores are obtained for each indicator, and where needed aggregated up in time or dimensions, as a way to provide an overall appraisal of feasibility trade-offs, depending on the timing, disruptiveness and scale of transformation.Most of the existing literature has focused on the technological dimensions, given the technology focus of models and the ease of comparison. The literature points to varied findings. Some suggest that scenarios envision technological progress consistent with historical benchmarks (Wilson et al. 2013;Loftus et al. 2015). Others that scenarios exceed historically observed rates of low-carbon technology deployment and of energy demand transformation globally (van der Zwaan et al. 2013;Napp et al. 2017;Cherp et al. 2021;Semieniuk et al. 2021), but not for all countries (Cherp et al. 2021). The reason for these discrepancies depends on the unit of analysis and the indicators used. Comparing different kinds of historical indicators, (van Sluisveld et al. 2015) find that indicators that look into the absolute change of energy systems remain within the range of historical growth frontiers for the next decade, but increase to unprecedented levels before midcentury. Expert assessments provide another way of benchmarking scenarios, though they have shown to be systematically biased (Wiser et al. 2021) and to underperform empirical methods (Meng et al. 2021). van Sluisveld et al. (2018a) find that scenarios and experts align for baseline scenarios but differ for low-carbon ones. Scenarios rely more on conventional technologies based on existing infrastructure (such as nuclear and CCS) than what is forecasted by experts. Overall, the technology assessment of the feasibility space highlights that Paris-compliant transformations would have few precedents, but not zero (Cherp et al. 2021).Step  Recent approaches have addressed multiple dimensions of feasibility, an important advancement since social and institutional aspects are as, if not more, important than technology ones (Jewell and Cherp 2020). Feasibility corridors of scenarios based on their scale, rate of change and disruptiveness have been identified (Kriegler et al. 2018b;Warszawski et al. 2021). The reality check shows that many 1.5°C-compatible scenarios violate the feasibility corridors. The ones that didn't are associated with a greater coverage of the available mitigation levers (Warszawski et al. 2021). Brutschin et al. (2021) proposed an operational framework covering all six dimensions of feasibility. They developed a set of multidimensional metrics capturing the timing, disruptiveness and the scale of the transformative change within each dimension (as in Kriegler et al. 2018b). Thresholds of feasibility risks of different intensity are obtained through the review of the relevant literature and empirical analysis of historical data. Novel indicators include governance levels (Andrijevic et al. 2020a). The 17 bottom-up indicators are then aggregated up across time and dimension, as a way to highlight feasibility trade-offs. Aggregation is done via compensatory approaches such as the geometric mean. This is employed, for instance, for the Human Development Index. A conceptual example of this approach as applied to the IPCC AR6 scenarios database is shown in Figure 3.42 and further described in the Annex III.II.2.3.In Figure 3.43, we show the results of applying the methodology of Brutschin et al. (2021) to the AR6 scenarios database. The charts highlight the dynamic nature of feasibility risks, which are mostly concentrated in the decades before mid-century except for geophysical risks driven by CO 2 removals later in the century. Different dimensions pose differentiated challenges: for example, institutional feasibility challenges appear to be the most relevant, in line with the qualitative literature. Thus, feasibility concerns might be particularly relevant in countries with weaker institutional capacity. Figure 3.43 also highlights the key roles of policy and technology as enabling factors. In particular (panel b), internationally coordinated and immediate emission reductions allow to smooth out feasibility concerns and reduce long-term challenges compared to delayed policy action, as a result of a more gradual transition and lower requirements of CO 2 removals. For the same climate objective, different Illustrative Mitigation Pathways entail somewhat different degrees and distributions of implementation challenges (panel c).The limitations associated with quantitative low-carbon transition pathways stem from a predominant reliance on techno-economic considerations with a simplified or non-existent representation of the socio-political and institutional agreement. Accompanying the required deployment of low-carbon technologies will be the formation of new socio-technical systems (Bergek et al. 2008). With a socio-technical system being defined as a cluster of elements comprising of technology, regulation, user practices and markets, cultural meaning, infrastructure, maintenance networks, and supply networks (Hofman et al. 2004;Geels and Geels 2005); the interrelationship between technological systems and social systems must be comprehensively understood. It is of vital importance that the process of technical change must be considered in its institutional and social context so as to ascertain potential transition barriers which in turn provide an indication of pathway feasibility. In order to address the multitudinous challenges associated with lowcarbon transition feasibility and governance, it has been opined that the robustness of evaluating pathways may be improved by the bridging of differing quantitative-qualitative analytical approaches (Haxeltine et al. 2008;Foxon et al. 2010;Hughes 2013;Wangel et al. 2013;Li et al. 2015;Turnheim et al. 2015;Geels et al. 2016aGeels et al. ,b, 2020;;Moallemi et al. 2017;De Cian et al. 2020;Li and Strachan 2019). The rationale for such analytical bridging is to rectify the issue that in isolation each disciplinary approach can only generate a fragmented comprehension of the transition pathway with the consequence being an incomplete identification of associated challenges in terms of feasibility. Concerning low-carbon transition pathways generated by IAMs, it has been argued that a comprehensive analysis should include social scientific enquiry (Geels et al. 2016a(Geels et al. , 2020;;van Sluisveld et al. 2018b). The normative analysis of IAM pathways assists in the generation of a vision or the formulation of a general plan with this being complemented by socio-technical transition theory (Geels et al. 2016a). Such an approach thereby allowing for the socio-political feasibility and the social acceptance and legitimacy of low-carbon options to be considered. Combining computer models and the multilevel perspective can help identify 'transition bottlenecks' (Geels et al. 2020). Similarly, increased resolution of integrated assessment models' actors has led to more realistic narratives of transition in terms of granularity and behaviour (McCollum et al. 2017;van Sluisveld et al. 2018b). Increased data availability of actual behaviour from smart technology lowers the barriers to representing behavioural change in computer simulations, and thus better represents crucial demand-side transformations (Creutzig et al. 2018). Increasing the model resolution is a meaningful way forward. However, integrating a much broader combination of real-life aspects and dynamics into models could lead to an increased complexity that could restrict them to smaller fields of applications (De Cian et al. 2020).Other elements of feasibility relate to social justice, which could be essential to enhance the political and public acceptability of the low-carbon transition. Reviewing the literature, one study finds that employing social justice as an orienting principle can increase the political feasibility of low-carbon policies (Patterson et al. 2018). Three elements are identified as key: (i) protecting vulnerable people from climate change impacts, (ii) protecting people from disruptions of transformation, (iii) enhancing the process of envisioning and implementing an equitable post-carbon society.There is strong agreement that the climate policy institutional framework as well as technological progress have a profound impact on the attainability of low-carbon pathways. Delaying international cooperation reduces the available carbon budget and locks into carbon-intensive infrastructure exacerbating implementation challenges (Keppo and Rao 2007;Bosetti et al. 2009;Boucher et al. 2009;Clarke et al. 2009;Krey and Riahi 2009;van Vliet et al. 2009;Knopf et al. 2011;Jakob et al. 2012;Luderer et al. 2013;Rogelj et al. 2013a;Aboumahboub et al. 2014;Kriegler et al. 2014a;Popp et al. 2014;Riahi et al. 2015;Gambhir et al. 2017;Bertram et al. 2021). Similarly, technological availability influences the feasibility of climate stabilisation, though differently for different technologies (Kriegler et al. 2014a;Iyer et al. 2015a;Riahi et al. 2015).One of the most relevant factors affecting mitigation pathways and their feasibility is the rate and kind of socio-economic development.For example, certain socio-economic trends and assumptions about policy effectiveness preclude achieving stringent mitigation futures (Rogelj et al. 2018b). The risk of failure increases markedly in high-growth, unequal and/or energy-intensive worlds such as those characterised by the shared socio-economic pathways SSP3, SSP4 and SSP5. On the other hand, socio-economic development conducive to mitigation relieves the energy sector transformation from relying on large-scale technology development: for example, the amount of biomass with CCS in SSP1 is one third of that in SSP5.The reason why socio-economic trends matter so much is that they both affect the CO 2 emissions in counterfactual scenarios as well as the mitigation capacity (Riahi et al. 2017;Rogelj et al. 2018b). Economic growth assumptions are the most important determinant of scenario emissions (Marangoni et al. 2017). Degrowth and postgrowth scenarios have been suggested as valuable alternatives to be considered (Hickel et al. 2021;Keyßer and Lenzen 2021), though substantial challenges remain regarding political feasibility (Keyßer and Lenzen 2021).The type of policy instrument assumed to drive the decarbonisation process also plays a vital role for determining feasibility. The majority of scenarios exploring climate stabilisation pathways in the past have focused on uniform carbon pricing as the most efficient instrument to regulate emissions. However, carbon taxation raises political challenges (Beiser-McGrath and Bernauer 2019) (Chapters 13 and 14). Carbon pricing will transfer economic surplus from consumers and producers to the government. Losses for producers will be highly concentrated in those industries possessing fixed or durable assets with 'high asset specificity' (Murphy 2002;Dolphin et al. 2020). These sectors have opposed climate jurisdictions (Jenkins 2014). Citizens are sensitive to rising energy prices, though revenue recycling can be used to increase support (Carattini et al. 2019). A recent model comparison project confirms findings from the extant literature: using revenues to reduce pre-existing capital or, to a lesser extent, labour taxes, reduces policy costs and eases distributional concerns (Barron et al. 2018;Mcfarland et al. 2018).Nonetheless, winning support will require a mix of policies which go beyond carbon pricing, and include subsidies, mandates and feebates (Jenkins 2014;Rozenberg et al. 2018). More recent scenarios take into account a more comprehensive range of policies and regional heterogeneity in the near to medium term (Roelfsema et al. 2020).Regulatory policies complementing carbon prices could reduce the implementation challenges by increasing short-term emission reduction, though they could eventually reduce economic efficiency (Bertram et al. 2015b;Kriegler et al. 2018a). Innovation policies such as subsidies to R&D have been shown to be desirable due to innovation market failures, and also address the dynamic nature of political feasibility (Bosetti et al. 2011).Methods of Assessment and Gaps in Knowledge and DataThe analysis in this chapter relies on the available literature as well as an assessment of the scenarios contained in the AR6 scenarios database. Scenarios were submitted by research and other institutions following an open call (Annex III.II.3.1). The scenarios included in the AR6 scenarios database are an unstructured ensemble, as they are from multiple underlying studies and depend on which institutions chose to submit scenarios to the database. As noted in Section 3.2, they do not represent the full scenario literature or the complete set of possible scenarios. For example, scenarios that include climate change impacts or economic degrowth are not fully represented, as these scenarios, with a few exceptions, were not submitted to the database. Additionally, sensitivity studies, which could help elucidate model behaviour and drivers of change, are mostly absent from the database -though examples exist in the literature (Marangoni et al. 2017).The AR6 scenarios database contains 3131 scenarios of which 2425 with global scope were considered by this chapter, generated by almost 100 different model versions, from more than 50 model families. Of the 1686 vetted scenarios, 1202 provided sufficient information for a climate categorisation. Around 46% of the pathways are consistent with an end-of-century temperature of at least likely limiting warming to below 2°C (>67%). There are many ways of constructing scenarios that limit warming to a particular level and the choice of scenario construction has implications for the timing of both net zero CO 2 and GHG emissions and the deployment of CDR (Emmerling et al. 2019;Rogelj et al. 2019b;Johansson et al. 2020). The AR6 scenarios database includes scenarios where temperature is temporarily exceeded (40% of all scenarios in the database have median temperature in 2100 that is 0.1°C lower than median peak temperature). Climate stabilisation scenarios are typically implemented by assuming a carbon price rising at a particular rate per year, though that rate varies across model, scenario, and time period. Standard scenarios assume a global single carbon price to minimise policy costs. Cost-minimising pathways can be reconciled with equity considerations through posterior international transfers. Many scenarios extrapolate current policies and include non-market, regulatory instruments such as technology mandates.Scenarios are not independent of each other and not representative of all possible outcomes, nor of the underlying scenario generation process; thus, the statistical power of the database is limited. Dependencies in the data-generation process originate from various sources. Certain model groups, and types, are over-represented. For example, eight model teams contributed 90% of scenarios. Second, not all models can generate all scenarios, and these differences are not random, thereby creating selection bias (Tavoni and Tol 2010).Third, there are strong model dependencies: the modelling scientific community shares code and data, and several IAMs are open-source.The models assessed in this chapter differ in their sectoral coverage and the level of complexity in each sector. Models tend to have more detail in their representation of energy supply and transportation, than they do for industry (Section 3.4 and Annex III.I). Some models include detailed land-use models, while others exclude land models entirely and use supply curves to represent bioenergy potential (Bauer et al. 2018a). IAMs do not include all mitigation options available in the literature (Rogelj et al. 2018b;Smith et al. 2019).For example, most IAM pathways exclude many granular demandside mitigation options and land-based mitigation options found in more detailed sectoral models; additionally, only a few pathways include CDR options beyond afforestation/reforestation and BECCS. Section 3.4 and Chapter 12 include some results and comparisons to non-IAM models (e.g., bottom-up studies and detailed sectoral models). These sectoral studies often include a more complete set of mitigation options but exclude feedbacks and linkages across sectors which may alter the mitigation potential of a given sector.There is an increasing focus in IAM studies on SDGs (Section 3.7), with some studies reporting the implications of mitigation pathways on SDGs (e.g., Bennich et al. 2020) and others using achieving SDGs as a constraint on the scenario itself (van Vuuren et al. 2015;Soergel et al. 2021a). However, IAMs are still limited in the SDGs they represent, often focusing on energy, water, air pollution and land. On the economic side, the majority of the models report information on marginal costs (i.e., carbon price). Only a subset provides full economic implications measured by either economic activity or welfare. Also often missing, is detail about economic inequality within countries or large aggregate regions.For further details about the models and scenarios, see Annex III.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) FAQ 3.1 | Is it possible to stabilise warming without net negative CO 2 and GHG emissions?Yes. Achieving net zero CO 2 emissions and sustaining them into the future is sufficient to stabilise the CO 2 -induced warming signal which scales with the cumulative net amount of CO 2 emissions. At the same time, the warming signal of non-CO 2 GHGs can be stabilised or reduced by declining emissions that lead to stable or slightly declining concentrations in the atmosphere. For short-lived GHGs with atmospheric lifetimes of less than 20 years, this is achieved when residual emissions are reduced to levels that are lower than the natural removal of these gases in the atmosphere. Taken together, mitigation pathways that bring CO 2 emissions to net zero and sustain it, while strongly reducing non-CO 2 GHGs to levels that stabilise or decline their aggregate warming contribution, will stabilise warming without using net negative CO 2 emissions and with positive overall GHG emissions when aggregated using GWP-100. A considerable fraction of pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot and limit warming to 2°C (>67%), respectively, do not or only marginally (<10 GtCO 2 cumulative until 2100) deploy net negative CO 2 emissions (26% and 46%, respectively) and do not reach net zero GHG emissions by the end of the century (48% and 70%, respectively). This is no longer the case in pathways that return warming to 1.5°C (>50%) after a high overshoot (typically >0.1°C). All of these pathways deploy net negative emissions on the order of 360 (60-680) GtCO 2 (median and 5-95th percentile) and 87% achieve net negative GHGs emissions in AR6 GWP-100 before the end of the century. Hence, global net negative CO 2 emissions, and net zero or net negative GHG emissions, are only needed to decline, not to stabilise global warming. The deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is distinct from the deployment of net negative CO 2 emissions, because it is also used to neutralise residual CO 2 emissions to achieve and sustain net zero CO 2 emissions. CDR deployment can be considerable in pathways without net negative emissions and all pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C use it to some extent. Halting global warming in the long term requires, at a minimum, that no additional CO 2 emissions from human activities are added to the atmosphere (i.e., CO 2 emissions must reach 'net' zero). Given that CO 2 emissions constitute the dominant human influence on global climate, global net zero CO 2 emissions are a prerequisite for stabilising warming at any level. However, CO 2 is not the only greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHGs) alongside CO 2 towards net zero emissions of all GHGs would lower the level at which global temperature would peak. The temperature implications of net zero GHG emissions depend on the bundle of gases that is being considered, and the emissions metric used to calculate aggregated GHG emissions and removals. If reached and sustained, global net zero GHG emissions using the 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP-100) will lead to gradually declining global temperature.Not all emissions can be avoided. Achieving net zero CO 2 emissions globally therefore requires deep emissions cuts across all sectors and regions, along with active removal of CO 2 from the atmosphere to balance remaining emissions that may be too difficult, too costly, or impossible to abate at that time. Achieving global net zero GHG emissions would require, in addition, deep reductions of non-CO 2 emissions and additional CO 2 removals to balance remaining non-CO 2 emissions.Not all regions and sectors must reach net zero CO 2 or GHG emissions individually to achieve global net zero CO 2 or GHG emissions, respectively; instead, positive emissions in one sector or region can be compensated by net negative emissions from another sector or region. The time each sector or region reaches net zero CO 2 or GHG emissions depends on the mitigation options available, the cost of those options, and the policies implemented (including any consideration of equity or fairness). Most modelled pathways that likely limit warming to 2°C (>67%) above pre-industrial levels and below use land-based CO 2 removal such as afforestation/ reforestation and BECCS to achieve net zero CO 2 and net zero GHG emissions even while some CO 2 and non-CO 2 emissions continue to occur. Pathways with more demand-side interventions that limit the amount of energy we use, or where the diet that we consume is changed, can achieve net zero CO 2 , or net zero GHG emissions with less carbon dioxide removal (CDR). All available studies require at least some kind of carbon dioxide removal to reach net zero; that is, there are no studies where absolute zero GHG or even CO 2 emissions are reached by deep emissions reductions alone.Total GHG emissions are greater than emissions of CO 2 only; reaching net zero CO 2 emissions therefore occurs earlier, by up to several decades, than net zero GHG emissions in all modelled pathways. In most modelled pathways that likely limit warming to 2°C (>67%) above pre-industrial levels and below in the most cost-effective way, the agriculture, forestry and other land-use (AFOLU) and energy supply sectors reach net zero CO 2 emissions several decades earlier than other sectors; however, many pathways show much reduced, but still positive, net GHG emissions in the AFOLU sector in 2100.","tokenCount":"43403"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2832605929.json b/data/part_1/2832605929.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b626843b79640f52da8284fb804695d0bd4f4393
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2832605929.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73ca87907fdc9d27baada9e9b9ba0a47","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/aa73745f-445a-4ae4-979c-800ffaa46d87/content","id":"1587088604"},"keywords":["Are They Mutually Exclusive? A. Blum 101 Yield Components and Compensation in Wheat: Opportunities for Further Increasing Yield Potential","G.A. Slafer","D.F. Calderini","and D.J. Miralles 134 Increasing the Yield Potential of Wheat: Manipulating Sources and Sinks","R.A. Richards 150 Integrative Physiological Criteria Associated with Yield Potential","J.L. Araus Chapter 4. Biotechnology 167 The Contribution of New Biotechnologies to Wheat Breeding","J.W. Snape"],"sieverID":"49197d33-2568-423a-9349-d37058734a64","pagecount":"244","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center is engaged in a worldwide research program for maize, wheat, and triticale, with emphasis on improving the productivity of agricultural resources in developing countries. It is one of 16 nonprofit international agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The CGIAR consists of some 40 donor countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations.CIMMYT receives core support through the CGIAR from a number of sources, including the international aid agencies of Australia,CIMMYT's focus on developing wheat varieties that produce higher and more stable yields has made a tremendous difference in the lives of millions of people in the developing world. In the mid 1960s, the dramatic increases in world wheat production achieved by the improved semidwarf varieties of the Green Revolution staved off impending widespread hunger and starvation in Asia. In more recent times, the modern wheats that have gradually replaced those early varieties in farmers' fields have generated a 1 % average increase in wheat production each year. Today, however, yield increases in some of the most productive environments in the developing world have begun to level off.Productivity in those favorable environments must improve, but without straining the natural resource base that underpins agriculture today and in the future. Expanding the land under cultivation to fulfill the demands for more food is no longer possible. We need new, more resource-efficient varieties that produce higher and more stable yields to make up for the food deficit. Nonetheless, increases in wheat's genetic yield potential are becoming harder to achieve, and we have to find new approaches to break through the barriers before us.Success in raising wheat's yield potential will hinge on creatively combining strategies arising from different disciplines. To generate new thinking on ways to improve the wheat plant's ability to yield more, in March 1996 the CIMMYT Wheat Program organized a workshop in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, with the invited participation of 12 internationally recognized experts in the fields of plant breeding, phYSiology, and biotechnology. The three day workshop gave CIMMYT staff a unique opportunity to consider and explore novel approaches to the yield barrier problem. The ideas put forth by the specialists provided fertile ground for discussion, and the outcomes will no doubt influence the strategies the Wheat Program will adopt in facing this challenge.We are extremely grateful to the 12 experts who gt.nerously gave of their time to preparing and participating in an extraordinarily fruitful workshop. Their willingness to put before their colleagues new hypotheses, as well as their openness to questions and suggestions, set the tone for this event, which will be memorable as an exceptional example of thought-provoking, collegial debate.Since the beginning of the Green Revolution, production increases generated by modern semidwarf wheats have averted potentially disastrous shortfalls in world food stocks. Today, however, the global demand for wheat is increasing as a consequence of rapid population growth, principally in developing countries. Although for the moment global wheat production is keeping up with the pace of population growth, the rate of production increases must be stepped up if we are to feed the estimated one billion additional inhabitants that will swell the ranks of global population in 10 to 15 years. Another cause for concern is that the annua I rate of increase in farmers' wheat yields in key regions of the developing world, while still positive, has declined steadily since semidwarf wheats made their initial impact. likely to contribute to breaking the yield barriers in the context of CIMMYT's ongoing breeding efforts: 1) utilization of genetic diversity, 2) development of morphological and physiological ideotypes, 3) improvement of early generation selection criteria, 4) exploitation of heterosis, 5) insights into genotype x environment x management interactions, and 6) improved understanding of wheat phenology and development. The second section of this manuscript summarizes the conclusions of six working groups formed during the workshop to focus on these pivotal research areas.The fundamental physical and biochemical constraints to total crop productivity are described by Loomis in \"Limits to Yield Revisited\", while Slafer's contribution, \"Generation of Yield Components and Compensation in Wheat: Opportunities for Further Increase in Yield Potentia!,\" examines the critical aspects of yield determination and part~tioning, and gives insights on how genetic aspects of wheat breeding may be further exploited to optimize partitioning of assimilates to yield. Richard's paper, \"Increasing Yield Potential in Wheat: Source and Sink Limitations,\" is written from a strong breeding perspective and speculates on specific traits that might improve our conceptual ideotype of a high yielding plant. All three authors highlight the need to Simultaneously optimize the sink (potential grain sites) and source (photosynthetic potential) capacity of germplasm. Greater sink strength may come from better understanding and manipulation of the processes determining growth and development of yield components (grain number and size), an idea endorsed by speakers from both breeding and biotechnology. Increasing radiation use efficiency (RUE) may improve yield directly by increasing total productivity, as well as indirectly by generating higher potential kernel number and weight. We may need to consider genetic variability in canopy architecture, and the efficiency of plant nutrition and transport processes to improve RUE.In \"Potential Yield and Drought Resistance: Are They Mutually Exclusive?,\" Blum discusses how an improved understanding of the physiological basis of specific versus broad adaptation may allow us to gain insights on yield potential itself. Most germplasm still carries adaptive traits, the legacy of millions of years of natural selection pressure in variable environments, that are of negligible value in a well managed crop canopy environment. Traits such as osmotic adjustment, high investment in roots, and chemical root signals that slow down leaf growth (even before water defici!s are measurable) may be costly to yield.Likew.ise, Richards mentions the 'conservative nature' of the wheat plant, which apparently exhibits excess photosynthetic capacity in spite of (or perh~ps as a result of) empirical selection pressures. Such observations suggest interesting questions. What might the tradeoffs in broad adaptation be as we push forward the yield barriers? Might there be other risks associated with breeding for such 'highly tuned' ideotypes-risks to plant health, for example?In the meantime, selection for quantitative traits, in a time frame compatible with the scale of large breeding programs such as CIMMYT's, is fast becoming a reality with technologies described by Araus and his colleagues in \"Integrative Physiological Criteria Associated with Yield Potential.\"In \"Genetic Diversity and the Free Exchange of Germplasm in Breaking Yield Barriers,\" Kronstad states that yield in the past 50 years has increased 136%, partly due to advanced germplasm. However, global growth rates in wheat area, yield, and total production are decreasing, for several reasons: 1) current yield gains seem small compared to the initial impact of varieties released during the Green Revolution, 2) the greater amount of resources presently diverted to maintenance breeding, and 3) the decrease in genetic diversity. It was suggested that progenitors of wheat be evaluated for possible genetic contribution to breeding programs even though enough biodiversity still exists within wheat and its related species. Kronstad discusses a few of the limitations to free germ plasm exchange and availability such as political instability, germplasm over protection, plant variety rights, and lack of funds, and urges wheat scientists to take a stand against unrealistic quarantine laws. Lastly, the author cautions against maintaining germplasm banks as \"seed morgues\" and stresses the importance of supplying enhanced trait materials for crossing, rather than ready-made products.In \"Germplasm Is Paramount\" Rasmusson proposes that the highest priority be given to traditional breeding methods and examines the importance of parental choice over selection methods, and of goal setting, germplasm sharing, and staff continuity. The author also compares the relative benefits of using hallmark germplasm (global elite varieties) versus more distant parents. The importance of parental choice is evident in Rasmusson's four most recently released barley varieties, which show modest levels of genetic diversity but express sizable yield gains. Progress in these varieties may have been due to the accumulation of favorable additive genes, or to mutations. The author cautions against the excessive search for genetic diversity and suggests that elite genepools be further exploited. With regards to releasing breeding material to national agricultural research programs (NARSs), Rasmusson suggests sending elite parental stocks rather than early segregating materials.Hollamby's \"Breeding Objectives, Philosophies and Methods in South Australia\" describes how successful programs continuously re-examine the relevance, effectiveness, and representativeness of breeding choices and activities. He offers ideas on the importance of maintaining yield as the primary objective, of testing new varieties under farmers' practices, and of maintaining a flexible breeding strategy. An effective breeding strategy is one in which data colfection is streamlined and minimized in order to make discard/retain decisions more efficiently. The author views collaboration as an efficient means to investigate promising theories and pursue new cultivar development. From a breeding perspective, Hollamby describes three distinct types of crosses: 1) backcrosses towards the improvement of elite cultivars, 2) crosses to improve yield and genetic variability, and 3) crosses for parent building. Many segregants need to be examined in order to find the transgressive plant; probe genotypes, preferably isogenic lines, may be used as a selection tool.The contribution of Peng, \"Breaking the Yield Frontier of Rice\", recounts the history behind the development of what IRRI scientists have come to call the 'new plant type' (NPT). Older IR8 types currently cover 60% of the world area and give 80% of total production. Because yield improvements have become marginal, the plant type was modified. The new rice ideotype has the following characteristics: low tillering (3-4 tillers), low unproductive tiller number, 200 250 grains per panicle, 90-100 cm in height, sturdy stems, dark green erect leaves, vigorous root system, 100-130 days crop cycle, multiple resistances, increased harvest index (HI), and acceptable grain quality. Although simulation modeling indicated that such a genotype would produce a 25% increase in yield, recent evaluations have indicated poor yields because of poor spikelet filling. Suggestions for increasing yield of the NPT include raiSing tiller number and improving synchrony. The authors also examine the probability of increasing yield potential through the use of hybrid rice technology, an issue of special importance in China, where half of the area is planted to hybrid rice. Constraints and advantages of various seed production' methods are discussed, including thermosensitive genetic male sterility, photoperiod sensitive genetic male sterility, and more complex and cumbersome systems such as cytoplasmic male sterility. Apomixis was also discussed as a way heterosis may be fixed .In \"Hybrid Wheat: Advances and Challenges\" Jordaan states that while recent reviews on hybrid wheat technologies are not optimistic, his experience indicates that hybrid wheats should be reconsidered in light of recently emerging knowledge. In Free State, South Africa, farmers traditionally plant wheat at very low seed rates (25 kg/ha) under low rainfall conditions. At low seeding rates and narrow row spacing, heterosis appeared high, with winter hybrids yielding 11.5-14.8% more than non-hybrids. Top hybrids yielded 18.5 23.2% more than conventional cultivars. In further GxE analysis, it was shown that hybrids have a greater advantage in lower yielding, water-stressed sites. The South African experience is convincing evidence that research on hybrid wheats, particularly for marginal environments, should be pursued.Biotechnology aids in the improvement of wheat yields by increasing genetic diversity through genetic engineering and by assisting selection of improved genotypes through the use of molecular markers. In \"The Contribution of the New Biote'chnologies to Wheat Breeding,\" Snape states that selection is normally carried out at the phenotypic level and is thus very dependent on chance. The process is time consuming, so genetic advances are not maximized and through-put is slow. To date, only a few genes, such as the photoperiod insensitivity (Ppd) and height reduction (Rht) genes, and the lB/IR translocation have provided yield advances. Some of these also have pleitropic effects on yield.Snape suggests that the use of doubled haploids could save a minimum of two years in the development of new varieties. In addition to the increased speed, selection efficiency is improved because additive variation is maximally expressed allowing for better discrimination. However, only a limited number of crosses can be handled and the method is expensi\" e. Currently, the best method appears to be wheat x maize crosses, but Snape believes that microspore culture may allow larger scale production of doubled haploids. Genetic engineering will introduce novel genes for yield limiting traits such as abiotic and biotic stress resistance and the ability to suppress weed competition. In the future, biotechnology may make contributions by successfully inserting genes for quality into the wheat genome, by generating novel products, and by assisting in the development of hybrid wheats. While wheat transformation is feasible, limitations such as positional effects, gene silencing, intellectual property rights, safety concerns, and public acceptance must be dealt with when utilizing transgenics in any plant species.Perhaps the most important result of molecular mapping of cereal genomes is the amount of conserved linearity between the genomes of all cereals. Examples presented by both Snape and Sorrells demonstrated that major genes exist which may be common to different species (e.g., vivipary in maize and preharvest sprouting in wheat). This mean that in the future, geneticists, breeders, and scientists in all other related disciplines need to be aware of ongoing research in related genome species.In his paper, \"Applications of Molecular Markers to Wheat Improvement,\" Sorrells stresses that field testing is still of primary importance, but that proper combination with molecular data can lead to more efficient use of limited resources. Identification of transgressive segregants from single gene pools, crosses based on measures of coefficient of parentage (COP) or molecular diversity, introgression of exotic alleles from alien species, or synthetics could all contribute to improving yield in wheat. Sorrells presents an oat study that attempted to map QTLs for several traits without much success due to GxE effects and the presence of multiple alleles. Further efforts are needed to understand the underlying genetics of these complex traits, and to develop efficient statistical and lab technologies for handling the required number of plant samples. New marker systems based on microsatellites or AFLPs may provide increased efficiency. Current limitations of QTL mapping are the number of molecular loci available, genotypic and phenotypic resolution, and the presence of multiple alleles. Finally, Sorrells mentions that his own program is focusing on marker assisted selection (MAS). He feels that genetic engineering will complement MAS and may aid conventional breeding methods in developing new and useful varieties.Hallmark germplasm. The group recommended continued emphasis on exploiting germplasm such as winter x spring crosses, and suggested that CIMMYT place greater emphasis on obtaining hallmark germplasm from leading wheat programs including NARSs.Unexploited germplasm. It was suggested that more use be made of unimproved materials, including landraces and wheat progenitors (A, B, 0 genomes), interspecific crosses (e.g. synthetics), and intergeneric crosses. It was stated that CIMMYT can play a unique role in exploiting its collection, and that there should be more collaboration and distribution of information.Traits. With respect to traits that help define elite germplasm, it was suggested that genetic studies of yield components be made. Also, a catalogue containing lists of stocks and describing important traits (e.g., phenological traits) should be prepared.Parent building. In this area, it was suggested that we need to evaluate methodologies for gene introgression and manipulation through increased collaboration.Testing. Transfer of traits must be systematically validated through estimating trait expression and varietal stability. The traits must be verified in materials having acceptable agronomic performance.Morphological ideo type. Several years ago, CIMMYT's Wheat Program developed an ideotype with the following distinctive traits: very large spikes, few tillers, wide leaf-blades, solid stem, high number of grains m• z . The ideotype was not promoted because it suffered from incomplete grain filling. The group suggested that the following be investigated with respect to the ideotype: 1) the physiological basis for poor grain filling, 2) the genetic basis of ideotype using QTL analysis, and 3) interaction of ideotype performance with management.Physiological ideotype. It was also suggested that new ideo types be developed, combining a number of physiological traits shown to be associated with higher yield potential. These may include traits such as large kernels and high kernel number, high stomatal conductance and canopy cooling, lodging tolerance, heat tolerance during grain filling, adaptation to canopy environment (communalism), and erect flag leaves (with adequate leaf area). Other traits that may also warrant consideration include reduced partitioning to peduncle and leaves, fast early leaf area development, efficient transport systems for nutrient and water uptake.Complementary approaches. In addition, it was argued that there are many areas of research that would complement the above ideotype approaches and could be undertaken by CIMMYT or collaborat~ng institutions. These include: 1) understanding the physiological basis for determination of grain size, 2) characterizing the effects of major genes on yield (e.g., Rht, Ppd, Vrn, TIn), 3) establishing the constraints to yield detennined by transport functions and their regulation, 4) documenting basic differences in plant morphology among wheat lines (this may have important implications in, for example, the areas of transport and lodging tolerance), and 5) optimization of canopy photosynthesis.Three main developmental phases. Manipulation of phenological development was suggested as a tool for increasing yield potential in wheat. The importance of three main developmental phases was stressed, namely: 1) sowing to terminal spikelet (vegetative phase), 2) terminal spikelet to anthesis (spike phase), and 3) anthesis to maturity (grain-filling phase). The purpose would be to confirm whether lengthening the spike and grain-filling phases (while maintaining the overall growth period constant) contributes to raising yield potential.Research needs. Initially, the variation of the three developmental phases would be assessed. The effect of photoperiod (Ppd), vernalization (Vrn), and temperature (Eps) genes on phenology was suggested as a way to manipulate the relative amount of time allocated to spike formation and grain filling. Once the effect of phasic lengths on yield is confirmed, the optimum length of each phase would be determined.Techniques for phase measurement. Measurement of the early phases would rely mostly on dissection of stems to reveal terminal spikelet initiation. In addition, phyllochron, flag leaf emergence, and the use of growth scales such as Haun's would be employed to measure spike formation. Grain filling is delineated by flowering and physiological maturity, with intermediate phases being estimated by direct measurement of the grain growth/ physiological stage.Wheat germplasm. It was recommended that the following types of existing germplasm be used to study genetic variation: isogenics, double haploids, 1 B/ 1 R and lA/1R translocations, and recombinant inbred lines. New and exotic sources of phasic variation, such as accessions stored in CIMMYT's Germplasm Bank, the Japanese line 'Kato', and developmental mutants should also be explored.Validation experiments. Since identifying genetic variability of growth stages is time consuming, only a limited number of lines can be studied. In preliminary work, approximately 100 entries planted as short row-plots can be measured. In subsequent yield trials, a smaller subset of entries (perhaps 30-50) would be effectively characterized for phenology. Characterization options are direct measurement ofphasic development or molecular approaches in which the presence of genes can be established independently of expression. This type of work will require collaboration among breeders, phYSiologists, and geneticists. Field work will be conducted in several MEl sites, while prebreeding and molecular approaches will be carried out mainly at CIMMYT.Objectives. Objectives can be divided into several groups that partly overlap: yield, disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, quality traits, morphology, physiology.Strategies. Strategies will depend on the objective and may include parent evaluation and selection; combining genes into parents through backcrossing or three-way crossing; assessing the optimum generation(s) for applying selection; developing double haploids and recombinant inbred lines (RIL); establishing correlations and relationships; and doing QTL analysis to identify genes.Traits. The morphological traits mentioned included coleoptile length as related to stand establishment; evaluation of non-seed producing tillers; duration of developmental stages; embryo size; leaf thickness; biomass/ competition among yield components; spike morphology; kernel number and/versus kernel weight. Some of the physiological traits recommended as suitable for early generation selection for MEl conditions included CJ (in kernels, non-destructive, seedlings); ash analysis (kernels, non destructive, seedlings); N15 for N use efficiency, and infrared temperature measurements.Yield potential. For the mapping of genes for yield potential, the following issues are important: concentrate on optimum yield conditions, parent/population selection, identify the best cross strategy, handling, data on multiple traits, strategy to identify the best alleles, and new statistics for QTL analysis.Plan of action. The plan of action entails: the study of phenotypic yield expression under optimum yield conditions involving several countries, coordination of data analysis, centralized interpretation of data/analyses at CIMMYT carried out by the participants through exchange scholars, post docs, or sabbaticals, frequent communications with all participants (Email, IWIS, Database), appropriate resource allocation to participants, integration of data with other groups.Identifying G x E. It was recognized that G x E interaction is one of the most difficult problems in plant breeding, especially for centralized breeding programs. One way to address G x E is to develop databases such as IWIS to define problem environments and identify potentially suitable germ plasm. This process can be facilitated by utilizing probe genotypes of known sensitivities to stress, and perhaps by incorporating growers' empirical observations into the database.G x E for high yield germplasm. The group tried to define environments where G x E for yield is likely. Environments where it was considered less likely to be a factor included ones affected by drought, heat, macronutrient stresses, waterlogging, and moderate salinity. On the other hand, stresses such as mineral toxicity, micronutrient deficiency, nematodes, soil borne' pathogens such as root rots, and weeds were identified as likely to induceTargeting for G x E. The occurrence of significant G x E interaction requires the development of discrete programs for specific stress conditions. Specific adaptive genes may be required for specific adaptation, and the potential cost to yield potential should be evaluated.Role of breeding for specific management systems. The area of G x E by management interactions was touched on, and it was recognized that the three-way interaction must be studied to improve yield potential in the context of evolving crop management strategies and to evaluate ideotypes that may be adapted to specific cropping systems.Background. The challenge of wheat scientists is to achieve a 2.5% increase in annual production. To reach this goal, hybrid wheat could be considered as a tool. The demand for hybrid wheat research at CIMMYT is client driven, particularly from advanced NARSs. It was recognized that to develop expertise, a long term commitment must be made by CIMMYT, recognizing that CIMMYT already has access to hybrid technology, and that hybrids allow faster genetic gains. However, it is important that there be balance between hybrid and pure line development. Hybrids may open new areas of research, e.g. in physiology. CIMMYT is in a unique situation to act as a mediator for outside groups for the transfer of hybrid technology. For example, a hybrid technology package for NARSs needs to be developed. The package must include germplasm, technology and methodology, and training (including seed production) .Identifying target MEs. To identify target megaenvironments for hybrids, the advantages of heterosis must be considered: grain yield, yield stability and adaptation, agronomic components, e.g. root characteristics, disease resistance, pyramiding genes (disease, quality). The environments likely to benefit from heterosis include highly productive environments with the highest payoffs, stress prone environments, and environments where there is co-development of ;)ppropriate management technology.Emphasize the identification of distinct gene pools and/or germplasm products and the development of test hybrids among those genepools (e.g. winter, spring, Chinese, alien species derivatives). Use this information to develop parallel male and female genepools (e.g. use Chinese only in the spring female genepool) . The use of molecular markers was recommended (e.g. fingerprinting to evaluate diversity). Effective restorer genes need to be identified (use molecular markers where available) and transferred to elite parents. Define traits in distinct male and female pools (e.g. nonsynchronized tillering with male parents to have long pollination period). Select for heterosis. Testing at CIMMYT should be followed by international testing. Exploitation of the power of IWIS during all phases (e.g. for heterotic groups use coefficient of parentage, information management) .Pollination control mechanism. A strategy must be chosen from among the following: 1) chemical hybridizing agent (CHA): availability will depend on agreements with 10M. REYNOLDS, J. VAN BEEM, M. VAN GINKEl, AND D. HOISINGTON CHA producers, and their policies (CIMMYT, CIMMYT as mediator, NARSs, joint ventures including private sector; 2) cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS): evaluate available CMS donors, screen new CMS donors (germ plasm bank, IWIS) (this system is a proven success and is relatively cheap); and 3) nuclear-encoded male sterility (NMS): a genetic engineering option; monitor progress, seek relationships, develop expertise. Financial, legal, and agronomic risk involved (e.g. in seed production) must be assessed for each system and could be a criterion to decide on the system used .Other research areas. These include heterosis recovery in F2, feasibility studies involving socioeconomic components on the use of hybrid technology by small farmers (subsistence).Collaboration . It was recommended that CIMMYT establish active linkages with centers of excellence in the public and private sectors, and with NARSs in basic and applied research.On March 26-28, 1996, the CIMMYT Wheat Program organized a consultation-type symposium in Cd. Obregon, Mexico, to address the issue of yield potential in wheat. The presentations and recommendations of the invited experts-breeders, physiologists, and biotechnologists-are reported in this publication. Their recommendations will hopefully help us devise a future strategy for breeding for yield potential in wheat.There has been continuous active involvement of CIMMYT breeders in the evolution of plant types for different agroC\\imatological conditions. It is critical that we state here our perspectives on how wheat germplasm has been modified to obtain continuously higher yields over the past 42 years. Since the mid 1950s, there has been a continuous rise in wheat yields in Mexico, as presented in Table 1. The most modern cultivars of the 1990s yield 3,000 kg/ha more than the original dwarf wheats released in Mexico in the late 1950s.While there is general agreement among wheat scientists worldwide that bread wheat germplasm originating from ClMMYT has continuously increased in yield potential, the debate continues as to its physiological basis. CIMMYT plant physiologists have identified a number of characteristics associated with higher yield potential CRees et at. 1993;Reynolds et al. 1994;Sayre et al. 1995;Waddington et at. 1986).None of the physiological traits which have been shown to be associated with yield potential were ever used as selection criteria, but rather came about as a function of empirical selection. Nonetheless, physiological studies are expected to provide insights as to which mechanisms might be directly exploited in the future to complement breeding for higher yield .The first author of this chapter has been involved in the generation of CIMMYT advanced bread wheat germplasm for the last 27 years. This germ plasm has been used in the study of yield potential by many scientists elsewhere. We wish to establish here a philosophy that supports Rasmusson's view (see Rasmusson, these proceedings) that germplasm is paramount to increasing yield potential. However, our approach differs from his in the utilization of genetic variability. Circumstantial evidence gathered from practical breeding supports the idea that breakthroughs in yield potential have been largely due to wider genetic resource utilization, as emphasized by Kronstad (see Kronstad, these proceedings).The question remains, what pivotal advice to give to plant breeders who must continue to make advances in improving yield. Based on experiments conducted at CIMMYT and the experience of its breeders, we will outline the genetic basis of improved yield in CIMMYT bread wheat germplasm and address a number of specific issues.The genetic stock Norin10/Brevor, of Japanese/USA origin, first utilized by N.E. Borlaug in 1954, was primarily employed for correcting lodging sensitivity by genetically reducing plant height. The dwarfing genes not only provided lodging tolerance but perhaps also through pleiotropic effects contributed to high yield by allowing more tillers to survive, thus increasing biomass.Using isogenic lines based on the varieties Maringa and Nainari 60, Hoogendoorn et al. (1988) were able to show that yield had increased by at least 15% by comparing Rht l , Rht2 or Rhtl + Rht2 carrying lines to tall varieties (Table 2). Data from Hoogendoorn et al. (1988).A physiologically determinable effect of these genes is an increase in harvest index (HI) (Waddington et al. 1986). Nonetheless, we should consider increased HI as a side effect of the Rht genes rather than their main effect. Not all combinations of Rht genes will produce high yields and not all varieties with high HI are high yielding. This indicates that other factors are necessary to achieve high yield. The direct application of increased HI as a selection criteria has been recommended as the most appropriate way to select for high yield. It is, however, much easier to breed directly for Rht-carrying plant-types based on reduced height. A large number of Rht genes have been identified, genetically catalogued, and otherwise studied . Not all of them have effects on yield. Only Rhtl and Rht z significantly raise yield (Hoogendoorn et al. 1988). Rht3 does not have a positive effect on yield, nor does Rhts. Nonetheless, both Rht3 and Rhts may provide a reasonable degree of lodging tolerance.Incidentally, photoperiod insensitivity genes (Ppd 1 , Ppd z ) were introgressed into the CIMMYT breeding program at the same time as the two dwarfing genes (Rht The Ppd gene establishes a proper balance between the vegetative phase and the reproductive phase, including the grain filling period. Without this optimum balance, the source/sink relationship is somehow biased and the plant's resources are not apportioned in such a way as to increase yield.Following the introduction of dwarfing and photoperiod insensitivity genes, the next group of high yielding lines at CIMMYT were the product of large-scale spring x winter wheat crossing. The first set of semidwarf wheats were hybridized with winter wheats in the late 1960s. Many combinations were very successful, but one spring x winter wheat combination is particularly noteworthy: Veery and Veery progenies, as represented by Kauz, Attila, Pastor, Baviacora, etc. These lines all carry the IB/IR translocated segment from rye, but otherwise differ markedly in plant height, leaf size, maturity, head size, grain size, grain color, etc. There are studies at CIMMYT and elsewhere that suggest that the IB/IR translocation markedly increases yield (Villareal et al. 1991(Villareal et al. , 1994a(Villareal et al. , 1995)). However, other CIMMYT studies indicate that background effects may also be large, and that isogenic lines carrying IB/IR are not always higher yielding than their counterparts (Singh, pers. comm .; van Ginkel, unpublished).Besides the IB/ IR translocation, other agronomiC characters, such as many grains/ m Z and, in some cases, many heads/mz, contribute to the high yielding lines derived from spring x winter crosses. The spring x winter gene pool recombination has transmitted a higher number of grains through either a higher number of heads/m2 or through bigger heads (Table 3;Villareal 1991Villareal , 1994aVillareal , 1995;;van Ginkel, unpublished;Singh, pers. comm.). Rees et al. (1993) found that the resulting lines keep their canopies cooler than the surrounding envirorunent, show higher stomatal conductance, and are photosynthetically more efficient.In our experience, spring x winter wheat populations produce vigorous progenies, tiller profusely, have more surviving spikes, are robust in appearance, and keep their leaves healthy for a longer period. This phenomenon is also very common in segregating populations emanating from crosses involving Veery. Thus one would recommend that breeders select for vigorous populations, robust plants, healthy leaves, many heads/m 2 and/ or bigger heads, to produce a plant type that we could call the Veery ideotype.Veery and Its Derivatives?The Veery varieties and their progenies (such as the Kauz, Attila, Pastor, and Baviacora groups of lines) have demonstrated a superior level of tolerance to a number of abiotic stresses (drought, heat, etc.) and improved nutrient efficiencies (N-efficiency, P-efficiency). These characters have not been traced to any major qualitative genes, but such an exercise could well provide further opportunities to increase yield. These wheats are not only responsive to good conditions, but invariably have demonstrated superior performance under low input conditions. Hence they are also input efficient (Figure 1).Grain yield (kg/ha) 7000 . , --------------,   1993;van Ginkel et aI., in press) (Figure 2).Erect vs. Droopy Leaf and Closed vs. Open Canopy)After the rice variety IR8 was created (Evans, 1993), physiologists working with a number of different crops have debated the role of erect vs. droopy leaves in yield potential. Our attempt to produce near isogenic lines for this trait with CIMMYT wheat germplasm has not been successful, but we did compare random populations with erect and droopy leaves at the F6 level (Apichard 1990). In general, the erect leaf types were slightly higher yielding than their droopy counterparts. In current bread wheat lines, there is a great deal of variability in leaf blade width, leaf area, and leaf angle.Yield in LP• ., It seems likely that the canopy type represented by the line Kauz would be advantageous for the overall efficiency of its canopy. Rather than completely droopy or completely erect leaves, Kauz has an intermediate and dynamic habit; most pre flag leaves are erect, but the flag leaf is only erect initially and then becomes droopy. This situation provides better light penetration into the canopy early on, and hence higher tiller survival, resulting in a large number of heads/m 2 , and consequently more grains/m 2 • Later, as the lower leaves start to senesce, the flag leaf becomes droopy and intercepts most of the incoming light, so it is not lost on the dying lower leaves. Grains are then able to fill properly. The support of such a plant type is proposed elsewhere.After having achieved a large number of grains/m 2 , the grain size in Veery automatically adjusted to a somewhat smaller size (38-40 g/ 1000 grains), compared to 45-50 g/1000 grains in such tradit;onal varieties as Sonalika. This regulatory balance cannot be broken without the introduction of a simply inherited large grain size characteristic of extreme value (> 60 g/1000 grain). Perhaps a new balance could be achieved at 50 g/1000 while maintaining the desired number of grains/m 2 and, hence, higher yield. The recently produced synthetic wheats (Villareal 1994b) offer such a possibility.Recently van Ginkel (unpublished) selected larger grained lines that maintain a large number of grains/m 2 , from a Kauz (many grains/m2) x Star (large grain) cross that realized a 5% yield advantage over Kauz. In 18 RAJA RAM AND M. VAN GJNKEL the above examples, we introduced new, non-conventional genetic stocks to change the grain size while raising the yield component balance to a new level. Again, germ plasm proved paramount.Many have argued that an ideotype approach should be taken at CIMMYT. However, this has not been possible, perhaps due to our complex crossing program, plus the inherent fear of genetic uniformity Ihomogeneity and the associated phenotypic similarity. On the other hand, if one analyzes improved CIMMYT germplasm, there are so-called CIMMYT ideotypes. There is a certain consistency in characters across the spectrum (such as reduced height, photoperiod insensitivity, rust resistance and an acceptable level of industrial quality), which is superimposed on two classes of maturity, two gradations in the semidwarfing character, two grain colors and two canopy structures. If multiplied, these latter four characters in all permutations would yield 16 wheat ideotypes within the broad CIMMYT ideotype for irrigated spring wheat production areas, also ca lied mega environment 1 (M El). The 16 ideotypes would be composed of the following phenotypic expressions:• Height variation due to Rht] and Rht z genes and their combination. Rht and J Rht2 alone give a 90-95 cm short semidwarf wheat. The combination of both dwarfing genes would give a 70-80 cm short double-dwarf wheat. There are many additional height differences d~e to other minor gene effects. However, for practicality's sake, let us define two classes for height: 90-95 cm and 70-80cm.J and Ppd 2 genes have noticeable individual effects on flowering. The presence of only one of these genes results in an intermediate flowering effect. Together, the effects of these genes are large, making wheat mature very early. Let us consider two classes of maturity: early (120 days) and intermediate (140 days).• Grain color. Both amber and red-grained varieties are needed for irrigated MEl. The genetics of grain color is largely qualitative, although some minor genes are also operating. We consider only amber-grained and red-grained types.There would be two canopy categories based on erect and droopy leaves. Kauz, however, does represent an intermediate, dynamic canopy type that may even be preferable.Based on these four morphological characters, bread wheat germ plasm currently distributed to irrigated MEl has 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16 ideotypes. These ideotypes toge ther represent the multiple CIMMYT ideotype for ME1-targetted germ plasm.Other features include durable rust resistance, high yield , good spike fertility, good bread making quality. robust stem morphology, and good chlorophyll retention capacity.germplasm, under the guidance of Borlaug and Rajaram, was successful in combining the various yield components together into one plant type. This unique ideotype has a robust stem, a long spike (>30 cm, derived from the cultivar Buitre), multiple spikelets and florets, large leaf area, and broad leaves. However, due to some unknown physiological imbalance or disorder, the spikes remain largely sterile and resulting grains are mostly shriveled. In addition, the plants are generally highly susceptible to rust, especially leaf rust and stripe rust.In the future, there are plans to exploit this genetic resource through further hybridization with the most recent advanced lines from our normal breeding program. The aim is to achieve a balance by slightly reducing spike size and completely restoring spike fertilit y. Plans to exploit these ideotypes in a hybrid wheat program are also being considered. If successful, these genetic stocks offer a pOSSibility of increasing yield 10-15% above that of Veery's descendants.In the last 20 years, mechanized planting and harvesting, computerized field books and data analyses, adopting less costly but still biologically effective methods of field plot technique, handling segregating populations using new modified bulk/ pedigree methodologies, and applying advanced staff management techniques have permitted the successful exploitation of large numbers of crosses and a high number of derived populations per cross.Very recently, we confirmed our conviction since the early 1980s that one backcross to the adapted parent produces superior segregating populations that are more manageable, but still introduces sufficient new variability for higher yielding lines to be isolated in adapted backgrounds.CIMMYT's modified bulk/pedigree methodology for handling segregating populations, most probably creates selection pressure in the F3-F6 generations for increased lodging tolerance, as well as for adaptation to growing in a community environment, because the seed rate is kept at a commercial level. The method also identifies lines that are robust, vigo rous, with dense head types, closed canopy architecture, and consequently with higher biomass. These traits are correlated with high yield in man y of our studies.In summary, we recommend the well considered use of genetic variability, with an enterprising attitude towards testing the utility of new, even alien, sources. The exploitation of winter wheat, Chinese germ plasm, Buitre type heads, wild relatives of wheat, and related grasses will be expanded. At the same time, flexibility in the use of methodologies is crucial to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the breeding process without excessive demands on land, labor, time or funds. Breeding, genetics, plant pathology, industrial quality, phYSiology, biotechnology, crop modeling, advanced trial design, and other new sciences will need to be integrated at a much more intimate level than in the past, if the potential of these disciplines is to contribute significantly to improving breeding efficiency. What is presently a multidisciplinary approach will need to be molded into a synergistic interdisciplinary undertaking.To enhance wheat production it is important to identify realistic yield expectations and realistic yield barriers. Cook and Veseth (1991) in their publication Wheat Health Management describe yield in four ways.Absolute yield is where the only limiting factor is the genetic potential of the crop.Attainable yield is the possible yield for a given environment, location and year; it is limited by factors that cannot be controlled, i.e. climate, depth of soil, etc. Actual yield is the yield from any given field and is the product of a crop's response to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Affordable yield considers the economic costs of inputs in relation to the net income or return to the grower.It has been suggested that under ideal growing conditions the absolute yield of a crop is 20 t ha• 1 (Hanson et al. 1982). To date, the highest commercial attainable yields reported are close to 14 t ha-1 (Cook and Veseth 1991). Unfortunately, the world's average yield is much less, approximately 2 t ha• . In many countries, and especially ' those noted as developing, the discrepancy between actual yields achieved on experiment stations and by the best farmers and the average yields of the majority of farmers in the surrounding area is great. For the wheat breeder concerned with enhancing grain yields, the focus must be on actual and affordable yields and reducing the ratio between actual and attainable yield while maintaining profitability and environmental sustainability.It must also be recognized that genetically superior cultivars will not reach their attainable yield levels without the appropriate management systems. The importance of the cultivar management interaction to enhance grain yield was clearly demonstrated by the Turkish wheat program in the 1970s. High yielding spring wheat cultivars developed in Mexico were introduced into the annual cropping areas found along_the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. These areas are characterized by high winter rainfall, mild winters and hot summer temperatures. Under these conditions, spring type wheat can be planted in the fall with the only major constraints being diseases. Subsequently, a program was developed for the Anatolian Plateau, where the majority of the wheat is grown in Turkey. Due to limited winter rainfall, a summer fallow management system is employed where the moisture collected over a two year period is required to produce one crop of wheat. Since winter temperatures are low, winter type wheats are necessary. While cultivars were largely responsible for the yield increases in the coastal areas, timeliness of the tillage practices and weed control on the Anatolian Plateau, both of which conserve moisture, were the major factors in increasing Turkey's national wheat production from 7 to 17 million tons per year.The question is frequently asked, \"Have attainable yield levels been reached for wheat and other major food crops?\" As noted by Evans (1986) in his paper 'Opportunities for Increasing the Yield Potential of Wheat,' people at various periods in history have raised the same question even though wheat yields have increased 136% over the past 50 years. However, in the 1992/93 CIMMYT publication World Wheat Facts and Trends (CIMMYT 1993), when the period 1983-92 was compared to the 1951-92 period, there was a decrease in the percentage change in the growth rate of the area devoted to wheat, wheat yields, and total wheat production. This trend was true for both developing and developed countries with only a few exceptions being noted. The difference in the percentage growth rate between these periods may reflect the impact the Green Revolution had in the mid 1960s and 1970s. It might also suggest that wheat breeders are spending more of the limited resources on breeding for resistance and tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stresses. There is also the possibility that the genetic diversity necessary for achieving major breakthroughs in yield may no longer exist, and only smaller increases in yield will be possible in the future. It must be remembered, however, that small increments in increased yield in extensive areas like the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey translates into large increases in production.The major steps in all plant breeding programs are 1) identifying the limiting factors, 2) determining whether genetic variability exists, 3) selecting the most promising parents and subsequent progeny, 4) applying appropriate selection pressures, and 5) evaluating, multiplying, and disseminating germ plasm and cultivars. Potentially, of the steps noted , the greatest barrier to enhancing all desired traits, including yield, is the availability of usable genetic diversity. This paper will focus on concerns regarding genetic variability and the free exchange of genetic materials and on describing one program that addresses some of the issues.Genetic variability is the foundation of all plant improvement programs; thus concerns expressed as to the fate of such biodiversity must be taken seriously. The problem of genetic erosion is the result of: 1) old heterogeneous landrace va rieties being replaced by higher yielding cultivars, 2) breeders' reluctance to use older varieties in their crossing strategies, 3) more exacting management practices dictating more genetically uniform crops, and 4) valuable genetic stocks being discarded due to changes in the leadership of the breeding programs. Thus, it is critical even with the newer approaches to enhancing genetic variability (i.e. interspecific hybridization, somaclonal variation, somatic hybridization, plant transformation, etc.) that progenitors that are close relatives of wheat, including landrace varieties, be collected, preserved, evaluated, and freely disseminated.Currently there are 28 major wheat germ plasm collection centers in the world . Concerns have being raised regarding the genetic integrity of these collections. Factors such as outcrossing, unsuitable growing conditions resulting in natural selection, human error, and inadequate facilities may all contribute to this potential problem. Perhaps one of the most outspoken critics of germ plasm centers is M r. Paul Raeburn, a scientific editor for Associated Press. In his recent book, The Last Harvest , he notes tha t while there have been extensive arguments over spotted owls and property rights, the importance of conservation to agriculture is never mentioned. He takes special issue with the lack of support for the National Seed Laboratory located at Fort Collins, Colorado, pointing out that the variability of many accessions has been lost and that the present staff cannot keep up with the growing number of new accessions. The subtitle of the book is The Genetic Gamble that Threatens to Destroy American Ag riculture. He refers to seedbanks as seed morgues and pOints out the consequences of the loss in biological diversity for future plant breeders. As evidence for his concern, he blames the most recent epidemic of gray leaf spot, a disease that reduced the U.S. corn crop by an estimated 27% this past year, on the genetic uniformity of crop species. Since he is a science editor for Associated Press, perhaps Mr. Raeburn's comment will help raise the public awareness of this issue.On a more positive note, there is a relatively new approach for managing biodiversity; an in situ area for germplasm conservation has been established in Turkey (Diversity 1995). The project emphasizes non-woody species (wheat, chickpeas, lentils, and barley) and fruit and nut species (pear, apple, walnut, chestnut, and pistachio). In contrast to ex situ collections held in genebanks, the approach avoids the loss of vital evolutionary processes by maintaining the desired biodiversity in its natural state, rather than maintaining genes and genotypes in the present state of evolution.Along with concerns regarding the status of biodiversity, the question arises, \"Will such genetiC variability be freely available or are there situations that will prevent such exchanges?\" These are factors that impact the free exchange of germplasm: 1) political uncertainties and protectionism within and between countries, 2) unrealistic plant quarantine laws, 3) Plant Variety Protection Laws which reduce the exchange of germ plasm and new protocols or make them too expensive for most programs to obtain, and 4) reduction or stagnation of funds for agricultural research for national programs and international research centers. In 1986 Oregon State University conducted a survey of cooperators involved in the international winter x spring wheat germplasm program, and the most important constraint mentioned was the lack of funds.The need to evaluate and freely distribute wheat germplasm has long been recognized as a critical activity for all breeding programs. Historically, several international nurseries have been developed, most often for the identification of new sources of disease resistance. Budget reductions and changes in priorities, however, have canceled many, including: 1) the International Winter Wheat Performance Nursery coordinated by the University of Nebraska (1969 to 1991), 2) the International Septoria Nursery (1971Nursery ( to 1992)), 3) the International Powdery Mildew Nursery (1960 to 1984), and the oldest, 4) the International Winter Wheat Rust Nursery (1932 to 1996) A unique feature of the programs has been the development of an international shuttle breeding approach. Promising F~ populations selected at the Pendleton, Oregon, site are sent to both the CIMMYT program in Mexico and the CIMMYT ICARDA sites in Turkey. In Mexico, in addition to the disease complexes, it is possible to identify populations with different levels of photoperiod responses. In Turkey, different selection pressures can be employed, with a key factor being the selection of genotypes with a rapid grain filling period. Following two or three selection cycles, the material is returned to Oregon State, from where the most promising lines are sent to cooperators participating in the winter x spring screening nursery. Similarly, desired germplasm, meeting the objectives of the two CIMMYT-ICARDA programs, is also disseminated through their respective international nurseries.In addition to being an effective vehicle for distributing enhanced germplasm, the international nurseries have provided an opportunity for national programs to share their genetic materials. Of particular interest are countries such as the People's Republic of China and some Eastern block countries, which were previously reluctant to share their germplasm, but now have become very much a part of the international wheat network. A further role these nurseries have filled is the monitoring of new diseases and insect problems or detecting changes in biotypes of existing pests. As cooperators return their local observations on the performance of lines within the nurseries, the data are summarized and a complete set of information is sent to all participants.Probing the winter and spring genepools has provided enhanced genetic variability for nearly all the desired agronomic traits. Such abiotic factors as aluminum tolerance, winter hardiness, frost and sprouting tolerance, etc. have been achieved . Also, more durable and multisource resistance to diseases and to insects has been realized. It has also been possible to change the architecture of winter and especially spring wheats. For spring wheats, the winter germ plasm has contributed to larger and more fertile spikes, stiffer straw, shorter plant stature, etc.The most significant feature has been the opportunity to adjust the life cycle of the wheat plant by modifying the vernalization and photoperiod responses. It has been possible to select genotypes that fit desired windows for planting, flowering, and harvesting for different environments and crop management systems. The current work of Dr. Edgar Haro at CIMMYT in Mexico, where he has developed near isogenic lines for different vernalization and photoperiod responses will be particularly interesting in this regard .The winter x spring crossing approach may prove interesting for breeders developing hybrid wheat. In limited studies where comparisons were made with winter x spring F1s and those resulting from winter x winter or spring x spring crosses, the former gave a greater expression of hybrid vigor, perhaps reflecting a greater degree of diversity between these two genepools.In terms of improving spring wheats through the winter x spring crossing approach, one of the best known examples are the Veery lines. This material resulted from the cross (Kavkaz/Buho's' / / Kalyansona/Blue Bird, with Kavkaz contributing among other factors the 1B/1R translocation . Despite some concerns regarding their milling and baking properties, the Veery lines are being grown an estimated five million hectares under a number of different cultivar names. Currently, it has been estimated that 80% of the advanced spring wheat lines at CIMMYT carry some degree of winter parentage.Based on the pattern of expansion and an increase of 8% yield attributed to the use of winter wheat from winter x spring crosses, a return in excess of 10 million U.s. dollars each year in the 1980s has been realized (Mitchell et a\\. 1988). Other evaluations of such an impact have reported similar monetary returns. Methods of estimating impacts are crude and subject to extreme caution, but the weight of evidence is that both winter wheats and spring wheats have substantially benefited from the additional genetic diversity that results from systematically crossing winter and spring genepools. It should be emphasized, however, that the intent of these international screening nurseries is to provide enhanced germplasm for specific traits for the cooperators' crossing programs, and not necessarily as new cultivars per se. Wheat breeders today and in the future will benefit from the technologies emerging from other disciplines. These tools will: 1) enhance genetic diversity, L) provide for more effective selection of parents and progeny for both qualitatively and quantitatively inherited traits, 3) provide a better understanding of factors responsib Ie for plant growth and development, 4) and give considerble insight on the nature of plants response to stress. Also, it will be possible to gain a better understanding of cultivar x environment x management system interactions. As noted by the late Dr. Orville Vogel, \"Future levels of economic production of wheat will continue to depend on how successfully the various priv.ate and public interests and involvements function in the development and production of new varieties and systems of management to meet the changing natural, economic, and political constraints on production.\" Much is said today regarding low input agriculture that relies on minimum or no tillage management systems, and reduced use of pesticide and fertilizer. Thus, wheat breeders can anticipate that the requirements of a successful wheat cultivar in the future will be far greater than they are today.Following a more holistic approach, it will be more important to develop economically sustainable systems that optimize production while taking advantage of nature's own contribution to plant health and protect soil and water resources. This requires the integration of pest and crop management. However, the overriding factor remains that population growth must be brought under control The goal of this paper is to offer ideas pertaining to the main-line breeding effort and the germ plasm strategy of the wheat program. To set the stage for offering a range of things to ponder, I will review experiences I have had as a malting barley breeder concerned with developing varieties for the upper midwestern six-row malting barley market. While not large in wheat terms, it is the principal malting barley growing area in the United States. My philosophy of .breeding has been shaped by my barley breeding experience and understanding a bit about that program should be helpful in setting the stage for the discussion that follows.Six-row barley breeding in the midwestern U.s. began early in the twentieth century and was characterized by introduction and evaluation of Manchuria-type barley (Peterson and Foster 1973). Early cultivars commonly grown for malting and brewing and used as parents in breeding programs for malting quality were: Manchuria (CI 2947) introduced from Manchuria; Odessa, O.A.c. 21 and Lion from Russia; Oderbrucker from Germany; Trebi from Turkey; and Peatland from Switzerland . This diverSity in geographic origin implies that early germplasm was genetically diverse; however, coefficients of parentage showed that five ancestors contributed 52% and 44% of the germplasm pool in six-rowed cultivars in North America for two respective time periods (Martin et al. 1991).In recent decades, cultivars have been developed to match malting and brewing industry specifications (Peterson and Foster 1973). According to Martin et al. (1991), 'industry quality guidelines' encourage development of cultivars that closely match a quality profile consisting of as many as 22 quality traits. These guidelines, the strong preference for a consistent barley product, and the premium paid to growers for preferred malting cultivars dictate that new cultivars be like older ones. Minnesota and North and South Dakota, the major production area for malting barley in the U.s., closely related cultivars have dominated the acreage over the last 50 years (Horsley et al. 1995;Martin et al. 1991;Wych and Rasmusson 1983).    .  in 1978, 1983, 1990 and 1993. While Morex, Robust, Excel and Stander provided significant gains for several traits, three are of special note-malt extract, lodging resistance and grain yield. In 1978 Morex represented an industry-wide breakthrough in malt extract of 2.3% compared to Larker, the cultivar replaced by Morex (Figure 2). The gain in extract was unexpected since breeding experience had shown that gains of one-half percent were difficult to achieve. Another unexpected gain was in lodging reaction, a trait in need of significant improvement. Stander, the newest cultivar, surpassed Robust and Excel in resistance to lodging (Figure 3). Its lodging resistance is a significant step forward compared to all midwestern U.S . malting barley cultivars. Impressive gains were made in grain yield where the cultivars in turn represented a sizeable yield improvement. In trials conducted over several years, Robust, Excel, and Stander yielded 9.3%, 21 .0%, and 21.0%, respectively, more than Morex (Figure 4).The most recent release, Stander, provided an impressive gain compared to Robust in a trial designed to measure yield potential.  (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995).produced 6.3 Mg/ha-1 compared to 5.5 for Robust, a 14% gain (Table 1). This is significant since Robust has been popular with growers and has dominated the midwestern barley acreage for 11 years (1985 to 1995). Additional yield gains are likely to come from within the narrow pedigree tree since advanced experimental lines from the Morex x Manker lineage have ranked at the top of the cooperative regional nursery in recent years.In reviewing the genetic gains for the three traits and the degree of genetic diversity in the parents, we conclude that modest levels of genetic diversity based on pedigree information can permit sizeable genetic gains. Excel is essentially a 'Robust progeny' based on the pedigree relationships (Figure 1) but, even so, sizeable gains were made for several traits (some not reported here). Making a number of assumptions, the coefficient of parentage between Robust and MN77-825 (the parents of Excel) was 0.87. Stander also is of special interest because its resistance to lodging is markedly superior to any of its parents.Relying on my experience in barley breeding, I would like to present ideas and suggestions   Many factors influence gains achieved in a breeding program. Three of these are so fundamental that they are deserving of the title cornerstones of progress . Each of them can determine the success or failure in a breeding program. They are goal setting, germ plasm sharing and continuity in breeding.Goal setting-It can be confidently stated that the degree of success or failure in a breeding program depends on goal setting.Traits differ greatly in their potential to enhance the value of a cultivar and in the ease with which they can be manipulated in a breeding program, but the challenge is even greater because pests are dynamic and grower and market preferences change. Thus it is necessary to project goals into the future for traits that are not wholly predictable. In the CIMMYT wheat program the magnitude of the challenge of goal setting can be seen by reflecting'on the relative priority that should be given to yield potentia\\' disease resistance, and quality breeding for the different mega-environments around the world.It is likely that goal setting deserves higher . priority than it receives in nearly all breeding programs. Final decisions should be made by teams of researchers and continually reviewed.Germplasm sharing -Of all the things to applaud about plant breeding, the most noteworthy is the practice of sharing germplasm. Nearly everyone has benefited from shared germplasm and, for many, a gift of germplasm has led to significant progress. Continuity in breeding-Though difficult to document, it appears that relatively few breeders achieve improved varieties with only a few breeding cycles, while the converse seems true, improved varieties can be commonplace in long-term breeding programs. From the theoretical standpoint, it follows that several cycles of stepwise breeding are essential to accumulate the complex polygenic systems that govern adaptation, quality, pest resistance, and agronomic traits (Lundin et al. 1970;Mac Key 1986). Reflection on this theme serves to emphasize the value of gene pools like that developed by the CIMMYT wheat breeding program over several decades. The repeated rounds of crossing and selection have made it possible to accumulate favorable gene combinations for a whole host of traits. Like classical recurrent selection programs in maize (Hallauer 1981), recurrent-like programs in wheat require continuity extending for several years and even decades to attain maximum benefits. It is good to reflect on the decades of crossing, selection and genetic recombination that has culminated in an extremely valuable resource, i.e., the elite gene pool. The value of an elite gene pool where many traits are at an acceptable level and some at a superior level is hard to overestimate.Two aspects of the elite gene pool seem to warrant attention. One is the elite gene pool itself, which might be called core germplasm.Of interest is how to build and strengthen core germplasm. This calls for a thorough understanding of the core germ plasm as well as strategizing about ways to incorporate new traits into the core gene pool.Core germplasm-Core germ plasm can be concept germ plasm as well as real germplasm. In a new breeding program, it is a concept to strive to achieve; in a mature program it is elite germ plasm that deserves recognition and identification as special germplasm. Mature core germplasm can be thought of as germplasm with a favorable combination of five groups of traits: adaptation to soil and climate, resistance or tolerance to pests, favorable yield response, positive harvestability traits and market acceptability.Recognizing the five trait groups helps a breeder better visualize the worth of a core gene pool as well as the opportunities for improvement. CIMMYT breeders might benefit from itemizing and analyzing the traits that fall within the five categories. In the first place, it will probably lead to crossing programs that give priority to core germplasm in the breeding effort; second, it might caIl attention to traits or categories of traits that represent breeding opportunities.Parent building-Numerous cycles of crossing and selection in many crop species have in effect created a genetic gap between improved and unimproved gene pools, i.e., a difference in gene frequencies for desired traits that essentiaIly precludes recovering improved cultivars from crosses between improved and unimproved germplasm. In these wide crosses, there are simply too many traits and corresponding segregating genes to effectively select in a typical breeding effort.Consequently, I visualize that parent building programs will grow to the point where parent building crosses will far exceed the number of crosses directed to obtaining a new cultivar within that breeding cycle. In the case of CIMMYT, a large parent building effort is needed, for example, in the wide cross program, with emphasis on genes for pest resistance, as well as the program to identify and incorporate potentially useful morphologi.:al-physiological traits to enhance yield. Fortunately, parent building efforts in all breeding programs stand to benefit from molecular marker and gene transformation technology. This new technology provides altogether new ways to manipulate germplasm.The purpose of this presentation, which included breeding philosophy and ideas on strategy, was to encourage continuing analysis and improvement of CIMMYT wheat germplasm and the overall program.The general theme was that germplasm is paramount and that wise management of germplasm is central to continuing improvement. Major increases in rice production have occurred during the last 25 years due to large SCale planting of high-yielding semidwarf rice varieties and improved production technology. World rice production doubled from 257 million tons in 1965 to 520 million tons in 1990. During this period, rice production increased at a slightly higher rate than the human population. However, the rate of increase in rice production has slowed down and is now lower than the rate of increase in the number of rice consumers.Severe food shortages will occur in 20-30 years if this trend is not reversed. To keep up with population growth, an additional 380 million tons of rice will have to be produced by 2020.Major increases in the area planted to rice worldwide, which has remained stable since 1980, are unlikely. In fact the rice area is likely to decrease because of urbanization and industrialization pressures. The increased demand for rice will have to be met from less land, with less water, less labor and less pesticides. Therefore, we need rice varieties with higher yield potential and better management practices that will allow them to express that potential. In its strategy for 2000 and beyond (IRRI 1989a), IRRl accorded the highest priority to increasing the yield potential of rice.The 'green revolution' in Asia started in 1966 when IRRI released the first semidwarf indica inbred, IR8. Compared with traditional cultivars, the semidwarf was characterized by high tillering, stiff culms, erect leaves, photoperiod insensitivity, N responsiveness, and high harvest index (Chandler 1969). The yield potential of IR8 is about 10 t/ha during the dry season in the tropics. Today, more than 60% of the world's rice area is planted to semidwarf plant types similar to IR8, and they aCC0unt for more than 80% of total rice production (Khush 1990). During the 30 years after the development of the semidwarf plant type, however, only marginal improvements have occurred in the yield potential of rice. Rice improvement efforts have been directed towards incorporation of disease and insect resistance, shortening of growth duration and improving grain quality. For another quantum jump in rice yield potential, we must explore the possibility of further modifying the present high yielding plant type and the physiological processes governing yield potential. Another approach for increasing the yield potential of rice in the tropics is the exploitation of hybrid vigor, or heterosis, through hybrid rice breeding.Semidwarf rice produces large amounts of unproductive tillers and excessive leaf area; this causes mutual shading and reduces canopy photosynthesis and sink size, especially under direct-seeded conditions (Dingkuhn et al. 1991). To break through the yield potential barrier, IRRI scientists proposed further modifications of the present high-yielding plant type that would support a significant increase in rice yield potential, particularly for direct-seeded crop establishment. The emphasis on direct seeding was based on projections of increased labor costs and shortages as industrial development accelerates in the rice-growing countries of Asia. Although the proposed characteristics of the new ideotype came from several different perspectives (Vergara 1988;Janoria 1989;Dingkuhn et al. 1991), the major components were essentially the following:• low tillering capacity (3-4 tillers when direct seeded)• no unproductive tillers When we started looking for donors for the various characteristics needed to breed the NPT, we first examined germ plasm classified as bulus or javanicas from Indonesia. Bulus are known for their low tillering, large panicles and sturdy stems. The javanica rices are genetically very close to the japonicas grown in temperate areas. On the basis of allelic constitution at 15 isozyme loci, Glaszmann (1987) showed that javanicas and japonicas belong to the same varietal group.We therefore now refer to the javanicas as tropical japonicas. Crosses between tropical and temperate japonicas are fully fertile and there are no barriers to recombination. On the other hand, crosses between indicas and japonicas have varying levels of sterility and give poor recombinant progenies as restrictions to recombination exist in such crosses.We decided to limit the hybridization work for NPT to tropical japonica germ plasm with selective introduction of genes from temperate japonicas and indicas. The reasons for this approach are threefold:• Intercrosses within the japonica germplasm would not encounter problems of sterility and restriction to recombination. • After the major breakthrough in raising the yield potential of indicas through the introduction of genes for short stature in the mid 1960s, significant increases in their yield potential have not occurred despite efforts by international and national rice improvement programs. We therefore decided to work with entirely different germplasm to explore the possibility of raising yield potential. • Fl hybrids between indica and japonica rices are expected to have higher heterosis but the temperate japonicas are not adapted to tropical conditions and thus cannot be used for producing Fl hybrids. Improved tropical japonicas with genes for wide compatibility, short stature, disease and insect resistance, and long, slender grains would be most suitable for this purpose (Khush and Aquino 1994). Evaluation ofNPT lines under different spacings-Eleven NPT lines and lR72 were grown in 1994 OS at lRRI farm . Fourteen day-old seedlings were transplanted at one seedling/hill and spacings of 25 x 25, 20 x 20, 15 X IS, and 10 x 10 cm with 4 replications. Plot size was 10 m 2 . Total N was 200 kg/ha applied in five equal splits. All plots received 18 kg P/ha and 33 kg K/ha incorporated before transplanting. Growth analyses were done at 34 days after transplanting (OAT) and at flowering . Yield components were determined from 0.5 m 2 and grain yield from 5 m 2 harvest area at physiological maturity.TIllering of NPT lines was 1/3 to 1/2 of IR72 across different spacings. At 34 OAT, lR72 had higher or same total dry weight compared with NPT lines. At flowering, NPT lines with longer growth duration than 1R72 had greater biomass than IR72. Other NPT lines had the same or less biomass than IR72 at flowering. Single leaf photosynthesis per unit leaf area of some NPT lines was 10 15% higher than that of lR72 at vegetative and reproductive stages . The difference in photosynthetic rate was mainly due to the difference in leaf N concentration. There were no consistent differences in specific leaf weight (SLW) and leaf N concentration between IR72 and NPT lines. The number of panicles/ m 2 of lR72 was 1.5-2 times higher than that of the NPT lines. Two out of the 11 NPT lines (IR65598-112-2 and IR64446-7-10 5) had 2200 spikelets/panicle. The rest of the NPT lines had about 150 spikelets/ panicle, 50% higher than that of lR72.Because the NPT lines lack resistance to brown planthopper (BPH), hopper burn was severe during the late stage of ripening with more damage in the closer spacings. Only two lines that flowered at the same time as lR72, lR65598-112-2 and TR64446-7-10-5, partially escaped the sudden BPH buildup. These two lines also had large panicles and produced 15% more spikelets/m 2 than IR72 (Table 1). However, only about 55'Yo were completely filled for the two NPT lines compared with 73-80% for lR72. The two NPT lines had 1O-20°,{, half-filled spikelets. Grain yield of the two NPT lines was not significantly different from lR72 despite 15% higher sink size (Table 2). Although yields were not significantly different, the trend indicates that the NPT had higher yield at narrow spacing (10 x 10 cm).   Because of the increased plant density, there was no difference between NPT lines and indicas in biomass production until panicle initiation. At flowering and physiological maturity, however, the total dry weight of indica checks was significantly higher than NPT lines. IR8 and IR65600-42-5-2 were severely damaged by BPH. Comparison can be made only between IR72 and IR65598 112-2. In the transplanted treatment, After evaluating the NPT lines for three seasons at three locations, the following points can be summarized:   3). This partially explains why the NPT lines did not perform better under direct-seeded than under transplanted conditions. • We should also compare the efficiency of C and N remobilization from storage to grain between NPT lines and indica rices. At this moment, we cannot rule out the possibility that assimilate transport is limiting in NPT lines.300,-----------------------.. °IR72  • Resistance to tungro and BPH must be incorporated into NPT lines. We also need to improve grain quality. Donors for these traits have been identified and are being used in the hybridization program.• Hybridization between the NPT lines and indica inbreds is in progress. An intermediate cultivar between tropical japonicas and indicas could overcome some problems of the NPT lines. In the meantime, some NPT lines will be kept purely in a japonica background for the creation of indica/japonica F} hybrid rice. • Another strategy is to cross the NPT lines with U.s. cultivars from Texas. Since these cultivars are intermediate between japonicas and indica, we will have no sterility problems or barriers to recombination. Hopefully, good traits from the Texas cultivars, such as grain filling, can be transferred into the NPT lines.F} hybrid rices have been grown in China since 1976 and on average have a yield advantage of about 15% over the best inbred varieties. Approximately 50% of China's rice area is now planted to rice hybrids (Yuan et al. 1992). These hybrids were evaluated in tropical countries and found to be unadapted. Hybrid rice research was initiated at IRRI in 1978. Selected hybrids showed a yield advantage of about 15% under tropical conditions in farmers' fields.The increased yield of tropical rice hybrids is due to increased total biomass, higher spikelet number and,_ to some extent, higher 1000 grain weight.Yield potential of elite tropical hybrid IR68284H was compared with IR72 at IRRI and PhilRice in 1995 DS. The hybrid produced 10.8 t/ha at IRRI and 10.4 t/ha at PhilRice, while IR72 yielded 7.7 t/ha at IRRI and 9.9 t/ha at PhilRice. The higher yield of the hybrid was attributed to more spikelets per m 2 at IRRI and higher 1000 grain weight at IRRI and PhilRice than IR72 (26.3 vs. 21.3 g). Total dry matter at harvest of the hybrid was 10-17°;() higher than IR72. At PhilRice, the hybrid produced 23.5 t dry matter/ha which was the highest biomass production reported for tropical rice. The most important trait of this hybrid is its stable and high grain filling percentage compared with earlier tropical hybrids. The grain filling percentage of this hybrid was 83% at IRRI and 79% at PhilRice, which was equivalent to IR72. High grain yield and grain filling percentage were also observed in 1994 DS from this hybrid.Tropical hybrids did not show higher single leaf photosynthetic rate than indica inbreds in the entire growing season. In fact, the hybrids had slightly lower Single-leaf photosynthetic rate during rapid growing period and ripening phase due to lower leaf N concentration than inbreds. The physiological basis of heterosis is still unknown ..Rice hybrids in China are based on cytoplasmic genetic male sterility (CMS) and fertility restoration system. Hundreds of CMS lines have been bred in China for hybrid seed prod uction. These CMS lines could not be used as such to develop rice hybrids for the tropics because of their susceptibility to diseases and insects, poor adaptability and poor grain quality.Therefore, new CMS lines were bred at IRRI and by national programs using the WA cytoplasmic male sterility system from China. There is no dearth of restorers among the elite indica rice germ plasm in the tropics and sub tropics. New sources of CMS have also been identified at IRRI.The thermosensitive genetic male sterility system (TGMS) and photoperiod sensitive genetic male sterility system (PGMS) simplify hybrid rice seed production. Several sources of TGMS and PGMS have been reported from China (Sun et al. 1989;Wu et al. 1991). A few mutants have been identified in Japan (Maruyama et al. 1991) and at IRRI (Virmani and Voc 1991). TGMS and PGMS systems do not require maintainer lines for multiplication and hybrids can be developed by using only two lines (instead of three in the case of the CMS system) e.g., TGMS and pollen parent. The latter does not have to be a restorer. Two line hybrids are likely to show higher heterosis because there are fewer restrictions on the choice of parents in comparison to the CMS system. It should be possible to use the TGMS system to develop tropical rice hybrids by utilizing the temperature differences at different altitudes or in different rice growing seasons. TGMS should be a good alternative to the complex and cumbersome CMS system .Technology for producing hybrid rice seeds in the tropics has been outlined (Virmani and Sharma 1993). Using this technology, yields of 1-2 t/ha of hybrid seed and 1-2 t/ha of pollen parent have been obtained by lRRI and some national programs. Seed yields can be increased further by improving the outcrossing potential of the parental lines and fine-tuning of the technology by the prospective seed growers and the national programs.The magnitude of heterosis d~pends upon the genetic diversity between the two parents of the hybrids. The greater the genetic difference between the parents, the higher the heterosis. During the past 30 years, the genetic diversity among the improved indica rices has narrowed down due to massive international exchange of germplasm (Khush and Aquino 1994). Indica and japonica germplasms have, however, remained distinct as there has been very little gene flow between these two varietal groups. As expected, hybrids from indica and japonica parents showed higher heterosis for yield (Yuan et al. 1989). As discussed in an earlier section, the new plant type development program was based on tropical japonica germ plasm so that this improved germplasm would also be utilized for producing hybrids with higher heterosis. Our preliminary results show that the level of heterosis of the indica/tropical japonica hybrid is higher than that of an indicalindica hybrid.Major constraints in utilizing hybrid rice for increasing rice production are: 1) the need to buy fresh hybrid seed for every planting season, 2) the high cost of hybrid seed and(3) the ]leed to establish seed production infrastructure in developing countries.Farmers would be willing to buy fresh seed at a price higher than that of inbred rice provided there is a cost benefit ratio of 1:4. Wit•h this cost benefit ratio, national programs would also invest to strengthen or establish a seed industry in the publici private and/or cooperative sectors. These constraints could also be overcome if true breeding hybrids with permanently fixed heterosis were developed through apomixis.The search for apomixis in rice or inducing it through mutagenesis is being pursued at IRRI and in China. The germplasm used for developing NPT and future intersubspecific hybrids are tropical japonicas. Before 19S7, we did not understand the genetic background of these bulu materials, also called javanicas, from Indonesia. We thought they belonged to an independent group. On the basis of allelic constitution at 15 isozyme loci, Glaszmann (1987) showed that javanicas and japonicas belong to the sa me varietal group. We therefore now refer to javanicas as tropical japonicas. The work on breeding for NPT began after the genetic background of bulu germplasm was very well understood.V.S. Chanlan:In the new rice plant, the number of grains, which is 225-250, seems to be much higher and this may be one of the reasons for more unfilled grains. viz. relevance, effectiveness, and representativeness. If breeders queried It is easy for breeders to describe their everything they did along these lines, their breeding programs in terms of strategies and programs might be more successful. methodologies. However, it is much more difficult to pinpoint reasons for success,which is the aim of this paper. There is no attempt, and it would be very audacious, toThe target area in the past has been the compare breeders' abilities or the constraints wheat growing belt of South Australia but imposed upon them by administrators.recently this has been extended to include Enough controversy and debate should relevant areas throughout the southeastern occur from considering our philosophies and regiqn of Australia as defined by the stra tegies.Australian Generally we are breeding for stress tolerance rather than yield potential per se.Although physiological characteristics are carefully considered in choosing parents, the essential ingredient in selecting for yield is yield performance over a range of representative sites and seasons. How to screen for yield while maintaining adequate variability for yield improvement within populations and aVOiding decimation by selection for other characters such as disease resistance, agronomic characters and quality are important strategic considerations in our methodology.There are two wheat breeding programs in South Australia, both within the University of Adelaide. One is headed by A.J.  (Rathjen and Pederson 1986). In this paper, I will concentrate on the Roseworthy method.The breeding procedure that has evolved is based on the following premises: 1. Yield is the prime objective. Despite a new cultivar's improvements, including quality capable of attracting premiums, farmers will not grow it unless they expect it to yield well on their farms.between genotype, location and year, in South Australia selection must be carried out across several sites and seasons. These sites must be relevant and representative of the range of climatic and edaphic conditions, and farming practices in the target region. Experiment stations are often not representative of real farm situations. They tend to be located on better soils and usually their management in terms of nutrition, disease and weed control is not financially feasible for farmers. They are thus not very relevant as yield evaluation sites. Genotype x environment interaction (G x E) is a reflection of our lack of knowledge of operating environmental factors, and the safest way to account for such interactions is to sample them.3. Yield is density dependent and thus can only be properly assessed in farm situations using row spacings, sowing rates and fertilizer levels that farmers will use. Ifwe want to release new cultivars with a changed package of practices, we must select under such changed practices early in the selection eye/e. 4. Yield is expensive to pursue, so other objectives should be attained before widescale yield evaluation. However, the program should have enough breadth (crosses) and depth (selections per cross) of germplasm after selecting for major genes that progress in selecting for yield increases can be sustained. We want to select for yield and adaptation, not just test what we have.with depth and breadth is essential to give flexibility. Flexibility to change direction when farmer or consumer needs change, to adopt new technologies and / or to take on new objectives. Flexibility is important to the breeding strategy as well, so that the breeder is not locked into a certain infrastructure which prevents the adoption of new methods. 6. Resources are limiting, so book-keeping, data collection, and field and laboratory activities must be streamlined and kept to the minimum necessary to allow the discard/retain decision to be made. 7. New improved cultivars are the measure of success so we must steadfastly pursue this goal and not get sidetracked. Instead we should encourage others to use our •germplasm to investigate promising theories.Our objectives, detailed in Figure 1  (Payne et al. 1987;Cornish, 1994).Drought resistance per se is not considered an objective. It has not been possible to define drought in southern Australia in a way that is useful to breeders. If the opening rains are late, sowing time is delayed and farmers try to avoid post anthesis stress by planting earlier maturing varieties or switching to barley. A single day of hot, dry, desiccating wind can occur any time from about boot stage but is more likely post anthesis.Whatever the season, it is rare to find the soil depleted of available moisture below 50 cm deep at harvest time. In such situations, it is probably wrong to declare drought as the limiting factor. We would get better water use efficiency and better yield gains by considering the ways in which we can achieve a large, strong and healthy root system in a stressful soil environment that is often waterlogged in mid-winter, has many fungal and nematode problems, and is deficient in some trace elements and toxic in others.The routine breeding method is detailed in Figure 2. Shaded boxes indicate work carried out by others external to the Roseworthy staff, which consists of two scientists and four technicians. The Roseworthy method is essentially a pedigree method modified to overcome many criticisms of the classical method. Some of the techniques being used are those used by CIMMYT and Oregon State University, having been adopted following previous visits. For example, crossing (twirl method) is carried out in the field in organized crossing blocks of potential parents; this allows large numbers of crosses to be made.About 400 crosses are made annually and are of three main types: . .  Each of these is critical to achieve short term improvements and also to establish a base for yield jumps and continued long term progress. Unfortunately, in today's climate of•short term funding and accountability, the last two types of crosses are in danger of being discontinued in many programs. Type 1 crosses are performed in part by collaboration with the National Rust Control Program at the Sydney University.Parents for type 2 crosses are chosen on the basis of their performance in their own state or country of origin and data collected in South Australia. Usually at least one parent will be based on adapted material from within our own program . It is at this time that agronomic, physiological and phenological attributes are particularly observed. Crosses are made between lines of good performance but with contrasting characters in the hope that each will possess complimentary genes which, when recombined, will give transgressive segregation for yield improvement. A mild vernalization requirement is desirable so that the crop is kept vegetative long enough to produce a limited number of tillers and not run to head in dry, warm years. A height of about 80 cm is most desirable. Parents are laboratory tested for boron tolerance and protein alleles. Early crop vigor and leaf area duration are also taken into account.One of the major criticisms of the pedigree method is that there are too few genotypes remaining by the yield evaluation stage to have much chance of finding transgressive segregants with higner yields. Such programs test what yields they possess but do not allow for selection for yield .Yield and quality evaluation is expensive, made even more. expensive by the need to account for G x E effects. The Roseworthy strategy accounts for these two problems by yield testing only those lines that have already been adequately screened for simply inherited characters, while ensuring that there are enough such lines to contain some with improved yield and quality. With current resources and hard work, we can yield test about 10,000 entries in the first generation yield trial (F4), one site, unreplicated but with augmented checks (SPYT). This yield trial is carried out at Roseworthy in a farm field and close to our office headquarters, so observation from establishment through to harvest is almost daily. With such observations and two dimensional spatial analyses of the underlying fertility trend surfaces, effective selection for yield can be practiced . Because it is only one site and one season, selection pressure is kept low. About 40 to 50% are retained. After grain conformation has been studied and a preliminary quality test performed, the number carried forward to replicated across-site evaluation is reduced to about 3,000 (30%). Fortunately, time and experience has shown that Roseworthy is an effective site, adequately representing the South Australian wheat belt for this preliminary screening on yield.Counting backwards from this bottleneck to earlier generations leads to a total of about 60,000 F3 lines needing to be screened for foliar disease resistance, agronomiC characters and grain conformation. To handle this number, single F2 heads are selected and planted unthreshed into an irrigated, inoculated, field rust nursery; unwanted hills are bent over whenever identified, and survivors are sickled and threshed individually for grain conformation. About 10,000 remain.About 10 years and more ago, the disease nursery needed to be about 180,000 hills, such was the culling rate when the frequency of stem and stripe rust resistance in our germplasm was low. The resources have been diverted into a septoria nursery.Pelshenke and sedimentation tests are no longer capable of discriminating quality differences among our lines. Thus for some years we have performed quality tests on only a few of the crosses and lines surviving this first generation yield trial, usually after they have been replanted in the next season.For the last three years, we have planted with this trial a replicated group of 100 lines selected from our program to represent the range of existing quality types, both good and bad (Burridge et al. 1994). These are harvested and subjected to a Buhler milling; the resultant white flour is put through the fuJI range of quality tests, such as farinograph, extensograph, and baking.As well, NIR readings are made on a wholemeal sample. These data are then used to calibrate the NIR apparatus for quality parameters. Good calibrations result for grain hardness, flour yield, protein content, extensibility, and water absorption. There is no correlation between NIR and dough strength. An NIR reading on a wholemeal sample from each of the SPYT survivors is then used to construct a quality selection index for further reducing the 50% retention down to 30%. HMW and LMW glutenin determinations on lines surviving from crosses likely to produce undesirable allelic combinations will give us a prediction of dough strength. The next step is to experiment with NIT on whole grain.Yield and quality evaluations are carried out in multilocation trials as soon as seed supplies permit. Sites are chosen on representative farms in relevant locations.Plots are managed as closely as possible as fields of the farming community. Replication at a site is determined more by the quantity of grain that needs to be harvested for quality testing than by statistical considerations. Statistical procedures are kept relatively simple. The same randomization is used for the same experiment at each site. One field book suffices for all sites so observations from different sites are easily scanned. The first replicate is usually ordered so that highly heritable characters are easily compared between lines of greatest interest. The ordered first replicate simplifies subsequent seed and quality preparation.TwoD spatial analysis software is used to analyze single experiments (Gilmour 1992), and across site analyses are graphically illustrated as scatter diagrams to display specific as well as wide adaptation. Quality data are simplified by the use of a selection index for ini tial culling (Burridge et al. 1990).Stepwise culling is often used to remove poor millers before proceeding with other tests.In future, spatial analyses across sites and seasons that can handle the non-orthogonality resulting from annual culling will give a better estimate of variety performance in the later generations (Basford and Phillips 1996;Cullis et al. 1996).Some of the consequences of G x E interactions have been mentioned, particularly the uncertainty that such interactions introduce into the culling decisions, the need for representative sites and trial management to adequately sample the effects, low selection pressures to take account of the effects, and the increased costs that all this brings with it.Thinking as a physiologist, unpredictable G x E effects and unpredictable environments, particularly the weather, upset ideotype descriptions and crop modeling.Perhaps individual experiment results have been made worse by extraneous error brought on by poor experimental techniques. Two-dimensional spatial analyses can identify and extract some of this error--or at least highlight the problem-which can then be avoided in future experiments. Perhaps some of the conservative low selection pressure has been to take account of this problem, as well as real G x E.Which data are relevant? What am I selecting for in a particular trial? These are questions that constantly concern breeders. Are there ways of getting better answers?In the Roseworthy program, since 1981 a set of probe lines has been planted at each site as a bioassay. About 20 lines have been common to all sites and years; others are replaced by better probes or come and go for other reasons. This 'indicator' trial is used as a tool to improve selection amongst lines tested in other trials at the same site. Uses to which these probes can be put include:1. Providing grain for trace element analysis to determine the importance of such problems at each site. 2. Determining the effects of foliar diseases as discriminating factors at a site by protecting some replicates with fungicide. 3. Providing grain of reference varieties for preliminary quality analysis to decide from which sites grain for quality assessment should come. 4. Providing grain of lines prone to late maturity a amylase for falling number tests to decide which sites could discriminate for this problem. 5. Keeping a biological record at distant sites infrequently visited by the breeder, e.g., height responses, vernalization. 6. Long and short term across-site and season cluster analyses as a means of a. Determining the relevance/ representativeness of a particular site season. b. Determining the frequency of certain growing conditions in the future. c. Identifying specific G x E reactions to help in unraveling unknown stresses. d . Relative weighting (as contrasted to statistical weights) to apply to anyone trial result. e. Giving a scientific basis on which to delete, move or add trial sites. f. A field repository for genotypes with 'peculiar' environmental responses.Such probes are best sets of near isogenic lines varying for different combinations of certain known genes. This is difficult to achieve. Probe$ can include lines from other cereals, e.g ., barley to indicate boron toxicity and triticales for cereal cyst nematode. They could also be different agronomic treatments.The best way to handle G x E effects is to understand and describe them in abiotic and/ or biotic terms, discover the genetics of the response patterns and then breed and screen for desirable alleles, just as is done with stem rust resistance. After all, variation amongst lines in their response to stem rust infection would become part of the unpredictable G x E effect if the rust genotypes of the lines were not known and no one visited an infected site and took observations. Recent achievements using this approach are boron toxicity (Moody et al. 1993), zinc efficiency (Graham et al. 1992), LMW glutenin subunits and root lesion nematodes (Taheri et al. 1994 andFarsi et al. 1994). These are now understood and breeders can actively breed for them. Further research on root diseases is needed.Advances in scientific knowledge and breeding technologies make the future of wheat improvement just as exciting as it has been in the past. Some future improvements to our routine breeding program have been mentioned in italics in previous paragraphs. There are many other areas which promise to speed the breeding and make it more effective. Examples are: 1. In Australia, using the Veery group of lines for their disease resistance and yield enhancing attributes without the problems of sticky dough. Langridge (pers. comm.) has succeeded in constructing an antisense secalin gene which he has transferred into wheat; he now has several plants growing from seeds that have disease resistance but where secalin production has been completely suppressed. Shepherd (pers. comm.), attacking the problem as a cytologist; has produced recombinants with smaller portions of the 1Rs arm; he has plants growing that have disease resistance but appear to have lost the secalin gene. 2. Use of marker genes for cereal cyst nematode resistance. 3. Setting up controlled and automated screening procedures for root lesion nematode. 4. Simultaneous selection of improved cultivars with an appropriate package of practices to give improved yields and quality. 5. A double haploid laboratory to speed up introgression of one or two genes into an otherwise elite variety. 6. Using IWIS and pedigree information to improve the choice of parents. 7. Making more use of animal and maize breeding principles and establishing male sterile recurrent selection programs which should shorten the cycle time.The breeding program described could not be successful without scientific and technical expertise provided by people too numerous to mention. Their efforts are indicated by the shaded boxes in Figure 2. Nor could the many trials be carried out without our farmer cooperators, whose locations are described in Table 1. The contributions of these people to the whole breeding effort is gratefully acknowledged. The technical expertise of the core staff, viz. A. Macleod, D. Smith, J. Menzel, and G. White, is also acknowledged.have not had the fortune to visit the countries for which CIMMYT breeds but in Australia wheat farms are large and it is no problem to use up to five hectares of a farmer's land. The farmer is compensated in cash according to the income foregone by our presence. All grain harvested from trials is retained by the breeders.Are lines that are tolerant to B excess sensitive to B deficiency?G. Hollamby: Good question, to my knowledge no one knows for sure. The physiology of the boron toxicity tolerance which we use is active exclusion of boron in the soil solution from entering the transpiration stream so that boron tolerant plants have less boron in their tissues. This begs the question as to whether, in boron deficient soil, these same genotypes would absorb enough boron to meet essential requirements.J. Dubin: G. Hollamby: For low availability. In the case of zinc the reasons for this are that it is our subsoils that are particularly deficient; because roots will not grow into zinc deficient soil, zinc fertilization will not get the wheat roots down into the moist subsoil. In the case of manganese, it is the highly calcareous nature of many of our soils that makes manganese unavailable to plants; even manganese fertilizer added to the soil quickly becomes unavailable to inefficient plants. VAM may be involved here too.Let me make a point:Breeding programs have a pathologist as part of the team, some have a physiologist and an agronomist; maybe it is time we had a soil scientist also.We have had more success with on-station yield testing than off-station testing where sites in farmer fields have been disappointingly variable. Would you comment on uniformity of test sites in farmer fields? Incidentally, I believe that difficulties in obtaining high quality yield trials is the most limiting factor in plant breeding efforts in many national programs.G. Hollamby: I agree that experiments on farms are more variable than those on station, but the unevenness that exists on farms are the conditions in which any new cultivar must perform. If the evenness of a station site is because some of the on-farm limiting factors have been removed, then the on-station site is not representative of the real world. We use a small blanket application of nitrogen to overcome one of the main sources of unevenness. Spatial analyses will take account of much of what remains. Your comment about problems of getting good yield trials in national programs coupled with my concern about representativeness has implications when countries are considering setting up new experiment stations. Even and representative stations using recommended farming practices are what is needed, not one sited for convenience, nor one sited and managed for maximum yields.While on this subject of yield stability, I wonder whether those varieties which demonstrate stability over sites also contribute less to error variance within a site?The Hybrid Wheat ExperienceIt has been almost a hundred years since Shull suggested a method for producing hybrid maize (Shull 1909). Maize hybrids are used in all developed countries, and breeding hybrids has become a very profitable industry. Breeding methods to produce pure-bred inbred lines have been developed as well as technology to optimize hybrid vigor in agronomically important traits, techniques to identify superior hybrids in field trials and production techniques to commercialize hybrid seed production. Wheat breeding has also been highly successful, and substantial progress has been made in developing conventional cultivars during the past 40 years. Selection for resistance against diseases, higher yields, better quality and better adaptation has resulted in the crop being grown around the globe. Yet many breeders, while admitting the significance of the progress achieved, have been looking for a means to hybridize the crop for improved performance similar to that in hybrid maize. The discovery of a male sterile/fertility restorer system in wheat in the early 1960s motivated most breeders to embark on hybrid wheat development, and a large number of breeders were employed by private ' companies. It became a popular subject for research in the public sector, and large volumes of reports and papers have been published on the expression of heterosis, male sterility systems, male fertility restoration systems, and hybrid performance in wheat. Discussions on hybrid wheat development became an intellectual exercise arguing the benefits of hybridization.The whole field has been thoroughly reviewed by different authors Oohnston 1985; Lucken 1985;Maan 1985;Virmani and Edwards 1983;Wilson 1984;Wilson and Drisca1l1983;Lucken and Johnson 1988).Most of these authors are positive on the prospects of hybrid wheat, but in a recent review (Pickett 1993) of research and development of F1 wheat hybrids during the past 40 years, Pickett did not share their views on:The feasibility of hybrids-The causes of heterosis in wheat include genetic dominance and overdominance.Evidence suggests that improvements in yield arise from dominance, making it possible to select conventional cultivars that match or excel F1 hybrids. Hybrids derived from modern, highly bred cultivars appear to show less heterosis relative to the performance of the parental lines than hybrids of older, lower yielding parents. Hybrids do not offer an improvement in important characteristics such as disease resistance, performance stability, suitability of ideotype and breeding time scales. It also appears unlikely that high, uniform grain quality will be achieved more readily by hybrid varieties.The three systems of male sterility Cytoplasmic male sterility has had the longest period under investigation and use, but is seen to be slow and lacks versatility in methods of fertility restoration. Nuclear male sterility has enjoyed the least success due to the lack of cost-effective methods of maintenance. Chemical hybridizing agents allow speedy hybrid development, but problems arise from toxicity and inadequate selectivity. Pickett also discusses ways in which biotechnology could help develop male sterility.Hybrid seed production-Hybrid seed production has been problematic because the self fertilizing reproductive system of wheat is poorly adapted to outcrossing. Causes of poor outcrossing are considered to be influenced by the morphology and biophysics of pollen and the effect of climate.The success of hybrid wheat-The relationships between the additional costs of male sterilizaticlH and seed production are clearly unfavorable in both developed and developing countries. The amount of research and development, principally in the area of genetics, required to test the possibility of making hybrid wheat worthwhile appears to be prohibitive. It appears that yield advantages obtained through heterosis are fixable and therefore improvement of conventional cultivars remains the chosen strategy in wheat breeding.Most people involved in hybrid wheat breeding share Pickett's views and, consequently, several companies abandoned their research and development on hybrid wheat. Those who continued rescheduled their strategy to include chemical hybridizing agents and biotechnology.However, some institutions in the public as well as the private sector have continued their research on hybrid wheat. Hybrids based on cytoplasmic male sterility /restorer systems have been developed, produced and marketed successfully. In South Africa, wheat hybrids developed by both Cargill and SENSAKO have been very successful.Since SENSAKO has been highly effective in breeding and releasing conventional cultivars, our involvement and experience in hybrid wheat development over the past 25 years can be objectively reported here.Successful commercialization of a hybrid depends on the wheat growers' acceptance of the product. This depends not only on the hybrid's performance, but also on the cost of hybrid seed . We were fortunate to identify an environment where historically wheat has been grown at very low seeding rates or population densities. In the Free State, a province of South Africa, wheat is grown during winter on moisture that has been conserved from summer rains and normally without any further rain from planting up to post anthesis, often even up to maturity. In Figure 1 the overall long term rainfall distribution has been summarized with the rainfall of the past two seasons for the drier, western part of the production area, and in Figure 2 for the eastern part, which has higher and more reliable rainfall during spring. The adult wheat plants are mostly under moisture stress often associated with very hot spells in spring. Fortunately most farmers in this environment also plant maize and sunflower hybrids and are thus familiar with hybrids and with the higher cost of hybrid seed.The cost efficiency of planting hybrid seed depends on: 1) the price of the hybrid seed, 2) the seeding rate, 3) the yield level, and 4) the planter technology.Seed price-The major factor effecting the seed price is the effect of seed set on the production cost of hybrid seed. This is clearly demonstrated in Figure 3. At 50% seed set, the production cost rises to double that of non-hybrid seed; lower seed set makes the price of hybrid seed production non-viable. Environmental factors influencing cross pollination and the management thereof should be such as to promote high seed set on the female. Females differ in the period that their flowers remain receptive while males differ in the amount and distribution of pollen shedding. Parental lines should be selected for floral characters promoting successful hybridization and care should be taken to nick female receptiveness and male pollen production. Peak pollen production after 60% of the females' flowers have opened optimizes nicking. It has also been experienced that the higher the seed set on the female, the better the quality of the seed. Optimizing hybrid seed production and especially seed set on the female is a critical factor in the successful exploitation of hybrids.Seeding rate-In the Free State, seeding rate is normally not higher than the 25 kg ha-1 used with conventional cultivars. Engelbrecht (1991) found the number of tillers m 2 to have the highest correlation with yield. The highest heterosis for this character and also for yield was found at low seeding rates of 5-10 kg ha-1 and narrow row spacing (25 cm instead of 75 cm). This production management of lower seeding rates and narrower rows (although not always possible when topsoil moistureis deficient) promotes stable yield over locations and seasons. In Figure 4 the effect of seed price and seeding rates on the input cost to the farmer is given as a percentage of the income per ton of grain produced. This clearly illustrates that at the maximum seeding rate for winter wheat cultivars (25 kg ha-1 ) the cost will be 23.5% of the yield of one ton of grain. Higher seeding rates, 100 kg ha-1 or higher, as in the case in spring wheat, demonstrate the high cost effect of hybrid seed in relation to the seed price of a conventional cultivar. Seed costs can be significantly reduced by lowering the seeding rate to 10 kg ha-1 at which level the effect of hybrid seed (which costs four times more than commercial seed) is less than twice the commercial seed price at 25 kg ha-1 and less than 18% of the yield of one ton of grain.Yield level-The yield advantage of hybrids has to compensate for the additional cost of hybrid seed at different yield levels, at two and four times the price of commercial seed and at two different seeding rates, asen 70. summarized in Figure 5. This shows that with a seeding rate up to 25 kg ha-1 , a seed price twice that of non-hybrid seed, and at a yield level of 1.5 ton ha-1 , the yield advantage needed for a hybrid to offset the higher seed price of the hybrid is less than 4%. To achieve the same result with seed costing four times as much as non-hybrid seed, the yield level should be higher than 1700 kg ha-1 . The lower the yield level at which the hybrid has been produced the higher the yield advantage of the hybrid must be and the less attractive it is to grow hybrid seed. Yield should be optimized by creating an environment to enhance the expression of hybrid superiority and to maximize the benefits of water conservatiof!., seeding rate, and row width on the tillering ability of hybrids. Planter technology-To plant wheat successfully at a very low seeding rate and in variable conditions where the dry topsoil varies in depth up to 15 cm requires special planter technology. Commercial planters that have a tine pushing the dry topsoil away and a press wheel have been modified to space-plant, break up shallow compaction (from water conservation techniques during the rainy season), and place the fertilizer in a vertical band away from the seed. We are using this technology in our research plots to optimize root development and tillering ability.Data from SENSAKO performance trials for the past two seasons will be used to compare the performance of hybrids. - ----------------------Comparisons of the consistency of yield performance can best be done by a superiority measure for cultivar x location data (Lin and Binns 1988) defined as the distances mean square between the cultivars' response and the maximum response averaged over all locations, the lowest value being the best performance. This analysis was done for both winter and intermediate cultivars. The highest yielding new winter type hybrid was compared to Tugela ON for both the 1994 and 1995 seasons (Figure 6). The highest yielding intermediate type hybrid was also . compared to SST 333 as a check cultivar (Figure 7).The regression of the yield deviation of these two hybrids from the two check cultivars, calculated on the yield of the check at each location, could be used to predict the expected hybrid advantage at different yield levels of the check. The predicted advantage was expressed as a percentage and is given in Figure 8. Although based on the data for only two years, it clearly shows that hybrids do yield better than conventional cultivars. This performance is consistent over locations and seasons, while the hybrid's advantage over the highest yielding check is much higher at the lower yielding locations than at the higher yielding ones. Since in this specific environment yield reduction is a function of water stress, it can be concluded that hybrids have an advantage over conventional cultivars under conditions of water stress. Although planting dates for winter and intermediate types differ, it seems the advantage is comparable but lower in the case of the winter hybrid .These experiences are convincing evidence for continuing wheat hybrid research and development. This might be of particular importance for environments where wheat is being prod uced under marginal conditions.The development of hybrid wheat should be reconsidered and new knowledge and technology used to stay abreast of conventional wheat development.The biggest limitation so far has been the lack of knowledge of heterotic grouping of parental germplasm. Optimizing genetic diversity between female and male gene pools has been the major strategy in  (Lee et al. 1989;Melchinger et al. 1990;Smith et al. 1990). The relation of hybrid performance to parental diversity was tested in wheat by Martin et al. (1995). In their study, a narrow range of heterosis limited the ability to detect a relationship between genetic diversity and hybrid performance, but the results nevertheless showed that sequence tagged site (STS) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sets effectively differentiated genetically and phenotypically similar genotypes in wheat.When hand-crossing wheat plants, the small number of seeds prod uced per cross obstructs intermating progeny and the evaluation of such progeny. This has limited the use of short-cycle, recurrent, selection methods. Intermating wheat populations has been proved effective (Chandler et al. 1993), while the Taigu genetic male sterile gene was used to promote complex crossing and facilitate recurrent selection (Huang and Deng 1988). Positive results from the use of recurrent selection were also obtained by Laffier et al. ( 1983), but undesirable correlated responses limit the technique in the absence of multiple selection practices.Chemical hybridizing agents (CHA) have been developed that facilitate hybrid seed production and implementation of selection for combining ability. However, CHA products are privately owned and their use restricted. It is also tempting to use the best products of large, intensive breeding efforts directly as parents for hybrid seed production. The absence of sterile plants in the F2 population might promote the use of F2 seed for cultivation by farmers.Remodeling selection techniques to optimize genetic gain for combining ability seems to be one of the major challenges for hybrid wheat development.Genetic engineering systems for wheat are developing very fast; since there is no shortage of agronomically useful characteristics to be improved, expectations of modifying the wheat genome are realistic. Methods for transforming wheat are becoming available; introducing foreign genes into wheat is a challenge to the wheat breeder.Marker assisted selection will not only speed up the development of parental lines but will also allow pyramiding genes from different species that influence the same character. Quantitative loci affecting complex characters such as yield and combining ability might be tagged to simplify selection.Haploid breeding is already being successfully implemented in most breeding programs. This tool shortpns generation time significantly and enables the breeder to stop segregation at will.The price of hybrid seed should be comparable to that of seed of conventional cultivars. There should be a definite advantage in the characteristics of the hybrid to give the wheat farmer a reason to grow it. Research on seed production techniques and floral characteristics should be undertaken to make marketing hybrid seed a viable option. Changes in production techniques to lower seeding rates, especially under conditions where very high seeding rates are the standard, poses a real challenge.Incorporating multiple characteristics or complex resistance into a single genotype is difficult and time consuming, but much easier to achieve when complementary characters are combined in a hybrid.The identification of heterosis for characters involved in adaptation to stress environments might enable the breeder to develop varieties with better performance under conditions of moisture and nutrient stresses. We found that the solid stem genes have a structural expression in preventing lodging.In this respect, it was observed to be a source of resistance to lodging caused by the root pathogens but also by abiotic factors.Is the SENSAKO plant adopted by many farmers and how much does it cost? J.P. Jordaan:The planter that we use to plant wheat trials under dryland conditions is a modification of planters being used by farmers. On the other hand, many farmers have adopted the principle of placing the fertilizer away from the seed in a vertical band with starter given at the seed. The technology was developed to stimulate root growth in wide rows and low seeding rates. The new commercial planters has been adopted by some farmers and included the features of the trial planter. It cost approximately US$4,OOO for a planter with four units.J. Shoran: Can temperature dependent (induced) male sterility behavior be used for obtaining hybrid seed in wheat?J.P. Jordaan: This would be a helpful tool to produce hybrid seed. The induced male sterility should be stable at a given temperature and the temperatures in the production environment should be stable and predictable. We do not have any experience of this sterility mechanism in our country, but I would guess that it would be very difficult to use temperature-induced male sterility to produce hybrid seed.Could you comment on the role of apomixis in exploiting hybrid vigor in wheat?J.P. Jordaan: I do not think that hybrids would be needed if apomixis were available in wheat. I don't know of anyone having an apomictic wheat plant, but that does not mean that it cannot be produced in future .Agronomists worry about crop yields reaching a limit that their continued efforts cannot raise. Over three decades ago, Loomis and Williams (1963) argued that maximum crop yields could be significantly greater than those yet achieved. Now, after a generation of research by plant physiologists and breeders, and technological innovation by farmers, it is time to look again at limits to yield .As yield depends in part on management and local environment, three measures of regional yield find use. Average yield for a region reflects farmers' success with the many certainties and uncertainties surrounding production, and their average employment of technology. Some farmers regularly obtain high yields.  (Bell and Fischer, 1994). Much of the variability was due to weather. When average yields were adjusted with a model for weather variations (including a trend towards less favorable weather in recent years), the yearly increase was seen to be 103 (±15 SE) kg ha-1 . Through survey research, Bell et a!. (1995) were able to define and then isolate several factors contributing to that gain (Table 1). In line with other recent studies, genetiC gains were relatively small, particularly in recent years.The principal question before us now is whether photosynthetic systems are capable of much higher yields than observed records, or whether only further small improvements are possible. The Basis of YieldCrop growth and yield are derived from photosynthesis and therefore dependent on receipt and capture of solar radiation.Correlations between leaf photosynthetic rates measured at points in time and yield are, unfortunately, weak (Evans 1993). Leaf photosynthetic rates vary widely, depending on a developmental history in the past environment leading to differences in leaf thickness, stomatal frequency, chlorophyll and enzyme contents, and other parameters. Also, leaf photosynthetic rates change quickly as [C0 2 ], temperature, water status and irradiance change. The individual leaves perform according to their age and place in complex canopies that progress from sparse to complete cover and then senescence during the season. Additional complexity arises from the metabolism involved in the biosynthesis, partitioning, and maintenance of biomass. Therefore, about the only way to relate leaf rates with yield is through dynamic models that embrace the key elements of that complexity (Amthor and Loomis 1995).Much can be learned, however, through consideration of net biomass production per unit solar radiation absorbed by the entire canopy, the so-called radiation-use efficiency (RUE). RUE can be presented in various units; g DM Mfl radiation are used here. DM production (crop growth rate) is obtained through periodic sampling of the crop and radiation absorption is measured with sensors placed above and below the canopy.In simple terms, final yield is the product of cumulative seasonal radiation absorption, RUE, and the portion of total biomass that appears as grain.Potential RUE can be calculated from physiological principles relating to photosynthesis and respiration, as was done by Loomis and Williams (1963). Steps in the analysis (Table 2) involve: 1) receipt and capture of photosynthetic photon (quantum) flux, 2) gross assimilation of CO 2 per photon of such light, and 3) correction for carbon losses associated with respiratory metabolism and conversion of photosynthate to biomass.The absorption spectrum of chloroplast pigments and the level of energy required for a single photochemical event-electron transport, the first step towards production of energy carriers, ATP and NADPH, that do the work of CO 2 reduction-result in photosynthesis being limited to only some of the wavelengths found in solar radiation. For rough purposes, 400 to 700 nm define photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). This band is essentially the same as that for human vision. On an energy basis, PAR amounts to about 0.5 J r 1 solar radiation.Because light is captured as individual quanta, an estimate is needed of the number of photosynthetically active quanta per MJ of solar radiation. That number varies with atmospheric conditions and the path length through the atmosphere of direct rays (and thus with time of day and year, and latitude). Loomis and Williams (1963)  indicates that very little variation in rubisco is perhaps a better description.) The has been introduced during millions of years theoretical minimum value of w: is near 9 of evolution. quanta actually absorbed by photosynthetic pigments (Nobel 1991). Corrected for 10%Due to photorespiration, rather different inactive absorption, minimum w: would be values of w: are obtained in normal air (325 near 10 mol quanta absorbed by a leaf mot 1  vppm CO 2 and 21% 02; Figure 1a). In C4 CO 2 fixed . In their study, Loomis and leaves (Figure 1b), ~is unaffected by 02 Williams (1963)  For oat, at least, QI improved to about 13.5 at 11°C. As depicted in Figure 1c, Ehleringer and Bjorkman (1977)   of respiration (Rg) associated with heterotrophic synthesis of biomass with that composition.During grain filling, protein-N (reduced N) is mobilized from vegetative tissues, lessening the cost of protein synthesis. Yg can then increase towards 0.8. Yg also would be greater than 0.72 if some nitrogen is taken up from soil as NH4 + or if respiration is reduced in the light through, for example, a smaller cost for nitrate reduction.The calculations given in Table 2 indicate that potential RUE may range from 4.1 g biomass Mr 1 solar radiation with .qr=10, to 1.1 with .q.r=30. Per MJ PAR, the range is 8.2 to 2.2 g. The dependence of RUE on .q.r is depicted in Figure 2a. This is total biomass and therefore includes roots. For a rough estimate of RUE based on aboveground material in crops well supplied with nutrients and water, these values can be divided by 1.1. Fischer (1983) compared crop growth rates (CGR) observed in several field experiments with PAR absorbed by the canopies (Figure 2b). (Aboveground biomass was multiplied by 1.1 to account for roots.) The slope of the relation in Figure 2b is very near 3.0 g Mr J PAR or 1.5 g Mr J total radiation. Because wheat biomass has a heat of combustion near 17 kJ g-J, the corresponding efficiencies are 5.1% of PAR absorbed and 2.6% of total solar absorbed. Interpolating in Figure 2a (with the assumptions given for Table 2), Fischer's value corresponds to a quantum requirement near 24 mol quanta mol-J CO 2 . Several outliers on the high side of Fischer's graph are fit by RUE=3.8 g Mr J ; from Figure 2a, this corresponds to .qr=20.The earlier study (Loomis and Williams 1963) focused on limitations imposed in real canopies by light saturation, CO 2 supply, pattern of assimilate partitioning, and the amount, duration and manner of leaf display.All of those topics have received attention in wheat and continue to offer avenues for further small improvements in RUE.The estimate of RUE=8.2 g dry matter Mr J PAR given in Table 2 with .qr=10 is larger than the value of 6.8 g Mr J PAR obtained in Williams based on measurements for alfalfa crops. In Table 2, RIP increases as .qr increases, however, reaching 40% with .qr=30. Amthor (1989) summarized observations for 'growth efficiency' (1-R/P) observed with wheat. Values of RIP calculated from his Table 6.1 range from 21 to 63% with a central tendency towards 33%, the same as in Table 2 with .qr=20. Variations in photosynthesis rather than in respiration seem to be the main cause of the wide variation in RIP.There is speculation that Rm might be reduced in crops through breeding, so the effect of a 20% reduction in Rm on RUE outlined in If light saturation could be avoided, and with present atmospheres and temperatures near 20°C, wheat might be able to operate at .qr=<20 and RUE= <4. Considerable light the earlier study (Loomis and Williams 1963). The difference comes in part from the greater number of quanta per MJ irradiance and inclusion of inactive absorption. In addition, the respiration allowance, now placed on a reasonably mechanistic basis, is smaller at !jI=1O (26% of gross photosynthesis; RIP, Table 2) than the 33% used by Loomis and saturation is unavoidable, however, and RUE==3.8 g OM Mr l (qr==20) seems a practical estimate of maximum RUE of wheat under field conditions with long cool days and moderate radiation (20 MJ m-2 dol) .Readers are referred to Austin (1993), Sinclair (1993) and Horton (1994) These effects of temperature on production processes interact with the effect of temperature on wheat's developmental rate: rates of initiation of leaves (and thus canopy development) and spikelets (influencing potential kernel number) and the duration of grain filling. Temperature-response curves for developmental rate are similar to those for growth rate, perhaps because cell division and enlargement are integral to organ initiation.The temperature response of development differs from that for photosynthesis leading to rather complex problems in defining ideo types for crop improvement. Ideotypes that will raise yields beyond present levels may turn out to be more climate-specific (and thus regionally specific) than we have supposed. Whereas effects of temperature on photosynthesis is well understood, we lack an equivalent understanding of mechanisms controlling development. This is an important area for basic research.The frequency of light saturation of wheat crops is subject to several factors. The utility of erect leaves in moderating light saturation of crops has been a subject of considerable confusion. The question was analyzed theoretically by Duncan (1971)  This analysis demonstrates that the upper limit of dry matter production by wheat crops is in the range of 3 to 4 g DM Mr 1 PAR (1.5 to 2 g DM Mr 1 solar radiation). This is considerably less than the 6.8 g Mr 1 PARpredicted by Loomis and Williams (1963) before photorespiration was known. Warm temperature, the small concentration of CO 2 relative to O 2 , and light saturation limit attainment of greater RUE. Because present crops reach 3 to 4 g Mr 1 efficiency when conditions are favorable, further efforts at improving wheat yield need to focus on extending the duration of efficient photosynthesis and on improving the conversion to grain. There is a continued interest among plant breeders in the extent of genetic gain in yield improvement in the historical perspective.Although there seems to have been progress under all growing conditions, it is generally recognized that genetic yield gains have been relatively higher in more favorable environments. For example, Cox et al. (1988) found 0.6% annual gain in hard red winter wheat yield in highly productive environments a~ compared with 0.4% in stress environments, between 1919 and 1987.There is general consensus that in cereals the high yielding (and often short stature) varieties are more adapted to favorable growing conditions, while the lower yielding (often taller) varieties or landraces are more stable in their performance under stress conditions. This case has been well demonstrated by Ceccarelli et al. (1991) for high yielding varieties and land races of barley. Ceccarelli and Grando (1991) argued that progress in yield in stress environments is possible if selection for yield is performed in those environments. They concluded that the reason for slower progress in breeding for low yielding environments, as commonly claimed, is simply that most yield selection is performed under relatively favorable conditions. They thus set out to show that yield under stress can be effectively improved by selecting for yield under stress, while yield potential can be improved only if performed under non-stress conditions. Since selecting for yield under stress often results in reduced yield potential (e.g., Rosielle and Hamblin 1981;Cecarreli and :;rando 1991), it may therefore be suspected :hat stable yield under stress and high yield Jotential may be mutually exclusive.In several stud ies where yield of appropriately different cultivars was evaluated under carefully varying water regimes, a clear genotype x water regime interaction for yield was observed. This interaction was graphically expressed in a crossover of genotype yields at a certain level of drought stress (e.g., Figure in Cecarreli and Grando 1991;and Figure in Blum 1993). In the first example, for barley in Syria, the crossover occurred at a mean grain yield of about 2 t/ha, while in the second case, for wheat in Israel, it was 3 t/ ha. This interaction seems to present a most convincing case for an apparent negative association between yield potential and yield under severe drought stress, provided stress is severe enough to red uce yields to below the indicated crossover levels. However, at the same time, varieties with high yield potential are performing relatively better than all others not only under non-stress conditions but also under moderate stress conditions as depicted by the range of moisture (or mean yield) environments above the crossover point.Therefore, a negative interaction between yield potential and drought resistance is expressed only when stress is sufficiently severe. Under moderate stress conditions, varieties with high yield potential still perform best. This conclusion has been reached also with respect to salinity stress. Kapulnik et a!. (1990) found that vigorous alfalfa cultivars also yielded best under salinity stress. Richar.ds (1983) proposed opting for hi g h yielding varieties as a solution for salt affected environments, mainly because they are extremely vMiable, and most yield in such environments is produced in the less saline soil patches . Shannon and Noble (1995) demonstr(lted very limited genotype x salinity level interaction for clover s hoot dry weight.Similarly, Kelman and Qualset (1991) did not find genotype x sa linity leve l interaction among a large number of random wheat inbred lines derived from a salinity resistant x susceptible cross. The potentially higher yielding lines performed best irrespective of salinity levels, which, again, were relatively moderate.Genotype x severe stress interaction for yield must be driven by distinct underlying physiological factors. Such interaction may raise the question of a possib le penalty in yie ld potential when a genotype has superior adaptation to drought stress, and vice versa. In other words, raising the yield barrier of wheat most likely will not impact wheat productivity in environments that limit yields to below the crossover point, but may still do so where mean yield is above the crossover point. It may also change the crossover pOint. Recognizing the factors involved in the (lpparent negative association between yield potential and drought resistance is important for designing a more efficient approach to breeding for high yield and yield stability. A review of the literature indic(ltes that our knowledge in this area is very limited. This discussion therefore depends on fragmented information as well as on conjecture.Undoubtedly  1985), but also occurs in the cereals.While late flowering genotypes have a relatively large leaf area and high water requirement, they also possess relatively larger roots. The distinct effect of maturity genes on sorghum root size has been demonstrated (Blum et al. 1977). Under certain stress profiles (such as available deep soil moisture), the large roots of late genotypes may constitute an advantage (e.g., Figure 1), while in other situations their large leaf area and long growth duration may be a disadvantage. Thus, depending on the timing and intensity of stress, late genotypes with high yield potential may have either an advantage or a disadvantage compared with the lower yielding early genotypes.Beyond phenology, yield is derived from various factors operating at different levels of plant organization. Yield improvement has been approached by Donald (1968) through the ideotype concept. The concept was put forward based on the assumption that plant breeding should design the plant according to a pre-conceived ideotype. The idea that a non-competitive wheat ideotype is conducive to high yield potential conforms well with the actual progress made on modern high yielding cereal varieties (HYV) of short stature. The HYV plant is different from its taller predecessors in the greater partitio'ning of dry matter towards yield at the expense of shoots and roots. Such a modifica tion, namely reduced root and shoot mass, should render the individual plant less competitive. The competitive (and perhaps the lower yielding) plant (which at the extreme is typical of natural vegetation) seems to be more capable of capturing resources. This capability would be at least partially linked to traits such as large roots and high tillering potential.The competitive wheat genotype would seem to offer an advantage under drought prone conditions while the non-competitive one would not. Tillering is a distinct attribute of a competitive cereal plant. 'Uniculm' wheat, devoid of normal tillering, did not offer any advantage under low yielding conditions (Whan et al. 1988), while tillering was found to ascribe yield stability under limited moisture supply in both wheat (Hadjichristodoulou 1985) and pearl millet (Mahalakshmi and Bidinger 1986). A competitive plant with high seedling vigor is considered advantageous under dryland conditions (e.g., van Oosterom and Acevedo 1992) possibly for reducing soil surface evaporation and thus increasing the proportion of transpira tion in total crop evapotranspiration (Lopezcastaneda et al. 1995). Fast and vi gorous growth before flowering would also increase the potential for carbon storage in the plant, a reserve that later can be used for grain filling under stress (e.g., Schnyder 1993).Pre-flowering storage of reserves has been considered a possible reason for reducing yield potential (Borrell et al. 1993) since storage a t times can be regarded as a sink competing with yield. Additionally, excessive ca rbon storage in plant organs may constitute a feedback signal limiting the activity of the source (Krapp et al. 1991). Thus, carbon storage as a homeostati c mechanism for supporting g rowth during or after stress can perhaps be regarded as opposing high yield potential. However, there is some evidence against such an obligatory negative association (Blum et al. 1994).It would be misguided to flatly equate high competitiveness with stress adaptation or low competitiveness with drought susceptibility. For example, at least in sorghum and maize, vigorous (and supposedly more competitive) hybrid plants produce more biomass and grain yield than their less vigorous parents or open pollinated varieties. On the other hand, when sorghum was grown under limited stored soil moisture conditions, yield increased when plant growth was suppressed by increasing inter-plant competition (Blum and Naveh 1976), which reduced leaf area and seasonal water-use.Our own preliminary studies have also shown that the smaller (less competitive) dwarf wheat genotypes suffered relatively less growth reduction by drought stress than the large (and more competitive) tall genotypes (Figure 2).Thus, Donald's idea regarding competitiveness and yield remains a challenge and an opportunity. To explore its applicability, the idea should be evaluated in the context of wider environmental conditions.A large sink is an inherent characteristic of the high yielding genotype. The maintenance of a large sink poses a demand on the source. The capacity of the source to fill the potential sink is an essential component of yield potential. It is generally accepted that the actual rates of carbon partitioned to the yield sink (e.g., the wheat spike) at any given time also depends on competition for carbon by other sinks. Geiger and Servaites (1991) concluded from their review that part of the assimilated carbon is always alloca ted to (non-sink) reserves as a means of maintaining homeostasis in the face of unpredictable stress. This is how plants evolved. I propose that plant domestication and breeding may have intervened to reduce reserves at the expense of filling a larger sink. The plant's carbon balance may therefore be regarded as a pool. Materials are put into and are drawn from the pool into various sinks, including sinks such as reserves, root growth or osmotic adjustment. Planned genetic intervention to modify the partitioning of assimilates to various sinks has not been possible baSically because of our ignorance of the control of assimilate partitioning and communication between source and sink. The only unplanned intervention that has been achieved thus far is the unbalanced increase of the grain sink size at the expense of shoot and root size, such as in cereal HYVs. The fact that selection directed only at grain yield so effectively reduced shoot and root size indicates that grains are most likely the primary and the preferred sink in the plant.Because of their close interaction, a large sink related to grain number constitutes a load on the source, and hence the whole plant. A large number of kernels per ear promoted high leaf conductance, gas exchange, transpiration and consequently brought about a reduction in leaf water potential (Blum et al. 1988). A large inflorescence also accelerated drought induced leaf senescence in wheat and sorghum (Khanna-Chopra and Sinha 1988). Whole plant senescence under the demand of a large sink may well be related to the export of nitrogen from the leaves incited by the demand of the grain (e.g., Pell and Dann 1991). A large panicle in sorghum was found to be potentially associated with reduced capacity for leaf osmotic adjustment (Tangpremsri et al. 1995). Sorghum lines of relatively higher yield and osmotic adjustment under stress tended to be lower in yield under irrigation, compared with lines of lower osmotic adjustment (Santamaria et al. 1990). Sorghum hybrids were always lower in osmotic adjustment than their (lower yielding) parental lines (Basnayake et al. 1994).It is therefore quite conceivable that a large grain sink is in opposition to drought resistance if stress occurs when the sink is filled. Again, however, this association is not obligatory for reasons that remain to be explored. For example, the association between a large sink and a lower capacity for osmotic adjustment is not obligatory (e.g., Tangpremsri et al. 1995). The relationship between osmotic adjustment and yield at the population level may not be as prominent as implied for the single plant level. Wheat lines showing high osmotic adjustment under stress were not necessarily low yielding under irrigation (Morgan 1983;Morgan and Condon 1986).The role of the source in the association between yield potential and drought resistance must be considered at the various levels of plant organization.At the canopy level, reduced leaf ared under limited soil moisture conditions is an advantage. It would allow more economical water-use and the avoidance of terminal severe water shortage (e.g., Blum and Naveh 1976;Richards and Townley-Smith 1987). However, the genetic design of smaller leaf area may limit potential productivity.At the single leaf level, high nitrogen concentration, high chlorophyll concentration and high specific leaf weight would all support potential productivity, irrespective of the water regime. Despite the active debate on the subject, it seems that leaf photosynthetic capacity (Watanabe et al. 1994) and stomatal conductance (Shimshi and Ephrat 1975;Rees et al. 1993;Lu and Zeiger 1994) were generally improved by selecting for high yield in wheat. The volume of data recently accumulated on carbon isotope discrimination and yield appears to support a consistent positive relationship between crop yield and photosynthetic capacity across various genetic materials of wheat and other crops (Hall et al. 1994). If selection for high • / -photosynthetic capacity or for higher crop productivity brings about an increase in stomatal conductance, then a concomitant increase in crop water-use is to be expected. This is in agreement with long established linear relations between crop biomass production and transpiration (de Wit 1958).Hence, the implications for water-limited environments can be projected. Where water-supply to the plant under drought stress can be provided, say by deep soil moisture extraction, the advantage of the high yielding genotype will be sustained, to a limit. This returns to the previous discussion of the possible advantage of late genotypes with large leaf area and large roots under midseason stress. Under such conditions, relatively low canopy temperatures (resulting from high stomatal conductance and high leaf water potential) are typical of the more dehydration avoidant genotypes (e.g., Blum et al. 1982;Garrity and O'Toole 1995). However, where soil moisture is very limited, the high yielding genotype, by virtue of its high stomatal conductance, may be at a disadvantage a priori . Thus, again, high yielding genotypes are expected to be relatively productive also under drought stress if stress occurs midseason and deep extractable soil moisture is available to provide for a yield level above that of the crossover.The productivity of the source depends on radiation interception and use. Plants under drought stress cannot benefit from high levels of irradiance, and at times these high levels may be the cause of photoinhibition. The possible involvement of photoinhibition in plant production under drought stress is still debatable. However, a recurrent observation by cereal plant breeders is that genotypes having light leaf color (light green) tend to be more stress resistant. This was recently documented for drought tolerant barley lines (van Oosterom and Acevedo 1992;Watanabe et al. 1995). These investigators proposed that light leaf color in barley was associated with higher chlorophyll alb ratio. The high ratio was considered to be a marker for reduced total chlorophyll content and reduced chlorophyll antennae relative to core complex of photosystem II. This chlorophyll configuration is claimed to confer greater tolerance to stress induced photoinhibition. Therefore they concluded that light green leaves may confer adaptation to high levels of irradiance under drought conditions. This rationale for the observed de facto advantage of light green leaves under drought stress is countered by Tyystjarvi et al. (1991), who cast a doubt on the role of chlorophyll antennae in the above context. Alternatively, the advantage of light green leaves under drought stress may be derived from their high reflectivity and albedo. Light green barley leaves were shown to result in lower leaf temperatures, as compared with dark leaves (Ferguson et al. 1973).Whatever the underlying benefits of light green leaves under stress, they yeem to constitute a specialized-pltm(design for stress conditions. If high chlorophyll concentration is conducive to high yield potential, then it may not be compatible with the light green leaf ideotype for stress conditions, as seen in barley.In conclusion, there is a range of drought stress conditions where high yield potential is an advantage or it is not a liability for attaining stable yield under stress. As stress intensifies, high yield potential and drought resistance become mutually exclusive. Understanding of these associations is very limited and extensive research is needed in this critical area of agronomy and breeding. Such research is heavily dependent on whole plant and crop physiology and is an essential part of our attempt to achieve a wider impact on the improvement of yield potential.bicolor (L) Moench under water-limited conditions. 1. Water stress before anthesis.Aust JAgric Res 41 :51-65. Schnyder, H. 1993   There are studies (e.g., Jim Welch, Colorado) which show that root length is no shorter in semidwarfs compared to their tall isolines.I was glad to see the cotton work on increase is leaf cooling with genetic improvement juxtapositioned with the wheat work here at CIANO in 1993. In fact, in 1994, the cotton workers Zeiger and Lu came down from UCLA to make measurements here on wheat with Ken Sayre. The results are summarized in the Abstracts booklet.Your talk has forced me to reassess the conclusion I had been reaching after reading recent maize literature (Duvick, Tollenaar, Edmeades) suggesting that multi locational yield testing automatically built in a large degree of stress resistance, specially at the level of leaf photosynthesis, because even well managed crops in favorable environments see stress. Also, is it not possible that some or many of the traits you referred to could be facultative and switched on only when they are needed, meaning only when they help performance? To the second point:''By definition, a facultative trait is expr~irrespective of the environment. It is not stress-responsive in the sense that it does not require stress in order to 'switch on'. So in conclusion, my answer to your final question is that the pOints you raise do not allow to assume that crossovers will be eliminated with yield improvements.The data you present illustrate that natural selection has conserved many stress adaptive traits in wheat which are in some cases detrimental to yield under more favorable conditions. Given that the relative performance of wheat genotypes over a range of conditions apparently show crossovers at yield levels of 2-4 tfha, is it probable that increases in yield potential may also raise the yield level at which crossovers occur?A. Blum: Data on yield level at which crossovers occur in different countries and experiments show that the crossover reduces as the mean yield of the experiment is reduced. For example, crossovers with respect to a changing water regime in variety tests from developing countries (without fertilization, etc.) are lower than those where mean yield is high. However, whether the crossover would shift upward with the increase in yield potential is an intriguing question that we should explore. If the crossover is the result of a specific physiological interaction with stress, such as the expression of certain stress responsive genes, than the crossover should not be affected by the increase in potential yield. However, if the increase in yield potential involves change in certain constitutive traits which are detrimental to plant stress adaptation (say, later maturity when drought stress is terminal), than the crossover may shift upward. There are some indi.s:ations that wheat yields may be leveling off It may be necessary to analyze physiological proces;;S{o help identify opportunities for future breeding aimed at breaking the apparent barriers. There are various yield determining characteristics that can be considered, including those related to the crop's ability to intercept and use available.radiation , to partition its dry matter into competing organs, and to absorb and use water and nutrients. We will concentrate on yield components and compensation, and discuss opportunities for manipulating phenological development as a tool for increasing yield potential in wheat. To analyze grain yield in terms of number of grains n( 2 (and its components) and average individual grain weight has been traditional. However, this approach was lately recognized as ineffective because these components are negatively correlated to each other, and the magnitude of the parameters of these relationships are variable. Thus, only by understanding the basis of these negative relationships would it be possible to manipulate numerical components aiming to obtain a particular yield target. An initial step could be understanding phasic development, as there are relationships between the development of the apex and formation of yield components and stages that are most important in building yield potential. In this paper, we describe the initiation (and survival) of different yield components throughout wheat development, concluding that the formation of sub-components of number ofgrains m-2 overlaps somewhat and the negative relationships between these yield components could be attributed to some form offeedback processes, determining a sort of compensation between them. In contrast, the final weight of individual grains appears to be determined with only minimal overlapping with the determination of the number ofgrains m-2 ; thus negative relationships between major yield components may be different in nature. It is generally accepted that wheat yield is better related to grain number m,2 than to individual grain weight. Thus, a critical phase for yield potential, once the number of grains m-2 is established, has been recognized during the period of ca. 20-30 days immediately before anthesis; this indicates that only the narrow window of time coinciding with mortality of tillers and florets and with active growth of stems and spikes appears to be of critical 2 importance for the determination of final number of grains m-, regardless of the sub-components that could be responsible for this response. However, increases in number of grains will result in net increases in yield potential only if its negative association with individual grain weight is not due to mutually exclusive competition between grains for assimilates. The physiological basis of this relationship has to be analyzed. Most studies have shown that whenever yield potential was genetically improved, increased grain-setting ability was partially compensated for by decreases in average grain weight. Tn this paper, we discuss four hypotheses for explaining this negative relationship, including lDZ G.A. SLArER, D.E CALDERINI, AND D.}. MIRALLES non-competitjplalternatives for the compensation between grain weight and grain number. The most widely aecepted explanation is that increased number of grains m-2 reduces the assimilates available for each grain; however, we concluded that the negative relationship is mostly due to non-competitive reasonS . The most important would be that increasing the number of grains m-2 will increase the proportion of grains with reduced weight potential. However, evidence from several sources indicates that in genotypes with a large number of grains there is small but significant source limitatioll. Thus, if breeders continue illcreasing the number of grains without changes in the availability of assimilates per grain, individual grain weight will decrease at a higher rate than in the past, since further reduction due to competition among grains will be added to the 'natural' reduction expected from the increased proportion of grains with low weight potential. Breaking the barriers of yield potential in wheat will require simultaneous increases ill both number of grains m-2 and availability of assimilates. In this paper, we also explore the idea that manipulating crop phenological development through responses to photoperiod and temperature during phases critical for determining number ofgrains and grain weight ca1l be envisaged as a tool for increasing yield potential. We present evidence that sensitivities to photoperiod and temperature during stem elongatioll and to temperature during grain filling arc strong, that there is genetic variation for these traits, alld that the response in these phases appear to be independent of responses ill other phases. This suggests that mallipulating these responses could be an fluenue to increased yield potential ill wheat.During the 20th century, wheat production has increased substantially, from 90 to 600 million tons (Figure 1a). This is due to the increase in both harvested area and grain yield (Slafer et al. 1994a). The most important contribution of expansion of harvested area occurred during the first half of the present century. From 1903 to 1954, the increase in production could be explained almost entirely by the increase in harvested area (Figure Ib) . During this period, wheat production increased from 90 to 200 million tons and the area under production rose from 90 to 190 million ha . From 1955 onwards, increased grain yield was the main cause of the continuous increase in wheat production (200 to 550-600 million tons) (Figure Ic). Grain yield in 1955 to 1994 rose from 1.0 to 2.5 t ha-1 , while area increased by only 20%. Moreover, both production components have shown different behavior during the second half of the century: the increase in harvested area has not occurred in all regions of the world (with clear reductions in Europe, for example), while grain yield increases have been found in all continents (for details see Slafer et al. 1994a). However, a closer inspection of the records of average yields for the last years shows that wheat yields (which increased substantially from 1955 to the late 1980s) are commencing to level off (Figure Id). This latest trend must be viewed cautiously due to the limited information on which it is based. But if the incipient leveling off is confirmed in the next few years and average yields are actually reaching a ceiling new strategies for breaking the barriers of yield potential should be envisaged.In the future, the contribution of new growing areas to increased wheat productiol is expected to be negligible (Slafer et al. 1994a). In fact, the area sown to wheatworldwide has been consistently declining during the last 15 years (Figure Id inset). Therefore, future production increases depend entirely on our ability to reach higher average yields. In this context, the apparent trend of negligible increases in average yields during the last five years or so (Figure Id) is another reason for concern. If wheat breeding, mostly by selecting for yield per se, is not achieving the desired objectives vis-a-vis yield potentia\\, it may be necessary (and rewarding) to analyze physiological processes to help identify opportunities for future breeding programs aimed at breaking the apparent barriers.;>:: It was shown (Slafer et al. 1994a) that despite the great diversity of environments, cultures and economies, there has been a similar pattern of grain yield increases in different countries of the world (Slafer et a\\. 1994a, Figure 3). Past increases in grain yield could be attributed to: 1) genetic gains in yield potential, 2) other genetic gains (e.g., disease resistance, reduced lodging, tolerance to environmental stress), and 3) management or technological gains (e.g., better fertilizer and biocide use, better adjusted dates and sowing rates).  (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994). Data re-worked from Siafer et al. (1994a) and from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome) yearbooks (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995).The impact of wheat breeding on grain yield potential has been reported in several countries {Feil 1992; Loss and Siddique 1994; Slafer et at. 1994a}. These increases ranged from 0.58 g m-2 year-1 in India {Sinha et at. 1981} to 5.84 g m-2 year-1 in Mexico {Waddington et at. 1986}, but most studies reported values of ca. 1.5 g m-2 year-I . These genetic gains in grain yield potential contributed ca. 50% of the total gain in grain yield during this century {Jensen 1978; Silvey 1978; Deckerd et at. 1985;Slafer and Andrade 1991}. If the cost of major resources such as water and fertilizers increases and environmental constraints prevent high input agriculture from further expansion, the contribution of plant breeding to wheat yield increases in the future may be even more important than in the past. In other words, future yield and production increases would increasingly rely on genetic improvements.However, genetic improvements in yield potential in the future will be harder to achieve than in the past. Breeders will have to further increase an already high yield potential and procedures that were successful in the past may not be as efficient in the future . Past successes in increasing yield potential have mainly been the result of an empirical selection approach of trial and error in selecting yield per se {Loss and Siddique 1994}. In the coming decades, using physiological attributes as selection criteria can be expected to accelerate genetic improvement {Shorter et at. 1991}. This is particularly true for crops, such as wheat, that have already been subjected to intense selection pressure for yield per se. Selection based on physiological traits may also be effective because it allows selection during early generations {and sometimes could be based on individual plant characteristics} an may reduce the number of plots and the SiZE of the program, which might otherwise become progreSSively larger {Austin 1993}.There are different approaches for identifyin the key physiological attributes that determine yield potential. Historical series 0 cultivars {i.e., those released in different eras have been largely used to determine which crop characteristics are modified when breeders successfully increase yield potentia The advantage of this approach is that any trait that has been consistently modified by breeders as they selected for yield per se could be used as a selection criterion in further increasing yield potential. In attempting to find physiological traits that should be considered in breeding for further increases in yield potential, several authors have conducted experiments with historical series of cultivars from different countries {Loss and Siddique 1994; Slafer et at. 1994a}. The aims of these studies were mostly to determine the magnitude of grain yield increases due to the release of newer cultivars, and to understand the changes produced in associated physiological traits.For this purpose, grain yield can be divided into different physiological GY=BY*HI and numerical components, where GY, BY, HI, NG m-2 and rGWt stand for grain yield, biomass yield, harvest index, number of grains per unit area and individual grain weight, respectively.Most studies found that breeding during the last century or so has virtually not changed above-ground biomass, and the main determinant of grain yield increase has been the higher harvest index achieved by modern cultivars (Feil1992; Loss and Siddique 1994;Siafer et al. 1994a). However, although these changes in dry matter partitioning have been very consistent, they cannot any longer be used in many cases. This is because in many wheat growing areas the harvest indexes of modern cultivars are already close to their maximum theoretical value (see Austin et al. 1980;and discussion in Siafer and Andrade 1991). Therefore, we must increase total biomass if we are to consistently increase yield potential in the future .Alternatively, we should better understand the generation of numerical yield components and their interrelationships before attempting to break the barriers in yield potential. Evidence from historical series of cultivars indicated that number of grains m-2 was the yield component that has mainly been modified by wheat breeding (Figure 2 and see also Siafer et al. 1994a). The other major yield component, individual grain weight, has experienced only small (or even negligible) change and, in some cases, has declined with increased yield (Siddique et al. 1989a,b;Slafer and Andrade 1989).Several yield-determining characteristics should be considered for future selection aimed at further increasing yield potential in wheat. They include traits related to the crop's ability to intercept and use available radiation efficiently, to allocate different proportions of its growth into competing organs, to absorb and use water and nutrients. These characteristics have been considered in this workshop by others (but see also Siafer et al. 1994a). Our presentation will concentrate on grain yield components and their compensation. Based on better understanding of the causes for compensation between these components, we will attempt to find opportunities to manipulate phenological development as a tool for increasing yield potential in wheat.  during plant development. Then the relationship between major yield components, viz. average individual grain weight and number of grains m-2 , is analyzed in more detail to determine its possible causes. Finally, possibilities for manipulating genotypic responses to photoperiod and temperature and differences in basic development rates as alternative (although not exclusive) tools for increasing yield potential in wheat are suggested.It is traditional in physiological studies to analyze grain yield in terms of numerical components, so that final yield (per m 2 ) is considered as the product of [(PI m-2 .. Sp PI-!\" sp Sp-! .. Gr sp-!)\" IGWt] where PI m-2 , Sp PI-I , sp Sp-!' Gr sp-!, and IGWt stand for plants m-2 , spikes plant-I, spikelets spike-I, grains spikeler!, and average individual grain weight, respectively. The components between brackets are sub-components of the number of grains m-2 , a major component together with the average weight of individual grains. A simple diagram showing grain yield composition through its numerical components is shown in Figure 3.A few decades ago, this approach was thought to constitute \"an effort to more carefully evaluate the several factors contributing to final yield\" (Mitchell 1970). However, this approach to understanding yield determination was later recognized as ineffective (Fischer 1984), mainly because yield components are, almost invariably, negatively related to each other. These negative relationships indicate that as one component increases, others will decrease. Since the magnitude of the parameters of these relationships (intercept and slope) is variable, it appears unwise to suggest that increasing one of them will result in a net yield change of any particular magnitude. With this in mind, would it be sensible to try to select for a higher number of spikelets per spike if it brings about an associated reduction in number of grains per spikelet? The lack of answers to this kind of questions has probably determined that almost everywhere the main trait for which progenies are selected has been yield per se. Therefore, unless we understand the basis of these negative relationships, it would not be plausible to manipulate them (either by cultural management or breeding) aiming to obtain a particular yield target.Although development is a continuum, for the sake of simplicity it is frequently defined as a sequence of discrete phenological events controlled by external factors, each event making important changes in the morphology and / or function of some organs (Landsberg 1977). Descriptions of developmental stages can be found in Bonnett (1935), Waddington et al. (1983), Kirby and Appleyard (1984) and Gardner et aL (1985). Many different scales have been reported (Large 1954;Haun 1973;Zadoks et aL 1974;Nerson et at. 1980;Tottman and Broad 1987). We have s umma rized some of these stages and their relationships with morphological markers in Figure 4. This figure has an arbitrary time scale (as the actual length of each particular phase can be affected by genetic and environmental factors) and uses easily recognizable features of the apex as delimiters of phases (Slafer and Rawson 1994).This approach is clearly a simplification but makes it easier to discuss the effects of environmental and genetic factors on rate of development, and allows for visual integration of the relationship between the length of a particular phase with particular yield components. A serious fault of this scheme is that the relationship between apical stages and the plant's morpholog ical appearance is weak (or even nonexistent beyond a limited range of genotypes and environments). For example, the double ridge stage, which has been used extensively to vaguely mark the end of the vegetative phase (but see Delecolle et al. 1989;Kirby 1990), could occur at different morphological stages (Figure 4 shows only one example).On the other hand, the relationships of other markers are more stable and valid for a wide range of genotype x environment conditions. For example, the terminal spikelet initiation stage, when all spikelets have been initiated, coincides with the time when stems begin to clearly elongate in most agronomic situations (e.g., Kirby 1990;Stapper and Fischer 1990).Figure 4 also shows the relationships between apex development and formation of yield components. During the initial stages (from seed imbibition to floral initiation), the plant remains in the vegetative phase, in which new leaves are initiated. During this initial phase, the number of plants m-2 that are finally established is determined, as plant mortality is extremely unusual after this stage in healthy crops.Tillering, the process determining potential number of spikes planr 1 , begins with the appearance of the fourth leaf (Masle 1985;Porter 1985). This is not related to any particular stage of apical development. It extends until intra-plant competition for resources is strong enough to limit the availability of resources for the growth of new tillers. The end of tillering and beginning of tiller death, under field conditions, frequently coincide with terminal spikelet initiation, when the stem begins to elongate, establishing a strong demand for assimilates and a profound shift in the pattern of dry matter partitioning (Fischer 1984). Tiller mortality normally ends around heading (under field conditions) . By anthesis the number of spikes plant-1 (and thus the number of spikes m-2 ) has been established.The number of spikelets spike-1 is determined in the rather short period between initiation of the first and last (terminal) spikelets. Floral initiation occurs immediately after the initiation of the collar (Kirby 1984;Delecolle et al. 1989) and normally before double ridge (Kirby 1990;Delecolle et al. 1989), although the latter is the first clear morphological change visible in the apex indicating the plant is initiating spikelets. There is no strong association between the external appearance of the plant and the timing of floral initiation, when the plant becomes reproductive. This could occur before the beginning of tillering (e.g., some spring cultivars grown under long photoperiods; Siafer and Rawson, unpublished) or much later, when many tillers have been already produced (e.g ., early sowings of winter wheats). Terminal spikelet initiation does not necessarily have to occur together with the beginning of stem elongation, but this is the case for most growing conditions in the field.Determination of number of grains spikelerl is more complex. Floret primordia initiate in the central spikelets well before terminal spik~let initiation, and by this time many florets are already initiated. Floret primordia initiation continues until a maximum number of primordia (ca. 7-11 florets spikelerl) is reached. During the period of fast spike growth and tiller mortality, a significant portion of florets degenei:ates and by anthesis only 3-4, or fewer, fertile florets spikelerl can be found (Kirby 1988). Under stress-free conditions, most (75-100%) fertile florets set grain after anthesis. Thus most determinants of final number of grains m-2 (Figures 3, 4) overlap somewhat throughout plant development. The negative relationships between these yield components could be attributed to some form of feedback process that determines a sort of compensation between them .The last yield component, final individual grain weight, appears to be determined with only minimal overlapping with determination of number of grains m-2 , the other major yield component (Figure 4).The search for the most important stages in building yield potential is not recent. Hudson (1934) stated that the period between terminal spikelet initiation and anthesis was of paramount importance for yield determination . More receently, others have confirmed this association experimentally (Fischer 1984(Fischer , 1985;;Kirby 1988;Siddique et al. 1989a;Slafer et al. 1990;Savin and Slafer 1991;Slafer et al. 1994a).A simple method for determining which development phases are most critical for yield potential consists of subjecting the crop to different radiation levels (e.g., through shading or thinning) at particular phases and determining the effects on yield and yield components (e.g., Fischer 1985;Thorne and Wood 1987;Savin and Slafer 1991).Wheat yield has been found to be better related to grain number m-2 than to individual grain weight (Slafer and Andrade 1989;Magrin et al. 1993;Slafer et al. 1994a).Thus, reducing the level of radiation before anthesis is frequently far more detrimental for yield than doing so after anthesis (Savin and Slafer 1991), indicating that grain growth is, in general, sink limited (Rawson and Evans 1971;Evans 1978;Borghi et al. 1986;Mac Maney et al. 1986;Savin and Slafer 1991;Siafer and Savin 1994a). In other words, the photosynthetic capacity of the crop during post anthesis would exceed what is required for filling the g rains completely (Richards, 1996). Thus, the period around or before anthesis, when the number of grains m-2 is established, has been largely recognized as being critical. Fischer (1985), by re-analyzing data from several studies with shading imposed at different periods before anthesis, made a major contribution to understanding the physiology of grain number generation and identifying the critical developmental phase for yield potential in wheat. He stated thClt shading during the 20-30 days immediately before anthesis significantly reduced the number of grains m-2 but was independent of the level of radiation at any other period of pre-anthesis growth (Figure 5). Therefore, even when numerical components of final number of grains m-2 are produced during the whole seedling emergence-anthesis period (Figure 4), only the short period coinciding with death of tillers and florets and with active stem and spike growth appears to be critical for determinng final number of grains m-l. This approach was later followed in independent studies (e.g., Thorne and Wood 1987;Savin and Slafer 1991) with similar results, reinforcing the conclusions.Fischer (1985) stated that accelerating development during active spike growth through increases in air temperature also reduced the final number of grains, despite the fact that high temperature increased the rate of spike growth.There appears to be no single numerical component of number of grains that is most affected by stress during this period . Any of the two components being fixed at this time (number of spikes planrl and grains spikelerl) could be responsible for this response. The structure of the crop is thought to determine which of these two components is responsible for the reduction in number of grains m -2 (Slafer et al. 1994b). If we are thinking of taking advantage of this knowledge to further increase the number of grains m-2 , it would be unwise to select for any of its numerical components in particular. Instead we should select for greater growth during the window of time in which grain number is determined. There is, however, a potential flaw in simply assuming that increases in number of grains will directly result in net increases in yield potential. Number of grains m-2 is negatively related to individual grain weight. In order to establish whether or not this generalized negative relationship constitutes a counter indicator to selection for higher number of grains m-2 , the physiological bases of the relationship need to be discussed.Numerous results in the literature show that the negative relationship between number of grains and average individual grain weight is a common phenomenon. In the context of this paper, we will analyze these relationships when the components are affected by genotypes released at different periods of wheat breeding. We will also analyze the behavior of isogenic lines for semidwarfism, since the introduction of these genes was a major step in wheat breeding for yield potential (Slafer et at. 1994a).Most studies comparing major yield components of wheat cultivars released at diffenmt periods reported that modern cultivars have greater number of grains m-2 but lower average individual grain weight than their predecessors (Waddington et al. 1986;Perry and 0' Antuono 1989;Siddique et al. 1989a;Slafer and Andrade 1989;and see Bulman et at. 1993 for similar results in barley). Although some exceptions can be found (Hucl and Baker 1987;Cox et at. 1988;Calderini et al. 1995), most results indicate compensatory processes between grain number and grain weight (Slafer et al. 1994a). In other words, the success of wheat breeders in consistently increasing number of grains m-2 was somewhat counterbalanced by concomitant (but relatively smaller) reductions in the average weight of the grains. This negative relationship between number of grains and their average weight has also been observed in studies analyzing the impact of semidwarfism on yield components. This is because the greater yields of semidwarf wheats compared with tall cultivars are associated with both greater number of grains per spike (Allan 1986(Allan , 1989;;McClung et al. 1986;Slafer and Miralles 1993;Miralles and Slafer 1995a) and reduced average grain weight (Gale 1979;McClung et al. 1986;Borrel et al. 1991;Miralles and Slafer 1995a). grain setting ability of modern vs. old (Figure 6a) and semidwarf vs. tall cultivars (Figure 6b) was partially compensated by untoward decreases in average grain weight. These two components are generated in different phenological periods (see above and Figure 4) and, therefore, their negative relationship is not attributable to feedback regulation (as might be the case for negative relationships between components such as number of grains spike-1 and number of spikes m-2 ). Thus, increases in grain number determine reductions in average grain weight.Understanding the causes of this negative relationship is particularly necessary for future wheat breeding, due to its possible implications for efforts aimed at further increasing yield potential. That is, compensation between both yield components may (or may not) indicate that future attempts at increasing grain yield through increasing grain number would be unwise if they will be counterbalanced by reductions in individual grain weight.50,-------------------, The negative relationship between the two major yield components may reflect different facts . The most likely hypotheses for explaining this relationships can be grouped as follows :• When grain number is increased, the assimilates available during post-anthesis (i.e., those accumulated during pre anthesis and those actually synthesized during grain filling) have to be distributed and shared by more grains. Reduced availability per grain would logically result in reduced individual grain weights. Two alternatives are possible for this competitive-based explanation:1. There is source limitation for grain growth during post-anthesis, that is, the demand for assimilates is greater than the availability, and a limited amount of dry matter is fully shared by an increased number of grains; or 2. There is simultaneous limitation for grain growth during post-anthesis imposed by the strengths of the source and sink (co-limitation) . This occurs when the demand for assimilates is greater than the availability of assimilates per grain, but a higher number of grains is still needed to guarantee the complete use of available assimilates.• The reduction in grain weight with increased grain number is independent of the level of competition (i.e., yield is limited by the strength of the sink during post-anthesis and the availability of assimilates would not change the negative relationship between its components). This non-competitive explanation of grain weight-grain number compensation also has two alternative explanations:1. The increased number of grains may lead to a greater portion of grains being placed in positions with reduced grain weight potential (e.g., distal positions in central spikelets and/ or in apical or basal spikelets and/ or in secondary tiller-spikes) thus reducing average individual grain weight irrespective of the level of availability of assimilates per grain. 2. There is an associated effect of 'yield increasing genes' that reduces potential grain size (e.g ., through an effect on grain coats) producing lower individual size for all grains in any floret position within the canopy (including the biggest grains in the basal positions of the central spikelets in the main spikes).The simplest and perhaps most widely accepted explanation for the negative impact of increased number of grains on grain weight is that the greater the number of grains m-2 produced by the cultivar, the lower the availability of photoassimilates for each grain, which leads to decreases in individual grain weight due to competition between them. However, more detailed analyses are required to confirm or reject this hypothesis.The first alternative hypothesis, that the crop is source-limited during grain filling, can be easily discarded. The fact that the negative relationship between grain number and grain weight has a slope greater (less negative) than that required for full compensation between these components (as illustrated in Figure 6) indicates that grain yield during post-anthesis is not completely source limited. Therefore: 1) there could be a degree of co-limitation (i.e., individual grain weight is reduced as grain number is increased due to stronger competition, although this competition would not be mutually exclusive), or 2) the reduction in grain weight with increased grain number is independent of the level of competition (i.e., yield is limited by the strength of the sink during post-anthesis and assimilate availability would not change the nature and magnitude of the negative relationship between its components).Not much information is available in the literature to directly test whether or not competition for assimilates during grain filling is responsible (partly or totally) for reductions in grain weight associated with increases in number of grains during past breeding. However, indirect evidence from studies applying different methods can be used. Evidence includes results from manipulation of sink-source ratios during grain filling, analysis of changes in weight of particular grains (from particular positions in the spike) when the number of grains is genetically increased and, whenever possible, both approaches should be taken together by analyzing for example the effects of source sink manipulation on yield of modem and old cultivars.SouTce-sink manipulations-There are several ways of subjecting plants to different source-sink ratios during post-anthesis. The most common treatments are shading the crop with shade cloths during all or part of the grain filling period, defoliating plants (or particular shoots) and/ or degraining spikes (mostly through the removal of entire spikelets) . These treatments can determine whether the negative correlation between the two major grain yield components is due to competition for assimilates between grains (Slafer and Savin 1994a).Results of different studies modifying the source-sink ratios during post-anthesis have shown inconsistent responses (e.g., Fischer 1975;Fischer and HilleRisLambers 1978;Martinez-Carrasco and Thorne 1979;Caldiz and Sarandon 1988;Winzeler et al. 1989;Aggarwal et al. 1990;Grabau et al. 1990;Ma et al. 1990;Savin and Slafer 1991;Blade and Baker 1991;Slafer and Miralles 1992;Bonnett and Inco1l1993;Slafer and Savin 1994a). This lack of consistency in the effects of modified source-sink relationships on grain weight may reflect genotype and/ or environment interactions with the availability of assimilates during post-anthesis for grain growth.In various experiments Slafer and Savin (1994a) attempted a quantitative reanalysis of the effects on grain weight of manipulating the source-sink ratios after anthesis. Briefly (for details see Slafer and Savin 1994a) the procedure consisted of estimating the change in final grain weight in response to that in assimilate availability (Figure 7a), assuming that the treatments (e.g., trimming the spikes or shading) did not alter the pattern of senescence of the photosynthetic tissues (as stated by Aggarwal et al. 1990;Slafer and Miralles 1992;Slafer and Savin 1994b).Defoliation experiments were not included since the reduction in the crop's radiation interception during grain filling could not be quantified. Clearly this is a simplification and some values could not be exactly placed on the abscissa. However, slight modifications in the x-values (reflecting effects of source-sink alterations on leaf and other g reen tissue assimilation capacity) would not affect the general trend. Despite the clear interaction between cultivars and environments (determining that at each level of change in availability of assimilates responses ranged from zero to positive or even negative response), the change in grain weight was well apart from the 1:1 ratio line. This suggests that wheat grain yield is either sink limited (those points not Significantly different from zero) or co-limited by both sources and sinks during grain filling. The dotted line joins the pOints belonging to the most responsive cultivars in the most responsive environments (Figure 7a), emphasizing that even in these cases there was no source-limitation to grain growth but co-limitation by sink and source. This line for the interval from -100 to +100% change in availability of assimilates has a slope of approximately 0.4, indicating that even in the most responsive combinations of cultivars and environments there was only a moderate degree of source-limitation and a relatively higher degree of sink-limitation for grain growth. This slope suggests that under complete absence of production of assimilates during grain-filling the reduction in grain weight would be less than 50%. In other words, the contribution of assimilates accumulated in the stem and other tissues before the onset of grain growth would potentially be up to 50% of final grain weight, which is in agreement with calculations based on changes in biomass yield between anthesis and maturity (e.g., Gallagher et al. 1976;Austin et al. 1980;Savin and Siafer 1991), and direct measurements made by Bremmer and Rawson (1978) and Bonnett and lncoll (1993).In addition, data from several experiments reporting genetic improvements on final yield (mostly through the use of semidwarf genes) were reanalyzed to evaluate the magnitude of changes in grain weight in response to that in number of grains per unit biomass (Figure 7b). This figure shows that increases in the number of grains per unit of biomass (which provides an estimation of the balance between sink and source strengths) did not produce a proportional decrease in final grain weight. This is in agreement with the previous conclusions, from studies involving source-sink manipulations in high yielding cultivars, emphasizing that grain growth in modern cultivars might be co limited by both source and sink during grain filling.Analysis ofgrain weight at particular positions-Another indirect experimental approach to analyze the possible causes of the negative relationship between grain number and grain weight is the determination of changes in weight of particular grains as the number of grains is genetically increased. This analysis points to the possibility that increased number of grains determines whether a greater proportion of grains will be placed in positions of lower weight potential, reducing average individual grain weight. Several authors using Rht alleles in different genetic backgrounds reported that the positive effect of Rht alleles on grain number was negatively associated with those on final average grain weight (e.g., Gale 1979;McClung et al. 1986;Borrel et al. 1991;Miralles and Siafer 1995a).A recent investigation (Mira lies and Siafer 1995b) using near isogenic lines for Rht alleles found that the semidwarf line had greater number of grains and lower average individual grain weight; however, in this study grain weights were determined at specific floret positions within the spike. It was shown that the action of Rht alJeles led to a larger number of grains placed in distal positions in the spikelets, characterized by lower weight potential than grains in floret positions more proximal to the rachis (Figure 8). Proximal grains, which are the heaviest, contributed less to total number of grains per spikelet (and than per spike) in lines carrying Rht genes than in the standard-height lines. Obviously, the contrary was true for the contribution made in these lines by the lightest grains. Consequently, irrespective of source-sink ratio, the average weight is lowered by increasing the number of grains due to the increased contribution to total number of grains from those in distal positions of small size potential. The same reasoning would be true if increased number of grains is brought about by increases in the number of spikes m-2 , since grains from the 'extra' spikes would have lower weight potential.Although the same analysis has been not done for cultivars released at different times, there is eviuf'nce that increased number of grains as a consequence of past breeding has brought about reduced average grain weight due to the increased proportion of grains with relatively smaller weight potential. For example, while modern Australian and Argentine wheats exhibited higher grain number and lower average individual grain weight than their predecessors (Siddique et al. 1989;Slafer and Andrade 1993), the basal grains of the central spikelets did not show a reduction in weight (Loss et al. 1989;Slafer and Miralles 1993).Source-sink manipulations in modern and old cultivars-I} better approach to determining whether the negative impact on average individual grain weight of a genetically increased number of grains m-2 is due to stronger competition among grains consists of analyzing responses to sourcesink manipulations in grains from different positions of cultivars released at different times or in isogenic lines for semidwarfism. Unfortunately, simultaneous analyses are not frequent in the literature, and any conclusions drawn from a limited number of cases have to be taken cautiously.Miralles and Slafer (1995b) modified the source-sink ratios in isogenic lines of wheat for semidwarfism in three different environmental conditions. This was done by removing all the spikelets from one side of the spikes (effectively halving the number of grains per spike without changing the relative contributions of grains from different positions within the spike) a week after anthesis. Spikelet removal did not significantly modify the weight of the grains analyzed in any of the three environmental conditions (Figure 9a). However, grain weight of the dwarf line in most environmental conditions increased significantly as the source-sink ratio increased (Figure 9a). Averaging across all environments and grain positions and halving the number of grains in this line (i.e., increasing the source-sink ratio by about 100%) increased the final weight of its grains by about 20%. The conclusion is that the reduction in average grain weight produced by Rht alleles (at least in this genetic background) was not due to increased competition for assimilates, when the semidwarf and standard-height lines, which represent suitable agronomic types, are compared. However, further increasing the number of grains (as was the case with the additional dose of Rht genes) would result in final grain weight being co-limited by source and sink strengths. A similar approach was followed by Kruk, Calderini and Slafer (unpublished)   the shoots of these plants 10 days after anthesis in two growing seasons. The weights of individual grains were analyzed for different positions within the spikes. For simplicity, only results for the cultivars released in 1920, 1940, 1980 and 1989 on the main shoots are presented. There were small differences in individual grain weight between intact and defoliated shoots for cultivars released in 1920 and 1940 (Figure 9b), which were or>ly exceptionally significant (one case in K. Favorito). Thus, it appears that in these cultivars grain weight was not restricted by the availability of assimilates during effective grain filling. The scenario was slightly different for the cultivar rEleased in 1980; although the final weight of many of the grains was not significantly affected by defoliation, the general trend was for a stronger response. In the case of Prolnta Pigue (a very high-yielding cultivar released in 1989), grains showing significant sensitivity were not an exception, and the reduction in grain weight was greater than that shown by the other cultivars (Figure 9b). This trend describing the responses of main shoot grains of four cultivars represents the responses of the other cultivars and of the grains from tiller spikes (Kruk, Calderini and Slafer, unpublished). Results from Koshkin and Tararina (1989) also suggest that breeders have been systematically reducing the sink-limitation to grain yield; this may have resulted in modern, high-yielding cultivars whose yield is co-limited by source and sink strengths.The general conclusion that can be drawn by analyzing pOSSible causes of the negative relationship between grain number and grain weight is that it is mostly due to non competitive reasons and, in particular, that increasing the number of grains m-2 will invariably increase the proportion of grains with reduced weight potential. However, it should be noted that direct and indirect evidence indicates that genotypes with a large number of grains have a small, but significant, source limitation. The degree of limitation to grain growth imposed by the strength of the source during post-anthesis appears to have been consistently increased from old to modern cultivars.If breeders continue increasing grain number without changes in the availability of assimilates per grain, individual grain weight will decrease at a higher rate than in the past, since further reduction due to competition among grains will be added to the 'natural' reduction resulting from the increased proportion of grains with lower weight potential.Thus breaking the barriers of yield potential in wheat will require simultaneous increases in both number of grains m-2 and availability of assimilates to avoid developing competitive restrictions to grain growth. Different approaches are possible for attempting to increase grain number and the availability of assimilates for growing grains. Most of them deal with growth characters, such as changes in the crop's ability to intercept more radiation and in its radiation use efficiency. Araus (1996) has shown in this workshop how these physiological traits could be used as selection criteria in realistic breeding programs.Alternatively, manipulating the crop's phenological development during phases that are critical for determining grain number and grain weight has received much less attention but is certainly a possible avenue of exploration.Since the possibilities of manipulating growth characteristics have been explored by others in this workshop (e.g., Araus 1996;Khush and Peng 1996;Loomis and Amthor 1996;Richards 1996), we will try to evaluate whether phenological development, through the manipulation of responses to photoperiod and temperature, could be an alternative, complementary tool for increasing yield potential in wheat.Phases of plant development that could be genetically manipulated include overall responses to environmental factors that determine the final length of the growing cycle. Plant breeders have been doing this for centuries. In particular, the duration of the sowing to anthesis period has been given flexibility so that, despite variation in sowing date, anthesis can be adjusted to occur at the optimum time for a particular location (Flood and Halloran 1986;Gomez MacPherson 1993). It can be assumed that in most wheat growing areas, timing of anthesis is already close to the optimum, and there would be little room for further increasing yield potential through manipulation of the whole growing season to anthesis.If,as suggested in many papers, there are associations between particular developmental stages and yield components (e.g., Rawson 1970Rawson , 1971;;Rawson and Bagga 1979) and if there are associations between the duration of phases and absolute yield (e.g., Rawson 1988aRawson , 1988b;;Craufurd and Cartwright 1989), then it is important to be able to manipulate the duration of these phases in order to indirectly manipulate yield potential.Therefore, in this paper we will concentrate on the possibilities of manipulating the duration of particular phases that are strongly associated with particular yield components.The combinations of phasic development patterns in commercial wheat cultivars suggest that a growing season of a particular length could be achieved with different durations of component phases (Slafer and Rawson 1994). This leads to hypothesizing that manipulating development could bring about increases in yield potential with no modification of the total length of the growing period. For example, Halloran and Pennell (1982) reported that the lengths of phenophases in a number of wheat genotypes were independent of each other. They thus implied that the duration of any development phase could be modified independently of the duration of other phases. In the context of manipulating development to increase yield potential, it becomes relevant to explore the possibility of modifying the length of two phases defined as critical for increasing yield potential: stem elongation and grain filling. Extending the former phase would increase the amount of biomass accumulated during spike growth and the final number of grains to be formed by reducing the proportion of either floret abortion or tiller death (or both). This would result in an increased number of grains m-2 to be filled. Assuming that yield of modern cultivars is co-limited by source and sink sizes during post-anthesis (see above), extending the grain filling period would increase the availability of assimilates required for satisfying the increased demand.To manipulate the duration of these phases, it is necessary to identify the factors affecting them. The main environmental factors affecting the rate of development are temperature and photoperiod. Cultivars are reported to differ in the duration of their phenophases independently of their responses to these factors due to the action of an 'intrinsic' genetic factor commonly termed 'basic development rate' or 'intrinsic earliness' (e.g., Flood and Halloran 1984;Masle et al. 1989).It is frequently believed that differences in basic development rate apply only to the length of the vegetative period up to floral initiation (see review by Slafer 1996); that wheat is most sensitive to photoperiod during early phases and so responses to this factor are complete by the time stems begin to elongate (see review by Slafer and Rawson 1994); and that cultivars do not differ much in their sensitivity to temperature (this the basis for using thermal times with the same base temperature for any cultivar within a species; Slafer and Rawson 1994). If all these assumptions are true, there is no possibility of manipulating development to increase yield potential other than by selecting for 'optimum' flowering date.The last sections of this paper will challenge these assumptions by reviewing differences among cultivars in response to photoperiod and/or temperature during stem elongation (from terminal spikelet initiation to anthesis) and grain filling (from anthesis to maturity). The existence of these differences is the first step required for using these characters in breeding for higher yield potential. Although basic development rate is frequently considered an additional factor controlling development, here it is considered part of the cultivar's temperature response (for results supporting this see Slafer and Rawson 1995a; for a comprehensive discussion see Slafer 1996).The assumption that wheat responses to photoperiod are complete by the beginning of stem elongation is pOSSibly derived from studies in which development was compared between crops sown on different dates (e.g., Hay 1986;Porter et al. 1987;Masle et al. 1989;Martin et al. 1993). Generally, major changes in crop duration from sowing to anthesis are largely accounted for by changes in duration of the vegetative period, since duration of the sowing to anthesis phase is linearly associated with that of the sowing to double ridge phase, given the period from double ridge to anthesis is relatively constant (see example in Figure 1 of Slafer and Rawson 1994a). Based on this type of studies, it appears that the assumption that the phase to double ridge is more sensitive than later phases is well founded. However, in such studies, reproductive stages are forced into similar environmental conditions by virtue of the response in the duration of this early phase. So, any possible difference in sensitivity cannot be revealed. On the other hand, when the floral stages of development are exposed to different photoperiods in the field, they appear to be quite responsive. For example, a field data set collected by Angus et a!. (1981 for Gatton) showed a pattern that was at variance with the generalized pattern described above, i.e., changes in time to heading were more strongly associated with changes in duration of the reproductive phase than with changes in duration of the vegetative phase (see also Saini et al. 1986a).In a recent study aimed at determining whether responses to photoperiod in wheat change with advancing phenology, Slafer and Rawson (1996) showed that photoperiod sensitivity could still be important during stem elongation (Figure 10). This study included a spring wheat (Condor), a semi winter wheat (Rosella) and a winter wheat (Cappelle Desprez). In all of them, both the primordia (leaf and spikelet) initiation phase to terminal spikelet initiation and the stem elongation phase until heading were responsive to photoperiod. Remarkably, sensitivity of the initial phase was greater (Condor, Figure lOa), similar (Rosella, Figure lOb) or smaller (Cap pelle Desprez, Figure IDe) than that of stem elongation. Two major conclusions may be drawn from this study: 1) that duration of the phase critical for determining number of grains m-2 can be altered in response to photoperiod, and 2) that responses during pre-and post-terminal spikelet initiation phases are independent.Obviously more data are needed before general conclusions can be drawn, but results from Allison and Daynard (1976) and Rahman and Wilson (1977) as re-examined by Slafer and Rawson (1994), as well as from Manupeerapan et al. (1992), and Slafer and  Siafer and Rawson (1996). Rawson (1995b) strongly support the conclusion that the length of the stem elongation phase is responsive to photoperiod and that there is genet ic varlation in this response.It could therefore be suggested that the number of grains m -2 could be increased by manipulating photoperiod response during this phase. The only evidence we are aware of comes from an unpublished experiment that supports this hypothesis (see Table 7 in Fischer 1985).It has been demonstrated that development in all cuItivars is sensitive to temperature, reaching heading earlier in higher than in lower temperatures (e.g., Halse and Weir 1970;Rawson 1970;Wall and Cartwright 1974;Ralunan and Wilson 1978;Piratesh and Welsh 1980;Ford et ai. 1981;Rawson and Richards 1993;Slafer and Rawson 1995c;1996). This finding of universal sensitivity to temperature (Aitken 1974) could be the reason for the assumption that there is almost no variability in the response of different cuItivars to temperature (e.g., Takahashi and Yasuda 1971). However, studies specifically designed to look for differences in temperature response among genotypes and, in particular, to search for different sensitivities in different phases are quite uncommon.Reviewing data from the literature, Slafer and Rawson (1994) showed that genotypes could vary quite substantially in their degree of sensitivity to temperature (see their Figure 7). They also found that the degree of sensitivity to increased temperature (expressed as the reduction in days to heading) was independent of the time a genotype took to head. In other words, the fact that one genotype takes longer to head than another at low temperature does not imply that its sensitivity to temperature will be greater or less. Furthermore, there were some suggestions in the literature that cuItivars could differ in their base temperature, in particular when winter and spring cuItivars are compared (e.g., Slafer and Savin 1991). Therefore, there could be merit in searching for genetic differences in temperature response during stem elongation and grain filling .Data from Rawson (1970) and Rahman and Wilson (1978) are useful for examining the effects of temperature in different phases, for determining whether sensitivity to this factor changes with ontogeny, and, if so, whether this change in sensitivity is common to all cultivars. As expected, all genotypes and all phases were sensitive to temperature, but genotypes differed in their response (Figure 11). In relative terms, sensitjvity tended to be stronger during stem elongation than during primordia initiation (from sowing to terminal spikelet initiation; Figure 11). It can be concluded from Figure 11 that there is variation in the magnitude of temperature response during stem elongation but also that the degree of this sensitivity is not associated with that during previous phases. Saini et ai. (1986b) confirmed this conclusion in an independent study. They found ~he greatest sensitivity to temperature and greatest variation between genotypes in the stem elongation phase.To analyze genetic variation in temperature sensitivity in more detail, Slafer and Rawson (1995c)      Since there is no clear evidence of response to photoperiod after anthesis, the only possibility for increasing duration of grain filling would be through manipulating temperature response. The principle is described above for the rate of development from terminal spikelet initiation to anthesis.The fact that the length of the grain filling period is sensitive to temperature has been highlighted several times. In general there is agreement that the higher the temperature the shorter the grain filling period (see for example Table 2 in Wiegand and Cuellar 1981). Housley and Ohm (1992) clearly demonstrated the existence of genetic diversity for duration of grain filling period using 175 genotypes of winter wheat. However, their study could not be confidently used to determine genetic differences in temperature response because it included only a narrow range of temperatures during grain filling. Hunt et al. (1991) grew 10 wheat genotypes under the same conditio ns up to 1-2 days after anthesis and from then on exposed plants to thermal regimes ranging from 15/15 to 30/25°C. In this study, genotypes clearly differed in their sensitivity to temperature during grain filling. An example of these differences is illustrated in Figure 13. Assuming linear relationships between rate of development from anthesis to maturity and temperature, the slopes for the most sensitive genotypes (Neepawa and Clenlea, 0.0027 °Cd-l ) were approximately 50% greater than those for the least sensitive genotypes (Sun 27-B and Kechuang, 0.0017 °Cd-I ). Data from Marcellos and Single (1972) confirm the existence of large genetic variability in sensitivity to temperature during grain filling. In their work Festiguay was about 35% more sensitive than Cabo (see Slafer and Rawson 1994).To be successful in accelerating genetic improvement of wheat yield potential, empirical selection methods based on trial and error should be replaced by those based on physiological attributes determining yield. Among the different attributes that could be considered, we only discussed the use of phenological development as a tool for breaking the apparent barriers for further increasing yield potential in modern wheat.It is known that increasing grain number m-2 was effective for reaching higher grain yields in the past, and we accept that this strategy could be viable in the future as well. 0.0 6 . -------------  -------, -------1 o 20 Temperature (0C) There is evidence in the literature that stem elongation, which is critical for determining number of grains m-2 , can be altered in response to photoperiod and temperature, and that the magnitude of the responses during pre-and post-terminal spikelet initiation is independent. Regarding final grain weight, manipulation of temperature response is a possible strategy for lengthening the grain filling period. Genetic variation appears to be important for all these sensitivities. succeeded in achieving higher grain yield. Two explanations deserve mention. In many crosses, parent sources likely had extreme phenotypes, i.e., very high kernel numbers. Perhaps these were not optimum parents, they were too extreme. Another limiting factor is too small effort limited to a few crosses and a single cycle.In addition to these comments, it is also possible that in most of these cases, the evaluation of very high numbers of grains had been made on a single (main) spike basis. Therefore, changing the level of organization to the crop level could result in different outputs (i.e., higher number of grains per spike does not necessarily mean high number of grains per m 2 ). That is why our suggestion is to increase the pre-anthesis growth of the spikes (as number of grains appears to be closely related to spike dry weight at anthesis), through lengthening its growth duration, rather than selecting for large spikes.G. Ortiz-Ferrara: All the studies you described were done under optimum conditions in terms of moisture and fertility. Would you please speculate as to how these results and concepts would differ if the studies were done under reduced moisture (less than 300 mm)? G.A. Slafer: As you said, this can only be speculated upon due to the lack of many studies evaluating these aspects in stressful environments. My speculation is that most of the concepts would work in these environments as well. For example, the reduction in number of grains per m 2 when plants are grown under limited moisture is probably responding to reductions in spike dry weight at anthesis. For N fertilization, there is some evidence that this behavior is true . Regarding final grain weight, it is well known that moisture stress reduces its value; however, it is possible to speculate thilt it is due to a direct effect which is independent of the availability of assimilates. For temperature stresses during grain filling, this has been shown by diffferent authors (in our case, in a paper published in J. .M. Reynolds: You provided evidence that the negative relationship between grain number and weight may be a consequence of the grain weight potential, which is reduced with increasing number of grain sites per spike. When and how is grain weight potential determined? G.A. Siafer: We are not completely sure about when weight potential is actually determined. It is clear from the literature that the first 7-1 5 days after anthesis are crucial. This is because of the strong relationship between final weight and number of endosperm cells, and it is during this phase when endosperm cells are formed. In addition, we are now studying the possible impact on final weight potential of pre-anthesis factors.Wheat breeding at CIMMYT has been very successful in raising yield potentia\\. At Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, where selection has been made, grain yields have increased by about 0.9% per year over the last 30 years (Waddington et a\\. 1986;Sayre et a\\. 1996). This increase may be substantially greater than in other breeding programs and is likely due to a number of reasons, for example, the size and quality of the breeding program . The single location used to select for yield potential and to evaluate progress has predictable weather, irrigation, good soils and nutrition, which also contributes to the excellent gains made for yield. Yield potential in these studies was assessed as the yield of adapted cultivars grown where water and nutrients were non-limiting, and weeds and diseases were controlled. This definition of yield potential will be used throughout this paper. The gains made at CIMMYT in these favorable environments have also resulted in yield increases in less favorable environments (e.g., Brennan 1986;Sayre et al. 1995). Thus, much of the following discussion on identifying ways to improve yield potential could have wider application.It seems reasonable to assume that yield potential will continue to increase using current empirical methods provided new variation is incorporated into breeding programs. Why then should we seek additional or different approaches to improve yield? A number of reasons can be advanced. First, selection efficiency using empirical methods has improved substantially over the last three decades due primarily to better machinery for handling small plots, new experimental designs to improve our ability to identify the best lines, and computers that have increased the speed of data handling and statistical analyses. However, it is possible that the rate of advance in these technologies applied to breeding may have slowed, thereby making future yield gains more difficult.Second, lower gains are likely in many regions because less emphdsis is being placed on improving yield potential. In these regions yield potential is only one factor that is important in varietal release. There is increased pressure on breeders to develop varieties with grain quality characteristics that are specifically suited to an end product. Also, as more is known about genes for resistance to shoot and root diseases, nutrient disorders, and other biotic and edaphic stresses, more emphasis is placed on incorporating these genes/ characters into new varieties.The third reason for seeking different approaches to increasing yields is that any increase in yield potential must have a physiological basis, e.g., photoperiod sensitivity, the presence or absence of dwarfing genes, greater photosynthesis, or a faster rate of grain filling. If we can target the factors contributing to greater yield, we should be able to select for them more easily and efficiently and be able to identify the most appropriate germ plasm to use as parents.In many wheat growing regions, breeding emphasis has moved away from increasing yield to overcoming disease, improving grain quality, or eliminating other defects that may constrain production and grain marketability. This can be referred to as 'deficiency' or 'maintenance' breeding. These factors are often more easily targeted than yield potential because of the better understanding of the diseases limiting crop yields and the grain quality attributes required by processors and consumers. Furthermore, the characteristics targeted usually have a high heritability and there is substantial genetic variation in them so that success is ensured. This understanding of desirable quality traits and disease resistance has led breeders to construct varieties by combining known characteristics into a basic variety that is very acceptable to growers and the users of the grain. This approach is now very common and is successful if the number of cultivars released is the measure of success. To begin the construction process, a high yielding cultivar in the target region is required. This provides the basic structure. Additional building blocks are incorporated into the basic structure usually by backcrossing. These blocks often represent incremental but small changes in grain quality and disease resistance. Usually these small changes result in new varieties so that as new blocks are added the breeder becomes locked into what has been called a 'varietal relay race' (Plucknett and Smith 1986). It then becomes very difficult to alter the fundamental structure as it has taken a decade or two to put the right combinations of desirable characteristics together and improved varieties are being released. A radical alteration to this basic structure would result in the building blocks collapsing and a new start would be required. This is the reason why many breed.ers are reluctant to stray too far from their current framework and make wider crosses. It is also the principal reason why future progress in improving yield potential is likely to decline if this approach continues.One presumes that when we have a better knowledge of the underlying physiological processes to target in a breeding program, these can be incorporated into the very best germplasm by backcrossing. This will ensure that the desirable features for grain quality and disease resistance are maintained whilst yield potential is also increased. For this we will need to: 1) identify the yield determining processes, 2) identify suitable genetic variation for these yield determining processes, and 3) develop selection procedures so as to incorporate them efficiently into the appropriate wheat germplasm.Breeding progress is achieved when specific characteristics are targeted. An understanding of the genetics of disease resistance and of grain quality parameters are good examples where an improved understanding of a varietal deficiency is targeted and has then led to substantial genetic improvement. The same level of understanding does not exist for yield potential; thus characteristics to improve grain yield cannot be targeted in the same way. The only exceptions to this would be selecting for genes (both major and minor) governing flowering time to improve adaptation to particular regions. Appropriate plant height can also be targeted because it is known to have large influence on yield potential. We need to better understand the underlying processes of physiological traits in order to select for them more precisely.In the rest of this paper, I shall give my thoughts on the physiological processes that may be genetically modified to improve the yield of wheat. The main factors that have influenced my thinking come from field experiments comparing historical sets of varieties released in different eras. These studies have dissected yield into some of its components and then determined the changes in these components that are associated with yield increases. The simplest dissection of grain yield is into biomass and harvest index. Studies of historical sets of wheat varieties show that most, if not all, of the increase in wheat yield over the last 100 years has come from an increase in harvest index. It is very interesting to contrast this result with barley, where harvest index (HI) and biomass have contributed equally to improved yields (Gifford 1986). It would be a worthwhile endeavor to understand why these two cereal species differ in this respect.A further interesting finding from historical data sets is that the increases in yield and HI in wheat and barley have been almost entirely due to an increase in grain numb~r per unit area, rather than to an increase in grain weight (Austin et al. 1980;McCaig and DePauw 1995;Cox et a\\. 1988;Sayre et a\\. 1996) . Grain number is established in the period just before anthesis when the ear is growing rapidly. This would suggest that an increase in assimilate supply to the developing ear has been a significant factor for increasing grain number for the historical sets of varieties. The lack of increase in grain weight in the historical sets also suggests that assimilate supply is limiting after anthesis.The obvious answer to this question is yes, as more growth and photosynthesis results in more biomass and more yield, provided the partitioning coefficient between grain and straw is maintained. However, the question is not as simple as it seems, since the obvious ways to increase carbon production per unit area, such as by increasing plant density, has not increased biomass and yield in well-managed experiments at Obregon (Fischer et a\\. 1976). Nor does CO 2 fertilization at double ambient levels greatly increase total biomass under temperate conditions (Idso et a\\. 1989;Rawson 1995). Furthermore, the enormous selection pressure to increase grain yield by breeding has not resulted in an increase in peak rates of photosynthesis per unit leaf area or genetic gains in biomass in wheat (Evans 1993).To examine whether the supply of carbon may limit yield, I have divided the crop growth period into three phases. This also makes it easier to identify the important processes in these periods that cOuld be manipulated.Slower growth early in the crop's life may not greatly limit grain yield in environments where nitrogen and water are freely available. This is certainly true in long season environments where the crop over winters and where leaf area and biomass prior to winter are small relative to final biomass. It is also true in favorable shorter season environments. For example, Fischer (1983) has shown that limiting carbon supply by shading during the vegetative stage has little effect on the yield of irrigated spring wheats. Similar conclusions were reached in studies where it was shown that increasing planting density or decreasing row spacing had little effect on total biomass at maturity and on grain yield (Fischer et a\\. 1976). It seems that early deficiencies in growth are easily compensated for by later growth, provided there are no factors that limit later growth.These conclusions may be true in well managed crops where water, nutrients and light may be very favorable. However, if conditions become unfavorable either due to lack of water, salinity, nutrients, light, weeds or very short season environments, then slower growing crops may not be able to recover from the reduced vegetative growth and yields may decline. This may also be true in less ideal conditions of farmers' fields compared with conditions on experiment stations. Increasing early vegetative growth may overcome some of the above limitations and enhance our opportunities to improve yields in well-managed crops by manipulating phenology. We have recently developed very different wheat germ plasm with greater early vegetative growth that may be very important to provide these opportunities for both sub-optimal as well as more favorable conditions. These will be described later.As crops approach anthesis, the environment progressively increases its impact on yield. For example, shading in the early reproductive period has less effect on crop yield than it does in the late reproductive period (Fischer 1983). The crop clearly has more time to compensate for any early check in its growth compared to a later check. During the late pre-anthesis period, a number of factors are expected to increase growth and thereby increase yield. For example, increases in photosynthesis, light interception and radiation-use efficiency should increase crop growth rate and, thereby, biomass and yield. However, there is little evidence that current germ plasm has higher values of these variables than old varieties. This is rather curious considering that grain number, the yield component most closely associated with increased yield, is determined during the late reproductive period . This indicates that for our current wheats, it is the partitioning of carbon to reproductive structures, rather than increases in biomass, that has largely determined yield . Simplistically this suggests that the supply of carbon is not limiting yield, but rather the partitioning of carbon to the growing sinks. Support for the idea that it is not the supply of C that is limiting, but rather its utilization, also comes from studies of large wheat fields . Measurements of carbon assimilation in well fertilized crops with adequate water shows that assimilation increases to a peak at midday but is not sustained and declines thereafter (Dunin et al. 1989). This may be due to feedback inhibition of photosynthesis because of adequate or even excess carbon produced for both growth and storage (Azcon-Bieto 1983;Sage and Sharkey 1987), although factors other than C may also be limiting during this time. Uptake of water and nutrients by roots are the obvious candidates; further studies on root activity during this growth period are required .The finding that there has been very little change in the grain size of wheat when historical sets of varieties are compared also suggests that the supply of carbon to the growing grains is limited. However, there is considerable evidence to the contrary. We have conducted several experiments both in pots and in field canopies where we have halved the leaf area several days after anthesis and, therefore, after the final grain number has been established. Despite the halved leaf area, grain weig ht and yield were not reduced (Table 1). Thus plants were able to achieve the same yield with about half the leaf area. This study is not unusual and oth~r  (Davidson 1965;King et al. 1967;Rawson et al. 1976). This study indicates that These results complement recent findings from CIMMYT where semidwarf cultivars released in northwest Mexico over the past 30 years were compared (Sayre et al. 1996;Fischer et al. 1997). In these studies it was found that increases in yield since 1962 were associated with increases in grain number per unit area (but no decrease in grain weight) and with increases in stomatal conductance. Furthermore, measurements that reflect variation in stomatal conductance, such as canopy temperature and carbon isotope discrimination, were also associated with yield. This is a very important finding as it has implications for how to select for future yield increases. One outcome of these results would be to begin selecting for higher stomatal conductance or reduced canopy temperature. However, whereas this may be useful in the short term, in the long term the rate of yield increase may be sacrificed.The increased s tomatal conductance and the corresponding increase in photosynthetic rate may be a direct response to the increased demand for assimilates driven by greater grain number i.e., greater sink streng th. If the increases in conductance and in yield are both a result of increased grain number, the more successful approach in the long term would be to identify the underlying factors determining grain number, rather than to select for the consequences of increased grain number. This would target the principal factors governing increased yield rather than just the correlated response. It may well be that post-anthesis carbon supply is not limited at all. Photosynthesis appears to be well regulated by stomata according to the demand by the plant for carbon. If this is true, selection for stomatal conductance is doomed for slow gains, whereas if we could understand the underlying processes that control grain number, we may be able to greatly accelerate gains in yield.In summary, it is suggested that grain yield for irrigated spiing wheat may not be limited by the supply of carbon. In fact there is ample evidence that crops may be more sink than source limited. However, considerable opportunities exist to increase both the total amount of ~arbon and the partitioning of this carbon to the growing ears and grains. These opportunities will now be examined in more detail.It has become evident that increasing carbon supply is far easier to achieve by increasing leaf area than by increasing photosynthesis. In our quest to improve the early growth of wheat for Mediterranean-type environments, we have been exploring the underlying factors that make barley much more vigorous than wheat, which in turn results in barley having a faster and greater development of leaf area and biomass by anthesis. Leaf area of barley jllst after seedling emergence is twice that of wheat, whereas dry weight is about 40% greater (L6pez- Castaneda et al. 1995). The early growth advantage in barley arises for several reasons . Barley germinates marginally earlier than wheat, it has a higher leaf area:leaf weight ratio (greater specific leaf area, SLA) during early growth stages thereby spreading an equivalent leaf mass over a larger area, and for the same seed weight, the embryo size of barley is about double that of wheat (L6pez- Castaneda et al. 1995;1996). The larger embryo in barley results in more expanding cells after imbibition and faster early root and shoot growth. Additional factors that could contribute to increasing early vigor in wheat are the development of a coleoptile tiller (Liang and Richards 1994) and the absence of the major dwarfing genes (Richards 1992).With our understanding of the factors responsible for early vigor we are now in a position to pyramid the above traits and incorporate them into commercially grown cultivars.Very few wheats have just one of the above characteristics contributing to greater vigor and none have been found that combine several. Consequently we made a search of the world's wheats for greater early vigor. We found two excellent donors for the SLA and embryo size characteristics. Because these traits should be genetically independent of each other, transgressive lines were identified that have a leaf area and biomass exceeding both donor parents (Figure 1). The canopy of these transgressive lines develops much faster and reaches full  Richards (1996).Although these lines are being developed for rainfed Mediterranean-type conditions, they may also be important in short-season spring wheats grown under more favorable conditions. They may provide a number of opportunities to alter crop development. For example, earlier floral initiation may be possible in these lines; if so, it would enable a longer period of spike development or a longer grain filling period. Longer duration of spike or grain growth could increase grain number and grain weight, respectively.These lines may also be more robust in overcoming any early checks in growth in otherwise favorable environments.Spring bread wheats are generally different from other cereals bred under high input systems (such as maize, rice, and durum wheat) in that most cultivars have a more planophile (less erect) canopy. This is curious considering that the advantages of erect upper leaves for increased biomass would seem to be quite substantial once there is full light interception and provided water and nutrients are not limiting (Monteith 1965). In other, less favorable environments, an erect leaf canopy has contributed to increased yield and biomass in. winter wheat (e.g., Innes and Blackwell 1983). Also, recent durum wheat cultivars from CIMMYT have a more erect canopy than older types, which may partly contribute to their greater grain and biomass yields (Waddington et al. 1987).In rice not only do erect upper leaves appear to provide a yield advantage but some lines containing both erect and rolled leaves have greater radiation use efficiency, greater crop growth rate and higher yields (Williams and Reinke, pers. com.). The reason for the different canopy structure of spring wheats compared to the other species is not known.It may be because there has been no conscious selection pressure for leaf erectness in spring wheats or that there is no advantage in having erect leaves at yield levels up to 6.5 t ha 1, as was found by Araus et al. (1993), and that advantages only accrue at higher yield levels (Austin 1982).Considering the arguments for the advantages of an erect canopy for increasing carbon supply at high yield levels, effort into breeding wheats with canopies composed of short, erect flag leaves seem warranted.Improving the rate of photosynthesis should also translate into greater grain and biomass yields. However, there is little evidence to show that selecting for increased photosynthesis among genotypes results in increased yields (Evans 1993). Although in the study conducted at Obregon it was shown that, for CIMMYT bred material, genetic increases in grain yield in the last 30 years were associated with increases in stomatal conductance and in the maximum rate of photosynthesis (Fischer et al. 1997).However, as was discussed earlier, it is not dear whether the increases in conductance and mesophyll activity are true genetic differences or whether they reflect the increased sink strength of the additional grains set. The gas exchange characteristics of cultivars in this historical set were very closely associated with grain yield but not related to crop biomass. If there were a relationship with crop biomass, this would provide good evidence that gas exchange characteristics are independent of sink strength.Experimental evidence was presented earlier to indicate that increased grain number may be the driving force for sustained growth and greater yields. It would seem that plants have ample reserve capacity to meet any additional demand for carbon provided that water and nutrients are adequate. As a result, if grain num ber is increased, crops will be able to meet the extra requirement for carbon and nitrogen, and yield will be increased. In this section I will discuss a number of opportunities that may increase both grain number and yield.There is good evidence that increasing carbon supply to the growing ear by reducing the size of the competing sinks results in increased grain number. This was part of the basis of.the 'green revolution'. It arose from the introduction of new dwarfing genes into spring wheats, which prevented crop lodging and enabled more inputs to be applied by farmers . These dwarfing genes also resulted in increased grain number per unit area . This increase occurred because in shorter wheats there is less competition between the developing ear and the growing stem for photosynthate in the pre-anthesis period. Thus more carbon is available for ear growth than it is in tall wheats. This results in an increased supply of carbon to developing florets and greater floret fertility, which in turn results in greater grain number and yield (Brooking and Kirby 1981;Fischer and Stockman 1986). Although further gains are unlikely to be made by further reducing plant height, because biomass is likely to decline if crops become shorter, there may be opportunities to maintain the height of the leaf canopy whilst reducing the height of the mature crop. This would be achieved by reducing the length of the peduncle, i.e., the internode between the uppermost leaf node and the ear. This is the most rapidly expanding organ immediately before anthesis, when the ear is also growing and kernel number is mainly determined.Reducing the length of the peduncle may further diminish competition between the ear and the stem and result in more grains being set.Reducing the size of the flag leaf may also increase grain number and yield. A smaller flag leaf may result in more assimilates going to the developing ear for the reasons described above, provided there is no allometric relationship between organ sizes. An additional benefit of a small flag leaf may be an increase in radiation-use efficiency, as more light would penetrate the canopy.Howe.ver, this may be counterbalanced by a decline in canopy photosynthesis associated with more light reaching older leaves (Rawson et at. 1983).Reducing the number of sterile tillers could also increase supply to the growing ear. Wheat produces many more tillers than it can sustain and so many are aborted. Indeed, Very little is known about how assimilate supply to the apical meristem influences ear growth. Indirect evidence would suggest that it is very important. For example, it is noteworthy that: 1) factors limiting growth and carbon production also delay floral initiation in wheat (Rawson 1993;Rawson and Richards 1992), and 2) sucrose applied to the apex promotes flowering in Lolium (King and Evans 1991). An increased understanding of how assimilate supply effects the apical meristem would be rewarding.A very interesting finding that may have large implications for improving grain number is how nitrogen content in the spike at anthesis is related to final grain number (Abbate et al. 1995;van Herwaarden 1996).In these studies the total nitrogen content of the spikes at anthesis was more closely related to grain number than was spike dry weight (Abbate et al. 1995) or water soluble carbohydrates in the spike at anthesis (van Herwaarden 1996). It seems that nitrogen in the spike may increase grain number by increasing floret survival. Several management opportunities to increase grain number follow from these findings as do several ways for genetic manipulation. For genetic manipulation, information is required on the amount of variation among genotypes for the allocation of nitrogen to the spike at anthesis. There is circumstantial evidence for differential partitioning of nitrogen among cultivars. Slafer et al. (1990) found little variation in nitrogen uptake among old and new varieties in Argentina but found differences in nitrogen distribution to the grain and straw at maturity. There is also substantial evidence for variation in nitrogen uptake during the vegetative stage (Cox et al. 1985;Dhugga and Waines 1989). This finding of nitrogen content influencing grain number also raises the question of whether it is both carbon and nitrogen allocation to the growing ear or some other substance that is important in the determination of grain number.Evidence from historical data sets indicates that increases in grain number rather than grain weight has consistently been associated with increases in wheat yields. In fact a decline in average grain weight is usually observed as grain number increases (Slafer et aI., these proceedings). There are two likely reasons for this. The reduction in average grain weight may be due to a shortage of assimilates or, more likely, may be a consequence of the fact that when more grains are produced in wheat they are from distal florets, which are always smaller. To further increase grain yield we need to better understand the relationship between grain number and grain weight and the determinants of grain weight.Several avenues of research are suggested to improve our understanding of factors leading to variation in grain weight in cereals. An understanding of the differences between barley and wheat is likely to be a fruitful start. Barley typically produces a heavier kernel than wheat even when grain number per unit area is the same. This is surprising considering that the duration of grain filling in barley is shorter than it is in wheat; this means that the rate of grain filling is substantially greater in barley (L6pez Castaneda and Richards 1994). A comparison of the average growth of four barley and four wheat cultivars grown side by side in the field is given in Figure 2. The reasons for the substantially greater rate of grain growth both for individual grains and per unit area are not known, although a number can be proposed . Several of the reasons may be associated with the differences in structure between the barley and wheat spike.There may be a vascular limitation in wheat that is not present in barley, which has to do with the differences in spike structure between the two species. For example, wheat may have up to 4 or 5 grains per spikelet, whereas barley has only 2 or 3 in the case of 2-row and 6-row barleys, respectively. Although this reason cannot be ruled out, evidence from several studies indicates that it is unlikely (Evans 1993). Other reasons associated with the differences in spike structure could be due to more synchronous fertilization of florets in barley than in wheat.Often there is a difference of seven days in anthesis time between the florets in the same spikelet of wheat, yet physiological maturity of all grains occurs at about the same time. This may result in longer duration of grain growth in wheat compared to barley, but it may be insufficient to make up for the difference in rate of grain growth. The early formed florets may inhibit the growth of later formed florets (Bremner and Rawson 1978); this is not a problem in barley because it has fewer florets. A possible way to overcome some of these factors in wheat would be to 500 -400'\" 'E.9 300 increase the number of spikelets, as this is likely to result in fewer florets per spikelet.Differences in grain growth between wheat and barley may also be due to a number of factors that are not associated with spike structure. Grain growth in barley may occur at a lower base temperature than it does in wheat; this would result in more growth, particularly if temperatures fall below the base temperature (about 11°C in wheat).Rht2 may have a smaller caryopsis, which limits grain growth. There is a direct relationship between the number of dwarfing genes and cell size (Keyes et al. 1989); if these genes limit the elongation of the caryopsis, as they do other organs, a smaller caryopsis may be the reason grains of semidwarf wheats are smaller. A further reason may be that assimilate supply to barley florets immediately after fertilization may be greater than it is in wheat.Endosperm cell number is known to have a significant influence on rate of grain filling and final grain weight in wheat (Brocklehurst 1977) and barley (Cochrane and Duffus 1982). An understanding of the importance of endosperm cell number in determining grain weight and identifying ways to manipulate it is important if we are .to discover how to improve the grain weight of wheat.We do not yet understand what causes grains to mature and to cease filling . In some conditions it will be due to the lack of assimilates because of drought and the absence of current photosynthesis. However, in other conditions assimilates are not lacking because grains mature when there is still ample green tissues and stored carbohydrates. Better understanding of the causes of grain maturation would also be useful.It should be possible to manipulate all of the factors discussed in this paper by conventional genetic means provided there is adequate genetic variation for the characteristics. It is unlikely that in the near future molecular biology will greatly enhance genetic variation for the characteristics discussed, although it is likely that molecular marker assisted selection will improve some selection processes.Nevertheless, although I cannot identify specific targets where molecular biology may directly improve grain yield, I would like to suggest two areas of research where it may substantially increase our understanding of crop processes that may influence yield: 1) regulating sucrose metabolism in the source tissues and its transport to sink tissues and the developing apices, and 2) using cell division cycle genes to better understand meristematic zones of organs, including the developing grains.M. Mergoum: You mentioned in your talk that in order to obtain genotypes with high yield you need to increase spike size and reduce tiller number. However, in triticale, which fits your ideotype (few tillers and large spikes), the big hurdle is still tiller number under conditions that enhance high tiller capacity. Could you clarify this discrepancy? R Richards: I agree that triticale does in many ways fit the ideotype I have proposed . However, I do not fully understand your point. The point I was trying to make is that wheat under optimal conditions, such as in Mexico, typically produces well over 1000 shoots/m2 yet only about 450 of them are fertile. If later formed tillers were inhibited and assimilates were diverted to shoots that were fertile then this may be one route to greater grain numbers and greater yields.M. Mergoum: Previous speakers mentioned that sink is a load for plants (i.e., source is limiting) and you mentioned that sink is limiting. Is this controversy due to genetic material differences (genotype, for example) or to environmental factors? R Richards: I believe there is overwhelming evidence for sink limitations and I have described the evidence for this more fully in my written paper. If crops are adequately supplied with nitrogen, J would not expect to see increased senescence associated with a higher grain number.Yield potential has been defined as the \"yield of a cultivar grown in environments to which it is adapted, when nutrients and water are non-limiting, and when pests, diseases, weeds, lodging and other stresses are effectively controlled\" (Evans 1987). There are several aspects of yield potential that merit attention: for example, how it might best be determined; the morphological and physiological characteristics that maximize its expression; the extent of genetic variability; and the efficient economical selection of ge~otypes with high yield potential.While empirical (i.e., conventional) breeding programs aimed at improving yield in self pollinating crops rely basically on direct selection, this actually limits breeding progress because of the particular nature of yield. Yield is a polygenic trait, strongly affected by the environment, and can only be applied as a selection criterion in the later generations of a breeding program. As the production of high yielding cultivars by empirical selection requires progressively larger and more costly breeding programs, the use of more analytical approaches is being postulated, in which a better understanding of physiological traits associated with yield and its responses to the environment might improve the effectiveness of selection (Austin 1993). In the analytical approach, a surrogate for yield (i.e., a set of criteria screening tests) would be used, particularly in the early stages of a breeding program (Austin 1993). However, few, if any, alternatives to direct selection for yield have been adopted, though many have been suggested. The multiple selection criteria approach when breeding under Mediterranean conditions is an example of this (Acevedo and Fereres 1993).Thus, whereas the theoretical framework of this approach would seem to be sound, its application to breeding programs has serious inconveniences. Frequently it implies a vast expenditure of working hours, which can only be met by the strongest breeding programs and, even then, not in all generations. But perhaps the most serious criticism is the strong empirical nature of the approach. Thus, even in the absence of pleiotropic negative effects, most characteristics will be of secondary importance (because they are neither additive nor independent), and the effort required is not compensated by the probable benefit. Therefore, developing reliable screening techniques is necessary to make breeding more efficient. Provided there is enough inheritable variation for the trait, all screening tests must satisfy several other requisites (see Austin 1993;Acevedo and Fereres 1993) tha t can be condensed into two. The first requisite is physiological: there must be an appreciable genetic correlation between the trait being assessed and yield under field conditions. The second is more technical: screening for this trait must be simple, quick, and less expensive yet more convenient than screening for yield itself.The following section introduces a conceptual framework that in principle allows identification of morphophysiological traits related to yield. In addition, some of the most promising screening techniques being developed to evaluate these traits are discussed.Several approaches have been developed, the most empirical of which is the 'ideotype' concept (Donald 1968), although reduction of the amount of empiricism in plant breeding was inherent within it (Sedgely 1991). Indeed plant breeders have selected and will continue to select for ideotype traits: maturity, height, kernel number and weight, head number, and leaf area, angle and duration (Rasmusson 1991). However, pleiotropy, trait compensations and inferior donor germplasm have all hindered progress in ideotype breeding. Thus, for example, Araus et al. (1993) concluded that the possibility of an allometric relationship between leaf erectness and smaller leaves, spikes and stems could modify the relative contribution of different yield components to final yield and complicate improvement of crop production via selecting for a more erect canopy. The challenge, therefore, is to identify traits that merit an ideotype breeding effort.Retrospective analysis has also been widely used to identify morphophysiological traits.It is fully summarized in recent reviews (Slafer et al. 1993) and developed further elsewhere (see Slafer, these proceedings). This approach involves the use of a conceptual model for determining yield potential and may become a convenient way to extend the definition of integrative physiological criteria.The transformation of solar energy into harvestable plant parts can be divided into three major processes: first, interception of incident solar radiation by the canopy; second, conversion of intercepted radiant energy into chemical potential energy (i.e., plant dry matter); and third, partitioning dry matter between harvested parts and the rest of the plant. The yield or harvestable part (Y) of a crop over a given period of time can, therefore, be simply expressed by the following equation (Hay and Walker 1989): Y=QxlxExH where Q is the total incident solar radiation received by the crop over the growing period, I is the fraction of Q intercepted by the crop canopy, E is the crop's overall photosynthetic efficiency (i.e., conversion efficiency of radiant to chemical potential energy: total dry matter produced per unit of intercepted radiant energy), and H is the harvest index or fraction of the total dry matter harvested as yield. This is normally expressed in terms of above-ground production, excluding the root system.It is widely accepted that total canopy photosynthesis during growth is closely related to yield (Zelitch 1982;Ashley and Boerma 1989). Indeed total biomass, the result of Q x I x E, can be physiologically understood as the consequence of crop photosynthesis over time. However, for wheat most retrospective studies have concluded that total above-ground biomass, either at anthesis or maturity, has not changed substantially as a result of breeding (see references in Slafer et a\\. 1993). Given the improvement in agronomic practices, most gains in wheat yield this century have paralleled changes in the harvest index.From the above equation several ways can be postulated by which the crop photosyntheSis might be increased. At canopy level there are at least two major ways. One is to increase interception (1) of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) by the canopy throughout the growing season. This can be done by achieving faster soil coverage and longer-lasting photosynthetic organs. Another way is to increase the conversion efficiency of PAR into dry matter, either by improving PAR distribution through changes in canopy structure or by increasing photosynthetic capacity of photosynthetiC organs, without concomitant decreases in their area or duration.To be of any value in assessing yield potential in a population of plants, a screening test should evaluate one or more components of the above equation. However, many traits are measured with complex, expensive, time-consuming techniques unsuitable for routine screening of large numbers of progeny in breeding programs. Indeed, they are only useful for screening small numbers of genotypes to be used as parents. Moreover, quite often these tests are used to provide snapshots of a given plant process (e.g., photosyntheSiS, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence) and/or they provide information at a level of organization that is too low (cellular or even lower) and in controlled environments. Although n<?t always the case (Reynolds et al. 1994), information from these test is generally poorly associated with yield.Because of the very complex character of yield itself, particular emphasis should be given to (single) tests that integrate the function of the crop, either at highest level of organization (i.e., canopy) and / or during a part of the plant cycle (e.g., early development, grain filling). In fact, the most integrative test is yield itself. Some physiological techniques have been modified and, although not as accurate as more complex methods, may be useful for routine plant screening. In addition, some traits can be combined in a single measurement.Below we discuss recent techniques for conducting single evaluations of integrative traits related to yield. These include remote sensing techniques based on spectral reflectance signature, composition of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, mineral content and other surrogates.In principle, assessments of photosynthesis, plant biomass, total leaf area, water status, transpiration, etc., based on remote sensing have certain advantages. First, they may be less invasive and expensive. Second, they allow the study of upward scaling (canopy level) of physiological phenomena . Remote sensing products that are potentially useful for assessing photosynthesis and related processes fall into two categories (Field et al. 1994):1) Photosynthetic capacity or CO 2 uptake potential. Spectral reflectance measurements in the visible, near-infrared and mid-infrared regions are promising new techniques for estimating above-ground biomass, leaf area index, absorbed radiation, total canopy chlorophyll, nitrogen and water status.2) Instantaneous photosynthetic activity.Examples of these products include chlorophyll fluorescence (canopy-scale measurements by measuring laser induced fluorescence), xanthophyll pigments (spectral reflectance techniques), and canopy temperature (by infrared thermometry).Spectral reflectance measurements allow traits different from these two categories to be assessed.Methods based on red/near infrared contrast of reflectances can yield estimates of leaf area index (LA I), green biomass, crop yield, and canopy photosynthetic capacity. In fact, green leaves are strong absorbers in the red, but highly reflective in the near infrared (Figure 1). The identity of the physical 0.5, : \" ...,;\", , parameter or parameters measured by the red/near infrared contrast is not completely clear, but the dominant driver of the contrast is the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by green leaves.Because the contrast in reflectance between the near-infrared and red is large in green organs but small in soils and most other materials, the amount of contrast increases as the PAR fraction absorbed by the canopy increases.Two single and widely used indexes are the 'normalized difference vegetation index' (NOV!) and the 'simple ratio' (SR) used as indicators of canopy structure, light absorption, and photosynthetic capacity.where RNIR and RRED are the reflectance in the near infrared and red wave bands, respectively. These two indexes are readily convertible:The validity of these vegetation indexes as quantitative indicators of canopy structure or net primary production is largely based on empirical results with horizontally uniform (i.e., crop) canopies (Kumar and Montheith 1981;Bartlett et at. 1990), although they are also good indicators of PAR absorption, and thus potential photosynthetic activity, even in heterogeneous landscapes (Gamon et at. 1995). Indeed, NOVl is probably the most commonly used index for analyzing vegetation on a continental and global scale (see references in Gamon et at. 1995). In addition, these canopy reflectance-based indexes are attractive because they work well with broad-band radiances (Sellers 1987). They also provide inexpensive, large area estimates of N status since leaf chlorophyll a content is mainly determined by N availability. Therefore, photosynthetic capacity and leaf area duration can be evaluated at canopy level.The NOVl seems the most powerful spectral combination with which to estimate total area of plant leaves and LAI and, in fact, is the most widely used index. With LAl between 0-2, NOVI is a sensitive indicator of canopy structure and chemical content (biomass, LAC chlorophyll, and nitrogen contents). With LAl above 2, adding more canopy layers makes little difference to the relative interceptance or reflectance of red and near-infrared radiation, and thus little difference to NOVl (Sellers 1987). Therefore, NOVI is ideally suited for detecting subtle differences in cover in sparse canopies and makes a sensitive growth index in young crops and grasslands or crops growing under stress conditions (Tucker et at. 1979;Gallo et at. 1985;Fernandez et at. 1994;Gamon et al. 1995;Penuelas et at. 1996).Indeed, the relationships between NOVI and these canopy parameters are clearly non linear (Figure 2) and can be effectively described by semi-logarithmic relationships, expressing these canopy parameters on a (natural) logarithmic scale. The logic of this transformation lies in the negativeexponential extinction of PAR with canopy depth (Monsi and Saeki 1953;Sellers 1987).When SR is expressed on a logaritlunic basis, this parameter is comparable to NOVI as indicator (Gamon et al. 1995).On the other hand, and according to the theoretical basis of light extinction through the canopy (Sellers 1987, Bartlett et al. 1990), both indexes exhibit near-linear correlations with the fractional PAR intercepted or absorbed by green tissues over a wide range of canopy densities (Gamon et al. 1995).Therefore, NOVI and SR can be used as  Effects of cali bra tion changes, atmospheric transmission, solar elevation, and canopy architecture still present major challenges (Field et al. 1994). There are, however, other limitations. Some of the parameters assessed by spectral reflectance measurements of the canopy cannot be estimated independently of plant treatment, such as water regime or N-fertilization level. For bread wheat it seems that chlorophyll (Chi) content cannot be estimated by NOVI independently of plant treatment, despite the high linear correlation between the content of N and Chi (Fernandez et aJ. 1994). However, total leaf area per plant, LAI and nitrogen content in wheat may be estimated from NOVl or from a linear combination of green and red reflectance independent of plant treatment (Fernandez et al. 1994;FiIella et al. 1995).Reflectance in the visible wavelengths is sensitive to changes in the LAI of vegetation, particularly on light-toned substrates (Curran 1983) and with low biomass levels.On the other hand, reflectance in the near infrared is more sensitive to changes in the LAI of vegetation on dark-toned soils (either due to their composition or humidity), while in some instances soils can be so reflective that the near infrared wavelengths are insensitive to changing LAI (Curran 1983).Traditional vegetation indexes involving ratios of visible and near infrared reflectance, commonly used in early biomass estimations, may be inadequate under such circumstances (Elliott and Regan 1993). Nevertheless, Fernandez et al. (1994) pOint out that NDVI seems to be a better estimator of LAlor total leaf area than other spectral indexes that attempt to incorporate soil reflectance.Spectral reflectance should provide, in principle, a sensitive method for screening genotypes for early growth. Intraplot variability can be overcome by averaging several reflectance readings within a plot. However, the contribution of genotypic differences in canopy architecture (tiller density and growth habit) and plant height to spectral reflectance is poorly documented and further work is required (Elliot and Regan 1993). Accurate estimation of canopy structure and composition from NDVI may require individual calibration for distinct canopy architectures. Finally, the optimum method for collecting remotely sensed data needs to be determined, while the acceptable range of accuracy and error required to assess genotypic differences in biomass production confidently needs to be established (Elliot and Regan 1993).Spectral reflectance techniques also allow the calculation of other indexes that are potentially useful indicators of crop response to abiotic stresses. Below we briefly discuss two of these indexes: the photochemical reflectance index and the water index.Changes in the region of spectral reflectance from about 500 to 560 nm wavelength are the result of interconversion of xanthophyll pigments. The xanthophyll cycle is involved in processes of excess radiation dissipation (Demmig-Adams and Adams 1992), some of which have been associated with changes in leaf reflectance near 531 nm. The PRI index is used for quantifying the status of xanthophyll pigments without canopy-scale PAR manipulations.In addition, PRI could be used to assess photosynthetic use efficiency at leaf or canopy level in a similar way to widely used fluorescence parameter indicators of PSII photochemical efficiency (Gamon et al. 1992;Filella et al. 1996).Water status can be monitored at the canopy level using reflectance techniques. For example, the ratio between reflectance at 970 nm (a water absorption band) and 900 nm (reference wavelength), known as water index (WI), has been reported to closely follow changes in relative water content, leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, and canopy temperature when plant water stress is severe (Penuelas et al. 1993). For cereals exposed to a soil salinity gradient, WI measured during grain filling has been seen to be well correlated with carbon isotope discrimination of mature kernels and canopy temperature (Penuelas et al. 1996).A simple-to-use, portable spectroradiometer of a size comparable to that of current infrared thermometers used to assess canopy temperature should be developed soon (Penuelas, personal communication). By combining the reading of several discrete wavelengths (e.g., 680, 900,950 nm), simultaneous evaluation of NOVI, WI and total chlorophyll content should be possible. The final part of this paper will discuss potentially useful traits as well as proposed surrogates that might substantially reduce the cost of applying such traits.It is widely accepted that for C 3 plants, such as small-grain cereals, carbon isotope discrimination (L'i) provides an integrated measurement of water use efficiency (Farquhar and Richards 1984;Hubick and Farquhar 1989). As expected from the theory, the value of L'i correlates positively with the ratio between the atmospheric and the intercellular partial pressures of CO 2 (p/p), and, therefore, negatively with water use efficiency (WUE: measured either as net photosynthesis/ transpiration or plant biomass produced/water transpired) . In this regard, L'i is a potentially useful criteria to select for WUE in wheat (Farquhar and Richards 1984;Condon et al. 1990;Ehdaie et al. 1991), where considerable genotypic variation for L'i has been demonstrated.Whereas selecting for WUE under limited water conditions has obvious interest, L'i may be a useful criteria to select for potential yield. Several studies have reported a positive correlation between grain yield and L'i for wheat (Condon et al. 1987;Araus et al. 1993;Sayre et al. 1995), barley (Romagosa and Araus 1991) and durum wheat (Araus and Nachit 1996), not only under drought but also in trials with no water stress (see Table 1 for durum wheat). Moreover, under adequate growing conditions, L'i is highly heritable and exhibits substantial genetic variation (Richards and Condon 1993), independent of phenological differences (Sayre et al. 1995;Araus and Nachit 1996).The positive correlation between L'i and yield in the absence of water stress can be explained in several ways. Higher L'i is related to higher P/Pa due to greater stomatal conductance (Farquhar and Richards 1984), which leads to higher photosynthetic rates and, hence, higher yield. In addition, when wheat is grown at supra-optimal temperatures, the observed positive correlation between stomatal conductance and yield may also be related to heat avoidance (Reynolds et al. 1994). On the other hand, a positive relationship between L'i and growth has been reported for seedlings grown under adequate water conditions (Febrero et al. 1992;L6pez Castaneda and Richards 1994). Indeed, increased early growth and leaf area development may be inherently linked with decreased water-use efficiency (Turner 1993) and, hence, higher t.. One explanation might be that a higher photosynthetic rate (due to higher P/Pa) can supply substrate at a higher rate and favor faster growth. Alternatively, a lower t. (and thus higher p/ Pal might be associated with lower specific leaf dry weight (SLOW: dry matter per unit leaf area, a rough indicator of photosynthetic machinery per unit leaf area), where SLOW is negatively correlated with leaf area (Wright et al. 1993;L6pez-Castaneda and Richards 1994). The positive correlation between early vigor and t. could be due to factors other than thinner leaves alone. Because t. reflects the plant's water status, higher t. might be an indirect indicator of larger cell elongation due to better water status.The use of t. as a selection index for increased yield gives rise to several practical considerations. Whenever pOSSible, two kinds of samples for t. should be taken: leaf samples from early stages of the crop (Sayre et al. 1995) and mature kernel samples. Whereas the first sample would provide information about genetic variation in the population, the second sample would probably be more affected by genotype x environment interactions (even in the absence of severe stress) and therefore could provide information as to which genotype was less affected by mild stress. Indeed , even under 'optimal' agronomic conditions, plants are affected to some degree by abiotic stress: midday stomatal closure and transient photoinhibition are examples of this. In addition, t. at seedling stage seems to be positively associated with early vigor.Due to the cost of carbon isotope analyses (> $10 per analysis), several surrogates for measuring t. have emerged, including accumulation of minerals such as K or Si, or total ash content in vegetative tissues of cereals and forages (Walker and Lance 1991;Masle et al. 1992;Mayland et al. 1993;Araus and Nachit 1996). Several aspects still need to be clarified, particularly the mechanisms underlying the genetic association between mineral accumulation and WUE (Walker and Lance 1991;Masle et al. 1992). However, the amount of minerals accumulated by plants Table 1. Correlation coefficients of the relationships between grain yield (GY) and total ash content in the flag leaf (AshL) sampled around two weeks after anthesis, ash content in mature kernels (AshK), kernel weight (KW), carbon isotope discrimination of kernels (t.K) and number of days to heading, for durum genotypes grown in three environments of northwestern Syria.  12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5 17.5 to,. kernels (%0) yet costly, to,. analysis (Mayland et al. 1993).Ash content is positively correlated with to,.(Figure 3) and yield (Table 1) either under rainfed or well-watered field conditions (Mayland et al. 1993;Araus and Nachit 1996).Total ash content in mature kernels could be a complementary criterion in addition to to,. (or ash content in vegetative tissues) for assessing genotypic yield differences (Tables 2 and 3).The pattern of ash content in kernels behaves 2.4 o r2 = 0.466 a;:::::12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5 17.5 to,. kernels (%0)  differently to that in vegetative tissues, probably because, unlike mineral accumulation in vegetative tissues, grainfilling does not take place throughout the xylem. Although ash content in barley kernels seems to correlate (negatively) with yield only under rainfed, poor-yielding environments (Febrero et al. 1994), current results with ICARDA's Durum Core Collection (Araus and Nachit 1996) also indicate a significant correlation under irrigation (Table 1). This relationship cannot be explained based only on differences in kernel weight. Thus, ash content is better correlated with yield than with kernel weight in the three environments assayed (Table 1). Genotypic differences in ~ and ash content could be simply due to differences in phenology. To assess this possibility, ~ of kernels, AshK and AshL for durum wheat genotypes were analyzed using the number of days from planting to heading as a covariate. Even when the covariate was significant for all parameters evaluated (indicating that these traits were systematically associated with phenology), there were strong significant differences among genotypes for all these traits when corrected for heading time. Therefore, there is significant genotypic variability in ~ of kernels, as well as in AshK and AshL, which is not explained by differences in phenology.A surrogate analysis of ~ (Clark et al. 1995) and total ash content (Windham et al. 1991) has been reported for grasses utilizing near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). NIRS may be very useful in the routine screening of early generations. In laboratory settings, NIRS is currently the basis for quick, accurate, non-destructive and highly repeatable assays of many biological materials, including digestibility, nitrogen, energy content, moisture, ash, crude fats, total reducing sugars, alkaloids, and a number of other compounds and classes of compounds in plant matter (Clark 1989). Preliminary analyses of barley kernels (Catala et al., unpublished results) indicate reasonably good correlations between ~, Table 3. Percentage of grain yield (GY) variation within genotypes in three different environments of northwestern Syria explained by the progressive combination of different integrative traits measured in the support irrigation trial and based on carbon isotope discrimination and total ash content of mature kernels and leaves. The traits assayed were: Carbon isotope discrimination (~K) and total ash (AshK) content of mature kernels, carbon isotope discrimination of the penultimate leaf (~L) and the total ash content of the flag leaf (AshL). Penultimate leaves were sampled around heading, flag leaves 2-3 weeks after anthesis and kernels at maturity.a a Calculations were done by fitting grain yield to a multilinear equation where traits were sequentially added.b n =number of genotypes assayed.Coefficient of variation of estimated GY. Source: Araus and Nachit 1996.  Measured a 13 c(%0) Yes, if they are irrigated and your purpose is to use these traits to select for potential yield. E. Ouveiller: Tn the effort to generate accurate data on disease resistance, tools like remote sensing based on assessment of photosynthesis can be promising to help breeders recognize the best genotypes regarding a particular disease. Since both control and diseased plots need to be evaluated in order to assess the effect of a disease, can techniques based on spectral reflectance be used for screening for disease resistance of early materials, and what would be the minimum plot size?There is no doubt radiometric indexes such as NOVI can be promising traits to evaluate disease (note the answer to the first question). However, the minimum plot size for such comparisons should be comparable to that required when evaluating yield . Therefore, I am skeptical of the evaluation of early materials based on any radiometric approach.M. Reynolds: Your data show that the spectral index NOVI shows a significant association with many canopy traits including ground cover, when LAI is 2 or less. To what extent does leaf waxiness confound this type of relationship, and can you compare the relative efficiency of the techniques with visual estimates? J.L. Araus:The effect of waxiness on NOVI is minor. For example, in a comparison between two near isogenic barley lines differing in glaucousness, NOVI was about 4% lower in the glaucous compared with the non glaucous genotype (unpublished data from our team). Of course visual estimates of some canopy traits are perhaps faster than spectral reflectance techniques. However, visual evaluations produce discrete narrow scores (e.g. from 1 to S), which frequently are highly subjective and associated with the degree of experience of the people in charge of the evaluation. On the other hand, you can derive many canopy traits once you have recorded canopy reflectance data.In one of your slides, you indicated that under low nitrogen there is more fluctuation in chlorophyll content and more so in morning hours. What was the nitrogen level in your experiment and during which hours of the morning was it measured? J.L. Araus:If you are referring to the work of Filella et al. (1996) cited in my paper, nitrogen levels were 2S and 7S kg N ha-I , and chlorophyll content was measured in the morning between 7-9 h and midday between 11-13 h (solar time). Nevertheless, I suspect there is some confusion because I don't agree with your interpretation of this slide. time, the long gestation period for these processes means that it takes wheat breeders many years to bring a new variety to the farmers. Thus, not only is genetic advance not generally maximised but through-put is slow. Methods for increasing generation through-put, combined with directed genetic manipulation, can bring particular advantages. Current advances in molecular biology and tissue culture can make an important contribution to these processes, as well as provide the basis for introducing novel traits through genetic engineering technologies.Genetic analysis combined with character analYSis plays a pivotal role in providing plant breeders with information about the characters and genes that they wish to manipulate to produce high yielding varieties with better adaptability to appropriate environments, better disease, pest and stress tolerance, and good quality. Current estimates are that wheat probably contains about 25,000-30,000 unique genes, but only a fraction of these have been mapped so that their primary and pleiotropic effect can be studied, understood and manipulated. There is an urgent need to use genetic analysis to identify, locate and then gene tag agronomically important loci. This would allow the available variation to be manipulated in a more directed manner than has hitherto been possible, enabling yield potential to be maximised in a given environment. There is evidence in the UK, for example, that dramatic increases in yields of varieties over the last 30 years can be traced, at least in part, to the introduction of a few major effects, such as the introduction of the Rhtl and Rht2 dwarfing genes and the IBI/ lRS translocation (Angus, Nickerson Plant Breeders, pers. comm). The identification of other novel effects and their assembly into adapted backgrounds can lead to greater yields and yield stability.Comprehensive genetic maps of the entire wheat genome developed through the use of molecular marker systems (Devos and Gale 1993) are now allowing detailed genetic analysis of all traits by associating allelic variation at marker loci with phenotypic variation for traits of interest. Precise methods of genetic analysis that enable the accurate location and manipulation of major genes and QTL controlling important agronomic traits are emerging. In wheat, this can be carried out, first, at the whole genome level, when partial or complete genome marker coverage can be achieved (Hyne et al. 1994), as is being practised in many other species, for example, in barley (Kleinhofs et a!. 1993, Laurie et al. 1995). Second, and specifically for wheat, this can be done at the individual chromosome level, since it is possible to combine previously developed, sophisticated, chromosome assay procedures from cytogenetic approaches (Law et a!. 1981(Law et a!. , 1987)), using the newly developed detailed genetic maps. By combining the current molecular-marker-derived maps with recombinant substitution lines, wheat geneticists have tools for genetic analysis that undoubtedly meet or surpass those available in other arable crop species (Snape et al. 1994).In certain crosses, it is theoretically possible segregating populations demonstrate the to dissect total phenotypic variation for any same relationships in terms of magnitude trait into components attributable to each and direction of effect on two or more individual gene. In practice, it is unlikely that characters, then pleiotropy is the most likely all loci will be detected and located, since the explanation. There is now considerable effects of individual genes will probably vary evidence that many major genes (for in magnitude and only those reaching a example, dwarfing genes, photoperiodic threshold level greater than the experimental genes, fertility genes, and others) and QTL in error will be detectable. Nevertheless, it wheat have pleiotropic effects on yield and should be possible to tie down a considerable yield components, and these effects can proportion of the variation for anyone trait, interact with environment (see below).particularly if the variation is mediated, at least in part, by a few loci of relatively large effect. In wheat, this The efficiency of marker mediated approaches to genetic analysis depends on the density of the genetic maps available. In wheat, there are several problems that are limiting map detail and hence the power of analysis, relative to the maps available in other cereal species such as maize and, to a lesser extent, barley. In particular, the levels of polymorphism obtained for DNA clones in wheat appear to be lower than in other species. However, the great advantage of molecular markers over conventional markers is that DNA probes hybridize across crosses within the same species, across genomes w :thin polyploid species such as wheat, and frequently across independent genomes of taxonomically distant but related species.An additiona l tool available to the wheat geneticist for gene location is comparative genetic a nalysis, which also provides new insights into gene action and gives breeders access to a wider spectrum of genes (Snape et al. 1995(Snape et al. , 1996)). The genetics of wheat can now be clearly linked to the genetics of other Triticeae species, particularly barley and rye, since extensive collinearity has been shown between the wheat, barley a nd rye genetic maps. Also, common markers are being used to combine the available inform a tion on important ag ronomic characters into a common framework (Devos et al. 1993). Since this synteny now extends much further (to maize, rice, sorghum, millet and forage grasses) (Moore et al. 1995), it should be possible to carry out comparative QTL analyses across all these species. This can be used to link known genes into homoeologous series or to search for previously undescribed genes. For example, we were able to exploit comparative mapping to locate Ppd-Hl , a new major photoperiodic gene in barley, because we knew its chromosomal location in whea t' (Laurie et al. 1994). Additionally, we have shown by RFLP mapping llsing cross hybridizing probes that Vrnl, which controls vernalization response in wheat, is homoeologous to Sh2 in barley and Spl in rye (GaJiba et al. 1995;Laurie et al. 1995).A major discovery made during the initial development of wheat genetic maps was the extensive collinearity in gene order for molecular markers between the A, Band D genomes. Although there are major transloca tions between chromosomes (for example, a reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 4A and SA), most of the genome is still conserved in terms of gene order. This synteny can also be exploited to search for homoeologous variation for agronomic characters within wheat. Once major genes or QTL of interest are identified and mapped onto a particular chromosome, the known homoeologous regions in the other genomes can be searched for allelic variation. This can be done using the same probes if polymorphisms for them exist on the other genomes, or probes for closely linked loci if the detector loci are monomorphic. Many, if not most, traits currently mapped exhibit, as would be expected, synteny across the wheat genomes (for example, genes controlling plant height, grain storage proteins, gra in protein amount, flowering time, stress tolerance and even disease resistance) (Worland et al. 1984). Vrn5(7B), has been established (Worland et al. 1984;Snape et al. 1985). However, wheat varieties in Europe and other major wheat growing areas of the world have alleles at the Vrnl locus that appear to be predominant in reducing vernalization requirement (Pugsley 1971 ;Snape et al. 1976). For example, Snape et al. (1995)  Ppdl, Ppd2 and Ppd3 on chromosomes 20, 2B and 2A, respectively (Welsh et al. 1973;Law et al. 1978;Scarth and Law 1983). In autumn sown wheats, these play an important part in accelerating or delaying flowering time in the spring, after vernalization requirement has been satisfied. Presently, most European varieties that are day length insensitive probably carry a Ppdl allele derived from the Japanese variety Akakomugi (Worland and Sayers 1996). An alternative allele at this locus appears to be present in CIMMYT wheats such as Ciano 67. Ppd2 alleles for emerging on the genetic control of pest and disease resistance, including adult and non specific forms of resistance and many aspects of grain and end-use quality. The challenge now is to translate this genetic information into selection tools that can be used by wheat breeders on an efficient and low cost basis.Although directed genetic manipulation of the wheat genome is now becoming possible through marker-mediated selection following genetic analysis, the production of a new variety still requires many generations of self-pollination and selection to achieve the necessary levels of homozygosity and, hence, genotypic stability before a variety can be released. One of the major contributions of tissue culture techniques to wheat breeding has been the development of doubled haploid (DH) systems which can short-circuit this process. Generally, a minimum of two years can be saved in the release of a new cultivar by the development of recombinant DH populations from inter-varietal F1s. An added and significant advantage is that these systems not only speed up the advance to homozygosity, but can also increase selection efficiency (Snape 1989). This is because of the greater proportion of additive genetic variation available for selection for quantitative traits and the absence of dominance effects for major genes. This allows better discrimination between genotypes within crosses, better discrimination between crosses, and greater selection response across generations (Snape 1982).The widespread use of DH technology in wheat has been impeded by the lack of a technique that can satisfy all of the expected criteria for a successful system (Snape et al. 1986), namely, 1) easy, consistent production of large numbers of DHs of all genotypes in the breeding programme; 2) DHs should be genetically normal and phenotypically stable; and 3) recombinant DH populations should contain an adequate sample of the genetic variation in the parents. Until recently, the most widely used technique in wheat was anther culture. However, although useful in some breeding programmes (e.g., Hu and Yang 1986), it is restricted in general applicability by genotypic differences in response, low production frequencies, and high relative cost. An alternative system that exploited chromosome elimination in intergeneric crosses with wild tetraploid barley species (Hordeum bulbosum) was also attempted, but was restricted by genetically determined low crossability in many varieties (Snape et al. 1979).The discovery by Laurie and Bennett (1988) that the same phenomenon could be exploited by using intergeneric crosses with maize pollen has at last led to a commercially exploitable system. This system is now enabling large populations of homozygous recombinant lines to be produced at reasonable cost. This has been possible by the modification of pollination techniques to allow large scale emasculation and high fertilization frequencies; the post-pollination application of plant hormones that allow high frequency embryo survival and germination; and efficient chromosome doubling techniques. Several commercial  (Harwood et al. 1994). Future developments in tissue culture should give further progress; if such biolistic methods of gene delivery into proliferating scutellum tissue of immature embryos (Weeks et al. 1993). In addition to the introduction of marker genes to test and optimize the systems, there is now the opportunity to introduce agronomically useful genes. Primary candidates for introduction will be novel genes that alleviate pest, disease and stress problems or create new products from a range of biological sources. Table 5 lists  improvements in bread-making quality. This can be achieved by introducing the x and y subunits of loci previously cloned, such as subunits 5 and 10. The success of these approaches will obviously depend on the availability of cloned genes of interest, and different sources of plant genes are becoming available for both crop and model plant species, particularly Arabidopsis. For example, sources of fungal resistance are now emerging from studies of resistance genes such as the Cf2 and CJ9 genes of tomato. The sequences of these genes have been determined and degenerate PCR primers can be designed to pull out homologues from other species, including wheat.Transformation technologies are still in their infancy in wheat, and formidable challenges remain in terms of understanding gene expression, stability, and durability. Additionally, farmer acceptance and consumer concerns need to be taken into account, and these techniques are unlikely to be a panacea . At present, they should be regarded as complementary to conventional breeding technologies, and used in an integrated approach to crop improvement.Biotechnologies now available allow the wheat geneticist to elucidate and modify the genetic architecture of most characters in terms of the numbers of loci involved, their relative magnitudes, their dominance and epistatic relationship, and their primary and pleiotropic effects. Also, the commonality of genetic control that is emerging from studying widely different gene pools indicates that although different alleles may be present, the same loci appear to be responsible for variation. Information on economically important traits from a wide range of varieties can therefore be combined in a common framework. Through comparative genetic analysis, a common framework map is emerging for all major cereals (wheat, barley, rye, rice, oats, maize, sorghum, and millet), as well as sugarcane and forage grasses. Thus, wheat geneticists and breeders need to be aware of information emerging from genetiC studies of other species since it may indicate where loci for agronomic traits are located in wheat.Using the information on the genetic control of a particular character for directed genetic manipulation at the plant breeding level is still, however, problematic. To do so requires following each locus, and each 'desirable' allele, using a unique 'gene hanjle'. With respect to RFLP markers, a unique band profile must be associated with each particular allele of the agronomic trait that is to be selected, the marker must be closely linked to the trait locus, and there needs to be linkage disequilibrium for both loci in different crosses of the gene pool being used. However, because of the low levels of RFLP in wheat, this is proving to be difficult and very few loci have been tagged to date. Additionally, RFLP analysis is expensive and unlikely to be usable routinely on the large populations that plant breeders handle. Thus, the technology needs to be developed considerably to make the process 'breeder friendly' . This will probably involve using RFLP probes as entry points to clone regions of the genome as near as possible to the locus/allele being targeted, sequencing the region, and designing specific PCR primers to target the allele in question. Such primers may be suitable for use in dot-blot or RAPD assays of breeding populations.Genetic analysis is also the first requirement for cloning economically important genes at the molecular level, since in wheat, the probable generic method for gene isolation is via chromosome walking. Establishing deta iled genetic maps containing defined RFLPs and agronomic genes is essential to form the entry point for walking. Once genes can be isolated, it will be possible to develop a much greater understanding of gene structure and function, and how they relate to plant phenotype. This, in turn, will lead to genetic manipulation at the molecular level to produce new alleles and allelic combinations. Eventually, it will also be possible to reintroduce these into wheat The effect is well recognized in the UK, but it does depend on genetic background. It may be related to increased stay-green under our conditions.M.Kohli: You mentioned the problem of gene expression in transgenic materials. How wide is the problem? Are there genes or gene systems that do express better than others? J.W Snape: Problems of gene expression depend on a number of factors: the source of the gene, the promoter, the locations of the transgene in the genome, copy number. Transgene expression varies widely even for transgenics developed at the same time using the same gene and conditions of shooting, selection and regeneration. All genes that we have used show up to lOx variation in gene expression between regenerants. There are not, to my knowledge, predictive criteria for stability of any known gene combination.M. Kohli: Are there any indications that genes, especially for disease resistance, transferred using molecular techniques, will be any more stable or durable than those done via conventional breeding methods? Breeding progress largely depends on: 1) generation of new genetic variation for agronomic traits, and 2) accurate selection of rare genotypes with new sets of attributes or superior combinations of pre-existing alleles.Biotechnology has provided us with new ways to generate genetic variation as well as methods for manipulating it. In the case of quantitative traits, superior genotypes from an elite germplasm pool represent new combinations of alleles that are better than the genotypes of either of the parents, i.e., transgressive segregation.There is historical evidence that conventional breeding within a single germ plasm pool can consistently make progress over time (Leng 1974; see Rasmusson, these proceedings). This is probably because: 1) it is very difficult if not impossible to combine all the best alleles at all loci that are segregating for a quantitative trait into a single genotype and identify it; 2) because of G x E, the 'best' genotype is elusive but 'better' genotypes can be identified; and 3) every generation there is new variation creatp.d at the DNA level. Therefore, within an elite gene pool where differences between alleles are small, progress will slow and eventually level off.The questions remains: Can progress using conventional breeding continue at the same pace that it has in the past, and if so, for how much longer?Recent studies indicate that, although improvement in yield potential of wheat maybe slowing, genetic variation for yield in the primary gene pool of wheat is not exhausted. This leads to two questions: 1) How do we enhance breeding progress within the elite gene pool that is available? 2)Can we make more rapid breeding progress by introducing genetic variation from secondary gene pools? This paper will describe approaches that may partially answer these questions.A comprehensive and accurate testing program is the most crucial component of any breeding program, especially when working with elite materials. In collaboration with national programs, CIMMYT has conducted an excellent worldwide testing program . This testing program has been refined and improved over many years and is essential for identifying superior germplasm as well as for germ plasm distribution. There is no alternative method for generating this information, and the testing program must not be compromised in any way. As we all know, this is a very expensive operatio:1 which limits the number of genotypes and the diversity of germplasm that can be evaluated. There are ample opportunities for error, some of which may be detected with built-in checks and screens.New and creative methods of distributing and testing ~ermplasm are needed . Data analysis and manipulation in the testing program promises to be one of the most productive research areas in the coming decade. Data from molecular analyses must be integrated into the databases along with pedigrees, agronomic performance, disease and insect resistance, and plant characteristics to maximize the amount of information on genotypes and gene complexes available to the breeder. In collaboration with ICARDA, we are currently gathering such information on a core durum gene pool and we are developing strategies and methods for integrating these diverse sources of information. The International Crop Information System currently being developed at CIMMYT is one of the building blocks necessary for such integration. There are relatively few options for increaSing the rate of genetic improvement within the elite gene pool given that the level of financial resources remains as in the past. One approach is to emphasize crosses between parents that are less closely related. In addition to mean parental performance, a measure of relationship such as coefficient of parentage should be used for choosing parents. This would increase the likelihood of combining new andl or different alleles to produce transgressive segregation. By reducing the number of crosses, more effort could be put into more thorough evaluation of breeding populations. A second approach is to place more emphasis on specific adaptation. This may require more sophistication in the testing program but could be especially valuable for tailoring varieties to stress environments. This will require additional effort in planning, data analysis, crossing, and selection.Efficient utilization of germ plasm resources requires that under-utilized alleles be identified and combined with desirable alleles to improve elite genotypes. However, for many characters (e.g., yield) exotic germplasms have inferior phenotypes providing little evidence that they possess useful alleles. For this reason, as well as others such as linkage drag and polygenic inheritance, use of exotic germplasm is often restricted to major genes that confer disease and insect resistance, as in the case of the IBI lR translocation. Recent evidence indicates that IB/IR genotypes are also higher yielding (Villareal et al. 1991). Despite the apparently inferior phenotypes for many traits, exotic germ plasm and even wild species contain desirable alleles for most indefinitely. This is essential for QTL studies because of the need to estimate relatively small gene effects and interactions. In wide crosses where traits such as seed shattering or sterility may be a problem, one backcross followed by selfing to homozygosity can greatly facilitate testing for agronomic traits. This is because of fewer complications from undesirable traits introduced from the wild species.Advanced backcross QTL analysis has been proposed for combining QTL analysis with variety development (Tanksley and Nelson 1995). In this approach, elite parents are crossed with unadapted donor lines such as land races or wild species. The population is advanced lYith selection to the BC2 or BC3 where mapping and testing occurs and provides the data necessary for QTL analysis. Advantages include the identification of QTL in wild germplasm and the production of elite lines in a relatively short time period. The primary disadvantages are the unknown value of the few wild accessions that could be studied and the labor required for generating large numbers of cross progeny. The lack of knowledge about whether a wild accession carries superior alleles is a serious problem if desirable alleles exist in low frequency.Another similar approach to simultaneous QTL mapping and line development described by Paterson et al. (1990), Eshed and Zamir (1994), and others is to generate F2 or BC-derived inbred lines each of which contains a few segments from one of the parents but which collectively contain overlapping chromosome segments that cover the entire genome. Introgression lines can assist in RFLP-based gene cloning by allowing the rapid selection of DNA markers that map to specific chromosome segments. Introgression lines also provide a base population for the mapping and breeding for quantitative traits.Molecular analysis of pedigrees has been useful in soybean for verifying pedigrees, tracing loci back to ancestral parents and identifying linkages between markers and qualitative trait loci (Lorenzen et al. 1995). In this approach, modern cultivars, their parents, and all parents tracing back to land races are analyzed for RFLPs covering the entire genome. This analysis is not a substitute for a well-designed doubled haploid or recombinant inbred mapping population, but can provide useful information about which parents might be used as a source for a particular allele.It is clear that alternative strategies are needed for identifying QTL and for determining allelic values for specific loci in large numbers of accessions that have not been used in mapping studies. With current technology, allelic value can only be determined with certainty relative to another allele in a cross population. In recent studies (Beer et al. 1996), we have tested the hypothesis that allelic values can be determined by grouping RFLP alleles and looking for association with an agronomic trait. If trait RFLP data are available for the same accessions, RFLPs can be tested for statistical association with variation for a trait. Any associations can be used to identify a subset of candidate probes with enhanced potential for use in subsequent mapping experiments. Results of comparative mapping using DNA markers suggest that information from barley, rice, maize, and other species may be useful for identifying additional loci controlling grain dormancy (Sorrells and Anderson 1996). For example, loci affecting grain dormancy or germination were identified for maize, barley, and wheat (Table 1).An association between red pericarp (R) and dormancy in wheat is well known and is related to pleiotropic expression of a gene at the R locus on the long arm of group 3 chromosomes. Comparative maps indicate that the R locus in wheat is orthologous to the vivipary-1 locus in maize and the red pericarp locus in rice. While this locus may be a gene with major effects on dormancy, resistance to PHS is a quantitative character with multiple loci contributing variation in white wheat (Anderson et al. 1993) and rice (Seshu and Sorrells 1985). Association of mutants with enzymatic steps in biosynthetic pathways has been demonstrated for a number of the extreme phenotypes exhibited by maize mutants, e.g., vivipary-5-Phytoene desaturase (Hable and Oishi 1995). Additional mapping research is needed to confirm these associations, but it is clear that the location and function of loci affecting grain dormancy and other important agronomic traits have been conserved through evolution of species. This information may facilitate the mapping of these loci as well as the understanding of gene expression in divergent species.Mapping genes that comprise a single metabolic pathway makes it possible to predict associations between these genes and previously identified QTL. Support from biochemical, physiological, developmental, and agronomic research strengthen such associations. It is apparent that genetic relationships exist among the domesticated grasses at all levels of genetic study. Comparative mapping will facilitate the integration and application of the research that is accumulating in each of the domesticated grasses.Many factors affect the breeder's choice of gene tags, e.g., how many are used, and the stage of selection or inbreeding at which they are applied. Lande and Thompson (1990) have elaborated theoretical aspects of marker-assisted selection (MAS) for improvement of quantitative traits. They concluded that the efficiency of conventional methods of phenotypic selection could be substantially enhanced by combining them with marker-assisted selection. The utility of markers for quantitative traits is limited by population sizes and environmental sampling needed to detect loci affecting traits of low heritability, and by the number of markers required to select those loci that account for a significant portion of the genetic variance for the trait.however, the low polymorphism also facilitates the identification of homoeologous loci based on previous mapping data. Small allelic differences are difficult to map precisely in QTL studies. This may result in selection of markers that are not close to the QTL or a high probability of a crossover between the marker and the QTL.Undetected recombination between markers and trait loci can lead to backcross-derived lines that are actually inferior to the recurrent parent. Also, estimates of locus effects are subject to sampling error causing errors in assigning relative weights or in choosing loci. Locus x year effects are difficult to assess and manage because they are less predictable. Only those QTL that are relatively consistent over years and locations are likely to be sufficiently valuable for MAS.Most economically important traits are quantitative, and allelic differences at a single locus usually account for less than 20% of the variation in a trait. Thus, following markers at several loci may require excessively large population sizes. The relative cost of marker-assisted selection at various stages of inbreeding or testing depends on the number of individuals evaluated and, to a lesser extent, on the number of markers used . In general, traits conditioned by one or very few loci will favor marker-assisted selection at advanced stages in the breeding program because a large proportion of the progeny will carry the desired allele(s) and the population can be screened for less costly traits first. However, in most situations (especially for wheat), marker-assisted selection will be most efficient in the F2 or first backcross because these are the generations of maximum segregation. This will result in a population that is either homozygous or highly enriched for the desired alleles, depending on whether homozygotes or heterozygotes are selected. Cost of developing and using molecular markers is still relatively high compared to conventional selection methods; however, the cost of marker technologies and the infrastructure necessary for doing the research are gradually declining. Molecular markers are generally cost effective for only those traits that are difficult or costly to evaluate and are controlled by a few genes.The efficiency of marker-assisted selection is severely limited by unknown linkage relationships between marker and trait alleles in genotypes other than parents of mapping populations. This is because polymorphism for either the marker or the trait locus is not necessarily linked to each other, especially in unrelated germ plasm. Also, QTL may be expressed differently in different genetic backgrounds. In many cases, it will be necessary to evaluate traits in intermediate generations to avoid unpleasant surprises .Negative pleiotropic effects are prevalent at QTL, as might be predicted from negative correlations observed among certain traits. Probably the most conservative approach to using molecular markers is to gradually backcross desirable alleles into a few elite recurrent parents. Even if these parents become obsolete as varieties, they will remain a useful single source of several desirable alleles for crossing to new varieties.Marker-assisted selection can then be followed with conventional breeding methods and selection for other agronomic traits. If target loci of selected individuals were heterozygous, another round of screening for the markers will be necessary.If at all possible, one or more of the chosen recurrent parents should be used in QTL mapping studies so that the value of the alleles in that parent can be compared to another genotype. For qualitative traits, this is not usually necessary. Numerous mapping studies are turning up desirable alleles that may be useful for some of the mainstream ClMMYT varieties. There which I lodged in the CIMMYT library in July 1975 (Fischer 1975). Many of the findings were subsequently published, something which took several years of my time. With respect to MEl yield potential, the main conclusions (see also Fischer 1983) from the analytical studies were as follows:• Early plant and crop growth, at least up to terminal spikelet initiation and probably beyond, was relatively unimportant for yield determination. As a consequence it was suggested that this phase could be shortened without yield loss.• Growth in the spike phase, especially from early boot stage until just after anthesis, was very critical for yield determination, through its effect on kernel number.Greater efficiencies in this stage should translate into higher yields, and one suggestion was to try smaller, more erect leaves, and another to try to genetically lengthen the duration of this phase.• Growth in the grain fill stage was moderately critical for yield, depending on the particular year, and in most recent cultivars grain yield exhibited co limitation by both source and sink, with the latter (namely kernel number multiplied by the genetically-determined potential kernel weight) being the most important in most years at CIANO. Thus there seemed to be scope for the crop to fill more kernels.The empirical correlative studies supported the above conclusions of the analytical work, showing that yield potential increase was correlated with higher harvest index and higher kerne ls/m   (1983) and Fischer (1985). The model put forward then is relevant even now: KNO SDWA KNO/SDWa, and SDWA Ds CGR * Fs, where SDWA is the spike dry weight at anthesis (g/m 2 ), Ds is the duration in days of the spike growth phase (mean of about 500 day degrees preceding anthesis), CGR (g/in2) is the crop growth rate during this period, and Fs is the fraction of net assimilate partitioned to the growing spikes in this period (between 0.2 and 0.5, according to genotype). All these components should be reasonably independent, but this does not mean they are easy to measure. Up until the mid 1970s all genetic progress in yield and KNO derived from an increase in Fs, in turn largely associated with reduced stature. Environmental effects on yield in MEl, however, were largely due to effects on Os and/ or CGR. These conclusions were generally confirmed by studies in the UK, although detailed work by Youssefian et al. (1992) on the nature of the effect of Rht dwarfing and recent work on nitrogen nutrition (Abbate et al. 1995;Van Heerwarden, unpublished) do leave open the possibility of direct positive effects on KNO / SDWa under potential conditions, something which merits follow up.In the early and mid 1980s, myself, Ken Quail and colleagues undertook a major GRDC funded project to test indirect yield selection criteria coming out of the CIMMYT work. We used random progeny of a 16-parent composite cross of largely elite CIMMYT parents and grew the F7 and F8 yield trials under irrigation in the MIA of southern New South Wales. This environment is an especially favorable version of MEl, but the results we obtained were disappointing in that none of the host of selection criteria tried in F3 spaced plants (leaf photosynthesis, leaf permeability, harvest index, etc.) were very strong predictors of plot yield (Quail et al. 1989). Useful information further debunking, at least in spring wheats, the ' tall-dwarf' hypothesis of PBI Cambridge was obtained (Fischer and Quail 1990). In parallel experiments in the MIA on N management, the importance of the spike phase for KNO determination received further confirmation and the influence of N nutrition on radiation use efficiency in wheat was shown, something which had already been reported for other crops.Wheat physiology at CIMMYT recommenced when in the late 1980s Ken Sayre began comparing at CIANO under very optimal agronomy a more recent set of historic bread and durum wheat cultivars. He commenced some canopy temperature measurements using the infra-red thermometer. 3 Wheat physiology at CIMMYT got a large boost with the arrival of Matthew Reynolds and Edmundo Acevedo in the early 1990s, followed soon by Debbie Rees. Edmundo commenced a selection study based on two F2 populations identified by S. Rajaram, and Matthew began looking at communalism and, from 1992 onwards, heat tolerance under hot, irrigated conditions, taking advantage of the Tlaltizapan station.Nothing has yet been concluded from Edmundo's selection study although critical later-generation yield trials were carried out in 1994-95. However, Matthew's work with cultivars has been largely analyzed and presented in various fora . The communalism work has given clear-cut results regarding 3 The genesis of the idea to use the IRT gun on fully irrigated crops deserves some investigation. Scientists at Arizona had been testing the gun for scheduling irrigation in wheat since the la.te 1970s and its value as a predictor of leaf conductance in wheat under a range of water stress levels had been well established, but the relationship of canopy temperature to yield potential was first revealed, I believe, by Ken in the late 1980s.WHEAT PHYSIOLOGY AT C1MMYT AND RAISING THE Y,ELD PLATEAU 199MEl progress; these results, however, have yet to be fully understood (Reynolds et al. 1994a). His work under hot conditions hasshown remarkable correlations between yield potential and canopy temperature depression, leaf conductance and photosynthetic activity (Reynolds et al. 1994b;Amani et al. 1996) There was also a tendency for flag leaf greenness (SPAD) at anthesis to increase.The causal basis of all these changes is not fully understood, but it is worth noting that the results in many ways confirm those from This notwithstanding, it seems possible that the investment in spike dry weight at anthesis could be further increased by either lengthening the duration of the spike growth period (Os) or further increases in partitioning to the spike (Fs), for example at the expense of the growing stem or flag leaf. Nothing much is known about the number of kernels formed per unit of spike weight (KNO/SOWa): it may be amenable to favorable change but has rarely been studied explicitly (casual observation of the latest durum cu:tivars suggests it is a major weakness in their yield formation .. .in other words at CIANO they often show significant levels of basal floret sterility). Little progress has been made on understanding why kernel weight has not increased when there still seems to be excess photosynthetic capacity during grain filling. Finally, it is to be hoped that the modeling efforts of Prem Bindraban in his thesis research will add to these earlier predictions.Obviously not all wheat yield physiology in the period 1970:95 has been done by the largely CIMMYT sources mentioned above.  • What are the priority traits for validation?• What are the priority processes for further exploration at the physiological level?• How should land 2 be tackled, and by whom?• Are there smart ways of getting quick answers?• What resources are needed?• How can NARS and advanced institutions be most usefully involved?And at the end of it all, how does one respond to Blum's aphorism that consensus is a poor way to proceed? IRRI seems to be currently proceeding towards a consensus plant type for higher yield but, apart from agreement on the overall objectives, consensus has never been a strong feature of CIMMYT's culture!The Role of Crop ManagementWheat Yield Potential IssuesIn the past 45 years, remarkable progress The current wheat crop management (over 3% annual yield increase) has been research subunit within the CIMMYT achieved in increasing irrigated wheat Mexico program works closely with the productivity at the farmer level (Figure 1). breeders to: 1) characterize the performance This increase is associated with the use of of newly developed genotypes, and 2) succeeding generations of wheat varieties determine how these genotypes interact with developed to a large extent from CIMMYT germplasm. Similar trends can be developed   1950 1955 1959 1964 1968 1973 1978 1982 1987 1991 1996 maintaining the momentum? Year management factors that farmers can conceivably control and variable weather conditions that are largely beyond their control. The major emphasis is to characterize germplasm directed toward CIMMYT's mega-environment 1 (MEl, temperate, irrigated wheat production systems with high yield potential) which accounts for over 40% of wheat production in the developing world.Whenever possible, these newly developed materials are compared with landmark varieties that have been developed over the past 40 years from CIMMYT (and its predecessors') gerrnplasm to provide an immediate, retrospective view of how certain traits have changed over time in relation to the most recently selected high-yielding materials. Insights, therefore, may be gained to identify traits that are apparently associated with enhancing yield potential and may merit consideration as selection traits for breeders to use, provided their application results in a marked improvement in selection efficiency as compared to the use of yield per se as the selection criterion.Figure 2 illustrates results from a trial including 16 semidwarf bread wheat cultivars derived from CIMMYT germplasm over a 25-year period that had been selected mainly for their yield potential under ME 1 conditions. They were grown under a series of variable conditions at CIANO/Obregon in the 1988/89 cycle.First, let us compare the trend lines for NOR YLD and MAX YLD. The former was produced under the trial management conditions used by the breeding programs at that time, whereas the latter involved a proposed new trial management involving use of sub-soiling and enhanced nutrient management. Two facts are of intereE.t. First, MAX YLD management dramatically raised yields for all 16 cultivars (actually more so than achieved by 25 years of breeding at least when the cultivars are grown under the prevailing NOR YLD management practices). Second, the MAX YLD management reduced variation (see the R2 values) and obviously provided a sharper estimate of cultivar yield differences (so important to breeders). Furthermore, the 9000------------------------------------  1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 Year of cultivar release    1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1986 at both moderate and low N Year of variety release levels. These results appear Figure 3. Bread wheat yield potential trend at different nitrogen levels in 1990/91 at CIANO.Mexico over the past 26 years plotted against year of variety release. These yields are five year averages for the varieties where each year the same, most optimal growth conditions possible were provided to minimize adverse biotic and abiotic stresses (including lodging by use of support nets) in order to maximize the expression of yield potential. The trend demonstrates a clear, continued increase in genetic yield potential over the period of varietal release under consideration. The same type of results is observed for total above-ground dry biomass.Similar time trends exist for several physiological traits, including canopy temperature depression, flag leaf stomatal conductivity (Figure 5), flag leaf pho tosynthesis and grain C13 discrimination for the eight varieties, again plotted against year of variety release. All show significant trends towards positive improvement over the successive released varieties. Does such data enlighten us as to clarifying possible 600,------------------------  ,--,-,,-,-,--,-,--,-,-- avenues to follow towards further enhancing yield potential?When these physiological traits are compared with grain yield itself for the same eight varieties, all show interesting and significant rel ationships with yield (see, for example, Figure 6). Does such retrospective analysis aid our cause? Hopefully your discussions will enlighten our efforts.What about year-to-year variation in weather conditions and its interaction with expression of yield potential? Figure 7 shows how Yaqui Valley farmer average yields, the mean yield of our on-farm trials, and the same lines planted in trials of the ClANO station have varied over the past 10 years. This includes both the record yield-setting year 1987, as well as 1992 when the lowest yields in the last 20 years were recorded . In terms of weather conditions, 1987 was a nearly perfect year, whereas it rained nearly 470 mm during the crop season in 1992. How do such dramatic year effects interact with the   Yield per se is relevant for all agroecological target zones, and hence is a priority trait. Crop improvement efforts aim to protect high genetic yield potential (GYP) as a prerequisite for adaptation through stresses. Incorporation of buffering mechanisms will simultaneously increase environmental yield potentials, yield stability (spatial, temporal, and system dependent), and range of adaptation. Combination of yield per se associated input responsiveness with input-efficiency at low production levels allows shifting cross-over points between low input and high GYP genotypes towards more marginal production levels. Circumstantial evidence indicates a residual effect of high GYP when environmental stress increases (Figure 1).Improvements in GYP in durums (OW) resulted from higher biomass, grains per spike and grain biomass production rate per day. The increased biomass was largely partitioned into straw since the harvest index decreased significantly in the 1980s. This suggests there is scope for future gains in durum's GYP by increasing harvest index. The empirical approach has contributed substantially to GYP and driven   Achievements in GYP can be traced to raising yield per se and stabilizing GYP.Current GYP stabilization efforts emphasize individual buffering of homozygous genotypes and population buffering effects in heterozygous populations and different population structures (Figure 5). preliminary data revealed significant yield gains in Altar 84 carrying IRs.1BI over Altar 84 under moisture stress (R. Villareal, pers. comm.). These observations suggest the exploitation of karyotypic variability as a promising strategy to increase GYP and GYP stability in both OW and Tcl. Similar effects can be expected from other substitutions and/ or translocations that are currently under study. Optimal karyotypes for enhanced GYP may emerge (Figure 6).7---------------------------------• ~ 6 --\"\"\"\",,,,,\"\"------------------------ RHINO chromosome substitution series developed by A.J. Lukaszewski.Dihaploid production via the maize method and/ or anther culture can substantially enhance the rhythm of breeding operations.Anther culture has been used to produce Tel dihaploids from winter x winter crosses. Current efforts in this area emphasize the evaluation/ development of methodologies to produce OW and Tel dihaploids using the maize method .Heterosis in Tel justifies exploiting hybrids. Different pollination control mechanisms are suitable, and crop features for hybrid seed production are favorable. For OW, important floral characteristics (e.g., anther extrusion) for hybrid seed production are under study (Figure 7).  Crop management. The expression of gluten quality decreases as grain protein decreases. Furthermore, differences in gluten quality among varieties tend to disappear when grain protein drops beyond the 9.0-10.0% level. This may occur when cultural practices (sowing date, sowing rate, plant spacing, irrigation regimes, crop rotations, etc.) and fertilizer management (correcting macro-and micronutrient deficiencies, N-fertilizer rates and application regimes, source of N fertilizer, etc.) aim at increasing grain yield only. For protein quality to express in high yielding situations, it is necessary to: 1) use cultural practices that tend to improve N-use efficiency (planting in beds vs. rows, for example); 2) apply N-fertilizer in order to increase not only the grain yield, but also the amount of N translocated to the grain (rates, split applications, etc.), and 3) apply, when needed, sulfur fertilizer in amounts that ensure adequate synthesis of S-rich proteins (S-containing amino acids and S-rich glutenins play important roles in wheat's nutritional and processing qualities, respectively).A combination of the above approaches may allow farmers to produce wheat yields as high as 9-10 t/ha while maintaining acceptable grain IQ.Further increases in wheat's yield potential may limit the e;pression of IQ. Maintaining acceptable IQ in wheat while increasing yield levels above 9-10 t/ha should not rely on the use of higher fertilizer doses. Furthermore, additional increases in the already high levels of N-fertilizer used may be neither feasible nor desirable due to fertilizer costs / availabili ty and negative environmental effects. Environmental pollution occurs because 10-40% of applied N is lost, partly into the air as nitrous oxide (N 2 0, which contributes to ozone breakdown and global warming) and partly into the ground as nitrate (NO y which contaminates ground water). Breaking the yield barrier while maintaining acceptable grain protein (and quality) should come, therefore, from developing wheats with improved efficiency in translocating available nitrogen to the grain.In order to improve N-translocation effiCiency in wheat, traits associated with genotypic variations in grain protein content should first be identified and then those which can be manipulated through breeding should be targeted. Traits that may be relevant to the above include:Reduced late Late tillers may compete tillering:with the grain for available N.There may be genotypic photosynthetic differences in the glumes' capacity: capacity to accumulate N and/ or differences in their capacity to translocate N to the developing grain.Head size and Head size and grain size grain size: may be associated with the capacity of the grain sink (size) to assimilate differential amounts of translocated N.Enhance the grain' s protein genes: synthesizing abili ty.  Multilocation trials are important in plant breeding and agronomic research because data from such trials can be used 1) to estimate and predict grain yield of genotypes and 2) to study genotype x environment interaction and stability. Many statistical models have been developed and used to examine genotypic pattern of response across environments. Multivariate parametric methods, such as multiplicative models, are useful for assessing genotype x environment interaction.In this study three multiplicative models were applied to the first Semi-Arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) data (29 genotypes tested in 21 sites) with the objective of studying genotype x environment interaction and genotypic adaptation. The models used are the Additive Main Effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI), the Shifted Multiplicative Model (SHMM) for grouping genotypes with negligible crossover interaction, and the Site Regression Model (SREG) for clustering sites without crossover interaction.and the interaction (first principal component scores, or PCAl) as the ordinates. Genotypes (or sites) that appear on a perpendicular line have similar means (horizontal axis) and those that fall on a horizontal line have similar interaction (vertical axis). Genotypes and sites with high (positive or negative) PCAl scores have large interaction and those near zero have small interaction. Genotypes and sites with PCAI scores of the same sign (either positive or negative) have a positive interaction. Genotypes with positive PCAI scores and sites with negative PCAI scores have negative interaction, as do genotypes with negative scores and sites with positive scores.Results of AMMI analysiS on the first SAWYT trial indicate that genotypes show much more variability in interaction (vertical axis) than in main effects (horizontal axis) (Figure 1), whereas sites show much variability in main effects but not much in interaction. According to the interaction (PCAl; ordinate) we can place the genotypes in three sets. Genotypes with large, positive first components (PCAls). Set 1 had Gl, GIl, G13, G18, G20, G22, G23, G24, G25, G28, and G30 (mean yield=3.95 t/ha).Sites S12 and S18 are the only ones where a Results of AMMI analysis can be displayed 'severe' incidence of foliar diseases was in a diagram showing main effects of reported. In site S18, average infection of genotypes and environments on the abscissa stripe rust on leaf was 39%, ranging from 0%MULTlPl.ICATIVE MODELS FOR STUDYING GENOTYPE X ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS 221 to 80%. Stripe rust on spike was also severe On the other hand, all the genotypes in set 1 in S18 with an average infection of 49%, had a negative yield interaction with S18 (the ranging from 0% to 90%. Leaf rust infection environment in S18 does not favor yield of was important in site S12 (Mexico) with an genotypes in set 1). These results suggest average infection of 43%, ranging from 1% that genotypes of set 1 would have, on to 80%. average, less resistance to stripe rust on leaf and stripe rust in spike than those from set 3. All the genotypes in set 3 had a positive In fact, the mean severity for stripe rust on interaction with S18, that is, we expect that leaf for genotypes in set 1 in site S18 was the yield performance of set 3 genotypes will 79%. Similarly, genotypes of set 3 had a be favored in S18. Since one of the main positive yield interaction with site S12 factors that distinguished site S18 from the (although small because PCAl of S12 is-others was severe infection of stripe rust on 0.05) and they showed a mean severity for leaf and stripe rust on spike, these results leaf rust in S12 of 41 % as compared with the suggest that set 3 genotypes should have, on mean severity of 50% for leaf rust showed by average, better resistance to these diseases genotypes of set 1 in site S12. than the others. Indeed, the mean severity for stripe rust on leaf for genotypes in set 3 in Concerning the severity of the diseases site S18 was 22%, and the mean severity for considered in sites S18 and S12, it is expected stripe rust on spike for genotypes in set 3 in that, on average, set 2 genotypes will show site S18 was 28%, ranging from 0% to 60%. intermediate resistance as compared to PC1 2~i--------------------------------------------------------------~ The seven SHMM groups of genotypes s~owed association with the level of severity for stripe rust on leaf, stripe rust in spike and, to some degree, with leaf rust. SHMM clustering of genotypes further partitioned AMMl j set 1 in groups 1 and 3. The three genotypes in group 1 had the highest mean severity of infection for stripe rust on leaf, 77% in site S18, 54% in the mean across sites and the highest infection of stripe rust in spike in site S18, 87%. It was followed by genotypes in SHMM group 3 with mean severity for stripe rust on leaf of 60% in site S18, 34% across sites and 79% infection of stripe rust in spike in site S18.On the other hand, SHMM clustering subdivided genotypes in AMMl j set 3 into groups 6 and 7. SHMM group 6 had the lowest infection of stripe rust on leaf in site S18 and across sites (20% and 14%, respectively). SHMM group 7 had 23% infection of stripe rust in spike in site S18. SHMM group 7 had the lowest mean percentage infection, 23%, followed by SHMM group 6 with mean infection of 32%.For leaf rust in site S12 and across sites the trend is not as clear as for the other diseases. However, genotypes in SHMM groups 6 and 7 had lower infection levels than the othe r SHMM groups of genotypes (except for SHMM group 2). SHMM clustering partitioned AMMl j set 2 into two groups, 2 and 4, with intermediate infection levels for stripe rust on leaf and stripe rust in spike. However, SHMM group 2 always showed more infection than genotypes of SHMM group 4 for stripe rust on leaf in site S18, across sites, and for stripe rust in spike in site S18 (43%, 24%, and 53% versus 25%, 13%, and 30%, respectively) .The results of this study showed that biotic stresses that affect grain yield, such as stripe rust on leaf and stripe rust in spike, and the differential level of genetic resistances of the genotypes are the major determinant of the grouping of genotypes.Model to Break Yield BarriersThe ability of crop simulation models to predict growth and yield as influenced by the envirorunent, agronomic practices and crop traits suggests that such models can identify traits to increase yield potential (e.g ., de Wit 1965;Whisler et al. 1986;Boote and Tollenaar 1994). Similarly, models seem ideal for studying variation in cultivar response to envirorunent, the genotype x envirorunent interaction (Shorter et al. 1991;Hunt 1993;Chapman and Barreto 1994). Although Fortunately, none of these constraints are insurmountable. To increase the utility of models to crop improvement, treatment of cultivar differences is a logical first target.Simulation models can represent five levels of genetic complexity:1. Non crop-specific. Genetic levels 1 and 2 are fairly discrete, but a single model could encompass features of levels 3 to 5. CERES Wheat (Godwin et al. 1989) corresponds to level 3, using seven coefficients to represent cultivar differences.The only level 4 model appears to be GeneGro (White and Hoogenboom 1996), which was developed for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). No models at levelS exist yet, reflecting the lack of information on gene action at the process level. GeneGro characterizes cultivars using seven genes for growth habit, phenology, photoperiod response and seed size. Gene effects are estimated through linear functions that replace the cultivar-specific coefficients. For example, maximum pod wall growth rate (SHVAR) was estimated from additive effects of three genes for seed size (Sszl, Ssz2 and Ssz3), SHVAR = 40.57 + 3.57 Ssz-l + 17.17 Ssz-2 + 4.87 Ssz-3 (R2 = 0.65**).For the calibration set of 30 cultivars grown in various trials at six locations, simulated days to maturity accounted for 85% of variation in observed data, and simulated seed yield, 31 % of observed variation. With data from 14 independent trials representing over 200 treatment combinations, GeneGro explained 75% of variation in days to flower, 68% in days to maturity, and 39% in seed weight, but only 10% of variation in seed yield; however, 56% of variation in yield was accounted for when mean effect of site was removed through regression analysis (Hoogenboom et al., in review).These results indicate the feasibility of creating a more breeder-friendly wheat model that incorporates genetic effects. Besides clarifying model inputs and outputs for wheat breeders, a gene-based wheat model should bring other benefits. By diminishing uncertainty over cultivar differences, it will help identify weak points in the physiological assumptions. Also, consideration of gene action per se can provide insights into physiological mechanisms being represented.A logical starting pOint for such a wheat model is the simulation of phenology. Fairly detailed genetic information is available for photoperiod and vernalization responses (Table 1), and pheno:ogy is a basic determinant of partitioning and growth. Based on reviews of wheat phenology by Flood and Halloran (1986) and Slafer and Rawson (1994), the following points should be considered in model development:• In vernalization, low temperatures seem to reduce activity of a system that inhibits the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. The Vrn genes reduce the vernalization requirement, so they might increase the destruction rate of an inhibitor or decrease sensitivity to it.• Certain cultivars posses a short-day response that reduces the vernalization requirement. Genes controlling this response should be identified.• Once vernalization is completed, the Ppd genes determine the level of sensitivity of further reproductive development to long days.• Under conditions that result in rapid development, and hence early time to anthesis, cultivar differences are still found. This implies inherent differences in basic developmental rate (also termed 'intrinsic earliness'), so the inheritance of this trait merits study.CREATING A GENE-BASED SIMULATION MODEL TO BREAK YI ELD BARRIERS• The relative sensitivity of developmental phases to photoperiod varies. photosynthesis (Morgan et al. 1990).Considerable information is available on genotypes of CIMMYT lines (Singh et al. 1989).Parallel to modeling efforts, a renewed commitment to identifying genes affecting morphological and physiological traits is needed. Physiologists should avoid germplasm that is not fully characterized, preferably using near-isogenic lines or sets of recombinant inbred lines. A particular challenge is to adequately characterize pleiotropic effects. CIMMYT is well positioned to develop a gene-based wheat model due to its: • Strong interdisciplinary approach, including close ties to molecular marker research.• Access to diverse germplasm, including special genetic stocks.• Access to diverse growing environments.• Experience with data bases of field data (e.g., IWIS) that might be used with simulation models.Such an effort will not lead to overnight surpassing of yield barriers, but it will provide a solid platform for integrating knowledge from physiology, plant breeding and molecular biology.In the past, breeders have obtained major success in increasing wheat yield potential with a rate of increase of around 1% per year; however, a declining tendency is currently being noted (Sayre 1990;CIMMYT 1995). As increasing wheat yield potential will remain a major component of required increase in world wheat production, all means to sustain or even accelerate the rate of increase will have to be explored to support breeding efforts. Systems analysis has been useful in various disciplines in agricultural production systems research, but has not been much applied in conjunction with breeding. This paper describes an analysis, demonstrating possible means of formulating recommendations to breeders based on quantitative understanding of wheat growth and yield.Three cycles of experiments were conducted at the CIANO experiment station in the Yaqui Valley in northwestern Mexico. Wheat yield potential was determined under optimum management conditions for optimum (30,30 and   Growth and yield analysis  Calculated biomass relates well to values of biomass measured both during growth and at maturity (Bindraban et al. 1996). Therefore, this procedure could be applied to calculate growth during any period of time throughout growth. Calculated growth during the yield realization period relates to observed yield as shown in Figure 1 for cycle I, with an eyefitted curve through the data. Similar patterns are found for the other cycles (Figure 1). Calculated biomass accumulatiun during the yield realization period is lower than observed yield for yields below 5-7 t ha-1 , indicating that current assimilation must have been supplemented by additional sources, like stem carbohydrates. At yields exceeding 5-7 t ha-1 , calculated biomass accumulation exceeds yield, indicating that sink rather than source might have limited yield.Changes in stem carbohydrate during the yield realization period as related to observed yield are given in Figure 2. Strongest declines occur at relatively low yields (3-4 t ha-1 ), while declines are lower at higher yields. Although absolute decline was small at lower yields, they were important in relative terms. Estimated biomass accumulation yield realization period (kg ha-1 ) 1 0 0 0 0 , ---------------------.• Exp.  Translocation is known to be of particular importance when post-anthesis stresses occur, hampering assimilate supply (Kiniry 1993). Disease infestation (Evans 1993), drought (Bidinger et al. 1977) or rapidly declining leaf nitrogen content during grain filling due to translocation of N to the kernels (see also Sinclair and de Wit 1976), all result in significant amounts of carbohydrates to be translocated to the grains. Absolute required amounts of carbohydrates translocated in this study, as can be derived from Figure 1, are larger than observed amounts (Figure 2). However, water soluble carbohydrates do not represent all stem carbohydrates, and storage occurs in leaves as well. Trends in calculated requirement and actual demand are nevertheless similar and comparable to trends described by Yoshida (1972) and Gallagher et al. (1975).Though no translocation is needed at higher yield levels, some reduction in total amount of stem carbohydrates is observed. No accumulation of stem carbohydrates has been reported in the literature to occur in the last weeks of grain filling, while decrease in carbohydrates can be ascri?ed to losses caused by wasteful respiration. Large amounts of carbohydrates can be lost through this process, especially when carbohydrates are abundantly available (Lambers et al. 1991;Lambers, pers. comm.).Both biomass and stem carbohydrate analysis indicate potential yield under cool conditions to be limited by the storage capacity of kernels rather than the supply of carbohydrates, while source supply may limit yield under warmer growth conditions.Results of the degraining treatments provide additional data on factors limiting yield . Proximal kernels in treatments A and B show relatively small responses in KW, though supply was increased approximately 5-fold by degraining. Distal kernels in treatment A show similar responses as the proximal kernels in the same spikelet at lower temperatures, while the distal kernels in treatment C respond much more strongly in the absence of the proximal kernels. This discrepancy in response of the distal kernels with and without the presence of the proximal kernels indicates the relatively favorable position of the proximal kernels in the competition among kernels in the spikelet for available carbohydrates. At higher temperatures, responses of distal kernels in treatment A are stronger than responses of proximal kernels. As proximal kernels are situated in more favorable pOSitions, they would suffer less from declining supply in carbohydrates than distal kernels. Degraining under these higher temperatures does result in a response of distal kernels to increased availability of carbohydrates. Responses are especially strong for distal kernels in treatment C, as both competition and source limitation have been alleviated.Differencial responses to competition among kernels within a spikelet and in different spikelets (central vs. top) (see also Bremner and Rawson 1978;Radley and Thorne 1981) suggest differences in availability of carbohydrates among kernels. Proximal kernels are shown by Hanif and Langer (1972) to be supplied by principal vascular bundles from the rachiIla, while distal kernels are supplied by sub-vascular bundles, derived from the principal vascular bundles. Under any condition, proximal kernels have priority access to available carbohydrates, while distal kernels will suffer strong competition, especially under source-limiting conditions.To further increase yield potential under sink-limiting conditions, growth conditions for kernels in distal positions should be improved through alleviation of competition. Anatomically, kernels in distal positions may need to be supplied by principal vascular bundles. Morphologically, a more open and vigorous spike structure might result from such an adjustment and this would be a easy trait to evaluate under field conditions. For instance, KW in wheat may vary from 15 to 60 mg, while kernels of rice, having an open panicle structure, have been found to vary very little, from 19 to 21 mg. Rawson and Ruwali (1972)  Sink capacity can be increased also through increased KNO (see Sayre, these proceedings), the yield component that correlates strongly to spike weight (Brooking and Kirby 1981;Fischer 1983;Fischer 1993).Spike weight could be increased through a prolonged spike growth period (see Slafer, these proceedings) or through a more favorable allocation of carbohydrates to the spike, which competes with stem growth (Fischer and Stockman 1986;Kirby 1988).Source-limiting conditions tend to occur under higher temperature, most probably due to accelerated leaf death (Van Keulen and Seligman 1978). Yield increase under these conditions could be achieved through increased leaf area duration through prolonged leaf life span or leaf greenness.This quantitative analysis of growth and yield indicates that adaptations required to further increase wheat yield potential depend on environmental conditions. These ","tokenCount":"53302"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2872905713.json b/data/part_1/2872905713.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcaf8f73e9b8a93123a332b41cfeb3b502def52b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2872905713.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fcdc904e47e55ff918ef73b38138359a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f1a4a17-d9a3-491d-8f93-9f515985539d/retrieve","id":"-582550765"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0975d146-f01a-4fb2-b278-369f48cea68e","pagecount":"14","content":"Chancellor Fernando Sanchez welcomed the participants to the workshop. He recognized the long partnership between UPLB and the CGIAR Centers, many of which have their regional office or headquarters (e.g., IRRI, ICRAF) in the campus. He recognized the centers' leadership in international agricultural research and development and emphasized how rekindling acollaborative partnership will be very helpful in UPLB's drive towards internationalization, particularly in light of the ASEAN integration. The Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension, Professor Rex Demafelis, facilitated introductions from the officials of UPLB, the various college deans, and CG Center representatives.Dr. Simplicio Medina, Director of the Office of Institutional Linkages, provided details of UPLB's internationalization efforts anchored on:• ASEAN integration and accreditation to the ASEAN University Network (AUN);• the policy direction of the Philippines' Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to upgrade the quality of and access to higher education institutions; and, • the UP System's strategic plan to encourage staff to improve their capability in research, recruit the best and brightest students, and intensify internationalization and formalize quality assurance. He also outlined UPLB's accomplishments in the drive towards internationalization. ( See https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxgfJmAw_Jq4SkI2Um1HYlY1emc .) Dr. Dindo Campilan, Director for Asia, lays out the thematic areas of research of CIAT.Presentations from the CG Centers followed:    The participants were divided into four thematic groups to discuss areas of potential collaboration.Group I: ILRI, UPLB, Worldfish Group II: UPLB, ICRAF and BIoversity Int'l Group III: UPLB, CIAT, CIP Group IV: UPLB, IRRI, DABAR and PhilRiceEach group was given more than 1 hour to deliberate on areas for research collaboration and capacity building. The results of these deliberations were then presented in the plenary as follows:Group 1: UPLB, ILRI, and WorldFishPossible collaboration areas 1. Integrated farming systems (livestock + aquatic)• Include conservation of native pigs, market research, and working with people's organizations 2. Formalizing of Aquatic/Fisheries Division (CAUPLB) 3. Extension and utilization of different crops, assessment for agribusiness potential 4. Social enterprise programs for farmers and social sciences to be integrated in projects 5. Capacity building to strengthen farmers organizations especially on management and sustainability 6. Health and nutrition issues and concerns; food safety and security 7. Development of aquatic medicine 8. Incorporating gender studies 9. Development of policies when projects become implemented on a national scale with different scenarios and sites1. Baseline/benchmarking data gathering and needs assessment on available production methods, marketing systems, food safety, alternative systems 2. Identification of key players and their roles (LGUs, stakeholders, POs) 3. Consolidate and conduct proper documentation of best practices 4. Monitoring and assessment of practices of farmers 5. Conduct risk assessment 6. Conduct impact assessment 7. Capacity building/development for farmers to strengthen communitybased organizations 8. Oneonone meetings/collaborations with scientists with parallel or related research (buddy system) 9. The group will also conduct a followup meeting to be able to start collaborating as soon as possible. 10. Creation of TWG and egroup Group 2: UPLB, ICRAF and Bioversity, Int'l. ","tokenCount":"483"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2884325407.json b/data/part_1/2884325407.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..13b638be7fd1ce45b359282a37b24c3de6bc7d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2884325407.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"33712c2958ac81e5e0d900ffdb1f9c58","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e94e004c-8db7-4e25-ba66-d5ed91433ef8/retrieve","id":"-1014845876"},"keywords":["Monsoon","analysis","statistic","precipitation","temperature","Maprooms"],"sieverID":"1e24068e-540a-444f-9d73-d7661b63576a","pagecount":"23","content":"The Asian monsoon plays a major role in the variability of seasonal temperature and precipitation and the sub-seasonal statistics of these and other climate variables. Due to its considerable impact on the quality and quantity of agricultural output, there is an essential need for greater understanding of the historical risk associated with the Asian monsoon, with the ultimate goal being better climate risk analysis to support agricultural decision-making in South and Southeast Asia. In response to partner demand expressed by the CCAFS South Asia Regional Program, CCAFS worked with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) to develop a suite of online Maproom tools for analyzing agriculturally important aspects of climate variability, based on gridded historical daily precipitation and temperature data. This report documents the rationale, development, and use of the Monsoon Asia Historical Precipitation and Temperature Monitoring Maprooms. These tools aim to provide enough flexibility to support a demanding range of analysis and decision support needs. The weather factors that impact agriculture, and the analyses that are needed to support agricultural decision-making, vary considerably by location, production system and time of year. These Maprooms serve as the precursors to the Daily Climate Analysis Maprooms that was developed later.Year-to-year variability in growing season weather conditions, driven in part by the Asian Monsoon system, exposes agriculture to a high degree of risk. This is particularly true for smallholder farming in marginal rainfed environments. Extreme events, such as droughts, flooding and heat waves, lead to loss of crops, livestock and farmer livelihoods. Even in years with favorable climatic conditions, the resulting uncertainty is a disincentive to investment in agriculture and adoption of available production technology.In response to partner demand expressed by the CCAFS South Asia Regional Program, CCAFS worked with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) to develop a suite of online Maproom tools for analyzing agriculturally important aspects of climate variability, based on gridded historical daily precipitation and temperature data.The design of these tools aims to provide enough flexibility to support a demanding range of analysis and decision support needs. The weather factors that impact agriculture, and the analyses that are needed to support agricultural decision-making, vary considerably by location, production system and time of year. Furthermore, we anticipated that farmers, their advisors and other local decision-makers would need location-specific analyses, while governments and institutions working at an aggregate scale would likely be interested in spatial patterns of risk. Finally, many of the meteorological risks that are important for agriculture cannot be characterized adequately by season average conditions, but require analyses based on daily time series data. Harvest yields are sensitive to the dynamic interactions between crop phenology, the impact of daily precipitation and evapotranspiration on the soil water balance, and the timing of temperature or water stress.Climate Risk Analysis Maproom, provides guidance on navigating its interface and presentstwo hypothetical examples that illustrate potential for decision support applications. The development of the Monsoonal Asia Climate Risk Analysis Maproom, in 2013-2014, followed and built on earlier development of an online Maproom to support spatial analysis of seasonal rainfall predictability across South Asia, to inform the development of downscaled seasonal forecast systems (Robertson et al., 2013).The Monsoon Asia Historical Precipitation and Temperature Monitoring Maprooms allows for the calculation of different statistics based in historical daily precipitation and temperature data. Some examples of the rainfall statistics include the historical probability of receiving less than a specified number of rain days within a growing season and the historical risk of dry spells (of user-chosen durations) within a critical crop stage. Statistics for temperature include heating degrees days (accumulated deficits between the mean daily temperature and a user-defined reference temperature during the season), and the number of cold and hot days relative to a user-defined threshold. The user can visualize these statistics and other results in a map grid and also check the historic observations for one specific grid box. The Monsoon Asia Historical Precipitation and Temperature Monitoring Maprooms make use of the Asian Precipitation -Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of the Water Resources (APHRODITE) daily rainfall dataset   (Xie et al., 2007) and interpolated temperature dataset   (Yasutomi et al., 2011) of monsoon Asia (15°S-55°N, 60°E-155°E). APHRODITE datasets were created in collaboration with Research Institute for Humanity and Nature and Meteorological Research Institute of Japan Meteorological Agency. The 0.5x0.5 and 0.25x0.25-degree gridded precipitation suite (version: V1003R1) was derived from original rain-gauge data, precompiled datasets, and global telecommunication system reports. The temperature suite (version: V1204R1), also at the same resolution, was developed by utilizing the collection of observed temperature data.The Maprooms provide analysis of several variables, derived for user-specified time windows from gridded daily time series data, that are relevant to agriculture. In rainfed production, crop yields are a function of dynamic, nonlinear interactions between daily rainfall, the soil water balance and crop growth stage. The soil water balance, and hence water available to the crop, is sensitive to the distribution of rainfall within the growing season. In addition to total rainfall in a user-selected window, the Monsoon Asia Historical Precipitation Monitoring Maproom provides several higher-order statistics of rainfall that affect the soil water balance and hence the soil's ability to meet crop water requirements: rainfall intensity, number of rain days, and number of dry and wet spells of a user-selected length. Disaggregating total rainfall during a particular time of year into frequency of rain days and mean intensity on rain days provides an indication of how much observed year-to-year variability is due to the frequency of storms versus the intensity of storms. Setting the dry spells for periods that are long enough to deplete soil water in the root zone is often used an indicator of risk of crop water stress (Sivakumar, 1992;Stern & Cooper 2011;Barron et al., 2003). The intensity of rainfall influences how much rainfall infiltrates the soil, risk of soil erosion, and nutrient movement within the soil (Dourte et al., 2015).The Monsoon Asia Historical Temperature Monitoring Maproom provides analysis of number of cold days below a threshold, number of hot days above a threshold, growing degree days, and chilling degree days. Frequency of hot and cold extremes relative to user-selected thresholds is included because of the negative impact that temperature extremes can have on crop yields and on livestock health. The concept of thermal time, expressed as has the accumulation over time of temperature relative to a baseline, multiplied by the amount of time the temperature is above or below this baseline, is used extensively for analyzing crop phenology (Trudgill et al., 2005). Growing degree-days, defined as the thermal time above a crop-specific baseline temperature and summed across days from the time of germination, is a widely used predictor of time to flowering and maturity, for crops that are not sensitive to daylength and do not require cold temperatures to stimulate flowering (McMaster & Wilhelm, 1997;Li et al., 2012). A number of crops, including winter wheat and many deciduous fruit species, require an accumulation of chill units to stimulate flowering (Luedeling, 2012). Chill units are analogous to growing degree days but are typically expressed in unites of degreehours below a crop-specific threshold temperature. Analyses of thermal time and damaging extreme temperature events are normally based on daily minimum and maximum temperature, or data at a higher temporal resolution, to account for the important diurnal variations in temperature. Thermal time calculations were simplified to use daily averages because APHRODITE gridded daily temperature data was only available as a daily average.The resulting bias could be substantial relative to thermal time calculations that account for the diurnal temperature range.   Although the average number of dry spells for Dhaka is two, there are some noteworthy years that exceeded the mean, particularly in April of 1980 when there were four.Some Indian crops (e.g. rice) are adversely affected by high temperatures. Heat stress during their growth development, in particular the ripening stage, can reduce the total production of the crop. An example of the assessment of heat risk in India is illustrated in Figures 4-6.Using the Monsoon Asia Historical Temperature Monitoring Maproom, parameters were set to reflect and assess the number of hot days with a threshold above 29°C during a may be selected season of March 15 to May 15 as seen in the top portion of Figure 4. 13The two maps (Fig. 5) have been adjusted to encompass the eastern region of India where the state of Odisha is located (approximate coordinates are 16-20°N latitude and 80-86°E longitude). As seen from these maps and the 0.1 (left) and 0.9 (right) historic distribution levels (Fig. 5   countries of Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Madagascar, and by regional climate centers in East (ICPAC) and West (AGRHYMET) Africa.Notice that if you move the cursor to the left top corner of any map, the Maproom gives you more options that you can explore, such as downloading or sharing your map on social networks and select the layers you want to display on the map (borders, lakes, rivers etc.). A detail of this is shown in figure A3. In order to calculate and visualize historical statistics, the first thing you need to do is define the season you want to assess, the type of event (total rainfall, number of dry/wet spell, etc.)and the statistic (mean, standard deviation, percentile, etc.). Although the parameters definition is very similar in both the precipitation and temperature Maprooms, they are slightly different. Therefore, a detailed explanation has been made for each of them separately. Figure A4 shows a screenshot of the parameters section you will find in a Maproom. As you see, there are 8 editable boxes. A number and color has been added in this figure for explanation purposes. It is important to understand what each of these parameters mean, because the results Maproom shows will depend on the numbers you plug in in each of these boxes. Bear in mind that the numbers you plug in boxes 1 to 6 are important for any statistic computed, while boxes 7 and 8 will only be relevant when wet and dry spells are computed.The following table has a specific description of what each of the boxes is. A more precise explanation for some of the concepts presented in this table is discussed in section 3 of this guide.Table A1. Description of Precipitation Maproom parameters.Seasons: There are two important things the user needs to define here.    Seasons: There are two important things the user needs to define here. The first one is the season within the year you want to assess. You do this by choosing a starting and ending day and month (e.g. Jan 1-Jun 15). All the results shown by maproom will be associated to this period of time (total rainfall along that period, number of cold days etc.). The second parameter you need to define here is the beginning and ending year. Maproom will use the data gathered between those years to compute the corresponding statistic.  ","tokenCount":"1816"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2890349332.json b/data/part_1/2890349332.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5b727480130138b3727e36292fce547ebfda3ea1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2890349332.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cb34e548286f2fc794ab312e4f5774e8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55d4dba8-d2e8-45dc-b0b8-a46a54772168/retrieve","id":"878984609"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"381f0ff7-644d-4fec-ba7f-c32149eb088d","pagecount":"26","content":"Composition, biomass and vegetation cover in Mbeere rangeland was assessed for comparison of the effect of grazing and other human interference in open and enclosed sites. A total of 245 plant species were recorded. Clipping and preference unit technique were used to estimate herbaceous and trees and shrub biomass respectively. Canopy cover was done by visual estimation for three growth forms while forage preference was through direct observation. Grazing reduces above ground biomass in communal lands mainly through overgrazing and elimination of palatable species. Forage productivity on the other hand largely depends on availability of rainfall and disturbance. Grazing management systems used in this particular rangeland have a direct impact on forage diversity. T-test results shows that total species richness and herbaceous richness in the open site were significantly different (p<0.05) from the enclosed site. Species diversity and evenness were higher in open than in enclosed sites. Biomass and shrub cover were also significantly higher (p<0.05) in enclosed site than in the open site. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in pH, organic matter, percent carbon, total nitrogen, moisture, bulk density and percent clay between the enclosed plots and open plots. Goats and cattle were observed to have complementary feeding habit thereby reducing forage competition.Rangelands comprise about 50% of the worlds land area and include natural grasslands, scrublands, savannas and deserts provide the majority of range ecosystems. In most African countries, rangeland livestock production is a form of extensive grazing system practiced by nomads of the arid regions. The management systems vary from nomadic pastoralism through mixed subsistence farming to commercial ranching. Considering the demand for foodstuffs due to the growing human population, increasing livestock productivity gains importance particularly under harsh environmental conditions in arid and semi-arid areas. Whatever the objectives regarding livestock, the immediate expectation from the rangeland itself is the supply of edible, palatable fodder of sufficiently high nutrient quality (Walker, 1993).Grazing animals may exert beneficial or mutual influences on the vegetation for their own good but on the other hand, large concentration of them often have harmful effects on the plants because of selectivity and overgrazing. Quantifying the impact of livestock grazing on natural communities (forages) has become a major issue in the management of rangelands especially where grazing is very widespread and its impacts may be in conflict with conserving biodiversity (Landsbery et al., 2002: Fleischner, 1994).Grazing according to Lamprey (1979) is among the important agents, which influence distribution of some vegetation types. In most rangelands ecosystems, grazing, browsing and other factors such as fire and climate contribute to vegetation change. Grazing animals influence species composition, changes in biomass and distribution of biodiversity (Oba et al., 2001;Zerihun & Saleem, 2000). Grazing increased, reduced or lacked consistent effect on plant diversity (Zervas, 1998;Welch & Scott, 1995). However, the influence depends on the extent of grazing. A number of studies on impact of grazing on vegetation show that grazing increase species diversity (Oba et al., 2001;Lamprey, 1979). However, discussions on the effect of grazing livestock on plant species diversity have not led to consensus (Osem et al., 2002;Oba et al., 2000d;Zervas, 1998).Studies by Shackleton (2000) showed that protected areas considered for preservation of biodiversity as their primary goal were characterized by significantly fewer plant species than the adjacent highly utilized communal lands. In Kenyan rangelands most of the research concentrates on the seasonal enclosure. This is partly due to lack of permanent protected sites from grazing and again due to increasing human pressure on the rangelands initially protected for conservation (e.g. Osem et al., 2002;Oba et al., 2001;Oba, 1995;Ekaya, 1991). This has shown to portray different patterns of forage diversity from that of permanent enclosure.It's important in the maintenance of arid rangelands resources to know how the grazing animals make use of the forage produced and their preferences for different plant communities (Low et al., 1981). In areas of less intense grazing, grazers are able to exercise preference between different species available. Studies have shown that mixed stocking with two or more species of different feeding habits make more effective and often more profitable use of vegetation (Mwilawa et al., 1996).Rangeland resources are influenced by a variety of site characteristics. About 80% of Kenya's land is classified as rangelands, which is characterized by scanty and unreliable rainfall (Herlocker, 1999;MEC, 1999). Rangeland resources are enormous but the ecosystems are fragile requiring appropriate management strategies to ensure sustainable productivity. Animal production through pastoralism and wildlife management is the main form of rangeland use with few agropastoralism.Rangelands carry over 25% of Kenya's human population, support more than a half of the total livestock population and a large number of various species of wildlife (MEC, 1999;Brown, 1994). These wildlife species and the human population have co-existed without adverse effects on the range resources for a long time. However, recent management practices have led to environmental degradation of the arid and semi-arid land areas mainly through increased wildlife and livestock numbers beyond the carrying capacity (MEC, 1999;Bekure et al., 1991). This overstocking and overgrazing not only encourage soil erosion, but also a selective increase in unpalatable and poisonous plant species (Herlocker, 1999).Rangelands play an important role in the national economy of the country, with a large number of the population depending on these native forage producing lands for their livelihood (Nemati, 1986). Rangeland vegetation has multiple uses. These include forage for livestock (especially herbage for grazers) which is usually seen as the principle product of rangelands. Rangelands also provide a variety of other important products, services and values. These include, habitat, biodiversity, products such as charcoal, gums and resin, honey and traditional plant uses (medicine, etc), water production and aesthetic values (Friedel et al., 2000;Herlocker, 1999;Heady and Child, 1994). Expansion of dryland farming has increased the grazing pressure on the remaining areas and has reduced the area of good rangeland. The absence of satisfactory range management practices or legal control of stock movement has destroyed or reduced productivity of these rangelands (Oba et al., 2000d).Disturbances influence plant species richness and diversity (Cumming, 1982). The effect of grazing by large herbivores on the diversity of plant communities has been investigated in different terrestrial ecosystems (Oba et al., 2001;Milchunas and Lauenroth, 1993). Grazing increased, reduced or lacked consistent effect on plant diversity (Zervas, 1998;Welch and Scott, 1995). These contrasting patterns of response have frequently been attributed to differences in grazing intensity, with greatest diversity expected at intermediate level of grazing (Grime, 1973). Usually diversity is low in environments with very low availability of resources (i.e. where few species can survive) and increases with increasing resource availability (Osem et al., 2002). The impact of grazing on diversity differs along gradients of primary productivity (Milchunuas et al, 1998) but there is no general consensus about the process involved in this interaction (Osem et al., 2002). Grazing intensity affects the quantity and quality of organic and mineralised materials that are delivered to the litter and soil as vegetative residues, urine, and manure (Mannetje, 2000).Grazing also affects the quality of herbage in the sward and this ultimately impacts degradation rate of litter, soil organic matter, and soil nutrient mineralisation rates. Huston (1979) predicted that grazing could change diversity in opposite ways in resource-poor versus resource-rich ecosystems.Changes in plant species composition are central to range management for sustainable production and off-reserve conservation. Plant species can be characterized as \"increasers\" or \"decreasers\" corresponding to their shifts in relative abundance in response to grazing (Dyksterhuis, 1949). According to Crawley (1997) grazing-sensitive or highly preferred species decline in abundance (decreaser) while grazing-tolerant or unpalatable species became more abundant (increaser). On the other hand, there are noxious weed, which are not palatable/preferred by animals (invaders) that encroach the whole system. Generally the decreasers are the high quality pasture plants and the increasers are the less valuable (lower digestibility and nutrient content).Grazing intensity is also important and according to Harper (1977), at low intensities; diversity might be low because of competitive exclusion by the dominant plant. Plant diversity peaks at intermediate grazing intensities when the dominant is suppressed but other species are not substantially affected. Diversity may be low at the highest grazing intensities if there is only a small pool of grazing tolerant (or avoided) species (Crawley, 1997). Diversity may be reduced either by competitive displacement (and eventually exclusion) or by a high frequency of population reduction, which does not allow some competitors to recover between disturbances (Milchunuas et al., 1988;Huston, 1979).Differences in plant diversity inside and outside of enclosures were observed for several community types in the Serengeti (Belsky, 1986b). Diversity declined in all enclosure while equitability dropped sharply, although species richness was not significantly different. McNaughton (1986) attributed this to replacement by tall species in ungrazed areas formerly dominated by short species when the area was being grazed. Pattern diversity, rather than point diversity was found to be the major contributor of stand diversity (Milchunas et al., 1988).The negative effect of herbivory on plant growth and fitness approaches a paradigm in ecology (Belsky, 1986b;Harper, 1977). Removal of leaves, stems, sap, inflorescence, or roots reduces photosynthetic surfaces and by extension, nutrient and carbohydrates supplies, seed production, or surfaces for absorption of water and nutrients. Because plants are integrated organisms, reduction in area or biomass of one organ often leads to reduction in others. Since plant size influences the ability of the individual to capture solar energy, nutrients and water, reduction in size usually reduces the plant's competitive success. Hence herbivory is usually assumed to be harmful to the grazed individual (Belsky, 1986a).It is difficult to generalize about the impact of herbivory on plant diversity because so few detailed long-term studies have been carried out with inconsistent results (Crawley, 1997). Several studies have shown increased plant species richness under herbivory (Oba et al., 2001), a few have shown reduced species richness, and several have shown no effect of herbivory on species richness at all (Crawley, 1997).Studies by Shackleton (2000) protected areas considered for preservation of biodiversity as their primary goal were characterized by significantly fewer plant species than the adjacent highly utilized communal lands at both the plot and point scale. Literature search showed that this kind of research has not been conducted in the Kenyan rangelands partly due to absence of permanent sites protected from grazing and also due to increasing human pressure on the rangelands initially protected for conservation. Most of the research concentrated on the seasonal exclosures of rangelands (e.g. Osem et al., 2002;Oba et al., 2001;Oba, 1995;Ekaya, 1991), which may portray different patterns of forage diversity from that of permanent enclosure. Investigation for species diversity in permanent enclosures is necessary in order to know whether the biodiversity is being conserved or if it is been lost with the age of enclosures. The study was carried out using a range management system where permanent grazing exclosures and open areas display visually different spatial patterns of plant-species richness and biomass production.Humans have interfered with natural processes of ecosystems. In developing countries increase in human population leads to corresponding increase in livestock numbers. This may naturally lead to depletion of natural resources, particularly in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) including natural vegetation. In response, pastoralism evolved as one of the earliest professions in which people traditionally moved their livestock from place to place in search of forage and water. This migratory life style helped vegetation to periodically recover from heavy utilization by domesticated animals (Bonham, 1989). Livestock mobility also relieves areas of concentration and allows herds to exploit grazing resources that are unevenly distributed in time and space (Oba, 2000d).The exclusion of domestic livestock from grazed rangeland often initiates secondary succession. If left undisturbed this succession may culminate in a plant community with a relatively stable composition (Brand and Goetz, 1986). Range managers have often used exclosures, cemeteries, churchyards and other areas inaccessible to livestock to determine the potential for improvement on grazed rangeland. According to Zerihun (1985) floristic richness and the efficiency of the vegetation as an energy trapping system tends to decrease as aboveground biomass becomes concentrated in a few species. The opposite apparently occurs in the grazed sites. Hence, a greater aboveground herbaceous production and a greater grass height characterize ungrazed vegetation.Some plant species in arid environments actually require regular grazing. According to Oba (1995) Indigofera spinosa is highly persistent in Turkana arid ecosystem because of its adaptation to herbivory. In the absence of grazing, the shrub accumulates dead necromass, while under continuous grazing it maintains production of green phytomass (Oba, 1995) offering available forage during the dry seasons. Hence, if the over all goal of the pastoralists in the world is to optimise the current year's crop, extended deferral beyond 1-2 growth seasons offers no superior advantage over continuous grazing.Long-term strategies of grazing management are closely linked to the longer-term variations in forage supply. Therefore livestock management is essentially grazing management, water development and marketing (Bekure et al., 1991). Enclosures are primarily intended for preservation of forage, but they may also be important in conservation. Hatton and Smart (1984) described the effects of a 24 year exclusion of wild herbivores from a Ugandan savannah. Under natural conditions, elephants prevented the persistence of woody populations through their feeding and clearing activities. Once elephants were excluded, an increase in Acacia occurred and these extracted nutrients from the soil profile and deposited litter on the soil surface. Compared to unprotected sites, top soil of protected sites showed up to a five-fold increase in exchangeable cations, a 50% increase in nitrogen and up to a 30% increase in organic matter (Coppock, 1993;Hatton and Smart, 1984).A different perspective of the climate-plant-herbivory interaction model predicts that the removal of grazers (e.g. both domestic and wild ungulates) will neither improve range production nor range condition in the longer term i.e. greater than 5 years (Oba, 1995). Rather, an extended lack of grazing may result in the accumulation of \"old\" vegetation, a decline in live plant cover, the loss of species diversity, and reduced plant production (Oba et al., 2000d). Rangeland plants that are grazed continuously may have lower residual biomass and ground cover, but they may have greater production and better survival than ungrazed plants (Oba et al., 2000d). Consequently, grazing rather than being destructive is necessary for proper management of arid zone pastures.To study the effect of grazing on forage production and diversity in enclosed and open sites 2. To investigate forage preferences of domestic livestock (cattle and goats) both in dry and wet seasons 3. To study the effect of grazing on soil propertiesGrazing intensity has an impact on rangeland vegetation but increases floristic diversity depending on the grazing pressure exerted. On the other hand, lack of grazing led to accumulation of high biomass, bush encroachment leading to a loss in biodiversity. Forage diversity and availability influenced by the growing season (wet and dry) determine the forage preferences and acceptance by the livestock.Mbeere district is one of the 12 districts of eastern province in Kenya. Borders with Embu district to the NW, Tharaka/Nithi to the north, Mwingi district to the east, Machakos district to the south and SE and Kirinyaga district to the west (MEC, 1999). The district lies in latitude 0º20' and 0º50' south and longitude 37º16'and 37º 56' east and has a total area of 2097km 2 (GOK, 1986).The study was carried out at University of Nairobi's Machang'a field station farm in Mbeere district covering an estimated area of 500 ha. The station is located in Mavuria location, Gachoka division of Mbeere district in eastern province of Kenya; about 160 km northeast of Nairobi ( Fig 1). The farm is divided into two sections; in one section there is no grazing at all (i.e. permanent enclosed site) for conservation of rangeland biodiversity. The site has been protected from grazing for a period of 12 years and covers approximately 200 ha (farm manager, pers. comm.). The other section is the open site that is under permanent grazing where livestock graze year round without any restriction and measures approximately 300 hectares. This study site falls in ecological zone IV Pratt and Gwyne (1977) in eastern province of Kenya at an elevation of 1200 m above sea level. A barbed wire fence runs along the boundary except for the southwestern and southern side that borders banks of river Thiba and Kamburu dam respectively.The area is semi-arid receiving an annual rainfall of 610-892mm (Mete dept, Embu; GOK, 2001). The general pattern of rainfall in this area is bimodal (GOK, 2001;GOK, 1986;Fig. 2.). The long rains come between end of March and May and again from October to December (Fig 2). April and November experience the heaviest rainfalls. The dry spell is normally in January and February, and June through September (GOK, 2001;GOK, 1986). The rainfall is however not very reliable and most parts receive less than 550mm of the rainfall per year, giving the area a marginal status. There are slight climatic variations in some parts of the district, especially the southeastern region due to proximity to the Kiambeere, Masinga, Kamburu, Gitaru and Kindaruma hydropower electric dams in this area (GOK, 2001).The mean monthly temperature ranges from 20ºC to 28ºC, and the mean annual temperature is about 24ºC (GOK, 2001). August is usually the coldest month with average monthly minimum temperature of 15ºC. March is the warmest month with average monthly maximum temperature rising to 32ºC (GOK, 2001).The district slopes in a SE direction rising gradually from about 515 m above sea level at the river Tana basin in the east to over 1200 m above sea level (GOK, 1986). The slope is however broken by existence of a few hills such as Kiambere, Kiang'ombe and Kianjiru, which rise above this general height. The Mwea plains cover the southern part of the district and then gradually rise northwards culminating in hills and valleys to the northern and eastern parts of the district. Five permanent rivers serve the district that includes Tana, Ena, Rupingazi, Thuci and Thiba all of which flow on a general southeasterly direction (GOK, 2001;Riley and Brokensha, 1988).The altitude and climate, coupled with the differences of the underlying geology, have given rise to varying soil types, which in turn influence land use patterns (GOK, 2001;Riley and Brokensha, 1988). The soils are generally sandy, loamy, blackish grey or reddish brown whose fertility ranges from low to moderate and fertilizers are needed for optimum crop production. The northern side of the district is covered by clay soils of different types. Livestock production is the most significant economic activity undertaken by the Mbeere community (GOK, 2001;Riley & Brokensha, 1988). This is because of the dry rolling plains, most of which have thorn shrub, fertile soils are rare and water has been a perpetual problem in most parts (GOK, 1986). The main livestock reared include cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. The district is suitable mainly for beef cattle as the exotic dairy cattle can hardly survive in the marginal areas. However, food crops such as maize, beans, sorghum and millet are grown mainly for subsistence (Riley & Brokensha, 1988). The main cash crops grown include cotton, tobacco and to a lesser extent sunflower.The natural vegetation cover ranges from moist, broad leaf, wooded savannah, Combretum-Acacia (with Cordia, Faurea, Bauhinia and Terminalia) to a dry thornbush scrub of Acacia-Commiphora (with Boscia, Delonix and Maerua and xerophytic Terminalia species) covering most of the area (Brokensha & Riley, 1986). The lower dry zones to the plains contain much shrub vegetation of short thorny trees growing in predominantly grassy areas (Riley & Brokensha, 1988;GOK, 1986). Some areas of the lower zones either have tough and dry grass, at times with isolated shrubby trees or tufts of grass with nothing growing except sandy plains or huge expanse of rocky ground. River valleys and hill slopes are covered with thick bushes at places where natural vegetation is relatively undisturbed by human activity.Stratified random sampling design was used. Forty and fifty quadrats were sampled in enclosed and open sites respectively. Each quadrat was measuring 10m x 10m with an interval of 50m. Four sub-quadrats each measuring 0.5m x 0.5m were established at each corner for herbaceous biomass measurements (Whalley and Hardy, 2000;Mannetje, 2000;Brand and Goetz, 1986). The total standing above ground biomass (g/m 2 ) was estimated by clipping for the herbaceous layer and use of reference unit technique for shrubs and trees in the entire quadrat (Bonham, 1989). Percent canopy cover was estimated visually in every quadrat for the three plant growth forms (herbs, shrubs and trees).Changes in biomass are usually determined by harvesting plant material at time intervals suited to the growth pattern of the species under investigation, usually about one month (Roberts et al., 1993). In this study plant material were first harvested during the dry season (October 2002) and this was repeated in the wet season (January 2003). Herbaceous vegetation in each sub-quadrat of (0.5m x 0.5m) was clipped at ground level using a secateur according to Mannetje (2000); Bonham (1989) and Zerihun (1985). It was then mixed together, sorted according to species or species group e.g. poaceae, packed in labelled brown bags, weighed and recorded. The fresh herbage was air dried and then oven-dried at 80°C for 48hrs and finally re-weighed (Whalley and Hardy 2000;Roberts et al., 1993;Brand and Goetz, 1986).Biomass yield of trees and shrubs was estimated using the reference unit technique Bonham (1989); Kirmse and Norton (1985) in the entire quadrat measuring 10m x 10m. A small unit of plant such as a shoot of a given dimension was designated as a reference unit (Bonham, 1989). The size of the reference unit was estimated to be 10-20% of the foliage weight of the average plant according to Kirmse and Norton (1985). Few reference units (5-7) were clipped and average green weight determined (Bonham, 1989). The number of counted/estimated reference units was multiplied by the average weight of clipped reference units to estimate biomass production according to Bonham (1989); Kirmse and Norton (1985). The whole reference unit was oven dried at 80°C for 48hrs and weighed. The total dry biomass of each species was estimated by multiplying the number of the units counted/estimated for a particular plant by the weight of the dry foliage in the reference unit (Kirmse and Norton, 1985). Finally the ratio of dry to fresh weight was calculated to get the actual biomass.The canopy cover was estimated visually for the three plant growth forms i.e. herbaceous, shrubs and tree layers in each quadrat before clipping was done and expressed as percentages. Finally the mean cover scores for each plant growth were determined both for enclosed and open sites.Direct observation of animals using feeding minutes (Bjugstad et al., 1970) was adopted to assess forage preferences by timing the animals as they feed. Five goats and five cattle were randomly selected from a herd and marked for identification. In each alternative day, one of the selected goat/cattle was observed for four hours (0800-1100hrs) as the herd grazed.Soil sample were collected randomly at the plots where the vegetation had been clipped for biomass estimation. Twenty soil samples were collected from enclosed site and thirty samples from the open site. The soil samples were labelled and sealed in polythene bags and taken to Jomo Kenyatta University, horticulture laboratory for physical and chemical analysis. Each soil samples were analysed according to Gapta, 1999, Allen, 1989, Blake and Hartge, 1986, Page, 1982and Juo, 1978.Data was classified using the package SYNTAX (Podani, 2000) with agglomerative hierarchical technique correction as a resemblance index. Shannon-wiener diversity index was used for computation of plant species diversity. T-test was used to test for significant differences in total species richness, herbaceous richness, cover abundance, standing biomass for combined species and for herbaceous biomass across the four treatments.3.1 Biomass When the species were plotted against the log normal the results revealed that biomass was accumulated in some species, which were the most dominant ones. There was partitioning of resources among the species and more species were encountered during the wet season in both sites. The biomass accumulated in the enclosed sites was significantly higher (P< 0.05) than that of open plots (Figures 3-6). The biomass has been plotted on a log normal scale for different treatments. The X-axis represents species in a descending order of biomass and Y-axis represent log biomass. A total of 245 species were recorded from the study site. Total species richness in enclosed and open sites had a significant difference (p< 0.05) (Table 1a). Higher species richness was encountered in the open site than in the enclosed site. Species richness in enclosures varied from 122-129 species while in open site it varied from 167-201 during the dry and wet seasons respectively. There were 93 and 18 plant species that were site specific in open and enclosed sites respectively. There was a significant difference in herbaceous richness between open and enclosed sites (P<0.05) Table 1a. There was no difference between herbaceous biomass in the enclosed and open site.The data of species richness (N), diversity (H') and evenness (E) of dry and wet seasons, open and enclosed sites are tabulated in (Table 1b). The wet seasons showed higher species diversity and evenness than the dry season. The results show that, there is significant difference (p<0.05) in percentage cover for herbs and shrubs (Table 2). Cattle and goats shifted between forage classes i.e. grasses and browses as seasons changed. Goats preferred browse during the dry season and grass during the growing season. Cattle preferred grass in both seasons, but browsed occasionally in the dry season.The soil analysis results are presented in (Table 3). The open site and the enclosed site were tested for significant differences in chemical and physical properties of the soils. From the results there was significant difference in soil pH, bulk density, nitrogen, moisture content, percent organic matter and organic carbon at (P<0.05) in enclosed and open sites. In the log normal transformation there is sequential breakage where the resources are sequentially split within the species. The results revealed that the most dominant species contribute the highest amount of biomass. This kind of arrangement can also be considered in terms of resource partitioning where the dominance/abundance of a species is the same way equivalent to the portion of niche it has occupied (Magurran, 1988). Herbs seem to acquire less in biomass mostly due to competition from the higher plants. Despite their low acquisition of biomass, herbaceous layers play a major and important role in forage diversity.Species richness increased monotonically with the increase in biomass in the grazing site. Oba et al. (2001) reported similar findings. The expected increase in biomass as a result of enclosure was verified. An increase in biomass in the enclosed site did not automatically result in an increase in species richness. This could be attributed to reduced disturbances from human and livestock interference in the enclosure, which allow species to develop large-scale local populations (Huston, 1979). Open site during the wet season had the highest diversity. This means that moisture had an influence in species diversity as well as grazing. The enclosed site during wet season had the highest species evenness meaning that those species in the site were highly evenly distributed.The results showed that grazing promotes herbaceous species richness though it depends on the grazing pressure exerted on the vegetation. High number of species diversity in the open site means that livestock play an integral role in the maintenance and dispersal of herbaceous species. Again herbaceous species are easily dispersed through seeds due to their generally smaller size. On the other hand since most of the herbaceous species are annuals they survive the unfavourable conditions as seeds which sprout quickly after the onsets of rains and hence their high occurrences during the wet season (Zerihun & Saleem, 2000). It was observed that herbaceous species are more influenced by the amount of rainfall and disturbance in a particular area. Herbaceous species richness declined in the enclosed area probably because of the period of enclosure and this has been demonstrated in the Serengeti grasslands (McNaughton, 1979).High cover of herbaceous layer in open site could be related to the sprouting of the annuals immediately after the rains. The results also indicate that the secondary succession is still taking place in this rangeland protected since 1990 when grazing exclusion was started. The results also show successful replacements of forbs and grasses as grasslands are slowly transformed into bushlands. Absence of grazing for a long time is also followed by an increase in bush cover (Oba et al., 2000b). A high shrub cover compared to herbaceous cover in the enclosed site also suggests a progressive shift towards trees and shrubs in the absence of grazing (Roques et al., 2001).Goats shifted their preference between browse in the dry season to grass during the wet season. These findings support those of (Kefa, 2000;Ekaya, 1991;Pfister & Malechek, 1986). Goats were observed to be capable of switching from one source of browse to another when the main sources declined. Goats were observed to assume a bipedal stance while feeding thus increasing their feeding height and again this increases the volume of browse potentially available to them. This was seen as a resources utilization strategy by goats.Goats make maximum use of the grass when it is still growing and high in nutrient content before suddenly declining in quality with advancement in maturity. These preserve the browse, which declines less in quality for the critical dry season. Cattle were consistent in their preference for grass. These two types of livestock were observed to have a complementary feeding habit and hence there was no competition between them.Available phosphorous remains more or less constant in both the grazed and ungrazed plots (Appendix 1), with an indication of possible decline in enclosed plots. Rock weathering may be the only significant source of additional phosphorous for range soils (Heady and Child, 1994). This uniformly low content is attributed to the fact that this element is stored in unavailable forms to plants Juo (1978) H 2 PO 4 which becomes available to plants at low pH. It also suffers from fixation by hydrous oxides and silicate minerals. This element is doubly critical, because of low total amount and a very low availability.Quantities of exchangeable cations were relatively low in both enclosed and grazed plots. The availability of the cations depends on the parent materials. This can be attributed to the fact that the soil in all the plots was more or less acidic with low pH values (Oba et al., 2000a). Except for calcium that showed a slight increase in the enclosed plots all the other nutrients remain low. These inorganic nutrients are only made available through the active release of cations from the additional litter accumulating under trees (Skarpe, 1991;Hatton and Smart, 1984).There was an appreciable increase in organic matter content in the enclosed plots as compared to grazed plots (Appendix1). Organic matter and organic carbon are correlated within any single type and as the results indicate there was an increase in the amount of organic carbon in the enclosed sites. Similar finding are reported by Hatton and Smart (1984). This was expected in the enclosed site that was dominated by trees and shrubs that deposits litter on the soil. Through decomposition, the organic matter is returned to the soil and hence the percent carbon also increases.Both temperature and moisture regime affects the equilibrium of organic matter contents of soils. Increased temperature decreases organic matter content while increased moisture increases organic matter (Sikora and Stott, 1996). Again in sites where there was no disturbance it is expected that the microbial activity and other decomposer populations would be more intense, and the role of these organisms as agents of litter breakdown and humus formation is well known (Skarpe, 1990).There was a significant difference in the percent moisture content with a range of 1.4-6.6% and 0.2-3.8 % in enclosed and open site respectively. This can be attributed to the fact that the soils in the enclosed sites are not directly exposed to the sun due to the canopy cover, which prevents evaporation rates. Litter deposition/accumulation from the trees and shrubs additionally keep soil covered most of the time and hence reduces heating of the soil which would cause the reserved water to evaporate. In addition, the shade from the trees and shrubs play a major role in moisture retention (Skarpe, 1991). Again, the high amount of organic matter in the enclosed site maintains the moisture at a higher level. In most cases grazing induces shortage of moisture, reduces infiltration rate and other nutrients and to some extent causes soil erosion.Total nitrogen was higher in the enclosed site (Appendix 1) than in the open site. The increase in the total nitrogen is as a result of the increase in organic matter content of the soils in the protected sites. The low level of nitrogen content in the grazed sites can be attributed to low nitrate content which are easily lost through soil erosion (Belsky et al., 1989). The total nitrogen is often a good indicator of the degraded rangelands and in this it indicates a higher level of land degradation in the grazed sites as opposed to the enclosed sites.Bulk density was higher in the grazed plots than in the enclosed plots. The soils with high proportion of pore space to solids have lower bulk densities than those that are more compact and have less pore space. In the enclosed sites due to high proportion of organic matter the pore space is higher hence the low bulk density. The bulk density range in the enclosed site was 1.2-2.3 g/cm 3 while in the open site it was 1.3-3.0 g/cm 3 . In the communal grazing sites grazing increases bulkiness of the soil through the soil compaction and hence the higher bulk density. Due to exposure of the soils in open sites the evaporation rate is high reducing moisture content and soil density changes with moisture content (Sikora and Stott, 1996).The composition of the particle size assay was relatively uniform except slight variations in the clay contents. The high amount of clay content in the enclosed site can be attributed to the hydropower dam which spills off water during the rainy season to the adjacent enclosed site. This water is always carrying different types of soil which is eventually deposited in the study site.Again river Thiba that borders the study site is another potential source of clay soil. In general all the soils in both sites were either loamy sand or sandy loam.There was no significant variation in the soil colour. In all the soil samples the hue (the dominant spectral colour or quality was consistently 5YR. The value (apparent lightness as compared to absolute white) varies significantly from 3-8. The chroma (the apparent degree of divergence from neutral grey or white) varies from 3-7. The general colour of the soil ranged from red to brown.The comparison of the soil data from the grazed and ungrazed plots indicates nutrient enrichment of the soils in enclosed site, in part this could be due, to nutrient inputs by tree litter. On the other hand, trees transport nutrients from the surrounding surface and subsurface soils to their canopy and drop the nutrients in leaf and stem litter (Belsky et al., 1989). 12 years of grazing exclusion can conclusively be said to be useful in relation to the soil properties whereby most of the nutrients are relatively higher in the enclosed site than in the open site. Poor nutrients content, is a symptom of land degradation in the open site. This was more pronounced in the plots which were falling in the more degraded area.Low soil nutrients values indicate that natural process such as weathering are unable to replenish soil nutrients at a sufficient rate to replace those lost by the direct or indirect effects of grazing. Nitrogen and cation concentrations decline at a more rapid rate than can be explained by grazing effects (McIntosh, 1997). Processes like nutrient loss, continued grazing without nutrient inputs are unsustainable. To maintain or improve soil nutrient balance, new approaches to soil and vegetation management will be required.From the ongoing discussion, the study results are consistent with the general pattern that pastoral development enhances richness of plant species at a local scale providing opportunities for increasers species to establish. Conversely, it has the potential to decrease it at a regional scale by removing the most grazing sensitive decreasers species from the regional species pool (Landsberg et al., 2002). Those species, which were substantially less abundant in open sites than in the enclosed sites, were presumably the most sensitive to grazing overall.Some plant species, such as Andropogon greenwayi and Sporobolus ioclades (poaceae) and Indigofera cliffordiana Herlocker (1999) and I. spinosa (dwarf shrub) have adapted to grazing and browsing to the extent that they depend on it for their existence (Oba, 1995). However, overgrazing reduces ground cover vegetation, plant height, forage quality and productivity. The impact of grazing on rangeland vegetation depends on three factors: first, the type of herbivores (grazers and browsers), secondly the number and type of animals utilizing an area, and lastly the distribution of use in time and space (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977). Cattle and sheep, which are primarily grazers and goats and camels, which are primarily browsers directly affect the herbaceous and woody components of the vegetation respectively. Walker (1993) suggested that in arid rangelands lack of grazing is ineffective in inducing revegetation until the right combination of weather conditions occurs. Grazing has a greater influence on species composition, perhaps suggesting a better adaptation of vegetation of the study site to grazing as a result of the long association of plants and livestock and to some extent small mammals like rabbits and dik dik.Long term grazing exclusion studies attempt to test the hypothesis that grazing causes degradation.Several studies comparing the effects of excluding grazing with those of continuous grazing have been conducted world wide, including in arid zones of sub-Saharan Africa, for more than a century (Oba et al., 2000c). According to the current study grazing exclusion did not improve or increase range production any more than continuous grazing. This is because forage production is influenced more by rainfall than by herbivory. These studies support the findings of Oba et al.(2000d).Areas of rangeland where grazing has ceased have been invaded by woody plants. A ban on livestock grazing in the rangeland would almost certainly result in the loss of this species-rich habitat. A similar trend was observed in the study site where grazing exclusion did not increase species richness though there was substantial increase in above ground biomass. The hypothesis that grazing history is the main factor determining plant community composition in the rangeland was supported by the species richness, vegetation cover and high level of organic matter and moisture contents because these factors are likely consequences of herbivory (Crawley, 1997).The forage yield of the grazed rangelands was significantly less than that of the ungrazed ranges in both seasons. The most interesting fact concerning the dried forage yields of the investigated rangelands was that the yield differences in the grazed areas for both seasons (i.e. dry and wet) were negligible. This lack of difference is another indication of the heavy and uncontrolled grazing taking place in the common grazing lands in both seasons. Heavy grazing would not allow the more palatable grasses to regrow during the growing period (Tukel, 1984). Dried forage yield was appreciably different in the ungrazed areas between the seasons. This difference may be explained on the basis that the enclosed site is dominated by shrubs and trees which provide high biomass during the wet seasons. In the dry season most of them are deciduous and hence shed off their foliage parts giving low biomass.This study shows that the influence of livestock on rangelands is expressed through their effect on vegetation. This is expressed through the reduction of above ground biomass and cover. The open site had less above ground biomass as compared to enclosed site. On the other hand livestock on the free grazing systems has a very important role in the maintenance of plant diversity. This is normally through the dispersal of readily germinating seeds in their manure. This is reflected in the species richness between the open and enclosed sites. Open site had high species diversity than the enclosed site and the livestock influences this. Again some plants of the arid lands also survive well through regular herbivory and hence livestock removal will have major consequences on them.Grazing is apt to have a greater negative impact when the vegetation of an area is grazed continuously than when it is grazed only periodically. In the latter, the vegetation has an opportunity to rest and maintain its vigour. From the results grazing in adequate frequency and intensity play an important role in maintaining diversity of the rangelands. In the absence of grazing, shrubs gradually replace the grasses as evidenced in this study. The competitive effects of shrubs and trees on herbaceous plants are obvious. The canopies of woody plants shade and alter the productivity of understorey herbaceous species. Woody plants may have larger competitive effects than herbaceous species. This may simply be caused by the higher shoot mass of shrubs and hence greater reductions in light availability for under canopy layer.Control of animal numbers is the most important rangeland management principle. As each animal grazes, it reduces available herbage both in quantity and quality, thereby changing the habitat for itself and altering future animal/habitat relations. Excessive forage utilization by either livestock or game animals reduces growth rates, weight gains and animal values (Heady and Child, 1994).The rangelands of eastern Africa are characterized by a high biodiversity that is economically important both locally and nationally and their conservation is of paramount importance. This study area was found to be rich in plant species with diverse classes of plant life forms. High diversity of plant species as well as other living organisms is considered to be a desirable characteristic in any particular rangeland. They clearly indicate that rangeland ecosystems are vigorous and in good health and can sustain high forage productivity. In this case it means that livestock play a major role in the maintenance of biodiversity of the rangelands.Although grazing is important for preserving species diversity in rangelands through the maintenance of species-rich grasslands, long-term effects must be considered in the formulation of future management plans. Species from the open site represent a significant component of the plant diversity of the rangeland and hence their survival depends on the amount of grazing pressure exerted in this rangeland. Moderate grazing pressure will not alter the species composition up to a certain degree but the carrying capacity of the site is also an important determinant of the number of the herbivores to be stocked in a certain area.From the results it is evident that forage is not always available during the dry season and hence the farmers should look for alternative to supplement the little available forage. Planting forage species that thrive well in these rangelands is highly recommended. Again the farmers can introduce the systems of hay and silage whereby the grasses can be cut during the wet season and preserved for the unpredictable dry season. In doing so, the livestock will not always have available feeds.The diet preferences and acceptance by goats and cattle that are kept in this rangeland are complementary rather than competitive as they favour different feed resources within the same area of rangeland and have adapted differently to seasonal changes in amount and quality of forage. Therefore, the use of mixed herds can considerably increase productivity in rangeland areas, minimize production risks and reduce environmental impact compared to single species production systems.New strategies of resources utilization should be developed with the aim of making pastoralism more sustainable means of production. These strategies should take care of the stability of the ecosystems, means of sustainable use of the available resources i.e. vegetation, economically oriented and social acceptability. In the long run sustainable commercial use of the range vegetation, owing to its abundance, may be the most logical basis for any initiative that can lead to economic diversification. The multi-purpose use of the dominant vegetation type (woody species) may in fact help in its improved management and conservation. There are indeed a number of plants in the rangelands that are source of commercially exploitable products. For example Acacia senegal is exploited sustainably for commercial gum Arabic production for international commerce (Doyo and Farah 1998).Research should focus on the relationship between livelihood and rangeland biodiversity more especially in relation to harmonized pastoral and forage communities. Priorities for research should include; inventory and monitoring genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape diversity. Also analysing human impact on rangeland ecosystem and economic exploitation of biodiversity ","tokenCount":"7440"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2907023981.json b/data/part_1/2907023981.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae3173e5292f18fc0dbc0beab80aa01f700b9770
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2907023981.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"379ad6208c7bca236ca769d9eae9376c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9114001-70f9-4735-a402-a75cca63cfeb/retrieve","id":"1465892935"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ae9c229-0957-411d-aa19-3cbe7267698a","pagecount":"3","content":"Comments: All other countries where AICCRA is being implemented: Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Zambia and Ethiopia GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE: NATIONAL TITLE: Women's Investment Club integrates climate-risk into accelerator and contributes to the uptake of climate-smart solutions in Senegal. AICCRA's research and engagement is enhancing the awareness and capacity for private actorsThe private sector mapping report showed a clear lack of investment in women led agribusinesses. This has led to the elaboration of the Gender Smart Accelerator Grant. The grant aims at providing an investment readiness and business development program coupled with CSA/CIS capacity building to selected SMEs. The integration of the climate change topic into the program of the partner raised their awareness on the importance of climate change in investment.In Senegal in particular, women's entrepreneurship still represents a vast untapped source of job creation and economic growth, with less than one third of Senegalese entrepreneurs being women. While women are key contributors to agri-food systems, their productivity and ability to innovate, implement and lead climate solutions is limited due to inequitable access to inputs, information, and financing. These gaps are exacerbated by climate change increasing women's vulnerability to climate shocks. One of the market failures identified in the strategic Roadmap on mainstreaming gender-smart investing is the lack of a strong pipeline of investable women-led agribusinesses [1]. Through the Gender-Smart Accelerator, AICCRA is promoting gender-smart investments in partnership with private sector actors to address the challenges related to the scaling of CSA [3]. By focusing on innovations with a clear gender focus, AICCRA aims to highlight opportunities for women in the agricultural sector and increase their adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change. Women receive technical assistance for business development, investment readiness, climate-smart agriculture and climate information services. At the end of the accelerator challenge, the winners will receive a de-risking grant of up to $25,000. [4] The challenge was put in place together with WIC, an impact investor specialized in investing in women-led businesses, that received more than 240 applications, of which 20 were selected to integrate the cohort [4]. During the Women Investment Forum, an event that gathered SMEs, public and private investors, governmental representatives, WIC, as an outcome of the engagement with AICCRA through the Gender-Smart accelerator, decided to integrate a panel on green finance which included impact investors, donors and members of AICCRA's team [5]. Topics discussed included carbon credits, climate finance, monitoring of CSA impacts in investments, taxonomy of indicators, and blended finance. The project raised awareness of the private sector on the importance of addressing climate change, how climate risk can be mitigated with science-based tools , and the mechanisms that promote investments into CSA business models.  2022) AICCRA-Senegal Gender-Smart Accelerator Grant concept note. 15 p:(available here) Gender-Smart Accelerator Call: available here Women's Investment Club (WIC) Linkedin post on the Green Finance Panel held during the First Women Investment Forum : available here REFERENCES 1.3. 4. 5.CapDev relevance: 1 -Significant. The businesses participating have received more than 13 modules that will strenghten their businesses The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.Lever 3 -Climate Action © 2023. This work is openly licensed via CC BY NC","tokenCount":"526"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2937705127.json b/data/part_1/2937705127.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ecde1bfcab3d4c79efe7d8a75250a4d1603233d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2937705127.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5273ee5ccb7af3074be0350095c8d96b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/01219371-a027-4835-8e0a-1246f9fe88cb/retrieve","id":"-315035197"},"keywords":["Action research","Bacterial wilt","Degeneration","Farm-saved seed tubers","Kenya","Positive selection","Seed potatoes","Seed quality","Viruses"],"sieverID":"bcfe7702-c38d-4a91-b5e1-318b63f37a97","pagecount":"14","content":"In Kenya, seed potato quality is often a major yield constraint in potato production as smallholder farmers use farm-saved seed without proper management of seed-borne pests and diseases. Farm-saved seed is therefore often highly degenerated. We carried out on-farm research to assess whether farmer-managed positive seed selection could improve yield. Positive selection gave an average yield increase in farmer-managed trials of 34%, corresponding to a 284-€ increase in profit per hectare at an additional production cost of only 6€/ha. Positive selection can be an important alternative and complementary technology to regular seed replacement, especially in the context of imperfect rural economies characterized by high risks of production and insecure markets. It does not require cash investments and is thus accessible for all potato producers. It can also be applied where access to highquality seed is not guaranteed. The technology is also suitable for landraces and not recognized cultivars that cannot be multiplied formally. Finally, the technology fits seamlessly within the seed systems of Sub-Saharan Africa, which are dominated by self-supply and neighbour supply of seed potatoes.Seed Potato Systems in Kenya Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the second most important food crop in Kenya in terms of bulk harvested; it is an important staple and cash crop for smallholder farmers in the Kenyan highlands. Poor seed potato quality is a major yield reducing factor in potato production in Kenya (Gildemacher et al. 2009a, b). In a survey by Fuglie (2007), viruses and bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum scored as important priorities for action in the eyes of potato researchers, whereas nematodes scored much lower. Improving seed potato quality is considered a pathway to improve smallholder potato yields and income (Getachew and Mela 2000;Tindimubona et al. 2000;Eshetu et al. 2005;Hirpa et al. 2010).Seed potato health is a major determinant of the yield potential of a potato crop. Over generations, seed potato quality degenerates as a result of tuber-borne diseases, among which viruses play an important role (Salazar 1996). Turkensteen (1987) identified bacterial wilt, caused by R. solanacearum and the viruses PVY and PLRV as seedborne potato diseases of major importance in Central Africa (Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC), but also mentioned soft rot (Pectobacterium chrysanthemi), Fusarium wilt and dry rot (Fusarium solani) and Verticilium wilt (Verticillium albo-atrum) as being of economic importance. Solomon-Blackburn and Barker (2001) mentioned PVY and PLRV as most important viruses worldwide, and PVX as relatively mild as single infection, but potentially damaging in combination with other viruses.Degeneration over seed generations is the combined result of increasing percentage of seed tubers infected, increasing number of tubers infected with multiple viruses and an increasing concentration of particles of these viruses in the seed tubers. and virus particle multiplication within the plant (Salazar 1996). Moreover, some varieties tolerate virus infection better than others, which is reflected in lower yield losses under similar virus incidences.Yield loss can be avoided through regular replenishment of seed stocks by highquality seed potatoes multiplied by specialist growers from disease-free starter material. The specialized production skills, distribution system and quality control system required, combined with the low multiplication rate, the bulkiness and the poor shelf life of seed potatoes, all make high-quality seed potatoes expensive. Seed potatoes represent a major component of potato production costs.The speed with which the yield potential of the seed stock degenerates over generations of re-use as a result of accumulation of viruses depends on a number of factors. Firstly, the disease pressure is related to the abundance of the vector of viruses, most often aphids, and the number of diseased plants present. At high temperatures, viruses reproduce faster within the plants and most virus vectors also have a shorter generation duration and are also more active than at lower temperatures, thus increasing the disease pressure. Secondly, the degeneration depends on the variety grown. Varieties differ in levels of resistance to virus infection In northern countries, where producers have fairly reliable market outlets and relatively predictable yields, the return on investments of high-quality seed potatoes by ware potato producers is positive. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, yields and profits fluctuate widely as a result of variation in rainfall patterns and unreliable market chains. Investment in planting high-quality seed potatoes is therefore less attractive for Sub-Saharan African farmers. Furthermore, smallholder farmers lack the cash required for investment in high-quality seed potatoes. Rather than relying on specialized seed potato growers, the seed potato systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are dominated by neighbour and self-supply (Crissman et al. 1993;Gildemacher et al. 2009b;Hirpa et al. 2010).Seed system interventions to improve smallholder potato yields have been initiated in many developing countries. Some interventions introduced and supported formal certified seed potato production schemes with independent quality control like in Kenya (Crissman et al. 1993), Rwanda, Bolivia and Peru, while others focussed on building informal, non-certified, farmer-based seed potato multiplication schemes, like for example in Uganda (Tindimubona et al. 2000). Invariably, interventions were based on a model of specialized seed potato growers as suppliers of high-quality seed potatoes to smallholder ware potato farmers. This could be considered as attempts to transfer successes of specialized seed potato multiplication systems in northern countries, like the Netherlands, UK and Canada (Young 1990), to developing countries. Notwithstanding pilot successes with building such seed potato multiplication systems in developing countries, there is little evidence of cases where building a specialized seed potato system has led to drastic and sustainable improvement of the yields of poor potato producers.During the temporary successful operation of large-scale seed potato multiplication and distribution in Kenya between 1980 and1990, this only accounted for about 1% of all seed potatoes planted in the country (Crissman et al. 1993). Excluding the well-established seed potato industry in South Africa, there are currently no examples of Sub-Saharan African countries, with the agro-ecology suitable for seed potato production, that satisfy a substantial proportion of their demand for seed potatoes through formal certified or otherwise quality-controlled seed production. Gildemacher et al. (2009b) calculated that in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, the proportion of seed potatoes originating directly or indirectly from quality-controlled multiplication was less than 3% of the total seed requirement. In spite of the undisputed importance of high-quality seed potatoes as an input for intensive potato production, it is apparently difficult to make commercial high-quality seed potatoes available to the majority of potato producers.Considering the importance of farm saved seed potatoes in Eastern Africa, Gildemacher et al. (2009b) identified the need to improve seed potato quality management by ware potato producers as a component of improving the overall quality of seed potatoes used. This raised the following question: what technologies can smallholder potato farmers apply to maintain or even improve the quality of their own seed potato stocks?Positive selection is an old technology that was used primarily in formal seed potato multiplication to select mother plants from the best plot of potatoes as the starting point of the multiplication system (De Bokx and Van de Want 1987). The best potato plants in a field are marked before crop senescence that obscures disease symptoms. The marked plants serve as mother plants for seed potatoes used for the next season's potato crop. Positive selection has been used in Central Africa as the starting point for a seed multiplication system (Haverkort 1986). Positive selection is now widely regarded as an obsolete technology in formal seed potato production systems. Currently, seed potatoes in formal seed systems are multiplied from tested, diseasefree, tissue culture material or from other nuclear stock which has been proven to be disease free. The use of positive selection as an on-farm method to maintain seed potato quality is also mentioned in literature (Struik and Wiersema 1999), but is not commonly used by ware potato producers, nor is its use promoted.A specific action research programme on positive seed potato selection was implemented by the International Potato Center (CIP) from 2004 till today. The main focus of the programme was the training of ware potato farmers in positive seed potato selection (Gildemacher et al. 2007a). The positive selection initiative integrated research and development objectives into a single effort, aiming at innovation rather than research results alone.This paper presents the results of farmer-managed trials in which positive selection is compared to common farmer practice. It demonstrates that the technology can provide an additional option for smallholder potato producers to manage the quality of their seed potatoes. The paper goes on to discuss the likely causes of the observed increases in production.The positive selection technology was tested under full farmer control, minimizing the scientist influence on trial execution. It was not the technological soundness of positive selection that had to be proven, but rather the value of the technology in the hands of smallholder potato producers in the Kenyan production system. The technology had been in existence for decades, but was never adopted on a large scale by ware potato growers. Surmising that this could not be the result of the complexity nor the lack of efficiency of the technology, but rather the lack of effective training and promotion, a great deal of attention was put on the development of a training methodology that could potentially be scaled out to a national level.A training approach for farmer groups, resembling farmer field schools (FFSs), was used for the training in positive selection, with some deliberate differences. The positive selection training was less intensive than usual in FFSs to minimize the required facilitator and farmer time. The meetings of the farmer groups were more facilitator-led than usual in FFSs and the agenda was fixed by the programme. Rather than trying to cover a diversity of potato issues, a specific choice was made on seed potato quality management and seed-borne diseases. The training of the facilitators was limited to 2 days, with further support and interaction on-the-job. The total number of meetings of the farmer group was nine times over a period of roughly 10 months. The demonstration experiment comparing farmer practice with positive selection formed the centre of the farmer group training.It was attempted to meet both the scientist and the farmer need for experimentation simultaneously. The setup of the trials was such that it resembled most the manner in which a farmer would experiment without involvement of scientists (Bentley 1994).Positive selection was tested against the current farmer practice (see Box 1). Replications were over farmer groups rather than within farmer groups. Seed potatoes were obtained by the farmer group from an existing potato field of at least 1,000 m 2 , planted with a popular variety, and considered to be representative of their potato fields. The field was divided into two equal portions. One half was designated to source seed potatoes using positive selection, the other half using farmer common practice. For positive selection, the farmers pegged the best-looking plants as they were taught, just before flowering, roughly 10 weeks after planting. Two weeks later, the farmers inspected the field and removed pegs from plants with newly developed disease symptoms. Pegged plants were harvested individually and plants with few, small or misshaped tubers were rejected. Tubers of 25-90 mm from the remaining pegged plants were collected as seed potatoes for the positive selection treatment of the demonstration trial. Seed potatoes for the farmer practice treatment were selected from the bulk of potatoes harvested from the other half of the field, according to common farmer practice. Seeds from both sources were stored next to each other using the common farmer practice.For the experiment, a field supplied by the farmer group was divided into two, perpendicular to the slope. One half was planted with seed tubers obtained through positive selection, the other with farmer practice-derived seed tubers. Planting, fertilizer application, disease control, hilling and weeding were all done by the farmer groups using their common practice.Eight weeks after planting, a random sample of minimum 400 plants was inspected for visual virus and bacterial wilt symptoms. The number of plants showing symptoms as well as the total number of plants was recorded. At harvest, the total number of plants in both plots was counted, and both plots were harvested. Marketable yield of the plots was recorded as all tubers above 25 mm.Here, data are presented from two separate seasons of farmer experimentation, the short rainy season of September 2005-February 2006 and the long rainy season of April-August 2010.In [2005][2006], yield data could be collected from 13 farmer groups and 12 trials yielded useful disease data. Reasons for rejecting trials were several, including incorrect data collection by the teams of farmers and extension staff, harvest of the trial by thieves, destruction of the field by porcupines, a differential treatment during the growing season or separate seed storage of one of the two treatments and complete crop failure as a result of drought.For 2010, yield data was available from 72 trials, but only in a selection also disease data were collected. A first selection of trials for data analysis was made by taking those trials having both yield and disease data. Furthermore, trials that did not yield more than 3 t ha −1 for the farmer selection treatment were omitted from the analysis of yield differences. Trials from Eldoret East were omitted from the analysis of disease data because of irregularities in field data collection.Paired sample t tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of positive selection compared to farmer selection on yield as well as farmer-scored visual bacterial wilt and virus incidence.In 2005-2006, the positive selection plots gave an average yield of 14.2 t ha −1 which was significantly higher than the 11.8 t ha −1 for the farmer seed selection plots. The average yield increase of positive selection over farmer selection was 28% (Table 1).In 2010, the positive selection lots gave on average 13.1 t ha −1 , compared to 8.6 t ha −1 for the farmer seed selection, a yield increase of 53% (Table 2).Figure 1 shows that the effect of positive selection was apparent notwithstanding the yield of the farmer selection treatment. The average yield increase for the 25% lowest yielding trials was 2.7 t ha −1 , which is a 55% increase. The average yield increase for the 25% highest yields was 5.1 t ha −1 , which represents a 29% yield increase.Tables 3 and 4 show that the visible virus incidence, as scored by the farmers in the demonstration trials, was significantly reduced as a result of positive selection from 9% to 5% in 2005-2006 and from 18.8% to 7.1% in 2010.Also, bacterial wilt incidence was significantly lower in the positive selection plots than in the farmer selection plots (Tables 3 and 4). In those trials in 2005-2006 where bacterial wilt was observed, the positive selection plots had an average incidence of 1.3% compared with 3.5% in the farmer selection plots. In 2010, positive selection reduced bacterial wilt infection from an average of 7.6% to 2.6%.Table 5 shows that the average yield increase obtained in the trials was 3.5 t ha −1 . This yield increase gave an increase in the gross benefit per hectare of 290€. The required investment in additional labour was estimated at four man days per hectare, Positive selection showed to be a valuable technology for smallholder producers. Potato yields in the demonstration trials under full farmer management were significantly increased as a result of the use of positive seed potato selection by producers. Based on the results from the two seasons of demonstration trials presented here, a yield increase under Kenyan conditions between 28% (2005-2006) and 54% (2010) can be expected. These yield increases have been obtained over a wide variety of circumstances, such as different varieties and locations. As such, the technology has proven to be robust and effective notwithstanding the variation in circumstances. The technology substantially increased yields in situations where the farmer selection yielded very poorly, but also there where yields were already well above the Kenyan average of a Average incidence and t value of bacterial wilt infection calculated as a function of those fields that did have a detected infection about 9 t ha −1 . In addition, the yield increase was obtained through farmer management, under circumstances very much representative of Kenyan smallholder potato farming. Most importantly, this yield increase could be obtained without any additional cash investment, which is of essential importance for cash-poor smallholder farmers. The additional labour required for cutting pegs, pegging the healthy plants and harvesting the pegged plants one by one yields an estimated return of 70.9€ per man-day, which is 46 times the estimated cost of casual labour in the Kenyan countryside.From a scientific point of view, the question remains why positive selection has worked. Considering the data collected by the farmers themselves with respect to virus and bacterial wilt incidences, positive selection can reduce both significantly. A a Average incidence and t value of virus infection calculated as a function of those fields with observations. Fields without figures represent trials in which no virus incidence levels were scored substantial reduction in virus and bacterial wilt infection could well be a contributing factor to the yield increases observed. The reduction of seed-borne pathogens other than virus and bacterial wilt disease may have contributed to the yield difference observed between positive selection and farmer practice. Turkensteen (1987) identified Erwinia spp. bacteria (nowadays called Pectobacterium spp.) and Fusarium spp. fungi as 'important' seed-borne pathogens in Central Africa. Virus incidence levels were scored by producers, after a very basic explanation of virus symptoms by an extension worker. The observed virus infection levels by the farmers could well be much lower than the real infection levels. Visual virus infection detection is not all that easy for experts, let alone for potato farmers who have been briefly trained in the field. Measurements of virus incidences are scarce, but in a quick survey of seed potatoes sold in rural markets in Kenya, an average incidence of 71%, 75%, 57% and 41% for PLRV, PVY, PVX and PVA, respectively, was recorded (Gildemacher et al. 2007b). This is substantially higher than the incidence scores by the producers presented in this paper.During the training of farmers, it quickly became apparent that the identification of diseased plants requires thorough understanding and experience, which is not easy to obtain in a few group trainings. Fortunately, positive selection is based on the identification of the most healthy plants or 'select the best' (Gildemacher et al. 2007a). Selecting the best-looking plants in a potato field is far easier than identifying accurately each and every diseased plant.Another possible contributing factor to the increase in yield through the positive selection treatment may be related to an unintentional shift in seed tuber size. As only a selection of plants gets pegged by the producers, they are under pressure to accept both smaller as well as larger tubers as seed potatoes than they are normally inclined to plant. Average seed tuber weight was not recorded specifically in the farmer run trials. The facilitators instructed producers to not go for tubers smaller than 25 mm, which is smaller than the average tuber size planted in Kenya, and not beyond 90 mm, which is larger than the average tuber size. In the farmer-managed plots, producers were selecting according to common farmer practice, which is to select 'egg sized' tubers from the bulk of potatoes harvested. It cannot be ruled out that part of the yield effect is caused by an unintentional shift in tuber size, and not by reducing seed-borne diseases alone.The increases in yields are the result of a single season of positive selection, by farmers with no prior experience in practicing this technology. It may be expected that yield differences could increase if further positive selection was practiced consistently over several seed generations. A first indication of a potential of add-on effects over seasons is that positive selection assured a 55% average yield increase for the 25% lowest-yielding trials, but still a 29% increase for the 25% highestyielding plots.There is a large variation in the yield increase obtained through the technology. This can partly be attributed to differences in effectiveness of training of the farmer groups which may have different causes, ranging from the motivation and capacity of the facilitator of the public extension staff assisting the group, to the motivation and cohesiveness of the farmer groups involved. Other causes for variation may include the different disease incidence and varieties grown in the fields where the seed potato was sourced for the experiment.The farmer-managed trials with positive selection convincingly show that the technology can substantially increase smallholder potato productivity. This, however, does not automatically mean that it is the best possible solution for potato farmers. The regular replacement of a farmers' seed stock with high-quality seed potatoes from a more formal seed multiplication system may well be more economic. A number of demonstration trials in which an additional plot was planted with certified seed (data not presented) indicate that this can outyield positive selection under most circumstances. For farmers who can afford the risk of investing in certified seed potatoes because they have yield security, the required cash and a fairly sure market, buying high-quality seed regularly is probably more economic than practicing positive selection. This does assume that these farmers have access to these certified seeds of the right variety at the right time.Considering the simplicity of positive selection and the apparent good fit within the prevailing informal seed potato system of Kenya, one has to question why potato farmers have not been practicing this technology all along. A number of reasons can be identified. An important first reason is the limited understanding of seed degeneration and the role of potato viruses in this among farmers and extension staff alike. The training on positive selection and viruses was an eye-opener that made farmers and extension staff aware of the poor health status of the average Kenyan potato field. The knowledge tests implemented before the training of both trainers and farmers in 2005-2006 confirmed this limited understanding (data not shown). Secondly, the potato crop dies off before harvest and its product is found below ground. In maize production, positive selection of the best cobs for next season's planting is well-known and widely practiced for open pollinated varieties. For potato, this is more complicated, as plants need to be pegged before senescence sets in, and ideally before the crop closes and starts flowering. Finally, positive selection was not seen as a technology suitable for large-scale seed potato multiplication, with good reason. For a specialized seed multiplier, positive selection can only be of assistance in selecting mother plants in the first generations. In later generations, the removal of sick plants from a largely healthy field (negative selection) is the only possible way to bulk-up seed of high quality for commercialization.Seed potato quality management has invariably been addressed through specialized seed multipliers. This has provided an excellent solution to seed potato degeneration in Northern countries. In less perfectly functioning rural economies of developing countries with higher production risks and market insecurities, specialized multiplication systems have been much less successful. Decision makers in seed potato programmes and projects have been focussing fully on seed multiplication, and not paid enough attention to the potential of seed potato quality maintenance by non-specialized ware potato farmers.A number of research questions with regard to the mechanisms behind the success of the positive selection technology remain. In addition, it would be of interest to consistently continue positive selection over a number of seasons in the same potato plant population to assess the potential of the technology to further increase the yield over several generations. To study the technology in further detail, more thorough replicated trials under controlled conditions, quantifying the virus load in the plant population would be recommended. Furthermore, it would be advisable to control more rigidly the stability of seed tuber size in these replicated trials.Nevertheless, the results of the farmer-managed trials demonstrate that positive selection is an important alternative and complementary technology to regular seed replacement. In the first place, it does not require cash investments and is thus accessible for all potato producers. Secondly, it can be applied where access to highquality seed is not guaranteed. Thirdly, the technology is also suitable for landraces and cultivars that are not officially recognized and can thus not be multiplied formally. Fourthly, the technology fits seamlessly within the currently most important seed system of sub-Saharan Africa, which is dominated by self-supply and neighbour supply of seed potatoes.Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.","tokenCount":"4091"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2939622328.json b/data/part_1/2939622328.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d3067f45db1f4aa6fd1be7f6b61d1fc3b43ea511
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2939622328.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"652ec3b5a2191ef8cb53938cf83ed2f5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d02f9f7e-a96f-4a0c-9e50-88e651ac5e87/retrieve","id":"746219989"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ef233fef-9c15-40c6-a839-a8ce9ce6ab33","pagecount":"2","content":"La central de cooperativas de servicios múltiples, CECOOPSEMEIN se fundo el 11 de Marzo del año 2006, con sede en el Municipio de Sébaco, en el departamento de Matagalpa y está constituida por cinco cooperativas de base, que aglutinan aproximadamente a 1200 pequeños productores ubicados en tres Departamentos y once municipios del norte de Nicaragua.Con esta unión también se busca lograr la consolidación de la Transformación Agroindustrial en estas cooperativas, el abastecimiento de insumos, venta de bienes de uso y consumo, además del acceso a crédito en especie y servicios financieros de apoyo a las cadenas productivas.La estructura organizativa de la central esta compuesta por una asamblea general de representantes, Un consejo de Administración, Una junta de Vigilancia y Una comisión de educación y promoción del cooperativismo. Con este esquema de trabajo cooperativo mediante una dinámica autogestionaria y una política de autosostenibilidad financiera, pretende evitar la intermediación tradicional, que usualmente se apropian de las utilidades generadas en las cadenas productivas, siendo los productores los que accedan en menor porcentaje a dichas utilidades.Es de esta forma como, en dos años de funcionamiento CECOOPSEMEIN se ha constituido en Socio de CRS para la ejecución y administración de proyectos que están apoyando a los productores y sus organizaciones. Así mismo, la central administra el Centro de Negocios que brinda servicios a las cooperativas de base, CRS entrega los fondos a CESOOPSEMEIN por medio de la firma de Sub-contratos para los proyectos, los que tienen que cumplir con estándares de calidad exigidos por CRS y los donantes para la ejecución de fondos.Así, esta cooperativa, con el apoyo del personal del Centro de Negocios, es responsable de la rendición de cuentas de los fondos proveídos por CRS y la elaboración de los informes de avances físicos y financieros de la ejecución de los proyectos y otros que se requieran.Por su parte, el Centro de Negocios administrado por CECOOPSEMEIN da seguimiento al cumplimiento de los convenios y contratos con los clientes para la comercializacion de productos, además, realiza actividades para la consolidación de embarques para los distintos mercados (Nacional, Regional e Internacional), registra y maneja de documentación que respalda los negocios y exportaciones realizadas, asesoran a las cooperativas de base en temas administrativo contables, entre otros.Para el correcto funcionamiento de este sistema, CECOOPSEMEIN tiene la representación legal para la firma de contratos que involucren a varias de las Empresas Cooperativas para la comercialización de productos a nivel Nacional y para la exportación; así como para la ejecución judicial por incumplimientos de contrato de los clientes, en aquellos casos en que CECOOPSEMEIN comparezca como representantes de las empresas cooperativas a través de la firma de dichos contratos.","tokenCount":"440"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/2998928157.json b/data/part_1/2998928157.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6f310889a82238e37b780a547be1e95c5146f66f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/2998928157.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"53c1c43fae53bf475a6845cd0df7c8a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/49f8d649-808b-48c4-a4b0-4326473cfcd6/retrieve","id":"1331802362"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c3fed291-4d72-4cfc-ad03-0952f21cd541","pagecount":"14","content":"Ollo SIB (1), Michel B. OROUNLADJI (2), and Désiré Songdah OUATTARA (1)(1) CIRAD, (2) CIRDES,From June 19 to 25, 2023, co-design workshops were held in the milk collection centers (MCC) around the Dairy Innovation Platefom (DIP) of Bobo-Dioulasso as part of the Agroecology Initiative project (agroecology to transform water and land management and the sustainability of food systems). This workshop follows on from the Agroecological Living Landscape co-design workshop held on May 11 at the training room of the Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l'Élevage en zone Subhumide (CIRDES). The Agroecological Living Landscape package co-design workshop enabled the agroecological package protocols (fodder demo-plot, balanced dairy cows' diets, smart use of crop-livestock co-products, and manure pit) to be adjusted and validated with producers, and MCC managers were tasked with reporting the workshop's conclusions to their members. The aim of the co-design workshops at the various milk collection centers of the Bobo-Dioulasso DIP was to exchange ideas directly with volunteer producers who had already been pre-identified to experiment the agroecological package. In each MCC, the following activities were carried out: (i) a reminder of the fodder demo-plots, manure pits and using advisory tool protocol; (ii) training of volunteer farmers in the technical itineraries and (iii) distribution of seeds and cement for setting up the demo-plots and manure pits.This report summarizes the tasks carried out during these workshops.The activities took place at each Milk Collection Center, with training in crop and manure pit techniques, the identification of volunteer farmers for fodder production, and the provision of seeds and cement. Fodder Demo-Plot: Setting up crops, technical itineraries Following previous co-design workshop, the mother Demo-Plots will encompass four dual-use crops: (i) Maïs Espoir and Sorghum grinkan for grasses, and (ii) Cowpea Tiligré KVX 775-33-2G and Mucuna pruriens var. deeringiana for legumes. This choice was made in partnership with the growers. The Demo-Plot will be installed on an area of at least 0.5 ha, i.e. at least 0.125 ha for each specie, at the level of volunteer dairy farmers in each of the MCC. The resulting forage production will be conserved and stored for the formulation of efficient dairy cows' diets using the Jabnde tool. For each crop, 2/3 of the area will be dedicated to forage production and 1/3 to seed production. The seed produced will be divided into three equal parts: one part will be used to replicate the DP in year N+1, and the other two parts will be given free of charge to willing neighbors (known as \"daughters or babies\") to implement the DP on their farms in year N+1.In addition, volunteer farmers willing to take up forage production have been identified in the immediate vicinity of the MCC. These farmers have undertaken to produce forage which they will make available (according to terms to be defined: sale, exchange, etc.) to the dairy farmers of the MCC to which they belong, to feed their cows. The same principle applies to the use of seed production. These farmers are not concerned by rationing or the installation of manure pits. In all, 56 dairy producers and 14 farmers volunteered, for a total of 70 producers. Each farmer received the quantity of seed required for his crop area (Figure 1), as well as all the technical data sheets. The data sheets for the various crops are presented in the appendix. To optimize the recycling of livestock and crop by-products, two manure pits will be installed on the premises of each volunteer dairy farmer. One will measure 3m*3m*1m, i.e. a volume of 9 m 3 . It will be built and covered to limit the production of greenhouse gases (GHGs), in particular nitrous oxide (NO2). The second manure pit will be installed at the producer's discretion. This will enable us to make comparisons. For the installation of the covered pit, each farmer received 3 bags of cement (150 kg) (Figure 2), 01 tarpaulin (12 m), and technical data sheets for the construction of the manure pit and the production of organic manure. Producers expressed their concerns about the success of the agro-ecological package activities to be implemented. These include: support in obtaining quality fertilizers and less harmful phytosanitary products;  provide support in obtaining tools such as shovels, wheelbarrows and pickaxes for proper use of manure pits; make it easier to obtain equipment for mowing, weighing, preserving and storing forage.Following the co-design workshops held in the Milk Collection Centers around the Milk Innovation Platform, the producers stated that they were available to continue with the next stages. These include: (i) monitoring the implementation of the package on farms, (ii) diagnostic surveys to characterize the production systems of the farmers concerned from an agroecological point of view: management strategies, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and the functioning of the milk production system.At the end of the co-design week, all the volunteer dairy farmers received the seed needed to set up the DemoPlots and the cement to build the manure pits. They also received training on technical itineraries, as well as data sheets for each forage variety and manure pit. The producers expressed their satisfaction and undertook to implement the entire package and to maintain the DemoPlots and manure pits according to the recommendations.","tokenCount":"865"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3007705358.json b/data/part_1/3007705358.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8598dfea97602944c6229a6573740f5f05a2d105
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3007705358.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6642226557e4df1c7afcd035018ca075","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/495ede34-8d83-4310-a26f-6883f7c1a2eb/retrieve","id":"1495108456"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"df99e2a2-fe4f-4dd5-a334-68664437e44a","pagecount":"44","content":"The publications in this series record the work and thinking of IWMI researchers, and knowledge that the Institute's scientific management feels is worthy of documenting. This series will ensure that scientific data and other information gathered or prepared as a part of the research work of the Institute are recorded and referenced. Working Papers could include project reports, case studies, conference or workshop proceedings, discussion papers or reports on progress of research, country-specific research reports, monographs, etc. Working Papers may be copublished, by IWMI and partner organizations.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.Seven Regional Circulation Models (RCMs), simulating two Representative Concentration Pathways (i.e., RCPs 4.5 and 8.5), were used as input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to determine the possible impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the Tana River Basin in Kenya. Four hydrological characteristics -water yield, groundwater recharge, baseflow and flow regulation -were determined and mapped throughout the basin for three 30-year time periods: 2020-2049, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099. Results show a spatial heterogeneity with clear differences between the upper, middle and lower basins. Simulation of both RCPs indicate an increase in mean annual rainfall for all three time periods, with an earlier onset of rainfall in some model simulations. The majority of models indicate an increase in extreme climate events under both RCPs. The response of the basin to the increase in rainfall is not linear, and the simulated increases in water yield, groundwater recharge and baseflow are much higher (in percentage terms) than the changes in rainfall. The impacts of climate change will be superimposed onto a basin with complex land use, built infrastructure and an intricate sociopolitical history. The results have important implications for the management of both built and natural infrastructure in the basin.As part of the Water Infrastructure Solutions from Ecosystem Services underpinning Climate Resilient Policies and Programmes (WISE-UP to Climate) project, two types of ecosystem services (ESs) have been recognized in relation to the interactions between natural infrastructure (e.g., forests, wetlands, floodplains) and built water infrastructure (e.g., dams, levees, irrigation channels): (i) Type 1 ESs are defined as those that affect the technical performance of built water infrastructure. These are typically characteristics of the hydrological regime that are affected by natural processes and influence the ability of the built infrastructure to deliver intended benefits; and (ii) Type 2 ESs are defined as those that are affected by the presence of built water infrastructure. These are typically services which are modified by the physical presence of the built water infrastructure or by changes in water/sediment/nutrient fluxes that are altered as a consequence of the way the infrastructure is designed and operated (McCartney et al. Forthcoming).In the component of the study described here, a hydrological model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), was used to simulate type 1 ESs in the Tana River Basin, Kenya. The model was used to quantify and map hydrological processes designated as type 1 ESs because they influence the technical performance of the five major dams in the basin. The model was configured and calibrated for the current situation and then used to determine the possible impacts of climate change (CC) on type 1 ESs.Many studies have been conducted to simulate the impacts of CC in the basin. Nakaegawa et al. (2012) produced hydrological cycle projections under CC. Their analysis projected significant increases in: (i) annual mean precipitation (15% across the entire basin); (ii) evaporation (though with significant geographical contrasts between the eastern and western parts of the basin); (iii) total runoff and river discharge (more than 50%); and (iv) soil water storage. Wamuongo et al. (2014) investigated climatic vulnerability, risks and impacts on food and livestock production systems in three Tana Delta project sites: Kisuliani, Matoba and Kipini. They conducted an analysis of long-term climatic data in the Tana River Basin and found a general decline in rainfall for the period , with a trend toward predominantly increased precipitation by 2030, 2050 and 2080 compared to current mean rainfall. The spatial plots of rainfall indicate seasonal differences, but with a high percentage increase over some Tana counties during March to May under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5. During the October-December season, all sites showed increased rainfall, but of a lower intensity compared to the March-May season. Leauthaud et al. (2013) noted that, over the past 50 years, five major reservoirs have been built in the basin, resulting in a 20% decrease in downstream peak flows in May. Droogers et al. (2009) used projections from nine Global Circulation Models (GCMs) for their study on the impacts of CC on hydropower generation in the Tana River Basin. These projections produced mixed results, but, on average (i.e., averaging projections for all nine GCMs for every month), the percentage increase in monthly rainfall ranged from less than 5% (August and November) to 35% (September). Although rainfall increased, evapotranspiration also increased, and in conjunction with higher water demand, resulted in slightly lower inflow into the reservoirs. For instance, average water demand under the current situation is 684 million cubic meters per year (Mm 3 y -1 ); this will increase to between 781 and 873 Mm 3 y -1 under different CC scenarios. Further analysis showed that the average hydropower generation will reduce from 2,253 gigawatt hours per year (GWhy -1 ) to levels between 1,763 and 2,144 GWhy -1 .For this study, the latest CC projections were used. The results from seven Regional Circulation Models (RCMs) were used to provide input to the SWAT model. The simulation results were used to assess the impacts on hydrological processes/water fluxes that can be considered as type 1 ESs (i.e., water yield, groundwater recharge, baseflow and flow regulation).The Tana River (Figure 1) is the longest river in Kenya, originating in the Aberdare Mountains, west of Nyeri, and flowing for over 1,000 km to meet the Indian Ocean in the Ungwana Bay-Kipini area. The river drains a catchment area of 95,000 km 2 . The Tana River Basin covers 21% of the country's total landmass and is home to 18% of the country's population. It contributes over 50% of Kenya's river discharge to the Western Indian Ocean. Ecosystems in the Tana River Basin, including forests, arid and semiarid lands, mountain vegetation, freshwater and wetlands, marine and coastal areas, and agroecosystems, provide a range of ecosystem services that are vital for human well-being. For example, the basin supplies 80% of the drinking water for Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The Tana River is also the country's primary source of hydroelectric power (i.e., 70% of Kenya's hydroelectricity and 38% of total electricity supply). Fisheries and agriculture in the basin provide a major source of food and employment for the estimated 7 million residents that live in the greater basin area and many more in other parts of the country. One of the basin's important ecosystems is the Tana Delta at the coast. This biodiversity hot spot is home to several endangered species and was designated as a Ramsar site in 2012.In Kenya, there is recognition at the highest levels of government that climate change is a key priority and that adaptation and development goals need to complement each other (GoK 2012). However, a recent political economy analysis of decision making related to the development of water infrastructure in Kenya found that water governance in the country is highly fragmented with many players, overlapping mandates and institutional rivalries (Oates and Marani 2017). CC and the uncertainty associated with it further complicate the planning and management of the country's water resources, including those of the Tana River basin.For this study, the basin was divided into three zones based on the average altitude of each subbasin, as delineated by SWAT: (i) Upper zone -average altitude greater than 2,400 m; (ii) Middle zone -average altitude between 600 m and 2,400 m; and (iii) Lower zone -average altitude below 600 m. ArcGIS was used to calculate the average altitude of each sub-basin. The areas in the Upper, Middle and Lower zones are 1,514 km 2 , 29,890 km 2 and 52,568 km 2 , respectively 1 (Figure 1). ). Approximately 91.5% of the rain falls during these two wet seasons. Of this, more than 60% of the rain falls during the period October-January, while the remaining 40% falls during the period March-May. Two months -April and November -receive the highest rainfall in each of the rainy seasons. The average rainfall in the months of April and November are 129 mm and 178 mm, respectively. Spatially, the upper catchment receives much higher rainfall than the lower regions (Figure 2[c]). The rainfall ranges from 970 mm to 1,338 mm, from 425 mm to 1,425 mm and from 301 mm to 612 mm for the upper, middle and lower zones, respectively.  The potential evapotranspiration (PET), which is defined as the amount of evaporation that will occur if sufficient water is available, shows the opposite trend to rainfall. Annual PET is lower in the upper zone (ranging from 1,200 mm to 1,500 mm) and higher in the lower zone (ranging from 1,700 mm to 1,900 mm) (Figure 3[a]). This is because the average temperature in the lower zone is higher than that in the upper zone. On average, the highest PET (175 mm) is in March and the lowest is in June (125 mm) (Figure 3[b]).The rainfall and PET maps show that there is considerable heterogeneity in the response to rainfall throughout the basin, with large differences between the elevation zones. PET in the lower zone is 50% higher than in the upper zone and about 10% higher than in the middle zone.  Based on the topography, the model divides a watershed into smaller catchments, called subbasins. The size of sub-basins depends on the area threshold, which is set by the user. The model creates smaller spatial units comprising unique combinations of soil, land use and slope, called Hydrological Response Units (HRUs). Based on the sub-basin delineation, SWAT defines streams within each sub-basin called reaches. Once the water arrives at a reach, the model uses routing processes to simulate flow in these reaches. Although SWAT operates at the spatial unit of an HRU and on a daily time scale, the outputs from the model can be obtained at watershed, sub-basin, reach and HRU spatial scales, and can be presented in daily, monthly or annual time steps.The SWAT model was configured and setup for the Tana River Basin using the input data shown in Table 1. Unfortunately no data were available on land management practices.The SWAT model can be calibrated using a tool called the SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP) (Abbaspour 2011). SWAT-CUP is a public domain program that enables calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of SWAT models. The tool enables users to select from various calibration uncertainty procedures such as Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE), Parameter Solution (ParaSol), Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2), Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). For this study, SUFI-2 was used, as it is the most commonly used procedure for SWAT model calibration and has been successfully used in a number of studies around the world (e.g., Abbaspour et al. 2007;Sood et al. 2013). Two parameters are used to quantify uncertainty in the model: P-factor and R-factor. The P-factor indicates the percentage of the observed data that falls within 95% of prediction uncertainty (95PPU), and the R-factor is the average thickness of the 95PPU band divided by the standard deviation of the observed data. Two performance indicators -Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) (Nash and Sutcliffe 1970) and Coefficient of Determination (R 2 ) -were used to evaluate model simulations.Once the SWAT model was calibrated, it was run from 1983 to 2011 to develop a current (or baseline) scenario. Hydrological characteristics that are critical to the functioning and hence performance of dams (i.e., built infrastructure) relate to the quantity and temporal distribution of flow into reservoirs. Both factors are influenced by natural infrastructure -land cover, land management and land-use practices. Effectively, the 'performance' of natural infrastructure influences the performance of built infrastructure. Hydrological parameters, which can be used to categorize the services provided by natural infrastructure, are water yield, groundwater recharge, baseflow and flow regulation (Table 2).Multiple CC scenarios were run using the SWAT model to determine the impact of CC on Type 1 ESs of the Tana River Basin. CC scenarios are developed using GCMs, but these have coarse spatial resolution and fail to consider local conditions. Thus, for regional studies, GCMs may not provide realistic CC outcomes. This is overcome by downscaling and/or bias correction based on regional information. Downscaling can be dynamic, wherein a nested climate model, Regional Climate Model (RCM), is used, or it can be statistical, whereby empirical relationships between simulated and observed data are used.In this study, seven RCMs of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) (Giorgi and Gutowski 2016) were used. Data for these RCMs and for each of two RCPs 2 , i.e., RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, were used to create 14 CC 'scenarios' (Table 3). TABLE 2. Type 1 ecosystem services: Hydrological characteristics that are influenced by land use management and practices (i.e., natural infrastructure).This represents the total water produced in a catchment that flows out of it and is not evaporated. This depends on both meteorological (i.e., rainfall, temperature, etc.) and physical (i.e., topography, land use and land cover) characteristics of the catchment. Water yield, along with flow entering the catchment, represents the total 'useable' water available in the catchment.Groundwater This is the amount of water that percolates past the root zone and recharges groundwater. recharge Ultimately, this returns to the stream as baseflow.This represents the contribution of groundwater to the stream. During storm events, only a small portion of streamflow is made up of baseflow. However, on other days, all the streamflow is made up of baseflow. The baseflow depends on the aquifer properties and the amount of groundwater recharge that takes place.Flow regulation This is the ratio of dry-season flow to total flow in a stream. Upstream of built dams, dry-season flow is made up of baseflow and water released from natural water storage (e.g., lakes, ponds and aquifers).The model was run for the period 2011-2099, and data were analyzed for the three periods 2020-2049, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099. The model was setup using the inputs as described above. An area threshold of 20.0 km 2 was used to define the sub-basin and HRU delineation process. This led to the creation of 368 sub-basins. Land use, as shown in Figure 4, was used (http://www.waterbase.org/download_data.html). The two largest land covers in the watershed are grass rangeland and honey mesquite (a species of small to medium-sized thorny shrub or tree in the legume family), which cover about 37% and 21% of the watershed, respectively. Forest cover (evergreen broadleaf forest, mixed forest and forest-deciduous) is about 6% and agriculture is about 10.5% of the total catchment area (Table 4).  Similarly, soil data used in the model are shown in Figure 5 (FAO and UNESCO 1995). More than 50% of the watershed has soil type 'Lf17-2ab-737' (i.e., sandy/clay/loam) (Table 5).Five categories of slope were selected. According to a topographic analysis conducted using a DEM, it was identified that almost 59% of the basin had a slope less than 2%, and 22% of the basin had a slope between 2 and 5% (Figure 6; Table 6).  Thresholds of 20%, 20% and 30% were used for land use, soil and slope, respectively, to create HRUs. The selection of thresholds is subjective and depends on the level of detail required and the computational limitations. Lower values of threshold lead to a higher number of HRUs, but increase the model processing time. The thresholds selected in this study led to the creation of 1,047 HRUs.Figure 7 shows the spatial location of the four calibration and validation flow stations used in the setup of the SWAT model. These stations were selected based on the quality of the respective flow data. On visual inspection, the observed flow at these stations showed clear response to rainfall events, indicating good quality data. The daily flow data from these stations were used to adjust the SWAT parameters, and Table 7 shows the performance indicators for calibration and validation. The calibration of the model was done starting from the most upstream station and moving downstream (keeping the parameters upstream of the calibrated station unchanged). The NSE performance indicator ranged from 0.34 to 0.79. Three out of four stations had NSE values greater than or equal to 50%. For validation, the NSE value ranges from 0.27 to 0.5 for daily streamflow. Figure 8 shows the graphs of observed and simulated flow for these stations for calibration and validation. Visual inspection indicates a reasonable match between observed and simulated flow. It is also evident from the graphs that there are gaps in the observed data, which made it difficult to calibrate the model well. However, overall, the simulation of hydrology by the model was reasonable. Since the aim of the SWAT modelling was to understand the impact of climate change on the hydrology of the Tana River Basin and specifically on type 1 ESs, we investigated four characteristics that influence the performance of built infrastructure in the basin: water yield, groundwater recharge, baseflow and flow regulation (Table 2). The spatial variation of the average annual values  for these hydrological variables are shown in Figure 9 and summarized in Table 8. As shown in Figures 2(a) and 3(c), rainfall is low and the evaporative water demand is higher in the lower basin than at higher elevations. The average annual water yield in the lower zone is only 4% of the annual rainfall. This compares to 37% in the upper zone and 23% in the middle zone. Another reason for higher water yield in the upper zone is topography; the greater slope in the upper zone results in higher runoff than in the middle and lower zones. Annual groundwater recharge in the upper zone is about 20% of the annual rainfall, and 19% for the middle zone and just 6% in the lower zone. The contribution of baseflow to water yield is 16% in the upper zone and 20% in both the middle and lower zones.  Results from the ensemble of climate change models, for each of the RCPs (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), are presented below.The average monthly rainfall was plotted for all the model/RCP scenarios (Table 3) for the three time periods 2020-2049, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099 (Figure 10). All the simulations, except for that derived from TCM-4, show a bi-modular trend for rainfall. For the TCM-1 and TCM-7 simulations, there is a shift in the peak to a month earlier during the March-May wet season for all three time periods. Similarly, there is a shift of a month for the October-January wet season for the 2040-2069 and 2070-2099 time periods. There is no such shift in the other model simulations. Since both the TCM-4 simulations produced rainfall trends that are very different to either the existing regime or the other model results, they seem to be outliers and were discarded from further analyses. The experience of the National Meteorological Department (NMD) is that the model used in the TCM-1 simulations (i.e., CCCma-CanESM2) best simulates the current climate of the country (Dr. Samuel Marigi, Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), pers. comm., October 6, 2016).The results of the individual model simulations are summarized as box plots (Figures 11,12,13 and 14). The bottom and the top whiskers show the minimum and maximum value, respectively, in the period of simulation. The lower and upper ends of the boxes depict the 25 percentile and 75 percentile values, respectively. The horizontal line within the box represents the 50 percentile (median) value.Figure 11 presents an inter-year comparison of annual rainfall for the three time periods, two RCPs and six model simulations. The results indicate that there is considerable variation between the different models for both RCPs. However, broadly, the results indicate that both mean annual rainfall and inter-annual variability increase for both RCPs with greater increases in RCP 8.5. Table 9 presents the average rainfall across the ensemble of models for the three elevation zones for both RCPs.For RCPs 4.5 and 8.5, average monthly rainfall across the ensemble of models was compared. These results indicate, broadly, an increase in mean monthly rainfall in most months (including in the dry season), and a slight decrease in April and May in some cases due to the shift in the start of the rainy season (Figure 12).Figure 13 presents mean annual flow at Garissa for the three time periods and two RCPs. The impact of increased rainfall can be seen in the flow generated in the basin at Garissa. The flow generated in all CC scenarios is higher than the average flow generated in the baseline scenario. Annual average flow for the baseline scenario is 6.0 km 3 , and the annual values range from 2.1 km 3 (in 2009) to 18.0 km 3 (in 1998). Table 10 presents the average annual flows at Garissa for the three time periods for each of the RCPs.Figure 14 presents the simulated monthly basin outflow for both RCPs (i.e., averaged across the ensemble of models). In general, compared to the baseline scenario, the average flow is higher in all the months in all three time periods with the largest increase in RCP 8.5. Furthermore, the extreme values clearly indicate that, with some exception in the 2020-2049 period, there is greater variability of flow under RCP 8.5 than RCP 4.5. The results also reflect the gradual shift to the earlier onset of rainfall (see above) with peak flows moving to earlier in the year.  Analyses of the simulated daily data derived from the TCM1-45 and TCM1-85 model runs were conducted to ascertain possible impacts on flood flows at Garissa. These model runs were selected because, as noted previously, the CCCma-CanESM2 model is believed to provide the best model simulations in Kenya according to the KMD. Flood frequency analyses entail estimating the peak discharge that is likely to be equaled or exceeded, on average, once in a specified period, T years. A statistical distribution is fitted to the series of annual maximum flows, ranked by the magnitude of flow. In this study, the analyses were conducted using the maximum daily discharges derived from the SWAT model for each of the two RCPs, in each of the three time periods. In all the cases, the Pearson type III distribution was fitted using the method of probability weighted moments (Shaw 1984). In all the cases, the curves were extrapolated to T=100 years. Since no allowance was made for anthropogenic impacts on flows in the climate change analyses, the flood flows generated from the SWAT model were compared with the situation in the basin prior to dam construction.Results are presented in Table 11 for all three time periods, and in Figure 15 for the time periods 2020-2049 and 2070-2099. These results indicate that, in comparison to the baseline scenario, flood flows increase significantly for both RCPs, with the magnitude of increase rising over time. Interestingly, the simulation for RCP 4.5 indicates larger magnitude floods than RCP 8.5 for all return periods, with the exception of the low return period (i.e., T less than 10 years) in the 2040-2069 and 2070-2099 time periods. This highlights the complexity of possible changes occurring as a consequence of CC. Table 12 presents the overall impact of climate change on rainfall and the hydrological variables, comprising type 1 ecosystem services, across the three elevation zones for both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Annex 1 presents the results for individual model simulations.Among the four variables considered, type 1 ESs (water yield, groundwater recharge and baseflow) all increase significantly under both RCPs across all three elevation zones. The increases are greater for RCP 8.5 than for RCP 4.5. For instance, for the entire basin, increases in water yield, groundwater recharge and baseflow under RCP 4.5 for the period 2070-2099 compared to the baseline scenario are 11%, 95% and 228%, respectively. For the same period, respective increases for these three variables under RCP 8.5 are 197%, 160%, and 392%. In contrast to these three variables, flow regulation decreases throughout the basin in the majority of the simulations. This is a reflection of the increased variability in flow under possible future climate change.   , 2020-2049, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099, were compared to a 1983-2011 baseline.The results confirm the findings of others that there will likely be a reversal of recent historic trends of declining rainfall. Rather, rainfall is projected to increase across the basin over the remainder of the twenty-first century, with greater increases (up to 40% by the end of the century) under RCP 8.5 than RCP 4.5. The results also indicate an earlier onset of rainfall for both the long and the short rainy season under both RCPs.A consequence of the increased rainfall is disproportionate increases in flow from the basin. The mean annual flow at Garissa increases significantly by 90% under RCP 4.5 and more than doubles under RCP 8.5 by the end of the twenty-first century. Flood flows and variability are also projected to increase significantly under both RCPs.The modeling results indicate significant changes in type 1 ecosystem services. The impact of climate change on water yield, groundwater recharge, base flow and flow regulation were estimated. The first three variables (water yield, groundwater recharge and baseflow) progressively increase under both RCPs, but with greater increases under RCP 8.5 than 4.5. In contrast, natural flow regulation reduces across most of the basin in most future time periods, resulting in increased seasonal variability in flows and larger floods. The reductions in flow regulation are comparable under both RCPs.Increases in rainfall and flow broadly indicate an improved water resource situation in the future, with opportunities for increasing benefits from built infrastructure (i.e., hydropower generation as well as irrigation and water supply diversions). However, declining natural flow regulation, increased variability, and significant increases in the frequency and magnitude of floods pose a significant risk that threatens to undermine development opportunities. Water resources management is likely to be more difficult than under historic climatic conditions. To build resilience, water resource managers need to adapt to changing conditions. Though working with natural processes is currently a challenge, better understanding of the role of natural infrastructure and explicit integration of type 1 ecosystem service will likely be a prerequisite for sustainable water resources management in the future.         ","tokenCount":"4460"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3011344819.json b/data/part_1/3011344819.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ebc21c3d8a600c694a22b8c644401ed1c1544908
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3011344819.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4a868140ce6bd08b0cbc0b75d4ccf32","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f046878c-08b8-4d31-8740-c802f1f663f4/retrieve","id":"2145007735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0adc804f-38da-4cfe-aa00-571ba9a45a5b","pagecount":"10","content":"~ Cassava (Manihot eiiCUienta Crantz) originated and completed the major part of its evolution in Latín America. It appears to have been developed as a crop simultaneously in various parts of the Americas, from Brazil to Mexico. This multi•centric origin, combined with the highly diverse ecological regions of South and Meso-America, has contributed to the very wide diversity of cassava germplasm m• the westem hemisphere. Cassava was widely distributed throughout the lowland tropics of the westem hemisphere before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century, but did not exist outside the New World. However, in the post-Colombian era, the crop spread rapidly, flrst to Mrica and later to Asia.Presently cassava is a major calorie source in the tropics of Latín America, Mrica and Asia, produced on approximately 13.9 million hectares, with annual average world-wide yield of about 8 .8 • tons/hectare (F AO Production Yearbook 34). Each of Mriéa and Asia produces nearly 40% of the world total productions.It is especially irnportant as a low cost• calorie source among the lowest income groups.Because cassava is prirnarily a crop of small farmers, little effort has been directed to improving its productivity until recen tly. In the last decade, severa! national cassava research programes and two Intemational Agricultura! Research Centers (CIAT and liTA) have dedicated considerable effort toward developing a technology for increased production.One of the basic functions of CIAT's cassava prograrnme is to provide useful germplasrn for national prograrns all over the world. Useful germplasm rnay be fmished cultivars or materials for breeding and selection. The goal of varietal irnprovernent at CIAT is to provide cassava genotypes that give high, stable and economically valid yield, using cultural practices that are within the reach of farrners of major cassava growing areas.Th.is paper discusses the particular role of germplasm in increasing cassava productivity, and especially CIAT's role through germplasrn collection, evaluation, breeding and intemational exchange.The fust large scale systematic collections of cassava at the intemational leve! were undertaken by CIAT in 1969 . . The present collection consists of more than 3,600 accessions from 18 countries (Table 1). Nearly all the accessions are, or at one time were, cultivars grown by farmers. Many national programs also maintain collections; among the la:gest are Brazil, Venezuela, Peru and Mexico. In spite of efforts already made in accumulating available germplasm into organized collections, considerable diversity apparently remains untapped. The lnternational Board for Plant Genetic Resources (ffiPGR) has made cassava a high priority crop for further collection, and recently convened a workshop to defme collection priorities.Since all cassava clones are apparently heterozygous; the only means by which the peculiar gene combinations can be preserved is through vegetative propagation. Collections have traditionally been maintained as field-grown plantings with periodic renewal through vegetative propagation by stem cuttings. Field maintenance, however, is costly in terms of land and labour, and a high risk in terms of disease and insect outbreaks. In vitro methods for cassava maintenance as plantlets grown in sterile nutrient medium in test tubes have re ce ntly been developed, and are now operational in CIAT. However, both the field and labo ratory collections will be maintained as a security measure against any Iosses of valuable genetic material. Variability is the essential basis for genetic irnprovement of any crop. The rnajor source of diversity for most crop breeding programs is still the pool of genes available in cultivars evolved over centuries of farmer's selection. In this respect, cassava has a very rich background. The diversity of conditions under which selection occurred (both natural and farrner's selection) produced a concommitant diversity of nearly any imaginable characteristic in cassava, including morphological traits, root yield and quality, disease and insect resistances and others.Systematic evaluation of germplasm is a necessary prerequisite to developing a breeding strategy. Methodology of evaluation will depend upon conditions available for evaluation and ultima te goals of a programme. Since CIAT has a worldwide responsibility for production of cassava technology, with emphasis in Latin America and Asia, we must work toward technology adapted to very diverse conditions. Rather than attempting the irnpossible task of developing individual clones adapted across all edapho-clirnatic conditions, CIAT has subdivided cassava growing regions into six basic zones. These zones are differentiated principally on the basis of climatic and soil factor which appear to strongly influence the basic physiological adaptation of a clone. In tum, climatic and soil factors largely determine the disease and pest complexes of actual or potential irnportance. This defmition of edapho-climatic zones is a prelirninary one, and is being refmed as more precise clirnatological and physiological data become available.The strategy for evaluation of agronornic performance has been to identify sites within Colombia which appear to be representative of present and potential cassava-growing regions world wide, in terms of climatic and soil conditions and pest complexes. As a geographically diverse country, Colombia offers a very wide range of edapho-clirnatic conditions. Sites have been identified to represent five of the six zones. Only a subtropical region with low winter temperatures and fluctuating daylengths is lacking in Colombia.The germplasm accessions are evaluated in all the edapho-clirnatic zones in Colombia. Growth and resistance data are taken throughout the growing cycle, but heavy emphasis is given to root yield and quality at the end of the season as an intergrated rneasure of the adaptability of the accession. Best clones continue through subsequent evaluation stages fot the purpose o~ identifying the best adapted and most stable genotypes. The most irnpo{tant objective of multilocation testing is to identify parents which can contribute desirable traits in hybridization.R.esults of germplasm evaluation • were extensively reported by Kawano, et al (1978a) and in CIAT Armual Reports. In summary, many germplasm accessions seem to be well adapted to traditional cultural practices in the areas where they evolved in balance with the biotic and abiotic factors of the ecosystem. Yield potential is gene rally low, and is expressed particularly as a Iow harvest index, i.e., an excessive top growth relative to root yield. The frequency of accessions with a high level of resistance to any given disease or insect of importance is generally low. Apparently in the evolution of cassava other factors such as cultural practices and isolation of plantings were equally important to genetic resistance in controlling pests. In order to achieve higher productivity under improved cultural practices, cassava must be improved for yield potential, disease and insect resistance and root quality. Thus, the ClAT cassava program's emphasis is on creating new improved genotypes through hybridization and selection.The objective of the cassava breeding program at CIAT is to deliver to national programme improved genetic material for local selection, based on the criteria developed by the national programme. The strategy for germplasm improvement by CIAT hinges on two underlying principies. First, ClAT has a priority for developing cassava technology for Latín America and Asia. This, coupled with the fact that cassava can be grown over a wide range of edaphoclimatic conditions, implies that a wide diversity of germplasm will be required. Secondly, cassava has an advantage over many major crops in general adaptation to marginal conditions of rainfall and soil fertility. It is this advantage that CIAT has determined to particularly exploit in varietal development.The program has incorporated these two basic tenets into all aspects of the varietal development process. Tailoring of genotypes to different environments is accomplished through selection for specific edapho-climatic zones, as described for germplasm evaluation. There is considerable overlap across the zones in terms of varietal adaptability, nevertheless this description serves as a guideline. A mínimum input philosophy is adopted, whereby we emphasize a plant's inherent ability to resist or tolerate stress factors rather than modifying the environment to remove stresses.Figure 1 presents an overview of the germplasm flow process in CIAT. As in most other vegetatively propagated crops, the basic breeding strategy is to select parents, produce large numbers of progeny either through open or controlled pollinations, and select and vegetatively propagate the progeny during various cycles. During the selection cycles the number of genotypes decreases and the precision of evaluation increases.Various key characteristics • of cassava, as a species, influence the system • of genetic improvement: l. wide segregation results among progeny of any cross due to high heterozygocity of all clones; 2. high inbreeding depressions occur with selfing or other forms of increasing the level of homozygocity; 3. by vegetative propagation, a genotype can be fiXed at any stage of selection; 4. most characteristics in cassava are quantitatively inherited, principally with additive effects; consequently, a breeder can successfully select parents based on their per se performance under appropriate conditions; 5. normally a breeder has to consider various traits simultaneously, with each of those traits controlled by severa! to many genes (Kawano et al, 1978b ). Consequently, overall progress in the genetic improvement of cassava is relatively slow.•- CIAT began in 1973 an intensive evaluation of germplasm, and simulta• neously the selection of parents. Hundreds of thousands of hybrids have been evaluated in the following years. CIAT produces between 150 and 200 thousand hybrid seeds each year. About 50 to 60 thousand are planted and selected in Colombia, and the remainder sent to national programme or placed in cold storage.CIAT has made significant advances in understanding the appropriate breeding methodology for obtaining high yield potential mainly through manipulating harvest index and high levels of resistance to such diseases as bacteriosis (Xanthomonas manihotis}, superelongation (Elsinoe brasiliensis}, and concentric ring Jeaf spot (Phyllosticta sp.) and insects and mites such as thrips and green cassava mite (Mononychel/us sp.). Factors affecting root quality, including dry matter content and HCN levels, are stressed in selection.During the past ten years, signif1cant improvement has been made in yield capacity both under high yielding and stress conditions. lt has been often observed that genotypes selected under high input conditions did not perform well under low input conditions. By selection under low yielding environments, and perhaps due to characteristics of cassava germplasm per se, we seem to be relatively free from this so called \"experiment station syndrome\" (Kawano and Jennings, 1983). Genotypes carefully selected through evaluations under low input condition seem to adapt well to different geographic areas within the same macro edapho-climatic zone.Three types of germplasm materials, i.e., germplasm accessions, hybrid clones and hybrid seeds are available in the form of l . stakes, 2. meristem cultures and 3. true seeds.Advantages and disadvantages of each method are:1. Stakes : Advantages -Availability of background information from previous evaluations; mínimum• of facilities required to receive and manage material; vegetative propagation preserves exact genetic constitution; and allows agronomic evaluation in the first cycle after introduction. Disanvantages -Highest danger of transmission of insects and diseases compared with other means; tolerate a lirnited time of shipment; high weight and volume result in inconveniences and high cost of shipment; and shipment of great number of genotypes is not easy.2. Meristem cultures : Advantages -Availability of background information from previous evaluation; reduced danger of transmission of insects 1 and pathogens; relative ease of transport; and vegetative propagation preserves exact genetic constitution. Disadvantages -Require basic facilities for recuperation of mature plant; require trained personnel in handling; delay in initial agronomic .. _ evaluation of introduced material; and handling great number of genotypes is least easy.• 3. Seeds : Advantates -Long storage period, high potential for intro• ducing wide genetic diversity; lowest danger of transmission of diseases and insects, ease of transportation. Disadvantages -Require trained personnel in managing a selectjon program, and lesser availability of background information • on each seed-derived plant from previous evaluation due to segregation.Introduction of germplasm always involves a combination of potential benefit and potential risk. Benefit may be the result of increased productivity of a crop. This must be weighed against the risks of accidentially introducing pests or pathogens. Neither the benefits nor the risks are easily assessable. Lozano and Jayasinghe (1982) presented pathological problems disseminated through sexual or asexually propagated materials.CIAT has been actively distributing germplasm materials for testing and utilization by national programs. Emphasis in recent years has shifted from sending clonal materials to sending seeds from selected parents. Sending stakes intemationally has been halted. As national cassava breeding Jprograms are strengthened, seed will continue to increase in irnportance as a means of exchange of genetic material. Crosses will continue to be more precisely tailored for the conditions of national programme through incorporating feed• back information.CIAT intends to remain a prirnary resource of genetic diversity in cassava with the national programme tak:ú'lg an increasing role in local selection and incorporation of irnproved characteristics into the local cultivars.During the past 10 years, CIAT has offered cassava germplasm as well as training/communication opportunities to Asían cassava researchers. These activities contributed to irnprovemP-nts and the establishment of national cassava research programs in many countries. Today, the majority of the genetic materials handled by these national programs originated ~ CIAT.Sexual seeds have been the major means of germplasm transfer, occasionally supplemented by meristem cultures. More than 100,000 hybrid seeds from approxirnately 1,800 crosses have been distributed to eight countries.The • strategy evolved from sending any Latín American germplasm to any interested program in the early years to providing seed population of better defmed parents for the specific needs and capacity of each national program in recent years .In many national programs, 'these seed po:~-ulations are regarded as sources for immediate varietal selection, while programmes such as that in Thailand have also selected parents from the seed populations for their hybridization programs. These materials are being processed through evaluation steps in each national program.Common breeding 'objectives of Asian cassava programs are ; substantial yield increase to acquire higher competitiveness against other plant sources of carbohydrate , early maturity to give additional alternatives to the production system; higher root dry matter or starch content, and diversification of cultivars to gain resistances to diseases and pests.In the Philippines, well selected clones from CIAT seed populations showed superiority over local cultivar not only in root yield but also in root dry matter content and resistance to rnites (Table 2)-Traditionally cassava was relatively unimportant human food in the Philippines and local cultivars were adapted mainly to backyard plantings, Now that large scale cassava plantings for starch production and animal feeding are the new national needs for replacing imported carbohydrate sources, new types of genotypes are required to respond efficiently to large scale planting scheme with different agronomic treatments. The initial results are highly promising in the Philippines and similar results are being obtained also in Indonesia.In Thailand, large scale cassava production for processing into animal feed and starch, though managed nearly totaUy by small farmers, have been highly successful in recent twenty years. A significant part of this success is due to the availability of an excellent local cultivar, Rayong l. Be cause of the superb adaptation of Rayong l to large scale production under local edaphoclimatic conditions, the immediate yield superiority of CIAT germplasm is not as readily demonstrated as in other countries. Nevertheless, from the earliest CIAT seed population, a new cultivar with higher .starch content than Rayong 1 was selected and released with the name Rayong 3. Sorne selections from crosses between Rayong l and CIAT clones seem to give superior yield at early harvest as well as at normal harvest (Table 3). Cassava bacteria! blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. manihotis and brown leaf spot caused by Cercosporidium henningsii are the only cassava diseases commonly observed in Thailand. Rayong 1 is moderately susceptible to these diseases, although the real yield reduction by these diseases is not weU established. The majority of CIAT clones are more resistant to CBB than Rayong 1 both in Thailand and Colombia. 1ñis is expected because CBB resistance has been one of the important selection criteria in preparing advanced CIAT germplasm to be distri buted to national programmes. Sorne of the CIAT clones show good resistance to brown leaf spot in Thailand. This may have happened due to wide genetic variation contained in Latin American germplasm. This su~ests that. CIAT germplasm may serve as a safeguard against future outbreaks of diseases and pests in addition to its immediate contribution to the current selection programmes.Both theory and experience seem to amply support that Latin American germplasm in general and CIAT advanced breeding populations in particular can enrich Asían cassava varietal improvement programmes. Nevertheles, our experiences also suggest that while Latin American germplasm on the whole offers much abundant genetic variation, it contains genes for local adaptation in much lower frequencies than the local germplasm. Thus, in advanced national breeding programmes, crosses o f well selected CIAT germplasm with elite local cultivars would be the most desirable breeding populations.","tokenCount":"2763"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3021138688.json b/data/part_1/3021138688.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..684658eb3c872ce5d6f55b98556e82f07fb0a815
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3021138688.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"24a5bba7582e88f027d12cd506e3966b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/591741c2-6f17-4de2-aed5-6b9147f8a40d/retrieve","id":"-853464841"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1dc80ee9-d30a-4c99-baf3-f6c6e3317d03","pagecount":"10","content":"Shocks, Impacts and Outcomes• Economy: National and agri-food system GDP• Population: Household incomes, poverty, and food security (i.e., hunger and diet quality)• What is the share of the affected commodities in total trade?• How important are imports in local markets and across supply chains?• Are commodities a large part of consumer baskets?• How much fertilizer was used before the crisis, and how sensitive is fertilizer demand to rising prices?• Peak changes in world prices for food, fuels and fertilizers (i.e., June 2021 to April 2022 | note that food and fertilizer prices in July 2022 were at pre-war levels, but still higher than in mid-2021)• Effect of higher fertilizer prices on fertilizer use in the current cropping season (≈ 1-year time horizon)Economy | Agri-Food Systems Adversely Affected• Size of economic impacts vary widely• Total GDP falls modestly in most countries but remains largely unchanged in some cases (e.g., Egypt) • Agri-food system GDP generally falls more than total GDP• Drivers of economic losses differ across sectors:• Rising world fuel prices are (typically) the main contributor to falling national GDP • Higher fertilizer prices and falling fertilizer demand drive most agri-food system GDP losses Incomes | Large Impacts on Households• Household consumption (proxy for income) falls by more than GDP• Households are hit twice: rising consumer prices and falling incomes • Food expenditure accounts for a much larger share of household consumption than food production accounts for GDP• Consumption falls for both rural and urban households Food Security | Diet Quality Deteriorates• \"Diet quality\" is based on whether a household's consumption meets the recommended levels for six major food groups (i.e., EAT-Lancet)• World price shocks cause diet quality to worsen for lower-income households (i.e., people in bottom three income quintiles become deprived in at least one more food group)• 50.4 million people across the 19 countries • Smaller impacts in lower-income countries, where diets quality was already low• Higher food prices drive most of the deterioration in diets • Phase 2• Engaging governments and other partners on potential policy responses (e.g., food tax relief, fertilizer subsidies, fertilizer use efficiency, fertilizer supply chain development, social protection, etc.)• Learning so far• Focus work on policy responses in countries that are most vulnerable (e.g., large increases in poor population, higher fertilizer use, dependence on wheat and edible oil imports, etc.)• Food and fertilizer shocks are most important for poverty and food security, but their relative importance varies and, thus, so should country policy responses• Need to better identify the most affected populations, to ensure they are covered by policy responses (e.g., fertilizer use was already low amongst the poorest farmers) ","tokenCount":"436"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3028417621.json b/data/part_1/3028417621.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4584e53f5c072da5f49ca58c757d957896962a29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3028417621.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e78e8b9ba5cde548e3a72da5b2395c09","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b1517ab1-8a54-44a5-8a39-954c018fe0bc/content","id":"-1073759512"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"813642c7-d078-44d2-8bbf-c83dca70e736","pagecount":"13","content":"Land-use transitions can enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but potential economic-ecological trade-offs remain poorly understood. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study of the environmental, social and economic consequences of land-use transitions in a tropical smallholder landscape on Sumatra, Indonesia. We find widespread biodiversity-profit trade-offs resulting from land-use transitions from forest and agroforestry systems to rubber and oil palm monocultures, for 26,894 aboveground and belowground species and whole-ecosystem multidiversity. Despite variation between ecosystem functions, profit gains come at the expense of ecosystem multifunctionality, indicating far-reaching ecosystem deterioration. We identify landscape compositions that can mitigate trade-offs under optimal land-use allocation but also show that intensive monocultures always lead to higher profits. These findings suggest that, to reduce losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, changes in economic incentive structures through well-designed policies are urgently needed.A gricultural expansion and intensification are the main threats to tropical biodiversity and ecosystem functioning 1,2 . In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the rise of large-scale commercial agriculture in the tropics, and particularly, to controversial crops such as oil palm. However, it is smallholders with farms smaller than 5 ha who manage the largest share of agricultural land in many tropical regions, even among so-called \"estate crops\" such as oil palm and rubber 3,4 . Although smallholders strongly shape tropical landscapes, consequences of their land-use choices for socioeconomic and ecological functions remain poorly studied 5,6 . Tropical smallholder landscapes are typically characterized by a mosaic of forest fragments, agroforestry, monocultures, and settlements, which hold the potential to combine high yields and high biodiversity 7,8 . Instead, many tropical landscapes are undergoing widespread land-use transitions, with smallholders shifting from traditional low-input systems to intensively managed and moreprofitable monocultures 9 . These transitions are likely to result in economic-ecological trade-offs, with economic profit increasing from intensified land-use at the expense of tropical biodiversity and ecosystem functioning 10,11 . However, economic functions are rarely directly related to ecological outcomes, although the shape of their relationships, such as whether trade-offs are linear or non-linear, has important management implications.The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at managing landscapes for improved livelihoods while ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems 12 . Despite being fundamental toward achieving the SDGs, our understanding of recent tropical land-use transitions as driving forces of economic-ecological trade-offs remains limited. Research is particularly scarce when it comes to assessing wholeecosystem biodiversity (multidiversity 13 ) and ecosystem functioning (multifunctionality 14 ) across multiple tropical land uses in different transitional stages, which is, however, a prerequisite for successful planning of future tropical landscapes in light of the SDGs.Here, we explore trade-offs and synergies between multidiversity (26,894 species across 14 taxonomic groups), multifunctionality (36 indicators of 10 ecosystem functions), and profitability (annual profits per hectare after deducting production costs from revenues) across multiple land uses with a significant share of smallholders in Jambi Province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. In contrast to previous interdisciplinary work in our study system 10,15 , we explicitly model relationships between profits and ecological functions to ascertain the shape of profit-function relationships. We investigate economic-ecological trade-offs for an, to the best of our knowledge, unprecedented number of taxonomic groups and ecosystem functions, as well as with indices of multidiversity and multifunctionality that characterize the whole-ecosystem state of land-use systems. Finally, we aim to scale-up from plot to landscape scale by identifying optimized landscape compositions that mitigate trade-offs between ecological functions and rising profit expectations from smallholder land use.Our study region is both a global biodiversity hotspot and a showcase of ongoing agricultural expansion by formal (i.e., transmigration until the 1990s) and informal (i.e., occupation) land-use transitions: between 1990 and 2013, rainforest land cover in Jambi Province decreased from 49.5% to 34.5%, whereas the land under rubber and oil palm cultivation increased from 26.4% to 32.5% (Fig. 1). Losses in rainforest cover primarily amounted to transformation to rubber and oil palm plantations, other agricultural land uses, and shrub, i.e., land after deforestation that is usually converted to plantations after few years of fallow (Fig. 1; Supplementary Table 1). By 2017, 99% of the land under rubber and ~61% of the land under oil palm in Jambi was cultivated by smallholders 16 . Moreover, jungle rubber, a traditional agroforestry system of rubber-enriched disturbed or secondary forests, which was formerly the main rubber production system in the region, has become economically marginal owing to its low returns to land and labor (Supplementary Table 2), resulting in its conversion to more-profitable rubber and oil palm monocultures 10 . To understand the economic-ecological tradeoffs of these smallholder land-use transitions from lowland rainforest to jungle rubber agroforestry and intensive rubber and oil palm monocultures, we (1) conduct extensive ecological and socioeconomic field studies, (2) including continuous records of rubber and oil palm yields in the same study plots over a 2-year period, and (3) derive yield-profit relationships based on the management practices of 700 smallholder farm households in our study region. We focus on profits as these can be expressed per unit of land, and profits are positively associated with other economic and human welfare dimensions in our study system, such as household incomes, food security, and consumption expenditures of smallholders 17,18 . Furthermore, to resolve spatial landscape planning and the underlying political drivers of landuse transformation, we conduct 150 stakeholder interviews with government representatives, NGOs and corporate actors at district, provincial, and national level. We find that smallholder land-use transitions from forest and agroforestry systems to rubber and oil palm monocultures generally result in substantial economic-ecological trade-offs. Increases in profits of farmers occur at the cost of massive losses in biodiversity and of key ecosystem functions, indicating far-reaching ecosystem deterioration. Although some trade-offs may be mitigated under optimal land-use allocation, our findings question the long-term sustainability of ongoing economic development in this global biodiversity hotspot. Changes in economic incentive structures through well-designed policies are urgently needed.Biodiversity-profit trade-offs. In our biodiversity assessments, we used an extensive sample of tropical biodiversity comprising a total of 26,894 species and operational taxonomic units, including the most diverse and highest biomass groups and all trophic levels 19 . We found strong evidence for non-linear losses in species richness with increasing profits from smallholder land use across the majority of taxonomic groups (Fig. 2a). Losses were generally most pronounced at the transition from forest and jungle rubber to monocultures, with the former two land-use systems showing the poorest profitability but the highest species richness (Fig. 2b). By contrast, by generating incomes of up to 1000 USD ha −1 year −1 , rubber and particularly oil palm monocultures were significantly more profitable (Fig. 2b); however, they generally harbored the lowest levels of biodiversity. Although the total species richness of a few groups was not related to or even increased with higher profits (e.g., bacteria), negative richness-profitability relationships were pervasive when analyzing the subset of species that also occurred in rainforest (47% of all species; Fig. 2a). Hence, although moreprofitable monocultures may partially support biodiversity by species turnover (i.e., replacement of rainforest species with habitat generalists or exotic species), rainforest transformation to monoculture plantations negatively affected rainforest species across all taxonomic groups. These findings are particularly noteworthy because of our focus on smallholder plantations that are typically much less intensively managed than large, commercial estates: oil palm smallholders use on average only half the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that is applied in oil palm estates 20 . Win-win situations of profit increases without reducing biodiversity-as reported from cocoa agroforestry 21 -are therefore not evident when smallholders shift from traditional but less-profitable agroforestry to more intensively managed monocultures. Moreover, trade-offs are pervasive for both aboveground and belowground biota.Ecosystem function-profit trade-offs. In addition, we studied relationships between profit and ecosystem functioning for 36 indicators representing 10 ecosystem functions (Fig. 3). The majority of relationships indicated undesirable trade-offs: key functions such as soil and aboveground carbon stocks, soil respiration as an indicator of belowground biotic activities, and decomposition declined, whereas nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas fluxes increased with higher profits from land use (Fig. 3) 22,23 . Indicators of soil fertility improved with increasing profits, but only because soil amendments (lime, borate, and phosphorus fertilizers) were applied to the oil palm plantations in these inherently acidic Acrisol soils (Fig. 3) 23 . Some relationships between ecosystem function indicators and profit were humpshaped or U-shaped (i.e., plant transpiration, climatic conditions; Fig. 3), indicating complex system-specific responses to land-use transition 24,25 .Whole-ecosystem multidiversity and multifunctionality. We then calculated multidiversity 13 and multifunctionality 14 that, respectively, comprise all taxa and ecosystem functions for each plot, in order to test for trade-offs between increasing profits from land-use transitions and whole-ecosystem biodiversity and functioning. These indices are commonly calculated as the proportion of plot-level measured taxonomic groups or functions of which performance exceeds an a priori minimum defined threshold (e.g., 70%, 50%, or 30%) of their maximum measured performance level 14 . The maximum performance level is thereby not restricted to a specific land-use system; for instance, some functions may peak in rainforest plots, whereas others may peak in monoculture plantations. Since defining a specific threshold that determines whether a given group or function contributes to multidiversity or multifunctionality can be arbitrary, we calculated the full range of thresholds from 1% to 99% 14,26 . This approach also allowed investigating whether relationships with profitability differed with stringency of land-use management for multidiversity and multifunctionality: management expectations of multifunctionality based on a 90% threshold are much more stringent than calculations based on a 50% threshold, for example. We found clear trade-offs between multidiversity and landuse profitability, which were observed for the entire threshold range (Fig. 4). Moreover, we observed a consistent loss of multifunctionality with higher profits across the full threshold range (Fig. 4). Trade-offs for both multidiversity and multifunctionality were strongest for thresholds approximately within the 30-70% range (Fig. 4). Increasing profitability of land use thus always comes at the expense of the overall ecosystem diversity and functioning, even when land-use management aims at retaining only medium to low levels of multidiversity or multifunctionality.Land-use composition to mitigate trade-offs. Finally, we asked if and under which constraints it is possible to design tropical landscapes that maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and yet allow increases in profits from smallholder land use. To this end, we used a genetic algorithm to generate conceptual landscapes with optimized land-use composition for maximum multidiversity/multifunctionality with increasing profit demands from agricultural production ranging from 0 to 1000 United States dollars (USD) average profit per ha and year. Each conceptual landscape consisted of 32 empty slots (referring to the 32 study plots from the ecological field studies) to be filled by the genetic algorithm with the plot-level data from our field surveys.Filling was done with replacement, i.e., the algorithm could select the same plot(s) multiple times and thereby exclude others from selection. Hence, the total search space covered ~9.16 × 10 17 possible combinations. The simulated landscapes with optimized composition for a given profit expectation converge along the production-possibility frontier, i.e., the Pareto-frontier for balancing economic-ecological trade-offs at the landscape scale. In other words, the Pareto-frontier provided a set of multiple optimum landscape compositions, which cannot be further optimized (e.g., by higher biodiversity) under the given constraints (i.e., the minimum expected profits per ha). Our simulations indicated that maintaining high levels of multidiversity required high proportions of lowland rainforest at the landscape scale, regardless of whether multidiversity was calculated based on all species or only species also present in rainforest (Fig. 5; Supplementary Fig. 1). With higher profit demands, trade-offs became unavoidable, and the replacement of rainforest with plantations resulted in parallel and linear decreases of rainforest cover and multidiversity (Fig. 5). All medium (400-600 USD ha −1 year −1 ) to highly profitable (>800 USD ha −1 year −1 ) landscapes were dominated by oil palm plantations (Fig. 5; Supplementary Fig. 1), suggesting that despite the considerable loss of multidiversity, the trade-off would have been even stronger if profits had been primarily derived from jungle rubber or rubber plantations instead. The high importance of rainforest in maintaining landscape scale diversity was further supported by separate optimizations for each of the 14 taxonomic groups, with highly similar landscape compositions across aboveground and belowground taxa (Supplementary Fig. 2). Generally, a mixture of different land uses often resulted in the highest biodiversity at the landscape scale (Supplementary Fig. 2), emphasizing the importance of species Fig. 2 Species richness changes non-linearly with increasing profits from land-use transitions by smallholders in an Indonesian landscape. Land-use systems were primary degraded lowland rainforest (F), agroforestry jungle rubber (J), rubber monoculture (R), and oil palm monoculture (O). a Species richness and profit estimates were derived from plot-level data in eight replicates per land-use system. Biodiversity-profit trade-offs were predicted using simulation-extrapolation (SIMEX) of richness-profit relationships (thin lines: SIMEX predictions; shaded areas: 95% confidence bands). Predictions for biodiversity were based on species richness of all species (black lines) and of species that were present in rainforest (red lines). b Mean profit per land-use system based on the crop yields in the 32 ecological study plots (left panel) and Kernel density estimates of profit distributions from 701 smallholder household interviews (right panel). Boxplots represent the median (black bars), the 25-75% intervals (box edges) and the 1.5 interquartile range (whiskers). Letters indicate significant differences in profits of land-use systems (Tukey test, P < 0.05). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.turnover between land uses for biodiversity conservation 27 . Analogous to the biodiversity simulations, we generated optimized landscapes for each of the 10 ecosystem functions and multifunctionality. We found their compositions were highly contingent on the targeted ecosystem function and profit expectation (Fig. 5; Supplementary Fig. 3). Landscapes designed to maintain high levels of soil respiration or low levels of nutrient-leaching fluxes were generally dominated by rubber plantations. By contrast, the algorithm included oil palm plantations in these landscapes only when profits exceeding 800 USD ha −1 year −1 were expected, which, however, entailed strong function losses (Supplementary Fig. 3). For other functions, e.g., NPP or soil greenhouse gas fluxes, oil palm plantations caused less trade-offs than rubber systems (Supplementary Fig. 3). Moreover, we found that not all functions could be sustained at similar levels. For example, given optimal land-use allocation, high levels of soil greenhouse gas fluxes could be avoided even for landscapes with average profits exceeding 800 USD ha −1 year −1 . Contrarily, given similar profit expectations, decomposition and organic carbon storage retained <50% of their maximum potential (Fig. 5; Supplementary Fig. 3). The diverging responses of functions to landscape composition resulted in low multifunctionality even at low-profit expectations and regardless of thresholds used in the calculations (Supplementary Fig. 1). Moreover, multifunctionality decreased linearly from poorly to highly profitable landscapes (Fig. 5). In summary, these results suggest that, whereas mitigating biodiversity-profit trade-offs under land scarcity is most efficiently achieved by retaining rainforest habitat and deriving most profits from oil palm monocultures, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for maintaining high levels of ecosystem multifunctionality with increasing profits from smallholder agriculture in these tropical landscapes.Implications. We found that higher profits from agricultural transitions in Indonesia's tropical smallholder landscapes occur at the cost of massive biodiversity losses and deterioration of terrestrial ecosystems. These findings question the long-term sustainability of ongoing economic development in this global biodiversity hotspot, and showcase threats from tropical land-use transitions worldwide 28 . The loss of ecosystem multifunctionality demonstrated in this study not only affects local livelihoods but also has far-reaching effects beyond, including the loss of soil and aboveground carbon stocks and concurrent greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate global climate change 29,30 . Moreover, although transition to more-profitable land uses can improve living standards for the better-off, these transitions are not possible for those households that lack adequate knowledge or access to land and resources, especially non-farm households. Concurrently, our in-depth interviews with rural farm and non-farm households revealed increasing social inequality and land tenure conflicts with oil palm expansion in the region 17,31 .The concrete results reported here are specific for Jambi Province. However, although some of the details may differ by region, the general findings on the economic-ecological trade-offs will likely also hold for other parts of Indonesia and tropical lowland regions worldwide. The economic impacts of the oil palm boom for smallholders reach far beyond those assessed here in the profit function. Indeed, adoption of oil palm production has not only increased household incomes, but also enhanced food security, nutrition, and consumption expenditures of adopting smallholder farmers in Jambi Province 17,18,32 . At national level, it is estimated that the oil palm boom since 2000 may have lifted up to 2.6 million rural Indonesians out of poverty 33 . However, our study shows that more-targeted landscape planning is needed to increase land-use efficiency and ensure social and ecological Fig. 4 Multidiversity-profit and multifunctionality-profit relationships are generally negative, regardless of thresholds used to define multidiversity or multifunctionality. Changes in a multidiversity (whole-system biodiversity of all species in 14 taxonomic groups) and b multifunctionality (whole-system ecosystem functioning based on 36 indicators of 10 functions) per profit increase of 100 USD ha −1 year −1 in smallholder farms. All indices range between 0 and 1, whereby 1 is the highest-possible level of multidiversity or multifunctionality. Note that relationships are usually negative, regardless of the threshold that taxonomic groups or ecosystem functions need to reach to contribute to multidiversity or multifunctionality (red lines are predicted slopes; shaded areas indicate 95% confidence bands). In addition, shown are examples of c multidiversity-profit and d multifunctionality-profit relationships for thresholds of 20%, 50%, and 90%, respectively (points are raw data; fitted lines and shaded areas are predictions from linear models and 95% confidence bands, respectively; P < 0.05 in all cases, tested with simple linear regression). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.sustainability. In particular, multifunctional landscapes in the tropical lowlands require context-specific solutions that overcome profit-functioning trade-offs that remain unavoidable without changing the economic incentives for smallholders. A combination of well-designed regulatory command and control measures with incentive-based measures such as payment for environmental services (PES) schemes is one promising option 34 . Premium prices for outputs produced with ecologically friendly practices, such as rubber or palm oil from certified landscapes that include production and non-production land, are an alternative 35 . Any approach will require law enforcement and the consideration of trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in spatial planning to halt unsustainable land-use change and biodiversity loss in tropical lowlands.Study region and study design. Field research for this study was carried out in the tropical lowlands of Jambi Province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. This region has experienced massive land-use change and transition over the course of the 20th century and is a showcase of smallholder agriculture in Indonesia 10 . For much of the last century, the region was characterized by shifting cultivation and subsistence farming, but with the introduction of transmigration villages in the 1980s under the Suharto regime, the underlying political development strategy focused on marketoriented modern crops and smallholder expansion supported by transmigration 36 . Contract farmers for palm oil production made up the vast majority of transmigrants that were moved from the densely-populated island of Java to Jambi Province 36 . The rise of plantation agriculture resulted in transformation and loss of primary rainforest, which still continued in the 21st century 10 . In 2011, the Indonesian government presented its ambitious master plan to accelerate nation-wide economic development until 2025, which also includes the Sumatra Economic Corridor, a large-scale infrastructure and development project to further transform the island into Indonesia's mainstay of plantation agriculture 37 . Within Jambi Province, we selected two landscapes, \"Harapan\" and \"Bukit Duabelas\" (with loam and Acrisol soils, respectively) with four land-use systems common to the region: primary degraded lowland rainforest 38 , jungle rubber (a traditional agroforestry system), monoculture rubber plantation and monoculture oil palm plantation. At the time of site selection in 2012, the monoculture rubber plantation varied between 7 and 16 years in age and the oil palm plantations between 8 and 15 years. In each landscape, we established four 50 m × 50 m replicate plots in each of the four landuse systems, resulting in 32 study plots. This number of replicates is typical for ecological studies in tropical lowland forests 39 . Forest plots were located in the Bukit Duabelas National Park and the Harapan Rainforest Restoration concession (PT REKI). All other plots were owned and managed by smallholders. Within each plot, five permanent 5 m × 5 m subplots were established. More information on the study region, study design, land-use systems, and management practices of the smallholder systems are published elsewhere 10,15 .Quantification and mapping of land use and land cover changes from 1990 to 2013 in Jambi Province. Figures for land cover and land-use change were derived from a spatio-temporal model based on official geodata available for the years 1990 and 2013. The land-use classifications were produced by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry following a standard methodology based on Landsat and SPOT imagery 40 . Although the official land cover map distinguishes 23 land cover classes (seven forest classes, 15 non-forest classes, one class of clouds/no data), they were aggregated and refined into the five main classes relevant for this study 41 : forest (including primary and secondary rainforest as well as forest plantations), oil palm, rubber (containing rubber plantations and jungle rubber), other agricultural systems and shrub/bush land. A change matrix of aggregated land-use classes between the years 1990 and 2013 was computed by intersecting all single polygons and deriving the related area that had changed from one class to another. An independent validation of the existing maps was only possible based on collected field data for the map product from 2013. The accuracy assessment showed an overall accuracy of classification of 82.6% and Kappa coefficient of 0.79. In general, each land use had >70% accuracy with a relative balance between producer and user accuracy. In absence of an independent validation for the map from 1990, we here need to assume a comparable accuracy. Accuracies for the respective map products reported in ref. 40  Optimized landscape compositions are shown for examples of taxonomic groups and ecosystem functions as well as for multidiversity and multifunctionality considering all studied groups and functions, respectively. Each bar represents a landscape solution as identified by a genetic algorithm, fed with plot-level information on biodiversity or ecosystem functions and profits of smallholder farmers. Colors indicate the composition of landscape solutions, i.e., the proportional share of the four studied land-use systems. Red dots indicate the realized biodiversity or ecosystem function for a given landscape composition, connected by lines to visualize trends with increasing profit expectations. Realized values are scaled between 0 and 1, whereby 1 corresponds to 100% of biodiversity (all sampled species present) or ecosystem functioning (all function indicators at their maximum) at the landscape level. A priori defined profit expectations: 0; 200; 400; 600; 800; 1000 USD ha −1 year −1 . Source data are provided as a Source Data file.biomass (tapped and dried rubber, fresh oil palm bunches) from the selected 50 × 50 m jungle rubber, monoculture rubber, and monoculture oil palm plots. Following their normal schedule, plantation keepers tapped rubber trees continuously and collected rubber ranging from every week to twice per month. Oil palm bunches were harvested on average twice per month. Yields were standardized to rubber and fresh fruit bunch weight in kg ha −1 and averaged across years.Trees and understorey vegetation. Within each plot, we identified all trees with a diameter at breast height ≥ 10 cm to species level. Moreover, all vascular plant individuals growing within the five 5 m × 5 m subplots were identified, including terrestrial plants (herbs, shrubs, and young trees), climbers, and epiphytes up to 3 m height 42 . Herbarium specimens of three individuals per species were prepared for identification and later deposition at several Indonesian herbaria (Herbarium Bogoriense, BIOTROP Herbarium, Herbarium of the University of Jambi, Harapan Rainforest Herbarium).Canopy ants and parasitoid wasps. Canopy ants (Formicidae) and canopy parasitoid wasps (Braconidae, Ceraphronidae, Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Platygastridae, Scelionidae) were collected by canopy fogging. Per fogging event, we used 50 ml DECIS 25 (Bayer Crop Science, active ingredient: Deltamethrine 25 g/L) dissolved in 4 L of petroleum white oil, applied to target canopies by the Swingtec SwingFog SN50. All 32 study plots were sampled twice, first in the dry season 2013 and the second time in the rainy season 2013/2014. Standardization was achieved by placing 16 funnel traps (1 m² each) underneath each target canopy in three subplot replicates per plot 15 . In total, we sampled 130,527 individuals of canopy ants, sorted to 227 (morpho-)species from nine subfamilies (dry season 2013 and rainy season 2013/2014) and 10,070 individuals of parasitoid wasps, sorted to 1,182 morphospecies (dry season 2013).Birds and bats. Birds were sampled with point counts as well as automated sound recordings from May to July 2013. All plots were visited three times for 20 min point counts. The observer was in the plot middle, and all birds detected within the plot were recorded. Point counts took place between 6:00 and 10:00 and the timing for individual plots alternated between early and late morning. We excluded detections from fly-overs, and bird vocalizations that could not be identified immediately were recorded using a directional microphone (Sennheiser ME-66) to compare with recordings from the Xeno-Canto online bird call database (http:// xeno-canto.org/). In addition to point counts, we recorded stereo sound at 44,100 Hz sampling frequency (SMX-II microphones, SM2+ recorder, Wildlife acoustics); the recorders were attached to the central tree of the plot at 2.0-2.5 m height. We could record sound in eight plots simultaneously; sampling all 32 plots took four days (10th and 13th of May, and the 3rd and 7th of June 2013). We uploaded the first 20 min after sunrise to a website (http://soundefforts.uni-goettingen.de/) so that two independent ornithologists could identify all audible and visible bird calls (within an estimated 35 m radius) to species. For each plot, only bird species identified by both ornithologists were subsequently merged with the species obtained from the point counts to generate the data set used in the analysis.Bats were caught using mist nets and harp traps between April and August 2015. We used telescopic aluminum poles to install mist nets with a total of 48 m in length as well as two harp traps (1.35 m × 1.75 m) in presumed bat flyways. Mist nets were 3 m high, with 19 mm in mesh size, and installed at ground level or up to 3 m high, depending on plot conditions. Each plot was sampled from 17:30 to 22:00 on two consecutive nights for an average sampling effort of 1296 m 2 of mist net hours. We checked the nets and traps every 15 min until 20:00 and every 30 min thereafter. Harp traps were left on site and checked the morning after. Each individual bat's morphology was measured to identify them according to the latest bat species checklist for Sumatra 43 . We tagged the bats' nails with nail polish color codes to identify recaptures and released them after closing mist nets.Butterflies. We obtained abundance data for butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaneidae, Nymphalidae) from all 32 study plots between August and October 2017. Butterflies were collected using sweep netting (exception: Troides amphrysus CRAMER 1779, identified on sight) on three parallel transects per plot, with two transects located on the outer borders of the plots, and the third transect located through the center. Sweep netting was conducted twice per day per plot, in the morning (8:00-11:00 am) and afternoon hours (13:00-16:00 pm). All butterfly individuals were released after identification in the evenings of the sampling day, with the exception of up to two dried/mounted individuals and five individuals in 99% EtOH p.A. per species, which were kept for species ID and further analysis. Our data are based on 6653 caught and/or observed butterfly individuals that we identified to 209 species, using standard taxonomic literature.Litter invertebrates. We sampled litter macroinvertebrates in three subplots of each of the 32 study plots between October and November 2012 44,45 . In each subplot, we sieved 1 m² of leaf litter from the ground through a 2 cm width mesh and hand-collected all invertebrates visible to the naked eye from the containers below the sieves. Animals were stored in 65% ethanol for further identification in the laboratory. All animal individuals were then identified to family and subsequently, given a lack of suitable identification keys for the study area, to morphospecies based on consistent morphological characteristics. Juvenile spiders were excluded from the data set, as they could not be reliably identified to morphospecies. Finally, observed litter invertebrate species richness was calculated as the number of morphospecies present in the total 3 m² sampled at each study plot.Testate amoebae. To sample testate amoebae (protists) at each study plot, we took litter and upper mineral soil samples (to a depth of 50 mm) in October and November 2013, using a corer of 50 mm in diameter 46 . We then extracted testate amoebae from the samples by washing 1 g dry weight litter sample over a filter of 500 μm mesh and back-sieving the filtrate through 10 μm mesh. Microscopic slides were prepared from the final filtrate and testate amoebae were identified to morphospecies 46 Oribatida and mesostigmata. To collect soil microarthropods (Oribatida and Mesostigmata) three soil cores were taken during October to November 2013 from each study plot. Soil cores measured 16 cm × 16 cm and comprised the litter layer and the underlying mineral soil layer to a depth of 5 cm. Animals were extracted by heat 47 , collected in dimethyleneglycol-water solution (1:1) and thereafter transferred into 70% ethanol. More details on the sampling and extraction procedure are given in ref. 48 . Oribatida were identified to (morpho)species from two out of three cores in each plot, Mesostigmata were identified to (morpho)species from one out of three cores in each plot.Fungi. In each plot, we collected soil samples in three subplots resulting in 96 samples. After sieving, freeze-drying and storage at −20 °C under liquid nitrogen 49 , DNA was isolated with the PowerSoil DNA Isolation Kit (MO BIO Laboratories Inc.), reverse transcribed, amplified with the ITS1-F-KYO1 and ITS-4 primers and linked with 454 pyrosequencing adaptors (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). Purified products were submitted to the Göttingen Genomics Laboratory (G2L, Göttingen, Germany) for sequencing and bioinformatics analyses including sequence assembly and quality filtering 50 . For taxonomic assignment, high-quality sequences were blasted against the UNITE database (v7, sh_refs_qiim-e_ver7_99_s_01.08.2015.fasta); unclassified OTUs and extrinsic domain OTUs (Protista, Plantae) were removed 50 . Sequences were deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under accession number SRP134264. A rarefied OTU table (1229 sequences per sample) was used for the current analyses.Bacteria and archaea. To assess bacterial and archaeal community compositions bulk soil DNA of three subplots per study plot was extracted with PowerSoil DNA isolation kit (Dianova, Hamburg, Germany) and used for amplification of 16 S rRNA genes targeting the V3-V5 region using the Phusion hot start high-fidelity DNA Polymerase (Finnzymes) 51 . The thermal cycling scheme was as follows: initial denaturation at 98 °C for 5 min, 25 cycles of denaturation at 98 °C for 45 s, annealing for 45 s at 65 °C for bacteria and 60 °C for archaea, and extension at 72 °C for 30 s, followed by a final extension period at 72 °C for 5 min. Sequencing was performed at the Göttingen Genomics Laboratory with a 454 GS-FLX sequencer and Titanium chemistry (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). Amplicon sequences were quality-filtered, denoised, clustered at 97% sequence, identity, chimera checked, and taxonomy was assigned using the SILVA database version 119 52 employing QIIME 1.8 scripts 53 . Singletons, chloroplasts, unclassified OTUs and extrinsic domain OTUs were removed by employing filter_otu_table.py. Rarefied OTU tables (bacteria 6800 and archaea 2000 sequences per sample) were used for the analyses. Net primary production. The following components of net primary production (NPP) were measured from March 2013 to April 2014 on all 32 study plots: aboveground litterfall including pruned oil palm fronds, fine root production, rubber latex harvest, and oil palm fruit harvest, as well as stem increment. Litterfall from 16 litter traps on each plot was collected at monthly intervals and separated into leaves, woody material, propagules, and inflorescences, which were subsequently oven-dried for 72 h at 60 °C and weighted. In oil palm plantations all pruned palm fronds were counted and total dry weight extrapolated based on a dried subsample of fronds. To calculate woody biomass production based on the respective allometric equations 22 differences in tree aboveground biomass between census points were used. Manual dendrometer tapes (UMS, Munich, Germany) were mounted on 40 tree individuals per plot (960 in total) to obtain stem increment data. Oil palm biomass production was obtained from height increment data measured every 3 months. To estimate fine root production 16 ingrowth cores per plot were installed. After removal of the cores, root samples were processed in the same way as the root inventory samples.Organic carbon in plant biomass. Stand structural parameters (height, diameter) were recorded for each tree with a diameter at breast height ≥ 10 cm on all 32 study plots using a Vertex III height meter (Haglöf, Långsele, Sweden). Wood density values were obtained from wood cores extracted from 204 trees. For the remaining trees, interpolated values derived from measurements of wood hardness with a Pilodyn 6 J (PROCEQ SA, Zürich, Switzerland) were applied. Allometric equations were used to estimate aboveground woody biomass and coarse roots biomass for forest trees, rubber trees, and oil palms 22 . Fine roots biomass (diameter: ≤2 mm) was measured using 10 soil cores down to 50 cm soil depth at each plot. All fine roots segments > 1 cm length were extracted by washing on a sieve and separated under a stereomicroscope into live (biomass) and dead (necromass) fractions, pooled for the current analysis. The C content of each component (stem wood, fine roots, dead wood, rubber latex, oil palm fruit, all litter fractions) was analyzed with a CN auto-analyzer (Vario EL III, Hanau, Germany) and used to convert biomass into carbon units 22 .Soil organic carbon and soil fertility indicators. In 2013, soil samples were collected at three depth intervals (0.0-0.1 m, 0.1-0.3 m, 0.3-0.5 m) in each of the five randomly selected subplots per plot, and further three depth intervals (0.5-1.0 m, 1.0-1.5 m, and 1.5-2.0 m) at two of the five subplots. The mean of the five or two subplots represented the value for each replicate plot. Soil organic carbon for the 0.0-0.5 m and 0.5-2.0 m depths were cumulative stocks of the three depth intervals. For the soil fertility indicators (net N mineralization rate, extractable P, and exchangeable Ca, K, Mg, and Na), we used the measurements in the top 0.10 m depth. Soil organic C concentrations were analyzed from air-dried, ground soils using a CN analyzer (Vario EL Cube, Elementar Analysis Systems GmbH, Hanau, Germany). Net N mineralization was measured using an in situ buried bag method of intact soil cores. Extractable P was determined from airdried, 2 mm sieved soils using the Bray 2 method. Exchangeable cations were determined by percolating air-dried, 2 mm sieved soils with unbuffered 1 M NH 4 Cl and cations were measured in percolates using an inductively coupled plasmaatomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES; iCAP 6300 Duo VIEW ICP Spectrometer, Thermo Fischer Scientific GmbH, Dreieich, Germany).Soil respiration and soil greenhouse gas fluxes. Soil CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O fluxes were measured monthly for 1 year (2013) using vented, static chambers with permanently installed bases in four subplots per plot 20,54 . The mean of the four subplots represented the value for each replicate plot on each sampling period. During gas sampling, the chamber bases were closed and four gas samples (23 mL each) were taken at 1 min, 11 min, 21 min, and 31 min after chamber closure. Gas samples were immediately injected into pre-evacuated 12 mL Labco Exetainers and were analyzed using a gas chromatograph with electron capture and flame ionization detector (GC 6000 Vega Series 2, Carlo Erba Instruments, Milan, Italy). Soil gas fluxes were calculated from the linear increase of concentration over time of chamber closure and adjusted for the measured air temperature and pressure at the time of sampling.Nutrient-leaching fluxes. Nutrient leaching was measured biweekly to monthly for 1 year (2013) using suction cup lysimeters (P80 ceramic, maximum pore size 1 μm; CeramTec AG, Marktredwitz, Germany), which were installed in two subplots per plot. These lysimeters were inserted into the soil down to 1.5 m depth. Soil water was withdrawn by applying a 40 kPa vacuum on the sampling tube. The collected soil water samples were stored in 100 mL plastic bottles and immediately frozen upon arrival at the field laboratory. Frozen water samples were transported to Germany and were kept frozen until analysis. The total dissolved N (TDN), NH 4 + , and NO 3 − were measured using continuous flow injection colorimetry (SEAL Analytical AA3, SEAL Analytical GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany), whereas dissolved organic C was determined using a total organic carbon analyzer (TOC-Vwp, Shimadzu Europa GmbH, Duisburg, Germany). Dissolved Na, Ca, Mg, total Al, total P, and total S were analyzed using ICP-AES. Drainage water fluxes were estimated using a soil water model, parameterized with our measured site characteristics (climate data, leaf area index, rooting depth, soil water retention curve, texture, and bulk density) 23 . Element concentrations from each of the two lysimeters per replicate plot were multiplied with the total biweekly or monthly drainage water flux to get the nutrient-leaching fluxes. The annual leaching flux was calculated as the sum of biweekly to monthly measured leaching fluxes, and the average of the two lysimeters per plot represents the value of each replicate plot.Decomposition. Litterbags with 10 g dry leaf litter mixture of three tree species were placed in each of the four land-use systems with one litterbag in each of the 32 study plots in October 2013 and retrieved in March 2014 55 . Litter mass loss was calculated as the difference between the initial dry mass and litter dry mass remaining after 6 months.Plant transpiration. Plant transpiration was assessed at all 32 study sites by sap flux measurements with Granier-type thermal dissipation probes. The measurements were performed between March 2013 and March 2014 and lasted at least 3 weeks per site (52 days on average). Sap flux sampling and scaling schemes to stand transpiration (mm d −1 ) differed for the four land-use types and were specifically adapted for forest and jungle rubber, rubber plantations and oil palm plantations 56,57 . The scaling scheme for forest, jungle rubber, and rubber included the application of radial sap flux profile functions with increasing stem xylem depth as derived from measurements with heat-field deformation sensors. Annual series of reference potential evapotranspiration calculated from micrometeorological measurements in the study region with the Priestly-Taylor equation were subsequently used to extrapolate the transpiration series from each study site to the annual scale via a linear regression approach 57,58 .Climatic conditions. Microclimatic conditions were assessed with below canopy meteorological stations in each of the plots. They consisted of a thermohygrometer (Galltec Mella, Bondorf, Germany) placed at a height of 2 m above the ground to measure air temperature and air relative humidity and a soil sensor (IMKO Trime-PICO, Ettlingen, Germany) at a depth of 0.3 m to monitor soil temperature and soil volumetric moisture. Data were recorded hourly with a data logger (LogTrans16-GPRS, UIT, Dresden, Germany). Data covered the period June 2013 to October 2014.Farm household surveys (2012 and 2015). For the estimation of economic returns from land (profit), we analyzed data from a farm household survey conducted in five regencies in the lowlands of Jambi Province of Indonesia. The survey was carried out in two rounds; the first round in 2012 and the second in 2015 18 . For household selection, we used a multistage random sampling procedure. Five regencies (Sarolangun, Bungo, Tebo, Batanghari, and Muaro Jambi), which comprise most of the lowland transformation systems in Jambi, were selected purposively. From each of these regencies, we randomly selected four districts per regency and two rural villages per district, resulting in 40 randomly selected villages. In addition, five villages near to the Bukit Duabelas National Park and the Harapan Rainforest, where the ecological research was carried out, were purposively selected. Finally, we randomly selected farm households in the villages, based on household census data. In each village, we selected between 12 to 24 households, with the number adjusted to the total number of households residing in a village. In total, 701 households were interviewed in each round. For the 2015 round, we targeted the same households. Attrition rate was only at 6%. More than 50% of the sample households were from the regencies where ecological studies were conducted (Sarolangun and Batanghari). A structured questionnaire was administered to household heads through face-to-face interviews. Interviews were conducted by local enumerators who were trained and supervised by the researchers. Data on historical land-use changes and land transactions were collected alongside current management practices (e.g., inputs, output, market price, etc.). For profitability analysis, input-out data at the plot-level from the second round of household survey in 2015 were employed. We calculated annual profits per hectare by deducting production costs from plot revenues. Plot revenues were calculated by multiplying agricultural output with the average output prices per year received by farmers. Production costs were calculated by valuing all production factors and inputs by their usual market prices. While for wage labor and material inputs individual price data were collected, family labor was valued using the average agricultural wages in the regencies in 2015. Wage levels were derived from the Indonesian Labor Survey (SAKERNAS). We calculated profits for jungle rubber, rubber and oil palm plots. For forest we set profits to zero, since only ~1% of the households marketed forest products in 2015. Annual profits for 2012 and 2015 (adjusted for inflation) are reported in Supplementary Table 2, illustrating the strong decrease in rubber prices from 2012 to 2015. We converted all profits from Indonesian rupiahs (IDR) to US dollars (USD), using the average exchange rate of the two currencies in 2015 (1.00 USD = 13389.413 IDR) 59 .Qualitative interviews at household, sub-national, and national level. To investigate the history of landscape transformation, spatial planning and the underlying political drivers of transformation we conducted semi-structured and open qualitative stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions and participatory rural appraisals at multiple levels. Research was inspired by multi-sited ethnography 60 . We followed the networks of different actors impacted by land-use transformation and land tenure conflicts and those driving transformation in Jambi. Interviews were conducted at the village and household scale including indigenous leaders and village governments in order to understand village and land-use history, impacts of state policies, individual land-use decisions, environmental change, and land tenure conflicts. At the sub-national and national level, we conducted interviews with state agencies, ministries, environmental NGOs and peasant and indigenous rights organizations. Qualitative research took place between 2012 and 2016. In total, we conducted 150 qualitative interviews.Estimation of profits from crop yields on the study plots and statistical analysis of biodiversity-profit and ecosystem function-profit relationships. Linking biodiversity or ecosystem functions to the crop income required detailed information on farmers' profits at the plot level. However, because output prices and input prices vary significantly both spatially and temporarily, restricting our analysis to the profits of the 24 plots on which the ecological studies were conducted (including yield measurements of rubber and oil palm) would likely generate biased estimates. Instead, we followed a two-step procedure to estimate profits at level of the ecological study plots. First, we established the relationships between crop yields and profits for the three land-use systems jungle rubber, rubber, and oil palm as based on the household surveys. Second, we predicted the profits from yields on the ecological study plots from these relationships, including the variability in the relationships between yields and profits established in the first step. In the following, we describe our approach in more detail. Using the included information on yields (annual harvest amounts) and profits per ha of smallholder farmers, we modeled yield-profit relationships with simple linear regression. We found evidence of strong, positive, and linear relationships between the yields and farmer's profits for all the three crops (Supplementary Fig. 4). Likewise, increasing variances in profits for increasing yields were consistently observed irrespective of the crop. Second, we used the model coefficients of these relationships to predict the profits of the 24 jungle rubber, rubber, or oil palm plots based on the yields at plot level (see section \"Yield assessment\"). We did not restrict ourselves to predictions of their average profits but also included estimations of the heteroscedastic residual variances in the yield-profit relationship of each crop (i.e., non-constant variances of the deviations of observed data points from model predictions; Supplementary Fig. 4). Note, however, that neither the predicted average profits nor the average profits plus a randomly drawn error term correspond to the true, unobserved profits. Hence, profits can be seen as a variable exhibiting measurement error. It is known that measurement error in explanatory variables leads to downward biased regression coefficient and predictions.To this end, we applied the simulation and extrapolation (SIMEX) method 61 . The idea of the SIMEX method is to exploit the relationship between different degrees of measurement error variances and the bias of the estimators of interest. Let σ 2 e be the measurement error variance in the explanatory variable and β a single parameter of interest associated with this variable. Let further G σ 2 e À Á be a function describing the relationship between the potentially biased estimator of β for infinitely large sample size and σ 2 e : For different values of λ; λ ≥ 0; additional measurement error with variance λσ 2 e is added to the explanatory variable with measurement error, resulting in a measurement error variance of 1 þ λ ð Þσ 2 e . Given a certain value for λ, the measurement error is simulated B times and the parameter of interest is estimated in each of the B steps while not accounting for the measurement error. Averaging over the B estimates yields convergence to G. Applying this bootstrap procedure for different values of λ, the relationship between the degree of measurement error and the resulting estimator G of interest can be estimated, e.g., in a linear or quadratic fashion using ordinary least squares. Eventually, the predicted value of this function for no measurement error, i.e., λ = −1, is calculated, which is the SIMEX estimator β SIMEX = G(0).In our application, the heteroscedastic measurement error variances for the three crops were estimated from the yield-profit relationships as described above. We used a grid of 10 equidistant values for λ between 0.1 and 3, B = 200 bootstrap replication for each λ and a quadratic fit to model the relationship between different degrees of measurement error variances and the bias of the estimators of interest. We were interested in the coefficients from the links between profit and biodiversity or ecosystem functions, which were modeled in a non-linear fashion via penalized splines within the generalized additive models framework. The negative binomial distribution was chosen to account for the count data nature with potential overdispersion in the case of models with species richness as response. We used the R package simex (ver. 1.7) 62 that includes the implementation of the SIMEX method for generalized additive models with heteroscedastic measurement error in the explanatory variable. In summary, this approach allowed us to capture the measurement error in the profits and to unbiasedly estimate the relationships between profit and the different biodiversity or ecosystem functions.We modeled the relationships between biodiversity and profit for each studied taxonomic group, using two measures of species richness as response, respectively:(1) richness based on all species recorded in a study plot and (2) richness based only on those species that also were recorded in forest plots. The relationships between ecosystem functions and profit were separately modeled for each indicator variable per function.Calculation of multidiversity and multifunctionality and their relationships to profits. We calculated indices of multidiversity and multifunctionality in order to test if the observed trade-offs between economic and ecological indicators at the level of individual taxonomic groups and ecosystem functions are also evident when considering all groups or functions simultaneously (see Supplementary Table 3 for an example calculation). Multidiversity was calculated based on species richness of all 14 studied taxonomic groups; likewise, we calculated multifunctionality based on all 36 indicators of the 10 studied ecosystem functions. These indices are commonly calculated as the proportion of plot-level measured functions or taxonomic groups of which performance exceeds an a priori minimum defined threshold (e.g., high, medium, or low performance) as compared with the maximum measured performance level 14 . The maximum performance level is thereby not restricted to a specific land-use system, i.e., although some functions may peak in forest plots, others may peak in monoculture plantations. Since defining a specific threshold that determines whether a given ecosystem function or taxonomic group contributes to multifunctionality or multidiversity can be arbitrary, we calculated the full range of thresholds from 1% to 99% 14,26 . This approach also allowed us to investigate whether relationships with profitability differed depending on expectation levels of minimum ecosystem functioning or biodiversity performance, which is particularly relevant for defining goals of landscape management; for example, management expectations of multifunctionality based on a 90% threshold are much more stringent than multifunctionality based on a 50% threshold. First, we defined the 100%-level of biodiversity (species richness per taxonomic group) or ecosystem functioning for each group or function as the mean of the five highest recorded values to reduce potential influence of outliers 63 . Second, a threshold was defined at which levels of species richness or ecosystem function performance were considered sufficiently high to contribute to local multidiversity or multifunctionality, respectively. For example, when considering a threshold of 50%, only those species groups that are at least at 50% of their average maximum observed species richness (across all plots) will contribute to local multidiversity. Multidiversity and multifunctionality were then defined as the proportion of species groups or functions that locally exceeded the threshold as compared with the total number of species groups or functions that were studied in a given study plot (see Supplementary Table 3 for an example calculation of multifunctionality based on three functions). Because for most ecosystem functions multiple indicators were measured, we weighted these indicators according to their proportional share on the function (e.g., for an ecosystem function measured with eight indicators, each indicator variable was weighted 12.5%). Furthermore, we used the inverse of the indicators for which high values indicated less desirable functioning (e.g., nutrient leaching and soil greenhouse gas fluxes; see Fig. 3), so that in all cases, high values indicated high levels of ecosystem functions contributing to multifunctionality. We calculated multidiversity and multifunctionality for all study plots and across the full range of thresholds from 1% to 99% at steps of 0.01%. We then related the index values to the average predicted profits of crop yields at plot-level with simple linear regression.Landscape composition optimization using a genetic algorithm. To identify how landscape design may be optimized to mitigate the observed socioeconomic-ecological trade-offs at landscape scales, we designed conceptual in silico landscapes of different composition, using the four studied land-use systems (forest, jungle rubber, rubber monoculture, oil palm monoculture) as input. These \"optimized landscapes\" were informed by the plot-level data from the ecological surveys and associated profit estimates. A virtual landscape consisted of 32 empty 50 m × 50 m slots, corresponding to the number of empirical study plots and their spatial extent in our ecological surveys. For four taxonomic groups, data were only available for a reduced number of study plots (archaea and fungi: 30 plots; testate amoebae and birds: 31 plots); for these cases, the landscape size was adjusted accordingly. We then \"filled\" the empty slots to identify the landscape composition that resulted in the highest-possible level of multidiversity, multifunctionality, species richness (total richness across all included plots), or ecosystem functioning (sum of standardized and equally-weighted indicator values of an ecosystem function) at the scale of the conceptual landscape. Filling was done using the plotlevel data with replacement, i.e., the solution space for the composition of the virtual landscape encompassed all possible combinations from landscapes that were made up by repeated fills with only one study plot to landscapes consisting of combinations of all 32 plots. To incorporate potential socioeconomic-ecological trade-offs into this optimization process, we constraint the landscape solutions by a priori defined minimum profit expectations. In line with the expectation that farmers and landscape managers aim at increasing profits from land-use, we optimized the landscapes for six profit expectations, whereby the expected profit was the average profit of the included plots: 0, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 USD ha −1 year −1 . These expectations corresponded to the average observed profits estimated from our yield assessments (Supplementary Fig. 4). By constraining the optimization process to these expectations, a landscape solution was allowed to surpass a given expectation, but solutions that did not provide the expected profit (e.g., because a conceptual landscape consisted predominantly of forest plots) were discarded.Because the number of solutions of a landscape with 32 plots that are filled with replacement is very large (~9.16 × 10 17 ), a brute force approach whereby all possibly solutions are calculated to identify the best solution (i.e., the landscape composition that most efficiently minimizes the trade-off, or the Pareto-frontier) was not computationally feasible. Instead, we used a binary genetic algorithm (GA) for the optimization process. Genetic algorithms mimic evolutionary processes to solve otherwise numerically or computationally non-solvable discrete and continuous optimization problems 64 . They have been suggested as heuristic optimization techniques to support landscape design for optimal profit-natural value relationships 65,66 . As in natural evolution, GAs code information within genes (located on chromosomes), individuals (bearing chromosomes) and populations of individuals. Exploration and exploitation facilitate the evolutionary process of the GA 64 . Exploration of the parameter space is achieved by mutation of genes and cross-over of genetic information between chromosomes of individuals of a founder population. Exploitation mimics the \"survival of the fittest\" observed in natural populations, and reduces the diversity in the population by selecting the fittest individuals for the next generation while discarding poor performers to make room for new offspring. The resulting optimization process makes GAs powerful tools to solve large and complex computational problems. In our binary GA, the decision whether to include or not to include a study plot was coded as a gene with 1 = inclusion and 0 = no inclusion. Because each landscape consisted of 32 study plots (or 30-31, see above) and our approach allowed for filling with replacement, each gene needed to be replicated 32 times. The resulting 1024 genes were arranged on one chromosome. Each chromosome represented a landscape solution with defined landscape composition (coded by the 0 s and 1 s that inform whether a plot is included or not) and consequently defined profit, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We used the above-described GA to identify optimized landscape compositions for each target variable, i.e., species richness of taxonomic groups, performance of ecosystem functions as weighted averages of function indicators, multidiversity, and multifunctionality. In each GA optimization, the population size was 500 chromosomes and the optimization process continued for 100 generations before selecting the best landscape solution.We used the package \"genalg\" version 0.2.0 67 to implement the GAs in the R statistical environment 68 .Reporting summary. Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.","tokenCount":"9318"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3029159831.json b/data/part_1/3029159831.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3cae7fe953ebc3fe0f6bd9f197875b691fdede2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3029159831.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8503ad1175f088e20d13e7669724754d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/986908ae-3fa5-4a12-a9cb-3e130aca643b/retrieve","id":"1568430929"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"16deaf04-49a4-46c8-b473-d4d0270c2077","pagecount":"1","content":"Sweet potato is among traditional food crops grown by small-scale farmers for subsistence in Western Kenya although commercialization of the crop is growing in importance.It is also considered a food security crop because it has a short maturity period of 3-5 months and can be harvested piecemeal as needed and also provides income to rural households. KARI Kakamega and partners have distributed Orange fleshed sweet potato(OFSP) varieties to farmers in Busia and Bungoma districts in 2008 .However the extend of farmers uptake were not known.About 24% sample households had heard of OFSP whereas about 76% had not heard. Majority (40.3%) first heard of orange fleshed sweet potato in 2008. Majority of the farmers heard about OFSP from neighbors/family members results which is consistent with the findings of Salasya et al 2007.About (11.4%) received the OFSP vines as members of a farmer group, 2.9% received from KARI and from ministry of Agriculture staff, whereas 5.7 received from an NGOsThe study was carried out in Bungoma and Busia of western Kenya. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select the study sample. The random sample of 204 farmers was selected from sites shown in Table 1.Majority of farmers (80.4%) grew sweet potatoes two times in a year (first and second seasons). The second season was the most important for growing sweet potatoes.In about 86% of the cases women were the ones responsible for sweet potato production ,1% of the cases men and in 12.7% of the cases both men and women. A sketch map of each of the six sub-locations was drawn and the major landmarks in each sub-location marked out on the map.Each landmark was then given a number 0, 1, 2, 3, up to a maximum of 9.To identify transects for each sub-location, two pairs of landmarks were randomly selected on the sublocation map using a table of random numbers.Transect lines were therefore drawn joining the pair. Sampling thereafter was done following the marked transect.Every fifth or fourth household first on the left of the transect and then on the right, and back to the left was interviewed alternately. The data was analyzed using mainly descriptive statistics.Of the 204 households interviewed, 50 had heard of the OFSP, whereas 154 had not heard about it. Farm size and distance to the market was similar for farmers who had heard about OFSP and those who had not heard.The socio-economic characteristics of those who had not heard of OFSP and those who had heard of OFSP are summarized in Table 2.Nearly 99% of farmers indicated that a good cutting (vine) for planting is at the tip of the plant. The size ranged from 15cm to 60 cm. Majority of the farmers (61.3%) did not plant the vines the same day they cut them, vines were left for between 1 and 7 days. The main reason given for not planting vines the same day , was to harden them . Over 95% of households planted between 1 and 4 vines per hill.Sweet potatoes were mainly grown as a pure stand as indicated by over 98% of the sample. None the less it was usually relayed or grown in rotation with other crops.During the long rains most of the farmers planted potatoes on mounts (62%), or on flat ground (22%).The rest of the farmers combined mounts and ridges, mounts and flat and ridges and flat. About 40% of the farmers weeded sweet potatoes twice, whereas about 37% weeded once. Interestingly, there was a 10% who did not weed sweet potatoes at all.Harvesting of sweet potatoes took place throughout the year. About 24% of sample households had heard of OFSP whereas about 76% had never heard.About 38.5 %.households that had heard of OFSP planted them while those who had never planted OFSP mentioned \"no access to planting material\" as the main constraint.A Majority of the farmers heard about OFSP from neighbors/family members and the first varieties of OFSP heard of and planted were SPK 004 and Saliboro.","tokenCount":"661"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3035084262.json b/data/part_1/3035084262.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e40d7671dc7f140416b9930fbb25ccc4d14c4cd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3035084262.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2482841e2eac98d8fff87ae6505870c8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/745c20da-526d-4786-9a7a-e074038fc75c/retrieve","id":"223070042"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c05e92c2-feef-4aa8-9925-eef9ac082e19","pagecount":"4","content":"Transformation of the agri-food system (AFS) is a leading pathway to achieve the USG Global Food Security Strategy Objective 1 of \"Inclusive agriculture-led growth\". The AFS encompasses the primary agricultural sector, as well as all upstream and downstream agriculture-related activities. An expansion of the AFS's off-farm components is central to the process of agricultural transformation and is strongly associated with economic development. The Percent change in value-added in the agri-food system (AgGDP+) and Employment in the agrifood system (AgEMP+) indicators are useful to track this process.Mil. 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.0 6.1Projecting AgGDP+ in Malawi ($ bil.)• In 2020, the AFS generated 46% of total GDP in Malawi and 77% of total employment, while agriculture alone represented 24.6% and 62.4%, respectively.• AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ grew at 5.2% and 0.3% respectively between 2019 and 2020, reaching $4.9 billion and 5.9 million workers in 2020.• This section provides data on the structure of Malawi's economy as a whole and of its agri-food system in 2020. Table 1 shows the breakdown of national GDP, employment, and trade. Table 2 reports AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ estimates broken down by the components of the AFS. Table 3 disaggregates the latest AgGDP+ estimate across major products or value chains.Table 1 shows how agriculture is an important part of Malawi's economy -it generated 25% of national GDP and 62% of total employment in 2020. Crops dominate the sector, but livestock is also an important source of GDP and employment. Part of agriculture's output is supplied to the manufacturing sector for processing, and manufacturing as a whole generated 14% of GDP and 4% of employment. Malawi depends heavily on agricultural and agro-processing exports (agroprocessing exports are aggregated into manufacturing exports in Table 1), while most foreign earnings are used to pay for imported manufactured goods, such as machinery, vehicles, and refined petroleum. About two-fifths of total GDP is generated from services with government, health & education the largest service subsector. The importance of agriculture for the economy extends well beyond the sector itself, with many industrial and service sectors forming parts of the AFS. Table 2 reports estimates of AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ by component of the AFS. Agriculture generated $2.6 billion in GDP and employed 4.8 million workers in 2020. Agro-processing generated a further $0.9 billion in GDP and 0.2 million jobs. Both sectors use domestic inputs, whose production created more value-added and jobs. However, the supply of inputs to farmers and processors accounts for a relatively small share of the AFS. A larger off-farm component is the trading of agriculture-related products between farmers, processors, and consumers. This created $0.8 billion in GDP and employment for 0.7 million workers, making it the second largest component of Malawi's AFS. In total, Malawi's AFS generated 46% of total GDP and 77% of employment in 2020. Table 3 breaks down the AFS into different value chains based on major product groupings. The cereals value-chain, for example, includes the on-farm cultivation of cereal crops (agriculture); the milling of cereals into flours (manufacturing); the trading and transporting of cereal products; and the preparation of meals in hotels and restaurants using raw and processed cereal inputs (food services). The cereals value-chain makes up 26% of Malawi's AFS. The last column shows the share of off-farm components (beyond the farm gate) in AFS GDP by each value chain. For example, of the GDP generated by the cereals value-chain, 36.3% comes from off-farm activities. Note: GDP is gross domestic product measured in constant 2019 US$. Off-farm GDP includes agri-food processing; trading and transport of agricultural and food products; food services; and the domestic production of inputs (see Table 2). The final column is the ratio of off-farm to total GDP generated by each value chain (column 3 divided by column 1).Cereals were the largest agricultural value chain in 2020, followed by pulses & oilseeds. Malawi's value chains typically generate most of their value-added on the farm. Livestock and export-oriented value chains have larger off-farm GDP shares, and they together account for a relatively large part of the overall AFS. Note that \"beverages and other foods\" include highly processed products whose agricultural origins are difficult to determine (e.g., baby foods and baked goods) or whose value-added is already assigned to other value chains (e.g., cereals used in the production of alcoholic beverages). As such, all the value-added for beverages and other foods is reported as occurring entirely off the farm.","tokenCount":"732"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3037281633.json b/data/part_1/3037281633.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..42302ced8509f08fddfc15ef4347f2afbafbfd22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3037281633.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"20fbf9be8fb7a90755bc3d62631a939b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8990d608-4271-4709-ba80-83ee3a5e3e74/retrieve","id":"-1776758328"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7fa7c50a-38fe-47c7-9467-34b783d7bb54","pagecount":"4","content":"In a continued e ort to empower farmers with timely and accurate farming advisories, a team from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) recently conducted a eld visit to Rayagada and Gajapati districts in Odisha from 23-26 August 2024. This visit marked a signi cant step in enhancing farmers' awareness of region-speci c digital climate advisories, while also gathering valuable feedback on the pre-seasonal and in-season guidance delivered via the ISAT platform.providing farmers with vital information that can signi cantly enhance their decision-making processes. Digital tools such as ISAT are also closely aligned with the Government of India's recently launched Digital Agriculture Mission.Initially piloted and now being scaled up in select districts of Odisha under CGIAR's Initiative on Digital Innovation and the Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM), ISAT delivers context-speci c advisories to the farmers in the local Odia language through WhatsApp groups and SMS gateways, making the information both accessible and actionable.\"Strengthening knowledge and capacity development is at the heart of our work in transforming agri-food systems,\" shared Dr Victor Afari-Sefa, Global Research Program Director for Enabling Systems Transformation at ICRISAT. \"The delivery of localized and timely climate advisories through the ISAT platform equips farmers with the tools to make informed decisions, adapt to climate challenges, and enhance productivity and resilience in their communities. \" \"Currently, more than 6,000 farmers across just two districts are bene ting from these services,\" added Dr Shalander Kumar, Cluster Leader for Markets, Institutions and Policy at ICRISAT, noting that the unique advantage lies in ISAT's ability to deliver both pre-seasonal and inseason advisories.During the four-day eld visit, the ICRISAT team held awareness programs in four blocks, Muniguda, Gunupur, R. Udayagiri, and Paralekhamundi, interacting with the farmers and garnering their interest in the digital advisory services. Dr Kishore Kumar and team collected feedback on how these advisories in uenced their decision making in planning for the season.The feedback gathered during the sessions will be instrumental in improving the advisories and the further rollout of the platform. The need for village-level training emerged as a top priority for maximizing the bene ts of climate information services. The farmers also a rmed that the pre-seasonal advisories were of immense use for better planning.\"It is clear from the interactions that there is a demand for pre-seasonal advisories, and we are committed to expanding our e orts. We are also exploring integrations with existing government programs and convergence with insurance companies to manage agricultural risks,\" said Dr M.L. Jat, Global Research Program Director for Resilient Farm and Food Systems at ICRISAT. SDGs 2,13 & 17. ","tokenCount":"430"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3060771303.json b/data/part_1/3060771303.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8c8269e712cc28dad56374c5c69bcc029b04bd74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3060771303.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1021b315f3c0aef9237073af0016f2ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ca123caa-8d3a-4d7a-98df-994672334862/retrieve","id":"1830775028"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d82a7d15-fed1-494a-83e0-b7f24fcdf8c4","pagecount":"4","content":"The International Network on Banana and Plantain (INIBAP) was established in 1984 to \"initiate, encourage, support, conduct and coordinate research aimed at improving the production of bananas and plantains, to encourage the collection and exchange of documentation and information relating to bananas and plantains and to support training for researchers and technicians from developing countries\".The INIBAP Transit Centre for Musa germplasm (ITC) was established at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven), Belgium, in 1985 with the core objectives of:• contributing to the secure, sustainable and long-term conservation of the entire Musa genepool and• maintain genetic resources and related information in the public domain and providing a service for the safe movement of Musa germplasm.The impact of the Musa International Transit Centre Bioversity International's series of Impact Assessment Briefs aims to inform readers about the major results of evaluations carried out by the centre. The Briefs summarize conclusions and methods of more formal papers published in peerreviewed journals.This brief presents the findings of a study published in 2010 that documented and assessed the performance of the ITC in terms of the conservation and distribution of Musa germplasm. It also analysed the costs of ITC operations, including possible future developments.Conservation and distribution were evaluated based on data from ITC records. The service provided by ITC was evaluated based on direct feedback from its users or clients. Fifteen key informants were interviewed using semistructured set of questions, either face to face or by phone. The sample included seven respondents from Eastern and Southern Africa, two from West Africa, five from South East Asia and the Pacific and one from the United States. Their responses were then used to develop a structured questionnaire for an on-line survey of all users of ITC services since 2000. Emails inviting users to participate in the survey were sent to 218 e-mail addresses, and a total of 63 responses were received. Information on the utilization of the germplasm by the clients was used to determine what types of impacts have been created and the possible magnitude of some of the impacts.At the time of the study in 2007, the ITC held 1212 accessions of Musa germplasm, including representatives of 19 wild species, cultivated forms with accessions belonging to 15 groups and 40 subgroups and improved varieties comprising diploids (11 accessions), triploids (25 accessions) and tetraploids (81 accessions).ITC distributes only germplasm that is free of virus and virus-like particles. In 2007, a total of 810 accessions (66.8%) were classified as virus-free. The remainder, mainly improved germplasm and cultivars with the B-genome, were classified as infected with viruses and are not available for distribution.Between 1985 and 2007 ITC distributed 8353 samples of accessions to external users in 103 countries. Each sample comprised five plantlets of a given accession. Demand for accessions has increased steadily, rising from 28 different accessions in 1985 to a peak of 307 accessions in 2006. Since ITC was established users have requested over 1000 different accessions from the collection, or more than 75% of the entire collection. On average, samples of 33% of the virus-free accessions available for distribution are distributed each year.Nearly two-thirds of requests were for cultivated forms -landraces, varieties and cultivars. Users mainly used these in trials evaluating them for traits such as resistance or tolerance of biotic stresses, agronomic characteristics and fruit quality. The traits of most interest were resistance to Black leaf streak disease (BLSD) and higher productivity.Demand for improved materials (20% of samples distributed) is high compared with the small number of accessions of improved materials at ITC. This may be because improved materials have been evaluated intensively and hence a lot is known about their agronomic traits and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.Seventeen percent of the disseminated germplasm is of wild relatives.Three-quarters of samples distributed go to people and institutes in the main banana-growing regions: Africa (27%), the Americas (25%) and Asia and the Pacific (23%). The remainder are sent to users in Europe, mainly universities and advanced research centres. The largest groups of recipients are national agricultural research institutes (40%) and advanced research institutes, including universities (29%).Informants saw ITC as central to the conservation of Musa germplasm on a global level. However, several respondents expressed their concern that the collection does not yet represent the genetic diversity of banana sufficiently and stated that it should be expanded strategically, especially with regards to wild Musa species.Users regarded as important and valuable the fact that the material is virus-indexed and is documented. They also stressed the relatively easy and cheap access provided by ITC. Many indicated that ITC was the only source available to them of germplasm supplied free of charge. This was especially important to scientists from national agricultural research institutions in developing countries.Breeding bananas is much more complicated than breeding most other crops, and very few organizations breed bananas. Consequently, most of the germplasm distributed by ITC is intended for use by farmers, and ITC is the only viable source of improved germplasm for many countries.Informants commonly evaluated germplasm from ITC for agronomic traits and distributed promising material to farmers (Figure 1). Key agronomic characteristics of interest included tolerance of biotic stress (30%) -including diseases and pests -, adaptation to specific local conditions and consumer acceptability, including processing quality (24%), yield characteristics (15%) and tolerance of abiotic stress, such as wind, cold, salinity and drought (13%). Interestingly, respondents expect tolerance of abiotic stresses to be the most important germplasm traits in future.Other key uses include morphological or molecular characterization, and applied and fundamental research.Respondents identified the banana research community and farmers as the principal beneficiaries of germplasm received from ITC. Consumers, production industries and processing industries also benefit from research being carried out with germplasm from ITC, although less directly than farmers.Determining how many people have benefited from germplasm from ITC is difficult. Some respondents mentioned only the number of farmers who directly collaborated in a project while others stated that all banana farmers in their country benefited. In total, 23 respondents from different countries gave estimates of numbers of beneficiaries, totally 76 000 farmers. However, actual numbers are likely to be much larger; for example, one study documented about 0.5 million banana farmers in Tanzania who benefited from germplasm from ITC between 1995 and 2004. \" ITC is the only viable source of improved germplasm for many countries \" Impacts Users of germplasm from ITC indicated that the principal impacts achieved through its use were increased banana yields and reduction of losses due to pests and diseases, leading to higher farm income. Nearly a quarter of survey respondents stated that the use of virus-indexed material from ITC helped to prevent the introduction of new diseases into their country or region (Figure 2).Material from ITC also contributed to advances in research, such as improved knowledge about the Musa genome and diversity and improved virus indexing and therapy methods, and capacity building. A literature search showed that the ITC taxonomical reference collection of 36 accessions featured in a large proportion of publications dealing with characterization and genomic analysis. ITC accession codes also feature extensively in banana research literature, providing an important mechanism for ensuring comparability and repeatability of research through clear germplasm identification. About 38% of the respondents said that they would not have been able to carry out their research or development project without access to germplasm from ITC. Another 22% stated that they would have faced severe difficulties in organizing research, including time delays and increased costs to find the germplasm from other sources. Only one in ten of the respondents felt that the availability of germplasm for ITC had little effect on their ability to pursue their research.About 21% of respondents noted that the diversity of banana germplasm available for breeding or for use by farmers would be much more limited without access to the ITC distribution service.Respondents identified long-term conservation of Musa diversity, dissemination of clean, disease-free germplasm and facilitation of international exchange of germplasm as ITC's most important roles and activities. In general, ITC's services and germplasm were rated equal to or superior to those of other sources.Key informants surveyed reported that a major weakness of ITC was the lack of information about the germplasm held at the centre, although this was not reported as an issue by the majority of survey respondents. The most common problem was difficulty identifying germplasm with particular characteristics. To overcome this would require documenting much more characterization and evaluation data. Considering the large number of users carrying out evaluation trials with ITC germplasm, it should be possible to develop a mechanism whereby users' evaluation data is incorporated into ITC's documentation systems, including MGIS. This would also help identify duplicate accessions and materials that have few useful characteristics and hence could be put into long-term storage only.The two most important sources of information cited by survey respondents were direct inquiries to ITC or Bioversity and personal communications. This places a high workload on ITC staff and also implies that information systems such as Musalogue, other germplasm catalogues and MGIS are less useful than expected.ITC was the most important and most recent source of germplasm for 13 out of 15 of the key informants. However, about 60% of survey respondents reported obtaining germplasm from elsewhere, mainly national or regional collections, commercial providers and tissue-culture laboratories. Some 15% of survey respondents reported an interest in germplasm that ITC could not provide. Most of this was Bgenome material that incorporates BSV. However, this material was generally also not available from other sources either.The report examines the costs of operating the ITC, and analyses a number of possible scenarios. These include the expansion of the collection from its current size of approximately 1200 accessions to 2000 accessions, reducing the number of cultures per accession maintained in medium-term storage in vitro, and substitution of medium-term conservation by cryopreservation. The results show that conservation and distribution of Musa germplasm are expensive compared with crops conserved and distributed as seed, because constant monitoring, periodical subculturing in vitro and multiplication of accessions on demand are very labour intensive. Expanding the collection and reducing the \" the principal impacts … were increased banana yields and reduction of losses due to pests and diseases, leading to higher farm income \" number of plants per accession held in vitro would reduce the annual cost per accession by about 19%, from €136 to €110. Placing materials that cannot be distributed because of being infected with BSV in cryopreservation offers potentially large savings, halving the average cost of conservation of accessions held in liquid nitrogen for 20 years.The cost analysis also shows that cryopreservation is not a cost-effective substitute for in vitro conservation of accessions that are kept for distribution. This is due to two factors: 1) preparing accessions for cryopreservation is a long process and very labour intensive, and hence is costly, and 2) regenerating in vitro plantlets from a cryopreserved accession is equally slow and costly.Overall, the respondents made lists 12 recommendations for improving ITC and its services: 1. Expand the collection, especially with respect to wild species. 2. Encourage stakeholders to share germplasm to complete the collection. 3. Establish/ support existing regional collections for easier access and back-up function. 4. Continue with cryopreservation for backing-up the whole collection. 5. Use regeneration and field verification project as starting point for further research on maintaining genetic integrity and avoid off-types. 6. Improve documentation: upgrade with characterization and evaluation data and photos. 7. Better links between ITC and MGIS, updates and userfriendliness of MGIS. 8. Encourage more systematic feedback from users about germplasm evaluation results.9. Establish regular updates on ITC activities, new germplasm or new information about germplasm available. 10. Reconsider moratorium on the distribution of BSV infested accessions; investigate trade-off between risks and benefits, probably country and case-specific. 11. Consider sets of accessions to be exclusively held in cryopreservation and eliminated from in vitro collection. 12. Invest in characterization (morphological and molecular) and evaluation in order to increase germplasm use and to allow for rationalization.The study also identified a number of research topics that would enhance future impact assessment efforts. These include:• studies of introduction of germplasm from ITC, including yield increases and control of pests and diseases and capturing information on the availability of germplasm from other sources and the costs of acquiring it;• case studies on landraces and traditional cultivars to determine the risk of their extinction, and market information on them in comparison with new varieties;• surveys of researchers citing ITC accession codes to determine the extent to which ITC germplasm facilitated their research, particularly comparability of results with previous studies; and• valuation of benefits of wild species to breeding programmes.Bioversity thanks the Belgian Government for its substantial financial support for the operation of the ITC since its inception until today. Bioversity also thanks the Global Crop Diversity Trust for its support since 2008.This brief is based on Garming H., Roux N. and Van den Houwe I. 2010. The impact of the Musa International Transit Centre: Review of its services and costeffectiveness and recommendations for rationalization of its operations. Bioversity International, Montpellier, France.Citation: Garming H., Gotor E., Cherfas J. 2011. The impact of the Musa International Transit Centre. Bioversity International Series of Impact Assessment Briefs, no. 4. Bioversity International, 4 p.For further information please contact Bioversity Impact Assessment Specialist Dr Elisabetta Gotor (e.gotor@cgiar.org)","tokenCount":"2215"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3061310012.json b/data/part_1/3061310012.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0fbc6068356ed676258a99dc9fd026ca4379a1bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3061310012.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8725afc52e619fa7c262b55e40a5a5d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2f55a439-3d57-49c4-a93b-9b314f907464/retrieve","id":"1090124907"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aed34eec-92b4-4451-8db5-a166dffd3610","pagecount":"13","content":"Climate change will have numerous impacts on crop production worldwide necessitating a broadening of the germplasm base required to source and incorporate novel traits. Major variation exists in crop progenitor species for seasonal adaptation, photosynthetic characteristics, and root system architecture. Wheat is crucial for securing future food and nutrition security and its evolutionary history and progenitor diversity offer opportunities to mine favourable functional variation in the primary gene pool.Here we provide a review of the status of characterisation of wheat progenitor variation and the potential to use this knowledge to inform the use of variation in other cereal crops. Although significant knowledge of progenitor variation has been generated, we make recommendations for further work required to systematically characterise underlying genetics and physiological mechanisms and propose steps for effective use in breeding. This will enable targeted exploitation of useful variation, supported by the growing portfolio of genomics and accelerated breeding approaches. The knowledge and approaches generated are also likely to be useful across wider crop improvement.Modern crop breeding involving targeted crossing and selection has led to the development of elite, high yielding cultivars. The genetic components of yield have been improved through constant selection for desirable traits, initially in landraces and early varieties and then through trait driven plant breeding (Fradgley et al. 2019). In wheat, the positive impact of this is exemplified by the introduction of semi-dwarfing genes contributing to large increases in yield potential during the so-called Green Revolution (Borlaug 1968). In addition to genetic improvement, agronomic potential is strongly influenced by the environment. Environmental adaptation, through direct breeding and selection, allows for optimisation of yield within the seasonal constraints of a given region (Worland and Snape 2001), control of biotic stresses including pests and diseases (either via crop management or the deployment of disease resistance genes) and targeting of abiotic response, for example to available water (Reynolds et al. 2007), applied fertiliser (Swarbreck et al. 2019) and other production-limiting stresses. The quest to optimise both genetic potential and environmental response for a range of crop production regions around the world is being enhanced by the array of genetic and bioinformatics tools now available (Adamski et al. 2020).Climate is the driver of environmental change with an impact for crop production capacity (Rosenzweig et al. 2008). Global climate change creates an urgency for the development of cultivars with enhanced resilience to environmental changes in order to secure future food security.Expanding the wheat gene pool Hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) arose through a limited number of hybridisation events between a domesticated form of the tetraploid wild emmer wheat, Triticum turgidum ssp dicoccoides (AABB) and Aegilops tauschii (DD) around 10,000 years ago (McFadden and Sears 1946;Cox 1997;Petersen et al. 2006). An intermediate, hulled hexaploid is proposed by Kerber and Rowland (1974) though this is not supported by the archaeological record (Feldman 2001). As bread wheat spread, the crop became adapted to local conditions through selection and the resulting distinct, locally adapted wheats are known as landraces (Camacho Villa et al. 2005;Jones et al. 2012). Landraces of hexaploid wheat have long been used for wheat improvement and are a reservoir of readily available diversity that can be introduced into breeding programmes with relative ease (Wingen et al. 2014). Domestication and subsequent selection have created bottlenecks, reducing genetic diversity in all cultivated wheat species derived from wild emmer wheat including pasta or durum wheat (T. turgidum ssp. durum) and bread wheat (Tanksley and McCouch 1997;Lopes et al. 2015). Some of this diversity may be reintroduced to bread wheat by interrogating progenitor species for functional variation in target traits.Tetraploid (AABB) wild emmer wheat has a modern-day range that spans the western Fertile Crescent, southeastern Turkey, and the mountainous regions of eastern Iraq and western Iran. Tetraploid wheats related to wild emmer include emmer wheat (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum), a domesticated tetraploid wheat that was widely cultivated prior to the adoption of hexaploid wheat (Salamini et al. 2002), and durum wheat which is widely cultivated, predominantly within the Mediterranean Rim (Martínez-Moreno et al. 2020). Tetraploid wheats are readily crossable with hexaploid wheat and allelic diversity from tetraploid donors or 'tetraploid derived alleles' can be introgressed via direct crossing and backcrossing (Ullah et al. 2018).The diploid progenitor species Ae. tauschii (DD) is part of the large Aegilops genus (van Slageren 1994) that includes at least 10 diploid and 12 polyploid species (Matsuoka et al. 2015). Many (up to 14; reviewed by Schneider et al. 2008) Aegilops species have been used in wheat crossing programmes although most species in the genus are challenging to introgress due to issues with chromosome pairing. This limitation does not exist with Ae. tauschii that is characterised as the specific wheat D-genome donor (Kihara 1944, McFadden andSears 1946) and it has been frequently used for introgression into hexaploid wheat because there is little inhibition of meiotic chromosome pairing between D-genome chromosomes (Kishii 2019). The distribution of Ae. tauschii centres on a region to the south of the Caspian Sea and into Azerbaijan. The species range spreads eastward, to Pakistan and western China, via the Kopet Dag Mountains of Turkmenistan, and westward, to central Syria, via the valleys of southeastern Turkey (van Slageren 1994). Although the genus and specific species have a wide geographical range, the genetic diversity of hexaploid wheat's D-genome is severely limited because of the small number of polyploidisation events that gave rise to it (Giles and Brown 2006). Collections and populations of Ae. tauschii have been used to identify useful genes for specific traits, many of which are disease-related (recently reviewed by Kishii 2019) including resistance genes for foliar pathogens and insect pests (Gaurav et al. 2021).Whilst direct hexaploid × Ae. tauschii crossing has been documented, Ae. tauschii is predominantly captured via the creation of synthetic allohexaploids made by chromosome doubling of triploid hybrids from an inter-specific AABB × DD cross (also called synthetic wheats or synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHW); Dreisigacker et al. 2008;Mujeeb-Kazi et al. 2013). These can be used to introduce diversity from either or both the tetraploid or diploid donor. Synthetic wheats have been used for breeding to increase diversity (Dreisigacker et al. 2008;Li et al. 2014a), for adaption (Li et al. 2014a), disease resistance (Ogbonnaya et al. 2008) and yield improvement (Jafarzadeh et al. 2016). The creation of octoploid (AABBDDDD) synthetics has also been reported (Chèvre et al. 1989), as have synthetic amphiploids created using introgressions with other wheat species such as Ae. crassa, Ae. cylindrica and Ae. ventricosa (Mirzaghaderi et al. 2020). These however have not typically been used for downstream breeding applications due to the complexities of ploidy, recombination and tracking introgression segments.Ancestral wheat species such as Triticum urartu (the AA genome donor of bread wheat) and members of the Aegilops tribe including Ae. speltioides (a relative of the BB genome donor) offer a wealth of diversity in agronomically important traits such as disease resistance (Rowland and Kerber 1974). Many of these species do not cross readily with bread wheat due to the presence of Ph1 genes preventing recombination between chromosomes (Sears 1977). Instead, a wheat line carrying a mutant allele of ph1 may be used to induce bread wheat and ancestor homoeologous recombination (Rey et al. 2017). The resulting lines carry large introgressions and development of high-throughput singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based marker systems designed to screen wild relative species has facilitated rapid validation and tracking of these introgressions (Przewieslik-Allen et al. 2019;King et al. 2017King et al. , 2019)). Such marker systems are likely to facilitate enhanced and targeted deployment of diversity from wild relatives in breeding programmes in the future.Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and intensity of abiotic stress events and their impacts on wheat productivity (Lopes et al. 2015). Here we review the potential for further detailed interrogation of adaptive and physiological variation in wheat's progenitor species. Work to date has focussed primarily on biotic stresses but there is evidence to support the usefulness of progenitor species for introducing targeted variation for optimising responses to changing climates. Our review demonstrates that there is a gap in the systematic characterisation of progenitor variation specifically for responses to abiotic stress including seasonal adaptation, physiological response, and root system architecture (RSA). Further understanding the genetic and physiological basis of these responses will support future targeted use of progenitor variation for mobilisation into wheat breeding.If heat or drought stress occurs during grain filling, abortion of tillers and/or lower kernel weight reduces wheat yield (reviewed by Fleury et al. 2010 andNi et al. 2018). The manipulation of flowering time can shift grain production away from risk periods, thereby providing an escape strategy. Research undertaken in both Arabidopsis and agronomically important grasses (maize, rice and wheat) over the past 20 years has revealed that floral transition is controlled by complex overlapping genetic pathways (reviewed by Cockram et al. 2007;Colasanti and Coneva 2009). Wheat is a long-day species in which floral initiation is accelerated by exposure to lengthening days. Although the underlying genetics of flowering are complex (reviewed by Hyles et al. 2020), manipulation of the major vernalisation and photoperiod response genes are widely used in wheat breeding programmes to provide adaption to agroeconomic environments (Bentley et al. 2011).Adaption in terms of phenology is a powerful tool, particularly in marginal environments. Since the 1990s, 25% of reported global wheat yield improvement has come from wheat grown in marginal environments due to breeding for wide adaption (Lantican et al. 2005). Marginal environments and the necessity to mitigate climate-based yield impacts are likely to become more prominent under a climate change scenario. Climate change is also likely to have impacts on crop production in temperate and cold regions of the world where flowering is a function of both winter cold and spring heat (Yu et al. 2010). Temperate cereals grow across a wide range of semi-arid environments but show marked reductions in productivity (Reynolds et al. 2010) and yield (Lobell and Field 2007) at high temperatures. Increased temperatures in winter may delay fulfilment of vernalisation requirement (a prolonged period of cold, non-freezing, temperatures required for subsequent competence to flower) resulting in later flowering, although increased spring temperatures could mask or offset this (Yu et al. 2010). In areas of high latitude and altitude the effect could be exacerbated, as plants in these regions are particularly sensitive to temperature cues. Vernalisation in wheat is controlled by the major Vrn-1 locus (Dubcovsky et al. 1998) with the additional Vrn-2 and Vrn-3 loci also contributing to variation (Yoshida et al. 2010). Hexaploid wheat has three homoeologous Vrn-1 loci (denoted -A1, -B1 and -D1) located on group 5 chromosomes. Dominant alleles confer a spring growth habit meaning that a cold period is not required for induction of flowering.Natural plant populations often have wide flowering time variation (Grazzani et al. 2003) and therefore progenitor species offer potential functional genetic variation for fine-tuning adaptive response. In hexaploid wheat, the photoperiod response Ppd-1 loci are a homoallelic series on group 2 chromosomes (Worland and Snape 2001;Beales et al. 2007;Bentley et al. 2011). In tetraploid (AABB) wheat Wilhelm et al. (2009) described two mutations of the Ppd-A1 gene leading to photoperiod insensitivity (PI) and early flowering. These effects have also been confirmed in hexaploid and SHW (Bentley et al. 2011). However, screening of ancestral tetraploids (T. dicoccoides (n = 122) and T. dicoccum (n = 276)) for these mutant Ppd-A1a alleles revealed no variation, suggesting that these are photoperiod sensitive species, and that insensitivity arose post-domestication, being first observed in T. durum landrace accessions as well as in collections from southern Europe (Italy, Spain, France), North Africa and North America (Bentley et al. 2011).Diversity in flowering time has been further characterised by several studies in tetraploids wheats (Nishimura et al. 2018;Wright et al. 2020;Würschum et al. 2019). Alleles of the Ppd-A1 associated with early flowering (but distinct from the Ppd-A1a alleles described by Wilhelm et al. 2009) were detected in emmer wheat by Nishimura et al. (2018) who also identified an early heading date QTL associated with Vrn-A3. This QTL was found to be a ciselement GATA box in Vrn-A3 (located on chromosome 7AS), which suppressed the late-flowering (photoperiod sensitive) Ppd-A1b allele (Nishimura et al. 2018). A QTL controlling flowering time was also reported on 7B linked to Vrn-B3 in an emmer mapping population (Wright et al. 2020). Takenaka and Kawahara (2012) identified novel loss of function alleles in tetraploid Ppd-A1 in emmer wheat that do not confer PI but may induce small variations in flowering time.Compared with work in tetraploid progenitors, little is currently known about the diversity of flowering time response in the diploid wheat progenitor Ae. tauschii. Matsouka et al. (2008) assessed natural flowering time variation in a collection of 200 accessions representing the latitudinal range (30°N-45°N) of the species. Flowering time phenotypes could be divided into early-, intermediate-and late-flowering groups that enabled detection of geographical patterns: with early-flowering lines being dominant in southern regions compared to late-flowering lines in northern regions. However, the impacts of environmental differences varied between the western and eastern parts of the species range preventing a clear attribution of genetic effects (Matsouka et al. 2008).Range expansion occurs when species adapt beyond native habitats and has been documented for Ae. tauschii associated with shifts in phenology and seed production ability (Matsuoka et al. 2015). Of the species within the Aegilops genus, Ae. tauschii is the only diploid species to have expanded its range east and Matsuoka et al. (2015) suggest that early flowering at least partially explains range expansion into Asia. Further work by Koyama et al. (2018) used a F 2 -based QTL mapping approach to determine genetic differences between photoperiod sensitive and insensitive lines. This allowed for mapping of a QTL locus on 5DL for heading under short days, proximal to the Vrn-D1 locus, along with three QTLs (one on 4D, two on 7D) for flowering under field conditions. Quantitative variation for vernalisation was also observed in Ae. tauschii accessions (Koyama et al. 2018). Golovnina et al. (2010) identified spring variants of Ae. tauschii including a recessive Vrn-D1 allele. Vernalisation-insensitive accessions of the species have been previously described in germplasm originating from Pakistan and Afghanistan (Tanaka and Yamashita 1957;Tsunewaki 1966) but there is little evidence for the use of derived alleles in breeding. Takumi et al. (2011) used 211 accessions collected across the Ae. tauschii habitat range to assess flowering in the absence of vernalisation. Sequencing of the Vrn-D1 locus and haplotype analysis revealed distinct variation in Ae. tauschii, including a large deletion leading to a loss of vernalisation requirement (Takumi et al. 2011). The authors however conclude that this deletion is discreet from mutations in Vrn-D1 dominant alleles in hexaploid wheat, indicating that the loss of vernalisation requirement in the progenitor and domesticated forms of wheat occurred separately, but followed a similar mutational event (Takumi et al. 2011). Understanding the vernalisation response and the interactions between Vrn-1 and other genes (e.g., the floral repressors Vrn-2), particularly at high temperatures will be important for future resilience breeding. Dixon et al. (2019) demonstrate that diverse material can provide variants of many of these genes and that understanding their interactions can potentially facilitate their use for incorporating resilience to temperature fluctuations. Overall, although significant variation has been reported for adaptive response in wheat progenitor species, gaps exist in deployment into breeding. We propose that this is due to two main factors: the lack of resolution available for genetic trait dissection in wild progenitors and the confounding effects of genotype × environment. Many of the alleles or QTLs described from progenitor species to date have not been genetically resolved and many co-locate in forward genetic studies. The availability of sequenced progenitor collections (e.g., Gaurav et al. 2021) is likely to improve the resolution of novel alleles from progenitors, thereby enabling their rapid extraction and validation. This will also likely address the other current limitation in separating the confounding effects of environment and masking effects of interacting loci. Overlapping flowering time pathways introduce functional redundancy, particularly in hexaploid wheat, and they are influenced by multiple environmental factors. Therefore, the priority requirement for extraction of useful functional adaptive trait variation from progenitors is rapid and accurate assaying, extraction and validation of variants to enable quantification of phenotypic effects independent of genetic background and environmental effects.Cultivars bred for high yield potential under optimal conditions typically maintain performance in moderately stressful environments (Richards et al. 2002;Foulkes and Reynolds 2015;Voss-Fels et al. 2019). The yield potential of a crop can be simplified to a function of light interception (LI), harvest index (HI) and radiation use efficiency (RUE, Reynolds et al. 2009). Progression in crop breeding has brought HI and LI close to theoretical maximum (Long et al. 2006) indicating that selection for improved RUE may be the most rewarding opportunity for breeders to increase yield potential. RUE is effectively the slope of correlation between dry matter content at harvest and total intercepted radiation (Murchie et al. 2009). Optimising RUE is key to utilising available resources when breeding for variable or resource-limited environments. Thus, enhancing crop canopy photosynthesis is an important breeding target and progenitor species may offer novel physiological variation that can be exploited in breeding.Crop photosynthesis is a complex process, consisting of dynamic networks from the molecular to canopy level (Fig. 1). When considering CO 2 assimilation expressed on a standardised leaf area basis (A), there are numerous morphological and biochemical traits underpinning performance. Past experiments have highlighted that wheat progenitors harbour higher A than hexaploid wheat cultivars (Evans and Dunstone 1970;Austin et al. 1982). Since domestication, due to selection programmes for other agronomic traits, there has been limited historic selection pressure from breeders on leaf photosynthetic capacity (Driever et al. 2014). If progenitor diversity can be captured to target a single aspect of the process of photosynthesis giving a moderate increase in flag leaf A of modern wheat then, as the canopy carbon fixation is an integrated process multiplied over the entire growing season there could be consequential overall improvements in RUE and yield (Parry et al. 2011). To harness diversity from wild relatives, components driving high A need to be identified to facilitate their use in targeted genetic dissection, direct use in pre-breeding and future application in wheat breeding using marker-and phenotypic-based screening methods.The determinants of A (Fig. 1), and thus potential targets for improvement, include components that govern the rate of delivery of CO 2 to the sites of carboxylation; the availability of products from photochemical reactions; and downstream enzyme-regulated mechanisms of the Calvin-Benson cycle. Within these components, superior characteristics found in progenitors can be targeted to improve either photosynthetic productivity or tolerance under environmental stress in modern cultivars (e.g., Merchuk-Ovnat et al. 2016a, b).The delivery of CO 2 to the sites of carboxylation is governed by several diffusive boundaries, particularly those imposed by the leaf stomata. When stomata are closed, water loss is minimal, but the closed pores act as the sole limitation to carbon fixation (Farquhar et al. 1982). Therefore, there is a fundamental trade-off between the flux of CO 2 entering the leaf and flux of H 2 O exiting (Lawson and Blatt 2014). The proportion of CO 2 gained in relation to H 2 O transpired is termed instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE) (Farquhar and Richards 1984). Wheat progenitors have been shown to maintain higher instantaneous WUE in drought-prone conditions compared to hexaploid wheat (Li et al. 2017). Furthermore, Merchuk-Ovnat et al. (2016a) found that introgressions from T. dicocciodes into hexaploid wheat were linked to greater grain yield under drought. Plants originating from drier climates, such as wild relatives, would require increased hydraulic supply to the leaves to maintain photosynthesis under increased evaporative loss (Scoffoni et al. 2016). Austin et al. (1982) found higher stomatal and vein densities in tetraploid wheat flag leaves compared to hexaploid varieties, which could reflect a strategy for maintaining A in drought-prone environments. An alternative strategy could aim to reduce stomal density to minimise water loss and improve drought tolerance (Hughes et al. 2017). As variation in leaf stomatal density and size has been observed across wheat ploidy levels (Dunstone et al. 1973;Khazaei et al. 2009), wild relatives could be a genetic reserve for optimising the balance between CO 2 and water loss depending on the targeted breeding environment.In rice, a distinct group of landraces known as aus-type rice (McNally et al. 2009) evolved and were cultivated under environmental stress conditions in India and Bangladesh. Austype rice has been shown to be a valuable source of novel diversity; varieties developed from this material have been shown to be highly tolerant of drought (Henry et al. 2011) and heat stress (Li et al. 2015). A range of physiologies underpins such adaptation including increased rooting depth and lateral root formation resulting in increased water uptake, thus reduced canopy temperature prevented stomatal closure and prolonged photosynthetic activity in the drought-tolerant rice lines (Henry et al. 2011). In combination, heat and drought stress have a negative additive effect on many aspects of wheat plant physiology (reviewed by Tricker et al. 2018), and identifying a suite of tolerance traits pertaining to a fine balance of gas exchange, WUE and assimilation from wild relatives is a breeding target in order to maintain yield under combined stresses.Another diffusive boundary that acts as a limitation to A is the diffusion of CO 2 across the mesophyll (g m , Fig. 1). This boundary is governed by mesophyll anatomical or biochemical features (Evans et al. 2009;Flexas et al. 2012). There has been limited investigation of how g m varies across wheat ploidy levels. The grasses are generally considered to have comparatively high g m (Flexas et al. 2012), which may have decreased through the domestication process, as negative correlations have been observed with g m and potentially desirable traits such as leaf mass area (Gu et al. 2012). Mesophyll cell size is thought to have increased across wheat ploidy, with ancestral species possessing smaller cells (Dunstone and Evans 1974;Wilson et al. 2021). Smaller mesophyll cells may facilitate higher g m due to an increased surface area for gas exchange (Lundgren and Fleming 2020). Further work is required to establish if the comparatively high rates of A found within progenitor species are driven by higher g m .Improved photochemistry is another trait targeted for improvement (Fig. 1). In a large wheat wild relative comparison using 41 species, McAusland et al. (2020) identified accessions that outperformed modern varieties in traits linked to photochemistry, including T. dicoccoides and lines from the Amblyopyrum and Aegilops genera that demonstrated high Photosystem II (PSII) operating efficiency or electron transport. They hypothesised that high rates of maximum electron transport and carboxylation resulted in high photosynthetic capacity in some wild relative accessions. An introgression from wild emmer into bread wheat has also been linked to improved electron transport rate during booting (Merchuk-Ovnat et al. 2016b). Under high light intensity, Fig. 1 A schematic showing key targets for photosynthetic improvement where diversity from wild relatives could be utilised to increase productivity or stress tolerance in modern wheat. The flag leaf cross-section highlights important traits underpinning CO 2 assimilation on a standardised leaf area basis. When considering photosynthesis on a plant or canopy basis, other targets for improvement include organ size, ear photosynthesis and CO 2 assimilation across the whole canopy.not all captured energy is utilised in photochemistry and plants have developed mechanisms for dissipating possibly detrimental excess energy through photoprotection (Demmig-Adams and Adams 1992). This protection process is termed nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). When the leaf is returned to lower light intensities, the time required for the relaxation of NPQ is a limit to crop productivity (Kromdijk et al. 2016). Improved RUE and photosynthetic efficiency have been achieved through manipulation of the NPQ process through genetic engineering (see: Kromdijk et al. 2016;Hubbart et al. 2018). However, while there has been promising diversity observed in NPQ kinetics in diverse relatives of wheat (McAusland et al. 2020), the degree to which natural variation could be exploited from wild ancestors still needs to be determined.The determinants, and limitations, imposed at the sites of carboxylation relate to the enzyme-regulated mechanisms of the Calvin-Benson cycle (Fig. 1). Johnson et al. (1987) concluded that a higher capacity for mesophyll photosynthesis may be linked to variation in CO 2 assimilation across wheat ploidy. Demand for CO 2 is restricted by the carboxylation and oxygenation activities of the enzyme Rubisco (Farquhar et al. 1980), the capacity and efficiency of this enzyme is a major bottleneck in raising wheat yields (Parry et al. 2011). Prins et al. (2016) demonstrated the superior Rubisco catalytic properties of several wheat genotypes (including progenitors) compared to the modern wheat variety Cadenza when assessed across different temperatures. Scafaro et al. (2012) found a wild relative of rice maintained a higher activation state of Rubisco under higher temperatures compared to domesticated rice, which was linked to the high heat tolerance of the wild relative. Progenitors of wheat, originating from warmer climates, may also possess superior Rubisco kinetics, which could be utilised in breeding for marginal environments; this requires further systematic characterisation. Rubisco is also responsible for catalysing the oxygenation of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate. Photorespiration is the energetically expensive process of converting the by-products of the oxygenation reaction and is a significant constraint on wheat productivity (Long et al. 2006;Parry et al. 2011).In tobacco, South et al. (2019) showed that genetic engineering of pathways linked to photorespiration produced promising improvements to biomass production and photosynthetic efficiency. Yield penalties linked to photorespiration may lesson under future predicted climates but will still remain important (Walker et al. 2016). While the most promising gains in improving photorespiration losses may be through genetic engineering routes, targeting superior Rubisco characteristics from relatives could hold promise, such as selection for the Rubisco specificity factor that may be higher in plants from drier environments (Galmés et al. 2005). Natural sources of variation in Rubisco kinetics (e.g., Prins et al. 2016) may be a more readily available tool for breeders to utilise in ongoing selection programmes compared to genetic engineering routes.Targeting photosynthetic improvement should also be considered on both a leaf and canopy basis (Fig. 1). When considering CO 2 capture on a per leaf basis, the total organ surface area and thickness are key components. The smaller leaf area typical of progenitor species (Evans and Dunstone 1970) may have more concentrated photosynthetic capacity (Long et al. 2006). McAusland et al. (2020) found that the thicker and narrower leaves found in wild relatives underpinned a higher maximum carboxylation rate, which was also supported by the observed negative relationship between specific leaf area and photosynthetic capacity. Furthermore, leaf surface area and A are typically negatively correlated (Evans and Dunstone 1970;Austin et al. 1982) and a major challenge in utilising photosynthetic diversity from wild relatives will be transferring high A found in progenitor lines into a larger flag leaf typical of modern wheat. This could be addressed by using existing pre-breeding material (derived from progenitors) to screen for genotypes that show a deviation from the negative correlation between leaf area and A. As a first step, segregating pre-breeding material could be used to extract extreme individuals based on leaf area and used either for reciprocal recurrent selection or for bulk segregant analysis to move forwards the genetic understanding of the link between A and leaf area. Long et al. (2006) outlined that the efficiency of the canopy to intercept light is controlled by canopy characteristics linked to size, architecture, longevity, speed of development and closure. Successful breeding efforts across recent decades have limited opportunities for improvements in canopy LI efficiency (Zhu et al. 2010). Furthermore, canopy architecture has been optimised through domestication (Li et al. 2014b), suggesting wild ancestors may not be a useful source of variation. Canopy conditions are very heterogeneous, particularly in terms of light distribution (Horton 2000). A crop canopy that responds quickly to these changes will be more efficient in maximising resource capture (Taylor and Long 2017). Fast photosynthetic and photoprotection induction has been observed in wild rice accessions (Acevedo-Siaca et al. 2021) and in wild wheat relatives (McAusland et al. 2020), respectively. Incorporating these faster light transition responses into modern wheat could be an objective for improving resource capture. Targeting earlier photosynthetic improvement before canopy closure is another potential route for improvement, as pre-anthesis photosynthesis is known to correlate with grain yield (Gaju et al. 2016;Carmo-Silva et al. 2017). Gaju et al. (2016) found at a pre-anthesis growth stage (during the onset of stem extension) a synthetic-derived hexaploid genotype maintained higher A than its recurrent hexaploid parent.Taken together, there is good evidence to support the need for further characterisation of the component traits underpinning photosynthesis in wheat progenitors. Although much of the trait variation described is likely to be quantitatively controlled, there is an opportunity to identify specific progenitor accessions for direct use as donors in physiological pre-breeding. In addition, the development of protocols and tools for rapid screening of these physiological traits will enhance future genetic dissection. At present most methods require detailed experimentation and specialist equipment so the development of predictive phenotyping tools also offers promise to enable accurate forward genetic studies to discover trait-linked markers, and the selection of favourable variants in marker-assisted breeding. This is likely to yield significant benefits for breeding offering new potential to transfer higher WUE for drought tolerance or increased A from progenitor species.Another strand of potential variation for further investigation towards application is the photosynthetic potential of reproductive tissues in progenitor species (Fig. 1). Ear photosynthesis is heritable, varies across different wheat genotypes and is an important determinant of grain yield (Molero and Reynolds 2020), highlighting the importance of ear photosynthesis as a breeding target. Li et al. (2017) found that ears of T. dicoccoides maintained higher CO 2 assimilation during grain-filling when compared to hexaploid wheat, along with higher WUE under drought stress. Progenitor wheat species, particularly tetraploids, typically have a larger awn surface area than hexaploid wheat (Blum 1985). As a photosynthetic organ, awns have been reported to have high instantaneous WUE (Blum 1985;Weyhrich et al. 1995) potentially explaining why in a drought-prone environment, the presence of awns is reported to be beneficial to grain yield (Evans et al. 1972). Other components of the ear may also harbour useful stress tolerance characteristics, Araus et al. (1993) found that WUE was 33% higher in the ear bracts compared to the leaf blade using carbon isotope analysis, linking the higher efficiency to a lower g s and the xeromorphic features of the ear bracts (glumes, paleas and lemnas). Under heat stress, positive correlations have been observed between grain yield and the contribution of ear photosynthesis to grain yield (Molero and Reynolds 2020). Progenitors originating from drier and hotter environments may possess strategies, such as high ear CO 2 fixation linked to the preservation of photosynthesis under unfavourable conditions and these could become increasingly useful for adapting modern wheat to more marginal environments.Although little data exist on the quantitative differences in ear photosynthesis in wheat progenitors, and their relative contributions under stress, further work is warranted. As breeders seek to incorporate additional diversity into their programmes, the selection of progenitor donors with high ear CO 2 fixation could be prioritised. Further evidence is required to confirm the consistency of photosynthetic contributions from the presence of awns. If consistently higher photosynthetic capacity can be demonstrated without reducing photosynthetic activity in other parts of the plant, then this trait can be readily incorporated as a breeding target due to the additional benefit and ease of phenotypic and genotypic selection. In many regions, awned wheat varieties predominate making it likely this benefit is already present and fixed, but it could also be applied where awned varieties are not widespread, and/or to prioritise selections within segregating pre-breeding material derived from progenitors.RSA plays a pivotal role in drought tolerance and nutrient acquisition and enhancing root systems is a target for improving climate resilience (recently reviewed by Ober et al. 2021). Deeper roots can extract more water from subsoils, particularly during late developmental stages and grain fill, thereby improving yield in water limiting environments (Manschadi et al. 2010). However, the characterisation of mature RSA in wheat can be time consuming making it difficult to use as a selection target in breeding (Richard et al. 2015). Techniques that use early rooting traits (seminal root angle and seminal root number, e.g., the clear pot system developed by Richard et al. 2015) or root crowns extracted from the field at maturity (e.g., using the shovelomics method adapted from maize (Trachsel et al. 2011)) can be used to infer wheat RSA (Fradgley et al. 2020). A 'pasta strainer' technique described by El Hassouni et al. (2018) allows characterisation of the mature root system when grown within a perforated basket submerged in the field. All these tools allow RSA of genotypes to be characterised into wide or narrow/deep rooting types.Wheat progenitor species may be used to augment the diversity in RSA that exists in the bread wheat gene pool. Tetraploid wheats have been shown to offer RSA diversity; using recombinant inbred lines of durum × wild emmer, QTLs for drought resistance and related traits were mapped (Peleg et al. 2009). Marker-assisted selection (MAS) enabled the QTL regions to be introgressed into both durum and hexaploid wheat (Merchuk-Ovnat et al. 2016a;b). This produced one hexaploid wheat isogenic line with introgression of a QTL from chromosome 7A of the wild emmer donor showing greater productivity (biomass, flag leaf area and grain yield) and photosynthetic capacity than the recurrent parent when grown under water limiting conditions. RSA was found to differ in this line, with greater development of deep roots and associated root tips whilst under drought stress (Merchuk-Ovnat et al. 2016a). This RSA enhanced the plant's ability to access water at a greater soil depth and conferred greater drought tolerance as subsoil water levels are generally more stable than those in the upper layers of the soil. Iannucci et al. (2017) identified 17 QTLs relating to root and shoot morphology in a durum × emmer wheat population, three of which were previously undescribed (two for the number of root tips and one for rooting depth). Root morphology QTL cosegregated with the height reducing Rht-B1 gene on chromosome 4B, indicating these alleles are involved in the control of both root and shoot traits, with tall plants having longer and larger root systems in this population. However, Christopher et al. (2013) found no co-segregation of root traits with dwarfing genes and most studies agree that root and shoot development are under the control of different sets of loci (Iannucci et al. 2017). QTL clusters for root morphology traits have also been reported to coincide with those for thousand grain weight and yield (Maccaferri et al. 2008;Iannucci et al. 2017) but further work is required to resolve these interactions. El Hassouni et al. (2018) found that in trials with low water availability, durum accessions with deep roots achieved a 37-38% yield increase but suffered a 20-40% yield penalty in irrigated environments.Previous work has shown yield and biomass increases in synthetic-derived wheat lines can be attributed to a greater proportion of deep roots (Reynolds et al. 2007). Becker et al. (2016) also demonstrated that increased rooting depth and fine root mass allowed for the maintenance of plant growth under drought stress in two synthetic wheat lines, thus maintaining yields. However, a third synthetic line lacked deep roots but tolerated drought stress through increased stomatal density and reduced stomatal aperture (Becker et al. 2016). Recently Liu et al. (2020) detected eight QTL associated with drought tolerance in a SHW × commercial wheat F 2 population with most of the positive alleles attributable to the Ae. tauschii (four QTLs) or tetraploid (durum; two QTLs) components of the synthetic. Ober et al. (2021) reviewed the range of wheat trait variation reported in wheat as well as summarised available evidence linking deeper roots to access to soil moisture.Understanding the RSA diversity available in the wheat gene pool will allow the selection of targeted root types to suit environmental conditions such as drought or waterlogging, and nutrient availability. This remains a medium-to long-term breeding objective as there is still relatively little known about the heritability, environmental and management independence of RSA in elite cultivars (Fradgley et al. 2020). As highlighted by Ober et al. (2021) many upstream research questions remain including the mechanisms by which architectural traits impact water and nutrient acquisition. In addition, there remains a gap in understanding the linkage and direction of interactions between root and agronomic/crop production traits, and their environmental dependencies. Progenitor species typically have a wide ecogeographical adaption range, and it is proposed that this is likely to confer functional RSA variation. Whilst surveying large collections of progenitors for RSA variation is possible, more rapid progress is likely through the identification of pre-breeding material (capturing progenitor variation) with contrasting root types and comprehensive analysis of the linkages between trait variation and root functions. As for photosynthetic traits, highthroughput screening methods that can be scaled and applied for forward genetic screens and MAS are likely to accelerate progress in exploiting progenitor variation for RSA.Major and minor crops worldwide are likely to face both new limitations and opportunities for maintaining and increasing productivity due to changing climates. The identification of useful variation as described for wheat progenitor species and the successful application of approaches to mobilise it into cultivated wheat can serve as an exemplar for other crops. In addition to supporting productivity, this will also incentivise the search for useful variation in their progenitors and wild relatives. Exploration of progenitors or crop wild relatives has already begun in a variety of crop species (e.g., legumes (Porch et al. 2013;Coyne et al. 2020) apples (Volk et al. 2015) and numerous others (reviewed in (Hajjar and Hodgkin 2007;Dempewolf et al. 2017)) to identify genomic regions linked to phenotypes of interest for both biotic and abiotic stresses. For major cereals such as rice and barley, there are already examples of the successful introgression of traits to climate change adaptions such as drought tolerance (Talame et al. 2004;Zhang et al. 2006) and flowering traits (Ishimaru et al. 2010;Wiegmann et al. 2019). For minor cereal grain crops there are few confirmed examples to date, e.g., sorghum (reviewed in (Ananda et al. 2020)), pearl millet (reviewed in (Sharma et al. 2020)), finger millet (blast resistance (Akech et al. 2016)), oats (reviewed in (Ociepa 2019)) and rye (plant height and yield (Falke et al. 2009)), indicating that allocating resources to the exploration of diversity within progenitors and wild relatives would reveal further useful adaptations that could improve the resilience of these crops to changing climates. Examples of monocot crops, their progenitor species and breeding priorities linked to changing climates are shown in Table 1.Opportunities also exist to transfer desirable characteristics from minor to major cereal grain crops. An avenue that holds much promise, along with numerous technical challenges, is the incorporation of the C 4 photosynthetic pathway, a characteristic of a C 4 crop (e.g., sorghum or millet), into a C 3 crop (e.g., rice or wheat). The C 4 pathway utilises a carbon concentrating mechanism to diminish photorespiration, a process that takes place at the sites of carboxylation that limits productivity in C 3 crops. The C 4 pathway evolved due to increased abiotic stress, including heat and drought, which are conditions that can enhance photorespiration (Sage 2004). There is scope for breeding photosynthetic improvements within C 4 crop species (von Caemmerer and Furbank 2016). However, major cereal crops are still cultivated in climates that favour photorespiration, meaning the enhanced water and nitrogen use efficiency characteristics of the C 4 pathway is an attractive breeding target for C 3 crops (Mitchell and Sheehy 2006). Climate change could exacerbate this need further, which has contributed to a concerted effort to incorporate the C 4 pathway into C 3 crops, in particular rice (e.g., www.c4rice.com). Challenges still need to be overcome before these improvements are available to the breeding community and C 3 wild progenitors may provide a more accessible source of improvement for major C 3 crops.Whilst traditional breeding approaches have been successfully used to cross cultivated materials with their wild relatives to introduce traits of interest, the success rate varies between species and becomes increasingly difficult with more distantly related species. There also remain barriers to using genomics-based advances to accelerate the uptake of novel alleles. Linkage drag is traditionally one of the major barriers to incorporating diversity from progenitors. Here, unwanted genes are introgressed simultaneously with a targeted region from a donor into the desired background. Backcross breeding is typically used to increase the recurrent parent (background) genotype and reduce unwanted genes. This strategy can be complemented by MAS, allowing the selection of a specific trait based on a linked genetic marker. MAS can be employed to facilitate more accurate introgression from a progenitor donor and reduce linkage drag from a wild background (Tanksley et al. 1989). This has been used successfully to make introgressions from several wild relatives into domesticated wheat (Nevo and Chen 2010;Merchuk-Ovnat et al. 2016a;King et al. 2017). Beyond linkage drag, other factors can pose issues to capturing wild diversity. The merging of genomes across wheat species can lead to intergenomic gene suppression (Feldman and Levy 2012). This phenomenon leads to the silencing of homoeologous genes and is reported to be common in hexaploid bread wheat (Bottley et al. 2006). This poses a potential problem for utilising newly synthesised wheats in pre-breeding programmes. However, the establishment of homoeologs does not necessarily result in functional silencing or suppression through dominance; phenotypes can be influenced by an additive dosage effect or complex interactions linked to the homoeologs (Borrill et al. 2015). Another potential roadblock is the genomic instability and radical changes which can occur because of allopolyploidization (Kraitshtein et al. 2010). However, there is evidence to suggest the severity of these changes may be of little consequence to the overall development of the plant (Zhao et al. 2011). Recent advancements in next-generation sequencing provide an opportunity for increasing our understanding of the functional genomics that underpin relationships across homoeologs (reviewed in Borrill et al. 2015). These tools could contribute to providing an improved understanding of the functional genetics of newly formed pre-breeding resources such as synthetic wheats incorporating progenitor diversity.Advancements in sequencing technologies have facilitated the discovery of large numbers of DNA markers in crop species. In wheat (Winfield et al. 2012), this has led to the development of numerous platforms (Adamski et al. 2020) that have aided the application of QTL mapping and have enhanced the accessibility of diversity in progenitors and related species (Winfield et al. 2016(Winfield et al. , 2018;;Wingen et al. 2017). SNPs are very effective markers in high-throughput genotyping due to their abundance across the wheat genome (Rimbert et al. 2018). Specific platforms have been developed to characterise wheat progenitors and wild relatives, including the Axiom ® HD Wheat Genotyping Array (Winfield et al. 2016) and the Axiom ® Wheat-Relative Genotyping Array (Przewieslik- Allen et al. 2019) in addition to arrays developed for elite varieties (e.g., Axiom ® Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array; Allen et al. 2017). The wheatrelative array has been used to aid the introgression of the diploid wheat-relative Ambylopyrum muticum into a hexaploid wheat background through MAS (King et al. 2017). Furthermore, the Wheat Breeders' array has been used in several studies for identifying QTLs in tetraploid wheat (Lucas et al. 2017;Wright et al. 2020). Low-cost genotyping platforms designed to demonstrate potential genetic variability between progenitor species and elite varieties are a tool of growing importance in exploring and harnessing diversity and have been deployed in many crops such as barley (Bayer et al. 2017), rice (Chen et al. 2013) and maize (Xu et al. 2017).The availability of sequenced genomes from crop species, for example, the annotated reference genome assembly of the wheat cultivar Chinese Spring (International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium et al. 2018) augmented by the multiple genome assembly of Walkowiak et al. (2020) improve our understanding of the size and context of targeted introgressions through knowledge of the physical chromosome location of markers used for selection. In addition, the resources can improve our understanding of synteny with ancestral genomes (Grewal et al. 2018). Introgression fragments can be queried to identify the genes and any potentially favourable alleles present (Cheng et al. 2019). Due to the reducing expense of sequencing technologies (Jia et al. 2018), the number of cultivars sequenced is increasing, including many important elite wheat varieties (e.g., the 10+ genomes project: www.10wheatgenomes. com; Montenegro et al. 2017;Walkowiak al. 2020). Increasing the number of modern wheat varieties sequenced, or genotyped through high-density marker arrays, will help characterise the haplotype diversity within the modern wheat gene pool. Haplotypes present in low diversity may reflect regions that have been under past selection (Fradgley et al. 2019) or where variation has been lost due to the domestication bottleneck (Haudry et al. 2007). Regardless, using this knowledge, targeted comparisons can then be made with extended progenitor gene pools to capture novel haplotypes (Uauy 2017). This comparison is being accelerated in wheat by the availability of increasing numbers of progenitors sequenced, including Ae. tauschii (Luo et al. 2017), T. urartu (Ling et al. 2013), T. dicoccoides (Avni et al. 2017) and T. durum (Maccaferri et al. 2019). A recent study by Cheng et al. (2019) compared re-sequenced genome data from a mixture of cultivated and progenitor wheat accessions, flagging regions of past introgression and identifying haplotype blocks that are nearly completely fixed in cultivated varieties. These regions of low diversity highlight the potential for identifying regions to target for improving genetic diversity from progenitor species.In addition to the characterisation of haplotype diversity, enhanced sequencing resources will also support genetic mapping, cloning and functional characterisation from progenitor species. Kishii (2019) summarised the progress in generating genetic and physical mapping resources for Ae. tauschii documenting the progression from the early use of restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping in Ae. tauschii mapping populations (Gill et al. 1991) through to single sequence repeat genotyping (Nishijima et al. 2018). This supported the production of a 10 K Ae. tauschii Infinium SNP array by Luo et al. (2013) and the draft sequence of Ae. tauschii (Luo et al. 2017). The availability of reference genomes supports the use of data-driven approaches to selections, including linking phenotype to gene expression as demonstrated by Gálvez et al. (2019) for drought tolerance. This highlights the potential impact of understanding gene networks underpinning traits, and how genomics may identify novel breeding targets (Gálvez et al. 2019).Resources supporting reverse genetics have also been developed in progenitor species with Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes populations available in the wheat tetraploid (durum wheat Kronos; Krasileva et al. 2017) and diploid species (Ae. tauschii; Rawat et al. 2018), as well as being available for hexaploid wheat (cultivar Cadenza; Krasileva et al. 2017). A wheat exome capture was developed to focus sequencing efforts on exons, thereby reducing sequencing costs (Winfield et al. 2012). Along with genome sequences, these provide a useful resource for allele mining and gene discovery and could be used in future to support gene identification and cloning directly from the progenitor species. Direct cloning of favourable genes from progenitor species has been demonstrated using a combination of association genetics and resistance gene enrichment and sequencing (AgRenSeq; Arora et al. 2019). This method has been used to both discover and clone functional stem rust resistance genes in a panel of diverse Ae. tauschii accessions (Arora et al. 2019). Molecular breeding technologies provide the potential to directly introduce useful variation discovered in one crop into another, either by the introduction of the gene via genetic transformation or gene editing to introduce variation within homoeologous genes. The efficiency of the approaches discussed in this review remains to be seen for different genes and crops and can be impacted by the genetic background of particular varieties, but identifying a set of variants that already exist in nature and that can be used to introduce variation within genes of interest is an exciting prospect for the future.There is a wealth of variation present in crop progenitor species for traits of relevance to plant breeding including flowering time, physiological response and RSA. Although initial characterisation demonstrates that functional variation exists, there remains a significant opportunity to systematically characterise this variation in order to make it accessible for use in breeding. In particular, more work is required to fully understand the genetic and physiological basis of progenitor trait variation in order to accurately inform future breeding strategies. The growing availability of sequencing and genomics tools offers great potential for targeted and accelerated progress in the systematic use of functional progenitor variation. The advances in use of wheat progenitors and the techniques developed for the capture of novel diversity may be applicable for the improvement of other cereal crop species.","tokenCount":"8128"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3061457526.json b/data/part_1/3061457526.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e9eda3a28804deb45b4b1ca5cf033b450a6df39e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3061457526.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"391ef6f277e3b56428ee49cb3ed144e0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6bc2b735-ef0d-4bb3-a6ca-2c26e2b93a7b/retrieve","id":"1227716036"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c793bec-42f5-4b01-b777-ecc300529012","pagecount":"1","content":"Se realizó la extracción de ADN de 693 accesiones de Manihot (Qiagen® DNeasy® Plant Mini Kit), entre los que se incluyen muestras de yuca tipo silvestres, criollas y plantas voluntarias, colectadas en diferentes regiones de Colombia; así como muestras control de especies silvestres y clones cultivados de Colombia y otros países, depositados en la Unidad de Recursos Fitogenéticos del CIAT (Figura 1). La amplificación de los 10 SSRs en las muestras se visualizó mediante tinción en plata de geles de poliacrilamida al 6%. Los datos obtenidos fueron sometidos a un Análisis de Correspondencia Múltiple (ACM) en el programa SAS (SAS Institute Inc.) Tabla 1. Marcadores seleccionados para el estudio de diversidad. Estos marcadores fueron desarrollados por Mba et al. (2001) y López et al. (2007).Los marcadores escogidos fueron altamente polimórficos para la amplificación de las muestras de yuca evaluadas (Figura 2). La heterocigocidad esperada estuvo entre 82% y 92%.El ACM reunió los genotipos de yuca en cuatro grupos. La especie sugerida M. tristis colectada en Vichada se agrupa en el primer grupo. Estos resultados sugieren la presencia de polimorfismos derivados del aislamiento geográfico y se necesita la apreciación e identificación de un taxónomo especializado en el género. Este estudio se observó un altoLa yuca es una especie alógama y presenta cruzamientos con las diferentes especies de Manihot. Débido a la reciente evolución del grupo, este género presenta barreras genéticas ó fisiológicas débiles para prevenir cruzamientos. Mediante cruzamientos naturales se producen plantas voluntarias provenientes de semilla botánica que pueden aumentar la diversidad del cultivo (Pujol et al., 2005). De igual forma, mediante cruzamientos artificiales, es posible obtener híbridos interespecíficos entre la yuca cultivada (M. esculenta Crantz) y algunas especies silvestres (M. pseudoglaziovii, M. neusana, M. dichotoma y M. caerulescens) con fines de mejoramiento (Nassar, 2003). En este estudio se busca identificar marcadores moleculares tipo SSRs y SNPs que permitan evaluar la diversidad de las variedades criollas de yuca y las formas silvestres de Manihot presentes en Colombia, (M. brachyloba, M. carthagenensis, y M. tristis). Se busca además determinar la presencia de alelos específicos con potencial para identificar especies de Manihot. Este conocimiento es útil en la evaluación y el seguimiento del riesgo potencial del flujo de genes desde yuca mejorada, hacia parientes silvestres, cultivares nativos o plantas voluntarias, en centros de origen y diversidad de la yuca. grado de similaridad entre las especies M. tristis, M. esculenta y M. esculenta subsp. flabellifolia y M. esculenta subsp. peruviana; lo cual indica que estas tres formas silvestres de Manihot son las más relacionadas a la especie cultivada (Olsen y Schall, 1999;Roa et al., 2000).Las muestras de la especie M. esculenta se encuentran agrupados en los grupos 2, el cual sugiere una alta diversidad de yucas cultivares y especies criollas en Colombia respectivamente.Los alelos reportados para las poblaciones de yuca silvestre M. carthagenensis (Grupo 4) y M. brachyloba (Grupo2), permiten confirmar la identidad genética de cada especie dentro del género Manihot y demuestran su separación evolutiva con la yuca cultivada. Las muestras de la especie M. brachyloba fueron colectadas en los departamentos de Antioquia, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Meta y Casanaré donde se evidencian diferentes ecosistemas, mostrando una amplia adaptación de la especie.El cebador CAR-1 de tipo SNP permite diferenciar la especie M. carthaginensis de las especies de Manihot evaluadas; así mismo, el cebador GLA-1 diseñado sobre una deleción de 19 pares de bases en el genoma del cloroplasto, permite amplificar específicamente las accesiones de M. glaziovii.Los marcadores SSR utilizados permitieron la identificación de alelos específicos que diferencian las especies silvestres, criollas y cultivadas de yuca. Estos marcadores serán utilizados en la evaluación de flujo de genes entre especies del género Manihot, así como en estudios de diversidad, caracterización de germoplasma, aplicaciones de mejoramiento y conservación de especies silvestres. Las secuencias cloroplásticas son altamente específicas y por su herencia maternal pueden ser utilizadas para rastrear la dirección del flujo de genes. Dado que los marcadores de tipo SNP son fáciles de trabajar y están ampliamente distribuidos en el genoma, son un soporte valioso en estudios de flujo de genes basados en otros tipos de marcadores. ","tokenCount":"679"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3127823289.json b/data/part_1/3127823289.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..27c2e60e069cdfcb466931d7fe7cba9c1f8edf6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3127823289.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a89548e3205637f87fe9bbcb5391d464","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2111bdc4-6ab3-4199-a7c8-c310a1392973/retrieve","id":"1532090735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"de9231b5-71a9-430e-ab7d-5733e3eef86c","pagecount":"1","content":"• Regionally contextualizing CGIAR and partner bundled solutions to address specific regional challenges prioritized by national and regional partners in east and southern Africa.• Testing and deploying different scaling mechanisms to reach farmers, small and medium agribusinesses, development partners and policy makers.• Scaling innovations with CGIAR Initiatives through a network of Ukama Ustawi hubs and platforms, a scaling fund leveraging CGIAR initiatives, and an ESA Week of Scaling.• Regional and National Priorities: East and Southern Africa is a climate hotspot ($45 billion in production at risk) heavily dependent on maize facing climate-induced yield declines of 15%: diversification, sustainable intensification & climate adaptation of maize mixed systems are priorities• A need for scale: CGIAR and national partner innovation bundles exist to address regional challenges and priorities, but there is a lack of proven approaches to scale these innovations: public institutions and small and medium enterprises play a key role for scaling.• Putting the pieces together: CGIAR work is often fragmented in specific countries and there is a lack explicit mechanisms for catalyzing cross-initiative workThe Ukama Ustawi (UU) Regional Integrated Initiative (RII) is testing and deploying different scaling models for reaching farmers, agribusinesses and policy makers with contextualized bundled innovations to address specific challenges in the east and southern Africa region.Munda Make Over Launch in Zambia Credit @ IWMI South AfricaInsert images or graphs in different locations in the margins• Diversifying and sustainably intensifying more than 29,500 beneficiaries through a scaling network of 280 mother trials and 4480 baby trials in 4 countries.• Scaling agro-advisory services to 1.9 Million beneficiaries (50% women) receiving through the Munda Makeover TV show launched by Ukama Ustawi in Zambia in 2023.• $11m in funding catalyzed for SMEs participating in the CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator.• 8 Policy changes supported through the UU Policy Hub.• Gender-responsive transformative approaches applied for East and Southern Africa scaling mechanisms.• 17 initiatives and 156 partners engaged across 10 countries engaged in the first two years of the regional integrative initiative.• $500k CGIAR Initiative Scaling Fund launched, and 38 Innovations plus 10 innovative packages developed.This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. February 2024The International Livestock Research Institute thanks all donors & organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. cgiar.org/funders","tokenCount":"380"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3132986518.json b/data/part_1/3132986518.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bb47510b06a7d2a88f1d057ee9f3aae273224fc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3132986518.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f9877f62e080808064eee57a1700d4a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/17549289-30ef-4f91-bd5e-d69897aac682/retrieve","id":"-1754098038"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1fd8f7e8-2ac1-471d-a9c0-df8f27863adc","pagecount":"40","content":"This paper draws lessons from two years of work with 'innovation platforms' that were established by the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) program in an attempt to strengthen landscape-level rainwater management in Ethiopia. The NDBC's work included the use of an innovation fund to support pilot interventions. This paper particularly reviews questions of political economy and equity in platform activities and examines decision-making processes, the roles and level of influence of different platform members, the nature of platform-community relations and the extent to which different groups are benefiting. The information presented in this working paper was gathered from a mixture of sources: interviews conducted with platform members; observation of meetings and activities by NBDC staff; official minutes of platform meetings and other associated events (e.g., training sessions) and informal discussions between NBDC staff and platform members.The NBDC aimed to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management and established innovation platforms in three sites: Diga and Jeldu in Oromiya Regional State and Fogera in Amhara Regional State. Baseline research conducted prior to platform establishment showed that planning and implementation of natural resource management activities are generally top-down in nature and geared toward meeting sectorial targets, with weak coordination between sectors and little scope for tailoring activities to local conditions and livelihoods. The innovation platform approach aimed to help foster more collaborative approaches to rainwater management, using practical interventions as an opportunity to pilot new ways of working. Yet, innovation platforms are an inherently political space as they bring together different stakeholders with different interests, and in this case they were inevitably imbued with highly unequal, existing power relations between government and citizens, which are characteristic of the Ethiopian context.A small fund for implementing pilot rainwater management activities was made available to each platform in order to create an opportunity for testing collaborative and participatory ways of working. All platforms selected livestock-related interventions, focused on the control of free grazing combined with planting of fodder plants on soil conservation structures in communal land, cropland and backyards. These pilot projects provide an opportunity to study the workings of the platforms in action, to discover more about the dynamics of relationships both within platforms and between platforms and communities and to learn about the effectiveness of innovation platforms as an approach to foster more integrated, participatory and equitable natural resource management.Early in the process, weaknesses emerged in the representation and voice of community members in platforms. Discussions were dominated by government actors, and the community representatives (who were selected by district officials) were largely either people with a role in the local administration or 'model farmers' . As implementation of interventions proceeded, government continued to act as de facto leaders, in some cases overriding community concerns. This was particularly evident in decisions on land for fodder planting, which in some cases ignored community uses of the land. Power relations between different farmers were also visible: for example, some farmers participated more than others in the development of bylaws for governing the use of the communal lands planted with fodder crops under these pilot projects. Nonetheless, participating farmers generally valued the interventions and saw their potential for helping to alleviate severe fodder shortages.However, gender considerations have emerged as a concern meriting greater focus: the shift from free grazing to cut-and-carry feeding creates additional responsibilities for women, who are generally responsible for looking after livestock around the home and already usually bear a disproportionate share of household labor. Representation of women in platform debates will need to be strengthened to ensure that such issues are addressed.During implementation it also emerged that the broader purpose of the innovation platforms (beyond the implementation of the fodder pilot projects) had not always been communicated effectively to communities. Follow-up interviews revealed differences in understanding among platform members themselves, with some showing limited understanding of the innovation platform philosophy and aims. This may have been due to high turnover of members from some organizations, but it could also be a result of implementing the fodder projects early in the process, so that these became the focus.In response to these problems, NBDC staff adopted a range of measures over the course of the project. These included parallel community engagement exercises, with both men and women; participatory video to bring community voices to the platforms; training for platform facilitators; trainings for local government staff and extension workers (or so-called development agents) on participatory planning methods; and role-playing games to help platform members understand the wider system in which they work and their role in it. The effectiveness of some of these measures will emerge over the coming years.This paper finishes with recommendations to (i) strengthen community inclusion and representation in platforms, (ii) incorporate gender considerations more effectively, (iii) improve ownership and understanding of the innovation platform philosophy and approach and (iv) deal with the significant power imbalances that can arise within platforms and between platforms and other stakeholders. Key recommendations include conducting a thorough baseline analysis of livelihoods, stakeholder interests and power relations; investing in local facilitation and training and supporting facilitators in participatory approaches; forming subgroups (e.g., for women or specific groups within communities) to ensure that a range of voices are heard; holding meetings at community level and in spaces not owned by formal decision makers and using innovative tools such as role-playing games.The NBDC program established innovation platforms in three sites: Diga and Jeldu in Oromiya Regional State and Fogera in Amhara Regional State (Figure 1). The aim of the NBDC program was to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management. The purpose of the platforms was to strengthen planning and implementation of local rainwater management processes. The program's vision was to foster rainwater management strategies that were evidence based, tailored to socio-ecological niches, cross sectorial and participatory, while simultaneously tackling land and water degradation at a landscape scale. Ethiopia has made heavy investments in rainwater management over the past four decades-particularly in soil and water conservation and afforestation-but with patchy success. The limited effectiveness of past interventions has been traced to factors including poor design of measures whose primary aim was to provide food for work; capacity limitations both at local government and community level; failure to ensure that investments were based on farmer demand; lack of short-term benefit to motivate farmers (in acknowledgement of dealing with highly constrained household budgets) to engage in maintenance and a focus on reversing degradation rather than boosting productivity and farm income (Pankhurst 2001, Merrey andGebreselassie 2011). Solving complex natural resource management problems involves coordinating actions across agriculture, land use, water management and forestry and between different parts of a watershed. This is innately challenging. It requires action on farms but also on communal or public land, which may be used in a variety of ways to support livelihoods (e.g., for grazing or collection of manure or fuel wood). Also challenging is finding shared motivations and widely accepted ways of managing natural resources, considering the range of interests, livelihoods and priorities of different users of land and water. While farmers may benefit from reduced soil erosion in the long term (if land productivity increases), they may lose out in the short to medium term from a decision to, for example, construct bunds if this takes a percentage of their land out of production. Farmers with enough of their own land for grazing may not lose out from restrictions placed on grazing of a communal area, but those with small holdings might, and so on. Managing all these trade-offs and different perspectives requires not only good understanding of landscape-level biophysical processes, but also an ability to relate these to local and diverse livelihoods and different stakeholder needs and to ensure that the impacts of decisions are as equitable as possible.Previous papers (Ludi et al. 2013, Snyder et al. 2014) have explored planning and implementation processes for rainwater management in the three study sites. These concluded that land and rainwater management decisions and implementation in Ethiopia are not sufficiently coordinated across sectors and locations, nor is there much space for views of local stakeholders in decision making. Decisions are taken and implemented largely in a top-down, sectorial fashion, focused on achieving targets set by national and regional government bodies (for example, to plant a certain number of trees or construct a certain length of bunds in a district). Local government staff feel that their primary accountability relationship is upward, i.e., to report on these targets, rather than downward, i.e., to take account of the views of local people. As a result, even when the participatory planning methods detailed in the national Participatory Watershed Planning Guideline are applied, indications that local views have been taken into account are not always visible in final implementation plans. There is also no mechanism for local planners to work with neighboring woredas 1 to consider landscape level impacts. Being focused on downward diffusion of information, woreda officials and extension workers also struggle with a lack of experience and capacity for stakeholder consultation or participatory planning (Cullen et al. 2014b;Hagmann and Abbink 2011). Other challenges include poorly developed markets, poor infrastructure, limited access to information and inadequate extension services to assist farmers in making changes.In this context, the establishment of innovation platforms is based on the recognition that improvements to natural resource management depend on broader institutional innovation rather than a narrow focus on technical measures or on top-down efforts to change farmer behavior (see German et al. 2012). This is the case even in densely settled areas where improved natural resource management must start at the individual farm level (Amede et al. 2012). Innovation platforms therefore aim to provide a mechanism for bringing key stakeholders together in order to identify and address technical and institutional challenges through enhancing communication, coordination and knowledge sharing. They should in theory allow all stakeholders, including local residents, decision makers and experts, to put forward their views, needs and preferences, in order to arrive at negotiated solutions. Box 1 (following page) explains the innovation platform approach.The innovation platforms in the NBDC program sought to foster innovation in rainwater management by enabling joint identification of issues for action, co-design of locally tailored interventions, improved coordination and collaboration of stakeholders and increased community participation in decision making.An innovation platform is a space for learning and change. It is a group of individuals (who often represent organizations) with different backgrounds and interests: in the case of rural development and agricultural programs, these could be farmers, traders, food processors, researchers, government officials, etc. The members come together to diagnose problems, identify opportunities and find ways to achieve their goals. They may design and implement activities as a platform or coordinate activities by individual members (Homann-Kee Tui et al. 2013). Innovation platforms also provide a space where diverging interests come to the fore and solutions can be negotiated (Leeuwis 2000).Innovation platforms have recently become popular in rural development programs, reflecting a shift away from technology transfer modes of intervention to a focus on co-generation of knowledge. Innovation systems thinking emphasizes that change-whether technological or institutional-is always non-linear and that the capacity of a system to innovate depends on the \"density and quality of relationships\" between the innovation-producing and innovationusing agents and supporting institutions. (Altenburg et al. 2008: 327). Innovation platforms are one way that development practitioners seek to build innovation capacity, bringing stakeholders together for dialogue and joint action, and are intended to function as an arena where intermediation helps to foster the \"co-evolution\" of technical, social, institutional and organizational innovation (Kilelu et al. 2013).Innovation platform meeting at Jeldu district administration office Photo: ILRI / AdieThis paper reflects on the experience of establishing innovation platforms to address complex natural resource management problems, including an innovation fund to support pilot interventions by platforms in the three project sites, and it draws lessons from the two years that have passed since the platforms were first established. Innovation platforms are an inherently political space, and in this case they were inevitably imbued with highly unequal, existing power relations between government and citizens, and to a lesser degree among citizens, which is characteristic of the Ethiopian context. The sort of institutional innovation that the NBDC was hoping to trigger is also a political process, involving a range of stakeholders with different incentives and vested interests. Finally, even the question of how to approach rainwater management is in itself politicized. Various narratives exist as to why rainwater management should, or should not, be a priority, and the diverse actors who are involved in implementing or affected by rainwater management interventions often have different ideas about how rainwater should be managed. We therefore focus this review on processes of stakeholder dialogue and participation; equity of outcomes; political economy concerns related to how decisions are taken and communicated; the roles and level of influence of platform members representing different groups; and the nature of platform-community relations. A formal evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the platforms has not been undertaken, but this review begins to examine where innovation platforms are taking steps toward overcoming the aforementioned barriers to more effective natural resources management practices and where challenges still remain. This paper draws on qualitative research, including the results of focus group discussions and participatory community engagement exercises, minutes from innovation platform meetings, researcher observations of the platform process and pilot interventions, and key informant interviews in the three sites. It aims to describe the processes undertaken by the platforms so far, document their successes and challenges and draw lessons for both ongoing work in the three sites and similar future programs.Before reviewing the progress of the NBDC platforms, we first briefly summarize some lessons from the literature on innovation platforms, including the experiences of two other projects that have established innovation platforms on natural resources management and agriculture in Ethiopia: the Fodder Adoption Project (FAP) 2 and African Highlands Initiative (AHI) 3 . We recognize that there is a substantial and growing body of literature on innovation systems, which is not treated in full here; our aim is to extract and present some key lessons relevant for understanding the experiences of the NBDC program in relation to political economy and equity aspects.(i) Entry points that have high potential for impact and offer early, low-risk benefitsThe choice of entry points has been proven to have a significant effect on whether farmers will be keen to invest in a partnership with researchers and extension agents for the purpose of experimentation (Amede et al. 2012). Entry points can be interventions in the form of an attractive technology or an incentive that contributes to solving practical problems on the ground. An important lesson from the FAP is that different actors participated in multi-stakeholder networks when they could identify tangible benefits for themselves, preferably with an early payoff that justifies their investment of time, effort and resources (Ergano et al. n.d.). Where activities address multiple concerns simultaneously, they should bring quick and low-risk economic returns in at least one area of priority importance for farmers. Poor farmers in particular cannot afford to invest much labor or wait a long time for their investments to yield results. In general, selecting entry points with high potential for impact will help to build demand for innovation if this is low at the outset (Ngwenya and Hagmann 2011). However, some others argue that focusing on a short-term technical innovation can obscure the broader purpose of fostering social or institutional innovation (Schad et al. 2011).Participatory selection of activities and entry points, with careful attention to the interests and preferences of different groups, is important. In one AHI site, for example, farmers with different wealth levels and livelihood strategies had conflicting views on the preferred entry points for the platform, depending on their existing level of access to resources: better-off farmers with fertile plots and many livestock, and therefore ample manure for fertilizer, favored the adoption of high-yielding crop varieties to increase their production, while farmers with degraded land and limited access to manure preferred interventions that promised to enhance soil fertility (German et al. 2012).Efforts to support farmer innovation must begin with and build on local knowledge and innovation in order to build constructive partnerships between farmers and other actors in an innovation system. External experts, scientists and officials often assume that they know best how to solve problems and improve the lives of farmers and fail to recognize or value the existing knowledge of farmers. Innovation platforms should not be reduced to a vehicle for top-down transmission of knowledge-though inputs from external experts can certainly be very useful-but should provide a forum for bringing together different sources of knowledge and thus develop new solutions. For example, the AHI found that different groups of farmers favored different approaches to soil and water management based on their previous experience and livelihood situation; by bringing together experts who could present a range of options, farmers could pick and choose approaches, building on their own experiences (Amede 2003).Building consensus between stakeholders is often seen as one of the main aims of an innovation platform and a prerequisite for joint action. However, conflicts of interest between members are likely around issues such as who benefits from the platform activities, who has access to new resources and who controls the process. Such conflicts may limit the participation of certain members in the platform activities (Wennink and Ochola 2011). These issues are not necessarily easy to resolve, and consensus may not always be possible, but a high level of conflict may derail the platform processes altogether. However, achieving a compromise should not always be a priority for platforms. Conflict can be an important catalyst for change, and platforms can provide a space for such conflicts to be brought to the fore and explored (Swaans et al. 2013, Nederlof and Pyburn 2012, Leeuwis 2000). Pushing for consensus, especially in the short term, may suppress the voices of the less powerful and lead to decisions to pursue 'solutions' that do not in fact reflect the interests of all actors. There is also a risk that agreed terms will be ignored by more powerful actors when it comes to implementation. Edmunds and Wollenburg (2002) cite the cases of the Joint Forest Management Programme in India and the Community Forestry Programme in Nepal: in both projects, agreements were initially reached between stakeholders on forest management arrangements that theoretically balanced forest protection with community use of resources, but powerful actors in government were later able to suppress community interests. Managing conflict in a productive way is challenging, but it is an important function of facilitators. It may require many small submeetings for groups to negotiate, for example, rather than expecting all views to be openly aired in large meetings (Leeuwis 2000). A negotiation-based approach requires explicit discussion of the process to deal with conflicts, rather than relying on one-off knowledge-sharing exercises (ibid).(v) Selecting the right people to participate Innovation platforms will only succeed if the right people are present, but finding the right composition is likely to be an iterative process. Ngwenya and Hagmann (2011) recommend first defining the issue for the platform to work on (the 'innovation challenge') with an initial group, then identifying all the necessary functions to address the challenge and then bringing in the relevant people. These may not be the same at each stage of the platform's life, and not everyone has to be involved in all activities (Nederlof and Pyburn 2012). The key is to be flexible and involve the right people at the right time. There is no single prescription for an effective platform structure or composition. It is also important to be sensitive to the needs of different groups, e.g., men and women, the dynamics of their interactions, and to facilitate their involvement accordingly.All experiences of working with innovation platforms point to the need for high quality facilitation, especially in the early stages of platform formation when the approach may be unfamiliar, relationships are new and the platform would have little chance of taking off and functioning alone. This is about more than facilitating workshops-facilitators need to have a good understanding of the issue facing the platform, an ability to challenge people to think differently about the system they work in and the capacity to support them to change their ways of working (Ngwenya and Hagmann 2011). At the beginning, facilitators need time to identify the right people to participate in the platform, to build trust and to ensure that they understand the system fully (Nederlof and Pyburn 2012). They also need to be able to manage conflicts that may arise. This raises the question of whether or not facilitators should be part of the system they are working within (Leeuwis 2000). An independent actor, who is still familiar with the platform context and who is considered legitimate and trustworthy by all platform members, may, if possible, be the preferred option (Tucker et al. 2013a).Where platform members are expected to speak on behalf of particular constituencies (be that organizations, social groups, villages or others), the platform needs to allow time for them to perform this role, even if it means delays in project activities while these individuals consult with others. This is important to ensure legitimacy and transparency of platform decisions. It may also be necessary for facilitators to check that these members are in fact discussing platform activities with those they supposedly represent and are accurately reflecting the views of their constituents (Nederlof and Pyburn 2013).Skilled facilitation can help manage power relations during meetings, but power relations will also manifest themselves outside meetings and can lead to certain actors dominating platform activities. In particular, local government may play a dominant role. In some cases this has been addressed by taking steps to involve other locally powerful actors; for example, one project in Mali involved traditional authorities (Nederlof and Pyburn 2012). But in Ethiopia and similar contexts, where government is such a singularly powerful actor, such counterweights may not easily be found.Practical training on fodder management, Jeldu Photo: ILRI / Adie (ix) Contextual factors hindering innovation Schad et al. (2011) write about experiences working with innovation platforms in rural Vietnam, a context somewhat analogous to Ethiopia in terms of its recent experience of communism, authoritarian government system and top-down approach to local planning as well as to agricultural extension and other forms of knowledge transmission. They found that platforms were often dominated by current or past officials, or by those with a role in local hierarchies, and that it was difficult to avoid such actors controlling platform activities and prioritizing local elites for inclusion. At the same time, farmers unaccustomed to playing an active role in knowledge generation tended to assume the role of 'passive recipient' of knowledge. Neef and Neubert (2010) also find that participatory approaches are very challenging in such contexts. In such situations, long-term engagement and excellent facilitation by external brokers are probably needed. Yet, even with local government playing a dominant role, the FAP in Ethiopia was able to support the emergence of useful innovations and the development of strengthened value chains for livestock by bringing together a set of knowledge providers who could help both farmers and local officials develop more integrated approaches to fodder management (Ergano et al. n.d.). Extension workers also gained an interest in more participatory approaches and were trained to include these in their work (Ayele et al. 2012).Beginning in July 2011, relevant stakeholders were identified and innovation platforms set up in all the three NBDC sites (Fogera, Diga and Jeldu). During the first meeting, the NBDC program's aims and objectives and the concept of innovation platforms were introduced, and the interests and needs of stakeholders gauged. In the second meeting, baseline research findings on local natural resource management planning and implementation, innovation and livelihoods were presented to stakeholders, highlighting issues that the innovation platform might wish to consider in planning its activities and areas where it might be able to effect change. This led to the identification of common rainwater management issues and discussion about roles and responsibilities of various actors. The aim of these meetings was to enable actors to analyze their own constraints and opportunities and to improve coordination and communication between the various stakeholders (i.e., between woreda line departments, between decision makers and community members, between universities and national agricultural research institutes, etc.).After the second meeting, it became apparent that community views were not adequately represented in innovation platforms, largely because of the types of 'community representatives' (i.e., kebele 4 leaders and model farmers 5 ) who were invited to attend the meetings. Early attempts to discuss these issues directly with platform members were met with resistance, so the decision was made to proceed with the project but to incorporate various community engagement exercises that were intended to provoke joint learning. Community engagement exercises were undertaken by NBDC researchers in each of the sites to get a sense of natural resources management constraints and priorities. This process involved resource and problem identification exercises, participatory mapping, focus groups, problem ranking and, in Fogera, the use of participatory video (see Cullen 2012, for more detail on participatory video exercises). Researchers decided not to include innovation platform members in these exercises in an attempt to get more frank feedback from community members on their priority issues.During the third round of meetings, outcomes from community engagement exercises were presented to innovation platform members for discussion. This helped to inform issue identification. In Fogera, participatory video was used to present farmers' views to platform members. Farmers' 'lack of awareness' is often mentioned as a constraint by platform members; yet, farmer feedback made it clear that although farmers possess in-depth knowledge about their farming systems and how to manage them, a disparity often exists between what farmers know and what their resources allow them to do. Apparent is also a disconnect between the realities that farmers face and the views of higher level stakeholders, including researchers, who may perceive their 'expert' or scientific knowledge as superior and therefore not adequately consider the knowledge or views of farmers when promoting or designing 'solutions' to local problems.It was decided to make a small fund for implementing pilot rainwater management activities available to each platform (see Tucker et al. 2013c). The rationale for providing a pilot fund for each platform was to enable some small, concrete actions that would make the platform more than a 'talking shop' and hopefully demonstrate the benefits of collaborative ways of working. These pilot projects provide an opportunity to study the workings of the platforms in action, to discover more about the dynamics of platforms and between platforms and communities and to learn about the effectiveness of innovation platforms as an approach to natural resource management. Each fund was awarded on the basis of a proposal from platform members, with the criteria that interventions to be funded should be participatory, evidence based, tailored to local social and environmental conditions and cross sectorial in nature (i.e., in line with the broader objectives of the NBDC program).All three platforms developed proposals meeting these criteria, with support from project staff. All three platforms independently decided to focus on aspects of livestock feed/grazing management. The platforms have the twin aims of improving soil condition and water conservation while improving livestock feed availability by planting appropriate multi-purpose species. These interventions were identified to fill a gap in ongoing government (and in one case donor) soil-and-water-conservation projects in the three sites. Indeed, the large-scale Sustainable Land Management (SLM) campaign, which was then taking place across Ethiopia and which entailed 'awareness-raising' activities on measures to address land degradation and a drive for collective action in every kebele of participating woredas, probably had a significant influence on the selection of interventions. The first year of NBDC pilot implementation began in May/ June 2012.The pilot project in Diga focused on the introduction of improved fodder varieties to rehabilitate degraded grazing lands and address feed shortages caused by termite infestation. Forage development was piloted in backyards and on communal land in 2012 at Dapo and Denbi villages of Arjo Kebele. A total of 40 farmers participated in the pilot intervention. Members of the innovation platform technical working group selected farmers to participate in the pilot based on criteria that included interest, length of residence in the area, ownership of animals, ownership of grazing and/or farm land, evidence of successful management of their land and fodder shortage. From those selected, 28 farmers planted the fodder varieties in their backyards and 12 farmers on their adjoining grazing land. The main fodder varieties introduced were rhode grass and napier grass. Although a few farmers had grown rhodes grass in their backyards before the start of the pilot project, for their own use, the fodder varieties introduced were new to the wider community. Following training provided for farmers at a nursery site in July 2012, a combination of rhodes and napier grass strips and chomo grass were planted on degraded grazing land. Chomo grass is a termite-resistant fodder grass and was particularly popular with farmers in Diga (for more information on chomo grass, see Adie and Duncan 2013).In Jeldu, preliminary platform meetings and the results of community engagement exercises led to prioritization of interventions that could address soil erosion, declining productivity and a shortage of fodder. Fodder interventions aimed to help address feed shortages, stabilize soil bunds and provide short-term incentives for farmers participating in government-initiated soil conservation work. Tree lucerne, bana, desho and napier grass were selected as appropriate multi-purpose species. Members of the innovation platform's technical working group selected farmers to participate based on interest, previous experience with soil and water conservation measures, ownership or use of degraded land, ownership of livestock and shortage of livestock feed.In addition, a number of 'model farmers' were selected due to their role in promoting new approaches to others. On the basis of this, 96 farmers were selected to participate in fodder development pilots, and almost 200,000 seedlings were purchased/donated and distributed. Seedlings have been planted on existing soil and water conservation structures, in backyards and on farmland.In Fogera, the focus was on controlling free grazing through increased livestock feed supply in order to make soil and water conservation efforts more effective. Free grazing destroys soil conservation structures, contributes to soil compaction and removes crop residues that would otherwise enhance soil fertility. Increased supply of livestock feed was expected to allow stall feeding and thereby also control free grazing, especially in the dry season. Initially, an area of communal grazing land, close to conservation structures, in Gebre Gesa village was selected for exclusion of livestock. However, the site was changed in response to the preference of local communities, and an enclosed area was eventually established in Libichosh Got (Woje Awramba kebele, in the Gunguf watershed) where free grazing was identified as a severe problem. The enclosed land covered more than 3.75 hectares and housed 60 people in 13 households. Fodder species have been planted in the enclosure, including vetiver grass, pigeon pea, cowpea, sesbania and napier grass, for cut and carry as well as land rehabilitation purposes. Two hectares of backyard were also planted with fodder. Seeds and tools were distributed to farmers and various types of training were given. The local community has also started to develop bylaws to govern use of the enclosed area.Recognizing that the diversity of local livelihoods was not necessarily well reflected by the 'farmer representatives' who were selected to participate in the platforms (and who were few in number and usually either kebele leaders or 'model farmers'), project researchers carried out community engagement exercises on parallel with project interventions in the three sites. These exercises were intended to gather a wider range of viewpoints, collect knowledge about livelihoods and farmer priorities in relation to natural resource management in different parts of the landscape and provide a mechanism to feed farmer voices into platform discussions, mediated by the project staff.Community engagement was conducted in three kebeles representing upstream, midstream and downstream parts of the watershed. The exercise consisted of identification of priority natural resources for farmers' livelihoods, problems experienced by farmers and, where possible, participatory mapping of resources and problems. This was followed by focus group discussions with male and female subgroups to explore the issues in more detail, based on the following questions:• What resources are abundant or scarce? • How have these resources changed over time?• What are the greatest problems affecting land and water resources? • Who are the most affected by these problems and why? • What is currently being done to address these problems and by whom? • What do you think could be done in the future to solve these problems?Emphasis was placed on exploring people's ideas for solutions, not only identifying problems.Communities in all three kebeles identified several common issues. These included declining soil fertility and insufficiency of the mitigation measures that households use (e.g., contour plowing, planting and livestock corralling).• People seeking new land (as a result of declining soil fertility), which leads to migration and deforestation. Although most groups identified a similar or overlapping set of issues, the relative priority attached to different issues varied between locations and between men and women. Women seemed to reach a high degree of consensus on the main issues and focused mainly on community-wide problems rather than individual agendas, whereas men were more likely to identify issues affecting themselves. Some men also queried whether women were knowledgeable enough about natural resource management. However, when the groups were brought together to collectively rank identified issues, men tended to agree with the women's ranking.Overall, priority issues tended to be tangible ones which (i) immediately affect livelihoods and (ii) require external support. Some additional issues, which were identified, but not ranked as high priority, appear to be underlying drivers linked to priority issues (Table 1). The problems identified also highlight the importance of taking a landscape-level view as many of them seem to relate to wider processes of change in the agro-ecosystem. Understanding these dynamics is important to effective landscape-scale action, and it is important to arrive at an appropriate balance of short-term responses to treat the symptoms of a problem (e.g., deterring monkeys from destroying crops) and treatment of the underlying causes (e.g., deforestation, driving monkeys into farmland). Farmers also highlighted that some issues-such as tackling soil erosion, irrigation provision and drying of water sources-require better upstream-downstream coordination.Table 1. Priority issues identified by communities, Diga woreda Jeldu Community engagement exercises were conducted in three kebeles representing upstream, midstream and downstream parts of the watershed: Seriti, Chilanko and Kolu Galan. Development agents from the kebeles selected 16 participants: eight female and eight male of different ages and socio-economic status. Participatory methods were used to enable community members to identify their key resources and land and water management challenges. The participants were split into two groups according to gender. The male and female groups in each kebele were asked to rank the top five resources and problems. The main problems identified by the male and female groups were then jointly ranked. This joint ranking exercise was then followed by focus group discussions with male and female groups based on the following questions:• What are the main causes of the natural resources management challenges you have prioritized?• How long have you faced these challenges and how have they changed over time? • Who is the most affected by these challenges and why? • What is currently being done to address these challenges and by whom? • What do you think could be done in the future to address these challenges?The groups then fed back the outcomes of their discussions, including information about causes, current practices and solutions. Communities in all three kebeles identified several common issues. These included Most groups identified a similar or overlapping set of issues, and the priorities attached to these issues tended to be the same between locations (Table 2). Due to time constraints it was not possible to conduct gendered prioritization of issues in each kebele. Broad consensus between men and women existed in most kebeles. The top-ranked issues between the three kebeles were soil erosion, deforestation, crop disease and lack of animal fodder. Issues of soil erosion and deforestation were mentioned consistently across the three kebeles. It was clear from participant responses that community members had recently received training on land and water management as part of the government-led sustainable land management/watershed campaign work taking place in the woreda at the time. Therefore, the fact that community members ranked soil erosion and deforestation as priority issues does not necessarily mean that they are priority concerns for farmers or that farmers are invested in changing current practices. Nonetheless, soil erosion is obviously a serious problem for the area.Table 2. Priority issues identified by communities, Jeldu woreda Fogera Three kebeles were chosen to represent upstream, midstream and downstream locations: Alember, Diba Sifatre and Kokit, respectively. Development agents from each kebele used criteria defined by NBDC researchers to select four participants: two female and two male of different ages, representing a range of socio-economic status. Participatory rural appraisal tools and exercises were conducted to enable community members to identify their key resources and land and water management challenges.Communities in all three kebeles identified several common issues. These included Although some issues were common across the kebeles, participants prioritized issues differently depending on the kebele's location in the landscape (Table 3). Alember kebele, which is in the highland area, prioritized soil erosion, whereas Diba Sifatre and Kokit, both low-lying areas near the Rib river, prioritized flooding and water stress.Further discussions were held around the priority focus of the Fogera innovation platform. Participants involved in the community engagement exercise had not participated in platform meetings and were unaware of the discussions on proposed interventions being held by the innovation platform members. Facilitators informed the community members that the issues of unrestricted grazing had been selected by the Fogera platform for action. This issue did not emerge in the community's prioritization of issues, but the community members discussed how they might communicate their views. They were aware of proposed plans for restricting grazing, linked to soil conservation efforts. The participants raised a number of potential challenges to restricting livestock grazing in the area. This revealed a substantial divide between the views and perceptions of community members and decision makers, which will need to be bridged if interventions are to be successful. As a result of these discussions, the community members decided to include unrestricted grazing as a priority issue. The three land and water management issues that were finally selected were soil conservation work, water stress and unrestricted grazing. The results of the community engagement exercises were fed into platform discussions during the development of proposals for pilot interventions. Conflicting perspectives emerged during the discussions that followed. In Diga, government representatives, as a group, selected soil erosion as the issue to be addressed, rather than the termite problem identified by farmers, possibly because acting on soil erosion enables government representatives to meet the targets on soil and water conservation that they receive from central government. Government staff tended to act as the de facto leaders of innovation processes. In Fogera, platform and community members had different views about restricting grazing. Government representatives wanted to take immediate action to restrict livestock movements outside homesteads, again possibly due to a central directive, but farmers favored a more gradual approach. In Jeldu, there was a greater degree of consensus on tackling soil erosion, which may have been because of ongoing government sensitization work. Observations by project staff also suggest that farmers in Jeldu may have been reluctant to express views alternative to those put forward by government (Cullen et al. 2014b).Nonetheless, in all three sites fodder interventions did address some of the needs of farmers, and the selected interventions could be seen as a compromise between innovation platform members' long-term interest in soil and water conservation and farmers' concern with short term needs, e.g., fodder shortage. Researchers played a key mediating role, for example by linking the various challenges faced by different actors in order to arrive at interventions that could contribute to addressing several of the identified issues.In all three sites, participating farmers do value the interventions and see their potential to help alleviate severe fodder shortages, and plans exists to continue and expand the program for a further year. Experiences have been observed with interest by neighbors and shared intentionally through famer field days, generating interest in neighboring kebeles. It is too early to fully understand the impact of the interventions on the lives and livelihoods of participants, or indeed on other members of the community, although early research has generated some insights (Box 2). However, a detailed review of the innovation platform process over the past two years reveals the complexity of attempting to intervene through such processes and provides some lessons for future efforts taking a similar approach.The platform in Diga has enjoyed smooth working relationships with the community, and a lot of interest exists among farmers for expanding the improved fodder production beyond the initial participants. However, the late supply of inputs severely affected the performance of the fodder during the first season. Despite the late planting, the pilot interventions created good ground for sharing information about the fodder through farmer field days. However, there was some resentment from farmers who felt that they missed out on benefits (including training and the development of new skills as well as new fodder varieties) by not participating in the project and who stated that platform members did not adequately explain the aims of the project when selecting participants.In Diga-as in Fogera-concerns about the process of developing bylaws to govern fodder use and grazing on communal land also emerged. Community members were involved in developing bylaws for communal land management, and these bylaws were approved by woreda line offices and then fed back to the community. However, the forage development on common land undertaken in the first year was largely unsuccessful due to conflicts of interest between community members. The bylaw was prepared with a small group of farmers-a subset of a group of neighbors who use the land. The bylaw therefore proved to be inadequate as it could only be used to govern the smaller group, giving guidelines, for example, on how they might share the use and benefits of the new fodder varieties. Members of the wider community, particularly neighbors of the smaller group, were not involved in these discussions, so their cattle continued to graze the land. As these neighboring community members were not included in developing the bylaws, no agreement existed regarding whether their cattle could graze on the land, at which times, in what numbers, and there was no discussion of penalties for infraction. This is an important issue to resolve, as continued grazing may destroy the planted fodder and lead to loss of soil conservation benefits, while unilateral enclosure of the area, with no attention to the needs of others who currently use it, may cause feelings of ill will toward and negative impacts for the households implementing the intervention. One of the reasons for working with innovation platforms is that they are intended to help mediate discussions between community members and provide a problem-solving forum where such arrangements can be negotiated. So far this has only partially happened, and the platform may need further support to make the leap to this way of working, which is not the norm for government offices accustomed to top-down modes of interacting with communities. On-farm fodder development has been more successful, with farmers growing fodder on their farms benefiting from both the ability to store fodder for the dry season and from cash income from fodder seed sales.Shortage of feed for livestock is a major issue in the three sites, forcing people (often children) to spend up to 4-6 hours travelling with livestock to find pasture, especially during the dry season. This creates a labor burden on households, takes children out of education and also reduces livestock productivity, exposes livestock to disease and causes competition over water and pasture in the areas livestock pass through.Planting of improved fodder varieties in backyards, homesteads and communal lands will allow stall feeding, relieving the requirement to travel long distances to find pasture. However, this creates additional labor requirements for women, who are generally responsible for cutting fodder and feeding livestock around the homestead, a consequence that needs to be considered. Women typically already bear a disproportionate share of household labor.An end to free grazing would bring additional benefits to livestock owners if they can provide sufficient fodder through other means, as they would be able to retain manure for use as fertiliser and fuel. However, other farmers who currently benefit from manure left by freeroaming cattle on their land or on communal land would lose out on these resources.In Jeldu, Kolu Galan kebele was chosen as the site for the first pilot intervention due to its strategic position in relation to other kebeles. Here it was also necessary to invest some time in winning the trust of the community for the proposed project. Initially, about 32 farmers registered to take part in the fodder intervention, but other farmers were more reluctant to participate. This may have been because the fodder interventions were related to the government-initiated sustainable land management interventions. Farmers in the Jeldu area have expressed reluctance to invest in soil conservation interventions, partly due to the upfront costs involved, particularly labor, as well as due to fears and uncertainty about long-term land ownership. The fodder interventions aimed to provide immediate benefits to farmers by planting fodder on bunds as well as in farmer backyards. The project used forage plants that were already familiar to some farmers in the area, such as desho grass and napier grass. However, the pilot project helped to make these grasses more widely available. Desho grass became particularly popular, and as a result of the project activities some farmers have begun selling planting materials from their plots to others. (For more information on desho grass, see Leta et al. 2013).Neighbors of participating farmers watched the first year of interventions with interest and eventually asked to be included when they saw income being generated from sale of the grass. In 2013, the innovation platform expanded the intervention to a larger number of farmers in Kolu Galan kebele. A total of 65 new farmers were registered for fodder intervention, and planting materials were given to an additional 141 farmers. Although this expansion indicates success, it is uncertain how sustainable the income generated from the sale of fodder grasses will be in the longer term as the demand was mainly generated by the project itself. In addition, during farmer field days held to demonstrate the new approaches, the platform 20 Champion farmers demonstrating the management of forage crops to fellow farmers Photo: ILRI / Gerba Leta distributed rewards to farmers who applied the new approaches. These rewards were given with the aim of encouraging others to take part. However, giving rewards creates doubt about the degree to which farmers are genuinely interested in the benefits of the fodder interventions themselves, or whether they are motivated by the prospect of receiving rewards from the innovation platform. Some farmers also expressed suspicion that the rewards were politically motivated, which may have undermined farmers' trust in the project's agenda.As in the other sites, bylaw development is an important part of the project, particularly as farmers are concerned about the risk free-grazing cattle poses to their investments. Discussion of a new bylaw is underway, but some concerns have emerged that by-law development is proceeding in a rather top-down fashion, with limited engagement of all relevant stakeholders.In Fogera, the fodder development activities did not go smoothly at first. The communally owned site originally chosen for implementation turned out to be unsuitable as the the households living around the space used it in a range of ways. Such communal grazing areas in Ethiopia are open spaces accessible to households living around them. They are regulated by traditional institutions and are used for community gatherings such as weddings and funerals. They thus play an important role in the maintenance of social networks. These grazing areas are also used by different community members for a variety of practical purposes. In this particular case, farmers keep their livestock contained on the communal land during the growing season. Keeping livestock away from cultivated fields, where they may destroy crops, decreases the chance of disputes. Both rich and poor farmers thus rely on the space. Poor women, often from households with no livestock, also use the space to collect dung to make into cakes for fuel, both for their own use and for sale. And finally, young landless men use the space as they try to carve out some land from it for agricultural production. In addition, many women living near the area identified for enclosure were concerned about their children's safety if they had to go further afield with animals for grazing. The innovation platform members who proposed the site did not understand the multiple functions of the land, which suggests that community members, particularly women, did not participate in the design of the intervention and therefore their concerns were not taken into account.Farmers did plant fodder on the grazing land as part of the innovation platform intervention, but then uprooted the plants shortly afterwards. A new site was found, but the move resulted in some suspicion toward the project, which was compounded by some misunderstanding of the project's aims: some community members believed it to be connected with a local, government-led youth development programme and feared that the land would be distributed to local youth once planted. It is likely that with better communication and consultation with the community before starting implementation some of these problems could have been averted. It is also notable that these concerns were revealed by farmers to researchers, but were not mentioned during discussions with government officials from the innovation platform. Significant power differences probably made it very difficult for farmers to raise fears or objections to what were still perceived as government-led plans. Rather, farmers resisted in the most practical way they could, by removing the plants. However, in the new site, a well-regarded local development agent was able to overcome suspicions, win the trust of the community and persuade them to engage. Farmers now see the benefits of improved fodder development and are considering whether it might enable them to introduce new varieties of livestock with higher fodder demand.One of the most complex aspects of the intervention is the enclosure of planted areas to prevent grazing. There is an ongoing debate in Fogera about appropriate management arrangements for enclosed areas. Some groups argue that the land should not be enclosed at all due to the shortage of alternative grazing land, sources of fuel and breeding services. Others argue that enclosures can be established, but that the land should be open to free grazing in the dry season when there is an overall fodder shortage. Still others maintain that opening the land for grazing at any time will cause overgrazing and destabilize soil conservation structures. A range of perspectives exist within the community, with different community members' views stemming mainly from their different levels of dependence upon the land in question, which need to be carefully considered in the design of any intervention. Knowing that landscapes are used by different people for different purposes is one step toward deciding how to design more effective and equitable interventions. All land users need to be brought into discussions on management arrangements and given the chance to raise possible negative impacts and discuss how such impacts might be addressed.Equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms are perhaps required to ensure that the poor, or those with no livestock, do not lose out, for example by compensating those who lose grazing opportunities or by providing access to backyard fodder development as a substitute. In the case of Fogera, alternative incomegenerating activities could be designed to make up for women's loss of income from dung collection, which would result from an enclosure. Alternative fuel sources could also be explored. So far, however, the process of developing a draft bylaw to govern management of the communal areas has not been very inclusive, but driven mainly by a small group of farmers supported by the innovation platform. These farmers are relatives and already have experience of joint management of land, which make this process relatively smooth, but there is a gap in terms of capturing the views of other households and making sure that they do not face negative consequences or that they are adequately compensated if they do.These stories of these three different innovation platforms all illustrate the importance of adequate community representation and participation in order to build transparent, open relationships between decision makers and communities. The NBDC experiences highlight the importance of regular communication and active effort by platform members to listen and respond to diverse community concerns, not only to spread information downward. The failure of existing natural resource management planning systems to engage communities and respond to local conditions in this way (Ludi et al. 2013) was one of the main motivations for establishing innovation platforms. However, it is clear that embedding new ways of working is a long-term process. In all three sites, community representation in platforms is still limited, and considerable challenges around platform-community communication remain. A review of platform dynamics and the nature of community engagement has revealed some reasons for this: the roots probably lie in part in how the NBDC went about establishing platforms, with activities centered on the district level, where it is easier for government officials and experts to participate, and limited guidance or oversight of the selection of community representatives. The district-level focus was intended to enable the platforms to focus on landscape-level issues involving different parts of the watershed, but it is clear that more investment was needed to ensure meaningful engagement of communities in the process.First, while the platforms theoretically include community representatives among their membership, these representatives are always either kebele chairmen or 'model farmers' and are handpicked by the local authorities. This means that these individuals are likely to be those in favor with the local administration, rather than the most effective at representing community views. They are also not picked with an eye to covering major groupings within the community (e.g., different livelihood groups, household types, wealth levels, locations within the watershed and so on). In some cases these 'representatives' showed limited understanding of the purpose of the innovation platform and their role within it. At the same time, it emerged that even those farmers participating in the pilot interventions had very little understanding or knowledge of the platforms (seeing the interventions as government or non-government organization projects) and were mostly not aware that they were supposedly represented in platform discussions. It further emerged that even some innovation platform members were not very familiar with the innovation platform's objectives and philosophy; rather, they saw it as an external donor initiative that required their participation in meetings. Some were also not aware of the platform structures as established at the beginning of the process, such as technical committees and coordinating committees.Overall, it seems that while the platforms have been very active and have launched some innovative and popular pilots, the openness, collaboration and coproduction of knowledge sought by the innovation platform approach may not yet have been realized as the activities remain rather top-down in nature. Overall, farmers in all three sites have been seen largely as 'implementers' rather than 'co-designers' of interventions (Cullen et al. 2014b). There has also been limited attention by platform members to the different needs of different types of farmers in the community, for farmers without livestock were often not involved in discussions (because the intervention focused on fodder development), even though these farmers' access to resources might be affected by the project. This has significant implications for the 'innovations' generated by the platforms and the likelihood of their adoption.These problems are largely due to a lack of capacity for considering the heterogeneity of farmers and the implications for interventions at local level. The NBDC introduced a variety of approaches to try to overcome these problems, increase farmer participation and help platforms to reflect on and address the needs of different stakeholders. These approaches included participatory landscape planning workshops and the use of games for participatory modeling and role playing (see Cullen et al. 2014a;Lema et al. 2013). These generated considerable interest in more participatory modes of planning. However, for such approaches to be adopted on a regular basis, local government staff need to be given the resources and time to use them. Currently, they have to manage their ongoing assignments alongside their work with the platforms, and some reported that their supervisors showed little appreciation of their innovation platform work, both factors that have made it difficult for them to invest a lot of time in the process.Here we reflect on various issues encountered by the NBDC and on possible approaches for addressing them. Our reflections emerge both from our project experiences and the wider literature on innovation platform processes.Community inclusion and representation in platforms emerged as one of the most problematic areas in the NBDC innovation platform process. Various approaches could improve the quality and depth of community participation in platforms:Establish platforms at community level The decision about where to establish a platform and the makeup of its membership will depend on the purposes of the platform. Starting at community level, with representation of organizations from outside the community, would almost certainly create a balance very different from what the NBDC experienced, both in terms of the individuals participating and in terms of the symbolism of where meetings would be held. Establishing platforms at multiple levels, with cross-representation, can be effective for addressing issues which go beyond the local level, but facilitation costs will of course be higher. For example, platforms at community level, consisting of a wide range of participants (women and men of different age, with different livelihoods and different levels of wealth, and members of important local institutions, e.g., religious figures or traditional leaders) could nominate representatives to attend a district-level platform and establish a mechanism for two-way sharing of information and feedback.A thorough understanding of the different groups within communities and the power relations both among them, and between community members, officials and experts, will help those establishing and facilitating platforms to devise effective strategies for representation of different groups, support less powerful groups to engage and ensure that interventions address the various interests of different stakeholders. There are various possible methods for conducting such a baseline analysis, such as problem tree analysis, interest/ influence matrices and institutional analysis (for stakeholder analysis) and the power cube, power ranking or power matrix (for analysing power relations). Brouwer et al. (2013) provide a useful summary of such methods. Whatever method is used, the baseline should identify stakeholders, their interests and goals, the resources available to them, their interdependencies, the power they hold and how they exercise it, and their relative roles and level of influence in agenda setting and decision making (ibid). The literature reviewed earlier emphasized the need to periodically review the set of actors involved in the platform and to ensure that the right people are brought in at the right time (Nederlof and Pyburn 2012;Ngewenya and Hagmann 2011). It could be useful to combine this with a review of actors' incentives and power relations in order to manage the introduction of new members.Training in these areas can help platform members take more participatory and reflexive approaches to the design and implementation of platform activities, which may also spill over into their wider work. However, training workshops or events may well need to be followed up with ongoing support, and unless staff are supported to and have incentives for adopting such approaches, including receiving recognition from their superiors, they may be unable to apply them.One specific dimension, which was not considered adequately in NBDC platforms at the beginning, is gender, both in terms of understanding gender roles and relations and how this affects innovation and in terms of the participation of women in platforms. Interventions did not pay particular attention to the specific needs of women, which may have resulted in opportunities being missed or even negative consequences (e.g., increased workloads for women). This is often the case in projects working with innovation platforms, even though women often play the biggest role in production (Swaans et al. 2013). Future programs should consider the gender dimension from the beginning. The following are some suggestions to incorporate gender considerations in platforms:Consider the practical needs of women to allow them to participate Attention should be paid to the specific needs of women, particularly the multiple demands on their time and labor, when planning the time and venue of meetings. Increasing the number of women participating in platforms is important, but does not necessarily mean that women will be able to voice their true concerns in this forum (depending on local norms and power relations). A specific subgroup for women might enable them to speak more freely as well as build their capacity for engaging in the wider platform. The literature has already highlighted the importance of examining the dynamics of gender relations (Nederlof and Pyburn 2012). Such an examination could be part of the baseline suggested above, in which case it needs to be taken into account in platform facilitation from the beginning.Gender needs to be an important component of baseline analysis, intervention planning and monitoring. If women are not present or active in platform discussions, possible negative impacts on them are unlikely to be identified and addressed without a specific effort. Questions such as \"how will labor demands on women change?\" and \"how will the economic power of women change?\" should be asked of any intervention, but often consideration is given to household-level economic impacts without considering how these affect different household members. However, gender relations tend to be deeply entrenched, and it would often be naïve to expect that platform processes can transform gender roles or relations, particularly in the short term.The review of NBDC platform interventions also found that there was weak understanding and ownership of the innovation platform philosophy and purpose. Some platform members, as well as many of the community members involved in interventions, were unaware of the intended nature of the platform and the idea of 'innovation' , seeing the platform as a standard government initiative or donor project. Various measures might help to address this:Introduce the innovation concept in more depth Some projects have shied away from detailed discussion of innovation theory when establishing platforms, fearing that members might find it difficult to engage with abstract concepts, and they therefore tend to introduce activities in more technical or functional terms. The risk is that members do not understand the unique purpose of the innovation platform and are less able to meaningfully engage and develop a shared vision for what the platform might achieve, so the platform becomes a vehicle for project implementation in a fairly traditional mode. For the NBDC's innovation platforms, it is possible that a focus on implementation of the pilots caused some participants to have an obscured view of their broader purpose, which was to pilot new ways of working together for the various institutions involved.Appointing local, dedicated facilitators brings a significant benefit in terms of enhancing local ownership. In situations with significant power imbalances within the platform, these should ideally be independent individuals who are respected and seen as neutral brokers, rather than-for example-local government officials. Local facilitation may also enhance platform sustainability and ownership by building capacity of partners, make it easier for a wider range of local people to have a voice in platforms (as the facilitator can meet them informally in between meetings, for example) and for interventions to respond to local issues, concerns and events in a timely fashion. Experiences from the Convergence of Sciences: Strengthening agricultural innovation systems in Benin, Ghana and Mali (COS-SIS) programme (see Nederlof and Pyburn 2012) found that while the absence of a facilitator was sometimes problematic, at other times it actually enabled the platforms to become more independent. This suggests that it might be appropriate to remove the facilitator later on in a program,, once a platform is functioning well, but that local facilitation is advisable in the earlier stages.The communication strategy need not be a formal strategy, but it might involve having platform members create a name for the platform in the local language and develop their own ideas about how to present the innovation platform concept to their communities. The platform could also actively discuss how its members will represent their constituencies, consult them on platform decisions and communicate discussion and outcomes back to them (see Nederlof and Pyburn 2012).The difficulties of dealing with significant power imbalances among the members of platforms emerge strongly from the NBDC experience. Although platforms cannot be expected to transform existing power relations, and certainly not in the short timeframe of many projects, there are steps which facilitators and organizers can take to understand and broker these relationships and ultimately to enable those who are at risk of being marginalized to have a greater voice in the process and a say over platform decisions. These steps are in addition to the baseline stakeholder and power analysis discussed above (see also Cullen et al. 2014a).It is not always possible to address power dynamics head-on within formal meetings, but it can be done more informally by facilitators on the sidelines. Indeed, effective platform facilitation is about far more than organizing and chairing the periodic meetings, but about fostering relationships and joint work among the participants on an ongoing basis. The best approach is likely to depend on the context. In some of the platforms that the NBDC established, where issues of conflict were not so pronounced, facilitators could openly prompt platform members to consider power dynamics. However, in other sites, practical engagement and active learning outside official meetings may be more effective.Subgroups can both help more marginalized groups increase their power through collective action and provide space for more powerful actors to reflect and build capacity for new approaches. Subgroups were developed in the NBDC platforms in response to weaknesses in community representation. Community subgroups gave marginalized members more power within the platform, while a subgroup for local administrators was used to train them in facilitating participatory planning. This echoes the view from the literature that it is not necessary to bring all stakeholders together in meetings; rather, facilitators should ideally develop and manage a process of working with the different actors, together or individually as deemed most appropriate, to challenge them toward systems thinking and support them in new ways of working (Ngwenya and Hagmann 2011).Role-playing games of various kinds can be used to simulate the roles played by different actors, allowing participants to put themselves in each other's shoes. This can help highlight the challenges faced by different actors, and in the experience of NBDC such games brought issues of conflict to the surface-but in a less threatening way as it was done in the context of a game-so that they could be openly discussed. (See Cullen et al. 2014a).In the NBDC, facilitation was at times provided remotely by project staff (in an attempt to ensure neutrality), but under this arrangement it proved difficult to engage as intensely as required to employ the approaches suggested above, except as occasional exercises. At other times, facilitation was provided by local non-government organizations, but these lacked capacity and time to provide active facilitation of processes in between occasional platform meetings and were not able to mediate power relations between government and communities. In practice, it was government staff who led platform activities, echoing the experience of Schad et al. (2011) in Vietnam. Although costly, a dedicated facilitator with a good understanding of local stakeholders, a neutral position (as far as possible) and the resources and time to devote to the process, would probably offer the best chance of navigating complex local relationships successfully. The reviewed literature also emphasized this point, see in particular Leeuwis (2000).Actors who may be very powerful at the level of a platform may themselves be constrained in their behavior. For example, local officials in Ethiopia are required to meet top-down targets and have limited time and resources, and often little incentive, to engage in more participatory planning (see Snyder et al. 2014). When this is the case, one response could be to engage higher levels of government to try to create more space and motivation for locally tailored planning (see Tucker et al. 2013b) and capacity building in participatory approaches. Those who are interested in participatory approaches may also lack the knowledge and skills to use them. Training can help (see Ayele et al. 2012), but the required shift in thinking, especially in a context such as Ethiopia, may be so great that long-term engagement and support is needed (see Schad et al. 2011). Role-playing games may also help in such situations, as they not only help decision makers understand the concerns of farmers but can make community members aware of the constraints under which local officials operate.","tokenCount":"11569"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3134003308.json b/data/part_1/3134003308.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..063e13c34fda369506f730f3705e743b625c44a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3134003308.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e2f7c6c0a16a53bff5f3d1d058ef167","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1551d29e-6d23-40f3-a851-1cd542a178e3/retrieve","id":"-1568684290"},"keywords":["Controller's Office Jose Belli","B.S.","Controller's Office Vilma Escudero","B.S.","Controller's Office Alfredo Gonzalez","B.S.","Controller's Office Alberto Monteblanco","C.P.C.","Controller's Office Djordje Velickovich","Copilot","General Operations Rocio Jimenez","B.S.","Auxiliary Services"],"sieverID":"b1bc1cfd-04e0-4c78-92b2-73a3cf9a5c0f","pagecount":"167","content":"E xciting things are happening worldwide in potato production. The dynamic relationships that have evolved between CIP and national research programs over the past 12 years are producing a steady flow of technological progress from the research scientist to the growers' fields.To try and capture in one annual report what has been happening in CIP's collaborative research work with countries around the world is a difficult task. As national programs progress in developing technologies -improved germplasm and potato production techniques-appropriate to their own growing conditions, it becomes almost impossible to differentiate between what has been contributed by national programs and by CIP directly. What is clear is that capable manpower must first exist within national research systems before technology transfer can take place. After all , it is the national researcher, the extensionist, the educator, and the agri-businessman who have the responsibility and ability to reach growers and affect changes in potato production.Any report written about CIP is really a report about national programs. Through their participation and involvement in CIP's regional network system, international research contracts, and research planning conferences, CIP has become part of more than 80 national potato programs worldwide.The 1983 Annual Report highlights manpower development through training and emphasizes contributions made by national programs. From the beginning, CIP has recognized that the transfer of technology to growers' fields depends more on the ability of national programs to make use of a technology than or: the technology alone . We have deliberately focused on enhancing the capability of national programs to conduct research relevant to specific growing conditions and to transfer the results to farmers' fields. These efforts are beginning to bear fruit and are evident throughout this 1983 report.The content of this year's report has been changed to incorporate a new Thrust. The 1982The -1983 external reviews of CIP's research organization recommended a modification to better depict the concentration of existing research priorities. As such, Thrust X, \"Potatoes in Developing Country Food Systems,\" was created. This addition will better reflect the role of the social scientists at CIP, as well as the participation and contribution of biological scientists involved in this new Thrust. This holistic approach to research has allowed us to focus our energies on priority, real-world issues that relate to potato production in the Third World.Special attention is given in this report to country network programsgroups of countries that have combined efforts and scientific expertise for the benefit of all members in the group. While CIP has been instrumental in identifying funding sources for joint ventures within these networks, the successes being enjoyed are due to the hard work and willingness of national scientists to collaborate with each other on mutual problems.As in previous years, we continue to present the latest advancements made within each Thrust. As improved clones become available , there is a corresponding increase in their movement to developing countries. True potato seed research continues to make headway and is demonstrating more clearly than ever the value of this approach to potato production in developing countries. Appropriate agronomical practices, using traditional methods for production in warm climates, are having wide acceptability; and the use of diffused-light stores for seed tubers became a reality quite some time ago. Basic research at CIP headquarters and through research contracts continues to add to the wealth of information that is permitting the potato to become a staple food in a wide range of environments around the globe .As this report goes to press, we will have just completed an introspective and retrospective examination of our work over the past 12 years. The results will be published in a document entitled Potato Improvement in the Developing World, A Collaborative Experience. In this publication one can see why the successes we are now enjoying with potato improvement in developing countries can be attributed to the collaboration between CIP and national research and ex tension systems. This collaborative effort has been the force behind all progress made by CIP, and it is this force that will continue to be essential to CIP's progress in the future .T o develop, adapt, and expand the research necessary for the technology to solve priority problems that limit potato production in developing countries. This includes adapting the collective knowledge that has contributed to the stepwise increase in potato production in developed countries.The world potato collection accumulated by CIP provides ample opportunity for research breakthroughs through the exploitation of this large quantity of previously unavailable genetic resources. Dr. Werner Hunnius 1929-1983 It In the Andean region, native cultivars are being replaced, habitats of wild species are being destroyed, and poor maintenance and loss of accessions are constant problems in national gene pools. Breeding new resistant potatoes depends on access to genetic resources. Through many difficult collection expeditions in the Andes and donations, CIP has accumulated, over the past 12 years, 13 ,000 specimens of primitive cultivated potatoes.From these 13,000 accessions, CIP's world potato collection has been reduced to 5000 classified cultivated accessions. Identical accessions were verified by electrophoretic pherograms of proteins and enzymes (fingerprint patterns) and converted to true seed before discarding. This approach to verifying duplicates is unique among world gene banks. By reducing quantity, the quality of the collection has been improved, also making in vitro and field maintenance more efficient.Some 1500 accessions from 90 tuber-bearing wild species have been collected by CIP expeditions. Twelve new species have been discovered, and 24, which previously existed only in herbaria, have been rediscovered.'True seed from wild species are being stored for long-term preservation. Species that have no seed are being converted in vitro. During the last five years, genetic barriers preventing crossing and gene transfer between species have been overcome through tissue culture techniques.A frequency of 2°/o to 10°/o resistant genotypes was observed when thousands of wild and cultivated potatoes were screened for specific resistance factors. An estimated 90°/o of the available genetic diversity of the gene pool awaits evaluation. Descriptors for computer management of morphological and other data have been developed. Data on each accession in the collection is now available through CIP's computerized data management system.The general philosophy is • to maintain wide genetic diversity for high yield and stability of performance • to increase frequency of genes controlling desirable attributes • to establish a population breeding strategy based on recurrent selection with progeny testing • to stimulate recombination of desirable attributes within families and populations• to use a multidisciplinary approach to maximize use of genetic resources CIP's breeding program has direct access to the single most extensive potato germplasm collection in the world . Breeding for disease and pest resistance and environmental adaptation involves the cooperation of CIP's multidisciplinary Thrusts and the support of research contracts.The breeding strategy is based on crossing superior parents, screening their progenies for desired genetic attributes, and making further crosses using those improved progenies with good combining ability as parents. This approach develops genetically diverse families of progenies bred for yield, along with specific combinations of resistances to diseases , pests, and environmental stress.It is necessary to have advanced clones adapted to diverse climates. Three broad populations, containing progenies with various combinations of characters, have been the source of advanced clones sent to developing countries:• Highland tropics -yield, frost tolerance, and resistance to late blight, cyst nematodes, wart disease , and potato virus Y (PVY).• Lowland tropics -yield, heat tolerance , earliness, and resistance to late blight, bacterial wilt and PVY.• Subtropical -yield, and resistance to early blight, late blight, and potato viruses X and Y. This population developed from temperate climate sources including material from contract research.The successful impact made by these advanced clones from CIP and contract breeding programs can be best judged by the varieties that have been evaluated and named by developing country programs. Two new varieties were added to the list of varieties named or released by 22 countries. A bacterial wilt-resistant clone has been selected in Kenya, while Argentina has identified 23 clones with resistance to potato leafroll virus .Of major importance are potato leafroll virus (PLRV), and potato viruses X and Y (PYX and PVY). These viruses are spread by aphid vectors, by plantto-plant contact, and through infected tubers from one cropping season to the next.Quarantine control and seed tuber certification are enforced in the international trade of potato seed tubers . Seed tubers exported by CIP are 18 accompanied by a phytosanitary statement detailing the tests used to ensure their pathogen-free status.As quoted in the Journal of Applied Biology : Various International Organizations and commercial firms have a particular role to play in setting and maintaining health standards of the type now enforced by the International Potato Center when distributing breeding stocks around the world.CIP is a leader in developing modifications of various virus detection techniques. Sensitive methods such as the latex test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), various serological procedures, and indicator hosts are used routinely at CIP.For virus detection , large amounts of antisera are prepared and distributed to national programs. An ELISA kit for use in developing countries has been designed at CIP, while adaptations of standard detection measures have been devised for the convenient use of national programs.The potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV), a virus-like infectious agent, is of special quarantine significance in the international export of potatoes. A simplified electrophoretic detection system for this viroid has been developed, as well as an ultrasensitive spot-hybridization test that can detect PSTV even in a single minute true seed. The spot test was developed by CIP in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture .CIP is leading the way in the use of heat therapy and tissue culture 1) to ensure virus-free condition of breeding stocks and 2) to export advanced tuber lines to national programs. World knowledge on viral pathogens of potatoes has been advanced by CIP's identification of eight previously undescribed viruses.Through increased reliability of health status and rapid production of pathogen-tested clones, CIP has made substantial contributions to improving international standards for export of potato seed tubers and true potato seed.Breeding resistant clones is one of the components necessary for an integrated pest management program . The addition of each new resistance factor in a breeding program results in an exponential increase in the number of seedlings to be screened.Extreme selectivity must be exercised in choosing which of the 128 insect and 67 nematode species require priority. CIP has focused on cyst and rootknot nematodes and potato tuber moth (PTM), all of worldwide interest.• A high frequency of clones resistant to cyst nematodes has been selected through breeding. Hybrids have been bred with resistance to root galling and egg mass production by Meloidogyne root-knot nematodes.• From over 40 primitive cultivars and wild species with resistance to PTM, crosses are now being made to breed potatoes that are high-yielding, resistant to PTM, and adapted to lowland tropics.Renewed interest in the biological control of nematodes has been stimulated by CIP's discovery of a parasitic fungus, Paecilomyces lilacinus, that attacks and destroys egg masses of root-knot nematodes. Through cooperation with North Carolina State University's International Meloidogyne Project, trials on the fungus are being carried out in 46 countries. In field trials, the fungus has proved superior to a widely used nematicide. P. lilacinus, which persisted in field plots during a three-year study, is non-pathogenic to crops, spreads rapidly in the soil, and also shows promise in controlling other crops.Insecticides often fail to prevent PIM infection of tubers-a pest which shows increased insecticide resistance. Commercial potato varieties are highly susceptible to PTM . CIP has developed a simple procedure to impregnate small rubber caps with PTM sex pheromone. Pheromones are used to lure male moths into traps, thereby reducing PTM populations and tuber damage in the field and stores. Pheromone traps are also used to monitor PIM populations so that insecticide treatments can be regulated more economically or even omitted.In stores, biological insecticide dust, the use of insect-repellent weeds layered over tubers, and wire screening are effective in controlling PTM . Other research on biological control of PTM has identified parasites that may be potentially effective against this pest. Mixed cropping with onion, maize, and soybean has also consistently reduced PTM damage.Fourteen developing countries are involved in further testing of various biocontrol components -particularly PTM sex pheromones.• Leaf miner fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis, is readily attracted to and trapped by yellow-green surfaces with sticky coatings.• CIP has cosponsored and cooperated in research on insect-trapping glandular trichomes. This approach has reached the advanced clonal stage in breeding and is of considerable interest in both developing and developed countries.By combining host resistance , effective biological controls, and judicious use of insecticides, CIP can provide a practical and acceptable control package for pest management in developing countries.Active research on potato production in warm climates is being conducted in nine countries. Both breeding and agronomic management are the keys to developing heat-tolerant potatoes that can be produced in warm climate conditions. CIP has made steady progress in breeding potatoes for heat stress conditions. A succession of advanced clones, particularly the high-yielding LT series, has clearly demonstrated the potato's adaptability to warm climates. CIP heat-tolerant clones DT0-33 and LT-2 are yielding well in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.The first step in selection was to develop, through contract research, a seedling screening technique for early identification of potential heat-tolerant 19 clones. A computer model to predict field behavior under tropical conditions has been deve loped. Resistances to warm-climate pathogens, including resistance to bacterial wilt, root-knot nematodes, and PVY have been combined and incorporated into breeding lines.Agronomic manage ment practices have been developed to modify heat stress:• High quality seed tubers of correct physiological age permit vigorous emergence that is further accelerated by correct planting depth , closer spacing, and mulching.• Soil tempe rature can be modified by interplanting with maize, planting on the cool-facing side of slopes, and row orientation.• Rotation and no hilling reduce the incidence of bacterial wilt.• Genotype selection and methods that maximize radiation interception by potato crops during the growing season improve total dry matter yield-photosynthetic efficiency tends to be reduced in warm climates.Use of true potato seed (TPS), initiated at CIP in 1977 , is a viable alternative to traditional seed tuber propagation and offers major advantages under many agroeconomic situations . Adoption of TPS technology is being followed closely in Peru , Sri Lanka , Bangladesh , India , South Korea, and Rwanda . TPS is cheaper, eliminates storage and transportation problems, and overcomes transfer of major degenerative viruses and the need for complicated seed certification schemes. TPS makes available 1.5 to 2 t/ ha of seed tubers as food and also frees land previously used to produce seed tubers.Tuber uniformity of plants grown from TPS , equivalent to varietal uniformity , has been achieved. Produ ction by seedling transplants or seedling tubers is generally superior to direct field seeding.Hybrid TPS has consistently outproduced open-pollinated (OP) progenies. The productivity of OP, produced by farmers, is being gradually improved.• In 1982, 23°/o of improved progenies gave a tuber yield of more than 2 kg/ plant.• Average yield of OP progenies in three developed and three developing countries under experimental field conditions was 37 t/ha.• In on-farm trials in Peru , directed by farmers , yields from TPS were equal or superior to those produced by farmers' seed tubers.In diffused-light stores (DLS), seed tubers exposed to indirect light produce short, stout sprouts in contrast to the spindly, elongated sprouts produced in the dark. Since 1979 , thousands of farmers have adopted low-cost DLS , ::ranging in size from 200 kg capacity to 100 tons. Twenty-four of 28 comparisons revealed that potatoes stored in DLS exceeded the yield of cold-stored seed tu be rs.Pests in DLS have been effectively controlled by repellent weeds, sex pheromone traps, and biological insecticides. Tuber greening and ventilation of tubers stored in shallow layers suppressed anaerobic soft-rot bacteria.Sprout suppressants used in naturally ventilated stores permitted successful storage of consumer potatoes for six months with storage losses under 2°/o per month. At the farm level, average storage losses were reduced from 26°/o to 8°/o over six months by using improved DLS technology.In potato processing, solar drying, \"black box\" dehydrators, and a lowcost pilot plant demonstrated the feasibility of village-scale papa seca (form of dehydrated potato) and starch. Emphasis has now shifted to processed food mixes, which are cost-effective and have enhanced nutrition through po ta to-cereal-legume combinations.• One mix, M6, containing 30°/o dried potato with flours of rice, bean, oats, barley, and maize, had good product acceptability in Peru after being sampled by more than 1000 individuals, plus an eight-month trial with a community kitchen where more than 100 children are fed daily.• The mixes are easily reconstituted with water and boiled for 25 minutes to ensure sterility-one kilogram provides 50 standard food portions (250 ml).• CIP's low-cost pilot plant and solar drying facilities are now being used to produce dried potato mixes as well as potato mash and dehydrated french fries.Practical postharvest technologies for storing consumer and seed potatoes and for processing potato-based foods are undergoing continuous evaluation and improvement to meet the needs of developing countries.Networking, in which country programs pool their resources to establish an integrated research program, has been pioneered by CIP. The organization PRECODEPA was established in Central America in 1978 and has proved to be a dynamic, productive research network. Two other operational works are SAPPRAD in Southeast Asia and PRACIPA in the Andean zone of South America. T he cultivated potato originated on the high plains (altiplano) in what are now parts of Peru and Bolivia. This center of diversity is not only for the potato but also for its major pests and diseases.CIP has four experimental stations located between latitudes 6° and l 2°S that represent the four major agroecological zones of Peru : Lima-La Molina, arid; Huancayo, highlands; San Ramon, midelevation tropics; and Yurimaguas, low, humid tropics . The small range of latitudes gives little variation in daylength, but the geographical location of CIP's stations ensures wide variation in altitude, temperature, rainfall regimes, soil types, and incidences of pests and diseases. All major climatic characteristics of tropical zones found in the developing world are represented within Peru's four agroecological zones.  Thrust is a term used by CIP to denote a major research area in which all departments participate to create a multidisciplinary team of scientists. Within each Thrust, individual projects change according to annual progress evaluations and analyses of priority problem areas. Each Thrust has a coordinator responsible for integrating the various project activities. Long-term planning for each Thrust is guided by recommendations from international planning conferences, which address specific priority topics. CIP has established research contracts with leading institutions in both developed and developing countries to augment its research base and to provide support for various Thrust projects.As research progresses and results are produced, technologies emerge that require development and evaluation. Early in its formation, CIP established a global network of scientists to evaluate the emerging technologies in various sociological and ecological environments of the world, and to adapt and transfer the knowledge to national research programs. The technology transfer program has been organized into seven Regions, each staffed by a senior CIP scientist who develops collaborative projects with national scientists. CIP's seven regions are headquartered in Colombia (I) , Brazil (II) , Kenya (III), Egypt (IV) , Tunisia (V), India (VI), and the Philippines (VII).n previous years research concentrated on collecting and classifying tuberbearing Solanums. These activities have been reduced , and emphasis has shifted to the maintenance and use of CIP's largely unexploited germplasm. The fertility and crossability of 30 species in five taxonomic series were studied to determine evolutionary relationships and compatibilities. The coastal species of Peru exhibited strong crossability barriers in contrast to the mountain species in the series Tuberosa.About 200 clones were transferred to in vitro, long-term storage conditions ; from this group , S 1 were propagated to replace damaged material. Proembryos arrested in an early stage of development have been successfully cultivated on a sucrose osmoticum .The Andean cultivar collection was increased by adding 1866 accessions from Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. More than 100 genetically different Andean cultivars have been added to the in vitro collection to widen CIP's germplasm distribution and to avoid genetic losses due to crop failure . A book dealing with taxonomy of the tuber-bearing Solanums is in progress. The first volume will focus on the potatoes of Bolivia and should be ready for publication in the near future. A new facility for tissue culture and true seed storage is being constructed at CIP headquarters in Lima and will be ready for use in early 1984.To use germplasm efficiently, it is necessary to understand its biosystematic status; therefore, studies concentrated on interspecific and interseries crossability behavior of a group of selected materials. This group is of special interest because of its resistances and adaptation to extreme ecological conditions. Thirty species were studied from five taxonomic series: Olmosiana, Ingaefolia, Circaeifolia, Conicibaccata, and Tuberosa. In total, 7000 pollinations representing 400 crosses were made and about 175 ,000 seeds were obtained. Some of these crosses will be used for morphological analysis in F 1 populations.The two closely related series Ingaefolia and Olmosiana were investigated to establish the crossability of the species Solanum jalcae , whose taxonomic position has been uncertain. The results demonstrated that S. jalcae should be grouped with series Ingaefolia to which it is most closely related. The results obtained from crosses between members of the series Conicibaccata and Circaeifolia demonstrated that these two should not be fused into one series. The crossability barriers that exist between them are such that this position could not be justified.The species S. capsicibaccatum from series Circaeifolia, whose members are particularly difficult to cross with species from other series, has been successfully hybridized with the frost-resistant , high mountain species S. bukasovii from the series Tuberosa. The S. capsicibaccatum x S. bukasovii hybrids crossed easily with diploid cultivated and tuberosum haploid material; whereas S. capsicibaccatum did not cross with cultivated potatoes directly. In this way , strong resistance to various pathotypcs of Globodera pallida (potato cyst nematode) , which is found in some clones of S. capsicibaccatum , may be transferred to cultivated parental material.Crosses between members of the series Tuberosa and Conicibaccata have also been successful. The two species S. leptophyes and S. sparsipilum from series Tuberosa, with resistance to G. pallida, hybridized with the frost-and late blightresistant species S. chomatophilum (Fig. I-1) from the series Conicibaccata. Although more work is needed on interspecific and interseries crossability behavior, crossability barriers are no longer an obstacle to using many of the wild species in breeding programs.One of the crossability barriers that was unknown until recently is the endosperm balance number (EBN)-a theory proposed by Johnston and Hanneman in 1980. In this theory, the genome of each species is assigned an \"effective ploidy\" (or EBN) with respect to endosperm function by crossing to a species used as a standard. It is the EBNs that must be in a 2: 1 maternal: paternal chromosome ratio for normal endosperm development. As the EBN of more species is determined , interspecific hybridizations become easier. Embryo culture has also proved useful in obtaining vigorous hybrids from crosses that have been previously unsuccessful.In addition to the interseries crossability studies that were carried out during 1983, a set of crosses within the series Tuberosa was also made. This study confirmed the field observation that strong crossability barriers exist between many species on the Pacific Coast of Peru and that no such barriers exist between the mountain species of the same series. A series of crosses including all known species from the Pacific Coast of South America , with the exception of S. maglia , clearly demonstrated that strong crossability barriers exist between some of the coastal species. The species S. mochicense and S. chancayense, native to the centra l Peruvian coast, are the two most closely related and can be crossed without any problems.The species S. wittmackii and S. hypacrarthrum also hybridize with relative ease although they are markedly different morphologically. S. hypacrarthrum , however, is not a true coastal species, as it is found mostly in the central Andean region of Peru (around 2500-3500 m). Species S. wittmackii occurs primarily in the areas surrounding Lima, near the Pacific Ocean (300-400 m), and occasionally at 3000 m to 3500 m near the natural habitat of S. hypacrarthrum. These two species are as isolated from each other as some of the other Peruvian coastal species.In contrast to the coastal species from series Tuberosa, there are no crossability barriers between the mountain species even if they are separated by more than 1000 km .The reasons for these differences are not yet clear. It is possible, however, that the Peruvian coast, which is one of the driest deserts in the world , prevented any kind of gene exchange between geographically isolated coastal species, and that genetic barriers evolved as a result of complete geographic isolation . This is not the only possible explanation , since crossability barriers also exist between sympatric species.During 1983, CIP started transferring the accessions of CIP's world potato collection to in vitro. Experiments were conducted to reduce virus concentration in the plants by applying the nucleoside analogue Virazole to the plants before shoot tips were excised. In a second set of experiments, shoot tips were cultured for two weeks in a culture medium that contained Virazole. The results of these experiments were positive.About 200 clones have been transferred to in vitro storage and are being maintained under long-term conditions. Fifty-one clones were propagated to replace material that was lost due to lack of tu berization under extremely high temperature conditions.Rescue of early stage embryos. Proembryos arrested in an early stage of development were cultivated and exposed to an osmotic gradient in which sucrose or mannitol was used as an osmoticum. The osmotic gradient helps the development of early stage embryos if sucrose is used as the osmoticum. Other media ad-ditions had no positive effect on the rate of germination.A new Genetic Resources Laboratory is being added to CIP's facilities, which will include space to process and store true potato seed (TPS) and in vitro cultures from the world potato collection.CIP's collection of Andean cultivars, maintained in the field at Huancayo , has been increased with the introduction of 1866 accessions from Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. These new accessions appear to contain several new cultivars not previously included in the collection . Also, 765 duplicate accessions have been converted into true seed for storage and their tubers eliminated.To broaden the distribution of CIP materials and also to avoid genetic losses due to crop failure in the field , 101 genetically different Andean cultivars, comprising 86 diploid and 15 triploid cultivars, were added to the in vitro collection. Furthermore, seed samples of 43 accessions were tested in a 10°/o seed sample and found to be negative for PSTV infection. A total of 230 seed lots and 1835 tuber samples were screened at CIP for several pests and diseases.In ongoing contract research at the Federal Biological Institute in Braunschweig, Germany , an additional 1500 accessions of CIP's germplasm collection were investigated for duplicates , about 2800 pherograms were evaluated. The number of duplicates thought to be different by morphological criteria, but found to be identical after being checked by electrophoresis (pH 8.9 and pH 7.9), remained as previously determined (1974 -1978). This means that about one fifth of the collected samples are genetically different.Steady progress is being made on a book dealing with the taxonomy of tuberbearing Solanums. Instead of being released in a single volume , which would take many years to complete, the work is being prepared in parts, the first of which should be ready in the near future. This volume will deal with the potatoes of Bolivia, one of the least known Andean regions from the standpoint of potato taxonomy. The germplasm from this country offers, at the present time , great potential as a source of germplasm for breeding purposes.. ..esearch activities centered on three general areas: genetic research on specific traits; breeding methods and use of germ plasm; and the pathogentested collection and international distribution of germ plasm. Genetic studies revealed significant advances in breeding for earliness and high yield. Advances were also made in clarifying the inheritance of resistance to root-knot nematode. A study on the inheritance of heat tolerance indicated that more progress can be expected in this particular program.Heritability estimates indicated that large genetic gains can be made for foliage maturity , average tuber weight, and resistance to root-knot nematode. Work on ploidy manipulation continued and several diploid populations were developed with combined specific resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses . An extensive 4x-2x crossing program to transfer these resistances to the tetraploid level is in progress. CIP's breeding program for combining heat tolerance and bacterial wilt resistance has enabled countries such as Sri Lanka, Fiji, Kenya, and Rwanda to select advanced material and name varieties.Thirty-five clones were added to the pathogen-tested collection, which now contains 189 clones -145 (about 77°/o) of these have been requested by national potato programs. During 1983, more than 30,000 plantlets were propagated in vitro and handed over to CIP's seed program for worldwide \"distribution. The list of pathogen-tested clones has been revised and distributed to collaborating scientists in national programs. A total of 138 advanced and 51 wild and primitive cultivars are now available for international distribution.In a random sample of 11 tetraploid clones crossed in a diallel mating design, estimates of narrow sense heritability (h 2 ) were .70 for inheritance of foliage maturity, .17 for average yield per plant, and .35 for average tuber weight at various dates of harvesting. These estimates demonstrated the significant potential for improvement achieved at CIP in breeding for earliness. Among the clones used, CIP clone 800169 proved to be an outstanding parent in breeding for earliness and high yield.A study was completed on determining the inheritance of resistance to root-knot nematode. A sample of seven progenitors was crossed in a diallel mating design including reciprocals. A heritability estimate of h 2 = .75 was determined and significant reciprocal effects were found. Cytoplasm from resistant clones increased the expected frequency of resistant individuals in the progeny.A random sample of 13 male clones from a population adapted to the lowland tropics was crossed to a random sample of 4 females from the same population. The genetic variability for heat tolerance was estimated, using the North Carolina Mating Design I. Heritability for yield under the hot summer environments of San Ramon and La Molina was estimated to be h 2 = .23, which indicates that further advances are possible in breeding for heat tolerance. Uniformity trials were done to determine the optimum plot size for evaluating seedlings from the lowland tropic populations. The optimum size ranged between 20 and 60 seedlings per plot and was found to be a function of the withinplot variances.In contract research carried out at Cornell University, New York, 24 clones selected in 1982 from the 7th cycle neotuberosum (andigena) population were crossed with a tuberosum tester clone, NY66 . The seedlings were transplanted to the field and evaluated for yield, uniformity, and tuber appearance. Five crosses produced seedlings that yielded about the same as Work on ploidy manipulations continued at CIP headquarters. Haploids (2n=2x= 24) were extracted from highly selected tetraploids and then crossed to tuberbearing wild species and primitive cultivars in order to transfer disease and insect resistances and to increase genetic variability . Selection for 2n pollen production (pollen with the unreduced chromosome number) was carried out to facilitate the transfer of the combination of traits achieved at the diploid level to the tetraploid level through 4x -2x crosses. Results obtained so far indicate that 2n pollen formed by First Division Restitution (FDR) transfers 80°/o of the genotype of the diploids intact to their tetraploid progeny in 4x -2~ crosses. Several diploid populations with specific resistances to major abiotic and biotic stresses have been developed (Table 11-1). Crosses are being made between selected tetraploid females and resistant diploids that produce 2n pollen.In contract research on 4x-2x hybrids at the University of Wisconsin,11 cultivars (4x) were crossed to 25 2x-clones that produced 2n pollen by either parallel spindles (the gene ps) or an impairment of synapsis (sy3) combined with parallel spindles (i.e., sy3 plus ps). This was done to determine the parental effects on vine maturity, tuber appearance and yield. Significant differences in vine maturity were observed in the 4x and 2x parents, and in the 4x families. The maturity of the 4x families was highly correlated with the 2x parent, but not the 4x parent. This indicated that selection for maturity, based on parent phenotype among 2x clones that produce 2n pollen, would be effective in determining 4x family maturities. Similar results were obtained for tuber appearance. Thus, highly heterozygous 2x hybrids with smooth tubers can be selected.The correlations between the yields of the 2x parents and the 4x progenies were low. This indicated that selection of 2x parents to increase total yield in 4x progeny from 4x-2x crosses should be based on progeny testing. The families obtained from several new 4x-2x crosses outyielded the best cultivar.More than 100 tuberosum haploids were crossed with Solanum chacoense (chc) introductions selected for the production of 2n gametes. Haploid S. chacoense hybrids (HC) vary widely for tuber yield ; certain haploids when crossed with chc gave high-yielding HC segregants. Use of selected haploids is an excellent method for transferring wild species germplasm into cultivated germplasm.Contract work at the Plant Breeding Department of the Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands, has developed fertile diploid clones with a desynapsis gene in which only 2n-FDR gametes are functional. F 1 populations from diploid x diploid matings consisted of tetraploid progeny only. The genotypes obtained were about equal to those resulting from somatic hybridizations of diploid parents. The desynapsis gene occurring in the material under study was observed to be expressed in micro-as well as megasporogenesis. The goal is to develop nearapomictic potatoes that produce true seed with the maternal genotype.A study of selection for tuberosum-like tubers and vines within the neotuberosum population has been completed at Cornell University. Selection for vine-type alone resulted in a 161°/o improvement in the vine type and a 24°/o improvement in tuber type. Selection for tuber type alone resulted in a 39°/o increase in tuber score and a 62°/o increase in vine score. Simultaneous selection for vine and tuber type produced a 117°/o increase in vine score and a 37°/o increase in tuber score . The resu lts of this study indicated that 1) there is a correlated response to selection for vine and tuber type , and that 2) the neotuberosum population has reached the stage where it is very usable in hybridizations with tuberosum . Even without crossing neotuberosum with tuberosum , tuberosum-like clones with regard to tuber appearance and vine type can be obtained.A stain-clearing technique for observations within whole ovules was developed under contract at the University of Wisconsin. With this technique , megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis can be observed with speed and accuracy. Whole ovaries are stained with Mayer's hemalum and then cleared with methyl salicylate. Clarity , resolution, and contrast within ovules dissected from ovaries were as good as those obtained from paraffin sections; however, the stain-clearing technique was much easier and faster. The new method made it possible to detect 2n eggs and to determine their frequency and mode of formation. Most 2n eggs were formed through the failure of the second meiotic division; the frequency of this failure varied from 10°/o to 50°/o. Female sterility , previou sly difficult to investigate, can now be studied using this new cytological technique.Bree ding to combine bacterial wilt, late blight, and other resistances was continued at CIP-Lima and in the regions. In evaluations made in Peru , the highest performers among the clones selected for high yield, resistance to bacterial wilt, late blight, and viruses are listed in Table II-2. At North Carolina State University, a diploid breeding program, supported by CIP, evaluated 83 clones for resistance to Alternaria so Zani (early blight) in a replicated trial. Three replications of the 83 clones were inoculated twice with a spore suspension of A . solani and subsequently evaluated for number of lesions and percent of defoliation (Horsfall-Barrett rating). Under severe environmental stress conditions, all previously resistant clones were still resistant, but many clones exhibited less resistance than in previous years. Thirty-eight clones were still highly resistant even under these conditions. In addition, 86 clones, selected from 1982 single-hill seedlings, were inoculated with A . solani and tested in single-row plots. Twenty clones were highly resistant.COLLABORATION WITH CIP'S REGIONAL RESEARCH CENTERS CIP regional staff in cooperation with national programs conducted extensive field trials to evaluate CIP clonal introductions for adaptability to local conditions. In Table II   In Rwanda, three clones introduced by CIP (720118, 800935, and 377831.1) showed lower incidence of bacterial wilt and higher yields than the standard local variety. In Burundi, located south of Rwanda, the first priority is for combined bacterial wilt and late blight resistance. The variety Montsama and clones 720088 and 720118 have shown good potential. More than 27 ,000 new clones were received in Burundi during 1983 and will be evaluated in the field during 1984.Germplasm released from quarantine in India was multiplied and tested during 1982-1983, and six superior clones were selected for further trials in Region VI. In Sri Lanka,clones 379418.40,379420.15,379420.40,and 379421.75 were found to be completely resistant to bacterial wilt. Eleven bacterial wilt-resistant clones with heat tolerance were retested during 1982-1983 in this island country.In Region VII, the multiplication and testing site in Santa Lucia, Philippines, has had a successful year in germplasm evaluation. Of the 126 clones and cultivars from CIP and other sources that were tested in five trials, the varieties Cosima, Arka, and Piratini were superior. By means of a rapid multiplication procedure using sprout cuttings, approximately 5000 tubers of LT-2 and various quantities of DT0-33 and other cultivars were produced at Santa Lucia. Most of this germplasm has been supplied to Indonesia and Vietnam for local evaluation. The Argentine variety Serrana, introduced by CIP into Vietnam, gave excellent yields in the north; while in the south at Dalat, Atzimba, CFK 69-1, and B-71-240.2 were the best performers.In Thailand, where the potato-growing area is relatively cool, the varieties currently grown are Kennebec and Spunta. Among the new clones introduced there by CIP, DT0-2, 38 and Sequoia appear to be excellent, highyielding alternatives to the present varieties. Fiji, also served by the Santa Lucia station, has released CIP clone 800226 as the variety Domoni. Following its release, 47 other clones were tested: four outyielded Domoni in both yield and tuber weight, were earlier, and showed good potential as new varieties. They will be reevaluated in 1984 for bacterial wilt resistance.In Seu th America, the Brazilian organization EMBRAP A (Region II) selected from previously introduced germplasm, 23 clones with resistance to viruses and 17 clones with bacterial wilt resistance . Nine clones specifically selected for adaptation to the aluminum toxic and phosphatedeficient cerrado soils are being multiplied for further evaluation and for recurrent breeding and selection in Lima.In the international program for testing and selecting late blight-resistant material, a population of 3343 clones from 79 families was sent to Rio Negro, Colombia, in Region I. Due to climatic disturbances caused by El Nino, late blight incidence was low, although there was severe damage to susceptible commercial varieties. About 80°/o of the population tested appeared to be resistant. At harvest time, after 120 days, 318 clones were selected for earliness and other agronomic characters (Table 11-4). Of the 318 clones, 111 were suitable for non-Andean tropical and subtropical countries with regard to maturity (90-120 days) , skin color, eye depth, and tuber shape.Duplicates of these clones are being increased under quarantine conditions and will be evaluated further at the Toluca Valley site in Mexico for late blight resistance. The third group to enter the international testing program was grown and harvested under quarantine conditions at CIP's Huancayo site in Peru. Two tubers each from a population of 3331 clones representing 125 families were shipped to Colombia; duplicates were stored in Lima. In CIP's Region IV, new breeding lines from CIP are being supplied to Turkey's national program under a contract that was established when the regional headquarters was transferred from Turkey to Egypt in 1983.Argentina. Contract research at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INT A), Balcarce, Argentina, carried out some 10,000 pollinations to produce botanical seed of about 100 successful parental combinations. These crosses were planned to combine virus resistance with yield under relatively long days and warm weather. From crosses made in previous years, 13,000 seedlings were raised and tubers produced. The genotypes raised from these tubers will undergo selection in future seasons. In a search for haploids, 2023 seeds without embryo spot were found-the absence of embryo spot indicates that this seed might be haploid. Australia. At the Department of Agriculture Station, Victoria, Australia , 10 advanced clones were grown in insectproof cages and in the field under CIP contract during 1982-1983. Sets of tubers for each clone and also for six varieties were distributed to Fiji, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Kingdom of Tonga, Guam, and the Republic of Vanuatu. Two additional sets of tubers were held for Vanuatu and one each for Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Other pathogen-free samples were sent to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka. Ten CIP clones and six Indonesian cultivars were heat-treated, cultured in vitro, indexed for virus, and multiplied prior to shipment.Canada. At CIP it is necessary to be able to predict with better efficiency how advanced clones will perform in the different environments found in developing countries. A research contract was established with Agriculture Canada, Fredericton, New Brunswick, which has international leadership in developing a biometrical model to predict the response of tuberosum genotypes to environmental stress. During 1983, trials were conducted in Bangladesh, Canada, Philippines, Peru, Brazil, Tunisia, Turkey, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. This year 800 lbs of Elite II seed have been produced and will be tested in five countries in 1984.Twenty scientists from Southeast Asia attended a production and germplasm management course in the Philippines so that procedures for evaluation of the material distributed from Australia could be standardized. The only other course on germplasm was conducted in Colombia, where staff from the breeding programs of eight Central and South American countries were trained . into plantlets 5-10 cm high with good root systems. After an adaptation period, the plantlets were transferred directly to pots or seedbeds. CIP's list of pathogen-tested cultivars was revised during 1983 and distributed to cooperating scientists . By the end of September, 138 advanced cultivars and 51 wild and primitive cultivars were available for international distribution. All materials distributed (Table II- Bacterial and Fungal Diseases I n breeding and .screenin~ for bacterial \":i~t resistance, additional tetraploid groups of genetically vanable tuber families were developed. Diploid populations with different sources of resistance (e.g., Solanum phureja and Solanum sparsipilum) were crossed with agronomically advanced diploids and the resulting progenies evaluated for agronomic characteristics. Growth studies were concluded on different isolates of Pseudomonas solanacearum through a temperature range of 10° to l 4°C. The isolate collection now contains 228 bacterial isolates, including recent acquisitions from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Rwanda , and Sri Lanka.Breeding for late blight resistance continued to broaden the source population and number of parental lines and to introduce earliness and improved agronomic characters. Despite droughts at two test sites in Rio Negro, Colombia, and Huanuco, Peru, late blight-resistant clones with excellent agronomic characters were selected at both sites. Experiments at Rio Negro on the interaction between fungicidal spraying and different levels of resistance showed that 1) yield was correlated with spray frequency, 2) resistance and fungicide response exhibited a strong interaction, and 3) yielding ability and resistance were clearly independent traits. Screening for late blight resistance in tubers was initiated at Lima; the first results have indicated that good levels of resistance are present in both the germplasm collection and in advanced genetic material.Various Experience has shown that material with known resistance to specific isolates may also be resistant to other pathogenic isolates of P. solanacearum .The second goal was to develop a diploid population whose resistance to BW was based on new sources of resistance different from Solanum phureja (MBN population). A population of highly resistant diploids derived from Solanum sparsipilum were combined with a population of agronomically advanced diploids from a North Carolina State University project . Of this population , about 10,000 hybrid seedlings were grown in the field in Huancayo and selected for agronomic characters. From 50 families, 628 clones were selected and will be tested for resistance to various strains of P. solanacearum and for resistance to potato tuber moth in stores. This population will be used in tetraploid-diploid crosses to generate a highly variable tetraploid population that combines resistance from various specific sources (Fig. III-1) .Breeding for resistance to bacterial wilt and late blight. Over the past six years, hundreds of clone s bred by the University of Wisconsin program and later by CIP have been screened in Peru for bacterial wilt and late blight (LB) resistance. The most promising clones were also tested in other countries and then entered into CIP's pathogen-tested program (Table III-1) for distribution.  Drastic selection procedures are being applied with recently developed clones from the 1981 crosses. From 111 clones screened in the greenhouse at Lima and transplanted to the field, 53 were selected for testing at Huanuco, Peru. These were planted at three Huanuco sites: Umari for BW, Molinos for LB resistance and yield , and at the University of Huanuco, at a lower elevation , for heat-adaptation yield trials. After the first two tests were completed, five clones (3810A46.502, A46.503 , A47.505 , A65.503, A71.501) were selected that were BW resistant, had moderate LB resistance, and gave good yields.It is important to note that breeding for bacterial wilt resistance has been conducted on the basis of limited information about races and strains of P solanacearum, since most studies have so far only been done in the Americas. CIP's expanding collection of isolates, including those from Africa and Asia, now totals 228. The most recent acquisitions are from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. A duplicate collection is being maintained by the Plant Disease Division Culture Collection, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Auckland , New Zealand. This duplicate collection will permit mapping studies on the geographical distribution of pathogenic strains, which will aid in predicting the performance of resistances being developed for any location.Studies on P. solanacearum isolates.Growth studies on the isolate collection were conducted in a temperature gradient incubator calibrated with a range of 10°-40°C. Twenty-four isolates of both race 1 (biovar I) and race 3 (biovar II) from cool and warm locations were used. Isolates from the highest latitudes came from Sweden and Argentina; those from warm and cool locations in the tropics came from Peru -Yurimaguas (180 m) and Chocon (3500 m, near Huancayo). Growth temperature curves were similar for all isolates, with the average very close to the maximum. The minimum temperatures were variable due to lack of precise spectrophotometric readings at low concentrations of the bacteria.In Sri Lanka, biovar II is typically found in the cool upland regions . In collaborative work between CIP and the Sri Lanka national program, four soil types from different locations were artificially inoculated with biovar II and planted with BW-resistant clone 800224. Bacterial wilt was first observed 14 days after planting, and all plants developed symptoms by the 26th day under the high temperature conditions prevailing at the test site. The survival of biovar II under hot, coastal conditions at J affna (10°N) was observed following an outbreak of BW resulting from infected seed . Sixteen of 22 isolates were biovar II and 6 were biovar III . The foregoing and other observations suggested a ready accommodation of so-called \"cool temperature\" isolates of P. solanacearum to \"warm temperature\" conditions.Biological control of bacterial wilt. Contract research at the University of Wisconsin has contributed valuable insight into the basic biology of P. solanacearum. In the biological control of BW, studies are testing the potential chemical inducers of resistance and also the potential of cross protection by avirulent strains of the bacterium. None of the various compounds tested provided a satisfactory level of protection, although a proteinase inhibitor-inducing factor delayed wilt symptoms in Kennebec potatoes. When seed pieces were treated with three different avirulent strains of Pseudomonas , only the avirulent isolate B-82 from Colombia caused a significant and prolonged reduction in disease severity after being challenged with a virulent bacterial suspension. At high temperatures, however, the same treatment caused only a delay in symptom expression . Recently, work has started on genetically transferring bacteriocins from two P. solanacearum isolates into isolate B-82. Tissue culture will be used for in vivo production of bacteriocins.Investigators are continuing work on developing an antiserum, specific for race 3 of P. solanacearum, to develop a practical method for field detection of this race. There are , however, several subserotypes that require many cross-absorption tests fo r identification and data compilation.A research contract with the National Agricultural Laboratories in Nairobi, Kenya, is developing a method for screening germplasm for BW resistance under local conditions. In spite of inducing a high inoculum potential in the field by repeated cropping with susceptible hosts, infection of test plants was random and unreliable. However, when plants were artificially inoculated by bacterial suspension around their bases, infection ranged from 12.5°/o to 69.0°lo. Tests made at various dilutions of the bacteria concluded that this method did not overcome the genetic resistance to BW in test clones at the dilutions being used.In contrast, artificial inoculation did not permit useful discrimination of genetic resistance in experiments at Bukidnon, Mindanao, conducted by CIP and the Philippine national program. In a field trial , the var. Red Pontiac -a known susceptible -was planted in alternate rows with test varieties, and all plants were rootinoculated with a suspension of P. solanacearum. The ten imported German varieties exhibited more than 75°/o infection. Only the var. Nordsterm gave a moderate yield (13 t/ha), in spite of almost total BW infection ten weeks after planting. In a second trial using seed tubers harvested from a wilt-infected field, even var. Greta and clone 720057 were infected. Both of these had previously proved to be fairly resistant in other parts of the Philippines. Under very warm conditions, artificial inoculations should be used with caution.fo Rwanda, bacterial wilt is controlled during the dry season when the soil dries out and apparently reduces the level of bacterial inoculum. In a collaborative project with the Rwanda national program (PNAP) , crop rotations, now in the sixth season, showed that one season of rotation with a different crop reduced the incidence of BW in the next potato crop .Cutting seed tubers, a practice sometimes used in Rwanda, increased the number of plants affected by bacterial wilt.Control of bacterial soft rot. Other contract research at the University of Wisconsin confirmed the positive correlation between tuber calcium content and resistance to bacterial soft rot caused by Erwinia carotovora pv atroseptica (ECA).When whole tubers were injected with pectic enzyme from ECA and incubated under low oxygen levels, tissue maceration was greater in the low-calcium tubers than in those with high calcium. In commercial cultivars grown in the field at the same level of calcium fertilization, there were wide differences in tuber calcium content, which reflected differences in cultivar calcium assimilation. The three large-scale field trials carried out in 1983 are expected to confirm the influence of soil calcium levels on disease severity as was determined in 1981and1982.At North Carolina State University, a contract project selected diploid subpopulations for soft rot-resistant clones that produced unreduced gametes. Eight clones were identified that produced tetraploid offspring in tetraploid x diploid crosses involving unreduced gametes. From 80 advanced tetraploids from 4x-2x crosses, 20 were selected for trials with commercial clones. From 1600 segregates, 82 clones were selected for further trials. An additional 20 clones with tuber resistance to soft rot were used to produce plants that were evaluated for blackleg resistance by stab-inoculation. Two clones exhibited high resistance to both soft rot and blackleg. At Huanuco, a total of 169 clones selected for agronomic type were tested for LB resistance in a lattice experiment. A second group of 280 advanced clones was retested at the same location in 10-hill plots, in addition to 258 new clones from 1982 single-hill selections. Because the season was unusually dry , most of the material had blight scores within the range of resistance . Selection for agronomic type and tuber yield, however, was carried out at Huanuco and on duplicates at Huancayo. Additionally, 58 clones from the 1982 selection (239) were selected as potential varieties under the CIP-University of Huanuco contract. These clones will be retested for LB resistance at Huanuco and the duplicates will be given to INIPA.At Huancayo, 196 of the 427 duplicate clones tested at Huanuco were selected from 10-hill plots at 120 days for agronomic type and yield. An additional 121 advanced clones with resistance to LB, previously evaluated at Huanuco, were tested for yield in an 11 x 11 lattice experiment. Fifteen of the highest yielding clones produced an average of 2.0 kg/plant despite damage from two hail storms.Fungicide spraying a.nd levels of resistance. At Rio Negro, Colombia, the inter-action between fungicidal spraying and different levels of LB resistance was studied. The tests were to determine if lower levels of resistance may be acceptable if selection occurs in an environment where LB pressure is attenuated by using low levels of fungicide application. Six commercial potato varieties with different levels of resistance were used with three application frequencies (each 7, 14, and 28 days) of Bravo-500 (Chlorathalonil 70°/o ). Part of the results are shown in Figure III-2.The weather at Rio Negro was exceptionally dry during the major part of the growing season, especially in mid-season; nevertheless, Monserrate was the most resistant, followed by Tequendama; and Guantiva was clearly the most susceptible. These preliminary results supported observations 1) that yield was correlated with spray frequency for each individual cultivar; 2) that resistance and fungicide response showed a strong interaction; and 3) that yielding ability and resistance were clearly independent traits.In  Huancayo were also infected. In the Mantaro Valley and in the coastal valleys of central Peru, only V dahliae has been isolated (Fig. .A screening method used routinely at the Research Institute for Plant Protection, Wageningen, Netherlands, to evaluate tolerance to Verticillium wilt was adapted for use at CIP and tested on 26 clones from the pathogen-tested list. Only one clone, Cruza 148 , was found to have intermediate levels of tolerance ; however, the inoculum concentration in the first trial was considerably high (1.7x10 7 propagules/ml).Pink rot (Phytophthora erythroseptica ). In fungicide trials to control pink rot, Ridomil 5G applications at planting were again the most effective (Table III-2). All treatments that included Ridomil yielded  Gangrene (Phoma exigua var. foveata). Many clones from CIP's germplasm collection were screened for tuber resistance to gangrene. Whole tubers were superficially wounded by rolling them over ten nail points ( 4 mm high) and then brushing inoculum over the wounded areas. Tubers were maintained at 9° to 10°C for six weeks and then evaluated externally as well as internally. From a total of 526 clones evaluated, only 3 were found to be resistant, as compared to 211 clones found to be moderately resistant, and 312 susceptible. This work was done at CIP by a scientist from Norway as part of his sabbatical and will be continued in Norway upon his return.Potato .smut (Angiosorus solani). A total of 77 clones were evaluated in a heavily infested field near Huancayo for resistance to potato smut. Twenty-three clones showed no infection and are being retested. In different field plots at Huancayo previously treated with Basamid + 52 Ridomil SG, smut was adequately controlled by the fungicides' residual effect during a second growing season.Southern wilt (Sc/erotium rolfsii) . The method of crop rotation has been reported as an alternative to control S. rolfsii incidence and to reduce the number of viable sclerotia in the soil. Most of the research reported has been done in areas other than the humid tropics and on other crops. A rotation study was started in 1980 at San Ramon and included four rotation sequences (two crops/yr) of ricebeans-corn-potatoes to be compared with consecutive potato crops. Each rotation included subtreatments with and without crop residue incorporation. Prior to establishing the rotations, the entire field was planted to potato and then inoculated plant-by-plant with S. rolfsii.The study, which concluded in 1983, showed that the number of viable sclerotia was much higher in plots with incorporated residue, but that percent infection was almost equal in plots with or without residue incorporated. Treatments including incorporation of residues had a reduction in percent of tubers infected with S. rolfsii and other pathogens, and therefore an increase in percent of healthy tubers.. IE mphasis was placed on studies to combine resistance to potato leafroll virus (PLRV) and potato virus Y (PVY) in the same genotype. Selection of resistant genotypes to PLRV and confirmation of potato virus Y (PVY) immunity were performed under controlled conditions. An extremely high level of resistance to PLRV from Solanum acaule was successfully incorporated into tetraploid cultivars via resistant hexaploids. Resistance to PLRV present in S. acaule appeared to be a combination of resistance to infection and to multiplication of the virus; whereas in Solanum etuberosum x Solanum pinnatisectum (EP), only resistance to multiplication was found. Inheritance of immunity to PVXHB, the resistance-breaking strain of potato virus X (PYX), and to PVXcp in Solanum sucrense (OCH 11926), is concordant with a monogenic tetrasomic model. Immunity to PVXcp (Group 2), also found in S. sucrense , is controlled in a monogenic fashion at a separate locus.The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was simplified and test kits were developed for use in developing countries where laboratory resources are scarce. Efforts were also directed toward helping national programs produce large quantities of high-quality virus antisera.Sensitivity of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) detection was substantially improved by using a silver-based stain in polyacrylamide gels. A new method is being studied for detecting PSTV by means of nucleic acid hybridization combined with enzymatic detection of hybrids.Resistance to potato leafroll virus (PLRV) in clones. Clones with resistance to PLRV were tested for general combining ability {GCA) for resistance to PLRV infection by inoculating progenies from PLRVresistant parents crossed in a top-cross fashion. The GCA of parents selected for resistance to PLRV in repeated field exposures was 114°/o higher than parents that had not passed through such a process. This shows the progress in both phenotypic and genotypic terms. Efforts are now concentrating on the selection of potato virus Y (PVY) + PLRV combined resistance. Field exposure trials and testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay {ELISA) have led to the selection of 82 clones that are PLRV-resistant.In Argentina, CIP collaborates annually with the national potato program of INT A to evaluate PLRV-resistant material. In 1983, INTA received 2242 new clones and selected 302 for further evaluation. Twenty-three previously introduced clones continue to retain PLRV resistance after three years of testing. Uruguay has also proved to be an excellent screening site for PLRV resistance. Even though disease intensity is high in Uruguay, collaborative studies are underway to reduce aphid populations and achieve the infection pressure found in other parts of the world. From 23 families tested, 140 clones were selected and reexposed to PLRV infection.Trials on yield performance were conducted in Huancayo and Lima (Table IV-1). In both sites, virus-resistant clones were among the top yielders. The clone 78C 11.5 (V-3), which is being multiplied in the pathogen-tested program, is characterized by immunity to potato viruses Y, X, and A, a moderate resistance to PLRV, broad adaptation, heavy set of medium-sized tubers, and long dormancy ( 4 months at 20° C, average ambient temperature). In Turkey, CIP virus-resistant clones selected during the last two seasons considerably outyielded local varieties, which have always given high yields.Resistance to potato virus X in clones. Advanced clones from CIP's pathogentested seed program were evaluated for their reaction to PVXcp (Cockerham's PVX strain Group 2) and to PVY 0 . Relative resistance to PVX was found in Loman, Piritani, DT0-33, and BR-63.5, and a high level of hypersensitivity was found in . The latter clone is expected to behave as \"field immune\" in potato-growing areas where PVXcp (Group 2) or similar strains are prevalent.Resistance to potato virus Y in clones. Relative resistance to PVY was found in cv. Santo Amor (720109) and in clones . Immunity to PVY was found in two clones, I-1039 (676008) and . Immunity in I-1039 probably derives from Solanum stoloniferum and in LT-4 from Solanum tuberosum spp. andigena. Similarly, graft inoculation followed by ELISA confirmed immunity to PVY in 126 clones (Table IV-2).Although sources of resistance to PVY (immunity) and PLRV (resistance to infection) have not yet been thoroughly exposed to natural infection in a wide range of environments, immunity to PVY seems to be stable . Graft inoculations with a wide range of PVY isolates from the Andean region (Chile , Argentina , Peru, and Ecuador) were continued during 1983 under controlled greenhouse conditions. Results indicated that immunity to PVY was not overcome by any of the isolates used (Table IV-3). The clones 78Cl 1.5  The ELISA is now routinely used at CIP to detect PLRY and PVY infections in screening trials for resistance. This technique permits greater accuracy in all steps of selection and consequently allows more rapid testing of a large number of samples.Wild species as sources of virus resistance. Although known sources of resistance to viruses are used for developing resistant populations at the cultivar level , studies are underway 1) to identify better sources of resistance among wild species and 2) to understand the mechanisms of virus and viroid resistance. A stronger type of resistance to potato leafroll virus than that now available is highly desirable.Resistance to PLRV in Solanum acau/e. Clones developed from S. acaule accessions OCH 13824 and OCH 13823, resistant to PLRY by aphid inoculation, were retested by graft inoculation with PLRYinfected potato scions. All 12 inoculated plants were negative to ELISA after 45 days; however, symptoms were observed and virus was detected in five Datura stramonium plants grafted with scions from these plants. This finding suggested that plants of OCH 13824 and OCH 13823 carried the virus below the level of detection by ELISA. Stem cuttings and tubers from these PLRY-infected plants were planted, and PLRV infection was retested by graft inoculation to D. stramonium. Surprisingly , not a single tuber carried the virus, and only two of five stem cuttings now contained PLRY. These results suggested the presence of a new type of resistance to PLRY, which was tentatively called \"resistance to virus multiplication.\" This type of resistance differs from the well known \"resistance to infection\" in which plants are not easily infected , but once infected, the virus reaches relatively high concentration levels. Experiments are in progress to confirm this new type of resistance.In other experiments, the same S. acaule (OCH 13823), resistant to PLRY, was crossed to hybrids of S. phureja x S. stenotomum , resulting in triploid progenies. These were doubled by a colchicine treatment to produce hexaploids. The hexaploids were then tested for resistance to PLRY by grafting , and resistant and susceptible phenotypes were crossed to susceptible tetraploid cultivars. The pentaploid progenies derived from the graft-resistant hexaploid parent (T3.l.33) showed virtually no infection after aphid inoculation (Table IY-4); whereas those derived from graft-susceptible hexaploids were completely susceptible. These results indicated that the resistance in S. acaule can be transferred into commercial tetraploid cultivars.Resistance to PLRV in Solanum etuberosum. Materials deriving resistance from S. etuberosum x S. pinnatisectum (EP) were highly susceptible to PLRV by aphid inoculation, but were resistant to virus multiplication.In contract research at the Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands, the breeding barriers between S. etuberosum and potato cultivars have been successfully broken by using S. pinnatisectum and S. verrucosum as bridging species-both are highly resistant to late blight. The material obtained can easily be crossed with cultivars, but it has to be determined whether PLR V resistance is still present in this advanced material. In order to broaden the basis of the PLRV program , three accessions of S. brevidens and three accessions of S. etuberosum were successfully crossed with S. jamesii, S. pinnatisectum , and to a lesser extent with S. verrucosum. In 1983, the F 1 hybrids were doubled to restore fertility.Resistance to PVXHB in Solanum sucrense. Resistance to the virus strain PVXHB , a strain that breaks the previously well-known resistance to PVX, was found in S. sucrense accession OCH 11926. When the resistance to PVXHB in OCH 11926 was retested by graft inoculation of the original clones, an immune response was found. Although a few plants developed top necrosis (hypersensitivity), the virus was not recovered. The segregation pattern of two progenies of OCH 11926 x Maria Tropical against PVXHB and PVXcp is concordant with monogenic tetrasomic control. The gene RxHB controls immunity to PVXHB and the gene Rxc to PVXcp• Both of the clones that were progenytested were duplex at both loci.Resistance to PSTV in Solanum acaule. The same scheme used with PLRV resistance from S. acaule was used when PSTV-resistant S. acaule (OCH 11603) was crossed to phureja-stenotomum hybrids and the triploid progeny was colchicine treated. Before the pollen was checked for doubling, cuttings from each progeny were inoculated with sap from PSTV-infected potato. Thirty days after inoculation, plants were tested for PSTV infection . Out of the many hexaploids identified , two resistors and one susceptible were crossed to tetraploid cultivars.Antisera production. Antisera suitable for virus detection by means of ELISA were produced at CIP for PVY , PVX, and PVS . Diagnosis of PLRV at CIP has been performed with antisera produced through a research contract with the Swiss Federal Research Station at Nyon. An antisera to PLRV is now being produced at CIP headquarters. Recently, the use of the enzyme Driselase in virus extraction was found to increase the release of particles from infected tissue , which assists in virus purification for immunization purposes. Because this enzyme is costly, combinations with other enzymes such as pectinase and cellulase are being investigated.Other research at Nyon has produced antibodies to PLRY in hen eggs. Such antibodies, together with rabbit antibodies, can now be used in indirect ELISA for detecting PLRY. The indirect techniques of ELISA allowed a preparation of single enzyme-conjugated antibody to be used for detecting nonrelated viruses. Distantly related serotypes of a particular virus can also be better detected, since the second antibody concentration can be increased without inducing additional background reaction due to higher enzyme input.The number of countries establishing their own seed tuber programs is increasing; consequently, more requests are being received for antisera for virus detection. In 1983, CIP distributed sensitized latex and whole antisera to 18 countries. As distribution increases so does the need for more training in serological techniques for virus identification. During the year, nine scientists were individually trained in these techniques at CIP. Training in latex sensitization in conjugation with enzymes and antisera production was provided this year in Lima and in the regions. This is part of CIP's effort to transfer technology and to allow countries to produce enough antisera for their own use. In 1983, CIP initiated support for antisera production in Colombia and Brazil to supply sufficient antisera for Regions I and II.Detection of virus. Studies were done on developing ELISA kits that contained the basic chemical or reagents in concentrated form and on using other available materials in any developing country or field station. These studies are important 60 in promoting wider use of a sensitive serological test. For example, rain water can successfully substitute for distilled or deionized water for preparing buffers ; similarly, the common phosphate buffered saline (PBS) used in the test can be replaced by 0.85°/o NaCl if only tap or well water is available.Reagent stability was also studied under room temperature (20°-25° C) conditions, since it is an important factor during transportation of ELISA kits or for their storage by national programs lacking laboratory facilities. Antibody-precoated plates kept their activity after storage for two months; whereas PLRY gamma globulin or its enzyme conjugate remained active after three months. Substrate buffer remained stable when stored for three months, but substrate tablets kept their activity for only one month at room temperature and six months at 4° C.Since the plates are one of the most expensive items in ELISA , the dissociation of viruses, antibodies, or both from used plates was investigated. Two alternatives seem possible: 1) enzyme-linked antibodies and virus antigens can be removed, leaving the coating antibodies attached to the plate (partial dissociation); and 2) a drastic treatment is used to remove even the coating antibodies, leaving the plate clean (complete dissociation). Successful partial dissociation was performed by washing plates with 0.2 M glycine pH 1.8 to 2.2. This system worked well with PYX and PLRY and permitted savings also in antisera, since coating antibodies were no longer needed for the next test.Complete dissociation can be done with a mixture of ethanol: NaOH (pH above 13) and was found effective only with plates used for PVY and PYX. Washed (dissociated) plates can be used again to assay either PYX or PVY.•.Nucleic acid hybridization. Previous studies have demonstrated higher sensitivity of the nucleic acid hybridization (dot blot test) over other methods for detecting PSTV. The dot blot test so far developed requires the use of a highly radioactive (32p)-labeled PSTVcDNA to detect, by autoradiography, the hybrids formed with PSTV. However, 3 2 p has a short half-life (only 14 days), which limits its use to countries where it is produced or available. The application of this technique at CIP or in developing countries is therefore restricted by the availability of the label.To obviate this problem, studies were initiated to replace 32 p by a more versatile and stable label. This seemed possible if the PSTVcDNA molecule could be modified by incorporating a molecule that can be detected by its specific linkage to an enzyme-or fluorescent dye-labeled affinity molecule. Based on this principle, biotin (vitamin H) was incorporated into the PSTV cDNA. Its presence after hybridization to PSTV was detected by biotin antibodies, or by its specific coupling to avidin (protein) molecules previously conjugated to enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or alkaline phosphatase (AP).PSTV immobilized in nitrocellulose membranes or in modified nitrocellulosecoated microtiter plates was assayed through a protocol similar to that used on ELISA. It seems, however, that nonspecific retention of enzymes on the nitrocellulose membranes increased the background reaction and obscured positive results. This was more pronounced with HRP-labeled than with AP-labeled avidin (Fig. IV-1 ). Results with AP-labeled avidin are encouraging, however, and work is now directed to find conditions that will reduce background reactions and increase sensitivity. Rapid improvement in purification of plasmid DNA research is essential for application of the dot blot test. Birnboim's procedure using alkaline degradation of bacterial cells allowed purification of large quantities of plasmid DNA (Fig. IV-2). Improvement in sensitivity of electrophoresis. Sensitivity of electrophoresis was improved by staining polyacrylamide gels with a simple procedure based on silver nitrate . Comparisons between toluidine blue 0 and silver nitrate showed that PSTV can be detected in nucleic acid of low molecular weight extracted from 125-250 mg of tomato leaves with toluidine blue 0; whereas silver nitrate allowed detection in only 7 mg of tomato leaves. These figures represent an increase of more than 16-fold in the sensitivity of electrophoresis by using silver nitrate. In addition , silver nitrate staining is simple to perform and usually, requires less time than the previous method.Physalis floridana was confirmed as a susceptible host of potato deforming mosaic virus that can be infected only by grafting.Back-inoculations from P. floridana to potato cv . Renacimiento and DT0-33 reproduced the disease symptoms originally found in cv. Serrana. In tissue sections from infected Serrana plants, virus particles inside a tubule were observed that were apparently associated with the plasmalemma of some phloem parenchyma cells (Fig. IV-3) . Light microscopy suggested that the virus was associated with phloem tissue and was more concentrated in leaf petioles.In a collaborative project with the national potato program in Brazil, Andean potato mottle virus (APMV) was found in a seed field at Canoinhas, in the state of Santa Catarina. This isolate , APMV-B, is serologically distinct to strains C and H previously reported from the Andean region. In addition , APMV-B is more virulent and seems to be related to a virus reported many years ago that caused mosaic of eggplant in Brazil. An antiserum was produced and sent to Brazil for inclusion in their testing program.In the highlands of Peru, symptoms of yellow blotching were observed in several potato fields. In these samples, alfalfa mosaic virus (AMY) was identified for the first time in Peru. Because potato virus M (PYM) is an important virus worldwide, an extensive survey was conducted in Peru using ELISA to assess the presence and degree of PYM dissemination. In more than 1000 samples tested, no PYM was found, which suggested that PYM is not common in Peru.The national potato program of ICA in Colombia conducted surveys on virus incidence to determine the rate of degeneration of seed stock. This information will help to identify the best areas for seed production in Colombia. Additional seed samples from three other areas have been collected for confirmation tests; potato virus S was detected in several areas of the country.In Tunisia, collaborative studies with the national program were initiated to correlate aphid epidemiology and virus spread as part of a further development of the Tunisian seed multiplication program. Trapping of aphids was recorded 3x week from January, and plant leaf samples were collected on March 21, April 11 , and May 10. ELISA tests on 300 samples detected no PYY and only 1°/o PLRY, thus explaining the low number of plants removed by roguing. This seed will be planted to check for virus incidence .B reeding and screening for resistance to major nematode and insect pests were priority activities during 1983. Biological, cultural, and chemical control components were studied as part of CIP's integrated pest management program.Of 273 families developed in a breeding program, 38 showed a high frequency of resistance to Globodera pallida pathotypes P 4 A and P 5 A, while 46 showed a high frequency of resistance to P 5 A and 34 to pathotype P 4 A. Clones with resistance to a single pathotype had higher yields than clones with resistance to two pathotypes. Twenty-six clones selected in Peru were also resistant to local populations of G. pallida in Ecuador. Of 13 ,34 7 genotypes tested for resistance to Meloidogyne incognita, 1089 were selected for high levels of resistance. When soil was covered with transparent polyethylene (solarization), seedbed temperatures were raised 12° C higher than bare soil temperatures. This treatment was as effective as the nematicide phenamiphos in controlling M incognita in potato seedling nurseries.The fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus continued to perform well in controlling the cyst nematodes Globodera rostochiensis and M. incognita. This fungus has now been recommended to control G. rostochiensis in the Philippines.Seven clones were classed resistant to potato tuber moth, fhthorimaea operculella, after field and laboratory screening. After two storage tests, 10 clones were selected from 11 families involving mainly (Solanum sparsipilum x S. phureja) x S. sparsipilum . In studies on the integrated control of P. operculella, the most efficient treatments were F envalerate +Lantana sp., and Dipel +Lantana sp. Thirty-five of 896 clones from Cornell University had less than 10°/o foliar damage by the spider mite Tetranychus cinnabarinus and were classed resistant. The larval pupal parasite Halticoptera patellana was the most predominant natural enemy of leafminer fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis.Infestation due to green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, was significantly less in potato+tomato crop associations when compared with potato alone. Intercropping potatoes with onions significantly increased the number of M persicae predators, predominantly Chrysopa sp., when compared with other crop mixtures and with potato alone. In chemical control studies, the insecticides chlorfenvinphos and acephate were the most efficient in controlling the tuber moth Scrobipalpula absoluta. Insecticides dicofol and quinomethionate were highly effective in controlling the broad mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus.Screening for resistance. Two tests (pot test and petri dish test) were used for classifying reaction to potato cyst nema-.tode (Globodera pallida) . The pot test used two criteria: root ball and nematode multiplication rate (Pf/Pi), which were highly correlated (r = 0.95) (Fig. V-IA). When the pot test was correlated with the petri dish test, a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.77 was found (Fig. V-IB). The clones (•)represented in both graphs indicate different levels of resistance . These levels do not fit the classical definition of resistance, where the ratio of final population/initial population (Pf/Pi) is equal to or less than I (Pf/Pi< 1), or the female formation is zero (°!of= 0).Two types of resistance (total and partial) with three levels were proposed. These levels were based on a correlation of female formation and nematode multiplication rate . Total resistance resulted from a failure of new female development (cyst Pf/ pi :S; I). Two levels of partial resistance, where new female development occurred, were distinguished by the egg multiplication rate: egg Pf/Pi< 1.0 and 1.0 to 5.Mass screening using the flat tray technique is now a routine method at CIP for classifying G. pallida resistance. In earlier trials, mass screening with this technique was limited because counting the total number of females on the root tray surface was laborious, and errors resulted from the desiccation of infected roots after unnecessarily long exposure . To solve this problem, a new approach was found by using a photograph of 16 predetermined grids of the root tray to count the females. Live root count and photograph count were highly correlated (r = 0.98) . This correlation was demonstrated when immature females among some segregating families were tested (Table V Heritability studies on resistance. In studies testing progenies from different types of crosses, the highest frequency of resistance was obtained by intercrossing resistant clones; the lowest frequency was obtained when susceptible clones were crossed with pollen bulk collected from five resistant clones (Table V-2). Different genes incorporated for resistance from ' -- diploid S. vernei through 4x-2x crosses to six advanced P 4 A-resistant tetraploid clones resulted in low heritability, poor yields, and poor tuber shape. Several breeding cycles will be required to bring the resistance, yield, and tuber shape to desired levels. Use of resistant material. Comparison of clonal reaction in three geographical locations of Peru indicated that all clones found resistant to P 5 A in greenhouse tests were also resistant in field tests in the north where P 5 A is the predominant pathotype. In contrast, clones found resistant to P 4 A in greenhouse tests had only 80°/o field resistance in central Peru , and 89°1o in the south where P 4 A is the predominant pathotype . Clones with single resistance had higher yields than double-resistant clones when grown in G. pallida-infested fields at the three locations.Thirty-six clones previously tested for G. pallida resistance were sent to the national programs of INIAP in Ecuador and ICA in Colombia during 1983 for testing. Twenty-six of the clones sent to Ecuador were found resistant against two local Ecuadorian nematode populations. The clones sent to Colombia were first multiplied in the field and 13 were selected for further field observation as well as for resistance tests to the local nematode populations.Clones from a previous shipment to Ecuador, already tested for resistance , were grown in infested plots at the INIAP Santa Catalina site in Quito, Ecuador. The yields of the best clones in this group are reported in Figure V-2.Diploid hybrid progenies from the third and fourth cycles of recurrent selection for resistance to root-knot nematode, M incognita , were tested at North Carolina State University for resistance to four major species and eight different races of Meloidogyne . The resistant diploid clones were crossed with four groups of diploids  Combined resistances are essential for potato production in warm environments. A total of 13 ,437 genotypes, representing 293 hybrid families developed from these crosses, were tested for resistance to M incognita. A total of 1089 genotypes with high levels of resistance were selected and will be evaluated for other desirable characters such as resistance to other organisms and the production of 2n pollen. Resistant clones producing 2n pollen will be used in 4x-2x crosses for transferring the resistance to 4x progenies.Control by solarization. A solarization experiment in San Ramon used solar heating of soil to control M incognita and compared it with the nematicide phenamiphos. Solar heating uses heat as a lethal agent for pest control by using traps like 68 plastic soil mulches or tarpaulins for capturing solar energy (Fig. V-3).Transparent polyethylene was the most effective in heating the soil and raised the temperature to 12° C higher than the temperature of the non treated control or bare soil. An almost equal reduction in rootknot nematode damage was found on plots covered with transparent plastic and the phenamiphos-treated plots. Damage by nematodes, expressed as percent infected seedlings, was significantly less on these two types of plots (13°/o and 12°/o , respectively), when compared with 21°/o damage on bare soil.Paecilomyces li/acinus. In the Philippines, the use of the fungus P. lilacinus to control cyst nematode G. rostochiensis on . . Plots treated with P. lilacinus during the previous growing season had significantly lower (P < 0.05) population densities of M. incognita than untreated plots.There were no significant differences in population densities at the beginning of the previous growing season (before treatment), which indicated that P. lilacinus was controlling population levels of M. incognita .Newly isolated fungi. Collaborative work between CIP and the national program of IDIAP in Panama isolated a new fungus from potato fields in Cerro Punta. This fungus appeared to be parasitizing the eggs of G. rostochiensis and G. pallida, particularly when they were in the embryonic stages. Studies will continue on identifying the specific mode of action of this new fungus as well as a similar fungus found in Peru. POTATO TUBER MOTH Screening for resistance. More that 680 clones were screened for resistance to potato tuber moth (PTM) , Phthorimaea operculella, in the laboratory and field under high PTM-population pressure. Seven clones had an average of less than one pupa per tuber when inoculated with PTM larvae in the laboratory. These clones are now being multiplied to confirm resistance.The low selection rate in seedlings derived from tuberosum crosses prompted intercrossing of tetraploids generated from Solanum sparsipilum and Solanum andigena as sources of resistance. Of 8000 seedlings representing 130 families from this population, 764 seedlings were selected for further resistance tests. As part of the continuing search for PTM resistance , 90 diploid genotypes from 11 families mainly involving (S. sparsipilum x S. phureja) x S. sparsipilum were retested under storage conditions in San Ramon. Ten clones were selected. Tubers from 2500 genotypes involving 32 crosses with S. sparsipilum, S. commersonii, S. sucrense, and Two parasitic biocontrol agents collected from the Mantaro Valley (3200 m) in Peru are being investigated for their efficiency to infect their hosts. One is the ectoparasite Dibrachys cavus, which infects Symmetrischema plaesiosema (tuber moth species); and the other is the polyembryonic parasite Copidosoma roehleri, which infects P. operculella .Laboratory methods to impregnate rubber stoppers with PTM sex pheromone (PTMl + PTM2) have been developed. During 1983 , more than 2000 pheromoneimpregnated stoppers were distributed by CIP to 13 national potato programs. Studies in San Ramon showed that pheromone formulations of PTMl (0.7 mg)+ PTM2 (0.3 mg) or PTMl (0.4mg) + PTM2 (0.6 mg) were the most effective in capturing male PTM.For controlling PTM in stored tubers, the foliage of Lantana sp. was the most effective (Fig. V-4 . _ spray alone was not effective as tuber damage exceeded 80°/o. In Tunisia, two synthetic pyrethroidbased insecticides with low mammalian toxicity proved to be as effective as Parathion, which is commonly used by Tunisian farmers to control PTM in stores. A liquid application at harvest gave as good a control as spraying at the start of the storage period. Mesh screening was also used to prevent PTM entry into seed tuber stores. Only 5°/o tuber damage after 100 days of storage was reported. Potatoes harvested in late May or early June had lower PTM egg infestation than later harvests.Potato cultivars Revoluci6n , Cuzco, and Tomasa Condemayta were field-tested to classify their reaction to leafminer fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis . All three cultivars were classed susceptible based on yield loss data -Revoluci6n had the lowest yield loss of 27°/o.A survey of leafminer-fly parasites was conducted on the coast of Peru in collaboration with the National Agrarian University, La Molina. The most predominant species was Halticoptera patellana (Pteromalidae ). Other species included Chrysocharis phytomyzae, Diglyphus sp ., Chrysocharis sp . (Eulophidae ) , Ganaspidium sp . (Cynipidae), and Opius sp. (Braconidae ). Diglyphus sp. is an ectoparasite of leaf miner larvae; all the other species are larval-pupal parasites of leaf miner fly.Of the several different-colored sticky traps tested for leafminer fly, the total fly capture was greatest (2740 flies/ wk) by using a light-green trap . The yellow and green traps had total fly captures of 1379 and 1264, respectively (Table V-3).Higher female to male ratios , corresponding to 1: 1.4 and 1: 2.8 respectively , were obtained on green and light-green traps compared with 1: 10.6 for the yellow trap. The higher sex ratio signified that a higher proportion of female flies were being captured-only the females flies cause damage to plants.Sex pheromones of cutworms and armyworms from the Wolfson Unit of Chemical Entomology, University of Southampton , U.K., were field-tested in San Ramon using different traps. These sex pheromone have been newly synthesized and are being tested for the first time by CIP.The tuber moth Scrobipalpula absoluta is the most destructive foliar pest in CIP greenhouses at Lima and Huancayo. In chemical control studies, plants sprayed with the insecticides chlorfenvinphos and acephate had significantly less eggs and larvae of S. absoluta when compared with the nonsprayed control plants .Potato plants infested with the broad mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus were treated with two chemicals dicofol and quinomethionate. The egg counts on plants treated with both chemicals were 0.70 and 1.13 eggs per cm 2 , respectively , as compared with the control which had 2.4 eggs per cm 2 .A study was conducted in San Ramon to compare green peach aphid (M. persicae) infestation on plots of potato alone and on potato plots associated with other crops. The potato+ tomato association had significantly less aphids ( 33 aphids / leaf) than potato alone . The potato+ onion (89 aphids/leaf) and potato+ corn associations also had less aphids ( 53 and 50 aphids/leaf respectively) than potato alone, but the differences were not significant.True potato seedlings of 896 clones derived from crosses between So/anum berthaultii and Solanum tuberosum obtained from Cornell University were screened at CIP for resistance to the red spider mite (Tetranychus cinnabarinus). Thirty-five clones having less than 1 O°lo foliar damage were selected.In contract research at Cornell University, a quick-screening method was <level-oped to predict aphid resistance of seedlings. This was based on the capacity of the exudate from the 4-lobed trichomes to harden around the mouthparts of the aphid. Three leaflets of each seedling were agitated in a 3-ml solution of Pphenylenediamine, phosphate buffer, and detergent. The degree of darkening of this solution, which may be estimated visually or measured colorimetrically, correlated with the hardening capacity of the trichome exudate. The degree of hardening has shown good correlation with actual aphid resistance in the field .A population of insect-resistant plants is being improved at Cornell to incorporate PVY and PYX resistances, good tuber yield, and appearance into material with good levels of insect resistance through the mechanism of glandular trichomes. The 273 selections, made on the basis of tuber yield and appearance , were all grown in the field in the summer of 1983 to be evaluated for resistance to aphids and Colorado potato beetle. The 15 ,260 seedlings that formed the next generation are presently being grown in the greenhouse . The 15 clones selected during the winter were the first clones that combined the trichome density and quality of the diploid species with reasonable tuber production. This opens the door for yield trials in pest management studies.T he knowledge on agronomic practices for potato cultivation in warm climates has been refined, taking into account the interaction of the practices with the environment. Intermediate planting depths (7 cm) resulted in greater yields at San Ramon (mid-elevation tropics). Yields per unit area and per plant were favored by hilling, particularly at shallow (2 cm) and intermediate (7 cm) planting depths. Mulch was necessary during the entire growing season to maximize yields. At Yurimaguas (Amazon basin), deep planting ( 15 cm) resulted in greater yields over shallow planting; however, hilling reduced the yield per unit area at deep plantings due to loss of plants from bacterial wilt . Effects of mulch were inconsistent and were probably related to the excessive conservation of soil heat during the night.Planting on the coolest position in the ridge, i.e., facing away from the sun, led to quicker emergence and greater tuber yield. A growing maize crop, interplanted with potato clones, provided shade of differing intensity and duration, depending upon maize population and date of cutting. Shade intensity and duration were effective in hastening emergence, but shade duration had a greater overall effect than shade intensity. There was, however, a trend toward higher tuber yields at the closest plant spacings.Estimates of intercepted radiation enabled energy balances to be calculated during crop growth. At Yurimaguas and Lima (summer), the conversion of radiation to total dry matter was approximately 40°/o less efficient than that reported for temperate climates. Studies on improvements of both genetic and agronomic components of this low efficiency are in progress. Research on mycorrhizae has improved potato yields in a pot experiment with Glomus fasciculatus, and preliminary results from field tests will be available in early 1984.Due to restructuring of Thrust VI in mid-1983 , only the results on agronomic and physiological manipulations to improve potato production in warm climates are reported. Research objectives are being redefined and new projects are being created to improve the multidisciplinary approach to data presentation. Nevertheless , progress has been made in developing practical agronomic me asures, particularly with respect to modifying microenvironments.Mulching. In San Ramon, mulching maintained its effectiveness on increasing yields; but with similar treatments in Yurimaguas, improved yields were inconsistent. This was probably due to heat retention in soil during the hot nights (>25°C) at Yurimaguas. Other field trials at San Ramon tested the possibility that mulch, by reducing soil temperature , might improve the effectiveness of soilapplied fungicides such as pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) against Rhizoctonia solani, as was shown in pot experiments. Although mulch reduced mean soil temperatures from 32 .1° to 26.6°C, resulting in improved tuber yield (19.3 1 vs. 10.34 t/ha) , no benefit was noted from the application of PCNB , either in mulched or nonmulched plots.The interactions between mulch and depth of planting and hilling were studied at Yurimaguas. There was no interaction between planting depth and mulch for plant emergence; however, emergence was faster at 2-cm planting depth. Drought conditions in mid-season at Yurimaguas led to greater benefits of mulch at a 2-cm planting depth than at 15 cm in terms of tuber yield. The benefits of hilling on tuber yield per plant were also more appreciable at 2 and 7 cm rather than 15-cm planting depths . Hilling, however, reduced 76 tuber yield per unit area through reduction of plant population due to bacterial wilt (BW). On a per plant basis, hilling increased yield when combined with mulch.An identical experiment in San Ramon during the dry season gave different results with respect to emergence . Mulch had a marked beneficial effect, the effect being more notable at the shallower plantings (Table Vl-1) . Also, in contrast to Yurimaguas, emergence without mulch was faster at the deeper plantings (7 and 15 cm) . It is possible that the higher daytime soil temperature at San Ramon delayed emergence at the shall ower depths (33.2° vs. 31.4° C for San Ramon-Yurimaguas, respectively). Mulch improved yield (12.45 vs. 9.12 t / ha) as did hilling, which was free of pathological problems. The effect of the latter on yield was less marked at the deepest planting depth (Table VI-2). In contrast to Yurimaguas, the 7-cm  planting depth gave highest yields, both on a per plant and per unit area basis. Form of planting. Experiments comparing form of planting (flat, ridged , or in beds) and three periods of mulching (complete season, prior to hilling, or posthilling) were carried out in Yurimaguas and San Ramon. In Yurimaguas, planting in beds resulted in faster emergence than in ridges or on the flat (Fig. VI-I). Bacterial wilt incidence was also proportionately less in beds.In San Ramon, plants on the flat, in the absence of mulch, emerged earliest. The number of tuber-bearing plants per plot was least for bed plantings and in plots with mulch applied after hilling (Table VI-3). The same trend was evident for final tuber yield per unit area. Mulch in San Ramon was necessary throughout the entire dry season to achieve maximum yields.In temperate climates, potatoes and other crops for early production are planted on slopes facing the sun (e.g., on a north-facing slope in the southern hemi• sphere). For production in warm climates, however, potatoes should be planted on the cool-facing side of slopes to minimize soil heating. Similarly, row orientation and tuber placement in ridges can modify soil temperature , and subsequent plant emergence (Fig. VI-2) and plant yield.Evaluation of mulching for potato production. In Rwanda, farmers regularly plant potatoes late in the rainy season to avoid the peak late-blight epidemic, even though yields are limited by low soil moisture . Collaborative CIP and national potato program (PNAP) experiments on reducing this loss were conducted on ap• plying mulch treatments at the end of the 1983 growing season in Rwanda. The season (March-June) was relatively dry, late blight incidence was less, and as a result, the effect of mulch was highly effective in improving yield. Trials planted in May and June showed yield increases up to 50°/o when mulch was used. This seasonal use of mulching is now being tested in farmers' fields .In the Philippines, agronomic research to improve potato production in warm climates has continued in a joint project between CIP and the Cagayan Integrated Agriculture Development Program in Luzon Province. Later planting (late November and early December) improved yields , but the effect of mulch on yields was not statistically significant. The main effect of mulch, apart from lowering soil temperatures, was the conservation of soil moisture toward the end of the growing season when dry periods occurred. At 78 Laguna, Luzon, a mulch of rice husks applied to the cv. Cosima resulted in a crop of 14 t/ha in 60 days, compared to 6.3 t /ha in 60 days without mulch.Similar mulch studies in Vietnam, near Hanoi in the north, where 80,000 ha of potatoes are grown, and further south near Ho Chi Minh City , gave promising results. Mulch improved yield whether or not supplementary irrigation was applied. As a result, mulch was recommended for commercial potato production in these areas.Intercropping. At San Ramon , Peru, a growing maize crop interplanted with four potato clones provided over-the-ground cover of differing shade intensities and durations, depending on the maize population and date of cutting. Although the date that the maize was cut had a marked effect on maize yield , cutting dates had little effect on tuber yield. On the other hand, plant emergence was equally improved under all maize populations compared to the nonshaded control ; there was a tendency for higher tuber yields at the closest plant spacings. In contrast to earlier experiments, there were no notable interactions between duration and intensity of shade ; all four clones behaved similarly.As an extension of shading experiments, and with the possible benefits of reduced insect damage , further mixed cropping experiments were undertaken in Yurimaguas and San Ramon.   Estimates of intercepted radiation, using tuber solarimeters or quantitative visual estimates of crop cover (Fig. VI-4), made it possible for solar energy balances to be calculated during crop growth. These calculations indicated that radiation, not intercepted by the foliage , heated the soil.Intercepted radiation was converted to dry matter following photosynthetic gains and respiratory losses (Fig. VI-5). The slope of Figure 5 gives an estimate of the efficiency of conversion of intercepted  radiation to dry matter in tubers or the whole plant. Comparisons of data from Yurimaguas and Lima (about 1.0 g/MJ) are up to 40°/o less efficient than those reported for temperate climates. Radiation levels in the tropics are above light saturation for photosynthesis during longer periods of the day than in temperate environments, which leads to inefficient use of light energy by the plant. Similarly, respiratory losses in the plant system may be greater due to higher temperatures found in the warm tropics; hence, genetic selection for a more efficient net photosynthetic production may be appropriate. This efficiency approach is being used to quantify responses to environmental stresses, both in the search for tolerant genotypes and in the assessment of agronomic practices.Preliminary results have indicated that mulch improved the efficiency of conversion of intercepted radiation to dry matter from 0.98 to 1.24 g/MJ -a result of lowering soil temperature and maintaining soil moisture. Studies are also underway to provide criteria for selecting clones with improved water use efficiency. Included are simple rapid measurements of relative leaf-water content and leaf-diffusive resistance at the seedling stage.Studies continue on vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (V AM); Glomus fasciculatus showed 40°/o to 45°/o root infection and improved yields in pot experiments. In vitro studies suggested that the optimum pH for germination of G. fasciculatus was between pH 5 to 6.5, an ideal pH for the low phosphorous, acid soils included in this work. V AM inoculation of true potato seedlings is planned for the future. The information gathered from four years of research at San Ramon and Yurimaguas formed the basis for the first international course on tropical agronomy held in Lima. The course was organized because of growing demand for information on how to extend potato production into warmer parts of the tropics. Seven of the eight participants came from Asian countries where research on tropical agronomy is already in progress.A senior CIP scientist worked in Indonesia from August to November to assist the national potato program of the Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (AARD) in initiating a project on improving production. A two-day workshop was held in Lembang (W. Java) in August to inform researchers of recent findings and to identify cooperating scien-82 tists who would later receive on-the-job training. A workshop was also organized in the Philippines by the National Research Institute to stimulate research on developin g agronomic techniques for local conditions.In experiments conducted by national scientists at a mid-elevation site (800 m) in Cimangkok, Indonesia, Red Pontiac gave the best yields followed by Sequoia, Up-to-Date , BR-63.76, and N-565.1. Yields were promising, ranging from 10 to 19.9 t/ ha. Other areas where CIP germplasm has recently been tested include the Pacific Islands of Guam , New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. From the above-mentioned and other results obtained throughout Southeast Asia, Red Pontiac and DT0-2 appear widely adapted , followed by Upto -Date. In other trials in the Southeast Asian region, LT-2 has shown good adaptability to heat stress conditions.In collaborative research with the Ban-gladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), advanced trials using 22 heattolerant clones are in the final stages of selection. The basic seed of four introductions is being multiplied for multilocational trials prior to being released as varieties. In Sri Lanka, scientists of the Department of Agriculture are including evaluation for heat tolerance in the later stages of clonal selection, mainly among selections with combined late blight and bacterial wilt resistance.T hrust VII was created during 1983 to develop appropriate technology for improving potato production in the cool climates of developing countries. Research is focusing on developing genetic material with tolerance to late blight and frost and with adaptability to tropical and subtropical cool climates. Another area of research will be to develop cultural practices that involve sources and levels of plant nutrient requirements and the control of pathogens affecting potato production.Two potato populations, which combine earliness and frost resistance, are being developed for two target areas-the Andean highland tropics and the non-Andean highland tropics and subtropics. Rapid progress to combine earliness and frost resistance with high yield potential is being made. In addition, tolerance to hail and drought has been observed in these two populations.A single leaf-node technique used to screen for Jong photoperiods has also proved useful for selecting clones adapted to subtropical daylengths. This technique will be used in the development of populations for the cool climates of the non-Andean tropical and subtropical highlands.Two distinct geographical zones have been identified where frost is hazardous to potato crops in tropical and subtropical countries of the developing world: Zone 1 covers the high altitudes in the tropics, and Zone 2 the cool climates in the subtropics. In Zone 1, frost can occur anytime during the growing season, causing severe losses. In Zone 2, frost is usually limited to the early or late part of the season, particularly when the potato is growing under intermediate daylengths (15 h). The overall breeding strategy in this Thrust takes into account the resistance to frost, the effect of daylength on the crop, and the cropping patterns of the two zones. These patterns have enabled us to focus on and define two target areas for the development of better-adapted germplasm.One target area is the Andean tropical highlands, where andigena germplasm has greatly influenced crop standards and crop maturity, which is usually late (180-210 days) in these regions. The varying skin and flesh colors of the native andigena germplasm are generally acceptable to farmers and consumers, who also show little concern for tuber shape and appearance.The non-Andean highlands, the second target area, includes both the tropics and subtropics-regions where crop standards have been strongly influenced by improved tuberosum cultivars. In this area, early maturity is in demand (90-120 days), and tuber appearance such as skin and flesh color, depth of eyes, and tuber shape must conform to the features of a tuberosum cultivar. Consequently, two separate frost-resistant populations are being developed at CIP's research sites in Peru to meet the requirements of both target areas.Frost-resistant clones improved for earliness ( 130 days) were tested in a replicated trial under natural frost conditions at a highland location in Usibamba, Peru (3800 m). The results at Usibamba indicated that rapid progress had been made in combining frost resistance , earliness, and high yield. This material performed well in spite of a hail storm and a threeweek drought during the growing season (Table VII-1).Another sample of clones with resistance to frost or late blight or both was evaluated at a lower elevation (Huancayo, 3200 m) without frost incidence . The results indicated the high yield potential of these clones even though there were severe hail storms at 61 and 90 days after planting (Table VIl-2).Genetic experiments to evaluate the parental value of a sample of clones through their progenies were carried out using the first clonal generation. The results helped us to select advanced clones with good general combining ability .   A randomized complete analysis on the variance of the characters measured indicated that the treatment means were high-ly significant. The LSD comparisons between Group 1 and Group 2 for average clonal performance of the five characters  Projects on cultural practices were initiated in late 1983 and will address relevant problems in the cool climate areas . Three current projects are I) the nutrient uptake efficiency of cool climate potatoes, 2) the use of Potash (K 2 0) in avoiding frost damage, and 3) the control of economically important fungal pathogens.T he use of natural diffused light for storing potato seed tubers continued to expand with more than 3000 farmers adopting this technology in 1983 . A study on adopters in Sri Lanka showed that the impact of such improved and appropriate seed storage technologies was considerable and variable. The extensive buildup of aphid-transmitted viruses in stored seed tubers has been confirmed and the need to develop adequate control measures for inclusion in seed production programs is stressed. Such control measures should be integrated with those already developed to control other important pests and diseases of stored seed tubers. Tubers stored in diffused light have again proved to be more resistant to infection by Erwinia spp . than darkstored tubers.The storability of consumer tubers and problems of potato tuber moth damage and Erwinia soft rot have been identified as major limiting factors to storage under warm, humid conditions. On-farm trials in the Mantaro Valley of Peru demonstrated that farmers' storage practices can be improved with a reduction in storage losses of consumer potatoes. Further research is needed to adapt the technologies used to specific farmer needs.In potato processing, emphasis was placed on developing a methodology for identifying and using the potato in dehydrated food products that are consumer-acceptable . Processing provides a potential alternative to the frequently difficult storage of fresh tubers and can simultaneously increase the overall demand for potatoes. Dehydrated mixes were produced and tested, which contained up to 50°/o potato with the remainder made up of locally produced dried grains and legumes. Several of these mixes have already found good consumer acceptability in several test sites in Peru .The number of countries either testing (24) or adopting (11) diffused-light storage (DLS) technology continued to grow. An estimate of the number of adopters showed a sharp increase during 1983 (Fig. VIII-I and    In Colombia, 35 simple seed stores were built in Santander Province, 25 each in Boyaca and Cundinamarca, and 15 in Narifio. A rural development project in Colombia has budgeted for a further 200 stores to be built on supervised credit. Fifty very small stores, attached to farmers houses, were counted in the Santander Province alone. In Pamplona, yield increases from seed stored in diffused light, compared with traditional dark storage in farmers homes, ranged from 3.2 to 8.2 ha. The major part of this yield increase was in marketable consumer potatoes, thus the profit from this technology was maximized.During 1983, seed tubers were successfully stored in India (Region VI) for eight months in DLS. Trials using the stored seed have been planted in farmers' fields to test the agroeconomic advantages of this method. Potato storage practices surveyed in the Mountain Province of the Philippines (Region VII) indicated that 42°/o of 1412 farmers had adopted DLS technology. A specific type of store design may not itself have been adopted, but the general principle was incorporated by farmers into existing stores by some suitable modification.The rapid increase in adoption of DLS is a result of the intensive training courses regularly organized at regional and national levels for scientists and extension workers. CIP sponsored regional storage courses in Colombia and Sri Lanka in 1983 and a regional workshop in Chile-all courses were supported by funds from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Individual training was given to a Venezuelan scientist at CIP headquarters to accelerate the transfer of skills in DLS technology available in the Colombian national program. The scientist later assisted in a course in Colombia funded by UNDP.To further assist in understanding the transfer phase and impact of improved seed tuber storage, CIP conducted a collaborative study with the national program in Sri Lanka. A follow-up study on DLS selected a 1 O°la sample of 400 early DLS adopters for interviews. An estimated 1200 Sri Lankan farmers had made at least one technological change in DLS as a result of national program efforts.Sri Lanka is the first country adopting DLS where its potential impact can be documented. For example, in the Badulla District two importations of foreign seed were traditionally required: 1) maha planting in the upland zone for seed production, and 2) ya/a planting in the paddy zone for consumer potatoes. In 1979, however, foreign seed importation for the ya/a (paddy) planting was banned, forcing farmers to expand production in the upland zone to overcome seed deficits in the paddy zone. Traditionally stored seed had losses of approximately 25°/o. When DLS technology was introduced in 1980 by a national scientist trained in this technology, a new postharvest system and seed flows were eventually created (Fig. Vlll-2). When longer storage periods became possible, farmers could keep seed from the maha harvest (Feb.-Mar.) to the maha planting (Oct.-Dec.).The adoption of DLS in Sri Lanka allowed timely planting when climatic conditions were appropriate. For example, instead of the 1 to 3 multiplication rate farmers reported from imported seed that had arrived late or in poor physiological condition, survey farmers reported a 1 to 7 multiplication rate. This rate reflected a 133°/o increase in yield due to availability of seed in the proper planting condition. Storage losses were also reduced substantially. The government of Sri Lanka has now officially recognized the importance of postharvest activity in improving potato production by making credit available for constructing DLS .Pest and disease control in diffusedlight stores. Research continued on the control of major pests and diseases found in DLS. Results confirmed findings from previous years that tuber greening, following exposure to diffused light, influenced resistance to infection and spread of Erwinia spp. The cv . Yungay showed higher levels of Erwinia resistance than the cv. Ticahuasi, and resistance increased with increased storage time. Similarly, when healthy tubers were stored adjacent to tubers inoculated with three subspecies of Erwinia, resistance in healthy tubers to the spread of Erwinia increased slightly with more storage time . The trend was most pronounced with Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica.Control of potato tuber moth (PTM) in DLS was tested in Egypt (Region V) . Large storage boxes with insect-proof screening were placed inside a traditional (nawala) seed store, which provided protection from direct heat while allowing diffused light to reach the tubers. The storage boxes provided good control of PTM damage, and tubers had strong, green sprouts at the end of the storage period after the summer months.The buildup of aphid-transmitted viruses during storage was studied in Peru using the susceptible cv. 69-47-2. Control seed tubers were double-wrapped in paper bags and stored at 4° C. Other samples were exposed in seed trays in open-sided, diffused-light stores in Huancayo (3200 m) and in Canete on the coast (100 m) . The tubers stored in both sites were subdivided into two lots: one lot was sprayed every 15 days with insecticide Tamaron (2 ml of 50°1o E.C./ 100 ml H 2 0) to the point of runoff; the other lot was left unsprayed.After six months of storage, tubers from each experimental treatment were -.planted in a randomized plot design in plots at Lima. Shortly after plant emergence , the plots were visually examined for potato leafroll virus (PLRV) and potato virus Y (PVY). Although differences in virus health could be observed between the treatments, visual recordings of specific viruses were not possible due to the high percentage of mixed infections. Leaf samples from a minimum of 24 plants per replicate were taken at random and tested by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for both viruses.Results of this testing confirmed an extensive buildup of PLRV and a marked increase in PVY in the unsprayed treatments stored at both Huancayo and Canete (Table VIII-2). Spraying with Tamaron reduced PLRV buildup under the cool conditions at Huancayo, but did not reduce PLRV in tubers under the higher ambient temperatures at Canete. Insecticide application had less effect on PVY infection at both locations than did PLRV. Infection pressure and inoculum potential were greater under the warmer Canete conditions. This finding supports previous observations on the rapid increase of aphid populations on tuber sprouts stored under warm conditions.Influence of growing conditions and storage on seed tubers. The results from a series of trials showed that the environmental conditions of the growing location had greater influence on subsequent performance of seed tubers than conditions in storage ( 4° and 12° C). Healthy highland seed (3280 m) yielded an average of 30°/o more than similarly healthy seed from warmer sites grown at lower altitudes (800 and 240 m).Studies .on sprout growth in diffusedlight stores. In contract research at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, the interrelationship of light intensity, temperature, and the rate and pattern of sprout growth are being studied. Preliminary experiments showed that the mean length of the longest sprout on each tuber was a satisfactory measure of sprouting under different light intensities. After dormancy was broken, there was a linear relationship between sprout growth and time. There were indications that only the rate of sprout growth was affected by light, and not the length of the dormant period.More extensive experiments at Glasgow, using 11 European cultivars, examined the effect that temperature had on sprout growth in the dark. Both narrow  and broad temperature optima (13° to 18°C) were observed. Four of the cultivars were then sprouted at three different temperatures on trays under artificial light that decreased in intensity from about 1.2 W m-2 at one end of each tray to 0.02 W m-2 at the other end. The light sources consisted of a mixture of fluorescent tubes and tungsten bulbs, chosen as an approximate match for typical daylight spectra in the critical blue and red spectral regions.The light intensity required for 50°/o inhibition of sprout growth was almost unaffected by temperature and varied from 0.1 to 0.25 W m-2 between cultivars. But since sprout growth without light increased with temperature up to the optimum for each cultivar, less light was needed to produce sprouts of a given length at low temperatures. No effect of light on apical dominance was observed. Tubers from this experiment were planted to observe emergence. Sprouts that developed in light gave early emergence after tubers were planted. Sprouts that developed in the dark were too weak; thus, planting those tubers by removing the sprouts was not practical.The artificial light intensities mentioned above cannot be compared directly with diffused daylight, as artificial light contained much more energy in the inactive spectral regions. An exact conversion factor is dependent on the action spectrum for sprout inhibition, i.e., its relation to the wavelength of light used. An attempt to measure the action spectrum using quartz-halogen light sources and diffraction filters was unsuccessful, but the problems encountered appeared to be solvable.A socioeconomic study of farmer storage practices was initiated in the highland 96 community of Palca (2500 m), Peru. This study was supplemented by observations from other important Peruvian potatoproducing regions.Ninety-two farmers were interviewed in Palca to better understand traditional storage practices and related problems. In this community, damage caused by PTM and rot were the most common storage problems perceived by farmers . In cooler regions, damage by the Andean weevil (Premnotrypes spp.) is more important than PTM damage, but farmers frequently do not distinguish between these two pests. A preliminary survey indicated that many highland potato farmers stored part of their crop after harvest, irrespective of credit demands. Frequently, the production credit systems require full repayment at harvest time and make no provisions for crop storage. The quantities of tubers stored are variable; they are used for both home consumption and later for selling, particularly at times when extra cash is needed. This use of stored potatoes is a type of \"personal bank deposit,\" and coupled with the lack of credit for crop storage, it complicates obtaining reliable information.A series of five on-farm storage trials were started in the Man taro Valley of Peru to test whether past experiences on storage structures and their management at the Huancayo station could be used to reduce storage losses and improve existing farmer practices. Preliminary results of the trials indicated that losses over a sixmonth storage period could be reduced from 25 .5°/o to 12.2°/o by applying the sprout inhibitor CIPC. Losses could be further reduced to 8.6°1o by using CIPC coupled with the use of simple, naturally ventilated 0.5-ton storage boxes kept inside farmers' buildings.Much research still needs to be done on adapting the methods used to the specific needs of local farmers. If this can be achieved, it could have considerable impact on potato production at the national level, as the total tonnage stored for sale and home use by individual farmers must be considerable.In a collaborative project with the national program in Bangladesh, encouraging test results were obtained on storing consumer potatoes in natural ventilation and evaporative-type cool stores. Different varieties were included in the tests. In combination with sprout suppressants such as CIPC, potatoes were stored for up to 150 days in good condition.In Kenya (Region III), the comparative merits of various low-cost structures for consumer potato storage were evaluated at high and medium-high altitudes. At the higher site (2400 m), average losses after 11 weeks of storage were approximately 5°/o. At the lower elevation (1820 m), average losses were 1 O°lo after 9 weeks of storage. These structures are being evaluated in on-farm trials in collaboration with the Rural Structures Unit of the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture. A similar on-farm evaluation will be initiated in Madagascar in 1984.Preliminary results of a storage study in Burundi indicated that heat shock treatment can be used as a practical farm method for breaking dormancy. Potatoes are suspended in the roofs of traditional huts where night temperatures, due to cooking fires, reach 50° C. In the daytime, the fires are extinguished and temperatures fall. Ten days of treatment are all that are necessary to break dormancy. Another study started in Burundi will determine how locally available herbs influence insect control in storage. This study is based on test results obtained in Peru on protecting potatoes against tuber moth attack by using deterrent weeds.POTATO PROCESSING Development of processing project. CIP has been involved for several years in developing simple technologies for potato processing. A low-cost, village-scale processing system was established at Huancayo in 1980 to produce dehydrated potatoes and starch. This system demonstrated that traditional Andean processes can be enlarged into a village-level operation. This CIP processing plant can be altered, depending on local market requirements, to modify the end product and can also be used to produce other primary food products. Some of these commodities can be sold directly to consumers, or their value and usefulness can be increased by incorporating them into secondary product formulations. Thus, a mechanism is established to use existing or new information on consumer needs. This mechanism has become a priority within the present project, which concentrates on producing products to meet specific requirements already identified.Research on prototype mixes and consumer testing. During 1983, research concentrated on 1) establishing a market demand and clientele, 2) developing prototype mixes combined with the potato and testing consumer reaction, and 3) encouraging collaboration with national programs.The prototype mixes, in addition to having a significant cost advantage, can often enhance the nutritional value over the individual components. Several crops indigenous to Peru have been evaluated for their combining acceptability with the potato. Some of the mixes were selected for consumer testing based on flavor and cost. Of those tested, one mixture (M-6) had the widest acceptance at all levels of testing; it contained 30°/o dried potato mixed with flours of rice, beans, oat, barley, and maize. The different mixtures developed at CIP are in a dried powder form, which can be reconstituted by adding one liter of water to 80 gm of mix . The product is boiled for 25 minutes to obtain a consistency comparable to a thick soup. It has a neutral taste and can be used as a base for breakfast foods, main meal soups or sauces, and desserts.More than 1000 individuals sampled M-6 in Lima and Huancayo during 1983. Families in this group were given 0.5 kg of M-6 for \"in-home\" tests after a brief preparation demonstration. In all cases, results were encouraging and indicated broad acceptance of M-6 . A comedor popular (communal kitchen) in Lima was also used as a test-acceptance site. The comedor prepares daily meals for about 150 children (ages 3-21) and uses about 98 3 kg of M-6 per day in different main meal preparations (Fig. VIIl-3).The following national and international organizations have assisted in providing background information on Peruvian food habits and needs, and some have been actively involved with product acceptability testing during 1983 : Nutritional Research Institute, National Institute of Agro-Industrial Development, National Agrarian University-La Molina, National Institute of Research and Advancement in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Health, Lupine and Barley Projects, National Institute of Health, World Food Programme, and various church groups in Lima. Continued involvement and collaboration with these organizations wiJI remain an important part of future developments.R esearch on true potato seed (TPS) has expanded to countries in South America, Africa, and Asia . Hybrid TPS produced under disease-free conditions in Huancayo, Peru, was distributed to a number of countries for agronomic evaluation. Investigations were made on the influence of environmental conditions during berry and seed development, the effect of various seed treatments, and the relationship among several .seed quality components. Studies on TPS sensitivity to salt concentrations indicated that high concentrations severely affected TPS germination . Seed germination and emergence tests were defined more clearly when TPS was subjected previously to stress treatment.Agronomic research on TPS concentrated on potato production from transplanted seedlings and seedling-tuber production in seedbeds. A large number of progenies were evaluated in Peru under different ecological conditions with yields averaging above 40 t/ha in selected progenies. Different management practices were developed for earlier and uniform production of seedlings in either cool or warm environments. The effect of soil fertility and soil structure on seedling growth was studied in a range of soils. High conductivity and poor soil structure were the main factors associated with poor seedling growth. Several chemicals provided good control of dampingoff in potato seedlings. Rhizoctonia solani was identified as the most important pathogen causing seedling damping-off before and after transplanting. Seedling establishment after transplanting was greatly improved by proper insecticide and fertilizer applications, as well as by methods to reduce soil temperature in warm climates.In seedling-tuber production in seedbeds, plant growth was retarded by high salt concentration, resulting from organic material in the substrate mix or fertilizer. Direct sowing in the seedbed gave faster plant development and earlier maturity than transplanting seedlings into seedbeds. Crops grown from small rather than large seedling tubers matured later.Different TPS technology components and alternative systems for TPS use were evaluated in on-farm trials on the coast of Peru . Adequate potato seedlings and seedling-tuber production were obtained under direct farmer management. In one trial , a yield of 29 t/ha was obtained from a crop of transplanted potato seedlings of a good \"hybrid progeny. This yield was almost double the farmer's yield using seed tubers of a commercial variety and was significantly higher than using small seedling tubers.Differences in the germinability of true potato seed (TPS) samples were influenced by conditions during berry and seed development. An experiment in Peru produced TPS from five hybrid progenies under two conditions: field-grown plants or by flowering branches that were cut and placed in bottles of water in a screenhouse . Seed weight and germination at seven days showed significant differences between the two conditions and also for the interaction between hybrids and conditions . TPS produced by three progenies under fi eld conditions had a higher 100-• seed weight , while better germination was observed for four progenies at seven days. These differences , however, disappeared at 14 days. The results may reflect variation in growth of parents or in the success of pollinations under the two sets of conditions.The effect of berry age at time of seed extraction on subsequent germinability was studied. Except for TPS extracted from the youngest berries, germination was similar for a broad range of seed age in two hybrids. While care should be exercised to avoid excessively young berries, there is a range of tolerance for berry age, including both the pre-and postharvest periods. The danger of harvesting over-ripe berries seems small if seed is extracted before berries begin to rot.Potato berries of four open-pollinated (OP) progenies , ripened at 7° to 40°C, produced marked differences in TPS germination with or without gibberellic acid (GA) treatment to break dormancy. Temperatures above 30° C significantly reduced germination at seven days (Table IX-1 ). When berries were ripened at 15° or 30° C and seed was extracted at weekly intervals, there was an apparent influence of dormancy (Fig. IX-1). Germination of seed from berries ripened for only five days at 15 ° C had lower germination than seed ripened at 30° C. In the absence of GA, the dormancy of seed from berries ripened at 15° C for increasing periods of time was significantly increased.Various seed scarification methods, either chemical or mechanical , have improved germination of dormant and nondormant TPS . In an experiment where the seed was treated with concentrated sulfuric acid , some improvement in seed germination was obtained when the treatment was less than 30 seconds. When acid scarification was compared to mechanical scarification , which consisted of a deep cut at the micropylar end of the seed, the latter method proved superior in its effect on seedling emergence.  In an evaluation of TPS from 25 OP progenies, a negative correlation between samples of 100 seeds and berry weight was determined. Although seed number increased in larger berries, large seed size was associated with poor seed set.The influence of salts on germination was studied. Seed from Atzimba x DT0-33 was germinated in sealed petri plates containing 100, 1000, and 10,000 ppm solutions of the following salts: CaCI, KC!, NaCl, K 2 S0 4 , MgS0 4 7H 2 0, (NH 4 ) H 2 P0 4 , NH 4 N0 3 , and (NH 2 hCO. Solutions with conductivities greater than 4 mS inhibited germination. Slight differences due to the type of salt were observed . Variation in sensitivity to salts among different progenies was minimal when seed of six progenies was germinated in 5000 ppm ammonium nitrate (NH 4 N0 3 ) (6.1 mS) and 8000 ppm magnesium sulfate (MgS0 4 7H 2 0) (3.7 mS) .Salts stimulated germination slightly in only one progeny; for the other progenies, salt treatments were inhibitory.Several seed germination and emergence tests, and variants of these tests were evaluated using different TPS lots. By stressing seed prior to germination , differences in seed germination and vigor were more clearly defined . Two seedstressing methods have shown promising results : I) accelerated aging by subjecting seed to 35° C and high humidity for one to three days; and 2) soaking seed in 20°/o aqueous methyl alcohol for two hours.Research on TPS in India has demonstrated a strong correlation between seedling vigor, seed size , and embryo type. Parental lines selected earlier on general performance for vigor, yield, and uniformity are being tested with respect to their potential for hybrid TPS production .Research focused on: 1) several aspects related to quality of seedlings and their ability to recover early from transplanting shock, and 2) general factors to improve productivity of the potato crop from TPS.A total of 59 selected hybrids and 194 OP progenies were evaluated by transplanting seedlings to the field in Lima, San Ramon, and Huancayo. In general , hybrids showed a higher proportion of large-sized tubers . During the last three years, the yield and average size of tubers has improved due to progeny selection. Open-pollinated progenies generally 104showed a longer growth period (Fig.In CIP-supported contract research at the University of Wisconsin, more than 100 families of TPS obtained by different breeding programs were evaluated for seedling traits; vegetative vigor, uniformity and maturity ; and tuber type and yield at two locations. TPS families were from 4x-2x crosses, 4x-4x crosses, and open pollination. Families from 4x-2x crosses were best in seedling vigor, vegetative vigor, uniformity, and tuber yields, but not in tuber type . They outyielded comparable OP families by 40°/o to 1 OO°lo and had yields as large as the mean yield of 36 cultivars. But the best cultivars outyielded the best hybrid transplant families by 20°/o to 40°/o. No difference in yield was found between OP 1 , OP 2 , and OP 3 families .Seedling survival in cool and warm areas. In cool areas, seedling emergence and growth can be impaired by low night temperatures. The results from experiments using eight selected progenies in either 20° or 30° C day temperatures and different combinations of night temperatures showed that low night temperatures significantly affected seedling emergence. The effect of low night temperatures on seedling growth was also observed when seed of seven progenies was germinated for eight days at 20°C ; the seedlings were then maintained at 30° C during the day and various night temperatures. Seedling growth was delayed by night temperatures of 10°C or lower (Table IX-2). For cool night areas , several management practices for potato seedling production were evaluated. Temperature amelioration resulting in earlier production and more uniform seedling growth was obtained by surrounding seedbeds with black-painted stones and covering beds with clear polyethylene during the night .   In warm tropical areas, high temperatures may also reduce emergence and lack of uniformity in seedlings . The effect of high temperatures on seedling emergence and growth was evaluated at San Ramon during different periods of shading after sowing. During three consecutive seasons, the seedbed was shaded to allow 70°/o light transmission at full sunshine. Periods of 14 days or more of shading after sowing resulted in better emergence and sturdier seedlings (Table IX-3).Another experiment in San Ramon during the dry season demonstrated that seedling survival was not influenced after transplanting even though B-nine (daminozide) was applied to the foliage, and leaves were pruned at various periods of seedling growth in the seedbed. Con- siderable improvement in •seedling survival, however , did result during two seasons by protecting transplanted seedlings from cutworms and foliar-feeding insects with proper insecticide applications (Table IX-4) . Efficiency of seed production. TPS progenies are being developed by the national program of ICA in Colombia at the Tibaitata station near Bogota; testing for adaptability and resistance to late blight is being conducted at the La Selva station near Medellin. Part of the work is being done by an M.S. student who is working with CIP regional scientists on the breeding program. Some progenies have shown good levels of resistance . The tubers harvested were sold on the local market, and the price difference obtained for these and local varieties was low.Another M.S. student in Colombia will investigate physiological aspects of flowering , an thesis, pollen viability, and other factors that could influence the efficiency of seed production and thus the cost of producing TPS. This area of research is also being investigated by a research contract with EMBRAP A in Brazil.Methods of optimizing seedling-tuber production in seedbeds were studied. The advantage of the seedbed system is its high efficiency in producing a large number of a Dash (-) indicates treatment not applied. *Means followed by same letter are not significantly different at 50/0 level.tubers per unit area. Since growing conditions can be easily controlled in a small nursery area, tuber production per unit area can be maximized.Comparisons were made in Peru on different seedbed substrates prepared with various types of organic materials that were used under high temperature conditions. Peatmoss, compost , and horse manure gave similar total yields; sawdust resulted in lower yield, both in weight and number of tubers per m 2 . When organic material was reduced from 50°/o to 40°/o , and 1 O°lo loamy topsoil added, tuber number and weight decreased by 30°/o and 20°/o , respectively.Trials in the Philippines on TPS showed that pure compost was a good medium in which to propagate seedling tubers . Close spacing from 6 x 6 cm to 10x10 cm provided adequate distance between plants. Under these conditions, 4 kg to 7 kg of seedling tubers/m 2 were produced from TPS with an average size of 10 to 20 g/ tuber.Several experiments in Peru were designed to investigate the effects of different seedbed substrates and cultural management on production of seedlings and seedling tubers .In one experiment, fertilizer added befo re sowing to a substrate mix of 1 : 1 sand and peatmoss had a negative effect on seedling growth when concentrations of N and K exceeded 200 ppm. Results also suggested that in order to avoid salinity problems associated with the use of some N and K fertilizers, additional applications should be applied in partial doses starting one to two weeks after emergence. The effect of plant population on seedling tuber production was studied during the winter period in Lima using two hybrids and one OP progeny (Table IX-5). The highest number of seed tubers, i.e., larger than 1 g, was obtained at a density of 100 to 150 plants/m 2 . Although the average tuber size decreased with increasing plant population, the number of tubers larger than 20 g tended to increase. This finding is in agreement with previous results, indicating that a final plant population of 100/m 2 after thinning is adequate for producing larger, usable seedling tubers.Direct sowing versus transplanting. A comparison of direct sowing in seedbeds with transplanting of seedlings indicated that direct-sown beds gave faster tuber development and plants matured 15 days earlier than those transplanted at the same time. At maturity, however, there was no difference in yield between planting systems. This indicated that, providing soil temperatures do not affect germination, direct sowing can be a labor-saving system for producing seedling tubers in seedbeds.No hilling 2-3 cm hilling 6-7 cm hilling 0 100In another experiment, the effect of hilling on stolon formation and number of tubers was investigated in direct-sown seedbeds. Plants grown in beds that received an added 3-cm layer of substrate covering 2-3 nodes produced a significantly higher number of stolons as compared to no hilling. Hilling of 6-7 cm did not produce any further increase in number of stolons. Observations on the pattern of stolon formation showed that more than 70°/o of the stolons originated from the two lower nodes. The effect of hilling on the number of tubers at harvest was similar to its effect on the number of stolons, suggesting that 2-3 cm hilling is sufficient for good seedling tuber production (Fig. IX-3) .Evaluations on sprout growth and subsequent growth of plants from small seedling tubers showed that increasing tuber size had a positive effect on sprout length before planting and on early plant development (Fig. IX-4). This frequently resulted in later maturity of the crop from small seedling tubers compared to a crop from larger tubers. Sprout management in small tubers appears rather critical for early plant growth in the field.In areas of the world where small tubers are accepted as food, the high yield of seedling tubers produced in seedbeds could be used effectively. In selected progenies, a large number of tubers were produced per unit seedbed area and also a high total tuber weight was achieved (Fig. IX-5).Intensive TPS research in Rwanda. An intensive program of TPS research covering agronomy, breeding, and on-farm trials was continued in Rwanda with the 1200 800 400 No. tubers/m2 0 national potato program (PNAP) . The optimum fertilizer dosage for field production from transplants was 500 kg/ha of diammonium phosphate (DAP). In nursery trials to produce seedling tubers, the fertilizer treatment giving the greatest number of tubers (570/m 2 ) was 1500 kg/ ha of DAP and fungicide sprayed once a week. Positive selection of vigorous plants in nursery beds produced seedling tubers that considerably outyielded unselected seedling tubers in the next generation. Hybrid populations produced locally in Rwanda and grown as transplanted progenies varied widely in yield. Several hybrids gave yields approaching those obtained from a regular crop planted with tuber seed. The size of tubers from seedlings produced from a hybrid progeny was smaller than the size of tubers produced by the var. Sangema grown from seed tubers.Two hundred clones were analyzed for flowering, male fertility, fruit set, and seeds per fruit to identify clones with high male sterility that produced fruit from bumblebee activity. Ten clones were found with low pollen stainability that produced from 2000 to 4000 seeds per plant, as compared to 10,000 to 40,000 in male clones that were highly fertile. Tuber yields of progeny from OP seed of male sterile clones were significantly higher than those from progeny of male fertile clones.In a research contract with the National Agrarian University (UNA) of Peru, preliminary experiments evaluated the effect of NPK levels on development of flower buds, flowers, and berries. Significant improvement in fruit set was achieved by increasing P 2 0 5 and K 2 0 levels from 80 to 160 ppm.Production costs. Preliminary data on actual cost of producing TPS varies according to local conditions. In India, hand-pollinated TPS was produced at a cost ranging from US$5 and $20/ha. The cost of producing hybrid seed in the Philippines ranged from $4 for nonemasculated crosses to $31 /ha for an emasculated cross. Open-pollinated seed was estimated to cost less than $I /ha.Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most important pathogens causing dampingoff in potato seedlings. At CIP and the Research Institute for Plant Protection (IPO), Netherlands, several experiments were conducted for controlling dampingoff both in the nursery and after transplanting. At the nursery stage, several fungicides were applied individually in 250 L of water/m 2 after sowing TPS in artificially inoculated soil. The soil was inoculated by incorporating 7 g of infected wheat kernels per kilogram of soil. The fungicides Rizolex, Benlate, Monceren, Campogran, Solacol and Iprodione 1861 provided good control. In trials to control damping-off after transplanting, 35-to 40-day-old seedlings were transplanted into soil that had been previously mixed with a fungicide four days after inoculation. All of the fungicides tested controlled Rhizoctonia damping-off (Table IX-6).Pythium spp. are also associated with damping-off in transplanted potato seedlings. In an experimental field at San Ramon, Pythium was found in 21.6°/o of the seedlings showing symptoms of damping-off; three different species of Pythium were identified. Whole tuber inoculation of nine potato cultivars showed that all isolates were pathogenic when tubers were surface-damaged. After four days at 17° to 20°C all tubers rotted.During the process of berry ripening or extraction and processing, TPS may become highly contaminated with fungal or bacterial saprophytes and pathogens. Various chemicals have been tested to eliminate some of these pathogens from the seed surface. A ten-minute dip in a O.S°lo solution of sodium hypochlorite was the most effective control treatment (Fig. IX-6).I 09 In Brazil, various factors that influence transplanted seedling establishment were investigated. Soil pathogens such as Rhizoctonia solani , Fusarium spp., and Er-wzma spp., and insect pests including Diabrotica spiciosa , and Liriomyza huidobrensis , were among several factors causing difficulty in seedling establishment. Several on-farm trials in the coastal area of Peru continued to evaluate TPS technology. The objectives were 1) to test different technology components under farmer management conditions and 2)to evaluate different alternative systems of TPS use under the different agroeconomic conditions present in several farming areas.At Callao, a coastal city near Lima, there are two potato production seasons; the early season is characterized by low yields, but a high market price is paid for these potatoes even though seed tubers with high virus content are used. During this season, the productivity of differentsized tubers, produced the previous season from TPS , was compared with transplanted seedlings of a hybrid progeny and with farmers' seed tubers. The farmers' tubers were of a local variety produced on the farm but stored either in the cold or in diffused light. Yields obtained by transplanted seedlings almost doubled the yields of farmers' seed tubers and were significantly higher than yields of small tubers produced from TPS. Crops from transplanted seedlings, however, had a longer growth period (Table IX- A distinct economic advantage of TPS technology over conventional seed tuber technology is the potential saving in seed cost. Experiments in Peru during 1982 indicated that significant increases in labor may occur in seedling production and transplanting, partially cancelling the potential cost saved by using TPS. In 1983 experiments, however, the labor needed for seedling production and transplanting was reduced by I 7°/o. Further reduction in labor can be expected as farmers become accustomed to the technology , and as new and simplified practices are developed, which ate better adapted to farmlevel commercial scale of production.In the development and diffusion of TPS technology, it is important to identify the agroecological zones and farming systems where farmer adoption would most likely occur. On-farm trials in Peru showed that TPS technology is more profitable than seed tuber technology only during the early planting season on the coast, when inexpensive but highly infected seed tubers are used. In the main season, crops from TPS were not as profitable as the seed tuber crop because the saving in seed cost was smaller than the decrease in return produced by lower yield and selling price (Table IX-8).   Comparative on-farm trials at three locations in Rwanda demonstrated that the combination of clean seed and an improved variety produced by the national program (PNAP) yielded three times more than farmers' seed. In these trials , seedling tubers of the new variety Nseko, produced by farmers in their own nurseries from TPS, also outyielded farmers' seed by a considerable margin (Table IX-9).In Sri Lanka, the Department of Agriculture has started to produce TPS seedlings of Desiree (OP) in flat trays for sale to farmers . Reported yields are good; one farmer produced on 0.2 ha the equivalent of 25 t/ha. Farmers in Sri Lanka have been producing seedlings of other horticultural crops and are interested in producing their seedlings if seed is available . Several TPS progenies have been evaluated by the Department, three of which had good overall performance in 1983 and may be made available to farmers in the near future. TPS project development. To help initiate projects in developing countries and strengthen existing projects, the second international course on potato production from TPS was held at CIP headquarters in Lima. Of the eight scientists attending, four were from Asia where there is a potential for TPS technology . Individual training on TPS production was also given at Lima. In Mexico, the annual production course presented by the national potato program added, in 1983, a one-week training section for the PRECODEPA countries. In India and Colombia, TPS research is being supported through scholarships to three students studying for their M.S. degrees.A number of diverse observations related to seed technology have been reported from several CIP regional programs. In the Philippines, the use of rooted cuttings  In Tunisia , the national seed potato program (GIL) is producing quality tuber seed for the early and late seasons. The potential size of the seed market was estimated at 2800 t for the early season and 4600 t for the late season. In 1983, the seed program had already satisfied 20°/o of the potential seed requirement for the late season. The seed program's objective is to satisfy the total seed demand for both seasons, which would have a significant economic impact. First, potato production would increase to about 20,000 t due to the use of good quality seed. Second , the country will save at least US$200,000 compared with the current level of seed imports . Finally , the national income is estimated to increase by $3.5 million , due mainly to the increased value of potato production.Research by the national program (INIAP) of Ecuador used a rapid multiplication technique developed at CIP to produce about 18,000 stem cuttings of three varieties and obtained 3 .2 t of first generation tubers . Twenty-two tons of sec-114 ond generation tubers of one variety were harvested before the end of 1983. All \"mother plants\" were free of virus, and random samples of first and second generation plants had less than 2°/o field infection.In Rwanda, an economic evaluation of the national potato program (PNAP) indicated that this program is generating high net social returns. Considere d in the evaluation were all program costs and only those benefits associated with the diffusion of seed of improved varieties. If all social costs are deducted from gross social returns over a period of 12 years, the country will obtain a net benefit of at least $1.2 million .Seed-tuber production technology was the subject of three regional courses in Peru , Chile , and b.mbia , attended in total by 48 scie ntists. In Africa and Asia, different aspects of seed tuber production, applicable to local conditions, were also presented in several in-country production courses. To meet the demands of national programs for information on identifying and controlling diseases -a priority in seed tuber production -a series of courses on pathological problems in seed production have been initiated by CIP. The first was hel d in Colombia in October 1983 , attended by 24 scientists representing ten countries of Central and South America.Food Systems N ational, regional, and world trends in potato production and use, based on data from the World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization (F AO), were documented and analyzed for inclusion in the 1984 second edition of CIP's comprehensive Potato Atlas and the pocket-size World Potato Facts. Information on potato farming systems in 74 developing countries, extracted from various sources, was compiled in a Country Reference File and rendered on maps of potato-growing zones.Diffused-light seed storage technology has been adopted extensively by farmers in Sri Lanka and has stimulated local seed production, resulting in far-reaching changes in farming systems. A study on potato marketing in Bhutan revealed that demands for both seed and consumer potatoes were much greater than previously thought. The study recommended that Bhutan, to help achieve its official goal of greater food self-sufficiency, curtail subsidized sale of imported rice during the peak potato harvesting season. Nutritional aspects of the potato-a little understood topic-were reviewed in more that 600 related publications to prepare a seven-chapter book entitled Potato in the Human Diet.This new tenth Thrust will focus on obtaining information on priority problems and client needs in production, marketing, and utilization of potatoes in developing country food systems. Accordingly, research priorities are to 1) document the present status and trends of potato production and use ; 2) characterize major farming systems in which potatoes are, or may be , produced ; 3) identify key marketing problems and potential solutions; 4) analyze potato consumption and demand ; and 5) determine the potential role of the potato in improving diets and nutritional well-being.Documenting and analyzing trends. The objective is to document trends in potato production and use at national, regional, and world levels and to evaluate the pres-ent and potential role of the potato as a food crop in developing countries. A data bank with national, regional, and world statistics has been established and will be updated annually. In 1983, data on all major root crops were collated and analyzed for the second edition of CIP's comprehensive Potato Atlas and the pocketsize World Potato Facts .The new edition of the Potato Atlas is the most comprehensive and up-to-date statistical compilation in the field . All work, including preparation of text, tables, and graphs, was done on a microcomputer to ensure a high degree of accuracy and timely publication. Since all data is computerized , updating is easy and interested parties can receive available information quickly and at a low cost.Today, Asian countries are among the world's largest potato producers (Fig. X-1 ). China is the world's second largest producer and India is sixth. Among all crops grown in developing countries, potatoes are superior in terms of dry matter,   , 1948-1950 and 1978-1980 (three-year moving averages 1948-1950=100).protein, and energy production per hectare per day. They are also near the top in terms of increase in production and yield over the last two decades.Patterns and trends of potato and other root crops. Many people assume that patterns and trends of potato production and use are similar to those of other root crops. To test this hypothesis, recent developing country patterns and trends in potato production and use were documented and related to the corresponding patterns and trends for cassava, sweet potato, yam, and cocoyam. Production costs and prices were related to root crop marketing and use. The position of root crops in different production zones and farming systems was analyzed.The findings indicated that among root crops such as cassava, yam, sweet potato, and cocoyam, the potato ranks second in terms of developing country production (30 million tons; 1980 estimate for all developing market economies, from F AO 1982) and first in terms of rate of production increase (Fig X -2). Relative to other root crops such as cassava and sweet potato, potatoes have higher production costs and are generally grown under more favorable conditions. As food needs expand and agriculture intensifies in developing countries, the advantages of the potato over other root crops become evident: short growth cycle, relatively high protein/energy balance, high quality protein, broad consumer acceptance, storage is relatively easy, and no processing is required.Little is known about the farming systems in developing countries where the potato plays or can potentially play an important role . Moreover, no up-to-date map of potato-producing zones is available. To remedy this lack of information, a set of International Potato Reference Files was established with data on ecology, climate, population patterns, cropping systems, and major technological and socioeconomic constraints to potato production.During 1983, data on potato production in 74 developing countries were extracted from many sources, including country reports, personal interviews, and information compiled by CIP regional representatives and national program staff. Information is still lacking on 53 tropical countries. Most of the principal countries in CIP's regions are well represented in the International Country Files, except for West Africa and the Middle East. Information on these regions is being accumulated and compiled. For several countries, potato production zones have been mapped for the first time.Over 300 country documents are catalogued at CIP headquarters in the International Potato Reference Files. These files show the geographical distribution of documents by continents: Africa (98), Americas (53), Asia (139), and Oceania ( 12). This information is useful for determining such things as national programs' perceptions of production constraints (Table X-1) and distribution of diseases and pests (Table X-2) .  Research in Nepal conducted with the national program revealed a complex traditional potato agriculture, especially in relation to farmer selection of varieties. While the total Himalayan potato germplasm is not as diverse as that of the Andes, a surprisingly large number of local varieties are grown in Nepal. In several Himalayan villages studied, farmers identified 30 to 35 varieties, although normally only 4 or 5 varieties are planted in a given season. As in the Andes, Nepalese potato farmers maintain their own \"potato germplasm banks.\"An exploratory study was conducted in Peru's Department of Cajamarca on farmer adoption of Molinera, a bacterial wilt-and late blight-resistant variety. Molinera was found to be the second most important variety in the department (total 2491 ha). The findings indicated that farmers were motivated to adopt Molinera partly for its earliness and partly for its flourly texture which permits farmers to sell at a higher price. A more detailed follow-up is planned for 1984.During the last two years more than 150 on-farm trials were coordinated by national program (PNAP) staff in Rwanda. Several innovations were tested such as control of late blight (fungicides), use of compost, new varieties, new varieties combined with compost, and improved seed stores. Although all treatments gave increased yield in more than half of the trials, adoption by farmers was not uniform for all treatments.New varieties were the most successful innovation introduced in Rwanda. All of the participating farmers and 90°/o of their neighbors adopted a new variety . By contrast, 84°/o of participating farmers adopted the use of fungicides to control late blight, while only 30°/o of their neighbors did . This lower adoption rate prevailed in spite of the neighbors' keen interest in the trials and full knowledge of the results. The conclusion was that an innovation such as a new variety is easy to disseminate without additional inputs, it has late blight resistance and gives improved yields. In 1983, 25 on-farm trials showed a positive effect on farm income when a combination of clean seed and a new variety was used: the new variety doubled the net income over the farmer variety.Based on a typology of potato-producing countries, case studies are being conducted to analyze marketing problems and demand for potatoes in representative developing countries. In 1983 a case study of Bhutanese potato marketing was completed, and final reports were issued on an earlier Peruvian study (Fig. X-4) and the Bhutanese study. The Peruvian report, entitled Markets, Myths, and Middlemen, will be published in English and Spanish in late 1984. Fieldwork on potato marketing in Central Africa was conducted in late 1983 in Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire.Bhutan. The Bhutanese study, done in conjunction with the Bhutanese national potato program, addressed the question of where will additional potatoes be marketed if Bhutan produces more potatoes. Fieldwork showed that potential outlets for different quality potatoes existed both at home and abroad. The study concluded that if Bhutan is to maintain its present potato markets and capture new ones, varietal trials, seed multiplication, and marketing policy should take into account the special features of local and foreign markets. Several specific recommendations were as follows:• to help achieve Bhutan's official goal of greater food self-sufficiency, subsidization of imported rice during peak potato harvests should be curtailed; • improve dissemination of information about the potato's nutritional value and dietary uses; • retain high-quality Bhutanese seed for local sale rather than for export; ..• explore the feasibility of selling improved seed at a slight profit to help generate internal financial support for the national potato program.The potato's nutritional value and present and potential role in the diet are little understood and are highly controversial topics. Based on a review of over 600 publications on various aspects of potato nutritional value and on studies of potato consumption in seven countries, a book entitled Potato in the Human Diet was prepared and will be published in 1984. The book's major objective is to pro-vide a concise and reliable reference on the nutritional value of the potato for use by agricultural and nutritional planners and policy makers, researchers, nutritionists, potato program workers, and students of food and agricultural sciences.Emphasis is placed on the importance of maintaining nutritional quality while searching for means of increasing yields and enhancing disease resistance.It is generally believed that the potato is a high energy food that provides little else in the way of nutrients. In fact, the potato is not an especially rich energy source, but does contain high quality protein and substantial quantities of essential vitamins, minerals, and trace elements (e.g., vitamin C, niacin, and potassium). To present a more concise picture of CIP's integrated research network, which includes research at headquarters and throughout CIP's seven regions, all regional research has been reported within the ten Thrusts. The Regional Research and Training section has been divided into two separate reports: \"Regional Research and Country Networks\" and \"Manpower Development Through Training.\" This report focuses on national program and institutional development within the regions and gives the general background on five country network systems.The map of the world introducing this report illustrates the current status of CIP's seven regions (I-VII) and the location of the five country networks : PRECODEPA, PRACIPA, PROCIPA, PRAPAC, and SAPPRAD. The only change in the regions has been in Region IV, Near and Middle East, where the headquarters was moved from Turkey to Egypt during 1983.Two staff additions were made during the year and two more were confirmed for early 1984. These positions are supported by donors of the Consultative Group for International Research (CGIAR) and the Associate Expert Scheme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Associate scientists were assigned to regional headquarters in Tunisia and the Philippines, where they will assist in the research programs. Two additional postdoctoral research assignments were confirmed with the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and will begin in 1984. One is for the regional program in Tunisia to investigate integrated control of potato tuber moth (PTM), and the other is for CIP research in Egypt on true potato seed (TPS) .The development of seed improvement programs continues to be a priority for many national potato programs. Seed programs designated to meet national requirements are essential to introduce improved germplasm in sufficient enough quantities to have an impact on potato production. CIP receives frequent requests to assist in developing these seed programs. In Table 1, the magnitude of this task is illustrated by the number of countries embarked on some type of seed program as of 1983.The large quantity of germplasm flowing into national seed improvement programs comes from CIP and associated institutions, national breeding programs, and commercial breeders in developed countries. In the last two years, approximately 20 new varieties have been released by developing countries, some of which are derived from germplasm distributed by CIP. Of the 118 countries producing potatoes worldwide, 88 are evaluating CIP's germplasm (Table 2).., Other technologies are being transferred to national programs through CIP's regional program. One example is the use of diffused-light storage (DLS) technology, which was first introduced successfully to the Philippines in 1979 and has now been adopted in 22 countries. The rate of adoption has quadrupled annually in the last three years (see Thrust VIII , Fig. 1) . When a technology is as readily adopted as DLS , the transfer process requires only a small input by the regional scientists to successfully introduce it elsewhere.Associated with seed production is the importance of effectively controlling various species of PTM in the field and stores. CIP scientists in the regions and at headquarters are examining several possible control measures; in some cases, the projects are still in the initial phase of development. Because of collaborative research with national programs, several developing countries have already initiated parallel PTM investigations in collaboration with CIP entomologists (Table 3). These collaborative investigations should produce appropriate control measures more rapidly. Perhaps the most innovative approach to technology transfer has been the establishment of cooperative research networks between several countries in a geographical region. CIP's role in this development has been to provide assistance to a group of countries in identifying common problems that are then developed into specific research projects. The group assigns responsibility for these projects to research institutions within the member countries. This type of cooperative action eliminates the necessity of each country having to set up an extensive potato research program, especially when financial resources are limited.The existence of these country networks permits CIP regional scientists to concentrate their technical support on those institutions that have been assigned leadership by network members. Subsequently, the diffusion of technology through training and consultancies is carried out by the countries themselves. Before this strategy can be successful, however, two other essential factors must be considered:• strong administrative coordination is necessary, particularly during the formative years of the network ;• external funding is necessary to start individual research projects and to finance additional activities such as training and consultancies between countries, which are difficult to justify from national research budgets.Five country networks have been established between 1978 and 1983, with CIP providing the administrative and technical support necessary for their development. Three networks are in Latin America (PRECODEPA, PRACIPA, and PROCIPA) and one each in Africa (PRAPAC) and Asia (SAPPRAD). The development of these networks will be discussed in detail in other sections of this report.The Andean Region is characterized mainly by high-altitude potato cultivation (up to 3800 m) between latitudes 10°N and 20° S in the five countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. In most of these countries, particularly at the higher altitudes, farm sizes are small and unmechanized and traditional native varieties are mainly used. Venezuela is an exception and has traditionally imported seed from North America and Europe.CIP, since its inception in 1972, has maintained close cooperation with the national programs in this region. Region I headquarters was located originally in Lima, Peru, but in 1979 it was moved to Colombia with the Colombian national potato program of ICA in Bogota. With CIP's headquarters well established in Lima, the relocation of the regional headquarters to Colombia would better serve the needs of the northern Andean countries.In this zone, resistance to late blight and nematodes is important, as well as frost resistance at the higher altitudes. These characters have been incorporated into the germplasm introduced by CIP and national institutions, and several varieties have already been selected, which have been adopted by countries in this region. The next step is a well-developed seed program in each country, where the improved varieties can be rapidly multiplied for distribution to farmers in the shortest possible time.In Peru, a basic seed multiplication project, financed by the Swiss Government and administered by CIP, has been initiated. The new project is making maximum use of rapid seed multiplication methods developed at CIP. In eight months of operation, the project has established six subcenters throughout the country, and large numbers of virus-free, rooted plantlets have been produced for field multiplication. Apart from improved varieties, a number of native varieties with specific characteristics for the high altitudes, maintained pathogen free at CIP, have been included in the project.Another way that CIP is able to assist national programs worldwide is through a consultantship, which can, when the need arises, provide immediate assistance. A recent example is a situation that occurred in Colombia in 1983 where a devastating outbreak of PTM was causing heavy damage to potato crops in parts of the country. The national program of Colombia contacted CIP for assistance , and a CIP entomologist flew to the infected zones to help national scientists identify the causal pest, propose certain control measures, and verify that certain zones, proposed by the authorities, were free of the pest to avoid further destruction of the crop.In this region, a close relationship has existed between national scientists through their participation in CIP research and training activities. At an initial meeting at CIP-Lima in 1982, national research directors decided to form a collaborative research network between the countries of Region I.The cooperative country network PRACIP A (Programa Andino Cooperativo de Investigaci6n en Papa) was proposed in 1982-1983 among the five countries of Region I: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Financing by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is committed for five research projects, one in each country; however, an equal number of research projects still require financing as donors are identified. The projects, which will be initiated in 1984, include the following: 1) Bolivia, low cost seed improvement methods; 2) Colombia, control of white grubs; 3) Ecuador, rapid seed multiplication methods; 4) Peru, control of leaf miner fly ; 5) Venezuela, low cost storage for seed and consumer potatoes.The four main potato-producing countries of this area are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. The main production areas lie in the temperate latitudes. All of these countries, with the exception of some northern Andean areas of Argentina and Chile, cultivate Solanum tuberosum , which is particularly suited to temperate conditions. These countries, which traditionally have used European varieties and imported seed annually, are highly motivated to reduce their de-. pendence on expensive imported seed and to improve local seed production.There is an excellent level of technical skills available in the national potato programs of this region. The CIP regional scientist has been able to identify several institutions with which collaborative projects or research contracts have been established, which complement several aspects of CIP research at Lima. In Chile, one project with the national program of INIA will identify long-day adapted parents for CIP's breeding program; another will assist CIP in resolving the problem of inadequate seed production of TPS for research and distribution. In Argentina, a collaborative project with the national program ofINT A has produced several clones that have been valuable for national programs in Asia and East Africa. Similar projects or research contracts also exist in Brazil.The national potato programs in this region also decided to organize collaborative research networks-one as early as 1978, the other in 1982-to pool their scientific resources for the mutual benefit of all member countries.The effectiveness of the cooperative networks can be illustrated by the first country network, PRECODEPA (Programa Regional Cooperativo de Papa) , which was initiated in 1978 with ten research projects. The original members included CIP, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras , Mexico, and Panama. During the past five years , two new members have joined, Cuba and El Salvador; seven of the original projects remain; and two new projects have been added. The status of the present membership and the research projects is shown in Table 4.For the first two years CIP provided an administrative coordinator, but the position is now filled by the annual appointment of a coordinator selected from among the scientific staff of the member countries.Research in the major projects has progressed rapidly to the point that results and technology have been transferred to most countries within the original group (Table 5). Three areas-late blight-resistant germplasm, seed improvement programs, and rustic storage technology-have not only been The most striking example of this impact has been reported in detail by the Dominican Republic. In 1983, a government-inspired production campaign led to a spectacular increase in the potato crop, which was way beyond the storage capacity of the government price stabilization agency (INESPRE). Through technical expertise available in the PRECODEPA network -Panama and Guatemala-the Dominican Republic was able to build and load four large rustic stores within four weeks and save their surplus consumer crop.During the year, the members of PRECODEPA requested an independent evaluation of the network to review its accomplishments over the last five years. The findings of the evaluation will be reported in 1984. construction site. Four stores were built for the surplus potato crop, using local materials such as cane and burned pine logs. To ensure good storage, it was decided to use growth inhibitors, and information on the availability and application of these compounds was obtained from potato scientists in Panama.The 1200-ton surplus of consumer potatoes was stored in the rustic stores just four weeks after INESPRE and the Ministry decided to take action. Results were highly successfulthe potatoes were stored for six months with losses of less than 20/o. This brief account illustrates how the resources within a country network such as PRECODEPA rapidly assisted a member country in solving an emergency situation.The country network PROCIPA (Programa Cooperativo de Investigaciones en Papa) was established in 1982 between Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, with CIP providing a small amount of financial assistance to start the projects, which included research on seed tuber production (Chile), breeding for virus resistance and earliness (Argentina), and efficient plant use of phosphorus and resistance to aluminum toxicity (Brazil). Although the more important projects have been identified and leader countries assigned, the network is still actively seeking external funding to initiate additional research projects.This region, headquartered in Kenya, includes the countries of East and Central Africa. In this zone of the world, the potato is an important cash crop in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania; and at least in one -Rwandait is the staple diet in the north. Many areas in Region III are in relatively high altitudes (up to 2700 m) , thus the potato is well adapted to the climatic conditions.The CIP regional base in Nairobi relies on the excellent facilities provided by the Muguga station of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), where Kenya's plant quarantine station is located. CIP has established a center at Ml!guga to multiply and distribute improved germplasm . Because of available expertise in handling plants in quarantine , the station has a great advantage in being able to distribute plant material that meets proper phytosanitary requirements. CIP has provided training to the station staff in such techniques as meristem culture and rapid multiplication-techniques which they also use for crops other than the potato.The most important diseases in East Africa are late blight and bacterial wilt. The latter is especially important whenever a seed improvement program is initiated in any of the East African countries. A contract with the National Agricultural Laboratories in Kenya is identifying genetic resistance in CIP germ plasm to local pathotypes. This identification enables the Region III scientists to better define clones adapted for specific agroclimatic conditions. As a result, five new varieties, multiplied by the national potato program of Rwanda (PNAP) in 1983, are also being tested by national programs in Burundi and Zaire. The germplasm distributed from Kenya is also being adopted in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar.In training activities and research collaboration took place, based on available funding. The research projects assigned to individual national programs will be initiated when funding becomes available . The major projects include I) bacterial wilt and late blight resistance and control (Burundi and Rwanda); 2) potato seed production including TPS (Rwanda); and 3) potato production in different ecological zones (Zaire).In this region , the potato is a major food crop in Turkey and Egypt, which produce 3 million and 1 million tons per annum , respectively. In Cyprus, Lebanon, and Egypt the potato is an important export crop.Region IV headquarters was first established in Lebanon in 1974, but in 1976 a new base was opened in Turkey, where it remained until 1983. In the late 1970s, an intensive program on germplasm evaluation was started in Turkey, emphasizing the selection of clones resistant to the major virus diseases of the region. During the past seven years, the scientific staff of the Turkish potato program have grown in both numbers and experience. There is now a complete staff in the program with sufficient expertise to cover all major research priorities.136 Most other countries of the region, except for Turkey, use imported seed of European potato varieties. During 1983, in agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, the regional headquarters was moved to Cairo, where a major research project will test the alternative technology of producing both consumer and seed potatoes from true potato seed (TPS). This technique could have considerable advantages to the small potato producers in Egypt by reducing the cost of planting materials. The move to Egypt from Turkey will enable Egyptian scientists to participate as instructors in several workshops and other training activities planned during the next two years, as most of the training in Region IV in Arabic.Turkey has continued its collaboration with CIP through a contract to breed and select virus-resistant material, using parents and segregating progenies provided by CIP. Any varieties or important clones derived from this contract will be freely available to other countries in the region.The principal potato-producing countries of North Africa -Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco -were assisted for many years by the CIP regional program when it was based in Turkey. In Tunisia, a good research infrastructure exists, and several collaborative projects have been initiated with different institutions such as the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAT). The control of PTM is being studied, and the plan for 1984 is to add another scientist to the regional team to support this important project. This pest is considered in many African countries to be a major source of yield loss, both in the field and stores.In West Africa, the potato is traditionally cultivated in the highland areas of Nigeria and Cameroon. In other West African countries such as Togo and Mali it is a relatively minor crop; however, requests for technical assistance to increase potato production from these and other countries is increasing. In most West African countries, the potato will be grown at lower altitudes in relatively warm climates; thus, technologies developed by CIP to improve production in these climates is of immense importance. For example, the work being done in Thrust VI has a direct application.Senegal has been moving in this direction and has already named one CIP clone adapted to warm climates and is investigating appropriate agronomic technology to improve yields. Senegal also has the potential to serve as a suitable base where training can be made available to other countries of West Africa with similar climatic conditions.This region includes those countries of the Indian subcontinent, where more than 11 million tons of the potato are produced annually. The regional headquarters is based in India, where average annual production exceeds 9 million tons.Potatoes in Region VI are grown in a range of climates from the high areas of the Himalayas to the northern plains of India, the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and the flat riverine areas of Bangladesh. In India, the scientific team of the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) in Simla works entirely on potatoes and has bred many improved varieties and has developed a well-organized seed multiplication system, which supplies seed of excellent quality. The knowledge on potato production that exists in India can be of benefit to surrounding countries; for example, Pakistan and Bangladesh are starting to use techniques similar to those used in India for producing quality seed.Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have collaborated closely with CIP for several years. Pakistan was a CIP regional headquarters until it was transferred to Tunisia in 1981. A bilateral project in Pakistan on improving potato production, funded and implemented by the government of Switzerland, has been confirmed for 1984 with a resident three-man team that includes a CIP scientist. Additional technical assistance for the project will be available from Region VI and CIP-Lima when requested. In Bangladesh, CIP assigned its scientist to be a member of the International Agricultural Development Service (IADS) team. This team is giving technical support to the overall development of the agricultural research program under the auspices of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARI). The CIP scientist will be helping to identify suitable, locally produced varieties and to develop a basic seed production program. His research project is being supported by the Australian Government.In Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka three different situations exist. In Nepal, a bilateral Swiss team has been assisting the national program since 1979, when CIP completed its special project in that country. In Bhutan, CIP has helped the Ministry of Agriculture start a potato program by using special project funding provided by Helvetas of Switzerland. The main objective of the Ministry is to stabilize potato production, since the potato is an important export crop to India both for consumption and seed. The CIP scientist stationed in Bhutan is helping to build a self-reliant potato program, even though a shortage of scientific staff exists. CIP's direct input will eventually be phased out as a new Swiss bilateral project assumes full responsibility in 1985.Potato research in Sri Lanka is conducted by national scientists of the Ministry of Agriculture, several of whom were trained by CIP. Sri Lanka is actively using many technologies originally tested by CIP, but adapted by national scientists to local conditions. These technologies include low cost storage, rapid seed multiplication methods, and selection of clones with heat tolerance and late blight resistance. The advances made by Sri Lanka in investigating the use of TPS have given this country the lead role in the Southeast Asian country network SAPPRAD (for details see under SAPPRAD). This new system of potato production is already being tested by farmers. The government's policy to eliminate reliance on seed importation has resulted in no further seed being imported since 1982. Sri Lanka also has two research contracts with CIP, covering selection of heat tolerant clones and resistance to local strains of bacterial wilt.In this area of the world potatoes are of major importance in the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, and China. China leads the developing world in potato production by producing 50 million tons each year.Region VII headquarters, based in the Philippines, collaborates closely with the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), the Bureau of Plant Industries, the Mountain State Agricultural College, and othef' institutions in Luzon and Mindanao. Santa Lucia, a small, isolated area located in a higher altitude valley near CIP's headquarters at Los Banos, was identified as being relatively pathogen-free and a testing site was established. Seed is being multiplied at this site for distribution to other countries in Region VII. Sta. Lucia is also a valuable training site, where modifications of the rapid multiplication system developed in Vietnam are being taught to scientists from other national programs in the region.Many potential potato-producing areas in this region are at medium altitudes (500 to lOOOm). Research is needed to solve the specific growing problems in these altitudes such as seed supply, warm temperatures, and bacterial wilt. Although traditional seed technology may suffice for some countries in the region, several others are beginning to test nontraditional methods. An outstanding example of this type of testing is Vietnam, where the nation~! program in Dalat is using tissue culture techniques to multiply plantlets in vitro and to provide farmers with rooted plantlets. The lessons learned from Vietnam's successful potato project are now being tested in the Philippines.Tropical agronomy research on potato production in warm climates is important for countries in Region Vll. To help augment this type of research, ClP sent one of its agronomists to Indonesia to work for six months with Indonesian scientists in designing a series of tropical agronomy experiments. This type of short-term assignment is becoming an important part of CIP's research program, as it is an effective way for CIP scientists developing a tech• nology to collaborate in its testing and transfer to national programs. Some of the national programs in this region, before making a major investment in potato research, have requested CIP to study the existing situation and recommend a proper framework for research. Studies have been completed for South Korea, Burma, and Indonesia.In 1981, several countries in the region proposed a plan to organize a cooperative research network, similar to PRECODEPA. The government of Australia committed funding and the network SAPPRAD was organized in 1982.The country network of SAPPRAD (Southeast Asian Program for Potato Research and Development), initiated in Region VII in 1982, includes five countries, each having one major project to contribute. Several major areas of research are potato production from TPS, tropical agronomy for potatoes, and breeding for potato adaptability to the tropics. In addition to Sri Lanka, mentioned previously, the SAPPRAD countries are Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and Thailand. Distances between these countries are greater than in other networks, therefore, project coordination requires greater attention. The first administrative coordinator, a CIP staff member, will be superseded in 1984 by the appointment of a full-time scientist from one of the member countries.CIP's training program is based on the philosophy that research and extension efforts conceived and executed in collaboration with national programs will be more appropriate for the conditions of the country and have a longerlasting beneficial effect than those conceived and executed independently by ClP. This philosophy is further based on the conviction that national programs are in the best position to examine the growing conditions of their crops , analyze government agricultural policies , assess research and training needs, and undertake the transfer of technology to farmers. ClP, in its relationship with national programs , Training offered by CIP is directed at the national potato programs of developing countries. CIP's regional research and training staff, assigned to seven regions worldwide, establish and maintain dialogue with national program leaders to analyze production potential and constraints, identify research needs, and assess training requirements. The process of planning collaborative research and training allows for a continual analysis of the state of national program development. In Figure 1, advanced programs where there is a demonstrated potential for increasing potato production and a national policy to increase production are at the top of the scale. Research and extension programs with stated objectives and credibility within the country complement the national policy. The bottom of the scale represents national programs in countries that possess potential for increasing potato production, but where there is lack of national interest to improve production. There may be some isolated areas where farmers produce potatoes and where a few researchers and extensionists have shown interest, but government support may be nonexistent. In these countries, CIP attempts to establish contact with the interested parties, even though organized programs do not exist.Through communication between CIP regional staff and national program leaders, collaborative plans for research and training emerge. These plans address national production problems and, more importantly, reflect the contributions that can be made by existent expertise in transferring improved technology and in developing manpower through training. Based on experience over the past twelve years with some 60 national potato programs, CIP offers two types of training: production-oriented and specialized.          The strategy is to hold specialized courses at CIP headquarters at least twice before they are conducted in the regions . This allows sufficient time to develop appropriate teaching methods and training materials , gives participants in the initial courses time to adapt what they have learned to homecountry production conditions, and enables them to share their experience in future training activities.From 1984 through 1989, CIP has planned 179 courses: 59 specialized, and 29 regional and 91 in-country production. National program staff will provide a large part of the manpower needed to do the training . In 1983 , as could be expected, in specialized courses 50°/o of the instructors were CIP international staff; however, in production training, only 20°/o were from CIP.Training funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) has been used primarily to help national programs assume responsibility for organizing and conducting training . For example, since mid-1981 , a porti ~n of the UNDP project has permitted national programs to conduct 18 regional courses on seed production, storage, and on-farm research. CIP's long-term plan to the year 2000 calls for \"the development of a global communications network for the transfer of technology ,\" involving national scie ntists , extensionists , and educators in research and training. Communications support is an essential element to plan, synthesize, produce, and evaluate publications and visuals aids, and also to assimilate and interpret feedback.  Communications support plays an important role in the support of training activities, bringing together national program staff, CIP scientists, and training, communications and information specialists. When this interaction takes place -at CIP headquarters or in the regions-a better , in-depth understanding is gained about the world of the intended recipient of CIP's technology . This information is used by CIP communications specialists to develop more appropriate training materials. The importance given to training materials is illustrated in Table 2,  Specialized training materials . For specialized training , instructors prepare their materials in the form of class notes or handouts. The format is similar to the TIBs, but subject matter is more technical , which enables the user to conduct research. After a specialized activity, training materials are published in the form of Specialized Technology Manuals (STMs); for example, STMs on germplasm management have been produced in Spanish, and on potato production in warm climates and potato production from true seed in English and Spanish. Although STMs have been produced in only two languages, CIP recognizes that information in other languages is also necessary .One method of processing information in other languages is through copublication, i.e., contractual agreements with publishers to translate and publish key documents. Copublication has already had some success among the International Agricultural Research Centers. CIP is making contact with publishers , primarily through participation in international book fors , who are interested in cooperating with national programs on publishing relevant information at affordable prices. technologies in their home countries. Through CIP's network of regional staff and linkages with national programs, contact with former trainees can be maintained by frequent visits by regional scientists and by CIP training and communications specialists. During these visits, CIP staff participate with trainees in evaluating germplasm, planning and reviewing research and training, assessing laboratory needs, examining experimental station and onfarm trials, and fostering government research efforts for improving potato production.Former trainees are kept informed of CIP's worldwide activities through the CIP Circular, which includes information on CIP's latest research worldwide, national program research, training events , and recent publications. The intent is to provide information in such a form that it will generate ideas and motivate action among the intended audience of the Circular.Another means of follow-up support is to incorporate course materials into manuals and distribute them to participants, corresponding national program leaders, and instructors. These follow-up manuals inform co-workers of what was covered in courses and provide additional support for participants' work in their home countries.Follow-up evaluation is a continuous assessment system of former trainees' achievements and needs. This type of evaluation is imperative in a dynamic system of manpower development.The overall strategy of the follow-up evaluation is to involve national program , as well as CIP regional and headquarters staff, in the evaluation process. A questionnaire serves as a guide for on-site evaluation and continuous feedback. The objectives of the evaluation are 1) to continually assess effect  The effect of training for manpower development will ultimately be seen in what national researchers, extensionists, educators, and agribusinessmen accomplish in their working environments. CIP's role in training is to assist in those areas of expertise where CIP is the major source of information and to help national programs conduct training for which they have a comparative advantage. The preliminary indications of an evaluation underway indicate that this is happening.It is indeed imperative that research be initiated and training conducted as a result of CIP's initial training. As we look to the future, it is evident that 1) specialized training will need to be continued, 2) follow-up support in making latest research available to national programs will need to be strengthened, and 3) efforts that make possible the involvement and participation of communications support units within national agricultural research systems be initiated .ARTHUR ANDERSEN 1< CO.To the Board of Trustees of International Potato Center -CIP:We have examined the balance sheet of INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER -CIP, (a non-profit organization incorporated in Peru) as of December 31, 1983, and the related statements of sources and application of funds and changes in financial position for the year then ended.Our examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and, accordingly, included such tests of the accounting records and such other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly the financial position of International Potato Center -CIP as of December 31, 1983 , and the sources and application of funds and the changes in its financial position for the year then ended, in con for mi ty with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year.The financial statements as of December 31, 1982 presented for comparative purposes, were examined by other independent public accountants whose report dated April 8, 1983 was unqualified. The objective of the CIP is to contribute, through the execution of research programs and training, to the worldwide potato production and development.Besides its headquarters in Lima, Peru, the CIP also has regional offices located in South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.In accordance with present legal dispositions the CIP is exempt from income and other taxes. Additions to fixed assets are reported in the statement of sources and application of funds as incurred; however, replacements are reported as operating costs.Fixed assets sold or retired are eliminated from the asset account and from the related capital and unexpended funds account. Maintenance, repairs and minor replacements are charged to costs as incurred.e. The severance indemnity liability is recorded under the accrual method for the estimated amount the employees would receive should they retire at the balance sheet date . :\"\"\"Certain amounts in the financial statements as of December 31, 1982 have been reclassified to make them comparable to those in the December 31, 1983 financial statements.3. Loans to executives and employees 4.The CIP grants loans to its principal and support staff which are substantially financed by a line of credit of US$1,000,000 from Citibank N. A breakdown of loans to executives and employees as of December 31 is as follows : Funds invested in fixed assets relate to the cost of fixed assets acquired by the CIP for carrying out its operations. This account is increased annually through charges to income of amounts equivalent to the total acquisitions of fixed assets for the period. On the other hand, this account decreases by the cost of the fixed assets retired.In the event of dissolution of the CIP, all its property, after the liquidation of liabilities, shall be turned over to the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture.As  ","tokenCount":"31676"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3144366288.json b/data/part_1/3144366288.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d4ce0f92d127e9d6c256509149bf6356833af9b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3144366288.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1eb4f9f04d97d3e2bee8f60974965fa0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d8289301-b3b8-42e3-8248-5605e769c63d/retrieve","id":"-184768060"},"keywords":["CAZRI Botanical Garden","neutral detergent fiber","non-fiber carbohydrate","Opuntia ficus-indica","pectin"],"sieverID":"b837e1ac-db97-48f1-b9df-cfd59818605d","pagecount":"14","content":"In Kutch (Gujarat District, India), there is a growing concern about the lack of good quality forage owing to the arid climate and poor soil health. Opuntia ficus-indica has been increasingly recognized as a drought-resilient forage in arid Kutch. This study seeks to identify the maturity phase of cactus cladodes with the best forage qualities. Five accessions of spineless forage cactus (CBG,  No. 1270, No. 1271, No. 1308, and Bianca Macomer)  and three cladode maturity phases (young, intermediate, and mature) were examined in a randomized block design experiment in a 5 × 3 factorial arrangement. Although only mineral matter and total carbohydrate concentration were significantly different among the accessions, CBG showed better forage qualities than other accessions. Dry matter, organic matter, mineral matter, crude protein, ether extract, and total carbohydrate accumulations were higher in the intermediate phase. In the mature phase, relatively difficult to digest fiber components such as neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose increase. Our findings indicate that for spineless forage cactus grown in arid areas, the intermediate phase is the best phase to harvest cladodes for feeding livestock.The feasibility of annual crops is diminished due to irregular rainfall distribution and low precipitation, which also affects pasture and forage production and limits livestock production in arid regions [1,2]. One of the best choices for economic activity and livelihood improvement in arid parts of the world is livestock raising. However, livestock production methods in dry environments have lower forage availability and forage quality and providing only concentrated feeds to animals increases production costs [3]. In most cases, ruminant production systems in arid regions are an extractive activity, where productivity is the consequence of the intensive use of existing natural resources, causing the ecosystem to gradually deteriorate. With the introduction of species better suited to arid environments, there is a trend toward change in crop selection. Along with climate, it is well known that livestock pressure on already degraded rangelands accelerates the process of desertification. Parente and Parente [4] assert that the use of semi-extensive or extensive livestock in dry regions contributes to environmental changes because of the overcrowding of animals in areas beyond what the ecosystem can sustain.Given the paucity of nutritious forage resources in Kutch (Gujarat District, India), one of the most significant issues restricting animal productivity is inadequate animal nutrition.The competition between humans and animals for grain consumption is another constraining factor. This competition is intensifying as there is less pasture available than in the past. Similar cases have been reported by Filho et al. [2] in Nigeria and Njariu et al. [5] in Kenya. Thus, exploring the spineless forage cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) can be a crucial strategic forage to use in production systems in arid regions of Kutch. In areas where the growth of other economic activities is constrained, spineless forage cactus is an excellent choice for supporting livestock [6]. Due to its photosynthetic mechanism known as crassulacean acid metabolism, cactus has shown excellent production in environments with little rainfall [7,8]. During the night, this photosynthetic pathway absorbs CO 2 and stores it as organic acid in vacuoles, where it is regenerated during the day to continue photosynthesis [9]. The stomata in the leaves of plants under drought stress close during the day to minimize evapotranspiration but open at night to absorb CO 2 . As a result of this mechanism, spineless forage cactus use water more effectively than legumes and grasses [10,11]. Using spineless forage cactus has other benefits. For instance, cows who are given a diet that contains 50% spineless forage cactus and produce 15 kg of milk per day essentially do not need a drinking fountain [12]. Albuquerque et al. [13] also highlighted that inclusion of cactus pear silage up to 42% rate reduces water consumption in goats. The capacity of production systems would be increased by the use of spineless forage cactus in regions where it can grow normally and could serve as a main ruminant feed. This would reduce desertification, prevent the indiscriminate use of natural vegetation, and promote better adaptation to the harsh conditions of arid environments [14]. Livestock rumen can easily break down the cladodes of spineless forage cactus. This increases available energy, which promotes microbial development and digestion [15]. Using spineless forage cactus also decreases production costs and increases production efficiency [16]. In terms of ruminant feeding strategies, spineless forage cactus has positive outcomes, including a decrease in the quantity of concentrated feed required [17]. Wanderley et al. [18] examined diets for crossbred nursing cows that contained just 3.1% soybean meal, 34.2% roughage, and only 61% spineless forage cactus and found that they produced 11 kg of milk on average each day. In a different trial, Holstein heifers weighing an average of 243 kg were fed a daily base diet that included 1 kg of wheat bran and supplements of spineless fodder cactus (69.8%), sugarcane bagasse (27.6%), and urea (2.6%) and showed daily gains of 0.71 kg on average [19].One of the main assets in any livestock operation is the availability of good quality forage. The nutritional aspects of forages affect animal production. Forage quality can differ not only between forage types but also within the same species or cultivars. Not every plant in a pasture has the same nutritive value, resulting in properties that can affect the chemical-bromatological composition of cactus cladodes indirectly or directly. The primary cause of declining forage quality is maturation [20]. As the plant matures and grows beyond its peak production phase, the production of fibrous components increases at the plant cell level, and this negatively affects the breakdown of forage in the rumen thereby affecting its digestibility. Understanding the chemical-bromatological makeup among spineless cactus accessions and maturation phases will help identify the best accessions with good forage quality and the best phase to harvest the cladodes. It will also aid in matching animal requirements and improving livestock performance economically.The objectives of the current study are (a) to evaluate any differences in the chemicalbromatological composition of cactus cladodes among accessions, and (b) to understand whether maturity phases of cladodes change forage qualities.Cladode samples were collected in 2021 at the research farm of ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute (23 • 21 N:69 • 77 E, 15 asl), RRS-Bhuj, in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India. The experimental area is characterized as an arid zone owing to its low annual precipitation (mean annual precipitation = 424 mm in 2021) and high annual temperature (mean annual temperature = 26.4 • C, reached up to 45 • C during pre-monsoon in 2021). The soil was characterized as sandy loam with the surface soil (0-30 cm) showing a soil pH of 8.45, electrical conductivity of 0.53 dSm −1 , exchangeable calcium content of 305 ± 12.44 milliequivalents per liter, sodium content of 55 ppm, and soil organic carbon of 0.19%. The experiment was laid out as a 5 × 3 factorial randomized block design (five accessions of forage and three phases of cladode maturity). Five of the best performing cactus pear accessions (Opuntia ficus-indica) were screened from 62 spineless forage cactus pear accessions available at ICAR-CAZRI, RRS-Bhuj (CBG-CAZRI Botanical Garden, accessions No. 1308, No. 1270, No. 1271, and Bianca Macomer). The spineless forage cactus accessions were planted in the month of July [21] in raised beds, with a spacing of 1 m (in the row) and 2 m (between the rows). Farmyard manure (0.7% N, 0.14% P, and 0.42% K) was applied to the soil at the rate of 5 t ha −1 at an interval of 6 months. Weed management was carried out manually to avoid any contamination of chemicals in the fodder quality. Two-year-old plants of similar size were selected from each spineless forage cactus accession. The cladode samples were harvested at each maturity phase using the criteria detailed by Pessoa et al. [22]. The young cladodes of the plant are a bright green and develop on the sides or the ends of the plant. The intermediate cladodes, which are often located in the middle of the plant, are dark green in color. When completely developed, the cladodes take on a dark green hue with very slight yellowish undertones. Five plants of each accession were chosen based on the above-mentioned criteria to have their cladodes harvested. A single, representative cladode was collected from each plant at each maturity stage. This means that there were 25 samples collected at each stage of development (5 cladodes × 5 accessions). The cladodes were harvested with a sharp knife and the samples were washed with tap water followed by double washing with distilled water. The cladodes were chopped, oven-dried at 65 • C until a constant weight is achieved, weighed, passed through a stainless-steel grinder, sieved through 2 mm sieves, and stored in air-tight containers at room temperature, but were redried at 65 • C for 1 h and cooled before analysis.There were two types of forage quality parameters: direct and derived chemicalbromatological composition. The dry matter DM (%) in the spineless forage cactus was determined using the oven drying method (105 • C until a constant weight was obtained) and was estimated by \"100-weight loss on drying contents (%)\" [23]. The organic matter (OM) and mineral matter (MM) were estimated by burning the cladode samples at 600 • C for 2 h [23]. MM represents the amount of inorganic residue after complete oxidation of the cladode sample. OM is the difference between DM and MM. Crude protein (CP) was analyzed using the Kjeldahl method [19], in which the sample was digested in H 2 SO 4 ; followed by NH 3 distillation and titration of excess H 2 SO 4 . The ether extract (EE) was evaluated through Soxhlet extraction with petroleum ether [23]. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) was determined by boiling the dried sample in a neutral detergent solution (Nalauryl sulfate, EDTA, pH = 7.0) in a crucible and weighing the residue after a series of washing and drying [24]. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) was estimated by heating the dried samples in an acid detergent solution (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide in 1 N H 2 SO 4 ) at room temperature followed by washing, drying, and weighing the residue [24]. Acid detergent lignin (ADL) is the residue obtained after treating the ADF fraction with H 2 SO 4 (12 mol L −1 ) [24]. A portable pH meter (Mettler Toledo, OH, USA) was used for pH analysis. The pectin content was isolated through a chemical extraction process by heating the dried samples in acidified water at 80 • C for 2 h [25]. Ash was estimated by using the dry oxidation method given by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists [23].The derived forage quality parameters are calculated as shown below: (i) Total carbohydrate (TC) was calculated according to Equation (1) [26]:(ii) Hemicellulose (HEM) and cellulose (CL) were estimated according to the following Equations ( 2) and ( 3):(iii) Total digestible nutrients (TDN) was calculated according to the methodology of Lofgreen and Meyer [27] (Equations ( 4) and ( 5)):where F is a conversion factor TDN = F * OM(iv) Non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) was estimated according to Hall [28] as shown in Equation ( 6):All chemical-bromatological parameters are presented in percent unit of DM, except DM which was presented as percent of natural matter. All statistical analyses were performed using Rstudio [29]. Data normality was checked by a histogram, Q-Q plots, and a Shapiro-Wilk's test. The Shapiro-Wilk's test showed a p-value of less than 0.05 in all the parameters implying that the data were not normally distributed. Therefore, a Kruskal-Wallis test was run to explore the differences in chemical-bromatological parameters of five accessions of spineless forage cactus and three phases of cladode maturity differences. Spearman's rank correlation was used to measure the strength of association between the parameters. The trend values of each parameter between accessions and phases of cladode maturity were subjected to Dunn's multiple comparison tests. Significance was reported at the level of p < 0.05. A PCA biplot was generated by using the parameters to group the data into maturity phases of cladodes and spineless forage cactus accessions. Data visualization was performed using ggplot2 from R [30].Changes in the chemical-bromatological composition of cactus cladodes and maturity phases were compared as shown in Tables 1 and 2. There was no distinct difference (p > 0.05) in dry matter (DM) content between cactus accessions and maturity phases of cladodes (Table 1). In our results, DM ranged between 12.84% and 14.29% of natural matter irrespective of accessions and cladodes maturity phase (Table 1). However, for two reasons, the majority of nutritionists favor using DM to determine the nutritional value of a feed or forage. First, the nutrients are used by the animal on a DM basis. Second, because all feeds can be compared on the same basis, it facilitates ration building. In contrast, low DM indicates a significant provision of water to animals through cactus [31] when water is a limiting resource in arid areas [32]. Likewise, differences in OM content among accessions and maturity phases of cladodes were comparable to DM.Results indicated that there was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in mineral matter (MM) with an increase in cladode maturity (Table 1). The Dunn's Multiple Comparison Tests revealed the maximum MM content during the young phase (median = 13.28%) followed by the intermediate (median = 12.35%) and gradually decreasing in the mature phase (median = 9.79%). The accessions showed notable differences in the case of MM content. The highest (median = 12.4%) and lowest (median = 7.06%) proportion of MM was presented by CBG and No. 1270, respectively. Santos et al. [33,34] found 12% and 11.9% MM in spineless forage cactus studies. An average cladode MM concentration (15.7%) was reported by Garcia et al. [35]. Spineless forage cactus frequently recorded high mineral concentrations attributed to the necessity for stomatal regulation and other physiological processes [36,37].  * indicates that there is a significant difference in the variable between different maturity phases in cactus pear accessions (p < 0.05). # indicates that there is a significant difference in the variable between different forage spineless cactus accessions (p < 0.05). Variables with no superscript show no significant differences either among accessions or maturity phases. TC = total carbohydrates; HEM = hemicellulose; CL = cellulose; TDN = total digestible nutrients.There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) among the accessions and maturity phases of cladodes (Table 1). Because CP levels are crucial for the growth of cattle, ranchers must take them into account when deciding between various forage classes [38]. Although the high protein content might seem encouraging, in this and other studies CP levels for Opuntia grown under field circumstances were much lower. According to Edvan et al. [11], spineless forage cactus has CP levels ranging from 5.9 to 9.2%. Mayer and Cushman [38] found CP levels in greenhouse and field cladodes to be 26.4% and 7.1%. Proteins support the microbe-mediated breakdown of forage in the animal rumen. CP also makes up 60-80% of the total plant nitrogen [20]. Analysis of CP content in forage indirectly measures nitrogen concentration, which is calculated by multiplying CP by 6.25 (assuming nitrogen comprises approximately 16% of plant leaf protein). The average CP content of grains is 8 to 14%, with maize frequently falling between 7 and 9% and wheat and oats ranging between 12 and 14%. High protein feeds such as cottonseed meal and soybean meal frequently have a CP content between 40 and 50%. Hays often vary from 4 to 20% [39]. Despite accessions and cladode maturity phases, CP in spineless forage cactus was extremely low in our results (<6%), which represents the lowest quality forage according to general forage quality standards for livestock diets [35]. However, low CP levels can be improved through nutrient management practices. In Argentina, spineless forage cactus received large doses of fertilizer which resulted in a four-fold increase in biomass and a doubling of the CP levels [40]. A diet should contain concentrations of around 6-7% for the formation and development of ruminal bacteria, which are responsible for degrading slow-digesting nutrients [41,42]. Because microbes use urea for the synthesis of microbial protein when readily fermentable energy is present in the rumen, low CP concentrations can be improved [18]. According to a previous study on the development of cladodes, only the youngest pads had CP contents exceeding 15.0% and as the cladodes grew, the protein level decreased to 9.0% [43].Although there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content of cactus accessions, the cladodes showed a trend for increasing NDF accumu-lation with an increase in cladode maturity (Table 1). Dunn's multiple comparison tests show the maximum NDF content during the mature phase (median = 37.50%) followed by the intermediate (median = 24.65%) and gradually decreasing in the young phase (median = 15.78%). The total fiber content of the feedstock is represented by NDF. Usually, this is performed to help forecast the animals' feed intake. Intake is predicted to decrease when NDF increases. Unlike ADF, it is unrelated to quality and digestibility. In most forages, values typically fall between 50 and 80% [35]. Compared to grasses, legumes often have lower NDF and ADF levels and as forage maturity rises so do these values. Higher NDF values indicate higher fiber content in the forage sample. Therefore, cladodes with lower NDF are appropriate for feeding livestock [20]. NDF levels in cactus cladodes were between that of grains (average NDF = 10%) and grass straw (average NDF = 80%) [20]. In this study, NDF ranged from 13.5% to 40.90%, which reflects that cactus has a good forage quality [39]. When ruminants are fed with cactus pear with no other forage source, the animals experience diarrhea and weight loss due to low levels of digestible NDF [16]. Therefore, to increase productive performance, several authors recommend including a fiber source from other forage in animal diets containing spineless forage cactus [44,45]. To understand whether the level of NDF of cactus pear affects digestibility in goats, Pinho et al. [3] reported the minimum NDF to increase animal performance is 10.9%. The maximum neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentrations were found in the mature phase of the accessions. This may be because cladodes were more developed in this phase. This is so the plant's cellular wall components (cellulose and hemicellulose), which make up the NDF, may grow more as it matures. This happens at the cost of organic molecules, which take part in metabolic activities through the deposition of non-nitrogenous organic molecules (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin), resulting in a decrease in the concentration of nitrogen compounds [46].Mature cladodes showed higher acid detergent fiber (ADF) (median = 26.51%) and acid digested lignin (ADL) (median = 3.56%) than young and intermediate cladodes (Table 1). In this study, ADF cladode concentrations ranged from 9.49% to 27.95% in several cactus accessions which were comparable to those reported by Santos et al. [47]. The amount of cellulose and lignin in the plant is represented by the ADF value. Because lignin is thought to be indigestible by animals, the ADF value is crucial since it is an indication of the portion of the feedstock that cannot be digested. The feedstuff becomes more difficult to digest as the ADF value increases. Forages have a greater ADF than grains and mixed diets. It can range from 3.0% in grains to 50.0% in grass straw [20]. In this study, ADF values were below 31%, which reflects its prime quality standard according to the general forage quality standards for livestock diets [39]. Through the dilution of fermentable food components such as starch, the fiber has the effect of prolonging chewing time, boosting saliva production, and decreasing the generation of fermentation acids [48]. ADL is the lignin fraction of ADF. Lignin has a deleterious effect on the nutritional availability of plant fiber, which is why it is regarded as a low-quality component in forages. By serving as a physical barrier to microbial enzymes, lignin prevents the digestion of cell wall polysaccharides such as cellulose and hemicellulose [49]. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the cladodes pH was not significantly different between cactus pear accessions. The difference in pH value was significant (p < 0.05) with a higher pH in young cladodes than in mature ones.Overall, cladode maturity significantly affected the pectin content (chi-square (2) = 65.78, p < 0.05) (Table 1), but no significant difference (p = 0.99) was found in pectin content between accessions. In terms of pectin concentrations, there were variations between accessions and maturity phases of cladodes. Pectin, along with other compounds such as cellulose and hemicellulose, forms the structural foundation of a plant's cell wall. However, due to its high solubility, pectin helps increase the digestibility of DM and NDF [50,51]. Feeds with a high pectin content have significant potential for use in ruminant diets because they have a high energy density and fermentation takes place without the production of lactic acid, which helps maintain a balanced ruminal environment [52]. The species and stage of a plant's development affect the polysaccharide concentration of the pectic fraction [53]. Pectin cannot be broken down by mammalian enzymes and needs to be broken down by microbes in the gastrointestinal system.In the case of total carbohydrate (TC), no significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between the cactus accessions in either the young or intermediate phases. However, at the cladodes maturity phase, all the spineless forage cactus accessions showed significant differences in TC (p < 0.05) (Figure 1). When compared to the findings from other studies, the TC values in our study ranged between 50.36% and 82.5%. After two years of planting Opuntia ficus-indica, Menezes et al. [54] recorded 76.1%. In the genus Opuntia spp. of cactus, Wanderley et al. [18] recorded TC levels of 84.1%. Following extensive analyses of the TC content in spineless forage cactus, Sá et al. [55] recommended spineless forage cactus as a superior source of energy because it is rich in NFC.between accessions. In terms of pectin concentrations, there were variations between accessions and maturity phases of cladodes. Pectin, along with other compounds such as cellulose and hemicellulose, forms the structural foundation of a plant's cell wall. However, due to its high solubility, pectin helps increase the digestibility of DM and NDF [50,51]. Feeds with a high pectin content have significant potential for use in ruminant diets because they have a high energy density and fermentation takes place without the production of lactic acid, which helps maintain a balanced ruminal environment [52]. The species and stage of a plant's development affect the polysaccharide concentration of the pectic fraction [53]. Pectin cannot be broken down by mammalian enzymes and needs to be broken down by microbes in the gastrointestinal system.In the case of total carbohydrate (TC), no significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between the cactus accessions in either the young or intermediate phases. However, at the cladodes maturity phase, all the spineless forage cactus accessions showed significant differences in TC (p < 0.05) (Figure 1). When compared to the findings from other studies, the TC values in our study ranged between 50.36% and 82.5%. After two years of planting Opuntia ficus-indica, Menezes et al. [54] recorded 76.1%. In the genus Opuntia spp. of cactus, Wanderley et al. [18] recorded TC levels of 84.1%. Following extensive analyses of the TC content in spineless forage cactus, Sá et al. [55] recommended spineless forage cactus as a superior source of energy because it is rich in NFC.  Hemicellulose (HEM) and cellulose (CL) were calculated using some of the parameters discussed above. These derived parameters showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) among the accessions (Table 2). However, the maturity of the cladodes distinctly affected HEM and CL concentration (p < 0.05). HEM and CL significantly (p < 0.05) increased with the maturity of cladodes. In the case of HEM, the median value in the young phase was 4.33%, the intermediate phase 7.53%, and the mature phase 10.66%. In the case of CL, the median value in the young phase was 10.48%, the intermediate phase 14.9%, and the mature phase 23.63%. HEM is less digestible than CL. Our results demonstrated relatively higher CL than HEM content. The largest percentage of the cell wall component in most ruminant diets is cellulose, which is made entirely of -1,4-glucan [56]. Hemicellulose has a complex digestion process because it contains a variety of sugars and glucosidic links. Hemicellulose properties differ significantly between various plant cell wall types and herbages [57]. When given a grass diet, ruminants digest more hemicellulose than cellulose, and when given a diet of legumes, they digest more cellulose than hemicellulose [58]. Hemicellulose's digestibility is negatively correlated with lignification and positively correlated with cellulose. The concentrations of hemicellulose and cellulose as well as how much they have been lignified are what primarily determine how digestible organic matter is [59].No significant differences were observed in total digestible nutrients (TDN) values between accessions and maturity phases of the cladodes (p > 0.05) (Table 2). The values ranged between 38.71% and 51.4%. TDN is derived from the ADF value and indicates the overall digestibility of the forage. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) is a measure of the roughage or feed estimated energy content. It is determined using a formula that takes into account the feedstuff's ADF, NDF, and CP to provide an approximation of its energy content. Usually, the feedstuff is regarded as more energy-dense the higher the value. Higher grade hays typically range from 50% to 60% TDN, whereas lesser quality hays are often in the 40 to 50% range. Certain hays and legumes may occasionally contain 60 to 70% TDN. Grain and grain mixtures typically contain between 70 and 80% TDN [39].Non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) showed significant differences among the phases of cladodes maturity (p < 0.05) (Figure 2). NFC ranged between 49.3% and 80.1%, irrespective of accessions. The high NFC content of the spineless forage cactus is thought to cause high rumen degradability, which can result in over 80% of the DM vanishing within 48 h of incubation [2]. Non-structural carbohydrates (sugars and starch), neutral detergent soluble fiber (fructans, glucans, and pectin), and organic acids are known components of the NFC fraction that can affect the rumen fermentation pattern [28]. The high energetic value and high concentration of NFC in cactus were also reported by Bispo et al. [44] and Costa et al. [60]. Due to its high NFC concentration and considerable impact on feeding cost reduction, including high amounts of cactus pear in diets minimizes the need for energy concentrates.  Correlation studies between the forage parameters revealed 44 significant correlated pairs (excluding r = 1) (p < 0.05) and 76 non-significant pairs (p > 0.05) (Figure 3). Since the data did not follow a normal distribution, a non-parametric Spearman's rank correlation test was computed to assess the relationship of forage quality parameters. A strong positive correlation was present between NDF and ADF (r = 0.87, p < 0.001). Pectin was posi- Correlation studies between the forage parameters revealed 44 significant correlated pairs (excluding r = 1) (p < 0.05) and 76 non-significant pairs (p > 0.05) (Figure 3). Since the data did not follow a normal distribution, a non-parametric Spearman's rank correlation test was computed to assess the relationship of forage quality parameters. A strong positive correlation was present between NDF and ADF (r = 0.87, p < 0.001). Pectin was positively correlated with NDF (r = 0.92, p < 0.001), ADF (r = 0.88, p < 0.001), ADL (r = 0.83, p < 0.001), and CL (r = 0.86, p < 0.001). The grouped PCA biplot shows the higher concentration of each parameter in different maturity phases of the cladodes. The pH was the only parameter found to be the highest during the young phase. The parameters (with high concentration = favorable) such as MM, TC, DM, EE, OM, and CP were concentrated within the intermediate group. Parameters with high concentration = not favorable, such as HEM, NDF, ADF, pectin, CL, and ADL, were concentrated within the mature phase (Figure 4). This indicates the intermediate phase is the best cladodes maturity level at which to harvest and feed livestock. In terms of accessions, CBG showed higher forage quality than other accessions. The grouped PCA biplot shows the higher concentration of each parameter in different maturity phases of the cladodes. The pH was the only parameter found to be the highest during the young phase. The parameters (with high concentration = favorable) such as MM, TC, DM, EE, OM, and CP were concentrated within the intermediate group. Parameters with high concentration = not favorable, such as HEM, NDF, ADF, pectin, CL, and ADL, were concentrated within the mature phase (Figure 4). This indicates the intermediate phase is the best cladodes maturity level at which to harvest and feed livestock. In terms of accessions, CBG showed higher forage quality than other accessions. This research extends our knowledge of cactus farming as a drought-resilient forage in arid soils. The findings suggest forage spineless cactus cladodes in the intermediate phase have the best forage quality. Regardless of the tested accessions, the results show the high nutritive value of the spineless forage cactus. It has low levels of dry matter, fiber, and protein but is a significant supply of non-fiber carbohydrates, pectin, minerals, and fresh water. As a result, it is used as an alternative feed for animals in arid areas. Based on these findings, spineless forage cactus should be used as the main source of nutrition for ruminants in arid areas. Since Kutch is an area known for its milk production, this research raises questions worth further investigation. For example, the effects of a cactus diet on milk quality and quantity should be assessed. Furthermore, it would be worthwhile to assess ecosystem services from cactus farming in arid soils owing to its relatively poor soil health. This research extends our knowledge of cactus farming as a drought-resilient forage in arid soils. The findings suggest forage spineless cactus cladodes in the intermediate phase have the best forage quality. Regardless of the tested accessions, the results show the high nutritive value of the spineless forage cactus. It has low levels of dry matter, fiber, and protein but is a significant supply of non-fiber carbohydrates, pectin, minerals, and fresh water. As a result, it is used as an alternative feed for animals in arid areas. Based on these findings, spineless forage cactus should be used as the main source of nutrition for ruminants in arid areas. Since Kutch is an area known for its milk production, this research raises questions worth further investigation. For example, the effects of a cactus diet on milk quality and quantity should be assessed. Furthermore, it would be worthwhile to assess ecosystem services from cactus farming in arid soils owing to its relatively poor soil health.","tokenCount":"5142"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3173818262.json b/data/part_1/3173818262.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..33460ef843a32b9846d6b545e8bbae130d7f133e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3173818262.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"edf4fe3aac9cfe64d69bf6b6955dd154","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H06329.pdf","id":"-726029884"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f2a58044-7782-4457-b962-1b7db81fca0a","pagecount":"42","content":"This report is one of several IIMI publications addressing the issue of irrigation management to promote diversified crops during the d r y seaaon. As Sri Lanka approaches self-sufficiency in rice production, a target already achieved by some other countries in the region, there is little logic in growing rice using land and water resources which could support higher-value non-rice crops, using less water. Thus, one of the incentives in improving irrigation management is to find ways of stretching water further during the dry season in water-deficit systems , when rice is relatively more expensive to grow than during the wet season, and when other crops which can be grown only during the dry season (when there is less danger of water-logging) offer the farmer and the country a comparative advantage.The research reported in this paper is part of a larger effort involving a number of IIMI staff, PLS well aa staff of the Irrigation The research carried out during the 1987 yala was an \"action study,\" designed to influence and monitor a new pattern of water rotations which farmers and agency staff jointly decided on, prior to each issue. The objective of introducing a new rotational plan was to pilot-test possible improvements in irrigation management that ca.n save water, increase total cropped area, and improve the overall productivity of non-rice crops.The more specific objective of this report is to present the organizational aspects of the new rotational plan. Docmentation of water use and the physical performance of the system will be presented in a later report outlining the experiment as a whole. Moragoda  The scheme comprises a large tank with a single main canal from which distributary channels take off on one side to serve the ccnunmd area. The highland residential area extends along the right side of the canal. At each take-off point from the main channel to a dhtributary, or from a distributary to a field channel is a turnout gate. It is the responsibility of the Irrigation Department to open or close the turnout gates. Distribution of water below the turnout which may serve between 1 and 15 allotments (or up to 50 operators) is the responsibility of the farmers themselves.The slyetem is divided hydrologically into 9 tracts which correspond roughly to the major distributaries (see Map 1).The nine tracts are represented in three \"tract comnittee\" organizations: tracts 1-4, tracts 5-7l and tracts 8-9. Farmer representatives play important roles in irrigation management at the tract level primarilybecause the project manager supervises them quite closely. Below the level of these multi-tract comnittees, however, there is no formal organization other than that of the farmer representatives who nwnher 28 in the scheme. While the farmers who cultivate within the area of one farmer representative are said to constitute a \"turnout group\" there is no practical organization within this \"group,\" Indeed, using the term \"group\" is a source of confusion in understanding how water management is aotually carried out. Farmers do not normally practice formal rotations within the area of one farmer representativeO2 ~n exception is field channel Fl of tract 3 the capacity of which is not sufficient to provide water for all the allotments at a time. The management value of the farmer representative wars in passing information up the line from farmers to project management (at tract-comnittee and project-comnittee meetings) and vice versa.In the operational experiment introduced during yala 1987 both the role of the farmer representative and the management practices of farmers within a \"turnout group\" changed significantly. For the first time farmer representatives were given responsibility for the turnout gates within their area (whether direct issues from the distributary or turnouts to field channels). In some cases they were also given responsibility for carrying out rotations within the field channel.The research thethodologyo which might be more accurately termed a \"strategy\" involved: 1) collecting specific data from a sample of farmers, their fields, and the channels serving them; 2) identifying problems of water distribution at the secondary and tertiary levels; 3 ) formulating a new rotational plan to overcome these problems; 4 ) monitoring water use and the reactions of farmers, farmer representatiy+s, and agency staff; and 5 ) analyzing the results. 20 percent of the comnand area was slated for irrigation on a betha basis.The upper three tracts (tracts 1-3 , but not all of tract 3 ) were included in the bethma. All bethma partners were allocated 1-acre (0.4-hectare) plots within these tracts, if they owned a full 5-acre (2-hectare) allotment. If their legal holding was less than the full allotment (which is now possible, since land divisions among offspring are being recognized) their bethma portion would also be correspondingly less.Becauge the 1987 yala was an unusually water-scarce season only S m l e selection. Because of the complexity of tract 3 , which is served by two long secondaries with equally long tertiaries it was decided to focus the study on this area. Although tract 3 comprised 73 of the 96 allotments in the bethma, this did not narrow down the sample very far. Of the 73 allotments in tract 3, 9 were used as a control (served by the same tertiary) where data were collected but no intervention was made in terms of irrigation management. The remaining 64 allotments were sampled on the basis of every second or every third allotment, depending upon the judgement of the technical scientists on the team who were concerned with micro-variations in canal, soil, arad crop conditions. In each sample allotment, the first and second farmers to begin cultivation were selected for the sample. In six of the selected allotments, all cultivators were included in the sample in order to study intra-allotment water distribution. The sample consisted of 107 farmers arad 112 plots. 3Under bethma, the portions of the comaand area which are irrigated (generally a contiguous block) are divided equally among all fanners in the system, for that season only. suitable for non-rice crops. The suggestLon was accepted and implemented. Only three allotments and two direct issues we* selected from the FC5 area in order to adjust the total bethma extent.No attempt was made to avoid the heavy, poorly drained soils of D1 head end and E l , although this area was hown to he unsuitable for non-rice crops. It was anticipated that even if these areas were omitted from the bethma area, illicit cultivation would take place anyway, since water would pass by the fields and could be stolen easily. Furthermore, the upper portions of some of the allotments contain well-drained soils.The bethma area is divided according to the \"bethma list\" with one 5-acre (2-ha) allotment shared by five farmers. The bethma c d area was also defined on the basis of soil type, and in some cases allotments were split between a bethma and non-bethma portion. In addition, certain 4-acre (1.6-ha) allotments were shared by 4 farmers. Farmer representatives in the bethim area received one extra bethma division (i.e., a second acre) in lieu of any other payment for their services. Division of the bethma area was expected to be made cooperatively among the \"guest\" and \"host\" farmers with assistance from the farmer representatives, cultivation officer, and the oolonization officer. Land not included in the \"bethma list\" would have no rights to irrigation water.The agricultural extension officers promotedthe cultivation of soya, green gram, cowpea, black gram, and groundnut. For fields adjacent to drainage channels, onion was reconmend&, since additional water could be extracted by pumping. Chili was implicitly discouraged by the short duration of the irrigation season. At the kanna meeting, the agricultural officers asked farmers to grow non-rice crops even in the poorly drained land by preparing the land carefully. But from the farmers' point of view, waterlogging cannot be avoided in some areas where excess water flows from higher land and from seepage. In these areas rice is the only feasible crop.The decision of the kanna meeting was to give the first water issue on 1 May. Land prepration was expected to be completed by 10 May, with water rotations. The last date of the water issue was scheduled for 31 July. Rotational issues would be 2 days of water flow on a lO-day cycle, with a total of 10 such rotations. An extra water issue could only be made when more than 25 percent of the farmers in the connnand area requested it. A charge of Rs 60 (US$1.95) per acre (0.4 ha) would be levied.Channel cleaning. The kanna-meeting decision was for farmers to clean their field channels twice during the season. The last dates for cleaning were 20 April and 10 June. Cleaning would be carried out cooperatively on a day agreed to by the farmers from each field channel. Farmers who failed to come on the designated day would be fined Rs 30 (US$0.97), with the payment going towards hired labor. would not be issued to that turnout.If,more than 75 pement of a field channel is not cleaned, water Water taming . Taking water directly from the channel other than through the pipe outlet would be punishable by a fine of Rs 150 (WS14.87). The pattern of water rotation would be annotmced by the farmer representatives, and those disregarding the rotation would be fined Rs 100 (USS3.25) per turn.Bethma division, by definition, entails a division of land and water, and by implication, crops. Thus, the usual arrangements for sharing a comMln resource (water) are further strained, as land enters the calculation. This was the case during the 1987 yala because a very small portion of the land was included in the bethma area (although this created a situation of theoretical water surplus for that area). This section outlines some of the basic features of land and water sharing and crop decisions.Land tenure, The 112 sample farm plots were cultivated by 107 operators during yala 1987, Many of the operators were lessees; only 62 owned irrigated land in Lhmahuwa. Bethma portions were given to original allottees only during the 1987 yala, although provision had been made to grant legal access to a m a x i m of three family members of original allottees, In practice, the nwnber of family members sharing one allotment during the maha season may go up to eight. The same practice also occurred in the bethma divisions, but since these were limited to one acre (0.4 ha) each, farmers resorted to various methods to divide the land: 1) the entire acre was cultivated by one family meinber with the agreement of the others (some payment was often involved); 2) the one-acre portion was shared by the legal owners (a legal maximum of three); 3) the oneacre portion was cultivated by all family members together (the maximun IIumber observed was 5) ; 4) one family member cultivates the bethma portion while others cultivate the non-bethma area or lease a second bethma portion; or 5) the bethma portion is leased to a non-family member.The size of bethma farm plots ranged from 0.25 to 2.0 acres (0.1 to 0.8 ha), with one exception. About 71 percent of the Sample plots were one acre (0.4 ha) each; 18 percent were less than one acre each and 11 percent were more than one acre each. Cases of cultivating more than one bethma-acre OcCulTed when an owner farmer leased an adjoining bethma portion from the bethma partner. Another situation was that a single lessee cultivator rented more than one bethma portion, or one full portion plus half of another, as a unit. A third situation occurred where an Owner farmer claimed the right to cultivate not only his oneacre portion, but also any additional encroached land by which his five-acre allotment exceeded the standard size, sometimes by one or one and a half acres.The size of a cultivated plot is partly determined by the tenure status of the farmer, as is seen in Table 1. In general, family tenure is associated with smaller plots, since there is a tendency for a nwnber of family members to share a single plot.  A land market existed within the non-bethma area; land was leased at prices ranging from Rs 200 to 300 (US$6.5 to 9.5), or about one-half to one-third the rate for leasing irrigated bethma lands. Some farmers leased their bethma lads at a higher price in order to cultivate their own non-bethum lands. Rain-fed cultivation was also practiced in these areas.Tobramo, a favored crop requiring little water was prohibited within the bethma area. Other rain-fed crops included soya, green gram, black gram and chili.In general, the non-bethma areas were cultivated by families who had access to bethma lands. Howefrer, the bethma allocation for each farmer (one acre [0.4 ha]) w a s so small that in those cases where the legally owned land was already divided among two or three family membrs, one member was sometimes given cultivation rights to the entire acre while the other members cultivated in the non-bethma area.In response to the widespread illegal cultivation in non-bethma areas, the project manager decided to destroy the crop. The rationale for this action was that the non-bethma farmers interrupted the water-distribution schedules and took water intended for the bethma area. Because of political intervention, however, the project manager only threatened to fine the illegal cultivators. In the end, however, no fines were ever collected.Problems in bethma division. The colonization officer who was responsible for allotting bethma land reported that 35 disputes were presented to him W i n g the course of this season. The most comon type of complaint lodged by bethma farmers w85 the owner attempting to cultivate a larger section than authorized. In some cases owners had leased a portion greater than the single acre they were legally entitled to cultivate. In general, however, bethma division was handled smoothly. An unwritten rule permits the Owner farmerrto have first choice in selecting a section of land. Usually, the preferred land plot was defined both by the soil type (light soils are preferred for growing other field crop) and the location of the water inlet.The official procedure followed in allotting bethma land was to divide it according to a list of bethma allotments and partner numbers in w h a t is called the \"bethma list.\" At the kanna meeting dates were fixed to divide each allotment and the respective partneGs were requested to be present. In practioe a few were present on the prescribed date, In some cases the rightful bethum partner was represented by a lessee, If the division had not heen made by the time the owner was ready for his cultivation activities, he demarcated a section for himself and left the rest for others to share. Some farmers who started cultivation late in the season were unaware of how the land had been divided, This category of bethma farmers included those who replaced the ones who quit cultivation after having prepared their fields.Division of the land perpendicular to the channel w&s encouraged by the officers so that different types of soils in the allotment would also be shared.Of the 112 sample farm plots 28 were in the owner section and 79 in the bethma section. The remaining five plots were made up of parts from both sections. This happened when Owner farmers rented the bethma section by paying for the bethma right. The following table sunmwizes the responses of farmers to questions on how bethma land was divided. The farmers requesting the extra issue were not in a contiguouls area, but scattered throughout the entire cornnand area. Since there was no mechanism for limiting water distribution to those who had requested it, the entire area was irrigated, though only a few farmera paid for it. Water was requautmi for 82 acres (33.2 ha), but the payment was collected for only 58 acres (23.5 ha).The selection of crop was an evolving process beginning prior to the allocation of bethma lands and continuing into the season. Of the 112 sample farmers 62 percent decided on their crop only after the bethna divisions were made. Another 7 percent had decided before this time and 18 peruent waited until they had actually seen the bethma plots allotted to them before making their decision. The reminder (12 percent) selected their crop sometime after the start of the season.The timing of the decision itself influenced the outcome as thwe who decided very early, prior to the start of the season, had already comnitted financing to the selected crop. For instance, chili cultivators needed to begin land and nursery preparations quite early. Farmers who leased land tended to select a particular crop first and then try to find land suitable for the cultivation of that crop. However, the market for well-drained l d was rather tight, since these are the most suitable to cultivate other field crop (OFCS). Thus, some lessee farmers were forced to grow rice, even though they had intended to grow OFCs.Another factor that influenced crop selection among Owner cultivators was the land that they were allocated under the bethma arrangements. If the land was not suitable for the crop they had intended to grow, they were forced to switch to another crop. For exZmnple, if their bethma plot was waterlogged, as happened in several cases, they had no choice but to cultivate rice. Other factors which influenced crop selection by farmers included the distance from their hcnnes to the bethma field, availability of household labor, promotion of the crop by agricultural officers, experience in cultivating O K s during the previous yala seasons, and anticipated chena cultivation for the following maha.From the farmers' point of view, the easiest OFC to cultivate is soya, which needs few inputs, little care, and little water, and is harvested only once. Both soya and black gram are grown in chena areas during maha. Some farmers cultivate these crop under irrigated yala conditions in order to provide seeds for maha rain-fed cultivation. One reason Dewahma farmers have often cultivated soya is market reliability both from private traders and from the Oil and Fats Corporation. In addition, loan facilities were available for soya (e.g., credit schemes of the regional branch of the Central Bank). Some-farmers who had decided to grow soya changed their decision in favor of green gram which is not as sensitive to excess rain in the early stages of the crop. Black gram is just as easy to cultivate as soya but the market is not as reliable. Green gram is preferred by many farmers because of its relative profitabilityandshort-growth duration. However it isalso relativelyexpensive to grow, both because of the cost of chemical pesticides, and because it requires two or three different harvests.Chili is the most expensive of the cpps cultivated in Dewahuwa, but it is also the most profitable. In general it is largely cultivated by relatively well-off farmers.Those who intended to grow chili began their cultivation early in the season. Cultivation of onion was done primarily by a few wealthy farmers who had ties with the extension officers.A new crop which became popular during the yala season was a variety of pumpkin called batana, This is a short-duration crop requiring little water and producing a good yield. Many farmers grew batana as a supplementary crop, and farmers in the non-bethma area adjacent to tract 3 showed a particular liking for this crop as they could irrigate from the drainage channel.      Although the last water issue was scheduled for 31 July (Issue 8) , an additional water issue was made in mid-August (Issve 9). An optional water issue (Issue 10) was then provided during the first week of September, upon peryment from the farmers requesting it. Thus, the cultivation season was extended by more than a month beyond the original plan.Water rotations within D1 began with the second water issue, and followed a pattern of giving water to the head end of the distributary first, and the tail-end turnouts second. This continued until the fourth issue when widespread disregard of 'the rotational pattern by head enders was reported. Some directissue allotments remained open throughout the water issue, while others were opened and closed regularly. At the suggestion of IIMI staff, the rotational pattern was changed from the 5th issue onwards to give water to the tail-enr2 area of D1 first, and the head end second. This new pattern continued till the end of the season with the exception of the last (10th) rotation when water was issued on request to particular groups of farmers.In preparation for active involvement in water management during the y a l a season, IIMI had askedthe Irrigation Management Division to repair and replace certain structures in the sample distributary (Dl) at the beginning of the season. \"his was to ensure that the physical operation of the system would provide a valid test of the management plan to be introduced. During the kanna meeting and the first issues of the season, IIMI staff played an observational role, while the project manager and the technical assistant took their normal irrigation decisions without direct IIMI influence.With the start of the 4th water issue IIMI staff sought to influence the management of the system by presenting feedback data on actual water deliveries following each rotation. \"he infbrmation was discussed in meetings of project officers, IIMI research officers, and farmer representatives and the plan for the upcoming water issue was decided.The set of water measurements in the sample distributary included twicedaily readings at the distributary gate, twice-daily readings at each turnout, and readings at 33 sample allotments. Of these measurements, the readings from the distributary gates and the turnout gates were analyzed within a few days following each water issue, and then presented to the project officers (project manager and technical assistant) and at group meetings with farmer representatives (either special meetings or regularly scheduled tract-or project-camnittee meetings).Since the measurements were presented in terms of total water depth delivered over each turnout area comparisons between turnout8 was simply a matter of comparing numbers. In this way, turnouts receiving more or less water than planned could be quickly identified and discussion stimulated regding the cause for the discrepancy. Farmer representatives who were present at all these meetings could then explain the water use.The water measurements showed consistent oversupply in D2 and M=2 in D1. The oversupply in D2 prompted the technical assistant to make a night-time investigation in the area where he found that farmers were deliberately allowing water to flow into the drainage channel so that farmers downstream cultivating non-bethma areas of tract 4 could have access to water intended for the bethma area of tract 3. In D1, Fc2, the project manager identified the reason for oversupply as an ineffective farmer representative. The turnout gate under the responsibility of the farmer representative was being opened at night by farmers in violation of the rotational schedule.At the same time several other turnouts were consistently under-supplied. The head end of D1, Fcl, which irrigates predominantly heavy soils was found to be using very little water and the tail-end field channel (Fc3), althod receiving an adequate supply at the turnout gate, was not delivering adequate supplies to the turnout allotments. The supplies were being interrupted by head-end farmers within the field channel.In addition to feedback on water measurements IIMI research officers also reported on problems voiced by farmers or observed in the field, One particular set of problems which was somewhat unique to this season was the lack of personal relationships among the farmers within a turnout area. Because of the unusually small proportion of c d area irrigated during the 1987 yala there were many more farmers cultivating a given land unit than was the case in most other bethma seasons. Some of these farmers were bethma partners from outside tracts and others were lessees from outside the scheme (see discussion above).To build cooperation among tliis diverse group of farmers the project manager attempted to introduce turnout-level meetings. ' h o such meetings were held, one for FC3, and the other for the head-end allotments of D1. Participation was poor, with 15 farmers attending from Fc3 and 10 from D1 (head). The project manager was the only officer present.At the allotment level cooperation among farmers was problematic with an average of 5.4 farmers per allotment. The normal yala average is abut three farmers per allotment. For water distribution within the allotment the project manager had suggested six-hour rotations to be implemented with the help of the farmer representative. However, in no case w&s this actually implemented. Farmer representatives pointed out that the water requirements of each allotment, and often within allotments were different, and furthermore, a water rotation within the allotment would require too much attention from the farmer representative.Although the project manager had hoped that the tract-committee president (who was the farmer representative within D1, FC2) would play a coordinating role among the other farmer representatives this role did not emerge, With the exception of one dynamic farmer representative from FC3, others for the most part did not serve as leaders for their turnouts although they were generally effective in controlling their respective turnout gates.One technical constraint to the coordinating role of the farmer representative was the lack of locks for the turnout gates. In two turnouts (T2 and T4) water flowed almost continuously because of broken locks.In addition to the regularly scheduled tract-romnittee and projectcomnittee meetings several other meetings took place during the 1987 yala season, Foremost among these were the pre-water-issue meetings called by the project manager. Participants normally included the technical assistants from the bethma area, and later in the season, IIMI research officers. The first of these meetings held under a tree near the offtake to the D1, tract 3 distributary, was called on 9 May to discuss maintenance needs before the water issue (see below). Because of the success of this first meeting the project manager decided to organize such meetings on a regular basis, between water issues. IIMI staff also encouraged him in this regard, as these meetings provided a useful forum to discuss the water measurements recorded fromthe previous issue. These meetings were not normally held if a tract-comnittee or a project-comnittee meeting was scheduled at about the same time. A total of eight such meetings \"under the tree\" were held during the season,The first meeting, held on May 9, one day prior to the first water issue, concerned maintenance needs for the channels and structures and the new responsibilities given to farmer representatives in water distribution including responsibility for the turnout gate and overseeing rotations within some of the field channels (e.g., FC1).The project manager encouraged the farmer representatives to reduce flows to those field channels where farmers had not yet cleaned their sections. Details of the rotation system within FC1 were outlined at this meeting and all six farmer representatives present (from tract 1-2, D1 head, E l , FC2, FC3, and D2) contributed to the discussion. The group decided to divide the 11 outlets of FC1 into two sections in order to rotate water: six right side outlets &five left side outlets, with the rotation split between these two groups. Unfortunately, the farmer representative responsible for carrying out the rotation was unable to enforce it effectively, The second meeting \"under the tree\" was held on 3 June, just after the second water issue. Discussion turned to a review of the first water issue (which was cut short to two days because of rain), and this established a feature of these meetings that continued throughout the season: they became a review of the previous water issue, as well as a time for planning the next issue. For example, at the second meeting, the technical assistant discussed with the farmer representatives the adequacy of water released in the first issue and the project manager suggested that farmer representatives take over certain functions from the Irrigation Department irrigator, such as operating turnout gates and overseeing water distribution within the field channel.The third meeting took place on 10 June, a day before the third water issue. The fourth meeting was held on 19 June, two days before the fourth water issue, A project-cdttee meeting was also held on this day at which the dates of the next water issue were advanced and a decision was taken to issue water on 10day cycles tilk the end bf July. Farmer representatives were asked to publicize the new water-issue dates. Problems of operating the new turnout gates that had been fixed by the technical assistant were also discussed. It was decided to make any repairs or adjustments to these gates using funds from the o&M fee collection. Farmer representatives from the tail-end turnouts (turnouts FC2 and FC3) asked that water be issued to the tail end first and the head end second.However, no action could be taken as the technical assistant was not present. The IIMI research officers who were pkesent explained what their research involved, and discussed the need for cooperation among farmers and between farmers and farmer representatives.The next \"under the tree\" meeting took place on 1 July, one day prior to the 5th water issue. At this meeting, IIMI research officers presented the results of their water measurements for the previous water issue. This followed a suggestion by IIMI staff that the water rotation plan within the distributary be modified somewhat to give water to the tail-end field channels first. These proposed changes were discussed and the results of the first water issue under the new plan were evaluated. Following this meeting the new water plan was implemented as discussed, with only minor difficulties.The sixth \"under the tree\" meeting took place on 11 July. The technical assistant (TA) , five farmer representatives, and about nine farmers were present.Special provisions for two head-end turnouts were discussed. Some adjustments to the plan were suggested by the FC1 and D2 farmer representatives. They suggested providing a reduced water flow to the head-end turnouts during the first half of the issue in order to guarantee sufficient irrigation to more difficult allotments. The TA insisted that the turnout gates should remain partly open during the first half of the water issue and fully open during the second half. At the meeting this arrangement was discussed with reference to E l only but during the water issue D2 also received water in the ,same manner with the knowledge of the TA. IIMI research officers presented water-measureinent data and problems of excess water flowing to the drains was discussed. Farmers were reminded not to allow water to flow into the drains (and into the unofficial cultivated areas). Following .this meeting the TA made a nighttime field inspection, and observed that certain farmer representatives were deliberately allowing water to flow into the drainage to benefit farmers in the non-bethma area.The seventh \"under the tree\" meeting was held on 21 July, one day prior to the seventh water issue. The project manager, the TA, 5 farmer representatives, abut 12 farmers and IIMI research officers were present. Again the issue of giving water to the tail-end field channels first was discussed. The head-end farmer representatives were askedto keep their turnout gates completely closed during the first half of the water issue. Water problems in the tail-end field channels (FC2 and FC3) were also discussed.The respective farmer representatives were asked to keep the head-end allotments closed until water could reach the tail end of their field channels. The water-rotation cycle was reduced from 10 to 7 days. Farmers requested an 8-day cycle to meet the water demands of newly planted soya, but a 7-day cycle was decided upon in order to allow 5 water issues before the anticipated last date of the irrigation season (20 August).Implementation of the seventh water issue was affected by an island-wide For this reason there was no \"under The next meeting was held The ninth water issue, which began on 11 curfew, which interrupted the water issue. the tree\" meeting prior to the eighth water issue. on 7 August, after the eighth issue. August was extended at the request of farmers.Only field-level problems were dis sed during the meeting on 7 August, A special meeting of 20-25 farmers w&5 held on 3 September, just before the last water issue (3-6 September). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the logistics of this last water issue which was to be made upon payment by farmers of Rs 40 (USS1.30) per irrigated acre (0.4 ha).since a tract comnittee meeting had been T eld in the morning of the same day.In general, the introduction of \"under the tree\" meetings was welcomed by the farmer representatives. Of the seven farmer representatives in the bethma area, five participated regularly. One h t -3 farmer representative (in FC5) attended only one of the eight meetings. A problem observed during these meetings was the lack of leadership among the farmer representatives. Although the tract-cdttee president (who as the farmer representative) of FC 2 in Dl) was invited he attended only some of the meetings and often came late. The farmer representative from FC3 worked very actively within his turnout and played a leadership role within his immediate area but was not regarded as the leader by the other farmer representatives,One of the results of the new rotational pattern was to reduce the water consumption of the direct-issue allotments in the head end of D1, since the new pattern gave water to the tail end first. However, because of the poor locking arrangements on two particular turnouts (T2 and T4), these turnouts were able to take water continuously even during the first part of water issue when the rotation called for full delivery to the tail and no delivery to the head.The head-end portion of tract 3 includes four turnout groups: 1) directissue allotments at the head end of D1; 2) FC1 in D1; 3) direct-issue allotments from D2; and 4) Fc5 in D1. The tail-end area includes two field channels in D1: Fc2; and FC3. Under the rotational plan in effect during issues 2-4 the headend area received water for the first one and a half days of the three-day water issue. Beginning with the fifth water issue, the head-end area received water only during the second half of the issue; as a result the total water consmption of the head-end turnouts decreased from 9.0 W d a y in the 4th issue to 7.6 -/day in the 5th issue. A critical factor in the successful implementation of the new water-rotation plan was a good flow of water in the first part of the issue so that water could be delivered all the way to the tail end of the system in as short a time as possible. This was the case in the 5th issue but subsequent water issues had decreased flows and water did not reach the tail as readily or in the full quantities planned.A contributing factor to difficulties in delivering water to the tail end of FC3 was overuse of water at the head end of this field channel, The major reason was that non-bethma cultivators in adjacent fields were using the water, and the head-end farmers of FC3 were allowing them to take the water through their fields and into the drainage channels where it could be pumped into the non-bethma fields. Another factor contributing to extra water use in the head end w a s that farmers cut openings in the channel bund to supplement the standard 4-inch (10-cm) outlet to take more water into their allotments at one time. The fanner representative of FC3 was unable to control the situation.To deliver wbter to the tail end or FC3, it was necessary that the directissue allotments at the head end of D1 be closed, This matter was often discussed at tract-comnittee meetings and at \"under the tree\" meetings, but with little cooperation from the head-end farmers.On several occasions the representative of FC3 attempted to close these direct-issue allotments but was not successful.Following the 5th water issue the rotational plan became somewhat flexible in its implementation as farmer representatives gained experience with it. For example, E l , which suffered from water scarcity during the 5th issue when the plan was first introduced was gradually given somewhat longer rotational times to compensate for its long length. The farmer representative for this channel partially opened the turnout gate during the first half of the issues (when FCl was supposed to be closed) and opened it completely for the second half. and allotment 20 ltail end) received wezter soon after the field channel started flowing. The head end of the field chanhel, represented by allotment 24, began taking water during the second half of the rotation, while allotment 20 (tail end) was still receiving water.Water issue No. 5. During the fifth water issue water flowed in D1 for 3.16 days and in FCl for 1.9 days. With this water issue a new plan was also introduced in FC1. At the encouragement of the farmer representative but contrary to the instructions from the TA water was given first to the head end of the field channel resulting in water shortages at the tail end. As can be seen in Figure 1 (middle) the tail-end plot in allotment 20 received a relatively low amount of water during water issue No. 5 , Meanwhile in the head end (allotment No. 2 4 ) , some farmers did not come to their fields to irrigate since they were uncertain whether water would be delivered.Water issue No. 6. The water rotation within FC1 gave water to the tail end of the field channel first, during this issue. This w a s done at the request of the tail-end farmers who had not received adequate water during the previous issue. The farmer representative met their request by opening the turnout gates for the full three days that water was flowing in the distributary. This is an example of water rotations within the field channel being carried out at the expense of water rotation at the distributary level.During this water issue all five farmers in allotment No. 20 came t o their fields for irrigation while in allotment No. 24 only three of the eight farmers came to irrigate. Of these three, one irrigated not only for himself, but also for three of the absent farmers in the allotment. The extra water given to FCl during this issue had a detrimental effect on water supplies to the tail end of FC3. Farmers there claimed that when the turnout gate of FCl was opened it was not possible to receive water at the tail end of FC3, The farmer representative for FC3 periodically checked the adjustment of FC1 and closed the gate when it was open outside the rotational schedule.The details of implementing the new water management plan were discussed in the previous section. In this section, several organizational aspects are discussed in more general terms with regard to the new plan, and to other management strategies. Two levels of organizational constraints are considered: 1) the agency level and 2 ) the farmer level.As in all irrigation schemes coming under the Irrigation Management Division management structure, the project manager at Dewahuwa plays a significant role in developing the cultivation plan and coordinating its implementation. The primary line agency which the project manager deals with is the Irrigation Department.The role of the technical assistant (Irrigation Department). The technical assistant (TA) is the agency official responsible for irrigation activities at the project level. He develops an irrigation plan by determining the extent to be cultivated based on the current and projected tank capacity. He also has an influence on the particular areas to be irrigated, since he must consider the practicalities of water conveyance anddistribution. Routine maintenance of the irrigation system (repairing of gates and other structures and desilting the main canal) is carried out by field officers.At the beginning the 1987 yala season, the TA was preoccupied with other construction work in the region around Dewahuwa and could not pay close attention to the usual start-up tasks within Dewahuwa.Arrangements for routine maintenance were held up because of the absence of the TA from a critical meeting at which farmer representatives reported on the maintenance needs for their areas. This situation prompted a formal complaint from the project manager to the Irrigation Department.Because of the added responsibilities given to farmer representatives during the 1987 yala the need for structural repairs was particularly critical. For example, turnout gates which had no locks for years needed to be provided with locks so that farmer representatives would have control over water releases. In spite of the lack of time on the part of the TA repairs were made to the structures but the quality of construction was generally poor. Two turnout gates at the head of D1 did not lock properly allowing farmers to take water whenever there was a flow in the distributary. A leak in the distributary near M=2 allowed farmers in that field channel to take extra water.In the absence of supervision by the TA water issues became problematic because the irrigators who adjust the distributary gates take their orders directly from the TA; the project mtznager has no direct authority over them. In one instance the project manager observed inadequate water flow at the head end of D1 and promised farmers to extend the water, issue by a few hours, but was not successful in getting the work carried out by the irrigator.The absence of the TA during the early months of the season was particularly noticeable since the irrigation-management practices that have evolved over the past decade depend upon his input and expertise. Farmers who know him personally often seek his help directly, rather than going through their representative. The TA was able to make adjustments in water issues based on his experience and farmers' feedback, rather than on engineering calculations. In the event that a particular area wag deprived of water during one issue, a guarantee from the TA that more water would be available in the next issue satisfied those farmers.The TA was not in full agreement with the plan of delegating responsibility for turnout-gate adjustments to the farmer representatives. He felt that there should be a salaried laborer under the Irrigation Department. There were a number of examples to support the TA's skepticism about the farmer representatives' ability to handle the task. In the early part of the season the farmer representative from FC1 opened the turnout gate once, locked it, and then disappeared with the key! Another fanner repf-esentative was in the habit of opening his turnout gate whenever he and his fellow farmers needed water, rather than according to the rotational schedule. In spite of the difficult beginning of the season the farmer representatives did learn to fulfill their responsibilities and eventually received full support from the TA in carrying out their tasks. The situation improved when the TA finished his construction duties outside Dewa3luwa and was able to devote more time to the problems of the yala cultivation.The role of the project marmi! er. The project manager coordinates the various line agencies involved in irrigated agriculture, and mediates between these officers and farmers. He tries to represent the views of both sides and sometimes takes the side of either the farmers or the government agencies.An example of the former situation is when a group of farmers in turnout 4 at the head end of D1 complained that two allotments were unable to take adequate water and requested a direct turnout from the distributary. This issue was raised at a special meeting of the TA, the project manager, and farmers of D1 head end (this was one of two turnout-group meetings organized during yala 1987).The project manager argued on behalf of the farmers though the TA rejected the idea on the grounds that it would have an adverse effect on water distribution within the distributary as a whole.The project manager took the side of the government bureaucracy during channel cleaning at the beginning of the yala season. The project manager initiated cooperative channel cleaning in tract 3 to clean the distributary in the bethma area. Of the total of 400 farmers required to participate (both owners and bethma partners) only about 100 turned up. Each farmer was expected to clean a 14-foot section of channel on the assumption that 400 farmers would participate. Rather than increase the length of channel that each farmer would be asked to clean, the project manager demarcated the sections of all the 400 farmers, and identified the absentees in order to impose fines on them. The process of measuring, the sections took so much time that many farmers who turned up left without doing any cleaning of the channel. charged and asked to pay fines amounting to Rs 1125 CUS$36,60). But only R8 190 (US$6.20) w a s recovered, from six farmers.Thirty four farmers were Farmer Level While farmer organizations have become effective at the project and tract levels, at the turnout level there is no organization per se. Each turnout group has a farmer representative, but he does not hold meetings with the turnout group. Thus, the term \"turnout group\" refers more to an area than to an a c t d group of farmers. Two cross-cutting sets of categories of farmers are discussed in this section: 1 ) land-tenure categories; and 2) socioeconomic categories.Land-tenure categories. The fasmers of Dewahuwa include Owners, lessees, and ande cultivators. Some are descendants of original allottees while others are temporary migrants from outside the scheme. Some farmers are full-time cultivators while others engaged in nonfarm employment (e.g. teachers) are parttime cultivators.The main difference between tenurial arrangements during the maha and yala seasons is that mortgages do not normally apply during yala. A nwnber of subcategories also need to be considered. For example, the category of \"owner\" includes original allottees who have access to the original allotment of five acres (2.02 ha), as well as second generation owners who have access to only a portion of the original allotments depending upon the number of siblings or land divisions. The minimum legal land division is one-third the original allotment size (1.75 acres or 0.7 ha) although there are numerous hidden subdivisions and tenancies which decrease the effective size of the cultivated plots. Some owners cultivate their land through ande tenancies, or through \"partners\" who provide a portion of the inputs and share a portion of the yield.Lessees are of particular importance during the yala season, because of the fluid land-tenure arrangements prompted by bethma practices. Cash rentals are the most connnon type of leasing arrangement during yala. During maha most rentals are handled through payments in-kind collected at harvest time (wee porondwa) . The normal rent for an acre (0.4 ha) of land during maha is 30 bushels (626 kilograms) of unmilled rice. During the yala season, ande shares are sometimes paid in cash, but are figured as a proportion of the total income. A typical figure is 25 percent paid to the Owner as rent. Partnership arrangements may involve poor owners who need an outside party to provide finance or outside financiers who are mortgaging or leasing land (particularly during yala) and relying on a third party to do the actual cultivation. In such cases the cultivators normally retain half the income and also share half the cost of inputs. A caretaker is in the same structural position as a partner but receives a wage in cash.Mortgages are the result of a tight credit situation in Dewahuwa and financiers who buy mortgage rights utilize the owners' land for as long as the owner cannot recover it. In many cases these mortgage relationships become permanent and land is in effect sold for the price of the mortgage. Typical mortgage prices &e Rs 20,000 to 30,000 per 5-acre allotment (USt321 to 482 per ha). Some mortgagees cultivate the land themselves, but most give it out on either an ande or caretaker type of arrangement. These arrangements nomlly apply to the maha season only, and during yala the original owner regains cultivation rights. Mortgagees who wish to cultivate during yala must pay an extra rental to the legal owner.  The significance of the various durations of tenure is that group action normally depends on a sense of shared commitment to a particular turnout area and lessee cultivators who will probably not be in that turnout area the following season have much less of an interest in helping develop an organization of farmers than do Owners who will remain in that turnout area indefinitely. The proportion of farmers under the various tenurial arrangements during yala 1987 w a s unusually skewed in favor of short-term (lessee, ande, caretaker) arrangements because of the low proportion of land cultivated, and the high demand from farmers to purchase cultivation rights. A comparison of land-tenure patterns during yala 1987 with the previous yala and the 1985/86 maha is given in (Table 6).Socioeconomic categories. In addition to land-tenure categories, and crosscutting them are social and economic categories of farmers, such as the following: 1) originalallottees; 2) their children; 3) outsiders; 4) part-time farmers; and 5) entrepreneurial farmers. These categories are closely related and overlapping. For example, the original allottees and their children are treated as two separate groups with the entrepreneurial farmers emerging mainly from the latter. Some of the children of the original allottees have legal access to land. Others share their parents' land or cultivate land of nonrelatives through various tenurial arrangements. Some \"outsiders\" cultivating in the scheme are children of original allottees, who separated from their families in Dewahuwa and now live in adjoining villages. Part-time farmers also may be children of original allottees, who currently hold government jobs such as teaching. Other part-time farmers are government servants andentrepreneurs.  Osee Bulankulame (1986) for an explanation of sampling procedures. bSee Ekanayake and Groenfeldt (1987) for an explanation of sampling procedures.The largest category in terms of numbers is the most important. Children of original allottees comprise the target group for farmer organization. Typically, this group lives inside the scheme, cultivates each season, and has strong socioeconomic ties with other Dewahuwa farmers. Their situationcontrasts with those who live outside the scheme, and in some cases in another district, and reside in Dewahuwa only during the cultivation season. However, even among this group of seasonal migrants there are some who return to the same allotment each year and develop patron-client relationships with the owners of their allotments.Part-time farmers who live inside the scheme and are employed as teachers or in other relatively high-status positions play an important leadership role among the farmers. For example, a teacher cultivating in the tail end of Fc1 helped to organize the farmers in adjacent allotments to obtain extra water to the tail of that field channel which did not get a sufficient supply.Wealthy or \"entrepreneurial\" farmers who have access to tractors and diesel water pumps are typically engaged in various trading activities during harvest serving as middlemen in buying and selling the harvest of their neighbors. Such farmers are usually from the scheme and often play a leadership role analogous to that of part-time farmers, However, because these farmers have significant areas under their control their leadership is often used for their own benefit. An example is seen in FC1 where a powerful farmer convinced the farmer representative to give him the turnout gate key so that he could take water to his fields outside the time of the scheduled rotation.Thebasic organizational objectives under the IrrigationManagement Division framework are to organize farmers on the basis of turnout g r o w , strengthen the leadership of farmer representatives, and facilitate the cooperation of lineagency officers at the field and project levels. Constraints to these objectives have been outlined. The following are some possible solutions to those constraints.Turnout-based farmer groups. Despite the various categories of farmers cultivating within a turnout-group area, viable organizations at the turnout level can be based on farmers who are committed to long-term cultivation of an allotment, whether or not they are the legal owners. The target group would include not only owners and family-tenure cultivators, but also long-term mortgagees and lessees, regardless of whether they are permanent residents of the scheme or long-term seasonal migrants. This target group could be treated as the core for a turnout-level organization. The cooperation of other cultivators is also needed of course but many of the more transient cultivators cannot be identified until the season is already underway. With the leadership of a core group of long-term farmers, new farmers coming into the turnout group could fit into an already existing organizational structure. Turnout-group meetings with the participation of all farmers could be held once or twice during the season.During the yala season when bethma is practiced some adjustments could be made in the organization to incorporate bethma partners. Many of the bethma partners would also be members of other turnout organizations but invariably a number of the yala cultivators would not belong to any turnout group organization. In this case the permanent members of that turnout organization could play leadership roles. At the allotment level two or three cultivators representing both owner and bethma portions could be given leadership for intraallotment water distribution.The role of farmer representatives. Only permanent members of a turnout group should be eligible to become a farmer representative. Regular training programs could help develop the leadership qualities of farmer representatives and strengthen the horizontal relationships among farmer representatives and between farmer representatives and farmers. Regular meetings of farmer representatives within an area, as practiced in D1 during the 1987 yala season, would strengthen their position and would also help improve water distribution. Such meetings would have to be followed up by greater interaction between farmer representatives and farmers so that farmers become fully aware of the decisions taken at the meetings. Cash incentives for field-level officers to attend meetings and to play a more active role in interacting with farmers are probably necessary. The type and amount of payment could be recomended by the tract committee or project organization. Even a simple matter such as refreshments during the meetings would be helpful in developing morale.The role of field-level officers. The use of catalysts or institutional organizers for promoting farmer organization would bring the coordinating role of the project manager down to the level of the turnout or distributary. Although the project manager is highly effective at the project and tract-committee level, $s unrealistic to e -, t him to be effective in promoting viable farmer organizations at the turnout level, Greater staffing intensity would be required for this to take place.In the absence of trained institutional organizers, existing field-level officers might play a greater role in directly working with farmers in lieu of, or in addition to, institutional organizers.The basic water-manaP: ement principle underlying the yala 1987 operational research in Dewahuwa w a s rotations within the distributary. The basic management principle employed was information feedback to farmers and project officials, and information flow between farmers and project officials. The information included measurements of water flow and duration, deviations from the intended pattern, and the attitudes of farmers and farmer representatives.The primary mechanism to provide farmers and agency staff with fedback on their irrigation-management performance was the holding of post-issue meetings involving farmer representatives, the project manager, the TA, and IIMI research officers to discuss the previous issue and to plan the next issue. These meetings were supplementary to tract-committee and project-connnittee meetings which also brought together farmer representatives and project management on a regular basis.Both the role of the farmer representative and the management practices of farmers within a \"turnout group\" changed significantly during the yala season. Farmer representatives were given responsibility for the turnout gates within their area (whether direct issues from the distributary or turnouts to field channels). In some cases they were also given responsibility for carrying out rotations within the field channel, Overall, the farmer representatives demonstrated that they are capable of meeting these new responsibilities. There is no doubt that the close interaction between the project manager and the farmer representatives was an important element in the success of this management procedure.This report has documented how the rotational plan was carried out, and the management role of farmer representatives and agency staff in implementing the new plan. A key implication of the yala 1987 experience concerns the potential value of true \"farmer organizations\" at the distributaryand fieldchannel level. Can the farmer representative alone manage water rotations within his area or does he need an organizational structure among the farmers of his area?The evidence suggests that without an organizational structure even a dynamic farmer representative (as in the case of FC3) is ineffective; the farmer representative cannot manage water alone. What type of organization would be most feasible and effective? A turnout group, which already exists in name, but not in practice, is clearly a logical boundary within which to build a capacity for self-management, What steps would be necessary to implement a viable organization (e.g., training for farmer representatives or Irrigation Department field staff or both or commanity organizers)? What would be the costs, benefits, and alternatives?The more critical question is how to do this.Several suggestions forcreatingmore effective organizationsat the turnout level are discussed in the preceeding section. However, the experience of the 1987 yala has demonstrated that the choice of organizational strategy at the turnout level depends in part on the opempional practices in the system as a whole. If water rotations among field channels are desired, water rotations within the field channels may be necessary to move water down to the tail end quickly. Carrying this out successfully will require organizational input -either pressure from the project manager and farmer representatives, or peer pressure from farmers themselves. A clear rotational plan, as was implemented during the 1987 yala, helps all concerned to understand the logic of the rotation.There appears to be a strong link between farmers' comprehension of the plan and their willingness to comply with it. Improving irrigation management thus requires not only an organizational structure (e.g., the turnout group, as well as the tract-and project-level committees), but also an operational plan which gives a clear role to farmer groups and which makes clear sense to the farmers. Finally, the importance of information feedback (from the irrigation system to farmers and officials) and information exchange (between farmers and officials) has been underscored. The post-issue \"under the tree\" meetings provided a chance to make small adjustments in the rotational plan before farmers became disillusioned with the new procedures. By maintaining vertical and horizontal information flows the operational plan dan bend to everchanging circumstances.-----_-_- ","tokenCount":"9770"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3181717472.json b/data/part_1/3181717472.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c18089d58e4f6bdc05152890f41b94424e69f4f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3181717472.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0077160cf7cb511eb76dbb8c4ee2e9cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b69180fe-079e-45ba-b126-4330d92ee8ae/retrieve","id":"1981625191"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5913a56c-4cf3-41ff-94e4-ff0e67fb5e80","pagecount":"45","content":"1 This study uses the term 'water tenure' as the term 'law' may be misinterpreted and be confined to only state law. 2 These terms are used interchangeably to indicate the empirical, existing 'living' realities as assessed by researchers. 'Local' or 'informal' conveys the dynamic nature largely outside the ambit of the state while 'customary' better conveys the history and social embeddedness of the rules and norms. This report avoids legal constructs of customary law as interpreted by colonial lawyers, judges and experts, often to legitimize resource grabbing (Hellum et al. 2015).Customary water tenure is the most accepted socio-legal system among the large majority of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the lack of awareness by academia, policy makers and statutory lawmakers continues to hamper the realization of intersecting human rights to water, food, adequate standard of living and gender equality, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13. This void affects both statutory water law and infrastructure development. Permit systems which are the dominant form of water law continue to override customary water tenure as intended in colonial times. In many cases, other legislations such as constitutions, land and forest laws, indigenous peoples' law and administrative law recognize customary water tenure better than water law. In contrast, in infrastructure development, which is an important aspect of customary water tenure, the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and irrigation sectors started recognizing communities' customary, age-old and rapidly expanding investments in self supply, and initiated support to self supply as a complementary services model to the conventional development of public infrastructure. However, both sectors focus on pieces of infrastructure, ignore communities as a whole, and remain locked in silos.Based on literature, this report aims to fill the knowledge gap pertaining to both water resources (as addressed in water law) and infrastructure development (key to access sufficient water when and where needed) by developing a grounded understanding of customary water tenure, with the rural farming or pastoralist community as the unit of analysis. Gender, class and other social hierarchies persist alongside social safety nets, neighborliness and moral economies. Three components shape how rural people meet their domestic and productive water needs on homesteads, distant fields or other sites of use: the fundamental perception of the relation between water resources and humankind, with links to collective customary land; the sharing of finite and contested water resources within and outside communities; and water infrastructure development for self supply. A range of studies illustrate the substance of each component.The first two components deal with naturally available water resources. Literature suggests that rural communities see water resources as a commons to be shared by all, in which stronger rights to the water resources linked to socially defined territories are vested in the community. Kinship, birth and partially marriage give rights to these resources. For the sharing of water resources, which are manifest as multiple, variable, unpredictable surface water and groundwater sources, rights of way or turns and rotation govern the 'sharing in' of water resources within a community and the 'sharing out' with neighboring customary communities. However, in 'sharing out' water with powerful third parties, communities are highly vulnerable to water grabbing by those outsiders, as they were in colonial times.Hence, a top-down legal recognition of living customary water tenure in statutory water law is recommended. This would be in better harmony with constitutions and other legislation; ensure due permitting processes to protect rural communities when external high-impact users plan new investments in infrastructure; take existing customary 'sharing in' and 'sharing out' arrangements as legitimate starting points in mediating conflicts; and ensure that the strongest water resource entitlements are not permits anymore, but a core minimum of water resources that meet basic human rights to water and food, so that water resources remain available to flow into water infrastructure (third component) to realize basic rights. This third component, infrastructure to store and convey water resources, makes more water reliably available where and when needed, strengthening resilience to climate variability and change. Customarily in self supply, community members access multiple water sources to meet their multiple needs, mainly through multi-purpose infrastructure and single-purpose infrastructure as the exception. Homesteads are a preferred site of multiple uses, especially for women.The bottom-up recommendation for accelerated infrastructure development by the WASH and irrigation sectors is to join forces and take customary water tenure at community level as a starting point for support to self supply and public systems in order to increase basic water supply to everyone's homestead, leaving no one behind. Recognizing people's priority use of these basic supplies, 5 liters per capita per day, not necessarily more, should be safe for drinking, while enhancing the productivity of homestead irrigation and livestock to realize everyone's right to food. Inclusive community-led resource mapping as the basis for participatory planning, design and construction of infrastructure leverages communities' local capital in all three components. While these findings identify how a recognition of customary water tenure better enables the realization of the rights to water and food and the SDGs, more historical and interdisciplinary research is clearly needed and recommended.The study follows the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) definition of water tenure as 'the relationship, legally or customarily defined, between people, as individuals or groups, with respect to water resources' (FAO 2020). The term 'communities'  in customary (community-based, informal, indigenous 2 ) water tenure is defined as a \"group of rural people (indigenous, Afro-descendants or otherwise) who share a common interest or purpose in a particular territory or natural resource, and who primarily hold rights to those lands and/or resources at the community level\" (RRI and ELI 2020). Customary water tenure thus refers to a rural community and its socially defined territories and related water resources as a unit of analysis.The following three interlinked components come into play in communities' relationships to water resources as customarily defined:• Community-scale customary perceptions of, and collective claims to nature's fugitive water resources that fall on (as rain on their roofs, fields, pastures, forests), rise from (as springs), flow by (as runoff and streams), wet soils (as soil moisture, wetlands), are stored (in puddles, ponds, lakes) or sit underground (in aquifers) within the socially defined territories of residential areas, fields, grazing land and forests of a settled community; or of pastoralists' routes; or of fishing communities adjacent to water bodies.• Communities' arrangements to share these variable, finite water resources within the community ('sharing in') and between the community and neighboring customary communities or third parties that share the same surface waters or aquifers ('sharing out') (Knight et al. 2012).• Water infrastructure development to store and convey water for more secure domestic and productive uses on homesteads, distant fields or other sites of use, daily or intermittently, in the quantities and quality needed, whether as individual households, self-organized sub-groups or as entire communities.A better understanding of these living customary norms and practices in rural sub-Saharan Africa can inform national and international water policy, laws and programs in two domains in particular: (top-down) statutory water law and other formal legislation and (bottom-up) community-led water services and supported self supply.This top-down domain pertains to the first two components: perceptions and sharing of naturally available water resources. Customary water tenure is most known and practiced by rural Africans. It comes to them as facilely as 'the blinking of eyes', as a respondent described (van Koppen et al. 2021a). Nevertheless, statutory permit systems override customary water tenure. Permit systems are the dominant form of formal water law in sub-Saharan Africa, applied in fourfifths of African countries (FAO n.d.). In their current interpretation and operationalization, permit systems impose an immediate conversion of all existing uses into administrative permits of limited duration, irrespective of the customary tenure's oral character and specific perception of natural resources as common goods, and including many other rights rather than just the 'use' right of limited duration, in particular governance, transfer, exclusion and due process rights. Moreover, water authorities lack the logistics to process permit applications by millions of small-scale users. The National Water Resource Strategy second edition in South Africa recognizes this explicitly: \"Current processes are often costly, very lengthy, bureaucratic and inaccessible to many South Africans\" (DWA 2013). Yet, without a permit, users formally commit offences. This is administrative injustice. The micro-scale de minimis water uses for domestic purposes and basic productive uses are exempt from the obligation to apply for a permit. However, this implies a weak legal status or the total invisibility of those users, who include the most vulnerable (van Koppen and Schreiner 2018).Water laws lag behind other legislation in recognizing customary water tenure. In their groundbreaking analysis of the recognition of customary water tenure in national legislation of 15 countries across the world, RRI and ELI (2020) found that constitutions, land and forest legislation, administrative law and legislation on indigenous peoples' resource rights tend to recognize customary water tenure, integrated in communities' holistic resource tenure, better than water law. In sub-Saharan Africa, the link between customary land tenure and water appurtenant to land appears especially strong (Alden Wily et al. 2017;Troell and Keene 2022), as evident in Ghana (Sarpong 2004), Kenya (RRI and ELI 2020) and in Southern Sudan's Land Act of 2009 which recognizes \"any pool, stream, swamp, or secondary river that is traditionally owned and managed by a community\" (Southern Sudan 2009). The general administrative right to due processes of free, participatory and informed consent is also stronger in these other laws than in water laws (RRI and ELI 2020).The invisibility of customary water tenure in current permit systems has colonial roots. As elaborated in van Koppen and Schreiner (2018), in their hydraulic mission, the colonial powers who introduced water law in Africa (and elsewhere) aimed to boost infrastructure development for their minority settler economy. In history's most drastic water grab, at least on legal paper, they claimed ownership of most, if not all, water resources in their colonies and hived off water resources from customary land. This dispossessed communities of their customary claims to water resources appurtenant to their territories and ignored both customary water resource sharing arrangements and age-old infrastructure for self supply. Colonial rulers could then prescribe a meticulous process, only for settlers, to apply for a permit. Any aspiring investor in infrastructure had to share infrastructure plans in a timely fashion in order to ensure free, participatory and informed consent among prior permit holders who might be affected. In the likelihood of infringements, the investor had to compensate them. Africans were at best 'to be informed' when settlers' new infrastructure was going to have 'significant impacts'. By 'granting' a permit to the settler after such due process, the new water departments committed to protect the investor's water rights vis-à-vis any next settler investor. In this way, permit systems became the incentive for settlers' 'orderly' investments in infrastructure on a first-come-first-in-rights basis. Since there were no irrigation departments then, this process provided both water authorities and settlers with prized geo-hydrological knowledge and localized options for infrastructure design in an unknown terrain. The newly built colonial state 'lawfully' overruled all prior and future African water tenure.Post-independence, the declared ownership of water resources in four-fifths of African countries shifted to custodianship by the new state. However, permits designed to enable new infrastructure investments on a case-by-case basis among a minority suddenly became obligatory in order to 'regularize' all prior and future water uses above the de minimis uses. African governments with water laws other than permits were encouraged to shift to custodianship and permits during the northern-financed Integrated Water Resources Management discourses since the 1990s. This expanded and reinforced the formal overriding of customary water tenure. Moreover, with limited capacity to follow due processes, permits have become a relatively easy administrative means to obtain the strongest, and sometimes even tradable, entitlements for the administration-proficient high-impact users and their lawyers. This makes rural communities even more vulnerable to post-colonial 'water grabs' by corporate third parties, and sometimes the state itself, whereas foreign investment contracts can even override the state altogether (Borras et al. 2011;Franco et al. 2013;van Eeden et al. 2016;van Koppen and Schreiner 2018;Bosch and Gupta 2022). Gini coefficients of the distribution of the use of water resources can be as high as 0.96, as found in South Africa (Cullis and van Koppen 2007).The following case studies confirm this risk is real. The Kenyan state ignored customary rights of way, closing off communities' water sources (Onyango et al. 2007). In Tanzania, the Arusha Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority diverts water upstream, depriving downstream communities (Komakech 2013). Large-scale sugar farming in the Awash Basin in Ethiopia deprives downstream pastoralists (Behnke and Kerven 2013). In Uganda, Chinese road builders swiftly got permits and depleted village dams (Debevec 2018). Sugar estate owners in Tanzania divert high volumes of river water, depriving downstream communities (van Eeden et al. 2016).Water laws to regulate claims to and equitable sharing of water resources from local to transboundary levels will become more important. Competition for water resources is already critical in the continent's arid areas, where they are limited year-round. In many semi-arid areas, water resources dwindle briefly or over long periods in the dry seasons or during dry spells. Moreover, expanding populations, urbanization and industrialization require more water resources. In addition, climate change is exacerbating these challenges, severely hitting vulnerable rural communities who depend most on water resources for their agrarian livelihoods, while their relative contribution to climate change is negligible. Water law shapes the security for investors in infrastructure to augment water supplies through further surface water storage, sustainable groundwater use, or unconventional sources such as expensive seawater desalination. Such security is even more important for the rural poor to encourage them to invest in infrastructure for self supply. When supply augmentation has become impossible and the sharing of available water resources has become a zero-sum game, water law sets the framework for dispute resolution and priorities. In the light of these growing pressures on water resources that are indispensable to realizing human rights, poverty alleviation and inclusive broad-based agriculture-led economic growth, the recognition of customary water tenure in decolonized water law becomes even more urgent and critical.In exploring the provisions of or amendments to current permit systems, the question arises as to how customary water tenure can be recognized, protected and supported in line with constitutional requirements on the one hand (Burchi 2005(Burchi , 2012;;RRI and ELI 2020), and how permit systems can become effective in regulating the minority of large-scale wealthy foreign and national users on the other hand. One aim of the conceptualization and empirical illustrations of living customary water tenure in this report is to inform legal reforms to decolonize permit systems and to harmonize water law with constitutions and other state laws.A better understanding of the living customary norms and practices in rural sub-Saharan Africa to which this report seeks to contribute, can also inform national and international water policies and programs in the second domain of supported self supply and the potential of community-led infrastructure development anchored in customary tenure. Lack of infrastructure to store and convey water remains a major barrier for the rural poor to access water, also when water resources are abundant. Women still have to go to rivers and directly use water for laundry, bathing or washing; livestock roam to rivers to drink and bathe; and farm households remain totally dependent on unpredictable and variable precipitation and more extreme floods and droughts for their food and income.Hence, support to the third component of water tenure, infrastructure development to channel water reliably to homesteads, fields or other sites of use, is indispensable to realize intersecting constitutional rights and SDGs.Accordingly, governmental and non-governmental support agencies in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, as well as in the irrigation, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, floods and drought management and other sectors spend significant resources to develop such infrastructure. Conventionally, they focus on public infrastructure for which external support agencies plan, design and finance most or all the capital and major maintenance investments, with varying degrees of user involvement in operations and maintenance. However, both the WASH and irrigation sectors increasingly recognize this third component of customary water tenure: people's initiatives and skills to plan, design, finance, construct, operate and maintain infrastructure either as individual households or as selforganized groups, or sometimes as an entire community, for so called 'self supply' (Butterworth et al. 2013). Self supply has existed since time immemorial and is rapidly expanding as a result of growing populations with higher aspirations to improve convenience, health, food and income; expanding markets of more affordable smallscale infrastructure and spare parts; new energy sources of diesel, electricity and solar power and, in the case of self supply for irrigation, new market opportunities for irrigated produce. Jars, drums, containers, small or large dams and soil moisture retention technologies aid in storing water. Gravity river diversions, canals or pipes and manual, diesel and increasingly electric or solarpowered lifting devices convey water. Through shallow or deep wells and boreholes and groundwater recharge, communities tap or replenish groundwater, the planet's largest natural storage reservoir.The scale of self supply in customary water tenure in Africa is large. Within their sectoral silos, irrigation researchers have found that the area covered by informal irrigation exceeds that covered by public irrigation systems. The number of households benefitting from self supply is even much higher than beneficiaries of public irrigation (Giordano et al. 2012;Woodhouse et al. 2017;Shah et al. 2020;Izzi et al. 2021). However, farmer-led irrigation can be biased towards the relatively wealthier farmers with more land, as was demonstrated in Ethiopia (Kafle et al. 2022;Lefore et al. 2019). Current irrigation policies include support to 'farmer-led irrigation', as self supply is called in the irrigation sector (Izzi et al. 2021). For example, the African Union (AU) committed to support farmer-led irrigation as one of the pathways to the continent's agriculture-led, broad-based economic growth and the achievement of SDGs 1 (ending poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 6 (clean water and sanitation) and 13 (climate action) (AU 2020).Professionals in the WASH sector (Sutton et al. 2012;Moriarty et al. 2013;Sutton and Butterworth 2021) also recognize self supply to meet drinking and other domestic water needs. Self supply has been the norm all along and remains the starting point to realize the human right to water for domestic uses, as committed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2010 (UN 2010;Grönwall and Danert 2020). It is an indispensable temporary backup to intermittent or failing public facilities. Across the world, self supply serves as a permanent solution in remote rural areas (Sutton and Butterworth 2021). Support to it has become an alternative or complementary water services model in the WASH sector as well (Butterworth et al. 2013;UNICEF and Skat Foundation 2016;Sutton and Butterworth 2021). However, for the more expensive technologies, a bias similar to that towards wealthier households in the irrigation sector has been observed in the WASH sector (Hofstetter et al. 2021;Sutton and Butterworth 2021).Within their sectoral silos, the WASH and irrigation sectors see the same advantages of supported self supply compared to public schemes: leveraging their own investments gives substantive value for public money, so more people can be reached. It ensures not just a 'sense' of ownership of infrastructure but real ownership, which is key for sustainability. The infrastructural support provided by both sectors also overlaps: the promotion of similar affordable water and energy technologies with spare parts, whether fully market-led or partially subsidized, or in combinations, and technical training and financing facilities (Minh et al. 2021;Sutton and Butterworth 2021). Also, both sectors have to reckon with whether and how the promotion of self supply will affect the water resources that flow into their infrastructure, even though the volumes for everyone's domestic supply are much less than those taken up by a few irrigators with large tracts of land.The community as a unit of analysis in holistic customary water tenure that governs self supply is new in both sectors. It requires not only opening up from the singleuse silos but also moving up from a focus on specific pieces of infrastructure to the community scale. Yet, a better understanding of all three components of customary water tenure (perceptions and claims to water resources, sharing in and out of water resources, and infrastructure development for self supply) can highlight more effective ways for governments and non-government support agencies to join forces in cross-sectoral collaboration and accelerate the realization of the entire range of mutually enforcing state commitments. This report seeks to explore those options as well.The following section on the methodology explains how customary water tenure in sub-Saharan Africa is conceptualized as a people-driven, upside-down (Meinzen-Dick and Pradhan 2001) approach as found in the range of empirical case studies. The bundle of water rights and general features of customary law that also hold for customary water tenure are briefly presented as well. The next section explains the driving force of customary water tenure: poor women's and men's domestic and productive water uses and benefits, and the labor, cash and other efforts to provide water. This is followed by findings on customary rights to water resources, both at community scale as a commons to be shared by all (first component), followed by an exploration of the sharing of water resources within communities and between customary communities (second component). After this, insights into infrastructure development for self supply are presented (the third component), explaining the profound differences between the tenure of water and land or forest tenure, and how owners of infrastructure create 'hydraulic property rights' (Boelens and Vos 2014). The two penultimate sections provide insights into and answers to two questions: (1) How can an understanding and legal recognition of customary water tenure decolonize permit systems and contribute to historical justice in claims to water resources, so that at least a core minimum of water resources continue to be available to flow into infrastructure to realize the human rights to water, food and an adequate standard of living and SDGs? and (2) How can cross-sectoral collaboration in the water sector accelerate the development of sustainable infrastructure to those ends?Surprisingly, no evidence-based conceptualization of water tenure at the community scale could be found in the literature. Excellent studies on living customary water law and the interface with statutory law in Nepal (Ostrom 2005;Pradhan 2010) and Latin America (Boelens and Dávila 1998;Boelens 2008Boelens , 2015;;Boelens et al. 2016; Vera Delgado and Zwarteveen 2017) focus on communal farmer-led irrigation systems. Less or no attention is paid to domestic and other water uses, or to the ways in which households who are both irrigators and domestic water users combine the use and reuse of multiple surface water and groundwater sources. Linkages between infrastructure development and the allocation of water resources remain unclear. Other in-depth studies on water tenure by indigenous minorities in colonized countries like Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand (Jackson 2018) focus on their land-bound water resources (components one and two), but only a few studies (Getches 2005) address the third component of infrastructure development to meet at least basic human rights.A grounded theory approach was applied to fill this conceptual void, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa (Strauss and Corbin 1990). The literature examined (listed in the section References) encompassed a wide range of aspects of water law as defined by Caponera (2007, 49-50), but with less attention to water quality, fisheries and navigation. 3 Moreover, since mainly literature in English was studied, evidence from Francophone and Arabic cases was limited. There is no claim that the over 100 cases cited are in any way exhaustive. Substantive further literature review and field research is required. However, this contribution to more awareness and a better understanding of customary water tenure seeks to already show its high relevance for policy and action.Where literature allowed, the bundle of rights was applied to further refine the conceptualization of the three components of living customary water tenure, based on the categories that RRI and ELI (2020) identified to conceptualize community-based water tenure. These include substantive rights to (temporarily or permanently):• Use water (for domestic, livelihood, commercial or cultural purposes)• Govern water resources (set rules, implement, enforce and address conflicts)• Exclude others • Transfer rights (for example, by marriage and inheritance, exchange, sale, rental, barter or donation) (Boelens 2008, 55-56) • Procedural rights to the due process of being informed, participate or consent in decisionmaking, fair compensation and appealWe also used the notion of 'sharing' to indicate exclusion and inclusion rights. This refers to a zero-sum situation among competitors in which water used by one is not available for use by the other. Negotiations about the sharing in or sharing out of water are about reducing, rationing or stopping community members and others from tapping into and withdrawing from a common pool. Sharing can refer to either naturally available water resources or water from infrastructure, such as internal water sharing among members of a communal system, or individual households sharing water with other community members from their private infrastructure. While the expression 'sharing' fits the physical features of water and the perception of water resources as a commons, it is rarely equitable. Different uses require different volumes of water. Moreover, as all socioeconomic and political action, it is shaped by power relations within communities along lines of gender, age, wealth, class, mobility and education and other hierarchies such as proficiency with information technology. On the other hand, kinship and neighborliness provide moral sharing and social safety nets. However, deeper inequalities exist between communities and powerful pre-and postcolonial third parties.As elaborated below in the section Creation of Hydraulic Property Rights, it is noted that once water resources have entered infrastructure to be stored and conveyed, the same bundle of rights that RRI and ELI (2020) defined as relevant to a common pool of naturally available water resources remains relevant, but for another action: the concrete handling of infrastructure with the intention to store and convey water. The primary right holders are not necessarily 'a community' anymore, but those who invested skills, labor, funds and other resources in the infrastructure throughout its life cycle of initiation, planning, construction, operations, distribution and water use, maintenance, refurbishment, extension and replacement. As mentioned, investors can be an entire community or initiators with a self-organized subgroup or individual households, depending on, among others, the hydrology, economies of scale, social relations and technologies available. The expression 'infrastructure investors' indicates that the functioning of infrastructure requires continuous efforts to obtain deferred benefits.Any living customary law has some general features. Assuming that they are also applicable to customary water tenure, some of the features are listed below.3 Caponera (2007) identifies the range of issues with which water law deals. With the exception of water resources policy, planning at national and basin levels, hydropower production, industrial and mining uses, this study confirmed that all other aspects also feature in customary water law: […] inventory of (or information on) water resources laws governing surface water, groundwater and atmospheric water; ownership rights, priorities among the various uses, existing rights, zoning, planning at the [..] local levels; procedures for acquiring ownership rights or use rights, servitudes, i.e., rights of passage for water over land belonging to others, the regulation of all beneficial uses such as domestic uses, municipal supply, irrigation, [..] navigation; control over the harmful effects of water, such as floods, drought, poor drainage and the protection of the banks of water courses; rules governing the financing aspects of water, i.e., taxes, water rates and fees; the safeguarding of water quality and pollution control; provisions regarding the interdependence of water and other natural resources in relation with the environment. However, this study paid less or no attention to water quality, pollution and sanitation issues, the tenure of fisheries (rights on fishing grounds, rules on fishing, seasonality, types of fish and nets, dam building, sale of fish), navigation (access, transport rights, rules on passengers and goods, boat type) and recreation (Ramazzotti 1996).Firstly, customary norms and principles are localized, dynamic and broad-based. They are continuously negotiated, shaped and adjusted to each rapidly changing local situation (von Benda-Beckmann et al. 1998;Meinzen-Dick and Nkonya 2007;Boelens 2008). Negotiations around general principles allow for different interpretations of what they mean in any concrete situation (Moore 1978, as cited in Benjaminsen andLund 2003;von Benda-Beckmann et al. 1998;Boelens and Dávila 1998;Boelens 2008;Benjaminsen and Lund 2003;Lund and Eilenberg 2017). Customary systems 'are neither regulated by predictable rules and structures nor characterized by sheer anarchy' (Benjaminsen and Lund 2003). The continuous negotiation and adjustment to local and changing conditions is even more relevant for customary water tenure, which varies both seasonally and annually, and is increasingly extreme and unpredictable under climate change (Juma and Maganga 2005;Boelens 2008).Secondly, customs, social rules, norms and institutions are unwritten and orally transmitted from generation to generation. Parties may even avoid writing up detailed agreements to prevent conflicts (Lund and Eilenberg 2017). Such flexibility 'provides security that is both possible and needed' (Boelens and Dávila 1998). Moreover, any academic interpretation of poor women's or men's perspectives fails to do justice to the profound meanings as expressed by the women or men themselves, in their own language and culture.Thirdly, rules and norms derive from the community's historical use and persistence. They are socially embedded (Cleaver 1998;Cleaver and De Koning 2015) and perceived as legitimate and binding. Effective occupancy, a first-come-first-in-right, is an important criterion to make claims to a resource, only breached by violent human or natural forces.Fourthly, rights are expressed by a code of behavior, by dos and don'ts, rather than proprietary rules of 'mine', 'yours' and 'his' (Pogucki 1955, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). They often include spiritual or cosmological world views on human beings as integral to their environment and profound social values such as ubuntu 4 (Sparks 1990). Any wrongdoing may anger ancestors or invoke evil spirits that seek to punish (Drangert 1993). Ceremonies and references to ancestors play an important role in the continuation and transmission of these normative frameworks to following generations.Fifthly, even though rules are seen as legitimate and binding, behavior differs in practice. As compliance is embedded in community life, enforcement is complex. On the one hand, people have many identities and interact with each other in multiple spheres (Boelens and Dávila 1998). Multi-faceted interdependencies render good neighborliness vital for mutual assistance in times of need and survival (Komakech 2013). Such multiplicity of mutual dependencies may make punishment and enforcement of compliance difficult. For example, it is difficult to charge fees to or fine kin, neighbors or powerful patrons. High transaction costs of enforcement may further prohibit rule enforcement.On the other hand, dependency forces compliance. A livestock herder of the WaSukuma ethnic group in Tanzania described this dependency as an incentive to abide by the rule to keep livestock out of cropland: \"when your cows are stolen and you whistle for help, people won't come to help search for your cows. They will say you were so proud that you grazed their crops and they won't come to help\" (Nkonya 2006, 272). In the past, acceptance by the in-group of one's local community and compliance were a matter of life and death. If anyone was excluded, they had nowhere to go. In spite of many changes in today's life, the threat of being ostracized still underpins punishment through a public apology for wrongdoings (Nkonya 2006).Sixthly, if conflicts cannot be avoided, conflict resolution is immediate with reconciliation, healing, apologies for mistakes and compensation of the one who lost. A common punishment to close a case (and hence an incentive for others to report) is to bring an animal to slaughter and eat it together, or to feast in another way at the offender's expense. Fines are affordable and may be shared between the victim and the customary court (Nkonya 2006). Direct conflict resolution by the disagreeing parties is encouraged. However, if needed, one can escalate to a higher community authority. Among the WaSukuma in Tanzania, if disputes are escalated to a next higher level, fines double. Fines triple if the village-level local government has to be brought on board (Nkonya 2006).This dispute resolution sharply contrasts with formal arbitration which takes longer, has higher transaction costs, involves more expensive punishment, or even imprisonment, than the instant judgment and immediate punishment in customary dispute resolution. The language and formal court settings are alien and intimidating. Ad hoc formal judges are unaware of the long-running disagreements of which a particular conflict is part. Instead of seeking to reconcile and compensate the victim, formal procedures pursue a 'winner takes it all' approach. Communities further lose faith in formal procedures because of corruption and a perception that formal dispute resolution is for 'clever people who can get away with everything' (Nkonya 2006, 290).Lastly, there is no 'pure' living customary tenure. As one of the plural legal systems, customary (water) tenure is a semi-autonomous social field (Moore 1978, as cited in Benjaminsen andLund 2003;von Benda-Beckmann et al. 1998). In local 'forum shopping' people invoke rules that serve their interests best as locally negotiated hybrids (von Benda-Beckmann et al. 1998). Interactions with the outside world have been profound and continue to shape contemporary customary tenure, including the substantial differences in rapidly changing variables across the continent, such as demographics, weather and climate, geography, resource endowments, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, availability of water technologies and energy sources, markets, population increase, mobility, urbanization, voluntary and forced migration, increasing pressure on rural farmland, pastoral land or forests, smaller land sizes and growing rural landlessness.The interface between communities' customary social fabric and local arms of state institutions, political parties and (elected) representatives is particularly important and complex, contested and diverse within and across countries. It may still carry the colonial divide-and-rule legacy in which the colonial state appointed cronies as their employees in what is described as 'perverted tribalism' (Mamdani 1996). However, the integration of states and tribal authorities can be smooth, as illustrated by the specialized traditional authority who coordinated collective wetland cultivation and water management in Ethiopia, to evolve into a local government (kebele) position (Dixon and Wood 2007). More specifically, customary self supply and publicly financed water infrastructure are a continuum: customary arrangements can strongly influence the operation and maintenance of 'public' infrastructure (Cleaver 1998;Cleaver and De Koning 2015;Schnegg 2018). Over time, when external actors move out, for example from irrigation schemes, customary arrangements return (Ferguson and Mulwafu 2007). Without addressing the complex current interface, this report focuses on living customary water tenure, highlighting potential new tangible and concrete implications for policy, law and water interventions for a more inclusive and effective interface.supplement rainfall during the rainy season; for crafts; for small-scale enterprises such as food preparation for sale; for fisheries; and for incidental events like brickmaking and cultural or ceremonial uses.The sites of use vary. Irrigation or livestock herding often takes place at distant fields or grazing land. Homesteads are not only the preferred sites of all domestic uses, but often also sites of productive uses to improve nutrition, food security and income. Production at or adjacent to homesteads saves travel time, can easily be combined with other activities and protects against theft (van Koppen et al. 2009;Nigussie et al. 2017). Cropland adjacent to homesteads tends to be more intensively used and better fertilized than distant fields. For the growing number of land-poor or landless families, homesteads are the main or only site where they can engage in waterdependent food production and self-employment.On homesteads, the use of water for livestock and smallscale irrigation can have a higher priority than relatively 'luxury' domestic uses such as daily bathing or weeklyWater needs are important drivers of customary water tenure. Needs cross the administrative sectoral boundaries, as briefly sketched in this section. Most rural women and men use water for both domestic and productive purposes. Everyone drinks water daily and eats food that was washed, prepared and cooked with water. Everyone uses water more or less often to wash hands or body, bathe and for basic sanitation (typically in the absence of flush toilets). Further, each household, predominantly its women, uses water to clean the house, utensils and other objects and for laundry.A large proportion of rural women and men also use water daily or intermittently for one or more productive uses (Moriarty et al. 2004;van Koppen et al. 2009;Hall et al. 2014;Theis et al. 2018). Depending on the diversity of agriculture-based livelihoods, the range is wide. Households use and reuse water for livestock; to grow vegetables, crops and trees during the dry season or to laundry at home, especially in the dry seasons, as was found and quantified in Ethiopia (Jeths 2006) and several villages in South Africa (van Koppen et al. 2020a(van Koppen et al. , 2021a)). Laundry or bathing can be less regular or take place in streams or ponds. Water availability on homesteads augments productive water uses. In South Africa, households with better public water supply were found to undertake more productive activities (de Mendiguren Castresana 2004). The availability of higher volumes of water on the premises after the installation of an own well was shown to improve food security in Zambia, Ethiopia and Malawi (Sutton and Butterworth 2021).The ultimate benefits of both domestic and productive water uses depend on the overall activity of which water is one input. For example, hand washing is more effective with soap. The benefits of productive uses are even more complex. The range of other costs is wide, such as inputs or the cost of livestock feed. Many factors influence benefits, in particular market channels. Gender and age strongly influence costs and benefits as well, as discussed next.In intra-household cooperation and conflict, the costs of water provision (labor, time, skills and funds), the broader water-dependent activities and the ultimate benefits are divided along gender and age lines (Theis et al. 2018). All family members benefit from the availability of sufficient water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, hand and body washing, laundry and sanitation. The availability of sufficient water for domestic uses on homesteads ranks high among the priorities not only of women but also of men (Gachenga 2012;Sutton and Butterworth 2021). However, efforts to provide water are gendered and negotiated. Efforts are most strenuous when water must be fetched from distant sources. In dual-adult households, this burden falls disproportionately on women and girls (Fletcher and Schonewille 2015;UN 2015). Among the ethnic Gourounsi in Burkina Faso, women may refuse to marry into husbands' villages if there are no proper wells for domestic uses (van Koppen 2017). However, negotiations can fail, as Drangert (1993) found in Tanzania, where women unsuccessfully tried to incite men to make simple investments in water infrastructure for domestic uses. Men tend to take up more responsibilities to fetch water or pay for water when technologies for conveyance are more advanced, such as carts, bicycles, cars or public yard connections (van Koppen 2017; Sutton and Butterworth 2021).Intra-household cooperation and conflict pertaining to costs and benefits vary even more for productive water use. Productive uses of water are diverse and depend on livelihood patterns of farmers, pastoralists or fisherfolk, and on wealth, among others. Water is just one of the inputs. In joint activities, the respective contributions to the cost of supplying water and other inputs influence control over the benefits, or 'fructus' rights as Theis et al. (2018) define. This control is skewed: Women contribute more than men but have less control over the benefits.Various factors play a role in these inequities. Women may prefer less thirsty or dryland crops that give them more control over the produce, even if benefits are few and riskier (Theis et al. 2018). Control over land influences benefits. Women's plots are often smaller than malecontrolled plots. Land may even be taken away. Tapela (2015) illustrates this in Makuleke in South Africa, where individual women had taken up irrigation at the riparian strips of a stream in a communal grazing area. This did not require permission from the (male) chief. However, after some years, the chief issued a verdict, which was widely seen as legitimate, that the women could not use the riparian lands anymore, because male livestock owners needed the riparian grazing lands for pasture.The site of cultivation is related to this control. Although many women irrigate and control produce on own, distant fields (van Koppen 2017), women tend to have better control over the fruits of production on and around homesteads than at distant fields. van Houweling et al. ( 2012) document how productive water uses from piped supplies generate half of women's incomes in Senegal. Hence, water infrastructure on homesteads for multiple uses serves two goals: It meets the domestic needs of all the family members and generates benefits for water-dependent production, from which women reap benefits as well. Not surprisingly, when the option to install infrastructure emerged in an Ethiopian village, women preferred setting up the infrastructure on homesteads for their own and their families' multiple uses (Nigussie et al. 2017).Women also tend to have less control over the water infrastructure. In some cases, men may entirely control investments in infrastructure and its benefits. Couples may also decide to share the cost of installing irrigation equipment or adults may use the infrastructure paid for and owned by another adult. Women in female-headed households or women who own plots in Zambia and Ghana (van Koppen et al. 2012) and Kenya and Tanzania (Njuki et al. 2014) were found to adopt and own irrigation infrastructure but used low-cost and more labor-intensive infrastructure such as buckets, while men more often owned mechanized infrastructure. Women often lack the money to invest in water infrastructure or they may be less informed about possibilities and have fewer opportunities to try them out. This reinforces their limited technical skills (Theis et al. 2018). In sub-Saharan Africa, there is rarely or no real taboo for women to master technology, unlike in Asia or Europe. 5   Age too has a bearing on the sharing of costs and benefits of water for domestic and productive uses. This is partly related to the experiential knowledge required on climate, geohydrology, technical skills, infrastructure ownership and leadership in collective action, including ceremonies, among others. This indigenous knowledge builds up over generations and comes with age. For example, elders were found to have stronger managerial responsibilities and power in the small village of Ga-Moela, South Africa, where scattered natural shallow springs provide water.Only elder men and women who could no longer bear children were allowed to dig and maintain shallow handdug wells, although this was not strictly implemented (van Koppen et al. 2021a). The Gadaa system among the Boran in Ethiopia and Kenya is also age-based (Edossa et al. 2007;Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). On the other hand, youth may be more familiar with modern technology and energy sources, and information technology and be more enterprising.With these gendered drivers behind water use and governance, we now turn to the empirical answers to the question of how needs are met in the three components of customary water tenure. 5 In Europe and Asia, male control over technology is more pronounced than in most parts of Africa (Alesina et al. 2013). Boserup (1970) traces this to the plough, the most important agrarian technology since over 2000 years in Eurasia. In the emerging 'plough culture', men's monopolization of the plough evolved into an elite class of landed rulers whose spouses were increasingly relegated to the status of assetless housewives. Among the new landless, both women and men worked for mere survival. Gradually, poorer women were also disproportionately burdened with domestic chores. However, in most parts of Africa, soils and crops are less suitable for ploughing. This is one of the reasons why the hoe remains the main technology for both women and men. In this 'hoe culture', both women and men produce for both food and income, although productivity is low.Literature is unanimous in that women and men in rural sub-Saharan Africa customarily see water resources as given by a god or a higher force and creator, for the benefit of all. Nobody can own water resources, which corresponds to a res communis omnium in terms of statutory water law (cf. cases in Ramazzotti 1996;Drangert 1993;Sokile 2005;Malzbender et al. 2005;Nkonya 2006;Derman et al. 2007;Kapfudzaruwa and Sowman 2009;Komakech 2013;Hellum et al. 2015;Debevec 2018). However, this does not mean open access. As with many customary claims to natural resources, effective use over a long period is probably the most important criterion to lay customary claims to water resources. Generally, in customary tenure 'natural resources belong to living, the deceased and the yetto-be born' (Tapela 2015). In this relationship between humankind and nature, rights result from the status of a person in a certain community. Being born or married in a community entitles to its resources. Invoking ancestors buried in the land consolidates the passing on of resource rights to the next generations (Tapela 2015). The rights of in-groups so based on kinship, co-habitation and sharing an interest in a territory and its resources are stronger than those of out-groups, but in-groups cannot categorically exclude out-groups. As the pastoralist Boran say: \"Water is either a source that you 'share in' as a member of a descent-based collectivity, or one that you 'share out' to signify respect\" (Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). Edossa et al. (2007) found that pastoralists' consciousness of clan territory becomes more intense as their proximity to water sources increases.The perception of water as a shared resource is not necessarily a matter of generosity. It is a resource jealously guarded by all. No member of the community can claim sole ownership of a source of water supply because 'that would forestall an individual holding the whole community to ransom', as Andu (n.d., as cited in Ramazzotti 1996) found in Nigeria. The need for such vigilance and rules and regulations is highest during droughts, when there is not enough water for all. Drought becomes a common enemy that can only be fought together. Collaboration through shared rules is indispensable to build peace. As the Boran emphasize, peace is not the absence of war, but proper relationships within the localities and with God, Waaqa (Edossa et al. 2007).Age-old settlement or transhumance and marriage shape these socially defined claims to land and naturally available water resources physically bound to that land. Precipitation and the availability of water resources were drivers of settlement, besides land fertility, safety, accessibility, roads and trade routes, absence of disease and other factors. Thus, communities were vested with socio-territorial claims to these water resources. Even though violent conquest considerably weakened rights to land and water, the expertise of earlier occupants was respected, and their ceremonial functions continued to some extent. For example, when the Yao invaded the land of the Nyanja, north of the Zambezi River, they appealed to the dead Nyanja chief for rain (Tew 1950). The Rain Queen of the Balobedus in South Africa is another example of a ceremonial role of 'rain makers' that is still respected across their former territories (Malzbender et al. 2005).Pastoralists established flexible routes along pastures and water points (Edossa et al. 2007). Water points are often seen as open to all and owned by no one within the clan and their territories. Solidarity is maintained through efficient communication channels and dispute resolution procedures. Similarly, fishing communities were vested with socio-territorial rights to water bodies and their shores.The precise roles of hereditary and tiered traditional authorities and their councils in customary water tenure are still unclear. They embody the clan as oral cadastres who pass on the history of the clan, its settlement and related resource claims and other relevant knowledge to the next generations. As custodians of customary land and its spatial allocation, they indirectly influence households' proximity to the community's multiple, land-bound water sources. Moreover, conflicts or anticipated conflicts around water can be escalated to them.The social definitions of territory, in-group and out-group are further shaped by marriage, which in turn shapes women's and men's access to and control over land, water resources, livestock and other resources. Diversity is huge. In matrilineal and matrilocal societies as they prevail, for example, in significant parts of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Sudan, Madagascar, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique, men move to the village of their new wives without having to pay a bridewealth. Women inherit land with appurtenant water resources, strengthening their say over the produce from joint cultivation. Moreover, without bridewealth and with a secure place to stay, women have a stronger fallback position, and hence negotiation power (Peters 2010;Meinzen-Dick et al. 2011;Lowes 2019). In contrast, in patrilineal societies, sons inherit resource rights or cattle from their fathers. A wife often moves to the husband's place. A bridewealth given to the wife's parents serves as a 'compensation' for the family's loss of labor power and offspring. However, it renders divorce more difficult for the wife. Women's water resource rights in their husbands' clans seem limited. In the case of single women, they may stay and access water resources in their father's clan. There are multiple, ever-changing combinations in between.An illustration of how marriage patterns shape socioterritorial rights to water resources was found in Tshakhuma, South Africa. Various streams flow through the hamlets of this large village. One of the hamlets wanted to install a gravity piped system fed by a distant stream in the mountains in a distant hamlet. They sought permission from the lowest-level traditional authority of the hamlet with the source. In readily according that access, an important argument put forth was that their daughters were married in the requesting hamlet (van Koppen et al. 2021a).Amidst this complexity, one of the most ancient and widespread customary norms about a community's water resources is safeguarding its quality. Among the ethnic Pedi in South Africa, pollution was a serious offence punishable severely. Anybody witnessing the poisoning of water resources was obliged to report it to the chief. There have been cases of animal cadavers having to be removed from water bodies (Mönnig 1967).Rules to access zones around groundwater wells can include strict conditions to keep water clean, especially when used for domestic purposes, like in public wells (Nkonya 2006;Malzbender et al. 2005;Tapela 2015). Feet should be cleaned, or shoes taken off when approaching such water points. Children below a certain age are forbidden to enter without an adult. Washing and bathing, urinating and defecating near wells are strictly forbidden. The use of clean lifting tools and practices and carrying and storing water are equally important for water quality (Sutton and Butterworth 2021). According to Nkonya (2006), the WaSukuma in Tanzania say that with a dirty vessel one risks scooping out a snake.Concerns about water quality underpin the widely observed division of streams in stretches, each for a specific use by members of the community. The upstream part is reserved for drinking water whereas the downstream part is for other domestic uses (washing, bathing, cleaning of hides), as noted in a Tanzanian village (Nkonja 2006) and in Kenya (Onyango et al. 2007). Women's bathing at a protected site provides privacy. Kapfudzaruwa and Sowman (2009) report the division of streams by communities in Eastern Cape, South Africa, into the upstream section for drinking, the middle section for laundry and bathing and the downstream section for cattle. Similarly, the ethnic Iteso in Kenya ruled that domestic uses should be upstream and livestock should drink and bathe downstream. Here, local authorities defined such places and imposed fines on those watering livestock at human watering places (Lawrance 1970). In contrast, pastoralists may prioritize the health of their animals; in that case, no person or any infected animal is allowed to bathe in standing water from which cattle drink (Cerulli 1956, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996).Further research will clarify whether and how these early customary norms and practices and their enforcement evolve and may be fading; this should also be examined in the light of increasing plastic and other waste.As above, we conceptualize customary claims to naturally available water resources as linked to communities' socially defined territories. Links between land and water shape the sharing of water resources within a community (water sharing with out-groups is elaborated later). Physical proximity, shaped by the intra-village spatial layout during settlement, can create customary claims. For instance, Juma and Maganga (2005, 3-5) reported this in Tanzania, where many villagers 'find it unacceptable not to utilize water passing near their premises'. This land-water nexus further depends on the way in which nature's water resources are dispersed as multiple sources at diverse locations in the spatial layout of residential land, cropland with distant fields, forests, grazing areas or other sites of water uses. Water availability at each source varies. In the rainy season, flooding may occur at certain sites, even in arid areas. Perennial sources never dry up. Water quality also influences the use of sources, as van Krieken (2017) observed among a community in the Uluguru mountains in Tanzania that reserved a small source of trickling water, but of a high quality, for drinking and cooking.Many households have access to multiple water sources, especially to meet daily and year-round multiple uses on homesteads. As documented in Zimbabwe (Cleaver 1998) and South Africa (van Koppen et al. 2020b), most households have access to second or third sources of water which serve as backup during intermittent supply from preferred sources and mitigate seasonal variability and droughts. Where support agencies' new water points for domestic uses are hardly used, the reason may well be that households prefer their usual closer alternatives, even though more polluted (Sutton and Butterworth 2021).Negotiations to share limited water, say during the dry season, can be about access to preferred sources, with or without certain alternatives, or about water from a specific source, or both. Power easily rules in negotiations about preferred sources. This was the case in a Zambian village where a wealthy livestock keeper monopolized a new public well with first rights for his cattle. Poorer women decided not to contest it and instead fell back on their alternative and returned to other sources of lesser quality water and at a greater distance (Funder et al. 2012).Claims to a water source are often mediated as rights of way that govern the last mile of paths or roads to water sources, such as the riparian zones of perennial or ephemeral springs, streams, ponds or lakes, or rights to land above the groundwater, or wetlands or riverbeds for recession agriculture. Riparian zones or other land can be hotspots of claims, rules and contests, especially under competition. Rights of way can be oral agreements or materialize through fencing. Rights of way and conservation can go together, as in forbidding the cutting of trees on riparian strips to prevent soil erosion (Nkonya 2006).Rights of way apply to direct uses of such sources, such as washing, bathing and laundry, or livestock watering, fisheries, or digging sand and accessing boats or ferries. They also apply to laying pipes or constructing intakes or wells to abstract water for infrastructure. In Tshakhuma, South Africa, community members maintain a few meters' distance to springs and streams before any abstraction or building of weirs, possibly reflecting both hydrological considerations and respect for overlapping claims (van Koppen et al. 2021a).Rights of way to access water sources often restrict the rights of land holders. Those who seek to enter others' land towards a water source emphasize that water resources are a common good for all. Gods (mulungu) can be invoked, as Penwill (1951, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996) found in Tanzania that 'Mulungu made the water for the benefit of all', or the common good of the ethnic group can be invoked, as Lawrance (1970) found in Kenya that 'water resources are for the Iteso'. Similarly, Nkonya (2006) notes how someone who had received land from the WaSukuma chief had to allow people to cross the land to reach a water source. In Uganda, people may privatize their claims to land, for example, by buying it. However, if others use that land to access a water source, the latter can invoke first-come-first-served rights to the wells situated on the piece of land and ask the pertinent question to the new land title holder: 'What are we going to do'?On the opposite side are strong land rights that limit others' access to water. A clear case where land rights dominate over access to water comes from Tanzania, where Nkonya (2006) found how a person had dug a well on land of another title holder. The title holder reclaimed the land and the well. Strong land rights also give power to exclude those who fail to comply with rules in joint investments in communal systems for self supply. While free riders can easily use street taps, it is less easy or not possible at all for them to access yard taps placed in homesteads with well-defined land rights (van Koppen et al. 2021a).Rights to land that is temporarily inundated are also shaped by available water resources, as in wetland cultivation or recession agriculture along rivers. The latter has been practiced since ancient times along the Senegal River and many other African rivers and valley bottoms.A very common conflict within a community or between pastoralists and settlers pertains to livestock that compete for the same water source and risk polluting water and eating crops on their way. In the above mentioned village of Ga-Moela, South Africa, both people and livestock depend on shallow springs and hand-dug wells. In the past, some wells were reserved for domestic uses, and others for roaming livestock. Other wells were diligently constructed and monitored for multiple uses: water from a higher, covered section was used for domestic purposes while animals drank from a separate lower, open section (van Koppen et al. 2021a). In other situations, cattle troughs separate livestock.Owners of livestock are held accountable for cattle that roam around and make their way to water sources. However, enforcement requires a strong communal authority. In Ga Mokgotho, South Africa, livestock keepers used to effectively prevent cattle from accessing water sources in irrigated fields, but this customary rule got eroded under weakening community cohesion and centralized authority. Most customary irrigation was abandoned as a result (van Koppen et al. 2021a).Infrastructure development affects intra-community sharing of water resources. As elaborated later, infrastructure brings major improvements in health, livelihoods and wealth, but also impacts water resource availability more strongly than direct water uses. Infrastructure development also widens inequalities which may be related to technology, for example along gender lines, or to class in terms of the means required to invest, or to the type of livelihood, as in the irrigation of thirsty crops.Geohydrology and infrastructure type impact water resources and sharing arrangements. Water resource availability increases when excess water and flood waters are stored in ponds or sand dams or recharge aquifers. Similarly, 'idle' surface water resources in mountainous streams under high pressure and which must flow down may be channelled and become available where and when needed, without major impacts on further downstream availability.However, at some stage, increasing water abstraction from shared surface water or groundwater bodies limits its availability to others. This may initially be limited to a few days in the dry season and be swiftly replenished with the first rains. However, with expanding infrastructure development and increased abstraction, competition increases. The right time to regulate water sharing is during the planning and design of new infrastructure, when plans can be adjusted or cancelled altogether. It is also the time for the investor to assess whether there is sufficient assurance that water will keep flowing into the investments made, or to negotiate such an assurance. Once infrastructure is in place, scarce water resources flowing into it are to be better shared with other upstream or downstream users or those sharing the same aquifer, for example through rotation, or curtailed, or designs may have to be retrofitted.Hence, the literature examined suggests that when water resources are available or even abundant, investments in infrastructure for self supply are a 'democratic' bottomup initiative by anyone willing and able to make the effort. The role of traditional authorities as community custodians in infrastructure development seems limited, other than implicitly approving that their 'subjects' invest and incrementally improve their well-being. (Like others, traditional authorities can also invest in infrastructure for their families' self supply). The principle that also holds for clearing land, livestock breeding or intensifying cropping, holds for water as well: 'If you have the energy to clear the land and work the land, do it', was the expression that Sithole (2011) observed in a South African community. Or, as community members in Zimbabwe commented on others' new uptake of irrigation: \"water is life, so one cannot deny someone water\" (Derman and Hellum 2002).A similar limited role of the wider community and its authorities in household self supply was noted among the WaSangu in the Usangu plains in Tanzania. Here, individuals can tap a stream for their own uses without first consulting the chief, even though the chiefs could, in principle, prohibit such construction. However, if a canal is abandoned, it goes to the chief (Juma and Maganga 2005). Whenever conflicts arise, escalation to higher authorities is possible. As in many customary arrangements, just the possibility to reach out to traditional authorities as potential mediators when rules are breached boosts compliance.When competition for finite water resources increases, firstcome-first-in-right claims can be invoked. This even applies to runoff. Nkonya (2006) describes how runoff used to flow naturally into the paddy fields of a WaSukuma farmer. When somebody upstream diverted the flow, the farmer contested it, invoking the first-come-first-in-right principle.For surface water over longer distances, investors in infrastructure start a 'race to the top', while communities located upstream are already privileged. Anticipating future competition, aspiring investors may choose to consolidate first-come-first-in-right claims to better guaranteed access to water resources after making efforts in infrastructure installation. In Tshakhuma, South Africa, initiators of 10 of the 11 communal gravity systems orally informed the headman of their plans to construct a system from a certain stream. The exception was in a neighborhood without a respected headman, where initiators just went ahead. The authorities approved and recorded the planned infrastructure in writing. Later, that written recording served as evidence of prior rights when others started tapping higher upstream (Hofstetter et al. 2021). Elsewhere, oral procedures may serve a similar goal in customary authorities' living memories.In other cases, solutions are directly retrofitted, even just among the parties involved. For example, in Khalavha, South Africa, a man had constructed the intake of a pipe to his household upstream of a communal self supply system that benefitted many more households. The high number of beneficiaries served as justification to instruct him to rebuild his intake downstream. In Tshakhuma, where two collective systems used the same weak resource, the communities, the local water specialists and their headmen agreed that the stream should be shared equally (van Koppen et al. 2021a).However, In Ga Mokgotho, South Africa, this 'race to the top' turned anarchic and led to tampering and destroying intakes of other investors (van Koppen et al. 2020a). Without strong traditional authority structures to mitigate conflicts and enforce solutions, there was no real solution. Conflict mediating arrangements would have helped forge rotations or other win-win solutions for all past investors, and potentially even future investors.The sharing of groundwater resources is more complex, as the impacts of its abstraction are much less visible and depend on locally diverse geohydrology. Also, groundwater development is often of recent origin. In Arusha, Tanzania, and its suburbs, a 'race to the bottom' evolved, in which large-scale facilities and wealthy pump owners drilled deepest and 'won' to the detriment of users with shallow wells, including wells used for basic domestic purposes (Komakech and De Bont 2018).From the viewpoint of prior investors, the most effective way to avoid any competition is to forbid new investments in infrastructure. Ethiopian pastoralists apply that rule when aquifers in arid areas risk being overused. If new construction starts near an existing well, guardians categorically halt any further digging (Ramazzotti 1996). Rules for zoning of new wells at sufficient distance avoid future competition, but may be difficult to enforce. Moving to less water demanding crops is another common strategy used (Bruns 2021).In sum, in these water resource sharing arrangements, the community regulates the sharing of its commonly held water resources internally. As needed, rights of way are further specified to regulate access. When water resources are limited, as is increasingly the case with greater water uptake, efforts are made to strike a balance between the improved well-being of members and managing infrastructure development and its resulting uses. However, the common first-come-first-in-right principle rewards investors in self supply.In the sharing-out of water resources with neighboring customary communities, community members share a collective interest in protecting their land-related water resource rights when water risks becoming scarce or in negotiating benefits from those neighbors even when water resources are sufficient. Literature provides the following illustrations.When a water source is located within a community, outsiders can only access it for direct uses or to abstract water for infrastructure by passing through the community's territory. They need to seek permission to access water sources and obtain rights of way within other communities' territories, even if hardly ever refused. However, it can be refused, certainly when the requesters have alternatives. Among the Adchema Melga in Eritrea, villagers who sought water for their livestock in a neighboring village were refused such access, citing a legitimate reason: 'you have water'. Elsewhere, clear conditions can be set to such rights of way. For example, external herders and their livestock should take the shortest route to the water source, perpendicular to the riverine stream. Grazing enroute is strictly forbidden. Also, since long, some form of compensation, however small, may be required in exchange (Regional Commissary of Addi Ugra 1946, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). When the needs are urgent, solidarity comes into play. In Ethiopia, the 'devastating consequences of the village remaining without water even for a few days' was the argument to allow another village to enter the village to access a stream (Ambrosi 1941, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). In some cases, the factual impact of specific uses by the neighboring community plays a role. If the impact is limited, such uses are easily accepted. For example, some sand digging by neighbors within the community's territory is easily allowed (Knight et al. 2012).When fugitive water bodies are shared between two or more customary communities, their respective abstractions need to be negotiated. We could not find literature about aquifers shared by several rural communities, which would have been even more complicated than sharing the aquifer within communities. However, there is literature on the sharing of gravity streams, which reveals how downstream users who feel the impact of expanding upstream uses take the initiative to talk with upstream users (Sokile 2005;Lankford and Mwaruvanda 2007;Komakech 2013). Downstream users in Sekororo area in South Africa took such an initiative when they started suffering the consequences of upstream water diversions (Sithole 2011). Moore and Puritt (1977) document how the leaders of water infrastructure among the WaChagga repeatedly negotiated with upstream users. Over time, communities expanded uphill. Water leaders gained stronger authority in the community than the traditional tribal authorities.Negotiations can focus on continuous volumetric shares. These can be hardwired in visible, flexible and proportionate diversion structures (Lankford and Mwaruvanda 2007) or rotations can be agreed upon. In the Mkoji sub-catchment, the rotation (or zamu) follows days of the week. Sokile (2005) documents how the reaching of such an agreement was celebrated with the slaughter of a cow. Komakech (2013) analyzes similar processes in the Pangani Basin. Downstream users approached the Masaai who had settled upstream and defended their prior claims. With growing competition for water, weirs that diverted water upstream were destroyed. One conflict became fatal. To avoid extreme violence, river committees were formed to negotiate the settlement of sharing rules primarily through rotation. Guards were appointed to enforce the rules, paid from collected fees. However, the study showed that downstream users paid the fee and respected the appointed water guards more faithfully than upstream users.An early example of rotation in the Pangani Basin is the river committee in the Temi sub-catchment formed in 1945, wherein a 70-cm-long bamboo stick with white markings has been used since then to measure the water flow. Each marking indicates the level below which the stream's flow is to be diverted to another part of the nine furrows that take water from that stream. Yet, with expanding uses, hardly any water reached the most downstream large-scale plantation owner. He was part of the river committee and tried to collaborate with the communities that provided the wage labor he needed.In the end, he gave up negotiations and shifted to the more expensive alternative of groundwater pumping. The maximum distance over which cooperation among smallholders was forged is 15 km. Komakech (2013) hypothesizes that 'the larger the spatial extent between upstream and downstream users, the more difficult it is for such institutional arrangements to emerge from bottom-up'. Downstream users may be able to share benefits of increased upstream uses. Malzbender et al. (2005) describe how an upstream community in the mountainous area in Limpopo province, South Africa, initiated and managed a communal gravity piped system from a stream that was shared with a downstream community. The latter community invoked a riparian principle that the resource that passed their lands should be equally shared by all. The solution that two chiefs and their councils came to was that the downstream village could qualify as equal beneficiaries of the resource on the condition that they contributed equally to the finances required to maintain the water scheme. The Magistrate's court and other officials had been unable to solve this conflict.These examples illustrate how conflict resolution in customary water tenure between communities is 'a gradual negotiation process that recognizes the slow maturation of institution building, is technically tested and socially sanctioned, and prone to redefinition when circumstances change' (Molle 2004). This section focused on the customary 'sharing in' and 'sharing out' of naturally available water resources, highlighting the bundle of rights to use, govern and transfer internally, without excluding neighboring communities. The bundle of rights changes once water resources flow into storage and conveyance infrastructure, the third component of customary water tenure.Water tenure is more complex than land or forest tenures, whether customary or statutory. This is not only because water resources are variable, unpredictable and fugitive, but also because infrastructure profoundly changes it, including the land-water nexus, with far-reaching implications. Storage infrastructure stops water resources from being fugitive and mitigates or even ends the variability and unpredictability of its availability. Instead of the land-bound nature of the multiple sources with rights of way to regulate access, conveyance infrastructure opens up many more possibilities. Conveyance infrastructure drastically alleviates the time and physical efforts required to provide enough water at a site of use when and where needed. Except in the case of fisheries, navigation, recreation and environmental flows for ecological sustainability, infrastructure creates considerably more value to water resources appurtenant to communities' territories that would have otherwise flowed by or remained underground. Benefits are derived at homesteads, distant fields or other sites of use. The term 'distant fields' implies the likelihood of infrastructure serving homesteads, differing from that serving these fields. 'Other sites of use' include streams for direct uses but also, for example, cattle dams in grazing land. When water becomes available at a site, the site appreciates in value. For example, land where water can be made available for irrigation can be newly leased, even if just for one season or one year, as reported in Mozambique (Nkoka et al. 2014), Tanzania (Komakech 2013) and Malawi (Mapedza et al. 2017).The land-water nexus for infrastructure not only pertains to the point of abstraction and the site of use but also for land on which the infrastructure is built. The required land rights can vary from straightforward servitudes (for example, for pipes) to land dispossession and reallocation in the case of public irrigation schemes, or even displacement for inundation in the case of large dams. In the earlier mentioned example of the new piped gravity system in Tshakhuma, South Africa, the traditional authority of the hamlet lying between the distant hamlet with the source and the initiators' hamlet, readily approved the request for the right for the pipe to pass through.Once naturally available surface water or groundwater sources enter the infrastructure, the investors in it can not only technically and practically move and allocate water around but also vest strong claims to water stored and conveyed in a process of creating hydraulic property rights (Coward 1986;Boelens and Vos 2014). Skills, labor and other costs of maintaining, repairing and rehabilitating infrastructure recreate these claims. Infrastructure owners transfer these rights to the heirs. They can exclude others from using that water. For example, the hydraulic property rights of water vendors allow them to sell only to those who pay, while they have at best use rights to fill their tanks from water resources. Water sale can be permanent in water-scarce residential areas; temporary during dry seasons or when other sources fail or for short-term projects such as brickmaking or for special occasions. The vendor's scope for mark-ups over actual costs incurred depends on the clients' alternative sources and broader relationships with clients (van Koppen et al. 2020a).Investors who initiate, design, construct, operate, maintain, repair and rehabilitate infrastructure can be individuals, self-organized sub-groups or entire communities. This depends, among other factors, on the hydrology at stake. An entire community can engage in inland fisheries in natural lakes and floodplain pans (e.g., ox-bow lakes) as in South Africa (Tapela 2015). Here, traditional authorities and local water specialists facilitate collective action for seasonal collective basket fishing, such as the imfonya among the ethnic Tembe-Thonga of northeastern KwaZulu-Natal and xirongo among the Tsonga-speaking Makuleke of northeastern Limpopo province. In the Eastern Cape in South Africa, the chief delegates on a rotation basis among households the removal of mud in a community pond (locally called u kapa) and the maintenance of branch fencing to keep cattle out (Kapfudzaruwa and Sowman 2009). In Zambia, traditional authorities lead the ceremonial shift of the community out of the Barotse floodplains to the uplands following the yearly inundation. They are warned about the start of upstream flooding through long-distance communication with the upstream communities (Mapedza et al. 2017).Wetland cultivation requires communal action to store or drain flood waters with bunds around farmers' plots. In southwest Burkina Faso, women dominate wetland rice cultivation in valleys. Plots are 'the precious gift of a mother to her daughter' or obtained from in-laws. Men, who dominate rainfed agriculture in the uplands, may not even know where their sisters' or wives' rice plots are. Male land chiefs are even forbidden to enter the valleys, as this is said to 'cause inundations'. A rule that promotes immediate problem solving by contesting parties pertains to the bunds between plots to regulate water. Bunds take up space, so neighboring farmers are tempted to extend their own field at the expense of the joint bund. The rule is that if they cannot come to an agreement, both plots are taken away and returned to the (female) land chief (van Koppen 2009). A well-documented example of hydrology requiring extensive collective action is spate irrigation in Ethiopia, involving the ad hoc channelling of mountainous floods caused by unpredictable rains leading to unpredictable groundwater saturation. The flood waters are stored in ponds for domestic uses and diverted to farmlands for irrigation (Mehari et al. 2007).Channelling mountainous streams through earthen canals (furrows) to homesteads, fields and other sites of use has also been practiced since long and keeps increasing. One or two households can start and gradually include other households. An early example are the furrows that the WaChagga built on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. They were initially built to supply water to homesteads and later expanded for supplementary irrigation of coffee, banana and vegetables. One such scheme is the Musa Mwijanga, which now serves approximately 600 families and irrigates a total of 600 ha (Maganga et al. 2004).Gravity systems with night reservoirs (ndivas) across Tanzania were designed for domestic uses and expanded to include irrigation of distant fields. High density polyethylene pipes have become widely available to replace earthen furrows for domestic, irrigation and any other uses. Compared to furrows, pipes prevent seepage and can overcome undulating terrain to reach more sites. Collective piped gravity systems derive significant economies of scale. The complex collective deep wells in pastoralists' arid areas, as elaborated later in this report, are another example of cooperation to create specialist knowledge over generations (Edossa et al. 2007;Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). Investors in infrastructure can be individual households or groups; the bundle of their use, governance, transfer and exclusion rights varies accordingly.A higher proportion of relatively wealthy households than poor households invest in self supply to homesteads (Sutton and Butterworth 2021) or primarily for irrigation (Lefore et al. 2019). However, since there were more poor households, even with a lower proportion of infrastructure owners, they constituted the majority (Sutton and Butterworth 2021). When households invest in infrastructure for self supply they often share this water. Usually, this is a matter of neighborliness in moral economies, especially for domestic uses. The top priority of water for drinking, as in the Islamic 'right of thirst' (chafa) followed by the right to drink by one's animals, is widely reported in any form of sharing. Sharing water from one's well avoids being seen as 'selfish'. Moreover, the owner is safe as others have no reason to poison or bewitch the water (Derman et al. 2007;Sutton and Butterworth 2021). When sharing of water for any purpose becomes regular, payment is common. This compensates at least partially for the investor's cost of diesel or electricity for operations, or also for the capital investment in infrastructure. Sharing is also common for irrigation. Besides using water on their own small plot, owners of portable motorized pumps share or rent out the pump itself. This is another advantage of sharing as the renting out makes the purchase more affordable, as widely found in areas with shallow groundwater in Zambia and Tanzania (Giordano et al. 2012) and elsewhere in Africa (Shah et al. 2020).Sharing water from one's own equipment becomes morally imperative when supplies decline and less fortunate neighbors lack alternatives. In such cases, relations between the giver and the taker of water are not necessarily friendly, even with monetary compensation. For instance, after electrification in Ha-Gumbu, South Africa, many households invested in boreholes on their homesteads for domestic uses and commercial homestead irrigation, selling to urban markets 500 km away. This self supply became an important alternative source of water for neighboring households. When the municipal system broke down, these private boreholes became their only source of water. All the households without boreholes obtained water from individual borehole owners, either by carrying water or by connecting a pipe from the borehole owner's household to one's own yard.However, some water buyers commented, ''one gets tired of always asking for water'' and \"sometimes the man in the house talks in a bad manner.\" Water buyers were at the lowest steps of the intra-village water ladder of perceived service levels, and most keen for the municipal system to resume functioning (van Koppen et al. 2021a).In collective infrastructure, ownership of the infrastructure and the bundle of rights to the water stored and conveyed are jointly created during the planning, design and construction process, and recreated by participation in maintenance and repairs. Broadly, three parties come together: initiators, technicians or artisans and users joining as members (or technicians are also the initiators). The initiators design the system that suits their needs best. They and their heirs usually continue in the decision-making governance structure or 'committee'. They have stronger inheritable property rights to the infrastructure hardware than operators and members. Even though collective systems change and grow over generations, they can still be named after the founders or locality of the founders, as in the case of the gravity earthen canal (furrows) systems in the Pangani Basin, Tanzania. While the election of committees through secret ballot in these systems may have seemed 'democratic', the elected committee continued to consist of members of the founding families (Komakech 2013). Technical expertise is developed over time, often by trial and error. This expertise is dominated by (elder) men. For instance, experienced ethnic groups such as the Hawsa well-diggers in Niger sell wells to new proprietors (Tufts University 1984, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). In Malawi, male technicians may claim that tasks are too hard for women by going up into snake-infested bushes around water sources high up in the mountains to cut rocks or perform other risky tasks to channel water downwards (Mapedza et al. 2017). Affordable and more user-friendly infrastructure and energy sources open up unprecedented opportunities for women and men to own water infrastructure.While women who wield influence can encourage men to join in initiating infrastructure construction, most women join these initiatives only as members. This was observed among the matrilineal Wa-Luguru in Tanzania, where women and men jointly cultivate women's lands and dig earthen furrows. One would expect that women would have as strong an incentive as men to invest in irrigation, if not more. Some collective furrows were jointly initiated and managed (van Krieken 2017). However, other furrows were initiated by some well-off men.The process of including or excluding other community members upfront or later depends on hydrological and technical requirements and neighborliness, among others. Women leaders can actively recruit members. The woman leader who initiated a communal piped gravity system to homesteads in Tshakhuma in South Africa clarified how she went about creating a group. She had walked to the sources in the surrounding mountains, sought the advice of experienced local specialists and artisans and talked with neighbors about her plan to bring water to her house. They warned her: \"You better include us in your plan. Otherwise, you will come home in the late afternoon to find that all the upstream neighbors of your pipe already stole water from it.\" Not all households joined her initiative from the start. Some were satisfied with their access to the old municipal system. Others were sceptical about the plan. Once they saw it worked, they joined under stringent conditions set by the initiators, in this case a higher joining fee. Some of the poorest households lacked the money to pay for the initial investment or the late joining fee. Newcomers were accommodated by expanding the system. However, in similar systems elsewhere in the village, where the water availability limit within the system had been reached, no new members were accepted. Any newcomers had to start their own system (Hofstetter et al. 2021;van Koppen et al. 2021a).There is a thin line dividing the leadership of a collective system and individual ownership of a piped gravity system selling water. One of the local specialists in Tshakhuma had initiated his own system for his fields and homesteads. After many negotiations, he found only a few neighbors willing to join and share in the investment. However, he later extended the system to others at his own cost, but now for sale. Non-payers were promptly disconnected, solving the problem of free riders. However, other villagers anxiously watched the price he was charging. Making profits from water was unacceptable (van Koppen et al. 2021a).This and other literature suggest that both women and men can become members. Members have user rights to the water and can co-decide on water distribution rules and their implementation, provided they comply with obligations to contribute cash, labor or otherwise to the construction. Contributions to operation and maintenance confirm their share in the hydraulic property rights. Children inherit members' rights.Money towards repairs may be collected regularly or, as happens more often, when needed (Komakech 2013). In joint works to construct and maintain infrastructure, tasks can be gender-differentiated. Women's contribution may consist of feeding male workers. As reported among the WaSukuma, this should consist of special and good food 'to provide the energy and motivation for men to dig'. This may even require women to find temporary farm work to raise money to buy special food. As Nkonya (2006) observed, it is embarrassing if men refuse to eat; 'the whole village will know'.These governance, inclusion, exclusion and transferability rights to water infrastructure and water stored and conveyed are oral, loosely defined and principles are flexible. Membership too is fluid because of variable weather and hydrological conditions. In systems that are also used for irrigation, the total irrigated area expands or contracts. In the Usangu sub-catchment, Tanzania, Lankford and Beale (2007) found that only 20% of the potential command area of gravity furrows is always irrigated. The maximum is only reached in exceptionally wet years. As widely found in Tanzania (Sokile 2005;Komakech 2013) and Malawi (Mapedza et al. 2017), smallholders have several scattered plots across the command area. In dry periods, the best situated plots can be borrowed or leased. Giving out such favorable land can strengthen patronage relationships. This further underlines the fluidity of membership.Committees hold regular meetings with operators and members to plan the repair, maintenance and cleaning of furrows after the rainy season and members' other contributions, and to set water distribution rules which are flexible. In the gravity systems in the Pangani Basin, not all members who dig furrows and claim access to water may attend those meetings (Komakech 2013).As it is rare for water to be sufficient for everyone all year-round, seasonal or ad hoc rotation of turns is required. Water use rights are defined as distribution rules with the required operation of the intakes and valves within the collective system, i.e., 'who gets how much water when, where, for which purpose and with what certainty' (Boelens 2015). As weather and inflows of water vary, rules are flexible. Moreover, rules are not necessarily implemented. Non-members may even take (or steal) water passing through their lands when the transaction costs of strict enforcement are too high in proportion to the results achieved (Komakech 2013). Operators, guards, water masters or overseers who are in principle accountable to the committee and the members may be under pressure or enticed to change turns in the scheduled rotation (Komakech 2013). If there is no functional committee to hold operators accountable, they may be tempted to generate some personal income by installing illegal connections, as was observed in Ga Mokgotho, South Africa (van Koppen et al. 2020a).The distribution principles vary widely. In gravity systems or shared taps, this can be a rotation of water turns. In furrow systems, it means opening and closing one's own and other's intakes, either for fixed periods or as long as needed (Sokile 2005;van Krieken 2017;Komakech 2013). When furrow systems adopt a first-come-first-inright rotation, everyone can open one's intake any time. When water quantity is equal for all, time slots are equal, so irrigators who have the next turn after a certain time slot can stop the preceding irrigator, even if he or she hasn't irrigated as much as needed (Sokile 2005). Water quantity may also be proportionate to plot size and crop water requirements. The transfer of water turns (or 'water trade') by irrigators not needing a turn at a particular time is common, as was found by both Komakech (2013) and Sokile (2005). Plot location also matters. An upstream location is often most favorable. To mitigate inequity in the Mkoji Basin, the rule in some furrows is to provide water to the most downstream user first, and then move upstream. In other furrows, the turns start at the top. However, the downstream location of a plot can also be advantageous. In the Pangani Basin, Tanzania, some upstream locations can get flooded, whereas downstream alluvial soils are more fertile, with better water-holding capacity for irrigation (Komakech 2013).Similar rotation principles govern the distribution of water from wells or shared taps among many people. Turns can mean 'first-come-first-in-right', for example, through queuing up at a well, either in person or by placing one's containers in the queue. Quantities can be controlled by the number of containers one can fill (Nkonya 2006;van Koppen et al. 2020a). Among the WaSukuma, Tanzania, well water is distributed as an equal number of buckets per household. Large households that need more water must join more than one well user group. This shows the importance of alternatives in negotiations (Nkonya 2006). Elsewhere, quantities can be proportionate to needs, such as family size, for domestic uses (van Koppen et al. 2020a). Further, quantities can also depend on labor or cash contributions.When water becomes really scarce, farmers with more plots are allowed to irrigate only one plot. This was the case in both the Pangani (Komakech 2013) and Mkoji basins (Sokile 2005). In collective multi-purpose systems, the priority is for domestic water uses, livestock watering or water to schools and other public buildings. In the driest months, the night household storage structures (ndivas) continue to be filled and a base flow is maintained that also serves fish in the furrows and streams. Irrigation is temporarily forbidden during such periods of scarcity (Komakech 2013).Gender inequities in the composition of committees, compounded by male domination in technical expertise and leadership are reflected in water distribution. Komakech (2013) describes the fierce protests by women irrigators who constituted 34% of the active farmers in a gravity system when male farmers took a second turn while women had not received even one turn. The next morning, the women woke up at 3 a.m. to irrigate during other men's turns, refusing to compensate them in any way (Komakech 2013). Sokile (2005) found similar discrimination in the Mkoji Basin, where rules prioritize water turns in this order: widows, the poor, disabled, female heads of households, married women cultivating on their own and men. In reality, though, male irrigators dressed up as magicians scared women irrigators and vulnerable men during the night so that they could take water first. In these fights for water, women had to hire men to scramble for water.Men were also found to intimidate women who seek to abide by the strict rules that govern the area surrounding the wells. Nkonya (2006) noted that among the WaSukuma, no one is allowed to fight, argue or use abusive language within those areas. Water guards and peer monitoring enforce implementation. However, when men came to draw water, they started quarrelling with the many women using the well, infringing the rules. Women gave in to avoid open conflict. In all these cases of conflict, women have less recourse than men to maledominated traditional authority structures.Communities' moral economies and social safety nets shape obligations and benefits. In Zambia, neighbors help elder women by fetching water for them (Mwale 2016). Among the WaSukuma in Tanzania, it was agreed in meetings as to which households were vulnerable because of age, poverty or disability, and, therefore, deserved waivers for the payment of fees, and could make in-kind contributions instead (Nkonya 2006). Among the Songo in Tanzania, water theft because of dire necessity was observed to hardly lead to moral stigma (Gray 1963). Similarly, water thefts by underprivileged irrigators attract small punishments, if any at all in the Pangani Basin. For the community, it would be a more serious problem if these people were to lose their crops due to the lack of water (Komakech 2013).Since ancient times, nomadic pastoralists and their livestock have survived thanks to the wells along the routes through their pastures. In the male-dominated, age-based gadaa authority system of the Boran pastoralists in Ethiopia and Kenya, political, socioterritorial and water management authorities overlap (Edossa et al. 2007). All wells are seen to represent the Boran people, with their multiple clans dispersed across Ethiopia and Kenya. No clan is barred from using the wells. Sharing, cooperation and solidarity are vital for survival and reproducing livestock (Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996).Specialized guardians hold technical and hydrological knowledge. The construction of deep wells and drawing water requires men connecting to each other in long chains. Contributions to the cost are not only through labor but also through the slaughtering of oxen. The latter provides both food during the work and regulates overstocking. In line with seniority, those entitled to slaughter the animal first get to access water first, and so on. The maintenance of shared water holes is equally regulated. If wells fall into disuse and are abandoned, those who wish to revive it need to seek the permission of the owning clan (Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996).Rules about water distribution are strict and manifest in access rights to the area around wells. For Ethiopia's Boran pastoralists, the wider circle of land around a well is controlled by 'customs', but the inner circle adjacent to the well is governed by stricter 'law' (Dahl andMegerssa 1990, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). The rules order time slots for all local livestock to be watered. During scarcity, cattle can only drink every other day or in extreme cases, once in three days. One's turn depends on the number of animals contributed to food during the work, or the volume-based price that one is paying. Volumes can be expressed in terms of the drum that a camel can drink from. Among various species, camels are often the last priority. Even wildlife such as the hyena is equally entitled to drink (cf. Ramazzotti 1996;Meinzen-Dick and Nkonya 2007).Nomads on the move may be able to access such service immediately. However, among pastoralists in Niger, free drinking water for humans or livestock is provided on a one-off basis and can be extended only once; other solutions are needed for regular uses (Tufts University 1984, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996).Similar principles apply in the Jando system of the Masaai in Tanzania (Komakech 2013). Sources of standing water become the property of those who dug them, if it is a well, or of the one who first discovered the source if it is a spring (Juma and Maganga 2005). Similar principles exist among the Turkana and Jie in Kenya (Gulliver 1955, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). Those who dig a well become the owners with primary rights to the water. Others may use the water hole only with the permission of and at the convenience of the owners. Not seeking permission is a breach of manners. However, it is wrong to refuse water requests unreasonably based on the overall perception that water and pasturage are free to all and that every man has the right to water for his animals. When such requests become more frequent, one must join and pay or contribute an entrance fee to the communal system. There is also a strong obligation to participate in the maintenance (Gulliver 1955, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996).The voluntary sharing of surplus water establishes patronclient relationships. For well owners among pastoralists in Niger, their wells become both 'tools for the management of social relations' and tools to manage water (Tufts University 1984, as cited in Ramazzotti 1996). Such sharing can even be a main goal. Among the Iteso in Kenya, it is reported that an individual constructed a dam, for which he slaughtered 108 heads of cattle and paid for labor, and the dam is used by all (Lawrance 1970).This section illustrated the third component of customary water tenure: communities' infrastructure development of the multiple surface water or groundwater sources across residential areas, forests, fields and grazing land on their territories, possibly in parallel to, or partly supported by external agencies. More storage and conveyance of water resources meet the needs of growing populations on more intensively cultivated land, with growing aspirations for less laborious water fetching and more convenience, hygiene, nutrition and income from the sale of irrigated produce or livestock. These are virtuous circles out of poverty.The foregoing sections provided insights into living customary tenure. More research for a much better understanding is clearly needed. Nevertheless, even these insights already have important policy and legal implications for the realization of human rights and SDGs, both for top-down water resource allocation and bottom-up community-led water services and support to self supply.A legal recognition of living customary water tenure finally ends its colonial marginalization and the post-colonial expectation that it is possible to suddenly convert existing customary arrangements that are seen as legitimate by the large majority, into an entirely new legal system that was designed for new water uptake by a minority. Such recognition solves many problems, both for water authorities and communities. It solves the administrative injustices as a result of the logistic inability of resource-constrained water authorities to process permit applications by hundreds of thousands small-scale users. It also solves the injustice that de minimis users, who are exempted from the obligation to apply for a permit and typically include the most vulnerable, become legally invisible.In practice, the large majority of rural water users know and practice customary tenure and have not been informed, so are not even aware of a parallel state permit system. However, in the few cases in which the state tried to implement permitting, they faced fierce protests. Communities saw permitting as a taxation measure (De Jong 2010;van Koppen et al. 2005). Maganga et al. (2004) cite how smallholders see permitting as \"a way of organizing them for the purpose of making them pay water fees, which they do not believe in.\" Indeed, it is a contradiction that national agriculture, irrigation and water services policies subsidize rural communities, whereas taxation through permits takes back benefits from their own efforts towards self supply. This harms state legitimacy. Permitting even causes a loss to the state itself, as Maganga et al. (2004) further observe: \"Rather than trying to charge large numbers of smallholders for small quantities of the water they use, it is suggested that the government should target the few high volume users who make considerable benefits from water (e.g., Tanzania Electricity Company).\" Studies in South Africa confirm how the cost of collecting revenue among many small-scale users below a certain threshold outstrips the revenue collected, even without calculating the cost of awareness raising and enforcing compliance (Schreiner and van Koppen 2020).Evidence of efforts to grant individual permits has further demonstrated that it erodes customary water sharing arrangements, and even creates new problems. For instance, permitting instilled an 'each for oneself' mentality in the Mkoji Basin, where customary irrigators sought to obtain a permit faster than others in order to strengthen their entitlement vis-à-vis fellow water users -precisely in the ways in which colonial powers pursued their formal first-come-first-in-right claims that legitimized overriding any prior users (Sokile 2005). Permitting creates further problems when more administration-proficient upstream users are the first to apply (Komakech 2013) or hope to carve out personal benefits (Juma and Maganga 2005). Juma and Maganga (2005) observe: \"It seems the policy makers in the water sector have been inspired by the neo-liberal principles that prevailed in the 1990s, which link everything to the individual rather than the community\".Expectedly, the notion that water resources can be owned, in this case by the state, has been met with stiff criticism. The literature examined on this issue in Tanzania and South Africa is unanimous: rural communities invoke the customary notion that water is given by god and is to be shared by all (Sokile 2005;Komakech 2013;Malzbender et al. 2005;Kapfudzaruwa and Sowman 2009). In these power relations between communities and states (Benjaminsen and Lund 2003;Lund and Eilenberg 2017), states can embrace this notion of water resources as the African commons. This would undo the colonial dispossession of all Africans when foreign powers hived off water resources from African land but still maintain the state as the legitimate custodian of the nation's water resources in the public interest. This allows the state to harmonize water laws and their constitutions that recognize customary law, and also with land and forest legislation and with indigenous peoples' rights that already align with the customary notions that water resources are appurtenant to land in the ways that this report tried to unravel.The right holder will be a community that stewards its land, water and other resources in an integrated manner. 'The community' would include women, otherwise marginalized people and all de minimis users who are currently exempt from the obligation to apply for a permit. It would also include existing relationships with other communities that share the same fugitive surface water bodies or aquifers. Formalization of oral arrangements pertaining to collectively held resources is likely to create more problems than it solves. For example, hydrologybased top-down organization into new water user associations was contested in Tanzania (Sumuni 2015). Any codification of water rights would at best freeze dynamic living arrangements. The worst scenario is that formalization of new structures in an alien, written language would continue to exclude the most vulnerable. This does not deny water authorities' legitimate need for information. One cannot manage what one does not know. For the first colonial settlers, permitting processes provided useful information. However, today's surveys and information technologies with internet and remote sensing are much more effective than cumbersome legal processes. For conflict mediation, a demand-driven and issue-based approach is proposed.Water authorities can play important roles in conflict mediation in customary settings. Existing water resource sharing arrangements within a community and between customary communities are the legitimate starting point. Conflict resolution arrangements to protect and stimulate communities' own efforts to enhance their constitutional rights are especially welcomed in demand-driven state mediation towards common developmental goals. For example, in the Pangani Basin, water authorities assisted by putting oral river sharing arrangements on paper (Komakech 2013). Networks of researchers and support agencies can assist communities in managing their commons, especially in unknown areas such as rapidly expanding groundwater development (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2020;Falk et al. 2021).At larger scales where customary networks increasingly fail to reach, water authorities can certainly assist. This was illustrated when Kenyan water authorities mediated in competition over finite water among water facilities for expanding urbanization, smallholder farm households and downstream pastoralists (Mwaniki 2020).Two principles further lead to rights-based statutory water resource allocation: firstly, shunning a widening of inequalities by targeting strict regulation from the top down, and secondly, from the bottom up ensuring that water resources remain available to flow into infrastructure to meet human rights to water or other constitutional provisions to meet multi-faceted basic human needs.In current permit systems, administration-proficient, high-impact users derive major benefits from administrative permit applications for new water uptake because permits are the strongest entitlements. As Schreiner and van Koppen (2018) propose, instead of strongest entitlements, permitting should serve as a tool for the government to enforce conditions targeted at these relatively few high-impact users, whose strict regulation contributes most to sustainable and equitable sharing of water resources. In colonial times, the process of permitting required settlers just to 'inform' the majority of rural communities of any 'significant impact'. Even today, water authorities may only have to 'consider' community water uses as one criterion in the granting of permits, if such community uses are mentioned at all. However, a recognition of customary water tenure implies that permitting becomes a diligent process during the planning of new investments in infrastructure that seeks free, participatory and informed consent from all existing water users who might be affected, especially those governed by customary law. Foreign investment contracts should abide by national law. This ends customary communities' vulnerability in 'sharing out' water resources with powerful third parties.In respecting and protecting customary water tenure, aspiring investors and states bear the burden of proof to ensure that communities are timely and well informed and can invoke customary socio-territorial rights and existing water resource sharing arrangements, in order to ensure, at least, that water keeps flowing into all prior infrastructure for self supply. Anticipated infringements are either compensated, or benefits are shared, or new investors are rejected and told to explore alternative technical designs elsewhere. Finally, communities' indigenous knowledge and deep dependency on their environment will contribute to safeguarding environmental sustainability.Targeted permitting focuses limited state resources for regulatory efforts where most needed, so on planning of the highest and most disproportionate impacts (also in terms of water quality). Kenya has already done this by categorizing its users from A (small users who just might have to register with local water authorities) to D (highimpact national and transboundary users for national regulation). Once state authorities have more capacity, thresholds can be adapted. However, any threshold should avoid administrative injustices when the cost and efforts of permitting requirements are disproportionate to the volumes at stake.In short, permits stop being the strongest formal entitlement, but become time-bound and frequently revised legal tools to regulate and enforce conditions on water users, where needed most. Age-old vibrant rural realities are protected against the risk of further encroachment by powerful third parties. Mediation continues, depending on thorny issues at stake. However, we are not romanticizing customary arrangements, and note that self supply is biased towards the wealthy, even though the most vulnerable may benefit partially too. Other inequalities along gender, class, ethnicity and migration status are rife. This raises the question: which principles should steer water resource allocation when states mediate in customary settings or even country-wide?Prioritization under competition for water resources reflects the strength of water resource entitlements. Many water laws prioritize water resources to meet any domestic needs (Grönwall and Danert 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) sets 100 liters per capita per day (lpcd) as standard. Standard volumes set by urban facilities, for example, are usually well above 200 lpcd. The human right to affordable water infrastructure services (the third component in water tenure) 24/7 and sufficiently close to homesteads supposes that the water resources to flow into the infrastructure will be available (the other two components).Water laws in Mozambique and Zimbabwe prioritize de minimis uses. This goes beyond domestic uses and includes water for subsistence irrigation and livestock, as some or many people use water through self supply. These priority allocations are indispensable to realize the human right to food and an adequate standard of living, whether users themselves take care of the infrastructure, or external support agencies do (HLPE 2015; Morgera et al. 2020).States are the duty bearers to enforce priority allocations for such core minimum resource flows for all. The challenge is a lack of implementation and enforcement, especially of the strongest water entitlement to meet basic human needs to water and food (van Koppen et al. 2021b). With low coverage levels in public water services, the most marginalized are often excluded, making them even more dependent on direct access to water resources for self supply.Customary social safety nets reflect a similar prioritization of water resource allocation to meet basic water needs of everyone, and also livestock and fish, before a few can take the remaining water resources.Awareness raising and proactive enforcement of core minimum volumes for everyone according to existing or redefined definitions of multi-faceted basic human needs and corresponding thresholds will ensure that water resources keep flowing into infrastructure.Policy Implications for Rights-based Infrastructure Development: Supported Self Supply to HomesteadsIn the second domain of policy implications of recognition of customary water tenure, both the WASH and irrigation sectors have remained in their sectoral silos when engaging in supporting self supply. Yet, they seek to support the same neutral infrastructure that taps into the same water resources. Both sectors recognize a bias in self supply towards the wealthier (Lefore et al. 2019;Kafle et al. 2022).The two differences between the WASH and irrigation sectors are the site of use and the commitment to equity. The WASH sector (cf. Moriarty et al. 2013) targets homesteads as the site of use and is inclusive, leaving no one behind. Everyone has a homestead, even the landless and land-poor households. In contrast, the irrigation sector remains vague about the type of farmers who irrigate. Most public irrigation systems have well defined command areas, usually at some distance from homesteads. In supporting farmer-led irrigation, the huge diversity in the spatial dispersion of fields receives little attention as yet. Irrigated homestead cultivation is often still called 'kitchen gardens', supposedly for own consumption and a priori, hardly productive.Paradoxically, the WASH sector's strong commitment to inclusion and leaving no one behind strengthens the divide between both sectors in that public collective systems installed by the WASH sector cannot be used for any productive uses, as it might affect households that still lack access to water for basic domestic uses. Productive water uses require larger volumes and are not necessarily taken up by everyone. This encourages the irrigation sector to leave the responsibility of meeting constitutional water rights (and required water resources) to the WASH sector and ignore homesteads as potential inclusive sites of use.In customary water tenure, households use water to meet both domestic and productive needs. Even below basic service levels, livestock and the use and reuse of water for cultivation may have a higher priority than regular home bathing. Accordingly, self supply infrastructure is often multipurpose, especially around homesteads, where households access a combination of water sources (Moriarty et al. 2013;Sutton et al. 2012). Women tend to have a stronger say in production on homesteads than in distant fields controlled by their male kin. Households with own infrastructure share water with neighbors, contributing to the realization of everybody's constitutional rights. Lastly, communities do not think in silos and realize that benefits derived from water uses mutually reinforce each other: health, hygiene and alleviation of domestic chores with better water supplies on premises support higher productivity for food security and improved nutrition and income among women and men. Food security, nutrition and income enable higher productivity. More incomes or other benefits incentivize and enable reinvestments in water infrastructure for self supply.Support agencies in both sectors can build on these merits of customary water tenure by shifting focus from a piece of infrastructure designed for a single use at a pre-determined site to the community scale with multiple sources and sites of use. Both sectors can join forces to realize rights to water and food by accelerating water infrastructure development for domestic uses for all and multiple uses for every household that wants it. Depending on local conditions, supporting self supply may well appear to be a powerful service model to develop affordable technologies along the ladder of incremental improvements, i.e., from open wells to robust hand pumps to rope pumps to motorized means and affordable energy sources. Realizing both the domestic and productive water needs of both women and men overcomes a 'housewivization' of women as primarily responsible for unpaid domestic chores (Rogers 1981;van der Grift 1993;van Koppen 2017). Men want water too, and already contribute to some extent to water provision. Gender equity involves better sharing of efforts and benefits for both domestic and productive uses. Women's technical knowledge and control as owners of individual or collective infrastructure is encouraged, besides narrowing other inequalities, as in land rights or capital.By joining efforts in multi-purpose infrastructure development, low incremental costs incurred on ongoing efforts will generate high incremental benefits with favorable benefit-cost ratios (Renwick 2007).By moving up from a piece of infrastructure and specific site of use to community scale, the high local diversity of communities' multiple sources of water to meet their various needs through multi-purpose infrastructure as a rule and single-purpose infrastructure as the exception becomes visible. It also indicates the extent of self supply versus public infrastructure, its many combinations, water sharing arrangements as neighbors and in social safety nets, and where and when water resources become the limiting factor. Experience has shown that communities need only a few hours to map on the ground or on paper their customary water tenure, including public infrastructure and support by external agencies (Knight et al. 2012;van Koppen et al. 2020c). Communities have managed this highly localized complexity since long, as a matter of daily life and survival. An indepth participatory diagnosis of this wisdom is an excellent start to an inclusive participatory planning, design and construction process because it allows the most marginalized to indicate their priorities for next incremental improvements. It is likely that more water going more reliably to homesteads remains the priority of most community members. Water for livestock, feed, irrigation, or fisheries will also come up importantly; such a holistic planning process anchored in customary water tenure will naturally raise issues around the sharing in and out of water resources.Joining forces for integrated water infrastructure development means that sector-specific expertise becomes more widely applicable. Water is only one input in an overall activity leading to health and wealth. Ultimate health and wealth require expertise to turn water use into well-being. Such expertise in safeguarding the quality of water for drinking and promoting hygiene and sanitation or improving productivity through agronomic training, seeds and other inputs, markets for sale, veterinary care and feed (agricultural water management) is currently locked in silos and needs to be unlocked to be applied more broadly.The concept of 'drinking water', also explicitly mentioned as goal SDG 6.1, 6 is most puzzling. It suggests that all water used on premises in low-income settings should be 'potable', so of drinking water quality (WHO and UNICEF 2017). Not surprisingly, irrigation officials were found to avoid even reporting about people's real-life uses of irrigation canals or other water infrastructure for laundry, bathing, cleaning and sometimes even drinking. They feared being accused of accepting or even encouraging people to drink such water. This strengthened irrigation professionals' outlook that providing water for domestic uses was not their job (van Koppen et al. 2014). However, bringing higher volumes of water near or on premises is important for health as well. Sutton and Butterworth (2021) confirmed that such higher volumes tend to be more effective for infant health than higher water quality per se. The quality of water for drinking 'should not be viewed in isolation but be balanced with the benefits of convenience'. 7 In a shared responsibility to meet basic rights, the expertise of the WASH sector on water, health and hygiene is also important for agricultural and other sectors. Both sectors can promote realistic and acceptable solutions to point-of-use treatment through clean lifting of water from household wells, or filtration of, or adding chemicals to, the 5 lpcd needed for drinking only.The agricultural water management sector has expertise on seeds, inputs, fertilization, agronomy and market development. Outcomes of irrigation development will be significantly more inclusive and gender equitable if this expertise is provided to render homestead cultivation more productive.In sum, building on integrated customary water tenure opens up cost-effective opportunities for the water sector to accelerate infrastructure development, leaving no one behind.This report explored how a better recognition of customary water tenure can accelerate the realization of the human right to water for domestic purposes and the human right to food and an adequate standard of living, depending on water, as well as SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13 in sub-Saharan Africa.The literature that illustrated each of the three components of water tenure, as we conceptualized, highlighted such potential.Regarding the first component, in customary tenure, water resources are perceived as a commons to be shared by all, in which community members have rights by birth or marriage to the water resources linked to their socially defined territories, whereas neighboring communities hold certain rights to shared water resources as well. This perception can well align with the role of the state as a custodian of the nation's water resources in public interest. However, it sharply contrasts with the ways in which states currently operationalize their custodianship through permitting. These systems continue to hive off water resources from customary land and even declare the millions of small-scale users without a permit as unlawful water users, and marginalize the de minimis users exempted from the obligation to apply for a permit by rendering them invisible. A recognition of customary water tenure will also avoid the problems that already arose from state efforts to implement permitting, in particular communities' protests and erosion of existing water sharing arrangements. Recognition of customary tenure also aligns better with constitutions, land and forest laws and indigenous peoples' legislation.For the second component, the practical water resource sharing, customary arrangements within and between communities are a sound starting point for state action. Building on these arrangements helps states to mediate in conflicts in customary settings, as needed. Further, state's recognition of customary water tenure protects communities vis-à-vis colonial and post-colonial powerful third parties. Permits can be useful tools that can end the enabling of such water grabbing if they are targeted at the relatively few high-impact users and if they end being the strongest top-down entitlement as the colonial powers envisaged. Instead, states should use permit applications for new water uptake to impose due process that prevents any infringements on customary water uses. A last implication of customary water tenure, in particular its social safety nets, for state action in water resource sharing is bottom-up: the enforcement of the highest, priority entitlements to core minimum volumes of water resources that contribute to the realization of human and constitutional rights to water and food.These water resource sharing actions ensure that water resources keep flowing into communities' infrastructure, the third component.As the literature shows, since time immemorial, infrastructure development for self supply has been part and parcel of customary water tenure to mitigate climate variability and enhance benefits all year round. Self supply keeps expanding. Multi-purpose infrastructure is common, especially near and on homesteads, to meet domestic and productive water needs. Both the WASH and irrigation sectors increasingly recognize and support self supply. By joining forces, the sectors can accelerate infrastructure development, leaving no one behind. Community-scale participatory planning and design have been shown to leverage the assets embedded in all three components, as locally relevant.Further research on customary water tenure and its interface with statutory policies and laws and external support to infrastructure development is recommended. As reflected in the literature reviewed, this requires more interdisciplinary exchange between historians, social scientists, engineers, human rights, water, environmental and other lawyers across WASH, irrigation, livestock, forestry, fishery and other sectors. Poor women and men best oversee the complexities of customary tenure and priorities for support, rightfully claiming: 'nothing about us without us'.","tokenCount":"19720"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3198469604.json b/data/part_1/3198469604.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b03e58c37e32bba9af4e412a7653871a56ce24fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3198469604.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4dc294ec7522fc2483b1912e764741b2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1ef626ae-022e-4e70-b835-496d1e056c56/retrieve","id":"494563484"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4583eea5-11ee-4d58-8811-9bc21ef559ad","pagecount":"12","content":"In potato production, seed quality is an important determinant for the quantity and quality of the tuber yield (Struik and Wiersema, 1999). Current yields in Ethiopia are low (8 t ha -1 ) but could easily be doubled or tripled. Perhaps the most significant constraint to increasing productivity and overall production is the chronic shortage of good quality seed tubers. Seed systems can be defined in the way farmers produce, select, save and acquire seeds (Sthapit et al., 2008). In the absence of a commonly agreed definition for different seed systems, this paper will differentiate between three different types of seed production systems, i.e. formal, alternative and informal seed production systems.The formal system involves seed certification by Ministry of Agriculture according the Ethiopian Standard for Seed Potato (ES 494:2005). The legal framework for a formal root and tuber seed certification scheme is in place but not implemented. Given the Ethiopia's large area size, the still limited road infrastructure and the fact that seed potatoes are being produced by hundredthousands of small-scale farmers (instead to few large-scale commercial producers), the costs for implementing a formal seed certification scheme would be prohibitively high; so the logistic requirement is extremely challenging. It is therefore unrealistic to assume that such a system could be under operation at a national level in medium term. However, it might be feasible to certify seed produced by these few large-scale producers; particularly for those aiming at exporting potato seed to neighboring countries. In the alternative system, farmer cooperatives and farmer groups (farmer cooperatives in the following) with technical support and supervision from the national research and extension system produce seed of relatively high quality, in the same way by special projects and universities. In contrast, the informal system is characterized by the absence of quality control mechanisms. Relatively poor quality seed, derived from farmers' own fields (farm-saved), and local markets or neighbors is planted for an unspecified number of generations.According to (Gildemacher et al., 2009), the informal system is the predominant seed production system accounting for 98.7% of the total potato seed produced in the country while the alternative system meets 1.3% of the national seed requirements and no certified seed is being produced at present. To put these percentages into perspective, the quantities of seed involved should be considered.The total area cropped to potato in Ethiopia is around 160,000 ha (Gebremedhin et al., 2006). The annual seed requirement is therefore around 320,000 tons; out of which 315,840 tons (98.7%) are supplied by the informal seed system and the remaining 4,160 tons by the alternative system.The informal and alternative seed systems will therefore remain to be the dominant seed production and dissemination mechanism in the country for the time being. Interventions designed to improve farmers' access to quality seed at affordable prices should therefore aim building upon the existing two systems, trying to improve seed quality and overall system efficiency. It is the purpose of this paper to provide an outline on how the alternative seed system could be strengthened by building upon the informal system and by introducing the concept of quality declared planting material (QDPM).Seed quality is an important determinant for tuber yield and quality. The national research system and Solagrow PLC, a private company, are now producing potato minitubers (Generation 1 -G1 seed). While in 2011 less than 60,000 minitubers were produced, and it is likely that the total production in 2012 may exceed 300,000. The question remains, though, how could more than 2 million potato growing households benefit from this high quality seed, the minitubers.A centralized approach whereby G2 (generation 2) and G3 (generation 3) seed is produced at only a few locations would involve huge logistic and cost to make this seed available to potato farmers in major rural seed production areas. This calls for a more decentralized seed production and multiplication system that is presented in the following. It links producers of pre-basic minitubers with farmer-based seed multiplication and dissemination systems, thereby creating a new hybrid system that incorporates components of the alternative as well as informal seed systems. Such a system would have the potential to give large numbers of potato farmers' access to quality seed.Figure 1 illustrates the envisaged scheme for potato seed multiplication. The initial source materials are disease-free in-vitro plantlets produced by the national research system and private tissue culture laboratories. These plantlets are grown in screenhouse or the newly built aeroponics units to produce pre-basic minitubers (G1). Given the small size of the pre-basic minitubers, experienced seed potato producers with under semi-controlled condition to give G2 seed should then multiply these; access to irrigation is an important requirement at this stage. These experienced multipliers include research centers, private enterprises, and leader farmers, ideally located at head points of traditional seed systems. These G2 seed is then sold to seed producer cooperative/ private sector multipliers who in turn may sell the subsequent generation to surrounding farmers: seed produced groups and private sector multipliers through farmer-to-farmer exchange. It is assumed that for the first two generations the entire produce would be kept as seed, however, as of generation three it is likely that an increasing proportion of the produce will be sold or consumed as ware immediately after harvest to satisfy farmers need for cash and food. It is difficult to assess for how many generations the seed will be recycled before used as seed for ware thereby reaching the consumer as ware potatoes. However, given experiences from other high-altitude areas, it is assumed that the seed could be multiplied for five to eight generations, especially if positive/negative selection techniques would be employed.Farmer Cooperative and Model Farmers located in these seed producing areas play a key role in producing quality seed, catering for their own seed needs and providing seed to other growers operating in that area. Such a system requires more input/ resources initially, however, once established, it may drastically reduce transaction costs and dependence on outside intervention and functions in a sustainable manner. The small volume pre-basic minitubers (5 to 20 g) ideally complement such a system, since they can easily be transported to remote multiplication sites located at head points of these seed flows. This again greatly reduces potential transport bottlenecks of more centralized systems. For such a system to make best use of these expensive minitubers, it is important that the head points of these seed flows are located at high altitudes where disease pressure is greatly reduced. Subsequent seed generations should then gradually move to lower altitudes and ware crops can be grown in the lowlands. Minitubers are currently multiplied at research centers (Holetta, Adet, and Mekelle) to produce G2 seed tubers. However, initial tests to multiply minitubers by farmer cooperatives are encouraging; for example, during the Meher season of 2011 farmers in the Gurage zone managed to successfully multiply these minitubers. Out of 1000 G1 minitubers, they produced 10,650 G2 tubers. This is an excellent multiplication ratio of above 10 -a multiplication ratio of 6 to 8 was considered standard. This result show that farmers cooperatives are capable of successfully multiplying minitubers and the production of G2 seed that could be further decentralized into major seed producing areas. Seed and ware potatoes are distinct commodities that need to be treated differently from planting to harvesting and then storage. However, in Ethiopia value chains for these two commodities are largely identical. In the absence of a labeling system, it is difficult to distinguish seed tubers from ware potatoes in the market. A value chain analysis found that most seed potatoes sold in markets are simply graded and re-classified as ware potatoes. -Clever‖ traders, therefore, buy ware potatoes, declare them as planting material, and eventually sell them to farmers and other buyers / NGOs. Given this uncertainty, buyers of seed potatoes are reluctant to pay premium prices needed to justify the extra costs associated with the production of quality materials. It will therefore only be possible to establish separate value chain for seed potato if the following two pre-conditions are fulfilled: Seed potatoes are clearly recognizable as such in the market; and  Buyers of seed potato are assured that they purchase unadulterated, high quality planting material. Generation 5The multiplication process continues for unspecified number of generations[64]The first pre-condition is relatively easy to implement by introducing a labeling scheme for seed potato. Such a scheme is currently being piloted by EIAR, TARI, SARI and the BoAs in SNNPR, Oromia and Tigray with support by the -Wealth Creation‖ project, funded by the Common Fund for Commodities and the -Better Potato for a Better Life‖ project with USAID funding. Quality seed potatoes are produced and stored by seed producer cooperatives under supervision of research and extension staff. At the time of sell, paper labels are provided to the cooperatives and attached to the seed bags. The labels state the name and address (including telephone number) of the cooperative, the variety, weight and date of harvesting. An example of such a label in Amharic and English is shown in Figure 2. The initial experiences are encouraging as the scheme helps to link seed producers and buyers and contributes to the branding of the producers.Cooperatives consistently producing good quality seed will become known in their region and customers are more likely to return in future. In the absence of an operational seed certification scheme, seed tuber quality described as in the alternative system is maintained by staff of research organizations and seed potato projects whose jointly ensure the minimum quality standards. However, as the demand for quality seed is growing, this system is gradually reaching its production limits. Moreover, in case where it relies on projects' interventions it is not sustainable. Alternative mechanisms at regional and/or local level need to be developed, tested, and promoted to ensure that the producers of planting materials adhere to minimum quality standards.Ensuring that farmers have timely access to seed and planting material of good quality is one of the most important elements of successful agricultural production and development. Despite this reality, seed and planting material available to small-scale farmers in many parts of the world is often of insufficient quality, negatively affecting yields and undermining crop performance. This bottleneck is particularly acute in countries where small-scale producers dominate the production system and where fully-fledged seed certification schemes are not a viable option because of their high costs and logistical requirements.To address this bottleneck, FAO, in consultation with partners, produced a technical guideline on Quality Declared Seed (QDS) in 2006 for crop species propagated by true botanical seed. These guidelines are now used and consulted worldwide (FAO, 2010). However, vegetatively propagated crop species have not been included in the QDS guidelines, despite their importance for agricultural production and food security. Therefore, FAO, in consultation with CIP and international experts, has developed protocols and standards for the production of Quality Declared Planting Material (QDPM) of the most important vegetatively propagated crops such as potato, sweetpotato, cassava and yam more recently (FAO, 2010). It is the aim of the QDPM guidelines to raise the physiological and phytosanitary quality, and hence, yield potential of planting material available to small-scale farmers, thereby increasing agricultural productivity. The QDPM protocols allow for easy and low cost inspection of planting material and facilitate the production of planting material that fulfills agreed on quality standards. The assessments are based on visual observations made by trained farmers, research, or extension personnel.The QDPM guidelines need to be adapted to the prevailing conditions and available resources. The underlying principle is shown in Figure 3 as a function of -inspection costs‖ and -seed quality‖, assuming a decreasing marginal benefit with increasing intensity of seed inspections. The best quality seed will be attained with a formal seed certification scheme, however, as discussed earlier, such a system is currently not a viable option for potato seed production in Ethiopia due to its costs and logistical requirements. Therefore, an acceptable compromise between cost and seed quality needs to be found. -QDPM light‖ refers to a minimum inspection intensity already resulting in tangible seed quality improvements while -QDPM intense‖ refers to a more sophisticated but also more expensive inspection regime.The QDPM concept does not intend to replace seed certification schemes. Rather it should be considered as an intermediate step towards the establishment of a[66]certification scheme. As soon as conditions and resources allow it, the inspection intensity should be increased to further improve seed quality. The Government of Ethiopia is very much cognizant of the need to improve the quality of seed and planting material for achieving the ambitious targets set for agricultural growth in the current five-year plan. Recognizing that formal seed certification schemes may currently not be attainable, the QDPM concept forms part of the policy recommendation produced by the Agricultural Transformation Agency and is included in the new national Seed Proclamation.Based on the FAO guidelines for QDPM, the following production guidelines for quality declared potato seed tubers are suggested  Isolation: the seed potato crop should at least be 50 m apart from the next ware potato crop; and  Crop rotation: At least a 3-year crop rotation should be maintained ensuring that the previous 2 years no solanaceous crops were produced on the seed potato plotAt least one field inspection should be carried. In fields of less than 2 ha, 10 counts of 100 plants each are taken. The plants should be assessed based on the tolerances listed in Table 1. Aphid counts should be taken on all assessed plants. In case of a slight infestation (1 to 2 aphids on few plants), no measures need to be taken. In case of moderate infestation (2 to 5 aphids on most plants), the crop should be treated with an insecticide. In case of a severe infestation (>than 5 aphids on most plants), the crop should be treated with an insecticide and early haulm destruction is recommended. In addition, a post-harvest inspection should be carried out to ensure that the stored seed is graded to agree on seed sizes (e.g. 35 to 70 mm), the seed is stored in diffused light stores, is reasonably free of soil and that different varieties are kept apart.Examples for tolerances for pests, diseases and other criteria for the field and postharvest inspection are given in Tables 1 and 2. These tolerances would still need to be reviewed and adapted to the conditions/ constraints on the ground. Important is, however, to ensure that the selected indicators can be assessed through visible observations by trained persons (farmers, research and extension staff) without the need for expensive laboratory testing. The threshold levels need to be realistic and attainable by reasonably trained and experienced seed producers. If the tolerances are too strict, farmers will be discouraged to continue with the system, falling back to the informal system without any quality control. These guidelines would need to[67]be adapted to the envisaged seed quality requirements, the inspection intensity and resources available for the inspections.  Off-type potato plants 1%Leaf roll (virus) 5%Severe mosaic (virus) 5%Total severe virus (leaf roll + severe mosaic) 10%Mild mosaic (virus) 10%Blackleg 2%[68] Depending on the inspection intensity and, of course, availability of resources, two separate inspection mechanisms could be envisaged, roughly corresponding to QDPM light and intensive, as shown in Figure 3. The QDPM light would correspond to a self-inspection scheme implemented by seed producer cooperative themselves without direct outside support and follow up. Examples of such selfinspection teams already exist in the country. Seed producer cooperatives around Holetta who have been supported by EIAR for several years have established internal inspection committees consisting of 3 to 6 members of the cooperative (Gebremedhin, pers. comm.). They visit the seed plots of all members and decide based on visual observations whether a certain plot fulfills the cooperatives requirements/ tolerances for seed production. In some cases, the cooperative even compensates members if their seed plot is rejected to encourage the farmer to comply with their recommendation to sell the produce for consumption purposes. These examples clearly show that cooperative-level inspection systems are a farmer-acceptable and a viable option for low-level, informal seed inspection schemes (QDPM light). Building on these existing experiences, the system could be strengthened by agreeing on and applying uniform tolerances for pest and diseases and by training the self-inspection teams. Subsequently the system could be promoted and applied in other seed producing areas of the country.The QDPM light system could be further strengthened and formalized by establishing a second inspection committee, operating at woreda level (QDPM intensive). This committee should involve staff of research and development institutions present in the woreda and 1 or 2 representatives of the seed producer cooperatives. It may not be possible for this committee to inspect all seed plots in the woreda. Instead a sample of all seed plots of a cooperative would be inspected. Depending on the available resources, the seed plots may be inspected once or twice during the growing season, in addition, a post-harvest inspection should beWart disease (Synchytrium endobioticum) NilLate blight (Phytophthora infestans) 5%Powdery scab (Spongospora subterranea) 8%Tuber necrosis caused by strains of PVY 0.5% Soil (by weight) 2%Off-type seed tubers 1%[69]carried out to ensure that the seed is graded, stored in adequate conditions (diffused light stores), and that different varieties are clearly separated.The woreda-level committee should then estimate the total quantity of seed the cooperative has produced for sale. Based on this estimate, the committee provides the corresponding number of seed labels to the cooperative for the seed produced during this particular season. In addition, the cooperative should be awarded the title of -Recognized Seed Producer‖ for a given period and should be authorized to market its seed as QDPM seed.Footing the bill: who is going to pay for the inspections?Production costs of quality seed potatoes are substantially higher than ware potatoes. This is explained by the fact that yields of seed crops are generally lower than ware crops and by extra costs associated with rouging, dehaulming, and grading. In addition, seed tubers lose between 3 to 4% of weight during storage in diffused light stores (Endale et al., 2008) and farmer runs the risk of not being able to find a buyer for his seed. The inspection itself (transport, per diems, and accommodation) and the labels for seed potato bags increase the costs of QDPM seed even further.These costs may initially be borne by special projects supporting seed potato value chain; however, ultimately they need to be incorporated into the seed price paid by the buyer. To convince seed buyers that quality seed justifies the extra cost, substantial efforts in advertising and awareness creation, ideally in combination with field demonstrations by showing that quality seed does translate into visibly better yields and hence justifies the initial investment should be major activities at present.In this context a word of caution: The formal Ethiopian seed potato market is unique in the sense that it is dominated by institutional buyers (NGOs, MoA, EIAR, FAO and aid agencies). Farmer to farmer seed exchanges (gifts, bartering) does take place, however, only limited quantities of seed are being sold directly between farmers and neighbors. In the absence of well-established value chain for seed tubers, it is very difficult to assess the actual demand for quality seed. Therefore, efforts to produce quality seed would need to be matched by efforts to link producers to either institutional or private buyers of quality seed.","tokenCount":"3222"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3206742197.json b/data/part_1/3206742197.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..40d6263ec297665b65d67ea21fec560255f27a08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3206742197.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7cde101e69e2977ae64d72e254848552","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9b69b0c5-8baf-4745-a4cd-576761580f41/retrieve","id":"-291128962"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e34f8491-fc83-426e-99bd-d461b49f7905","pagecount":"8","content":"Poverty alleviation through increased postharvest crop use is the major thrust of CIPs research on sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) in Asia. Much of the effort has focused on China, which produces roughly 85% of the worlds sweetpotato (CIP, 1998). A series of collaborative diagnostic studies, and technology and market assessments identified sweetpotato starch production, especially for noodle processing, as an important income-generating activity in poorer areas of China (Scott and Wheatley, 1997;Scott et al., 1992).Realizing the full income-generating potential of this activity depends on an integrated approach that includes better raw material and improved procurement, processing, and packaging (Wheatley et al., 1997;Zhang, 1999). From a varietal perspective, increasing starch content in fresh roots, extraction rate, and quality are critical components. A better knowledge and understanding of sweetpotato starch properties, and how they compare with those of other starch sources, is necessary to enhance the potential value of sweetpotato starch in existing and novel uses. Latex, the resin produced by sweetpotato latificers, is another important trait to be considered by the starch industry as the latex may contaminate the starch and adhere to equipment (Woolfe, 1992).There is significant cultivar difference in the content and properties of sweetpotato starch (Tian et al., 1991;Woolfe, 1992), which suggests that genetic improvement of these traits may be achieved. However, the variability of starch content and properties in accessions from the sweetpotato gene bank held at CIP has not been comprehensively evaluated. The gene bank maintains a collection of about 5,500 cultivated accessions from 57 countries.The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the variability of starch content and properties (amylose content and pasting properties) in advanced sweetpotato clones selected from the gene bank held at CIP, (2) estimate the most relevant correlation between the evaluated variables, (3) identify clones with potential for incorporation into CIPs breeding programs for starch production and use, and (4) provide recommendations for future evaluation and use of the sweetpotato gene bank.One hundred and six sweetpotato clones were evaluated in this study (Table 1). The set was chosen to represent diverse geographical origin, high variation in predominant root flesh color, and high dry matter (DM) content (> 25% for orange-fleshed clones and > 30% for others). Clones were also selected for adaptation to the agroecological conditions at the trial site based on CIPs root yield data. In addition, performance (high root yields) and relative importance of the clones in CIPs regions (widely grown) were considered.Table1. Origin and predominant root flesh color of 106 sweetpotato clones selected from the gene bank held at CIP, Lima, Peru. North America (10) (1) -( 9) Sweetpotato clones were grown under standard cultural practices during the dry season (av temperature range 18.9-32.5 o C, total rainfall 437 mm) at CIPs experiment station in San Ramon, Peru (tropical midland located at lat. 11 o 06 S, long. 75 o 18 W, and 800 m above sea level). Nitrogen fertilizer was applied at the rate of 80 kg/ha and sprinkler irrigation was supplied as needed. Clones were planted on 26 May 1997 and harvested after 164 d. Two-row plots were used with 10 plants per row spaced 0.25 m within rows and 0.90 m between rows. Plots were separated by one unplanted row and not replicated. Ten to 20 healthy roots (> 125 g each) per clone were sampled and immediately placed in paper bags under shade. They were then taken to CIP-Lima and stored at 13 o C until processing. Because of the large number of clones and the long distance between field and laboratory, the time between harvest and processing was about 15 d.Washed and unpeeled sweetpotato roots were cut longitudinally in one half and two quarters after removing the extremities. One half was used for starch extraction, one quarter for flour preparation, and the other quarter for determining DM content.Starch. Root halves were sliced and thoroughly mixed. A subsample of approximately 1 kg was macerated in a kitchen blender with tap water (1:1 v/v) for 2 min at maximum speed and filtered through a muslin cloth. The residue was resuspended in tap water (1:2 v/v), macerated, and filtered in the same way. The two filtrates were pooled, passed through a 250 µm sieve and adjusted to 4 L with tap water. Starch was allowed to settle for 3 h at room temperature (20-24 o C) and the supernatant was discarded. The starch was resuspended in 2 L of tap water, filtered through a 75 µm sieve and left to settle in a tray for 2 h. This last step was repeated three times without the sieving step, and using deionized water instead of tap water for the last two washings. The recovered starch was dried in a forced-air oven at 40-45 o C for 24 h, ground with a mortar and pestle to pass through a 250 µm sieve, and stored in sealed polyethylene bags at 6 o C.Flour. Root quarters were cut into 1 mm thick slices and mixed. A subsample of approximately 400 g was freeze-dried, then ground in a mill to pass through a 425 µm sieve. The resulting flour was stored in sealed polyethylene bags at -20 o C.Dry matter. Root quarters were cut into about 0.5 cm 2 cubes and mixed. Three subsamples of approximately 200 g were dried in a forced-air oven at 90 o C for 48 h (i.e., until constant weight).Extractable starch. Extractable starch was calculated as the ratio of g starch at standard 14% moisture content (MC)/100 g fresh roots.Total starch. Total starch in flour was determined using a Total Starch Assay Kit (Cat. No. K-TSTA, Megazyme, Ireland). The method consisted of hydrolyzing starch to glucose by an enzymic procedure. Glucose was measured colorimetrically with glucose oxidase-peroxidase reagent. Flour MC was determined using the AOAC Official Method 925.10 (AOAC, 1995). Both analyses were done in duplicate.Latex. Latex production was assessed visually after cross sectioning five fresh roots using the ratings 0 = latex not discernible, 3 = little latex, 5 = some latex, and 7 = abundant latex.Moisture. MC was determined by oven drying two representative starch samples of about 4 g each at 105 o C for 24 h. pH. 5 g of starch on a dry weight basis (dwb) were dispersed and stirred in 50 ml of distilled water at room temperature for 30 min. After filtering, the pH of the solution was measured. The analysis was done in duplicate.Amylose. Amylose content was determined using the differential scanning calorimetry method described by Mestres et al. (1996).Pasting properties. Viscosity profiles of starch suspensions of 9% (dwb/w) in distilled water through a heating and cooling cycle were obtained using a Rapid Visco-Analyzer (RVA) model 3D (Newport Scientific, Australia) as described by Collado and Corke (1997). Pasting temperature (Tp) at which viscosity started to increase, maximum or peak viscosity (PV), viscosity at the end of the hold time at 95 o C or hot-paste viscosity (HPV), and viscosity at the end of the hold time at 50 o C or coolpaste viscosity (CPV) were recorded (Figure 1). The stability (HPV/PV) and setback ratios (CPV/HPV) were calculated.PROC MEAN and PROC CORR procedures (SAS, 1992) were used to calculate the descriptive statistics and Pearsons correlation coefficients between variables.Root dry matter and starch content Root DM and total starch content of the 106 sweetpotato clones varied widely. Root DM ranged from 19.9 to 45.4% and starch content from 11.1 to 33.5% on a fresh weight basis (fwb), with an average total starch content of 21.6% (Table 2) or 61.5% dwb. These values are within the ranges reported in the literature (Woolfe, 1992). The 106 clones were initially selected for high DM content based on CIP data, which explains the high average of 34.9% (Table 2). Most of the white/cream-(58%) and yellow-fleshed clones (85%) had a DM content > 35% (Figure 2). Sixty percent of the orange-fleshed clones (including yellow orange) had a DM content > 30%, with 10 clones > 35%. The Peruvian clone (CIP420053, Capadito), which is strongly pigmented with anthocyanins, had a DM content of 39.1%. These results suggest the potential for increasing DM content in sweetpotato roots by using these clones in breeding programs. Many varieties now cultivated have a DM content too low (25-30%) to be used in the processing industry (Mok et al., 1997), which prefers a DM content > 30-35%.Extractable starch ranged from 6.5 to 25.7% fwb, with an average of 17.3% (Table 2). That represents an average recovery rate of 80.3% (ratio of starch at standard 14% MC to total starch content in roots), with values ranging from 54.6 to 91.4%. Wheatley (1996) found a highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.90, P < 0.01) between laboratory and industrial extraction rates. That demonstrates the usefulness of the laboratory method used in this study for screening clones for the starch industry. White/cream-and yellow-fleshed clones averaged higher extractable starch (18.3% and 19.1%, respectively) than orange-fleshed clones (15.2%). Sixty-two percent of the white/cream-fleshed clones and 70% of the yellow-fleshed clones had extractable starch values between 15 and 20%, whereas about half of the orangefleshed clones had values < 15% (Figure 2). Approximately 29% of the white/creamfleshed clones, 30% of the yellow, and 18% of the orange were in the highest extractable starch range of 20-26%.A small amount of latex (3 rating) was produced in fresh roots of approximately 40% of the 106 clones; 12% produced abundant latex (7 rating) (Figure 2). Compared to the orange-fleshed clones of which 28% produced little latex and 20% abundant latex, a higher proportion of white/  (Woolfe, 1992); Amylose and Tp (Tian et al., 1991); Starch pH and pasting properties, except Tp (Collado and Corke, 1997). c Fresh weight basis. d 14% moisture content. e Starch pasting properties: Tp=Pasting temperature, PV=Peak viscosity, HPV=Hot-paste viscosity, CPV=Cool-paste viscosity, RVA=Rapid Visco-Analyzer unit.cream-(47%) and yellow-fleshed clones (50%) produced a small amount of latex, and a lower proportion of these clones (9% and 5%, respectively) produced an abundant amount.Carotenoid pigment responsible for the orange flesh color of sweetpotato roots and anthocyanin pigment, which is responsible for purple flesh color, make the production of a white starch difficult. Hence white/ cream-and yellow-fleshed clones are the most suitable for the starch industry. Seven light-fleshed clones with high extractable starch and low latex production in fresh roots have been identified from the 106 sweetpotato clones (Table 3).A highly significant positive correlation was found between extractable starch and both root DM and total starch content (r = 0.92, P < 0.001 for both). A similar result was reported by Mok et al. (1997). Thus, root DM content, which is simple, fast, and cheap to determine, can be used to select sweetpotato clones with high extractable starch. That would be particularly useful in breeding programs in the first or second generation when a large number of clones are evaluated. Extractable starch in advanced clones could then be measured in the laboratory and confirmed in the field.Amylose content and pasting properties are among the most important quality traits of starch. When an aqueous suspension of starch is heated above a critical temperature, granules swell irreversibly and amylose leaches out into the aqueous phase, resulting in increased viscosity (pasting). At this stage the granules are highly susceptible to thermal or mechanical breakdown, which leads to a decrease in starch paste viscosity. Upon cooling, the starch paste forms a gel (gelification) along with increased viscosity. Pasting and gelification are important properties in determining starch behavior in various food and industrial applications. They affect starch-based product quality such as texture, stability, and digestibility. The RVA provides as good a method for measuring these functional properties and describing starch potential end-uses as the Brabender viscoamylograph, which is usually used but consumes more time and sample. Amylose content. Amylose content varied from 18.6% in the yellow-fleshed clone CIP187001.2 to 27.1% in the orangefleshed clone CIP420012, with an average of 21.8% in all clones (Table 2). These values are within the ranges reported in the literature (Tian et al., 1991). Over 50% of the 106 clones had an amylose content of between 20 and 23%.Pasting properties. Pasting properties also varied among the 106 sweetpotato clones (Table 2). The RVA viscosity profiles were all of the A type (using the starch classification of Schoch and Maywald, 1968) normally observed for root and tuber starch. They were characterized by moderate to high PV with a major breakdown and low CPV with respect to PV (Figure 1). Starch pH typically fell between 5.1 and 7 (Table 2), within the range where it usually does not affect pasting properties, as revealed by nonsignificant Pearsons correlation coefficients (not shown). Collado and Corke (1997) obtained a similar RVA pattern for 14 Philippine sweetpotato clones using the same operating conditions, but with a lower range of variation in pasting parameters, especially in PV (Table 2).Although the importance of amylose has been established, viscoamylography was found to be a more practical and reliable method for predicting starch noodle quality (Collado and Corke, 1997). These authors found a high and positive correlation between the firmness of sweetpotato starch noodles and the RVA pasting parameters of stability ratio (r = 0.95), CPV (r = 0.83), and HPV (r = 0.73), P < 0.01. Twenty clones with the lowest and highest starch paste stability and amylose content, as well as 40 additional clones selected at random from the 106, are being evaluated for starch noodle production in Asia at Hong Kong University, to gain better information on the relationship between sweetpotato starch properties and noodle quality, and to identify suitable clones for this purpose.This study is the first evaluation of starch content and properties of a large sample from the sweetpotato gene bank. These studied traits can also be affected by environmental factors such as site, season, and year, as well as root storage time (Tian et al., 1991). Results reported in this study, therefore, cannot be considered as absolute ","tokenCount":"2311"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3223642646.json b/data/part_1/3223642646.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6624040458d18473ec3b1975670db80fe08ba321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3223642646.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8eab8352bcbcb4496a373a338c217f65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7601312d-cd7d-4274-b08d-a9c54ae0317c/retrieve","id":"-1289692176"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dbe6b64d-570e-4126-98ff-759238aee349","pagecount":"60","content":"The ZAGP consists of five outcomes each addressing key constraints: (a) Increased production and productivity of the livestock sector; (b) Livestock products have better access to markets and are more competitive; (c) Increased public and private investment in targeted livestock value chains; (d) Improved agricultural education systems and extension services; and (e) Institutions strengthened to develop and implement institutional and regulatory framework.Tables Table 1: Household survey sample      The evaluation team expresses sincere gratitude to all stakeholders who actively participated in the evaluation exercise.Without the collaboration of these dedicated individuals and organizations, the success of this mid-term evaluation would not have been possible. We highly value the insightful reflections and opinions shared by our project partners, as well as their willingness to openly discuss their experiences, which significantly contributed to the positive outcome of the evaluation.Our heartfelt thanks extend to the beneficiaries of the LIPS-Zim project who actively engaged in the household survey and focus group discussions (FGDs). Their in-depth insights into the impact of the project on their lives have been invaluable. We deeply appreciate the beneficiaries' contributions, as their information has played a crucial role in the compilation of this report.Special acknowledgment goes to the ILRI project team for their diverse contributions, including the provision of relevant secondary information and facilitating the smooth collection of primary data. Their efforts in mobilizing respondents, providing transport, and offering necessary support have greatly enhanced the quality of our findings. We would also like to recognize the significant contribution made by Irenie Chakoma and Nelly Chinyama, who played pivotal roles in coordinating all logistical arrangements throughout the evaluation exercise. Their unwavering commitment to this course has not gone unnoticed.The mid-term evaluation for the LIPS-Zim project aimed at assessing the continued relevance of the project, and the progress made towards achieving its planned objectives. It focused on identifying and documenting lessons learned to help improve design and implementation and provide recommendations for improving implementation over the remaining project lifetime. The mid-term evaluation utilized the widely recognised and tested quality standards and criteria of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD/ DAC), which are commonly used frameworks in impact and mid-term evaluations. These include a review of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. The mid-term evaluation utilised a mixed methodological approach, blending both qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection was conducted through secondary data review, household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and observations/photography. Qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis while quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The following are key findings from the mid-term evaluation:Relevance and coherence LIPS-Zim was viewed as addressing relevant, and important challenges in the smallholder livestock sector. Relevance was also enhanced through widespread community consultations during inception, and activities were developed in line with the livelihood challenges of the farmers. The project objectives are viewed by farmers, project implementing partners, and other stakeholders as highly relevant to the challenges faced by the farmers (mainly feed and animal health). The LIPS-Zim project is in sync with several government imperatives, and existing projects by other development partners and generally in line with district-level development plans. It is aligned with other projects in the livestock value chain ecosystems in various districts and utilizing synergies in the livestock sector. The project is viewed as fitting well with local authority priorities, and its complementarity with other district partners is in line with district operational modalities. Community level institutions (including producer groups) have also been actively involved in the project.Some partners felt it was early to assess the success of project interventions while some felt the project was very ambitious concerning geographical coverage vis a vis the financial resources available. Some partners indicated that they were not able to meet all their targeted milestones, while others were on course, with a few outstanding activities. Regarding the results chain, generally the project is on track with most targets. These include levels of use of climate-change-relevant fodder production techniques; practicing innovative animal husbandry by farmers; improving sanitary conditions of their livestock; improving household herd size; improving awareness of crop and livestock technologies; piloting climate change forage varieties; and capacity for disease detection and surveillance by farmers. However, livestock sales remained low, and the project did not make much progress in publishing project-related scientific work.Several success factors were highlighted including skilled and technically competent staff for the consortium; supportive local and national government institutions; support by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zimbabwe; and linkages with the government monitoring mechanisms.Several challenges were highlighted that impeded the achievement of anticipated targets. These challenges encompassed delays caused by the European Union's request to revise the logframe one year into implementation following a results oriented monitoring (ROM) exercise; delayed fund disbursements and difficulties in coordinating with implementing partners and aligning work plans; delays in contracting; late reporting by some consortium partners; and implementation setbacks attributed to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.The institutional arrangements were generally viewed as efficient in the management and coordination of project activities. However, the coordination process for consortium partners was highlighted to have been complicated especially in the beginning but has generally been successful. Although third-party partners were well integrated into the project, there were challenges regarding harmonization of policies, regulations, and reporting systems in some instances. The Project Steering Committee was viewed as very instrumental in guiding the implementation process.There was a general feeling among consortium and third-party partners that the project was implemented cost-effectively. Partners complemented each other through synergies and utilized different comparative advantages. However, there were mixed views on financial management by consortium partners, with some reporting major disbursement challenges.The project demonstrated several positive impacts such as improved animal nutrition and animal husbandry practices. Rehabilitation of market centres that aimed at transforming them into effective aggregation points, significantly improved livelihoods, by fostering increased household incomes through fodder sales, improved livestock production, reduction in costs of buying supplementary feed, and a decline in livestock mortality.Livestock breeds experienced noticeable enhancements attributed to artificial insemination and improved feeding practices, encompassing feed formulation and the establishment of fodder banks. The project also played a pivotal role in elevating knowledge-sharing and learning, addressing various aspects of feed formulation, production techniques, and broader aspects of livestock management through demonstration plots and field days.Despite these accomplishments, the project requires additional extension support to effectively improve disease surveillance at the community level. Recognizing this, the project has prioritized the development of extension-farmer linkages to strengthen disease surveillance. Moreover, provincial laboratories are actively contributing to disease surveillance and detection efforts.Several project components were viewed to have the potential to continue after the end of the project. These components include animal breeding, animal health, livestock feeding, improved livestock structures, and water harvesting. The LIPS-Zim project does not have a defined exit strategy. However, it was indicated during the evaluation that an exit plan was being developed with local government departments, including the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) and the Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (AGRITEX).Based on the mid-term evaluation findings, the following are key recommendations for the remaining duration of the LIPS-Zim project:i. Develop modalities for finalizing outstanding activities: Clarify and establish plans to complete outstanding activities within the remaining project timeframe. Address specific issues, such as providing equipment for sample analysis for students from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), completing natural resources management activities in Buhera, and finalizing research protocols, including economic analysis at the consortium level.ii. Consolidation of knowledge products: Document the numerous success stories generated by the project and expedite the production of project-related scientific publications. Consider innovative approaches, such as organizing write shops, to swiftly create knowledge products. Promote the utilization of lessons and emerging best practices by fostering communities of practice for the smallholder livestock sector through innovation platforms.iii. Value chain development: While the project has improved productivity through climate-change-relevant fodder production, more focus is needed on enhancing the marketing component and exploring plans for processing/ value addition. Adopt a business-oriented approach to ensure future sustainability, integrating ongoing efforts to strengthen market infrastructure into the strategy.iv. Data management: Enhance coordination among partners for the management of monitoring data. Establish a centralized repository for output indicators to facilitate future monitoring and evaluation activities, including endline/impact assessments commissioned in the future.v. Leveraging the project for policy engagement: Capitalize on the project's existing integration into the national and district-level livestock development ecosystem, the influence of consortium and third-party partners, and high-profile institutions to advocate for development and implementation of supportive livestock policies. It will be important to develop tools to convey knowledge and experiences for effective policy advocacy within the smallholder livestock sector.vi. Consolidating the exit strategy: Accelerate the ongoing process of consolidating the exit strategy, considering the limited remaining project timeframe. Ensure sufficient time for institutionalizing components of the exit strategy into systems and processes of key government departments involved in the exit plan.Zimbabwe's smallholder livestock sector is pivotal in sustaining rural livelihoods, offering viable opportunities for both livelihood improvement and economic growth. Despite its potential, the sector has persistently struggled with underperformance, evident in low off-take rates, reduced fertility, elevated mortality and morbidity rates, meager yields, subpar product quality, and an overall inability to compete effectively in the global export market.Smallholder livestock farmers grapple with multiple challenges, including scarcity and high cost of feed, suboptimal animal breeds, prevalent diseases, limited market access, and recurrent droughts. The impact of climate change exacerbates these issues, particularly affecting feed availability and compounding the existing challenges faced by farmers in the sector.In recent years, there have also been notable increases in tick-borne disease mortalities resulting from a poor supply and efficacy of dipping chemicals and dilapidated communal dip tanks. According to the National Crop and Livestock Report (2023), approximately 84 % of livestock mortalities were due to tick-borne diseases. This underscores the urgent need to enhance disease surveillance, fortify the animal health services delivery system, and bolster extension services.Indeed, there is a growing realization that the adoption and implementation of climate-relevant livestock production innovations is critical in addressing the productivity challenges faced by the smallholder livestock sector. These innovations encompass effective fodder management and conservation, robust disease surveillance and control systems, comprehensive vaccination coverage, encouraging farmer behavioral changes, advancing breed improvement, implementing water harvesting strategies, and optimizing manure management practices.The adoption and implementation of these innovations becomes particularly critical in light of the anticipated surge in demand for high-quality livestock and livestock products. This demand is driven by factors such as population growth, urbanization, and rising incomes, as Zimbabwe undergoes a hoped-for transition from a lower-middle income economy to an upper-middle income economy over the next 10 to 15 years. The project aims to increase livestock productivity in Zimbabwe's agroecological regions IV and V through the adoption of relevant climate-smart innovations in livestock-based production systems and improve livestock disease surveillance and control. It promotes research on technologies and models that increase the adoption of business and climatesmart innovations and practices, combined with strengthened research on the epidemiology of diseases and the most efficient way to control them. Its activities are designed to address challenges related to human nutrition, enhance market profitability, diversify income investments from livestock, and elevate overall animal health. These are fundamental for addressing the key challenges to livestock production in Zimbabwe. The combined impact will improve the efficiencies of livestock production systems, reduce their environmental footprint, and benefit smallholder farmers in natural regions IV and V, which are the most disadvantaged in Zimbabwe.The project strategically incorporates indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to enhance the adoption of suitable innovations, thereby fortifying the livestock sector.The project focuses on nine districts within regions IV and V: Buhera, Gwanda, Nkayi, Beitbridge, Binga, Mutoko, Chiredzi, Gokwe North, and Hwange.The overarching objective is to uplift livestock producers in Zimbabwe's agroecological regions IV and V, particularly in the face of climate change challenges. The specific objectives are:1.Increased adoption of climate relevant innovations in livestock-based production systems.2. ncreased capacity to implement surveillance and control of productivity diseases.The mid-term evaluation aimed to appraise the ongoing relevance of the LIPS-Zim project and assess progress towards its planned objectives. It sought to identify and document valuable insights to enhance project design and implementation, providing recommendations for optimizing the remaining project lifespan. The evaluation adopted a participatory approach, engaging beneficiaries, women, consortium members, partners, district extension staff, and other stakeholders. Collaboratively with ILRI, the evaluation's design, methodological approach, sampling procedures, and tools were meticulously defined prior to initiating fieldwork. ILRI played a significant role in shaping the evaluation matrix, crafting data collection instruments, selecting sample districts, and coordinating logistical aspects of the fieldwork. Annex 3 provides the specific terms of reference (ToR).2 Evaluation approach and methodologyThe mid-term evaluation utilized the widely recognised and tested quality standards and criteria of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC), which are commonly used frameworks in impact and mid-term evaluations. These include a review of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability (OECD, 1991). Each of these criteria is briefly outlined in Box 1 and provided a framework for developing the evaluation matrix and data collection tools. However, it should be noted that the different OECD/DAC criteria were applied to different levels, depending on the level of project implementation and availability of data/information. In this regard, an evaluability assessment was conducted at the inception to determine which OECD/DAC criteria were relevant for the midterm evaluation and the extent to which each criterion could be addressed, recognizing the current state of implementation and availability of required secondary data. The evaluability assessment is outlined in Annex 1.Relevance: The extent to which the objectives of a program/project interventions are consistent with the program outcomes, beneficiaries' requirements, and country needs. Project relevance is about establishing the programmatic fit of the project both within communities and within the national development priorities.Effectiveness: This entails assessing the contribution made by the strategy towards achievement of strategic goal(s), and how outcomes contributed to the realization of the goal(s). The effectiveness criterion concerns how far the goals were attained and the specific objectives achieved or expected to be achieved. It also focuses on identification and analysis of the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives.Efficiency (sound management and value for money): The efficiency criterion assesses how well the various activities transformed the available resources into the intended results (outputs), in terms quantity, quality and timeliness. Comparisons are made against what was planned in the design document and what has been achieved. Issues such as processes, system set-ups, internal checks and balances are examined.Program impact (achievement of wider effects): The term impact denotes the relation between the mission [overall and specific objective(s)] and changes occurring on the ground because of interventions.The sustainability criterion relates to whether positive outcomes of the program and the flow of benefits are likely to continue after external support.Lessons learned: Draw some lessons with respect to organizational and operational aspects, and pre-conditions, if any, for continued support and replication.The mid-term evaluation utilised a mixed methodological approach, blending both qualitative and quantitative data. This approach ensured a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding by incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences, contributing to a richer portrayal and comprehension of the project. This inclusive methodology aimed to capture both the intricacies of the project (through soft-core views and experiences) and the associated impacts. It enhanced a deeper appreciation of the situation (the what), meaning, norms, values (the why or how) through combining the strengths of qualitative and quantitative data to provide multiple ways of looking at evaluation questions. The development of data collection tools was guided by the evaluation matrix (see Annex 2). Data collection was conducted through secondary data review, household surveys, FGDs, KIIs, and observations/ photography. These data collection approaches are briefly described in the proceeding sections (see Annexes 5-7 for data collection tools).The initial desk review enabled the consultants to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the project's approach, implementation modalities, overview of progress to date, as well as an appreciation of the logframe, including indicators and targets. Secondary reviews were conducted throughout the evaluation process.These were conducted with groups of selected beneficiaries/livestock farmers. Deliberate efforts were made to ensure homogeneous FGDs (separate ones for women and men) to minimize reticence for women and other marginalized groups. FGD participants were selected using a purposive snowball sampling strategy. This allowed the selection of individuals with in-depth knowledge of the selected areas for discussion. Participatory tools were utilized to ensure full participation during FGDs. Each FGD was mediated and recorded by a team of two field workers and where possible, female-only FGDs were facilitated by female field workers to encourage participation. The team conducted 12 FGDs (two per target districts -Beitbridge, Buhera, Chiredzi, Gwanda, Mutoko, and Nkayi).These were conducted with selected key stakeholders, including ILRI and its partners, as well as district-level authorities, including extension officers. They provided deeper insights into some specific issues that required interrogation and scrutiny. The sampling frame for KIIs was developed through a stakeholder mapping exercise, which was done from secondary reviews, to identify potential participants (See Annex 4). A list of potential informants was developed, which was verified by ILRI during the inception phase of the evaluation. The team conducted 18 KIIs (see Annex 4).The household survey was guided by the design process for the baseline study (conducted prior to implementation). This was important to ensure consistency with the baseline data and enhance validity as well as comparability of baseline and mid-term values. The baseline study sampled 1,848 (325 households in Beitbridge, 309 households in Buhera, 302 households in Chiredzi, 300 households in Gwanda, 310 households in Mutoko, and 302 households in Nkayi). The mid-term evaluation therefore relied on these sample sizes and borrowed from the baseline survey questionnaire. The survey was conducted using an Android based Open Data Kit (ODK) which reduces human errors. The household survey covered 1,252 households as shown in Table 1 below. Multiple quality assurance procedures were implemented during the evaluation to uphold the validity of findings and streamline the data collection process. These procedures included:• Coordination and collaboration with contracting authority: The consultants collaborated with the ILRI project team during the evaluation design, training, and data collection to ensure technical support to the field teams.• Coordinator field logs: The consultants kept a record of the movements of field teams in each district throughout the fieldwork period. This ensured interviewers' compliance with the sampling plan and tracking of survey progress and completed interviews.• Location-based checks: This was done using the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to ensure that field teams selected the correct households as guided by the sampling frame.• Interview duration checks: The consultants checked the start and end times of each interview, to identify interviews that were suspiciously short or unusually long. This allowed for the identification of challenges with the interviews as well as the exclusion of any possibility of data fraud.• Translation: Data collection tools were translated through a participatory process during training to ensure consistency in asking questions. This was also in recognition that the field teams were extension workers who understood and fully appreciated the local languages, cultures, and values.• Data monitoring: Data collected was verified daily for quality assurance purposes by the computerassisted personal interviews (CAPI) programmer. The uploaded files underwent additional consistency checks, were cleaned, and exported to Excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Extensive data cleaning was completed at the end of the fieldwork before analysis.The mid-term review adopted a 4-phased approach: Inception, data collection, and data analysis, and reporting as shown in Figure 1 below.The task involved planning for the evaluation including preliminary meetings with ILRI. The main activities in this phase included an inception meeting and a desk review of existing documents. The main aim of the inception meeting was to present an inception plan. The inception meeting was held on 10 August 2023. Generally, the meeting sought to:• Introduce the research team to the client.• Agree on the goals, scope of work, and desired information.• Assign roles and responsibilities.• Agree on any revisions to the proposed methodology, work plan, and timelines if necessary.• Identify information resources necessary for the assignment.• Identification of key stakeholders whose support and buy-in is critical to the effective implementation of the study.• Agree upon the final deliverables and reporting framework.A review of existing documents was the first step in the data collection process and formed the basis for designing the evaluation and the development of data collection tools. Document review was critical in acquiring the background information of the project and continued throughout the evaluation as the team got new information. Documents reviewed included project documents (funding proposal, baseline report, meeting proceedings, logical framework, online sources) and relevant literature or publications on livestock production in Zimbabwe. Secondary data was critical for understanding the context, for example common cattle breeds in the different regions, common challenges including diseases, pastures, etc.This phase entailed the collection of data using different sources outlined in the previous sections and involved the following deliverables:1.The evaluation utilized 12 extension workers (7 males and 5 females) from the targeted wards in the six districts and rode on ILRI's existing working relationship with AGRITEX. The selected enumerators were trained in two locations: The first group was trained in Buhera (Murambinda) and consisted of teams from Mutoko, Buhera, and Chiredzi. The second team was trained in Beitbridge consisting of teams from Gwanda, Nkayi, and Beitbridge. The team participated in a piloting exercise in one ward in the Buhera District to ensure a common understanding of the data collection tools including response procedures for each question, probing, ethical considerations, and recording and storing data following agreed procedures. After pre-testing the tools, the team shared feedback which was used to refine and contextualize data collection tools.3. Data collection: Data collection was conducted between August and September 2023.Qualitative data collected through recordings were transcribed verbatim and subjected to thematic analysis following Mayring's guidelines (Mayring 2014). This method proved effective in distilling substantial volumes of unstructured information into central themes and messages derived from the interviews. The process involved systematically analysing transcripts against a developed category system, presenting the meaning in alignment with the evaluation questions.For quantitative data, a rigorous cleaning process was conducted, and analysis was performed using SPSS and Excel. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions with percentages, were employed as the primary analytical techniques.A significant limitation of the evaluation was the non-availability of some documents such as progress reports (encompassing both program and financial data), project documents, and monitoring reports (specifically the result oriented monitoring report, annual narrative reports, and annual planning and review meeting reports) due to limited coordination of monitoring data. Additionally, some data related to output indicators was not obtainable. The absence of these documents potentially compromised the assessment of certain OECD/DAC criteria, with a notable impact on the efficiency criterion, which heavily relies on financial data. Consequently, the evaluation of efficiency became predominantly qualitative due to the lack of requisite financial information.3 Results and discussionsThe household survey involved 1,252 households: Nkayi (194), Mutoko (215), Gwanda (214), Chiredzi (223), Buhera (211) and Beitbridge (195). The results are summarized in Table 2 below. A considerable proportion of the respondents, 46.4, and 44.6% attained primary-and secondary-level education, respectively. These results are in line with school enrollment and completion rates, which are lower than those of urban areas. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reports that primary enrollment rates in rural areas stood at 89% compared to 97% in urban areas. The LIPS-Zim project was generally viewed as addressing relevant and important challenges in the smallholder livestock sector. Consortium partners, third-party grantees, research institutions, and other key collaborators, are well-acquainted with the livelihood conditions of the beneficiaries. They can affirm the significance of interventions in effectively addressing the challenges faced by livestock producers. For instance, entities like CIRAD and University of Zimbabwe have established longstanding collaborations with these communities, gaining an in-depth understanding of their livelihood challenges over the years. Notably, extensive community consultations and activities were conducted during the project's inception, aligning closely with the farmers' specific challenges.During these consultations, it became evident that farmers grapple with issues such as feed availability and inadequate disease detection and management. The thematic areas addressed by the LIPS-Zim project were strategically designed to tackle these challenges. Livestock holds a pivotal role in the livelihoods and farming systems of individuals in natural regions IV and V. The project's objectives are perceived by farmers, project implementing partners, and other stakeholders as highly pertinent to the prevalent challenges, particularly in the realms of feed and animal health. These challenges, when addressed collectively, contribute significantly to enhancing livestock productivity and revitalizing the sector.Crucially, the project operates in areas characterized by marginal productivity, where farmers are in dire need of solutions and are grappling with the tangible impacts of climate change. Stakeholder perspectives, as reflected in the following quotations, underscore the resonance of the LIPS-Zim project with the pressing issues faced by the farmers:'I would say yes. If you look at Matabeleland South like any other region in Agro region V, which is a dry land, livelihood is mainly on natural resources to be more specific livestock. Therefore, most of the projects that address livestock issues more importantly the rangeland issues in Matabeleland South, cannot go wrong. They are addressing the real issues that affect the livelihoods of those communities. So, to me, it's clear that they are addressing the real issues in Matabeleland South…' KII with a representative of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).'LIPS-Zim is also working in some parts of the dry regions of eastern Zimbabwe for example Bulawayo, with climate change things are becoming worse. According to research which was done in 2011-2012 on the classification of natural regions in Zimbabwe, the dry regions are expanding and the wet regions where crop production is done, which are 1, 2, and 3 are shrinking. Livestock production is more resilient in dry regions than crop production. What we are trying to do as CUT [Chinhoyi University of Technology] is to investigate how we can try to rescue the situation of expanding of the dry region by trying to re-green the dry region…' KII with CUT representative. As Figure 2 indicates, more than half of the survey respondents (59.2%) agreed that the LIPS-Zim project was addressing their needs to a large extent while 31.2% indicated to a limited extent. Chiredzi (17.3%) and Beitbridge (15.3%) had the highest number of farmers who attested to the project largely addressing their needs. However, Buhera (6.9%), and Mutoko (3.1%) had the least number of farmers who agreed that the project largely addresses their needs.The LIPS-Zim project is in sync with several government and other development partners' initiatives and generally in line with district-level development plans. The project is being implemented in complementarity with other investments in the country, such as the Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) whose overarching objective is to contribute to the development of a diversified and efficient agriculture sector that promotes inclusive green economic growth However, challenges affecting target delivery were identified. Some partners faced delays due to EU requests to redo the log frame after a year of implementation, causing disruptions. Other challenges included delayed fund disbursements, difficulties in coordinating implementing partners and harmonizing work plans, and delays in contracting that extended into the second year in some instances. Late reporting was noted for some consortium partners, who were slow in acquaintance and reporting. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to delays in implementing activities due to lockdowns. Furthermore, the design of some activities at the project proposal stage led to discrepancies, as partners met after developing activity plans, each with different reporting formats.From the evaluation, it is worthy emphasizing the importance of addressing coordination issues, adapting to unforeseen circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, and enhancing communication and alignment among partners for improved project implementation.The institutional arrangements were generally viewed as efficient in the management and coordination of project activities. The consortium consisted of ILRI, CIMMYT, the University of Zimbabwe, and CIRAD. These organizations have different operating procedures and systems. CIMMYT and ILRI are part of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR), but they also have their operating procedures -differing in procurement policies, human resources policies, etc. The coordination process was highlighted to have been complicated especially in the beginning but has generally been successful. According to some KIIs, the consortium has continuously engaged in resolving coordination issues throughout the project life to avoid implementing in silos. There has been integration of activities and resource sharing, where it was feasible. Examples include joint implementation of field days. Where organizations deal with specialized areas of operations and need a diverse set of skilled people to be on the ground, partners strategically implement the activities jointly. Partners also commended efforts by the consortium partners in ensuring that third-party partners were part of the 'thinking process' throughout project implementation, mainly through engagement (review, and planning meetings). However, there were challenges regarding harmonization of policies and regulations (in some instances), reporting systems, and decision making.The Project Steering Committee was viewed as very instrumental in guiding processes and activities throughout the implementation period. It was instrumental in providing technical advice and oversight in areas such as market development, capacity building, and business training. It contributed to fostering partnerships, identifying partners, allowing cross-fertilization of ideas, and strengthening investments in various like-minded activities with other partners. It also conducted field visits and made recommendations for improvements.The evaluation tracked the results chain (impact, outcomes, and outputs) to assess the level of achievement against baseline values and set targets. The findings are highlighted in the proceeding sections.Impact: To improve livestock producers' livelihood in Zimbabwe agro-ecological regions IV and V, in the context of climate change challenges Indicator 1: Average amount of livestock sales per farming household (disaggregated by type of livestock and district)Less than half (43.8%) of the farmers had sold livestock in the past year. Beitbridge (11.7%) and Gwanda (9.7%) had the highest number of farmers who sold livestock while Buhera (3.6%) and Chiredzi (3.5%) had the lowest number of farmers who sold livestock in the past year. These results indicate that cattle sales are still low in the target districts.Indicator 2: Long-term farmers' business prospects (% responders rating 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied')As Figure 3 shows, farmers highly rated the long-term prospects of livestock production. Most farmers (63.3%) were satisfied with the business prospects while 18.3% were very satisfied. Only 18.4% were not satisfied with business prospects. Farmers rated highly the prospects of long-term prospects of livestock production. Further disaggregation by district indicated that Buhera (15.1%) and Mutoko (12.1%) had the highest number of farmers satisfied by business prospects while Gwanda (6.1%) had the lowest number of farmers satisfied by business prospects.  Outcome 1: Climate-adapted, cost-efficient, and science-based livestock production systems successfully adopted and up-scaled.    Results indicated that most farmers (73%) practiced innovative animal husbandry and related techniques and practices.Figure 5 shows that the most common practices were animal health management (29.7%), fodder management and conservation (22.2%), water harvesting (13%), and manure management (10.1%). Other practices that were not very common included improved breeds, improved animal management, climate smart feeding, adaptive breeds, and improved business approaches.Indicator 3: % of existing village-level community grazing/pasture management schemes There were no village-level pasture/grazing management schemes (90.2% reported the non-existence of these schemes). Nkayi district had a very small proportion that confirmed the existence of such schemes (6%). This indicates continued threats to community grazing land as it is still treated as an open-access resource. This scenario is detrimental given the rising threats of desertification from climate change. However, considering the baseline and target figures in Table 4 (0% baseline and 10% target), the mid-term value of 9.8 % is huge progress towards meeting the 2023 target. Outcome 2: Reduction of diseases that contribute towards lower productivity and higher mortality of livestock, attributable to climate change effects are achieved in regions IV and V.Indicator 1: Herd size by household in the targeted areas (disaggregated by type of livestock and by district).Data on average household herd size show a positive trend with most districts showing increases for cattle, chickens, goats, and sheep (Table 5). In Beitbridge for example, the average household herd for cattle increased from 4 at baseline to 10 at mid-term; chickens increased from 10 at baseline to 13 and mid-term, while sheep increased from 0.6 at baseline to 1 at mid-term. In Chiredzi, average household herd sizes for cattle, goats, and sheep increased from baseline values, but chickens decreased from 13 at baseline to 10 at mid-term. Overall, the project has surpassed most of the targets. Indicator 2: Status of sanitary condition of herds in targeted areas, (disaggregated by type of livestock and by district)Table 6 shows the ratings made by respondents on the sanitary conditions of livestock. Overall, most of the respondents indicated that the sanitary conditions of their livestock had improved. For instance, in cattle, Mutoko had the highest number of farmers (13.7%) who reported an improvement while Gwanda had the least (5.6%). For goats, Beitbridge had the highest number of farmers (14.8%) reporting improved sanitary conditions while Nkayi had the least (5.8%). Although the baseline values and the targets for the indicator were clearly set, mid-term values for this indicator could not be obtained from DVSs project monitoring system. Nkayi: (cattle -30, chickens -0, goats -1, sheep -0)Output 1: Increased climate-change-compliant fodder production systems are tested, evaluated, and divulged among the farmers in project districts.Indicator 1: Status of Gendered Feed Assessment Tool (G-FEAST) describing existing forage situation and suggested options for improved feeding At the time of the mid-tern evaluation, the G-FEAST surveys had been concluded in four districts -Gwanda, Beitbridge, Buhera, Mutoko and Nkayi.  Close to half of the respondents (47.9%) confirmed that community-based commercial livestock feed and forage production slightly improved while above one-third of the respondents highlighted that the status had not improved (Figure 6). At district level, the majority (13.3%) and Mutoko (0.8%) had the least. Of the 47.9% who highlighted that community-based commercial livestock feed and forage production slightly improved, the majority are from Buhera and Mutoko (13.2% and 12.5% respectively).Indicator 5: Climate-change-compliant commercial fodder varieties bought by farmers in targeted areas Almost all the farmers in the target areas (97.8%) had not bought climate-change-compliant commercial fodder varieties in the previous year.Indicator 6: % of farmers that agree that the quality and availability of fodder has increased More than half of the respondents (67.7%) attested to the fact that there was an improvement in the quality and availability of fodder while 4.6% disagreed (Figure 7). Beitbridge and Buhera had the highest number of farmers 15.3% and 13.4% respectively who believed that quality and availability had increased). Most of the households (76%) in the target areas had piloted innovative techniques in herd management. A comparison of the districts shows that Chiredzi and Gwanda had the highest number of farmers who had piloted (16.5% and 16.1% respectively) while Mutoko and Buhera had the least number of farmers piloting (9.6% and 3.8% respectively).Indicator 2: Innovations in crop and animal production are designed under an inclusive participatory approach engaging a variety of relevant stakeholders in science, business, and government.The project submitted one project-related scientific paper for publication with three others planned to be submitted by 2023. While there were indications that 30 farmers participated in smallholder feed and forage businesses, there was no clarity on the status or formality of such businesses (Table 8). Several partnerships were highlighted that included more than one partner institution, including K'Lusa, and the establishment of laboratories. Indicator 3: Enhanced knowledge by DVS and academia of the linkages between climate change and vector-borne disease outbreak, detection, and control Considerable progress was achieved for this indicator. Three out of the targeted 20 DVS staff were trained in parasitological, serological, and molecular diagnosis of trypanosomiasis and a further 11 trained on trapping and identification of hematophagous flies. In addition, 17 DVS staff and 2 postgraduate students were trained in modelling distribution of disease vectors. One postgraduate student is undertaking studies on the effect of climate change on tick-and tick-borne diseases. The student has already collected epidemiological data and is currently analyzing it. A draft systematic review article on ticks and tick-borne diseases has been produced using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and is currently under review. However, this is way below the targeted 20 articles, and it is unlikely that the project will meet its target within the remaining time frame.Indicator 4: Increased capacity of DVS to implement surveillance of and control policies and routines on vector-borne diseases.Good progress was made for this indicator. Gwanda Provincial Veterinary Laboratory and Masvingo Veterinary Laboratory were commissioned and handed over to DVS. Tsetse Laboratory is yet to be completed but partitioning has been conducted and laboratory reagents and equipment were purchased. In addition, the following equipment were procured: an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reader, air conditioner, fluorescent and light microscope, magnetic stirrer, micropipettes, fridge/freezer, distiller, and motorbike.The commissioned Gwanda Provincial Veterinary Laboratory with a refurbished postmortem section, refurbished incinerator, installed air condition system, installed solar system, and repainted structures. Photo credit: ILRIThe project has successfully bolstered data analysis capabilities for DVS. Specifically, training initiatives targeted seven epidemiologists from DVS, two personnel from technical services, six members from the Information, Communication and Technology Department, three veterinary officers, seven staff members from the University of Zimbabwe, and six postgraduate students. Out of the planned four training sessions, three have already been concluded. These sessions covered essential topics such as database management, Geographic Information System (GIS), and statistical software (R software). There are two remaining sessions scheduled for 2024. These include a session on database management and another session focusing on statistical analysis using R software. The ongoing training efforts aim to further enhance the capacity of DVS in leveraging advanced data analysis tools and methodologies for more effective and informed decision-making.Significant strides were also achieved in the adoption and utilization of disease detection tools by local laboratories affiliated with DVS (Table 9). The progress stands at 33% of the targeted goal. However, regarding the enhancement of data analysis and management capabilities among veterinary or animal health staff from DVS, the accomplishment reached only 20% of the set target. Unfortunately, gender-disaggregated data, as mandated by the results framework, is currently unavailable.Furthermore, DVS successfully formulated an animal disease surveillance plan, financed by FAO SAFE, encompassing all prioritized diseases. The upcoming phase of the project will involve the development of disease-specific plans. Notably, there is no analysed data on the percentage of disease outbreaks responded to by DVS within stipulated time frames, as this activity was initially slated for 2023. To address this, a workshop has been scheduled to map out the next steps and ensure the effective implementation of this aspect of the project. There was significant achievement in reaching the target for the number of farmers equipped with the capacity for disease detection and surveillance, with 50% of the goal accomplished (Table 10). DVS effectively utilized the Innovation Communication Platforms (ICPs) to attain this indicator. A total of 295 farmers actively contributed to the establishment of ICPs, spanning across 5 districts. These farmers underwent training in disease detection and control facilitated by postgraduate students. Notably, farmers actively engaged in research activities conducted by the students. To further support the ongoing efforts, training materials tailored for farmers and extension services are currently in development, spearheaded by BIO-HUB as the lead organization. This initiative aims to enhance the dissemination of knowledge and skills among farmers, fostering a robust network for disease detection and surveillance within the targeted communities. Indicator 6: Number of priority livestock disease outbreaks detected by the improved surveillance system and reported by farmers to DVS (disaggregated by year and type of disease)The capacity of Gwanda Provincial Veterinary Laboratory has been strengthened to detect various diseases, including tickborne diseases, Newcastle disease, peste des petits ruminants (PPR), anthrax, and blackleg. However, data compilation and analysis are still pending. Utilizing microscopy analysis techniques, the Gwanda Provincial Veterinary Laboratory successfully identified theileriosis, a prioritized disease. This accomplishment showcases the enhanced capabilities of the laboratory in employing advanced diagnostic methods to identify and address crucial diseases in the region.Indicator 7: Innovations in animal health have been co-designed through an inclusive participatory approach involving all relevant stakeholdersThis output has been executed through innovative platforms, involving footbath acaricide trials and the co-design of tick and tsetse fly control measures, primarily targeting Amblyomma spp. The facility is designed to benefit both large and small ruminants, with farmers in Mashonaland East, Masvingo, Matabeleland South, and Mashonaland West provinces actively participating. Trials have commenced, and data collection is underway, managed by two postgraduate students.A PhD student is investigating the impact of climate change on ticks and tick-borne diseases. Additionally, five MPhil students are delving into various areas, including the epidemiology and risk factors of PPR, Newcastle disease, drug and vaccine use, availability and challenges, conventional and ethnoveterinary options for tick control, and the epidemiology and anthropogenic factors influencing tsetse fly distribution.However, it is noteworthy that there is currently no record available on the number of project-supported consultation meetings aimed at fostering multi-actor cooperative action for the improvement of innovative animal health measures. Clarifying and documenting these collaborative efforts will enhance the overall project evaluation and understanding of stakeholder engagement.Several challenges were encountered in the financial disbursement and management systems for certain third-party partners, leading to delays in project activities. The University of Zimbabwe faced budget management difficulties due to differences in financial procedures, causing delays in joint activities with other partners. CIRAD, despite having no issues accessing funds, faced challenges when collaborating with the University of Zimbabwe on specific activities due to differing financial rebooting processes. CUT reported delays in implementing activities due to insufficient funds. Additionally, funds were not released promptly, and CUT emphasized the need for a more flexible funding approach covering multiple activities. CUT has a financial management system with the cumbersome paperwork, impacting negatively on implementation schedules and synchronization with semester breaks.Consortium partners had mixed views on financial management. The Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Zimbabwe reported smooth financial disbursements and payments through the Bursar's Office. Some partners suggested additional training for accountants and administrative staff of third-party partners. CIMMYT highlighted the bureaucratic challenges in engaging third parties and accessing funds, emphasizing the need for improved financial management capacity.Despite these challenges, there was consensus among consortium and third-party partners that the project was implemented cost-effectively. Synergies and comparative advantages were leveraged, exemplified by ILRI and FAO's collaboration in Beitbridge, Gwanda, and Matopos. Partners optimized resources, with FAO utilizing ILRI's social capital in stakeholder networks and sharing expertise to enhance efficiency. Cross-sharing of skills and experiences among partners further contributed to effective resource utilization. Addressing financial management challenges, providing additional training, and fostering collaboration based on partners' strengths were identified as key areas for improvement, aligning with fiduciary requirements outlined in the Collaborative Research Agreement.However, there was a feeling that the project was a bit ambitious when considering the expected results vis-à-vis the allocated budget, particularly for budgets associated with travel. The budget line for vehicles did not factor in maintenance considering the bad state of the roads resulting in high vehicle maintenance costs. For example, normally tyres are replaced once a year but, in some instances, tyres were replaced more frequently (in extreme cases 2 or 3 times a month when cut by the roads or stones). It also felt that the project did not adequately budget for farmer meetings and engagements to enhance reflections and feedback, compromising knowledge sharing. It was argued that this would have better informed repackaging of some activities and knowledge co-creation. Moreover, there is a prevailing sentiment that insufficient resources were allocated for engaging with local authorities, who serve as the primary communication and engagement channel. There is consensus that greater emphasis should have been placed on allocating resources for communication and visibility. Substantial project materials that could have been more effectively communicated still remain on the shelves and requires concerted efforts to be disseminated in the remaining months of the project. Addressing this aspect is crucial to maximizing the impact and legacy of the project.Various positive impacts resulting from the project were reported. Notable outcomes included an increase in household income achieved through fodder sales, reduced costs associated with purchasing supplementary feed, enhanced livestock production, and a decline in livestock mortality rates due to better livestock husbandry practices. Livestock breeds demonstrated improvement through the adoption of artificial insemination and improved feeding practices, such as feed formulation and the establishment of fodder banks.Farmers reported significant gains in learning and knowledge sharing related to feed formulation, livestock production, and other aspects through demonstration plots and field days that resulted in healthy and prized livestock herds. Farmers emphasized the value of group learning at the learning centres, underscoring the benefits derived from group activities such as collective harvesting and seed preservation for subsequent farming cycles. Learning platforms played a crucial role in disseminating information about disease outbreaks, vaccination practices, and the implementation of rotational grazing, which was monitored by selected committee members in certain districts. Furthermore, farmers highlighted the vital role played by savings and lending groups, which were either formed or strengthened as part of the project. These groups substantially improved access to finance, providing farmers with additional resources to invest in their livestock and agricultural activities. The overall impact of the project on both economic and knowledge-sharing aspects is evident in the positive changes reported by the farming communities.Farmers highlighted the important role played by technological innovations through the LIPS-Zim project. For example, the use of a mechanical grinder was highlighted as fast and efficient equipment for feed processing. Thus, women were reported to save time and focus on other productive activities. The tractors and trailers were cherished by everyone as they helped with other farm duties like ferrying water, and bricks. Again, women were now taking less time and labour to fetch water. In addition, the farmers highlighted the introduction of the new orange maize varieties, drought-tolerant varieties, and new legumes as useful and provided choices when addressing the feed issue. Conservation agriculture techniques were highlighted as effective under the current erratic rainfall in most areas. Farmers were also trained on increasing forage productivity and on different water preservation techniques like mulching, tide ridges, and plastic coverage.'…The program helps, when we harvest the fodder crops, we have seed for the next season as well as feed for our livestock. It is better than the situation before when we had nothing for supplement grazing. We no longer have a hard time looking for cattle at the end of the day. The cattle come home themselves in anticipation of the supplementary treats which are highly favoured by the fodder. They are much more palatable than just the maize Stover we were accustomed to giving them. Our livestock have greatly improved in health. The outlook is good. When selling our livestock, we now have bargaining advantage and earn more…' (FGD, Mutoko Ward 7)Figure 8: The extent to which the project contributed to improved livestock production and livelihoods.Majority of farmers (61.7%) agreed that the LIPS-Zim project played a significant role in enhancing livestock production and improving livelihoods (Figure 8). Notably, Chiredzi (17.5%) and Beitbridge (15.4%) stood out with the highest percentages of farmers supporting this view, while Buhera (6.9%) and Mutoko (3.6%) had the lowest levels of agreement. This discrepancy may be linked to the challenging circumstances in these two districts, as they are among the most severely affected areas in the country by Theileriosis (January disease).The project has made substantial strides in enhancing animal nutrition, empowering farmers to cultivate feed for their livestock, and encouraging some to venture into processing for the production of balanced rations 2 . Additionally, market centres were revitalized to serve as aggregation points, with new centres established in Buhera, Beitbridge, and Gwanda, while existing ones in Murehwa and Mutoko were refurbished. Farmers in Gwanda, for instance, appreciate the added value these centres bring, including the inclusion of scales for fair and accurate livestock valuation, fostering equitable transactions between buyers and sellers 3 .The project's capacity-building initiatives have been directed at reinforcing marketing intelligence for farmers and enhancing the expertise of senior veterinary staff in developing vaccines for diseases such as January, tick-borne diseases, black leg, and anthrax. Ongoing research by six MScs students and a PhD student further contributes to various aspects of veterinary science. ICT staff, focusing on data management, and laboratory personnel in the provinces were trained on equipment usage.The project has greatly impacted on rangeland management. Research findings have been disseminated to all key stakeholders, including traditional leaders and government line ministries. Insights from KIIs reveal that these efforts are influencing both the community and the government in their approach to rangeland management, showcasing the project's broader impact on sustainable agricultural practices.It was emphasized that the project relies on the support of extension services to effectively undertake disease surveillance at the community level. In this system, farmers communicate animal health events to local extension service providers, who then report centrally. The project is actively working on strengthening these linkages between extension services and farmers for improved disease surveillance.Regarding disease control, the project is exploring the efficacy of footbath technology for both tick and tsetse fly control. Provincial laboratories are actively contributing to disease surveillance and detection. In Masvingo, the project infrastructure has expanded the capacity to address various diseases, facilitating quicker disease management. KIIs with extension officers and FGDs with farmers underscored the positive impacts on disease control. Farmers reported increased capabilities, such as administering drugs and closely monitoring their animals to detect signs of sickness. Farmers in different regions, including Beitbridge, Mutoko, and Nkayi, highlighted their newfound ability to detect diseases like Blackleg, Newcastle, Heartwater, and January disease, and promptly report them to DVS. Furthermore, the laboratories in Gwanda and Masvingo play a vital role in confirming diseases identified by farmers. Laboratory staff have undergone training in data management and disease recognition, with a particular focus on trypanosomiasis, enhancing the effectiveness of disease surveillance efforts. For instance, in Gwanda, approximately 400 samples were processed for January disease during the evaluation period, eliminating the need to send samples to Harare or Matabeleland South. This has significantly reduced the waiting period for testing and results, enabling timely decision-making for animal disease management.Several components of the project have the potential for sustainability beyond its duration, such as animal breeding, animal health, livestock feeding, improved livestock structures, and water harvesting. Village savings and credit groups are seen as a tool to ensure the sustainability of various activities, such as purchasing fodder and feed production, by enhancing continuous access to finance. The project's impact on animal nutrition is expected to continue naturally, given the challenges faced by farmers, and certain practices have already been adopted outside the treatment wards.Partnerships with seed companies in places like Beitbridge, Gwanda, and Mutoko, involving companies like K2, Easy Seeds, and Agri Seeds, indicate the potential for sustainability in the seed and forage value chains, which has the potential to thrive through the lucrative seed market, driven by frequent droughts and farmers' desire to improve livestock nutrition. Market centres, already functioning as aggregation points, are deemed to have the potential to succeed, as farmers are already utilizing them. Community-based rangeland management, anchored in the strength of traditional authorities, is expected to be sustainable in areas with robust traditional leadership, where farmers agree on how to use natural resources, backed by scientific research provided by the LIPS-Zim project.Farmers believe that machinery supplied through LIPS-Zim, if well used in fodder crop production, could ensure continuity, with repair and maintenance financed by hiring out the machinery to non-group members. Water conservation techniques, such as tide ridges, mulching, and plastic mulching, are seen as sustainable. While some farmers expressed concerns about water supply, the need for more skills in artificial insemination, and proper systems for the use and maintenance of machinery, there is an active participation in on-farm trials, and communities are ready to upscale interventions that prove successful. The project's encouragement of farmers to use locally available resources is expected to enhance sustainability.Although the project does not have a defined exit strategy, an exit plan is reportedly being developed with local government departments, including DRSS and AGRITEX. Innovation platforms, and innovation communication platforms are expected to continue supporting project activities, as they existed before the project and have specific objectives around livestock development. The project's involvement of farmers in identifying challenges and finding solutions, along with collaboration with government structures, adds to the potential for sustained impact even after the project concludes.This mid-term evaluation assessed the ongoing relevance of the LIPS-Zim project and its progress towards achieving its objectives. The evaluation results indicated that the project remains pertinent in addressing significant challenges in the smallholder livestock sector. Furthermore, it aligns with various government and other development partners' initiatives at both national and district levels, such as the ZAGP, the SAFE project, and the Pfumvudza program.In terms of effectiveness, while some stakeholders perceived the project as overly ambitious in its geographical focus, it is generally on track with most targets. These include the adoption of climate-change-relevant fodder production techniques, innovative animal husbandry practices, enhancement of sanitary conditions for livestock, growth in household herd size, increased awareness of crop and livestock technologies, piloting climate change forage varieties, and building farmers' capacities for disease detection and surveillance. However, challenges were noted in achieving desired levels of livestock sales, and limited progress was observed in publishing project-related scientific work. Some partners reported challenges in meeting targeted milestones, while others were progressing well, with a few outstanding activities.The institutional arrangements for implementation were generally considered efficient in managing and coordinating project activities. However, challenges were encountered with financial disbursement and financial management systems for some third-party partners. Despite this, there was a prevailing sense among consortium and third-party partners that the project was being implemented cost-effectively. Partners collaborated effectively, leveraging different comparative advantages and creating synergies.The project demonstrated various impacts, including improved animal nutrition and husbandry practices. Market centres were rehabilitated to serve as aggregation points. Positive impacts on livelihoods were evident, including increased household incomes through fodder sales, enhanced livestock production, reduced costs of supplementary feed, and decreased livestock mortality. Livestock quality improved after farmers embraced artificial insemination and better feeding practices, including feed formulation and the establishment of fodder banks. Learning and knowledge sharing were enhanced through demonstration plots and field days. However, the evaluation highlighted the need for additional extension support to have a more significant impact on disease surveillance at the community level.Several project components were identified as having the potential to continue beyond the project's conclusion, including animal breeding, animal health, livestock feeding, improved livestock structures, and water harvesting. Notably, the LIPS-Zim project lacks a defined exit strategy, but the evaluation revealed ongoing efforts to develop an exit plan in collaboration with local government departments, including DRSS and AGRITEX.Based on the mid-term evaluation findings, the following are the key recommendations moving forward:i.Develop modalities for finalizing outstanding activities: Clarify and establish plans to complete outstanding activities within the remaining project timeframe. Address specific issues, such as providing equipment for sample analysis for students from DVS, completing natural resources management activities in Buhera, and finalizing research protocols, including economic analysis at the consortium level.ii.Consolidation of knowledge products: Document numerous success stories generated by the project and expedite the production of project-related scientific publications. Consider innovative approaches, such as organizing write shops, to swiftly create knowledge products. Promote the utilization of lessons and emerging best practices, fostering communities of practice for the smallholder livestock sector through innovation platforms.iii. Value chain development: While the project has improved productivity through climate-change-relevant fodder production, focus on enhancing the marketing component and explore plans for processing/value addition. Adopt a business-oriented approach to ensure future sustainability, integrating ongoing efforts to strengthen market infrastructure into the strategy.iv. Information management: Enhance coordination among partners for the management of monitoring data.Establish a centralized repository for output indicators to facilitate future monitoring and evaluation activities, including end-line/impact assessments commissioned in the future.Leveraging the project for policy engagement: Capitalize on the project's existing integration into the national and district-level livestock development ecosystem. Utilize the influence of consortium and third-party partners, high-profile institutions, for policy advocacy. Develop tools to convey knowledge and experiences for effective policy advocacy within the smallholder livestock sector.vi. Consolidating the exit strategy: Accelerate the ongoing process of consolidating the exit strategy, considering the limited remaining project timeframe. Ensure sufficient time for institutionalizing components of the exit strategy into systems and processes of key government departments involved in the exit plan. The LIPS-Zim project is dedicated to improving the usage of climate-relevant livestock production practices. This includes research on the technologies and models that can increase the adoption of business and climate smart feeding practices, combined with strengthened research on the epidemiology of diseases and the most efficient way of controlling them. These are fundamental for addressing the key challenges to livestock production in Zimbabwe. The combined impact will improve the efficiencies of livestock production systems, reduce their environmental footprint and in particular benefit the people living in the expanding natural regions IV and V, which are the most disadvantaged in Zimbabwe.This is a four-year project funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Zimbabwe. ILRI's partners include CIMMYT, CIRAD, and the University of Zimbabwe's Faculty of Veterinary Sciences. The Government of Zimbabwe Department of Research Specialist Services and Department of Veterinary Services are also integral to the project efforts. The nine chosen project districts within regions IV and V are Buhera, Gwanda, Nkayi, Beitbridge, Binga, Mutoko, Chiredzi, Gokwe North, and Hwange.Baseline studies were conducted in the districts to understand the current situation and identify the types of farmers to guide innovation packages of the greatest use to each. Additionally, the project is funding graduate studies at the University of Zimbabwe to address necessary animal health interventions. The major achievements of the project to date are:• Acceptance of the program by government of Zimbabwe and district.• The project was successfully launched by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement• Acceptance by the communities' key beneficiaries of the program Demonstration sites on feed and fodder have been piloted under rainfed and irrigation• The project has rehabilitated the Central veterinary Laboratory, established a provincial veterinary laboratory in Gwanda, Matabeleland South Province, and is rehabilitating the Masvingo Provincial Veterinary Laboratory.• 5 MSc and 1 Ph.D. students have been recruited through the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Zimbabwe; with the MSc students at advanced stages in their research• The project Steering committee of the project was established• A Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) review was contacted in 1st quarter of 2021• Annual planning and review meetings were convened• The project has contracted 3rd parties to assist with implementation, build their capacity, and improve collaboration across research institutions in the country. Further PCP conveners are playing a significant role in fostering collaboration.The mid-term evaluation is to be undertaken by the consultant to assess the continued relevance of the intervention and the progress made towards achieving its planned objectives. The review will identify, and document lessons learned including lessons that will help improve design and implementation and to make recommendations for improvement in implementation over the remaining project lifetime.The consultant is expected to write a report following a review of the literature and gaps where he/she will explicitly propose an evaluation methodology, defining the sample size and how selection bias will be avoided. The evaluation should be carried out through participatory processes involving the beneficiaries, children, women, consortium members, partners, and stakeholders. The consultant should consult a wide range of stakeholders such as regional offices, district offices national and international non-government actors working in the area to explore and substantiate findings. Site visits must be made to proportional sample project intervention areas and beneficiary sites.The methodologies, sampling procedures, and tools must be agreed upon with the consortium members prior to starting the fieldwork for the evaluation.• The consultant will be responsible to conduct all activities of the evaluation from its inception to its finalization.• Develop and design evaluation tools by adopting the Standard methodology• Ensures emphasis on data quality and documenting end line data for all indicators stipulated on the project log frame• Agree with the consortium on the evaluation tools, methodology and protocols before departure to the field• Closely work with the project manager throughout the evaluation period• Adhere to the methodologies indicated in the proposal and approved during the inception phase• Ensure that the assessment is comprehensive and includes all relevant indicatorsThe consultant will deliver:• Review of background documents (process documents, project proposals, baseline results, log-frames, strategic plans)• An inception report including data collection tools (interview or FGD, surveys), clearly stating the limitations of the proposed data collection methods and the sampling strategy, detailed work plan• Evaluation matrix: this should show how the evaluators plan to answer each of the evaluation questions reflecting the data collection methods set out to answer the questions. It should be presented as an annex with the inception report.• A draft report for the study using the format given below in the TORs.• A final report after incorporating comments from the implementation team and advisors in digital copy. • Explain the purpose of the interview/discussion.• Ensure confidentiality again, including tape recording.• Ask the participants if they have questions.• Ask the participants to sign the consent form.• Start the discussion.Welcome and thank you for your willingness to take part in this discussion. My name is ……………….. We have been asked by ILRI to conduct this interview. We are here to discuss with and to learn from all of you regarding your experiences engaging with the LIPS-Zim project. The interview is part of the Mid-term evaluation of the LIPS-Zim project. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the continued relevance of the intervention and the progress made toward achieving its planned objectives.Discussion Procedures: The discussion will take approximately 1 (one) hour. We will ask you some questions and we hope that you will respond based on your experiences and knowledge. Please raise your hand if you want to respond to a question or to a response from another participant. There is no obligation to answer any question. Feel free to pass on any questions that you are not comfortable discussing. The role of the facilitator is to guide the discussion; however, please speak with each other. It is okay to disagree with each other but be respectful. There are no right or wrong answers, only different points of view. One person should speak at a time. As a facilitator, I have the right to stop the discussion when the situation is no longer conducive (off-topic, tensions mount, etc.) and continue to the next question, or end the session.Confidentiality: Even though our discussion is being recorded, I would like to assure you that our discussion will be confidential. Please do not share details of the discussion outside of this group. The recordings will be kept safely and can be accessed only by the Consultants. Your name will not be listed in the report and will not be made explicit for specific quotes and statements in the report. Other information (e.g., age, gender, community) may be mentioned but we will make sure that you cannot be identified. ","tokenCount":"10556"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3236464494.json b/data/part_1/3236464494.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..38ea6b15f9e29c364390d15057b246d7828b747d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3236464494.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9dca2c60ac0e4e0b362363b8ab0a2b97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/40b5f464-79b1-4940-897b-982bb6ec72a7/retrieve","id":"-1083013458"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f24e7d3-d5c8-4aef-8f41-85a63edd8d3f","pagecount":"9","content":"Partícipatory plant-breeding (PPB) melhods were used to develop Iwo .ceeplable, cold-to\\erant nce varieties in Nepal: Maehhapuchhre-3 (M-3) and Machhapuchhre-9 (M-9). Both were derived from Ihe eross Fuji I02/Chhomrong Dh.n. Following the introduclion oflhese varieties from 1993 to 1998_ ¡he changes in the rice landraees and vaneties that fanners grew were studied in 10 villages. In seven of the villages, forwhich dala were analyzed for bOlh 1996 and 1999, fanners grew 191andraces and fourmodem varieties, ofwhich three (M-3, M-9, and Lumle 2) were !he produc!s ofPPB. These three varieties eovered 11 % of the total surveyed area in 1999. The introduction of the PPB varierÍes had tne greatest impact on the more commonly grown I.ndraees. During the years studied, because the new vaneties had exotic gennplasm in their parentage, there was an overall inerease in vanetal diversity. However, in the future, ¡ncreasing adaption ofM-3 and M-9 could result in significant reductions in variet.l diversity.Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University ofWales, Bangor. UK.Most of,his work was carried out with core funds ftom U-SIRO. The ¡nitia! monitoring of 'he adoption and varietal spread of PPB products \"'as joíot1y funded by the UK Dopartment for Intemational Dovelopment (DFIO). project R6636, for tite OOnetit of developing countries and by the Intemational Development Research Centre (IDRe). The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFIO, U-SIRO, or IORC. Machhapuehhre-3 and Machhapochhre-9 are the products ofthe Agricultural Resean::h Station, Lurnle, Nepal Agricultural Researeh CounciL Wo acknowledge the contribution ofall the farmers who eollaborated in the ioítia1 PPB aod in the ,preadofM-3 and M-9. Thetieldwork by B. B. Paude!, community organizer of U-SIRO is apprecíated.Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is increasingly being used for decentralized crop improvement (Weltzein et aL 2000;Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga 1996;Sthapit, 1oshi, and Witcombe 1996;Witcombe et aL 1996). Important elements ofPPB commonly include the use in the breedíng program of a locallandrace or locally adopted variety as a parent, the sereeníng of segregating matel'Íals in the target environment, and the participation of farmers in goal selting, selection, and evaluation.Farmers in the bilis and mountains ofNepal continue to grow landraces because centralized plant breeding has had limited success in producing varieties that farmers wish lo adopt. The use of decentralized, participatory methods could remove this constraint lo the adoption of new varieties. However, the products ofPPB, ifbighly preferred by farmen;, could have a considerable impact on local agrobiodiversity, In recent years, there has becn a growing awareness ofthe value and utility ofagrobiodiversity, and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and intemational organizations are concemed about the conservation and utilization ofbiodiversity. For example, during the third global meeting ofthe Intematíonal Plan! Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRl), in July 1999, Pokhara, Nepal, the in situ crop conservation project of DI. Ramnath Rao of IPGRl presented one possible impact that PPB products could have on landrace diversity (figure 1).  Participatory plant breeding of high-altitude rice was initiated in 1993 by the Lum!e Agricultura! Research Centre (LARC) in the villages ofChhomrong and Ghandruk, both at an altitude of2000 m, in !he Kaski district of Nepal. Eighteen farmers collaborated in selecting between, and sometimes within, 10 F s bulk lines derived from three different crosses made by !he Agricultural Botany Dívisíon ofthe Nepal Agricultural Research Council (Stbapit,.Joshí, and Witcombe L996). As a result of this program, in June 1996, the Variety Release and Registration Cornmittee (VRRC) of N epal made the first release of a variety produced with the extensive use of particípatory methods: Machhapuchhre-3 (M-3) (Joshi et al., 1996). In a participatory varietal selection (PVS) program, farmers at Chhomrong also identified Machhapuchhre-9 (M-9), a sister !ine to M-3, as an acceptable variety. Starting in 1996, M-3 and M-9 were introduced into víllages situated between 1200 ID and 2300 m altitude by NGOs such as the Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD), CARE Nepal, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), and LARC.The adoptíon and spread ofM-3 and M-9 were monitored from 1996 to 1999. Five víllages were surveyed in both 1996 and 1997, and 10 in both 1998 and 1999. Only the surveys in 1999 are reported here (table 1). Information was collected froq¡ the surveyed households using semi-structured ínterviews. Samplíng was purposi ve (on1y from househo1ds known to have been given seed of M-3 or M-9). In 1998, farmers were asked about their adoption intentions to assess the possible impact ofPPB products on the diversity of rice landraces. The 1999 survey, which covered about 18% of the households that had adopted and grown PPB products within the last three years (table 1), also collected information on the 1andraces farmers grew in 1996. For each household, the total area of khet land (irrigated and bounded terraees of land where rice is grown) was determined from the land-ownership certificates, and a total inventory of rice varieties, with the area that each variety occupied, was compiled.The rice varieties and landraces were analyzed by the area in which they were grown and the number of households that grew !hem. Changes between 1996 and 1999 were assessed for area and household number for the more cornmon landraces. The statistical significance of changes in area was determined by a two-tailed paired f test between the areas reported for 1996 and 1999. Adoption 01 M-3 and M-9 in 1999 M-3 was introduced to alllO study villages and was adopted in al! ofthern, whíle M-9 was introduced to seven ofthe víllages but was adopted in three (figure 2). The rnost important factors in determining adüption were the altitudes of the villages and the year in which they first received seed. Apart frorn the low-altitude víllage of Bangephadke, adoption of either M-3 or M-9 was at leasl 10% ofthe rice area in víllages that had received seed before 1998.Since the ancestors of the landraces were not kIlown, no analysis of diversity could be done that required a kIlowledge ofthe relatedness ofthe cultivars with each other. However, richness can be assessed by the number oflandraces and varíeties grown (figure 3) for the seven villages for which Ihere were data for both 1999 and 1996. The total number ofrice cultivars decreased líttle in the study víllages. Thís was despite the adoptíon of varíeties produced by PPB that might have been expected to have replaced several of the landraces. The number of rice cultívars grown in 1999 increased in two ofthe study víllages and decreased in two, while in three ofthe villages there was no change (figure 3).The decrease in díversity in Chhornrong and Ghandruk i5 not 5urprísing since the inítial PPB prograrn was conducted in these villages. In the early stages, as manyas nine lines were grown in 1996 at Chhornrong alone, but by 1999, the undesirable Unes had been dropped. Another case of decrease was in Chane and Kimche, where adopting households dropped the Tairige and Takmare landraces to grow M-3 even though M-3 covered less than 15% ofthe total rice aTea.In a11 of the seven study víllages, sorne of the rice area that was under landraces in 1996 was occupied in 1999 by M-3 and M-9. This increased genetíc diversity, since M-3 and M-9 have exotic germplasm in their ancestry. M-3, M-9, and Lumle-2 all have a locallandrace, Chhornrong Dhan, as a parent. Fuji 102, an exotic varíety from Japan, ís a parent of M-3 and M-9, and IR36, an Interoatíonal Rice Research Institute (IRRl) varíety, is a parent ofLumle-2. Chhomrong Dhan was grown in only tbree oflhe seven villages, so in four oftbem, there was no cultivar Ihal was genetically related lo tbe PPB products.In 1999, farmers grew 19 landraces and five modero varíeties in tbe seven study villages for which both 1996 and 1999 data were available. Of the five modem varietíes, !bree were tbe products of PPB (M-3, M-9, and Lumle-2). The average area devoted to any landrace by tbe households in tbe study villages was quitesmall «0.3 ha) (figure 4). Oflhe 191andraces in these seven villages, 12 were reasonably common (figure 4). Oftbe seven less common, five were grown by only one oftbe sampled households and two had a combination oflow household number and a small average area.While studying the occurrence and diversity ofIocallandraces in Kaski Ca low to mid-hill site, 750 m to 1300 m) and Bara (100 m to 150 m), Joshi el al. (1999) found tbat only a few landraces were widely grown. The great majority oflandraces or varieties were less common and had eitber a small area or few households growing them, or botb. A similar result was found for ghaiya (upland rice) landraces (Joshi et aL, forthcoming). This was also found for modem varíeties in the Nepal Teraí (Joshi and Witcombe, tbis volume). Farroers' pereeptions in 1998. In 1998, fanners' perceptíon8 of the iropact that PPB products would have on local landrace diversity were recorded. Most of the respondents reported that they would increase the area under M-3 or M-9. About 24% ofthe respondents reported that the adoption ofM-3 or M-9 would either reduce the area under landrace Kathe or entírely replace it A similar situation was perceived for landraces Kalopatle (8% of respondents), Maisara (6%), Raksali (3%) and Darmalí (3%). A fllrther 10% ofthe surveyed households al80 mentíoned the possíble partial replacement of I O other landraces and one modern varíety, No households reported that they would entírely replace the landrace Chhornrong Dhan or Ihe modern variety Khumal-4, even though at leas! one household mentioned the complete-replacement of at leasl one ofthe remaining 19 landraces.The 1999 survey confinned mosl of the 1998 perceptions, The area and number of adoplíng households ¡ncreased significantly for M-3 and M-9 (figure 5). The ¡ncreasing adoptíon ofM-3 and M-9 is líkely lo have far greater impact on landrace diversíty in the future than what had already taken place by 1999.In 1999, the area under 12 out of the 19 landraces had decreased, whíle for eight of them, the number of adopting households decreased. Area was more dynamic than the number of households probably because a decision to change the area under a landrace is more common than to entirely drop a landrace or adopt a new one. Note: The more eornmon landraces are marked with solid círcles and labeled with names. Tthe less cornrnon landraces are marked witb grey circles and are Phake Dhan, Gunta, Pahenle, Rakse, Maísare, Takmare, Galaiya, Tarkaya and Anga. .. .. Figure 5 Change in area and household adopters from 1996 to 1999 for M-3 and M-9 in seven villages (see table 1)As an example, the changes in adoption of rice cultivars from 1996-1999 were analyzed for the seven villages shown in figure 3. The decrease in area was statistically significant for eight oflhe 10 most common landraces, i,e., Chhomrong Dhan, K.hate, Kalopatle, and Sinjali (p < .001), Raksalí and Rakse (p < ,O 1), and Darmali and Maisare (p :::; .05). In al! cases, this decrease was largely accounted for by a compensating íncreasc in M-3 and M-9. Ofthese six landraces, four ofthem had becn mentioned by farmers for possible replacement in the 1998 survey.Most sígnificantly, tbree ofthe eight landraces where the number of adoptíng households declined were those that were grown by the most households. Hence, it was mainly Ihe most common landraces Ihat had fewer adopters in 1999 than in 1996, and the less common landraces were the most buffered against change, AH of Ihe five landraces with only a single household in 1996 were also grown by a single household in 1999 (figure 6). :._-lt-........• _.Household numberNote; Cultivars with significant changes in area have been indicated by asterisks (*.* = p .$ .001; ** = P S .01; *' \"' \" P ｾ ＠ .05).Nonsignificant changes are indicated with 'n,' elose 10 the 1996 ori¡¡in of!he lineo Tho significance of changes in adopting households was not tested.Figure 6. Change in area and household adopten from 1996 to 1999 for higb altitude rice landraces alter ¡be introduction of M-3 and M-9 in seven villages (see table 1)Varietal change is a common and continuous process in most subsíslence farming where farrners allocate different proportions oftheir land lo a cultivar from one season to anolher. Landraces !hat most c10sely match Ihe new varieties, but have a lower yield or other undesirable traits, are replaced first. The landraces wilh Ihe greatest reduction in area and adopting households were Chhornrong Dhan, Kalhe, and Kalopatle. The niches ofthese varieties closely match Ihose ofM-3 and M-9.By 1999, six years after Ihe commencement of the PPB program, Ihe products of PPB occupied about 11% of Ihe total rice area and about 14% of Ihe surveyed households. There is a continuing trend ofincreasíng adoption ofM-3 and M-9 in both area and household number. In Ihe past, in spite of concerted efforts by government extension agencies lo promote modem rice varieties, Iheir adoption was very poor. For example, only 100/.,-11 % of farming households were growing improved rice cultivars in a survey of 1688 households in 11 districts of eastem and westem Nepal nearly three decades after the intervention of improved varieties (Chemjong e! al. 1995;LARC 1995). Targeting specific niches that were not addressed by conventional breeding programs is one ofthe objectives ofPPB. The increasing acceptance ofPPB products in the study villages provides evidence for its success.To conserve landraces, maintaining diversity at the community leve! should be sufficient. Although there was an oyeran 105s in landrace richness in the sample, it was no! severe and M-3 and M-9 added to the diversity. Landraces found to be mos! al risk can be utilized in particípatory plant breeding programs so tha! their useful genes are incorporated in more productive genotypes and hence conserved. In terms ofutility and food security, diversity at the household level may be more important, and the addition of either or both M-3 and M-9 to the varietal portfolios of about 14% of the farmers would contribute to this diversity.An important finding was tha! the adoption of landraces was highly dynamic, wi!h losses and gains at the village level and cornmon changes in areas. Ex situ conservation is simply a \"snapshot\" of a situation in the year in whích the coHechon was marle. PPB, in producing varieties that farmers Iike, contributes to the dynamism. It accelerates cbange by introducing genes and genotypes but may not fundarnentally cbange the age-old process ofvarietal adoption. Indeed, as argued by Witcomhe et al. (1996), PPB in ils collaborative form in farmers' fields is a dynamic form of in situ genetic conservation.","tokenCount":"2390"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3238218115.json b/data/part_1/3238218115.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..66c61d9cae3eda2f2006dbf51731db61c3486d5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3238218115.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1a0d175f351114bbb8f813318383acc1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/85584448-d46b-4ad7-b43b-13d2f03fb980/content","id":"746963204"},"keywords":["association mapping","linkage disequilibrium","markers assisted selection","molecular breeding","molecular markers","quantitative trait","QTL mapping","QTL analysis"],"sieverID":"4aca15dd-263b-4cea-a3ce-9279f402ae8d","pagecount":"45","content":"Most traits of interest in plant breeding show quantitative inheritance, which complicate the breeding process since phenotypic performances only partially reflects the genetic values of individuals. The genetic variation of a quantitative trait is assumed to be controlled by the collective effects of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), epistasis (interaction between QTLs), the environment, and interaction between QTL and environment. Exploiting molecular markers in breeding involve finding a subset of markers associated with one or more QTLs that regulate the expression of complex traits. Many QTL mapping studies conducted in the last two decades identified QTLs that generally explained a significant proportion of the phenotypic variance, and therefore, gave rise to an optimistic assessment of the prospects of markers assisted selection. Linkage analysis and association mapping are the two most commonly used methods for QTL mapping. This review provides an overview of the two QTL mapping methods, including mapping population type and size, phenotypic evaluation of the population, molecular profiling of either the entire or a subset of the population, marker-trait association analysis using different statistical methods and software as well as the future prospects of using markers in crop improvement.Plant breeding is a three step process, wherein populations or germplasm collections with useful genetic variation are created or assembled, individuals with superior phenotypes are identified, and improved cultivars are developed from selected individuals (Moose and Mumm, 2008). Figure 1 summarizes the different breeding methods that are commonly employed in crop improvement programs. Most of the traits of interest in plant breeding (e.g., yield, height, drought resistance, disease resistance in many species, etc.) are quantitative, also called polygenic, continuous, multifactorial or complex traits. A quantitative trait is a measurable trait that depends on the cumulative action of many genes and their interaction with the environment that can vary among individuals over a given range to produce a continuous distribution of phenotypes (Sham et al. 2002). Since the proposal of the multiple-factor hypothesis by Nillson-Ehle (1909) and East (1916), the genetic variation of a quantitative trait is assumed to be controlled by the collective effects of numerous genes, known as quantitative trait loci (QTLs) (Bulmer, 1985;Edwards et al. 1987;Falconer and Mackay, 1996;Xu, 1997;Lynch and Walsh, 1998;Xu, 2010). Consequently, several QTLs regulate the expression of a single phenotypic trait (in this paper, QTL refers to a single region of DNA associated with a particular trait while QTLs refers to the situation when two or more regions of DNA from the same or different chromosomes are associated with a particular trait).Unlike monogenic traits, polygenic traits do not follow patterns of Mendelian inheritance (qualitative traits). Instead, their phenotypes typically vary along a continuous gradient depicted by a bell curve. Quantitative traits complicate the works of breeders because performance only partially reflects the genetic values of the individuals. If fruit size, for example, is controlled by a single gene with alleles \"s\" for small and \"S\" for large, then the progeny of crosses between the two parents would segregate in to 3:1 ratios of large-to small-fruited plants. For such discrete traits, one can infer the \"genotype\" (SS or Ss versus ss) by observing the \"phenotype\" (large or small). For quantitative traits, the situation is more complex: (i) quantitative traits are controlled by multiple genes or QTLs, and plants with the same phenotype can carry different alleles at each of many genes or QTLs; (ii) plants with identical QTL genotypes can show different phenotypes when raised under different environments; and (iii) the effect of one QTL can depend on the allelic constitution of the plant at other QTL. For these reasons, one cannot infer the genotype from the phenotype, and one must construct specialized genetic stocks and grow them in precisely controlled environments.QTLs have been identified for quantitative traits as reported in the literature. The number of QTLs detected in a given study depends on different factors, including type and size of mapping population used, trait investigated, the number of environments used for phenotyping, and genome coverage. The QTLs reported in the literature include two groups of genes. The first group constitutes a small proportion of the published literature and includes major genes of very large effects on highly heritable traits, with each explaining a large portion of the total trait variation in a mapping population. Most QTLs reported in the literature fall in another group that are regulated by many genes, each explaining small portion of the total trait variation. For example, Laurie et al. (2004) reported about 50 QTLs that explained approximately 50% of the genetic variance for oil concentration in the maize kernel. Buckler et al. (2009) evaluated nearly a million maize plants in eight environments and found no evidence for any single large effect QTL for flowering time. The authors identified numerous QTLs of small additive effects that are shared among families. However, the genetic variation of most quantitative traits likely involves a small number of major genes or QTLs, a larger number of loci with moderate effects, and a very large number of loci with minor effects (Robertson, 1967;Kearsey and Farquhar, 1998). The effects of the major genes can be studied via segregation analysis as well as evolutionary and selection history. The numerous genes with small effects, however, cannot be investigated individually. In recurrent selection, a population of individuals (10 in this example) segregate for two traits (red, blue), each of which is influenced by two major favorable QTLs. Intermating among individuals and selection for desirable phenotypes/genotypes increases the frequencies of favorable alleles at each locus. For this example, no individual in the initial population had all of the favorable alleles, but after recurrent selection half of the population possesses the desired genotype (Moose and Mumm, 2008).The theory of QTL mapping was first described by Sax (1923), where he noted that seed size in bean (a complex trait) was associated with seed coat color (a simple, monogenic trait). This concept was further elaborated by Thoday (1961), who suggested that if the segregation of simply inherited monogenes could be used to detect linked QTLs, then it should eventually be possible to map and characterize all QTLs involved in complex traits. Before the advent of modern QTL mapping, traits showing quantitative variation were studied by statistical analysis of appropriate experimental populations based on the means, variances and covariances of relatives, with no actual knowledge of the number and location of the genes that underlie them (Kearsey and Farquhar, 1998). These studies focused on phenotypic distributions of populations and correlations in phenotypes among related individuals or lines. New interest in QTL mapping in crops was generated when studies on fruit traits of tomato (Paterson et al. 1988) and the morphological and agronomic characters of maize (Stuber et al. 1992) successfully demonstrated that some molecular markers explained a substantial proportion of the phenotypic variance of quantitative traits.The two general goals of QTL mapping in plants are to (a) increase our biological knowledge of the inheritance and genetic architecture of quantitative traits, both within a species and across related species, and (b) identify markers that can be used as indirect selection tools in breeding (Bernardo, 2008). During the past two decades, the ability to transfer target genomic regions using molecular markers resulted in extensive QTL mapping experiments in most economically important crops, aiming at the development of molecular markers for marker assisted selection (Xu, 1998;Collard et al. 2005;Semagn et al. 2006a;Xu, 2010) and QTL cloning (Salvi and Tuberosa, 2005). Results from such studies provide information on (a) the number and chromosomal location of QTLs affecting a trait; (b) the magnitude and direction of effect of each QTL (i.e., whether a phenotypic trait is controlled by many genes or many independent loci of small effect or by a few genes of large effect); (c) the mode of gene action at each QTL (dominant or additive); (d) the parental sources of beneficial QTL alleles, and (e) whether there is interaction between different QTLs (epistasis, i.e., interactions between two QTLs that result in an effect on the trait that would not be predicted from the sum of the individual QTL effects) or between genotypes and environment (Bradshaw, 1996). Figure 2 and Table 1 summarizes results of QTL mapping study in a double haploid hexaploid wheat population for Fusarium head blight resistance, deoxynivalenol content and anther extrusion. Most studies identified QTLs that generally explained a significant proportion of the phenotypic variance of the respective trait, and therefore, gave rise to an optimistic assessment of the prospects of markers assisted selection. However, several studies reported many QTLs for a given trait with multiple QTLs in every chromosome. Few examples include yield in maize (Tuberosa et al. 2002), nematode resistance in soybean (Concibido et al. 2004) and Fusarium head blight resistance in hexaploid wheat (Kolb et al. 2001).QTL mapping requires that the researcher (1) select and/or develop appropriate mapping population (experimental populations for linkage-based mapping or natural/breeding populations for association mapping); (2) phenotype the population for the trait(s) of interest (morphological characters, agronomic traits, disease and pest scores, drought resistance, etc.) under greenhouse, screen-house and/or field conditions; (3) decide the type of molecular marker(s), the genotyping approach (entire population, selective genotyping or bulk segregant analysis) and generate the molecular data for adequate number of uniformly-spaced polymorphic markers; (4) identify molecular markers linked to the trait(s) of interest using statistical programs (linkage-based QTL mapping methods requires construction of genetic linkage map); and (5) test the applicability and reliability of the markers associated with major QTLs in predicting the trait(s) in related families (marker validation or verification) for QTLs of medium to large effect. Details on molecular markers, genetic linkage mapping and marker assisted selection have been previously reviewed by Semagn et al. (2006a), Semagn et al. (2006b) and Semagn et al. (2006c). The availability of a wide range of molecular markers and powerful statistical methods has significantly facilitated QTL mapping (Figure 3, Figure 4). Linkage analysis and association mapping are the two most commonly used tools for dissecting complex traits. Both QTL mapping methods begins with the collection of genotypic and phenotypic data from either segregating or natural population, followed by statistical analyses to reveal all possible marker loci where allelic variation correlates with the phenotype. This article provides an overview of the various issues related to the two QTL mapping methods and their future prospects in crop improvement programs. Jansen and Nap (2001) introduced the concept of genetical genomics, in which genetics and gene expression approaches have been joined in detecting expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) that control the observed variation in gene expression. eQTL mapping is different from QTL mapping, since researchers are mainly interested in major eQTL in cis (within the gene) and major regulatory eQTL in trans. However, eQTL mapping is not part of this review paper.  (Semagn et al. 2007;Skinnes et al. 2010).Choice of appropriate mapping population is very critical for the success of any QTL mapping project. Populations for QTL mapping can be broadly classified into two: experimental populations for linkage-based QTL mapping (e.g., inbred lines for autogamous or self pollinating species; half-or full-sib families for outcrossing or cross pollinating species) and natural or breeding populations for linkage disequilibrium-based association mapping. For association mapping, the populations can be classified into one of the following five groups (Yu and Buckler, 2006;Yu et al. 2006): (i) ideal sample with subtle population structure and familial relatedness, (ii) multi-family sample, (iii) sample with population structure, (iv) sample with both population structure and familial relationships, and (v) sample with severe population structure and familial relationships. Due to local adaptation, selection, and breeding history in many plant species, many populations for association mapping would fall into category four (Zhu et al. 2008). Alternatively, populations for association mapping can be classified according to the source of materials as germplasm bank collections, synthetic populations, and elite germplasm (Breseghello and Sorrells, 2006).  c) Each F2 is selfed for six additional generations, ultimately forming a set of recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Each RIL is homozygous for a section of a parental chromosome. The RILs are scored for genetic markers, as well as for the trichome density phenotype. In (c), the arrow marks a section of chromosome that derives from Parent 2 (the parent with low trichome density). The leaves of all individuals that have inherited that section of chromosome from the parent with low trichome density also have low trichome density, indicating that this chromosomal region probably contains a QTL for this trait (Mauricio, 2001).Linkage-based QTL mapping depends on well defined populations developed by crossing two parents. In autogamous species, QTL mapping studies make use of F2 or Fx derived families, backcross (BC), recombinant inbred lines (RILs), near isogenic lines (NILs), and double haploids (DH). These populations are developed by crossing two inbred parents with clear contrasting difference in phenotypic trait(s) of interest. Each mapping population developed from inbred parents has its own advantages and disadvantages and the researchers need to decide the appropriate population depending on project objective, trait complexity, available time, and whether the molecular markers to be used for genotyping are dominant or codominant. Both F2 and BC populations are the simplest types of mapping populations because they are easy to construct and require only a short time to produce. F2 is more powerful for detecting QTLs with additive effects, and can also be used to estimate the degree of dominance for detected QTLs. When dominance is present, backcrosses give biased estimates of the effects because additive and dominant effects are completely confounded in this design (Carbonell et al. 1993). However, both F2 and BC populations have three limitations. First, development of these populations require relatively few meioses such that even markers that are far from the QTLs remain strongly associated with it. Such long-distance associations hamper precise localization of the QTLs. Second, F2 and backcross populations are temporary populations as they are highly heterozygous and cannot be propagated indefinitely through seeds (i.e., these populations can't be evaluated several times in different environmental conditions, years, locations, etc.). Finally, epistatic interactions could hardly be studied in both F2 and backcross populations.In classical quantitative genetics, if a trait has a low heritability, one can take the family mean as the unit of measurement and select the parents with high average performance on the basis of the family mean (Mather and Jinks, 1982) because family-mean-based heritability can be significantly increased by increasing the number of progenies. This idea has been first applied to genetic mapping for low heritability traits in animals by using the daughter or granddaughter designs, where the phenotypic value of the sire has been replaced by the mean phenotypic value of the daughters (Weller et al. 1990;Ron et al. 2001). The same idea was then applied to plants by replacing the phenotypic value of an F2 plant by the mean of F3 progeny, called the F2:3 design (Austin and Lee, 1996;Fisch et al. 1996). All F3 progeny derived from the same F2 plant belong to the same F2:3 family, denoted by F2:3. If the size of each F2:3 family (the number of F3 progeny) is sufficiently large, the average value of the family will represent the genotypic value of the F2 plant, and thus the power of QTL mapping may significantly increase. One can increase the number of generations from 3 to y leading to an Fx:y design. In such cases, genotyping will be done on individuals plants in generation x and phenotyping in generation y with y > x (Fisch et al. 1996;Jiang and Zeng, 1997;Chapman et al. 2003). Alternatively, genotyping can also be done by bulking DNA or leaf tissue of at least 15 individuals from the same family at generation y. As y increases at least to 6 generations, the design becomes the RILs design. RILs are derived from an F2 population by generations of full-sib mating (mating between offspring's from the same parents for outcrossing species) or selfing (bulk or single seed descent) (Soller and Beckman, 1990;Xu and Crouch, 2008). RILs are advanced homozygous lines that have undergone several rounds of inbreeding (Darvasi and Soller, 1995). Such multiple generations of mating increases the potential number of recombination events and improves map resolution (i.e., sufficient meioses have occurred to reduce disequilibrium between moderately linked markers).If backcross selection is repeated at least for six generations, more than 99% of the genome of randomly selected individuals at BC6 and above will be derived from the recurrent parent. Selfing of selected individuals from BC7F1 will produce two types of BC7F2 lines that are homozygous for the two alleles at the target gene locus, which are said to be nearly isogenic with each other and with the recipient parent (NILs). Heterogeneous inbred family analysis was also proposed as a method to quickly develop NILs for an identified QTL in inbred lines (Harris et al. 2007;Pumphrey et al. 2007;Xu and Crouch, 2008). Selection for the target trait is required for the generation of NILs. By essentially fixing the genetic background, NILs are ideal for construction of high-resolution mapping, gene expression profiling, and more direct hypothesis-driven biological experimentation. NILs are particularly effective genetic stocks for studying phenotypic effects attributable to a QTL since the genetic background, including morphological and phenological characters that commonly influence phenotypic assessments of quantitative traits, is uniform. Double haploid (DH) populations have also been used for QTL mapping in several species (e.g., Bao et al. 2002;Mahmood et al. 2003;Behn et al. 2005;Semagn et al. 2006d;Semagn et al. 2007;Xu and Crouch, 2008). The DH production methodology improves breeding efficiency by generating inbred lines with 100% purity and genetic uniformity in just two generations. DH lines make it easy to carry genetic studies and shorten the breeding time significantly.Table 1. Summary of the composite interval mapping (CIM) analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for mean Fusarium head blight severity, deoxynivalenol (DON) content and anther extrusion in a double haploid population derived from the cross between Arina and NK93604. For each QTL, chromosomal location, marker interval, LOD, percent of explained phenotypic variance (R 2 ), and the parent contributing the favored allele are listed. A QTL was declared significant at LOD ≥ 3.0 (modified from Semagn et al. 2007 andSkinnes et al. 2010). RILs, NILs and DHs are permanent populations because they are homozygous or 'true-breeding' lines that can be multiplied and reproduced without genetic change occurring. Seeds from RILs, NILs and DHs can be transferred between different laboratories for mapping to ensure that all collaborators examine identical material (Young, 1994;Paterson, 1996;He et al. 2001) so that genetic results from phenotyping, genotyping and QTL mapping can be accumulated across laboratories.The main limitations of NIL and RIL include (i) the long time and/or high cost required to develop these populations, and (ii) these populations only detect the additive component but provide no information on dominance relationships for any QTL (Haley and Andersson, 1997). DH populations are quicker to generate than RILs and NILs but the production of DHs is only possible for species with a well established protocol for haploid production. The limitations common to all mapping populations developed from inbred lines include (a) the confidence interval for many QTLs mapped using the most commonly used population size (100-200 samples) is several centimorgans (abbreviated as cM), which could correspond to hundreds of genes (Kroymann and Mitchell-Olds, 2005); (b) the low number of alleles sampled per locus in each population (Figure 5) makes it difficult to examine the full range of genetic diversity available for many plant species; and (c) for some species such as outcrossing, it is often impossible due to inbreeding depression or self incompatibility or very impractical, time consuming and/or expensive to produce inbred lines. In linkage analysis (panel a, using F2 design as an example), there are only few opportunities for recombination to occur within families and pedigrees of known ancestry, resulting in relatively low mapping resolution). In association mapping (panel b haplotype) historical recombination and natural genetic diversity were exploited for high resolution mapping. Linkage disequilibrium between a functional locus (yellow diamond for mutated allele) and molecular markers is low except for those within very short distance (Zhu et al. 2008).Genetic analyses in outcrossing species are far more complicated than species that can be selfed to produce inbred lines. Some of the difficulties arise when heterozygous and heterogeneous parents are crossed to develop a mapping population. First, the number of marker alleles and the segregation pattern of marker genotypes may vary from locus to locus in outcrossing species, whereas an inbred line-initiated segregating population always has two alleles and an expected segregation ratio across different markers. Second, complications arise if parents have alleles in common at the QTL or marker loci, or if the parents share QTL alleles in different linkage phases with the marker loci (Jansen et al. 1998;Lynch and Walsh, 1998). Third, linkage phases among different markers are not known a priori for outbred parents and, therefore, an algorithm should be used to characterize a most likely linkage phase for linkage analysis (Lu et al. 2004). To overcome these problems, other strategies based on two-way pseudo-testcross, half-sib and full-sib families derived from controlled crosses have been proposed for outcrossing species (Knott and Haley, 1992;Mackinnon and Weller, 1995;Hoeschele et al. 1997;Uimari and Hoeschele, 1997;Liu and Dekkers, 1998;Xu, 1998;Sillanpää and Arjas, 1999). Grattapaglia and Sederoff (1994) proposed a two-way pseudo-testcross mapping strategy in which one parent is heterozygous whereas the other is null for all markers. Using this strategy, two parent-specific linkage maps will be constructed. The limitation of the pseudo-testcross strategy is that it can only make use of a portion of molecular markers. Several other authors (e.g., Ritter and Salamini, 1996;Maliepaard et al. 1998;Wu et al. 2002) proposed various approaches for determining the linkage and parental linkage phases for any type of molecular markers. Ma et al. (2004) devised a general model for estimating the probability of parental linkage phases, which allows for a simultaneous estimation of the linkage. Wu et al. (2002) and Lu et al. (2004) constructed a unifying likelihood analysis to simultaneously estimate linkage, linkage phases and gene order for a group of markers that display all possible segregation patterns in a full-sib family derived from two outbred parents.There is usually a high cost associated with genotyping (generation of molecular marker data) and phenotyping (field, greenhouse or screen house evaluation for the phenotypic trait) of large population size, particularly for traits requiring extensive field trials or complex analysis. Consequently, the size of the mapping population and the number of replications and sites (environments) for phenotyping is often limited. Thus, most published experiments with replicated trials have used between 100 and 200 progenies (e.g., Lynch and Walsh, 1998;Somers et al. 2003). Overall, the QTL mapping literature has shown that if a breeder can develop a mapping population of 100-150 progenies derived from an F2 or backcross population between two inbreds, obtain reasonably good phenotypic data for the traits of interest, and genotype the population with markers spaced about 10 to 15 cM apart, then an analysis of the phenotypic and marker data with an appropriate statistical method will almost always lead to the identification of at least a few markers associated with each trait of interest (Bernardo, 2008). However, small population size often resulted in the detection of few QTLs with large phenotypic effects (Beavis, 1998;Melchinger et al. 1998;Utz et al. 2000;Schon et al. 2004). Nonetheless, it does not necessarily indicate that QTL position will be inaccurate although this may be the case. Melchinger et al. (1998) evaluated the power of QTL detection of different traits in maize by comparing results from QTL mapping in two independent samples of different size from the same population (344 F2 population in experiment-1 and 107 F2 population in experiment-2). The total number of QTLs detected for all traits in experiment-1 was almost triple to that of the numbers detected in experiment-2. Only about half of the putative QTLs detected in experiment-2 were in common with QTLs identified in experiment-1. In addition, the magnitude of QTL effects can also be biased by small sample size. In a study on QTL experiments in maize, for example, Beavis (1998) identified one or a few QTLs of large effect along with several QTLs of small effect. The fewer the progeny, the higher were the estimated effects of the largest QTLs identified. Similarly, Melchinger et al. (2004) partitioned their entire dataset for maize testcross progenies (N = 976 genotypes and E = 16 environments) into smaller datasets (N = 488, 244, 122 and E = 16, 4, 2) and clearly demonstrated highly inflated QTL effects for the smaller samples. Furthermore, the QTLs of large phenotypic effect can also be an artifact of the strong directional selection often used to create the phenotypically divergent parental lines that are used for mapping (Lande, 1983).One of the first published reports of QTL mapping in crops that utilized molecular markers involved fruit size, pH, and soluble solids in tomato (Paterson et al. 1988). A total of 237 backcross progenies from a cross between cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and a wild relative (L. chmielewskii) were analyzed in one location and genotyped with 70 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. That study detected 6 QTLs for fruit size, 5 QTLs for pH, and 4 QTLs for soluble solids. Subsequently, an F2 population of 350 individuals derived from a cross between L. esculentum x L. cheesmanii, along with corresponding F2-derived F3 families was analyzed in three locations (environments). A total of 29 QTLs for fruit size, pH, and soluble solids were detected. However, only 4 QTLs were consistently detected in all three environments with 10 QTLs in two environments and 15 QTLs in only one environment (Paterson et al. 1991). QTLs of both major (as high as 40% of total variation) and minor (as little as 4%) effects were found for all traits. Altogether, the identified QTLs for fruit size accounted for 76% of total variation in the trait, 44% of total variation in soluble solids, and 34% of total variation in fruit pH. The remainder of the variation was presumably a result of (a) environment, (b) measurement error, (c) additional QTLs with effects too small to be detected with confidence in such population size, (d) interactions between QTLs, which were too small to detect, and (e) genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions (Young, 1996). of QTL estimates and its range were reduced by increasing N and E. A substantial bias was found for estimates of the proportion of genotypic variance explained by the detected QTLs even with N = 976, irrespective of the trait, the heritability, and the significance threshold. This confirm results from the study by Beavis (1998), who pointed out that the bias of QTL estimates could not be ignored even for N > 500. As pointed out by different investigators (e.g., Knapp et al. 1990;Moreau et al. 1998), it is therefore advisable to increase population size rather than the number of test environments or replications for most traits unless plot heritabilities are very low and/or the expenditures for molecular analyses of additional genotypes are much higher than those for additional testing of phenotypes. The comparison of subpopulations with the same plot capacities for phenotypic evaluation revealed that increasing the number of progenies generally increased the power of QTL detection and the proportion of the genotypic variance explained by QTL and reduced the bias more efficiently than did increasing the number of test environments. Although decision regarding population size and number of phenotyping environments depend on several factors (e.g., capacity and resource availability, population type, trait heritability, marker type for genotyping, ease in phenotyping, etc.), we recommend at least 184 progenies and 3 phenotyping locations (environments). This number is recommended based on our experience and enables to organize the entire mapping population in two 96-wells plates (each consisting of 92 progenies, 2 parents, F1 and a negative control) either for in-house genotyping or outsourcing (genotyping by service providers).The basic phenotypic data required for QTL mapping are the estimates of phenotypic performance of individuals across environments. The accuracy and precision of phenotyping determines how realistic the QTL mapping results are. The power of QTL detection, defined as the probability of detecting a QTL at a given level of statistical significance (Manly and Olson, 1999), depends upon the number of progeny in the population (sample size), heritability of the trait, genetic dissimilarity among progenies, the effect of the QTLs, and the environment used for phenotypic evaluation. Due to the availability of high-throughput and low cost molecular tools, genotyping no longer limit the sample size in mapping studies but the cost and logistics of phenotyping impose limits on sample size. This is especially true of phenotypes involving complex traits (Jin et al. 2004). The level of heritability of a trait depends in part on whether the phenotyping is repeatable across different seasons, locations and environments. Increased precision of phenotyping increases heritability which, in turn, increases the statistical power of QTL detection. Randomization provides statistical validity to results and protection from bias. Local control of error can be achieved by proper blocking of plots in a manner that maximizes inter-block and minimizes intra-block variation. Orientation of the blocks, as far as possible, should be perpendicular to the expected gradient in the experimental field, glasshouse bench, etc. However, there is always some variation left uncontrolled within blocks. Cross-population and environment comparison of phenotyping is needed in order to determine how the marker-trait association identified under one environment can be used for selection under another (Xu and Crouch, 2008).Genotype (molecular markers) data can be generated in either of the following three ways: (1) by genotyping an entire mapping population;(2) by genotyping part of the population that exhibit extreme phenotypes for the target trait, known as selective genotyping (Lander and Botstein 1989;Darvasi, 1997;Vision et al. 2000;Micic et al. 2005;Xu and Crouch, 2008); or (3) by genotyping bulks of selected individuals, known as bulk segregant analysis (Giovanoni et al. 1991;Michelmore et al. 1991;Perez-Enciso, 1998;Breen et al. 1999;Fu, 2003). The usual QTL mapping method requires genotyping an entire mapping population with markers distributed across the whole genome. Such approach is more reliable but extensive, time consuming and expensive (Xu and Crouch, 2008). The second approach is selective genotyping (Figure 6) which involves genotyping of selected individuals that are chosen on the basis of the individuals' phenotypes (generally those with extremely high and/or low phenotypic values). Selective genotyping reduces the number of individuals that needs to be genotyped to detect QTLs by using only individuals at one or two extreme tails of the phenotypic distribution for the quantitative trait of interest (Lebowitz et al. 1987;Foolad et al. 1997;Prasad et al. 1999;Roy et al. 1999;Foolad et al. 2001;Ayoub and Mather, 2002;Zhang et al. 2003;Xu and Crouch, 2008). Selective genotyping is useful in situations in which full-population genotyping is too costly or not feasible, or where the objective is to rapidly screen large numbers of potential donors for useful alleles with large effects. Unidirectional selective genotyping (genotyping one side of the tail) is of particular interest for application within breeding programs, because it has the potential to permit QTL detection using superior progeny that have been retained under selection in breeding programs (Navabi et al. 2009). This allows larger numbers of potential donors to be screened for useful alleles with effects across different backgrounds.There is no clear consensus regarding the number of individuals that need to be sampled from each tail. In a population of 436 recombinant inbred rice lines segregating for a large-effect QTLs affecting grain yield under drought stress, Navabi et al. (2009) reliably detected the QTLs by genotyping as few as 20 selected lines (4.5%). According to Ayoub and Mather (2002), genotyping of only 10% of the entire population was sufficient to detect all major QTLs. Darvasi and Soller (1992) showed that genotyping individuals only from the upper and lower 25% tails of the phenotypic distribution was nearly as efficient in detecting QTLs as genotyping the entire population. Gallais et al. (2007) suggested genotyping of about 30% for each tail. As the population size increases, the proportion of individuals required from each tail will decrease such that at a certain point an absolute number of plants from each tail will become the critical issue (Sun et al. 2010). However, selective genotyping has not been widely adopted, possibly due to distorted segregation in the production of linkage maps (Martinez, 1996), the biased estimates of the effects of linked QTLs (Lin and Ritland, 1996), and the constraint of being able to study only a single trait at a time. Selective genotyping reduces the size of a mapping population that will, in general, decrease the power of QTL detection (Charcosset and Gallais, 1996), increase the QTL confidence interval, and increasing the probability of detecting false positive QTLs. The third approach is the bulking strategy (Figure 6) that advances the selective genotyping approach one step further by using either plant bulking (bulking equal weight of leaf from each sample prior to DNA extraction) or DNA pooling (bulking DNA after extraction and normalization to the same concentration) from the selected individuals at each of the two extreme phenotypes. BSA measures the variation present in pools of segregants that have been sorted according to phenotype and uses the correlation between these measurements and the pool phenotype to assign a likely map location (Brauer et al. 2006). BSA has been successfully used in mapping single major genes (Barua et al. 1993;Villar et al. 1996) and two to three major QTLs (Quarrie et al. 1999;Shen et al. 2003) with a considerable researchsaving compared to the previous two genotyping approaches. Theoretical analysis of BSA for experiments involving backcross, F2 and half-sib designs shows that the power of selective DNA pooling for detecting genes with large effect can be the same as that obtained by individual selective genotyping. However, BSA is generally not regarded as a useful approach for either detection of QTLs which may be conditioned by several genes with small effect, or when the QTL is loosely linked to the marker. This is because the two bulks are frequently contaminated with alternative alleles if mischaracterization exists or recombination occurs (Darvasi and Soller, 1994;Wang and Paterson, 1994). As reviewed by Xu and Crouch (2008), the reliability of BSA for QTL mapping can be affected by (i) insufficient marker density; (ii) small population sizes, resulting in phenotypic differences between pools that are sufficient only to identify large-effect genes or QTLs; (iii) inaccurate estimate of allele frequencies within pools; and (iv) high level of false positives. Sun et al. ( 2010) indicated that these problems can be solved by increasing population and tailed sizes and marker density.Having generated and entered both the phenotype and genotype data, researchers are often eager to test the two hypotheses in QTL analysis or QTL mapping: (i) null hypothesis (H0): no QTL is present or a QTL is present but it is not linked to the marker(s) and (ii) alternative hypothesis (HA): a QTL is present and it is linked to the marker(s). Various statistical methods exist for testing the two hypotheses (e.g., Manly and Olson, 1999;Broman, 2001;Mauricio, 2001), which can be grouped into three based on the type of population(s) for mapping: (a) those methods that require the development of appropriate mapping population(s) using designed crosses (analysis of variance, simple interval mapping, composite interval mapping, multiple interval mapping); (b) those methods that use natural or breeding populations (e.g., linkage disequilibrium-based mapping) and (iii) those methods that use either appropriate mapping populations or natural or breeding populations (e.g., principal component analysis-based mapping and partial least square regression). The statistical methods for QTL mapping can also be grouped into two based on their requirements for genetic maps: (a) those methods that don't require prior genetic linkage map construction (analysis of variance, linkage disequilibrium-based mapping, principal component analysis-based mapping, partial least squares regression,) or (b) those that require availability of genetic map for the population (simple interval mapping, composite interval mapping, multiple interval mapping). For the latter, researchers need to conduct linkage analyses on the genotypic data and construct a genetic linkage map (Semagn et al. 2006d;Semagn et al. 2006a) for the population prior to QTL analysis. The statistical methods can also be grouped into two based on the distribution of phenotypic traits: (a) parametric methods (those that assume normal distribution) or require mathematical transformation of the phenotypic data into approximate normal distribution or (b) non-parametric (distribution free) methods. For a comprehensive coverage about the statistical methods for QTL detection, see Xu (2010). In this section, only basic statistical methods that have been used in QTL mapping will be described without providing details on statistical issues.Statistical methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is the simplest method for QTL mapping (Soller et al. 1976). Broman (2001) reviewed details of the methodology of QTL mapping using ANOVA. Once genotypic (molecular markers) and phenotypic (e.g., disease scores, morphological characters, and agronomic traits) data are available for the population in question, ANOVA tests the statistical association of molecular markers to the phenotypic traits of interest. At each typed molecular marker, one splits the progenies into two groups, according to their genotypes at the marker, and compares the phenotype distributions of the two groups. The marker locus being tested on a given analysis is called the target locus. The test may include additional marker loci, called background markers, that have been shown to be associated with the trait and therefore lie close to other QTLs (background QTLs) affecting the trait. In this case, each target locus is tested for association by multiple regressions in combination with a constant set of background loci (Manly and Olson, 1999). At each marker locus, the assessment of the strength of evidence for the presence of a QTL is based on t-statistics or F-statistics. In a backcross, one may calculate a t-statistics to compare the averages of the two marker genotype groups.For other types of crosses (such as the intercross), where there are more than two possible genotypes, one uses a more general form of ANOVA, which provides Fstatistics. The main advantages of ANOVA include its simplicity and there is no need for a genetic map for the markers because it considers each marker locus separately. However, the ANOVA approach for QTL mapping has four limitations (Lander and Botstein, 1989;Manly and Olson, 1999;Broman, 2001). First, it is difficult to conduct separate estimates of QTL location and QTL effect (proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the QTL). Second, individuals with missing genotypes often need to be discarded unless a mixed model that can handle unbalanced data and other statistical treatments is used. Third, when the markers are widely spaced and/or unevenly distributed, the QTL may be quite far from neighboring markers, and hence the power for QTL detection will decrease. Finally, there is a large amount of variation within each marker class and some of this will be due to other QTLs affecting the trait.Fig. 7 The interval mapping approach for QTL mapping. The results of QTL mapping are plotted as a likelihood-ratio test statistic (LOD score) against the chromosomal map distance, measured in recombination units (centiMorgans). The vertical dotted line represents a threshold value above which a likelihood-ratio test provides a statistically significant fit to a model of the data. The best estimate of the location of the QTL is given by the chromosomal location that corresponds to the highest LOD score. In this hypothetical example, maximum LOD score is at 44 cM and the confidence interval is between 36 and 54 cM. Marker10 is the closest marker to the QTL while Marker13 and Marker18 are the two flanking markers. Lander and Botstein (1989) developed a more powerful QTL mapping method, known as interval mapping (IM) that is often called simple interval mapping (SIM). Once a linkage map and phenotypic data are available for a population, SIM uses one marker-interval at a time to search for a hypothetical QTL (the target QTL) by performing a likelihood ratio test at every position within the interval. In this approach, the QTL is located within a chromosomal interval, defined by the flanking markers. Lander and Botstein (1989) proposed a simple rule for constructing confidence intervals for QTL position, which uses the likelihoods of odds (LOD score). LOD score is the base-10 logarithm of the ratio of two likelihoods (probabilities): the likelihood of the observed data assuming a QTL at the position in question and the likelihood assuming no QTL. The results of the analysis are plotted as a LOD score against the chromosomal map position in cM. The chromosomal location of the maximum LOD score is taken as the position of the QTL (Figure 7).SIM has become the standard method used by many geneticists for mapping QTL and has been implemented in several freely distributed software packages (Basten et al. 2002 ;Manly and Olson, 1999). SIM procedure is based on maximum likelihood or regression and maximizes the likelihood of a single-gene genetic model by averaging over the possible states of the unknown genotype at each possible QTL location. SIM has more power and requires fewer progeny than ANOVA (Lander and Botstein, 1989;Haley and Knott, 1992;Zeng, 1994) but it has its own limitations. First, SIM considers one QTL at a time in the model (single-QTL model), ignoring the effects of other (mapped or not yet mapped) QTLs. Therefore, SIM can provide a biased identification and estimation of the effect and position of QTL when such multiple QTLs are located in the same linkage group (Haley and Knott, 1992;Knott and Haley, 1992;Martinez and Curnow, 1992;Zeng, 1994). Second, QTLs outside the interval under consideration can affect the ability to find a QTL within it (Zeng, 1993). Third, false identification of a QTL (false positive or 'ghost peak') can arise if other QTLs are linked to the interval of interest. Haley and Knott (1992) proposed a regression approach of interval mapping, which could save time in computation and produce similar results to those obtained by maximum likelihood but the estimate of the residual variance is biased and the power of QTL detection can be affected (Xu, 1995).Multiple-QTL models are an improvement over single-QTL models because of their ability to separate linked QTLs on the same chromosome and to detect interacting QTLs that may otherwise be undetected (Schork, 1993). A variety of approaches have been proposed for mapping multiple QTLs. Jansen (1993), Zeng (1993) and Zeng (1994) independently proposed combining SIM with multiple regression analysis in mapping, which is termed as \"composite interval mapping\" (CIM). Like SIM, CIM evaluates the possibility of a target QTL at multiple analysis points across each intermarker interval. However, at each point, it also includes the effect of one or more background markers that are often referred as cofactors. The purpose of using cofactors is to minimize the effects of QTLs in the remainder of the genome when attempting to identify a QTL in a particular region. The inclusion of cofactors in the analysis helps in one of two ways, depending on whether the background markers and the target interval are linked. If they are not linked, inclusion of the background markers makes the analysis more sensitive to the presence of a QTL in the target interval. If they are linked, inclusion of the background marker may help to separate the target QTL from other linked QTL on the far side of the background marker (Zeng, 1993;Zeng, 1994). There are four major limitations in CIM: (i) CIM can be affected by an uneven distribution of markers in the genome (i.e., the test statistics in a markerrich region may not be comparable to that in a marker-poor region); (ii) there is difficulty of estimating the joint contribution to the genetic variance of multiple linked QTLs; (iii) CIM is not directly extendable for analyzing epistasis; (iv) the use of tightly linked markers as cofactors can reduce the statistical power to detect a QTL (Zeng et al. 1999).To address the limitations of CIM, Kao et al. (1999)   All the different QTL mapping methods described above share a common assumption that the phenotype follows a normal distribution with equal variance in both parents.The least-squares and ANOVA based methods (Weller et al. 1990;Haley and Knott, 1992;Martinez and Curnow, 1992) assume that residual errors (i.e., residuals within QTL genotype classes) are normally distributed. Such methods are commonly said to be robust against non-normality. However, robustness against any type of nonnormality in the context of QTL mapping methods has not been well established. On the other hand, maximum-likelihood based methods in interval mapping (Lander and Botstein, 1989) use the normal density function for the building of the likelihood itself. Quality of estimations is therefore very dependent on the normality of the phenotype. Many phenotypes of interest, however, are not normally distributed so the previously described QTL mapping methods cannot be directly applied in such cases. One approach to circumvent the assumption of normality is to use a mathematical transformation (e.g., logarithm of 10, arcsine, etc.) that will convert the trait into an approximately normal distribution with equal variance in both parents (Wright, 1968). An alternative approach is to apply nonparametric (distribution free) statistical methods to QTL mapping that are applicable to any phenotypic distribution. Kruglyak and Lander (1995) described a non-parametric interval mapping approach based on the Wilcoxon rank-sum test applicable to experimental crosses. Coppieters et al.(1998) adapted this method to half-sib pedigrees in outbred populations.Tests for QTL position and significance. One of the challenges for QTL mapping is the difficulty of determining appropriate significance thresholds (critical values) for the two types of errors: (a) that there is a segregating QTL whereas in reality there is not (false positive or type I error), and (b) that there is no QTL although it actually is present (false negative or type II error). The problem of determining appropriate threshold values appeared to be difficult because there are many factors that can vary from experiment to experiment and can influence the distribution of the test statistics. These include, but are not limited to, the sample size, the genome size of the organism under study, the genetic map density, segregation ratio distortions, the proportion and pattern of missing data, and the number and magnitude of segregating QTLs (Churchill and Doerge, 1994). Several papers addressed the problem of statistical significance in QTL analysis and presented solutions for hypothesis testing that are based on cumulative distribution functions of the LOD score (Lander and Botstein, 1989), permutation tests (Churchill and Doerge, 1994), bootstrap resampling method (Efron, 1979;Mammen, 1993) or a bootstrap model selection procedure (Shao, 1996).Lander and Botstein (1989) used a \"LOD drop-off method\", finding the location to each side of the estimated QTL location corresponding to a decrease of one from the maximum LOD score. Figure 7 illustrates this using a hypothetical data. The maximum LOD score is at 44 cM, and the confidence interval is between 36 and 54 cM. Most researchers use a minimum LOD score of 3.0 or its equivalent to declare a QTL. The introduction of different resampling methods, such as permutation tests (Churchill and Doerge, 1994;Doerge and Churchill, 1996), bootstrap resampling method (Efron, 1979;Mammen, 1993;Visscher et al. 1996), bootstrap model selection procedure (Shao, 1996) and cross validation (Utz et al. 2000) provided a computationally simple and free of dubious assumptions for establishing the significance threshold value. Permutation tests generate many different samples from the actual data by \"shuffling\" the trait values with respect to the marker genotypes to estimate empirically the threshold for a test statistic for detection of a QTL. This approach accounts for missing marker data, actual marker densities, and nonrandom segregation of marker alleles. A permuted sample is generated from the data by randomly pairing phenotypes and genotypes in the sample, stimulating the null hypothesis of no intrinsic association between genotypes and phenotypes (no QTL). The statistical test is then performed over the whole genome on the permuted sample for QTL, and the maximum test statistics is recorded. This permutation analysis is repeated for a number of replicates (usually 1,000 permutations) to obtain a distribution of the maximum test statistics, and from the distribution to obtain the threshold value. One then compares this threshold with the test statistics from the original sample, and declares the existence of a QTL if the peak test statistics in a region exceeds the threshold. Subsequently, Doerge and Churchill (1996) extended the permutation method for detecting multiple QTLs using conditional empirical threshold or residual empirical threshold. Compared with the standard permutation test, the latter two methods tend to have greater statistical power. However, the methods are not designed for detecting multiple linked QTLs.For MIM, where model selection is involved, Zeng et al. (1999) proposed using a bootstrap re-sampling method for hypothesis testing. However, the heavy computational burden has limited the use of the bootstrap test. Furthermore, it is unclear how to apply the bootstrap method in Zeng et al. (1999) to the situation where a nonlinear model, such as logistic regression or a Poisson model, is used to map multiple QTLs with MIM, since the bootstrap procedure is performed on model-based residuals. The importance of cross-validation (CV) has been strongly emphasized by Utz et al. (2000). CV is a technique for assessing how the results of a statistical analysis will generalize to an independent dataset. It is done by partitioning the data into complementary subsets for performing the initial analysis and validation set for validating the analysis. Utz et al. (2000) showed that the proportion of genotypic variance explained in QTL-models based on composite interval mapping, may be over-optimistic. All such analyses should include CV against other environments, resampled genotypes from the same population or both.Limitations of linkage-based QTL mapping methods. The linkage analysis-based QTL mapping methods have the following limitations. First, the need for evenly distributed marker spacing of 10-20 cM (Darvasi et al. 1993) and a high number of informative individuals may make linkage a somewhat limited and even unsuccessful procedure (Lander and Kruglyak, 1995). It should, however be noted that dense markers may pose problems for linkage analysis software's in providing correct marker order and can lead to erroneous QTL mapping results as has recently been reported by Collard et al. (2009). Second, the parents used to develop the mapping population may be out-of-date by the time when the genotype and phenotype data is available. Many marker development projects for annual crops are using populations that were established five or more years before the genotyping work. This could reduce the value of the information gathered and the scope of its implementation. Third, QTL identification based on linkage studies identify chromosomal regions, not individual genes, which may affect a trait. Linkage analysis in plants typically localizes QTLs within 10 to 20 cM intervals because of the limited number of recombination events that occur during the construction of mapping populations and the cost for propagating and evaluating a large number of lines (Doerge, 2002;Holland, 2007).For species with large genome size, this large interval may contain many genes unless the chromosomal region associated with the trait is fine mapped by genotyping large population size with thousands of high throughput and low cost markers, such as single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers.Linkage disequilibrium-based association analysis is the second QTL mapping method. The terms linkage disequilibrium (LD) and association mapping have often been used interchangeably in literature. According to Gupta et al. (2005), however, association mapping refers to significant association of a molecular marker with a phenotypic trait while LD refers to non-random association between two markers (alleles at different loci), between two genes or QTLs, between a gene/QTL and a marker locus. Thus, association mapping is one of the several uses of LD. The terms linkage and LD are also often confused. Linkage refers to the correlated inheritance of loci through the physical connection on a chromosome, whereas LD refers to the correlation between alleles in a population (Flint-Garcia et al. 2003) but not necessarily on the same chromosome. LD can be used in plant genomes for construction of LD maps, for studying marker-trait association both independently and in combination with linkage analysis, and for the study of population genetics and evolution both in nature and under domestication (Gupta et al. 2005). Association mapping generally falls into two broad categories: (i) candidate-gene association mapping, which relates polymorphisms in selected candidate genes that have purported roles in controlling phenotypic variation for specific traits; and (ii) genome-wide association mapping, or genome scan, which surveys genetic variation in the whole genome to find signals of association for various complex traits (Risch and Merikangas, 1996). For candidate-gene association mapping, information regarding the location and function of genes involved in genetic, biochemical or physiological pathways that lead to final trait variation is often required (Risch and Merikangas, 1996;Mackay, 2001). Candidate-gene association mapping requires the identification of SNPs between lines and within specific genes because SNPs offer the highest resolution for mapping QTLs and are potentially in LD with the causative polymorphism (Rafalski, 2002). Whole-genome association scans requires highcapacity DNA sequencing instruments or high-density oligonucleotide (oligo) arrays to efficiently identify SNPs at a density that accurately reflects genome-wide LD structure and haplotype diversity. As sequencing and genotyping costs continue to decrease, we expect to see more genome-wide association mapping. As reviewed by Zhu et al. (2008), population size for several association mapping studies is about 100, which is much lower compared to individuals used for linkage-based QTL mapping. However, Zhu et al. (2008) simulations with empirical maize data show that a large sample size is required to obtain high power to detect genetic effects of moderate size.Association mapping is a population-based survey that capitalizes on historical recombination to identify candidate genes affecting complex traits (Falconer and Mackay, 1996). Unlike linkage analysis, where familial relationships are used to predict correlations between phenotype and genotype, association mapping rely on previous, unrecorded sources of disequilibrium to create population-wide markerphenotype associations (Kruglyak, 1999;Ewens and Spielman, 2001;Jannink et al. 2001). Genetic diversity is evaluated across natural populations to identify polymorphisms that correlate with phenotypic variation. LD is seen in large populations over many generations when selective pressure increases or decreases the frequency of particular alleles or allelic combinations (Falconer and Mackay, 1996) (Figure 8). Association mapping and linkage mapping differ in terms of how the genetic architecture of the trait affects statistical power. The importance of a particular allele in phenotypic variation across a population depends on its frequency, as well as on its effect. Thus, association mapping has low power to detect rare alleles, even if these alleles have a large phenotypic effect. Conversely, alleles that are identified by linkage-based mapping that involves crosses between two essentially randomly chosen parents can have a large effect but might not be important from an evolutionary perspective because they are rare. Thus, mapping QTLs by using crosses might bias researchers towards identifying rare (and often perhaps deleterious) alleles that have large effects but little relevance to most of the phenotypic diversity found in nature (Nordborg and Weigel, 2008). Linkage analysis with experimental populations derived from a bi-parental cross provides pertinent information about traits that tends to be specific to the same or genetically related populations, while results from association mapping are more applicable to a much wider germplasm base. The ability to map QTLs in collections of breeding lines, landraces, or samples from natural populations has great potential for future trait improvement and food security.However, several factors contribute to false positives and affect the success of LD mapping: (i) there are a number of factors that can lead to an increase in LD (e.g., population structure or subdivision, population admixture, population bottleneck or small population size, natural and artificial selection, inbreeding, genetic isolation between lineages, and low recombination rate); (ii) some factors lead to a decrease or disruption in LD (e.g., outcrossing, high recombination rate, and high mutation rate); and (iii) other factors may lead to either an increase or a decrease in LD, or may increase LD between some pairs of alleles and decrease LD between other pairs (e.g., mutations and genomic rearrangements). Several statistical methods have been proposed to account for population structure and familial relatedness, structured association (Pritchard and Rosenberg, 1999;Pritchard et al. 2000;Falush et al. 2003), genomic control (Devlin and Roeder, 1999), mixed model approach (Yu et al. 2006), and principal component approach (Price et al. 2006). LD can be caused by admixture of subpopulation, which leads to false-positive results if not correctly controlled in statistical analysis. Such false-positives arise when testing random genetic markers with different frequencies in subpopulations for a trait with parallel phenotypic differences. If, however, the distribution of functional alleles is highly correlated with population structure, statistically controlling for population structure can result in false-negatives, particularly for small sample sizes. Although population subdivision increases LD, its effect depends on the number of populations, the rate of exchange between populations, and the recombination rate (Pritchard and Przeworski, 2001). Association studies, therefore, are best carried out in independent populations with a large sample size (Yu and Buckler, 2006). Admixture is gene flow between individuals of genetically distinct populations followed by intermating.Admixture results in the introduction of chromosomes of different ancestry and allele frequencies. Often, the resulting LD extends to unlinked sites, even on different chromosomes, but breaks down rapidly with random mating. In small populations, the effects of genetic drift result in the consistent loss of rare allelic combinations, which increase LD levels but in the absence of other mitigating factors (such as population subdivision), this effect should be short-lived (Wall et al. 2002). The same is true of directional selection; strong selection for a particular allele limits genetic diversity around a locus, resulting in a short-term increase in LD around the selected gene.Effective detectable recombination rate and LD decay decreases as homozygosity increases. Thus, LD decays more rapidly in outcrossing species as compared to selfing species (Nordborg, 2000) because recombination is less effective in selfing species, where individuals are more likely to be homozygous, than in outcrossing species. Mutations will disrupt LD between pairs involving wild alleles, and will promote LD between pairs involving mutant alleles. Similarly, genomic rearrangements may disrupt LD between genes separated due to rearrangement, but LD may increase between new gene combinations in the vicinity of breakpoints due to suppression of local recombination. All of the various factors described above affect the utility of LD for localizing QTLs. Any evolutionary force that increases LD beyond that expected by chance in an ideal population will inflate the rate of false-positive associations.Statistical measures for LD. The basic statistics for association analysis, under an ideal situation, would be linear regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test or chisquare test. However, as population structure can generate spurious genotypephenotype associations, different statistical approaches have been designed to deal with this confounding factor. The different measures and methods for estimating the level of LD includes two-locus methods, transmission disequilibrium test, admixture disequilibrium mapping, least-squares multilocus method, and haplotype segment sharing methods (Jorde, 2000). These methods have been described in different reviews (Jorde, 2000;Flint-Garcia et al. 2003;Gaut and Long, 2003;Gupta et al. 2005;Mackay and Powell, 2007).Although a variety of statistics have been used to measure LD, the two most commonly used statistics are r 2 (square of the correlation coefficient) and D' (disequilibrium coefficient). The statistics r 2 and D' reflect different aspects of LD and perform differently under various conditions. Whereas r 2 summarizes both recombinational and mutational history, D' measures only recombinational history and is therefore the more accurate statistics for estimating recombination differences. However, D' is strongly affected by small sample sizes, resulting in highly erratic behavior when comparing loci with low allele frequencies. For the purpose of examining the resolution of association studies, Flint-Garcia et al. (2003) suggested using r 2 statistics, as it is indicative of how markers might correlate with the QTL of interest. The two common ways to visualize the extent of LD between pairs of loci are (a) LD decay plots (Figure 9) and (b) disequilibrium matrices. LD decay plots are used to visualize the rate at which LD declines with genetic or physical distance (Figure 9). Scatter plots of r 2 values versus genetic/physical distances between all pairs of alleles within a gene, along a chromosome, or across the genome are constructed. The decay of LD over physical distance in a population determines the density of marker coverage needed to perform an association analysis. Figure 10 illustrates the number of markers required for association mapping in 3 crops of different genome size (rice = 466 x 10 3 kilobase pair, abbreviated as kb; Sorghum = 735 x 10 3 kb; maize = 2400 x 10 3 kb). If LD decays rapidly, then a higher marker density is required to capture markers located close enough to functional sites (Flint-Garcia et al. 2003;Gaut and Long, 2003).The extent and patterns of linkage disequilibrium have been characterized in several crop species. In maize, r 2 decays within 0.3-2 kb, and this rapid decay may be due to its outcrossing mating system (Remington et al. 2001;Tenaillon et al. 2001). In commercial maize inbred lines, LD decay may be slower and linkage blocks may extend more than 100 kb (Ching et al. 2002). For regions that have experienced strong selective sweeps, LD may extend over 500 kb (Jung et al. 2004). Yan et al. (2009) genotyped 632 lines with 1229 SNPs that represent 538 loci and reported an average LD decay ranging from 5 kb to 10 kb depending on the chromosome. In sorghum, r 2 > 0.1 is observed between 15 to 20 kb (Hamblin et al. 2005). High levels of marker association (r 2 > 0.1) across a 212 kb region was observed in cultivated, elite varieties of barley, while in landrace accessions, LD levels persist to about 90 kb (Caldwell et al. 2006). In rice, LD decay of about 100 kb has been reported around a disease resistance locus (Garris et al. 2003). Using unlinked SNPs to determine the amount of background linkage disequilibrium in different rice population, Mather et al. (2007) reported LD decay of about 500 kb in temperate japonica, 150 kb in tropical japonica and 75 kb in indica. These results, together with others, clearly demonstrated the high variability in LD decay depending upon the species, populations, or genomic region under consideration. A single study determining LD for a species can therefore not be projected to all populations of the species. Inference of LD levels across the genome of a population can also be misleading because LD patterns are variable among chromosomes and over distance.There are six potential advantages of the LD-based QTL mapping in crop species. First, it increases mapping resolution, reduced research time, and reveal greater allele number (Yu and Buckler, 2006). Second, LD mapping provides detailed marker data points on a large number of lines and varieties, which will be valuable in several breeding strategies. Third, the LD approach uses real breeding populations, the material is diverse and relevant, and the most important genes should be segregating in such populations (Figure 5). Plant breeders are often reluctant to grow and assess a huge number of lines with little or no potential for direct commercial outcome such as required for genetic map construction and fine mapping of QTLs. The advantage of LD mapping to the breeder is that mapping and commercial variety development is conducted simultaneously. Fourth, pattern analysis of marker data might detect complex combinations (even epistatic interactions) between alleles at several loci, which underlie the superior individuals in a breeding population. This might prove difficult to isolate and validate using the linkage-based mapping approach. Fifth, LD studies have proven to be more powerful for genes of small to modest effects (Risch and Merikangas, 1996), reduce sample requirements in terms of size and structure as compared to those needed for linkage studies to obtain similar significance, and narrow the distance between the expected site of the locus and the nearest marker. Finally, LD approach has the potential not only to identify and map QTLs (Meuwissen and Goddard, 2000), but also to identify (a) causal polymorphism within a gene that is responsible for the difference in two alternative phenotypes (Palaisa et al. 2003, Palaisa et al. 2004), and (b) haplotype blocks and haplotypes representing different alleles of a gene and their combinations. However, LD-based mapping has several potential disadvantages. First, it assumes that the trait of interest is segregating in the breeding material and hence may not assist in the identification and introgression of novel alleles. Therefore, there will be a continuing requirement for advanced backcross QTL (AB-QTL) mapping for introgression of novel alleles from wild relatives (Tanksley and Nelson, 1996) and a capability for map construction for other special cases. Second, LD mapping strategies will work best where there is strong selection pressure for the trait of interest, so the location and management of field trials and the design and application of laboratory assays is crucial to its success. Third, LD mapping provides little insight into the mechanistic basis of LD detected (e.g., LD may not be due to linkage in all cases) so that genomic localization and cloning of genes based on LD may not be successful, particularly for those with relatively small effect. This is because a strong LD may sometimes be due to recent occurrence of LD rather than a close physical linkage between the two loci. Fourth, several factors can affect the reliability of LD mapping in plants, including population structure or subdivision, population admixture, population bottleneck (small population size), natural and artificial selection, inbreeding, genetic isolation between lineages, recombination rate, outcrossing, mutation, and genomic rearrangements (e.g., Gaut and Long, 2003;Gupta et al. 2005). Fifth, LD mapping often requires genotyping the mapping populations with large number of markers (Yan et al. 2009). The number of markers required for whole-genome scan depends on the genome size of the species and the expected LD decay. If LD decays at 5 kb, for example, the number of SNPs required for genotyping will be as high as 93200 for rice, 147000 for sorghum, 480000 for maize, 1.1 million for barley and 3.2 million for hexaploid wheat. The number of markers will decrease sharply if LD decay is expected at about 100 kb (4660 SNPs for rice, 7350 SNPs for sorghum, 24000 SNPs for maize, 57000 SNPs for barley and 160000 SNPs for hexaploid wheat). Such high density marker requirement can only be achieved through the development of an integrated genotyping by sequencing platform and analytical tools.Both the linkage-based and LD-based QTL mapping methods have their own limitations when used alone. A new joint linkage and LD mapping strategy has been devised for genetic mapping, taking advantage of each approach (Wu and Zeng, 2001;Wu et al. 2002). The approach of combined linkage analysis and LD for QTL analysis has been extended for multi-trait fine mapping of QTLs (Lund et al. 2003;Meuwissen and Goddard, 2004;Gupta et al. 2005).Multivariate analysis for multi-trait QTL detection in inbred lines has been proposed by different authors (Jiang and Zeng, 1995;Korol et al. 1995;Weller et al. 1996;Knott and Haley, 2000). Ronin et al. (1995) have extended this to half sib families. Weller et al. (1996) proposed to synthesize most of the information in a linear combination of the traits and used principal component analysis (PCA) for multi-trait detection of QTLs in dairy cow. PCA was then used for mapping QTLs in genetic crosses (Liu et al. 1996;Zeng et al. 2000;Gilbert and LeRoy, 2003;Upadyayula et al. 2006) and association analysis in pedigrees (Chase et al. 2002). Yan et al. (2003) have developed a PCA-based program called ''GGE analyses for the genetic analysis of GxE interactions, QTL and diallels in barley\". Bjørnstad et al. (2004) described the utility of bi-linear modeling by cross-validated partial least squares regression (PLSR) for exploring the relationship between genotype and phenotype.A large quantity of mapping data can now be produced at an unprecedented rate, requiring the use of dedicated computer programs to extract all embedded information. Several statistical packages have been developed for QTL mapping in the last two decades, which are among about 400 genetic analysis software's that are listed at http://www.nslij-genetics.org/soft/ and offer a panel of standard and more sophisticated analyses. The review below provides a brief outline of some of the most commonly used statistical software's for QTL mapping, including their operating systems and their online links (Table 2).1. QTL Cartographer (Basten et al. 1994;Basten et al. 2002;Wang et al. 2007) is a suite of programs for DOS, UNIX, MacOS or Windows. QTL Cartographer is distinguished by its menu-driven interface, its more detailed documentation, and its resampling methods. Windows QTL Cartographer (WinQTLCart) maps QTLs in cross populations from inbred lines.WinQTLCart includes a graphic tool for presenting mapping results and can import and export data in a variety of formats. This program implements the following statistical methods: single-marker analysis, interval mapping, composite interval mapping, Bayesian interval mapping, multiple interval mapping, multiple trait analysis, and multiple trait MIM analysis. 2. MAPMAKER/QTL (Lincoln et al. 1992) is a widely used program for UNIX, DOS and Mac OS operating systems. Researchers need to follow three basic stages for doing QTL analysis with Mapmaker/QTL: (i) prepare the data into the format that Mapmaker needs; (ii) constructing genetic map for the marker data (establish linkage groups, calculate map distances and determine locus orders) with MAPMAKER/EXP (Lincoln et al. 1992), and (iii) feed the marker and phenotype data along with marker distances for each linkage group into Mapmaker/QTL and run QTL analyses. 3. PlabQTL (Utz and Melchinger, 2003) is a script-driven program for DOS or AIX that is designed to analyze automatically a dataset at increasing levels of complexity in successive runs. Like MAPMAKE/QTL, researchers need to construct genetic map for the marker data, prepare a complete input file that consists of the marker data, the linkage map, and the phenotypic observation values. The complete data set needs to be accompanied by an analysis controlling command file that should instruct the program to perform either simple interval mapping or composite interval mapping. 4. QGene (Nelson, 1997), version 4.0, is a program with a variety of graphics for displaying analyses outputs. These functions make it uniquely useful for rapid exploration of data using any computer. However, it does not perform CIM. 5. Map Manager QTX (Manly et al. 2001)   (Sharbel et al. 2000). Since population structure tends to create spurious LD between unlinked markers (Nei and Li, 1973;Pritchard and Przeworski, 2001), scientists need to conduct complementary analyses on genotypic data to assess for population structure before proceeding with LD analysis. Various statistical programs have been described in the literature for assessing population structure (e.g., Jorde, 2000;Gupta et al. 2005) but only some of them have been used in plants. These include STRUCTURE (Pritchard et al. 2000), Arlequin (Excoffier et al. 2005), FSTAT (Goudet, 1995), GENEPOP (Raymond and Rousset, 1995), Genetic Data Analysis (GDA), (Weir, 1996), and GENETIX (Belkhir et al. 1996(Belkhir et al. -2004)). For example, STRUCTURE is a DOS, Windows, UNIX (Solaris) and Linux based program that implements a model-based clustering method for inferring the presence of population structure, identifying distinct genetic populations, assigning individuals to populations, and identifying migrants and admixed individuals.Since the early 1990s, numerous studies have identified molecular markers linked to QTLs involved in the inheritance of agronomically important traits in a wide range of crop species. Following the discovery of promising QTLs and identification of molecular markers, MAS has been used to transfer single genes or QTL in various species. However, published results in QTL introgressions through MAS are variable, ranging from successful experiments to those with limited success and even a failure (see Semagn et al. 2006b for review). The rate of success starts to decrease when five or more target QTLs for complex traits are introgressed in to a given germplasm (Lawson et al. 1997;Shen et al. 2001;Bouchez et al. 2002;Ribaut et al. 2002a;Lecomte et al. 2004;Thabuis et al. 2004). Several factors may contribute for such failure or unexpected results in MAS: (i) errors in QTL mapping (the putative QTL may be a false positive or the QTL effect might have been over estimated); (ii) the repeatability of the QTL across different genetic background and/or environments might have not be confirmed (e.g., Melchinger et al. 1998;Schon et al. 2004); (iii) there may be QTL by environment and QTL by QTL interactions (e.g., Ribaut et al. 2002a, Ribaut et al. 2002b); (iv) pleiotrophic effects (Tuberosa et al. 2002); and (v) the chromosomal segments associated with QTL hold not just one but several genes, and recombination between those genes would then modify the effect of the introgressed segments (e.g., Eshed and Zamir, 1995;Monna et al. 2002). For example, Kroymann and Mitchell-Olds (2005) find mapped phenotypic effects segregating within a onecentimorgan chromosome interval in Arabidopsis thaliana for which lines with mapped recombination breakpoints were available, and examined the sequence signature of historical polymorphism. The authors found that the 1 cM chromosome interval contained two growth rate QTLs within 210 kilobases (kb). Both QTLs showed epistasis (i.e., their phenotypic effects depended on the genetic background). This amount of complexity in such a small area suggests a highly polygenic architecture of quantitative variation, much more than previously documented (Koornneef et al. 2004).Figure 11. Goals and approaches for using molecular markers to study and select for complex traits in plants (Bernardo, 2008).Overestimation of the effect of QTLs is often a major problem because QTLs whose effects are overestimated are more likely to be detected above the necessary stringent threshold than are those whose effects are correctly estimated or underestimated. Spurious QTLs (false positives) are occasionally detected and this represents an overestimation of an effect that is actually zero (Haley and Andersson, 1997). Furthermore, most primary or coarse QTL mapping studies using small population size and low marker density allows only for an approximate mapping of the chromosomal region. Therefore, identification of reliable QTL is a preliminary step in developing a marker assisted selection programs for genetic improvement. To utilize QTLs in selective breeding or to identify functional genes, the identified major QTLs should be fine mapped to a higher level of resolution for QTL position and verified or validated in additional genetic backgrounds and environments by developing advanced segregating populations with large numbers of recombinations in the region of interest. QTL verification is defined as the repeated detection of the same marker alleles at a similar position on the genetic map of a chromosome, of a QTL controlling a trait under more than one set of experimental conditions (Brown et al. 2003).Verification of QTL is necessary to substantiate a biological basis for observed marker-trait associations, to provide precise estimates of the magnitude of QTL effects, and to predict QTL expression at a given age or in a particular environment. Only then will sufficient experimental evidence be in place to monitor the transmission of trait genes via closely linked markers as a selection criterion (Young, 1999).Fine mapping of major QTLs requires the construction of special populations with large numbers of recombinations in the region identified by the coarse genome scan (Darvasi, 1998;Pumphrey et al. 2007). A widely adopted strategy to estimate the position and effect of a coarsely mapped QTLs more accurately is to create a new experimental population by crossing nearly isogenic lines (NILs) that differ only in the allelic constitution at the short chromosome segment harbouring the QTL (QTL-NILs).In such a population, because of the absence of other segregating QTLs, the target QTL becomes the major genetic source of variation, and the phenotypic means of the QTL genotypic classes (+/+, -/-and, when present, +/-) can be statistically differentiated and genotypes recognized accordingly (Salvi and Tuberosa, 2005).However, there are at least three shortcomings regarding QTL fine mapping and validation. First, time and effort required for developing NILs, introgression libraries, advanced backcross QTL (AB-QTL) introgression lines, as well as the limited genetic variability as a result of using only two parental lines are crucial aspects to be considered. Second, the time and cost required to genotype, and adequately phenotype the fine mapping and validation populations also represents a substantial investment and slows the application of marker information to genetic improvement (Pumphrey et al. 2007). Third, it is almost impossible to fine map several minor QTLs associated with highly complex traits, such as drought tolerance and yield for different reasons: (a) the magnitude of inconsistency in estimated QTL effects is much higher for complex traits controlled by many minor QTLs rather than by a few major QTLs; (b) most QTLs are often background or germplasm specific and estimated QTL effects will have limited transferability across populations (i.e., QTL mapping for such traits will likely have to be repeated for each breeding population); (c) as complex traits controlled by many QTLs are subject to genotype -by-environment interaction, QTL mapping for the same population will likely have to be performed for each target set of environments; and (d) as the effects of sampling error are large, population sizes of 500-1000 are needed for mapping QTLs per se (Bernardo, 2008). In such cases, it is unlikely that a \"QTL hunt\", involving traditional mapping of QTLs in a small number of crosses, with the objective of tracking useful alleles that will have consistent and large effects in other backgrounds via MAS, will be successful.To overcome some of the problems in fine mapping, and/or QTL validation, marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) (Edwards and Johnson, 1994;Hospital et al. 1997;Johnson, 2004;Bernardo and Charcosset, 2006) and genomewide selection (also called genomic selection), (Meuwissen et al. 2001;Bernardo and Yu, 2007;Wong and Bernardo, 2008;Bernardo, 2009;Heffner et al. 2009;Zhong et al. 2009;Jannink et al. 2010) have been proposed for accumulating favorable alleles from many QTLs (up to 100 QTLs based on simulation studies) for highly polygenic traits (Bernardo and Yu, 2007;Bernardo, 2008). MARS refers to the improvement of an F2 population by one cycle of marker-assisted selection (i.e., based on phenotypic data and marker scores) followed by three cycles of selection based on marker scores only (Johnson, 2001;Johnson, 2004). The marker scores are typically determined from about 20 to 35 markers that have been identified, in a multiple-regression model, as significantly associated with one or more traits of interest (Koebner, 2003).Genomewide selection refers to marker-based selection without significance testing and without identifying of a subset of markers associated with the trait (Meuwissen et al. 2001). It focuses purely on prediction of performance and avoids QTL mapping altogether (Bernardo, 2008;Heffner et al. 2009).The current trend in molecular breeding is to combine the different QTL mapping methods (Figure 11) with methods in functional genomics (Varshney et al. 2006) and QTL cloning (Tuberosa and Salvi, 2006). The genetic maps of many organisms are now becoming increasingly dense, and the cost of genotyping is decreasing. The development of high resolution maps facilitates the isolation of actual genes or quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN) (rather than markers) via map-based cloning (also called positional cloning). The identification of genes controlling important traits will enable plant scientists to predict gene function using reverse genetics methods (e.g., TILLING, Eco-TILLING; (McCallum et al. 2000;Comai et al. 2004), isolate homologues and conduct transgenic experiments. The use of gene sequences derived from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) or gene analogues, described as the 'candidate gene approach', holds promise in identifying the actual genes that control the desired traits (Yamamoto and Sasaki, 1997;Cato et al. 2001;Pflieger et al. 2001).The number of EST and genomic sequences available in databases is growing rapidly (especially from genome sequencing projects), and the accumulation of these sequences will be extremely useful for the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and data mining for new markers in the future (Gupta et al. 2001;Kantety et al. 2002).To enhance the efficiency of MAS, knowledge of the DNA sequence of the gene enables the design of direct markers, which are located within the actual gene, thus eliminating the possibility of recombination between marker and gene (Ogbonnaya et al. 2001;Ellis et al. 2002). With continuous advances in sequencing technologies, genome-based selection is likely to replace the conventional marker-based genotyping approach to provide a powerful tool for high resolution mapping and largescale gene discovery. However, genomewide selection requires several important components including (a) very high marker density (with hundreds of thousands of SNP markers) that cannot be met with any of the currently available marker technologies, (b) high throughput low cost DNA extraction method, (c) rapid, cost effective and high throughput large-scale genotyping system, (d) efficient sample collection and tracking system, and (e) automated data management, analyses and interpretation. The future of molecular breeding is therefore building huge data sets and mathematical models that can predict genotypes that will perform well under specific environments. This information will then be used to help breeders create the right cross that most efficiently maximizes agricultural output (yield and quality) with use of minimal input resources.","tokenCount":"13420"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3261204013.json b/data/part_1/3261204013.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d4153b3d10461db3cc61d2588c2e140ff065bd04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3261204013.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"32e8567ac0e0efb40e0696215d9cb12d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.resbank.co.za/content/dam/sarb/what-we-do/research/UNLOCKING%20GROWTH%20PROSPECTS%20FINAL%20050423.pdf","id":"-623304662"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f3e386ef-abf7-49f4-9e24-238462dcb940","pagecount":"212","content":"To assess the likely trajectory of South Africa's economy over the next few years and to outline the available options to restore and accelerate economic growth, theChristopher Loewald and Matthew Stern 1. Background South Africa's official unemployment rate reached 34.9% in the third quarter of 2021. This staggering statistic reflects an unsustainable reality. More than 4.5 million South Africans under 35 are unemployed, and around 300 000 more youth enter the labour market every year (Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) 2021b). This unemployment crisis represents the greatest disappointment of the democratic era, a failure to create sufficient economic opportunities for post-1994 generations. For much of the period since 1994, and despite high unemployment, real income per capita grew. However, since 2010, South Africa's real economic growth rate did not even keep pace with the country's population, resulting in a 36% fall in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in US dollar terms over this period.High unemployment and declining real income growth left South Africa's economy vulnerable to the unprecedented negative shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. The papers collected in this book together illustrate key aspects of South Africa's growth and development performance over the past decade, the impact of the pandemic and the likely trajectory of the country's post-COVID recovery.The overall picture is troubling, in large part because various efforts to boost growth have left the economy with much larger financial vulnerabilities than before. Few lessons about what has or has not worked in terms of policies appear to have made their way into reform efforts. Many interventions have had unintended negative effects on the economy and poorer households. This 'expansion without impact' has left the economy and society more susceptible to external shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also make recovery longer and more uneven.As South Africa looks to navigate out of a COVID-induced downturn and to restore economic growth and create new jobs, a more active and better-informed policy response is needed. Given the country's growth performance, weak saving rate and other financial vulnerabilities, policy options are broadly limited to what is sustainable -policies that create or generate financing for the economy into the future. With many years of diagnosis and analysis, the structural causes of South Africa's poor economic and employment performance are generally understood. These include an education system unable to produce the skills needed for the modern workplace; ageing and badly maintained transport and electricity infrastructure unable to provide industry with consistent inputs at a reasonable cost; and the spatial legacy of apartheid, which effectively locks many South Africans out of the formal economy. Efforts are under way to improve the education system, invest in new infrastructure, and provide housing and social support to the poor -but progress has been slow and uneven, and it will take significantly more resources and time to lift these constraints. In the interim, South Africa needs to focus on short-and medium-term policies and actions to boost growth and employment.Over the past decade, South Africa's economic growth has slowed and in key areas fallen behind global and peer trends. Figure 1 shows the average real growth rate for all countries in the MSCI Emerging Market Index from 2008 to 2019. Over this period, South Africa recorded an average real growth of just 1.6%; slower than all other countries with the exception of Brazil, Russia and Argentina. Loate et al. (Chapter 1) analyse this growth from a macroeconomic perspective, ascribing this disappointing performance primarily to a decline in the potential output of the economy and very low levels of investment.In accounting for the impact of monetary policy, they find a clear negative relationship between inflation and economic growth, turning the traditional view of the Phillips curve on its head and suggesting widespread price rigidities in the economy and inelastic supply curves. The authors also assess the flexibility of the conduct of monetary policy, concluding that since the adoption of inflation targeting, the average real interest rate is no higher than it was in previous regimes. by 2024/25. They trace a clear link between South Africa's debt expansion between 2014 and 2019 and the sharp increase in the country's risk premium and long-term interest rates, with negative effects on manufacturing output and capital flows.The fiscal balance has therefore become a significant macroeconomic risk. Some have interpreted this outcome as a sign that monetary policy is insufficiently expansionary -lower short-term interest rates would pull down long-term interest rates. In contrast, the authors find clear evidence that South Africa maintained an almost continuously expansionary monetary stance, made possible in large part by the high credibility and transparency of the policy framework. Rather than subordinating one policy domain to the other, the disjuncture between monetary policy and fiscal policy instead illustrates why the two need to be more directly coordinated to achieve better macroeconomic outcomes. Monetary policy can support the economy -and inflation targeting provides the necessary flexibilityin the context of a credible commitment to appropriate long-term fiscal targets that are sustainable and alongside actively pursued structural economic reforms.A clear articulation of the importance of macroeconomic sustainability to stronger economic growth would improve certainty of a stable trajectory for the economy. The critical ingredients are a future path of fiscal balances that, at a minimum, stabilises public debt (preferably lowering it), and affirmation of the inflation target and its framework. In fiscal terms, temporary support to the economy during the pandemic should be redirected to more growth-enhancing priorities, consistent with the fading of tax revenue growth created by the commodity price boom.While there is an argument for further adjusting the inflation target itself to a single, lower point, gains could also be achieved from a broader understanding of the role played by monetary policy in meeting the socio-economic needs of the country. In particular, ensuring that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) remains singularly focused on maintaining price stability is critical to protect the domestic economy from international shocks and uncertainty. According to the authors of Chapter 1, any relaxation in monetary policy that increases inflation expectations will increase nominal wages without any significant boost to firmlevel profitability, investment and jobs. They also argue strongly against mandating the SARB with any kind of developmental role -they find no evidence that the credit market is a major constraint to industrial development. Changing the mandate, moreover, risks seriously damaging the international credibility of the institution and the clarity of its policy framework.Another part of the explanation for the country's weak growth trajectory lies in external trade, with South Africa's international trade performance falling behind its peers. Figure 2 shows that South Africa's export growth rate fell sharply over the last decade and that exports increased at a much slower rate than other middleincome and sub-Saharan comparators. As a result, South Africa's share of world exports fell from 0.6% to 0.4% between 1990 and 2019. This shift alone shaved as much as US$50 billion off the country's GDP. Stern and Ramkolowan (Chapter 3) discuss the reasons for this disappointing trade performance, including the structure of the country's export basket, its dependence on a limited number of large but mature export markets, and the high cost and deteriorating competitiveness of the general business environment. They highlight the important role of trade and industrial policy, which is largely designed to protect domestic sectors and interests, favouring local production and economic transformation over international competitiveness. Stern and Ramkolowan raise concerns that the country's cautious approach to regional and international trade negotiations, the high cost of logistics, and preferences afforded to local companies increase the incentive to produce for the protected domestic market over exploring new export opportunities. And while these policies do not appear to be meeting their intended sectoral goals, they have additional costs: they raise barriers for new entrants, lower competition for incumbent firms and in some cases increase prices for consumers, indirectly inhibiting the expansion of the manufacturing sector more broadly. Makgetla (Chapter 4) discusses a specific case study of this in the food sector, as noted below.To increase competition and the international scale of South African firms, stronger incentives could encourage businesses to invest, innovate and export, while disincentives should be removed. Current approaches to trade and industrial policy create disincentives to expanding existing manufacturing capabilities, rather than enabling industry to explore new and far larger opportunities abroad. Greater ambition in concluding and implementing regional and continent-wide trade agreements, including a more open approach to the use of preferences and rules of origin, would be useful, alongside the development of better-informed positions that reflect the country's economic interests in services and e-commerce, for example.Finally, while it is important to change the ownership and employment profile of industry in South Africa, there is also an urgent need for increased international knowledge, technology, investment and competition. To the extent that these priorities conflict, low-cost and effective compromises will need to be found. A useful starting point would be an independent assessment of the possible and unintended consequences of South Africa's local content and black economic empowerment policies on employment, competition, trade and investment. This could be undertaken with the aim of developing new and administratively light mechanisms to enable small and foreign firms to contribute towards the country's broader transformation and development objectives. South Africa's stated policy response to climate change has been more broadly beneficial, but with similarly perverse effects. Gwatidzo and Simbanegavi (Chapter 6) note that current electricity shortages present an opportunity for South Africa to reduce the carbon intensity of its output, reducing negative externalities for the economy, and simultaneously strengthen the country's strong industrial base and reap positive externalities for exports, job creation and productivity. South Africa's industrial base gives it a potential advantage in the production of green goods in Africa.While current policy sets out critical changes to the energy mix, implementation of these plans has been patchy, and there is clear reluctance to move forward on an accelerated transition. This is ascribed by the authors to political economy factors, including the interests of trade unions, the coal mining sector and the vast market power of Eskom. The transition requires policy coherence across the public sector and partnerships with the private sector.Meanwhile, the lack of progress carries high opportunity costs. Despite progress made in lowering the energy intensity of its production, South Africa has underperformed when compared to Brazil, Russia, India and China (the other BRICS countries). Figure 3 reveals that despite a significant head start, South Africa is now the least energy efficient of the group -largely due to its ongoing dependence on coal for most of its energy supply.To facilitate growth of the green economy and speed up the country's climate transition, investment in renewable energy production should be ramped up and barriers to green industrialisation removed. Existing industrial incentives should be redirected to encourage greater use of cleaner and more energy-efficient technologies. Given the extreme energy shortfall in the country, Chapter 6 points out that there is no trade-off between renewables and coal in the short term (one need not reduce the other), and that most of the large coal plants will reach the end of their lifespan relatively soon. As a result, there is alignment between South Africa's green, economic and employment objectives. Encouraging greater private sector investment and involvement in energy production will also create space (especially financial) for the public sector to deliver the Just Energy Transition Partnership.There is now an increasing risk that South Africa, instead of being a global leader in greening and moving onto a higher productivity and lower energy cost industrial base, could be penalised for its high carbon intensity of production and therefore lose even more competitiveness in international trade. The heart of the issue is a relative price problem that the country has been painfully slow to come to grips with -without higher prices for energy (fully reflecting the negative externalities of current energy and positive externalities of alternative energy), the incentive to shift faster is heavily diluted and increases resistance to reform. This in turn hugely increases the cost of the transition in terms of economic growth and jobs that would otherwise have been created. Failing to get prices right will continue to exert a depressing effect on the South African economy overall and prevent new job creation. From a comparative perspective, South Africa's growth and jobs performance looks even more concerning. As Loewald et al. show (Chapter 2), South Africa would need about twice the economic growth rate as Turkey, the next worst performer, in order to achieve the same labour utilisation outcome (Figure 4). Loewald et al. identify various factors that explain why the South African economy uses so little labour. These include weak market competition and resulting low demand for labour, skills shortages and ineffective public employment services. High labour supply costs reduce the demand for labour by pushing costs above productivity. The extension of collective bargaining enforces this supply and demand mismatch across the formal economy, while wage compression creates a mismatch between the productivity and cost of younger workers. Long and costly firing procedures discourage small firms from taking on new employees. While many policies are in place to protect the employed from exploitation, these policies -perversely -most harm the unemployed and younger, marginalised workers. The authors advocate for, among other things, a better balance of labour market regulations that reduce the severe supply-demand imbalance. Exempting small and medium-sized businesses from these regulations would create demand for labour in areas where South Africa falls especially far from global norms.The authors further propose using tax credits to support the employment of graduates, lowering firing costs by linking employment protection to employment tenure, and greatly expanding public employment (job brokerage) services. Alongside more use of well-designed active labour market policies, microeconomic policies need to lower the costs of job creation, address school-to-job transitions, improve the employability of the inactive population and make job search more effective. Workers could be better protected by increasing focus on health and safety standards, backed up by higher quality public services to reduce labour supply costs.Recognising that many of the skills needed to grow into new sectors are in short supply in South Africa and that improvements to the education system will take time, a more urgent and deliberate approach to relaxing immigration restrictions is needed. The economic simulations undertaken in Chapter 5 demonstrate that a much more open immigration regime for highly skilled and experienced workers has particularly strong potential to stimulate growth, create jobs and reduce inequality at scale, at low public financial cost and with low risk.Makgetla (Chapter 4) illustrates a specific set of policies implemented to protect and grow the economy, but where the costs weigh most heavily on poorer households. The author explores the reasons behind and impact of higher poultry, sugar and wheat price tariffs imposed at various points over the past two decades. The tariffs were imposed in response to calls to protect local producers from international competition, and in extreme cases from dumping. However, the foods affected -especially poultry and wheat -are dietary staples for low-income groups. As a result, the cost of protecting these industries was most directly and severely borne by these consumers. The author finds that tariffs were not associated with any significant increase in local production, implying that they did not achieve their stated policy objective. Her analysis finds that the decision-making process on tariffs magnified the influence of well-resourced commercial farm and foodprocessing lobbies, a finding consistent with similar analyses of tariffs in other parts of the world. While all these policies and trends were in place before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic severely worsened economic growth and development outcomes. By the time of writing (2021), as noted by Arndt et al. (Chapter 5), the economic recovery had been uneven and, in some areas, fragile. Whereas production in most sectors was close to 2019 levels, employment and construction-related activity (reflecting investment) continued to weaken. Moreover, and despite increased government support and buoyant household spending, there is evidence that child hunger increased and poor households remained vulnerable. Government responded to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 by providing emergency relief of various kinds, including temporary social transfers that could become permanent. Ultimately, however, the extent of any level of redistributive transfers depends on the capacity of the economy to finance them. If job creation is too low to resolve unemployment and GDP growth is too low to achieve real per capita increases in income, then financing capacity will remain limited.As the chapters in this book demonstrate, many economic policy choices entail trade-offs, in which some group experiences a short-term loss in order for others, or the country as a whole, to benefit. In South Africa's case, many of the trade-offs needed most urgently to create growth will on balance benefit poorer households.They tend to place higher income households at some short-run disadvantage, while creating gains across the income distribution over the medium and longer term. The chapter on labour utilisation makes the point that reducing the supply cost of less-skilled workers increases the demand for them, raising employment levels across the economy and benefitting all households, even those with workers that might be negatively impacted in the short run by the reforms. This theme is highlighted again by Arndt et al. (Chapter 5), who show that there are high-impact, low-cost reforms that can boost growth and support the poor at the same time, such as in the areas of skills, food systems and urban structure. The authors underline the need for much greater openness to immigration of highly skilled and experienced workers, reductions in the policy uncertainty associated with land reform and measures to improve urban transport efficiency. These policy reforms can rapidly improve growth prospects, reduce inequities and help realise longer-term development objectives. For example, the authors estimate that a 1% increase in the supply of tertiary-educated workers via immigration could increase GDP by 1.2%.Most of the policy recommendations outlined in this book can be implemented quickly and at reasonable cost. The authors put forward a range of policy proposals that complement and strengthen those already under consideration by public authorities (National Treasury 2019).To ensure that any of these reforms are implemented fully and effectively will also require a change to the policymaking process. Currently, a lack of consistency between programmes and instruments in public policy suggests insufficient public coordination. Chapter 1, for example, illustrates how monetary policy has had to counteract an inflationary fiscal stance; Chapters 2 and 3 point to an apparent tension between the country's transformation and competition objectives; and Chapter 6 describes the lack of attention to the green economy in the design of industrial policy.Achieving policy objectives will require strong leadership from the centre and a willingness to look beyond short-term sectoral and insider interests, acting on the economy-wide (net) impacts of the proposed policy reforms. A functional accord between social actors might be helpful, but process should not trump needed outcomes, as discussed in Chapter 2.In many respects, the research presented in this book reinforces what is already known about the South African economy. Over the last decade, the country's growth rate has failed to keep pace with its expanding population and the rest of the world, and this has increased unemployment and inequality.A number of the chapters in this book conclude that to address these challenges economic policies should be reconsidered, refocused and refined. Taken together, the authors illustrate the value of evaluating policy choices and their impact on the economy, employment and development objectives. Ideally, this type of evidence-based reflection provides lessons for South Africa's future both in terms of what to do next (policy recommendations) and what to avoid (lessons from past experience). Greater coordination and careful consideration of the available evidence will help to ensure policies are well-targeted and effective.The existing data tells us that South Africa should move quickly to ease the current social and economic malaise, and our recent history tells us that the existing policy framework is not up to this task. The chapters that follow present powerful arguments for assessing and responding to the evidence in order to support South Africa's growth and development ambitions.Sailing against the wind requires travelling in a zig-zag path, changing direction with seemingly little relation to the final destination, with a keel under the boat to counteract the force of the wind and propel the boat forward. Monetary policy in South Africa has to contend with a series of crosswinds not dissimilar to a boat trying to sail against the wind. The direction of travel will undoubtedly need to be adaptable and new instruments and monetary strategies could become necessary. But monetary policy will be effective in the short run only if it continues to commit to long-run monetary and financial stability and maintains a strong and credible institutional setting to provide the keel to counteract the wind. Alternatively, the wind will determine the direction of travel.A few years after South Africa adopted inflation targeting, Aron and Muellbauer (2007) reviewed the performance of the regime and the evaluation was certainly positive. The economy was growing at a healthy 5% per year and inflation was under control, even when facing some significant external shocks. Inflation and output volatility had declined and the only concern was the increasing private sector debt. The consensus was that a combination of sound fiscal policy, exchange rate flexibility and inflation targeting would anchor the long-term growth of the economy. Fifteen years later, the prospects of the South African economy and of its monetary policy are much more uncertain, after two large global shocks and 10 years of very weak economic performances which are expected to continue in the foreseeable future. The objective of this paper is to discuss the main challenges that monetary policy will face in the near future, especially after the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the underlying trends of low growth and high public debt.South African monetary policy has received considerable attention and there is a large body of literature on its historical development. Aron and Muellbauer (2007) review monetary policy in the first 10 years of democratic South Africa and describe the change in the policy approach from an eclectic combination of monetary and exchange rate targeting to the adoption of inflation targeting that made policy more transparent and predictable. Nowak and Ricci (2006) cover similar ground, but with a longer historical view that shows the difficulty of breaking the inflationary patterns developed in the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. After that the literature focuses on the performance of the inflation targeting regime (Du Plessis et al. 2007;Frankel et al. 2008), its effect on private sector expectations (Reid 2009;Kabundi et al. 2015), its credibility (Kabundi and Mlachila 2018), and its transparency and communication (Reid and Du Plessis 2010). Following the global financial crisis (GFC), the independence of the SARB and its mandate as expressed in article 224 of the Constitution 1 (Republic of South Africa, 1996) and the policy framework of the SARB have come under scrutiny (Padayachee 2014), mainly as a response to continuing economic stagnation.The main aim of this paper is to locate South African monetary policy in the context of the economic structure in which it has to operate. The main argument is that to understand monetary policy and to evaluate the policy regime, one has to understand the constraints a central bank faces. This is particularly true after the GFC, when monetary policy had to confront an unprecedented international shock and a structurally weakening national economy. This will be more so after the COVID-19 crisis, when monetary policy will have to contend with a critical fiscal position and possible continuing economic stagnation.In the next section we review the evolution of the SARB's monetary policy framework and its policy rule. We then review three underlying structural constraints that affect monetary policymaking: the external environment, longterm growth and the fiscal balance. The last section concludes by emphasising the importance of inflation targeting as a robust policy framework that has demonstrated the ability to adapt and take on new roles and new instruments while maintaining a strong long-term stability anchor.The monetary policy consensus of the last 30 years sees short-term business cycle management inside a framework of strong long-term anchors of monetary and fiscal stability (Woodford, 2003). The ability to operate short-run countercyclical policies is stronger when the long-term objectives are also clearly defined. Operationally this means:an emphasis on the central bank's institutional independence, to minimise the influence of short-run political pressures and build credibility through the pursuit of long-term price stability (Fischer et al. 1994);a clear policy framework, captured by well-defined intermediate policy objectives and procedures, which allow the central bank \"constrained discretion\" to react optimally to the economic cycle while maintaining a strong nominal anchor (Bernanke and Mishkin 1997); and 1 Article 224 of the Constitution states:\"(1) The primary object of the South African Reserve Bank is to protect the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth in the Republic.(2)The South African Reserve Bank, in pursuit of its primary object, must perform its functions independently and without fear, favour or prejudice, but there must be regular consultation between the Bank and the Cabinet member responsible for national financial matters.\"transparent policymaking, implemented through publication and distribution of the information set used in the decision-making process (inflation forecasts, modelling strategies and assumptions) and a clear demonstration of accountability (publication of minutes, regular appearance before parliamentary committees and regular press conferences) (Geraats 2002).This consensus is the motivation behind the constitutional provisions that guarantee the SARB's independence and define its long-term objectives and it is the rationale for the adoption of inflation targeting.This policy framework is based on the acknowledgement that monetary policy in the long run can only influence nominal variables such as inflation and the exchange rate. In the longer term, monetary policy cannot increase the average level or the growth rate of real variables such as gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. It is therefore appropriate for monetary policy to define a long-term desired inflation level as an expression of what monetary policy can and should achieve. Inflation targeting is the technical expression of the recognition of the limits of monetary policy (Svensson 2010). 2Monetary policy can have an effect on temporary deviations of real quantities from their long-term trends. The weight monetary policymakers give to monetary policy temporary real effects defines the monetary policy framework. A policy of strict inflation targeting would focus only in controlling inflation at the shortest possible horizon. In an open economy, this would mean that the policy would concentrate on the variables which most directly affect inflation, almost exclusively the exchange rate. This will stabilise inflation at the cost of a highly volatile interest rate and real variables.A correct consideration of the negative welfare effects of real fluctuations requires instead that monetary policy takes a longer view of its role, by exchanging in the short run an increase in inflation variability for a reduction in real variability. A policy of flexible inflation targeting takes a more gradual approach to monetary policy, aiming to achieve the inflation target at a longer horizon that is technically possible (two to three years). The convergence of a large number of central banks towards this policy framework and the persistence of the framework even after the GFC show that it provides the best available combination of flexibility around a well-defined objective based on sound general understanding of how the economy functions.The basic framework to interpret monetary policy can be represented by a standard New Keynesian model, where inflation and output processes are driven by expectations about the future path of the economy and by its underlying structural trends. This reflects a monopolistic competitive market structure in goods and labour markets together with assumptions of price and wage rigidities. The basic 2 This view of monetary policy does not exclude that monetary policy can have long-term consequences on the real economy, (see for example Jordà et al. (2020)) but rather assumes that the best that monetary policy can do to promote growth is to maintain a stable monetary environment. We discuss this debate in section 4 of the paper.structure can be summarised by the following system of four equations in deviations from exogenous trends:The aggregate demand equation is a standard forward demand equation where the monetary instrument enters in the equation in deviation from a time varying natural rate of interest.yt = E t y t(t+1) -a 2 (i t -i n t )+ a 3 s t + ε t(1)The Phillips curve describes the dynamic of inflation.The nominal exchange rate is a standard uncovered interest parity condition augmented by a time-varying country risk premium.Finally, monetary policy is expressed by a standard policy rule, where policy responds to deviations of inflation from a target and deviations of output from its long-term trend, with a parameter indicating a preference for smoothness.In this framework, the formulation of monetary policy is an essential part of determining the stability of the system. For this reason, the literature has concentrated on estimating policy reaction functions like equation ( 4) and evaluating its changes through the years. Aron and Muellbauer (2002) were the first to analyse South African monetary policy using a Taylor rule specification, although they showed that the latter was not very suitable for periods dominated by exchange rate management policies and financial repression. The Taylor rule approach has become more popular in evaluating monetary policy after democratisation, financial liberalisation and the adoption of inflation targeting. Ortiz and Sturzenegger (2007) use a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to estimate the SARB policy rule, showing that the SARB anti-inflation stance was somewhat moderated by a greater weight on output than what is typically found in inflation targeting central banks. Klein (2012) confirms this result, by investigating the dynamics of the implicit inflation target since the adoption of inflation targeting. He finds that the implicit inflation target tended to drift towards the upper level of the target band (6%), implying that the SARB had a relatively high tolerance for inflation, especially after the outbreak of the GFC. Naraidoo and Paya (2012) explain these results by using a non-linear specification of equation ( 4) that shows significant policy inertia when inflation is inside the target range. Coco and Viegi (2020) review these results by considering the underlying change in potential output and the natural, or neutral, interest rate, defined as the real policy rate consistent with real GDP equalling its potential level. Their results show that monetary policy has always maintained a strong inflation stabilisation stance with a Taylor coefficient (ϕ π in equation 4) consistently above one.The results also show that, after the GFC, the SARB has followed the downward trend in the natural interest rate which has diminished the policy focus on cyclical output variations. In fact, the output gap coefficient in the policy rule, reflecting the responsiveness of the central bank to output fluctuations, is insignificant for the period 2010-2019 and while policy rate reacts one-to-one to changes in the natural rate.This can reflect a change in preferences or an increase in uncertainty about the output gap estimates (Orphanides 2002). This shows the main problem in the practical implementation of this approach to monetary policy. The history of the world economy in the years after the GFC has shown that a correct institutional environment, a correct application of policy rules, and transparent and credible policy communication are necessary but not sufficient conditions to provide macroeconomic stability. Three further elements need to be considered:the external environment and its effect on the country's access to international financial and real markets;the economy's potential growth and the evolution of its natural real interest rate; and the country's fiscal balance and its effect on long-term private sector expectations.Formulating monetary policy, that is stabilising the economic cycle, requires paying close attention to these critical aspects of the economy's evolution. In what follows we will review each of these aspects.South Africa is a small open economy with most of its macroeconomic dynamics conditioned by external factors over which it has little or no control. The evolution of the international economy is, therefore, the backdrop of national macroeconomic policies.What are the expectations for the near future of the world economy? The main characteristic is uncertainty. Figures 1a and 2a plot the nominal interest rate and inflation rate for the United States (US) and the euro area, respectively. The combination of the evolution of expected nominal interest rate and inflation expectations gives the evolution of the real interest rates for the two economic blocks. The figures also include the projections for the two variables as derived by indexed swaps at various horizons that span 30 years into the future. While any markets beyond 10 years are rather thin, and therefore not very informative, they do provide an indication, at least, of the level that markets expect the equilibrium to be.In the US the interest rate is expected to remain around 1% for the foreseeable future, an expectation reinforced by the Average Inflation Targeting framework adopted by the Federal Reserve (Fed), as announced by Chair Powell in August 2020. This change in strategy and the overall effect of the COVID-19 crisis has clearly solidified the expectations that low-for-long policies will continue. This has not affected inflation expectations, which remain well-anchored at the 2% target. The combination of these two observations clearly indicates long-term market expectations of a negative real interest rate in the US.The situation is even more striking in the euro area, where nominal policy rates are expected to be negative for the next 10 years and thereafter hover around zero. But, as markets expect inflation to climb up towards 2%, they also expect very negative real interest rates, at about -2%, for a protracted period of time.    What drives these long-term expectations? One useful way to organise our thoughts is to use the basic linear risk-free real interest rate definition (with lognormal consumption growth and power utility), where the rate is related to the growth of consumption and its volatility, that is:The risk-free rate is driven by the discount rate (δ), expectations of future consumption growth (Δ Inc t+1 ) and uncertainty around future growth, which determines the level of precautionary savings. A persistent negative real rate (when inflation expectations are anchored to the target) indicates long-term pessimism over a country's growth prospects matched by significant uncertainty. There is a wide and increasing literature discussing the source of these negative real rates, starting from the \"secular stagnation hypothesis\" of Summers (2015). Each contribution stresses one of the elements described by equation (5). For example, Farhi and Gourio (2018) show the importance of increasing macroeconomic risks and the reduction in productivity induced by an increase in concentration. While the debate is ongoing, the implications for a small open economy are clear: there is no expectation that developed economies will regain a stable economic growth path in the near future. This in turn implies that the current combination of zero or close to zero monetary policy rate and the use of central bank balance sheet policies is the new normal of monetary policy, at least in developed countries. These two facts imply that international financial markets will continue to be characterised by excessive sensitivity to news, bubbles and rapid flow reversal. This will be the main source of transmission of international economic conditions to the national economy, together with its effect on commodity prices. South Africa will continue to experience volatility in the exchange rate and in the country risk premium, with significant macroeconomic consequences, amplified by the structural weakness of the economy.In practical terms these observations mean that the country risk premium will continue to fluctuate sharply, capital flows will overheat or suddenly contract the economy and monetary policy will be strongly advised to build buffer stocks, macroprudential policies and other balance sheet instruments to protect the development of the national economy (Rey 2015).South Africa is a peculiar emerging market country in that, compared to countries at the same stage of development, it does not suffer from the original sin of past debt default or hyperinflation (Calvo and Reinhart 2002). This has favoured the development of a large and well-connected financial market which provides the country with relatively easy access to international capital markets. Until now, the South African government could always borrow in domestic currency and at long maturity, thus reducing the effect of short-run fluctuations on the sovereign's balance sheet. These characteristics have favoured a consumption-led growth strategy that relied on international capital inflows to finance the economic expansion of the country. The current account has remained persistently negative. A consumption-led growth model has two consequences relevant for monetary policy:-If no other instrument targets the external balance, monetary policy is constrained by the need to keep open access to international capital in order to finance a persistent current account deficit.The economy becomes more sensitive to the direction of international financial flows, with higher volatility in the exchange rate.This strong financial link between South Africa and the global economy is the first channel transmitting global shocks to the South African economy. The variable that most captures this relationship is the country's risk premium, which is the excess return that the country has to provide to borrow from abroad. The risk analysis of the risk premium and its determinants provide the following headlines:-South Africa is particularly sensitive to world \"risk cycles\" (Hassan et al. 2015;Gabaix and Maggiori 2015).-While government debt determines the trend level of the risk premium (as shown later), external factors determine its fluctuations, which can be large and unpredictable.-Given the expected international environment of low growth, low global riskfree rates and pervasive uncertainty, the risk premium is one of the most serious threats to the country's macroeconomic stability.The first point is well-illustrated by Hassan et al. (2015). They analyse the response of emerging market exchange rates to the so-called taper tantrum triggered by a speech on 22 May 2013 to the United States Congress by Ben Bernanke, then Fed chairman, signalling a gradual reduction in the monthly volume of Fed stimulus.Because the announcement was a surprise to the global market, it represented a natural experiment to evaluate the external vulnerability of countries and its determinants. The strongest correlates are the level of foreign exchange reserves, the current account balance in previous years and the level of external debt.These results are confirmed by Abiad et al. (2015) who provide a wider analysis of the determinants of resilience in emerging market economies. The first determinant of resilience is flexibility in policy instruments to respond to shocks, represented by inflation targeting and fiscal countercyclical measures. But the underlying determinants are the overall policy space, represented by low inflation, low public debt, current account surpluses, low external debt and high reserves. Low inflation and accumulation of reserves are also the most direct instruments to reduce speculative financial flows because they help reduce the interest rate differential with the US thus reducing the currency's speculative appeal and the cost of reserve accumulation.Moreover, socio-economic conditions affect the long-run resilience of a country to external shocks. In particular, the level of inequality and the level of education influences a country's ability to respond to shocks by worsening the political economy trade-off between macroeconomic stabilisation and distribution of its cost (Alesina and Drazen 1991) and reducing the country's ability to adapt to change (Aizenman et al. 2018).South Africa is weak in all these dimensions: dependent on foreign capital, with low buffer stocks, high inequality and high public debt. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated these trends.The relationship between the country risk premium and its determinants is wellillustrated by Figure 3. The figure shows the level of South African government debt, the country risk premium, as measured by the JPMorgan EMBI+SA index, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX) as a proxy of global uncertainty, from 2000 to 2019.The figure suggests that, at least in the last 10 years, the risk premium of the country has followed a growing trend parallel to the growth in the stock of debt, but its fluctuations are strongly correlated with the ability of international financial intermediaries to absorb risk. Table 1 shows the evolution of the relationship between the country risk premium, the level of government debt and the VIX during the inflation targeting period. 3 We use a simple ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with structural breaks identified with a sequential Bai-Perron test.The structural break is found to be just after the GFC, when government debt entered a growing trend.  To get better insight into the underlying causes of the changes in the risk premium, we ran a series of OLS regressions searching for other determinants, correlated with VIX and government debt, to provide a narrative behind the above correlations. These regressions are shown in Table 2. We found that debt-to-GDP ratio and foreign debt-to-GDP ratio variables explain changes in the risk premium over the sample considered. Using the dummy variable to control for the GFC, we found that using debt variables alone allows us to explain 78.3% and 84.1% of risk premium movements. When the VIX as a measure of global risk attitude is considered together with either of the debt variables, 90% of risk premium fluctuations are accounted for, which is the highest adjusted R-squared coefficient obtained. Hence, this combination of factors that captures the international and domestic aspects of the country risk premium appears to provide a useful path towards a structural interpretation. When both world commodity prices and productivity are accounted for, 54% of the country's risk premium movements are explained. We used foreign growth to control for the foreign demand conditions in these regression specifications. We found that only labour productivity and foreign growth are significant explanatory variables in these specifications. Allowing for an autoregressive component in the regression reduces the significance of foreign growth while the negative effect of labour productivity is still significant. An autoregressive term improves the explanatory power of the regression with commodities and productivity by 13%it reaches 71.3%. The best in-sample fit, measured by the root mean squared error (RMSE), is gained by specification with the debt variable and the VIX. Also, the RMSE at least doubles when the debt variable is not controlled for. This could indicate a case of omitted variable bias in equations 6 to 8 of Table 2, and emphasises the importance of employing a debt series for the relevant country risk premium explanation in South Africa.The risk premium has a significant effect on the country's economic dynamics and therefore on the conduct of monetary policy. Figure 5 shows that a positive risk premium shock has a contractionary effect on GDP growth that lasts for two years. Employment growth also drops significantly. The effect of a positive risk premium shock on inflation is negative, but not significant. The real interest rate and real exchange rate respond to the positive risk premium shock with, respectively, a significant increase and exchange rate depreciation. Importantly, the key result of the contractionary effect on GDP growth, real exchange rate depreciation and the increase in the real interest rate (significant or insignificant depending on the identification order) holds for all the alternative model specifications. We thus have some evidence of a pronounced financial channel in South Africa: financial conditions tighten, that is increased cost of borrowing, as a result of a positive risk premium shock. 4 We estimate a SVAR model using South African quarterly data on GDP growth, employment growth, trade-balance-to-GDP ratio, inflation, country risk premium, real interest rate and real exchange rate. The series are taken from the Quarterly Projection Model database for 2002Q1-2019Q2, and the GFC period is controlled for. Cholesky ordering is used to identify the risk premium shock; a country risk premium variable is placed after the slow-moving macroeconomic variables: GDP, employment, trade balance and inflation, under the assumption that the country risk premium shock does not have an effect on macro variables on impact. At the same time it is assumed that an exogenous innovation to risk premium variable has a contemporaneous effect on the fast-moving financial variables: the real interest rate and real exchange rate. For the robustness check we also consider alternative specifications, placing the risk premium variable first and last in the VAR.This significant macroeconomic effect of fluctuations of the risk premium and the experience of many developed central banks in using quantitative easing for controlling the long-term government bond yields suggests that South Africa monetary policy could use some form of quantitative easing to reduce the longterm interest rate and the interest cost of debt. The next section discusses quantitative easing in the context of a small open economy not at the zero lower bound of the policy rate.What is the role of monetary policy in dealing with external stability? In an inflation targeting framework, monetary policy targets internal objectivesinflation and output -while the external equilibrium is a product of a combination of long-term fiscal stability and institutional credibility. In this framework there is little room for dealing with external fluctuations driven by global shocks affecting international financial markets.The COVID-19 crisis has seen central banks in almost every emerging market country experimenting with the use of the central bank balance sheet as an extra instrument deployed rapidly to deal with a large external shock that was putting pressure on domestic bond markets and hampering efforts to deal with the pandemic. In March 2020, the SARB announced the purchase of government securities in the secondary market, across the entire yield curve, to ease liquidity strains observed in funding markets. The operation successfully overcame the short-run spike in the country's risk premium which rapidly returned to or below the level before the COVID-19 crisis, as the historically large monetary and fiscal response around the world eased market fears. Source: Authors' adaptation from Nelson (2020)Figure 5 illustrates how the SARB affects the long-term nominal interest rate and how its actions interact with other factors influencing long-term rates. The first way the SARB influences the long-term interest rate is via the private market expectations of the future path of the policy rate. The SARB tries to control this direct influence by maintaining a predictable policy path and by controlling inflation expectations.Beyond the SARB policy rate, the term premium is influenced by domestic and international factors illustrated on the right side of Figure 6. Domestically, the main determinants are expected growth, the stock of government debt and its maturity structure. Internationally, the main determinants are world growth, foreign central bank policies and financial intermediaries' risk absorption capacity.The SARB can certainly use its own balance sheet to control the long-term interest rate. Many South African commentators have called for \"yield curve management\" to reduce the cost of government debt and of long-term investment. The problem with trying to use quantitative easing to deal with the trend growth in long-term nominal rates is that this policy will affect the expectations of the domestic policy path, the left side of Figure 6, pushing the nominal interest rate in the opposite direction than desired by inducing higher inflation expectations. While this is the objective of quantitative easing in countries in a liquidity trap, it would not solve the South African problem by steering the country towards higher inflation expectations and higher inflation.It is critical for the success of any new monetary policy intervention that it should not affect the long-term objective of monetary stability.On the other hand, quantitative easing has proved to be useful in smoothing external shocks affecting the domestic bond market. Because the shock is transitory, the intervention does not signal a change in long-term policy objectives and does not affect inflation expectations. It is also a policy fully included in the SARB mandate. The advantages of using quantitative easing to deal with external shocks are that:it is relatively easy to deploy; -it does not try to influence the exchange rate by using limited reserves but stabilises a domestic market using domestic currency;it is reversible once the shock has passed and the market stabilises, and it can be used symmetrically for positive and negative risk shocks; and together with a credible long-term plan of debt reduction (which induces a trend increase in South African bond prices), it is without significant risk for the SARB balance sheet as the trend price of government bonds would increase with the reduction in government debt.It is critical that quantitative easing is not seen as an instrument to control bond yields. That would carry significant risk of distorting the central bank's objectives with a consequent loss of the long-term anchor of prices. Quantitative easing can be considered only as an instrument to stabilise the fluctuations in the risk premium. In this context balance sheet use should operate symmetrically, meaning quantitative easing when capital outflows dry liquidity in the bond market and quantitative tightening -that is selling government bonds -when there are large capital inflows in the bond market.The importance of the external environment in determining the country's macroeconomic dynamics should not make one forget that the first constraint to monetary policy in South Africa is persistently low economic growth, particularly in the years since the GFC. Figure 6 shows average growth in the 10 years after the GFC for countries in the MSCI Emerging Market Index. South Africa had an average real growth of 1.6%, with only Argentina, Russia and Brazil having a worse performance in the period. This growth performance has been driven by a decline in the potential output of the economy, shown in Figure 7, which we estimate to be below 1% at the beginning of 2020, 5 and by a level of investment barely enough to cover the depreciation of capital. Real GDP growth Potential growthThis downward trend in potential output puts two kinds of pressure on monetary policy. Firstly, the uncertainty around potential output estimates increases shortrun volatility and policy uncertainty, inducing a delayed response or difficulties in implementing and communicating the policy target. 6 Secondly, it reignites a longstanding discussion about the long-run effect of monetary policy and the possibility that monetary policy could play a more direct developmental role (Epstein and Yeldan 2008).The first question that arises from the country's low growth after 2008 is whether monetary policy is responsible for this outcome and whether it could play a significant role in pushing the country out of the current stagnation trap. Stiglitz (2008) notoriously argued that inflation targeting is not the right policy framework to deal with large external shocks and that it has imposed more restrictive conditions than would have been necessary if the policy was inactive. This line of reasoning has been followed by many South African commentators. For example, Kantor (2017: 34) has argued that \"the insistence on inflation targeting regardless of the causes of inflation has made South African monetary policy highly procyclical\", inducing a credit bubble during the expansion phase and worsening the recession after the GFC. Match this procyclicality with a strong hysteresis effect, and short-run overreaction becomes long-run stagnation in capital accumulation and growth (Jordà et al. 2020). The argument is twofold: it is an issue of determining, firstly, if monetary policy has been procyclical during the inflation targeting period, and, secondly, if any other monetary policy framework would have done better.6 Orphanides and Williams (2002) and Taylor and Williams (2010).The evidence seems not to support the idea that monetary policy in South Africa is procyclical or that the average real interest rate after the adoption of inflation targeting has been on average higher than in other regimes. Du Plessis et al. (2007) show the stabilising effect that monetary policy played before the GFC. Alton (2018) finds that monetary policy is strongly countercyclical only when real time estimates of the output gap are considered. Considering instead the ex-post realisation, monetary policy was strongly procyclical, especially during the expansion phase between 2000 and 2007. The reason for this difference is not the source of shocks but rather the uncertainty around the trend growth rate of the economy (Orphanides 2002). In the period leading up to the GFC, the acceleration in growth was interpreted as a structural improvement, not a cyclical boom. When inflation accelerated faster than expected, the real interest rate became negative, reinforcing the cycle. After the GFC, interest rates were cut rapidly to support growth and then kept low as growth continued to disappoint, assuming that the growth slowdown was largely cyclical. Instead, most of the growth slowdown has been attributed to a slowdown in potential output, thus making monetary policy inflationary. Loewald et al. (2020) present a strong defence of the SARB policy after the GFC, focusing on the structural nature of the South African crisis. They point out that monetary and fiscal policy in South Africa has been expansionary for 10 years after the crisis but that this could not stop the declining trend in potential output and the country's natural rate.Looking at the path of inflation and the policy rate in Figure 8 for the post-crisis period, it is quite clear that monetary policy has maintained an expansionary stance at least until 2016. In 2016, growing inflationary pressures and an explicit aim to target the middle of the target band at 4.5% convinced the SARB to raise the policy rate, but the change was not long lasting (Coco and Viegi 2020). In fact, the most salient characteristic of monetary policy, especially after 2016, is how little the SARB has used the policy rate, preferring to wait for better information and using more active communication tools to control private sector expectations. This is a reflection of the uncertainty faced about the underlying real trends.A more general question is to what extent monetary policy can be used to target real growth. According to the proponents of growth targeting (Epstein 2015), by employing a more expansionary monetary policy, using a higher inflation target or using the central bank as a \"creditor of last resort\" for emerging enterprises, monetary policy could permanently affect the growth path of the economy with an insignificant increase in inflation. This argument focuses attention on the relationship between inflation and growth which has been on the research agenda for a long time, starting from Sidrauski's (1967) paper 'Inflation and economic growth', where the author elaborated on the Tobin hypothesis that inflation would induce faster capital accumulation by penalising money savings.The question is ultimately an empirical one, that is if it is possible to find a positive long-run causal relation between monetary policy stance and economic growth.There are a few papers looking at the inflation-growth relationship in South Africa. Mariotti (2002) uses cointegration techniques to investigate (among other things) the impact of different levels of inflation on long-run economic growth. Her results suggest that the impact of inflation on growth is in fact negative at levels over 1%. Similar results are obtained by Hodge (2006), who uses OLS regressions to show that higher inflation is associated with lower growth in South Africa over the long and the short term. The negative relationship is clearly evident in the data, as shown in Figure 9. Neither cointegration nor OLS is an identification strategy for a causal relationship that can be used for policy purposes. In order to identify the role that monetary policy plays in the country's long-run growth we should find episodes where monetary policy was purposefully, or accidentally, used to promote growth and evaluate its impact. Unfortunately (or fortunately), South African monetary history does not provide a good test case for this hypothesis. Figure 10 compares the historical record of inflation in South Africa from 1960 to the present with the record of a sample of G7 countries. We can only use G7 countries as every other emerging market country, from South Korea to Brazil, experiences inflation of several orders of magnitude higher than South Africa, making the comparison meaningless. In fact, until the 1980s inflation in South Africa was in line with that of any G7 country: moderate and increasing inflation was the outcome of a combination of negative external supply shocks and limited policy response, as discussed in Orphanides (2002). The stagflation period in South Africa persisted during the 1980s, when shocks become mainly internal and in many ways more dramatic than during the previous decade. The policy response was difficult given the dimension of the shocks, but inflation was never out of control and there is little evidence of a systematic expansionary bias in SARB policies. Not only was inflation never out of control, but South Africa's inflation peak was also lower than peak inflation in almost any Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country. Once South Africa democratised in 1994, the SARB's main effort was to control inflationary pressures and inflation moved downward, stabilising around just below the upper band of the 6% inflation target. There were still a few shocks to contend with, and the aftermath of the GFC has seen an increasing pressure on the SARB to expand the economy beyond the mandate of price stability. But the SARB has largely resisted this pressure and monetary policy has been fairly orthodox across the whole sample, while fighting large supply and fiscal shocks. If monetary policy was never used autonomously to promote growth, then South African aggregate data cannot be used to identify the relationship between inflationary policies and growth. An alternative approach is to extrapolate from a cross section of countries, as in the panel analysis of Barro (1995), Sarel (1996) and Khan and Ssnhadji (2001) or to analyse the history of countries that tried to use active monetary policy to promote growth, as in De Gregorio et al. (1992) and Dornbusch and Edwards (2007) for Latin America populist policies. In all this work, the relationship between inflation and growth is negative, generally for levels of inflation higher than the South African experience.What, then, is the source of the negative correlation between inflation and growth in South African data? The right answer must be in the nature of the shocks and the policy response that followed. Actually, the results of cointegration between inflation and the level of income can be derived in a traditional Phillips curve framework where permanent negative supply shocks are accommodated by neutral monetary policy. Consider Figure 11 where a permanent supply shock moves both the short-run and long-run Phillips curve to the left. If monetary policy does not react, the new equilibrium will be a permanent lower income level and a higher level of inflation.If instead monetary policy reacts as in an inflation targeting framework, it will generate a short-run deflation, to bring expectations in line with the target and the short-run Phillips curve will go back to a level consistent with initial inflation. In the first case, inflation and growth are negatively correlated; in the second case, inflation is stationary and cannot be correlated with the growth of income. This is exactly what we can find in the data: the negative correlation between inflation and growth weakens significantly after the introduction of the inflation targeting regime. 7This also helps to interpret the critique of the SARB's monetary policy by Stiglitz (2008) and Kantor (2017). For these authors, monetary policy should not respond to supply shocks and instead accepts a permanent, once-off, increase in inflation. In contrast, the SARB's view is that, by anchoring inflation expectations to the target, monetary policy can break the linkage between inflation stabilisation and growth and thus reduce the need to generate recessions to control the inflation rate.A different approach is to identify the relationship between monetary policy and growth by exploring the mechanism of this relationship. Recently, Jordà et al. (2020) have used an instrumental variable identification of monetary policy shocks that exploits the trilemma constraint in international finance. They find a strong long-term hysteresis effect of exogenous monetary shocks on capital and total factor productivity. They present a micro-funded model to show that these longrun effects can be generated in a New Keynesian model with nominal rigidities and insufficient stabilisation in an endogenous growth model. Monetary policy can affect long-term growth by affecting firms' real costs, profits and willingness to invest. This can happen if monetary policy can permanently affect real wages (Blanchard and Summers 1987), the real exchange rate (Rodrik 2008) or firms' credit conditions. The question then arises of whether these three channels are active in the South African economy.Monetary policy can affect firms' marginal costs if nominal wages are not responsive to inflation. One mechanism for this to occur is the hysteresis effect in insider-outsider models such as in Blanchard and Summers (1987). In this framework, real wages and unemployment are random-walk processes linked by the trade union objective to maximise the employment of those currently working. Thus, a monetary policy shock that reduces real wages and increases employment in the short run is locked in by subsequent wage negotiations. We should therefore expect nominal wages that are strongly linked with employment fluctuations and little correlation between nominal wages and inflation.The weak connection between wages and employment can be easily seen in the data. Dadam and Viegi (2015) estimate a reduced form New Keynesian wage Phillips curve (Galí 2010) for South Africa for the period 1970-2014. The main results are shown in Table 3. Private sector wages are becoming progressively less 7The example above invites one to take the Lucas critique seriously (i.e. we cannot extrapolate economic relationships from past data without incorporating changes in policy regimes and their effect on aggregate behaviour), even when using a data-driven methodology. The data generating process of some macro variables is not invariant to the policy regime followed. If a country is successful in implementing inflation targeting, inflation will be a stationary stochastic process and the interest rate becomes the non-stationary variable because it has to absorb any long-lasting shock hitting the economy. GDP will not have a different stochastic representation as it will still be driven by technological innovations, that is a series of permanent supply shocks. Therefore we cannot see cointegration between inflation and GDP in an inflation targeting regime. There might be cointegration between the level of prices and GDP, but it is not obvious. The point here is that the data generating processes of nominal variables are likely to be influenced by the policy regime used.If there is a strong nominal anchor, nominal variables are stationary. If there is not a strong nominal anchor, inflation will be driven by the same shocks as output. This is consistent with Orphanides (2002) who analyses the conduct of the Fed monetary policy in the 1970s.sensitive to labour market conditions, which affects wage bargaining across the economy. This increasing lack of responsiveness of real wages implies a very flat Phillips curve relating inflation and unemployment and thus a very high sacrifice ratio. Kabundi et al. (2019) confirm these results, showing a slow reduction in the Phillips curve slope following the GFC. They focus on the relation between inflation and output. But this result is also confirmed by the difficulty of finding a strong Phillips curve relationship between the output gap and inflation in South African data (Fedderke and Liu 2018).On the other hand, Kabundi et al. (2019) show a reduction in inflation inertia and in inflation volatility. They attribute that observation to an increase in anchoring of expectations to a time-varying inflation target and an increase in the SARB's credibility. This is reflected by a strong correlation between wages and expected inflation (Dadam and Viegi 2015).Therefore, a monetary policy that increases inflation expectations is likely to have a rapid effect on nominal wages without any significant long-run boost to firms' profitability and investment. Conversely, an increase in the anchoring of wages to inflation expectations allows the SARB to use its credibility and communication to minimise the cost of inflation stabilisation. 8The role of the real exchange rate in a growth strategy has been emphasised widely in the literature, especially as one of the building blocks of an export promotion strategy. Rodrik (2008) shows that the undervaluation of the currency (a high real exchange rate) stimulates economic growth via its effect on the size of the tradable sector. Brunnermeier et al. (2018) discuss how consumption-led growth, by relying on imports and expansion of the non-traded sector, cannot be the base for a longterm growth strategy, as it limits the technological and management spillovers that the tradable sector provides.8The increasing convergence of inflation expectations to the inflation target and an increase in the credibility of the SARB is consistently shown across the literature (Miyajima and Yetman 2018; Kabundi and Mlachila 2018; Chen and Creamer 2019).In the South African debate, this growth strategy is often translated as requiring monetary policy to devalue nominal exchange rates from whatever the current level is or to react to a devaluation of exchange rate with an increase in the interest rate, that is to accommodate the devaluation.In reality, the real exchange rate is determined by the real expenditure patterns in the country and, as such, is more a fiscal phenomenon than a monetary one. A devaluation of the nominal exchange rate that is matched by an increase in nominal wages and prices will not have any effect on the overall real value of expenditure. Moreover, a devaluation of the real exchange rate must be matched by a move of resources from the non-traded to the tradable sector. The real effective exchange rate has been in decline for the past 10 years in the aftermath of the GFC. Monetary policy in this period has been largely expansionary, as has fiscal policy. At no time in this period did South Africa experience any growth acceleration or an expansion of its export sector. The structural nature of the South African low growth experience is clearly shown in this correlation.Monetary policy can help in a concerted effort to move the economy towards an export-oriented growth model but it can only play an ancillary role.Finally, Epstein (2015) proposes a wider role of central banks as the \"creditor of last resort\". In this framework, a central bank should intervene directly in the credit market, expanding access to credit and using instruments of credit control and credit subsidy to direct resources towards industrial development, employment creation and economic growth. This approach raises two questions:-Are the developmental objectives of central banking compatible with macroeconomic stability in a small open economy?-Is a credit constraint an important limit to South African economic growth?The answers to both questions are likely to be negative. Firstly, a direct developmental role gives the central bank a direct fiscal role. It is theoretically possible to have \"good policies and appropriate policy coordination, together with appropriate checks and balances, so that central banks can play a positive role in fostering both macroeconomic stability and development\" (Epstein 2015: 11). However, with good policies it would not be necessary to change the objective of the central bank, as other institutions (such as, in South Africa, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Land Bank, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Public Investment Corporation) would be successful in their development finance mandate. The reason central banks do not engage in development finance is that the power and privilege of producing fiat money is conditional on maintaining public trust that the value of the currency will not be compromised. Once this trust is lost, the power of central banks can only be preserved with financial repression, price controls and capital controls. Giving central banks a developmental role is not necessary to establish an effective growth strategy.Secondly, it is doubtful that a credit constraint is the main source of the disappointing growth of the last 10 years. When looking at external expansionary shocks that would relax a national credit constraint by providing a new inflow of capital to the economy, we do not find any evidence that the credit market is the main constraint to industrial production and development. In Figure 13, the impulse responses show the effect of the Fed's quantitative easing policies on the South African economy in the 10 years after the GFC. 9 As expected, the inflow of capital raised asset prices, reduced long-term interest rates and was accommodated by an expansionary monetary policy. Nevertheless, the effect on industrial production and growth was negative, with new credit going to the housing market while firm demand for credit remained stagnant. 9The impulse responses are calculated using a medium scale Bayesian VAR model as in Kabundi et al. (2020). The model consists of 20 variables. As is standard in the medium to large Bayesian VAR literature, we order the slow-moving variables first and then the fast-moving variables last. We assume the following ordering structure, Y t =(X t US , X t SA , r t US , Z t US , r t SA , Z t SA )', where X t US and X t SA represent the slow-moving variables for the US and SA respectively, X t US is the monetary policy in the US, Z t US represents the fast-moving variables in the US, r t SA is the monetary policy in South Africa and lastly Z t SA is the fast-moving variables in South Africa. With this ordering structure, we assume that the slow-moving variables in both the US and South Africa do not respond contemporaneously to US monetary policy. In addition, we assume that the fast-moving variables respond contemporaneously to everything. We treat the South African monetary policy as a fastmoving variable, but put it before the South African variables. This ordering allows us to maintain the ordering of slow-and fast-moving variables within the South African block as Y t SA =X t SA , r t SA , Z t SA . That is, within the local economy, monetary policy authorities can only respond with a lag to fast-moving variables. The main constraint to monetary policy, going forward, is the fiscal dynamic that is developing in South Africa. Following the GFC, South African debt entered a growing path, which has worsened significantly with the onset of the COVID-19 shock. Government debt is expected to exceed 100% of GDP by 2025.The level of debt, and the connected risk of default, significantly affects the dynamic interaction of fiscal and monetary policy:-Firstly, at a high level of debt, fiscal policy becomes a less powerful instrument (Perotti 1999). At the limit, the effect of fiscal policy can be reversed, with the negative effect on the risk premium and exchange rate outweighing the typical short-run Keynesian demand effect (Giavazzi and Pagano 1990).-Secondly, the fiscal position becomes more sensitive to monetary policy actions via the relationship between the policy rate and the government bond rates. This generates political economy pressure on monetary policy to internalise government solvency in its policy objectives.Examples of this perverse effect of fiscal policy are often discussed in the literature. For example, Blanchard (2004) notes that, in the early 2000s, Brazil's monetary policy was constrained by the need for fiscal solvency such that a monetary contraction would induce real depreciation of the currency and an increase in inflationary pressure because of the effect it had on the country risk premium. The question is therefore whether South Africa has reached a debt level where the normal monetary-fiscal policy interaction is on a critical path of instability.We investigated whether the accumulation of debt is changing the economic effect of fiscal policy. We looked at the effect of debt shocks using a medium scale Bayesian VAR model (Bańbura et al. 2010). In Figure 14 we see the impulse response function for a 1% debt shock for the whole sample. The figure is typical of standard fiscal policy expansion: expansion in output and credit, and delayed inflationary response to which the SARB responds with an increase in the policy rate. The long-term yield increases and the exchange rate is revalued. The picture changes dramatically if we focus only on the last five years of our sample, which includes the period of loss of credibility in the country's fiscal plan. Currently, the same fiscal shock induces a much stronger response in the long-term yield, has a contractionary effect on manufacturing and inflation, and results in capital outflows from the bond market. Monetary policy counteracts these negative effects of the fiscal shock by reducing the policy rate, partly mitigating the contractionary effect of fiscal expansion.This result is suggestive of the critical state of the national finances. The main effect of fiscal expansion at this stage is an increase in the country risk premium with the negative consequences that we have analysed previously. Fiscal stabilisation, therefore, is not only necessary to avoid a fiscal crisis but, according to this analysis, is also necessary to reactivate fiscal policy that at the moment has lost macroeconomic efficacy. The effect of monetary policy on long-term interest rates is important given the high share of long-term government debt. We used both monthly and quarterly data for the period from January 2000 to December 2019. Furthermore, we analysed two subsamples from January 2000 to August 2008 and from September 2008 to December 2019. The second sub-sample corresponds with the start of the sharp increase in South African public debt to GDP (Fedderke 2020). In contrast, the first sub-sample captures a period of strong economic growth and fiscal consolidation that began at the end of the 1990s. During this period, both the yield on the 10-year bond and the term premium were low and declining (Soobyah et al. 2020;Fedderke 2020). Figure 16 shows the spread between 0-to 3-year and 10-year bonds, and 5-to 10-year and 10-year bonds. Both spreads remain at elevated levels since the end of 2008.  Credit to the private sector also decreases. The effect on asset holdings by nonresidents is mixed. While the net effect on bond purchases by non-residents is insignificant, there's a positive (albeit initially insignificant) and significant net effect for shares. In response, the rand appreciates against the US dollar. For fiscal policy variables, government revenue declines due to a fall in economic activity. The yield on long-term bonds increases, indicating a decline in demand for bonds. Government debt increases with a lag, reflecting the need to finance the budget deficit following the reduction in revenues.For the sub-samples, we noted a significant difference in government debt dynamics. While in both periods the yield on long-term bonds increases, government debt decreases in the first period despite the decline in revenue.10 Our Bayesian SVAR model consists of 10 variables. As is standard in the literature, we order the slow-moving variables first, followed by the fast-moving variables. Given Y t =X t , r t , Z t ', where X t represents the slow-moving variables, r t is the monetary policy instrument and Z t represents the fast-moving variables. X t includes domestic government loan debt and revenue, industrial production, inflation and total credit extended to the private sector; r t includes the interest rate; and Z t includes net shares and bond purchases by non-residents, the yield on 10-year bonds and the rand/US dollar exchange rate. We use the zero restrictions to identify a monetary policy shock with lag length of 6 months.The light and dark shaded areas in the figure are for the 68% and 90% posterior coverage.This shows that monetary and fiscal policy are moving in the same direction, or at least that they are not counteracting each other. In the second sub-sample, government debt increases. The response of government debt could be explained by the differences in fiscal and economic positions. It also raises the question of whether a contractionary monetary policy induces an expansionary expendituredriven fiscal policy. Lastly, we looked at the effect of a contractionary monetary policy on the spread between 0-to 3-year and 10-year bonds, and 5-to 10-year and 10-year bonds.The results are presented in Figure 20. The results show that the yield spread for 0-to 3-year bonds and 10-year bonds was more responsive to a monetary policy shock in the first sub-sample, while the reverse is true in the second sub-sample.Reducing the government debt burden is therefore the first policy priority for the next decade. There are two main approaches to reduce the debt burden (Reinhart et al. 2015): either the real economy grows out of debt and the debt burden is reduced by running primary surpluses and selling government assets; or the value of debt is reduced by some form of default on the debt, such as debt restructuring, unexpected inflation or repressing private finance.Both approaches have consequences for monetary policy. In the first case, monetary policy should support the fiscal stabilisation effort through a reduction in the policy rate to mitigate the recessionary effect of fiscal contractions. This is not possible when the policy rate is at the zero lower bound as it is in many developed countries, but it is certainly possible in the case of South Africa. Given the critical level of debt, a credible fiscal plan could have a long-run expansionary effect.The second approach requires monetary policy to be constrained by the need for fiscal solvency, an approach that is constrained by the effect that it has on private sector behaviour. 12 As discussed by Buiter (2014: 2), the policy can successfully reduce the debt burden without long-term economic consequences if \"the State can issue un-backed, irredeemable fiat money or base money with a zero nominal interest rate, which can be produced at zero marginal cost and is held in positive amounts by households and other private agents, despite the availability of riskfree securities carrying a positive nominal interest rate\". Therefore, a necessary condition is that private sector behaviour is not affected by the change in policies and that the private sector absorbs the excess money creation in its portfolio as private wealth. 13 This condition is unlikely to be respected when the amount of money financing is large and permanent, fiat money has close substitutes in other currencies or other assets, and the state cannot credibly commit to long-term solvency. In fact, recent models discussing money financing like Galí (2019) implicitly assume a credible long-term nominal anchor for the economy and thus assume that money financing is credibly transitory.This is unlikely to be the case in South Africa and in other emerging markets. Historical experience, mainly from Latin America, show the perils of money financing of public debt (Kehoe et al. 2020) and the permanent damage it can inflict on a country's financial development, access to capital and the credibility of its policies.On the other hand, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the accumulation of public debt in many emerging markets that are now experimenting with ways to monetise this exceptional transitory shock without affecting long-term economic stability. This requires policymakers to commit to long-term goals, which underlines the importance of credible and independent monetary policy institutions.6. The future of South African monetary policy: robustness, flexibility and coordination under inflation targeting South Africa will emerge from the COVID-19 crisis as an extremely fragile country, with very few protective buffer stocks. Resources have been used to support current consumption and the economy has become increasingly dependent on international financial markets to finance the double deficit on the fiscal and external balances. Monetary policy has been constrained in maintaining a real interest rate high enough to guarantee a continuing inflow of international capital.12 See Turner (2013) and Reichlin et al. (2013) for early discussions of monetary financing in the context of policies at the zero lower bound.13 This is the same condition behind the popular Modern Monetary Theory assertion that a country able to issue sovereign currency cannot default on its debt (Kelton 2020).The future of monetary policy in South Africa will depend on how the country deals with the constraints analysed above. The country needs to enact structural reforms in order to return to growth and needs to build strong resilience in its economic and social institutions. Monetary policy can help in the transition if it is strongly anchored to long-term stability objectives and the SARB remains credibly independent from short-run political pressures.Monetary policy operates in the narrow space left between national policies and international trends. If national policies are based on a long-term, sustainable and prudent vision, then monetary policy has room to provide the necessary stabilisation from external shocks and uncertainties. However, if national policies are erratic and dominated by a short-term focus, then monetary policy will struggle to deal with internal economic weaknesses and protect the country from external volatility.Does this mean that we should not discuss the present policy framework? On the contrary: inflation targeting is a pragmatic response to the need to have both short-run flexibility in policies and a long-term certainty of outcomes. Today, when the increasing uncertainty emanating from the world economy makes it impossible to predict future dynamics, we need a framework that is more robust and we need to build more financial and structural buffer stocks. We need also to think about new policy instruments that focus directly on protecting the economy from external shocks. Academics and policymakers around the world are discussing the role that macroprudential policy can play, how to design effective instruments of capital control and how to use balance sheet policies to support the current interest rate framework. This is a discussion worth having and this paper has contributed to it.On the other hand, a robust monetary policy is based on a credible commitment to long-term objectives and institutional stability. The inflation targeting framework has demonstrated, during two of the worst global crises the world has ever experienced, that it is a flexible and adaptable monetary regime that can accommodate new instruments and new emergencies while providing a long-term anchor to private sector expectations and decision-making.The 2010 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa had a special chapter devoted to the high inactivity rate of people in the country (Barnard 2009). According to the OECD, the main causes of this inactivity are an overall low rate of growth, a heavy regulatory burden for entering markets, poorly coordinated wage bargaining, settlement structures that are far from economic nodes, and a high rate of youth unemployment, especially among black South Africans. Unfortunately, not much has changed since then (OECD 2019a). Unemployment is still extremely high and unevenly distributed, being concentrated among young, less-skilled black South Africans (IMF 2020).South Africa's stubbornly low labour utilisation rate is an international outlier and an impediment to realising the aspirations published in various strategic policies by the government (National Planning Commission 2013). 2 It is also a major obstacle to a broader employment recovery after COVID-19, raising a serious risk of hysteresis. 3 The Quarterly Employment Survey estimates that the formal nonagricultural sector lost around 630 200 jobs in the second quarter of 2020. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey for December 2020 shows that about 330 000 jobs were created in the fourth quarter and 1.4 million jobs were lost that year. These job losses are on top of very disappointing employment growth over the last decade.The failure of the labour market to contribute to higher activity levels implies that it also acts as a constraint at a macroeconomic level, inhibiting fiscal and monetary policies in supporting stabilisation and long-run growth. The structural nature of low labour utilisation reduces the responsiveness of wage setting to shocks. This in turn imposes a constraint on monetary policy and reduces the effectiveness of inflation targeting (Bhattarai 2016).The purpose of this paper is to identify the reasons for this low labour utilisation rate and present solutions based on policies from countries that have achieved a 1 We would like to thank an anonymous referee for their useful comments and suggestions as well as participants in a seminar at the SARB on 8 October 2020.A productivity gap measures how far a country is from the global productivity frontier. A labour utilisation gap measures how much labour is being used per working age adult relative to other economies.3 Hysteresis refers to a process in which temporary shocks become permanent. A frequently mentioned example is the situation after the first oil price shock in 1975 when unemployment went up during the recession, but did not come down in the following recovery.significant increase in labour utilisation. The implementation of these policies is more urgent than ever given the large employment losses in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. These policies need to address school-to-job transition, speed up job creation, improve the employability of the inactive population, and make job search more effective. The policies should also be supported by industrial and competition policies that increase market dynamism and labour utilisation.In this section we review three labour market models that are important for understanding South African labour dynamics. These are the \"flow matching\" and Beveridge curve approach; the model of union and wage-setting arrangements; and the efficient wages perspective.2.1 Flow matching and the Beveridge curve approach Pissarides (2000) presents the foundations of this approach. Unemployment is in equilibrium when hires (H) are equal to the separations from employment (S). Workers and jobs are heterogeneous. In this case, the role of the labour market is to achieve efficient matching of unemployed workers with available vacancies.The matching function can be expressed as:where U is the number of unemployed, V is the number of vacancies and α is the efficiency parameter. A higher number of new hires requires greater matching efficiency. Assuming that the separation rate is exogenous and constant and that matching takes place under constant returns to scale, we can generate the Beveridge curve. This is a vacancy-unemployment curve which shows the labour market equilibrium.At high levels of unemployment, such as during a recession, the number of vacancies is low with a given approach for matching. When unemployment is low, such as during a boom, more vacancies are available for each job searcher.If matching is less efficient, then the curve shifts to the right, indicating that a larger number of vacancies and job searchers is required to ensure equilibrium in the market. Carlin and Soskice (2015) link the Beveridge curve to wage and price outcomes and show how these are affected by changes in the matching rate. A deterioration in matching increases the vacancy rate for any given rate of unemployment. The higher vacancy rate increases the wage that workers can bargain for or employers need to provide to attract good workers. The equilibrium unemployment is higher and inflation increases. Alternatively, an increase in wages and prices with the Beveridge curve remaining unchanged leads to a movement along the curve. Equilibrium unemployment is higher and the vacancy rate is lower. This change in the unemployment rate offsets the impact of higher wages on the total wage bill.This model suggests that any factor that reduces matching efficiency leads to higher structural unemployment. These include barriers to occupational and geographic mobility; employment protection legislation that may affect the ability of employers to hire workers; entry barriers for new suppliers, which slow down the flow of new vacancies; and factors that increase wages structurally like the legal extension of collective agreements.This framework is based on the work of Lars Calmfors and John Driffill (1988). In their model, the relationship between the degree of centralised wage setting and the equilibrium rate of unemployment is hump-shaped. The framework assumes that all workers are unionised and compares the unemployment outcomes under different wage-setting regimes, at firm level, at industry level, and at the level of the economy as a whole. At the firm level, every firm has its own union, while at the industry level there is only one union for the entire industry. In the economy-wide wage-setting regime, the wage setters take into account the economy-wide impacts of their actions.The different regimes reflect different union expectations regarding the impact of wage increases on employment and the economy as a whole.When there is one union per firm, the union will worry how higher wages are likely to decrease firm competitiveness and sales, ultimately impacting employment. This serves to reduce the power of unions to impose aboveequilibrium wages. Also, the general economic conditions would be taken as given as each union is too small to influence them.By contrast, unions at the industry level are less likely to take into account the employment effects as they assume that the industry is not facing competition from other industries due to limited product substitution. They will also ignore the economy-wide effects of their actions, because eventual losses and benefits are distributed to the economy at large (some other sector or marginal worker) and not perceived to be associated with wage-setting at the industry level. Workers may not have a clear view of how wage-setting affects the likelihood of themselves becoming unemployed.A union setting wages for all workers in the economy is assumed to take into account the impact of real wage gains deviating from productivity growth or of international product competition. It recognises that increasing all wages in the economy without increasing productivity would simply increase inflation and leave real wages unchanged. In this case, the union maximises utility by going for the highest possible employment level.Related to this model is the insider-outsider theory of labour markets. Incumbent workers enjoy more favourable conditions because of labour turnover costs. 4  Additional costs arise as insiders resist competition from outsiders by refusing to cooperate and harassing outsiders. Given that these costs are at least partially borne by employers, insiders are given market power. This is used to push wages above the market clearing level. The framework generates unemployment persistence and eventually hysteresis. 5In South Africa, many industries are characterised by insiders exercising power over outsiders via collective agreements. These are legally extended to all workers and employers in a sector and a region. This procedure also acts as an entry barrier for new suppliers and therefore incumbent suppliers can charge higher prices.Carlin and Soskice (2015) describe an efficiency wage model. 6 This framework tries to explain why we observe involuntary unemployment and why wages do not adjust to clear the labour market. The key argument is that companies pay a premium over the market clearing wage to deal with shirking, fairness and turnover costs. The higher wage is an incentive to work harder but it also increases the cost of being fired. Firms can monitor effort only imperfectly depending on the 4 Another source of insider power is bargaining on the entry level wage, which increases the gap between wage cost and actual productivity for younger workers, reducing demand for them. This, with compression of regional pay disparities, is common in South African collective bargaining.See Lindbeck and Snower (2001) and Lindbeck and Snower (2002) for a detailed explanation of the model and a review of empirical evidence.The efficiency wage model is based on the seminal work of Akerlof (1984) and Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984).industry and technology. The firms' problem is to identify the minimum wage to induce a certain effort level and monitor performance.The optimal wage equation for firms depends positively on the level of unemployment benefits and disutility of work; negatively on the probability of being dismissed if shirking; and negatively on the unemployment rate. Higher unemployment benefits reduce the cost of being fired and thus require a higher premium to induce the required level of effort. The disutility of work also reduces the cost of being fired. A higher probability of being dismissed due to shirking increases the probability that a worker will face the cost of being fired. A higher unemployment rate increases the shirking costs for workers and thus firms can pay a lower efficiency wage.This also suggests that in this framework higher unemployment benefits increase the equilibrium unemployment rate while lower firing costs decrease the equilibrium unemployment rate. It is the relationship between firing costs and unemployment which makes this model applicable to South Africa, as we illustrate later in the chapter.South Africa's labour market is segmented. Unemployment for skilled workers is low, while unemployment for semi-skilled and in particular low-skilled workers is high. Youth unemployment is very high. These models explain different characteristics of the South African labour market. It is the interaction and interlinkages between the different skill markets that generates particularly high unemployment outcomes. The South African economy has wage setting on an industry level for certain sectors, high firing costs and inefficient matching processes. This is exacerbated by shortages of skilled labour which lead to a large wage premium for skilled workers but also lower demand for other skills through complementarity linkages (that is, fewer skilled workers directly lower demand for less-skilled workers).The low level of economic activity of South Africa's working age population puts it far behind the GDP per capita achieved in other countries with a similar labour productivity level (such as Costa Rica, Mexico and Argentina; see Figure 2). Columbia and Brazil achieve a higher GDP per capita relative to advanced economies, compared to South Africa, because they employ more of the working age population (achieving a much lower labour utilisation gap (Figure 2)) and despite their lower productivity levels in the formal sector. This low utilisation rate is the result of several factors. These include the high unemployment of young people, the unemployment variation across different regions, the rate of economic growth, the ineffectiveness of wage-bargaining institutions to support job creation and the absence of a public employment service. We discuss each of these in more detail below. Source: OECD 2019aSouth Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates of its young, predominantly black, population (Figure 3). The large labour utilisation gap reflects the extreme rate of unemployment of black school leavers who do not continue with university studies. This suggests that even 25 years after the transition to a democratic system, the scars of a weak education system from the apartheid period are still present. Among these are the significant infrastructure deficiencies of educational institutions in low-income areas, high student/ teacher ratios and ongoing teacher absenteeism.High youth unemployment occurs, in part, if the school-to-job transition does not work properly. Countries with low youth unemployment, like Germany, Netherlands and Austria, have vocational education systems with a significant share of on-the-job training. Employers play a key role in channelling students on these education tracks into guaranteed employment after graduation. Up to a quarter of a cohort participate in such programmes and another quarter is enrolled in upper secondary vocational schools with experienced and qualified teachers.The quality of vocational training is regularly checked by boards with strong stakeholder (social partner) participation.7 Labour productivity is measured as GDP per hour worked. Labour resource utilisation is measured as the total number of hours worked over the population aged 15-74. The comparison is based on the weighted average using population weights of the 18 OECD countries with highest GDP per capita in 2018 based on 2018 purchasing power parities. The sum of the percentage difference in labour resource utilisation and labour productivity does not add up exactly to the GDP per capita difference since the decomposition is multiplicative.South Africa has not set up a similar institutional infrastructure to copy a comprehensive \"German-style\" apprenticeship system, while job-placing vocational training programmes that are in place are not popular and are seen to be low quality (Murtin 2013), limiting demand for them by students and employers. 3.2 Regional and structural unemploymentAnother obstacle to higher labour force participation is the geographic distribution of the population, a large portion of which is often located some distance from where jobs are available. Social housing is mainly located where land is cheap, which is usually not where employment opportunities are available. Informal housing is filling the gap with only private minibuses operating uncoordinated networks (OECD 2015). This increases job search costs and reservation wages, generating inefficient labour market outcomes (Diamond 1982). As a result, unemployment varies greatly across provinces (Figure 4). This is a visible and persistent legacy of the apartheid settlement policy. Geographic variation in the level of economic activity is even larger than of unemployment. In 2008, GDP per capita was nearly three times as high in Gauteng than in Eastern Cape (Figure 5). Over time, this variation declined and in 2017 the largest difference in economic activity between Eastern Cape and Gauteng declined to two times (of GDP per capita in Eastern Cape). In 2008, provinces with higher unemployment had lower GDP per capita. This relationship is less evident now as a lower unemployment rate in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo has not been accompanied by a higher GDP per capita. These differences across provinces reflect a rural-urban divide. Even 25 years after the transition to a democratic system, the mobility of the rural population is severely restricted by high transport costs, resulting in an unemployment gap of 24% between former homelands and non-former homeland areas (Kwenda, Benhura and Mudiriza 2020). The population of traditional settlement areas is black (Table 1). In these areas, more than half of families have a female head of household who relies on income from a migrant spouse. Average household income is only one third of that of urban areas. Traditional settlement areas are over-represented in pockets of poverty (Lehohla and Shabalala 2014). During the apartheid era, traditional settlement areas were deprived of development opportunities and (mis)used as sleeping villages for low wage-low skills labour. No wonder little economic activity happened in these areas, which were also not suitable for agricultural production. Furthermore, public services were of low quality. According to the 2011 census, the 10 poorest municipalities were located in former homelands, which are typically traditional settlement areas (Lehohla and Shabalala 2014). More than a quarter of the South African population lives in such territories. Hysteresis of bad initial conditions and an institutional design which fosters immobility instead of entrepreneurship and innovation, make traditional settlement areas a drag on overall economic development.However, a large part of this rural-urban gap is also explained by skills and resource differentials (Arndt, Davies and Thurlow 2019). Appropriate interventions such as increasing entrepreneurial capacity, lifting the basic education level and reforming social housing policies would increase the participation in economic activity of people living in remote and traditional settlement areasProvincial differences and low labour utilisation also reflect the large gap between male and female labour force participation and employment. Unemployment is more prevalent for women than for men. The transition rate into employment is also higher for men compared with women (Stats SA 2016). The gender gap is wider at young ages and decreases over the life cycle, but it still remains (Mosomi 2019). In Northern Cape, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga, female unemployment is more than 10 percentage points higher than male unemployment rates (Table 2). Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo have a gender unemployment difference which is close to the countrywide average, while in Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal female unemployment is only one to two percentage points higher than male unemployment. These differences in male and female employment are the result of human capital accumulation, the traditional role of women as care givers, the low participation of women in male-dominated occupations, and the lower participation of African women in the labour force, among other factors (Mosomi 2019). Note: Female-male is the difference between female and male unemployment rates.Of course, the low trend growth rate in South Africa has not helped to absorb a rapidly growing population into the formal labour market (Figure 6). One reason for South Africa's low growth rate is the decline of (normally higher-productivity) export-oriented manufacturing as a percentage of total output since the beginning of the 1990s, which was accompanied by declining profitability in this sector (Rodrik 2008). However, there are countries with much lower trend growth rates (Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Russia), which manage to keep a much higher share of the population economically active. Following the trend line, an increase of South Africa's trend growth rate by one percentage point would increase labour resource utilisation by about two percentage points. In other words, if South Africa achieved the same growth rate of real GDP as China, its labour resource utilisation gap would decline from 38 percentage points to 26 percentage points. This means that South Africa needs about twice the economic growth in order to achieve the same labour resource utilisation as Turkey. Compared to Brazil or Indonesia, things are even worse. South Africa's labour resource utilisation is about 35 percentage points lower, even though its trend growth rate has been about one percentage point higher. Growth helps, but more is needed to increase labour utilisation in South Africa.There are several reasons why the South African economy is not generating the required growth rates to absorb its unemployed, nor making growth more labourintensive. 8 One of the more important factors is the low level of competition in the South African economy. This in turn is due to high barriers to entry, a rigid regulatory environment and a high regulatory burden on small and medium-sized enterprises. Table 3 shows that South Africa is among the countries with the least competition-friendly product market regulation indicators (Koske et al. 2015).South Africa is exposed to particularly heavy regulations, high market concentration, cumbersome licensing and permits, and complex regulatory procedures.Competition-friendly product market regulations foster innovation, productivity and job creation (Egert 2018; Griffith, Harrison and Macartney 2007; Nicoletti and  Scarpetta 2003). 9 This synergy between product market reforms and the functioning of the labour market is particularly important in South Africa. During the apartheid regime, an industrial policy of national champions inhibited competition. The effects of this policy were exacerbated by embargo-enforced isolation during this time. As a consequence, mark-ups and concentration are still relatively high (Fedderke, Obikili and Viegi 2018).8 These include the availability of skilled workers, the savings rate, the cost of transportation and the regulatory environment. See for example Faulkner, Loewald and Makrelov (2013), Loewald, Faulkner andMakrelov (2020), National Treasury (2019) and OECD (2017). 9The positive effects of competition-friendly regulation are recurring themes in OECD recommendations, for which a large body of economic literature exists. Numerous references can be found in OECD Economic Surveys and the Structural Policy Reform Series. One origin of weak competition in the South African economy is its relatively low exposure to international trade. Because of its focus on domestic markets, commodity exports and business culture shaped in part by historical sanctions, the South African economy is not very well integrated in global value chains. Part of this deficiency could be related to high non-tariff barriers within the Southern African Development Community (OECD 2017a). This poor level of integration suggests large losses, as experiences from other regions indicate that the international division of labour is a forceful driver of economic growth (Fengru and Guitang 2019).Although South Africa has a well-developed core with leading companies in some sectors, the majority of economic activity is far behind the international efficiency frontier. In this situation, access to best practice technologies (catching up to the efficiency frontier) is more important than shifting the frontier itself (Kreuser and Newman 2018).Most chances for finding 'missing' jobs in South Africa to compensate for the employment losses in export-oriented manufacturing and mining are in services sectors. International experience shows that countries with a more competitionfriendly regulatory framework can achieve higher productivity growth and create more employment opportunities in services sectors (Arnold and Wörgötter 2011).Job creation in services sectors has also been retarded by the insufficient and costly supply of telecommunications, transport and especially energy. These network services are crucial inputs that act as multipliers for start-ups, innovation and job creation. The fragmented availability of 'old' network outputs, like electricity, and volatile regulatory pricing of these services, are likely to prove to be severe obstacles to a more dynamic economic environment. Some evidence for this comes from data on entrepreneurial activity. Planning or starting entrepreneurial activity is undertaken less frequently in South Africa than in other countries (Figure 7). Informal activity or self-employment is also less widespread than in other comparable countries. Furthermore, entry rates seem to be lower than exit rates, increasing concentration and reinforcing the dominance of surviving incumbent firms (OECD 2017a). It is hard to overstate the importance of the labour market to economic outcomes, both microeconomic and macroeconomic. Ideally, wage bargaining achieves a healthy balance between providing incentives to work and appropriate remuneration of scarce skills, while allowing firms to successfully compete in product and services markets. This task is far from trivial because of the high level of information required. Successful wage-bargaining systems address the asymmetric information situation either with highly coordinated collective agreements or by relying on more decentralised and effective competition in labour and product markets (Calmfors and Driffill 1988). Systems falling between these ends of the spectrum, such as those situating wage bargaining at industry level and legally extending wage agreements to all firms as in South Africa, are well understood to be least effective in this broader coordination task, as discussed earlier. They are normally dominated by big, key players, limiting competition, but are also insufficiently centralised to take into account the macroeconomic effects of bargained outcomes. The high concentration and pricing power on output markets contributes to the bargaining outcomes, which ignore economy-wide concerns.With the high degree of labour market segmentation (discussed below), such bargaining systems also result in real wages that are too high to clear the labour market, particularly for less skilled workers, and fail to facilitate employment growth in line with demographic developments. This, alongside high costs of firing, directly contributes to high unemployment rates. As a result of these factors, the South African labour market is generally considered to be inflexible (Fedderke 2012). 10Where macroeconomic constraints and inflationary consequences of wage bargaining are not internalised, wage-price spirals can emerge, leading to highrisk premia on long-term interest rates. Monetary policy interventions are less effective as labour market frictions maintain a high equilibrium inflation rate and wages are sticky, preventing monetary policy transmission (Bhattarai 2016).These then weigh on financing costs, especially for long-term investments in infrastructure and innovation, and economic growth. South Africa's inflation outcomes were until recently clustering at the upper end of an already high and wide inflation target band, supported in the main by high growth in unit labour costs (Fedderke and Liu 2018).Where collective bargaining systematically extends wage agreements regionally, this has been shown to decrease employment opportunities, especially in small and medium-sized firms (Magruder 2012). Weakly contested product markets, together with the extension of collectively agreed wages among insiders, acts as a barrier to entry and likely impedes new firms from entering the market and growing.Furthermore, supply-side rigidities like skills shortages and the high number of unskilled school leavers generate high wage inequality (Van der Berg 2014). These skills shortages also contribute to persistent unemployment as they limit the ability of firms to increase employment during economic booms (Stevens 2007).Most countries with low unemployment rates also have strong public placement services and provide significant resources for active labour market programmes.South Africa's labour market primarily relies on private job matching and there are few active labour market programmes. Where job matching works poorly, the positive externalities for fiscal policy and growth, like higher employment levels, are foregone. Some countries achieve good results with a clearly defined mix of private and public institutions providing activation services (Finn 2016). The following key aspects of public employment services (PES) (Baptista et al. 2016: 14) involve positive externalities not captured by private job brokers but by society as a whole:-Job brokerage through public dissemination of vacancies.-Provision of information about vacancies and searching workers.-Market adjustments to supply and demand.-Management of unemployment benefits.-Management of labour migration by coordinating mobility across borders. In recent years, this has become an increasing part of the service portfolio but is still neglected by national labour market policies.PES are established in most countries to help the reallocation of labour in the wake of structural changes, ordinary churn, school-to-work transitions, as well as recovery after a crisis. In particular, PES assist workers who want to enter the labour market, get training or requalification, enter employment and find appropriate career tracks to make the most of the transition from education to employment (OECD 2014(OECD , 2016b)). These tasks require a well-resourced institution with a clear governance structure. A particularly successful example of an efficient public employment service is the German Bundesagentur für Arbeit, which went through a series of reforms in the early 2000s (Fleckenstein 2008). Many countries have established PES institutions to support job searchers, upgrade skills and provide wage subsidies for vulnerable groups in the labour force (Baptista et al. 2016). An important feature of PES is a focus on productivity, which helps to improve the quality of work and the outlook for higher wages.In South Africa, PES are under-resourced and do not have the quantity and quality of counsellors necessary to provide effective services for millions of job seekers. Instead, PES have been privatised \"by default\" (Medforth 2005). Private recruitment and employment agencies primarily focus on profitable segments of the placement markets, leaving much of the market where unemployment is highest without service. Transition rates between states of employment indicate that 90% of those not economically active remain in that position and only 3% manage to find a job, while around 10% of the unemployed find a job within one quarter (Table 4). This suggests the potential for large economic gains from such services. A major expansion of such services should be initiated by consultation and cooperation among stakeholders and different designs tested in pilot phases in different regions and sectors of the economy. Without a well-functioning service, South Africa's labour market will continue to be highly stressed by a range of developments, including ageing, further technological change and associated shifts in the skills required of the workforce.In this section, we discuss the effects on labour utilisation of key labour marketrelated interventions implemented over the last decade. We focus on the introduction of the employment tax incentive and national minimum wage, employment equity and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), labour market flexibility and amendments to regulate temporary employment. We draw extensively on the South African literature and our measure is whether policy instruments improve labour utilisation.The National Development Plan assessed the employment problem as follows, highlighting the link between product and labour markets:Uncompetitive markets for goods and services and low levels of investment mean that new firms are not entering the market and employment is low. Uncompetitive labour markets keep new entrants out and skew the economy towards high skills and high productivity (National Planning Commission 2013: 111).The plan presents an ambitious reform to increase employment in rural areas and address spatial problems, develop new industries and new firms that support employment growth, and capture global market share. Industrial policies were meant to play a pivotal role in supporting growth and employment:South African industrial policy will transition from its historical approach of favouring energy-and capital-intensive goods production, sometimes with limited domestic linkages, towards an increasingly diversified industrial base. It is often presumed that substantial employment might be created through trade in light manufactured goods (National Planning Commission 2013: 127).Chapter 3 of the plan proposes to increase employment and economic growth, recognising that eliminating constraints to economic growth would also increase employment. The recommendations for increasing the employment intensity of growth are:expand the public works programme; -introduce a tax incentive to employers to reduce the initial cost of hiring young labour market entrants; -provide a subsidy to the placement sector to identify, prepare and place matric graduates in jobs;get business and labour to develop their own proposals to reduce youth employment; -encourage skilled immigration;adopt an approach to handling probationary periods that reflects the intention of probation; -simplify dismissal procedures; and strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms in the labour market.In addition, the plan argues for specific labour regulations for small businesses to reduce the cost of complying with the current regulations, as well as for various interventions to strengthen the capacity of labour courts and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to deal with labour cases.Many of these proposals have not been implemented or have been only partially implemented. Although a tax incentive to support youth employment was introduced, little progress has been made on skilled migration. Efforts to boost economic growth with industrial policy, as discussed below, have failed to create the industries and jobs envisioned in the National Development Plan.Labour market regulations have long been analysed and understood to be major obstacles to employment creation in South Africa (Godfrey, Theron and Visser 2007;Rankin 2006). The need for greater labour market flexibility was discussed extensively in the National Development Plan. Table 5 shows several measures of labour market flexibility by country income group. 12 According to these measures, it is more difficult to hire and fire workers in South Africa than in other middle income and OECD countries. South Africa has an employment rigidity index that is comparable to those in low-income countries. 13 The OECD's measures show South Africa as having long and costly firing costs for small and medium-sized companies (OECD 2010(OECD , 2017)). The employment chapter of the National Development Plan made proposals to strengthen labour market institutions and improve dismissal processes, making it less costly for firms to hire and fire. Specific proposals dealt with the handling of probation periods, dismissal procedures for poor performance and misconduct, and accelerating dismissal processes. Despite the recommendations from the National Planning Commission, progress to define and implement any reforms has been slow.The employment tax incentive (ETI) is the only clear and direct labour market intervention that increases the demand for labour and reduces the relative price of labour to capital. By increasing labour demand, the incentive contributes to higher labour utilisation. It is also the most researched government incentive due to National Treasury's provision of tax data to researchers and policy interest in its effectiveness. 14   The ETI was implemented in 2011 (National Treasury 2011), although the original policy proposal to use a wage subsidy to support youth employment in South Africa dates back to 2002. The initial proposal was for a tax credit targeting the supply of labour, increasing the returns to work and increasing the labour participation rate. Additional proposals followed, including for a demand-side subsidy to firms -a proposal that was eventually adopted in the design of the ETI. These proposals argued that the subsidy design should include a training and skills development component, and a probationary period with a 'no questions asked' dismissal policy. Further proposals added immigration reform to support youth employment through its complementarity with skilled employment (Levinsohn 2008;National Treasury 2011). Levinsohn (2008) proposed a wage voucher capped at 50% of the actual wage for recent school leavers.In the 2014/15 fiscal year, the first full year of its existence, the ETI was claimed by 32 368 firms to support 686 402 jobs (National Treasury 2016). Several independent studies have assessed the impact of the ETI on employment. Most studies (particularly those using administrative tax data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS)) find a positive, but small, impact on job creation for youth (Bhorat et al. 2020;Ebrahim, Leibbrandt and Ranchhod 2017;National Treasury 2016). The impact is estimated at 97 850 jobs over the first two years of implementation (Ebrahim, Leibbrandt and Ranchhod 2017).The evidence of job creation is most pronounced in smaller firms. 15 There is little evidence of substitution effects -the churning of non-youth jobs -as a result of the subsidy (Ebrahim, Leibbrandt, and Ranchhod 2017;Makgetla 2017;National Treasury 2016). Another recent study finds insignificant employment impacts but strong wage effects (Ebrahim and Pirttilä 2019). However, even the most recent studies cover only a short period of time as the tax data provided by SARS lags by almost two years. More data over time is needed to generate more robust econometric results. Overall, the studies to date suggest quite a high level of jobs are supported by the incentive but the number of new jobs created remains low.This can reflect data and methodological problems but also factors such as poor targeting and lack of training. A closer analysis of successful use of such subsidies reveals that design and delivery matter greatly. A similar conclusion is found for other African countries (Boadu and Fatunbi 2020).Policies such as Employment Equity and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) try to create a degree of economic equality which is impeded by negative market externalities and/or by historical structural obstacles and uncompetitive outcomes.These types of policies have the potential to improve human and capital allocation by creating new and more dynamic labour-absorbing firms and reducing concentration in the economy, while ensuring political and social stability (Acemoglu, Gelb and Robinson 2007;Andrews 2008). They can increase labour utilisation of previously disadvantaged groups but also increase overall utilisation through their impact on economic activity. These effects however depend on the design of the policies and their implementation.The employment equity policy aims to change the racial composition of the employed workforce, supporting a fairer representation for previously disadvantaged groups. The limited literature suggests that the impact on overall labour utilisation has likely been negative but that the impact on representation is positive. A recent study by Landman and O'Clery (2020) investigates the impact of employment equity policies on gender equality. The results suggest that gender representation and wages have improved as a result of employment equity representation. Horwitz (2013) argues, however, that employment equity policies have led to a brain drain, reducing the total supply of skilled workers, with negative spillover effects to overall employment levels. Other studies show that employment equity can contribute to greater skill mismatches and, because of reduced skill levels, lower total labour productivity (Burger 2014;Dongwana 2016;Kruger and Kleynhans 2014). There may also be a targeting problem, where employment equity policies do little to reduce overall unemployment because it is heavily concentrated among younger people, as shown by Levinsohn (2008).This targeting problem appears to work against the National Development Plan assessment, which recommended that \"employment equity should focus mainly on providing opportunities for younger people from historically disadvantaged communities who remain largely marginalised.\"The problem with skill mismatches is clearly illustrated using chartered accountants as an example. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants reports that there are currently around 47 000 registered chartered accountants in South Africa, of which only 6 800 are classified as black African. 16 In this case, a rigid policy requiring strict adherence to employment equity targets will make it more difficult for firms to grow due to the limited number of black chartered accountants and a very high skills premium for them. Increasing the demand for a particular skill set from a particular group can improve human and capital allocation if the supply of skills is available and the policy leads to a net improvement in overall productivity (Andrews 2008). Again, the National Development Plan labels this approach of overpaying for scarce skills as \"counterproductive to the long-term development of both the individual and the company.\"Other BEE elements deal with ownership, management control, skills development and enterprise development. In the past, BEE was criticised for benefiting a small politically connected group of black entrepreneurs (Acemoglu, Gelb and Robinson 2007). The National Development Plan argues that BEE has succeeded somewhat in changing ownership but not in creating new dynamic black-owned firms.Changes to BEE legislation have tried to expand the definition of BEE, but still with a strong emphasis on ownership. In its 2020 report, the B-BBEE Commission highlights the slow pace of transformation, requesting further interventions to increase compliance and stimulate the pace of transformation. 17 The commission, however, has a narrow focus to report on compliance and does not assess whether these targets also translate into more productive and competitive firms. Only very few studies explore the broader economic impacts. For example, Acemoglu, Gelb and Robinson (2007) find no significant impact of BEE on firm investment, labour productivity or profitability. Kruger and Kleynhans (2014) find no significant impact on profitability and competitiveness. These studies, however, focus only on listed companies.A narrow assessment of BEE on targets without taking into account impacts on firm performance, overall economic activity or the availability of skills in the economy will fail to identify unintended and indirect effects. Higher regulatory burdens may impose larger costs on firms and end up reducing labour utilisation. Dongwana (2016) reports that large, listed companies found BEE codes onerous and costly, while compliance costs are likely to be considerably larger for smaller and medium-sized enterprises. Another possible effect operates through company ownership and the development of new and dynamic firms. If BEE's main contribution is to change ownership or board representation while maintaining the previous market structures, labour utilisation will remain unchanged. The type of firms created is important. If BEE supports the development of competitive, labourabsorbing companies then labour utilisation will increase. However, if these firms require constant support and are less productive or are less labour absorptive than non-BEE companies, then the impact on labour utilisation will be negative. These firms may turn out to be less efficient as they face limited competition and they can also engage in significant rent-seeking behaviour in order to capture lucrative contracts linked to their BEE status. Hausmann (2017) identifies another possible effect operating through the impact of BEE policies on other groups in the labour market, discouraging participation in the economy, reducing the availability of skilled labour and, similar to the example above with chartered accountants, eventually leading to decreased economic activity and labour utilisation.A review and redesign of employment equity and BEE policies could likely generate lower costs to the economy and better outcomes for unemployed South Africans.Labour markets in many economies in recent decades have exhibited increasing duality, generally arising from legal protections and high costs for jobs in formal, often protected, sectors. Job creation then instead occurs in services and other less protected sectors with lower capital thresholds. In these latter sectors, labour intensity is higher, in part because of less restrictive labour regulations that allow lower labour costs. Firms are often able to lower labour costs by using labour brokers and temporary workers, increasing competition with firms and employees in sectors previously protected by regulation. The international literature suggests that increased use of temporary workers often results in stricter employment protection legislation for permanent workers, worsening the duality of the market. 18   In South Africa, the emergence of more competitive approaches in various sectors induced amendments to the Labour Relations Act to increase protection of temporary workers effective from 1 April 2015. The changes covered temporary employment services (TES) employees, employees on fixed-term contracts and part-time employees, and increased the cost of such employees. Exemptions were provided for small and new firms. One of the key amendments was for temporary work to be limited to three months. This is in contrast to the National Development Plan recommendation of a limit of six months (National Planning Commission 2013). It is also in contrast to policies in other countries which have reduced the duality of labour markets and maintained jobs by increasing the flexibility of fulltime contracts (Bentolila, Dolado and Jimeno 2019).Various studies show that the results on employment and labour utilisation have been large and negative. Bhorat, Magadla and Steenkamp (2015) find that the amendments resulted in little increase in permanent employment, a key aim of the reforms. Only a quarter of TES workers were made permanent, around a quarter were fired and the rest remained as TES workers. The most affected sectors were manufacturing and tertiary sectors such as finance.Similarly, Cassim (2020) finds that a large proportion of TES workers became unemployed, moved to the informal sector or became economically inactive. Their employment status was worsened by the reforms. Comparison of these results with other countries is difficult. Other reforms to dual labour markets have combined greater protections with eased firing and hiring regulations of temporary workers (Cassim 2020). This has shifted the balance of regulation to be less costly and more job creating. Alternatively, countries have introduced significant flexibility in permanent employment contracts for first-time employees. For example, in the major Italian reform to labour market duality, contract protection increases gradually over a period of 36 months (Garibaldi and Taddei 2013). This approach ensures that workers are protected, but firing and hiring costs are low, particularly in the initial stages of employment when generating work experience is critical. It also reduces the need for temporary contracts. In South Africa, this transition is instantaneous at the three-month mark.South Africa introduced a uniform National Minimum Wage in 2018. This replaced some minimum wages set through a sector determination process run by committee. Sector minimum wages that are above the legislated National Minimum Wage remain in place, including those set in collective agreements. The legislated intervention aimed to raise compensation for workers in sectors with low unionisation. This intervention, however, increases labour costs directly and relative to the cost of capital. Higher labour costs unmatched by productivity gains directly reduces labour demand as jobs are shed.Productivity gains can be achieved if minimum wages are set or increased and then induce efficiency wage responses, but it is unclear if this occurred in South African firms and industries. Job creation can rise if the minimum wage increases labour supply but remains below the maximum competitive wage level for the sector.Certainly, South Africa's experience with sector-specific minimum wages appears to have been mixed. For most sectors, the impact on employment has been neutral; however, the introduction of a minimum wage in the agricultural sector led to large employment losses (Bhorat, Kanbur and Stanwix 2014). Bhorat and Stanwix (2018) compare South Africa's National Minimum Wage to minimum wages in other countries. They find that the ratio of the minimum wage to the median wage is relatively high compared to other countries, which can have negative effects in other segments of firms' workforce and drive up inflation as higher-skill workers try to re-establish the pre-minimum earnings differential. Only the Philippines and Honduras have higher ratios. This contributes to lower labour utilisation, particularly in sectors where salary increases are largest and there are opportunities to replace labour with capital (Bhorat et al. 2016).An array of other policies, such as tax, industrial and competition policy, also play important roles in determining and shaping labour demand and supply (Levinsohn 2008;Rodrik 2008). South Africa has considered and set out policies to boost the development of most sectors, including manufacturing, mining and tourism. Endowments of minerals of course have been a primary determinant of economic activity, and greater beneficiation of domestically mined raw materials has received much policy attention (Oranje 2013) Despite some attempts to use industrial policy to increase demand for labour, much of the focus has been on more capital-intensive sectors and in particular automated car manufacturing. In 2018, for instance, the sector received R27 billion in tax support, more than the rest of manufacturing combined, and non-taxable grants ranging between 20% and 30% of their investment and tariff trade protection. To cap it off, manufacturers charge the tariff-inclusive prices, with added mark-up, in the local market (Kaplan 2019).Independent assessment of the effects of industrial policy on growth and employment are scarce due to data availability. However, a recent assessment by the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation concludes that many of the industrial incentives are ineffective and not well designed. 19  Kaplan (2019) argues that industrial policy has failed to deliver either jobs or growth as promised in the different versions of the Industrial Policy Action Plan. Certainly, manufacturing output has lagged other emerging markets and employment has decreased in the manufacturing sector relative to 2008. Industrial incentives favour capital, leading to a decline in the employment intensity of production.Another important supportive policy is Competition Policy, where various amendments to the Act over the years have strengthened the powers of the competition authorities. Some of the key changes are in the definition of the pursuit of abuse of dominance. The Competition Commission is also given more extensive powers to initiate market inquiries and provide remedies to change market outcomes (OECD 2020). The amendments ensure that the level of concentration is properly measured as well as its impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and black-owned businesses.However, the level of competition in South Africa remains low compared to other countries. The 2020 OECD Economic Survey identifies the following reasons: a high level of government involvement in the economy; barriers to domestic and foreign entry; complex rules for licences and permits; and protection of existing businesses from competition. The regulatory restrictions are particularly high in network industries, and likely have a major impact on investment rates. 20 South Africa's policies have failed to shift far enough away from the pre-democracy, closed-economy systems of protection, and therefore do little to directly solve the unemployment problem. Labour market policies do not increase job creation and absorb workers that want jobs. Many policies deviate greatly from global best practice. Rightly, considerable emphasis has been on ensuring fair treatment and compensation of workers. But that effort improves outcomes for relatively highskilled unionised and formal sector workers, while reducing demand for lessskilled workers and leaving many workers in a more precarious position. Moreover, the extent to which these policies reduce labour utilisation has been ignored and few mitigation or offsetting measures have been put in place. It is also worth noting that in recent years labour demand has been effectively capped by declining potential growth rates, caused in part by shortages of electricity, which place a direct speed limit on job creation.We turn now to more specific examples of efforts conducted by other countries to boost employment.After unification in 1990 and the introduction of the euro in 1999, Germany found itself locked into an overvalued exchange rate, which made the re-integration of unemployed workers difficult. As in other European economies, the unemployment rate increased in the crisis, but did not fall in the recovery. A broad-based reform programme in the early 2000s, designed together with leading employer representatives, started to push unemployment lower.The reform package included adjustments to taxation of income support benefits, allowing greater use of temporary work agencies and arrangements, and the strengthening of the public employment service. The cornerstone of reforms, implemented over several years and stages, established a strengthened and wellresourced public employment service with a wide range of active labour market policies. At the same time, labour supply and job search were increased with incentives to accept vacancies and by significantly reducing the effective taxation of benefit recipients. Widening opportunities to deviate from the standard labour contract and employ workers through agencies and for fixed terms were provided, but care was taken not to allow the substitution of standard labour contracts.Benefit duration was limited, generosity reduced for some groups and job search obligations strengthened. Lack of compliance with agreed job search and qualification requirements was subject to sanctions.The German public employment service is among the biggest employers in the country and enjoys operational independence to achieve its goals. New public management principles provide a relatively large degree of freedom for decisions taken by front-desk counsellors (Launov and Wälde 2016).Most countries exhibit considerably higher unemployment for youth than for older workers. Germany is an exception, with youth unemployment rates similar to the overall unemployment rate. In other words, the school-to-job transition works about as well as the labour market overall, and in particular is free of additional hurdles for school leavers to enter the labour market. The secret behind this success story is a vocational education and training (VET) system, which works in close cooperation with future employers and social partners.The German VET system rests on two pillars. One is designed for those who leave the general education system at a young age to join a combined school and on-thejob training apprenticeship programme. Participants in this programme are employed and receive practical training in the workplace, while contributing to the output of the employing company. Compensation is far below the minimum wage, but there is an employment guarantee after the successful completion of the threeto four-year programme with a skilled worker certificate in the respective trade (plumber, carpenter, car mechanic, etc.). The split between working time and school time is 3:2 days. The curriculum is standardised according to public regulation established in close cooperation with social partners.Apprenticeship programmes are very popular and chosen by about one quarter of any cohort. Employers get first-hand access to skilled workers, whom they know already from the training programme for which they have been chosen. Job seekers receive prioritised access to employment opportunities in the region. Successful participants have access to tertiary education in the area of their profession after a certain employment period.The second pillar of the German VET system is high school-based with teachers, who must have several years of practical experience in the area. The curriculum is designed in close cooperation with social partners and in many cases such schools become part of a sectoral cluster of companies successfully competing on world markets. Graduates from such schools have immediate access to most tertiary education programmes.The graduates from higher vocational schools are in high demand and their entry wages are often higher than those of university graduates without work experience.The balanced mix of theoretical material brought into the classroom by teachers with practical experience generates a good foundation for the skills needed to implement new technologies in the workplace and participate in incremental innovation activities.The German VET system builds on a comprehensive general school system and productivity-minded cooperation between social partners. The distribution of benefits from this cooperation between employers, employees and the public sector is facilitated by the exceptional stability of the German economy and society. Many of these aspects are missing in South Africa. Nevertheless, considering South Africa's widespread youth unemployment, it is worth investigating -perhaps in the form of regional or sectoral pilot studies -which aspects of the German VET system could be transferred to South Africa.Several countries achieved high growth rates between 2000 and 2020. There are some common drivers of growth, while others are country-specific. A common factor for smaller countries is the importance of export-driven growth, competition-friendly institutions and sound macroeconomic framework conditions, perhaps reflected best in the findings of the Spence Report of the World Bank's Growth Commission.Besides these common factors, there is also a country-or region-specific context.For instance, Ireland and Slovakia were and still are successful in attracting greenfield foreign direct investment projects for exporting to the neighbouring European Union (EU) market. Low taxes, tailor-made regulation and a highly skilled labour force -albeit with very different sectoral specialisations -provided the right background for location decisions of internationally operating conglomerates.Slovakia found a way to benefit from major foreign direct investment-backed export-oriented manufacturing projects in two medium-tech sectors: automotive and consumer electronics. This approach benefitted from being part of the internal market in the EU, which provided free market access. While most of the new firms are located in the Western part of Slovakia, close to the highway and railway network connecting to the EU, more remote regions also benefitted through an expanding local supplier network.Ireland leveraged its membership in the EU to offer a low-cost platform for lowweight, high-tech goods (Buckley and Ruane 2006). Significant support from EU structural funds were used to upgrade the education system and make sure that employers found the skills they needed.Particularly interesting for South Africa is the successful development of South Korea, which in the 1950s was a low-income country. Korea followed an export-led growth path, but its main drivers were domestic conglomerates. The government established a competitive grant system, which made sure that only productive establishments would be supported (Westphal 1990). This approach helped to avoid the middle-income trap phenomenon, which is common for countries in which industrial policies depend on import protection.Economies with higher income per capita tend to have lower regional differences (Petrakos, Rodríguez-Pose and Rovolis 2003). This relation may not be uniform over time and countries in their early stage of development are often found to experience increasing regional difference (Kuznets 1955;Williamson 1965). The negative relation between regional inequality and economic growth is confirmed by the example of the EU, although several channels are working in different directions and their balance can differ over time and between countries (Piętak 2020).One source of employment creation is higher growth in low-income regions. This goal is the focus of one common policy area of the EU and has been evaluated by numerous studies (Bachtler and Wren 2006). Cohesion programmes mainly benefit lagging regions and are considered to have significantly contributed to job creation. Furthermore, cohesion policy is supposed to contribute to institution building and facilitate learning processes for policymakers. The Regional Economic Specialisation approach (OECD 2016a) tries to achieve these outcomes.Its implementation requires that policymaking institutions have significant analytical, monitoring and governance capacity.In most OECD countries, increasing employment opportunities for women contributed to significant increases in aggregate economic growth and well-being. Obstacles to higher female labour force participation are mostly country-specific, but there are also uniform positive factors, in particular higher education and lower fertility (Klasen et al. 2020).In countries with high female labour force participation (for instance, France and Sweden), one focus is to provide publicly available institutions that allow families to reconcile their obligations at the workplace with parenthood. Further efforts are devoted to make sure that the marginal taxes on income earned by one partner are not increased by the income earned by the other partner. For instance, this is the case in Germany where the income of the family is taxed, while in Austria the income of each partner is taxed separately. In countries with a traditional family role model for women, the availability of part-time employment opportunities contributes to an increase of female labour force participation, but at the cost of possibly contributing to the dualisation of labour markets (Barbieri et al. 2019).Examples for product market reforms in OECD countries include opening network industries for new suppliers, effective procedures against cartels and reducing the influence of government. The impact of such measures is generally found to be positive with respect to economic growth, productivity and job creation. One frequently mentioned driver of positive effects of product market reforms is increased innovation activity, with governments playing an active role in supporting the implementation of new technologies and providing the necessary infrastructure for the training of employees (Ornston 2013).One trap to avoid is increasing employment by allowing a too-wide difference of employment protection for standard and temporary/agency/informal work.The Italian model mentioned earlier provides the right balance.In Spain, dismissal protection is very strict. In order to make the labour market more flexible, the government allowed the widespread use of non-standard labour contracts, thereby establishing a dual labour market. Contrary to expectations and intentions, only few workers initially employed on non-standard contracts managed the transition to a standard contract. As a consequence, the cyclical volatility of employment increased. A medium-term cost to the economy from too much volatility in employment relations is a decline in firm-specific further education and innovation spending involving workers employed on temporary contracts, limiting growth of both firm productivity and income of workers.Turkey combines important aspects of German and Spanish labour market reforms. On one side, work incentives are very high (the German element) and, on the other side, a dualisation of the economy is tolerated by allowing informal practices even in well-established formal sector firms.Dualisation and a rise in precarity has also occurred where immigrants congregate in particular sectors and job categories, and in some countries this is encouraged by eased regulations.Across countries, wage-bargaining practices and laws vary considerably. Some countries follow a more decentralised approach and favour wage determination at the company level, while other countries have legal frameworks which allow for collective bargaining agreements. OECD recommendations in the 1990s promoted the decentralisation of wage bargaining and wider scope for opting out of legal extensions of collective agreements (OECD 1999). More recently, the benefits and disadvantages of collective bargaining were reassessed (OECD 2018, Chapter 3). One reason is that collective bargaining is increasingly seen as a brake on rising wage inequality in the wake of globalisation and the widespread implementation of new technologies, in particular information and communication technologies.A successful wage determination system provides the right incentives on both sides of the labour market in order to combine a high labour force participation rate with decent wages. The overall success is often determined by the role played by the replacement rate of benefit systems.One crucial aspect of wage determination is the ability of social partners to maintain international competitiveness. This characteristic is most prominently attributed to Germany, which became the European wage leader (Ramskogler 2012). The implementation of such a wage policy rests on two pillars: (i) sharing productivity advances, and (ii) widening the objective function by including full employment (Offe 2019). In well-functioning wage determination systems, real wage gains that may be had in the short term are foregone in the interests of more sustainable real wage gains over time. This trade-off is better identified by workers where firms can commit to long tenure and low turnover and where there is a commitment to continuous training and lifelong learning. In most cases, adult learning institutions which provide training opportunities are financed by employers with the help of government.Achieving full employment has become a common, cross-country economic policy goal agreed along the entire political spectrum. International organisations like the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD give high priority to policies that remove disincentives to accept vacancies (boosting labour supply) or provide incentives to offer employment opportunities (raising labour demand).Emerging market and developing economies, by definition, lie below global production possibility frontiers -the combination of capital, labour and technology use that is both at the highest level of efficiency and of endowment use. Where economies are less productive (further from the frontier), they often try to raise earnings across the economy by enabling job growth as much as possible. This gives rise to an observed negative relationship between labour utilisation and productivity, although the margin of error is relatively large.Much of the literature on labour market reform reflects determined efforts since the 1980s by many advanced economies to increase productivity and labour utilisation at the same time.Alternatively, some countries try to artificially boost the earnings of workers by restricting competition and limiting growth in labour demand. South Africa does this, and becomes an outlier among emerging economies, because at current output levels, and with a relatively small productivity gap, its labour utilisation gap is high (Figure 8). Closing this gap, creating many more jobs, should be an achievable target, given the experience of other countries doing so, and would go far in raising overall output and income and reducing inequality in the economy (Anand, Kothari and Kumar 2016). South Africa, however, should not seek to close its labour utilisation gap by reducing productivity in a direct trade-off for more jobs, but if jobs are created for less-skilled unemployed workers, then in the short term there will be a moderation in productivity per worker until such time as full employment causes productivity to rise. The particular policy challenge in this situation is to find the right balance between supporting those who lose their employment/business in the course of a productivity-centred growth path and not undermining the associated incentives. Such an approach was popular in countries with a corporatist policy setting (such as Scandinavia, the Benelux and Austria) up to the mid-1970s. In these countries, wage determination, technological decisions and macroeconomic policy were coordinated between the government and social partners. The form of cooperation ranged from complete informality in the case of Austria to more formal agreements in northern European countries. More recently, an innovative form of 'supply-side corporatism' switched from demand management towards providing key public goods for the expansion of economic activities in new high-value added sectors of the economy (Heinisch 2001;Ornston 2013).Increasing labour utilisation in South Africa requires a complete rethink of the current approach to employment creation. There needs to be a shift away from policies that serve certain groups at the expense of the unemployed and a significant improvement of labour market institutions and supportive micro-and macroeconomic policies.The review of international experience suggests that effective systems for schoolto-job transition can increase youth labour utilisation and provide a significant boost to potential growth. Successful systems rely on active industry participation and effective training. Vocational education needs to graduate from an unattractive choice to a mainstream programme. Although South Africa has Technical Vocational and Education Training colleges, which are meant to fulfil a similar purpose, these institutions have been ineffective in providing the right skills. The 2013 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa provided several recommendations on how to improve the school-to-job transition. Recommendations included increasing industry involvement, addressing operational challenges, providing tax credits to support the employment of graduates and reducing firing costs for new hires. Improving the matching of employees with employers decreases the equilibrium unemployment rate in the context of the flow matching and Beveridge curve approaches discussed earlier.The employment tax incentive has been effective in reducing the relative cost of labour to capital but the empirical evidence shows that targeting needs to improve. The international literature suggests that reducing dismissal costs, targeting specific skill sets and sequencing labour market reforms can increase the ratio of jobs created to jobs supported (Betcherman, Daysal and Pagés 2010;Caliendo, Künn and Schmidl 2011;Chrichton and Maré 2013;Van Reenen 2004) The German public employment service provides a useful example of how to implement a successful system. Provided that fiscal resources exist, this is an effective way to deal with South Africa's unemployment problem. However, one cannot argue that South Africa's expansion of public employment is a sustainable strategy against inactivity. This approach has put government on the verge of a fiscal crisis. Again, while the intention of this approach was good in order to increase the quantity and quality of public service, its design and implementation was poor, benefitting mainly well-connected workers.The international review and the local evidence suggest that low labour utilisation rates can be reversed if South Africa better addresses regional economic disparities and the gender gap. Again, there are useful international examples, including how the EU supports poorer regions through special funding mechanisms or how it supports temporary and part-time employment for female workers. Employment equity has helped to reduce the gender participation gap.In South Africa, settlement structures and economic activity are not well coordinated. Reducing mobility costs requires that this is addressed, possibly with different approaches to affordable social housing to overcome the rural-urban divide and contribute to a higher activity rate of the working-age population. The OECD recently published a comparative analysis of traditional settlement areas around the world (unfortunately without South African participation).Recommendations focus on improving empirical information and coordinating with national economic policymaking, on one side, and entrepreneurship and land management as key drivers of economic development, on the other (OECD 2019b).The key recommendations are to:-Create an enabling environment for indigenous entrepreneurship and small business development at the local and regional levels by establishing local community-led economic development plans, improving access to finance and making public procurement an engine of local business.-Improve the indigenous land tenure system to facilitate opportunities for economic development and foster the integration of local entrepreneurs in mining value chains as well as sustainable tourism development.-Adapt policies and governance to implement a place-based approach to economic development that improves policy coherence, empowers indigenous communities and encourages local as well as international experience sharing.The review of labour market models shows that a high unemployment rate and low labour utilisation can be an equilibrium outcome of the wage-bargaining process. This also hinders the effective implementation of macroeconomic policy.In this environment, one method for optimising labour use is through negotiated, high-level social accords (Nattrass 2004), which often hold down labour cost growth rates to enable economic surpluses to feed into higher investment and job creation. Most instances of the successful use of social accords occur in high-income countries such as Austria, the Benelux, Scandinavia and Germany. Such accords are far less commonly used in developing and emerging economies. One reason for this asymmetry could be the need for fiscal incentives to reach agreements, which high-income countries can provide at lower cost. Lindbeck and Snower (2001) identify several other interventions to reduce the insider-outsider dynamics and bargaining on a sector level. These include reducing the occupational, industrial and geographic coverage of unions, introducing schemes to convert wage claims into equity shares and profit-sharing schemes, reducing firing costs, and increasing competition in product markets. Higher competition, accompanied with a threat of entry from imports, make it more difficult for the industry to sustain high wage increases, which are not compatible with economy-wide full employment.The review of policies affecting the employment market directly in South Africa shows that the emphasis has correctly been on ensuring fair treatment and compensation of workers, but unintended consequences of this approach have been ignored. The outcomes for relatively high-skilled unionised and formal sector workers have been positive, while reducing demand for less-skilled workers and leaving many workers in more precarious positions. Both firing and hiring costs need to be lowered further. This is particularly important in the current environment.Reducing firing costs for new workers for a period of 12 to 24 months can support faster employment recovery in the post-COVID-19 period. This can be implemented by a gradual transition to fixed employment contracts as in Italy.Employment equity and BEE have been important drivers of transformation.Businesses' compliance with these policies must increase to accelerate transformation. But at the same time the policies need to be reviewed for any unintended consequences or failure to create firms that are sustainable even after years of benefitting from their BEE status. Policy reviews need to focus on the direct and indirect effects on employment, also taking into account the substitution from BEE non-compliant firms.Supportive microeconomic reforms are key to addressing South Africa's unemployment problem. The importance of competition has been highlighted in most OECD Economic Surveys of South Africa because of positive experiences with opening markets for competition and establishing robust and independent Competition Authorities. The first survey in 2008 highlighted the entry barriers for foreign firms, the role of state ownership and intervention, and the excessive administrative burden which hinders business growth and small, micro and medium-sized enterprise development (OECD 2008). Other surveys continued to highlight problems with product market reforms, and yet progress in addressing these reforms has been slow.Industrial and other microeconomic policies also have an important role to play in supporting higher labour utilisation. If they work at cross purposes by mainly supporting highly capital-intensive sectors, as is the case with industrial policy at the moment, then it will be difficult to increase labour utilisation. The current approach to localisation may create some jobs in the short run, but it will certainly reduce foreign direct investment and the ability to attract large exporters that are part of global value chains, especially given the small size of the South African market.Many of these reforms were also highlighted by National Treasury in its recent paper on micro policy reforms. 21 An aspect that is particularly important in the 21 See National Treasury (2019).context of South Africa as an emerging economy is to understand the dynamics behind technical progress, productivity and employment. While it is possible to imagine that delaying the implementation of labour-saving technologies could prevent employment losses, it is an illusion to assume that such an approach will have no short-term consequences for employment dynamics. That short-term trade-off is between a static low-wage/low productivity employment gain and a trajectory with rising employment, productivity and income. Where productivity gains lead to job losses, the various components of the labour market regulatory framework and broader competition framework must increase opportunity for new job gains, easing that trade-off into a longer-term economy with a mix of high, medium and low productivity jobs and a transition path for workers from one to the other.7. Conclusions and a roadmap for the short, medium and long termHigh unemployment and inactivity are particularly widespread among school leavers who do not move on to tertiary studies and among women, especially in traditional settlement areas. Informal sector jobs are stepping stones for finding employment in the formal sector, although mostly for temporary contracts.The legacies of apartheid can partly explain the increase in labour supply and the inability of the economy to absorb it, which has produced extreme levels of unemployment. More should be done to unwind those legacies, while unhelpful outcomes from other policies and institutions are also reversed.There are several interventions that are key in accelerating employment growth in the post-COVID-19 period, although a range of others could also improve outcomes further. Most urgent, and feasible in the short term, is improving the transition from school to jobs, by widening the volume and quality of the currently minimal public employment service to improve matching in the labour market. Other reforms should lower firing costs by linking employment protection to employment tenure (similar to the Italian example). This latter reform has been shown to be central to job creation in many successful labour market reform efforts around the world. 22   Reforms should further reduce obstacles to the immigration and employment of skilled foreigners and improve skills development and education outcomes for South Africans. Such reforms will reduce the skill constraint directly and indirectly, increasing economic growth and employment for less skilled workers while moderating wage growth in excess of productivity (which works directly against job creation). Removing entry barriers to product and services markets and reducing administrative costs would spur innovation and job creation, especially in areas that could benefit from the implementation of new technologies, in particular around digitisation. Efforts to tackle crime would help make commuting safer, reduce the brain drain and attract skilled immigrants, all lowering the supply cost of labour and increasing job creation.Over the longer term, improvements in basic education will be key to reducing the excess supply of less-skilled workers. A stronger focus of BEE (including subsequent programmes) on traditional settlement areas could boost entrepreneurship among black South Africans.Few of our recommendations are new but now South Africa is faced with an even starker choice than usual. The country can continue on the pre-COVID-19 trajectory of low economic and employment growth and expect rising unemployment, fiscal crisis, reversal of the post-apartheid gains and possibly social unrest, or it can implement a well-coordinated growth and employment agenda.Chapter 3Understanding South Africa's trade policy and performanceSouth African exports to the rest of Africa have slowed significantly after trucks have been delayed at the Beitbridge border post with Zimbabwe, some for as long as three days. Queues of trucks occupying three lanes of road and stretching for more than 8 km have been reported at the crossing for the past two weeks. There is only one gate between South Africa and Zimbabwe, limiting how many trucks can be processed per hour. Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly said this week that members complained after queues had been \"horrendously long.\" Kelly said South Africa's borders still reflect apartheid-era design, which intended to limit movement between countries. \"Twenty-five years on … borders are still based on the physical infrastructure that was created at a time when you didn't want people to pass through [the] border,\" he said.Business Day, 3 November 2020 1In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, global trade has been confronted by multiple challenges, including serious supply chain disruptions; higher logistics costs; political conflict, sanctions and emerging energy shortages; and rising protectionism. There is also a greater focus in many countries on national security and welfare concerns, and increased scepticism about the benefits of globalisation. These developments pose important questions about the role of trade policy in general, and South Africa's ability to raise exports in particular, as the country looks to recover from the pandemic and fast-track economic growth and employment.South Africa is regarded as a small, open economy. In general, smaller countries are more dependent on international trade, and this is borne out by the data (see Figure 1). South Africa currently accounts for around 0.6% of global GDP. The country relies heavily on imports to satisfy consumption demand, and on exports to support production and employment. Moreover, South Africa has become relatively smaller and more open over the last three decades, further increasing its exposure to the global economy. Trade openness in South Africa appears to track GDP growth (see Figure 2). As economic growth accelerated from 1990 to 2008, so too did trade increase as a proportion of GDP. Both trade openness and GDP growth have fallen consistently since 2012. It is likely that the causality runs both ways. Export expansion contributed to a rising GDP, while faster economic growth drew in increased imports. It would therefore appear that the relatively high levels of growth experienced by South Africa in the mid-2000s were partly explained by favourable trade conditions (Edwards and Lawrence 2008;Mabugu and Chitiga 2007). South Africa's future growth is therefore likely to be strongly influenced by its ability to access inputs at competitive prices and its ability to expand its exports in new and existing markets. As shown in Figure 3, South Africa recorded strong export growth over the first decade of the millennium, outperforming the rest of the world on average (but not by as much as other middle-income countries). However, South Africa's relative export performance has deteriorated over the last decade. Between 2010 and 2019, South Africa's export growth rate has decreased by more than half. Moreover, exports have grown at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, and the country has underperformed against middle-income and sub-Saharan comparators. The net result is that South Africa's share of world trade has fallen considerably over this period. In 1990, South Africa accounted for around 0.6% of world exports and around 0.5% of world imports. While the country's share of world imports has varied a lot over the last three decades, by 2019 it was not much lower than in 1990, at 0.4% of the total. Exports, on the other hand, have declined somewhat consistently over this same period, decreasing from 0.6% to around 0.4% of world exports. This represents a significant drop in the country's potential export earnings. If South Africa had retained its share of world trade, exports in 2019 would have been worth US$50 billion (50%) more in value terms. Exports clearly have a part to play in raising South Africa's overall growth performance. What, then, explains South Africa's lethargic trade growth over recent years and what can be done to restore export growth? This chapter provides a simple analysis and presents some initial ideas. Further substantive work is needed to explore this important question and some of these suggestions in more detail.The following section analyses South Africa's export performance and highlights some of the factors that may explain the apparent decline in the country's external competitiveness. South Africa's approach to international trade negotiations is reviewed in section 3. This section draws on interviews with several trade policy experts and officials. Section 4 considers the potential impact of industrial policy on export performance. The main findings from this paper are summarised in section 5, including a set of high-level policy recommendations.In the years leading up to and following South Africa's re-integration into the global economy in the early 1990s, the government undertook numerous efforts to reform its domestic trade administration processes and advance its multilateral, preferential, bilateral, non-reciprocal and regional trade policies. Some of the main trade policy developments undertaken over the last three decades are summarised in Table 1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has served as the most influential external force for reform. Specifically, the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT had two main effects on South Africa. Firstly, the provisions related to the use of subsidies were tightened (Altman 1994). This led to the phasing-out of the GEIS -South Africa's primary export support programme. Secondly, along with all other GATT signatories, South Africa committed to and implemented a significant reduction and simplification of its tariff rates, and the removal of all quantitative restrictions on imports. As shown in Figure 5, South Africa's average tariff fell from over 13% in 1993 to just below 5% in 2001. Moreover, South Africa made significant progress in simplifying its tariff structure, removing tariff peaks and reducing tariff dispersion over this period (Edwards 2005).Cumulatively, these trade policy and reform initiatives have contributed to deeper trade relations and increased openness in the South African economy (Malefane 2018;SARB 2000). Edwards and Lawrence (2008) argue that the rapid rise in noncommodity exports between 1992 and 2000 can be attributed to trade policy reforms, and specifically the sharp reduction in tariff protection. Together, this led to a considerable reduction in the anti-export bias -by lowering tariffs, the profitability of exporting increased significantly, relative to selling into the domestic (and previously protected) market. There has been a notable slowdown in trade reforms, especially outside Africa, over the last decade. This is partly as a result of failures at the multilateral level, but also seems to reflect a changed approach from South Africa. As shown in Table 2, since 2014, average weighted tariff rates have increased. Moreover, South African tariffs on primary products are significantly lower than those on manufactured goods. This suggests that effective rates of protection, 6 while falling over the last three decades, may remain relatively high in many sectors. A second factor that may explain changes in South Africa's exports is the performance of the rand. A currency depreciation would make goods produced in South Africa cheaper, compared to our trading partners, and should boost exports.On the other hand, a stronger currency may harm export competitiveness. In assessing the impact of the currency's movement on trade performance, it is important to consider changes in prices within countries, as these may offset currency fluctuations. For this reason, the real effective exchange rate (REER) should provide the best measure of the impact of the rand on South Africa's international competitiveness. 7Figure 6 shows the REER index against changes in export volumes. Over the last three decades, the REER has trended downwards, thereby boosting South Africa's international competitiveness. However, there is no obvious pattern between changes in the REER and export growth.  South Africa's export performance may also be a function of the country's trade profile. If exports are concentrated among a group of slow-growing markets, then this would hamper South Africa's ability to expand its international sales. In 2001, South Africa's export market was dominated by the US (14%), the United Kingdom (UK) (10.9%), Germany (9.1%), and Japan (8.9%). By 2019, the US had dropped to 7%, the UK to 5.2% and Japan to 4.8%. Germany's share remained relatively consistent at 8.3%.In comparison, China's share of South Africa's exports increased from 1.8% in 2001 to 10.7% in 2019, while the rest of Africa's share increased from 15.5% to 26.7%. This dramatic shift in South Africa's main export markets is shown in Figure 7. A similar trend can be seen when analysing South Africa's main import markets: the EU remains the dominant supplier of goods to South Africa, at around 30% of the total, though China's share has increased from 4% to 19% over this period. It would seem that, in general, South African exporters did well to diversify out of the relatively mature European and US markets into the fast-growing Chinese market and the emerging African market. It is however notable that from 2013 onwards, this trend has slowly reversed. South Africa appears to be losing some of its foothold in China and Africa, with exports to Europe increasing in importance. Over this same period, South Africa's exports have declined sharply as a percentage of world exports and as a percentage of domestic GDP. Some of the reasons for this apparent turnaround in South Africa's exports to China are described further in Box 1.Box 1: South Africa's trade with China South Africa's exports to China are heavily dependent on commodities, as shown in Figure 8. In aggregate, minerals and metals make up roughly 90% of South Africa's exports to China. In 2019, just five products (out of the more than 6 000 products at the 8-digit tariff level) accounted for more than 75% of South African exports to China, all of which were primary metal or mineral commodities.  South Africa's export growth rate is also likely linked to the structure of trade and specifically the kind of goods that South Africa produces competitively and exports. In 2001, South Africa's top 10 export products were coal, motor vehicles, platinum, oil, gas-filtering machinery, palladium, diamonds, aluminium, platinum and ferro-chromium. Together, these 10 products, out of the 5 300 products at the HS6-digit (sub-heading) level, accounted for 37% of South Africa's total exports. By 2019, the top 10 exported goods (again at the HS6-digit (subheading) level) were coal, gold, iron ore, motor vehicles, manganese ore, oil, ferro-chromium, platinum and palladium, making up 36% of South Africa's world exports (ITC TradeMap 2020).With the exception of machinery, in 2001, and motor vehicles in both 2001 and 2019, South Africa's exports are strongly and consistently concentrated in mineral and metal products. This is highlighted in Figure 10. From 2001 to 2018, the share of raw materials in South Africa's overall export basket has increased at the expense of beneficiated or intermediate goods, while exports of consumer and capital goods have remained relatively static. Moreover, compared to world exports -where raw materials account for less than 10% of world trade, and consumer and capital goods contribute more than 30% of the total each -South Africa's export structure is heavily biased toward lower-value-added products. ). The fact that South Africa's export basket is loaded with primary goods is not sufficient to explain the country's overall poor export performance. It is therefore important to explore in more detail the products in which South Africa is globally competitive, and how exports of these specific products have performed.The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) is a Ricardian-based method of gauging relative differences in productivity. By calculating these differences in productivity, one can approximate a country's competitive strengths in international export markets. Where a country has an RCA value exceeding one for a product, then the country is defined as having a revealed comparative advantage in that product (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Stat 2020).In 2001, South Africa had a particularly strong comparative advantage in mostly primary sector goods (see Table 3). Moreover, South Africa's share of world trade in these products was generally very high. However, for six of these 10 product groups (i.e. the industries in which South Africa had the greatest global comparative advantage), South Africa's share in world trade has declined over the last two decades. Conversely, among these product groups, South Africa has gained most in market share through the export of raw agricultural goods. There has been little change in South Africa's top 10 products in terms of revealed comparative advantage between 2001 and 2019. Vegetable products and a broad group of earth materials are the only new products to make this list, with aluminium and inorganic materials dropping off. However, across all 99 HS2-digit (chapter) product groups, the number of products in which South 8 \"Revealed Comparative Advantage is calculated as the ratio of two shares. The numerator is the share of a country's total exports of the commodity of interest in its total exports, and the denominator is the share of world exports of the same commodity in total world exports. The RCA takes a value between 0 and ∞. A country is said to have a revealed comparative advantage if the value is more than one.\" (IGI Global 2020)Africa demonstrates a revealed comparative advantage (RCA>1) has declined from 30 in 2001 to 23 in 2019.While South Africa's global export performance has been disappointing and is dominated by commodity products, there is a perception that export growth into Africa has been strong and much more diversified: \"At over R300 billion, the rest of Africa now represents 26.2% of South Africa's total goods exports, marginally behind exports to Asia. The significant difference, however, is that exports to Africa comprise a high percentage (over 50%) of finished and intermediate products\" (Department of Trade and Industry 2018: 86). This is partly confirmed by Figure 11, which shows that South Africa's exports to Africa have higher value added (with a higher proportion of food, chemicals and plastics, and equipment and machinery, and a lower proportion of minerals and metals) when compared to its exports to the rest of the world.  The available data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) suggests that there is a high proportion of goods in certain sectors that are exported from South Africa to the rest of Africa but that originate in other countries (more than 25% for textiles, clothing and vehicles; more than 15% for machinery and equipment).Overall, this data indicates that at least 8% of South Africa's exports to SACU do not originate in South Africa.This percentage is likely to be substantially higher. In 2019, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini reported that 58%, 77%, 45% and 73% (ICT Trade Maps, 2020) of their world imports were sourced from South Africa, respectively. It is implausible that these countries could access such a high proportion and variety of imports from just one country, especially given the size and structure of South Africa's trade with the rest of the world. Moreover, as shown in Figure 14, South Africa consumes more than it produces domestically (i.e. the country is a net importer) in the sectors that constitute a higher share of South Africa's export basket to Africa.  It would therefore seem that a large part of South Africa's apparent manufacturing export success in southern Africa is actually due to success in logistics, wholesale and retail. This reality may also explain the low use of tariff preferences by South African exporters in the region. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market, the majority of firms (63%) do not use the lower SADC rates, which would only apply to producers that are willing and able to comply with the SADC Rules of Origin (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) 2020). 9 For example, \"Woolworths [Holdings, a retail company] does not use SADC preferences at all in sending regionally-produced consignments of 9 These rules determine whether a good can be considered as being produced in the region and therefore whether the exporter qualifies for tariff preferences.food and clothing to its franchise stores in non-SACU SADC markets\" (Gilson 2010). These consignments would likely also include substantial imported content, but for trade statistics purposes, all of these exports would be marked as exports from South Africa.Finally, South Africa's international competitiveness is strongly influenced by a wide range of structural and environmental factors that affect the costs of production and trade. This includes skills and labour market issues, access to wellpriced and high-quality electricity and communications inputs, and the efficiency and cost of the logistics system.The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Survey provides a perspective of South Africa's relative competitiveness across a wide range of dimensions. As shown in Figure 15, South Africa has fallen 52 positions in the ranking in just 11 years. One of the causes of this decline is South Africa's high trading costs -where South Africa is currently ranked 145th out of 190 countries -and, specifically, border compliance costs. Similarly, in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report, South Africa has fallen from 42nd (of 117 countries) in 2005 to 60th (of 141 countries) in 2019. According to the WEF, South Africa is ranked 77th in trade openness and 69th in trade infrastructure.Figure 15: South Africa's ease of doing business ranking, 2008-2019Source: World Bank Ease of Doing Business Survey; Trading Economics Note: A higher rank denotes a deterioration.South Africa performs somewhat better in a number of trade-specific indices. In 2018, South Africa was ranked 33rd out of 160 countries profiled in the World Bank's Logistic Performance Index, though its score against all metrics of this index has deteriorated over the last few years (see Figure 16). Likewise, in the OECD Trade Facilitation Report, South Africa ranked 40th out of 169 countries, and in the WEF Global Enabling Trade Report, it was ranked 55th out of 136. In all three surveys, South Africa scores lowest on customs administration and bordercoordination related matters. Source: World Bank Trade Logistics Index Note: A higher score denotes an improvement.In 2010, a strategic framework for trade policy was launched by the then-Department of Trade and Industry, now the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), in response to the prevailing developments in world trade and in support of South Africa's own industrial policy agenda. In terms of this framework, tariffs were to be applied strategically, and on a case-by-case basis, to drive industrial development and diversification as well as job creation. Specifically, in order to reduce input costs for labour-intensive downstream manufacturing, tariffs on upstream input sectors (primary sectors) were to be lowered or removed. Likewise, tariffs on downstream manufacturing were to be left unchanged or raised, to support the development of priority sectors.This approach was also expected to inform South Africa's multilateral and bilateral relations (Cipamba 2012), and the 'developmental' positions taken by South Africa in external negotiations are consistent with the policy thrust of this framework. It is also important to note that from 2002 onwards, South Africa has negotiated externally as part of the SACU, and all trade engagements and agreements reflect a SACU-wide view. South Africa's (and SACU's) positions, within African and global trade negotiations, are discussed in more detail next. Note that this section is based largely on interviews with several trade policy experts and officials in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, who are referred to as interviewees in the paper.From 1994, South Africa began to engage formally with the Southern African region. The 1969 SACU Agreement was renegotiated to provide for a changed revenue-sharing arrangement. More importantly, it also created new institutions for the determination and management of trade and industrial policy within the customs union. In 1996, South Africa joined the SADC trade agreement, and the SADC Free Trade Protocol was implemented in 2000. In terms of this agreement, South Africa (and SACU) removed tariffs on 99% of all SADC country imports by 2005, with all other SADC countries backloading tariff reductions to 2012.With a few exceptions, most SADC countries have now fully implemented the agreed phase-down schedules, and all trade should flow duty-free throughout the region. Restrictive rules of origin -most notably on textiles and clothing, wheat flour and some processed foodstuffs -still prevent trade in some sectors, and nontariff barriers persist (Harzenberg and Kalenga 2015). Moreover, as indicated earlier, preference utilisation in SADC is very low.More recently, South Africa has been involved in two ambitious initiatives to consolidate the multitude of regional agreements that extend across the continent. The Tripartite FTA (TFTA) negotiations, which began in 2008, aimed to bring together Africa's three deepest regional integration initiatives -SADC, COMESA and the EAC -into a single trading bloc of 27 member states. The TFTA was officially launched in 2015, on the understanding that it would take a further 12 months to resolve a number of outstanding issues relating to rules of origin and trade remedies and to finalise all offers -but to date, the agreement has yet to be implemented. The TFTA is now overshadowed by the even larger African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which seeks to achieve a single African market for goods and services (Mevel and Raringi 2012). AfCFTA negotiations on tariffs, rules of origin and trade in services were still under way in August 2022, despite the fact that the agreement was implemented on 1 January 2021.Publicly, South Africa has talked up the potential of African integration, and the AfCFTA in particular. According to former Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, \"the AfCFTA will boost intra-Africa trade and create a bigger market of over 1 billion people with a GDP of US$2.6 trillion that will unlock industrial development\" (South African government 2018). The current Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, has gone further: \"The CFTA could be a game changer for the local economy, providing a massive market for SA goods and services.\" He highlighted that exports to the rest of the continent already account for about 250 000 South African jobs. \"If we can get the institutions and infrastructure right and build deep business and social partnership in SA, the [CFTA] can add many billions of rands to GDP, create large numbers of new industrial jobs, attract and expand investment and strengthen the economy\" (Phakhati 2019). South Africa's enthusiasm is supported by the available evidence. All quantitative studies of the likely impact of the AfCFTA highlight the sizeable trade and growth benefits for the continent, and most suggest that South Africa is likely to be among the largest beneficiaries (see Appendix A). This is not surprising. South Africa dominates intra-regional trade, and the tariffs (and non-tariff barriers) faced by South African exporters are generally higher than those encountered on imports into South Africa. The greatest gains are expected to come from trade facilitation improvements, and the potential reductions in transport times and costs in particular.In practice, South Africa's approach to regional negotiations does not appear to live up to the rhetoric. Rather, despite South Africa's stated and strong interest in African integration, and the substantial benefits that would likely accrue from freer trade, there is a perception that South Africa has held back progress in many fora, or has pursued an overly cautious approach in regional trade discussions.According to the interviewees, this approach is underscored by \"ideological peculiarities\" and \"protectionist leanings\" rather than economic considerations.In SACU, for example, where South Africa effectively defines the union's external trade position, almost no progress has been made in implementing the substantive provisions related to the harmonisation of trade and industrial policy over the last 15 years, whether in implementing trade facilitation reforms or establishing new trade-related institutions. As a result, and despite its significant first-mover advantage, SACU remains stuck in a 20th century limbo.It is argued that South Africa has deliberately resisted change in SACU in order to protect its policy space and trade interests in the captured Botswana-Lesotho-Namibia-Eswatini market. In sugar, for example, Namibia and Botswana currently face an equivalent tariff of around 100% 10 -this increases the cost of sugar inputs for these countries to between R3 000 and R4 000 above the international market price, and prevents them from competing internationally in downstream food products. Only South Africa and Eswatini produce sugar in SACU, and Botswana and Namibia receive first access to rebated sugar through a SADC-wide quota. South African officials acknowledge the tension around sugar within SACU, but note that this is complicated by the high levels of subsidies elsewhere in the world, which distorts the world price of sugar.In SADC, South Africa has played an influential role in ongoing services negotiations. South Africa has an extensive General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) schedule, concluded at the WTO, that provides it with a strong base in regional negotiations, and the country has been eager to demand more of others. However, when analysing what South Africa has offered to SADC, the country has not gone much beyond what it committed to in the GATS, and where changes have been made, they are often immaterial. 11 More importantly, South Africa was reluctant to adopt the regulatory annexures that have been included in the SADC Trade in Services Protocol, effectively delaying the conclusion of the negotiations for two years before acceding. Given South Africa's strong interests in regional services trade, and the strength of its own regulatory framework, it is disappointing that the country did not see these negotiations as an opportunity to pursue a common (i.e. South African) approach to regulation in priority sectors, such as financial services. According to interviewees, because South Africa 'blinked first', other countries 'backed off' and limited progress was made in deepening these annexures.South African officials have pointed out that the SADC services negotiations were the first meaningful discussions in this area since the GATS, and there is a general lack of knowhow across the region, including in South Africa. Moreover, trade negotiators are heavily reliant on inputs from other line departments and sector regulators -who are usually reluctant to commit to an agreement that intentionally sets out to limit their policy and regulatory space -and from diverse industry representatives, who are generally unaware of the role and benefits of services negotiations. There is also limited data on trade in services, especially between SADC member states. It is therefore difficult to develop effective offensive negotiating positions.Elsewhere in the region, South Africa is accused by some of the interviewees of severely delaying the TFTA goods negotiations by raising multiple technical points of order, stalling on the preparation of the draft text of the so-called 'acquis' 12 for two years, and then negotiating rigidly on rules of origin, which have still not been agreed to. South African officials, on the other hand, stress that they still have a strong interest in the TFTA negotiations. They highlight the fact that South Africa was among the first to ratify the agreement and that, although SACU and the EAC have agreed on tariff offers, most COMESA countries have not. As a result, the agreement, which was supposed to be launched in June 2016, still cannot be implemented.South Africa's approach to AfCFTA negotiations mirrors the pro-development and pro-industrialisation stance it has taken in SADC and TFTA negotiations. In support of these positions, the country favours high rules of origin thresholds across key sectors to promote regional value chains. In doing so, South Africa (along with many other countries) is negotiating from a generally defensive position -it is only willing to talk about tariffs once assured that stringent rules are in place to protect it against 'unfair' exports. For example, South Africa has proposed that sugar must be wholly obtained in the region, regardless of the price, including as an input in the manufacture of drinks and foodstuffs. This view is shared by other sugar-producing countries. According to one interviewee, \"this does little to improve the development and competitiveness of these value chains, including in South Africa.\"South African officials argue that they are pursuing a flexible approach, which does allow for alternative arrangements, if a product (such as sugar) is not available in a specific region. Moreover, they recognise that there are vast differences in industrial development and interests across African countries. Whereas some countries are looking to import as many inputs as possible, in order to kick-start new industries, others want to ensure that their established manufacturing capabilities are not undermined by knockdown assembly plants (most notably in home appliances). South Africa is consequently looking to secure a compromise in some sectors, with lower levels of local content required initially but allowing for a phase-in over time to allow companies to invest, adjust and become more competitive. As argued by one interviewee, \"it is important to look beyond short-term interests in order to determine what will be the best rule of origin in the longer term.\"Similarly, and despite the prevalence and apparent competitive advantage of South African service firms across the continent, the country (along with most other African countries) has supported a conservative approach to services negotiations in the AfCFTA. As a result, the African Union has adopted the GATS approach, which is unlikely to facilitate meaningful regional harmonisation or reforms. South Africa has been quick to submit a comprehensive offer in AfCFTA negotiations, which is likely to mirror that offered to SADC member states. Interviewees expressed surprise and disappointment that South Africa has been unwilling to assume a more progressive leadership role across the wider continental trade agenda and continues to focus on short-term market access issues.South Africa is one of a few countries in Africa that is required (by law) to pursue a structured and highly consultative process domestically in defining its trade position, through the National Economic Development and Labour Council. Historically, both business and labour have adopted a strongly protectionist approach to external trade relations, and this constrains South Africa's negotiating position. There is a perception that some industries were adversely impacted by the EPA, and that the government is not quick enough to protect domestic industry through existing trade remedies (or that business is not always aware of the remedies that are available). The tariff rate therefore becomes disproportionately important.Whereas business is apparently becoming more open -and starting to see the potential benefits from regional integration -labour remains focused on preventing any potential job losses (even if the net impact is likely to be positive). South African officials also highlight the strength of the domestic legal and institutional system -once an agreement is signed, it is fully and properly implemented. This is not always the case in other African countries. Across all regional engagements, South Africa is generally silent when it comes to trade facilitation. This might be an ideological hangover -in the run-up to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement negotiations, South Africa (again, along with most other African countries) was reluctant to engage on anything new, until the outstanding issues under the Doha Development Round were addressed The main objectives of the Act are to \"establish and empower the Authority to achieve (a) integrated border law enforcement within the border law enforcement area and at ports of entry; and (b) co-operation on and co-ordination of border management matters in general\" (Department of Home Affairs 2020: 10). The Act provides for the creation of an Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee, to be headed by the Minister of Home Affairs, including representation from a wide range of government departments, although it excludes SARS.The primary focus of the Act is border control, and the Border Management Authority (BMA) is provided with extensive powers of entry, search, seizure, arrest and detention: \"Officers may stop and board any vessel within the border law enforcement area without a warrant and require the master to produce certain documents, including documents relating to the importation and exportation of goods\" (Hunkin 2020).Regardless of whether such powers are constitutional, it is clear that the BMA will have the ability to interfere with cross-border trade.Of greater concern is that the creation of this agency points to the increased securitisation of South Africa's borders. \"With our borders already monitored by the police, as well as Customs, amongst other government agencies, introducing another border monitoring agency could lead to conflicting directions between such agencies. Does a BMA stop trump a police or customs stop, or will the various governmental agencies monitoring our borders co-ordinate their stops? Also, where there are now multiple stops or interventions, the cost consequence of delays could go up significantly. This is cause for concern where such interventions have already pushed up the cost of imports and exports.\" (Hunkin 2020).South Africa (and SACU) has negotiated with a number of international partners since 1994. The most significant and deepest of these agreements was the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between South Africa and the EU, which came into force in 2000. This agreement sought to establish a free trade area between the EU and South Africa, and to promote reciprocal liberalisation and the expansion of mutual trade in capital, services and goods (Malefane 2018) South Africa's trade relations with the US are governed by the unilateral AGOA, enacted in 2000, which provides duty-free access for qualifying African countries, including South Africa, for a wide range of sectors. AGOA was last extended in 2015, up to 2025, but these preferences can be withdrawn by the US at any time and for any reason. Attempts to sign a reciprocal agreement with the US, which would have provided SACU with permanent preferences, fell apart due to substantial differences over the scope of the agreement. Whereas the US was looking to mirror its agreements with other countries -which included binding commitments on intellectual property rights, government procurement, investment and services, labour and the environment -SACU's interests were largely limited to extending and locking in AGOA's benefits (Brown, Kiyota and Stern 2006) through reciprocal market access.Globally, South Africa has played an important role in WTO negotiations historically, and was a vital party in the conclusion of the Doha Development Round. In general, there is a perception that South Africa is reluctant to engage in any further market access negotiations, including plurilateral discussions on any new trade issues. The main reason for doing so is because it (and many other developing countries) believes that until all Doha Development Round commitments have been concluded, the multilateral agenda should not be extended.For these reasons, in the Non-Agricultural Market Access negotiations, South Africa has linked any discussion around market access to negotiations around domestic support (in agriculture), as outlined in the Doha Development Agenda. This is despite the fact that South African non-agricultural tariffs are generally very low and are levied at bound levels. 13 While it is understandable that South Africa is aggrieved by the lack of progress in the area of domestic support, this 'superdefensive' position does not necessarily reflect South Africa's economic interests in this area.It is argued that South Africa pursues a similarly defensive approach in WTO services negotiations. For example, in the mandated multilateral discussions to develop domestic regulatory disciplines, 14 South Africa maintains that any new rules will not be compatible with the African agenda and that African regulators do not have the capacity and maturity to commit to generally accepted regulatory principles. Instead, South Africa has been instrumental in creating an opposing caucus -consisting of African countries and least developed countries -to maintain 'policy space' and prevent multilateral progress in this area. As a direct result of this stance, these negotiations are now limited to the 63 members that have agreed to pursue these issues among themselves. Likewise, South Africa has been forceful in stalling progress on e-commerce, which is now being negotiated among more than 90 members plurilaterally. These plurilateral negotiations are likely to set new benchmarks for international agreements on these issues, and by excluding itself from these discussions, South Africa's voice will not be heard.Over the last few years, trade policy has seemed to play second fiddle to industrial policy concerns. Whereas the country's trade policy has not been formally updated, 15 since the publication of the strategic framework in 2010, annual Industrial Policy Action Plans (IPAPs) were rolled out by the Department of Trade and Industry from 2009 to 2018. The most recent iteration of the IPAP (2018/19-2020/21) does include a dedicated chapter on South Africa's 'developmental trade policy', but the focus of this section is almost exclusively on strengthening South Africa's testing and standards infrastructure.On tariffs, the IPAP reiterates the country's case-by-case approach to reducing tariffs on inputs in order to support the development of downstream valueaddition, while also providing for tariff increases in order to preserve or create jobs.The IPAP also includes a chapter on 'African integration and industrial development', through which South Africa plans to identify and facilitate investments into so-called catalytic industrial projects and mega-opportunities across the continent (Department of Trade and Industry 2018).However, most of the IPAP and South Africa's industrial policy is dedicated to the development of a long list of priority sectors, including automotives; clothing, textiles, leather and footwear; metal fabrication, capital and rail transport equipment; agro-processing; forestry, timber, paper and furniture; plastics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and cosmetics; minerals beneficiation; green industries; business process services; marine manufacturing and associated services; aerospace and defence; and electro-technical industries. Together, these sectors account for most economic activity and almost all exports. The success or failure of the government's industrial policies in these sectors -and more broadly -can therefore be expected to have a significant impact on the country's trade performance.South Africa's exports of motor vehicles, for example, can largely be attributed to the government's Motor Industry Development Programme and, more recently, the Automotive Production and Development Programme. This sector alone receives more than half of the government's total spending on industrial incentives and support, at around R25 billion a year (Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation 2018). Although it is likely that investment and exports in this sector would collapse in the absence of this funding (Flatters 2005), it is impossible to know how much more or less South Africa would export if this rent was redirected to other (and perhaps more competitive) sectors, or back to the government and consumers.There are other industrial policy interventions that likely affect firms' decisions to export in more complex ways. The IPAP identifies public procurement as a key lever for industrialisation though the promotion of local production, and the DTIC has designated 23 sectors or products with varying minimum local content requirements. According to the DTIC, around R60 billion worth of local content was procured by government entities between 2015 and 2017 as a direct result of these designations (Department of Trade and Industry 2018).Whereas this spend undoubtedly generates significant (short-term) benefits for the firms involved, local content regulations can lead to the reallocation of scarce domestic resources to supported industries, and give rise to price increases and economy-wide inefficiencies. The regulations can also lead to a reduction in trade though an immediate import-displacement effect and a longer-term loss in export competitiveness. In South Africa, for example, the imposition of local content requirements in the procurement of renewable energy production has resulted in cost increases of at least 10% (Kaziboni and Stern 2020).Similarly, and more widely, South Africa's B-BBEE policy directly and intentionally favours black-citizen-owned (and therefore by definition South African-owned) businesses over entirely foreign-owned businesses, initially through government procurement, but with flow-through effects to the rest of the economy. This inevitably reduces competition and potentially international investment in some sectors and makes the use of foreign skills more challenging. In addition, the policy framework provides for a price premium of between 10% and 20% that can effectively be charged by the most empowered domestic companies. While this policy has undoubtedly served to diversify and transform the structure of the South African economy; it too raises the incentive to produce for the domestic market, relative to exporting.South Africa's exports have lagged behind the rest of the world over recent decades, and this has likely constrained overall economic growth. There are multiple reasons for this disappointing trade performance, including the structure of the country's export basket (which remains dominated by commodity products); its dependence on a limited number of large but mature export markets; and the high cost and deteriorating competitiveness of the general business environment. South Africa's manufactured trade with Africa is considerably overstated, but is evidence of the country's important role as a logistics and services hub in the region.Trade and industrial policy also has an important role to play -effective rates of protection remain high in some sectors; the country adopts a defensive approach to new trade agreements; and there is an increased focus on localisation. The exchange rate does not seem to be a significant contributor in increasing (or decreasing) the competitiveness of exports over the long term. Together, these structural, environmental and policy factors increase the incentive to produce for the protected domestic market over and above exploring new export opportunities, while raising barriers for new entrants and lowering competition for incumbent firms.To address the inherent bias against exporting, four sets of actions are recommended.First, South Africa urgently needs to address the high cost of investment and trading across borders, and reverse the country's relative decline in international competitiveness. This will require a concerted and well-coordinated effort to improve rail and port efficiencies; streamline customs, registration, licensing and other administrative processes; lower the costs and improve the quality of critical inputs, such as telecoms, energy and transport; and remove or reduce regulatory impediments to the movement of goods, services and skills into the country. Further analysis recommendations on some of these constraints are addressed in Chapter 5 of this volume, but without real progress in all of these areas, the country will continue to lose ground against developing country comparators.Second, South Africa should review the impact of its existing industrial, localisation and sector-specific policies on export behaviour. Whereas the existing policy framework strongly supports the transformation and industrialisation of the domestic economy, in some instances this may come at the cost of the country's long-term international competitiveness. South Africa's deteriorating competitiveness in the export of mining and mineral products -which still account for most of the country's exports -may require specific policy attention. National policies may also have adverse impacts on South Africa's partners in the regionthere are already reports of companies from Botswana relocating to South Africa in order to satisfy local content requirements. 16 These trade-offs need to be identified and evaluated, and, where possible, mitigating actions need to be put in place.Third, to offset some of these costs and overcome the multiple challenges of entering new markets, a comprehensive and targeted export promotion and export finance framework is required. The available international evidence suggests that export promotion agencies are important in addressing information asymmetries, which are typically larger for smaller firms and differentiated products, and when firms try to enter new country or product markets. Moreover, bundled support services -including counselling for new exporters, missions and fairs, and the development of business relationships -are more effective than any isolated actions (Cadot et al. 2011). Likewise, there is a role for government to ensure that exporters have access to world-class financial products and services, including export credit and insurance. Building the capacity of export associations and chambers of commerce is also important in enabling new industries to enter export markets.Finally, an updated and comprehensive trade policy is needed to guide South Africa's approach to trade support and negotiations, both across the continent and internationally; to develop consistent positions on newer trade issues, such as services and e-commerce; to consider the impact of changed international conditions, such as climate change, the emergence of global value chains and the COVID-19 pandemic; and to promote serious trade facilitation reforms at and beyond the country's borders. This policy should be founded on substantive research that considers the impact of existing policies and institutions on export performance; identifies target markets and priority products and services; and analyses the costs and benefits of alternative policy instruments and options. It should be informed by widespread consultations across government and with external stakeholders in business, labour and civil society. The resulting policy should incorporate a detailed monitoring and evaluation framework so that progress can be measured, problems can be identified, and corrections can be made. The country's trade policy should also be reviewed and revised more regularly.AfCFTA will significantly increase exports, real income and real wages in Africa. However, the removal of trade barriers on goods within the African continent will not be sufficient to achieve the target announced by the African Union's member states, who wish to see the share of intra-African trade doubling over the next decade.The increase in the share of intra-African trade would, nevertheless, be quite substantial as it would grow from 10.2% in 2010 to 15.5% in 2022.Country-level analysis reveals that some countries would register a decrease in their real income due to tariff revenue losses and/or diminished terms of trade and/or negative net food trade balances. Also, certain categories of workers, in some regions, would see their real wages declining with the reform.The expected change in real income is 0.7%, tariff revenue is expected to increase by 5.9%, and terms of trade are expected to improve by 1.2%.Assessment of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA (Willenbockel 2013) AfCFTA leads to a welfare benefit of US$57 million. However, under the most ambitious TFTA scenario, which combines complete tariff liberalisation for intra-TFTA trade with a reduction in non-tariff trade barriers, the projected aggregate net benefit for the TFTA group rises to over US$3.3 billion per annum. The study also found that significant sectoral production effects are concentrated in a subset of sectors, including sugar production, with backward linkage effects to sugar cane production, beverages and tobacco, and light manufacturing, and -to a lesser extent for some countries -in textiles, metals and metal production, and chemicals.South Africa is projected to experience a moderate aggregate net welfare gain of 0.15% under the scenario where all intra-TFTA tariffs are eliminated and a more pronounced welfare gain of 0.34% when intra-TFTA tariffs are removed and real transport/ transaction costs are reduced on intra-TFTA flows. The strongest sectoral impact on domestic production is projected for sugar products (5.4%) as South Africa's sugar exports are expected to expand by 19% relative to the baseline. The backward linkage effect on domestic sugar cane output is on the order of 1.7%. The percentage changes in South Africa's exports of all other commodity groups are in a low single-digit range, and changes import flows to South Africa are small.The continental free trade area -a GTAP assessment (Jensen and Sandrey 2015) The gains from reducing transit time delays at customs, terminals and internal land transportation were forecasted to be higher than the gains from reducing non-tariff barriers as well as intra-African tariff elimination.Although the study did not model the expected gains from a combined approach, the combined outcome from all three is expected to be cumulative and to generate very large gains to Africa.South Africa is forecasted to be a major gainer in the secondary agriculture market and is expected to be the largest gainer in duty-free access for vehicles and their parts across Africa. South Africa is also expected to see an increase in demand for skilled and unskilled labour. The welfare and macroeconomic benefits of the removal of all tariffs and lowering of non-tariff barriers far outweigh the economic benefits of the removal of tariffs alone as well as the removal of all tariffs and less lowering of non-tariff barriers. The decomposed welfare effect shows that AfCFTA will likely result in improved allocative efficiency, technological change, improved terms of trade, and an increase in savings and investment.The removal of all tariffs and lowering of non-tariff barriers is expected to increase South Africa's GDP by 3.74% and to improve household utility by 1.33%. There are significant potential welfare gains from trade liberalisation in Africa. Given that intra-regional import tariffs are already low in the continent, the bulk of the welfare gains result from lowering non-tariff barriers.Simulated welfare gains from tariff elimination and non-tariff barrier reduction are higher than the African median welfare gains.The trade-weighted average of tariffs on food in South Africa declined fairly steadily from 10% in 2000 to 4% in 2013, but then climbed back to 5.9% in 2018, when the latest data was available. As a result, in 2017 and 2018, tariffs on food exceeded the trade-weighted average tariff for all goods by more than 1% (Figure 1). The increase in import duties on food in the second half of the 2010s presented a paradox. By definition, the tariffs aimed to set a floor under food prices. That in turn placed a burden on lower-income consumers, who spend more of their income on food. As a result, the higher tariffs appeared to run against the national priority of alleviating poverty, which was particularly important in South Africa given its extreme economic inequality.The increase in tariffs on food also placed a particular burden on monetary policy. Over time, the tariffs tended to increase the relative cost of the affected wage goods. That in turn risked second-round inflationary effects through the impact on wage demands. In contrast, duties on luxury goods risked less of a multiplier effect on prices across the economy.This chapter seeks to explain the paradoxical increase in food tariffs in South Africa by analysing their impacts and the factors that fuelled their increase. To that end, the paper first outlines the nature of inequality in South Africa and the implications for household food budgets by income level. The second section describes the evolution of duties on major staple foods for the low-income group. The third section reviews the impact of these measures on consumer prices, imports, production and employment. The final section explains the mechanisms behind the rise in tariffs in terms of the political economy of agriculture and the national trade-policy systems.The analysis here is limited because the agricultural sector does not have a comprehensive statistical system analogous to that for manufacturing and mining.There are only very limited and inconsistent data available on major subsectors within agriculture, especially over time. Information on employment and the number of farms engaged in producing staple commodities is particularly scarce.Debates about tariffs as a policy to promote economic diversification and growth typically centre on the relative costs and benefits for different groups. Virtually all economists agree that tariffs are worthwhile in cases where they can promote economic diversification or tide local producers over short-term difficultiesalthough there are substantial differences about how long they can justifiably persist. In contrast, it is difficult to support tariffs that maintain prices for local users above the global norm solely to protect inefficient domestic producers (see Aiginger and Rodrik 2019: 201;UNCTAD 2016: 97;UNCTAD 2018: 6ff). This discourse shows the importance of understanding the impacts of food tariffs on both consumers and producers over the medium to long run, not just the immediate price effects.The immediate aim of tariffs is to increase the price of imports relative to domestic products in order to shore up or expand the share of local producers. The obvious cost to consumers is expected to be offset by a variety of benefits to other groups, including:maintaining employment and production in uncompetitive industries;avoiding imports of sensitive or strategic products, such as medications or arms;giving local producers time to gear up to meet intensified or unexpected foreign competition, or to develop new products that will ultimately be competitive internationally; and preventing dumping, where foreign producers sell goods below cost in order to drive out competitors, but subsequently increase prices.On the whole, economists argue that the costs of tariffs are not justified (except possibly for strategic products) unless local producers will ultimately become competitive. In this view, the cost to domestic consumers inevitably exceeds the benefits to companies and workers, who could move into other industries (see Cherif and Hasanov 2019: 59-60). For specific tariffs, the impacts can be evaluated using the socio-economic impact assessment system (SEIAS) approach (see Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation 2015). This exercise is undertaken in Table 1 later in this paper. As a rule, the costs of tariffs are highest where they apply to staple products over the long run; they are least where they affect luxuries or only take effect over shorter periods.The persistence of tariffs even where they impose substantial socio-economic costs can be understood through a political-economic analysis that considers the relative power of the stakeholders in the decision-making process. In effect, this approach focuses attention on two issues. The first is the political power of the winners and the losers, which depends largely on their ability to mobilise and their access to resources for lobbying and legal challenges. The second issue is the nature of the policymaking process, which inherently empowers some groups rather than others. Figure 2 provides a schematic representation of the elements in the policymaking process that influence the relative power of stakeholders. For economic policy, a core challenge is to evaluate measures that provide substantial benefits for a small number of producers while generating diffuse and often intangible costs for other stakeholders. In these cases, vocal lobbies for the main beneficiaries often overstate the impacts, while other stakeholders do not mobilise effectively. As a result, lobbying is more likely to sway policy decisions, especially if the decision-making process does not require a rigorous quantification of costs and benefits for all groups. The challenge is particularly acute in South Africa, where economic power remains relatively concentrated in most industries. That makes it easier for companies to mobilise and resource lobbying and legal challenges to ensure favourable policy decisions.South Africa's extraordinary levels of inequality have heavily affected patterns of food consumption. To identify the critical foods for the poor, this section first describes inequality in South Africa and then the implications for food consumption. On that basis, it reviews the evolution of tariffs on staples for lowincome households over the past decade. The analysis finds that higher food tariffs largely targeted staple foods for lower-income groups.Long before the transition to democracy, economic inequality in South Africa was unusually deep by international standards. This persisted after the advent of democracy in 1994. In the mid-2010s, South Africa was one of three countries that reported Gini coefficients over 0.60; the majority were between 0.30 and 0.49. That said, only around 130 countries reported a Gini at all between 2006 and 2015, and some countries significantly understated the extent of inequality. 1Inequality in South Africa could be understood in terms of four large groups with divergent economic roles as well as incomes, as illustrated in Figure 3. The poorest 30% of households, with incomes under R2 500 or so a month in 2019, was largely excluded from the formal sector and survived principally from social grants. The next 30% of households had monthly incomes ranging from R2 500 to R6 000. They largely survived off informal work and low-level formal employment, mostly as farm and domestic workers, cleaning and security workers, and employees in light industry and retail. Still, social grants constituted the main source of income for 45% of households in this group. The sixth through ninth deciles covered the core formal working class, employed in manufacturing, mining and skill-intensive services like health and education, as well as those owning small formal businesses. Their incomes ranged from R6 000 to R26 000 a month, with almost 1.5 employed people per household. Finally, the richest decile, with earnings above R26 000 a month, averaged two income-earners per household. The majority worked as managers and high-level professionals, with substantial earnings from investments and business ownership. Food expenditure varied widely across these four groups in terms of composition as well as amounts. As Figure 4 shows, in 2014/15 (the latest available official data), food accounted for a third of expenditure by the poorest 30% of households, a quarter for the next 30%, and a tenth for the seventh to ninth decile. For the richest 10% of households, food absorbed only a twentieth of total spending. Yet the richest decile accounted for 19% of total food consumption by value, and 45% of all other household spending. As Figure 4 shows, 10 foods accounted for two thirds of food expenditure by the poorest 60% of households, compared to half for the formal working class and less than a third for the richest decile. Of these foods, poultry, wheat, beef, sugar and cooking oil faced above-average tariffs in 2020 (Figure 5). The tariffs ranged from over 50% for poultry and sugar to 10% for cooking oil. Products with aboveaverage tariffs accounted for over 40% of food consumption by the poorest 60% of households. That compared to 36% for the formal working class and 24% for the richest decile. The other foods in the top 10 staples for the poor -maize, rice, milk and potatoes -did not have import tariffs in 2020. Notes:(a) That is, the main tariff imposed in 2020. In many cases, including trade with members of the South African Customs Union and the European Union, free-trade agreements meant tariffs were waived for some major exporters to South Africa; in other cases, notably poultry, duties differed by country and even, in the case of dumping, by company. Wheat and sugar tariffs varied more or less on a quarterly basis as international prices fluctuated.(b) The tariff on imported flour was 50% higher than the tariff on wheat, but most flour was ground locally. In the mid-2010s, wheat accounted for around a fifth of the price of bread.The tariffs on staple foods took a variety of legal forms, which affected their evolution over time as well as their duration. The general exclusion of agricultural products from international trade agreements enabled long-standing duties on wheat, sugar, beef and cooking oil. In contrast, tariffs on poultry relied on antidumping and safeguard provisions for manufactured goods under WTO rules.Sugar and wheat tariffs were designed to ensure that the price of imports never fell far below domestic production costs, in order to protect domestic producers. To that end, they set a reference price based on an international market, in US dollars.Whenever the foreign price fell below the reference level, a tariff was set based on a set formula. As a result, the tariff on wheat reached over 50% in the mid-2010s before falling to near zero in 2020. In contrast, sugar tariffs fell to near zero in the mid-2010s but climbed to over 80% in 2018 and 2019 before falling back to 67% in late 2020 (Figure 6). A similar formula applied to maize, but the reference price effectively meant that tariffs were almost never applied. The formulaic prices for wheat and sugar meant that the extent of protection for domestic producers depended on four factors.-The level of the reference price. A higher reference price led to higher tariffs, which were triggered whenever the price fell below it. The reference price for wheat was increased from US$215 in 2010 to US$294 in 2014, but was cut to US$279 in 2018.-The exchange rate. When the rand depreciated, it effectively boosted the cost of imports even if the dollar price remained unchanged. In practice, the value of the reference price in constant rand (deflated by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)) climbed more than 60% from 2010 to 2016. The reduction in 2017 still left it 40% above the 2010 level in real terms. In effect, the rand valuation of the reference price set the floor for domestic prices. (See Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy 2020: 55)-The commodity cycle. The tariff effectively countered the commodity cycle by placing a floor below import prices during downturns, although it did not set an analogous ceiling during commodity booms.-The extent of imports from areas with free-trade agreements. From 2015 to 2020, two thirds of South African sugar imports came from eSwatini. These imports did not incur duties because eSwatini belonged to the SACU. In contrast, wheat imports came primarily from Europe, and paid the full duty.The government instituted poultry tariffs from 2013 to prevent dumping and an import surge, rather than using a long-term formula. The amount levied varied depending on the type of poultry imported, with the highest tariffs imposed on whole frozen birds (82% in 2020) and none on fresh meat. Individual quick-frozen pieces, which constituted the bulk of chicken imports, faced a levy of 62% in 2020, up from under 20% before 2010. They were largely sold by small and informal outlets serving lower-income households.Some major suppliers were exempted from duties as a result of free-trade agreements, although not Brazil, the largest supplier in most years. Bilateral agreements provided some relief for the EU and the US, which were relatively minor sources of chicken imports. Still, they faced import duties of between 15% and 83%, depending on the company and the amount exported. SACU members could export poultry to South Africa duty free, but were not a major source of imports. Note: (a) EU producers also faced anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 4% to 73%, depending on the company concerned. Anti-dumping tariffs added 13% to US imports.Finally, frozen beef and cooking oil faced long-standing stable import duties of 40% and 10% respectively. These levies were introduced in the 1990s.Ultimately, high tariffs on some staple foods largely reflected long-standing protective measures. They increased in the 2010s mostly as a result of the commodity cycle, which saw lower international prices and a stronger rand, triggering higher tariffs. The exception was poultry, the largest single food expenditure by lowincome households. It was subject to a rapid escalation in anti-dumping and safeguard tariffs from the early 2010s through the early 2020s.Evaluating the impact of tariffs on staple foods requires an understanding of both their aims and possible unintended consequences. That is, like any impact assessment, it has to start with an understanding of the underlying theory of change. In the short run, all tariffs aim to raise prices for domestic producers by increasing the cost of imports. In effect, they remove a source of competition and the associated pressure on local suppliers to reduce their prices. That leads to an immediate social cost since it raises consumer outlays. Proponents argue that a variety of benefits offset this cost, however, at least over time. These benefits fall into three broad categories.-First, the tariffs could effectively give domestic producers time to improve their competitiveness rather than closing down when imports surge. That would ultimately enable them to reduce prices to consumers while competing successfully against imports. This argument justifies safeguard tariffs in particular, which under WTO rules may only last for three years.-Second, the benefits of maintaining local production and employment may offset the cost of higher prices for consumers. In these cases, tariffs could remain in place even where there was no reasonable prospect that domestic producers could successfully compete with foreigners. The benefits of this approach are generally more obvious in the case of relative luxuries than for necessities.-Finally, governments could impose tariffs where they considered production strategic for a country. In these cases, the argument was that without a domestic supply of necessities, the country would be vulnerable to price gouging by foreign producers or to the vagaries of international commodity markets. By extension, a modest increase in prices in the short run to sustain local production was worth the cost to consumers.Table 1 shows the potential costs, benefits and risks of tariffs on staple foods for the main stakeholders -that is, workers and businesses in the protected value chains; low-income consumers; producers outside the value chain; and the state. It uses the SEIAS approach, which distinguishes impacts by different stakeholders; includes a risk evaluation as well as costs and benefits; and calls for a detailed description of costs, benefits and risks where quantification is not possible or would require excessively heroic assumptions. Upward pressure on prices of basic foods, which comprise a significant share of their expenditure.If affected value chains use the opportunity to improve productivity, they end up with a more reliable and cheaper supply.Higher food costs lead to higher labour costs and inflation, and ultimately slower economic growth.Upward pressure on staple foods, but not a big spending item.If affected value chains use the opportunity to improve productivity, they end up with a more reliable and cheaper supply.Higher food costs lead to higher labour costs and inflation, and ultimately slower economic growth.Upward pressure on staples leads to higher labour costs, higher inflation and interest rates, and slower growth.If affected value chains use the opportunity to improve productivity, they end up with lower staple prices and labour costs in the long run.Retaliatory tariffs by trading partners.Farm owners Upward pressure on staples leads to higher labour costs.Higher profits from bigger sales and/or higher prices, especially as staples characterised by low elasticity of demand.High prices lead to lower consumption in the long run, since elasticity increases over time.Higher inflation leads to higher real interest rates.Upward pressure on prices of basic foods, which comprise a significant share of their expenditure.Avoid retrenchment by farmers unable to compete with imports.Farming of some products proves unsustainable even with high tariffs, and slower overall growth due to higher labour costs limits options for new employment.Upward pressure on input prices.Reliable supply; lower transaction costs with local suppliers.Farming of some products proves unsustainable even with higher tariffs, and higher costs of output reduce demand.Higher labour costs.Stabilise demand from protected farmers.Farms end up closing and find it harder to find new opportunities if tariffs slow overall growth.Anger from consumers, who are however mostly poorly organised; conflict with trading partners.Avoid lobbying and communication campaigns by farmers' groups and their workers.Tariffs lead to higher food prices without improving productivity in medium to long run, fuelling voter anger and slowing economic growth.It was not straightforward to quantify the cost to consumers of tariffs on staple foods. On the one hand, tariffs did not translate directly into higher final prices, which depended on mark-ups by producers and sellers. In the case of very long-standing and stable tariffs, like the 40% import duty on beef, it was hard to find a price that was not affected by the tariff. Sometimes importers managed to evade duties, for instance by re-categorising the goods they imported or undervaluing them to customs. In some cases, they could also shift to untariffed sources, for instance in SACU or the EU. Moreover, a stronger real exchange rate could offset the cost of tariffs for importers. On the other hand, if tariffs change relative prices, households could avoid some of the cost by substituting other goods, for instance eating more maize meal and less bread, or more eggs rather than poultry. By definition, however, in the case of food staples, lower-income households had limited scope to shift away from taxed products.Table 2 uses a formal theory of change to show the preconditions for tariffs to achieve the firstbest outcome of higher productivity in the protected industries. From this standpoint, the upward pressure on domestic prices forms a necessary intermediate step, not an aim in itself. Policymakers agree that benefits outweigh the costs, and WTO rules permit the tariff (as with agriculture, safeguard and dumping duties).Policymakers see the cost to consumers as excessive relative to the anticipated benefits; WTO rules set time limits or ban tariffs.Importers maintain their margins and cannot find alternative, tariff-free sources; exchange rate does not strengthen; importers cannot evade the tariff.Importers prefer to maintain market share by reducing mark-ups, or import from tariff-free sources; exchange rate strengthens, offsetting the tariff; importers resort to smuggling or re-categorising or modifying goods to avoid tariffs.Retailers and/or consumers find local producers who can compete with tariffed imports on price and quality; retailers/consumers do not substitute other goods as prices increase on tariffed products.Retailers/consumers do not increase local purchases because they cannot find enough local producers able to compete with imports even after tariffs are imposed; they find substitutes, depressing the total sales of tariffed goods.Tariffs succeed in reducing import competition without affecting consumer/retail demand.Increase in demand sufficient to stabilise industry.Tariffs fail to limit purchases of imports or consumers substitute other products.Increase in demand is not adequate, for instance because of high input costs, drought or other cost drivers.Producers remain under pressure to improve productivity whether from competitors or government requirements, and have the resources to adopt better technologies.Local producers gain sufficient market power to charge import-parity prices, passing the full cost of tariffs on to consumers.Producers cannot access required technology due to high costs or lack of investment financing.Local producers are able to improve productivity, do not face an increase in input costs, and do not increase profitability.Local producers cannot improve productivity or input prices increase, for instance due to exchange rate shifts, upstream market power or tariffs, or drought; they increase their profits rather than reduce prices.We can model the maximum possible immediate impact of the tariff on consumers if all of the required success preconditions for tariffs described in the theory of change are met. In this worst-case scenario for consumers, the tariffs on staple foods would translate directly into price hikes. As of 2020, that would increase the cost of food for the poorest 90% of households by just over 15%. For the richest decile, food costs would rise less, by 10%, because the tariffed staples make up a far lower share of their food budgets. The total cost of living would climb by 5% for the poorest 30% of households, mostly because of the very high levies on poultry and sugar in 2020. For the fourth to sixth decile, the tariffs on staples would inflate the cost of living by 4%, and for the seventh to ninth decile, by 1.5%. For the richest decile, the cost of living would only rise 0.5%.In the event, from 2010 to 2020, food prices rose more rapidly than the overall CPI. Prices for commodities with high tariffs rose faster than other staples, as Figure 8 shows. Still, while tariffs undoubtedly contributed to prices rising faster for food than for other products, they were by no means the only cause. As Figure 9 shows, food prices increased sharply during the 2015/16 drought, even for products that were mostly imported. Maize was particularly harshly affected. Food prices also spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The reasons included disruptions to both domestic and international supply chains, and the difficulty of redirecting resources from restaurants to retail as higher-income consumers -the mainstay of restaurant dining -stayed home. A second question is whether tariffs helped restrain imports for the affected products. Again, it proved difficult to separate out the impact of trade measures from other factors affecting economic decisions. The costs of imported food commodities were heavily affected by the exchange rate as well as agricultural conditions in South Africa and overseas. Trends in international demand also affected global prices. Moreover, before 2010 the data aggregated all SACU trade together, making it impossible to analyse imports from neighbouring countries.Overall, as Figure 10 shows, from 2010 to 2020 imports of both tariffed and nontariffed staple foods fluctuated substantially as a percentage of tonnage available in South Africa. Over the decade as a whole, the share of imports trended consistently downward only for beef. Excluding 2020, which was an outlier because of the pandemic, the share of imports in local consumption climbed from 38% in 2010 to 44% in 2019 for wheat; from 11% to 20% for poultry; and from 11% to 19% for sugar. For maize, which did not face an effective tariff, imports rose from an average of 1.5% of consumption in the three years before the 2015/16 drought to 3.8% in the three years after it. Imports of beef fell from 8% in 2000 to 3% in 2011 and 2% in 2019, although the tariff remained unchanged.The substantial fluctuations in the share of imports in domestic consumption made it virtually impossible to define reliable long-term trends. Moreover, without tariffs the share of imports might have increased more rapidly and consistently. Still, the lack of a clear downward trend in imports linked to tariffs indicates that while they set a floor under prices over time, they did not lead to a substantial increase in domestic production. Note: (a) Domestically available stock is assumed to equal domestic production plus imports; exports are also included. Cooking oil is excluded because data are available only for oilseeds, not for production of oil by volume.In volume terms, import trends were even more ambiguous (see Figure 11). Poultry imports generally increased over the period, despite the steady rise in tariffs. They dipped sharply from 2019 to 2020, which could reflect the substantial increase in tariffs in that year but was likely also affected by the COVID-19 downturn.In contrast, sugar imports in tonnes initially increased and then stabilised except in the drought year of 2015. Around two thirds of sugar imports came from eSwatini, however, which meant that they were duty free. Both wheat and beef imports initially shrank, but then tended to increase for the rest of the decade. Maize imports soared during the 2015/16 drought. In 2015 and 2016, they averaged 4 million tonnes, 20 times the average for the preceding four years. From 2017 to 2020, they fell back to 1.25 million tonnes a year. A core justification for tariffs was that they would give local producers space to become more competitive. In practice, there was no evidence that this occurred. Data are available for wheat, poultry and beef. For all of these products, in rand terms the price for tariffed staple foods climbed faster than import prices in recent years, as Figure 12 shows. Moreover, from 2010 to 2019, the producer price for poultry and wheat rose 10% faster than the CPI in real terms. For beef, it rose 30%. For poultry, the increase in domestic producer prices relative to imports at the start and end of the 2010s coincided with a rising share of imports in local poultry consumption, as Figure 13 shows. The ultimate test of competitiveness was the relative growth of protected staple producers compared to other staples and the rest of agriculture. In the event, growth in the value of production varied substantially by product from 2002 to 2020, as Figure 14 shows. Meat production expanded rapidly, whereas wheat and sugar stagnated. The differential in growth by agricultural product reflected changes in domestic demand and export capacity more than tariffs. The post-1994 era saw a shift in domestic demand away from starches to protein, fruit and vegetables, especially when the economy and employment climbed relatively rapidly during the international metals price boom that lasted from the early 2000s to 2011.As Figure 15 shows, the result was a substantial divergence in per-person consumption of staple foods. Poultry consumption doubled from 2000 to 2021, although most of the increase occurred during the commodity boom, while red meat grew 20% and potatoes climbed 15%. In contrast, per-capita consumption of maize and wheat was essentially flat. Finally, the impact on employment of tariffs on staple foods was inherently contradictory. The tariffs raised the cost of wage goods and consequently put upward pressure on pay. At the same time, they aimed in part to protect jobs on farms that produced the tariffed products.The protected jobs were relatively limited in number as well as being poorly paid.The available data suggest that taken together, production of the main protected staples -wheat, sugar, poultry and beef -involved employment of around 300 000 workers, or over a third of all farm workers but only 2.5% of total formal employment in the late 2010s. According to DALRRD estimates, wheat production had 30 000 employees; poultry 45 000; sugar 85 000; and beef 140 000. 2 Information on employment over time by agricultural product is not available. Overall, however, formal agricultural employment fell from over a million in 1990 to 500 000 in 2010, then climbed back over 700 000 through 2019. 3 Agricultural employment was relatively poorly paid, with a median income of R3 000 a month in 2019 compared to R4 000 in the rest of the formal sector. Moreover, a substantial share was seasonal or temporary.Industry representatives and the Department of Agriculture argued that looking only at farm labour understated the impacts on total job creation since it ignored employment in food processing, retail and restaurants. From the standpoint of tariff protection, however, these linkages were not relevant. Downstream industries would be able to produce, and indeed might grow faster, in the absence of tariffs designed to raise the cost of their inputs.In short, the available data indicate that tariffs on staple foods contributed to the relatively high food prices through the 2010s. That in turn had a particularly negative impact on low-income households, which aggravated the poverty and inequality already prevalent in South Africa. But the tariffs had at best highly varied outcomes in terms of promoting more efficient production in the protected industries. Sugar cane and wheat, in particular, saw only very slow expansion despite substantial protection against imports.Even if they ultimately succeed in boosting local production, tariffs on staple foods have an inherently regressive effect. That poses the question of why they were so prevalent in South Africa as of 2021, despite the government's stated commitment to reducing inequality and raising living standards for low-income households. This paradoxical outcome emerged from the way agriculture was organised, on the one hand, and from the nature of decision-making systems on tariffs in government, on the other.South Africa was an outlier among upper-middle-income economies in its reliance on high-technology commercial farming, with very limited smallholder and subsistence agriculture. It gave a relatively small number of well-organised and -capacitated farmers substantial influence over government policies based largely on lobbying and media campaigns as well as promises to avoid job losses and open space for black producers. From this standpoint, the tariff system partly replaced the system of domestic price supports that was eliminated in the mid-1990s with the transition to democracy, after being in place for decades.The number of commercial farmers in South Africa stabilised at around 45 000 in the 2010s, with around a third being African. 4 The number of commercial farms was around 50% lower than in 1994. The decline largely reflected the loss of various direct and indirect government subsidies, which in the late 1990s led to extensive consolidation of farms and, in some areas, a shift into game farming.Before the mid-1990s, domestic pricing systems and regulatory frameworks that ensured cheap water, labour and land all contributed to growth in grain and meat production for domestic and regional markets. South Africa also exported citrus and other horticultural products overseas, but these industries were constrained by resistance from consumers and foreign governments as a result of apartheid.After 1994, commercial farming effectively split into two large groups. Most farmers engaged in production of grain, meat and sugar almost exclusively for the domestic and regional market. A minority pursued more intensive, varied and innovative horticultural production, with a focus on overseas exports as well as meeting high-end domestic and regional demand. Grain, sugar and meat producers increasingly saw tariffs as a way to maintain their market share as the economy opened up with the transition to democracy (see Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy 2020: 22). This strategy grew in importance after the government eliminated price and other subsidies in the mid-1990s and from the early 2000s instituted a rising minimum wage for farm workers. In contrast, fruit and vegetable farmers had to compete on export markets, so they had limited interest in tariffs. They looked to the state primarily to support their access to water, transport and phytosanitary measures.Agriculture included thousands of farmers for almost all major outputs except poultry. That should in theory lead to competitive output markets with cost-plus pricing. In practice, however, import-parity pricing largely prevailed except in the main export industries, including maize as well as fruit and wine production. A core reason was that the government explicitly aimed to strengthen farmer organisations and market information after it eliminated direct subsidies. In both red meat and grain production, the government helped establish market information systems that generated detail on import-parity but not cost-plus prices. Table 3 shows the structure of farming for major products and the main farmer and market-information organisations. The South African Grain Information Service was established by the state after deregulation to provide information on international and import prices (not on cost-plus prices).GrainSA produces market information, provides technical support and engages with the state on behalf of farmers.Various other organisations represent producers of specific commodities.Poultry Poultry is vertically integrated, dominated by three companies that have their own farms and also contract out some production SA Poultry Association was established in 1904. It provides information on production and prices, and representation in engagements with government. It played a central role in lobbying for poultry tariffs in the 2010s.The Red Meat Industry Forum was established after deregulation to engage on regulatory frameworks and provide market information to farmers.The Red Meat Producers Organisation engages on behalf of farmers, including on tariffs and imports generally.Around 8 000 farmers Strong associations for wine, citrus and deciduous fruit producers and exportersSector Commercial farmers (a) Organisations Sugar Sugar company estates produce 7%; 680 commercial farmers produce 65%; less than 20 000 small outgrowers grow the restThe SA Sugar Association is a statutory body that provides information on production and prices, and represents farmers and millers in engagements with government.SA Canegrowers represents farmers in engagements around tariffs, and campaigns against the sugar tax.Source: Information from sector reports by Who Owns Whom, latest version for sector; webpages for associations; and DALRRD value chain profiles, 2018.High levels of concentration in the food value chain in South Africa are often associated with greater use of modern technologies, scale production, quality controls, international competitiveness, and better pay for workers. But they also contribute to the use of market power to inflate prices and campaign for higher tariffs. From the early 2000s, the Competition Commission found cartel pricing in a number of food processing industries. It charged collusion in bread baking, maize and wheat milling, grain storage, dairy, poultry and pelagic fish. The Commission did not succeed in every case, but it reached large settlements around bread and cereals, among other industries (Mncube et al. 2016: 8).In contrast to other sectors that lobbied strongly for tariffs, commercial farmers could not count on union support. In 2019, less than 10% of farm workers belonged to a union, compared to a third in the rest of the formal economy. Workers in poultry, which was dominated by a few large companies, were better organised.In the late 2010s, their unions lobbied effectively for tariffs when employers threatened to close down farms.Commercial farmers were, however, able to leverage support from actual and potential black smallholders, which improved their legitimacy in demanding tariff protection (see for instance Dubb 2014;PMG 2019). Virtually every farmer association promoted some kind of small producer association. They often promised to support small producers in return for tariffs, for instance through improved conditions for contract producers in sugar and poultry.In short, tariffs on staple foods reflected the adaptation of commercial farming to deregulation amid the opening of the economy in the 1990s. In this context, export crops focused on marketing and increasing competitiveness. Producers shifted between products fairly quickly as national and global demand changed. In contrast, where producers aimed mostly to meet demand in South Africa and the region, they often sought to limit import competition in order to sustain local production, even if that only effectively slowed a longer run decline or increased the cost of basic foods for the majority of households.In South Africa, in line with WTO guidelines, tariffs were set by an independent regulator, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), in line with national policies and objectives. ITAC was expected to consider the costs and benefits for stakeholders, including consumers, before granting a tariff. In practice, however, the decision-making system effectively empowered more organised groups at the cost of those less able to engage and lobby. Moreover, it did not entail a consistent and transparent presentation of the evidence on the anticipated costs, benefits and risks of new or modified tariffs to the various stakeholders.ITAC was required to test applications for tariffs in terms of the costs and benefits along the relevant value chain as well as for final consumers. From the mid-2010s, it argued that a developmental trade policy required higher protection for local producers, especially against unfair dumping, destabilising import surges and other forms of subsidy to foreign producers. It argued that additional factors affected agriculture, including:various forms of support provided to farmers in most countries, including in the global North, which reduce international prices at the cost of South African farmers;a perceived lack of bargaining power on the part of farmers, which ITAC argued were \"price takers in the food value chain\";fluctuations in global prices; and the impact on consumers, \"in particular the poor\" (ITAC 2020).In practice, however, ITAC did not publish a systematic analysis of the impact of agricultural tariffs on the poor. For the increase in the poultry tariff in 2019, it did not publish a cost-benefit analysis of any kind. It noted it had commissioned a study by the National Agricultural Marketing Commission, but did not publish it or provide the main conclusions. Instead, it noted the potential for costs to consumers, but made no attempt to quantify them against the anticipated benefits (ITAC 2019: 15).As of the early 2020s, ITAC began to argue strongly that it was insisting on a \"principle of reciprocity,\" to ensure that businesses provided social benefits in return for trade protection. In particular, it sought to ensure increased investment and employment, but did not mention prices to domestic consumers or users. It also aimed to provide more regular reviews of tariffs going forward (ITAC 2020).In practice, the ITAC system opened the door to well-capacitated business organisations, like those found across commercial agriculture, as well as business associations representing downstream processors. In contrast, consumer groups were typically poorly organised and lacked an advocate in the policymaking system. But the process of engagement on tariffs was highly formalised and legalistic, with extensive use of experts. It did not require that ITAC reach out to consumer groups, empower them around the potential costs and benefits of the measure, and provide space for them to voice their views.This situation emerged around the decision to increase the tariff on poultry in 2019.A leading Johannesburg law firm lodged and advocated for the measure on behalf of the South African Poultry Association. The Association also submitted commissioned research from business consultants. As noted, ITAC commissioned but did not publish a report by the National Agricultural Marketing Commission. Opposition to the application came from retail and restaurant chains as well as an importers association. No civil society or advocacy groups participated.While the ITAC report approving the tariff increase summarised the arguments for and against, it did not provide any evidence to test them or seek to quantify the costs and benefits for different groups, including low-income households. It noted that the poultry producers had committed to raising production, investment and employment between 2019 and 2021. It did not, however, specify targets for these commitments or include any promise to avoid price increases for downstream users (see ITAC 2019).In short, while the ITAC process aimed to give voice to stakeholders, it effectively included only relatively well-resourced and -capacitated formal business groups.That in turn meant that lower-income households were effectively excluded from the deliberations. Moreover, because ITAC did not seek to quantify or define in detail the costs and benefits to consumers as well as producers, it did not have to justify its decision to adopt the higher tariff on a staple food for working class and poor households.Significant and long-standing tariffs on most of the main staple foods for lowerincome households in South Africa constituted a regressive tax that contributed to higher costs without visibly promoting more sustainable and competitive production of basic necessities over the past decade. The limited extent of statistics on agricultural subsectors (in contrast to both manufacturing and mining) prevented a more detailed analysis than the one provided here. Still, the available information on the extent and aims of tariffs on staple foods underscores the need for policy reforms. These reforms include the following.First, all tariffs on staple foods -specifically wheat, sugar, poultry, red meat and cooking oil -should be urgently reviewed in terms of their impact on both consumers, by income level, and producers. The analysis should use the SEIAS approach outlined in section 3, which requires evaluation of costs, benefits and risks for different stakeholder groups; and detailed description of impacts where quantification is not possible.Second, ITAC should require commitments from tariff beneficiaries to increase prices only in line with CPI for the duration of the tariff, unless those beneficiaries can provide evidence of extraordinary circumstances.Third, ITAC should publish the evidence it uses to justify increases in tariffs on staple foods in far more detail, with an estimate of the likely costs and benefits provided in a SEIAS approach.Finally, government should review both the wheat and poultry industries, which are the most important tariffed wage goods, to determine an end-state that does not depend on high tariffs to survive.On 27 August 2019, National Treasury released a document titled 'Economic transformation, inclusive growth, and competitiveness: A contribution towards a growth agenda for the South African economy'. Perhaps as a response to the long title, the document became popularly known as \"the 77-pager\". No document that proposes a substantial reform economic programme is universally embraced; however, the 77-pager did receive some important plaudits. For example, The Economist magazine described it as \"replete with sensible ideas that could form the basis of a new 'growth strategy'\" (The Economist 2019). National Treasury (2019) estimated that the proposed reforms would, following implementation, raise potential growth by 2.3 percentage points (above the baseline) and create over 1 million additional jobs.Unfortunately, only about six months later the most severe global pandemic in a century fanned out quickly across the globe. An unprecedented economic contraction accompanied the public health measures designed to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Due to a combination of strict public health measures imposed and the structure of the economy, the South African economy contracted more than most (Robinson et al. 2021). Arndt et al. (2020) estimated that the full implications of the lockdown reduced the flow value of gross domestic product (GDP) by about 34%, likely in late April or early May 2020. This steep decline was mostly the consequence of indirect or knock-on effects that followed from the direct effects of restrictions on economic activity. For example, the direct effect of shuttering restaurants was magnified by the knock-on effects of vastly reduced demand from restaurants for trade, transport, electricity and so forth.These magnification effects also operated in reverse so that economic activity recovered relatively rapidly as lockdown restrictions were eased, as extraordinary government measures -notably social protection -were implemented, and as people began to adapt to a new normal. However, containment of COVID-19 and a complete return to normal levels of economic activity are incompatible. The data suggested that, by the fourth quarter of 2020, the economy was operating at around 4 percentage points lower than it had been the year before (van Seventer et al. 2021) -a very severe economic contraction by historical standards. Importantly, both the nature of the initial shock and the nature of the recovery appeared to have broadly accentuated South Africa's already stark inequalities (Arndt et al. 2020;van Seventer et al. 2021). For example, Spaull et al. (2021: 7), using data from the National Income Dynamics Study -Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM), pointed to \"drastic increases in household and child hunger\" with rates remaining \"stubbornly high\" through April and May 2021.With a concerted effort to vaccinate as much of the South African population as possible as quickly as possible and with some luck (for example, no new variants that evade the vaccines), South Africans could reasonably hope that the novel coronavirus will pose substantially reduced risk of death or severe illness to most of the population sometime during the first quarter of 2022. Van Seventer et al.(2021) focused on this near-term period -the next six to eight months. Here, we focus on the period following broad availability of vaccines, with all who choose to make use of the protection offered by the vaccines being able to do so. This period is likely to represent a new normal characterised by ongoing but much milder steps to preserve public health (compared with the second half of 2020) and by learnings from the pandemic era, such as revised modes of working. The new normal will not be a complete reversion to the patterns of living and working that prevailed in 2019, but it will be the environment in which growth and development must occur if growth and development are to occur at all.This chapter focuses on select policies that can rapidly improve growth prospects, reduce inequities and lead towards the realisation of longer-term development objectives while recognising the presence of significant fiscal constraints. The 77-pager provides a valuable reference and starting point. The ideas in this chapter complement policy ideas developed elsewhere in the book, focused on monetary policy (Chapter 1), labour markets and unemployment (Chapter 2), trade policy and exports (Chapters 3 and 4) and industrial policy (Chapter 5). In a separate policy bulletin, Loewald, Makrelov and Wörgötter (2020) address the electricity sector, which has been a clear constraint on growth.It is important to highlight that the 77-pager began with a deeply sobering view of economic performance, trends and prospects under business as usual in 2019. The then Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, began his foreword to the document with the statement: \"We are facing a slow-burn economic crisis.\" Today, the economic situation has worsened in essentially every measurable dimension. If there is a silver lining to this terrible pandemic from the perspective of the South African economy, it might be found in an enhanced willingness to implement reform measures designed to rekindle growth, improve equity and drive sustainable development in a context of limited fiscal space.To this end, this chapter first assesses the overall macroeconomic picture, emphasising the fiscal consolidation that is currently anticipated. Next, it considers three areas: skills; food systems, nutrition and health; and urban structure. In each area, we first briefly consider long-term perspectives and then turn attention to high-return positive steps that can be implemented in the very near term and are consistent with the realisation of a positive long-term vision. We find that much greater openness to immigration of highly skilled and experienced workers (and their families) stands out as a rapidly implementable policy that offers strong potential to stimulate growth, create jobs and reduce inequality at low cost to government and with low risk.With respect to food systems, nutrition and health, we point to a solid basis for optimism about growth and employment prospects in the long term. We also highlight the potential benefits of a holistic perspective that includes implications for nutrition and health. Turning to the very near term, we underline the need to reduce the policy uncertainty associated with land reform. In this respect, we recommend reforms be considered that focus in the near term on favourable dryland areas that can be equipped with supplemental irrigation, with the goal of enabling these areas to specialise in producing higher-value products. Judicious planning of water resource use must accompany this policy, but this is within South Africa's capabilities.Turning to urban structure, we note the persistence of the spatial inequities entrenched by the apartheid era. With tight fiscal constraints on government investment that are likely to extend to the medium term, we seek to refocus policy on measures designed to increase efficiency and equity outcomes based on existing infrastructure.In South Africa's case, the recovery cannot be thought of as a return to the path of growth that existed prior to the COVID-19 shock. The pandemic came on the back of a severe recession, which was itself the low point of a path of decelerating growth that had lasted for nearly a decade (see Figure 1). New structural conditions are needed to enable growth in productivity. But the increasingly anaemic aggregate demand that characterised the pre-COVID status quo also needs to be addressed. On top of the long-run slowdown in nominal growth, aggregate demand will face unprecedented headwinds from the planned contraction in government consumption. The fiscal consolidation proposed by government looks to be the largest and most sustained in South Africa's history (see Figure 2). Projections in the 2021 Budget Review indicated zero growth in government consumption, which accounts for more than 20% of nominal GDP, over the next three years. Furthermore, National Treasury has indicated that further efforts to achieve a primary surplus may need to continue beyond this planning horizon to achieve debt stabilisation. The substantial literature on the size of the fiscal multiplier in South Africa is inconclusive. But, unless other elements of aggregate demand more than compensate for the stagnation of government consumption, it is difficult to envisage a sustained recovery. An important offsetting factor will be the return of household consumption as vaccinations enable South Africans to emerge from lockdown conditions. Added to this, an upturn in the global commodity cycle looks set to boost incomes as export prices rise. The effects of terms of trade buoyancy on nominal GDP growth and financial conditions may slow the rise in public debt, possibly creating room for some easing of the fiscal constraint.But cyclical improvements in household consumption and the terms of trade are likely to be temporary. This points to the need for concerted action to accelerate capital formation and underlying productivity growth. If the consolidation succeeds in stabilising the path of public debt, longer-term interest rates can be expected to ease. But short-term rates are likely to rise over the medium term as (global and domestic) monetary policy normalises. And, in any case, easier financing conditions are unlikely to translate automatically into investment demand.In the post-apartheid era, government has tended to emphasise public investment as a driver of aggregate demand. This now faces two constraints. First, fiscal constraints will limit the capacity of the public sector to finance investment. The use of concessional financing from global institutions might ease this constraint.The prospects for this are particularly strong where public investment is required to support decarbonisation -for instance, extending the electricity transmission grid to accommodate renewable sources. Second, and probably more important, are the financing and institutional challenges faced by public institutions. Eskom, the state-owned electricity utility, faces obvious constraints on its own balance sheet. The passenger rail agency has been unable to galvanise a strong investment programme despite extensive fiscal support over the last decade. The road construction agency may be ready to deliver, but the use of user-charges to finance road construction appears unlikely in the wake of the e-tolls debacle. It will take time and energy to resolve these and myriad other challenges in the public investment space.This points to the need for a concerted effort to pursue sources of growth that are not dependent on large-scale public investment. Indeed, achieving a durable growth recovery requires an acceleration of demand from private sources that fully offsets fiscal consolidation. We turn now to policies in three areas that meet these criteria.In the post-apartheid era, one of government's foremost goals has been to provide quality educational opportunities for all. An important area of success has been in higher education. Beginning from low levels in 1993, enrolments of previously disadvantaged groups grew rapidly in the immediate post-apartheid period (Dell 2011). Since 2005, tertiary enrolments, particularly of black Africans, have continued to grow rapidly, increasing by about 4.6% per year between 2005 and 2017, bringing total enrolments of black South Africans in tertiary education to more than 750 000 in 2017, or about three quarters of total enrolment (Essop 2020). Even if one restricts one's view to the more prestigious research-intensive universities, the gains remain impressive. Between 2005 and 2017, enrolments of historically disadvantaged groups at these institutions grew at an annual rate of 3.4%. These groups accounted for about two thirds of the student body in research-intensive universities in 2017 (Essop 2020).Further, evidence is accumulating of an improvement in the quality of primary school education. Drawing from three international testing programmes -the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, focusing on Grade 9; the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality, focusing on Grade 6; and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, focusing on Grade 4 -substantial progress appears to have been registered from about 2001 to 2016. While there remains ample room for improvement, Gustafsson (2020) finds that progress in improving quality, as measured by performance on these tests, has been rapid by international standards.Overall, the long-term perspective in terms of skills is reasonably clear. South Africa has high-quality universities. Access to university education for previously disadvantaged groups has greatly improved. At primary and secondary levels, apartheid left a legacy of very low-quality education. After decades of substantial effort, there is now evidence of improving educational quality, albeit from a very low base. Developing a primary and secondary school system that delivers an increasing number of adequately prepared students to a high-quality university system remains a highly relevant policy goal. This is, of course, a lot easier to say than to do. It is also a very long-term project.Focusing on the present, there are two notable problems. First, and not surprisingly, economic growth since about 2008 has been insufficiently rapid to absorb growing numbers of people with tertiary education. In the final quarter of 2008, the unemployment rate among workers classified by Statistics South Africa as tertiary educated stood at 6%. In the final semester of 2019, just prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, that rate had risen to about 15% (Stats SA 2021) Panel A of Figure 3 is taken from Branson and Leibbrandt (2013). The top line in the figure, labelled 'Tertiary', shows the ratio of the wages of employed males aged 31 and over with tertiary education to the wages of employed males aged 31 and over with primary school education or less. This ratio can be taken as a proxy for the ratio between the wages of highly skilled and experienced workers and the wages of unskilled workers. The middle and bottom dashed lines represent those workers with complete secondary and incomplete secondary education, respectively, once again relative to those with primary school education or less. The dark bands illustrate the 95% confidence interval. As discussed in Arndt ( 2018), the top line ratio (tertiary/unskilled) begins at a relatively high value, which is not surprising given the policies that prevailed prior to 1994. Less intuitively, the ratio grows by more than 50% between 1994 and 2010.Panel B of Figure 3, from Wittenberg (2014), tells essentially the same story. Earners at the 90th percentile gained substantially relative to the median earner over roughly the same period.Figures 4 and 5, from Bassier and Woolard (2020), reinforce the findings from Figure 3 and show that the trend of increasing wages for top earners continued at least through 2015. Figure 4 uses detailed income tax data to determine income sources for the top 5% of earners. The data indicate that labour income (represented by the categories salary, bonus, commission and director) represents the large bulk of income for nearly all top earners. Furthermore, this structure of income appears to be reasonably consistent through time. Hence, growth in total income is a good proxy for growth in labour income for all but the very top earners (those at the 99.9th percentile and above). more extreme in the later period as per capita GDP growth slowed dramatically compared to the earlier period but growth in top incomes slowed less markedly or not at all.In summary, in recent years, economic growth has not been fast enough to absorb the output of people with tertiary education from the university system. In the aggregate, it is not the case that growth in the number of graduates is too high. Rather, economic growth is too low. Failure to absorb all graduates occurred even though the labour market is clearly shifting to favour greater skills. Table 1 shows growth in employment by major education category from Q1 2008 to Q1 2020 (taken as the final pre-pandemic period). Employment among those with tertiary qualifications grew by far the most rapidly at 3.1% per annum. At the same time, employment among those with less than secondary education declined at an annual rate of 0.6%. As a result, the structure of employment has shifted. At the beginning of 2008, more than half of employed workers possessed less than complete secondary qualifications. By the beginning of 2020, that share had fallen nearly 10 percentage points, to about 43%. Tertiary-educated individuals now comprise more than a fifth of employed individuals. As noted, all available evidence indicates that the failure to employ people with tertiary qualifications is concentrated at the inexperienced end of the spectrum (recent graduates). At the experienced end of the spectrum, the problem is reversed -a lack of highly skilled and experienced people is constraining growth. This has been a consistent observation for more than a decade. After years of studying the South African economy, Ricardo Hausmann and colleagues pointed directly to skills constraints as slowing potential growth (Hausmann 2014;Levinsohn 2008). A follow-on effort, led by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), arrived at the same conclusion (Arndt 2017). National Treasury's growth strategy document echoed this conclusion (National Treasury 2019).Further, these two problems could well be related by more than just aggregate GDP growth. Inexperienced tertiary-educated labour and experienced tertiary-educated labour are plausibly complements, not substitutes. For example, in the absence of an adequate supply of skilled and experienced people, a firm is unlikely to be able to complete a large and complex engineering project no matter how many recent university graduates are hired. At the same time, the productivity of highly skilled and experienced workers is augmented if they can assign reasonably well-defined tasks to younger workers with skills but not much experience. This is the way that nearly all organisations in knowledge-based fields operate.Given its importance, there is a surprising dearth of research into the relationship between senior workers with skills and experience and junior workers with tertiary degrees, even on a global basis. A recent article by Li et al. (2017) examines this relationship for China. The authors find that experienced and inexperienced workers with college degrees are in fact complements. In particular, they find that rapid growth in the number of recent university graduates drives up the skills premium for experienced workers with university degrees and puts downward pressure on wages of recent university graduates (or results in unemployment for recent graduates if labour markets are not sufficiently flexible).This implies that increasing the supply of skilled and experienced workers could increase potential growth by two mechanisms. First, it would loosen a binding constraint on growth broadly. Second, through the complementarities, it would pull in tertiary-educated but inexperienced labour particularly rapidly. All unemployment is an enormous waste, but unemployed workers with tertiary degrees also fail to provide society with returns on the (large) investments made in their training.As emphasised, the long-term policy with respect to skills is clear: ongoing improvements in the quality of education are required at all levels alongside ongoing growth in the number of skilled people, particularly those with tertiary qualifications and above. Broadly, this appears to be happening. The key challenges, looking ahead, are to ensure that the quality of primary school education continues to improve rapidly and, at a minimum, that the quality of tertiary education does not decline as quantity expands.The most obvious short-term policy for increasing the pool of skilled people is also reasonably clear, but it is not happening. As emphasised by multiple studies, South Africa would benefit from greatly increased immigration of highly skilled people.The potential benefits of such immigration can be estimated in a straightforward manner using a version of the South African General Equilibrium (SAGE) model maintained and used by National Treasury. The simulation shown in Table 2 illustrates the implications of a 1% increase in the quantity of tertiary-educated labour driven by immigration of highly skilled and experienced individuals. The simulation assumes that more capital and labour (with lower educational qualifications than tertiary) can be obtained at prevailing rental and wage rates. 2 It also assumes that incremental electricity demand is met (see Loewald, Makrelov and Wörgötter 2020). There are multiple observations worth noting from the results shown in Table 2.-The effects are large. A 1% modelled increase in the supply of tertiary-educated labour drives up GDP by more than 1.2%. Absorption, the broadest measure of economy-wide welfare, also rises, by 1.2%. Employment gains for lower-skilled workers are particularly pronounced. Those with less than secondary-level education experience employment gains of about 1.25%. Total tax revenues also increase by more than 1%.-The number of highly skilled migrants required is not large. Based on the latest data, 1% of the employed stock of tertiary-educated labour is about 33 000 people. With a focus on attracting highly skilled and experienced workers, the wages of these migrants would be well above average for tertiary-educated labour. For example, if the average highly skilled and experienced immigrant earned three times the average tertiary wage in South Africa, then only about 11 000 migrants would be required to generate the outcomes illustrated. This amounts to 0.33% of the skilled labour force, 0.07% of the total labour force and 0.02% of the population. This implies that the required numbers of highly skilled and experienced immigrant workers will not significantly change the structure of South Africa's labour force.-Model results are always only indicative, but these results are plausible. There are two elements to this.The basic assumption of elastic supply of semi-skilled and unskilled labour is very plausible. In terms of capital, the initial incidence of increased immigration of highly skilled labour will be mainly associated with larger formal sector firms, whose access to capital is widely viewed as reasonably efficient given the sophistication of the South African financial sector. Secondary or multiplier effects will spill into smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the informal sector, where availability of capital may be more of a constraint. However, production by SMEs and in the informal sector is normally not capital-intensive. In addition, the frictions that the model assumes away may well be offset by positive effects that the model is not positioned to account for. For example, if inexperienced tertiary-educated labour is in fact complementary to highly skilled and experienced tertiary-educated labour (as discussed earlier), then the growth implications of immigration of highly skilled workers would be larger.The spillover effects that lead to large impacts do not rely on trickle-down economics as classically conceived. Classic trickle-down economics functions at the margin. For example, if taxes are cut for top earners, this may, at the margin, cause top earners to work more, take more risks and spend more on domestic goods. Of course, it may not. Top earners might instead use the windfall to, for example, take vacations in Europe, potentially decreasing aggregate demand in South Africa with negative multiplier effects. In contrast, the stimulus delivered by highly skilled immigrants relates to their average expenditure patterns. Highly skilled and experienced immigrants will spend money on housing, food, services and so forth. Substantial positive multiplier effects are essentially guaranteed. And their magnitude can be enhanced by policies that augment the share of total earnings of highly skilled migrants that are spent in South Africa as opposed to remitted. Encouraging highly skilled migrants to come with their families is one good example.There is no evidence that open immigration of highly skilled people will generate unemployment among highly skilled and experienced South Africans. Almost everywhere, unemployment among highly skilled and experienced people is very low and essentially transitory, reflecting a search period where a highly skilled person tries to match with the right job. This statement is distinct from asserting that there will not be competition for jobs between highly skilled South Africans and highly skilled immigrants in the case where immigration restrictions are loosened substantially. There will be competition. In fact, an important success indicator will be stories where highly skilled South Africans lament that they were not chosen for a particular position, with the job actually won by a highly skilled immigrant.-Allowing greater skilled migration is relatively straightforward, at least in principle. It requires changes in rules and regulations with no need for major budget allocations. With respect to issuing visas, simple rules could be applied. For example, any formal sector organisation in good standing could hire globally for any job paying more than some specified amount. If the successful applicant is not a South African citizen, a work visa could then be issued to that person. Negotiating rules relating to BEE is potentially trickier. BEE rules could constitute an effective restriction on highly skilled immigration if not carefully reviewed.-Loosening other rules and considering special circumstances would also help. For example, professionals licensed to practise in countries with high standards (for example, medical professionals licensed to operate in the United Kingdom) could be automatically or very quickly licensed to practise in South Africa. Universities are a second good example. They are important for two reasons. First, they play a key role in advancing the long-term objective of increasing tertiary-level skills of the South African population. Second, they are a reasonably high-potential exporting sector with an ability to attract paying students from around the world. Because of quality of life, academic freedom and other non-pecuniary benefits, university faculty frequently earn significantly less than other comparably trained professionals.Universities, especially the so-called research-intensive universities, might be allowed to hire globally for faculty positions (such as a position requiring a PhD) without reference to a minimum salary.Overall, a much more open immigration policy for highly skilled and experienced labour has very good prospects to increase growth, exports, tax revenue, jobs and the welfare of South African people, particularly those with lower incomes. The simulation estimates that if 11 000 skilled migrants arrived who earned on average about triple the average earnings of current tertiary-educated workers, they would generate about 78 000 jobs for unskilled and semi-skilled workers or about seven jobs per each highly skilled immigrant. By increasing employment among unskilled and semi-skilled South Africans and cooling the wage growth of top earners, the policy should also contribute to reducing inequality. As depicted in Figures 3, 4 and 5, and as pointed out by Hundenborn, Leibbrandt and Woolard (2018), \"over the past 20 years, labour income has been the major contributor to overall inequality.\" Finally, and importantly, by increasing the number of skilled and experienced managers/mentors, the short-term employment prospects and longterm career prospects of recent university graduates might brighten considerably.As emphasised in the introduction, if there is a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic from an economic perspective, it is likely to be found in an expanded willingness to adopt reform measures. Much more open immigration policies for highly skilled labour appears to offer high upsides with near-zero investment requirements as well as limited downsides.4. Food systems, nutrition and healthGlobally, food systems are frequently viewed as not 'fit for purpose' for the 21st century (see, for example, Webb et al. 2021). The list of shortcomings is long and includes:food systems as a major source of environmental degradation including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity loss and other forms of unsustainable resource use (for example, groundwater depletion); -frequent precarity of livelihoods for people engaged in food systems;high costs of nutritionally adequate diets are helping to fuel an obesity epidemic while still leaving more than one in 10 persons on the globe hungry; and high levels of vulnerability to climate change.These criticisms of food systems as they currently stand reflect, at least in part, an embedded optimism around what they could become. From this perspective, expectations are high (see the Food Systems Summit Action Tracks). Globally, food systems are aiming to become much more 'nature-positive' in production, convert from a major source to a net sink of GHG emissions, serve as a powerful lever to improve livelihoods in a manner commensurate with its role as the world's largest employer, combat all forms of malnutrition, and take steps to improve resilience to climate change.The South African food system reflects this global pattern of a status quo judged as unsatisfactory in many dimensions, with the gulf between current performance and high expectations of what might be as drivers for change. In light of the ongoing legacy of apartheid, the role of the food system in improving livelihoods is often highlighted in the South African context. At the very broadest level, there is considerable agreement that food systems can be a driver for growth, jobs and equity. For example, agriculture and food are highlighted in the 77-pager as a key sector. Proponents of rapid and large-scale land reform in South Africa also view agriculture and food as a means to stimulate growth, redress inequities and improve livelihoods.Keeping the longer-term perspective, there is a solid basis for optimism about growth and employment prospects in the agriculture and food sectors in South Africa. Relative to the rest of the world, the agricultural sector in South Africa is reasonably productive. Arndt and Nin-Pratt (2020) found that the sector operated at about 88% of the global production possibilities frontier (PPF) in the 2005-2014 period, meaning that South African agriculture converted inputs -such as land, labour, capital and intermediate inputs -into real agricultural outputs only about 12% less efficiently than the most productive agricultural economies in the world (such as the United States) over that period. Furthermore, South Africa has been approaching the global PPF. In the 1981-1994 period, South African agriculture operated at only about 66% of the global PPF or about 34% less efficiently than the most productive agricultural economies.Continued population and income growth in South Africa will continue to drive domestic demand for food. At the same time, very large opportunities exist to expand exports. Over the past 20 years, exports of food, notably to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, have been a comparative bright spot (Stern and Ramkolowan 2021). Overall, food exports currently represent about 11% of total merchandise exports (World Development Indicators 2020), and the South African food export basket is by far the most diversified (or least concentrated) on the sub-continent. Fukase and Martin (2018) calculate the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index -a measure of concentration -for major economies in sub-Saharan Africa. They also calculate the numerical equivalent of the index, which shows the number of identically distributed products that would give the same Herfindahl-Hirschman Index value as the actual basket. The number for South Africa is 44. 3 The next closest country is Tanzania at 18. For most economies in sub-Saharan Africa, concentration is strikingly high. For example, the number equivalent for Kenya is five.Over the next 30 years, rapid population growth, high shares of food in total expenditure, and rapid growth in income look set to approximately triple food demand in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa (Wiebe et al. 2017;Sulser et al. 2015). Food demand will also be shifting in composition towards more formal markets as incomes grow and urbanisation progresses. Proximity to this major demand growth pole combined with (i) the productivity/competitiveness of South African agriculture and agri-food processing; (ii) the diversity of the current export basket; and (iii) the role of South African firms in formal sector food retailing throughout the sub-continent open real possibilities for export-driven growth in food/ agriculture with positive implications for employment, livelihoods and equity (das Nair and Landani 2019).South Africa is also relatively well-positioned to address the malnutrition issues that bedevil many middle-income countries. This malnutrition comes in two forms.First, many individuals fail to consume sufficient micronutrients (hidden hunger).Second, a rapidly growing proportion of populations in developing countries, notably middle-income countries, consume too many calories (overweight). Hidden hunger, especially among children, and obesity impose huge societal costs in terms of lost productivity and the burden of non-communicable diseases (Alderman et al. 2017;Global Nutrition Report 2020).Hidden hunger and overweight/obesity are serious problems in South Africa. Nearly 25% of children aged 0-5 are stunted (low height for age) with micronutrient deficiency a part of the problem. Remarkably, nearly two thirds of adult women are overweight and almost 40% are obese (the corresponding numbers for men are 3 In other words, if South Africa's export basket contained only 44 products with each product 1/44th of total food export value, it would have (about) the same Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index as the actual basket. By this measure, South Africa is approximately 2.5 times more diversified than Tanzania, which has the second most diversified basket on the sub-continent.41% and 15% respectively). And rates of overweight and obesity are growing rapidly, especially among children and young adults (Global Nutrition Report 2020).South Africa's high level of social support spending, combined with spending to support agriculture, provides an opportunity to consider how to design programmes and policies that improve nutrition across the board. Even more broadly, a holistic and forward-looking view of policies in agriculture and food has the potential to enable development of a food system that:grows rapidly, thereby creating jobs, diversifying exports and improving livelihoods and equity;supports nutrition and health with significant positive spillover effects for health expenditures as well as for aggregate productivity, growth, employment, income distribution and resilience; and respects the environment and resource use constraints, notably water. This is a long-term agenda with many of the elements already spelled out in the 77-pager. 4 In addition, water infrastructure is a focus of Operation Vulindlela, 5 which is ongoing. The principal new element discussed here involves nutrition and health and the potential for a holistic view of agriculture and food policies to help deliver all three of the objectives contained in the bullet points listed immediately above. Shorter-term priorities in the immediate post-pandemic period are the focus of the next section.While the 77-pager highlights that \"the current pace of land reform is not satisfactory\", it also highlights steps to mitigate the uncertainty that may be generated by a comprehensive approach to land reform. These steps focus on management of the process \"in a manner that is transparent, consultative, and within a broad framework to ensure that factors critical to ongoing investment in agriculture and food security, such as the security of private property rights, are respected throughout the reform process\" (National Treasury 2019). If agriculture and food are to play important roles in building back fairer by helping to realise long-term development objectives, an essential priority is to reduce the policy uncertainty surrounding land reform.The government has recently taken steps to increase the pace of land reform. In October 2020, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, announced the process to be followed for making available 700 000 hectares of agricultural state land as part of the government contribution to the land reform programme (South African government 2020).The 77-pager also specifies a series of policies that could be implemented in the relatively short term. For example, failure to deliver to food exporters the necessary export documentation and licensing in a timely and accurate manner is a homemade export barrier (see page 51). There are other opportunities, notably under the broad rubric of export promotion.Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms and support economic recovery.Looking further ahead, the basics of land reform can be useful in defining priorities and putting in place a clear process. Typically, land reform involves breaking up larger operational units into smaller ones, and this appears to be what most advocates for land reform in South Africa have in mind. Hence, there is a natural focus on the transition from larger units to smaller units and the implications of that shift.While debate exists about the empirics of the farm-size/productivity relationship, the fundamental ideas are relatively clear. On the production side, small farms have the potential to increase productivity because of the quality of attention that an owner/operator can devote to production. Compared to larger operators, small farmers, especially those benefiting from appropriate knowledge support through extension programmes, may be able to deliver to their crops and livestock the right amount of attention at the right time. In addition, small owners/operators avoid principal-agent conflicts of interest. If there are productivity gains to be reaped from shifting to smaller farm sizes, it is in these domains that the gains are most likely to be found.At the same time, small farms almost certainly suffer from diseconomies of scale in input purchase and output sale due to higher transaction costs. The vulnerability of smaller operators to the exercise of market power by larger operators is another potential source of inefficiency and inequity. The upshot of these observations is that small farms are more likely to thrive where their advantages in terms of devoting quality time and attention to production are maximised, and their disadvantages in terms of transaction costs in input and output markets are limited. One set of arrangements that accomplishes this involves clusters of small farms each of which intensively operates a relatively small area. The clustering helps smaller farmers to cope with their disadvantages in input and output markets (for example, through cooperative buying/selling) while the focus on farming small areas intensively plays to their advantages in terms of the quality of time and attention.To farm intensively, these sorts of arrangements depend on sufficient access to water. Statistics related to small farms in South Africa are surprisingly sparse. However, those that do exist indicate that about half of the 2 million households engaged in farming practised some form of irrigation. 6 While there are perils for the generaliser, both the theory and the available empirics indicate that access to water is a key element, perhaps the key element, to a reasonably successful land reform programme in South Africa, especially one designed to increase the number of small owner/operators.Bringing water into the equation raises the already high stakes associated with the land reform programme. Irrigated agriculture frequently sits near the beginning of a complex value chain that generates substantial additional value. Further, the outputs of irrigated agriculture are often heavy or perishable, implying that local value addition facilities are highly dependent upon local production. Wine is a good, if somewhat extreme, example. A failed land reform effort that also diverts water away from productive uses and deprives downstream processing industries of supply would be very costly in terms of output and jobs. In contrast, a failed land reform effort of a dryland operation that focuses mainly on tradeable bulk commodities such as maize would have lower consequences per hectare reformed and much lower costs in terms of downstream disruptions.In this respect, it would be worth considering a focus on higher-potential zones where current large farms mainly produce bulk commodities. Investment in supplemental irrigation, to be used at critical junctures, may facilitate a shift in production patterns towards higher-value crops, such as fruits and vegetables.Given the detailed knowledge of water resources in South Africa that already exists, combined with recent assessments of climate change (for example, Schlosser et al. 2020), the identification of potential areas is likely to be relatively straightforward. These areas provide an opportunity to continue to gain experience in executing a land reform programme with a relatively high upside and lower risk.To close this section, it is useful to note some broad consistencies across objectives.Envisioning an agriculture and food system that (i) produces high-value products to meet rapidly growing export demand, notably in sub-Saharan Africa;(ii) supports healthy, tasty, convenient and nutritious diets for domestic consumers; and (iii) generates very substantial numbers of decent jobs and livelihoods appears to be a sensible and reasonably coherent path forward. By focusing on intensively operated farms on higher potential land, potentially buttressed by supplemental irrigation capability, land reform can help to move South Africa down that path.Moving in this direction will require very judicious use of water resources as well as a holistic consideration of agriculture, food and social policies. Some tangible steps in these directions, alongside a policy research agenda that would flesh out the details, could form important elements of a build back fairer agenda.Much has been written about the stubborn spatial legacies of apartheid. In urban zones, lower-income households, almost exclusively from previously disadvantaged groups, were shoehorned into township communities that were almost invariably long distances from job opportunities. To this day, many workers, notably lower-income workers, commute significant distances to work (Fobosi 2020). These commutes are characterised by unidirectional flows, high-peak demand and minimal off-peak use.The result is an enormous waste of time and resources, with lower-income South Africans bearing the brunt of these costs. As shown by Kerr (2015), private transport represents by far the largest category of provision of transport services. According to the data analysed by Kerr, private cars transport slightly more people than privately provided mini-bus services. All other forms of transport, except for walking, are small compared with private cars and private mini-bus services. Not surprisingly, lower-income South Africans are particularly large users of mini-bus services, especially when compared with private cars.Kerr finds that, in 2013, mini-bus users spent on average 53 minutes commuting each way, compared with 42 minutes for private cars. Journey times have been broadly increasing since 1993. If one aggregates mini-bus users with users of multiple modes of transport (75% of whom rely on mini-buses for a part of their journey), this aggregate group spends the highest share of income (17%) on transport of any group. Mlatsheni and Ranchhod (2017) estimate that the lowest wage earners spend around 40% of their income on transport. Kerr (2015), following an approach developed by Hausmann (2013) that accounts for both the indirect cost of travel time and the direct transport costs paid, finds that mini-bus users pay an approximate 30% implicit 'tax' on their wages related to travel time and expense (compared with an implicit 'tax' of about 16% for those who rely on private cars).Given these statistics, it is not surprising that around 70% of discouraged job seekers cite their location as the key constraint to looking for a job (Mlatsheni and Ranchhod 2017).Over the long term, major investment in public transport systems combined with targeted housing and urban development interventions can diminish these spatial legacies (South African Cities Network 2014). In the near term, housing patterns and transport infrastructure are effectively fixed. In addition, as discussed in section 2, fiscal constraints may substantially limit public investment in the medium term. In this light, steps that increase the efficiency of this infrastructure are important for alleviating the costs associated with long commutes. Among the options, dedicated bus lanes have been shown to be an effective standalone policy to mitigate congestion (Basso et al. 2011). In the South African case, the dedicated lanes would have to accommodate mini-buses to be meaningful. Increasing the average speed of the mini-bus service between townships where people live and locations where people work would reduce the time costs associated with commuting and increase the efficiency of the mini-bus service, which should eventually result in lower direct costs to consumers.Road space is, in the short run, a fixed resource. Giving privileged access to road space to mini-buses and buses during peak travel hours implies less road access for other users of the road, notably private cars and other commercial vehicles. Hence, a policy such as dedicated mini-bus lanes amounts, in the short run, to a redistribution from the relatively wealthy, who tend to drive private cars, to the relatively poor, who tend to take mini-buses. Looking only marginally further forward in time, there is good reason to encourage the emergence of more upscale mini-bus services that might attract current drivers of private cars so that they can avail themselves of the faster travel speeds provided by dedicated lanes along with lower unit costs of travel per kilometre. If each upscale mini-bus on net reduced congestion by removing private vehicles from the roads, average travel speed could increase across the board, with widespread benefits. It is worth noting that people who drive private cars to work can be assumed to be reasonably digitally savvy in most instances. Digital applications relying on smartphones, such as rideshare apps, have clear potential to efficiently group commuters who want to depart from nearby locations and go to nearby destinations.Alongside the human costs and economic disruptions and dislocations caused by COVID-19, the pandemic also increases uncertainty about the future. For example, we point, in the introduction, to the possibility that the pandemic may serve to catalyse the development and implementation of an economic reform agenda. This is conjecture. It may not. Nevertheless, a few points are reasonably clear. First, it seems unlikely that a continuation of the policies and practices that resulted in the dismal economic performance of the past decade (pre-pandemic) would yield substantially better outcomes over the next decade. Second, the tightening of fiscal space that was occurring prior to the onset of the pandemic has been exacerbated. Third, in South Africa like elsewhere, the burdens of the pandemic appear to have been inequitably distributed, with poorer and more vulnerable people suffering most.Further, while the pandemic has wrought many changes, many fundamentals remain functionally very similar. South Africa's economic structure, including its embedded inequities in outcomes and key institutional features, broadly persist. Hence, good ideas for sparking growth and reducing inequities pre-pandemic appear likely to remain good ideas looking ahead. As such, we highlight National Treasury's growth strategy document as a key reference. At the same time, the ongoing economic crisis in South Africa is no longer \"slow-burn\". Rather, it is acute and severe.The three policy areas in focus here seek to respond to current exigencies. They are quickly implementable, require little in the way of public investment and are likely to confer relatively greater benefits at the lower end of the income distribution. They are also consistent with the longer-term vision developed in the 77-pager, thus linking short-term response with long-term strategy. Of the policies considered, much greater openness to immigration of highly skilled and experienced workers (and their families) stands out as offering particularly strong potential to stimulate growth, create jobs and reduce inequality at scale, at low cost to government and with low risk.Chapter 6Building a competitive and dynamic green industrial sector in South Africa The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee for their useful comments and suggestions as well as participants in a seminar at the SARB on 26 January 2021.In quarter 2, South Africa's GDP declined by 51% (quarter on quarter SAAR) and more than 2 million jobs were lost (Stats SA 2020b).3 Several COVID-19 vaccines have already been approved for emergency use across many countries, with the hope of vaccinating enough people to achieve herd immunity by the end of 2021. South Africa expects to have vaccinated about 67% of the population by the end of 2021, enough to achieve herd immunity. However, some believe that COVID-19 is just one round of multiple outbreaks which have been hitting the world with increasing frequency and are likely to continue.they have the potential to bring about hitherto unknown disease burdens in addition to the direct impacts on livelihoods and economies, particularly on agriculture and infrastructure.Climate change is associated with extreme weather events, among them hurricanes, droughts and extreme temperatures. The COVID-19 pandemic, having decimated large parts of countries' economies, presents an opportunity and impetus to build better and smarter by 'greening' country development trajectories for sustainable growth and development. Such a reorientation would support more efficient production, make economies more resilient to shocks and enhance welfare.This paper looks at the challenges and opportunities facing the South African industrial sector with respect to greening production and consumption after COVID-19. We argue that path dependence poses a challenge to South Africa's transition. We consider the energy efficiency of the country's manufacturing sector and then proceed to identify specific challenges and opportunities and the role that policy can play in promoting green industrialisation in South Africa. In particular, we look at different strategies to reduce the manufacturing sector's carbon footprint.The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 explores the concept of green industrialisation and its relevance for South Africa. Section 3 discusses South Africa's emissions profile and environmental indicators. Section 4 presents the environmental policy and legal frameworks. Section 5 discusses the apparent trade-off between greening the economy and economic growth and development.Section 6 considers the necessity of green industrial policy as a tool for structural transformation. Section 7 examines the challenges and opportunities for South Africa in greening its industry, as well as progress achieved. The paper concludes with Section 8.The industrial sector, particularly manufacturing, is central to economic development, and South Africa is no exception. development. As shown in Figure 1, the South African industrial sector is built around the so-called minerals-energy complex, which has made South Africa one of the major carbon emitters in the world (ranked 14th in 2018). 5South Africa, like many other developing economies, is confronted by climate change, environmental degradation and resource depletion, which are challenges that impinge on the country's ability to grow sustainably and reduce poverty (United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 2011a). Recent climate change discussions, both at the global and national level, have made it abundantly clear that South Africa, like many other countries, must reorient its economy towards sustainable production and consumption.Given the pivotal role of the industrial sector in the South African economy, successful greening of industry should put the economy on a path to sustainable growth and development. According to UNIDO (2011b), \"greening of Industry is a method to attain sustainable economic growth and promote sustainable economies. It includes policymaking, improved industrial production processes and resourceefficient productivity\". In other words, greening industry is a process of reducing the carbon footprint of producing (and consuming) goods and services. Such efforts involve policymakers developing the right policy mix to incentivise or push private enterprises towards contributing to a cleaner economy, and industry making the right investments to reduce not only the energy intensity of production but also the amount of resources used in achieving a given level of output.The above suggests at least two distinct paths to realise industry greening. First, greening can be achieved through enhanced efficiency in the production of existing products: that is, using fewer and fewer inputs to produce a good or service. As an example, vehicles have over time become increasingly more efficient in terms of fuel burn, thus reducing their carbon footprint. Another example is increased energy efficiency in production whereby the same output is produced using less energy than before. Whether the input in question is energy or physical materials, as long as it takes fewer resources to produce the same amount of output, or more output can be produced with the same amount of inputs, the notion of greening of production holds.The second approach to the greening of industry is to develop wholly new industries and products using clean technologies. By definition, these industries should be resource efficient in the sense of low contributions to environmental pollution (air, water, land, etc.)  Industry, as a major consumer of energy in South Africa, will be a major source of mitigation.There are numerous reasons why the greening of the economy is in South Africa's interest. First, high concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions are associated with health complications, particularly respiratory problems, and indirectly, negative economic impacts. 8 Second, since South Africa made public commitments during COP21 and proceeded to ratify the agreement, it now has an obligation to deliver on its promises. In other words, the transition to a greener economy has become an imperative, with potential to impinge on government's credibility if not executed. Third, and perhaps more important, greening the economy has implications for competitiveness, particularly given that consumers are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious. In addition, some countries/regions are mooting changes to global trading regimes to explicitly account for carbon content in trade,The US withdrew from the Paris Agreement following the election of Donald Trump as president.The US has since rejoined following the inauguration of President Biden in January 2021.The policy menu to address climate change typically consists of both market-based measures such as pricing of externalities and non-market measures such as regulation. Where markets exist and are functional, price measures can support efficiency in resource use. However, with climate change, markets may not exist or may not be complete, rendering the price mechanism ineffective.Regulations can be more potent in such situations.8 Zar et al. (2007) find that 5% more South African children and adolescents suffered from asthma in 2002 than in 1995, while Nkosi, Wichmann and Voyi (2015) demonstrate that people living close to mine dumps in South Africa suffer more from respiratory diseases. Schwarzer (2013) states that health costs arising from mostly air pollution in the US range between 0.7% and 2.8% of GDP. To the extent that pollution may affect health outcomes, it impacts on firm productivity and also on labour supply (Hanna and Oliva 2011). Such costs apply to South Africa too.with the possibility of penal codes directed at non-conformers. 9, 10 Countries that move last are likely to face larger adjustment costs as a result. Lastly, greening of the economy can be growth enhancing, as it involves efficient use of resources and development of new technologies, both of which can push out the production possibility frontier. Green industrialisation presents a new source of growth opportunities for South Africa, a country that presently suffers from anaemic economic growth.Moreover, South Africa's current electricity constraints present an opportunity for the country to add new, low-cost energy in the form of renewable energy. The country cannot afford to miss the opportunity presented by the climate crisis.South Africa is among the major polluter countries globally, ranking 14th in the world in 2018 in terms of total greenhouse gas emissions (Carbon Brief 2018), despite ranking 37th in the world in terms of per capita GDP (South African Market Insights 2019). 11 This constellation suggests that the South African economy is carbon intensive. Figure 1, which shows the country's energy profile and the manufacturing sector's structure, provides further evidence of carbon intensity. The energy sector alone contributes close to 80% of the country's total emissions, of which 50% is from electricity generation and production of liquid fuels.Figures 1 and 2 present the profiles of South Africa's energy and manufacturing sectors. Energy is dominated by coal while manufacturing is dominated by metals and chemicals.9The EU, with its 'European Green Deal' (European Commission 2019), is already working on a plan to impose a carbon border adjustment mechanism (carbon tax) on goods perceived to be produced in ways that are not environmentally friendly. The mechanism seeks to ensure that the price of imports more accurately reflects their carbon content. Should this come into effect, countries like South Africa with high carbon content in their goods stand to lose market share in the lucrative EU market as competitiveness is eroded by the carbon adjustment. The return of the US to multilateralism, and to the Paris Agreement in particular, should give this EU initiative a 'shot in the arm'. The major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa include the primary (mining) and secondary (energy generation and manufacturing) sectors. Transport also contributes significantly to emissions. Electricity generation in South Africa is largely from coal (86%), with the balance distributed between nuclear (5%) and renewables (9%) (Stats SA 2018). South Africa is also among the global leaders in synthetic fuel production, producing about 25% of its liquid fuel needs from coal.The value chain involves several other chemicals. South African industry is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions for various reasons. First, it is reliant on 'dirty' energy (coal). Second, industrialisation in South Africa since the 1940s was anchored around the so-called minerals-energy complex -leveraging cheap electricity to process mineral products. This meant high energy consumption per unit of output. Cheap electricity incentivised investments in energy-intensive production methods, including smelters, resulting in lock-in and path dependence which still bedevils the country today. 12   While the government has enacted policies around green growth and climate resilience, there hasn't been the necessary coherence in policy, particularly between industrial policies and environmental policies, to incentivise industry to modernise. South Africa has thus been slow to adopt more modern, energy-efficient systems and production methods due to poor policy signals. In particular, electricity prices remained too low for too long. The recent increases in electricity prices, which have had the effect of 'forcing' energy efficiency across the whole spectrum of electricity consumers, are largely a result of underinvestment in energy, requiring marketbased rationing of electricity, rather than deliberate policy signals to internalise carbon externalities. Indeed, one could argue that there has been vacillation around carbon taxes which, while adopted as government policy, are still to be implemented.Transport is another major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions for South Africa. To government's credit, the carbon tax on motor vehicles was implemented nearly a decade ago with the goal of incentivising the production and sale of cleaner vehicles.Figure 3 shows the relationship between GDP and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in South Africa. There is a very high correlation between GDP and CO2 emissions up until 2008, and thereafter a noticeable decoupling of GDP from resource use, particularly energy. This is corroborated by Figure 4, which considers CO2 emissions per unit of GDP.  In purchasing power parity terms, emissions per unit of GDP sharply increased between 2000 and 2004, but have been trending downwards since then, though the rate of decline is rather slow. Specifically, emissions per unit of output declined from about 0.57 kg in 2009 to about 0.48 kg in 2018 -a 16% decline. This period coincides with the government's strong drive towards renewables. Figure 5 shows that while renewable energy grew sharply, it still accounts for a small proportion of total electricity generated in South Africa. Renewable electricity's share hovered around 2% during the period 1990-2013, but sharply increased after 2013 to reach about 7% in 2018. Figure 6 shows the composition of renewables supply for South Africa. Hydro has been steady over the years, but there has been an impressive increase in the supply of wind, solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal energy since 2013. Government has expressed its commitment to renewables through the various rounds of independent power producer procurements, with over 6 400 megawatts (MW) procured to date. What explains these encouraging trends and can they be sustained? Section 7 explores in some detail the possible factors driving these positive trends. Table 1 shows the government's efforts to reorient South Africa's energy mix and carbon footprint more generally. While there are questions regarding the institutional and political economy challenges to implementing these policies (WWF 2018), at least the signal is reasonably clear as to the preferred trajectory for the economy. The Integrated Resource Plan of 2010 set the tone by articulating the need to add some 17 800 MW of renewable electricity to the grid by 2030 -a goal that is highly achievable. The electricity outages experienced in 2008, which remain unresolved at the time of writing ( 2021), have also forced the government and electricity users to invest in energy-saving production and consumption methods, as discussed in Section 7. The sharp increase in electricity prices since 2008 has provided further impetus for firms (and households) to reduce the intensity of their energy use. Thus a combination of policy and market-rationing mechanisms seem to explain the positive developments with respect to renewable electricity generation and declining energy intensity. We are however unable to quantify the relative impacts of particular initiatives and policies.  To prevent environmental impacts related to negative air quality.To sustainably reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it gives effect to the polluter-pays principle.To ensure that the nation's water resources are protected, used and developed in ways that take sustainable use into account, reducing and preventing their pollution and degradation.Source: Authors' own compilationShould South Africa prioritise the greening of its industry and thus economy or should it prioritise economic growth and development, leaving greening for later?In other words, is there a trade-off between green growth/industrialisation and economic growth and development? On the face of it, this question is a difficult policy challenge for many policymakers, but as we argue here, it is a false choice, for it is premised on a misconception of sustainability.One of the major reasons for developing countries' failure to realise meaningful development is inadequate resourcing. There is not enough spending in key development areas such as health, housing, education and social welfare. Africa generally suffers from inadequate infrastructure, particularly for transport and energy, which has stifled economic growth in the continent. 18 At the same time, African policymakers must confront the challenges of climate change and the investments needed to mitigate and adapt to its effects. However, many climaterelated investments tend to have long payback periods (Arndt et al. 2020).For these reasons, many African policymakers regard environmental protection as a luxury to be dealt with at a later stage, once more urgent development challenges have been addressed (Altenburg and Rodrik 2017). Thus promises and commitments aside, there is likely to be less drive to push environmental protection and climate change mitigation policies, particularly where there are perceived conflicts with other development imperatives.South Africa has made some bold statements around climate change and environmental protection, with the government publishing various climate change policy papers and enacting acts of parliament to effect these policies (see Tables 1 and 2). However, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.There appears to be tension in the body politic, given the prospects of job losses in some carbon-intensive activities, including coal mining. Policy (or at least its implementation) does not seem to be well-coordinated across government. For instance, Eskom, the state monopoly in the electricity sector, recently embarked on a massive build programme with two mega coal-fired power plants -Medupi and Kusile. These plants will likely remain operational (and thus polluting) for the next three to five decades, if the lifespan of the existing coal plants is anything to go by. This step has been taken despite government's expressed commitment to green the economy, and clear opportunities provided by renewable energy to close the electricity supply gap from the perspectives of cost, construction time and technology leapfrogging. It would thus appear that South African policymakers also perceive a trade-off between green industrialisation and economic development. 19, 20   There are however strong reasons to believe that the perceived trade-offs being acted on by policymakers are based on a misconception of sustainable growth and development. Altenburg and Rodrik (2017: 7) articulate six arguments for why greening of growth is fundamental for sustainable development. For instance, failure to transform and green the South African economy while other countries transform would mean that South Africa would continue to produce goods for which demand will be declining, reducing the country's ability to effectively compete in the medium to long term, affecting its growth and employment. Also, given the awareness about climate change and measures being taken by various countries to reduce their carbon footprint, the world is likely to see trade regimes in the near future that penalise carbon in international trade. 21 Furthermore, failure to transform now means South Africa would deepen the carbon lock-in effect, raising the costs of switching to a greener economy in the future.Equally, the failure to transform the economy will result in the country missing out on opportunities to leverage green technologies for growth and development.First, green industrial policies drive innovation and thus productivity growth 19 However, there are some encouraging developments. First, the share of renewables in the country's energy basket continues to increase, with a total of 6 400 MW already procured (Department of Energy 2019). Second, South Africa has adopted a carbon tax (signed into law in 2019 but still to be made operational) to disincentivise production and consumption of carbon-intensive goods. Critics, however, argue that the rates are too low to force behaviour change (WWF 2018). Perhaps the point that is being missed here is that the promulgation of the carbon tax shows that the government has made a tangible commitment to transition the economy to a low-carbon trajectory. 20 In the case of South Africa, UNECA (2015) argues that there is apparent competition for financial resources between green growth interventions and general development challenges facing the country.21 The EU is working on such a regime -the carbon border adjustment mechanism. (Altenburg and Rodrik 2017). Given its relatively advanced industrial capacity, South Africa should be able to realise some of the new green innovations. Second, by reducing pollution green technologies support better health outcomes, which support better quality of life and in turn enhances productivity (UNIDO 2011a). Thus the perceived trade-off between green industrialisation and status quo-based development is largely a fallacy. 22In the case of South Africa, which is facing a binding electricity constraint, greening the energy grid should complement the government's development efforts. At present, the electricity supply shortage is negatively impacting production, as was shown by the many brownouts (planned power outages) during the winter of 2020, even as the country was under lockdown. The power shortages disincentivise new investment, particularly in the more energy-intensive industrial sectors. Indeed, inadequate electricity is one of the main factors explaining declining potential growth in South Africa (Heinemann 2019).Lifting the energy constraint should have a multiplier effect across all sectors of the economy, unleashing growth and employment. Policy could for instance encourage private sector renewable electricity generation with access to the grid to offload excess power or to supply energy to potential customers. This, however, requires reforming Eskom's integrated electricity system -in particular, unbundling generation, transmission and distribution and creating an open (competitive) electricity market. Such interventions should help lift the electricity constraint on growth, increase the share of renewables in the grid and enable competitive pricing of electricity. This is especially important given that the cost of constructing new renewable energy plants significantly decreased during the period 2010-2019, and that this trend is expected to continue. 236. Green industrial policy as a tool for structural transformation of the economy Markets are not good at identifying transformation opportunities and implementing measures to take advantage of them, and often must be cajoled by policy to allocate investments in a manner consistent with the country's development imperatives (see, for instance, Rodrik 2004). 24 Industrial policy -government actions to alter the structure of an economy, encouraging resources to move into particular sectors that 22 To the extent that externalities are under-priced in the global economy, unilateral greening efforts by firms in one country (e.g. internalising externalities) raise relative production costs and reduce short-term competitiveness. In this case, one could argue that there exists a trade-off between green industrialisation and welfare. But again, the real issues here are that the externalities are underpriced and firms are unilaterally internalising externalities, thus causing them to lose competitiveness in a relative sense.23 According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (2020), between 2010 and 2019 the cost of new solar PV projects went down by between 47% and 82% while that of wind projects went down by between 29% and 39%. This corroborates findings by a South African asset management firm (Future Growth Asset Management) that \"compared to the most competitively priced new coal plant construction today, a renewable energy plant is at least 30% cheaper to build, when translated to a cost per unit of electricity produced by each technology.\"24 It is well known in welfare economics that markets are good at generating efficient outcomes but such outcomes are not necessarily desirable. This is a point that is often missed by the proponents of 'free' markets.are perceived as desirable for future development -is one of the important tools for effecting structural transformation of an economy (Altenburg and Rodrik 2017;Aghion, Boulanger and Cohen 2011). It can be deployed in relation to climate change to help countries transition to low-carbon economies or to reduce environmental pollution more generally. The argument for (green) industrial policy rests on the existence of, and the need to correct, market failures impeding (green) transformation. Externalities are often cited as the rationale for industrial policy, particularly self-discovery externalities, coordination externalities, learningby-doing externalities and environmental externalities. 256.1 Industrial policies needed to address externalities Self-discovery externalities: Entrepreneurs must experiment with 'new products' and/or new ways of producing available products using domestic resources.Whereas the activity of discovering the cost structure of 'new' products has high social value to the economy, the entrepreneur is often unable to appropriate most of this value. Furthermore, the risk of carrying out such an activity is borne solely by the investor. This lopsided risk allocation disincentivises entrepreneurs, resulting in under-investment in self-discovery, a low range of green products and under-diversified economies. 26Coordination externalities arise when there is failure to properly coordinate and/ or sequence investments in a way that makes private investments profitable. This is particularly the case with high fixed-cost investments if such investments are to be undertaken sequentially and by different firms (Rodrik 2004). The sequential nature of the investments creates hold-up problems for early investors. Under these conditions the private sector may not be able to coordinate its investments in a way that makes it worthwhile for each individual entrepreneur to invest, especially if the profitability of each firm's investment depends in part on investments by other firms. This is likely to be the case with green goods as the existing infrastructures may not support production of such goods, requiring completely new investments across the value chain. Government can intervene to remove hold-up problems by either guaranteeing a certain return for the initial investors in sequential investment projects or directly undertaking the basic investments itself (e.g. in green infrastructure). 27Learning-by-doing externalities also matter for green industrial development. Khan (2015) points out that \"owners, managers, and supervisors often do not know how best to set up the factory, align the machinery, set up systems for quality control, reduce input wastage and product rejection, manage inventories, match order flows with production cycles, maintain after sales services, and approach a host of other internal team coordination and management issues that are essential for achieving competitiveness\". Firms can only build capabilities through 'learning by doing'. Like any other new sector, building a competitive green industrial sector will undoubtedly require significant learning by doing. However, to the extent that learning by doing is associated with low profitability or losses, it can become a constraint to green industrial development, especially in an environment where externalities are not correctly priced, if at all. However, as Khan (2015) notes, the 'doing' is necessary but not sufficient for 'learning' to take place. Owners or management often need to be cajoled to exert high levels of effort in the learning process. The history of industrial policy is littered with examples of 'infants' that never grew despite government support.Environmental externalities are the costs (or benefits) associated with the production or consumption of goods and services that are borne by (or accrue to) third parties. These have a bearing on the structure of economies as they may favour certain sectors over others. Because of the inability to properly assign property rights, markets generally fail to adequately price the environmental effects of economic activity, and this can lead to economically viable but socially undesirable economic activity (Schwarzer 2013). 28 In addition, overexploitation of natural resources undermines their ability to support future economic development and could cause a reversal of the gains realised to date (Altenburg andRodrik 2017 citing Fay et al. 2015). Environmental externalities are major sources of inertia in green transformation, insofar as industries are constrained by carbon-intensive technologies acquired years earlier owing to path dependence. Such path dependence gives these technologies an unfair advantage (e.g. coal-generated electricity) as externalities are not (adequately) priced. As we will discuss further below, where pricing of externalities is not feasible or is inadequate to level the playing field, the government can, and should, use (green) industrial policies to achieve the desired reconfiguration of the economy, with market forces ensuring efficiency along this new path. This approach is consistent with the second theorem of welfare economics, which argues that the market can achieve resource efficiency for any given initial allocation of endowments.There are several reasons why green industrialisation is unlikely to develop to the optimal level without government intervention. First, in most cases the markets for green goods are not well developed (possibly due to both selfdiscovery and coordination externalities) -a case of incomplete markets. 29 An example is the market for low emissions vehicles (LEVs), where these vehicles have a small share of the market despite being environmentally friendly. In 2019, electric cars accounted for 2.6% of global car sales while the global stock of electric cars stood at 1% of global car stock (IEA 2020). The low stock indicates market incompleteness as governments in the past did not have strong policy measures to support the development of this market. Recently, many governments have increased fuel taxes and also imposed carbon taxes, which have encouraged technological innovations in LEVs and raised the relative prices of vehicles propelled by fossil fuels.A related but different reason why green industries may fail to develop or flourish is unfair competition from carbon-intensive goods. Governments have, through their actions or inactions, inadvertently incentivised production and consumption of carbon-intensive goods, making it difficult for green goods to effectively compete. 30 Again, a good example is the market for LEVs. 31 Because the free market does not penalise fossil-fuel-based vehicles for the emissions they produce, and because fossil fuels are relatively inexpensive and in some cases even subsidised, LEVs (electric cars, hydrogen cars, etc.) cannot quite compete with established fossil-fuel-powered cars. Policy could help strengthen the market for LEVs by fully pricing in carbon through, for instance, fossil fuel/ carbon taxes, standards regulations, providing R&D incentives to support technological advancements in the sector as well as demand-side incentives to shift consumer tastes. 327. Green industrialisation in South Africa: challenges, progress and opportunitiesAs mentioned earlier, South Africa is one of the world's dirtiest producers with 86% of its electricity generated from coal. The energy sector therefore has an important role to play in the government's climate change mitigation efforts, as decarbonisation of the sector would have ripple effects across the economy. The Integrated Resource Plan 2019 details the country's planned energy transition and the changing energy mix with a view to significantly reducing emissions.South Africa faces various challenges in its attempt to green the economy, among them challenges relating to skills, financing, technology, institutional arrangements and the political economy (WWF 2018). 33 The political economy challenge looms large, and is compounded by high unemployment (around 30%), high poverty and high inequality (a Gini coefficient of 0.65), low skills, powerful trade unions and an inefficient state-owned electricity company (Eskom) that has vast market power.In addition, the structure of the economy, centred on heavy industries in the minerals extraction and processing value chains, gives policymakers pause. This constellation explains government's reluctance to aggressively force transition, instead preferring a gradual approach to decarbonisation (Amis et al. 2018).As an example, while the government has expressed strong interest in shifting electricity generation from coal to renewables through various iterations of the Integrated Resource Plan, the country faces the challenge of potentially stranded assets if the shift happens too quickly. Equally, demand for electricity currently exceeds supply, which has resulted in the country experiencing rolling brownouts which have constrained investment and growth. As such, there is little appetite by policymakers to retire these coal plants at this point, even as procurement of renewable energy has progressed. Perhaps the silver lining is the fact that most of the coal plants (except for Medupi and Kusile) are now approaching the end of their useful life, which naturally allows for a low-cost switch to clean energy.Another consideration relates to the jobs in the coal sector supporting these aging plants. 34 Decommissioning these plants would see a substantial decline in the demand for coal in the domestic market, and with it the loss of associated jobs. 35  While new jobs are expected to be created in the renewable energy sector as it expands, the skills challenge could potentially limit labour mobility across activities. Furthermore, to the extent that the new jobs are skill intensive, unemployment could worsen as the laid-off workers might not be able to reskill to take advantage of the green opportunities (Wakerford, Hasson and Black 2016). Furthermore, renewable energy jobs are likely to be capital intensive whereas coal jobs tend to be labour intensive.While any job losses are unwelcome, the jobs argument above is static and thus largely flawed. As pointed out earlier, the status quo is already costing the country jobs -both existing and potential -as the instability in the electricity grid is impacting production and competitiveness and also forestalling investment. Important as they are, there is thus the danger of over-emphasising the existing 33 WWF (2018) argues that the country lacks a common national narrative of and reference point for the green economy, which has resulted in government institutions focusing on different and sometimes conflicting goals. One example is the misalignment between \"the ethos of the green economy, industrial policy, and the structure of the financial system\", with the financial system not adapted to support investment in low-carbon technologies, except perhaps in the renewable energy sector. Moreover, South Africa faces a binding skills constraint, and has over the last few decades morphed into a technology adopter rather than a technology leader. South Africa also spends relatively little on R&D (less than 1% of GDP).34 Transition in the energy sector will, among other things, require reforming the electricity sector.After dragging its feet for a long time, government finally appointed a Chief Restructuring Officer at Eskom in 2019.35 Demand for coal at the global level has been declining and is projected to decline further (Chamber of Mines 2018). This will likely put pressure on the government to support coal jobs in the domestic market, delaying the needed transition. Electricity generation from coal in South Africa has become expensive, particularly if one considers the incessant blackouts, which cost investment, growth and jobs. Over and above the high prices paid by consumers, Eskom has literally pushed the government to a fiscal cliff through the many bailouts afforded to the entity to help keep the lights on. Things only get worse for coal if one also consider externalities, which we should.jobs at the expense of growing the economy and expanding opportunities (the insider/outsider problem). As argued by Simbanegavi and Mnguni (2019), \"without building competitiveness and viability, policy efforts aimed at 'protecting jobs' can only delay, but not prevent, the demise of the struggling incumbent firms, and at a high cost to society\". 36There are potentially strong multiplier effects from relieving the energy constraint.Pursuing renewable energy has multiple benefits. It not only relieves the energy constraint, but also allows the government to realise its Paris commitment, supports investment and employment growth, supports technological innovations thereby enhancing spillovers and competitiveness, and possibly enables technology leapfrogging. This should expand green job opportunities in the rest of the economy (Economic Development Department 2010).How much progress has South Africa made in greening its industry and economy? Amis et al. (2018) give South Africa a score of 5 out of 10, arguing that the efforts have largely been a \"public relations exercise\" as opportunities to green the economy have not been properly exploited. Notwithstanding this negative assessment, we show below that some commendable progress has indeed been realised. Figure 7 shows a sustained reduction in the energy intensity of production. Owing to advances in technology, policy support and rapid declines in costs, renewable energy technologies have been widely adopted around the world, and are by and large cost competitive vis-à-vis fossil-fuel-based technologies (International Renewable Energy Agency 2019). Indeed, in terms of new investments globally, renewable energy beats all forms of fossil fuel investments combined (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century 2017). South Africa has taken advantage of these positive developments in the global energy technologies space, with some appreciable diversification of the energy pool in the recent time period (see Figure 5). To date, 6 422 MW has been procured from more than 100 independent power producers, of which 3 776 MW is already feeding into the national grid (Department of Energy 2019). 37 As mentioned, a shift in the energy mix towards renewables supports the greening of production, particularly with respect to manufacturing, since manufacturing in South Africa is energy intensive. 38 Other notable initiatives to reduce the carbon content of output include industrial energy efficiency, demand-side management policies and market-based incentives. We discuss these initiatives below.One might ask: What has the South African government done to support energy efficiency by firms (and households) and thus reduce the country's carbon footprint? Is it all talk and no action, as Amis et al. (2018) suggest? The answer, in our view, is that the government has done a fair amount, though there still is a long way to go. The industrial energy efficiency project is the flagship thus far and, as we discuss later, is world pioneering.Hosted by the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa, the industrial energy efficiency project was established in 2010 in collaboration with UNIDO, the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (which is now the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office). 39 The project contributes to the sustainable transformation of industrial energy usage practices in South Africa by, among other things, formulating and implementing an enabling policy framework that supports energy efficiency; creating institutional capacity to implement the energy management standards; raising awareness around the importance and impact of industrial energy efficiency; and energy audits. Five major industrial sectors were targeted for the pilot project on account of their potential to bring about a reduction in energy consumption and thus emissions: namely, agro-processing; chemicals and liquid fuels; metals processing and engineering; the automotive industry; and mining (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 2015).According to the National Cleaner Production Centre (2020), the benefits of the industrial energy efficiency project up to 2020 include a saving of 6.5 TWh of energy, mitigation of 6.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and a saving of R5.3 billion in energy costs for the participating companies. In addition, nearly 6 500 engineers, technicians and managers were trained in energy efficiency while over 200 experts were trained in energy management standards and energy systems optimisation. The industrial energy efficiency project won the International Energy Award 2020 in recognition of its achievements.The government also intervened to support energy efficiency by households and small firms through the municipal Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) programme. The programme included retrofitting existing facilities such as street lighting, traffic signals, municipal buildings, water pumps and waste water treatment plants (UNECA 2015). Among the expected benefits were reduced electricity demand and thus reduced greenhouse gas emissions. One of the main elements of the EEDSM is the National Solar Water Heater Programme, which targeted the installation of 1 million solar water geysers between 2010 and 2015, with the goal of saving 3 500 GWh per annum. The programme, funded by the Department of Energy and implemented by Eskom, integrated the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental), allowing for job creation in project management and solar water heater manufacturing, installation and maintenance (UNECA 2015).The question, however, is whether the programme goals and objectives were met.It turns out that the programme fell far short. Only 400 000 units were installed under the rebate programme by 2014 against a target of 1 million solar water heaters -a 40% success rate (Cilliers 2018;Netshiozwi 2019). Apart from low uptake, another challenge with the programme was the extensive use of imported geysers or components, which created both quality issues and undermined localisation efforts, reducing the sustainability of the programme. The Department of Energy has since taken over the programme from Eskom and has set a new cumulative target of 1.75 million units by 2019 and 5 million units by 2030 (Cilliers 2018). On a positive note, the establishment and growth of the solar factory in Atlantis (Cape Town), and at least six other solar water heater manufacturers nationwide, was nurtured by the state programme, with manufacturers benefitting from the programme's 70% local content requirement.While South Africa has made notable progress in lowering the energy intensity of production (Figure 7), it is instructive to assess its performance relative to peers, particularly the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Figure 8 shows this comparison in CO2 emissions per unit of GDP (in constant 2010 US dollars). Africa's excessive reliance on coal for its electricity. Also, policy implementation to improve the energy mix has been weak, despite promising policies on paper. With the EU working on a border carbon tax adjustment and the US re-joining the Paris Agreement, South Africa's export competitiveness could be in jeopardy.In 2008, South Africa experienced debilitating blackouts and brownouts which affected industry and households. Prior to that, electricity prices in South Africa were among the lowest in the world, and these low prices not only encouraged energy-intensive investments, but also incentivised inefficient consumption of electricity. The industrial energy efficiency project and the EEDSM programme 40 When viewed in this context, the skepticism by Amis et al. ( 2018) seems warranted.were largely a response to the high energy consumption per unit of output in South Africa. At the same time that these programmes came into effect, electricity prices began increasing to fully reflect the costs of providing the service (Figure 9). This increase in prices encouraged firms and households to conserve electricity, reinforcing the impacts of the industrial energy efficiency project and EEDSM.The sustained above-inflation electricity price increases since 2008 have moved South Africa from being among the countries with the cheapest electricity in the world to the middle tier. South Africa compares poorly among emerging market peers, which is concerning from the point of view of its competitiveness. As of 2018, South Africa ranked as the most expensive country among the BRICS countries. 41 The cost of electricity in South Africa was R2.56 (p/kWh) while that for Brazil, Russia, India and China was R2.16, R0.92, R1.19 and R1.38 (p/kWh), respectively. Looking at Figure 7 on its own, one is tempted to argue that energy efficiency initiatives in South Africa have permeated the industrial sector and the economy more generally. The energy intensity of total GDP shows a strong downward trend since the mid-1990s. Similarly, the energy intensity of the industrial sector also shows a declining trend since the early 2000s, with the slope steepening since about 2010. This period coincides with a number of initiatives directed at reducing the energy intensity of production, including the industrial energy efficiency project, energy demand-side management policies and strong electricity price increases (Figure 9). However, there are other factors that could just as well explain this pattern, including the exit of some high energy-intensive users in the metals, foundries and smelting subsectors as a result of the global financial crisis (weak demand) and lack of competitiveness (South African Institute of Foundrymen 2015). 42 An interesting question is how much scope remains for further improvements in energy efficiency and thus lower energy intensity in the industrial sector, particularly in the absence of a change in the energy mix. procured from more than 100 renewable independent power producers. Due to competition and innovation in the industry, the price offered by the independent power producers has continued to decrease. For example, for wind technology, the average bid price, which was 151 cents per kWh in 2011, had decreased to 62 cents per kWh by 2016. Supported by various government instruments, and with likely increased support from financial institutions in future, we are more likely to see renewable energy accounting for an increased proportion of the total electricity generated in the country.Greening the energy sector, though important, is only one part of the greening process for the industrial sector. Cleaner energy implies, all other things being equal, lower energy consumed to produce a unit of output. Greening of production and consumption also requires the production of green goods (and services) and complementary policies to incentivise demand of the same. South Africa is the most advanced manufacturing economy on the African continent. It is ranked the regional lead in sub-Saharan Africa, and 45th globally with respect to the competitiveness and industrial development index (UNIDO 2018). 44   42 According to the South African Institute of Foundrymen (2018), over 100 South African foundries have closed since 2003, and for those remaining, production has slowed by about 43% since 2007.43 There must be limits to energy efficiency in production. Beyond a certain point, firms are not able to meet regulatory standards through enhancing energy efficiency, hence new products or completely new ways of producing the product may be the only solution. For example, further tightening of vehicle emissions standards in such regions as Japan, the EU and the US may force manufacturers to abandon or significantly modify the workings of the internal combustion engine (Altenburg and Rodrik 2017).44 This index is composed of three dimensions: dimension 1 assesses a country's capacity to produce and export manufactured goods, dimension 2 assesses technological deepening and upgrading, and dimension 3 assesses a country's world impact.These capabilities mean that South Africa has potential to participate in many industries/sectors producing green goods (see Altenburg and Rodrik 2017: 8).Leading in the production of green manufactured goods, including green energy components, should not only expand the country's renewable energy significantly but also help fast-track the greening of the economy. Efforts are under way to expand investments in concentrated solar power in South Africa, particularly in the Northern Cape region. Table A1 in the Appendix shows the projects that are either under construction or already operational.COVID-19 gave the world a glimpse of how devastating natural disasters can be to economies and livelihoods. Climate change would be far more devastating than the COVID shock, given its permanence and difficulty that countries will have to adapt. 45Countries globally have committed to engage in climate mitigation more concretely through the Paris Agreement. The South African government has made bold statements around climate change and environmental protection, as exemplified by various climate change policy papers and laws. This chapter has explored how well these policies and regulations have been implemented and what the outcomes have been so far. We have considered the challenges and opportunities facing the South African industrial sector when it comes to greening production and consumption, and the role that policy can play in promoting green industrialisation.One challenge the country faces is how to significantly shift electricity generation from coal to renewables without compromising on short-term economic growth and while addressing the challenges of high unemployment and poverty. We argue that the current electricity shortages, which are constraining investment and growth, are a blessing in disguise as renewable energy can be ramped up without the need to decommission some coal-generating assets in the short term.In the short term, the trade-off between coal and clean energy is not at all binding. Furthermore, the concern that a transition to renewables-based electricity generation could create the risk of stranded generating assets in the medium term is also unfounded for South Africa, as most of these assets are already nearing the end of their lifespan. Policy should also address the apparent misalignment between green economy objectives and those of other key sectors.For instance, the government may need to increase its spending on R&D or create incentives for the financial system to increase its support of risky investments in low-carbon technologies.The country has an opportunity to transition into renewables and a low-carbon economy. First, most coal plants are approaching their decommissioning state. Second, South Africa, as the most developed manufacturing economy in Africa, has the capacity to participate in a large number of sectors that produce green 45 Although there are some that suggest that pandemics like COVID-19 may become more frequent in future.goods and to lead the greening crusade in Africa, creating regional green value chains. In particular, South Africa can increase its participation in renewable energy technologies. These include high-tech components of solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind turbines and energy storage technologies such as the battery energy storage system being pioneered by Eskom. However, just because South Africa has the opportunity to produce renewables does not necessarily mean that it also has an inherent comparative advantage in the production of the related technologies. Areas where the country has a comparative advantage -whether these are sectors or certain stages of the energy production value chain -need to be identified and focused on. It may also be important to identify areas with potential and work on those to ensure future comparative advantage.Although South Africa compares unfavourably to its BRICS peers with respect to the emissions intensity of its output, the country has realised some successes. These include renewable energy procurement from the independent power producers programme and government's initiatives to reduce carbon content (e.g. through the industrial energy efficiency policy, demand-side management policies and market-based incentives). The carbon intensity of the country's GDP has decreased appreciably, though more remains to be done.A major concern for South African policymakers ought to be the developments in the EU around the carbon border adjustment mechanism. If South Africa continues to dither on greening, there is a risk that it will be heavily penalised in trade once the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism takes effect. The country has no choice but to pursue green growth in general, and green industrialisation in particular, as failure to do so will undermine its growth prospects and carry major socio-economic ramifications. South Africa's position vis-à-vis its peers suggests it will likely experience substantial erosion of its competitiveness. Government needs to be decisive and remove any barriers to the development of the renewable energy sector. It also needs to put in place better incentives to encourage green industrialisation. More specifically, all government industrial support must be reviewed, with particular attention being given to aspects of policy that hinder change.","tokenCount":"55980"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3266591725.json b/data/part_1/3266591725.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bcfd0ef48e3e77a2587fd27829ffff16917ac67a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3266591725.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8e8f8d431cf9f3ea4af880d0b5bb56a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cc6ea7d7-9166-4965-a6dc-d8a3261415da/retrieve","id":"-1042956543"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"268eb8ba-acb1-482c-8641-c391ca29217b","pagecount":"57","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants and dryland systems; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.The Program thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) is a project aimed at delivering highly productive, farmer-preferred chickens in sub-Saharan Africa. The project evaluates these chickens through collaboration with smallholder farmers, with a particular focus on women. Women are the key drivers of the transformation of the chicken value chain due to the fact that 70% of the smallholder chicken producers in Africa are women.Empowerment is an intervention-based concept that has contextual diverse definitions but with the specific goal of building the capacity/power of an individual to be able to freely actualize her or his goals in life and the lives of others important to her or him. Women's empowerment is gender specific but the process may be gender inclusive through the engagement of men in female empowerment.Women's empowerment is a key concept in the main goal of the ACGG project. Its meaning varies among diverse groups across ecological, age, gender and socio-economic strata, especially in a developing nation like Nigeria, where a wide gap exists between the two ends of the continuum, such as rural and urban, the young and the old, males and females, illiteracy versus literacy, and income level. In addition, women's empowerment, as a genderspecific concept, is interwoven with socio-cultural norms and values at the community level. Hence, there is need for preliminary assessment of the local understanding of the concept for effective and sustainable impacts that will culminate in associative outputs to enhance gender-unity (rendering voluntary support towards improving individuals' situation and condition regardless of the person's gender) which will meet the goals of the ACGG project in Nigeria. Understanding the local meaning of empowerment will also inform selection of indicators to measure women's and men's empowerment and identify interventions to close the gaps.The definition of empowerment is to bestow power on an individual or group, to enable authority or power to act. Embedded in the concept of empowerment are strength and confidence which contribute to control of one's own life and claiming rights. Empowerment has multiple dimensions and different meanings in diverse contexts. Sociologically, empowerment enables people to control their own lives and claim their rights confidently. Empowerment embodies control, self-reliance, choice, a life of dignity in accordance with one's values, capability to fight for one's rights, independence, decision-making, and freedom based on local value and belief system. Rahman (2013) defines empowerment as a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation, decision-making power, control and transformative action.Most societies in the world are patriarchal in nature; most men in a society, if not poor, have freedom to make their own choices and decisions concerning their own lives (Rahman 2013). This is not usually the case for women in patriarchal societies. Women are often dominated by men and lack freedom to make their own choices and decisions about their personal lives. Women are also at a disadvantage in communities in some developing countries where it is believed that females do not need to be educated and do not need properties or inheritance because of the expectation that their husband will provide material support. It is therefore believed that if a daughter can be married into a rich family, such a woman would be empowered. Rahman (2013), looking through the gender lens, stated that empowerment can be used to judge women's development and affirmed that empowerment of females is important in the development of strong families and societies. Kaur et al. (2007) buttressed this by stating that the empowerment of women would hasten the pace of social development. Rahman (2013) advocated gender empowerment rather than women's empowerment. He defined this as empowering women without creating a perception of emasculation of men. Gender empowerment, according to Rahman, balances empowerment and prevents it from being one sided i.e. women's empowerment because most men in developing countries are also exploited by existing power structures in the society and hence need empowerment also.According to VeneKlasen and Miller (2002) indicators of empowerment include freedom of mobility, involvement in major household decision-making, relative freedom from family control, political and legal awareness, involvement in community and political activities, economic security, awareness of choices, awareness of one's own health, participation in groups, and desire for information and new experiences. This further buttresses the argument that empowerment is a multidimensional concept which cannot be 'boxed into a corner'. Hashemi et al. (1996) highlighted eight indicators of women's empowerment as mobility, economic security, ability to make small purchases, ability to make larger purchases, involvement in major decisions, relative freedom from domination by the family, political and legal awareness, and participation in public protests and political campaigning.Even when empowerment, especially of women, is encouraged, there are variables which hinder its realization. In their study, Kaur et al. (2007) concluded that rural women's empowerment was hindered by social constraints including illiteracy, dependency, lack of right to free expression, and unhealthy societal traditions and customs, political constraints including harassment and exploitation of women leaders, non-implementation of political provisions for gender leadership, misguidance of women in leadership by people with ill motives and vested interests, and male dominance of the society, economic constraints including hindrance in implementation of women's right to share of family properties, general handling of family income and finance by men, and lack of freedom of working family women to independently spend their own income, and psychological constraints including women's lack of knowledge about their right to empowerment, shyness, fear of social insecurity, domestic violence and abuse, lack of appreciation and recognition of women's contributions, disregard of women's family and societal decision-making, emotional exploitation, and the patriarchal attitude of societies.Although the study by Kaur et al. (2007) was conducted in India, the findings are reflective of the situation in Nigeria. Male dominance in societies is a prominent constraint to women's empowerment.Constraint to women's empowerment is an important issue, however, in developing countries, it should be addressed with consideration to the need for empowerment of groups as a whole, specifically, rural families living in poverty, in order to build sustainable gender balance and equity. Empowered women can equip the next generation with confidence, high self-esteem, psychological stability and the strength needed to face life challenges. An empowered woman will build humans who believe in themselves and are reasonably independent and able to make the right choices and decisions without fear or favour, thereby building a society with reduced vulnerability.A cross-sectional research design was adopted as appropriate for this pilot survey study which focused on males and females across age (men, women, male youth and female youth). Age is a critical factor that shapes how women and girls experience gender inequalities (Eerdewijk et al. 2017) within the highly homogenous rural community setting. The pilot survey was purposively conducted in Imo and Rivers States, Nigeria due to affordable logistic factors. Two ACGG project participating communities (one with the largest and one with the smallest average attendance of women at community innovation platforms) were purposively selected from each of the sampled states (Table 1).Two gender-specific Focus Group Discussions (FGD), grouped by male and female, were conducted in each of the five sampled communities in the two states (Table 1). A pilot ACGG empowerment tool (a hybrid tool based on the International Livestock Research Institute's (ILRI) and KIT's empowerment tool developed during field visits for ACGG) was used as the FGD guide. The guide contains two sections: local understanding of empowerment and identifying local empowerment indications. The elicited information was analysed using the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analytical tool. The FGD conducted for each gender in each location of the study was transcribed into a separate Microsoft Word document. The documents generated were read through thoroughly and quotations providing answers to each section of the study were elicited. Codes (words or short phrases that summarised the meaning of similar quotations) were assigned to the quotations. The number of quotations summarised by each code was used as its frequency. The percentages assigned to each gender for each code was derived by calculating the percentage that the quotations from each of the genders accounted for in the total number of quotations for each code. Empowerment of women smallholder poultry farmers is the central goal of the ACGG project. Hence, the women's and girls' empowerment model developed by Eerdewijk et al. (2017) provides the conceptual framework for this pilot study. According to the model, \"Empowerment of women and girls is the expansion of choice and strengthening of voice through the transformation of power relations, so women and girls have more control over their lives and futures; it is both a process and an outcome\" (Eerdewijk et al. 2017:13).Elements of women's empowerment include:1.Women's expansion of choice means the ability of women to make and influence choices that affects their lives and future; indicators are:i. expanding repertoire of options and opportunities to choose from; ii. imagining possible choices that were previously unimaginable; and iii. transforming choices into actions and outcomes.Strengthening of women's and girls' voices concerns the capacity of women and girls to speak up and be heard and to shape and share in discussions and decisions in public and private domains that affect their lives and future; indicators are: i. establishing a presence and participating in negotiating with and influencing decision-making processes in household, community, market and state arenas; ii. enabling women and girls to voice their demand for change, through leadership and collective organizing, to pursue the interests and needs of women and girls.Power relation: activeness and effectiveness of choice and strength of voice of an individual are determined by the position and condition of such individual in a power relation.The main tools of women's and girls' empowerment are resources and space. Spatial dimensions include agency (leadership, decision-making and group participation) and institutions (family, household, community, education, market, religious and policy). There are no blueprints for empowerment and pathways towards it can have different entry points, using different types of resources, engaging with different expressions of agency or challenging different aspects or arenas of institutional structures (Eerdewijk et al. 2017).Furthermore, Eerdewijk et al. (2017) summarize the key ways empowerment is understood in academic and practitioner thinking as follows:i.Empowerment as the expansion of women's abilities to make and influence choices that affect their lives. Expanding choice comes from realized tangible and intangible resources and women's agency (the ability to define one's goals and act upon them). These translate into outcomes. ii.Empowerment as a process of transformative changes that is dynamic, iterative, and non-linear.Change occurs at multiple levels and across different dimensions. It is about the link between individual change and systemic change-in norms, attitudes, power relations-of social institutions (state, market, households). iii.Empowerment is about redistributing power between individuals or groups. Empowerment engages with 'power over' (ability to control others) as well as 'power to' (to do something), 'power within' (self-esteem, dignity, self-respect) and 'power with' (from solidarity, collective action, mutual support). iv.Empowerment as context-specific and driven by women themselves. This means that women themselves, rather than other people or experts, have a voice in and direct the change they desire and how to get there. It is about expanding women's choice to live their desired life; not defining what choices they should be making. Summarily, the model presents empowerment as transformative in three main ways:1. Transforming power relations to strengthen the choice and voice of women and girls; this entails a redistribution of resources and a shift in institutional structures; 2. Transforming the ways in which women and girls express power; this entails the strengthening of agency in expanded choice and voice; and 3. Transforming the way we think about social change. Empowerment is not about replacing one form of power or domination with another.The results are presented and discussed under two sections: local understanding of empowerment and local empowerment indicators.Section 1: Local understanding of empowerment Gender disaggregation of the definition of empowerment across the states Results in Figure 1 show that receiving assistance, having access to funds when needed, making ends meet, increased finances and knowledge, ability to solve problems, productivity, human development (long term outputs of development activities in the social and economic dimensions of peoples' lives), knowledge impartation, being responsible in the community, mentorship and positive change (experiencing a buoyant and pleasant socioeconomic situation and conditions after an experience of poor level of living) were the definitions given to empowerment by men in Imo State. Imo women saw empowerment as building potentials. Results in Figure 2 show that receiving assistance and human development was a common definition given to empowerment by both male and females in Rivers State; authority, knowledge impartation and goal realization were the particular definitions given to empowerment by Rivers males while females in Rivers saw empowerment as being able to make ends meet, increase in finances and knowledge, and receiving ACGG chickens.Results in Table 2 show that receiving assistance (15 quotations) was the most prominent definition of empowerment and this was agreed upon by both male and female groups in the study area. These are some of the direct quotations common to both male and female respondents:Empowerment means help from individual or government to move on in your endeavour.Empowerment is an assistance given to an individual in order to achieve his or her life expectations or goals. It can be financially, materially or through skill acquisition.Empowerment is an improvement in a person's life through certain assistance given to such person and this reflects in the person's family life.When someone is empowered it means the person is financially supported or materially supported.A situation where someone can open a small petty trade for me. As I am old, I can't do tedious work, but ACGG chicken will also be of help to me.If I can get support for my small business to make it big then I am empowered.…any group or government can come to your rescue in terms of financial assistance. Empowerment is when you give someone money or advice.Empowerment is help rendered to a person to make progress.Empowerment is the assistance from somebody for you to attain the stage you want to be.Empowerment is a form of help.Empowerment means aids or assistance given to somebody for future achievement.When somebody helps you to develop then you are empowered.Empowerment is a way of helping somebody from an idle state to a working stage in order to help the person achieve a living.Empowerment is to help somebody to realize his goal.When somebody helps you to develop then you are empowered.Empowerment is a way of helping somebody from an idle state to a working stage in order to help the person achieve a living.Results in Figure 3  and increased finances and knowledge (\"It is an addition of vision or an increment in the person's life, whether financially, knowledge acquisition, exposure. Empowerment also means to increase the status quo of someone's life\"; \"Empowerment in its sense can be in cash, knowledge acquisition or in material things. In as much as you tell somebody what to do and the person does such and was able to see the dividends or gains from such things\"; and \"I get money from the sale of eggs\") were also common definitions given to empowerment. Male groups (66.67%) more than female groups (33.3%) equated empowerment with receiving assistance; equal percentages of male and female groups (50%) viewed empowerment as human development (this is from a general perspective and may represent the long-term positive impact of development efforts on men and women) and making ends meet while empowerment was defined as increased finances (this is different from access to funds or financing) and knowledge by more males (66.67%) than females (33.33%). To the males only, empowerment means productivity (\"A man is productive\" and \"When somebody is energetic to produce something\"), authority (\"Empowerment means authority\"), ability to solve problems (\"When someone is empowered he or she must have stopped thinking of a situation or problems he or she was facing as a result of empowerment\" and \"Someone who can meet up with the problem of his family and himself and can make ends meet\"), having access to funds when needed (\"He can get support such as funds to actualize his project\"; \"Empowerment is getting funds to support us\"; and \"Empowerment is the help I need to move my business forward in terms of funding\"), being responsible in the community (\"He is responsible in the community\"), positive change in health (\"Empowerment can also change someone's health from being unhealthy to a healthy individual once given the support to go to a hospital for treatment\"), mentorship (\"Empowerment means advice given to a person in terms of moral support as a mentor. When you are under somebody learning something for about five years and the person tells you how to start your own\") and knowledge impartation (\"Empowerment is an equipment to equip human beings in the knowledge of what they do not know so that they can know something better than they were doing in the past\"). ACGG chickens (\"My view of empowerment is to get ACGG chicken\") and building potentials (\"It is a process of helping someone to help others\" and \"Training somebody to train others\") were the only two definitions of empowerment peculiar to only female groups in the study area.The above results imply that both males and females in the study area saw empowerment as receiving assistance in the form of financial support, advice or any other kind of assistance from an individual, group or the government to develop their human capabilities and enable them to make ends meet and realize their goals in life. Both males and females also see empowerment as anything that can increase their knowledge and translate to an increase in their income. The other definitions given to empowerment by the men are diverse, ranging from productivity to goal realization (\"Empowerment is to help somebody to actualize his goal\"), authority, ability to solve problems, access to funds when needed, being responsible in the community, positive change, knowledge impartation and mentorship. Females specifically emphasized \"ACGG chickens\" as a means through which their potentials can be built, i.e. they are helped and trained so that they can help and train others. This finding corresponds to the findings of Lombardini et al. (2017) and the Independent Evaluation Group (2016) that empowerment is a context specific, multidimensional concept which has different interpretations. The finding also corresponds with Rahman's (2013) view that empowerment is a process of building potentials. It is also in consonance with the view of Sen and Grown (1987) that empowerment has requisites, which include resources (finances, knowledge and technology) and skills.  The results in Figure 4 show that in Imo State, helping others, caring for the family and happiness were seen by both males and females as features of an empowered man. Ability to solve immediate problems, business expansion, positive attitudinal change, good health and improved farm practices were seen by only males as the features of an empowered man while females saw good living standard as another feature of an empowered man in Imo State.The results in Figure 5 show that while the males in Rivers State expressed that features of an empowered man are good health, helping others, positive attitudinal change, good living standard and financial buoyancy, females viewed an empowered man as one who experiences business expansion.The results in Table 3 show that business expansion (five quotations: \"Empowerment is when one is given 20 chickens and manage it up to 80-100 in one year\"; \"Increment in the size of a business\"; \"When I have a shop and it is increasing everyday with many things\"; \"If two people were selling things with umbrellas and one eventually got a container. I am sure you will prefer to buy things from the person with container and that is the difference\"; and \"Increase in business\"), good living standard (five quotations: \"Everything comes easy for you\"; \"Standard of living differentiates an empowered man from a man that is not empowered\"; \"An empowered man has a source of income while a man that is not empowered does not have something to rely on as a source of living\"; \"A change from poverty status to an improvement of standard of living of a man shows that the man has been empowered\";and \"He will have the basic necessities of life.\") and positive attitudinal change (\"When a group of boys are used to smoking and driving and you suddenly observe that two of them stop doing these but always go out [with] money and return back home later, you will know that such boys must have been empowered by their uncles or somebody\"; \"When someone is empowered his reasoning will be positive and contributing positively to the development of the society\"; \"He looks responsible and generous\"; \"Kind in character\"; and \"Change of character and health because he thinks less of the problems he has.\") were the most quoted features of an empowered man.Results in Figure 6 show that while males had much to say about the features of an empowered man, the females said little regarding male empowerment. Both males and females expressed five common features of an empowered man. These were business expansion, good living standard, happiness (\"He will be happy\"; \"Happier than a man that is not empowered\"; \"The happier has been empowered\"; and \"If I am prosperous, I will be happy.\"), helping others (\"He will be extending his good life to others. He will be able to sort out problems for others\"; \"A successful chicken producer is someone who can help others in the community\"; \"He is capable of rendering help to the young ones. Helping people to grow to certain stage\"; and \"An empowered person can employ others to work under him having been empowered.\") and caring for the family (\"Take care of my immediate family\"; \"A man who can take care of his wife\"; and \"A man who can educate his children.\"). Positive attitudinal change, financial buoyancy (\"He is financially buoyant and has properties\"; Changed like standing on his own\"; \"The person will be seen to have money\"; and \"Empowered because he lives buoyantly.\"), improved farm practices (\"Maintain his farm very well\"; \"Difference in how the office is equipped\"; \"…change or improvement in the operation of a woman you can then say that woman has been empowered.\"), ability to solve immediate problems (\"Able to solve immediate family problem\" and \"You will know one who is empowered by seeing him solving his immediate problem.\") and good health (\"An empowered man looks good looking and healthy\" and \"Change of character, health because he thinks less of the problems he has.\") were views of males only.These results imply that both males and females agree that an empowered man is one whose business is expanding, has a good living standard, is happy, helps others and cares for his family.It is noteworthy that both males and females agree that an empowered man is one who helps others. According to Rahman (2013:9), \"Individuals are empowered when they are able to maximize the opportunities available to them without constraints\". In maximizing opportunities, the opportunity is not only used to meet one's needs and achieve one's goals but also in extending such opportunities to others so that they too can meet their needs, realize their goals and still help others. An empowered man is therefore not only known by his wealth or success but also how much he is able to empower others to maximize opportunities. The results in Figure 7 show that the males in Imo viewed the features of an empowered woman as happiness (\"The happier woman has been empowered.\"), improved practices (\"A change or improvement in the operation of a woman.\" and \"An empowered woman must have acquired skills.\") and business expansion while the females mentioned self-reliance (\"Self-reliance in finance, providing feed at the right time e.g. chicken egg\"; \"Educate her children and able to feed her children without her husband\"; and \"An empowered woman does not totally rely on her husband.\") as the features of an empowered woman. In Rivers State, as shown by the results in Figure 8, both males and females mentioned that assisting others, business expansion, self-reliance, financial buoyancy and good appearance were features of an empowered woman; the females isolated supporting the spouse, caring for the family and good character as the features of an empowered woman. The males isolated improved practices as the feature of an empowered woman. The results in Table 4 show that business expansion (five quotations: \"Increment in the size of a woman's business means empowerment\"; \"When I have a shop and it is increasing everyday with many things\"; \"If two women were selling things with umbrellas and one eventually got a container\"; \"Increase in business\"; and \"An empowered woman is one who has increased in her production process.\") and good character (five quotations: \"Respectful\"; \"A woman who respects herself in her family and community is empowered\"; \"Good character\"; \"The character of the woman, the way she talks\"; and \"She's humble and doesn't talk too much.\") were the most quoted feature of an empowered woman. It is noteworthy to state that while more males (four) than females (one) gave answers that implied business expansion as a feature of an empowered woman, the females (five) isolated good character as the feature of an empowered woman. This implies that males value business as an indicator of empowerment, while females associated character with an empowered woman.The results in Figure 9 show that both males and females agreed that business expansion, assisting others (\"Money inside the woman's bag to help others\"; \"How she helps others with advice and financial support\"; \"Having positive influence on other women\"; and \"She pass [es] on to others to also stand on their own.\"), financial buoyancy (\"Empowered woman is able to afford anything she wants anytime, she won't lack\"; \"Money: with money she can do whatever she wants\"; and \"An empowered woman donates money to carry out programs in the community\"), good appearance (\"Dressing-Appearance and dressing, clothes, earrings, shoes, wrist watch\"; \"Her dressing and look also shows she is empowered\"; and \"An empowered person looks good.\") and self-reliance were features of an empowered woman. The men isolated happiness and improved practices as features of an empowered woman while the females stated that supporting the spouse (\"She must be supportive of her husband\"), good character and caring for the family (\"She takes care of her family, her children and herself\"; and \"Educate her children and able to feed her children without her husband.\") were the features of an empowered woman. These results imply that an empowered woman is self-reliant, financially buoyant, takes care of her appearance, has an expanding business and helps others who need assistance. Notably, apart from these common features, the women believed that a woman who is empowered must have a good character, be supportive of her spouse and must take care of her family. This implies that females believe that the family and good behaviour are essential before any woman can be regarded as empowered. Also, the issue of assisting others was believed by both males and females to be a feature of an empowered woman. Strengthening the choice and voice of women and girls should not restrict the rights of others or reproduce hierarchies and inequalities (Batliwala 1993(Batliwala , 2013;;Luttrell and Quiroz 2009) but rather complement one another; gender equality is not synonymous to gender competition but gender cooperation with justice.   As shown in the results in Figure 10, both males and females in Imo State agree that lack of funds was a major constraint to empowerment. Only the men in Imo recognized ignorance, politics, corruption and insufficient materials as constraints to empowerment. The women recognized laziness, low educational level, culture and gender discrimination as constraints to empowerment. In Rivers State, as reported in Figure 11, women agree that culture, gender discrimination, ignorance, lack of planning, lack of funds, laziness and carelessness as constraints to empowerment. Rivers State men submitted lack of respect as a constraint to empowerment, while women indicated that low educational level, motherhood constraints, sickness, theft, shame, and lack of help were constraints to empowerment.Based on the results presented in Table 5, it is observed that lack of funds (12 quotations: \"Poverty is one of the constraints to achieving one's goal\"; \"Debt\"; \"Lack of food or money also prevents\"; \"Money to start up business\"; \"Lack of money is also an obstacle\"; \"Lack of money (hardship)\"; \"Finance or money hinder somebody from being empowered\"; \"Money is an obstacle to empowerment in many ways\"; \"Obstacles of finance\"; \"They don't release funds they are supposed to release especially those who are in power\"; \"Financial constraints\" and \"Inadequate money to purchase drugs and feed for the chickens.\") stood out as the most prominent constraints to empowerment. This constraint is equally agreed upon by both males (50%) and females (50%) in the study area. This constraint is followed by culture and gender discrimination (\"Cultural background of the family affects women in achieving their goals\"; \"Some men don't allow their wives to work\"; \"Some husbands are obstacles; they won't allow her to work or get empowered\"; \"There is cultural restriction to being empowered\"; \"When the husband does not support the woman she may not be empowered\"; \"When the men overshadow the women, they may be silenced by the men thereby preventing them from being empowered\"; and \"A woman does not make decision [s] without the notice of the husband.\") and laziness (\"Laziness also contributes to failure to achieve one's goal\"; \"Laziness: A lazy woman can't be empowered\"; \"Laziness\"; \"Laziness: Any woman who is lazy will not be able to provide food for her family\"; and \"Laziness is also part of the things that can prevent the women from being empowered.\").These were agreed upon by both males and females as constraints to empowerment, although females specifically noted culture and gender discrimination and laziness in their comments (71.43%) more frequently than males (57.14%).Other constraints agreed upon by both genders are carelessness (\"Carelessness\"; \"When an opportunity is carelessly handled it may become an obstacle to empowerment\"; \"Lack of interest can be an obstacle to a woman's empowerment\"; \"Failure to seize opportunity at the right time can hinder a woman's empowerment\"; and \"Mismanagement is one of the obstacles to empowerment on the part of women.\"), ignorance (\"Ignorance also prevents\"; \"Lack of information can hinder empowerment when some people are side lined\"; \"Ignorance is another obstacle to empowerment. When the knowledge is lacking\"; and \"Lack of knowledge.\"), and lack of planning (\"When you don't have plans, aims and objectives for life\"; and \"Lack of savings and planning can affect women's empowerment.\"). Politics and corruption (\"The people that are supposed to be trained for empowerment are not empowered. This is because people influence things\"; \"Politics affect empowerment\"; \"Politics of the day\"; \"Funds for many people being diverted by one person for his own use\"), lack of respect (\"If the woman lacks respect she may not be empowered\") and insufficient materials (\"Insufficient materials for training people can also affect empowerment\"; and \"Materials can also affect empowerment.\") were constraints identified by males only while the females identified motherhood constraints (\"Breastfeeding woman\"; \"If a woman gives birth through surgery it might also be an obstacle\"), theft (\"Stealing by thieves. Some of our chickens are being stolen thereby not allowing us to rear our chicken [s].\"), and lack of help (\"Some people don't get help to be empowered.\"), sickness , shame (\"Shame: some people feel ashamed to ask for help.\"), and low educational level (\"Lack of education to the higher level has also affected us from becoming rich enough to achieve our goals\"; and \"Education.\") as the constraints to empowerment. The above results imply that lack of funds is the greatest constraint to empowerment. Laziness, which is a state of not being ready to work even if the work is available, is also seen as a constraint.Of note, the constraints particular to women are culture and gender discrimination and motherhood. It was observed by both male and female respondents that the culture of some families and some husbands that silence their wives and do not allow them to work are constraints to empowerment. This agrees with the view of Dandekar (1986), that the family structure, the limitation that this structure imposes on a woman and the ideological connotation of women in her society are some of the determinants of women's empowerment. It also aligns with the view of Schuler and Hashemi (1993) as cited by Rahman (2013) that traditional subordination of women impedes the ability to earn a living and a woman's decision-making power within the family. Furthermore, it is in consonance with the findings of Kaur et al. (2007) that unhealthy traditions and customs hinder women from being empowered. This may be a result of patriarchal societies in most developing nations like Nigeria. This constraint calls for great attention because the empowerment of a woman transcends her personal wellbeing to the wellbeing of the whole family. Other constraints identified by women as constraints to their empowerment are motherhood, breastfeeding and child delivery, especially through caesarean section.   Gender disaggregation of the poultry farmers' goals/visions for the next 5-10 years across the states The results in Figure 13 show that both males and females in Imo State envision that in the next 5-10 years, they should have achieved business expansion, educated their children, built a house, care for the family and become well known for producing chicken. The men in Imo State had several goals; these include producing feed and providing enough chicken (for protein) at a low selling price, thereby preventing meat importation, and exporting chicken. They also envision making enough money to be financially independent, purchase cars, employ others and generally progress in life. The women in Imo State envision brooding chickens and being major distributors of eggs and chicken thereby earning more income and assisting others who need help within their communities. The results in Figure 14 show that both male and female respondents in River State have goals of diversifying their means of income, expand their business, becoming a major distributor of eggs and chickens and educate their children. However, in Rivers State, the males' goals are mainly to earn more money, improve their livelihoods and build their own personal houses while the goals of females are to produce poultry feed, purchase cars and employ others.The results presented in Table 6 show that business expansion (15 quotations: \"Expanding the coast of this poultry business to benefit our community at large\"; \"To feed the entire Imo State with meat\"; \"Expand my business in poultry\"; \"Expand the size of the poultry\"; expand my poultry production in the nearest future\"; \"I will like to have more and more chicken[s]\"; \"Be a big chicken producer\"; \"Enlarge my farm\"; \"I want to expand my business\"; \"I want to expand\"; \"I will increase production\"; \"I will increase the number so that I can become a big man through the sales of the chickens\"; \"To improve on my poultry business by expanding every year\"; \"I will like to increase from the little ones I have to a large-scale production\"; and \"500 birds from now to 5 years.\") is the most prominent vision of the respondents and both males and females identify with the vision. This was closely followed by educating of the children (13 quotations: \"Educate up our children\"; \"Educate my children to the level of their choice\"; \"To educate my children\"; \"Educating the children\"; \"My goal is to educate them so that they will be useful to me in solving some family problems\"; \"I will use the proceeds to educate my children\"; \"To educate my children\"; \"I will use the proceed to educate my children\"; \"Will educate my children with it\"; \"To be able to use the proceeds to educate my children\"; \"Educate my children\"; \"I want to educate my children\"; and \"To educate my two children in school.\") which was also agreed upon by both males and females in the study area. The results in Figure 15 show that other visions agreed upon by both genders are building a house (\"Able to build our own house\"; \"Build house\"; \"Building a house\"; \"Building a house for myself\"; and \"I want to have a new house.\" ), earning money (\"If I have more I will be able to get money from them to help my family and friends in times of need, then I will help my children and community\"; \"I will sell them and use the money to do business and I can use the money to solve my family problems\"; \"The money I will make will be used for the community and motherless baby homes every 3-6 months\"; \"To have money\" and \"I can have more money\"), caring for the family (\"To put food on my table by making my family to be independent and live a good life\"; \"Give them good food and to make myself and family to be in good condition\"; \"To feed my family well\"; and \"Take care of my children and family at large.\"), distribution of chicken and eggs (\"Become a sole distributor of chickens and eggs\"; \"I want to build my egg business to a high level\"; \"To become a distributor of eggs\"; and \"I also want to continuously sell eggs.\"), diversification of business (\"I want to open another business from this business\"; \"I want to expand my cassava farm\"; \"new business\"; and \"To become a very big farmer not only in poultry\"); recognition (\"I want to be known for this poultry production in this community\"; and \"Known as a well-known special chicken producer.\"), employing others (\"I also want to employ others in the poultry business\"; \"To create empowerment by creating job [s] among the unemployed youths\"; \"I can employ more people\"; and \"Empower more youths through poultry.\"), car purchase (\"Buy a car with this project\"; and \"I wish to have a car from this business.\") and feed production (\"Go into feed production\" and \"I like to be selling chicken feed on a large scale.\"). Visions restricted to the male gender include caring for one's self (\"Able to take care of our lives.\"), improved livelihood (\"I want to improve my livelihood and my way of living.\"), exporting (\"I want to be an exporter\"; and \"We want to export this chicken to other countries.\"), independence (\"Able to stand on our own.\"), progress in life (\"Climb to another level in my life.\"), significant reduction in importation of poultrybased products (\"To ensure that there will be no more importation of meat in this our country, so that we will be feeding the whole nation in Imo State.\") and providing a cheap protein source (\"Reduce the cost of table egg to 10 naira.\"), while females' visions include assisting others (\"Helping others around me\") and brooding (\"I wish to be brooding\"; and \"I will like to be brooding the chickens.\"). This finding is consistent with the view of Young (1993) (as cited in Rahman 2013) that empowerment enables women to decide to assist one another. The diverse goals are consistent with having a comfortable standard of living that can benefit their children, community and country.The purpose of empowerment is to achieve these goals. Both male and female poultry farmers in the study area believe that if empowered with ACGG chickens, they would be able to achieve most of their goals in life. This disagrees with the statement that \"human wants are insatiable\" (Lebergott 1993 as cited in Witt 2001).    The results in Figure 18 show that in Imo State, only the men responded to the issue of how women can become empowered. The results show that assets, education (\"Education\" and \"You find out about a woman you want to empower first, know about her level of education. You need to know her level of understanding of what you want to empower her about. You need to know her environment or society; physical, mental or otherwise. The woman has to be brushed up first before empowering her.\"), viable poultry business, technological improvement, training and skill acquisition and salary (\"Salary can also empower a woman when placed on a salary and financially independent; it will make that woman do things on her own.\") were the ways through which women could be empowered in Imo State. The results in Figure 19 show that both men and women in Rivers State agree that women could be empowered when they get assistance from a spouse (\"Our husband can assist us in any business we do\" and \"By helping the women to cultivate the land for planting and harvesting.\"), provision of financial support, viable poultry business, and training and skill acquisition. The men were also of the opinion that enabling women to market farm produce, obedience of the women to their husbands and informing husbands of the purpose of being empowered were ways through which women can be empowered. In addition, the women were of the opinion that they could be empowered through the farming business, cooperatives, receiving input supply and being educated.The results in Table 9 show that provision of financial support (\"Provision of financial support\"; \"We need money to start up\"; \"Money to start up business\"; \"Finance is also very important\"; \"Finance is the major thing to improve women empowerment\"; \"Money also helps a woman to become empowered\"; and \"Money to start up business.\"), viable poultry business (\"Chicken business is also good if we can get more of it\"; \"The most feasible one is the chicken business\"; \"Giving us more chicken to rear\"; and \"Livestock can immensely help in empowerment when someone in the area of hatchery for instance, is empowered to raise birds and begin to hatch, that empowerment can be pronounced in a short space of time, say in the next 5 to 10 years from now. Livestock is something that can change situation when people are empowered through it.\") and training and skill acquisition (\"Training us in farming business\"; \"By giving them training on skill acquisition and drawing up their interest in the program\"; \"By providing training through skills acquisition will help women become empowered\" and \"A woman can become empowered when she acquires skill a woman can be trained to get skill for her to do well in a field or business she is entering.\") were the three prominent ways through which women can be empowered in the study area, as agreed upon by both men and women. Results in Figure 20 further show that both men and women also agreed that assistance from husbands and education were ways of empowering women. More comments from women (57.14% and 66.67%) than from men (42.86% and 33.33%) expressed that provision of financial support and viable poultry business respectively were means of empowering women; more comments from men (75%) than from women (25%) expressed training and skill acquisition as means of empowering women while an equal percentage of comments from both males and females (50%) expressed that assistance from spouse and education were means of empowering women.The results further show that men were also of the opinion that enabling women to market farm produce (\"Empower them in selling their farm produce in the market\" and \"The women sell their eggs from the chickens. Selling the chickens themselves help them get money which they use to support their families.\"), technological improvement (\"If you go to some farms there is one factory located for processing farming produce, garri processing unit, such a thing can empower a woman.\"), obedience (\"Obedience helps a woman to become empowered.\"), informing husbands of the reason they need empowerment (\"A woman can become empowered once the husband is aware of the purpose.\"), salary and assets (\"Asset[s] can empower a woman because it will make a woman to be industrious and focused.\") were ways of empowering women while women were of the opinion that they could be empowered through farming business, input supply and cooperatives.This implies that there are several means through which women can be empowered and is similar to the submissions of Satpute (2012) that women can be empowered through education, women's organizations, science and technology, entrepreneurship, microfinance institutions, law and agriculture. It is also consistent with Lord and Hutchison (1993) that support from people is vital in personal empowerment.It is worth noting that both male and female groups mentioned that women can be empowered if they obey their husbands and carry them along in their quest for empowerment. This implies that there is a common belief that 'husbands are sources of empowerment to their wives'. This was further discussed (Figure 21); some of the respondents supported the notion that having husbands could be a form of empowerment for women. They stated that having husbands attracts respect from members of the community. Also, their husbands could assist them in their poultry business and encourage them. On the other hand, some women disagree that men could be a form or means of empowerment to women. They stated that single women had enough time on their hands to practice their vocations. They further expressed that some husbands could deprive their wives of being empowered by collecting the money meant to empower them or prevent them from venturing into programs that could empower them. ","tokenCount":"7666"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3290005751.json b/data/part_1/3290005751.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f77b1804d8ebf0e69cb9bc2d1b2e390a7a2640d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3290005751.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4137762ccd1d9ca010751b3bb4415626","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b4c8b92d-4b5e-4d44-81e1-96915942d983/retrieve","id":"-1631257605"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"178ba818-40d5-46ce-af70-b27bfe81643d","pagecount":"34","content":"1. Djondang KoyeA propos des auteurs ............................................................................................................................... remerciements ......................................................................................................................................... proposition de citation ............................................................................................................................ ©crédit photo. Alliance of bioversity international and ciat. ................................................................. sommaire ................................................................................................................................................. liste des tableaux ..................................................................................................................................... liste des figures ....................................................................................................................................... liste des sigles et abréviations ................................................................................................................. composition de l'équipe, lieu et durée de la mission ............................................................................          Une séance de travail a été faite par l'équipe en charge de l'étude avant la descente sur le terrain. Pour mener à bien l'étude, des outils et moyens roulants ont été utilisés dont entre autres : moyens roulants, GPS, stylos, bloc note, flip chart, appareil photo, etc. L'heure de départ a été fixée à six heures du matin, compte tenu de la distance à parcourir, plus de 1000 km.10 Tambling est caractérisé par l'existence de plusieurs infrastructures tel que la station de pompage ; une école ; un magasin de stockage, une décortiqueuse d'arachide, une presse à huile ; une mosquée, des puits artisanaux, deux forages non équipés et 4 bornes fontaines.La figure 1 ci-dessous présente une carte des ressources actuelles suivant la perception des hommes et femmes. Il résulte de cette situation que les ressources ont drastiquement diminué selon les deux groupes (hommes et femmes). On observe actuellement une pression énorme sur les ressources naturelles entrainant une forte dégradation des sols, limitant ainsi les surfaces arables cultivables. La baisse de production due à l'appauvrissement des sols entraine des récurrentes crises alimentaires dans le village, etc. dans ce contexte difficile dû non seulement à l'action anthropique, mais également aux phénomènes de changement climatique, se distinguent des personnes plus vulnérables telles que les femmes et les jeunes.Tout ceci entraine des mouvements des jeunes qui abandonnent le village en quête du bien être ailleurs.Principaux changements ont été révélés par les participants lors des échanges sur l'historique du village. Ce tableau fait la synthèse de la vision future définie par la population du village Tambling sur le pas d temps de 10 ans, c'est-à-dire de 2023 à 2033.A l'horizon 2033, la population de Tambling verrait leur environnement reverdi, avec un début de reconstitution de la biodiversité, un fort développement des structures socioéconomiques de base, une amélioration de l'accès à l'eau pour les femmes et les enfants et une amélioration significative de la fertilité des sols. Matrice de la vulnérabilité aux aléas climatiques (hommes et femmes) La zone se caractérise par sa très grande vulnérabilité aux facteurs climatiques qui perturbent énormément les efforts de production des populations. Ces facteurs déstabilisants continueront à affecter les populations qui manifestant déjà un découragement pour la production agricole. Ainsi, la migration vers les pays voisins et l'exode rural, qui touchent une bonne frange de la population.Les sources de revenus sont très peu diversifiées dans la zone du fait de la faiblesse des opportunités d'emploi et de développement des Activités Génératrices de Revenus (AGR) ; Le niveau d'analphabétisme plus élevé des chefs de ménage. La forte dépendance aux climats autant pour l'élevage, l'agriculture et même le petit commerce. Ces différentes situations sont encore aggravées ces dernières années par les situations d'insécurité/guerre dans les zones d'exode. Tous ces éléments contribuent à accroitre la vulnérabilité de la zone de moyen d'existence agro-pastorale et de transhumance.Compte tenu des différentes contraintes et des potentialités de production de la zone, les recommandations qui suivent peuvent permettre une amélioration de la situation socioéconomique des populations.Dans ce domaine, l'accent devrait être mis sur le renforcement de l'accessibilité des ménages aux intrants (semences améliorées à cycle court et engrais). En plus, un encadrement technique rapproché des paysans producteurs s'avère nécessaire si l'on veut une bonne amélioration de la production. Le Striga hermonthica constitue un véritable frein à la culture céréalière. Cette situation doit être solutionnée par l'utilisation des variétés tolérantes et/ou résistantes, l'apport de matière organique et la rotation des cultures. Dans le même sens, la mise en place de banques céréalières peut aider à limiter les souffrances des pauvres qui s'approvisionnent dans les marchés éloignés.Les communautés locales sont les mieux qualifiées pour protéger leurs ressources naturelles. Cela dit, pour lutter contre la dégradation des terres dans la zone, il est indispensable d'intensifier les programmes de récupération des terres à travers les activités de CES/DRS et d'accroitre les disponibilités de la zone en terres de cultures et de pâturage.    Le tableau 10 résume l'implication/la participation des organisations dans les différents domaines de résilience de la population de Tambling  Il ressort globalement de cette étude que les ressources communautaires de la zone sont actuellement très faibles, du fait de la pression anthropique, dans le contexte de croissance galopante de la population. Les terres sont dégradées au point de compromettre l'accès des agriculteurs à celles arables. Ceci se traduit par une réduction du niveau de production et d'auto-approvisionnèrent des populations. Face à une telle situation, des organisations locales, nationales et régionales et au-delà, interviennent dans la zone pour le renforcement et la gestion des crises alimentaires et des ressources naturelles. Les organisations locales disposent des prérequis pour des éventuelles mobilisations des populations et des ressources financières. De même que la présence des partenaires nationaux, régionaux et internationaux dans la zone pourra faciliter une synergie pour la mise en place du VIC. La faiblesse des ressources naturelles dans la zone est la résultante non seulement de la pression anthropique, mais également et de manière plus accentuée, des changements climatiques qui se manifestent par des sécheresses et des vents violents, etc. Malgré cette faiblesse des ressources naturelles, la population de Tambling, certes comme bien d'autres s'adapte grâce à ses connaissances endogènes, mais aussi grâce au concours des organisations présentes qui les appuient dans la sécurité et la crise alimentaire ainsi que dans la gestion des ressources naturelles. La zone dispose de peu de réseau d'information du fait qu'elle ne possède même pas une radio communautaire. Même les émissions de radio à partir de Biltine ne couvrent pas le village. Ceci ne facilitera pas les campagnes de sensibilisation mais aussi la vulgarisation informations agro météorologiques. Les principales préoccupations de la population sont, entre autres l'accès à l'eau, la dégradation des terres, l'insuffisance en technologies (semences améliorées) et la gestion des eaux de ruissèlement. De cette étude, il ressort clairement que la vision du village Tambling est de voir leur environnement reverdi, la biodiversité reconstituée, les structures socioéconomiques de base présentes, des points d'eau plus nombreux facilitant l'accès des femmes et des enfants, les terres dégradées récupérées et amendées pour les hommes et les femmes, etc.","tokenCount":"1061"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3301454433.json b/data/part_1/3301454433.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bca8fa209101c2520b322c53077eb24d832d1c1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3301454433.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0bc687d40c3afd35f474adbc7af08082","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a722238d-e236-4656-ae03-7c4622438894/retrieve","id":"555964200"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cdcebecf-bb3f-4e1d-be01-22ae1626c1ee","pagecount":"23","content":"\"a process where knowledge is created and used in new ways, in different contexts, to enhance the livelihoods of livestock-dependant poor\" occurs in a system mediated by the actors and 5 occurs in a system mediated by the actors and their interactions, facilitated (or constrained) by institutions and policies R4D initiatives -the new genre designing and implementing active and prospective research to improve the current system not just to improve understanding of the livestock issues, but being able to influence actions address technical, institutional and policy 7 address technical, institutional and policy changes in a systemic mannerinnovation systems intervention logic evolves through learning by doing impact taking priority over mere knowledge generation Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India -An experiment in developing a mechanism to negotiate improved fodder access in public (wastelands and forest areas) and private grazing areas for poor livestock keepers. Bhilwara, Rajasthan, India -An experiment in developing a mechanism to coordinate complimentary technical (including fodder) and institutional support in order to upgrade smallholder dairy systems. Puducherry, India -An experiment in establishing an integrated Puducherry, India -An experiment in establishing an integrated fodder production and marketing system based on farmer fodder entrepreneurs. Ikire, Osun State, Nigeria -An experiment in connecting and coordinating existing systems (markets, religious / ethic groups, technical support, policy and traditional institutions) to facilitate the transition from subsistence to commercial goat production. Dambatta, Makoda and Rogo, Kano state, Nigeria -An experiment in connecting and coordinating existing systems (markets, religious / ethic groups, technical support, policy and traditional institutions) in order to address seasonal fodder shortages in mixed crop livestock systems ","tokenCount":"262"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3307807323.json b/data/part_1/3307807323.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4822da16d00ed11091029f8fd8974e80fbda2095
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3307807323.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd46016d9eb8a5ca01a43f9408354e75","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d56ab8e3-3c3f-4c02-83a2-452e94440e7a/retrieve","id":"1412940431"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cc81754b-0de0-41b8-a9ab-1b4fb0aee191","pagecount":"236","content":"This proposal is the culmination of the effort of many internal and external collaborators who worked closely together for more than one year. The process of drafting the initial concept note, which serves as the basis for the proposal, was led by Marie Ruel (IFPRI) and John McDermott (ILRI), with important contributions from Howdy Bouis (HarvestPlus) and focal points from 12 CGIAR Centers. The concept note was submitted to the Consortium Board on May 9, 2010.The project leaders allowed for comments on the concept note by posting it online for more than 10 weeks. During this time, the note benefited from the useful feedback of the Consortium Board (CB), peer reviewers, CGIAR centers, and external partner organizations. Key internal and external stakeholders were also interviewed in person and by phone to further incorporate their perspectives and ideas.The centers and partners, representing the full spectrum of the agriculture, nutrition, and health fields, met on July 28-30, 2010, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The three-day workshop was attended by more than 60 stakeholders and represented a unique opportunity to incorporate diverse viewpoints on the research and development goals of the CRP4 program. The meeting was supported by Lynette Aspillera (IFPRI), Loza Mesfin (ILRI), Ginette Mignot (IFPRI), Terry Muindi (ILRI), Nicole Rosenvaigue (IFPRI), and Sivan Yosef (IFPRI). Special thanks go to Jürgen Hagmann, Global Team Leader for the People, Innovation, and Change in Organisations (PICO Team, www.picoteam.org), for his excellent facilitation, and to his assistant, Judith Odhiambo.The complex task of synthesizing all the components into one document was led by Marie Ruel, John McDermott, and Howard Elliott, who coordinated a core writing team to develop the proposal. The writing team included Jessica Fanzo and Stefano Padulosi (Bioversity), Bonnie McClafferty (HarvestPlus), Helena Pachón (CIAT), Maximo Torero (IFPRI), and Delia Grace (ILRI). Numerous CGIAR colleagues and partners provided key contributions to the research proposal development, which was submitted to the Consortium Board (CB) on September 11, 2010.Comments from the CB and four reviewers were received on February 4, 2011. Marie Ruel and John McDermott coordinated the revisions to the proposal, with strong support from several members of the original writing teams. The revised proposal was shared with the key contact points from all participating CGIAR centers, who contributed extensively to the revisions.The revised proposal submitted on May 6, 2011, benefited from the support of Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Klaus von Grebmer, Teunis van Rheenen, and Suresh Babu (IFPRI), continuous efforts of IFPRI's communications team, including Gwendolyn Stansbury, Evelyn Banda, Pat Fowlkes, Julia Vivalo, and Clare Wolfowitz (independent consultant), and the excellent assistance of the Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division (PHND) staff Nicole Rosenvaigue and Jody Harris.The current version of the proposal addresses the comments received from the Independent Scientific & Partnership Council (ISPC) and the Fund Council in June 2011. Marie Ruel and John McDermott revised the proposal with inputs from Maximo Torero, Delia Grace, Jessica Fanzo, and Shakuntala Thilsted, with formatting, editing, and research support from Jay Willis (IFPRI), Nicole Rosenvaigue, and Jody Harris.The enthusiasm and responsiveness of all CGIAR partners and their continued support in revising and strengthening this proposal is gratefully acknowledged. Leading organizations in agriculture, nutrition, and health expressed interest in different components of the program and are committed to its development and success. This proposal represents a starting point in an exciting process of operationalizing a cross-sectoral research for development program on agriculture for improved nutrition and health.The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has committed itself to ensuring that agricultural research serves the needs of the poor. Two urgent needs for the poor are better nutrition and better health. In its new vision (CGIAR SRF 2010), the CGIAR commits to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership, and leadership. This CGIAR Research Program, Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health, directly and strategically supports this new vision. Agriculture will need to develop and expand to meet the food needs of a growing population from a finite resource base. How agriculture develops to do this can have critical consequences on the health and nutrition of people. This program is designed to support the overall CGIAR research agenda by improving our understanding and options for how agriculture can better accentuate the positive benefits and mitigate the risks of agricultural development on human health and nutrition. These lessons are meant to serve the entire CGIAR agenda, within agroecological production systems and along food value chains.Emphasis will be placed on two populations of people. The first group is those people who are left behind by socioeconomic development, suffer from high rates of malnutrition and agriculture associated diseases, and rely on aid and development support. Research in the program will meet the demands of development implementers and investors for better knowledge, technologies, and learning approaches to improving their performance.The second group is those poor people in dynamically intensifying and changing systems in which research can help shape agricultural development more positively and safely. This program will support policy-and decisionmakers and development implementers. Managing the benefits and risks of agricultural development on human health and nutrition are central to achieving the CGIAR-stated impact goals of poverty reduction, food security, and environmental sustainability for people in developing countries.This program will work at the interface of the agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors. These are three critical pillars for development. For the ambitions of this program to be met, partnerships will be critical. Twelve CGIAR Centers and multiple partners from agriculture, nutrition, and health communities have actively participated in contributing to the development of this proposal through written contributions, stakeholder and partner workshops, and oral discussions. This program proposes a much closer partnership between the agriculture, nutrition, and health research and development communities than seen previously. New approaches to cross-sectoral work are proposed. While new, this program will build on past successes of CGIAR and partners working together on agriculture, nutrition, and health programs and seeks to complement a number of new international initiatives for improving agriculturenutrition and agriculture-health integration and synergies. xii 1Hunger, malnutrition, and poor health are widespread and stubborn development challenges. Agriculture has made remarkable advances in the past decades, but progress in improving the nutrition and health of poor farmers and consumers in developing countries is lagging behind. A recent IFPRI 2020 Conference in New Delhi, -Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health,‖ brought together about 1,000 stakeholders to examine how agriculture could be energized to become a more powerful tool to tackle the persistent problems of food insecurity, malnutrition, and poor health. Building on the momentum created by those discussions, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (CRP4) is designed to fill the existing gap between agricultural development and its unfulfilled health and nutritional benefits.The starting point for CRP4 is that agricultural practices, interventions, and policies can be better adapted and redesigned to maximize health and nutrition benefits and to reduce health risks. This concept reflects the new vision of the CGIAR Strategic Results Framework (April 2011), which has four strategic objectives: improving human nutrition and health, reducing rural poverty, improving food security, and achieving sustainable management of resources. While CRP4 will contribute to the achievement of all four CGIAR strategic objectives, its primary focus will be on improving human nutrition and health. In order to achieve this goal, CRP4 will bring together research and development professionals across the agriculture, nutrition, and health (ANH) sectors to jointly tackle key challenges and design joint solutions.CRP4 is a research program that will work to accelerate progress in improving the nutrition and health of poor people by exploiting and enhancing the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health through four key research components: value chains, biofortification, control of agricultureassociated diseases, and integrated agriculture, nutrition, and health development programs and policies.Figure 1 presents the overall strategic framework of CRP4. The key development challenges that the program will address are the stubborn problems of undernutrition and ill health that affect millions of poor people in developing countries. CRP4 will leverage agriculture to improve the nutrition and health of the poor through four research components that will directly address the problems of low diet qualitythe main cause of undernutrition worldwide-and of vulnerability to agriculture-associated diseases.Component 1 focuses on opportunities to improve nutrition along value chains to increase the poor's access to nutritious foods. Component 2 aims to improve the availability, access, and intake of nutrientrich, biofortified staple foods for the poor. Component 3 addresses food safety issues along the value chain, including the control of zoonotic diseases and the better management of agricultural systems to reduce the risk of human diseases. Component 4 addresses the need for integration among the agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors, at both the program and policy levels.These four components were selected based on discussions and brainstorming with representatives from 12 CGIAR centers and a wide range of partners who participated in the CRP4 planning meeting in July 2010. Their selection arises from the recognition and consensus that poor diet quality and related micronutrient deficiencies are now the most pressing nutritional problem affecting the poor. Similarly, the severe disease burden from food-borne infections and zoonotic diseases is associated with changes in agricultural practice and policy, and therefore requires agricultural solutions. As agriculture is the main livelihood strategy for the poor, it is they who are disproportionately affected by these health and nutrition problems. For CRP4 to adequately tackle these challenges, the program team carefully assessed the opportunities that exist within the current (and future) research portfolio of the CGIAR and its partners in order to leverage agriculture to improve nutrition and health and to exploit their potentially powerful synergies to achieve the common goal of improving the nutrition and health of the poor.The CRP research objectives across the different components are as follows:1. Generate knowledge and technologies to improve the nutritional quality and safety of foods along value chains (Components 1, 2, and 3). 2. Develop, test, and release a variety of biofortified foods, as well as other nutrient-rich foods that are affordable for the poor and accessible to them (Components 1 and 2). 3. Generate knowledge and technologies for the control of zoonotic, food-borne, water-borne, and occupational diseases (Component 3). 4. Develop methods and tools to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness of surveillance and monitoring systems and to permit meaningful evaluation of complex multisectoral programs and policies (Components 1-4). 5. Produce evidence of nutritional and health burdens and benefits and of the returns to different interventions in different sectors (Components 1-4). 6. Assess and document changes in dietary and nutritional patterns and risks of agricultureassociated diseases among poor people in intensifying systems, and identify and test agricultural options to enhance nutrition and health benefits and mitigate risks of agriculture intensification in these populations (Components 1 and 3).Figure 2 presents the overall program impact pathway. CRP4 is expected to enhance the contribution of agriculture research outputs to nutrition and health impacts through three major impact pathways and their respective actors: (1) value chains that provide more nutritious and safer foods;(2) development programs that successfully integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health; and (3) policy that promotes a supportive and enabling cross-sectoral policymaking process and investment environment. Expected outputs from CRP4 are value chains that provide more nutritious and safer foods accessible to the poor; stronger and more effective integrated ANH programs; and better cross-sectoral policies, investments, and regulation. CRP4 will contribute to large-scale sustainable impacts by developing strong linkages with development implementers, including value-chain actors and ANH program implementers, and with enablers such as international and national policymakers and governments.Component 1: Value Chains for Enhanced Nutrition-will focus on increasing the demand for nutritious foods among poor rural and peri-urban households, and on identifying leverage points along the value chain where innovative nutrition interventions can be incorporated to stimulate both the supply and the demand for nutritious foods. It will build on work on value chains carried out by the CGIAR and other partners on nutritious (usually high-value) foods. Specifically, it will• develop innovative approaches and tools to analyze the value chain, using a -nutrition lens‖ combined with a consumer focus.• implement research to identify leverage points to enhance the nutritional value of select nutrient-rich foods.• develop tools to assess and correct information asymmetries regarding nutrition among different value-chain actors, including consumers. This component's impact will result from (1) enhanced nutritional knowledge and awareness created among value-chain actors, including consumers, and (2) the greater selection of affordable nutrient-rich foods available and accessible to the poor through informal and formal markets.Component 2: Biofortification-will develop and test biofortified nutrient-dense staple crops and make these novel crops available to the poor and undernourished. This component will have the desired impact via an increased production and consumption of biofortified staple foods; an increased intake of iron, zinc, and vitamin A; and a resulting reduction in the prevalence of iron, zinc, and vitamin A deficiencies.Component 3: Prevention and Control of Agriculture-Associated Diseases-will enhance environmental sustainability, reduce poverty, increase food security, and contribute to the health of poor communities by assessing, preventing, and mitigating agriculture-associated health risks, through research for improved food and water safety; control of bacterial, viral, parasitic, or fungal diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans (zoonoses); and managing agroecosystems for better health. This component will find and develop solutions and innovations to reduce the risks of agriculture-associated diseases; understand and support appropriate institutions and incentives that will make these efforts sustainable; assess the impact of interventions; and develop communications, advocacy, and influence strategies that will enable the uptake and use of those interventions.Component 4: Integrated Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health Programs and Policies-will exploit and enhance the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health through operational and policy research that permits (1) more effective integrated community-level programming, and (2) the cultivation and strengthening of an enabling policy and institutional environment to support relevant action. This component will harness both the synergy of integrated programming and the potential for sustained policy commitment, to best realize the benefits of agriculture, nutrition, and health.Throughout much of the world, women are the guardians of household food security and nutrition. At the same time, biological and cultural factors can put women and girls at particular risk of undernutrition, micronutrient malnutrition, and poor health, especially during the reproductive period. Good agriculture, nutrition, and health programming must therefore account for gender issues at all stages of the project cycle, from participatory assessment and analysis through surveillance, implementation of interventions, monitoring, and evaluation. CRP4 will focus on the following broad areas: (1) gender analysis of needs and differential exposure to risks; (2) fostering women's participation in and benefits from agriculture, nutrition, and health programs; (3) empowering women and increasing their access to assets; (4) promoting equitable intrahousehold food allocation and consumption for all members; (5) ensuring gender-friendly technology and delivery systems; and (6) building capacity.Capacity strengthening is a crucial element for CRP4's longer-term and more sustainable impacts, essential for program scale-up and sustainability. Implementing CRP4 will require adequate capacity for translating research methods and outputs into adopted technologies and institutional and policy changes. Just as important, it will mean developing cross-disciplinary capacity at various levels, including government and development agencies as well as educational and research institutions. Research teams working on CRP4 will undertake, as a preliminary step, comprehensive assessments of capacity gaps and needs in targeted countries and institutions, to develop an appropriate capacity-development strategy.Bringing together agriculture, nutrition, and health is not a new idea, but CRP4 will be innovative in a number of areas. It will• foster new partnerships to ensure that agriculture, nutrition, and health are integrated and delivered-at the community level, in large development programs, and in policymaking.• undertake cutting-edge research to meet emerging challenges-for instance, it will work with partners to design mechanisms for enhancing nutrition along the agricultural value chain and to apply new molecular biology tools informed by population biology and social research to improve our understanding of how agricultural intensification can be more sustainably managed.• invest in designing new tools and approaches to build the evidence base to usefully guide policy and practice across sectors.The governance and management arrangements for CRP4 follow the guidelines set out in the CGIAR Strategic Results Framework. IFPRI will be the lead center, and will have overall fiduciary and operational responsibility for the implementation of CRP4. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will play a strong supporting role, providing the Chair of the Planning and Management Committee (PMC) for the initial two years. The PMC will oversee the planning, management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the CRP. An Independent Advisory Committee, composed of six members representing scientists and program development experts, will provide advice on research program performance, research priorities and focus, and management and partnership issues.Indicators for tracking and assessing achievements will be constructed according to the SMART framework-specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound-allowing for clear, resultsbased management of the CRP. A monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed under each component and subcomponent. The plans will provide a framework to track both the process of implementation and the attainment of interim targets. They will include milestones for activities, outputs (such as publications, datasets, training materials, and training activities), communication, dissemination, and networking (to ensure appropriate uptake of project outcomes). Plans will also specify corrective actions to be taken if milestones are missed.The CGIAR has long played a unique role as an internationally coordinated agricultural research system that provides international public goods. With its partners, it is well equipped to provide leadership in developing new technologies, evidence, and applied field research for leveraging agriculture to improve nutrition and health. The CGIAR can work closely with partners in all three sectors to develop innovative and evidence-based solutions, strategies, and policies. Fully utilizing the CGIAR's scientific competence and reputation in this complex interdisciplinary area and its vast collaborative network at all levels of the impact pathway, CRP4 will achieve meaningful outcomes and tremendously benefit the health and nutrition status of poor people, especially women and young children.Hunger, 1 malnutrition, and poor health are widespread and stubborn development challenges. Agriculture has made remarkable advances in the past decades, but progress in improving the nutrition and health of poor farmers and consumers in developing countries is lagging behind. The recent IFPRI 2020 conference -Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health‖ (New Delhi 2011) brought together about 1,000 stakeholders to think through how agriculture could be energized to become a more powerful tool to tackle the persistent problems of food insecurity, malnutrition, and poor health. Building on the momentum created by those discussions, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (CRP4) is designed to fill the existing gap between agricultural development and its unfulfilled health and nutritional benefits.Agricultural practices and interventions can be better adapted to maximize health and nutrition benefits and to reduce health risks. This concept-the starting point for CRP4-reflects the new vision of the CGIAR Strategic Results Framework (April 2011). Improving human nutrition and health is one of the four strategic objectives of that Framework, along with reducing rural poverty, improving food security, and achieving sustainable management of resources. The CGIAR thus recognizes that nutrition and health are global priorities, and that agricultural research can have a profound influence on both of these outcomes.Thus, while CRP4 will contribute to the achievement of all four CGIAR strategic objectives, its primary focus will be on improving human nutrition and health. In order to achieve this goal, CRP4 is designed to bring together research and development professionals across the agriculture, nutrition, and health (ANH) sectors to jointly tackle key challenges and design joint solutions. The program recognizes that increasing agricultural productivity is not sufficient in itself to improve health and nutrition, and that the three sectors need to join forces in tackling their common development goals. The persistence of high rates of maternal and child undernutrition, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, calls for new approaches and new partnerships across the ANH sectors. Similarly, there are persistent health risks associated with agriculture-such as water-related, food-borne, and zoonotic diseases-that also require joint solutions to be managed between the agriculture and health sectors. The CGIAR has long played a unique role as an internationally coordinated agricultural research system, and, with its partners, it is well equipped to provide leadership in developing new technologies, evidence, and applied field research for leveraging agriculture to improve nutrition and health.CRP4's strategic goal is presented in Box 1. To achieve its strategic goal, the program is organized around four components, listed in Table 1 along with their overall objectives. 1 See Appendix 1 for a glossary of nutrition and health terms used in this proposal.CRP4 is a research and development program that will work to accelerate progress in improving the nutrition and health of poor people by exploiting and enhancing the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health through four research components: value chains, biofortification, control of agriculture-associated diseases, and integrated ANH development programs and policies.Leverage the value chain for select nutrient-rich foods to increase the demand for, access to, and consumption of affordable and nutritious foods for the poor.Develop and test nutrient-dense staple crops through biofortification; make these novel crops available to the poor and undernourished, either as individual staple crops or as part of a food basket.Prevent and control agriculture-associated diseases through research for improved food safety, water quality, agricultural practices, and better control of infectious (zoonotic and emerging) diseases. 4. Agriculture, nutrition, and health -Integrated programs and harmonized policiesExploit and enhance the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health, through operational and policy research that supports (1) more effective integrated community-level programming, and (2) the cultivation and strengthening of an enabling policy and institutional environment to support relevant action.The CRP research objectives across the different components are as follows:1. Generate knowledge and technologies to improve the nutritional quality and safety of foods along value chains (Components 1, 2, and 3). 2. Develop, test, and release a variety of biofortified foods, as well as other nutrient-rich foods that are affordable and accessible to the poor (Components 1 and 2). 3. Generate knowledge and technologies for the control of zoonotic, food-borne, water-borne, and occupational diseases (Component 3). 4. Develop methods and tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of surveillance and monitoring systems and to permit meaningful evaluation of complex multisectoral programs and policies (Components 1-4). 5. Produce evidence of nutritional and health burdens and benefits and of the returns to different interventions in different sectors (Components 1-4). 6. Assess and document changes in dietary and nutritional patterns and risks of agricultureassociated diseases among poor people in intensifying systems, and identify and test agricultural options to enhance nutrition and health benefits and mitigate risks of agriculture intensification in these populations (Components 1 and 3).The four research components of CRP4 were selected based on a broad consultation process with representatives from 12 CGIAR centers and with a wide range of partners who participated in the CRP4 planning meeting in July 2010 (see https://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/mp4/home). Taking into consideration the CGIAR's comparative advantage, the components were selected by taking into consideration the following key questions: (1) what is the nature, scope, dimension and causes of the nutrition and health problems that the CGIAR needs to address in order to achieve its strategic goal of improving health and nutrition through agriculture; (2) what opportunities exist within the current (and future) research portfolio of the CGIAR and its partners to leverage agriculture to improve nutrition and health; and (3) how can CRP4 best use these opportunities to exploit the potentially powerful synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health and to achieve the common goal of improved nutrition and health. These considerations led the team of partners to select the four broad research components listed in Table 1.Figure 1 presents the overall strategic framework of CRP4. The key development challenges that the program is addressing are the stubborn problems of undernutrition and ill health that affect millions of poor people globally. Root causes of poor nutrition and health include poverty, food insecurity, gender inequity and limited access to water, sanitation, and health services. Tackling undernutrition and poor health will thus require joint ANH solutions; each sector is essential but insufficient by itself to solve the nutrition and health challenges faced by the poor. This CRP aims at bringing these three sectors together in research, development programs, and policy.It is well recognized that poor-quality diets and related micronutrient deficiencies are a much more widespread nutritional problem than the lack of food (or calories). Although estimates from FAO suggest that the number of hungry people (lacking calories) is close to 1 billion (FAO 2009a), WHO estimates that anemia-which is largely caused by iron deficiency-affects 1.62 billion people worldwide and costs US$50 billion in GDP losses each year (WHO 2008a). Vitamin A deficiency also affects 163 million children, or close to one-third of children living in developing countries (ACC/SCN 2010). Poor diet quality and related micronutrient deficiencies are also a major cause of the staggering numbers of stunted children in the developing world (see Appendix 2 for a list of 36 countries that account for 90 percent of the total burden of childhood stunting). The agriculture sector must provide ssolutions designed not just to produce more food, but to improve poor people's access to nutritious foods. Similarly, agricultural solutions are required to reduce the severe disease burden from food-borne infections and zoonotic diseases, which are associated with changes in agricultural practice and policy. Because agriculture is the main livelihood strategy for the poor, it is they who are disproportionately affected by these health and nutrition problems.Improving health and nutrition requires actions in several sectors, but CRP4 will focus on the CGIAR's comparative advantage, which starts with agriculture. CRP4 will leverage agriculture to improve nutrition and health of the poor through four research components that will directly address the problems of poor diet quality and of vulnerability to agriculture-associated diseases of the poor. Components 1-3 focus on pragmatic nutrition and health solutions to improve the poor's access to nutritious and safe foods and to reduce agriculture-associated health risks. Component 1 focuses on opportunities to improve nutrition along value chains, from production through to consumption; Component 2 aims at improving the availability, access, and intake of nutrient-rich biofortified staple crops for the poor; and Component 3 addresses food safety issues along the value chain, including the control of zoonotic diseases and the better management of agricultural systems to reduce risk of human diseases. Component 4 addresses the need for integration among the agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors, at both the program level and the policy level (Subcomponents 4.1 and 4.2). More specifically, the inputs generated by research on Components 1-3 will be incorporated into integrated ANH programs, which will be tested, evaluated, and scaled up under Component 4 (Subcomponent 1 on integrated ANH programs). Finally, evidence generated through Components 1-4.1 and through policy research (Subcomponent 4.2) will be used to create and sustain an enabling environment, to develop institutional capacity, and to foster synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health at the policy level.The lower part of Figure 1 highlights some of the development impacts that will be achieved through CRP4's work, by integrating agriculture, nutrition, and health into value chains, development programs, and policies. Biofortification research and value chains focused on enhancing the nutrition and safety of foods and on stimulating the demand for such foods will lead to new options that can contribute to increasing the availability, accessibility, and consumer awareness of the benefits of high-quality and safe foods. Higher quality diets combined with lower risks of agriculture-associated diseases in the population will result in healthier, better nourished, and more productive men and women farmers. Better access to nutritious food, and better information about nutrition and food safety, will yield cross-cutting benefits to poor consumers and producers.To achieve the program objectives, researchers in CRP4 will coordinate and initiate cutting-edge research on catalyzing nutrition and health outcomes. Forging partnerships will be an essential element for strengthening the connections between agriculture and health organizations and for exploiting synergies in research, policy, and practice. Delivering impacts will require examining the context of the broader agrifood production system and value chain and engaging critical actors through different impact pathways.Within the health sector, the program focuses on two main areas of impact. The first area is promoting overall improvement in the health of women, infants, and young children through better nutrition, by exploiting the window of opportunity for improving nutrition-the thousand days between conception and the child's second birthday-and by targeting girls and women at all stages of the life cycle. The second area is reducing agriculture-associated diseases through improved food safety, better agricultural practices, and water management, as well as by controlling zoonoses (endemic and emerging). This focus area targets people from all population groups and at all stages of the life cycle.In addition, more specific targeting efforts will increase program impact in particular regions. These target areas will include mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in heavy burden countries, and addressing the rapid rises in obesity and related chronic disease risks in countries undergoing rapid economic growth and changing agrifood systems. These additional health outcomes, although important, will not be a main research focus in the initial phase of the program.This program will target two specific populations: (1) poor, food-insecure, and malnourished populations, and (2) populations affected by agricultural intensification. Increasing population, incomes, and urbanization are driving increasing demand for food, which in turn has led to an intensification of agricultural production. The expansion and intensification of agrifood systems has had enormous benefits for farmers, market agents, private-sector business, and consumers. However, in many rapidly intensifying systems, these benefits have been accompanied by negative environmental, nutritional, and health effects, including food-borne and zoonotic diseases. At the same time, despite the overall trend toward dynamic change and intensification in developing-country agrifood systems, many areas have been left behind, and people in remote and marginal areas and conflict zones have been particularly disadvantaged. In many cases, population has increased more rapidly than the capacity of agricultural production and value chains, leading to chronic food and nutrition insecurity and poor health.• The first target group consists of poor populations who suffer from food insecurity, low diet quality and related poor micronutrient intake, and undernutrition. These populations may be served by social protection and development programs-and CRP4 will work on leveraging these programs with better-integrated ANH interventions to achieve improved health and nutrition. For those left behind, CRP4 will focus on reaching them and improving their access to either biofortified staple crops, or new and better targeted integrated ANH programs.• The second target group consists of populations that are exposed to changing and intensifying agrifood systems in various regions of the developing world. Research must answer critical questions to assess the rapid changes in dietary patterns and lifestyles of these populations and the associated changes in health risks. Understanding these shifts is critical for designing appropriate policies, technologies, and institutional arrangements that will enhance nutrition and health benefits and mitigate risks for the poor. CRP4 will take a forward-looking perspective, given the rapid changes in many countries in its geographic focal regions.CRP4 will focus particularly on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia-the two regions with the highest burden of poverty, food insecurity, undernutrition, and poor health. The latest State of Food Insecurity in the World report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that in 2005/07, 202 million people (28 percent of the population) were undernourished in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 333 million people (33 percent of the population) in South Asia (FAO 2010). The same two regions are home to the vast majority of the world's undernourished children. Appendix 2 presents the 36 countries with a prevalence of child stunting greater than or equal to 20 percent; together, these countries account for 90 percent of the global burden of childhood stunting. Several of these countries are currently the focus of new global initiatives, which require a strong commitment to nutrition from the participating Governments. One such initiative is the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) movement (http://www.unscn.org/en/scaling_up_nutrition_sun/), which was launched in 2010 to stimulate leaders to focus more on nutrition and to adopt effective national policies to reduce undernutrition during the most vulnerable 1,000-day period of a child's life from pregnancy to the age of two years. The High-Level Meeting on Nutrition hosted by the United Nations (UN) secretary-general at the General Assembly in September 2011, which provided an overview of progress one year after the launch of the movement, showed that 20 countries (including high-burden countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal, and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa) have joined, and several others are in the process of doing so (see Appendix 2 for a list of SUN countries). This result reflects an unprecedented level of commitment from developing-country government leaders.Other initiatives such as the UN's REACH (Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition) program also support country efforts to reduce undernutrition. Similarly, the US government's Feed the Future initiative is an agriculture-focused program that supports country-driven approaches to addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty (http://www.feedthefuture.gov/countries.html). CRP4 will partner with these initiatives and their networks of stakeholders in several high-burden countries. During its first year of implementation, CRP4 team members will develop a plan for engaging with these initiatives and other emerging regional or global initiatives in the areas of agriculture, health, and nutrition in several highburden countries.CRP4 will also link with research conducted in other CRPs, including CRP3.7 value-chain work on  high-value animal source foods in Ethiopia, India, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam (Component 1);  community-based ANH programs implemented by nongovernmental agencies such as Helen Keller International (HKI), Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, and Catholic Relief Services, as well as governments and other partners, in Burkina Faso, Nepal, Zambia, and other locations (Component 4); and  institutional commodity procurement for food emergencies by agencies such as the World Food Programme (Component 3 on mycotoxins).Targeted work will be carried out in select regions of Latin America, especially on biofortification (see component 2.2). Within these targeted regions, specific sites for research will be selected according to the locations of our partners' work on value chains and ANH development programming.The world's poor and hungry have been hard-hit in recent years. Food and financial crises have undermined food security, bringing the number of hungry people to around 1 billion (FAO 2009a). Progress in combating maternal and child undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies has stalled in many high-burden areas, leading to long-term, irreversible damage to the cognitive and physical abilities of many people in developing countries-and diminishing those countries' economic productivity (World Bank 2006). Maternal and child undernutrition contributes to more than one-third of child deaths and 10 percent of the global burden of disease (Black et al. 2008). Zoonotic diseases are causing unprecedented concern, threatening pandemics and placing an especially heavy burden on the world's most vulnerable people. Agriculture-related health losses are massive, accounting for up to 25 percent of all disabilityadjusted life years lost (DALYs) and 10 percent of deaths in low-income countries (Gilbert et al. 2010).The economic toll of these health losses is also huge. For example, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a zoonotic disease associated with food safety, cost an estimated $50 -100 billion 2 (Aguirre and Gomez 2009), and a major avian influenza pandemic could cost more than $1 trillion (Burns, van der Mensbrugghe, and Timmer 2008). The cost of undernutrition to economic development is estimated at $20-30 billion annually (UNICEF 2006). Without well-designed investments, programs, and policies to address these challenges, the human and economic costs will continue to be enormous. Agriculture plays a key role in the interrelationship between nutrition and health. It is the primary source of human energy and essential nutrients; it is a source of income for 80 percent of the world's poor; and it is an essential element of human life, health, and culture. On the other hand, livestock and wild animals are the source of the great majority of human infectious and emerging diseases, and agricultural products and practices can pose serious health risks. And while increased agricultural development is fundamental for sustaining the nutrition and health of billions of people, it also contributes to many challenges-such as population growth, urbanization, and climate change-that threaten the availability of water, land, and other natural resources. Finally, millions of the world's poor are rural people who are trapped in a combination of low-productivity agriculture, poor health, and undernutrition (Ahmed et al. 2007).The importance of agriculture for nutrition and health-in terms of both benefits and risks-is recognized now as never before. The unprecedented enthusiasm and commitment of stakeholders from all three sectors at the landmark IFPRI 2020 Conference on this topic in early 2011 strongly indicate that a global consensus from the development community is emerging on the need to act quickly (IFPRI 2011). Yet a lot needs to be done to design the approaches and tools needed to bring the three sectors together to achieve their common goals. Links among the ANH communities have traditionally been weak, jeopardizing the effectiveness and efficiency of efforts to improve health and nutrition outcomes.Indeed, agricultural conditions and interventions may sometimes undermine health and nutrition. Agricultural intensification, for example, has the potential to exacerbate the spread of agricultureassociated diseases and to spur the development of new ones. The failure of agriculture to provide access to nutritious foods and high-quality diets may aggravate the widespread problem of micronutrient deficiencies. For example, past agricultural policies have focused on increasing production of staple cereals, without commensurate investments in productivity increases for other food commodities, leading to lower prices of food staples and higher prices for nutrient-rich foods such as pulses. Dietary energy thus became more affordable to the poor (up until the recent food price rises), while dietary quality became more expensive (Bouis, Eozenou, and Rahman 2011). The need for greater understanding of these links will become even more critical as countries face the double burden of under-and overnutrition, and the emergence of obesity and related chronic diseases among the poor.A focus on agricultural development thus presents enormous opportunities for improving health and nutrition. The health and nutrition of vulnerable populations can be vastly improved by managing agricultural intensification in a sustainable way. Better food safety, water quality, and control of occupational, zoonotic, and emerging diseases can reduce the risk of debilitating diseases. Greater access to more nutritious and diversified diets can address maternal and child undernutrition and help tackle the huge burden of micronutrient deficiencies. Improved nutrition and health, in turn, can reduce poverty for the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day (World Bank 2010). A greater focus on the role of women in agriculture-as potential mediators of household and individual food and nutrition securitycould accelerate improvements in the nutrition and health of women and young children. The key is to act now, as the ANH communities are beginning to recognize that they cannot meet these challenges in isolation. Only well-coordinated efforts can offer any hope of meeting the shared goals of reducing poverty, undernutrition, and ill health.A succession of alarming recent events-global food price rises, threats of pandemics, and the spread of animal diseases and pests across established boundaries-have threatened livelihoods, health, and nutrition worldwide. These challenges have raised policymakers' awareness of the problem of sectoral boundaries between disciplines and ministries, -stovepipes‖ that act as barriers to achieving solutions.The need for multisectoral approaches-tools, programs, and policies-to achieve impacts at scale is now well recognized among stakeholders in all three sectors, as signaled by a burgeoning of multisectoral global initiatives: on nutrition and health, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement and the 1,000 Days Initiative; on agriculture and food security, the High Level Task Force on Food Security's Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA), the Committee on World Food Security, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), and the recently funded Global Agriculture and Food Security Programs (GAFSP); on infectious diseases, the One Health Initiative; and on food safety, several global food safety alliances, such as the World Health Organization's Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG), the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), and the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA).Several national governments have also realized the importance of building stronger links between agricultural growth and improved nutrition. The Indian Prime Minister, for example, has expressed great concern regarding the persistence of high rates of undernutrition among Indian children, in spite of significant agricultural growth over the past decade. China formed a national food security and nutrition committee and is planning to set up a research institute on food and nutrition under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science. NEPAD's African Union program launched the African Food and Nutrition Security Day on October 31, 2010.The IFPRI 2020 Conference provided a much-needed platform for sharing knowledge and practice in linking agriculture, nutrition, and health. It identified a huge task ahead: filling knowledge gaps, designing and scaling up innovative joint ANH programs, and creating an enabling environment for joint policy based on solid partnerships and mutual accountability.The CGIAR, with its partners, is uniquely positioned to draw on its collective experience and research capacity in all three areas-agriculture, nutrition, and health-to start filling some of the critical knowledge gaps and to generate and communicate evidence and learning on the linkages between agriculture, nutrition, and health. This CRP is designed to make a difference to the lives of the rural poor by (1) taking a systematic view of how agriculture, nutrition, and health interact globally, nationally, and locally; (2) developing a strong body of evidence based on rigorous research to help decisionmakers evaluate trade-offs between different investments and policy options; (3) conducting action research to develop technologies that induce positive changes in the lives of the poor; and (4) fostering effective approaches that bridge sectoral boundaries. Within the CGIAR, this CRP represents an opportunity for collective action with partners at all levels of the impact pathway, from research discovery to development outputs, for achieving meaningful outcomes for poor people.CRP4 is designed to strengthen the role of agriculture in improving human nutrition and health, through both enhancing its positive benefits and reducing its potentially negative effects. In creating critical linkages between agriculture, nutrition, and health, CRP4 has two overarching strategies. The first is to influence agricultural research and development efforts to more actively pursue nutrition and health outcomes. The second is to influence the health and nutrition communities to consider and include agricultural solutions for improving nutrition and health outcomes. This CRP will seek to influence and catalyze interactions among the ANH sectors in both directions.In influencing the agricultural research community to focus on better nutrition and health outcomes, the emphasis will be on broadening the paradigm of agricultural productivity and value-chain research to ensure that food produced is more nutritious, safer, and accessible to the poor. For the agriculture and nutrition communities, this work will involve developing joint solutions for the delivery of better nutrition through production of higher-quality foods (such as biofortified, nutrient-rich staple crops) and through nutrition-sensitive value chains. 3 Between the agriculture and health communities, research will focus on joint programs for the control of agriculture-associated diseases (AAD). CRP4 will also undertake joint research that brings the three sectors together to design efficient and effective crosssectoral approaches to achieve common ANH impacts. This will work through two main areas of research partnership: to develop tools and solutions for development implementers; and to generate knowledge, evidence, and options for policy and decisionmakers.This research agenda will require incorporating innovative elements into the work of planning and implementing research. New emphasis will be placed on communication and improved information systems; integration of actions across the ANH sectors; tools and approaches for cross-sectoral policy and decisionmaking; studying agriculture intervention options (through testing, evaluation, documentation, and scaling-up) to provide evidence on health and nutrition outcomes; and integration of ANH programs into the broader social protection agenda for marginalized and vulnerable populations. A major incentive to cross-sectoral cooperation for all three sectors is the potential for far greater returns to investment and much larger impacts, as compared to interventions in single sectors.Figure 2 highlights the strategy leading from research outputs to development impacts. CRP4 outputs, outcomes and contribution to the CGIAR system-level outcomes are presented in CRP4's performance indicators matrix (Appendix 3). CRP4 will enhance the contribution of agriculture research outputs to nutrition and health impacts through three major impact pathways: (1) value chains that provide more nutritious and safer foods; (2) development programs that successfully integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health; and (3) policy that promotes a supportive and enabling cross-sectoral policymaking process and investment environment. CRP4 (Component 1) focuses on enhancing and protecting the nutritional content of nutritious foods along the value chain while mitigating key food safety risks. CRP4 will add value to existing research by bringing focused attention to the quality and safety of foods in value chains. This will include collaborations with value-chain work conducted on highly nutritious foods such as livestock and fish (CRP3.7), legumes (CRP3.5), and fruits and vegetables (CRP6, World Vegetable Center, and the Global Horticulture initiative), as well as on enhancing the nutritional value and safety of staple cereals, roots, and tubers (CRP3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.6).Figure 2 highlights four principal ways that CRP4 research will contribute to value chains:• Providing food producers technical and knowledge inputs to produce more diverse and higher nutritional value foods (Components 1 and 2).• Enhancing or protecting the nutritional value of foods along the value chain, from production to postharvest handling and storage, through processing and distribution to consumers. This will involve identifying entry points and methods to protect or enhance the nutritional value of foods, and exit points where nutrient losses can be prevented (Component 1).• Providing information and knowledge to consumers to positively influence behavior in seeking more nutritious and safer foods (Components 1, 2, and 3).• Helping regulators assess safety risks of food at different points along the value chains;developing appropriate and effective methods for mitigating public health risks while optimizing economic benefits to poor producers and market agents (Component 3).There are several points of entry along the value chain where CRP4 research outputs can be used by different value-chain actors. The value chains important to poor people are highly diverse, ranging from small-scale, informal value chains involving only a few actors (such as farmers, traders, and consumers) to more formal value chains involving a much larger number of value-chain actors (including input providers, farmers, market agents, processors, distributers, transporters, retailers, and consumers). Many of the value chains CRP4 will engage in will be local and informal markets in rural areas. Over time, as urban demand increases, more complex value chains develop, bringing both new opportunities and greater challenges for the poor.There are great potential benefits to links with agribusiness in developing more efficient and effective input and output markets, including the capacity to meet market demand for nutritional quality and food safety standards, but such a strategy poses the risk of leaving behind small producers and poor consumers. Two objectives of CRP4 research will be to support the ability of poor producers to participate in these new market opportunities, and to ensure that nutritious and safe foods are available, accessible, and affordable to poor consumers.At the policy level, evidence from nutrition-and food safety-focused value-chains research would inform policymakers, regulators, and public and private investors on the nutritional, health, income, and other benefits and risks to be considered in any decisionmaking on value chains.Research outputs from Components 1-3 will provide important inputs for integration into current and future ANH programs, through evaluation activities by development partners (Subcomponent 4.1). Enhanced monitoring, evaluation, and learning by development partners, supported by CRP4, will include testing and adapting and scaling-up some of the research findings of other program components. This will require CRP4 to provide inputs at critical stages in the program design, targeting, planning, implementation, evaluation, scale-up, and assessment cycle.Outputs from Components 1 and 3 are expected to contribute to other, more specific agriculturenutrition and agriculture-health programs implemented by development partners. For example, research in Component 3 would contribute to the public health programs for zoonotic and emerging diseases. Research in Components 1 and 2 could contribute to specific nutrition interventions by being integrated into development programs implemented by partners such as the Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition (REACH) partnership, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and other nutrition development actors.Research outputs from Components 1, 2, and 3 and Subcomponent 4.1 will provide the evidence base, knowledge, tools, and technical inputs to help decisionmakers make better investment and policy choices. In particular, better approaches for data collection, analysis, and metrics to assess cross-sectoral outcomes will be needed. CRP4 researchers will collaborate with universities, other advanced research institutes, and key developing country research institutions in this area. The ability of the CRP4 partnership to engage policymakers and national governments in evidence-based process will be critical to initial success in the first few years of the program.While better evidence for decisionmaking is necessary, it is far from sufficient in achieving policy impacts. One step is that evidence needs to be communicated effectively so that it is useful to decisionmakers. At the moment, there is strong international and national consensus on the importance of leveraging agriculture for improving nutrition and health, which is evidenced by major international and national initiatives such as the SUN, REACH and the WHO FERG initiative on food safety, and a variety of One Health initiatives for zoonoses and emerging diseases control. But this support can only be sustained effectively if it fits with policymaking processes. The role of CRP4 will be to bring the crosssectoral ANH knowledge and tools into broader policy processes, in close partnership with CRP2. These processes must closely align and support broader policy approaches. Fortunately, there is increasing scope for doing this in Africa through the AU-NEPAD CAADP process that links broader continental and regional policy processes to specific policies and implementation plans at the national level. Appendix 4 provides further details of how CRP4 can link to the CAADP process. For the other major CRP4 target region of South Asia, important efforts to engage governments in policy processes will be built upon, both at regional and national levels. IFPRI has very strong links with policymaking processes and with economic research institutions in the region.While the CRP4 research partnership can play a catalytic role in evidence-based policymaking, sustaining and deepening impacts along this pathway will require a concerted effort to strengthen the capacity in national governments for analysis, planning, program design, and evaluation of cross-sectoral agriculture-nutrition-health. Efforts have already started to develop a coalition of research and capacity training partners for this purpose. In India, the Public Health Foundation of India will be a critical partner in the interface between capacity, policy, and practice for agriculture-nutrition-health interventions.CRP4 will only be able to contribute to large-scale sustainable impacts through strong linkages with effective development implementers and enablers, including national governments. There are strong indications that development implementers and enablers are now, more than ever before, committed to scaling up ANH interventions. There also seems to be much enthusiasm, expressed at both the CRP4 partnership meeting in developing this proposal and the recent IFPRI 2020 Conference in New Delhi, that CGIAR research is considered important to strengthen agriculture's contribution to improving nutrition and health and providing research evidence to guide interventions, policies, and practice.For CRP4 to be successful in contributing to these impact pathways, its research must add value to some specific and neglected areas of evidence. The first addresses how agricultural interventions can reach the malnourished and ill. This will require research that informs programs and policies that work for the poor. Clearly, gender and social science research will be critical components of this. The second addresses how interventions can enhance food and nutrition security by increasing the poor's access to and demand for nutritious foods. A major neglected research area that this CRP will tackle is the demand and the practices of poor consumers with respect to nutritious and safe foods.The program will also begin to address priority issues around the environmental sustainability of agriculture linked to better nutrition and health. There will be two initial priorities. The first will be to improve our understanding of the diversity of foods that can support nutritious diets; the second will be to look at the health risks linked to rapid and uncontrolled intensification of agricultural production system and food systems.At the IFPRI 2020 Conference, there was an overwhelming consensus that high-quality research is missing on the impacts of multisectoral interventions and programs. Thus, a strong data and evidence research focus is planned for the first three years of the program. Results will be critical to catalyze and support the strong current momentum for national governments and international agencies around ANH initiatives. CRP4 will work toward catalyzing impacts at different scales, according to the level of partnership. At regional and international levels, impacts are potentially far-reaching. Potentially largescale impacts, to be further refined in initial ex-ante impact assessments, can be achieved through global partnerships of several kinds. Some examples include -The generation of research outputs to inform and support major international development initiatives in nutrition. These include the previously mentioned SUN movement, planned to operate in 36 countries and cover 2.8 billion people (356 million undernourished children); REACH, focusing on a minimum of 10 African countries and aiming to include a large agriculture for improved nutrition component; and a number of national government programs.-Supporting integrated ANH programming implemented by government agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This would build on the previous experience of CGIAR centers working with some large international NGOs, such as Helen Keller International and Concern Worldwide.-The provision of evidence and good practice for food safety linked to WHO's FERG, in partnership with institutions in select African and Asian countries.-Collaboration with international zoonotic and emerging disease control initiatives, programs, and networks (such as One Health and Ecohealth initiatives) through the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), FAO, and WHO.-Collaboration with international NGOs and intergovernmental development agencies on complex multisectoral decisionmaking in policy, regulations, and investments.-Leveraging major CGIAR agricultural research investments within the new CRP portfolio.Those most likely to go to scale are (1) supporting value-chain work in other CRPs to enhance their impacts on improving nutrition and health; and (2) providing information for the scaling-up of biofortified staple crops in value chains and ANH programs.The examples listed show that CRP4 will focus its efforts on generating regional and international public goods (IPGs) consisting of knowledge, technologies, and evidence for decisionmaking and investment. These public goods will be developed with and relevant to actors working at national and local levels, with a focus on those goods with the widest application. This IPG strategy will also involve working closely with international initiatives as vehicles for applying CRP4 outputs and outcomes for both nutrition and health as widely as possible. Using the consultative planning process described for year 1 (see Sections 5 and 6), CRP4 will further co-develop specific activities leading to priority outputs and outcomes with partners around these IPG principles and examples.In the impact planning for CRP4, a critical element for achieving longer-term and more sustainable impacts is through the contribution to capacity strengthening. The CGIAR, working with its research partners, has a comparative advantage in supporting developing-country agriculture research organizations and researchers, with long experience of working collaboratively in programs to strengthen the capacity of both development enablers and implementers. A capacity-strengthening consortium is being developed to include universities and research institutions from developed and developing countries linked to CRP4.Agricultural research can improve the lives of the poor only by working with-and throughimplementing partners, to help shape research strategies and to translate opportunities into impacts. Effective partnerships and new partnership practices will therefore be essential for achieving CRP4's ambitious research outputs and development outcomes and impacts. A partnership strategy will be developed initially, with support from IFPRI's Partnership Coordinator, to create the best conditions for carrying out the research and making full use of the subsequent findings. The partnership strategy will include a roadmap, a plan of action, and a partnership monitoring and tracking system. One of the first steps in implementing the strategy will be to do a stakeholder mapping and a landscape analysis of public health, agriculture, and nutrition research and development actors, and to identify opportunities for partnerships. This will be done both at the international level and at the level of the program focus countries.A key strategic concept in developing the partnership strategy is value addition. The lead role in defining, designing, and implementing local policies and programs must be taken by the relevant decisionmaking organizations and their stakeholders at all levels, including research organizations; the role of CRP4 (and the CGIAR) is to add value to the efforts of these stakeholders. The concept of value addition allows CRP4 to focus on its mandate as provider of international public goods, while ensuring local relevance in implementation.The CGIAR centers involved in this program have considerable experience in partnerships across the types of development processes involved in CRP4 (support to policy and decisionmakers, development implementers, and value-chain actors). In addition, all have experience in specific domains of ANH linkages, through previous and ongoing research and research-development partnerships as well as, collectively, through the CGIAR Agriculture and Health Research Platform. (See http://programs.ifpri.org/ahrp/ahrp.asp for further information.)This impressive body of experience will be critical in fulfilling the partnership requirements of this program, which are much broader and bolder than previous endeavors. CGIAR centers have considerable depth of knowledge of partnerships: see Horton, Prain, and Thiele (2009) for a recent review of partnership literature, and ILRI's 2006 Partnership Strategy for partnership practices. At the partners' meeting held in July 2010, as part of the process of developing this proposal, tremendous enthusiasm was expressed for partnering with CRP4, as well as solid agreement on its broad framework and components. (The proposal planning documentation is available at https://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/mp4/.) This enthusiasm reflects the growing interest and investment in the critical linkages between agriculture, nutrition, and health, and it is evident in many initiatives described in this proposal (including the IFPRI 2020 Conference noted earlier).We identify four broad categories of partners: (1) enablers (policy and decisionmakers); (2) development implementers; (3) value-chain actors (and representatives); and (4) research partners. The unique complexity of CRP4, which requires working across sectors, calls for a range of partnership types and depths. Partnerships will be dynamic, ranging from joint fundraising and planning to implementation, including communication and dissemination of outputs. They will entail shared financial and human resources. Some will be extensive and profound; others may be limited to common research interests and the sharing of knowledge and information. Partnership relationships can also change over time, as initial research outputs move to outcomes.In managing partnerships, CRP4 will focus on and monitor a number of principles and practices:• Mutual accountability for achieving strategic goals, outcomes, and impacts • Shared goals to create international public goods that will contribute to the achievement of the vision of the CGIAR, with an emphasis on improving human health and nutrition  o Continental, regional, and subregional organizations in the ANH sectors that support decisionmaking related to policy, regulations, and investment. Recent years have seen a strengthening of capacity in these organizations, with greater harmonization of actions and political commitment, offering new opportunities for engagement. For example, major progress can be seen in the development and implementation of CAADP, at several levels: AU/NEPAD; regional economic communities (RECs); FARA and subregional organizations (SROs); and national governments.CRP4 has several mechanisms to engage with CAADP's pillars of action to strengthen policy, decisionmaking, and capacity development. This will build on the strong and well-established role of IFPRI with AU/NEPAD in this area, as well as on the important role played by the regional centers for strategic analysis and knowledge support (RESAKSS) associated with three hubs (hosted by ILRI, IITA, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics [ICRISAT]/the International Water Management Institute [IWMI]). Several regional and national actors in public health will also be engaged, such as the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).o International and regional development banks and other major bilateral investors support the regional and national enablers: the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank are significant investors in research and development in this area. o National governments will be partnered for cross-sectoral policymaking, strategic planning, and capacity development, either directly or mediated through regional processes, as appropriate.o Civil society organizations and various public and private organizations will be supported with knowledge and evidence relevant to key areas of policy and advocacy. During the consultative process for developing this proposal, partners provided comments online, and many attended a partners' workshop, resulting in two important foundational accomplishments. First, partners contributed to, and took ownership of, the research program development process, including the design of the overall conceptual framework, priority setting, and selection and definition of the key areas of research. Second, CGIAR centers and partners developed and shared an inventory of current interests, activities, and capacities to be considered for inclusion in the program, as captured in the workshop documentation (https://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/mp4/). The partnership development process resulted in strong support and agreement on the overall framework and research plan for CRP4.While not part of the CRP4 planning, the IFPRI 2020 Conference on ANH also provided a forum for key stakeholders working at the interface between agriculture, nutrition, and health to share perspectives and build commitment and consensus on the way forward.CRP4 will build on these partnerships by developing a partnership strategy for various stages of the impact pathway, as well as a detailed implementation and monitoring plan for the overall program and its components and subcomponents. Social network analysis tools will be used to describe and evaluate the science and implementation networks emerging from CRP4.The program will consider and choose from a variety of potential strategic partnership mechanisms, such as knowledge and information platforms and communities of practice, and will explore how to engage existing platforms of international organizations (such as WHO and FAO, or ReSAKSS, in which several participating centers are already active)-and possibly expand their scope. CRP4 may also develop new platforms to support partners in agriculture and rural development who serve as champions in developing evidence and advocacy related to cross-sectoral ANH interventions. Critical in this will be supporting coalitions of developing-country organizations.We find great enthusiasm as well as extensive opportunities to enhance partnerships in this area. We are committed to a partnership process that incorporates strategic thinking, systematic processes with partners, new behaviors and resources, and implementation of best partnership performance practicesthe essential ingredients of a successful joint effort. The roles that CRP4 takes up with partners will be guided by the strategic directions in this proposal and further developed into specific activities with partners in the first years of the program. Changes in partnership roles will be guided by the CRP4 focus on agricultural solutions, and research on international public goods to support development, and comparative advantage. As in any partnership arrangement, CRP4 teams will also be responsive to the demands of clients and partners as they fit with its overall focus.In Year 1, a major activity will be to develop a partnership strategy, which will engage a specific plan for engaging and working with the key groups of partners identified above. This activity will include defining overall partnership principles, research priorities, and the roles of different partners. The strategy will then be used to proceed with joint work planning with agreed roles, responsibilities, and resource allocations among partners.Within the overall partnership strategy, clear guidelines will be provided for: 1. internal CGIAR partnerships and the value that CRP4 can add to value-chains research and programs in other CRPs, 2. key partnerships in value chains, assessed with public and private value-chain actors, for both nutritional quality and food safety, 3. partnerships on aflatoxins with continental, regional, and national programs, other CRPs, agribusiness, and public health agencies, 4. strengthening of research-development partnerships for development programs in which agriculture, nutrition, and health issues are critical to livelihoods, 5. research networks with developing-country researchers, supported by key developing-country institutional research leaders, to identify and develop key metrics and evidence, and 6. partnerships with existing strategic analysis and knowledge support systems in Africa (SAKSS) linked to AU-NEPAD and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to develop mechanisms for using research knowledge and evidence to support policymakers and investors.The partnership approach can be illustrated in more detail with partnerships for value chains to enhance nutritional quality and food safety. The initial focus will be to work with programs (particularly CRP3.7) that support value-chain development for complementary foods (in this case milk, meat, and fish). The partnering value chain will develop the overall framework for looking at the value chain. It will also help convene the key public and private participants and identify the role of key participants, the capacities they need, and key research and development priorities. CRP4 will identify points along the value chain at which nutrition or food safety can be enhanced, identify the roles of key actors in those nutrition and health improvements, provide specific information on consumers, and support the key actors through knowledge, tools, and evidence. An important task of CRP4 will be to define areas in which other national and international enablers can support the value-chains actors beyond CRP4. Initial experiences with value chains for complementary foods will be extended to fruits and vegetables and legumes and then to biofortified foods coming from the Harvest Plus varietal development pipeline. Appendix 4 provides an example of partnerships for policy support using the example of CAADP. Building on current CGIAR experience with providing research evidence to support policymaking and priority setting, CRP4 will add specific nutrition and health inputs into the overall agriculture policy process and support links between the agriculture and public health sectors.Combining partnerships with capacity building is central to CRP4's support for developingcountry institutions. Appendixes 13 and 14 provide further information on specifics of capacity development that relate to proposed research outputs, outcomes, and impact areas.This section describes the four components and their subcomponents (See A critical challenge at the proposal development stage is to define specific research activities with milestones and partner roles. Clearly, it is impossible to achieve the level of specificity needed to start implementation without extensive discussions with partners regarding their role, the nature of the different partnerships needed to carry out the research, and information on funding flows, as well as a careful joint research prioritization exercise. For this reason, CRP4 will spend a significant amount of time designing its implementation plan in year 1, relying on extensive consultation with current and potential partners, starting with other CRP teams. At this stage, we have identified a set of countries where activities pertaining to the four components of CRP4 are either ongoing or will start during the first year of implementation (see Table 3). We expect the program to expand rapidly during the first year, as team members start engaging fully with partners and other CRPs. Below we present an overview of the most promising partnerships and areas of research to be pursued in the short term and of the sequencing of partnership engagement and research prioritization for the different CRP4 components. More information is provided in the following sections, which describe each component in more detail.For research within the value-chain impact pathway, research will initially focus on new activities on value chains for animal source foods and on enhancing and scaling up research on orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) in collaboration with HarvestPlus. In both cases, the focus is on enhancing the nutrition and health of mothers and children younger than age two. CRP4 will thus collaborate with a subset of the target value chains in CRP3.7 (fish value chain in Uganda in the first year), nomadic dairy value chain in Senegal (jointly with CRP2), and OFSP in Mozambique and Uganda with HarvestPlus and its partners. During its first year of implementation, CRP4 will explore potential collaboration with other CRP3.7 target value chains such as small ruminant meat in Ethiopia and Mali, pig meat in Uganda and Vietnam, and milk in Tanzania and north-east India. Activities will focus on developing and applying dietary surveys, market surveys, studies of consumer knowledge and perceptions, nutrition assessment tools, and food safety assessments along these target value chains in years 1 and 2. In addition to these target value chains, CRP4 will emphasize activities for the control of mycotoxins in value chains. The role of CRP4 will be to develop an overall risk framework for mitigating aflatoxin in key value chains (such as maize and groundnuts with CRPs 3.2 and 3.5) and to develop risk assessment methods and mitigation options to be applied in larger initiatives such as the Program for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA). The relative roles of approaches and technologies need to be harmonized in year 1 with the leaders and key scientists of CRP3.2 and 3.5.Beyond year 2, value-chain activities in CRP4 will expand to include other nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables (with AVRDC), legumes (with CRP3.5), and new biofortified crops as they become available (with HarvestPlus in Component 2). CRP4 will document the tools and approaches developed; widely disseminate results through peer-reviewed journals, research and policy briefs, and workshops and seminars; and train stakeholders, to ensure that these tools and approaches are used to replicate, scale up, and motivate future investment in value chains for nutrition and food safety.For research within the program impact pathway, nutritional assessment methods and, when applicable, strategies for assessing and controlling agriculture-associated diseases will be applied within the broader development program planning and implementation activities led by partners. Initial activities in CRP4 will focus on beginning new work with CRP1.3 on aquatic systems and livelihoods in Bangladesh and Zambia, expanding ongoing partnerships with Helen Keller International from Burkina Faso to Nepal, and strengthening partnerships with Concern Worldwide in Zambia. In year 1, we will actively explore opportunities to engage with other development initiatives (for example, following up on initial discussions with REACH). Priorities for specific agriculture-associated diseases will be established with existing food safety and zoonotic disease platforms in Africa (SACIDS, Afrique One) and Asia (PHFI in India and a variety of programs in Southeast Asia). Through discussions with partners, we expect to develop a clear strategy for how CRP4 can support development partners for both nutrition and health programs by the end of year 2. In many cases, CRP4 activities will be able to take advantage of already established or developing partnership platforms.Research activities within the policy impact pathway will start in year 1 by exploring complementarities and potential partnerships with new policy research programs in the areas of agriculture and nutrition and knowledge management in nutrition. The two new DfID-funded projects-Transform Nutrition (TN), a six-partner consortium led by IFPRI, and Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA), a six-partner consortium led by the Swaminathan Research Foundation and including IFPRI as a key partner-provide an excellent opportunity for collaboration with CRP4. Both projects aim at improving nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa (TN) and South Asia (both projects) by scaling up direct nutrition interventions and leveraging other sectors, especially agriculture. In India, a similar opportunity is offered by the new IFPRI-led Partnerships and Opportunities for Strengthening and Harmonizing Actions on Nutrition (POSHAN) supported by BMGF (see Box 10, Section 6.4.4 for a short description of these projects).Given the novelty of cross-sectoral policymaking, research under this component will be developed over a longer period of time. In Africa, CRP4 will develop a clearer action plan in collaboration with AU-NEPAD by the end of year 2 and will link to country-level implementation plans for regional economic communities. These activities will build on the existing capacity of the Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support (SAKSS) programs linking the CGIAR centers and the CAADP initiative. In South Asia, CRP4 will rely on existing agricultural policy efforts linked to the PHFI. A strong element of improved policymaking and investment decisions is the evidence base for decisionmaking. During the first year, CRP4 will develop a strong research network of academic partners in universities and research institutes in its target regions of Africa and Asia and in developed countries. The goal will be to have in place a useful set of metrics, tools, and approaches to support the policy impact pathway by the end of year 3.   12, 14, and 16 (Component 3), and Tables 18 and 20 (Component 4).To meet the overall milestones that will be further specified with partners in detailed discussions in year 1, capacity development across the range of research activities and partnership development activities will be critical. Research activities linked with broader organization activities, milestones for partnerships, and key capacities to be developed are listed in Table 21. The challenge of addressing food security is not simply a matter of ensuring that all people have enough food-or energy (calories)-to live a healthy life. A much more daunting problem is to ensure that poor people have access to nutritious 4 and high-quality diets. Typically, poor households subsist on monotonous staple-based diets; they lack access to nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables, animal source foods (fish, meat, eggs, and dairy products), or wild foods of high nutrient content. Lack of diversity in the diet is strongly associated with inadequate intake and risks of deficiencies of essential micronutrients (Ruel 2003;Leakey 1999;Arimond et al. 2010). The resulting deficiencies have farreaching health and nutrition consequences, both in the short and the long term. Economic constraints, lack of knowledge and information, and related lack of demand for nutritious foods are critical factors that limit poor populations' access to such foods.Food production is just one factor in the consumption and availability of nutrients. Food is stored, distributed, processed, retailed, prepared, and consumed in a range of ways that affect the access, acceptability, and nutritional quality of foods for the consumer. Producing for consumption in the home or for local markets remains important in many places; but today, the more market-oriented nature of agricultural policies means that more farmers are net-food buyers and are thus affected by commercial markets.Value-chain concepts and approaches have been widely used in international development (and in the CGIAR) with the objective of enhancing the livelihoods of food producers. Although they often address food safety issues, value-chain analyses rarely incorporate nutritional and other health considerations (Hawkes and Ruel 2011). The food supply chain is most often discussed from the perspective of value-chain actors-the supply side. Little emphasis is placed on how informed consumers can play a role in influencing the value chains, and how changes in the demand for specific foods can influence the processes and outputs of value chains. There is also little emphasis on how actors along the value chain can be better informed on how to enhance nutritional value and safety of foods as they move along the value chain. This component will build on work on value chains carried out by the CGIAR and other partners on nutritious (usually high-value) foods.• It will develop new approaches and tools to analyze the value chain, using a -nutrition lens‖ combined with a consumer focus.• It will implement research to identify leverage points to enhance the nutritional value of select nutrient-rich foods.• It will develop tools to assess and correct information asymmetries regarding nutrition among different value-chain actors, including consumers.Component 1 will focus on increasing the demand for nutritious foods among poor rural and periurban, marginal households, and on identifying leverage points along the value chain where innovative nutrition interventions can be incorporated to stimulate both the supply and the demand for nutritious foods.Boxes 2-5 present case studies that illustrate some emerging work incorporating nutrition considerations and interventions into value chains (Hawkes and Ruel 2011). They show that value-chain concepts and approaches offer considerable potential for enhancing efforts to improve nutrition, and they provide a framework for identifying and implementing opportunities to leverage agriculture for improved nutrition.The first case study (Box 2) describes an ongoing program aimed at strengthening the bean value chain in Uganda, to foster both nutrition and income gains among small-scale farming households. We note that 77 percent of farmers involved in the production, harvesting, and marketing of beans in the study area are women, and that women also play a central role in decisions regarding food preparation and distribution as well as child feeding and care. The program thus has great potential to improve the food security and nutrition of household members, and especially of young children.In the second case study (Box 3), a value-chain approach was used to create a market and stimulate the demand for-and consumption of-a new type of sweet potato: a biofortified, vitamin A-Iowa State University (ISU) and its Ugandan partners have been working on improving the bean value chain to improve agricultural production, income, health, and nutrition among small-scale farming households in the Kamali District of Uganda. Beans are a major food and cash crop in Uganda. Their relatively high nutritional content and high market price mean that they have the potential to improve both nutrition and income among producer households. The potential nutritional and economic benefits of beans are diminished, however, by inadequate pre-and postharvest handling techniques. Late harvest exposes beans to fungus, damage, and breakage during threshing; high levels of insect infestation occur during storage. Moreover, bean preparation generally requires long preparation time (with significant fuel use), resulting in decreasing bean consumption especially among peri-urban and urban residents.In view of the interrelated nature of problems that extend along the value chain-from production to postharvest handling, processing, marketing, and consumption (demand)-the project adopted a participatory market chain approach (PMCA). The goal was to understand barriers to participation and consumption, and to develop solutions for producers and consumers in different parts of the bean value chain, through participatory research involving improved management practices and technologies, development of training materials, peer extension and outreach, and monitoring and evaluation. By developing solutions for key points along the value chain, coordinating these activities so that they reinforce each other, and including diverse sectors and partners (including consumers), the project reflects core value-chain concepts and theories and has good prospects for effectively promoting sustainable change and development.It also highlights the clear potential of value chains to leverage agriculture for improved nutrition.Note: The project was implemented under the framework of the USAID-funded Dry Grain Pulse collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) .Source: Mazur et al. 2011;Hawkes and Ruel 2011. rich orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in Uganda and Mozambique. This study is an excellent example of a value chain for a newly introduced nutritious product that includes specific nutrition goals: to increase not only production of OFSP but also its consumption, as well as the vitamin A intake and status of poor households, with a focus on women and young children. The rigorous evaluation carried out in both countries shows that the approach was highly successful in enhancing production, market opportunities among small-farm producers, and consumption of OFSP, resulting in greater vitamin A intake among particularly vulnerable groups-mothers, infants, and young children.In the third case study (Box 4), demand and supply for traditional green leafy vegetables were raised in tandem, by working with producers within existing local production and consumption systems. The project aimed (1) to promote nutritious, traditional foods to increase demand; and ( 2 Most sweet potatoes consumed in Africa are white-fleshed. Replacing these in the diet of the rural and urban poor with orange-fleshed varieties, rich in vitamin A (beta-carotene), has the potential to reduce vitamin A deficiency. To help achieve this potential, the HarvestPlus project, -Reaching End Users,‖ undertook a series of activities to increase the production, availability, and consumption of orange-flesh sweet potato (OSFP) among rural producer-households. The project aimed also to raise the income of producers, who can sell excess production, and to stimulate consumption by nonproducing households, thus increasing demand for this excess production. Actions were taken to develop the value chain for OFSP at all three levels-farmer, trader, and consumer.• At the farmer level, it was important to build confidence that market demand existed, to increase skills in marketing, and to ensure that there was a market for the produce.• At the trader level, it was important to raise awareness of the nutritional advantages of OFSP, to identify where it could be sourced, and to define the role traders could play in promoting consumption. It was also important to show traders that they could make higher returns from selling OFSP, as diagnostic work indicated that it was often sold at a higher price. This was substantiated by willingness-to-pay studies with purchasers.• For consumers, it was vital to raise awareness of OFSP's nutritional benefits and to encourage replacement of white-fleshed varieties with the vitamin A-enhanced orange variety.The results showed that it was possible to create a market for OFSP and to stimulate consumption among both producers and net consumers. In Mozambique, the percentage of orange (compared to white) sweet potatoes sold rose from zero in 2006 to 18 percent in 2008 and to 50 percent in 2009. As many as 82 percent of sweet potato purchasers indicated that they would buy OFSP in the future, largely because of its nutritional and health benefits, which they understood from the education messages. A rigorous impact evaluation showed that the project led to large increases in the consumption of OFSP and, more important, in vitamin A intake among women, infants, and young children-the key target groups because of their high susceptibility to vitamin A deficiency (Hotz et al. 2010).The value-chain approach was particularly useful in this study, to help coordinate actions across the supply chain and to engage with a range of value-chain actors, including producers, traders, and consumers. Agriculture was linked to nutrition, not just through greater production, but also through market linkages created in the value chain. Value was conceptualized as economic value for the producers and traders, and as nutritional and health value for the consumers. Of importance, consumers were willing to pay more for the product when they were made aware of its nutritional and health benefits.Source: Coote et al. 2011;Hawkes and Ruel 2011. to respond to this demand, potentially enhancing producers' income. Women continue to be the main actors in African leafy green vegetable production and marketing-a positive aspect that can be leveraged to enhance the economic empowerment of women.The last case study (Box 5) addresses some of the constraints to preserving the nutritional, safety, and monetary value of fishery products in Bangladesh. Fish value-chain analysis allowed the identification of alternative processing techniques that can help preserve nutritional value, prevent losses along the value chain, ensure the safety of the products, and stimulate demand. Small fish, eaten whole, are a particularly rich source of essential micronutrients and can be used to enrich maternal and child diets at a low cost. African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are an important source of essential macro-and micronutrients. They also offer a source of livelihood when marketed, and they contribute to crop biodiversity. Sub-Saharan Africa contains a large variety of nutritious, leafy vegetables-an estimated 800-1,000 species. In Kenya, where approximately 210 species are available, only about 10 find their way to markets (mainly African nightshade, leafy amaranth, cowpeas, and spider-plant).Bioversity works with resource-poor vegetable farmers on the outskirts of Nairobi, in peri-urban areas. Together they have inventoried leafy vegetable species and identified the key issues hindering their cultivation, conservation, and marketing. Other activities include nutritional and agronomic studies, distributing seeds to farmers, and disseminating local recipes featuring leafy vegetables to stimulate demand. With support and training from the project, farmers on the outskirts of Nairobi began growing leafy vegetables.Results from a 2006 study commissioned by the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) show the tremendous growth of the ALV market within Nairobi over the last decade: the market gross value increased by about 213 percent from 2001 to 2006. The campaign for traditional vegetables between 1997 and 2007 brought notable positive changes in growing, consumption, marketing, and nutritional awareness of ALVs.The growth of this market has been greatly influenced by increased consumer demand that has been stimulated by a number of factors. These include promotional strategies of local NGOs and international organizations; increased health awareness and consciousness of Nairobi dwellers; livelihood effects of HIV/AIDs; and improved ALV presentation in supermarkets as well as upmarket groceries. Supply has in turn been enhanced: by promotion of production in peri-urban and upcountry areas, by international organizations and local NGOs; by external marketing support provided by NGOs; by farmers' capacity for self-organization; and by improvement of telecommunication technology.Work is now under way to understand how these foods contribute to improved diet diversity and micronutrient intake in these communities.Source: Gotor and Irungu 2010;Gotor et al. 2010.The overall objective of this component is to leverage the value chain for select nutrient-rich (high value) foods to increase the demand for, access to, and consumption of affordable nutritious foods among poor rural and peri-urban marginal households, with a particular focus on benefiting vulnerable women, infants, and young children.The specific objectives are listed below and illustrated in Figure 3.1. Characterize the dietary patterns of vulnerable and marginal populations and communities; identify the available nutrient-rich foods that could be made more accessible to these communities through value chains. 2. Understand information gaps and constraints to the consumption of nutrient-rich foods (economic, social, and cultural). 3. Develop, test, and evaluate new tools to increase awareness, access to information, and knowledge among consumers to stimulate demand for nutritious foods. 4. Identify nutrition entry points (where nutrients are gained) and exit points (where nutrients are lost), at different points along the value chain; test new models to enhance or protect the nutritional value of foods (including fortification) during postharvest handling, processing and preserving, transportation, distribution, storage, and food preparation. 5. Evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of the approaches developed and tested in objectives 3 and 4 in enhancing demand for, and access to, these targeted nutrient-rich foods among rural and peri-urban poor populations.Figure 3 shows a simplified value chain. On the right are shown some of its key actors; on the left are the list of objectives and the related broad categories of activities to be undertaken under this component. The figure shows that the starting point in this approach is the consumer rather than the producer (as in typical value-chain work); the ultimate goal is to stimulate demand and increase access for the poor to nutritious food, instead of the usual focus on enhancing production and producer income.Fresh fish supply chains are often inefficient because of lack of electricity for refrigeration or ice making. Roasting and smoking are common methods of preserving fish, although they result in nutrient loss and use scarce fuelwood. WorldFish has initiatied research on processing technologies that can add both nutritional and monetary value to fishery products. These technologies include solar dryers as well as new methods of salting, pickling, and fermenting that draw on traditional, regional, or local methods. Processed products such as fish powder, added to staple foods, represent a promising means of enriching maternal and infant diets using locally available products. Ongoing research, supported by Danida, is investigating the potential for improving child nutrition by using nutrient-rich fish to improve the nutritional quality of complementary foods for young children (MoFA Denmark 2010). • What are the dietary patterns of consumption and use, in target populations, of traditional local foods, animal source foods, fruits and vegetables, biofortified staple foods, and processed (including micronutrient-fortified) foods?• How do these patterns differ across different groups of consumers, as defined by gender, education, household composition, income level, culture, geographic location, access to markets, and levels of food self-sufficiency?• What are the changes in dietary patterns and nutritional quality of foods produced and consumed associated with different patterns of agriculture intensification along value chains?• What is the nutritional value of these nutrient-rich foods (both nutrient content and functional properties)? How is their nutritional value affected by postharvest handling, processing, storage, and food preparation?• Can diversified agricultural production be scaled for commercial use while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystems, and improving human nutrition and health? What does agricultural biodiversity imply for peri-urban value chains, and what do trends in peri-urban markets imply for potential success of agricultural biodiversity?• How adequate is the supply (quantity, quality, and seasonality) of nutrient-rich foods at informal and formal markets?• What is the cost of these nutrient-rich foods in these settings? What contributions do they make (or could they make) in the diet of the poor? Which nutrient gaps do they (or could they) fill, especially for vulnerable women and young children?• What is the potential of biodiverse systems in providing rich and varied sources of nutrients for foods? How does this contribute to household consumption and diet quality or income generation? (Examples of such systems include root and tuber crop diversity in the Andes, sweet potato in Papua New Guinea, leafy green vegetables in Kenya, and minor millets in India.)Objective 2. Understand information gaps and constraints to consumption.• What are the main constraints to consumption and use, in target populations, of traditional local foods, animal source foods, fruits and vegetables, biofortified staple foods, and processed foods-including cultural, economic, availability, and information constraints? What are the constraints to better use of local knowledge of biodiverse systems to improve the nutrition of households?• What are the opportunities and barriers to increasing demand for and consumption of these nutrient-rich foods among the poor? What is the role of women in decisionmaking regarding food purchases and intrahousehold distribution?• What is the current level of nutritional knowledge and awareness of consumers and actors along the value chain regarding nutrition, during phases of food processing, handling, and preparation? What sources of information do they trust the most for information regarding healthy diets and nutrition? How is information diffused and acquired? What is the role of social networks in knowledge diffusion?• What is the willingness of poor rural and peri-urban consumers to pay for foods that are rich in nutrients? How can their willingness to pay be increased (for example, through education, information dissemination, and media)?• How do the previous four questions vary across different groups of consumers, as defined by gender, education, household composition, income level, culture, geographic location, access to markets, and level of food self-sufficiency?• What are the most efficient and effective approaches, methods, tools, and media outlets to disseminate information and raise public awareness about nutrient-rich foods? How can the value chains be leveraged to inform value-chain actors, including consumers?• How can women participate more actively in various processes along the value chain and play a greater role in producing high-quality nutrient-rich (and commercial) products, as well as in shaping the demand for such foods?• What is the nutritional impact of commercial producers' participation in rural markets for the poor?Objective 4. Identify nutrition entry and exit points, and test new models to enhance nutrition along the value chain.• For nutrient-rich foods, what are the potential points of entry to enrich, replace, or preserve nutrients along the value chain?• What exit points along the value chain should be mitigated to avoid nutrient losses?• What is the added cost of making nutrient-rich foods more nutritious along the value chain?• How can local value chains be used to produce specialized products for populations with special needs (such as undernourished or pregnant mothers, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and infants)? Strategies might include ready-to-use therapeutic foods, fortified blended foods, biofortified crops, and improved complementary foods.• What nutritious products could be developed and promoted from available local foods and underutilized crops? What scale would be appropriate and cost-effective for local production from biodiverse systems of affordable, high-quality, specialized foods for these vulnerable population groups?• How can women farmers be linked in as producers and processors of nutrient-rich foods, or as ingredient suppliers to commercial manufacturers of specialized foods?• How are different entry and exit points likely to change with intensification of production and increasing length and complexity of value chains?Objective 5. Evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of the approaches developed under Objectives 3 and 4.• What is the impact of the approaches developed in Objectives 3 and 4 on availability, access, and consumption of nutrient-rich foods among the target populations? How does the impact differ across groups of consumers, as defined by gender, education, household composition, income level, culture, geographical location, access to markets, and level of food selfsufficiency?• What is the impact on particularly vulnerable subpopulation groups, such as the poorest of the poor and women and young children within poor households?• What is the cost-effectiveness of the different approaches developed?• What are the lessons learned for other value chains in other contexts, and at a greater scale?• How are the trade-offs addressed between economic gains for producers and other actors along the value chain for nutrient-rich foods and the higher cost for consumers? Are consumers willing to pay for additional nutritional value of foods? Which consumers? What happens to the poorest of the poor?This component will test the main hypothesis that value chains are a feasible, effective, and costeffective approach to improve the supply of and demand for select nutritious foods among poor populations and nutritionally vulnerable individuals such as women and young children. Several excellent tools and methods exist to analyze value chains for poverty reduction or to increase small farmers' access to markets, but none have been developed yet to test the feasibility of incorporating nutrition goals and interventions into value-chain development. CRP4 will take up the challenge and develop and test these tools in order to answer the key development question of whether or not leveraging value chains is a cost-effective way of improving nutrition outcomes among the poor.This component will have the desired impact if it contributes to increasing the demand for-and access to-a larger variety of affordable nutritious foods, among vulnerable and marginalized households in rural and peri-urban areas. This will result from (1) enhanced nutritional knowledge and awareness created among value-chain actors, including consumers, and (2) the greater selection of affordable nutrient-rich foods available through informal and formal markets. The pathway to achieving these impacts will be mediated through the following three outcomes (as shown in Figure 4):  Commodities with intrinsic nutritional value that are typically out of reach for poor consumers (and that tend to be sold for income rather than consumed by producer households) will be prioritized for value-chain analysis and improvement. Research outputs from work on these selected food commodities will fall into three categories:1. detailed information on diets, consumption patterns, and access constraints for the poor to nutritious foods 2. new tools and approaches to measure and increase consumer awareness, knowledge, and willingness to pay for nutritious foods 3. new cost-effective models to improve the nutritional value of these foods through the value chainThe research in this component will be closely linked with food safety research in Component 3 to provide outputs to enhance nutritional quality and food safety along the value chain. This will require significant engagement with three key stakeholder groups involved in value-chain work.1. The CGIAR and other research institutions working on highly nutritious food value chains.For example, close linkages are planned with CRP3.7 for meat, dairy, and fish along with their partners, and with CRP2 and partners for the promotion of nutrient-rich food production. 2. Development actors involved in social protection programs or in integrated ANH programs promoting healthy diets and increased demand for nutritious foods. 3. The private-sector food-chain actors, which are increasingly engaged in the production, processing, distribution, and marketing of specialized foods and nutrient-rich foods.Private-sector initiatives include programs focusing on the distribution and demand creation for specialized foods and locally produced fortified products targeted to vulnerable groups such as pregnant or lactating women, young children, or other individuals with special needs. A key actor will be pharmaceutical companies involved in nutrition product development and in fortifying foods with essential micronutrients, such as DSM, Nutriset, and others. The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), which facilitates private-sector investment in adding nutritional value to foods along the value chain, will be an important partner and enabler for this component. Other key actors include the United Nations (UN) REACH initiative, WFP and its development assistance programs, and governments and nongovernmental organizations implementing social protection and targeted nutrition programs, to name a few.The proposed activities, with related outputs and outcomes are presented in Table 5, listed by objective. These activities, outputs and outcomes are still broadly defined, but specificity will be achieved when they are applied to the target value chains selected for research under CRP4. A tentative plan for target value chains, countries and key partners for CRP4's work on value chains for nutrition is presented in Table 4 by year of implementation. This plan will be revised during the first year of implementation, after extensive discussions with a broad range of CRP4 partners are held, including with teams from other CRPs. As noted above, CRP4's approach in value chain will be to build on the work carried out by the CGIAR and its partners on value chains for nutrient-rich food and to incorporate nutrition in existing work, rather than developing a new value chain research portfolio. An example of the approach that CRP4 will use to complement other CRP work on value chain is presented in Appendix 5 for tilapia and catfish in Uganda in collaboration with CRP3.7. The example illustrates the types of activities, outputs and outcomes that CRP4 will add to CRP3.7's work and how this joint work will add value to the work of both CRPs and enhance their impacts on the nutrition and health of poor populations. Appendix 6 presents another example of potential research that may be undertaken in collaboration with Bioversity on value chains for nutritious local and traditional foods and neglected and underutilized species. Notes: Abbreviations: ANH = agriculture, nutrition and health; OFSP = orange fleshed sweet potatoes; Tbd = to be determined.The first activity in this component will be to finalize the selection of suitable value chains and contexts to initiate research on integrating nutrition considerations and interventions into value-chain research and development. Initial discussions with partners led to the selection of the four value chains listed in Table 4 for year 1, but additional discussions are needed to make a final selection of value chains to initiate work in years 2 and beyond. The team will therefore organize a meeting of relevant CGIAR centers, CRPs, and other partners who are working on value chains for nutrient-rich foods such as animal source foods, legumes and fruit and vegetables. Examples of experts and partners for this workshop include those working on CRP3.7 on meat, dairy, and fish and on CRP3.5 on grain legumes; experts working on biodiversity (including staff from Bioversity and partners); staff and partners from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the World Vegetable Center working on fruits and vegetables; staff working on biofortification (Component 2 of this CRP); and development partners such as REACH, GAIN, and private companies interested in working on value chains for enhanced nutrition. The outcome of this initial workshop will be the confirmation of plans regarding the selected value chains for year 1; the selection of four to five additional value chains for start-up research in years 2 and 3; and plans for sequencing these value chains in the course of the first 3 years of the program. Follow-up workshops with each value chain team will be conducted to draw a detailed work plan.The criteria for value-chain selection will include a series of factors, including (but not limited to) the potential to effectively reach the poor and improve their access to nutritious foods, the likelihood of success in working with value-chain actors on incorporating nutrition interventions, and the goal of working in a diversity of environments, contexts, countries, and populations, including populations exposed to different stages of economic development, market access, and agroecological zones.Once value chains and contexts are selected, work will be phased in, in roughly the order in which the activities are listed in Table 5. Research under Objectives 1 and 2 will be launched in Years 1-2; this will include a series of assessments using quantitative multilevel surveys, qualitative enquiry, social network censuses, nutritional analysis of foods (where relevant), and non-survey methods to assess consumers' acceptance and valuation of nutrient-rich foods. This rich information will be used, starting in Year 3, to address Objectives 3-5. Tool and method development and impact evaluation (starting with baseline in Year 3) will be implemented gradually in different contexts in Years 3-5 and will take perhaps three-to-five years to complete, depending on the scope and rigor of the evaluation methods selected. We therefore envision, at a minimum, a ten-year process to complete a full set of case studies and to generate the planned research outputs and outcomes.A variety of quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to address the five objectives of this component. Table 6 provides an overview of methods and indicators that will be used for each objective. Note that all analyses will generate gender-disaggregated data, where relevant.   (Senegal (dairy), Uganda (fish) ; a selection of 3 or so other commodities/contexts for impact and costeffectiveness evaluation) Evidence generated from at least 5 contexts of impact and cost-effectiveness of leveraging value chains to improve access to nutritious foods (supply) by the poor and to stimulate demand for such foods through successful BCC (demand) Evidence generated regarding the impact and costeffectiveness of enhancing nutrition through value chains in at least 5 contexts leads to greater investments in value chains and BCC to improve nutrition, and use of tools and methods developed by large number of stakeholdersQuantitative, representative household surveys to collect basic information on (1) household demographics, socioeconomic conditions, consumption/expenditure, agricultural production, access to services and markets, and food security;(2) detailed information on food consumption and acquisition; and (3) gender-disaggregated dietary intake data, using detailed 24-hour recall methods, food frequency questionnaires, dietary diversity assessments, and anthropometric measurements, as well as biomarkers (for micronutrient status) where appropriate.-Total expenditure; food expenditure; budget shares for different nutritious and other foods -Household food security indicators (household hunger scale, household food insecurity access scale, coping strategies) -Quantified food production (types and amounts of different foods produced; percent consumed; percent sold, and so forth) -Intake of energy, protein, fat, and select micronutrients by vulnerable individuals (such as women and young children); nutrient gaps (at household and individual level) -Anthropometric measurements (weight-for-age Z-scores, height-for-age Z-scores, weight-for-height Z-scores; stunting, wasting, underweight), focusing on women and young children -Biomarkers of micronutrient status, where relevant (such as serum retinol for vitamin A, haemoglobin for anemia, serum zinc for zinc status), focusing on women and young children -Reported illness symptoms in past two weeks (focus on child) Quantitative community surveys to collect information on community characteristics and availability of services -Community characteristics (number of schools, health facilities, water source, agriculture, and the like) Market surveys to collect data on the availability and cost of nutrient-rich foods -Food supply; food prices, market processes; mapping of foods available in markets Laboratory methods to estimate the macro-and micronutrient content of selected traditional local foods -Data on calories, protein, fat, and micronutrient content of traditional foods of importance in the population, which are not included in food composition tables Agriculture, ecosystem, and biodiversity tools to characterize the food diversity of agriculture landscapes and ethno-botanical characteristics of potential food sources Linear programming to (1) identify nutrient gaps and (2) select diets (based on local foods available in markets) that satisfy a set of nutritional constraints -Species numbers, abundances, densities -Shannon diversity and evenness indices -Number of uses per species and species per use category (continued)Objective 2. Understand information gaps and constraints to consumption of nutrient-rich foods Quantitative: surveys in Objective 1 will also collect relevant data on knowledge, practices, and attitudes in relation to nutrition/nutritious foods; perceived constraints to use of nutritious foods; preparation and storage of nutritious foods; sources, uses, and preferences regarding knowledge acquisition and information gathering (using social network census approaches).-Knowledge score (based on knowledge test) -Practices scales (for different dimensions of practices) -Lists (and quantification) of constraints identified -Lists (and quantification) of social networks, sources and providers of information, and so forth Qualitative: to be selected from a variety of potential approaches, depending on context and specific questions addressed. Examples of approaches include focused ethnographic studies; focus group discussions; in-depth structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews; observations; shadowing. Topics same as for quantitative surveys -In-depth information on knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding nutritious food use, intake, preparation, and storage. Information on constraints to intake of nutritious foods (such as sociological-, cultural-, economic-, and gender-related) and on preferred sources of information relating to issues around food use.Survey methods to assess consumers' acceptance and willingness to pay for nutrient-rich foods based on different levels of information. Methods include hypothetical nonmarket stated preference methods (SPMs) encompassing both contingent valuation and choice experiments (see Alfnes et al. 2006); real nonmarket valuation methods, such as Vickery and Becker-Degroote and Marschack experimental auctions (Train and Wilson 2011;Plot and Zeiler 2005;Horowitz and McConnell 2002;Shogren et al. 2001); and real market randomized experiment methods to understand the effects of information about nutritious attributes of food, including their effect on the WTP (Masters and Sanogo 2002;Birol, Roy, and Torero 2010).-Measures of expected willingness to pay as compared to existing market prices. This will be developed across the income distribution to control for low ability to pay (ATP). -Measurement of the nutritious attributes more valued by consumers.-Measures of the effects of better information about the nutritional attributes of food.Formative research will be used to develop new education/behavior change approaches. Data collected under Objectives 1 and 2 will also be used to design education interventions.Rigorous evaluation methods will be used to compare and evaluate approaches; see component 4 for description of evaluation methods, including impact, process and cost evaluation. Qualitative data collection will be used to assess constraints to adoption and use of recommended practices, and to interpret results of evaluation.-Impact will be evaluated on the same indicators as above: knowledge and practices test scores; changes in constraints; changes in use of information; changes in use of nutrient-rich food.(continued)Objective 4: Identify nutrition entry and exit points and test new models to enhance or protect the nutritional value of foods along the value chainValue-chain analysis: This activity will first define the value chain for analysis by identifying key commodities that could be sensitive to increases in nutritional content.Once the key commodities are identified, a mapping of the specific value chains will be done with key stakeholders, and field instruments will be developed to identify key exit and entry points of nutritional content across the value chain. The detailed analysis of the value chain will include measuring its performance and evaluating the benefits and costs associated with nutrition upgrading options. Then we will identify opportunities and mechanisms for small farmers to benefit, based on the WTP studies of consumers; we will pilot possible interventions and assess their impact, in terms of costs and benefits to producers and consumers of the upgrading options implemented.Laboratory evaluation methods will be used to quantify the losses/increases in nutrient content along the value chain, to enable comparisons and evaluation among different models/interventions.-Key commodities to be targeted to improve nutrition at key entry and exit points.-Cost-benefit analysis by commodity of potential interventions to enhance nutrition at specific entry points and to prevent losses at exit points along the value chain. -Best practices identified in improving the nutritional content of value chains.Rigorous evaluation methods will be used based on sound program impact theory, using process evaluation and cost-effectiveness assessments (see Component 4 for details on methods).-Impact indicators: household consumption and individual intake of targeted nutritious foods; contribution of these foods to changes in micronutrient intake and micronutrient status, and possibly to child growth and morbidity symptoms (depending on the micronutrient)In addition to CG centers and the World Vegetable Center (an international agriculture research center focusing on vegetables), the list of potential partners for this component includes a wide variety of stakeholders, including NARES, NGOs (such as CRS, Concern Worldwide, and Helen Keller International), intergovernmental organizations (UN agencies and programs such as FAO, WHO, and REACH), government institutions, foundations, and academic institutions. Beyond these partners, many regional and locally specific partnerships and stakeholders have been identified under individual research activity descriptions.A strong collaboration with the private sector will be pursued under this research component for testing sustainability of methods and tools along case study value chains. Public-private partnerships will be fostered in collaboration with GAIN. Strategic alliances will be pursued with existing agricultural investment projects, such as those supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (like the Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Program), by GAIN, and by the food and retail industries (Table 7). Rationale A primary underlying cause of malnutrition is poor diet quality, characterized by high intake of food staples and low consumption of foods rich in vitamins and minerals, leading to widespread micronutrient malnutrition among people who cannot afford to buy (or manage to produce) more nutritious foods. By developing staple crop varieties whose edible portions are richer in bioavailable nutrients (through a process called biofortification), agricultural research can provide farmers with crop varieties that can readily improve nutrition for millions of people (Nestel et al. 2006). CRP4 will encompass two programs designed to do just that: HarvestPlus, and AgroSalud. Since 2003, the Consultative Group on International Research (the CGIAR) has supported HarvestPlus, the CGIAR Challenge program on biofortification. HarvestPlus has produced promising varieties of seven nutrient-rich staple crops, poised to be released within the next three years. HarvestPlus is now performing nutritional testing on these crops in target areas in Africa and Asia, to ensure they deliver bioavailable nutrients. AgroSalud is undertaking biofortification work for the Latin American region. In addition, AgroSalud proposes to explore the possible impact of the production and consumption of several biofortified crops in the food basket that represents the typical staple crop diet in Latin America.HarvestPlus and AgroSalud are independent programs with their own well-established goals, visions, governance, management, and funding base. Nevertheless, the two programs work closely and share research methods, protocols, germplasm, scientists, and communication capabilities. Published nutrition studies under both programs have added to the growing body of evidence that biofortification can reduce micronutrient malnutrition in a cost-effective way. In particular, biofortified beans (developed at CIAT) and biofortified maize (developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center [CIMMYT]) contribute to variety development globally.Component 2 proposes to channel investments into these two geographically distinct but related subcomponents:• Subcomponent 1: HarvestPlus (www.harvestplus.org) • Subcomponent 2: Biofortified Food Basket for Latin America and the Caribbean (www.AgroSalud.org)The objective of Component 2 is to develop and test nutrient-dense staple crops through biofortification and to make these novel crops available to the poor and undernourished.For biofortification to be successful, four broad questions must be addressed:1. Can plant breeding and modern agricultural biotechnology techniques increase the nutrient density of food staples to target levels that can potentially have a measurable and significant impact on human nutritional status? 2. When consumed under controlled conditions, will these extra nutrients be bioavailable and absorbed at sufficient levels to improve the nutrient status in target populations? 3. Will farmers adopt the biofortified varieties? 4. Will consumers purchase/eat the biofortified varieties?New and ongoing work in biofortification is testing the hypotheses that breeding nutrient-dense staple crops through biofortification is feasible without affecting yield and other positive crop characteristics, that farmers will adopt, that consumers will consume, and that the nutritional status of targeted populations will improve. Although the proof of concept of the impact of orange-fleshed sweet potato on vitamin A status has been demonstrated in a few countries, much remains to be done to test these hypotheses for other target nutrients, for other crops, and in other countries. The science behind this research is well developed, but different nutrients, crops, and environments will bring new challenges that this CRP will address in partnership with the different commodity CRPs (CRP3 suite).Figure 5 shows the impact pathway for biofortification. Outputs and outcomes revolve around (1) the release of biofortified crop varieties, (2) their use by the farm households, and (3) subsequent distribution through the marketing system. Details are provided for individual crops under development under each subcomponent.Agricultural research scientists (at CGIAR centers and National Agricultural Research Systems [NARS]) develop high-yielding, high-nutrient lines that are tested in target countries for agronomic performance. If they test well, the next step is for nutritionists (from both developed country and target country institutions) to test that the varieties can improve micronutrient status under controlled conditions through efficacy trials. Finally, dissemination of biofortified varieties is organized through partnerships with agriculture-and health-oriented NGOs, government extension agencies, and communications experts. independently-governed program of high-impact research that targets the CGIAR goals in relation to complex issues of overwhelming global and/or regional significance, and requires partnerships among a wide range of institutions in order to deliver its products.Since 2003 HarvestPlus has built an alliance of over 200 scientists in 40 countries who breed nutrientdense crops and test these crops for nutritional efficacy and effectiveness. In its next phase, HarvestPlus will focus its efforts on designing and building effective partnerships to disseminate these new nutritious crops in nutritionally challenged regions of Africa and Asia. In this way, HarvestPlus seeks to harness the full potential of agricultural, nutrition, and marketing sciences to develop and disseminate more nutritious staple foods in order to directly address the persistent problem of micronutrient malnutrition, especially for the poor.The goal of HarvestPlus is to improve the health of poor people by breeding staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients, a process referred to as -biofortification.‖ HarvestPlus focuses on three micronutrients that are widely recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as limiting in diets of the poor: iron, zinc, and vitamin A. While spillover benefits are expected to extend beyond national borders, seven focus country crop products make up the HarvestPlus portfolio (see Appendix 7): Zinc rice for Bangladesh and India For biofortification to be most effective, HarvestPlus crops must be tailored to the needs and local context of the undernourished. HarvestPlus researchers must determine who the hungry are, where they live, and what they are consuming. They must estimate existing consumption patterns as well as potential contributions from biofortified products to determine which crop/nutrient combination would generate the most impact for which populations. These initial questions have been largely answered during the first five years of the program; for these and other research findings, visit www.harvestplus.org.The ultimate end users of HarvestPlus crops are farmers as well as consumers. As rural-based nutrition interventions, the new crops must first and foremost be attractive to farmers, with yields equal to or greater than current varieties. Intensive plant breeding has been devoted to ensuring acceptable yield and other positive characteristics of biofortified varieties. For each crop cycle, breeders work to incrementally increase the level of nutrient in the edible portion of the staple crop, aiming for a level that nutritionists have determined to have a measurable nutritional impact. HarvestPlus employs the latest agricultural research technology-developed within the CGIAR, in international institutions and universities around the globe, and at national agricultural research systems-to screen germplasm, breed crops, and test and disseminate the new nutritious staple crops.Improving the nutritional quality of food is a complicated endeavor. People eat food, not nutrients; and the complexities surrounding the absorption and bioavailability of nutrients from foods still represent, to some extent, an uncharted science. HarvestPlus nutritionists are applying the latest understanding of nutrient inhibiting and promoting compounds that exist in foods and in humans, to maximize the bioavailability of the micronutrients added via biofortification-and advancing the body of knowledge in this area is one of several public goods emerging from the program. Two other critical areas of program research are testing the efficacy of HarvestPlus crops in a controlled setting, and testing their effectiveness in improving nutritional status in a community setting. Finally, the nutritional quality of foods often gets compromised as food is stored and prepared. HarvestPlus nutritionists are testing the retention of the nutrients under local conditions and have discovered, among other things, that nutrient retention is, in fact, a heritable characteristic. This has therefore become an additional breeding objective for HarvestPlus plant breeders.There are two main strategies for introducing a new product. The push strategy is supply-driven. It focuses on the supply of seed and relies on breeding high nutrients into agronomically superior and high-profit varieties. The pull strategy focuses on the demand for biofortified crops or processed products. Well-designed consumer communication and mass media campaigns will play a major role in generating consumer demand.The impact pathways for biofortification are described in Section 6.2.2 above. Figure 6 presents the specific research steps involved.The research process involves three phases: discovery, development, and delivery.Appropriate target populations for biofortification are determined through analysis of cropping patterns, consumption trends, and prevalence of malnutrition. This intersection, in turn, determines the selection of focus crops and the areas where biofortified varieties should be directed (Arsenault et al. 2010;Zapata-Caldas et al. 2009). Nutritionists work with agricultural scientists to establish nutritional breeding targets based on several factors: the food intake of populations in need; nutrient losses during cooking, storage, and processing; bioavailability of nutrients, related to the presence or absence of complementary compounds; and the probability/difficulty of breeding for specific nutrients (Hotz and McClafferty 2007). Once targets are set, the global germplasm banks of the CGIAR institutes, as well as the germplasm banks held in trust by national partners, provide a reservoir of staple-crop germplasm to be screened for nutrient genetic diversity (Pfeiffer and McClafferty 2007), available to be drawn on for breeding programs (Beebe, Gonzalez, and Rengifo 2000).To date, the largest research endeavors under biofortification have focused on crop development, including testing for nutritional bioavailability, efficacy, and effectiveness. Crop development includes all breeding activities to produce varieties with the desired farmer and consumer characteristics-improved nutrient content, ideal consumer quality features, and farmer-preferred agronomic performance (Pfeiffer and McClafferty 2007). Along with breeding, nutrition studies are of paramount importance to establish that the nutrients added through biofortification will in fact be absorbed by the human body, through extensive and complex research into bioavailability, efficacy, and effectiveness.Varietal release regulations differ by country. Registering new varieties of crops requires proof (1) that the variety is new and distinguishable, and (2) that it adds value. After registration and release comes the least understood/most challenging aspect of biofortification: ensuring farmer and consumer acceptance of nutrient-rich staple crops. Sustainable extension and seed production systems are the foundation of a delivery process that will help push the products into market-but well-designed marketing and demandcreation techniques must also be employed to generate pull by consumers. Attention to consumer acceptance is particularly important when the additional nutrient is visible-as with provitamin A; consumer behavior change must then be part of the delivery strategy. Finally, biofortified products must be disseminated in an enabling public policy environment. Advocacy campaigns for biofortification can help create space for this new nutrition intervention, in both the agriculture and public health sectors.Table 8 presents a summary of broad activities, outputs, and outcomes for HarvestPlus. The emerging HarvestPlus delivery program is ambitious. The first pilot launches will concentrate on delivering provitamin A maize in Zambia, iron-rich bean in Rwanda, provitamin A-rich cassava in Nigeria, and ironrich pearl millet in India. During its first delivery campaign, HarvestPlus aims to reach 100,000 farmers with these pilot crops by 2013. Lessons learned from this initial delivery exercise will be applied to continued expansion in those areas as well as rollout of other crops in other target regions. HarvestPlus will disseminate crops through strategic partnerships with the private sector, civil society, and governmental organizations.Table 9 provides some detail relating to research on specific crops and the delivery of key biofortified varieties, through 2015. Beyond 2015, the strategy envisions three broad areas of activity: to establish breeding for minerals and vitamins as a core activity at CGIAR centers and NARS; to scale up delivery in additional non-target countries; and to carry out follow-up surveys to measure impact.  (continued) Biofortification strategy ideally follows clear stages of discovery, development, and delivery. However, as products advance down the impact pathway, further research findings may necessitate revisiting previous stages to assure the highest quality nutrient-rich product. Methods used at the ten distinct stages of the research process are as follows.Cropping and food consumption patterns, the incidence of micronutrient malnutrition, and exante benefit-cost analysis are applied to determine where biofortified varieties should be targeted. Breeding targets are set for specific micronutrients and crops.Nutritionists carry out surveys to assess the levels of food staple consumption and nutrient intakes, by age and gender group. They also measure the effects of processing, storage, and cooking methods for nutrient retention in biofortified crops and identify retention-friendly practices used by target populations. They also study to what extent the nutrients bred into crops are absorbed by the body (bioavailability) as well as the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies. These studies guide plant breeders in confirming or refining their breeding targets.The analysis of retention of minerals and vitamins after storage, processing, and cooking involve the use of the following methods:For minerals (from most accurate to least accurate): Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)For provitamin A (from most accurate to least accurate): High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) Thin layer chromatography (TLC) Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)The global germplasm banks of the CGIAR institutes and other partners provide a reservoir of staple crops germplasm to be screened and drawn on by HarvestPlus. Plant breeders identify the genes that are important in the synthesis of vitamin A and translocation of minerals. They develop procedures to implement marker-assisted selection to -flag‖ the desired traits for breeding higher levels of micronutrients. Upstream transgenic research is also conducted in the case of nutrient targets that are challenging to reach through conventional breeding.Crop improvement includes all breeding and product development activities to produce new micronutrient-rich crop varieties that perform well in farmers' fields and meet farmers' expectations, while also providing better nutrition.How genotypes interact with different environments can greatly influence genotypic performance across different crop growing scenarios. HarvestPlus researchers evaluate crops in target countries to ensure high and stable expression of the micronutrient content in different environments where the crops may be grown. Scientists also look at farming practices that can improve crop nutrient content by enhancing the uptake of nutrients in the edible portion of the crop.Nutrition teams develop appropriate indicators of micronutrient status; they conduct controlled feeding trials to evaluate whether vitamins and minerals from biofortified foods are bioavailable and whether biofortified foods improve the nutritional status of target populations. To evaluate bioavailability, minerals and vitamins in the biofortified foods are labeled using stable isotopes and fed to subjects over a fixed number of days. Blood is drawn and absorption of the minerals is evaluated. The evaluation of the nutritional efficacy of biofortified crops in improving nutritional status is done using randomized controlled trials with treatment (fed biofortified crops) and control group (fed non-biofortified crops) in a tightly controlled environment to assess impact across individuals. The relevant biomarkers, for iron, zinc, or vitamin A status, are used to measure efficacy and impact.Researchers study the factors that affect whether farmers and consumers will adopt biofortified crops or products. Crop varietal maps are developed for this purpose and to provide baseline data for assessing impact at a later stage. This applies particularly to vitamin A-rich foods that tend to be orange in color, and thus unfamiliar-looking to consumers.Varieties are identified for selection and submission to registration trials in countries of first release. Following this, procedures are followed to ensure their successful formal release. Proof that the variety is new, distinguishable, and value adding must be assembled in order to register new crop varieties. CGIAR centers work with NARS to gather the relevant information for registration and formal release of biofortified crops in target regions.Delivery managers ensure that seed production, dissemination, and training and extension systems are in place to promote these new crops. Advocates are identified who can pave the way for crops to be accepted by consumers and adopted by farmers. Branding and other marketing strategies are created to increase demand for biofortified crops and foods by consumers.Baseline and follow-up surveys are conducted to measure the number of farming households that have adopted biofortified crops, as well as any improvements in nutritional status. This will help determine the ultimate impact of biofortified crops on public health.Several CGIAR centers have been and will continue to be key in HarvestPlus crop development. In 2010 those CGIAR institutes included CIMMYT, CIAT, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), IFPRI, Bioversity, CIP, IRRI, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and ICRISAT. Target country NARS partners are also partners for conducting adaptive research and gene by environment (GXE) analysis, as the crops are transferred from the CGIAR laboratories to the field. HarvestPlus also partners with a number of public health research institutes on the nutrition research, including, among others, Cornell University, University of California-Davis, ETHZ Switzerland, Wageningen Agricultural University, Makerere University, Micronutrient Initiative, and USDA. Impact analysis is conducted by external consultants as well as by CGIAR impact specialists within the centers. Advocacy trainings employ international consultants and work with institutions in the HarvestPlus target countries.AgroSalud has long experience with bringing enhanced nutritional crops to the Latin American-Caribbean region. In the past five years, AgroSalud partners have implemented successful commercial releases throughout the region: 21 maize cultivars with higher tryptophan and lysine levels in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama; 8 rice cultivars with higher iron in Bolivia, Cuba, and Panama; 5 bean cultivars with higher iron in Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, and Guatemala; and 8 sweet potato cultivars with more beta-carotene in Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Peru (AgroSalud 2011). An additional ten nutritionally enhanced cultivars are in the pipeline, to be released in seven countries in 2010-2011.According to the World Health Organization ( 2004), the leading nutrition-related causes of disability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are childhood and maternal underweight, iron-deficiency anemia, zinc deficiency, and vitamin A deficiency. An estimated 66 million children and women in LAC are anemic (WHO 2008a); and 8.9 million children and pregnant women are vitamin A deficient (WHO 2009). Often, individuals suffer from multiple nutritional insults simultaneously (Albalak et al. 2000). The economic cost of these nutritional deficits in LAC in 2009 was estimated to exceed $20 billion, based on the average GDP for LAC countries (World Bank 2009): 46 percent is attributable to underweight, 32 percent to iron deficiency, 12 percent to vitamin A deficiency, and 10 percent to zinc deficiency (Salomón Pérez, CIAT, personal communication). In sum, there are severe problems of food and nutrition insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean.The impact of a single crop biofortified with a single nutrient has been demonstrated in three cases: amino acid biofortified maize (Gunaratna et al. 2009); iron biofortified rice (Haas et al. 2005); and beta-carotene biofortified sweet potato (van Jaarsveld et al. 2005;Low et al. 2007). These biofortified crops have improved the nutritional status of people who consumed them.LAC provides an ideal setting to test the impact of multiple crops biofortified with multiple nutrients. First, the region suffers from multiple nutrient deficiencies and consequences, including zinc deficiency, anemia, and stunting (IZiNCG 2004;WHO 2004). Second, the combinations of foods targeted for biofortification make up the traditional combined diet, such as maize and beans or rice and beans (FAO 2009b). Third, advances have already been made in breeding and releasing biofortified crops in the region, through the AgroSalud project, as noted above.1. Improve food and nutrition security among the rural and urban poor in six countries (Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua), through the release and dissemination of biofortified germplasm and the promotion of newly and previously released nutritionally enhanced cultivars in those countries. The combinations that will be promoted are specifically related to the nutrition problems in each country and to the foods commonly consumed: higher iron and zinc rice and beans to address iron and zinc deficiencies in Brazil; higher iron rice and beans to address iron deficiency along with higher zinc rice, beans, and maize, as well as high tryptophan and lysine maize to address zinc deficiency and stunting in Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua; and higher provitamin A cassava and sweet potato to address vitamin A deficiency in Haiti. 2. Improve food and nutrition security among the urban poor through biofortified food products produced and sold locally in two countries, to be selected from the following: Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Panama.3. Strengthen ongoing breeding efforts to (1) increase yield, disease resistance, and nutritional quality as compared to crops currently available; and (2) offer improved biofortified breeding populations for use by NARS in their breeding programs. 4. Evaluate the agronomic, economic, and nutritional impact of biofortified crops and food products when consumed in combination. 5. Strengthen capacity of institutions in the target countries with regard to breeding, seed dissemination, product development, market evaluation, and impact assessment.The key research question for this subcomponent is: What is the impact (agronomic, socioeconomic, and nutritional) of farmers producing biofortified crops and consumers eating biofortified food products in combination (for example, rice and beans together)? Integrated planning and implementation between the impact evaluators and the specialists (in the areas of breeding, seeds, food-product development, and market chains) will ensure that timely and relevant impact studies are completed.The AgroSalud subcomponent follows the same impact pathways as those described in Section 6.2.2 for biofortification.Table 10 presents a summary of broad activities for AgroSalud. Table 11 provides some detail related to research on breeding and nutrition and the delivery of key biofortified varieties for target crops.Research methods for AgroSalud are broadly similar to methods used in HarvestPlus, as elaborated in Section 6.2.4, -Subcomponent 2.2: AgroSalud-Biofortified Food Basket for Latin America and the Caribbean.‖ To develop biofortified crops, conventional plant breeding methods will be employed by the CGIAR centers, as follows: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) for beans, cassava, and rice; CIMMYT for maize; and the International Potato Center (CIP) for sweet potato (AgroSalud 2011).Validation and farmer trials will be completed by NARS in each country, with technical support from the CGIAR centers. Geographic information systems tools will be used to update on-line atlases with nutrition, crop production, and socioeconomic status, showing potential sites for biofortification interventions (Zapata-Caldas et al. 2009). Farmers will be trained in tested methods of nonconventional seed production to develop quality and timely seed (AgroSalud 2011). Seed dissemination will be carried out by partners such as NARS, NGOs, Ministries of Agriculture, and UN agencies through their food and nutrition security programs. Food-processing specialists from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Cooperation (EMBRAPA) and CLAYUCA will work closely with industry partners, to determine what, if any changes, are necessary to protocols in order to substitute biofortified crops for non-biofortified crops in product formulations. Urban distribution channels for biofortified crops and for processed foods developed with biofortified crops will be assessed and enhanced distribution channels tested. Ex-ante and post-hoc evaluations (agronomic, socioeconomic, and nutritional) will be completed to determine the impact of simultaneous consumption of two or more crops biofortified with the same nutrient (for example, beans, maize, and rice biofortified with zinc) (AgroSalud 2011). Finally, tailored communication models will be enhanced, developed, and employed to generate demand for biofortified crops and food products by different consumer populations.In partnership with CRP3: develop cultivars and complete validation and farmer evaluation trials.Nutritionally and agronomically improved rice, beans, cassava, maize, and sweet potato cultivars developed and tested.Iron-, zinc-, provitamin A-and amino acidbiofortified cultivars are made available to reduce food and nutrition insecurity in LAC.Put existing biofortification atlases online, with an interactive feature.Online analysis tool available to target biofortification activities in countries.Informed geographic targeting of biofortification activities.Support partners in seed production and dissemination and commercial release of crops.Seed multiplied, disseminated, and commercially released in countries.Strengthened seed production and dissemination systems.Work with stakeholders to establish foodprocessing technologies and protocols.Commercially prepared biofortified food products developed.Urban consumers have access to biofortified food products.Assess distribution channels in urban markets; pilot and evaluate enhanced distribution channels.Biofortified crops and commercially prepared biofortified food products distributed in urban centers.Access to and consumption of biofortified cultivars and food products by urban consumers.Complete several impact studies for 2+ combinations of different crops and food products.Quantitative evaluations of the socioeconomic and nutritional impacts of 2+ combinations of biofortified crops and food products.Information generated on the benefits and costs to farmers and consumers of biofortification.Develop and disseminate communication modules for different audiences.Diverse communication modules produced and disseminated through different media.Demand for biofortified crops and food products by informed farmers, consumers, extensionists, health professionals, and decisionmakers.  Three CGIAR centers will lead the highlighted activities (CIAT, CIMMYT, and CIP), along with CLAYUCA (a public-private consortium operating out of CIAT) and EMBRAPA (the Brazilian NARS). Breeding activities will be completed by CIAT for rice, beans, and cassava; by CIMMYT for maize; and by CIP for sweet potato. Seed activities will be led by CIAT, which will also lead the market research, geographic targeting, and impact assessment. CLAYUCA and EMBRAPA will lead the food-production activities.The AgroSalud project had significant success in bringing together partners from diverse sectors, including Ministries of Agriculture (research and extension units), Ministries of Health, universities, the private sector, local municipal governments, and NGOs, among others. At a regional level, partners included HarvestPlus and UN agencies. The same partnership model is proposed for this subcomponent, with subcontracts negotiated with country partners to complete specific activities, and jointly funded activities organized with regional partners. Annual partner meetings will be held to review achievements and plan activities for the coming year.Addressing the scourge of agriculture-associated disease (AAD): Rationale and scope.AAD sickens and kills millions of poor people. In poor countries, diseases associated with agriculture (Box 6) have important health impacts. Food that nourishes can also sicken and kill. Zoonoses (diseases transmissible between animals and man) and diseases recently emerged from animals make up 25 percent of the infectious disease burden 5 in least developed countries (Gilbert et al. 2010). Other urgent problems include fungal toxins (mycotoxins) in staple crops and animal source foods; plant toxins; use of wastewater for agriculture; misuse of agricultural chemicals and antibiotics; and health impacts of agricultural alteration of ecosystems (such as irrigation practices that promote malaria).AAD has multiple burdens that are not fully understood. As well as adverse health impacts, the direct economic, social, and environmental costs of AAD are of major importance, as suggested by economic assessments of individual problems. For example, beyond their health impacts, mycotoxins lead to trade losses of up to $1.2 billion a year; and the SARS epidemic cost $50-100 billion through economy-wide effects (Aguirre and Gomez 2009). 6 Indirect effects are also important: impaired human health lowers labor productivity and human capital accumulation (as through schooling and training)-worsening livelihood outcomes in both the short and the long run. Disease and malnutrition burdens are closely related: for example, research has identified nutritional risk factors for diarrhea, the negative impacts of diarrhea on nutritional status, and the importance of dietary therapy during and after enteric infection (Brown 2003). Diseases also interact in complex ways: for example, aflatoxin exposure and hepatitis infection are major risk factors for liver cancer. For these reasons, the question of how agriculture might be better managed to reduce risk is a complex one; our limited ability to assess and attribute the multiple burdens of AAD constitutes a major impediment to rational resource allocation (Roth et al. 2003). This presents an important opportunity for CGIAR research to contribute to human health research and development.62 Box 6. Agriculture-Associated Diseases: What they are and why they matter Food-borne disease (FBD). Diarrhea is one of the top three infectious diseases in most poor countries, responsible for loss of 72.8 million DALYs (WHO 2008a) and killing an estimated 1.3 million children a year (Black et al. 2010). Most of this is the result of contaminated food and water. Meat, milk, eggs, and fish are the foods most likely to be implicated (Lynch et al. 2006); contaminated irrigation water is a problem, especially in intensifying systems (Drechsel et al. 2010). FBD is estimated to cost America $152 billion and Nigeria $3 billion each year (Scharff 2010;Okike, Grace, and Hussni 2010). Fungal toxins (especially mycotoxins) are an important food safety problem, leading to acute, chronic, and cumulative ill health; the Center for Disease Control estimates that over 4.5 billion people may be chronically exposed to mycotoxins, and aflatoxins may play a causative role in 5 to 28 percent of all hepatocellular carcinoma cases (Liu and Wu 2010). Like many food-borne pathogens, mycotoxins can also cause sickness and death in livestock. International trade of crops-particularly maize, groundnuts, and chili-is also affected, due to food safety standards.Plant toxins associated with common foods, including legumes, cassava, and yams, cause specific and non-specific disease. At least tens of thousands are affected by konzo and lathyrism, two neurodegenerative diseases that persist among the poorest and most marginalized communities. Contamination of food with agricultural chemicals urgently requires more research to understand the health, socioeconomic, and ecological impacts and to develop better management.FBD also imposes costs on animal production, the food industry, and trade (Bennett and Ijpelaar 2005). Inability to meet food safety standards threatens to exclude small producers from higher value markets and forces them to incur the transaction costs associated with work in the informal sector. Food safety can only be addressed effectively by considering the entire risk pathway from field to fork.Zoonotic and emerging disease. At least 61 percent of all human pathogens are zoonotic (Taylor, Latham, and Woolhouse 2001). Endemic zoonoses that prevail in poor countries are among the most neglected diseases. To give just one example, echinococcosis (caused by tapeworm larvae) is responsible for 1 million lost DALYs, in addition to human-associated economic losses (including medical costs and lost wages) of $1.9 billion, and livestock losses of $2.1 billion (Maudlin, Eisler, and Welburn 2009). Sleeping sickness, rabies, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, brucellosis, and leptospirosis are zoonoses of similar impact.Most emerging diseases (75 percent) jumped species from animals to humans (Taylor, Latham, and Woolhouse 2001), and the actual and potential cost to human health and well-being is enormous. HIV-AIDs, which originated in non-human primates, has probably sickened and killed more people than any other disease in the history of mankind. As natural ecosystems come under more pressure, and as technology supports the keeping of unprecedented numbers of livestock in unprecedented ways, the rate of disease emergence is accelerating-currently, one every four months (Jones et al. 2008).Other health risks of agroecosysytems. Many other diseases and health risks are associated with agriculture. Agriculture can create conditions suitable for diseases, or directly expose people to health hazards. Disease vectors often persist due to poor design or management and harmful agricultural practices (Boelee and Madsen 2006;Diuk-Wasser et al. 2006). For example, irrigation and water storage systems provide breeding grounds for, and exposure to, vectors of water-related diseases such as malaria, schistosomiasis, and cryptosporidiosis (Erlanger et al. 2005;Keiser et al. 2005a;Steinmann et al. 2006). People working in agrifood systems are directly exposed to a range of biological, chemical, and physical hazards. Misuse of agrochemicals (especially pesticides) causes thousands or tens of thousands deaths a year, while there are 170,000 recorded fatal injuries in agriculture annually (Cole 2006).Many other emerging issues occur at the submicroscopic level (the gene) or the supra-individual level (the ecosystem). For example, the use of antibiotics in farm animals can select for resistance that can then be passed on to human pathogens by plasmids (Shea 2003); agricultural use of insecticides can foster resistance in the vectors of malaria (IITA 2011). At a different scale is the role of ecosystems in regulating human health, with the potential for shaping agriculture in ways that are pro-poor and that better support human health.AAD risks can change with agricultural intensification. While much of the burden of AADs falls on poor and marginal populations, different risks emerge with intensification of agricultural production (for example, viral infections associated with intensifying pig production) and longer and more complex value chains (for example, SARS). Component 3 will focus on specific agricultural entry points for changing AAD risk and link to the larger health community by looking at scenarios for predicting and preventing infectious disease risks in the future (http://www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk/innogen/research/innogenresearchprojectsaz/projecttitle,2516,en.html).Successful assessment and management of AAD requires inputs from agriculture research. The One Health (and Ecohealth 7 ) thinking-now prominent in the health community-recognizes agriculture-based interventions as a key component of multidisciplinary 8 approaches for managing many AAD, for several reasons. Food-borne disease requires management throughout the field-to-fork risk pathway; controlling zoonoses, in most cases, requires eliminating disease from the animal reservoir; and agriculture practices that put farmworkers at risk obviously require farm-level intervention. Many important diseases, such as HIV and the influenza pandemic of 2009, emerged from animals and research into disease emergence from agroecosystems could contribute to averting future disease threats.Component 3 will generate evidence and develop and test the methods, tools, and approaches that partners need to better support disease management, including prevention of diseases, where agriculturebased actions are important. The resulting benefits are potentially large: for example, an ex ante assessment by IWMI in Ghana found that an integrated package of risk-based measures could avert up to 90 percent of the estimated 12,000 DALYs that result from wastewater irrigation, at a cost of less than $100 per averted DALY (including expenditures to promote and ensure uptake).Agricultural research must include socioeconomic, gender, and ecological understanding. From farm to fork, food is a gendered commodity: women and men have different roles in production, processing, and retailing that expose them to different health risks and offer them different benefits (Kimani et al. 2007). Gender roles are also an important determinant of exposure to zoonotic disease, health-seeking behavior and ultimately health burden. Understanding the gender and social determinants of AAD is a prerequisite to developing more appropriate solutions. Similarly, understanding economic incentives, ecological relations, and policy determinants must inform epidemiological assessments and interventions for AAD.What agricultural research can contribute to improved human health. CGIAR centers have traditionally focused on accentuating the positives rather than eliminating the negatives of agriculture. This component offers an opportunity to direct existing research coalitions to new problems. It can also bring the CGIAR understanding of farming systems to the health community with potentially far-reaching benefits, as shown by a case study from Kenya. Driven by a combination of vested interests and genuine, although ill-founded, public health concern, a regulation required all milk to be pasteurized. CGIAR research showed that this imposed costs on milk traders and consumers-$33 million annually-without creating health benefits, as consumers boil milk before consumption (Kaitibie et al. 2008). A coalition formed by ILRI was able to generate evidence and support advocacy for a new approach that is pro-poor and delivers superior food safety outcomes (Leksmono et al. 2006). Similarly, IFPRI's recent research in Kenya and in Mali has found high levels of aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnuts, respectively. Awareness of aflatoxins is low among small-scale producers, while testing of produce in local markets is almost nonexistent. Further research is underway to identify cost-effective and locally appropriate interventions and regulatory frameworks that inform both producers and consumers, and incentivize farmers to invest in producing crops safe for home consumption as well as local markets.The CGIAR has a solid track record in important areas of AAD (see Table 12). The program will initially build on these areas of expertise (especially food safety and zoonoses), by broadening health partnerships and increasing the relevance of research to the health community. Other important areas of AAD will be developed in the medium to long term. One Health/Ecohealth will provide both a framework and a bridge with the health community, crucial to the research-into-use pathway.Research subcomponents, priority diseases, and sequencing Development of a research agenda was guided by three principles: (1) the impact of the problem on human health and livelihoods; (2) the relevance of agriculture research to assessing and managing the problem; and (3) the track record, current engagement, and anticipated opportunities of CGIAR centers in addressing the problem (as set out in Table 11). On this basis we identify two initial-priority subcomponents, food safety and zoonoses, to be addressed immediately and with substantial investments. We combine, as a third subcomponent, some other health risks of agroecosystems that are either emerging areas for exploration or areas, which although important, have lower levels of CGIAR involvement (< $250,000 per annum); work in these areas will be exploratory or at smaller scale (medium priority). As further evidence emerges, some of these areas may become more important in the research agenda. Within the three subcomponents, we target for initial engagement a selective list of risks to human health, based on high potential for getting traction immediately and results within a five-year time frame.These components have subcomponents whose priority is given in Table 12:• Food safety: fungal toxins (mycotoxins), biological hazards, plant toxins, chemical hazards • Zoonoses: neglected zoonoses; emerging diseases • Other health risks of agroecosystems: water-associated disease; occupational hazards; drug and chemical resistance; ecosystem services; climate change and disease; shaping agroecoystems for health outcomesSubcomponent 1: Improving food safety (Initial priority) Food-borne diseases (FBD) have enormous impacts on health and livelihoods and are of great concern to consumers, producers, and policymakers. Risk analysis (assessing, managing, and communicating risk) brings a set of common concepts and tools to addressing FBD of different origins (plant, livestock, fish) and in different value chains, presenting an opportunity for creating synergy between centers. Sciencebased measures to reduce exposure along the food chain are urgently required and must go hand-in-hand with appropriate policies, institutions, and incentives for adoption. The WHO Reference Group, assessing the burden and attribution of important FBD, provides an entry point for bringing CGIAR research on prevalence, impact, and management of FBD to the arena of global governance of food safety. Under this subcomponent, we identify three food safety health risks that can have significant implications for health, nutrition, and livelihoods in developing countries, and that are generally agreed to require agriculture or value-chain inputs for effective management.1. Initial priority: Mycotoxins are fungal toxins that contaminate staple foods, feeds, and animal source foods in most of the humid tropics; they cause acute poisoning as well as chronic disease. 2. Initial priority: Biological hazards cause the great majority of food-borne disease and appear to be increasing in recent years; many are zoonotic (transmissible between man and animals) and many are also transmitted through water.  The whole world bears the burden of diseases that originate in animals (such as HIV/AIDs and swine flu).The crucible for emergence of these diseases-and thus the opportunity for improving prevention and early detection-is often located in agroecosystems in poor countries that are either intensifying or degrading. Richer countries are motivated by self-interest to deal with the problems of emerging disease and pandemics at their source, as the examples of bird flu and hemorrhagic fevers demonstrate, often leveraging donor concern for pro-poor impacts. However, the risks and benefits from emerging disease control may be very different for rich and poor countries, as the anti-poor effects of bird flu control in some places has demonstrated (Roland-Holst, Epprecht, and Otte 2008). CGIAR research can help correct this imbalance of impacts. Alongside emerging disease is the problem of established zoonoses that are controlled elsewhere but that persist at high levels among the poorest and most neglected populations. These neglected zoonoses include the pig tapeworm (Taenia solium), zoonotic tuberculosis, and brucellosis. The CGIAR has a key role in bringing to the global arena its understanding of disease impacts on the poor.The successful control of zoonoses, whether tuberculosis in Ireland, rabies in continental Europe, or brucellosis in Canada, has always relied on interventions at animal level. For zoonoses of livestock, this means intervention along the farm-to-fork production pathway. The lesson from these experiences was largely forgotten until the wake-up call of bird flu. It is now generally accepted that control of zoonoses is best managed by multisectoral initiatives grounded in epidemiological studies, with an indepth understanding of the variables that influence disease emergence and transmission (Schelling et al. 2007). Effective interventions must be grounded in the local context as well as in knowledge of disease transmission pathways; participatory methods have proved a powerful tool for engaging stakeholders and fostering positive change.Subcomponent 3: Other health risks in agroecosystems (Medium priority) In addition to food-borne disease and zoonoses, agriculture in ecosystems poses a number of risks to human health.Irrigation and dam construction expose millions to the vectors of malaria and other diseases. The reduction of health risks from exposure to water-associated disease vectors has to be carefully balanced with supporting the livelihoods of farmers. Improved and innovative agricultural and water management practices can help reduce crop contamination, farmer exposure, vector breeding, and vector resistance. Rural populations can be protected while reducing costs for the public health sector.Occupational health in agriculture and among the world's poor remains an area where more research is needed to understand the current situation and best practices, as well as variations in liability and insurance policies. CGIAR research on integrated pest management provides an entry point.Other issues at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health include emerging resistance to chemicals used in agriculture, the effect of climate on diseases associated with agriculture, ecosystem-related health services, and shaping agriculture to attain health goals.Other health risks of agriculture are becoming increasingly important, and new areas are emerging where the CG has a comparative advantage based on systems understanding and biotechnology research. Given the need for an initial focus on a few lead areas, engagement in this research area will be initially exploratory and could expand in the medium term.The objective of this component is to enhance environmental sustainability, reduce poverty, increase food security, and contribute to the health of poor communities by assessing, preventing, and mitigating agriculture-associated health risks, through research for improved food and water safety, animal-based zoonoses control, and managing agroecosystems for better health. Much focus will be on poor and marginal communities, but given the rapid changes in developing countries, Component 3 will also look at changing AAD risk and mitigation associated with intensification of agricultural production and longer and more complex food chains. This work will fit into the broader global challenge of infectious disease foresight studies (http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/published-projects/infectiousdiseases/reports-and-publications).The research questions address the technical issues of prioritization, innovation, technology development, and impact assessment, as well as methodological issues, using an approach that emphasizes understanding and evaluating novel partnerships and approaches. Questions will initially focus on the two initial priority subcomponents (1 and 2) focusing on food safety and zoonoses, as identified in Table 11 and linked to the impact pathways in Figure 7.• Prioritization and systems understanding. What are the critical AAD for the poor? Which AAD require or can benefit from international agricultural research? What is the social and policy context for developing One Health/multidisciplinary approaches that can assess and manage the CG-priority AAD? What is the evidence for impact? What is the specific impact on women, the poor, and other vulnerable groups?• Risk and socioeconomic assessment. What are the health impacts of the diseases in the two priority subcomponents on the poor (absolute and relative to other problems)? What is the evidence that these AAD create other economic, livelihood, equity, and ecological burdens (multiple burdens)? How do sociocultural factors differentially expose men and women to risk?• Innovation and risk-based management. What technological, organizational, and social innovations can improve the detection and assessment of the multiple burdens of CG-priority AAD? How can these be developed, tested, and adapted to improve eventual uptake? What new science-based diagnostics, technologies, breeds, biological control, animal vaccines, methodologies, and other innovations can improve the management of CG priority AAD (without reducing production and productivity)? How can these be developed, tested, and pre-adapted to improve eventual uptake? How can women, often the primary managers of family health and nutrition, have more access to innovations? What are the factors preventing poor producers and consumers, male and female, from adopting risk mitigation and innovations? What type of informational, behavioral, or institutional mechanisms would promote adoption of better management strategies? 9   Researchable Hypothesis This research component will test the key hypothesis that international agricultural research can develop agriculture-based interventions that contribute to the prevention and control of AADs in ways that are acceptable, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable. There is widespread recognition that human health depends on animal and environmental health and that management of complex health problems with an agricultural interface (such as food safety and emerging disease) requires inputs from multiple sectors and stakeholders. This CRP will evaluate how and what agriculture research can contribute.We will assess the gender-disaggregated risks of AADs, particularly among the poorest producers and consumers; find and develop, jointly with the stakeholders, solutions and innovations to reduce these risks; understand and support appropriate institutions and incentives that will make these sustainable; assess the impact of interventions; and develop communications, advocacy, and influence strategies that will enable their uptake and use.Prioritization and systems understanding:• Maps and rankings of AADs that identify important risks where CGIAR research can make a difference.• Contribution to metrics and assessments of the multiple burdens of high-priority agricultureassociated risks. Risk and socioeconomic assessment:• New surveillance and diagnostic tools that allow for a better understanding of priority diseases.• Assessments of health risks and economic, social, and ecological impacts of priority diseases, disaggregated by gender. Innovation and risk-based management:• Development of novel technologies, methods, and strategies; evaluation of these as well as existing risk-management options in terms of disease burden reduction, cost, feasibility, gender and equity, and policy implications.• Evaluations and impact assessments presented in conferences and documented in peerreviewed publications.• Widespread adoption fostered through development programs and value chains.• Advocacy meetings, briefs, website, and reports disseminating research findings.These research outputs will be developed in collaboration with, and to meet the demands of, the two major categories of research users: public and civil society programs, charged with improving health and livelihoods; and the value-chain actors, faced with increasing demands for managing disease risks (see partnership discussion). This engagement provides a mechanism for linking research to use by including in the design discussions those who rely on evidence and research outputs to attain their own organizational goals. Outcomes will thus be at two levels:1. Research outcomes-changing mind-sets and practice in development programs and value chains, through direct engagement and joint development of research outputs 2. Development outcomes-changing mind-sets and practice among the poor dependent on agriculture, achieved through development programs and value chainsThe research outputs will contribute to the following specific outcomes:• Improved understanding of the gender-disaggregated risks and livelihood impacts of AADs by farmers and key stakeholders • New One Health/multidisciplinary partnerships that multiply and scale up the results of CGIAR research, leading to better assessment and management of AAD As shown in Table 12, we distinguish between two initial priority subcomponents (1 and 2), where work is ongoing and substantive and major impacts are anticipated within 3 years, and a third component covering emerging or important areas where the CG has less current investment.Figure 7 shows the impact pathway for all subcomponents. There are three main strands of activities, summarized as prioritization, assessment, and management of risk; cross-cutting activities are capacity-building and risk communication. Prioritization involves understanding the system context and comparative risk assessment (risk ranking) to identify which risks to tackle first. This is linked to assessment of risk and identification of risk factors and control points. That in turn informs the development of cost-effective risk management methods with partners, including assessing their potential impact and promoting uptake. Appendix 8 presents a summary of existing and planned activities on the prevention and control of AAD.In practice, these strands will be sequenced iteratively and not linearly. For some hazards, risk assessment and management activities are ongoing; the question of their relative importance and prioritization would be dealt with as part of the development of metrics, prioritization, and decision support. The research will embody three underlying principles:1. multidisciplinarity-involving different disciplines, policymakers, and communities 2. participation-including communities and decisionmakers in research design, implementation, and evaluation 3. gender equity and social and economic fairness Multiple disciplines bring multiple perspectives to understanding the epidemiology, prevention, and management of AAD, addressing the ecological, economic, social, and political subsystems that influence health (Lebel 2003).Collaborative, comprehensive research strategies are a hallmark of the CGIAR approach (see Box 7). For food safety impacts (Subcomponent 1), critical actors will vary with the stage of value-chain development. CGIAR Centers already have experience and links with multiple actors along the food chain and in the enabling environment-for example, national research organizations, public-and privatesector service providers, civil societies, NGOs, and policymakers. For many poor people, informal markets are developing, and the main actors involved are farmers' organizations and civil society. For them, the policy context is often disabling, and engagement with policymakers will be key to achieving shifts to more equitable and effective policy and regulation. As markets formalize, private-sector companies become more important. For AAD relating to animals (subcomponent 2), public health and veterinary services are important actors. In all cases, actors will be engaged directly in each target system or country. In other areas (Subcomponent 3), partners for engagement will be intergovernmental agencies such as WHO, FAO, and OIE and their specific programs for food safety and disease control. The research will include technology, policy, and institutional work needed to achieve outcomes. In addition, cross-cutting policy and methodology research required for better cross-sectoral engagement and decisionmaking will be implemented in Component 4.Partners are key to our impact pathway, and we envisage a two-pronged partnership strategy consisting of strong collaborative relations with a small number of strategic partners (two to five), complemented by an outreach strategy of two-way communication with a broader range of relevant partners. For some activities, strong and long-standing partnerships already exist; for others, explorations and discussions will be held in the first six months to better understand and identify strategic and relevant partners. Key partners already identified include WHO FERG, WHO TDR, LIDC, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (STPH), CSRS, and EMBRAPA. Mapping the partnership landscape will be an important initial activity.The keystone of this component is agriculture research, bringing innovation to improve management of AAD and developing and testing technological, organizational, and social innovations. Epidemiology, with its focus on health in populations, has for long been the foundation on which public health decisions are developed, implemented, and evaluated (IOM 1988). Risk analysis is the gold-standard approach for addressing food safety as well as diseases of trade; it contributes to the conceptual framework of the impact pathway and will be a major research approach. Risk-based analytic approaches will need further development to better integrate considerations of participation and equity and to be a practical application for all levels of value-chain actors (Grace et al. 2008). Behavioral analysis will help identify information approaches and market access incentives for farmers to adopt mitigation measures. Addressing the complex problems of AAD from farm to fork will therefore require contributions from many disciplines, including economics, sociology, gender studies, and ecology. Similarly, the development, testing, and dissemination of risk assessment and management tools and strategies will require the contributions of biology, genetics, molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics, food technology, communications, extension, and other specialties. The interface of human health and agriculture is a meeting ground for many disciplines and approaches, as illustrated in Box 8 and in each subcomponent.Food-borne disease is one of the most important health problems in developing countries. Under this subcomponent we address three critical areas of agriculture-associated health risks.1. Mycotoxins are fungal toxins that contaminate staple foods, animal feeds, and animal source foods in most of the humid tropics.The Aflacontrol project brings together scientists and economists from IFPRI, ICRISAT, and CIMMYT with national research centers, universities, and nonprofit partners to conduct risk analysis of aflatoxins in groundnuts and maize, in Mali and Kenya, respectively. The research includes surveys of small-scale farmers to ascertain their willingness to pay for the biocontrol technology under development by IITA. Further collaborative work is planned with ILRI to link those results with their analysis of the maize cattle-feed value chain.The Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management is an initiative involving ten CGIAR Centers and two associated Centers, designed to develop innovative solutions to the contamination of foods, feeds, and the environment with pesticides and mycotoxins.2. Biological hazards (including micro-organisms and parasites) cause the great majority of food-borne disease and appear to be increasing in recent years. Most arise from contamination of foods (mainly livestock or fish source) with human pathogens or from foodborne zoonoses. 3. Plant toxins are natural substances in plants that can harm health; these include antinutritional factors in some legumes and cyanogenic glycosides in cassava. Chemical hazards from pesticide residues can also harm human health and affect trade in agricultural products.Rationale, Objectives, and Research QuestionsMycotoxins are produced as secondary metabolites by several pathogenic and food spoilage fungi. They affect almost one-quarter of global food and feed (Dohlman 2004). They are found in a wide range of foods, including certain cereals, legumes, root crops, spices, tree nuts, and dry fruits; if animals eat contaminated feed, they may also be present in animal source foods. The highest-risk crops are maize, groundnuts, and cottonseed. Aflatoxins are one of the most potent natural toxins, and the most potent carcinogens known today among mycotoxins (IARC 1993). Other mycotoxins, including fumonisins, are also widespread in tropical areas. Most are less well researched and their impacts less well understood than aflatoxins.Mycotoxin contamination affects the long-term health of humans and animals. Chronic effects include growth retardation (Gong et al. 2004), immune suppression (Jiang et al. 2005), reproductive problems (Shuaib et al. 2010), and cancer. Consumption of high doses can result in acute illness and death: in 2004, more than 125 people died in Kenya. Mycotoxins also negatively affect nutritional status by interfering with protein-energy metabolism and by affecting the synthesis of vitamins A and D as well as zinc and selenium (Williams et al. 2004). However, more research is required to understand the interactions between vitamin A/iron/zinc deficiency, diarrhea, and mycotoxin exposure-conditions that frequently co-exist in children who lack access to adequate good food. Such an understanding will help in accurately mapping and measuring the mycotoxin health burden. Another important area for multidisciplinary research is the link between aflatoxins and stunting (Box 8).Mycotoxin contamination also affects the agricultural economy through loss of produce, lost access to markets, and management costs (Shane 1994). Mycotoxins are also toxic to livestock, lowering production and productivity. Commercial food and feed sectors, large institutional buyers such as theThe affect of aflatoxin on retardation of growth and reduced productivity in livestock is well established (Williams et al. 2004;Hall and Wild 1994;Ubosi et al. 1985). However, the affect of aflatoxin on growth retardation and immune suppression among exposed human populations is less well established (Strosnider et al. 2006). The use of biomarkers that measure actual exposure to aflatoxin in the diet enable a direct impact assessment of aflatoxin risk mitigation strategies as well as on health.A number of studies in West Africa (Benin and Togo: Gong et al. 2004;Gong et al. 2002;Jolly et al. 2006) have demonstrated exceptionally high aflatoxin exposure among children using exposure biomarkers, showing a startling 2.5-fold increase in aflatoxin exposure among children at weaning when they are shifting from milk to solid foods. These studies show a significant association between aflatoxin exposure and stunting, although the mechanism remains unclear (Gong et al. 2004). Partnering the CG competencies on agricultural systems with researchers in health, nutrition, and demography will be highly synergistic, allowing for further evidence on health impacts that will play an important role in convincing policymakers as well as consumers and producers to invest in strategies and regulatory systems to reduce aflatoxin exposure.World Food Programme, and national food reserve agencies therefore all require mycotoxin-safe maize, which often means the exclusion of small farmers from this market.A number of strategies are currently being developed and evaluated to address the problem. These include pre-and postharvest measures as well as dietary strategies:• Development of mycotoxin-tolerant cultivars (especially maize and groundnut) (Gardner et al. 1987;Brown et al. 1999;Holbrook et al. 2008;Menkir et al. 2008;Waliyar et al. 2003) • Competitive exclusion technology for biological control (Cotty, Probst, and Jaime-Garcia 2008;Atehnkeng et al. 2008) • Dissemination of appropriate pre-and postharvest technologies that reduce the risk of food/feed contamination (Hell et al. 2008;Waliyar et al. 2008a), including low-cost, effective storage interventions• Various food processing practices (Fandohan, Hell, and Marasas 2008) • Development of simple diagnostic tools, including bio-markers, to raise an exposure alarm and indicate severity of contamination (Waliyar et al. 2008b) A combination of some of these cost-effective strategies can reduce mycotoxin burden in vulnerable populations. Earlier work by IITA and partners identified local maize processing practices that can reduce mycotoxin exposure (Cardwell and Henry 2004). Integration of public health (Strosnider et al. 2006) and agricultural strategies (Menkir et al. 2008) is a promising strategy to reduce mycotoxin exposure in developing countries.Priority research area. Priority will be given to aflatoxins in staple crops grown by poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa for household consumption, sale, and other uses. The key research challenge is to determine how cost-effective, pro-poor, and appropriate risk management can be scaled out for widereaching impacts.Food-borne disease is one of the most important health problems in developing countries, responsible for 4 billion annual episodes of gastrointestinal disease (UNEP 2010). As much as 70 percent of deaths among children under five are linked to biologically contaminated food and water (Unnevehr and Hirschorn 2000). In 2 to 3 percent of cases, severe and disabling long-term effects result, including joint disease, kidney failure, or cardiac, retinal, or neurological disorder (Lindsay 1997). These often permanent effects, although little noticed by policymakers, may well represent an even greater health and economic burden than the acute disease. Parasitic food-borne zoonoses (such as cysticercosis and echinococcosis), largely absent from rich countries, cause important losses in poor countries-in the range of millions of DALYs and billions of dollars in medical costs, lost productivity, and losses to the livestock sector (Maudlin, Eisler, and Welburn 2009).In countries where detailed attribution data exists, the burden of food-borne disease is mostly due to pathogens (Thorns 2000), most of which are zoonotic in origin (Schlundt et al. 2004). Animal source food poses the greatest risk to human health (Adak et al. 2005;Lynch et al. 2006). In developing countries, much less is known about every aspect: causes of diarrhea, prevalence of food-borne diseases, high-risk foods, risk factors (including behavioral), or the cost and other impacts of illness (Kaferstein 2003).As with other AAD, biological hazards in food can impose additional burdens on the agriculture and livestock sector and even the ecosystem itself. The economic impact in poor countries is largely unknown, but evidence from developed countries shows that costs can be very high. A US study estimates the total economic impact of food-borne illness at $152 billion annually (Scharff 2010), while work from ILRI indicates that beef-borne disease alone costs Nigeria more than $1 billion per year (Okike, Grace, and Hussni 2010). Food safety policies and regulation can also carry a high cost, in excluding small-scale value-chain actors or shifting them to informal markets with higher risks and fewer gains (Kang'ethe, Grace, and Randolph 2007).Innovative risk-reduction approaches are needed. The use of polluted irrigation water, for example, supports the livelihoods of between 20 and 50 million farmers and feeds up to one billion consumers-while creating a risk of disease when crops are eaten raw. In such instances, risk reduction and livelihood support have to be carefully balanced. Water pollutants can also impair the health of livestock and that of the consumers of animal products, within a complex system that includes links between water-borne and food-borne diseases.A number of approaches and strategies are being used to assess and manage biological hazards:• Assessment of risk posed by biological hazards in food, combining a number of methods ranging from participatory epidemiology to stochastic modelling (Grace et al. 2007) as well as research into the association between gender and food safety • Surveys, contingent valuation, and behavioral observation to assess willingness to pay for food safety: studies across seven countries demonstrate a 5 to 15 percent premium for safetyassured products (Jabbar, Baker, and Fadiga 2010) • Training and certification of informal-sector milk traders, and evaluation of the resultant riskreduction and economic benefits (Kaitibie et al. 2008) • Nontreatment interventions to reduce the risks of farming, trading, and consuming wastewater-irrigated vegetables• Understanding the benefits of informal-sector food to livelihoods, and the effects of food safety policy both on consumer safety and on the livelihoods of those in informal food production Priority research area. The initial research focus will be animal source foods in seven of the eight high-potential smallholder value chains targeted by CRP3.7 (fish and pigs in Uganda, milk in Tanzania and India, pigs in Vietnam, sheep and goats in Ethiopia and Mali). The key research challenge will be to improve food safety while maintaining smallholder market access.Some common food crops are associated with plant toxins and anti-nutritional factors. Cassava contains cyanide; grass pea harbors β-ODAP (β-N-oxalyl-L-α, β-diaminopropionic acid); faba bean contains tannin, vicine, and convicine; yams have alkaloids; and most of the food legume crops contain phytate and raffinose family oligosaccharides. These plant toxins and anti-nutritional factors reduce the nutritive value of food crops, and if taken in large quantity over a long period, cause serious health problems in humans and animals, while also lowering the bioavailability of dietary minerals and micronutrients (such as iron and zinc). Tens of thousands of people are affected by konzo and lathyrism, two toxico-nutritional neuro-degenerative diseases that persist exclusively among the poorest and most marginalized communities (Tshala-Katumbay and Spencer 2007). Similarly, overconsumption of grass pea in an unbalanced diet for a period of three to four months causes lathyrism in up to 6 percent of the population within its production zone (Spencer 1995). Favism is a medical condition caused by deficiency of the erythrocyte-located glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) that predisposes individuals to anemia as a result of consuming faba beans. The condition is most common in people who live around the Mediterranean, and it generally affects men more often than women. Similarly, presence of phytic acid in food legumes reduces the bioavailability of iron and zinc (Spear and Fehr 2007).These crops are grown over significant areas: cassava, 18.7 m.ha.; grass pea, 1.50 m.ha.; faba bean, 2.67 m.ha. In most areas, they are irreplaceable by other crops. Cassava and grass pea are adapted to adverse agroclimatic conditions such as drought and waterlogging, and to the nutrient-deficient soils which are frequent, widespread, and persistent in South Asia (SA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Kumar et al. 2010).Chemical hazards from pesticides and from other agricultural inputs can also contaminate food, harming human health and affecting trade in agricultural produce.Contribution of CGIAR: Over the past 25 years, in collaboration with NARS partners, CGIAR centers have developed safer grass pea and faba bean (ICARDA) as well as cassava (IITA).• Centers are developing strategies that reflect particular challenges in SA and SSA, where the production of these crops is often dominated by marginal farmers, with women comprising much of the workforce.• Pesticide-related health problems continues to be part of CIP's newly created program on complex systems.The initial priority for plant toxin research will be the development and evaluation of low-toxin or toxin-free varieties of grass pea, cassava, and faba beans; multiplication of quality seeds, demonstration of improved agronomic practices; and training on food processing methods for poor farmers in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Work on chemical residues in food will be addressed through the integrated pest management research, which seeks to reduce the use of pesticides in order to meet objectives of improving occupational health and food safety, decreasing input costs, protecting the environment, and slowing the development of resistance.The objective of this component is to contribute to the assessment, prevention, and mitigation of the multiple burdens of food-borne disease in developing countries, through demand-driven, pro-poor research into agriculture, livestock, and agroecosystem research that builds on CGIAR's wealth of experience and expertise.Throughout the three subcomponents, the same set of research questions will support learning and transformation, to contribute to the overall impact pathway:• Prioritization and systems understanding: Which hazards are of greatest concern for the poor in developing countries (in terms of health, loss of income, and livelihoods)? What is the relative prevalence risk? How can agriculture research and One Health/multidisciplinary approaches add value to risk reduction? How can they address the issues of gender, equity, participation, and ecosystem impacts? What partnerships, coalitions, and engagement are needed to influence actors in development and those in markets to better support risk management?• Risk and socioeconomic assessment: What is the epidemiology of transmission, exposure, and vulnerability? What are the social, gender, and environmental determinants of risk and disease impact? What are the impacts on agroecosystems? What are the risk pathways between hazard origin and human victim? What are the risk factors and control points for reducing each risk along the food chain from farm to fork? And how does this vary by ecological zone or size of producer? Finally, how can interventions at farm level and along the value chain protect consumers?• Innovation and risk-based management: What has been learned about these hazards, and what are the key gaps? How is risk currently managed, and what surveillance is in place? Are there cost-effective methods to reduce the risk (to health, income, and livelihoods) without reducing productivity for small-and medium-scale producers? What new science-based diagnostics, technologies, breeds, biological control, animal vaccines, methodologies, and other innovations can improve the mitigation, surveillance, and management of risk? How can these innovations and technologies be developed, tested, evaluated (for both economic and social benefits), scaled-up, and disseminated? How can policy alternatives and implications be effectively conveyed to decisionmakers?Impact Pathway of the Subcomponent The overall impact pathway follows the approach diagrammed in Figure 7: major activities include prioritization and system understanding; risk and socioeconomic assessment; and innovation and riskbased management. At the same time, the focus on three specific health risks under this subcomponent allows for a more targeted approach. For each health risk, research results will shape technological and other innovations as well as information for dissemination. These innovations will be systematically assessed, and the results will be fed back into the development of increasingly appropriate solutions in an iterative manner. This feedback approach allows for more permanent and sustainable solutions, as well as increased adaptive capacity for longer-term development.The outcomes of the research will be methods, approaches, innovations, and models tested and available to scale out to other communities. The adoption of these approaches in the targeted communities and beyond will reduce the risks to human health from mycotoxins, biological hazards, and plant toxins, while safeguarding or enhancing agricultural production and productivity. This will contribute to the ultimate impacts of improved health, nutritional status, and rural livelihoods.Improving Food Safety: Activities, Outputs, and Outcomes Table 13 provides detail of the activities, outputs, and outcomes for this subcomponent. Refer to the key provided to identify the specific research area for each activity, output, and outcome. Appendix 9 gives an expanded version of this table at a higher level of detail. Box 9 summarizes the various methodological approaches that will be drawn upon in implementing this component.Scientific research into new and innovative technologies and diagnostic tools builds on the strengths of the CG and partner NARs. A further crucial component of this CRP will be the up-scaling and adoption of these innovations by farmers and other actors along the value chain. This aspect will require other partnerships, with public, private, and nongovernmental service and information providers, as well as innovative research through iterative processes to adapt existing technologies so they are socially and politically as well as technically feasible and cost-effective.ICRISAT, CIMMYT, IITA, ILRI, and IFPRI are the main centers involved in mycotoxin research. Established partners include advanced research institutes (ARIs), universities, EMBRAPA, and NARS.A multidisciplinary approach, combining scientific research with innovative participatory and socioeconomic research, is a key strength of this subcomponent as it is for the entire component.Epidemiology, with its focus on assessing health in populations and testing health solutions, is the foundation for understanding disease in populations and for informing, implementing, and evaluating public health decisions (IOM 1988). Risk analysis is the gold-standard approach for addressing food safety; effective implementation will require integrating participation approaches and equity considerations (Grace et al. 2008). A risk-based approach is more effective for mitigating health hazards in resource-poor countries, and it can also be a bridge joining food safety and livelihood concerns. Uptake of many risk-mitigation strategies in developing countries has been limited, and approaches need to be adapted to better meet stakeholder needs and improve adoption. ILRI is developing methods of Participatory Risk Assessment (PRA), helping to characterize risks associated with informally marketed food and suggesting new methods of risk management, based on indigenous risk-mitigation practices rather than external technology. Similarly, IFPRI is developing a risk analysis approach that integrates an assessment of producers' willingness to adopt, and to pay for, low-cost mitigation technologies, based on their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of risk. On health risks related to wastewater irrigated food, IWMI and partners will apply innovative risk assessments such as QMRA and QCRA, as complements to existing epidemiological methods.Economic, sociological, gender, and ecological research bring essential perspectives and tools to address the complex problems of AAD; adoption will depend on effective communication, influence, and advocacy. Innovations in experimental behavioral economics can shed light on the effectiveness of risk communication strategies and other approaches for changing producer and consumer behavior, in the face of known hazards and reduced market access due to food safety problems; they can also guide policies for reducing information asymmetries. Economic and social assessments are essential for understanding the non-health impacts of disease. Moreover, assessments of cost benefit and cost-effectiveness must accompany impact effectiveness. Gender roles are a major determinant of exposure to risk, health seeking behavior, and health burden. Moreover, women are often the custodians of family health and nutrition; as a result, gender research is needed to address the different health issues for women and men and ensure equitable health results.Agriculture research has a clear contribution to make in developing new technologies to better assess, manage, and communicate risk. At the heart of this component are the traditional strengths of the CGIAR, in laboratory and on-farm research: breeding for better disease control; and development of diagnostics, control, and prevention methods. Revolutions in genetics, molecular epidemiology, and bioinformatics will bring new tools to help solve the age-old problem of food-borne disease. New technologies applicable to informal markets (such as milk vessels with an antimicrobial coating) also offer promising solutions. Genomics, metagenomics, and bioinformatics can improve surveillance and pathogen tracking and provide insights into possible risk, transmission, and pathogenicity.To increase the likelihood that new technology is context-sensitive and will be adopted by stakeholders, it is essential to involve producers and consumers and other actors along the value chain in framing the research and setting priorities, as well as in risk assessment and evaluating improved technologies. The three principles of trans-disciplinarity, participation, and equity will underpin the methodological approaches. Likewise, a cost-effectiveness framework for innovative mitigation strategies is essential to ensure environmental sustainability and economic feasibility.The component will facilitate linkages and synergies among partners to work together. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has initiated a Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), bringing together many institutions, donors, and other stakeholders to reduce the aflatoxin burden in Africa. The partnership includes key regional actors in Africa, including COMESA and the AU, and is being promoted within the CAADP framework as a key issue in food security. The CG centers involved in aflatoxin-related research are playing a key role in shaping and informing this partnership and the priorities for research and action, together with African policymakers and research centers.ILRI, IWMI, and IFPRI are the three centers most active in this area. WHO, FAO, and OIE all have mandates for food safety. WHO currently has a Reference Group working on attribution and burden of FBD and are seeking collaborators (FERG) as well as a strong water, health, and sanitation program to which IWMI is closely linked. The World Bank has done some initial, largely qualitative work with the University of Guelph on cost of compliance to meet increased private standards. ARIs in Europe and America are involved in ongoing projects.Over the past 25 years, in collaboration with NARS partners, ICARDA and IITA have developed safer grass pea and faba bean (ICARDA) as well as cassava (IITA). Partners are NARS in target countries and ARIs in Belgium, the United States, Spain, and China. Among development partners, NGOS, private sectors, and national seed agencies in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will be involved for transferring technologies. For policy and knowledge partners, WHO, FAO, and IFAD will be partnered for awareness, risk assessment, and communication. The CGIAR Centers, in particular IITA, ICRISAT, CIP and IRRI, have worked over many years with NARS, other International Associations of Research of Cancer (IARCs), and the private sector on alternative technologies to harmful pesticides to reduce risks of residues on agricultural produce and occupational hazards. To better coordinate their work, in 1996, the CGIAR Centers have established the Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management.Examples of partnership arrangements for this component are presented in Table 14. Improving the health of the poor requires reducing the threat and burden of zoonoses (Perry and Grace 2009), since in least-developed countries, zoonoses (and diseases recently emerged from animals) account for 25 percent of the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)-much greater than the combined burden of malnutrition and food associated-toxins (WHO 2008b). Around 60 percent of all human diseases are zoonotic (Taylor, Latham, and Woolhouse 2001). Zoonoses are responsible for most of the burden of food-borne disease (Schlundt et al. 2004), and the majority (75 percent) of emerging diseases have jumped species from animal hosts. Of the 35 leading communicable causes of death, 15 are either zoonoses or have a zoonotic component (Ecker et al. 2005).By definition, DALYs only measure the disutility to the individual of being ill. They do not capture medical costs of illness to the individual or society (including cost of medication and provision of healthcare infrastructure). Indirect costs include loss of production and productivity as the result of illness, as well as costs of averting hazards (for example, mosquito nets).Zoonoses have resulted in significant economic impacts. A study by Roth et al. (2003) shows that, reviewing both private and public costs of human illness and costs borne by the livestock sector, only 10 percent of the benefits of control accrued to the public sector. Diseases emerging from animals, while probably costing less than endemic zoonoses, often have more discrete effects: the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cost an estimated $50 billion, while a probable influenza pandemic could cost $2 trillion (World Bank 2008).The successful control of zoonoses, whether tuberculosis in Ireland, rabies in continental Europe, or brucellosis in Canada, has always relied on interventions at the animal level-as well as, for zoonoses of livestock, intervention along the farm-to-fork production pathway. The lesson from these experiences was sometimes forgotten, until bird flu came as a wake-up call. Control of zoonoses is best managed by multisectoral initiatives grounded in epidemiological studies that identify the variables that influence disease emergence and transmission (Schelling et al. 2007). Effective interventions need to be contextually adapted to local conditions, on the basis of knowledge of disease transmission pathways.The objective is to contribute to the assessment, surveillance, control, and prevention of the multiple burdens of zoonoses, both actual and potential, through demand-driven, pro-poor research into agriculture, livestock, and agroecosystem research that builds on CGIAR experience and expertise.o How can surveillance, response, prevention, and preparedness systems be more effective, integrated, and sustainable? o Which response strategies can improve adoption of control strategies?o How to build and test multisectoral, integrated zoonoses control packages? o How to develop new technologies to meet current gaps in disease control? o How to promote uptake, adoption, and transforming knowledge into use?The impact pathway assumes that research will co-generate evidence, methods, and tools in collaboration with partners, who in turn will use the research outputs to improve policies, programs, and services for pro-poor management of zoonotic and emerging diseases. The major strands of activity follow the pattern previously set out (Figure 7). Major activities are prioritization (burden assessment and investment opportunities around neglected Zoonoses); assessment (pathogen detection platforms and surveillance); management (disease control tools, methods, delivery); and capacity-strengthening and policy engagement, as cross-cutting processes. The outcomes delivered will contribute to (1) better detection and surveillance of diseases, (2) better prevention and control of zoonoses through integrated and multisectoral approaches, and (3) more resilient ecosystems that reduce the risk of disease transmission and emergence. This will contribute to the ultimate impacts of better health, nutritional status, rural livelihoods, and ecosystem sustainability. An over-arching approach is One Health, a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach, that recognizes the interdependence of human animal and ecosystem health. The research approach will integrate• epidemiology (risk analysis; risk factor studies; prevalence and incidence surveys; impact assessment; diseases modeling; participatory approaches)• biotechnology (genomic and metagenomics; bioinformatics; development drugs, vaccines and diagnostics; transgenic; population genetics; manipulation of microbial genomes)• economics (cost benefit and effectiveness analysis; value chain; behavioral economics)• sociology (gender and social determinants of health; health-seeking behavior; innovation systems; uptake and adoption)• environment (ecosystem health; one health/ecohealth; wildlife/livestock interface; natural resource management) Priority research area: The initial priorities will be Rift Valley Fever as an exemplar of emerging infectious disease and cysticercosis as an exemplar of neglected zoonoses.Zoonotic diseases is a complex area, and many actors and multiple partnerships will be needed around research, development, and policy enablement. Key research partners include CIRA, universities with veterinary, public health, and biomedical research (STPH, IGS, London-Royal Veterinary College [London-RVC], London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine [LSHTM], Oxford, Guelph, and others), International Ecohealth Society and Alliance for Ecosystem Health; and national agricultural research, public health, and bio-medical research institutes and universities. Development partners include international NGOs (the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN], the World Wildlife Fund [WWF], and Oxfam); private-sector companies; public-private partnerships (FIND, GALVmed); national NGOs; and the private sector. Knowledge and policy partners include FAO, WHO (FERG), OIE, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), regional organizations (such as the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources [AU-IBAR], the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS], and WAHO); PROMED 10 ; the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); national governments.Table 16 presents some examples of partnerships for zoonotic and emerging diseases. Other important issues arise at the intersection of health and agriculture that are not high initial priorities: they are not currently a major focus of research investment (in terms of budget and personnel), and some are emerging issues that are newly being explored. Nevertheless, CGIAR Centers have ongoing research in these areas and have potential to expand, as further evidence and resources become available. Five such potentially significant areas are identified:1. Water-associated diseases 2. Occupational health 3. Resistance to pesticides, antibiotics, and other agricultural chemicals 4. Agroecosystem provision of health services 5. Links of aflatoxins and stunting In the development of this subcomponent and subcomponent 2, we will focus on health effects of broader agroecosystem change and the delivery of ecosystem services. We will develop collaborations with other CRPs (particularly CRP5 and 6) and other partners interested in the health risks of agro-ecosystem management and change.Contamination of irrigation water with domestic or industrial wastewater can introduce pathogens or chemicals that may affect farmers and enter the food chain. This important problem is considered along with Subcomponent 1 on Food Safety (Drechsel et al. 2010). A second major risk is water-related diseases: malaria kills 1.1 million people annually; others include schistosomiasis and emerging diseases such as cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and buruli ulcer (Erlanger et al. 2005;Keiser et al. 2005a;Steinmann et al. 2006;WHO 2007). These diseases may be fostered by poorly designed or managed irrigation and water storage systems (Boelee and Madsen 2006;Diuk-Wasser et al. 2006).People in developing countries bear more than 80 percent of the global burden of occupational disease and injury, and the agricultural sector is one of the most hazardous (ILO 2000). Further, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the agricultural sector is one of the most hazardous to health worldwide (see also Loureiro 2009). Occupational hazards in agriculture range from simple conditions like heat exhaustion to complex diseases like respiratory disease, zoonotic disease, and poisoning from agrochemicals. It is estimated that 2 to 5 million people suffer acute poisonings related to pesticides annually, of whom 40,000 die every year; and there are 170,000 recorded fatal injuries in agriculture annually (Cole 2006). In spite of such striking numbers, occupational health in general, and in agriculture in particular, remains neglected in most developing countries because of competing social, economic, and political challenges (Nuwayhid 2004).Excessive use of pesticides can also lead to resistance in medically important insects, such as mosquitos. Malaria in particular, can no longer be handled only through existing means, as mosquitoes have become resistant to agricultural insecticides (Diabate et al. 2002), while the parasite itself is increasingly resistant to antimalarial drugs. Hence the health sector has sought collaboration with professionals in the areas of water management and plant disease control (Townson et al. 2005). There is vast experience of relevant agricultural interventions that can help mitigate negative health impacts (Keiser et al. 2005b;McCartney et al. 2007).Using antibiotics (especially growth-promoters) in farmed animals has been shown to generate resistance to antimicrobials of human importance that can spread to humans, with the potential to cause major harm. Resistance to other veterinary drugs, including insecticides, acaricides, and trypanocides, also has potential to affect human health.Health risks are created by many activities whose primary aim is food production and that alter natural ecosystems. The most problematic practices involve wildlife, water management, land use, and animal husbandry:• fragmentation of wildlife habitat, unsustainable harvesting of wildlife, and sale of wildlife in wet markets• changes in the distribution and availability of surface waters, as through dam construction, irrigation, and stream diversion • agricultural land-use changes, including proliferation of both livestock and crops and greater use of monocultures; uncontrolled urbanization and urban incursion into agricultural areas • keeping animals in densely habited areas • climate variability and change • movement of people and animals, causing introduction of pathogens and pestsThe objective of this subcomponent is to assess emerging health risks related to agriculture that are currently less prominent or less studied, and to conduct and develop research to identify their multiple impacts and mitigate the multiple associated burdens, as appropriate.  The experiences learned from ICIPE's research provide key lessons on how the agricultural sector can help address health and vice versa. Malaria is a major public health problem among rice farming communities and needs attention in the following areas: Rotational cultivation of rice and soybean as an agroecosystem strategy for enhancing household incomes and nutrition, while reducing malaria-vector breeding. Seasonal rotation of rice cultivation with a dryland crop could lead to opportunities for enhancing household incomes while directly contributing to reduction of malaria risk. Soybean is a leguminous plant (also classified under annual oil seed crops) that produces seed with high protein and oil content. The legume crop enhances soil fertility.Role of intermittent irrigation in promoting mosquito productivity and malaria burden in riceland ecosystems. Vector productivity is closely related to the water management regimen in irrigated agriculture. We seek to develop water management strategies that will reduce the window period for vector productivity while still enhancing rice production.Livestock keeping as a strategy for improved farmer income also serves as a sink for vector bites and malaria transmission in rice agrosystems. Livestock keeping, as a complement to rice cultivation, would improve human nutrition, health, and household incomes, while at the same time having a direct impact on malaria risk. The presence of livestock influences the feeding behavior of adult mosquitoes and has important implications for mosquito breeding habitat.Alongside the CGIAR, there are a number of agricultural research institutes that are crucial for success, including icipe, CIRAD, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), LSHTM, LSTM, STPH, the International Technology Group (ITG), FAO, WHO, TDR, and UNICEF, as well as universities and NARS. In addition, several networks are relevant to research, dissemination, and upscaling to the public health sector, as well as for capacity building. Indeed, for much of this research, the CG may be contributing relatively small inputs drawn from their specific areas of expertise to broaderbased programs. We envisage linking to icipe, the Integrated Partnership for Malaria in Africa (IPMA), Tropical Diseases Research to Foster Innovation & Knowledge Application (TropIKA) (WHO), Malaria World, Access Initiative, IDRC, and others.This Consortium Research Program (CRP4) is rooted in the belief that integration of efforts in the fields of agriculture, nutrition, and health-from planning through implementation-can result in cost-effective achievement of nutrition and health objectives. Component 4 is focused on maximizing delivery and impact, by fully integrating the efforts of individual sectors and by carefully fostering supportive policy and institutional environments. Integrated ANH programming and harmonized policymaking are viewed here as mutually reinforcing. On the one hand, integrated agriculture-nutrition-health program innovations can provide the evidence to incentivize and support the development of ANH-relevant policies and institutional arrangements. On the other hand, an -enabling‖ policy and institutional environment supports the necessary development and scale-up of effective ANH programs. Component 4 comprises these two interlinked domains: Subcomponent 4.1 focuses on programs, while Subcomponent 4.2 focuses on policies.Many agricultural development programs fail to include specific interventions to assure nutrition, food safety, or health (Ruel 2001;World Bank 2007;Berti, Krasevec, and Fitzgerald 2004); often, programs operate under the assumption that improving agriculture productivity and income will automatically benefit nutrition and health (Diao 2007;Negin et al. 2009). Figure 9 shows that although agriculture can improve access to food and income, it contributes to only one of the three main pillars for improving child nutrition and health-that is, food security. The other two pillars involve providing adequate resources for childcare and increasing access to health services and a healthy environment (UNICEF 1990). Thus, agriculture development programs must incorporate specific interventions that address the multiple needs of poor populations-for food, care, and health and other basic services. Among the new generation of agriculture programs, some have explicitly integrated nutrition and health goals, but few have been rigorously evaluated and carefully documented-especially with respect to operational issues, impact, and cost-effectiveness (Ruel 2001;Leroy et al. 2008;World Bank 2007). Even fewer have incorporated food safety as a component in their programs. Similarly, the community-based agriculture programs designed to improve human nutrition and health have rarely been scaled up successfully; an exception is Helen Keller International's homestead food production program in Bangladesh (Iannotti, Cunningham, and Ruel 2009). There is thus little empirical evidence regarding what works in an integrated ANH program, or how and under what circumstances such programs can generate the greatest benefits for the poor (Garrett 2008;World Bank 2007;Fanzo and Pronyk 2010). The overall objective of Component 4 is to exploit and enhance the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health (ANH) through operational and policy research that permits (1) more effective integrated community-level programming, and (2) the cultivation and strengthening of an enabling policy and institutional environment to support relevant action.Subcomponent 4.1: Integrated Programs. This subcomponent will build on existing programs and concepts to design new approaches and models to integrate ANH, by engaging CGIAR Centers working in collaboration with development implementers.• It will undertake research to understand and address the complexities of implementing such integrated programs in environments with vastly different diets, cultures, traditions, livelihoods, agroecosystems, vulnerabilities, exposures, and degrees of marginalization.• It will use state-of-the-art research methods and tools to develop, test, monitor, evaluate, document, and scale up integrated ANH programs.• It will generate a critical body of evidence on these programs' nutrition and health benefits and cost-effectiveness-evidence that is urgently needed to stimulate investment to improve the nutrition and health of millions of poor, marginalized, and vulnerable households and individuals. Subcomponent 4.2: Harmonized Policies. This subcomponent seeks to cultivate and sustain an -enabling environment‖-an essential precondition for broad and sustainable success in addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition and agriculture-associated diseases. Such an environment requires a political and ideological framework, as well as supporting institutional arrangements and ANH-relevant policy frameworks and processes, that can foster decisionmaking that effectively harnesses the potential synergies among the agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors. (Figure 9 illustrates the central supporting function of the political and institutional framework.)• This subcomponent will help scientists identify the researchable challenges where integration offers realistic benefits.• It will develop information, processes, and decision support tools to help policymakers choose among feasible alternatives, based on effectiveness and efficiency considerations. We recognize that not all ANH challenges require integrated solutions across sectors; in many cases, sector-specific actions may be most appropriate. Careful attention will ensure that policy research adds value to ongoing sectoral and cross-sectoral activities, while avoiding duplication of effort.Examples of research questions that will be addressed by this component include the following:• What design and implementation features make programs most successful in achieving their agriculture, nutrition, and health goals?• What are the best approaches and targeting mechanisms to ensure that women are key participants and beneficiaries of such programs?• What are the best tools to rigorously evaluate complex, multisectoral ANH programs and to generate the impact evidence needed for advocacy and to stimulate investments?• How can an evidence base be created and sustained to support better investments in integrated planning across agriculture, nutrition, and health?• What are the best practices in engaging policy and decisionmakers for cross-sectoral decisionmaking?• What capacity is needed for cross-sectoral policy research and decisionmaking, and how can it be strengthened?This research component will test the key hypothesis that effectively integrating agriculture, health, and nutrition in joint program and policy planning, development, and implementation leads to larger impacts on nutrition and health outcomes than operating in silos, as is typically done. Although there seems to be a general concensus that the time has come for the three sectors to work together, as expressed at the IFPRI 2020 Conference in New Delhi, there is hardly any hard evidence that joint action does indeed lead to faster and larger impacts on health, nutrition, and other development outcomes. This CRP will test this hypothesis, specifically in relation to the integration of agriculture, health, and nutrition at the program level, using rigorous experimental evaluation designs with randomization and appropriate comparison groups as feasible. Research at the policy level will use cutting-edge qualitative research methods and tools, given that experimentation is unlikely to be feasible at that level.Of the three CRP4 impact pathways, Component 4 focuses on the last two, the pathway for programs and the pathway for policies. Figure 10 illustrates the role of research in supporting the program and policy domains and the broad outputs, outcomes and impacts expected. There are important synergies to be gained in linking agriculture-nutrition-health development program implementation (on the left) and strengthening the enabling environment (on the right).Component 4 seeks to strengthen such links and synergies, highlighting the importance of operational and policy research for maximizing the contribution of agriculture to nutrition and health outcomes and impacts. Methods and tools developed to design effective ANH will be used by decisionmakers in both governmental and nongovernmental development agencies, as will the evidence generated on the programs' success and cost-effectiveness. Outcomes and outputs generated by the program subcomponent (4.1) can pave the way for success in the policy subcomponent (4.2), and vice versa. Policy frameworks and processes can be made more favorable for ANH by demonstrating the potential benefits of effective ANH programs. In turn, the necessary program experimentation and innovation can be supported and incentivized by enabling policy environments.Component 4, taken as a whole, will harness both the synergy of integrated programming and the potential for sustained policy commitment, to best realize the benefits of agriculture, nutrition, and health. • How should the learning be synthesized to inform practice and policy, in order to accelerate progress in improving nutrition and health globally? (Links to Subcomponent 4.2 on Policy.)Explore and document mechanisms to successfully replicate, adapt, and scale up successful integrated ANH programs, and to ensure their sustainability.• How can integrated ANH programs be adapted to different contexts and populations in different agroecological zones, and/or scaled up to increase coverage?• What are the constraints and bottlenecks to replication, adaptation, and scaling-up?• What capacities and skills need to be developed at the community level and in government (district, provincial, and central level), with what approaches?• What institutional mechanisms need to be defined and implemented to support integrated programs at the community level?Objective 5This objective links to Objective 4. It seeks to work with other development partners to accomplish two broad aims: (1) to better identify, measure, and monitor capacity constraints, weaknesses, and needs, relevant to scaling up ANH programming; and (2) to develop approaches, tools, and methods for strengthening essential capacities for this purpose.The applied research carried out by CGIAR centers and its partners to support better ANH programs will closely mirror the planning, implementing, and evaluation cycle of partnering program implementers (governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other partners). This applied research-drawing from outputs in other CRP4 components as well as other CRPs-will contribute to three broad types of outputs (Figure 10):1. Methods and tools to design, implement, and evaluate integrated ANH programs; the capacity to use these tools and to implement cost-effective ANH programs at local, regional, national, and international levels 2. Cost-effective program models that integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health and can be successfully scaled-up 3. A strong body of knowledge documenting the contribution of ANH programs to improved nutrition and health outcomes, to be used for advocacy and to guide policy and investments The first set of outputs will be generated in Years 1-3; the second set in Years 1-5. The third set will start emerging subsequently, after tools have been developed and applied and after the first round of case studies have been concluded and fully documented (Year 5 and beyond).It is expected that these outputs will be widely used by program implementers, development practitioners, and governments to scale up ANH programs and to integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health in national policies. The solid evidence generated by the research will stimulate greater investments by donors and implementers in successful integrated ANH programs and policies. These investments in turn will benefit the poor, helping to accelerate progress in improving the nutrition and health of vulnerable populations and individuals and reducing the risk of agriculture-associated diseases. with whom CRP4 will work to design and carry out the action-oriented research linked to program implementation and operations. Some of the work led by IFPRI in this area is on-going and will be continued until it is completed in years 2012-2014. Opportunities for new case studies will be explored during the first year of implementation of CRP4. Table 18 provides a summary of on-going research and plans to explore new case studies and settings in the first year of implementation. Since research on ANH programs usually involves a 4-5 year time-frame, the first five years will focus on finalizing on-going case studies in Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia and Burkina Faso, and starting 2-3 additional ones, possibly in Nepal, Bangladesh and Zambia (see Table 18).Table 19 presents the activities, outputs, and outcomes for this subcomponent, with specific objectives and broad time frames.Priorities will be determined jointly with several partners, including CGIAR partners and program implementers such as local and international nongovernmental organizations, governments, and UN agencies. As noted above, research will initially be undertaken on a subset of five to six programs in the first phase of CRP4 development (Years 1-5). Lessons generated from this round of research will then guide the development of a new wave of programs (in Years 5-10) that use innovative approaches to more solidly integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health. The second phase of applied research will also have a stronger focus on addressing agriculture-associated disease risks at the community level-an area of increasing need, where experience on effective implementation is still limited.The approach used for the selection of case studies will involve a rigorous process, beginning with an open call for nominations, and a selection be based on a comprehensive set of criteria: Finally, the case studies will be selected to represent a broad set of nutrition and health issues and programming models, as well as diversity in geographic focus and agroecological systems    program-relevant, and rigorous research to help strengthen program design, implementation, and effectiveness in several areas: monitoring and evaluation; policy formulation and communication; program design, implementation, and scaling up; and documentation and dissemination of lessons learned. In addition, CRP4, through its close partnerships with several other CRPs, can bring in expertise and innovation in agriculture, from biofortified crops to value-chain research to gender-sensitive technologies, among others. The CGIAR is uniquely positioned to contribute to the strengthening of integrated agriculture, nutrition, and health development programs and brings a wealth of multidisciplinary expertise that can help scale up successful and cost-effective programs and improve the lives of millions of poor farmers, including women.A critical criterion for engaging with a given program will be a commitment to work on the integration of all three sectors-agriculture, nutrition, and health-rather than only two of the sectors. Past programs have usually focused more narrowly, on either agriculture and nutrition or agriculture and health.Rationale, Objectives, and Research Questions Success in strengthening policy environments will depend on persuading leaders to demand a more integrated approach in each of the three sectors. As each sector identifies areas where important objectives can be achieved cost-effectively through cross-sectoral collaboration, these opportunities will need to be championed in appropriate policymaking fora with evidence-based arguments.There are three specific objectives within this subcomponent.Objective 1. Provide a continuously updated and relevant evidence base, from an agricultural and cross-sectoral perspective, that adds value to ongoing initiatives by supporting better investments in integrated planning across agriculture, nutrition, and health. Transdisciplinary research will explore what areas of information, knowledge, and evidence are needed to support more effective decisionmaking (see Appendix 11 for examples.) An enhanced information and knowledge base will not only support research planning and design and development decisionmaking, but will also be an invaluable resource within CRP4 for prioritization, monitoring, and evaluation as well as impact assessment. Given existing evidence on the effectiveness of integrated ANH collaboration at the subsectoral level (from Subcomponent 4.1), what additional evidence is required to persuade leaders in the three sectors to embrace integrated planning and programming? What is the evidence on the impact of economic growth, and specifically agriculture-led economic growth, on nutrition and health outcomes? How can agricultural growth strategies, policies in areas such as food storage and trade, and public private interactions become more nutrition-and health-sensitive? How can agriculture and food policies be more strongly linked to other underlying determinants of nutrition such as women's status, social protection programs, and sanitation to exploit synergies and achieve greater impacts on nutrition and health? How can agricultural interventions be designed to improve diet quality and infection rates directly? How can social protection, agriculture, and women's empowerment interventions and policies be designed to have a greater impact on diet quality, health, and nutrition? How can an enabling environment be promoted and existing and enhanced political and economic resources be used most effectively to improve nutrition and health through agriculture? What are the specific challenges in cross-sectoral development for marginal and vulnerable peoples? How can emergency and aid programs be transformed into effective longer-term efforts for integrated and sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health improvements? What specific emerging ANH policy and decisionmaking issues, relating to dynamically changing agrifood systems, can be better addressed with strategic foresight and research? How can nutrition and health objectives be incorporated within a multi-criteria approach to agricultural investment planning? How can ideas, data and information, analysis, and recommendations be brought together to improve policy-and decisionmaking? How can this be done in a way that enhances the demand for more evidence-based decisionmaking? How can existing data be made more relevant for decisionmaking? At the national level, ministries collect information at different scales and time frames, and they process it in ways that may not be useful to other ministries. What steps can be taken to make the data serve crosssectoral needs and to make it available for real-time decisionmaking? What capacity is currently lacking in the agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors to enable work that is more trans-disciplinary and collaborative? How can this institutional and individual capacity best be strengthened? What models and studies can be recommended to partners looking for agricultural contributions to resolving nutrition and health problems?Objective 2. Assess and document good practices in engaging policymakers and decisionmakers for cross-sectoral decisionmaking.These good practices will take into account the hierarchy of decisionmaking, from the local to the global. This objective will address the need to bridge the three main sectors as well as other important sectors-for example, those dealing with gender and capacity development, as well as planning, investment, and finance. What global trends in agriculture, nutrition, and health frame the problems that partners face at national and local levels? How can CRP4 bring these effectively to the table ?  What type of governance and institutional arrangements shape actual or potential links among the ANH sectors, and where are the opportunities and entry points for strengthening integration? How can this be supported by capacity building? How does one effectively bring an integrated message to ongoing policy and planning processes? What boundary-spanning organizations or individuals can bring agriculture, nutrition, and health together to engage policymakers and implementers? What are examples of good practices or cross-sectoral institutional arrangements? What are the particular information and analysis needs of policymakers, funding sources, stakeholders, and the general public-and how can these needs be met? Programs that cut across ministerial or agency boundaries present a number of special public finance issues. What public finance issues need to be resolved so that cross-sectoral collaboration is made attractive to decisionmakers in separate ministries? How are costs of integrated programs to be allocated among participants? What role do user fees, earmarked taxes, and targeting of beneficiaries play in the decisionmaking process?These and similar questions will be particularly relevant for such larger policy and decisionmaking support efforts as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) (see Appendix 4). This information will also be critical to planning and implementing the partnership, communications, and advocacy elements of this program.This capacity development objective seeks, first, to work with partners to assess the capacity of relevant stakeholders to carry out policy research and advisory functions, and, second, to develop and implement resulting capacity-strengthening recommendations. Key outcomes include quantifiable targets relating to level of training recognized in human resources development plans  investment as share of budget and staff qualification ratiosThe theory of impact underpinning this component assumes there is potential or actual demand for research to support policy and investment decisionmaking in areas where agriculture, nutrition, and health intersect. This demand can be satisfied by different combinations of three types of research outputs: ideas; data and information; and evidence-based recommendations. At times of crisis, ideas reach people faster and travel farther than data and information. Ideas are thus important to catalyze new actions, to bring people together around an innovation, and to suggest a course of action when complete information is not available. Subsequently, data and information may serve to reinforce decisions taken, to provide a basis for adaptive or corrective action, or to engage partners with independent analytical capacity. Finally, transparent analysis of credible information will provide the basis for recommendations that can inform broader actions in an objective way. The needs of decisionmakers will therefore determine the form of information, the sequence in which it is used, and how it is used.Subcomponent 4.2 seeks to achieve better cross-sectoral policy and decisionmaking; wellfunctioning knowledge and information systems; and improved capacity for cross-sectoral collaboration in the three sectors. It will achieve impact along three broad avenues:1. through the generation of knowledge, evidence of impact, and improved communication to appropriate users 2. through the assembly of information, data, and tools to support decisionmaking 3. through an improved understanding of the institutional arrangements and processes that promote collaboration Intermediate users of the outputs of CRP4 will be researchers, implementers of development programs in government and NGOs, and policymakers and decisionmakers in the cross-sectoral space between agriculture, nutrition, and health. The other three components of CRP4 will work closely with a range of partners on value chains, scientific research, integrated community-level programming, and control of agriculturally associated diseases. Component 4, in its synthesis and communication role, will help partners gain access to the knowledge generated and raise it to the policy level.In the following discussion, we present the pathway from activities to outcome for three objectives, over two time periods: an initial start-up period (Years 1-3); and a medium-term period (Years 4-10).In the first three years of the CRP, this component will have a relatively small role, although this role will be central to the evolving coherence and direction of the program. In the medium term (4-10 years), we assume there will be increased demand for evidence-based advice, as well as more sophisticated tools for providing it. This component will work across the other three CRP4 components in real time to document current best practices and to reinforce the effectiveness of their efforts through increasing sophistication of the tools. By the tenth year, this component, together with the three others, will have refined the tools and approaches needed for formal problem identification, for prioritizing among alternative investment choices, and for monitoring and evaluation. By Year 10, agriculture for improved nutrition and health investment will be based on benchmarked data; will be better leveraged on disease problems and better targeted to the most affected; and will support more productive agricultural programs, as measured both by income and by combined income-nutrition-and-health metrics. Table 21 shows an indicative set of activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts highlighting the expected time period for different activities.An important early step will be to identify the available information and knowledge on the broader -agriculture for health and nutrition system,‖ as well as the information gaps that can potentially be addressed by this program. Several networks, communities, and institutions engaged in activities to improve health and nutrition are in fact integrated with agriculture at the local level. Some have relevant information, and they welcome collaboration with the program because rigorous evaluation of their information will help improve their own programs while offering analysis across a wide scale of operation. The other four components of the program will work closely with a range of partners focusing on key parts of the national system, i.e., value chains, scientific research, integrated programs at the community level, and control of agriculturally associated diseases. Component 5, in its synthesis and communication role, will help partners gain access to this knowledge and raise it to the policy level.When it comes to national-level data on ANH expenditures, the emphasis will be on adding value to currently available information and helping national partners link information across sectors. However, cross-sectoral information on financing of interventions will be difficult to obtain. In addition, there are major differences among the ANH sectors in the way interventions are financed-through user fees, ministerial budgets, and cross-sector subsidization. They may differ as well in their primary objectives and basis for assessment, as in the distinction between animal and human health.Although there are many international and regional reporting systems for disease and malnutrition, they have critical gaps in information about certain neglected areas. They also lack information about the prioritization of efforts, benefits, and risks of specific interventions in relation to livelihoods, agricultural productivity, and trade-offs in health and nutritional outcomes.A final gap in knowledge lies in understanding the decisionmaking process, including the inevitable use of incomplete data for making critical decisions in emergencies and under time constraints. A compelling idea may catalyze initial action, and subsequent data collection may then lead to better ways to manage the problem. In agricultural research, for example, the agricultural research intensity ratio (as a target for investment in research) began as a notional target drawn from the industrial sector. Several decades of measurement and analysis have resulted in detailed analytical content with clear insights for public finance. Similarly, targets for public expenditure, such as CAADP's investment target of 10 percent of budgets, are galvanizing action and analysis. Refinement of targets and clearer understanding of the structure of public finances will follow, as a necessary part of improved planning.Public health leaders and epidemiologists must often make judgment calls about when and how to intervene, weighing the costs of postponing a decision to await better information versus the costs of possibly making a wrong decision through early intervention. For example, in the control of Rift Valley fever-an important zoonose that occurs sporadically-decisionmakers would benefit from a phased decisionmaking approach: breaking down the decisionmaking process into smaller steps can help decisionmakers have more confidence in expensive mass vaccination and quarantine decisions, by refining the uncertainties and expected costs and benefits in a sequential manner as more surveillance information becomes available. Conceptualize the cross-sectoral -system‖ at the interface of agriculture, nutrition, and health.The goals, components, resources, and management of the -agriculture for improved nutrition and health‖ system are elaborated and promoted in policy fora.1. Consensus is achieved on need for integrated planning. 2. Decisions are made to take action. (continued)  Quantifiable targets for investment are monitored as share of budget, staff qualification ratios, and retention of staff.interventions to accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition. This consortium includes IDS UK, Save the Children UK, the Public Health Foundation of India, the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Control in Bangladesh, and the University of Nairobi in Kenya and will work in Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, and Kenya.• Collaboration on metrics and evidence for cross-sectoral decisionmaking with universities and research institutes, such as the University of London LICRAH program and their emerging network of academic institutions working on agriculture, nutrition, and health. Other partnerships will be established through linkages with new policy research consortia such as LANSA and TN.• Support for joint planning and program implementation of public and private human health services, veterinary services, and agricultural services to control zoonoses and improve food safety regulations and practices.Many of the key skills to support policy and decisionmaking, to establish knowledge and information systems, and to evaluate and improve institutional capacities and arrangements are well established in the CGIAR (for example, the Consortium on Spatial Information, Priority Setting, and Institutional Learning and Change). In this component, the CGIAR Centers involved will also build on their individual experience in coordinating policy and decisionmaking processes. For example, Component 4 will benefit greatly from the experience of ReSAKSS (Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System), a program that provides timely analysis to policymakers in Africa, coordinated by IFPRI, with regional nodes hosted by ILRI, IWMI, and IITA. IFPRI's involvement with the University of Minnesota, in Harvest Choice, also provides a link to rigorous research evaluation and priority setting. LANSA seeks to understand how South Asian agriculture and related food policies and interventions can be designed and implemented to increase their impacts on nutrition, especially the nutrition status of children and adolescent girls. Key research questions include a) how can agricultural growth strategies, policies in areas such as food storage and trade, and public private interactions become more -nutrition-sensitive‖, b) how can agriculture and food policies be more strongly linked to other underlying determinants of nutrition such as women‗s status, social protection programmes, and sanitation, and c) how can agricultural interventions be designed to improve diet quality and infection rates directly? Focal countries include India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.The -Partnerships and Opportunities for Strengthening and Harmonizing Actions for Nutrition in India‖ (POSHAN) is an initiative supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. POSHAN will aim to crystallize the evidence base for action on nutrition in India, bring diverse stakeholders together and actively facilitate dialogue, evidence-building, learning and consensus building, with the goal of moving knowledge into practice in diverse contexts within India. POSHAN will build on existing initiatives, action networks, consortia and coalitions, with the primary goal of strengthening evidence-based dialogue and action. It has two major objectives: a) analyze direct and indirect nutrition-relevant interventions to generate knowledge on optimal approaches to address major bottlenecks to improve maternal and child nutrition outcomes in India; and b) mobilize evidencebased and actionable knowledge to inform policy formulation and support program planning for nutrition at the national level and in 3-4 key states. The focal country is India.Throughout much of the world, women are the guardians of household food security and nutrition (see Box 11). At the same time, cultural factors can put women and girls at particular risk of undernutrition, micronutrient malnutrition, and poor health. Good ANH programming must therefore account for gender issues at all stages of the project cycle, from participatory assessment and analysis through surveillance, implementation of interventions, monitoring, and evaluation.The central gender-related questions in this program are two: How can decisionmakers reach and involve millions of women with integrated ANH interventions that provide health and nutrition benefits to them and their families? And how can women be protected from the potential risks associated with agriculture, given their greater health and nutrition vulnerability, especially during the reproductive period? Several gaps in knowledge exist with respect to these key research questions.• To what extent are women and girls unable to meet their nutrition and health needs over the life cycle, and what are the most promising approaches and best practices to meet these varying needs? How can agriculture play a bigger role in protecting women's and girls' nutrition and health status?• What is women's exposure to agriculture-related disease and occupational health hazards, at different stages of the production to consumption cycle? What interventions can be designed to reduce this?• What are the best approaches to engage women in integrated ANH programs? How to ensure that they benefit through gaining greater access to resources, and protecting their own health and nutrition and that of their children?• How can behavioral change communication be used to intervene in intrahousehold food allocation patterns that disfavor women and girls? What are the best delivery platforms for such interventions-agricultural programs, social protection programs, reaching girls in schools, or other approaches?There is substantial evidence that households do not act in a unitary manner when allocating food and nonfood resources (Alderman et al. 1996); males and females within households do not necessarily pool resources, and they often have different preferences on how to use resources. A number of studies demonstrate the different ways men and women use resources and, correspondingly, the benefits of investing in women.Increasing women's control over assets-such as land and other physical and financial assetshas been shown to improve child health and nutrition and to increase allocations toward education (Quisumbing 2003;World Bank 2001).In Bangladesh, a higher share of women's assets is associated with better health outcomes for girls (Hallman 2000).A study by Smith et al. (2002) using cross-country data found that increases in women's education (investment in human capital) have made the greatest contribution to reducing the rate of child malnutrition, responsible for 43 percent of the total reduction.Research from IFPRI finds that equalizing women's status would lower child malnutrition in South Asia by 13 percent (13.4 million children) and in Sub-Saharan Africa by 3 percent (1.7 million children) (Smith et al. 2002).These findings indicate that an investment in women is also an investment in the food security, nutrition, and overall health of their children.To address these questions, CRP4 will focus on the following broad areas. 1. Gender analysis of needs and differential exposure to risks: Men, women, girls, and boys have different nutritional needs and different risks of undernutrition and disease. Tools for risk analysis, surveillance, and household and community nutritional assessments need to be gendered to capture these differences. Based on the results, gendered interventions will be integrated in each of the components. 2. Women's participation in and benefits from ANH programs: Women are key mediators of household nutrition, and their participation in integrated ANH programs will be crucial. While the health and nutrition sectors have often integrated gender concerns, the agriculture sector has not been as successful, despite evidence that agriculture interventions that address gender issues are better able to achieve nutritional objectives (Berti, Krasevec, and Fitzgerald 2004). This is a key element of Component 4. 3. Increasing access to assets and empowering women: In most countries, women play key roles in food and nutrition security both as agricultural laborers-sometimes sole breadwinners-and as household caregivers. To play these key roles effectively, however, women need access to and control over assets and other means of production. Evidence suggests that ANH programs could enhance their outcomes by investing in increasing women's assets and decisionmaking power. All components of CRP4 will work with CRP2, CRP3, and CRP5 to identify and test approaches to reduce the asset gap between women and men and to empower women to protect the food, nutrition, and health security of their family members. 4. Intrahousehold food allocation and consumption: Intrahousehold consumption patterns of foods-especially those considered high-value -prestige food‖-often favor men in many developing countries. These prestige foods are also usually the nutrient-rich foods that young children and women need the most for growth and reproduction, and are the foods targeted by CRP4. Through behavior change communication, CRP4 will increase awareness of how production and productivity choices affect nutrition and equity issues. Through linkages with CRP3, research will be conducted on the variable dynamics of intrahousehold food allocation, as well as on interventions to increase the consumption of nutrient-rich foods especially by women, children, and other vulnerable groups (such as people living with HIV/AIDS). 5. Technology development and delivery systems: Involvement of both men and women in technology development is crucial to the uptake of such technologies. Women are very often constrained in access to services and inputs, such as improved seeds for nutritionally enhanced crops. Approaches such as participatory plant breeding and community seed systems and business enterprises can improve their level of access. Women also play a critical role in postharvest handling and processing of food, an important focus of CRP4. They will therefore be incorporated as one of the key actors in the work on value chain for enhanced nutrition (Component 1). 6. Capacity building and policy interventions: Women need to be involved in dialogue on policies that affect agriculture, nutrition, and health. However, most organizations involving local women are weak and unable to influence policy. Capacity building and organizational development can go a long way in ensuring that these organizations play a role in influencing relevant policies.As well as forming an over-arching theme in CRP4, gender will also be mainstreamed into work on each of the components of CRP research in the following ways.Value chains are inherently gendered, reflecting several broad factors: the different roles that men and women play across the spectrum of value-chain activities; the preferences of men and women for different value chains; and different levels of engagement of men and women in specific value-chain components and activities. This component has a strong focus on women, relating to the opportunities for income generation for women along the value chains as well as their critical roles in the production and marketing of nutritious foods. Some key areas of focus include:• Understanding and influencing (where needed) intrahousehold decisionmaking processes on the production, marketing, and consumption of nutrient-rich foods in the context of the value chains.• Identifying the roles, constraints, and opportunities of men, women, and other defined groups as potential agents of change to improve nutrition along the value chain, especially as related to improving women's access to better processing technologies, capacity building, or organizational capacity.• Developing innovative tools, methods, and approaches (including social marketing tools) for increasing access to information and promoting behavior change in men and women; evaluating the effectiveness of these approaches on both genders.• Developing a model for strengthening women's capacity for improved decisionmaking on production, marketing, and consumption of nutrient-rich commodities.The design and implementation of this component (and both subcomponents) were shaped to take account of unequal access to resources and the different responsibilities of women and men in earning income and raising families, as well as their different biological requirements for nutrients. Some specific examples from HarvestPlus (Subcomponent 2.1) illustrate gender considerations.• Micronutrient requirements are higher for women than men, reflecting their different reproduction requirements. HarvestPlus selects its target combinations of crop, nutrient, and country to yield maximum potential savings of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), based on estimates of the current micronutrient status of women (and preschool children) and the estimated nutrient adequacy of their diets.• Target nutrient-density levels, set for breeders to incorporate into high-yielding, high-profit varieties, are by design based on the nutrient requirements for women of reproductive age; bioavailability and efficacy assessments are done in this same group (as well as in preschool children).• Marketing and messaging related to HarvestPlus crops and their nutritional value is designed to convey information specifically to primary caregivers (almost always women, normally mothers). Extension programs and messaging related to HarvestPlus crops also take into account women's and men's contrasting perspectives and roles in farm production.• Assessment of HarvestPlus programs examines the specific roles of women and men in several areas: adoption of biofortified crops, food purchases, food preparation, and intrahousehold distribution of food.With respect to a biofortified food basket for Latin America (Subcomponent 2.2), gender is integrated in the following ways:• Women are among the intended beneficiaries.• At least one-third of targeted farmers will be women in projects to disseminate biofortified seeds to farmers, in partnership with government programs and NGOs.• When working with the private sector to develop food products, at least one product per country will be preferentially consumed by women (per industry's market research); this will also necessitate involving women in product development.• Nutrition impact studies will focus on women (and children).Exposure to agriculture-related hazards differs by gender. For example:• Women doing laundry in canals may be more at risk from schistosomiasis, while young men are at more risk from neuro-lathyrism.• Women are responsible for feeding households and thus play a crucial role in managing foodborne disease. Special attention will be given to empower women to use risk-reducing technologies.• Women are frequently the caretakers for sick family members and animals, resulting in greater exposure to disease and higher burdens, but also giving them a key role in disease management and prevention. Gender considerations will therefore be integrated in all the components of this research. Data on exposure and risk factors will be collected separately for various gender and age groups, with a view to a. identifying the differential exposure of men, women, boys, and girls to risks; b. enhancing the involvement of both men and women in the surveillance and management of risks; and c. developing interventions to reduce AAD targeted specifically to women or other vulnerable groups.As the over-arching component of the project, Component 4 will pay particular attention to the program's gender-related impacts• by developing and using a set of gender-disaggregated indicators to assess the impact of ANH programs, and• by documenting and disseminating the impact of ANH programs on women's social, health, and nutritional status. Subcomponent 4.2 (Policy) will ensure that gender-disaggregated data are used in an integrated way to highlight nutrition and health issues facing women and children. Within the relevant cross-sectoral processes, ministries responsible for gender will be engaged. Finally, part of the process monitoring of CRP4 will be mainstreaming gender within cross-sectoral planning and implementation.CRP4 is an important new departure for the CGIAR. CGIAR Centers have had specific programs in various areas of agriculture-nutrition and agriculture-health, and a number of Centers have collaborated in an agriculture and health research platform together with external health and nutrition partners. CRP4 represents a much larger and more systematic approach by the CGIAR to engage with the human nutrition and health communities to meet a new and explicit system-level goal of expanding agriculture's contribution to improving nutrition and health.Bringing together agriculture, nutrition, and health is not a new idea. In what ways will CRP4 be innovative?There is a growing appreciation globally that something different needs to be done to address the massive malnutrition and disease burdens in developing countries. It is also recognized that joint efforts of the ANH sectors will be critical to designing solutions and achieving impacts. At the IFPRI 2020 Conference in February 2011, -Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health,‖ this sentiment was summarized by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India:-Leveraging agriculture for improving nutrition and health . . . is particularly important in developing countries, where agriculture is also the mainstay of a very large number of people.‖ This strategic view is increasingly shared at operational levels as well. Implementers of development programs understand that food-based solutions offer important opportunities to improving nutrition, and that agricultural food safety and zoonotic disease control initiatives are an essential part of public health efforts to reducing infectious disease burdens. CRP4 will come into operation at a time when there is tremendous interest, understanding, and commitment to better linking agriculture, nutrition, and health.CRP4 will foster new partnerships to ensure that agriculture, nutrition, and health are integrated and delivered-at the community level, in large development programs, and in policymaking. A major area of this research program (Component 4) focuses on creating, and responding to, demand from program implementers and community organizations for better evidence, knowledge, and technologies and methods for learning and adapting. It will also respond to the demands from policymakers and investors for better evidence on priorities, knowledge gaps, and good practices.Within its new strategic results framework, the CGIAR has committed to making agriculture research accountable for improving human health and nutrition-and CRP4 is its main mechanism for achieving this strategic goal. A key design element of CRP4, enabling translation of research into development outcomes and impacts, is its firm grounding in well-defined, practical delivery pathways: value chains, development programs, and policymaking.The vision of the CGIAR, in developing CRP4, allows for the development of a larger coordinated research program that can serve as a platform for bringing together the critical mass of multidisciplinary research expertise needed to tackle priority ANH challenges. The unique nature of the CGIAR, as a multilateral and independent research organization, makes it a natural convenor and an interesting partner for nutrition and health research as well as development organizations. The CGIAR already has very positive commitments from its ANH partners to work together, expressed in partners' meetings as well as in the IFPRI 2020 conference. These commitments will be further specified and operationalized in the first year of CRP4, around key research topics linked to the large development initiatives that are highlighted in other sections of this proposal.Dramatic increases in population and urbanization are changing the relationships between agriculture and food, especially in the developing world. In this changing social landscape, there is little understanding of how improving knowledge and information might influence consumer behavior for better nutrition and health options, or how this opportunity might relate to changing agricultural production and supply. This area of international agricultural research is seriously under-invested.The dynamic changes in agriculture in the developing world have included dramatic intensification of agricultural practices as well as ecosystem change, resulting in big changes in disease pathogen distribution and transmission dynamics, both in natural systems and along food chains.CRP4 will have the ability to convene research on these and other emerging social and biological issues. It will work with partners to design mechanisms for enhancing nutrition along the agricultural value chain and to apply new molecular biology tools informed by population biology and social research, to improve our understanding of how agricultural intensification can be more sustainably managed.Research is needed to provide standardized ways of measuring, providing, and communicating evidence that can guide good practices for joint ANH actions. Policymakers, investors, and development implementers receive an array of information from different sectors-on return to investments, on costbenefit and cost-effectiveness figures, and on health and nutrition outcomes measured using various indicators, such as DALYs, disease burden, or number of food-insecure or undernourished people. For these different prioritization and performance indicators to usefully guide policy and practice across sectors, shared tools, indicators, and vocabulary will be critical. While some efforts have begun on useful cross-sectoral metrics and assessment methods, much faster progress can be made when sufficient funding becomes available to assemble a critical mass of expertise, as through CRP4.CRP4 is the primary CGIAR program for delivering the system-level objective of improving nutrition and health. This CRP is intended to link with and influence several other programs in the CGIAR research portfolio to enhance the contribution of agricultural research for improving nutrition and health. There are accordingly numerous potential interactions between CRP4 and other CRPs. Appendix 12 lists some of the main areas of complementarity and possible joint research between CRP4 and other CRPs and provides some indication of potential funding contributions for joint activities. The major interactions are described below, for each of CRP4's three impact pathways. Areas for further clarification on interfaces with other CRPs are highlighted.In most cases, CRP4's value-chain research will be pursued within the value-chain work in the other CRPs such as CRP1.3, CRP2, and the commodity CRPs under thematic area 3. CRP4 will interact with agricultural commodity research in the key area of strategic plant breeding for improved nutrition and health traits-for example, micronutrient-rich biofortified staple crops, and crops with reduced levels of harmful toxins-building on the successful work of the past several years in mainstreaming nutrition and health objectives into plant breeding programs. Under CRP4, this work will be expanded to look at nutritional quality and food safety throughout food-value chains beyond production, through postharvest, processing, storage, and beyond. CRP4 will rely on CRP2 for value-chain analysis, to identify opportunities along the value chain for improving nutritional quality and food safety. CRP4 will also work closely with the agricultural commodity CRPs in thematic area 3, to improve nutritional quality and food safety along value chains. Nutritional quality can be enhanced either through improving the nutritional quality of staple crops (CRP3.1/2/3/4/6) or through making accessible foods of higher nutritional value, such as animal source foods (CRP3.7 and 1.3 [fish]), legumes (CRP3.5), and fruits (CRP6). The latter will be the main focus of CRP4 (see discussion at the beginning of Section 6 on the general approach to joint value-chain activities to enhance nutrition and health between CRPs). Food safety research will require joint actions, primarily related to animal source foods (with CRP3.7) and mycotoxins, principally in maize and groundnuts. An important task in year 1 will be to coordinate with crop CRPs on the division of labor and comparative advantage of contributions from the different CRPs for work along value chains. It will also be important to consider the relative roles of crop CRPs in developing technologies and how CRP4 can support these activities to enhance their nutritional benefits and food safety improvements.CRP4 will contribute not only nutritional and food safety analyses, but also consumer-level studies on diet preference, risk, and other behaviors. This increased consumer focus will be critical as food production by and for the poor evolves from primarily subsistence and local informal markets to more formal markets and supply to poor urban consumers.The integrated ANH programs in Component 4 will draw on the research findings from other CRPs relating to agricultural intervention, technologies, and innovation. In particular, there will likely be important links between CRP4 and research undertaken in the CRPs under thematic area 1 (drylands, humid tropics, and aquatic and coastal systems). These interactions will involve nutrition and health inputs from CRP4 and inputs from thematic area 1 CRPs on agricultural biodiversity, livelihoods, fish and aquatic systems, and agricultural program options in different agroecological and regional settings.The elements of CRP4 linked to public health and nutrition programs will also have strong links to other CRPs. For example, CRP4's science-based evidence and technologies can inform food safety and veterinary public health programs, especially CRP3.7 (relating to production technologies, foodprocessing techniques, diagnostics, and vaccines). Other potential health links could include links with crop commodity CRPs on integrated pest management, with CRP5 on water-associated diseases, with CRP6 on indigenous technical knowledge for health, and with CRP7 on changing patterns of disease risks associated with climate change and the effects of climate on food production opportunities and the nutrient content of crops. Links related to other agricultural intensification issues could be further developed under the subcomponent of health risks in agroecosystems (though they are not an initial priority).CRP4 will have strong links with all major components of CRP2-policies, institutions, and markets. CRP4 will use many common analytical frameworks and research methodologies as well as sharing monitoring and evaluation methods with CRP2. Shared research approaches will extend to cross-cutting issues such as social protection policies, risk management, and gender policies. There will also be strong links to CRP3.7 around risk management and public health metrics and policies.Capacity strengthening is a crucial element for CRP4's longer-term and more sustainable impacts, essential for program scale-up and sustainability. The CGIAR and its research partners have long experience in supporting developing-country research organizations and researchers, through collaboration in programs and enhancing the capacity of development implementers and enablers.Implementing CRP4 will require adequate capacity for translating research methods and outputs into adopted technologies and institutional and policy changes. Just as important, it will mean developing cross-disciplinary capacity at various levels, including government and development agencies as well as educational and research institutions. At present, the higher education systems in most CRP4 countries lack any training in multidisciplinary expertise: programs designed for the development professional have a single disciplinary focus with no opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning. As a result, government professionalswith a wealth of experience in their own fieldshave very limited capacity to reach out to other disciplines, due in part to a lack of tools to address joint objectives. Similarly, researchers working on promising innovations lack the training or the incentive to work across disciplines or sectors.Renewed interest in the integration of agriculture and food systems with health and nutrition outcomes presents an opportunity to develop a truly multidisciplinary capacity and outlook. Research teams working on CRP4 will undertake, as a preliminary step, comprehensive assessments of capacity gaps and needs in targeted countries and institutions, to develop an appropriate capacity development strategy.Capacity strengthening will be carried out at four levels: individual, group, organizational, and policy. Given the international public goods focus of CRP4, active efforts will be taken to develop a network with key training institutes globally that are committed to working at the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, and health. An initial group coordinated by the Leverhulme Center for Integrated Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH) of the London International Development Centre (LIDC) has already formed from discussions at the CRP4 partners meeting in Addis Ababa in 2010; the group of academic institutions from both the North and the South recently created a University Network on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health for Development, in which CRP4 is participating. The network will be further strengthened during the first year of implementation of CRP4.Individual Level: Individuals involved in all program areas will be targeted for individual skill-building with a multidisciplinary perspective. Capacity strengthening approaches will include one-on-one collaboration, hands-on experience to learn new research and analytical methods, mentoring collaboration with researchers, graduate student supervision, postdoctoral and visiting-scientist placements, on-the-job training, and short courses. Approaches will be adapted as needed, based on the assessment exercise. This interdisciplinary experience will better prepare these individuals to take on scientific and leadership roles in advancing integrated ANH programs.Group Level: CRP4 will encourage enhanced networking among its direct and indirect partners. Networks of scientists, policy analysts, educators, program designers, and evaluators will develop to share and exchange innovations and experiences. Networking will be facilitated by the use of modern information technology, including social media, and by active efforts to encourage engagement at all levels. For example, an educational network can bring together universities in the North and South to exchange course content incorporating research and methods generated by CRP4.Organizational Level: Six types of organizations will be included in capacity strengthening efforts.1. Research organizations need capacity support particularly in the areas of research planning and management, institutional development, resource mobilization, and scientific writing. A networking approach will enable more isolated institutions to pool resources, including personnel. Systematic mentoring will be complemented by well-targeted training of senior managers and scientists. 2. Teaching and training organizations provide the mechanism for recruitment and formation of new scientists, technicians, practitioners, and managers. These organizations include technical schools, universities, and training centers, as well as education networks in agriculture and natural resources management. CRP4 will engage with a range of training organizationstechnical schools, universities, and training centers, as well as education networks in agriculture and natural resources management-to facilitate incorporating new knowledge generated by CRP4 into training and education curricula, and to develop relevant learning resources. Student researchers will be involved in various components as part of thesis research, with supervision and mentorship by the researchers. 3. Organizations designing policies and programs provide the essential bridge to widespread adoption and scaling-up. In these organizations, capacity will be needed for (1) developing national strategies and programs capable of implementation and funding, and (2) program monitoring and evaluation. These organizations will also provide a forum to bring together professionals from various disciplines, to contribute to policy and program solutions in an integrated and multidisciplinary manner. 4. Organizations implementing intervention programs have a crucial role to play. Local government organizations, civil society organizations (CSOs), international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and a range of private organizations will all be key in designing and implementing intervention programs that emanate from CRP4. CRP4 will work with such bridging organizations to strengthen their capacity to design, manage, use, and evaluate research outputs, through extensive brainstorming sessions, special short courses, participatory workshops, and other special training events. 5. CGIAR Centers themselves will gain important capacity to integrate nutrition and health considerations into their research programs, incorporating health and nutrition goals and interventions where appropriate. Capacity development will be mainly through joint research, as well as advocacy based on evidence generated by this CRP. CRP4 will also support creation of a learning platform to strengthen capacity for research across the five components of CRP4 (and across other CGIAR CRP programs doing research on nutrition and health-related activities), by sharing knowledge and information, analytical assessment tools, methods, participatory research strategies, specialized expertise, best practices, and feedback. The platform will include tools including indicators for needs assessment, monitoring, and evaluation. Based on needs assessment, the learning platform will sponsor online training courses or e-learning materials on methods and multi-stakeholder processes. 6. Other international and regional organizations, such as UN agencies, will also benefit from capacity development through individual and institutional partnerships, engaging in joint research planning and analysis as well as publication of research findings and targeted dissemination of research outputs.Policy Level: CRP4 will support capacity creation in policy research programs at the regional and subregional levels, with the lead CGIAR Centers providing methodological and analytical support to universities, policy institutes, and national and international policymakers and government officials. In Africa, for example, CRP4 will support processes such as NEPAD/CAADP, ASARECA's Policy Analysis and Advocacy Program, and the Food Agriculture and National Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), drawing on IFPRI and ILRI leadership in the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems (ReSAKSS). Similar policy analysis networks will be implemented in the South Asia region.The strategy for the start-up period will identify the targets and the venues for presenting such messages. Component 4 (Section 6.4) underlines the importance of ideas, data, and information, as communication tools that can be used in different fora to reach different targets. Appendix 4 on implementation partnerships describes the impact pathway for policy that uses tailored messages for the following purposes: (1) presentations in regional and national policy fora (for example, CAADP and subregional organizations); (2) getting agriculture on the agenda of national strategic planning exercises in health and nutrition (and vice versa); (3) getting integrated health, nutrition, and agriculture into National Poverty Reduction Strategies and into National Agricultural Research Fora, where they exist.The Communications Strategy will move quickly from establishing the program to consolidating support for its activities, recruiting new collaborators, and ensuring use of its knowledge. Public goods are freely accessible to all, but serious efforts are required to get them into the right hands.Targeting research outputs to particular users is a professional skill. This CRP will enhance the productivity of its scientists and partners by having specialized communications professionals work with scientists from project design onward to ensure the transfer of knowledge to users. Researchers will be helped to identify target groups for research outputs and to plan the particular format of outputs to meet their needs.The Program Management Team will benefit from having a formal Communication and Advocacy Strategy that balances the need for scientific rigor and credibility with the need for a stream of public awareness materials that highlight the potential impact for advocacy purposes. The Communications Strategy will (1) formalize policies to ensure high standards of professional quality in CRP outputs, through peer review and editorial assistance; (2) assist researchers to maintain the value of their intellectual property while maximizing shared use and credit by partners; and (3) identify the policy and advocacy channels to be cultivated, in close association with researchers and partner organizations.From the beginning, the communication focus will be on the integration of agriculture, nutrition, and health as the special characteristic of this program. Success will depend on the recognition by decisionmakers in each sector that there are real and tangible economic gains from integration of effort. Fiscal and budgetary arrangements can be specifically designed to make collaboration attractive to crosssectoral partners. A synthesis of the economic evidence showing the benefits of integrated programming, highlighting experience from other cross-sectoral activities, will be an important element in maintaining the collaborative commitment, and a stream of new evidence will help to reinforce it.The governance and management arrangements for CRP4 follow the guidelines set out in the CGIAR Strategic Results Framework. The Lead Center is IFPRI, which will have overall fiduciary and operational responsibility for the implementation of CRP4. To enhance synergies across the ANH components of the program, the Consortium Board has requested that ILRI, which currently manages two-thirds of the health-related research in the CGIAR, play a strong support role. ILRI will provide the Chair of the Planning and Management Committee for the first two years of CRP4; will be specifically consulted on the recruitment and performance evaluation of the Program Director; and will lead the implementation of Component 3 on agriculture-associated diseases.The Board of Trustees and Director General of IFPRI are accountable for the overall execution of CRP4 and for the effective engagement of the different partners. IFPRI will be responsible for the overall reporting relative to its Program Implementation Agreement with the Consortium Board, and accordingly shall require program participants to operate this CRP in accordance with the PIA and flow-down provisions which will be reflected in contracts between IFPRI and the partner entity. Responsibilities will then cascade to participating CGIAR Centers and partners. ILRI, in executing its responsibilities in the implementation of Component 3, will consult closely with IFPRI and the CRP4 Director.The overall management structure of CRP4 is outlined in Figure 11.The main elements of this management structure include:Planning and Management Committee (PMC): The PMC will oversee the planning, management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the CRP. It will review and approve the program work plans, milestones, and budgets. The PMC will discuss and approve the strategic directions of the program and new funding initiatives, and will advise on the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the program, including strategic linkages and partnerships. The PMC will be convened by the Program Director, supported by the Program Management Unit (as secretariat, see description below), and chaired by one of the Center representatives. In the first two years of the program, an ILRI representative appointed by the ILRI Director General will serve as Chair of the PMC, as requested by the Consortium Board. It is expected that a rotating system for chairmanship will be established by the PMC once it is formed. PMC members will include three representatives from key CGIAR Centers and implementing partners, and the four research component leaders. It is anticipated that the PMC will have face-to-face meetings twice per year and more frequent meetings and decisions will be made by consensus. As needed, the Director General of IFPRI, supported by the PMC Chair and Program Director, will consult with the Director Generals of participating CGIAR Centers to resolve any contentious matters.Independent Advisory Committee: A six-person Independent Advisory Committee will be formed to support the development of collaborative, efficient, and effective science and management. It will consist of three scientists to cover the range of science and disciplines in the program, two representatives of development partners (development implementers, policy/investment stakeholders), and one member of the HarvestPlus Program Advisory Committee. This panel will be complemented by additional ad-hoc advisors for specific or emerging issues, as needed. The Independent Advisory Committee will provide advice to the Management Committee and the IFPRI Director General on research program performance, research priorities and focus, and management and partnership issues. Nominations will be actively canvassed from participating centers and partners by the Management Committee to ensure broad acceptance. The slate of candidates will be proposed to the IFPRI Director General for confirmation by the IFPRI Board. The Independent Advisory Committee will have one face-to-face meeting annually at the time of one of the PMC meetings and will be consulted for advice at other times by the Program Director. The PMC, through IFPRI and the Program Director, will be required to formally respond to the Independent Advisory Committee recommendations.Given the importance of partnership engagement in this CRP, it is proposed to hold a partner and stakeholder meeting biennially, in association with the GCARD meeting. It will be an open forum, and sponsored participation by key partners may be budgeted into component activities. Program Management will be led by the Program Director supported by a Program Management Unit. The key management positions envisaged are as follows:Program Director. CRP4 will be managed by the Program Director, who will be appointed by IFPRI in consultation with ILRI and will report to IFPRI's Director General. The Program Director will be responsible for ensuring the implementation and delivery of all aspects of the CRP, according to the obligations of the Performance Implementing Agreement. Responsibilities include leadership of the CRP, including communicating and modelling a shared vision of the CRP among participating centers and partners; ensuring integration across agriculture, nutrition, and health; coordinating work plans, budgets, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation; setting priorities for funding and for broader communications and resource mobilization; representing the CRP externally and supervising the program management unit.CRP4 will be fully operationalized with the signing of the Program Implementation Agreement between the Consortium and IFPRI as the Lead Center of CRP4 (as per the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework).The main initial task will be to develop a five-year operations plan with the active participation of CRP4 centers and partners. This will include further elaboration of the impact pathways, outcomes and impacts, partnership and human resource arrangements, and detailed plans of work and budget for different components and subcomponents.The overall thrust of CRP4 is relatively new for the CGIAR. It combines some ongoing research with other well-established areas of research (such as biofortification of staple crops, nutritional assessment of programs, and zoonoses research), as well as some smaller-scale activities that can benefit from greater coordination and resources (such as food safety), along with some areas of innovation that still need to be developed (such as quality and safety of foods along value chains, evidence and metrics for priority setting, and assessment of cross-sectoral ANH interventions).Some important milestones for the first five years are listed in Table 22. As a relatively new jointresearch area for the CGIAR and its agricultural partners, and with new collaborations being established with partners in health and nutrition, the first three years will be require considerable efforts on partnership development and detailed discussions with partners. Important early efforts in communication and partnership are planned in order to build on the notable enthusiasm generated at the proposal development stage and in related CGIAR center initiatives. This enthusiasm will need to be translated quickly into tangible research results to guide priorities, partnerships, and investments.How can CRP4 quickly and effectively establish clearer priorities within its partnerships and translate these to actions with defined timelines and milestones? In the short term, we will use three different approaches for doing this. The first is to engage in specific discussions on research priorities with key partners, starting with teams working on other CRPs. We will discuss with CRP3.7, for instance, the inclusion of nutrition and health activities in their seven focus value chains and select the most suitable ones for joint work in the short term and medium term (some of these discussions have already started). Second, within the program impact pathway, CRP4 will engage in discussions with other CRPs such as CRP1.3 in Bangladesh and Zambia, as well as with existing program implementation partners such as Helen Keller International in Burkina Faso and Nepal and Concern Worldwide in Zambia. The third basic strategy will be to quickly engage key partners in developing and testing basic metrics and evidence as well as principles and practices for joint research linked to the value chain, program, and policy implementation pathways. This three-pronged strategy will allow us to engage more effectively with key cross-sectoral policy platforms (AU-NEPAD and PHFI-Ag research) in Africa and India as well as new regional policy research programs involving IFPRI and other CRP4 partners such as LANSA in four countries of South Asia and Transform Nutrition in two countries in Africa and two in South Asia (see Box 10).CRP4 will also pay attention to better aligning existing research and funded projects to serve the jointly developed priority activities and to plan and mobilize resources jointly for identified gaps. Underlying this effort will be the need to jointly develop a shared vision of the program that takes into account the research and development needs of the nutrition and health communities as well as those of the CGIAR agricultural research partners.The opportunities presented by this program are enormous, flowing from a groundswell of demand for integrated ANH research-as seen by the tremendous level of participation and interest in the IFPRI 2020 Conference in New Delhi. The networks and collaborations proposed (and that, in some cases, are already functioning) provide opportunities for enhancing dissemination and uptake of research outputs, presenting a real opportunity to influence both debate and practice in this area. The program also provides the opportunity to leverage additional funding and commitments from donors and stakeholders, expanding this area of research into a potentially world-changing force.With such an ambitious program, there come challenges and risks. The unavoidable challenges need to be tackled to achieve innovative impacts; the serious risks need to be mitigated or avoided, as potentially detrimental to the work-and not all of those risks can be anticipated. Challenges flow from the inherent difficulties in bringing different research disciplines together, exacerbated by the current tendency to work in isolated sectors. Differences in assessment tools, guidelines, and methodologies will certainly complicate implementation, coordination, evaluation, and interpretation of findings. Another critical challenge is the current lack of capacity and expertise in implementing cross-sectoral work on the ground, and this is addressed in CRP4 through a well-defined capacity-strengthening strategy.CRPs are an important innovation of the new CGIAR, learning how to make them work and succeed at achieving their goals will require significant investments. This challenge is multiplied when moving beyond technology research to the types of integrative, partnership-intensive, and cross-sectoral research proposed in CRP4. This type of research will demand new and effective governance and management approaches. Key program risks and how they will be mitigated are outlined in Table 23.Table 23 focuses largely on internal risks (CGIAR and CRP partnership) that will need to be effectively managed. External risks stemming from political, social, and other contextual changes will also need to be monitored and assessed. Partnerships will be critical in evaluating and mitigating most external risks. The assessment, monitoring, and management of risks will be the responsibility of all partners. Open communication about potential risks (and responses) will be encouraged but also built into monitoring, evaluation, and management systems. Within each component of the program, specific research opportunities and risks have been assessed (as discussed below); these will be further elaborated in management and implementation plans.Mitigation measures Partnership risks CRP teams (both within CRP4 and with other CRPs) do not collaborate but compete in areas of research in which joint actions are needed. Establish a clear overall framework for key research areas and agree on comparative advantages, needs for individual and joint efforts and roles and responsibilities of different partners. Provide mentoring and support to teams for team building and management skills. Establish transparent principles and processes for decisionmaking.Clearly articulate roles and responsibilities of national and local partners, highlighting their importance along impact pathways. Give priority to capacity development and provide funding for their contributions, where appropriate.Failure to establish partnerships between key partners across the agriculture, nutrition and health sectors.CRP4 will generate needed evidence regarding the contributions that agriculture can make to nutrition and health outcomes. This evidence will be used for advocacy and to identify and support champions of cross-sectoral research and development. CRP4 will help strengthen the track record of key CGIAR Centers in agriculturenutrition and health partnerships. Overall funding for program is insufficient to achieve goals, milestones, outputs and impacts CRP4 management analyzes reasons for insufficient funding (e.g. problem with donors: lack of interest, changing donor priorities; or problems with program (either perceived from donor or real): poor performance, lack of relevance, poor leadership, inefficiencies in use of funds, etc.); depending on source of problem, specific measures are implemented to address them and to communicate with donor to ensure that misperceptions are corrected as needed and that the relevance and importance of the work for achieving the CGIAR goals is understood.Allocation of funds across components is unbalanced and prevents achievement of goals across the CRP. Or funds to work and coordinate research across components is insufficient.All four program components are necessary to achieve the overall goals of the program. CRP4 leadership and Planning and Management Committee will proactively engage with donors to explain the relevance and complementarity of all four components of the program for the achievement of its goals and of the systemlevel outcomes of improving the health and nutrition of the poor through agriculture.The diversity of partners assembled for this component represents a highly strategic opportunity for interdisciplinary synergy and cross-sectoral ANH cooperation, and coordination of joint research activities and partners will require careful attention. Close cooperation will be established with existing international agricultural frameworks (such as GFAR, NEPAD, and ECOWAS/WAHO), as a way to minimize such risks and to reinforce self-sustaining collaborative approaches.Biofortified crops are increasingly recognized as important new tools that will complement existing nutrition interventions. Bringing a public health lens to the marketing of an agricultural commodity presents unique opportunities for advocacy and for the diffusion of an agricultural innovation to serve public health. Quick wins are possible in this area, in the form of readily visible results, even while making a sustainable contribution to reducing malnutrition over large populations. Committed donors are now investing at unprecedented levels toward food security.This very welcome infusion of global interest merely reinforces the continuing substantial and unwavering commitment of key donors to biofortification. Sustainable partnerships have been developed (largely by CGIAR) across sectors and continents, with substantial research results. With the current interest in linking agriculture to nutrition and public health, the time has arrived to build a strong platform for developing and delivering nutritious staple crops that are relied on daily by the most nutritionally vulnerable populations around the world.The biofortification strategy is nevertheless not without risks and limitations. Anticipated risks include the following:• Limitations on nutrient bioavailability, along with the presence of naturally existing inhibitors, may reduce the absorption of minerals (in particular) and thus their impact on human health.• Absent or weak commercial seed industries in target countries may fail to produce and market biofortified seed and food products in sufficient amounts to ensure access by the poor and undernourished.• Behavior change communications approaches may fail to educate the population regarding the nutritional benefits of biofortified crops (especially if they are more expensive and/or have distinguishable traits), reducing willingness to pay and incentive to consume.• Lack of political will, whether internal or external to the CGIAR, may mean failure to prioritize nutrient content as a breeding objective.• Climatic extremes or other natural phenomena may interrupt or delay some activities or affect the results (for example, the nutrient density of crops).New and transformational thinking is emerging in the field of health for development, as major players increasingly recognize the need for multidisciplinary, multisectoral, integrated, and participatory approaches. This component adopts a One Health/Ecohealth/multidisciplinary approach to address the complex questions around food-borne, zoonotic, and other agricultural health problems. By bringing to bear a socioeconomic and ecological understanding of the existing constraints to adopting technological solutions, the component will identify opportunities for interventions that can realistically be evaluated, implemented, and adapted contextually by partners. Nevertheless, while One Health multidisciplinary approaches are conceptually attractive, they have proven difficult to operationalize, and there is a risk that sectoral inertia may be difficult to overcome. CRP4 will develop tools to create and maintain incentives for multisectoral approaches.CGIAR centers have well-established capacity and experience to work collectively with implementing partners, providing a unique opportunity for research on implementation and delivery. Quick results are possible by working with established programs with expertise in integrating AHN (summarized in Appendix 10). Several of these programs offer solid implementation on the ground, as well as strong capacity and engagement of numerous partners; the CGIAR can play an important role in strengthening the design and evaluation of such programs and in generating and documenting learning for replication, adaptation, and scaling-up. These opportunities also feed into the policy level, generating significant learning about approaches to improving health and nutrition outcomes through coordination with agriculture.Linking research to implementation will require extensive investment in communication, dialogue, information sharing, internal education, and advocacy. Developing generalizable findings across agroecological zones will be complicated by the wide diversity of the target populations, with large variations in food production, diets, cultures, degree of marginalization, and type and magnitude of vulnerabilities. The main risk in this area is the possibility of insufficient funding: a failure to integrate CRP4's findings and lessons for cross-sectoral collaboration would perpetuate the existing divisions between program areas-leaving promising results partially developed and limited to their own subsectors.With support from the Program Management Unit, the CRP4 Director and the Management Team will have the primary responsibility for designing the overall M&E framework of the CRP. They will also coordinate and support the monitoring of progress by the research teams under each component and subcomponent. The M&E framework will be used by all CRP4 research teams and cover the needs of all CRP4 partners to report on program activities and outputs, track progress, and take corrective action as needed, and to assess program influence on outcomes and impact. Monitoring and evaluation indicators for tracking and assessing achievements will be constructed according to the SMART frameworkspecific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound-allowing for clear, results-based management of the CRP.The overall CRP M&E system must fit within the overall Consortium M&E principles and procedures, currently under development All M&E will be kept as simple and pragmatic as possible. Two main objectives will underpin the M&E strategy. The first objective is to have a systematic process to monitor performance in achieving milestones and outputs, both for the program overall and for each participating institution and program component/subcomponent. The second objective will be to provide indicators and lessons that can be used to support institutional and programmatic learning about what makes research effective in achieving program outcomes and impacts. Approaches will be tailored to the three key CRP4 impact pathways (value chains, programs, and policies). For all three pathways, the M&E framework will be developed and implemented through close collaboration between the program management unit and the research teams. Subcomponent 4.2 on Harmonized Policies will undertake specific research to develop tools, methods, and indicators to assess, track, and document changes in policy and institutional capacity for cross-sectoral ANH outcomes and impacts. These research outputs will be incorporated and used for monitoring and evaluating CRP4.In Year 1, a workshop of key partners and stakeholders will be convened to develop a detailed M&E plan. This plan will be grounded in the overall impact pathway strategy and linked to the partnership strategy, which will also be developed during the inception phase of the project. The overall M&E plan will focus on monitoring and tracking key activities, outputs, and outcomes, as well as partnership quality and performance in achieving outcomes and impacts. It will also focus on analyzing how new knowledge and evidence, planned in early stages of the program, will inform subsequent priority setting, program design, and institutional arrangements.While the details of the M&E plan can be developed only within the overall Consortium's M&E framework and must be linked to the development of detailed work plans with partners, some key M&E principles and practices can be foreseen for each of the three impact pathways. Given the long road from research for development activities to outcomes and impacts, CRP4 will pay attention to assessing impact pathways and intermediate outputs and outcomes. Below are some key considerations that the CRP4 partnership will consider in developing its detailed M&E strategy and plans.The advantage of the value-chain impact pathway is that a value-chain framework provides a practical approach to identifying the key actors necessary for the value chain to perform. For CRP4, overall value-chain performance will be monitored and evaluated largely through other partners (for example, CRP3.7 for meat, milk, and fish), but CRP4 will have responsibility for value-chain performance relative to nutritional quality and food safety. Understanding how to improve nutritional quality and food safety requires understanding the behavior of consumers and other value-chain actors, thinking through specific improvements at different steps of the value chain (breeding for more nutritious foods, postharvest management, fortification of foods during processing and marketing by the private sector), and assessing the capacity and performance of key actors responsible for these actions. In collaboration with CRP2 and the commodity CRPs, CRP4 will evaluate nutrition and health within an overall value-chain context with specific tools such as outcome mapping to assess how key actors are changing. Also critical from the CRP4 perspective will be analysis of gender outcomes and impacts through specific hypotheses developed. Value-chain impacts on poverty will also be a key M&E issue. In the year 1 M&E planning meetings, specific attention will be paid to the participation of and benefits for poor people, because there is a danger that women and poor people can be disadvantaged by value-chain development and concentration of power and decisionmaking.For the program impact pathway, M&E principles and practices are relatively well developed for program performance. CRP4 M&E efforts will rely on building on good M&E practices from development implementers. In addition to this base level of M&E for programs, CRP4 will look at pathways for change that involve the role of and benefits to women and children and indicators for nutrition and health within the broader livelihood analysis usually employed. In year 1, CRP4 will specifically engage with CRP1.3 and a subset of development implementers in ensuring that nutrition and health theories of change and outcomes and impacts are explicitly included to improve current good M&E practices. Given the importance of local capacity in programs, specific indicators of changes in institutional capacity linked to outcomes and impacts will be included.M&E for the policy impact pathway will be complex. CRP4 will rely largely on methods and tools from CRP2. These joint activities are critical given that specific outcomes and impacts for nutrition and health must be considered in the much broader context of agriculture, health, and social development policy and investment. Specific M&E outcomes and impacts to be considered will include assessment of institutional performance and arrangements for cross-sectoral decisionmaking. They will also include the types of information, knowledge, and evidence needed for decisionmaking in a cross-sectoral context and for communicating the benefits of nutrition and health improvements, particularly for the poor within overall development and economic growth strategies. Some additional considerations that will be brought into the detailed M&E planning and in establishing an overall CRP M&E system are found below.A monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed under each component and subcomponent. The plans will provide a framework to track both the process of implementation and the attainment of interim targets. They will include milestones for activities, outputs (such as publications, datasets, training materials, and training activities), communication, dissemination, and networking (to ensure appropriate uptake of project outcomes). Appendix 3 presents CRP4's preliminary performance indicators matrix, by program component. The more detailed plan that will be designed during the first year of implementation will include specific milestones and specify corrective actions to be taken if milestones are missed. As well as tracking in real time CRP4 functioning to allow for flexible and adaptive management, these milestones will provide the basis for retrospective evaluations of the use of project outputs and their influence in subsequent years. Using the process-monitoring milestones, regular process evaluations of program content and scope will be established for CRP4, including tracking quality of implementation and partnership performance; these evaluations will show to what extent the program has been implemented as planned and will identify strategic lessons for future management. Given the importance of partnerships for the success of CRP4, social network analysis tools will be used to describe and evaluate the science and development networks that emerge from the work of CRP4. The new CRP4 website, due to come online in time for the start of CRP operations, will provide a repository for all CRP4 outputs and allow researchers and CRP4 partners to track output milestones.High-quality research outputs are not enough by themselves to achieve impact. They must be taken up and used. The pathways to impact, however, are often long and complex; it is much easier to assess the contribution of researchers to outcomes-how the intended clients of research have improved their performance using research outputs. The outcome strategy of CRP4 will be guided by three key objectives that define the relevance of research findings to decisionmaking: salience-findings are relevant to the problems at hand; credibility-findings are authoritative and believable; and legitimacyfindings are perceived as fair (Cash et al. 2002). Cash et al. also highlight the importance of boundary-spanning organizations that can link the providers and users of the information. While outcomes will be beyond the control of the researchers, good program design can increase the likelihood that outputs are translated into outcomes:• Increase salience by working with prospective research clients (such as governments and NGOs) to identify the most relevant questions and problems to address.• Increase legitimacy by working with appropriate partners.• Increase awareness and credibility of the findings, and the likelihood the results will be applied, by publicizing the project activities and research results in a variety of fora and trusted media. Researchers should also ensure that findings are published in a form and an outlet that is accessible to the intended users. For example, if other researchers are the intended users, publications in a prestigious scientific journal may be effective, but if government policymakers are the intended users, policy briefs translated into appropriate languages are more important. CRP4 research projects will therefore pay particular attention to publishing research results in outlets that will reach their intended audience, either directly or through boundary-spanning organizations. While publication in high-impact peer-reviewed journals will be prioritized, weight will also be given to other forms of publication and outreach offering impact.Each component of CRP4 will participate in monitoring uptake in its own area.• Within each component, and in consultation with the CRP4 scientific advisory committee, key performance indicators will be identified for gauging the quality and quantity of outputs and outcomes.• Components will be required to report not only on what was produced, but on measures of uptake by different stakeholders; process approaches and indicators, such as outcome mapping (Smutylo 2005) and participatory impact pathway assessment (Douthwaite et al. 2008), can document whether these strategies are increasing the likelihood of project outcomes.• CRP4 will also use stakeholder feedback and surveys of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) to provide indicators of outcomes and influence. Novel techniques such as NetMap will be used to map the influence and uptake of outputs as well as stakeholder satisfaction with deliverables.• Uptake logs and citation analysis in policy-relevant documents will document the influence of research findings; episode studies will assist in understanding the forces, events, and decisions relevant to policy changes (see Subcomponent 4.2: Harmonized Policies).• Qualitative analysis can be backed up by quantitative analysis of product usage statistics, such as downloads and citations of publications, downloads and uses of databases and films (including uses in student theses or training courses), and follow-up evaluations of training courses or materials.• For a specific set of priority outcomes, a formal assessment will be conducted using a standardized tool, such as the outcome reporting tool developed for the previous CGIAR performance indicators.The aims of impact assessment are (1) to enhance the success of CRP4 in achieving its stated goals, and(2) to generate learning, by measuring the potential and actual effects of the project on the intended beneficiaries, using tangible intermediate and final impact indicators. Both ex-ante and ex-post impact assessment methods will be used, as shown in Table 24. Moving from outcomes to impacts requires triangulation among quantitative and qualitative methods to identify how research has influenced performance along the three principle impact pathways-value chains, programs, and policies-and how those changes have, in turn, affected the nutrition and health of target populations.The detailed M&E plan developed in Year 1 will include a plan for impact assessments to be conducted over a five-year period. In the initial three years of the program, important efforts will be focused on collecting information and evidence to guide priority setting. Some ex-ante impact assessments will be conducted in Year 3 based on this information, as part of a priority setting refresh. Two to three ex-post impact evaluations will be undertaken each year beginning in Year 2. Initial ex-post evaluations will be built on ongoing work by the CRP4 participating centers and will focus on understanding the size, nature, and determinants of impacts. In Year 5 and beyond, ex-post impact assessments of the program are envisioned, later to include policy and value-chain work initiated within the CRP.The ex-post assessment of impacts in CRP4 will be designed according to the impact pathway. For value-chain impact pathways, value-chain analysis frameworks will be used, including a mix of quantitative measures (such as income, quantity and nutrient content of products, level of nutrition and food safety awareness and knowledge among key value-chain stakeholders, accessibility of nutrient-rich and safe foods for the poor) and qualitative measures (participatory impact indicators, as well as valuechain stakeholder coordination). For program impact pathways, ex-post studies will be planned with implementing partners in conjunction with the program case studies selected in Subcomponent 4.1 (programs). Assessment relating to policy impact pathways will rely on the methods and tools designed and used under Subcomponent 4.2 (Harmonized Policies). Policy changes will be documented as well as policy processes and changes affecting key stakeholders. Three types of methods will be used.1. Impact narratives can document cases where research has led to policy changes and impact on the ground. These will be reported by project teams and independently verified through interviews with key stakeholders to document the mechanisms through which research contributed to changes. 2. Ex-post impact assessments can document the impact of a particular change in policy, institutions, or markets on the ultimate objectives of improved nutrition and health. These studies play an important role in documenting the value of policy-oriented research, as well as in examining how the implementation of a policy affects the ultimate impact. 3. External reviews of the body of completed research work will assess its effect, as well as provide lessons for other research on how to achieve impact. Within an agreed time frame, regular external reviews of the entire CRP4 will be commissioned by the Independent Evaluation Arrangement of the CGIAR on behalf of the Fund Council. These independent evaluations will provide an external perspective on research relevance and performance, and will serve as an important input into the periodic revision of the CRP. As described above, the impact potential for improving human nutrition and health through agricultural interventions is enormous. CRP4 proposes a major scale-up of CGIAR efforts to this end. As a relatively new area of CGIAR emphasis, it should be expected to grow relatively quickly once the key partnerships and research programs are developed. Currently the major driver for funding allocations across the program is the availability of restricted grants, which constitute 71 percent of the budget. As the program evolves, Components 1, 3, and 4 will grow faster than Component 2 and will gradually contribute a greater proportion of funding. The rate at which that happens will depend on the ability of the Fund Council to provide the Consortium with resources for the overall CRP4 program and for targeted resource mobilization for research areas identified as strategy gaps.The indicative scale of CRP4 is reflected in the budget below, which projects $59M in activity for 2011, rising to $69M in 2013. This projection captures costs associated with collaboration among 10 CG centers, the HarvestPlus Challenge Program, and a host of global partners. Personnel and partnership costs represent 24 percent and 44 percent, respectively, of the total 2011 budget. A Budget is a best estimate of the financial resources required to meet program objectives. In the original proposal, 2011 was considered to be Year 1. We acknowledge that with the passing of almost a year since the proposal was submitted, it is more likely that the first year of the CRP will begin in January 2012 and therefore the Year 1 Budget is likely to show an increase of 3% or 4%. The Financial Officers of the Lead Center and other participating Centers are currently working together and with the Consortium to adjust budgets on a line item basis for 2012. This approach was agreed upon at a meeting of all the CGIAR Center Finance representatives held in Washington on September 16, 2011.The overall program represents 6-7 percent of current CGIAR expenditures. Of this, approximately 70 percent is for nutrition and 30 percent is for health.One of the pillars of the CGIAR reform process is to provide greater assurance of longer-term and sustainable funding. Donors contributing to the new Trust Fund are encouraged to contribute to Windows 1 and 2 to maximize coordination and harmonization. While donors are strongly encouraged to channel their resources through the fund, bilateral funding continues. In cases where such funding is provided, it should be consistent with the agreed Strategy and Results Framework. The accompanying financial projections assume that current bilateral funding will gradually be replaced by grants through the Fund. Thus in 2011, $17M, or 29 percent of total funding, is assumed to be from the Fund. In 2013 CGIAR Fund income is projected at $44M, or 63 percent of total funding. Component 2, Biofortification, includes the HarvestPlus Challenge Program.Budget figures are stated at conservative levels and do not include upside or overly optimistic estimates. First-year budgets are based largely on financial data from each center's Medium-Term Plan (MTP) on a full cost recovery basis and are comparable to 110 percent of actual expenditures for 2009. This is, in fact, a modest base, given the increased interest in health and nutrition in the past two years from stakeholders and donors as the scale of the issues is recognized. Years following the base year show a modest cost increase of 8 percent in 2012 and 9 percent in 2013. Given the demand from stakeholders and donors for these research topics, the budget illustrates a clear and achievable transition to a CRP financing structure that supports a rapid deployment of CRP4 during 2011.The accompanying tables provide a breakdown of costs on an overall program (Table 1) basis and also by the five main components (Tables 2-4 For all CRPs, 2011 is a year of transition, and at the time of submission we are in the second quarter. Therefore, figures for 2011 include allocations made by participating Centers in their respective Board approved Budgets for CRP4.The proportions of funding by individual centers from CGIAR Consortium Funds and bilateral sources varies significantly as shown in Table 5. In the case of the HarvestPlus Challenge Program almost all of the funding is from bilateral sources and there is an allocation of $5.6M from the Consortium Windows, which includes previous funding from the World Bank to the Challenge Program.Only four centers have budgets in excess of $3M in 2011 for CRP4 (Bioversity $3.5M; CIAT $4.0M; IFPRI $12.7M; and ILRI $9.7M).As reflected in the table below, CRP4 partnership cost as a percentage of total operating costs is 47 percent compared to 16 percent for the CGIAR as a whole. The Biofortification component comprises 51 percent of the total CRP4 budget over the three-year period and 78 percent of total partnership cost. HarvestPlus represents 69 percent of the Biofortification component budget, and its culture of extensive collaboration is woven into CRP4's research activities, as evidenced by the sizable budget for partnerships. CRP4's research agenda is highly participatory-engaging a wide mix of partners, harnessing the expertise of CG centers, universities, local and international NGOs, and private companies. The cost ratio of partner activity is significantly higher than personnel costs. This is indicative of the commitment to an integrated, inclusive research solution that is aligned with the SRF objective of strategic partnerships.Other than office space (captured under operating expenses) to accommodate research staff, policy research requires a relatively modest level of investment in property and equipment. Research outputs are facilitated by information and knowledge management systems, thus computers and information technology and services are the primary components of capital investments supporting policy research. Table B1 illustrates the low capital investments for IFPRI and CRP4 compared to the CGIAR, which includes centers that conduct research requiring significant investment in infrastructure, laboratories, and vehicles. The overall Institutional Overhead Budget of $22.9M over the three-year Budget is 13.6 percent of total Direct Costs. This is an aggregation of the costs for each of the participating Centers calculated in accordance with approved CGIAR Financial Guidelines. The rate includes 4 percent for pass-through funds, the rate that has been used by CGIAR system-wide initiatives and Challenge Programs.For year one, assumed to be 2011, a total of $58.8M funding is budgeted of which $42M is from bilateral sources; $25M is from bilateral sources for the Biofortification component, mainly from CIDA and the Gates Foundation. In Years 2 and 3, assumed to be 2012 and 2013, there is an assumption that donors supporting the Biofortification work will begin to shift their funding to the Consortium Windows 2 and 3. The -rate of shift‖ is not possible to predict with any degree of accuracy. IFPRI, as designated Lead Center for the CRP, has assembled the costs necessary to do the work, but cannot be expected to predict with great accuracy the delineation of funding sources between Consortium Windows and bilateral funding sources.Once the overall CRP has been approved, the Budget proposals for 2012 have to be further refined to ensure that the full cost recovery principles embodied in CGIAR Financial Guideline Number 5 are effectively made operational. As Lead Center, IFPRI has operated project-based full-cost absorption principles for many years. The partner Centers are committed to following these principles and identifying the appropriate cost drivers.Detailed Budgets for 2012 will be prepared and evaluated by the Planning and Management Committee in October 2011 to ensure that the CRP and the individual participating Centers achieve Budget harmony for 2012.Tables B3-B5 show the total costs by component by years 2011 to 2013, which in aggregate are as shown below. The Biofortification line includes management costs of approximately $1.2M per year, which would raise the total CRP Management line to $7.5M in total for three years or 4% of total costs.  Calories: Short for kilocalories, a unit of food energy. One calorie represents the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water by one degree centigrade at sea level. The common usage of the word calorie is understood to refer to a kilocalorie and therefore actually represents 1,000 true calories of energy.Chronic malnutrition (stunting): Low height-for-age, defined as more than 2 standard deviations below the mean of the sex-specific reference data. Stunting is the cumulative effect of long-term deficits in food intake, poor caring practices, and illness and is largely irreversible after two years of age.A set of 10 recommended practices that mothers and/or caregivers should implement from 6 to 24 months, the weaning period, at which point breastmilk and/or breastmilk substitutes alone are no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of growing infants.Complementary food: Any food, whether manufactured or locally prepared, suitable as a complement to breastmilk or to infant formula, when either becomes insufficient to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the infant around the time of weaning.Cost-benefit analysis: An economic assessment that sums all the costs and all the benefits associated with an option using a common metric (usually money).Cost-effectiveness analysis: This is the most commonly used method for performing economic analyses in healthcare, because of the difficulty of assigning monetary values to health benefits. It sums all the costs in a common monetary value and all the benefits in physical units.Forcing an undesirable species from a habitat by the introduction of a more efficient species that outcompetes it and does not have the undesirable effects. It is used in aflatoxin control and for control of gastrointestinal pathogens in livestock.The number of unique foods or food groups consumed over a given period of time.Dietary diversity is one of several dimensions of dietary quality. It can be measured at the individual or the household level.There is no universal definition of dietary quality. Traditionally, however, dietary quality has been conceptualized as a measure of nutrient adequacy. Nutrient adequacy, in turn, refers to a diet that meets requirements for energy and all essential nutrients. More recently, the concern regarding overnutrition and excess intake of certain nutrients and foods has led to a global shift in the definition of dietary quality to include both concepts of nutrient deficiency and overnutrition. This shift has led to the incorporation of concepts of diversity, proportionality (for example, balanced diets), and moderation (for example, avoiding excess intake of certain nutrients/foods) in measures of dietary quality.Disease control: A reduction in the incidence, prevalence, morbidity, or mortality of an infectious disease to a locally acceptable level. This is distinguished from disease elimination (a reduction to zero of the incidence of disease or infection in a defined geographical area) and disease eradication (permanent reduction to zero of the worldwide incidence of infection).Ecohealth: Systemic, participatory approaches to understanding and promoting health and well-being in the context of social and ecological interactions. It is increasingly aligned with One Health.Emerging disease: A disease that has been newly identified, has newly increased in incidence, geography, or host range, or is newly evolved. Emerging infectious diseases are emerging diseases caused by infectious agents.The constant presence of a disease or infectious agent within a given geographic area or population; it may also refer to the usual prevalence of a given disease within such area or population.Energy: Expressed in joules (J), but often used interchangeably with calories.The occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people or animals over a particular period of time.The study of health in populations (human, animal, or plant) and the application of this study to control health problems (see also definition of Health).Evidence-based: A term originally applied to clinical medical practice and extended to public health, policy, management, and other fields. It implies the systematic search, appraisal, and use of the most current and valid research findings for decisionmaking.Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF): The feeding of an infant only with breastmilk from his or her mother or a wet nurse, or expressed breast milk, and no other liquids or solids except vitamins, mineral supplements, or medicines in drop or syrup form.Foodborne illness/disease: Disease, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food.Food security: Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritional food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food security is often disaggregated into the three pillars of food availability, food access, and food utilization/consumption, along with stability of these over time. Food insecurity exists when these conditions are not met.In food safety terminology, a hazard is anything that can cause illness or injury. Food hazards are categorized as microbiological (for example, bacteria, parasites), chemical (for example, antibiotic residues, toxins), or physical (for example, glass shards).Health: Commonly used to express freedom from illness, injury, or pain, health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as -a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.‖ Hunger: A prolonged involuntary lack of food, normally due to lack of economic resources with which to access food. There are different manifestations and consequences of hunger, which include undernourishment, undernutrition, wasting, and in extreme cases, death.The number of people or animals in a given population who newly develop a disease or health-related condition within a given period of time. (See also Prevalence).Informal markets: Informal markets in agriculture may refer to (1) markets where many actors are not licensed and do not pay tax (for example, street foods, backyard poultry); (2) markets where traditional processing, products, and retail practices predominate (for example, wet markets, milk hawkers); or (3) markets that escape effective health and safety regulation (most domestic food markets in developing countries).This term may be applied to human, animal, or plant disease. It usually implies the combination of multiple strategies to control disease. Sometimes it refers to merging of different sectors or disciplines to control disease.A set of specific recommendations regarding optimal infant and young child feeding practices to ensure the best infant and young child growth and nutritional status, covering best practices in breastfeeding and complementary feeding.The most common nutritional deficiency in the world, insufficient iron in the body, normally due to inadequate consumption of bioavailable iron. Iron deficiency, which can lead to anemia, can also result from high blood losses or from an increase in iron requirements due to infection, pregnancy, rapid growth, dietary habits, or any combination of these.The condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells because of a deficiency of iron. Women and young children are the most vulnerable to IDA, which has a range of harmful health implications.Malnutrition: A broad term for poor nutritional status caused by deficiency or excess of calories or nutrients (undernutrition or overnutrition).Vitamins and minerals needed by the body in small amounts to perform myriad physiological functions. Although the amounts needed are small, the consequences of their absence are severe. Iodine, vitamin A, iron, and zinc are the most important in public health terms; deficiency of these micronutrients represents a major threat to the health and development of populations worldwide, particularly children and pregnant women in low-income countries.A consequence of the lack of access and/or consumption of micronutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, animal products, and fortified foods. Micronutrient deficiencies increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. More than 2 billion people in the world are estimated to be deficient in the key vitamins and minerals iodine, vitamin A, iron, and zinc.Mycotoxins: Naturally occurring chemicals (toxins) produced by molds that contaminate staple foods, feeds, and animal source foods in most of the humid tropics. They cause acute poisoning as well as contributing to chronic diseases in people and animals (including fish). There are many types of mycotoxins: aflatoxins, ochratoxins, and fusarium toxins are considered of worldwide importance.Neglected disease: Diseases that are prevalent among impoverished and marginalized populations in the developing world and for which health research and interventions are inadequate to needs. There is no standard listing, but most include sleeping sickness and cysticercosis, along with other zoonoses.A ratio derived by dividing a food's contribution to nutrient needs by its contribution to energy (calorie) needs. When the contribution to nutrient needs exceeds the energy contribution, the food is considered to have a favorable nutrient density.Nutrition security: Sustained access to the basic elements of good nutrition: a balanced and adequate diet, clean water, adequate health care and environment, and the knowledge needed to care for and ensure a healthy and active life for all household members.Nutritious: Nutritious (or -nutrient-rich‖) foods are defined in this proposal as foods high in essential nutrients, including animal source foods (fish, meat, eggs, and dairy products), fruits and vegetables, biofortified staples, fortified foods, and traditional local crops sourced from biodiverse systems (including neglected and underutilized species and wild foods). Specialized processed and/or fortified foods for populations with special needs (acutely malnourished children, people living with HIV/AIDS, infants) are also included in nutrient-rich (or nutritious) foods.Obesity: A condition characterized by excess body fat, typically defined as a body mass index (BMI, equal to weight (kg)/height (m) 2 ) of 30 or more.One Health: This is the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.Overnutrition: A state in which nutritional intake of either nutrients or calories exceeds nutritional need.Overnutrition can also relate to the coexistence of excessive intake of certain nutrients (for example, energy, certain types of fat, and carbohydrates) and deficits in some micronutrients (such as iron).Overnutrition manifests itself as overweight (BMI>25) and obesity (BMI>30) and as vitamin or mineral overloads. In children, overnutrition is defined as weight for height >85 th percentile (85 th to 95 th percentile is overweight, and over 95 th percentile is obese).Pandemic: A disease occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.Participatory methods: Research and/or development approaches that emphasize local knowledge and action. The application of participatory methods to epidemiology has been termed participatory epidemiology; similar neologisms are participatory disease surveillance and participatory risk assessment.Pathogen detection platform: A system or technology that allows the detection of disease-causing agents.The number (or proportion) of people or animals in a given population who have a disease or health-related condition at a given point of time. (See also Incidence).Quantitative comparative risk assessment: The process of comparing and ranking various types of risks through providing a numerical estimate of each risk in order to identify priorities and influence resource allocations.Quantitative microbial risk assessment: Risk assessment that provides numerical expressions of risk associated with a microbial hazard and indication of the attendant uncertainties.Risk: This is defined differently in different disciplines. In epidemiology, risk is the probability of developing an outcome in a specified period of time among subjects receiving a treatment or exposed to a risk factor. Financial risk is the chance that an investment's return will be higher or lower than expected.In development literature, risk is potential for loss or injury. In food safety risk analysis, risk is the probability that a substance or situation will produce harm to human health under specified conditions and is a combination of the likelihood of an event occurring and the magnitude of harm produced if it does.Risk analysis: This is a structured approach for dealing with risk with three essential elements: risk assessment (systematic evaluation of hazards and their possible effects); risk management (evaluating and selecting responses to risk); and risk communication (exchange of information, opinions, and concerns about risk among stakeholders).Risk factor: A characteristic or aspect that is statistically associated with an increased occurrence of disease or other health-related event or condition. The association may not be causal.A study in which subjects (people or animals) are allocated at random (by chance alone) to receive one of several interventions. Well-designed and implemented RCTs are considered the most effective way of evaluating an intervention. Developed in medical research, this approach is increasingly applied to other fields.Severe acute malnutrition (SAM): See Acute malnutrition (wasting).Surveillance: Systematic and ongoing collection of information on disease or other health-related events that can then be analyzed to guide disease prevention and control.A person whose estimated or usual food consumption, expressed in terms of dietary energy (kcal), is below the energy requirement norm. The prevalence of undernourishment in a specified population is sometimes used as a measure of food deprivation or hunger.Undernutrition: Poor nutritional status due to deficiencies in calories and/or nutrients. Manifestations of undernutrition include abnormally low anthropometric measures such as stunting (short stature), wasting (low weight-for-height), or underweight (low weight), clinical manifestations of undernutrition (such as kwashiorkor or marasmus), or low levels of essential vitamins or minerals measured either through clinical signs or biomarkers. Low or insufficient intakes of nutrients or micronutrient inadequacy of the diet are also sometimes used to predict or define undernutrition.Underweight: Low weight-for-age, defined as more than 2 standard deviations below the mean of the sex-specific reference data.Value chain: A series of activities and actors within an industry or sector, from producing a primary product through processing to taking it to market and consumption, normally accompanied by an increase in value as the product moves along the value chain. The value-chain framework is a tool for strategic planning and for development.A condition resulting from low intake (or absorption) of vitamin A that results in depletion of stores and increased susceptibility to infections. It is a leading cause of childhood blindness and of nightblindness in adults and children.Wet market: A term mainly used in Asia referring to a markets that sells readily perishable foods such as meat, fish, and fruits and vegetables. It often sells live animals including poultry, fish, and wildlife.Zoonosis: Any infectious disease that can be naturally transmitted from animals to humans, including diseases transmitted via insect vectors. The term -reverse zoonosis‖ refers to transmission from humans to animals.The deviation of an individual's data point from the median value of a reference population, divided by the standard deviation of the reference. An annually updated and relevant evidence base from an agricultural and cross-sectoral perspective, which adds value to ongoing initiatives by supporting better investments in integrated planning across agriculture, nutrition, and health  due to consumption of biofortified foods Improvement in functional outcomes (e.g., work capacity and cognition) due to improvement in micronutrient status  Given that ReSAKSS is already operating within the CG system, its facilitators include the two leading centers of the CRP, and well implanted in the CAADP process, it would make sense to consider using it as a knowledge platform to support the CRP's work.The importance of fish for nutrition and health and proposed CRP4-CRP3.7 research focusIn many low-income countries with water and fisheries resources, in particular among population groups living in riparian and coastal areas, capture of both freshwater and marine fish as well as fish production are important for livelihoods, income, and nutrition. These poor population groups typically also suffer disproportionately from undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies. Fish, in particular small fish species, are an integral part of the everyday diet, though the amount consumed is small and intrahousehold distribution favors males. In these population groups, fish is an irreplaceable animal source food, and its contribution to dietary diversity and to intake of several essential micro-and macronutrients is potential invaluable, yet largely ignored.Studies in rural Bangladesh and Cambodia show that small fish make up between 50 and 80 percent of all fish eaten during the production season. Although consumed in small quantities, these small fish, which are consumed whole, are particularly rich in micronutrients. Their bones are an excellent source of calcium, and in some species vitamin A accumulates in their eyes and intestines. A study of poor, rural households in Bangladesh in 1997 revealed that small fish intake provided about 40 percent of the vitamin A and 32 percent of the calcium recommendations of an average household in the peak fish production season. The long-chained omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in marine and some freshwater fish also have a range of health benefits. Epidemiological studies have shown that the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is low in North Atlantic regions with high fish intake, and it is well accepted that some fatty acids reduce the risks of cardiovascular failures, stroke, and the development of dementia in adults. In young children, omega-3 fatty acids are important for the development of membranes of the brain and the retina. The potential role of fish as a source of essential fatty acids in the first 1,000 days has recently been highlighted in the global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Framework and Roadmap and the US government's 1,000 Days Initiative.Many factors contribute to the favorable role of fish, in particular small fish species, in nutrition. Where fish is abundant, it is usually well liked, people have strong cultural preferences for it, and they perceive it as promoting nutrition, health, and well-being. Fish products-such as dried, smoked, salted, and fermented fish, fish paste, and fish sauce-extend the duration of storage and consumption, as well as accessibility. Small fish can be bought in small quantities from rural markets or caught from common resources water bodies by household members. When they are used for preparing a dish such as curry or stew, they can add flavor and taste to diets dominated by a single staple.Surveys in both Asia and Africa show that fish consumption is declining and that the diversity of fish species consumed has decreased. In an effort to increase supply, governments have vigorously promoted aquaculture, in particular in Asia, in the last 30 years. However, the technologies in use promote monocultures of fast-growing large fish, such as carp, tilapia, and panga. The nutrient composition of these fish is of lower quality than that of small fish because of species variation, and nutrients, especially calcium, are lost when bones are removed before consumption.In recent years, there has been growing awareness that the aquaculture technologies widely promoted, especially for small-scale production, must take into consideration production, productivity, income, and nutritional quality. In addition, more attention is being paid to the need for better management of wetland resources to protect capture fisheries and sustain fish diversity.CRP4 will work with CRP1.3 and CRP3.7 to increase access to and consumption of fish among the poor in order to improve their nutrient intake, dietary quality, and nutrition and health security. One example of a partnership that the teams decided to explore during the early stages of implementation is joint research on the tilapia and catfish production value chain in Uganda. The table below (Table A5.1 (extracted from CRP3.7 proposal)) provides examples of new research questions and activities that CRP4 could add to the tilapia and catfish value chain to make it more nutritionsensitive and more likely to achieve its overall goals of improving diet quality and nutrition among the poor.Fish is a highly perishable commodity and is associated with a wide range of health hazards, including bacteria, parasites, mycotoxins, and heavy metals. Some of these hazards are specific to fish products, whereas others are present in other animal source foods. In countries where fish consumption is high, it is frequently implicated in cases of food-borne illness. As for other food safety issues, risk analysis, including risk management methods such as HACCP, is the gold standard for assuring fish safety. However, although considerable evidence exists on the assessment and control of hazards in large, commercial, export-oriented fish production and capture systems, there has been very limited research in the large informal systems of most relevance to poor people involved in fish production, capture, and processing.Ongoing work by ILRI and partners seeks to adapt risk analysis principles and tools to the informal markets where they have yet to be applied but have great potential for improving food safety while safeguarding or enhancing market access for the poor (especially women). Some studies looked at hazards in traditional fish systems in West Africa. Women have a major role in the processing of fish and use mainly traditional and low-technology processes. Levels of hygiene are very low, and traditional processing, such as smoking and curing, may lead to contamination with polycyclic hydrocarbons and other substances. However, processing may also mitigate risks. In some cases perception of risk by the public and decisionmakers does not correspond to actual risk to human health, leading to inappropriate policy and regulation.In conjunction with CRP1.3 and 3.7, CRP4 will conduct comparative risk assessments to establish which hazards to human health are present in small-scale fish systems and what the relative importance of different hazards is. For those hazards likely to have a substantial impact on human health, risk assessment will be conducted to quantify the risk and identify the points at which it can be best controlled. This evidence will help raise awareness among stakeholders including fish valuechain actors, decisionmakers, and consumers. Stakeholders will be involved in the design, testing, and rigorous evaluation of interventions to improve food safety while delivering other benefits (such as higher yields, lower labor inputs, or better market access) that will motivate value-chain actors to adopt risk management practices. These studies will be done as proof of concepts in the value chains with other CRP involvement. They will be linked to development agents for wider dissemination of the tools, methods, and technologies developed and to local decisionmakers and international organizations (such as the WHO FERG group) important in creating an enabling environment. Agricultural biodiversity pertains specifically to the biological variety exhibited among crops, animals, and other organisms used for food and agriculture, as well as the web of relationships that bind these forms of life at ecosystem, species, and genetic levels. It includes not only crops and livestock directly relevant to agriculture, but also many other organisms that have indirect effects on agriculture, such as soil fauna, weeds, pests, and predators. This agricultural biodiversity includes species with underexploited potential for contributing to food security, health, income generation, and ecosystem services. Terms such as underutilized, neglected, orphan, minor, promising, niche, local, and traditional are frequently used interchangeably to describe these potentially useful species (both plant and animal), which are not mainstream but which have at least significant local importance and considerable global potential for improving food and nutrition security.Creating biodiversity with high nutritional significance involves drawing on a vast array of cultivated and wild species, which if made available and utilized effectively could contribute significantly to the dietary diversity, livelihoods, and well-being of millions of people all over the world. Interspecies and intraspecies variations of crops represent a considerable wealth of local biodiversity and could contribute to improved incomes, food security, and nutrition with a better understanding of their contributions and use. They also have significant potential for enhancing adaptation to global climate change. Some of these species are strongly linked to the cultural heritage of their places of origin, and many are highly adapted to marginal, complex, and difficult environments that have contributed significantly to diversification and resilience of agroecological niches (Padulosi et al. 2011;Bharucha and Pretty 2010).The role of nutrient-rich traditional foods in value chains and their accessibility in markets is a lessexplored area of research. The links between what is produced on the farm, the consumer who buys that food, and the income received by the producer does not stop at the point of production (Hawkes and Ruel 2010). Food is stored, distributed, processed, retailed, prepared, and consumed in a range of ways that affect the access, acceptability, and nutritional quality of foods for the consumer. Value chains are central to consumption, diets, and nutrition, not only in terms of the supply of food, but also in terms of how consumers influence value chains and how changes in the demand for specific local foods can influence the processes and outputs of value chains. There has also been modest attention to how actors along the value chain can be better informed on how to enhance the nutritional value of local foods. Food and nutrition systems need to be rethought through new business paradigms that demonstrate the value of biodiversity while promoting improved diet and nutrition outcomes.Traditional foods and the species they are based on are usually produced or collected for selfconsumption and have very limited markets-mostly local ones-if any. They usually face many marketing constraints, such as missing output markets because of high transaction costs (costly transport and handling because of bulk or freshness, perishability, short shelf life characteristics) or suboptimal market equilibrium (that is, although the product is sold, the price does not reveal the full value of the product or consumer willingness to pay) due to weak market demand, inefficient supply, or a combination of both. There may be insufficient knowledge and economic information about the product and its benefits, including nutritional benefits, and this knowledge gap may lead to a level of demand lower than it would have been had full information been available (Gruere et al. 2008). For example, local populations may be ignorant of the nutritional benefit of consuming a traditional food, with the result that demand for the food lower than it would have been had they been aware of the benefits. These conditions contribute to a lack of market competitiveness of traditional foods and products vis-à-vis the introduced ones associated with increased market integration. Furthermore, many of the introduced foods and products have benefited from public and private investments in their development and marketing, whereas traditional ones have not. Even with nonintroduced crops, if one local crop benefits from large subsidies compared with the others, this makes the consumption and production of the latter less financially attractive vis-à-vis the former. For example, in India, subsidies given to rice farmers makes millet financially less attractive to farmers and consumers alike. The removal of these subsidies should be a way to promote millets, which are richer in calcium and iron than rice (Upadhyaya et al. 2006).The research undertaken in this component will attempt to characterize and understand the role of markets and value chains in improving nutrition and dietary diversification both (1) directly, through an increase in the supply, marketing, access, and consumption/demand of nutritious foods sourced from biodiverse systems and (2) indirectly through an increase in income for smallholder famers. Likewise, smallholder farmers can diversify their diets and improve their nutritional status either by producing more biodiverse sourced foods directly or by accessing more nutritious and diverse foods in markets through a rise in their disposable incomes. There will be an emphasis on understanding what role nutritious local and traditional foods (LTFs) and neglected and underutilized species (NUSs) play in creating demand for food products sourced from biodiverse landscapes by rural and periurban consumers and in boosting disposable incomes for smallholder farmers. where there are severe constraints relating to water availability, weak government infrastructure, and few nongovernmental partners.The CG centers can bring state-of-the-art knowledge in several areas: crop breeding (for enhanced nutritional value, drought and pest resistance, yield), livestock management and improvement (with a focus on poultry and small ruminants), integrated pest management, and water management systems. The system-wide Gender and Diversity program will provide valuable input for overall gender analysis and development of strategies for empowering women. IFPRI will play a key role in developing the monitoring and evaluation framework that will be necessary for mainstreaming these programs. The CG centers' credibility with the agriculture and food policy communities will be key in repositioning the E-HFP model, creating a strategic opportunity to harness agricultural programs to improve nutrition and livelihoods.- Goal: This new project will be implemented on an agricultural platform to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. The project is to generate evidence and inform policy at national, regional, and global levels, exploring how agricultural projects can contribute to the reduction of childhood stunting.The RAIN project will examine the combined potential of a targeted agricultural project that incorporates support for home/community food production and small animal husbandry, together with a strong nutrition and health intervention package.Target population and reach: The project will be implemented in Mumbwa District, Central Province, Zambia. Activities will address agricultural and nutrition practices of approximately 3,000 households with pregnant and/or lactating women and children below the age of two years. The project will be implemented in very close collaboration with the two key line ministries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Health, at both national and local levels. This is to ensure sustainability from the beginning by involving necessary stakeholders, as well as to develop a feasible project model that can be replicated in other areas.As the project is still in the design phase, there are no indications yet. However, the design of the project takes into account evidence generated in other projects in related areas: homestead food production, infant and young child feeding practices, women's empowerment, and programs addressing micronutrient deficiencies using a food-based approach.Gaps in the program: The project will be set up specifically to monitor and evaluate the impact pathway from agriculture to nutrition. It will concentrate on activities around this pathway and the additional health and nutrition package, especially the behavior change communication component). It will not emphasize other pathways, such as strengthening of the health system, water, sanitation and hygiene, and treatment of HIV (ART).How CG can help: Technical expertise from various CG centers could greatly benefit the project, especially IFPRI (as project partner). Also valuable will be links with ILRI, World Fish, and IITA, as well as related institutes and programs such as HarvestPlus and the World Vegetable Center. As a route for publication and dissemination of findings, the CG system will likely add weight, positioning the resulting model for adoption beyond the country of implementation. At the institutional level, capacity will be strengthened to engage in the research process and to extend or use research results, working with organizations such as government ministries, civil society organizations (CSOs), international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private organizations. Program managers and policy decisionmakers will be targeted to mainstream the integrated approach into program design and implementation. This component will also engage in organizational capacity strengthening to design, manage, use, and evaluate research outputs, to develop communitybased programs integrating ANH interventions. In addition, field research sites will serve as platforms for academic institutions in the north and south to interact and collaborate on program-relevant applied research and to acquire invaluable field and research experience. This component will also engage with relevant universities and training organizations, supporting them to incorporate new knowledge generated by CRP4 into training and education curricula and other learning resources.At the policy level, CRP4 will also link with regional organizations for capacity strengthening, providing inputs in support of existing policy platforms that integrate agriculture for improved nutrition and health. Initially, two key partners will provide entry points for cross-sectoral engagement, in the target regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.• In Africa, AU/NEPAD (through its CAADP process) is a central animator in agricultural interventions, with capacity to link these to broader cross-sectoral engagement through regional economic communities and national government plans. The key target audience for this exercise would be policy decisionmakers at the regional and subregional levels. At the AU/NEPAD level, thematic sessions on integrating agriculture, nutrition, and health will be conducted for program leaders and policy decisionmakers. Similar thematic presentations will be made to strengthening the knowledge base of the policymakers in subregional organizations, such as COMESA in eastern and southern Africa and ECOWAS in Western and Central Africa.• In the much larger South Asia region, planning ministries and national food security task forces in individual target countries will be strengthened for mainstreaming integration of ANH objectives in national policies and strategies. Regional and national forums and networks will be strengthened for policy dialogues and communications. For example, the Public Health Foundation of India provides a forum for looking at innovative public health solutions, including agricultural ones, to improve nutritional and health performance.At the national level, leadership and managerial skills are needed to manage cross-sectoral collaboration. In order to bring together the sectoral policymakers from agriculture, nutrition, and health, there is a need to understand and strengthen the policy process. Results and methods generated from this component will be used to develop cross-sectoral capacity throughout the policy process, targeting the national food security and nutrition taskforces to engage in a series of policy dialogues, to identify capacity gaps and to strengthen their capacity for incorporating the results of research into national policies and strategies.","tokenCount":"53507"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3321072275.json b/data/part_1/3321072275.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3d3ddfd545ea24effa3400dee0c0fe59d306a631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3321072275.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0aaba369bb8788ca81f8b1464c6d9fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/713cd1cd-d01f-4795-b945-9028c04ae2f7/retrieve","id":"1498320556"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7649a8a0-39ed-4359-bae2-0199dc366c8d","pagecount":"68","content":"https://climatesecurity.cgiar.org CGIAR aims to address gaps in knowledge about climate change and food security for peace and security policies and operations through a unique multidisciplinary approach. Our main objective is to align evidence from the realms of climate, land, and food systems science with peacebuilding efforts already underway that address conflict through evidence-based environmental, political, and socio-economic solutions.CGIAR Climate Security Focus aims to address gaps in knowledge about climate change and food security for peace and security policies and operations through a unique multidisciplinary approach. Our main objective is to align evidence from the realms of climate, land, and food systems science with peacebuilding efforts already underway that address conflict through evidence-based environmental, political, and socio-economic solutions. For more information about CHIAR Climate Security Focus, please visit https://climatesecurity.cgiar.org/CEMIRIDE aims to strengthen the capacity of minority and indigenous peoples in Kenya to better enable them to secure their social, economic, cultural, and political rights. Presently, our focus lies on promoting economic empowerment for minorities and indigenous peoples through the achievement of sustainable livelihoods. To this end, CEMIRIDE engages in activities targeted at equipping minority and indigenous communities with the skills needed to understand and advocate for their rights. These include: Conducting research on various topics related to the rights of minorities and indigenous communities; Collaborating with stakeholders such as minority and indigenous community organisations, to enhance their capacity to identify human rights issues, and Supporting government in adopting and implementing legislative and policy frameworks which promote the mainstreaming of minority and indigenous peoples' rights in areas of development. for more information about CEMIRIDE please visit www.cemiride.orgInterpeace is an international organisation for peacebuilding that supports locally led peacebuilding initiatives around the world. Interpeace tailors its approach to each society and ensures that the work is locally driven. Together with local partners and local teams, Interpeace jointly develops peacebuilding programmes and helps establish processes of change that connect local communities, civil society, government, and the international community. As a strategic partner of the United Nations, Interpeace is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has offices around the world. For more information about Interpeace, please visit https://www.interpeace.org/This Community Voices on Climate, Peace and Security series report, under CGIAR's Climate Resilience Initiative, presents the results of a participatory appraisal conducted with residents of three localities across Kenya, including:1. members of the Yiaku Indigenous Peoples in the Mukogodo Forest region, located in Laikipia County;2. members of the Endorois Indigenous Peoples in the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve region, located in Baringo County; and 3. members of the Banyala Indigenous Peoples at the shores of Lake Victoria, in Busia County.The effects of climate variability across Kenya are contributing to depleting the natural resource base on which many livelihoods rely. Under contexts where hostile relations prevail across neighbouring communities, political boundaries, cross-border settings, and at times within communities, these impacts interact with regional drivers of instability and overwhelmed institutions for conflict prevention and management, and have exacerbated a sense of insecurity in the everyday lives of resource-dependent populations.Six climate security pathways, as experienced by local populations, were identified:• Pathway 1: Increasingly scarce natural resources have led to a higher frequency and intensity of inter-and intra-community conflict.• Pathway 2: Conflicts over political boundaries are exacerbated due to the effects of climate change on livelihoods and income strategies.• Pathway 3: The interloping impacts of climate change and conflict undermine livelihoods, erode social cohesion within the community, and increase vulnerabilities to future climate threats.• Pathway 4: Maladaptive income strategies adopted by some community members to cope with climate threats are perceived as negatively affecting others.• Pathway 5: Limited institutional capacities to address climate threats, rent-seeking practices, indigenous peoples rights and the political instigation of violence impair efforts for conflict resolution and resilience building, exacerbate conflicts, and reduce trust in formal institutions.• Pathway 6: The increasing frequency and intensity of rapid onset floods leads to community-wide temporary displacement.3. Formalise an inter-ethnic collaborative water management association at the basin level.4. Ensure that every household within Endorois territory has two acres of pasture farming from communally managed land.5. Establishment of peace and cultural festivals between conflicting communities that rely on neutral events, such as sporting competitions and cultural traditions around natural resources.6. Continue efforts to advocate for Kenya's government to increase community access to Lake Bogoria.1. Transfer ownership of Mukogodo forest to neighbouring communities and create a conservation reserve within the forest.Kenyan Police Reserve (KPR) around Mukogodo area that recruits members from all neighbouring ethnic groups.3. Inaugurate a vocational training centre to foster livelihood strategies that serve as alternatives to cattle herding and scale these for the disarmement of young raiders.4. Foster gender-inclusive livelihoods diversification by strengthening of cultural \"manyatta\" for cultural-based tourism.5. Mobilisation of the community to demand that the Yiaku are identified as an independent tribe, and to foster the registering for identity and voter cards by young populations.6. Establish inter-community boarding schools that foster sustainable livelihood strategies and the renewal of indigenous cultures.Figure 1. Case studies.The policy prescriptions proposed by study participants suggest a set of high-level principles for the design of climate adaptation efforts that contribute to sustainable peacebuilding. Guiding principles for the deployment of policies for natural resource management and the protection of rural livelihoods based on their concrete lived experiences include:1. adopt climate action programmatic strategies that consciously account for and address structural sources of vulnerability and marginalisation, such as land tenure;2. promote collective action in natural resource management in ways that foster social cohesion across opposing groups;3. address horizontal and vertical inequalities through inclusive natural resource management and climate smart agriculture;4. ensure the support of formal policy processes and the willingness of government actors to advocate for required reforms;5. in conflict and post-conflict settings, embed collaborative natural resource management and climate adaptation within broader reconciliation processes.The effects of climate change and conflict act as compounding and interrelated stressors over people's wellbeing. Although there is a general consensus that climate change interacts with ongoing conflicts by reducing the adaptive capacity of societies and governments to manage them, many questions remain around the multiple ways in which climate and conflict are interlinked. There is insufficient localised and policy-relevant evidence on how exactly climate-related security risks may emerge across different geographic and social contexts. Furthermore, research on the complex linkages between climate change and conflict has frequently ignored local socio-cultural realities, including human rights, while resulting recommendations have prioritised technocratic solutions and top-down governance arrangements over people's understanding of, and priorities for, peace and resilience.The recent IPCC report \"Climate Change, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability\" recognises the role of climate in exacerbating vulnerabilities that are linked to conflict, and clearly asks for climate adaptation strategies to become an instrument for sustainable peacebuilding, especially via reducing inequities and inequalities, fostering social cohesion and shared identities, increasing people's agency to build resilience and manage natural resources, and enhancing state-society relations.With the goal of closing knowledge and programmatic gaps around climate-security linkages, the Community Voices on Climate, Peace and Security series, under CGIAR's Climate Resilience Initiative, conducted an assessment of climate-related security risks and conflict-sensitive climate adaptation strategies as conceived by local populations across five countries: Kenya, Senegal, Guatemala, Zambia and the Philippines.The deployed method for gathering data is in line with a participatory appraisal tradition, in which community members are repositioned as citizen scientists and experts in understanding the different vulnerabilities and securityrelated challenges that afflict them, and in proposing required changes for the better. A diversity of collective reflection facilitation tools (Ruettinger et al., 2014;Ulrichs et al., 2015) were used toThe climate hazards to which populations are exposed, such as increasing droughts, rainfall variability and extremes, flooding, among others.The socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental factors that shape population sensitivity to climate impacts and their capacity to adapt.The consequences of conflict and societal instability over people's vulnerability to future climate impacts.impacts over people'sThe effects of climate wellbeing and societal stability, and population responses to those impacts. A recent review of the climate security literature (Buhaug & von Uexkull, 2021) proposed to conceptualise the link between climate change impacts and conflict by accounting for three well-established fields of scientific inquiry: the determinants of social vulnerability to climate variability and extremes; the climatic effects over the socio-economic, cultural and political drivers of conflict; and the societal and environmental impacts of violent conflict.Under this framework (Fig. 1), socio-economic vulnerability influences risk and impacts from climatic change, these impacts in turn enhance the risk of armed conflict, and the consequences of armed conflict increase vulnerability to future climate hazards; hence potentially trapping a society in a \"vicious circle\" of conflict. It is important we recognise that social relations are shaped more commonly by collaboration and cohesion, rather than conflictive sentiments. Therefore, the vicious circle of climate-security is understood to be mediated by societies' and governments' responses to climate-and conflict-related threats. Institutional responses from international to community levels have the capacity to perpetuate or reverse the vicious circle.design a participatory vulnerability assessment that integrated a lens on climate-related security risks. Tools which have been previously used for the participatory assessment of climate change vulnerability and conflict were merged in identifying potential linkages between climate, peace and security as experienced by people in their everyday lives.The process also meant to identify and develop resilience building solutions based on collective action that can potentially contribute to sustainable peacebuilding in accordance to local contexts.• Adaptation: In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.• Adaptive capacity: The ability of systems, institutions, humans and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences.• Climate Security: Climate-related security risks are systemic risks emerging through interactions between ecological, social, political, and economic dimensions, and \"driven by one or more climatic stressors that [directly or indirectly] challenge the peace and stability of states and societies\" (Detges et al., 2020, p. 5).• Conflict-sensitive climate adaptation: an approach to climate adaptation that seeks to avoid unintendedly making conflict situations worse and, when possible, aims to contribute to address the causes of conflict.• Exposure: The presence of people; livelihoods; species or ecosystems; environmental functions, services, and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected.A condition that is met when the vital core of human lives is protected, and when people have the freedom and capacity to live with dignity. In the context of climate change, the vital core of human lives includes the universal and culturally specific, material and non-material elements necessary for people to act on behalf of their interests and to live with dignity.• Maladaptation: Actions that may lead to increased risk of adverse climate-related outcomes, including via increased GHG emissions, increased vulnerability to climate change, or diminished welfare, now or in the future. Maladaptation is usually an unintended consequence.• Pathways: Context-specific interactions between climate impacts and peace and insecurity risks.• Resilience: Capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event, trend or disturbance by responding or reorganising in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure while maintaining their capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation.• Vulnerability: The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt.The appraisal method applied in this study expands our understanding of climaterelated security risks in Kenya. It examined the way local actors capitalise on practical experience to develop shared understandings of the environmental-and conflict-related collective problems they face; to reflect on their action strategies in addressing such problems; and to challenge institutional structures that sustain underlying causes of vulnerability. The assessment took place through a multiple methods approach combining direct observation, focus group discussions, and open structure interviews.The appraisal method consists of an assessment integrating three phases, each with the respective goal of: 1) recognising gender-differentiated community-level knowledge around social-ecological and climate change; 2) defining drivers of vulnerability to climate hazards and security-related risks in terms that are grounded in local experiences and traditions; and 3) explore meaningful opportunities for collective action which account for local adaptive capacities and that simultaneously foster resilience and sustainable peacebuilding.These phases included six steps (see Figure 3), each using different appraisal tools to facilitate a joint reflexive dialogue with community members. The first and second phases were conducted through focus group discussions (FGDs) held separately for women and men, with representatives of various social groups (e.g. youth, people with disabilities, widowed, etc), hence allowing to identify intersectional drivers of vulnerability and different perceptions of community-level responses to risk management strategies. Phase three on collective action planning was facilitated through working groups in which women and men worked together and were distributed equally. Qualitative key informant interviews were conducted to complement the analysis. Each case study assessment was conducted in four or five days. In-time translation to English was used to moderate the discussions. For further details on the method's process, adopted tools and limitations, readers can refer to the document \"Community voices on Climate and Security: a social learning approach\" (Medina et al., 2023).This report presents the results of a participatory appraisal conducted with residents of three localities across Kenya, including 1) members of the Yiaku Indigenous Peoples in the Mukogodo Forest region, located in Laikipia County; 2) members of the Endorois Indigenous Peoples in the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve region, located in Baringo County; and 3) members of the Banyala Indigenous Peoples at the shores of Lake Victoria, in Busia County. A total of 73 community members (38 men, 35 women) participated in 18 FGDs, held throughout September of 2022 across the three localities.The report is structured in five parts. Section 2 summarises the research context. Section 3 discusses climate and environmental change as perceived by community members throughout recent decades. It also assesses impacts of climate change over the community's wellbeing and ongoing adaptive responses. Section 4 discusses the different causal pathways through which climate change and security-related risks may be interlinked. Section 5 details the recommendations developed by community members for resilience building action that can potentially serve as an instrument for peace and provides a reflection over findings and the way forward.Context appraisal activity which includes a guided tour of the locality. Researchers ask community leaders to show them the most important sites for the community and its surroundings.Output:• Gain a better understanding of the main social, physical and ecological characteristics of the community and its surrounding area. • Develop a profile of adaptive capacity and vulnerability in the community.Focus Group Discussion (FGD) meant to develop a graphical representation of most impactful events, changes and trends as recollected by community members.• Map recent history of the community in terms of main political, socio-economic and environmental events as perceived by participants. • Identify main trends in climate extremes and variability.• Identify historical and recent trends in conflict dynamics.Working groups focus on prioritised security challenges and propose adaptive solutions that account for ongoing responses and rely on collective action.• Potential solutions for prioritised security challenges.• Actions to implement each solution, along with responsible actors and required external support.Participants are asked what they liked and disliked the most about the method.• Participants perspective on the method's usefulness and impact as a tool to assess vulnerability and plan adaptive action.Risk assessment tool that situates vulnerability in seasonal patterns. Participants map livelihood strategies throughout the year and identify risks to security in terms of access to resources, health, financial assets, safety and conflict.• Profile of livelihoods and main socio-economic and environmental challenges.• Characterise climate impacts over livelihood strategies and wellbeing.• Map seasonal nature of risks, including conflict risks.The problem tree defines the main conflict risks, and determines their direct and root causes. The solutions tree asks participants to identify ongoing community responses to the main causes of conflict.• Shared understanding of underlying causes of conflict, and identification of structural drivers of conflict. • Assessment of the potential role of climate impacts on the drivers of conflict.• Identify ongoing adaptive responses, their operation and effectiveness. A potential mean temperature increase in Kenya's Rift Valley and Western regions of 2.5°C by 2060 and over 3.5°C by 2100, under a high-emissions scenario (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018), would entail an unprecedented increase of climate-related hazards, such as more intense and frequent droughts and floods, hence threatening the climatic and environmental conditions upon which populations broadly rely. Decreasing availability of natural resources, as foreshadowed by climate change effects throughout Kenya, would imperil the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and agriculture-dependent populations for development and self-determination. In fact, these effects have already begun to materialise and are currently causing devastating impacts for Kenya's most vulnerable populations. Rising precipitation variability and average surface temperatures have led to more intense and frequent droughts, plus increased risk of flooding, throughout the country. The physical exposure to increased climate hazards in turn interacts with underlying socio-economic, political and cultural drivers of vulnerability, which threaten human security.Droughts have affected more people and caused more economic impacts than any other form of climate disaster. Especially in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which occupy close to 90% of the country's territory, stronger and more recurrent droughts have led to widespread crop failure, livestock death, and severe food shortages. As of 2023, people in Kenya's ASAL regions, such as Laikipia and Baringo counties, had experienced a fifth consecutive below-average rainy season. This ongoing drought is the longest reported in the country for over 40 years, and has left at least 4 million people experiencing acute food insecurity (OCHA, 2022). The amount of people without access to water has increased by 50% in the last year alone, and pastoral communities have faced significant losses in livestock, with more than 1.5 million cattle having died as a result of drought. This not only forces herder populations to move farther afield in search of resources, but threatens their traditional lifestyles and livelihoods under conditions that offer few alternatives for income.Longer periods of drought and harsher storms in non-ASAL regions, such as Bunyala subcounty in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), have led to lower agricultural productivity and increasing flooding events since before the turn of the century (UNECA, 2014). Populations in Bunyala have suffered from disastrous flooding repeatedly during the last two decades (MoALF, 2016), undermining community capacity to recover and deploy suitable coping strategies (Gabrielsson et al., 2013). In fact, a high flood discharge from River Nzoia, combined with an increasing high-water level in Lake Victoria, make Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) the most flood-prone region in Kenya (GoK, 2007). More intense flooding threatens livelihood support systems, such as food shortages that affect households several months per year during rainy seasons, plus widespread displacement, destruction of property and infrastructure, disease outbreaks, and a disruption of cultural and social practicesembedded in traditional ways of life (Odida & Nabiswa, 2020). Under future climate change threats, thousands of people currently living in flood prone areas are at risk of being forced to relocate to higher grounds, which would imply the need for many of them to look for alternative livelihood strategies.The LVB is ecologically sensitive to climatic variation, and future climate change is not properly integrated into cross-border water catchment management. Over the past 60 years, numerous drought and flood events have caused fluctuations in lake levels, which have affected ecosystem functioning through changes in fish species distributions and habitat degradation. Climate and environmental changes related to agricultural activity have also increased surface water runoff and the rates of soil erosion and sediment transport into the lake, significantly impacting fishery conditions and affecting important breeding sites (Githui, 2008). Coupled with overfishing, these impacts impair people's capacity to maintain a fishing-based livelihood. Furthermore, the incidence of malaria cases are positively related to temperature, rainfall and water runoff, all of which are expected to increase in coming decades (Ototo et al., 2022).Kenya's capacity to cope with and recover from climate shocks is further compromised by internal social and political tensions, largely fueled by pre-and post-election tensions (Ladekjaer & Muriu, 2022), weakened administration and traditional governance systems, gaps in national land management regulations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018), and politicised and ethnicised competition over scarce farmland and natural resources (Theisen, 2012). Historically, instability in these regions has been fueled by a variety of interconnected and compounding factors, including ethnic intolerance, border disputes, and competition over land and other resources (Huho & Mugalavai, 2010). Other factors also threaten stability, including the presence of non-state armed groups (NSAGs), institutional gaps to maintain security at the local level, reduced trust in formal and traditional authorities, poverty and underdevelopment, marginalisation and widespread presence of firearms. Kenya continues to face challenges related to poverty, inequality, weak investments, and corruption, as well as internal and external shocks (World Bank, 2021). A majority of the population lives in poverty, and there is a widening gap between rich and poor. Over two-thirds of families in Kenya experience vulnerabilities due to food insecurity and poor nutrition and health (USAID, 2021).Under an ethnically and culturally diverse context, violence in Kenya has usually been found to be associated with the occurrence of elections (Theisen, 2012). In 2007, Kenya made global headlines due to widespread violence following a presidential election. The legitimacy of the election was marred by accusations of fraud, which led to nationwide protests and violent uprisings, causing the loss of numerous lives and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The outbreak of violence was primarily due to deeply entrenched political and economic grievances, ethnic tensions, frustrations over unequal distribution of power and benefits, as well as other issues such as land disputes and corruption (Cheeseman, 2008). The passage of a new constitution in 2010 introduced an ambitious decentralisation process, which aimed to transfer autonomy and decisionmaking power to subnational governments (Kebede et al., 2021;World Bank, 2022). Devolution remains a key factor for Kenya, with implications for shaping local decisions and adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities in the face of worsening climatic shocks and stresses.The political instigation of violence at subnational contexts is perceived to be among the most significant drivers of conflict across Kenya. Current political systems frequently lead to the unequal allocation of natural resources, which consequently leads to division among ethnic groups and exacerbates inter-community resentment. Economic and political elites have been evidenced to be responsible for organising violent practices such as cattle rustling, primarily driven by their desire to control land, thus further escalating tensions between ethnic groups. The Endorois Indigenous Peoples, for example, have observed an increase in cattle raiding in recent years, linking it to political strategies aimed at influencing political boundaries, asserting control over land, and enhancing political influence within the region.The political, cultural and socio-economic marginalisation of local populations also contributes to the escalation of conflicts in the country (Kumssa et al., 2009). Due to the lack of employment opportunities and conditions that make it difficult to sustain traditional livelihoods, young people often leave educational institutions and engage in illegal activities. Economic instability, and hence poverty and marginalisation, are thought to be amongst the most important drivers of conflict since these factors enhance communities' propensity to engage in violence as an alternative source of revenue. These threats are only exacerbated by increasing drug use among young populations, which is associated with early pregnancies, domestic violence, divorce, and family disintegration, thus threatening peace and social cohesion (NCIC & Interpeace, 2021).Disputes over limited resources such as water, pasture, and livestock, combined with the easy access to illegal firearms, contribute to risks of insecurity and conflicts Photo: C. Shubert / CCAFS such as livestock raids within the region (Scheffran et al., 2014). In Kenya, for example, a considerable portion of the population residing in arid and semi-arid regions (ASALs) are nomadic pastoralists. Inconsistent rainfall affects the availability of water, pasture, crop yields and livestock production including milk and meat. This scarcity-driven pressure raises the likelihood of conflicts arising from competition over access to these essential resources. Due to these challenges, pastoralists are constantly compelled to migrate with their cattle across the region in search of green pastures and water, leading to disputes over resources. As a result, these disputes can escalate into violent interethnic conflicts, expressed through cattle herding and village raiding (Adano et al., 2012;Yamano & Deininger, 2006). However, it is important to acknowledge that cattle raiding is deeply ingrained in the culture of many regions in Kenya. This practice is a longstanding tradition in the North Rift region, perceived as a divine obligation and a rite of passage for young warriors. Young raiders who participate in successful raids are received as heroes by their communities and this act is celebrated as a victory, thus motivating them to participate in further cattle thefts and killings. In addition, marriage customs also contribute to cattle rustling, as grooms are required to provide dowry payments for brides. Given the lack of consistent income among many grooms, they may feel compelled to engage in cattle raiding and other illicit activities (NCIC & Interpeace, 2021).Another driver of conflict in Kenya is related to land tenure. Land conflicts have a deeprooted history dating back to the colonial era, where policies and practices by colonial authorities led to people losing their customary land and created ethnic divisions. Due to this system, which denied Kenyans ownership of the land they had historically occupied, land was alienated from customary systems without appropriate compensation for the use of white settlers. Consequently, leading to the displacement of many ethnic groups such as the Massai, who were forced to leave their traditional grazing lands, and the Kikuyu, who were severely impacted by land excisions (Kumssa et al., 2009). Since Kenya's independence, the formal registration of land tenure under multiple mechanisms is an ongoing process. While the establishment of resource and land management laws have increased tenure security, it also gave rise to new types of disputes, such as challenges to registered land and conflicts over communal management and privatisation.This report presents findings from fieldwork research conducted in collaboration with three communities across Kenya: 1) the Yiaku Indigenous Peoples around Mukogodo Forest, in Laikipia County; 2) the Endorois Indigenous Peoples around Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, in Baringo County; and 3) the Banyala Indigenous Peoples in Bunyala subcounty, in Busia County.The Yiaku tribe is an Indigenous Peoples community that lives around and within Mukogodo Forest, located at the southern edge of Laikipia County, Kenya. The Yiaku were originally a Cushitic-speaking population who migrated from Ethiopia, and have been living within and around Mukogodo Forest since the 18th century, where they largely depended on hunting-gathering, beekeeping, foraging and small-scale livestock keeping. During the first half of the 20th century, the Yiaku were assimilated into Maasai culture through conflict, intermarriages, and as a result of British colonial displacement and resettlement policies (Brahms-Shaughnessy, 2019;Carrier, 2011). They hence shifted from Yiakunte-speaking foragers to Maa-speaking pastoralists. Kenya's 2009 population census recorded the Yiaku ethnicity in the \"other\" category, hence complicating an accurate measurement of population numbers, though it is estimated that about 4,000 Yiakus remain (KNBS, 2010). A community-led census in 2019 estimated a Yiaku population of 6,100. Mukogodo Forest holds a population of close to 17,000 people distributed across 7 sublocations (KNBS, 2019). A recent socio-economic survey conducted by the local Community Forest Association (Illmamusi, non-published) indicates that 60% of the population living within and around Mukogodo forest derive their main incomes from livestock herding, and more than 60% of households report a monthly income of less than 5,000 Kenyan shillings (KES).Banyala Indigenous Peoples at estuarine zone between Lake Victoria and Nzoia river.Peoples around Lake Bogoria Game Reserve. Mukogodo forest is a government gazetted reserve of about 300 km² that sits at the northern foothills of Mount Kenya. The forest was converted into a reserve by the British colonial government in 1932, and gazetted by the Kenyan government in 1977 for wildlife conservation. It is one of the few remaining dry forests of significant size in Kenya and the only one under exclusive management of an Indigenous community. It serves as a natural habitat for over 45 species of mammals, 200 birds and 100 butterfly species, many of which are endangered. Mukogodo lies within the Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem, which holds one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Kenya, including the largest concentration of elephants outside of protected areas (Laikipia Wildlife Forum, 2020). The ecosystem serves as a wildlife corridor between Samburu and Isiolo drylands and higher lands in the Aberdares and Mount Kenya. The forest also provides food and subsistence materials for the Yiaku, as well as livelihood opportunities, such as livestock grazing, ecotourism, beekeeping and honey harvesting (a long-time tradition coupled with medicinal, spiritual and cultural customs of the Yiaku).According to Kenya's legislation, forests are owned by the Kenyan government and generally administered through Kenya Forest Service (KFS) (Kenya The Forest Act, 2005)  (2016), and entered into an official partnership with the KFS to manage forest resources (Laikipia Wildlife Forum, 2020). These recent developments in jurisprudence have recognised stewardship rights to ancestral lands, including forests, by Indigenous Peoples in Kenya. The Yiaku community is entitled to stewardship, access and use of forest resources. It still, however, experiences user restrictions by KFS which limit forest-related livelihood opportunities.Notably, under Illmamusi management, deforestation, illegal poaching and excessive grazing are reported to have decreased within Mukogodo (Kavilu, 2018). Through KFS, Illmamusi trains scouts and forest managers whose main purpose is to supervise forest use activities and patrol the area for illegal poachers or loggers. Despite recent progress in integrated forest management, the Yiaku community faces significant challenges in sustainably managing Mukogodo forest. Illmamusi has limited institutional capacities to monitor and enforce user restrictions. More intense and frequent droughts, rapid population growth, and high competition over water and pasture drive surrounding pastoral communities into the forest, effectively displacing the Yiaku across the protected land and increasing inter-communal conflict. Although Illmamusi's forest management plan accounts for designated grazing areas during drought periods, these mechanisms have been insufficient to ensure both the supply of required fodder and sustainable forest use. Furthermore, pressures from surrounding conservancies, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, charcoal burning, and unclear forest zonation also push pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, private ranchers, and community members into the forest, frequently overcoming Illmamusi's capacity to control illegal encroachment and enhancing deforestation and excessive grazing.The Endorois Indigenous Peoples inhabit the area around Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, in Baringo South and Mogotio sub-Counties, Baringo County. The Endorois have a strong link to Lake Bogoria and the surrounding area, known as Mochongoi forest, through cultural and religious practices (CEMIRIDE & MRG, 2010). The community is spread across 15 locations in Baringo, plus one in Nakuru and another in Laikipia counties. Although Kenya's 2019 census estimates the Endorois population slightly over 45,000 (KNBS, 2019), the Endorois Welfare Council (EWC), a civil society organisation that advocates for the rights of the community, believes the Endorois population to be at least 75,000 (Ohenjo, 2022). The Endorois are traditional semi-nomadic pastoralists whose members have partly shifted towards subsistence and cash crop agriculture in recent decades.During the 1970s, the Kenyan government evicted thousands of Endorois households from their homeland around Lake Bogoria to create a protected national reserve. The government promised compensation, of which only a small fraction was actually delivered. After unsuccessful efforts to reclaim their land at a national level, the EWC filed in 2003 a case before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), claiming the displacement violated their cultural and property rights. The Kenya government in turn argued against the Endorois' status as a distinct Indigenous Peoples group, claiming that they were part of the larger Kalenjin community, and that the community had received enough financial compensation through past retribution and continuous benefit from the reserve. In 2010, the ACHPR ruled in favour of the Endorois, recommending the government to recognise their status as an independent Indigenous Peoples group, grant unrestricted access to natural resources around Lake Bogoria, payment of adequate compensation and royalties from the game reserve, as well as the registration of The Endorois Welfare Council as a formal civil society organisation (Ashamu, 2011).To this date, only the registration of the Endorois Welfare Council has been fully implemented, leaving the Endorois without justice for their displacement and marginalisation. The failing of the Kenyan government to implement the African Commission's recommendations has significantly affected well-being and development among the Endorois community. Unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, natural resource scarcity, all affect the Endorois in higher degrees as compared to regional averages. Furthermore, the lack of implementation of the decision has exacerbated antagonistic feelings towards the state by the Endorois, hence complicating the implementation of collaborative governance arrangements and increasing the risk of violence around the management of natural resources. Despite the landmark decision of the African Commision, all development related indicators seem to have deteriorated in recent years. This situation is reported to be worsened by a lack of government support and policies that effectively align with pastoralists needs, along with a lack of recognition of Indigenous knowledge and traditional institutions in policy implementation. In addition, similarly to other agriculture-dependent communities in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands, the Endorois community has been subjected to increasingly severe droughts and floods, thus exacerbating poverty and marginalisation (MoALF, 2018a).Banyala Indigenous Peoples in Lake Victoria, BusiaThe Banyala Indigenous Peoples are a Bantu ethnic community originated from Uganda. After migration towards Kenya, they have mostly settled in Busia and Kakamega counties. According to a 2019 census, the Banyala population surpassed 850,000 members, the majority of which live in Busia county (KNBS, 2019). Their traditional language is Nyala, which is well preserved and widely used, plus the use of Luhya and Kiswahili are also common. Banyala populations settled at the edge of Lake Victoria in the Bunyala sub-county, Busia, are a small community of fisherfolk who have adopted a diversity of livelihood strategies during the last two decades, mainly transitioning towards crop farming and livestock herding. They are spread throughout eight locations within and around Port Bunyala town.The main source of income among Banyala populations at the shore of Lake Victoria has traditionally been fishing. However, anthropogenic perturbations in Lake Victoria and the Nzoia river within Busia County, including climate change, brought significant biophysical changes to inland aquatic ecosystems with negative impacts on fishery productivity, risks of flooding, and livelihoods as practised by Banyala populations. The plummeting of fishery stocks and the introduction of more stringent regulation on fishing practices has fostered a shift towards agriculture since the 1990s, accelerating thereafter during the 2000s. The planting of sweet potatoes, cassava, sorghum, beans, millet, maize, plus fruit trees have all become common practice. The production of crops occurs mostly at the homestead level, as the average Banyala household owns only around 0.5 hectares of land. Land titling is reported as an issue, given that land is still for the most part registered under grandparent's name. In addition to the lack of sufficient land for farming, the more frequent occurrence of floods have increased the loss of crops and livestock diseases.Species introductions and increased eutrophication altered ecological conditions in the Lake Victoria fishery, changing species composition and reducing catches of several native species. The introduction of Nile perch contributed to the decline or disappearance of many native fish species and ultimately shifted the fishery from a multi-species system to one dominated by a few species. This highly productive Nile perch fishery fueled the development of a large export industry through the 1990s, bringing about an economic boost for fishing communities. These ecological and social shifts spurred changes in fishing practices and management policies, and the valuable open-access fishery drew great numbers of people into fishing.Over the last two decades, however, continuous intense fishing and other changes in the LVB have led to an apparent reduction of Nile perch populations in Lake Victoria. Dwindling stocks have motivated illegal fishing practices that further reduced stock. As a response, governments from the three riparian countries shifted authority away Photo: A participatory appraisal of climate-related security risks and adaptive capacities.from central governments towards fishing communities through locally regulated Beach Management Units (BMUs), co-management structures established to increase community participation. Although initially successful, BMUs have not been wholly effective partly because of inconsistent leadership, inadequate power transfer and insufficient capacities (Obiero et al., 2015). Fishery management along LVB has reversed more centralised and militarised models in the control of illegal activities. The criminalisation of fishers has increased during the last decades.As a result, Banyala populations have adopted mostly farming and livestock rearing as main livelihood strategies (Odida & Nabiswa, 2020). However, increasing frequency and intensity of unexpected wet events, like floods, has undermined local capacities to develop alternative livelihood strategies (MoALF, 2016). Many fishers in Lake Victoria have opted to increase their fishing efforts, or covered a larger area of the lake in search of fish. Migrating to new fishing grounds or changing the target species are both common strategies also. These strategies usually lead to the further overfishing of already strained populations. Within the community, individuals who own boats, have access to land, and are permanent residents (as opposed to migrants) have a higher degree of adaptive capacity (Gabrielsson et al., 2013). The owning of boats allows for a higher access to financial services, and implies influence over decision-making at community level. Migrants, traders, crew members, female trader-processors, housewives are all reported to be more vulnerable within the larger Lake Victoria Basin.Context-specific climate impacts over livelihoods, food and water security, health, ecosystem service provision, infrastructure, and societal relations are the product of contingent root causes of vulnerability, which in turn manifest themselves across counties, wards, communities, households and individuals in relation to socio-economic, political, ethnic, gendered and environmental factors. This section summarises community-level perceptions around climate change and its effects over livelihoods and human security.Although the assessment sites exhibit a wide range of climatic profiles, small-scale food production is the mainstay economic activity of the three Indigenous Peoples groups which participated in this study, and it is central to the survival of their traditional lifestyles and general wellbeing. The Endorois are semi-nomadic agro-pastoralists whose way of life is intrinsically reliant on access to fertile land for subsistence and cash crops, along with pasture and water for livestock raising. The Yiaku, of Mukogodo forest, have recently adopted herder livelihoods, but rely on a wider diversity of resource-dependent activities, such as honey harvesting, ecotourism and hunting. Bunyala populations in Busia depend on Lake Victoria's small-scale fisheries for an income, plus farm subsistence crops and practise small-scale livestock herding. They also greatly rely on locally supplied markets for food. In short, people's livelihood strategies in all sites are greatly dependent on predictable seasonal conditions, availability of land and natural resources, and a reliable ebb and flow of ecosystem services from soils, forests, lakes or grasslands.People in the three assessment sites also rely on numerous commercial activities which are not influenced by seasonal change, and are to different degrees dependent on the availability of natural resources. These activities are discussed as income strategies which are commonly adopted once agricultural-based livelihoods are not sufficient for sustenance and revenue. The youth frequently partake in sand harvesting from river banks. Women more commonly produce artisanal beats, burn charcoal or sell manure. Many men adopt poultry keeping, blacksmithing, and carpentry. Other common jobs in the communities include those related to eco-tourism, or the production of tree seedlings for sale. Despite common adoption of non-agricultural livelihoods, members from all communities expressed that high degrees of illiteracy, mainly in older people, a low availability of alternative employment opportunities, low provision of public services, and the lack of social protection schemes that supports people in the face of hardship are among the main constraints to developing alternative livelihoods.Community members were asked to discuss the events which they remember have had the most positive or negative impact on the community's development. These events could be political, social, economic or environmental. Remembering the community's history hence allowed the groups to recreate a historical account of the community's evolution, and to situate climate change throughout recent decades.All of the communities selected the 1990s as the period in which they can remember the climate began evidencing increasing variability. Four out of six participating groups selected the 1997 El Niño event as the point in time when climate variability increased.Since 2019, Laikipia, Baringo, and other ASAL counties in Kenya have experienced the longest drought recorded in over 40 years, with at least five consecutive below-average rainy seasons (OCHA, 2022). This severe drought is not considered by Yiaku and Endorois community members an isolated incident, but is in fact compounding to the effects of long-term below seasonal rainfall averages and unevenly distributed precipitation across the region. The severity of current drought conditions were considered to surpass those recorded during a devastating drought in 2010/2011 in northern Kenya. Endorois participants emphasised the lack of rain throughout March, which used to evidence the beginning of the rainy season; and the disappearance of the \"Christmas drizzles\", which were light but reliable rains during December. More intense droughts, however, are not the only factor which continues to impact population wellbeing, given that poor trading conditions, disruption of supply chains, the effects of COVID-19 and increasing agricultural input prices have all compounded towards higher food prices and loss of pastoral revenues.As a dry forest, Mukogodo is a fragile ecosystem that is highly susceptible to increasing precipitation variability. Pastoralists within the Yiaku community are currently experiencing a reduction in pasture productivity within the forest. Longer dry-spells lead to reduced flower blooms, significantly impacting bee populations and herb species. The most frequented water points in Mukogodo now dry up during longer periods of the year, hence forcing people to buy water by walking far distances into larger settlements. As a result, water doubled in price during the previous two years. Due to diminished availability and higher prices of water, people report having to reduce their daily consumption. Staple food products have also doubled in price during this timeframe, including maize flour and sugar. On the other hand, the market price of important cash produce on which Yiaku populations rely, mainly honey, has experienced reductions. Below-average livestock productivity has furthermore affected people's ability to secure food through subsistence production.Due to changing prices and dropping productivity, many people report having reduced food consumption from two or three meals per day to just one. Women and young adolescents, in particular, frequently skip a meal to secure food for another member of their household. Participant's perception on food prices and food security coincides with recent analyses, which estimate that between 3.5 and 4.1 million people across Kenya, particularly in ASAL counties, are currently facing acute food insecurity, representing an increase of close to 50% since the harvesting season in December 2021 (IPC, 2022a; OCHA, 2022).Community members, accounting for both men and women participants, agreed that the most direct effect of erratic rainfall is an increased rate of livestock death. In fact, there was a general agreement among Yiaku and Endorois participants that one of the most pressing challenges faced today by members of their communities is the realisation that they cannot rely on livestock herding as a main source of livelihood for the future. Droughts have also resulted in lower levels of livestock conception and, consequently, below-normal calving rates. Feeding animals now requires the buying of fodder, which has close to doubled its price in recent years. Furthermore, animals that make it to the market are frequently weakened or sick, hence shrinking their value. Many cattle are also likely to die after being sold, hence increasing local perceptions that buying cattle is a high-risk activity, and further decreasing demand along with prices.Testimony from a young pastoralist during FGD in Laikipia 15/09/2022 \"Drought periods during the year only lasted for a few months, which were short enough for the animals to recover. Today dry spells are so long that they have become the normal.Droughts today are not only more frequent or intense, drought is basically what it is.\"Testimony from an elder man during FGD in Laikipia 15/09/2022 \"Before, severe droughts were rare and rains very common. There wouldn't be a long period without rains, and it was enough and reliable and well distributed. Today, all of these seasons are very unpredictable and the rains are very concentrated. For example, it rains very heavily during two straight days, which leads to flooding. In the past, there were indications of the coming of the rains, like the blooming of flowers and the shooting of leaves from the ground; there were other signs, like the long weeds that spring around trees, birds migration, like swift birds which came in large numbers, and butterflies. People could tell when the rains where coming. Looking into goat intestines was used to predict rain patterns. There were people capable of reading intestines, but today they are not able to do this.\"A scarcity of forage and water resources forces pastoralists to migrate deeper into the forest in search of pasture. Particularly during dry seasons, herders typically move closer to higher grounds nearing Mount Kenya. However, increased trekking distances, higher altitudes, and colder weathers were discussed as being a source of risk to livestock, leading to deteriorated health conditions and productivity, increased susceptibility to diseases and attacks by predators, and further increasing death rates. Pastoralist communities from outside Mukogodo forest are also moving further into the forest in search of sustenance for their cattle. Although the use of forest land for grazing is a longterm practice which has been historically coordinated between the Yiaku and other ethnic groups, severe drought conditions north of the forest are currently pushing pastoralists from Samburu, Marsabit, Turkana and Isiolo counties further into protected forest land and communally managed ranches in hopes of accessing pasture-richer areas. This has increased pressures over already scarce natural resources in the region and undermined the capacity of civil society groups, particularly the Illmamusi community forest association, to protect forest resources and biodiversity.Quoted from in-time translation from Maa to English • 16/09/2022 \"We used to be hunter-gatherers and honey harvesters. It took a long time for us to assimilate into a Maasai lifestyle and adopt herding as a main livelihood strategy. And now that it is there, livestock is no longer working for us. The current drought may end, but how do we know that another one will not start in a few years?\"Study participants were asked to describe livelihood activities and associated risks based on typical yearly seasonal patterns, accounting for climate, health, food security, and conflictrelated risks.The area around Mukogodo forest serves as a transition region from dryer and warmer lowlands in northern Laikipia and Isiolo County, to wetter and colder highland regions towards the east and south of Mukogodo, bordering the Aberdares and Mount Kenya.Mukogodo landscape is regarded as semi-arid and receives an annual mean rainfall of 400-600 mm, which is unevenly distributed across the region. While annual precipitation in areas bordering highland regions to the south nears 1000 mm, drier northern areas perceive between 250 and 500 mm. The region experiences bimodal rainfall, namely, long (known by the Yiaku as Nkakua) and short (Itumiren) rains which respectively occur between mid-March to June and mid-October to November. Dry seasons occur from December to mid-March (Somison), and between July and mid-October (Lorikine). Bimodal precipitation patterns were found to constitute a main factor shaping pastoral livelihood activities in the region. The effects of drought over the availability of pasture have negatively impacted livestock productivity, milk production and the spreading of disease among cattle, thereby reducing the incomes and food security of pastoralist Yiaku households. People have responded to these impacts through different means and in accordance to household and individual degrees of capabilities. Members of the Yiaku have adapted by changing herding techniques, liquidating assets through substitute strategies, altering mobility patterns, and seeking for alternative income sources, like traditional bead production and carpentry. Significant gaps in people's adaptive capacity and the lack of institutional support to foster adaptation, however, imply that the majority of livestock-dependent households have not been able to effectively cope with increasing climate variability and the extensive loss of cattle. Although some coping strategies enable households to endure stress in the short-term, these have frequently led to a reduced capacity to sustain an income and preferred lifestyle in the future.Community members perceive a lack of government support to enhance households' adaptation capacities. This gap in public intervention increases households' vulnerability and forces individuals to make difficult choices regarding asset management. For example, responding to the widespread death of livestock, the government of Kenya has implemented a programme to buy dying or weakened cattle. However, participant populations get a notably lower value than typical market prices for a healthy animal. Furthermore, government staff charged with programme implementation have only sporadically appeared in the community, hence leading to low and unreliable access to the benefit. Many pastoralists instead decide to sell their animals for slaughter, for which they receive significantly less than they would otherwise get when selling a healthy animal in the market.The search for alternative livelihood strategies, although allowing people and households to cope with climate change in the short term, can sometimes gradually undermine resilience in the long-term. For example, deforestation caused by increasing levels of charcoal burning and expansion of pastoralist migratory routes threaten the provision of ecosystem services in Endorois territory, on which the future livelihood hopes of many people rely. The burning of charcoal was discussed as the main driver of deforestation in both the Laikipia and Baringo sites.Variability in seasonal and precipitation patterns has always been a major risk across Kenya's ASAL regions, which have historically been the most affected in the country by recurrent dry-spells (MoALF, 2018b). Despite high levels of historical variability, for men and women that participated in the Laikipia and Baringo locations, climate change is most clearly experienced as unpredictable seasonal patterns, with recent years exhibiting steep changes in precipitation trends. Changing rain patterns were understood as the main cause of subsequent climatic hazards, mainly the onset of longer and more intense droughts, along with increasing moisture stress and the sudden occurrence of heavy rains leading to destructive floods. All of these effects were understood as severely threatening agricultural productivity, a challenge that was also highlighted by members of the Banyala Indigenous Peoples in Busia County. Farmers are struggling to secure a profit under higher risks of crop losses and increasing prices of agricultural inputs. In Baringo, the long rains (Iwot, in Endorois) between April and mid-June are perceived as especially affected by increasing variability, evidencing both a reduction and a higher concentration of rainfall, which lead to increased risks of flood and crop losses. In fact, participants emphasised that, in the past, Iwot season typically also included March. This is in line with data reported by Ochieng et al. (2017), who evidence a downward trend in average precipitation during the long rainy season in Baringo County.Rising temperatures and prolonged dry spells also have a detrimental impact on local water storage capacity and river flows, thereby compounding economic losses, particularly through reduced agricultural production. Land degradation and soil erosion, exacerbated by more frequent floods and lower agricultural productivity, disproportionately affect the poorest households and threaten long standing sociocultural identities tied to place and production systems. For example, most of the available land within Endorois territory is managed as communal land. However, lower agricultural yields, increasing populations, and the widespread presence of internally displaced populations within the Endorois territory -due to violence in the northern regions of the territory-, are fostering household-level efforts towards securing access to privatised land, thereby spreading a preference among the Endorois community to formalise land ownership.Although food insecurity is a constant threat for poorer households -those with the least amount of land, cows, goats or bee hives-, there are certain seasonal periods that allow for recovery. For example, participants reported that the months between June and September, and then again briefly in December, are periods of plenty after harvesting crops and honey, and the birthing of livestock. The time between January and April, and again from September to November, however, is characterised by hardship and food insecurity. Furthermore, periods of hardship are thought to be increasing in length due to the late and erratic coming of the rains. People in general greatly rely on other members of the community while facing periods of food insecurity and hardship.Testimony from a farmer during FGD in Baringo 21/09/2022 \"Rainfall today comes later and comes in more concentrated and intense occurrences.When people plant crops, seeds never germinate. During the rainy season, there is a lot of floods, which cause soil erosion and take away fertile soil.\"Community members in Laikipia and Baringo both report a concern for a growing presence of invasive species throughout their respective territories, which is currently posing an important threat to ecosystem functions and services, along with a reduction in land availability for farming. The most concerning invasive species in both regions were different varieties of prickly pear cactus and algaroba tree, which was introduced some 40 years ago as part of poverty alleviation efforts. The spreading of foreign species is further undermining forest productivity and reducing the availability of land, plus it is negatively impacting the natural habitat of endangered mammal species. Instances of homestead displacement due to plant encroachment were also reported by participants.Efforts to reduce the effects of charcoal burning, mainly in Baringo county, have centred around using algaroba rather than native trees, albeit these have been only partly successful.Additionally, livelihood challenges related to bee-keeping and honey harvesting were a matter of grave concern for Yiaku and Endorois representatives. Flower productivity has plummeted during the current drought, leading to a significant reduction of wild bees and the production or harvesting of wild honey. Although Indigenous Peoples commonly rely on artificial bee hives, the production of honey still requires bees to pollinate an ever decreasing amount of flowers. These conditions do not allow for enough honey production to store during the dry season. Furthermore, the reduction in honey harvesting from wild sources has led to a wider use of fire to control bee colonies, implying a higher risk of forest fires.Given the nature of honey as a commodity cash product, conditions of scarcity and poverty lead to a reduced demand, also threatening the viability of honey harvesting as a sustainable livelihood strategy. Due to lower yields, Yiaku and Endorois honey harvesters are incapable of competing with other honey producers, which are increasingly adopting non-traditional methods and offer lower prices. Trends in the reduction of harvested produce and its market price are threatening traditional ways of life, as the practice is intrinsically linked to Indigenous identities.Water levels in Lake Bogoria have been increasing throughout the past decade, as is the case of other Rift Valley Lakes in the region (Seyoum et al., 2015). This has led to the loss of agricultural and communal land at the edge of the lake, coupled with the inundation of public health facilities and private property, which have led to the displacement of hundreds of people. Major cultural sites have been submerged, and the hot springs and geysers which were major tourist attractions are also under water. Under reduced agricultural yields and increasing population density, the loss of land due to a rise in lake levels has also driven disputes among neighbours.A reduction in yields and incomes from agriculture is incentivising the transition to cash crops across the Endorois community. Private companies provide seeds and farming inputs, while ensuring the buying of harvest at a fixed price. The selling of seeds was also an increasingly common income source for Endorois populations. Income from cash crops was reported as increasing the available cash throughout the community, which is also tied with increasing microfinance services, and assistance with land preparation, fertiliser application, and transportation to markets, all of which farmers can pay through their harvest.In addition to cash crops, the adoption of agroecological and agroforestry practices, mainly the farming of higher-value crops like mango, has been increasing throughout the community as a response to reducing agricultural yields and loss of livelihoods. These crops, however, only grow suitably in the southernmost regions of the territory, which evidence higher rainfall averages, and also demand the use of irrigation water for a profitable harvest.Government interventions for the construction of irrigation canals have allowed farmers to access irrigation water, required for cash and high-value crop farming. However, study participants reported that the increasing availability of irrigation water has led to overexploitation by households with easy access to the canals, thereby reducing water flows and exacerbating inequalities in access to water. Furthermore, concerns regarding increasing water pollution due to excessive use of agricultural inputs were widely voiced by all study participants. While the construction of irrigation canals with constant flow is a positive adaptation measure for the Endorois, the lack of suitable water management arrangements could lead to overexploitation and conflict within the community.Commonly perceived environmental and climatic changes among fishing Banyala communities in Port Bunyala include the increased frequency of unpredictable dry seasons or longer dry-spells, which lead to crop failure, and a reduction in fish catches.Although rainy seasons are considered to be presently shorter, rainfall is often more concentrated and intense. For example, the occurrence of long rains between March andTestimony from a community leader during FGD in Baringo May were perceived as presently being shorter, and the short rains round September were thought to be more unpredictable than in the past. The occurrence of traditional indicators for the coming of rains, mainly the shifting of wind patterns, were thought to no longer work as a reliable method to predict seasonal changes.Bunyala sub-county is considered among the most flood prone regions in Kenya (MoALF, 2016), and the frequency and intensity of flood events are also thought to have increased during recent decades. The locality lies between Lake Victoria and the Nzoia river estuary, and has been subjected to harsh flooding almost every two years since the turn of the millennium. In fact, along with rainfall variability, more frequent and intense flooding were perceived as the most significant climate threat being faced by the community.Sudden intense rains commonly lead to the displacement of people into temporary camps and threaten security, destruction of crops, diseases among humans and livestock, damaged infrastructure at landing sites, post-harvest losses (rotting fish), and the blocking of transportation routes. The occurrence of mild floods, as perceived by community members, can sometimes increase catch rates and strengthen incomes, given that fish tend to follow freshwater inputs in the lake. Overall, however, flooding was perceived as a highly destructive threat which poses numerous challenges to the community's development.Waterlogging from previous floods was also a matter of significant concern. Stagnated water in the locality's lower zones can frequently surpass one metre in height, and often cause the destruction of buildings and commonly used boreholes, thereby representing a significant challenge to water availability. Furthermore, non-receded water is often polluted by organic content, increasing the incidence of water-borne diseases, and contains high concentrations of chemical pollutants, such as fertilisers and pesticides, which poses a health challenge to which children are highly vulnerable. Participants from the male FGDs highlighted a government-led rice irrigation programme implemented across the region, which incentivised the adoption of rice as a cash crop and the use of fertiliser to increase production, leading to excessive application in upstream areas and increasing pollution downstream.Testimony from a young man during FGD in Busia 25/09/2022 \"In the past, the community had a normal weather calendar. Now we have a variable weather calendar. Normal weather calendar implies well defined seasons. Today, the rain patterns have really changed. We cannot really describe the pattern, as it is not predictable anymore. By this time, farmers should have already planted their crops, but they have not yet begun to do this because of the lack of rains.\"Among the negative impacts of rainfall variability and floods are also reduced incomes and high food insecurity. Intense floods lead to a higher incidence of hunger due to the destruction of subsistence crops, the disruption of income-generating activities, a higher incidence of water-borne diseases, the imposition of high recovery costs, and a disrupted access to markets and public services. Local populations reported to be highly dependent on humanitarian support for food during flooding events.Members from the Banyala Indigenous Peoples report a reduction in the catches of Nile perch and Nile tilapia from Lake Victoria. There is a general agreement that fish sizes and abundances tend to decrease during droughts and increase during floods, and that fish movement patterns are tightly connected to changes in wind and precipitation. Due to stronger and more unpredictable wind patterns, fish populations alter their movement, plus fishers experience more dangerous conditions when going deep into the lake. Climate effects, however, were not considered the main driver of reducing fish stocks in the lake. Catch reductions were mainly attributed to overfishing, along with changing ecological conditions in the lake as a result of wetland and forest degradation, and increasing runoff of agricultural inputs from upstream.Testimony from an elder fisherman during FGD in Busia 25/09/2022 \"Wind patterns are more unpredictable today. Fishermen used predictable wind patterns to identify the location of fish. It was wind current that bring fish to specific locations, as fish follow water currents created by winds. But currently, it is harder for fishermen to identify fish because of unpredictable winds patterns.\"Testimony from a young fisherman during FGD in Busia 26/09/2022 \"...people are desperate to increase their catches, they use trawling, mesh sizes that are smaller, seke seke [a method through which a diver disrupts a natural environment, usually an important habitat, to make fish swim into a net], some other people are using chemicals.Before, people who fish used a hook and get fish to cook. But today, even the breeding places are overfished and very little fish are caught.\"As a response to reducing incomes from the Lake Victory fishery, many people among the Banyala shifted their focus towards farming and livestock rearing. Land throughout Bunyala sub-county is highly fertile and water is readily available if irrigation infrastructure is deployed. However, the increasing incidence of floods and a higher rainfall variability has led to challenges in maintaining agriculture as a main source of livelihood. This has led to a return, mainly of young populations, to fishing as a main income strategy, thereby exacerbating the challenges posed by a failing fishery.Adaptive responses to dropping fish stocks in the lake are discussed as limited to increasing fishing efforts. Many fishers in Lake Victoria have opted to cover a larger area of the lake in search of fish, or to increase the amount of time they spend fishing.Migrating to new fishing grounds or changing the target species are also common strategies. All of these responses, however, usually lead to an increase in catches, hence further overfishing already strained populations. By increasing fishing efforts, fishers report that they are more likely to revert to illegal practices and harvest juvenile fishes with negative long-term consequences.Fishers that employ short-term coping strategies such as borrowing capital (e.g. money, seeds, fishing gear), selling off livestock and assets, relying on support from community groups or exiting the fishery often report that these strategies incur negative long-term impacts on livelihoods. Except for relying on social groups, most reactive or emergency response strategies decrease the long-term well-being of households. Some community members report making more sustainable efforts related to improving fish processing, saving money, planting fruit trees as a source of income, building storage facilities for food, digging trenches to prepare for floods or investing in irrigation infrastructure.Planned strategies can actually have long-term positive effects on food security and income, but very little effects are systematically assessed and have not been collectively scaled throughout the community. Many fishers also reported a substantial positive impact from diversifying to farming and livestock rearing. However, these strategies may be impaired under a Bunyala context, in which farming and livestock is already widespread, thereby leading to reducing availability of land, and the effects of flooding have also greatly impacted mixed-farming livelihoods.Although coping strategies may contribute to short-term safety, these frequently carry consequences that can potentially reduce the adaptive capacity of households and communities in the long-term. Resulting impacts from investing in short-term responses to crises will likely worsen the underlying drivers of vulnerability, such as poverty and illiteracy, thereby increasing climate-related security risks in the future. On the other hand, adaptive strategies that are based on collective management of resources, increasing the degree of agency and representation of communities in natural resource management, and the protection of sustainable livelihoods -such as climate-smart agriculture or tourism-based incomes-were found to currently enhance the adaptive capacities of communities.• Expansion and diversification of herding migratory routes• Access to new areas with better pasture• Split herds and sell cattle earlier to hedge risk• Planning expenses in accordance to periods of hardship and relief• Farming of grass and construction of storage facilities• Diversify crops, mainly towards fruit trees  2020). Instability in these regions has been fuelled by a variety of interconnected and compounding factors, including ethnic intolerance, border disputes, and competition over land and other resources. Furthermore, institutional gaps to maintain security at local levels, reduced trust in formal and traditional authorities, poverty and underdevelopment, have all compounded towards worsening instability. In this sense, climate change interacts with a variety of environmental, socio-economic, political and cultural factors that act as structural and underlying drivers of conflict. Although there are many similarities in the socio-economic characteristics of the assessed sites, and on the climate hazards that participating communities experience, we found clearly distinguishable narratives on the compounding risks between climate, peace and human insecurity.Pathway 1: Increasingly scarce natural resources have led to a higher frequency and intensity of inter-community and intra-community conflictRising temperatures and rainfall variability are directly linked to increasingly intense, frequent, and prolonged droughts as well as sudden and destructive floods. These effects can undermine the availability and access to natural and productive resources such as water and pastureland in the ASALs, where resource-dependent agro-pastoral activities are the primary source of livelihood. Fishery and farming dependent populations in the Lake Victoria Basin are similarly facing the degradation of their natural resource base due to the increasing effects of floods and changing weather patterns. Climate impacts such as overfishing and pollution directly affect the availability of fish. Communities in Kenya, whose livelihoods are resource-dependent, face a major challenge in ensuring regular and equitable access to natural resources for livestock, crop production, and fishing.While reduced resource availability does not necessarily lead to conflict, climate-induced natural resource scarcity is indirectly connected with a higher incidence of intercommunal conflict and tensions over access to natural resources. Increased incidence of cattle rustling, banditry, and attacks by armed groups are common manifestations of these conflicts in Kenya's ASAL regions. Similarly, in Kenya's flood-prone regions, a high reliance on fishery resources across national borders is interrelated with drivers of violence and insecurity. These risks are amplified by the fact that -as a consequenceof climate-related impacts -communities are forced to increasingly rely on the same narrow set of available resources.In order to cope with the scarcity of available natural resources, some communities are forced to adopt other resource-based livelihoods, such as harvesting sand from river banks and the extraction of timber for charcoal. this shift in activities results in conflicts due to the unequal access to sand extraction points, which are primarily dominated by private ranchers, and arrests resulting from illegal timber extraction from the forests. These dynamics are increasingly contributing to tensions across livelihood and ethnic divides, both within and between communities.Given their occupancy of a transition ecosystem from northern arid lands to fertile rangelands bordering Kenya's centre highlands, the Yiaku and Endorois communities, respectively in Laikipia and Baringo counties, have always experienced incoming transhumant herders and cattle rustling. This practice has been traditionally used as a culturally accepted form of livestock replenishment, securing of dowry payments, and as a rite of passage for youth warriors. Due to this cultural aspect, sparse and low-intensity instances perpetrated by neighbouring groups are not deemed an act of conflict between communities. However, the common occurrence of cattle rustling at present is more often linked to conflicts over territory, linkages with international black markets, and violence over water resources, instead of cultural norms. In a context whereby long-standing rivalries and mistrust between ethnic groups prevail, the loss of cattle due to scarcity of pasture and water are thought to instigate competition for natural resources, mostly expressed as increasing occurrences of rustling and village raiding.Pastoral communities have historically engaged in cattle rustling culture, raiding weaker communities and taking away their animals as a means of expanding grazing lands, restocking livestock and obtaining cattle for dowries. The practice, however, has become a major security risk for pastoral communities across Kenya. Raiding has implications for relations with neighbouring political entities as 'warriors' cross territories in search of cattle and weapons. In the absence of an adequate or prompt state response, and as pastoralists arm themselves for the protection of their lives and livelihoods, the stage is set for increased levels of violence.Testimony from an elder man during FGD in Baringo Attackers are perceived to have a well-coordinated mode of operation and access to required information while executing rustling and raiding. In fact, the existence of informants within the Yiaku community, who collaborate with external raiders, was widely recognised among participants. During a raid, a group of attackers does not target a random village or homestead, but rather focus attacks on a previously surveyed location. The group usually carries the necessary arms and tools to counter any security measures in place, and are aware in advance of any firearms located in the premises. Raiders often steal cattle while dwellers are outside, suggesting a familiarity with their schedule.Conflicts involving the rights to manage natural resources are also present among communities. Longer migratory routes, adopted by pastoralists to compensate for a lack of pasture in the more arid regions to the north, imply that a higher number of pastoralists now come in contact with Yiaku populations within Mukogodo and the surrounding group ranches. Given the legal status of the forest as protected land owned by the government, outsider communities do not recognise any legitimate claim by the Yiaku over the use of resources, nor the authority of Illmamusi to oversee their sustainable use, including water points and pasture lands contained within. Through cattle rustling, village raiding and resource grabbing, members from other ethnic groups have forced the displacement of numerous families settled within the forest.In Busia, the displacement of people from more frequently flooded areas has increased population density in higher, less flood-prone areas. Under a context in which the majority of available land is managed communally, the keeping of livestock interacting with crops has led to an increase in land-based disputes among neighbours. Additionally, rising levels of Lake Victoria during recent years have submerged land previously used for farming. Because land deeds survey ownership of land in relation to the lake, privatePathway 2: Conflicts over political boundaries are exacerbated due to the effects of climate change on livelihoods and income strategiesThe effects of other socio-economic and political trends acting over Kenya's ASALs are also thought to compound towards increasing the impacts of cattle rustling and raiding across the region. Such factors include the commercialisation of cattle theft, understood by participants as the adoption of the practice not merely for restocking purposes, but as an illegal livelihood strategy assumed by young populations, whereby organised criminal organisations and international black markets play an ever increasing role; the extensive availability of illegal firearms; and the use of cattle rustling as a strategy to influence political boundaries, frequently instigated by economic elites with an interest over neighbouring lands, or by politicians looking for electoral support and enhanced political influence.Similarly to Yiaku populations in Laikipia, members of the Endorois Indigenous Peoples report a higher occurrence of cattle rustling and village raiding in the northern areas of their territory around Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, in Baringo County. They also recognise drought, a diminishing availability of pasture, and the widespread death of livestock as important factors driving Pokot populations further into their land and adopting evermore violent strategies for cattle replenishment. However, they also believe that the main factors pushing violent attackers further south lie in the interests held by economic and political elites to control the land they occupy. Since 2005, the Endorois Indigenous Peoples have been subjected to violent attacks from neighbouring Pokot communities to the north of their land. The onset of this conflict coincided with territorial conflicts across Kenya, driven mainly by electoral-based violence, and has continued to revolve around political boundaries, access to land, and the interests of political and economic elites within Baringo County.The Endorois mostly understand the conflict as fuelled by political and economic interests in the value of their land. They believe that Pokot raiders are recruited, armed and sent to attack Endorois populations with the underlying intention of forcing their displacement, thereby securing access to high-value minerals present within the land. They also recognise that cattle theft is used today as a profitable business managed through strategies more in line with international organised crime than with cultural practices. This shift towards commercial cattle theft was understood to be the result of changing priorities among young populations and the loss of respect towards livestock herding as a dignified livelihood; the proliferation of firearms across the region; and the Testimony from a young man during FGD in Baringo 20/09/2022 \"The outsiders use drought as an excuse to enter the land. These peoples come into the territory with the excuse of searching for pasture and water for their cattle, this is just a disguise, but in reality they are seeking to expand their territory.\"increasing connections of cattle trading with globalised black markets and economic elites.The effects of the conflict on wellbeing among the Endorois have been significant, and clearly shape current intra-community relations and adaptive capacities. The conflict has caused the destruction of infrastructure and community facilities, such as schools, houses, hospitals, and water tanks in the northern regions. More than 120 Endorois have lost their lives, numerous residents suffered severe injuries and disabilities 1 , and over 10,000 people have been displaced from their lands. Additionally, the violence has forced many children to abandon their education. The substantial livestock losses have led to an increase in poverty levels and attackers have targeted natural resources such as water points and forests, either by overexploitation or deliberate destruction as part of their warfare strategies. Despite cattle rustling and village raiding being the primary forms of conflict, the Endorois community uses the term \"terrorism\" to more accurately convey the negative consequences of the violent attacks.Study participants evidenced a belief that some of the main drivers for the violent attacks to their community are related to the lack of political pluralism and widespread ethnic-based politics in Baringo, which elites instigate through ethnically-targeted violence to strengthen their political influence across County territory. In this sense, discourses around the need of young warriors to replenish livestock through traditional cattle rustling practices, under harsher climatic conditions, is perceived to be used as a window of opportunity, or an excuse, to conduct highly violent attacks on neighbouring populations with expansionist purposes.The effects of climate change on both Endorois and Pokot populations were perceived as indirectly impacting conflict dynamics. Study participants agreed that high levels of vulnerability, poverty and marginalisation among young Pokot populations makes them more susceptible to recruitment by elites instigating inter-ethnic violence. Pokot vulnerability to recruitment is thought to be enhanced by the effects of climate change, mainly through the loss of livelihoods during extreme droughts. For instance, Endorois community members perceive an increase in attacks during dry spells, suggesting that, despite ethnic politics acting as a main cause of conflict, the need to secure access to water and pasture for cattle still drives young Pokot pastoralists to engage in violence.1 Impact figures were estimated by the Endorois Welfare Council.Quoted from in-time translation from Kiswahili to English • 21/09/2022 \"Cattle rustling and the stealing of animals is more common during dry spells. There are more migrant pastoralists, who take the animals…The two main resources of concern during Telelo [dry season] are water and pasture. Pokots and Ilchamus cross into our territory looking for these resources. This is the time when there is a lot of conflict for resources, and some of these conflicts escalate into violence.\"Pathway 3: The interloping impacts of climate change and conflict undermine livelihoods, erode social cohesion within the community, and increase vulnerabilities to future climate threats Economic instability, inequality, poverty and marginalisation, are thought to be amongst the most important drivers of insecurity, since these factors enhance an individual's propensity to engage in violence as an alternative source of revenue. As a result, most people believe that the weakening of pastoralist, agricultural and fishing livelihood options increases the risk of conflict, violence and various forms of criminal activity. Scarce employment opportunities and limited labour skills, along with limited access to infrastructure, basic services, and social protection, are critical contributing conditions that exacerbate the risk of conflict and food and nutrition insecurity.Study participants from Laikipia, Baringo, and Busia regions unanimously expressed that the community's social cohesion has been negatively affected by the combined consequences of climate change and conflict, reducing people's willingness to collaborate with or support each other in adapting to a changing climate. During the discussions in all groups, particularly in the women's focus group, it was emphasised that young people face limited livelihood options. Participants across all groups linked various social issues such as school dropouts, early pregnancies, substance abuse, crime, and prostitution to the impacts of climate change, violence, and the loss of livelihoods. Furthermore, the loss of agriculture-related livelihoods is believed to contribute to the rise in illicit activities such as alcohol brewing, crime, and banditry within communities.Banyala community members in Busia perceived rising food insecurity as associated with increasing trends towards individuality within the community, reducing a shared sense of belonging and collective adaptive capacities. Similarly, reduced incomes at the household level were directly linked to an increasing rate of wives leaving their husbands, due to their incapacity to provide for the family. Study participants in general agreed that trust amongst neighbours in Bunyala sub-county has been undermined due to increasing hardship.Testimony from an adult man during FGD in Busia 25/09/2022 \"In the past, people used to store their food outside the granaries. Today, this is not possible because the food would get stolen. In the current situation there is a shortage of food. Trust between people has been reduced due to increasing theft, population density, and land conflict.\"Testimony from an adult man during FGD in Laikipia 17/09/2022 \"The men, who are supposed to be the head of the house, are not looking for other livelihoods and are more susceptible to drunkenness. With all this frustrations, they start fighting with the women. This has led to higher degrees of divorce and separation of families.Prostitution has also increased in Dol Dol. Women who lived before in the forest, they now come to town, and are forced to prostitute themselves.\"Furthermore, the presence of conflict in Endorois territory, in Baringo County, currently impairs the ability of local populations to cope with climate-related risks. The effects of conflict include dozens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) within Endorois territory, many hundreds have been killed or maimed, and dozens of thousands livestock stolen or killed. As a consequence, family dysfunctionality, mental illness and crime rate have increased within the southern locations, where the majority of IDPs are settled. The effects of conflict have worsened the vulnerability of Endorois populations to climate threats. The impacts of droughts and lower agricultural productivity, they report, are today a lot higher due to the widespread presence of IDPs across the territory and the loss of life and livelihoods due to the impacts of violence. These impacts reduce people's capacity to cope with climate change, and have rendered populations unemployed and without any alternative income sources.The linkages between climate change, insecure livelihoods and household-level violence also emerged consistently in both men and women groups across all communities. The loss of agricultural-based livelihood, due to the compounding effects of climate and conflict, has led to decreasing employment rates and income. Under a context whereby men are expected to provide for security and household income, this has rendered many young men with a sense of indignity and low capabilities. The task of finding alternative incomes has fallen to a larger extent on women, who commonly adopt the nonsustainable extraction of resources as a main income strategy, such as charcoal burning.Despite what is often reported in the literature, an increasing economic role of women in the household was not, in women's perception, contributing to gender parity. Women in all communities were excessively overburdened by work and the lack of income, while their influence over decision making processes at the community level, despite a more prominent role in household-level incomes, had not increased significantly. At the same time, the feeling of ineptness by men exposed women to higher risk of household violence, as men adopt abuse as the way of reasserting their authority.The most vulnerable households within each community have increasingly experienced multiple forms of deprivation though to be exacerbated by the effects of drought and violence, including: overcrowding, lack of access to water and sanitation, difficulties in following recommendations to prevent contagion during the pandemic, stressful situations like domestic violence and child abuse, and service interruptions such as disruptions in healthcare and education. The general perception among participants was that women, given their prominent role within household maintenance and child caring, are more susceptible to these problems. For example, during dry spells, water points within Mukogodo Forest, in Laikipia, are rapidly depleted due to overconsumption by livestock. A common response by populations within the forest is to walk far distances into Dol Dol town, where the community draws water from boreholes. It is mainly women who are responsible for the task of gathering water for domestic use, thereby frequently leading to overwhelming responsibilities for household keeping.Pathway 4: Maladaptive income strategies adopted by some community members to cope with climate threats are perceived as negatively affecting othersDue to a limited availability of employment opportunities beyond agriculture, people's search for alternative sources of revenue commonly leads to maladaptive practices that rely on unsustainable natural resource extraction or illegal activities. Deforestation from charcoal burning, sand harvesting from river banks, illegal timber extraction, and the brewing of illegal alcohol were all perceived to have increased recently among all participating communities.Unequal benefits from these activities, incompatible interests among populations in regard to environmental conservation, and different perceptions regarding the suitability of illegal means of incomes, have in turn led to an increase in conflicts within and beyond the community, mainly revolving around access to and control over natural resources. For example, the harvesting of sand from river banks is an increasingly common activity among the Yiaku, particularly adopted by the youth and women. However, there is an unequal access to points of extraction, which are dominated by private ranchers who have harvested sand for a longer time for land management purposes. Although violence from sand-harvesting related conflicts has been minimal, disputes among Yiaku populations and surrounding conservancies have increased. Furthermore, the unregulated extraction of sand from river banks is perceived as negatively altering water flows, ultimately increasing the risk of flooding during heavy rains.Testimony from a young man during FGD in Nanyuki, LaikipiaQuoted from in-time translation from Kiswahili to English • 16/09/2022 \"Before there was very little charcoal extraction from the forest, today more people have been going inside the forest for charcoal, increasing the destruction of the forest. Because the drought has affected livelihoods based on cattle, there is a need to go beyond livestock.Another typical activity today is sand extraction, which destroys the forest. Once the forest is destroyed, rainfall and water flows are more chaotic, because the sand is extracted directly from the rivers.\"Testimony from an adult man during FGD in Mayu Mata, BaringoQuoted from in-time translation from Kiswahili to English • 22/09/2022 \"The attackers use those who are poor among the Endorois as informants. This includes the most vulnerable and poor in the community. These people are promised a share of the loot in the form of a gun or money, but not animals. Some of these people are also employed as herdsman for the Pokot.\"Unsustainable resource use as a response to increasingly scarce natural resources and the loss of agricultural-based livelihoods is also frequent across all assessment sites. Charcoal burning, in the case of the Endorois territory and Mukogodo Forest, has led to accelerated rates of deforestation and heated disputes within and beyond each community over conservation priorities. In the case of the Yiaku Indigenous Peoples, increasing deforestation was linked with widespread fear of forced eviction by Kenya's government from Mukogodo, a protected dry forest. In Busia, overfishing and the violation of fishing regulations, mainly through the use of illegal mesh sizes and fishing outside of allowed days, has led to increasing worries by community members of evermore stringent regulations, which most Banyala fishers already find impossible to abide by.Although there are well-coordinated efforts for the enforcement of resource-use by laws by community-level organisations in all assessment sites, these are currently being overwhelmed by populations relying on illegal resource extraction. Furthermore, the provision of sanctions to violators is perceived to be plagued with rent-seeking practices whereby people with the right connections within the community, as was exemplified by Banyala fishers explaining that sanctions are allocated \"in a partial way depending on alliances with the BMU [Beach Management Unit] leaders\". An increasingly common practice in all sites, however, is for violations to be informed to the relevant government officials to ensure that the legal consequences are administered.Pathway 5: Limited institutional capacities to address climate threats, rent-seeking practices, and the political instigation of violence, impair efforts for conflict resolution and resilience building, exacerbate conflicts, and reduce trust in formal institutions.The limited capacity of state authorities and formal community-led organisations in addressing the needs of marginalised populations can intensify resentment among community members, particularly the youth who face barriers to education and employment. In all the assessment sites, factors that undermine the government's legitimacy as a peacekeeper include the absence of State presence, low provision of public services, exclusionary and discriminatory policies, corruption, and misuse of public funds. Additionally, efforts aimed at fostering peace and resilience unintentionally contribute to conflict escalation. Institutional practices related to resource management, deemed exploitative and exclusionary, can also exacerbate existing climate vulnerabilities and escalate conflicts over land between local communities, conservancies, and government organisations. Consequently, the eroding trust in government not only increases the likelihood of conflict but also impedes institutions from effectively responding to instances of violence and supporting populations in adapting to climate change.Community-level conflict management mechanisms, which have traditionally served to constrain the escalation of conflict within and between communities among the Yiaku and Endorois Indigenous Peoples, are today undermined by a series of factors. Through gerontocratic social norms, elders have been traditionally considered authority figures capable of keeping the youth at bay and serving as intermediation authorities during the onset of conflict. As part of conflict management practices, youth groups from neighbouring communities would meet to negotiate an agreement whenever rustling and other clashes risked an escalation of conflict. When negotiations failed, elders would get involved and seek alternative arrangements. Elder involvement would usually imply the casting of curses over misbehaving youth, an occurrence that the population took seriously and commonly abided by. Today, however, beliefs in the power of curses and respect for gerontocratic institutions have significantly eroded.These rapid changes in local authority distribution, under conditions of fragility and low-State presence, have led to an institutional gap for conflict management. To illustrate, the Yiaku community implemented a strategy of assigning water access to specific households and periodically rotating entitlements to ensure fairness and prevent internal conflicts. Non-entitled households had to engage in negotiation and trade to gain access to water points. However, this practice was discontinued when the Mukogodo forest was declared a protected area in the 1990s. During the study, participants highlighted the absence of collective institutions responsible for handling conflicts and managing natural resources as a significant root cause of inter-community conflicts. Another contributing factor was the lack of well-defined boundaries between ethnic territories, which hindered peaceful negotiations to address conflicting interests.For Study participants also voiced out concerns of corruption and direct involvement of government officials in aiding or facilitating instances of violence through conscious inaction during and after attacks. This is evidenced in the responses of security forces to cattle theft, which are perceived as deliberately ineffective. Police forces often justify their lack of timely and proper response in addressing violence by citing the unavailability of essential resources like fuel for transportation and an insufficient number of security officers. Nonetheless, participants expressed their perception that the police are capable of promptly intervening when alerted about illegal alcohol brewing, an activity adopted by certain individuals within the Yiaku and Endorois communities after exhausting other income sources, and which is usually done by women.Testimony from a young man during FGD in Baringo 22/09/2022 \"People have seen the [stolen] animals themselves, while the military in choppers say that they were unable to find them.\"The effects of climate change over livelihoods and wellbeing also interact with historical grievances held by the community towards government authorities. The Endorois community have inhabited the area around Lake Bogoria for several centuries, but were forcefully displaced by Kenya's government in the 1970s for the creation of Lake Bogoria Game Reserve. The community has since the late 1980s mobilised, with iterative success and failure, for the protection of their rights and retribution for past injustices. The failure of the Kenyan government to implement the 2010 African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights' recommendations in favour of the Endorois' claims to access Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, has significantly affected well-being and development among the Endorois community. Unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, natural resource scarcity, all affect the Endorois in above-average manners as related to regional trends. These issues are also today exacerbated by the effects of climate change, which have compounded in increasing resentment towards government authorities.Climate impacts over livelihoods interact with institutions for natural resource management and act as important sources of grievance and insecurity. In order to preserve fish populations in Lake Victoria, the Ugandan and Kenyan governments have introduced harsh regulations regarding access to the lake and the use of specific fishing gear and mesh sizes. However, due to limited access to necessary resources, the Banyala fisherfolk have been facing difficulties in adapting to these new regulations, resulting in a decline in fish stocks. Consequently, community members are compelled to engage in illegal fishing activities both within Kenya and across the border with Uganda, where they are subjected to risk of arrest, torture, destruction of property, and death by Ugandan authorities, pirates and other fishers. In Ugandan waters, arrests are also associated with violations of human rights, like torture and arbitrary jailing. Banyala fishers have reported that Uganda authorities coerce them to pay up to 1 million Ugandan shillings per fishing season (every two months) in order to continue their livelihood activities.Additionally, conflicts arising between Ugandan and Kenyan fisherfolk are reported to be frequent, primarily due to competing interests for access to fish stocks and a growing number of incidents related to equipment theft.Increasing risks from more stringent regulations and criminalisation, coupled with dwindling fish populations in Lake Victoria, are among the main drivers for Banyala populations seeking alternative livelihoods in farming and livestock herding. However, the loss of livestock and crops due to increasing flooding greatly impairs the capacity of Banyala community members to diversify their livelihoods. As a result, many young men have returned to fishing as a measure of last resort. In fact, community members and representatives from the local Beach Management Units perceive that, despite the security risks associated with fishing, the number of fishers in recent years has increased. In this sense, climate change may be forcing Banyala populations to go into a livelihood activity that is directly associated with cross-border insecurity.Pathway 6: The increasing frequency and intensity of rapid onset floods leads to community-wide temporary displacement.Despite significant progress for disaster risk management across Kenya, many challenges remain to protect Banyala populations from recurring floods. More frequent and intense flooding is associated with the loss of lives and the widespread loss of property and infrastructure. Important community places, such as schools, have also been relocated due to recurring floods. Because water logging is common after flooding, the community faces an increased incidence of waterborne diseases, including outbreaks of cholera and typhoid. Furthermore, temporary settlement in displacement camps is associated with various forms of insecurity risks, including an increase in the incidence of crime and sexual abuse, substance abuse, among others. In addition, mosquitoes contribute to the spread of diseases.The last intense flood that populations in Bunyala sub-county were subjected to occurred back in 2020. The flood caused significant impacts on the community such as the destruction of many buildings, particularly mud shacks, and the displacement of over 150 people, leading to the creation of temporary camps. The provision of food and supplies for the camps is usually funded by humanitarian organisations and the Kenyan government; although camps are managed in large part by community members. However, many people perceive food provision as not enough to adequately cover a household's subsistence, hence forcing people, mainly men, to return to their flooded homesteads in pursuit of their daily livelihoods and alternative incomes. This practice separates families for months and leaves people with little protection under highly vulnerable conditions.In the vicinity of flood-affected regions, there are numerous temporary camps within elevated villages. Although it would be preferable to reside near to these camps, limitations in available space prevent such an arrangement, coupled with the fact that the camps are often established on privately owned properties. The majority of temporary camp dwellers return to their homes due to financial constraints, as poverty remains a significant driving factor. Conversely, those who remain in higher lands after a disruptive flood are typically more financially stable and can afford to secure alternative land.Quote from an elderly man during FGD in Busia 25/09/2022 \"One of the worst experiences occurs during resettlement on the way to the camp. When you are leaving your homestead, you don't even know where you are going, you have no choice, you just know it will be in a higher ground.\"The increasing prevalence of prostitution in displacement camps leads to a rise in perceived \"immoral\" activities. Vandalism among the youth and children becomes more widespread, and property loss due to encroachment is a pervasive issue during displacement processes. Due to high rates of teenage pregnancies, crimes and early marriages, participants reported that some parents even choose not to go to the camps. Cultural practices and traditions are considered very important for these communities. Since cases of immorality and petty crimes become more commonplace, this leads to a breakdown in family units. For instance, the Banyala people traditionally held great respect for in-laws, but this aspect has been negatively impacted. Family separations become prevalent during the camp period, with households registered on a per-wife basis, allowing men to marry additional wives during this time in order to secure extra rations.Once people leave the camp, they must first rebuild their homesteads. However, many lack the necessary capital and materials to do so. Skilled labour, along with the cost and availability of natural resources, are adversely affected by flooding, making it difficult for people to rebuild and resettle. Due to these challenges, some families end up residing in partially collapsed houses, thus adapting their lifestyle accordingly. In addition, access to land, fishing gear, and livestock becomes limited or even nonexistent. Short-season crops are favoured to ensure food security, albeit their lower market cost and the increased challenge of obtaining agricultural inputs and materials further undermine livelihoods.Once outside a temporary displacement camp, people perceive limited support from the government or international organisations targeted for resettlement. During this period, people resort to illegal fishing techniques, for example, as a means of sustaining themselves, while also commonly engaging in theft and petty crimes.The intersecting impacts of multiple crises in fragile settings, including food insecurity, conflict risks, increasing poverty and marginalisation, and the effects of climate change on population wellbeing, have compelled the international community to pay a renewed attention to the unintended effects of interventions at the humanitarian, peace, development and climate nexus. Indeed, there is increasing evidence that poorly designed interventions can exacerbate inequalities in societies, decrease the well-being of some groups and, sometimes, contribute to conflict. At the same time, international organisations manifest a growing demand to develop effective climate programmatic practices that effectively contribute to sustainable peacebuilding. However, they lack the means to operationalise climate action strategies that consciously address societal grievances acting as the root causes of conflict.The effects of climate change over the availability of natural resources and people's capabilities to sustain a secured livelihood can contribute to perpetuate, and at times exacerbate, broader social conflicts. Local, intercommunity and transboundary disputes over land, water, forests and fisheries were perceived by community members in this study to be worsened by climate change. Similarly, processes of societal instability were found to be indirectly affected by the non-inclusive nature of decision-making institutions, the perceived legitimacy of authorities -both customary and formal-, and populations' trust over and access to social protection mechanisms. All of these factors were furthermore perceived to be impacted in complex and multidirectional ways by the effects of climate change. Likewise, the presence of societal instability and conflict under fragile settings undermines the ability of populations in adapting to changes in their climate and environmental surroundings, often forcing people to adopt coping measures which are likely to further undermine adaptive capacities in the long-term.The climatic drivers of insecurity and conflict, as perceived by participants of this study, are expected to worsen in the coming decades. Average temperature, rainfall variability, and drought are all projected to rise as the climate continues to change. Under a scenario whereby adaptive capacities remain the same, these effects will further impact people's ability to maintain food security, stable livelihoods and a shared Indigenous identity. They will also increasingly undermine institutional capacities to provide public services and social protection. The results from this study suggest that, if left unaddressed, ongoing insecurity dynamics may worsen under more challenging climate conditions.Nonetheless, the management of natural resources and efforts for climate adaptation can also be the source of cooperation across conflictive groups, thereby helping to build resilient institutions that can moderate and reduce the disruptive impacts of conflict. Participants in this study came up with actionable proposals which mostly rely on their own collective action, but require support from wider policy systems and the international community for their implementation. Their proposals build upon specific natural resources available in each region, the concrete climate threats that communities face, and the nature of conflictive relations between regional actors. This suggests that the high levels of risk and complexity encountered in fragile contexts, which currently discourage climate adaptation investment in these regions, can be addressed through reflexive dialogue with those most affected. International efforts for climate adaptation need to internalise the idea that people who are facing a problem are better positioned to understand it and address its underlying roots. Collaboration between different levels and types of actors -including practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and local actorsholds the best promise to empower communities and produce innovative solutions for climate adaptation to act as an instrument of peace.The policy prescriptions proposed by study participants based on their concrete lived experiences can also suggest a set of high-level recommendations for the design of climate adaptation efforts that contribute to sustainable peacebuilding. Guiding principles for the deployment of policies for natural resource management and the protection of rural livelihoods include: 1) adopt climate action programmatic strategies that consciously account for and address structural sources of vulnerability and marginalisation, such as land tenure; 2) promote collective action in natural resource management in ways that foster social cohesion across opposing groups; 3) address horizontal and vertical inequalities through inclusive natural resource management and climate smart agriculture; 4) ensure the support of formal policy processes and the willingness of government actors to advocate for required reforms; and 5) in conflict and post-conflict settings, embed collaborative natural resource management and climate adaptation within broader reconciliation processes. Ultimately, the main goal of these principles is to guide climate action in a manner capable of shifting local-level incentives towards the cooperative and equitable management of resource competition and climate risks, thereby reducing the likelihood of maladaptive responses and strengthening the foundations for social-ecological resilience.Conflict-sensitive resilience building action urgently needs to be deployed in accordance with community-level priorities, in a way that builds upon local and Indigenous knowledge, understandings of problem dynamics, and perceptions around structural sources of vulnerability and conflict. This section summarises the policy recommendations developed and prioritised by community members to turn climate security risks into opportunities for resilience and peacebuilding.For more programmatic details on the recommendations developed by Yiaku community members, refer to the Laikipia case study factsheet.Yiaku community members proposed to develop collaborative arrangements between the ethnic groups for the collective management of forest resources, by transferring ownership of the land to communities and creating a conservation reserve within the forest, hence shifting towards tourism-based livelihoods and reducing their dependence on livestock.Multi-ethnic management committees for forest management would also work handin-hand with a community patrol reserve, conformed by recruits from all ethnic groups, which would be charged with monitoring violations to forest resource use bylaws and the occurrence of cattle rustling and village raiding. 3. Inaugurate a vocational training centre (VTC) to foster livelihood strategies that serve as alternatives to cattle herding and scale these for the disarmament of young raiders.The installation of a VTC would need to accept young people from all communities around Mukogodo forest, so as to foster engagement and a sense of shared identity amongst raiders, and be linked to the provision of jobs after the completion of training.This programme is meant to begin a process of disarmament of raiders and the provision of alternative livelihoods. The VTC should also integrate training programmes for women, to strengthen sources of income for both men and women.4. Foster gender-inclusive livelihood diversification by strengthening of cultural \"manyatta\" for cultural-based tourism. The establishment of a cultural manyatta, a traditional Maa homestead, by women in the Yiaku community has led to the creation of income opportunities for women and the strengthening of Indigenous identities within the community. The site has also been used to organise awareness raising events regarding forest resource management, the preservation of the Yiaku culture, the reduction of domestic violence and sexual education talks. There is currently a need to strengthen the organisation so as to ensure its financial sustainability. It is necessary for this solution to adopt a gender-conscious approach to the creation of livelihood opportunities based on cultural and environmental tourism.5. Mobilisation of the community to demand that the Yiaku are identified as an independent tribe, and to foster the registering for identity and voter cards by young populations. This proposal entails the use of important community-level events -such as events related to sports, culture, agricultural livelihoods, and the environment-to foster political participation through talks and communal meetings. Registration for voting and the issuance of identity cards would be prioritised during these events, as voting by the youth may increase the political representation of the Yiaku in the County government.6. Establish inter-community boarding schools that foster sustainable livelihood strategies and the renewal of Indigenous cultures. Participants proposed that the government deploy boarding public schools located around Mukogodo forest and at the borders between inter-community territories. These schools would enrol children from neighbouring communities, where they can learn together about their different ethnic identities and their relation to surrounding natural resources, thereby fostering a shared sense of dependence, protecting Indigenous cultures, and breaking cycles of animosity among communities. Boarding schools should prioritise the enrollment of women, including those who become pregnant at an early age so as to ensure their continuing education.For more programmatic details on the recommendations developed by Endorois community members, refer to the Baringo case study factsheet.The conflict between the Endorois and the Pokot evidenced traits of other protracted conflicts, such as culturally internalised resentment and low willingness for dialogue. The conflict is also highly intensive in its effects on population wellbeing. For these reasons, the Endorois were sceptical about deploying dialogue platforms meant to foster sustainable peacebuilding between the Pokot and Endorois communities. However, they still proposed promising solutions that are in line with environmental peacebuilding principles.1. Use landscape restoration efforts as a way of increasing interdependence and engagement across conflictive groups. Implement a landscape restoration programme that employs young people from both ethnic groups, and which operates in both sides of the boundary limit, hence fostering technical engagement between the two groups around the management of natural resources, increasing a sense of interdependence, and creating alternative livelihoods for those who reduce their dependency over cattle.  5. Establishment of peace and cultural festivals between conflicting communities that rely on neutral events, such as sporting competitions and cultural traditions around natural resources like Lake Bogoria. Previously organised peacebuilding dialogue processes between the Endorois and Pokot have usually resulted in further violence, leading to a low willingness by both groups to formally engage in peace agreement dialogues. Participants proposed to rely on shared cultural traits, embedded in turn to local natural resources, to create spaces for collective reflection around antagonistic sentiments. These events should integrate peace dialogues and awareness raising activities that enhance interaction and cohesion amongst the conflicting communities.6. Continue efforts to advocate for Kenya's government to increase community access to Lake Bogoria. There is a need to increase the benefits from Lake Bogoria GameReserve that are perceived by Endorois populations. The community needs to be better organised in demanding further access to the reserve and its tourism-based revenue.Additional income flows into the community, which would be mainly managed by the Endorois Welfare Council, an organisation with high-levels of legitimacy among the Endorois, would serve to implement other solutions proposed by the study participants, and to strengthen the community's capacity to find alternative livelihoods that reduce dependence on cattle.For more programmatic details on the recommendations developed by Bunyala community members, refer to the Busia case study factsheet.Given the nature of insecurity problems faced by the Banyala community, participants in Bunyala sub-county opted for proposals meant to enhance State-society relations and protect livelihoods that reduce people's need to fish across the border. Proposed solutions focused on increasing capacities to comply with fishing regulations on both sides of the border, maintain agricultural and off-farm livelihood strategies in the face of climate change, and collective action and participation in decision making spaces for fishery management and the protection of human rights. Reducing population dependence on fishing was deemed a priority strategy to avoid illegal border crossing.1. Diversify livelihood strategies and food production systems to reduce dependence on fishing. An alternative livelihood option meant to reduce population dependence on fishing was proposed as the scaling of fish farming as a business model that is meant to benefit local populations, rather than only increase state revenue. This would imply the implementation of fish ponds and fish cages within Lake Victoria. The targeting of women regarding the investment and owning of cages and fish ponds was proposed to reduce the reliance over fish from the lake when selling harvest in local markets. Participants additionally proposed to foster livelihood diversification through conservation and climate smart agriculture, including the adoption of flood resistant crops, the planting of fruit trees, and agropastoral systems that reduce reliance on agricultural inputs.2. Strengthen the capacity of fishers to comply with applicable fishing regulation, as well as that of local institutions for fishery management and the enforcement of fishing bylaws. Capacity building programmes that also offer subsidised fishing equipment in compliance with new regulations would contribute to reducing fishing-related insecurity risks, as better capacity to comply with laws and on proper methods could reduce the risk of fishers getting arrested. It would also strengthen livelihood strategies 3. Implement a swamp restoration programme that facilitates the flow of receded water, and protects surrounding farming land from flooding. Restore the swamp's ecological state to ensure the constant provision of ecosystem services, mainly flood protection, irrigation water, and non-timber products. A selection of crops to be planted as part of the swamp restoration efforts could also increase the provision of ecosystem services and foster the diversification of livelihoods. The use of artificial ponds around farming land has been adopted as a means of reducing flood risk, protecting crops, collecting irrigation water, and preserving swamp conditions. This is a common practice that has presented many challenges due to high maintenance costs and labour. A swamp restoration programme should focus on supporting these previous adaptations which have proved to be effective.4. Foster community participation in decision making spaces towards the harmonisation of fishing regulations between Kenya and Uganda. As a strategy to preserve dwindling fishery populations, Ugandan and Kenyan governments have introduced more stringent regulations regarding the use of specific fishing gear to prevent the catching of small fish. However, many Kenyan fisherfolk have been unable to comply with these new regulations. The East African Community has played a little role in harmonising the legal frameworks between the Lake Victoria riparian countries.5. Increase cross-border collaboration in reducing the instances of corruption, theft, torture and killings. Being uncapable of complying with the law, fisherfolk are forced to conduct illegal fishing both within Kenya and across the border with Uganda, where they are subjected to risk of arrest, torture, destruction of property and death by Ugandan authorities, pirates and other fishers. Fisher communities in Kenya need to mobilise towards demanding that the Kenyan government collaborate with authorities in Uganda in ensuring the respect of human rights in Lake Victoria. International cooperation agencies were perceived to play a crucial role in the development of institutional capacities meant to protect fishing populations.","tokenCount":"18373"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3327354676.json b/data/part_1/3327354676.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..30957f52f8bf10fc5100a2531aa2e075ac6c2b1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3327354676.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7696cb3aa8bd30bd7039cf7e89122c30","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7d8af2e0-89c4-4e83-9cac-1ceb1ea411d3/retrieve","id":"2103802431"},"keywords":["Plenum Press, NewYork,USA Djallonké, gain moyen quotidien, poids, sélection digestibility g/kg: BR25: 532","BR50: 544","non-BR25: 581","non-BR50: 559","s.e.d.: 23.6). It is concluded that"],"sieverID":"eb81fe36-db36-48e5-9e44-bc545792cd05","pagecount":"332","content":"This volume contains papers and abstracts of the Third Biennial Conference of the African Small Ruminant Research Network. In addition to the keynote address, there are nine papers on Genetic Resources Enhancement and Utilisation, seven papers on Production Systems, Policy and Economics, six papers on Management and Health, 12 papers on Feeding and Feeding Systems and 10 papers on Performance and Reproduction.Six poster abstracts covering the above topics add to the volume.There are about 400 million goats in the world, with Africa accounting for 67%. In East Africa, Kenyahas a goat population of64 million, Tanzania 4.3million and Uganda 39 million. The trends in Ugandan small ruminantpopulation dynamics can be seen in Table 1. One methodofincreasing the numberofgoats andsheep is to selectfor twinningtraits within a population.The twinning rate of East African goatsis 30% and triplets occur at the frequency of 2%. Goats have a unique feeding characteristic ofbrowsing which accounts for 60% while the grazing preference is only40%. Goats and sheep make an important contribution tothe subsistence subsector ofthe economy ofUganda and, indeed, of many countries in Africa. Over one million goats and sheep are slaughtered and consumed annually for meat. The skins contribute substantially to foreign exchange earnings aswell aspermitting import substitution for useinthe localtannery and leather craft industry of Uganda. Locally the skins are used extensivelyin traditionaltechnoculture.They are used notablyin the making ofmats,covering handles oftools (knives, dancing costumes, ropes, drums and shields) and coveringornamental articles. Footwear,strings and specific musicalinstruments are also made from skins.Exotic goats oftheToggenburg andAnglo-Nubian breeds wereimported to Uganda forcross-breeding with localgoats with a view to enhancing milkyield and meat production in the offspring. In the early 1960s exotic wool sheep were introduced into Uganda and were bred on Government farms with the objective of assessing their ability to survive, reproduce andproduce wool and meat in Uganda's climatic, technical and management enVIrOnnnent.Itwas planned that wool sheep production could be integrated withbeefcattle ranching where tick-borne diseases were controlled. Sheep prefer shorter pastures than cattle and they would therefore follow cattle in rotation managementsystem within fenced paddocks.Exotic sheep, goats and their crosses with indigenous stock are more susceptible to helminth infection than the local breeds. Therefore every care should be taken to institute an effective regime of preventive measures comprising adequate rotational systems ofgrazing coupled with strategicprophylactic cover and all reinforced by regular chemotherapeutic preventive treatments.It has to be emphasisedthat meat production from small ruminants is veryimportant in Africa.This is so because these animals are more suitable for family consumption of 5-10 people, than cattle owing to their comparatively small carcases (10-15 kg).Furthermore, there is lack of regular beef supplies outside the main cash-crop harvesting season.Absence of networks of rural electrification virtually prevents exploitation ofrefrigeration technologyandhence limits preservation and storage capacity oftheperishable meat surplus. Indeed, there is a positive correlation between slaughtering and consumption of beef and the availability of cash in rural areas during the main crop (coffee and cotton harvest) sales.The total goat population of Uganda stands today at some 39million head.These goats are basically ofone main type -the Small East African goat. It is small, compact, hardy and specially adapted to humid environments. Mature weights are about25 to 30 kg. The importance ofgoatsin Ugandais basedon meat and skins. Some ofthe major reasons for promoting goat production in Ugandainclude:Small ruminants: Goats and sheep in UgandaThe human population is growing steadily creating a significant and increasing demand for goat meat in Uganda and in the Arabworld.The capital investment for the farmer is relatively low, the reproductive turnover is high and managingthegoats is not labourintensive.The genetic potential of the local goats can be improved byselection and cross-breeding. Ifthis is combined with improved feeding and health, overallproductiongains could be considerable.• In ranching areas goats can become very useful animals in bush clearing and they can be used as pasture improvers.Thirty-five ewes and five rams of Boer goats were importedfrom Northern Cape Province ofSouth Africa on 18March 1993.The female goats were bredin March andApril.Thirty Small East African goats were bought in June 1993 from Kisozi Ranch for the purpose of cross-breeding withBoergoatrams inAugust 1993.The goats were kept underintensive system ofmanagement. Animalsgraze in the day and are housed overnight.The birth weight of the crossbred kids was superior to the Small East African kids. Unfortunately,there was no correlation between the birth weight and the daily gain.Boergoats were more prolific than the SEA goats considering their relatively higher twining rate (Table 4). The SEA indicate an interesting sex ratio of the young. Female 33 3 500Table 5. Daily average gain (g/day) of lambs aged 30 days.From Table 5, it could be deduced that the Boer goatkids gained most weight followed by the crossbreds and then the SEA goat kids in descending order.Irrespective oftype ofbirth and breed ofgoat, male kids gained more thanfemale kids. As expected also, single kids gainedfasterthan twinkids irrespective ofbreed of goat andsex ofkid.When assessing the results one has to take into consideration:• the number of goats sampled for the different groups is statistically low• allgoats lambed for the first time• the results of Boer goats are influenced by adaptation to the new environmental conditions.Nevertheless, the results are promisingenough for the experiment to continue. It seems that the South African Boer goats adapted well to the environmental conditions ofthe Buyana Stock Farm.The reproductive performance of Boer goats with 62.1% oftwin birthsishigherthanthat oftheSmallEast African goatwith 36% of does kidding twins.The mortality rate of Boer goat kids was about 11%. All kids which died were one ofa set oftwins. The main causes of mortality were digestion disturbances and mismothering of twin kids within thefirstfew days of life.The mortality rate ofSmall EastAfrican goat lambs was also 11% with the same causes of mortality.Very little attention with regard to feedingis paid to the young stock.They live on their mother's milk and begin to nibble at vegetation from a few days of age. The main problem likely to be encountered is the presence ofworms which can cause serious economic losses. Severe worm infestation (Trichostrongyle, Moniezia)were observed in the young stock and treated successfully with a dose of Wormicid Plus.Femalegoats getan extrafeedingofapproximately 150g Calf Early Weaner Pellets per day. The recorded daily average gain of Boer goat lambs aged 30 days corresponds with the results recorded in South Africa.Table 5 shows that the expected hybrid vigour appears when crossing Boer goats and Small East African goats.Thefirst crossprogeny are superior tothe Small East African goat in the daily average gain and mean masses of lambs aged30 days.There is no doubtthat cross-breedingwillbecome an important and verypopular method in commercial meat goat production. The first results show that the In the annual report of 1961 the Director of VeterinaryServices and Animal Industry reported research results on the crosses of indigenous sheep with the exotic Dorset Horn breed as follows:A study was initiated in 1959 to compare the Ankole Fat-tailed sheep with its Dorset Horn breed cross. Data collected to date would indicate that lambing percentages are maintained and there is a marked improvement in weight gains. Birth weights were heavily in favour of the crossbreds and at 18 months the latter were double the weight of the pure Ankole sheep. However, as so frequently happens in Africa, the net productive gain after mortality was considered rather reversed the picture. Mortality from all causes for the 3-year period of the trial up to 6 months of age was 17.6% in the case ofpure Ankole sheep and 24.1 % for the crossbreds.During 1959, 68.4% of the crossbred sheep died and in 1960 68.2% died. The figure for 1961 was 22.1%.It should be noted, however, that the bulk of the mortality in 1959 and 1960 was due to a toxaemic jaundice of unknown origin. Sheep of about 10 months of age were mainly affected and while some pure Ankole sheep were involved the disease occurred almost entirely in crossbreds. There was very little evidence of the disease in 1961, hence the lower mortality rate of 22.1%. This is but further evidence of the vital role played by disease factors in the upgrading and management programmes in Africa. This study was to be continued and extended to include back-crossing to the Ankole.Some research on imported Toggenburg exotic milk goat and its crosses with Mubende goats was done in the 1960s and 1970s at the Livestock Experimental Station, Entebbe.Both the pure Toggenburg and the crosses of Toggenburg x Mubende goats showed promising results in terms of milk yield: up to 4 kg per goat per day for the pure Toggenburg and 2 kg for the crossbred goats. Furthermore, growth rate and mature weight were improved in crossbreds compared with the indigenous Mubende goats.Today a number of women's non-governmental organisations have introduced the Toggenburg breed and its crosses to Uganda, notably to Kasese and Bushenyi districts in western Uganda.Finally, a comment on Table 1 showing a virtually stagnant census of goats and sheep in the last 60 years 1934-94. This situation poses a challenge to policy makers and policy implementers. It is hoped this conference will discuss and address positively future directions in the breeding, nutrition, animal health, management and economics of small ruminants at the farm and national levels in Uganda as well as in countries represented in this conference.Meanwhile the export market for live goats and sheep in the oil rich Middle East Arab countries appears limitless. It is estimated to be of the order of one million small ruminants per annum. Therein lies the challenge.Sacker CD. and Trail J.C.M. 1966 By singular coincidence, this happens to be my first address to an international African scientific conference on small ruminants since my assumption of additional duties two weeks ago.You are cordially welcome to Uganda, where I understand your mission is to deliberate on Sustainable Small Ruminant Production in Mixed Crop-Livestock Production systems on the African continent. Igatherthat among the areas for discussion are:a) The role of small ruminants in the conservation of ecology and Africa's food security; andb) The role ofwomenin small ruminant development in Africa.Both these topics are central to Africa's environmental crises and gender resource development, the latter ofwhich Iamdirectly respcnsiblefor andwish to be advised more on the logistics.Permit me, however,to share with you mythoughts on the past, present and future challenges we must overcome together in order to promote social and economic progress through sustainable animal agriculture andfoodsecurity.From a historical perspective, the root causes of insufficient livestock research and technology development in Africa are manifestations of misorientation of resources by colonial policies. The relationship between African people and their socio-economic environment,including food resource development, has always been out of balance. The foreign policies, not only destroyed the traditional and sustainable methods of production but alsointroduced new modes ofproduction that stressed cash crops for export and profit rather than conservation of the environmental ecology and providingforfood security.For example:(i) The goat was described as \"'a problem child of African agriculture causing deforestation and soil erosion\".(ii) Cash crops, such as tobacco and cotton have been cultivated in the rainy season in direct competition for family labour to grow food crops and conservingfodder for livestock.(iii) Coffee, rubber, cocoa, palm oil and sugar-cane plantations took away land that could otherwise have been used for food crop and animal agriculture.Distinguished participants, the historical antecedents of the current environmental and food security crises in Africa should not pass unchallenged. Widespread famines on the continent are a consequence ofenclave economies and export economies by foreign agencies. This indeed facilitated the exploitation of natural and human resources in Africa without due attention tothe conservation and regeneration ofthese resources. This is why small ruminants development was sidelined in Uganda during the colonial era. Instead, massive importations of fat slaughter cattle from European settler's farms in Tanzania and beef, butter and milk from Kenya andwhite South Africawas pursued.You may wish to recall from history that our pre-colonial ancestors kept goats and sheep as kingpin domestic livestock species in every home. They were housedin every hut ofan average peasant familyin rural Africa.They were culturally shared among the entire membership ofthe African family andtheir productivity was sustainable.Let me now put it to you, dear distinguished scientists. Is it not paradoxical today, that most of our countries are still submerged in the historical conse quences of almost four centuries of pre-independence domination? Is it not true that this domineering influence is of unequal scientific and economic relationship, which in turn contributes to environmental stresses that affect livestock and food-cropproductivityin Africa?Putting the historical perspective to its rightful conclusion, I am ofthe view that there is hardly any African country today without inherited colonial institution legacies and structures, beitin schools, army, research institutions or government business. Some of these legacies include urban-biased development, instead ofruralfarming infrastructures, and unbalanced export-oriented strategies,instead of sustainable food security programmes.Technological over-dependence, scarcity ofappropriately trained manpower, and paucity of research information about the indigenous resource base, are some of the bottlenecks to Africa's post-independence development, and indeed to the growth of small ruminantproductivity in Africa.The problems which have their roots in the pre-independence era, have today become major constraints to several major aspects of development, Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop especially in the restructuring of the livestock and food-crop production sectors. None ofthese problems, however, are amenable to short-term solutions. What Africa most urgently needs,is to have a strong linkage between training, research and technology-transfer processes. African scientists must provide the information needed to formulate realistic policies and agree on the most appropriate development strategies which would be economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentallysustainable.That way, we can forget the colonialpast.Turning to the present challenges regarding food security, Uganda's average per capita food availability is adequate, although nutritional deficiencies are rampant due toshortages ofanimalprotein sources, such as goat meat, beef, milk, mutton etc. Continent-wise, a perplexing contrast exists between Africa's population growth rate of 3.0 to 40% and an average food production increase rate of0.5to 1% per annum.With a population growth ofthat magnitude,the number ofmouths to feed doubles every20years. For example Africa's human population today isput at 500 million andis expectedto shootupto 1.36billion by the year 2020;that means an extra 800 million mouths to feed.The challenge is how the 400 million small ruminants inAfricawith an average offtake of20% will contribute to animal protein food security sources. Furthermore, what role can sheep and goats play in promoting investment in development of export agriculture (IDEA) after satisfying the national or regional food security needs?With respectto ecologicalconservation in a mixed crop-livestock context, Iurgeyou, scientists, to develop transferable technologies that promote intensive use of animal manure waste and recycling of crop residues, agro-industrial by-products and planted fodder resources. The technologies should be compiled in simple handbooks and training manuals for farmers, instead of hiding them away in incomprehensible and unattainable internationaljournals.I am aware of the bottom-line concern of research scientists. And that is the magnitude of financial resources that African governmentsinvestinto research and especially livestock research.The colonial legacies of promoting cash crops for export led to disproportionate allocation of funds into crop rather than animal agriculture. Today African countries allocate a dis mal 1 % of the AGDP [agricultural gross domestic product] into research. Uganda's investment into research has been until recently a mere 02% of the AGDP. These negligible apportionments are largely utilised for payment of salaries ratherthan procuring equipment and chemicals.This state of affairs must be addressed by governments and donor communities to fully support indigenous scientific and social research programmes.Uganda has addressed this problem seriously and we have put in place a national agricultural research organisation (NARO) with three of its six institutes directly addressing livestock resource programmes. Uganda also collaborates with several international research centres including the recently concluded agreement with ILCA.Before I conclude, let me address the future challenges by pointing out the inevitable: the gender (women) role in livestock research and small ruminant development.The first issue is the training ofwomen as animal and food scientists. I challenge this forum to produce before me an inventory and percentage of women researchers involved in animal agriculture. It is true in Africa that women attendto the chickens, goats, sheep and calves; they also milk cattle, make butter and ghee in predominantly male-owned herds and flocks. Participatory social development dictates that the entire family be involved in the ownership, care and maintenance oftheir resources. It is a motivating factor to own an animal and then care for itswellbeing. Every member ofthe family -man, woman and childshould share in the ownership of small and large stock as a basis for economic emancipation, be it for school fees, taxation, food security or any other family needs.That is why Irecommend, that the best giftto one's wife orone's child's birthday is a cow, goat orachicken. I appealtothe professors andresearchers totrain women scientists and extension workers in animal production.Ifurther urge the Small Ruminant Research Network to focus onthe women human resource as yourpartners in implementing your programmes on the African continent.In conclusion, we in the government of the NationalResistance Movementdoagreethat the paucity of well developed indigenous scientific research capacity contributes to food insecurity and environ mental degradation which is a reflection ofpoverty.Uganda happens to be fortunate in that our agricultural potential is quite high. And with better appropriate scientific knowledge and environmental managementwe shouldbein a position to meet some of the needs of the eastern African region. We have substantial surpluses of grain commodities. We can equally gain surplus in meat supply including live small ruminants for inter-African trade.Finally I would like to commend the SRNET Co-ordinator and his counterpart team in Uganda for their tireless efforts in bringingabout this conference. I also wish to thank the distinguished delegates for devoting much of their time tothe preparations of the scientific papers and for attending this conference, right here in Uganda. I wish all ofyou fruitful deliberations.I have therefore the pleasure to declare this conference officially open.Forgod and my country.Thankyou. Je suis très heureux de me trouveraujourd'huidans cette belle ville de Kampala et je suis certain de partager ce plaisir avec vous.Après Bamenda enjanvier 1989, date de création de notre Réseau, Nairobi en décembre 1990 et Arusha en décembre 1992, nous voici réunisà Kampala dans le cadre de la 3ème Conférence biennale du Réseau africain de recherchesur lespetits ruminants. C'est pour nous l'occasion de faire un bilan du cheminparcouru,et de dégagerpournotre Réseau de nouvelles orientations qui tiennent compte à la fois des contraintes internes et externes à notre système de recherche zootechnique en Afrique.Au cours de ses six années d'existence, le Réseau a essayé d'atteindre les objectifs qui lui ontété assignés. En effet, à travers son approche de recherche concertée qui favorise parconséquent la formationet la circulation de l'information, le Réseau a essayé, d'une part d'améliorer la qualité des recherches entreprisesparses membres et d'autre part, de contribuer à une meilleure coordination de la recherche zootechnique en Afrique.Il a également réussi à susciter une prise de conscience significative de l'importance des petits ruminants sur le continent en réunissant tous les deux ans une masse critique de chercheurs africains appar tenant aux systèmes nationaux de recherche agricole. Cette prise de conscience est développée et renforcée parses diversespublications.Enfin le Réseau a contribué dans une certaine mesure à améliorer les conditions de recherche de quelques centres nationauxde recherche agricole parun apport financier appréciable obtenu auprès des donateurs.L'une des principales conséquences des activités du Réseau sur les systèmes nationaux de recherche agricole, a été le renforcement de leur capacité de recherche, et nous pouvons affirmer que tant que le Réseau africain de recherche sur les petits ruminants disposera de l'appuifinancier nécessaire, il continuera à avoirun impactpositif sur ces systèmes nationaux.L'insuffisance de fonds destinés à la recherche constitue l'une des préoccupations majeures de notre Réseau. Cette situation est générale au niveau du continent africain et des pays en développement. En effet, la plupart de cespays consacrent moins de 0,5% de leur produit intérieur brut (PIB) à la recherche développement alors que les différents forums internationaux tenus sur ce sujet en recommandent au minimum 1%. Cette attitude des Etats à l'égard du financement de la recherche est due surtout à l'absence de politique scientifique et technologique. La recherche n'est pas considérée comme une priorité par les gouvernements africains, en particulier en période de crise économique.En outre, on constate que dans la plupart des centres nationaux de recherche en Afrique,70% à 90% dessubventions allouées sont absorbées par les charges de personnel. Une autre raison de l'insuffisance de financement de la recherche en Afrique est la faiblesse ou l'inexistence dans certains cas de liens entre les institutions nationales de recherche et le secteur productifToutes ces difficultés ont des répercussions négatives sur les performances de nos chercheurs et partant de notre Réseau. Il est parconséquent nécessaire de prendre en compte la dimension nationale dans la résolution des problèmes de financement de larecherche menée en Afrique par les membres de notre Réseau. Chacun d'entre nous, dans la limite de sa sphère de responsabilité au niveau national, doit sensibiliser son gouvernement de façon à ce que la recherche soit intégrée comme élément de la stratégie de dévelop pement national. A cet effet, les mécanismes de financementpublicet privé de la recherche doivent être reVUIS.Il pourra être proposé les recommandations suivantes :1. Allocation des ressources de l'Etat à la recherche agricole sur labase de budgets-programmes adaptés aux besoins pluriannuels des chercheurs, pouvoirs publics et sociétés. La mise en oeuvre de ces mesures permettra d'améliorer la capacité de recherche de nos systèmes nationaux, gage de réussite et de durabilité de notre Réseau.Cependant, construire une capacité scientifique et technologique présuppose une réponse globale au besoin de réformer le financement et la gestion des systèmes nationaux de recherche. A cet égard, il est souhaitable que l'aide des donateurs soit orientée à la fois vers les priorités définies dans lesplans de dévelop pement socio-économique et culturel des pays du sud et vers la création et le soutien des réseaux de recherche régionaux et internationaux. Les donateurs devraient contribuer également au financement des programmes établissant les liens entre les institutions de recherche et le secteur productif, car c'est par le développement économique à travers la prospérité des entreprises que le système de recherche peut bénéficier d'un finan cement durable.Enfin, il faut favoriser le système de prêt d'assistance technique auprès des bailleurs de fonds (Banque mondiale) pour financer la recherche agricole en Afrique.Developing countries are faced with the challenge to rapidly increase agricultural productivity to help feed their growing populations without depleting the natural resource base. Biotechnology is regarded as a means to meet both objectivesthrough addressingtheproduction constraints ofsmall-scale or resource-poorfarmers who contribute more than 70% of the food produced in developing countries.Biotechnology can be defined as any technique that uses living organisms or substances from such organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals or to develop micro-organisms for specific purposes. Biotechnology is not new. Man has used it for thousands of years to manufacture products such as beer, wine and bread. Conventional plant and animal breeding which involves selection and mating of phenotypically preferred individuals is agood example of age-old application of biotechnology.What is new about biotechnology comes from more recent breakthroughs such as recombinant DNA technology and associated techniques, monoclonal antibody techniques,embryo manipulation technology etc.These have enhancedpossibilities for manipulatingbiological systems for the benefit of mankind.Among agricultural and allied fields, animal production and health haveprobablybenefitted the most from biotechnology. But successful application of biotechnology has generally been limitedto developed countries. Specifically, there are hardly any success stories of the application of biotechnology in the improvement of livestock production in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to review available bio technologies with potential application in livestock improvement and to identifythose which have been or maybe applied in developing countriesin general, and Africainparticular. In addition,thepaper gives a \"broad brush\" examination ofpossible reasons for failure of those technologies which have been tried. The paper also presents examples of successful application of biotechnology in Africa and the potential role of biotechnology(both\"old\"and\"new\")in future livestock development in Africa.The paper starts by presenting an overview of biotechnologies with current and/or potential applications in the areas of reproductive physiology, genetics and animal breeding, animal health,physiology of lactation andgrowth and animal nutrition. Given the breadth ofthe topic, notmuch depth isgiven to the review ofeach area. Rather, an attemptis made to highlightthe technologies considered to have current or potential application. The paper concludes with a fleeting coverage of issues concerning the potential environmental hazards of genetic engineering and other biotechnologies, and the need for their ethical Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop Rege evaluation and for an international regulatory mechanism.One of the challenges for genetic improvement is to increase reproduction rates. Several reproduction techniques are available.The commonest ofthese are artificial insemination (AI), embryo transfer and associated technologies. Measurement ofprogesterone in milk or blood which is a widely used technique for monitoring ovarian function and for pregnancytests is also an important technology for managing the reproductive function ofthe animal.No other technology in agriculture, except hybrid seed andfertiliser use, has been sowidely adopted globally as AI. Progress in semen collection and dilution, and cryopreservation techniques now enables a single bull to be used simultaneouslyin several countriesfor up to 100000inseminations ayear (Gibson andSmith 1989). This implies that a very small number oftopbulls can be used to serve a large cattle population. In addition, each bullis able to produce a large number of daughters in agiventime thus enhancing the efficiency of progeny testing of bulls. The high intensity and accuracy of selection arisingfrom AIcan leadtoafour-foldincrease in the rate ofgenetic improvementindairycattle relative to that from natural mating ( Van Vleck 1981) A wider and rapid use of selected males through AI will accelerate the rate of gender improvement.Also, use of AI can reduce transmission of venereal diseases in a population and the need for farmers to maintain their own breeding males, facilitate more accurate recording of pedigree and minimise the cost of introducing improved stock. However, success of AI technology depends on accurate heat detection and timely insemination.The former requires a certain level of experience among farmers while the latter is dependent on good infrastructure, including transport network, and availability of reliable means oftransport.Though AI is widely available in developing countriesit is used far less,particularly in Africa, than in developed countries. Its use has been limited largely to\"'exploratory\"purposes mainly by research institutions. Afew countries including Botswana, Ethiopia,Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan have taken the technology to the field, mostly for programmes of \"'upgrading\" indigenous stock and as a service to a limited number of commercial farmers keeping exotic dairy cattle breeds. A few others have used the technology more widely. Kenya and Zimbabwe, for example, have elaborate AI systems which include national insemination services incorporating progeny testing schemes. However, even these have gone through periods ofcollapse or serious degeneration and have had to go through \"rehabilitation\" phases. The Republic of South Africais probablythe biggestuser of AI technology in terms of number of inseminations.This country also has what is perhaps the best organised progenytestingscheme on the continent. AI technology use is still more generally associated with dairy cattle than other domestic livestock species.The limitations ofAIusein beefcattle includethe difficultyindetectingheatinlarge beefherds kept on ranches and the less frequent handling of individual cows. In sheep and goats the failure to develop a simple, non-surgical insemination procedure hasprevented extensive exploitation ofthe technology in sheep (Robinson and McEvoy 1993). However, the technical success of laparoscopic intra-uterine insemination has prompted research into less invasive transcervical procedures (Halbert etal 1990;Buckrellet al 1992). Also, in Africa, research to improve the freezing-and-thawing properties of sheep semen is underway in the Republic of South Africa. In pigs use of AI is hampered by the inability to successfully cryopreserve boar semen. AI is credited for providing the impetus for many other developments which have had a profound impact on reproductive biotechnology. Foote (1982) noted that studies of oestrus detection and ovulation control which evolved out of a need to correctly time inseminations, led tothe development ofembryo-transfer technology.Although not economicallyfeasible for commercialuse on small farms at present, embryo technology can greatly contribute to research and genetic improvement in local breeds. There are two procedures presently available for production of embryos from donor females.One consists ofsuperovulation, followed by AI and then flushing of the uterus to gather the embryos. The other, called in vitro fertilisation (IVF), consists of recovery of eggs from the ovaries of the female then maturing andfertilising them outside the body until they are ready for implantation into foster females. IVF facilitates recovery of a large number ofembryos from a single female at a reduced cost thus making ET techniques economically feasible on a larger scale. Additionally, IVF makes available embryossuitablefor cloning.The principal benefit of embryo transfer is the possibility to produce several progeny from a female, just as AI can produce many offspringfrom one male.For example the average lifetime production of a cow can be increased from 4 to 25 calves. Increasing the reproductive rate ofselected females has the following benefits: genetically outstandinganimals can contribute more to the breeding programme, particularly iftheir sons are being selected for usein AI;the rate ofgenetic change can be enhanced with specially designed breeding schemes which take advantage of increased intensity offemale selection combined with increased generation turnover; transport of embryos is much cheaper than that of live animals; risk of importing diseases is avoided; facilitates rapid expansion of rare Biotechnology options for improving livestock production but economically important genetic stocks; and the stress to exotic genotypes can be avoided by having them born to dams of local breeds rather than importing them as live animals.Embryo transfer is still not widely used despite its potential benefits. In developing countriesthis ismainly due to absence of the necessary facilities and infrastructure. Even in developed countries, cost considerations still limitthe use of commercial embryo transfer in specialised niches or for a small proportion of best cows in the best herds.Thus,in North America and Europe, only about one out of500 calves borninthe last decade was from ET (Seidel and Seidel 1992). Commercial embryotransferis more popular with cattle than other species. This is mainly because ET is relatively easier in cattle than the otherspecies and also because it is more economical in cattle (i.e. cattle are worthmore).Additionally,thelowreproductive rateand the long generation interval of cattle make ET much more advantageousin cattle.Production of several closely related, and hence genetically similar, individualsthrough ET techniques can make critical contributionsto research. For example aprojectat the InternationalLaboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) to locate the genes responsible for tolerance ofsome cattle populationsto trypanosomiasis required large numbers of closely related crosses of trypanotolerant and trypano susceptible cattle. Use of ET has made it possible to generate suchfamilies thereby facilitating thesearch for genetic markers of trypanotolerance. Additionally, ET could be useful in studying the extent to which a trait is influenced by the embryo (direct component) or the reproductive tract (maternal component).Although embryo sexing may not have dramatic effects on rates of genetic gain (Colleau 1991;Kinghorn et al 1991)it can considerably increase efficiency. Taylor et al (1985) concluded from a study that an all-female heifer systemusing ET was50% more efficient than the highest achievable in a traditional system. It has been suggested that, if multiple sexed-embryo transfer became as routine an operation asAIis,beef operations based on thissystem couldbecome competitivewith pig and poultry production in terms of efficiency of food utilisation.Clones maybe produced by embryo splitting and nuclear transfer (Macmillan and Tervit 1990). These offer the possibility for creating large clone families (Woolliams and Wilmut 1989) from selected superior genotypes which, in turn, can be used to produce commercial clone lines (Smith 1989). However, some studies have concluded that cloningofembryos will not increase rates ofgeneticprogress in the nucleus,butthat it offers considerable advantages in increasing the rate of dissemination of tested superior genotypes in commercial populations (Woolliams 1989). Other potential applications of cloning include efficient evaluation ofgenotype x environment interactions and testing and/or dissemination of transgenics. From a research standpoint, production of identical siblings should, by eliminating variability among animals, greatly reduce the size and hence the cost of experiments.Use of hormonal assays to monitor reproductive function can be rewarding for both research purposes and commercial livestockoperations. Reproduction can also be manipulated using hormonal treatments. But while hormonal treatments have produced desirable results in some studies in Africa (Aboul-Naga et al 1992), lack ofawareness about theiruse and the fact that they are not economically viable under most prevailing production circumstances limit their use. Progesterone and PMSG treatment and immunisation against androstenedione increased ovulation rate in Ossimi sheep.Also, exogenous melatonin treatment of barren Rahmani ewes resulted in increased proportion of ovulatingewes and a higherovulation rate (Aboul-Naga et al 1992).These responses, however, did not resultin increased litter size because of increased ova wastage. Thus, in addition to the impracticability arising from prohibitive prices of hormonal preparations and the problems with hormonal administration at farm level, there are other technicalproblems associated with the use of these technologies. For example, technologies aimed at increasing litter size in traditional small ruminant production systems should not be applied unless management, including nutrition, can be improved in concert to ensure the survival of the additional progeny.Reproduction can also be manipulated without application of exogenous hormones. Aboul-Ela et al (1988) reported that exposing ewes to rams one week prior to mating (\"the ram effect\") increased the percentage of ewes in oestrus (and hence the per cent mated) by 27%. Such management approaches offer practical options for increasing annual lamb (or kid) production in situations where other technologies are either not available or not appropriate. \"Accelerated lambing\"-increasingthe number oflambings peryear -can also be used to increase annual productivity. However, in tropical and subtropical situations where animals dependon seasonally available natural pastures, this practice may not be sustainable. Under such circumstances the reproductive cycle tends to be dictated by availability offeeds.Geneticimprovement oflivestockdepends on accessto genetic variation and effective methods for exploiting this variation. Genetic diversity constitutes a buffer against changes in the environment and is a key in selection and breedingfor adaptability and production on a range of environments.In developed countries, breeding programmes are based upon performance recording and this has led to Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop Rege substantial improvements in animal production. Developing countries have distinct disadvantages for setting up successful breeding programmes : infrastructure needed for performance testing is normally lacking because herd sizes are normally small and variability between farms, farming systems and seasons are large; reproductive efficiency is low, due mainly to poor nutrition, especially in cattle; and communal grazing precludes implementation of systematicbreeding and animal health programmes.Multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET) is a composite technology which includes superovulation, fertilisation, embryo recovery, short-term in vitro culture of embryos, embryo freezing and embryo transfer. Benefits from MOET include increasing the number of offspring produced by valuable females, increasing the population base of rare or endangered breeds or species, ex situ preservation of endangered populations, progeny testing offemales and increasing rates of geneticimprovement in breeding programmes. Genetic improvement of ruminants in developed countries has made much progress in the last 35 or so yearsthrough the use of large-scale progeny testing of males. As has been pointed out, the general failure of extensive use ofAIin developing countries has implied that progeny testing schemes cannot be operated with much success. In any case the generally small herds/flocks and uncontrolled breeding in communal grazing situations preclude implementation ofprogeny testing. Smith (1988a) suggestedthatthe Open Nucleus Breeding System (ONBS) may be especially valuable for developing countries where the use ofAIhas been a failure due to the reasons given above.The ONBS concept is based on a scheme with a nucleus herd/flock established under controlled conditions to facilitate selection. The nucleus is established from the \"best\" animals obtained by screeningthe base (farmers')populationforoutstanding females. These are then recorded individually and the best individuals chosen to form the elite herd/flock of the nucleus. IfETis possible,the elite female herd is used through MOET with superior sires to produce embryoswhichare carriedby recipientfemales fromthe base population.The resulting offspring are reared and recorded and the malesamongthemare evaluated using, as appropriate,the performance oftheirsibsandpatèrnal halfsibsandtheirown performance. Fromthese, an elite group ofmales withhighbreedingvaluesforthespecific trait is selected and used in the base population for genetic improvement through natural service or AI. It should be notedthat,while MOET improvesthe rate of progresssubstantially, itis possible to operate an ONBS without ET technology, especially in species, such as small ruminants, with high reproductive rates. Such schemes are being tried for sheepin West Asiaby FAO (Jasiorowski 1990) and in Africa (Yapi et al 1994).However, availability of AI and ET, in addition to increasing rates ofgeneticgain, enhance the flexibility of the system. For example, germplasm from other populations can be introduced easily through semen and/or embryos. One of the advantages of a nucleus herdis thatitprovides opportunityto recordinformation on more traits thanis possible ina decentralisedprogeny testingscheme.The ONBS can be usedforthe improvement ofan indigenous or exotic breed. It can also be used to improve a stabilised crossbred population.The level of thegenetic response depends on the size of the scheme (that is, number of participating herds/flocks and total number ofanimals) and the selection intensity.An ONBS can initially be developed to form a focus for national sire breeding and selection activities.In time, and with experience, the capacity can be expanded and ET introduced to increase the rate of geneticprogress.At one time it was suggested that application of MOET in nucleus breeding schemes could increase animal geneticgains by 30-80% (Nicholas and Smith 1983). More recently it has been concluded that the earlier figures were over-predictions (Keller etal 1990).The over-predictions arose partly because the assumed average numberofprogeny (eight)perdonorfemalewas unrealistically high and partly because of wrong assumptions made about genetic parameters (Keller et al 1990). The realistic average number of live progeny per donor flushed is in the range of 2-3 in sheep and cattle and 6-8 in goats (Macmillan and Tervit 1990). Consideration ofthese figuressuggest that MOETcould increase annual genetic gains by 10-20% in large nucleus breedingschemes. However, costs ofoperating such schemes in developing countries need to be evaluated before they can be recommended.Indicator traits are characteristics which are genetically correlated to traits of economic importance and are easier to measure than the latter. Suchtraits are usually not the target of genetic improvements but provide an indirect means of improving a targeted trait. Blair et al (1990) reviewed some physiological and/or metabolic characteristics which might be considered as potential indicator traits.Traits such as testicular size in rams or bulls or FSH in ewe lambs (Bodin et al 1986) have potential as indirect predictors offertility. Indicator traits can improve genetic response by increasing accuracy of selection and reducing generation interval.The value ofanindicator trait willdepend largely onthe magnitude ofco-heritability (square-root oftheproduct ofheritability ofthe indicator and ofthetarget trait) and the genetic correlation between the two traits (Woolliams and Smith 1988). Woolliams and Smith (1988) concluded that, with high co-heritability, selectionforthe indicatortraitalone canresultingreater rates of response than ispossible with progeny testing, especially when breeding values are not accurately measured by progeny testing.Packed cell volume (PCV), an indication of the extent ofanaemia,is widely used as anindicatortrait for pathological conditions associated with anaemia. For example, PCV is currently used at ILRAD and ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa) as an indicator of the effect oftrypanosomiasis and hence of trypanotolerance, and at ILCA as an indicator ofeffect ofthe endoparasite Haemonchus contortus and hence as an indicator of resistance to the parasite.Genetic markers and marker-assisted selection Agenetic marker for a trait is a DNA segment which is associated with, and hence segregates in a predictable pattern as, the trait. Genetic markers facilitate the \"tagging\" of individual genes or small chromosome segments containinggeneswhich influence the trait of interest.Availability oflarge numbers ofsuch markers has enhanced the likelihood of detection of major genes influencing quantitative traits. The method involves screening the genome for genes with a large effect on traits of economic importance through a procedure known as linkage analysis (Paterson et al 1988). The chances of major genes existing for most traits of interest, and offinding them are considered to be high (Mackinnon 1992). The process of selection for a particular trait using genetic markers is called marker assisted selection (MAS). MAS can accelerate the rate of genetic progress by increasing accuracy of selection and by reducing the generation interval (Smith and Simpson 1986). However, the benefitofMASisgreatest for traits with low heritability and when the marker explains a largerproportion ofthe geneticvariance than does the economic trait. Lande and Thompson (1990) suggest that about 50% additional genetic gain can be obtained ifthe marker explains 20% of the additive geneticvariance andthe economic traithas aheritability of02. MAS also facilitates increased rate of genetic gain by allowing measurementin young stock thereby reducinggeneration interval.Marker identification and use should enhance futureprospects for breedingforsuch traits astolerance or resistance to environmental stresses, including diseases.Already,identification ofcarriers ofgenesfor resistance and introduction of such genes into a population seems feasible for resistance against Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Haemonchus contortus (Gogolin-Ewens et al 1990). It should also be possible to eliminate factors predisposing sheep to Listeriosis or Salmonellosis (Blancou 1990). There is also evidence fora major gene forresistancetothe cattle tick (Boophilus microplus)in a Hereford x Shorthorn cattle line called Belmont Adaptaur (Kerr et al 1994).Research is currently underway at ILRAD to identify genetic markers for tolerance to African trypano somiasis in N'Dama cattle and at ILCA for resistance to endoparasites in Red Maasai sheep.Atransgenicanimalisan animal whose hereditary DNA has been augmented by addition of DNA from a source other than parental germplasm through recombinant DNA techniques.Transfer ofgenes or gene constructs allows for the manipulation ofindividual genes rather than entire genomes.There has been dramatic advances ingenetransfertechnology in the last two decades since the first successful transfer was carried out in mice in 1980(Palmiter et al 1982;;Jaenisch 1988). The technique has now become routine in the mouse and resulting transgenic mice are able to transmit their transgenes to their offspring thereby allowing a large number of transgenic animals to be produced. Successfulproduction of transgenic livestock has been reported for pigs, sheep, rabbits andcattle.The majority ofgenetransferstudiesin livestock have,however, been carried out in the pig. Although transgenic cattle and sheep have been successfully produced, the procedure is still inefficientinthese species (Niemann et al 1994).Transgenesis offers considerable opportunity for advancesin medicine and agriculture. In livestock,the ability to insert new genes for such economically important characteristics as fecundity, resistance to or tolerance of other environmental stresses would represent a major breakthrough in the breeding of commercially superior stock. Another opportunity that transgenic technology could provide is inthe production of medically important proteins such as insulin and clottingfactors in the milk of domestic livestock.The genes codingfor these proteinshave been identified and the human factor IX construct has been successfully introduced into sheep and expression achievedin sheep milk (Clark et al 1990). Moreover, the founder animal has been shown to be able to transmit the trait to its offspring (Niemann et al 1994).To date, the majority of genes transferred into sheep have been growth hormone encoding gene constructs.Unfortunately, in most cases the elevated growth hormone levels have resulted into a clinicaldiabetes situation leadingtoan early death ofthe transgenic sheep (Rexroad etal 1990).Transgenicsheep have recently been generated which express the visna virus envelope gene (Clements et al 1994).The first reports of the production oftransgenic animals created a lot of excitement among biological scientists. In the field of animal breeding, there were diverse opinions on how the technology might affect livestock genetic improvement programmes. Some (Ward et al 1982) believedthat itwould result in total reorganisation of conventional animal breeding theory while others (Schuman and Shoffner 1982) considered the technology as an extension of current animal breeding procedures which, by broadening the gene pool, would make new and novel genotypes available for selection. Application of the technology in animal improvementisstillfar frombeingachieved. However, consideration needs to be given toits potential role in this field. Smith et al (1987) presented a comprehensive evaluation ofstrategies fordeveloping, testing, breeding and disseminating transgenic livestock in the context of quantitative improvement of economic traits.An important contribution of transgenic technology is in the area ofbasic research to studythe role ofgenes in the control ofphysiological processes. The understanding of the molecular control of life Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop processes hasimportant implications forboth medicine and agriculture. For example,the generation (through mutation ofan endogenous gene) ofan organism which lacks a specific gene is a powerfultooltoinvestigate the function of the gene product. This type of genetic analysis hasbeenfacilitatedbythe availability ofin vitro cultures of embryonic stem cells from mice (Bradley 1994).Recent advances in in vitro technology (in vitro fertilisation and maturation) will increase the number of zygotes available for gene transfer purposes. This, plus the utilisation of embryonic stem cell (Stice et al 1994) and primodial germ cell (Stokes etal 1994)technologies should enhance the efficiency of gene transfer in cattle and sheep considerably.Developing countries are endowed with the majority of the global domestic animal diversity -landraces, strains or breeds. Some livestock breeds in these countries are in immediate danger of loss through indiscriminate crossbreeding with exotic breeds. The importance of indigenous livestock breeds lies in their adaptation to local biotic and abiotic stresses and to traditional husbandry systems. However, most ofthese animal genetic resources are still not characterised and boundaries between distinct populations areunclear. In such cases breeds are defined on the basis of subjective data and information obtained from local communities. Reliance on these criteria as the basis for classification for utilisation and/or conservation may be misleading. Additionally,historicalevidenceis not always accurate, relying as it often does on subjective judgements. Archival research can reveal much about the original type of a breed or strain but it is molecular genetic evidencewhichis factual andprecise. It isin this sphere that biotechnology has an important role.Genetic uniqueness of populations is measuredby the relativegenetic distances of such populations from each other. Polymorphism in gene products such as enzymes, blood group systems and leukocyte antigens which have traditionally been used for measuring genetic distance are being rapidly replaced by polymorphism at the level of DNA, both nuclear (Jeffreys and Morton 1987) and mitochondrial (Loftus et al 1994) as a source of information for the estimation of genetic distances.The first DNA polymorphisms to be usedwidelyforgenome characterisation and analysis were the restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) (Southern 1975) which detect variations ranging from gross rearrangements to single base changes. Minisatellites sequences of 60 or so bases repeated many hundreds or thousands oftimes at one unique locus within the genome have been used to generate DNAfingerprintstypical of individuals within species (Jeffreys and Morton 1987). Microsatellites (Weber andMay 1989) repeats of simple sequences,the commonest being dinucleotide repeats are abundantin genomes of all higher organisms, including livestock.Polymorphism of microsatellites takes the form of variation in the number ofrepeats atany given locusand is generally revealed asfragment length variation in the products of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification ofgenomic DNA using primers flanking the chosen repeatsequence and specificforagiven locus (Kemp and Teale 1991). Ease ofidentification and of sequence determination (Moore et al 1992) and need for only small amounts of DNA, are some ofthe advantages of microsatellites.Additionally, because microsatellite polymorphisms canbe described numerically, they lend themselves to computerised data handlingand analyses (Teale et al 1994). Microsatellites can be used in non-PCR systems in a way similar to minisatellite probes (Haberfeld et al 1991).Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) (Williams et al 1990) has been extensively used for genetic characterisation of a wide range of organisms. The technique uses short (up to 10 bases) primers to amplify nuclear DNA in the PCR. The procedure does not require knowledge ofthe sequence of DNA under study;primers are designed randomly.The basis ofthe polymorphism detected bythis method is that products are eithergenerated in PCR or not.Complete sequencing ofthe genome is the ultimate form of genetic characterisation. Sequencing has traditionally been expensive and laborious,butwiththe advent of automated sequencing this is changing rapidly. However, sequencingis unlikely to be used as a technique of choice for genetic characterisation. Nei and Takezaki (1994) reviewed statistical methods for estimating genetic distances and for constructing phylogenetic trees from DNA sequence data and concluded that different analytical methods may produce different results. Teale et al (1994) commented on what considerations to be made in using DNA polymorphism data for genetic distance estimation and cautioned that great care has to be taken in selectingcharacterisation methods andin interpreting the resulting data.While recognisingthe importance of the uniparental mode of inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in detecting underlying population structure not discernible from analyses of nuclear DNA, Loftus et al (1994) concluded that mitochondrial DNAanalysis may not be sufficient to resolve breed differences within Africa. MacHugh et al (1994) suggested that microsatellite polymorphism may be more suitable when trying to discriminate between closely related populations. Regardless of which method is used, the ultimate goal in genetic characterisation for conservation is to obtain a measure of available diversity.The terms conservation, preservation, ex situ and in situ are used here according tothe definition given by FAO (1992).There are several ways, differing in efficiency, technical feasibility and costs, to conserve animal genetic resources. Developing and utilising a genetic resource is considered the most rational conservation strategy. However, there are cases where ex-situ approaches are the only alternatives. Ex-situ approaches include: maintenance of small populationsin domestic animal zoos; cryopreservation of semen (and ova); cryopreservation ofembryos; andsome combinationsof these. Brem et al (1989) reviewed biotechnologiesfor ex-situ conservation.Cryopreservation of gametes, embryos or DNA segments can be quite an effective and safe approach for breeds or strains whose populations are too smallto be conserved by any other means. The safety of these methods has been demonstrated by background irradiation studies. For example, studies based on irradiation ofmouse embryos exposed to the equivalent ofhundredsofyears ofbackgroundmutation showed no detectable damage (Whittington et al 1977).Regeneration of offspring following transfer of frozen-thawed embryos has been successful for all major domestic species, except the buffalo (Teale et al 1994). In cattle, the transfer offrozen-thawed embryos is now a commercial practice and embryo survival rate afterthawing can be as high as 80% with a pregnancy rate of about 50%. Cryopreservation of oocytes followedby successful fertilisation and live births have been achieved in the mouse. Cryopreserved bovine oocytes have been successfully matured and fertilised in vitro and zygotes developed to blastocyststage (Lim et al 1991). These trends strongly suggest that long-term cryopreservation of mammalian oocytes is possible (Teale et al 1994).Respective pregnancy rates of 58 and 50% for freshandfrozen-thawed in vitroproducedembryos have been reported (Lu et al 1990). Also, calves have been produced from transfer ofboth split and frozen-thawed in vitro produced embryos.Economic aspects ofgenetic conservation in farm animals has been assessed by Brem et al (1984). The study concluded that costs of ex situ live animal conservation was moderate to high while costs of long-term cryopreservation ofgametes were low.Developmentin genetic engineering,cryobiology, cell biology and embryology will provide techniques that may enhance our ability topreserve germplasm in vitro. Techniques such as transfer of DNA within and between species and the production ofviable transgenic animals are far from practical application. However, biotechnology will certainly contribute newer and cheaper methods for preservation such as storage of catalogued DNA.At present, otherthan live animaland embryo preservation, the other techniques do not allow preservation of genomes in a form which can be reactivated in toto at a later stage, but they permit the preservation of individual genes or gene combinations for possible future regeneration.Conservation of indigenous animal genetic resources should be one of the priority livestock development activities for developing countries. The critical importance of these resourcesto their ownersin developing countries need not be emphasised. Their importance to developed countries is also becoming evident as indicated by the increasing importation of tropical germplasm by these countries. It is highly likely that these resources will become of increasing importance to the industrialised countries either as sources of unique genes or when environmental concerns necessitate change in production systems. Developed countries should, thus, assist in the conservation and development of these resources. Technology for cryopreservation ofsemen and embryo is sufficiently developed to be applied in developing countries. What is missing is financial support to implement conservation programmes.Such support has been provided for world-wide conservation activities for plant germplasm. There is also a strong case for support of animal genetic resources conservation.Animal healthSuccessful control of a disease requires accurate diagnosis. This has been greatly improved in recent years through developmentsin biotechnology.The most recent major development,the finding thatit is possible to immortalise individual antibody-producing cells by hybridisation to produce antibodies of a given class, specificity and affinity (i.e. monoclonal antibodies) has provided a tool thatpermits the analysis ofvirtually any antigenic molecule (Kenneth et al 1980). The use of monoclonal antibodies has revealed that the failure of vaccines (e.g. ofrabies)toprovideprotection in all parts ofthe world was due to the diversity in the antigenic composition of the causative virus (Wiktor and Koprowski 1980). The (monoclonal antibody) technology is relatively simple and can readily be appliedin developing countries.Monoclonal antibodies are currently supplied to developing countries directly orinthe form ofkits and simple reagents for completion of the tests (Ferris et al 1988). For example, kits for rinderpest virus diagnosis used in African countries come in this form.The ability togenerate highlyspecific antigens by recombinant DNA techniques has made it possible for anincreasing number ofenzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to have the capacity to differentiate between immune responses generated by vaccination from those due to infection (Robinson and McEvoy 1993). This has made it possible to overcome one of the major drawbacks of antibody detection tests: the fact that, because antibodies can persistin animals for long periods, their presence may not indicate current infection. ILRAD has developed a technique to overcome this problemin diagnosis oftrypanosomiasis. The parasite antigen detection test uses monoclonal antibodies raised in laboratory mice (Nantulya and Lindqvist 1989)to capture the parasite antigens which are then revealed by their reaction with a second layer antibody to which is conjugated an easily detectable enzyme. This test reveals current infections and facilitates differentiation between the major Small RuminantResearch NetworkWorkshop Rege trypanosome species. This has important implications for disease control, especially because ofthe association of different parasite species with different epide miological and disease circumstances.The advent of PCR has enhanced the sensitivity of DNA detection tests considerably. For example, PCR used in combination with hybridisation analysis, has been shown (Brandon et al 1991)to provide a sensitive diagnostic assay to detect bovine leukosisvirus.Other diagnostic techniques include nucleic acid hybridisation (NAD) and restriction endonuclease mapping(REM). As has been indicated above, one of the most valuable features ofthese moleculartechniques is their specificity and sensitivity. Agood example of the specificity of NAD is its application in distinguishing infections caused by peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus from rinderpest (Lefevre and Diallo 1990), diseases whose symptoms are clinically identical and which cannot be distinguished antigenically with available serological reagents. This technique also allows comparison ofvirus isolates from differentgeographical locations. Detailed overview of biotechnological tools for diagnosis of livestock diseases has been provided by Bourne and Bostock (1992) and Robinson and McEvoy (1993).Other available diagnostic techniques which may have application in small ruminants and/or cattle include: nucleic acid probes (NAP) for heartwater (Cowdria ruminantium), chlamydia psitacci, diseases include chemotherapy, vector control, vaccination, slaughter of infected stock, and other management practices (includinggrazing management and controlled stock movements). Vector control requires continuous application of pesticides.These are often unaffordable to farmers in developing country. Moreover, where these drugs or pesticides are used, resistance by parasites is often encountered and reinfection following administration of drugs against parasiticdiseases usually occurs.Additionally, in many cases drugs are not readily available locally. In some cases where they are available, they are ineffective, either because they have been partly preserved or they are notgenuine.Immunisation remains one ofthe most economical means of preventing specific diseases. An effective vaccine can produce long-lasting immunity. In some cases, vaccination can provide lifetime immunity. Moreover a small number ofdoses is usually required for protection. Level of infrastructure and logistical support required for a large-scale vaccination programme is such that a successful vaccination campaign can be implementedin remote rural areas. In general, vaccines offer a substantial benefit for comparatively low cost, a primary consideration for developing countries.Vaccines have conventionally been produced by several methods some of which have become rather static with regard to efficacy, safety, stability and cost. Very effective vaccines against animal diseases such as rinderpestandpig cholera havebeenin use formorethan 20 years and have helped to significantly reduce the incidence of these diseases world-wide. However, vaccines ofquestionable efficacy alsoexist. Impotency, instability, adverse side effects, and reversion of attenuated organisms to wild (disease-causing) forms represent some of the problems. However, research strategies for the development ofbetter, cheaper and safer vaccines are constantly being sought.Through the use of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant DNA technologies, it is now possible to define and produce immunogenic components much more rapidly.These technologies are increasingly being used to clarify the pathogenetic mechanisms and immune response to microbial diseases (Wray and Woodward 1990;McCullough 1993). This should lead to the production of more effective vaccines in the future.To date many candidate vaccines have been produced by these techniques. However, only few of these are being produced commercially. Table 2 summarises some vaccines developed by recombinant DNA technology.There are othervaccines under various stages ofdevelopment.The followingare of particular relevance to small ruminants: recombinant vaccines against Bluetongue and Rift Valley Fever may soon be available for field use (Osburn 1991); a hybrid virus vaccine against Orf (Reid 1989), a thermostable recombinant vaccine against PPR (Lefevre and Diallo 1990)and recombinantvaccines against Taenia ovis and Echinococcus (Blancou 1990); tick gut antigens and Haemonchus gut antigens produced by molecular techniques offer ways for prophylaxis against these parasites. Progress is also being made towards the development of vaccines against Babesiosis and Theileriosis in cattle (Wright 1990)which may indicate prospects for similar immune-prophylaxis becoming available for sheep andgoats as well. Recombinant bovine somatotropin (BST) is a genetically engineered synthetic analog ofthe natural growth hormone (Bauman et al 1985). Since the 1970s there have been a number of studies on the effects of BST on milkyield,reproductive performance and health as wellas its likelyeffect onhumanswho consume such milk. Under good management and feeding, regular BST administration to lactating dairy cows increases milk yield by 15-30% and also increases efficiency of milk production.BST is now readily available and is already in commercial use in the United States. However, the appropriateness ofBST use toincrease milkproduction in the USAis doubtfulas the country already has a milk surplus and the publicis also concernedaboutits effects on health. Indeed, the benefit of BST in the USA is perceived to be towards reducing the production costs of large dairyfarms, but this could push smaller farmers out of the market.The appropriateness of BST use for developing countries is still a matter of debate. Those supporting its introduction argue that its use in commercial dairyfarms couldincreasethenationalmilk output.Those opposedpoint out the fact that BST does notimprove milkyield in indigenous non-dairy breeds andthatitsuse on crossbred and exotic dairy cattlewill require more feeding, and that provision of adequate nutrition is already aproblem for most dairy operations in developing countries.Whether or not BST affects reproductive performance has not yet been conclusively established. Although most reports have indicated nonsignificant effects of BST on reproductive performance, mostsuch studies have been on single lactations;the effect of BST on lifetime productivity needs to be investigated.Some studies (McBride et al 1990;Phipps et al 1990) have shown that feed conversion efficiency declines in subsequent lactations.The study by Phipps et al (1990) also indicated a decline in the incremental amount of milk yield from BST application in subsequent lactations. Additionally, the effect of BST on reproductive performance is likely to be more adverse in the presence of higher biotic and abiotic stresses, including nutritional stresses (Burton et al 1990;Lormore et al 1990). There is also need to examine the economics of BST application in view of the known association of its use with mastitis (Burton et al 1990) and other infections. BST use is thus bound to be associated with increased use of antibiotics and other veterinary drugs.Thus, in evaluating the potential role of BST in developing countries, one needs to consider not only thepossible responselevels ofthe cattlein these countries to BST treatment, but also the cost of BST, the amount and costofotherincremental inputs required for effective use of BST, and the milk prices. Ultimately, the main technical constraint to BST use in developing countrieswill not only be its cost, but the absence ofan efficient delivery system; current use ofthetechnology requires regularinjections.Porcine somatotropin (PST) and recombinant growth hormone stimulatory peptides (e.g. growth hormone releasing factor, GRF) along with BST have been shown to increase growth rates by 8-38% in cattle, sheep and pigs. In almost all cases, administration of exogenousgrowth hormones have been associated with increased carcassprotein and reduced carcass fat (Hart and Johnson 1986). Other growth-promoting agents (e.g. anabolic steroids and beta agonists) have been shown to have even larger effects but public concerns over the possible residual effects in meats have led to their being banned in most developing countries. The use ofanabolic implants is, however, permittedin some countries such as the USA.Nutrition represents one of the mostserious limitations to livestock production in developing countries, especiallyin the tropics. Feed resources are inadequate in both quality and quantity, particularly duringthe dry productivity can be overcome to some extent by several means, amongwhich are:balancing of nutrients for the growthofrumen microfloratherebyfacilitatingefficient fermentative digestion and providing small quantities of by-pass nutrientstobalance the products offermentative digestion, enhancing digestibility of fibrous feeds through treatment with alkali or by manipulating the balance of organisms in the rumen and genetic manipulation of rumen micro-organisms, currently acknowledged as potentiallythe most powerful tool for enhancing the rate and extent ofdigestion oflow quality feeds. Rumen micro-organisms can also be manipulated by adding antibiotics as feed additives, fats to eliminate or reduce rumen ciliate protozoa (defaunation), protein degradation protectors, methane inhibitors, buffer substances, bacteria or rumen content and/or branched chainvolatile fatty acids.Low-qualityforagesare a major component ofruminant diets inthe tropics.Thus, much progress canbe made by improving the forage component of the ration. The characteristicfeature oftropical foragesistheirslowrate ofmicrobial breakdown in the rumen with the result that much ofthe nutrients ofthe feed are voidedinthe faeces. The slow rate of breakdown also results in reduced outflow rate of feed residues from the rumen which consequentlydepresses feedintake.At present, the main treatment methods for foragessuch as cerealstraws are either mechanical (e.g. grinding), physical (e.g. temperature and pressure treatment) or a range of chemical treatments of which sodium hydroxide or ammonia are among the more successful (Greenhalgh 1984).The lignification of the cell walls prevents degradation by cellulase or hemicellulase enzymes. Fortunately, it is possible to use lignase enzyme produced by the soft-rot fungus (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) which causes a high de gree of depolymerisation of lignin (Tien and Kirk 1983).The enzyme acts like a peroxidase and causes cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds. At present the levels of the lignase enzyme produced by the basidiomycete fungi are insufficient for the treatment of straw on a commercial scale. However, it is conceivable that the use of recombinant DNA engineering techniques will allowthe modification ofthelignase genes andassociate proteins to increase their efficiency and stability.The ligningene hasto date been cloned and sequenced from P. chrysosporium (Zhangetal 1986;TienandTu 1987) Improving nutritive value of cereals Moderate protein content and low amounts of specific aminoacids limitthe nutritive value ofcereals and cereal by-products (e.g.barleyis low in lysine and threonine). This is a major limitation in the ration formulation for Anti-nutritive factors in plant tissues include protease inhibitors, tannins, phytohaemagglutinins and cyanogens in legumes, and glucosinolates,tannins and sanapine in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and other compounds infeedsbelongingtothe Brassica group.As withaminoacid deficiencies, the adverse effects ofthese compounds are more marked in non-ruminants than in ruminants (Chubb 1983). Conventional plant breeding has been used to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate such anti-nutritive factors. An example is the introduction of cultivars ofoilseed rape which are low in, or free from erucic acid and glucosinolates. A combination of genetic engineering and conventional plant breeding should lead to substantial reduction or removal of the major anti-nutritive factors in plant species of importance as animal feeds.Transgenic rumen microbes (see below)couldalso play a role in the detoxification ofplantpoisons (Gregg 1989) or inactivation of antinutritional factors.obtained in Hawaii into the bovine rumen in Australia to detoxify 3-hydroxy 4(IH) pyridine (34 DHP), a breakdown product of the non-protein amino acid mimosine found in Leucaena forage (Jones and Megarrity 1986) demonstrates the possibilities.The conservation of plant material as silage depends upon anaerobic fermentation ofsugars in the material which in turn is influenced by the ability of naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria to grow rapidly on the available nutrients under the existing physical environment. Unless the ensiled material is sterilised, lactic acid bacteria are always present. However, the ensiling conditions may not always be ideal for their development. In addition to the number and type of bacteria, other interrelated factors may affect quality of silage, including availability of water-soluble carbohydrates, the dry-matter content,thepHand extent of air exclusion. For example, lack of water-soluble carbohydrates maybe overcome bywilting the material to raise the dry matter to a level at which less acid is required to stabilisethe fermentation.Theavailability of sugars in the materialand the rate at whichthe different micro-organisms multiply also influences the ensilage process.Throughout this century, research workers have investigated ways through which the fermentation process in silage making can be controlled in order to improve the feeding quality ofthe resulting silage.Use of additives, to restrict the activity of the micro organisms, to stimulate the fermentation by the lactic acid bacteria or simply as nutrients has been one of the approaches.Additivesusedin the early studiesincluded chloroform, toluene and cresol (to inhibit bacterial growth) and sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid (to reduce the pH). Indeed, over the last 40 to 50years, corrosive, acid-containing additives have been widely used in silage making. Other fermentation inhibitors which have been studied include organic acids,salts of acids, formaldehyde and other aldehydes, sodium hydroxide, and antibiotics. Of these, formic acid is probablythe most widelystudied andhas been reported to have a beneficial effect on the fermentation process and on the nutritive value of silage. Sulphuric acid is cheaper than formic acid and is popular in some countries. However, acids are a hazard on the farm and can be particularly dangerous if recommended to uninformed farmers. Salts of acids are safer to handle but are less effective than the acidsfrom which theyare derived.The hazardous nature of some of the chemical additives has necessitated a search for alternative compounds for improvingthe ensilageprocess. A group of compounds classified as fermentation stimulants have been widely studied.These include sugarsources (e.g. molasses and whey), enzymes andinocula of lactic acid bacteria. Molasses is of particular relevance to smallholder farmers in developing countries in the tropics where sugar-cane is produced and processed. Enzymes are essential for the breakdown of cell-wall carbohydrates to release the sugars necessary for the growth of the lactic acid bacteria. Although resident plant-enzymes and acid hydrolysis produce simple sugars from these carbohydrates, addition of enzymes derived from certain bacteria, e.g.Aspergillus niger or Trichoderma viridi (Henderson and McDonald 1977;Henderson et al 1982)increases the amount ofavailable sugars. Commercial hemicellulase and cellulase enzyme cocktails are now available and improve the fermentation process considerably (Hooper et al 1989). However, prices of these products preclude their viability for farm level application, especially in developing countries.There are two forms of indigenous lactic acid bacteria: the homofermentative type which converts hexose sugars to lactic acidwith no loss of dry matter andthe heterofermentative typewhich producesa range of compounds accompanied by loss of dry matter as carbon dioxide. Thus, the native bacteria are not the and Streptococcus thermophilus. In general, the results with bacterial inoculants have been quite variable. However,with an effective product, it is possible to improve the fermentation of low dry-matter silages and to enhance the efficiency oftheir utilisation.In order toimprove the effectiveness ofmicrobial inoculants in breaking down structural carbohydrates to glucose, detailed knowledge of the lactobacilli bacteria is essential.Work alreadyundertaken on the molecular biology of Lactobacillus plantarum and other species (Armstrong and Gilbert 1991) suggest that the rapid progress in this area will make itpossible to construct novel genes encoding highly active fibre-degrading enzymes.Such genes couldthen be insertedinto strains of L.plantarum.Successful silage making incorporating these technologies can onlybe achieved with strict adherence to recommendedapplicationprocedures, includingrates ofadditives, inoculants etc.This technology is available in most developing regions including Africa. However, itis not fully exploited. Indeed,in Africasilage making is still generally restricted to large-scale commercial farms.Improving rumen function Armstrong and Gilbert (1985)and Forsberg et al(1986) have reviewed the major areas ofrumen function which might benefit from transgenic technology. These include development of transgenic bacteria with enhanced cellulotic activity, capability to cleave lignohemicellulose complexes, reduced methane production capability decreased proteolytic and/or deaminase activities, increased capability for nitrogen \"fixation\"and increased ability formicrobialproduction of specific amino acids.The first successful transfer of foreign genes into rumen bacteria (Bacteriodes ruminicola)was reported byThomson and Flint (1989). However, we are still a long way from commercial production ofgenetically engineered rumen bacteria.Although several workers have isolated genes encoding plant structural carbohydrate-degrading enzymes from rumen bacteria,there are limited reports (Hespell and Whitehead 1990) on the genetic engineering of these microorganisms. In contrast to conditions in which single species of organisms are grown in controlled environments and where the energy supply is usually in excess of demand, the rumen environment is very complex, competition between different microbial species is intense and energy is usually the limitinggrowth factor (Russell and Wilson 1988). This is probably the main reason why reintroduction of genetically modified rumen bacteria into their natural habitat has met with variable success (Flint et al 1989). Advances being made in transformation methods for obligate anaerobic bacteria willcertainly resultin successful genetic engineeringof a range ofrumen bacteria. However, it is not possibleto predict if any of these bacteria will be capable of colonising the rumen.It can be concluded thatthere are several potential opportunities for improving the efficiency of ruminant digestion and possibilities for utilising a wider range of  Sources: Adapted (with additions) from Cunningham (1990); Doyle and Spradbrow (1990).expertise and relevant research capacity is gettingwider and motivatedscientistsfrom developing countries with the expertise to carry out sophisticated research are optingtoworkin laboratoriesinindustrialised countries.Another justification for local capacity in biotechnology researchisto provide a home for orphan commodities. From biotechnology research standpoint, an orphan commodity may be defined as a commodity in which there is or is likely to be little or no investment in modern biotechnology in industrialised countries either because the commodity is not important in temperate areas or because there are no likelyprofits for transnational companies.Thus an orphan commodity is not necessarily a small commodity. Banana, plantain, cassava, coconut and tropical fruits are examples of orphan crops (Persley 1990). Most African indigenous animals, especially chickens,pigs and goats probably fall in this category although some basic research on these species inthe developed countries may benefitthe African populations as well. There is thus a need for biotechnology research capacity for problems that may be unique to developing countries. Persley (1990) suggested the establishment of a special funding mechanism to provide supportfor research on orphan commodities by public and private sector institutions in industrialised and developing countries.The case of artificial insemination One of the reasons why technologies developed in the industrialised countries tendnotto be implementedwith much success in developing countries is the failure to recognise the importance of adapting technology to local conditions. AI is a good example. Where AI technology has been adopted in Africa, not much consideration has been given to adapting it to the circumstances in which it is to be applied to ensure sustainability. Instead, AI uses have been based on sophisticated models intended for countries with good communication and transport systems and with adequate and reliable operating budgets. Such AI use programmes have often collapsed and have had to go through several phases of foreign-aid-supported \"rehabilitations\" and, in some cases, have eventually collapsed. Government subsidies of the AI system are considered to be another main cause of failure of AI in developing countries. Privatisation of the services may change the situation. For example, in some ofthese countries, the concept offarmer co-operatives is well developed and applied for specific cash crops or milk marketing. AI could easily be run by co-operatives organisedinschemes inwhichfarmers are \"grouped\" on the basis of such factors as transport requirements and similarity ofsystems ofproduction.Semen can easilybe delivered over short distances by motorbikes,bicycles, horses, donkeys etc.Under such circumstances, use of fresh semen collected from bulls belonging to the co-operative could be considered.Thiswould eliminate the cost offreezing semen.Such schemes would make it easier to match genotypes to production systems within a country. Indeed, such a scheme could form the basis for the genetic improvement of localised indigenous breeds.Embryo transfer (ET) could have a major impact on cattle breeding in developing countries (Cunningham 1990) especially as part of a nucleus breeding scheme (Smith 1988b). However, successful ET requires highly motivated, experienced staff and a high capital investment in facilities, equipment and drugs.In general, the inappropriateness of ET for developing countries is ascribed to lack of infra structure. However, in some instances, ET represents a solution to a lack of infrastructure.Thus, establishment of multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET) is considered an attractive means ofgenetic improvement whereinfrastructure forprogenytesting is not available.Most developing countries have limited financial resources. In addition, equipment and supplies tend to be more expensive than theyare in developed countries due to transportation costs, importtariffs, lack of hard currency etc.These make ET technology prohibitive in these countries. However, it is possible to adapt ET techniquesto local conditions therebyreducingthe cost. Seidel and Seidel (1992) pointed out that a lot of the fancy equipmentassociated with ET are notessential for successful utilisation ofthe technology. For example, fancyfreezingequipment are nomore effectivethan dry ice/alcohol baths for freezing embryos as these save labour and are more convenient. Similarly,filters are not essential for isolation of embryos, neither are disposable sterile syringes and fancy plastic dishes. Thus,by combining good imagination with knowledge of basic principles, the technology can be successfully adapted to local conditions. Therefore research, especially ofan applied nature,on suchtechnologies by institutions in developing countries is always justified and often essential. Moreover, researchers need to be exposed to newtechnologiesorprocedures to appreciate thepower and limitations ofsuch technologies.There is much euphoria about developments in biotechnology and potential benefits, but little is said about the risks associated with biotechnology. For example genetically modified organisms could create ecological disaster if released into the environment.Biosafetyis, therefore, an issue of great concern for many developing countries. In a recent (June 1994) meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992), representatives of developing countries pointed outthat biotechnology was evolving more rapidly than the capacity of their countries to install effective safety procedures for the handling and use of living modified Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop Rege organisms and that there was need for adequate and transparent safety procedures tomanage and controlthe risks associated with the use and release of such organisms.To deal with the basic ethical questions and the risks associated withgenetic engineering, regulatory mechanisms should be created and internationally acceptable guidelines or regulations putin place.The political and regulatory processes affecting biotechnology and its products must draw upon professional competence of the highest standard. In general, however, developed countries are lukewarm to the idea of a legally binding international protocol on biosafety, possibly because itis a heavy responsibility with potentially massive cost implications for the technology-rich countries. However, biosafety is an issue which must be addressed sooner than later.Wright I. G. 1990. Immunodiagnosis of, and immuno prophylaxis against the haemoparasites Babesia spp and Anaplasma sppin domestic animals. Revue Scientifique et Technique de l'Office International des Epizooties sont aujourd'hui devenues une réalité et s'intègrent progressivement dans les programmes de recherche développement des pays en développement. La biotechnologie offre despossibilités jusque-làinégalées d'accroissement de la productivité agricole et de protection de l'environnement grâce à un recul de l'utilisation des produits agro-chimiques. De nos jours, les efforts de recherche biotechnologique visent surtout à résoudre les problèmes immédiats des pays industrialisés grâce à des investissements dus pour l'essentiel aux sociétés transnationales. Toutefois, nombreux sont les nouvelles découvertes et les nouveaux produits dont les principaux débouchés seront dans les pays en développement, lesquels offrent de meilleures potentialités d'amélioration de la produc tivité agricole et de la santé animale. C'est seulement maintenant que les dirigeants de ces pays ont commencé à accepter l'importance et l'utilité de la biotechnologie. Etant donné la crise économique, lesgraves difficultés de trésorerie, les bouleversements sociaux et l'instabilité politique permanente que connaissent ces pays, l'introduction de changements de politique majeurs comporte des risques extrêmement sérieux. Cette communication examine les biotechnologies à applications potentielles en élevage et identifie celles qui ont déjà été utilisées ou pourraient l'être dans les pays en développement en général et en Afrique en particulier. Elle passe en revue les applications de la biotechnologie à lagénétique età la sélection animales, y compris la conservation des ressources génétiques, la santé animale, la physiologie de la lactation et de la L'hypothèse selon laquelle la sélection basée sur le poids du bélier permet d'accroître la croissance des ovins Djallonké, nepouvait être vérifiée aprèsplusieurs années de sélection, étant donné qu'une population témoin n'avait pas été établie. L'objectif de la présente étude est donc de mesurerl'impact de la sélection, basée sur le poids des béliers, sur la productivité par la comparaison des performances de croissance des descendants de béliers sélectionnés et non sélectionnés (tout-venant).Deux cent (200) brebis n'ayant subi aucune sélection ont été achetées et réparties en 10 lots de 20 animaux pourune monte naturelle de 45jours, après une période de quarantaine auCentre national ovin (CNO) de Béoumi. Les montes se sont déroulées du 12juillet au 27 août 1994. Cinq lots ont reçu des béliers sélectionnés du Programme national de sélection ovine (PNSO); les autres lots, des béliers non sélectionnés ou \"tout venant\". Les animaux étaient conduits sur du pâturage cultivé de Panicum avant le sevrage puis sur un pâturage mixte de Panicum et de savane naturelle après le sevrage et recevaient une complémentation de 210 à 240g/jour par animal.Celle-ciétaitcomposée de 30% de tourteau de coton et de 70% de son de blé. Les agnelages se sont déroulés pendant la période du 6 décembre 1993 au 21 janvier 1994. Les agneaux nés vivants ont été pesés à la naissance puis mensuel lement. Différents poids à âge type ainsi que lesgains moyens quotidiens (GMQ) ont été déterminés.Ce sont les poids à la naissance (PN), à 30(P30),80(P80) et 180 jours (P180) et les GMQ de la naissance à 30 jours (0-30), de 30 à 80 jours (30-80) et de 80 à 180 jours . Une analyse de variance sur les différents poidsà âge type et les GMQ a été effectuée en utilisant laméthode des moindres carrés de Harvey(1988). Cette analyse prenait en compte le sexe, le mode de naissance de l'agneau, le type génétique du bélier(sélectionné ou tout-venant), les interactions du sexe et du mode de naissance avec letypegénétique et la régression linéaire dupoids de la brebis mesuré avant les accouplements.Sur les200brebis misesà lamonte,172 ontagnelé ou avorté; ce qui correspond à une fertilité de 86%. Quinze des brebis ont agnelé avant ou peu après la monte; ces résultats n'ontpas étépris en compte dans les analyses.Treize ont avorté et 4 ont eu des mort-nés. La prolificitéétait de 1,05Les poids à âge type et les GMQ ont porté sur 147 agneaux. Les résultats de l'analyse de variance sur les poids sont présentés au tableau 1 et ceux relatifs aux GMQ autableau 2. Le sexe et le mode de naissance des agneaux ont eu des effets très significatifs sur les poids aux différents âges (tableau 1). Le type génétique des béliers n'avait aucuneffet sur les poids deleurs agneaux, sauf sur le poids à 80 jours. L'interaction du mode de naissance avec le type génétique a eu une influence modérée (p<005) sur les poids à 80 et 180 jours. Le poids à la naissance n'a été affecté de manière significative par aucun des facteurs de variation considérés (tableau 1).De même que sur les poids à divers âges types, les effets du sexe,du mode de naissance et la régression du poids de la brebis étaientimportants sur les GMQàdes seuils de probabilité de 1 à 5% (tableau 2). Le type génétique et son interaction avec le sexe et le mode de naissance de l'agneau onteuun effetimportant(P<005) surleGMQde30à80jours (tableau 2). D'une manière générale, la descendance des béliers sélectionnés a eu des poids supérieurs à celle des béliers tout-venant (tableau 3). A 30, 80, et 180 jours, elle avait respectivement en moyenne 300,800et500g de plus, ce qui correspond à des gains génétiques de 5,6%,9,3% et 3,5% qui sont relativement faibles par rapport au taux de 15% rapporté par Fogarty (1994) pour le poids au sevrage d'agneaux enpays tempéré. Sakul et al. (1994) attribuent le modeste progrès génétique à une alimentation inadéquate. La supériorité de la descendance des bélierssélectionnés a été d'autantplus accentuée que les doubles surpassaient leurs congénères issus des béliers tout-venant de 600, 1900 et 1600g respectivement à 30, 80 et 180 jours (tableau 3). Les agneaux simples des béliers tout-venant étaient plus lourds que ceux des béliers sélectionnés, mais les différences n'étaient pas statistiquement significatives. Les tendances observées au niveau des poids entre agneaux de béliers sélectionnés et agneaux de béliers tout-venant sont les mêmes que pour les GMQ (tableau 4). Les agneaux nés de béliers sélectionnés avaient un gain de poids de9 et 10g/j de plus que ceux Genetic type and its interaction with lamb sex and birth type had an important effect(P<005) on dailyweight gain between 30 and 80 days.On average, lambs from selected rams were 300, 800 and 500 g heavier than lambs from non-selected rams at 30,80 and 180days, respectively.This was equivalentto an average genetic gain of56,93 and35%, respectively. From birthto30 days andfrom 30 to 80 days ofage, dailyweight gains oflambsfrom selected rams were respectively 9 and 10 ghigherthan those oflambsfrom unselected rams.This represented a genetic gain of 78 and 156%, res pectively, compared to average daily weight gains of lambs from unselected rams.Genetic improvement of the small ruminants is imperative consideringthe improvement in productivity that has been achieved by changes in management practices. VanVlaenderen(1989), Adu et al (1988) and Odubote(1992), amongotherworkers, have reported on theseimproved performances.In order to optimise gains from environmental influences, genetic parameters and attributes of the animals for economic traits should be appraised regularly soas to enablebreeders to determine the breeding tools of choice.To date only limited published reports (Odubote 1992)have estimatedgenetic propertiesfor metrictraits in goat populations reared in tropical and subtropical environments. Specifically, heritability and repea tability estimates are lacking forthe Nigerian breeds of goat except for the earlier reports of Odubote and Akinokun (1992) on the West African Dwarf(WAD) goat and Adu et al (1979) on the Red Sokoto goat. Due to the availability ofmore records,itbecame necessary to reappraise the genetic attributes ofthe WAD goat population.Records of587 kiddings from WAD goat matings of 11 sires to 163 does between 1982 and 1991 were used for this study.The goats were kept at the GoatUnit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching and Research Farm, Ile-Ife, in the humid tropics of Nigeria. The rainfall pattern is bimodal averaging 1205mm per year.The history and management of the flock have been reported by Odubote (1992). The goats were kept underzero grazing management and stallfed twice daily on a diet consisting of Panicum maximum, Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia sepium.Concentrateswere also fed when available. The health care package included dipping, deworming and annual vaccination againstpeste des petits ruminants (PPR). Animals were treated for pneumonia and diarrhoea when infection occurred. Mating was controlled and inbreeding was avoided in the herd.The data were analysed by the General Linear Model (SAS 1986)usingmixed modelstodetermine the effects of the n\" doe of the m\" mated to the l\" sire, producing k\" litter size in the j\" season of the i\" year on litter size at birth and kiddinginterval.Significant differences between means were determined using Duncan's New Multiple Range Test (Steel and Torrie 1980). The data were adjusted for significant environmental effectsbefore estimatingthe geneticvariance components.The variance components were calculated using sire, dam and combined sire-dam groups according to the method of Becker (1968). Standard errors forthe estimateswere computed as described by Falconer (1981).The least squares means for kidding interval and litter size at birth areprovidedinTable 1.Thepartitioning of the variance components and estimates of heritability and repeatability are shownin Table 2 Kidding intervalThe kiddinginterval ranged from 187to478 days.Mean kidding interval was considerably high. This may be probably due to the transfer of does for other experimental purposes and the control of mating schedule.Highkiddingintervalhas beenassociated with controlled mating and confinement (Wilson et al 1989). The results suggest that kidding interval is highly influenced by management restrictions.Some cases ofrepeat breeders and abortions were observed intheflock.There was a significant decrease in the kiddinginterval fromthefifth parity.The trend of the effect of type of birth and year of birth on kidding interval is not clear.There was, however, a decrease in the kidding interval from 1985 onwards.This may be traced to changes in management practices such as culling of does for poor productivity.The repeatability estimates of 0. 06E0.04 and 004t002 obtained for kidding interval are low but not significantly different from those reported earlier by Odubote and Akinokun (1992). Also there was no difference in the estimates usingthe two approaches of computation. The estimate of heritability could not be done because of the negative sire component of variance.Contrarytoan earlierreporton the same flock (Odubote et al 1993), quadruplets were observed in the present study.The birth ratio was 37:53:9:1 for singles,twins, triplets and quadruplets, respectively. Mean litter size compared favourably with the earlier reports for the WAD breed (Adu et al 1988;Odubote and Akinokun 1992). Meanswithin each class and in each column with different superscripts differ significantly (P<005). SE = standard error of the mean.Reproductive performance of West African Dwarf goats Littersize at birthtended toimproveover theyears and with parity (P<005). This may be due to the efficiency ofreproduction asthe doe matures (Levasseur and Thibault 1980). Secondly, since 1987, the management systempermittedthe culling of does with small litters which may partially account for the significant increase in litter size.The heritability estimates of 0.35E005 and 0.32-E007 obtained for litter size at birth were higher than the earlier estimate of028 (Odubote 1992)for the same flock. The estimates were also higher than estimates reported (Adu et al 1979), Ricordeau (1981) and Wilson (1989)for other breeds ofgoats.The extent to which observed differences in a trait are heritable is indicative of the magnitude of expected response to selection.Thus,selectionwould leadto higher litter size at birth. However, this calls for caution (for the WAD goat) as this may lead to a higher incidence of triplets and quadruplets.The benefit of the incidence oftriplets andquadruplets shouldbe evaluatedin terms ofsurvival of the kids, dystocia in the does, effect on kidding intervalandbodyweight ofthe kidatbirth. Inthe present study, noproblemswere observed tobe associated with multiple birthin the flock.The repeatability estimates obtainedfor litter size were (0.38--0.05 and 0.33+003. As a result of the moderate repeatability estimates asingle record ofa doe can be taken as a fair assessment of its potential. Systematic culling ofunproductive animals may be the most important management practice to increase the littersize atbirth.Alsobreedingmales from parents with poorfertility shouldbe avoided since effect ofstudbuck was observed to be significant (P<005). Estimates of genetic parameters for extensively managed goat population are still required.Efforts shouldbe made to reduce the kiddinginterval by changes in management restrictions especially re-breeding interval. Not much reliance can be placed on two subsequent kidding records for cullingpurposes.More records shouldthus be collected before deciding on culling levelsfor unproductive does.  1992). The widespread occurrence of infection with internal parasitesingrazing animals, the associated loss of production, the costs of anthelmintics and death of infected animals are some of the major concerns.There are also increasing environmental concerns which may influence anthelmintic usage through consumer demand for animal products and pastures free of chemical residues.Current control methods for internal parasites outside Africa focus on reducing contamination of pastures through anthelmintic treatment and/or controlled grazing. In Africa, these control methods are limitedby the high cost of anthelmintics,their uncertain availability, increasing frequency ofdrug resistanceand limited scope in many communal pastoral systemsfor controlled grazing (Waller 1991;Mwamachiet al 1995; Tembely et al this conference). It appears unlikely that new broad-spectrum anthelmintics will be available in the near future because of the major costs associated with the development ofnew products, and to date only a few commercial vaccines are available including the lungworm-irradiated vaccine.Alternative approaches to controlinternalparasites arethereforebeing considered. One such approachisutilisation ofhostgeneticvariation for resistance.Evidence ofgenetic variation in sheep and goats for resistance to or tolerance of gastro-intestinal nematodes was first documented 40-50 years ago and this subject has been comprehensively reviewed by Gray (1991), Gray and Woolaston (1991), Baker et al (1992) and Gray et al (1995). The best documented examples of sheep breeds showing resistance to endoparasites in Africa are the Red Maasai sheepin East Africa andthe Djallonké sheepinWest Africa (Preston and Allonby 1978;Preston and Allonby 1979;Baker et al 1993;Baker et al 1994;Baker 1995).There are about 23 million sheep and 17 million goats in Ethiopia (FAO 1987). Three-quarters of the national sheep flock is located in the highland regions which receive more than 700mm ofrainfall peryear and accommodate three-quarters ofthe human population. Gebrekiros Asegede (1990)  The Debre Birhan experiment station is located in the central Ethiopian highlands about 120 km NE of Addis Ababa at an altitude of 2780 m above sea level. The climate is characterised by a long rainy season (July-September), a short rainy season (February March) and an extended dry season (October February). Annual rainfall averages 920 mm. Air temperatures range from a near freezing low of24'Cin November to233'CinJune.The pasture at the station is dominated by Andropogon grass (Andropogon longipes)with variable proportions ofTrifolium spp. A detailed presentation of relevant epidemiological data, including predominant parasites at the experimental station is reported elsewhere (Tembely et al this proceedings).Menz (indigeneous to the study area) and Horro (introduced from a slightly lower highland area) ewes wereoestrous synchronised withprogestron spongesleft in place for 10to 12 days to permit for dry and wet season lambings.Single sire mating occurred in night pens for 30 days and ewes were allowed to graze together duringthe day.After mating, all ewes received concentrate supplement (200g/head per day). Female lambs were separated from the male lambs after weaning,but exposedto the same grazing paddocksin a rotational grazing system until the end of the experimentat the age of12months.The matingschedule used toproduce the lamb crops analysed ispresented in Table 1. Grazing management and health intervention programmes are describedelsewhere (Tembelyetalthis conference).Live weightswere recordedon alllambsat birth (BWT) and at weaning(WWT)at3-4 months ofage.Blood and faecal samples were collectedfrom all lambs at 1 and2 months of age and at weaning. Packed red cellvolume (PCV)was determined using a haematocrit centrifuge. Faecal egg counts (FEC) were analysed using the modified McMaster method (MAFF 1977). Additionally,faecal sampleswere bulked by breed and sex and cultured for larvae identification (Hansen and Perry 1990). Though FEC and PCV measurements were taken on all lambs at 1 and 2 months of age and at weaning (at 3 months of age), onlythe data on weaners is reported in this paper. Individual lambs with FEC greater than 2000 eggs pergram (epg) and/or PCVless than 15% at the 2-month samplingwere drenched.Analyses of fixed effects were performed by least squares (Harvey 1990). The fixed effects model fitted included lamb breed (Menz and Horro), lambing group (3 levels), lambsex (male and female), lambbirth type (single ortwin born), dam parity(first, second and later) and the interaction of breed and lambing group. In preliminary analyses, parity was only significant for BWT and WWT and was excluded from subsequent models for the other traits. Birth date was included in the modelas a linear covariate when analysing BWT. Lamb age was included as a linear covariate when analysing WWT, PCV and FEC. Preliminary analyses identified that most other first-order interactions were not significant (P>005), except for birth type x parity for WWT and lamb age x lambing group for WWT and FEC. Survival from birth to weaning was analysed as a binomial variable (0 = dead, 1=alive) with the same fixed effect model as for the other traits but with no covariate or dam parity effect in the model. FEC was analysed both as an untransformed variable and using a logarithm transformation, loge (FEC+10),to normalise the distribution of this trait.Heritabilities were estimated by Restricted Maxi mum Likelihood (REML) using an animal model applying the DFREML software of Meyer (1991) and c) For each breed eight new ramswere introduced and three previous ones (groups l and 2) retained.Genetic resistance in Ethiopian highland lambs fitting the significant fixed effects identified in the fixed model analyses ofvariance.Tests of significancefrom analyses of variance, overall means and residual standard deviations for the six traits analysed are presentedinTable 2. Differences between breeds and lambing groups were significant (P)for all traits analysed, and, with the exception of BWT, the interaction of breed by lambing group was also significant(P).The skewed, non-normal distribution of FEC is clearly reflected in the high coefficient of variation (CV)of 11 1%whichis reducedto23.5% when the logarithm transformation is applied(i.e. LFEC).The least squares means for breed, lambinggroup and the interaction of breed by lambing group are presented in Table 3. Horro lambs were heavier at birth and weaning, had lower PCV, higher LFEC and lower Table2 Analysis ofvariance, overallmean, residual standard deviation and coefficient ofvariation (CV)for birth weight (BWT)weaning weight (WWT), packed cell volume (PCV), faecal egg count (FEC), logarithm transformed FEC(LFEC) and lamb survival from birth to weaning (SURV)  survival from birth to weaning. Compared to the two lamb crops whichwere born at the beginning of the dry season (groups 1 and 3), the wet season lambing (June/July 1993)produced heavier lambs at birth and weaning and had the highestsurvival rate from birth to weaning. However, in terms of the parasitological parameters at weaning, the group 2 lambs had the highest LFEC and an intermediate PCV.There was a significant (P)interaction ofbreedby lambing group for all traits except BWT (Table 3). For lamb survival, WWT and PCV the interaction was manifested by a changein the magnitude of differences between the breeds in different lambing groups rather than any change in breed ranking. For example, the considerably higher PCV of the Menz compared to the Horro lambs in the first lambing group (4.3%) declined to 1.9% and 1.1% in the second and third lambing groups, respectively. For LFEC the breed ranking changed in different lambing groups, with the Menz having higher FEC than the Horro lambs in the first lambinggroupandthe reverse beingthe caseinthe other two lambing groups.Analysis offaecal samples ofthe lambs born in the dry season (groups 1 and 3)at day 60 showed a low egg count whereas packed cell volume was within the normal range. Faecalculture from lambs bornin the wet season(group2)showedthatthe predominant nematode species included Ostertagia trifurcata (54%), Tricho strongylus colubriformis (28%) and Haemonchus contortus (18%).Heritability estimates for BWT, WWT, PCV and LFEC are presented in Table 4. For both BWT and WWT there was significant additive genetic maternal variance.Table 4 Heritabilities\" for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), packed cell volume (PCV) and logarithm transformedfaecal egg count(LFEC).  Breeddifferences intraits analysedwere significant but, in general, not ofgreatbiologicalimportance exceptfor the difference in survival. Estimated breed differences in birth weight, weaning weight and survival in the present study are consistent with some previous results from this location (Gautsch 1992). Thegeneral levels of nematode parasite infection was too low for this to be a major cause of sheep mortality in the study. Indeed, post-mortem results showed that respiratory diseases were the primary causes ofdeath.Specifically, the low mean FEC (even for the group 2 lambs) suggests that this level of infection was unlikely to result in major pathogenic effects. Optimum conditions for transmission of Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus and Haemonchus are present from July to November (total monthly rainfall of 50 mm or more with mean temperatures between 11'C and 13'C). There is therefore an overlap of the three nematode species. However, because of a temperate climate in the highlands, Ostertagia and Trichostrongylus thrive betterthan Haemonchus which generally predominates in relatively warm climates. Thus, although the Horro breed had, on average,lower PCV and higher LFEC values than their Menz contemporaries,there was no direct evidence from these data that the breed difference in lamb survival was due to differential resistanceto endoparasites.Additionally, breed differences in LFEC were not consistent across lambinggroups.The low survival ofthe Horro in this study maybe due to lack of adaptation of the breed to this environment.Additionally, the lower PCV of the breed compared to the mean for the Menz may be due to the fact that the Horro is less adapted to this (higher) altitude, although both are highland breeds. However, hard data is not yet available to substantiate this speculation.The heritability estimates for indicators of resistance to parasites were not different from values reported elsewhere. The average heritability for single FEC measurements from estimates reviewed by Baker et al (1992) was 032,while the average estimate for PCV was 0. 35. Heritability of the mean of multiple (2 to 3) egg counts recorded in different infections increased to about 0. 5-0.6. On the basis of available data, there seems to be substantial within-breed variation in resistance to endoparasites (i.e. PCV and LFEC) in these lambs at a young age. There may be opportunity for within-breed improvement of this trait through selection on either PCV or LFEC.With only one and two lamb crops in wet and dry seasons, respectively, the results on lambing group differences are too preliminary for any definite conclusions to be made on seasonal effects. The wet season was, as would be expected, associated with the highest parasite challenge, as reflected in faecal egg counts. However, this is also the season with the most abundant grazing, bestgrowth performance,and highest lamb survival. The estimates of group means for the various traitsin this study emphasise the point already made, that the level of nematode infections encountered to date at Debre Birhan is not too debilitating. The importance of goats in Botswana cannot be over-emphasised.Theyprovideprotein food (meatand milk)andquick cashincomesfor ruralfarmers.Theyare in fact the \"small man's cattle\". Their adaptive features such as feeding behaviour, and disease and heat tolerance enables them to effectively cope with the stressful nature of the vast marginal lands of Botswana.Also the recovery capacity ofgoats from drought is very remarkable due to their efficientreproductive behaviour (twinning coupled with shorter kiddingintervals) and variable body size with low maintenance requirements in unfavourable environments (Horst 1984). Although the indigenous goatbreeds have been broadly classified into two main groups, the long-eared and short-eared (Mason and Maule 1960), more broad meaningfulbreed documentation on Tswana goats based on their physical body characteristics is rather lacking. Therefore this study, which is part of a multidisciplinary research programme on the Tswana goat, provides data on the physical body characteristics of indigenous goats of Botswana.The surveys to record the different goat body characteristics were carried out in five different locations, namely Oodi, Artesia and Mochudi in the Kgatleng District, and Kopong and Thamaga in the Kweneng district.The total number ofgoats surveyedin each location varied between 120 and 160 with female goats comprisingthe greatest number.In each ofthe five locations, 16 to20farmerswith goats were randomly selected andrecords taken onarandomly selectedsample of 10 goats from each farmer.The different body dimensionsthat were recorded included heart girth (cm), diagonal body length (cm), height at withers (cm) and rump height as shown in Figure 1.Records were also taken on presence of horns, wattles and beards; coat colours (1. white, 2. black, 3. black and white, 4. brown, 5. brown and white and 6.mixed colours), hair structure (1. short coarse, 2. long coarse, 3.short smoothand4.longsmooth)andeartypes (l. long lopping and 2. reduced ear length). All data collected were analysedbythe help ofan SAS computer statistical package.Table 1 is the summary of the population structure of sampled goats in different locations of Botswana. For each locationthere were more female goats sampled and measured than male goats. Generally over 50% of the female goats were adults inthe 37-48 months age group. Formales more than 50% were less than three years old with most beingbetween 1-12 months. pure colours of black and brown, and mixed colours have the lowest frequenciesin Tswana goats.Thesex of the goat had no influence on its coat colour.The most favoured hairs are the short coarse (SC)ones exceptin Kopong location where 63% ofall goats sampledhadlong coarse hairs (Table 3).Goatswithlong smooth hairs(LS)were the leastfrequentin alllocations followed by those with short smooth hairs (SS).Variation in hair structures shows similar patterns in both male and female goats.Information on the incidences of wattles (Wa), beards (Bd), horns (Ho) and ear length (El) among Tswana goats can be found in Table 4. Both sexes of Tswana goats are bearded, horned, and have a very noticeable property towards long-lopping earedness.The wattled (Wa) and reduced ear-length (Elr) conditions exist among Tswana goats but at low frequency (15%) in both sexes. Generally there are slightly more male goats affected by the reduced ear-length condition than the female.This study sampled more female Tswana goats (69%)than males (31%) and most of the females were adults in the 37-48-month age group.This is the reflection of  the structure of goat population generally kept by subsistence peasant farmers in the rural areas. Generally, rural farmers are artistic breeders who naturally and traditionally know that a constant flock size essentially depends on a large number of reproductively activefemales that must be keptfor long periods oftime.Results obtained in the present study on body weight(BW)andother conformationaltraits (HW, HG, RH and BL) are concurrent with those obtained by other researchers (Mazumder et al 1983;Ruvuna et al 1988;Bhattacharya 1989). Male goats generally grow faster and are heavier with superior body conformational measurements than female goats. Age significantly affects body traits.On the basis of body size and height at witherstheTswanagoat canbe classifiedas amedium size breed according to one of the goat classification criteria suggested by Devendra and Mcleroy (1988).Results on coat colours and hairstructures revealed that Tswana are multicolored with a variety of hair structures.This is an indication that indeed the Tswana breed of goats has not been purifiedthrough selective breeding.The propensity towardswhite and/orwhite in combination with other coat colours, especially black and brown, eminently exhibited by goats used in the present study appears to be an adaptation to the pronounced seasonal fluctuations in the intensity and duration of light, heat and cold experienced in this region.The same holds true for the observed variation in hair structures. Coat colours and hair structures in goats have an important role toplayin the adaptability ofanimals to different ecological zones (Banerji 1984). This argument is supported by the later assertion of Hemmer (1990) to the effect that animal domestication canbe aidedbytheuse ofcertain coat colours orpatterns which are related behaviour through the common metabolic pathway of pigments and catecholamine neurotransmitters. Margetin et al (1988) reported a high incidence of short-hairedness (average 963%) among goats belonging totwo different herds.This study has revealed high frequencies ofthe bearded (65%) and horned (75%) conditions among Tswana goats. Goats affected by the reduced ear condition (ELr) were the least frequent (6%) while occurrence of long lopping ears was the highest(94%). There was a relatively small percentage ofalmostequal number ofwattled female (99%) and male (10%)goats. These results are in conformity with those of other researchers. Margetin et al(1988)reported low andhigh frequencies of the dominant wattled allelle (0.193) and dominant standard ear length (0920) conditions, respectively. Matassino et al(1984)studied samples of native goatpopulations in southern Italy and found that 67% and 65% of the goats in this studywere bearded and horned, respectively.On the basis of the information obtained from the present study it could be concluded that: the Tswana goat is a multicolored medium size breed with long lopping ears, short coarse hair structure and pre dominantly bearded and horned; the apparent wide variation in coat colours and hair structure among Tswana goats is indicative of thefactthatthe breed has not yet been purified through selective breeding and therefore great opportunities existforits improvement; andthatthe propensitytowards white coat colourand/or whitein combination with other coloursespeciallyblack and brown, appears to be an adaptive traittowithstand pronounced seasonal fluctuations in the intensity and duration oflight,heat and cold. attributes areusually accompanied bypoor growth,and carcasstraitsare usuallynegatively affected (Cartwright et al 1987;Ruvuna et al 1989).The mechanisms of inheritance patterns of resistance tointernalworms(particularly Haemonchus)are not yet fully understood (Bullerdieck 1989;Bain 1991). Also lacking are heritability estimates for resistance and its correlation with other growth, reproductive and dairy traits for indigenous goats in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Research results of studies conducted locally indicate that considerable variation exists in growth,prolificacy,fertility, carcass traits and dairy characteristics as well as tolerance. For example, Shavulimo(1989)in an artificial Haemonchus indoor challenge study, showed that the East African goat breed was more tolerant than the Galla. However, some individualGalla goats were even more tolerant of the parasite than their East African contemporaries. Ruvuna et al (1989) showed that some goat sires consistently imparted resistance to their offspring.The usefulness of the above observations can only be realised when large-scale characterisation is carried out and genetic parameters generated, showing clear genetic relationships among all traits of economic importance (Baker 1991). It is then that meaningful selection criteria can be set and genetic selection programmes initiated to realise the set improvement objectives.Long-termgeneticstudies that incorporate animal physiology, health and nutrition studies have not often been carried out due to the absence of an inter disciplinary approach to research, inconsistencies in research fundingallocations oranticipationthereof, and lack ofappropriate and accurate up todate technologies particularly laboratory supplies and expertise. These deficiencies have resulted in research findings thatgive incomplete pictures eitherthrough lack ofprecision or depth.Inadequate nutrition coupled with high levels of parasite infestation contributeto high reproductive and productive wastage in small ruminant herds regardless of size and production system (Preston and Allonby 1979;ILCA 1988;ILCA 1989;ILCA 1990). Such wastage, also slows down genetic progress as select on intensities are substantially reduced.Haemonchus is one of the major internal parasites of economic importance (Allonby 1974;Shavulimo 1989). Haemonchosis reduces productivity through reduced efficiency of nutrient utilisation and growth rate, in addition to mortalities which occur at severe infestation levels. Conventional means of controlling Small RuminantResearch NetworkWorkshop haemonchosis, such asgrazing management and use of anthelmintics, are either not feasible or ineffective for various reasons. These reasons include the use of communally owned and grazedlands, anthelmintics that are not onlytooexpensivefor an ordinary farmer butare also environmentally hazardous, and the continuous development of resistance to these chemicals by the parasites atrates difficult for new products development to keep pace with.New approaches and long-term alternatives to dealingwiththis problem include identifyingtolerant or resistantindividual animals withinthe localpopulations followed by efficient and extensive exploitation ofsuch heritable merits in breeding programmes.In order to identify such resistant/tolerant individuals, well designed genetic and breeding experiments that incorporate other related physiological and nutritional aspects need to be conducted. This project, through a multi-disciplinary approach, aims to yield the much needed prerequisite results for the characterisation of the East African and Galla goat breeds.The objectives of thisstudy are to:• determine and compare variation in infestation rates ofendoparasites between and withinthe East African and Gallagoat breeds establish the underlying mechanisms involved in resistance/tolerance• establish the incidence, predisposing factors and causes ofpre-weaning mortalityin goat flocks (the research flock and those ofsurroundingvillages)• develop economically feasible and versatile production packages for their recommendation to the regional stock keepers.The main study will revolve around a breeding experiment design that is summarised below The products of each season's mating will then be randomly subjected to various specific nutrition, artificial and natural helminthiasis challenges, and growth, carcass and reproductive performance measurements taken at both gross and tissue levels. Offspring of sires that show differences in tolerance levels will be randomly assigned to all such treatments in order to provide correlation estimates among the different traits. Individual animals thatare atthe extreme ends ofthe resistance scale andtheirprogenywillfurther provide materials for molecular genetic studies. To fortify the research data base parallel studies on the surrounding farmers' flocks are being conducted.The detailed protocols are described by Okeyo et al(1991). Apre-experimental observatory herdwas introduced at the researchstation in Machang'a and the prevalence of helminthiasis inthese goats overthe different seasons of the years was monitored. Comparative work on the farmers' herds was done through a rapid survey of the surroundingfarmsinthe Mavuria Location.Sevengoats died of heartwater from the Galla breeding herd newly introduced on the research station.Faecal egg counts (EPG) were recorded over various seasons andgenera ofthe helminths identified. Different tick species were also identified and their prevalence noted.Land tenure, feed and water availability, disease prevalence and control, animal husbandry practices and general livestock production systems were also addressed.The preliminary results of the studies carried out sofar are summarised inTables 1 to4. Eighty per cent ofthe farmers lived on individually owned land, with the remaining 20% living on land owned by the local government (Embu Municipal Council). The acreage of the individually owned farms ranged from 4-37 acres, with an average of 11 acres per farmer.Grazing system, feed and water availabilityThe grazing system practised was mainly free range, while ensuring that the animals did not graze on cultivated land. The grazing hours in the dry season rangedfrom 8-12 hourswith an average of 10hours. In the wet season this ranged from 8-10 hours with an average of8 hours.Thisis sobecause in the wet season feed is readily available and the animals do not need to walk toofar for it.Also duringthe wet season, most of the farmers have to work in the farms and hence have to cut down the hours they spend out grazing the animals.About 375% of the farmers said they supple mentedtheir animals' diet.This is done mainly in the dry season and the supplements given are acacia twigs and pods, and maize stover after harvesting the crop.Most of the animals were watered in the seasonal rivers, streams, ponds and dams. About 75% of these farmers experienced severe problems during the dry season as most watering points dried upandthe animals had tobe walked long distances tothe existingwatersources, such as River Thiba and dams (e.g. Kiambere dam). Stock numbers are drastically reduced during this period as a result of death by starvation, exhaustion and disease.All farmers owned the East African goat breed, with a mean of 25 goats per farmer with a range of 10-90 (Table 1). The mean goat herd structure was 4 entire males, 13 females and 8 kids.Most of the farmers identified their animals by ear-notching, one notch for the clan and one for the family. Colour and physical characteristics were also used in identification. Most of the farmers used visual appraisal and mental records to estimate ages and weights oftheir animals. Forty-twopercent ofthe farmers reportedthattheir does experienced udder problems which affected 4-25% ofdoes in a herd.Theproblems were mainly teat injuries, orflesions and occasional abscesses, butthere was no clear-cut case of mastitis.On selection ofbreedingmales and females, most ofthe farmers based theirdecision on growth rate ofthe animals, general physical characteristics such as body condition and coat colour, in addition to udder size and twinning rates in the case of females. Other factors considered were lineage, strength ofhind legs and length ofears.The average age ofmales at time ofselection for breeding was 8 months.The interval between kidding and the next service rangedfrom 2-8 months with an average of4 months, while the kidding interval ranged from6-12 monthsand averaged 10 months (Table2).The twinning rates ranged from 0-40% and -averaged 12%, with an average of 88% of the twins surviving. This survival depended entirely on feed availability atthe time ofbirth. Most farms experienced preweaning mortalities, with an average of 125% parturient deaths and 26% actual preweaning deaths (Table 2). The causes of the above deaths were, according to the farmers, diseases (46% ofcases) mostly helminthiasis and flea infestation, poor nutrition especially during drought, poormotheringand predation Adult mortalities were also experiencedin most of the farms, with an average oftwo deaths during the previous year.The major causes of these deaths were diseases such as hepatitis, helminthiasis, mange, pneumonia and in rare cases,trypanosomiasis.Allthe farmers disposed of does by eithersale or exchange (20%). Five goats are equivalent to one cow. The main reason for sale of animals was to generate income for school fees, buying food in times offamine andpayinghospitalbills. Other reasons forsale were for destocking and culling. Males were mainly culled (in 92% of the farms) for income generation and other reasons such as old age, replacement,infertility, sales for slaughter, destocking and selection against undesirable traits.The mostprevalent diseases affecting goats according Most of the farmersinterviewedsaidthey did not have easy access toveterinary services, and a few used herbal medicine to try and treat the various diseases.Hence most illnesses were fatal.However,83% ofthese farmersroutinelydrenched their animals 2-3 times a year while a few only did so when they saw signs ofhelminthiasis in their animals such as diarrhoea, rough hair coat and presence of worms in faeces. Most of the farmers used Wormicid a few used Nilzan*9, and 4% used herbs, for drenching their animals. When asked how, in their opinion, livestock production could be improved in the area, the farmers gave the following general answers:1. Improved veterinary services to help in disease prevention and control and construction ofdips etc.2. Improved extension services to provide advice on good husbandry practices and information on cross-breeding toupgrade existingstock.3. Improved nutrition of the animals, eg. by supple mentation duringthe dryseason.4. Provision of easily accessible watering points, by diggingboreholes and dams.EastAfrican goats (pre-experimental cleaning and observatory herd)Faecalsamples were taken from these goats in January and February 1994 andshowed nil or lowhelminth egg count(range 0-800EPG).These goats remainedhealthy during March through to April and started showing unthriftness in May(after end ofrains)(Table 3). Faecal samples were taken on the firstweek ofJune and found to have high EPG.Over 60% had EPG counts of over 1000 and the range was 0-4200. Pooled faecal samples were cultured and larvae identified. Seventy-nine per cent of the larvae were Haemonchus contortus, 12%Trichostrongylus spp and9% Ostertagia.Six goats had Moniezia expansa segments while most samples had coccidia oocysts (Table 4).The goats were treated with Levamisole hydro chloride and they responded positively (i.e. recovered) Theywerehealthy until the beginnning ofthe shortrains in mid-October when they again began to show unthriftiness.One goat showed submandibular oedema at this period of the year.Although they had low EPG's (Table 3), theywere still treated as this could have been because most worms were immature and had not started laying eggs. Hypobiosis was also suspected since the pastures had not developed and the rainfall was not high enoughtosupport developmentofinfective larval stages in the pastures.From the results in Table 3, it is evident that the EPG's remained low upto the beginning of the rains, afterwhichthere wasan increaseinthe number ofgoats with high EPG counts.There was a sudden increase in EPG with the rains, a factor which could have been due to hypobiosis.The worms identified showed that the species of majoreconomicimportancewas Haemonchus contortus (Table 4).Thisworm is known toundergo hypobiosis in unfavourableweather. Itis alsothe mostpathogenic and was responsible for the suddenunthriftiness observedin these goats with the onset of the rains.These were introduced atthe end of August 1994.They were giventimetoadjust and faecal sampleswere taken on 14/10/94.The results are shown on Table 3. Pooled samples were cultured for larvae identification. The majority were Haemonchus followed by Tricho strongylus spp and Ostertagiaspp(Table 4).  From the above observations the followingconclusions can be drawn:Goats form a major proportion ofthe stock owners' total livestock herds.• There is noorganised genetic selectionprogramme in place at stock owners' level.Reproductive wastage due to various factors (abortions, parturient and preweaning mortalities, late age at first kidding, long kidding intervals)is high among the farmers' herds.Helminthiasis coupled with other opportunistic diseases such as pneumonia were the most common cause ofmortalities amongthe herds.Haemonchus contortus was the major intestinal parasite responsible for the observed helmin thiasis.Poor nutrition and ectoparasite (ticks and fleas) infestation in addition to others,were responsible forthe observed low productivity in goat herds at farm level.The level of worm infestation and effect on the animals' health varied greatly depending on the prevailing weatherconditions.   Une analyse de la variance a été effectuée sur chacun des trois paramètres. Les données du sondage ont ététraitées sur logiciel SPSS.Les résultats du sondage sont présentés aux tableaux 1 à 5 et aux figures 1 à 3.Le tableau 1 présente la répartition au locus agouti. La corne estgénéralement de type illisible, sauf dans 11,7% de la population où il s'apparente à l'ibex espagnol (Clutton-Brock, 1981). Aucun animal motte n'a été rencontré dans l'échantillon considéré mais il existe un certain nombre d'animaux aux cornes courtes qui n'ont pas été mesurées car il était difficile de savoir si celles-ci avaient été coupées ou non.Une très faible proportion de la population (2%) porte des pampilles.Ces observations sont différentes de celles faites dans le bassin méditerranéen et au Brésil où se rencontre une plus forte représentation des animaux avec barbiche et pampille (Martrès et Benadjaoud, 1988;Franceschi et Santucci, 1988;Branca et Casu, 1988;Renieri et al., 1988;Grupetta et al., 1988). Un cinquième de la population porte une barbiche. Les mêmes auteurs ont obtenu des pourcentagesplus élevéspour labarbiche. Les tableaux 3 et 4 résument les différents phénotypes en ségrégation par site utilisés dans le calcul desindices de primarité. Le tableau 5 présente les moyennes des données biométriques de l'échantillon. L'analyse de la variance de la hauteurau garrot,de lalongueur des oreilles et des deux indicesbiométriques n'a révélé aucune différence significative entre les sites. La représentation graphique desvaleurs de ces paramètrespris individuellement par des histogrammes (figures 1,2 et 3) a révélé l'existence d'une population normale degrande variabilité, ce qui confirme les résultats de l'analyse de la primarité. Cette grande variabilité, qui se traduit par des indices de primarité élevés, offre de grandes possibilités d'amélioration génétique de ces espèces, notamment à travers la sélection et la création de diverses races en fonction d'objectifs bien définis tant du point de vue phénotypique que productif.Ces résultats montrent que la chèvre du Nord Cameroun est une chèvre de petite taille (hauteur au garrot2cm), ce qui est en accord avec les observations antérieures effectuées sur les chèvres de la zone soudanienne. La variabilité observée sur la hauteur au garrot (35à 67 cm)permetde penser que la taille de ces chèvres pourrait être augmentée grâce à la sélection d'animauxadaptés à leur milieu.Les caprins du Nord-Cameroun sont une population de type primaire au sein de laquelle il y a eu peu de sélection. Ce sont des animaux de petite taille Tableau 3: Indice de primarité \"allèles au locus Agouti\" (Ipa) par site dans les populations caprines du Nord-Cameroun.   Agouti  Selective breeding, utilising the variability within a population to upgrade that population, is less often a part of such programmes. This is due to easy availability of apparently superior stock from elsewhere, and due to difficulties in running field-based performance recording. Where local goat breeds are involved the flocks are mainly kept in institutional farms, in which low numbers of animals and management constraints limit selection intensity and genetic progress (Devendra and Burns 1983). The potential for genetic improvement is largely dependent on the heritability of the trait and its genetic relationship with other traits of economic importance upon which some selection pressure may be applied. Information on heritabilities is essential for planning efficient breeding programmes, and for predicting response to selection. In Tanzania, Blended goats are kept mainly for meat production. Thus, traits affecting economic viability include those associated with growth. Body weight and rate of gain are among the most econo mically important and easily measured traits of meat animals. Although weight is an important objective in selection, knowledge of the phenotypic and genetic parameters of the growth trait upon which to base selection is of utmost importance. Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimates are scarce in goats reared under Tanzanian conditions and where such information is available, analytical methods used tend to be inadequate. The purpose of this study was to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters of growth traits in a flock of Blended goats at various stages of growth from birth to 72 weeks of age.Blended goats are three-way crosses (55% Kamorai, 30% Boer and 15% indigenous), developed at Malya, Tanzania, which were stabilised in late 1960s (Das 1989). Phenotypically, they have large pendulous ears and resemble Anglo-Nubians. The records of Blended goats used in this study were collected from Livestock Research Centre, Malya, which lies at approximately 4°S latitude and 37's longitude, and at an altitude of about 1050 metres above sea level. The centre covers an area of 1800 ha of which 1400 ha have natural vegetation of savannah grassland. The natural vegetation at Malya comprises Combretum wood species and grass species of Bothrichloa, Hyparrhenia, Themeda and Cynodon types; a few paddocks are sown to Chloris gayana. At the centre, goats were grazed from 0800 to 1700 hours and were housed indoors at night.Breeding of goats was done in the wet and dry seasons. The wet breeding season extended from March to May, while the dry breeding season extended from September to November. Lambs were ear-tagged soon after birth and left to suckle their dams duringgrazing until weaning at 16 weeks of age. Kids were separated by sex at weaninginto different weaner flocks. Records taken on lambsincludedbirth andweaning weights, and weights at 24,48 and 72 weeks ofage.The 4799 records used in the analyses were collected over 25years  at Livestock Research Centre, Malya.The records included weight records from birth to 72weeks ofage.The analyses were carried out by fixed effects models using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS (1987). The fixed effects includedin the modelwere year and season ofbirth, sex ofkid, type ofbirth and age of dam. The residual mean square was used asthe errortermtotestthe significance of all differences evaluated among classes. Where analysis of variance depicted significant differencesfor variables, linear contrasts of least squares means were estimated to test pair-wise differences within factors. Heritability and repeatability estimates were computed by the method of paternal half-sib analysis using VARCOMP procedures ofSAS (1987).Overall least squares means of birth and weaning weights were 2.47E0.02 kg and 11.14t0.15 kg, respectively, (Table 1). Overall live weights at the age of24,48 and72 weekswere 1248E026kg, 1642E035 kg and 2580E044 kg, respectively,(Table 2). Year of birth, sex,type ofbirth and age of dam significantly affected birth and weaning weight. Season of birth significantly affected birth weight but was not significant for weaning weight. Weights at birth and weaning tended to increase from 1965 to 1975 and thereafter tended to decline. However, weaning weight showed a small recovery in 1987. Live weights at all ages in the present study are higherthan those reported earlier by Das (1989) on Blended goats at the same location when data from four years were analysed.Year ofbirth, sex, and type ofbirth significantly affected the post-weaning weights at 24, 48 and 72 weeks of age. Season of birth was significant for live weights at 48and72 weeksbut not for live weight at24 weeks ofage. Age ofdam had significant effects on live weight at 24 and 48 weeks of age, but had no effect on live weight at 72weeks ofage. Post weaning weights tended to increase from 1965 to 1976 and thereafter declined, insome years,tobelow the live weightat 1965The high variation in both pre-weaning and post weaning weights due to year ofbirth can be explained by variations in amount of annual rainfall which in turn influenced pasture production and availability of feed.Kids, prior toweaning, depend mainly on dam's milk as food,the production of which is directly related to the availability offeeds to does (Peart 1982;Mukundan and Bhat 1983;Grootetal 1993).Seasonalinfluence on birth weight operates through its effect on the dam's uterine environment mostly in late gestation (Eltawil et al 1970). Season ofbirth plays animportantrole in growth performance indirectly through its influence on the dam's nutrition and hence amount of milk available to the unweaned lamb. In the post-weaning period its influence is related to its effect on the quality and quantity ofpasture available tothe weaned kids.Birth weight and live weight at all ages were significantly affected by type of birth in the present study.Generally birthweight decreasedwithincreasein litter size. Robinson et al (1977) reported that for lambs in utero, asthe numberoffoetuses increases, the number of caruncles attached to each foetus decreases, thus reducing the feed supply to the foetus and hence reduction in the birth weight of the lambs.In this study, maleswere significantlyheavier and grew faster from weaning onward, implying that sex effects are more pronounced with age after puberty.These have been attributed to hormonal differences between sexes andtheir resultant effects on growth (Bell et al 1970).Weaningweight wouldreflectmotheringability of dam aswell as the inherentgrowth potential.Thereafter growth potential would predominate. Age of dam was found to have a non-significant effect on live weight at 72 weeks ofage only, showingthat the motheringability of does had carried over effect up to 48 weeks of age. Wilson (1987) found that the effect ofage of dam was significant on birth weight and growth rate at pre-weaning and that young ewes tend to produce smaller progenies at birth. It is generally known that mothering ability, especially milk production,increases with parity. Olderewes are largerin body and tend tobe better milkers (Stobart et al 1986). The effect of parity of dam on kids is thus imparted as maternal influence whose direct influence is limited to the nursingperiod.Overallaverage daily gainfrom birthto weaning,andto 24,48 and 72 weeks of age were 77E1.3 g, 59t1.5g, 41t10g and 46t1.0g, respectively (Table 3). Year of birth, sex, and type of birth significantly affected average dailygain from birth to 72 weeks ofage.Season of birth had no significant effect on average dailygain except at 48weeks ofage. Age of dam had significant effect on average daily gain up to 48 weeks of age.Growth of kids tended to increase from year 1965 to 1976 and thereafter declined.Itis generally recognised thatthe earlypost-natal phase ofgrowth ingoats is a critical stage because this is the stage when there is little maternal protection and the kid is exposed to environmental stress which limits rate ofgrowth.The rate ofgrowth ofa kid afterweaning, however,ispartly determined by the geneticpotential of the kid and the level of environmental influence, especially during the immediate post-weaning stage. Pre-weaninggrowth rate was lowerthan the 94.3 g per day reported by Das and Sendalo (1990) for Blended kids at Malya.Blendedgoat kids inthepresent studyhad higher average daily gain compared to that of Black Bengal goats reported by Singh et al (1983) and Black Bengalx Beetalcrossbred goatsreportedby Kanaujia et al (1986). The mean overall post-weaninggrowth rate was higher than that reported by Reynolds (1989)for West African Dwarfgoatsin Nigeria.Inthe present studysingleborn and male kids grew faster than twin born and female kids. It would seem that birth type effects are commonly observed at pasture (Beischer et al 1992) and it is so mainly because of competition forthe limited supply ofdoe milk.This is supported by Norton and Banda (1993) who found no differences in growth between single andtwin born kids when subjected to artificial rearing of the kids.The heritability and repeatability estimates for live weight and growth rates are presented in Table 4.Heritability estimates obtained in this study were moderate to low for live weights and average daily gain, rangingfrom 0099t0039 for live weight at weaningto 0.153H0053 for average daily gain from birth to 24 weeks of age. Repeatability estimates ranged from 0004H0035 for average daily gain from birth to 48 weeks ofage to0534t0022foraveragedaily gain from birthto 24weeks ofage.The heritability estimates in the present study are within the range reportedfor meatgoats by Singh et al (1993),whose heritability estimates for body weights ranged from 0.144E0.149 for 12 months weight to 0360E0.110 for6months weight. Heritabilityfor3and 9 months weight was calculated as 0.330E0.110 and 0295E0.107, respectively. Roy etal (1989)working on Jamunapari kids raised under semiintensive conditions reported that heritability of body weights at 3 and 12 months were 0432E0.152 to 0.127+0.116, respec tively.  It is clear from the present and other results that post-weaning growth generally has higher heritability estimates than pre-weaninggrowth.This would indicate that environmental factors,in relationtoadditivegenetic factors, had more influence on early kid gains than on gains laterin the kid's life.This maybe attributedtothe high maternal influence associated with kid growth performance early in life. High maternal influence has a tendency to increase the component of variance environmental tothe lamb thereby loweringheritability estimates (Thrift et al 1973).One could concentrate on traits with high heritability as long as there exists a high positive correlationwith other traits of economicvalue.The moderatelyhigher heritability estimates for24 weeks liveweight and gain in this studyindicate that to select kids for their own genetic merit for weights and gains, it would be best touse bodyweight at 6 months of age as the selection criterion rather than weaning weight asis often practised.The 6 months liveweight gain should be superior to weaning weight and pre-weaning growth rate since it is much less influenced by maternal effects which tend to obscure the direct additive genetic effect for growth. Selection directed towards weights at later ageswould maximise response in birth weight and possible increased frequency of dystocia (Thrift et al 1967;Olson et al 1976;Martin et al 1980). However, selection for weights at later ages wouldbe expectedto leadtoincreasedyearlingweights which is desirable for meat animals, but may be associated with increased maintenance costs for breedinganimals.The present results on live weights and growth rates of Blended goats indicatethatin ordertoimprove breeding value, selection must be based on genotypic ratherthan environmental superiority. Thus variation due to definable environmental effectsmustbe removed by use of suitable adjustment factors. It is necessary that all known sources of variation influencing the traits of importance be included in the model of analysis, otherwise the results of the study may not be reliable. This can, however, be done only in on-station recorded flocks.The trait ofinterest oughtto be investigated in the environment under whichitis to be typically expressed, since this environment may be the one which is necessaryfor revealing certain desirable or undesirable genes or, in contrast, the sought after genetic differences may be oflittle importance or indistinguishable in this environment.Statisticaltechniquespresentlyutilisedfor the estimation of breeding values in selection pro grammes rely on estimates ofgenetic variation within and between traits ofeconomicimportance.The overall impact of any selection programme will depend on the direct and correlated responses that result from selection on the selection criterion. These responses can be predicted a priori by using estimates of genetic and phenotypic relationships between alltraits of economic importance.It is therefore, important that a breeding and selection strategy be developed, preferably involving farmers, such as \"Open Nucleus Scheme\" for further improvement and enhancing dissemination of Blended goatsinTanzania. 59 +2 g, de 41t1g et de 46dt1 g. L'année de naissance, le sexe du chevreau et le type de naissance avaient un effet significatif(P<001) sur les poids à la naissance et le poidsvifà l'âge de48 et de 72 semaines. L'âge de la mère avait uneffet significatif(P<001) sur le poids des jeunes à la naissance et à l'âge de 48 semaines. Les coefficients d'héritabilité du poids à la naissance, au sevrageetà l'âge de 24 semaines étaientrespectivement de 0,015E 0,036, de 0,099+0,39 et de 0,014+0. 053 respectivement. Les coefficients de répétabilité des poidsà lanaissance, ausevrage età24,48 et72 semaines étaient respectivement de 0,202E0,18, de 0,187+0,22, de 0,533-E0022, de 0,016E0035 et de 0,174+0. Le schéma de sélection s'articule autourd'unephase de présélection basée sur le critère \"poids au sevrage\" ajusté selon un poids à âge type (PAT) de 90jours. Celui-ci est réajusté en fonction du type de naissance grâce à un coefficient de correction.Ce coefficient est égal au rapport entre le poids à âge type moyen de la classe de référence, c'est-à-dire les agneaux néssimples etissus des mères ayant eu plus d'une parité et le poids à âge type moyen de la classe des agneaux nés doubles. La deuxièmephase de sélection intervient à l'âge de 12 mois et est basée sur les poids seuils (P>30, P>25, P>20 kg de poids vif) qui permettent de classer les béliers sélectionnés respectivement en 1ère, 2ème et 3ème catégories. Les animauxinfestés de trypanosomes avec diminution du taux d'hématocrite (<20) sont exclus de la sélection.Une enquête visant à cibler les meilleures FOA, notamment celles appliquant leprogrammeglobal d'amélioration zootechnique vulgarisé, a été réalisée afin de garantir la survie des béliers prêtés et de leurs progénitures.Le Togo, pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, est situé entre les 6ème et 12ème degrés de latitude nord et entre 0°et 2\" de longitude est. Il est bordé au sud par l'océan atlantique et fait frontière avec le Ghana, le Bénin , le Burkina Faso. Le Togo est caractérisé par deux types de climat. Le nord, au dessus du 8ème degré de latitude nord, appartient à la zone de climat tropical de type soudanien: c'est la zone de la \"savane dérivée\" ou secteur préforestier caractérisé par une pluviométrie unimodale allant de la mi-mai à la mi-octobre et variant entre 1000et 1300 mm. L'humidité atmosphérique est maximale en février (41%). Le sud du 8ème degré de latitude nord (oùestlocaliséle CAT-K)jouitd'un climat tropical de transition: c'est le secteur forestier guinéen caractérisé par une saison de pluie bimodale allant de mars à novembre entrecoupée par une sécheresse en juillet et août. Lapluviométrie annuelle moyenne varie de 1100à 1600mm. Les températuresfluctuent entre 22 et 32\"C.Lapopulation animale concernée est de 750brebis de race Djallonké réparties dans 5bergeries et de 100 géniteurs confirmés répartis dans 10 familles oulignées localisées à la station du CAT-K. A ce noyau, il faut ajouter les meilleures des 339 FOA encadrées par le PNPE avec un effectiftotal de 21.089têtes dont quelque 10000brebis (PNPE, 1994).Au CAT-K, la population animale en cours de sélection est élevée dans des conditions proches de Les 5troupeaux de brebis du CAT-K sont menés surun rythme de 3agnelages en2 ansgrâce à la mise en oeuvre d'un programme de gestion de la lutte par introduction des béliers d'une lignée donnée pour deux cycles de reproduction successifs. Durant ces luttes organisées quidurent 45jours, les bélierssont lâchés le soir dans letroupeau de brebis qui leur est attribué. Les agneauxsont sevrés à un âge moyen de 3 mois (90jours) (Bonfoh, 1994).Objectifs Les objectifs opérationnels du programme de sélection sont les suivants: améliorer la vitesse de croissance, le format à l'âge adulte des animaux, les caractéristiques defécondité et de prolificité des brebis ainsi que la viabilitédesagneauxet conserver une bonne conformation et une bonne rusticité des produits améliorés de la race ovine Djallonké. le numéro de troupeau des mères et le 3ème le rang de naissance dans l'année. Au sevrage, les agneaux présélectionnés sont tatoués à la partie glabre de la queue. Ce tatouage sertà les identifier en cas de perte des boucles d'oreilles.-Elevage et contrôle individuel des agneaux présélectionnés à l'âge moyen de 90jours dans le centre de testage des ovins du CAT-K.-Sélection définitive des futursgéniteursà l'âge de 12 mois, diffusion et utilisation des béliers sélectionnés à partir de l'âge de 15mois (figure 1) (Traoré, 1991;Traoré et Bonfoh, 1993).Sélection en station Phase de présélection: le poids au sevrage est ajusté en fonction de l'âge type au sevrage (90jours) et dutype de naissancepour déterminerles poids àâgetype (Traoré et Bonfoh, 1993). En raison de l'étalement des naissances (sur 30à 40jours) consécutifà la durée de la  Le réajustement du PAT est principalement appliqué pour les agneaux nés doubles etélevés comme tels; pour les agneaux nés doubles mais élevés comme simples (suite à la mort précoce de l'un d'eux) un tel ajustement ne sejustifie pas, la faiblesse du poids à la naissance étant rapidementcompensée. Le réajustement du PA. T. se fait grâce à la prise en compte d'un coefficient de correction (CC) obtenu par calcul du rapport entre le poids à âge type moyen de la classe de référence que constituent les agneaux nés simples et issus des mères ayant euplus d'une parité et le poidsà âge type moyen de la classe des agneaux nés doubles. Après ce réajustement des PAT des agneaux concernés, le PAT moyen à 90jours de l'ensemble des agneaux est calculé ainsi que son écart-type. Ces deux paramètres permettent d'établir les seuils de présélection par \"troncature\" de lapopulation des agneauxcandidats à la sélection (figure 2); cette méthode suppose une distribution normale de la variable \"poids au sevrage\" (Traoré et Bonfoh, 1993).Les agneaux dont le PAT est inférieur au PAT moyen plus l'écart-type ne sont pas retenus pour la sélection. Phase de sélection: Elle est une phase d'élevage des jeunes béliersprésélectionnés sur le poids à90jours jusqu'à l'âge d'unan.Les contrôlesde performance sont réaliséspar lespesées mensuelles;la sélection définitive alieu à 12mois.Les béliers sélectionnés, répartis en 1ère (P>30 kg), 2ème (25<P<30 kg) et 3ème catégories (20>P<25kg de poids vif), sont mis à leur première lutte à l'âge de 15 mois. ne dispose pas forcément du poids individuel des agneauxà la naissance, le calcul du PAT se fait suivant les mêmes procédures exceptéque ce PAT est nettement surévalué et n'a qu'une valeur indicative autorisant cependant des comparaisons entre agneaux ausein d'un troupeau puis entre troupeaux de FOA (Traoré et Bonfoh, 1993).Il convient de signaler qu'une informatisation de la gestion des troupeaux de sélection du Centre est intervenue en 1992 (Traoré, 1992). Elle repose sur des fichiers créés à partir du logiciel DBase IV : état civil, croissance, reproduction, santé, etc. Le support de collecte de la base de données de croissance est constitué d'un fichier manuel et d'un fichier informatique (Lotus 123 et Dbase IV).Dans le cadre du protocole, une enquête a été réalisée en avril 1994 pour dresser la liste des paysans-éleveurs susceptibles de rentrer dans labase de sélection. L'enquête a été réalisée grâce à l'appui des chefs de secteur duPNPE des régions des Savanes, Kara et Centrale. Le but du questionnaire est de permettre l'identification des paysans-éleveurs des FOA qui appliquentdemanièresatisfaisante le programme global d'amélioration zootechnique vulgarisépar le PNPE et dont les éléments essentiels sont:• la maîtrise de l'alimentation (gardiennage du troupeau au pâturage, pratique d'une complé mentation alimentaire et minérale optimale.);• application d'un train de mesures sanitaires matérialisé par le respect du programme de prophylaxie envigueur; vaccinationcontre la peste des petits ruminants et contrôle des parasitoses gastro-intestinales et externes.Seulsces paysans-éleveurs pourrontgarantir lavie des béliers qui leurs seront prêtés pour les luttes organisées ou contrôlées, limiter les pertes de poids des béliers au cours des luttes et favoriser la survie de la progéniture et l'extériorisation du potentiel génétique des individus (vitesse de croissance avant sevrage). Il convient également de signaler que dans le cadre de ce protocole, une mission a été effectuée en octobre 1993 au Programme national de sélection ovine à Bouaké en Côte d'Ivoire (Bonfoh,1993).Les résultatsprésentés iciproviennent du contrôle de performances de croissance de 2155 agneaux des deux sexes nés de 13 agnelages intervenus entre 1993 et 1994 (tableaux 1 et 2). Ces résultats sont similaires à ceux rapportés par le Programme national de sélection ovine (PNSO) de Côte d'Ivoire (IEMVT-CIRAD, 1990).Dans un groupe de 698agneaux mâles candidatsà la présélection, 326 dont le PATà 3 mois est supérieur ou égal au PAT moyen de ce groupe plus l'écart-type ontété retenus,soit untaux de présélection de 46,70%. Par rapport aux agneaux jumeaux, le poids au sevrage des agneaux issus de naissances simples est de 25% plus élevé (tableau 2).Sur un total de 176 futurs béliers en phase de sélection, 5625% ont été retenus comme géniteurs à l'âge de 12 mois. Parmi ceux-ci,2443% ont pu être sélectionnés comme béliers de 1ère catégorie avec un PAT moyen compris entre 3206t1,76 et 33,1+2,14 kg. Par ailleurs, 31,81% ont été retenus comme béliers de 2ème catégorie avec un PAT moyen compris entre 269t1,30 et 28,32 E 0. 89 kg. Le taux de sélection enregistré en bout de chaîne où 14,18% des animaux ont été retenus comme béliers améliorateurs peut être considéré comme relativement sévère, le niveau de performance des FOA ne justifiant pas une telle pression de sélection. L'amélioration génétique du format du mouton Djallonké par la sélection des béliers peut donner de bons résultats dans le processus d'amélioration de la productivité des troupeaux encadrés. Les critères de présélection (poids vif ausevrageà l'âge de90jours) et de sélection (poids à l'âge adulte de 12 mois) sont très pertinents. Le calcul du poids moyen à âge type et son ajustement à l'aide des facteurs de correction tenant compte du type de naissance ont pu être réalisés. Les actions d'amélioration génétique ontété essentiellement mises en oeuvre en station.Un totalde 698agneaux ontété soumis en 1993 au contrôle desperformancesde croissance;46,70% ont été présélectionnés commefuturs béliers et 14,18% retenus comme béliers améliorateurs. Les poids moyens de ces béliers à l'âge de 12 mois sont de 33,1 + 2,14 kg pour les béliers de 1ère catégorie et 28,32E089kg pour ceux de 2ème catégorie. La prise en compte de la 3ème catégorie de sélection conformément à ce qui a été proposé dans le programme d'optimisation de la sélection ovine au CAT-K est tout à fait justifiée. La mise en oeuvre du programme d'amélioration génétique en milieu villageois au sein des élevages traditionnels infected with trypanosomes with reduced PCV (<20) were excluded from the selection. A survey aimed at identifying the best improved sheep farms, especially those using the general livestock improvement programme being recommended, was carried out in order to guarantee the survival of both the borrowed rams and their offspring.Production Systems, Policy and Economics Some constraints to Small ruminant production among small-scale farmers in Laikipia WestItis estimatedthat 82% ofthe populationin Kenya lives inthe rural areas. In Laikipiathis estimate is even higher, at91% (GOK 1991).Most ofthe people are small-scale farmers living on former European ranches many of which have been subdivided into small-scale farms.The farm sizes range from one to 10 hectares which makes small-scale farmingin the district significant. However, many of the ranches from which these farms are carved were used for extensive livestock production and are thus not suitable for rain-fed agriculture.Small-scale farmers in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL)face many challengesin generating household incomes.Oneway of helping them increasethisincome is through promotion of small ruminant production. It has been reported that in this area, small ruminant productionprovidescloseto one-thirdofthe small-scale farmers' net farm incomes (Mucuthi et al 1992).However, there are constraints that hinder maximising returns or minimising costs in their production. Therefore, the objective of the study was to identify some of these constraints to small ruminantproduction in the study area.In 1990 therewere 28 former European ranches and five government settlement schemes in Laikipia West that were in various stages of settlement and/or subdivision. Subdivision was completed in eight of the ranches and maps were available. Two of these ranches were selectedfor this study. Each ranch was subdividedinto four equal subclusters and the farthest two subclusters to each other, i.e. one subcluster from each ranch was chosen asthe startingpoint.Thefarms orsampling unitswere not sampled randomly within the subclusters but systematically from a randomly selected corner ofthe subcluster.Using this method, 65 respondents who were defined as small-scale farmers were interviewed.They represented 9% of the potential respondents in each ranch. Herd size (50 small ruminants and 10 cattle) instead of land size was used to classify small-scale farms, though recognising that land size is the standard measure of farm classification. Herd size was used because Kohler (1987a) found that in West Laikipia, small-scale farmers owned no more than 50 small ruminants and 8 head of cattle. No prior appointments were made for interview visits, but efforts were made to interview the husband or the wife, or in default, the de facto head of the farm. Otherwise, the enumerator moved to the next farm. Each respondent interviewed was asked general questions relating to small ruminant production andspecificquestionson constraintstosmall ruminant production.The respondents identified mortality through disease, shortage of water for livestock, stock theft, difficulty in getting herders and lack ofenough grazing as the main constraints to small ruminant production. Mortality through disease (53%) and lack of enough water for livestock (21%),werethe most significant constraintsto small ruminant production. Other studies also indicate that diseases are amongthe most significant constraints to small ruminant production in this area (GOK 1990;Herren 1990).The mortality rates recorded from this study were 12% and 27% for mature and young small ruminants, respectively.These rates are lower than those reported in other studies done in the same area (Kohler 1987a;Kohler 1987b;Herren 1990). The lower rates noted in this study may be associated with the fact that the data were based on events recalled by the respondents, rather than recorded information.Since the respondents gave accounts ofdeaths that may have occurred in the previous 12 months, it was possible for them not to recall some ofthe death events, especially ifthere were many or very few deaths and early in the year. It is also worth noting that the proportion of respondents that reported no deaths was quite high for both mature (24%) and young (50%) stock. It is also common knowledge that sick animals are, in some cases,slaughtered before they die and the meat consumed or sold and thus not reported as a death eVent.Of the known causes of mortality (Table 1), the pneumonia complex including contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP)was the main cause of small ruminant mortality, especially among mature stock. Helminths and diarrhoea were otherimportantcauses of mortality, with young stock being the most susceptible to them. Earlier studies in the area made similar observations (Herren 1990). Kimaru (1993) noted that helminths can be predisposing factors to deaths from pneumonia. It is possible,therefore,thatthe high death rates resulting from pneumonia may have been partly caused by helminth infection, particularly in the young stock. Input cost analysis of available data shows that the respondents spent over halfof their totalinput costs for small ruminantproduction on anthelmintics (Table 2). This is not commensurate with the level of mortality attributed to helminths (Table 1). The reasons for the observed disparity may be attributed to the following observation. Only 37% of the respondents who used anthelmintics administer them in accordance with the manufacturers' recommendations. Of the others, 30% under-dosed, thus making the drugs ineffective and 33% over-dosed,thus incurring unnecessary expenses. In an environment such as the ASAL the identification of water shortage as a second major constraint to livestock production was not unexpected.The area has no permanent rivers, except for a small spring in Mukuru, which itselfdoes not provide enough water to meet the demands for both livestock and humans. In addition,the dams are not centrally located norwerethey enough to caterforthewhole area.On the average the livestock travelled a distance of7 and 10 kilometres towateratSalamaand Mukuru, respectively. Furthermore, the dams were not well managed as livestock were watered at the same points that humans drew water for drinking. Due to this interference by livestock, which also caused erosion around the dams, the dams silted. Therefore, to alleviate the water shortage problem, it is necessary to improve dam management, de-silt the existing dams, and construct I16W OI16S.Insufficient grazing was not seen by the respondents as a major constraint to small ruminant production. It was only rated third in significance. However, stocking rate calculated using field data for respondents with less than 50 head ofsmall ruminants and less than 10 head ofcattle gave a different picture.The sampled respondents had a total of 1496 tropical livestockunits (TLUs) comprising835TLUs of cattle and 661 TLUs of small ruminants. The area available for grazing was calculated as 4217 ha including 2175 ha in the unsettled land, and 2042 ha settled but uncultivated land (Table 3). This gives a stocking rate of 2.8ha per TLU,which was less than the recommended stockingraterange of3-5ha perTLUfor this area (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1982). When the stocking rate was calculatedusing only the grazingland available in the settled land, the results were even more dramatic with the stocking rate droppingto 1.4 ha per TLU.Table 3. Estimates of grazing land available, its carrying capacity and its use in the study area.(1)Total land available 55780(2) Settled area, 61% of( 1) 34030(3) Grazing in settled, land 60% of(2) 2042.0 (4) Grazing in unoccupied land, 39% of(1) 2175 0(5)Total grazing land (3)+( 4) 42170(6) Stocking rate:• all available grazing (5)/totalTLU 2.8• in settled farms only (3)/total TLU 1.4(7) Recommended carrying capacity 3-5Insufficientgrazingwas apparentwhen the grass cover in the occupied and unoccupied farms was compared. Grass cover was determined by the amount of bare soil observed. We estimated less than 10%, Small ruminant production in Laikipia West, Kenya 10-30% and 30-50% bare soilfor good, medium, and badgrass cover, respectively.Using this estimate, it was found that 59% ofthe occupied farms had good grass cover, and only 11% had poor grass cover. The unoccupied farms had medium soil cover or worse.The observation indicates that,there will soon be very little grass available in the unoccupied farms. Therefore, sufficient grazingfor these farmers wasonlyan illusion. An alternative source offeed to supplement grazing is necessary.Itwas observed that only 27% of the respondents gave any form ofsupplementary feed tosmall ruminants because there was still grazing available in the unoccupied farms. However, there is need to improve the amount offeed available.This can be done by either of three possible ways, namely, improving the productivity of the available grazing, destocking, or upgrading withbettersmall ruminant breeds like Dorper crosses. This latter may encourage reduction in stock numbers.Since lack of enough grazing, at least for small ruminants, was not seen as a significant constraint to production, it will be difficult to convince the respondents to plant large areas ofland with fodder for small ruminants, especially where the fodder will compete with food crop production and for labour. Nonetheless, a start should be to encourage farmers to use crop residues and improve the storage quality of available crop residues, for instance maize stover, throughpreservation.Plantingfoddertrees like leucaena and sesbania alongthe fences and on terraces will also increase the amount offeed available.1. The main constraints to small ruminant production arepneumonia, CCPP, andhelminths. Hence, animal diseases are a limiting factor for small ruminant production.2. Small-scale farmers are not conversant with the administration of anthelmintic drugs. This caused increased costs ofinputs and is likelyto precipitate helminths resistance tothe drugs.3. Though small-scale farmers do not consider insufficientgrazing a significant constraint,there is evidence ofovergrazingin the study area especially in the unoccupied farms.Additionally, grazing will be a major constraint when the unoccupiedplots are occupied.Recommendations 1. Farmers shouldbe trained to follow guidelines forthe use of the anthelmitics or other drugs; the recommended use of the various anthelmintic drugs for different zones, as is the case with acaricides, should be studied. This zoning will help the small-scale farmersto remember drug dosage rates and it will also reduce the likelihood of the development of resistance to these drugs by helminths.2. The number of dams need to be increased and dam management improved.3. Action should be taken to correct the problem of overgrazing.4. To expandthe feed base for their livestock, farmers must be encouraged to feed crop residues to the livestock.They should also be trained to preserve these residues for strategic interventions during drought or long dryspells.Etude de quelques obstacles à la production des petits ruminants chez les petits éleveurs de Laikipia-Ouest Cover crops are planted under tree crop plantations to control soil erosion, improve soil fertility and smother weeds.These covers, however,grow rapidly tending to choke the tree crops, and have to be kept in check through expensive labour use. On the other hand,they can be converted into meat (Hodges 1983;Devendra 1991). Manure from the livestock also cuts the fertiliser bill. Besides,the technology diversifies farm produce thus reducing risk and intensifying landuse. Stock rearing under tree crops therefore affords Ghana, and indeed the West African subregion, an opportunity to expand the sheep industry in the forest zone withoutaltering the farmer's main activity of crop production.Citrus and oil palm rank after cocoa as the Following are a few examples ofsheepintegration intotree cropplantations at agricultural station levelin different regions of Ghana. Wilson and Lansbury (1958) cited the 1938 investigations into the nutritive quality of leguminous cover crops under tree crops in the Central Region. These authors also reported on sheep grazing under citrus plantations at Asuansi and Mankessim Agricultural Stations. Data on weather conditions and herbage quality during that study are given in Tables 1  and 2, respectively. Green herbageyield averaged 208 t/haperyear.Stocking rate was about 13.6 sheep/ha, and in the 11 months liveweight gain aggregated to 907 kg/ha in Djallonké sheep.At the University of Ghana's Agricultural Research Station (ARS) in Okumaning-Kade in the Eastern Region, oil palm, citrus, cola, mango and avocado plantations were established for agronomic studies in the late 1950s.Sheepwere introducedin 1972 to take advantage of the lush cover crops. Centrosema and Pueraria constitute the main diet of the animals in these plantations. However, a wide range ofvolunteer forbs and grasses, e.g. Panicum maximum, are also selected as cultivated leguminous cover crops diminish with heavy grazing. Table 2 gives the chemical composition of the top three forages at the ARS. The high quality of these forages is apparent, although the Ca Pratio ofthe legumes isslightly high. On accountof dwindling herbage biomass due to the dense overhead canopy of many old plantations, the stocking rate dropped from 11-18 sheep/ha in 1972 to 3 sheep/ha Sources: Asuansi data adapted from Wilson and Lansbury (1958) and Kade data adapted from ARS files. As part of the UNDP-Ghana Government Sheep and Goat Development programme, Djallonké sheep were introduced into a palm plantation at Juaso,in the AshantiRegion, from 1978to1992. Here again, animals weighed 16 kg at six months compared with eight months elsewhere (Oppong-Anane 1981) Notwithstanding the demonstrated potential of integratingsheepproduction intotree cropsbythe work atthesestations, fewfarmersinGhanahave adoptedthis technology.The objective ofthis study was therefore to find out whythis technology is notwidely adopted and to suggest waystofacilitate itswide adoption.With the help of agricultural veterinary officers and some farmers, nine sheep flocks integrated into plantation tree crops were identified.The farmers were interviewed with a questionnaire as a guide. Each plantation was visited several times to observe the animals between September 1992 and January 1993 Three otherholdingswere studied, whichwere notusing the technologybut had sheep and plantations.Five farmers(Group 1)were rearing sheep exclusively under their oil palm plantations. Four others (Group2) used plantations but also occasionallygrazed their stock on wasteland while three (Group3)only usedwasteland (Table 3). No sheep were being reared under citrus and cocoa plantations. Because goatstendedto roam farther afield causing more frequent crop damage than sheep, only all-sheep flocks were selected for allgroups.The sheep breeds encountered were 60% Djallonké, 29% Ouda and its crosses, 7% Nungua Blackhead X Djallonké crosses and 4% Yankasa crosses. All the Nungua Blackhead derivatives were found in Group 1.The ages ofthe 12 farmers ranged from 33-74 years of age.Their formal education variedfrom nil to tertiary.Their plantations sizes rangedfrom 3to 16 ha and their flock sizes ranged from 7 to 58 head. Flock sizes were, however, larger for groups 1 and 2. Only three ofthe 12 farmers were fulltime farmers, the others had additional occupations.Animals are grazedunder plantations fora number ofreasons, namely touse the copious feed resources and keep down weeds, to derive extra income especially for meeting emergency expenses such as school fees, hospital bills etc,and tofurnish meat forfestivities such as Christmas and Easter celebrations. The flocks in Group 1 were managedby menwhereas thosein groups 2 and 3 were tended by women and children. Penswere generally fenced with planks of timber and roofed with thatch or salvaged aluminium sheets.The floors were earthen or concrete.Waterwas providedin thepens ad libitum. Forgroups 1 and2grazing wasfrom 1000 to 1830 hours and stocking rates varied from 092 to 735 head/ha with an average of 3.67 head/ha. Grazing was continuous as thepastures were not subdivided. Flocks in Group3 were allin Kade town and by law hadto be penned from 0900 to 1600 hours and were released thereafter to scavenge for food around town. Supplementary feeding and feed supplements used varied withinandbetween groups. Forexample, in Kade (Table 4), except for one farmer in Group 1, all farmers feed cassava and plantain peels as supplements to their animals.Corn grain supplementation was morepopular among farmers who did not use their plantations for grazing their animals.These farmers did not, however, supplysaltlicks to theiranimals as observed forfarmers in groups l and2.Although only three farmers had planted Centrosema and Pueraria, these plants were highly frequent in all the plantations studied. Herbage species grazed underthe palmsincludedthe following: Aspilia africana, Asystasia gangetica, Centrosemapubescens, Euphorbia hirta, E. heterophylla, Panicum maximum, P. laxum, Phyllanthus muellerianus and Pueraria phaseoloides.The mating ratio was3 to9 ewes per ram. One flockin Group3had noram anddepended on other*scavenging' flocks forram service.Breedingwas yearroundbut76%  of the ewes lambed every eight months, 20% twice a year, and4% once ayear. Neonate lambs werepenned for2 to 3 weeks and allowed to graze only around the pens. In fourfarms, lambs dropped in the rainy season were provided with heat in the pen for the first two weeks, by burning firewood every night.Farmers in Group 3 never consulted a veterinarian but those in Group2called the vet during crises, e.g. severe diarrhoea while farmers in Group 1 consulted the ARS vet almost monthly. Common health problems were helminthiasis, foot rot, skin disorders, inappetence, coughs, fractures and cuts. Ethnoveterinary practices were noted in all groups, for example, sulphur drugs, known as *M& B' were given with charcoal for diarrhoea; foot rotwastreated with lime juice and skin disorders with shea butter.Overall mean lamb mortality (Table 4)was significantly (P<005)higherin Group2 (339%)thanin groups 1 (242%)and 3 (144%).Adult mortality (0-67%) noted in Group 1 was from injuries inflicted byfarmers whose crops hadbeen damaged by the animals.Fertility (number of lambing ewes as a percentage of ewes exposed to the ram)was 965% in Group3,905% in Group 1 and 863% in Group 2 (Table 4). The differenceswere not significant (P>005). Lambs born as a percentage of ewes lambing (prolificacy) ranged from 140-180%.On average,the flocksinGroup2were the most prolific (173%)followed by those in groups 3 (157%) and 1 (154%). Prolificacy was also highest in flocks dominatedby Djallonkés and Oudas as these are inherently more prolific than the Nungua Blackhead.Fertility and prolificacy varied remarkably with flocks within groups.The following are the indicated constraints to the adoption of integrated tree crop-sheep production technology amongsmallholderfarmers.The percentage ofrespondents indicating each constraintis indicated in brackets :Theft of animals bars absentee farmers from integratingsheep into theirpalms (92%).Cropdamage by sheep(83%)leadingtotheirbeing killed and to quarrels with neighbours (53%)Lack of credit to enable the farmer to put up pens and a farmstead (75%).Scarcity and high cost of breeding stock (75%).Dearth of dedicated shepherds that tend the animals (67%).Remoteness ofplantations from the town made it difficult to sell animals reared (42%).The Ghanaian farmer is basically a cropproducer and not a livestockhusbandman.Certainly the technology of integratingsheepintotree crops poses peculiartechnical challenges that must be properly addressed through strongextension support.Lack of business attitude towards livestock rearing Fianu (1993)argues that the main hindrance to adopting livestock innovation is the lack of a business attitude to livestockand that thisis rootedin the culture ofGhanian farmers.Thus a plantation owner will regularly cart his crop to distant markets but not his animals.Credit is notanissuefor residingon the plantation either, for most farmers normally take up residence in a makeshift shelter when they break new ground to develop crop farms.They do not seek creditfor it.Only a commitment to livestock rearing as a business will motivate the farmer to live on his plantation on account ofhis sheep.Prospective farmerspresent a different problem. They face both land tenure and credit constraints in starting a plantation. None of the palm farmers studied had any problem with land acquisition because they were members ofthe land owninggroup by birth or marriage, orhad share-croppingarrangementswiththe caretakers. However, the twofarmers whohad50% share-cropping arrangements (ABUNU)reported frequent queries from various members of the royal family. Generally, foreigners face serious barriers to land acquisition for plantation tree crops or livestockrearing.Those gaining access to land through marriage also stand the risk of eviction on the demise of their spouses.Lack of capital is a further constraint for prospective farmers. Most prospective farmers are youths with the technical know-how but without collateral.Yet itis such farmers who can readily break through the cultural barriers to commercial stock rearing.Sheep integration into plantation tree crops has a great potentialin Ghana and WestAfricain general.The full realisation of this potential, however, demands a comprehensive extension package to specifically popularise animal rearing as a business. Then the complementarity between tree crops and livestock can be seenas an extra bonus to tree cropping.The probable major problems to be addressed by the package are outlined below.Land tenure. State intervention by acquiring blocks of land for lease to prospective farmers could help.Credit. Recognition of professional diplomas as forms of collateral has not always worked.The loopholes can, however, be tightened and co-operatives made conduits for such credit which must be largely in kind.Cost ofinputs.The scarcity of breeding stock ispartly because owners are unwilling to sell, and partly because Government breeding farms cannot cope with the demand. The answer lies in \"outgrowers' selected to multiply stocks frombreeders for sale to other farmers. Further, the high cost of veterinary drugs serves as a challenge to develop traditional herbal remedies. Ethnoveterinary practices needto be enhanced.Diseases. A high rate of helminthiasis, foot rot, coccidiosisandectoparasite infestationis fosteredbythe humid conditions under the plantation canopy. Their control should be central in the technologicalpackage and manure should be compostedbefore being applied to the crops, to checkthe recyclingof helminths.Canopy closure. This will drastically reduce feed production after the 12th year of existence. Crop residues could come to the rescue here. It may also be possible to reopen the canopy by judicious pruning of palmfronds orfelling ofsome palmtrees.Alternatively, the trees may be widely spaced so as to avoid total canopy closure. However,these need to be researched into,toworkoutthe economics of accepting crop losses for lamb increases.Overgrazing.This will increase erosion hazard through soil compaction, and cause a population explosion of Chromolaena adorata and other weeds. Crops like citrus, may suffer debarking.There will therefore be a need for regular farm visits by technical personnel to advise ongrazingpressure.Damage to arable crops. This could be prevented by fencing.To cut down costs, live fences could be planted using the tree crops.Mixedspecies. Otherspecies ofanimalslike goats, cattle andpoultry could betried. However, cattle could choke to death by swallowing fallen citrus fruits, especially if they are mature but not ripe.Record keeping.This should be part of the package so as to avoid subsidisingthe animals from crop sales or vice versa.Marketing animals. Regular and prompt marketing of animals when theyreach economic maturityis asine qua non for any significant improvement in animal production. It couldeven be made a condition foraccess ofthe package by interested farmers. adéquate. 50,7% des troupeaux sont composés de chèvres uniquement, contre 36,6% constitués de moutons et de chèvres. 33,8% ontplus de 10 têtes de caprins chacun, 29,5% ont entre cinq et 10 têtes, et 366% en ont moins de cinq. Entre 25 et 28% des animaux par troupeau sont des mâles,soit un ratio de l mâle pour 3 femelles. Les animaux de 6 à 18 moissont les plus nombreux, suivis de ceux de 18à 36 mois. Le poids vif moyen à 3 ans est de 2069E0. 67 kg. Le GMQ pendant les 120 premiers jours est de 131,1 g/j, contre 192g/jde 0 à 3 ans.Le système traditionnel demeure la pratique dominante parmi les modes d'élevage des petits ruminants au Burkina Faso.Cela est encoreplusvrai en ce qui concerne l'espèce caprine locale, pratiquement délaissée sans soins nutritionnels ou sanitaires, alors qu'elle constitue le troupeau numériquement le plus important et économiquement le plus exploité par les éleveurs et agro-pasteurs du pays. La présente étude a été entreprise compte tenu du poids économique (consommation ménagère, caisse de menues dépenses domestiques.) et socio-culturel (rites coutumiers, mariages, baptêmes.), ainsi que de la très large répartition des caprins dans les exploitations paysannes duBurkinaFaso.Elleviseessentiellementàpromouvoir une meilleure connaissance despratiques traditionnelles Bien que les agro-pasteurs de la zone soient tous sédentaires, la divagation reste une caractéristique dominante pour les caprins. Elle est totale en saison sèche,alors qu'en hivernage, lesanimauxsontsurveillés plus ou moins étroitement pour éviter les dégâts aux cultures.L'étude de la répartition des espèces exploitées au sein des élevages suivis(tableau 1)révèle que 507% des troupeaux sont constitués exclusivement de caprins, 366% comprennent des ovins et des caprins,28% des bovins et caprins,84% lestrois espèces, alors que seul 1,4% des troupeaux sont constitués exclusivement d'ovins.66% des élevages enquêtés disposent d'une case autoitde paillecomme abri pour l'ensemble des espèces présentes.Ce local estsouventtrop étroit pour l'effectif qui y loge, malaéré et surtoutjamais balayé. Le fumier s'entasse donc jusqu'à son ramassage au début de l'hivernage pour lafumure des champs.  La répartition des troupeaux selon les effectifs caprinsparexploitation est présentée au tableau2. Dans les villages de Kamboinsé et Sakoula respectivement, 533% et 43,3% des troupeaux ontplus de 10 têtes de chèvres, alors qu'à Pabré et Sogodin, respectivement, 538 et60% des troupeaux ont moins de cinq têtes.Sex-ratio des troupeaux La proportion de mâles par troupeau est de 222% à Kamboinsé, 31,9% à Pabré, 28% à Sakoula et 27,8% à Sogodin. Dans l'ensemble de la zone étudiée, la moyenne est de 27,5% de mâles par troupeau, c'est-à-dire environ 250% mâles et 750% femelles (tableau 3).Les figures 1A, 1B, 1C et 1D présentent les histogrammes des effectifs caprins en fonction de l'âge des animaux pourchaque village. Les animauxde6 à 18 mois sont lesplus nombreux, suivis de ceux de 18 à 36 mois d'âge. Les animaux âgés (plus de 36 mois) sont nettement moins nombreux, surtout chez les mâles où il n'en existait pratiquement pas.A l'âge d'un mois, le cabripèse en moyenne 325 la courbe-type d'évolution pondérale de la chèvre \"Mossi\" en élevage traditionnel selon le sexe. On observe une légère supériorité (non significative à5%) des femelles parrapportauxmâles. Letableau4 présente les gains moyens quotidiens (GMQ), qui sont de 572g/j et 73,8g/j respectivement pour les mâles et les femelles de 0 à 4 mois.  (1985). Mais, il existe des régions d' Afrique, notammentà l'est et ausud du continent où, compte tenu de l'importance très nette de la chèvre dans la micro-industrie et l'artisanat local, cet animalfait l'objet d'une plus grande attention sur le plan aussi bien sanitaire que zootechnique (Wilson, 1978;Wilson et Ole Maki, 1989).Les résultats enregistrés ici sur le suivi des poids vifs et la croissance des caprins sont similaires à ceux rapportés par Bourzat (1985) dans la même région, mais inférieurs à ceux de Mombeshora et al (1985) et Hale (1986)  Au Cameroun, les petits ruminants sont élevés dans toutes leszonesgéoclimatiques. Leurs rôles socio économiquessont bien connus (Vallerandet Branckaert, 1975). Le cheptel caprin de la province de l'Ouest est estimé à21% du cheptel national (Minepia, 1987). La forte densité de la population humaine (plus de 200 hts/km dans certaines régions) ainsi que la pratique d'une agriculture de plusenplus intensiveontdonnélieu La province de l'Ouest est une région de hauts plateaux dont l'altitude varie de 1400à2000m. Les sols sont volcaniques par endroits et le climat est de type soudano-guinéen modifié par l'altitude. La température varie de 16 à 27\"C, l'humidité relative oscille entre 49 et 97%, et la pluviométrie, de l'ordre de 1600 mm par an, est répartie sur une seule saison des pluies (mars novembre). La végétation est de type savane arbustive avec quelques galeriesforestières.Collectes des données L'enquête a été menée au moyen d'un question naire structuré auprès de 116 ménages répartis dans 25 villages de tous les départements de la province. Les données ont étérassemblées entre janvier et mars 1992, avant le redécoupage administratif qui a vu le nombre de départements de la province de l'Ouestpasser de six à huit. Les aspects couverts par le questionnaire se rapportentà certaines caractéristiques démographiques des enquêtés ainsi qu'aux informations techniques et économiques pouvant influer sur l'élevage caprin. Les données ont été analysées à l'aide de la statistique descriptive.Les propriétaires de caprins sont généralement d'un âge avancé (tableau 1). L'âge moyen varie d'un département à l'autre.Cependant, pourl'ensemble de la province,plus de 80% des éleveurs de caprins avaient entre 30 et 60 ans. Le propriétaire de chèvres est en général un chefde famille bien installé au village etdont la taille du troupeau dépend souvent du nombre d'enfants en âge de s'occuper des animaux. Les plus jeunes éleveurs (7%) âgés de 20 à 30 ans, sont des héritiers obligés de par les coutumes locales, de L'origine des animaux de fondation varie d'un ménage à l'autre.Ainsi,80% des éleveurs ont acheté leurs animaux, alors que 284% et253% les ontobtenus respectivement sous forme de don et d'héritage de leurs parents.Alors que 61,34% des éleveurs pratiquent cette activité pour un but essentiellement financier, 3697% le font par tradition et 1,69% pour l'autoconsommation. Même si de plus en plus, pour la majorité des paysans enquêtés, le rôle économique de l'activitéprédomine, l'élevage des chèvres reste encore de type \"tirelire\" que le propriétaire n'exploite qu'en périodes de difficultés économiques (maladies, obsèques, scolarité des enfants, impôt, etc.). L'âge avancé des propriétaires est dû soit à un certain désintéressementdes jeunes de cette activité, soit au manque demoyens financiers ou àl'exode des jeunes vers les villes. Le nombre limité de femmes dans ce secteurs'expliqueprobablementpar lacoutume qui leur impose l'élevage desvolailles et réserve celui du gros bétail aux hommes. Toutefois, les choses semblent évoluer, de plus en plus de femmes étant désormais propriétaires degros bétail.La faibleproportion des chevreauxpar rapport aux mères pourrait être lié au faible taux de fertilité en rapport avec une mauvaise répartition des boucs dans la région,à la mise au piquet saisonnière des boucs, mais aussi à un taux élevé de mortalité des jeunes avant l'âge d'un an (24 à 32%).Dans le Haut-Nkam, une faible proportion d'éleveurs (31,25%) détiennent des effectifs plus importants (15,6%) qu'ailleurs dans la province (Noun, Ndé, Mifi) où l'activité est très répandue mais avec des effectifs réduits. Dans la Menoua par contre, l'élevage des chèvres est très répandu et les effectifs par exploitation sont importants. Du fait de l'explosion démographique et de l'extension conséquente des zones de culture, source de nombreux conflits entre paysans, la divagation avec claustration en saison de cultures devient le mode de gestion le plus répandu.Mais la claustration permanente semble constituer la tendance générale. Toutefois, contre toute attente, des pertes de poids de l'ordre de 15 à 20% sont enregistrées pendant la saison des pluies. Les difficultés rencontréespouralimenter correctement les animaux pendant cette claustration saisonnière sont beaucoup plus liées à l'exiguïté des parcelles individuelles etpeut être aussi à une mauvaise gestion de l'espace, qu'à un manque de fourrage de bonne qualité. Les mortalités enregistrées pendant la période de claustration sontimputables, en partie au moins, à la pluie, responsable de nombreux cas de pneumonie signalés.Les problèmes sanitaires observés sont peut-être liés soit à l'éloignement des centres zootechniques vétérinaires généralement basés dans les centres urbains, soit à la non utilisation des médicaments et vaccins dont le conditionnement en doses multiples (flacons de 250 à 1000 doses) estinadapté aux besoins des éleveurs qui nepossèdent que 7animaux seulement en moyenne. De plus, la taille réduite des troupeaux n'encourage pas les éleveurs àfaire appel aux CZV dont les agents sont perçus par les paysans beaucoup plus comme des collecteurs d'impôts que comme des parte naires. Le regroupement des paysans en coopératives d'éleveurs pourrait être une solution.Lestypes de naissance obtenus dans cette étude se rapprochent de ceux rapportés ailleurs en Afrique (Buadu,1972;Mathewman, 1977cités par Okello et Obwolo, 1985;Wilson,1976). Les moyennes d'âgeà la première mise bas enregistrées sont proches de celles obtenuessurd'autres chèvres tropicales et subtropicales (CIPEA, 1979cité par Okello etObwolo,1985;Wilson, 1976;Haumesser et Coll,1975;Devendra,1970).La concentration des mises bas en saison sèche pourrait être associée au confinement saisonnier des animaux qui, libérés après les récoltes, reprennent leurs activités sexuelles vers la findelasaisondespluies, avec pour conséquence des mises bas en fin de saison sèche.La chèvre joue un rôle important dans la vie des populations de laprovince de l'Ouest-Cameroun et ce, comme source de protéines, la viande de chèvre étant plus appréciée que celle de boeuf. L'élevage caprin constitue une épargne sur pied facilement mobilisable.Le rôlesocio-culturelde lachèvre utilisée pour des dons, la dot,des sacrifices,des impôts, etc. estimportant mais mal évalué compte tenu du caractère ponctuel de ces pratiques. Du point de vue de lagestion du troupeau, la chèvre utilise des ressources alimentaires très diverses et traverse en général la saison sèche sans grand dommage.Son rythme de production estplus élevé que celuidesbovins et ovins locaux.Sur un plan strictement économique, tout produit obtenu de la production caprine peutêtre considéré comme un bénéfice dans la mesure où, en dehors de l'achat de l'animal, l'éleveur n'investit que très peu dans cette spéculation.Les principaux obstacles à la production caprine dans la province de l'Ouest concernent l'alimentation, le logement, la santé et le manque de capitaux. Des recherches devraientportersurune meilleure évaluation de la productivité de la chèvre locale, notamment la fécondité, l'intervalle entre mises bas, la vitesse de croissance et la maturité sexuelle, lesquels peuvent constituer des facteurs d'amélioration. Une sélection rigoureuse et le croisement devraient permettre de décanter la population caprine de la province detous les animaux improductifs ou peu productifs. On pourrait aussi envisager l'introduction de chèvres à potentiel génétique supérieur pour accroître les potentialités des animaux locaux. Avec l'extension des cultures de contre-saison qui occupent les terres pendant la saison sèche, la chèvre s'accommodera de moins en moins d'un élevage de type extensif. La claustration permanente semble être à moyen terme l'unique alternative pour la survie de cette activité. Il est donc fondamental que l'éleveur de caprins de la province de l'Ouest-Cameroun of age, home consumption ofgoat meatincreased only slightly (Table 2).This has not improved proteinintake as planned.The increased attention given to goat production was meant to minimise or terminate the huge sheep products imports from South Africa (SA) and increase exports ofgoat live animals and meat. However, due to low offtake rates, Botswana still imported over P 12 million worth ofsheep meats in 1991 (CSO 1992)  (1985,1988,1990).National figures also show low and stagnated productivity and marketing parameters (Table 2).While thebirth rate increased during thewet years of 1988/89 the death rate increased too. Sales of goats increased only slightly over the three periods investigated. The increase is attributed tothe implementation of apricing policy duringthe period,whereprice/100kg CDM was raised to approach that ofcattle (Table 3).Althoughthe aim was to increase offtake rates of these farmers, the commercial farmers' offtake rate of between 12-15% has never been attained by traditional farmers. Also,while the population ofBotswana increased tremendously from 09million in 1981 to 1.3 million in 1990, with 506% ofthem being children under 15 years Source: MoA (1985,1988,1990). number of animals slaughtered in both the BMC and municipal abattoirs(Table 4). 1. The culture of keeping animals as wealth hinderthe objectiveofincreasing offtake rates.This renders the price policy ineffective as far as small farmers are concerned. From the surveys done in the Gaborone region (1993/94) only 2% of the farmers sold any goats. These were sold only when need for cash aI'OSC, 2. Competition for inputs with a number of other enterprises(crop production and off-farm activities) deprive goat production ofthe necessary resources needed toimprove productivity(e.g. labour, finance, feed etc).Major production constraints identified by the study  This has resulted in poor management due to labour shortages resulting in straying of animals, loss through diseases and poor nutrition.Inadequate water sources and long distances to dams or boreholes have forced some of these farmers to water their animals in municipal sewage ponds (9% of the farmers).Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshopFarmers claim that BMC prices are low (Table 3) as compared toprivate agentswhodo not lookat thegrade ofthe animal and pay P100/goat(1993). However, this unofficial channel is not reliable.Longdistancesto abattoirs,poor roads and lack of transport. The study discovered that most farmers, especially women, do not own trucks that could ease their transport problems(Table5). The type oftransport owned is inappropriate for transporting goats. Hiring of trucks could costa farmerupto P200/trip. Butmostearn only an average of P 3307 or USS 1272 p.a. (Mrema 1994). This restricts the number of trips to be made to the market. Most of the goats sold are of grades B1 and B2 and the pricesofthese are lower(Table 6).These low grades are caused by long distances walked to abattoirs, insufficient feeding and poor quality pastures among other reasons.This has led to the beliefthat ifgoats are kept longer they fetch higher prices.Delaysin payment or problemsin cashing cheques issuedby official channels(BMC andits agents)alsoact as deterrents touse of these official outlets. Those in Super and A grades are young goats with less than two permanent incisors while those in B grade are older with more than twopermanentincisors.Source: Molefe (1985).It is evident therefore that in order for maximum output to be realisedfromgoats,farmers need touse all the necessary inputs (resources), e.g. water, feed, disease control and genetic improvedtechnology at the optimum level as portrayed by Dillon's model (Figure 1). Falling short of this combination as is the case with most farmers, the results are generally below the maximum outputor product. Otherfactors notinthe model, like marketing and institutional factors, play a major role in determining level of production and marketing.  The GoBis spending large amounts ofmoneytoachieve its set objectives of increased income and nutrition for poorerfarmers,importsubstitution etc. However, since the farmer is the decision maker on how much of each resource (time, inputs, finances etc) to allocate to many competing ends, and since he is faced with a number of his own objectives and constraints on the farm, sometimes the intended results are never achieved.Production, marketing and institutionalconstraints have resulted in low production and offtake and hence low incomes alldiscouraging farmersfromincreasinginputs to goat production. This vicious cycle needs to be broken.It is therefore imperative that, since most of the The cattle industry in the country has been well developed.This is because it has, since the country's independence in 1967, been receiving considerable attention with respect to research, marketing and other institutional support from the governmentwhich in turn is mainly due to the preferential trade arrangement granted to the country's beef export by the European Economic Community (EEC). Ironically, the distribution of cattle ownership in the country is very skewed with 30-40% of the rural households without any (MoA 1991;Panin et al 1993). By contrast, almost every rural household owns at least a unit of small ruminant (Fane 1992). Inspite ofthe popularity ofsmall ruminants among the rural households as reflected in their ownership distribution, available evidence indicates that the small ruminant production system receives relatively little attention in terms of the above mentioned services rendered to that of cattle (Fane 1992).This is despite the fact that the small ruminant production system has proved to be suitable to the prevailing harsh climatic conditions in the country (Molefe 1987).Lack of information on the profitability of the small ruminant production enterprise as well as on its income contribution to the rural folks is assumed to be the principal reason for the non-recognition of its importance by the policy makers and relevant institutions and hence the resultinglittle attention given toits improvementin the country.The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on the relative economicimportance ofthe small ruminantproduction enterprise in African rural householdsbyassessingboth its profitability and income contributions to the rural folks.The data onwhichthe analysis is based were drawn from a farm management survey carried out in six villages from Kweneng and Kgatlengdistricts in Botswana.Two The two districts are located in the south-eastern part ofthe country andthe selected villages are within a 20-40km radius ofGaborone, the capital of Botswana. Like the restofthe country, the rainfall of the study area isvaried in its distribution with an annual mean ranging from 400-500 mm.The vegetation ofthe area is tree savannah. The economy of the area is mainlybased on subsistence farming, with about 90% ofits total labour force directly orindirectly engagedin agriculture (Panin et al 1993). Mixed crop and livestock farming is the common practice ofthe inhabitants. Cultivated areas ranged from 1-14 ha with an average of 6 ha per household. The major crops of the area are sorghum, maize, beans and millet with sorghum being the most important single crop in terms of cultivated area and utilisation. Productivity ofboth food crops andforage is relatively low in the study area as in other areas in the whole country.The profitability of the small ruminantproduction enterprise was estimated usingthe budgetary analytical method.The budgetary analysis was based on cost and returns data of only small ruminant household owners. The total small ruminant owning household was 102. The deciding factor for the inclusion of a particular household in this sample of 102 was thatthe household owned at least a unit of one of the small ruminant species. For the enterprise budget, the costs and returns were estimated for the period under review.Total costs were obtained by estimating both the operating cost and the fixed cost. The operating cost consists ofthe cost of the variable inputs used by the farmers.This costincluded the expenses on medicines, water, dipping, feeding and replacement of the stock. The fixed cost was obtained by valuing the family labour,the mostsingle important fixed input underthe smallholder sheep and goats farming system in the area.Attemptstouse the depreciation method to estimate the annual cost ofkraal revealed insignificant values, hence thesewere excluded from the current analysis.Also, an average interest rate of 12% representing the then market rate for capital was used to reflect the opportunity cost of capital tied up in the form of investment in sheep and goats.The returns were obtained by estimating the total value ofproduction which included the value of animals sold and consumed by the households as well as the value ofmilk sold and consumed.The farm gate prices for a unit of each product wasused for the computation ofthe home consumed products.Primary data were collected from 114 randomly selected smallholder households from the six selected villages through interviews with the aid of structured questionnaires during the 1991/92 cropping season. Information on several aspects of crop-livestock farmingwas collected as well as other socio-economic variables such as income transfers from other family members residing and working outside the villages.Ownership and distribution of small ruminants The ownership of the small ruminants among the total 114 households studied is presented in Table 1. As clearly shown in the table, goats were more widely owned than sheep.About90% ofthe sample households possessed at least a unit ofgoat as comparedwith only 27% of the same sample households who owned sheep. Also,the percentage of households owning any one of the two species ofanimal was the same (90%) as goat owning households. Mixed flock of sheep and goats enterprise was found tobe practised by only27% ofthe households in the area.The average number of goats owned across allhouseholds was 19.Thisvaried greatly between the households as reflected in the standard deviation (SD = 18.1). Sheep flock size also varied considerably amongthe households, ranging between 0 and 64head with an average of only27 (SD=77). As regards total number ofall ruminantsperhousehold,the average flock size was 21.7with standard deviation of about 22. Table 2 presents the frequency distribution of number of animals for only ruminant owning households. The total number of households owning goats, sheep andboth species togetherwere 102,31 and 102, respectively. The data in the table reveal very striking information. In general, the frequency distribution of the two species of animals was highly skewed with a majority of the households owning between 1 and 10 units of animals. However, the skewness is highly pronounced among sheep owning households. More than two-thirds (68%) of all sheep owning households possessedbetween 1 and 10units of sheep. Incontrast,only38% ofallhouseholdswithgoats had similar units of animals. The proportion of households that owned more than 60 units of each species ofanimal orbothtogether was relatively smaller at 5, 3 and 7% each for goats, sheep and both, respectively.Given that profitability per animal as reported by Mpho ( 1993)is much higher for goats enterprise than sheep, it is not surprising to find out that smallholder households in the study area keep avery small number of sheep relative togoats.Another probable reason for the discrepancy between both species sizes might be that the adaptation potential ofgoatsto the prevailingharsh climatic conditions in the country may be higher than that of sheep. Overall, higher numbers of goats are keptby the households than sheep, suggesting that goats are more popular in the study area than sheep. Similar observations from various studies conducted in the same area and surroundings has been made by Mpho (1993), Fane (1992) and Panin (1994).The results of the budgetary analysis for the small ruminant enterprise are presented in Table 3. On average, the small ruminant production enterprise earned a household a total net profit ofP561.00.On a per animal basis, an appropriate measure for the profitability,the returnper animal was P2300.This suggests that a small ruminant production enterprise is profitable. However, profit perse may not be the best measure of how efficiently the factors of production have been utilised. The best measure of efficiency is thatwhich recognises the returns perunit ofinput. Since capitalhas been identified as one of the constraints to increased agricultural production in the area (Panin and Mahabile 1994), the return per Pula of capital tied up in the small ruminant enterprise was calculated.This was to help in assessing whether it is worth investing in such enterprise as capital has an opportunitycost. Capital here is referredtoas thevalue of the total average number of sheep and goats owned by a household. Data inTable 3 show that the return to capital wasconsiderably high, about34%, exceedingthe interest rate by almost65%. Income contribution of small ruminants The summary ofthe farmhouseholdincome analysis for the small ruminant owning householdsis presented in The relative contributions of the various income Sources are shown in column three of Table 4. The contribution from agriculture (livestock and crops) amounted to 55.3% of total household income. This finding contradicts the result of Panin et al (1993)who found out that contribution of non-farm employment sources (53%)in the same area was higher than that of agriculture(47%). The discrepancy might be due to the difference in the sampling procedure.While Panin et al (1993) considered income of all selected households irrespective of one owning animals or not, the current analysis focused only on households owning small ruminants.Comparison between crop and livestock incomes reveals that while livestock accounted for 49% of total net income, crop production contributed a mere 6%.Within the livestock sector, cattle contributed the highest (33%). Nevertheless, the contribution of small ruminantis substantial, amountingto 15%.This exceeds the contribution from crops by 58%. This finding provides enough evidence for the smallholder farmers to reallocate some resources from crop production to Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop Panin small ruminant production ifonly theyviewprofitability andefficientutilisation ofresources astheir maingoals. The study has examined the profitability and contribution of small ruminant production as an enterprise to rural householdincomes.The analysis was mainly based on 1991/92 data on 102 small ruminant owning households from Kgatleng and Kweneng districts in Botswana. It is evident from the results that small ruminant production is both profitable and economicallyviable. It accounts for a substantial share (15%) of the total average rural household income. Its contribution to the household income exceeds that of crop production by 58%. Smallholder farmers should exploit the potential benefits of small ruminants by allocating more resourcesto their improvement.Smallholder sorghum production constraints in arid Africa and their implications for household food security: A case study of Botswana. Quarterly Journal ofInternational Agriculture 3:308-320.Rentabilité et contribution de l'élevage des petits ruminants au revenu des ménages ruraux en Afrique: étude de cas des districts de Kgatleng et Kweneng au Botswana Résumé Cette étude évalue la rentabilité de l'élevage des petits ruminants et sa contribution au revenu des ménages ruraux en Afrique. L'analyse est basée sur les données d'une enquête de gestion agricole effectuée en 1991/1992 sur 114 ménages de petits exploitants des districts de Kgatleng et Kweneng au Botswana. Des analyses du budget familial et du revenu des ménages ont servi à évaluer la rentabilité de l'élevage des petits ruminants et sa contribution relative audit revenu. Les résultats ont montré que l'élevage des petits ruminants est une activité à la fois rentable et économiquement viable. Elle procure aux ménages un revenu moyen de 23 pula par animal. Par ailleurs, sa rentabilité est de 34% du capital investi. Sa contribution, estimée à 15% du revenu du ménage, était substantielle et dépassait de 58% en termes relatifs celle de la production végétale.Les petits éleveurs de cette zone devraient par conséquent profiter des avantages potentiels de l'élevage des petits ruminants pour accroître leurs revenus en allouant des ressources accrues à l'amélioration de cette activité. Enfin, tout doit être mis en oeuvre pour amener les dirigeants, les chercheurs et les paysans à prendre conscience de la viabilité économique de l'élevage des petits ruminants dans le pays et ailleurs en Afrique.Facteurs de variation de la production laitière des caprins en milieu peul Ba Diao M, Gueye A. et  Au Sénégal, les Peul entretiennent des troupeaux de bovins et de petits ruminants. Dans leurs systèmes d'élevage, l'espèce caprine joue un rôle socio économique important. Le déstockage facile permet à l'éleveur de bien adapter ses ventes à ses besoins immédiats en argent. De la sorte, la chèvre joue le rôle de tirelire, que ne pourraient remplir en aucun cas les bovins, représentant un capitalbien trop élevé. C'est sa petite taille qui en fait également un animal de choix pour les sacrifices et les dons. Sa reproduction rapide (maturité sexuelle précoce, grande prolificité, dessaisonnement) est un atout dansun pays qui comme le Sénégal, connaît des sécheresses successives. Elle permet de compenser lesfortes mortalités etassure ainsi au moins l'autorenouvellement des troupeaux, même dans les conditions les plus difficiles.Dans les systèmes de production peul, le lait est Les animaux sontà l'origine trypanotolérants, car la région était infestée de glossines avant les campagnes de lutte menées par le Laboratoire nationalde l'élevage (Touré, 1981;Touré, 1983). La race caprine exploitée dans la zone périurbaine de Dakar est un produit du métissage entre la chèvreguinéenne et celle du Sahel, le pourcentage de sang de cette dernière allant croissant.La méthode utilisée pour la collecte et la gestion des données est celle du \"Programme pathologie et productivité des petits ruminants (PPR)\" initié par Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop l'Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles (ISRA)et le CIRAD-EMVT. Ce programme \"Panurge\"basé surun système de contrôle et de suivi des performances individuelles, est destiné à fournir une estimation de la productivité des races locales en élevage traditionnel (Faugère et Faugère, 1993) Les troupeaux sont visités tous les quinzes jours. Les données enregistrées sont les suivantes -Suivi de la démographie du troupeau (repro duction, exploitation, mortalités) et suivi sanitaire.-Contrôle bimensuel de la production laitière.Seules les quantités de lait prélevéespar le berger sont notées. Le contrôle laitier s'effectue avec des pots de mesure. La conversion en poids a étéfaite en multipliant lesquantités obtenues par la densité moyenne du lait (1,035).-Suivi de la croissance des chevreauxpar des pesées mensuelles de la naissance à 1 an. Les caprins appartiennent aux femmes qui en détiennent 80%. Contrairementauxbovins, le confiage est rare chez les caprins et ne concerne que 13% du cheptel. Les proprétaires sontles membres de la famille, des parents ou amis desvillages voisins.La conduite des troupeaux est l'ensemble des pratiques mises en oeuvre par les éleveurs sur leurs animaux en vue d'assurer leur entretien et de les mettre en condition de réaliser les performances qu'ils en attendent (Landais, 1987). On distinguera ici les pratiques d'alimentation (conduite au pâturage, complémentation et abreuvement), de logement, de traite et de conduite de la reproduction.    Mois de la mise bas Ageà la première mise bas La moyenne générale de l'âge à la première mise bas est égale à 46902E1357jours soit environ seize (16) mois. Cet âge est supérieur à celui de 361 jours rapporté par Faugère et al (1988) dans la région de Kolda mais inférieur à celui de 522jours rapportépar Faugère et al (1989) dans la région de Louga.Intervalle entre mises bas L'intervalle moyen entre mises bas est de 28045 t949 jours soit environ neuf( 9)mois. Il est inférieur à celui de 367 jours rapporté par Faugère et al (1989)à Louga mais supérieur à celui de 248 + 8 jours rapporté par Faugère et al. (1988) dans la région de Kolda. Cependant, il est comparable au chiffre de 283jours observé par Berger citépar Moubinou (1990).Ce paramètre est influencé par plusieurs facteurs   L'effet du rang de mise bas est hautement significatif(P<0001) au cours des trois premiers mois de la vie. Au 1ère mois, les produits de mères multi pares sont plus lourds que ceux des primipares.A partir du 2ème mois, les chevreaux issus des primipares deviennent plus lourds. Cette situation s'explique par le fait que chez les primipares, la traite est rare et la prolificité est inférieure à celle des multipares. Généralement, le lait estentièrementdisponible pour un chevreau. Lepoids plus faible au 1er mois desproduits de primipares peut être lié à la production laitière plus   (Moulin, 1993).  (Charray etal, 1980).La production laitière moyenne prélevée est de 31t11 kg avec un minimum de 11 kg et un maximum de 56 Kg. Quant à la durée moyenne de la traite, elle est de 140+65jours. Enfin,la production laitière moyenne prélevée par jour de traite est de 273t162 g, avec un minimum de 61 g et un maximum de 557 g.Facteurs de variation de la quantité de lait prélevée Le stade de lactation influence la quantité de lait traite (figure 6). Les quantités de lait prélevées parjour sont maximales entre la 4ème et la 6ème semaines.Ensuite, elles diminuentprogressivement,labaisseétant plusforte au-delà de la 14e semaine. Le rang de la mise bas a un effet significatif (P<005) sur la production laitière. Lesfemelles primi pares subissent unepression detraite moinsforte que les multipares. La production laitière augmente avec le rang de lactation. Cela està lier à la diminution progressive des besoins de croissance des femelles au fur et à mesure qu'elles s'approchent du poids adulte. Les femelles allaitant deux chevreaux produisent autant de lait trait que celles qui n'en allaitent qu'un. Ces résultats corroborent les observations de Koussou et Bourzat (1993( ) et de Chamchadine (1994)).Le troupeau a un effet hautement significatif (p<0001) sur la quantité de lait traite. Une étude plus poussée des pratiques d'élevage s'avère indispensable pour expliquer ces différences.Il convient de signaler qu'au tableau 7, on n'a pas représenté les deux sexes séparément car il n'y a pas eu d'interaction entre la pratique de traite et le sexe. Tableau 5: Analyse de variance de la quantité de lait prélevée par jour de traite, durée de la traite et production laitière totale prélevée Le taux d'immigration, rapport entre le nombre d'animauxentrant dans un troupeau et le nombre moyen d'animaux pour une période considérée (Landais et al., 1986) est de 2,8% par an. Les Peul achètent rarement des caprins. L'achat porte enparticulier sur desfemelles le plus souventjeunes (moins de deux ans).En deux années de suivi, 318 caprins ont été exploités soit un tauxannuelde 21,2%.Cetauxest faible comparé à ceux rapportéspour la zone sahélienne où il Tableau 6: Influence de la traite sur la croissance des chevreaux varie entre 33 et50% (Faugère et al., 1989). Il est proche cependant des taux de 26% enregistrés dans la zone du delta au nord du Sénégal (Tourrand, 1993) et de 23% observés en Mauritanie (François, 1989). Les ventes et les abattages représententrespectivement 61 et32%des sorties. Les dons ettrocs sont rares et n'intéressent que 7% des animaux.Ce taux assezfaible peut s'expliquer par l'importance de la traite dans lazonepériurbaine de Dakar. En effet, on a observé que plus l'éleveura du lait de vache et de chèvre, moins il vend d'animaux.En effet, la vente de lait procure des revenus qui permettent d'entretenir quotidiennement leménage(prise encharge des repas). Donc la vente d'animaux n'intervient que lorsque survient un besoin plus important (maladie, voyage, achat d'habits, etc.). Les éleveurs qui ne pratiquent pas la traite exploitent 29% de leur cheptel caprin, contre 19%pour ceux quiprélèvent le lait.Le taux d'exploitation des boucs, de l'ordre de 47%, est nettementsupérieur à celui des femelles, lequel est de 11%. Pour les chèvres, François (1989), Faugère et al (1989), Tourrand (1993)   Les recettes de la vente de laits'élèvent en moyenne à 115000FCFA paranet partroupeau.Cette somme équi valait avant la dévaluation à 6 mois de salaire d'un berger travaillant dans l'élevage intensif et à près de 4 mois de salaire d'un ouvrier qui gagne le SMIG (salaire minimuninterprofessionnel garanti, soit 30000FCFA).Le prix moyen de vente des caprins est de 8400 F CFA. Les recettes de la commercialisation des animaux s'élèvent en moyenne à 44800 F CFA par an. Cette somme serait de 73500 F CFA si tous les animaux ex ploités étaient destinés à la vente.Les éleveurs qui ne pratiquentpas latraitevendent en moyenne deux animaux deplus que les autres et ont un quotient d'exploitation entre 0 et 12 mois (263%) supérieur à celui de leurs homologues qui traient leurs animaux (23%). Ils gagnent ainsi 60900 FCFA par an contre 40500 F CFA pour ceux qui font la traite. Cette différence de recettes pourrait s'expliquer par la production d'animaux plus lourds à 6 mois chez les éleveurs non producteurs de lait.L'élevage caprin génère des revenus assez substantiels de l'ordre 53400 FCFA pour les éleveurs qui ne pratiquent pas la traite et 148000 FCFA pour les autres, soit respectivement près de 3 mois et 8 mois de salaire d'un berger travaillant dans lazone. Les caprins constituent donc une importante source de revenus pour lesproducteurs.Laprise en compte des évolutions d'effectifs aurait permis d'estimer lavaleur du cheptel accumulé pendant la période d'étude en comparaison avec la valeur du cheptel exploité. Une évaluation économique plus complète aurait permis de mieux analyser le rôle de la fumure organique dans la productivité de la partie végétale de l'exploitation. La fonction sociale des caprins n'est pasbien appréciée. Pourtant, les éleveurs L'alimentation est un desfacteurs limitants pour la production laitière. Pendant l'hivernage, cette pro duction estélevée du fait de ladisponibiltéd'unpâturage abondant de bonne qualité.Cependant, en saison sèche, surtout chaude, la production est faible. Pourpallier ce déficit,une complémentation s'impose surtoutpour les femelles allaitantes. L'abreuvement doit être également assuré pendant cette période.Comme l'alimentation, la santé est un facteur de première importance. La mortalité des jeunes est très élevée et entrave de manière directe l'augmentation de la production laitière dans la mesure où la disparition précoce du ou des chevreaux entraîne presque auto matiquement l'arrêt de la traite. Un suivi sanitaire du troupeau est indispensable pour garantir une pro ductivité maximum.Ces deux facteurs constituent donc les principaux obstacles à l'augmentation des productionscaprines. La levée de ces contraintespourrait permettre d'améliorer sensiblement la productivité laitière en milieu éleveur.  reproduced experimentally with Mmc is largely restricted to the thoracic cavity, with or without a septicaemic phase and death. In contrast, caprine variants of Mmm generally causes a syndrome which mayinclude notonlypleuropneumonia but alsomastitis, polyarthritis, keratoconjunctivitis, acute septicaemic death, sometimeswith symptoms ofthe central nervous system, and abortion. Mmm is a major cause ofdisease in goats in USA, France, Israel and India. Experimentally, the disease caused by Mccp differs fromthatproduced by Mmcand Mmm in: being readily contagious and fatal to susceptible goats; not affecting sheep or cattle; not producing local oedematous reactions when injected subcutaneously; and being characterised histo-pathologically by an interstitial, intralobular oedema of the lung, compared with the thickening of the interlobular septa which is seen with Mmc and Mmm (Kaliner and MacOwan 1976). Pasteurellahaemolytica (both biotypes A andT)and P multocida have also been associated with pleuro pneumonia ingoats, although experimental evidence of their pathogenicityin this host is meagre.Diagnosis of CCPP can be divided into field and laboratory diagnosis. Because this devastating disease occursin epidemics,itis essential that the diagnosis be achievedvery quickly so that control measures such as treatment of the sick goats and vaccination ofthose at risk is carried out immediately.Therefore, proper field diagnosis is paramount. • Latex agglutination test (LAT) (Rurangirwa et al 1987b). This test is based on a polysaccharide isolated from Mccp (Rurangirwa et al 1987a) which is used to sensitise latex beads. The sensitised latex beads are then used to detect serum antibodies from goats infected with CCPP (Rurangirwa et al 1987b). The specificity of LAT was assessed using WM25 monoclonal antibody which is specific for Mccp (Rurangirwa et al 1987c;Belton et al 1994) and reacts with the polysaccharide (Rurangirwa et al 1992). The specificity of LAT was further confirmed by evaluating specific growth inhibiting rabbit antisera to various mycoplasma isolates (Rurangirwa et al 1987c). Culture, isolation and characterisation of Mccp. This procedurewhich takes a minimum of 10 days istoo slow to be of any practical use in the containment of CCPP outbreak.Since the disease occurs in epidemics, antibiotic treatment, as the only control measure would be very  (1978). Theyinoculated 20 goatsintratracheally with a high-passage culture of Mccp.On contact challenge of the inoculated goats one month later, 11 of the 20 vaccinatedgoatswere protected,whereas all20control goats contracted CCPP. The results provided an indication that goats could be protected against CCPP byusingMccp.While investigating the effect ofstreptomycin in goats with natural and experimental CCPP caused by Mccp (Rurangirwa et al 1981a), it wasfound that goats treated withstreptomycin on the 3rd day oftemperature elevation (>4'C)recovered fromthe disease andbecame completely immune to reinfection with Mccp (Rurangirwa et al 1981a). Serum samples from such recovered goats caused in vitro growth inhibition of Mccp (Rurangirwa et al 1981a).This observation led to a series ofexperiments in whichgoatswere immunised withsonicatedF38antigens indifferent adjuvants which included Freund's complete adjuvant, Freund's incomplete adjuvant and aluminium hydroxide (Rurangirwa et al 1981b;Rurangirwa et al 1984).It was demonstrated that protective immunity in goats could be induced by using sonicated Mccp antigens in Freund's complete and/or incomplete adjuvants. The immunity was present for at least six months after vaccination (Rurangirwa et al 1984). Aluminium hydroxide,likeantigen alone, providedonly 20% protection (Rurangirwa et al 1984) The mean time for the control goats to develop pyrexia of 40'C was 14-t1.5 days after exposure to infected goats, and all the controlgoats died of CCPP The goats that were immunised with 1.5 mg Mccp antigen without saponin had an incubation period similar to that of the control group. Two goats immunisedwiththe lowest amount oflyophilised Mccp (0015 mg in saponin) died of CCPP. One goatgiven 0075 mg in saponin also died of CCPP. There was no pyrexia nor any signs ofdisease in the goatsthat were immunisedwith >0.15 mgin saponin, except in one of the group immunised with 0.375 mg, which had a temperature reaction40days after contactexposure and died of CCPP six days later.The resultsindicated that the minimum immunising dose that fullyprotected all goatsin a groupwas 0.15 mg.Mccp stored at22'C and 4'Cfor 3,9 and 14 months (Rurangirwa et al 1987c) In order to check the stability of the antigen upon storage, antigen (lyophilised Mccp)was stored at 4 and 22'Cfor up to 14months. Goats were immunised with two doses ofthe minimum immunising dose (0.15 mg) ofthe antigen after storagefor 3 and 14 months at 22'C and after 3, 9 and 14 months at 4\"C. The immunised goats, together with corresponding controls, were challenged by contact exposure three weeks after the booster dose. Lyophilised Mccp kept for 3, 9 and 14 months induced protective immunity in all the immunised goats. The average mean time for the non-immunised control groups ofgoats, at 3,9, and 14 months, to developpyrexia were 15, 17and22 days after contact exposure to the infected goats, respectively.There was no indication of CCPP in the immunised goatS.Duration ofimmunity induced by a single dose (Rurangirwa et al 1987c) Three groups of30 goats each were immunised with single doses of0.15,0.30 and 1.2 mg of the lyophilised Mccp containing saponin as an adjuvant.A fourthgroup was injectedwith saponin in PBS. Ten goats from each group were subsequently exposed tovirulent challenge by contact 3, 6 and 12 months later. All the goats immunisedwithasingle dose of0.15mgwere protected. Those immunised with a single dose of 0. 3 mg were protected, exceptin one case when at 12 months agoat reacted and died of CCPP. Two goats in the group immunised with 1.2 mg also died ofCCPP-one from thegroup challengedat 6 months, and the otherfromthe group challenged at 12 months.Three major conclusions were drawn from the results of these immunisation trials :1. Lyophilisation and storage ofMccp at 22'C or 4'C did not affectitsimmunogenicity.  Failure ofsix of36 control goats to contract CCPP is in contrast to containment experiments in which almost 100% infection occurred in the contact challenges (Rurangirwa et al 1987e). A morbidity and mortality rate of 60 to 80% has been reported for the field outbreaks ofCCPP (MacOwan and Minette 1977).The experimental conditions for the present study were setto mimicfield conditions as opposed tocontainment throughout the experimental period. Therefore, the failure of six controls to show any signs of disease may be attributed to a less severe challenge than was previously used (Rurangirwaet al 1987e). The recovery of the three control goats from CCPP after showing clinicalsignsindicates that asmall numberofgoats may recover from CCPP, especiallyifthey are not subjected to movement stress in search offood and water.All the surviving vaccinates withstood the challenge.There was a temperature elevation in two of the goats (41 and 62 days after challenge) which returned tonormal after twodays.There was nopyrexia and no signs ofdisease in the remaining 36 vaccinated goats during the four-month experimental period.At the endofthe experimentactive lesions were not seeninthe 36 euthanased vaccinated goats without clinical signs and Mccpwas notisolatedfrom their tissues. However, in the twovaccinateswhich had a temperature reaction, adhesions were presentinthe thoracic cavity, but Mccp was not isolated from their tissues. This finding maybe related to individual variation or to other unknown causes.Similar observations have been reported before (Rurangirwa et al 1987e).In conclusion, one dose of lyophilised Mccp vaccine induced an immunity in goats that protected totally against mortality and was 95% efficacious against clinical disease. In the twovaccinatedgoatsthat had pyrexia, no detectable carrier state resulted. The prevalence of disease constitutes a serious impedimentto small animalproduction in Nigeria. For an effective goat disease control programme it is pertinent to have a record ofcommon diseases prevalent in an area.The knowledge ofthe extentto which the public is exposed to certain zoonotic diseases through goat meat consumption is equallyuseful in preventive medicine. Accordingly, slaughter houses in Zaria were visited betweenJanuary and December 1992to collect information on pathological conditions found in goats slaughteredduringthe period. Records were keptonsex, breed,foetalwastage and on results of laboratory tests onfaeces andworms collectedfrom the disease organs. A total of 7644 goats were examined. Helminthiasis constituted 17.52%, pneumonia 4.8%,peste des petits ruminants3.5%, and abscesses in liver, lung and kidney 32% of the pathological conditions noted.Of the 1200 organs infected with diseases 300(25%)portions were slaughtered while 900whole organs were condemned. Twenty-five whole carcasses were condemned. Foetal wastage was estimated at 16.58% of the 3057 does slaughtered. Mycobacterium sp, Salmonella sp, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus isolated from the disease organs were of public health importance. Some suggestions are made for improving the meatinspection practices oftheslaughter houses and providing better education to the butchers and goat traders.The consumption of animal protein by the average Nigerian is very low (Olayide et al 1972;Gefu 1982) Beef meat constitutes the major source of meat consumed in Nigeria. Recently beef has become very expensive causingashift to small ruminantsparticularly goats.The prevalence of disease constitutes a serious impediment to small animal production in Nigeria by causing high mortality and low production in flocks. ILCA (1979) reported a kid mortality rate of362% in Bendel State in Nigeria. Molokwu (1982) expressed doubt on the production target indicated for goats in 1986because of the high kid mortality and high disease prevalence in Nigerian goats.For an effective goat disease control programme it is pertinent to have a record of common diseases prevalent in an area.The knowledge of the extent to whichthepublicisexposedto certain zoonotic diseases through goat meat consumption is also useful in preventive medicine.Slaughter houses provide excellent opportunities for detecting diseases of both economic and public health importance. Accordingly, the present survey reports on the diseasesprevalentin goats slaughteredat Zaria between January 1992 and their public health significance, and highlights the administrative problems encountered duringthe survey.The slaughter houses in Zaria were visited between January 1992 and December 1992. Data were collected on the pathological conditions found in goats slaughtered during the period.Enquiries were made from the trained meat inspectors regarding formal ante-mortem examination. Hindrances to standard meat inspection and facilities provided for effective inspection were appraised. Records were kept of the sex, breed, foetal wastage, diseases encountered and approximate age ofthe goats. Agingwas based on the method ofMiller and Robertson (1959).Post-mortem inspection was done by visual observation and palpation and byincision of suspected organs. Furthermore, specimens of disease organs, faeces and adult worms were collected for laboratory studies for definitive diagnoses.A total of 7644 goats were examined, of which 60.1%were males and 39.99% were females. Table 1 represents the disease conditions and their percentage incidence. The commonest disease conditions were helminthiasis (17.52%), pneumonia (4.80%), peste des petits ruminants (3.50%), and abscesses in liver, lung and kidney (3.2%). Table 2 shows the common causes of condemnations in the organs. Of the 1200 organs infected with diseases 25% portions were salvaged while 75% whole organs were condemned. Five whole carcasses were condemned for generalisedtuberculosis and20goats were found dead before slaughter hence 25 whole carcasses were condemned.   Research scientists in Nigeria have notpaid sufficient attention togoat production and diseases ofgoats.The potential ofgoats as meat producers has recently been recognised in the country. It is when the diseases affecting goats are identified and their epidemiology understood that meaningful preventive and production programmes can be formulated. This study may be valuable in the area of monitoring conditions that are public health hazards. Most of the observed conditions leading to condemnation of organs in this survey are accepted as zoonoses (Schwabe 1969)).The implication beingthat the public has been saved from acquiring these deadly and debilitating disease especially tuberculosis, hydatidosis and cysticercosis.The low incidence of some of the conditions reported mayindicate the lesssignificant rolethey play as goat diseasesin this area.Helminthiasis, particularly haemonchosis, accounted for 12.4% of the total disease condition encountered.This certainly calls for improved control andpreventive measure such as regular dewormingand avoidance of fadama area for grazing. Akerejola et al Peste despetits ruminants (kata) which accounted for3.5% of the disease incidences is ofgreat economic importance.A mortality rate of 50% or more has been reported (Akerejola et al 1979). Nduaka and Ihemelandu (1973) put the mortality rate at 100% in very young gOatS.Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus isolated from goat organs are ofpublic health importance. This calls for erection of modern abattoirs with laboratory and cold storage facilities. These facilities will help in ensuring that only wholesome goatmeatispassedforhuman consumption.The lack of ante-mortem examination by meat inspectors in this area has serious public health implications considering the zoonotic bacteria isolated from the goat organs. The high incidence (16.58%) of foetal wastage could have been reduced if there were proper ante-mortem examination. Pregnant doe recoveryschemes maybe pursued.The findings of this study suggest that meat inspection practices require some improvement. The hostile attitude ofthe butchers and goat traders has resulted in the lenient nature of meat inspection. For example some generalised abscess conditions requiring more serious attention such as total condemnation were justtrimmed offandpassed for consumption.A source of disease spreadtothe slaughter house workers and perhaps the community is the practice of stealing and consuming diseased meatbythe slaughter house workers. It is hereby recommended that proper burning or burying of diseased meat should be mandatory. This will also reduce the incidence of consuming diseased meat by many birds and carnivorouspet animals.Finally, education ofbothbutchers and goat traders is necessary sothatthey can see the need for thorough goat meat inspection.Thereis needtoimprove hygienic conditions atthe slaughter houses so as to reduce meat contamination.The butchers andgoattraders should be encouraged to seek veterinary assistance for their sick 8post-infection (pi.) and F. hepatica eggs were first observed in the faeces from the 11th week pi. During the nitrogen retention trial (13th week pi), organic matter intake (OMI)and digestibility coefficientswere not affected by fascioliasis. All parasitised ewes exhibited higher urinary nitrogen resulting in lower nitrogen retention and lower weight gains when compared with control ewes. Lamb birth weights from infected dams were lower (P<005) compared to the control dams. It was concluded thatunderthe conditions of the present experiment, while feed intake and digestibility coefficients were not affected, rates of liveweight changes were negatively affected by fascioliasis. Nitrogen balance was lower in infected eweswithout a corresponding reduction in feedintake.The present study argues the relevance of a multi disciplinary approach necessary for sustainable animal production in Africa. During the 2nd Biennial conference ofthe African Small Ruminant Network,our previous research findings were reported on the effect of trypanosomiasis (Akinbamijo and Reynolds 1994). This paper reports a composite part of a study ofthe genetic resistance to endoparasites usingthe Ethiopian Menz sheep. Helminthic infections pose a significant problem to grazing livestock world-wide (Boray 1969;Dargie 1980) affecting the intake, digestibility and the utilisation of absorbed nutrients. The interaction between parasites and feed intake and utilisation has raised manyunanswered questions in animal production science. Fasciola hepatica, a parasite of considerable veterinary and economicimportance, is known to cause considerable reduction in the digestibility of nutrients and overall productivity in the hosts (Hall 1985). In recent years, more and more work is nowbeingfocused on the nutritional physiology ofthe parasitised animal in an attempt to explain the deleterious effects or exonerate the potential of genetic resistance to endoparasites ofsmall ruminants.The impaired productivity during Ovine fascioliasis is thoughttobe a result ofthe reducedfeed intake and poor feed utilisation often observed in parasitised hosts (Sykes and Coop 1976;Sykes and Coop 1977;Dargie et al 1979).This paper reports the first results of F. hepatica infection on feed intake, digestibility coefficients, nitrogen retention and liveweight changesin pregnant and open Menz sheep. The influence offascioliasis on foetalsurvivaland lamb birth weight was also studied.Forty adult cycling ewes with a mean live weight of 239kg(range 182-286,SD=261)were selected from aflock ofon-station reared sheep oftheMenzbreed.To provide uniformity in weight and conformation, allthe All ewes were stall-fed and offered hay ad libitum. In addition, each animal received300g/d of a supplement consisting of 60% wheat bran + 40% Guizotia abyssinica (noug). The chemical composition of the feed offered is presented in Table 1. During the experiment, all animals were fed at 0900h daily.Water and mineral lick were always available.Animalswere housed in penswith concrete floors throughout the experiment except during two digestibility and nitrogen retention trials, when they were housedin wooden cages.Liveweight changes were assessed byweighing at the beginningofthe experiment and subsequently at weekly intervals. Weighing was done after an 18-hour abstinence fromfood to avoid variation in gutfill. Lamb birth weightswere taken within 12hours ofbirth or as soon as the dam had completed dryingthe lamb. Packed cell volume (PCV) was measured by the capillary micro-haematocrit method at the beginning of the experiment andweeklythereafter.Laboratory-reared F. hepatica metacercariae (Baldwin Aquatics,California,USA)wereusedinthe experiment. Atthe start ofthe experiment, animals ingroups PI and OI were inoculated orally with 500 metacercariae of F hepatica enclosed in single gelatin capsules. As from twoweekspre-infection, faecal samples were collected per rectum and analysedfor faecal egg count (FEC) on a weekly basis using the M*MasterTechnique.The digestibility and nitrogen retention trial was conducted on all animals during the 13th week post-infection (p.i.). Total feed ingested, faeces and urinevoidedwere collected for seven consecutive days after a 14-day adaptation period. Feed refusals were weighed just before fresh feed was offered.Urine was collected in a plastic bowl containing 10 ml of 50% hydrochloric acid. Urine, feed, ort and faecal samples were collected per period and sampled. The samples were frozen (inthe form theywere collected or offered) until required for analysis.Samples offeed offered and refusals and fresh faeces were analysed for dry matter (DM), ash and nitrogen while urine was analysed for nitrogen only. The procedures described in AOAC (1975) were followed. Appropriate statistical procedures as described by Akinbamijo and Reynolds (1994)were used.Parasitisedewes indicated asignificantly lowerPCV(as fromweeks8till 11 pi.) compared with non-parasitised ewes Figure 1. Mean differences (P<0001) between initial and final PCV(%)values on groupbasis are-50, -10, 1.1 and 1.3 (RSD299)for groups PI, PC, OI and OC, respectively. Faecal egg count conducted from week 11 through 14 pi. was higher (P<005) in the pregnant ewes varying from 60to 170 eggs per gram (Figure2).Data on feed intake and nitrogen retention at 13 weeks p.i. are presentedin Table 1.Although pregnant ewes consumed slightly more (P<005) OMIthan open ewes, there was no significant difference in intake due to fascioliasis.Also digestibility coefficients and faecal nitrogen did not differ for all groups. There was no  Accordingly, infected eweswould require ahigher DOMItoattain nitrogen equilibrium than would control animals. The intercepts of pregnant ewes also differ significantly implicating high N losses from infected 6WeS.Result ofthe linear regression analysis of rate of liveweight change showedthat,whileintercept was not affected by treatment imposed on the ewes, the regression coefficient was affected. Predicted rates of gain were243,443,143 and 17.1 (RSD = 0011)g/d for PI, PC, OI and OCgroups, respectively.In effect, PC ewes gained more weight when compared with PI ewes but the difference between OI and OC did not attain statistical significance. In general, average dailygains during the experiment show that parasitised animals gained less weight than did the control animals (Figure 3). Virtually all the published work on nutrition and host-parasite interactions indicatesthat the feed intake of a parasitised host is lower than that ofits uninfected counterpart (Berry and Dargie 1976;Dargie et al 1979;Sykes et al 1980). Contrary to previous findingsin sheep infected with F. hepatica, DMI in this study was not affected byfascioliasis.Although the level of DMI was high, the digestibility coefficients were low and unaffected by fascioliasis. The digestibility coefficients obtained in this experiment are a reflection ofthe quality ofbasal dietoffered(roughly65% ofpoorqualityhay)andhence the low DOMI observed in the digestibility trials.Previous reports in the literature on DMD during fascioliasis are conflicting. Hawkins and Morris(1978), Sykes et al (1980) and Sinclair (1975) found no effect of F. hepatica on the DMD in sheep carrying upto400 flukes. This infection load was compatible with our infection dose.With the lowintake ofdigestible organic matter reported in this study and assuming 26 g DOMI/kg 75 per day (ARC 1980) for maintenance, available DOMIin excess of maintenance requirement was atbest 15% maintenance requirement. An important consequence of the infection in this study is that the feed conversion efficiency was substantiallydepressedby fascioliasis.This isevidentin the inferior nitrogen retention ofinfected sheep without aconcomitant reduction in feedintake and digestibility. Variations infeedintake andurinarynitrogen excretion have been widely attributed toinfection in parasitised animals (Sykes et al 1980;Akinbamijo et al 1992). High urinary nitrogen excretion provides evidence that fascioliasis has a detrimental effect on nitrogen metabolism. In infected ewes, nitrogen retention was significantly lower when compared with control ewes due to high excretion of urinary nitrogen. The main effect of the infection was to lowerthe efficiency with which apparently digested and metabolised N was retained. Roseby(1970)andHawkinsandMorris(1978) reported that in sheep infected with 500 metacercariae (an infection dose similar to our choice), feed conversion was considerably depressed and rate of liveweight gains were reduced without matching reduction in feed intake.The different regression equations of nitrogen retention on DOMI alsosupport the view that efficiency of utilisation of nutrients was doubtlessly lower in infected ewes.Although no digestive disturbances were found, infected ewes did not retain nitrogen as much as uninfected ewes given the same amount of DOMI. Infected pregnant ewes gained less weight and used body reserves to offset cost ofinfection and pregnancy. At the same level ofDMI,non-parasitised ewes gained more bodyweight andmaintainedbetter body condition until term. During thethird trimester,tocompensate for the increased foetal demands, pregnant ewes consumed more DMandretainedmore nitrogenthandidopenewes (Adu 1975;Osuagwuh and Aire 1990) and nitrogen retention did not differ between PI and PC ewes.While the PI ewes seemingly gained in retaining similar quantities of nitrogen as PCewes,theylost out on lamb birth weight and body condition. Open ewes also had different nitrogen balances between infected and uninfected animals.Mean birthweight oflambs bornby infected ewes was 14% lower than that oflambs from uninfected ewes. This difference strengthens the notion that animal productivity in terms of foetal development and lamb crop are affected by fascioliasis.The onset of reduction in efficiency in feed utilisation, dropin PCV andlowrate of liveweight gains all of which occurred in concert argue for a detrimental effect of F.hepaticain sheep.In conclusion,this study demonstrated that under the conditions of the present experiment (adult menz sheep with probable acquired immunity), feed intake dès la 8ème semaine après l'infection et des oeufs de F hepatica étaient observés dans leursfèces dès la 11ème semaine après l'infection. Il ressort des résultats de l'essai de retention de l'azote (13ème semaine après l'infection) que la fasciolose n'avait pas d'effet sur l'ingestion de matière organique et la digestibilité.Tous les animaux infectés avaient un taux d'azote urinaire élevé, d'où une retention d'azote plus faible, et gagnaient moins de poids que les sujets témoins. Le poids à la naissance des agneaux nés de brebis infectées était inférieur (P<005) à celui des petits issus de femelles témoins. En conclusion, on peut dire que dans les conditions de l'expérience, la fasciolose n'avait aucun effet sur l'ingestion alimentaire et la digestibilité mais ralentissait la croissance. Le bilan azotéétaitplus faible chez les brebis infectées sans que cela soit associé à une baisse de l'ingestion alimentaire.Small ruminant management practices and control of lnelminthosis under traditional production systems in the cool Ethiopian highlands Formulation of cost-effective preventive control programmes for helminth infection in small ruminants should be based on sound epidemiological knowledge of the time relationship between contamination of pastures and the seasonal availability of infective larvae in a given geographic area. Epidemiological data generated from an on-station experiment involving the use of tracer lambs and monitoring of pasture contamination levelsin the central Ethiopian highlands clearly showed a distinct seasonal pattern of nematode infection in sheep. Investigations into the occurrence and implications of periparturient rise in tricho strongylidegg outputinbreedingewes overthe lambing and lactationperiod are discussed. A trial to determine the seasonal pattern of egg development and larval survival on pasture was carried out over a period of 12 months. Preliminary findings from this study suggest that the relatively short larval survival times (6 to 8 weeks)present an opportunity for manipulation ofthe parasitepopulation dynamics inthe cool tropics. Results from the combination of these different studies serve as a basis for medium-term control strategies in this environment and others with similar climatic conditions. Becausethesestrategieswill depend heavily upon the use of anthelmintics, it is likely that, if understood by extension workers and accepted by farmers, they will form a basis for development of programmes for preventing production losses due to parasitism in young stock by reducing the number of treatments and therefore the risk of development of Fabiyi 1987; Bekele et al 1992) and other losses of production. However, the effects ofhelminthinfections on production of particular livestock species depend mostly upon the age of the animals, the breed, the parasite species involved and the intensity of the worm populationwithin the definitive host.Several factors are known to determine the epidemiological patterns of the associated disease conditions. These include weather conditions, husbandrypractices, and the physiological status ofthe animal(e.g. periparturient rise in nematode egg output).The development of nematode eggs to infective larvae and the survival ofthese larvae on pasture are influenced by temperature, rainfall and other environmental conditions. Investigations carried out on nematode larvae ecology in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa (Dinnik and Dinnik 1961;Cheijina and Fakae 1984;Onyali et al 1990;Chartier 1991) and in Europe, Australia andthe Pacificislands (Southcott et al 1976;Donald et al 1978;Banks et al 1990;Besier and Dunsmore 1993) have shown that the rate of devel opment and the longevity of eggs vary at different temperature and humidity and in different geo ecological regions.The significance to lambs of the post-parturient rise in worm egg output of ewes for worm burdens acquired by lambs has been reported byseveral authors (Taylor 1935;Crofton 1954;Brunsdon 1964;Gibbs 1967;Connan 1968;Brunsdon 1970;Connan 1976; Gibbs and Barger 1986;Agyei et al 1991).Two schools ofthought exist onthe possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Connan (1968), and O'Sullivan and Donald (1970)believe that increasedfaecal egg counts and worm numbers in periparturient ewes are attributable to a temporary impairment of acquired immune responsiveness in lactatingewes resulting from increased susceptibility to new infection on increased prolificacy offemale worms and resumed development of previously arrested larvae. However, Michel (1974Michel ( , 1976) ) suggested that the phenomenon could be explained by a mere delay in adult worm mortality in lactating animals.The seasonal availability andabundance ofthefree living stage ofsheep nematodes is a key factor in the Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop occurrence and severity ofparasitic infection. Studies on larvae ecologyarehelpfulin designingmore rational controlprogrammes.In the central Ethiopian highlands, sheep are kept under traditional management within a mixed farming system.The animals depend mostly on grazing with no supplement and minimum healthinterventions. Farmers maintain one tothree rams which continuously runwith the flock with no control ofmatingand breeding occurs year round with seasonalpeaks in conception patterns (Mukasa-Mugerwa et al 1986). Two lambing seasons are observedaroundJune-July and October-November. Twenty-five to30% ofthe rams are castrated between 1 to3 years ofage. Lambs are weaned at 3 to4 months of age.The objectives of this study were to (i) determine seasonal patterns of development and survival of Tostudythe development and survival ofnematode free living stages on pasture, an area was fenced off to prevent entry of any animals and was divided into 39 plots each measuring one square metre. The plotswere separated byiron sheets and drainage ditches to avoid cross-contamination during heavy rainfall. The grass was cut as needed to maintain the herbage at a height and density similar to the grazing paddocks. Pure cultures of H. contortus and a combination of H. contortus, T. colubriformis and Ostertagia trifurcata were used to infect 3-to-6-month-old lambs to serve as donors.Two plots were randomly selected every month anduniformly contaminated with faeces obtained from the donor lambs. Each plot received a total of 2 million eggs at a time.Three plots remaineduncontaminatedto serve as controls.Tostudythe population dynamics ofhelminthsinsheep, a total of84 parasite-free lambs were raised in a slatted floor barn. Six lambs were released monthly on to contaminated pasture at the age of eight weeks for a period of one month from July 1992 toJune 1993.The animals werere-housedin parasite free pens forvariable periods of time. Three out of the six lambs were slaughteredtwo weeks post-grazing to assess the level ofnematodeinfections.The remaining three lambswere also slaughtered 12weeks after a period of grazing to determine the seasonalpattern oftrematode infection.A group of 6 two-month old permanent tracers was allowed to graze for 12 months andwere slaughtered at the age of 48 weeks. Five lambs were kept indoors to serve as controls. The following year, the experiment was repeated and involved 93 lambs of which 6 were turned out to pasture on a monthly basis, re-housed for a period of3 to 12 weeks and slaughtered for nematode and trematode worm counts.Concurrently, a group of 18two-month-old lambs were released on to pasture at the beginning of the experiment (July 1993) and were slaughtered in different seasons (i.e. the long rainy season,the dry season and the short rainy season) to assess the cumulative nematode burden on lambs.Three lambs raisedin worm-free condition were kept indoors and served as controls.Grasssamples werealso collectedfortnightly from the paddocksgrazed bythe lambs for determination of the level of the pasture contamination by infective (L3) larvae.From May 1992 to May 1993 a total of 795 Horro and 782 Menz ewes were mated to 35 and 36 rams (20to22 ewes per ram), respectively, following synchronisation using progesterone-impregnated sponges. A group of 120ewes were left unmated (controls)toinvestigate the periparturient rise phenomenon over the lambing/lactating period in the wet and dry seasons. During the third mating season (May 1993), three rams perbreed were retainedfrom theprevioussiregroupand eight new rams per breed were introduced. Faecal egg count (FEC), packed cell volume (PCV) and body weight measurements were monitoredin breedingewes (groups2 and3) at mating, at 3 monthspost-mating,two weeks before lambing, four weeks after lambing, eight weeks afterlambing and atweaning. Preliminary observations on the development and survival ofnematode free livinginfective stage showed that eggs depositedin experimental plots had undergone developmentfrom July (highestyield ofinfective stage) to November(lowestyield)(Figure 1). Neithereggs nor Worm counts in tracer lambs duringthe two-year study period (July 1992-July 1994) were similar in pattern (Figure 2). The three main trichostrongylid nematode parasitesidentified in order ofpredominance were: Ostertagia trifircata, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Haemonchus contortus. The large intestine sheep pinworm, Skrjabinema ovis (although non-pathogenic), was consistently abundantthroughout the study period. Worm burden peaked in September and October. Lungworms, Dictyocaulus filaria, were present in lambs but in relatively small numbers.Observations on the same tracer lambs indicated that transmission of Fasciola hepatica took place between September and Januarywith a peakin December. Ifthe animals were leftuntreated,theygenerallydied from the infection.Peak numbers of larvae were observed in grass samples collected during the month of August throughout the study period. A gradual decline in pasture larval count over the subsequent 3 months (September, Octoberand November)was followed by a non-detectable level of larvae until the beginning of the next rainy season with a few larvae observed in May 1992 (Figure 2). Species composition was consistent from August to November with a predominance of Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus and Haemonchus. Oesophagostomumwas recorded in a few cases.Preliminary analysis of FEC in breeding ewes showed significant (P<005) season and breed effect. A periparturient rise in FEC was observed in both breeds before and after parturition in both the wet and dry seasons, but was more pronounced in the wet season ( Figures 3, 4 and 5 followingyear.Although results from the present study cannot be broadly applied to all agro-ecological zones ofthe tropics, the data can be used in computer models (e.g. Barnes and Dobson 1990) to simulate grazing systems for a quick and cheap screening of different controlprogrammes.Thevalue of short-term pasture spelling would,in practice, be minimal in the Debre Birhan area particularly during the wet season.Our study has shown that the time of survival of infective larvae on pasture varies between six and eight weeks between July and November. However, management systems allowing flocks to move to new grazing areas within the limit of that time may provide relatively safe pasture. Barger et al (1994)  A convenient means for the application ofsmall amounts ofhighly potentanthelmintics overa prolonged period of time is the use of controlled release capsule Poynter 1980). Laboratory model system using similar vaccines against a wide range of gastro-intestinal parasites may also be rewarding (Lloyd 1981). Failure to immunise against helminth parasites has generally been attributedto a deficiencyin the immunogenicity of vaccines.There is also an increasing body of evidence of genetic variationfor resistance toendoparasites insheep and goats (Baker et al 1992). This has prompted increased interest in the possibility ofselecting breeds or strains of animals which are genetically resistant to worm parasites (Dineen 1985;Gray 1991).Epidemiological knowledge,its application in grazing Un essai de 12 mois a été effectué sur la saisonnalité du développement embryonnaire et la durée de vie des larves sur les pâturages. Les résultats préliminaires de cestravaux ont montré que les larves vivaientpeu de temps (six à huit semaines), ce quidevrait permettre de manipuler la dynamique de la population desparasites dans ces régions tropicales fraîches. Les résultats de l'ensemble de ces études servent de baseà des stratégies de lutte à moyen terme dans ce type de milieu et dans des régions aux conditions climatiques analogues. Bien maîtrisées par les agents de vulgarisation et acceptées par les éleveurs, ces stratégies, qui reposeront essen tiellement sur l'utilisation d'anthelminthes pourraient, en permettant de diminuer le nombre de traitements, constituer labase de stratégies deprévention des pertes de production dues auparasitisme chez lesjeunes.Cela permettra de limiter les risques de développement de la résistance aux anthelminthes. Enfin, d'autres méthodes possibles de lutte ont également été examinées. L'objectifest de comparer le statut sérologique de ces trois groupes de chèvres vis-à-vis de chacune de ces infections afin de déterminer leur lien particulier avec un type de perte plutôt qu'avec un autre.Cette étude a été effectuée sur des chèvres pluripares, de race guinéenne. Lesprélèvements ont été effectués de novembre 92à mars 93, période couvrant le premier des deux pics annuels de mise bas . . Les chèvresutilisées appartiennentà 21 éleveurs établis sur 13 villages satellites de la ville de Kolda. Il s'agit de prélèvements uniques de sérum, réalisés dans un délai maximum de 8 jours suivant l'événement clinique assimiléà une perte en reproduction.Les sérums ont été conservés par congelation jusqu'à la fin de la période de collecte puis testés. Les tests sérologiques utilisés ont été la fixation du complément en microméthode pour la chlamydiose, la brucellose à Brucella abortus et la brucellose à Brucella ovis et l'immunofluorescence indirecte pour la toxo plasmose. Les seuils de positivité retenus ont été la dilution au 1/4pour la chlamydiose (Akakpo, 1987), au 1/8 pour les deux types de brucellose (Akakpo,1987) et au 1/16pour latoxoplasmose (Pangui, 1993).Les types de pertes retenus sont les suivants.avortements : mise bas de morts-nés ou inter ruption de la gestation non rapportée à une cause alimentaire,toxique ou accidentelle.-chétivité: misebas d'animaux aupoids au contrôle inférieur ou égal à 1,4 kg(limite établie sur la base de la moyenne des poids recueillis lejour même de la naissance, estimée à 2,2 kg) ou avec un très faible entrain à la tétée. Ces produits meurent généralement avant l'âge de 3 mois.mortalité néo-natale: cas de chevreaux nés normaux mais qui meurent dans lesjours suivant la mise bas.Les prévalencessérologiques par type de perte ont été comparées àl'aide du programme calcstat dulogiciel Epiinfo (Dean, 1988). Les valeurs des probabilités de l'hypothèse nulle ont été déterminéessuivant les cas par le test du khi carré ou par le contrôle d'exactitude de Fisher (Dean, 1988).La répartition des cas de séropositivité suivant les types de pertes est présentée au tableau 1. La chlamydiose et la toxoplasmose ont les plus fortes prévalences globales, soit respectivement 79 et 58%. Les prévalences de la toxoplasmose et de la brucellose à Brucella ovis présentent les plus importantes variations d'un type de perte à un autre. Ces taux sont nettement supérieursà ceux obtenus sur un échantillon aléatoire de 40femelles caprines en 1991 dans la zone de Kolda, àsavoir 13,6% entoxoplasmose (ELISA), O% En effet, la mise bas de produits chétifs accom pagne souvent des états d'infection par des germes à tropisme génital connus aussi pour leur effet abortif C'est le cas de la toxoplasmose et de la chlamydiose (Debenedetti & Waldeland, 1989).Pour ces diverses raisons, il est convenu de regrouperles pertesparchétivité et par avortement, dont les statuts sérologiquesface à la toxoplasmose sont les plusproches, pour les comparer aux pertesparmortalité néo-natale (tableau 3).En comparant par le test du khi carré les séro positifs aux séronégatifs, on constate que la toxo plasmose, avec une probabilitéseuil de 14%, différencie le mieuxles troistypes de perte (tableau2). Les prévalences de la toxoplasmose distinguent le mieux les trois types de perte avec une probabilité de l'hypothèse nulle de 14%. En fait, c'est entre les pertes par mortalités et les pertes par avortements que les différences de prévalences en toxoplasmose sont les plus marquées, l'hypothèse nulle ne dépassant pas 64%.Par ailleurs, lesprévalences entoxoplasmose chez les chèvres qui avortent et celles qui mettent bas des produits chétifssontplusproches qu'entre les premières et celles qui perdent leurs produits nés normaux par mortalité; la probabilité de ne pas différencier les premières est de 69% contre 33% pour les secondes.Cette observation, sous réserve du faible effectif testé, corrobore les connaissances acquises en matière de pathogénie des avortementsinfectieux. La probabilité de l'hypothèse nulle, après test du khi carré, n'est que de 8%.Ces résultats statistiques permettent de retenir que la toxoplasmose est chez les chèvres pluripares, un Pertes en reproduction chez les caprins au Sénégal facteur de risques de pertes par mortalité néo-natale plutôt que de pertes par avortement ou chétivité.Ce suivi sérologique etclinique a permis d'établir que la toxoplasmose contribue plus aux mortalités néo natales qu'aux autres types de perte.Cette contribution décelée sur un si faible échantillon est sans doute très importante (Schwartz, 1989) When Botswana experiences drought, livestock travel long distances in search of grazing and water.Deaths due to starvation and stress induced diseases have been reported. Under the prevailing husbandry practices,sheep andgoatshave low economic and social value and farmers deworm/treat or vaccinate them less often than they do cattle. In general, livestock condition in Botswanais mostlypoor during the wintermonths of June to August especially in the communal areas (District Reports 1988-92).The present study was meant to look at the changing patterns of small ruminant diseasestofurther understand disease causation, treatment, prevention and control, and evaluate methods of disease detection.Samples were collected from the field from disease cases for virology, bacteriology, histopathology, serology, haematology, biochemistry,parasitology and toxicology and submitted to NVL with clinical history on designated laboratory submission forms. Each collection of samples from one or more animals from each farm or locality was designated as a batch of samples and allocated a laboratory numberwith known species code. Batches of specimenswere subjected to the appropriate comprehensive laboratory diagnosis for suspected agents or analysedformineral deficiencies or haematologyprofiles. Post-mortem examinations were also performed on carcases ofsmall stock at NVL and appropriate samples submitted for diagnosis. Samples for laboratory diagnosis originated from all veterinary districts (Figure 1)During 1983-92,the total annual number of specimen batches submitted to NVL from the field increased over three times toa peak of 1148 batches in 1989, declining gradually to 683 batches in 1992. Differing degrees of confirmations were obtained for different conditions.High levels of confirmations were achieved for abscesses and rabies at 86% and 82%, respectively, relative to 8.5% for abortions/stillbirths (Table 1).Helminthosis and/or coccidiosis were the commonest diseases ofsmall ruminants and occurredall year round (Figure 3) with a tendency for peak infestationsto occur during the first and lastquarters of the year.These periods coincided withsummerrains and Figure 1. Veterinary districts and headquarters.Reported abortions, stillbirths and neonatal deaths winter conditions when small ruminants were in poor varied annually with periods of dramatically increased body condition were suspected to have been responsible cases.Starvation, malnutrition, intestinal parasites and for the peaks of\"winter abortion storms\"(Figure 3).  endemic areas of Maun andOrapa districts. In addition, a few fatal cases ofstarvation were reported annually particularlyin the winter season and during periods of drought. Pneumonia/pleuritis, often reported as pasteurellosis, was commonly diagnosed in the field but these cases were largely negative for Pasteurella multocida and P. haemolytica, the known common causal agents. Pasteurellosis, induced by the stress of shipping small ruminants, developed along classical lines where the animals developed pneumonia and P. multocidawas recovered from the typical lesions.Moraxella bovis or Branhamella ovis were recovered from 448% of the eye infections (Table 1) Variations in sampling ofinfected cases and treatment of cases before sampling appeared to affect recovery rates of infectious agents. Sheep scab, a notifiable condition caused by Psoroptes ovis, appeared to be endemic and restricted to the southern districts. Demodex mites, lice infestation with Linognathus stropsis and different types ofticks (Amblyomma hebraemum, Boophilus spp, Hyalomma spp and Rhipicephalus spp) were also recorded. Streptothricosis/dermatophilosis, caused by Dermatophilus congolensis, and ringworms were reported sporadically.Miscellaneous diseases with lower occurrences included enterotoxaemia (47 cases), mastitis (86), septicaemia (57), viral diseases, bluetongue and contagious ectymaorf(47), balano-posthisis(Pizzle rot) and haemoparasites, Anaplasma andTheileria being of questionable pathogenicity. Botulism diagnosis was dependent on clinical signs particularly during the drought periods linked with hypophosphataemialeading to cravingfor bones containing botulism toxin.Cases ofpoisoning caused by Pavettaharborii and Dicaptalum cymosem were more commonly encountered with minimal available grazing.Laboratory findings at NVL have shown that some conditions persistently occurred and recurredwith high frequency in sheep and goats during 1983 to 1992, namely helminthosis/coccidiosis, heartwater, abortions/stillbirths and rabies. These conditions no doubt represent important causes of loss to the small ruminantindustry.The predominance ofthese diseases may partly be due to poor husbandrywhere deworming for intestinal parasites andtick control measures are haphazard,being instituted only when diseases were suspected (District Reports 1988-1992). Also, the finding of low total protein or albumin levels in sera of aborted animals strengthens thesuscipion that malnutrition or starvation plays an important role in most instances of abortion (Report NVL 1983-92). There is need, therefore, to determine the roles of nutrition and/orinfectious agents in abortions in small ruminants in Botswana.Notably, vaccination against heartwater is problematic:it is costly, causes direct losses following inoculation, is unreliable as breaks in immunity are common, increases the number of carriers of Cowdria, requires strictsupervision andis difficult to carry out on a large scale (Windsor 1987;Camus and Barre 1988).Nevertheless, vaccination is considered a useful means of preventing heartwater without eradicating the total tick population in an endemic area. Suggestions have been made forthe need to develop attenuated strains of Cowdria by culture in vitro orresearch on strains low in virulence (Camus and Barre 1988). For diseases where vaccination of small ruminants was increasingly being practised (District Reports 1988-1992), the number of laboratory confirmations were lower, namely enterotoxaemia,botulism and pasteurellosis. In the case of pasteurellosis, other causes, excluding Pasteurella multocida or P. haemolytica, have been postulated but remain unproven (Report NVL 1983-92) Lack of simple, reliable and sensitive tests hinder heartwater diagnosis and there is need to develop tests to detect Cowdria in living animals (Camus and Barre 1988).It would appear that good husbandry practices directed towards reduction of mortalities on the farm together with improved clinical and laboratory diagnosis and research intothe aetiology of important diseases of small ruminants and improved methods of their diagnosis and control are needed in Botswana. Since the important diseases of small ruminants are endemic elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, local and regional collaborative efforts with additional international support, would be beneficial in tackling similar problems. The interaction between animal nutrition and parasites : Introduction Parasites, particularly gastro-intestinal helminths and protozoa, are a major constraintto animalproductivity throughout the world. In many tropical countries protozoan diseases are of major importance. One protozoan disease in particular,trypanosomiasis,is the single mostimportant constraintto animal production in ub-Saharan Africa. It has been frequently suggested hat the nutritional status of the host can influence the pathogenesis ofparasitic infection and it is generally accepted that well-nourished animals withstand parasitism betterthan those that are less adequately fed (Whitlock 1949;Gibson 1963).There have been numerous anecdotal accounts of the importance of host nutrition in the pathogenesis of trypanosomiasis in ruminants, although until very recently these have remained unsubstantiated.Thus, it has been frequently reported from the fieldthat during the dry season trypanosomiasis becomes more severe whenthe qualityand quantity of nutritionisparticularly low.This has recentlybeen investigated in The Gambia by offering supplementary feeding during the dry seasons to trypanosome-infected N'Dama cattle (Agyemang et al 1990;Little et al 1990). As a result of the supplementaryfeeding itwas foundthat the severity of the disease, as judged by the degree ofanaemia, was significantly reduced.Itis possible that diet may not onlyinfluence host resistance to either the initial infection or re-infection but may also affectthe ability ofthe host towithstand the pathophysiological consequences of infection. Unfortunately, the few studies that havebeen conducted toexamine theseinteractions in the past have often been unsatisfactory because ofinadequate controls or poorly formulated diets. More recently attempts have been made toovercome these difficultiesand aclearer picture of the interaction between host nutrition and the pathophysiologicalconsequences ofparasiticinfections has started to emerge.The presentstudywas designed to investigate the influence of host nutrition on the pathogenesis of trypanosome infection in sheep.Male castrate lambs, aged six months,were purchased from a local hillfarm in the west of Scotland.The basic diet consisted of a mixture of shredded sugar-beet pulp (SBP), barley siftings and a mineral/vitamin trace element mixture.Soya-bean meal (SBM) was addedto the high protein (HP) diet only. The mean proximate analyses of the two diets are shown in Table 1. The lambs were housed in individual pens on a concrete floorandwood shavingswere used as bedding. The daily allowance of 1 kg fresh matter (FM) was offered in twofeeds at 0900and 1600h.The residue was collected the followingmorning andweighed to give the actual amount offeed consumed.Five litres ofwater were offered each morning and the residue was recordedthefollowing morning.Representative samples of the experimental diets were analysedperiodicallyusingstandardprocedures (MAFF et al 1981).The animals were infected with Trypanosoma congo lense 1180 (GRVPS 57/6), a cloned derivative of an isolate made in Serengeti, Tanzania, as described by Nantulyaet al (1984).The trypanosomes were obtained fromirradiated mice duringthe first risingparasitaemia. Mice were bled by cardiac puncture and their blood was pooled. An estimate of parasitaemia was made on the pooled sample, which was then dilutedwithphosphate buffered saline(PBS)containing 1.5%glucose atpH80 to give 1x10°trypanosomes in 3 ml ofPBS. Each sheep received3 ml ofthe inoculum via the jugular vein.The techniques used to collect blood samples for parasitological, haematological and blood biochemical examination have been described previously (Katunguka-Rwakishaya et al 1992a).In brief, trypanosomes were detected by the dark ground buffy coat method (Murray et al 1977), and the intensity ofparasitaemia was graded from 0 to 5 as described by Paris et al(1982).Eighteen Scottish Blackface lambswereinvolvedin this study. They were divided into two groups of nine animals each, on the basis oftheir live weights and PCV, and introduced to either a low protein (LP) or a high protein(HP)diet.After4weeks ontheirrespective diets, six animals from the low protein group(LPI group) and six animals from the high protein group (HPI) were infected with T. congolense,while three animals from each dietary group acted as uninfected controls (LPC and HPC).Seventy days afterinfection (DAI),three animals from the HPI group (HPIT) and three animals from the LPI group (LPIT) were treated with isometamidium chloride,at adose rate of1 mg/kgbydeepintramuscular injection, andthe animals were monitored for a further 21 days.Comparisons between groups were achieved by using one-way analysis ofvariance followed by the Newman Keuls multiple range test. Intensities ofparasitaemia were evaluated by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test.These statistics were performed using the Animal Designs 1 (Data International Service, Glasgow) and Minitab (Ryan, Penn State University) Programmes. P values <005were consideredsignificant.The mean feedintakefor animals in the HPI groupwas 093t0.03 kg/d while the LPI group consumed 098E002 kg/d between 0 and 70DAI.This difference was not statistically significant. Control animals The prepatent period in both groupswasthe same, i.e. 7-9 days after infection. Following patency, parasitaemiafluctuated considerablywith atendency to be higherin HPIthan in LPI group (Figure 1).Infection was associated with greater retardation of growth in the LPI group compared to the LPCgroup (Figure 2). The gain in liveweight ofthe LPI groupwas significantly lower than that ofthe LPC and HPI groups.However the HPIand HPCgroups grew at similar rates. There were no significant differences between the weights ofcontrol animals.Infection caused significant decreases in PCV values of both infected groups compared with their controls (Figure3). The decline in PCV values commenced with the appearance oftrypanosomesin circulation and both groups ofinfected animals showed similar degrees of anaemia.The PCV values in control animals fluctuated between 0.32 and 0.40 litres/litre. There were no nutritional influences.Following infection, both infected groups showed significant increases in MCV compared to their uninfected controls, however the increase was significantlygreaterin the HPI groupthan in LPI group. In the HPI group the mean MCV increased from In control groups the MCV fluctuated between 300+0.6 and 330E06fl with no significant differences between LPC and HPC groups.The mean plasma albumin concentration decreased significantlyin both groups of infected sheep and also showed dietary influences. In the HPI group, plasma albumin decreased from 362E04 g/litre at 0 DAI to 287E09g/litre at 21 DAI. In the LPI group, it decreased from 308E07to263E06g/litre andtendedto recover thereafter.In the control groups, plasma albumin concentration fluctuated between 283 and 320g/litre in the LPC andbetween 327 and 363g/litre in the HPC group.The values in the HPC groups were significantly higher than those in the LPC group.Body weight. Following treatment both groups of infected animals gainedweight.The LPIT group gained 07kg while the HPIT group gained 1.8 kg during the 3 weeks after treatment. The LPC and HPC groups increased by 1.2 and 1.8 kg, respectively, in the same period.Packed cell volume. Both groups of infected animals showed an improvement in their PCV valuesfollowing treatment, however, the rate ofrecovery was moderately fasterin the HPITgroup. By 20 days aftertreatment the PCV values of the HPIT group were 0.33E001 litres/litre while those ofthe HPCgroup were 0. 32E001 litres/litre.Thevalues inthe LPIT groupwere 028E001 while controlswere 0.32E001 litres/litre.In the present study, it was shown that improved nutrition in the form of increased protein intake had a marked influence on rates of growth, intensity of parasitaemia, blood biochemical changes and rate of recovery from anaemia following administration of isometamidium chloride.In agreement with the findings of Little et al (1990), it was observed that improved nutrition did not affect the prepatent periods. Followingthe appearance oftrypanosomes in circulation, there was a tendency for parasitaemiato behigherinthe HPIgroup. The reasons for this are not clear but maybe due to readily available nutrients likeproteins and lipids. Greater retardation of growth was observed in the LPI groupwhile HPI and HPC groupsgrew at similar rates.These findings agree with those of Hecker et al (1991)for Djallonké sheep and those of Agyemang et al (1990) for N'Dama cattle exposed to natural fly challenge. Verstegen et al (1991) andZwart et al(1991) observed that development offever during a course of trypanosomeinfection is associated with increased heat production and increased metabolisable energy for maintenance. The consequence of this is that the proportion of feed that would be used for growth is reduced asitis metabolised to provide extra energyfor maintenance.The animals on a low protein diet would sufferthis effect much more than those on ahighprotein diet, and this may manifest in the form of greater retardation of growththan animals on HPdiet.Similar degrees of anaemia were recorded in two groups of infected animals. This observation is in agreement with that of Agyemang et al (1991) for N'Dama cattle. However, Little et al (1990) reported that the rate of development of anaemia in N'Dama cattle inoculated with T. congolense and supplemented with groundnut cake was slower than in unsupplemented cattle. In contrast to this report, the present study has shown that improved nutrition does not influence trypanosome establishment andthe rate of development of anaemia. The anaemia in HPI was macrocytic while it was nomacytic in the LPI group.This finding suggests enhanced erythropoietic activity as aresponsetoinfectioninthe HPI group.This maybe responsible for the observed faster recovery from anaemia in this group.Infection caused significant hypoalbuminaemia in both dietarygroups but it appeared greater in the LPI than in the HPIgroup.At the same time controlanimals on HP diet had significantly higher plasma albumin concentration than those on LP diet. It has been suggested that uptake ofalbumin-boundfatty acids and lipoproteins (Vickerman and Tetley 1979) and haemodilution (Katunguka-Rwakishaya et al 1992b) may account for the decrease in plasma albumin concentrations in trypanosome infected animals.In conclusion, this study has shown that im provement ofhost nutrition isimportant in moderating the severity of pathophysiological effects of trypanosomiasis and also influences the rate ofrecovery from anaemia followingchemotherapy.Interaction entre l'alimentation animale et les parasites : études sur la trypanosomiase expérimentale chez les ovins Résumé Cette étude examine le rôle d'une meilleure alimentation dans le développement des effets patho-physiologiques de la trypanosomiase chez des ovins recevant deux rations, l'une à taux élevé, l'autre à faible taux de protéine. La teneur en protéine et l'infection n'avaient aucun effet sur l'ingestion. L'intensité de la parasitémie, mesurée par la méthode du buffy coat, aindiqué que les animaux recevant la ration à taux élevé de protéine supportaient généralement un niveau de parasitémie plus élevé que ceux recevant la Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop ration à faible teneur. Les animaux infectés recevant la ration à taux élevé gagnaient du poids au même rythme que les sujets témoins.A l'inverse, les sujets recevant la ration à faible tauxde protéine accusaient unimportant retard de croissance par rapport aux témoins. Les deux groupes d'animaux infectés souffraient d'anémie au même degré, mais la teneur élevée en protéine était associée à un rétablissement plus rapide. En conclusion, on peut dire que l'amélioration de l'alimentation des animaux grâce à l'accroissement du taux de protéine alimentaire permet de contrer les effets de la trypano somiase et d'accélérer laguérison parchimiothérapie.Feeding and Feeding systems Introduction Increasing the amount of crop residue offered to sheep to allow the animals to refuse up to 500g/kg offered instead of the conventional 100to200 g/kgoffered has been shown toincrease intake andgrowth rate in studies with barley straw in the UK (Wahed et al 1990) and sorghum stover in Ethiopia (Aboud et al 1990). The improvements in intake andgrowth were consideredto be due to animals consuming a greater amount ofthe more digestible leafand sheath components because of being given the opportunity toselect.Stover from bird resistant [BR] sorghum was shown to be less digestible than that from non-bird resistant [non-BR] sorghum due to the presence of anti-nutritive phenolics in BR sorghum (Reed et al 1987). However, recent results at ILCA (Aboud et al 1990)indicate that the high phenolics instoverfrom BR sorghum may not be a problem provided animals are given the opportunity to select against the pigmented, high-phenolic fractions. Furthermore, studies by Osafo (1993) showed large differences between stover varieties in their content of leaf and sheath; nutritive value comparisons ofsorghum stover varieties needto recognise this. The present experiment aimed to compare the intake and digestibility ofBR and non-BR sorghum stovers of comparable leafand sheath contents when offered at two contrasting rates. It was postulated that intake and digestibilitywould be lowerfor BR than for non-BRstoverparticularly whenofferedat the lower rate. In light of other studies (Osafo 1993), it was planned to use BR stover variety Seredo and a non-BR stover variety Dinkamash, both grown at one site. However, hailstorms caused a dramaticdropinstoveryields which necessitated using a mixture of stovers from Seredo grown at two sites (Debre Ziet and Melkassa) and a mixture ofstovers from Dinkamash (grown at the two sites) and a non-BR variety, 76T123,grown at Debre Zeit. Stovers from each variety and site were chopped separatelyusingatractor mountedAlvan Blanch\"Maxi\" Chaffcutter(PTOrotatingat2000rpm)andlaterbulked at feeding. Rams were individually fed in pens with slatted floors. Half the stover was offered at 0800 h and the other halfat 1400h. No protein supplement wasgiven.Water and mineral lick were offered ad libitum.Non-fasted live weights oframswere recordedweekly.Daily samples of refusedstover, per animal, were bulked weeklyresultingin sixsamples ofrefused stover peranimal. Dailysamples of offered stover were bulked weekly.Total faeces of the 16 rams in blocks 1, 4, 8 and 12, housed in metabolism crates at day 35, were collected over a 7-day period to measure digestibility. Faecal samples for each ram, bulked over 7 days, were stored at-4'Cforsubsequent analysis.Faeces and stover were analysed for DM, ash and nitrogen usingprocedures described by AOAC (1984). Neutral-detergentfibre (NDF)was determinedusingthe methodofGoeringandVan Soest(1970).The botanical composition of the BR and non-BR stovers was determined by hand separation intothe leafand sheath [*leaf\"] and stem fractions.The results ofboth thefeedingand the digestibilitytrials were analysed as a2x2factorialdesign usingSAS.The chemical compositions ofBR and non-BRstovers offered were similar (Table 1). Despite aiming for identical contents, *leaf\" content of BR stover was somewhat higher (P<00140) than that of non-BR StOVer.Liveweight change was not affected by stover variety (Table 2). Rams offered 50 g DM stover/kg M.d maintained their weight whereas those offered 25 g DM/kg M.d lostweight; the weight-change differences were highly significant.    There was no difference in stover intake due to stover variety, but there was a large increase in intake due to doubling the amount of stover offered (Table 2).Doubling the amount of stover offered increased intake of \"leaf\". Stem intakes were generally the inverse of *leaf\" intakes, but only variety differences were significant.Fractions offered and consumed Intake of*leaf\"was affectedbybothvariety and amount of stover offered (Table 2). Doubling the amount of stover offered increased intake of *leaf\". Stem intakes were generally the inverse of \"leaf intakes, but only variety differences were significant.Digestibility.Table 3 shows the effects oftreatments on digestibility;intakes duringthe faecal collection period are also shown. There were no significant treatment effects on the digestibility of DM, organic matter [OM] or NDF although there was a tendency (e.g. NDF =00991) for digestibilities to be lower for BR than non-BR stover.For the levels of stover offered the results did not totally confirm the hypothesis, as there was no effect of stover variety on intake, growth or digestibility, and there was no interaction between variety and amount of stover offered. The failure to demonstrate the hypothesised lowerintake and digestibility of BR stover comparedto non-BR stover, was possibly contributed to by the fact that the BR stover contained more *leaf\" than non-BR stover.The non-significant tendency for digestibilityto be lowerin BRcompared tonon-BR stover suggeststhat though BR stover may have been of lower nutritive value, the effect was possibly masked by the higher content of*leaf\" in BR stover. There is need for further comparisons of BR and non-BR stovers of comparable *leaf\" content and at a lower level of offer.Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop However, the results showed a clear improvement in intake and liveweight change when the amount of stover offered was doubled, confirming the earlierwork of Aboud et al (1990) and Wahed et al (1990). The present results also demonstrate that the increase in intake on doubling the amount of stover offered was largely due to agreaterintake of*leaf\". It is notable that this was achieved with the stover offered in chopped form.Offeringstover at 50g DM/kg Mdwas associated with stover refusal rates of nearly 400g/kg ofstover offered.Such large quantities of refused stover do not present disposal problems in countries such as Ethiopia as the refusals are readily used as fuel for domestic cooking and for otherpurposes (Osafo et al 1991).Aninformal survey offarmer practicesin Ethiopia (Osafo et al 1991)indicated that farmers fed sorghum stover to sheep as a sole feed, i.e. without protein supplement. Therefore, in the present experiment, no supplement was offered apart from mineral lick. The results demonstrate an important practical feeding strategy, namely that chopped sorghum stover, offered at a high rate (50g DM/kg Md), with mineral lick is sufficient to maintain weight of rams aged 15 to 20 months. It is concluded that chopped sorghum stover offered generously, with minerals but no other supplement, is a sustainable feeding strategy for maintaining weightin near-adultsheep.Effet de la variété et de la quantité de paille de sorgho offerte sur les performances des ovins L'augmentation de la quantité ingérée lorsqu'on doublait les quantités offertes s'expliquait essentiel lementpar une consommation accrue de feuilles et de gaines. La paille à 50 g de MS/kg de poids/jour permettait le maintien dupoids tandis que celle à 25g de MS entraînait des pertes de poids (BR: 16,1 g/jour; non-BR:25,3g/jour). Les taux de digestibilité de la MS, de la matière organique (MO) et des parois cellulaires étaient généralementplusfaibles pourla paille BR(taux de digestibilité de la MO en g/kg: BR25: 532; BR50544; non-BR25:581; non-BR50: 559; écart type: 23,6). On peut conclure que l'offre de paille de sorgho hachée à hauteur de 50 g de MS/kg de poids/jour avec de la pierre à lécher sans autre complément est une stratégie viable d'alimentation permettant de maintenir le poids de béliers presque adultes.Effect offeed supplements on weight gain and carcass characteristics of intact male Mubende goats fed elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) ad libitum in UgandaThe economic importance of goats in the provision of animal proteins in developing countries has been extensively reviewed elsewhere (Devendra 1981). Meat from small ruminants accounts for almost 30% of the meat consumedin Africa (Reed et al 1988). In Uganda, goats provide about 23% of the total red meat produced and goat meat ranks second only to beef in sales. However, in terms of palatability and delicacy, it is preferred to beef. It is possible that goats could play a leading role in the provision of animal proteins to supplement other sources such as from beef, chicken, pork andfish. Goats are produced in Uganda using traditional practiceswhere goats are eithertethered or leftto roam, browsing andgrazing onwhatever they canfind (Okello and Obwolo 1984).The main feed resourcesforgoats are naturalpastures consisting of legumes and browse tree species. During the dry season, grazing land is scarce and pastures are deficientin energy, proteins and minerals.This is aggravated by lack ofalternative feed during this critical period (Okello and Obwolo 1984).In Uganda banana peels (BP), crop residues, cottonseed cake (CSC) and maize bran (MB)(agro-industrial by-products) can supply readily fermentable carbohydrate and energy needed for increasinggrowth rate in goats. Due totheir low fibre contents they canbe consumedin adequate quantities to also meetthe nitrogen requirement forthegrowing goat without needfor additionalsupplementation.A study was initiated to evaluate BP, MB, CSC and Leucaena (LL) as supplements to elephantgrass (E)in goat production. The evaluation included chemical analysis offeeds and carcass study.Twenty young intact male Mubende goats (4-6 months ofage)purchased from a marketin Kampala were used.Each goat was identified with a numbered ear tag and individually confinedin a metabolic cage with a slatted floor. All animals were given prophylactic treatments for endo-andectoparasites.Theyweregiven 14days for adaptation to respective diets before the beginning of Small Ruminant Research Network WorkshopSamples offeeds were dried at 60'C for 48 hours in an oven.The dry sampleswereground topassthrough a2 mm screen.A05 g portion of each samplein duplicate was analysed according to AOAC (1980).Neutral-detergent fibre (NDF)and ash were determined according to Goering and Van Soest (1970).Feeding commenced at 0800 h and collection offeed refusals was done 24 h later. Feed offered and refusals from each animal wereweighed.Samples ofeach diet were taken for subsequent dry matter determination and chemical analysis. Intake was calculated as the difference between feed offered and refused corrected fordry-matter content.Each goat was weighed at the beginning of the experiment and every successive seven days thereafter.Average daily gains (g/d)were calculated as differences between final and initial body weights divided by number of days offeeding.Atthe endofthefeedingtrials (186days),the goatswere sacrificed. Before slaughter, live weight and skin thickness were measured; body condition score was assessed according to Pettit et al (1988). The animals were decapitated and blood was drained into a bucket and theweight ofblood was measured.The decapitated animals were flayed by gentle tearing of skin from the carcass to ensure that fat and muscle tissues did not adhere on to the skin. The legs were cut at the fetlockjoints.Weights ofskin,head and legs were measured and carcass value was assessed on the scale 0-3 as follows: 0= emaciated carcass, l = lean carcass, 2 = moderate fatty carcass and 3 = full fatty carcass.The carcasseswere eviscerated and thegut and pluck were removed and weighed. Omentum was carefully removed and weighed. The gut content was removed by flushing the gut with running water. The empty gutand dressed carcass were weighed separately. Kidney fat with capsule was removed and weighed. Thickness ofbrisket fat and longismus dorsi muscle and pH ofthe carcasswere measured.The difference in feed intake, average daily gain and carcass components were examined by analysis of variance for a complete randomised design using the STATGRAPHICS statistical package. Differences between meanswerecomparedusingDuncan's multiple range test. Body and carcass cutting relationship with live weightwere examined by simple linear regression analysis of variance.The chemical composition of the feeds in Table 1 indicatethathigh moisture andlowproteincontentsrank bananapeels as the least favourable dietfor ruminants. Low dietaryprotein content inhibits rumen microbial activity with resultant low intake of roughage and sub-optimal supply of protein to the animal. In this respect elephant grass and maize bran are marginally below the critical level (1.6 g N/100 g) of dry feed nitrogen required for proper rumen function (Elliot and Topps 1963). Intake Table 2 summarises the voluntary feed intakes of animals in the different treatment groups. Dry-matter intake is an important factor in the utilisation of roughage by ruminant livestock and is a critical determinant of energy intake andperformance in small ruminants (Devendra and Burns 1983). Further more it isimportantthat feedsupplements should not adversely affect intake of basal roughage diet. Goats fed the control diet consumed the highest amounts of the basal diet. The lack of significant differences in total dry-matter intake indicates strong substitution of the basal diet by the supplements.Low growth rate is acknowledged to be the major limiting factor in goat production and the plane of nutrition can markedly improveweight gain; the degree of response varies with breed or type (Devendra and Burns 1983). In this experiment goats fed on leucaena leaves supplement and elephantgrass alone lost weight  Valueswith the same superscriptin a row do not differ significantly.with negative growth rates of-3.8 g/d and-32 g/d, respectively (Table 4). Digestible organic matter intake indicates that energy was limitingonthe growthofthese animals (Table 2). The negative growth rates recorded by goats fed on elephant grass alone was attributed to the insufficient amount of energy and protein in the grass. Meanwhile goats fed on maize bran supplement virtually maintained weight indicating that they received only adequate nutrient for maintenance. The best growth rate of30.1 g/d was recorded in goats fed the cottonseed cake supplement.This feed supplement provided energy andprotein which are critical for the growth ofgoats.The growthrate, however, is lowerthan values obtained (91 g/day)in Uganda by Wilson (1958) butitis similartovalues obtainedin West African Dwarf goats (Zemmelink et al 1985;Reynolds 1989). Ademosun et al (1985) also recorded growth rates that were higher than values obtained in this experiment.Body condition score and carcass value were subjective assessment. Condition score reflects subcutaneous fat deposits which is lower in goats than in sheep (Naude and Hofmeyr 1981). It also reflects muscular development and coverage ofthe ribs.Similarlycarcass value was assessedaccordingtovisible subcutaneous fat coverage and leanness ofthe meat. Bodycondition score and carcassvalue werebetteringoats fed on maize bran and cotton seed cake.These findings were reflected in the objective measurements of fat deposits in the omentum, kidney and brisket as well as in the thickness ofthe longismus dorsi muscle.Emptybodyweight and dressedcarcass weight are functions oflive weight (Fehret al 1976).Table 3 shows that various carcass components and body parts (except skin thickness)were highly correlated with live weight across all diets, suggesting that all the diets did not severely alter the allometry of growth. Goats fed on cottonseed cake and maize bran produced dressed carcasses which were significantly heavier (P<001) than carcasses from goats fed on the other three diets (Table 4). These differences were associated with differencesin fat deposits in the omentum, kidney and brisket.Table 5 shows that gut contents in goats fed on elephantgrass with Leucaena leaves were higher than those ofgoatsfed the otherdiets.The least gut contents were those ofgoats fed maize bran.Goats fed maize bran and cottonseed cake were heavier than the rest and they also hadthe heaviest legs and skin, suggesting that the two components were functions of final body weight. It was observed that goats fed on cottonseed cake and maize bran had more omentum and kidneyfats.     pH normally indicates the keeping quality of the meat. Lack of significant differencesbetweentreatment groups suggests that keepingqualitywasnot affected by the different feeds.Testicular circumference was biggerin goats that were fed on cottonseed cakeand maize bran.Regression analyses of measurements of body parts on the live weight were highly correlated, suggesting that the apparent dietary effect on testicular circumference was associated withdifference in liveweight ofthe goats fed on the different diets.The critical nutrients for enhancing growth of goats seem tobe sufficient amounts and the right combination of energy and protein. In this respect maize bran and cottonseed cake seem to be better feed supplements in providing these nutrients. These agro-industrial by-products are abundant in Uganda and their use will greatly increase meat production from goats.Effet de la complémentation sur le gain de poids et les caractéristiques de la carcasse chez des boucs entiers Mubende recevant de l'herbe à éléphant (Pennisetum purpureum) ad libitum en Ouganda Résumé Vingt boucs entiers Mubende ont été divisés au hasard en cinq groupes de quatre animaux chacun.Chaque groupe a été soumis de manière aléatoire à l'un des traitements prévus dans le cadre d'unplan en blocs aléatoires complets. Tous les animaux étaient individuellement alimentés avec de l'herbe à éléphant servie ad libitum. Les traitements consistaient en l'apport d'un complément protéique fournissant 10 g d'azote parjour sous forme de pelures de bananes, de son de maïs, de tourteau de coton ou de feuilles vertes de Leucaena. L'eau et la pierre à lécher étaient offertes ad libitum.Ala finde l'essaid'alimentation (186jours), les animaux avaient été abattus, leurs carcasses étudiées et diversesparties du corps et divers organespesés. Les poids vifs finals n'étaient pas significativement différents entre les groupes de traitement (P>005) même si les animaux alimentés avec du tourteau de coton pesaient plus que les autres.En revanche, les poids vides et les poids des carcasses parées étaient significativement différents (P<005) entre les groupes. Les rendements à l'abattage des animaux alimentés avec des feuilles de Leucaena, du son de maïs et du tourteau de coton étaient similaires mais significativement supérieurs (P<001) à ceux des sujets recevant des pelures de banane ou uniquement de l'herbe à éléphant. Le pHde lacarcasse étaitindépendant dutraitement.Les poidsde la tête, des boyauxpleins ou vides,du sang, des reins et de lagraisse de l'épiploon étaient peu différents (P>001) alors que ceux de lapeau, de la fressure et des pattes étaient significativement différents (P<001).Toutes rations confondues, il existait une forte correlation entre les poids de diverses parties de la carcasse et les poidsvifs, ce qui signifie que ces régimes n'avaient pas beaucoup altéré l'allométrie de la croissance de ces animaux. Durant la saison pluvieuse, les petits ruminants appartenant à des agriculteurs-éleveurs sont souvent attachés par des cordes à des piquets ou des buissons, surdes aires non cultivées; dans d'autrescas,ilspâturent librement, sous la garde d'enfants. D'autre part, la complémentation estpeufréquente en saison pluvieuse, la valeur fourragère des graminées naturelles étant considérée comme bonne à cette période. Cependant, certains éleveurs entretiennent des béliers en stabulation permanente avec une alimentation intensive, en préparation de la fête de la Tabaski. Quelques études ont été conduites auBurkina Fasoafin d'évaluerl'impact de certains facteurs alimentaires sur les performances de croissance des ovins (Dumas et Raymond, 1974;Bourzat et al., 1983;Nianogo, 1992).L'étude présentée ici a pour objectifd'évaluer les paramètres suivants chez les ovins de race Mossi. Deux essais ont été conduits sur des ovins de race Mossi àGampéla, station expérimentale de l'Université de Ouagadougou située en zone nord soudanienne, région caractérisée par une pluviométrie annuelle de 677mm (Soma, 1992). La végétation est une savane claire arbustive etarborée.Sur la station, la phytomasse maximale du parcours utilisable (plus de 300 ha) varie de 6200 à 7.630kg de MS/ha (Achard, 1993), avec une charge réelle d'environ 32 ha/UBT. Les animauxont euunepériode d'adaptation de 14 jours et les observations proprement dites qui ont suivi ont duré 70jours (de juillet à septembre).Tableau 1.Schéma expérimental de l'essai n'2Essai n'2 (tableau 1) Quarante agneaux mâles entiers pesant en moyenne 13,71 kg ont été retenus pour cet essai. Les animaux ont reçu des traitements prophylactiques et sanitaires au début de l'étude: vaccin, détiquage, vermifugation au panacur.Ils ont été répartis au hasard en dix groupes de quatre, pour ensuite être assignés aléatoirement à l'un des quatre lotssuivants: un lottémoin (T)avec quatre ovins, abattus dès le début de l'essai; trois lots de douze animaux recevant l'une ou l'autre des trois rations à niveau énergétique élevé (E) , modéré (M) ou faible (F) avec respec tivement 08,06 et 04 UF/kg de MS.Les quantités distribuées journalièrement représentaient environ 35% du poidsvif des animaux. Des abattages suivis de découpe des carcasses selon la méthode de Boccard et Dumont (1955)  Essai n\"1Le concentréservi durant l'essai n'1 a étécomplè tementconsommépar les animaux. L'analyse chimique du complément a donné une compositionproximale de 95% de MS, et des taux de la matière sèche en matière azotée brute (MAB) de 551%, en lignocellulose (ADF) de 1576%, en fibres NDF de 32,31%, en la lignin ou lignin ADL de 4,49% et en cellulose de 11,18%.Lesprincipaux résultats sont résumésau tableau 1. On note une supériorité du régime semi-intensifsur le système extensif(le GMQ est de 61,07g contre 1923g quel que soit le mode de gardiennage)etune supériorité du gardiennage sur la pâture au piquet avec des GMQ de 5302g et 27,28 g respectivement.Croissance et consommation volontaire : Le foin utilisé contenait 88,47% de MS, dont 90,18% de MO, 6,69% de MAB, 4406% d'ADF, 71,91% de NDF, 496% d'ADL, 1,80% de matière grasse et apportait 0,65 UF/kg de MS. La composition des concentrés est présentée au tableau 2. Les quantités de MS ingérées par les agneauxsont comparables et sont de: 290,3,00et 3,19% du poids vif respectivement pour les lots E, Met F; la consommation d'eau (1,22 à 1,47 litres par jouret par animal) n'a pas été affectée par le facteur ration.Au cours de l'essai, les meilleures performances de croissance ont été observées au niveau du lot ot E avec un GMQ de 7858 g (tableau 2)Ce dernier est signifi cativement supérieur (P<005) à celui du lot F durant toute la période de l'essai. Importance relative des régions corporelles : les poids moyens des différents morceauxaugmentent avec la durée de l'essai, à quelques exceptionsprès ausein de chaque lot (tableau 4). Les animaux ayant reçu une alimentation à niveau énergétique élevé et abattus plus tard présentent les régions corporelles auxpoids les plus élevés. Au dernier abattage, le poids moyen de la poitrine et celui du collier étaientsignificativement plus élevés (P<005) dans le lot E que dans le lot F. Croissance des agneaux en régime extensif et semi-intensifLa croissance enregistrée en régime extensif est comparable à celle de 31,71 g/jour rapportée par Nianogo (1992)sur la même station pour des agneaux ne recevant que 5% de complémentation. Elle est également similaire à celle observée par l'IMVT (Soma, 1992) en élevage extensif chez le mouton Mossi au Yatenga et à Kaya (28,2 g/jour). En régime semi intensif, la croissance observée se rapproche de celle observée par Nianogo et Nassa (1992) avec 60% de concentré sur les ovins de même race élevés dans des cages de digestibilité et recevant du foin à base de Pennisetum pedicellatum. Elle est cependantinférieure à la croissance observée (90g/jour) par Berger (1979) en Côte d'Ivoire chez des ovins Djallonké recevantune quantité adlibitum de concentrés au retourdu pâturage. La supériorité du système semi-intensif s'explique aisément car un complément apporte une quantité constante d'énergie et d'azote, alors que la qualité (teneur en azote et digestibilité) du pâturage baisse régulièrement de juillet à septembre.Quant au gardiennage,il permet aux animaux de sélectionner les meilleures espèces sur le pâturage en combinant ainsi différentes ressources. Dans ces conditions, les ressources offertes sur une surface donnée sont contingentes des autres ressources disponibles au même moment et du comportement des animaux guidés par le berger (Auricoste et al., 1983).La pratique de l'attache aupiquetengendreuneffet néfaste au niveau de la végétation du parcours. En effet le piquetage engendre une forte pression dans un rayon déterminé par la longueur de la corde. Il entraîne la destruction des espèces consommées, ce quicompromet leur fructification, et un durcissement du sol par piétinement, ce qui freine la germination. Tout cela favorise l'envahissement de la zone par des espèces non appétées et entraine une forte dégradation de la végétation despâturages en cespoints.Influence du niveau énergétique de la ration (essai n '2) Le croît moyen journalier de 875g du lot F est comparable à celui observé chez les ovins surpâturage de saison sèche, sans complémentation. Cette faible performance peut s'expliquer par le faible apport en énergie digestible de la ration F. Le GMQ (gain moyen quotidien) de 26,27 g du lot M est supérieur à celui rapporté par Nianogo(1992) chezdes ovins de la même station recevant seulement 5 à 10% de complé mentation. La croissance du lot E (79,58 g/jour) est inférieure à celle de 114 à 1348/jour obtenue par Sawadogo (1991) avec la même race et des rations similaires de 114 à 1348/jour. Cependant, les sujets utilisés par Sawadogo (1991) étaient plus jeunes (4-6 mois) et avaient une consommation volontaire de MS plus élevée (3,74 à 3,80% du poids vif). Les rendements observés dans cette étude sont relativement faibles, probablement en raison de la courte durée de l'essai. Sawadogo (1991)  Performance of Mossi lambs in extensive, semi-intensive and intensive nutrition systems Abstract Two feeding trials were carried out to assess the performance ofentire Mossimalesheep. Inthe first trial, 24 lambs were randomly divided intofour groups of six animals each. Groups 1 and 3 were allowed to graze freely witha herder(PL)whereasgroups2and4grazed while tethered (PP). Groups 1 and 2 were not supple mented while groups3and4 received25% oftheirtotal dry-matter needs as concentrates containing50% wheat bran and 50% cottonseed cake. Body weight was monitored for 70days forall animals. In the second trial, 40 permanently housed lambs were divided into a control group of four animals and three groups of 12 Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop lambs each.The treatment groups received three energy level diets, i.e. high (E), medium (M) or low (F) corresponding to 08,06 and 04 feed unit per kg DM, respectively. Weight performance was monitored for 12weeks and some animals were slaughtered every30 days to assess carcass yield. Results from the first trial indicated that free grazing was superior to tethered grazing, with average dailyweight gains of5302g and 2728 g, respectively. In both cases, supplementation increased daily weight gain by 68.5%. Group 3 lambs recorded the best performance. Results from the second trialshowedthat average dailyweightgainswere 79.58, 3554 and 875g, respectively, for E, M and Fgroups, with a significant difference (P<005)between Eand F. Carcass studies indicated that animals in group E had higher carcass yields and that incrustation of their epiploon fat improved with delayed slaughter. Mossi sheepperformance was rather modest in these studies andboth the feedingsystem and the dietary energy level had a marked effect on lambperformance.Evolution de la note d'état corporel et de quelques paramètres biochimiques chez des agnelles Foulbé à différents stades physiologiques au Nord-Cameroun Dans la zone soudano-sahélienne du Cameroun, les petits ruminants souffrent d'une sous-alimentation sévère en saison sèche due à la rareté de l'herbe et de l'eau. L'analyse des premiers résultats du suivi zootechnique mené depuis trois ans dans les élevages traditionnels montre que le taux de fécondité est relativement faible, se situant à 92% et 112%, respectivement pour les moutons et les chèvres (Ngo Tama et al., 1991). De fortes mortalités d'ovins de tout âgepouvantatteindre80% dans certains troupeaux, dues aux symptômes respiratoires, mais aussi à des causes non pathologiques ou inconnues, ont été enregistrées. Des carences alimentaires pourraient être des causes prédisposantes à cette mortalité ou responsables de la faible productivité des petits ruminants en milieu paysan. Les besoins nutritifs des ovins, et en particulier des femelles, coïncident rarement avec les apports alimentaires. Suite aux agnelages qui interviennent souvent au cours de la période défavorableque constitue la saison sèche, les femelles sont obligées de mobiliser leurs réserves corporelles pour faire face aux besoins énergétiques de lactation. L'intérêt de ces réserves est connu, notamment chez les femelles reproductrices. Dedieu et al (1989) et Torre et al (1991) ont noté une relation positive entre les réserves corporelles etles taux d'ovulation, de fertilité et de prolificité chez les ovins. Les réserves corporelles sontun bon indicateur de l'état nutritionnel, et sont évaluées visiblement sur une échelle de notation de l'état corporel (Russel et al., 1969). La (NEC) des ovins.Une grille de note a été mise au point, allant de 1 à 4, avec des écarts de 0,25. La NEC a été déterminée par palpation des régions dorsale, lombaire, et autour de la queue, et par appréciation de l'aspect général de l'animal (Russel et al., 1969). La NEC considérée était la moyenne des notes données par les deuxtechniciens (attribution d'une note concertée). La note 1 était assignée aux agnelles très maigres, sans tissus musculaires ou adipeux entre la peau et l'os, et avec les côtes et les apophyses visibles à distance. La note 2 était attribuée aux animaux maigres, avec les apophyses sensibles au toucher. Lanote 3 était assignée auxsujets moyennement gras, avecune faible épaisseur de muscle et de gras et la note 4 à ceux ayant une bonne couverture de muscle et de gras.A la fin de la quarantaine en avril 1993, les animaux ont étépeséspendant 3 jours consécutifs.Sur 350 agnelles, 240 étaient retenues sur la base du poids, de l'âge et du phénotype (robe et faciès d'ovin Foulbé) Elles étaient regroupées en 60 blocs de 4 agnelles par stratification sur la base de leur poids et de leur NEC. Les agnelles de chaque blocétaientensuite affectées de façon aléatoire à 4 lots expérimentaux, de manière à avoir des lots homogènes de 60 animaux chacun. Le poids moyen initial était de 17,20,36   Deux essais de mesure de l'ingestion volontaire de fourrage par les agnelles ont été effectués. En décembre, 3 agnelles par lot, soit 12 au total ont été placées dans des cages de digestibilité pendant 6 jours d'adaptation et 6jours de collecte totale de fèces, de fourrage et de refus.Pendant la phase de gestation enavril, les agnelles munies de sacs à fèces ont étéplacées dans des parcs individuels pour une 2ème phase de collecte.Laquantité d'eau ingérée a été mesurée. La matière sèche des fourrages, du refus et des fèces était déterminée après séchage à l'étuve pendant 48 h à 60'C.Lesdonnées ont ététraitées paranalyse de variance des mesures répétées, utilisant la procédure \"General Linear Model\" (SAS/ STAT, 1990), sur micro En revanche, les traitements prophylactiques et l'interaction avec la complémentation n'ont pas eu d'influence significative. La correlationentre lepoids et la NEC au cours de cette phase était faible (r=046 ; P>0,1). Aucours de la phase de croissance, desgains de   Compl. Non compl.-- Les résultats de cette étude ontpermis de mettre en évidenceune très forte liaison entre l'évolution dupoids et celle de la NEC pendant la phase de croissance des agnelles. Cela est en accord avec les conclusions de Sanson et al (1993) qui ont obtenu une telle corrélation (r=0,89)entre le poids et laNECdesbrebissur pâturage dans l'ouest des Etats-Unis. Cependant, au cours des phases physiologiquesplus délicates de post-sevrage et de gestation, la liaison a été plutôt faible. Pendant la phase de gestation par exemple, les agnellesgagnaient du poids mais leur NEC baissait. Ce gain de poids était associé à la croissance du foetus alors que la baisse de NEC était due à la qualité médiocre des pâturages incapables de satisfaire les besoins énergétiques et protéiques des animaux ; cela contraignait les agnelles à mobiliser leurs réserves corporelles pour faire face aux besoins accrus de gestation. La baisse de NEC était plus importante chez les agnelles non complémentées de sorte qu'à la fin de l'étude en avril, elles avaient une NEC moyenne de 27% inférieure à celle des sujets complémentés.Ces résultats laissent croire que pendant la gestation et danscertainessituations de stress,la NEC est un meilleur indicateur du niveau des réserves corporelles que le poids. Cela est en accord avec les résultats de Purroy et al (1987) et Sanson et al (1993) qui ont montréque la NECétaitbeaucoup plus correlée à la quantité des lipides et desprotéines corporelles que le poids vifchez les ovins. La NEC avant la mort pour les 82 cas enregistrés était de 2,290,80,contre 3,040,22 pour les agnelles vivantes et complémentées (Njoya et Awa, 1994). Cela laisse croire qu'il y a eu une mobilisation des réserves corporelles pour faire face aux stress auxquels les agnelles étaient exposées avant la mort. L'on peut envisager, dans les conditions du  sont en accord avec ceux obtenus sur des bovins dans la même station (Njoya, 1992)où lacomplémentation avec du tourteau de coton avait permis d'augmenter la consommation et l'utilisation des pâturages naturels. Cependant, au cours de lagestation, la quantité de MS digestible ingérée était identique quel que soit le traitement. Les agnelles non complémentées avaientun niveau d'ingestion beaucoup plus élevé que lors de la phase de croissance. On aurait espéré une chute de consommation tout comme l'avaient aussi remarquée Sykes et Field (1972) en Australie chez des ovins recevant une ration pauvre en protéines. On peut considérer que l'augmentation de l'ingestion de four rage par les agnelles non complémentées est un mécanisme destiné à leur permettre de satisfaire leurs énormes besoins énergétiqueset protéiques degestation.La complémentation alimentaire a augmenté les chiffres de glycémie et d'urémie et les traitements prophylactiques ont eu tendance à augmenter ceux d'hémoglobine et d'hématocrite. Les taux d'urée et de glucose ont évolué en fonction des saisons. Ils étaient faibles en saison sèche indiquant ainsides situations de carence pendant cette période de l'année et ce, malgré une consommation de fourrage relativement élevée.Cela a été confirmé visiblement par la baisse de la NEC des agnelles entre février et avril (figure 1). L'aug mentation du niveau d'urée avec la complémentation est en accord avec les observations rapportées par Sykes et Field (1973) qui ont souligné son rôle comme indicateur de l'alimentationprotéique. Mêmependant la première moitié de la saison des pluies où le niveau protéique des pâturages était le plus élevé, les agnelles ont eu un taux d'urée plasmatique plus élevé. La réponse à une complémentation protéique par le gain de poids et de NEC laisse croire que les pâturages naturels de la zone soudano-sahélienne sont carencés en protéines. La faible teneur en glucose associée à une faible NEC des agnelles non complémentées (figures 1 et 3) confirme son rôle comme indicateur de la carence en énergie. Cela est en accord avec les conclusions de Stephenson et Bird (1992) et de Honhold et al(1992) qui ont montré que la concentration du glucose plasmatique était le meilleur indicateur de l'alimentation énergétique des ruminants sur pâturages. Les foetus dépendent de l'approvisionnement en glucose pour leur survie (Stephenson et Bird, 1992). Le niveau de glucose chez l'agnelle gestante peut indiquer le statut nutritionnel du foetus, et par conséquent prévenir des situations de carence pouvant entraîner des avortements ou la naissance de produits chétifs non viables. Monitoring body conditions and some biochemical parameters in Foulbe ewes in various physiological stages in northern Cameroon Abstract The effects of supplementation and prophylactic treatment on body condition and biochemical parameters of weaner ewes were evaluated on 240 weaner Foulbe ewes randomly allotted to 4treatments of 60 ewes each (treatment A: supplementation with prophylaxis; treatment B: supplementation without prophylaxis; treatment C: prophylaxis without supplementation, and treatment D: neither supple mentation nor prophylaxis). Supplemented groups received 200 g of cottonseed meal per ewe per day. Treated groups were dewormed atthe beginning and at the end of the rainy season. Animals were sprayed whenever ticks were found on them and vaccinated against\"peste des petits ruminants\"(PPR). Bodyweight and condition score ofall ewes were taken every month.Blood samples were taken monthlyfrom 20 ewes per treatment for the determination of urea, glucose, hematocrit and hemoglobin values. Two digestibility trialswere carriedout, one duringthegrowingphase and the other during the gestation phase. Weightgain and body condition were improved by supplementation throughout the study.There was a positive correlation between weight gain and body condition (r = 0. 48; P<0001). Forage dry-matter intake increased with supplementation during the growing phase but not during gestation. However, water intake increased (P<005)with supplementation during gestation. Blood urea and glucose increased with supplementation (P<005). This study shows that during gestation,body condition is a better indicator of the nutritive status of ewes than body weight. It also indicates that urea and hematocrit values could be used routinely to assess the protein status and parasite burden in ewes. Protein supplementation associated with twice-a-year deworming and regular deticking can allow a steady growth and good body condition score of weaner ewes grazingSudano-Sahelianpastures.Effet de la supplémentation de la paille de brousse avec différentes proportions de fane de dolique sur la production de viande ovine Résumé L'effet de la supplémentation de la paille de brousse avec différentes proportions de fane de dolique (Lablabpurpurus,variété Highworth)sur laproduction de viande ovine a été évalué en utilisant des béliers castrés de race Toronké pesant en moyenne 37,14 +6,21 kg. Lesniveauxd'apport defane de dolique initialement prévus dans les rations étaient de 0,25,50 et 75% mais les proportions finales observées ont été de 0; 39,39; 7067 et 84,62%. L'ingestiontotale d'aliment a varié en fonction du niveau de supplémentation en fane de dolique (p<005). L'augmentation de la proportion de fane dans laration s'esttraduiteparune amélioration de l'ingestion totale de matière sèche. Les performances pondérales ont varié (p<0,05) en fonction de la proportion de fane de dolique dans les rations. Les trois rations contenant respectivement 0; 39,39 et 70,67% de fane de dolique ont occasionné des pertesde poids.Seule celle contenant 84,62% de fane a occasionné un gain moyen quotidien de 2 g.Cependant, le taux de matières azotées totales des rations comportant 7067 et84,62% de fane de dolique est dans les normes couramment admises pour les essais d'engraissement. L'apport d'énergie est resté faible et semble être le facteur limitant de meilleures performances pondérales. L'analyse coût/bénéfice de l'opération a permis de dégagerun revenu additionnel positif Introduction L'alimentation apparaît comme la contrainte majeure aux productions animales au Mali en général et dans la région de Kayes en particulier. Le disponible fourrager n'est de bonne qualité et en quantité suffisante que pendant une courtepériode de l'année, c'est-à-dire l'hivernage qui va de juillet à septembre. Les systèmes d'alimentation sont principalement basés sur l'uti lisation des pâturages naturels et des résidus de culture.Pendant la saison sèche, les ruminants alimentés exclusivement avec des pâturages naturels et des chaumes de céréales perdent du poids, ce qui indique que ces aliments sont de faible valeur nutritive (Pearce et al., 1988). L'utilisation de concentrés comme suppléments généralement recommandés pour améliorer le niveau d'énergie et de protéines dans les fourrages lignifiésestdifficilement applicable auniveau despaysans. Cependant, ilimportede prévenir les pertes de production au niveau des paysans en utilisant des techniques simples et les aliments disponibles. La supplémentation des fourrages pauvres avec des fanes de légumineuses permet d'améliorer la digestibilité (Devendra, 1982), l'ingestion (Mosi et Butterworth, 1985) ou les deux à la fois (Minson et Milford, 1967;Lane, 1982;Moran et al., 1983;McMeniman et al., 1988;Ngwah et Tawah, 1992).La présente étude vise à comparer l'effet de différents niveaux d'apport de fane de dolique sur l'ingestion et le gain de poids de moutons alimentés avec de lapaille de brousse.L'essai a été conduit à Kayes, à la Station de recherche zootechnique du Toronké (SRZ/T), dans la zone semi-aride du Mali. Les précipitations moyennes annuelles sont de 600 à 800 mm et sont essentiellement concentréessur la périodede juillet à septembre.Lazone présente des pâturages naturels constitués princi palement de graminées et représentant la base de l'alimentation du bétail. Les activitéséconomiques sont axéesprincipalement surl'agriculture et l'élevage. Matériels Animaux Un total devingt quatre moutons mâles castrés,de race Toronké, prélevés du troupeau ovin de laSRZT et pesant en moyenne 37,14t 6,21 kg, ont été utilisés pour cet essai.Quatre rations à base de paille de brousse, supplémentées avec différentes proportions de fane de dolique ont été utilisées dans cette étude. Les niveaux d'apport de fane de dolique initialement prévus étaient de 0,25,50 et75% de la ration totale. Cependant les proportions finales observées étaient de 0,39,39,7067 et 84,62%. La paille de brousse, en provenance des alentours de la ville de Kayes, est essentiellement composée de Schenefeldia gracilis et de Schizachyrium exile. Lafane de dolique a été produite parleprogramme de cultures fourragères de la SRZ/T. La pierre à lécher KNZrouge a été utilisée comme complément minéral et vitaminique. Sa composition était la suivante: P:11%, Mg: 1,26%, NaC1:41,7%, Ca:9,0%, Fe : 1,0%, Co: 100mg/kg, I:200mg/kg, Mn: 1200mg/kg, Cu450mg/kg, Vitamine A: 140000 UI/kg, Vitamine D3:28000UI/kg et Vitamine E:50UI/kg.Les vingt quatre moutons, vaccinés contre la pasteurellose et déparasités au Panacur (fenbendazole de méthyle) ont été répartis au hasard en 8 lots de 3 animaux chacun.Chacune des 4 rations a été assignée au hasard à 2 lots soit 6 moutons. Les animaux étaient alimentés deux fois (08h et 18h) par jour pendant 60 jours.Ils avaient libre accès à l'eau et à la pierre à lécher. Les quantités d'aliments ingérées ont été mesuréespar peséedesquantités offertes et desquantités refusées. Les variations de poids ont été évaluées par pesée des moutons tous les 15jours. Des échantillons d'aliments ont été analysés au laboratoire de nutrition animale de Sotuba. Les analyses chimiques ont portésur la matière sèche (MS), les matières azotées totales (MAT = azote *625), la matière grasse (MG),la cellulose brute (CB), les cendres(C), le calcium (Ca)et le phosphore(P). Les données ont été traitées par analyse de variance (randomisation totale). Tableau 1. Composition chimique de la paille de brousse et de la fane de dolique utilisées dans l'essai La composition chimique de la paille de brousse et de la fane de dolique est présentée au tableau 1. Ce tableau montre que les caractéristiques nutritionnelles de la paille de brousse et de la fane de dolique diffèrent en plusieurs points. Lafane de dolique a des teneurs plus élevées en PB, MG, C et Ca mais plusfaibles en CB et en Pque lapaille de brousse. Ingestion de matière sèche L'effet de la supplémentation de la paille de brousse avec de la fane de dolique est présenté au tableau 2. Ce tableau montre que l'ingestion totale d'aliment dépend du niveau de supplémentation en fane de dolique (p<005). L'augmentation delaproportion de fane de dolique s'esttraduite par une amélioration de l'ingestiontotale de MS. Ce résultat est conforme à ceux rapportés par de nombreux autres auteurs. Ngwa et Tawah (1992) ont montré que l'addition de petites quantités de fane de légumineuses donnait de meilleurs résultats sur l'ingestion de la paille de riz comparée à l'utilisation de l'azote non protéique. Mosi et Butterworth (1985), dans une série d'expériences ont Tableau 2. Effet des différents niveaux de supplémentation de la paille de brousse avec de la fane de dolique Les chiffres de la même ligne suivis de lettres différentes sont significativement différents au seuil de 5%.trouvé que la supplémentation des chaumes de céréales (maïs, orge et blé) avec une fane de légumineuse (Trifolium tembense) améliorait l'ingestion totale de matièresèche. L'augmentation de l'ingestion de matière sèche par addition de fane de légumineuse a été rapportée pard'autres auteurs (Minson et Milford, 1967;Lane, 1982;Moran et al., 1983).Il ressort du tableau 2 que les performances pondérales ont varié (p<0,05) en fonction de la proportion de fane de dolique dans les rations. Dans les trois rations contenant respectivement 0, 39,39 et 7067% de fane de dolique, les moutons ont enregistré des pertes de poids estimées à 94, 60 et 46 g respectivement. De nombreuses études confirment que les fourrages de qualité médiocre (paille de brousse et chaumes de céréales) sont sipauvres en protéines et en énergie digestible qu'ils ne peuventsatisfaire lesbesoins d'entretien des animaux.Seul le lot recevant 84,62% de sa ration en fane de dolique a connu un gain moyen quotidien de 2g.Le gain depoids estproportionnel à lateneur de la ration en fane de dolique. Ce phénomène s'explique d'abord par le taux d'azote très faible des deux premières rations. La littérature rapporte un taux minimum de8% de matières azotées totales pour unbon fonctionnement du rumen. C'est aux proportions de 7067 et 84,62% de fane de dolique que les rations contiennent au moins 8% de MAT.La perte de poids du lot 3 (7067% de fane de dolique) et le gain de poids du lot4(8462% de fane de dolique) s'expliquent principalement par un déficit énergétique des rations.Grâce aux efforts conjugués de la recherche et des services de vulgarisation, la fane de dolique est actuellement produite par une large proportion d'agro-éleveurs et occupe lapremièreplace des cultures fourragères vulgarisées au Mali. L'hypothèse retenue pourl'analyse estbasée sur le fait que laration contenant 84,26% de fane de dolique a permis non seulement d'assurer les besoins d'entretien mais aussi un gain quotidien de 2g. Le régime sans fane de dolique a occasionné une perte de poids de 94g. Cependant la ration contenant 84,26% de fane permet non seulement d'éviter une telle perte de poids, mais, d'assurer un gain de 2g/j.Le gain potentiel a été de 5760g ((94 +2) 60j). La valeur ajoutée est de4665Fcfa (5,76kgx900 Fcfa). La quantité de fane de dolique ingérée étant de 46kg (077kg60j), son coûtest de 4370Fcfa (46kgx95Fcfa), soit un revenu additionnel positif de 295 Fcfa (4 665 Fcfa -4370 Fcfa).Cette étude montre que la supplémentation de la paille de brousse avec de la fane de dolique améliore l'ingestion de matière sèche et le gain de poids des moutons.Cependant, même avec une proportion élevée de fane de dolique (8462%) dans la ration, le gain de poids a été faible (2g/tête/jour). En effet, le taux de matières azotées totales des rations contenant 70,67 et 84,62% de fane est dans les normes couramment admises pour les essais d'engraissement. L'apport d'énergie est resté faible et semble être le facteur limitant les performances pondérales. L'analyse financière de l'opération montre que le revenu addi tionnelest positif.Cependant pouruneintensification de la production de viande ovine, l'apport d'un aliment énergétique serait nécessaire.Effect of supplementing bush straw with various levels of lablab haulm on mutton productionThe effect of bush straw supplementation withvarious levels of Lablab purpureus var Highworth haulm on sheep meat production was assessed on castrated Toronké rams weighing 37.14-t621 kg on average.Planned lablab haulm rates in the diets were 0, 25, 50 and75% but actual observed proportions were 0,3939, 70.67 and 84.62%. Total feed consumption varied according to the proportion of lablab haulm (P<005) in the diet. Increasing haulm level improved total dry-matter consumption. Weight performance also varied (P<005) according to the level of lablab haulm in the diet. The diet containing8462% haulm resulted in a2g average dailyweightgain.The other three diets causedweight losses. However,total nitrogen contents of the two diets with 70.67 and 84.62% lablab haulm were in linewith accepted standards forfatteningtrials. Energy content was low and seemed to be the limiting factor for better weight performance. A cost-benefit analysisgave apositive income balance.Animals subjected to a period of undernutrition often exhibit very high growth during subsequent In the Ethiopian highlands, sheep are raised on natural pasture and crop residues. There is annual fluctuation in the quality and quantity of these feed resources. Galal et al (1981)suggested lambing during the month ofMay (start ofthe main rainyseason) as one possible lamb production system. This would allow lambs to be grown and weaned, andkept until the age of five months on good pasture. But afterthis age they face thepoor pasture conditions ofthe dry season.The current experiment was designed to study compensatory growth in weaned lambs which were maintained unsupplemented on poor natural pasture during the dry season for various periods, and then fed liberal concentrate supplement to finishthem.The study was carried out at the Bako Agricultural Research Center (09'6'N, 37'09'E, and 1650 m asl) of the Institute of Agricultural Research, Ethiopia. The Center receives a mean annual rainfall of about 1170 mm, out ofwhich 80% falls in the months ofMayto September, and has mean maximum and minimum temperatures of 28'C and 13'C, respectively.Lambs used in this study belongtothe Horro breed of sheep (Galal 1983). Forty weaned lambs ofboth sexes with mean live weight and age of 17.8kg(SD=3.16) and 132 days (SD=11.6), respectively, were randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups (1 to 4). The whole experimental period (2 December 1988to 6June 1989) was divided into threephases of63(Phase 1),49(Phase 2), and 74 days (Phase 3). Lambs in Group 1 were supplemented throughout the experimental period, those in Group2 were supplemented in phases 2 and 3, andthose in Group3were supplementedin Phase 3 only. Lambs in Group 4 received no supplement throughout the experiment.The amount of concentrate supplement fed in the first two phases was 150g/head per day while in the third phase it was 333 g/head per day.The supplement was estimated to contain 21.5% crudeprotein(CP) and 305 Mcal metabolisable energy (ME)per kilogram of dry matter (DM).All lambs were kept as one flock each day of the experiment and grazed from 0830to 1700hours on poor natural pasture, which had an estimated yield of48t/ha with a DM content of 60% at the beginning of the experiment. Each evening the animals were separated into their respective treatment groups.Sixteen male lambs (3, 5,4, and4from groups 1,2, 3 and 4, respectively) were selected at the end ofthe experiment for the measurement of carcass and non-carcass parts, weights, and the determination of dressing percentage. Shrunk live weight ofthe lambs wastakenjust before slaughter aftertheywere deprived of water and feed for about 36 hours.Analytical procedure for a completely randomised design was used to analyse between treatment differences in live weight andweight gain. Means were separated using the least significant differences (LSD) procedure (Gomez and Gomez 1984). Relationship between weight measurements ofthe various carcass parts and live weight was determined by regression procedures.Partial feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of supplemented lambs was calculated from the total amount of supplement offered and liveweight gain obtained above those ofunsupplemented lambs.Five lambs(twofrom Group 1 and one from each of the remaining groups)diedfrom unknown causes beforethe end of the experiment and were excluded from the analysis.Table 1 shows that in Phase 1 lambs in Group 1 gained an average of 1.5 kg live weight while lambs in groups 2, 3 and 4 lost an average of 20 kg. Upon supplementation in Phase 2, lambs in Group 2gained significantly (P<005) more weight(39 kg)than lambs in group l (2.3 kg) which received supplementation fromthe start(group 1,23kg)orunsupplementedlambs in groups3(0. 8kg)and4(09kg). Group3lambs gained significantly(P<005)more weight (108kg)thanallthe lambs in remaining groups (87, 9.1, and 49 kg for groups 1,2 and4, respectively)in the third phase.After the start of supplementary feeding live weight of previously unsupplemented lambs approached live weight attained by lambs receiving concentrate supplement from the start (Figure 1). However, the difference ingain betweengroups 1,2 and 3 was found to be non-significant after the first 55 days of Phase 3.Table 2 shows the response in gain due to supplementation and partial FCE of lambs given supplementary feed.Forthe whole experimental period, lambs in Group 3 had a better partial FCE (4.18) than lambs in groups 1 (4.82) and 2 (478). The observed superiorityin conversion efficiency, however, declined as liveweight differences reached non-significant levels (last 19 days of Phase 3).Table 3 shows mean weight and carcass characteristics ofthe treatment groups.Allweights have shown a tendency to increase with increase in live weight. Pooled regression of shrunk live and carcass weights, dressingpercentage and weight of otherparts on live weight was found to be highly significant (P<001)withcorrelation coefficientsrangingfrom066 to 099. Fat deposition as measured by omental and kidney fat (weighedtogether), andtailweight were also highly correlated with live weight (T=08 and r=07, respectively).     Lambs given no supplementary feed and grazed on natural pasture in the dry season lostweightwhile the supplemented lambs gained weight. This shows that under Bako conditions, natural pasture alone cannot maintain weight or support growth of lambsin the dry season. Galal et al(1981) made a similar observation for the same sheep breed kept on cultivated pasture in the dryseason when the stocking rate was high. Upon supplementation, previously un supplemented lambs whichhad lost weight gained more than the continuously supplemented lambs. Similar compensatory responses have been reported for Yankasa sheep (Lakpini et al 1982) andfor Black Head Persian and Massai lambs (Massae and Mtenga 1992). On the contrary, Galalet al(1981)found no difference in growth rate of previously unsupplemented Horro lambs and continuously supplemented lambs during a final phase of ad libitum indoor feeding of a ration composed of75% concentrate and 25% hay. However, in the study of Galal et al (1981), the ration type and the feeding regime could have resulted in differential adaptation and intake level between the two groups.Upon supplementary feeding,the partial FCE of previously unsupplemented lambs was higherthan the partial FCE of lambs supplemented continuously. Orskov et al (1976)had reportedsimilar improvements in FCE in sheep. Massae and Mtenga (1992) had also found a non-significant but superior trend in FCE of realimented lambs compared to those fed high level supplement continuously. Graham and Searle (1975), however, found no difference between FCE of realimented and continuously fed sheep. Difference in composition of gain between realimented and continuouslyfed animals has been reported (McMannus et al 1972;Drew and Read 1975) and as composition may vary with age and weight, differences in these factors may explain the discrepancy in the literature.All carcass measurement and dressingpercentage values have shown a tendency toincrease with weight and correlation coefficients pooled over all the treatments were very high. The strong correlation between the various carcass measurement values and live weight suggests that within the growth stage of lambsin this study,similar live weights achieved either by compensatory or continuous growth can yield a carcass with similar composition and proportion of parts. Previously,Galalet al (1981)reported significant differences between realimented and continuously fed lambs in carcassweight and dressing percentage and fat deposition measurements, but liveweight differences were also significant.Horro lambs grazing on poor naturalpasture duringthe dryseason and given no supplementaryfeedwerefound tolose weight.Upon subsequent supplementaryfeeding the lambs showed compensatorygrowth and caught up with live weights of continuously supplemented lambs. There was no serious effect of compensatorygrowth on carcass characteristics,while it improved partial FCE. The results of this study suggest that in the dry season unsupplemented lambs grazing on natural pasture can tolerate weight losses of at least 10% with no long lasting effect, and upon subsequent supplementation they can experience compensatorygainwith high FCE.La croissance compensatrice chez les agneaux Horro en Ethiopie Résumé Cette étude porte sur la croissance compensatrice d'agneaux Horro précédemment élevés sur pâturages naturels de qualité médiocre au cours de la saison sèche et recevant ad libitum un complément de concentré. L'efficacité de laconversionpartielle des aliments et les caractéristiques des carcasses ont également été examinées. La période d'essai a été divisée en trois phases de 63(phase 1),49(phase 2)et74(phase 3)jours. Quatre groupes (1 à 4) de 10 agneaux chacun ont été constitués. Le groupe 4était le groupe témoin et n'avait reçu aucun complément alimentaire. Les trois autres groupes avaientreçu des niveauxélevés de complément au cours de la phase 3alors qu'ils n'en n'avaient pas du tout reçu soit au cours des phases 1 et2(groupe3), soit de la phase 1 uniquement(groupe2) ou durant l'une des deux phases (groupe 1). Au cours de la phase 1, les agneaux du groupe l avaient gagné l,5kgalors que ceux des autres groupes avaient perdu 2,0 kg. Au cours des phases 2 et 3, les agneaux des groupes 2 et 3 respec tivement ont connu une croissance compensatrice. Les différences de poids observées entre les groupes 1,2et 3 pendant les phases précédentes n'étaient plus signi ficatives au cours de la dernière phase. Le coefficient d'efficacité de la conversion partielle des aliments était plus élevé chez les agneaux ayant enregistré une croissance compensatrice que chez ceux dont la croissance était continue, notamment lorsque les différences de poids vif entre eux n'étaient plus significatives.Il y avait une correlation très significative (P<001) entre toutes les mesures des carcasses et les poids vifs, les coefficients variant de 0,66 à 099.Cette étude montre que lorsque la complémentation de saison sèche est impraticable, les agneaux Horropeuvent être élevés uniquement sur pâturages naturels etrecevoir des complémentspar lasuite. Cela leurpermet d'enregistrer une croissance compensatrice et d'utiliser plus efficacement les aliments que si leurcroissance avait été maintenue grâce à une complémentation.Drought feeding strategies have included the intensive use of browse because trees are less susceptible to climatic fluctuations than herbaceous plants. Browse usually has higher crude protein content than grasses (Dube and Ncube 1993). However, the presence of secondary compounds, mainly polyphenolics/tannins, limits the feeding value of the browse through depression of intake and digestibility (McLeod 1974). Tannins bind with dietary, enzymatic and microbial protein to form insoluble complexes that are not degradedin the rumen, resultingin reduced digestibility and intake. Information on fate of tannin-protein complexespost-rumen has been variable. Kidney, liver andgastro-intestinaltract damage inanimals consuming tanniferous forage has been reported (Bailey 1978).Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) preferentially bind with tannins, resulting in the reversal of tannin effects on forage utilisation. Response to PEG depends on the type of tannin and the tannin: PEG ratio (Strachan et al 1988).Drought tolerant Colophospermum mopane (mopane) is prevalent in the southern and western lowveld regions of Zimbabwe where fallen dry leaves and pods are an important feed resource for both domestic and wild ungulates. Fresh leaves are rarely browsed probably due to the presence of secondary compounds. During the severe drought of 1992mopane browse (leafand fine stem)was fed to cattle as bushmeal (BM;mopane browse comprisingleafandfine stem) by crushing and mixing with maize bran, molasses and coarse salt in the ratio 53.8:30:15: 1.2 (Triangle Limited). \"Browseplus'(AgricuraZimbabwe) crystals were added at a rate of100g/t ofBM to make bushmeal special (BMS). *Browse plus'contains PEG, PVPanda vitamin and mineral mix. Animal responsesto feeding ofboth BM and BMS have not been studied.The current study wasundertakento determine the effect offeeding BM and BMS as sole feeds or as supplements to poor quality hay on nutrientutilisation and clinical status of the kidneys, liver andgastro-intestinal tract of sheep.BMandBMS were obtained wetfrom Triangle Limited. On arrival at the station they were sun-dried before feeding. Natural pasture hay was cut during the dry season andwas ofpoor quality.Ten 2-year old indigenous wethers (average weight 41.1t1.0 kg)were usedin the first experiment.Animals were drenched withan anthelminthic(Ranide, Agricura, Zimbabwe) before beinghoused in metabolism crates which allowed separate collection offaeces andurine. The animals were blocked on the basis of live weight and randomly allocated to either BM or BMS within each block. Feedwas offered ad libitum in two equal meals at 0800 and 1600 h and the amount offered was 115% of the previous day's intake. Water was offered three times a day.A 21-day adjustment period was followed by a seven-day collection period. At the end of the first collection period animals receiving BMS remained in the experiment for another 14 days divided equally into 1. Present address: MakoholiResearchStation, P. Bag9182, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop adjustment and collection periods. Their dry-matter (DM)intake was, however, restricted to the same level as those on BM.In the second experiment 14two-year oldwethers (average weight 400t 1.0 kg)were used.The animals were blocked on the basis of live weight and the diets were randomly allocated to the animals within the blocks. Hayalone was fed to fouranimalswhile each of the supplements was fed to five animals. Animals received 200 g/head per day ofthe supplement. The supplement was offered during the first 30 minutes of feeding. Hay was then offered at 115% of the previous day's intake.A21-day adjustment period followed by seven days of sampling was used.Duringthe collection periods refusals and urinary and faecal output were recorded. Refusals were pooled overthe collection period for each animal andstored at roomtemperature awaiting analysis.Ten percent ofthe faeces were oven-dried at55'C to determine dry matter content. Urinewas collectedin vessels containing25 ml of1N H2SO4 to reduce loss of ammonia.Ten per cent ofthe urine was storedat-20'Cfor subsequentchemical analysis.At the end of the feeding period three animals from each treatment were slaughtered for visual detection of lesions on the liver, kidneys and the gastro-intestinal tract.Feed, refusals and faecal samples were ground topass through a 1 mm screen for determination of organic matter (OM) and nitrogen using standard procedures (AOAC 1984). Neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) was determined using the methoddescribed by Goering and Van Soest (1970). Urine was analysed for nitrogen contentusingthe Kjeldahl method.Analysis ofvariance on all data was carried out using a modelthat included the effect of diet(Genstat 1988).The chemical composition of the hay, BM and BMS is shown in Table 1.The N contents of BM and BMS were similarbut were higher (P<005) than those ofthe hay. However, the hay had higher (P<005) NDF content. Therewas no apparent damageto the liver, kidneys and the gastro-intestinal tract ofthe animals from the two experiments. Animals readily ate both BM and BMS. When offered ad libitum DM intake from BMS (1.4 kg/head per day) was higher(P<005)than that from BM(1.3kg/head per day)(Table2).Table3 shows intake ofvarious nutrients Nutrient intake, dry-matter and organic-matter digestibility and N retention by sheep fed bushmeal (BM)and bushmeal special (BMS) 1. BMS = BMS dry matterintake restricted to that of BM ad libitum.2. BMS = BMS fed ad libitum.Values are means offive observations; SED = standard error of differences of means.NDF = neutral-detergent fibre; nd = not determined.Within row means with different superscripts differ significantly(P<005).when grass haywas supplemented with BM and BMS. Supplementation did not reflect grass hay intake (P>005). However, animals receiving supplements ate more total DM andOM than those fed grass hay alone (P<005). Supplementing with BM did not increase (P>005)NDFintake while supplementation with BMS resultedin higher(P<005)NDFintake than the control.Inthe first experiment, when BMandBMSintakes were similar, DM and OM digestibilities were higher (P<0.05) in animals receiving BMS (Table 2).However, when BMS was fed ad libitum, DM digestibility wassimilar for thetwo diets. In the second experiment DM and OMin the three diets were digested to a similar (P>005) extent (Table 3).In Experiment 1 nitrogen balance was measured in animals consuming similar amounts of BM and BMS. Animals receiving BMate more N(P<005)than those receiving BMS (Table 2). However,faecal andurinary N output and the relation between the two was not affected by diet (P>005). Nitrogen retained by the animals on the two diets was similar (P>005). In Experiment 2, supplementation of veld hay increased (P<005) N intake although N intake by the groups receiving supplements was similar (P>005) (Table 3). Faecal and urinary N output were similar (P<005)for allthree diets and Nretentionwas higher(P<005)in the groups receiving supplements than in those fed hay alone.Although no tannin assay was carried out on BM or BMS, Walker (1980) stated that mopane browse has high levels of tannins. These are implicated in the reluctance of livestock to eat fresh mopane browse. In the current study animals readily consumed both BM and BMS indicating the improved palatability due to maize bran, molasses and salt. Itis generally accepted thatpolyphenolics/tanninsinterfere with forage nutrient utilisationby animalsthroughtheir protein-precipitating ability which causes reduced intake and digestibility of most nutrients (McLeod 1974;BarryandDuncan 1984;Woodward and Reed 1989).Reversal oftannin effects on nutrient utilisation by PEG observed in this study has been reported by other workers. Barry and Manley (1984) reported increased OM digestibilitywhen they sprayed tanniferous Lotus pedunculatus (lotus) fresh herbage with PEG. In another studyStrachan et al ( 1988) observed increased DM intake and unchanged digestibility by sheep consuming a mulga (Acacia aneura) diet with PEG inclusion. However, Nunez-Hernandez et al (1991) observed no effects of PEG on OM intake and digestibility bygoatsand sheepfedmountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus).The similarityin N metabolism between animals consuming BM and BMS was not expected. Despite higher Nintake by animals receiving BM, faecal and urinary N and N retention were not different.This is contrarytothe findings ofNunez-Hernandezetal(1991) who observed reduced faecal N and increasedurinary N when animals consuming mountain mahogany were given PEG. Increased excretion of Nthrough faeces by Table 3. Nutrient intake, dry-matter and organic-matter digestibility and nitrogen retention by sheep fed grass hay (GH) supplemented with 200g/head per day of bushmeal (BM) or bushmeal special (BMS) Nitrogen balance (g/head, per day) Within row meanswith differentsuperscripts differ significantly(P<005).animals fed high tannin forage was also observed by Barry and Duncan (1984)when they fed lotus to sheep.The increase in faecal N is due to the formation of indigestible protein-tannin complexes (Woodward and Reed 1989).Total DM intake increased with BM and BMS feeding with no effect on basal diet intake and DM and OM digestibilities. Strachan et al (1988) andNunez Hernandez et al(1991)observed increased DMand OM intake with no effect on digestibility. Strachan et al (1988) postulated that rate of rumen turnover is increased by PEG inclusion.The level of PEG used in this study (+0.1g/head per day)is not expected to have had profound effects on digesta flow kinetics. The higher Nretention on supplementation was due tohigher Nintake.The comparison of published results with the current study needs to be viewed with caution.Tannin-PEG-protein interactions are affected by many factors such as tannin molecular weight and structure, protein type (Scalbert 1991)and PEG molecularweight.In thestudies reviewed differentforages wereused with different levels of PEG, complicating the interpretation of results. It is likely that polyphenolics present in mopane browse are different tothose in the forages used by the other workers.This study confirms other research findings that PEG There is scarce information on the effect ofcastration on growth rate and feed utilisationin goats. Differences in the rate of gain between castrates and intact males are unclear. In cattle and sheep, it has been conclusively shown that entire male animals grow faster and utilise feed better than castrated animals (Bradfield 1968;Hedrick 1968;Turton 1969;Field 1971;Price and Yeates 1971). In contrast with this view, Mackenzie (1970), working with British Toggenburg goats, concluded that castration makes full use of the meat potential ofsurplusgoats as castratedgoatsgrow faster and are heavier than entire male goats. In corroboration with this view Kyomo (1978) found that castrated Small East African goats were heavier than entire males from weaning to 72weeks of age. However, Nitter (1975) found that male German Fawn breeds of goats grew faster than castrates, a conclusion also reached by Louca et al (1977) with Damascus goats. The potential for growth and feed utilisation in Saanen entire male and castrate goats based on concentrate andgrass diets has not been documented.The aim ofthepresent study was therefore toinvestigate the effects ofcastration and diet onperformance ofSaanen goats.Sixty male (entire) and six castrated British Saanen goats were used in an experiment to test the effect of castration (entire males vs castrates) and the diet (barley-based concentratevs lucerne pellets) on growth performance and feed utilisation in a 2x2 factorial experiment. Animals were purchased from farmers at 2-3 days ofage andwere randomlyallocated to the four treatments.Arrivalweight was obtainedbyweighingthe kids on the day of collection from the farms around Reading University (UK) where the experiment was conducted. Castration took place at 11t1 days of age usingrubberrings. Besides the treatments,all kidswere fed artificial milk (Denkavit Lamb211) ad libitum from arrival to weaning at35 days ofage. The barley-based concentrate and lucerne pellets werefed ad libitum.The barley diet consisted of milled barley,soybean meal,fish meal, molassine meal, ground limestone, salt and IsaacSpence minerals at 800, 100, 50,30, 15,4 and 1 g/kg dry matter, respectively. Each 1000g of Isaac Spence minerals consisted of 105. 5g Ca, 347 g P, 979 g Na, 1508g Cl, 1375 g Mg, 97 g Fe, 0. 8 g Mn, 0.13g Co, 021 g I and 110000 IU Vitamin D (manufacturer's specification).The barley diet was not pelleted. Lucerne was dehydrated, milled and pelleted at the Reading University Farm and measured 30 mm long and 10 mm thick. Animals were individuallypenned and waterwas availableallthe time. Animals were weighed weekly and dry matter intake was recorded.Six entire male and six castrate goatsfrom weaning to 24.5 kg live weight were randomly allocated to the two dietsfordigestibility, nitrogen utilisation andwater intake studies. There was an 8-day collection period, during which daily intake of feed and water were measured. Faecal and urine outputswere also recorded. Faecal and urine samples were preserved accordingto Schneider and Flatt (1975). AOAC (1975) methods were used in analysing the chemical components of samples.Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshopThe chemical analyses of the barley concentrate and lucerne diets are shown in Table 1.The two diets were almost isocaloric and isonitrogenous in content. Castration and diet had no significant (P>005)effects on growth and feed utilisation from arrival at the University Farm (4t05 days of age) to weaning at 35 days ofage (Table 2). From weaning to attaining24.5 kg live weight, entire male goats grew (39t9 g/day)faster (P<0001) than castrates. There was no effect (P>005) of castration on daily feed consumption, but because castrates took a longer time (16 days) to reach the target weight of 24.5 kg,they consumed more dry matter. Castrate goats were less (P<0001) efficient in utilising their feedthan entire malegoats. Goats fed the barley concentrate diet grew(25g/day)faster(P<0001) than those fed lucerne. Daily dry-matter intake was higher (P<0001)in goats fed lucerne, but theyutilised the feed less efficiently compared to goats on barley concentrate (P<0001).There was a change in male status effect on most characteristics studied in the 24.5to36.5 kgliveweight range. Castrate goats grew (49 -21 g/day) faster (P<005)thanthe males.Castrate goats alsoate more dry matter (P<005) and more but not significant(P>005) metabolisable energy.Thetrendinperformance ofgoats fed barley concentrate within the 245-365 kg growth  In general, digestibility coefficients were not affected by castration (P>005) although there was a tendency for castrates to exhibit lower digestibility coefficients (Table 3). However, differences in digestibility coefficients in favour of goats fed barley concentratewere significant (P<0001).Goats on barley concentrate consumed dry matter which was equivalent to 2.51% of live weight while goats on lucerne consumed dry matter which was 386% of live weight. Fehr et al 1976 with Alpine goats).Thus agreat potential apparently existsfor improvingtropicalbreeds ofgoats by crossing with European breeds, provided proper consideration isgiven to management and feeding.The influence ofcastration on pre-weaning growth ratewassmall and non-significantinagreementwith the findings ofPeters and Heaney (1974). Performance of kids was not influencedby dam milk yield astheywere artificially reared. The performance characteristics in the weaningto 24.5kg interval,in favourofmales have been reported in other breeds of goats (Nitter 1975;Louca et al 1977)and in cattle and sheep (Turton 1969). This is attributed mainly to sex hormones (Turton 1969;Field 1971). The claim by Mackenzie(1970)and, more recently, by Kyomo (1978)  Goats fed barley concentrate were more efficient (P<0001)in nitrogen utilisation than goatsfed lucerne (Table 4). The differences between male and castrate goats were small (P>005). Castration had no effect on voluntary water intake (Table 4). Goats fed lucerne consumed more water (P<0.001)in absolute amount as a proportion of live weight and per kg dry matter. Lucerne fed goats consumed about one and a halftimes as much dry matter and about twice as much ash as consumed bygoats fed the barley concentrate.Diets inthepresent studywereformulatedin such a way as notto be limitingin energy andprotein according to nutrient requirements ofgrowingdairy goats (Devendra and McLeroy 1982). It can be concluded that from birth toweaning, the growth rate ofSaanen goats can range from 124to 130g/day while from weaning to 245 kg live weight and from 24.5 to 36.5 kg live weight, expected growth rate can range from 183to222 and 182 to 234 g/day, respectively. Similar growth rate values have been reported with other dairy goat breeds in Europe under intensive systems (Ladipo 1973 with a mixture of dairy goats;Nitter 1975 with Germangoats; than males is difficult to reconcile with the present findings.An interestingandimportant aspect in the present studyisthe reduced growth rate observed formale goats in the 24.5 to 36.5 kg liveweight period which was accompaniedby slight reduction in feedintake.Similar reduction in growth rate in male goats have been observed in Damascus goats (Louca et al 1977) and is attributedtobreeding season effect whichwas inAugust to October in the present study.The observation that feed conversion ratio (FCR) in goats increases with increasing live weight (Fehretal 1976; Loucaetal1977) is corroborated by the findings ofthis study.The resultstend to suggest that lucerne-fedgoats increased their dry matterintake in an attempt tosustain the same metabolisable energy intake asthat ofgoats on barley concentrate, although they failed to compensate fully. During the weaning to 245 and245 to 365 kg intervals daily drymatterintake was37% and26% more for lucerne-fed than for barley-fed goats, respectively. The metabolisable energy concentration in barley was 33% greater than that in lucerne. However,the intake of the lucerne diet wasso high thatMEintakesfrom barley diets were only 4-6% greaterthanthose fromthe lucerne diets. Digestibility coefficients of 075-082have been Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop Introduction Calliandra calothyrsus is one of the multi-purpose tree species that has been intensively evaluated in Uganda since 1989 under the agroforestry programme.The use of the cropfor fodder is impeded by low production of forage biomass within smallholdings and its high tannins and related polyphenols content. These compounds make the leaves astringent and poorly digestible.Preliminary investigation (Ebong et al 1992) indicated that astringency and adverse effects on digestibility can be negated by compositing the forage with soybean meal (SBM). The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of levels of substitution of Calliandra leaf meal (CLM) for SBM on animal performance, especially in relation to energy and nitrogen retention.Thirty-six young, intact male goats were used in a growth trail of 70 days.These were stratified according to body weight and randomly allocated to six dietary treatments: ad libitum elephantgrass(diet 1); ad libitum elephant grass plus pure SBM(diet2);25:75SBMCLM Daily feed offers and refusals were weighed and sampled for subsequent analysis. Live weight of each animalwas measured at weeklyintervals for 10weeks. Thereafter four animals from each treatment group were selected randomly and fitted with faeces and urine collection harnesses.Total collection offaeces and urine was undertaken for four days following an adaptation period offive days.Samples of urine and faeces from each animal were taken and bulked across the days of collection for subsequent analysis.Samples offeed andfaeces were analysed for dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) (AOAC 1980); neutral-detergent fibre(NDF), acid-detergentfibre (ADF), ligninand fibre bound nitrogen (Goering and Van Soest 1970).Intake components were calculated as difference between offers and refusals corrected for dry matter contents ofthefeeds. Digestibility was calculated as the proportion ofdry matter intake (DMI)not recovered in thefaeces.Growth rate was calculated as the regression coefficient of weeklybodyweights on days offeeding (ADG). Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) was calculated as the ratio ofintake per gram ofbodyweight gain.These parameterswere examinedby LeastSquare Analysis ofVariance usingthe Statgraphicsprogramme.Means were compared by Duncan's Multiple Range Tests (Gomez and Gomez 1984).The chemical composition of the feeds is shown in Table 1.The results indicate that the attempt to realise isonitrogenousfeed treatmentswas not successful.This may have been due to improper mixing; mixing was undertaken by hand. It was not possible to carry out analysisbefore the feeding trial.Average DMintake and average dailyweight gain (ADG) during growth are shown in Table 2. Both parameters differed significantly (P<0001) between diets. Goats fed on 75 and 100% CLMhad the highest DMintakes.These values decreased progressively with increasinglevels ofSBMin the diet.Withthe exception of diet 2 (100% SMB) and diet 5 (75% SBM) all supplements increased DMI significantly (P<005)above the intake of control animals.Average daily gain also differed between diets (P<0001). Supplementation increased average daily gain by 1.5-to fivefold.The highest daily gainswere observed in animals supplemented with diet 4 (50:50 SBMCLM). The differences in performance were also reflectedin feed conversion efficiency (P<001).Estimates of nutrient intakes, digestibility and N retention (NR) during the metabolic trial period are shownin Table 3.DM(P<005)andN(P<0001)intakes differed significantly between diets.The highest DM intake and OMI were observed in the control goats and those fed on diet 6(100% CLM). The lowest DMintake and OMIvalues were observed in the animals fed on diet 4(50:50SBMCLM). Astrong quadratic trendwas also evident.The highest Nintakes were observed in goats fed diets 2 and 6(75 and 100% SBM, respectively).Values were observedin animals fed diets 3,4 and 6(25,50 and 100% SBM, respectively)were similar toeach other.DM and OM digestibility and digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) did not differ between diets (P<005)(Table 3). All values were notably high ( 666 g/kg DM). However, apparent N digestibility differed between diets (P<001), but no consistent trend was established (Table 3). The lowest N retention values were obtained in animals fed the control diets 1 and 4 (no supplement and 50% SBM, respectively). Similar retention values were observed in diets 2, 3, 5 and 6; these were not different from one another.This experiment is a follow-up of the preliminarytrial reported earlier(Ebongetal 1992). Ithas confirmed that compositing enhances intakes ofboth SBM and CLM. The mechanisms involved have not been adequately investigated.The experiment also confirmed that on its own,Calliandra can supply the N required to increase growth and possibly milk yields. However, the nutritional value can be improved by compositing with SBM.However,the association ofenhanced growth rate andfeed efficiencywith lower N retention values was not expected. Possible explanations include,improved amino acid balance,partition of energy between fat and protein deposition, or specific tissue metabolism and development, notably the gut, liver, skin and muscle. These tissues have variable contributions to total body Effects of Calliandra leaf meal in goat rations Table 3.Intake (g/d) and digestibility (g/kg DM) and nitrogen retention (g/d) in growing goats fed ad libitum elephant grass (Penniseteum purpureum) and supplements consisting of complementary proportions of soybean meal (SBM) and Calliandra pool of N and fractional synthesis rates. Indication of these required destructive samplingwhichwas not done.Growth rates observed ingoats fed supplements in this trialis rarely cited (Ebong 1990). Itindicates that goats respond to improved nutrition. However, the economicjustification ofsuch interventions needs tobe investigated further. The efficiency is likely to be enhanced in breed and nutritional improvement programmes.The increasing population density in the West and North-West provinces of Cameroon is responsible for the continuous decline in the size of smallholder farm holdings in the region. Mogavero (1986)indicatedthat in smallfarm areasof 1.8ha, intensive agriculture based on Arabica coffee,vegetables, food crops, raffia palm and small livestock such as sheep, goats, pigs and poultry is practised. Ducret and Grangaret (1986) reported that land is exploited to the maximum and is often cultivated continuously without fallow.Two crop cycles are common duringthe rainy season;the second cycle is limited to a third of the farmland,involving fewer crops and producing lower yields. Crop associations are complex such that the coefficient of land occupation ranges from 250-400%. The productivity ofcrop associations is often high (the land equivalent ratio ranging from 140-2305), ensuring on theaverage adequate feeding for 12persons/ha, and may provide surplus forsale in some areas.Livestock density is estimated at 05-06 tropical livestock units/ha cultivated.With such an intensive system of production,itis necessary to urgently evolve strategies of production that sustain adequate cropyields and atthe same time ensure high productivity of livestock. Introduction of forage legumes into the farming system has been suggested as one of the strategies for ensuring the sustainability of livestock and crop yields in this region. Forage legumes donot onlycontribute tosustaining soil fertility but also provide better qualityfeed for livestock in the farming system, if available feed resources are judiciously managed. Animalsthat are confined during the cropping season to avoid crop damage, can be adequately maintained on farm feed resources. Excess forage legume produced duringthe growingseason can be conservedas hayfordry season feeding, when animal feed is scarce. The objective of this study was to comparethe performance ofWest African Dwarfsheep fed stylo hay (SH) and concentrate (CC) as protein supplements to an elephant grass (EG) basal diet.Fifteen West African Dwarf male sheep weighing 1325tl.85 kg on average with ages ranging from 12to 15 months were usedin the trial.They were dewormed and sprayed against external parasites before the trial started.The animals were randomly divided intothree groups offive animals each. Eachgroupwas allocated to a treatment in a randomised complete block design.Aftera one-week adaptationperiod to different diets, the experimental period started.The initial body weight of each animalwas determined. Each animal was kept and fed in a separate metabolism cage during the entire experimentalperiod of70 days.The three experimental rations were: fresh elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum)fed alone (EG) as a control, elephant grass plus stylo (Stylosanthes Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop guianensis) hay (EG+SH), and elephant grass plus concentrate (EG+CC). Fresh elephant grass ranging from 1-1.5 months cut on a daily basiswas used as the basal diet.The forage was manually cut with a machete and choppedinto pieces ofabout 10 cm before feeding tothe animals.Two hundredgrams ofSH and 140g of CC(each containing27.12gcrude protein)were fed to each animalin the treatments already designated,in the morningat0800hours.The total daily allocation offresh elephant grass (2 kg/day) was fed in two equal instalments at 0900 hours and 1600 hours. The compositions of EG,SH and CC are shown in Table 1. The concentrate was made up of 74% maize, 24% unextracted ground soya bean,0.5% common salt, and 05% bicalcium phosphate. Fresh water and salt licks were provided ad libitum. All animals were weighed once a week throughout the experiment. The animals were weighed at 0700 hours before the morning feed was served. The amount of feed and refusals were monitored daily in order to estimate intake.Samples of fresh elephant grass, supplements and refusals were collected daily and their dry matter content determined. They were subsequently bulked on a weekly basis, ground and a sample of 500 g reserved for chemical analysis.During the last two weeks of the experiment, a digestibility and N-balance trial was carried out. Faecal collections were carried out in order to estimate the digestibility of the rations. At 0800 hours total faecal output was collected, weighed, mixed thoroughly and 10% of each day's collection was used for dry matter determination.Subsequently, thesamplescollectedover the seven-day period were combined, ground to pass through a 1 mm sieve and stored in a plastic bag for chemical analysis.The total urine outputin 24hours was collected in plasticjars containing 5 ml concentrated hydrochloric acid. It was mixed thoroughly, and 10% of the day's collection stored in sample bottles in a deep freezer. The urine samples collected over a seven-day period werebulked before analysisfor urinary nitrogen. Feedintake,digestibility and liveweight gain values are indicated in Table 2.There were significant (P<005) differences in DMI based on metabolic weight by animals fed unsupplemented diets and those provided the basal diet supplemented with either SH or CC. Mafwere and Mtenga (1992)  thatprotein supplementation tends toimproveintake by increasing N supply to the rumen microbes.This has a positive effect in increasing microbial population and also improves the rate of breakdown of digesta.When the rate of breakdown andpassage of digesta increase, there is a corresponding increase in feedintake.The trend of organic-matter (OM) intake was similar to that of dry-matter intake (DMI). Organic-matterintake by sheep fed EG only was 39.70 g/day/kgw** and supplementation with SH and CC and cChad an intake of 799 and 953 g/day/kgW\"* respectively. Dry-matter digestibility of sheep on EG only was 5661%.Supplementation ofthe forage with SHand CC as protein sources significantly (P<005) improved dry-matter digestibility to 69.32 and 72.49%, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in dry-matter digestibility between treatments receiving protein supplements. Butterworth (1985) also reported that dry-matter digestibility was improved when roughagewas supplemented with legume Or COnCentrate.The trend of organic-matter digestibility was similar tothat of dry matter. Crude-protein digestibility was significantly (P<005) different between all the experimentaltreatments, with the highest digestibility coefficient recorded for sheep fed the CC supplement (82.30%) followed closely by those fed SH(7759%) and then those fed EG (6202%).Nitrogen intake by sheep fed EG only ( 553was significantly (P<005) lower than grass supplemented with SH or CCwithintakes of 1020 and 11.76 g/day/kgw\"* respectively (Table 3).Faecal-N was statistically similar for all treatments. Significant (P<005) differences were also observed for urinary-N, absorbed-N and retained-N with sheep fed SH andCC supplement,andthesetreatments were also significantly (P<005) higher than the control. When absorbed-Nwas expressed as a percentage of N-intake, the efficiency of N absorption was 6226, 7765 and 8231%, respectively, forsheeponthe controlration,SH andCCsupplemented diets. However, when retained-N was also expressed as a proportion ofN-intake, there was no significant difference between the efficiency of N-retentionby sheep on SH(61.47%)and CC(61.39%) supplemented diets, but these diets were significantly (P<005)superiorin efficiency ofN-retention thangrass alonefedto sheep.Average weight gains ofsheep maintained on EG only were low(9g/day)whereasthosefed grass plusSH gained 60g/day, and those on CC supplement gained78 g/day (Table 4). The differences between these treatments were significant (P<005). The significant difference in liveweight gain between the control and supplementedtreatments maybe attributed toincreased crude protein intake. Kay and MacDearmid (1973) indicated that a dietary crude-protein content of 11% was ideal for normal weight gain by sheep andgoats. Fromthis study,itis evident that higher levels ofdietary crude protein are required for higher weight gains by sheep. These resultsagreewith reports byMafwere and Mtenga (1992) who observed that as dietary crude-protein level wasincreased from 11.36 to 1322, 15 and 1673%, corresponding growth rates of 34.14, 6565,6801 and70.5g/day, respectively, were obtained for weaned lambs fattened on Chloris gayana hay and lablab meal as protein supplement. observés. Ils recevaient de l'herbe à éléphant (Pennisetumpurpureum) seule ou avec un complément protéique apportant 27,12 g de protéines brutes par animal et par jour.Ce complément était sousforme de foin de stylo (200 g/tête/jour) ou de concentré (140g/tête/jour). Les animaux ont été élevés dans des cages métaboliques individuelles pendant 70jours. L'ingestion de matière sèche augmentait de manière significative (P<005) lorsque l'herbe à éléphant (4506 g/jour/kg de p075 était complémentée avec du foin de stylo (66,16g/jour/kg de p075) ou du concentré (71,29 g/jour/kg de P 7s) Cette tendance prévalait avec la consommation de protéines brutes, de matière sèche (MS)et la digestibilité desprotéines brutes.La retention d'azote alimentaire était similaire, que les animaux reçoivent du stylo (61,47%) ou du concentré (61,39%) Avec le concentré, le gain de poids était de 78 g/jour contre 9 et 60g/jour respectivementpour les animaux recevant de l'herbe à éléphant seule ou complémentée avec du stylo. Alors que les concentrés, compte tenu de leurs coûts élevés, sont hors de la portée des petits paysans aux ressources limitées, la production de stylo ne devrait leur poser aucun problème particulier et leur permettrait d'obtenir un complément protéique de bonne qualité capable de guarantir des gains de poids élevés aux ovins en phase de croissance.Goats play a very important role in Swazi custom and culture as well as in the economy(Ogwanget al 1994). However, goat production is characterised by low offtake resulting from poor management of the rangelands and seasonalfluctuationsin feed resources. Periodic droughts and extensive dry spells in winter cause severe feed shortages resulting in under nourishment and low productivity amongthe animals. Any effort to improve their nutrition could therefore enhance productivity and utility.The study reported here is the second phase of a research project being conducted under the African Small Ruminant Research Network on the use of crop residues and agro-industrialby-products by smallholder farmers in Swaziland.The main objective ofthe study was to measure the growth response of goats to supplementationwith maize stover, sugar-canetopsand dried pineapple pulp.At the start of the study, 63 indigenous male goats were bought from local farmers and assembled for acclimatisation at the University farm. Eleven goats died of heartwater and worm infestations within a three-week period. The remaining goats were subsequentlytreated on a monthly basis with Deadline to control the heartwater and Panacur to control worms and diarrhoea. No deaths occurred thereafter.Out ofthe remaining52 goats,48 wereselected for the experimentbased on age andweight.The age range, based on dentition, was from 14 to 23 months.Individual goat weights varied from 12 to29 kg at the start of the feeding period. The goats were grouped according to age and weight from which they were randomly assigned to the treatments indicated in The goats were grazed on natural pastures from 1100to 1600hours afterwhich theywere giventhe crop by-products and water ad libitum overnight.The protein supplement wasgiven at 0800 hours.The goatswere weighed at two-week intervals and intakes of the crop residues and supplement were monitored on a regularbasis.The dominant grass species grazed were Hyparrhenia  Daily intakes of MS, SCT and DPP without protein supplementation and monitored weekly from mid-September to November 1994 are presented in Figure l.The daily intakes of MS and SCT were similar averaging about 80 g over the eight-week period. However, intake of DPP was much higher reaching a peak of 750 g per day in the sixth week. MS and SCT are known to be low quality roughages which contribute little to animal production unless subjected to some physical or chemical treatments. Dried pineapple pulp appears to be a good source of energy for the goats.There was no evidence of any dramatic improvement in intake of MS and SCT and DPP through protein supplementation (Figures 2,3 and 4). At a low level of protein supplementation, the intakes of MS and DPP were slightly depressed.Changes in live weights of the Swazi goats over a 75-day period under different dietary treatments are presented in Table 3.High level protein supplementation improved growth rate in goats grazed on natural pastures only as well as those fed crop-resides in addition to grazing.Growth response to protein supplementation was more remarkable under grazing only and when grazing was combined with the feeding of DPP. The better improved growth rates observed in goats grazed on natural pastures only and those given DPP in addition to grazing suggest that protein was more limiting in those circumstances than was the casein animals fed SCT and MS in addition to grazing (Table l). The DPP could also have been better utilised because of its low crude fibre content and high energy potential compared to SCT and MS.Growth rates in goats under natural grazing can be improved if supplemented with adequate protein. It seems then that under the grazing conditions studied, protein could be a more limiting factor for goat   Recent increases in the human population due to better living standards, have been accompanied by increases in total livestock numbers in the ASAL, especially among pastoralists who, to a large extent, depend on these animals for their subsistence. Increase in human population in high potential areas has also resultedin migration ofpeople to the ASALin search of arable land. In addition, among the indigenous communities, there is a growing tendency towards a more cash-oriented economy as evidenced by subdivision of communal lands into small individual parcels and acquisition of title deeds.Thus,families are increasingly becoming sedentary, but on land units too small to meet their food needs. There is therefore overstocking resulting in range degradation especially around settlements and cultivated areas.Even with individualisation of land ownership, diminishing household land units and the terminal breakdown of traditional communal grazing systems, livestockproduction remains the mainstream economic activity for these areas. In order to make meaningful recommendations to land owners on proper manag ement ofthese lands, especially under the currently emerging land use/ownership paradigms, range managers ought to have a thorough knowledge ofthe most suitable kinds of animals, their nutrient requirements, forage preferences and quality of available forage.Information on food habits of pastoral livestock in the East African ASAL is scarce. Livestock select their diet from a complex mixture ofplant species and/or plant parts (Arnold 1960;Arnold 1962).Why an animal selects one plant and not anotheris still a puzzle.Choice varies widely and seems to depend on availability. Diet selection may modify the species composition of the pastures in the long run (Illius 1986)with the potential danger of lowering the quality of the diet. Continued grazing pressure increases the number ofunpreferred plant species at the expense ofthe preferred species (Tadingar,personal communication, 1984). Due towide temporal and spatial variation in forage preference and nutrient composition of diets selected by different kinds of ruminants, research information generated from a given area and kind or class of animals, has limited inference (space) and should not be applied to too wide an area. It is therefore, importantto establish local food habits and nutrient composition data bases for the various types of domestic and wild animals utilising particular range types.The main purpose ofthis study was to determine the keyforage species and nutrient composition of diets selected by free-ranging East African goats in rangelands ofeastern-central, Kenya.The study was conducted at the University ofNairobi's Machang'a FieldStation situated approximately 150km east of Nairobi and next to Kamburu Dam on the eastern Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop bank of upper Tana river. The station is approximately 500 ha in area and lies at 1\"S latitude, 37'E longitude and about 700 m altitude. However, the study was limited to a 20 ha area frontingthe Embu-Kitui main road.The areagently rises from the Kamburu Dam to thetop ofthe ridge.The mean annual rainfallis 650 mm comingin two seasons -March through May, short rainyseason and October through December, long rains. Soils on the station are developed from undifferentiated types of gneisses of Basement System.They are well drained, shallow, darkred to yellowish red, stony loamy sand to clay (Kenya Soil Survey,Misc. Soil Paper M 19,2nd impr. Nairobi 1979). Machang'a vegetationis described as bushed shortgrass savannah with buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) and horsetail grass (Chloris roxburghiana) predominant. Saltbush is a common palatable shrub suitable for re-establishing pasture on overgrazed and eroded places (East African Livestock Survey Atlas, 1967). Recommended stockingis about three hectaresper livestock unit (LU). The method used to study forage preference involved close observation of randomlyselected animals (one at a time) as they grazedwith the others.A base flock of 45 East African goatswas used from which one animal was selectedfor the bite count study.The selectedgoat was closely followed and observed by two enumerators whorecordedthe number ofbites andtimespentoneach plant species as the goat grazed or browsed. A bite was taken asthe act of breaking off or picking up apiece of forage. The time spent by the animal feeding on one individual plant without walking one full step was estimated in seconds and recorded. The animal was observedfor30 minutes beginningat 0930hours.The flock was grazed in different areas and a different goatwas randomly selectedfor observation so that differentgoats were used on the five grazingunits. The five goats selected during the first round ofgrazing rotation qualified as experimental animals for subsequent replicates.This observation procedure was repeated for as long as there was no noticeable change in the vegetation, i.e. until the rains began ifit was a dry-seasongrazing,oruntil the dry season setinifit was green-seasongrazing.Forage digestibility and chemical composition Plantmaterialrepresentative ofthatselectedbythe goats was hand-clipped, sun dried forthree daysand then oven dried at40'Cforfourdays.The dryforage samples were ground in a Wiley Mill using a 1 mm screen. The material was later chemically analysedfor NDF, ADF (Van Soest and Wine 1967); N P,Ca, Mg, K, Na,Zn, Cu,and Fe (AOAC1975). Digestibility estimatesusing the nylon-bagtechnique (ôrskovetal 1980)for48hours incubation was also conducted.Vegetation: Botanical composition Tables 1a and b give an inventory of ihe plant species occurring in the study area, and their relative density (plants/ha). One hundred and five plant species were identified comprising, 30 trees, 29 shrubs, 20 grasses and25forbs.Sincethe survey was conductedsoon after the onset of the short rains, a large number oftree and shrub seedlings was observed.The most dominant tree species within the study  Shrubs and short trees were the most preferred forage plants and hence formed the bulk of the goat diets (Table 2). The five most preferred shrubs were Maytenus putterlickioides, Premna hilderbrandtii, Hoslundia opposita, Dichrostachys cinerea and Combretum aculeatum in that order. However, these plants were not the most abundant on the ground suggesting that the plants/grazable plant parts were possibly both more accessible and palatable and therefore more seriously sought after bythegoats.Only Premna sp showed a close relationship between its relative preference and its abundance on the groundthird and second, respectively. Among the trees, Ochna inermis and Acacia sp were the two most preferred plants. Ochna inermis ranked second to the most preferred shrub, Maytenus putterlickioides. Ochna sp, however, ranked low in availability on the ground. Grasses and forbswere least preferred whichis because goats are naturallybrowsers, andthese plants were least abundant on the study area.Table 3represents correlationand regression ofthe number ofbites (preference) on nutrient components (ADF, NDF, IVDMD, N, P, and Na). There was a positive andsignificant correlationbetweenADF,Nand Nawithnumberofbites; Pshowedasignificant negative correlation.ADF, N and Na had a significant positive causal (regression coefficient) effect on preference. NDF, IVDMD and P had no significant causal relationship with preference although P and digestibility had insignificantnegative regressioncoefficients (-1.83and -0.12, respectively) on preference. It can therefore be concluded that the different plant species were more preferred due to relative contents ofADF, N or Na and less preferreddue torelative Pcontents (Tables3and4).A multiple regression analysis showed that the most important components that influenced preference in this study were N(055), and P (-3.16). NDF (025) and ADF (023) were less important due to large standard errors associated with the estimates.Conversely, although the partial regression coefficients of digestibility (-0.13) and phosphorus (-3.16) were negative the estimates were insignificant due to large standard errors.Workis continuingin this areaand with more data, a clearer picture ofthese relationships will become evident since it is possible that other components ofthe diets such as saponins and tannins thatwere notconsideredin thisstudy could have played a major role in determining the relative dietary preference.    The problem Five major trends are takingplace today which needto be recognised to put this presentation into perspective. First, thereis a rapidlygrowinghuman populationin the world's developing regions, illustratedfor sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)in Table 1. Incomparison to Latin America and Asia, where the rate ofhuman population increase respectively peaked at 28% and 24% annually in the 1955-60 and 1975-80 period and has since declined to 23 and1.7% today,the SSA population increasepeaked to 2.8% in 1990-95 and is only just beginning toshow some decline. A rapidly growing population is frequently associated with insufficient human nutrition and low intake of food of animal origin. Meat consumption in developed countries is,for example, six times as high asin developing countries andthe disparity in milk consumption is over sevenfold (Krostitz 1991). Significantly,these gaps appearto be increasing.Second,the rapid SSA human populationincrease has tended to reduce regional economic growth. For instance, per capita GDP decreased 2.2% in the 1980s resultingin lower personalincomes.Third,the rates of urbanisation as people move from rural to citylocations in developing countries aregrowing at afaster rate that the overall rate ofpopulation increase (Table 2). But fortunately, forth, rapid urbanisation often tends to influence animal agriculture partly because ofchanging patterns in food demandbrought about bythe increased purchasing power of the city people. Such a positive trend oughtto create better markets for farm products and increase commercialisation of agriculture. In fact, mean response inthe demand for milk, meat and eggs is estimated at 8,9 and 9.5%, in contrast to 2% for cereals, whenever urban peoples'income has increased by 10% (Jahnke 1982). However, fifth, ruralfarmers are already also asking for higherincome for theirproducts. The present low supply of animal products in the developing regions is, unfortunately, against the background that 52% ofworld cattle,77% of buffaloes, 24% ofsheep and 63% ofgoats are foundinthe tropics. Meat production efficiency, estimated as kg meat per livestock unit, is just 118 kg in SSA in contrast to 123 in Africa as a whole, 126 in Asia and 135 in Latin America. All are, however, still lower than the 155 average for all developed countries. To meet the rising demand for animal products fromindigenoussources, the World Bank estimatesthat animal production (meat and milk)must increase by 4% per year until 2025 to feed the population, improve nutrition and eliminate imports. At this rate milk Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop production would reach 19 million tonnes and cow and goat milk 43 million tonnes. Ruminant livestock, including small ruminants, are expected to account for 60% of the expected increase in meat production and almost all of the milk. The rest of the meat will come from poultry and pigs. Currently, about 66million sheep and 55 million goats are slaughtered annually for meat in Africa from respective populations of 206 and 171 millions.About57% ofthe sheep and65% ofthegoats in SSAarefoundinthe arid/semi-arid agro-ecozone,22 and26%, respectively, in the humid/subhumidecozone and 21 and 9%, respectively, in the highlands (ILCA 1987). The most rapid livestockpopulationgrowth rate of 22% is taking place in the subhumid/semi-arid ecozone, followed by 1.0% in the highlands and just 0. 2% in the arid areas.Ruminant livestock are primarily raised under traditional systems characterised by lowinputs.These systems cannot produce the increased amounts of crop and livestock products for the projected increases in human population. It is estimated that unless steps are taken to address major technical constraints to production and if current use of inputs remain unchanged, the land area required to support the population by the year 2010 would have tobe expanded by more than 100 million ha, or 5% (FAO 1986). Source: Winrock (1992).Majortechnicalconstraints to livestock production include inadequate feed supply, poor animal health, low-yielding animal genotypes and minimal levels of management. In particular, the need for increased human food and cash crop production in the tropics has reducedthe size ofgrazing lands and land forintensive fodder production. This has made nutrition a major constraint to livestock production. Undernutrition further increases the risk to animals of disease.Temperate ruminant animals are adapted to feed sources ofrelatively high fibre content but sufficiently unlignified toprovide most dietary energyin the form of cellulosic carbohydrates. In these modern management regimes animals have access to well balanced arrays ofnutrients, and the level of production is largely determined by intake levels. But this is not necessarilysoamongtropicalanimals.Tropical pastures and/or crop residues are often deficient in essential nutrients particularly trace elements and nitrogen needed by rumen microbes for efficient growth (Leng 1990). It is also possible that a low proteintenergy ratio that results from this translates into a high heat increment in the rumen and high metabolic heat production in the body, which at times interacts with climate to produceheat stresswhichin turn reduces feed intake. Overall reproduction and productivity are thus further compromised. Inability to feed animals adequately throughout the year is the most important technical constraint formost traditional animalfarmers.And, feed availability and cost will be the major determiningfactor as to whetherthe 4% annualincrease targetin production can be met.Althoughindigenousbreedsofgoatsand sheeparefairly well adaptedto the tropical environments,the majority of animals are raised traditionally under extensive free-roaming management systemswith no specialised inputintohousing care, nutrition ordisease treatmentor prevention.Asmall percentage ofanimalsare,however, raise d intensive ly, sometimes even under a cut-and-carry system ofmanagement. Here,animals are afforded better shelter, nutrition and health care and often achieve higher productivity.The type and impact of diseases on production varies with the level of management.Table 3 lists the more important and common diseases of small ruminants by etiological agent. Diseases significantly reduce animal productivity irrespective of ecological zone.Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP)and peste des petits ruminants(PPR) are widely distributed diseases which unless properly controlled, can limit animalproduction overwide areas. Parasitic and viral infections are mainly vector transmitted and their prevalence is therefore largely influenced by the environment. No effective vaccine or chemotherapeutic control method is currently available for most ofthese ailments. It is estimated that SSA's annual losses due to mortality alone may be equivalent to 2 billion dollars with about that same amount dueto losses in morbidity. Some studies have noted that the extensive grazing system ofmanagement for most sheep and goats, results in animal faeces being deposited widely which significantly reduces the chances ofinfectionwith third stage larvae (ILCA 1979). This would support the observation by Smith et al (1986) that despite being irregularly drenched, parasitic gastro-enteritis (PGE)in goats was negligible and clinically unimportant in housed goats maintained on slatted floors. However, otherinvestigations havefound a high incidence ofPGE among roaming animals (Adeoye 1985;Ndamukong 1985).Haemonchus contortus is the most important species of helminth parasites responsible for PGE in most ecozones except the cool highlands. It causes high mortality particularly among young animals in the wet season. Other species include Ostertagia, Tricho strongylus, Cooperia, Nematodirus andOesophagostomum.Coccidial oocytes are common in the faeces of grazing animals but clinical cases are more overshadowed by helminthiasis. Mortality rates ofupto 6% have been observed in confined goats (Otesile et al 1983).Literature reports are available of small ruminant infection from Babesia motasi, Anaplasma ovis, A. marginale, Trypanosoma vivax and T. congolense (Sadiq 1985;Smith et al 1986;Opasina 1987).There is, however,nodefinite associationbetweenthe serological demonstrations of these infections and clinical disease.On the other hand the mange mite (Sarcoptes, Chorioptes andPsoroptes spp)is common, sometimes with incidence of24 to over 80% even for roaming animals (Akinboade 1982;Adeoye 1985).With regular washing this may be reduced to under5% (Smith et al 1986).Pneumonia is easilythe most important bacterialhealth problem to small ruminant production, being responsible for6to31% ofmorbidityrates (Ndamukong 1985;Njau et al 1988). In addition to verminous pneumonia caused by lung worms, micro-organisms commonly associated with small ruminantpneumonia are: Mycoplasma mycoides, Pasteurella multocida, Streptococcus spp, Staphylococcus aureus and Corynebacterium pyogens.Gastro-enteritis is a fairly common ailment of goats andsheep.The extent to which this is attributable to bacteria is, however, difficult to ascertain. This is because enteritis is also commonly associated with helminthiasis and dietetic diarrhoea.The other condition that can be mentioned is Caseous lymphadenitis which may have a morbidity rate of 13to 18% especiallyin confined goats (Addo 1982;Smith and van Houtert 1988). It tends to have low mortality.The two most common viral diseases of small ruminants are contagious ecthyma (Orf) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) with morbidity rates of 50 to 100%.Mortality rates are often high for PPR but low for Orf Metabolic disorders Metabolic disturbances like pregnancy toxaemia, mineral deficiencies and rickets have occasionally been observed.Theyare more likely tooccuramongconfined institutional flocks with limited regard to proper house design,emphasising the role ofmanagement system and level on the spectrum and impact of diseases on production.The effects of disease on inputs revolve around the cost of treatment or prophylaxis. This includes drugs, chemicals and vaccines plus the cost of application and/or veterinary care. The cost will accumulate substantially in case treatment must be repeated or performed regularly (e.g.for tick or tsetse control), or when animals must be gathered over long distances for treatment.The major reproductive problems of confined or free-roaming small ruminants include: abortions, still births, agalactia, mastitis, metritis, dystocia and perinatal mortality (Falade and Sellers 1976;Smith and van Houtert 1988). Many of the above problems are associated with systemic diseases that lower the overall performance of the animal, while others specifically cause foetal mortality, abortion or male infertility. Foetal mortality and abortion can be caused by vibriosis (due to Camphylobacterfetus intestanalis),salmonellosis (due to Salmonella abortus-ovis and S. dublin), Listeria monocytogenes, Chlamydia,sheepticks(Ixodes ricinus) Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop carrying tick-borne fever, Border disease, mycotic abortion,Q' fever (Coxiella burnetti) and Toxoplasma gondii. It is noteworthythat Brucella abortus is not a major cause ofabortion in sheep.Infertility in male animals may arise from infectious epididymitis (caused by B. ovis and Actinobacillus seminis).The effects of disease on output may be direct or indirect. Direct losses include mortality and morbidity. Overalllosses due tolivestock mortalityin sub-Saharan Africa have been estimated at USS 2 billion (de Haan and Bekure 1991). Losses due to morbidity as reflected by reduced growth, lactation, work output and reproduction (judged by lambing interval, lambing percentage, and delayed puberty etc)are probably ofthe same magnitude.This is best reflectedby offtake rates for meat, the main purpose for which small ruminants are raised, which remain low (32%) in Africa.Furthermore, mean carcassweight is only 12-13kg per head with the resultthat regional annual mutton/lamb and goat meat production in Africais only 880 and653 t/year.Another important effect of disease onproduction is that manytimes diseases alter thevalue ofthe animal by changingits conformation or renderingthe products unfit for human consumption. The products are therefore condemned for human use. Furthermore, substantialrevenueis lostannuallybecause ofthe failure of many potential producers to meet the sanitary requirements oflucrative export markets.Among the more indirect effects of disease is the inability of farmers or producers to utilise favourable grazing lands orresources, adoptnew systemsofanimal management, introduce more productive genotypes or fully utilise specific animal products such as draft power because the presence of disease increasesthe fear for subsequent morbidity or mortality.Diseases may also indirectly affect production through restrictions imposed on animal products as a result of treatment or vaccination, and the implementation of control regulations following the outbreak of certain diseases.The latter may range from the enforcement of animal movement to the actual slaughter of sick animals or even those in contact.Where animals are restricted in their movement, itis not uncommon for overgrazing to follow as another complication.The impact of disease and reproductive wastage on small ruminant (sheep and goat) production is best estimated bythe annual reproductive rate(RR)whichis defined as the number oflambs or kids weaned per ewe The trait isthus significantlyinfluenced by litter size, young mortality, interval between parturitions and morbidity.Litter size in tropical sheep ranges from 1.0 to 1.5 indicating that twinningrate in sheep rangesfrom 0and 50%. But, mean litter size maybe less than 1 indicating that the rate ofpre-and perinatal losses in the form of stillbirths isgreaterthan the twinning rate in the flock. There are some recognised prolificbreedsin Africa, e.g.the West African Dwarfand the Moroccan D'Man breed which commonly deliver two or more young.Litter size is largely determined by ovulation rate but is also modified by fertilisation rate and embryonic and foetal losses. For example, although the ovulation rate of D'Man ewes averages 25, onlyabout42% ofthe eggs developtofull-term foetuses.Ovulation rates vary among breeds, increase with ewe age up to 6-7 years and amongseasonal breeders aregreatestinthe firsthalf of the breeding season. The trait is highly repeatable within individuals.Youngmortality and the role of the dam Young mortality rates in sheep andgoats from birth to weaning range from 5 to more than 50% and represent a serious reduction in biological efficiency because resources invested by and in dams to initiate and maintain pregnancy are wasted. Major causes of mortality include starvation-mismothering-exposure (the SME syndrome), pneumonia, enteritis, accidents, navelinfection and septicaemia (Njau etal 1988;Jordan and LeFevre 1989;Chaarani et al 1991).Because starvation and enteritis are two ofthe most important causes ofneonatal mortality,itis necessaryto ascertain iflambs/kids receive adequate colostrum and subsequent nutrition. Maternal behaviour is therefore very critical to the newborn immune and nutritional status.The ability of dams to recognise and bond with their young occurs during the initial sensitive period, a narrow window of time limited to the first few hours.Dam ability to recognise progenyincreases with parity and is often impaired by overcrowding (Alexander 1984;Poindron et al 1984).Significance of maternal behaviour in young survival varies with management strategy and environmental conditions. But, whatever the subtle signals maybe,failure ofthe maternal-neonatalbondin thefirstfewhoursmayresultinpoormaternalbehaviour and failure tonurse adequately.The traitisprobablyalso genetically influenced but this has not been adequately investigated in tropical breeds. Among other dam traits commonly associated with reducedyoung viability andsurvivability is weight and body condition score during gestation. Adequate nutrition not onlyimproves conception rates at mating, it increases young birth weight and decreases perinatal mortality (Alexander 1984;Holst et al 1986;Barlow et al 1987;Jordan and LeFevre 1989;Yapi et al 1990;Mukasa et al 1994). Low nutrition in early pregnancy also results in 90-day foetuses with smaller linear body measurements (Parr et al 1986).Placental size is a reasonably good index of placentalfunction. Decreased placental size limitsfoetal growth (Bell 1984). Placental weightsvarywidely due to endocrine factors, nutrition, heat stress, and such maternal factors as age and genotype. Although the number of cotyledons is also quite variable, foetal weight is more correlated to the functional cotyledon weight and the chorio-allantoic weight (Hinch et al 1985;Parr et al 1986).Finally, newborn rectal temperature is an important factor for survival (Peeters et al 1991). Many times, perinatal death results from the inability to maintain adequate body temperature outside the uterus. Barlow etal(1987) concludedthat lambs which diedhad a significantly lower average body temperature one half hour after birth than those which survived. Wind conditions often tend to exacerbate the heat loss.During cold exposure many metabolic hormones like thyroid hormone, growth hormone, insulin, glucagon, gut hormones and adrenal hormones may be involvedin altering intermediary metabolism. These may be influenced by somatostatin. In fact,growthpotential of young lambs can be maintained during cold stress by activeimmunisationagainstsomatostatin.Somatostatin activity in lambs is suggested to be concentrated in the lower gut where it may be involved in nutrient absorption.This has alsobeenreportedforhumans, dogs and rats. These observations have important implications for neonatal mortality rates among sheep raisedinthehighaltitudetropics and may provideuseful tools forselecting for perinatal survival.Despite some limitations, productivity indices can be used to measure the level of flock productivity. Illustrated belowfor a study that involved Menz ewe lambs (Mukasa et al 1994), initiallambweaning weight and subsequent parturition interval were used to construct three indices (Fall et al 1982;Wilson 1983;Wilson et al 1985)  Index Iis derived in kg per ewe and represents lambing intervalas a percentage ofa year and considers lambperformance until weaning. Because the damisthe source of major inputup toweaning, productivity was also assessed in g per kg dam weight (Index II) orin kg per kg metabolic weight(Index III). Indices for ewes whose offspring died before weaning were zero, the zeros being incorporated in the means and standard errors for the variables under consideration.The mean value of Index I was 11.0+087kg, Index II was 520E41 gand Index III was 1.18+0. 09kg. Because IndicesIIand III are calculated in terms of dam body weight or metabolic weight, it becomes possible to gauge the efficiency of availablefeed utilisation.Disease through morbidity and mortality and poor reproduction largely manifested as reproductive wastage, significantly reduces flockproductivity and may make small ruminant rearing uneconomic. The following sequence of measures is suggested to minimise the impact: major causes of disease and low reproduction must be identified followed by the application of appropriate and well thought out prophylactic measuresto control diseases and minimise reproductive wastage.The type ofpackage recommended will, therefore, among others, vary with: production system, farmer acceptability, drugs and vaccine availability and cost and disease profile etc, particularly if the other managementinputs are adequate. Fat growth and development in farm animals is of importance from several points of view. Firstly, as a reserve of energy, fat can determine the survival of the animalinperiods offood scarcity.Secondly, as a major carcasstissue, itmayaffectthe complexindustry ofmeat production, including feeding, deciding on the optimum slaughter weight, andgrading ofthe carcass and meat quality. In the latter context,some fat depots are more valuable than others, e.g. subcutaneous and intermuscularfatare more desirablethan kidneyand gut fats.Withinfat depotsinthe carcass, fatin the expensive joints, providedit is notin excess,is morevaluable than fat in less expensive joints. Thirdly, Adler and Wertherimer (1968) discounted statements that fat is a passive organ and pointed out that lipogenesis occurs mainly in the adipose tissues. Fourthly, the rigid relationship betweenbodyweight, and muscle and bone demonstrated by Butterfield (1974) and Berg and Butterfield (1976),impliesthat the use of genetic and environmental factors in manipulating body composition is likely to have greater effects on the proportion offat than on other carcass tissues.Defining the pattern of fat growth in breeds of goats is therefore essentialto an understanding ofbody and carcass composition problems associated with production and marketing. Goat carcass value is influenced markedly by both amount and distribution of fatty tissue depots. In cattle, several studies have shown that the partitioning of fat among the depots is influenced by slaughter weights (Berg and Butterfield 1976). Growth and partition of fat depots in goat carcasses has not been studied thoroughly and results from controlled experiments are particularly scarce. This study attempts to define growth and distribution of fat depots in male British Saanen goats slaughtered at different weights.A total of34 male Saanengoatswere purchased at birth and serially slaughtered at birth (3.5 kg), weaning (9.5 kg),245,365,495 and725kglive weights atReading Universityfarm.The animals were artificially reared on Denkavit Lamb ewe milk replacer untilweaning at 35 days ofage.The milk replacercontained (g/kgDM)245 crude protein, 200 oil, 25fibre, 30000 IU vitamin A, 14,000 IU vitamin D3 and 30 IU vitamin E. After weaning, they were fed ad libitum fattening barley-based concentrate diet consisting of(g/kg DM) barley (750), flaked maize (50), soyabean meal (100), fish meal (50), molasses(30), limestone (15), salt (4)and mineral supplements (1). The diet contained 228 g/kg DM crudeprotein and 174MJ/kg DM ofgross energy.The animals were slaughtered and kidney fat, gut fat and channelfat (fat found around pelvis bones)from the whole animal were separated and weighed. Mean weights and mean weights expressed as percentages ofempty bodyweight ofvariousfat depots at six grouped slaughter weights are shown in Table 1. With the exception ofchannel fat,weight at slaughter had a significant (P<0001) effect on the proportion of all fat depots. Both the absolute weight and the proportions of these fat depots increasedwith increase in slaughter weight. However, the increase in proportions was smallin the liveweight range of24.5 to 49. 5kgIn the allometric equations for growth offat depots relative to empty body weight (Table 2), the growth coefficients were significantly greater than 1.00, indicating that, as empty body weight increased, the proportion ofthesefat depots increased, confirmingthe results by direct comparison of percentagesin Table 1.More ofthe variation infatdepot weights couldbe accounted forby variation in emptybodyweightusing allometric equations.The largest growth coefficientwas for subcuteneous fat, showing it to be the latest developing depot, whilekidney andchannelfat were the earlier developing depots.The relationship between the various fat depots was also studied by expressing weights of fat as a percentage of total body fat (Table 3). Total body fat proportion progressively increased with increasing empty body weight (Table 3). The proportion of intermuscular fat relative to body fat showed little consistent change with increase in total fat weight.At birth, most of the fat was accumulated in three major depots: gut, kidney and intermuscular (Table 1). With increase in total body fat,the most notable change was theincrease in proportion ofsubcutaneousfat(Table 3). The increase was accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of kidney fat. Table 3 alsoindicates that the major changes in proportions of fat depots occurred early in life, i.e. before total body fat exceeded 24 kg (corresponding to 245 kg live weight).The present findings agree with the literature on goats (Wilson 1958;Ladipo 1973), sheep (Hammond 1932;Gaili1976), cattle (Jones 1976;Berget al 1978)and pigs (Richmond and Berg 1972) 1. For ease of tabulation, standard deviations and coefficients ofvariation are excluded.2.SED= Average standard error of difference (percentage data only). ***=significant at P<0001.  fatgrows fasterinpost-natal lifethan all otherfat depots, a findingsimilar to those of Palsson and Verges (1952) and Gaili(1976) using lambs. Kirton et al (1972) also noted that, apart from omentalfat,subcutaneous fatwas the last fat depot to mature.Whilst the order offat depot development was similar to those of cattle (Williams 1978), it was slightly different from that given by Palsson and Verges (1952),who described gut fat as slower growing than intermuscular fat. Kirton et al (1972) also foundchannelandintermuscular fatin male lambs to be early maturing. The present results also contrast sharply with those reportedbyLadipo(1973),usingamixture ofmale dairy goat breeds slaughtered between 22 and 54 kg live weight. He reported fat depots to increase in the following order ofincreasing rate: subcuteneous, gut (caul and mesenteric)fat, intermuscular fat, and finally visceral fat (kidney, channel and heart fat). Per unit of empty body weight, the growth rates of intermuscular andvisceralfat depotsin Ladipo's studywere twice that of subcutaneous fat. The fact that Ladipo(1973)useda mixture of breeds merits interpretation of the results with caution, because breed differences have been observed in fat growth rates and distribution in farm animals (Berg and Butterfield 1976).Relative to total body fat,gut fat was the largest contributor to the total fat reaching a peak at about 2.4 kg total body fat, corresponding to 24.5 kg live weight (Table 3).This fat depot, togetherwiththat ofthe kidney and channel fat, is usually trimmed off the carcass in lambs and cattle and sold as cooking fat.The ratio of dissected carcass fat (subcutaneous plus intermuscular fat)to other fat depots of the body may, therefore, be a moreimportant criterionin determining meatqualityin goats, and was 1.87, 1.06,087,077 and 074 at birth (35 kg), weaning(9.5 kg), 245,365,495 and 725 kg live weight, respectively.Table 3 demonstrates thatthe greatest change in proportions of the various fat depots occurredbetween birth and 24.5 kg live weightin male Saanen goats.Thisperiod may,therefore, be critical in the study of geneticand environmentalfactors affecting growth and distribution offat depots.Subcutaneous fat made the least contribution at birth, but rose sharply to its mature proportion at weaning. The conclusion by Ladipo (1973) that proportions ofintermuscular fatdecreased withincrease in carcass fat, can be interpreted to correspond to the 24.5 to 725 kg liveweight interval in the present study.The present study shows that the various fat depots in goats growfaster relative to empty bodyweight.They also grow at different rates relative to each other.There is, however, need for furtherstudies taking intoaccount breed and nutrition influences in fat growth and distribution.Etat de la situation sanitaire des produits laitiers commercialisés dans la zone périurbaine de N'Djaména P. Bornarel, N. Boulbaye, P. Hugoo et K. Gaou Résumé Des échantillons de lait frais (17), lait caillé (37), beurre solide (5) et beurre fondu(7)sont prélevés sur 11 marchés dans un rayon d'environ 100 km autour de N'Djaména. Les laits proviennent soit de vaches (37), soit de chèvres (11)soit sont un mélange des deux (6). Les beurres sont tous d'origine bovine. Pour la flore bactérienne globale, les laits frais comportent 10 germes par millilitre et les laits caillés au moins L'aciditénesemblait pas avoir influésur la prolifération des germes. Les beurres fondus présentent une flore globale plus importante (2. 10°germes par gramme) que celle des beurres solides (10\") peut-être par suite de manipulations et transvasements plus nombreux. Il s'agit de germes non pathogènes notoires qui pro viennent de l'environnement par suite d'une série de manipulations sans précautions au cours de la chaîne de production.Des champignons et levuresont étéisolés et identifiés. Il faut envisager de poursuivre cette étude bactériologique en analysant chaque étape de la chaîne de production afin de dégager des données pratiques pour une amélioration.Dans lespays africains, les produits laitiersjouent un rôle important dans l'alimentation humaine. Le Tchad n'échappe pas à la règle avec une prédilection pour le lait des petits ruminants. Les conditions d'exploitation de cesproduits, mal définies, risquent de se prêter à la multiplication età la diffusion de germes dont certains pourraient se révéler dangereux pour la santé humaine. D'autres germes, non identifiés comme pathogènes mais présents engrand nombre, pourraient perturber les techniques de production de certains produits destinés à la commercialisation. Il y aurait donc là une possibilitéd'intervenirpour une amélioration tant qualitative que quantitative, avecbien sûr une incidence Les techniques utilisées sont des méthodes classiques et correspondent, en matière d'hygiène alimentaire, aux recommandations de la législation française publiée au Journal officiel (Anonyme, 1991).Cette analyse concerne les bactéries, les levures et champignons; mais les virus ne sont pas recherchés (Beerens et Luqest, 1987;Bourgeois et Leveau, 1991;Carter and Cole, 1990;Collectif, 1969;Nevot, 1947). Les résultats relatifs aux beurres sont identiques à ceux enregistrés sur les laits, avecprésence d'une flore Compte tenu des conditions de travail, il était impossible de trouver des produits laitiers provenant des autres espèces (mouton, dromadaire). Pour cette étude, l'espèce d'origine du produit n'a été déterminée que sur la base de l'affirmation du vendeur.La flore bactérienneglobale est moinsélevéepour les laits frais que pour les laits caillés, quels que soient l'origine et le lieu de récolte. Il est fréquemment admis que l'acidité du lait caillé pourrait détruire les germes.Cette forme de présentation du lait semble assurer une conservation acceptable puisque le produit peut être commercialisé pendantune semaine apparemment sans gêne connue pour le consommateur.Si les germes qui se sont multipliés ne sont pas des bactéries pathogènes notoires, leur abondance est cependant le signe que l'hygiène minimale de base n'est pas respectée, d'où de fortes possibilités de risques.Les essais de culture de laflore lactique ayanttous été négatifs avec les laits, qu'ils soientfrais ou caillés, on ne pouvait doncnila caractériser, ni la comparer àla flore de pollution/contamination. Malgré une enquête poussée (vérification des protocoles, des manipulations, des réactions, essais avec des souches témoins) on n'a putrouver aucune explication liée à la technique utilisée.Ilfaut donc chercher ailleurs. Le fait que la préparation du lait caillé soit toujours effectuée par chauffage prolongé à température élevée pourrait expliquer la disparition de cette flore microbienne spécifique. EtantLes champignons et les levures n'ont pas fait l'objet d'une numération mais leur présence est assez constante dans l' ensemble des prélèvements (Vanbreuseghem, 1966). Il est difficile d'en tirer une conclusionpratique particulière carce sont des éléments permanents de l'environnement. Ils traduisent eux aussi le fait qu'au cours des manipulations, le lait est très souvent exposéà l'air ambiant.Pour ne pas surcharger la présentation, on s'est limité aux germes isolés et étudiéspouvant présenter un certain intérêt (qualité, pathologie) (Pilet et al, 1987). Les recherches infructueuses ou résultats \"négatifs\", interprétés comme une absence, seront cependant pris en considération pour l'analyse.Aussi bien dans les laits que dans les beurres, les  (Wilson et al, 1983;Wilson, 1986). Des études sont actuellement en cours en station sur le mouton Toronké à Kayes et sur le mouton du Sahel à Niono. Tous ces travauxsontloin de couvrir la diversité agro-écologique des milieux d'élevage en relation avec la diversité biologique. Globalement, en dépit de leurimportance numérique, lespetits ruminants ont engénéralété l'objet de très peu de programmes de recherche parrapport aux bovidae.Il en résulte une connaissance parcellaire etpas mal de lacunes en ce qui concerne la connaissance des contraintes majeures au développementde leurélevage. Afin de contribuer à combler cette lacune, un protocole de contrôle des performances individuelles aété mis en place dans deux noyaux d'élevage traditionnel en zone soudano-sahélienne. En caractérisant les potentialités des animaux (reproduction et croissance), en tenant compte des caractéristiques environnementales, on pourrait, en accord avec Flamant(1988), identifier les caractères qui exprimentune réponse du matériel animal aux contraintes du système d'élevage. La présente communication se limite à l'exposé des performances zootechniques de reproduction et à l'évaluation de la dynamique destroupeaux. Le choix de la reproduction n'est pasfortuit car elle constitue la clé de voûte de toute production animale et conditionne, en partie, le renouvellement du troupeau. L'accroissement de la pro ductivitéd'untroupeau-du moins dans sa composante numérique -voire de l'élevage en général, passe incontestablement par l'amélioration de la reproduction et sa maîtrise constitue un outil privilégié pour réaliser desprogrès génétiques.Deux noyaux de troupeaux ovins élevés dans un village agro-pastoral en zone soudano-sahélienne ont fait l'objet d'un suivipériodique hebdomadaire continu sur deux cycles annuels. Les caractéristiquesgénérales Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop (structure et mode de conduite des animaux) ont étédéjà décrites (Niaré etSangaré, 1992). Aussi, n'expose-t-on ici que la méthodologie de collecte des données relatives A partir de la base de données brutes ainsi recueillies, les paramètres zootechniques suivants ont été calculés : l'âge à la première mise bas (APMB), l'intervalle entre agnelages (IEA), le taux de fertilité (TdF), lataille de laportée (TdP) et les taux de viabilité des agneaux (TdV). Le taux de viabilité périnatale est obtenu en divisant le nombre d'agneaux nés vivants par femelle par la taille de sa portée. L'influence des facteurs de variation tant intrinsèques qu'extrinsèques surces variables zootechniquesaété estimée paranalyse de variance. Le modèle croisé à effet fixe a été utilisé. Age à la première mise bas (APMB) L'âge moyen des agnelles au premier agnelage était de 16,6t1,4 mois (n = 31) avec un coefficient de variation de 24%. Cet âge varie de façon très significative (F128 = 897, P<001) en fonction de l'année de mise bas qui explique 25% des variations totales (R* = 0,25). Il est de 18,6t1,9 mois en 1989 contre 14,6t1,5 mois en 1990. Globalement, l'âge d'entrée en reproduction est,parcontre,indépendant du troupeau d'appartenance.    par rapport à celle de 1989 (36%). Par contre, l'effectif du troupeauII abaissé de 9% de 1989 à 1990alorsqu'en fin de cette campagne (1989), le croît était de 62%,soit presque le double de celui du troupeau I au cours de la même période.Age à la première mise bas Avec un âgeà lasaillie de 9 à 11 mois, les agnelles étaient relativement précoces. L'âge à la première mise bas est conforme à celui de beaucoup d'autres races ovines sahéliennes comme le mouton du Macina avec 16,5 mois (Wilson et al., 1983) ou le mouton sédentaire du Niger, type Oudah avec 16 mois (Charray et al., 1980). Les agnelles paraissent plus précoces que le mouton Peul-peul sénégalais où l'âge à la première parturition est de 24 mois, le mouton à longue queue grasse du Rwanda qui agnelle pour la première fois à l'âge de 713 (Wilson et Murayi, 1988) ou les brebis croisées (Djallonké xtype sahélien) au Ghana (Kabuga etAkowuah 1991). En revanche, avec cetâge moyen de 16,6 mois, elles paraissent moins précoces que les agnelles du sud-est de la Côte d'Ivoire (Armbruster et al, 1991a). Dans ce cas, les conditions d'élevage différentes pourraient expliquer les différences d'âge à la premièreparturition. L'effettroupeaun'influe pas sur cette variable zootechnique. La non signification de ce facteur ne paraîtguère surprenante car redondant avec l'effet année de mise bas. En fait, l'effet \"troupeau\" recouvre diverses pratiques inhérentes au mode de gestion de l'exploitation (soins de santé, mesures d'hygiène, alimentation-complémentation, logement, pratiques d'élevage, etc). L'âge à la première mise bas relativement faible des agnelles agnelant en 1990 (nées en 1989) pourrait s'expliquer par l'effet bénéfique de la complémentation effectuée dans lestroupeaux au début de l'année 1990 (Niaré et Sangaré, 1992). Les agnelles la saison sèche fraiche, l'intervalle entre agnelages est plus élevé que chez celles agnelant en saison sèche chaude ou pendant la saison des pluies. La rareté de l'herbe au cours de la longue et difficile période de saison sèche que traversent ces brebis, explique la longuepériode précédant le retour des chaleurs suivies de fécondation. A l'inverse, les brebis qui mettent bas peu avant ou pendant la saison des pluies bénéficient des conditions nutritionnelles requises pour revenir en oestrus et être saillies plus rapidement. Ces résultats confirment l'influence de la saison de la dernière mise bas sur l'IEA observée par d'autres auteurs (Charray, 1986;Wilson et Murayi, 1988)dans un même milieu ou au sein d'un même troupeau.Sur un cycle annuel, le taux de fertilité moyen de ces brebis était nettement supérieur à celui des brebis Djallonké de Côte d'Ivoire ou du Cameroun (Charray, 1986). Cette bonne fertilité n'est peut-être pas indépendante de l'intervalle assez court observé entre agnelages.Ainsi,en l'absence de toute systématisation de la complémentation alimentaire dans ces troupeaux traditionnels, il n'est pas rare qu'une femelle surtrois en moyenne mette bas deuxfois dans l'année.La répartition irrégulière des naissances men suelles d'une année sur l'autre est ici un artéfact lié à l'irrégularité du suivi. En effet, suite à des interruptions involontaires, le contrôle des performances n'a pu se dérouler correctement entre mai et juillet 1990 L'absence de suiviaucoursde cette période expliquerait cette hétérogenéitéd'uneannéesur l'autre.Globalement en revanche, l' homogenéité dans la répartition mensuelle des agnelages entre troupeaux a permis de mettre en lumière l'hétérogenéité inhérente à ce processus. Les mises bas de septembre-mars correspondent à des conceptions ayant eu lieu en fin de saison sèche et pendant la saison des pluies. En zone sahélienne, la transition saison sèche-saison des pluies semble favorable à la conception des brebis (Traoré, 1987). En outre, c'est pendant la saison des pluies que la qualité de la semence des béliers Djallonké semble meilleure (Chiboka, 1981). Un effet bénéfique majeur de la saison des pluies est l'abondance et la meilleure qualité du fourrage. De ce fait, l'alimentation ne constituepas un facteur limitant et explique le fort taux de conception.La taille relativement faible de la portée de ces brebis est comparable àcelles obtenues ailleurs (Charray etal., 1980;Wilson et al., 1983;Charray,1986;Wilson, 1986;Armbruster et al., 1991a). Ce résultat confirme celui déjà observé dans la même zone à travers des enquêtes ponctuelles (Niaré et al., 1991). Même chez des croisés Djallonkéxtypesahélien, lataille moyenne de la portée reste faible (Kabuga et Akowuah, 1991).Elle est plus faible que celle des Djallonké du nord de la Côte d'Ivoire (Filius et al., 1985), des brebis du sud tchadien (Charray et al., 1980) et des brebis du Macina (Wilson et al, 1983). Malgré leur bonne fertilité, les brebis étudiées ici sont peu prolifiques étant donné la faible proportion de naissances gémellaires.Toutefois, celle-ci augmente de plus de 20 points entre les 3ème et 6ème agnelages. Cette chance accrue des femelles pluripares semble constituer un phénomène assez général peut-être lié à l'atteinte de la maturité physio logique. L'énergie emmagasinée serait alors vrai semblablement utilisée préférentiellement pour la fonction de reproduction chezces brebis.Le taux très élevé de viabilité périnatale des agneaux suggère que les problèmes d'avortements, de mortinatalités ou de mortalités périnatales (1-6jours) sont minimes, voire négligeables. Dans le sud-est de la Côte d'Ivoire, la mortalité périnatale (0-5 jours) des agneaux est également plus faible qu'après 30jours (Armbruster et al., 1991b). Ces résultats semblent imputables au bon comportementmaternel des brebis. De la naissance à l'âge de 6 mois la mortalité des agneaux est de 15%, et indépendante de l'intervalle entre agnelages contrairement aux conclusions d'études rapportées par Wilson et al. (1983). En outre, elle ne semble pas dépendre significativement du sexe de l'agneau, les mâleset lesfemelles présentant les mêmes risques de décès. Les causes de la mortalitéjusqu'au sevrage sont essentiellement d'origine pathologique. Il n'est pas exclu qu'en milieu villageois, les conditions alimentaires précaires, ajoutées aux aléas climatiques, aient un impact sur l'état de morbidité et vrai semblablement donc sur les chances de survie des agneaux.De même que dans les troupeaux sénégalais (Faugère et al., 1990), les ventes subissent d'im portantes variations interannuelles liées au besoin des familles. Mais au niveau du troupeau II, la logique de commercialisation semble prédominer, compte tenu de la moindre importance des activités agricoles du propriétaire. Néanmoins, dans un cas comme dans l'autre,cettevente répondà un soucide satisfaction des besoins vitaux. On retrouve là également le rôle Al'échelle du terroir, ce phénomène peut,à terme, vite dégrader les pacages par surpâturage. En outre, la végétation de cette zone soudano-sahélienne soumise à des prélèvements de plus en plusimportants verra son potentiel de regénération diminuer. Il y a donc lieu de craindre, ce qui, pour l'agro-pastoraliste Peyre de Fabregues citépar Dumont (1985), pourrait être une dégradation irréversible du fait d'une destruction anarchique et abusive de la strate arbustive.Face à cette expansion démographique du cheptel (recherchée parce qu'elle autorise la reconstitution des troupeaux de pasteurs et d'agro-éleveurs après les années de sécheresse) aux conséquences néfastes, les cultures fourragères constituent un moyen quiassurerait à la fois le maintien de l'élevage, son intégration à l'agriculture tout en garantissant, grâce au fumier, le maintien de la fertilité des sols. Cette solution ne saurait cependant être imposée. Elle auraittoutefois l'avantage de réduire la divagation des animaux, laquelle oblige les paysans à clôturer àgrands frais les parcelles de culture de saison sèche. Elle doit aussi s'inscrire dans une autre conception du troupeau intégrant une nouvelle dynamique d'exploitation qui optimiserait la gestion de l'espace pastoral par le bétail en général et les ovins en particulier.Cette étude, réalisée en zone soudano-sahélienne, une région caractérisée par un contraste saisonnier des disponibilités fourragères très marqué entre la saison sèche et la saison des pluies, n'a été effectuée que sur deux noyaux d' élevage traditionnel ovin. Sa représentativité à l'échelle de la zone agro-écologique est par conséquent discutable. Des études complé mentaires sur un nombre de troupeaux plus important s'avèrent nécessaires avant de dégager, puis de généraliser, des conclusions pertinentes. Toutefois, la méthodologie de suivi individuel des performances des animaux rend crédible et fiable les valeurs indicatrices des critères évalués.Lesreproductricesdes deuxnoyaux paraissent précoces, très fertiles mais peu prolifiques.Ces caractéristiques de reproduction sont fortement tributaires des conditions nutritionnelles des animaux.Un apport de complément au cours de la période de soudure estindispensable.Parailleurs, l'organisation de la lutte afin de faire coïncider les périodes de besoins élevés avec celle deproduction fourragère peut êtreune alternative intéressante. En complément aux études réalisées dans la zone semi-aride (Wilson et al., 1983), celle-ci autorise une extension des connaissances des ovinsà d'autres zones agro-écologiques du Mali.In general, breeding is delayed until the animal has attained 60-75% of its mature body weight (Shelton 1978). Most goat breeds are pubertal between 5 and 10 months of age and this occurs during the season of shortening days, whereasthe termination thereof occurs during lengthening days (Riera 1982). It is generally accepted that the breeding season centres around the period of short daylight length.There is evidence that the presence ofthe ram may modify the age ofpubertyinthe goat (Shelton 1977)and influence oestrous behaviourin does, with some degree of synchronisation of oestrus (Ott et al 1980). Two physiological actions are triggered bythe presence of the rams,viz. a neurohumoral action which advances the pre-ovulatory luteinising hormone (LH) peak and an entirelyneural action which gives riseto the ram-effect. It is postulated that the ram-effect is sufficient to both synchronise and produce oestrus in the doe and that exogenous hormones are unnecessary.The onset of puberty is related to body weight which inturn depends onthe level of nutrition, age,type ofbirth andseason ofbirth (Shelton 1978;Smith 1978). Thus this study was initiated to investigate factors (season, nutrition and ram-effect)which mayplay a role in the induction ofpubertyin the female Boer goat kid.FemaleBoergoatkids (n=65)bornin springandweaned December and kids (n=45) born in summer and weaned April were used following weaning in the first and second trials, respectively, and for observation periods of 144 and 190 days, respectively. In each trial all kids were randomly allocated and maintained on two nutrition regimes,viz high (HE) and a low (LE) energy diets (Table 1).All kidswere randomly subdivided into the following treatmentgroups for each trial:Treatment 1: Permanent ram group (PR) -a vasec tomised ramwas run permanently withthe kids to act as stimulus and detect oestrus.Treatment2: Teaser ram group(TR)-a vasectomised ram was introducedto the kidstwice daily to act as stimulus and detect oestrus.Treatment 3: Control group (NR) -kids completely isolated from males for the duration of the trial. The oestrous responses (indicative of puberty) for the goat kids during the respective observation periods are set out in Table 2.There was a significant difference (P<005) in the number of does exhibiting oestrus between the PR and TR groups during both seasons.The former group demonstrated oestrus earlier than the latter. Regarding the level of nutrition, no significant difference in the occurrence of oestrus (puberty) was noted for both groups of animals born during the different seasons.The age to first oestrus (puberty) is set out in Table 3. For thepurpose of comparison, distribution of the time interval of occurrence of first oestrus is indicated. The mean age-at-first oestrus was significantly (P<005) earlier for all kids weaned in the April breeding season than for those weaned during December (1572 vs 191.1 days, respectively).Significant(P<001 and P<005)differencesinthe mean percentage gain in bodyweight between high and low energy dietswere found for kids weaned in December and April, respectively. There was no significant difference between treatment groups within the two levels ofnutrition regarding thepercentage bodyweight gained. ADG did not differ significantly between the different ram treatment groups.No significant difference was found for the body weight atwhich puberty was reachedfor thetwo energy diets andtreatments though bodyweight atfirst oestrus tended tobe higherfor females weanedinAprilthan for those weaned in December (31.1 vs274 kg)(Table 3). No significant correlation was found between body weight and age-at-first oestrus.From Table 4 it is evident that LH levels between and within treatment groups and observationperiods varied greatly. Seasonal differences (December vs April weaning) for the mean concentrations ofserum LH in theperi-pubertalgoat (Figures 1to4)werepresent.The PR(P<001)andTR(P<005)April-weaned groups had a higher LH level than the December-weaned PR and   TRgroups, while the December-weaned control group was found to show higher (P<001) LH level than the April weaned control group. Significant differences in the mean serum LH concentration were found in the PR (P<001) and TR (P<005)groups weanedin December (Figures 1 and 2) for the two levels of nutrition. Significant differences (P<001)in the mean LH concentration were recorded in the TR and control groups weaned in April (Figures 3 and 4).The ram-effect did not result in significantly different mean LH levels for the December-weaned PR and TR groups on the high-energy diet. The control group, however, had a significantly (P<005) higher mean LH level than the PR and TR groups (Figure 1). Inthelow-energy groups (Figure 2), higher(P<001)LH levels were recordedin the TR and controlgroups than in the PR group. The kids weaned in April, however, showed higher (P<001) mean LH level (HE diet)inthe PR group compared to the TR and control groups. The mean LHlevelofthe TRgroupwas also higher(P<005) than that of the control group (Figure 3). In the low energy (LE)groups, the mean serum LH of the PRand TR groups were not significantly different, although significantly higher than that of the control group (Figure 4).Most of the kids weaned in December which did not show any external signs ofoestrusdid show periodically elevated progesterone levels (>1 ng/ml) during the observation period. In some animals, the progesterone concentration remained low throughout the observation period, similar to values found in anoestrous females. Kids weaned in April showed the same progesterone pattern as those weaned in December. The occurrence of phenomena like silent heats was, however, less frequent,possibly due tothe higherincidence of oestrus in animals weaned in April than in those weaned in December.Within the December weaning season, the PR group on a high-energy diet and TR group on a low-energy diet showed significant (P<0.05) differences in their mean progesterone levels for the observation period(087 vs 0. 65 ng/ml, respectively) Similar significant (P<005) differences were found between the control(HE) andthe TR groups (HE)(1.01 vs 0.75ng/ml, respectively)and alsobetween the control (HE)andTR(LE)groups (P<001)(1.01 vs 0.65 ng/ml, respectively). The control group(HE) ofkids weanedin April maintained a significantly (P<001) higher mean progesterone level than the TR groups (098 vs 0.66 ng/ml and 098 vs 07 ng/ml for HE and LE groups, respectively). Similarly, the controlgroup(HE) had a higher(P<005) mean serum progesterone level(098 vs 076 ng/ml) for the entire observation period, when compared to the permanent ram group (LE).The progesterone levels maintained by the PR and control groups (HE) weaned in December, were significantly higher (P<005; P<001) than the mean progesterone levels in the TR group (HE) weaned in April -087 vs 066 ng/ml and 1.01 vs 066 ng/ml, respectively. The controlgroup (HE) of the December weaned kidsalsomaintained asignificantly higher mean progesterone level than either the PR group (LE) (P<005) the TR group (LE) (P<001) or the control group (LE) (P<005) weaned in April. However, the meanprogesterone levels ofboth TR groups weaned in December were lower than those of the control (HE) group weaned in April (P<005 and P<001 for the HE and LEdiets, respectively).Only50% of the male stimulated kids (both levels of nutrition) weanedin December demonstrated at least one oestrous period, compared to 833% ofthefemales weaned in April.Itwould seem that the age at onset of puberty in Boer goat does compareswellwith and,in fact,is somewhat earlier than in most goat breeds such as the Saanen (ng/m)  in March/April (Amoah and Bryant 1984a). In the present study, kids weaned in April (during the normal breeding season) exhibited oestrus significantly (P<005) earlier than those weaned in December. This phenomenon cannot be ascribed to a higher mean live weight within the respective kiddingseasons, the level of nutrition orthe ram-effect. It would seem as ifseason of birth is the main cue for the onset of puberty.According to Quirke (1979), once ewe lambs have attained a critical bodyweight necessaryfor attainment of puberty, differences in live body weight have little influence on the time of onset ofpuberty. There is, however, good evidence that inadequate nutrition may adversely affect pituitary function (Lamming 1969). Emanatingfromthe oestrous response, itis evident that thepermanent presence ofa male didhave a marked (P<005) beneficial effect on the number of animals exhibiting oestrus, in both seasons. Amoah and Bryant (1984a) suggested that contact withthe male goat does have an effect onthetiming of puberty andis associated with rapid and highly synchrous attainment of puberty in the majority of kids.The long inter-samplingperiod (weekly), as well as the variation in serum LH levels obtained between individuals within groups, tend to complicate the interpretation ofthese hormone levels recorded.The LH patternin the pre-pubertalfemale goat is characterised by pulsatile or episodic LH releases. In the ewe lamb, these rhythmic LH elevations first appearbetween4and11 weeks of age.The transition of the adult ewe from anoestrusinto the breedingseason,is associatedwith a marked reduction in response to oestradiol much the same as in the lamb during puberty (Foster and Ryan 1979). From serum LH concentrations recorded in the Boer goat, itis evident that the pituitary is active from 13 weeks of age (weaning) irrespective of season, ram-effect or level of nutrition, although the time interval between blood samplingwas too longto obtain reliable pre-ovulatory peak LH values. The fact that animals weaned in April maintained a significant (P<005) higher mean LH level than animals weanedin December, mayindicate greaterpituitary activity during the breeding season (April).The possible high occurrence of silent heats or oestruseswithout ovulationis emphasisedby individual serum progesterone profiles recorded during the respective observation periods. Several kids have been foundtoshowelevated progesterone levels (> 10ng/ml) for one or more consecutive weeks, without any overt signs of oestrus. This occurrence of silent heats or oestruswithout ovulation is a phenomenon which also frequently occurs in ewe lambs at, and following puberty (Edey et al 1978). Fromthe serum progesterone values obtained,it seems that ovarian activitystartedin the high-and low-energy diet groups at approximately 76t35 and 9.1+43 weeks following weaningfor kids weanedin December and at 7.6E3.5 and 12.7-t6.8 weeks afterweaningforthe kids weanedin April.These values correspond well tothe mean age at which first oestrus was recorded in the Boer goat. The mean progesterone values obtained at first oestrus in the present study are in agreement with those recordedinpre-pubertal sheep, viz 03 ng/ml(Berardinelli et al 1980) and with those recorded in goats,viz02-04 ng/ml (Amoah and Bryant 1984a)and029-053 ng/ml (Bhattacharyya et al 1984).Contact with male goats did have a beneficial effect on synchronisation and timing of puberty, entrained by photoperiodic stimulation, while nutrition, as appliedin this experiment, played a minor role.The effect ofthe interaction between these factors on puberty is, however,difficult to assess. Itwould appearthat during the pre-and post-pubertal period, cyclic activity ofthe younganimalis rather erratic andirregular andbreeding at such an age is impractical and not advisable. Further research is neededto elucidate the relative importance of male stimulation on the initiation of puberty, especiallyin relationtootherenvironmental(season and nutrition) cues.Induction de la puberté chez des chevreaux femelles de race Boer Résumé L'effet de lasaison,de la nutritionetde la présence d'un bélier au début de la puberté a été étudié sur des chevreaux femelles de race Boer. La présence permanente d'un mâle vasectomisé déclenchait la puberté plus tôt (P<005) que si le mâle était introduit auxfemelles deuxfois par jour. La ration à niveau élevé d'énergie déclenchaitégalement la puberté plus tôt mais cet effet n'était pas très différent (P>005) de celui de la In a 2x2 factorial trial involving 80 does kept under traditional management, the milking potential of the indigenous Malawi goatwas determined and the effects ofsupplementaryfeeding examined. Feeding was based ongrazedindigenous pasture, largely Hyparrhenia spp only andwith supplementation of250-t10g maize bran daily. Doeswere separated fromtheir kids each evening at housing and hand milked before turn out. Kiddings occurredbetweenJuly 1991 and April1992.Milkyields from25+3 days post-partum variedbetween 1.5 and 61 litres per lactation and lactation length between 13 and 252 days. Lactationpatterns were similar,with peaks of 270+99 ml on day 26 for supplemented animals and 259+99 ml on day 19 for controls but a significant interaction between date of kidding and supplementation was noted. Does kidding in August had higher yields (31.6E17.5 vs 21.2E13.66 litres for supplemented and unsupplemented does, respectively) than those of does kidding in March (177E7.5 vs 9.1+5.7 litres, P<0.05). Mean daily yields for supplemented does were 191 ml over weeks 1-10 and 139 ml over weeks 1-20. For control animals the equivalent figures were 158 and 104 ml. Reproductive performance was not affected by milking,with kidding to first oestrus intervals of 110+57 daysfor the milked does and 80-t52 days for unmilked does. Anoestrus period was not affected by supplementation. Most kid mortality occurred in the first 30 days and was not influenced by milking or level of supplementation. There was no effect of doe treatmentupon kid growth to 28 weeks, when live weights were 725E087 kg, 763E0. 75 kg, 6. 75E0. 66 kg and 733E06 kg for the unmilked and unsupplemented; unmilked and supplemented;milked andunsupplemented, and milked supplemented animals, respectively. Itis concluded that with minimal modification of traditional husbandry methods the indigenous Malawi goat may be milked daily without detriment to her or her offspring.It has been estimated that in some areas of Malawi the incidence of malnutrition in children under the age of five years may be as high as 70%. The problem is particularly severe in those children who have been weaned offbreast milkand whoare nowrequiredto rely largely on phala'(maize meal gruel). In manyareas of the world milkis seen as being ofspecialbenefit to such children,providinghigh qualityprotein and high levels of minerals, especially calcium andvitamins,in a very palatable form. For some,the most usual source of that milk isthe cow butfor many,it isthegoat. In excess of 60million goats are currentlybeing milked world-wide, producing nine million tonnes of milk annually (FAO 1990). Many of these milking goats are to be found in Africa, especially in the Arabic-speaking countries to the north while, despite thepresence of large numbers ofgoatsin sub-Saharan Africa, the practice of milking them is uncommon in the area. Malawi is a good example ofthissituation.Estimates ofthe number of goats in Malawivary between one million (Zerfas, personal communication) and 1.6 million (Government of Malawi 1988) and yet, with the exception of a few areas,these goats are not milked.There doesnot appeartobe any custom ortaboo prohibitingthe drinking of goat milk (Chimwaza 1982) and in a recent survey Banda (1992a)showed that goat milk was acceptable to manypeople and was, indeed, preferredtothat ofthe cow or the sheep.The aim of the project reportedhere was therefore to examine the potential ofthe indigenous Malawigoat as a milk producer, when managed under a system as similar as possible to thatpractisedin the villages, and in particularto answerthe following questions :1. How much milk,perday and per lactation is one doe capable of producingwhen milked once a day?2. What effect does the removal of this milk have on the survival and growth rate of the goatkids?3. Isitpossible,by supplementing\"bush\"grazing with maize bran, to increase milk yields economically?This trial was undertaken at Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi, during 1991-92. In ordertomimictraditional managementasfaras possible animals grazed unimproved grassland as their main forage source but duringthe dryseason they had access to maize stover in fields and to tobacco gardens. Animals were brought in from grazingbefore dusk and turned out immediately after milking each morning.Housing was constructed of blue-gum poles and chain-link fencing under galvanised iron roofing.Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop Individual pens were approximately 4x4 m and each housed 10-14 does and their kids.Water was available in the pens overnight. Half ofthe animals involved(n = 40)were offered a supplementaryfeed of250t10g of maize bran daily, fed in the pen each morning before turnout. Half of the animals in each group were milked once daily in the morning.These animalswere removed from their kids each evening at housing and penned separately. The following morning each doe was hand-milked before being rejoined with her kid(s)for the day's grazing. Milking began 25t3 days after kidding and usually continued until yield fell below 50 ml/day for three consecutive days. Does which lost their kid(s)were removed from the trial.Thus the effective trial design was a 2x2 factorial with two levels of supplementation and two levels ofmilking. Animals were blocked by week of kidding, beginning on 1 July 1991 and allocated to treatment within block, according to litter size. Milkingcontinued until September 1992 and a total of 50 lactationswere recorded. Milk yield for each doe was measured daily and all oestruses and matings recorded. Does were weighed regularly and all mortalities were noted.Datafor the period July 1991 to June 1992 are given in Table 1. Kiddings tookplace in most months ofthe year. Overall kidding rate was 142 live births/100 does kidding. There was no relationship between doe live weight and number ofkids born (the overall correlation being 0.1).Overall kid mortality averaged 335% of live births. Fewtripletswere born but mortalitywas high, at 583%. For single and twins mortality was 304% and 35%, respectively.The majority of deathstook place within the first 30 days after birth, that is, before hand milking had begun, and were spread throughout the year with no significant time-of-year effect.Treatment ofdam hadno effect on kid mortality. Numbers dead were 33 from milked does vs 43 from the unmilked and 33 from supplemented doesvs 42 forthe unsupplemented.In the does, post-partum anoestrus was very variable, ranging from 22 to 214 days.Therewas atrend for longer anoestrusin milked goats(110E57 days)than in the unmilked (80t52 days) but the differences were not significant. There was also a tendency for does kidding in the dry season to have longer anoestrus than those kidding in the rains. Leveltofsupplementation had no effect on anoestrus period.Milk production per doe was extremely variable with yields ranging from 1.5 to 61 litresper lactation. Does that had very low yields often did not reach the bottom limitof50 mlperday andthe decisionwas taken to stop milking them. Lactation length was thus extremely variable, ranging from 13days for the very low yielders to 252 daysforthe better animals.Total lactation yields were not significantly affected by supplementation. Data, broken down by month of kidding and by lactation period, are given in Table 2, with weekly yield totals shown in Table 3.Overall, patterns oflactation were not different between treatments with peak daily yield from supplemented animals reaching 29099 ml at 26 days from commencement of milking (range 140-500 ml) while equivalent figures for unsupplemented does were 259-99 ml at 19 days(range 80-450ml).Supplemented does milked for longerthan controls (147+54 days vs 117-t47 days). There was an interaction between level of supplementation and month of kidding (Figure 1). For does kidding in August supplementation had no effect on yield or persistency. For does kidding in February/March, with much oftheir lactation after the end of the rainy season, supplementation led to longer lactations and significantly higher yields (177E07 vs 9.1t1.5 litres, P<005). There was no relationship between doe live weight at kidding and subsequent milk yield. The correlation coefficients were 0.42 for supplemented animalsand 0.33 for controls.The overall linear regression equation was y=-18 +57w (where w = doe live weightin kg).The liveweights ofkids,byage and treatment, are given in Table 4. The kids from supplemented does were consistently heavier than those of unsupplemented animals while those from unmilked animals were heavier than those from milked ones from the 8th to the The performance of goats in this trial was similar in all respects to that reported elsewhere. In terms of reproduction, overall kidding rate was higher than the 109% reported by Reynolds (1979) and the 103% of Karua (1988). Kid growth rates, thought somewhat disappointing, were in line with the 42 g/day reported by Zerfas and Stotz (1987) and the 47 g/day of Karua, despite the amounts of milk removed. The quality of milk from the Malawi goat is high. Banda (1992b) reports an analytic composition of 5.3% protein, 6.7% butterfat and 4.7% lactose, figures similar to those found in the West African Dwarf goat (Akinsonyu et a1 1977) and the South African Boer goats (Raats et a1 1983) but significantly higher than those of 'exotic' milking goats.Two hundred millilitres of this milk would thus provide 10.5 g high quality protein, 135 g fat and 250 mg calcium. Such amounts would go a long way towards improving the diet of children drinking this milk and the nutritive value would not be impaired by the boiling which would be necessary before its use. It should, however, be noted that the overall mineral composition of goat milk is such that it is unsuitable for children below one year of age.It is concluded that while yields vary considerably it is possible, with minor modifications to traditional husbandry practices, and at a small cost, to produce usable amounts of milk from the indigenous Malawi  goat; removing this milk does not have any adverse effects on the doc or her offspring, and the milk so obtained is capable of contributing significantly to the diets of children aged between one and five years in the households in which the goats are kept.Production laitiere des chevres locales du Malawi Résumé Une experience factorielle 2 x 2 a été effectuée pour determiner les potentialités laitieres et l'effet de la complémentation alimentaire sur 8O chevres locales du Malawi élevées en systeme traditionnel. L'alimentation était a base de pfiturages locaux constitués principalement d'Hypparrhenia spp uniquement ou complémente's avec 250110 g de son de mais par jour. Les meres étaient séparées des petits et logées 1e soir au coucher puis traites a la main 1e matin avant de partir pour les piturages. Les mises bas ont eu lieu entre juillet 1991 et avril 1992. La production de lait a partir de 25 1 3 jours apres la parturition variait de 1,5 a 61 litres par lactation pour une dure'e de lactation comprise entre 13 et 252 jours. Les caractéristiques de la lactation des sujets recevant une complémentation était similaires a celles des autres animaux, avec un maximum de 270199 ml au 26eme jour chez les premiers et de 259199 ml au l9eme jour chez les seconds. Toutefois, il existait une interaction significative entre la date de chevrotementet la complémentation. Les femelles qui mettaient bas en août produisaient plus de lait (31,6t17,5 contre 21,2E13,66 l respectivement pour les animaux à ration complémentée et les autres) que celles qui chevrotaient en mars (177E7.5 contre 9,1+5,7 litres, P<005). Avec la complémentation, laproduction moyenne de lait était de 191 ml/jour entre la 1ère et la 10ème semaines et de 139ml/jour entre la 1ère et la 20ème semaines. Latraite n'avait pas d'effet sur les performances de reproduction, et l'intervalle entre la mise bas et l'oestrus suivant était de 110-t57 jours chez les animaux traits contre 80-t52 jours chez les autres. La complémentation n'avait pas d'effet sur la durée de l'anoestrus. Les cas de mortalité de chevreaux étaient essentiellement concentrés sur les 30 premiers jours. Ni la traite ni le niveau de complémentation n'avaient d'effet sur le taux de mortalitédes jeunes.Le traitement de la mère n'avait par ailleurs aucun effet sur la croissance des jeunes jusqu'à 28 semaines, les poids vifs à cet âge étant de 725t0,87 kg (sans traite ni complémentation), 763t075 kg (sans traite mais avec complémentation), 6,75t066 kg (traite mais sans complémentation) et 7,33t0,6 kg (traite et complé mentation). On peut conclure qu'avec de légères modifications des méthodes d'élevage traditionnel, il est possible de traire les chèvres locales du Malawi chaque jour sans conséquence ni pour elles-mêmes, ni pour leurspetits.Devant l'envergure désormais nationale de son programme d'amélioration génétique ovine, le Centre d'appui technique de Kolocopé envisage la mise en oeuvre d'un programme plus dynamique,basésur une stratégie desélectionà noyau ouvert,faisant appel àune large base de sélection couvrant l'ensemble du pays (Traoré, 1991).Ce programme prévoit à moyenterme le testage des béliers destinés à la lutte en lignée sur la descendance. Ce test, pour être efficace, devrait se dérouler dans un délaibrefet permettre la comparaison Les animauxutilisés pour l'essai sont des moutons de race Djallonké dont: 144 femelles âgées de 12 à 34 mois vides de 2564E3,1 kg de poids moyen; 6 géniteurs de poids moyen 47,33 kgâgés de 41 mois; et quelques mâles porteurs de tablier utilisés comme des béliers détecteurs de chaleurs. Les calculs et les analyses statistiques des données sont réalisés à l'aide du logiciel STAT-ITCF. Des analyses de variance et des tests de khi-deux ont été effectués pour étudier l'effet du régime de saillie sur les taux de retour en chaleurs, de fertilité, de fécondité et de prolificité.Compte tenu des variations dansla disponibilité de femelles en chaleurs, les régimes de saillies ontété de 3 saillies parjour et par bélier au lieu de 4 pour le 1er régime. Le taux de synchronisation observé au cours de cette étude (n =144) a étéde 9722%. L'étude comparée des deux régimes de saillies dont les résultats sont présentés au tableau 1 donne des taux de 137,78% et 120,61% de fécondité totale et 186,41% et 18320% de prolificité respectivement pour les régimes de 3 saillies et6saillies quotidiennes parbélier.Le tableau 2 donne les moyennes des différentes performances parrégime avec ou sansle bélier N*89179 qui amanifestédes signes évidents de faible fertilité.Les analyses de variance des différents taux de reproduction n'ont paspermis de mettre en évidence des différences statistiquement significatives.Le taux de synchronisation observé au cours de cet essai est du même ordre de grandeurque les chiffres de 100 et 91% rapportés par Lahlou-Kassi et Boukhilq (1989) respectivement pour les races D'man et Timahdite synchronisées avec de l'acétate de fluorogestone et une dose de 400UI de PMSG. On ne dispose que detrèspeu d'informations sur la réponse de la brebis Djallonké à une synchronisation des chaleurs. En Côte d'Ivoire, il a été rapporté un taux de 87% de femelles en chaleurs après une synchronisation à base de 40 mg d'acétate de fluorogestone suivie d'une injection de 300UI de PMSG (Touré et Meeusen 1980). Lors d'un essai antérieur mené au CATK, les brebis synchronisées ont toutes étéinséminées entre 56h et 57h en moyenne après le retrait des éponges sans détection préalable des chaleurs (Rouleau, 1988); bien que des variations des paramètres de reproduction enregistrés aient été notées dans les deux régimes de saillies (tableau 2), les tests statistiques indiquent qu'ils ne présentent pas de différence significative.(Tableau 1).Par conséquent, on pourrait envisager d'utiliser sans préjudice à leur fertilité les béliers pour un régime de 6 saillies par jour pendant 6 jours. Cela poserait d'autant moins de problèmes que ces géniteurs sortiraientd'une période de repossexuel.Cependant, les différences observées entre différents béliers d'un même régime montrent l'intérêt du suivi de la fertilité desgéniteurs.Dans la présente étude, le bélier N\"89179 a donné des performances inférieures à celles des autres (tableau 2). Son exclusion améliore les résultats du régimeà 6saillies (tableau3).Les examens macroscopiques et microscopiques de son sperme, bien qu'effectués 8semaines après son utilisation, ont permis d'en attester la mauvaise qualité (présence de sang,faible motilité, etc.).Le taux de fertilité de cet essai esttrès proche de celui rapporté par Rouleau (1988) et où les brebis avaient été inséminées après synchronisation sans détection préalable des chaleurs (69,77% contre 69%). Cecidénote la très bonne réponse de la brebis Djallonké à la synchronisation des chaleurs. La prolificité moyenne de 184,80% estplus élevée que celle indiquée par Amegée (1978), Armbruster (1987) et Dettmers (1976). Malgré la présence du bélier N\"89179, l'écart peu prononcé entre les taux de prolificité des deux régimes montre que ce paramètre zootechnique dépend beaucoup plus de la femelle que du mâle. Le tauxtrès élevé enregistré est probablement dû à la forte dose de PMSGutilisée (400UI).Maisilconvient de signaler que Rouleau(1988)obtenait également un taux de prolificité  (Hadzi, 1990). L'incidence de la dose de PMSG sur les caractéristiques des chaleurs et les taux de prolificité doivent donc faire l'objet de travaux plus poussés.Les résultats de l'étude de la maîtrise de la Djallonké ewes responded satisfactorily to oestrus synchronisation using fluorogestone acetate followed byan injection ofPregnant Mare Serum Gonadotrophin (PMSG), an ovulation-inducing substance. Djallonké rams can be usedin a sixtimes a dayservice scheme for six consecutive days without affecting their fertility.BW, frequency of TB, stillbirth and preweaning mortality values are shown in Table 1. Sex was not a significant source of variation in lamb survival.There was a high incidence ofmultiple births in both species.Abortions and stillbirthincidences were very lowinboth species. The average birth weights of singles were higher (P<005) than those of twins. In most years the males were heavier (P<005) at birth than the females.Therewas poorcorrelation (r*=002sheepandr*=004 goats)betweendam's bodyweight andtheyoung's birth weightin theflock.  1). This study showed a gestation period of 150-t023 days for sheep. Capote and Vazquez (1986) reported that the gestation length and lambing interval in Suffolk x Criollo ewes averaged 1487 days and 3182 days, respectively. They stated that 54% of the lambs born werefemales and58% ofthe lambings occurred during the dryseason.They concluded that neithersexoflamb, nor season of lambing had a significant effect on gestation length, buttherewas a significant interaction oftype oflambing(single or twin)andsex oflamb. Adu et al (1985) studied the reproductive performance of Balami and Desert Sudanese sheep in a dry hot environment.They observed that lambing interval was significantly shorter in Desert Sudanese ewes than in Balamiewes (254vs 279 days)but the number oflambs born perewe perannumin both breeds was similar(1.6).This study showed age at first lambing of 1800E1.39 months. Kabuga and Akovuah (1991) reported that age at first lambing averaged 5062 days in Djallonké x Sahelian crossbred ewes.They found thatthe interval between parturitions averaged 279 days, and litter size and number of lambs produced per year averaged 1.1 and 1.5, respectively.Age atfirst kidding of1800t067 months shows a short generation interval for the Boergoats.This is in line with 11.33-1847 months reported by Husain et al (1990) for Bengal goats in Bangladesh. The kidding interval observed in this study averaged 350. 00t24 dayswhichis lowerthan the 451t166 days reported by Lawar et al (1991)for Angoragoatsin India and higher than the 2742 and2936 days reported by Dickson et al (1990) for Anglo-Nubian and French Alpine goats, respectively.Mean birth weight of 331-t087 kg for Tswana lambs is higher than the 2. 44 kg reported for Djallonkéx Sahelian crossbred lambs by Kabuga and Akowuah (1991). The Boer kids recorded 323E076 kg for birth weight which is higher than the 1.47 kg reported for Bengal kids by Verma et al (1991). Boer goats are classified as medium sized breed by Devendra and McLeroy (1987). There was low abortion rate and preweaning mortality in both lambs and kids which could be due to the adequate management practices and thegoodveterinary care received on the farm. Verma et al (1991) reported that litter size was not affected by parity in Black Bengal goats. They also found that the percentages of single, twin and triplet births were 747,240and 1.3, respectively, in a herd of 20 female Bengal goats. Mellado et al (1991) reported the reproductive performance of 40 Anglo-Nubian female goats.They observed that the interval between kiddings averaged 301 days and prolificacy averaged 1.77. Multiple birth was very frequent in the herd over a five-yearperiod. Maternal size in Tswana sheep and Boer goats did not influence young birth weight significantly. Milne (1987) reported that maternal size appears to become a less important determinant of energetic efficiency during gestation as litter size increases. Prolificacyrate ofBoergoatsinthis studywas 19342%. This is higher than the 1.77(177%) reported for Nubian goats in northern Mexico (Mellado et al 1991) where fecundity rate was found to be correlated with rainfall in the month preceedingmating. Les volumes de sperme, la motilité massale des spermatozoïdes, la concentration en spermatozoïdes, la production totale despermatozoïdes parrécolte, lestaux de spermatozoïdes anormaux ou morts ont été étudiés chez onze béliers adultes de race peul et touareg.Avec une et deux éjaculations successives respectivement, chez les béliers peul, le volume moyen est de 0,895t 0,31 ml et 0,93-E0,53ml, la motilité massale de 3+1,3 et 3,2 t 1,2, la concentration moyenne en spermatozoïdes de 377710°E124510°spz/ml et 3694 I0°E134510°s pz/ml et le nombre total de spermatozoïdes par récolte de 361410°E175810°et 372310°285410°spz/ml. Chez les bélierstouareg, pour une et deux éjaculations, le volume moyen est respectivement de 1,13E031 mlet 1,78+0,48 ml, la motilité massale moyenne de 3.4E09 et 3,11E0,1, la concentration moyenne en spermatozoïdes nombre total de spermatozoïdes par récolte de 480510°E 1631.10°et 641410°211910°I ntroduction Le Niger abrite une population totale de 7,793 millions de têtes de petits ruminants dont 3,045millions d'ovinset 4,748 millionsde caprins.On distingue, parmi les ovins, des moutons à laine et des moutons à poils; ces derniers sont numériquement les plus importants et se composent de deux races: la peul et la touareg. L'amélioration des performances de reproduction des animaux nécessite la connaissance des paramètres de reproduction des femelles et des mâles. Jusqu'ici, les paramètres de reproduction des animaux connus en milieu sahélienet particulièrement auNiger,sont limités à l'étude de la femelle, notamment en ce qui concerne la productivité numérique en milieu traditionnel, les paramètres de reproduction des brebis en station et en milieu traditionnel, et les facteurs influant sur ces paramètres. Chez le mâle, peu d'études ont été effectuées sur le comportement du bélier en station (Gaillard, 1979;Harouna, 1987). La connaissance des performances de reproduction du mâle et des facteurs Le nombre total de spermatozoïdespar récolte est influencé par l'interactionrace x nombre d'éjaculations, les valeurs étant plus élevées chez les touareg lorsque la fréquence de collecte passe de 1 à 2 (tableau 1).Deuxbélierspeul blancs et troisbéliers touaregont serviàla détermination de ceparamètre. Lepourcentage de spermatozoïdes anormaux varie de 1,9à 13pour les béliers peul blancs (tableau 2) contre 4 à 11,5pour les béliers touareg (tableau 3). Taux de spermatozoïdes mortsLes mêmes animaux qui ci-dessus ont servi à la détermination de ce paramètre. Le pourcentage de spermatozoïdes morts varie de 145 à 33 chez les béliers peul blancs (tableau 2) contre 22à4605 chez les béliers touareg (tableau 3).Relation entre la concentration en spermatozoïdes et la densité optique La relation entre la concentration en sperma tozoïdes dans un milieu biologique et la densité optique du milieu mesurée au spectrocolorimètre a été utilisée pour établir une courbe d'étalonnage en vue de déterminer la concentration en spermatozoïdes.Trente éjaculats dechaque race ontété utiliséspour établir les courbes d'étalonnage. Avec la semence de béliers peul blancs (figure 1), on observe une grande dispersion des concentrations en spermatozoïdes le long de la courbe, ce qui traduit une grande variation (Y étant la concentration en spermatozoïdes). Le coefficient de corrélation r de 0,86 est hautement significatif (P<0,001) (figure 2). Il n'y a pas de différence significative entre les coefficients de régression des deux droites (P<005).L'aspect visqueuxetblanchâtre (crémeux, laiteux) du sperme des béliers peul blancs et touareg est semblable à celui du bélier peul bicolore (Harouna, 1987) et des moutons djallonké et peul du Cameroun (Nielsen et al., 1985). Le volume moyen de sperme collecté lors d'une éjaculation chez les deux races de béliers (0,895 à 0930 ml) est voisin de celui du bélier peul bicolore (072 à 1,50 ml) (Harouna, 1987) ou des races européennes (08 à 1,2 ml) [Colas et al, 1975]. Toutefois, des différences raciales importantes de volume apparaissent lorsque le nombre d'éjaculations est doublépar récolte, le bélier touareg ayant tendance à produire plus de sperme que le bélier peulblanc:(1,78 + 0. 48 et 093E053 ml respectivement).Il a également été montré que le volume de la semence chez le bélier est fonction de l'âge et de la croissance corporelle (Colas et al., 1975). Les deux lots d'animaux utilisés ici sont d'âge et de poids différents, les béliers peul blancs étant plus jeunes (1 à 2 ans) et moins lourds(35,5 à 43,5 kg) que les touareg(2à 4 ans et 375 à 55 kg).La motilité massale varie au cours des différentes collectes chez les deux races; une variation de ce paramètre au cours de collectes successives a été notée chez le bélier peul bicolore (Harouna, 1987), chez les races camerounaises Djallonkéet Fulani (Nielsen et al., 1985)et chez le bélier Ile-de-France (Colas, 1980). Cette donnée subjective etimprécise peut constituer, en l'état actuel des connaissances, un critère de tri des animaux dans la mesure où il traduit tout de même une plus ou moins forte proportion de cellules vivantes (Colas, 1980).Les concentrations moyennes en spermatozoïdes sont comparables entre les racespeul blanche ettouareg et comparables à celles des béliers peul bicolores (Harouna., 1987), Djallonké et Fulani du Cameroun (Nielsen et al., 1985) et Romanov (Colas, 1975) Densité optique (DO)Figure 1. Corrélation entre la densité optique et la concentration en spermatozoïdes de la semence de bélierpeul spermatozoïdes des éjaculats est étroitement liée à la fréquence de collecte (Colas et al., 1975). Ainsi, une faible fréquence de récolte analogue à celle utilisée ici ne permet pas de récupérer toute la production spermatique,une proportion du sperme s'éliminant de façon permanente par l'urine chez le bélier (Colas, 1980). Il est donc probable que les concentrations rapportées dans cette étude soient sous-estimées par rapport à la production testiculaire.Des variations individuelles de la concentration en spermatozoïdes ont été notées surtout chez le bélier peul blanc.Ces variations raciales peuvent être rapprochées des facteurs environnementaux et des conditions d'élevage très différentes qui caractérisent les deux niches écologiques où vivent les deux races de moutons (Ibrahim, 1974). La très grande variation de la concentration en spermatozoïdes constatée chez le bélier peul blanc offre des possibilités de sélection de Ccttc IaCe.La production totale de spermatozoïdes est variable selon la race, le bélier touareg ayant une production plus importante que le bélier peul blanc (641424.10°spz et 3723.10°spz respectivement). Il est par conséquent probable que la multiplication des cellules spermatiques soit plus importante chezle bélier touareg que chez le bélier peul blanc. Les travaux de Banoin (1993, résultats non publiés) qui montrent que l'index mitotique des follicules ovariens est plusgrand chez la race touareg que chez la race peul blanche corroborent cette hypothèse. Toutefois, des études ultérieures s'avèrent nécessaires sur la production spermatique par unité de temps chez ces deux races de mouton envue de confirmer cette hypothèse.Les taux de spermatozoïdes anormaux se situent entre 4,5et 11%. Colas(1981), dans uneétude effectuée sur des ovins de race Ile-de-France, a rapporté les taux de fertilité de 50à 60% pour un taux de spermatozoïdes anormaux compris entre 10et20%puis entre 40et50% pour des taux de fertilitéde moins de 50%. Ainsi, pour les spermes analysésici, ce paramètre se situe dans des limites acceptables pour la fertilité.Les taux de spermatozoïdes morts déterminés dans cette étude se situent entre 18,5 et 45% et sont donc relativement élevés par rapport auxlimites de20 à 30% considérés comme acceptables pour un bon géniteur. Cependant, il est établi que ce paramètre varie en fonction de la température. Le fait que la collecte ait été effectuée en condition de températures élevées explique peut-être les chiffres élevés obtenus. Par ailleurs, ce paramètre connaît desvariations individuelles que l'on ne saurait ignorer. Enfin, on sait que le taux de spermatozoïdes morts diminue avec le nombre d'éjaculations: Etant donné qu'on n'a travaillé ici qu'avec une éjaculation par récolte, il est possible d'améliorer ces taux avec un nombre plus élevé d'éjaculations par prélèvement.Les paramètres étudiés se rapprochent globa lement des chiffres enregistrés chez d'autres races africaines et européennes. Ces paramètres témoignant ensemble de la qualité du sperme, l'étude de l'effet des Some data on the semen of White Fulani and Tuareg rams in Niger Semen yield, mass motility of spermatozoa, semen spermatozoa concentration, total number of sperma tozoa per ejaculation and percentage of abnormal and dead spermatozoa were studied in l 1 Fulani and Tuareg adult rams. With one and two successive emissions in Fulani rams, average sperm volume was 0.8951031 ml and 0.931053 ml, respectively; mass motility was 311.3 and 3211.2 units; spermatozoa mean concentration was 3777 x 10611245 X 106 per ml and 3694 x 10611345 x 106 while total number of spermatozoa per emission was 3614 X 10611758 x106 and 3723 x 10 12854 X 10\". In Tuareg rams, for one and two emissions, average sperm volume was 1.131031 m1 and 1.781048, respectively; mean mass motility was 3.410.09 and 3.1101 m1; mean spermatozoa concentration was 4156 x 10 1791 x 106 and 3580 x 1061406 x 106 while total number of spermatozoa per emission was 4805 x 10611631 x 10 and 6414 x 10612119 x 106. Breed x number of emissions had a significant effect (P<0.05) on volume of sperm and total number of spermatozoa in semen but not on mass motility and spermatozoa concentration (P>0.05). Depending on the breed, it is therefore better to use two emissions per \"yield\" to determine sperm volume and total number of spermatozoa. Percentage of abnormal spermatozoa was similar in both breeds. It varied from 4.5 (10.5) to 11 (10.43) and was within normal limits for fertility. Percentage of dead spermatozoa varied from 18.5 (14.15) to 41.25 (14.8)% for both breeds, which is rather high. However, this should be related to other environmental and individual factors, including temperature, individual biological parameters, number of emissions etc. Regression between semen spermatozoa concentration and optical density was studied using a spectrocolorimeter. For Fulani rams, the equation of the regression line was Y = 8225.2 X + 18.2 (where Y is the spermatozoa concentration and X is the optical density). The highly significant (P<0.01) correlation coefficient (r = 0.97) indicated a strong relationship between the two variables. For Tuareg sperm, the equation of the regression line was Y = 7590.6 X + 317.7 and the correlation coefficient (r = 0.86) was also highly significant (P<0.05). These results suggest that morphological characteristics of the sperm of Tuareg rams are different from those of Fulani rams semen when collection frequency is greater than 1. Taken together these parameters indicate the quality of sperm. It is concluded that studies of various environmental factors should be carried out in relation with seasons. Vingt deux chèvres âgées de 2 ans et demi en moyenne et ayant mis bas entre juillet et octobre ont été utilisées dans cette étude. Elles ont été conduites de manière identique, avec 8 heures de pâture/jour (8-17 heures), interrompues par une heure d'abreuvement (entre 13 et 14 heures)à la ferme deSangalcam, dans la zone périurbaine (région de Niayes), à40km au nord-est de Dakar. La composante végétale du parcours et le comportement alimentaire des chèvres ont été rapportés dans une étudeprécédente (Cissé et al.,1993) Apartir du 14ème jour post-partum, leschèvresont été alternativement réparties en 2 lots: un lot non complémenté (lot 1) et un lot complémenté (lot 2) recevant lesoir, au retour dupâturage 500g/animal/jde concentré (66% de maïs,30% de tourteau d'arachide et 4% de CMV), de valeur nutritive calculée en énergie et en azote de 1,12 UF et 190g MAD/kg de MS respec tivement.Les quantités de lait produitesont été mesurées par la méthode de la double pesée du chevreau avant et après latétée (Cissé et al., 1993). Un contrôle laitierindividuel s'effectuait trois fois par semaine au cours des deux premières semaines post-partum, puis une fois par semaine pendant le reste de la lactation. Les tétées avaient lieu à 8, 13, 18 et 22 heures. Les mesures s'effectuaient ainsi quatre fois par jour parpesée de la traite du matin, des quantités buespar le/les chevreaux et de latraite àfond de la mère, après la tétée. Lespetits Small Ruminant Research NetworkWorkshop étaient séparés des mères la veille du contrôle laitier, au soir. La pesée des petits et des quantités de lait traites s'effectuaient à l'aide d'une balance Sartorius de 0,1 g de précision et de 16kg de portée. Un échantillon de 100ml de lait auquel on ajoutait 1ml de formol était constituéà partir des traites du matin et de 18 heures en vue de l'analyse de composition chimique. Les teneurs en matièresgrasses, enprotéines et en lactose du lait ont été déterminées. Notation de l'état corporel L'état corporel a été apprécié selon une échelle de notation de 6 points (0= condamné, l=très maigre, 2= maigre,3= moyen,4= gras,5=très gras)par observation et palpation des régions sternale et lombaire (Cissé et al., 1994)une fois par mois, sur chaque chèvre.Des prises de sang ont été individuellement effectuées sur toutes les chèvres, en fin de gestation, dans les24-48heures après la parturition,puistous les 14jours, à compter de la date de mise bas. Le sang a été immédiatement centrifugé et le plasma récupéré puis réparti dans plusieurs cupules et congelé à -20'C jusqu'à l'analyse. Les kits commerciaux ont été utilisés pour le dosage duglucose et de l'urée. Leglucose a été dosé selon la méthode à laglucose-oxydase deTrinder (1969) (kit Sera-Pak, Miles Italiana), et l'urée par la méthode de Gutmanni et Bergmeyer (1974) (kit urée enzymatique UV H.P., Biotrol) (Cissé et al., 1991).Le contrôle de croissance a été hebdomadaire. En fait, le poids des chevreaux était régulièrement enregistré au moment du contrôle laitier.Quantités de lait produites L'apport de complément a eu un effet positif(mais non significatif) sur la production laitière moyenne (tableau 1). Les quantités de lait consommées par les chevreaux ont représenté 56 à 65% de la production totale.La production laitière a été plus importante chez les chèvres qui ont mis bas pendant la saison des pluies (figure 1).L'effet de lataille de la portée aétésignificatif surla production totale de lait et sur les quantités de lait consommées (tableau 1), le volume de la tétée étant positivement lié au nombre de chevreaux.Tableau 1: Quantités de lait produites par les chèvres (en g/j/animal de lait brut) et composition du lait (g/kg)  La glycémie a été relativement faible en fin de gestation (figure 3). Elle a connu un pic dans les 24-48 heures post-partum. Les valeurs lesplus élevées ontété enregistrées àcette période: 1,25 et0,78g/l dans les lots ayant mis bas en saison des pluies et en saison sèche respectivement. Pendant les deux premiers mois de lactation, la glycémie a été relativement stable puis a progressivement diminué au cours du 3ème mois, dans tous les lots. La saison de mise bas où l'apport de complément n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur la glycémie. Par contre l'effet de lataille de la portée a été significatif sur la glycémie enregistrée en fin de gestation, les chèvres à portée multiple ayant eu une glycémie plus faible que cellesà portée simple.L'urémie a étéfaible en fin de gestation dans tous les lots (043E007g/l). Elle a par la suite progres sivement augmenté pour atteindre un pic vers les semaines4 et6 de lactation (figure4). L'urémie mesurée en fin de gestation a été significativement plus élevée chezles chèvres ayant mis bas en saison despluies (0,46 vs 0. 39g/l, p<005).La croissance des chevreaux a été suivie jusqu'à l'âge de 8 semaines. Le poids à la naissance a été plus faible (tableau 2) chez les chevreaux du lot non complémenté (lot 1) car le nombre de naissances doubles était plus élevé dans ce lot (6/11) que dans le lot 2 (3/9). Le potentiel de production laitière de la mère a eu un effet significatif sur le gain de poidsvif au cours du 1* mois de lactation (tableau 3). Les chevreaux nés doubles ou triples ont gagné moins de poids (-1,6 kg, p<001) pendant la mêmepériode que ceuxnés simples.La relation entre la quantité de lait consommée (y) Effet sexe = différence \"mâle-femelle\" L'indice de consommation, c'est à dire la quantité de lait nécessaire par unité de gain de poids a été de 6,24-E09.La réponse de production laitière suite à l'apport de complément de valeur nutritive 1,12 UF et 190g MAD/kg de MS a été relativement faible si on tient compte du fait que les besoins de production laitière de lachèvre s'élèvent à 04UFet50g MAD/kgde lait à4% de matière grasse (Rivière, 1977, cité par Cissé et al., 1993). Parmi les facteurspouvant expliquer cettefaible réponse, il y a de manière vraisemblable l'âge relativement jeune des chèvres qui devaient en plus satisfaire des besoins de croissance et le disponible alimentaire de la saison sèche qui devait se situer en dessous d'un seuil critique (Cissé et al., 1993). En revanche, la production plus importante de lait pendant la saison des pluies est à lier à la disponibilité et à la bonne valeur nutritive de l'herbe consommée.Parailleurs, les chèvres ayant misbasen saison des pluies ont eu les meilleures notes d'état corporel (figure 2). En effet les réserves corporelles des chèvres ayant chevroté pendant la saison sèche étaient certainement plus sollicitées pour couvrir les besoins d'entretien et de production laitière. On peut aussi s'attendre à des répercussions sur les performances de reproduction (Cissé et al., 1992) Le profil biochimique ne peut en aucun cas se substituer à un bilan complet de rationnement qui seul permet de vérifier si les besoins nutritionnels sont couverts. Ilpeut cependant compléter et étayer le bilan nutritionnel. Le glucose est le paramètre le plus souvent mesuré dans les profils biochimiques des ruminants, Small Ruminant Research Network Workshop bien que son rôle chez ces animaux ait une moindre signification que chez les monogastriques. Une hyperglycémie a été constatée dans les 24-48 heures après la mise bas. Elle a déja été signalée par certains auteurs et serait probablement due au stress de la parturition qui entraîne des décharges de gluco corticoïdes (Gueorguiev et al., 1995). La baisse de la glycémie constatée par contre avec l'avancée de la saison sèche peut être le reflet d'un déficit énergétique. L'urémie a progressivement augmentéaprès la misebas. On peut l'attribuer à la reprise de l'appétit ou à un hypercatabolisme qui résulterait de l'involution utérine pendant le premier mois post-partum (Remond et Journet, 1978).Le GMQ enregistré au cours des 7 premiers jours est tout à fait comparable à celui rapporté sur les chevreauxsahéliens de Louga (Faugere etal, 1989). Sur la période totale de l'étude, la vitesse de croissance a été néanmoins plus importante en station qu'en milieu éleveur où des GMQ de l'ordre de 60g/jsont rapportés.L'indice de consommation obtenu au cours de cet essai (6. 24) est tout à fait comparable à celui obtenu par Amegée (1984) chez l'agneau Vogan. Ces résultats peuvent trouver une application pratique dans la détermination indirecte de la production laitière des chèvres par la vitesse de croissance de leurs chevreaux.Milk production and nutritional status of Sahelgoats on natural pastures: Relationship with kid growth Milkproduction from22goats aged2.5years on average and raised on natural pastures was studied using the weight measurement by difference method before and after sucking; its effect on kidgrowth was also studied. Milk consumption of the kids was 56to 65% of total milk production. This production was higher in goats kidding during the rainy season and in those with multiple births. Glycaemia was highest 24-48 hours after kidding(1.25 and 0.78g/l in animals givingbirth in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively) and then decreased gradually.The same trend was observed for uraemiawith ashifted peakatbetween4th and 6th week of lactation. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.55) between milk consumption of the kids andtheirgrowth during the first 60 days. Kids' consumption indexwas Housing small ruminants in Botswana: A case study of the Kweneng and Kgatleng districts JA. Karim-Sesay and K.K. Morake Department ofAgricultural Engineering d& Landuse Planning Botswana College ofAgriculture, Private Bag 0027, Gaborone, Botswana This study, as part of an on-going Botswana Small Ruminant Research Network(BSRRN)project, was an attempt to identify and characterise the various traditionalhousing systems usedfor small ruminants in rural Botswana. Data for the analysis were collected from93randomly selected farms in a pilot questionnaire survey conductedinthe Kweneng and Kgatleng districts between February and April 1993.The results show that varyingproportions ofthe farmers keepsmallruminants for meat (97.62%), cash income (88.32%), social obligations (7085%), milk production (24.39%) and for the skin (644%). The commonest structure found in both districts was the acacia bush kraal (45.16%), followed by the bush pole kraal(31.18%), and the gum pole and wire kraal (16.13%). However, the brick/block shelter (4.30%), the diamond mesh wire kraal(2.15%) and the diamond wire shelter(1.08%)were onlyfound in the Kgatleng District indicating, perhaps, greater awareness ofinnovations andpotential adoption ofnew technology. The acacia bush kraals were generally circular or ovalin shape while the rest were rectangular.The mean age ofthe kraalsinthe Kweneng Districtwas 493 years (SD=90) while that in the Kgatleng District was 354 years(SD=194). The mean area of the kraal in the Kweneng Districtwas 14495 m (SD=2965)with a stocking density of 1.97 m/animal (SD=058). In the Kgatleng District the mean area was 125.13 m (SD=45.74) while the stocking density was 1.24 m/animal(SD=0.52). Suggestions are made that could improve the design and overall efficiency of the traditional kraalsfoundin the study area.A study ofvillage sheep production in the western region of Ghana were often provided during confinement. The stock population showed an increase of 15% over the 12-month period. Adult and young-stock mortalities were 178 and 324%, respectively, and higher in the flocks that were not vaccinated against pestes despetits ruminant (PPR). Half of the flocks were subjected to ectoparasite control in the form of hand-dressing, and endoparasite control was undertaken in 46% of the flocks. Foot rot occurred in27% of the holdings.Endoparasites ofgoats in Gaborone, Botswana E.Z. Mushi and J.F. W. Isa Botswana College ofAgriculture, Private Bag 0027, Gaborone, Botswana About24% of585goats sampledhada significant worm eggcount.This low infestation rate could be dueto the fact that sampling was performed during the rainy seasonandtheinfective larvae were washedintothe soil.Some degree ofinnate resistance andacquiredimmunity could also play a role. Chabertia and Haemonchus were the commonest worm eggs encountered.Dry matter herbage productivity and aspects of chemical composition in four forage shrub legumes at a subhumid site in Ghana P. Barnes Animal Research Institute, Achimota, Ghana Four forage shrubs Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium, Flemingia macrophylla and Cajanus cajan were evaluated for herbage productivity in two years after they had been established in hedgerows 4 m apart and within-row spacing of 15 cm. Herbage dry-matter yields were assessed afterharvesting at 1 and 2 years of primary growth. Duringthe thirdyear regrowth yields atcuttingintervals of6weeks (3 cuts), 12weeks (l cut) and 18 weekswere assessed forthefour species.Crude protein, calcium and phosphorus contents were assessed for the entries during the regrowth yield assessments.Gliricidiasepium consistently outyielded the three other species in primary growth and regrowth after cutting with yields exceeding two tonnes per hectare in the regrowth assessments. In CP%,Ca% and P% analysis Leucaena leucocephala was outstanding with highest values being 290%, 1.74% and 0.36% for the three analysed items, respectively.Enquête sur l'élevage ovin dans la région forestière de l'Est-cameroun L'analyse des données montrent que: la majorité des éleveurs de moutons de la région (79%)ont moins de 45 ansd'âge et les ovins appartiennent surtout aux hommes (92%). Le taux d'alphabétisation des éleveurs (35%) est relativement bas. La taille moyenne du troupeau est généralement de 2-5animaux(52%) et la majorité des animaux (70%) sont hérités des parents. Les animaux sont laissés en divagation permanente toute l'année et l'herbe est assez abondante pour assurer une alimentation convenable. Des mises bas précoces (18-20 mois) sont signalées par 66% des éleveurs. Les naissances doubles sont les plus fréquentes et la fécondation est observée toute l'année. Les principaux symptômes pathologiques enregistrés sont les diarrhées (34%), la toux (6%) et les gales (5%). Les maladies sont exclusivement traitées avec des moyens locaux dont l'efficacité n'est pastoujours garantie. Les principales contraintes à l'élevage des ovins sont le comportement social, la santé et la commercialisation.","tokenCount":"72386"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3337859965.json b/data/part_1/3337859965.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4baf57e8206eb170b6e832baa8ca318f9c41a1fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3337859965.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9957c947fc3c350627319dccbcae1e31","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4a70355b-a003-463f-a260-8f1e9e6fa2df/retrieve","id":"899903393"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db4c3f3f-ab44-48fc-a093-4a4005c4b6a2","pagecount":"9","content":"In Ethiopia, intensification of agricultural production is the primary focus of the government's poverty reduction strategy. Livestock constitute an invaluable resource providing essential goods and services to small-scale poor farmers and their families and communities. Production of high valued livestock products provides a route out of poverty especially where growing urban demand fuels the markets. Water security is a requisite input for livestock production and its resultant contribution to poverty reduction. Typically, one tropical livestock unit (TLU = 250 kg live weight) requires less than 50 litres/day derived from drinking water and moisture in animal feeds. Assuming annual rainfall of 500 to 1000 mm and a stocking rate of one TLU/ha, the drinking water required by livestock is less than 0.2% of the intercepted precipitation. While sufficient high quality water is essential to sustaining livestock production, direct water intake is only of minor significance in terms of livestock water budgets in farming systems and watersheds where the water required for feed production can be up to 5000 litres/TLU per day or 100 times the amount directly consumed.Water productivity of livestock may be high or low depending on the context within which livestock production is evaluated. Livestock produced solely with irrigated forage and grain crops may be very inefficient in terms of water consumed for food produced. However, 'cutand-carry' and grazing production relying on consumption of crop residues and tree fodder can be very efficient since the water used for plant production would have been used with or without livestock feeding on it. The stover or feed is simply a by-product of growing crops and does not require additional water for its production. Livestock also provide rural farmers with additional value in terms of consumable and marketable outputs without incurring significant demand for water. Understanding and managing water productivity of livestock presents opportunities to contribute to poverty reduction.Water productivity varies according to the geographic scale being considered and depends largely on the degree to which water is depleted or available to other users or ecosystem services. Livestock have a profound impact on downstream water resources. In urban and peri-urban areas, livestock production may be an ideal agricultural practice in terms of water productivity if downstream contamination can be avoided. Increasing demand for livestock products implies increased future demand for water that can be expected to rival the water requirements for production of all other food products consumed by the urban population. In many cases, livestock management practices jeopardise water quality, human health and aggravate water mediated land degradation. Research is needed to develop practical strategies to enable poor people in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to better manage livestock so that they can realise poverty reducing benefits and minimise harmful effects on themselves and others. An utmost need exists for community based natural resources management, a critical issue of interest to water and livestock managers. Given the paucity of literature on livestock-water interactions, key areas for future research are highlighted.Poverty is the pronounced deprivation in human well-being encompassing not only material deprivation but also poor health, literacy and nutrition, vulnerability to shocks and changes, and having little or no control over key decisions (ILRI 2002). About 1.3 billion people or one-fifth of the world's population live on less than US$ 1 per day. Women constitute 70% of the poorest of the poor. They provide more than half the labour force required to produce food in the developing world. In Africa, close to 70% of the staple foods are produced by women. Women typically spend a higher proportion of their income on food and health care for children (Ashby 1999).Ethiopia ranks near the bottom of the global poverty scale. About 45% of the people live on less than US$ 1/day, and life expectancy is about 47 years and falling. Diseases of poverty such as malaria, tuberculosis (TB), Human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), parasites, blindness, respiratory infections and diarrhoea are widespread (WHO 2002). Safe drinking water and sanitation are woefully inadequate particularly in rural areas. Chronic food insecurity evidenced by high prevalence of stunting and wasting in children trap future generations into continued poverty. Efforts by the poor to sustain themselves contribute directly to land and water degradation. For example, collection of wood and manure for fuel renders land vulnerable to erosion resulting in flooding, soil loss and sedimentation of water bodies.Poverty reduction is the driving goal of Ethiopian development strategies. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners are committed to reducing poverty and making sustainable development possible for poor livestock keepers, their families and the communities in which they live. In Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO) is ILRI's traditional and primary partner in promoting effective use of animal agriculture for poverty reduction. Through new partnerships, this workshop affords the opportunity to integrate animal agriculture into the wider poverty reduction strategy including the integration of diverse livelihood strategies within watershed and river basin systems. Indeed, the moral imperative of today is to sustainably reduce poverty with particular emphasis on improving the lives of women and children.The purpose of this paper is to highlight a few key principles related to the role of livestock keeping as an important pathway out of poverty taking into account both beneficial and harmful livestock management practices associated with integrated watershed and river basin management. Global issues and principles are discussed with reference to the Ethiopian context for development, integrated natural resource management (INRM) and the improvement of water productivity through effective water management.The potential of livestock to reduce poverty is enormous. Livestock contribute to the livelihoods of more than two-thirds of the world's rural poor and to a significant minority of the peri-urban poor. The poorest of the poor often do not have livestock, but if they can acquire animals, their livestock can help start them along a pathway out of poverty. Livestock also play many other important roles in people's lives. They contribute to food and nutritional security; they generate income and are an important, mobile means of storing wealth; they provide transport and on-farm power; their manure helps maintain soil fertility; and they fulfil a wide range of socio-cultural roles (ILRI 2002).A predicted increase in demand for animal food products in developing countries offers the poor, including the landless, a rare opportunity to benefit from a rapidly growing market (Delgado et al. 1999). In brief, the global process of urbanisation creates expanding market opportunities for food products. Increasing disposable income enables people to increase the proportion of their diet comprised of meat, eggs and milk products including milk, butter and cheese. Consequently, urbanisation leads to a consumer driven increase in the demand for animal products relative to the demand for plant based components. Satisfying this demand provides a great opportunity for poor farming families to rise out of poverty. Mismanaging the production of animal products places unnecessary demands on water resources and can result in enhanced degradation of water and land resources.Water contributes up to 80% of an animal's body weight. Deprivation of water more than any other nutrient quickly leads to reduced feed intake, production, reproduction, poor health, and death. Water intake depends upon the size of animal, feed and salt ingested, lactation, and ambient temperature and an animal's genetic adaptation to its environment. For example, indicative water intake by dairy cows could be estimated by the following equation (after Pallas 1986):where, y is the daily water intake (litres per day assuming l litre, and weights = 1 kg), where i is the daily dry matter feed intake (kg/day), m is the daily milk production (kg/day), s is the sodium intake (g/day) and t is the mean weekly mean minimum temperature (°C).Indicative water intake levels of livestock range from about 5 litre/TLU in cool wet weather to about 50 litre/TLU in hot dry conditions (Table 1). Although much effort has been devoted to the important task of providing drinking water for animals, the actual water required to produce daily feed for livestock is about 100 times the actual daily requirements for drinking water. Livestock typically require daily feed intake of dry matter amounting to about 3% of their weight, but about 1 m 3 or 500 litres of water is required to produce 1 kg dry matter. One TLU of small livestock such as sheep and goats would require up to 5000 litres of water a day to produce the feed required, and larger animals such as camels will require at least half of this amount. Popular literature often criticises the use of livestock in agricultural production because of their apparently high water requirements (e.g. Goodland and Pimental 2000;Postel 2001).Water requirements of various agricultural commodities varies (Table 2) with beef production reportedly requiring 200 times more water than potatoes. Many details are missing from such summaries. For example, the food items listed have highly variable water contents. The figures do not take into account market values of the commodities. The requirements do not clearly explain how the water was used in the production process and how much could have been re-used for other purposes. The example in Table 2 for example could have come from a North American feed lot where the feed is irrigated maize and where large quantities of water are used during the slaughter, processing, and packaging of animal products. It probably does not represent livestock keeping and production in the sub-Saharan African context. Despite these, the reported differences cannot be ignored.Understanding their implication and managing them for integrated natural resource management requires analysis of innovative new research on water productivity of livestock. Source: Goodland and Pimental (2000).Water productivity of livestock is a measure of the ratio of outputs such as meat, milk, eggs, or traction to water depleted (i.e. used as an input and subsequently not available for other uses). When multiple outputs such as milk (litres), meat (kg), and traction (ox-days) are involved, productivity must be expressed using a common measure such as US dollars or Ethiopian Birr per unit of water depleted. Degraded water can be viewed as water depleted for high value purposes. Water productivity can be estimated by the following equation:Water productivity measures are scale dependent (Table 3), and water considered depleted at one scale may not be considered as such at a different scale if it has been or can be used for additional purposes. At the level of the individual animal, water lost through evaporation and respiration are no longer available to the animal or to any other users. This is depleted water. Losses such as those in urine and milk have no further value to the individual, but may be of use to other users. Degraded water is partially depleted water that can have lower value uses. A clear research challenge is to develop livestock management practices that increase water productivity and reduce depletion and degradation. Applicability of interventions will be scale-specific as suggested in Table 3. For example, urine provides nutrients to the forage crops on which animals feed and contributes to soil moisture. This is depleted water from the perspective of the individual animal but not to larger systems (e.g. a pasture).Estimating water productivity of livestock can be tricky. For example, Goodland and Pimental (2000) suggested that 100 thousand litres of water are needed to produce 1 kg of beef. In contrast, let us assume that one head of cattle consumes 25 litre/day over a twoyear period to produce 125 kg (the approximate dress weight of one TLU). This implies that it will drink up to 18,250 litres over a two-year period. Let us also assume that all of the feed comes from crop residues for which no additional water input was required. Then productivity of beef production would be about (18,250 litres)/(125 kg) or 146 litres/kg, an amount far more efficient than the figure given for potatoes (Table 2). In addition, much of the water consumed by livestock is released into the soil as urine providing soil nutrients and soil moisture. From this example, it is clear that livestock production could be viewed as either one of the most efficient or inefficient means of producing food for people depending on the system in which the livestock are raised. The difference between the two water productivity scenarios of 100 thousand and 148 litres/kg of beef, that we must assume that we know very little about the true water productivity of livestock keeping. Understanding water productivity of livestock is lacking, especially at a watershed or river basin level, and must be given priority in future research and development. Because animal products have high value compared with most staple plant based foods, livestock production will likely be increasingly valued as an effective strategy to alleviate poverty in situations where market opportunities exist. Following on the argument that water productivity of animal products derived from consumption of crop residues is competitive with crop production, it follows that in terms of water productivity, livestock can make an important contribution to poverty alleviation.Globally, urban demand for livestock products is growing rapidly because of the combined effects of migration and increased income (Delgado et al. 1999;ILRI 2002). Assume that animal products will make up 10% of the future urban diet, and that feed conversion efficiency of animal feed is about 10%, and that water requirements for production of animal and plant food are about the same. Then the water required to meet the future urban demand of animal products would be about the same as that required to produce all other food for the urban population. Urbanisation often leads to the re-allocation of water from agriculture to urban demands for domestic water and industry (Molden 2002). This suggests that future competition for water between livestock and other water users will intensify. However, urban and peri-urban livestock production systems can give high value products for relatively little use of urban water if water requirements for feed production are not drawn from the urban and peri-urban areas where water demand is high. By importing feed from outside of the source area for urban water supplies, urban livestock producers can avoid having to compete with urban demand for this essential input. This is a form of 'virtual water' (Meissner 2002) that provides a mechanism to improve water productivity within urban and peri-urban agriculture. It also reduces the land area required for production.As Steinfield et al. (1997) observed, livestock do not degrade the environment-humans do.The decisions and actions of people who manage livestock rather than the livestock themselves are primarily responsible for the mix of positive and negative impacts that they have on environmental and human health. In Ethiopia, many farmers would fail to harvest crops without access to oxen to plow and drain waterlogged vertisols (e.g. Astatke and Saleem 1997). The water required by the oxen must be factored into the productivity of these crops. When poorly managed, livestock keeping can contribute to degradation and depletion of water resources. Yet, studies in Ethiopia demonstrate that conversion of cropland to grassland reduces annual soil loss from 42 to 5 t/ha presumably with an accompanying decrease in runoff because well-maintained grass cover is perhaps the best natural method of erosion and runoff control. Establishing watering points for livestock creates foci for high human and animal populations and unleashes unsustainable pressure on natural vegetation (Steinfield et al. 1997). In some savannah systems, scarcities of vegetation are caused by drought and not grazing pressure (Ellis and Swift 1988;Cavendish 1995) where livestock numbers are determined by rainfall levels, and attempting to revive grassland through manipulating livestock numbers is thus misguided. Livestock management has a major impact on river basin hydrology and on the sustainability of livelihoods of the inhabitants. Integrated watershed management will need to integrate effective livestock management to attain sustainable poverty reduction. Finding optimal livestock keeping practices and feeding systems for different species and conditions is a primary need for future research and for development of watersheds and river basins.Human health is a fundamental aspect of poverty (ILRI 2002) and significant health issues are linked to both livestock and water management. For example, clean water is essential to ensure hygiene in processing dairy and meat products. Without quality water, food safety is jeopardised and market opportunities are lost.Malaria, the number one cause of mortality in Ethiopia (WHO 2002), exists where water provides suitable habitat for larval Anopheles mosquitoes. Some vector species prefer blood meals taken from livestock raising the prospect that livestock treated with insecticides such as deltamethrine could attract mosquitoes and control malaria (Habtewold et al. 2001;Rowland 2001). However, watering practices for livestock may generate breeding sites for the vector and contribute to increased prevalence of malaria. Land use changes such as converting papyrus swamps to pasture and crop appear to increase temperatures and enable survival of anopheline populations in African highlands (Lindblade et al. 2000).Waterborne human illnesses often arise from contamination of domestic water by poorly managed livestock. For example, Cryptosporidium, a parasite whose oocysts are common in livestock, has been associated with various outbreaks of human illness in recent years and is thought to aggravate the impact of HIV/AIDS (FAO 1977).To ensure that productivity gains to reduce poverty are not offset by an associated poor human health, there is a need to integrate human health into R&D related to water and livestock management.Livestock are valued assets for the rural poor and marketing of livestock products is a practical and effective pathway out of poverty. Opportunities exist to increase the water productivity of livestock at scales ranging from households to river basins. However, surprisingly little integrated research has been done on this subject, and little of the existing knowledge has been translated into policy and technology to improve the livelihoods of the poor. Livestock interact both positively and negatively with the management of water and other natural resources. A number of critical human health issues are linked to water and livestock management. Research is needed to better understand the role of livestock in integrated water management, and strong evidence exists to suggest that this must be addressed in the implementation of Ethiopia's poverty reduction strategy.","tokenCount":"2998"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3342705453.json b/data/part_1/3342705453.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6de3cb53ff56c334fb8326fc364a1e42112abbd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3342705453.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e0d88fe9747cae952bf30f43539136fb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4fa7d32b-595c-43be-a779-542b644d340a/retrieve","id":"-1465176527"},"keywords":["* Genomewide marker for prediction or association","solid arrow, germplasm delivery","broken arrow, information sharing","ID, inbreeding depression"],"sieverID":"3a42fa7a-9f1d-4f08-88e0-4ee5701d910f","pagecount":"35","content":"Cost components (years 1-10):1) Breeding populations for major markets 2) Start of inbred and hybrid development 3) Double haploid development 4) Genetic studies 5) Building and transferring enhanced breeding populations 6) Breeding population maintenance Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of informationCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to others 50,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $100,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000• $75,000 for maintain the historical popula ons;• the other cost for cleaning and tes ng virus of new breeding materials • maintain S3 or inbred seeds in storage room in the new model, rather than tissue culture Total annual costs 3,875,000 $ 3,725,000 $ Cost components: Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of informationCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to others 50,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $100,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000 Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of informationCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to others 50,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $100,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000• $75,000 for maintain the historical popula ons;• the other cost for cleaning and tes ng virus of new breeding materials • maintain S3 or inbred seeds in storage room in the new model, rather than tissue culture Total annual costs 3,875,000 $ 3,725,000 $ Cost components: Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of informationCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to others 50,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $100,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000 Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of informationCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to others 50,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $100,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000• $75,000 for maintain the historical popula ons;• the other cost for cleaning and tes ng virus of new breeding materials • maintain S3 or inbred seeds in storage room in the new model, rather than tissue culture Total annual costs 3,875,000 $ 3,725,000 $ Cost components (years 11-20): In the new model general agronomic improvements continue only in the base population for the largest TPP while feeding new lines for the secondary programs to be used in trait conversion programs to generate products that better fit their TPPs.Inbred & hybrid development continues with most costs covered within the larger base program (trait donors) 150,000 $ There are additional costs for developing inbreds partly because the development of inbreds will be expanding into donor parents to facilitate utilization of gene bank materialsDouble haploid tech development (integrated in #2.1)Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (integrated in #1.1 and #1.2)Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of information & the poorly quality of results requires ongoing efforts over a longer time periodCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to other 25,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $50,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000• Widespread use of inbreds as storage & transfer unit of germplasm • $75,000 for maintain the historical popula ons;• in the new model, the historical popula on size will be reduced. In the new model general agronomic improvements continue only in the base population for the largest TPP while feeding new lines for the secondary programs to be used in trait conversion programs to generate products that better fit their TPPs.Inbred & hybrid development continues with most costs covered within the larger base program (trait donors) 150,000 $ There are additional costs for developing inbreds partly because the development of inbreds will be expanding into donor parents to facilitate utilization of gene bank materialsDouble haploid tech development (integrated in #2.1)Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (integrated in #1.1 and #1.2)Genetic studies to better understand genetic correlations among key traits and the number of genes / QTL controlling them (structured populations for genetic mapping) 100,000 $ Genetic studies without inbreds are more costly due to the need for higher entry # to generate the same quality of information & the poorly quality of results requires ongoing efforts over a longer time periodCost of building and transferring enhanced breeding populations to other 25,000 $ 100,000 $ Extra cost as stacking genes in heterozygous populations requires higher entry # and more cycles of selectionBreeding population management costs $50,000Maintaining cell cultures and grow outs to support distributions $150,000• Widespread use of inbreds as storage & transfer unit of germplasm • $75,000 for maintain the historical popula ons;• in the new model, the historical popula on size will be reduced.Start of dihaploid development with associated reduction in breeding cycle time & improved selection accuracy ($100,000)Cost reduction based on lower cost of genetic gains per unit time Total annual costs 2,465,000 $ 3,725,000 $","tokenCount":"1156"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3367192627.json b/data/part_1/3367192627.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b9c723f30b288345bd27712c1fb33c276fc8fc11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3367192627.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"260ee392a30ad5996714ae20a77181e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ba968dc4-9aff-452c-b4e2-eaceacf900d9/retrieve","id":"-397650029"},"keywords":["Genetic Resources, Biodiversity, and Agrobiodiversity Genetic Resources, Biodiversity, and Agrobiodiversity Brown AHD","Marshall DR. 1995. A basic sampling strategy: theory and practice. In Guarino L","Rao VR","Reid R, eds. Collecting plant genetic diversity: technical guidelines. CAB International, Wallingford, UK. pp 75-91. Engels JMM","Arora RK","Guarino L. 1995. An introduction to plant germplasm exploration and collecting: planning, methods and procedure, follow-up. In Guarino L","Rao VR","Reid R, eds. Collecting plant genetic diversity: technical guidelines. CAB International, Wallingford, UK. pp 31-63"],"sieverID":"cd39e916-8e65-4e69-bf2d-b9f34da66b6e","pagecount":"296","content":"The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is a not-forprofit organization that conducts socially and environmentally progressive research aimed at reducing hunger and poverty and preserving natural resources in developing countries. CIAT is one of the 15 centers funded mainly by the 64 countries, private foundations, and international organizations that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).The four institutions who organized the Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources would like to thank CTA for its support in funding the translation and publication of the course materials. We sincerely hope that our publishing the course materials in English and in both print and CD will enable many more people to take advantage of these useful materials, whether for their own studies or for teaching the conservation of PGRs for humanity.xEx Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources• To help develop institutional capabilities in the conservation of plant genetic resources (PGRs) by training human resources of the countries participating in the course • To improve the efforts of participating countries to conserve their PGRs and thereby increase the social benefits of such an activity • To promote social appropriation of knowledge on the conservation of PGRs • To strengthen the creative, analytical, and synthesizing capacity of the human talent currently responsible for managing the germplasm banks of Africa • To contribute to the education and strengthening of the core of human talent oriented towards understanding such questions as:Why conserve?What should be conserved?For who do we conserve?How do we conserve?• To provide an environment in which professionals of the participating countries can share their experiences and knowledge on the conservation of PGRs • To provide an opportunity for professionals to update their training in the conservation of PGRsxiHumans depend on plants, which provide food and supply most needs, including clothes and shelter. Plants are also used in industry to make fuels, medicines, fibres, rubber, and other products. However, the number of plants that humans use as food is minimal compared with the number of species existing in nature. Just 30 crops, particularly rice, wheat, and maize, provide 95% of the calories present in the human diet (FAO 1997).Dependency on such a limited number of crops threatens humanity's food security (Valois 1996).Plant genetic resources are currently of great interest as they are related to satisfying humans' basic needs and to solving severe problems such as hunger and poverty. Today, almost 800 million people are malnourished. Of these, 200 million are children who no more than 5 years old. In the next 30 years, the world's population will increase from about 2500 million inhabitants to 8500 million. To supply food for so many people requires an efficient and sustainable improvement of crop yields (FAO 1996). However, even though they help sustain populations and alleviate poverty, PGRs are vulnerable. They can erode and even disappear, thus endangering the continuity of the human species (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Population increase, industrialization, and the expanding agricultural frontier have contributed towards the loss of germplasm, or genetic erosion. To this we must add the adoption of elite germplasm and the modification and/or destruction of centres of genetic variability. This loss of PGRs demonstrates the urgent need to conserve and sustainably use them (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Plant genetic resources are the sum of all combinations of genes resulting from the evolution of plant species. During evolution, the population of any given species is the receptacle of all past changes and of the results of selections made by the environment. Those changes are conserved in the DNA that constitutes the species genome (Hoagland 1985). In other words, genes contain all the information that defines each trait or character of a living being, in this case, plants. An inheritable trait or character is meticulously reproduced in offspring. Consequently, we find in genes information on adaptation, productivity, resistance to adverse conditions such as pests, diseases, stressful climates, and poor soils, and other characteristics of a population's individuals that are usable by humans to the extent of their knowledge.As with all living organisms that develop under natural conditions, the population of individuals that form a plant species is in permanent interaction with its surrounding environment. It must adapt and cope with the continuously changing factors that are part of that environment. These factors are biotic (micro-organisms, other plant species, and animals) and abiotic (climate and soils). For a plant species to interact with these factors, it uses information contained in its genome according to its needs for surviving in the environment. The result of this adaptive interaction is an accumulation of genetic information that each species keeps, through variants, among the members of its population and transmits to subsequent generations. The information is carried by genes, which enable the species to adapt to changes that may occur in its environment. In other words, the genetic composition of a population also changes over time or, more exactly, it evolves.As evolutionary processes are dynamic and bring together various forces (according to Theodosius Dobzhansky (1951) mutation, hybridization, selection, and genetic drift), the accumulated changes or information contained in the genes are often lost, and cannot be recovered easily over time. This is when conservation gains raison d'être for its use: to help rescue potentially losable genes, especially those that geneticists and breeders can use.Species are believed to originate through the action of forces such as genetic variability, natural selection, and speciation. The pertinent information is recorded in the genomes of the individuals that, in nature, constitute the population of each species. We can detect the natural variability contained in the genomes of a species by collecting samples from different places. The samples would comprise reproductive structures or organs that we can grow, classify, and collect such as seeds, stems, bulbs, stolons, cuttings, rhizomes, tubers, and roots. These collections of live plant parts are called germplasm and are conserved in germplasm banks. They form the basis on which to develop conservation strategies.Because of the heterogeneity of the plants used by humans, no single strategy for conserving the variability of species can be established (Tables 1 and 2). The plants are therefore conserved according to current and future needs and/or usefulness.Plant genetic resources can be conserved in situ in their natural habitats or ex situ under conditions other than those of their natural habitats (IPGRI 2004;Jaramillo and Baena 2000). Or the two methods can be combined into a complementary conservation strategy, where in situ conservation is used to maintain the natural conditions for the creation of new genetic variability and ex situ conservation is used to conserve genetic combinations thatPlant germplasm banks are centres of resources for live plant parts. These collections of plant parts operate solely to keep them alive and preserve their characteristics for the future benefit of humankind and the environment. Germplasm banks are also called plant genetic resources centres because they give importance to the fact that plants are sources of diversity of genetic characteristics. Conserved plants include economically important food crops (modern and primitive crops, and their wild relatives), horticultural plants, forages, medicinal plants, and trees.Both in situ and ex situ conservation belong to the important set of activities that comprises the management of PGRs. In situ conservation is defined as the conservation of plant or animal species in the habitats in which they had developed naturally (Maxted et al. 1997). In contrast, ex situ conservation is defined as the conservation of a species outside its natural habitat. However, such a definition of ex situ conservation is very broad, belying the complexity of its meaning. For the purposes of this course, the following definition is suggested:Ex situ conservation encompasses all the strategies developed by humans to conserve the germplasm of a plant species outside its natural habitat. It is applied especially to agrobiodiversity.Although in situ conservation is directed mainly at the global biodiversity of wild species through the identification of natural reserves and national parks, some in situ strategies can also be applied to agrobiodiversity. For example, the ancestral wild forms of cultivated species, native landraces, and traditional varieties are conserved in regions that have been centres of traditional agriculture over many years. Some of these strategies include conservation on farms and in household gardens (Tables 1 and 2).When all the variability of a species must be conserved, including its gene pools, then, usually, several ex situ and in situ strategies must be implemented simultaneously and in a complementary fashion.Although both in situ and ex situ conservation have their advantages and disadvantages (Table 3), the most relevant and most discussed disadvantage of ex situ conservation refers to the evolutionary consequences for the species. However, we need to understand that this is precisely what is intended: to stabilize and fix the genetic characteristics of a material so we can take advantage of it as it is. Indeed, it is argued, by taking the germplasm of a species out of its habitat to conserve it in a germplasm bank, its evolutionary development is frozen in terms of the environmental changes that continue to take place in the site from where it was taken. However, other factors exist, such as the disappearance or disturbance of centres of diversity, which encourage us to use an ex situ strategy as the practical solution for saving the still-existing variability. Particularly in recent decades, this type of conservation has become widespread (Hidalgo 1991).When speaking of advantages and disadvantages, we also need to include the relative costs of the two types of conservation. In situ conservation can be very expensive, compared with ex situ conservation, as it requires considerable space to conserve the biological communities of the targeted species. Nevertheless, their different advantages and disadvantages imply that the two types of conservation can complement each other by conserving species that the other cannot.Applied to cultivated species, ex situ conservation aims to conserve, outside their centre of origin or diversity, both the species and the variability produced during the evolutionary process of domestication. Ex situ conservation can encompass a broad taxonomic spectrum. It is used to protect species, including their wild ancestral species, weedy or regressive forms, and cultivated varieties, particularly those whose original geographic centres of diversity are now under high threat of disturbance or disappearance.In theory, all species can be conserved ex situ, provided we can multiply them. We can conserve individual genotypes outside nature, but not the relationships between them and their ecological environment. Traditionally, ex situ conservation has been used for resources important to humans, such as those used for food and agriculture, and whose conservation will provide immediate and future availability, as well as security.FAO's short Report on the State of the World PGRFA, that is, agrobiodiversity (FAO 1996), mentions 1300 registered collections for plant species, which include about 6.1 million accessions of germplasm conserved ex situ. The FAO WIEWS database indicates that 48% of accessions conserved are cereals, 16% are food legumes, and each of vegetables, roots and tubers, fruits, and forages account for less than 10% of global collections. For Africa, about 50 countries report having 124 collections that conserve more than 350,000 accessions, that is, 6% of the global germplasm. Among the agricultural species interesting for research and as a basis of human sustenance is a broad range of materials that can be conserved ex situ. These include:• Wild species, and regressive and weedy forms that belong to cultivated genera and constitute a broad range of important materials for research and crop improvement (Frankel et al. 1995;Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen 1988). • Wild relatives and regressive forms, which are commonly used as sources of genes to improve traits of interest. They can also provide resistance to diseases and pests. Among the many crops favoured by related wild species, a good example is sugar cane. Modern sugar cane is a complex derived from artificial hybrids, whose pedigree includes the wild species Saccharum spontaneum, which contributed to the crop's yield, vigour, and resistance to diseases. Other examples are maize, rice, and tomato. • Varieties of traditional agriculture, including native landraces, primitive cultivars, and species of cultural importance (e.g., for use in religious ceremonies). • Products of scientific improvement programmes, for example, modern and obsolete cultivars, advanced lines, mutants, and synthetic materials. • Products of biotechnology and genetic engineering, including transgenic plants, DNA fragments, cloned genes, gene markers, new genetic combinations, silent genes, and chloroplast genomes. Biotechnology and genetic engineering permit the isolation and transfer of genes of plants of agronomic interest, as well as of genes of almost any plant, animal, or bacterium that had not been previously accessed (FAO 1996;Frankel et al. 1995;Rao and Riley 1994).Strategies for ex situ conservation are determined by the biological characteristics of each species, particularly its reproductive system. Indeed, before deciding on any methodology of ex situ conservation, we need to answer the following basic questions in reference to any given species:• Does it produce sexual seed?• If it produces sexual seed, is the seed orthodox or recalcitrant?• If it does not produce sexual seed, does it have vegetative reproduction?• If it has vegetative reproduction, what is the most suitable propagule for reproducing the species? • In addition to producing sexual seed, does it also have vegetative reproduction?The answers to such questions facilitate decision making with regard to the most suitable strategy for the species in question. If the species produces orthodox seeds, then the establishment of a low-temperature seed bank can immediately be considered. However, if the seed is recalcitrant, then it cannot be dried or conserved at low temperatures. Hence, other alternatives need to be sought such as a live field bank or an in vitro bank. If the species does not produce seed, then both live field banks and in vitro banks can be considered. We point out that most cultivated species can be conserved as ex situ collections.The conservation of PGRs is a continuous long-term task that implies significant investments of time, personnel, installations, and operation. Such investments should be justified in terms of needs rather than of desire or convenience in conserving a material. The reasons for conserving and targeting specific species should be defined according to logical, scientific, and economic criteria such as need, value, and use of the species, and the feasibility of conserving them (Maxted et al. 1997).Conservation provides maximum benefit when the activities that compose it are closely articulated. The task's success will be measured in terms of producing the desired result at minimal cost.Conservation should reduce as much as possible the effects of the new environment on the targeted species. Those who conserve germplasm must acquire an in-depth knowledge of the targeted species, that is, their biology, taxonomy, and genetics so that adequate techniques can be developed for representing their genetic variability and ensuring the stability of the original genotypes. Equally important is the documentation of the germplasm because it allows a better understanding and use of the germplasm's inherent genetic variability, that is, information obtained through, for example, developing passport data, characterization, and evaluation should also be documented.In general, the minimum requirements for the adequate ex situ conservation of PGRs can be grouped as four factors: biological, physical, human, and institutional.• In-depth knowledge of the species' biology. This includes mainly the plant's life cycle and the biology of its reproduction. This information indicates the type of propagule that should be conserved. That is, by knowing if a given species produces sexual seed (true seed), asexual seed (also called vegetative, e.g., stakes, stolons, tubers, and roots), or has the two options, we can determine the type of bank that should be established for it, whether a seed bank, in vivo field bank, or in vitro bank. Whatever type is selected, it should conserve, in the most suitable and practical form possible, the germplasm of that species. • Type of pollination. For a species that propagates through sexual seed, knowing its reproduction biology will also help identify the type of pollination of the species, whether it is allogamous or autogamous. This knowledge is essential for correctly managing the germplasm of a species, as it forms the basis on which to establish agronomic protocols for maintaining a field collection of that germplasm. SuchLesson 3 Lesson 3 Lesson 3 Lesson 3 Lesson 3knowledge will also help develop suitable sampling strategies to maintain the original genetic composition of the conserved accessions. • Ecological adaptation. Knowing the environmental conditions to which a given species is adapted is also essential. The most relevant data include ranges of altitudes and latitudes, day length, and thermo period. Of lesser importance, although also useful, are the physical conditions of soils and response to excess or deficient water supplies. This information is vital for selecting the most suitable sites for multiplying and/or regenerating the germplasm of the conserved species. • Physiology of the reproductive structure. Success in conserving a species depends largely on understanding the physiology of the reproductive structure or organ. These may be botanical seed, meristems, buds, stem pieces, stakes, stolons, tubers, roots, bulbs, or rhizomes. In the case of seeds, principal factors to consider are the determination of orthodox or recalcitrant behaviour, identification of the seed's cycle of physiological maturity, presence of dormancy, suitable methods for harvesting, and seed health status.The facilities in which materials are to be conserved should guarantee isolation from both environmental factors and pests and diseases. Installations may vary in design and dimensions, depending on the number and size of the samples to be conserved. However, they should have access to a constant supply of electric power and equipment that permit the conditioning, preservation, and regeneration of materials. They should be able to protect the materials from fires, floods, theft, plunder, and other disturbances of public order. The infrastructure to use depends on the type of seed the species has, for example:• Species with true sexual seed that can be conserved at low temperatures. Essentially, highly reliable systems are needed to control the temperatures and relative humidity within the rooms where the seeds are conserved. Likewise, suitable seed-drying equipment is needed. To prevent physical damage to the seed, this equipment must be checked before use. • Species that propagate through asexual or vegetative seed. These species need suitably selected fields where they will be able to fulfil their normal biological cycles and that the plant part of interest for use will develop normally. To select such a field, the principal variables to consider are altitude, temperatures, day length, rainfall regimes, soil conditions, easy access, and the possibility of continuous use. • Species that must be conserved in vitro. The laboratory must be located in a place that will guarantee a stable supply of electric power without the trauma of irregular cuts. The location's environmental conditions should permit the easy establishment of aseptic conditions, so that pest infestations or disease outbreaks are not sufficiently chronic to endanger the conservation of the germplasm.Collections of PGRs should be managed by skilled personnel who are, where possible, from various disciplines (e.g., physiologists, botanists, breeders, and agronomists). They should know the technical aspects of adequately managing the species and the inherent safety procedures of their tasks. Ideally, the collection would depend on a group of people who are work stable-not exclusively the curator-who can provide continuity to the conservation work, and who are free of political pressures or problems of public order. That is, the personnel usually need to:• Be technical personnel with academic training in genetic resources and/or experience in managing germplasm banks or germplasm collections, preferably of cultivated plant species. • Be technical personnel who have medium-or long-term continuity, as research on genetic resources usually requires considerable patience and relatively long periods to acquire sound knowledge on the conservation of the species mentioned. • Receive cooperation and advice from other professionals such as botanists, taxonomists, geneticists, biologists, physiologists, breeders, agronomists, and refrigeration engineers.• Sustainable institutional, governmental, and political support. Merely creating a germplasm bank does not guarantee the conservation of PGRs of interest to a country, region, province, or given ecosystem. Conservation requires consistent ongoing institutional support in terms of economic, human, and technical resources for maintaining collections and carrying out conservation activities. This aspect is particularly important for the variability of traditional crops in centres of diversity on all continents as, for example, cultivated rice in Africa. According to focus-group interviews with farmers, self-supply of seeds has declined recently, particularly for floating rice. As dependency on local markets for seed supply increases, the farmers are recognizing that a gradual decline of seeds can lead to the total loss of a variety (Synnevåg et al. nd). Policy decisions that distort institutional objectives may be encouraging this situation, as in Latin America, which suffers recurrent difficulties when the institutional mandate differs from that of the conservation unit. A classical example is when the institution is assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture, which, by nature, is a ministry for 'development', whereas the conservation unit is, by nature, conservative. • Long-term planning. The reasons for conserving targeted species should be defined according to logical criteria. As with any strategic process, the conservation of PGRs implies planning and making decisions based on previous information. Conservation requires the establishment of priorities in terms of types of species to conserve (e.g., species at risk or of interest for food and agriculture), activities to be subsequently carried out with the collected and conserved germplasm, and the resources available to carry them out. Priorities may vary, but the most important objectives are that conservation is for the long term and that the conserved germplasm should be used. • Economic resources. Because the nature of ex situ conservation is to ensure perpetuity, it demands the sustained provision over time of economic resources to maintain the physical, human, and technical resources required to upkeep the collections and conduct conservation activities (Koo et al. 2002).After this lesson, you should know what the minimum requirements are for the ex situ conservation of PGRs, whether these be biological, physical, human, or institutional.1. Literature cited, which includes those references cited in the text itself. Some of these citations were used to develop the original Spanish-language course on ex situ conservation and may therefore appear in Spanish or Portuguese. However, where practical, references to the English versions of the original Spanish-language documents are provided. 2. Further reading, which is a list of suggested readings in the English language, with few exceptions in French. Most of them cover in depth the topics included in this module.A list of Acronyms used in the bibliographies is also given. The idea is to save space by not having to spell out each institution's full name each time it appears in the references. The selection of species for conservation is based on interpretations that, in fact, give rise to subjective valuations. To minimize subjectivity, those who select priority species should sustain their decisions and confirm that the species selected do indeed respond to the proposed objectives. Germplasm may be acquired for many reasons, or combinations of reasons, such as protection, study, improvement, distribution, or completion of an existing collection (Engels et al. 1995). However, an exhaustive analysis should first be done to contribute the elements needed for deciding on what materials to acquire. Establishing priorities is a complex process that includes a range of choices from selecting an analytical method to choose a geographical area to selecting and applying criteria for sampling one population rather than another. However, feasibility-that is, the probability of success of a conservation objective in a given social and political environment-is key to determining priorities and assigning resources.To acquire germplasm to conserve it, we need to think about how it will be used. This is known as its value of use, that is, its real or potential benefit for food, agriculture, industry, research, or crop improvement (Jaramillo and Baena 2000). A species' value of use determines the interest, commitment, and priority to conserve it (Jaramillo and Baena 2000; Maxted et al. 1997).Undoubtedly, another important aspect to consider is the level of international commitment, legally binding, of the countries that ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity, which has been international law since 30 December 1993. The Convention governs the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the just and equitable participation in the benefits derived from its use (SCBD and UNEP 2003).When germplasm is acquired for its conservation, the criteria related to value of use should be considered. These are listed below:This criterion takes into account that very serious projects have already been established and that excellent germplasm collections are held under ex situ conservation. Acquiring more materials to add to such collections implies making an ex ante evaluation to orient acquisition for such collections. Thus, a species is assessed for the sufficiency of its representation in collections so that conservation activities do not duplicate already existing ones. Furthermore, the quality of available information on the materials should be taken into account. Often, genetic variability or data have not been collected and therefore have never become part of the variability conserved nor of the information kept with the materials.Plant Germplasm Acquisition: Criteria For example, maize, rice, and wheat have been collected over decades, whereas other germplasm has not such as Andean roots and tubers like ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), isaño (Tropaeolum tuberosum), and arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), or promising Neotropical fruit trees such as cherimoya (Annona cherimola), papaya (Carica papaya), guava (Psidium guajaba), jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora), cashew (Anacardium occidentale), and borojó (Borojoa patinoi). Even Africa, a very rich region in terms of biodiversity, has a surprisingly low 6% of the world's total accessions conserved ex situ and only 10% of germplasm banks (FAO 1997). This situation suggests that a lot of germplasm is still to be collected, especially of useful species.For preliminary evaluations, ecogeographic data (Maxted et al. 1997) can be used after careful and duly planned consultations to identify possible collections and assign conservation priorities. Analyzing ecogeographic data is easier when geographic information systems (GIS) are used (IPGRI 2001). A GIS is a system of databases dedicated to the graphic management of geographically referenced spatial data (such as the coordinates of a site or topography), together with logically related non-spatial data (such as the species' name or its morphological characters).A GIS is also a highly flexible cartographic system that can easily compare a broad range of geographic, ecological, and biological data sets. Once digitized, the cartographic data of maps (often at different scales), aerial photographs, field studies, and remote sensing can be handled and analyzed in various ways. A GIS facilitates understanding of the characteristics of sites where either data had not been recorded during a collection, or data will be used for future collections to locate areas with certain combinations of ecological characteristics.The importance of a species for conservation depends on how threatened it is, with priority being given to those in danger of extinction. The level of threat faced by the targeted population can be determined by consulting the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, the IUCN's 2001 list of categories of risk (Glowka et al. 1994;Jaramillo and Baena 2000) (Table 1), or the national entities monitoring at-risk species.Although some species apparently do not benefit humanity, they interact ecologically with others that do. For example, the interdependence between species of a plant succession of a forest is such that the disappearance of some may endanger the existence of others, including those useful to humans.The selected species should be genetically different from others already conserved and confirmed to possess a genetic variability that is not being conserved. Although samples should not be acquired of already existing germplasm, it may be appropriate to seek diversity and thereby enrich what is poorly or not represented in the collection.Species that contribute to the satisfaction of basic needs (e.g., food, medicines, and housing) will have greater priority for conservation than others such as ornamentals or those considered as undesirable (e.g., crop weeds).The capacity of the conservation unit for handling materials to be acquired must be considered. 'Capacity' refers to the availability and continuity of human, physical, and financial resources to conserve a collection of materials over the medium and long term. Often, ex situ conservation projects start with very ambitious collection activities that do not consider their relatively limited capacity. As a result, within a few years, collections are lost through inadequate and untimely processing. In this sense, collection would not be an end in itself, but would be part of a process. The next stage is to use the acquired variability, which, in fact, depends on the collection's quality.Table 1. Categories of plant species in danger of extinction, according to the degree of threat that they face at a given time.Denomination Description 1 Extinct A plant taxon is considered extinct when the individuals composing it are known with certainty to have died.2 Extinct in the wild A plant taxon is considered extinct in the wild when it is known only as a crop. It is also presumed extinct in the wild when surveys of habitats (exhaustive, at appropriate times, and throughout its historic range) do not record any individuals.3 Critically threatened When the risk of extinction of a species in the wild and in the immediate future is extremely high.Endangered When the risk of extinction of a species in the wild and in the immediate future is high.Vulnerable, dependent on When removing a species from continuous conservation conservation would expose that species to the category of 'threatened' within 5 years.Vulnerable, close to When a species that is not classified as dependent endangered on conservation but is close to being classified as such.Vulnerable, of lesser That species which does not fall in either of the concern previous two subcategories.Species with deficient When the information that exists on a species' documentation distribution and/or state of its populations does not reliably indicate the risk of extinction to which this species is exposed. A species in this category may be either threatened or at low risk.Not evaluated When a given species has not been evaluated for its level of vulnerability.SOURCES: Glowka et al. (1994); Jaramillo and Baena (2000).Module 2, Lesson 1: Plant Germplasm Acquisition: CriteriaWhen faced with two equally priority species and a limited budget, cost will determine which will be conserved. The criterion is also applied to the cost of conserving one species versus another or others and to whether the targeted species can be conserved alone or with others of interest.The aesthetic, symbolic, or cultural value of a species for a community (i.e., the role that it fulfils in cultural or religious activities) may determine whether it should be conserved. Examples are plants used as national emblems such as the Quindío wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense), Colombia's national tree (Jaramillo and Baena 2000); the baobab tree (Adansonia digitata), also called Muuyu, emblematic of Africa, a rich reservoir of mythology, folklore and medicines (ICUC 2002) or the forests and jungles that are conserved for their beauty.After this lesson, you should understand the complexity of prioritizing and establishing criteria for acquiring plant germplasm for conservation.Before beginning the next lesson, complete, in writing, the following tasks:• Prepare a list of plant species of your country or region that are in danger of extinction according to the categories listed in Table 1 of this lesson. • Establish a plan of germplasm acquisition, taking into account the criteria discussed in this lesson.Once the criteria for germplasm acquisition are defined, the next step is to acquire it, using standard procedures. However, before making the final decision, the curator or collector should remember that if acquisition is done from a another country, international agreements exist that are currently in force such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA; FAO-CGRFA 2004), and the FAO and IPGRI's Technical Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Germplasm (FAO andBioversity International 1989-2007). These agreements should be considered, especially with respect to the sovereignty of countries over their plant genetic resources (PGRs). The CBD, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, states that nations have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources according to their own environmental policies. However, they also have the obligation to ensure that the activities carried out within their jurisdiction or under their control do not damage the environment of other nations or areas outside their national jurisdiction (United Nations 1993, CBD Article 3: Principle). Furthermore, in recognition of the sovereign rights of nations over their natural resources, the faculty to regulate access to genetic resources corresponds to the national governments and is subject to national legislation (United Nations 1993, CBD Article 15: Access to Genetic Resources).With respect to conservation, exploration, collection, characterization, evaluation, and documentation of PGRs for food and agriculture, Article 5 of the ITPGRFA (FAO-CGRFA 2004) indicates that each contracting party shall follow national legislation in cooperation with the other contracting parties involved. That is, an integrated approach shall be adopted to explore, conserve, and sustainably use PGRs for food and agriculture. In particular, the parties involved shall:• Conduct studies and inventories of PGRs for food and agriculture, taking into account the situation and degree of variation of existing populations, including those of potential use and, where feasible, evaluate any threat to them. • Promote the collection of PGRs for food and agriculture and of relevant information on those that are threatened or are of potential use. • Promote or support the efforts of farmers and local communities oriented towards organizing and conserving PGRs for food and agriculture on their farms. • Promote the in situ conservation of wild plants related to cultivated ones and of wild plants used for food, including in protected areas; and support, among other things, the efforts of indigenous and local communities. • Cooperate in promoting the organization of an effective and sustainable system of ex situ conservation, paying due attention to the need for sufficient documentation, characterization, regeneration, and evaluation; and promote the perfection and transfer of appropriate technologies to improve the sustainable use of PGRs for food and agriculture. • Supervise the maintenance of viability, degree of variability, and genetic integrity of collections of PGRs for food and agriculture.Germplasm of interest can be obtained through exploration and collection, exchange, donation, and agreements or conventions. For practical reasons, attempts should be made to obtain the desired materials without resorting to sites of origin. That is, use should be made of donations or exchanges with institutions that hold these materials. When this is not possible, then the materials must be collected from sites where populations of the species of interest exist.The exchange of germplasm is a traditional practice between researchers. Many accessions that today are part of major collections were obtained through exchange or donation.Similarly, materials lost in wars and natural disasters, or through negligence have been recovered by these means.To exchange or receive germplasm by donation, the interested party requests it from the party holding it. Germplasm transfer is made effective through signing an agreement among the parties, in which both the terms of transfer and use of the materials (e.g., conservation, research, or production of commercial varieties) are stipulated. These agreements are known as 'material transfer agreements in genetic resources exchange' or MTAs (Barton and Siebeck 1994).Agreements for germplasm transfer should respect the treaties on access to genetic resources held by the countries involved. Because germplasm transfer implies plant health risks, exchange or donation should be made through authorized institutions and according to what is stipulated in the International Plant Protection Convention (FAO 1997).Exploration and collection consist of going to the field to seek and collect the genetic variability of cultivated and wild species that cannot be obtained from germplasm banks, botanic gardens, or other collections (Hawkes 1980;Querol 1988).The reasons for collecting can be various, but the priorities established are based on the species of interest and/or on regions with a broad genetic diversity of the desired material. A collection is justified, for example, when, in a given area, species of interest are endangered, when they are significant for research or use, or when the variability of the targeted species in ex situ collections has been lost or is insufficient. Sometimes, the opportunity for collecting the material can justify collection. Other times, as part of an expedition, germplasm that is not targeted by the mission may be collected, provided that its characteristics will be useful (Engels et al. 1995;IPGRI 1996b;Querol 1988). In any case, the objective for conservation should not be lost sight of.Before collecting, we need to define the targeted species, compile information on them and the sites where they are found, and confirm if financial resources are available for the expedition. We also need to determine a strategy for collecting samples and handling them in the field so that they will survive until they reach the site of conservation. Finally, we need to know how the samples will be documented during collection. Furthermore, we need to respect international codes and regulations (Box 1) or those established by the country where collection will take place, and request permits from the responsible authorities (Box 2).The International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer aims to promote the rational collection and sustainable use of genetic resources, to prevent genetic erosion, and to protect the interests of both donors and collectors of germplasm. The Code, a voluntary one, has been developed by FAO and negotiated by its Member Nations through the Organization's Commission on Plant Genetic Resources. The Code is based on the principle of national sovereignty over plant genetic resources according with the Convention on Biological Diversity and sets out standards and principles to be observed by those countries and institutions that adhere to it.The Code proposes procedures to request and/or to issue licences for collecting missions, provides guidelines for collectors themselves, and extends responsibilities and obligations to the sponsors of missions, the curators of genebanks, and the users of genetic material. It calls for the participation of farmers and local institutions in collecting missions and proposes that users of germplasm share the benefits derived from the use of plant genetic resources with the host country and its farmers.The primary function of the Code is to serve as a point of reference until such time as individual countries establish their own codes or regulations for germplasm exploration and collection, conservation, exchange and utilization.The Code describes the shared responsibilities of collectors, donors, sponsors, curators and users of germplasm so as to ensure that the collection, transfer and use of plant germplasm is carried out with the maximum benefit to the international community, and with minimal adverse effects on the evolution of crop plant diversity and the environment. While initial responsibility rests with field collectors and their sponsors, obligations should extend to parties who fund or authorize collecting activities, or donate, conserve or use germplasm. The Code emphasizes the need for cooperation and a sense of reciprocity among donors, curators and users of plant genetic resources. Governments should consider taking appropriate action to facilitate and promote observance of this Code by sponsors, collectors, curators and users of germplasm operating under their jurisdiction.The Code recognizes that nations have sovereign rights over their plant genetic resources in their territories and it is based on the principle according to which the conservation and continued availability of plant genetic resources is a common concern of humankind. In executing these rights, access to plant genetic resources should not be unduly restricted. The Code provides a set of general principles which governments may wish to use in developing their national regulations or formulating bilateral agreements on the collection of germplasm. The Code is addressed primarily to governments. All relevant legal and natural persons are also invited to observe its provisions, in particular those dealing with plant exploration and plant collection, agricultural and The Code should enable national authorities to permit collecting activities within its territories expeditiously. It recognizes that national authorities are entitled to set specific requirements and conditions for collectors and sponsors and that sponsors and collectors are obliged to respect all relevant national laws as well as adhering to the principles of this Code.The Code is to be implemented within the context of the FAO Global System on Plant Genetic Resources, including the International Undertaking and its annexes. In order to promote the continued availability of germplasm for plant improvement programmes on an equitable basis governments and users of germplasm should endeavour to give practical expression to the principles of farmers' rights. The Code is to be implemented in harmony with: Box 1. (Continued.) Once the permits are obtained, the trip's logistics are prepared. Exploration and collection are complex activities that put at stake many resources (biological, physical, economic, and human) and require planning (IPGRI 1996a, b;2001a, b). To understand the objectives of an expedition for collecting PGRs, planning should include the following:• Regions to visit and crops to collect • The human collection team • The route to follow • The time of the expedition • EquipmentThe germplasm can also be acquired through interinstitutional agreements, where conditions are fixed according to negotiations among the interested parties and which stipulate both the terms of transfer and use of materials.Once the targeted species are selected, the collector defines the sampling strategy (Brown and Marshall 1995;IPGRI 2000), which will determine how maximum variability will be obtained in the least amount of time. Defining a sampling strategy involves:• Locating the collection site or sites • Defining the frequency with which samples will be collected, that is, how often will stops be made to collect • Defining the methodology by which samples will be collected • Authority for issuing permits. States have the sovereign right, and accept the responsibility, to establish and implement national policies for the conservation and use of their plant genetic resources and, within this framework, should set up a system for the issuance of permits to collectors. Governments should designate the authority competent for issuing permits. This authority should inform proposed collectors, sponsors and the other agencies of the government's rules and regulations in this matter, and of the approval process to be followed, and of follow-up action to be taken.• Requesting of permits. To enable the permit issuing authority to arrive at a decision to grant or to refuse a permit, prospective collectors and sponsors should address an application to the issuing authority to which they: (a) undertake to respect the relevant national laws;(b) demonstrate knowledge of, and familiarity with, the species to be collected, their distribution and methods of collection; (c) provide indicative plans for the field mission-including provisional route, estimated timing of expedition, the types of material to be collected, species and quantities-and their plans for evaluation, storage and use of the material collected; where possible, the sort of benefits the host country may expect to derive from the collection of the germplasm should be indicated; (d) notify the host country of the kind of assistance, that may be required to facilitate the success of the mission; (e) indicate, if the host country so desires, plans for cooperation with national scholars, scientists, students, non-governmental organizations and others who may assist or benefit from participation in the field mission or its follow-up activities;(f) list, so far as it is known, the national and foreign curators, to whom the germplasm and information is intended to be distributed on the completion of the mission; and (g) supply such personal information as the host country may require.• Granting of permits. The permit issuing authority of the country in which a field mission proposes collecting plant genetic resources should expeditiously: (a) acknowledge the application, indicating the estimated time needed to examine it; (b) communicate to the collectors and sponsors of the proposed collecting mission its decision. In case of a positive decision, conditions of collaboration be established as soon as possible before the mission arrives in the country, or begins fieldwork. If the decision is to prohibit or restrict the mission, whenever possible, the reasons should be given and, where appropriate, an opportunity should be given to modify the application; (c) indicate, when applicable, what categories and quantities of germplasm may or may not be collected or exported, and those which are required for deposit within the country; indicate areas and species which are governed by special regulation;(d) inform the applicant of any restrictions on travel or any modification of plans desired by the host country; (e) state any special arrangement or restriction placed on the distribution or use of the germplasm, or improved materials derived from it; (f) if it so desired, designate a national counterpart for the field mission, and/or for subsequent collaboration; (g) define any financial obligation to be met by the applicant including possible national participation in the collecting team, and other services to be provided; and (h) provide the applicant with the relevant information regarding the country, its genetic resources policy, germplasm management system, quarantine procedures, and all relevant laws and regulations. Particular attention should be drawn to the culture and the society of the areas through which the collectors will be travelling.Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources• Defining the sample's optimal size, so that the number of collected seeds and/or propagules will represent the genetic variability available. The collector should not forget to ensure the sample's representativeness with regard to available genetic variability, as any genetic variability not sampled will never be part of the conserved variability. The sampling strategy is defined according to statistical procedures, requiring that the collector take advice from specialists in this matter.To take samples, the collector should bear in mind that collection as such is not separable from other activities. Sampling should consider the biology of reproduction of the targeted material (e.g., allogamous or autogamous plants, plants of intermediate regimes, and plants of asexual reproduction). The collector should take into account the physiology of the conservation organs because, where this is unknown, the collection of seeds or plant parts may not be successful.Regardless of the type of propagule that is collected, the collector must take into account those important aspects that directly influence sampling quality. For instance, the same number of samples should be collected from each plant, preferring those that are in good health and in good physical condition; and the samples' moisture content and temperatures should be controlled to prevent their drying up or rotting and, thus, affecting their viability (Guarino et al. 1995;Hawkes 1980).If the objective is to collect seeds, then fruits should be harvested because these will keep the seeds viable for longer. Seeds can then be extracted manually.The collected seeds should be fully mature so that they tolerate desiccation without losing viability. For plant parts, fresh propagules and buds should be collected so that they can be regenerated later. Samples can also be collected as complete plants, tubers, rhizomes, or stakes.Plants may be collected in any container, provided that it is safe and easy to transport. Tubers, rhizomes, and stakes should be placed in plastic bags. Another type of sample is to collect in vitro, as discussed below.The samples acquired should be healthy, represent the diversity targeted and be well documented so that they can enter, without problems, the conservation system of the receiving country and can be later used. The country of origin and, especially, the receiving one, should ensure that the transferred sample is healthy. Accordingly, the germplasm that enters a country must be submitted to sanitary inspection and quarantine (FAO andBioversity International 1989-2007).In vitro collection consists of taking and transporting in vitro to the laboratory viable plant tissues known as explants (e.g., buds, meristems, and embryos). The explants are extracted, sterilized, and planted onto a culture medium. In vitro collection is practised with species whose samples are difficult to manage such as those of vegetative reproduction or non-orthodox (recalcitrant) seed, or when restrictions exist for transporting plant parts. It has been used to collect coconut (Cocos nucifera), cotton (Gossypium spp.), cacao (Theobroma cacao), Prunus, Vitis, grasses, and forages (Withers 1995) and cassava.Acquired materials are handled according to their germplasm type. Seeds (orthodox or recalcitrant) are identified, conditioned (cleaned and dried), and temporarily stored for later characterization and increase. Plant parts are identified and conditioned, using specific procedures, and processed according to requirements for propagating the materials. The necessary procedures for pre-storage and later temporary storage are also carried out.Collections should be carried out carefully, as carelessness or neglect during the activity's development may damage plant populations and their habitats. This occurs, for example, when large samples are collected from small populations, contaminated germplasm is transported, or species introduced that can displace natives through competition and/or hybridization.Respect of customs, knowledge, and beliefs of the communities dwelling in the collection site will guarantee collaboration during the expedition and in the future. Safety measures should be taken with respect to the personnel who carry out the collection, especially for medical emergencies. Equipment should be handled with care and given due maintenance.Documentation of the samples as they are being collected is fundamental for their identification, characterization, and later use. It should not be forgotten that data that have not been obtained can never be an integral part of either information or of the genetic variability conserved (Painting et al. 1995).Identifying samples in the field is as important as documenting them. In this case, stickers can be placed on them, duly labelling them with sample number, place of origin, collector's initials, and identification number from the respective recording card. Samples could also be usefully collected for herbaria; photographs taken of the collected materials; and ethnobotanical, ecological, and geographic data (e.g., altitudes, latitudes, heights above sea level, and slopes) also taken (Guarino et al. 1995;Hawkes 1980;Querol 1988).Passport data and collection data are taken during collection and recorded on cards or formats designed for this purpose (see Module 6: Germplasm Documentation). The information includes mainly:• The consecutive number of the collection card • Genus • Species, subspecies, and/or variety of the botanical material • Place, province, and country of collection of the sample • Name or names of the collector or collectors • Collection dateThe collected samples should be kept viable until they arrive at the conservation site. They must be conditioned to prevent their damage or contamination.Conditioning includes cleaning the samples, drying them if they are orthodox seeds, or maintaining their moisture content if they are plant parts or recalcitrant or intermediate seeds.Cleaning consists of removing all contaminants from the samples such as stones and soil residues; insects; seeds that are infected, damaged, or are from other species; and plant residues. Drying consists of reducing the moisture content of seeds for storage, using silica gel, equipment for circulating dry air, or spreading them out in thin layers in the shade, in cool and airy places.The conditioned samples should be stored until they are taken to the conservation site. Orthodox seeds are stored in cloth bags, away from light, or in containers that permit the circulation of dry air. Recalcitrant and intermediate seeds and plant parts should be maintained in humidified containers such as newsprint or paper towels, sawdust or sand, or humid inflated plastic bags, changing the air frequently. They can also be stored in polystyrene iceboxes or car refrigerators.To prevent materials losing their viability during collection, partial shipments of samples should be made where possible to the conservation site. The materials must be sent in accordance with the International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer (FAO 1994), being clearly identified and accompanied by instructions for handling and documentation.After conditioning, the seeds should be stored at the established conservation site to ensure their availability for increase, characterization, and other procedures characteristic of ex situ conservation.After this lesson, you should be familiar with the procedures involved in acquiring germplasm, collecting samples of species targeted for conservation, and managing the acquired germplasm.Before going on to the next lesson, prepare a brief, in your own words, on the following themes. Write a maximum of one page per item.• If you have had personal experience in applying procedures for acquiring germplasm, then:-Briefly describe your experience, including purposes, achievements, and the difficulties you had. -Prepare a list of suggestions that would be useful for other colleagues who have not had the experience, but are interested in taking it up. • If you have not had the experience or have not participated in explorations and collections, briefly describe those procedures that would be the most relevant for germplasm acquisition, including aspects of sample management and documentation. • Carefully read Box 3, form an opinion on the subject, and suggest the merits or drawbacks of its application.   Collectors should respond to their requests for information, germplasm or assistance, to the extent feasible. In order not to increase the risk of genetic erosion, the acquisition of germplasm should not deplete the populations of the farmers' planting stocks or wild species, or remove significant genetic variation from the local gene pool. When collecting cultivated or wild genetic resources, it is desirable that the local communities and farmers concerned be informed about the purpose of the mission, and about how and where they could request and obtain samples of the collected germplasm. If requested, duplicate samples should be also left with them. Whenever germplasm is collected, the collector should systematically record the passport data, and describe in detail the plant population, its diversity, habitat and ecology, so as to provide curators and users of germplasm with an understanding of its original context. For this purpose, as much local knowledge as possible about the resources (including observations on environmental adaptation and local methods and technologies of preparing and using the plant) should be also documented; photographs may be of special value.• Post-collection. Upon the completion of the field mission, collectors and their sponsors should: (a) process, in a timely fashion, the plant samples, and any associated microbial symbionts, pests and pathogens that may have been collected for conservation; the relevant passport data should be prepared at the same time; (b) deposit duplicate sets of all collections and associated materials, and records of any pertinent information, with the host country and other agreed curators; (c) make arrangements with quarantine officials, seed storage managers and curators to ensure that the samples are transferred as quickly as possible to conditions which optimize their viability; (d) obtain, in accordance with the importing countries' requirements, the phytosanitary certificate(s) and other documentation needed for transferring the material collected; (e) alert the host country and the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources about any impending threat to plant populations, or evidence of accelerated genetic erosion, and make recommendations for remedial action; and (f) prepare a consolidated report on the collecting mission, including the localities visited, the confirmed identifications and passport data of plant samples collected, and the intended site(s) of conservation. Copies of the report should be submitted to the host country's permit issuing authority, to national counterparts arid curators, and to the FAO for the information of its Commission on Plant Genetic Resources and for inclusion in its World Information and Early Warning System on PGR.SOURCE: FAO (1994).For national and international crop improvement programmes, which constantly need germplasm, its collection, conservation, use, and global distribution are essential. However, because of its very nature, germplasm can be affected by pests and pathogens which are not globally distributed or reported that threaten their integrity. This resource, which constitutes a treasure, merits conservation and protection against exotic organisms that have high destructive potential.Moving germplasm from one country to another, or from one region to another within a country, involves plant health risks. Such movement is therefore subject to legislation. The parties interested in moving a given germplasm agree on terms of transfer to ensure its legality and that the transported germplasm is healthy. Such agreements must adjust to international regulations that regulate access, safe transfer, and the rights and responsibilities of each party with respect to the use of the transferred germplasm.Before introducing germplasm to a country, requirements must first be met. These include:• Submitting an official application to the entity responsible for the PGRs of the country in which the germplasm is to be acquired • Observing requisites according to established regulations • Signing agreements on the transfer of PGRs • Determining specific procedures for moving or transferring the materials.Once the transactions for acquisition are fulfilled and the germplasm is available, it should be transferred and introduced into the respective bank. When transfer must occur across country borders, then that transfer or movement is achieved through agreements that adjust to current international regulations as expressed in instruments such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (Glowka et al. 1994), the International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer (ICCPGCT), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO and IPGRI's Technical Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Germplasm (FAO andBioversity International 1989-2007). When the germplasm is acquired from within the country, then transfer to the respective banks is subject to regulations established by that country.Germplasm transfer is effected by the interested parties signing an agreement. The agreement should stipulate both the terms of transfer and use of the material (e.g., conservation, research, or production of commercial varieties). An example of these agreements for the transfer of genetic resources (Barton and Siebeck 1994) is that established between the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), FAO, and the CGIAR (Figure 1).  The plant genetic resources (hereinafter referred to as the \"material\") contained herein are being furnished by the international Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) under the following conditions:CIAT is making the material described in the attached list available as part of its policy of maximizing the utilization of material for research, breeding and training. The material was either developed by CIAT; or was acquired prior to the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity; or if it was acquired after the entering into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity, it was obtained with the understanding that it could be made available for any agricultural research, breeding and training purposes under the terms and conditions set out in the agreement between CIAT and FAO dated 26 October 1994.The material is held in trust under the terms of this agreement, and the recipient has no rights to obtain Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on the material or related information.The recipient may utilize and conserve the material for research, breeding and training and may distribute it to other parties provided such other parties accept the terms and conditions of this agreement. 2The recipient, therefore, hereby agrees not to claim ownership over the material, nor to seek IPRs over that material, or its genetic parts or components, in the form received. The recipient also agrees not to seek IPRs over related information received.The recipient further agrees to ensure that any subsequent person or institution to whom he/she may make samples of the material available, is bound by the same provisions and undertakes to pass on the same obligations to future recipients of the material.CIAT makes no warranties as to the safety or title of the material, nor as to the accuracy or correctness of any passport or other data provided with the material. Neither does it make any warranties as to the quality, viability, or purity (genetic or mechanical) of the material being furnished. The phytosanitary condition of the material is warranted only as described in the attached phytosanitary certificate. The recipient assumes full responsibility for complying with the recipient nation's quarantine and biosafety regulations and rules as to import or release of genetic material.Upon request, CIAT will furnish information that may be available in addition to whatever is furnished with the material. Recipients are requested to furnish CIAT with related data and information collected during evaluation and utilization.The recipient of material provided under this MTA is encouraged to share the benefits accruing from its use, including commercial use, though the mechanisms of exchange of information, access to and transfer of technology, capacity building and sharing of benefits arising from commercialization. CIAT is prepared to facilitate the sharing of such benefits by directing them to the conservation and sustainable use of the plant genetic resources in question, particularly in national and regional programmes in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, especially in centres of diversity and the least develop-countries.The material is supplied expressly conditional on acceptance of the terms of this Agreement. The recipient's acceptance of the material constitutes acceptance of the terms of this Agreement.Germplasm transfer agreements should respect the treaties on access to genetic resources that the involved countries have. As germplasm transfer implies plant health risks, any exchange or donation should be made through authorized institutions and according to what is stipulated in the International Plant Protection Convention (FAO 1997). In this case, each country commits itself to adopting the legislative, technical, and administrative requisites to act effectively and jointly to prevent the dissemination and introduction of pests of plants and plant products and to promote appropriate measures to combat them.All plant materials and plant products and by-products should meet certain plant health requirements for their importation. An exception would be those products that, by their physical constitution and the processing to which they had been submitted, do not pose plant health risk.In general, before shipping, interested parties should present before each country's official agency responsible for preventing plant health risks an application, permit, or plant health importation certificate. Figure 2 shows an example.In some cases such as that of Colombia, to import wild flora, an approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment must also be attached to the request. The movement of cassava germplasm from African countries to America is not allowed in the form of vegetative plant parts, unless they are in vitro. Such measures help prevent the introduction of pests or diseases that are, as yet, unreported in the respective countries.Once the interested party obtains the requisite plant health documents for importing plant materials, that party requests its registration of importation from the respective ministry or office. A copy is sent to the exporting country so that the health authority there can issue the plant health certificate (Figure 3) in accordance with the requirements demanded by the receiving country.The requisite plant health document is issued per species and per shipment, and has a determined validity for the respective country. For Colombia, such a document is valid for 90 days. The Colombian Institute of Agriculture and Livestock (ICA) is empowered to suspend it should a quarantine pest be found that would affect national production.According to the regulations of the ICCPGCT, once the field mission is concluded, the collectors and their sponsors should:• Submit, on a timely basis, their samples of plants and any associated symbiont, pest, and microbial pathogen that may have been collected to treatment for conservation; the pertinent passport data must be prepared at the same time. • Deposit duplicates of all collections and associated materials, as well as records of all corresponding information, in the host country and with agreed-upon persons in charge. • Arrange with quarantine officials, directors, and those in charge of seed deposits to ensure that the samples are transferred with the greatest possible speed to a place where conditions for viability are optimal.   This is to certify that the plants, plant products or other regulated articles, described herein have been inspected and/or tested according to appropriate official procedures and are considered to be from the quarantine pests specified by the importing contracting party and to conform to the current phytosanitary requirements of the importing contracting party, including those for regulated nonquarantine pests. They are regarded to be practically free from other pests.• Obtain, in accordance with requirements of the importing countries, the plant health certificate or certificates and other documentation needed to transfer the material collected. • Warn the host country and the FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) of any imminent threat or sign of rapid genetic erosion with regard to plant populations, and to formulate recommendations to remedy the situation. • Prepare a joint report on the collection mission, indicating places visited, identifications confirmed, passport data of the samples of collected plants, and the place or places to be used for their conservation. Copies of the report shall be delivered to the authority that grants permits for the host country, to national counterparts and persons in charge, and to FAO. This last shall report to the CGRFA and include the report in the World Information and Early Warning System on PGRFA (WIEWS; FAO 1994).On their arrival, the imported plant materials must be accompanied by their respective plant health certificates issued by the health authority of the country of origin. These certificates should be adjusted to the plant health requisites indicated in the plant health documents for importation.The importer should request plant health inspection from the inspection and quarantine service of the plant health organization in the place of entry (sea or river port, airport, or border control). The importer should also present the original plant health certificates from the country of origin and the plant health documents that accompany the materials. Once the documentation has been reviewed and the inspection conducted, the corresponding plant health certificate for nationalization will then be issued, or not, as the case may be.After the material has been introduced into the country, the respective bank determines the risk of transporting plant pathogens during the germplasm's movement. It establishes flow charts that show where quarantine inspection and plant health control play essential roles in the procedures (Figures 4 and 5).The effectiveness of these measures depends on the seriousness and professionalism that had been applied, logistical support, availability of skilled technical personnel, and availability of specific information on plant pathogens or pests and their potential risk. Political and institutional will to apply the measures is also necessary if regional and international agriculture is to be protected. The simple inspection or visual examination that is frequently practised by quarantine services should be regarded as insufficient for keeping pathogens or pests out of a country.Necessarily, quarantine often consists of officially confining the regulated articles (e.g., plant materials) for observation or research, or for inspection, testing, and/or additional treatment. This is the most effective measure for control and widely applied throughout the world. It encompasses all those activities designed to prevent the introduction and/or dissemination of quarantine pests or ensure their official control.Quarantine is a governmental measure to control the entry of plants, plant parts, or any plant product, soil samples, and live organisms into a given country to prevent the introduction or dissemination of pests, pathogens, and weeds (Nath 1993). It includes inspection to detect pests and pathogens, treatment or cleaning of the samples, and their certification and release if no danger exists, or their destruction if they are highly contaminated or no technology is available to clean them. The principal risk in moving germplasm is the transfer or accidental introduction of pests and pathogens associated with the plant materials. To minimize this risk, effective procedures must be applied to guarantee that the mobilized material is free of pests of quarantine interest. 'Quarantine pest' is understood to have economic importance for the area at risk, even if the pest does not exist or, if it does exist, is confined and under official control. A quarantine pest may be of any species, race, or biotype of any harmful animal or plant, or pathogen for plants or plant products (IPPC 1995). A very useful tool in minimizing risk is the Technical Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Germplasm by FAO andBioversity International (1989-2007), which deal with many species or groups of species.The reduction of plant health risks in the international movement of plants and plant products is a matter of vital importance, with the responsibility belonging to countries. According to the IPPC, to combat pests of plants and their products, each country must take the steps necessary to establish, in the best possible way, a national organization of plant protection. The responsibilities of such an organization would include: • The issue of certificates based on the plant health regulations of the importing country for shipments of plants, plant products, and other regulated articles. • The monitoring of cultivated plants, including in cultivated lands (e.g., fields, plantations, nurseries, gardens, greenhouses, and laboratories), and wild flora; and of plants and plant products in storage or transport. The specific purpose is to report on the presence, outbreak, or dissemination of pests, and combat them. Reports may also have to be presented on request. • The inspection of shipments of plants and plant products that circulate in the international traffic. Where appropriate, other regulated articles may be inspected, particularly to prevent the introduction and/or dissemination of pests. • The disinfestation or disinfection of shipments of plants, plant products, and other regulated articles that circulate in international traffic to meet plant health requirements.• The protection of at-risk areas and designation, maintenance, and monitoring of areas free of pests and of areas with limited prevalence of pests. • The analysis of pest risk.• The maintenance of plant health security of shipments after they have been certified in terms of composition, substitution, and re-infestation before export. • Personnel training and education.At present, following the IPPC guidelines, Latin America has several organizations responsible for plant protection. These include:• The Plant Protection Committee of the Southern Cone (COSAVE, its Spanish acronym), which is a regional organization created through agreements among the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. • The Andean Agricultural and Livestock Health System, which forms part of the Andean Subregional Integration Agreement (also known as the 'Cartagena Agreement'), of the Andean Community, which is constituted by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. • The International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA, its Spanish acronym), formed by Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. It was created to advise, coordinate, and cooperate with national services for agricultural and livestock quarantine of the ministries of agriculture and livestock of the member countries. The goal is to prevent, where possible, the introduction and establishment of new pests in the region.North America and Europe also have plant protection organizations:• The North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) is a regional organization of plant protection that coordinates efforts between Canada, USA, and Mexico. It aims to protect these countries' plant resources against the entry, establishment, and dispersion of pests of regulated plants, while facilitating trade among them and with other regions. The IPP has an special web page dedicated to Africa in which there are about 12 documents, mostly handouts very useful to familiarize with the phytosanitary situation on this continent. Furthermore, international organizations such as IPGRI (now Bioversity International) have published technical guidelines for moving germplasm of Acacia spp., Allium spp., edible aroids, sweet potato, cacao, sugar cane, small grains, citrus fruits, coconut, Eucalyptus spp., stone-fruit trees, strawberries, legume grains, Musa spp., yam, potato, Pinus spp., vanilla, grape vine, and cassava (FAO and IPGRI 2004;FAO andBioversity International 1989-2007). The guides contain useful information for germplasm transfer.To guarantee safe germplasm movement in international exchange and adopt quarantine safety measures, the following must be done:• Estimate the 'favourability' of risk through the risk-to-benefit ratio. The 'favourability' of an importation is determined by assessing the associated risk against the benefit of the importation. The benefit should exceed the potential cost of the adverse consequences if a pest or pathogen of quarantine importance enters and becomes established. • Estimate the cost-to-benefit ratio to determine if the benefit derived from implementing a quarantine activity or programme exceeds the cost of applying it. • Assess the pathogen type of a given pest in terms of its potential for direct destruction or for rapid epidemiological dispersion, even if it is not present in the area targeted for protection or is restricted to areas under effective control. • Consider the regions from where the germplasm proceeds, with special reference to centres of origin, experiment stations, or other places generating risk. • Consider the susceptibility of materials, including wild ones, to ranges of pathogens.• Get acquainted-and this is crucial-with all the existing laws and regulations followed by the importing country. Such knowledge will prevent the destruction of samples through ignorance of simple bureaucratic procedures.After this lesson, you should be familiar with the legal requirements involved in germplasm transfer, transfer procedures, and plant health agreements. You should also have some understanding of the issues involved in adopting quarantine measures related to the safe transfer of germplasm.This lesson finalizes Module 2 of the course but, before going on to the next module, you should prepare a brief in your own words on the following themes. Write a maximum of one page for each theme.• If you have had experience in legal transactions for germplasm transfer, then:-Briefly describe the transactions that were carried out and indicate those entities and organizations involved; and -Express your opinion on the effectiveness of the procedures followed for reducing the risk of inadvertently introducing pests (i.e., pathogens, insects, and other agents) of quarantine interest to your country. Germplasm banks play a crucial role in the conservation and use of biodiversity. They are important institutions, not just for the preservation of germplasm but also for its sustainable use. Germplasm banks are also expected to generate and provide new scientific knowledge and information on ecosystems, species, and genes.The reports presented at the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig indicated that the number of germplasm banks had grown rapidly since the early 1970s when there were fewer than 10, holding perhaps half a million accessions. At this Conference, 1300 germplasm banks were identified as holding about 6.1 million accessions, of which about 10% were conserved in field collections (FAO 1997).Few African countries have national germplasm banks for agricultural crop species, and the few that do exist are not adequately equipped and organized to attain the continent's goals (African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology [AMCOST]). Even so, ex situ conservation for forest genetic resources, in the form of field germplasm banks, is practised for most exotic plantation species in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In Malawi, field germplasm banks of important seed sources of indigenous species (e.g., Afzelia quanzensis, Khaya anthotheca, and Pterocarpus angolensis) were established. The SADC Regional Gene Bank is also located in Lusaka, Zambia. It stores duplicate samples of germplasm of national institutions (FAO 2003).The information provided by countries of the Andean Region shows that a significant number of germplasm banks house genetic resources of great importance agriculturally, socioeconomically, and in terms of food security. In all, 88 active banks are reported in the Region, of which 60% are managed by public institutions. A further two are national base collection banks (Colombia and Ecuador) and another is being planned (Venezuela). Most of the accessions conserved in the banks correspond to species belonging to Andean flora such as tubers and roots (17,289 accessions), cereals (27,839), vegetables (6415), fruit trees (6331), forest flora (2866), legumes (11,064), forages (426), plants for industry (14,945), and ornamentals (1679) (Comunidad Andina 2002).The conservation of plant genetic resources (PGRs) is not limited to attaining and physically possessing the materials (collection and storage) but also includes ensuring the existence of these under viable conditions and with their original genetic characteristics intact. This is achieved, in the case of seeds or in vitro materials, by controlling storage conditions so that they inhibit or reduce the samples' metabolism; and, in the case of vegetative planting materials, by maintaining them under optimal agronomic and cropping conditions (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).This module contains five submodules, each of which contains two lessons.When you have completed the entire module, you should be able to, with regard to plant germplasm:• Describe multiplication and regeneration • Describe the procedures for harvesting, conditioning, and quantification • Describe the procedures for verifying the germplasm's biological status • Describe what constitutes plant health quality and the verification procedures used • Describe the alternatives for storing and conserving seeds and propagules in the short and long termThe lessons for Module 3 on Germplasm Conservation are as follows:A. Throughout this module, a bibliography is provided for each section, that is, the General Comments and each Lesson. The bibliographies follow a format of two parts:1. Literature cited, which includes those references cited in the text itself. Some of these citations were used to develop the original Spanish-language course on ex situ conservation and may therefore appear in Spanish or Portuguese. However, where practical, references to the English versions of the original Spanish-language documents are provided. 2. Further reading, which is a list of suggested readings in the English language, with few exceptions in French.A list of Acronyms used in the bibliographies is also given. The idea is to save space by not having to spell out each institution's full name each time it appears in the references. Once germplasm has been acquired and introduced, it must be stored (temporarily) to preserve its essential characteristics (the reason for conservation), that is, its physiological and physical qualities, genetic identity, and plant health quality. The temporarily stored germplasm may undergo other important stages as according to the germplasm bank's goals. These stages would form part of the monitoring needed to conserve the germplasm for the pre-established term.After introducing the germplasm, an essential activity in ex situ conservation of PGRs is preliminary multiplication, or initial increase, of the acquired materials. However, PGRs can be conserved without going through this stage, especially if sufficient conservable material (i.e., highly viable and healthy) had already been acquired. Likewise, instead of conducting a preliminary multiplication, a definitive multiplication programme can be developed according to the germplasm bank's goals. For in vitro conservation, initial multiplication is probably not necessary. Initial multiplication is key to successful conservation, as acquisition rarely provides security of status of plant health (despite what is expressed in the pertinent certificates) or of the material's viability.In many cases, the preliminary multiplication of PGRs is carried out as botanical seed because the germplasm bank received very little material and has to increase it to meet a series of requisites for conservation. One requisite is the periodic verification of viability, involving a consumption of seeds from the sample. The idea of requisites leads to an important concept: that the germplasm bank must specify its needs according to its mandate.Because one goal of conservation is to maintain the germplasm's essential characteristics, five major risks should be avoided during multiplication or regeneration. Best known as the 'capital sins of conservation' (Daniel Debouck 2004, personal information), these are:1. Mechanical mixture with contaminants (other seeds or any material alien to the samples) 2. Infection by pathogens-whether of quarantine importance or not-that can affect the material's viability 3. Genetic contamination through uncontrolled hybridization; a common event because plants may have received residual cross-pollination, even if they are autogamous 4. Genetic erosion, a common phenomenon in germplasm banks; it occurs when making repeated samplings for different events of increase, permitting the effective multiplication of only a few seeds Over the time it is conserved, germplasm can decline in quantity (number of seeds) and quality (viability). Sample size shrinks with use and distribution, while viability declines over time, even if the germplasm has been stored under optimal conditions (FAO 1996;Sackville Hamilton and Chorlton 1997). When this happens, the germplasm must be multiplied or regenerated.If the objective is to recover viability, one speaks about regeneration or rejuvenescence; if it is to bring the samples to an optimal size (quantity), then one speaks of multiplication.Increase, multiplication, and regeneration are activities that embrace the same principle: to obtain a given quantity of viable propagules, free of pathogens, and genetically identical to the original. Hence, similar methodologies are applied. As we present this theme we will always refer to the essence of the three activities as multiplication but, for convenience in developing the theme, we will refer to multiplication on the one hand and regeneration on the other.Undoubtedly, when dealing with procedures for germplasm multiplication, we must take into account the two basic strategies of plant reproduction. The first strategy is that of sexual reproduction, which uses the seed as the building block. A seed consists of an embryo, its stored food reserves, and the surrounding protective coats. The other reproductive strategy is asexual or vegetative reproduction, which generates new individuals directly from pieces of mother plants or specialized organs. Thus, in terms of germplasm multiplication, one always refers to the two strategies: reproduction by seed or vegetative reproduction.Initial multiplication (also known as preliminary multiplication or initial increase) is the increase of introduced germplasm. It is carried out under optimal agronomic conditions to guarantee sufficient viable samples that maintain the original genetic identity. The multiplied material will permit storage, conservation, and distribution of the targeted species, and the establishment of representative populations for characterization and evaluation. Initial multiplication is almost always necessary, as samples obtained through donation, exchange, or field collection have small numbers of seeds and a usually irregular percentage of viability.When a germplasm sample is imported from another country, under normal conditions, before starting initial multiplication, certain plant health transactions should have been fulfilled, as described in Module 2: Germplasm Acquisitions and Introduction (Seeds and Asexual Propagules) (Lesson 3, Figures 4 and 5). The germplasm is then taken to the place of conservation where the samples are verified as being sufficient and viable for conservation.As a safety measure and according to established agreements, initial multiplication is conducted under quarantine and supervised either by the national institutions responsible for plant health such as the ICA Office for the Prevention of Plant Health Risks for Colombia or according to regional agreements such as the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC) in terms of the stipulations of the International Plant Protection Convention (FAO 1997). These stipulations include inspection to detect pests and pathogens, treating or cleaning samples, and certification and release if no danger exists or the material's destruction if it is highly contaminated or no technology is available to clean it.As with other conservation activities, multiplication starts with monitoring the samples. It is governed by standards and procedures that specify the quality and quantity of the required material, the number of plants, and the environment (FAO and IPGRI 1994;Sackville Hamilton and Chorlton 1997).A sample is in optimal condition when it is viable and present in sufficient numbers. If, on monitoring, a sample does not fulfil either requirement, it should be multiplied. Size is determined by counting the number of available seeds or propagules per accession. If the sample consists of seeds, the permissible minimum size indicated by the Genebank Standards (FAO and IPGRI 1994) is 1500 to 2000 seeds. No standards exist for the sample size of vegetative propagules conserved in the field or in vitro but between 3 and 20 replications are usually kept per accession, taking into account the number of propagules initially received. Viability is established through observation or testing, depending on sample type.The viability of vegetative material (plants in the field or in in vitro slow growth) is systematically established by observing the health, development, and conditions under which the material is being conserved. If any one of the criteria listed is not met, then the material should be regenerated. If the conserved material is seed, viability is analyzed through germination tests that involve germinating a selection of seeds and evaluating how many (%) germinate. Of those that did not germinate, then observations must be made to determine if they had died or were dormant. Findings are then compared with the initial viability, which had been determined before preliminary multiplication. If viability has declined to 85% or less, then the sample must be regenerated.Germination tests are carried out on a minimum sample of 200 seeds taken at random (FAO and IPGRI 1994). Seeds are placed on paper (towels or rolls) or a substratum (sand or soil) and, depending on the species, incubated at different temperatures until they germinate. The tests should follow the standards indicated in the International Rules for Seed Testing (ISTA 1993). If the germination tests do not give satisfactory results, then complementary tests such as that of tetrazolium and X-rays can be carried out to determine if the embryo is dead, dormant, or non-existent. Once these tests are applied, the material cannot be used later, which means, in practical terms, that sufficient seed must be available to do these tests. Likewise, in practice, even if seed is insufficient, a smaller quantity can be used, for example, two independent replications of 50 seeds each or, if preferred, the necessary minimum quantity for the test can be determined by statistical analysis.To decide when to multiply, one should not wait until the sample reaches minimum levels of size and viability, but neither should multiplication be done frequently, as it is expensive and endangers the germplasm's genetic integrity. Furthermore, viability should take priority over size; thus, multiplying a large sample with low viability is more urgent than multiplying a small sample whose viability is optimal.Establishing and managing multiplication procedures require prior understanding of propagation techniques and when to use conventional versus biotechnological ones. For vegetative samples, the use of the simplest or most complex techniques as according to the totipotency of cells and/or tissues can strengthen the process. Germplasm multiplication usually requires:• Knowledge of the characteristics of reproduction and biological cycle of the species being multiplied (e.g., whether they reproduce sexually by seed or asexually by stems, cuttings, roots, bulbs, buds, meristems, or stolons; allogamous or autogamous species; and annuals or perennials) • To prevent drift, knowledge of the geographical and ecological origins of the material is needed to programme its multiplication under conditions similar to those of the acquisition site • Knowledge of the germplasm's characteristics of adaptation so it can be multiplied in:-The field (site, soils, environmental and biological conditions) -Greenhouses and mesh houses (site, airtightness, temperature, light, humidity) -Growth chambers (place, temperature, light, humidity) -In vitro laboratory (infrastructure, light, temperature, safety) • Knowledge of the initial viability and quantity of available material • An estimate of yield, for example, g/plant, kg/ha, kg planting material/area, and number of stakes/plant • Clarity on multiplication rates, for example, kg planted/kg harvested, area established/ area multiplied, and area established/kg planting material • Knowledge of the likely users of the materials produced such as germplasm banks, research institutions, seed companies, and individuals • Resources, whether physical, financial, human, or infrastructure • Selection of sites, multiplication methods, and area size.• Establishment of the size of area needed for multiplication as according to information on yield and requirements of seed or planting materials.• Adequate preparation of the sites selected for increase (e.g., infrastructure, procedures, machinery, equipment, soil, culture media, and propagation containers) • Creation of lists of the species to multiply and preparation of propagules (seeds and/or plant parts) -Seeds (e.g., treatment, scarification, and pregermination) -Plant parts (treatment according to the method to be used, e.g., thermotherapy for in vitro propagation)• Transplanting or sowing of materials in containers with substrata or media suitable for seedling development, previously placed in the sites for increase (e.g., greenhouse, mesh house, or laboratory) • Care during growth • Plant health inspections, sampling, and analysis to certify health and 'release' of the introduced materials • Hardening or conditioning of the seedlings for transplanting to the final sites for increase • Transplanting to the final sites for increase, according to predefined criteria on location and requisites of the species (e.g., greenhouses, mesh houses, laboratory, growth rooms or chambers, and the field) • Agronomic attention and care to ensure successful increase • Acquisition of samples for the herbarium, as according to species • Harvesting, collecting, conditioning, and temporary storage according to methods as defined by species and material type • Documentation of the general multiplication planIn multiplication, as in all germplasm conservation activities, the samples must be precisely identified to prevent mixtures that cause confusion or loss. The location of plots, furrows, and plants undergoing multiplication should be stated on a map and, at the site, with their accession numbers, using weatherproof materials. In cases of doubt, the identification of the plant materials can be confirmed by comparing them with herbarium samples or against available data such as passport data, or from characterization and evaluation. Currently, digital imaging can be used to make photographic records of the materials before their multiplication, so that they may serve as reference to prevent mechanical mixtures or accidental hybridizations.Orthodox seeds can be multiplied in the field, but their multiplication is better done in the greenhouse to prevent genetic recombination and the presence of pests and diseases. Before multiplying the samples, size and viability should be confirmed. The sample's initial viability will serve as a basis for later monitoring.Plant species that propagate asexually have long growing periods or produce short-lived seeds (i.e., recalcitrant) are normally left in the field. Strategies and procedures for establishing and maintaining collections must be practical, rational, economical, and scientifically well grounded (Engelmann 1999).Planting materials multiplied in the field or greenhouse, using propagules (e.g., stakes or bulbs), are first sterilized or grown in vitro through buds or meristems taken from the original samples. Recalcitrant and intermediate seeds are planted in the field or greenhouse to obtain complete plants, from which buds or meristems are taken to multiply in vitro. The new plants can also be left in the field in the hope that they will produce seeds and thus be multiplied in the field.Once the decision has been made to multiply a sample, plants are established in the multiplication site under optimal conditions of development. The resulting sample of germplasm should be viable, healthy, in sufficient quantity for storage, and genetically equal to the original. The type of reproduction a species has will determine those conditions. Species that do not require control over pollination such as those with asexual reproduction or are autogamous are multiplied in the field or mesh houses. If they are multiplied in the field, the germplasm is planted in relatively small plots and in large populations. Those with vegetative reproduction are multiplied through sterilized samples such as stakes, layering, and grafts.Species with sexual reproduction that do need control over pollination (allogamous) are preferably multiplied in greenhouses and mesh houses. They can be multiplied in the field, provided that the area is isolated and pollination is strictly controlled. If the accessions are wild species, they can be multiplied in furrows or plots in the field, mesh houses, or greenhouses, depending on the quantity of available seed and of the species' requirements. Certain wild species (e.g., Lycopersicon peruvianum) need special environmental conditions to reproduce. Multiplication of germplasm in the field or mesh houses requires space, time, and great quantities of materials and resources. For species multiplied by in vitro tissue culture, not much time or space is needed, permitting work with various sample types and thereby offering the possibility of multiplying a variety of species. It can also ensure healthy samples that are genetically identical to the original. Tissue culture consists of micropropagating apices of axillary buds and meristems until entire plants are obtained.Obtaining a sample of good physiological quality (i.e., viable, vigorous, and healthy vegetative propagules or seeds) and identical to the original genotype requires strict control of the environment. The physiological quality of the germplasm depends on its genetic characteristics and on the environment in which it develops. As it can be affected during the growing cycle by adverse environmental factors, any biotic or abiotic stress must therefore be prevented.The selected site should have fertile soil with sufficient water to supply the species' requirements. Preferably, the site should also be isolated to prevent attacks from pests and pathogens or have facilities for controlling them should they appear. Uniform distances between furrows and between plants should be established, and the agronomic tasks necessary for the given species carried out. Seeds and propagules should be harvested when they are physiologically mature and healthy, taking care to prevent mechanical damage.Controlling the environment to maintain the original genotype consists of preventing accessions from becoming contaminated through pollen exchange (allogamous) or mechanical mixing (autogamous and asexual reproduction). Populations can be isolated in the field or in mesh houses. If they are planted in the field, the area should be isolated, separating the accessions by suitable distances, and submitting them to thinning and pruning to prevent overlapping of plants and mixing of fruits and seeds. Furthermore, allogamous species require strict control over pollination, which is achieved by bagging the reproductive structures and managing populations of insect pollinators. Using individual mesh houses for each accession eliminates risks of contamination but increases costs.The plant parts collected are washed and disinfected before propagating and taking them to the conservation site. Disinfection may be carried out with bactericides, fungicides (bulbs and rhizomes), or thermotherapy (stakes). Once they have been disinfected, the planting materials may be propagated in the field, greenhouse, or in vitro. In the field and greenhouse, samples are planted in seedbeds or flower pots and left to grow until plants are obtained from which new samples can be collected. The procedure is repeated until there are enough plants to establish the collection in the definitive site.If propagation is to be in vitro, samples are planted in greenhouses, in soils of optimal nutritional quality. From the resulting plants-preferably the younger ones-explants are extracted and micropropagated in vitro to obtain complete plants that are also taken to the greenhouse. These are planted into sterilized soil and, 2 or 3 weeks later, are transferred to their definitive site in the field. For cassava, micropropagation consists of (a) disinfecting the explants in a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite, mercury bichloride, or ethanol; (b) planting them in an in vitro culture medium until new shoots develop; and (c) rooting the shoots until complete plants are obtained (Frison 1994;George 1996;George and Sherrington 1984;Roca and Mroginski 1991).When using seeds, propagation in the field and greenhouse is simple but requires time and space. Nor can it guarantee that the plants obtained will be healthy and genetically identical to the originals. In vitro propagation solves these problems and can be used to propagate many species, even those that reproduce by seed. It is, therefore, more convenient. However, this type of propagation has limitations such as cost, the need for skilled personnel, and the risk of induced somaclonal variation, especially if artificially synthesized hormones are used (e.g., auxins or 2,4-D).The site selected to conserve the material in the field should be safe and favour plant development. It should be isolated to prevent pest attacks and diseases but easy to access for management tasks. The physical and chemical preparation of the planting site depends on the species' requirements and on the number of accessions that is expected to be planted in the field.If vigorous plants are taken to the field in a number that represents the genetic variability of the accessions, then the continuity of the conserved materials will be ensured. Plants should be arranged in the field in such a way that no risk of pollen exchange exists, thereby preventing the populations from losing their original genotype. The exact site where each accession is planted should be recorded on a map, with the accessions being identified both in the field and on the plants.With this lesson, you should have understood the concept of germplasm multiplication; and have generally reviewed the procedures for multiplication, and their requirements and conditions.Before going on to the next lesson, prepare a well-based plan for germplasm multiplication. Take as an example, the germplasm with which you currently work or, in its absence, with which you are most familiar.Literature cited Engelmann F, ed. 1999 Benjamín Pineda, Rigoberto Hidalgo, Daniel Debouck, Mariano Mejía, Graciela Mafla, Arsenio Ciprián, Manuel Sánchez, Carmen Rosa Bonilla, and Orlando Toro.In the next lesson, you will study major aspects of germplasm regeneration.Over the time germplasm is kept conserved its viability can diminish, even if the germplasm has been stored under optimal conditions. When this happens, the germplasm must be regenerated or rejuvenated. Regeneration is carried out as a result of information obtained during seed control and usually occurs when the viability of a lot is below an acceptable level, often 85%. This percentage, however, corresponds to the lower limit of acceptability of loss of a sample's internal variability. Regeneration is also carried out when factors inducing genetic drift or erosion appear, jeopardizing the existence of alleles in the original accession and possibly causing their elimination from the next generation.Regeneration is based on the same principle as multiplication: to obtain a given quantity of viable propagules, free of pathogens, and genetically identical to the original. As a result, similar methodologies are applied.Planning regeneration also requires passport and other data on the accession. Information (when this is adequate) is requested on the number of plants, distances between plots, crop improvement system, any isolation, and pollination method. Most likely, the germplasm bank already has these data recorded as part of its standard practices. Hence, obtaining such data for each accession will not usually be needed before regeneration.If regenerating the accessions is possible in more than one site, then the 'preferred regeneration site' should be listed in the inventory file. This will help by eliminating the step of having to consult the passport data file whenever regenerating an accession is planned, thereby simplifying activities. Preferentially, to prevent to the utmost genetic drift, only the most suitable site should be selected.To better understand the regeneration protocols, we need to know the types of germplasm collections that are held by germplasm banks around the world. Collections differ according to the purposes of those holding the germplasm. Briefly, four types of collections exist; these are base, active, working, and core. The base collection is for long-term conservation. It comprises that set of accessions, each of which is distinct and, in terms of genetic integrity, as close as possible to the sample provided originally. Active collections comprise accessions that are immediately available for multiplication and distribution. Working collections are those held by breeders, and core collections are a small representation of a larger collection (FAO and IPGRI 1994). 'Regeneration' is that process that identifies in time those accessions, already introduced and recorded in the germplasm bank, whose seed (sexual or asexual) needs renewing. It also includes the establishment of protocols or optimal procedures for such renewal. Its essential goal is to maintain optimal quality and the genetic integrity of each accession and minimize the costs of carrying out these protocols.For species with sexual seed, accessions that need to renew their seed are identified basically by monitoring the minimum factors of seed quality (viability and health) or quantity against values or standards previously established for the species. Standards are essential for providing targets that institutes can aim for. However, the problems inherent in setting standards should be considered, including that where some institutes may have difficulties meeting specified standards. In view of these problems, for these cases, two sets of standards are specified: (1) acceptable, that is, minimal but considered adequate, at least for the short term; and (2) preferred, that is, higher and thus safer standards. For most criteria, good scientific reasons exist for meeting the 'preferred standards'. Efforts should therefore be made to attain them (FAO and IPGRI 1994).For species with asexual or vegetative seed, accessions are conserved continuously as live field collections or in vitro. The factors requiring close attention are those related to quality because, usually, the accessions are clones whose number of individuals remains constant from harvest to harvest. It should be remembered that, with these materials, the biggest risks are confusion of identity (or loss of this) and infection of materials by pathogens, especially those of quarantine interest. When collections are kept in vitro, these risks are not so significant.The ideal goal of regeneration would be to produce seed whose viability is kept at 100% over long periods and whose accessions do not lose their original genetic composition. However, this ideal is difficult to achieve under real-life circumstances. Hence, the following practical goals are suggested for the curator of a collection that is conserved ex situ:• Optimize the quality of seed produced • Maximize the quantity of seed produced • Wherever possible, maintain the genetic identity of each accession • Maximize the cost-to-benefit ratio for each regeneration, that is, minimize costs and efficiently use equipment and resources without sacrificing the three previous objectives'Seed quality' is understood as the maximum quality of an accession that is economically obtainable in terms of its plant health status, viability, and capacity to remain viable over time under storage. This means that, when it is regenerated, an accession should be, as far possible, free of pests or diseases. Moreover, its initial viability after regeneration should be 95% or higher.Viability can be affected by different factors. Hence, to regenerate an accession in a suitable environment, the curator needs to know the optimal physiological state for harvesting, use handling procedures that will not damage the seed, know how to induce germination, and know if some type of dormancy exists (see Module 3, Submodule C). Thus, the curator must know the species' biology, this knowledge being more critical for wild species and forms for which the level of knowledge is not usually as high as for cultivated forms.To maintain the initial viability of a given accession for as long as possible, the seeds of that accession should be harvested when physiologically mature, but as young as possible. The earliest possible processing will ensure that the seed possesses optimal moisture content, which is about 5%, depending on the species, according to Genebank Standards (FAO and IPGRI 1994). These standards also indicate that minimum viability should be 85% for most seeds and 75% for some vegetable and forest species.To optimize the quantity of seed produced means that the cost-to-efficiency ratio for regeneration is maximized when the seed produced is sufficient to supply needs for use, before viability falls below the pre-established minimum. If the seed produced is not sufficient, then it must be regenerated more frequently, which is not desirable. In short, the quantities of seed expected from regeneration will depend on four factors:1. The species' reproduction system (autogamous or allogamous) 2. Seed size 3. Adequate selection of the regeneration site to prevent problems of fertilization and/or flower abortion and fruit filling 4. Types or categories of conservation that each bank uses With respect to seeds, the 'acceptable' standard for base collections, that is, the absolute minimum, is 1000 viable seeds for the accession being conserved; although, of course, any single number is arbitrary. In cases where fewer than 1000 seeds are available, the accession may nevertheless be kept under good storage conditions until such time as further collection or regeneration is possible. For active collections, the 'preferred' standard is 1500-2000 viable seeds (FAO and IPGRI 1994).The material's regenerative capacity versus the time invested in the process should also be taken into account. For example, a tree may take several years before producing major volumes of seed. Thus, the curator must be careful when defining needs for seed for that material (e.g., bank's mandate), and will verify the germinating quality of the harvested seed before eliminating such a material from the production site. For example, if the interval between one set of seeds to the next is 7 years, then, in reality, the interval could be 14 years if something went wrong in the first cycle. Sackville Hamilton and Chorlton (1997) cited ranges, established by several germplasm banks, of seed quantities for species type (Table 1). Large-seeded species 1,500-4,000Small-seeded species 2,000-50,000 SOURCE: Sackville Hamilton and Chorlton (1997).Ideally, the objective of keeping the original accession's genetic identity is to maintain jointly the frequency of all alleles of all genes (loci). However, various limitations of a practical order make meeting this objective almost impossible. The two most important are ignorance of the integral genetic composition of the individuals forming the original collected accession, and the physical impossibility implied in regenerating each seed of a conserved accession. Nevertheless, one useful exercise is to minimize the number of regenerations by increasing the number of years between each one, using best practices of conservation, for example, improved drying activities. Another useful exercise is to increase the size of the sample to be regenerated, for example, using 100 plants instead of the 2 or 3, as is normally done, and harvesting the same number of propagules planted per plant planted and harvested.During regeneration or multiplication, certain risks exist that should be avoided as far as possible to maintain the germplasm's genetic identity. One is the mistaken identification of samples, a situation that, in practical terms, leads to the material's loss of identity.Another risk is contamination by exotic genes. These genes may come from (1) foreign plants being mixed in during seed preparation, planting, or harvesting; (2) seeds of the same species that come either from previous plantings in the regeneration lot or from nearby plantings; and (3) pollen from other accessions of the same lot or from nearby plantings of the same species or other related species.A third major risk involves genetic drift and selection processes. Changes in gene frequencies occur at random (drift), or are generated by the environment, or are a consequence of management by man (selection). The results are changes in gene frequencies and thus loss of the original genetic composition. Gene frequencies change mainly because:• The sample being regenerated does not represent the original genetic composition • A percentage of the initial seeds planted do not germinate, plants are dead or had not matured • The contributions of feminine and masculine gametes are different • The genetic composition of pollen and ovules differs from that of the original population • Manual pollination had favoured certain phenotypesThe optimal protocols for regenerating accessions depend on:• The characteristics of the species concerned, particularly its reproduction biology, the accession's physiological condition and original genetic composition, the use it will have, and its value to the collection • Documentation on previous multiplications (degree of success or failure) • Availability of human resources, infrastructure, and budget Establishing adequate regeneration protocols for most species presents limitations because of poor knowledge of the structure of the original populations. Consequently, these protocols should be flexible so that they can conform with the needs of each bank in terms of categories or types of conservation (short or long term) and research objectives.The need to regenerate depends on how and why the accessions concerned are being conserved. The answers relate to each germplasm bank's conservation objectives.Sexual seed. Regeneration is necessary when the germplasm's viability has declined to below established limits, or the quantity of sexual seed existing in the bank is less than the minimum number of seeds established by the bank holding the collection. Such a minimum may be established by using the standards recommended by FAO and IPGRI (1994). These standards are designed to maintain the original genetic composition of each accession, and depend on whether the species is autogamous or allogamous.Asexual seed. For species that propagate vegetatively, collections are kept as field collections and the number of plants will depend heavily on the species' type of propagule, and the availability of land and resources for maintaining the collection in the field. Usually, the number of plants is relatively low because of the high genetic homogeneity of individuals of an accession, as, in most cases, the plants are clones of the same progenitor.Determining the need to regenerate or refresh the germplasm starts with monitoring the viability of the samples conserved according to standards and procedures that define the quantity and quality of the material to use, the number of plants, and the environment (Box 1).According to the recommendations offered in paragraph 30 under Viability Monitoring from Genebank Standards (FAO and IPGRI 1994), the purpose of conducting control tests on viability is to determine if regeneration is needed. To save seeds, between 50 and 100 units of the entry can be chosen at random for each control test. The simplest method to ascertain if a substantial loss of viability is occurring (ruling out possible fluctuations in results largely attributable to sampling errors) consists of representing graphically the results of successive control tests against storage period and observing if a gradual loss of viability is occurring. If it is, and seeds are sufficient, another sample of 100 seeds should be extracted at random and tested again for viability. This sampling will guard against unnecessary regeneration. If the decision is made to regenerate, the allotment of seeds for the germination tests will be cancelled, thereby saving seeds, which, under these circumstances, will be more valuable.No standards exist for sample size of plant propagules conserved in the field or in vitro but, usually, 3 to 20 replications are kept per accession. Viability is established through observations or tests, depending on the type of sample. Viability of plant material (plants in the field or in vitro slow growth) is systematically established by observing its health and development, and the conditions under which it is being conserved. If any one of the prior criteria is not being fulfilled, then the material should be regenerated. If the conserved material is seed, then viability is analyzed by practising germination tests, which consist of germinating a sample of seeds to ascertain how many (%) germinate and, of those that do not germinate, determining which have died or are dormant. The findings are then compared with the initial viability-taken during preliminary multiplication-and if the current viability has declined to 85% or less, then the sample should be regenerated.Procedures for determining viability as the key element of monitoring conserved materials are described in more detail in Lesson 2 on verifying the biological status of germplasm (Module 3, Submodule C).Genebank Standards: Regeneration 35. Regeneration standards are needed to ensure that the seeds stored in base collections do not fall below acceptable levels of viability and yet minimize the number of regeneration cycles to ensure that the genetic integrity of accessions is maintained. The regeneration interval will depend on the longevity of the seed in storage and demand for the accession (if seeds are not available from an active collection).Seeds which are produced for storage in base collections should, as far as possible, be of the highest possible viability and free of pests and diseases. Recognizing that the initial germination capacity will depend on the environment during production and processing, maturity and physiological state of the seeds at harvest and genetic differences between species, initial germination values should exceed 85% for most seeds, e.g. cereals, and 75% for some vegetables and even lower for some wild or forest species, which do not normally reach high levels of germination.Regeneration should be undertaken when viability falls to 85% of the initial value. Regeneration methods should follow the standards for the crop, where available, and ensure that sufficient plants are used to maintain the genetic integrity of the accession. As far as possible all sources of selection pressure should be removed, the contribution of seeds from each plant should be equalized and all possible care taken to minimize genetic change.It is desirable to use 100 plants or more for regeneration to avoid the probability of large losses of alleles. However, in wild species this may be limited by the total number of seeds available. Wild species may also vary in breeding system, storage behavior and germination from the related crop species. This should be taken into consideration when deciding when, and how to regenerate an accession.In order to ensure that the genetic integrity is maintained and accessions are distinct, it is recommended that seeds used to plant material for regeneration should be as close as possible genetically to the original germplasm. It is recommended that for active collections, regeneration should be done from original seeds whenever possible or from its offsprings within two or three cycles of regeneration to ensure that genetic integrity is maintained. This implies that, assuming a 15 year storage cycle for the active collection, seeds for regeneration will need to be taken either from the base collection or other original seed in long-term storage once in 45 to 60 years, providing sufficient seeds are regenerated to meet demands on the active collection for distribution. Genebanks carrying out regeneration should also consider what methods they could use to monitor variation during regeneration to measure any changes in genetic constitution in accessions. SOURCE: FAO and IPGRI (1994).Regeneration protocols are essentially the same as those used to multiply germplasm; therefore, see the previous lesson (i.e., Lesson 1, Submodule A).With this lesson, you should have understood the concept of germplasm regeneration and its purposes, reviewed the criteria for establishing protocols, and learned how to monitor needs for regeneration. This lesson finalizes Submodule A of Module 3 but, before going on to the next lesson, prepare a well-based plan for germplasm regeneration. You may use, as an example, the germplasm with which you currently work or, in its absence, with that with which you are familiar.If you are not directly familiar with the process, list and discuss the criteria that, in your opinion, should be taken into account when regenerating a given germplasm.Literature cited FAO;IPGRI. 1994 Benjamín Pineda, Rigoberto Hidalgo, Daniel Debouck, Mariano Mejía, Graciela Mafla, Arsenio Ciprián, Manuel Sánchez, Carmen Rosa Bonilla, and Orlando Toro.In the lessons of the next Submodule B, you will study the principal aspects of harvesting, conditioning, and quantifying the germplasm after its multiplication and regeneration.Once the germplasm targeted for conservation has been multiplied or regenerated (whether under field conditions or in the greenhouse, mesh house, or laboratory), it is harvested.During multiplication or regeneration, natural biological processes occur that lead to the formation of reproductive structures. For plants that reproduce primarily by seed, flowers form, pollination occurs, and the ovule develops and matures into seed while, simultaneously, the ovary becomes fruit that eventually contains harvestable seeds. Certain types of plants not only produce seeds but also reproduce vegetatively. These plants also form propagules that carry one or more growth buds that, once independent, generate roots to give rise to new plants. New individuals may also result from natural or mechanical fragmentation of any piece of the plant. These are harvestable for conservation purposes.To develop the theme, this lesson will deal with aspects related to harvesting and, in the next lesson, to conditioning and quantification. Before describing what is harvesting, and to help understanding of the process, we will discuss fruit types, principal seed parts, and the propagules associated with plant reproduction.A fruit is the mature ovary that contains the plant's seed or seeds (Figure 1). To the extent that the ovary develops after fecundation, it changes size, consistency, colour, chemical composition, and shape. Transformations are of two types: (1) dry fruits in which the cells become enveloped in very thick walls that lignify and harden; and (2) fleshy fruits in which the walls gelate and their tissues lose their cohesion, becoming more or less aqueous on ripening. Structures other than the ovary may become part of the fruit such as parts of the floral axis or tissues of foliar origin. Thus, in tomato, for example, the fleshy part is formed by the carpels, which form the ovary; in blackberry, this tissue is formed by petals that have been conserved; and in figs (green or ripe), receptacles of inflorescences form the flesh.During maturation, specific physical and chemical changes occur that lead to fruit senescence and seed dissemination. One very obvious change is the drying of fruit tissues. In certain fruits, this leads to dehiscence and discharge of seeds. The colour of fruits and seed coats may change, and the fruits may soften. Immature fruit is invariably green because of the presence of chlorophyll, but as it ripens, the chlorophyll decomposes and may disappear altogether, exposing other colours, particularly those with certain pigments.Three main criteria are used to classify fruit types: origin, composition, and description. The last is the most useful for harvesting and conditioning purposes. A fruit contains the seeds of a plant. True fruits develop exclusively from the ovary, whereas false fruits may also develop from nonovarian tissues such as the receptacle (e.g., strawberry). The fruit's outside wall is known as the pericarp and is sometimes divided into an outer skin or epicarp, a fleshy part or mesocarp, and an inner layer or endocarp. Main fruit types are listed below.76Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources• Pome (apple). This type of fruit has a thick outer layer, a fleshy layer, and a core. Its seeds are enclosed within a capsule. Pomes are examples of false fruits (see first paragraph).Seed Capsule• Nut (hazelnut, walnut). Dry fruit with a hard shell that contains only one seed.• Legume or pod (e.g., pea). The seeds adhere to the internal face of the fruit wall. To open, the pod breaks longitudinally.• Berry (orange, blackcurrant). A fleshy fruit that contains many seeds.• Grain or caryopsis (wheat). The wall of this small fruit is fused with the seed sheath.• Drupe (plum). Fleshy fruit, in the centre of which is a hard seed that is often called a 'stone'.Seed Seed Sycamore samaraSeed or 'stone'• Achene. A small dried fruit with only one seed. 'Winged' achenes (e.g., American sycamore or buttonwood) are known as samaras, keys, helicopters, or whirligigs.Essentially, a fruit can be classified as dry, fleshy, or originating from an inflorescence. The category depends on whether the ovary concerned had formed hard or fleshy structures, or the flower had one or more pistils, or the flower had been part of an inflorescence.Dry fruits are lignified structures that may or may not open spontaneously. Those that do not open are known as indehiscent and tend to contain a single seed. Such fruits include:• The achene, which is a fruit with a single seed, for example, those of the composite family such as the pappuses of daisies and sunflowers; • The caryopsis is similar to the achene, but has the pericarp welded onto the seed, as occurs in grasses; • The nut is also similar to the achene but has a hard pericarp, sometimes stony, like acorns and hazelnuts, and • The samara, which has winged structures that help its dissemination by wind, as occurs in elms and several other big trees;Dry fruits that open are known as dehiscent. They tend to contain more than one seed. The fruit types falling into this category are:• The follicle, typical of the Ranunculaceae, which opens along the line of suture of its only carpel; • The legume or pod, typical of legumes, is similar to the follicle but opens along two sutures; • The silicle or silique, common in the Crucifer family, has two halves separated by a partition that persists after dehiscence; and • The capsule, which varies considerably in how it opens and the number of compartments it contains; it is typical of the Papaveraceae, Liliaceae, and Primulaceae families.Fleshy fruits are aqueous and do not open. Seed is liberated when birds or animals devour the flesh or when this decomposes after falling to the ground after ripening. Principal types of fleshy fruit are:• Drupe, in which the endocarp tends to be hard and the mesocarp fleshy, as occurs in olives, walnuts, almonds, plums, peaches, or myrobalans; • Berry, in which both mesocarp and endocarp are fleshy, as in grapes and tomatoes; • Hesperidium, which is a berry that is fleshy between the endocarp and seeds, as in citrus fruits; • Pome, which has a coriaceous endocarp and an external part that derives from the floral receptacle, as in apple, pear, or quince; • Infructescence, cluster of fruits, derived from an inflorescence or group of inflorescences. Principal types are: -Multiple fruits, in which individual ovaries of many separate flowers cluster together on a common axis. Types include:-Syconium, in which a large number of small drupes from an entire inflorescence are enclosed within a cavity, as in fig; and -Sorosis, which is a group of berries is traversed by a fleshy axis, as in the pineapple and others of the Ananas genus. -Aggregate fruit, in which a group of separate fruits develop from the carpels of one flower, as in strawberry or blackberry.Botanically, an angiosperm seed is a mature ovule that is enclosed within the ovary or fruit.The seeds and fruit of different species vary greatly in the aspect, size, shape, place, and structure of their embryos and presence of food storage tissues. In terms of seed management, the seed cannot always be separated from the fruit, as they sometimes form a unit. In such cases, the fruit itself is treated as 'seed', as with maize and wheat (Hartmann and Kester 1971). A seed has three basic parts: embryo, tissues for storing food, and seed coats (Figure 2).The embryo is a newly formed plant that results from fertilization, that is, from the union of the male and female gametes. Its basic structure consists of an axis with growing points at each extreme, one for the stem and the other for the root, and one or more seminal leaves (cotyledons) set at the embryonic axis. Plants are classified according to their number of cotyledons. Monocotyledonous plants (e.g., grasses and onion) have one cotyledon, whereas dicotyledonous plants (e.g., beans, cowpea, or peach) have two. Gymnosperms (e.g., pine and ginkgo) may have as many as 15.Food storage tissues in a seed may comprise cotyledons, endosperm, perisperm, or, as in gymnosperms, the haploid female gametophyte. Those seeds in which the endosperm is large and contains most of the stored food are called albuminous seeds. Those that either lack the endosperm or have it reduced to a thin layer surrounding the embryo are called exalbuminous seeds. In the latter, food reserves are found in the cotyledons and the endosperm is digested by the embryo during its development. The perisperm, which originates in the nucellus, occurs in several plant families such as the Chenopodiaceae and Caryophyllaceae. Normally, during seed formation, it is digested by the endosperm as the latter develops.One or two seed coats (rarely three) may be formed by sheaths from the seed, from residues of the nucellus, and sometimes by part of the fruit. The coats derive from the integuments of the ovule. During development these coats are modified and at maturity present a characteristic aspect. In general, the outside seed coat dries, hardens, thickens, and takes up a colour that may be coffee coloured or other tone. The inside coat usually remains thin, transparent, and membranous. Within this layer remnants of the nucellus and endosperm may be found, sometimes forming a distinct continuous layer around the embryo.Seed parts• Hilum. Scar on the seed where the ovule had joined the ovary.• Coat or testa. Seed cover, formed from the integuments of the ovule.• Plumule. First or primary bud, which forms within the seed and becomes the new plant's first shoot.• Radicle. First or primary root, which forms within the seed and becomes part of the new plant.•  In some plants such as the pea, the cotyledons absorb and store all the endosperm before the seed matures; in others such as grasses, the endosperm is not completely absorbed until the seed germinates.In some plants, parts of the fruit adhere to the seed, so that both are regarded as 'seed'. In certain classes of fruits such as achenes, caryopses, samaras, and schizocarps, the fruit and seed layers are contiguous. In other fruits such as acorns, the fruit and seed coats are separate but the fruit coat is indehiscent. In still others such as the 'stone' in many fruit trees (e.g., peach and almond) or the 'peel' of the common walnut, the coat is a hardened part of the pericarp but is dehiscent and can be removed without much difficulty. The seed coats provide the embryo with mechanical protection. Hence, the seed can be handled without damage and therefore be transported long distances and stored over long periods. Seed coats significantly influence germination.Many plants can reproduce vegetatively, that is, through plant parts. Such reproduction is possible because those plants have organs with regeneration capacity. Stem parts can form new roots and root parts can regenerate new stems. Leaves can regenerate new stems and roots. A stem and a root (or two stems), when suitably combined, such as in grafting, form continuous vascular connection to produce a new plant (Hartmann and Kester 1971;Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Vegetative reproduction is one type of asexual reproduction, which typically involves only one progenitor with no fusion of gametes (sexual cells). Plants use diverse mechanisms to reproduce vegetatively. These include:• Specialized storage organs, known as propagules, including:-Rhizomes-horizontal underground stems -Bulbs-bases of swollen leaves -Stem tubers-thickened underground stems -Root tubers-swollen adventitious roots -Corms-solid stem structures, with well-defined nodes and internodes -Stolons-creeping horizontal stems (or runners), which throw out roots that give rise to new plants -Bulbils-small bulbs that grow on the stem or instead of flowers, fall, and grow as new plants -Propagule or adventitious shoots-minute plants that become aligned along leaf margins before these fall to the ground, where they grow into adult plants. • Natural or mechanical fragmentation where new individuals originate from any piece or fragment of the plant such as cuttings or stakes. At least one node of the stem or branch is needed to provide a growing point with potential to produce a new plant. Such fragments are almost always vegetative parts of the plant such as stems, modified stems (rhizomes, tubers, corms, and bulbs), leaves, or roots. • Use of shoots that are induced naturally or artificially to form roots from a stem that is still joined to the mother plant. Such stems, once rooted, separate to become new plants that grow with their own roots. • Today, new plants can be obtained from single cells, tissues, or organs. Any plant part is isolated and cultured in an aseptic, artificial, nutritive environment (in vitro tissue culture). One well-known application is the use of apical meristems or apices, based on the principle that these structures perpetuate themselves and are responsible for the continuous formation of primary tissues and stem appendages (e.g., leaves and stipules).After the plants have grown and borne fruit (in the sense of containing seeds or propagules capable of generating new individuals), harvesting is carried out. The procedures for each case are inherent to the type of germplasm being handled and its predominant reproductive system.Harvesting germplasm that reproduces by seed consists of collecting the plant's fruits, once they are physiologically mature, that is, they are carrying seeds capable of germinating and initiating the development of new plants. When harvesting, the following should be taken into account:• The species being harvested and its type of seed (determines conditioning-drying is critical for species with recalcitrant or short-lived seeds, as they are sensitive to drying, whereas orthodox ones tolerate it better) • Stage of maturity of the fruit (physiological maturity according to fruit type is preferred) • Procedures for collection (manual or use of special equipment) • Selection of fruits during collection (i.e., harvesting only ripe fruits that are not damaged by insects or showing symptoms of pathogen attack) • Type of packaging to use (preferably clean cloth or paper bags) and germplasm identification system • System of bulk collection and transport to sites for temporary storage • Conditions for temporary storage and pre-drying of fruits before final conditioning In general, harvesting should be selective and timely. Fruits that are green, damaged, or diseased should not be harvested. In no way should overripe fruits or those decomposing through saprophytic micro-organisms be included. During harvest, utmost care should be taken to prevent damage or injury likely to degrade the fruits' physical integrity and their contents.Mechanical injuries produced during harvest may reduce seed viability and lead to the production of abnormal seedlings. Some injuries are internal and cannot be seen at the time but, after storage, manifest themselves as reduced viability. Damage to the seeds is a potential factor in any operation that implies hitting the seeds, especially when machinery is not duly adjusted. Usually, seed suffers less damage if its moisture content is 12%-15% during harvest.As the objective of conservation is to maintain the germplasm's genetic identity as closely as possible to the lots originally entered, only the offspring of the materials planted originally should be harvested while avoiding atypical materials or other entries or plants that do not correspond to the planted germplasm. However, cross-pollinated species may have natural segregations that may have to be confirmed later. Hence, the reproduction system of the species should be taken into account before 'atypical' materials are discarded.A seed reaches maturity when it can be separated from the fruit or plant without endangering its germination. Usually, harvest is facilitated if the fruit is ripe, that is, has acquired the characteristics that lead to natural dissemination. The maturation stages of fruit and seed may not coincide. If the seed is harvested too early or if the embryo has not developed sufficiently when the fruit matures, then the seed may be thin, light, shrivelled, and of poor quality. If the harvest is delayed, then the fruits may open, fall, or be eaten by birds or animals. The tendency for fruit drop, that is, a premature fall of fruits and therefore seeds, varies considerably according to plant class. Losses can be reduced by careful management. Usually, harvesting should take place before the fruits dry up too much. Cutting early in the morning when dew is still present may, in some cases, reduce drop (Hartmann and Kester 1971), but the risk that the seeds will be severely affected by fungi is higher. As a result, harvesting should, preferably, take place after the dew has evaporated.Great care should be taken when pre-drying fruits and their contents, as any neglect or error may lead to reduced seed viability and, in extreme cases, to the loss of germplasm. The reason for drying fruits and their seeds is to reduce moisture content to levels that will increase longevity during storage and, therefore, the intervals between regenerations. Several drying methods exist, the most common being the use of a drying chamber or de-humidifier (FAO and IPGRI 1994;Hong and Ellis 1996). When drying fruit, the species seed type must be taken into account.Seed moisture content will determine storage time. Species with short-lived seeds or seeds sensitive to drying (recalcitrant) should be dried out with more care than long-lived ones whose moisture content can be more severely reduced (orthodox seeds). Other seeds can be highly sensitive to moisture loss, being able to tolerate storage for only some days, such as those species with fleshy fruits belonging to the Myrtaceae family (e.g., myrtles, Luma spp., Myrceugenia spp., and Chilean guava). In these cases, seeds should be planted immediately after being extracted from the fruit (Hartmann and Kester 1971;Sandoval 2000).The methods used will depend on available equipment, number and size of samples to be dried, local climatic conditions, and economic cost (Grabe 1989). Preferable ranges for drying are temperatures between 10° and 25°C and relative humidity (RH) between 10% and 35%, whether using a dryer or drying chamber. A suitable drying product is silica gel, which can reduce moisture content to the extremely low levels that characterize ultra-dry seeds. Harvested materials should be dried out as soon as possible after collection to prevent any significant deterioration. The drying period will depend on the size of fruits and seeds, the quantity to be dried, the fruits' initial moisture content, and the level of relative humidity maintained in the drying chamber.Personnel of germplasm banks must keep in mind that dried seeds, particularly those that are very dry, are often fragile, and therefore susceptible to mechanical injury. Hence, they must always be handled with utmost care (FAO and IPGRI 1994;Hong and Ellis 1996). Some management procedures are described below, according to whether seeds are from woody or herbaceous plants, or from trees and shrubs.To harvest the fruits of woody plants, we need to know the characteristics that indicate optimal conditions for harvesting a given class of seed. These include moisture content (dryness), general appearance, and the state of the more-or-less milky colour of the seed. In some pine species, the specific weight of recently harvested cones is valuable for judging their state of maturity. Some seeds, if they are harvested before the fruit has ripened completely and have not been allowed to dry, germinate better in spring or the season immediately following harvest. Once those seeds dry up and their coats harden, they may not germinate until the second spring or season after they were produced, except by using special handling methods. Examples of those plants for which this practice of early harvest has been found desirable include Cornus, Cotoneaster, Carpinus, Cercis, Hamamelis, Rhodotypos, Viburnum, Juniperus, and Magnolia kobus (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Dry fruit seeds. The dehiscent (follicles, capsules, pods, and siliques) and indehiscent fruits (caryopses and achenes) of some materials can be harvested, using special combine harvesters. However, for most plants, fruits or mature infructescences are collected, then cut, and allowed to dry for 1 to 3 weeks before being threshed. Plants may be placed in rows, stacks, or piles to dry. Those plants whose fruits open easily on drying, as for many ornamental species, are cut (frequently by hand) and placed on a canvas or tray. When many plants are dealt with, they may be cut and put out to dry by placing them inverted in a bag and hanging them (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Fleshy fruits (e.g., tomato, pepper, chilli, eggplant, and cucumber) may be harvested ripe or, in exceptional cases, overripe (e.g., cucumber and eggplant). If lots are small, the fruits may be broken and separated, and the seeds cleaned and dried out by hand. Otherwise, seed is separated from the flesh through fermentation, mechanical means, or washing in screens (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Both dry and fleshy fruits from trees and shrubs can be harvested by shaking them over a canvas, felling them with poles, using conical hooks fixed on long poles (as for conifers), or picking them by hand. The seeds of some street trees such as elms can be collected with brooms. Seeds of small trees and low shrubs may be harvested by hand, cutting or striking seed-bearing branches.The viability of seed from trees and shrubs varies considerably from year to year, from place to place, and from plant to plant. Before collecting seeds from a specific source, several fruits should be opened and the seeds examined to determine the percentage of welldeveloped embryos. Such an examination is known as the cutting test. Although it is not a reliable test of viability, it helps prevent harvesting seeds from a source that is producing only empty seed. Another test is to examine fruits by X-ray (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Seeds of plants such as certain ligneous legumes (e.g., Acacia triacantha), Caragana spp., Ceanothus spp., poplar, and willow are extracted from capsules and pods. The fruit of these plants are dried by spreading them out in thin layers on canvases; cloths; on the floor; or on shelving in open sheds, using trays with wire mesh bottoms. Air-drying takes 1 to 3 weeks. Fleshy fruits. Fleshy fruits include berries (grape), drupes (peach, plum), pomes (apple, pear), aggregate fruits (raspberry, strawberry), and multiple fruits (blackberry). With these kinds of fruits, the flesh should be removed as soon as possible to prevent decomposition and before the seed is damaged. Methods that are suitable for small lots of seeds are cleaning by hand, trampling in vats, and scraping through screens. Relatively large fruits can be conveniently cleaned by placing them in a wire basket and washing them with water at high pressure. For larger lots, a hammer mill or macerator can be used. The macerator is constructed with a hermetic feeder, the water is passed through it, together with the fleshy fruits, and the crumbled mass passes to a tank where both flesh and seed are separated by flotation.Harvesting vegetative planting material depends on the type of propagule of the species (Figure 3), and the procedures to apply depend on the management established for the case (Vázquez Y et al. 2004). The procedures established for managing parts of stems, roots, leaves, or specialized structures (e.g., tubers, bulbs, corms, stolons, rhizomes, tuberous roots, and buds) should be revised so that identical, whole, and healthy plants are regenerated. With respect to health, acquisition should necessarily guarantee, where possible, during harvest and conditioning, planting materials that are free of pathogens. One way of guaranteeing this is to pay attention to three basic aspects: isolation of the production site, adopting health and inspection measures, and periodic testing (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Depending on species and type, propagules are usually short-lived and should be planted within a very short period after harvest. In general, when harvesting vegetative planting materials, the following should be taken into account:• The species being harvested • The propagules' stage of maturity • Procedures for collection (manual or use of special equipment) • Selection of the propagules during collection (i.e., harvesting only mature propagules that are not damaged by insects or nematodes, or showing symptoms of pathogen attack) • Type of packaging to use (e.g., baskets or pita-fibre sacks) and germplasm identification system • System of bulk collection and transport to sites for temporary storage • Conditions for storing and conserving the materials before new plantings beginAfter this lesson, you should be familiar with the most important aspects of harvesting germplasm to help guarantee its integrity such as fruit types, seed parts, and propagules.Before going on to the next lesson, comment on your experiences with harvesting and managing fruits or propagules to obtain seeds or planting materials for germplasm conservation. Emphasize the procedures and care needed to be successful.If you are not directly familiar with these processes, list and discuss the criteria that, in your opinion, should be taken into account when harvesting and managing fruits and propagules destined for conservation. Besides producing seeds, some plants possess a special type of asexual reproduction known as vegetative reproduction or propagation. That is, a part of the plant can give rise to a new plant by itself.• Corm (e.g., saffron). A short thick stem, similar to the bulb, except that it stores food within the stem itself.• Rhizome (grasses, ferns, lilies). Thick stem with layered leaves and growing horizontally underground. It produces roots along its length and buds that give rise to new shoots.• Bulb (daffodil). Short thick stem surrounded by layered leaves and containing food reserves. It forms in the soil from an old and dying plant, and represents the first latent stage of a new plant that will emerge as a shoot at the beginning of the following season.• Stolon or runner (strawberry). A stem grows horizontally from a point close to the plant base. It then produces roots at intervals along the stem and new plants grow from these points.• Tuber (potato). Short, thickened, subterranean stem that stores food and produces buds that give rise to new plants.Microphotograph of a longitudinal section of a stem apex from Coleus sp.Module 3, Submodule B: Harvesting, Conditioning, and Quantification Lesson 1: HarvestingAdventitious rootsNew budThe shoot will come from this pointShort and thick stemAdventitious roots If the multiplication and harvesting tasks have been successful and the germplasm's identity is successfully maintained, then the tasks of conditioning and preparing for storage for conservation become essential. Conditioning is perhaps the most delicate process, requiring special attention because the long-term viability of materials depends on it. An error in drying, for example, may lead to an inexorable reduction of viability and thus to loss of germplasm in the short term.Once the germplasm is harvested, then obtaining the seed or propagules becomes essential. Acquisition is based on fructifications or on collected plant parts. A series of processes and controls is applied to ensure that germplasm with the requisite quality for conservation is acquired. Given that conditioning is a critical stage in managing germplasm for conservation and that its successful conservation is a function of its quality, this theme will first be discussed.The total quality of a given germplasm refers to the degree of adequacy that its genetic, physiological, physical, and health attributes have for that material's conservation.This attribute refers to the degree to which the germplasm conserves its original genotypical characteristics, that is, the degree to which it carries the genes that are to be conserved and were present in the material when it was first introduced into the germplasm bank or collection. Genetic quality can be ensured by planting authentic and pure seeds, and maintaining this authenticity and purity during multiplication through preventive methodologies such as isolation, selection of appropriate fields, verification inspections, and rigorous management to prevent undesirable mixtures.The tangible result of physiological quality lies in the seed's faculty to germinate, emerge, and give rise to uniform and vigorous plants. Good physiological quality implies integrity of structures and physiological processes that permit the seeds to be kept not only alive, but also with high vitality index.For seeds, this refers to such attributes as size, shape, brilliance, colour, and weight that were characteristic of the accession or entry. It also includes the seed's own integrity, that is,it is not fractured, damaged by insects, or stained by the action of micro-organisms, and is free of any contaminant.For vegetative planting materials, physical quality refers to the organs or plant fragments containing functional generative parts (e.g., buds, meristems, apices, roots, and primordia) showing no physical or mechanical deterioration.This quality includes that set of characteristics that the germplasm must possess to ensure absence of pathogens transmittable by plant parts and/or micro-organisms that cause deterioration during conservation.Conditioning consists of appropriately preparing the germplasm after harvest to achieve conservation goals by treating seeds or propagules accordingly. Those procedures most used for treating seeds and vegetative planting materials are reviewed below.Seeds are conditioned by applying procedures that take into account the type of fruit from which they come. For dry fruit seeds, procedures include threshing or shelling fruits, cleaning by blowing or sieving, drying (20°C; 22% relative humidity or RH), temporary storage in cold rooms (5°C and 22% RH), final selection of seeds, final drying with cool air (20°C; 22% RH), and final packaging in hermetic containers or vacuum-packing in aluminium bags for conservation in cold rooms (-20°C), according to goals. When managing and packaging seeds during different stages of the process, they should be placed in cloth bags (muslin), especially during drying, and then in hermetic containers to prevent the seeds from rehydrating.Threshing or shelling. Shelling or threshing can be carried out manually or be mechanized. The procedures used depend on the species and fruit type. Any threshing operation basically implies a process whereby the harvested fruits are beaten or passed through rollers to separate the seeds from the rest of the plant. A heavily used machine is the combine thresher, the central part of which is a revolving cylinder that works as a beater. It also has couplings with other devices that separate the threshed seed from husks and straw. This type of machine is used to harvest large seed lots. With small lots, seeds can be separated by threshing and cleaning them by hand in a screen (Hartmann and Kester 1971).For legumes, seeds are extracted by striking or trampling the pods and sieving them through a screen, shelling them by hand, or rubbing them with a special implement (Figure 1). However, care must be taken to verify seed performance as according to species, because striking them is sometimes counterproductive, cracking and therefore spoiling them.The extraction of conifer seeds requires special procedures. The cones of some species will open if they are dried in the open air for 2 to 12 weeks. Others must be forcibly dried at higher temperatures in special ovens. On drying, the cone scales open, exposing the seeds. They must then be shaken or raked to separate the seeds, which should then be immediately removed, as the cones may close again (Hartmann and Kester 1971).The seeds of some grasses (Poaceae) and cereals have aristas, beards, or glumes, which cannot be completely separated during threshing, thus impeding their effective classification. To remove them, the seeds must be either rubbed manually or placed into a specialized machine that rubs the seeds against revolving hammer arms that remove the coats, thresh the spikes, and, generally, polish the seeds (CIAT 1989).Conifer seeds have appendages or wings, which are removed, except in species where the seed coats damage easily, as in incense cedar (Libocedrus sp.). Fir (Abies spp.) seeds also damage easily, but they can be separated from the wings if care is taken. Seeds from Sequoia spp. have wings that cannot be separated from the seed. In small lots, the wings can be removed by rubbing the seeds between wet hands, or else trampling or striking seeds in partly filled sacks. For larger lots, special dewinging machines are used. After dewinging, the seeds are cleaned to remove residues of wings and other light materials. The final step is to separate the filled and heavier seeds from the lighter ones, using pneumatic separators or gravity (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Once threshed, the seeds must be cleaned to remove rubbish, twigs and other unwanted plant parts, parts of foreign plants, and seeds of other crop or weed species. Small lots can be cleaned, using a screen or passing them through a container to another and allowing air to drag away the lightest materials. Removing the rubbish is a pre-cleaning operation by which materials that are larger or smaller than the seeds are separated from them. The operation is manual, using sieves or screens (Figure 1) and a seed blower, or with cleaners that combine hoppers, sieves, and ventilators to eliminate the light materials (CIAT 1989;Hartmann and Kester 1971).Seeds can be separated mechanically from undesirable materials during cleaning only if they differ from them in one or more physical properties. The properties most used correspond to weight or density, colour, texture, size, width or thickness, length, and electrostatic properties. These permit the design of specialized devices that take advantage of the differences between seeds and contaminants to clean. The devices usually combine air currents (Figure 1), different-sized screens, gravity (Figure 1) or texture separators, slopes, vibrators, magnetic cylinders, and photoelectric cells (CIAT 1989;Hartmann and Kester 1971).When cleaning equipment is used, care must be taken to remove harvest residues or seeds remaining in its interior before processing another accession to prevent contamination and undesirable mixing. Also, the equipment should be cleaned of dust and other residues to prevent contaminating the seed with the reproductive structures of micro-organisms such as fungi, bacteria, and nematodes that usually associate with plant materials during the plants' growth and fructification in the field.After carrying out the basic cleaning processes and having obtained the seeds, the procedures for finishing or final selection are conducted (Figure 1). Seeds are examined under low-powered magnifying glasses to discard those with otherwise invisible spots, fissures, wounds, or deformities. Special equipment such as pneumatic or gravity separators is also used to eliminate empty or low-density seeds.Drying. Drying consists of reducing the moisture content of seeds to a minimum level for metabolic activity, without their losing viability. To dry or reduce the seed's moisture content, its original moisture content must first be determined by quantifying, either directly or indirectly, the water they contain.Direct determinations are made through gravimetric methods, chromatography, or spectrophotometry. Indirect methods include hygrometric methods, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and chemical reactions of seeds (Grabe 1989). Currently on the market are electronic analysers (moisture meters) or special balances with infrared heating chambers that permit rapid and precise quantification of moisture content of small samples of seeds (Figure 2). If such technology is not available, then the other methods mentioned 92Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources above can be used. All these methodologies are described in the following publications: Seed Technology for Genebanks (Ellis et al. 1985), A Protocol to Determine Seed Storage Behavior (Hong and Ellis 1996), and Manual of Seed Handling in Genebanks (Rao et al. 2006).To precisely determine moisture content, the gravimetric method (ISTA 1999) is recommended with some modifications to sample size, given that this method is destructive. Many pre-postharvesting operations require rapid determinations (which are less precise) that can be carried out with portable equipment. Such determinations are based on the electrical properties of water in the seeds such as conductivity and capacitance (ability of an electric conductor to carry a charge at a given potential; ability to store electrical charge).The physical relationships between the moisture content (MC) of a seed, temperature, and relative humidity form the basis for drying. The maximum quantity of water that air can contain depends on the temperature. An indirect measure of air humidity is relative humidity (RH). The concept of RH can be expressed as follows: if air at 10°C contains 5 g of water/kg of dry air, but its capacity for saturation is 20 g of water/kg, then its RH is 5/20 × 100 = 25%. For the same water vapour content of the air, if the air's temperature rises, then its RH drops and vice versa.Water in the seed (i.e., MC) tends to balance (moisture content balance or MCB) out with the humidity of the surrounding air. Hence, dry air, that is, with a low RH (20%-25%), can rapidly dry the seed to reach an MCB. The time taken to reach the MCB depends on the species (anatomy and food reserve tissues) and temperature. Likewise, humid air increases a seed's MC. Thus, the air used for drying should be recycled and dried out. Certain chemicals are able to absorb moisture from the air; perhaps the most common is silica gel.A relationship exists between seed longevity, storage temperature, and seed MC, thus demanding that a suitable combination of temperature and moisture be taken into account. The first requisite to consider is the low MC of seeds, which can be as low as 5%. A calculation made with sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) found that reducing seed MC from 5% to 2% will increase seed longevity by 40 times. However, a lower limit of tolerable MC exists, depending on the species. Hence, a limit of 5% is usually established (FAO and IPGRI 1994).Before proceeding with drying, the procedures and degrees of desiccation that the materials require should be well understood. In terms of maintaining the viability of the germplasm, deficient or excessive drying without sufficient basis is a very high risk, to which seeds should not be exposed. Hence, experiments should be carried out to determine the type of drying that can be applied with minimal risk.Most seeds should be dried after harvest. Seeds with more than 20% MC heat up if they are piled up for several hours, thus reducing their viability. Drying must begin in the field, immediately after collection and/or extraction of seeds (see Module 3, Submodule B, Lesson 1).Drying can occur naturally in the open air or artificially by heat or other methods. Drying temperatures should not be higher than 43°C (110°F) and, if seeds have high moisture content, the ideal temperature is 32°C (90°F). Too rapid a drying can cause shrivelling and fracture of the seeds and sometimes harden the coats. The MC at which seeds can be conserved without risk is between 8% and 15%, although some seeds should be conserved moist. Nevertheless, drying at temperatures at more than 40°C can be disastrous for germplasm conservation. In Latin America, there have been cases where seed longevity has been no longer than 5 years and the percentage of germination no more than 25% (Daniel Debouck 2004, personal communication).Methods of natural drying (e.g., drying in the open air under shade) do not reduce MC below 8%-10%, which is suitable for short-term conservation, that is, 2 to 3 years. Drying in the direct sun is not recommended because, in many cases, the germplasm can be exposed to high temperatures for too much time, thus causing irreversible damage to seed viability.Artificial drying can, with the help of equipment that permits air circulation at different temperatures or silica gel, be an easy and effective method (Hong and Ellis 1996). Electronic driers permit programming of drying cycles, temperatures, flows, and speeds of the drying air. Drying should be carried out in rooms especially designed for the purpose (Figure 2). In such rooms, combinations of dry (20%-22% RH) and cool (temp. 15°-25°C) air can be managed to reduce the percentage of MC in the seeds to 4%-6%, suitable for long-term conservation. However, the species should be taken into account because, in some cases, they would be overdried.The type of substances in the seed's reserves also influence the MCB in the drying room. Sugars have the most affinity for water, followed by proteins, starches, and oils. This means that, for a given RH, oleaginous seeds may contain less moisture than proteinous or starchy seeds.Once the drying is finished, the MC is measured again to confirm that the required level (5%-12%) has been reached and to determine if the samples need to be submitted to a new cycle of drying or rehydration. The temperatures and times of drying must be established accurately so not to endanger the samples, as repetitive procedures can reduce viability. Fluctuations in MC reduce the seeds' longevity, as they increase the seeds' respiratory rate. The increase causes the seeds' reserves, which are designed to feed the embryo during germination, to be consumed through respiration as metabolism is increased, thereby reducing the seeds' quality (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Most long-lived or intermediate seeds can tolerate drying (orthodox) to 4%-6% for storage over prolonged periods at low temperatures. Moisture content can be increased, but only if the temperature is reduced. The seed's MC will determine the duration of storage. In general, short-lived seeds are sensitive to drying (recalcitrant). These seeds have a high MC and lose their viability when this is reduced (Hartmann and Kester 1971). Seeds of this type are found in species such as oaks (Quercus spp.), walnuts (Juglans spp.), araucaria pines (Araucaria spp.), Chilean hazel (Gevuina avellano), and Beilschmiedia spp. (Hartmann and Kester 1971;Sandoval S 2000).These seeds must be separated from the flesh that surrounds them. For tomato, macerated fruits are placed in barrels or large vats and left to ferment for about 4 days at about 21°C (70°F), stirring occasionally. If the fermentation is left for too long, the seeds may germinate. At higher temperatures, fermentation time will be shorter. As seeds separate from the pulp, the healthier and heavier ones sink to the bottom of the vat. The pulp remains at the surface, together with the empty seeds and other foreign materials. After extraction, the seeds are washed and dried, either in the sun or in a drier. Additional cleaning is sometimes needed to remove dried pulp and other materials. For cucumbers and similar fruits, special machines are used to extract and clean the seed from the pulp. After separation, the seeds are washed and dried as is done for fermentation (Hartmann and Kester 1971).The small berries of some species of Juniperus and Viburnum are difficult to process because of their size and the difficulty of separating the seeds from pulp. One way of managing such seeds is to pound them with a kitchen roller, soak them in water for several days, and remove the pulp by flotation. A better method for extracting seeds from small fleshy fruits is to use an electric mixer of the type used in soda fountains or a blender. To prevent damage to the seeds, the blender's metal blades can be replaced with a piece of rubber that is cut from a tyre and fixed horizontally to the machine's revolving axis. A fruit and water mixture is then placed into the blender's glass and agitated for 2 min. When the flesh has separated from the seed, it can then be removed by flotation. Some fruits such as those of juniper (Juniperus spp.) must be pounded before extracting the seed (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Plant parts are conditioned according to the type of propagule of the species, and to the management established for its case. Where no information is available, then the requisite research must be conducted. The procedures for conditioning stem parts, root parts, leaves, or specialized structures (e.g., tubers, bulbs, corms, stolons, rhizomes, tuberous roots, buds, meristems, and apices) targeted for conservation are specific to each species. For example, for cassava (Manihot esculenta), the factors to take into account when conditioning stakes include the plant's age, its health status, stem parts to use, stem diameter and length, number of buds, type of cut to make, and the treatment, if any, before temporary storage (Lozano et al. 1977).Generally, because they concern specialized organs, parts, or fragments of live plants, plant parts cannot have their MC reduced. Nor can they be exposed to long-term storage. As a result, they must be handled with great care.If materials are to be conditioned for in vitro conservation, explants are extracted, preferably from the youngest plants, for micropropagation. This procedure consists of (a) disinfecting the explants in a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite, or ethanol; (b) planting them in an in vitro culture medium until new shoots develop; and (c) rooting the shoots to obtain whole plants (Frison 1994;George 1996;George and Sherrington 1984;Roca and Mroginski 1991).Once conditioning is finished and the verifications of MC are carried out, the material, in the case of the seeds, is ready for packing and transporting to the storage site. Both container and storage site should respond to the requirements of the species and guarantee survival of the samples.To pack seeds, diverse types of containers exist, with varied shapes and materials and ranging from paper and aluminium envelopes to plastic or glass bottles (Figure 3) and tins of different metals. More than its shape or material, the container must be airtight, that is, it isolates the germplasm sufficiently to prevent it from absorbing moisture and/or becoming contaminated. Selection of the container depends on seed characteristics and on the period for which they are expected to be conserved. In practice, it is also determined by the bank's resources, as containers not only vary in shape and materials, but also in costs and availability on the market. Aluminium bags are the most recommended as they can be hermetically closed, using a heated stamp (Figure 3). Airtight containers, for example, are optimal but expensive. The investment involved depends on what the material is destined for. Jaramillo and Baena (2000) describe a series of containers commonly used in germplasm banks.For plant parts, given their relative perishability and short storage periods, when required or when the material permits it, the containers or packaging used should maintain the germplasm fresh. It is also essential that the containers protect the material from damage to its buds or other generative areas of the material, whether from mechanical injury or deterioration caused by other agents during transport to the planting site. Currently, the market provides numerous options of plastic crates (Figure 3) that are especially designed to transport and manage perishable products that can be useful for germplasm management.Seeds or propagules are usually counted by hand. For seeds, however, automated solutions are available such as counters, counter heads connected to a vacuum system (Figure 4) and other commercial equipment. Indirect estimates can also be made such as by weight, which are less precise. The technique consists of determining the unitary weight of the seed by taking at random four replications of 100 seeds (g/100 seeds) (ISTA 1999) and making the respective calculations based on the weight of materials ready for storage.Although the count is indeed based on apparently simple operations, it is highly significant because it forms the basis by which the germplasm bank knows what it has and for what ends. If the bank assumes the responsibility to conserve, it has the obligation to test viability on a periodic basis, check samples for plant health quality, to conserve and distribute. For these activities, it must have a record of how many propagation units will be needed to fulfil pre-established plans.After this lesson you should be familiar with the most important aspects of conditioning and quantifying germplasm, as well as with the concept of total quality. Before going on to the next lesson, describe your experiences in conditioning seeds or propagules for storage for conservation, emphasizing the procedures and care needed to be successful.If you are not directly familiar with these processes, list and discuss the criteria that, in your opinion, should be taken into account to condition seeds and propagules destined for conservation.Literature cited CIAT. 1989  To conserve germplasm, an essential condition is that it must be viable, that is, it must be alive and able to regenerate new plants capable of independent existence. Within this order of ideas, the verification of the biological or physiological status of germplasm targeted for conservation takes on special importance.Once conditioning has been carried out, the material should be verified to check that it was correctly prepared to guarantee its successful conservation in terms of the bank's plans and goals. Also, following the germplasm bank's norms, the viability of conserved germplasm should be monitored at least every 5 years according to species and storage conditions; or, in their absence (as for vegetative planting materials), adjustments made as required per species. These periodic checks should be compared with each species' initial viability and conservation conditions (FAO and IPGRI 1994).The verification of viability requires the understanding of concepts of the germplasm's physiological, physical, and health quality, as defined in Lesson 2 on conditioning (Module 3, Submodule B). Moreover, as a minimum, general knowledge is needed on viability and vigour as applied to seeds and, indeed, to vegetative planting materials. Also important is being able to identify those essential structures that are evaluated to determine physiological status and interpret results. This lesson deals with these themes.The viability of germplasm refers to that property of being alive, that is, possessing the ability to regenerate new plants capable of independent existence. In other words, the germplasm is able to germinate and produce normal and vigorous seedlings that can complete again the species' life cycle. In terms of quantification, seed viability measures the number of seeds in a lot that are alive and could develop into plants that will reproduce under appropriate field conditions (Rao et al. 2006).In the case of seeds, the viability of germplasm must be understood as being variable over time (i.e., longevity is variable) and, depending on the species, a function of its adaptation to the habitat where, ecologically, the plants had originally developed. The seeds of each plant species present typical germination mechanisms that respond to the effect of natural selection induced by predominant environmental conditions on the nature and physiology of seeds (Vázquez Y et al. 2004). Knowledge of this behaviour is useful for making the adjustments needed to establish viability tests to confirm physiological status.Usually, the half-life of a seed is between 5 and 25 years. Seeds lose their viability for highly diverse reasons. One is that their food reserves are exhausted and, hence, the germinative capacity is lost. The less active a seed's metabolism is, the more long-lived it will be (García B 2004).The vigour of a species' seed is its capacity for the rapid and uniform emergence and normal development of seedlings under a broad range of field conditions (AOSA 1983;OSU 2004). As ISTA defined it during its 1977 congress, vigour is the total sum of those properties of a seed or lot of seeds that determine the level of activity and capability of this during germination and seedling emergence (Perry 1981). The definition considers specific aspects of performance that had been regarded as evident variations, associated with differences in seed vigour such as:• Biochemical processes and reactions during germination such as respiratory activity and enzymatic reactions • Speed and uniformity of seed germination and seedling growth • Speed and uniformity of seedling emergence and growth in the field • The capacity of seeds to emerge under unfavourable conditionsThe causes of variations in vigour are many and diverse. To clarify the concept, ISTA has established a list of the most commonly known factors that affect vigour, including: Generally, seed development involves a series of ontogenetic states such as fertilization, nutrient accumulation, seed drying, and dormancy. Any disturbance to development may alter the seed's potential performance (Delouche and Baskin 1973). The challenge for tests, then, is to determine vigour by identifying one or more quantifiable parameters commonly found in association with seed deterioration.A hypothetical model has been developed that will eventually be used to better estimate seed vigour, even including the process of deterioration (Delouche and Baskin 1973). The model graphically visualizes the extent to which deterioration may increase and the seed's vitality diminish (Figure 1). In other words, in real terms, vigour can be seriously affected.The beginning of cell membrane degradation precedes loss of germination. Hence, a highly sensitive test for estimating vigour would be that which monitors membrane integrity. There are sufficient experimental arguments to support this assertion. Membranes are essential for many metabolic events that occur in a seed, including respiration, which provides the seed with the energy needed for subsequent plant development (OSU 2004).The endoplasmic reticulum is an organelle made up of membranes where many enzymes are produced that bring about the translation of RNA (ribonucleic acid). Thus, any disturbance in the function of such membranes can reduce the ATPs associated with the supply of energy to cells and retard the synthesis of specific enzymes essential to growth. With loss of respiration and biosynthetic capacity, the germination rate is reduced, as manifested in a lack of uniformity in seed lots. Other events associated with deterioration are loss of storability and of the capacity to resist disease. When degraded seeds are subjected to biological and environmental pressures, they show a poor rate of emergence under field conditions and poor yields. Finally, these subtle manifestations of loss in seed quality find expression in an increased incidence of abnormal seedlings-a component of germination tests (OSU 2004).Higher plant forms may show dormancy or interruption of growth in meristematic tissue, for example, in growth buds of branches, as well as in seeds. In seeds, dormancy, also known as latency, resting, or quiescence, is the last phase of its ontogeny or formation and development. It is an essential stage for seed survival as it maintains them in waiting until environmental conditions are propitious for germination and plant production. In practical terms, dormancy refers to the state in which viable seeds fail to germinate, even under conditions normally favourable for germination (Rao et al. 2006).  The development of seed dormancy involves water loss, differentiation of the seed's integuments or coats, interruption of genetic transcription and protein synthesis, and reduced respiration and other activities of intermediary metabolism (Vázquez Y et al. 2004). During the final stages of ontogeny, particularly that of storing food reserves and maturation, and according to species, carbohydrates (starches and sugars), proteins, and lipids are accumulated. When this process ceases and the seed has completed its development, drying begins. The synthesis of oligosaccharides increases. These substances are involved in the tolerance of drying and may, as does raffinose, prevent the cytoplasm from crystallizing in the desiccated mature seed. In some species, during maturation, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in controlling dormancy until conditions are such that the seed can germinate and initiate the formation of a new seedling (Bolaños 2004;Vázquez Y et al. 2004).When the seed separates from the plant that produced it, it enters quiescence or reduced metabolism, that is, it does not show external signs of activity within it. This resting is called quiescence when the reason for the lack of germination is basically a lack of water, as when seeds are stored under artificial conditions or remain in the fruits united to the parent plant for long periods (Gooding et al. 2000;Vázquez Y et al. 2004). However, resting is called dormancy when the seed does not germinate, despite conditions being optimal in terms of temperature, air, and humidity for radicle emergence and seedling growth (Gooding et al. 2000;Vázquez Y et al. 2004). The lack of germination can be attributed to the existence of a chronologically regulated period of interrupted growth and reduced metabolism during the plant's life cycle. This is an adaptive strategy to survive unfavourable environmental conditions (Vázquez Y et al. 2004). Dormancy allows seeds to distinguish a good site for germinating. For example, those that require light to germinate will not do so if they are buried in soil or shaded by other plants. Thus, through dormancy, seeds perceive information on external environmental conditions, including the season in the year! For example, the seeds of some species must undergo a period of low temperatures, close to zero degrees, indicating that winter has arrived. Then, as temperatures increase and the first rains fall, thus indicating the beginning of spring, germination occurs and the seedling is established during a time of the year when survival is most likely. This limits those species to certain geographical regions where temperatures drop in winter (Moreno C 2004).The establishment of dormancy is regulated by hereditary factors that determine a plant's endogenous physiological mechanisms, which interact with factors of the environment in which it grows. In the long run and over millions of individuals, this gives rise to evolutionary changes in the plants. Among the most important environmental conditions are (1) climatic variations in temperature and relative humidity, (2) microclimatic variations derived from physiographic and biotic aspects such as the spectral quality of light and thermoperiod, and (3) the specific characteristics of the place to which the plants are adapted for establishment and growth. Micro-and macroclimatic variations, and the hormonal and nutritional conditions of the parent plant greatly influence the establishment of dormancy in its seeds during their development. This means that variations may exist between harvests of seeds from a given species, depending on the time and place of production (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).The permanence of dormancy depends on the plant's species and on its adaptation to the conditions of the habitat where it originally grew or evolved. The duration of dormancy may vary considerably, from very short periods to several years.Several types of dormancy have been defined. Rao et al. (2006) group all types into either embryo dormancy or seed-coat dormancy. However, for purposes of our theme of ex situ conservation, we will briefly describe those most mentioned:Innate or endogenous dormancy becomes manifest when the embryo stops growing (while the seed is still in the parent plant) and continues until the endogenous impediment ceases. From that moment, the seeds are ready to germinate when suitable environmental conditions occur. The presence of chemicals in the embryo inhibiting germination or the embryo's immaturity is probably the main cause of such dormancy. The duration of innate dormancy is highly variable according to species and, in some cases, may even differ between seeds from one individual. Some experiments indicate that, certain tropical seeds possess processes comparable with the postmaturation that is characteristic of many temperate-climate trees, whose seeds germinate only after winter has elapsed. That is, in the laboratory, when such tropical seeds are exposed or stored under low temperatures, or given applications of plant hormones such as gibberellic acid, they show dormancy (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Physiological dormancy involves mechanisms that physiologically inhibit the embryo's radicle from emerging. Such dormancy can be attributed to the low permeability of the integuments around the embryo to oxygen; or to the embryo's lack of sufficient growth potential to break the seed coats, as the endosperm cells restrict the radicle's growth. Physiological dormancy may range from non-deep through intermediate to deep dormancy, differing according to species (Baskin and Baskin 1998b).Induced or secondary dormancy occurs when seeds are in a physiological position to germinate but are in an environment that is highly unfavourable such as having little oxygen, CO 2 concentrations that are higher than those of the atmosphere, or high temperatures. These unfavourable factors induce reversible physiological alterations in the seeds, whereby they fall into a state of secondary dormancy and are no longer able to germinate, even though they remain alive. In some cases, this type of dormancy can be broken, using hormonal stimulation. Induced dormancy can sometimes compound other types of dormancy or replace them (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Secondary dormancy can be induced in mature seeds once they are separated from the parent plant or, if dormancy was already present, induced into a deeper level. This process occurs when the seeds are subjected to unfavourable conditions for germination, for example, anaerobiosis, which occurs when there is excess water or low oxygen levels in the atmosphere, or the seed coats are not readily permeable. High temperatures may also have the same effect. Sometimes the lack of a single requirement for germination such as light will induce dormancy. However, it should be remembered that each species responds in particular ways (Moreno C 2004).Imposed or exogenous dormancy. In nature, this dormancy occurs in seeds that can germinate under suitable conditions of humidity and mean temperature, that is, suitable for the habitat that they occupy. However, they remain dormant because of one factor or another such as lack of light or particular requirements of temperature or oxygen. This dormancy is controlled by the physical conditions of the environment surrounding the seed. It occurs in seeds found in the soil and which germinate only after a disturbance that modifies, for example, the light regime or oxygen content (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).A major reason for a seed not germinating is the impermeability of its seed coats to water. This impermeability is associated with the presence of one or more walls of impermeable palisade cells (Baskin and Bask in 1998b). Many plants produce seeds whose external coat is hard and impermeable to water or gases and even their micropyle is provided with a barrier that impedes the penetration of water to the embryo. This characteristic appears frequently in several plant families, particularly the Fabaceae or legumes, Malvaceae, and Bombacaceae (Vázquez Y et al. 2004). In forest soil, the seed coat gradually becomes permeable through weathering, microbial degradation, soil factors such as saponins, or temperature fluctuations, with germination occurring slowly. This mechanism of passive dormancy is particularly frequent in dry tropical forests, and may have originated as a mechanism for seed persistence in the soil over the season that is unfavourable to growth (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Chemical dormancy occurs when inhibitors of germination are deposited in the pericarp or seed coats. These substances include compounds that are produced in the seed or are transmitted to it, thus blocking the embryo's growth (Baskin and Baskin 1998b).Embryo dormancy occurs when an embryo that has been extracted from its seed is incapable of germinating under suitable conditions. This type of dormancy is controlled, on the one hand, by the cotyledons that inhibit growth of the embryonic axis and, on the other, by substances that inhibit germination such as abscisic acid (Moreno C 2004).Coat dormancy. The structures responsible for this mechanism are the seed coats, but frequently include other seed parts such as the endosperm, pericarp, and, in grasses, the glume, palea, and lemma. These structures impose dormancy in several ways by interfering with the entry of water and gas exchange, containing chemical inhibitors, impeding the escape of inhibitors present in the embryo, modifying the light arriving at the embryo, and mechanical constriction.Interference with the entry of water is a major cause of dormancy in seeds with hard coats, particularly in legumes, but also in species of Convolvulaceae, Cannabaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Gramineae, Malvaceae, and Solanaceae. Many seeds have mucilaginous coats and, in some cases, this mucilage is believed to produce impermeability as in, for example, Sinapis arvensis and Blepharis persica. Some species, mainly from the Mimosoideae (legumes) group, present a small aperture in the coat, which has a plug known as the strophiole that must be broken for water to enter. In some cases, such as for Iris or Rosa spp., the coat contains substances that inhibit germination. Sometimes these inhibitors are inside the seed and the coat's impermeability prevents their escaping. For example, in oats, dormancy is maintained by the lemma and palea. When these are removed and the naked seeds placed in a moist environment, the seeds germinate.In the vast majority of seeds that require light to germinate, the coat imposes dormancy. It acts as a filter through which light must pass. It should be remembered that seeds requiring light to germinate are stimulated when a certain ratio of active to inactive phytochromes is established-a product of the combined action of red and far red light. Seed coats have different thicknesses and different pigmentations, thus modifying the quantity and quality of light that reaches the embryo. For example, in Chenopodium album, germination rates of seeds exposed to 15 min of light are, for thick coats at 49-53 µm, only 27%; 44-99 µm thick, 47%; and 24-28 µm, 62% (Moreno C 2004).The seed's germinative characteristics have a strong genetic component that manifests itself during the seed's development. At the same time, the environmental conditions to which the parent plant is subjected affect this process and influence the type and degree of dormancy of the seeds. Seeds of a given species (e.g., Lactuca sativa or Stellaria media) produced in a period of low temperatures presented a deeper dormancy than seeds produced in warmer periods. The daylength that the parent plant experiences (especially during the last days of seed maturation) affects the dormancy of some species. Some desert species show a correlation between daylength and coat permeability. The environmental humidity that the parent plant experiences during seed maturation can also determine the seed coat's degree of impermeability (Moreno C 2004). Hartmann and Kester (1971) suggest that seeds can be classified according to their response to specific environmental conditions and management methods. The groups are: Group I. Seeds that have a hard and impermeable coat and, accordingly, the embryo cannot absorb water. This group includes seeds with such hard coats that they resist the growing embryo.Group II. Seeds with dormant embryos that respond to pre-germinative chilling.A. Seeds that need a single period of chilling. B. Seeds that require a warm period for the root or embryo to develop before the chilling period. C. Seeds that need two consecutive chilling periods separated by a warm one.Group III. Seeds that combine an impermeable coat with a dormant embryo.Group IV. Seeds that contain chemical inhibitors that can be removed by percolation. Group V. Recently harvested dormant seeds that become germinable after dry storage (postharvest dormancy). A. Seeds in which germination is promoted by light. B. Seeds in which germination is inhibited by light. C. Seeds in which germination is inhibited by high temperatures.The Association of Official Seed Analysts, in its Rules for Seed Testing (AOSA 1983), differentiates between hard and dormant seeds. 'Hard seeds' are those that cannot absorb moisture as they possess an impermeable coat (groups I and III above). 'Dormant seeds' are those that can absorb moisture, but do not germinate because of restrictive influences within the seed that block some physiological reaction in the embryo, thus impeding the initiation of germination (groups II, IV, and V above) (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Germination is known as the resumption of active growth of the embryo, which results in the rupture of the seed coats and the emergence of a new seedling capable of independent existence. When the seed separates from the plant that produced it, it is quiescent, that is, it does not show external signs of activity. For germination to take place, three conditions should be met:• The seed should be viable, that is, the embryo should be alive and able to germinate.• The seed's internal conditions should be favourable for germination, that is, any physical or chemical barrier to germination should have disappeared. • The seed must be exposed to favourable environmental conditions. The essential factors are availability of water, appropriate temperature, provision of oxygen, and, sometimes, light. Although each of these conditions may have different effects on any given seed, more frequently, the interaction among them determines the beginning of germination (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Germination encompasses a complex sequence of processes (Figure 2) that imply complex changes of a biochemical, morphological, and physiological nature. These processes are described by authors such as García B ( 2004), Grierson and Covey (1984), Hartmann and Kester (1971), and Moreno C (2004). In general, the processes are seen as occurring in five stages, as described on the next page.  The first stage starts with the dry seed imbibing water, its coats softening, and the protoplasm hydrating. This process is largely physical and occurs even in nonviable seeds. As a result of absorbing water the seed swells and its coats may break.In the second stage, cellular activity in the seed begins. It is characterized by the appearance of specific enzymes and the elevation of the respiration rate, particularly in cereal grains such as barley and wheat. The process is controlled by the embryo, which uses gibberellic acid, previously synthesized by the embryonic axis and/or scutellum (cotyledon in grasses) to send signals to the aleurone layer. At the same time, the coleoptile of the growing embryo begins to synthesize indoleacetic acid, which initiates the differentiation of vascular tissue through which gibberellic acid is transported towards the aleurone layer. In response to the gibberellic acid, the aleurone synthesizes the enzymes required for germination, except β-1,3-glucanase, the synthesis of which is still not completely understood.The third stage involves the enzymatic digestion of the insoluble complex reserve materials (mostly carbohydrates and fats, with some proteins) into soluble forms that are translocated to the areas of active growth. This whole process is carried out by enzymes secreted by the aleurone layer that surrounds the endosperm. The enzymes are α-amylase, protease, ribonuclease, and β-1,3-glucanase, the last attacking the hemicellulose in the walls. All are secreted towards the endosperm and, in only 3 or 4 days, they totally liquefy it. The endosperm begins dissolving; the cell walls degrade; the protein reserves are hydrolyzed to form amino acids; and the starch is also hydrolyzed to form reduced sugars that then become sucrose to be transported to the embryo. Other enzymes appear in the aleurone, weakening the seed coats and permitting the root end to pass through them. Cell elongation and root emergence are events that are associated with the beginning of germination. Cellular division can also occur in early stages but is, apparently, independent of cell elongation.Fourth stage. Those substances in meristematic regions are assimilated, providing energy for cellular activities and growth, and the formation of new cellular components.Fifth stage. The seedling grows by the usual processes of division, growth, and division of new cells in the growing points. The seedling depends on the seed reserves until such time as the leaves can adequately handle photosynthesis.To summarize, germination occurs in the following stages: imbibition or hydration; germination as such (including enzymatic and respiratory activity, digestion, translocation, and assimilation) when water absorption is reduced; growth, characterized by a renewed increase in water absorption and respiratory activity; and the associated emergence of the radicle.To evaluate their physiological status and interpret the viability indicators in the respective tests, the essential structures of seed and seedlings must be identified. The following description also complements what was already discussed in Module 3, Submodule B, Lessons 1 and 2.A seed constitutes three basic parts: the embryo, food storage tissues, and seed coats. The embryo is a new plant that results from fertilization, that is, from the union of a male and female gamete. Its basic structure consists of an axis with growing points at each extreme-one for the stem and one for the root-and one or more seminal leaves (cotyledons) fixed at the embryonic axis.In dicotyledonous plants, the embryo consists of three components: radicle, which will form the root; plumule, which will give rise to the stem; and two cotyledons, which are part of the seed's reserve tissues and which will ultimately be used as photosynthetic organs (Figure 3A).In monocotyledonous plants, only one cotyledon is found. It does not have photosynthetic characteristics during germination and constitutes a protective tissue called the scutellum. It separates the embryo from the endosperm, which is the principal reserve tissue in all monocotyledons (Figure 3B).The seed's absorption of water, increased respiration, and the biochemical changes that it undergoes (as described above) awakens the embryo into growing and subsequently developing into a growing seedling. Normally, 'seedlings' refers to tender young plants that emerge from the soil, having developed directly from seed embryos.Usually, the first sign of germination is the appearance of the radicle, from which originates the primary root. In monocotyledons, this part of the seedling lasts only a very short period, as it promptly develops secondary roots. In gymnosperms and dicotyledons, the radicle develops into the primary or principal root that lasts the plant's entire life.In other species, hypocotyl growth is the first visible manifestation of germination. This pattern is found in families such as the bromeliads, palms, Chenopodiaceae, Onagraceae, Saxifragaceae, and Typhaceae. The growth of this structure is important in epigeal germination, as it lifts the cotyledons out of the soil (Figure 4A). As the episperm tears, the cotyledons become exposed to sunlight, converting them into photosynthesizing organs during the seedlings' first stages of growth. The epicotyl develops late.Epigeal germination is common in seeds with endosperm, for example, in castor bean (Ricinus communis), onion (Allium cepa), and Rumex spp. It is also found in seeds without endosperm such as those of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), squash (Cucurbita pepo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), mustard (Sinapis alba), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa).In hypogeal germination, the hypocotyl grows very little and the cotyledon usually remains within the soil. The epicotyl starts elongating early so that the first two leaves are in the air and receiving sunlight (Figure 4B).Hypogeal germination appears in seeds with endosperm such as those of wheat (Triticum aestivum), maize (Zea mays), barley (Hordeum vulgare), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), and rubber (Hevea spp.). It also appears in seeds without endosperm, for example, pea (Pisum sativum) and broad bean (Vicia faba). To evaluate the parameters of viability such as percentage and speed of germination, and seedling morphology, commercial-seed experts, as represented by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) define certain terms and apply criteria that should be taken into account (ISTA 1999). Nevertheless, because germplasm of cultivated species is per se diverse, these rules are a guide only. More worthwhile is to make careful observations of the performance of each species being tested for the parameters being evaluated. During laboratory tests, seedling performance should also be correlated with field performance.'Essential structures of seedlings' refers to those structures that are essential for continuous and satisfactory plant development such as the radicular system, embryonic axis, cotyledons, terminal buds, and, for Poaceae, coleoptile (Figure 3). Depending on the species, ISTA experts (1999) define a seedling as consisting of a specific combination of the following structures, essential for subsequent development:• Radicular system, made up of the primary root and, in certain cases, secondary or seminal roots • Embryonic axis, made up of the hypocotyl, epicotyl, and terminal bud; and, for Poaceae, the mesocotyl • One or more cotyledons • In all Poaceae, the coleoptileThe availability of information on viability, vigour, dormancy, and germination of vegetative planting materials (plant fragments or specialized organs) is not as abundant as for seeds. However, except for the logical differences that exist, understanding and applying these concepts to this type of material in an analogous manner as for seeds are essential.The concepts of viability and vigour, which refer to the properties of being alive and able to generate new plants that emerge quickly and uniformly, are applied generally. Dormancy or the interruption of growth in meristematic tissues can appear in higher plant forms. Deciduous and subdeciduous trees are best known for exhibiting this type of behaviour. They are characterized by a phenological phase of leaf fall and meristematic dormancy at the end of the growing season. Where stakes are used for propagation, serious difficulties in rooting can be caused by the presence of chemical inhibitors, as in grape vine (Hartmann and Kester 1971).When speaking of the germination of vegetative planting materials, we cannot talk about resuming active growth in the embryo, because this type of structure does not exist in such materials. Instead, we must refer to meristematic buds or regions that can be activated to generate shoots that will develop into new plants.With respect to the essential structures for vegetative reproduction, propagules (see Module 3, Submodule B, Lesson 1) or plant fragments should have buds or meristematic tissues able to generate shoots, and have accumulated nutritive reserves to feed them until they develop photosynthesizing organs able to sustain an independent plant (Figure 5).After this lesson, you should be familiar with the most important concepts of germplasm viability and vigour, and how it relates to deterioration, and the phenomena of dormancy and germination.Before going on to the next lesson, answer the following question: When planning and executing methods to verify a germplasm's viability, which of the concepts revised in this lesson do you consider as the most important? Briefly explain why. The germplasm's biological or physiological status is verified either after conditioning or through periodic samplings during conservation under storage. It is a major activity for quality control. As mentioned in the previous lesson, applying it demands knowledge of the species and their peculiarities with regard to germination and the presence or absence of dormancy; the environmental and endogenous conditions that influence the behaviour of seeds or propagules; and the evaluation procedures and methods to conduct and their periodicity. Some of these requirements have already been discussed in the previous lesson.In this lesson, we consider procedures and methods for evaluating indicators of germplasm viability and vigour.First, we point out that periodic evaluation of germplasm viability is indispensable for ascertaining that the materials conserved ex situ are remaining in good condition. These evaluation procedures are regulated and standardized by institutions such as FAO and IPGRI (now Bioversity International) to help germplasm bank managers guarantee, through specific tests, the biological integrity of the PGRs under their responsibility (Box 1).The indicators most used to determine viability are germination and vigour. For their assessment, different methods have been designed, whose application depends on the type of seeds to evaluate, and the availability of resources, facilities, and installations.Before implementing tests to evaluate the viability and vigour of a given species, information should be collected on the characteristics of that species. We must have data on the habitat where the germplasm was originally collected, and likewise on seed type (orthodox or recalcitrant), age, and the conditioning and storage conditions to which the materials had been submitted. A sufficient supply of seeds is also advisable to permit additional experiments, should not enough information be available on the material. Many different methods are available to test seed viability, of which the most accurate and reliable is the germination test. Others include biochemical tests, which have the advantage of being quicker, but are not as accurate as the germination test (Rao et al. 2006).Evaluation of viability involves a series of stages from preliminary testing to the application of highly elaborate procedures. The first stage is to establish a preliminary germination test in a suitable environment and under recommended conditions of light and temperature, preferably those of the habitat where the germplasm had originally been collected. The results obtained from this test will orient the next procedures. Genebank managers have the responsibility to provide conditions which will maintain the viability of each accession held within the genebank above a minimum value. Hence accession viability must be monitored. The preferred standard is that this obligation extends not just to the genebank, which can be considered the originator of the accession, but also to those genebanks holding a duplicate of the accession.27. Viability will usually be assessed by means of a germination test, although other test procedures (such as the topographical tetrazolium test) may be required in order to clarify whether the non-germinating seeds in these tests are non-viable or whether their dormancy has not been broken during the test. Empty seeds not already removed before storage should be removed before beginning the germination test. An IBPGR handbook (Appendix II, IBPGR, 1985) is available which provides both general and specific advice on the conduct of germination tests and appropriate dormancy-breaking procedures.The minimum standard is that accession viability monitoring tests be carried out at, or soon after, receipt and subsequently at intervals during storage. The initial germination test should be carried out on a minimum of 200 seeds drawn at random from the accession.The period between viability monitoring tests will vary among species and will also depend upon the seed storage conditions. Genebanks should regularly conduct monitoring tests. Under the preferred storage conditions for base collections, the first monitoring test should normally be conducted after 10 ye ars for seeds with high initial germination percentage. Species known to have poor storage life or accessions of poor initial quality should be tested after 5 years. The interval between later tests should be based on experience, but in many cases may well be greater than 10 years. Note that where the preferred conditions of storage are not being met, then monitoring may need to be more frequent. Where a genebank has been operating for some years under the preferred conditions and has obtained sufficient information from their own monitoring tests on the range of material they work with to justify more extended monitoring intervals then this should be done.The objective of the viability monitoring test is to decide whether regeneration is required. It is recommended that, in order to save seeds, 50 -100 seeds be drawn at random from the accession for each monitoring test. The simplest method of determining whether substantial loss in viability is occurring, and distinguishing between this and the fluctuation in test results which is largely a consequence of sampling error, is to plot the results of successive monitoring tests against the period of storage and to see whether a progressive trend of loss in viability can be detected. Where such an indication is obtained, it is recommended that, provided sufficient seeds are available, a further sample of 100 seeds are drawn at random for a further viability monitoring test to reduce the probability that regeneration is initiated prematurely. Once it has been decided that an accession should be regenerated, further germination tests should be suspended to save valuable seeds.It is essential that genebanks have, or have access to, sufficient laboratory equipment to enable viability monitoring tests to be carried out in a regulated, uniform and timely manner. In some cases the particular problems of the species maintained will require the provision of more specialized equipment, e.g. X -ray equipment to test for empty seeds and/or insect-damaged seeds.(Continued) 32. Initial germination testing and viability monitoring during storage requires adequate facilities to carry out these tests according to the conditions described in paragraphs 27 to 31. It is acceptable that a base collection should have access to suitable seed testing facilities and it is preferred that these should be at the same site as the base collection.In the case of active collections, it is suggested that monitoring every 5 years will normally be satisfactory. However, this should be adjusted up or down depending upon the species stored, initial viability, and the storage environment. Where base and active collections are maintained side -by-side within the National Agricultural Research System under the preferred conditions for base collections then the advice for base collections should be followed for the active sample and in most cases it will not be necessary to sample from the base collection until the results for the active collection sample suggest this is necessary, or the latter becomes depleted. Note that this comment only applies in situations where the base and the active collections represent the same original seed sample which has simply been divided at random into the base and active samples.There is no non-destructive viability monitoring test currently available. It is recommended that where the number of seeds within an accession is limited, and regeneration is feasible, the seedlings produced during accession viability monitoring tests should be grown out to provide a fresh stock of seeds (e.g. for distribution) providing, of course, that the number of seedlings available is sufficient for regeneration. SOURCE: FAO and IPGRI (1994).Should the seed not germinate, then tests must be carried out to discover the reason why (see Module 3, Submodule C, Lesson 1) and the recommended treatments then carried out (Table 1). In such a case, respirometric or biochemical activity tests must be conducted (Vázquez Y et al. 2004) before carrying out further procedures that may be unsuccessful.An example of such a test is that of soaking seeds in a solution of 2,3,5triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC). Viable seed, that is, seeds with biochemically active embryos become red on soaking. The test is based on the activity of the dehydrogenase enzyme systems linked to respiration in living things. For seeds, these systems are associated with the viability of the embryo and its consequent loss when no enzymatic activity exists. As the tissues of viable embryos respire, through oxidation and reduction, they liberate hydrogen ions. The hydrogen then combines with the TTC (Figure 1), which is normally colourless, producing, through reduction, a formazane, which is an insoluble nondiffusive pigment that colours tissues (Baskin and Baskin 1998a;Delouche et al. 1971) The reaction occurs within the cells and, as the pigment is not diffusive, a clearly distinguishable delineation appears between breathing (viable) and nonbreathing tissue (dead). Breathing tissue acquires a red or pink colour while the second retains its natural colour (Figure 2). The position and size of the necrotic areas in the embryo, endosperm, and/or gametophytic tissue determine if the seed can be classified as viable or nonviable. According to the ISTA guidelines (1999), in the TTC test or topographical tetrazole test, viable seeds become completely stained, whereas the dead seeds do not. However, partial staining can occur because of the variable proportions of necrotic tissue in different areas of the embryo, indicating that not all seed tissues are dead.The recommended sample size for this test is four replications of 100 seeds each. Should seed availability be low, the International Standards for Genebanks (FAO and IPGRI 1994) recommend using a minimum of two replicates with 100 seeds per replicate. If the test results show that germination is below 90%, an additional 200 seeds should be tested, using the same method. Overall seed viability is then taken as the mean of the two tests (Rao et al. 2006). However, this test can be carried out only on those firm seeds that did not germinate in the standard germination test. The TTC test is usually applied to dormant seeds, although it can be used with any seed.To implement viability tests, the following activities should be conducted:• Preconditioning procedures established • Test types defined:-Germination in sand, soil, or other substrate -Germination on germination paper • Sites determined for conducting the tests:-Germinators or other infrastructure -Laboratory, growth rooms, incubators • Procedures established for executing the tests:-Reception and preparation of samples, and verification of identification -Preparation of substrates and tools needed for the tests -Germination paper, sand, soil, other substrates, identifiers, trays, containers -Reagents -Adequate in-depth planting and spacing in trays; placement on germination paper and/or in trays -Placement of trays, containers, or germination paper in the site or equipment suitable for germination -Agronomic attention and care to ensure the test's success (e.g., humidity, temperature, and light) • Type of data to collect determined and their evaluation for decision-makingOften, to make seeds germinate and succeed in the viability test, the seeds' internal conditions must be favourable for the process. This means that barriers of a physical, chemical, physiological, or other nature must disappear to permit germination (see Module 3, Submodule C, Lesson 1). If this has not happened, then preconditioning procedures must be carried out, like those described below or in guidelines for testing germination of the most common crop species, as suggested by Rao et al. (2006).The aim is to modify hard or impermeable seed coats. The seed coat is ruptured, scratched, or mechanically altered to make them permeable to water or gases. Although seed extraction and cleaning during harvest probably does a certain amount of scarification, most seeds with hard coats show improved germination with additional artificial treatment. Rubbing seeds with sandpaper, scratching them with a file, or incising them with blades, as according to case, would be sufficient. Manual scarification on any part of the seed coat is effective, but the micropylar region should be avoided, as it is the most sensitive part of the seed and is where the radicle is located (Rao et al. 2006). Scarification should not be so extensive that it damages the seeds. To determine the optimal time for germination, a few seeds may be sown in a test plot, soaked to observe swelling, or examined under a magnifying glass. Under the last, the seeds should appear dull in colour, but not so cut up that the seed's internal parts are exposed (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Reasons for soaking seeds in water include modifying the hard coats, removing inhibitors, softening the seeds, and reducing germination time. Sometimes, this treatment overcomes seed-coat dormancy or, in other cases, stimulates germination.For some seeds, their impermeable coats can be softened by placing them into hot water (170°-212°F or 77°-100°C) at four to five times their volume. The fire is removed immediately and the seeds left to soak for 12 to 24 h in the gradually cooling water. Then, using suitable screens, the swollen seeds are separated from those that did not swell. The latter are once again subjected to the same treatment or to another method. In some cases, seeds can be boiled for a few minutes but this procedure is too hazardous, as exposure to such high temperatures can damage the seeds.In certain cases, the inhibitors present in the seeds can be lixiviated by washing or soaking them in water. Seeds that ordinarily germinate slowly can be soaked before being put out to germinate, thereby shortening emergence time (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Scarification with acid. Scarification with acid helps modify hard or impermeable seed coats. Soaking in concentrated sulphuric acid is an effective method but the acid must be used with care as it is very corrosive. It reacts violently with water, considerably elevating temperatures and producing splatters. Protective clothing should be worn to protect the operator's skin and eyes. Dry seeds are placed in glass or earthen containers and covered with concentrated sulphuric acid (specific weight 1.84) at a ratio of one part seed to two parts acid.To achieve uniform results and prevent the accumulation of dark and resinous material that is sometimes present in seeds, the mixture can be gently stirred at suitable intervals. Because stirring the seeds may elevate temperatures, vigorous stirring of the mixture should be avoided to prevent damage to the seed and minimize splattering of the acid. The most desirable range of temperatures is 60° to 80°F (15°-27°C). With higher temperatures, the contact period is shortened and lengthened with lower temperatures.The duration of the treatment should be carefully standardized. At the end of the treatment, the acid is drained away and the seeds washed. The acid used should be thrown away onto ground that is not in use, never into drain pipes. All possible speed should be used when washing the seeds. Abundant water is needed to dilute the acid, reduce temperatures, and prevent splattering. Washing for 10 min under running water is considered sufficient. The wet seeds can be planted immediately or dried and stored for later planting (Hartmann and Kester 1971).The main goal of this treatment is to expose seeds to the low temperatures that are frequently needed to obtain prompt and uniform germination. This treatment is necessary for the seeds of many tree and shrub species to encourage physiological changes in the embryo (postmaturation).Seeds are put in refrigerators or, during winter, outside in covered boxes or in holes, 15 to 30 cm deep in the earth. Seeds are placed in containers on a moistened germination substrate and kept at 3° to 5°C in a refrigerator for a minimum of 7 days (Rao et al. 2006). The time needed to complete postmaturation depends on the class of seeds and sometimes on the individual plots. For most seeds, the necessary stratification period ranges between 1 and 4 months. During this period, the seeds should be examined periodically. If they are dry, they need to be moistened again. At the end of the postmaturation period, some seeds may germinate in storage.To sow them, the seeds are removed from their containers and separated from the medium, with care being taken not to damage the moist seeds (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Combining two or more pregermination treatments. Two or more treatments are combined to either overcome the effects of an impermeable seed coat and dormant embryo (double dormancy) or encourage the germination of seeds with complex embryo dormancy. The combination of mechanical or acid scarification or soaking in hot water with chilling under moisture is effective for seeds that have both hard impermeable coats and embryo dormancy. Any of the three treatments can be used to modify seed coats (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Planting in a given time of the year can be used to encourage the postmaturation of dormant seeds and to comply with special requirements for germination. This procedure can help save a certain amount of time and use of special equipment that otherwise would have been needed. Seed is planted outside directly in the seedbed or cold bed at a time in the year when the natural environment provides the necessary conditions for postmaturation. If seeds are left in the seedbed for a long time, they must be protected from desiccation, adverse environmental conditions, animals, birds, diseases, and competition with weeds (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Recently harvested seeds of many annual or perennial herbaceous plants do not germinate if they have not gone through a period of dry storage. This postharvest dormancy can last a few days or several months, depending on the plant species. Because dry storage is the usual method for handling and keeping most seeds of cereals, vegetables, and flowers, this dormant period is usually over by the time seeds arrive for viability tests. Otherwise, drying the seeds will facilitate germination (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Chemical stimuli. Many recently harvested but dormant seeds respond to soaking in chemical stimuli such as potassium nitrate, gibberellic acid, thiourea, and sodium hypochlorite.• Potassium nitrate is used at 0.2%, with the seeds placed in germination trays or in petri dishes, and the substrate is moistened with solution. • Gibberellic acid (GA), a plant hormone, increases the germination rate of certain classes of dormant seeds, increases the speed of germination, encourages plant growth, and overcomes stunting or dwarfism in dormant epicotyls. Seeds are soaked in an aqueous solution of gibberellic acid at variable concentrations (100 and 500 mg/litre), according to the species' response (Hartmann and Kester 1971).• Thiourea [CS (NH 2 ) 2 ] has been used experimentally to promote germination in some dormant seeds, particularly those that do not germinate in darkness or at high temperatures, or require cold-moisture treatment. Aqueous solutions, ranging from 0.5% to 3%, are used. As thiourea somewhat inhibits growth, seeds should not be soaked for more than 24 h. They should then be rinsed with water (Hartmann and Kester 1971). • Sodium hypochlorite is used to encourage the germination of seeds like those of rice. It blocks the effect of inhibitors dissolved in the water found in the husk. A commercial concentrate of sodium hypochlorite is used at a ratio of 1 part of the chemical to 100 parts of water (Hartmann and Kester 1971).A germination test consists of exposing seeds to favourable environmental conditions such as moisture, temperature, oxygen, and, in certain cases, light, to ensure the embryo resumes active growth. Hence, different media or substrates are used (Table 2), as well as installations and equipment to obtain the expected results (Figure 3).Standards and norms have been established for germination tests in terms of duration, number of seeds, drying levels, incubation temperatures, and assessment (ISTA 1999). However, these standards should be applied with care, making adjustments as according to germplasm type. Agar-agar 1% A medium with stable moisture content and low contamination. It can be used in the field or laboratory. Very useful under shady conditions, as it conserves moisture for longer. Care must be taken when working under direct sunlight, as it dehydrates and condensed water accumulates in the petri plate. The medium facilitates radicle emergence and seedling transplant.Filter paper Provides good support, but care must be taken to prevent excessive drying.Paper towels More economical to use, but needing the same care as filter paper to prevent excessive drying.Vermiculite, perlite, Useful for large seeds only. Conserve moisture for more time than does and similar substrates paper, but moisture levels still need watching. Depth is easy to control.As useful as perlite and similar substrates. Has the advantage of contributing nitrogenous compounds that stimulate germination.This medium is very popular but must be washed thoroughly to eliminate salts before use. Drains more easily than soil and so needs a controlled water supply.Detailed information on the various methods for determining seed viability can be found in the following publications: ISTA's International Rules for Seed Testing (1999) and its Handbook on Seedling Evaluation (2003), the manuals Seed Technology for Genebanks by Ellis et al. (1985) and Seed Vigor Testing Handbook by AOSA (1983), and Hong and Ellis' Protocol to Determine Seed Storage Behavior (1996). ISTA's Rules suggest a sample size of four replications of 100 seeds for the viability test. However, sample size will depend on the quantity of seed available and, in some cases, may be reduced. What is important is being able to make several replications rather than just one large sample. A frequently used number is three replications of 50 seeds each (Baskin and Baskin 1998b).In some cases, tests for vigour are different from those for germination. However, during evaluations of germination, data are taken that also serve to estimate vigour, for example, germinative strength, germination speed, seedling emergence and development, uniformity of germination, and sensitivity to factors of environmental stress during germination and emergence. A close relationship between the two concepts can therefore be established (Figure 4).Standard germination tests are carried out under conditions optimal for activating the embryo in seeds. During seedling development, observations pertinent to vigour are made. Some of these assess and classify seedling growth (Figure 5) and the percentage and speed of emergence. Others consider response to stress factors such as cold temperatures (10°C) and chilling (18°C), rapid aging, and osmotic pressure (AOSA 1983). The ISTA experts, to validate germination tests, make counts of and categorize seedlings as complete normal seedlings, normal seedlings with mild defects, and abnormal seedlings. In each case, parameters are defined according to the presence, absence, or level of defects in essential structures such as the radicular system (primary root, secondary or seminal roots), embryonic axis (hypocotyl, epicotyl, terminal bud, and the mesocotyl in Poaceae) (ISTA 1999 Measuring germination implies assessing two parameters: germination percentage and germination rate. Germination percentage should be related to time, indicating the number of seedlings produced over a given period. Germination rate can be measured, using several methods. One determines the number of days required to obtain a specified germination percentage. Another calculates the average number of days (MDG) needed for the plumule or radicle to emerge, as follows:Mean days = (N 1 T 1 + N 2 T 2 …. N x T x )/Total number of germinating seeds where, N is the number of seeds that germinated within consecutive intervals of time; and T is the time elapsed between the beginning of the test and the end of the given interval of measurement. 130Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic ResourcesViability is represented by the germination percentage, which expresses the percentage of seedlings that were actually produced of the number that could have been produced by a given number of seeds (i.e., (N seedlings /N potential ) × 100). The germination should be rapid and seedling growth vigorous. This is seed vitality, or germinative capacity, and can be represented by germination speed.If the sequence of time is measured for the germination of a seed lot or for the emergence of seedlings in a seedbed, a typical pattern is usually found for the germination curve (Figure 6). An initial delay occurs as germination begins, then the number of seeds that germinate rapidly increases, followed by a reduced rate of appearance. When viability is less than 100%, determining the exact final point becomes difficult (Hartmann and Kester 1971). According to Hartman and Kester (1971), Kotowski has used the inverse of this formula multiplied by 100 to determine a coefficient of speed, whereas Czabator suggested another measurement for seeds of woody perennials where germination maybe slow; that measure includes both speed and percentage of germination, that is, the germination value (GV). To calculate GV, the germination curve (Figure 6) should be obtained by periodically counting radicle or plumule emergence. The important values of the curve are the T value, where the speed of germination begins to diminish, and the G value, which is the final percentage of germination at the end of an X interval of measurement. (Several T values are, in fact, taken to indicate the times between the beginning of the test and the end of given intervals of measurement.) These points divide the curve into a fast and slow phase. Peak value (PV) is the percentage of germination at T, divided by the number of days needed to arrive at T. The mean daily germination (MDG) is the final percentage of germination divided by the number of days the test is held. Therefore (Figure 6): GV = PV × MDG GV = (68/13) × (85/34) GV = 5.2 × 2.5 = 13 A test usually takes 10 days to 4 weeks, but may last as long as 3 months for seeds that are slow to germinate. A normal seedling usually has a well-developed root and stem, although the criterion 'normal seedling' varies among the different seed classes. Moreover, abnormal seedlings, and hard, firm, dead, or rotten seeds may occur. Abnormal seeds may result from:• Diminished vitality because of age • Poor storage conditions • Damage, whether mechanical, or by insects or disease • Poisoning from overdosage of fungicides • Frost damage • Nutrient deficiencies such as minerals (e.g., Mn and B in peas and beans) • Poisoning from toxic materials sometimes found in metallic germination trays, substrates, or piped waterIn general, firm seeds can be distinguished from the nonviable; firm seeds are solid, swollen, and free of moulds, or they show erratic germination. Any seed that does not germinate should be examined to determine possible reasons (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Although the concepts of viability and vigour have been developed and applied to seeds, they can be extended, with the necessary adjustments, by analogy to vegetative planting materials (propagules and plant parts). Basically, for the respective evaluations, plant parts (e.g., roots, stems, and leaves) or specialized plant organs (e.g., bulbs, corms, tuberous roots, rhizomes, and pseudobulbs) that have the capacity for regeneration would be examined for their viability, that is, for their capacity to regenerate healthy and vigorous plants. Parameters would include germination percentage, expressed as the proportion by number of propagules or reproduction units used that have produced seedlings. The vitality of the reproduction units, or germinative capacity, could be represented, as for seeds, by germination speed or germination rate.Because little information is available on evaluating the biological or physiological status of vegetative planting materials, pertinent research is advisable. When working with ex situ conservation, the knowledge needed for the successful management of this type of PGRs should be generated and disseminated.After this lesson you should be familiar with the procedures most used to evaluate indicators of germplasm viability and to assess the respective tests. Before going on to the next lesson, consider the following problems: One essential component of the ex situ conservation of germplasm is its phytosanitary quality. This component, as previously defined in Module 3, Submodule B, Lesson 2, refers to the absence of pathogens associated with planting materials and/or micro-organisms that cause deterioration during multiplication and storage. To obtain germplasm that meets this requirement, it is essential that, throughout the different stages of the ex situ management cycle, control measures are applied that ensure the materials are subjected to as little risk as possible. Consequently, plant health quality control attempts to:• Reduce the risks involved in transferring germplasm from one country or region to another. • Contribute to maintaining the material free of pathogens of quarantine interest and/or of those that imply risk for conservation in terms of causing total or partial losses in the production of planting materials (seeds or propagules), genetic erosion, poor quality, or deterioration during storage. • Facilitate the availability of germplasm without plant health restrictions for the users.• Facilitate decision-making for saving materials affected by damaging micro-organisms or of quarantine interest. • Contribute to compliance with international standards.The application of control measures involves the verification of results. To this end, different procedures and methodologies are used, some of which will be mentioned as we develop the theme. First, we will consider some concepts to better understand the theme 'verification of plant health quality'.Phytosanitary quality refers to the concept whereby germplasm undergoing ex situ conservation is found free of pathogens of quarantine interest and/or those associated with the planting materials (whether seeds or propagules) and which may cause deterioration or contribute to genetic erosion.When considering pathogens of quarantine interest, the definitions of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) should be taken into account. Under the rubric 'Pest' (Box 1), pathogens (Figure 1) include micro-organisms (bacteria, spiroplasms, phytoplasmas, Phytomonas spp., fungi, and nematodes) and biotic agents (viruses and viroids) that can cause disease in plants (Agarwal and Sinclair 1987;González 1976;Neergaard 1977).Pest: any species, strain or biotype of plant, animal or pathogenic agent injurious to plants or plant products.Regulated non-quarantine pest: a non-quarantine pest whose presence in plants for planting affects the intended use of those plants with an economically unacceptable impact and which is therefore regulated within the territory of the importing contracting party.Regulated pest: a quarantine pest or a regulated non-quarantine pest.Quarantine pest: a pest of potential economic importance to the area endangered thereby and not yet present there, or present but not widely distributed and being officially controlled.Diseases caused by pathogens can sometimes lead, ultimately, to a plant's death, without its being able to produce the necessary reproductive structures and thereby causing loss of genotype (or genetic erosion). In other plants, pathogens cause the loss or reduction of the conservable product or reduce its quality by infecting and remaining within the tissues, so that when the germplasm is transported, so are the pathogens. Similarly, when infected materials are used for improvement programmes or multiplication, results are severely affected. To evaluate the plant health quality of germplasm and plan suitable management measures, several aspects should be taken into account, as discussed below.This must be considered as each collection site (country or region where the material was collected) has a level of risk associated with the availability of information on its pathogens and the activities carried out for their control (Table 1).With this information, suitable measures for control can be implemented to guarantee the safe transfer and management of germplasm. For example, for the purposes of management, pathogens are classified in three groups:• Group A: Dangerous pathogens that have a high epidemic potential but are not found in the region of introduction (exotic pathogens). • Group B: Pathogens possessing moderate epidemic potential but not found in the regions of introduction or are occurring in restricted areas under effective control. • Group C: Pathogens that are not considered to be of quarantine importance, but which affect the quality of planting materials.When germplasm comes from high-risk sites (i.e., categories 1 to 7, Table 1), it may carry pathogens of category A, B, or C. Given the characteristics of the pathogens included in groups A and B, the material should be filtered through post-quarantine control (closed quarantine). The procedure includes the production of seeds or propagules from the introduced germplasm and release of the same, if their health is duly verified. When information is available for Prokaryotic organisms that lack chlorophyll and multiply by binary fission. Their colonies usually have a gelatinous aspect. More than 200 species cause diseases in plants.Obligate molecular parasites that possess RNA or DNA and have similar structures to the normal macromolecules found in cells. They depend absolutely on the mechanisms of the host's live cells to synthesize proteins and generate energy.Cylindrical elongated worms that may be macro-or microscopic in size. They live in the soil or water and can parasitize animals or plants. In the case of the latter, they attack underground or aerial organs, using stylets to extract sap. Most of the species that attack plants belong to the phylum Nematoda, class Secernentea, order Tylenchida.Non-vascular, heterotrophic organisms that lack chlorophyll and other photosynthesizing pigments. Usually filamentous, they reproduce by means of sexual or asexual spores. More than 100,000 species exist, 8000 of which are pathogenic on plants.pathogens of groups B and C, then the planting materials can be analyzed through suitable sampling and released if found free of infection or contamination.The movement of germplasm inevitably implies a level of significant risk. Planting materials (seeds, propagules, or plant parts) that are transported or transferred may well harbour pathogens within their tissues and thus carry them without their being noticed (Brunt et al. 1990;Frison and Feliu 1991;FAO and IPGRI 2004). Risk may be greater or lower, depending on:• The plant genus or species; • Presence of pathogens of quarantine importance transmitted through seed or planting material, or in association with the planting material in the exporting country or region of origin; • Geographical distribution of such pathogens, and their life cycle and type of parasitism; • The volume and frequency of international exchange of plants and planting materials; and • The favourability of environmental factors.Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Table 1. Germplasm collection sites and associated risk.Collected from any site but plant identity at least to genus was unknown at the time of collection (e.g., grasses collected vegetatively) 1Collected in a centre of plant and/or pest diversity 2Collected in the wild, far removed from agricultural areas; wilderness 3Tubers, roots, seeds, etc., collected in the market place 4Farms 5Orchards, plantations 6Experimental fields (except those where plants are screened for resistance) 7Experimental plots isolated from commercial plantings or located where certain pests are not present 8Commercial greenhouses with floor beds 9Commercial greenhouses with raised benches 10Research greenhouses with raised benches 11Plant tissue cultures, aseptic plantlet cultures, etc., particularly when derived from pathogen-tested mother plants 13Collected from other containment facilities/quarantine stations provided the plants are pathogen-tested and grown under a high level of phytosanitation 14 a. '1' denotes the highest hazard/risk site; '14', the lowest. SOURCE: Kahn (1999).Not all agents found in germplasm necessarily take on economic or quarantine importance. Many are ubiquitous and are established in the importing country; others are economically important and may be of quarantine significance. Even so, despite their ubiquity, pathogens have races that vary in aggressiveness according to the regions or countries where they are registered. Hence, race may become a risk factor in germplasm transfer.This stage-the transfer of germplasm from one country or region to another-should be understood as involving plant health risks and that, therefore, the procedure is subject to legislation (IPPC). Each party interested in moving the germplasm should agree on the terms of transfer, assuring the other parties of the legality of transport and of compliance with established plant health requirements (Barton and Siebeck 1994;COSAVE 2003;EPPO 2004;FAO 1997;OIRSA 2004).The principal risk in moving germplasm is the transfer of pests and pathogens, which must be detected during quarantine, a procedure that includes inspection to detect pests and pathogens, treatment or cleaning of samples, and certification and release of material where no danger is presented, or its destruction if it is heavily contaminated or no technology is available to clean it (Nath 1993).Germplasm that propagates through seed is planted under greenhouse conditions (closed quarantine) so that it germinates and develops seedlings (Figure 2). During establishment, the germplasm is inspected by plant health authorities, and, where necessary, samples are made and analyzed in the laboratory to intercept possible pathogens of quarantine interest.When materials of vegetative reproduction (propagules or plant fragments) are introduced, procedures require more care, as each material taken from the mother plant may contain pathogens that are usually found in association with it. In this case, the initial selection of an adequate source of propagation is essential. Individual plants should be examined with all care to discover possible genetic disorders, bud variations, and symptoms of viruses or other disease pathogens. If a 'clean' plant is not found, then the pathogen must be eliminated by sanitizing a small part of the plant such as a stake, bulb layer, growth bud, or meristem that can constitute adequate initial material for propagation.To obtain 'clean' planting material, various techniques are used, as not all have necessarily the same effectiveness for all plants or for all pathogens. An example of a cleaning technique is the system applied by CIAT to sanitize cassava (Manihot esculenta), a species that propagates vegetatively and is conserved in vitro (CIAT 1980(CIAT , 1982;;Mafla et al. 1992;Roca et al. 1991). The procedures are:• Select mother plants, from which stakes, 15-20 cm long with vigorous buds, are taken.They are then surface-disinfected by submersion for 5 min in a solution of the insecticide dimethoate (Sistemin® at 0.3%), left to dry for 1-2 h under shade, and planted in pots that contain a sterilized substrate (e.g., soil to sand at 1:2). • Apply thermotherapy for 3 weeks. That is, the pots with the seedlings are placed in a thermotherapy chamber, with a temperature range of 40°C (day) to 35°C (night), illumination at 3000-4000 lux, and high relative humidity. • Three or 4 weeks after thermotherapy, cut the buds to be used to extract meristems. The blade must be disinfected with detergent before each cut. • Sterilize the tissue by placing the cut buds in a beaker with a mesh that facilitates their management in the laboratory. In a laminar flow chamber, they are disinfected by rapid submersion in 70% alcohol, rinsed with sterilized water, placed into a solution of sodium hypochlorite at 0.5% for 5 min, and finally rinsed three times with sterilized bi-distilled water. • Isolate and plant the meristems (tissue structures of 0.3-0.5 mm, which include the meristematic dome with one or two leaf primordia). Under aseptic conditions in a laminar flow chamber and under the visual field of a stereomicroscope (10X-40X), the apical bud is caught with forceps and the appendages (leaves and stipules) covering the apex removed with a scalpel until a brilliant structure, 0.3-0.5 mm long with 1 or 2 leaf primordia, appears. Then a fine cut is made. This operation should be carried out very quickly and carefully to prevent excessive dehydration and possible death of the meristem. The explant is placed in a culture medium suitable for growth and development, ensuring that the basal part remains on the medium's surface. • Incubate the culture. That is, the planted meristems are placed in test-tube racks and taken to a growth chamber with temperatures at 26°-28°C; illumination at 1000 lux, using fluorescent lamps, type daylight; and a 12-h day length. • Leave seedlings to develop. This stage usually lasts 3 to 4 weeks, after which the explants must be transferred to a medium suitable for growth and development, with a prior cut in their bases to prevent any possible callus from forming. Three weeks after having been transferred to the new medium, the explants begin growing. Roots emerge, and a completely developed plant becomes available for continuing with the indexing tests (Module 3, Submodule D, Lesson 2).In this stage, germplasm produced in the open field runs the inherent risk that material may be lost or may deteriorate on being exposed to various adverse environmental or biological agents. Disease from pathogen attack can sometimes cause the eventual death of plants without their succeeding in producing the reproductive structures needed for conservation, thus resulting in the loss of genotype (i.e., genetic erosion). In other plants, conservable products may be lost or reduced in number, or their quality lost as pathogens infect tissues and remain within them in such a way that transporting the germplasm would also mean transporting the pathogens.During production, agronomic principles are applied and, hence, include all the practices needed to obtain the quantity and quality of propagules required for the different purposes of conservation. A major agronomic practice is the control of diseases caused by different types of pathogens. To apply control methods to achieve success in multiplication or increase, we must not only know the type of agronomic requirements of a given species, but also have information on the diseases that can affect the targeted germplasm, including causal agents, life cycle, mechanisms of dissemination, and factors favouring their development.Practices of plant health control also play an important role in this stage. Timely harvesting and good management of the germplasm obtained are fundamental to maintaining the germplasm's health, provided that, during production, adequate control measures had been applied. Seeds should also be harvested, preferably during the dry season, as harvesting in rainy or humid periods increases the risk of deterioration by micro-organisms that normally associate with the seeds. It is essential that harvested materials are placed in paper or cloth bags and duly identified before being transported to the sites for predrying and later conditioning.During this stage, rigorous measures should be applied when cleaning equipment, tables, and places where activities are carried out, as seeds can be easily contaminated with microorganisms normally present in residues from fruits or harvesting. Contaminating microorganisms can contribute to the germplasm's deterioration during the subsequent steps of conservation if these precautions are not taken.Essentially, test conditions must be guaranteed to permit the germination of materials without risk of contamination. In particular, the plant health quality of soil, water, trays or pots, and other implements used in evaluations must be checked to minimize the risk of contaminating seedlings and obtaining erroneous data on the germplasm's biological status.After this lesson, you should be familiar with the most important aspects of plant health quality control, the criteria to consider for the respective evaluations, and the relationship of plant health control with different stages of ex situ conservation.Before going on to the next lesson, briefly discuss the importance of plant health quality control in the context of ex situ conservation of materials with which you are familiar.Agarwal VK; Sinclair JB. 1987. Principles of seed pathology, vols I and II. CRC Academic Press, Boca Raton, FL.Benjamín Pineda, Norma C Flor, Graciela Mafla, Daniel Debouck, Mariano Mejía, María del S Balcázar, and Julio Roa.In the next lesson, you will become familiar with the principal procedures for controlling the plant health quality of germplasm.To speak about phytosanitary quality without referring to health seems senseless. As human beings, we pay attention to our health every day, to maintain us active, vigorous, and with high levels of productivity. With plants, however, we do not check their health in the way they deserve. If we are to conserve germplasm (whether as propagules or seeds), then maintaining its health in the broad sense of the word is as essential for it as it is for us.Ex situ conservation, especially those activities dealing with introduction, multiplication, and regeneration, requires considerable care in maintaining the germplasm's health for the length of its biological cycle. Being attentive during a plant's cycle so that it is not affected by pests and diseases (pathogens) should translate into a healthy plant whose products (seeds and propagules) are equally healthy, that is, they also possess the desired attributes for phytosanitary quality.The verification of germplasm health, which results from the above-mentioned activities, should be carefully carried out. Likewise, information obtained for decision-making on germplasm management should be generated and collected according to the germplasm bank's objectives. Hence, procedures and techniques for diagnosing plant diseases should be used. Some of these will be mentioned in this lesson.To verify the plant health status (i.e., quality) of a given germplasm, whether during plant establishment and development or in its products, we use procedures commonly employed in phytopathology to identify diseases and apply control measures (Agarwal and Sinclair 1987;Gerard 1984;FAO and IPGRI 2004;ISTA 1999;Neergaard 1977). These procedures can be conducted, either (1) directly at the site of confinement (quarantine) or production (field, greenhouses, and laboratories) through periodic inspections, or (2) through specialized procedures, some of which are described below.As materials develop in the sites of quarantine, multiplication, regeneration, and determination of the biological quality, periodic inspections and observations should be practised to determine the presence of symptoms that would permit identification of diseases. Severity and incidence of the observed diseases should then be evaluated and the causal agents identified.Where direct identification is not possible during inspection, then representative samples for specialized diagnosis should be collected. The samples can initially be examined in the laboratory under a stereomicroscope to find signs that may indicate the pathogen's nature. If such inspection proves the presumed presence of pathogens, whether of a fungal, bacterial, viral, or other nature, then methodologies suitable for isolating and identifying them must be applied. These methodologies include the use of humidity chambers; isolation on specialized culture media; observation under light or electron microscope; use of identification keys; and verification, using Koch's postulates (Box 1), in healthy materials of the same species.Koch's Postulates*1. The micro-organism should be always associated with the disease, and the disease, in its turn, should not appear without the micro-organism being or having been present.2. The micro-organism should be isolated under pure culture and its specific characters should be studied.3. When a healthy host is inoculated with the pure culture under favourable conditions, it should produce symptoms of the disease.4. The micro-organism should be re-isolated from the inoculated host and should show the same characteristics under culture as that previously isolated.* Adaptation from those originally recommended by Koch in 1881 for similar studies with humans and animals. They apply only to facultative parasites (in the saprophytic phase). The postulates must be reformulated for obligate parasites.SOURCE: González (1976).We point out that, in diseased tissue, not only is the casual micro-organism found but, often, other micro-organisms are also found, living as saprophytes and even growing in culture. Pure cultures must therefore be established for each organism separately and its pathogenicity determined, as according to Koch's postulates (Box 1).Seed analysis. Seed analysis should be carried out in the laboratory on representative samples. This activity is usually executed by expert personnel, who use equipment and verification procedures already established for the type of pathogen being examined (Langerak et al. 1988). Before conducting seed analysis, personnel should clearly understand that obligate (those requiring live tissue for survival) and facultative parasites (having a saprophytic phase) exist in association with seeds and that their detection requires specific procedures. Obligate parasites do not grow on culture media, whereas facultative parasites do. Also important to consider are the types of association that tend to occur between pathogens and seeds (Figure 1). Sometimes, they associate internally; other times, externally (Figure 1). When they are found active and embedded in seed tissues, then they are parasitic and cause infections. However, no relationship of parasitism exists if they are external and are being passively carried on seed coats, harvest residues, or particles of contaminated soil (infestation); or are mixed with seed (concomitant contamination) (Neergaard 1977).The basic procedures for verifying the plant health quality of seeds include preliminary activities (sampling, reception, registration, and storage), preparatory work, and analysis, duly organized to fulfil the entrusted function (Figure 2). Overall, these procedures include:• Sampling, identification, packaging, and dispatch of materials to the laboratory. • Reception of samples, and verification of identity and size.• Division of samples for diagnosis according to pathogen type (samples separated for fungi, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, as according to requirements). • Preparation of elements needed to verify pathogens according to type (i.e., separate elements for fungi, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, as according to requirements). • Visual inspection of samples to detect mixtures and abnormalities in seeds.• Processing and planting of samples according to pathogen type (procedures for fungi, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, as according to requirements). • Incubation.• Observation and analysis.• Reports and documentation. The methodology to determine the seed health status uses different techniques to detect pathogens, depending on the class and type of micro-organism (e.g., obligate or facultative parasite, or saprophytes), the characteristic relationship it has with seeds (infection, infestation, or concomitance), or level of precision required. A given technique is selected according to the test's purpose and the objectives for analysing seed health (Tables 1, 2,  and 3).Once the results of the analyses are obtained with respect to the germplasm's quality (Figure 3), decisions can be made and management carried out accordingly. When standards for the quality demanded are met, the germplasm can be conserved according to the bank's goals. Any affected materials found may be subjected to cleaning procedures that will help rescue, reintroduce, multiply, or regenerate them.The procedures and methodology for analysing the phytosanitary quality of propagules or plant fragments used for vegetative propagation are based on the same principles as for seeds. Normally, in the field, germplasm can be infected by pathogens to a greater or lesser extent and, hence, needs its plant health to be monitored according to circumstances. Evaluations and analyses must be conducted with special care, as any plant part (e.g., stem, root, leaf, cutting, root cutting, stake or stem cutting, meristem, or callus) or organ (e.g., bulb, corm, rhizome, cutting, or tuber) used for propagation contains pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, viroids, or nematodes. Materials for vegetative propagation are at greater risk and require stricter plant health procedures. In fact, for analysis, observations can be carried out directly on the organs or plant parts to be used or the material can be planted and germinated and the results assessed in the seedlings with the naked eye, as described for seeds.Plant health inspection is especially relevant for selecting materials for use in propagation. Usually, the selected clone comes from a single plant from which several propagative units (which should be as disease-free as possible) are taken. Selection starts with observing and evaluating in detail the material that is to be multiplied for conservation. All aerial (e.g., leaves, branches, stems, flowers, and fruits) and subterranean organs (e.g., roots, tubers, and bulbs) should be inspected to ensure they are in suitable condition. That is, they do not present spots, mosaics, or malformations in leaves and stems; stems do not present fissures, spots, or aqueous wounds, but do present a healthy and brilliant epidermis; and, overall, the material does not present necrosis, cankers, or rot in any organ; or wilt, dwarfism, or abnormal growth.Even if the planting material is at very high risk with respect to plant health, the current tendency is to use in vitro culture techniques and thermotherapy as an alternative to safely maintain the germplasm free of pests and pathogens. That is, to guarantee the acquisition of materials of high plant health quality, the above-mentioned techniques are combined and verifications are carried out, applying several diagnostic techniques (indexing), according to case (Figure 4). One example is the procedure employed by the Genetic Resources Unit at CIAT for cassava (Manihot esculenta), a plant that propagates vegetatively. The process begins with selecting mother plants, from which stakes are taken and subjected to thermotherapy. Meristems are then cut, cultured, and micropropagated in vitro (see Module 3, Submodule D, Lesson 1). They are then propagated in specialized culture medium for 4-5 weeks in a growth chamber until they are large enough to transplant to the greenhouse.Once transplanted to pots, they are given appropriate care to obtain stems and leaf tissue for applying screening tests, which are applied according to available facilities and to the viruses being targeted for detection (e.g., common cassava mosaic virus or CCMV, cassava X virus or CsXV, and frogskin disease or FSD). The techniques applied may include diagnoses based on visible symptoms, grafts, serological methods of diffusion, precipitation, enzyme immunoassays (ELISA), and PCR (Figure 3). The materials that show negative results for the different indexing tests should be maintained or propagated under conditions that prevent re-infection. If materials show positive results to the indexing tests, then thermotherapy is re-initiated, followed by meristem culture, and subjected again to indexing tests (CIAT 1982;Roca and Mroginski 1991;Roca et al. 1991a, b).After this lesson, you should be familiar with the general procedures for verifying plant health quality.Before going on to Submodule E, briefly comment on the importance of verifying plant health quality. If you have had some experience in this regard, indicate what procedures were applied.Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Benjamín Pineda, Norma C Flor, Graciela Mafla, Daniel Debouck, Mariano Mejía, María del S Balcázar, and Julio Roa.In the next Submodule E, you will study the principal aspects of storing (conserving) germplasm.The conservation of PGRs is not limited to the mere attainment and physical possession of materials (collection and storage) but must also ensure their existence under viable conditions and with their original genetic characteristics intact. For seeds or materials conserved in vitro, this is achieved by controlling storage conditions so that they inhibit or reduce the samples' metabolism; for planting materials, by maintaining them under optimal agronomic conditions.After germplasm has been multiplied or regenerated, following all precautions to maintain its genetic identity, it is harvested and conditioned to conserve its physical and physiological integrity. Its viability and plant health status are then verified according to established procedures. The next step is to keep the germplasm under stable storage conditions so that it retains its viability over the longest period possible. To achieve this end, the required conditions must be established, including the determination of infrastructure and provision of necessary equipment and resources, as according to the magnitude of the collection and the bank's objectives.As we develop this theme, some major topics will be described on storing germplasm as seed or maintaining it as planting material.Germplasm can be stored as seed, or maintained in the field or in vitro, or under cryopreservation, depending on how the species reproduces and reacts to storage. These characteristics, in their turn, determine the conditions under which it will remain viable. Planting materials may be conserved as complete plants in the field or as tissue cultured in vitro.If a species reproduces by seed, its reaction to drying needs to be determined before storage to find out if it is orthodox, recalcitrant, or intermediate. This reaction will determine the form, time, and conditions under which the samples must be stored. If a species should possess orthodox seed, then it would be best conserved as seeds. If its seed is recalcitrant or intermediate, then it should be conserved in the field or in vitro, as these types of seeds can be conserved as seeds for only very short periods and under special conditions.For the storage of seeds in the collections conserved in germplasm banks, well-founded standards have been established (FAO and IPGRI 1994) (Box 1). These norms, in essence, consider storage conditions to be those that maintain seed viability by reducing respiration and other metabolic processes without damaging the embryo. The most importantGenebank standards: seed storage conditions Seed storage conditions for base collections 17. Acceptable: Sub-zero temperatures (<0ºC) with 3-7% seed moisture content (depending upon species). Preferred: -18ºC or cooler with 3-7% seed moisture content (depending upon species).The above seed moisture content standard may need to be raised in exceptional cases where there is strong evidence that problems can arise at this moisture content (e.g. seed breakage during seed handling).18. The preferred standards for storage of -18ºC or less with about 5% moisture content should not be relaxed. However, it should be emphasized that the choice of seed storage conditions by an individual genebank depends upon the species stored and the length of storage period envisaged before regeneration is likely to be required. Hence some flexibility is required with regard to what should be considered acceptable, particularly for those circumstances in which refrigeration to the extent required by the above preferred standard cannot be provided. Owing to the nature of the relation between seed longevity, storage temperature and seed moisture content, the same storage life can be achieved by different combinations of temperature and moisture.The tendency to overemphasize the benefits of reduction in temperature compared to those in moisture content should be avoided. With regard to the effect of temperature, the relative response of longevity to reduction in seed storage temperature is very similar among diverse orthodox species, but the relative benefit of a given reduction in temperature becomes less as temperature is reduced (at least, that is, within the ranges usually investigated down to -20ºC). Thus, longevity is increased by a factor of almost 3 if storage temperature is reduced from 20ºC to 10ºC; by 2.4 from 10ºC to 0ºC; by 1.9 from 0ºC to -10ºC; but by only 1.5 from -10ºC to -20ºC.In contrast, the relative benefit to longevity of reduction in moisture content: (i) varies among species; and (ii) becomes greater for each successive reduction in moisture content. This variation among species appears to be largely a function of difference in seed composition (which influences the equilibrium relation between seed moisture content and relative humidity).A calculation which was made some years ago (but which, like many calculations involving extended periods of longevity, is to some extent based on extrapolation) to put the relative benefits of reduction in each of storage temperature and moisture content in context concerns the crop sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). The effect of a reduction from 5% to 2% seed moisture content provides about a forty-fold increase in longevity. This is about the same relative benefit as a reduction in temperature from +20ºC to -20ºC. However, in most crops the benefit of desiccation to longevity does not extend to such low moisture content values.There is a low-moisture-limit to the increase in longevity observed to occur with reduction in seed storage moisture content. The value of this limit varies among species, but it is thought that this variation is also related to differences in seed composition such that equilibrium relative humidities at the critical moisture content are similar for different species. One estimate of this value is moisture contents in equilibrium with about 10-12% r.h. at 20ºC. It is reasonable to maximize the benefit of desiccation to subsequent longevity by drying seeds to 10-12% r.h. at 20ºC and then storing hermetically at ambient, but preferably cooler temperatures, if the storage temperature could not be controlled, or where the reduction in temperature provided by refrigeration is not adequate to meet the preferred standard for temperature. This approach has been previously described as \"ultra-dry storage\". However, in some species this standard is actually slightly greater than the original 5% standard (e.g. 6-6.5% moisture content in pea).Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources conditions for achieving these results are seed moisture content reduced to appropriate levels, low temperatures, and modified storage atmosphere. Usually seeds are stored for variable times after harvesting.For orthodox seeds to remain viable under conservation, they must maintain low and constant moisture content. To ensure this, as described in Module 3, Submodule B, Lessons 1 and 2, on conditioning, the seeds are subjected to drying, and then kept in hermetically sealed containers to prevent their coming into contact with atmospheric humidity and becoming rehydrated (FAO and IPGRI 1994). The reaction of seeds to drying for storage has been studied for many species, and information exists for more than 2000 genera of about 250 families (Hong et al. 1996). When insufficient information is available on the species of interest, research is needed to classify its seeds (Figure 1) and determine their characteristics (Hong and Ellis 1996).Whether seeds are stored dry or ultra-dry, it is essential that all seeds be \"conditioned\" or \"humidified\" (by placing in a very moist atmosphere, usually overnight but occasionally slightly longer in the case of very large seeds) prior to testing for germination or growing out.Seed storage conditions for active collections 24. Active collections should be kept in conditions which would ensure that accession viability remain above at least 65% for 10 to 20 years, being the only standard which should be provided. The precise storage regimes used to fulfil this objective will vary depending upon the species stored, the prevailing ambient environment and the relative local costs of (principally) electricity and labour. As indicated in the preceding section, different combinations of storage temperature and moisture can provide the same longevity. However, it could be emphasized that, in most locations, the reduction and control of seed storage moisture content will be a more cost-effective approach than controlling temperature. SOURCE: FAO and IPGRI (1994).Figure 1. Procedures for determining the behaviour of seeds in terms of their tolerance of drying (from Vázquez Y et al. 2004).All Orthodox seeds can be dried to very low moisture content without being harmed-at least, to a level of constant moisture that is kept in balance with an environmental relative humidity of 10%. Longevity increases when moisture content is reduced and storage is kept at low temperatures in a quantifiable and predictable way (Sandoval S 2000;Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Recalcitrant seeds cannot be dried below a relatively high level of moisture content without being damaged. Although species vary greatly in the critical moisture content below which viability is reduced, some species will die rapidly, even if in balance with an environmental relative humidity of 98%-99%. Most recalcitrant seeds die when their moisture content is in balance with an environmental humidity of 60%-70% (corresponding to a seed moisture content of 16%-30%, fresh weight). Despite considerable research, no good method has been found for maintaining the viability of such seeds in storage, particularly those of tropical origin (Sandoval S 2000;Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Intermediate seeds are sensitive to drying to a relatively low level of moisture content (7% to 10%, in balance with an environmental relative humidity of 30%-50%). The conditions regarded as ideal for long-term storage of orthodox seeds (5% moisture content and -18°C) are potentially harmful for intermediate seeds and should not be used, as they will be killed within few months. Even so, intermediate seeds can be stored for as long as 10 years if they are dried to 7%-10% of their moisture content and maintained at laboratory temperatures (Sandoval S 2000;Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Another requirement for maintaining seed viability is storage at low temperatures in environments that are poor in oxygen. Low temperatures invariably extend the life of seeds in storage and can generally counteract the adverse effects of high moisture content. Modifying the atmosphere in which seeds are stored by vacuum packaging, increasing levels of carbon dioxide, or replacing oxygen with nitrogen or other gases can, according to various studies, benefit the very short-lived seeds of some tropical plants. For example, rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) seeds can be kept in sealed containers filled with 40%-45% of carbon dioxide. Sugar-cane seeds can also be dried in the open air and packaged in sealed tins in which the air is displaced by carbon dioxide, and 9 g of calcium chloride per litre of capacity are added. The whole is then stored at temperatures close to freezing point (Hartmann and Kester 1971).The combination of low moisture content, sealed containers, low temperatures, and, in some cases, modified storage atmosphere help prevent the ageing and degeneration of cellular tissues, phenomena that occur over time as substances accumulate from the metabolism the organism uses to stay alive. These substances are believed to inactivate enzymes and nucleic acids, preventing cellular membranes from fulfilling their function as selectively permeable barriers in the exchange of compounds and thus resulting in the accumulation of not only metabolically inert materials but also mutagenic substances.The organelles within cells, the cells themselves, and organs may possibly become ineffective through constant use. In other cases, mutations may increase with age. Over time, an organism becomes more inefficient as mutations increase in number, leading to the production of defective proteins that affect the organism's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). During storage, seeds accumulate genetic damage, which manifests as chromosomal aberrations occurring during the first phases of cellular division in germination. Thus, many effects of ageing will appear, not so much during germination, but during the cellular differentiation and formation of the seedling (Moreno C 2004;Roos 1982).Open storage (no control of temperature or humidity) is not recommended for germplasm conservation. Seed longevity depends largely on the relative humidity and temperature of storage atmosphere. It also depends on the class of seeds and their condition at the beginning of storage. Maintaining the viability of stored seeds therefore depends on the region's climatic conditions, with the most adverse occurring in warm humid regions and the best in cold dry regions. In the latter areas, the most preferred seeds are those with hard coats, provided they have been dried appropriately. Fumigation or applications of insecticides may be needed to control insect infestations (Hartmann and Kester 1971;Sandoval S 2000).Warm storage with humidity control is a better technique than the previous one, provided seeds are stored in sealed bags that ensure the minimization of fluctuations in humidity and remain in rooms with controlled temperatures. For vegetable seeds, the following recommendations (Hartmann and Kester 1971) serve as a general guide:• The environmental air of seeds exposed to 27°C (80°F) for more than a few days must have a relative humidity of no more than 45%; • Seeds exposed to 21°C (70°F) should be kept at a humidity of no more than 60%; and • Very short-lived seeds (e.g., onion and peanut) should be conserved at even lower humidity levels.Dried seeds may also be stored in sealed containers made of materials resistant to moisture. Many types of containers are used that vary in duration, resistance, cost, protective capacity against rodents and insects, and ability to hold or transmit humidity (Hartmann and Kester 1971;Sandoval S 2000).Cold storage (with or without humidity control) is the best method as seeds are kept with low moisture content, in sealed containers, and at low temperatures, thus prolonging their longevity to the utmost. After conditioning and packaging, seeds can be stored in rooms for the long, medium, or short term, according to goals (Figure 2). Storage conditions for maintaining the samples viable are determined according to species, the reason for conserving it, and the planned storage time.Conservation temperatures depend on the storage period envisaged. Most species with orthodox seed can be conserved for indefinite periods at temperatures between -10°C and -20°C, with a moisture content of 3%-7% and a viability value of no less than 85%. Seeds conserved under these conditions can be kept for 70 to 100 years. It should be remembered that the benefit of reducing temperatures is less than the benefit of reducing seed moisture content.Studies have suggested that greater benefit is obtained when temperatures are reduced considerably. That is, longevity triples when the temperature drops from 20° to 10ºC; multiplies by (×) 2.4 when it drops from 10° to 0°C; × 1.9 from 0° to 10°C; and × 1.5 from -10° to -20°C. Hence, standards suggest that acceptable temperatures for conservation are those that are below 0ºC and preferably below -18ºC (FAO and IPGRI 1994).Toole (cited by Hartmann and Kester 1971) recommends that, for vegetable seeds stored at 40°-50°F (4.5°-10°C), relative humidity should be no more than 70% but preferably no more than 50%. When taken out of storage with a humidity of more than 50%, seeds should be dried to a safe moisture content unless they are planted immediately. Storage temperatures kept as low as freezing point may be desirable if the need justifies the additional cost. Temperatures below freezing point may be used for prolonged storage and for conifers such as the silver fir (Afoles) or spruce (Picea sp.). If seeds are to be conserved for the medium term (10-20 years, maximum 30), they can be maintained at temperatures between 0° and 15°C (usually 1°-4°C), with a moisture content between 3% and 7% and a viability value of no less than 65%. For short-term conservation, seed can be stored in airconditioned rooms (Cromarty et al. 1985;Engle 1992;Towil and Roos 1989).The equipment used for cold storage usually consists of appropriately designed cold rooms, which should be hermetic and able to maintain as constant temperatures, relative humidity, and light intensity. Machines for refrigeration, dehumidification, and control of light hours are used. In particular, the rooms should be designed for the samples they will store, the period over which they will remain in the rooms, and the area's climate where the rooms are established. Usually, cold rooms should be built with prefabricated panels of galvanized steel, joined by polyurethane foam, and insulated to protect the germplasm from outside conditions. Each room must have two independent refrigeration systems, a constant and stable energy supply, and verification instruments such as mercury and wet-and drybulb thermometers. Information on the infrastructure and equipment required can be found in the manual by Cromarty et al. (1985) for designing seed storage installations.The cold rooms for seed storage can be modified considerably in terms of size and complexity, depending on the needs for each storage installation. Spacious underground chambers, constructed with thick concrete walls, are ideal for very large installations. They would be isolated from atmospheric changes in temperature, require less energy to function, and, especially, can resist environmental catastrophes or wars (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).The simplest system, when operating with few resources and personnel, is to store orthodox seeds in a domestic freezer, whether horizontal or vertical. Care must be taken to prevent prolonged changes of temperature during electrical faults by using a generator that turns on automatically when a fault occurs.Seeds can also be stored in glass vials sealed under heat. This method consists of first placing predried seeds in the vials and plugging with cotton wool. The air is then replaced with carbon dioxide and the vials sealed under heat. A desiccator can also be added, placing it between the cotton wool plug and the vial opening before sealing (Figure 3). This method facilitates the management of seeds when no special cold room is available in which to open the containers. That is, the vials can be left to gradually take up the room temperature before opening them. Thus, only a small sample of seeds is exposed, whenever seeds must be extracted from the bank. In all cases, whether dealing with a small seed bank or one of national importance, a stable conservation policy for the germplasm is indispensable, together with an administrator and personnel, who are well prepared and interested in the project. Also necessary is continuous economic support to ensure the perpetuation of installations and their effective operation (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Cold and humid storage involves placing seeds in containers that maintain humidity, or mixing them with materials that hold moisture such as damp sand. This method is applied to some recalcitrant seeds for a short period, together with an oxygen supply for respiration. This procedure is similar to that described for seed stratification (see  (Hartmann and Kester 1971).Many tropical tree species produce seeds with high moisture content and fast metabolic rates, and which behave as recalcitrant. They are characterized by their inability to reorder the structure of their cellular components as water exits from the cells during dehydration. That is, the protoplasm loses its functional structure and does not recover it on rehydrating. The presence of free water in the cells eliminates the protective effect of freezing because ice crystals form that damage the cells. However, recent studies show that some dehydration treatments (Table 1) carried out on these seeds (e.g., papaya) permit storing them for longer (Vázquez Y et al. 2004).Table 1. Treatments that can be carried out with recalcitrant seeds for their storage.Observations EffectThe degree of dehydration Increases longevity briefly dehydration under controlled that seeds can tolerate at conditions of temperature, different temperatures without aeration, and air humidity losing their viability must be determinedThe level of dehydration at Increases the possibility of of substances that protect the which the cellular dehydrating seeds to a greater cellular ultrastructure ultrastructure is protected degree when conducting treatments with proline, betaine, saccharose, and other products must be determinedThe levels of dehydration Duration of seed reserves temperatures in the presence tolerated, and the effects of increases and, as a result, of cryoprotectants or through temperature, cryoprotectants, viability is lasts longer when the the use of respiratory and inhibitors used must be seeds are stored under suitable inhibitors determined conditions SOURCE: Vázquez Y et al. (2004).The first concern to resolve is how many seeds would be used within a period, averaging 15 years. Norms for germplasm banks recommend that a base collection should be represented by a minimum of 1000 viable seeds (FAO and IPGRI 1994). An active collection can be represented by 1500 (presuming 100 seeds per year are distributed for use), and 500 seeds destined for testing viability-one initial and at least four periodic tests-and plant health, to total 3000 as a minimum for each entry.This quantity of seeds should be taken as a suggestion for the minimum number of seeds to conserve rather than as a magic number. This is because variations should be taken into account, such as the species' reproductive mode. Allogamous or cross-pollinating species should be represented by a larger number of seeds, as they represent a wider genetic heterogeneity of individuals. Similarly, species with very long life cycles such as woody species must be represented by the largest possible number of seeds, because the plants' regeneration cycle is reached only after a growing period of several years. Likewise, species that have an abundant and easy production can be conserved, using a larger number of seeds.Those international germplasm banks that are responsible for conserving the germplasm of several countries must keep a larger number of seeds, as they must repatriate seeds to the country of origin and maintain one or two duplicates for safety reasons to conserve in other institutions.Conservation in the field. This method is applied to species that are perennial, arboreal, wild, semi-domesticated, or heterozygous, and to those with vegetative reproduction, short-lived seeds, or seeds that are sensitive to drying. Many important varieties of field, horticultural, and forestry species are either difficult or impossible to conserve as seeds (i.e., seeds do not form or, if they do, they are recalcitrant). Hence, they are conserved in field germplasm banks (Rao 2001). Field conservation thus involves conditioning the material where needed, multiplying it, selecting and preparing a site, planting the materials, and recording information on the accessions' location.As mentioned before, vegetative propagation implies the use of parts taken directly from plants. As a result, during multiplication, there is a risk of propagating pathogens and other pests that associate with such plant material. Consequently, any programme aiming to maintain propagative disease-free clones that are genetically identical to the original materials must undertake the following three steps:1. Initial selection from sources of planting materials that are characteristic of the species and free of serious pathogens; 2. Maintenance of such materials in sites with adequate protection against re-infection or genetic change; and 3. Establishment of a propagation and distribution system by which such materials are disseminated without becoming infected before reaching the user.To conserve the material in the field, it must first be conditioned. The collected plant material is washed and disinfected before propagating it and taking it to the conservation site. Disinfection may be carried out with bactericides, fungicides (bulbs and rhizomes), or thermotherapy (stakes). The planting material, once disinfected, is propagated in the field, greenhouse, or in vitro. In the field and greenhouse, samples are planted on seedbeds or in pots, and left to grow until plants are obtained from which new samples can be collected. The procedure is repeated until the number of plants needed to establish the collection in the definitive site is reached.If propagation is to be in vitro, then samples are planted in the greenhouse, in soils of optimal nutritional quality. From the resulting plants-preferably the youngest-explants are extracted and micropropagated in vitro until complete plants are obtained. These are taken again to the greenhouse, planted in sterilized soil, and, after 2 or 3 weeks, transferred to the definitive site in the field.Micropropagation consists of (a) disinfecting the explants in a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite, mercuric bichloride (HgCl 2) , or ethanol, (b) planting them in an in vitro culture medium until new shoots develop, and (c) rooting the shoots until entire plants are obtained (George 1996;George and Sherrington 1984;IPGRI and CIAT 1994;Jaramillo and Baena 2000;Roca and Mroginski 1991).Propagation in the field and greenhouse is simple but requires time and space. It does not guarantee that the plants obtained are healthy and genetically identical to the originals. In vitro propagation solves these problems, making the propagation of many species possible and more convenient, even for those that reproduce by seed. The site selected to conserve materials in the field should be safe and favour the plants' development. It should also be isolated to prevent attacks from pests and diseases but easy to access for management.The physical and chemical preparation of the planting site depends on the species' requirements and the number of accessions expected to be planted in the field. Taking vigorous plants to the field in a number that represents the accessions' genetic variability will ensure the continuity of the conserved materials. The plants are so arranged in the field that they do not exchange pollen and the populations do not lose their original genotype. The exact site where each accession was planted should remain recorded on a map; and the accessions identified both in the field and on the plants.In vitro conservation and storage. This system is gaining ever-growing importance as a tool of conservation and germplasm exchange because it permits the maintenance of a wide range of species, with a diversity of healthy samples, in a small space, and permits their easy exchange. However, such a system requires technology and knowledge that is still developing, protocols for each species, and considerable resources. This means that alternative conservation options should be evaluated before deciding on in vitro conservation. It is best applied for those species that are difficult to conserve as seed or in the field. Tissue culture permits the in vitro conservation of a broad range of species in various types of samples such as complete plants, seeds, sprouts, buds, cauline apexes, meristems, ovules, embryos, cells in suspension, protoplasts, anthers, pollen, and DNA. The in vitro conservation of germplasm focuses on controlling the normal growth of viable explantseither reducing it or stopping it-by managing the constitution of the culture medium and/ or storage conditions.As with conservation in the field, materials are conditioned, planted-in vitro in this case-and taken to the conservation site (Figure 4). Conditioning consists of disinfecting samples and washing them in distilled water to eliminate excess disinfectant. The solutions most used are sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) at 1%-3%, calcium hypochlorite (Ca(OCl) 2 ) at 6%-12%, and ethanol at 70%. Explants (the smaller, the better) are extracted from the cleaned sample and planted in culture media placed in glass containers. They are subjected to one of two ways of in vitro conservation: slow growth or cryopreservation. In both cases, the medium and conservation environment must be sterilized and storage conditions controlled (George 1996;Jaramillo and Baena 2000;Roca and Mroginski 1991).Slow growth. Slow growth consists of reducing the explants' development by modifying the culture medium and/or conditions under which they are maintained. Through the culture medium, growth can be reduced by increasing the osmotic potential (adding mannitol, proline, glycerol, or sucrose), adding growth inhibitors (abscisic acid), and reducing or suppressing nutrients that the explants need for growing (carbon and nitrogen). Growth is also limited by controlling the conditions under which the samples are stored, either using small containers or reducing the temperature, light, and partial oxygen pressure.Reducing the temperature is the most effective way of controlling the explants' growth by reducing metabolic activity. However, it is equally important to ensure and maintain a slow growth rate to keep the explants viable for the longest possible time. Hence, a combination of methods should be used. Samples in slow growth are kept in rooms with low temperatures for periods that may vary from some months to usually two years. The temperature will depend on the species and variety, although most in vitro crops are kept at temperatures between 20° and 30°C. Lower temperatures can reduce even further the growth of some species but will negatively affect others. Some Prunus species, for example, conserve well at -3°C, whereas temperatures below 15°C will quickly destroy explants of Musa spp. (Pérez-Ruíz 1997), and those below 18°C will damage many cassava varieties (Roca and Mroginski 1991).Materials conserved in slow growth need to be renewed every so often, even though they have continued growing, albeit slowly. Samples are micropropagated and transferred to a fresh medium for recovery and strengthening. When new explants have been established, they are propagated again, and taken again to the conservation medium. An example of the successful application of this methodology is cassava at CIAT, Colombia, where about 6017 accessions are conserved (IPGRI and CIAT 1994;Jaramillo and Baena 2000;Roca and Mroginski 1991).Cryopreservation consists of placing explants in liquid nitrogen (-196°C) to stop growth while conserving viability and genetic and physiological stability. This technique is recent, with good prospects, as it allows the storage for indefinite periods any species that can tolerate and outlive freezing. Hence, it is particularly useful for conserving species with Plants are living things that have morphological, structural, and functional characteristics that enable them to adapt to the habitat where they are established, interacting with changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, they have internal information systems that coordinate and control all the processes pertaining to life maintenance, so that they succeed in sustaining a certain degree of permanence across space and time.Under natural conditions, over time, and as a function of their evolution and needs for adaptation, plants have accumulated, in coded form in their genome, the results obtained. Knowledge of those coded and therefore usable plant attributes and properties converts them into valuable resources (i.e., plant genetic resources or PGRs), worthy of conservation. As described previously (Module 1, Lesson 1, page 2):Plant genetic resources are the sum of all combinations of genes and their variants, resulting from the evolution of plant species. During evolution, a plant population is the receptacle of all past changes and of the results of selections made by the environment, which are expressed as DNA that is exactingly organized and conserved in genomes (Hoagland 1985). In other words, genes contain all the information that defines each trait or character of a living being, in this case, plants. An inheritable trait or character is meticulously reproduced in offspring. Consequently, we find in genes information on adaptation, productivity, resistance to adverse conditions such as pests, diseases, stressful climates, and poor soils, and other characteristic of a population's individuals that are usable by humans to the extent of their knowledge.In general and according to previous statements, important information is believed to exist in plant genomes and to express itself as morphological, structural, or functional attributes. It is contained in germplasm, which therefore becomes the holder of a species' entire sum of hereditary characteristics. However, it should be emphasized that, to use it, germplasm should be understood in detail, that is, the type of attributes it possesses should be determined. The process of gaining such understanding is known as germplasm characterization.Module 4 contains two lessons and a brief evaluation exercise for each lesson.When you have completed this module, you should be able to:• Justify and conceptualize plant germplasm characterization • Describe types of germplasm characterizationPlant genetic resources are conserved to use them. Using them is only possible if their characteristics or attributes are known in detail and their possible uses visualized (Jaramillo and Baena 2000). Such knowledge and visualization can be achieved only through the study of the morphological, structural, and functional attributes of germplasm as the carrier of all the hereditary characteristics of any given species. Heritable traits or characters of plant germplasm are studied precisely during characterization, where those aspects already mentioned and others of a population's individuals that can be used by humans are studied such as adaptation, productivity, and resistance to adverse conditions (e.g., pests, diseases, and climatic and soil stresses).When germplasm is already physically held in a bank or collection, it must be duly accompanied by passport data (i.e., origin, geographical location, and characteristics of the habitat where it was collected and of the environment such as climate and soils). Characterization can then proceed, taking into account that it is a fundamental stage of ex situ conservation and that important reasons exist to justify it. That is, characterization:• Permits estimation of the true genetic diversity that is being conserved-the principal raison d'être of a germplasm bank; • Is valuable for providing germplasm banks with complete information on the characteristics of a given germplasm, thereby contributing to an optimal ex situ management of collections. Otherwise, its absence would convert such banks into simple depositories of materials of no significant usefulness. • Facilitates the use of germplasm collections by improvement programmes and crop research.To characterize germplasm, basic skills in botany (i.e., plant biology or phytology) are essential, particularly in the three principal divisions (taxonomy, morphology, and plant physiology). An understanding of systematics and genetics, among others, is also important.Botanical knowledge of the germplasm of a given species conserved ex situ provides key information for its optimal characterization, especially to better select both materials to characterize and methodologies to use.Taxonomy should be understood as the science that uses, as criteria for classification, properties of organisms such as morphology. The criterion that is currently accepted as the basis for taxonomy is that which reflects the phylogeny of living things and compares characters of whatever nature, whether morphological, anatomical, or cytogenetic. Consequently, taxonomy is a prime tool for germplasm characterization.Systematics is the science of diversity. That is, it is the organization of the total set of knowledge on organisms. It includes phylogenetic, taxonomic, ecological, and palaeontological information. It permits seeing a global vision of the diversity of conserved materials, and has a predictive character, which permits the better selection of germplasm to characterize and methodologies to use, and improves analysis of results.Genetics is the study of the nature, organization, function, expression, transmission, and evolution of the coded genetic information found in organisms. It is fundamental for a maximum evaluation of the data obtained from characterization.Through characterization, we can estimate the variation that exists in a germplasm collection in terms of morphological and phenological characteristics of high heritability. Such variation may also include the variability expressed by biochemical and molecular markers, that is, by characteristics whose expression is little influenced by the environment (Hidalgo 2003;Jaramillo and Baena 2000;Ligarreto 2003). In the characterization of plants, the expression of constant qualitative characters is recorded throughout a given plant's various physiological stages (phenotype). Data are taken according to specific descriptors, for example:• For the seedling stage: hypocotyl colour and pubescence, length of the primary leaf, and petiole thickness; • For the stages before and during flowering: plant height and growth habit, leaf position, flower colour, and days to flowering; and • During the stage of production: number, size, and shape of fruits and yield. These data are added to the passport data previously recorded during the collection or procurement of materials (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).When characterizing a species, the variability existing in the genome of the population of individuals forming it is estimated. Thus, the genome of a given species of animals or plants contains all the information coded in the form of genes and their variants, which are needed both to establish the morphological identity of the members of that species and to develop all the processes and functions vital for their survival. For higher plants, any given species is estimated to have more than 400,000 genes with particular functions. As a result of evolutionary and environmental effects, many of these genes also have variants, which are accumulated among the different members composing the species. The sum of all effects of the genes and their variants is designated as the genetic variability of that species (Hidalgo 2003).All variability produced during evolution and/or domestication is stored in the genome, that is, among the members of the populations forming the species. It may, or may not, find expression in characteristics that identify those members. Accordingly, with respect to its expression, the variability contained in the genome of a species can be separated into that which (1) finds expression as visible characteristics that form the phenotype, and (2) does not find expression as visible characteristics but generally deals with the plant's internal processes or products (Hidalgo 2003).The first category, which refers to characterizing visually detectable variability, includes a plant's:• Morphology and structure, used primarily for its botanical and taxonomic classification; • Characteristics that affect its agronomic management and production and are therefore of interest to breeders and agronomists; and • Reaction to environmental stimuli, whether biotic such as pests and diseases or abiotic such as droughts, mineral deficiencies, and temperature changes. This type of characterization is called evaluation and, for its correct quantification, usually requires experimental designs that are separate from morpho-agronomic characterization trials (Hidalgo 2003).The second category, which characterizes variability that is not detectable by simple visual observation, is called molecular because it refers to the identification of cellular products and/or internal functions (Hidalgo 2003).Evaluation consists of recording those characteristics that depend on environmental differences (e.g., disease resistance or susceptibility to drought). Hence, an accession may be evaluated in many sites, with perhaps significantly differing results for several descriptors. However, another accession characterized in many different sites may well yield similar results across sites. Once evaluated, an accession is unlikely to be characterized again, except to control its integrity and to check if it still represents the genetic composition of the original entry.Evaluation may also describe the variation existing in a specific collection for attributes of agronomic importance that are strongly influenced by the environment such as yield. It is carried out in different sites, results varying according to environment and to genotype-byenvironment interaction (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Characterization per se and evaluation are complementary activities that describe the qualitative and quantitative attributes of the accessions of a given species to differentiate them; determine their usefulness, structure, genetic variability, and relationships among them; and identify the genes that promote their use in crop production or improvement. The two activities require precision, care, and constancy, and include a significant datarecording component. These two activities have in common the use of descriptors, which are characters that are considered to be important and/or useful for describing a sample population of species. A descriptor may assume different values-it can be expressed as a numerical value, scale, code, or descriptive quality (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).In characterizing a collection, regardless of size, the following objectives can be established (Hidalgo 2003):• Identify the accessions of a germplasm collection so that they can be clearly distinguished or individualized.• Measure the genetic variability of the group under study; for which one, several, or all possible categories of variability can be included, that is, phenotypic, evaluative, and molecular, using previously defined descriptors. • Establish the collection's representativeness and its relationship with the species' variability in a region or with its entire range of variability. • Study the genetic structure, that is, the way the collection under study is composed in relation to variants or their combinations, forming groups or identifiable populations.The foregoing is influenced by in situ demographic factors such as population size, reproduction biology, and migration. • Identify the percentages of duplication of accessions that can exist within a single collection or compared with other collections of the species. • Identify special genes or particular alleles that may be of individual character or found in unique combinations, and may find expression in visible characters (morphological or of evaluation) in different stages or combinations of stages. These genes are usually called 'genetic stocks' and are used for research of immediate practical application, as in the case of resistance to biotic factors.Characterization, together with its methodologies, is a comprehensive tool that can be used for both germplasm acquisition and the adequate management of the different stages of ex situ conservation. It includes:• Comprehensive knowledge of one or more species.• Presentation of questions that help improve understanding of the conserved germplasm.• Use of improved and suitable methodology for characterization.• Data analysis, using the best statistical techniques available, or where the data obtained are descriptive only, their presentation according to good logic.For the characterization and evaluation of accessions, descriptors are used. These generally correspond to characteristics or attributes whose expression is easy to measure, record, or evaluate and which refer to an accession's form, structure, or behaviour. Descriptors help differentiate accessions by expressing their attributes precisely and uniformly, thereby simplifying the accessions' classification, storage, and recovery, and the use of their data. In other words, descriptors are the characteristics through which germplasm can be known and its potential usefulness determined. They should be specific to each species, differentiating genotypes and expressing each attribute precisely and uniformly. Many attributes can be used to describe a material but the really useful ones are those that can be detected by the naked eye; be easily recorded; have high heritability, high taxonomic and agronomic value; are readily applicable to small samples; and can differentiate one accession from another (Hidalgo 2003).To identify germplasm entries (accessions), lists of descriptors have been established for use in accordance with the management stage in which information must be collected. These include (Hidalgo 2003;IPGRI 2004):• Passport data, which provide the basic information for the accession's general management, including registration in the germplasm bank and other information for identification. They also describe the parameters that must be observed when making the original collection. • Management descriptors, which provide the bases for managing the accessions in the germplasm bank and help during multiplication and regeneration. • Descriptors of site and environment, which describe the specific parameters of the site and environment. They also help in the interpretation of results when characterization and evaluation trials are carried out. • Descriptors for characterization and evaluation. This lesson will emphasize descriptors for characterization and evaluation, although all are important when analyzing a germplasm collection in an integrated manner.Characterization descriptors permit relatively easy discrimination between phenotypes. They are usually highly inheritable characters that are easily detected by the naked eye and find expression in all environments. Descriptors related to phenotypic characters mostly correspond to the morphological description of the plant and its architecture. These characters are called morphological descriptors and can be grouped into two types: botanical-taxonomic and morpho-agronomic.Botanical-taxonomic descriptors correspond to morphological characters such as the shape of the root, stem, leaf, flowers, fruit, and seeds (Figure 1) that describe and identify the species and are common to all individuals. Most of these characters have high heritability and present little variability.Morpho-agronomic descriptors include those morphological characters that are relevant in the use of cultivated species. They can be qualitative or quantitative, and may include some botanical-taxonomic characters and others that do not necessarily identify the species, but are important in terms of agronomic needs, genetic improvement, marketing, and consumption. Examples of these characters include leaf shape; pigmentation of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers; colour, shape, and brilliance in seeds; size, shape, and colour of fruits; and plant architecture as expressed in growth habit and branching types. Some germplasm bank curators include descriptors related to yield components to indicate the potential of the conserved germplasm for this character. Most of these descriptors have acceptable local heritability but are affected by environmental changes. These latter are also called evaluation descriptors.Characters for this type of descriptors include yield, agronomic productivity, and susceptibility to stress. They also include biochemical and cytological characters, which are usually of greater interest for crop improvement. Not all plant characteristics are expressed with the same intensity. Some, especially the quantitative, can present different degrees of expression, and are recorded in terms of scales of value (usually between 1 and 9), known as descriptor states (IPGRI 1996). Such descriptors are found for resistance or susceptibility to different types of biotic (pests and diseases) and abiotic stress (drought, salinity, acidity, or Adventitious roots are born directly from stems, bulbs (specialized stems), or cuttings.Aerial roots are born from stems and do not grow into soil. They may be used for climbing, as in ivy. In many plants, aerial roots also absorb moisture from the air.Fibrous roots. A fibrous root system is formed by numerous roots of equal size that all produce smaller lateral roots. In contrast to the tap root system, the primary root is not prominent.Stilt roots are specialized aerial roots. They grow from stems and later into soil that may be located under water.They support heavy plants such as mangroves.  Fibrous roots low soil fertility). Most of the descriptors of this category depend on the environment for their expression and, accordingly, require special experimental designs for their evaluation. Evaluation may also involve complex methods of molecular or biochemical characterization.Sometimes, characterization data and morpho-agronomic evaluation are insufficient for establishing differences between species or between accessions. In these cases, genome characteristics may be studied such as the karyotype, chromosome number, and ploidy level. The genome itself can be studied directly, using biochemical (isoenzymes; Simpson and Withers 1986) and molecular markers (microsatellites, restriction fragment length polymorphisms or RFLPs, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA or RAPD, and quantitative trait loci or QTLs). These methodologies help locate genes of interest with greater accuracy but do not evaluate the effect of the environment on the expression of those genes (Westman and Kresovich 1997). Accordingly, they do not replace-but complement-characterization and morpho-agronomic evaluation (IPGRI 2004;IPGRI and CIP 2003).Depending on whether they involve characterizing or evaluating germplasm, the descriptors used may have various attributes. The principal ones are summarized in Table 1.The characterization of genetic variability has several limitations that are common to almost all germplasm banks at national and international institutions. These should be taken into account when planning procedures. First is the limited quantity and poor quality of available seeds, which does not permit flexibility in multiplication and characterization tasks. Second is the poor documentation of collections, mainly because a high percentage of germplasm existing in banks was the product of opportunistic collections that were made, using criteria based on agronomic characteristics rather than on genetic resources. Finally, resources are scarce for the sustainable maintenance of germplasm banks. This is reflected by low numbers of accessions and reduced quantities of seeds per accession (Hidalgo 2003). Accordingly, when characterizing a germplasm collection, the following recommendations should be considered:• A complete knowledge of the species' biology is necessary, especially on reproductionsexual, asexual, autogamous, and allogamous-as well as on the centres of origin and domestication.• Adequate documentation provides useful elements for establishing a preliminary idea of the reference collection. With that idea, the variability to be found in the materials can be inferred, even before initiating characterization. Also, by clearly defining the objectives for characterization, unnecessary steps can be saved. • Objectives should be clearly established, taking into account the goals being sought, whether these be ascertaining variability in the group or representativeness of the collection, studying the structure, identifying duplicates, or detecting special genes. • Regardless of established objectives, prior experimental planting should be carried out to discover, in general, the overall variability of the collection, the facility in recording descriptors, and the usefulness of descriptors for seed characterization and multiplication. • Before attempting the definitive characterization, accessions should be homogenized according to their morphotypes. This is especially important for wild forms and native landraces, which, in their original state, are frequently mixtures of morphotypes in terms of, for example, seed types, growth habits, flower colours, and fruit types. Even if the germplasm bank conserves a complete sample of the original, the characterization of an accession that has a mixture of morphotypes enormously hinders data analysis. If standardization cannot be made when preparing seeds, then, where possible, prior experimental planting should be attempted to achieve this purpose. • To obtain better and more information for the statistical analysis and reliability of differences among materials and variables, 3 to 5 plants per accession and a minimum of two replications should be established. • When the availability of seeds or planting materials is low, thereby making the establishment of replicated plots of each accession impossible, then the most homogeneous plot possible should be selected to prevent the effects of variable soil conditions. In these cases, the correct acquisition of data will facilitate comparative analysis between accessions and even between variables. • If the principal objective is to measure group variability, then descriptors should be selected that are as discriminatory as possible. This will help save time by avoiding repetitive data collection and will simplify analysis. Accordingly, the descriptor lists published by IPGRI for the species under study should be consulted. • When designing characterization tasks, a statistician or related professional should be consulted on field design, suitable ways of recording and analysing data, and interpretation of results (IPGRI 2001). • The use of currently available automated programs helps in understanding the procedures related to advanced statistical methods for data analysis for characterization, especially multivariate ones. The key is to know how to interpret results at the point where biological knowledge of the species is important in explaining the results of data analysis (IPGRI 2001).Module 4, Lesson 1: General Concepts of Germplasm CharacterizationUnder natural conditions, or during domestication, any population of individuals that is part of a plant species is found in permanent dynamic interaction with its environment. It constantly adapts to the biotic and abiotic factors of that environment by adapting the information contained in its genome to the needs for survival in the environment (Hidalgo 2003). The result of such adaptive interaction is an accumulation of genetic information that is stored in the genome, leading to variability among the members of the population. Such variability may or may not find expression in characters, which should be appropriately identified through an activity known as 'characterization'.During characterization, the existing variability in the genome of the population of individuals is estimated, and methodologies designed for this purpose are used to encompass all aspects related to biodiversity. However, this lesson will focus mainly on morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization, which have the most applicability to plant germplasm.During characterization, each entry or accession is systematically described. Descriptors are selected and used according to the category of activity (see Module 4, Lesson 1). The best characterization is that where all the characteristics of a germplasm can be observed and recorded. Hence, different methodologies should encompass the categories of diversity that is characteristic of plant germplasm, including those that are biological (i.e., morphological, physiological, and anatomical), taxonomic, ecological, geographical, biochemical, molecular, genetic, and cytogenetic in nature.Each category of characterization offers a series of opportunities for acquiring information that could be very useful for understanding the germplasm. Nevertheless, the categories most used by germplasm banks are those that deal with morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization. For each of these categories, different methodologies or techniques have been developed, which can be applied individually or complementarily to characterize germplasm. None of the available techniques is superior to the others, even over a wide range of applications, as each permits the observation and recording of different parts of the total diversity available for characterization.The three categories of characterization should be used in a complementary way to estimate the genetic diversity of collections and, accordingly, help establish criteria for improving their representativeness. None of the three is replaced or excluded by another, as each has a different history and can show different facets of the diversity being examined. When a technique must be selected, the following activities should be carried out:• Define the type of information needed in terms of the desired results.• Define the level of discrimination, that is, the taxonomic level (e.g., within and/or between populations, between species, or between genera) at which genetic variation will be estimated. • Estimate reproducibility, as this parameter will genetically identify a collection's accessions and estimate its genetic variation. • Define the genomic coverage or number of loci that the technique is likely to include.• Define the number of alleles required in individual loci-this is needed when hypervariability is required. • Know the mode of inheritance.• Verify the availability of samples for each technique considered. Thus, germplasm will not be sacrificed to develop a process. Normally, recording morphological descriptors will not consume samples, as the multiplication carried out in the greenhouse and field can be used at the same time to characterize germplasm. • Estimate the costs of the respective techniques.• Estimate the speed each technique would take.• Trained personnel must be available.Characterization is carried out on a representative population of an accession, using a list of descriptors for the species. The representative population of the species is that which represents the accession's total genetic variability so that all the characteristics that it possesses can be observed and recorded. With regard to variability, a representative population is expected to contain at least 95% of the accession's alleles. Population size will be determined by the species' type of reproduction. For example, if it is allogamous (i.e., highly variable), the population should be larger than if it were autogamous (i.e., variability is low). Descriptors are those characteristics by which germplasm can be known and its potential usefulness determined (see Module 4, Lesson 1). For characterization, lists of very useful descriptors have been prepared by IPGRI for more than 110 plants species (IPGRI 1996(IPGRI , 2004)), including crops of African importance such as sweet potato (Ipomoea batata; Huamán 1991), taro (Colocasia esculenta; IPGRI 1999), yam (Dioscorea spp.;IPGRI and IITA 1997), and shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa; IPGRI and INIA 2006). However, if little studied crops are being characterized and a list of descriptors is unavailable, then the most relevant characters for the case must be identified.Material to be characterized is planted in the field or greenhouse, in duly identified plots and under uniform management conditions. Once the targeted populations are established, the characteristics of the species are observed throughout various developmental stages and their expression recorded in terms of a selected set of descriptors. A case of characterization can be seen in Box 1, for ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus). Data are systematically and consistently taken and recorded in an orderly way to facilitate their later statistical analysis and to ensure that the information, based on the same descriptors but obtained from different regions, is comparable and compatible.Information is sometimes taken from observations that record the presence or absence of a characteristic (e.g., thorns or trichomes) or sometimes taken as quantities, for example, number of fruits, plant height, or number of stamens. Structures should then be counted and/or measured, using tape measures, rules of several sizes, and graduators. Highly precise recording of data will need tools such as:• Colour charts, for example, the RHS Colour Chart (1982) In this type of characterization biochemical markers are used that are principally isoenzymes (metabolism enzymes) and total proteins (e.g., seed storage proteins). These markers have two very useful characteristics as tools for characterizing plant germplasm: they occur naturally, and their expression is not influenced by epistatic effects (Simpson and Withers 1986).Isoenzymes. These molecular forms of a single enzyme have affinity for a given substrate found in the tissue of an organism and are coded by different loci. These differentiate among themselves according to size (weight), shape, and electrical charge. When they are coded by different alleles from a simple locus they are called alloenzymes. Isoenzymes can be found in the same subcellular compartment, in different compartments of the cell, or in different cells or tissues of an organism; and can be produced in any developmental stage of the plant.The principal characteristics of isoenzymes include simplicity, a minimum quantity of material for study, low cost, a genome coverage of 10 to 20 loci per species, and the absence of epistatic and environmental influences. Allelic expression is codominant, permitting comparisons between species or between populations of a single species, and the detection of hybrids and gene introgression.Generally, applications of isoenzymes in the characterization of plant germplasm conserved ex situ can be summarized as follows: germplasm identification (fingerprinting), detection of redundant germplasm (genetic duplicates), analysis of the genetic structure of plant populations, plant systematics, evolution of domesticated plants, and molecular studies (Simpson and Withers 1986).Total proteins are components of plants and, as genetic markers, they are characterized by:• A high level of polymorphism; • Limited environmental influence on their electrophoretic patterns; • Simple genetic control; • A complex molecular base for genetic diversity; and • Homologues among protein types of different taxons, which enables them to be identified (taxonomy) or have their relationships established (phylogeny).Seed proteins have been heavily used in the analysis of genetic diversity within and between populations, and in the study of relationships between genomes or species, especially serial polyploidy. Table 1 provides a comparison of attributes of isoenzymes and seed proteins as biochemical markers. In the last 2 decades, molecular characterization of plant germplasm has gained great importance for both the quantity and quality of results obtained (Mendoza-Herrera and Simpson 1997; Westman and Kresovich 1997). Previously, these results could not be obtained, as they were based on characterizing the phenotype, especially morphologically, and, to a lesser extent, biochemically. Now, a large variety of molecular methodologies, based on DNA, is now available, making the direct characterization of the genotype possible (Westman and Kresovich 1997). Hence, these modern methodologies provide the means of Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources knowing the genetic diversity of a germplasm collection, in terms of its measurement and distribution. Furthermore, conclusions can now be drawn on the phylogenetic relationships among the accessions of a collection and even among taxons.However, the use of this type of germplasm characterization carries with it the same philosophy that is applied to morphological and biochemical characterization: that it be used to complement the other types. Hence, together, they provide the best technique for characterizing the genetic diversity of a germplasm collection, meaning that phenotypic characterization can never be ignored in the study of the targeted biological material.Currently, thanks to advances in molecular biology, markers are now being used. These markers have a DNA molecular nature and are highly sensitive to changes in the genotype of individuals. This situation has permitted major advances in studies on the genetic characterization of plant germplasm. The selection of the marker to use depends on the study objectives, the availability of the germplasm to characterize, cost, and the marker's inherent characteristics.Research on DNA-based technologies has been favoured with the availability of numerous markers such as those based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). From these two techniques multiple techniques have derived, for example, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD); amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP); and variable number tandem repeats (VNTR), that is, both minisatellites and microsatellites (or simple sequence repeats or SSR). A monomorphic molecular marker is invariable in all organisms studied, but when a marker presents differences in molecular weight, enzymatic activity, structure, or restriction sites, it is polymorphic. The degree of variation is sometimes such that these markers are called hypervariable. To characterize PGRs, the following markers are used:The technique that uses these markers was developed at the end of the 1970s. It is based on detecting, through digestion with the same restriction enzyme, DNA fragments of different molecular weights in different organisms. The use of RFLPs in plants represents a good alternative for conducting various studies related to the three genomes that exist in plants: nuclear (nDNA), mitochondrial (mtDNA), and chloroplast (cpDNA). This technique has proved very useful in studies on plant phylogeny and genetic diversity, and for identifying cultivars for varietal protection.This technique has proved to be one of the most versatile since its development in 1990. It is very convenient and quick, requiring little DNA that, moreover, does not need to be very pure. It does not presuppose previous knowledge of the sequence, and can quickly and simultaneously distinguish many organisms. However, one drawback is that the amplified fragments tend to correspond to redundant DNA rather than to DNA that is linked to some trait. Nor does the technique give information on the number of copies of the amplified sequence in the genomic DNA.This technology has been used to catalogue fruit, select varieties, and differentiate among clonal lines. It is also used to analyse varieties of celery, grape, lemon, and olive, and to study the genetic diversity of crops and their relationships with wild ancestors.The technique was developed in 1995. It combines the use of restriction enzymes and oligonucleotides for PCR, so that very specific molecular markers are obtained without needing to know the sequence beforehand. One special advantage of this technique is its capacity to generate many molecular markers in a single reaction.These are repeated sequences that occur in eukaryotes. They are found repeated in tandem and are scattered throughout the genome, representing many loci. Each locus has a distinct number of variable repeats, thus associating itself with specific alleles of high variability. These sequences are used as probes of SSRs. Minisatellites have been used to study genetic diversity and to identify ('fingerprint') individuals in various species, both for accession description and detection of genetically duplicated accessions (i.e., redundant germplasm).This technique was described in 1989. Genomes carry a ubiquitous and abundant DNA known as 'microsatellites' that comprises mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotides repeated in tandem. This DNA, which is highly polymorphic, has been used as molecular markers when the sequence of the repeated motif is cloned and sequenced for use in population analysis. In this way, numerous trees have been successfully studied, even though some trees showed a narrower variability of microsatellites than expected. Other variations of this technique are inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), inter-sequence microsatellite amplified (IMA), inter-sequence amplified (ISA), inter-sequence repeat amplified (IRA), and random amplified microsatellite polymorphisms (RAMP).Microsatellites have also been used to measure the genetic diversity of various annual crops such as soybean (Glycine max), rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and rape (Brassica sp.). Although microsatellites have been developed for perennial species, their numbers have been few. For Eucalyptus spp., microsatellites have been transferred between populations and species of the same genus. Additionally, these markers help in estimating heterozygosity, thus presenting a great advantage in mapping quantitative characteristics, comparing maps that include QTLs, and studying genetic flow in trees.Once the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the germplasm are known through characterization, the information for determining its potential for use is broadened through evaluation. This process describes the agronomic characteristics of accessions in the maximum number of environments possible. These characteristics are usually quantitative variables, which are influenced by the environment and low heritability as, for example, yield or resistance to biotic or abiotic stress. The goal is to identify adaptable materials that have useful genes for food production and/or crop improvement. Most cases of evaluation are carried out by breeders (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Evaluation complements characterization and is also carried out on a representative population of the species, using descriptors (Box 2). It can be carried out in the field, greenhouse, or laboratory, depending on the characteristic being evaluated, and following the same procedures. Unlike characterization, where plants are planted only once, the germplasm must be planted at the same time in different environments and over several years. Hence, evaluating all accessions is not economically feasible. Instead, a preliminary evaluation must be conducted to observe how accessions adapt to the new environment. Those that perform well against a check are further evaluated in terms of a specific objective.The planning of evaluation tests should take into account the species, evaluation objective, sites, and follow an experimental design with several sites and replications. Germplasm evaluation also requires a uniform management of plots and a systematic collection and recording of the data observed to facilitate statistical analysis and allow conclusions to be made on the material's usefulness (IPGRI 2001).During characterization, visible characteristics of a species may well be more or less uniform, with not all expressed at the same level of intensity. Some members of the population may present sufficiently different degrees of expression that they translate into different types of data or categories of variables. Different categories of data therefore exist according to the expression of the descriptor, being either qualitative or quantitative.If expression is qualitative, then binary data (i.e., double state data), sequential data (ordinal), and nonsequential data (nominal) can be generated. If expression is quantitative, then the generated data may be discontinuous (or discreet) and continuous. These are usually organized into a basic data matrix (Hidalgo 2003).Germplasm characterization generates a considerable quantity of data that must be analysed. One analytical tool comprises statistics, through which scientific methods compile, organize, summarize, present, and analyse the data to obtain valid conclusions and make decisions. From a practical viewpoint and considering the impossibility of studying an entire population or universe, representative samples of the population under study are examined. Because deductions at a given time may not be absolutely certain, the language of probability is used to formulate conclusions. Moreover, statistics may be inferential when referring to conditions under which a deduction is valid, or descriptive or deductive, when statistics are used only to describe and analyse a given group without drawing conclusions or inferences to a greater group (Spiegel and Lindstrom 2000).Data can be analysed by using simple or complex methods, which range from the use of figures and statistics for main tendencies and dispersions to multivariates. Analysis aims to reduce the volume of information typical in studies of this nature. By applying these methods on the basic matrix of data, conclusions can be made on the variability and usefulness of germplasm. Hence, data should faithfully represent the characteristics and behaviour of the accessions studied (Hidalgo 2003).After this lesson, you should be familiar with the ways used to characterize plant germplasm. You have now finished Module 4: Germplasm characterization.Before going on to the next Module 5, comment briefly on the type of germplasm characterization you have used in your work. If you do not have experience with these processes, consider the importance of characterization for the ex situ conservation of plant germplasm.Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic ResourcesBenjamín Pineda, César Ocampo, Rigoberto Hidalgo, Alba Marina Torres, Daniel Debouck, Mariano Mejía, Arsenio Ciprián, and Orlando Toro.In the next Module 5, you will study aspects of germplasm bank management.  (Chiavenatto 1997).The management of germplasm banks for ex situ conservation includes a sequential development of stages, that is, collection → multiplication → regeneration → documentation → characterization → evaluation → and, lastly, distribution. After 2 decades of intense concern to create germplasm banks, interest is shifting towards developing strategies to improve the composition and management of collections. The increasing global emphasis on short-term solutions has further increased the need to justify and streamline long-term conservation and, consequently, the need to ensure that decisions are optimal for the long term (Sackville Hamilton et al. 2002).This module deals with the management of plant germplasm banks according to administrative principles. It contains one lesson and a brief evaluation.When you have completed this module, you should be able to identify the most important aspects of managing plant germplasm banks.The next lesson deals with general aspects of managing germplasm banks.Throughout this module, a bibliography is provided for each section, that is, the General Comments and the Lesson. The bibliographies follow a format of two parts: 1. Literature cited, which includes those references cited in the text itself. Some of these citations were used to develop the original Spanish-language course on ex situ conservation and may therefore appear in Spanish or Portuguese. However, where practical, references to the English versions of the original Spanish-language documents are provided. 2. Further reading, which is a list of suggested readings in the English language, with few exceptions in Spanish. Most cover in depth the topics included in this module.A list of Acronyms used in the bibliographies is also given. The idea is to save space by not having to spell out each institution's full name each time it appears in the references.Activities for the ex situ conservation of PGRs are usually concentrated within germplasm banks, which handle collections of plant materials to maintain them alive and preserve their characteristics for appropriate use. Conservation is carried out, using collections of live plant materials in the field (botanical gardens and arboreta), seeds, or in vitro plants. However, the mere existence of a bank does not secure the conservation of PGRs of interest to a country, region, province, or given ecosystem. To achieve the goals of conservation, germplasm banks must be planned, structured, established, and well managed according to their objectives and to the requirements typical of ex situ conservation. These requirements may include significant biological, physical, human, and institutional aspects (see Module 1, Lesson 3).The management of germplasm banks, as for any business enterprise, is administrative and, as such, must take into account the principles that deal with the four basic functions of administration: planning, organization, direction, and control. This lesson briefly refers to each of these principles and other aspects of germplasm bank management.Management is a widespread activity and essential to every collective human effort. It consists of orienting, directing, and controlling the efforts of a group of individuals to achieve a common objective (Chiavenatto 1997). For PGRs, clearly, management should lead to the conservation of targeted species.During planning, objectives are defined and the best course of action for reaching them selected in advance. That is, planning determines the objectives and details the plans needed to reach them in the best possible way. It therefore determines and describes the goals to be achieved, and what must be done, when, how, and in what sequence (Chiavenatto 1997).Establishing objectives. Objectives are the future results that are hoped to be attained. They are the chosen targets that must be reached within a certain period, applying given available or possible resources. In reality, objectives exist for the entity (e.g., germplasm bank) as a whole, for each of its divisions or departments separately, and for each of its specialists (e.g., different sections established within a germplasm bank and specialists such as geneticists, biologists, and phytopathologists).The organization's objectives can be visualized as a hierarchy that ranges from global or organizational at the top down to operative or operational, involving simple instructions for daily routines. Thus, planning comprises as much of long-term strategies and policies for reaching the organization's global objectives as of sets of plans that detail daily activities for achieving immediate objectives within each division or organ of the organization. Based on its organizational objectives, the entity (germplasm bank) can set its policies, directives, goals, programmes, procedures, methods, and standards.Policies refer to the establishment of the organization's objectives or intentions to orient administrative action. Directives are principles established to permit the attainment of the intended objectives. As objectives are ends, directives serve to establish adequate means for reaching them and for channelling decisions. Goals are short-term targets. They are often confused with immediate objectives or with departmental or section objectives.Programmes comprise the necessary activities for meeting each goal. Attainment of goals is planned through programmes, which are specific plans. They are highly variable and may include an integrated set of minor plans. Procedures or routines are the modes by which the programmes must be carried out or organized. Procedures are plans that prescribe the chronological sequence of specific tasks needed to carry out determined jobs. Methods are plans prescribed for the performance of a specific task. Usually, the method is attributed to each person who occupies a position or carries out a task, and details exactly how that task is done. Method is more limited in scope than procedure. Procedures and methods generally use flow charts to represent the flow of tasks or operations (Figure 1).Norms are rules that delimit and safeguard procedures. They are direct and objective orders for the course of action to be followed. They are specific guides for action, and usually define what should or should not be done.In the case of a national germplasm bank, for example, its objectives would be:• Long-term conservation of PGRs at the national level • Germplasm regeneration • Characterization and evaluation of specific germplasm • Organization of germplasm exploration and collection at the national level • Germplasm introduction • National and international exchange of germplasm and information • Training, education, and organization of technical meetings and workshops Planning scope. In addition to the hierarchy of objectives, a planning hierarchy also exists, comprising three levels: strategic, tactical, and operational.• Strategic planning is the broadest planning for the organization. It projects for the long term, with effects and consequences foreseen over several years. It covers the entity as a whole, encompassing all its resources and areas of activity. It is concerned with drafting objectives at the organizational level, being defined at the peak of the organization. It corresponds to the greater plan, to which all other plans are subordinated. Plans are the product of planning and constitute the intermediate event between planning and implementation. They have common purposes: prediction, programming, and coordination of a logical sequence of events, which, if they are successfully applied, must lead to the attainment of the objectives orienting them. They are usually strategic, tactical, or operational in character, and tend to be of several types:• Procedures, related to methods • Budgets, related to money • Programmes or programming, related to time • Norms or regulations, related to conductOrganization, as a function and integrated part of administration, is the act of organizing, structuring, and integrating resources and pertinent organs of its administration; and of establishing relationships among them and the functions of each. It depends on planning, direction, and control to form the administrative process. So that objectives can be attained, plans executed, and people performing efficiently, activities must be suitably grouped, in a logical manner. Authority should be distributed so that it prevents conflicts and confusion. Organization consists of:• Determining specific activities needed to attain planned objectives (specialization) • Grouping activities into a logical structure (departmentalization) • Allotting activities to specific positions and people (occupations and tasks)Direction constitutes the third administrative function, following planning and organization. Once planning is defined and organization established, things must happen. This is the role of direction: to activate the entity, giving it the dynamics to function. Direction is related to action, such as implementation, and has much to do with people. It is directly related to actions taken with the entity's human resources.People need to apply themselves to their positions and functions, to be trained, to be guided and motivated to obtain the results expected from them. The function of direction is related directly to the way by which the objective or objectives must be reached, by means of the activity of the people comprising the entity. Thus, direction is the administrative function that refers to the interpersonal relationships between administrators at all levels of the entity and their respective subordinates.So that planning and organization are effective, they need to be made dynamic and to be complemented by the orientation given to people, through adequate communication, skilful leadership, and motivation. To direct subordinates, the administrator-at whatever level of the entity-must communicate, lead, and motivate. As no entity exists without people, direction constitutes one of the most complex administrative functions in that it implies orientation, assistance with execution, communication, motivation; in short, with all the processes that administrators use to influence their subordinates so that they behave according to expectations and thus achieve the entity's objectives.As an administrative function, control aims to ensure that the results of that which was planned, organized, and directed shall adjust, as much as possible, to the previously established objectives. The essence of control resides in verifying if the controlled activity is attaining the objectives with the desired results. Control consists, basically, of guiding every activity towards a given end. As a process, control presents phases that require explanation.Germplasm banks are established to meet a research institution, country, or region's objective to conserve plant materials. A bank carries out different activities that range from acquiring germplasm, discovering its characteristics and potential profit, and ensuring its survival to maintaining it available for users and disseminating information that promotes its use. Banks are usually assigned to an institution or group of people (curators) with the capacity and resources to maintain germplasm under optimal conditions for the required period (IPGRI 1998;Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Germplasm banks are classified according to (Jaramillo and Baena 2000;Painting et al. 1993):• Sample type, that is, seed, field (including botanical gardens and arboreta), or in vitro • Number of species conserved (mono-, oligo-, and poly-specific) • Mandate of the institutions to which they are assigned (institutional, national, regional, or international)Banks according to sample type conserve orthodox seeds over the short, medium, and long term under controlled conditions of humidity and temperature (Ellis and Roberts 1991;Withers 1995). Examples of seed banks are abundant, and include those of beans at CIAT (Colombia), maize and wheat at CIMMYT (Mexico), Capsicum, Cucurbita, and Solanum spp. at CATIE (Costa Rica), rice at IITA (Nigeria) and IRRI (Philippines), and sorghum at ICRISAT (India).Module 5, Lesson: General Aspects of Bank Management Field banks conserve species whose storage in the form of seed is problematic or unlikely. They can include botanical gardens and arboreta, which, traditionally, were established to classify and study interspecies variation (mainly medicinal species) and whose current objective is to conserve species that are rare, in danger of extinction, and/ or useful for restoring ecosystems (Frankel et al. 1995;Heywood 1991;Querol 1988). Examples of field banks include those of cassava at CIAT (Colombia), forages at INTA (Argentina), potatoes and Andean roots and tubers at CIP (Peru), cassava and citruses at CENARGEN (Brazil), and yam at IITA (Nigeria). Examples of botanical gardens include the José Celestino Mutis and the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Caldas (Colombia), the Arenal and the Lankester (Costa Rica), and the Lancetilla (Honduras).In vitro banks are collections of germplasm maintained under laboratory conditions that reduce or suspend growth in the samples. In vitro banks conserve species that cannot be conserved as seed, but as different sample types such as entire plants, tissues (apices, meristems, and calluses), and DNA fragments (Frankel et al. 1995). Three examples are the cassava banks located at CIAT (Colombia), and at IITA (Nigeria), and potato in CIP (Peru).Banks according to number of species conserved can be mono-and oligo-specific, conserving, respectively, one or a few species on a short-or medium-term basis. Examples of this category are banks for research programmes in national and international centres such as those of the soybean germplasm bank for the oleaginous crops programme at CORPOICA (Colombia), and maize for the tropical acid soils improvement programme at CIMMYT (Colombia).Poly-specific banks are established as national centres of PGRs for given countries, and are used for research and improvement. Conservation is long term, and a broad range of species of current or potential interest is distributed. One example of this type of bank is that of INTA in Argentina, which maintains, among others, collections of Arachis spp., Linum usitatissimum, Triticum spp., Zea mays, Sorghum spp., Gossypium hirsutum, Glycine max, Solanum spp., and Helianthus spp. (Jaramillo and Baena 2000). IITA in Nigeria maintains species of legumes and root and tubers.Banks according to institutional mandate are normally assigned to an institution whose mandate, nature, or geographical scope is reflected in its objectives. Such banks are therefore called institutional, national, regional, or international banks. Institutional banks conserve only germplasm used for research by the institute to which they are assigned, for example, that of the Federal University of Viçosa (Brazil) conserves germplasm only from the Lycopersicon and Solanum genera.Regional banks are established as collaborative entities between several countries to conserve germplasm and support research of a given region. In Latin America, one example is the bank at CATIE (Costa Rica), which holds collections of several genera such as Capsicum, Cucurbita, and Solanum. The banks attached to international agricultural research centres were initially established to support improvement programmes, conserve germplasm of crops under their respective mandates and of other crops. Two examples are the germplasm banks of Phaseolus and Manihot spp., and tropical forages at CIAT (Colombia) and of Zea, Triticum, Hordeum, and Secale spp. at CIMMYT (Mexico).Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic ResourcesTo manage germplasm, banks organize their materials as germplasm collections or groupings of accessions that represent a genetic variation that is targeted for conservation and/or use. Such collections may contain from tens to thousands of samples, maintained under appropriate environments and conditions. Germplasm collections are classified as base, active, core, or working.Base collection. It groups the possible genetic variability of the species of interest, including wild relatives, intermediate forms, cultivars, landraces, and elite germplasm (Vilela-Morales and Valois 1996a, b). It is established to conserve long-term germplasm and recover missing accessions. It is not used to distribute or for exchange (NRC 1993;Plucknett et al. 1992;Towil and Roos 1989;Vilela-Morales and Valois 1996a). It may contain seed samples (orthodox only) or planting materials. If it contains seeds, these are conditioned to a moisture content of 3%-7%, packed in sealed containers, and stored in chambers at temperatures between -10° and -20°C (FAO and IPGRI 1994;Paroda and Arora 1991;Towil and Roos 1989;Vilela-Morales and Valois 1996a). If vegetative materials are conserved, they are either maintained in the field or cryopreserved.For the variability it contains and the function it fulfils, a base collection is strategic for a country. It should be duplicated and under the charge of an institution that can answer for the germplasm's survival. It is normally the responsibility of a national programme or international agricultural research centre. Examples of base collections include those of Arachis spp. at CENARGEN (Brazil), Phaseolus and Manihot spp. at CIAT (Colombia), Zea and Triticum spp. at CIMMYT (Mexico), and Andean roots and tubers at CIP (Peru), and African legumes at IITA.It is a duplicate of the base collection, established on a short-and medium-term basis for management and distribution. It may conserve germplasm as seed, in the field, or in vitro. If it conserves seeds, these are stored at moisture content of 3%-7% and at temperatures between 0°C and 15°C (Engle 1992;NRC 1993). If the active collection is established in vitro, the material is conserved in slow growth.Active collections may be the responsibility of a variety of institutions, both public and private, including international research centres; national, regional, provincial, and municipal programmes; universities; and nongovernmental organizations. Two examples of active collections are those of maize at CIMMYT (Mexico) and cassava at CIAT (Colombia).Core collection. The core collection aims to represent the genetic variability of a large collection by bringing together the broadest genetic variability of a species in the smallest number of samples possible (Brown 1988). It is formed by duplicating a base collection, separating the accessions that will constitute the core collection (70%-80% of variability represented in 10%-15% of the accessions), and taking the rest to a reserve collection. The core collection is established to facilitate management and promote use of the germplasm. It permits the detection of duplicates in the base collection and helps set priorities for characterizing and evaluating the samples. It also offers easy access to the conserved materials (Frankel et al. 1995;Hodgkin et al. 1995;Pérez-Ruíz 1997).The core collection conserves seed or planting materials under the same conditions as an active collection. As with the other two types mentioned above, a core collection is the responsibility of international centres, national programmes, or collaborative programmes for specific crops. Examples of core collections are those of potato at INTA (Argentina) and IBTA (Bolivia), cassava and potato at CENARGEN (Brazil), potato and sweet potato at CNPH (Brazil), and cassava at CIAT (Colombia).Information systems permit the creation of a virtual core collection. If a germplasm material is well documented and the documentation system permits specific searches, the virtual core collection is obtained by seeking and marking the accessions that have the characteristics of interest (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).Working collection or breeder's collection is established to provide germplasm to researchers, institutions, or research and/or improvement programmes. It contains accessions with characteristics of interest for crop improvement, although it is not representative of the species' genetic variability. It conserves seeds or plants over the short term. Seeds are kept at room temperature but, if the climate is hot and humid, then the rooms have air conditioning and dehumidifiers. Plants are also conserved in the field or greenhouse. Working collections are normally the responsibility of crop improvement programmes (Jaramillo and Baena 2000).After this lesson, you should be familiar with the general aspects of managing plant germplasm banks.Before going on to the next Module 6, do the following exercise:• Describe the administrative structure of your bank and, if possible, the various functions, together with the names of the people in charge of them. In many germplasm banks, data on collections are currently found scattered among many sources such as electronic files, paper files, and field notebooks. Such a dispersion of data represents problems for standardizing data within the same bank and for exchanging information and germplasm between banks and institutions. A documentation system is therefore needed to support the bank as a source of information to help in its planning and operation, and in its interactions with other banks and entities.Usually, a germplasm bank has limited time and few human and financial resources available. Hence, priorities must be set and decisions made as to which activities are more important than others. In any decision made, information will play a very important role, making it proper organization essential.The ex situ conservation of germplasm involves many stages, that is, acquisition, multiplication, regeneration, characterization, evaluation, conservation, and distribution. Each stage includes a wide range of activities (see Modules 2, 3, 4, and 5) that, in their turn, require or generate information. This information should be recorded, organized, and analysed to better understand the germplasm, make decisions on its management, and provide the added value that it deserves. This complex of activities to record, organize, and analyse information is known as documentation. This lesson briefly explores this theme, taking into account its importance as an essential component of conservation activities.'Documentation', in terms of work with PGRs, is understood to be the process of identifying, acquiring, classifying, storing, managing, and disseminating information on germplasm. Documentation implies the organization of a documentation system that will store and conserve data. Manual or computerized methods can be used, or a combination of these (Painting et al. 1993).Germplasm banks also need a documentation system as a tool for setting priorities, planning activities, and managing resources. It helps counteract the dispersion of information, thereby facilitating better access to collections and, thus, more efficient use of germplasm. Usually, a documentation system is used to store, maintain process, analyse, and exchange data that are typical of conservation activities (Painting et al. 1993).Germplasm banks differ in their activities and in the way these are organized, because of the different species they conserve as well as the human resources, budget and facilities available. Because documentation systems support all these activities, different banks will also have different systems. Although many documentation systems of germplasm banks show similarities in design and operation, each will differ to the extent that they are developed according to the bank's needs for documentation and information (Painting et al. 1993).Characteristics For a documentation system to be usable according to the bank's goals, it must possess particular characteristics (Painting et al. 1993), such as those mentioned below:• Veracity and/or validity of information. For information retrieved from a documentation system to be useful, it should contain accurate, reliable, and up-to-date data. Otherwise, the documentation system would be useless. • Ease of data retrieval. The system should facilitate the simple and rapid recovery of information. If certain information is needed regularly and several hours must be invested to locate it each time, then valuable time is being lost in recovery. It should be remembered that the documentation system should work for the user, not vice versa. • Easy operation. When the documentation system is user-friendly, fewer errors will be found, making the system more accessible for other people. An easy-to-use system requires minimum training. • Flexible operation. The documentation system should not be rigid. It should be able to cope with different information requirements and be adaptable to procedural changes in the germplasm bank. • Organized data. Data should be organized into groups that are practical for recording, storing, maintaining, and recovering information, taking into account users' needs.Constructing a documentation system, whether manual and/or computerized, requires planning and detailed analysis before it is designed. Indeed, the process should tend towards a detailed analysis if a flexible and user-friendly system is to be constructed. Six stages are involved:• Obtaining information on the bank's needs. In-depth understanding of the germplasm bank's needs, establishment, and available resources is needed. This will provide essential information that will help develop documentation objectives. It will also help in decisions on the better use and management of available resources. • Defining documentation objectives. These objectives may include the documentation of passport data, inventorying, procedures for seed management, data distribution, characterization tests, and evaluation. They may also include information dissemination.To define areas of documentation, the germplasm bank's fields of work and their needs and priorities for documentation must be clearly understood. • Analysing procedures. This activity explores the bank's most relevant procedures, and determines each procedure's needs for resources and the distinct types of data it generates and uses. The foregoing will greatly assist decisions on handling data in the best way possible, for example, the desirability of using computerized versus manual forms. Analysis will also indicate how one procedure is related to another. This information will help construct a flow chart that shows the relationships among procedures and information flow within the bank. It will also help in later decisions on the best way of handling data and defining documentation procedures. • Identifying significant descriptors. The most important descriptors of accessions in the bank should be identified and organized into groups that facilitate the documentation system's operation and maintenance. These groups can be thought of as separate books, files, or forms in a manual system, or separate files in a computerized system (e.g., 'characterization of wild Arachis' or 'viability tests'). These groups are practical in terms of recording and using data, and recovering information. • Developing data formats and recording forms. A major task is to simplify data recording, either manually or in screen formatting, for each stage of documentation. • Developing documentation procedures and implementing the system. This is the final phase of constructing the documentation system. It involves establishing documentation procedures to facilitate the system's operation, their implementation, and the training of personnel in the system's use.A germplasm bank follows a sequence of steps or stages in managing germplasm from its entry to the bank to its storage or distribution. These steps or stages are called operational procedures and constitute the essence of data generation and processing. Usually, all the bank's procedures generate information that should be recorded and stored for later recovery or consultation (Painting et al. 1993). In general, there are two main large operational procedures, one related to the bank's management per se (acquisition, inventories, regeneration, distribution and conservation), and other related to the germplasm per se (characterization and evaluation); each one of them will have, in turn, nested suboperational procedures.Usually, procedures for banks that handle seeds, vegetative planting materials in the field, or in vitro materials can be diagrammatically outlined, whereby priority for documentation can be observed for each procedure (Figure 1). It should be remembered that the preparation of these and the setting of priorities for documentation are a function of the bank's type and objectives. In some cases, few activities will be diagrammed (e.g., banks that conserve only one species) and in others, multiple activities (e.g., international germplasm banks).The most common procedures in germplasm banks include activities such as registration of samples (data of accessions), collection, cleaning, drying, viability testing, inventorying, distribution, and regeneration. These require, for their documentation, the use of descriptors (Figure 2), which, on being recorded, constitute conservation data. For the purposes of this lesson, only some are mentioned. Others can be consulted in IPGRI's lists of specific descriptors (IPGRI 2004;IPGRI and CIP 2003) and yet others are mentioned in the topic on germplasm characterization and evaluation (Module 4, Lessons 1 and 2).   Collection data are also known as passport data and refer to the data reported when the sample was first collected. They form an essential part of the information on the conserved germplasm. These collection data or descriptors can be numerous, depending on the degree of detail in which information is needed. FAO and IPGRI have jointly prepared a list of passport descriptors of many crops (Box 1) to provide uniform coding systems for common passport descriptors of various crops (FAO and IPGRI 2001). This list should not be regarded as a basic list of descriptors because, to fully describe the germplasm, other passport descriptors must necessarily be recorded.The passport data most commonly documented on registering samples include (Figure 2 We point out that these collection descriptors are considered as 'essential' for registering samples. However, many more may be used, depending on the level of detail at which information is to be recorded at the germplasm bank. For example, some banks may wish to record ethnobotanical data, and others further information on the collection site and environment (e.g., topography, soils, and vegetation).Seed cleaning. The seeds to be conserved in a germplasm bank should be, as far as possible, clean and free of broken seeds, residues, or infested or infected seeds. To save time, some banks do not document this procedure; others consider that such data have little practical or scientific value. Nevertheless, information could be collected on seed management during harvest and conditioning to permit corrections where necessary. Some descriptors suggested for this procedure are: Code of the institute where the accession is maintained. The codes consist of the 3-letter ISO 3166 country code of the country where the institute is located plus a number. The current set of Institute Codes is available from the FAO website (http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/).This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions within a genebank collection, and is assigned when a sample is entered into the genebank collection.Original number assigned by the collector(s) of the sample, normally composed of the name or initials of the collector(s) followed by a number. This number is essential for identifying duplicates held in different collections.Code of the Institute collecting the sample. If the holding institute has collected the material, the collecting institute code (COLLCODE) should be the same as the holding institute code (INSTCODE). Follows INSTCODE standard.Genus name for taxon. Initial uppercase letter required.Specific epithet portion of the scientific name in lowercase letters. Following abbreviation is allowed: 'sp.'.Provide the authority for the species name.Subtaxa can be used to store any additional taxonomic identifier. Following abbreviations are allowed: 'subsp.' (for subspecies); 'convar.' (for convariety); 'var.' (for variety); 'f.' (for form).Provide the subtaxa authority at the most detailed taxonomic level.Name of the crop in colloquial language, preferably English (i.e. 'malting barley', 'cauliflower', or 'white cabbage').Either a registered or other formal designation given to the accession. First letter uppercase. Multiple names separated with semicolon without space. For example: Rheinische Vorgebirgstrauben;Emma;AvlonDate on which the accession entered the collection where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day. Missing date (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required.Code of the country in which the sample was originally collected. Use the 3-letter ISO 3166-1 extended country codes.(Continued)Module 6, Lesson: Main Aspects of Germplasm Documentation (Continued)Location information below the country level that describes where the accession was collected. This might include the distance in kilometres and direction from the nearest town, village or map grid reference point (e.g. 7 km south of Curitiba in the state of Parana).15. Latitude of collecting site 1 (LATITUDE) Degree (2 digits), minutes (2 digits), and seconds (2 digits) followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 103020S). Every missing digit (minutes or seconds) should be indicated with a hyphen. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 10----S; 011530N, 4531--S).16. Longitude of collecting site 1 (LONGITUDE) Degree (3 digits), minutes (2 digits), and seconds (2 digits) followed by E (East) or W (West) (e.g. 0762510W). Every missing digit (minutes or seconds) should be indicated with a hyphen. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 076----W).Elevation of collecting site expressed in metres above sea level. Negative values are allowed.Collecting date of the sample, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, and DD is the day. Missing data (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required.Institute code of the institute that has bred the material. If the holding institute has bred the material, the breeding institute code (BREDCODE) should be the same as the holding institute code (INSTCODE). Follows INSTCODE standard.The coding scheme proposed can be used at 3 different levels of detail: either by using the general codes (in boldface) such as 100, 200, 300, 400 or by using the more specific codes such as 110, 120 etc. The Remarks field is used to add notes or to elaborate on descriptors with value 99 or 999 (=Other). Prefix remarks with the field name they refer to and a colon (e.g. COLLSRC:riverside). Separate remarks referring to different fields are separated by semicolons without space.SOURCE: FAO and IPRGI (2001).Seed drying. In a germplasm bank, orthodox or intermediate seeds are dried to reduce their moisture content to acceptable levels without affecting their viability. This procedure is applicable only to seed germplasm collections. Usually, on receiving the sample, the initial moisture content is first determined. If this is very high, then the seeds are dried, using a suitable method, to reduce moisture content to the desired level. Once seeds are dried, some banks determine the total weight of the dried seeds and the 100-or 1000-seed weight, depending on their size. The most commonly used descriptors for seed drying are: Seed viability. Germination under laboratory conditions is defined as the emergence and development of those essential structures that indicate, for the class of seed being analysed, the seed's ability to become a normal plant under favourable conditions. The results of this test indicate the percentage of live seeds of an accession that can produce plants under appropriate conditions (Module 3, Submodule C, Lessons 1 and 2). In terms of bank management, the viability of seeds must be known, as it indicates when a sample should be regenerated. Otherwise, the accession could be lost if its viability drops to very low levels. Typical descriptors for a seed viability test are:• Accession number • Lot reference (any date, code, or number that uniquely identifies the accession's regeneration or multiplication cycle)• Collection type (e.g., whether base or active collection)• Reference for method used (e.g., absorbent tissue or tetrazolium test)• Viability (%)• Operator (name of person who carried out the test)Storage. Once the seeds have been dried and cleaned, and their percentage of viability recorded, they are stored in cold rooms (or under normal conditions, according to case). The following data or descriptors are recorded: Germplasm distribution. Linked to the information mentioned above on storage, information on the distribution of germplasm that the bank carries out should also be recorded. For example, some banks continually distribute germplasm for improvement programmes or for exchange with other banks. In these cases, to maintain efficient control over the bank's holdings of materials, a record must be kept of the materials being distributed. Typical descriptors that should be considered are: Small banks, which have a very limited distribution of materials, would probably not need a sophisticated documentation system. Recording distribution information in a book or other means would be sufficient.The maintenance of germplasm duplicates for security is a major conservation activity in banks. For its documentation, the descriptors used are those of FAO's World Information and Early Warning System on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (WIEWS) (Box 2). They provide codes for locating the institution where a given germplasm is kept, in addition to other pertinent data.Regeneration or multiplication is carried out in response to data obtained through the seed monitoring control or during the growth cycle of the vegetative propagated species, which is conducted at given intervals of time to test the viability of each accession in storage and ascertain the quantity of seeds it has. The principal data or descriptors used to record regeneration or multiplication are:• Accession number Germplasm characterization and evaluation. Germplasm characterization refers to the recording of highly inheritable descriptors (or data) that are readily seen and are expressed in all environments (Module 4, Lesson 2). They mostly include: As was discussed in several lessons, the conservation of a given species involves not only the conservation of its physical seed (sexual or vegetative) but also of its genetic resources. The field of genetic resources is relatively new, and includes several disciplines, each with its own, frequently unfamiliar, jargon. Because no specialized glossaries are readily available on the subject of plant genetic resources, we compiled this glossary for the convenience of the course students. We added other terms related to genetic resources but not used in the course because they may appear in the reading of the bibliographies provided. Alloploidy (adj. alloploid) a condition whereby an organism has more than two sets of chromosomes in their cells, with each set coming from a different species.Altitudinal transect an imaginary line that is traced from a point in a mountain range to sea level. It is used to study altitudinal variations among plant communities.Amino acids organic molecules that contain amino and carboxyl groups. They are protein monomers. An enormous variety of proteins exist because of the large number of combinations and lengths.Amplified fragment length polymorphism see AFLP.an individual that has a chromosome number that is not an exact multiple of the haploid chromosome complement. (See also Ploidy level.)Anfiploid or anfidiploid an individual that originates from hybridization between species and possesses the total chromosome complement of the parental species. It is usually produced by the duplication of the chromosome number of the F 1 plant hybrid.Angiosperms or Angiospermae a taxon of plants, whose principal characteristic is that they present true flowers. Angiosperms are divided into monocotyledons and dicotyledons.a plant that takes one year or less to complete its life cycle and produce seeds. (See also Biennial; Perennial.) Anther in flowers, that part of the stamen that contains pollen.in flowers, the dehiscence of anthers, when pollen is dispersed.(adj.) having an origin or resulting from human activity.Antibiotic: literally, life destroyer. This term includes all antimicrobial substances, regardless of origin, whether derived from micro-organisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi), synthetic chemical products, or genetic engineering.a defence substance (protein) synthesized by the immune system of an animal organism in response to the presence of a foreign protein (antigen), which it then neutralizes. Plants are a significant source of substances with which to manufacture drugs having antibody characteristics.Apetalous flower a flower with no petals. Basic seed produced from seed developed by the plant breeder and so managed that the original genetic identity and purity of a given variety is faithfully conserved. The production of basic seed is carefully supervised or used by the representatives of an agricultural experiment station. Basic seed is the starting point for obtaining certified seed, either directly or through registered seed.Biennial a plant living for two years and fruiting only in the second. (See also Annual; Perennial.)various isoenzymes that catalyze the substrate itself or other enzymes and which are used to evaluate the enzymatic heterogeneity of plants, that is, the genetic variability between individuals at the level of enzymes and proteins. They indirectly evaluate the genome, based on their enzymatic products, and are susceptible to the environment.Biodiversity or biological diversity the set of all plant and animal species in a given region, including their genetic materials and the ecosystems of which they are part.containers designed as protection mechanisms in the use of organisms in genetic engineering applications. Their purpose is to minimize the 'ability' of organisms used to survive, persist, and self-replicate. The process is also known as 'genetic weakening' and leads to 'engineeringly' diminished organisms.Biological diversity see Biodiversity.Biological heritage that group of living things belonging to a given geographical area, and which are or could be of economic, biological, or social value for the human communities that live in that area. Commonly spoken of as the 'national patrimony of biological resources', it implies those living things that belong and would have potential value for a given country.the science that deals with the study of living things and vital phenomena in all their aspects.The biomass of an ecosystem is the mass of all organisms that constitute the biocoenosis (i.e., community of organisms inhabiting a particular biotope Callus the initial tissue formed by the cellular division of explants. It is usually uniform, not having been differentiated into organized tissues.Carbohydrates organic biomolecules formed by polyalcohols with an aldehyde or ketone group. They owe their name to their empirical formula, which is C x (H 2 O) y , although some compounds may differ slightly from this general formula. They include glucosides (yielding sugars), glycides, glycols, and sugars. They carry out the energy, plastic, or structural functions of cellular structures, and store information that determine cellular identity.international experience suggests that we cannot set a population number or a minimum surface of habitat to delimit each category for determining the degree to which a taxon is in danger of extinction. Consensus and the criteria of specialists in flora and fauna should be used to set the conservation status of each taxon. (See also Endangered; Extinct in the wild; Indeterminate threat; Insufficiently known; Out of danger; Rare; Vulnerable.)the structural and functional unit of plants and animals that typically consists of a mass of cytoplasm that encloses a nucleus (except in prokaryotes) and is bound by a membrane that is differentially permeable. It is the simplest unit of life that reproduces by division. Normally, each cell contains genetic material in the form of DNA incorporated into a cellular nucleus, which splits as the cell divides. Higher organisms contain large quantities of interdependent cells. Even so, these can be treated as independently as free cells in appropriate culture media.Certified seed the progeny of basic seed, which is produced and used in such a way that it maintains a satisfactory level of purity and genetic identity. It has been approved and certified by an official agency for certification.Cespitose plants grass species or perennial graminoids that form mats or tufts, or grow very closely together to cover the ground as lawns.Character or characteristic see Trait.the measurement or evaluation of the presence, absence, or degree of specificity of traits whose expression is little modified by the environment. one of two filamentous structures that form in the duplication of a chromosome to form other chromosomes.an elongated intracellular organelle found in the nucleus and consisting of DNA associated with proteins. It constitutes a linear series of functional units known as genes, which conserve their individuality from one cell generation to the next. The chromosome number is typically constant in any given species.Chromosome number the usual constant number of chromosomes in a somatic cell that is characteristic of a particular species. the conservation of plant genetic resources refers to the maintenance of populations in their natural habitat (in situ conservation) or to samples of these populations in germplasm banks (ex situ conservation). Conservation presumes that the materials are useful or potentially useful and seeks to maintain and manage them for both current and future benefits.Core collection a collection that groups, into a minimum number of accessions, the greatest variability existing in a base collection. (See also Active collection; Working collection.)The swollen base of a stem shoot, wrapped in dry leaves that look like scales. (b) A solid stem structure, with nodes and well-defined internodes.Corolla petals, considered collectively.the mutual relationship between two things in such a way that an increase or reduction in one is usually associated with an increase or reduction in the other. Linear correlation is determined by the coefficient of correlation, the value of which may vary from -1 to +1.one or a pair of primary leaves of the embryo within the seed and, commonly, the first to emerge in germination.a geological period that is famous for a mass extinction of species, known as the 'K-T extinction event', after which modern-day species of both plants and animals evolved. the fusion of an ovule with a sperm cell from two individuals that have different genotypes. (See also Allogamy.)Cross-pollination the transfer of pollen from the anther of one plant to the stigma of a flower of another genotypically distinct plant. (See also Self-pollination.)Crossing-over the exchange of segments between the chromatids of two homologous chromosomes during meiosis.in horticulture, that part of a plant's stem that is located in the soil or below its surface, from which new shoots originate.Detasselling the elimination of immature tassels or ears. This practice is followed in the seed production of hybrid maize. DNA sequence the order of sequence of the nitrogenous bases of the nucleotides that constitute DNA and which codes for all genetic information. When it is a codifier (exon), it defines the order of the amino acids that form the corresponding protein.with reference to plant genetic resources, the procedure by which information (data) on germplasm is identified, acquired, classified, stored, handled, and disseminated.see Cultivated species.(adj.) (a) Said of a trait that manifests in the phenotype of a hybrid to the exclusion of the counterpart (recessive) trait. (b) Said of a plant that, by extension of its foliage or root system, modifies and controls the local environment. (c) Constituting the hegemony and biological maximum of one or more species in a community type or of a biological form in a community or plant formation. Dominance is manifested in the biological form's relative contribution to the community's biomass, or as a combination of characters that enables that form to manifest greater participation in a community's physiognomy.A gene that needs only one dose to be expressed, thereby masking the presence of its recessive allele. the collection and synthesis of information that is ecological, geographical, and taxonomic in nature, the results of which can be used to establish priorities and strategies for germplasm collection and conservation.Ecological region, biome, or ecozone a large geographical region with distinctive plant and animal groups. These groups form a whole that has a characteristic composition resulting from the groups' adaptation to the region's climate and geography. Examples include tropical rainforest, grassland, desert, and tundra.a system comprising living things and the physical environment where they live. The system is characterized by interdependent relationships based on a recursive interaction that extends for over 5000 million years on our planet.the science that studies living things at their different levels of organization and their interrelationships among themselves and with the environment.a dynamic complex of communities of plants, animals, and micro-organisms and their non-living environment; which complex acts as a functional unit.with reference to natural forest products, the harvest that enormously surpasses the ecosystem's natural productivity. In this case, not only is the annual productivity harvested, but also the biomass and soil developed over centuries or millennia. Exons DNA sequences, specific to genes, and which codify for amino-acid sequences in proteins.Explant a segment of tissue or an organ obtained from a plant (e.g., leaf, root, anther, shoot, bud, embryo, and meristem) and used to initiate an in vitro culture.Extinct in the wild a category of conservation status, where a species is considered extinct in its natural distribution when it has not been located or sighted in the wild state for the last 50 years (a criterion used by CITES). (See also Categories of species conservation.)Farmers' rights those rights attributed to farmers for their contribution (past, current, or future) to the conservation, improvement, and availability of plant genetic resources.Fertilization the fusion of an ovule and sperm cell (male gamete), forming a zygote.in flowers, the column of the stamen that sustains the anther.A group of plants with characteristics in common. (b) A set of plant species that is found in a given place. It is usually described in terms of a systematic or alphabetical list of all the plant taxa recorded in that place.a small flower of an inflorescence, as in the case of a grass panicle or compound spike.Food chain a line that can be established in an ecosystem among organisms that feed, one from another. An example of a food chain is plant → butterfly → house wren → barn owl. The food chains are interconnected through common links, creating a food or trophic network.Food security the capacity and facility of access by all people, over time, to a sufficient quantity of food that permits them to live active and healthy lives.Forest a plant community dominated by tall trees or woody plants with few or no branches at the base.Frost heave alternating freezing and thawing that causes the soil and the plants it carries to lift. The plants become separated from the soil or their roots are destroyed.Gametes or sexual cells cells that, when fused, form the zygote. In plants, the gametes are the male sperm cell and the female egg.The physical and functional unit of hereditary material that determines a trait or characteristic of an individual and is transmitted from generation to generation. Its material base is constituted by a part of a chromosome known as locus and which codifies information through DNA sequences. By interacting with other genes, cytoplasm, and the environment, it affects or controls the development of a trait. (b) The receptacle of genetic material that is particular to a given species.Gene bank see DNA library; Germplasm bank.see DNA cloning.the protein product resulting from the set of mechanisms that decode the information contained within a gene, processing it through transcription and translation.the exchange of genetic material between populations through the dispersion of gametes and zygotes.the modification of gene action through non-allelic genes.Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Genetic code a code written according to the distribution of nucleotides in the polynucleotide chain of a chromosome. It governs the expression of genetic information in proteins, that is, the succession of amino acids in the polypeptide chain. Information on all genetically determined characteristics of living things is stored in DNA and deciphered through four nitrogen bases. Each succession, adjacent to three bases (or codon), governs the insertion of a particular amino acid, of which there are four: adenine, guanine, thymine, cystosine. In RNA, thymine is replaced by uracil. This information is transmitted from one generation to the next through the production of exact replicates of the code.a random fluctuation of genetic frequencies of a population from generation to generation, caused by factors such as natural selection. It is more evident in small isolated populations, and may lead to the fixation of an allele and to the extinction of the other.The process of forming new combinations of hereditary material by inserting nucleic acid molecules, obtained from outside the cell, into any virus, bacterial plasmid, or other vector system outside the cell. Thus, the host organism incorporates the new hereditary material in a way that does not appear natural, but where such molecules are able to reproduce continuously. (b) That set of techniques used to introduce a foreign heterologous gene into an organism to modify its genetic material and products of expression. (See also DNA cloning; Molecular cloning.)the loss of genetic diversity, that is, of genetic materials, including individual genes or combinations of genes (genetic complexes), genotypes, and species.the characteristic that should be maintained during conservation. This refers to the maintenance, as a set, of all the alleles of all the accession's genes.susceptibility of stored seeds to cumulative genetic changes (with age), resulting in the alteration of the initial genetic structure of the conserved sample.the insertion of a DNA sequence into another through recombination.Genetic map a descriptive diagram of the genes in each chromosome.all material, whether of plant, animal, microbial, or other origin, that contains functional units of heredity.A combination of alleles from different parents that produce a recombinant individual. Such an organism or progeny may result from a crossing event or from an independent reorganization of different chromosomes during meiosis. (b) In genetics, the term refers to new combinations of sequences that result from the physical interaction of two DNA molecules. In vitro, the term refers to genetic re-arrangement among DNA fragments from different or noncontiguous origins. In vivo, this occurs between homologous copies of a single gene (chromosomal manipulation) or as a result of integrating a genetic element (transposon, prophage, or transgene) into the genome.That set of population samples, whether from plants, animals, or micro organisms, that is acquired to provide useful genetic traits with present or potential value.The good or medium potential found in genes. (c) The genetic variability stored in chromosomes and other structures containing DNA. (See also Plant genetic resources.)the maintenance of a certain degree of genetic balance in each individual of a population.the condition in which individuals of a population present identical or very similar genetic structures, so that one may deduce that they will behave similarly and will have the same susceptibility in terms of biotic and abiotic stresses. This condition potentially endangers the persistence of such a population, a situation that is known as genetic vulnerability. Both situations are more likely to occur when the population has been genetically improved, and whose tendency is to give rise to genetically uniform populations, whether homozygous or heterozygous.the degree of genetic variation existing in a population or species, as a consequence of the evolutionary processes to which it has been subjected. It is that set of differences present among individuals of a single species. Genetic variability is the basis on which plant breeders develop new varieties.the heritable variation, derived from changes in genes, usually because of environmental factors.the condition where the risk of exposure is high for plants that are susceptible to certain pathogens, pests, and environmental stress as a result of genetic uniformity, induced by breeding. (See also Genetic uniformity.)Genetically modified organism or GMO any organism whose genetic material has been modified in a way that would not happen naturally in mating (or multiplication) or in natural recombination. GMOs are classified as high or low risk, according to the nature of the receiving or parental organism, and the characteristics of both vector and insert used in the operation.Genetics the science that deals with reproduction, inheritance, variation, and the set of phenomena and problems related to descendancy, that is, the science that deals with heredity.The set of all genes of an organism, of all the genetic patrimony stored in the set of its DNA or chromosomes. (b) Also a set of chromosomes, as appears within a gamete, corresponding to the haploid number of chromosomes of a given species.Genomic library see DNA library.The genetic composition of an organism, that is, the total sum of its genes, both dominant and recessive. (b) A group of organisms with the same genetic composition.(c) The genetic constitution of one or more genes of an organism with respect to a particular hereditary trait or set of traits. (d) In plants, that set of hereditary factors that regulate the organism's way of reacting to external stimuli.the proportion of different genotypes of a given progeny. (See also Phenotypic ratio.)Germ cell one of two cells found in the pollen grain and which divides by mitosis into sperm cells. This division may occur before or after pollination.in plants, the resumption of the embryo's growth under favourable conditions after the seed has matured and dispersed, and the emergence of the young root and shoot from the seed. Germination is taken as completed when photosynthesis begins and the plant no longer relies on the food stored in the seed.The base material of heredity, that is, the structure that carries the total sum of hereditary characteristics of a species. The word 'germplasm' supposes that the structure is able to give rise to a new generation, transmitting its genetic characteristics.(b) The total genetic variability, represented by germ cells, available for a given population of organisms. (c) The potential hereditary materials of a species, considered collectively.an entity constituted to conserve genetic resources. For plants, it is the most practical method of safeguarding genetic material, storing samples of landraces, breeding products, varieties not in use, and wild species.Glumes bracts or leaves found on the outside of each spikelet in a grass inflorescence or spike.see Genetically modified organism.GMO marketing see Commercialization of GMOs.a procedure by which two parts of living plant tissue are brought together so that they continue living and later behave as one plant.Grassland that type of vegetation or plant formation dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants.Various forms are found such as the Sahel; savannah; steppe; and veldt. Hereditary disease a disease that has, as its cause, the alteration of genetic material and which is transmitted from generation to generation.Heredity (adj. hereditary) or inheritance the transmission of genetically based characteristics from parents to progeny or from generation to generation.The capacity of being inherited. (b) That part of the variation observed in a progeny that is due to heredity.Heterosis or hybrid vigour the increase in vigour, growth, size, yield, or functional activity of a hybrid progeny in terms of its parents, resulting from the crossing of genetically different organisms. (adj.) said of an organism that has different alleles in the locus corresponding to homologous chromosomes. An organism may be heterozygous for one or more genes.(See also Homozygous.)an organism that has six sets of chromosomes, that is, with a chromosome number of 6n. (See also Ploidy level.)Homologue exchange the exchange of segments between chromatids of two homologous chromosomes during meiosis.Homologous chromosomes or homologues chromosomes that pair up during the first division in meiosis. Each member of the pair comes from a different parent and has a sequence corresponding to the locus of genes.(adj.) said of an organism or homozygote that has similar genes in the corresponding loci of homologous chromosomes. An organism may be homozygous for one, several, or all genes. (See also Heterozygous.)Hormone a chemical substance of specialized action that acts as messengers to those cells that respond to its stimulus, thereby controlling tissues and organs in any part of the organism. The difference between animal and plant hormones is that animal hormones are created in particular organs and regulate almost all organic functions.An animal or plant that harbours or nourishes another organism (e.g., parasite). (b) In genetic engineering, that organism, whether microbial, animal, or plant, whose metabolism is used to reproduce a virus, plasmid, or other form of DNA foreign to that organism and which incorporates elements of recombinant DNA.The first generation of offspring of a cross between two individuals that differ in one or more genes. (b) The progeny of a cross between species of the same genus or distinct genera. (See also Heterozygote.)Hybrid vigour see Heterosis. In situ conservation in situ literally means 'in the original place'. The conservation of plant genetic resources in the areas where they had developed naturally and, in the case of cultivated species or varieties, in the surroundings of the area where they had acquired their distinctive properties.In vitro (adj.) literally, in the glass. Said of anything studied and manipulated in laboratory test tubes, that is, outside the live organism. Insufficiently known (adj.) (a) A category of conservation status, describing taxa that are thought to belong to a given category related to risk of extinction but for which insufficient information is available. (b) Also said of species or other taxa thought to belong to a given category, but whose status is to be defined through future research. (See also Categories of species conservation.)DNA sequences that do not code for genes and whose function is unknown.the synthesis of complementary DNA from genomic RNA of retroviruses done by the enzyme known as inverse transcriptase. Leaf (pl. leaves) in plants, an expanded outgrowth of a stem, usually green, and the main photosynthetic organ of most plants.Legislation sui generis a particular form of protection of intellectual property, especially designed to cover certain criteria and needs.Lemma in a grass spikelet, the lower bract of two that protect the floret. (See also Palea.)The characteristic morphology of a mature organism. (b) According to the Raunkiaer system, the mechanisms by which plants survive the unfavourable season. Raunkiaer originally listed five types of life forms: phanerophytes, chamaephytes, hemicryptophytes, cryptophytes, and therophytes. His classification has since been broadened to include other mechanisms for plant survival under unfavourable conditions such as those used by, for example, epiphytes, succulents, halophytes, climbers, and hydrophytes.a group of individuals that descend from a common ancestor. Members of such a group are usually more closely related to each other than those of a variety.A group of individuals whose descent can be traced back to a single ancestor. (b) In evolution, a sequence of species, each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessor.the relationship that exists between two or more genes that tend to be inherited together because they are located on the same chromosome. This determines that combinations of these genes, like those of the parents in the gametes, are more frequent than their recombinations.Linkage group a group of genes distributed linearly in a chromosome. Lipids or fats a group of chemically very diverse organic biomolecules with the common characteristics of insolubility in water, solubility in polar organic dissolvents, and with little density.artificially constructed spherical vesicles made up of two or more layers of lipids.Liposomes are used as gene vectors.Llaretal a Spanish term referring to a particular type of plant community in which pulvinate plants predominate. It is characteristic of the high plains and highlands of South America and is often made up of Umbelliferae species, and the Azorella and Laretia genera, called commonly llaretas.Locus (pl. loci) (a) A position on a chromosome where the gene controlling a given trait is located.(b) In genetics, the point on a chromosome occupied by a gene.Lodicule one of two structures, similar to scales, at the base of an ovary of a grass flower.the length of life. In seeds, it refers to the time that these remain alive. Longevity depends on the species and on the seeds' storage conditions.a new small phylum of marine sediment-dwelling animals. So far, 22 species from 8 genera have been described. About another 100 species have been collected but are not yet described. The phylum was discovered in 1983 by Reinhardt Kristensen, in Roscoff, France.Male sterility in flowering plants, a condition whereby pollen is not produced or is sterile, or that part of the male organ that produces it does not function.Marker gene that gene whose function and location are known and which expresses certain characteristics or very notable phenotypic differences that permit the analysis of its heredity, establish its presence in the genome, and detect recombination events.that system of plant improvement in which the seed of individual plants is selected on the basis of phenotype and then mixed and used to produce the next generation.in plants, the female gametophyte. Typically, a female gamete of seven cells with eight nuclei. It originates from the megaspore.Megasporangium or embryo sac the structure in which the megaspores are produced and the megagametophyte later develops. It eventually forms the nucellus.One of four haploid spores that originate from meiotic divisions of the stem cell.(b) In plants, also the diploid megaspore found in the ovule and which undergoes three successive meiotic divisions to give rise to the megagametophyte. It is formed in the megasporangium from a stem cell when it undergoes meiosis.Megaspore stem cell a diploid cell of the ovary, which gives rise, through meiosis, to four haploid megaspores.the two successive nuclear divisions of a cell. In the first (or reduction) nuclear division, the diploid chromosome number is reduced to a haploid number. The second nuclear division is mitotic. (See also Mitosis.)A region of rapid cellular division (mitosis). (b) Undifferentiated tissue from which cells tend to form differentiated and specialized tissues. Meristems found in growing areas such as buds and apexes.Messenger RNA see mRNA.see Micro-organism.a technique, carried out under the microscope, that introduces a gene in solution into a cell, using a micropipette.Micro-organism or microbe a microscopic organism, usually a bacterium, alga, fungus, or protozoan.Microsatellites, simple sequence repeats, or SSRs short DNA sequences made up of 1 to 6 nucleotides that repeat themselves consecutively 10 or more times. These simple DNA sequences are highly variable and can be studied, using a fast and relatively simple methodology.Microspore in plants, one of four haploid spores that originate from the meiotic division of the microspore stem cell in the anther and gives rise to a pollen grain.Microspore stem cell or pollen stem cell a diploid cell of the anther, which gives rise, through meiosis, to four haploid microspores. mRNA or messenger RNA a molecule of RNA that represents a negative copy of amino acid sequences in a gene. The non-coding sequences (introns) have already been extracted. With few exceptions, mRNA has a sequence close to 200 adenines (polyA tail), united to its 3' extreme, which is not coded by DNA.Multiple alleles a series of alleles or alternative forms of a gene. A normal heterozygous diploid would have only two genes of an allelic series. Multiple alleles originate by repeated mutations of a gene, in which each mutant produces different effects.Multiple genes two or more pairs of independent genes that produce complementary or cumulative effects on a single trait of the phenotype.A change in the breeding material. It may arise from changes in a pair of DNA bases, particular gene, or chromosomal structure. (b) An unexpected variation in the hereditary material of a cell. (c) A sudden variation or alteration in an organism, which is then said to be a mutant, especially when such alteration is heritable by following generations. It may involve changes in genes (genic mutation) or chromosomes (chromosomal mutation).A genic mutation consists of a change in one allele or another of a gene. A chromosomal change may consist of, for example, a duplication, inversion, or exchange.Naked DNA (a) DNA that is deprived of its proteinic or lipidic coat. (b) In gene transfer, the term refers to DNA made up of a bacterial plasmid that contains the gene to be transferred.It is injected directly in the targeted tissue where it is usually expressed without being integrated in the genome of the host cells.Native race a population of usually heterozygous plants that were commonly developed in traditional agricultural systems through direct selection by farmers and which, characteristically, are adapted to local conditions.in plants, a result of cross-fertilization, usually under natural conditions, where one parent of a plant's genetic constitution is different to the other.The elimination of random alleles, without intervention from humans. (b) The process Darwin called the 'struggle for survival', whereby those organisms least adapted to their environment tend to die and the better adapted to survive. According to Darwinism, natural selection acts on a varied population, causing its evolution. Natural selection appears as the inevitable result of three basic facts of life: overpopulation, variability, and heredity.(adj.) said of a plant that is not native to a country or region but lives there, surviving as if it were indigenous.a biogeographical region, which spans several habitat types, but has strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level. It extends from southern Mexico, through Central America and the West Indies, and includes the South American continent. (See also Afrotropic.)the megasporangium, after it eventually forms the inner layer of the ovule wall.Nucleic acids biomolecules formed by nucleotide macropolymers or polynucleotides. Present in all cells, they constitute the basic material of heredity that is transmitted from one generation to another. Two types exist: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).Nucleoside a combination of a pentose sugar with a purine or pyrimidine nitrogenous base.Nucleotide a monomer of nucleic acids, made up of a combination of a nitrogenous base (purine or pyrimidine), sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and a phosphate group. It is the product of hydrolysis of nucleic acids through the action of nucleases.Nullisomic a plant that, if it were not for the lack of a pair of particular chromosomes, would be a normal diploid.Obsolete variety those plant varieties that are no longer cultivated commercially but may be kept in collections for use in improvement programmes.Offshoot or tiller (a) A characteristic type of lateral shoot or branch that develops from the base of the principal stem in certain plants. (b) The term 'tiller' is applied to several lateral shoots that emerge from the crowns of monocotyledons such as grasses.Operator a special segment of DNA, adjacent to the promoter, that is part of the controlling region for operon transcription. The operator interacts with the repressor protein, thus regulating the synchronized transcription of the corresponding operon.Operator gene the gene that stimulates the structural gene into functioning. Its activities may be modified by the regulatory gene.Operon a set of genes, comprising an operator gene and the structural genes that it controls.a biological entity able to reproduce itself or transfer genetic material. Microbiological entities are included within this concept, whether or not they are cellular. Almost all organisms are formed of cells, which may then be grouped into organs, and these into systems, each of which carries out particular functions.Orthodox seed seed that can be dried to low levels of moisture content and stored at low temperatures over long periods without losing viability. (See also Recalcitrant seed.)Out of danger a category of conservation status, describing a species or other taxon that had been included in a higher category on the continuum to extinction, but is now considered to be in a relatively safe state of conservation due to the adoption of effective conservation measures or elimination of previously existing threats. (See also Categories of species conservation.) PCR or polymerase chain reaction a technique for analysing the genome by an unlimited amplification of minuscule but particular parts of DNA. It is a revolutionary method of exponential amplification of DNA that uses the intervention of a heat-stable enzyme, the Taq polymerase. a plant that lives for 3 years or more. They may be woody such as shrubs and trees, or herbaceous. Herbaceous perennials may be evergreen; deciduous (i.e., the aerial organs are annual but the underground organs such as rhizomes and bulbs are persistent); or monocarpic, that is, living for many years until flowering and fruiting, after which they die, for example, Agave spp. (See also Annual; Biennial.)a flower that has stamens and pistils. (See also Imperfect flower.) Persistent (adj.) said of a plant organ that remains inserted or does not fall at maturity once it has fulfilled its physiological function. The set of all apparent characters expressed by an organism, whether these be hereditary or not.Phenotypic ratio the proportion of different phenotypes of a given progeny. (See also Genotypic ratio.)Physiognomy that aspect of a plant community or species that is subject to visual appraisal. It depends on the set of special structures and characteristic forms of its biological constituents.Physiological race those pathogens of the same species and variety that are similar structurally, but differ in their physiological and pathological characteristics and, especially, in their ability to parasitize different varieties of a given host.Phytosanitary quality or plant health quality the set of characteristics that plant germplasm should have with respect to the presence or absence of pathogens transmissible in planting materials and/or micro-organisms that cause deterioration during conservation.Polar nuclei the two central nuclei found within the megasporangium and which join with the second sperm cell in triple fusion. In certain seeds, the product of this triple fusion gives rise to the endosperm.a fine powder produced by anthers and male cones of seed plants, composed of pollen grains. Each grain encloses a developing male gamete, itself having originated from a microspore.Pollen stem cell see Microspore stem cell.Pollen tube a tube that, under favourable circumstances, develops from the pollen grain after being placed on the stigma of a flowering plant. It grows down the style to the ovary and eventually to an ovule. The sperm cell is carried to its destination in the tip of the pollen tube.Pollination the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma in flowering plants or from the male to the female cone in gymnosperms. (See also Cross-pollination; Self-pollination.)an isolated group of plants or clones distributed so that random cross-pollination can occur.Polymer a chemical compound formed by the combination of repeated structural units (monomers) or linear chains of the same molecule.Polymerase chain reaction see PCR.an organism with more than two sets of chromosomes in its cells. (See also Ploidy level.) Population a group of individuals of a species living in the wild in a given area. It is the most significant level of organization of a species and is also of evolutionary and conservational significance.a basic criterion that governs, a priori, any environmental action. The criterion is incorporated into the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, by which any substance, organism, or technology must demonstrate its compatibility with the environment and public health before its production and use are authorized.a basic criterion that governs, a posteriori, any environmental action. The criterion is incorporated into the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, by which the original cause of existing environmental damage is avoided to prevent it recurring.Prophylaxis or preventive treatment in phytosanitary procedures, a measure or set of measures taken to prevent the occurrence of disease. This may include the use of protectants, which are usually chemical agents, to prevent a given disease or diseases among plants.the condition of hermaphrodite plants where male gametophytes mature and are shed before female gametophytes are mature. (See also Dichogamy; Protogyny.) Proteins biomolecules formed by amino-acid macropolymers or macropolypeptides. They function as enzymes, hormones, and contractile structures that endow organisms their characteristic size, metabolic potential, colour, and physical capacities.Protocol a document of standardization that establishes the rationale, objectives, design, methodology, and foreseen analysis of results, and the conditions under which such activities are to be carried out and developed.in hermaphrodite plants, the condition where female gametes mature and are shed before male gametes mature. (See also Dichogamy; Protandry.) Protoplast a cell that is isolated and deprived of its cell wall.a taxonomic class of plants of ancient origins. The plants are principally characterized by the absence of true roots (they have rhizomes) and reproduce by spores.(adj.) said of vegetation that develops in the form of pads or cushions.A genetically pure line where all its members are homozygous, having originated from the self-fertilization of a simple homozygous individual. (b) Genetically pure individuals (homozygotes) who originated from self-fertilization and whose offspring are equally homozygous and homogeneous.Qualitative trait or discontinuous variation a trait whose observed variation is discontinuous, or which presents several states. It is usually controlled by one or a few genes, with little or no influence from the environment (e.g., yellow flower versus white flower).A trait that is determined by a series of independent genes that have cumulative effects. (b) Also continuous variation where a trait whose observed variation is continuous and is usually controlled by many genes, with strong influence from the environment.Glossary Quarantine a procedure of legal character that consists of confining or isolating plants or other materials introduced from other countries. They are then subjected to inspection to detect plant health problems that could threaten the agriculture of the country which they are entering.RAPD or random amplified polymorphic DNA polymorphic DNA amplified at random.(adj.) (a) A category of conservation status given to taxa whose world populations are small, but are not currently at risk of extinction or vulnerable, even though they are subject to a certain degree of risk. These taxa are normally located in restricted geographical areas or habitats, or have extremely low density over a more-or-less broad distribution. (b) With respect to species, the term refers to intraspecific taxa that apparently have always been scarce and are in their last stages of natural extinction. The protein that codes is a recombinant protein.Recalcitrant seed seed that cannot be dehydrated nor conserved at low temperatures without suffering damage. It can be stored for only few days or weeks under special treatment. Species that have recalcitrant seeds or do not produce seeds are usually conserved in field germplasm banks. In these areas, collections of live plants are kept, that is, the germplasm is conserved as a permanent live collection. (See also Orthodox seed.)Recessive gene (a) That gene which needs a double 'dose' to be expressed. (b) A gene that does not manifest itself in the presence of a counterpart or dominant allele. (See also Dominant gene.)Recombinant DNA see rDNA.Recombinant DNA technology see Genetic engineering.the formation of new gene combinations as a result of cross-fertilization between individuals that differ in their genotype.Recurrent parent or donor parent in plant improvement, in a back cross, that parent with which the hybrid material is again crossed.Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Recurrent selection that system of genetic improvement designed to increase the frequency of genes favourable for yield or other characteristics through repeated selection cycles.Regeneration or rejuvenation within the context of germplasm banks, the cultivation of a sample of an accession (e.g., seed, clone, in vitro plant, or other propagule) to produce fresh, viable, and sufficient samples of plants from which sexual or asexual seeds with similar genetic constitution can be harvested, and which permits the preservation, in a better state, of the seed or propagule when stored.Registered seed progeny of basic seed or certified seed that is produced and used in such a way that it satisfactorily maintains its identity and genetic purity. It is approved and certified by an official certification agency.with reference to crops, a species related to the cultivated form, growing in the wild, but not used in agriculture. It usually shows characteristics of both the cultivated species and its wild relatives.an ancient gene whose mutations can influence evolution. It also modifies the action of the operator gene.Relicts (adj. relict) in the sense of relics, those plants that had been dominant in other times, but which are now scarce. By extension, a country's original vegetation that remains or persists. Representative sample a sample that contains at least 95% of alleles (genetic variability) of the sampled population.Repressor gene that gene which represses the operator gene.Resilience the capacity of the ecosystem to fluctuate between given limits and thereby restore itself to its original state after disturbance. Such capacity operates within certain limits, beyond which the system is not able to return to the condition of pre-disturbance and, hence, is degraded towards pioneering successional states. The limits of resilience differ for different ecosystems, as does the speed of recovery. (See also Stability.)Resistance that characteristic of a host plant that enables it to prevent or delay the development of a pathogen or other harmful factor. (See also Susceptibility.)Restriction enzymes enzymes that bacteria synthesize in defence against the invasion of foreign DNA from, for example, bacteriophages, thereby degrading that DNA while remaining themselves protected through particular methylations. A restriction enzyme always divides the DNA in the same site, specific loci, or targeted sequences. Their scissor-like behaviour opened the doors to genetic engineering.RFLP or restriction fragment length polymorphism polymorphism along the length of restriction fragments.an underground stem that is usually horizontal and elongated. It differs from a root by the presence of nodes and internodes, sometimes scale-like leaves, and shoots in the nodes themselves.Ribonucleic acid see RNA.small cellular organelles found in all living beings where protein synthesis is carried out.the possibility or probability that a future harm will happen.RNA or ribonucleic acid nucleic acid formed by nucleotides in which the sugar is ribose, and the nitrogen bases are adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine. They act as intermediaries and complement the genetic instructions coded in the DNA. Several different types of RNA exist, related to protein synthesis; these are messenger RNA (mRNA, ribosomal RNA (rRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hnRNA). RNA is normally the product of the transcription of DNA template, although, in retroviruses, RNA acts as the template and DNA is the copy.the descending portion of the plant, fixing it in the soil. It also absorbs water and minerals and has a characteristic arrangement of vascular tissues.(adj.) said of environments and plant and animal species that are linked to human activities, either directly or indirectly. the symbol used to designate the original self-fertilized plant.S 1 , S 2 , etc. symbols used to designate the first self-fertilization (progeny of plant S 0 ), second self-fertilization (progeny of plant S 1 ), etc.a transitional zone lying immediately south of the Sahara Desert that is transitional between the northern desert and the southern savannah. It is a semi-arid zone of short grasslands with acacia. (See also Grassland.)a large region of Africa that lies between the Sahel and the belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests near the equator. Two forms are recognized: the Sudanian savannah (also called Sudan-unrelated to the nation of the same name), which is a belt of tall grasslands, and the forest-savannah, which is a transitional zone between the grasslands and the belt of tropical rainforests. (See also Grassland.)any process to rupture, scratch, or mechanically alter seed coats to make them permeable to water or gases.Secondary consumers, also heterotrophs these feed on the primary consumers. This level is composed of carnivores.(See also Primary producers.)Secondary production this represents the speed of storing energy at the levels of consumers and decomposers.It is therefore the increase in biomass per unit of time and space at these levels.Seed a mature ovule with its embryo and all the normal seed coats. In some plants, the seed also has an endosperm.Seed tubers or seed pieces small tubers or cut pieces of tubers used for planting new-season crops. They are stored during winter and later transplanted for seed production. Seed tubers are obtained from plants that have not been thinned. Seed pieces are obtained by cutting up tubers so that each piece carries an eye or set of eyes that, on planting, will grow into a new plant, as in potato.Stamen in plants, the male reproductive organ of the flower that comprises the anther and filament.Staminate flower a flower that bears stamens but has no pistils. (See also Pistillate flower.)the type of conservation that stops the natural processes of evolution and co-evolution of genetic resources, hence conserving them in isolation and outside their natural habitats.The term is applied specifically to ex situ conservation. the aseptic transfer of part of a plant in a collection to a fresh medium for renewal and strengthening.Multi-Institutional Distance Learning Course on the Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Transgenesis the artificial introduction of new genetic material into the genome of a plant through genetic engineering such that this new material can be inherited by progeny. This technique permits associations of genes that do not exist in nature, as they have been made to jump barriers between species and even higher taxa such as kingdoms. Transposon a mobile genetic element with a defined DNA sequence and which can be transferred to new positions in the cell's chromosome without losing the copy in its original position. Moreover, it behaves as a true intracellular parasite. Transposable elements of eukaryotes are grouped into two categories, according to their mechanism of transposition: class 1 (retrotransposons), which jump to the genome through an intermediate step, that is, through RNA and with the intervention of the enzyme known as inverse transcriptase; and class 2, which transpose directly from one chromosomal site to another by means of a different enzyme (transposase).Trihybrid the result of one cross between parents that differ in three specific genes.An organism which has three sets of chromosomes, that is, a chromosome number of 3n. (b) (adj.) Having three sets of chromosomes. (See also Ploidy level.) Tuber a modified stem structure that develops underground as a consequence of swelling in the subapical part of a stolon and the subsequent accumulation of reserve materials.an infectious cell-free entity that, even though it can survive extracellularly as a virion, is an obligate parasite because it can replicate only within specific live cells, generating no energy or metabolic activity. The permanent components of a virus are nucleic acid (DNA or RNA, single or double stranded) and a protein coat known as capsid. In some cases, these basic structures have an outer lipid membrane or envelope (also called peplos), which sometimes also carries glycoprotein spikes.Voluntary release of GMOs the deliberate introduction of a GMO or combination of GMOs into the environment without measures of containment such as physical barriers or a combination of these with chemical or biological barriers having been adopted to limit the GMOs' contact with the human population and the environment.Vulnerable a category of conservation status, describing taxa that are believed to become at risk of extinction should the causal factors of threat continue operating. Such taxa include those for which most or all their populations are diminishing due to overexploitation, widespread habitat destruction, or other environmental alterations; or whose populations have been seriously exhausted and whose definitive protection is still not ensured; or whose populations are still abundant, but are under threat from severe adverse factors throughout their area of distribution. Vulnerable taxa are those whose populations have been reduced to such critical levels or whose habitats have been so drastically reduced that they are at imminent risk of extinction. (See also Categories of species conservation.) Wild species those groups of organisms that are regularly found in nature and have not been domesticated.in genetics, a species or organism that carries the normal form of a gene or genes, as opposed to a mutant.Working collection or breeder's collection that collection of germplasm accessions used for crop research and improvement.(See also Active collection; Base collection; Core collection.)Xenia the immediate effect of pollen on the characteristics of endosperm.Zygote the cell that results from the fusion of gametes.Glossary","tokenCount":"65011"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3387014697.json b/data/part_1/3387014697.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e20cbb5be33c1e49730aa10d63533eda95ffdbb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3387014697.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0aa565fd783a35f916d79bb355b39ba4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f0fdda95-d98b-4a3b-8f0d-d107118a13d9/retrieve","id":"351695215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7ad3c32f-50d0-4df9-802e-0c30ef18a62f","pagecount":"12","content":"Cette liste des descripteurs de passeport \"multi-cultures\" (MCPD en anglais) V.2.1, est une mise à jour de la publication MCPD V.2 publiée en 2012. La liste MCPD V.2 était une révision de la première version FAO IPGRI publié en 2001 enrichie pour répondre aux besoins émergents, tels que l'utilisation plus large d'outils GPS, ou la mise en oeuvre du Système multilatéral d'accès et de partage des avantages du Traité international sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture.La liste MCPD, élaborée conjointement par Bioversity International (anciennement IPGRI) et la FAO, a été largement utilisée et fournit des normes internationales qui facilitent l'échange de données passeport du matériel génétique. Ces descripteurs ont pour objectif d'être compatibles avec les listes de descripteurs des plantes cultivées élaborées par Bioversity, avec les descripteurs utilisés par le Système mondial d'information et d'alerte rapide (WIEWS) sur les ressources phytogénétiques (RPG) de la FAO, et avec le portail mondial GENESYS.Chaque descripteur de passeport multi-cultures est accompagné d'une brève explication du contenu, du système de codage et du nom de champ suggéré. L'Annexe I fournit un accès simple à la «Liste historique des changements importants» des versions précédentes MCPD.(i) Si un champ permet de renseigner plusieurs valeurs, celles-ci doivent être séparées par un point-virgule (;) sans espace (exemple: Nom de l'accession: Symphony;Emma;Songino).(ii) Si aucune donnée n'est disponible pour un champ donné, celui-ci doit rester vide (exemple: Altitude). Si les données sont échangées sous format ASCII, pour un champ ne comportant pas de valeur numérique, il doit rester vide. Si les données sont échangées sous un format de base de données, les valeurs numériques manquantes doivent être représentées par des valeurs génériques \"NULL\" (VIDE).(iii) Les dates sont enregistrées sous le format AAAAMMJJ. Si le mois ou le jour sont manquants, ils doivent être remplacés par des tirets ou \"00\" [double zéro]. Si les deux (mois et jour) sont manquants, insérer deux doubles zéros (exemple: 1975----, 19750000 ou 197506--, 19750600).(iv) Noms de pays: Les codes ISO de trois lettres (ISO 3611-1) sont utilisés pour les pays. La liste des codes et le pays, ou les codes numériques du pays ou de la région ajoutés ou modifiés sont disponibles en ligne:http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49alpha.htm.Remarque: La liste des codes désuets est également disponible en ligne: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-3#Reserved_code_elements.(v) Pour les instituts, les codes WIEWS de la FAO doivent être utilisés. La liste des codes des instituts en vigueur est disponible sur le site web de la FAO Identifiant unique pour les accessions au sein d'une banque de gènes et est attribué au moment de l'introduction d'un échantillon dans la collection (exemple: \"PI 113869\").Identificateur original attribué par le(s) collecteur(s) à l'échantillon. Il est normalement composé du nom ou des initiales du/des collecteur(s) suivi(s) d'un numéro (exemple : \"FM9909\"). Cet identifiant est essentiel pour identifier les doubles conservés dans des collections différentes.Code WIEWS de la FAO de l'institut ayant effectué la collecte de l'échantillon. Si l'échantillon a été collecté par l'institut détenteur, le code de l'institut collecteur (COLLCODE) sera le même que celui de l'institut détenteur (INSTCODE). La norme suivie est la même que pour INSTCODE. Les valeurs multiples sont séparées par un point-virgule sans espace.Nom de l'institut ayant effectué la collecte de l'échantillon. Ce descripteur ne doit être utilisé qu'au cas où le COLLCODE ne pourrait pas être pourvu parce que le code WIEWS de la FAO pour cet institut n'est pas disponible. Les valeurs multiples sont séparées par un point-virgule sans espace.Adresse de l'institut ayant effectué la collecte de l'échantillon. Ce descripteur ne doit être utilisé qu'au cas où le COLLCODE ne pourrait pas être pourvu parce que le code WIEWS de la FAO pour cet institut n'est pas disponible. Les valeurs multiples sont séparées par un point-virgule sans espace.Identifiant de la mission de collecte attribué par l'institut collecteur (4 ou 4.1) (exemple: \"CIATFOR-052\" ou \"CN426\").Nom de genre du taxon. La première lettre doit être en majuscule.La partie correspondant à l'épithète d'espèce dans le nom scientifique doit apparaître en lettres minuscules. Seule l'abréviation suivante est permise: \"sp\".Indiquer le nom d'auteur se rapportant à l'espèce.Les sous-taxons peuvent être utilisés pour ajouter tout identifiant taxonomique supplémentaire.Les abréviations suivantes sont admises: \"subsp.\" (pour sous-espèces); \"convar.\" (pour convariété); \"var.\" (pour variété); \"f.\" (pour forme); \"Group\" (pour \"groupe de cultivars\").Indiquer le nom d'auteur se rapportant au sous-taxon de plus bas niveau taxonomique.Le nom commun de la plante. Exemple: \"malting barley\", \"macadamia\", \"maïs\". Code ISO 3166-1 de trois lettres du pays dans lequel l'échantillon a été initialement collecté (exemple: race locale, espèces sauvages apparentées aux plantes cultivées, variété de l'agriculteur), amélioré ou sélectionné (ligne de l'améliorateur, OGM, population ségrégant, hybrides, cultivars avancés, etc.).Remarque: Les descripteurs de 14 à 16 ci-dessous doivent être remplis seulement si a été \"collectée\".Informations concernant la localisation au sein du pays, décrivant le lieu où l'accession a été collectée, si possible en anglais. Elles peuvent comprendre la direction et la distance en kilomètres depuis la ville, le village ou le point de référence sur la carte les plus proches (exemple: 7 Km au sud de Curitiba dans l'État du Paraná). Pour les descripteurs de latitude et longitude, deux formats sont proposés. Néanmoins, seul le format adopté pour la collecte doit être utilisé. Latitude et longitude en degrés décimaux avec une précision de quatre décimaux correspond à environ 10 mètres de l'équateur et décrit le point de rayon du site avec la référence géodésique et l'incertitude des coordonnées en mètres.Remarque: Les deux formats suivants qui s'excluent mutuellement peuvent être employés pour la latitude:15.1 Latitude du site de collecte (degrés décimaux) (DECLATITUDE)Latitude exprimée en degrés décimaux. Les valeurs positives se trouvent au nord de l'équateur, les négatives au sud de l'équateur (exemple: -44.6975).Degrés (2 chiffres), minutes (2 chiffres) et secondes (2 chiffres), suivis par N (Nord) ou S (Sud) (exemple: 103020S). Chaque valeur manquante (minutes ou secondes) doit être indiquée par un tiret. Les zéros doivent être écrits avant les chiffres (exemple: 10----S; 011530N; 4531--S).Remarque: Les deux formats suivants qui s'excluent mutuellement peuvent être employés pour la longitude:Longitude exprimée en degrés décimaux. Les valeurs positives sont à l'Est (E) du méridien de Greenwich, les négatifs à l'Ouest (W) (exemple: +120.9123).15.4 Longitude du site de récolte (degrés, minutes, secondes) (LONGITUDE)Degrés (3 chiffres), minutes (2 chiffres) et secondes (2 chiffres), suivis par E (Est) ou W (Ouest) (exemple: 0762510W). Chaque valeur manquante (minutes ou secondes) doit être indiquée par un tiret. Les zéros doivent être écrits avant les chiffres (exemple: 076----)Incertitude associée aux coordonnées en mètres. Laisser le champ vide si la valeur est inconnue.Les données géodésiques ou le système de référence spatiale sur lesquelles se basent les coordonnées (latitude et longitude) en degrés décimaux (exemple: WGS84, ETRS89, NAD83). Le GPS utilise la référence de WGS84.La méthode de géoréférenciation utilisée (GPS, carte, dictionnaire géographique ou logiciel). Laisser le champ vide si la méthode de géoréférenciation est inconnue.L'élévation du site de collecte exprimée en mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer. Les valeurs négatives sont admises.Date de collecte de l'échantillon. AAAA correspondant à l'année, MM au mois et JJ au jour. Les données manquantes (MM ou JJ) doivent être indiquées par des tirets ou \"00\" [double zéro].Code WIEWS de la FAO de l'institut dans lequel le matériel a été amélioré. Si c'est l'institut détenteur qui a fait les croisements, son code (BREDCODE) doit être le même que celui de l'institut détenteur (INSTCODE). La norme suivie est la même que pour INSTCODE. Les valeurs multiples sont séparées par un point-virgule sans espace.Nom de l'institut (ou de la personne) ayant amélioré le matériel. Ce descripteur ne doit être utilisé qu'au cas où le BREDCODE ne pourrait pas être pourvu parce que le code WIEWS de la FAO pour cet institut n'est pas disponible. Les valeurs multiples sont séparées par un point-virgule sans espace.Le système de codage proposé peut être utilisé à 3 niveaux de précision différents soit en utilisant les codes généraux (en gras) tels que 100, 200, 300, 400 soit en utilisant les codes plus spécifiques tels que 110, 120, etc.  Oui (il est inclus) 99 Autre (préciser dans le champ Remarques, exemple: \"en cours d'élaboration\")Le champ Remarques est utilisé pour ajouter des notes ou donner des détails sur les descripteurs de valeur 99 ou 999 (= Autre). Faire précéder les remarques du nom du champ auquel elles se rapportent suivi par de deux-points (:) sans espace (exemple: COLLSRC:bord de route). Séparer par un point-virgule sans espace les remarques se rapportant à différents champs.","tokenCount":"1389"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3395434251.json b/data/part_1/3395434251.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c9cfa56d4c2a2fd47ae2f36fedc93650a2c0606a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3395434251.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0bda750df3335fc0f9cbb2a77ee0e13","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea014c03-4c88-48a0-9867-b4a2562c2e69/retrieve","id":"1803410881"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"81d1bcf3-43ce-430f-8c82-be3f106ea921","pagecount":"11","content":"Kertolli, Emirjona. 2023. Multi-criteria analysis of climate change adaptation and socio-economic uncertainty strategies in drylands. Workshop Report.On March 16, 2023, we held a workshop in Meknes, Morocco, under the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR). The main objective was to identify the adaptation strategies that farmers in Saiss plain can implement in their farming systems in order to cope with climate change and socio-economic uncertainties and also to assess their feasibility by using a multicriteria analysis approach.The main question that we sought to answer during the seminar was which interventions would be the most feasible and efficient to apply in the study area?Throughout the workshop, we considered as ad-hoc several scenarios based on two entry points: Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Agroecological practices, and we evaluated them with a set of socialeconomic-environmental criteria. This workshop offered insightful knowledge and practical abilities that can be used in a range of settings, from industry, agriculture, and government to private decision-making.This mission was also an opportunity to establish a consortium that will have both regional and national reach (table 1 & table 2), where their main role was to validate the scenarios. In the national group, the members were ONCA, INRA, ENA Meknes, and IAV, as ONCA and INRA focused on policy and research; meanwhile, ENA Meknes and IAV specialized in agricultural education and innovation. For the regional group, the participants in this workshop were chosen from a variety of backgrounds such as farmers, engineers, professors, and others who shared a common interest in improving farming systems under climate change and have a greater level of involvement and expertise in the field. I divided the meeting into two steps. The first meeting was with a large group of stakeholders, and it was followed by a second meeting with Rachid Moussadek, as the Joint Senior Principal Scientist (ICARDA/INRA), but also due to his significant experience with CA.The methodology consists of a participatory nexus approach that involved the participation of farmers and other local stakeholders. This process emphasizes the valuable knowledge and experience of both parties with respect to adaptation strategies with the aim to rank the strategies that are considered potentially feasible solutions for the study area.The methodology consisted of three steps: i) The first step was to identify adaptation strategies, and it was mainly done by building on a literature review, the expectation of the New Green Generation policy but also based on previous meetings with two experts in charge of CA and agroecology. ii) The second step was the selection of the stakeholders, which was done with the help of our partners ENA Meknes, IAV, ICARDA, and INRA. The selection of the stakeholders was based on some criteria such as selecting farmers and other stakeholders who are not directly involved in conservation agriculture, farmers in terms of the objective of production (market or self-consumption), and stakeholder representees in national and local decision-making. For instance, INRA has the national vision and ENA the regional vision. iii) The third step was the organization of a physical workshop with the participation of all the stakeholders identified in the previous step, where we validated the list of adaptation strategies, and then we did the scoring of these strategies for their feasibility and performance (figure 1).Figure 2 explains the main steps that we followed for the organization of the workshop.First, we divided the participants into two large groups. The first group was composed of farmers and the second one of other stakeholders. The two groups were provided with a list of 16 adaptation strategies for validation. As mentioned before, these strategies were derived from literature review, the Green Generation Plan, and the previous meetings with experts on CA and agroecology. Another document will be developed to explain these strategies.These strategies were then scored by the two groups while considering the technical, economic, and environmental criteria. By using this approach, the main idea was that each group could express their perception about the strategies that were the most important or had the greatest potential for impact in the area. In order for the stakeholders to be clear about each criterion, we provided them with a table of explanations for each criterion (table 3).After scoring, the stakeholders did the validation of the weights that we initially proposed based on the literature (table 4) and specific arguments will be given later to explain and justify the weights. TheyStep 1: design focus groupsStep 2: explain the objective of the workshopStep 3: validate the adaptation strategiesStep 4: score the adaptation strategiesStep 5: validate the weightsStep 6: discuss and examine resultssuggested increasing the weight for the environment criterion. Before, it was 0.3, and they increased it to 0.45 due to several problems that the region is facing with climate change.The last step was the discussion of scoring between the two groups to understand the reasons for certain scores, the uncertainties regarding the 16 adaptation strategies, and the challenges.After finishing the workshop, to understand and quickly compare the previous feedback, we analyzed the data that we received from the two groups: farmers and the other group of stakeholders. However, a deeper analysis will be developed later on. The feasibility assessment (Figures 2,3,and 4) between the other stakeholders and farmers identified adaptation strategies that are key to be implemented in the Meknes area.According to the other stakeholders, the use of drought-resistant varieties should be the top priority for implementation to solve the problem of water scarcity (figure 2). A moderate technical capacity would be required; farmers must be aware of the traits of the improved seeds, selection, storage, and changes in the agronomic practices (Figure 3.1). Profitability would be higher than using traditional seeds as there will be higher yields due to improved soil nutrition and climate resilience, and there will be a reduction in water use.Meanwhile, the results from farmers differ (Figure 2 & 4.1). According to their scoring, agroforestry based on the association of olive trees with legume crops should be a priority in the area. They believe it will enhance soil health by enhancing soil fertility and structure, and water use efficiency. Also, this practice is considered profitable as the diversified production will increase the farm income and provide additional sources of revenue.Soil conservation and minimum tillage practices are ranked in the 4 th and 5 th place as farmers are aware of conservation agriculture. They have seen the farmer leaders implementing these practices, so they know the impact of implementing these practices in the farming system in Meknes (figure 4). They scored these practices higher by including them in the top five priorities for the study area to prevent soil degradation that might happen due to climate change and the use of fertilizers. According to them, these practices can have an impact on water and soil as well, which can reduce the quantity of water loss and decrease crop irrigation needs, build organic matter, and fix soil structure. Meanwhile, for the experts, these strategies are ranked very low, and their point of view differs from farmers. According to experts, these practices require high technical capacity, and the farmer cannot implement them without some training or the help of the extension services. There will be costs for implementation of these practices and the results may not be as expected. Both groups (farmers and other stakeholders) suggested that using fewer fertilizers should not be considered in the list of adaptation strategies (because for the smallholder farmers in Meknes, it would mean no production). Another strategy that was eliminated was establishing schemes for revolving loans for women. According to the participants, women in Meknes are not head of the farm and cannot be due to cultural norms in the region (Figure 5). By September, we aim to write a paper that illustrates stakeholder perceptions, where the most promising adaptation strategies will be assessed based on the nexus approach, which will involve mobilizing the DAHBSIM model.","tokenCount":"1310"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3408928150.json b/data/part_1/3408928150.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..61ddae34f37609f115ecb4ea2020d5f2d6b98c43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3408928150.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"471a65781aec2cd5424423c29fdd6a53","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f18a6e1-29f2-4541-bd82-3a22b8847070/retrieve","id":"627753896"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"96ffc881-f600-4cb9-9577-5f6038de0192","pagecount":"11","content":"2 -a 5-minute event-opening documentary that summarizes the problems and why action is necessary -made as a documentary ahead of the event. This is a very powerful and quick way to ensure that proceedings start with all participants on the same page.Here is an example, made for the ILRI -AGRA Markets Conference: http://ilri.blip.tv/file/1990303/ 3 -film is taken of important moments in a conference or event, including interviews with key people attending. With editing, this footage can then be used to summarize the achievements made during the event. It can be shared with those who could not attend but want to participate. It will form a record of how the process grew.What can film do for me and my project? Some of the format options that have already proved themselves useful at ILRI and other CGIAR centres are:1 -a 2-minute summary of key statements made as a documentary for release to international media ahead of a big event like a conference or a project launch event. This would need to be made before the launch date, so that it can be used by whoever is handling your PR. It would reinforce the significance of the event before it happens. 2-minute summary films get picked up by broadcasters' web sites (we have supplied to sites such as BBC and Scientific American). They also generate interest within the media which often ends in greater news coverage on the day by both print and broadcast houses.4 -a 10-20-minute documentary is made of your project for educational and / or public information purposes. This can have many uses. It can provide donor feedback. It can spread understanding of new topics or concepts through broadcasts using national tv channels, or by use during community meetings. It can be a reward or incentive for partners. If aimed at local stakeholders, and produced in a range of languages, it can be a useful training tool where extension workers cannot cover large enough areas.Here is an example, made for CIP: http://www.ilrifilmworld.blip.tv/ 5 -a 2-3 minute interview summarizing key messages for large events. This form of media release can combine a talk-tocamera interview with footage from the regions. An example was the Carlos Seré interview done for COP 15, which allowed him to deliver his ideas widely without traveling so much.Here is an example, made for COPENHAGEN 15: http://ilri.blip.tv/file/2985530/ 6 -a 15-18-minute 'Ted Talk' interview. Here, a scientist talks about his / her area of expertise, simply, without cutting to other images except audience shots. This is a powerful way to share ideas and passion. Good examples get wide viewing on YOU TUBE and other web channels, though the talks often needs a bit of practice on the part of the speaker. (Go to tedtalk.com to find many great examples.)Here is an example for International Women's Day 2010: http://ilri.blip.tv/file/3418393/ 7 -a 5-7-minute documentary summarizing a problem and solutions. This format is designed to explain the need for continued or increased finance, to donors or the general public. It summarizes the problem and the forms that solutions might take.Here is an example, made for the visit of World Bank-financed parliamentarians: http://www.ilrifilmworld.blip.tv/ 8 -a 7-10-minute 'day in the life' documentary. Films like this are extremely powerful emotionally, and allow science to engage the public or the media. The importance of agricultural and scientific research can be shown by example. Such communication tools have been successful in explaining the need for continued investment in agriculture for European populations that have no personal experience of African realities.outlets. This item is not an edited film, but is made up of carefully selected background footage of your story (usually 80 or so shots), produced in a format that the tv networks can use nationally and internationally. This kind of targeted communications tool makes a huge difference to whether a network will cover your story or not. Many do not have budgets for additional filming, but are eager for good quality footage that they can edit themselves. The b-roll package would be delivered with your text article summarizing key points (provided by your project), and an itemized list of what each shot is. In this way you retain some control of the way your story is told.Packages like this have been made for many events including Copenhagen 15, the GALVmed launch of ILRI's live ECF vaccine and the IBLI launch.How does the documentary making process work? Documentary making comes in 3 distinct phases.The organization happens first. This is when we jointly decide on the best locations for filming your story. I will talk to you about key issues, then write a list of shots that I want to take in order to tell your story. We need to know from you who on the ground can escort the film crew since we need to be taken round by someone that the local population knows, and who also knows the project, and can translate interviews for us. At this stage a consensus is needed on the ten most important points of the project, produced in bullet point form.Production: Filming is next. Covering a science story will take a minimum of 3 days of filming for each country / location you want covered, not counting traveling time to get to the area. It is always better to add more days however if you can -this will give the crew time to catch activities that often do not happen in accessible locations or at useful times. When you are planning locations that you want the film crew to visit it is good to keep traveling to a minimum. The crew cannot film in a moving car, or after dark.In addition to filming that specifically deals with the issues of your own project, all ILRIFILM clients are able to benefit from ILRI's large footage archives, which cover many parts of the livestock and more general agricultural conditions existing in some regions of the following: Mali Malawi Mozambique North East India Ethiopia Kenya South Korea However, since film is usually taken while we are following one or two specific stories, please understand we do not have footage of EVERYTHING. We have lots of footage in our film archive to offer now, but it is inevitable that you will want footage that we haven't yet got. That's because everybody's story is different.Our archive also has another section -farmer interviews from all the above countries. If anyone is interested in reading the interview transcript archive, please let us know the country. All interviews relate to agriculture, most to livestock. These are in constant use for all our films, but could also be useful on websites and also as a source of quotations for papers, etc.The next stage is the editing. The length of your film will be decided by what you want it to do for you, and who your audiences are. Post-production includes such things as the footage edit, narration recording, sub-titling, colour and sound correction, addition of names and credits.How long do films take to make? For a 20-minute film, this whole process might take about 6 weeks. For a 2-minute film, it will probably take a week. Extra options (translations, animations etc) add to the time. After the film edit process is over, the DVD production begins. This takes between 5 and10 days.How much time will I have to give to make my film happen? Making films is a complex process and needs your thought and input. However, a well-made film can save you huge amounts of time in the future. For example, it can reduce staff travel, and time spent explaining issues to visitors by giving an alternative method of delivering messages; it can help cut numbers of extension workers needed for information services; it can cross language barriers and reach the wider public.How can I be sure my film is what I need? We need your help to make sure your film is crafted for your needs, and contains your messages. The inputs we need from you include:We need you to write the 10 key points to appear in your film -as bullet points. We need to make use of your contacts in the field to locate a translator who understands your project, and also farmers that demonstrate your story. Your key deadlines for the film production.We need you to take part in the scripting process. With your 10 bullet points we will write a draft script. This we will send to you, so you can share it with your key decision makers on the film production. A team of 3 would be ideal here. Your team might include a key partner, research colleague, or theme leader for example. Please remember however, that if you make your team too large the film will suffer. You cannot make a good film by committee. With your comments, and the comments of your team, we will hold a meeting with ILRI Directors and other key communicators.The idea here will be to check the messaging from ILRI's standpoint. After the meeting the script will be updated by the film crew, then circulated to your team for final sign-off so that the film editing can begin We also need logos for the DVD box cover Credits for the end of the film A list of what you want your film for, and how it will be played (the hardware) in each venueWhen the film edit is about 2/3 of the way through, we will ask you to a viewing of your rough film. At this stage you can make changes if necessary to the words or images that do not tell your story. For longer films (over 5 minutes) we will if you like, make the changes then invite you back to view them before we proceed to the next stage in the edit. After the second viewing we will ask you to sign a form to say you will not make more changes. If you cannot view your film in person, we will put in on to our roughcuts website and send you the URL.What format will my film be in and how will it be delivered? There are hundreds of film formats for you to choose from, each one doing a different job. When we make a film we make a high-resolution 'raw copy' that needs to be converted for your specific use.When you tell us what you want your film for -a conference or your website or to project through a computer or a DVD player with a projector, television, etc -we then have to convert it. Each conversion takes a long time, so you must tell us at the beginning of the project what you plan to do with the film. (We don't do extra conversions unless asked to do so at the beginning of the film project.)For example, the films on BLIP are highly compressed -low qualityso that they run on the web. They look good on BLIP but look bad when they are enlarged and projected onto a wall or screen.If you decide after your project is over that you want your film in another format (for another purpose) we will therefore have to charge extra.After the film edit process is over, we can then begin to produce bulk copies of it on DVDs if you want that.What does film making cost? This is a very common and vital question with an annoyingly complex answer, because every film project is different. Not only is there a range of film formats each taking a different length of time to make, but there is a range of other services that can be added on.1Film costs are separate from editing costs. As a rough guide film crew and equipment hire is about $1200 a day -film license, food, accommodation, interview transcription transport and translator costs have to be added to that. 2Filming costs can be reduced if projects get together to organize the filming. For example, all transport, food, accommodation, and film license costs can be shared.","tokenCount":"1996"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3412793656.json b/data/part_1/3412793656.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b3105aca120dbb46b8724a767554fbe9a8743073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3412793656.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dfc18d1ad14dd0414449e648997ddea4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3b852a78-d13d-4aff-8341-1df42e8eda83/retrieve","id":"1077035571"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87c5a27a-5ea7-47da-a7d5-e115a5ed4330","pagecount":"25","content":"El análLsis se empezó buscando una funcLón de oferta y otra de demanda que representaran el mercado del producto con y sin la intervención gu-bernameuta1, las dos ecuaciones seleccionadas fueron Lag QO Q 5 818265 + O 104106 dI + O 151320 Lag P j + O 362873 Log H + O 234704 Log P* .A. Log Pe = 0.069893 + 0.0349815 Log ID -O 728781 Lag QO + O 728781 Log Pobl. con una elasticidad de oferta de O 234704 Y de demanda de -1.37215 La diferencia entre los \"costos sociales\" causados con y sin la inte!; vencl.6n gubernamental (costos sociales \"netos\") resultaron relativamente b!; jos y oscilan entre el 0.165 y el O 0006 por ciento del valor de la producción de los aftas respectLvoS Por el lado de los precios y de los ingresos en nivel productor se e~ contró que la pol!tl.ca del gobierno no ha tenido un efecto \"SLgnificativamente estabilizador\" i ,~ . • Néstor F Gut.érrez Reed Hertford** COSTOS SOCIALES DE LOS PRECIOS DE SUSTEN~CION EN ARROZ * 1 INTRODUCCIONEn Colombia no se dispone de una herramienta apropiada para determinar la mejor distribución de los fondos desc.nados a los programas de esta-b1lizaeión de precios a nivel próductor en los productos agropecuar1os En este trabajo se propuso el autor encontrar un método para calcular el costo soc1al de los precios de sustentación en arroz con miras a lograr un erite-r10 cuant1f1cable fácil de comparar con otras estimaciones que se lleven a cabo en otros productos y facilitar así una mejor canalización de los fondos del IDEMA destinados a 105 precios de sustentación 2 OBJETIVOS Con base en el desarrollo hist6rico de la producci6n y la política arro cera a part1r de 1950 se procedL6 a plantear un modelo simple de oferta y de-* Adaptaci6n y resumen de la tesis de grado presentada al Programa para Graduados en CiencLas Agrarias UN-lCA por el autor pr1ncipal, para optar al título de Magister Sc.entiae. , 2 manda de arroz en Colombia para luego derivar de él los costos sociales de la 1ntervenci6n gubernamental por medio de los precios de sustentación.Los objetivos específicos del trabajo son cuatro 1. Formular un modelo de oferta y demanda de arroz paddy en Colombia, considerando la intervención del gobierno en la producci6n y el mercadeo, 2 Obtener el valor de los costos sociales de los precios de susten-taci6n en arroz en el período comprendido entre 1950-1969 3 Estudiar los efectos de la política estatal sobre los preclos e ingresos a nivel productor 4 Dar recomendaciones al IDE~ para emplear mejor sus recursos disponibles en los programas de precios de sustentación con miras a obtener la utilizaci6n 6ptima de dichos recursos desde el punto de vista socialComo un primer paso del trabajo se buscaron los valores estimados de los coeficientes de las variables incluidas dentro de las funciones de ofeE ta y demanda respectivamente 3 1 OFERTA Se hizo la suposici6n de que la cantidad ofrecida de arroz estaba en función de una serie de variables, incluyendo insumo s fijos por medio del número de hectáreas sembradas con el cultivo, lnsumos variables con el_crédlto, precio a nivel productor de los bienes complementarlOS o competitivos• 3 en el uso de la tierra de arroz (por ejemplo algodón en rama, cana de azú car, ajonjolí, soya y trigo), tiempo y el precio esperado por el productor Para escoger las variables que debían entrar en la función definitiva se t2 mó como criterio principal el grado de aignificancia La funclón escogida qued6 conformada así donde todas las B corresponden a los coeficientes estimados en las regresi2 nes para cada variable, QO producci6n nacional sin incluir mercado externo, C es el intercepto, dI una vansble \"ficticia\" 1 1 , P j precio de ajonjoH a nivel mayorista, H número de hectáreas sembradas en arroz en todo el pars in cluyendo secano, P* precio esperado El concepto de precio esperado como u na func~6n de la ponderación del precio de sustentaci6n y del precio pagado por los particulares a los productores en el afto anterior, es decir,(2)Log P* .. Log r t-l P~ + (1 -<Át-l) donde ~ es el porcentaje de compras del gobierno sobre el total de producción, pg precio de sustentación pagado por el gobierno en térmlnos moneta-  Al plantear las ecuaciones en términos logarítmicos se consiguen dire~ tamente las elasticidades en los coeficientes de regresi6nLas variables \"fictl.cl.as\" se usan para introducir en la ecuaci6n de r,!.gres1.6n el efecto de variables cualitativas o de aquellas que por alguna ra-z6n no se pueden CUSiltlftca\",,,pazostIlDIIIBr(en\\Queal1a estes variables se les a-Sl.gnan valores de uno y cero con el fín de averiguar si su presencia o ause~ cia causa diferencias en la combinaci6n de los coeficientes en dos regresiones, debido a cambios en el intercepto, a cambios en la pendiente o a ambos, para el primer tipo de cambio debe introducirse la nueva variable en forma de suma y para el segundo en forma de multiplicaci6n, ya dentro de la regre-si6n les corresponderá un coeficiente parcial de intercepto o pendiente según sea el caso Si los coeficientes resultan estadísticamente significativos el valor del intercepto será la suma de la constante más el valor del coefl.ciente de regresi6n de la variable \"ficticia\" en forma de suma Con el otro tipo de variable el valor de la pendiente será la suma del coeficiente de la variable \"ficticia\" multiplicativa y el valor del coeficiente de la v.!!, riable independiente Se l.ncluy6 una variable de esta clase (dI) con el fín de poder observar el desplazamiento en la funci6n de oferta debido a la intervenci6n gube~ namental en base a los vol~nes comprados por el iobierno a partir de 1950(Ver Tabla 8, Apéndice 11) !I En el período comprendido entre 1950 y 1960 ninguna compra gubernamental sobrepasó el 3 por ciento del total de compras, para los aftos siguientes se observaron cantidades más significativas, con esta evidenc4a se procedió a introducir la nueva var1able con un valor de O en el primer perLado (1950-60) y de 1 en el lapso de 1961-1969 Para observar el cambio en las dos func40nes se debe cons~derar en la oferta sin intervención del aobierno la variable \"fl.ctic1a\" nula, Bldl = 0, quedandoLog QO = e + B 2 Log P l   .-~I En cada regresión el número superior es el coeficiente estimado y entre paréntesis aparece el valor de \"t\" de cada variable.tar sin embargo que n1 el número ni el origen de la lnformaci6n de las varlables cons1deradas coincidieron en ambos trabajos El coeflclente del lngreso disponlble en algunos casos (Tabla 2) dió negativo, consistente con la alta concentración de ingresos en los estratos 6/ super10res -que puede estar d1sml~uyendo el porcentaje de ingreso gastado en alimentos a medida que los lngresos aumentan Como esta hipótesis reeu! ta difíCll de probar y como una forma de solucionar el problema de la alta intercorrelac16n entre las variables, se procedió a introduclr en la ecua-7/ c16n una elasticidad lngreso para arroz de O 480 calculada para Cali -Se debe notar aquí que esta elasticldad mostró ser la más alta entre todas las farinaceas allí consideradas Esta aproximaci6n puede aceptarse con a! gunas reservas ya que no se puede asegurar que las elasticldades lngreso sean tan altas en las áreas rurales La introducci6n de esta elasticidad ingreso conoclda redujo la elastlcidad precio de -2 45575 a -1 37215 e in- les (a precios de 1952), se notan incrementos en los costos de los últimos ados que se pueden exp11car por las mayores diferencias entre los precios esperados y los precios de demanda. Junto con las mayores diferencias entre las cantidades ofrec1das y las cant1dades de equilibrio Los \"costos soci,! les\" oCIIli1onados por la l.ntervencl.ón gubernamental pueden aparecer como muy bajos. Por supuesto no entra en la Tabla 3 la totalidad de los gastos de adm1n1stración del programa de precl.OS de sustentación y tampoco se incluyen de manera especial los costos de transporte de los centros de producción a las bodegas La razón para no 1nclu1rlos está en que parte de estos gastos se consideran como transferencl.as del gobierno hac1a los particulares 121 Se refiere al trabajo original l!1 Se refiere al trabajo orl.ginalComo la partl.clpacl.ón de los particulares tambJ.én ocaSl.ona \"costos 5,2 c1.a1es\", las d1.ferenc1.as entre los ocasionados por el gobl.erno y los part!culares se considera como el exceso de costos causados por la particlpaCl.Ón del gob1.erno en el mercado.En la Tabla 4 se compara el valor del \"costo socutl neto\" de la part:!;.Cl.paCl.ón gubernamental en el mercado de arroz con el valor total de la pro- Por medio de los resultados se logró establecer que los \"costos sociales netos\" causados por la intervenc16n gubernamental en el mercado de arroz no const1tuyen un porcentaje considerable camparadas con el valor de la producc~6n 5. Se establec16 que la polítlca de precios del goblerno no ha tenido un efecto \"establlizador\" sobre los precios ni sobre los 1ngr~ sos a nlvel productor Luego la acci6n gubernamental dirigida exclusivamente a este fin como las compras en los centros comerc~a 1 es, no ha orlginado el efecto deseadoComa el IDEMA divers1f1ca sus compras en dos t1pOS de zonas de produ~ c1ón las comerc1ales y las marg1nales, interviniendo en las primeras con el án1mo de estabi11zar prec10s e ingresos a n1vel productor y en las segundas para benefic1ar a los productores marg1nados y aumentar la producc1ón naci2 nal, se concluye por los resultados obtenidos que dados los bajos \"costos sociales\" de la intervención gubernamental en el mercado en general se debe cont1nuar comprando el producto sobre todo en las zonas marginales para desarrollar estas regiones y tratar de incorporarlas a la economía de mercado Esto a su vez puede dism1nu1r la intervención gubernamental en los centros comerciales encam1nada únicamente a estabilizar los precios y los ingresos de los productores para sust1tuirla por campanas s1cológicas. ","tokenCount":"1638"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3427950306.json b/data/part_1/3427950306.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..80d6adf3bec4254f6ba13143341c9b4d088b0d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3427950306.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f78fc57da88a6fe3a62e0620d8b9ecde","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9cb8755-d92c-43bf-a8ee-f06e8b06bd24/retrieve","id":"-1264990761"},"keywords":["CTA Practical Guide Series","No. 2 CTA Practical Guide Series","No. 2"],"sieverID":"7d84562b-94c7-4642-a596-e649c810435f","pagecount":"4","content":"The information in this guide can be freely reproduced for non-commercial use, if credited as coming from CTA.Reproduction for commercial use requires prior authorization from CTA.How to control Striga and stemborer in maizeMaize is the most important staple food in Eastern Africa. But yields on smallholder farms are often very low, typically just one quarter of what could be achieved. In a good year, using improved varieties with good management, recommended amounts of fertilizer and effective control of pests and diseases could increase yields from 10 to 50 bags per plot.Farmers report that three main problems limit their maize yields: low soil fertility, stemborer and particularly Striga (also called witchweed). A range of simple and appropriate technologies have been developed to help overcome these problems. This leaflet explains how you can control Striga and stemborer at the same time, without using expensive chemicals.• It is a parasitic weed that affects cereal crops, especially maize and sorghum, in many parts of Africa. What are stemborers?• Stemborers are worm-like pests (the young stages of a flying insect -a moth).• At first the young stemborers feed on the surface of maize leaves but soon they make a hole in the stem and feed inside the plant. They can kill the growing tip of the maize plant and also weaken the stem causing it to break.• If your maize is attacked by stemborers your yield will be reduced and in some cases the crop may fail completely. Of all the ways of controlling Striga and stemborer, the 'push-pull' method is the most suitable for small-scale farmers and -as the table above shows -it has many attractive advantages.How does a 'push-pull' system work?'Push-pull' involves planting Desmodium and Napier grass together with your maize to control Striga and stemborer.• Desmodium produces a smell that drives away stemborer adults and also a chemical that prevents Striga from attaching to maize roots. • Napier grass attracts stemborer adults -they lay their eggs on the Napier grass, not the maize. When the eggs hatch, the Napier grass produces a sticky glue that kills young stemborers.What you need:• A plot no bigger than 50 metres by 50 metres and no smaller than 10 metres by 10 metres. In bigger plots, the Napier grass would be too far away from the maize. In smaller plots, there would not be enough room to grow Napier grass, Desmodium and maize. • If you have more land available, make several such plots side by side.• Maize seeds, Desmodium seeds or cuttings and healthy Napier grass canes or root splits.• Ideally, fertilizer.• Plant three rows of Napier grass all around your plot. Allow 75 cm between rows and 50 cm between plants. • Plant rows of maize inside the Napier grass hedge. Allow 75 cm between maize rows and 30 cm between seeds in a row. Ensure that the first row of maize is about one metre away from the Napier grass. • Using a pointed stick, make shallow furrows, about 2 cm deep, in the middle of the space between maize rows. • For a 50-by 50-metre plot you will need about 600 grammes of Desmodium seed.Mix one handful of Desmodium seed with two handfuls of fertilizer. If you do not have fertilizer, mix Desmodium seed with fine sand or soil. This helps ensure even sowing of the tiny seeds. • Sow the seed-fertilizer or seed-sand mixture thinly in the shallow furrows between the maize and cover with a thin layer of soil. • If Desmodium seeds are not available, you can also use root splits or cuttings. These should have at least two internodes. • Plant Desmodium splits or cuttings during the rains to ensure good establishment.• Weed done about 3 weeks after sowing the maize and again after five weeks.• Trim the Desmodium so that it does not overgrow your maize plants (about 6 weeks after sowing and then whenever necessary) and feed it to your livestock.Striga seeds are very small, like dust, and can easily be carried between fields. Avoid spreading Striga by taking these precautions: We are in western Kenya not far from Lake Victoria. The small maize field in front of us looks dreadful: the plants are only one metre high, the leaves yellow and full of holes, there are almost no cobs but there are plenty of plants with beautiful pinkish-purple flowers. Close by, Mrs Ouzo, the owner of this field, shows us another maize field. Here the plants are over two metres high, with dark green leaves, healthy cobs and there are very few of the pink-flowered plants. She explains that it is the same maize variety in both fields, planted on exactly the same day.The difference between the two fields is striking. The first maize field was destroyed by stemborer and Striga, the two worst pests of maize and sorghum in East Africa. But what was different in the second field?Around the second field, Mrs Ouzo had planted three rows of Napier grass. \"The beauty of this grass is that its odour is attractive to stemborer\", says ICIPE (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology) scientist Zeyaur R. Khan. \"The grass then produces a gummy substance that traps the pests. Only about 10% of the stemborer larvae survive in the end\". Between the maize rows, Mrs Ouzo planted the legume Desmodium, a groundcovering plant whose odour repels stemborer. The stemborer is attracted to the Napier grass growing around the field and repelled by Desmodium from the inside of the field. This \"push-pull\" system was originally developed by ICIPE. What's more, Desmodium binds (fixes) nitrogen from the air and so enriches the soil. As it covers the ground, it also helps keep the soil moist and protects it from erosion. But that's not all: Desmodium is also very effective against Striga. With Desmodium inter-cropped with the maize, very little Striga grows.\"Last year, I sold the Napier grass and Desmodium from my push-pull plot as fodder for about US$100. With this money, I could afford to pay school fees for my kids. This year, I am planning to produce Desmodium seed as well because all of my neighbours want to go for this push-pull system. Maybe, I can afford a cow then\", says Mrs Ouzo.","tokenCount":"1037"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3429392450.json b/data/part_1/3429392450.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae78f4d5a68756affaa44f9ca07dbc0da23b3e52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3429392450.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e96e5af5a382b1ae4529b6930e856c08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee1085d3-b2c4-45e8-9537-17a5496c9cef/retrieve","id":"-230349334"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4d3e3b84-1fb6-48d8-aa1f-2c9286850d04","pagecount":"19","content":"iii List of Tables Table 3.  Researchers and policymakers increasingly recognize that the livestock sector supports the livelihoods of a large proportion of rural households in most African countries and may have an important role to play in rural poverty reduction strategies. In order to develop this insight, economywide models should capture both the biological, dynamic relationships between the stocks and flows of livestock and the economic linkages between the sector and the rest of the economy. We extend an existing dynamic recursive general equilibrium model for the Ethiopian economy which better models the livestock sector. A separate herd dynamics module enables us to specify stock-flow relationship, distinguishing between the capital role of livestock and the flow of livestock products. We also improve the underlying system of economic accounts, to better capture draft power and breeding stocks. We use this model to simulate separate, realistic Total Factor Productivity (TFP) shocks to three agricultural subsectors-cereals, cash crops, and livestock-and compare them with a baseline scenario replicating the 1998 to 2007 productivity trends, following Dorosh and Thurlow (2009) who have examined CAADP productivity scenarios. The results we obtain reveal the important role of the livestock sector in increasing various measures of GDP and combating food insecurity. Agricultural GDP and overall GDP growth levels achieved in the livestock TFP shock scenario are very similar to those achieved in the cereal TFP shock scenario, unlike what previously thought. Importantly, as factors are dynamically re-allocated between agricultural activities, our analysis highlights the inefficiency of strategies focusing on cereal sector development alone. Moreover, livestock sector productivity growth leads to greater factor income growth, particularly labor income, than in the other simulations. Labor is the predominant asset of poor households and hence large income gains and food consumption growth are realized under the livestock-led scenario.The livestock sector supports the livelihoods of considerably large proportions of rural households in Ethiopia. It accounts for about one-third of agricultural GDP, approximately the same as total cereals, and 14 percent of overall GDP in 2005. Livestock products including live animals, meat, and leather goods are a major source of foreign exchange, about birr 1.08 billion or 6.4 percent of total exports. Meat, eggs, dairy, and other livestock products together account for about 12 percent of the value of total household consumption.Additionally, farmers rely heavily on oxen draft power to till the land for crop contribution in most regions in Ethiopia. The critical role livestock plays in the Ethiopian economy means that negative shocks to this sector can have adverse effects on the livelihoods of millions of households and the performance of the wider economy. Conversely, accelerated growth in the sector has potential to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty significantly.In spite of the critical role the livestock sector plays in the country's economy, the sector has not received the policy-level priority it deserves. 5 This is largely explained by lack of in-depth analytical research and policy tools that would inform decision-making and priority setting at sectoral, regional, or national levels. There has been substantial amount of micro-economic or partial equilibrium analysis on livestock production in Ethiopia, particularly for croplivestock systems in the Ethiopian highlands. However, partial equilibrium analysis cannot show feedback mechanisms between the livestock sector and the rest of the economy, since the rest of the economy is considered as exogenous. What seem to be missing are systematic studies using multisectoral and economywide modeling approaches and revealing interactions between the livestock sector and the rest of the economy. In this regard, existing computable general equilibrium models applied to the Ethiopian and other less developed economies have serious shortcomings in that they lack the dynamics required to capture the unique biological processes, stock-flow relationships, and heterogeneities of the livestock sector. Furthermore, such models rarely acknowledge in full the important economic linkages that arise in mixed farming systems between livestock development and other agricultural activities.This study sets out to fill the existing gap in livestock sector policy analysis in Ethiopia and other livestock based livelihood systems. This is done by extending an existing dynamic recursive model developed for the Ethiopian economy (Dorosh and Thurlow 2009) to simulate different agricultural growth scenarios under CAADP (Common African Agricultural Development Programme). 6 Using realistic baseline and accelerated sectoral productivity growth trends, this study compares accelerated growth in the livestock sector to accelerated growth in cereal and cash crop sectors. Differences in outcomes along the efficiency and welfare dimensions are then explored.The contribution of the study is twofold. First, it develops a herd dynamics and productivity model which is then coupled with the dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model calibrated on Ethiopian data. Further modifications to the economywide model were also implemented to strengthen it biophysical basis, such as land use patterns and stocks of capital in addition to those related to the livestock capital. In this sense, the study provides a methodological contribution to general equilibrium modelling of livestock dynamics. Second, novel findings related to efficiency and equity outcomes are presented. As the simulated realistic supply side shocks outstrip growth in demand, factors of production are reallocated from sectors of fast productivity growth to less dynamic sectors. Scenarios where productivity growth is more evenly distributed across agricultural activities ensure the efficiency of this reallocation process. In Ethiopia, where policy efforts have traditionally been focused on cereal and cash crop development, this means paying more attention to productivity growth for livestock. Moreover, through factor reallocation and the linkages to the crop sector, accelerated livestock growth improves the returns to agricultural labor the most. Contrary to what often argued in the past, development of the livestock sector has some marked pro-poor features.The remaining part of this study is structured as follows. The next section discusses conceptual frameworks that inform the development of the herd dynamic and productivity model. This is followed by a brief description of the dynamic recursive model which was modified and then coupled with the livestock sector module. The subsequent sections will discuss data sources, simulation scenarios, model results, and concluding remarks in that order.A schematic representation of a generic herd dynamics and productivity modelling is displayed in Figure 2.1 below. It is generic in the sense that most livestock types can be represented in the stock-flow diagram. The dynamics of the stocks are represented by the solid lines related to adjustment to stocks, changes in the number of livestock in different stages and ages. For instance, mature females give birth to young ones, which are then categorized into male and female counterparts. Each sex category will pass through different stages-young, immature, and then mature. The proportion that passes to the next stage depends on survival rates, which in turn are determined by death rates and off-take rates.Off-takes represent economic flows: sales of live animals from different stages of growth.There are other economic flows depicted in the right hand side of Figure 2.1: livestock products (e.g. milk, eggs) and other economic services from the livestock (e.g. oxen draft power, transport services by pack animals). The quantity of live animals and livestock products multiplied by their corresponding prices give total revenue from livestock activities.The lower part of the figure shows costs of keeping livestock in different stages of development. Like other sectors, livestock production requires labor, land, and standard capital stock categories such as buildings, machinery, and equipment. The sum of these gives total costs of livestock production activity. The difference between total revenues and total costs yields gross margin of keeping livestock.There is a deeper economic logic in the relatively simple diagrammatic exposition of stockflow relationships displayed in Figure 2.1. It should be noted that in each stage of their growth, the livestock units stay for a relatively long duration. For instance, a typical dairy cow continues to yield milk for over a decade until it is culled due to reductions in productivity at old age. Similarly, during their life time, breeding stocks in the cattle or small ruminants sector give birth to many off-springs that are sold year after year as finished stocks or products. This means livestock units are themselves assets that continue to survive year after year and produce products or accumulate wealth over several years.Additionally, the sizes and values of the breeding stocks in each stage change through time depending on social, economic, and environmental conditions. These relate to restocking or destocking (analogous to the investment process in other capital stock categories) or appreciation in the value of breeding stocks due to investments in the maintenance of the health and body conditions of the livestock units. The specification of the herd dynamics and productivity module couples the other source of dynamic changes in the livestock sector, i.e., the complex biological processes related to births, deaths, and survival rates are analyzed jointly with the dynamic economic processes.A key strategy in integrating a bio-economic livestock sector model is to translate the conceptual framework displayed in Figure 2.1 into a system of equations that constitute a herd dynamics model. The motivation for this lies in the need to establish a vital relationship between stocks (livestock numbers) and flows (livestock products). The herd dynamics submodel explicitly tracks numbers of animals of various livestock types, including various alternative formulations of livestock investment demand and off-take. In this study, the herd dynamics model tracks stock-flow relationships for five livestock types in the Ethiopian economy: cattle, sheep, goats, camel, and poultry.The model used in this study was originally developed by IFPRI, and commonly referred to as a standard computable general equilibrium (CGE) in the literature. It is a multipurpose and flexible model that has been widely applied to analysis of various macroeconomic and sectoral policies in many developed countries (Lofgren et al. 2002).In the model, 12 representative household groups maximise their incomes by allocating mobile factors across activities. Households are differentiated along the urban/rural and poor/non poor dimension, and a number of agro-ecological zones. A multi-stage production function aggregates factor inputs into value added, and then mixes value added with further intermediate inputs. Aggregation follows constant elasticity of substitution (CES) or Leontieff technologies. Domestically produced output is an imperfect substitute for output that is internationally traded. Again, a CES function determines the degree of substitutability, with separate parameters for the substitution of domestic output with imports, and for that of output consumed domestically with exports.It is known that CGE model results are sensitive to the choice of such elasticity parameters (Kapushiski and Warr 1999; Diao, Yeldan and Roe 2009). We thus calibrate our model with trade elasticities borrowed from the GTAP dataset. Cereals apart from wheat and the livestock and poultry categories have low constant elasticities of transformation. This means that a large relative price fall will be necessitated to stimulate an increase in exports.Conversely, wheat, dairy, and cash crops show higher elasticities.On the demand side, a linear demand system is specified, and calibrated with income elasticities estimated in recent empirical work on Ethiopia (Tafere, Taffesse, and Tamiru 2010; Tafere and Worku 2011).A number of closure rules are specified to ensure balance of key macroeconomic accounts.In our simulations factors are fully employed and mobile across sectors. The nominal wage rate adjusts to balance supply and demand. Furthermore, investment is driven by available savings, which are in turn determined by a fixed marginal propensity to save out of households' income. A floating nominal exchange rate ensures balance in the external account. Lastly, the tax rate is fixed and government savings adjust accordingly. Dorosh and Thurlow (2009) have reformulated this model and developed a dynamic and recursive version which was used to analyse agricultural growth scenarios as part of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) background paper for Ethiopia. The model solves for equilibrium in each period. Agents are not forward looking and make their decisions based on static optimization. Investment and exogenous factor growth in a given year determine factor quantities in the following period.Here we limit our discussion to elements of the model which were modified in the process of conducting this study. The primary novel element is the translation of the herd dynamic model represented in Figure 2.1 into algebraic equations and then in a computer programme in the GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling Systems) language. The remaining methodological elements are discussed in the following sections.We first compile data on the livestock sector which is comprehensive in its coverage, consistent with the conceptual structure displayed in Figure 2.1 and the herd dynamics submodel developed in the study. In order to have the relevant and detailed biological and economic flows at the base year additional data sets are used.  (Ahmed 2009). SAM is a comprehensive and consistent representation of economic flows in a system of national accounts. The presentation of economic flows in a matrix format enables concise display of information. Cells under a particular column represent payments (or outgoings from the economic account named in the column heading) and cells against a row account represent receipts (or incomings).A particular cell in the matrix simultaneously represents a payment from the account in the column heading and a receipt by the account in the row heading. SAM is usually a square and balanced matrix-a square because payments and receipts between any two accounts or groups of accounts have to be accounted for (leaving blank or entering zero if there is no transaction between any two accounts), and it is got to be balanced because for any account the sum of all payments should be equal to the sum of receipts.The current study is based on the Ethiopian SAM which has 97 activities, 69 agricultural activities including livestock, 66 commodities, 26 factor of production (disaggregated into labor, land, livestock, and other capital stock categories), 16 institutions including 14 households, government, and enterprise. The SAM also has different taxes, savinginvestment, inventory, and rest of the world accounts to show the interaction of different economic agents.We present a condensed version of the Ethiopian SAM in Table 3.1 below. All other accounts are collapsed or aggregated but the livestock accounts are left with the same level of disaggregation as represented in the SAM implemented in the model. There are five livestock sector accounts represented by LIVS-A (AEZ-*), where LIVS denotes the size of livestock sector, AEZ represents agroecological zone. For instance, entries against LIVS-A (AEZ-1) refers to the size of livestock sector activities in agroecological zone 1. The five AEZs are described as: Humid Lowlands with reliable moisture (AEZ-1); Moisture Sufficient Highlands (AEZ-2); Cereals Based, Moisture Sufficient Highlands (AEZ-3); Enset based, Drought-Prone Highlands (AEZ-4); and Pastoralist or Arid Lowland (AEZ-5).  We formulate the livestock sector sub-model and related additional databases in such a way that they are consistent and compatible with the system of accounts in the existing SAM and the dynamic recursive model previously developed. The details of livestock economic accounts (calculated revenues from off-takes of different livestock types and their products) are aggregated into three major groups of accounts which are denoted in Table 3.1 by \"live animalsc\" (sales of live animals except poultry); \"poultry-c\" (revenues from sales of live chicken and eggs), and \"milk-c\" (sales or imputed income from milk from cattle, goats, and camels).In the context of Table 3.1, combining the activities and commodities, the size of livestock activities in moisture highland Ethiopia, for instance, is calculated as 7.6 billion ETB (marginal totals of row or column heading given as \"LIVS-A (AEZ-2)\"). This comes from (reading across the row against this account): 5.5 billion sales of live animals, 0.2 billion sales of live chicken and eggs, and 1.9 billion sales of milk and milk products.As noted earlier, one of the novel features of the current study is the establishment of firm links between stock and flows in the economic accounts. In practice, this means having a biophysical stock account behind the economic flows represented in the SAM. In Table 3.1, the figures displayed in the sub-matrix in bold fonts against the livestock activity accounts come from the livestock module and are reconciled with the economywide model. Although these accounts are condensed into a summary of five-by-three matrix, a complex relationship leading to this summary is handled in the background within the herd dynamics model. In such framework, exogenous shocks to the livestock production systems can be traced to the economic flows. Economic shocks that affect equilibrium relationships in the system of national accounts can also be traced back to the bio-physical level. Specifying stock-flow linkages in this manner has rarely been implemented in economywide CGE models.The other novel element in this study is the recognition of livestock capital as a factor of production in production sectors (see the row heading livestock capital in Table 3.1). The original SAM has detailed presentation of the value addition of all factors of production and their contribution to household income. In many economywide models livestock capital is simply lumped together with other capital stock categories. Thus, in the Ethiopian SAM it was subsumed under factor payments to land. However, in economies like Ethiopia, livestock capital plays a vital role in other agricultural activities, and crop production in particular. After examining data from various sources, official statistics, and reviewing the literature, Behnke (2010) provided an interesting summary of findings about the role of oxen draft power in the Ethiopian economy. According to this source, about 80% of Ethiopian farmers use animal traction to plough their fields. This study uses estimates from Behnke (2010, p. 26) in order to split livestock capital from land capital in the total factor payment by the crop and livestock sectors. Accordingly, sectoral gross value-added attributable to livestock capital is estimated as 6.4 billion ETB. This is further divided into livestock capital used in the livestock sector itself and oxen draft power employed in the crop production (see intersection between row \"livestock capital\" and column \"Oagri-A\", which denotes other agricultural activities).The simulation strategy used in this study closely followed scenarios implemented in Dorosh and Thurlow (2009) who simulated Total Factor Productivity (TFP) shocks to three agricultural subsectors. These were cereals (including enset, a perennial plant resembling banana and constituting a major staple in the Central and Southern Ethiopia); cash crops (including pulses); and livestock. In the base year (2005), the three major subsectors of agriculture had the following shares in total agricultural GDP: cereals (38%), livestock (33%), and cash crops (29%). Dorosh and Thurlow (2009) determined accelerated TFP growth scenarios in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). In this study, we implement a baseline scenario and four separate accelerated TFP growth scenarios running from 2009 to 2015:BASE -The three agricultural subsectors follow their historical trend (1998 to 2007) of annual productivity growth for all years. These growth rates, in weighted averages, are: cereals (2.2%); cash crops (0.6%), and livestock (0.5%). In this simulation, the weighted average of annual TFP growth across all agricultural activities is 1.2%. 7CEREAL -Annual TFP growth in the cereal sub-sector averages 2.2% between 2005 and 2008, and rises to 4.3% during the simulation period (i.e. 2009-2015). All other sub-sectors follow their baseline trend. The weighted average of annual TFP growth for all agricultural activities is 1.9%.CASH CROP -Annual TFP growth in the cash crops sub-sector averages 0.6% between 2005 and 2008, and rises to 2.4% during the simulation period. All other sub-sectors follow their baseline trend. The weighted average of annual TFP growth for all agricultural activities is 1.7%.LIVESTOCK -Annual TFP growth in the livestock sub-sector averages 0.5% between 2005 and 2008, and rises to 3.1% during the simulation period. All other sub-sectors follow their baseline trend. The weighted average of annual TFP growth for all agricultural activities is 2.0%.CAADP -In the simulation period, the three sub-sectors experience simultaneous increases from the baseline trends of the same magnitude as those applied in the separate scenarios, i.e., cereals 4.3%, cash crops 2.4%, and livestock 3.1%.The weighted average of TFP growth across all agricultural activities is similar across simulations. Yet, the composition of this growth differs significantly, driving the differences in outcomes which will be explored in the following paragraphs. Furthermore, while aggregate TFP shocks are similar when weighted to the baseline shares of the activities, in successive years the aggregate TFP shock under CEREAL will become progressively larger, as accelerated cereal activities gain higher shares in the economy.In terms of efficiency in raising aggregate quantities, simulation results indicate a close equivalence between the various TFP-growth scenarios. This is somewhat in contrast to previous literature that emphasized cereal-led growth as the optimal strategy. Figure 4.1 shows this graphically by plotting the time series of simulated agricultural GDP over the period 2008 to 2015. The LIVESTOCK and CEREAL simulations appear as basically equally effective at delivering agricultural GDP growth. Three mechanisms are at play. The re-allocation of productive resources is the first. The LIVESTOCK simulation, for example, markedly raises the productivity of livestock related activities above its baseline trend, spurring production growth in excess of demand. As a result, the price of livestock commodities falls. Furthermore, after the TFP acceleration, less factor inputs are needed to produce a given amount of livestock commodities. Some mobile factors such as labor, livestock, and land are hence re-allocated to activities where TFP growth is less pronounced.In our model, domestic output destined to domestic markets is imperfectly substitutable with output destined to export markets. An expansion in domestic supply is thus always shared among the domestic and export channels. As a result, when the domestic supply of a domestically consumed exportable rises faster than domestic demand, its equilibrium price in the model will fall. Incentives for expansion in production are thus curtailed and incentives for reallocation of resources arise. In other words, the pace of domestic demand growth is often the binding constraint in equilibrium. This mechanism is at the heart of the results.The draft power inter-linkage plays here a crucial role, as it enables the model to capture the reallocation process just described. Livestock TFP growth spurs overall economic growth by both promoting livestock GDP and by supporting the large and high potential cereal sector. As draft power has often been subsumed under physical capital, previous analyses largely missed this process.Growth in the livestock capital stock is the second mechanism. In the model, investment in livestock, fixed at the historical trend rate, generates stock growth of approximately four percent per year. As the model solves for successive years, the livestock factor becomes more abundant and cheaply available. Livestock intensive activities benefit the most from this and so does the LIVESTOCK simulation, which concentrates TFP growth on these activities. Cereal activities are on the other hand intensive in the use of land and labor: one is a fixed factor and the other an exogenously, slow-growing one. Livestock-led growth thus enjoys a dynamic advantage related to its factor intensity. Again, livestock capital stock growth was not allowed in the original model, so that previous comparisons of crop and livestock led growth could not capture this point.The third mechanism is current account balancing. Agricultural commodities constitute the major exports of the economy. Accelerated agricultural TFP expansion thus results in significant export growth. Current account balance between exports and imports has to be restored through an appreciation of the real exchange rate. As it will be explained later, growth in absorption is largest under the LIVESTOCK simulation. Consequently, demand for imports is also the largest in this simulation. Less of a real exchange rate appreciation is thus needed under the LIVESTOCK simulation to balance the current account. As a result, total export growth is the largest. Figure 4.2 shows this graphically. The combined effect of these three mechanisms sustains economic growth in agriculture and the overall economy under the LIVESTOCK scenario. Even as the average TFP shock imposed in this simulation becomes progressively smaller as compared to that of the cereal-led growth scenario, its macro effects on agricultural and overall GDP are of a closely similar magnitude. There is also a welfare aspect to our results. The reallocation in factor demands explained above favours different factors in different simulations. In LIVESTOCK, livestock-factor intensive activities experience a faster shock in productivity. Demand for existing livestock factor increases the least and so does its price and returns. Demand for labor, and agricultural labor in particular, is instead quite strong. In CEREAL, on the other hand, the accelerated cereal activities are intensive in the use of land and labor. As the price for cereal activities falls and the factors are reallocated, returns to labor fail to increase much.As Figure 4.3. shows, consistent with our analysis, returns to labor held by poor households rises the most in the LIVESTOCK simulation. In such simulation returns to livestock grow the least. But, as labor is the predominant asset of the poor, the former effects more than compensates the latter. The net effect is such that poor households' incomes grow the most when agricultural growth is livestock-led. The repercussion of this result in terms of food security is though less strong. Consumption of staples is in fact determined by both poor households' income and by staple prices. The latter are lowest in the cereal-led growth scenario. CEREAL hence delivers the highest average annual growth rate in poor households' food consumption of about 4.4%. Average growth in poor households' food consumption is 3.6% in the baseline and 4% in the livestock scenario.Livestock keeping directly supports the livelihoods of a large proportion of rural as well as urban and peri-urban households in Ethiopia and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. The sector contributes a substantial share of the Ethiopian value added; it is strongly linked to other agricultural activities, through draft power in particular; provides employment to a large number of people; and is a major source of foreign exchange.However, the important role of the livestock sector has often been overlooked by policymakers as well as researchers. Researchers neglect the livestock sector mainly due to methodological reasons: biological and economic interactions and dynamics are a great deal more complex for livestock production systems than in crop production. This bias seems to have been compounded by the perception of policymakers that food security concerns can be addressed by focussing only on production of staple crops.This study set out to overcome the shortcomings in existing economywide modeling. Also, it is intended to inform policymakers regarding the economywide direct and indirect outcomes of enhancing productivity growth for the livestock sector. The study extends an existing dynamic CGE model developed for examining policy priorities in the agricultural sector. It simulates a number of agricultural growth scenarios where productivity in different sub-sectors grows at an accelerated, yet realistic rate. Significant findings are obtained both in terms of aggregate value added effects and in terms of welfare.Simulation results indicate that, compared to accelerated cereal-led growth, improving productivity in the livestock sector has larger aggregate economic efficiency gains measured by value added growth effects and by improvements in the external sector: a smaller real exchange appreciation and larger export earnings. As factors are re-allocated across sectors of the economy, further expanding TFP growth in the sector with the best baseline productivity performance runs into diminishing returns. A balanced agricultural growth model, where productivity gains are more evenly distributed across sub-sectors, is preferable. In Ethiopia, this means investing more in expanding the productivity of livestock. Furthermore, although livestock is not the predominant factor owned by poor households, its accelerated productivity growth brings about higher gains in labor incomes than in the accelerated cereal sector scenario, and only slightly smaller gains in poor households' consumption of food. These general equilibrium results are of wide importance, as they point to the potential of a previously neglected lever for the eradication of poverty.","tokenCount":"4578"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3459921918.json b/data/part_1/3459921918.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0dee9c20b824de4f28ec3fed59f46496441118d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3459921918.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f40e1dc48ce1b3f6c11e26731f0e01e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/04788add-e5bf-4802-be2f-31f16a49b840/retrieve","id":"-527170453"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71926b27-3cef-4417-a947-8fb4ef78fa67","pagecount":"4","content":"Green grams in Kenya Agriculture in Kenya contributes to the national economy, food security, and employment of rural households. Climate change and weather variability affect agricultural production negatively and it is expected to worsen in the future. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices present an opportunity to reduce such losses, build resilience in the agriculture sector, improve productivity and farmer incomes, and contribute to climate change mitigation (CIAT & World Bank, 2017). Green gram, also known as mungbean, maash or moong (Vigna radiata L.), is a potential food and cash crop in Kenya and grows well in arid regions, playing a key role in local food security. In the regions where stakeholders of the green grams value chain have been interviewed (Makueni, Kitui, Tharaka, Nithi), the area under production typically varies from 1-10 acres per household.The temperature trend (from 1961-2005) for both the short (October, November, December, (OND)) and long rainy season (March, April, May, (MAM)) show that temperature in Kenya has been increasing by more than 0.8°C (Figure 1). In particular, the rate of increase has been by more than 1°C over north-eastern and northwestern parts of the country during the long and short rainy season respectively. During both the long and short rainy seasons, the model projection for mid-century (2050's) shows a temperature rise all over Kenya (Figure 2). The temperature is expected to rise by about 2.8°C -3°C over western, southwestern, central, northern and north-eastern parts of Kenya during MAM (Figure 2). The temperature is also expected to rise over south-eastern part of Kenya by about 2.5°C during the same long rainy season. During the short rainy period, the temperature is expected to rise by about 2.5°C and 2°C in the western and eastern half of the country respectively. The seasonal mean rainfall in the short rainy season is projected to significantly increase in the north-western part of Kenya by as much as 50% for mid-century (Figure 3). In the north-eastern, central and eastern parts of the country, the seasonal mean rainfall is also expected to increase by up to 30-40% during the short rainy season.The increase in the seasonal mean rainfall accompanied by an increase in the number of consecutive wet days (2-3 days) overwestern and north-eastern part of the country (Figure 4) can translate into enhancement of extreme rainfall and resultant extreme events of flooding in the region. However, in the long rainy season, the seasonal mean rainfall decreases by about 10-20% in the north-western and western part of Kenya. Similarly, the consecutive wet days are expected to decrease by 1-2 days in the western and north-western parts of the country. However, in the long rainy season, the seasonal mean rainfall decreases by about 10-20% in the north-western and western part of Kenya. Similarly, the consecutive wet days are expected to decrease by 1-2 days in the western and north-western parts of the country.The projection of the longest consecutive dry days (CDD) for both the short and long rainy season show that dry spells will decrease for mid-and-end of the century in most parts of Kenya. Specifically, the reduction in the longest dry spell is about 4-5 days in the northern part of the country for OND, 1-2 days for MAM (Figure 5). The fact that the decrease in consecutive dry days combined with the previous findings of an increase in seasonal mean rainfall and consecutive wet days in OND reinforces the probability of extreme flooding events.In Summary, during both the short (OND) and long (MAM) rainy seasons, the model projections for 2050s show that a high temperature rise (particularly during MAM) is expected in all parts of Kenya ranging from 2.0°C to 3°C. An increase in seasonal rainfall and consecutive wet days in the short rainy season could reinforce the probability of extreme events of flooding in the north-eastern and north-western part of the country. However, a decrease in seasonal rainfall and a likelihood of more dry days in western Kenya during the long rainy season could have an implication of more incidences of agricultural drought in the region by 2050s.Unlike other crops, yields of green gram are likely to increase substantially in the future as a result of climate change during both the long and short rainy seasons. In both future long and short rainy seasons, green gram yields under optimum management conditions are likely to increase by about 2 tonnes per hectare in most areas. In Meru, yields are likely to increase by up to 6 tonnes per hectare in the future long rainy season. However, in Embu, yields are likely to decrease especially in the short rainy season when yield decreases of up to 2 tonnes per hectare are expected. Approximately 70% of both female and male interviewed farmers have not experienced a difference in rainfall over the past ten years. Those that did experience change, mentioned that extreme rainfall had decreased. Concerning drought and temperature, 84.5% of all interviewed farmers mentioned an increase in drought and 92.7% of farmers felt that extreme high temperatures had increased. Striking difference is that most of the interviewed female farmers felt that the occurrence of extreme low temperatures had increased whereas most of the male farmers mentioned that it had decreased. 64% of the interviewed farmers reported that the start of the long rainy season had become more unpredictable (Figure 7).A majority of all stakeholders cited a perceived decrease in crop productivity due to climate change (Figure 8).The Climate Risk Assessment workshop brought together 60 participants representing the different stakeholders of the green grams value chain. The majority of the participants were male and female smallholder farmers (Figure 9).  ","tokenCount":"933"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3471511314.json b/data/part_1/3471511314.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..644a80796b694f9e66a5bd2fb0f703bedbc34e32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3471511314.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c5e9356185b44310dd91599c01cfc820","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/299c5096-544d-4c97-879d-d69e6748e8b7/retrieve","id":"-1016178985"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"be60953b-d396-4b48-a623-62e4c9a1b6c1","pagecount":"23","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Traceability is the ability to follow an animal or group of animals at all stages of life. Identification, or the use of unique numbers to identify individual or groups of animals, enhances animal traceability especially if such numbers are associated with other metadata such as sources and movement pathways of animals involved. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) plans to implement a pilot livestock identification and traceability study in Uganda as one of the activities under the Standard Methods and Procedures in Animal Health project led by the African Union -Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR). The purpose of the project is to promote the development and implementation of harmonized animal health regulations in the Greater Horn of Africa. Planned activities for the project include a review of literature, a regional stakeholder workshop to review country activities and discuss options, national workshops to launch activities in selected sites and field work to implement the research.A regional workshop on livestock identification and traceability was held on 4-5 February 2014 at ILRI Addis Ababa. Participants from public and private institutions identified the need to design and implement a pilot study that could identify appropriate livestock identification and traceability systems for the Intergovernmental Authority of Development (IGAD) region. The workshop also identified the objectives that livestock identification and traceability system should serve, namely, (i) promoting trade by allowing access to prime markets; (ii) enhancing disease surveillance and control and (iii) curbing theft of livestock through identification of animal ownership. The proposed sites were Kenya (to address regional or cross-border trade), Uganda (insecurity in Karamoja) and Ethiopia (for export trade).Uganda's Karamoja region is characterized by perennial insecurity and famine. The Government of Uganda has previously tried to tackle livestock theft through the use of hot-iron branding to identify animals. There is an ongoing program to identify cattle in the region using ear tags and electronic boluses.The program focuses on recovery of stolen cattle with little considerations for other useful facets such as disease control and market access. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is working closely with the Office of the Prime Minister to implement the Cattle Theft Prevention Project.The livestock identification and traceability pilot study by ILRI is designed to enable the traceability of identified animals from slaughter to source markets and/or kraals. The study is to be implemented in the framework of existing identification systems: electronic boluses. The study will assess the use of radiofrequency identification (RFID) to address other needs such as trade, surveillance, food safety and public health. The study will also collect and analyse data on the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the system. The government will use the data to upscale and upgrade the current livestock identification and traceability system so that it also addresses surveillance and public health. AU-IBAR will use the data to design a harmonized livestock identification and traceability system for the IGAD region. A preliminary field activity mapped market routes for livestock from Karamoja region and determined the most probable routes for the pilot study. This report summarizes the proceedings of a 1.5-day meeting with livestock stakeholders in Karamoja. The aim of the workshop, jointly organized by ILRI and MAAIF, was to discuss the scope and design of the proposed pilot study and to launch field activities in Karamoja and neighbouring districts that receive cattle from the region.Transboundary animal diseases pose significant threats to livestock production and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. They include diseases such as foot and mouth disease, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, peste des petits ruminants, camel pox, lumpy skin disease and sheep and goat pox. These diseases present barriers to regional and international trade.Others like Rift Valley fever and brucellosis are zoonotic and present additional health risks to humans.To address the challenges posed by transboundary animal diseases, AU-IBAR and IGAD developed a project on Standard Methods and Procedures in Animal Health. The objective of the project is to develop harmonized frameworks for controlling transboundary diseases in the IGAD region, based on standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). ILRI, a partner in the project, was tasked to conduct research on livestock identification and traceability systems to monitor the movement of livestock in the region and support disease surveillance and response. The traceability system would allow tracing back of animals from markets and processing plants to the source population, enabling more targeted surveillance and response to diseases.Uganda's Karamoja region is characterized by perennial insecurity and famine. The Government of Uganda has previously tried to tackle livestock theft through the use of hot-iron branding to identify animals. There is an ongoing program to identify cattle in the region using ear tags and electronic boluses.The program focuses on recovery of stolen cattle with little considerations for other useful facets such as disease control and market access. MAAIF is working closely with the Office of the Prime Minister to implement the Cattle Theft Prevention Project.The livestock identification and traceability pilot study by ILRI is designed to enable the traceability of identified animals from slaughter to source markets and/or kraals. The study is to be implemented in the framework of existing identification systems: electronic boluses. The study will assess the use of RFID to address other needs such as trade, surveillance, food safety and public health. The study will also collect and analyse data on the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the system. The government will use the data to upscale and upgrade the current livestock identification and traceability system so that it also addresses surveillance and public health. AU-IBAR will use the data to design a harmonized livestock identification and traceability system for the IGAD region. A preliminary field activity mapped market routes for livestock from Karamoja region and determined the most probable routes for the pilot study.The purpose of the workshop was to design a livestock identification and traceability system that incorporates RFID boluses and develop a livestock identification and traceability action plan that defines the roles of different stakeholders in the pilot implementation activity.The expected outputs that were necessary and sufficient to deliver on the purpose were:1. The design of a livestock identification and traceability system that incorporates RFID boluses discussed and agreed by the stakeholders. 2. An action plan for the pilot study developed and agreed upon by the stakeholders.Twenty-seven people attended the workshop, including district-level representatives from government agencies in Uganda and livestock traders. The workshop program was designed to allow for individual, group and plenary sessions. There was a practical session to demonstrate the proposed a livestock identification and traceability database system. The workshop was facilitated Bernard Bett of ILRI and Benon Kyokwijuka of MAAIF. Mary Mbabazi of MAAIF led one of the sessions.The workshop was officially opened by Dr Nicholas Kauta, the Director of Animal Resources at MAAIF. He urged participants to think of traceability systems that address multiple needs. Participants were expected to prepare a work plan for implementing the pilot activities. He informed the participants that he was involved in designing the Standard Methods and Procedures in Animal Health project, which included a trip to the United States of America to learn about livestock identification and traceability activities in that country. He was happy to share his experiences from trips abroad where he learned about the benefits of identification and traceability in recording and breeding. Identification enables automation of systems in farms that have adopted livestock identification and traceability and such farms have good performance. He noted that players in livestock identification and traceability have different objectives so it is important to consider merged systems that can serve the needs of multiple stakeholders. Dr Kauta reminded the participants of the strict rules that have to be followed if Uganda is to export beef. He noted that livestock identification and traceability can be achieved through the creation of zones and subsequent pre-coding of establishments. He concluded by encouraging participants to contribute to the design of the system by providing inputs to improve the system proposed by ILRI. He thanked ILRI for leading the livestock identification and traceability initiative in Uganda noting that ILRI is an international organization engaged in research activities in many other parts of the world.This session was led by Dr Benon Kyokwijuka. He gave an overview of the history of livestock identification and traceability in Uganda, reasons for identification, animal identification systems, policy framework, the future of livestock identification and some of the challenges in livestock identification and traceability. The tradition of putting marks on animals, he noted, is an ancient identification practised to ascertain ownership. Traceability also has other benefits including food safety, disease control, performance recording and market access. It is an obligation under the OIE and the World Trade Organization to identify and trace animals. Consumers also demand traceability. Breeding programs require records to enable decision-making on genetic improvements which translate to better bargaining on sales. Recording enables countries to monitor the contribution of the livestock sector to their economies, thus enabling better planning. The livestock identification and traceability legal framework started as early as 1917 where identification with letters of the alphabet was used for ownership and disease control. The system later collapsed during the war period. The Animal Breeding Act was passed in 2001, repealing the Act with a provision for animals to be identified.Hot-iron branding, paint, ear tags, ear cutting, tattoos and photographs have been used for animal identification in Uganda under different circumstances. Current identification methods include bar-coded ear tags, boluses, implants under the skin or around the horns of animals and biometrics. Rumen boluses remain in the animal until the end of its life have no negative health effects. The system of identification should be permanent and tamperproof. It should not be dangerous to the animals and the consumers of animal products and should provide other necessary data to help in other programs, for example movement control. Dr Kyokwijuka noted that hot-iron branding initially used in Uganda can be easily tampered with. He mentioned that the legal framework for livestock identification and traceability in Uganda still needs to be supported with relevant legislation. He challenged participants to mention which laws could apply if one refused to present animals for identification in the ongoing livestock identification and traceability program, implying there was none and such decisions could be challenged in court. The material investment in livestock identification and traceability is significant.Dr Kyokwijuka emphasized the need to mainstream livestock identification and traceability in other programs, for example in disease control, hence the need to explore how local and international stakeholders can work together to better understand and implement the system. This includes allowing for regional approaches such as the livestock identification and traceability system pilot that ILRI is planning to conduct. The implementation of the system will require extensive sensitization aslack of awareness affected the performance of past bolus insertion activities. The workshop expectations were to design a livestock identification and traceability system based on the existing government system and to develop an action plan specifying the roles of the different stakeholders in the implementation process. Dr Bett's presentation defined key terminologies: identification and traceability. He noted that traceability, the monitoring of an animal over its entire life, is closely related to animal identification. Both enhance animal health, food safety, security and certification, which is a requirement of OIE and Codex Alimentarius. Animals can be identified either at the individual or group level, for example, clan brands. He observed the different phases of full traceability systems but emphasized that the focus of the current pilot project was traceability along the market channels. Some of the activities already completed by the project are: (1) a review of literature on livestock identification and traceability in different countries (2) dissemination of the Uganda report to the participants, (3) a regional stakeholder workshop in Addis Ababa to present what each country is doing and (4) local stakeholder workshops to launch livestock identification and traceability activities in the selected pilot sites.He shared a map of what is being done within the IGAD countries and Tanzania. For example, in Uganda he noted that there has been use of boluses and branding. The workshop in Addis Ababa developed some consensus on key incentives for livestock identification and traceability systems in the region to support trade, enhance surveillance and improve security. The workshop also recommended livestock identification and traceability options that could be piloted in the region to meet specific needs. He concluded by noting that the research within the project would not only generate data to help understand local perceptions and costs related to livestock identification and traceability, but it would also create opportunities for students to collect data for their studies.This session was led by Andrew Lotyang, the project field officer based in Moroto. He gave an overview of the process of electronic identification using rumen boluses. The Cattle Theft Prevention Project (CTPP) is a government initiative designed by consultants from Israel. The consultants have trained local staff to carry out the exercise in the Karamoja region. There are two teams in charge of branding market inspection.Andrew Loytang of CTTP demonstrates equipment used in the electronic identification of animals in Karamoja.The branding team visits kraals to insert RFID boluses and visual ear tags. The team also ear tag and bolus data in the herd book which has detachable pages. This is done in triplicate; one page goes to the Kampala office for data entry, the other to the sub-county and the third remains in the book at the field office.The owner is subsequently issued with a certificate for each animal identified. The record book contains the following information: date, name of team leader, owner's location, owner's identification, bar code of the ear tag and bolus, type, colour, name and sex of animal, signatures of local councillor, owner and witness and the village and parish of the owner. Mr Lotyang concluded by highlighting some of the challenges experienced during implementation of the program. These were: limited sensitization, poor road infrastructure and theft of young animals less than 10 months old which are then presented for branding when they reach the required age of bolus identification. Inspection is not done at the slaughterhouses but at the butcheries where recovered boluses are collected. The bolus is bought back at a fee of 500 Uganda shillings.Participants were invited to ask questions following the presentation; some of the questions asked are outlined below. Dr Kyokwijuka, now working closely with the CTPP and the Office of the Prime Minister in the new phase of electronic branding, clarified some of the issues arising from the questions.Question: How many animals have so far been identified? Response: In the first phase, 81,370 animals were electronically branded. In the ongoing activities, 5500 have been identified in Amudat alone.Question: Are there issues with the bolus going to the wrong chamber and has it helped reduce cattle theft? Response: These cases occur and are sometimes fatal. In some cases, the project has had to compensate owners. The bolus has been scientifically tested and if it is inserted well it has no negative effects on the animal. The bolus system has helped in reducing cattle theft in the region.Question: Why is the project focusing on cattle alone and is there any risk of spreading diseases? Response: The system will be a pilot study and if successful will be expanded to cover other species of livestock. The potential for disease spread, particularly foot and mouth disease, was raised. Dr Kyokwijuka noted that it was important for teams to institute measures that would reduce the risk of disease spread during the identification exercise.This session was led by Florence Mutua of ILRI. She provided a summary of what had been accomplished in a previous field activity to map the market chains in the region and neighbouring districts of Soroti, Mbale and Busia. This also included visits to slaughterhouses receiving animals from Karamoja. The objective was to understand the source and destination markets for animals originating from Karamoja. In addition to the mapping activities data on disease risks, information on market capacities was also collected through discussions with market actors including the district veterinarians in charge of the markets. She presented an overview of ILRI's proposed traceability approach and invited participants to provide comments on the approach: what works and what does not work.This session was presented by John Njoroge of Dagoretti slaughterhouses. He reviewed the government legal processes of movement permits and no-objection documents. In addition to the legal processes, the slaughterhouse also employs its own internal system which includes providing unique identification to animals on arrival at the slaughterhouse, entry of the numbers in the slaughter register and maintenance of the same identification during inspection and on the hide/skin registry. This helps address possible ownership disputes if they arise and enables one to trace the animal to a certain level. He mentioned different sources of animals slaughtered at the Dagoretti slaughterhouses, linking the slaughterhouse to traceability activities implemented elsewhere at the source markets. He elaborated the potential roles of traceability in addressing surveillance and food safety issues. The Dagoretti slaughterhouses are privately owned.This session was presented by Jason Rogena of ILRI. He introduced the proposed database system and later led a practical session to demonstrate the system. The system to be used is the Open Data Kit (ODK). It has two components: ODK Collect and ODK Aggregate. ODK has several advantages as a data collection tool; it is free, open-source, malleable and extendable, maintains data integrity and can operate under different platforms. The data to be collected using ODK include the name and mobile number of the owner of the animal, animal identification number (bolus or ear tag number) and the colour and sex of the animal.The roles of different stakeholder in the livestock identification and traceability pilot were discussed. Suggested stakeholders included the private sector, technical personnel from government offices, security agencies, politicians, civil society and the livestock keepers themselves.The roles of different stakeholders in the livestock identification and traceability pilot The proposed code system should include country, district, county and parish codes. On the second day of the workshop, the following was discussed by three different groups and presented by group leaders for discussion. It was important to review the proposed list of markets to understand existing infrastructural challenges (structures, fences, crushes etc.) that would need to be addressed before the actual implementation of the pilot project. Namalu, Katakwi, Bukedea, Arapai, Lolachat, Amudat and Karita are all open markets wheareas Naitakwae and Kanawat are constructed markets. The suggested slaughterhouses included Soroti, Mbale, Tororo and Busia. Participants also proposed Chepuskunya, Iriri and Orwamuge stock check points for the pilot.Technicians to participate in the study should be drawn from different institutions as indicated below. 1. MAAIF: assistant commissioners for public health and diagnostics and surveillance 2. District level: district veterinary officers (DVOs), laboratory technicians, meat inspectors and security 3. Sub-county level: livestock extension officers and community animal health workers Technicians will be trained on data collection, application of identification devices, diagnostics and sample collection. The need for the project to organize practical demonstration sessions, study tours and more training workshops was proposed. Sensitization and awareness creation could be done by policymakers, political leaders, livestock owners, tenderers and civil society. This could be done through seminars, workshops and radio talk shows with suggestions for ILRI and MAAIF to lead the initiative.Suggested logistical and equipment considerations include: airtime, stationery, transport, fuel allowances, nose leads, stick readers, ear tags, ear tag applicators, smart phones, protective gear, back tags, requirements for sample collection and storage. DVOs should be the focal persons for the project.Proposed time frame for the project (July to December 2014) The DVO for Kotido thanked the workshop organizers for bringing stakeholders together to deliberate on the proposed pilot traceability activities, noting that the meeting provided an opportunity to learn new aspects of disease control and food safety. The security chief also expressed support for the project and emphasized on the need to keep proper records. Dr Kyokwijuka thanked all present for their active participation in the discussions and officially closed the workshop. Traceability is the ability to follow an animal or group of animals at all stages of life. Most importantly, it entails being able to trace an animal (or its products) through the market channels back to the farm of origin. Identification, or the use of unique numbers to identify individual or groups of animals, enhances animal traceability especially if such numbers are associated with other metadata such as sources and movement pathways of animals involved. ILRI plans to implement a pilot livestock identification and traceability study in Uganda as one of the activities under the Standard Methods and Procedures in Animal Health project by AU-IBAR. Developing and implementing a livestock traceability system would enhance production and trade by enabling surveillance and management of infectious diseases including zoonotic diseases, control of livestock movement and improved access to information along market chains.Karamoja is a region with perennial insecurity and famine. There have been previous attempts by security agencies in the country to identify livestock to curb insecurity. Currently, there is a program to identify cattle in the region using electronic rumen boluses and ordinary visual ear tags. The program is focusing on recovery of stolen cattle. It does not take into account other useful facets such as disease control and market access.The ministry responsible for livestock in the country is actively engaged in the new phase and efforts are being made to expand the scope of the identification system to address other needs, besides cattle theft.The livestock identification and traceability pilot by ILRI will be conducted in the framework of ongoing activities; it supports and complements the government's initiative on livestock traceability. The study is designed to enable traceability of identified animals from slaughter to source populations (markets and kraals in Karamoja region). The use of electronic boluses to meet other objectives, especially trade, surveillance, food safety and public health, will be assessed in the study. Data on efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability will be collected and analyzed. These will be utilized by (1) the Government of Uganda in its effort to upscale and upgrade the current scope of livestock identification and traceability to include marketing, surveillance, food safety and public health needs and (2) AU-IBAR while designing a harmonized livestock identification and traceability system for the IGAD region.To design and implement a livestock identification and traceability system that would be used to trace livestock in market chains back to their source populations for purposes of improving surveillance and management of transboundary animal diseases and trade.Preliminary field visit to map the main livestock routes in the region (markets, slaughterhouses and traders). The findings will be used to define probable routes for the pilot project.Local stakeholder workshop: This workshop, to be organized by ILRI and MAAIF, will discuss the proposed pilot (scope and design), launch field activities in the region (but also in other districts that receive cattle from Karamoja), train traders and market operators and share pilot implementation tasks. The participants will include local veterinarians, cattle traders, abattoirs representatives and the relevant authorities within and outside Karamoja. Alternative identification systems (ear tags, bar codes, back tags and microchips) will be used on market livestock that do not have rumen boluses; only one identification system per animal will be used. Animals with rumen boluses often have visual ear tags. The code system for the ear tags will be determined during the stakeholder workshop.We will use the results of the preliminary field visit and the local stakeholder workshop to determine key markets for the pilot study: the primary, secondary and tertiary market outlets. The lowest level of the traceback system will be the identified primary markets. We will concentrate in areas where rumen boluses have been or plan to be used as part of the Cattle Theft Prevention Project.The livestock identification and traceability pilot research by ILRI is designed to compare different identification systems; the practicability of the additional devices in the field is to be discussed during the stakeholder workshop. Workshop participants will propose coding systems to be used for the tags, to reflect trader/market codes.Description of how the system will work: Cattle are presented for sale at identified primary markets, either by the owners or by traders. The livestock identification and traceability pilot staff will identify ear-tagged cattle entering the market. Any animal that enters the market and has an ear tag will be assumed to have a rumen bolus. The owner (or trader) of the animal with the ear tag is approached and briefed about the pilot and consent to participate is subsequently sought. If they accept to participate, the technician will confirm if indeed the animal has a bolus. We will use readers to determine the unique bolus numbers. Additional identification devices will be applied on a sample of animals without the bolus and entering the primary market. The sellers (traders) will provide their details: name, telephone number, details of each animal with a bolus (sex and colour). The readers are electronically linked to the pilot database. Identification details of other devices will also be captured. The database will be updated to include owner and animal details. Temporary crushes may be made available at the markets to aid restraint of animals for the study.Before leaving the primary market to the next destination, preferably while the animal is at the loading ramp or inside the truck, details of the new owner (trader) will be captured as well as the trader's next destination. We will update the database so we know what happened to animals that initially entered the primary market whose information was entered into the database (i.e. the percentage sold out).In the subsequent markets, the process of capturing entry and exit data is repeated every time an animal arrives in or departs from a specified market until its arrival at a terminal market when it is slaughtered or exported. Of importance will be trader details, source and next destination of the animals. There will be no identification device application at the secondary markets.Stock check manned by police/security: 2-3 road blocks along the busy stock routes will be identified and used to test the usefulness of the traceability system in determining ownership and previous market nodes where the animal has been. The checks will be applied to a random sample of animals in the trucks. We can have a datasheet where the trader first says where the source market is, identification details are read using the readers and the system used to ascertain if the details provided are correct.Slaughterhouse inspection: Mbale, Soroti and Busia represent the main slaughterhouses for cattle in the region. In addition to slaughter inspection results (sites checked and if normal or abnormal), blood samples will be collected for brucellosis testing. Sampling and analysis will be conducted by the epidemiology (surveillance) unit of MAAIF. We will use the system to trace positive results (based on meat inspection and brucellosis tests). This allows for a more targeted surveillance system to address animal and human health concerns. Staff at the slaughterhouses (but also in the slabs) will be sensitized to preserve the recovered identification devices especially the boluses. This will not only inform where else the animals are slaughtered besides the three main slaughterhouses, but will also be one way of recovering boluses for reuse in the cattle identification exercise, thus reducing the costs.An online database hosted at ILRI will be developed and pre-tested before being used in the pilot. We will use internet-enabled smart phones to register and capture movements along the value chain (market entry, exit and laboratory). Technicians will upload data to the main system at the end of each field day. There will be a smart phone and a reader at each market, stock check point and slaughterhouse. A query system will be developed so that at any given time, details of where a particular animal has been can be determined. Backup forms for entry and exit will be completed at the various markets.Identification of districts and markets: Key market routes and experience with ongoing or previous bolus identification activities under the Cattle Theft Prevention Project Source herds, kraals, villages: Cattle identification assumed to have been done by the Cattle Theft Prevention Project Primary markets: Key primary market outlets are identified, seller/trader details established, bolus identificaton details determined, new devices applied to a sample of animals without boluses, source and next destination established. Stock check: Local vet at Iriiri and Namalu check point works with security to ascertain source and ownership details Secondary markets: Key secondary markets are identified; traders with animals already identified in the primary markets are identified; traders are requested to provide entry and exit details.Slaughterhouse: Source details are obtained, meat inspection results, blood sampling for brucellosis testing, database is updated, recovery of identification devices -also done in other slaughterhouses (slabs) not part of the study. A trace-back system is performed for tests that are positive to establish ownership. ","tokenCount":"4854"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3496065319.json b/data/part_1/3496065319.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6435bf880b556dcc607d1cf4bae6d9fb5e548dfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3496065319.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c642e59552d82427f15b78442192be8d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/44f7ab59-bd1d-4348-9eff-b926b65622f4/retrieve","id":"1131007465"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f84c2406-8a45-429a-9853-c7b45266bd40","pagecount":"11","content":"genetic resources utilization. This strategic set of descriptors, together with passport data, will become the basis for the global accession level information portal being developed by Bioversity International with the financial support of the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT). It will facilitate access to and utilization of sweet potato accessions held in genebanks and does not preclude the addition of further descriptors, should data subsequently become available.Based on the comprehensive list 'Descriptors for Sweet potato' published by the International Potato Center (CIP), the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) and IBPGR (now Bioversity International) in 1991, the list was subsequently compared with a number of sources 1 .A worldwide distribution of experts was involved in an online survey to define a first priority set of descriptors to describe, to access and to utilize sweet potato genetic resources. This key set was afterwards validated by a Core Advisory Group (see 'Contributors') led by Dr David Tay and Dr Genoveva Rossel of CIP.Biotic and abiotic stresses included in the list were chosen because of their wide geographical occurrence and significant economic impact at a global level.Numbers in parentheses on the right-hand side are the corresponding descriptor numbers listed in the 1991 publication. Descriptors with numbers ending in 'letters' are either modified or are new descriptors that were added during the development of the list below.Length of the main vines 3 Erect (<75cm) 5Semi-erect (75-150 cm) 7Spreading (151-250 cm) 9Extremely spreading (>250 cm)Ground cover (4.1.3)Estimated percentage of ground cover recorded 35-40 days after planting 3 Low (<50%) 5Medium (50-74%) 7High (75-90%) 9Total (>90%)Vine internode length (4.1.4.1)Average length of at least three internodes located in the middle section of the vine 1 Very short (<3 cm) 3 Short (3-5 cm) 5Intermediate (6-9 cm) 7Long (10-12 cm) 9Very long (>12 cm)Vine internode diameter (4.1.4.2)Average diameter of at least three internodes located in the middle section of the vine 1 Very thin (<4 mm) 3Thin (4-6 mm) 5Intermediate (7-9 mm) 7Thick (10-12 mm) 9Very thick (>12 mm) Green with purple near stem 3Green with purple near leaf 4Green with purple at both ends 5Green with purple spots throughout petiole 6Green with purple stripes 7Purple with green near leaf 8 Some petioles purple, some others green 9Totally or mostly purple Storage root shape (4.2.1)Storage root outline shown in longitudinal section Round -almost a circular outline with a length to breadth (L/B) ratio of about 1:1 Round elliptic -a slightly circular outline with acute ends. L/B ratio not more than 2:1 Elliptic -symmetrical outline with about the maximum breadth at equal distance from both ends which are slightly acute. L/B ratio not more than 3:1 Ovate -outline resembling the longitudinal section of an egg. ","tokenCount":"447"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3499504594.json b/data/part_1/3499504594.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c98714fac1fde19fff6f248d4b093b12fe88788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3499504594.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9a0dbf6305db57cf119ff0a99a946840","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4f42b2f3-05cc-4011-bfe7-07bfbbe974cf/retrieve","id":"-384191790"},"keywords":["Sesamum radiatum","Justicia tenella","leafy vegetables","traditional production","domestication","Benin"],"sieverID":"c09df0f3-9f21-44de-88de-3f595f2f78d8","pagecount":"14","content":"Sesamum radiatum and Justicia tenella are two traditional leafy vegetables highly consumed in Benin. In spite of their importance in food security, nutrition, and income generation, they still remain very little known to the scientific communities. In order to document their diversity and the various traditional cultural practices associated with their production and identity as well as their domestication levels across zones, a survey was conducted in 10 villages randomly selected from different agroecological and ethnic zones of both northern and central Benin. Data were collected in the different sites through application of Participatory Research Appraisal tools and techniques and analysed using both simple descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, etc.) and multivariate analysis (ANOVA, cluster analysis). The study revealed the existence of clear intraspecific diversity within J. tenella contrarily to S. radiatum for which no apparent diversity was noted. In most of the households surveyed, J. tenella and S. radiatum were found respectively at steps 3 and 4 in the domestication process. The production of these vegetable species is still traditional and biologic (no fertilisers, no pesticides). The cultural practices used are not the same for the two species and vary between households and between ethnic groups. The multivariate analyses (Cluster analysis, PCA) conducted based on the various traditional farming practices to examine the relationship between farmers revealed respectively 4 and 5 categories of producers of J. tenella and S. radiatum corresponding to the same numbers of applied traditional technological packages. Further domestication trials were recommended to develop the best technical packages required to master mass production of the species in the future for the benefit of both producers and consumers. Agromorphological and genetic characterisation were also recommended in order to establish the scientific basis for their varietal improvement.Africa is an enormous reservoir of diversity of vegetables that play an important role in food security, nutrition and income generation in both rural and urban areas (Chweya *Corresponding author. E-mail: adansi2001@gmail.com. andEyzaguirre, 1999;Shippers, 2004;Bedigian, 2004;Etèka et al., 2010). Surveys conducted in several African countries these last decades revealed a wealth of vegetable species (Batawila et al., 2007;Kimiywe, 2007). In Kenya, 220 species were recorded (Maundu et al., 1999). Recent studies conducted in Benin led to more than 180 species of traditional leafy vegetable (TLVs) among which Sesamum radiatum Thonn. ex Hornem and Justicia tenella (Nees) T. (Dansi et al., 2008(Dansi et al., , 2009;;Adéoti et al., 2009). In Benin, these species occur and are highly consumed in the North and in the Centre of the country (Adeoti et al., 2009). According to the local communities, S. radiatum was locally domesticated while J. tenella was introduced in Benin about 60 years ago (Adeoti et al., 2009). Because they have been long time neglected by the scientific research, their production remained traditional and their domestication process (Vodouhè et al., 2011) has hardly progressed. To design a concrete research and development program for the promotion of these species for the benefit of both producers and consumers, the documentation of the traditional knowledge pertaining to their production and diversity is a prerequisite. The objectives of this study were threefold: 1) To investigate the current domestication levels of the species and assess their variation across villages and ethnic areas; 2) To document the intraspecific diversity of the species and the diverse traditional cultural practices applied to them across villages and examine their strength and weakness; and 3) To identify the priority research axis necessary for the finalisation of the domestication of the two species.The study was conducted in the Republic of Benin situated in West Africa between the latitudes 6°10' N and 12°25' N and longitudes 0°45' E and 3°55' E (Adam and Boko, 1993). It covers a total land area of 112,622 km 2 with a population estimated at about 7 millions (Adomou, 2005). The country is partitioned into 12 departments inhabited by 29 ethnic groups (Adam and Boko, 1993). The south and the centre are relatively humid agroecological zones with two rainy seasons (Figure 1) and mean annual rainfall varying from 1,100 to 1,400 mm/year (Adam and Boko, 1993). The north is situated in arid and semi arid agro-ecological zones characterized by unpredictable and irregular rainfall oscillating between 800 and 950 mm/year with only one rainy season. Mean annual temperatures range from 26 to 28°C and may exceptionally reach 35 to 40°C in the far northern localities (Adomou, 2005;Akoègninou et al., 2006). The country has over 2,807 plant species (Akoègninou et al., 2006). Vegetation types are semi-deciduous forest (South), woodland and savannah woodland (Centre-East and Northeast), dry semi deciduous forest (Centre-West and south northwest) and tree and shrub savannahs (far North).Ten (10) villages were randomly selected from different agroecological and ethnic zones of northern and central Benin among those earlier identified by Dansi et al. (2008b) in which S. radiatum and/or J. tenella were found under cultivation. The list of the villages, the districts in which they are located and the ethnic groups inhabiting them are presented in Table 1. Data were collected during field works on different sites through the application of participatory research appraisal tools and techniques such as direct observation, focus group discussions, individual interviews and field visits using a questionnaire (Adoukonou-Sagbadja et al., 2006;Dansi et al., 2008a;Dansi et al., 2010). Interviews were conducted with the help of translators from each area. As TLVs is mainly women's affair, they were the potential respondents in the study but men were not excluded.In each site, local women's organisations were involved in the study to facilitate the organisation of the meetings and the data collection. In each site and prior to the survey, the particulars of the area (agro-ecological zone, name of location, name of sub-location, name of village, ethnic group) were first collected after detailed presentation of the research objectives to the farmers. Through discussion, the following key information related to the traditional cultural practices was recorded on each of the species. These were: seeds collection, conservation and germination (nursery handling and management); planting period and materials (seed; cutting); space between individual plants; use of pesticides and fertilisers (type, dose and frequency of application); harvest (number and period); production system (sole cropping, associated crops); knowledge of pests and diseases and the traditional methods of their control. The level of domestication attained by the species in each village was determined following the seven steps described by Vodouhè et al. (2010) as follows:Step 0: Species entirely wild were collected only when needed.Step 1: Wild species are maintained in the fields when found during land preparation.Step 2: Farmers start paying more attention to the preserved plants for their survival and their normal growth. A sort of ownership on the plants starts.Step 3: The reproductive biology of the species is understood and multiplication and cultivation of the species in the home gardens or in selected parts of cultivated fields are undertaken.Step 4: The species is produced (in sole cropping) and harvested using traditional practices.Step 5: To improve the quality of the product, farmers adopt specific criteria to select plants that better satisfy people's needs.Step 6: Development of appropriate pests and disease protection and food processing methods. Income generation become a key objective of the production.Field visits were conducted to the farmers' home gardens or cultivated fields to see the species under production. For each species, a total of 50 producers were interviewed.Data were analysed through descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, etc.) to generate summaries and tables at different levels (ethnic areas and zones). To analyse the relationships between interviewees in term of cultural practices used, producers were considered as individuals and the cultural practices as variables and scored as 1 when used or 0 if not. Using this methodology, 56 variables were created and a binary matrix was compiled. Pairwise distances between ethnic groups were computed by NTSYS-pc 2.2 (Rohlf, 2000), using Jaccard coefficient of similarity (Jaccard, 1908). Similarity matrix was used to design a dendrogram using UPGMA cluster analysis (Sneath and Sokal, 1973;Swofford and Olsen, 1990).The ALSCAL procedure of SPSS software (SPSS, 1997) was used to build a two dimensional geometric structure based on the observed similarity or dissimilarity among investigated peoples   Within J. tenella farmers, the existence of varieties was reported which differ by the colour of the stem (Figure 2a and b) and the shape of the areal part (Figure 3a and b) of the plants. The morphotypes known to farmers are of four types and described as follows:Type 1: Erected plant with green stem; Type 2: Erected plant with purple stem and nodes intensively coloured in purple; Type 3: Scrub-covered plant with green stem; andType 4: Scrub-covered plant with purple stem and nodes intensively coloured in purple.The first type (erected plant with green stem) was found in all the villages surveyed while the three others were observed in only 3 (type 2) or 2 villages (types 3 and 4).On the scrub-covered plants, rooting is observed at the nodal points of the branches spreading on the ground. None of the farmers interviewed reported intraspecific morphological diversity on S. radiatumThe status (cultivated or not) of the two species investigated varies among the surveyed villages. Hence, J. tenella was not found under cultivation at Dani, Gobé and Ouogui while S. radiatum was absent in the home gardens at Alafiarou, Dourobé, Karobouarou, and Papatia, the four Bariba villages of the study sites (Table Table 2. Variation of the domestication levels of J. tenella and S. radiatum across villages and ethnic areas.nc: Not cultivated.2). In the villages where these species are cultivated, their domestication levels were variable, more often, between ethnic areas. At Perpoyakou inhabited uniquely by the Wama ethnic group, J. tenella was found at both levels 3 and 4 following Vodouhè et al. (2011) while at Gobé, S. radiatum was found at levels 2, 3 and 4 with the ethnic groups Adja, Idaïtcha and Pila-pila respectively (Table 2). For the majority of the households surveyed, J. tenella was mostly found at the domestication level 3 and S. radiatum at the level 4 (Table 3).The different traditional agricultural practices applied to J. tenella and S. radiatum throughout the surveyed sites are summarised in Table 4. In the study zone, the species investigated were found under cultivation at different sites. These include near the homestead (home gardens, cattle enclosures; 90% of farmers) and fertile portions of the cropland (10% of farmers). Two cropping systems (sole cropping, mixed) were used. The commonest cropping systems were found to be mixed cropping (72 and 90% of users for J. tenella and S. radiatum respectively) with either vegetable or non vegetable crops (Table 4). Planting material is either exclusively seeds (S. radiatum) or seeds and cutting (J. tenella). Two cutting length (Table 4) were recorded but the one of 10 to 15 cm seems to be the most used. Planting with seeds was mainly by broadcasting (91 to 100% of farmers; Table 4) and is concentrated in small patches where the debris from clearing the fields was burned. Nursery also exists but was however found to be a rare or uncommon practice as it is practiced by only 4 and 18% of producers of S. radiatum and J. tenella respectively. It is made most often on upland fields exclusively (S. radiatum) and sometimes on mounds in lowlands (J. tenella). Recorded options and percentage of users by species for planting method, planting period, plant spacing, use of fertiliser and pesticides, number of days to the 1 st harvest, cutting height and harvest frequency are also summarised in Table 4. J. tenella and S. radiatum easily produce seeds under farming conditions. However, the methods that farmers use to handle seeds and which are of two types vary according to the species. Growers of S. radiatum harvest at maturity fruits from the desired number of individual plants and extract the seeds (100%; Table 5). A small number (12%) of farmers cultivating J. tenella dig up the whole plants with mature fruits and tie them to a tree in their field to favour free wind dispersion of the seeds. Seeds harvested and sun-dried are packaged in various materials and stored in homesteads in granaries. Materials used to conserve seeds (Table 5) were the same in all the villages surveyed but their degree of utilisation varied according to the species. Most of the farmers interviewed conserved seeds of S. radiatum in bottles while the majority of J. tenella growers stored seeds in either polythene bags, bottles and cans with a predominance of cans (Table 5). In terms of storage period, farmers reported that these conservation systems may keep the viability of seeds for, sometimes, more than 9 months (Table 5). Apart from rare producers (4%) of S. radiatum no producers do germination test before sowing (Table 5).The cluster analysis using the different practices as variables showed different groups of producers according to the species. With J. tenella and at 36.4% of similarity, the dendrogram constructed (Figure 4) showed 4 groups (C1, C2, C3 and C4) of farmers which also appeared well demarcated by the plan represented by the first two axis of the principal component analysis (PCA) performed to visualise the groups in a two-dimensional plan (Figure 5). C1 clusters together all the Tchabè farmers and a great number of the Bariba farmers; C2 groups the remaining Bariba farmers with two Wama and one Otamari farmers; C4 gathers almost all the Wama producers let aside by C2 except of individual FPmW17 of the village Pam-Pam solely classified in C3. In the plan defined by the two first axis of the PCA (Figure 5), Axis 1 opposes C4 to C2 and C3 and Axis 2 separates C1 from C2, C3 and C4.On the dendrogram constructed for S. radiatum and at 42.8% of similarity, five groups (G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5) of producers were obtained (Figure 6). These groups were confirmed by the PCA as they all appeared well represented on the two-dimensional plan defined by the axis 1 and 2 (Figure 7). Contrary to J. tenella, the groups were more ethnically heterogeneous apart from G4 and G5 which were dominantly Otamari (Figure 7). The different groups of producers identified for both species and presented earlier, are each characterised by a particular technological package seen as a set of traditional  farming practices. These practices as well as the sociolinguistic groups with whom they have been encountered and their corresponding domestication levels are summarised in Table 6. The statistical analysis conducted to compare at species level the identified producers groups based on the quantitative data, revealed some differences (Table 7). Hence, the analysis of variance applied to \"planting spacing, eight of cutting and length of cutting\" revealed highly significant difference (P < 0.0001) between groups of producers of both species (J. tenella and S. radiatum) for only the first parameter (Table 7).The test of Kruskal-Wallis also revealed significant difference (P < 0.05) between producers groups for the numbers of days to first harvest and the cutting frequency (Table 7).Farmers reported an intraspecific diversity within J. tenella and classified the species into three varieties with clearly established differences. This is clear evidence that farmers have a good knowledge of their material and therefore their indigenous knowledge should be capitalised by geneticists and breeders. Similar results were reported on many crops such as yam (Dansi et al., 1999;Dansi et al., 2000), Fonio (Adoukonou-Sagbadja et al., 2006, 2007), sorghum (Berg, 1992), rice (Price, 2006), Cassava (Emperaire, 2007) and also on traditional leafy vegetables (Dansi et al., 2008;Adeoti et al., 2010;Adeoti et al., 2011). Variables considered by the farmers in identifying varieties and species will be taken into account among other descriptors for detailed morphological characterisation and classification of the species. No intraspecific morphological diversity is reported with S. radiatum. This unexpected result may be an indication of low morphological diversity within the species that only a comprehensive morphological characterisation of accessions gathered from different locations and agroecological zones will help either to confirm or to invalidate. Throughout the study zone, the status and the domestication levels of the two species investigated varies between, villages, ethnic areas and sometime households within the same village. These results are similar to those recently reported in Benin by Vodouhè et al. (2011) on a wide range of plant species among which some traditional leafy vegetables. For the majority of the households surveyed, J. tenella and S. radiatum were mostly found respectively at domestication levels 3 and 4 which correspond to fully cultivated species. The fact that S. radiatum was also at level 2 in some areas cast doubt on the thesis of its introduction as cultivated plant in Benin as reported by some farmers (Adeoti et al., 2010) and supports the idea of few farmers we met according to which it has been locally domesticated. As highlighted in Table 2, the higher domestication levels seem to be associated to the ethnic groups of the northwest principally the Otamari, Wama and Yom for both species and the peoples Tchabè and Pila-Pila for S. radiatum. The breakthrough noted with the Tchabè in central Benin could be due to the influence of the immigrant Otamari and Wama, who generally move with their vegetables species and their associated knowledge that they easily share with their neighbours (Adam and Boko, 1993;Adeoti, 2009). The traditional practices applied to both species are almost similar and do not differ from those generally used in Benin rural area for the traditional leafyvegetables in general as reported by Dansi et al. (2009). J. tenella and S. radiatum easily produce seeds under farming conditions. However, as their domestication is still ongoing, seed systems are still not well refined. Farmers used a wide range of containers to store seeds (Kossou and Aho, 1993;Abukutsa-Onyango, 2007) and reported that they keep the viability of seeds for, sometimes, more than 9 months. Germination trials at different storage times of seeds conserved in these materials should be conducted to verify this statement and indicate the appropriate seed storage methods for the different species. The multivariate analysis carried out using the different practices as variables showed different groups of producers according to the species. C3 and C4 of J. tenella and G3 and G4 of S. radiatum assemble farmers applying the most advanced technological package (domestication level 4) characterised by seed extraction from fruits, preparation of nursery, bulk seedling, planting in row and sole cropping. The other groups are those using less advanced production technological packages.The statistical analysis conducted to compare at species level the identified producers groups based on the quantitative data, revealed that with both species some groups of producers use wide planting spaces while some apply small spacing (Table 7). Our observations revealed that farmers who use wide planting are those who practice intercropping while the individuals applying low spacing are those producing the species in pure culture (monoculture) to satisfy the market demand. According to the farmers and as already reported by Aho and Kossou (1997), Floquet and Mongbo (1998), large spacing in intercropping system allows better development of the plants. Therefore, some trials are needed to determine the appropriate planting density for each species to help farmers in maximising their production. Similar research actions should be undertaken for the cutting frequency and the number of days to the first harvest.The production of S. radiatum and J. tenella in Benin is still traditional and biologic. The cultural practices used vary between species, households and ethnic groups. Their ongoing domestication process as found across explored areas and households should be supported and speeded with intense agricultural trials. These trials will help in defining the technological packages necessary for optimal, intensive and extensive production of these species in market gardens for food nutrition, food security and economic purposes. It will also be necessary to assemble germplasm from different agroecological zones of Benin and conduct agromorphological and genetic characterisation in order to establish the scientific basis     for their suggestions and constructive criticisms. We are grateful to all the farmers for fruitful discussions during the survey.","tokenCount":"3312"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3503552051.json b/data/part_1/3503552051.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a53f65e35f62452d132fd632fcbfe482f536ab72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3503552051.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f4971266a63d04f51794e7a32b99a596","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/88a99956-ef32-4406-a796-42c0abe6b6ef/retrieve","id":"-1962754079"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f290c20e-a845-4de7-9bb9-c3226c38cb85","pagecount":"4","content":"La papa fue domesticada 7,000 -10,000 años atrás en los Andes de América del Sur, donde se convirtió en un alimento básico. En tiempos recientes, la producción de papa ha crecido lentamente en los países de la región y en algunos casos ha disminuido. Una reciente revisión de las estadísticas de producción de papa (Scott, 2011) indica que la tasa de crecimiento anual de cultivo de papa en América Latina, como región, ha disminuido por detrás de otras regiones en desarrollo, incluyendo a África y Asia. Sin embargo, en Perú, la producción de papa ha crecido dramáticamente en los años recientes. Como indica Scott (2011: 148), \"el crecimiento de la producción de papa y el área sembrada en Perú en los últimos 15 años ha sido quizás el desarrollo más resaltante en la región en los últimos 50 años\".¹ Perú tiene 24 departamentos, 19 de los cuales producen papas. ² Perú tiene 1834 distritos, de los cuales 1373 producen papas. ³ Los precios han sido reducidos basados en el índice de precio del consumidor en Perú (índice 2011=10 0). Los precios anuales son promedios volumen-peso calculados con data mensual. Tabla 1. Cambio porcentual en variables seleccionadas para variedades de papas nativas y mejoradas en Perú La revolución de la papa nativa en Perú • 2 Volumen de producción (000 t) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Área cosechada (000 ha) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Rendimiento (t/ha) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Precio pagado a productores (nuevos soles peruanos/kg)¹ Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Número de productores de papa (000) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Área cosechada por productor (ha) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Número de productores que venden papas (000) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Porcentaje de productores que venden papas Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Porción vendida de la cosecha (%) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Volumen de ventas (000 t) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Valor de ventas (millones de nuevos soles peruanos)¹ Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Volumen de ventas/vendedor (kg) Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativas Valor de ventas/vendedor (nuevos soles peruanos)¹ Variedades mejoradas Variedades nativasEn este documento, examinaremos tendencias recientes de la producción de papa en Perú y exploraremos el rol de las papas nativas en el crecimiento de la producción de papas peruanas. Los objetivos específicos son: documentar tendencias en la producción de papa peruana en el último medio Durante el último medio siglo, la producción de la papa ha crecido lentamente en la región andina de América del Sur, donde tiene su centro de origen y donde constituye un alimento básico principal. La excepción es Perú, en donde la producción de papa ha crecido en los años recientes. En base a una revisión de las estadísticas peruanas oficiales, este documento muestra las tendencias en la producción de papa peruana en el último medio siglo, estima producción y comercialización de papas nativas y mejoradas en la última década, e identifica los factores que han influenciado esas tendencias. El crecimiento de la producción de papa en Perú refleja cambios tanto en la oferta como en la demanda. Por el lado de la oferta, la rápida expansión de la red de carreteras en Perú, el número creciente y tamaño de los camiones, y la diseminación de celulares, ha mejorado dramáticamente los vínculos entre los pequeños productores de la sierra rural y el mercado urbano dinámico, a la vez que ha reducido costos de comercialización. Por el lado de la demanda, la imagen de la papa ha cambiado de un \"alimento para pobres\" a un tesoro nacional subexplotado y un motivo de orgullo. El Proyecto para la Innovación y Competitividad de la Papa en el Perú (Proyecto INCOPA) ha promovido el cultivo y uso de papas nativas a través de alianzas público-privadas que buscan: innovaciones en la producción y la comercialización, cambios en las políticas, e incidencia pública. Esta iniciativa parece que ha estimulado la demanda por papas nativas y mejoradas y también ha contribuido al desarrollo de la oferta con nuevas tecnologías. Muchos pequeños productores, incluyendo a aquellos que cultivan papas nativas, se han beneficiado de los incrementos en la producción de papa, ventas, y precios pagados a los productores. Los principales beneficios de una innovación de cadena de mercado y una mayor demanda del mercado por papas, ha interesado inicialmente a innovadores caracterizados por niveles de educación altos, propiedad de tierras grandes, mejor acceso a crédito y recursos, y a mercados para comercializar sus productos, así como una dotación superior de capital financiero y social, y mayores capacidades empresariales. siglo; estimar tendencias en producción y comercialización de variedades de papas nativas y mejoradas en la última década; e identificar factores clave que hayan influenciado estas tendencias, así como las implicaciones de políticas.Usamos términos como \"papas nativas\" y \"variedades nativas\" para denotar ejemplares o variedades de papa local que han sido desarrolladas en gran parte por procesos naturales, por adaptación al ambiente natural y cultural en dónde crecieron. Las variedades nativas difieren de las \"variedades mejoradas\", las cuales son productos de programas formales de mejoramiento del cultivo de papa, que han sido creadas para alcanzar características particulares estándar, cómo cosechas mayores y resistencia a plagas o enfermedades. Cientos de variedades de papa nativa todavía son cultivadas en la sierra de Perú y otras partes de los Andes. En áreas montañosas pobres y remotas, \"la papa todavía es un componente clave en los sistemas de subsistencia de los pequeños productores, contribuyendo a la seguridad alimentaria como una fuente directa de alimento y como un cultivo para venta\" (Meinzen Dick et al., 2009:235). En las tierras altas de los Andes por encima de los 3,500 msnm el cultivo de papa genera más valor agregado y empleo por hectárea que otro cultivo comestible cualquiera.Las papas se cultivan en toda la sierra de Perú y también en valles irrigados de la costa central. Las variedades nativas de papa son típicamente cultivadas por familias productoras en pequeñas parcelas en tierras sobre los 3,500 msnm. La gran mayoría de productores de papa en Perú son pequeños productores, quienes cultivan menos de media hectárea de papas. En contraste, las variedades mejoradas de papa son cultivadas en parcelas de tierra más grandes y áreas mejor dotadas a menor altura. Las unidades productivas comerciales de mayor escala son pocas en número y generalmente cultivan papas en valles fértiles inter-andinos y en valles irrigados a lo largo de la costa peruana.Este documento está basado principalmente en un análisis de las estadísticas del Ministerio de Agricultura del Perú. Comenzando en 1950, el Ministerio de Agricultura del Perú estimó la producción de papa a nivel nacional y departamental¹, el área cosechada, el número de productores de papa, el volumen de papa vendido por productores y los precios recibidos por los productores. Más recientemente, el Ministerio ha estimado las mismas variables para cada distrito del Perú².Comenzamos con un análisis de tendencias en el área de la producción nacional de papa, y cosechas en el último medio siglo . Iniciando en el 2000, expandimos el análisis para incluir comercialización de la papa a nivel de granjas. Usamos la data de nivel distrital para estimar la producción, ventas, y precios de las variedades nativas y mejoradas de la siguiente manera: usamos la altitud de cada capital de distrito para establecer dos grupos de distritos, (a) aquellos cuya capital está a 3,500 msnm o más, y (b) aquellos debajo de esta altitud. Asumimos que los productores que viven en el primer grupo de distritos producen solo variedades nativas y que aquellos que residen en el segundo grupo producen solo variedades mejoradas. Basándonos en estos supuestos, usamos las estadísticas del Ministerio de Agricultura en los dos grupos de distritos productores de papa para estimar las siguientes variables:• Producción, área cosechada, y cosecha de variedades de papa mejorada y nativa (2000-2011)• Número de productores de variedades de papa mejorada y nativa (2000-2011)• Volumen de ventas de los productores de variedades de papa nativa y mejorada (2000-2011)• Precios pagados a los productores de variedades de papa mejorada y nativa en nuevos soles peruanos del 2011 (1991-2011)³ Usamos los resultados de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares (anual) para estimar el número de agricultores que vendieron papas y la porción de su cosecha que vendieron.En la Tabla 1 y en las Figuras 1-4 se presentan el resumen de las estadísticas. En todas las tablas y figuras, se aprecian resultados promedio para las variables en cuestión. Ya que la distribución de propiedad de tierras y excedentes de mercado están altamente sesgadas -más parecido a distribuciones de \"ley potencial\" qué de distribuciones normales -los promedios pueden no representar la situación \"normal\" de muchos agricultores de papa. La situación de la mayoría de productores -los que tienen muy poca tierra -puede ser diferente a la de los pocos grandes productores (con mayor tierra), y los promedios aritméticos para todos los productores pueden diferir de valores típicos para estos dos tipos extremos de productores. Por esta razón, una importante área para la investigación futura será analizar la producción y los datos de comercialización desagregados por tamaño de la propiedad de tierra.Tendencias en la producción de papa, área cosechada y rendimientos. La Tabla 1 resume los principales cambios en la producción de papa, comercialización, y precios desde el 2000. Las Figuras 1-3 muestran tendencias en la producción de papa, área cosechada, y rendimientos desde 1960. La Figura 4 muestra tendencias de precio desde 1990.Producción de papa total. En el último medio siglo la producción de papa se ha expandido de un aproximado de 1.2 millones de toneladas en el principio de la década de los 60s a 3.7 millones de toneladas en 2009-2011. Como muestra la Figura 1, el crecimiento de la producción no ha sido estable. La producción incrementó durante los 60s y luego se estancó durante los 70s. En los 80s, la producción al principio declinó y luego incrementó. Al comienzo de los 90s, la producción se desplomó al nivel que tenía al principio de los 60s. Desde 1993 hasta el 2000, la producción de papa se disparó hacia arriba dramáticamente. Desde el 2000 hasta el 2005, se expandió menos rápidamente, y desde entonces, ha vuelto a crecer rápidamente.Las series de tiempo para áreas cosechadas tienen los mismos picos y valles que el del total de producción de papa. Pero mientras el área cosechada hoy es aproximadamente el mismo que hace 40 años, la producción se ha duplicado. Los rendimientos de papa, que eran de 5 t/ha al inicio de los 60s, se incrementó a aproximadamente 7 t/ha en 1970 y 8 t/ha en 1980. Durante los 80s, los rendimientos crecieron y luego decayeron de nuevo. En los 90s los rendimientos se recuperaron y se dispararon hacia arriba a casi 12 t/ha en el 2000. Desde entonces, los rendimientos se han incrementado gradualmente hasta el presente nivel de alrededor de 13.5 t/ha.Producción de variedades de papas nativas y mejoradas. Desde el 2000, la producción de variedades de papas nativas ha crecido más rápidamente que la producción de variedades mejoradas (por 33% y 23%, respectivamente). El crecimiento más rápido de la producción de papas nativas refleja la expansión más rápida en el área, la cual ha sido más que compensada por el rápido crecimiento de los rendimientos para variedades mejoradas. El área de cultivo de papas promedio es pequeña y va en declive. En 2000/2002, los productores cultivaban un promedio de 0.28 ha de variedades mejoradas y 0.24 ha de variedades nativas. Para el 2008-2010, el área de cultivo de papa declinó en aproximadamente 0.23 ha. Dado que la distribución de tierras es sesgada, muchos productores cultivan parcelas mucho más pequeñas de papa, mientras unos pocos cultivan áreas mucho más grandes.Desde el 2000, el número y la proporción de productores de papa que comercializan papas han decaído. Al comienzo de la década dos tercios de los productores que cultivaban variedades mejoradas vendieron parte de su cultivo; en el 2008/2010, esta proporción ha decaído a un tercio. En el mismo periodo, la proporción productores que comercializaban una porción de sus cultivos de papa nativa declinó de 40% a menos del 20%. Como veremos más abajo, el declive en el número de productores que comercializó papas está acompañado con un incremento en el número de agricultores que produce papas y un incremento en el volumen vendido. En otras palabras, a lo largo del tiempo, un número menor de productos de papa está produciendo y comercializando una mayor cantidad de papas.Tendencias en los precios pagados a los productores. El promedio de los precios pagados a productores de papas (en nuevos soles peruanos del 2011) disminuyó durante los 90s, con un repunte en el medio de la década. Los precios siguieron estando esencialmente estables del 2000 al 2005, y desde entonces, han subido (Figura 2). Los incrementos en el precio de las papas han sido particularmente notables para papas nativas. Desde el 2005/2007, los precios promedio para papas nativas incrementaron en 49%, mientras que los precios para variedades mejoradas incrementaron en 26%.Volumen y valor de las papas comercializadas. Los productores peruanos cultivan papas para proveer alimento para sus familias y también para generar un ingreso de dinero⁴. La data de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares, muestra que la mayor parte de las variedades mejoradas cosechadas son vendidas; en contraste, la mayoría de papas nativas son retenidas para el consumo del hogar y para semillas. En 2000/2002, los productores de variedades mejoradas vendieron 57% de lo que cultivaron, comparado a solo el 20% de los productores de variedades nativas. Por 2008/2010, los productores de variedades mejoradas vendieron 60% de su cultivo y los productores de variedades nativas vendieron 28%. De estas figuras se puede ver que mientras la parte de variedades mejoradas vendidas incremento en sólo 5%, la parte de variedades nativas vendidas incrementó en 40%, en un período de 8 años. Durante el mismo periodo, el volumen de variedades mejoradas que fueron comercializadas incrementó solo en un cuarto mientras que el volumen de variedades nativas comercializadas incrementó en tres cuartos.Dado que los precios pagados a productores se han incrementado en los años recientes, especialmente para papas nativas, el valor de las papas vendidas ha incrementado significantemente más que el volumen vendido. Desde el 2000, el valor de venta de variedades de papas mejoradas y nativas ha incrementado en 67% y 159%, respectivamente.Como se dijo anteriormente, mientras que el número de productores que producen ambas variedades (mejoradas y nativas) ha incrementado, los productores que venden papas han disminuido. En consecuencia, el valor promedio de ventas para cada productor que vende papas se ha incrementado. Desde el 2000, los productores que venden papas mejoradas y nativas incrementaron el valor de sus ventas en 174% y 433% respectivamente. En 2008/2010, los productores que vendieron variedades de papa mejoradas y nativas generaron un promedio de 3,800 y 3,000 nuevos soles peruanos (US$ 1,292 y US$ 1,020⁵) de sus ventas, respectivamente.Durante el último medio siglo, el sector agrícola del Perú fue impactado negativamente por disputas de propiedad de tierra (1960s), un traumático proceso de reforma agraria (1970s), y terrorismo (1980s). El colapso de la producción de papa en los primeros años de los 90s reflejó el grave estado de la inseguridad rural que prevalecía en la sierra de Perú en esa época. La derrota del movimiento terrorista Sendero Luminoso en 1993 marcó el inicio de dos décadas de crecimiento sostenido en la agricultura peruana, que está reflejado en las recientes tendencias de la producción de papa.Otros motivos significantes de la reciente expansión de la producción de papa han sido las políticas pro-negocios de los recientes gobiernos peruanos, un crecimiento fuerte de la economía peruana, y descentralización política y presupuestaria. El producto bruto interno de Perú creció a una tasa promedio anual de 6.3% del 2001 al 2010 (BID, 2010: 7), y el ingreso rural per cápita creció a una tasa anual promedio de 5.1% desde 1995, impulsada principalmente por el crecimiento agrícola (Webb, 2013). La aceleración de la construcción de carreteras y la amplia difusión de teléfonos celulares también contribuyeron al crecimiento económico y a las mejoras de ingreso en la sierra peruana. Mientras que Perú construía en promedio sólo mil kilómetros de nuevas carreteras cada año entre 1950 y el 2000, esto pasó a ser 3,000 kilómetros de nuevas carreteras cada año desde el 2000. La rápida expansión de la red de vías, junto con un gran incremento del número y el tamaño de camiones atravesando esas carreteras ha reducido dramáticamente los costos de la comercialización de los productos agrícolas producidos en la sierra, como las papas (Webb, 2013). Todos estos factores han estimulado el crecimiento de pequeños pueblos y el sector de pequeños productores en las áreas de la sierra.El fuerte crecimiento económico del Perú ha conducido a incrementos en los ingresos per cápita y expansión de la demanda por alimentos, como la papa, que son consumidos en diversas formas en hogares y restaurantes. El rápido crecimiento del procesamiento de comida y el consumo de comidas precocinadas y snacks, han estimulado la demanda por papas, las cuales son el ingrediente básico en las industrias de comida rápida y snacks. En un proceso paralelo, preocupaciones crecientes por la nutrición y seguridad alimentaria han estimulado el interés en las variedades de papas nativas, las cuales son usualmente cultivadas con menos pesticidas químicos y fertilizantes que en el caso de variedades mejoradas.El reconocimiento de la cocina peruana como una de las más sofisticadas del mundo y de mejor calidad, también ha estimulado la demanda por alimentos de origen andino, como las papas nativas, cuyas virtudes han sido destacadas en eventos de alto perfil como Mistura, un festival de comida muy importante y masivo (www.mistura.pe). Las papas nativas ahora son vistas como un alimento \"peruano\" único, saludable, nutritivo, sabroso, y diverso en sus formas y usos.El auge de la producción de papa coincide con la primera iniciativa para promover la producción y uso de las variedades nativas peruanas, explotando las oportunidades del mercado emergente para esas papas. El Proyecto para la Innovación y Competitividad de la Papa en Perú (INCOPA) fue coordinado por el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) a través de la Iniciativa Papa Andina y fue apoyado por la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación. INCOPA buscaba una estrategia múltiple que incluía:• Trabajar a través de alianzas público-privadas, que se fueran consolidando a través del tiempo. Varias alianzas establecidas durante el proyecto han alcanzado sostenibilidad y continuidad para operar.• Promover la innovación comercial, institucional, y tecnológica a través del uso del Enfoque Participativo de Cadenas Productivas (EPCP). Las innovaciones comerciales incluyeron un número de productos en base a papa fresca y procesada; las innovaciones institucionales incluyeron varias alianzas, así como legislación y normas técnicas para papa; las innovaciones tecnológicas incluyeron selección de variedades, mejoras en los sistemas de semillas, y enfoques integrales para el control de plagas en las variedades nativas. • Una campaña para promover la imagen de las papas nativas, por ejemplo, con el establecimiento del Día Nacional de la Papa en Perú, promoción del Año Internacional de la Papa, y el trabajo con chefs y promotores de la cocina revolucionaria peruana.• Apoyo para el cambio de políticas incluyendo, por ejemplo, normas para los mercados mayoristas e inclusión de las variedades de papa nativa en el Registro Nacional de Cultivos Comerciales.Esta iniciativa ayudó a mejorar la imagen de las papas nativas y el vínculo de pequeños productores a los mercados urbanos dinámicos para productos basados en papa (Devaux et al., 2009).Estadísticas oficiales y evaluaciones del sector papa apoyan la hipótesis que en años recientes ha habido un incremento en la curva de demanda para papas -en particular para papas nativas (Proexpansión, 2012). En el pasado, los incrementos en la producción de papas y ventas -incluso los aumentos moderados -estaban asociados con la reducción en los precios de papa. Sin embargo, desde el 2005, tanto las ventas de papa como los precios han aumentado. Una posibilidad es que, debido a las reducciones en los costos de transporte, los precios pagados a los productores de papa han subido pero los precios mayoristas y minoristas han bajado. Información del mercado mayorista de Lima, en toda la última década, indica que tanto la venta de papas y los precios han subido también, significando que la demanda del consumidor por papas ha aumentado.El aumento de la producción de papa nacional ha sido resultado principalmente del crecimiento del cultivo de variedades mejoradas de papa, con características para comida rápida la cual es consumida por un número creciente de peruanos. Los pequeños productores que cultivan papas nativas también se han visto beneficiados por la rápida expansión de este cultivo. El bajo rendimiento de las papas nativas ha reflejado el enfoque histórico de la investigación y desarrollo (I&D) agrícola en el mejoramiento genético y cultivos comerciales en regiones mejor dotadas y una falta de atención a las necesidades de los pequeños (y pobres) productores que cultivan variedades nativas en áreas remotas de la sierra. Impulsados por el interés creciente de los supermercados y los grandes procesadores en las papas nativas y el desarrollo de nuevos productos (por ejemplo, chips de papa de color y platos de restaurantes gourmet hechos con papas nativas), los investigadores agrícolas y las ONG ahora están prestando más atención a las variedades nativas. Esto pronostica un incremento en la productividad futura y una expansión continua de los cultivos de papa nativa y su comercialización.El mayor beneficio de una innovación de cadena de mercado y un incremento de la demanda del mercado por papas, ha llamado la atención de los primeros innovadores que tienen un alto nivel educativo, mayores extensiones de tierra, mejor acceso al crédito, recursos y mercados para sus productos, y dotaciones superiores de capital financiero y social, así como mejores capacidades empresariales. Familias con propiedades de tierra más pequeñas,","tokenCount":"3610"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3506380930.json b/data/part_1/3506380930.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3d8ef2125a30e254801a1f8b6ced977b87a490ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3506380930.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f661b001dc08c33cbb430e1b0bdc3f14","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/CIFOR-ICRAF-OP-2.pdf","id":"-1334689458"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71dd6de7-e0b9-4e38-bb77-2a875d175642","pagecount":"43","content":"Photo by Himlal Baral/CIFOR Degraded peatland in Perigi, South Sumatra being restored for food, energy and raw materials CIFOR Jl. CIFOR,viThis study aimed to provide a better understanding of bioenergy issues, potential and sustainability to inform countries in the global South and provide guidance on integrating bioenergy into their national energy plans by proposing a simplified sustainability framework for wood-based bioenergy.Many countries have recently adopted bioenergy as a critical strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition, several studies have forecast bioenergy to become a primary energy source. Because of increased efficiency and lower production costs, along with legislative support and investment incentives, bioenergy use is swiftly becoming a renewable energy substitute for fossil fuels.There are several arguments against bioenergy expansion. Food security is the most prominent because existing or new agricultural land may be required to produce bioenergy crops or feedstock. Food insecurity restricts availability and accessibility, leading to price rises. In addition, clearing forestland may occur if demand for bioenergy feedstock increases, resulting in biodiversity loss, increased soil erosion, hotter microclimates and GHG emissions. Pro-bioenergy groups argue that bioenergy has co-benefits if biomass is produced on degraded and underused land and provides energy security and emission reductions, supports rural livelihoods and enhances biodiversity and ecosystem services. For example, the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) II contains sustainability criteria, including biodiversity for forest bioenergy (Camia et al 2021). Some countries, for example, the USA, Brazil and European nations, are including bioenergy for achieving their emission-reduction targets, optimizing the national energy mix and reducing fossil-fuel dependency. In these countries, bioenergy is an integral part of a bioeconomy, focusing on sustainability and promoting bioresources and bioproducts. This includes developing a circular economy, which aims to minimize waste from biological processes.In this context, the global review of this study shows an increasing trend of inclusion of bioenergy in the total global energy-supply share from 1.4% in 2001 to 5.1% in 2018. The trend has been projected to grow by 3.7% and double use from 53 Exajoules (EJ) to 108 EJ between 2010 and 2030. Various studies using different assumptions estimate potential global bioenergy production to be between 273 EJy-1 (per year) and 1471 EJy-1.The main drivers of growth of bioenergy are energy security, climate change and green economy, financial investment and access to technology, land availability and productivity, production costs and market guarantees.The review of sustainable wood-based bioenergy in this study identified several benefits applicable to the global South, including sustainable forest management, high energy efficiency and low production costs of advanced biofuels, a reduction in GHG emissions, value addition to woody biomass, supporting biodiversity, socio-economic benefits to local people through new employment, income generation and support to rural economies, and new and diversified energy supplies.With 1.4 billion hectares (Bha) of land globally potentially available for bioenergy production, integrating bioenergy with landscape-scale production systems can directly contribute to five of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and indirectly influence another four.Therefore, bioenergy can allow developing countries to better support rural communities, vii create more equitable economic opportunities and enhance energy access. However, some countries may need to refine their natural resource, climate, energy and land-use policies and strategies to adapt to production of wood-based bioenergy based on their social, economic and environmental circumstances.To help countries in the global South design woodbased bioenergy systems, we present a sustainability framework herein that explains how to better use low-value land resources, produce bioenergy, restore ecosystem services, and mitigate and adapt to climate change.The study offers the following points as guidance to establish sustainable, wood-based bioenergy supply in developing countries in the global South:(1) Landscape-level planning and management by establishing a strategic vision for an integrated land-use approach that identifies the resource base, land tenure and appropriate land use across whole landscapes, typically mixed use; (2) Use of marginal and degraded land should be considered for biomass production for power generation. Importantly, biomass supply must not be sourced from existing natural forest or high conservation value areas; (3) Mixed-species plantations must consider species suitability to the land and people. A mix of high-yielding and droughtresistant species suitable for the area are ideal for a sustainable supply of biomass; (4) Seamless monitoring systems based on 'smart' technologies, such as smartphone-based monitoring applications, can provide evidence regarding the biomass supply chain and bioenergy production in real time; (5) Local initiatives will ensure a focus on local needs and provide energy access for market certainty. Strong partnerships and collaboration are needed among stakeholders, including smallholders, communities, larger private sector, research and academic institutions, and government and nongovernmental bodies; (6) Conflict management is necessary and should include all stakeholders involved in a bioenergy initiative and be based upon conflict management protocols; (7) Governance of the biomass supply system should include local government authorities and integrate the biomass supply system governance into public systems to ensure sustainable biomass production; and (8) Documentation and record-keeping are essential to demonstrate that the biomass supply chain and bioenergy production adhere to the principles and criteria of bioenergy sustainability. Documentation, monitoring, and reporting are key to verify that biomass production and bioenergy generation comply with the bioenergy sustainability framework.In addition, the study concludes that a global South bioenergy forum is needed to support dialogue, learning and cooperation and help ensure that the positive, transformative aspects of bioenergy are realised and deleterious ones avoided. An example of such a forum is the CIFOR-ICRAF Circular Bioeconomy Transformative Partnership Platform (https://www.cifor.org/cbe).The adverse impacts of climate change threaten the existence of life on our planet. Global actions addressing this have become paramount. Anthropogenic emissions -that is, humaninduced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) -are broadly accepted as the cause of climate change. Twenty years after the first climate summit in Berlin in 1995, at the Twenty-first Conference of Parties (CoP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris, 196 countries agreed to seek to limit global temperature rise to below 2 0C -preferably 1.5 0C -by 2050 (IPCC 2019). The Paris Climate Agreement is a legally binding and ambitious target for all countries to become carbon neutral by mid-century. To achieve net-zero carbon emissions, bioenergy is increasingly seen as part of land-based mitigation measures to limit climate change.Carbon-intensive and non-renewable fossil fuel is the major source of global energy supply for transport and electricity; accounting for 64% of total emissions in 2019 (38 gigatonnes of carbondioxide (Gt CO2)) (UNEP 2020). Reducing and replacing fossil fuel has been a major focus to achieve the global target of net-zero carbon emission through diversifying energy source for ensuring energy security (Field et al. 2020). In this context, bioenergy derived from sustainable biomass sources 1 can significantly contribute to climate-change mitigation by enhancing and replacing carbon-intensive and non-renewable fossil fuel and diversifying energy sources to ensure energy security (Souza et al. 2017). IPCC's modelled pathways estimated up to 700 million hectares will be needed for bioenergy production 1 'Sustainable' defined in a broad sense as including consideration of, among other factors, ecosystem health, climate-change mitigation, electricity grid stabilization, energy security, rural development, income and employment, other environmental impacts such as air pollution and other non-GHG climate forcers (Camia et al. 2020).to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 0C by 2050 (IPCC 2019).Bioenergy produced from sustainably sourced biomass -forestry or agricultural feedstock -is considered a renewable energy source that promotes decarbonization through industrialscale power generation, heating and transport energy (IPCC 2019;Nakada et al. 2014). The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) claims that transition from fossil fuels to bioenergy not only avoid emissions from direct combustion of fuels but also provides other benefits by reducing the dependency on imported energy sources and enhancing energy security by diversifying sources (IRENA 2017). Use of bioenergy as an energy source is increasing because of several factors. Development and use of bioenergy is a key strategy proposed by many countries to help meet their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to targets to reduce GHG emissions under the Paris Climate Agreement. 1. Bioenergy development is an opportunity to integrate with land-and biodiversityrestoration programmes, with biomass from restoration used for production of bioenergy. 2. Bioenergy is renewable and can replace fossil fuels and reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels for many countries. 3. Technological advances continue to increase the efficiency and affordability of bioenergy. 4. Many countries already feature policies encouraging use of bioenergy in transport, power generation and heating. 5. Bioenergy offers new investment opportunities. 6. A well-functioning bioenergy sector stimulates the economy of rural areas, creating local jobs.A few countries, for example, the USA, Brazil and nations of the European Union (EU), are pursuing commercial bioenergy to help achieve their emission-reduction targets, optimize their national energy mix and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. In these countries, bioenergy is seen as an integral part of a bioeconomy, with a focus on both a sustainable economy -by promoting the use of bioresources and bioproducts -and a circular economy, which aims to minimize waste from biological processes (Johnson 2017;Asveld et al. 2011).Bioenergy, however, is not free from controversy (Johnson 2017). There are concerns regarding food insecurity (Rosillo-Calle and Johnson 2010), land-use change (Berndes et al. 2013), replacing natural forest with energy crops or plantations, water crises, and no measurable GHG benefits. The IPCC (2019) acknowledged, with 'high confidence', these negative impacts of bioenergy. However, IPCC qualified that such impacts depend on many factors, including the scale of operation, previous land use and land type, carbon stock and management regime.It is widely agreed that bioenergy produced from sustainable biomass with comprehensive social and environmental safeguards can avoid negative impact and generate a wide range of benefits. Consequently, bioenergy sustainability is considered a prerequisite for future expansion. In many developed countries, bioenergy-sustainability frameworks and certification systems have been developed to ensure social, economic and environmental safeguards that avoid detrimental impact at all stages of the bioenergy lifecycle, from production of feedstock to energy end-use.The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) is an international research institution with the strategic goal of sustaining people's livelihoods in the global South by transforming landscapes. Our research agenda includes restoration of degraded landscapes using commercial bioenergy crops sustainably (for example, Sharma 2016;Borchard et al. 2018;Jaung et al. 2018;Artati et al. 2019).Yet while bioenergy can mitigate climate change and be an alternative, sustainable energy source, adoption remains limited to a few countries.In this context, a better understanding of bioenergy issues, potential and sustainability is necessary to inform developing countries on how to assess their energy needs and integrate bioenergy into their national energy plans.CIFOR-ICRAF has undertaken this study to address these needs, focusing on several major areas.1. Review of the bioenergy literature to understand bioenergy as an emerging alternative energy source and document global trends, drivers and factors favouring its expansion. 2. Summary of the arguments for and against bioenergy production and use, which emerge mainly from the global North. 3. Synthesis and refinement of the arguments in the context of environmental and socioeconomic conditions of the global South to identify bioenergy sustainability frameworks for wood-based bioenergy. 4. Discussion of the ways forward to promote the use of wood-based energy in the global South.While bioenergy can be successfully produced from various types of biomass feedstock, technological innovations and development continue to make bioenergy an even more efficient and cost-effective alternative energy source compared with fossil fuels.Of the various bioenergy sources, relative efficiencies depend on type of feedstock and the technology used in production. Agricultural (for example, sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) and maize (Zea mays)) and oil crops (for example, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and rapeseed (Brassica napus)) have been the principal feedstocks supplying 'first generation' bioenergy production: ethanol and diesel (IRENA 2016).Crop and wood residues, grasses and trees are high-yielding biomass feedstocks used to produce 'second generation' bioenergy (IRENA 2016).They have the potential to generate a large portion of global bioenergy production.'Third generation' bioenergy from microalgae is still in the research-and-development phase, therefore, current bioenergy production is derived from first-and second-generation feedstock. Much of the bioenergy literature refers to first-generation bioenergy because of its degree of technological advancement and its important contribution to global bioenergy supply.For second-generation biofuel, woody biomass can be sustainably sourced by growing suitable tree species on degraded land that is unsuitable for agriculture, creating no competition with food crops. If bioenergy species are grown in mixed agroforestry systems, food security and biodiversity will be enhanced (Sharma et al. 2016). The wide availability of degraded and under-used land in the global South offers an opportunity for restoration through growing woody biomass for bioenergy production without impacting natural forests and habitats. Further, the restoration of degraded land engages local communities and provides employment opportunities and ecosystem goods and services from restored landscapes, including increased food supply and enhanced biodiversity if under agroforestry.However, it is important to contrast the bioenergy potential of woody biomass in the global South against with global bioenergy potential using a sustainability framework. Although charcoal and fuelwood are dominantly used for cooking in Africa and Asia (Mirzabaev et al. 2014), these sources' low energy efficiency, lack of regulation and unsustainable sources are well noted in the literature (IEA 2021). This study excludes traditional uses of fuelwood for cooking, focusing rather on other types of wood-based bioenergy.and whether they were 'supportive', 'qualitatively supportive' or 'non-supportive' toward bioenergy production and use.An annotated bibliography was prepared after a detailed review of these references to assist in the study. References were prioritised that were evidence-based and peer-reviewed to offer the latest information on bioenergy within the scope of this study. This study was based on a desktop review of literature collated through an extensive Internet search using databases and search engines Scopus, Science Direct and Google Scholar. Primary keywords were used -'bioenergy', 'bio-energy', 'bioeconomy', 'biofuel' and 'woodbased bioenergy' -in combination with 'supply', 'demand', 'policy', 'renewable', 'sustainability' and 'framework' (Figure 1).The literature was sorted based on global or international scope, regional or country scale The woody biomass bioenergy pathway outlined in Figure 2 provides a framework for lifecycle analysis of production of different bioenergy types and accounting for climate benefits. This pathway assumes the woody biomass is produced through new plantings on degraded land and the biomass does not come from natural or remnant forests. Net carbon benefits occur when the sum of carbon sequestered, and the emissions avoided, exceeds GHG emissions from harvesting, processing and transportation of material and bioenergy products.The total carbon footprint of converting woody biomass to bioenergy is the sum of GHG emissions from the woody biomass production and harvesting, pre-processing and bioenergy production processes and transport of the raw materials and bioenergy products. The net climate benefit of the woody biomass bioenergy pathway is estimated by subtracting total GHG emissions from the processing and transportation of the biomass from total GHG removal by the biomass through carbon sequestration and total GHG avoided by the transition of fossilWoody biomass constitutes that biomass accumulated on a tree 2 , including the trunk, branches and twigs, roots and foliage. The increasing use of woody biomass for bioenergy production is attributed to a number of factors, including the versatile nature of woody biomass to generate various bioenergy types, year-round availability, relative price stability, ease of transport and no food-security risks (Ranta 2014).Whether it is a whole tree or a part, woody biomass by-products can serve as raw material in bioenergy pathways to produce, for example, biofuels, synthesis gas (syngas) and power generation and heating, based on biochemical, thermochemical and direct combustion processes (Figure 2).Debates have occurred over whether the source of the woody biomass is natural or plantation forests, the amount of emissions produced during longdistance transport of biomass and the carbon debt from production.The EU's Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) (EP&CPU 2018), in particular, has raised serious concerns regarding use of forest biomass derived from tree harvesting and the potential for indirect land-use change, despite sustainability criteria in place. Nasi (2018) highlighted the need for better understanding of the science through lifecycle analysis; the 'time debt' was the most concerning issue, which can undermine climate-change mitigation efforts. At the stand level, tree harvesting and burning for bioenergy emits GHGs immediately and stand regrowth takes many years to sequester the same amount of fuel to bioenergy or emissions avoided from burning coal to generate equivalent energy.Suppose the biomass is sourced from an existing forest, in which case, the calculation must consider the baseline situation of direct or indirect landuse change, the management regime (thinning, harvesting), harvested product types and uses, geographical location and spatial extent of the biomass production.In 2001, bioenergy nominally contributed 5.7 EJ or 1.4% of the total global energy use of 418 EJ, excluding use of traditional biomass -that is, fuelwood -that accounted for 39 EJ or 9.3% of total global energy use (Goldenberg and Johansson 2004). Traditional biomass is used in developing countries by about 40% of the world's population, who depend on mostly unsustainably sourced biomass for cooking and heating (Mirzabaev et al. 2014). However, a recent report estimated that bioenergy (without traditional biomass) supply increased from 2001 about three-fold to 4.1% in 2015, rising to 5.1% in 2018, along with an increase in total primary energy supply, by providing an alternative to all end-use energy sectors (IRENA 2020).In 2018, biofuel production grew by about 10%.The USA and Brazil lead production, with 38 and 21 MtO-e respectively, and together accounted for about two-thirds of global production in 2018.The EU produced about 14 MtO-e or 14.6% of global production (Figure 3).Bioenergy is considered one of the renewable energy sources in many international frameworks and policies that can support the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as part of decarbonisation and in support of sustainable development (IRENA 2014)  IRENA (2020) provided a comprehensive analysis of the global energy outlook for 2050 and projected total energy supply and consumption under the Planned Energy Scenario 3 (PES) and Transforming Energy Scenario 4 (TES) for 10 global regions. The total global bioenergy installed capacity was estimated to be 106 GW; equivalent to 3.3 EJ 5 with 134 billion litres of biofuels produced worldwide.Under the PES -and considering current energy policies, plans and targets -bioenergy production increases by three-fold to 336 GW or 10.6 EJ.The TES is more ambitious and sees a six-fold bioenergy increase to 690 GW or 21.8 EJ in 2050 compared with the 2017 reference level 6 . Global biofuel production will increase by almost three times to 373 BLy-1 and five times to 641 BLy-1 under these scenarios, respectively. Thus, bioenergy rises significantly to 10% and 23% of the projected primary energy need in 2050 under the PES and TES, respectively (IRENA 2020)  sustainability issues at various scales (Hoogwijk et al. 2003).These estimates suggest the substantial global potential of biomass to provide low-carbon energy for all energy end-uses, including biofuels for the heavy transport and aviation sectors. Despite the potential and demonstrated application of bioenergy, its development and uses vary between, and are influenced by, development priorities, energy policies, investment markets and social, economic and environmental sustainability concerns.Figure 4 illustrates the bioenergy (GW) and biofuels (BLy-1) production as of 2017 and compares with projected estimates under planned and transforming energy scenarios by 2050. Among 10 regions, the EU had the highest installed bioenergy capacity of 34 GW in 2017 followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 19 GW and North America with 16 GW.Under the PES, the fastest growth of bioenergy will occur in East Asia, with a bioenergy capacity of 74 GW, increasing from 14 GW in 2017, while Latin America and the Caribbean will lead bioenergy production with 79 GW by 2050. Bioenergy production will almost double in North America to 30 GW in this scenario. Under the TES, bioenergy production must increase six-fold from 2017 levels and there will be significant growth in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1 GW in 2017 to 56 GW in 2050. Southeast Asia is predicted to increase bioenergy production capacity by 25 times from 7 GW to 176 GW between 2017 and 2050.North America dominated biofuel production by delivering 64 BLy-1 equivalent to almost half of global biofuel production in 2017. About a quarter of worldwide biofuel production occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean with 31 BLy-1 biofuels followed by the EU with 25 BLy-1 (about 19%). Biofuel production grows by about nine-fold to 62 BLy-1 in Southeast Asia and by about seven times to 33 BLy-1 in East Asia under the PES. The rest of the Asia region will experience a drastic increase in biofuel production from 1 BLy-1 to 81 BLy-1. In North America, biofuel production will rise by about three times to 183 BLy-1 by 2050 under the TES.Bioenergy has experienced enormous growth in the last decade and become a dominant renewable energy source. Switching to bioenergy from conventional energy sources is influenced by many factors. It varies between countries depending on The literature suggests several drivers responsible for this expansion, which are often complex and interconnected. Mirzabaev et al (2014) compiled a non-exhaustive list of about 20 drivers across six categories. Discussing each of these drivers is beyond the scope of this review. However, by reviewing bioenergy growth in several leading countries, we can identify the following key factors influencing bioenergy development in general.Energy is a significant indicator of economic development and national prosperity and energy use has demonstrated a strong, positive correlation with higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (Stern 2018). Fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) have dominated primary energy supply since the industrial revolution (Ritchie et al. 2020). In the transition from fossil fuels to bioenergy, energy security is as vital as the provision of affordable and reliable energy . Moreover, it is a prerequisite for sustainable development as signified in nine out of the 17 SDGs.Energy security has become a significant concern owing to the growing dependency on fossil fuels, their increasing cost, and the real and perceived risks of supply, availability and affordability (Anderson et al. 2004). The data show that between 1971 and 2018, energy consumption increased by 2.3 times from 6098 to 14,282 MtO-e, with fossil-fuel consumption rising from 5287 to 11,611 MtO-e, to sustain economic development and population growth (IEA 2020).In 2019, fossil fuels supplied 84% of total global energy (Ritchie et al. 2020).Concern about energy security is deepening because 1) fossil fuels are non-renewable resources with finite reserves (Ritchie et al. 2020); 2) a limited number of countries own the reserves and control the production and supply of fossil fuels (Anderson et al. 2004); 3) industrialized and developing countries depend on imported fossil fuels for their primary energy needs and economic development; 4) production and supply of fossil fuels may be disrupted owing to wars, politics or market and trade conflicts between countries (Anderson et al. 2004); and 5) fossil fuels may become unaffordable as costs rise (FAO 2008).These factors and their interactions add complexity to energy security. Heavy dependence on fossil fuels has caused more significant concerns and stimulated the search for sustainable and renewable energy sources. In this regard, besides hydropower and solar energy, bioenergy is being promoted for power generation and is considered a worthy substitute for the fossil fuels used in many sectors (Gustavsson et al. 2021). Industrialized countries have acted quickly to adopt, and promote, renewable energy sources for their primary energy supplies, with goals specifying the share of bioenergy in energy supply. For example, Brazil is a leader in the use of bioethanol to curb fossil-fuel imports and reduce foreign debt (FAO 2008)). Further, as a part of energy security, the trade of biofuels between producer and consumer countries has also supported the growth of biofuels over fossil fuels (Anderson et al. 2004).Finally, a renewed focus on renewable energy sources, including biomass, took place at the COP26 of UNFCCC in Glasgow. The final statement from CoP26 included, for the first time, a reference to rapidly scaling up the deployment of clean power generation and energy efficiency measures, including accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power (ENB 2021).Climate change is the greatest threat to the planet and is caused by anthropogenic emissions (IPCC 2019), primarily attributed to increasing energy demand, accounting for about two-thirds of total GHG emissions, derived mainly from fossil fuel use (IPCC 2011a). Mitigation efforts to reduce emissions from conventional energy sources without jeopardizing energy supply has been one of the primary drivers for bioenergy development.Bioenergy is recognized as a potential alternative energy source for heat and power generation and as a replacement for fossil fuels in the transport sector (IPCC 2019;IPCC 2011a). With the potential to replace fossil fuels using second-generation bioenergy, the need to mitigate climate change has supported the use of biodiesel in mainly replacing fossil fuels used in heavy vehicles, ships and aeroplanes. The global North, such as the EU and the USA, has adopted bioenergy as a key mitigation action. Hence, the share of bioenergy has increased in simultaneously meeting growing energy demand and reducing emissions. Brazil is the only country in the global South that has pioneered bioethanol production for domestic energy markets and sale on international markets.The Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 was instrumental in bringing together the global community to commit to mitigation and adaptation and take urgent action to reduce GHG emissions to limit global temperature rise to 1.5-2 °C relative to pre-industrial levels during this century (IPCC 2019). One hundred ninety-four entities -193 countries and the EU -signed the Agreement and submitted NDCs outlining the strategies and pathways to reducing emissions.Many countries in the global North have adapted renewable energy as a mitigation strategy to achieve emission reduction targets by 2030 from 1990 or 2005 levels (Table 1). Among the countries of the global South, China and Brazil have included renewable energy in their mitigation plans.In addition to the adaptation of bioenergy as an integral mitigation strategy, climate-modelling scenarios have considered the significant role bioenergy (IPCC 2019) plays through providing clean, green and renewable energy substitutes for fossil fuel and reducing GHG emissions.Energy policy is the foundation of the energy transition by providing a clear vision, strategies and action plans. and renewable energy, energy efficiency and security (EPA 2020). The federal-level policy initiatives supported a renewable energy goal of 80% clean electricity by 2035 (IRENA 2015). Several states adopted policies, laws and regulations to enhance use of bioenergy (Anderson et al. 2004).  Morgera et al. 2009). The programme ensured bioethanol availability at a low price, consistent national pricing, tax incentives to vehicles using ethanol and financial assistance to farmers (Morgera et al. 2009). In addition, the demand for biofuel increased owing to a policy on a mandatory 11% biodiesel blend and 27% bioethanol mixed with petrol in the transport sector (GAIN 2019).Transitioning from fossil fuels to bioenergy and other renewable energy requires a substantial financial investment. IRENA (2020) estimated a minimum investment of USD 20 billion per year to supply biofuels under the low-carbon transport scenario and projected a redirection of investment from fossil fuels to the renewable energy sector.Over USD 3 trillion per year is required for a total transformation of the global energy system to climate-friendly, efficient and cost-effective renewable energy by 2050 (IRENA 2020). The level of investment in the energy sector depends on individual countries' policies and strategies for clean, green and renewable energy pathways. However, the vast investment required to integrate bioenergy into developing countries' energy systems is a formidable barrier to implementation.While research and development into secondgeneration biofuel technologies have improved the cost-effectiveness of production, this still needs to be made available to developing countries that cannot use their potential biomass production to generate bioenergy. Using bioenergy for power is an opportunity for developing countries to facilitate universal energy access and support achievement of the SDGs. Programmes that provide financial support to replace fossil fuels by co-funding farmers' co-operatives, community groups or industry will enable power generation from sustainable biomass sources. Developing countries can learn from the experience of countries in which programmes provide financial support that encourages bioenergy.For example, Norway offers financial support to farmers or industries to establish or convert fossilfuel heating plants (MPE 2012) Net land availability should exclude land required for socio-cultural, economic and environmental purposes. Several studies assessed land availability for bioenergy using different methodologies, assumptions and datasets (Baridzirai et al. 2012).Collectively, they estimated land availability for bioenergy ranging from 240 million hectares (Mha) to over 1 billion hectares (Bha) (Woods et al. 2015). The lower value of the potential bioenergy area resulted from applying strict rules excluding regions of food production, high conservation value, wetlands, land competing with water, agricultural land, unmanaged land and protected areas (van Vuuren et al. 2009).A global analysis of land use and availability estimated 1.4 Bha available for bioenergy in 2010.However, they projected it would reduce to 905 Mha by 2050 owing to competition with other land uses (Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2012).Another study based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) highlevel assessment of land suitability estimated about 2.7 Bha of total area (of about 13 Bha) was suitable for crop production and about 1.3 Bha of this was already under agriculture. The remaining 1.4 Bha that was suitable, but unused, for crop production could be potentially available for bioenergy production (Nakada et al. 2014).According to this analysis, Africa had the highest area suitable for crop production, with over 800 Mha, about 29% of the total area suitable (2.7 Bha) for crop production and 239 Mha (30%) under agricultural use in 2010. South America had the second-highest area, of 540 Mha, suitable for crop production with 173 Mha (32%) under agriculture. Asia had the third highest suitable for crop production (529 Mha) and the most extensively used, with about 391 Mha (74%) under agriculture. Oceania had the lowest area suitable for crop production (113 Mha), with 41 Mha (36%) under agriculture in 2010. In 2020, by excluding land under agriculture, the potential area for bioenergy production was highest in Africa with 541 Mha (70%) followed by South America with 343 Mha or 68% and Asia with 137 Mha (26%) (Table 2). Table 2 presents the projected area for bioenergy production by 2030.Biomass production depends on site suitability. The bioenergy potential of degraded or marginal land is estimated to be as low as 1 tonne of dry matter per hectare per year (tdm ha-1yr-1) for abandoned agricultural land or degraded grassland (Hoogwijk et al. 2003) and about 4 tdm ha-1yr-1 for abandoned pastoral land (Campbell 2008).With an increasing demand for biomass to supply biofuels, bio-electricity and bio-heat, the International Energy Agency (IEA) (2011) estimated land demand in 2010 and the projected land requirement for 2050, with increased energy efficiency (Table 3). A significant increase in land productivity was projected by 2050approximately 3.5 times that of 2010 -to supply energy demand of about 130 EJ in 2050, that is, about seven times more than in 2010l. The highest gain in efficiency is predicted to be a fourfold increase by 2050 from 2010 levels owing to technological enhancements.The above theoretical projection of the global potential of bioenergy is based on assumptions of land availability and suitability and the efficiency of production per land unit. These estimates may be far from the actual figures. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of bioenergy potential that integrates the various socio-economic and environmental factors with high-resolution spatial data is needed to determine more accurate potential that could practically be achieved. Such an investigation is more feasible at country or local levels. In this context, Batidzirai et al. ( 2012) reviewed studies of bioenergy potential at national scale, estimating the potential from agricultural and forestry biomass of five countries -China, India, Indonesia, Mozambique and the USA -ranging from as low as 1.1 EJ in India to a maximum of 27.3 EJ in China by 2030.The cost of bioenergy production and the markets determine bioenergy deployment and operational continuity. The cost of bioenergy production depends on the initial and maintenance costs of machinery, the cost of bioenergy feedstock, the yield of bioenergy crops, operating costs, harvesting and transport costs of the feedstock, insurance, labour/staff costs and supply costs. Therefore, increasing the yield of bioenergy crops using suitable land, diversifying feedstock for sustained supply, and the low price and use of by-products in a circular economy will help lower production costs.A lower production cost will make bioenergy more competitive with fossil fuels in the energy market. The high price of the latter often supports demand for biofuels as a cheaper alternative to increasing fossil-fuel production. A rise in the price of fossil fuels between 2000 and 2007 was linked to a tripling in ethanol production and a ten-times increase in biodiesel production (FAO 2008). Government policy favouring biofuels provides market guarantees, encouraging users to switch to biofuels from fossil fuels. Brazil guaranteed the market for ethanol by enforcing fossil-fuel prices (de Andrade and Miccolis 2011). Bioenergy is not without its challenges, which occur in a range of social, economic and environmental contexts. This section highlights those challenges and describes the arguments for and against bioenergy.Over the past two decades the development of bioenergy, particularly use of biomass fuels in the global north has been strongly criticised. The key issues and arguments against biomass energy development are reviewed here.Accelerating deforestation and loss of biodiversity: One of the severe environmental impacts of the growing use of bioenergy is deforestation to expand the area of cropland needed for producing feedstock (EPA 2018). The increasing demand for feedstock requires more cropland, clearing of forest areas (Aberman and Cohen 2012) and expansion into less productive areas. For example, in the USA, food demand is predicted to double by 2050, forcing the production of energy crops into less productive and conservation areas, resulting in their loss and associated losses in biodiversity, and increases in soil erosion (Avery 2006) and other negative environmental impacts, which will affect achieving true sustainability. In addition, increased demand for biofuels has pressured exporting countries to expand bioenergy crop areas into other land uses, including forest areas in Brazil and Indonesia (EPA 2018). A study commissioned by Rainforest Foundation Norway suggested a sharp increase in demand for biofuel using, in particular, palm and soy oil, which would likely cause extensive deforestation, estimated at 7 Mha. Peatland would make up more than half of that deforested area. The resulting GHG emissions were estimated at 11.5 billion tCO2-e, greater than China's annual fossil-fuel emissions (Malins 2020). Further, land-use change from forest to agricultural land destroys unique habitat for flora and fauna, that is, loss of biodiversity, with concomitant increases in soil erosion and sedimentation, which has a negative impact on water quality, in addition to impact from increased fertilizer application (FAO 2008;Rosillo-Calle 2012).No climate benefits: Biofuel's climate benefits are also questionable, particularly concerning whether there is a tangible reduction of GHGs when switching from fossil fuels to bioenergy (see Norton et al. 2019). Aberman and Cohen (2012) argued that converting forests into cropland for biofuel feedstock results in more GHG emissions, despite reducing emissions by replacing fossil fuel. It takes several years to reach net GHG reduction, depending on carbon-stock lost from land clearing and feedstock energy efficiency. Even biofuels produced from high energy-efficient feedstocks, such as sugarcane, could take at least 17 years to achieve a net GHG benefit (Fargione et al. 2008).More than 650 scientists heavily criticized (see the letter) RED II for allowing EU countries to use woody biomass from tree harvesting for bioenergy production as a contribution to meeting the binding target of a minimum of 32% renewable energy by 2030. The scientists contended that this provision encouraged forest harvesting for bioenergy production and immediately released GHG emissions, which otherwise would have been sequestered in the trees. Even burning of woody biomass derived from sustainable forest management exceeds GHG emissions from fossil fuels. The scientists argued that regrowth of forest would take a considerable period before recovering the carbon debt and urged restriction of eligible forest biomass to woody residues and wastes.Increasing water scarcity: The impact of biofuel's water us is another negative environmental implication (Aberman and Cohen 2012; IEA 2010). The additional requirements of high water-demand biofuel crops (sugarcane, maize, oil palm) worsen water scarcity by competing with agriculture. In the USA, the water needed for maize ethanol production -100 million gallons per year -is estimated to be the equivalent amount needed for 5000 people (Service 2009).Water scarcity results in less water available for human use, negatively affecting health and sanitation. Further, fertilizers and pesticides used in bioethanol crops can contaminate water systems and negatively affect water quality. For example, the high-intensity use of nitrogen fertilizer and low uptake by maize crops resulted in nitrate pollution in the USA's groundwater (Garcia et al. 2017). At worst, such water can be unsuitable for human use, other animals or plants (FAO 2008).A simple fact is that the world's population is growing and food demand is increasing. The agricultural system must produce more food, feed and fibre to sustain population growth by expanding the agricultural area and enhancing productivity through technology. However, using food crops for bioenergy puts pressure on food supplies. Using food crops as bioenergy is a concerning issue from food security and environmental perspectives (FAO 2008). In the USA, the use of first-generation feedstock, maize, in particular, was the centre of this debate on the rapid expansion of maize for biofuels and the subsidies provided (Rosillo-Calle 2012). The use of land for biofuel crops has resulted in direct competition with agricultural use for food, reducing the area for food production. Thus, the largescale use of grain crops for bioenergy production is understood to compete directly with food, increasing food prices and negatively impacting food availability and affordability (Valentine et al. 2012), especially for economically disadvantaged people in developing countries (Rosillo-Calle 2012). Many factors interact to determine food prices and the role of bioenergy in food price rises is often disputed. However, food price increases in 2007-2008 concurred with considerable growth in bioenergy production (FAO 2008;Aberman and Cohen 2012;Rosillo-Calle 2012).Aberman and Cohen (2012) link the food-security issue and first-generation biofuel because more cropland was needed to supply feedstock to meet blending targets. According to the IEA (2004), nearly half of the USA's cropland is needed to meet the 15% blending target for transport fuel. Japan needs threefold of its cropland area. The same study concludes that nearly two-thirds of 102 countries face food insecurity owing to insufficient land for feedstock production. The IPCC (2018) agrees that the large scale of bioenergy production can lead to food insecurity.Recent interest in bioenergy development has emerged in the global south. It is important to assess the bioenergy concerns from the global north to determine which apply to the context in the global south and whether there are additional issues for consideration. The key issues and supporting arguments for biomass energy development are reviewed here.Sustainability is advocated as a prerequisite for the bioenergy pathway to energy security so long as the appropriate social, economic and environmental safeguards are present (FAO 2008). Sustainable bioenergy takes into consideration all of the opposing arguments against bioenergy and supports sustainably sourced, renewable bioenergy for energy security and decarbonization. As a result, several countries have developed, and regularly update, their policies to ensure energy security by promoting sustainable sources of bioenergy. In addition, sustainable bioenergy certification frameworks have been developed, establishing principles and environmental, economic and social criteria that aim to ensure there are no negative impacts from bioenergy production.Except for a few countries in the Middle East, the rest of the world imports fossil fuels and spends a significant portion of their GDP doing so. All these nations consider bioenergy as an opportunity to reduce their dependency on fossil-fuel importation and save foreign exchange (Rosillo-Calle 2012). For example, the USA and Brazil promote bioenergy to reduce fossil-fuel consumption to save foreign exchange and reduce GHG emissions because the demand for energy is continuously growing. Similarly, developing countries can use bioenergy as their primary energy source and, at the same time, save foreign exchange for investment in other developments.Rosillo-Calle 2012 argued that the debate on food security and bioenergy has no ground in truth; it is instead a political game to promote the vested interests of certain individuals or companies against the use of biofuels. Brazil, the singlelargest producer of bioethanol from sugarcane, has seen biofuels as an opportunity to address energy needs and reduce dependency on imports without negatively impacting food supply and prices (Rosillo-Calle 2012 Land degradation is another global environmental problem of the 21st century. Degraded land is estimated to range from less than 1 Bha to over 6 Bha (Gibbs and Salmon 2015). Bioenergy from perennial plants, including forest biomass by planting suitable mixed tree species, offers a 'win-win' solution for restoration of degraded land and GHG emissions (IEA 2010). In addition to providing woody biomass for bioenergy production (Ezeoha et al. 2017), mixed-species tree plantations -aka agroforestry -prevent soil erosion and siltation of waterways, create cooler microclimates, enhance biodiversity by providing suitable habitats for flora and fauna, including pollinators and natural predators (helping to spread risk of loss from pests and diseases) Further, the additional vegetation recuperates the soil and plant life through nutrient cycling and bolstering soil organic carbon, with above-and belowground biomass sequester atmospheric carbon, thereby providing emission reductions (Harvey and Guariguata 2020;ICRAF 2022).Community employment is vital to sustain rural economies and support the livelihoods of people in rural areas. Lack of employment or income forces people to migrate to urban areas where they often struggle for a living. Bioenergy production from growing feedstock through to end-use generates employment for local communities working in the value chain. The positive impacts of bioenergy on people's livelihoods in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia have been reported (Phalan 2009;Wiek et al. 2015;Brewer et al. 2018; IRENA 2020).Wood-based bioenergy has been used to produce electricity, facilitate heating and produce secondgeneration liquid biofuels (Eckhoff and Mackes 2010). Leading countries have advanced the use of biofuels sourced from woody biomass to reduce use of fossil fuels. Policies and legislation changes, fuel standards and incentives have enhanced bioenergy and led to replacement of fossil fuels. Many bioenergy-related publications advocate the benefits of sustainable wood-based bioenergy. The section below summarizes the key benefits of wood-based bioenergy production and use.Sustainable forest management involves operations to maximize the forest yield or enhance the growth of intended forest products, which produces forest residues as a by-product of forest management operations. The removal of forest residues benefits the forest and the owner in the following ways: 1) reduces fuel loads and thereby reduces fire risk; 2) enhances forest health and productivity by maintaining healthy trees; 3) reduces susceptibility to pests and diseases; 4) restores degraded land and supplies biomass for bioenergy (Borchard et al. 2017).In developing countries, more than a quarter of traditional fuelwood is obtained from unsustainable sources (Bailis et al. 2015), leading to deforestation or forest degradation. Adopting of sustainable forest management practices in plantations of short-rotation, fast-growing species minimises unsustainable harvesting of biomass or timber, ensures the sustainable supply of biomass for bioenergy generation, supports climate-change mitigation and, as part of a landscape approach, provides habitat for biodiversity. Brazil, for example, has advanced research on energy yield of various Eucalyptus species in different sites (da Cunha et al. 2021).Forest biomass produces advanced or cellulosic ethanol from the cellulose content with a tentimes greater energy efficiency (Stacey 2008) and approximately seven-times more volume than ethanol from grain (Andrews 2008). The low production cost and higher energy efficiency ensure generation biofuel technologies estimates a yield ratio of 1:100, that is, 100,000 tonnes of biofuel produced from 1 million tonnes of wood biomass (wet) (Ranta 2014). Another estimate suggests 310 litres of biofuel from 1 tonne of woody biomass (Mackes et al. 2008). The demand for woody biomass for bioenergy creates a market for forest residues and waste, which account for about 40% of the total biomass harvested. The additional income from such biomass will motivate smallholders and larger-scale private growers to produce woody biomass from their marginal land.Rural community employment and a new income source to smallholders can boost rural economies.In addition, by generating modern energy locally -and end-use locally and externally -bioenergy can circulate through the economy. This further enhances local capacity and promotes sustainable development based on a clean, green economy.In developing countries, about 50% of woody biomass is estimated to be used as fuelwood for cooking and heating (Bailis et al. 2015). However, fuelwood for cooking is considered an inefficient use of biomass energy and is responsible for serious health issues in women and children. Therefore, the displacement of fuelwood with modern bioenergy can bring socioeconomic and health benefits (IPCC 2019), especially to rural women and children, by saving their time in fuelwood collection and minimizing exposure to smoke.that advanced or cellulosic ethanol has growth potential (Ezeoha et al. 2017).Wood-based bioenergy has up to 90% less GHG emissions than fossil diesel whereas maizebased ethanol only reduces emissions 10-20% (Montenegro 2006). When the life cycle is considered, grain-based ethanol produces net emissions attributed to the release of nitrous oxide (N2O) during ethanol production (Ezeoha et al. 2017).Biofuel production can generate new employment opportunities for local communities in rural areas that help people's livelihoods and food security (von Braun and Pachauri 2006). Smallholders can supply biomass resources to modern bioenergy plants and receive a sustainable income source (GBEP 2011). The economic viability of bioenergy production using modern biomass has been demonstrated in many locations and can provide financial returns on the investments needed to build projects (IFC 2017).The technology development for second-generation biofuels via the conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock obtained mainly from wood-based biomass has offered a new market opportunity with value addition to biomass that would typically not be used (UNCTAD 2016). One of the second-Various bioenergy sustainability frameworks have been developed to ensure that the whole life-cycle process from feedstock to end-use of bioenergy meets sustainability principles and criteria (for example, GBEF 2011; Köppen et al. 2013;RSB 2016). These frameworks are designed to provide social, economic and environmental safeguards. In particular: no negative impacts on the environment owing to land-use change; no loss of biodiversity; no water scarcity; and no worsening of food insecurity. Table 4 compares institutional aspects of the bioenergy sustainability frameworks developed by the Global Bioenergy Partnership and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials.The GBEP bioenergy sustainability framework applies social, economic and environmental sustainability principles with eight measurable Bioenergy has emerged as a primary means to achieve GHG reduction targets, ensure energy security by reducing fossil-fuel dependency and save foreign exchange by leveraging economic development. In this context, bioenergy sustainability has received considerable attention to address its challenges (GBEP 2011;Goh et al. 2020) and encourage use and reaping of benefits.Bioenergy sustainability means that the energy derived from bio-resources complies with social, economic and environmental sustainability criteria, is recognized as an indispensable and integral part of the bioeconomy and contributes to a circular economy via its by-product value addition and waste minimization.With the potential to reduce GHG emissions by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, bioenergy is a crucial strategy for lowcarbon economic development and the growth of a bioeconomy. In addition, an economy based on bioenergy is considered more equitable than a fossil-fuel economy because it allows all developing countries to harness bioenergy's economic potential (Johnson 2017). Johnson (2017) suggests that integrating bioenergy into landscape-scale production systems delivers several co-benefits, directly and indirectly, relevant to the SDGs. Bioenergy sustainability (Destek et al. 2021) is acknowledged to directly contribute to five out of the 17 SDGs: affordable and clean energy (SDG 7); climate change (SDG 13); decent work and economic growth (SDG 8); life on land (SDG 15); and good health and well-being (SDG 3). The economic benefits from bioenergy via local employment and contribution to community health and well-being (Jagger et al. 2019) indirectly address another four SDGs: no poverty (SDG 1); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); and reduce inequalities (SDG 10) (Figure 5).  body is required to assess biomass production and bioenergy generation and issue a compliance certificate to the standard based on the minimum requirements set out by the RSB.An IPCC special report (2019) acknowledged -with 'high confidence' -both positive and negative impacts of using biomass for bioenergy. Further, it clarified that the consequences were context-specific and attributed to various factors, including the scale of bioenergy production; previous land use and carbon stock; biomass feedstock types (wood-based or agri-based); climate region; and management regime. For instance, at the stand level, woody biomass residues obtained from land-use change or old-growth forests can result in significant GHG emissions; taking hundreds of years to achieve net GHG benefits from bioenergy (Nabuurs et al. 2017). Nasi (2018) warned that the time debt to achieve carbon neutrality after tree harvesting for bioenergy will not help climate-change mitigation efforts now.In contrast to EU countries, those in the global South are uniquely placed to benefit from woodbased bioenergy by sustainably sourcing feedstock from fast-growing and short-rotation species suitable for growing on degraded and marginal land without threatening food security and conversion of natural forests. Moreover, woodbased bioenergy can enhance people's access to clean electricity or substitute powerplants using fossil fuels and generate employment or income to rural people in support of their livelihoods.Besides, bioenergy production and use generate co-benefits supporting climate-change mitigation, energy diversification and security.Applying our understanding of the bioenergy lifecycle's drivers and factors, and arguments for and against bioenergy, we have developed a framework for wood-based bioenergy (Figure 6). Developing countries can use this framework as guidance for evaluating and benefiting from unused land resources for producing bioenergy, restoring ecosystem services, mitigating climate change and achieving the SDGs. The framework has five major elements and 11 sub-elements.A regulatory framework provides policy certainty and creates an investment opportunities to develop wood-based bioenergy by integration into national, regional and local energy systems. Taking into consideration energy end-use demand and the type and quantity of sustainable biomass supply and production costs, it is possible to assess the potential of wood-based bioenergy for countries in the global South. Further, understanding the energy types and demand help identify the market and the size of the bioenergy processing capacity needed to meet demand.Estimation of available biomass must focus on marginal and degraded land and exclude existing forest and conservation and protection areas unless biomass is supplied under a sustainable forest management regime. A conservative value for biomass yield should be used based on species, climatic conditions, site quality and management regime to avoid overestimating supply. Agricultural residues other than woody biomass can account for additional biomass requirements of a given bioenergy powerplant.Estimating biomass production includes costs associated with establishing the plantations and continuing management. The average cost of establishment of a plantation has been estimated at USD 1500 per hectare in Africa (Reij and Winterbottom 2017). However, the cost could be less if communities are involved in establishing and managing nurseries to grow seedlings and planting and management is carried out using a community-based approach. Costs could be further offset if biomass production is part of an agroforestry system that provides co-benefits, such as food, fruit, nuts, medicines.Commercial enterprises typically prepare business plans, which describe how a wood-based bioenergy plant is established and operates to provide potential revenue sources, such as from a 'carbon farming' programme and supply of high-value timber to the market. Business plans typically explore, and bring together, interested parties, including communities, the larger private sector, banks, governments and non-governmental and international organizations.Securing finance is critical to successfully establishing and operating a wood-based bioenergy system. However, the high initial capital cost for second-generation biofuels can be a major financial barrier (UNCTAD 2016) unless the investment comes from the government, high-net-worth donors or direct foreign investment (IEA 2010). Small-scale, wood-based bioenergy powerplants can increase access to clean energy for rural people and replace fossil-fuel-based power generation. Individuals, the larger private sector and other institutions can collectively organize finance to use wood-based bioenergy, often through the establishment of a 'multi-stakeholder platform' or discussion forum consisting of government agencies, banks and finance institutions, companies and communities that receives all perspectives and seeks to optimise benefits.The implementation phase involves two distinct operations: 1) biomass production; and 2) bioenergy plant operation.Biomass production includes identifying suitable areas, establishing appropriate species, managing growth and harvesting. The choice of species should include high-yielding, multi-purpose, locally suitable tree species. Bamboo can be used for high biomass yield, especially, in steep areas prone to soil erosion, or as windbreaks for coffee and tea plantations. Smallholders can also generate biomass by adopting an agroforestry system, which also provides diverse income sources. The oilseed-bearing tree species' Pongamia pinnata, Calophyllum inophyllum (Bochard et al. 2018) and Reutealis trisperma (Holilah et al. 2015)) are suitable for carbon farming, generating revenue from credits from the carbon sequestered in the above-and belowground biomass. In addition, the harvesting of mature timber species can yield timber and forest residues and waste can be used for bioenergy production.Establishing pre-processing and bioenergy units at a suitable site (Waewsak et al. 2020) in a convenient location reduces biomass transportation costs. The spatial analysis capability of a geographic information system (GIS) is useful for optimising locations of biomass production areas and bioenergy production facilities (Jaung et al. 2018;van Holsbeeck and Srivastava 2020;Rodrigues et al. 2020). Coordination between the biomass and bioenergy production teams enhances the efficiency and operations of the bioenergy plant. Bioenergy production should use the latest technologies and focus on a circular economy by minimizing production-system wastes and producing value-added by-products from intermediary products. Capacity building for local people to produce bioenergy generates employment opportunities and guarantees the availability of a workforce.Bioenergy supply systems are key to distributing bioenergy from production sites to consumers. A network is needed to supply energy to businesses, industries and household consumers based on the bioenergy types. In addition, the system requires maintenance to ensure energy security.For many countries in the global South, large-scale bioenergy systems are challenging and risky owing to the high capital costs of second-generation biofuels and sustainable biomass supply. However, with about half of the biomass used for traditional heating and cooking in developing countries in Africa and Asia (Bailis et al. 2015) and the availability of marginal and degraded land, there is a real opportunity for effective and efficient, small-scale, wood-based power generation that helps achieve SDG 7: access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 (UNDP 2016).This study offers the following points as guidance to establish sustainable, wood-based bioenergy supply in developing countries in the global South.This means establishing a strategic vision for an integrated land-use approach that focuses on identifying the resource base, land tenure and appropriate land use across whole landscapes, typically mixed use. Marginal and degraded land and any other type of abandoned land (land not used for food production) may be considered for use for biomass production for power generation. The potential productivity of the land, the species, area available and status of local communities will determine the sustainable biomass supply from a local or regional area. Biomass supply must not be sourced from any existing natural forest or conservation areas.As indicated above, land eligibility criteria for biomass production can be established that safeguard natural forests, wetlands, peatlands, high conservation value and cultivation land. The criteria should also provide measures to avoid indirect land-use change owing to biomass production. For example, RSB certification requires that land must not have been used for provisional [ecosystem] services in the three years prior to 1 January 2018 (UNCTAD 2016).The choice of species must consider the species' suitability to the land and people by assessing the biophysical and social factors. Mixed, high-yielding and drought-resistant species suitable for the area are ideal for a sustainable supply of biomass (IPCC 2011b Local government authorities should integrate the biomass supply system's governance into their system to ensure sustainable biomass production.8. Documentation and record-keeping: a project document and monitoring report are essential to demonstrate that the biomass supply chain and bioenergy value chain adhere to the principles and criteria of bioenergy sustainability. Biomass and bioenergy producers should separately prepare a project document, providing details of all activities, inputs and expected outputs, including a monitoring plan identifying the parameters to be monitored, methods and monitoring frequency. This includes preparation of an annual monitoring report and record of implemented activities and parameter measurements. The project document should be submitted with the annual monitoring report to the responsible government authority.The authority or a third party chosen by the authority can undertake verification of the project to confirm that biomass production and bioenergy generation comply with the bioenergy sustainability framework.For local, wood-based, bioenergy production, several monitoring indicators are proposed to ensure that biomass production and bioenergy generation adhere to social, economic and environmental safeguard goals and principles (Table 5). As a result, both developed and developing countries have adopted bioenergy as a critical mitigation and energy security strategy. However, when bioenergy is not applied sustainably, there are food security issues, accelerated GHG emissions and environmental problems caused by the conversion or use of agricultural products and land-use change from natural forest to bioenergy production. In this context, bioenergy sustainability has emerged as a prerequisite, and sustainability frameworks and certification systems have been instrumental in achieving social, economic and environmental sustainability.It must be borne in mind that there are differences in bioenergy benefits and negative impacts between the global North and South; with benefits generally outweighing negative impacts in the global South, particularly, in meeting rural electricity provision and demand; higher biomass productivity; the need for socio-economic benefits such as expanded livelihood opportunities; and greater opportunities to combine restoration of degraded land, biodiversity enhancement and need for revenue generation.Many countries have recently adopted bioenergy as part of a critical strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. Because of increased efficiency and lower production costs, along with legislative support and investment incentives, bioenergy use is swiftly becoming a renewable energy substitute for fossil fuels. The study provides a better understanding of bioenergy issues, potential and sustainability to inform countries in the global South and provide guidance on integrating bioenergy into their national energy plans by proposing a simplified sustainability framework for wood-based bioenergy.Arguments are reviewed against biomass energy expansion, mainly developed in the context of the global north. The benefits of biomass energy expansion are also reviewed with a focus on conditions common to the global south. A sustainability framework is presented to illustrate better use of low-value land resources, produce bioenergy, restore ecosystem services, and mitigate and adapt to climate change.The study recommends guidance to establish sustainable, wood-based bioenergy supply in developing countries in the global South, which help ensure that biomass supply chains adhere to the principles and criteria of bioenergy sustainability. ","tokenCount":"9787"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3512039517.json b/data/part_1/3512039517.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..674a8b262df6bb2af54005d77b25f6fb53b1c7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3512039517.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c445ff7f8738b959a8170b6b09797ea2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf9f5a34-1256-46fa-a7f7-74401d031f58/retrieve","id":"1565394695"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"00348eee-b4d1-40b5-ac74-00bd744aa4fa","pagecount":"6","content":"Ante los crecientes desafíos del cambio climático y los compromisos adquiridos en iniciativas como los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y el Acuerdo de París (COP21), diversos países en el mundo han generado cambios estructurales en los sistemas de desarrollo buscando reducir las emisiones globales de gases contaminantes. Lo anterior se traduce en una reorientación de los procesos productivos y de los patrones de consumo: la ciudadanía adquiere un compromiso público materializado en el manejo de residuos, ahorro energético y un mejor uso de los territorios y ecosistemas. Estos cambios son consistentes con el informe del Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (2018), el cual promueve el compromiso ambiental a través de acciones orientadas al cuidado del medio ambiente.Sin embargo, las acciones climáticas se encuentran fuertemente relacionadas con factores como la motivación, el conocimiento del cambio climático, la confianza en las fuentes de información ambiental y la eficacia personal. El presente estudio utiliza tales elementos como variables de aproximación para explicar los comportamientos ambientales en un importante grupo poblacional como son los estudiantes de educación superior. Se trata de una población que será la encargada de tomar decisiones políticas complejas sobre el cambio climático y, para ello, deberán hacerlo, no solo desde una perspectiva informada, sino también con un amplio nivel de motivación.Al identificar los valores, las actitudes y los conocimientos frente al cambio climático, será posible establecer estrategiasPercepciones sobre el cambio climático en Colombia: Evidencia en los estudiantes de educación superior Las percepciones sobre el cambio climático determinan el nivel de apoyo hacia las políticas de mitigación y adaptación. Conocer dichas percepciones y su relación con las realidades sociales constituye entonces un punto de partida para el establecimiento de políticas efectivas.Esta investigación es una contribución a la creciente literatura que argumenta la existencia de una suave tendencia hacia el cierre de la brecha entre géneros: aunque los hombres mostraron más conocimientos sobre el cambio climático, las mujeres evidencian mejores actitudes, eficacia personal y comportamientos ambientales.En términos de orientación para las políticas, el estudio muestra que, aunque el conocimiento sobre el cambio climático y la confianza en las fuentes de información ambiental son dimensiones importantes para predecir los comportamientos ambientales, la eficacia personal y las actitudes ambientales son aún más relevantes.Manuel F. Díaz, Stefania Sellitti, Matteo Ruzzante, Andrés Charry, Karen Enciso y Stefan Burkart de comunicación y educación más objetivas hacia los estudiantes, contribuyendo de esta manera a que este grupo poblacional sea un actor activo en la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático, y actúen como agentes de cambio en otros sectores de la población.Se realizaron 4.769 encuestas tipo Likert en diferentes ciudades del país (Figura 1). Se calculó un índice para cada uno de los módulos del cuestionario, estableciendo puntajes máximos y mínimos, y se crearon intervalos con el ánimo de clasificar todas las variables dentro de los rangos establecidos (Figura 2).Se analizó el efecto de las variables sociodemográficas sobre dimensiones como el conocimiento del cambio climático, la eficacia personal, la confianza en las fuentes de información ambiental, las actitudes (medidas a través de la escala NEP) y los comportamientos ambientales. Se calculó el estadístico t student, la prueba ANOVA y Kruskal-Wallis. Para identificar los grupos con mayor diferencia, se utilizó el test de Tukey y el post hoc Kruscal Wallis Dunn. La búsqueda de relaciones que permitieran explicar los comportamientos ambientales fue realizada utilizando el método de Mínimos Cuadrados Ordinarios (MCO). Asimismo, los resultados se validaron a través del Análisis de Componentes Principales (ACP).Figura 1. Composición de la muestra por ciudades En general, los estudiantes de las ciudades analizadas poseen conocimientos sobre el cambio climático, aunque en un nivel intermedio (Figura 2a). El análisis por géneros muestra que los hombres presentan una mayor comprensión del cambio climático mientras que las mujeres exhiben mejores comportamientos ambientales, eficacia personal y actitudes hacia la conservación ambiental. En lo relativo al conocimiento por ciudades, Bogotá presentó la población estudiantil más informada, seguida de cerca por Tunja, mientras que Armenia muestra la población menos informada.Si bien las diferencias de las medias son estrechas, los estudiantes de programas como doctorado o maestría presentan más conocimientos que los estudiantes de pregrado o técnico, no obstante, estas diferencias no son significativas. Al indagar por el conocimiento en relación al estrato socioeconómico se evidencia el mismo resultado. Asimismo, se observa que los estudiantes entienden el impacto del calentamiento global en la agricultura y las actividades pesqueras, pero carecen de un adecuado entendimiento de la energía nuclear, pues la asocian como una actividad generadora de gases efecto invernadero. Asimismo, la mayoría de estudiantes no conocen la relación entre las grandes cantidades de ozono en la atmósfera y el aumento de las radiaciones ultravioleta, pero son conscientes de los efectos nocivos que estas últimas presentan en la salud de las personas.Los resultados para la eficacia personal fueron altos, en especial en las afirmaciones que hacían referencia a las acciones individuales para mitigar el cambio climático. También se encontró una relación directa entre el estrato socioeconómico y el nivel de estudios. Si bien tanto las mujeres como los hombres tienen altos resultados para esta variable, las primeras presentaron un mayor grado de afinidad en todas las afirmaciones planteadas, incluyendo aquellas que hacían referencia a los intentos por generar conciencia en las demás personas. Por su parte, Armenia y Montería se destacan por ser las ciudades con menor eficacia; la primera de estas presenta diferencias significativas con las demás ciudades del país. Asimismo, se destaca el alto nivel de conciencia sobre la responsabilidad humana en el calentamiento global pues alrededor del 90% de la muestra se mostró a favor de la afirmación \"los humanos son los principales responsables del calentamiento global y del cambio climático\".En referencia a la confianza en las instituciones que brindan información sobre el cambio climático, la población se concentró dentro del segmento intermedio. La comunidad científica es la institución que más aceptabilidad presenta, mientras que la información ofrecida por el gobierno nacional es la fuente de información con menos confianza.Las agencias no gubernamentales (ONG) y las instituciones educativas se encuentran en un punto medio. Un hecho destacado es que, para esta dimensión, no se hayan presentado diferencias marcadas por género, ciudad, nivel de estudios o estrato socioeconómico.Las actitudes ambientales presentaron el mejor comportamiento entre todas las dimensiones estudiadas: los estudiantes evidenciaron un alto nivel de conciencia en relación a la importancia de construir un mejor equilibrio entre los humanos y la naturaleza. En promedio, las actitudes aumentan a medida que se avanza en el semestre académico y el estrato socioeconómico y, aunque los cambios no son pronunciados, se destaca la existencia de diferencias significativas. A nivel de ciudad, Cali se destaca por tener las mejores actitudes y presenta diferencias significativas con las demás ciudades de análisis.Los comportamientos ambientales, por su parte, ubicaron su promedio de calificaciones en la parte superior del rango aceptable. En la Figura 2, se exponen los comportamientos ambientales por ciudades y se observa una suave correspondencia entre el comportamiento y los conocimientos sobre el cambio climático. Nuevamente, Tunja se destaca como atenuante pues se ubica en segundo lugar en la proporción de estudiantes con más conocimientos, pero es la primera en comportamientos ambientales altos. De hecho, es la única ciudad con diferencias significativas respecto a las demás ciudades analizadas.Los estudiantes prestan especial atención en evitar el desperdicio de electricidad y agua. Asimismo, alrededor del 40 por ciento de la muestra declara no utilizar transportes privados para disminuir su impacto sobre el calentamiento global. Pero la proporción baja drásticamente cuando se indaga por la separación de las basuras en el hogar. La Figura 3 destaca los valores medios para cada una de las dimensiones mencionadas.En sintonía con las expectativas planteadas, el conocimiento del cambio climático se asocia con mejores comportamientos; sin embargo, este no es el factor más relevante. El modelo MCO indica que los comportamientos ambientales se explican más por las actitudes, la confianza en las fuentes de información y sobre todo por la eficacia personal, mientras que, al adicionar las características sociodemográficas y las variables referentes al proceso educativo, no se observan cambios relevantes en los comportamientos (Figura 4).El método ACP confirma los hallazgos del MCO: al incluir todas las variables, el factor explicativo es más alto, lo que indica una clara correspondencia entre el comportamiento y las variables analizadas. Aunque los comportamientos ambientales son también explicados por factores externos a los de este estudio (R 2 =0,378), las recomendaciones en políticas son igualmente valederas. Los resultados sugieren que los enfoques de política pública deben centrarse en la búsqueda de la motivación y el compromiso individual para combatir el cambio climático.Un recurso potencialmente útil para lograr mejoras en los comportamientos ambientales a partir de la eficacia personal y las actitudes consiste en exponer los potenciales impactos negativos de no realizar acciones.Si bien es importante dar información sobre las causas y efectos del cambio climático, es necesario abandonar los paradigmas alarmistas y enfocarse en generar estrategias vinculantes hacia la generación de soluciones personales -y colectivas.Mejorar la confianza en las fuentes de información ambiental es un aspecto potencialmente importante, especialmente para el caso de la comunidad científica y el gobierno, dado el rol que estos tienen en las comunicaciones y en la creación de las políticas.El constante monitoreo de las percepciones de la ciudadanía, así como de los comportamientos ambientales, permitirá establecer medidas de mitigación y adaptación más objetivas y eficientes. . ","tokenCount":"1561"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3522841783.json b/data/part_1/3522841783.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7736280f113e1f3643a75977efb55365a227914b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3522841783.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1b5b33f330b68eadb1d66480e1edd17","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/713825ee-c717-4369-9ae6-d033ac815006/retrieve","id":"-1470343706"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f3542d9-e4bb-4921-9ec6-1c68df518a73","pagecount":"4","content":"Over the past 15 or so years authors in Enterprise Development and Microfinance (EDM) have written extensively about the design and implementation of micro finance and its use by the poor, whether to respond to shocks and changing contexts, invest in education, or advance livelihood goals (Figure 1 overleaf). Coverage has ranged from the specifics of designing microfinance schemes, access to them by the poorest, and their impact on wellbeing and poverty. While the debate on microfinance is far from over, it is true that discussions have been more concerned with managing, saving, borrowing, and moving money, than about building viable businesses. Business development involving the poor, which in many cases focuses on rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs), requires us to address the demand for a range of services which, taken together, enhance the capacities of rural SMEs. Such services need to be affordable and reliable, and address the productive and business needs of SMEs, from small-scale processors to multi-tiered agricultural cooperatives. The issues are complex with lingering questions about how different types of service providers, from government agencies and NGOs to various private sector agents, can better design their services; and how, through adequate delivery mechanisms, the capacity and willingness of SMEs to employ such services can be strengthened. In this Editorial, we discuss some of the key issues for advancing rural entrepreneurship via improved services and provide an outlook for future discussions.Between 2000 and 2005, this journal led debates on how to design and implement interventions to promote markets for business development services (BDS). The challenge addressed in the BDS discussion was the perceived inefficiency and unsustainability of government and NGO-led provision of advisory and input services for SMEs and farmers. Broad consensus emerged that support for the development of viable markets for specialized services formed a critical part of the solution. Authors highlighted the need for supporting the growth of a critical mass of service demanders, mainly SMEs and farmers, who would be willing and able to pay for such services. They pointed at the potential for well-designed interventions to improve the supply of business and technical services to SMEs and options to stimulatedemand for these services through, for example, the provision of vouchers. The short-lived, but lively, BDS debate challenged the development community to address the sustainability problem inherent in project-facilitated service provision and ensure that interventions were available, affordable, and useful for those who needed them. Beginning in 2006, however, BDS discussions diminished rapidly, in large part due to a shift in donor priorities. Critics said that BDS had been too ambitious given afforded timeframes and budgets, but the central tenet of BDShow to get the right services at the right time to SMEs and smallholders -remains just as relevant today.By the mid-2000s, donor priorities had shifted to value chain development (VCD). The focus changed from one on building markets for services to strengthening of relations between farmers and businesses engaged in bringing a given agri-food product to market. Within the context of these business relations, large-scale buyers and processors would provide critical services to SMEs and farmers. NGOs and government agencies would still engage, mainly by facilitating the business links and helping to build the capacities of SMEs and smallholders to meet buyer demands. However, the broader focus on VCD has largely failed to address the diverse service needs of poor farmers and emerging SMEs. In many contexts, large-scale buyers have not engaged intensively with smallholders or SMEs, either because they lack the incentives to do so, or because they lack the necessary skills and resources. Cooperatives and producer associations can play a vital role in providing services needed by their members, but they too are often under-resourced and overdependent on donor support. Recent articles in EDM have shed light on the limited engagement of NGOs and government agencies with the private sector and with other service providers to meet the service needs of SMEs and smallholders, leaving SMEs and farmers with a fragmented and often inconsistent service offer. In short, current approaches to VCD can play an important role in getting some critical services to smallholders and SMEs, but they are unlikely to address all of their diverse service needs.EDM coverage of services to reduce vulnerability to production and commercial risks has grown recently, with the discussion focused mostly on insurance against production risks. In general, micro-insurance and similar initiatives have fallen short in terms of financial sustainability and impact on poverty reduction. However, the context around agricultural insurance is changing, potentially offering new opportunities. Technologies such as mobile phones can help to expand insurance coverage in low-income markets by reducing transaction costs along the value chain. Weather index-based or parametric insurances have been set up with the specific goal of reducing transaction costs. The design of weather index insurance requires long-term, location-specific yield and weather data -a major challenge in many rural contexts. More recently, interest has grown in picture-based crop insurance, sometimes linked with ICT, as an alternative or complementary approach to parametric insurances. It can be a challenge, however, for insurance providers to transition to more complex products and business models. Parametric insurance, for example, may be associated with lower transaction costs, but its design requires the availability and analysis of complex data and is therefore costly before being market-ready. In addition, its functioning may be difficult for smallholder farmers to understand as risk is insured at aggregate and not individual level. This may lead to paradoxical situations where farmers are being indemnified without having suffered a damage on their farm or vice versa. In response, there are growing examples worldwide where insurance providers combine their product with a group of products and services such as loans for seed, fertilizer, credit, or other productivity-enhancing inputs. Stimulation of the entire value chain creates a demand for diverse service providers.Initially largely confined to microcredit for consumers and entrepreneurs otherwise deprived of access to loans, debates in EDM have expanded to cover financial inclusion and include other types of financial services, such as savings and insurance. At the same time, financial services have continued to evolve, with important implications for rural SMEs. Responsible finance has emerged whereby lenders not only seek return on investments in businesses in the Global South, but also sound environmental and social performance. Environment, social, and governance (ESG) and similar sets of criteria are becoming mainstream in certain sectors of the finance industry, particularly as regards impact investing. Currently, impact investments largely focus on the energy, transport, and waste sectors, while investments in agriculture and forestry amount only to about 1 per cent of total investments. Still, an estimated US$6 bn of investments flow to the agricultural and forest sectors, mainly in the Global North but increasingly also in the Global South. Alternative financial service providers, several of whom fall under the umbrella of the Finance Alliance of Sustainable Trade (FAST), have tailored their financial services to agricultural cooperatives, with credit volumes often ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars up to one or two million. However, such lending tends to be short-term, with the next harvest often used as collateral, leaving cooperatives with few options for long-term finance for infrastructure expansion and other strategic investments. The responsible finance and impact investment sectors are dynamic and it remains to be seen how financial products and services will adapt to the realities and needs of smallholders and SMEs over the next years.In this Editorial, we briefly reviewed the recent thematic coverage of EDM, suggesting that EDM has made important contributions to the debate on microfinance covering multiple dimensions, but that gaps exist when we turn to the issue of services for SMEs and, in particular, rural SMEs. Few journals are better positioned than EDM to lead future debates on options to support the provision of a range of critical services needed by SMEs and smallholders in the Global South. This includes new insights into the needs of resource-poor actors for services and innovations in public-private partnerships to improve the quality and reach of business, technical, and financial services. The recent growth in responsible finance and impact investing suggests new opportunities for EDM to influence international practice through evidence on what works, and what doesn't, in different contexts. We need multi-dimensional strategies involving government agencies and NGOs and private-sector agents for expanding the offer of services, under modalities that range from free or partial cost recovery to full-cost recovery. Such strategies will foster integrated service offers, whereby providers combine specialized advisory and input services with financial services, either credit or insurance. Addressing the gaps around service provision is critical in light of renewed policy, research, and development interest and investment in agri-food systems, as well as for finding options to increase the sustainability and scale of interventions in value chains where smallholders play a critical role in primary production.In early 2018, EDM will launch a call for papers focusing on the design and implementation of services for smallholders and SMEs. The special edition will address themes within the context of agri-food systems and value chains. It will cover the following themes: 1) finance for rural SMEs, 2) investment options for SMEs, including impact investing, 3) public-private partnerships for improved service quality and reach, 4) insurance services, 5) private-sector provision of inputs (e.g. seeds and fertilizer), 6) role of cooperatives in technical service provision, and 7) experiences in the integration of and coordination of services. Please stay tuned to the EDM website (https://practicalactionpublishing.org/enterprise-developmentmicrofinance) for details.","tokenCount":"1574"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3533617118.json b/data/part_1/3533617118.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..237c5fbb01939948350b4700aac02f810c6a82ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3533617118.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"507ca42f084d4677737424dbc9c81380","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.cimmyt.org/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=hdl:11529/10760/28","id":"1270342981"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1fb48fc4-5b0e-40e6-b327-b1e47aae709a","pagecount":"19","content":"Dear Sir/Madam, I work for Bunda college of Agriculture in Lilongwe. We are conducting out this survey to study production and technology adoption constraints in your village. Your response to these questions would remain anonymous. Taking part in this study is voluntary. If you choose not to take part, you have the right not to participate and there will be no consequences. Thank you for your kind co-operation\" MODULE 1. HOUSEHOLD AND VILLAGE IDENTIFICATION Household Identification Code Interview details Code 1.Region 17. Date of interview (dd/mm/yyyy): / / 2013 2. District 18. Time started (24 HR) 3. EPA 19. Name of enumerator 4. Section 20. Name of supervisor: 5. Village 21. Name of data entry clerk 6.New village name 7. Name of household head: 8. Sex of household head 9. Name of the respondent (include grandfather name): 10. Sex of respondent 11. Name of respondent's spouse 12. Cell phone number: GPS reading of homestead 13. Way point number 14. Latitude (South) 15. Longitude(East) 16. Altitude (meter above sea level) 1=Male 0=Female 1=Male 0=FemalePART A: HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS (Household members=Persons who live together and eat together from the same pot (share food), including wokers, students and spouse living and working in another location but excluding visitors)   ","tokenCount":"206"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3534580956.json b/data/part_1/3534580956.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..47044fac29cb90fc322c2f3b961d65c653c50f99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3534580956.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"21b2daf17c66220d9babd58ee770a522","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7e2512da-6e75-444d-971c-05f034d63c6c/retrieve","id":"-572060482"},"keywords":["Soil fertility management","Integrated nutrient management","Participatory methods","Uganda"],"sieverID":"a538a734-e2fe-4ad2-887a-ac7f978899fa","pagecount":"22","content":"This paper reports on a Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) process that was initiated in three villages in Eastern Uganda in September 1999 to enable small-scale farmers to reverse nutrient depletion of their soils profitably by increasing their capacity to develop, adapt and use integrated natural resource management strategies. The PLAR process was also used to improve the participatory skills and tools of research and extension personnel to support this process. The farming systems of the area were characterised for socio-economic and biophysical conditions that included social organisations, wealth categories, gender, crop, soil, agro forestry and livestock production. Farmers identified soil fertility constraints, their indicators, and causes of soil fertility decline, and suggested strategies to address the problem of soil fertility decline. Soil fertility management diversity among households indicated that most farmers were not carrying out any improved soil fertility management practices, despite previous research and dissemination in the area. Following the diagnosis stage and exposure visitsIntensification of agriculture in the high-density sub-humid areas of Africa, generally without addition of plant nutrients, has resulted in Ônutrient miningÕ and subsequent land degradation (Stoorvogel and Smaling, 1990). Nutrient depletion is most intense in East Africa because of high outputs of nutrients in harvested products, erosion and the relatively high inherent fertility of the soils. Losses of 130 kg N, 5 kg P and 25 kg K ha À1 per year have been reported in the East African highlands (Smaling et al., 1997). Wortmann and Kaizzi (1998) found that estimated nutrient balances for small-scale farming systems in eastern and central Uganda were negative for all crops except for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the banana-based land use type (LUT). Inorganic fertilisers are not used but organic manures from homesteads are applied on bananas. The annual crops LUT occupied more land than other LUTs in eastern Uganda and accounted for more nutrient loss than all other LUTs combined. Crop harvests and soil erosion were the major causes of nutrient losses at the crop and LUT levels. The cumulative effect of several low-input management practices was estimated to give nutrient balances of near zero for N and P, but potassium (K) losses at the field-level were particularly high (Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). Therefore, despite low productivity, the current farming systems in eastern Uganda are not sustainable. However, recent studies in eastern and southern Africa indicate that nutrient depletion is a reversible constraint and increased agricultural production can be realised with appropriate soil nutrient management including integrated use of organic and inorganic sources (Palm et al., 1997;Sanchez et al., 1997;Bekunda et al., 1997;Budelman and Defoer, 2000).Several low-input practices offer potential for improving soil fertility management in eastern Uganda. These include improved soil erosion control using living barriers or micro-catchments, inoculation of grain legumes for improved N-fixation, efficient use of manure and other locally available organic materials, use of green manure and cover crops, and use of low levels of N and P fertilisers on maize and beans (Wortmann et al., 1998;Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). However, adoption of ''improved'' integrated nutrient management (INM) practices generally has been poor. For example, the use of mineral fertilisers by smallholder farmers in Africa remains low because of socio-economic constraints and is estimated to be currently less than10 kg ha À1 year À1 (Heisey and Mwangi, 1996;Mwangi, 1997) and even less in Uganda.Improved soil nutrient management is crucial for maintaining and improving soil productivity in Africa, and strategies are required that address farmer requirements and priorities. The hypothesis tested in this study is that systematic learning with stakeholders, and farmers perceiving economic incentives, are necessary for changing farming practices (Deugd et al., 1998;Defoer and Budelman, 2000). This paper presents the quantitative and qualitative results of participatory on-farm testing of farmer-designed INM strategies in eastern Uganda during a two-year Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) process.The study was carried out in three villages in Imanyiro sub-county of Mayuge District in eastern Uganda. Imanyiro sub-county of Bunya County is located at 0°8 35 0 N, 32°29 0 in eastern Uganda. The district lies at an altitude of 1070-1161 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) and covers an area of about 11,113 km 2 . The district has a bimodal rainfall pattern varying from 1250 to 2200 mm (average 1345 mm for 22 years) per annum. The first rains (season A) occur between March and June and the second rains (season B) between August and December. The soils at Ikulwe District Farm Institute (DFI) in Imanyiro sub county are reddish brown sandy loams and sandy clay loams (Harrop, 1970). According to the FAO soil map of Africa, orthic Ferralsols are predominant in Iganga District (FAO, 1977). Most soils have a low organic matter (OM) content (range 1.1-3.1 OM) and are deficient in N and P (Fischler, 1997;Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998).The farming systems are biologically and agronomically diverse with small but numerous parcels of land having varying cropping associations, planting dates etc. The average farm size in the area varies between 1.8 and 2.0 ha and 90% of the farmers are the sole owners of the land. About 36% of farmers own other pieces of land far from the main homestead (Wortmann et al., 1998;Esilaba et al., unpublished data). The main crops grown in the area are bananas, maize, cassava, beans, coffee, fruits, vegetables and sweet potato (Esilaba et al., 2001b;Woelcke, 2002;Woelcke and Berger, 2002). Most farms have a few livestock and the mean numbers are 1.5 local cows, 0.2 improved cows, 1.7 goats or sheep, 0.9 pigs and 12.0 chickens per farm (Wortmann et al., 1998;Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998).A Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) process (Defoer et al., 2000) was initiated in September 1999 in Imanyiro sub-county of Mayuge District. This site was selected because it is one of the few areas of Uganda where farmers have had exposure to soil productivity innovations during an earlier CIAT and Na-tional Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) participatory research project in the area. During the diagnostic phase of the PLAR process farmers analysed soil fertility management diversity and resource endowment among farms in the three villages of Buyemba, Mayuge and Magada (Esilaba et al., 2001b). Wealth ranking (Grandin, 1988) by farmers generated a list of attributes that included land size, number of cattle, capital, labour, types of crops, type of house, level of education and sources of income, which distinguished between resource endowments and categorised households into groups (Esilaba et al., 2001b).Household characteristics in Imanyiro were determined by a diagnostic survey of 140 randomly selected farmers from the three participating villages in October-November 1999. The survey included some characteristics that farmers themselves had identified as criteria for farm classification, and the data were used to verify the farm classification made by key informants (Esilaba et al., 2001b).Twenty farmers representing three soil fertility management classes in the three villages were chosen by the farmer groups as test farmers for intensive monitoring of the on-farm experimentation. In addition, 100 other farmers asked to be involved in the trials but researchers did not closely monitor these non-test farmers. The test farmers who tried out the new options for improved soil fertility management were the PLAR group representatives of the farmers in the area. The selected farmers drew resource flow maps (RFMs) for analysis of their current soil fertility management practices and to identify possible improvements. During the planning phase, farmers were taken on a farmer exchange visit to meet other farmer innovators who practise some of the proposed technologies. At a planning workshop, farmers and the PLAR team of researchers and extension agents identified and discussed appropriate options for improved soil fertility management in their villages. The farmers were encouraged to try to integrate various options according to their resources and particular needs. Test farmers made a planning map (Budelman and Defoer, 2000) indicating the crops they intended to grow and the activities they planned to undertake the following season. Farmers designed 11 experiments and they proposed data collection procedures for monitoring and evaluation. The experimental design of the 11 trials established in the February-July 2000 season (season 2000A) until August-December 2001 (season 2001B) varied from a minimum of two treatments to a maximum of five treatments in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with one replicate per farm. Evaluation of the resource flows was conducted at the end of every season. The information gathered during the PLAR process was recorded and analysed using the Resource KIT software (Defoer et al., 2000).Soil samples (topsoil at 0-20 cm depth) were collected from 28 test-farmersÕ plots for laboratory analysis according to methods by Foster (1971) and Okalebo et al. (1993) for available Bray-P. Organic matter was determined using an oxidation procedure derived from the Walkley and Black method as described by Jackson (1958). Total nitrogen (N) was determined by the standard Kjeldahl procedure. The extract-ing solution used for calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and potassium (K) was hydrolyzed lactic acid in ammonia solution based on EgnerÕs extracting solution (Foster, 1971). Plant growth was monitored for germination percentage, crop performance, weed management, pests and disease incidence, time of harvesting, and crop yield. Data analysis was conducted using SAS (1990).Soil diversity analysis and problem diagnosis led farmers to identify and prioritise 12 soil fertility and management constraints. Drought was the main constraint, followed by lack of knowledge and skills on soil fertility management, low inherent soil fertility, and soil-borne diseases and pests. The high cost of inorganic fertilisers was ranked number sixth, while soil erosion and poor tillage methods were ranked seventh. Farmers identified and ranked indicators/causes of soil fertility decline (Esilaba et al., 2001b). The indicators of soil fertility decline were reduced plant growth, yellowing of crops, stunted crop growth, low soil moisture retention, increased pest incidence, wilting of plants, weeds as indicators and increased weed growth. The causes of soil fertility decline were ranked as continuous cropping, poor soil management, soil erosion, unplanned intercropping practices, poor management of available organic materials, poor tillage methods, reduced fallows, nutrient removal through crop harvests, burning of bushes, and lack of soil erosion materials, respectively (Esilaba et al., 2001b). Soil fertility management diversity among households was attributed to use of fertilisers (both organic and inorganic), soil erosion control measures, green manure, fallow, and agro forestry. Farms/households using four or more of these measures were considered ''good'' soil fertility managers (Class I). Farms using one to three measures were considered ''average'' (Class II), while those farms not using any of these measures were considered ''poor'' soil fertility managers (Class III). Out of 569 households only 20 (3.5%) were in Class I, 55 (10%) in Class II and the majority (494 or 87%) were in Class III. Most farmers were not carrying out any improved soil fertility management practices, despite previous research and dissemination in the area.Most farmers in Class I own land, use hired labour, and are members of farmer groups. More farmers in Class I practise improved soil fertility management that includes use of fertilisers, manure, compost, fallows, intercropping and crop rotations, compared with Classes II and III (Esilaba et al., 2001b). The results show that soil fertility management is related to resource endowment as determined by the farmersÕ ranking criteria (Esilaba et al., 2001b).Class I farmers implemented more experiments than Classes II and III farmers (Esilaba et al., 2001a). The main reasons for Class III farmers not implementingexperiments were lack of land, limited household labour, and lack of inputs (manure, mulching, composting materials, seeds and planting materials).The major physical and chemical characteristics of the soils from the 20 test farmers in the three villages are presented in Table 1. The results for soil analysis on test farms indicate that the soils were sandy clay loams, sandy loam and loamy sand, and that some of the farms are deficient in N and P (Table 1). Soil pH varied from 4.0-5.9 with a median pH of 5.2, which is below the range (pH 5.5-7.0) for good nutrient availability without toxicity problems (Landon, 1984). The organic matter content varied from low to medium (1.3-3.6%) with a median of 2.5%. The nitrogen content varied from very low to low (0.04-0.13) with a median of 0.10% and the mean available Bray P-2 was 3.0 mg kg À1 . According to Foster (1971), critical values for soil pH, organic matter, total N, P and K are 5.2, 3.0% 0.18% 5 mg kg and 13.3 cmol kg À1 respectively. Foster (1973) reported that crops are unlikely to respond to N and P fertilisers in Uganda at soil nutrient levels of 6% organic matter and 20 ppm extractable P. The soil analysis results also indicate that most soils in the area should respond to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers. However, the pH of the soils in the study area is generally quite low and therefore the potential for aluminium toxicity is high and this would probably reduce potential responses to the various fertilisers and amendments.Soil fertility test strips (SFTS) were established on test farms to determine whether N, P and K are limiting crop growth. The SFTS consisted of one replicate per farm of five treatments, a control with no fertiliser application and different combinations of N, P and K at 100 kg ha À1 (Table 2). The results during the first season (2000A) showed a significant response to N and P and the N, P and K treatments in Mayuge. However, there were no significant residual responses to these nutrients in the second season except the N, P, and K treatment in Mayuge. Application of 30 kg N ha À1 and 10 kg P ha À1 per season was estimated to give an increase in maize yield of 1000 kg ha À1 in Iganga District (Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). Deep tillage (20 cm) and herbicide (Roundup at 3 l ha À1 ) application did not affect maize biomass yield when compared with the control (farmersÕ practice of surface scraping at 1-4 cm) as combined analysis of the maize grain, stover and total biomass yield data identified no significant differences between site (parish), year, season and treatments. However, the two methods generally increased grain yield compared with the control in all the sites (Table 3). The best grain and stover yields were from deep tillage but the farmers preferred the use of herbicides once socio-economic considerations had been discussed during the evaluation meetings. The total cost of using Roundup was estimated to be 40 compared with $109 per hectare for manual cultivation and weeding twice in a season.Application of farmyard manure at 10 t ha À1 fresh weight tended to improve maize grain yield in the two years in all villages in Mayuge District (Table 4). Although the grain yield increases were not significant, farmers had observed treatment differences earlier on in the season and they were ready to adopt the technology on a large scale. Previous studies indicate that an increase in maize yield of 700 kg ha À1 per season is expected with application of manure containing 22.6, 9. 3 and 33.7 kg ha À1 year À1 of N, P and K, respectively (Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). Long-term studies on manure use are required to determine the impact of this technology on crop yields. However, the availability, quantity and quality of the manure in the area is a major constraint to wide-scale adoption of this technology. Wortmann and Kaizzi (1998) found that manure accounts for a relatively small proportion of nutrient transfers in Uganda. Manure was generally applied to banana and amounted to a significant transfer of nutrients from grazing areas to banana. The amount of manure produced by an average of 1.7 cows and sheep/goats, 0.9 pigs and 12 chickens per farm is relatively small, and manure management was generally poor with infrequent removal from livestock holding pens (Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). It is estimated that one livestock unit (1 LU = 500 kg live mass) produces   about 7 t of recoverable manure per year when stabled all day. This declines to 2-3 t per year of usable manure (i.e. 30-40% recovery) if the animals are stabled only overnight (Murwira et al., 1995;Schleich, 1986). Therefore, livestock contributed little to the flow of nutrients to and from farms in Uganda (Wortmann and Kaizzi, 1998). Improved crop and livestock integration in farming systems would overcome some of the constraints to adoption of manure technology.The farmers designed an experiment to evaluate various sources of P fertilizers. There were five treatments, a control with no fertilisers, Busumbu Blend (90% Busumbu rock phosphate with 10% TripleSuperphosphate (TSP)), Busumbu rock phosphate (BRP), Minjingu rock phosphate (MRP) and TSP all at 80 kg P ha À1 . Nitrogen at 100 kg N ha À1 as Urea and 60 kg K ha À1 as KCl were applied to fertilised plots once per year (Table 5). There was significant response to the various sources of phosphate fertilisers on maize grain yield during 2000 and 2001 (Table 5). Minjingu rock phosphate and TSP significantly improved maize grain yields in Mayuge and Buyemba compared with BRP, Busumbu Blend (BB) and the control. The TSP and MRP treatments gave the highest yields followed by BB, BRP and the control, respectively. The response to P in the second season followed a similar trend in the two villages (Table 5). Wortmann and Kaizzi (1998) reported high P-use efficiency and crops continued to respond for three seasons after application of 100 kg ha À1 of TSP in Mayuge District. The results in Magada indicate that there was no significant response to P fertilisers in the first season (2000A). However, there were significant responses to P in the second season (2000B) and in the two seasons in 2001. The response in Magada in 2000 was highest for BRP followed by BB, MRP, TSP and the control respectively. The TSP treatment was not significantly different from the control in 2000 but it was significantly higher in 2001B (Table 5). The soils in Magada have a higher mean pH of 5.5 and are generally sandier. A combined analysis of variance across sites (parish), years, seasons and treatments indicated significant site, year, treatment and year • season interactions for maize grain yield. However, there were no significant season • treatment interactions. The phosphate fertiliser trial results suggest that MRP is a better source of available P than BRP in two locations whereas in one location BRP has a better residual value. Studies conducted on an acid soil (pH 4.8) in Rwanda showed that P recovery from BRP was similar to that from TSP and that composting improved BRP handling and application properties. Bean yields were increased most by application of BRP in combination with compost and manure while yield increase with BRP was similar to TSP and BRP with compost (Wortmann, 1999). Bio-economic modelling using the 2000 and 2001 maize grain yield data in two villages (Buyemba and Magada) showed a comparatively high yield response to BRP (Woelcke and Berger, 2002). The positive yield responses to BRP, BB, NP and NPK (SFTS trials) treatments had an average yield increase of 40% compared with 26% for TSP and 16% for MRP. The conclusion was that the positive yield response, in combination with low input costs, would make adoption of BRP profitable leading to positive impacts of P nutrient balances in the soil. However, capital constraints were identified as fac- Long-term P fertiliser studies need to be conducted at these locations in Iganga District to determine the optimum rates, timing, method of application, combinations of rock P with manure and compost and residual value of the various sources of phosphorus fertiliser.The results of another experiment with Minjingu rock phosphate (MRP) Preppacs, which consist of N (urea at 40 kg N ha À1 ) and P fertilisers (MRP at 100 kg P ha À1 ), rhizobium inoculant, legume seed and adhesives and lime pellets (Okalebo, 1999; Nekesa et al., 1999), were not significant (Table 6). Maize grain yields in 2000 on test farms increased by 475 and 591 kg ha À1 in the first season in Buyemba and Magada, respectively. Residual effects of Prep-pacs indicate that grain yields decreased by 279 kg ha À1 (Mayuge) and increased by 157 kg ha À1 and 259 kg ha À1 in Buyemba and Magada, respectively (Table 6). Combined analysis of the data for the two years for maize grain and total biomass yields were only significant for the site (parish) but not significant for the treatment effects and the various interactions. However, analysis of results for the two seasons in 2000 on 41 non-test farms in seven districts in eastern Uganda show significant increases of 1244 kg ha À1 in maize grain yield from 3085 to 4329 kg ha À1 . There was no significant response to P and N on test farms in Mayuge District during the two years. The soils in Mayuge District vary from pH 4.0 to 5.9 (Table 1). Minjingu rock P requires acidic conditions (pH <5.5) to dissolve and soils below pH <5.2 are associated with toxic Al 3+ and Mn 2+ cations that greatly reduce crop performance (Okalebo, 1999). However, both aluminium and manganese toxicity do not usually occur in the same soil. Reports from western Kenya show that Prep-pacs increased maize yields from an average of 800 kg to almost 2000 kg ha À1 (Okalebo, 1999) and from 640 to 1360 kg ha À1 (Nekesa et al., 1999). Prep-pacs did not significantly increase bean yields on the test farms but grain yields improved by 14-157 kg ha À1 in the two seasons in 2000 (Table 7). However, there was no significant response in 2001B. Bean yields improved in 2001A and 2001B when the control was compared with MRP and Prep-pacs, respectively (Table 7). Combined analysis for the two years of bean yield data indicated significant site (parish), season, treatment and year • site • season interaction. However, the bean total biomass data showed significant year, site, season, treatment, year • season and year • site • season interactions.Bio-economic modelling studies in Mayuge District showed no impact of Preppacs on yield when compared with the control (Woelcke, 2002;Woelcke and Berger, 2002). However, analysis of results for the two seasons in 2000 on 41 non-test farms in seven districts in eastern Uganda show significant increases of 881 kg ha À1 in bean yield from 1316 to 2197 kg ha À1 . Bean yields in western Kenya were increased by Prep-pacs from less than 200-500 kg ha À1 (Okalebo, 1999) and yields for bush and climbing beans increased from 25 to 125 kg and from 200 to 450 kg ha, À1 respectively (Nekesa et al., 1999). Use of a combined Prep-pac and climbing bean package increased maize and bean yields by 720 and 250 kg ha À1 , resulting in a 161% return on investment. The profitability of Prep-pacs is dependent upon soil conditions and the accompanying legume intercrops and their economic values (Nekesa et al., 1999).  3.2.5. Green manure Canavalia ensiformis, Mucuna pruriens, Crotalaria ochroleuca and Lablab purpureus green manures were relay cropped in a 2-3 weeks maize crop. Green manure dry matter biomass yields in the relay cropped trials indicated that during the first season (2000A) the yield varied from 200 to 3505 kg ha À1 which was low for all the tested green manure. Higher biomass yields were obtained during the second season except in Buyemba and varied from 116 to 6029 kg ha À1 . The mean annual dry matter (DM) yields were significantly different and canavalia and mucuna had the highest yield followed by crotalaria and lablab (Table 8). However, the DM yields were lower (4125-4867 kg ha À1 for Canavalia ensiformis, 1852-2271 kg ha À1 for Mucuna pruriens, 1960-2524 kg ha À1 for Crotalaria ochroleuca and 2500-3186 kg ha À1 for Lablab purpureus) than results reported in intercropping studies in the area (Fischler, 1997).Maize grain yield was not significantly improved by the green manure on 6 test farms in the two seasons in 2000 (Table 9). Analysis showed that maize grain yields for the two seasons were not significantly different. Maize grain yield on 39 other non-test farms was also not significantly different except in the second season in Magada. The highest yield in Magada was obtained under Lablab and then Canavalia, Crotalaria, Mucuna and the control (Table 9). Maize grain yields for the two seasons on the non-test farms were not significantly different. Significantly increased maize grain yields were obtained under Mucuna and Canavalia in Buyemba and Magada in 2001A. Combined analysis of the maize grain yield data for the two years, three sites and four seasons showed significant year, year • site and year • season interactions but no significant treatment differences. However, the total biomass yields were significant for the site, season, year • season, year • site, season • site and year • season • site interactions. Farmers in Mayuge District have been using green manure for more than five years (Wortmann et al., 1998) and therefore they proposed that this technology should be disseminated without any further on-farm testing.The mean dry matter yields of Calliandra were significantly different from Sesbania and Tephrosia after one year as improved fallows planted without crops. The total biomass yields were highest for Calliandra (9853 kg ha À1 ) followed by Sesbania (6053 kg ha À1 ) and Tephrosia (3700 kg ha À1 ). Maize planted a year after the fallow period and after incorporation of the legumes did not yield significantly more in 2001A. The highest yield was in the control plots (3907 kg ha À1 ), followed by Tephrosia (3271 kg ha À1 ), Calliandra (3181 kg ha À1 ) and Sesbania (2982 kg ha À1 ), in the first season of 2001 (2001A).Farmers assessed the technologies using innovation assessment priority matrices and pairwise ranking, and reviewed project activities using a sustainability analysis matrix (Table 10). The data were also analysed for the acceptance of ten technologies (except SFTS) using the logistic preference ranking analysis for evaluating  Woelcke and Berger, 2002). Farmers suggested various soil fertility management strategies to address the problem of soil fertility depletion in the area. Among the tested technologies, deep tillage, farmyard manure, green manure, Prep-pacs and improved fallows did not significantly improve maize grain yields. This was due to the nature of the farmer experimentation that involved different environments and variable management practices among the test-farmers (Steiner, 1987). The trials did not have within farm replications as each farmer conducted the trials using one replicate per farm due to the small size of the farms. Bioeconomic modelling of the impact of different technology options showed no impact of farmyard manure, Prep-pacs, and green manure but positive yield responses for Busumbu rock phosphate, Busumbu Blend, NP, NPK, TSP and Minjingu rock phosphate (Woelcke, 2002;Woelcke and Berger, 2002). Long-term P fertiliser studies need to be conducted in Iganga District to determine the optimum rates, timing, method of application, combinations of rock P with manure and compost, and residual values of the various sources of phosphorus fertiliser. Farmer evaluation of on-farm experiments shows that simple, inexpensive technologies requiring little labour and locally available resources have a high potential for adoption. However, bio-economic modelling studies showed that a substantial improvement in the socio-economic environment is needed to give farmers sufficient incentives to adopt more sustainable land management practices (Woelcke, 2002;Woelcke and Berger, 2002). The results supports the hypothesis that systematic learning with stakeholders, and farmers perceiving economic incentives, are necessary for changing farming practices. However, the capacity of different farmers to invest in improving soil fertility management depends on access to labour, livestock, land, capital and cash at the household level. The options available to poor farmers are much more constrained than those available to the well endowed farmers who are able to invest in large-scale use of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients. Further studies are required to determine diffusion, adoption and potential of upscaling of integrated soil fertility management technologies in the area.FAO (1989), Smaling and Braun (1996) and Theis and Grady (1991).","tokenCount":"4654"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3542814346.json b/data/part_1/3542814346.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a62df5871048172ffb9f82d3ee20903f0caa61e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3542814346.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f877472978c2078c0fdede957c674509","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ee4a642-37c6-4cfe-952b-085566be3536/retrieve","id":"-733985227"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37307f4b-a181-418a-88d9-2f27097ef826","pagecount":"6","content":"Policy and practice workshop encroachment in these areas. Overall, the sites that were more frequently burnt had a higher plant species richness and diversity in both communal areas and reserves. Most of the low burn frequency sites had one or a few particular species dominating the veld, such as in the unburnt site in Toyana which dominated by Aristida juncifromis. From the VCA, it can be deduced that the frequently burnt sites had a better veld condition in both reserves and communal areas. Tree density was similar in frequently and infrequently burnt sites in communal areas and reserves. However, woody encroachment seemed to be more prevalent in infrequently burnt sites in reserves. These findings lead to the inference that varying fire regimes do have an effect on the plant species composition and diversity, as well as on the veld condition of KZNSS patches. It could also be inferred that fire regimes do have an impact on woody establishment.Elodiade Houindote*, Thierry D. Houehanou, Marcel R.B Houinato Biodiversity conservation is an important aspect of ensuring the future viability of our ecosystems. To this end, in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve (PBR), the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of active fires on the normalized vegetation index (NDVI). Specifically, the aim was to (i) assess the evolution of vegetation responses to active fires; (ii) evaluate the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation in active fire zones; and (iii) predict the behavior of vegetation under the effect of active fires. For this purpose, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250 m (MOD13Q1) and MODIS collection 6 Burned Area (MCD64A1) active fire data were downloaded over 19 years. Using ArcGIS software, NDVI pixels from MOD13Q1 images were overlaid on MCD64A1 pixels to construct NDVI images for each active fire. Similarly, the spatiotemporal dynamics of the vegetation were mapped. The annual rate of change of vegetation before and after active fires was calculated using the Ranson equation. Furthermore, a prediction was made with the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model to identify the effect of fires in the future. The results of the vegetation prediction for the year 2030 showed a decrease in NDVI values with an increase in the frequency of active fires. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the vegetation indicated a regressive evolution from dense to open vegetation formations. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows a highly significant difference (p< 0.05) between the temporal NDVI within and between fire types. The NDVI prediction suggests a regressive trend symptomatic of degraded vegetation. These results are important for further studies on the effect of wildfires on single factors of biodiversity in ecosystems subject to fire frequencies.Mounir Louhaichi, Birikaa Olesikilal, Sawsan Hassan*Fire is a natural and essential process that has shaped rangeland ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa for centuries. In recent times, however, the use of prescribed burning as a management tool has gained significant attention due to its potential benefits for ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and land management. In fact, many rangeland ecosystems have evolved with and adapted to fire and depend on fire for habitat vitality and renewal. Many rangeland plant species depend on fire to germinate, establish or to reproduce. When fire is suppressed, the species, and the animals that depend on them, are eliminated. Fire suppression may either remove important functions of fire that are needed for these species to survive, or may simply enable competing species, which are fire-intolerant, to out-compete them. Different ecosystems have adapted differently to fire and there are no simple prescriptions for fire management. Fire-sensitive ecosystems may need complete protection from human-caused fires, whereas fire-dependent ecosystems need to be subjected to the right type and frequency of fire to maintain ecosystem health. Invasive plants can complicate fire management and may require changes to the fire regime. Currently, there is limited use of prescribed burning for active vegetation invader plants. Three categories of invasive alien plants are recognised in terms of CARA: Category 1 plants may not occur on any land or inland water surface other than in biological control reserves; Category 2 plants may not occur on any land or inland water surface other than a demarcated area or a biological reserve and a permit should be obtained in terms of Regulation 15B(3) of CARA with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) while Category 3 plants shall not occur on any land or inland water surface other than in biological reserve excepts for plants already in existence at the time of the commencement of Regulation 15. Amongst other things, this presentation discourages lack of cooperation amongst stakeholders that often result in the creation of gaps, limitations, or contradictions when the legislation is formulated, and implemented on the ground; or when the need for amendment arises to better that legislation or policy. It is imperative to know that good legislation and/or policy alone is not sufficient to control problem plants unless there are competent authorised people to administer it effectively and efficiently on the ground. The formulation of environmental policy and/or legislation should embrace an interdisciplinary approach that includes natural science, technology, law, and socio-economic aspects, together with the direct involvement of relevant stakeholders. In conclusion, this presentation also serves as the basis of improving human behaviour which will have positive outcomes for the natural environment for better grassland ecosystems and food security.Livhuwani Nnzeru*Alien and invasive species are a major global concern due to their widespread negative impacts on biodiversity and agriculture. The Alien and invasive Species Regulations were published on the 01 August 2014 and came into effect on the 01 October 2014. It was amended in 2020. In this talk we briefly provide an overview of regulating alien and invasive species in South Africa. The purpose of the regulation is to prevent the illegal introduction of alien and potential invasive species into the country and to regulate listed invasive species and potential invasive species within the country. The permitting process allows the utilisation of invasive species under permit conditions. The requirements for lodging an application are further explained. Compliance and enforcement measures in place to promote compliance with the regulations.","tokenCount":"1019"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3543206248.json b/data/part_1/3543206248.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b20254105bc75cf12b9cd0e3fcbb1aca1a80d0ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3543206248.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3780a7444d7085b483188d6e548aa4a0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1dcae472-3128-4413-903f-7b0d3eb2abc1/retrieve","id":"818697472"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f8d61581-eabf-4c70-aee9-8d771b54aa71","pagecount":"19","content":"In developing the content of this Training Module on Biofortification, SONATA Learning worked with the Building Nutritious Food Baskets (BNFB) project team and various technical specialists from The International Wheat and maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to review existing technical content and resources relating to Provitamin A maize, added new knowledge from various scientists, experts and practitioners, and designed the training of trainers module which reflects Adult Learning Theory (ALT) and instructional design principles and practices. The BNFB project deeply appreciates the work and commitment of SONATA Learning in developing these instructional materials.The expertise of technical module reviewers is greatly acknowledged. These reviewers include James Gethi (CIMMYT), Wende Mengesha (IITA), Stephen Mugo (CIMMYT), Natalia Palacios (CIMMYT) Thokozile NDHLELA, (CIMMYT), Joyce Maru(CIP) and Hilda Munyua (CIP). The photographs and resources used throughout this learning module came from a wide range of sources and institutions and we thank these institutions especially HarvestPlus for making them available for reuse.Biofortification is the process of increasing nutritional value of food crops by increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through either conventional plant breeding, agronomic practices or biotechnology. It is one of the key nutrition interventions that addresses micronutrient malnutrition among populations / groups who consume most of the staple foods that they produce, especially the poor, rural, and other vulnerable populations. Often, they have limited access to diverse diets, supplements, and commercially fortified foods that provide essential micronutrients necessary for ensuring healthy and productive lives. Adoption of biofortified food crops such as vitamin A rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP); provitamin A (PVA) maize, high iron and zinc beans and vitamin A cassava, is an effective way of addressing micronutrients malnutrition because it is sustainable, cost-effective and culturally acceptable.The Building Nutritious Food Baskets (BNFB) project is a three-year project (November 2015 to October 2018) implemented in Nigeria and Tanzania and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of the project is to accelerate and support scaling up of biofortified crops for food and nutrition security and to help reduce hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable investment for the utilization of biofortified crops (OFSP, PVA maize, high iron beans and vitamin A cassava) at scale. BNFB develops institutional, community and individual capacities to produce and consume biofortified crops. The objectives of the project are to strengthen the enabling environment for increased investments in biofortified crops and to develop institutional and individual capacities to produce and consume biofortified crops.To sustainably support the implementation of BNFB's capacity development efforts, the project has developed a training of trainers (ToT) module titled Training of Trainers (ToT) Provitamin A Maize: A Biofortified Solution for Vitamin A Deficiency. The module includes a PowerPoint presentation, an annotated facilitator's guide and a handout for participants. Partner institutions; academic institutions and other users are encouraged to adapt and reproduce these instructional materials and where appropriate, integrate the teaching and learning into existing curriculum. This module is designed to potentially serve a wide variety of audiences (nutritionists and agronomists, policymakers, extension workers, community development workers, farmers etc.). Not all the materials will be relevant to all audiences, but facilitators can adapt the content to their audience and facilitation best practices. To ensure sustainability and wide reach; BNFB will apply a cascading approach in the delivery of training; where key experts (agriculturalists, nutritionists, health workers, marketing and gender experts) will attend more detailed ToT workshops. The experts trained will then become primary facilitators and drive the agenda for biofortification. They will in turn deliver shorter version courses and step-down the training to various levels of audiences (secondary and tertiary). This trend will continue until the training cascades down to \"farmer trainers\" who finally train the end users in their communities.This module greatly contributes to BNFB's efforts in strengthening institutional and community capabilities to produce and consume biofortified crops (entire value chains) and to reach a critical mass. The 'Provitamin A Maize' module is divided into units and sub-units, as follows: • Mobile phones off • In addition to lecturing, there will be opportunities for discussions and asking questions.-To keep things moving, we might have to cut some conversations short and move on to the next topic -Not everyone will get to answer every question, but everyone will get multiple chances to speak and be heard throughout the session -If one or two people are answering every question, we will politely ask them to give someone else a chance to speak. • As participants in this learning experience, we need to:-Share our ideas without fear of criticism, and listen to the ideas of others without criticizing -Engage in discussions without arguing -Help other participants and accept help from others -Create a safe, supportive environment for everyone to learn -Have funProvitamin A Maize: Participant's GuideUnit 2 -Micronutrients and BiofortificationBy the end of this unit, participants should be able to:• List and describe the three types of malnutrition This unit introduces the basic concepts of micronutrient malnutrition and biofortification.• Micronutrient malnutrition is a serious public health issue  By the end of this unit, participants should be able to:• Describe the effects of Vitamin A deficiency on human health • Identify populations particularly vulnerable to Vitamin A deficiency • Describe the nutritional characteristics of PVA Maize • Describe the agronomic qualities of maize that make it a good crop for biofortification • Define \"Biofortification Priority Index\"• Explain key benefits of PVA Maize • Summarise key challenges with PVA Maize adoptionThis unit reviews the effects of provitamin A deficiency on human health and introduces PVA maize as a potential intervention for provitamin A deficiency.• Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most comment micronutrient deficiencies in the world, and it particularly affects preschool aged children • The effects of vitamin A deficiency can be severe and devastating, including permanent blindness, reproductive issues, low blood cell count, susceptibility to disease infection and, stunting among others • Maize is a #1 crop in the world, consumed in large quantities in many areas where vitamin A deficiency is a serious risk • Maize has agronomic qualities that make it attractive to farmers, such as high yield and adaptability to adverse climate conditions • PVA maize has been bred to contain high levels of vitamin A, to help alleviate vitamin A deficiencyProvitamin A Maize: Participant's Guide Unit 4 -Breeding PVA MaizeBy the end of this unit, participants should be able to:• List the factors nutritionists consider while setting micronutrient targets for biofortified crops • Identify causes of micronutrient loss • List the characteristics that farmers and consumers find desirable in maize varieties • Explain the significance of maize being a \"hybrid\" crop • Outline the key steps of the breeding process and summarize what happens at each stepThis unit reviews the process for breeding PVA maize, from setting nutritional targets through breeding and testing new varieties.• Nutritional targets are set based on the dietary needs of preschool aged children and nonpregnant women -the most vulnerable groups -and must account for micronutrients lost during storage, processing and/or preparation • PVA maize is a hybrid crop, and its seeds cannot simply be replanted. Farmers must purchase new seeds from certified suppliers every season, to ensure quality. • Breeders must account for agronomic qualities and consumer preferences • Selectively breeding varieties with the desired traits involves years of work, crossing different varieties of maize with desirable traits to create new lines with all the best qualities of the parent lines • New varieties are tested for nutrient content in the lab and tested for their agronomic performance in the field • Breeders might \"fast track\" release of promising varieties that do not fully meet the targets, in order to help vulnerable populations benefit from biofortified crops soonerProvitamin A Maize: Participant's GuideUnit 5 -Fostering Demand for PVA MaizeBy the end of this unit participants should be able to:• Outline the steps for \"scaling\" and \"anchoring\" PVA maize in local food systems This unit focuses on strategies for supporting the introduction of PVA maize within a country and influencing farmers, consumers and partner organizations to support PVA maize adoption.• Biofortification cannot succeed unless farmers can be persuaded to grow biofortified crops and consumers can be persuaded to purchase and eat them • Ensuring a secure seed system is critical (if farmers cannot acquire seeds, they cannot grow biofortified crops) • The fact that farmers cannot replant seed year over year makes PVA maize more appealing to commercial seed companies • Emphasizing the agronomic qualities of PVA maize is often an effective way of promoting adoption among farmers • Consumers generally prefer the sensory qualities of biofortified varieties, and providing them with nutrition information can further increase demand • There are many possible channels and media for distributing promotional messages, though studies have shown that broadcast media such as radio is often more cost-effective than delivering messaging face-to-face • Potential partners for promoting biofortified crops include local governments, seed companies, NGOs, multilateral organizations and various participants in the agricultural value chain (e.g., food processors)","tokenCount":"1503"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3566880688.json b/data/part_1/3566880688.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..413fc92700819cc9d789ee17c708e2fe131e202f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3566880688.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3375fd075394ebdb566edd706977003a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93e8d019-7204-4588-9521-a72c86dcf487/retrieve","id":"1261031110"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ddd1cfba-85a9-4290-9afd-d1091ad96f2f","pagecount":"38","content":"The publications in this series record the work and thinking of IWMI researchers, and knowledge that the Institute's scientific management feels is worthy of documenting. This series will ensure that scientific data and other information gathered or prepared as a part of the research work of the Institute are recorded and referenced. Working Papers could include project reports, case studies, conference or workshop proceedings, discussion papers or reports on progress of research, country-specific research reports, monographs, etc. Working Papers may be copublished, by IWMI and partner organizations.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.IWMI's mission is to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment. In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and land and water resources.The Niger River Basin covers 7.5% of the African continent, and is shared between nine riparian countries. The basin countries can be categorized into water resources producers, consumers, both producers and consumers, and minimum contributors and consumers. As in the case for most transboundary rivers, upstream and downstream conflicts emanating from the development and utilization of the Niger River are inevitable and are expected to be intense, particularly given the escalating demands for water from the many uses and users. The basin is divided into four major sections, namely Upper Niger, Inland Delta, Middle Niger, and Lower Niger. But these divisions, though useful, are too generic to provide a complete understanding of biophysical, hydrological and socioeconomic processes impinging on the basin's water resources, and to provide intervention recommendations. On average, the basin's population is two-thirds (64%) rural and a significant part of the northern zones of the basin is unpopulated.People in the basin are engaged in various livelihood strategies such as dry-and wet-season cropping systems, pastoral systems, crop-livestock systems, and fishing. The dry-season livelihood systems include fadama (lowland or inland valleys) farming, recession flood farming, agroforestry, irrigated rice farming and fishing. Wet-season livelihood systems center mostly on cereal cropping and transhumance. The major crops grown in the basin are yam, cassava, rice, groundnut, millet, sorghum, plantain, cocoa, maize, sugarcane, and cotton. Agriculture represents a large part of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Niger River Basin with crop production alone contributing 25-35% of the basin's GDP, while livestock and fishery contribute 10-15% and 1-4%, respectively.All countries of the Niger Basin suffer from chronic and acute poverty and are ranked 'poor' by most poverty indicators (Human Development Index [HDI]), child mortality, life expectancy, Social Vulnerability Index, etc.). Several structural (social and institutional) factors hold a large segment of the basin's population in the throes of poverty. Niger Basin's challenge is to break this vicious circle by using resources to generate sustainable growth that is favorable to the poor. Some of the prominent water-related challenges are degradation of land and water resources, climate change and variability, vulnerability to disasters, inefficiency and poor performance of agriculture (rain-fed and irrigation), competing demands between sectors and water users and inadequate investment in water infrastructure. At a wider level, inadequate public services, institutional and governance failure, high population growth and urbanization, poor macro-economic performance, and unemployment have also undermined the development of the basin. The severity of these challenges varies from location to location in the basin.The basin's development goals and objectives originate as a response to the development challenges and are articulated in various policy documents such as the Niger Basin Shared Vision (NBA PADD), poverty reduction strategy papers, United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), specifically the pillars 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The goals of the basin countries are eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowerment of women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development.The specific development objectives of the basin countries are the following:• Increase income, generate jobs, improve living standards, and alleviate poverty, especially among the poorest section of the population while at the same time safeguarding the environment including the sustainable management of the Niger Basin water resources.• Improve access to health and education services, and increase life expectancy.• Achieve political stability, good governance and an appropriate institutional framework.• Improve the investment climate for private-sector development where infrastructure plays a decisive part.• Develop infrastructures and the productive sector to ensure better productivity of factors of production and economic growth.• Reduce food imports, boost agricultural exports through stabilization, intensification and expansion of agricultural production.To realize the basin's development goals and objectives the following water-centered intervention clusters needed to be synergistically pursued.• Ensuring right to secure access to water for the poor.• Developing new infrastructure.• Improving access to agricultural water management innovations.• Strengthening Niger Basin's water governance.• Upgrading rain-fed systems.• Reducing the vulnerability of poor people to climate shocks and other hazards.• Minimizing degradation of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.• Diversifying livelihood strategies.The Niger River Basin covers 7.5% of the continent spread across ten riparian countries. The part of the basin which extends into Algeria is hydrologically inactive and is therefore not taken into account (Figure 1). Accordingly, Algeria, unlike the other nine countries, is not part of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA). The basin countries can be categorized into four groups based on their level of contribution to water resources of the basin and level of dependence on the basin's water resources. Guinea, Cameroon and Benin are significant contributors while Mali and Niger are currently the major consumers of the basin's water resources. Nigeria consumes, and contributes significantly to, the basin's water resources. Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Chad are minimum contributors and consumers of the basin's water resources, partly due to the small proportion of the basin situated in these countries (Andersen et al. 2005). The availability of per capita renewable water resources of the basin is in decline due to a host of factors including increased cultivation and disappearance of natural vegetation, rainfall reduction related to climate change, and increasing human and livestock population (Wilby 2008). Precipitation was above the long-term mean from 1915 through the late 1930s, and the 1950s through 1960s, after which it was persistently below the long-term mean, with the largest negative anomalies in the early 1980s. The anomalies are with respect to the period 1900-2009 (Figure 2). The human population of the basin is about 100 million with an average annual growth rate which exceeds 3% (Ogilvie et al. 2010). It has an average population density of 50/square kilometer (km²). However, along the river course, where major cities are located, the population density often reaches higher than 200/km². A significant part of the northern zones of the basin is unpopulated. On average, the basin population is two-thirds rural. Though the level of urbanization may vary from country to country, urbanites constitute 40-70% of the basin population of Benin, Niger and Cameroon and 3-17% of the basin population of Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea.Niger River crosses four agroclimatic zones, namely humid tropical, dry tropical, semiarid and arid zones. Spatiotemporally, rainfall is much more variable, ranging from 4,000 millimeters (mm) in the Guinea Gulf to 200 mm in the Sahel (Diallo 2005). The basin has two distinct seasons, a rainy summer and a dry winter, except for Nigeria, which has four seasons. The monsoons occur from June to November with humid and unstable maritime equatorial air and relatively cool temperatures. The monsoons are longer and wetter in the southern part of the basin.The interplay of climatic conditions together with a host of other physical, social and institutional factors has influenced the livelihood strategies found in the basin. These include: dryand wet-season cropping, pastoral systems, crop-livestock systems, and fishing. The dry-season livelihood systems include fadama farming, recession flood farming, agroforestry, irrigated rice farming and fisheries. Wet-season livelihood systems rely predominantly on cereal cropping and transhumance. The major crops grown in the basin are yams, cassava, rice, groundnuts, millet, sorghum, plantains, cocoa beans, maize, sugarcane, and cotton. The basin's water resources are also used for transportation, trade, or even making bricks for homes. Agriculture represents a large part of the GDP of the Niger River Basin. Crop production alone accounts for 25-35% of the basin's GDP, livestock for 10-15% and fisheries for 1-4% (NBA 2007). In line with the case for most international or transboundary rivers, 1 upstream and downstream conflicts emanating from the development and utilization of the Niger River are inevitable and are expected to be intense, particularly given the fast escalating demands for water for many uses and users. To facilitate efficient, sustainable and equitable development of the basin's water resources and design management interventions, it is necessary to classify the basin into manageable hydrologicalsocioeconomic units and visualize the interconnections among these units. Consequently, the basin is divided into four major sections, based on hydrological considerations. These are Upper Niger, Inland Delta, Middle Niger, and Lower Niger. But these divisions though useful are too generic to provide a complete understanding of biophysical, hydrological and socioeconomic processes impinging on the basin's water resources, and to guide the development of equitable and efficient policies, strategies, and interventions.All of the Niger Basin countries are among the 30 poorest of the world and ranked very poor according to common poverty indicators (including child mortality, life expectancy, Social Vulnerability Index, etc.). Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are four of the poorest five with Niger being the last of 177 countries according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) HDI (UNDP 2005). The proportion of people living below the poverty line (USD 1.25/day) is high across the basin and is especially acute in Burkina Faso (70.3%), Guinea (70.1%) and Niger (65.9%). The dynamics of poverty are complex and result from the interaction between structural causes, the biophysical environment, institutions and governance. Water quality is shown to have a significant impact on poverty, consistent with the negative impact of poor water and sanitation on human health. Improved agricultural water management (AWM) is also known to play a crucial role in poverty alleviation; however, it is not a sufficient condition, as reduced poverty depends on increased production that, in turn, depends on factors including land tenure, soil quality, fertilizer, machinery, storage, commercialization, etc. Interventions to reduce poverty must therefore attempt to account for the complex interactions between these many factors.Irrigation is currently below its potential, as only about 0.9 million hectares (Mha) are currently irrigated out of 2.8 Mha. Nigeria, Mali and Niger possess the most area under irrigation, but there too it remains below the national potential (Table 1). There is great potential to develop the transportation network of the Nile Basin to expand access to markets and commerce, and to increase labor flows. In many parts of the basin, inland navigation provides essential transport for people and goods. This potential is not fully exploited and existing navigational segments are underutilized. The transportation network can be improved to foster regional integration among and within the countries. Along the length of the Niger, navigation is possible for large flat-bottomed boats from the ocean throughout the entire year, and even farther upstream to Jebba (1,448 kilometers (km)) from August to February. Lake Kainji is navigable for 130 km. The Inland Delta is open to small fishing boats all year. In addition, several tributaries are navigable in high water, although when the water is low the channel in Lake Debo is not navigable. In general, the economic potential of the water resources of the Niger Basin, in the transport, agriculture, energy, industrial and domestic and sanitation sectors is not fully harnessed as yet due to the many challenges and constraints.A large segment of the population of the Niger Basin is in chronic poverty because of several structural factors. Additional development constraints and challenges threaten the vulnerability of the population across the basin. The nature and severity of these vary from location to location. The challenge of the Niger Basin is to use its many natural and human resources to generate sustainable growth and break free from poverty. Some of the prominent challenges facing the basin and its people are presented in the following sections.The basin is endowed with a rich and diverse natural environment. The river has 36 families and nearly 250 species of freshwater fish, of which 20 are found nowhere else. Eleven of the 18 families of freshwater fish that are endemic to Africa are represented in the Niger River. The river's true delta in Nigeria contains West Africa's largest mangrove forest. But over the years people have reaped its riches with insufficient care for the livelihoods and well-being of future generations. The threats to livelihoods and ecosystems through deterioration in the natural resource base have been posed by a combination of human population growth, unsustainable resource use and development, and negative climatic conditions (NBA 2007). The environment is constantly deteriorating. Water, air, land, the forest, soils, climate, and the constituents of biodiversity, are elements whose optimal management is indispensable for ensuring some form of quality of life for the population.The water bodies and infrastructure in the basin are silted due to natural and human causes such as intense rain episodes, low percentage of groundcover, steep slopes, deforestation, bush fires, overgrazing, and unsustainable agricultural methods. Moreover, the water bodies and infrastructure are polluted by waste from domestic users, industry, agriculture, handicrafts, mining, etc. Development has proceeded with no regard for waste management or pollution control. Cities have inadequate systems for the safe disposal and treatment of waste. As rural emigration to urban areas grows, the problem worsens. Environmental laws are inadequate and are not enforced. Aquatic plants such as water hyacinth and water lettuce are also proliferating water bodies and infrastructure.The expansion of agricultural land has significantly contributed to the destruction of vegetation cover, and threatens streamflows and ecosystems (Diallo 2005). Land degradation is a major threat for land productivity and food production, which particularly affects the Sahel part of the basin.The local fragile ecosystem is exposed to intense desertification and soil erosion. River flows in the basin are decreasing at the same time that fishing pressure is increasing, threatening the sustainability of the Niger's fisheries. The reduced water availability influences the livelihoods of those people living around the water, and many now live below the poverty line. The effects of deforestation and farming of fragile soils lead to sedimentation of river channels.Population growth has led to the deforestation of watersheds, soil degradation and abusive cutting of the mangroves. Deforestation of watersheds causes the filling of lakes. Forests are used to meet the additional income, food or survival needs of the riparian populations of the forests, particularly during periods of shortage. Forests are also the main source of traditional pharmaceutical products. Pressure on resources and aggressions on the environment continue to be potential threats on the preservation of biodiversity. Nearly all households use wood/charcoal as the main cooking fuel. Electricity and kerosene are not used much by households contributing to the increasing deforestation of the basin. In rural areas, women are responsible for fetching wood, and they are forced to cover increasingly long distances to obtain daily supplies.Deforestation and desertification are progressing unrelentingly. In Niger alone, natural forests have reduced from about 16 Mha in 1982 to about 5 Mha in 2006. In Ivory Coast, the area of dense forest, which was 12 Mha in 1960, had dwindled to 2.802 Mha by 2007, representing a loss of over 75% of the forest in less than half a century. A quarter of Nigeria's land was once covered by forest. Today just half of the forests remain, but the potential for their future exploitation is extremely limited. The advanced degradation of the forests has resulted from a combination of several factors namely extensive agriculture based on shifting cultivation and burning; a mining approach to forestry; cutting of wood for cooking; clandestine infiltration into classified forests, and national parks and reserves; hunting; livestock rearing; and frequent bush fires. In Ivory Coast alone, degradation resulting from farming activities affects about 40-50% of the forest area. This pressure on land has negative impacts not only on the rural lands but also on classified forests. Deforestation has been followed by erosion and desertification in some areas.The basin shows great climatological variability. Mean annual rainfall decreases northward from more than 4,100 mm in the south to less than 20 mm in Timbuktu. The fraction of the annual volume of discharge flowing past Mopti lost to evaporation may exceed 50% in some years. Most of the lakes are located in areas where rainfall is between 100 and 400 mm annually. Climate change and variability have brought a profound deterioration of traditional livelihood options. It leads notably to cereal and fodder shortages whose consequences are famine for the populations and the death of thousands of animals and trees, as was the case following the disastrous droughts in Niger in 1974 and 1984.The climatic conditions of the Niger Basin follow medium-term cycles which have been deteriorating since the 1960s. The basin has witnessed several successive periods of low rainfall, which endangered agro-silvo-pastoral production, leading to long-term degradation of the environment and living conditions of the populations. There is evidence that the duration of the rainy season and rainfall volumes are reducing, resulting in hydrological deficits. In some parts of the basin (e.g., Niger), rainfall is spatiotemporally very irregular, and the number of days of annual rainfall varies widely. Recurrent periods of drought accompanied by reduced rainfall constitute the key characteristic of the current climate. Studies on climate variability in West Africa show a significant decrease in both the amount of annual rainfall and the onset and duration of the rainy season (L'Hôte and Mahé 1996 in Andersen et al. 2005). Associated climatic threats include severe low flows, and water and soil erosion of rangelands. For instance, several watercourses dried up during the low flow period 1983-1985, necessitating the careful hydrological reexamination of several planned irrigation dam construction projects (PNUD 1990).However, West Africa's climate change scenarios, particularly rainfall-related climate projections, are highly uncertain. Recent tests have shown the limited capacity of models to forecast West Africa's climate. For instance, the models predict the start of the rainy season 1-2 months earlier than the dates currently observed. A comparison of the observed Sahelian climate  with climates simulated by six general circulation models recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) illustrates the anomalies. Contrary to the real situation, the models show a marked rainy season almost throughout the year, along with a considerable bias (140-215 mm/year [yr]) in annual aggregate rainfall estimates as compared to the observed data.There has been a substantial reduction in rainfall in West Africa over the last 50 years, with a clear break between 1968 and 1972. The reduction is extremely clear in the Sahel, with the highly deficient periods of 1972-73 and 1982-84 and in 1997. This trend has taken the form of a 200km downward slide in isohyets towards the South, i.e., an aridification of the area's climate. The reduced rainfall observed in previous decades may however not continue, as from the mid-1990s, a return to increased rainfall has been noted, in particular in the Sahel. The decreased rainfall since the 1970s resulted in a drop in the streamflow of the rivers. The Niger River's streamflow fell by 30% between 1971 and 1989 and that of nearby rivers such as the Senegal and the Gambia fell by almost 60%. The flow reduction observed was locally greater than the drop in rainfall levels, notably in the Upper Niger Basin, where the reduced rainfall has a significant impact on groundwater recharge and related baseflow. Along with climatic factors, anthropic changes such as land use changes and increased withdrawals also have a significant impact on water resources in the basin (Niasse 2005).West African farming is directly correlated to weather hazards. By 2100, estimated farm-sector losses due to climatic change and variability will reduce the regional GDP by 2-4%. Pastoral and rain-fed agropastoral areas will undoubtedly be the most affected by climatic variations. Food crops, mainly focused on cereal production in Sahelian countries, depend on the rainy season's characteristics, along with other climatic and environmental factors. Case studies undertaken in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal have come up with divergent results as to the impact of climatic changes. The average yield of millet and sorghum is likely to fall by 15 to 25% in Burkina Faso and Niger by 2080. These crops should be less vulnerable to temperature variations lower than 2 °C and to slight rainfall variations (± 10%). Conversely, irrigated and rain-fed rice yields are predicted to increase. Indeed a rise in the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 (fertilizer effect) and a moderate increase in temperature would lead to a 10-25% increase in cereal yields in the Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) countries' irrigated areas and a 2-10% increase in rain-fed rice, assuming a sufficient water supply.Along with cereal production, livestock farming plays an important role in all Sahelian countries. It contributes up to 10-15% of the GDP in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger. Migratory pastoralism remains a production mode adapted to some Sahel-Saharan ecosystems, but has undergone significant transformations due to population growth and climatic variations. One of the significant innovations occurring in the Sahel over the last decades has been the birth and popularization of agro-pastoralism, i.e., the combination of crop farming and livestock breeding. This new livelihood strategy adopted by farmers and shepherds aims to limit the risks associated with the uncertain climate. Crop farming helps shepherds limit the purchase of cereals during the lean period, while crop farmers diversify their activities and capitalize on their income by investing in cattle. The 1973/74 and 1984/85 droughts changed the spatial dynamics of migratory herding and pasturelands in the Sahel. The case of Fula breeders in the Dallol Bosso area (Niger) is noteworthy as it led many breeders to find refuge farther south in Benin and Nigeria where they sometimes settled.The main challenge facing the water sector in the rural area is poor use of the existing capacity of infrastructure. During 1997-2000, the productivity of the water sector was as low as 35%, which means that, for every 100 liters of water provided the sector recovers only 35 liters. The sector is characterized by weak internal management and a high rate of fraud, which limit the business performance of the companies that manage the system. The situation with the irrigation infrastructure is similar, as the collective management of irrigation water and maintenance of structures generate difficulties. The Office Du Niger, which was originally conceived to irrigate a million hectares, is currently only exploited on 100,000 ha due to poor planning and operation. Since the 1960s, in Nigeria, several large-scale irrigation schemes have been developed on the Niger and some of its tributaries, but many of these have not been adequately maintained. The costs of not taking full advantage of irrigated potential are high, and food import bills are rising rapidly.At the basin level, around 6 km 3 /yr are withdrawn from the river for agriculture, which ratio is low compared to the overall water availability of the basin (180 km 3 /yr outflow in the Niger Delta, Nigeria). Nevertheless this value also hides important spatiotemporal variations. Indeed, in the Upper Niger for instance, the Markala Dam for the Office du Niger withdraws 5% of wetseason flows but this rises to 80% in the dry season. While there is scope for additional dams and irrigation projects, it is important when designing future projects to closely consider the impact on low flows. These additional infrastructures will also be required to increase their efficiency, in order to reduce their impact on downstream users.Traditional rain-fed agriculture has until now succeeded in catering to the growing demand in cereals but as population rises and rainfall variability increases, irrigation will increasingly become a vital component of the livelihood strategies of rural communities. In some basin countries such as Mali and Niger the reduced flow of the Niger River has already led to a reduction in the land available for traditional irrigation. River banks and lakes are traditionally cultivated as water recedes. In Mali alone, up to 80,000 ha had been cultivated this way, assuring livelihoods to a population of some 250,000. The poor hydrological conditions of past years have reduced this area to around 15,000 ha. Similarly, up to 170,000 ha of floating rice, sustaining 500,000 people, were cultivated along the Niger, while in recent years the surface area under floating rice has shrunk to around 50,000 ha, partly because pre-flood rains often no longer attain the 140 mm benchmark, and partly because the inundated area has shrunk, thus restricting the area fit for rice cultivation.The irregular rainfall, the difficult hydrogeological context of some regions, and the excessive depths to access the most productive aquifers are natural constraints which limit the development of irrigation. Expansion is therefore based on strategic dam construction, which can provide the necessary water storage across the whole basin. Currently, there are several planned dam construction projects. However, the implementations of these multipurpose dams often stall due to financial and economic constraints. Drought and reduced water availability have forced rural communities to migrate south to more humid conditions increasing pressure on the remaining floodplains and wetlands. With this migration, traditional resource management has given way to survival needs that are ecologically unsustainable and lead to declining biodiversity and productivity of natural habitats. Irrigation may improve water availability for upstream users in arid areas, but will also inevitably increase the pressure on downstream ecosystems. Navigation and hydropower problems may also arise if more water is abstracted for agricultural purposes (JICA 1993). Competition over scarce water resources will increasingly become a source of tension between users and between countries. The heads of States of the basin countries have acknowledged the danger of unilateral planning and are committed to pursue a regional dialogue and seek support for cooperative and sustainable Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) of the Niger Basin.The inadequate provision of public services also undermines efforts to reduce poverty in the basin. Inadequate infrastructure slows down the development of production capacities and access to basic social services.The low level of literacy and education affects the quality of human capital and overall factor productivity, possibilities of access to employment and income-generating activities, as well as the hygiene, health and environmental behavior of the populations. The educational system is dysfunctional, as there is a lack of sufficiently qualified graduates to meet the needs of the countries. In some basin countries, educational establishments are in decay, strikes are common, teachers go unpaid for months and corruption has become rampant. Poverty incidence is shown to progressively decline as the level of education increases, but a considerable percentage of children still do not have access to primary education. The education coverage is superior in urban areas where most economic activities, which demand qualified manpower, are located. There are sharp gender disparities in education, and despite recent improvements the boys' literacy rate has remained much higher than that of girls, due to sociocultural constraints. The financial burden of education also weighs highly on the poor; though education may be free, parents must typically pay for schoolbooks, uniforms or even school benches. In Guinea, the poorest quintile devotes 11.8% of its nonfood spending on the education of children registered in public schools. In comparison, the richest quintile devotes only 3% of its nonfood spending on education. All these factors undermine access to education and make it difficult to achieve poverty-reduction indicators.Many poor people have no access to health services. In case of illness, poor people consult first of all traditional healers or practice self-medication instead of consulting modern health personnel. This situation reflects the lack of, or the long distance separating them from, health centers and the high cost of modern health services. There are disparities in access to health services along many angles of societal divisions, namely poverty status, gender, geographic location, etc. Consultation rates among poor households are considerably lower than the national average. Women from the poorest section of the population are attended less frequently by qualified health professionals. Infant and child mortality levels in rural areas remain high, with up to 25% of live births not reaching the age of 5. Respiratory diseases, water-related diseases including malaria and diarrhea and poor nutrition are the major causes of child mortality and morbidity.In Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Nigeria the proportion of individuals with AIDS is considerable. In Nigeria, HIV/AIDS has become a major health and also social problem. There is a growing feminization of the pandemia and, for instance, in Ivory Coast, the rate is 6.4% for women compared to 2.9% for men. The economic poles of the countries including the major cities are the most affected zones. HIV/AIDS also threatens the basin's productivity and economy, with an already observable impact on some key sectors, notably health, education, agriculture and defense. In Nigeria, HIV seroprevalence in agro-industries is close to 17%. A significant proportion of hospital beds are occupied by AIDS patients, and the average period of hospital stays are on the rise. The number of children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS is high. Nearly 90% of infected children are infected through their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.The Niger River Basin has enormous hydroelectric power potential but little has been done to exploit it so far. Electricity ensures the well-being of the population and constitutes a key asset for competitiveness and development. There is significant urban-rural disparity in electricity coverage. In rural areas, smaller proportions of households have individual electricity meters, and poor people usually use a group meter. In the towns too, the supply of electricity is irregular and subject to frequent outage or cuts and the electricity services are not widespread. Among the basin countries, only Ivory Coast has managed to have a wide electricity coverage, which is ensured by six hydroelectric and three thermal power stations. Since 1994, the surplus of electricity production is exported via interconnection of the national grid with other countries in the basin, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo. The very low rate of access to modern energy services has considerable influence on the quality of life of households.The energy situation of the Niger Basin is characterized by low energy consumption per inhabitant, a major part of which comes from biomass. The major energy sources in order of importance are biomass, hydrocarbons and electricity. As the supply of modern fuels is not widespread, firewood and charcoal are the main fuels used by households for cooking. For instance in Niger, forests provide about 87% of the national energy requirements, as well as 97% of household energy consumption. Rural energy supply, particularly rural electrification, is usually planned for lighting. No consideration is given to the productive use of electricity in rural areas, particularly for agriculture.Human settlements in most parts of the Niger Basin are characterized by a lack or insufficiency of sanitation services, whether for the removal of wastewater, or for the elimination of solid waste. Very few towns have master plans for sanitation services, and much less for sanitation systems. The wastewater and sanitation have always been relegated to the background in national investment programs. One of the direct results of this is the degradation of the natural environment and negative impacts on the health of the population. Despite the implementation of numerous projects, access to drinking water and hygiene remains problematic in rural areas. Borehole wells are the main supply source of drinking water for households throughout the basin, particularly in the rural, and therefore the poor, areas. Huge efforts have to be exerted in many localities, where the number of clean water points per thousand inhabitants is close to zero.Households that have no sanitation systems are among the poorest. For instance, in Ivory Coast, while the poverty rate is only 10.8% among households with water closet (WC) toilets, it is 44.8% among those that use pit latrines and 67.9% in households without any WC. Similarly, the population having access to potable water is less poor than that using other sources of water supply. For instance, again in Ivory Coast, the poverty rate is 18.9% or 23.3% among population groups having a private or public standpipe. On the other hand, the rate is 49.9% among those using water from wells and 53.0% among those consuming surface water.The use of water for drinking from traditional unprotected sources such as wells, marshes, ponds, etc., results in outbreak of deadly waterborne diseases, notably diarrhea, cholera, onchocerciasis, bilharzias, guinea worm, etc. At the social level, this situation leads to social unrests, strikes and acts of hooliganism with regard to potable water supply facilities. The long time spent on the chores of women, girls and children in fetching water results in a decline in admission rates, especially of young girls to schools and on time available for homework of those who already attend schools. The time spent fetching water or falling ill due to poor quality of water, sanitation and hygiene leads to a drop in agricultural productivity and, consequently, in economic growth.The population in the Niger Basin faces real difficulties as a result of poor transportation services. It takes households several minutes or hours to reach the nearest public transportation services and these are particularly scarce in rural areas. Often, private taxis have replaced public transport, which is ineffective. The transport sector has a structuring effect on other sectors of activity, and if smooth, may greatly enhance the well-being of the population. It opens up rural areas, enhances access to education, health services and markets which boost the competitiveness of the national economy, triggers private investments, and increases the integration of the country in the regional and international economy. Poor people have less access to transport. For example, in Guinea, the average time required to reach a health center and a food market is nearly 1.8 times greater for the poorest 20% of households than for the richest 20%.Although there are slight differences, the road density of member countries of the Niger Basin is low. For instance, in Guinea, the road density is 2.9 km/100 km 2 compared to 6-10 km/100 km 2 in other sub-Saharan countries. Only small sections of the road network are asphalted and unasphalted roads pose accessibility problems, especially in the forest region due to the high rainfall and spongy, porous soils. Large countries such as Niger and Mali have very large expanses of land with low population density and face serious challenges in terms of providing not only adequate affordable transport but also other economic and social infrastructures (schools, hospitals, etc.). Furthermore, many of the basin countries are far from maritime embarking points. For instance, Niamey is located 1,060 km away from Cotonou's port, and Zinder is 1,510 km away from Lagos. The absence of railways, the low navigability of the Niger River and inadequate airport facilities make domestic and external transport dependent mainly on road transport (95%). The landlocked position of many of the basin countries constitutes a serious handicap for the import of inputs and capital goods, as well as for exports. Finally, existing roads are also badly damaged and poorly maintained, as the average speed observed on existing roads is typically limited to not more than 35 km/h for 4-wheel drive vehicles.In this situation, where the road infrastructure is poorly developed and where the major towns are subject to major congestion, telephones could compensate for existing shortcomings and help improve economic activity. Indeed, transportation and telephones are, to a certain extent, interchangeable goods. Access to local area network (LAN) telephones remains poor but the rapidly growing introduction of mobile phones may improve the situation. Communication systems, among other things, can help circulate information on markets and weather information to warn of risks. Access to postal services is only possible on foot for the majority of the poor. Less than 1% of the poor have an Internet connection at home.Agriculture in the basin relies predominantly on subsistence farming. Extents of farms are generally small and shared. For instance in Guinea, although the average size of plots held by households is 9.8 ha, it is in fact exaggerated by a small proportion of relatively big farmers. Half of all agricultural operations are less than 2 ha each in size and two-thirds are less than 3 ha each. Although almost all farming households have a manual tool (machete, hoe, rake, wheelbarrow, etc.), only slightly more than one in ten have a tool pulled by an animal or a mechanical tool. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that these farming operations declare an extremely low level of productive capital.Nonetheless, agriculture accounts for a substantial proportion of the GDP of Niger Basin countries. Even in Nigeria, despite the dominant role of the petroleum sector as the major foreign exchange earner, agriculture remains the mainstay of the economy. It is the largest nonoil export earner, the largest employer of labor, and a key contributor to wealth creation and poverty alleviation. Over the past 25 years, total cereal production has succeeded in meeting the increased demand in the basin. However, the rate of growth in agricultural production may not be sufficient to keep pace with the needs of a rapidly growing population, and the changing diets (more kilocalories [kcal], more meat). In certain countries, this has already resulted in a progressive increase in import bills for food and industrial raw materials (ECOWAS 2005). Likewise, in many countries, national rice production is insufficient to cover the growing demand for this staple crop and cannot compete with the low cost of imported Asian rice (Figure 3).  3 ,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,00 0 1 9 6 1 1 9 6 3 1 9 6 5 1 9 6 7 1 9 6 9 1 9 7 1 1 9 7 3 1 9 7 5 1 9 7 7 1 9 7 9 1 9 8 1 1 9 8 3 1 9 8 5 1 9 8 7 1 9 8 9 1 9 9 1 1 9 9 3 1 9 9 5 1 9 9 7 1 9 9 9Thousand tonsWith the economy being highly dependent on agriculture, it remains vulnerable to unstable climatic conditions. It is also based on archaic and inefficient production methods, which result in the food production sector employing 85% of the labor force, 90% of whom are women. Except for irrigated rice, the production system has not experienced any major improvement (Figure 4). It is basically carried out by small-scale farmers using rudimentary material and registers very low yields.Rain-fed production accounts for the bulk of the basin's agricultural production, but it is prone to vagaries of weather such as droughts. Crop production mainly comprises millet, sorghum, rice, fonio (millet), maize, yam, cassava, plantain, groundnut, sesame, sorrel, onion, sweet sedge, cotton, cowpea, souchet (tiger nut), and vegetables, most of which are for self-consumption.In some countries/localities, food production shows some improvement thanks to an increase in the cultivated areas and not its intensification (IMF 2008a(IMF , 2008b(IMF , 2008c(IMF , 2008d, 2008e), 2008e). This presents a great challenge to the reduction of poverty in rural areas. In conclusion, the various crop yields are low and fluctuating because of the low level of fertilization, reduction of fallow period and extension of farmlands into marginal and environmentally sensitive areas, the low technological level of current production systems, and the small size of the parcels (between 0.25 and 0.5 ha/ family) which does not allow for economically profitable farming and post-harvest losses. The predominance of agriculture in the economy and its dependence on climatic factors lead to volatile and erratic economic growth, thereby affecting its sustainability. For instance, in Niger, abundant rainfall can trigger double-digit growth rates (as in 1998), while rainfall shortages generally coincide with economic recession (as in 2004).The livestock population comprises camels, cattle, donkeys, goats, horses, poultry and sheep. Milk and by-products constitute the main food for a substantial proportion of the population, and an important supplementary food for the remaining majority. Hides and skins were important sources of foreign currency for many of the basin countries in 2003. This production potential is high in terms of quantity and quality, especially as it concerns small ruminants. However, the livestock exploitation rate remains relatively low. Average milk production per cow is estimated between 1 and 2 liters/day, which is far below the increasing domestic demand, and Niger Basin countries have become importers of dairy products. In Niger alone, imports of powdered milk stood at about Communauté Financière Africaine Franc (CFAF) 2 5 billion (nearly USD 2.26 million). The low capacity of storage facilities and modern slaughterhouses has contributed to this situation. Livestock feeding and access to water pose serious problems. The problem of watering livestock is acute in pastoral areas, particularly during the 9 months of the dry season, and also due to the fluctuating and unstable fodder resources.Fisheries and aquaculture are carried out on many water bodies in the Niger Basin occupying an important place in the economy of the basin countries. Fish is the main source of animal protein for many consumers. Many varieties of fish are found in the Niger River and its tributaries. However, the actual annual catch is less than half of what it used to be, because both the area under water and the total available volume have been reduced. Production equipment for industrial fisheries and traditional fishing has degraded compromising competitiveness of the sector.In summary, the main challenges of the agriculture sector are the following:• Continued dependence on rain-fed agriculture.• Unfavorable land tenure system.• Inefficiencies in financial and marketing services.• Decline in political commitment to agricultural and rural development and inadequate incentive framework and pervasive distortions in the macro-economy.• Rapid shift of the population from rural to urban areas and the shift in consumption patterns from local to imported food items.• The generalized aging of the plantations of coffee, cocoa, oil palm and coconut trees.• The inadequate use and low mastery of modern farming techniques.In the basin, civil society on the whole is relatively weak and inexperienced. It does not yet have all the basic capacities in the areas of organization, communication, financial management and defense of its interests to play a role as a true partner of the government. Macroeconomic policy has been highly circumscribed by inefficient, volatile, and unsustainable public-sector spending and by unusually high volatility of major macroeconomic aggregates. During the last 3 decades, the economic policies have significantly changed with direct and indirect effects on the basin countries' social and economic conditions. Chief among these changes were the policy reforms and structural adjustment programs that have eliminated many public agricultural support programs, creating a vacuum that has not yet been filled by the private sector. Consequently, farmers faced more difficult access to inputs and higher input costs. Input use has stagnated or declined, yet higher population and less land for expansion of cultivation make it vital to increase the productivity of already cultivated land through adoption of intensive agricultural production techniques. Too little investment is occurring in inputs and land improvements that maintain soil fertility, control erosion, and improve water availability. The dilemma is how to ensure such investments are financially and economically profitable and affordable.The inflation rate in many of the basin countries is higher than the 3% ceiling set by Western Africa Economic and Monetary Union. The inflationary pressure can largely be explained by weak supply due to poor agricultural production. Imports are rising, due to the growing demand for food products and intermediary and capital goods for infrastructural projects, which widen the trade deficit. In Niger, the revenue balance continued to benefit from the debt relief granted under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Year-on-year inflation, meanwhile, rose from 5.4% in 2002 to 39.1% in 2006. In Mali, the average inflation rate was 1.9% over the 2002-2005 period, thereby remaining below the tolerable level of 3%. In Burkina Faso, the general price level increased moderately in 2006 compared to 2005. Inflation is well controlled in Burkina Faso. In Cameroon, this growth was accompanied by a 5.1% rise in prices as measured by the consumer price index, as against 2% in 2005.Finances at all levels of the government are in poor shape. The poor have less access to credit than the nonpoor. Hence, to meet their liquidity needs, the population generally resorts to parents, friends and acquaintances, and remittances. Indeed, loans between individuals represent 80% of loans granted to the poor and 67% of loans granted to the nonpoor. Taking into account the loans granted within the system of tontines, this proportion increases to 86% among the poor and 71% among the non-poor.There is limited institutional and organizational capacity to deal with development challenges. The available institutions are technically ill-equipped to monitor, control and evaluate the basin's water resources. The notable institutions with competence to conduct activities which directly or indirectly contribute to the improvements of the living conditions of the basin population include NBA, CILSS, and Le Centre pour l'agriculture, la recherche hydraulique et météorologique (AGRHYMET), etc. NBA deals with activities such as monitoring and management of water resources, protection of ecosystems, the coordination of national policies in all those areas, and finally the integrated development of the Niger River Basin. AGRHYMET, rather, focuses on food security, monitoring of the environment and training of nationals of CILSS member countries in agro-hydrometeorology. Recently, these institutions agreed to develop synergies so as to valorize their scientific, technical and human achievements and avoid duplication.Problems of governance generally translate into poor economic performance, persistent institutional and legal obstacles, low professional and organizational capacity and widespread corruption. The weaknesses in judicial and security systems are factors that hinder the development of the private sector (e.g., Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Niger). There is difficulty in mobilizing private investment. Businesses wishing to operate face many constraints, including poor infrastructure; inadequate physical security; corruption; weak enforcement of contracts; the high cost of finance; poorly defined property rights; and unstable macroeconomic policies, especially fiscal and trade policy. These factors have deterred foreign entrepreneurs from investing and induced many people to take their money and skills abroad. The economic structure of the basin countries remains highly undiversified. In many of the basin countries, the main challenges are, on the one hand, maintaining and consolidating social peace and, on the other, reviving economic and social development. Publicsector mismanagement and corrupt governance (e.g., Nigeria, Guinea, and Niger) have encouraged many people to seek inappropriate ways of sharing the national income such as through violence. Corruption seems to be, institutionalized; government was widely regarded as a provider of large contracts, distributed by officers in power to people wealthy enough to buy their influence. Over time, the judiciary became intimidated, as the rich and powerful manipulated laws and regulations to their advantage. They are strengthened by evidence of weak institutions. As a result, implementation failures are persistent (IMF 2005(IMF , 2009). The judiciary system suffers from other difficulties of access of the population to justice due to high cost of the services. It is marked by the excessive slowness in the consideration and issue of deeds and considerable delays in the execution of decisions.There is a weak statistical information system for the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, projects and programs. The culture of monitoring-evaluation is not deeply rooted in the management modes of public affairs. This situation favors illegal enrichment, and increased corruption in all its forms. The poor management of public resources and the shortcomings of the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework are major constraints of economic development and social cohesion. Moreover, cohabitation and mutual acceptance between people of diverse origins have collapsed because of the strong pressure on jobs and natural resources, notably land and water. The erosion of social cohesion accentuated a number of conflicts. Issues related to landownership cause intercommunity and intra-community conflicts. Land disputes have been aggravated due to a surge in the demand for land/water from unemployed young people due to the economic crisis in other sectors. It has contributed to the deterioration of the confidence between the communities and favored social divisions through conflicts between generations and sociopolitical crises. Conflicts for control of natural resources have spread to stretches of lagoon, river and lake waters where tensions are often rife between fishermen from elsewhere and the locality.Difficulties in the promotion of women and gender mainstreaming into policies are also major constraints. Beliefs and values affect the position of women in society, limiting access by girls to quality education and by women to employment; and thereby reducing the country's human capital potential.Poverty generates multifaceted effects at the individual and collective levels. It exacerbates inequalities of access to opportunities and outputs and destroys the integrity of families, households or communities and lead to their deviancy. Poverty brings about psychological stress: it breeds not only humiliation and loss of self-pride, but also some skepticism, despair and passivity. In countries such as Mali, the level of poverty was reduced from 68.3% in 2001 to 59.2% in 2005. However, the level of this reduction is not commensurate with the desired target due to poor control of population growth, inadequate growth rate of the economy, unequal distribution of the fruits of growth, and limited access to basic services. Similarly, in Niger, the economic growth rate of 3.9%/yr on average between 2002 and 2006 is not enough to reduce poverty significantly and put Niger on track towards achievement of the MDGs. Furthermore, the high population growth rate of 3.3%, which is one of the highest in the world, limits performance, particularly in the basic social sectors, by each day increasing the demand for infrastructure and resources.In Burkina Faso, macroeconomic and poverty simulations indicate a lowering of the incidence of poverty, from 46.4% in 2003 to 40.8% in 2006. The cumulative effects of economic growth observed in 2003 (8%), 2004 (4.6%), 2005 (7.1%), and 2006 (6.4%), contributed to a reduction of the total incidence of poverty. One also observes a tendency to a more marked decrease of the incidence of poverty in rural areas (-5.4 points) than in urban areas (-3.6 points) between 2003 and 2006. In Burkina Faso, simulations have shown that, ceteris paribus, a 1% increase in real GDP in 2006 led to a 0.6% in poverty reduction. In Ivory Coast, the economy virtually stagnated, whereas the population continued to increase at a rate close to 3%; as a result, the average real income, rather, declined in the recent period. Eventually, poverty increased by 10 points between 2002 and 2008. In Ivory Coast, today, one out of every two persons is poor compared to one out of ten in 1985 and the number of poor has been multiplied by 10 in the space of a generation. Poverty has, therefore, increased in a steady trend, going from 10. 0% in 1985 to 36.8% in 1995 and to 33.6% in 1998 before increasing further to 38.4% in 2002 and eventually to 48.9% in 2008. In Guinea, the poverty rate increased from 49% in 2002 to 62.45% in 2008 in rural areas as against 24.5% and 29.45%, respectively, over the same period in urban areas. For decades, Nigeria has struggled to improve socioeconomic conditions, which have declined despite increasing revenue from crude oil. The growing incidence and the dynamics of poverty in Nigeria have stratified and polarized Nigerian society between the haves and the have-nots, between the north and the south, and between the educated and the uneducated.The proportion of the poor working in the agriculture sector is high. The proportions of the poor in the other sectors are relatively smaller. One of the characteristics of poverty in the basin is the very high concentration of income. For instance, households in the first quintile (20% poorest) have only a less than 10% share of total consumption. At the other extreme, households in the fifth quintile (20% richest) account for about 50% of total consumption.A generic analysis of poverty reveals major disparities to the detriment of women. Analyses show that, ceteris paribus, a household headed by a woman runs greater risk of having a lower standard of living than one headed by a man. Women are also disadvantaged in terms of working time, due to the combination of family and professional activities. Women who farm have a work load that ranges from 15 to 17 hours a day. Women's work is made still harder by a lack of equipment, a low level of transformation of food products and the distance from water points and sources of firewood.Poverty is more prevalent in the dry savannah where agriculture provides scarce returns. This agroecological factor is accompanied by insufficient or even nonexistent socioeconomic infrastructure and poor endowment of qualified human resources. Social conditions in the Niger Basin present a startling paradox: despite a rich endowment of natural and human resources, most of the basin's population is poor.Rapid population growth makes the Niger Basin one of the areas with the highest fertility rate in the world. Indeed, due to low levels of income and capital stock, rapid population growth is a major constraint on economic growth, because the net per capita savings rates are not enough to allow for capital accumulation. Furthermore, the poor populations, in rural or peri-urban areas with very large families, very often have the lowest resources and consequently cannot afford adequate health and educational services, as well as drinking water or sanitation. In these areas, poverty increases and becomes a self-sustained phenomenon.The Niger Basin harbors countries such as Nigeria, whose urbanization rate (about 5.3% a year) is one of the fastest in the world. This situation leads to urban unemployment and its attendant problems of slums, crime, and high sociopolitical tensions. Population pressure coupled with lack of employment in the rural sector is causing massive rural-urban migration. These poor people are usually concentrated in the suburbs of the cities. In Niger, the larger the household size, the higher the proportion of poor people, particularly in urban areas. The percentage of poor people in households of more than 13 persons is four times higher than in households with less than three persons. Furthermore, households with a larger number of children, have higher probability of being poor because each additional child reduces the share of food for consumption.Many of the basin countries envision being modern, civil, democratic, well-governed countries founded on a dynamic, diversified and sustainable economy, harmoniously distributed on the national territories. They strive to become prosperous, equitable and respectful of ethics, united, peaceful and committed to African integration. The development visions, goals and objectives of basin countries parallel the development challenges described in the previous section and are articulated in various documents such as the Niger Basin Shared Vision, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, UN MDGs and the NEPAD/CAADP program (pillars 1, 2, 3 and 4).Many of the basin countries have adopted all or most of the UN MDGs and have reflected them in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. The core objective is to increase income, improve living standards (i.e., access to health care, drinking water, decent housing, sanitation, education, etc.) and alleviate poverty. They strive to attain food security through producing the bulk of food products on national territory. Sustainable management of water resources of the Niger Basin may significantly contribute to the attainment of these objectives.To achieve the development missions, goals and objectives of the Niger Basin countries, priority intervention areas that may help remove the identified development constraints and challenges have been identified. The interventions use water as an entry point for poverty alleviation, food security, and economic growth in the basin. Synergy in the implementation of these interventions should help to effectively fight against poverty.ensuring the right to secure access to Water for the PoorThe rising demand for limited water resources of the Niger Basin makes sharing and prioritization of use unavoidable. Local norms and rules generally guarantee that everyone has equitable access to water. However, formal water legislation and priority setting under scarcity can often only weakly protect the poor (Derham et al. 2005). An equitable pro-poor water allocation arrangement guarantees acceptable minimum quantities of water for all and sets rules for the few who want to claim any surplus (van Koppen et al. 2002). Another important way to increase the security of local water rights is to assign the rights to collectives rather than to individuals (Boelens and Hoogendam 2002). Although not recognized by formal legal frameworks, rights to water are often claimed on the basis of landownership. Thus, where land distribution is skewed against the poor, water is also likely to be unevenly distributed. Land with a water source tends to have a higher value than land without one, making landownership-based rights to water even more inaccessible to the poor.In the basin, the justification for development and investment is evident as the 'great' river holds tremendous potential. At the moment, water resources in the Niger Basin may be abundant except in specific sections such as the Sahel. But the desert margin is expanding; climate change is impacting on both the absolute quantity and distribution of rainfall; urbanization, industrialization, and human and livestock population are threatening the quality of the available water thus reducing the overall available water for productive and consumptive use. Moreover, there is a backlog of investment needs in water infrastructure. This need is reflected in various national, regional and continental programs and policies. Thus infrastructure to utilize the basin water resources to increase wealth and alleviate poverty while preserving the quality of water resources is required more than ever. These infrastructures include multipurpose dams that extend the area equipped for irrigation, increase energy production through expanded hydropower generation and increase fish production. Irrigation is both the highest consumer of water and an excellent way of gearing up development because it helps create wealth and employment and makes an important contribution to issues like food security. Increase in energy production through expanded hydropower generation, particularly in the rural setting, would have multifarious beneficial socioeconomic impacts such as inducing a whole set of farm, off-farm, and nonfarm economic activities thus diversifying livelihoods, and triggering the development of services, businesses, and productive sectors other than agriculture. It also enhances the development of groundwater-based agricultural economy as observed in many South and East Asian countries and expands private smallholder irrigation systems through enhancing the adoption of electric powered pumps for abstracting water.Surface water/groundwater transfers are considerable in the Niger Basin. Thus, investment in infrastructure that facilitates the conjunctive uses of surface and subsurface water resources is generally recommended as part of an integrated water resources management.Due to technical innovations some of the technologies for lifting, channeling, and distributing water from various sources (e.g., reservoirs or dams, rivers, streams, lakes, and aquifers), such as small motorized pumps (powered by different energy sources including fuel, solar, wind, electricity and human), micro-sprinklers, drips, etc., are brought within the financial reach of many smallholder farmers. Small-scale localized water management systems, which are based on the adoption of these technologies, are generally more suited to the needs of the poor. Examples of successful programs based on individual or group ownership of AWM technologies are many but the fadama development projects in Nigeria are exemplary. These systems are spreading within the basin supported by the government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Some of the promising technologies are:• Low-cost drip and sprinkler systems.• Low-cost water storage systems.• Small motorized pump-based irrigation systems, etc.Cooperative strategic interventions in the Niger Basin are much needed if lasting benefits are to be attained and felt by all. There are two aspects that need to be addressed: the protection of the Niger Basin water as a natural resource, and the development and management of water infrastructure in the basin at present and in the future. As a transboundary river, Niger requires cross-basin legal and regulatory mechanisms with clear implementation and enforcement pathways. There is already an established basin institution in the form of the NBA. What is needed is to strengthen its capacity and create conditions that are favorable for enforcement of laws and regulations pinpointed in NBA's documents. Recognizing that the root cause of many water problems is related to poor water governance, there has been a wide call for reform. Common elements in such reform initiatives are decentralized decision making involving institutionalization of user participation, assignment of private property or extensive use rights to water, and greater reliance on market mechanisms to ensure the most cost-effective allocation and management of scarce water resources. The watersector reforms, however, have been constrained in many countries by various factors, among which are internal resistance from executives of institutions, the lack of political will, political instability, and dependence on development partners to find the resources for reforms.Governance of the Niger Basin water as a natural resource requires the following:• Synchronization of institutional structures of water including water laws, water policies and water administration, project selection criteria, water pricing and cost recovery policies, and user participatory and privatization policy.• Streamlining of the water laws of the basin countries clearly defining intergovernmental responsibility, water rights (including informal/micro-local water rights) and clarifying accountability.• Improving the basin water administration through standardization or synchronization of organizational and managerial structures including regulatory apparatus and conflict resolution mechanisms of basin member countries.• Improving gender equality. In many cases, water resource policies and programs have proven detrimental to women's land and water rights and, therefore, to their sustainable management and use (Castillo et al. 2007).• Strengthening the voice of the poor in decisions affecting their well-being. One way to tackle this is to craft and support institutions and processes that have the ability to speak upward from the village level to higher levels and to make the voices of the poor heard. However, having the right to voice opinions is not the same as having the power to set the agenda. It proposes special programs targeting people who have the weakest political voice and who are most vulnerable to the ravages of poverty.The limited available agricultural water infrastructures in the Niger Basin are poorly maintained, operated and utilized owing to complex economic, institutional, administrative, managerial, and policy failures, which need proper diagnosis to formulate corrective interventions and strategies to enhance productivity and sustainability of existing water infrastructure. Below is a menu of interventions that may be implemented to enhance the productivity of existing infrastructure.Recognizing multiple-use of water infrastructure. A promising pathway to using water more effectively for poverty reduction and gender equity is a multiple-use water services approach, which takes poor women and men's multiple water needs as the starting point. This approach recognizes that when rural communities construct their own wells, village tanks, household storage, and other water infrastructure they typically do so for multiple uses. Multi-functionality, flexibility, and the tapping of conjunctive water sources enable poor people to accommodate a range of water needs, to attenuate the negative effect of seasonal variation, and to spread risks and cope with extreme events.Livestock-rearing, fishing, and aquaculture activities represent a significant share of farm production in most farming systems of the basin and are significant sources of cash income and nutrition for households with small landholdings. Integrating these livelihood systems into existing water infrastructure is an effective way to improve their productivity. There are numerous small dams or reservoirs in the basin functioning well below their design potential in terms of their economic contribution to rural people. Supporting or developing fish-farming and better management of fish stocks will contribute to improvement in productivity.Strengthening water infrastructure governance and management. Many of the existing water infrastructure be it hydro-dams or irrigation systems are underutilized. In most cases, the structures are operating at about 50% capacity. Improvements in water infrastructure governance are also one way of improving the performance of the systems. Infrastructure governance is a broad term that includes institutions, organizations and policies. The solutions to the problems also require redressing the technical, biophysical, economic, social, and institutional anomalies. Some of the suggested technical and institutional interventions include the following:• Rehabilitating existing irrigation schemes to increase and secure agricultural productivity.• Reducing the sources of pollution of water resources.• Improving the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of the facilities.• Prolonging the life span of infrastructure through preventive measures of dam silting and integrated catchment area development.• Managing degraded ecosystems while providing incentives to communities through incomegeneration activities.• Strengthening water user associations (WUAs), participation in infrastructural management, water allocation and distribution decisions.• Designing and implementing socially just cost-recovery policy that takes the users' ability and willingness to pay as the main parameter and that targets the operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of the infrastructure. The cost recovery policy must embrace transparency in the determination of user fees, relating fees to the level of water consumed.• Using water pricing as a mechanism of improving water resources use efficiency, not as a mere cost recovery tool.• Improving water administration through decentralization of management and responsibilities but avoiding dispersal of organizational responsibilities, and improving functional linkages among water organizations.Linking farmers to input and output markets. One way of improving the productivity and performance of irrigation infrastructure is by improving the profitability of irrigated agricultural production systems through improving the functioning of input and output markets. The functioning of input and output markets is crucial to improve input access and reduce the unit cost of inputs to farmers and access reasonable output prices. An increase in market access can be partly facilitated through developing and extending navigation systems. But one main problem is that infrastructural developments in the Niger Basin such as dams are usually designed with little or no consideration of the impact of water abstraction on navigation downstream. Rehabilitation of both damaged locks at existing dams and junction canals to bypass certain stretches that are inaccessible by boat is necessary. Improve locks and/or links to permit sailing in parts of the river where navigation is currently impossible. Some specific recommended actions are the following:• Improve a) the coordination of input and output marketing systems, and b) incentives for private-sector involvement.• Improve access to production areas, particularly through dirt roads, rural telephony and electrification.• Support producer organizations and collective infrastructures.• Improve food storage facilities to enhance the capacity of the food-reserve program as a step towards achieving food security.• Promote joint venture, private-sector-managed, multi-commodity development and marketing companies to guarantee remunerative prices for farmers, stabilize consumer prices, and provide alternative markets for farm produce.• Encourage out-grower systems: one opportunity for reducing marketing and production risk for smallholders will be to attach them with nuclear farmers in the form of the outgrower system. These days, private investors are knocking on the doors of Niger Basin states in search of land/water for investment. These investors usually have elaborate or well-researched production and marketing plans and are usually targeting export markets and can, therefore, serve as a nucleus for the struggling smallholders.Promoting crop diversification. Crop diversification is a key to the sustainability of the livelihoods of poor people, but smallholders face significant constraints to diversifying their enterprises. For instance, despite the high global demand for fruits and vegetables, poor farmers are not benefiting from the production of such crops. In the national development plans, there is a tendency to consign smallholders to the production of staple crops, reserving production of high-value, cash and exportable crops for large-scale or commercial farmers. Crop diversification usually, but not always, requires changes in the design of existing irrigation infrastructure, as most past designs are suited to main staple crops such as rice. When an irrigation scheme experiences monocropping, particularly of staple cereal crops, several problems arise, such as nutrient mining, pest and diseases outbreak, low output prices, decreased farm income, and reduced farmers' incentive. Crop diversification greatly improves farm income and enhances farmers' ability to share the cost of rehabilitation, and O&M of irrigation systems.Linking farmers to extension and financial services. Irrigated agriculture is a relatively knowledge-and capital-intensive venture. Because of the infancy of the irrigation sector development, support services, particularly in the area of extension advice, and financing services are not well developed. Research-based best agronomic, water management, and crop protection practices are hugely required for profitable irrigated farming. These practices ought to be disseminated to farmers through various channels including the radio, television, publications (e.g., pamphlets, leaflets, manuals, etc.), and adopting individual and group extension systems, which are often missing. It is also important to develop or encourage the availability of rural finance, not just credit services as usually done by governments and NGOs. The credit services should be promoted alongside with saving opportunities. Irrigators must be encouraged to save when there is abundant cash, following a bumper harvest or increased income.Genetic improvement of crops. Irrigation allows farmers to overcome drought or moisture stress, which is one of the endemic production risks in the Niger Basin, particularly in the Sahel Zone. The removal of this risk often opens the way for farmers to adopt high-yielding crop varieties. The yield elasticity of local crop varieties under irrigated systems is significantly inferior to that of modern high-yielding varieties (Wood et al. 2004). Improved crop varieties will help boost agricultural productivity and tackle poverty head on. Thus, research on crop breeding should focus on breeding, screening and disseminating varieties responsive to water and other inputs such as fertilizer.Improvements in on-farm water management. On-farm water management can be defined as the manipulation of water within the borders of an individual farm, a farming plot or field. It starts at the farm gate and ends at the disposal point of drainage water. The main components of onfarm water management are soil and water conservation, water application practices, drainage, soil amelioration and agronomy. It encompasses the management of all water used for crop production purposes including precipitation and water applied through irrigation. It also includes practices and tools to improve site conditions such as land leveling and crop-protection practices. All these have to be done within the context of the socioeconomic environment of the community and the farmers' personal situations. It generally seeks to optimize the soil-water-plant relationship to achieve a yield of desired product. The main aim of on-farm water management is to minimize water input while maximizing output or at least without compromising output to optimize profits. The farmers' incentive for minimizing water input varies by irrigation system typology. For instance, in public irrigation systems farmers have less incentive to adopt water saving practices as compared to those owning irrigation facilities. Improved on-farm water management practices increase the productivity of fertilizer and improved seed and encourage complementary farm-level investments.The bulk of the Niger Basin population depends on rain-fed agriculture. Thus, a modest productivity improvement in the rain-fed system would have a broader and deeper poverty reduction and food security outreach. One of the limiting factors of production in rain-fed systems is soil-moisture stress. In fact, efforts to breed and introduce improved crop varieties in rain-fed systems have not resulted in the desired outcome owing to failure of the introduced varieties under the moisturestressed rain-fed agricultural systems (see Box 1).significance of aWM: some empirical evidence.In Niger, the performance of agriculture and other economic sectors is extremely vulnerable to erratic and declining rainfall and periodic droughts. Since 1970, Niger has experienced 13 years of deficit cereal production; in half of those years, the country was forced to import one-third of its food requirements. To counter these problems, the Government of Niger and donor agencies have sought to increase agricultural productivity by improving research and extension capacity for three of Niger's most important crops: millet, sorghum and cowpea. From 1986 to 1990, 68% of Niger's public outlays for agricultural research and 58% of its researchers were devoted to these three crops. In addition, since 1976, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested more than USD 22 million in research projects for these three crops, through the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN). In spite of increased investments in research and extension, cowpea yields increased by only 0.2% annually between 1961 and 1990, and sorghum and millet yields decreased by 0.7% and 2.7%/yr, respectively. The newly released varieties could not compete with local land varieties, which were developed through thousands of years of natural selection. Several factors contribute to the limited impact of research and extension in Niger. The risks that climate create for agricultural cultivation mean that the scope for major increases in productivity from crop production research is limited. High-input varietal technology is unlikely to be adopted on a large scale because of the difficulty in obtaining yield increases substantial enough to make inputs profitable in the extremely dry climate. There was a visible underinvestment in water management.Over the last 50 years, Mali has experienced a revolution in rice production in areas that benefited from access to irrigation water (i.e., areas served by the Office du Niger). The paddy yield jumped from as low as 1 tonne/ha to as high as 7 tonnes/ha (Aw and Diemer 2005), due to a series of interventions, including the rehabilitation of plots, improved practices, reduced surface areas to favor intensification (3-5 ha) as well as the devaluation of the CFAF which increased market prices and stimulated farmers (Ogilvie et al. 2010). Meanwhile the productivity of the rain-fed rice cultivation has not shown any remarkable improvement and remains close to 1 tonne/ha on average. The experience of Office du Niger testifies the importance of integrated AWM (i.e., technical and also political interventions) in enhancing productivity.Interventions suggested below may help attenuate the effect of drought and boost productivity in rain-fed farming systems of the Niger Basin, which are as follows:• Rainwater harvesting.• Improving on-farm water management through adopting/adapting soil and water conservation practices such as mulching, ridging, and minimum or zero tillage, etc.• Developing moisture-stress-tolerant crop varieties through both conventional (if possible) and unconventional crop breeding approaches.• Integrating crop and livestock production practices.• Encouraging the adoption of agroforestry practices.Climate change and climate variability, floods and droughts contribute to vulnerability and deepening of poverty, particularly among already poor people. These shocks and hazards also impinge on the overall economic gamut of the basin countries, particularly for those heavily reliant on agriculture. Thus, efforts are required to enhance the knowledge and prevention of natural risks and the impacts of the phenomenon of climate change. An enhanced mitigation strategy of flood and drought management, and well-established early warning systems and storage options will help reduce the devastating impacts of floods. The specific strategies include: reduction in flood risk through development and dissemination of information management systems, mitigation of drought risk through development of new water storage systems and improvement of storage management during low water flow periods, adoption of water saving strategies, reduction of greenhouse gases, developing hydrological forecasting tools, ensuring minimum discharges during low water periods, adoption of adaptive social and economic infrastructure, improving coverage of precipitation-gauge stations and capacity-building through staff training in climatology, seasonal forecasting and agro-meteorology.The prevalence of extensive low-productivity rain-fed agriculture such as those based on the slash-and-burn cultivation systems are threatening terrestrial ecosystems resulting in significant loss of biodiversity and soil. The deterioration of the terrestrial ecosystem has also an impact on the overall availability of water. To control desertification and reverse the trend towards depletion of environmental resources, efforts have to be made in the area of reforestation, land reclamation, development of natural forests and protected areas, as well as development of community forestry and agroforestry. This should be complemented by improving rural people's access to alternative energy sources such as hydroelectric power, which contributes to ecosystem conservation through reduced pressure on forest resources. Hydroelectricity is also a factor of integration and regional stability as well as a strong trading potential for the member countries of the basin in terms of the benefits to be shared. The specific intervention areas include watershed management (integrated development and protection of catchment areas), erosion and sedimentation control, carbon finance mechanism, preservation of the resources of aquatic environments including the management of wetlands, prevention of water pollution, reforestation, restoration of degraded areas and habitats (through preventive and curative actions), improved soil and water conservation methods, recovering and sustaining depleted fisheries, reducing land and sea-based pollution and improving water quality, etc. The technical interventions enumerated above work better, if complemented by actions in the area of policies and institutions. The benefits spill over to the sustainability of water infrastructure through, for instance, reduction of siltation of the infrastructures and the hydro-graphic network in the basin, enhancing their performance and sustainability. An improvement in environmental management, especially in the Fouta Djallon watershed and the Inland Delta will lead to significant benefits for the overall sustainability of the water resources of the basin.Water is an important input into many other livelihood processes, not just agriculture. Development of economic activities related to water resources (e.g., tourism), but not depending on investments in large-scale infrastructure, increases wealth and alleviates poverty while preserving natural resources. Thus, support is needed to realize the eco-touristic potential of the Niger Basin. Programs that enhance job creation and/or the employability of the basin's rural population are particularly important. The actions should be aimed at strengthening human capacities, promoting access of the poor to educational and health services, and drinking water and sanitation infrastructures. Supporting small and medium-size enterprises will help create jobs. Moreover, integrated rural development programs to stem the flow of migration from rural to urban areas are necessary.","tokenCount":"12979"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3567455330.json b/data/part_1/3567455330.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c2ca5c9d8bd56357afdc41895c5b676ad36baa2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3567455330.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cc81b781e77cb1275cc28dbc8dd56fbe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/aaa01f0f-41ff-4b35-9e1f-95e547d71a65/retrieve","id":"1216574274"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f8c6260-8857-4ef0-9a9d-fc22c52691bf","pagecount":"10","content":"• Under the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) program, Climate Smart Villages (CSV) were developed in Latin America, West Africa, East Africa and South Asia.• For each of the CSVs, a monitoring was carried out using intra-household surveys, where the principal men and women of the household was surveyed.• In these surveys they were asked about their access and use of Climate Information Services (CIS) and adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices.• Under the AgriLAC Resilient initiative, data from the CSVs of Olopa, Guatemala and Santa Rita, Honduras for the years 2018, 2020 and 2021 were used.• Men and women farmers say they access the information, but when asked about their use of the information, they respond that they do not use the information. However, they adopt CSA practices• We observed that there is a relationship between access to information and the adoption of CSA practices.• We found that the literature does not discuss the relationship between access and adoption of CSA practices by the degree of intensity of the practices. Objective: Analyze differences in adoption of CSA practices between women and men based on access to CIS. Methods: Using econometric models such as Logits, we look at the differences in probability to adopt CSA practice between those who access and those who do not access information.• Calculations are made for each year and site; it was not possible to make a temporal analysis of the individuals since the same people were not always surveyed.• We used the IICA CSA Practices Manual (López et al., 2022) to measure the intensity of the type of practices according to the difficulty of implementation and according to the costs of implementation. Additionally, we made some expert consultations about CSA practices. ","tokenCount":"291"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3582811552.json b/data/part_1/3582811552.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e8bc19a92ade4fc55b380a32018a0b1397c410d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3582811552.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cef6ca8f2108a6d026ecbd94161b5857","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/049ac02e-b6f3-468d-960d-defa27d3623e/retrieve","id":"2040397337"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e4bfe8f2-a612-43a6-81b9-3e7ddbd57cac","pagecount":"3","content":"À la faveur d'investissements climato-intelligents à impact, le secteur privé entend combler les insuffisances de financement du développement agricole. Son but ? Atteindre les objectifs de développement durable tout en soutenant une nouvelle manière de créer et de partager la richesse. P our le secteur privé, l'AIC (agriculture intelligente face au climat) représente une opportunité d'appuyer le développement durable par ses investissements », explique Viktoria Popova, responsable de l'assistance technique chez Incofin Investment Management, une société internationale d'investissement à impact basée à Bruxelles. L'entreprise pilote des investissements et activités de soutien au renforcement des capacités dans les pays émergents afin de favoriser le progrès inclusif.Face au changement climatique et à ses conséquencesen plus de la prise de conscience des consommateurs qui militent pour un environnement plus sain et se dirigent vers des produits éthiques -, un nombre croissant d'entreprises adaptent leurs stratégies d'investissement. Un virage s'opère : les risques environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance sont davantage pris en considération, une tendance qui pousse les investisseurs à se détourner des secteurs dits nuisibles. La notion d'investissement bénéfique devient dès lors très importante dans les choix opérés. La SFI (Société financière internationale) précise que ces investissements à impact consistent à investir dans des entreprises, organisations, véhicules ou fonds dans le but de générer des impacts sociaux, économiques et environnementaux, positifs et mesurables, tout en assurant des retours financiers.« Nous pensons qu'investir dans des modèles économiques durables est une stratégie judicieuse, et nous sommes convaincus que l'agriculture a un rôle clé à jouer pour doubler la production mondiale, une nécessité afin de nourrir, demain, une population en constante hausse, précise Mme Popova. Considérant sa propension à produire des effets négatifs sur l'environnement et sa vulnérabilité face au climat, l'agriculture doit devenir plus durable sur le plan environnemental. » En collaborant avec des organismes de microfinance, des associations de producteurs et d'autres acteurs de la chaîne de valeur, Incofin cherche à déployer le potentiel de l'agriculture sur des marchés identifiés comme stratégiques.Nous parlons d'investissements climato-intelligents car nouscomprenons que pour répondre aux défis auxquels font face les agriculteurs, il ne suffit pas d'améliorer la productivité : il faut aussi les aider à renforcer leurs capacités de résilience », indique Mme Popova. En Colombie, par exemple, Incofin a appuyé une coopérative de café afin qu'elle devienne plus intelligente face au climat en finançant la construction d'un broyeur humide centralisé, qui permet d'optimiser le processus de transformation de la production. « Grâce à cet appareil et à son système de gestion améliorée, nous sommes parvenus à réduire de 40 à 4 l la quantité d'eau utilisée pour produire 1 kg de café. En outre, la source d'eau n'est plus contaminée par le processus comme auparavant. Quant aux coques de grains, à la pulpe de café et aux autres déchets, ils servent à alimenter le broyeur. C'est donc un bon exemple d'une initiative positive sur les plans environnemental et social, qui améliore le bien-être des producteurs tout en assurant en même temps un solide retour sur investissement », explique-t-elle.Pour améliorer la productivité, la qualité de la production et le niveau de revenus, Incofin soutient des organisations de petits exploitants en les aidant à diversifier leurs cultures et à adopter de bonnes pratiques agricoles. La société travaille aussi avec des organismes locaux de microfinance afin de renforcer les capacités de résilience d'une région donnée aux chocs climatiques. Au Nicaragua, cette collaboration a par exemple permis le lancement d'un produit assurantiel basé sur un indice climatique. Les organismes de microfinance jouent ici le rôle de preneur d'assurance et d'agrégateur, pour, et avec leurs clients agriculteurs. Nous sensibilisons également au changement climatique afin de soutenir les actions qui aident les agriculteurs à devenir plus résilients et à mettre en oeuvre des pratiques intelligentes face au climat, ajoute Mme Popova.Depuis 2001, Incofin a investi plus de 1,7 milliard € dans 65 pays, travaillant avec plus de 300 clients, notamment desBusani Bafana est journaliste spécialisé dans le développement international. busani.bafana@gmail.com Nawsheen Hosenally est originaire de l'île Maurice. Elle est la co-fondatrice d'Agribusiness TV, une web TV, basée au Burkina Faso, qui met en lumière les histoires et les réussites des jeunes agripreneurs d'Afrique. nawsheen@agence-mediaprod.com Face au changement climatique et à ses conséquences -en plus de la prise de conscience des consommateurs -, un nombre croissant d'entreprises adaptent leurs stratégies d'investissement vers des produits éthiques. institutions financières, des petites organisations de producteurs ou des petites et moyennes entreprises agricoles. Actuellement, Incofin détient quatre fonds actifs et plusieurs structures de conseil, gérant au total 881 millions € d'actifs engagés. Sur le volet de l'assistance technique, la société a, depuis 2010, mobilisé plus de 6 millions € afin de soutenir 90 projets dans 35 pays, y compris en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes, en Afrique, en Asie, au Moyen-Orient et en Europe de l'Est.Les défis rencontrés par les entrepreneurs ruraux et les petits exploitants sont au coeur des objectifs de développement qui, au final, nous concernent tous. En tant qu'entreprise d'investissement à impact, il est de notre devoir de nous impliquer auprès de ces institutions qui peuvent faire avancer les choses et d'investir dans des secteurs dits \"à risque\". Incofin agit en ce sens en combinant l'appui financier et l'assistance technique », conclut Mme Popova. • Image : Nestlé","tokenCount":"874"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3585335461.json b/data/part_1/3585335461.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..945f479697630c2cd9a7403e7eeefc8b40c8d6bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3585335461.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"430a9bbdbfb4d803838ef7daef7db16c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/99808e7e-e1d3-4214-935b-c3e21106ea1a/content","id":"2031953346"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f6f29a5f-d984-47b2-b9e2-d371f2ab1537","pagecount":"50","content":"• Gender/context analysis missing in designs.• Inadequate funding.• Baseline without gender indicators.• Gender programming choices/outcomes not explained.-Hypothesis: gender interventions are not evidence based nor discussed with wider project staff (sidelined).• Gender not seen to go 'beyond the project.'• Even when program evaluations collect sex disaggregated data, they do not always, nor consistently report the results by sex.Where is Gender?What role does gender play in the project? Include at highest level possible.How will we measure the impact of our program on gender?Have we considered how we will assess quantity AND quality of participation?Failing to learn  Use facilitators  • IFPRI survey provided the most rigorous gender responsive data.-We need survey designs to involve women (ATA gender unit commissioned), female enumerators, multi-disciplined. and to factor in how women understand and answer questions/gendered terminology (great research idea!);• Using Likert scales or asking for the number of hours/days -Generates more accurate data & makes women visible.• Do we need to over sample women to make women visible? What else have we learnt?• Many units of analysis within a household.-We need to interview more wives, female heads, old/young; -Before women were FHH they were spouses; before men were MHH they were youthpoverty/capacity pathways;• Government lists miss FHH = hard to find.• Define what a FHH is for enumerators (absent spouse, divorced, widowed…).-Length of time single matters.• If we want more gender friendly policies we need more gender responsive surveys.How to make women's roles and needs visible in agriculture.Learning around capturing gender responsive data in surveysThe response range offeredThe way we ask questions in surveys How we sample• Section 3:-Learning around capturing gender responsive data in surveys: go beyond headship, ask gender-responsive questions• Section 1:-Qualitative assessment of agriculture evaluations: internal learning events, specific gender indicators (baseline + evaluation ToR + objective level), budget, mixed methods, mainstream.• Section 2: 7 promising methodologies: gender relations can change in a cohesive manner. Need to capture change pathways.","tokenCount":"317"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3612007977.json b/data/part_1/3612007977.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d047fb927fe6777f06674fe2e90542ae2b511603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3612007977.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a779a2e0afef174efb83a04e0ad1e2a8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7a8e19db-2576-4c00-b13c-e0a6f2576131/content","id":"-1056359597"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c859da21-0e05-4ee8-a376-eadc85952b07","pagecount":"37","content":"Regression Types    ------------+----------------------------------F  ------------+---------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ------------+----------------------------------F  ---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------- ","tokenCount":"12"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3616353435.json b/data/part_1/3616353435.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ee02f3ddffb8c1f080d937e5b4b161dd32841287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3616353435.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a6d167c0327bb12e36a91e862ec0208e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ff484405-4392-4105-8422-236fab5f4246/retrieve","id":"1974675653"},"keywords":["climate change","ecogeography","evolutionary significant units","intraspecific diversity","reserve selection","risk assessment","Latin America","circa situm conservation","in situ conservation"],"sieverID":"dea92121-bf2c-4003-b9d3-a7be328d2c6b","pagecount":"12","content":"Background: Humans threat the populations of tree species by overexploitation, deforestation, land use change, and climate change. We present a novel threat assessment at intraspecific level to support the conservation of genetic resources of 80 socioeconomically viable tree species in South America. In this assessment, we evaluate the threat status of Ecogeographic Range Segments (ERSs). ERSs are groups of populations of a specific species in a certain ecological zone of a particular grid cell of a species' geographic occupancy.Humans use more than 8,000 tree species worldwide for timber, food, fibre, medicine, and cultural activities (FAO, 2014). As much as humans need and value tree species, we threaten their populations by overexploitation, deforestation, land use change, and climate change.The genetic variation maintained in these populations is the source for adaptation to environmental changes and enables species and populations to evolve over time (Graudal et al., 2014;Ottewell, Bickerton, Byrne, & Lowe, 2015). This genetic variation is also a source for seed material and breeding efforts (Graudal et al., 2014). Aichi Target 13 of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) states that by 2020 strategies need to be established to conserve the genetic resources of socioeconomically valuable species (CBD, 2010). This includes tree species of value to humans. The conservation of the genetic resources of these tree species requires coordinated actions between different organizations and countries as demonstrated by the European network of dynamic gene conservation units (Koskela et al., 2013). South America harbours much more tree genetic resources than Europe. But in contrast to Europe no clear conservation strategies are in place to safeguard tree genetic resources in South America, except perhaps for a few tree species, which are listed at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).Most tree genetic resources are exclusively maintained in situ in their natural habitat in or outside protected areas, or circa situm in home gardens, orchards, livestock, or agroforestry systems (Dawson et al., 2013). Ex situ conservation is an alternative and complementary approach to rescue genetic material of highly threatened populations.Ex situ conservation of tree species is done mostly in live collections, in botanical gardens, or in provenance trials. To a lower degree genetic material is conserved in vitro, cryopreserved, or maintained in seed collections. Ex situ is only an option for a limited number of prioritized species and populations because of the costs related to maintaining live collections due to the longevity of tree species and the often recalcitrant nature of their seeds. In situ and circa situm conservation remain the recommended conservation options.We present a spatial approach to assess the threats of fragmentation, direct human pressure, and climate change to the genetic resources of 80 socioeconomically valuable tree species in South America. With this study, we aim to support the development of a regional action plan to safeguard tree genetic resources in South America.In our approach, we assess threats at intraspecific level, for groups of conspecific populations, which are genetically similar. As far as we know, this is the first systematic threat assessment of plant species at intraspecific level. Our approach complements spatial threat assessments at species and ecosystem level (Jarvis, Touval, Schmitz, Sotomayor, & Hyman, 2010;Ramirez-Villegas, Jarvis, & Touval, 2012;Underwood, Viers, Klausmeyer, Cox, & Shaw, 2009).The concept of Evolutionary Significant Units has been proposed for intraspecific assessments. Evolutionary Significant Units are defined as \"groups of conspecific populations that have substantial reproductive isolation, which has led to adaptive differences so that the populations represent a significant evolutionary component of the species\" (Palsbøll, Bérubé, & Allendorf, 2007). For most tropical tree species, however, it is currently not possible to define Evolutionary Significant Units across their distribution because limited or no genetic data exist about their adaptive variation and reproductive isolation between populations (Dawson et al., 2017). As an alternative to Evolutionary Significant Units, Eco-Geographic Units have been proposed to prioritize range segments of species for conservation (Zhivotovsky et al., 2015).Here, we rename Eco-Geographic Units to Ecogeographic Range Segments (ERSs), to avoid confusion in spatial assessments with Geographic Units of measurements such as countries or grid cells. We define an Ecogeographic Range Segment (ERS) as a group of populations of a specific species in a certain ecological zone of a particular grid cell of a species' geographic occupancy. These criteria are in line with recommendations to prioritize areas for conservation of genetic resources on the basis of ecological zones (Graudal et al., 2014;Phillips, Asdal, Magos Brehm, Rasmussen, & Maxted, 2016;Taylor et al., 2017), and to use geographic distance as a measure of reproductive isolation (Rivers, Bachman, Meagher, Lughadha, & Brummitt, 2010;Rivers, Brummitt, Nic Lughadha, & Meagher, 2014).A total of 80 woody perennials were analysed in our study, including one bamboo species and eight palm species (Appendix S1). These species were selected based on their socioeconomic value for industrial wood; fuel wood, posts, poles; non-timber products; and/or edible fruits according to FAO (2001) and the New World Fruit Database (Appendix S2-links data sources). The species were selected by FAO's forest genetic resources panels in 2001 and 2003 (Baskaran et al., 2003;FAO, 2001) and by experts of the Latin American Forest Genetic Resources Network (LAFORGEN) during meetings carried out in 2006, 2008 and 2010. For this regional exercise, only species native to at least two countries in South America (or at least two states in the case of Brazil) were considered following Zeven and de Wet (1987) and the database of the USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (Appendix S2links data sources). Furthermore, to ensure the representativeness of tree species from all South American countries, species were selected in such a way that there were at least five native species per South American country. Lastly, only species with at least 30 unique georeferenced species location records were included, to allow spatial analyses to be conducted with a minimum level of reliability (Wisz et al., 2008). All species names were adjusted according to The Plant List (Appendix S2-links data sources).We obtained georeferenced species location records from data made available by herbaria, field studies, and genebanks through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (Appendix S2-links data sources), the Information System for Biological Collections in Brazil (Appendix S2-links data sources) and participants of the Latin America Forest Genetic Resources Network (LAFORGEN). Even though some species location records may belong to botanical gardens and tree plantations, most species location records in our database come from natural populations or from managed trees in farming systems, which may hold unique genetic diversity not found any more in natural systems (Boshier, Gordon, & Barrance, 2004;Miller & Schaal, 2005). We assume that collecting species location records from these different settings together ensures to capture all genetic resources within the native distribution ranges of these 80 tree species. In addition, we assume that each species location record stands for a number of individuals of the same species at the indicated location, which form together a population.Data were curated by removing species location records with inconsistencies between countries reported in the passport data of the species location records and corresponding administrative units resulting from map projection (Hijmans, Schreuder, De La Cruz, & Guarino, 1999). To accommodate for imprecisions for otherwise accurate spatial coordinates, we maintained species location records in a border buffer zone of 10 arc minutes (~18 km at the equator) near administrative boundaries. Coordinates of species location records located in coastal waters within a 10 arc minutes buffer to the coastline were modified to the nearest point in the coastline, which is a common precision issue in biological data georeferencing (Record, Charney, Zakaria, & Ellison, 2013). Species location records located further in the sea were removed.Species location records with extreme climate values beyond species niche margins were removed from our dataset because these are likely errors in coordinates or taxonomy. Species location records were removed when the values of 5 or more of 19 bioclimatic variables as defined by Hijmans, Cameron, Parra, Jones, and Jarvis (2005) were outside 2.5 times the interquartile range below the first quartile or above the third quartile. Our thresholds are 40% more conservative compared to recommended ones from literature (Chapman, 2005;Hijmans, Guarino, & Bussink, 2004). In this way, we aimed to avoid the removal of species location records from marginal populations with valuable genetic resources in our analysis. Our final dataset consisted of 15,601 species location records from South America.For each of the 80 species, species-specific ecogeographic range segments (ERSs) were defined in an attempt to capture for each species all its genetic variation across its distribution in South America. To define ERSs for each species, we overlaid FAO ecological zones with the grid cells of species' geographic occupancy (Figure 1a,b;FAO, 2012).Per species, we then allocated the species location records among its ERSs (Figure 1c,d). In this way, each ERS is a group of species location records of species x in ecological zone y of grid cell z of a species' geographic occupancy. We used the map of FAO ecological zones because it harmonizes several existing ecological zoning maps (FAO, 2012). The grid cells of species' geographic occupancy represent the spatial structure in genetic variation and reproductive isolation between populations. For each species, the size of the grid cells of species' geographic occupancy can vary given the species range and was calculated as the 10% maximum inter-point distance as this ratio is species-specific and not sensitive to collection density (Rivers et al., 2010).We distinguished between species location records in areas with large tree cover (30% or more) and species location records in areas with F I G U R E 1 Development of species-specific Ecogeographic Range Segments (ERSs) and the assignment of species location records to these ERSs. To illustrate the development of ERSs, Cedrela odorata is used here as an example. (a) Ecological zones in South America according to FAO (2012). (b) Grid cells of the geographic occupancy of Cedrela odorata are overlaid with the ecological zones to define ERSs across the species distribution of Cedrela odorata. The size of grid cells of the species' geographic occupancy is calculated as the 10% maximum inter-point distance between species location records of Cedrela odorata. (c) Species location records of Cedrela odorata are allocated across the defined ERSs. (d) Each ERS is species-specific and consists of a group of species location records of a specific species of a certain ecological zone of a particular grid cell of a species' geographic occupancy [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] little tree cover (less than 30%). We extracted for each species location record the percentage tree cover per aggregated grid cell of arc 5 minutes resolution from the 30 m resolution 2010 Global Tree Canopy Cover database (Hansen et al., 2013). We used 30% tree cover as a threshold because this is a tipping point between ecosystem states of large and little tree cover (Hirota, Holmgren, Van Nes, & Scheffer, 2011).The tree cover in the locations of our species location records followed a bimodal distribution with most species records either located in areas with more than 80% tree cover or less than 20% tree cover (Appendix S3). We consider species location records in areas with large tree cover as exempted from fragmentation, whereas species records located in areas with little tree cover are vulnerable to fragmentation.We combined six maps showing different types of threats associated with human pressure on ecosystems, developed by Jarvis et al. (2010), into one map of direct human pressure, which reflects the maximum value among the six threats in each pixel. The six depicted threats are due to (1) human accessibility; (2) conversion to agriculture; (3) fires;(4) grazing pressure; (5) infrastructure; and (6) land clearance because of oil and gas. The threat maps have a 2.5 arc minutes resolution and indicate a threat magnitude from 0 (no threat) to 3 (maximum threat), which is determined by the threat exposure on the basis of freely available datasets and threat sensitivity at ecosystem level according to experts (Jarvis et al., 2010).In the combined map of direct human pressure, low threat areas were distinguished from areas with high threats. We chose 1.2 as the threshold value, which is 2/5 of the maximum value of 3, distinguishing low threat values from medium and high threat values (>2/5 of the maximum value). For choosing this threshold, we followed a 5-point threat scale after IUCN-CMP (2007) and modified by Gaisberger et al. (2017).To assess climate change impacts, we applied ecological niche modelling with Maxent, a widely used modelling algorithm (Elith et al., 2011). We modelled the distribution of each species under historic climate conditions  and the projected future climate during the period between 2040 and 2069 (2050s). The 19 bioclimatic variables available from the worldclim 1.4 database, with a downscaled resolution of 2.5 arc minutes, were used as environmental variables in the modelling (Appendix S2-Links data sources). This set of variables returned good quality distribution maps according to species experts who were asked for 5 of the 80 species (van Zonneveld, Castañeda, Scheldeman, van Etten, & Van Damme, 2014). Even though our analysis focused on South America, modelling was done with a total of 27,283 species location records from whole Latin America and the Caribbean to capture the whole realized niche of the 80 species in their native distribution.Future climate modelling was done separately with two climate models: MRI-CGCM3 (MG) (Yukimoto et al., 2012) and HadGEM2-CC (HG) (Collins et al., 2011) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5. These models and scenarios have been used in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Flato et al., 2013). We used the threshold value of maximum specificity + sensitivity to distinguish suitable from not-suitable areas (Liu, White, & Newell, 2013). On the basis of these thresholds, we distinguished for each species: (1) areas with low climate change impact where habitat conditions are expected to remain suitable, and thus populations of tree species are likely to persist under global climate change; and (2) areas with high climate change impact where the climate eventually becomes unsuitable for existing populations of tree species.To reduce the possible effect of sampling bias on modelling results, we averaged for each species the Maxent results from three runs, each time using 80% of randomly resampled species location records. These species locations records were resampled from grid cells with a size corresponding to 10% of the longest inter-point distance after Fourcade, Engler, Rödder, and Secondi (2014). Second, to allow Maxent to discriminate areas with species location records from the areas with no data, we randomly extracted five times more background points from the area enclosed by the species' convex hull. This convex hull was extended with a buffer corresponding to 10% of the longest inter-point distance. Third, to reduce the risk of including modelled areas where the species does not occur in reality, we limited the modelled distribution range by the area enclosed by the extended convex hull polygon. Finally, we restricted the modelled distributions to land cover types where we assumed populations to occur, namely, in natural vegetation and mixed agricultural systems as classified by the Global Land Cover 2000 Project (Fritz et al., 2003). For the mangrove species Rhizophora mangle, we limited the modelled distribution of this species to a distance of 10 arc minutes land-inwards from the coastal line.We assessed the risk of extirpation for each individual species location record in each ERS, considering eight threat situations that consisted of areas with large or little tree cover, with low or high human pressure, and with low or high climate change impact. As a result, we were able to determine for all ERSs of all 80 species in which of the eight threat situations their species location records are located (Figure 2). In addition, as a fourth level of extirpation risk, we determined for each record whether it was located in or outside a protected area according to the 2010 WDPA database (UNEP-WCMC, 2010). We followed the complementary reserve selection algorithm of Rebelo and Siegfried (1992) to prioritize areas for conservation in two steps: (1) prioritize for each ERS the threat situation with least possible risk to extirpate; and (2) prioritize per threat situation, the areas with highest number of ERSs to target conservation actions (Figure 2).Step (1) Prioritize for each ERS the threat situation with least possible risk to extirpate. In a first iteration, we started with identifying all ERSs with at least one record in the preferred situation for conservation: areas with large tree cover, low direct human pressure, and low climate change impact. In a second iteration, ERSs in areas of the second-most preferred situation were identified: areas with large tree cover, low direct human pressure, and high climate change impact. Records from the ERSs, which were identified in the previous iteration, were excluded from this and further subsequent analysis. This procedure was repeated until the eighth threat situation with highest extirpation risk in areas with little tree cover, high direct human pressure, and high climate change impact. In this final iteration, we identified the remaining ERSs, which exclusively occur in this least-preferred threat situation.Step (2) Prioritize per threat situation, the areas with highest number of ERSs. Per threat situation, we determined the minimum number of grid cells required to conserve all ERSs, which were allocated to that specific threat situation in step 1. Grid cells with a resolution of 2 arc degrees were used as the geographic unit for reserve selection at continental scale. Per threat situation, we ran the reserve selection algorithm 25 times and selected the run with the least number of grid cells required to capture all the ERSs in that specific situation. Per threat situation, the grid cell with the highest number of different ERSs was determined as the first priority area for conservation. Second priority was given to the grid cell, which covers the highest number of species location F I G U R E 2 Schematic representation of the selection of the threat situations with least possible extirpation risk for each Ecogeographic Range Segment (ERS) to target conservation actions. For ERS \"a\", \"b\", and \"c\", the number of species location records for every one of the eight threat situations is determined. Species location records in the threat situation with the lowest risk of extirpation are selected to target conservation actions. The risk of extirpation is determined on the basis of three hierarchic levels of threats: level 1: large or little tree cover; level 2: low or high direct Human Pressure (HP); level 3: low or high climate change impact. Some ERSs such as ERS \"b\" can only be conserved in the least-preferred threat situation of little TC, high HP, and high climate change impact records from additional ERSs, which did not occur in the grid cell of first priority. This iteration continues until species location records from all ERSs are covered by grid cells.All analyses were performed in r version 2.15.1 with the packages 'raster' (Hijmans, van Etten, & Cheng, 2015), 'dismo' (Hijmans, Phillips, Leathwick, & Elith, 2016), 'sp' (Pebesma, Bivand, & Rowlingson, 2013) and 'maptools' (Bivand & Lewin-Koh, 2013). Graphs and maps were created in R with the use of 'ggplot' (Wickham, 2009). Maps were developed with the geographical latitude/longitude projection and WGS84 datum. The R code is available on request.We identified a total of 2,631 ERSs summed up across all 80 species.The number of ERSs per species varies between 8 ERSs for Cariniana legalis to 101 ERSs for Cedrela odorata and Hymenaea courbaril respectively (Appendix S1).A total of 705 ERSs (27% of all ERSs) only occur in areas with little tree cover (Table 1). When direct human pressure in areas with large tree cover is added, then 1,561 ERSs (59% of all ERSs) are threatened.When climate change is also considered, then all species location records in 1,857-1,930 ERSs (71-73% of all ERSs) are threatened. When the increased extirpation risk of populations outside protected areas is added, then all species location records in 2,223-2,252 ERSs (84-86% of all ERSs) are threatened.  Priority areas for the conservation of populations in ERSs in the leastpreferred threat situation, in areas with little tree cover, high direct human pressure and high climate change impact, include southern Brazil (Paraná, São Paulo) and eastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz) (Figure 5a). Priority areas with little tree cover, high direct human pressure, but low climate change impact include the Atlantic forests in Brazil (Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás) (Figure 5b). Priority areas with little tree cover, low direct human pressure, but high climate change impact include northern Bolivia (Beni) (Figure 5c). Priority areas with little tree cover, low direct human pressure, and low climate change impact include the Atlantic forests in northern Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba) (Figure 5d). Ecuador (Cajamarca, Amazonas and Zamorano), eastern Bolivia (Beni), southern Bolivia (Tarija), and Surinam (Figure 5g).The border zone between Peru and Ecuador is the highest priority area to conserve and manage populations from ERSs in the preferred threat situation for conservation with large tree cover, low direct human pressure, and low climate change impact. Other priority areas in this preferred threat situation include western Colombia (Antioquia, Chocó), Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios), and southern Chile (Araucanía, Los Lagos) (Figure 5h).Our results suggest that more than 59% of the Ecogeographic Range Segments (ERSs) of the prioritized 80 tree species are threatened by extirpation in South America. Seven species warrant special attention because they are highly threatened across their whole distribution in South America: Balfourondendron riedelianum, Cariniana legalis, Dalbergia nigra, Handroanthus pulcherrimus, Pachira quintana, Prosopis flexuosa, and Prosopis pallida. Many other tree species also require targeted conservation because a high number of their ERSs is at risk to extirpate. Ideally, at least two populations per ERS need to be targeted for conservation to have a duplicate. For 40% of the ERSs, however, it is not clear if this will be possible because we only found one species location record of them.This makes these ERSs extra vulnerable to extirpate.ERSs in areas with little tree cover, high direct human pressure, and high climate change impact are mostly, but not exclusively, located in the Atlantic forests of Brazil and eastern Bolivia. Populations in these ERSs require urgent conservation actions to safeguard their genetic resources. The combination of current fragmentation, continuous human pressure, and climate stress will reduce substantially the safe operating space of tree species populations in this high threat situation (Scheffer et al., 2015). We expect that populations exposed to these threat conditions will be affected by a reduction in the number of reproductive trees and reduction in regeneration success. Without conservation actions to create a safe operating space for populations under these threat conditions, it is likely that these populations will extirpate. 1. Motivate: Connect in situ and circa situm conservation of tree genetic resources to social, economic, ecological, and cultural values of community members, producers, concerned urban citizens, local and regional policy makers, conservationists, among other actors (Wallace, 2012;van Zonneveld, Loo, Maselli, Madrid, & Echeverria, 2018). These values could be related to forest products, cultural heritage, ecosystem services, certification schemes, nutrition, among others.Explain to these persons in plain but precise language why genetic resources matter for species conservation and how the conservation of genetic resources relate to social, economic, ecological, and cultural values (van Zonneveld et al., 2018).Estimate the minimum number of reproductive trees required to maintain genetic resources, and the minimum distance between them (Boshier et al., 2004;Graudal et al., 2014).When needed, technical solutions should be developed to facilitate regeneration and seed dispersal of wild growing tree populations (Boshier et al., 2004), or to distribute diverse seed material for planting and restoration (Thomas et al., 2014). In some cases, the four points of MATE may not be sufficiently effective for in situ and circa situm conservation actions in high threat situations. In those cases, ex situ conservation approaches could serve as an alternative to safeguard genetic material.Restoration and rehabilitation activities could be a good option in areas with little tree cover because these actions combine conserva-  Our reserve selection analysis indicates that areas with large tree cover, low direct human pressure, and low climate change impact in the border zone between Peru and Ecuador should be prioritized for in situ and circa situm conservation followed by central-western Colombia, Amazonian Peru, and southern Chile. This low threat situation allows to keep a safe operating space for populations of tree species, and is therefore the desirable threat situation for in situ and circa situm conservation.Our study is limited to 80 tree species and to South America, but similar analyses can be carried out for other tree species and for other continents. The threat maps used in this study were made with freely available data. It is straightforward to develop your own threat maps with this freely available data (Gaisberger et al., 2017;Samuel, Drucker, Andersen, Simianer, & Zonneveld, 2013). We used historical species location records, freely available through online portals such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which facilitates repeatability of spatial threat assessments for other species. Highly threatened populations at these recorded locations, however, could have been extirpated after they have been reported. This increases the urgency to monitor and conserve these populations.The maps of direct human pressure, which were used in our analysis, indicate sensitivity to threat exposure at ecosystem level but not at species level (Jarvis et al., 2010). Although these maps can be used for continental threat assessments, the threat values should be interpreted carefully for specific species. For example, some species tolerate threats such as grazing pressure and fire better than others because of specific traits. We recommend further research to understand which traits can be linked to species-specific threat sensitivity.This would complete our current threat assessment. Expert feedback is an alternative approach to indicate species-specific threat sensitivity, and social science methods can be used to formalize the feedback from experts (Gaisberger et al., 2017;Metcalf & Wallace, 2013).This threat assessment at intraspecific level can help managers of governmental and conservation organizations in South America to reach Aichi Target 13 to conserve the genetic resources of socioeconomically important species from this region by 2020. Our findings confirm the urgency to set up a regional action plan to conserve the genetic resources of the 80 prioritized tree species and other useful tree species in South America.","tokenCount":"4362"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3622861482.json b/data/part_1/3622861482.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f611fd1779ed6bfeb0f4995ea39e86919cd0f74b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3622861482.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"49c08f1608784842721df636de96dd82","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c4d507d6-84fd-4e40-97fe-c8ee950cd909/retrieve","id":"1682617644"},"keywords":["Agronomic efficiency","Balanced fertilisation","Nutrient-dose response"],"sieverID":"17a02a4a-1b22-44b7-8118-f48a6dcba213","pagecount":"17","content":"The use of fertilizers in balanced and adequate amounts is a prerequisite for increasing crop productivity and production. Unbalanced plant nutrient management continues to be a major factor contributing to low maize (Zea mays L.) yields due to lack of information on the dose-responses to macronutrients on different soil types in Ethiopia. This study was carried out to quantify maize yield response and agronomic efficiency of varying application rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) under balanced application of other nutrients across two soil types in Ethiopia. Field trials were set up on 29 farmers' fields in four districts of Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) for three consecutive cropping seasons (2014)(2015)(2016)(2017). The treatments consisted of six rates of N, P and S each and eight rates of K combined with balanced application of the remaining macronutrients, zinc (Zn) and boron (B). The treatments were laid out in randomised complete blocks design with three replicates per farm. Using nutrient dose-response modelling, the agronomic optimum rates of N, P, K and S were estimated at 46, 40, 17 and 10 kg ha −1 on Nitisols, with balanced application of the other nutrients. On Andosols, the optimum rates of N, P and S were estimated at 184, 20 and 30 kg ha −1 , respectively, but the optimum K rate could not be estimated. The predicted maximum yields obtained with balanced nutrient application were lower on Andosols (3397-3640 kg ha −1 ) than on Nitisols (4630-6094 kg ha −1 ). Using the Mitscherlich dose-response model, the percentage deficiencies of N, P, K and S were estimated to be 1.3-3.3 times more on Nitisols than Andosols. Consequently, agronomic efficiencies of N, P, K and S were significantly lower on Andosols than on Nitisols. It is concluded that balanced application of 46 kg N ha −1 , 40 kg P ha −1 , 17 kg K ha −1 , 10 kg ha −1 S, 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 could be recommended for maize on Nitisols in the study area. Although this recommendation may also apply to Andosol, further research is needed as the productivity of Andosols appears to be limited by constrains other than N, P, K, S, Zn and B. We also recommend a shift from the blanket fertilizer recommendations to site-specific nutrient management based on good understanding of the variations in crop response with soil type and agroecology and appropriate soil and plant analyses.Maize (Zea mays L.) is the staple cereal widely grown in Africa and the main component of food aid interventions (Jama et al., 2017;Leonardo et al., 2015). It is also increasingly being used as a livestock feed (Onasanya et al., 2009) and in industrial applications, as its kernel starch content is 77% (Asim et al., 2017). Maize ranks second on global scale after wheat in total production and third among the cereals (Asim et al., 2017). Although maize productivity and production remained low and variable in the past, there have been clear signs of improvement in recent decade (Abate et al., 2015;Rockström and Falkenmark, 2000). According to the Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA, 2021), the water-limited yield potential of maize is in the range of 6-13.9 Mg ha −1 across nine major maize producing countries in SSA. Yet, actual yields are still below 5 t ha −1 (FAO, 2016), thus limiting maize's numerous uses. Yield gaps with the recommended rate of inorganic fertilizer are significantly higher on farmers' fields compared with research stations (Sileshi et al., 2010). Across sub-Saharan Africa, mean yields were about 3.9 t ha −1 in maize grown with the recommended rate of inorganic fertilizer but around 1.4 t ha −1 when grown without external nutrient inputs (Sileshi et al., 2010).In Ethiopia, maize is the second (following teff) most common cereal crop in land area cultivated, with an estimated area of 2.1 million ha, but ranks first in production estimated at 8.4 million tons per year (CSA, 2018). The national average yield is 3.9 t ha −1 (CSA, 2018), which is lower than the experimental yield of over 4.9 t ha −1 (FAO, 2016) and the water-limited yield potential of 13.9 t ha −1 in Ethiopia (GYGA, 2021). The low yields have been attributed partly to the limited use of external inputs and low soil nutrient statusespecially nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S)as a result of decades of mono-cropping and excessive leaching of soil nutrients (Law Ogbomo and Law Ogbomo, 2009). Using crop-modelling, an increase in maize yield of 2.5-9.2 t ha −1 was reported due to soil fertility improvement from poor to near optimal condition in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia (Erkossa et al., 2011). These statistics emphasise that it is important to apply adequate and balanced amounts of nutrient to replenish the soils and enhance crop productivity.Current fertilizer use in Ethiopia is based on a blanket recommendation of 100 kg ha −1 diammonium phosphate (18-46-0) and 100 kg urea ha −1 (46-0-0) for all crops (IFPRI, 2010). Evidently, the nutrients in this blanket recommendation are not well balanced agronomically, and the continuous use of this recommendation has gradually exhausted soil nutrient reserves. Therefore, neither yields nor profits can be sustained using imbalanced application of fertilizers, as the practice results in accelerating deficiencies and imbalances of soil nutrients (Agegnehu and Amede, 2017;IFPRI, 2010). At present, N, P, S, boron (B) and zinc (Zn) deficiencies are widespread in Ethiopian soils, whereas some soils are also deficient in K, copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) (Dibabe et al., 2007;EthioSIS, 2016). The recent soil fertility map of Ethiopia shows deficiency of 86 N, 99 P, 7 K, 92 S, 65 B and 53% Zn (EthioSIS, 2016). Responses of maize to N and P have been widely documented in maize-growing areas of Ethiopia, but little has been done to establish the scale of response to K, S and micronutrient deficiencies. In addition, little effort has been made to establish dose-responses and a more balanced nutrient management strategy in maize production on different soil types (Mbah et al., 2007). To enhance the nutrient recovery and optimize fertilizer use efficiency, the blanket fertilizer recommendations need to be replaced with context-specific nutrient management that also matches with the socioeconomic circumstances of farmers. Better matching of fertilizer application to agroecological zones, soil types and farmer management practices can increase productivity and enhance food security.Nutrient use efficiency (NUE), or grain production per unit of available nutrient in the soil, is important for profitability and environmental sustainability. For example, cereal NUE is composed of the efficiency of N uptake and the conversion of total crop N uptake to grain (Fageria and Baligar, 2005). Application of excess N is normally a major cause of low NUE (Meisinger et al., 2008), with an average recovery of about 38% of applied N for cereal production. NUE may be low, even with low N application rates, because of limited plant growth due nutrient imbalances and other biotic or abiotic constraints, possibly including deficiencies of P and other essential nutrients (Bekunda et al., 2007). Low fertilizer use efficiency can also result from inappropriate fertilizer recommendations that should account for the cash constraints and risks affecting resource-poor farmers.Despite the number of studies conducted on the effect of inorganic fertilizer and organic inputs on maize yield, information is lacking on the variation in nutrient dose-responses with soil types and agroecological zones in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted with two specific objectives: (1) to determine the variability in maize yield response to N, P, K and S rates as well as the agronomically optimum rates of each nutrient across the two agroecological zones and soil types and (2) to quantify the agronomic use efficiency of N, P and K for each soil type.Nutrient response trials were conducted on 29 farmers' fields in the maize-growing areas of Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) (Figure 1) for three consecutive years (2014)(2015)(2016). In Oromia, the study was conducted in Arsi-Negele, Omonada and Kerssa districts, while in SNNPR it was conducted in Halaba district. Based on the current agroecological zonation of Ethiopia, Arsi-Negele is a warm, moist lowlands (M2), whereas Omonada and Kerssa districts fall under the warm, sub-humid mid-highlands (SH3) zone. In the SNNPR, the study sites were located in Halaba district, which falls under the warm moist lowlands (M2). The M2 is characteristic of the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. The elevation ranges from 1600 to 2200 m asl, and the mean annual temperature varies between 16 and 20 °C. On the other hand, in SH3, the altitude ranges between 2000 and 2800 m asl, and the mean annual temperature varies between 16°and 21 °C. The growing period in SH3 (181-240 days) is longer than in M2 (146-160 days). The mean rainfall received at Arsi Negele was 835 mm (range 760-888 mm) (Table 1). The mean rainfall received at Kersa was 1511 (range 1482-1530 mm), while it was 1379 mm (range 1317-1506 mm) at Omonada (Table 1). The major soil types of the experimental sites are Andosol and Nitisols (Table 1). Andosols are young soils developed in volcanic deposits that have a high potential for agricultural production (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015;Jones et al., 2013). They are generally fertile soils, particularly in intermediate or basic volcanic ash, and they are not exposed to excessive leaching. Andosols have favourable properties for cultivation, development of plant roots and water storage, but they are prone to P fixation and erosion (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015; Jones et al., 2013). Nitisols are deep, well-drained, reddish soils with diffuse horizontal boundaries and are among the most productive soils in the humid tropics (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015). These soils are widely used by smallholder farmers for food crop production in Ethiopia. The deep and porous solum and the stable soil structure of Nitisols permit deep rooting, making these soils quite resistant to erosion t (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015). The good workability of Nitisols, their good internal drainage and good water-holding properties are complemented by chemical (fertility) properties (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015). In the study areas, Andosol had higher pH, exchangeable K and available P than the Nitisols (Table 1). Both soils had SOC and total N content higher than what is considered the critical concentration of 20 g kg −1 for SOC and 2 g kg −1 for N (Hazelton and Murphy, 2001;Musinguzi et al., 2013).The experiment was designed in such a way that responses to N, P, K or S rates individually could be determined under balanced application of the other macronutrients and micronutrients. The treatments consisted of six rates of N (0, 46, 92, 138, 184 and 230 kg N ha −1 ), P (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 kg P ha −1 ), S (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 kg S ha −1 ) and eight rates of K (0, 17, 33, 50, 66, 83, 100 and 116 kg K ha −1 ) combined with balanced application of the remaining nutrients. For determining response to N, each of the N rates was combined with 30 kg P ha −1 , 83 kg K ha −1 , 30 kg S ha −1 , 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 . Similarly, when determining response to P, each of the six P rates was combined with 92 kg N ha −1 , 83 kg K ha −1 , 30 kg S ha −1 , 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 . Likewise, the eight K rates were combined with 92 kg N ha −1 , 30 kg P ha −1 , 30 kg S ha −1 , 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 when determining response to K. To determine the response to S, each of the six S rates was combined with 92 kg N ha −1 , 30 kg P ha −1 , 83 kg K ha −1 , 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 . That way, each of the nutrient rates had a balanced application of the other nutrients as shown in Supplementary Table S1. Sulphur, zinc and boron were selected because of their deficiencies in the selected locations based on the EthoSIS nutrient map. N was applied in two splits (i.e., half at planting and half at 45 days after planting), whereas full doses of each of P, K, S, Zn and B were applied in rows close to the crop rows at planting. Nitrogen was applied in the form of urea, P as triple superphosphate (TSP), K as potassium chloride (KCl), S as calcium sulphate (CaSO 4 ), Zn as zinc sulphate (ZnSO 4 ) and B as borax. The other crop management practices were followed as per the recommendation for maize.The plot size on all the experimental sites was 5.1m x 3.75 m (∼19 m 2 ). Following variety recommendations for specific areas, maize variety BH-661 (average yield potential 9,000 kg ha −1 ) was used as the test crop on Nitisols in SH3, but M-II (average yield potential 4,700 kg ha −1 ) and Shone (average yield potential 5,700 kg ha −1 ) were used in M2 on Andosols. All maize varieties were planted with intra-and inter-row spacing of 25 and 75 cm, respectively. The treatments were laid out in randomised complete blocks design with three replicates per farm.Composite soil samples were collected from 0 to 20 cm depth before planting from all experimental sites using an auger. Five representative sub-samples from each l site were mixed in plastic bags to make one composite sample per site that making a total of four composite samples following the standard soil sampling procedures. Potentiometric method using a glass calomel combination electrode was used to measure pH of the soils in water suspension in a 1:2.5 (soil: water ratio) (Van Reeuwijk, 1993). The Walkley and Black (1934) wet digestion method was used to determine soil organic carbon (OC) content. Total nitrogen content of the soil was determined by the wet oxidation procedure of the Kjeldahl method (Bremner and Mulvaney, 1982). Available P was determined using the standard Olsen et al. (1954) extraction methods. The absorbance of available P extracted was measured using spectrophotometer after colour development. Exchangeable K was determined after percolating and extracting the soil samples by 1N ammonium acetate solution at pH 7 in which exchangeable K in the leachate was measured by Flame Photometer (Okalebo et al., 2002).Harvesting took place from mid-October to mid-November depending on the specific growing condition of each area. To measure total above-ground biomass and grain yields, the central four rows of each plot were harvested at ground level. Grain yield and above-ground total biomass yields were then recorded. After threshing, seeds were cleaned and weighed, and seed moisture content was measured using a gravimetric method. Total biomass (on dry matter basis) and grain yields (adjusted to a moisture content of 12.5%) were converted to kg ha −1 before statistical analysis.Linear mixed modelling (LMM) was applied to determine variations in yield with the different levels of N, P, K and S by soil type and agroecology combining study locations and years. The LMM (implemented via PROC MIXED of the SAS system) was chosen for the different levels of analyses because it allows modelling of hierarchical or clustered data arising from observational studies through inclusion of both fixed and random effects. The mixed modelling approach was also chosen to account for imbalance in terms of sample size and confounding of responses by uncontrolled variables. The fixed effects in the model were agroecological zone (AEZ), soil type, nutrient rate and their interactions, with location as the random effect. The initial model was of the following form:where μ is the grand mean yield (kg ha −1 ), AEZ is agroecological zone, soil is the soil type of the location according to the World Reference Base (WRB) classification system, rate is the rate of application (kg ha −1 ) for the nutrient under study and ϵ is the error term. In many cases, however, sample sizes were not adequate to accommodate this model. In addition, for most sites, there was also one soil type for a given AEZ, thus creating confounding between these two variables. Consequently, analyses were done for soil type and AEZ separately using the following models:For soil type:Y µ soil rate year soil rate location year ε (2)For agroecological zones:Y µ AEZ rate year AEZ rate location year εThe variations in yield with fixed effects were considered significant when p ≤ 0.05. Least square estimates and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used for statistical inference. This is because the 95% CI functions as a very conservative test of hypothesis, and it also attaches a measure of uncertainty to sample statistic (du Prel et al., 2009). The means two or more levels of a fixed effect were considered to be significantly different from one another only if their 95% CI were nonoverlapping.Dose-response models were applied to determine the optimum rates of N, P, K and S on Andosols and Nitisols. The least square estimates of yield from the linear mixed model (equation 2) above were used for dose-response modelling. For this purpose, various nutrient response functions including the Mitscherlich-type functions, asymptotic and von Liebig type (linear plateaux) functions were compared and used as deemed appropriate (Sileshi, 2021). The Mitscherlich function is given aswhere a is the predicted maximum yields, b represents the proportional nutrient deficiency and c is a parameter which controls the steepness of the relationship between X and Y (Sileshi, 2021;Sorensen, 1983). When multiplied by 100, b represents the percentage deficiency of the nutrient in question (Sorensen, 1983). Another modification of the Mitscherlich function is given aswhere a is the predicted maximum yields, b represents the inherent soil nutrient (in kg ha −1 ) available in the soil at the start of the experiment and c is defined as in equation 4a.The asymptotic function is given aswhere Y is the predicted yield, a is the asymptotic yield (i.e., predicted maximum yield), b is the amplitude (i.e., estimated yield increase due to nutrient application), c is the curvature coefficient and X is the nutrient rate applied. The linear-plateau function implies a region of linear response followed by a plateau given as follows:where b 0 is the intercept and b 1 is the slope of the line, Y max is the plateau yield and X max is the 'join point', which represents the critical point after which increasing nutrient rates can no longer increase yields (Sileshi, 2021).The agronomic efficiency of N (AEN), P (AEP), K (AEK) and S (AES) were determined on Andosols and Nitisols separately. According to Snyder and Bruulsema (2007), AE answers the question 'How much productivity improvement was gained by the use of a given nutrient input?', For each of the N, P, K or S rates applied, AE was computed as follows:where GY f is the grain yield of the plot (kg ha −1 ) that received the nutrient in question, GY u is the grain yield (kg ha −1 ) of the plot where the nutrient was omitted and Q is the quantity of N, P, K or S applied (kg ha −1 ). Among the dose-response models compared, the Mitscherlich and asymptotic function gave more accurate estimates indicated by narrower 95% CLs than the linear-plateaux function. The linear-plateaux model also failed to provide a valid estimate of the agronomic optimum rate for N and K on Andosols. It also underestimated the optimum rates for all nutrients on Nitisols. Therefore, inferences about the dose-response predictions were all based on the Mitscherlich and asymptotic functions.Mean grain yield and total above-ground biomass significantly varied with year (p < 0.001), N application rates (p < 0.001) and the interaction effect of N rate and soil type (p = 0.009) (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S2; Supplementary Figure S1). Year, N rate and the soil type by year interaction effect accounted for about 30% of the explained variation in grain yield response to N (Supplementary Table S3). Interannual variations in yield response were lower on Andosols (Figure 2a) than on Nitisols (Figure 2a). The maximum yields predicted using the dose-response models were lower on Andosols (3474 kg ha −1 ) than on Nitisols (4630 kg ha −1 ). However, the dose-response trends on Andosols (Figure 3a) had narrower confidence bands than on Nitisols (Figures 3b). The agronomic optimum N rates were estimated at 184 and 46 kg N ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2). The maximum yield increases due to N application were 950 and 1870 kg ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2), with the corresponding yield increments of 44.2 and 83.7% relative to the zero N input (Supplementary Table S3). Using the Mitscherlich model (equation 4), the percentage deficiency of N on Nitisols (40.4%) was 1.5 times more than on Andosols (27.2%) (Table 2). On both Andosols and Nitisols, the highest agronomic efficiency of N (AEN) was recorded with 46 kg N ha −1 , but N was less efficiently used on Andosols than Nitisols (Figure 4a).As in grain yields, the highest total biomass yields were obtained with application of 184 kg N ha −1 on Andosols and 46 kg N ha −1 Nitisols, respectively (Supplementary Figure S1). The corresponding yield increments were about 15 and 60% over the zero N input rate. The harvest index significantly varied with year (p = 0.013) and N rate (p < 0.001), but not with soil type. On both Andosols and Nitisols, the highest harvest index was recorded with application of 184 kg N ha −1 (Supplementary Table S4).Maize grain yields did not significantly vary with year and soil type, but it varied with P rate and the interaction effect of year, rate and soil type (p < 0.001) (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S2). Yields showed greater increases with P rates on Nitisols (57-75%) than on Andosols (15-30%) (Supplementary Table S2). The predicted maximum yields recorded on Andosols (3461 kg ha −1 ) were lower than on Nitisols (4962 kg ha −1 ), and these were achieved with 30 and 40 kg P ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2). The percentage deficiency of P was estimated to be two times more on Nitisols (40.1%) than Andosols (20.3%) (Table 2). The P dose-response trends on Andosols (Figure 3c) are also different from the trends on Nitisols (Figures 3d). Across the different P rates, agronomic efficiency of P was significantly and consistently lower on Andosols than Nitisols (Figure 4b). Application of P at different rates also had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on maize total biomass on Nitisols, but not on Andosols. The highest total biomass yields were obtained with the application of 30 kg P ha −1 on Andosols and 40 kg P ha −1 on Nitisols, respectively. The corresponding yield increments with these rates over the zero P input were 12 and 55% (Supplementary Figure S1). A similar trend was observed with agroecological zone (Supplementary Figure S2). The harvest index significantly varied only with year (Supplementary Table S4). On both Andosols and Nitisols, the highest harvest index was recorded with application of 10 and 50 kg P ha −1 , respectively (Supplementary Table S4).Maize grain yield significantly varied with year (p = 0.012), K application rates (p < 0.001), soil type (p < 0.001) and the various interaction effects (p < 0.05) (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S2). Soil type, K rate and the soil type by year interaction effect accounted for about 41% of the explained variation in grain yield response to K (Supplementary Table S3). Yield increment with K rates was lower on Andosols (14-29%) than on Nitisols (26-44%) (Supplementary Table S3). Interannual variations in yield were much lower on Andosols (Figure 2c) than on Nitisols (Figure 2c). The K dose-response was almost flat on Andosols (Figure 3e), while it revealed a clear trend on Nitisols consistent with Mitscherlich-type response (Figure 3f). The predicted maximum yields on Andosols (3397 kg ha −1 ) were significantly lower than those on Nitisols (5581 kg ha −1 ). The agronomic optimum K rates achieving this yield level on Andosols could not be estimated, while the corresponding value was 17 kg K ha −1 on Nitisols (Table 2). The predicted yield gains due to K application were 701 and 1425 kg ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2). The highest agronomic efficiency of K (AEK)  was recorded with 17 kg K ha −1 on Nitisols. Across the different K rates, AEK was significantly lower on Andosols than Nitisols (Figure 4a).As in grain yield, total biomass was significantly lower on Andosols than on Nitisols (Supplementary Figure S1). The highest total biomass yields were obtained with the application of 83 kg K ha −1 on Andosols and 17 kg K ha −1 on Nitisols, respectively (Supplementary Figure S1c). A similar trend was observed with agroecological zone (Supplementary Figure S2c). The harvest index significantly varied (p < 0.05) with all variables (Supplementary Table S4). The harvest index was generally higher on Andosols than Nitisols. The highest recorded with application of 50 kg K ha −1 on Andosols and 33 kg K ha −1 on Nitisols (Supplementary Table S4).Maize grain yield significantly varied (p < 0.012) with year and the three-way interaction effects of year x S rate x soil, but note with the other factors (Supplementary Table S2). Soil type, year and  the soil type by year interaction effect accounted for about 50% of the explained variation in grain yield response to S (Supplementary Table S3). Yield increment with S rates was much lower on Andosols (0.5-6.2%) than on Nitisols (24-34%) (Supplementary Table S3). The dose-response was flat on Andosols (Figure 3f), while the response on Nitisols was consistent with Mitscherlich-type response (Figure 3g). The predicted maximum yield on Andosols (3639 kg ha −1 ) was significantly lower than on Nitisols (6094 kg ha −1 ). The agronomic optimum S rates to achieve these yields are 30 and 10 kg S ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2). The maximum yield increases due to S application were 212 and 1368 kg ha −1 on Andosols and Nitisols, respectively (Table 2). The percentage deficiency of S was estimated to be 3.9 times more on Nitisols (22.4%) than Andosols (5.8%) (Table 2), and hence applied S was less efficiently utilised on Andosols than Nitisols (Figure 4d). As in grain yield, total biomass was significantly lower on Andosols than on Nitisols (Supplementary Figure S1d). The highest total biomass yields were obtained with the application of 20 kg S ha −1 on Andosols and 10 kg S ha −1 on Nitisols, respectively (Supplementary Figure S1d). A similar trend was observed with agroecological zone (Supplementary Figure S2d). Across S rates, the harvest index was generally higher on Andosols than Nitisols. The highest harvest index was recorded with application of 30 kg S ha −1 on Andosols and 20 kg S ha −1 on Nitisols (Supplementary Table S4).From this analysis, it is evident that N followed by P is the nutrient most limiting for the productivity of maize, but much more on the Nitisols than Andosols. Examination of the yield gain (amplitude in Table 2) revealed that maize yield response to N is higher than all the other nutrients. Earlier studies (e.g., Adediran and Banjoko, 1995) have found that on soils with low N and P and high K status, a high yield response can be obtained from the application of N and P fertilizers. The predicted maximum yields recorded in this study were below the water-limited yields of maize especially on Andosols. Under appropriate crop management, most improved varieties of maize have attainable yields of up to 13 900 kg ha −1 in Ethiopia (GYGA, 2021). The yield increments on Andosols (29-44%) and Nitisols (36-84%) obtained with the different N rates are also generally lower than those reported in other studies. A study by Jama et al. (2017) conducted across sites in southern Africa recorded yield increments of 75-100%, as compared with the control. Kaizzi et al. (2012) also reported an increase in maize grain yield by 120% with N application, compared with the control with no N input. Several studies have concluded that growing maize without N fertilizer results in the loss of land productivity and profitability (Jama et al., 2017;Kaizzi et al., 2012;Kogbe and Adediran, 2003;Zheng et al., 2016).The predicted maximum yields on Andosols were lower than expected with the N rates applied implying that constrains other than N, P, K, S, Zn and B are probably limiting yields. Yield response to N was lower on Andosols than Nitisols partly because the relative N deficiency was 67% lower on Andosols than on Nitisols (Table 2). The dose-response predicted that only N rates in excess of 230 kg N ha −1 can achieve higher yields. This implies that opportunities exist for increasing the productivity of maize on Andosols if other yield-limiting factors are addressed. One possible constraint is moisture stress. Water-limited potential yield is often a function of available moisture because nutrient availability depends on available moisture. The quantity of nutrients required by a crop to achieve its water-limited potential yield is also a function of seasonal rainfall. The rainfall received during the cropping season was generally higher (>1300 mm) on Nitisol sites compared to the Andosol sites (835-901 mm). The significant variation yield response to N with the interaction effects of year, soil types and N rate emphases the role that soil properties, rainfall and nutrient management plays (Saıdou et al., 2003;Wang et al., 2018). Low response to N fertilizer may be caused by erratic distribution of rainfall, especially in warm moist lowland areas such as the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Crops use N fertilizer more efficiently when rainfall is adequate. Even in normal years, sub-optimal rainfall during critical stages of crop growth (i.e., the period immediately before and after anthesis) may significantly reduce N uptake and use efficiency (Calvino et al., 2003).The fact that maize responded much more to the application of N on Nitisols than on Andosols is consistent with earlier work suggesting that Andosols are less responsive to N application owing to their high inherent fertility (Sileshi et al., 2021). This is also evident from the less efficient utilisation of the applied N. The higher yield response on Nitisols is partly because the applied N was more efficiently utilised on Nitisols, which had higher deficiency of N than on Andosols. This emphasises the role that soil types plays in the spatial variations in N use efficiency and yields. The results are also consistent with the growing body of literature demonstrating the role of soil types in the spatial variations in yields of cereals including maize (Jama et al., 2017;Sileshi et al., 2010Sileshi et al., , 2021;;Tremblay et al., 2012), wheat (Wang et al., 2018) and barley (Agegnehu et al., 2011;Shewangizaw et al., 2021). On both soils, AEN declined with increase in N application rates. Other studies have reported similar trends in AEN with increasing N rates applied to maize in Uganda (Kaizzi et al., 2012) and barley and wheat in Ethiopia (Agegnehu et al., 2016;Shewangizaw et al., 2021). Elsewhere, Islam et al. (2016) reported that increasing N rates reduced NUE. Meisinger et al. (2008) indicated that most components of NUE were estimated to be higher at the economically optimum N rate compared with higher N rates, confirming the findings. Generally, surplus N fertilizer application not only leads to lower N use efficiency but also elevates the risk of N losses to the environment (Hu et al., 2019). Thus, over-application of N should be avoided. Instead, the N requirements for maize need to be based on expected yield and nutrient levels in soils.Maize grain and biomass yield responses to P were generally lower on Andosols than Nitisols. Yield response to P was also much lower on Andosols than Nitisols partly because available P concentrations were much higher (Table 1), and the relative P deficiency was 50% lower on Andosols than Nitisols (Table 2). The agronomic efficiency of P was also much lower on Andosols. This can be linked to the very high P fixation capacity on Andosols, which is caused by active aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) and their amorphous clay (allophane) mineralogy (Batjes, 2011). With the balanced application of other nutrients, agronomic maximum grain yields were achieved with 30 kg P ha −1 on Andosols and 40 kg P ha −1 on Nitisols. Generally, further application of P beyond these rates did not result in significant yield increments. Indeed, AEP declined with increase in P application rates beyond 20 kg P ha −1 on both soil types. Similarly, Kogbe and Adediran (2003) showed that application of 17.4 kg P ha −1 was optimum in the Savanna zones of Nigeria, but yield depression at higher rates. The lower response to P on Andosols may also be ascribed to soil moisture, which is a key constraint for crop production in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Soil moisture critically affects the availability of P. As Funk and Brown (2009) indicated, the reduction in rainfall during the main growing season could result in moisture stress and, consequently, reduce crop P uptake and its use efficiency.Unlike N and P, grain yield response to K significantly varied with all main effects and interaction effects indicating that responses to K are more context-specific. This is consistent with the EthioSIS soil map, where only 7% of Ethiopian soils are deficient in K. Yield response to K was lower on Andosols than Nitisols partly because exchangeable K concentrations were much higher (Table 1), and the relative K deficiency was lower on Andosols (Table 2). As a result, the optimum K rate could not be estimated for the range of K rates applied, but the dose-response models predicted that grain yields higher than 3397 kg ha −1 can only be achieved with K rates of 235-252 kg ha −1 . However, such high levels can have unintended consequences as they can lead to K-induced Mg or Ca deficiency (Rhodes et al., 2018;Rietra et al., 2017;Xu et al., 2019). However, modest applications of K are necessary to off-set K removed by crop off-take even on Andosols. Application of K is shown to increase N use efficiency of maize (Rutkowska et al., 2014), and K is critical especially under moisture stress conditions due to the vital role it plays in crop tolerance to drought and other abiotic and biotic stresses (Amanullah and Irfanullah, 2016;Wang et al., 2013). Specifically, the application of K has been shown to minimise effects of water stress on maize (Amanullah and Irfanullah, 2016). Therefore, we recommend the maintenance approach of K management even on non-responsive soils (e.g., Andosols) where yields may show no significant improvement due to K applications.Maize grain yield and total above-ground biomass did not significantly respond to S application on Andosols. This appears to be due to the adequate indigenous supply of S on Andosols, where the estimated deficiency was only 6.8% for the observed yield. On the other hand, 24-34% increase in yield was recorded on Nitisols; the highest increment being with 10 kg S ha −1 . The response of maize to S fertilizer at low dose may be attributed to the deficiency of S on the Nitisols. However, increasing application rates above 10 kg S ha −1 did not result in significant increases on both soils types. Elsewhere, Naseem et al. (2014) reported that application of S up to 60 kg ha −1 increased grain yield by 43% as compared with the control without S input. According to Korb et al. (2005), a high-test level (SO 4 -S > 5-10 mg kg −1 ) in the upper 15 cm guarantees adequate S supply for crops. Itanna (2005) also indicated that surface samples of four of the five soils studied, with the exception of the Nitisol, have soluble sulphate concentration which is adequate for crop production. In the 0-25 cm soil, sulphate concentrations were 8.1 mg kg −1 in vitric Andosols and 1.8 mg kg −1 in haplic Nitisols in Ethiopia (Itanna, 2005) indicating insufficient sulphate concentrations for plant growth on Nitisols (Korb et al., 2005).Overall, the highest AEN, AEP, AEK and AES were recorded with the lowest rates, but the efficiency of all nutrients was significantly higher on Nitisols than on Andosols. Nutrients were less efficiently utilised on the Andosol probably because they were inherently more fertile (higher N content, exchangeable K and available P) than the Nitisols (Table 1). These differences are also consistent with the higher deficiencies on Nitisols revealed by the Mitscherlich model. These observations emphasise the point that fertilizer recommendations for maize need to sufficiently soil-specific.Based on the various analyses, it is concluded that balanced application of N, P, K and S together with Zn and B achieves greater yield increments on Nitisols than Andosols. It is also concluded that balanced application of 46 kg N ha −1 , 40 kg P ha −1 , 17 kg K ha −1 , 10 kg ha −1 S, 2 kg Zn ha −1 and 0.5 kg B ha −1 could be recommended for maize on Nitisols in the study area. While this recommendation may apply to Andosol, further research is needed since the productivity of Andosols appears to be limited by constrains other than N, P, K, S, Zn and B. It is further concluded that the predicted maximum yields are far below the water-limited yields of maize in Ethiopia. This suggests that opportunities exist to bridge the yield gap through appropriate crop, soil and water management practices. Increased productivity may be achieved by shifting the emphasis from simply increasing the quantity of inorganic fertilizer to a more efficient and effective use of fertilizers. We recommended that NUE be increased on farmers' fields through better targeting of nutrients to address specific soil constraints, applying fertilizers at the right time and adopting good agronomic practices. We also recommend a shift from the blanket fertilizer recommendations to site-specific nutrient management based on good understanding of the variations in crop response with soil type and agroecology and appropriate soil and plant analyses. ","tokenCount":"6375"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3643504567.json b/data/part_1/3643504567.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..218bce3d56fe019ebc4c02b845b7c12f069038a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3643504567.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c3d53d7d21251b4ddee4d53da5796aa5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d179d03e-db12-4db8-99b3-e1cb9b28d258/content","id":"776474447"},"keywords":["genomic selection","genetic gain","open-source breeding","genomic prediction","molecular marker","livestock breeding Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic Selection"],"sieverID":"0181e88d-4504-4de0-94b2-ab39dbae4826","pagecount":"21","content":"Although long-term genetic gain has been achieved through increasing use of modern breeding methods and technologies, the rate of genetic gain needs to be accelerated to meet humanity's demand for agricultural products. In this regard, genomic selection (GS) has been considered most promising for genetic improvement of the complex traits controlled by many genes each with minor effects. Livestock scientists pioneered GS application largely due to livestock's significantly higher individual values and the greater reduction in generation interval that can be achieved in GS. Large-scale application of GS in plants can be achieved by refining field management to improve heritability estimation and prediction accuracy and developing optimum GS models with the consideration of genotype-by-environment interaction and non-additive effects, along with significant cost reduction. Moreover, it would be more effective to integrate GS with other breeding tools and platforms for accelerating the breeding process and thereby further enhancing genetic gain. In addition, establishing an open-source breeding network and developing transdisciplinary approaches would be essential in enhancing breeding efficiency for small-and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural research systems in developing countries. New strategies centered on GS for enhancing genetic gain need to be developed.To meet the demand for plant-based products, plant breeding has been systematically evolving from art to science with the advent and development of genetics and genomics (Xu, 2010). Taking three major United States crops-maize, wheat, and soybean-as examples, the evolution has contributed to positive linear increases in average yield during the period 1930-2012(USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2013). However, crop yield growth (genetic gain) has been slowing down. For example, annual maize yield growth has reduced from 2.20% for the period 1960-1990 to 1.74% for 1990-2010, and is expected to be further reduced to 1.33% for the period 2010-2050 (Pardey et al., 2014). Taking all major crops together, the annual yield growth rates are insufficient to produce the 70% more crop products that are required by 2050 to meet the increasingly growing demand (Tester and Langridge, 2010;Fischer et al., 2014). Therefore, enhancing genetic gain is crucial to filling the gap between demand and production.In early breeding stages, breeders intentionally selected plants and animals, mainly based on phenotypes that may include a few key yield-related traits, to achieve the genetic gain for target traits. As the development of quantitative genetics and statistics continued, best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) was proposed (Henderson, 1985(Henderson, , 1990;;Searle et al., 1992) and used to estimate breeding values for evaluating and selecting better potential species in animal breeding by using the phenotypic and pedigree information of the offspring or other relatives of the sire. However, this selection process was time-consuming and cost-intensive because evaluating offspring's phenotypes is often too expensive, and phenotyping can be only done when the offspring of potential breeding sires grow up. Later the BLUP method was gradually applied in plant breeding, which, however, has not obtained the popularity similar to that in animal breeding (Bernardo, 1996;Durel et al., 1998;Dutkowski et al., 2002;Xiang and Li, 2003;Viana et al., 2010). Using molecular markers associated with target traits, marker-assisted selection (MAS) was proposed and used for selection of the traits controlled by genes with relatively large effects. Using genetic markers to select the candidate sires has been successfully integrated into livestock breeding programs as a time-saving and highly efficient breeding strategy (Dekkers and Hospital, 2002;Goddard and Hayes, 2009). However, many complex traits such as yield are controlled by many genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL) each with relatively small effects, interacting with environments. Their individual effects are too small to be efficiently captured (Bernardo and Yu, 2007;Nakaya and Isobe, 2012), although their combining effects could be statistically significant. As an alternative approach for breeding complex traits and minor genetic effects, genomic selection (GS) was proposed, with the hypothesis that with high-density markers each trait-related locus should be associated with at least one marker for the purpose of choosing top-ranked lines based on individuals' genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) (Meuwissen et al., 2001;Heffner et al., 2009;Jonas and de Koning, 2013). In addition to efficiently capturing both major and minor gene effects using whole-genome markers, GS has at least two other advantages in comparison with traditional MAS, including no need to unearth the QTL related to target traits and no need of phenotyping during later breeding stages (Nakaya and Isobe, 2012). Moreover, GS is an embodiment of a wholegenome strategy with the development of traditional forward genetics, including mapping and functional validation of candidate genes (Figure 1). GS has been considered as one of the seven key post-1990 ''bandwagons'' that take a critical place in the course of plant improvement, along with transgenic cultivars, QTL mapping, association mapping, phenomics, envirotyping, and genome editing (Bernardo, 2016).In GS, genome-wide markers are used to estimate their effects through optimum statistical models, then GEBVs are calculated for each individual to select potential elite lines. More precisely, two types of populations are required in GS, a training population (TP) (also called reference population) that is composed of a cohort of individuals with both genotypic and phenotypic data, and a breeding (or testing) population (BP) that consists of candidate breeding lines with genotypic data only. Data from TP are used to train a statistical model to estimate the effect of each assayed marker and then calculate the estimated breeding values for each genotyped individual in BP to rank the lines without phenotyping. Furthermore, these reserved individuals can be served as parental lines that may intermate with each other to pyramid favorable alleles for the next cycle of selection (Jonas and de Koning, 2013;Desta and Ortiz, 2014; Figure 2). Although selection in breeding can be processed based on GEBVs, breeders sell varieties by their commercial value, which may not be justified only by their GEBVs.Improvement, or response to selection, can be evaluated by the genetic gain achieved with the relevant selection methods including GS. Genetic gain can be defined by the quantity of GWAS, genome-wide association study; QTL, quantitative trait loci; BSA, bulked sample analysis (Zou et al., 2016). increase in performance that is obtained through selection programs, and its expected value per year can be measured as: DG = i s A r MG /t, where DG is the expected genetic gain, i is intensity of selection, s A is genetic SD, namely the square root of additive genetic variance, r MG is selection accuracy (measured by the correlation between breeding values and GEBVs), and t is breeding cycle time. In the context of phenotypic selection, however, the r MG is equivalent to the square root of the narrow sense heritability (h), and thus DG = i s A h/t (Meuwissen, 2003;Heffner et al., 2010;Bassi et al., 2016;Xu et al., 2017). To enhance genetic gain, several approaches related to its formula components can be considered in breeding programs, including increasing intensity of selection, enlarging genetic SD, improving prediction/selection accuracy or heritability, and shortening breeding cycle time (Table 1; Xu et al., 2017). Besides, the relationship of traits related to the target environment or user and the costs of breeding program have been proposed as additional factors affecting genetic gain (Hickey et al., 2017). The relationship can be included as a part of components that affect heritability while the cost will determine selection intensity, as high cost will reduce the population size with which breeders can work.GS has been verified with great potential to improve genetic gain in plant and animal breeding, especially in livestock breeding (Farah et al., 2016;Kariuki et al., 2017;Mehrban et al., 2017;Weller et al., 2017). When GS was introduced as a conceptual and theoretical method, the potential of GS was simulated in dairy cattle (Schaeffer, 2006). Largely due to higher value of each individual, greater reduction in generation interval and, thus, higher genetic gain, GS has been widely used in livestock breeding, starting with dairy cattle in 2008 and on a very large scale in pigs, sheep, beef cattle, and chickens later on (Wolc et al., 2015;Lu et al., 2016;Wiggans et al., 2017;Georges et al., 2019). GS in dairy cattle has reduced the generation interval from 7 years, which is required for the bulls to have sufficient daughters with milk records to estimate breeding values accurately, to 12 months when the bulls could be selected for artificial insemination based on their GEBVs. The early selection with large TPs has doubled genetic gain over the past decade, compared with the selection based on progeny testing (Garcı ´a-Ruiz et al., 2016), and GS in US Holstein bulls has resulted in significant increases in net merits/year from US$19.01 for 2000-2004to $47.72 for 2005-2009and to $84.87 for 2010-2014(Wiggans et al., 2017)). In plant breeding, however, GS has been implemented largely in multinational seed companies, and the most optimal GS strategies are species-dependent and breeding program-dependent (Voss-Fels et al., 2019), although numerous studies have been reported for many major crops with support by government funds (Supplemental Table 1). To enhance genetic gain, GS-assisted breeding programs should take all affecting factors as shown in Table 1 into consideration to achieve maximum benefits and high returns. Therefore, bottlenecks and constraints in the future GS breeding programs should be fully examined.The requirements for livestock GS breeding programs include an affordable and adequate genotyping platform, availability of A training or reference population is used to estimate marker effects and then the genomic estimated breeding values of each individual in breeding populations, and the selected candidate lines can be regarded as founders for the next cycle of breeding. GS, genomic selection; DH, doubled haploid.extensive pedigree records and years of progeny testing, less structured populations allowing utilization of molecular markers with substantial and long-term effects, relatively simplified but functional breeding pipelines in which selection based on additive genetic effects can produce beneficial consequences, and cooperation between institutes and enterprises to exploit and perform original strategies into a subsistent breeding program.These requirements indicate what we can improve in plant GS breeding (Jonas and de Koning, 2013). Extensive and largescale use of GS in plants needs to reduce GS costs involved in breeding programs, develop cost-effective genotyping, phenotyping, and envirotyping platforms, create diverse and updatable TPs, develop highly efficient and multifunctional genomic prediction models, shorten breeding cycle time and speed up the breeding process, build up a strong decision support system, and establish open-source breeding programs (Table 2).Beyond that, high-throughput and precision phenotyping, using purebred lines and developing predictive models, should be considered more seriously when GS is implemented in plant breeding, because genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) has significant effects on phenotypic performance in plants but a limited effect on livestock, including dairy cattle whose breeding cohorts are raised in facilities allowing for a better condition management (Jonas and de Koning, 2013). In addition, each crop species may have many breeding programs, and breeders may also want to design GS for specific breeding objectives with many different types of populations to work with.There are several primary factors that affect GS significantly, including marker density, population size, statistical models, genetic relationship between TP and BP, population structure, and accuracy of phenotyping (Table 1). With empirical data or simulation, these key primary factors have been evaluated for their effects on prediction accuracy. Prediction accuracy varies from model to model because the models have different prior assumptions and diverse hypotheses on the distribution of marker effects (Heslot et al., 2012;Ogutu et al., 2012;de los Campos et al., 2013;Liu et al., 2018). TP design plays an important role in GS by contributing to a high level of prediction accuracy or improving BP diversity under precise and efficient breeding projects (Isidro et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2017b). Generally, high marker density can ensure that one trait-related QTL is in LD with at least one marker, and consequently achieve high predictive performance (Zhao et al., 2012;Combs and Bernardo, 2013). The difference in allele frequencies between TP and BP can affect prediction accuracy, as allele frequencies can affect the estimated genomic relationship matrix when GBLUP models are implemented (VanRaden, 2008;Su et al., 2012). In addition, the accuracy and cost in phenotyping, genotyping, and envirotyping may affect heritability estimation for targeted traits and marker effect estimation, and thus prediction accuracy (Xu et al., 2017). Compared with QTL mapping and genome-wide association study (GWAS), however, GS can not only capture the minor effects of insignificant markers through optimal models but also facilitate their use in breeding programs. Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic SelectionManagement of environments and reduction of general costs are two additional challenges to GS breeding in plants (Table 2). To breed diverse varieties for different specific environments, plant breeders need to work with large numbers of populations each with many plants, increasing the cost significantly in genotyping and other GS procedures. As each plant is usually fixed in a specific location/site for its whole life, the microenvironments around the plant will have significant impacts on its growth and development and, thus, on phenotyping. To reduce the effects of specific microenvironments on individual plants, breeders need to use the average phenotypic performance of a group of individual plants to represent a specific genotype, significantly increasing phenotyping cost. On the other hand, controlled or well-managed environments are required to minimize the disturbing effects of environments and genotype 3 environment interactions on phenotyping (Xu, 2016).Regarding the aforementioned strategies aimed at enhancing genetic gain, one of them aims to strengthen GS per se with improved predictive accuracy under cost-benefit balance (Tables 1 and 2). In fact, the precision of estimated marker effects holds an important position in the course of GS prediction, and any approaches by which accuracy and stability of predictive marker effects can be improved have potential to augment prediction accuracy and thus enhance genetic gain. In general, prediction accuracy is influenced largely by marker density, population size and structure, TP-BP relationship, heritability, and genetic models. Therefore, prediction accuracy (r GM ) can be expressed using the following formula:where x 1 is associated with marker density, x 2 population size and structure, x 3 TP-BP relationship, x 4 heritability, and x 5 genetic models; a to e are constants associated with the five corresponding variables x1 to x5, which may not be linearly regressed with r GM . As refining field management for improved heritability estimation is more related to breeding technologies; heritabilityrelated issues will be discussed in the next section.Marker density has been shown to be an extremely important factor affecting prediction accuracy. Generally, high marker density Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic Selection can have benefit to augment prediction accuracy until prediction accuracy reaches a plateau and does not increase further as marker density increases (Cao et al., 2017;Lee et al., 2017;Xu et al., 2018;Juliana et al., 2019). Moreover, required marker density will vary with plant species, and population types and sizes. The marker density required for outcrossing species is higher than that for self-pollinated species (e.g., Liu et al., 2018;Juliana et al., 2019). The marker numbers required for natural populations are normally higher than those for biparental populations (Liu et al., 2018;Hao et al., 2019). The reason for this phenomenon is that natural populations usually have significant population structure with high LD between adjacent markers, and thus high-density markers should be required to make sure that each trait-associated locus can be in LD with at least one marker (Meuwissen et al., 2001;Wang et al., 2017a). Biparental populations have clear genetic structure and limited recombination incidents that can be produced in the process of population development. Therefore, a moderate marker density could be enough to ensure that at least one marker can be in linkage with gene-related locus (Smith et al., 2008;Lorenzana and Bernardo, 2009). Along with the dramatic cost reduction in genotyping, the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) strategy, including reduced-representation sequencing (Miller et al., 2007;Baird et al., 2008), whole-genome resequencing (Huang et al., 2009), and genotyping by target sequencing (GBTS) (Guo et al., 2019a), has become one of the most promising approaches. The term GBS can be generalized to include all multiplexing PCR or targeted sequencing methods such as used in GenoPlexs/Ampliseq (Stevanato et al., 2017;Zhang et al., 2018) and GenoBaits/SureSelect (Neves et al., 2011;Jupe et al., 2014;Rawat et al., 2016;Guo et al., 2019a). Such genotyping platforms provide a better option for GS to increase marker density with low cost. Moreover, plant breeders have implemented GBS approaches with high-density markers into empirical GS, such as selection in wheat and maize breeding populations for harnessing minor variation while equally achieving better prediction accuracy (Poland et al., 2012;Crossa et al., 2013;Rutkoski et al., 2014;Zhang et al., 2015;Gorjanc et al., 2016). With significant reduction of genotyping cost, marker number or density may no longer be our concern, so that we can use one all-purpose, high-density marker panel for all types of populations.Three key learnings from implementing GS in livestock and plants are all about TPs: large population size, close relationship with selection candidates, and frequent update (Voss-Fels et al., 2019; Table 2). Investigation of the effect of the TP/BP ratio indicated that prediction accuracy reached at a stable level when the ratio was 1-fold (Cao et al., 2017), although the optimized ratio may change with the population sizes used in modeling and need to be evaluated with large population sizes.Simulation has been widely used to generate corresponding TP and BP datasets when a cross-validation scheme is implemented for training statistical models (Habier et al., 2007;Jia and Jannink, 2012;Daetwyler et al., 2013). By establishing training samples using clustering, graphic network analysis, and genetic mating scheme, designed TP outperformed random sampling (Guo et al., 2019b). In addition, resampling can be used to generate different sets of training and testing data from a real dataset with a large population size (Cao et al., 2017;Zhang et al., 2017a;Liu et al., 2018). For quality phenotyping and an adequate accurate GEBV (0.5), 5000 and 2500 individuals are required in TP for low-heritability traits with h 2 = 0.2 and h 2 = 0.4, respectively (Voss-Fels et al., 2019). To maintain or optimize accuracy across selection stages, GS models should be frequently updated (Podlich et al., 2004;Heffner et al., 2011;Yabe et al., 2017), largely due to the decreased marker-QTL LD caused by increased recombination events. This section will focus on the relationship between TP and BP.TP and BP should be close enough to share long-range haplotypes, making the GS most accurate (Cooper et al., 2014b;Lorenz and Smith, 2015;Meuwissen et al., 2016). Prediction accuracy in GS was remarkably higher when TP and BP had a closer genetic relationship (Schulz-Streeck et al., 2012;Zhang et al., 2017a). GS experiments for the grain yield with diverse panels composed of fixed maize lines illustrated that prediction accuracy is lower between groups than within groups (Windhausen et al., 2012), and more accurate prediction was achieved with closely related populations (Heslot et al., 2015).Several studies highlighted the importance of increasing the relatedness by including more related crosses in TP rather than increasing the TP size by adding unrelated or less-related crosses (Riedelsheimer et al., 2013;Jacobson et al., 2014;Lorenz and Smith, 2015;Brandariz and Bernardo, 2019). In an extensive wheat study, 2992 lines from 44 F 2:4 bi-and triparental populations were genotyped using 25 000 segregating single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and grown in four field locations. Prediction accuracies of yield generally increased with training-set size. Higher prediction accuracies were obtained using related crosses in training and validation sets compared with using unrelated crosses, indicating the importance of training-panel design (Edwards et al., 2019). In another wheat GS study, a moderate prediction accuracy was achieved for a highly structured population (Habyarimana, 2016), compared with a higher prediction accuracy with less structured populations (Isidro et al., 2015;Spindel et al., 2015;Liu et al., 2018). Besides, prediction accuracy could become negligible (too low) when unrelated lines were included in the TP (Crossa et al., 2014). However, when more related individuals were used to train models, more accurate prediction could be achieved (Crossa et al., 2014.;Endelman et al., 2014;Duangjit et al., 2016).To enhance genetic gain, the population relationship should be taken seriously into account when breeders are prepared with implement GS strategy to augment the potential of selection, which may determine whether a GS project would be successful. However, continuously using closely related populations to achieve better prediction would narrow down the genetic basis, reduce genetic variation that would contribute to our future selection response, and thus slow down the genetic gain that would be achieved in long-term GS (Jannink et al., 2010;Hickey et al., 2019;Moeinizade et al., 2019). Therefore, the TP-BP relationship should be balanced and optimized by considering genetic gain for both short-term and long-term selection (Li et al., 2008). One of the strategies to achieve such a balance is to include associated genetic regions and variants targeted by molecular markers, by which diverse BPs distantly related with the TP can be used. On the other hand, using a part of a population as TP (phenotyping a small section in the target environment) to predict the rest of the population as BP in offseasons or off-locations could be an alternative strategy that takes advantage of both the close TP-BP relationship and diverse populations. In this way, off-season or off-location trials can be used for both generation advancement and selection through large-scale GS.Alongside the rapid development of molecular marker systems, various molecular breeding strategies have been proposed and applied in plant breeding by using genome-wide markers.Functional markers identified and validated in previous studies can be used as fixed effects in the model to improve prediction accuracy (Figure 1). Markers located near genes, affecting gene function, or known to be causal mutations have been used to improve the accuracy of genomic predictions. By incorporating prior biological knowledge about known genomic regions that are more likely to affect the trait of interest, prediction accuracy was improved (MacLeod et al., 2016). By adding causative variants and removing less informative markers, a 1.4 percentage-point gain across traits for Holstein cattle was achieved in the United States national genomic evaluation (Wiggans et al., 2016). By including the five markers located on chromosomes BTA8, BTA9, BTA13, BTA17, and BTA27 with dominance effects on male fertility as fixed effects in the predictive models, predictive correlations increased to 0.403 from 0.340 for that without inclusion. Multikernel models fitting all the functional SNP classes together with the five major markers exhibited predictive correlations of around 0.405 (Nani et al., 2019).Prediction accuracy is related to the actual effects of chromosome segments that can be represented by the markers. For complex traits with low heritability, prediction accuracy is relatively low, resulting in high non-additive variance or an effect that is hardly captured by molecular markers. Therefore, the significant loci detected by GWAS (Spindel et al., 2016), functional genes verified by molecular biological experiments (Arruda et al., 2016), or assumptive major QTL based on simulation studies (Bernardo, 2014) have been considered as fixed effects in GS models to understand whether including candidate major QTL can improve the prediction accuracy for agronomic traits with low heritability. Significant QTL identified by GWAS can be used to modify statistical models in GS to improve prediction accuracy. The most significantly associated markers can be designed as fixed effects in the model along with polygenic background, and individual SNPs that have prominent and strong association signals can efficiently improve GS (Spindel et al., 2016;Bian and Holland, 2017).Using a dataset consisting of 1500 Jersey bulls with sire conception rate (SCR) records and 95 000 SNPs, linear and Gaussian kernel-based models were used to fit both the entire SNPs and the subsets of SNPs either significantly associated with SCR or located within or close to annotated genes. The entire SNP set exhibited predictive correlations of around 0.30. SNPs marginally associated with SCR or genic SNPs both achieved higher predic-tive abilities than their counterparts using random SNPs (Rezende et al., 2019). Predictions for milk fatty acid traits in cows using a multipopulation reference and a traditional GBLUP model resulted in average gains in prediction reliability of 10% points in the Dutch, 8% points in the Danish, and 1% points in the Chinese populations compared with predictions based on population-specific references. By incorporating GWAS results (substantial proportions of genetic variation on Bos taurus chromosomes 14, 19, and 26) as genomic features, the revised GBLUP led to further increases in prediction reliability (up to 13%-38% points across different populations) (Gebreyesus et al., 2019). In fact, using a small quantity of significant markers as genotypic matrix in the models can achieve a more accurate prediction. In brief, potential inbred lines can be selected from breeding populations based on GEBVs. By integrating GS with MAS or GWAS with a few of gene-related markers, prediction accuracy and thus genetic gain can be improved. Using simulated traits from diversity panels in maize and sorghum, ridge-regression best linear unbiased prediction (rrBLUP) models that include fixed-effect covariates tagging peak GWAS signals were evaluated. The inclusion boosted prediction accuracy for only 60 out of the 216 genetic architectures simulated, and in several instances increased both the variability of prediction accuracies and the bias of GEBVs (Rice and Lipka, 2019). Therefore, the performance of such a GS model should be explored on a trait-by-trait basis prior to its implementation into a breeding program. Integrating GS with GWAS or QTL mapping can be implemented as a new strategy in crop breeding, and the accumulated sheer amount of experience can provide useful guidelines for accelerating the breeding process.Various statistical models can be implemented in GS to train genotypic and phenotypic data to determine whether the marker effects are precisely estimated (Table 2). Many reports offer new models or provide comparative model analyses (Heslot et al., 2012;de los Campos et al., 2013;Cuevas et al., 2014;Ceron-Rojas et al., 2015;LeCun et al., 2015) and the relationship of different modeling approaches (Morota and Gianola, 2014). Models have been proposed with different prior hypothesis on marker effect distribution and distinct parametric or nonparametric controls for the purpose of efficient and proper dimensionality (Crossa et al., 2017). In general, almost all statistical models can be used to effectively capture and precisely estimate the additive genetic effect for each marker in a homozygous population. However, they have limited power in evaluating non-additive or non-genetic effects, including dominance, epistatic, and GEI effects when TPs and BPs consist of heterozygous lines and are phenotyped across locations and years (environments). Therefore, optimizing statistical models with consideration of non-additive effects is extremely important to achieve precise marker effect estimation and, thus, high prediction accuracy. By uncovering the pattern of genotype response to different environments, complex trait dissection and performance prediction could be conducted, and a systematic genome-wide performance prediction framework was established (Li et al., 2018). Incorporating GEI effects into statistical models can significantly increase prediction accuracy furtherEnhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic Selection when multienvironment trials (METs) are involved (Burguen ˜o et al., 2012;Jarquı ´n et al., 2014Jarquı ´n et al., , 2017;;Montesinos-Lo ´pez et al., 2015;Cuevas et al., 2016Cuevas et al., , 2017;;Saint Pierre et al., 2016;Millet et al., 2019).The GS models developed on the basis of a non-linear kernel algorithm, such as reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), have specific capacity of capturing non-genetic effects and improving the estimated accuracy of marker effects (Gianola et al., 2006;Gianola and de los Campos, 2008;de los Campos et al., 2009de los Campos et al., , 2010)). By collecting environmental factors, envirotyping can be used to capture the environment-caused variation and associated GEI (Xu, 2016). Multivariate models have been also proposed, whereby various environments (envirotype parameters) or multiple traits were taken into account simultaneously and multiple datasets were integrated into the models to achieve a better prediction (Guo et al., 2014a;Schulthess et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2017bWang et al., , 2018;;van Eeuwijk et al., 2018). Compared with livestock breeding whereby only several major breeds or varieties are required for well-designed or selected environmental conditions, plant breeding may have to develop many varieties each with the best adaptation to one specific environment or a small area of production region. Therefore, phenotyping under METs and managed environments to tackle GEI can be used in plant breeding to improve GS by constructing training datasets for marker-phenotype association (Cooper et al., 2014b;van Eeuwijk et al., 2018). Using environmental factors to group the target population of environments (TPE), GEI can be characterized for specific production environments or regions, providing a key foundation for creating training datasets for GS (Voss-Fels et al., 2019). Therefore, strategic model design and optimization has become critical to improve prediction accuracy and enhance breeding efficiency in commercial breeding programs.Non-additive effects include intralocus (dominance) and interlocus (epistasis) non-additivity. With the presence of nonadditive effects, breeding populations can have different allele substitution effects at the associated QTL. Both TPs and BPs should be examined to quantify the QTL allele substitution effects for their consistency across populations. With observed predominant consistency, core TPs can be developed to support broad GS application across multiple breeding populations (Cooper et al., 2014b). When no predominant consistency is observed, more TPs or iteratively updated training will be required (Podlich et al., 2004). Large-scale open-source breeding programs ongoing in China, which target hundreds of training and breeding populations (discussed later), can be used to identify the consistent allele substitution effects and the best TP or TP sets to predict specific breeding populations. Prediction accuracy was evaluated using 1831 maize hybrids phenotyped for grain yield and grain moisture across 3 years with genotypes inferred in silico based on 207 parental lines genotyped by 500 000 SNPs. Including the dominance effect increased the prediction accuracy for grain production by up to 30%, while the inclusion of interaction effects via multienvironment modeling increased the prediction accuracy overall (Ferra ˜o et al., 2018).The combined effects of epistasis and GEI can be tackled to enhance genomic prediction for complex traits. As one of the gene-to-phenotype (G2P) models, the crop growth model (CGM) is proposed to capture the combined effects to complement conventional GS (Chenu et al., 2009;Technow et al., 2015). By coordinating a set of biophysical functions, CGM can translate the key environmental variables quantified across different developmental stages into crop growth and development dynamics (Voss-Fels et al., 2019). Combined with whole-genome prediction (CGM-WGP), CGM has been used in three CGM-WGP maize studies (Technow et al., 2015;Cooper et al., 2016;Messina et al., 2018), demonstrating that interactions among intermediate traits in the CGM model interpreted well the non-additive gene actions for yield, and making CGM one of general genomic prediction models. Other biological models that can be used in GS for complex traits include gene network models (Dong et al., 2012) and biochemical and hormone pathway models (Guo et al., 2014b;Marjoram et al., 2014). The former is used to predict the developmental transition while the latter is used to predict the critical levels of development-and adaptation-associated regulators such as metabolites and hormones. CGM-WGP and other alternative G2P modeling methods can be applied to further improve GS by including MET data as additional variables in the prediction model (van Eeuwijk et al., 2018). In addition, the managedenvironmental data can be also used to design training datasets to enhance yield stability, as shown in maize (Cooper et al., 2014a).With the development of postgenomic tools and accumulation of omics data, integrating transcriptomic and metabolomic data into the GS models has improved prediction accuracy, because of efficiently capturing minor and non-additive effects especially when hybrid performance was predicted (Westhues et al., 2017;Zenke-Philippi et al., 2017;Schrag et al., 2018; Tables 1  and 2). Multilayered least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (MLLASSO) was developed by including multiple omics data into a single model, enabling the learning of three layers of intermediate variables or genetic features supervised by observed transcriptome and metabolome (Hu et al., 2019). By learning higher-order gene interactions, predictability for rice yield was increased significantly from 0.1588 (genomic prediction alone) to 0.2451 (MLLASSO). Genetically predictable genes, as shown to be predictable accurately with molecular markers, are good predictors for quantitative traits, and are mostly expression QTL genes (cis or trans) with trait-related transcriptional factor families enriched. In maize, genomic, transcriptomic (mRNA and sRNA), and metabolomic data of parent lines (143 Dent and 104 Flint lines) were collected to evaluate the data's ability to predict the agronomic performance of 1567 hybrids. Combining mRNA and genomic data as predictors provided high predictive abilities across both grain yield and grain dry matter content, and combining other predictors improved prediction compared with individual predictors (Schrag et al., 2018). In rice, using 278 hybrids derived from an RIL (recombinant inbred lines) population, the best prediction strategies were determined for yield-related traits by combining omics datasets with different prediction methods. The predictions with integrated genomic and metabolomic data generated better results compared with single-omics predictions (Wang et al., 2019). However, the cost in GS should be seriously considered when the multiple omics data are used in prediction.From the perspective of GS, there are two distinct strategies for enhancing genetic gain in plant breeding. One is to improve prediction accuracy as discussed in the previous section, and the other is to integrate GS with other breeding technologies such as MAS, marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS), the transgenic approach, genome editing (GE), and doubled haploid (DH) technology, to shorten the breeding cycle time (Table 1; Figures 1 and 3). In addition, GS can be also combined with the speed-breeding method (Watson et al., 2018) to further shorten the breeding cycle time (Hickey et al., 2019). Integrating GS with other functional breeding approaches could create more potential capacity for selecting elite lines that can be used as founders for the next cycle of selection.Genetic variation has been considered as the foundation for breeding selection, which provides genetic resources to accumulate favorable alleles or genes that are linked with targeted traits. There are two approaches that broaden genetic variation for GS: unlocking that which is hidden in genetic resources and creating that which does not exist in our target plants. et al. (2019) discussed the breeding strategies that integrate DH, speed breeding, GS, and ExpressEdit through CRISPR GE.Creating more genetic variation may increase both genetic diversity and novel germplasm that can offer more candidates and valuable lines for selection (Xu et al., 2017). In fact, various genetic materials, which include landraces, subspecies, elite lines, ecotypes, and wild relatives, possess abundant genetic variation that should be identified and discovered through traditional genetic analyses or modern techniques based on genomic information and novel statistical models or algorithms, which may involve machine learning or artificial intelligence and depend on big data and powerful servers (Crossa et al., 2017;Grinberg et al., 2018;Montesinos-Lo ´pez et al., 2018; Figure 1 and Table 2). Many approaches can be implemented to identify functional alleles, genes, haplotypes, and networks that broaden the range of genetic variation. Moreover, GE, transgenes, and mutagenesis can be used to transfer or produce novel agronomic traits (Petolino et al., 2016), and subsequently new materials and germplasm can be created for pyramiding favorable alleles, genes, and haplotypes. On the other hand, genome sequencing and pangenome construction can largely unearth favorable genetic variation. Hence, precision and comprehensive reference genomes can ensure that the loci associated with target traits are fine-mapped within true physical locations of each base pair. Pangenomes provide whole-genome coverage and a complete profile of haplotypes and favorable allelic variation, which can be constructed by precise whole-genome sequencing of many and resequencing of large numbers of genotypes (Golicz et al., 2016;Xu et al., 2017). In the context of constructed and existing pangenomes, the first important component for unlocking, creating, and utilizing genetic variation is to discover and clone genes through reverse and forward genetic approaches, and subsequently, the genes and gene regulatory networks should be functionally annotated and constructed to integrate with GS strategy to build up an efficient breeding pipeline.Transgenic technology and GE are two powerful tools that can be used to improve plant species, the former transferring favorable genes from distant species into crop plants and the latter producing site-specific sequence changes that contribute to improved agronomic traits. Advanced transgene techniques can now stack multiple genes such as those for insect and disease resistance and herbicide tolerance (Sun et al., 2015;Anand et al., 2018;Khabbazi et al., 2018;Lowe et al., 2018;Zhu et al., 2018) into the elite breeding lines developed through other breeding approaches including GS. GE is a type of novel, fast, effective, and precise genetic engineering whereby DNA can be deleted, inserted, modified, or replaced in the target region of the genome (Cho et al., 2013;Bortesi and Fischer, 2015). It has been widely applied in crop plants, and significant examples include those leading to generation of DH lines through maternal haploid induction in maize (Dong et al., 2018), wheat (Liu et al., 2019), and rice (Yao et al., 2018). One of the GE applications in plant breeding is to weed out the deleterious or bad alleles by GE-based targeted mutagenesis, which is not possible in conventional selection due to LD between favorable and deleterious alleles and limited population sizes (Gibson, 2012;Yang et al., 2017;Hirsch and Springer, 2018). Weeding out the bad alleles has been proved in maize by including bad allele information in GS models (Yang et al., 2017) and in cassava by combining the GS with GE to purge the deleterious mutations (Ramu et al., 2017). As proposed by Bernardo (2016), GE can be used to induce targeted recombination breakpoints, by which genetic gain for complex traits in maize could be doubled with predicted marker effects and targeted optimal recombination points throughout the genome. GE can be also utilized for whole-genome editing whereby all the candidate genes with both large and minor effects and, thus, their associated gene networks, could be edited. Integrating GS with the two aforementioned genetic modification approaches will have a huge potential to shorten breeding cycle time. General improvement of complex traits in a crop plant species achieved by GS can be complemented by improving several major-gene controlled traits through genetic modifications. Therefore, improvement of both qualitative and quantitative traits can be achieved simultaneously.Exotic germplasm that host hidden genetic variation can be harnessed, and relevant genes can be transferred into elite germplasm pools through prebreeding. Such a prebreeding process is more practical in plants than in animals (livestock) (Table 2). Using high-density markers, exotic germplasm can be evaluated for their breeding values and used to reinstate diversity for target traits. Using a large empirical sorghum dataset and a GS-based strategy, gene-bank germplasm was predicted for their performance using a strategically sampled TP (Yu et al., 2016). By stimulated prebreeding with exotic populations, GS has the potential to break large linkage blocks to explore genetic diversity (Cowling et al., 2017). A more recent simulation also demonstrated that a Bayesian optimization algorithm for genomic prediction is potentially useful for prebreeding and would ultimately reduce the accession number required in phenotyping to recover the best genotype (Tanaka and Iwata, 2018).Heritability has a positive correlation with prediction accuracy of GS (Combs and Bernardo, 2013;Lian et al., 2014;Zhang et al., 2017a). In other words, the higher the heritability estimation an agronomic trait can achieve based on field experimental data in a certain environment, the better the predictive performance will be. In quantitative genetics, heritability refers to the proportion of genetic variance (V g ) in phenotypic variance (V p ), the latter being composed of genetic (V g ) and environmental (V e ) variances. Therefore, refining field management will reduce environmental effects and experimental errors, and thus improve heritability estimation and prediction accuracy (Tables 1 and 2). Environmental variance is largely affected by abiotic factors such as microclimate instability, soil fertility, winds and rainstorms, and biotic factors such as disease pathogens, insects, weeds, and undesired plants and animals around the crop plants. However, various measures can be taken to efficiently manage environments, including consistent crop management, uniform experimental materials, wellselected controls/checks, good border-effect control, reasonable trial design, and field-related techniques such as establishing a wireless sensor network to evaluate and measure climate and soil moisture (Araus and Cairns, 2014;Klukas et al., 2014). In addition, envirotyping should be performed when implementing experiments in managed and field conditions to integrate all information of genotype (G), phenotype (P), and envirotype (E) in a whole-genome strategies as shown in the formula P = G + E (Xu, 2012(Xu, , 2016)). Furthermore, it is critical to understand GEI by integrating a reasonable CGM with auxiliary information collected with specific agronomic practice and environment management (Technow et al., 2015;Cooper et al., 2016;Xu et al., 2017). Standard and uniform agronomic protocols can greatly contribute to refining field management in order to minimize artificial and environmental errors and improve heritability estimation.With the development of precision phenotyping, remote sensing, robotics, and artificial intelligence technologies, breeders can perform high-throughput, low-cost, labor-saving precision phenotyping (Araus et al., 2018;Tripodi et al., 2018), which can largely contribute to the enlargement of experimental scale, the reduction of labor requirement, and the removal of human errors in manual measurements. High-throughput precision phenotyping can integrate with other strategies to improve heritability estimation and prediction accuracy (Araus et al., 2018). Therefore, precision agronomic practice and management, refined field trials, and optimized experimental design will significantly improve our capacity to explore minor genetic effects with improved heritability estimation, and subsequently enhance genetic gain.The prediction accuracy in GS increases as population size increases, because marker effects can be more efficiently and accurately estimated by statistical models with increased TP size (Crossa et al., 2013;Endelman et al., 2014;Liu et al., 2018). For enlargement of population sizes or experimental scale, the DH technique is a potential choice. Generally there Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic Selection Plant Communications are five approaches to producing haploids in plant breeding (Palmer and Keller, 2005;Xu, 2010). A high-efficiency DH system for haploid induction and chromosome doubling can be developed, as shown in maize using high oil as selection criterion (Melchinger et al., 2013;Dong et al., 2014). The gene related to haploid induction was identified and cloned in maize through fine mapping, targeted segment sequencing, and mutation (Kelliher et al., 2017;Liu et al., 2017), and single nucleus sequencing revealed that sperm DNA fragmentation of haploid inducer around the mitotic stage of pollen development resulted in embryo chromosome elimination (Li et al., 2017). The haploid induction gene discovered in maize has been used for GE to generate DH quickly in maize (Dong et al., 2018), rice (Yao et al., 2018), and wheat (Liu et al., 2019), providing a DH production approach for many crop species. A highefficiency DH system can provide huge impetus to enlarge experimental scale for heightening selection intensity, as breeding populations can be fixed quickly and more and larger populations can be manipulated simultaneously.Accelerating breeding programs shortens the breeding cycle time, thus increasing the genetic gain per year. In addition to increasing the breeding scale, the DH breeding procedure has also significantly shortened the breeding cycle time by reducing the time required for reaching homozygosity to only two generations from the eight or more required with conventional breeding approaches (Figure 2). Breeding programs can be also accelerated through speed breeding, an approach that has been proposed and implemented with the management of temperature and supplementary light for culturing four to six generations per year for canola, spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, chickpea, and pea to rapidly obtain stable and heritable candidate lines (Watson et al., 2018; Figure 3). Such speed breeding can be improved or complemented by modifying genes that control and regulate plant growth and development with responses to external environmental conditions and internal stimuli (Hickey et al., 2019;Zhou, 2019).By GS per se and its combination with DH and other breeding approaches, numerous pure-breeding lines or intermediate breeding materials can be produced or derived. They are too many to be evaluated regularly through field evaluation or testcrossing. A large proportion of candidate individuals can be eliminated or selected before planting or field testing through seed DNA-based MAS (Gao et al., 2008; Figure 3). Such selection can be conducted through regular MAS using candidate genes, functional markers, or favorable haplotypes, or based on individual GEBV estimates using a part of the candidate individuals as TP to develop models for selection of the remainder, as suggested in a previous section. In maize, multinational seed corporations have developed seed-chipping technologies to facilitate seed DNA-based genotyping to preselect DH lines before planting based on both functional markers and GEBVs, significantly reducing the expenditure of subsequent METs.In hybrid breeding programs, performance prediction of potential crosses can be implemented, and thus a large number of the crosses can be excluded in silico, through constructing an appropriate TP and developing valid statistical models that have a capacity to distinguish heterotic groups, estimate general and spe-cific combining ability, and predict hybrid performance, which eventually can offer pertinent recommendations to plant breeding projects (Figure 2). As an extension to GS, optimal haploid value (OHV) selection, was proposed to predict the best DH that could be produced from a segregating plant (Daetwyler et al., 2015), which is implemented by focusing on haplotype selection and optimizing the breeding program toward its end-product-an elite fixed line. Rigorous testing using computer simulation revealed up to 0.6 standard deviations more genetic gain than GS. On the other hand, OHV selection preserved a substantially higher level of genetic diversity in the population than GS for long-term genetic gain. By introducing in vitro nurseries into rapid generation advancement, genotyping can be done on gametes or new cell lines (La Fuente et al., 2013). This idea has been tested with an extremely fast-turnaround GS to shorten breeding cycle time significantly, as shown in selection of cattle embryos (Shojaei Saadi et al., 2014) and as expected for in vitro selection of desirable DH lines.Integrated breeding platforms would contribute to improved breeding efficiency and enlarged experimental scale to heighten selection intensity that will eventually enhance genetic gain. When combined with MAS, for example, the DH approach results in increased genetic gain by facilitating multiple trait and gene stacking, increased efficiency and probability of successful variety development, and reduction in the time to market. Therefore, multidisciplinary collaboration can be explored to construct a well-managed, highly efficient, and maneuverable plant breeding system to provide sufficient information for breeding elite lines with the purpose of acquiring higher genetic gain (Xu et al., 2017; Figure 3).Why We Need an Open-Source Breeding Network Increasing genetic gain in breeding programs has been driven by increased resource inputs, and the cost-benefit balance determines how modern breeding technology can be eventually employed. Overall breeding cost includes establishing, maintaining, and utilizing various breeding platforms, such as those required in genotyping, phenotyping, envirotyping, information management, and decision support (Figures 1 and 3; Xu et al., 2017). As reviewed by Spindel and McCouch (2016), many studies have revealed that the more correlated are the phenotypic and environmental data used to train GS models, the better are the prediction accuracies and the more useful the breeding outcomes that can be achieved, which was also confirmed in wheat GS breeding (Battenfield et al., 2016). In multinational breeding companies, GS has been implemented and supported with one set of well-equipped and centralized platforms, achieving significant cost efficiency due to large-scale and standardized protocols and applications. In developing countries, however, the public sector and small-and medium-sized companies, each running independently, greatly suffer from limited funding and resources that can be allocated to less-equipped facilities and poorly supported service. To make GS breeding programs practical in this case, therefore, an open-source breeding network should be established for sharing various resources including facilities, platforms, and breeding-related data across GS breeding programs (Table 2).Collected data, which should be freely available within an opensource breeding initiative, include genotypes, phenotypes, and envirotypes that are generated for additional genotypes of the same population, more populations with related parents, the same populations that are tested in additional environments (seasons, years, or locations), or some combinations thereof. Open-source breeding provides numerous opportunities of using existing and accumulated genotypic and phenotypic data created worldwide in the public sector (e.g., Juliana et al., 2019) or GS consortia to identify or develop the best-fit model and TP for each BP. To make the data sharable and updatable, common standards, vocabularies, and data structure should be adopted and training data should be collected from a wide range of breeding programs (Fiorani and Schurr, 2013;Krajewski et al., 2015;Spindel and McCouch, 2016).Genotyping cost usually accounts for a large proportion of overall breeding cost, determining how GS could be implemented. By sharing genotyping platforms and running numerous samples in genotyping, multinational seed companies have achieved a significant cost advantage (up to 50%-70% savings) compared with individual breeding programs in developing countries. Establishing sharable genotyping platforms becomes one of the best options to reduce genotyping-related costs. Such sharable GS breeding platforms should be established for all GS-related components, including phenotyping, envirotyping, information management, and decision support tools (Table 2). The platforms that can be shared should be standardized with high capacity and multiple functions or purposes, suitable for different plant or even animal species. Compared with other components, phenotyping could be most difficult for standardization and thus would be less sharable across different plant species. In addition to shareability, GS breeding platforms should be also flexible enough to make one platform functional for multiple purposes. Taking a genotyping platform as an example, it may change with the development of sequencing technology, and the final genotyping platform would be whole-genome sequencing with the reads long enough to cover long-range repeat regions so that little bioinformatics effort would be required for data processing and analysis. Significant technical advances are required for highly automatic sequencing and assembly of the whole genome at very low cost. To this end, selective and targeted sequencing is more desirable.Reduced-representation GBS (Scheben et al., 2017) or skimbased GBS (Bayer et al., 2015) needs significant bioinformatics support and heavy imputation, as well as overcoming the difficulties in data sharing and comparing across users and labs. Targeted sequencing integrated with highly multiplexed PCR has generated a highly cost-effective genotyping platform, called GBTS, which consists of two marker models: multiplex PCR (GenoPlexs) for several to 5K markers and in-solution capture (GenoBaits) for 1K-45K markers. The latter has been used for development of a 20K marker panel, from which three other marker panels (10K, 5K, and 1K) could be generated by sequencing at the average sequencing depths of 203, 7.53, and 2.53, respectively (Guo et al., 2019a). Now in-solution capture has been optimized and upgraded to genotype 40K mSNPs, each mSNP containing a cluster of multiple (4-8) SNPs with a total of 260K SNPs. Using the same set of 40K mSNPs, various numbers of SNPs can be generated by sequencing at different depths (Z. Guo, J. Zhang and Y.X., unpublished data). Therefore, the GBTS system provides a very flexible and also affordable genotyping platform for marker-assisted breeding including GS. Compared with the genotyping platform the phenotyping platform is less flexible, while other platforms such as envirotyping, informatics, and decision support are already flexible enough.The scale of breeding programs in developing countries and small-and medium-sized breeding companies is markedly smaller than that in developed countries and multinational incorporations, so that molecular breeding platforms such as those for genotyping, phenotyping, and envirotyping, once established, will be left unused for most of the time unless they are shared across companies, institutions, or countries. Therefore, an open-source GS breeding network, combined with shared molecular breeding platforms, needs to be built up, which has the capacity of providing national agricultural research organizations and small-and medium-sized breeding companies with advanced and comprehensive breeding technologies, including a high-throughput genotyping platform, improved phenotyping capacity, integrated germplasm resource management, and well-established modeling and prediction approaches that are now only available and functional in multinational breeding companies (Figure 4). The users linked by the network will keep all the platforms running full time, resulting in significantly reduced unit costs. Such an open-source breeding network can be shared across animal and plant breeding programs, the two fields that have diverged but can now be unified through GS (Hickey et al., 2017).An open-source breeding network can be viewed as part of a high-efficiency breeding pipeline, and has at least four general advantages: (1) the ability to share phenotypic information between network members; (2) providing synthetic pipeline services and genotypic data between members with partnership; (3) lowcost genotyping platforms; (4) the capacity to obtain haplotype effects among environments and traits that cannot be analyzed individually (Xu et al., 2017). With the development of modern technologies in plant breeding, the cost of genotyping has been dramatically reduced in comparison with phenotyping expenditure (Guo et al., 2019a), and it has made marker-based individual evaluation come true, which contributes to the generalization and application of GS strategy in commercial breeding programs. As an example from the agriculture industry in a developing country, an excellent global open-source breeding program, the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR), is engaged in researching a quantity of animal and plant species, and can synergistically integrate its global resources and expertise with GS within its network in terms of prebreeding, conventional breeding, and molecular breeding. This project can integrate small breeding programs in small-and medium-sized breeding companies to efficiently and rapidly utilize their latest progress and to share their resources and information Plant Communications 1, 100005, January 2020 ª 2019 The Authors.for the achievement of greater genetic gain (Hickey et al., 2017; Figure 4).As the first large-scale public sector effort, the Genomic Open-Source Breeding informatics initiative (GOBii; http:// gobiiproject.org/) has been established for systematically applying high-density genotypic information to plant breeding. Open-source genomic data management and analysis tools have enabled breeders to integrate their breeding programs with GS and other MAS Strategies. As a support to the opensource breeding network, CGIAR established the Excellence in Breeding Platform (http://excellenceinbreeding.org), which consists of six components: breeding program excellence; trait discovery; breeding tools and services; genotyping and sequencing; phenotyping; and bioinformatics and data management. Another component that should have been included is envirotyping for collecting various sources of environmental data and their use in plant breeding (Figures 3 and 4). In China, where crop breeding has been done independently by individual institutions, universities, and small-and medium-sized breeding companies, a great effort has been made to establish national molecular breeding networks or initiatives, supported by national genotyping facilities or service providers. In maize, GS for 100 biparental populations has been initiated and will be completed in 3 years, whereby TPs, developed models, and marker effects can be shared across China and the best training model can be developed for each specific breeding population. At CIMMYT a reference wheat genotype-phenotype map has been built, and 44 624 wheat lines have been fingerprinted using GBS, with over 7.6 million data points generated in genotyping and a large number of marker-trait associations identified (Juliana et al., 2019), providing a valuable resource for open-source breeding for the worldwide wheat community. In other cases, genetic and breeding materials can be also shared along with developed genetic models and estimated marker effects, by fingerprinting the shared germplasm before release so that breeders' contribution to newly developed lines can be estimated by fingerprinted parental or donor lines. As an early example in plant breeding, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) (https://osseeds.org/), recruits a group of excellent plant breeders, industrious farmers, seed enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and policymakers for the purpose of maintaining and promoting an available open-source gene bank that can share the plant genetic resources and germplasm among participants around the world. OSSI can provide all kinds of and accessible opportunities for breeders to release newly developed lines or breeding populations compiled by the OSSI pledge, for which the cultivars or varieties should be unique and have been developed based on different heterotic groups (Luby et al., 2015).Molecular breeding networks, supported by open-source breeding, have been contributing to large-scale GS practice. Taking CIMMYT as an example, a total of 7956 DH or F5:6 lines were used in maize GS, among which 1926 lines phenotyped in 3 years were used as TP, and 5030 lines never phenotyped were used as a breeding/prediction population. Finally, 587 of the 5030 lines (11.7%) were selected based on GEBVs and recommended to breeders for further testing and validation. Selection intensity in GS was doubled compared with that used in phenotypic selection, around 20% in Stage-1 testing. The total genotyping cost for running this study is US$25 000 with a subsidy of $3.5 per sample from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while the full genotyping cost without any subsidy is around $40 000, which is equivalent to the cost of phenotyping 1000 lines in three locations each with two replications, according to the current cost at CIMMYT, $7.00 per plot. Therefore, the tested population size in All breeding-related information, including estimated marker effects and genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs), even breeding materials, can be shared during the breeding process and after each breeding cycle (t and t + 1), functioning in the same way as in a multinational seed incorporation where each breeding team works as a small-and medium-sized company (1, 2, ., n).Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic Selection this GS study increased eightfold compared with the phenotypic selection (X. Zhang and M.S.O., unpublished). The coordination and communication to enable delivery against tight deadlines is critical in open-source breeding programs. This testing of GS at scale at CIMMYT has the potential to affect many more breeding programs through the Excellence in Breeding Platform. This was a sizeable, real-time GS application in public-sector breeding programs serving low-and middle-income countries, and breeders will be interested in what we learn from this process. Hence, a breeding program of integrating GS with other available approaches and tools should be established to assist developing countries, public sectors, and small-and medium-sized enterprises to augment efficiency and the level of breeding, and thus enhance the genetic gain in farmers' fields.The efficient and precise GS pipeline should be constructed for achieving and obtaining greater genetic gain and for improving the production of staple crops to meet the human demand from an increasing global population. In the era of molecular breeding, GS as a prominent and promising strategy will become an increasingly widespread application in plant breeding, as in livestock, with the evolution of key GS components and associated platforms. With the development of cost-effective genotyping platforms and high-efficiency breeding strategies, GS-assisted breeding will spread from livestock to plants and from case applications in few crops for some traits to wide applications in all major crop plants for all important traits, from individual regions to countries worldwide, and from isolated private sectors to associated partners through open-source breeding networks. The collaboration between GS and other technologies or transdisciplinary approaches is extremely important for developing a high-efficiency breeding pipeline in terms of rapidly pyramiding major genes identified by QTL mapping or GWAS into targeted lines. Besides, a set of closely linked genes within the chromosome can be inherited together as a haplotype and integrally transmitted from parental or ancestral lines to offspring. The concept of haplotype can be extended from the level of a single region within a chromosome to the whole genome to cover many functional markers. To enhance genetic gain by GS, genomics-assisted tools should be utilized to create a chimera that contains optimized combinations and haplotypes of two or more elite parental lines. GS-assisted breeding programs can be implemented with the reference of haplotypic effects, from which the accuracy of GS prediction can be improved and the associated breeding pipeline can be optimized to stack favorable genes into one elite line to create excellent varieties or hybrids. By incorporating more and more known genes and their favorable haplotypes, the blocks with pyramided favorable genes and networks for the target trait and trait combinations can be built up.Comparative analysis of GS results with long-term phenotypic selection for protein and oil contents that have been running for over 100 generations (Goldman et al., 1993;Laurie et al., 2004;Li et al., 2013) and with selection of heterotic groups for several decades (Duvick et al., 2004;Lee and Tracy, 2009) will help us to understand the responses and advantages of GS. All these efforts will facilitate the development of new breeding strategies and methodologies to enhance genetic gain. In commercial breeding companies, integrated plant breeding platforms will be conducive to raising efficiency and balancing cost-benefit for further enhancement of genetic gain. However, partnership or consortia, such as open-source breeding networks, will have great potential and a bright future among small enterprises that can make the best use of their respective advantageous resources to integrate with a GS strategy to accelerate the breeding process through sharing breeding platforms and information.Low-cost and high-throughput genotyping platforms that become increasingly available will help remove one of the key constraints that stop GS and other MAS methods from being using on a large scale. The next challenge will be to make GS a routine practice by implementing various steps into an efficient analytical pipeline. Multinational breeding companies have accumulated a large amount of historical data during their long-term breeding programs, and their data analysts can adequately use historical data as a way of amplifying the experimental scale to implement GS for increased prediction accuracy (Xu, 2018;Hao et al., 2019) Enhancing Genetic Gain through Genomic SelectionPlant Communications","tokenCount":"10140"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3656035395.json b/data/part_1/3656035395.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c49ff3d7fbd25cf344dad0fb174f0d7c33fd117
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3656035395.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d5b5c13afb93f327efd6c2820cf6ce21","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/03caa528-b417-4f40-9a8c-d641e9573fcd/retrieve","id":"-1175408984"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"852459f7-02ad-4792-94c4-75f4311b8c2f","pagecount":"68","content":"Bioversity International is a research-for-development organization working with partners worldwide to use and conserve agricultural and forest biodiversity for improved livelihoods, nutrition, sustainability and productive and resilient ecosystems. Bioversity International is working towards a world in which smallholder farming communities in developing countries of Africa, Asia and the Americas are thriving and sustainable. Bioversity International focuses on rain-fed farming systems, primarily managed by smallholder farmers, in areas where large-scale agriculture is not a viable option. Its research influences policy decisions and investment in agricultural research, from the local level to the global level.Bioversity International is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. CGIAR research is dedicated to reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out by the 15 centres who are members of the CGIAR Consortium in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. www. cgiar.org Bioversity International's headquarters are near Rome, Italy, along with Rome-based UN food agencies FAO, IFAD and WFP. Bioversity International has regional offices in Colombia, Kenya and Malaysia. The organization, founded in 1974, has more than 300 staff and scientists worldwide working with almost 700 partners.International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and its Benefit-Sharing FundThe International Treaty, the only multilateral instrument regulating the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), has as objective the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security. To date, 130 countries have signed the International Treaty.The existence and availability of funds at national and international levels needs to be guaranteed in an efficient and complementary way in order to fulfil this objective. The Funding Strategy of the Treaty is a mechanism to strengthen global efforts for conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA. Through its Benefit-Sharing Fund, which is also part of the Multilateral System of the Treaty, funds are mobilized directly to support projects on conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA in developing countries.The Benefit-Sharing Fund of the Treaty opened the second call for proposals in 2011 and approved funding of 19 projects (7 projects for developing strategic action plans and 12 projects of immediate impact). The project reported herein is one of the projects approved and funded by the Benefit-Sharing Fund for developing a Strategic Action Plan to Strengthen Conservation and Use of Mesoamerican Plant Genetic Resources in Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change. (www.planttreaty.org) We would like to acknowledge the fundamental contributions of numerous persons and institutions who shared their knowledge and experiences in developing the different stages of the Strategic Action Plan for Mesoamerica. esoamerica, one of the main centres of domestication and diversification of globally important crops, hosts a wealth of plant genetic resources. Although this region will face unprecedented challenges due to climate change, it has in these plant genetic resources an essential asset to adapt its agricultural systems to the anticipated changes and provide food security for the population.Panoramic from the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Guatemala M. Ramírez -BioversityThe Strategic Action Plan to Strengthen the Conservation and Use of Mesoamerican Plant Genetic Resources in Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change (SAPM) is a ten-year road map to strengthen conservation, access and use of plant genetic resources in Mesoamerica, as a strategic element for food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change and other threats.The SAPM comprises the following six thematic components and activities: (1) the conservation component includes, a) on-farm and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources, through the creation and recognition of integrated biocultural territories within existing conservation programmes, as well as supporting local seed systems, and, b) a new, efficient ex situ conservation system that allows optimal services to users, including small-holder farmers;(2) the sustainable use component identifies the measures needed to facilitate availability of diverse varieties with adaptive potential to changing climate conditions, to encourage on-farm crop diversification and to promote the dissemination of improved varieties;(3) the institutional and policies component includes measures to support the conservation and sustainable use thematic components, steps towards the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in Contracting Party countries, and measures to implement farmers' rights; (4) the education and capacity-building component describes actions for ensuring the full and effective participation of famers' organizations, decision makers, and academic and other professionals in implementing the SAPM, as well as actions for raising public awareness; (5) the operational component identifies regional coordination frameworks and mechanisms needed for implementing the SAPM, including revitalizing plant genetic resources networks and liaising with regional government institutions, among others; (6) the financial component identifies actions needed for resource mobilization to support SAPM implementation. The thematic components are all interconnected and implementation of the Action Plan is foreseen in an integrated manner.The Strategic Action Plan has been formulated using a methodology that combines the analysis of scientific evidence on the current state of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in the region, and of climate change challenges and opportunities, and a broad participatory process involving regional stakeholders. The compilation and comprehensive analysis of scientific evidence and relevant policies on conservation, access and use of plant genetic resources was complemented with a genebanks study and a survey administered to more than one hundred farmers in the region. All this information was used to generate a diagnosis on the status of plant genetic resources in the region. For the diagnosis, the SAPM has focused on ten Mesoamerican crops and their wild relatives: maize, beans, cassava, sweet potato, cucurbits, amaranth, peppers, papaya, avocado and a native forage (Tripsacum), prioritized for their local, regional and global importance for food security, their contribution to diet diversity and income generation, and their potential for adapting to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the SAPM and its strategies and activities are relevant to all PGRFA in the Mesoamerican region.Results of analyses and documents used in the analyses are available in Spanish to the public in the ITZAMNÁ website (http://itzamna-mesoamerica.org).The diagnosis was shared with regional stakeholders in the first SAPM regional consultation held in Guatemala and was used as the basis for identifying priority actions to be included in the Action Plan. The first draft of the SAPM was prepared with these inputs and the draft was subsequently reviewed and discussed at the second consultation meeting held in Costa Rica. Representatives of all Mesoamerican Contracting Party countries to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama-participated actively in these consultations. Representatives of Mexico also participated in the consultations. This unprecedented consultation process convened more than a hundred representatives of different sectors of national governments (agriculture, environment, and health), regional government organizations (SICA, CAC, CCAD 1 ), universities, regional and international agriculture organizations (IICA, CATIE, FAO, CIAT, FEWS NET 2 ), farmers, civil society and donors.CAC at its Ordinary Meeting of Ministers held in Panama City, on 1 and 2 August 2013, agreed to support the SAPM. CAC urged and instructed its Executive Secretariat to facilitate the link between the SAPM and its Technical Group on Climate Change and Integrated Risk Management, SICTA 3 and other similar initiatives in the framework of CAC. Additionally, IICA offered its support to the implementation of the SAPM.The ITPGRFA financed the development of the SAPM through its Benefit-Sharing Fund.1 Central American Integration System (SICA, from the name in Spanish), Central American Agricultural Council (CAC, from the name in Spanish), Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD, from the name in Spanish) 2 Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA, from the name in Spanish), Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE, from the name in Spanish), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, from the name in Spanish), Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) 3 Central American Agricultural Technology Integration System (SICTA, from the name in Spanish). for faster, and more effective and efficient, adaptation of agricultural production systems-taking advantage of this wealth of plant genetic resources must be a joint initiative supported by all countries in the region.All considerations mentioned above provided the impetus for developing the Strategic Action Plan, a multidisciplinary and integrated set of actions to be implemented in the next ten years with the aim of strengthening the role of plant genetic resources conserved in Mesoamerica for the adaptation of agriculture to climate change. Now is the time for major investments to safeguard our food security.Mesoamerican plant genetic resources are currently conserved in national and international genebanks (in ex situ conditions), in natural ecosystems (in situ conservation of wild relatives) and in farmers' fields (management of diversity cultivated on-farm). However, ex situ, in situ and on-farm conservation of these resources is still inadequate, and their use in research and production is limited; consequently their potential to respond to present and future climate change challenges has yet to be realized.In situ and on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity needs to focus on agricultural landscapes and indigenous territories and should be integrated with existing wild biodiversity conservation plans. The role of farmers in the conservation of agrobiodiversity, and its on-farm improvement, must be recognized and strengthened, and communities incentivised to continue providing this service of dynamic conservation of PGRFA.To use more efficiently the existing strengths in terms of human resources and genebank facilities in the different countries, collections need to be better rationalized and coordination improved with regional and international entities, as well as with community organizations, in order to promote germplasm flows from and to ex situ genebanks, encouraging the use of these resources.Initiatives are needed to identify promising materials focused on adaptive traits and resistance to biotic and abiotic disturbances, disturbances that are being exacerbated by climate change. These initiatives would add value to materials held in genebanks, and increase their potential use in conventional or participatory plant breeding programmes. Better access to quality climate data would improve the capacity to guide the region´s conservation and breeding efforts. Agile and flexible mechanisms are essential for distributing diversity of traditional and improved seeds, to ensure quick response after disasters and to accelerate adoption of suitable materials, thereby contributing to maintaining production under climate stress conditions.A favourable institutional environment is necessary to implement integrated actions supporting the conservation and use of Mesoamerican PGRFA. This would include raising awareness of decision makers from different sectors (environment, agriculture, health, climate change, etc.) and raising the profile of PGRFA in multiple technical and institutional strategies and initiatives being carried out under the umbrella of climate change.The SAPM was developed over the course of one year, starting by diagnosing the conservation status and use of ten common crops in the region, and of the national, regional and international institutional frameworks relevant for conservation and management of PGRFA. The diagnosis-shared with and validated by regional experts-led to identifying the opportunities and challenges summarized below. (The complete report of the diagnosis can be foundOn-farm and in situ conservation status• Under the \"business as usual\" scenario, climate change would cause substantial changes in the area and location of sites where most cultivated crop species and their wild relatives could thrive.• The areas suitable for growing most of the species considered in this diagnosis could suffer displacement in the future. In mountainous areas the displacement would be mostly altitudinal shifts.• For some crops, the surface of suitable area could increase, but for most species the models predict net reductions in current suitable areas. Reductions could be more severe for the most important crops for human food consumption.Climatic projections for 358 species of wild relatives• Potential models predict increases in suitable areas for most of the wild relatives of crops. Greater interconnectivity among ecological regions would favour natural migration and benefit conservation of most wild relatives.• Since almost all wild relatives would increase their suitable areas under climate change, they could provide genes important for the improvement of cultivated species. The potential of wild relatives for the improvement of cultivated species is currently underutilized.• On-farm and in situ conservation are essential components in the adaptation of plant genetic resources to climate change, allowing farmers to continuously generate varieties adapted to climate change, and Changes in suitability of the environment from present to 2050Projections suggest that the great majority of areas could have suitable conditions -light blue to blue-where populations of crop wild relatives could expand beyond their current distribution. Many sites would have favourable conditions for harboring as much as 69 more species than they currently do • Current protected areas in Mesoamerica barely overlap areas of major diversity of cultivated species and wild relatives included in this study. Thus their conservation is threatened.• A more integrated and inclusive strategy for in situ conservation should focus not only on the diversity of plant genetic resources, but also on cultural diversity, because rural populations and particularly indigenous and local communities are the ones conserving and guarding the diversity of cultivated plants. Without their active involvement, in situ conservation could not be achieved.• An integrated on-farm and in situ conservation strategy, both in existing protected areas and in indigenous and local community territories, could guarantee adequate conservation of most PGRFA in the region.• Existing monitoring systems in the region need to be strengthened in order to track temporal and spatial tendencies in the conservation status of cultivated species on-farm and in situ.• Passport data quality of accessions conserved in national and regional genebanks in Mesoamerica is not always reliable. This and the limited availability of data hinder gap analysis and prioritization exercises. This situation must be remedied, especially to enable effective use of resources conserved in these genebanks.• There are significant geographical gaps in the ex situ collections, for both cultivated PGRFA and their wild relatives.• Given the wide range of geographical gaps, prioritization strategies are needed for planning new collecting missions more efficiently, focused on those cultivated and wild plants with greater potential, or exhibiting valuable or interesting attributes for climate change adaptation. Such prioritization strategies should take advantage of existing knowledge in a variety of scientific disciplines, such as genetics, anthropology, ecology, climatology, and agricultural sciences, among others.• Identification of promising germplasm of wild relatives is particularly relevant as some gene pools have a great number of wild relatives (e.g. Ipomoea spp., 169 species) and it is essential to prioritize those with direct or potential use for improving cultivated species.• Genebanks in the region have different purposes and infrastructure levels that could play different and complementary roles in a regional strategy for ex situ conservation.• Compared to international genebanks whose role is to hold large collections of globally important genera such as beans, sweet potato and cassava, local and regional genebanks have a crucial role in the conservation of regionally important genera such as cucurbits, papayas and avocados.• Local, regional and international genebanks have large collections of maize. Ex situ conservation of this genus needs to be optimized in a regionally-coordinated strategy with the international genebanks.• Mesoamerican genebanks have difficulties distributing their materials due to the lack of a formal request system and the small amounts of accessions conserved. Most germplasm requested by external stakeholders is used for research and directly on-farm for production.• There are specific gaps in passport data and taxonomic classification of regionally important genera such as cucurbits, peppers, papayas and avocados. By comparison, characterization and evaluation of maize and beans is more advanced.• The big gap in maize and beans is evaluating these materials for biotic stress. For cucurbits, peppers, papayas and avocados evaluation gaps are for both biotic and abiotic stresses.Changes in suitability of the environment from present to 2050Projections suggest that in the majority of areas -from pink to red-climatic conditions could be unsuitable for cultivating most of these species, including areas where as many as 14 species could not thrive compared with the present. Certain areas -from light blue to blue -could have more favourable conditions than they currently do, enabling cultivation of up to 9 new species that could not be grown beforePrepared by E. Thomas and M. Beltrán -Bioversity• Public sector breeding programmes in the region tend to focus on basic grains, especially maize and beans, with relatively low investment in other crops.• Investment, technology and technical capacity is scarce in pre-breeding programmes using materials available in genebanks and on-farm. Most materials released as varieties at the national level come from Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and some regional organizations like the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE, from the name in Spanish) and El Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School.• Some emphasis has been placed on searching or developing characters for climate change adaptation in basic grains, but little in other crops.• The regional participatory plant breeding programme has been very successful in both involving and training farmers, as well as in generating relevant varieties for local production systems. This approach has also focused on maize and beans and, depending on the country, on other non-native crops (rice and sorghum). Other native species of potential value have not received attention yet for diversifying production systems even more.Net changes in adequate areas for growing crop species Net changes (million hectares) % Current surface area• Despite the importance of local seed systems, especially for some crops (beans among the basic grains, and other crops) no national law recognizes this system, neither have systematic actions been taken to promote or improve it nationwide. Nonetheless, actions related to participatory plant breeding tends to strengthen informal and/or farmer seed systems and have significantly improved the quality of the seeds that reach users, especially in marginal and vulnerable areas.• National and regional programmes (such as Seeds for Development, coordinated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO) have been instrumental in promoting the development of flexible and functional seed systems, integrating elements of formal and informal systems.• Many countries in the region have valuable experiences in community conservation of landrace seeds in the framework of participatory plant breeding initiatives or in response to disasters. Although they focus on basic grains, the portfolio of species conserved could be broadened in the short term with this decentralized conservation-for-use mechanism.• The quantity and quality of meteorological data is not sufficient for developing current and future region-specific climate models. More high-quality meteorological data needs to be generated and made widely available in order to guide agricultural adaptation efforts more efficiently, based on PGRFA and taking into account regional climatic diversity.• All Mesoamerican Contracting Party countries to the International Treaty on PGRFA have participated in developing the SAPM; these same countries are also Contracting Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). However, most countries have made more progress in developing national legislation under the CBD than under the Treaty. In many countries this results in certain legal uncertainty as to how to access PGRFA and how to distribute the benefits associated with them, both under ex situ and in situ conditions. No progress has been made in other aspects of the Treaty´s implementation, for example, Art. 9 on Farmers' Rights.http://itzamna-mesoamerica.org/ • The regional and national agricultural policies and food security policies include plans and initiatives incorporating the conservation and use of PGRFA in a more or less explicit way. Many initiatives fall under this institutional framework: conventional and participatory plant breeding initiatives, strengthening of seed systems, diversification of production systems, and family and organic agriculture. However, the role of PGRFA, including a broad number of species and their varieties, different from the basic grains, is now always viewed with a holistic approach.• Regional and national policies on environmental management and climate change adaptation do not refer specifically to the conservation and use of PGRFA as a key tool for developing concrete actions. This is partly due to poor coordination among the different ministries in charge of environmental, climate change and agricultural issues. Plans for disaster response incorporate even less the issue of PGRFA, despite some successful experiences at the community and local levels.• There is a wide gap in the region between the richness of cultivated and wild crops, and the human resources with the skills for taking full advantage of them.• In summary, capacity-building needs include facilitating access to information from various sources, interpreting this information so it can be applied, improving the use of knowledge generated for decisionmaking and the co-production of knowledge, which in turn would facilitate the generation of innovations.• In general, the issue of conservation and use of PGRFA tends to be the domain of a rather small group of experts needing generational renewal.• Even though the issue of PGRFA at the university level is mainly discussed in the faculties of agronomy, it would benefit from greater visibility. Collaborative agreements between higher education institutions and other public entities responsible for conservation and use of PGRFA-genebanks, conventional and/or participatory breeding programmes-could also be developed.• A new generation of plant breeders and agricultural extension agents is needed to introduce the use of technological and molecular tools and to strengthen participatory research with farmers in the arena of PGRFA.• There is little dialogue among environment, climate change and PGRFA experts, particularly in the collection and analysis of meteorological data.• Decision-makers at the national and regional levels have little knowledge on PGRFA, thus losing the opportunity of incorporating them in efficient actions in other sectors, from agricultural and rural development (including market chains), to food security, climate change adaptation and disaster response.• Although farmers are conscious of the changes resulting from climate change, they clamor for more information on local climatic conditions-and experts who can help them interpret this information-as well as seeds adapted to the new climatic conditions.• The issue of PGRFA is relatively far from the radar of civil society. Investment is needed in educational and public awareness campaigns highlighting the everyday relevance of these resources to food and health. Scientific concepts and technical terminology need to be translated into lay language for easy comprehension.The results of this diagnosis have been the starting point for identifying the agreed actions that make up the Strategic Action Plan for Mesoamerica (SAPM). Implementation of the SAPM over the next ten years will contribute to improving conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources in the region, consistent with international commitments made by the countries, specifically the CBD, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Second Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Second GPA). T Participants in the first Regional Consultation, Guatemala, 2012Bioversity he sapm has been formulated based on a thorough scientific analysis of the state of conservation and use of plant genetic resources (the diagnosis). This evidence has been validated and enriched through a broad participatory consultation process with relevant regional stakeholders. An Advisory Committee 5 integrated by experts in the components of the SAPM has participated in each step of the formulation process, from defining the consultation agendas and identifying participants, to participating actively in the regional consultations and finally reviewing the different draft versions of the SAPM.The first six months of the project to formulate the SAPM were dedicated to compiling information on the status of plant genetic resources in Mesoamerica. This diagnosis exercise focused on ten native crops and their wild relatives, in other words on the geneDiscussion on the status of PGR conservation and use by farmers, Nicaragua ASOCUCH pools of the following genera: Zea (maize), Phaseolus (beans), Manihot (cassava), Ipomoea (sweet potato), Cucurbita (cucurbits), Amaranthus (amaranth), Capsicum (peppers), Carica (papaya), Persea (avocado) and Tripsacum (forage).These gene pools were selected taking into account, among other things, (i) their prioritization by regional experts, (ii) regional and global importance for food security (maize, beans and sweet potato), (iii) importance for indigenous and local communities in the region, (iv) contribution to the diet and to income generation (papaya, peppers, avocado and cucurbits), (v) being underutilized crops despite their recognized nutritional value (amaranth), and (vi) potential adaptation to disturbances, primarily those caused by climate change. Wild relatives of these crops were incorporated in the analysis for their potentially important genes for breeding of cultivated species, both in terms of adaptation to climate change and resistance to pests and diseases.To understand the status of ex situ, in situ and on-farm conservation of plant genetic resources, a geospatial analysis was conducted covering the following aspects: (i) potential climate impact (projected to 2050) on both cultivated species and their wild relatives; (ii) gaps in diversity of plant genetic resources currently conserved in genebanks (including prioritization of areas for future collections); (iii) identification of germplasm conserved in genebanks with characteristics for potential adaptation to future climatic conditions; (iv) status of in situ conservation of wild relatives; and (v) identification of priority areas that would better conserve diversity of the majority of plant genetic resources of cultivated crops and wild relatives in the region. The main sources of data used for this geospatial analysis were the databases of genebanks in the International Centres of the CGIAR -Global Information Portal on Plant Genetic Resources (GENESYS), previously the System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources (SINGER) -data from herbarium and from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and scientific publications, among others. A total of 384 species: 26 cultivated and 258 wild species were included in the analysis. The geospatial analysis resulted in a total of more than 3,000 maps of these cultivated species and their wild relatives.In addition to the analysis described above and to assess the state of conservation of plant genetic resources in Mesoamerican genebanks, in collaboration with CATIE, questionnaires were sent to 25 genebanks, 17 of which were answered by genebanks located from Mexico to Panama.To get a better idea of the state of conservation and use of plant genetic resources by small-holder farmers, 144 representatives of local and indigenous farmer groups were surveyed during workshops organized by ASOCUCH in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.Participants in the second Regional Consultation, Costa Rica, 2013 Participatory formulation of the Strategic Action Plan resulting from the diagnosis phase, was undertaken with input from the scientific and academic communities, farmers and indigenous communities, national and regional ex situ genebanks, Mesoamerican national authorities on agriculture and environment, regional government organizations, regional agricultural organizations, and CGIAR research centres, among others. Details of this process are described in the following paragraphs and the list of participants and their affiliations are listed in Annex 1.In the consultations, participants were selected in an iterative process, assisted by in-country National Focal Points of the International Treaty, 6 or their designees, and following suggestions made by the Advisory Committee of the SAPM. The first consultation meeting was held in Guatemala at the end of 2012. During three days, 73 representatives of the mentioned sectors, reviewed and endorsed the diagnosis, identifying missing information and possible sources where this could be found. Preparation of the first draft of the SAPM started in January 2013, based on studies of the diagnosis and results of the regional consultation held in Guatemala. The SAPM´s Advisory Committee reviewed it and the second draft was presented and discussed with 32 relevant stakeholders and national authorities of participating countries at a second regional consultation meeting held in Costa Rica in March 2013. Subsequently, this document was reviewed following recommendations and suggestions received during the second consultation meeting; the revised version was sent to the Advisory Committee of the Project and the Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC, from the name in Spanish).At its Regular Meeting of Ministries held in Panama City, on 1-2 August 2013, and in the presence of Ministers and Vice Ministers, CAC agreed to support the SAPM. CAC urged and requested that its Executive Secretariat facilitate coordination of the SAPM with the Technical Group of Climate Change and Integrated Risk Management, part of the Central American Agricultural Technology Integration System (SICTA, from the name in Spanish) and other related initiatives in the framework of CAC. In addition, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA, from the name in Spanish) offered its support for implementation of the SAPM.All the analyses and documents prepared for the diagnosis are publicly available in Spanish at the ITZAMNÁ website, http://itzamna-mesoamerica.org. This strategy responds to the need to promote in situ conservation of cultivated PGRFA and their wild relatives through holistic interventions that take into account the reciprocal relation existing between human societies and PGRFA. The establishment and formal recognition of biocultural territories is proposed, as well as their integration with existing networks and national conservation programmes.The concept of biocultural territory 7 refers to the set of biological resources, comprising PGRFA diversity and the landscapes and ecosystems which host them, as well as to the traditions and good agricultural practices of rural populations, including indigenous and local communities, which are often the creators of cultivated plant genetic resources and de-facto guardians of the agrobiodiversity. The establishment and appropriate management of biocultural territories require both baseline information -describing all the important aspects of such territoriesand monitoring mechanisms, that use simple indicators agreed at the regional level. These territories are therefore considered integral parts of on-farm and in situ conservation strategies.Reinforcing and acknowledging local seed systems as fundamental elements for maintaining agrobiodiversity in biocultural territories is crucial for the effective conservation of cultivated PGRFA.Short-term activities (0 to 3 years)Medium-term activities (3 to 7 years) Long-term activities (7 to 10 years)he conservation component incorporates strategies addressing in situ and ex situ conservation of PGRFA. Specific integrated actions enhance on-farm conservation of cultivated PGRFA and their wild relatives, acknowledging the central role farmers play in interacting with their environment in biocultural territories that merit being established and recognized in such a way that local seed systems -at the heart of agrobiodiversity in these territories -are strengthened and continue to evolve. A new architecture is proposed to organize genebanks in a network to serve users of materials conserved, including small-holder farmers, in an efficient and effective way.Goal: Sustainable biocultural territories are established and integrated in existing conservation initiatives in the Mesoamerican region, thus contributing to better in situ conservation and use of PGRFA as well as of knowledge, innovation processes and practices of rural populations, including indigenous and local communities.Activities a. Establish regional harmonized criteria, recognizing national differences and needs, for identifying and defining biocultural territories, including trans boundary cases.b. Establish a knowledge baseline of the state of conservation and use of cultivated plant genetic resources and wild relatives, and of the knowledge and traditional practices associated with them (cultural, ceremonial, culinary, medicinal, etc.).• Identify, develop and adopt simple relevant indicators at the regional level for establishing a baseline (and subsequent monitoring), taking into account gender, ethnicity and vulnerability issues.Areas where the greatest crop diversity overlaps -today and in 2050 -with presence of linguistic groups today, offer the best conditions for prioritizing on-farm conservationPrepared by E. Thomas and M. Beltrán -Bioversity Linguistic data provided by WLMS 2005 (http://www.worldgeodatasets.com/language)• Develop diagnoses of existing agricultural processes, especially those related to conservation and use of agrobiodiversity, and of their economic and cultural importance for the rural population, including indigenous and local communities. • Conduct national inventories of cultivated plant genetic resources and wild relatives -involving relevant local stakeholders, for example in developing community records -and promote their systematization at the regional level. • Identify areas rich in PGRFA, both on-farm and in wild habitats.• Identify the main threats faced by conservation and use of PGRFA on-farm and in wild habitats in the Mesoamerican countries. • Use geographic information systems (GIS) to improve knowledge on past and present temporal and spatial dynamics of agrobiodiversity in the Mesoamerican region. Cassava accessions collected in the driest and hottest areas, and conserved in international genebanks, could be included in future cropping and plant breeding programs d. Incentivize local seed systems through the organization of seed fairs, events and field days, and the socialization of experiences to facilitate dialogue and seed exchange among farmers and other relevant stakeholders.e. Create awareness among rural populations, including indigenous and local communities, on the importance of local seed systems for the conservation and use of PGRFA 10 , and build the capacity of these communities.f. Establish a monitoring system for local seed systems.• Establish or strengthen and harmonize national monitoring systems, including the development and implementation of protocols, to identify and evaluate trends, impact of measures or interventions implemented on local seed systems, and establishment, use and maintenance of community genebanks.• Encourage collaboration among all relevant stakeholders for monitoring local seed systems.2. Implement a new architecture for the ex situ conservation system in order to optimize and rationalize conservation of Mesoamerican PGRFA and improve their access and usefulnessGoal: A regional ex situ conservation system -comprised by a network of genebanks with complementary functions -is in operation, makes efficient use of resources available for conservation, and provides optimal services to all users, including small -scale farmers.Strategies to improve ex situ conservation of Mesoamerican PGRFA respond to the need to adopt a new architecture in the system for conserving and using PGRFA in the region. The new system would enhance the strengths of each of the different actors involved in ex situ conservation (national and local genebanks, civil society, universities, local communities, among others) and promote cooperation among them, avoiding duplication of efforts. • Multiplication of germplasm, increasing its availability to farmers, particularly in times of seed shortages, such as after natural disasters. • Short-term conservation of local orthodox germplasm, and longterm conservation of germplasm with recalcitrant seeds through collections of \"live\" plants in the field.New architecture for ex situ conservation, as a component of the proposed system of conservation and utilization of PGRFA.Institutional banks with capacity for longterm conservation and regional backup collectionsInstitutional banks at the national level (national and private banks, experimental stations, universities)• Guarantee genetic and phytosanitary quality of germplasm conserved through adequate documentation, characterization and evaluation, applying agreed standards.• Guarantee conservation of safety duplicate collections of orthodox germplasm being used by community genebanks.• Make interesting germplasm available to community genebanks and other users, including materials for direct planting, research or plant breeding, from the national base genebank, or other Mesoamerican or international genebanks.• Guarantee long-term conservation of non-orthodox germplasm, through collections of \"live\" plants in the field.• Guarantee maintenance of safety duplicate collections deposited in some other genebank, even if under a 'black-box' arrangement.• Where the context allows, multiply germplasm for its distribution to farmers, particularly in times of seed shortage, as well as after natural disasters.• Long-term conservation of orthodox seeds of regionally important crops (for example maize, beans, cucurbits, peppers, etc.)• Provide back-up services to national and international genebanks.• Long-term conservation of basic grains (e.g. maize, beans), roots and tubers (e.g. cassava, sweet potato, potato) of importance for global food security.Goal: National ex situ conservation systems, are strengthened, integrated and linked to regional systems in Mesoamerica for conservation and use of PGRFA.a. Elaborate inventories and national diagnoses of:• stakeholders (genebanks, community genebanks, competent national authorities, decision makers, universities, agricultural schools and extension programmes, among others);• capacity of these stakeholders to contribute to the goal;• facilities and networks of existing genebanks;• availability and accessibility of materials in ex situ germplasm collections and quantity of these materials distributed; • current policies and existing financial opportunities;• status of collections and operative costs related to their documentation, characterization, evaluation, gap analysis, level of duplications, representativeness of crops and wild relatives, among others.b. Develop and strengthen national strategies for ex situ conservation, taking advantage of existing facilities, which include the organization and formalization of relationships among relevant national stakeholders, and with a view to integrating with and connecting to the Mesoamerican ex situ conservation system, based on the diagnosis. d. Incorporate the national strategy of ex situ conservation in the relevant ministries, establishing a road map with common points, defining complementary and coordinated actions, and clarifying the ministries´ respective roles within the framework of developing a regional strategy.e. Carry out collaborative activities among stakeholders involved in ex situ conservation, including community genebanks, institutional genebanks, farmers' organizations, academia, civil society, among others. These activities would include eco-geographical studies, germplasm collections, and exchange, support, evaluation, characterization, breeding and regeneration of materials conserved, among others.f. Develop and apply guides and standards agreed at the regional level to harmonize and improve the quality and accessibility of the passport data, and the characterization, evaluation and regeneration of germplasm conserved in institutional genebanks. 12 g. Identify, characterize and evaluate species, varieties and accessions-particularly those having adaptation characters to climate change-and guarantee access to these materials.h. Identify and implement a sustainable and unified documentation system in terms of updates and maintenance, using existing systems, for example the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Global).i. Establish or strengthen sustainable community genebanks for short-term ex situ conservation, or emergency seed reserves in places where they are relevant and gaps exist, using as reference experiences of countries having such systems, in collaboration with extension agents and budgeting the investments required to establish and maintain new genebanks. j. Establish or improve conditions of ex situ conservation in institutional genebanks for regenerating, evaluating, multiplying and distributing germplasm, thus complementing the role of community genebanks and of local seed companies as multipliers of materials. k. Link ex situ germplasm evaluation, regeneration and distribution activities to the needs of participatory and conventional plant breeding programmes, applying modern biotechnology tools. l. Guarantee the inclusion in national system ex situ collections of new varieties released, in accordance with national laws and honouring intellectual property rights over those varieties.According to spatial analysis, as many as 73 species of wild relatives-whose accessions are not yet being conserved in germplasm banks-could be collected per unit of areaPrepared by E. Thomas and M. Beltrán -BioversityNumber of species observed, but not conserved in germplasm banksGoal: Coordination and decision-making at the regional level related with ex situ conservation is timely, transparent, participatory, efficient, and agreed upon by national competent authorities in each of the different countries.Activities a. Standardize and reach agreement at the regional level on different key actions for appropriate management of genebanks (characterization, regeneration, evaluation, among others) and guarantee their use at the national level. 13   b. Establish agreements among relevant entities within and outside the region to achieve an effective division of labour and share complementary ex situ conservation tasks for the medium and long term, in order to reduce costs and make more efficient use of existing conservation facilities in the region. Different national and international genebanks in the region specialize in certain crops and activities (for example, duplicate backups, characterization, regeneration or conservation in the short, medium and long term).c. Promote and facilitate access to and distribution of germplasm to users through the Multilateral System of the ITPGRFA or other relevant national, regional or international legislation.d. Adopt a regional programme for germplasm collection, prioritized with base on the inventories and national diagnoses, in consultation with experts and using GIS tools, with emphasis on either endangered materials or materials potentially adapted to climate change.e. Develop a programme at the regional level to support collections in the field (of species with recalcitrant seeds) using techniques such as in vitro conservation, cryo-preservation, and other biotechnology tools.f. Continuously promote knowledge sharing, capacity-building, and exchange of experiences within and among countries, with the aim of standardizing methods and strengthening national ex situ conservation systems to facilitate their integration with the new regional architecture.13 This activity should be implemented taking into account activity A.2.1.f of the Conservation component of the strategy for strengthening national ex situ conservation schemes, whereby guidelines and standards agreed at the regional level are enforced.espite their richness in plant genetic resources, many Mesoamerican rural territories still have high levels of hunger, malnutrition and poverty, and many of the region´s PGRFA are not being used adequately to meet these great needs. Aggravating the situation is the accelerated pace of climate change, which is ever more threatening to agriculture generating big challenges for the adaptation of production systems.This SAPM proposes increasing investment in the use of plant genetic resources since these can directly benefit the region, especially rural sectors where hunger and poverty are more acute. Increasing the quantity and quality of food produced and contributing to a healthy diet depends on the intelligent and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. Also, agricultural innovation and seed supply systems need to significantly increase their capacity to adapt in order to tackle climate change. Ample evidence is available on the profitability of investing in plant breeding to improve agricultural production, both in the region and the rest of the world.Also known are benefits arising from on-farm and product diversification. Planting different crops and varieties also helps managing climate risks, such as drought or excessive rainfall which affect differently each different crop or variety. To generate more income and improve the quality of life, diversification of value-added products should be prioritized, and transformation and commercialization processes should be promoted. Both plant breeding and production diversification depend on conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA.The fact that there is no interconnection between the use of PGRFA and conservation of these resources has been a problem in the region. Overall, conservation has less visibility and is taken for granted. The challenge now is to reconnect conservation and use in an integrated and effective system for managing PGRFA, in which part of the value generated from the use of these resources is reinvested in conservation to ensure sustainability of the system.Several initiatives-such as participatory plant breeding, in which farmers are actively involved in the selection of genetic materials adapted to their specific needs-have built the capacity of farmers to undertake crop genetic improvement for small-scale agriculture. Experience has been gained in producing quality seeds, also designed for small-scale agriculture. The region is prepared to invest more financial resources to increase the scope and effectiveness of these activities and take advantage of them to reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Part of this investment should be destined to improving access and availability of plant genetic resources for their use in production systems and crop breeding, and promoting on-farm and diet diversification.Goal: Plant genetic materials and information on their characteristics are available, in response to different needs of different users to achieve sustainable agriculture in the region. d. Establish community and national seed reserves for post disaster replanting using diverse varieties adapted to local conditions, in coordination with conservation activities developed in community genebanks (identified in the section on seeds systems in the Conservation component). e. Improve local registration systems, making them more inclusive of varieties developed by farmers. 14 f. Adapt the seed quality control system to the conditions of small seed producers through the adoption of more appropriate protocols and mechanisms. 152. Farm diversification enhanced-by introducing greater number of crops for climate change risk management-and income generation, health, and food and nutrition security improved.Goal: Mesoamerican farms produce an important amount of edible species, directly benefitting farmers, improving their diet and promoting new income-generating alternatives.a. Document local knowledge on plant genetic resources, complementing it with scientific information and promoting its use to encourage greater diversification, applying sustainable agricultural practices. 16   b. Establish a regional scientific network on underutilized edible species, led by centres of excellence, that promote research on 20 species of regional interest to increase their use, and coordinating the mobilization of resources.c. Encourage demand for greater diversity of crops and value-added agricultural products, for example by establishing and strengthening local product value chains, and adding value to products through mechanisms such as designation of origin, among others.d. Promote greater use of native local crops and varieties in existing food and agricultural assistance programmes (for example, family farms and school feeding programmes). 17Goal: Intraspecific diversity of crops and associated local knowledge are fully deployed in agricultural innovation processes that contribute to food and nutrition security, income generation and climate change adaptation.Activities a. Promote plant breeding using participatory, conventional and molecular methods for developing varieties with characteristics that enable adaptation to climate change and meet the diverse needs and preferences of farmers and consumers. his component aims to promote a national and regional institutional framework to guarantee effective implementation of activities proposed in the Action Plan and facilitate coordination among different stakeholders and political sectors. Implementation of the ITPGRFA in each country needs to be in harmony with other complementary instruments. This is a fundamental step to create a well-coordinated institutional framework in which to anchor the new PGRFA system.T Also proposed are actions to promote inter-sectorial interactions that place PGRFA as strategic elements for intervention in the areas of food security, sustainable territorial development and climate change adaptation. The ITZAMNÁ website (http://itzamnamesoamerica.org), includes an initial list of other instruments, and national and international plans and programmes, that should be taken into account in developing the actions mentioned in this component, seeking synergies and complementarities, and bolstering results.This component includes actions for strengthening the capacity of all stakeholders of the new Mesoamerican PGRFA system-from farmers to scientists, to national and regional authorities-with the aim of facilitating effective decisions for improving conservation and use of PGRFA. In addition to strengthening technical capacities, actions also focus on sensitizing the public on the issue of conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, through communication and public awareness strategies addressing broader sectors of society to reap their support and propitiate collective actions.Goal: Actions included in the SAPM to strengthen conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA are sustainable over time thanks to the support of public policy measures at the national and regional levels.a. Facilitate coordination between relevant stakeholders and competent ministries in relation to conservation, access and use of PGRFA, to support the implementation of the collaborative activities programmed in the SAPM.b. Establish or strengthen, at the national level, institutionalization of national PGRFA commissions integrated by experts of different institutions and sectors. Link their actions to the areas of agricultural development, food security, health, risk management and disaster response, among others, as well as to the activities led by civil society organizations and farmers' organizations to integrate PGRFA in these areas and facilitate collaboration. 19 c. Guarantee participation of national PGRFA commissions in defining national stance in relevant international negotiations involving PGRFA, environment, intellectual property rights, bilateral trade agreements and climate change.d. Take opportune measures both to increase the scope of the meteorological network and to give free access to meteorological data at the national and regional levels for application in PGRFA conservation and use activities.Promote effective coordination among entities responsible for meteorology and climate change issues and those involved in the PGRFA system, reinforcing existing initiatives.This activity should be implemented taking into account activity A.2.1.c of the strategy for strengthening national ex situ conservation systems and including the participation of authorities identified or nominated.Ceremony of the flag, Huehuetenango, Guatemala M. Ramírez -Bioversity 1.2. Policies supporting in situ conservation a. Integrate the issue of PGRFA and the concept of biocultural territories in biodiversity and protected areas policies and management plans; and in policies, strategies and ecosystems and biodiversity plans for adapting to climate change at the national and regional levels (e.g. the Mesoamerican Corridor) or at the international level (e.g. the Satoyama Initiative), such that the issue of PGRFA is included in operational plans and budgets.b. Incorporate the issue of PGRFA and the concept of biocultural territories at the national level (for example, identification of areas of high crop diversity), in existing processes of territorial planning/zoning, such that the issue of PGRFA is included in operational plans and budgets.c. Link on-farm conservation of PGRFA and management of biocultural territories to initiatives, movements and ecological and sustainable agricultural programmes. 20a. Institutionalize the new ex situ conservation scheme, officially designating competencies of all relevant actors at the national level, including the corresponding ministries, and establishing the modus operandi of their interactions with other actors in the region, and internationally. 21 b. Provide institutional support to community seed banks, for example by including them in local policies and plans for climate change adaptation and food security.This activity should be implemented considering the activity B.2.a of the Sustainable use component and the diversification strategy, which deals with documenting knowledge and using it appropriately.c. Coordinate and implement effective and agile mechanisms to attend requests and give access to germplasm conserved in national genebanks and, where applicable, following the provisions of the ITPGRFA or any other mutually agreed mechanism.d. Have the seed registration law include the requirement to deposit a seed sample of new varieties released in the country, in the national ex situ conservation system, complying with intellectual property rights and legislation regarding distribution.1.4. Policies supporting sustainable use a. Include the issue of PGRFA in agricultural development and ecological or organic farming policies and budgets to increase investments in plant breeding programmes, production diversification and establishment of value chains based on agrobiodiversity. 22 b. Establish joint public/private programmes to add value and promote the use of food crops based on local PGRFA (for example, designation of origin, regional gastronomic fairs, agro tourism, gastronomical tourism, organic and natural products).c. Include the issue of PGRFA in food security and family agriculture, education and health policies and budgets to promote the use of local PGRFA as a healthy and nutritive alternative for feeding the population, with special emphasis on vulnerable groups (for example through school breakfast programmes, food supply to low income sectors of the population and to head of household single mothers).d. Establish mechanisms for comprehensive risk management at the national level, including measures to create and maintain community and national seed reserves that contribute to food security and to response to disasters caused by climate change, assigning priority to local PGRFA.e. Institutionalize decentralized systems for multiplying and distributing diverse, locally-adapted materials, including initiatives that support entrepreneurial development to reduce dependence on foreign seeds and food crops, and increasing production systems´ resilience to climate change, taking as an example existing initiatives as the regional Seeds for Development project and the Collaborative Participatory Plant Breeding Programme in Mesoamerica. b. Coordinate activities at the national level-in both the institutional and the legal frameworks-for the effective implementation of the ITPGRFA, in harmony with the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol.Goal: Farmers' rights are recognized and measures for their promotion are included in legal, administrative and policy instruments at the national level.Activities a. Identify-as part of the diagnosis undertaken for implementing the Treaty-legal, administrative and policy frameworks, specifically for recognizing and protecting farmers' rights.b. Implement laws and measures needed in the different countries of the region for maintaining traditional knowledge associated with PGRFA and their protection, in line with international commitments. 23 c. Review existing national legislation and harmonize, at the regional level, laws and national measures established to recognize records or inventories of landraces or of varieties generated through participatory plant breeding. 24 d. Recognize local seed systems in national seed laws finding alternative mechanisms for registration and quality certification, facilitating legalization and registration of enterprises or cooperatives, and improving access to quality seeds by small-holder farmers.e. Develop mechanisms to guarantee that communities that practice traditional or small-scale agriculture have the right to participate in PGRFA-related activities and decision-making at different levels, for example by strengthening farmers' organizations.f. Promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of traditional knowledge associated to PGRFA, in line with the Nagoya Protocol and other relevant international agreements.g. Create and include incentives to improve conservation and use of cultivated and wild PGRFA, especially for small-holder farmers, and indigenous and local communities, with participation of civil society, for example, through participatory plant breeding programmes, compensation payments for conservation of agricultural biodiversity, facilitated access to markets, inclusion in fair-value chains for new products, and designation of national and regional origin, among others.This activity should be implemented taking into account activity A.1.1.d of the sub component on Biocultural territories for promoting the documentation of traditional knowledge.his component recognizes the need to strengthen and/or develop human resources with the skills required to carry out the activities of the SAPM. These needs include: updating and generational renewal of active PGRFA professionals, training new generations of service providers similar to extension agents but with a broader mandate, strengthening farmers' organizations to make better use of information for confronting climate change through the use of PGRFA, and building capacity of decision makers at multiple levels for their informed participation in implementing international commitments related to PGRFA. Response to this urgent demand is feasible by taking advantage and coordinating existing educational and capacity-building opportunities, currently dispersed in different countries and institutions in the region.Goal: Relevant national stakeholders in the area of PGRFA have the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to sustain and promote an integrated Mesoamerican PGRFA conservation and use system.a. Give more prominence to the issue of PGRFA in university and professional education curricula in Mesoamerica by:• Promoting interdisciplinary approaches;• Responding to labour market demand for professionals in this area;• Establishing a regional educational programme on PGRFA conservation and sustainable use, from elementary to university level;• Increasing the amount of scholarships allocated by existing programmes on conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA.b. Take advantage of collaborative initiatives and intensify collaboration between universities and institutions involved in conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, through undergraduate and postgraduate thesis research, and professional internships.c. Strengthen the capacity of and empower small farmers' organizations to interact with the formal PGRFA system in the region. 25   d. Strengthen the capacity of and empower small farmers' organizations to interact with the formal PGRFA system in the region.e. Develop a training programme for decision makers at the local, national and regional levels on the implementation of international agreements related to PGRFA.f. Establish a consortium of institutions for developing a capacity-building programme on PGRFA in the region, involving institutions with comparative strengths or having relevant mandates such as CATIE, El Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School, Earth University, CGIAR centres, the national genebank of Mexico, among others. The consortium would be responsible for:• Establishing a central repository of educational materials-linked to the website managed by a Secretariat 26 -and providing training opportunities on PGRFA issues; • In response to existing demand, design and offer short courses, including online and self-learning options, using materials already developed and based on the experience of national and international centres on priority training issues.This activity should be implemented taking into account activity A.1.2.e of the strategy on Recognizing local seed systems.- Goal: The Mesoamerican society values agrobiodiversity, expresses its preferences and influences the political agenda on the issue of PGRFA.Activities a. Design an information dissemination, public awareness and capacity-building programme in the field of conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA that involves multiple stakeholders from different sectors, using mass media, social networks, conferences, seminars, forums and thematic events.b. Make widely known the nutritive benefits of diversified diets; involve parents in the process. Develop initiatives to educate and give access to a healthy and diverse diet at all social levels (nutritional education at schools, campaigns in chain restaurants and cafeterias, nutritional programmes or school lunches with informative brochures or posters, establishment of school gardens, campaigns in the cafeterias of ministries and public offices). 28 c. Disseminate the existence and usefulness of the website mentioned in the section on capacity-building. 29M. Ramírez -Bioversity 2014 -2024 SAPM visits among communities. For women, in particular, workshops on food preparation and both traditional and new products based on PGRFA, and links to agro eco-touristic activities.Goal: The SAPM is implemented in a transparent, participatory, efficient and concerted way at the regional level, and national, international and regional institutions use this SAPM as a key tool in formulating policies and plans for food and nutritional security, climate change adaptation and rural development. • Maintain permanent dialogue with regional and national entities, in particular with national PGRFA commissions;• Develop the regional annual work agenda for implementing the SAPM and present it to CAC for its approval;• Monitor the implementation of the SAPM in the different countries;• Make sure that actions implemented under the SAPM are in harmony with other regional and international instruments, in particular the Second GPA;• Coordinate information dissemination on progress and results of SAPM implementation;• Coordinate information dissemination on topics related to PGRFA conservation and use that are relevant for SAPM implementation, and facilitate the availability of this information by administering a website to this end;• Coordinate the formulation of regional projects in line with the actions of the SAPM;• Mobilize and manage financial resources for the implementation of the SAPM, in line with what is mentioned in its financial component.N. Palmer, CIAT.Preparing tortillas with maize flour, El SalvadorSix sub regional networks, focused on plant genetic resources, were created in the decade of the 1990s in Latin America and the Caribbean. These networks were sponsored by IICA, CATIE, Bioversity International and SICTA. The Mesoamerican Network on Plant Genetic Resources (REMERFI, from the name in Spanish), includes Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. The network identified Pouteria, Persea, Theobroma, Annona, Cucurbita, Capsicum, Phaseolus and Zea as priority crops for in situ and ex situ conservation-a task that would be accomplished by strengthening the capacity of national programs. Since its creation and during its first years of operation, REMERFI developed projects in the areas of tropical fruits, institutional capacity-building and documentation, and fomented the establishment of national genetic resources commissions. These endeavours received support from the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the German As acknowledged by many participants in the consultation for formulating the SAPM, REMERFI faces the challenge, and also the valuable opportunity, of playing a leading role in the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan. One of the urgent issues is reaching the community of users-plant breeders, farmers and other stakeholders-so that plant genetic resources actually benefit all users, linking conservation to development plans that address the priorities of a broad spectrum of stakeholders and decision makers. REMERFI can also take advantage of this circumstance to foster and develop the appropriate mechanisms for guaranteeing important government support for plant genetic resources. Opportunities also exist for collaboration among networks; this collaboration has not yet been evidenced. An opportunity, for example, could be establishing collaboration among the strong national programs of Canada, USA, Mexico that make up NORGEN the Plant Genetic Resources Network for North America, the Amazonian Network on Plant Genetic Resources (TROPIGEN, from its name in Spanish) and the Plant Genetic Resources Network for the Southern Cone (REGENSUR, from its name in Spanish) (Ramírez, 2008).d. Establish a common regional fund for supporting regional actions required for restructuring the PGRFA system; these funds should cover:• Maintenance of ex situ collections, available to all regional and international users, in harmony with international commitments;• Regional coordination of activities and exchange of experiences mentioned in this SAPM;• Other activities related to the conservation and use of PGRFA, concerted by all contributing countries.e. Establish a strategic unit for resource mobilization within the Secretariat responsible for maintaining relations with international donors (GEF, UNEP, UNDP, SDC, GIZ, BID 30 , World Bank), following-up on calls for proposals and coordinating the elaboration and application of project proposals, among others.Agrobiodiversity: includes all biodiversity components relevant for agricultural production, including food production, sustaining livelihoods and habitat conservation of agricultural ecosystems (CIP-UPWARD, 2003).Biocultural Territories: The concept of biocultural territories was developed in harmony with the definition of \"productive socio-ecological landscapes\" of the Satoyama Initiative (2010), where they were defined as mosaics of habitats and dynamic land uses that have been formed over time by the interaction between humans and nature keeping its biodiversity and providing goods and services necessary for human welfare.Biodiversity: the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (CBD, 1992).Community Seed Banks: seed collections conserved and managed by local communities. These banks are created to guarantee availability of planting material for the following season(s) and of genetic material in case of variety loss (Almekinders, 2001). Usually they are used for short-term conservation, contributing to in situ conservation, local seed systems and local seed supply in response to natural disasters.Ex situ collection: collection of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture maintained outside their natural habitat (TIRFAA, 2009).Ex situ conservation: conservation of biodiversity outside its natural habitat; in the case of plant genetic resources conservation can be in seed banks, in vitro collections in germplasm banks, or as live collections in the field (Rao et al. 2007).Genetic material: any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity (CBD, 1992).Germplasm: the reproductive or vegetative propagating material of plants (FAO, 1994).In situ conservation: the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated plant species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties (ITPGRFA, 2009).International Treaty on PGRFA (ITPGRFA): The only multilateral instrument regulating the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.Multilateral System of the ITPGRFA: A system that allows the exchange between Contracting Parties of genetic diversity and information associated with genetic diversity located in genebanks and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use (ITPGRFA, 2013).On-farm conservation: In situ conservation of cultivated plants.Orthodox seeds: Those that can remain viable under controlled storage conditions (Roberts, 1973).Participatory plant breeding: Application of methodologies of genetic improvement, with the involvement and active participation of farmers in all the technological innovation process (FAO, 2011).Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA): any genetic material of plant origin of actual or potential value for food and agriculture (ITPGRFA, 2009).Recalcitrant seeds: Those that cannot be stored as they quickly lose their viability when dried and kept at low temperatures (Roberts, 1973).Resilience: The capacity of an organism, ecosystem or community to recover from major disturbance events (Thompson, 2011).Traditional knowledge: knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity (CBD, 1992).Value chain: the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), delivery to final consumers, and final disposal after use (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2001).Variety: A plant grouping, within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, defined by the reproducible expression of its distinguishing and other genetic characteristics (ITPGRFA, 2009). According to the context, it can refer to breeds and \"native\" or local varieties, as well as to improved, hybrids and commercial varieties. Actions with more than one coloured box are those that require on-going actions during a given period of time. ","tokenCount":"10459"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3666438110.json b/data/part_1/3666438110.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6cd6d5fc95509a511a88a0fa238442fe31f648d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3666438110.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"36b7aafc259ea3544bfe7bfe0aca0ffd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/590122d8-f8ee-4e97-9735-8b2c661fb4c9/retrieve","id":"-545720239"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7baa4647-3cfd-45b1-b917-595a34d673d8","pagecount":"31","content":"November 23 | Normative constraints and opportunities for women's economic resilience to climate change in chicken, cassava and fish value chains of selected sites in Tanzania 1Normative constraints and opportunities for women's economic resilience to climate change in chicken, cassava and fish value chains of selected sites in Tanzania Women and girls make up half of the world's population and are key actors in food systems. They work as producers, wage workers, processors, traders and consumers (Njuki et al. 2021). Women in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) are often differently affected by climate change when compared to men (Djoudi et al. 2016;Marty et al. 2023). Considering their needs and priorities, along with those of men and boys, is essential to building sustainable solutions to face the climate crisis.Supporting the empowerment of women and girls to address gender-based disadvantages is essential to equipping the world's population with equitable means to face the climate crisis and engage in climate action for a just, sustainable and equitable future (Bryan et al. 2016). In Tanzania, a national strategy was developed in 2013 to support the empowerment of women vis-à-vis climate change, based on the acknowledgement that this phenomenon has had a significant impact on the country and that women and men experience climate change differently, and their capacities to cope vary. The text also reiterates that the government of Tanzania enshrined the issue of gender equality in the Constitution (1977 andits revision in 2001) and in the Bill of Rights (1984)  (IUCN 2013). It states that women are powerful agents of change, hence their leadership in addressing the impact of climate change is crucial.Adaptation refers to the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change. Productive and financial resources often underpin and bolster adaptation capacities. Generally speaking, compared to men, gender-based disadvantages and discrimination limit women's access to and ownership of productive resources, technologies and information in addition to income opportunities in food systems (Bizoza 2019). These differences reduce women's ability to adapt to climatic changes because adaptation often requires learning and adoption of new technologies, such as storage facilities to prolong shelf life when food is scarce. Lack of access to productive resources have limited the ability of women to diversify their sources of income (e.g. by switching to a different agricultural commodity or engaging in non-agricultural activities), a strategy which can help spread risk and minimize the impact of climate change (Marty et al. 2023). In Tanzania, women's limited access to and control over environmental and economic resources and overall decision-making makes them more vulnerable to climate change. According to IUCN (2013), climate change can exacerbate the existing patterns of gender disparity.It is, therefore, important to address gender bias when considering the impacts of climate change and the ability of communities to adapt to it. This is often exacerbated by formal and informal structural constraints. Formal structural constraints include policies that promote gender bias (e.g. laws that favour property inheritance by men). Ampaire et al. (2020) conducted an assessment on gender-sensitive policies that are relevant to climate change in Tanzania. Informal structural constraints are unspoken rules that regulate society such as gender norms. These norms shape human behaviour at different levels (e.g. individual, household, community and national) and also shape formal structures. There is need to better understand gender norms in agri-food systems because structural constraints restrict the effectiveness of initiatives to support the empowerment of women and girls, and limit their ability to adapt and build resilience to climate change (Achandi et al. 2023;Amoak et al. 2022;Bizoza 2019).This study explores the different ways in which gender norms affect women's empowerment in three value chains in selected communities of Tanzania, and, subsequently, their ability to adapt and enhance resilience to climate change. Restrictive gender norms and their impact on women in agri-food systems are explored in this publication. The research also looks into conducive gender norms and the opportunities they provide for women through, for example, assigning some activities to women only, thereby increasing the number and types of strategies that women may use to adapt to climate change. This study focuses on chicken, cassava and fish commodity value chains, and addresses the following research questions:1. Which specific gender norms constrain women agri-food system (AFS) actors from building economic resilience to climate change (CC) challenges?2. To what extent do these discriminatory tenets exist at different institutional levels in selected communities of Tanzania?The findings aim to help identify constraints and leverage points which can help alleviate restrictive gender norms and balance power relations to increase the economic resilience of women AFS actors to CC challenges.This report is divided into various sections. The first section presents a brief review of women's empowerment and resilience to climate change in fish, chicken and cassava value chains. This is followed by the methodology and results, that includes an overview of the gender norms identified in each of the three value chains, associated sanctions and climate change impacts, plus the adaptation strategies. The findings are briefly discussed at the end of the report.Gender norms and women's economic resilience to climate change in livestock, cassava and fish value chains Gender norms are the spoken and unspoken rules of society that define acceptable and appropriate actions and behaviours for women and men (covering individual characteristics such as age, ethnicity, religion, etc.) in a given group or society, thereby affecting how they should act, look and even think or feel (Weber et al. 2019;Cislaghi and Heise 2020). These norms are generated and passed down through social interaction embedded in both formal (e.g. policies and laws) and informal (e.g. traditional inheritance practices) institutions (Cislaghi and Heise 2020). Gender norms, for example, affect who has access to and control over resources, jobs and opportunities, ultimately affecting an individual's economic resilience. Economic resilience is defined as the ability to recover from or adjust to the negative impacts of external economic shocks such as those caused by the climate crisis (Briguglio et al. 2006). Denton et al. (2014) view climate change resilience as the capacity of a social, ecological or socio-ecological system and its components to anticipate, reduce, accommodate or recover from the effects of a hazardous event or trend in a timely and efficient manner. The strength of an individual's resilience to climate change and shocks is closely influenced by local gender norms which affect that individual's access to financial resources, knowledge of climate change and opportunities to be empowered. This report focuses on how the three value chainschicken, cassava and fish -provide unique opportunities to support women's empowerment, and consequently, builds their resilience to climate change.Since it is easier for women to own livestock rather than other productive resources such as land or machinery, livestock offers key entry points to support women's economic empowerment (Galiè et al. 2022). Chickens, in particular, are more easily controlled by rural women than larger species. In Africa as elsewhere, smallholder chicken production is mainly in the hands of women who in many cases can own the birds, manage them independently and control the income generated through them (Okitoi et al. 2007;Waithanji et al. 2020). Women can accumulate the income generated through chicken and invest it in other valuable species or resources.In the case of Tanzania, smallholder chicken production is generally considered the domain of women. This offers an opportunity to leverage chickens for women's empowerment, thereby enhancing their resilience to climate change (Galiè et al. 2015). Gender norms, however, hamper such potential opportunities for women. For example, women are discouraged from liaising with men to whom they are not related, or leaving the house. This limits their access to animal health services, plus input and output markets. It also limits their ability to raise healthy chickens and sell the birds or eggs for income (Waithanji et al. 2020;Enahoro et al. 2021). Lack of reliable income can limit women's ability to implement adaptation practices that may include building shelters, proper feeding formulation, right stocking density and providing adequate amounts of water for poultry. Adopting these strategies relies on access to and control over resources, services, information and inputs which several women lack (Adepoju and Osunbor 2018).Women constitute nearly half of those employed in fisheries globally (UN Women 2022) even though in many countries, the fish value chain is seen as predominantly male-dominated (Weeratunge et al. 2010). Men are reported to dominate activities around extraction and fish harvesting, while women are mostly engaged in post-harvest operations such as cleaning and drying the fish which usually command lower profit margins (Béné et al. 2011). Others argue that in general, the role of women in the small-scale fisheries sector is not recognized and as a consequence, they face difficulties seeking access to fishery resources (Thorpe et al. 2014). In addition, women have limited access to fishing equipment (Mwaijande and Lugendo 2015). However, several reports indicate the potential of the blue economy in supporting women's empowerment vis-à-vis climate change (UN Women 2022). Tanzania, in particular, boasts many productive aquatic ecosystems that offer empowerment potential for women (World Bank 2023). Women dominate the small-scale fried fish business, especially in local markets (Mwaijande and Lugendo 2015). This offers them an opportunity to cope with climate shocks since the fish processed through frying and drying can be stored and used during harsh climatic conditions when the harvest is low.The fishing sector has been affected by climate change. Diversification strategies which comprise engaging in alternative sources of income to cope with reduced harvests, income and food security, have been documented (Brashares et al. 2004).Women in this sector have lower adaptive capacity, and this is linked to their limited control over financial and productive resources (De la Torre-Castro et al. 2022). Gender norms may limit women's engagement in activities along the fish value chain, thus hindering their ability to adapt to climate change. Men cope with climate change by fishing for longer hours, shifting fishing times and migrating to other waters. When their involvement is limited to the retailing node, women can only sell their fish at a higher price and receive support from other family members. Others have found that women in this node also use value-addition strategies by drying and frying fish for storage as they wait for better markets (Atindana et al. 2020). When involved in fishing, women have been found to adapt to climate change by shifting the hours of fishing from afternoon to early morning, just like the men.Cassava is a vegetatively-propagated crop grown mainly in lowland tropical regions. It is a drought-resistant crop and contributes substantially to household food security and nutrition in many parts of Africa (Sewando 2012). It contributes to 15%, on average, of Tanzania's national food production basket, being second only to maize (Mtambo 2007). Cassava has been identified as a crop that could potentially enable households to adapt by providing a steady food source in the face of changing climatic conditions (URT 2001). While both men and women engage in the cassava value chain, women often dominate smallholder cassava production (Masahma et al. 2019) while men dominate the commercial marketing (Ahmadu and Idisi 2014). Expanding women's roles in marketing may be a feasible means to diversify and generate income. However, gender norms have prevented women from accessing market opportunities (Lee et al. 2022;Masamha et 2018). Norms that reduce women's access to capital limit their ability to implement adaptation strategies. Henri-Ukoha et al. (2018) found that men who farm cassava implement more climate change adaptation strategies than women such as mixed cropping, rotating farms and utilizing credit to buffer them from the impact of climate shocks. Women, on the other hand, implement different practices that require less capital such as modifying schedules, e.g., adjusting planting and harvesting dates (ibid).While there is evidence to suggest that gender norms affect women's empowerment and adaptation, there is less information on the specific ways in which norms can shape adaptation practices in the chicken, fish and cassava value chains, and the ways in which those norms undermine and/or bolster women's resilience to climate change. That is the focus of this report.This qualitative study was conducted in Tanzania in 2023 by scientists from three CGIAR centres: IITA, ILRI and World Fish as part of the HER+ Initiative. The first step involved organizing a workshop with 22 participants who possess extensive knowledge on the selected value chains. They comprised 12 women and 10 men from government departments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutes, universities, private sector producer organizations and other value chain actors with national/regional perspectives on the target value chains. The main objective of the workshop was to identify and map key stakeholders in the fish, cassava and chicken value chains, and to understand the norms that prevent women value chain actors from becoming economically resilient to climate change impacts. In addition, inputs were obtained from stakeholders on appropriate site selection and criteria to be used in the selection of participants for the upcoming fieldwork.During the workshop, participants proposed the regions of Kigoma, Kagera and Tabora, based on the high prevalence of the focus commodities in these areas. However, due to logistical and budgetary constraints, the team decided to focus on Muleba district in Kagera; the area has all the three commodity value chains of interest, namely chicken, cassava and fish (in particular, dagaa). The survey tools could therefore be used within the same community for all the value chains. In the case of chicken, key actors in the value chain comprised the following: farmers who rear chicken that are brooding, poultry farmers, chicken product processors, animal feed manufacturers, vendors, transporters and consumers. In the fish value chain, the following actors were identified: extension services, CSOs/NGOs, transporters, the central government and regulatory bodies for quality control, fishing gear suppliers/boat builders/net menders and microfinance institutions (LGAs -loans for women, youth and people with disabilities; VSLAs/VICOBA/SACCOs). For cassava, the following were identified as the key actors: financial institutions (banks and VICOBA); extension agents, NGOs and CBOs, research institutions and regulatory bodies.Based on these typologies of key actors, 18 focus group discussions (FGDs), 24 key informant interviews (KIIs) and 30 individual interviews were conducted. A total of nine enumerators and transcribers (six enumerators divided equally between men and women and three transcribers: two women and one man) were trained for five days. They also pre-tested the tools for three days prior to actual data collection. Each team per value chain/commodity comprised four members (two enumerators alternating on facilitating and note-taking, a transcriber and a CGIAR staff as overall coordinator and technical support). The data was collected from 18th February to 8th March 2023. For the chicken VC, data was collected from Kagoma, Muleba, Izigo, Kikuku and Kamachumu wards. For cassava, data was collected from Bisheke, Nyakabango, Mubunda, Muleba, Kyebitembe and Kimani wards. In the case of the fish VC, data was collected from Gwanseli, Rulanda, Magata and Muleba wards.A total of 162 respondents were interviewed: 108 (54 male and 54 female) respondents participated in the sex-disaggregated FGDs, while 54 individuals (27 male and 27 female) were interviewed through either KIIs or individual interviews (see Table 2 for an overview).FGD participants included various stakeholders. They were involved in the value chain -producers, processors, traders, etc.but operating at community level, both in rural and peri-urban areas. Individual interviews were conducted in the same wards as the FGDs, and involved those who were expected to share more sensitive content about themselves. Key informant interviews were conducted with individuals who were considered to be in a position to provide an overview on the research topic for the wider community.Tables 1 and 2 provide an overview of the tools utilised to explore each of the two research questions, the type of respondents for each tool and the total number of participants.   Notes were taken during all the meetings. The interviews were recorded digitally and transcribed. A consultant was hired to code the data through Nvivo. Coding was done based on an inductive code book linked to the research questions and adjusted deductively based on new codes that emerged from the data. Coded text was queried to respond to the two research questions.The study results are presented in five sections. It begins with characterization of the commodity value chains highlighting men and women's engagement in key value chain activities. This provides a backdrop for the gender norms and roles highlighted. It then goes on to report on: 1) gender roles in value chains; 2) exceptional cases or when practices do not match norms; and 3) sanctions for transgressing, or \"breaking\" gender roles. Sections 4 and 5 describe climate change impacts and common adaptation practices.This value chain is characterized as having the following key actors:Chicken keepers/farmers: These are actors who rear chickens. In Tanzania, they mainly comprise women. In the past, women kept the birds for household consumption only. However, today, more and more women are engaging in chicken rearing for both household consumption and income generation. With the introduction of exotic, cross-bred dual-purpose chicken, and with the decline of other sources of income that were dominated by men (i.e. coffee and bananas), men are also turning to chicken rearing as a source of income.Livestock extension service and inputs suppliers: These actors provide animal health, extension and advisory services to farmers. They are either employed by the government or private companies. This category includes animal feed stockists or agrovets who provide animal inputs and health services.Chicken aggregators/traders and processors: This segment comprises actors who buy live chicken and eggs from farmers to sell to final consumers. Some of them engage in different processing activities before selling the chicken (e.g. slaughtering and dressing chicken as required by clients). This sector is heavily dominated by men.Photo 1. A focus group discussion with female chicken value chain actors at Kamachumu ward in Muleba district of Karega region.Photo credit: Adolf Jeremiah, ILRI TanzaniaThe cassava value chain is characterized as having the following key actors:Cassava producers: Both men and women farmers engage in production of cassava. Women are mostly involved in small-scale production. Cassava production started as an alternative farming option to provide food for household consumption when bananas began wilting and when coffee was grown as a cash crop. Farmers decided to engage in the cultivation of cassava as a cash crop after noticing that it took a much shorter time to mature compared to coffee. Farmers now produce cassava as both a cash and food crop. They produce both sweet and bitter cassava -sweet cassava is eaten immediately after harvest, while the bitter variety is dried, processed and stored for sale or consumed during periods of food shortage.Cassava traders: Men dominate cassava trade at the wholesale level because they usually have enough capital to start the business and are free to move outside the community. Often, men sell a few sacks of cassava to women so that they can sell them in their community. During low harvest seasons, women are often responsible for cassava trading locally. Men tend to dominate the trade during periods of bountiful harvests.Transporters: Men also engage in transporting cassava using bicycles and motorcycles from farms to their own houses where they process it with the help of women. Men dominate transportation of cassava outside the community and therefore, women often sell their produce to men who transport it to other districts and regions. The fish value chainThe following key actors characterize the fish value chain:Fishers: Actors who catch fish from the lake. They mainly comprise men. In the past, they fished to supplement their household food supply, but currently engage in the activity to generate income.Small-scale processors: This segment of the value chain is dominated by women who receive fresh dagaa (the silver cyprinid Rastrineobola argentea in Lake Victoria, two clupeids Stolothrissa tanganicae in Lake Tanganyika and Limnothrissa miodon in Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu) from male fishers, dry the fish and then sell it as retailers. Different groups of women engage in this activity. Some of them are widows, low-income earners who work to earn money for food, and women who do not have their own capital and rely on savings groups [for loans] as well as on aggregators for working capital or borrow money from their husbands.Fish aggregators or middlemen: These are the people who dominate and hold power in the fish value chain. They buy fish from male fishers or processors and set prices for the market. They set two kinds of prices: prices for male fishers and prices for exporters. The middlemen entered the fish value chain after fishing became economically profitable. After fishing, when dagaa are brought to the landing sites, aggregators set prices, collect most of the dagaa and transport them to other places for sale.Photo 3. Dagaa drying platform in Kagera region. An LGA representative, two processors and an enumerator visited a drying platform after conducting interviews.Photo credit: Davis Mwakanyamale, IITA TanzaniaMultiple gender norms were identified during the fieldwork in Muleba district and during the stakeholder workshop. Across the three commodities, most norms were linked to: \"activities\" that were considered appropriate for women or for men; \"mobility\"/\"space\" that mostly constrained women; \"decision-making\" mostly discouraging women from making decisions independently; \"resources\" mostly limiting women's ability to own, access or control resources needed to manage a given commodity. Table 3 provides an overview of all the norms that were identified.  It is not appropriate for women to be in public placesWomen should not transport fresh or processed cassava for sale outside their communityIt is culturally inappropriate for a woman to have in-person consultation with a male extension agentIt is inappropriate for women to make decisions on how to utilize income earned from cassava productionIt is inappropriate for women to hire labour for cassava production and processing without consulting their husbandsWomen should not make decisions on the size of land for cassava productionIt is inappropriate for women to access loans or credit without permission from their husbandsIt is inappropriate for women to own land for cassava productionIt is inappropriate for women to use land without the approval of their husbands or male relatives Women should not operate mechanized tools for cassava processingIt is inappropriate for men to grind dry cassava (the motion of hand grinding is a feminine activity)Table 5. Gender norms around fishA woman should not engage in high-income earning activities It is not appropriate for men to perform women's tasks such as fish cleaning, sorting, drying and frying A man should not engage in low-income fish value chain activitiesMen are not allowed to talk about women while on fishing expeditions on the lakeThere are places where dagaa is dried by men; women are not allowed to spread dagaa to dry in such places. It is considered bad luck, and such men will not get buyers It is not appropriate for a woman to walk around the area where dagaa is being dried by menIt is inappropriate for women to engage in fishing activities outside the homestead It is not appropriate for a woman to be away from her home at night for workIt is inappropriate for a woman to fish offshore (in the lake)It is inappropriate for men to allow their wives to engage in fishing activities on the lake. They will be considered weak and patheticWomen should not make final decisions independently on family resourcesIt is not appropriate for women to own fishing vessels such as boats It is not appropriate for a woman to access and use loan/credit without seeking permission from the husband It is not appropriate for a woman to make decisions over the use of family resources A woman should not use household resources as collateral to access loans It is not appropriate for men to use assets or financial resources from women when on fishing expeditions, e.g. if a man runs out of kerosene while out on the lake, he should not accept assistance from a womanWhile the norms may vary by commodity, most narratives used to explain the norms are similar. Majority of the explanations about norms that limit women's mobility, for instance, are associated with their responsibility over household chores or the risk of infidelity if they leave the home. Others argued that it was unsafe for women to frequent spaces where there are men, hinting at the risk of sexual harassment and assault. In the case of fish, some argued that women's inability to fish in the lake is established by a law -but no further details on this law were provided.Explanations around why some activities are gendered rotated around: physical strength of men; some innate skill that one group may have (women, for example, are believed to be good at cleaning by nature, unlike men); superstition (women and men argued, for example, that if women fish or touch boats, it will bring bad luck or storms); traditions passed on from their ancestors, and which should not be changed; stereotypes such as the fact that worthless activities (i.e. activities that do not bring adequate financial compensation) are not interesting for men (thereby assuming they are interesting for women). Norms limiting women's decision-making were often justified on grounds that a woman running a business will not respect her husband, leading to misunderstandings in the house.Exceptions to the norms mostly emerged in the fish value chain. Such accounts refer to women fishing with their husbands, a daughter with five boats fishing by herself, or doing managerial work on boats. One participant noted:Regarding single and married women's engagement in fish value chain activities, one woman explained:\"Some single women who live in the mainland go to the island to work and stay there for more than two days during the fishing season. However, for married women, it is not possible. Most people will not allow a married woman to work in the island for two to four weeks, leaving her husband at home.\"In one community a man reported:\"In the past there were four women who used to buy dagaa at night for sale. The community considered them strange, but today, people are used to seeing these women, and men have come to accept them.\"Fisherman FGD, Luhanga villageMen can be shunned for engaging in activities that are considered women's work. A key informant explains regarding a man found sorting dagaa: \"He will be despised, fined and banned from fishing activities, because he has broken the law that the community set to govern the fishing industry.\"Men who perform tasks considered feminine are also at risk of being sanctioned in various ways by different actors. One noted:\"If I find my son engaging in those activities (carrying water, cleaning chicken houses), I will exclude him from participating in important issues like in meetings to decide family matters. I will just regard him as a woman/place him in a women's group\".Some respondents further explained that men who undertake women's activities are despised. They are not allowed to cook fish and if caught, will be called women's names.When asked what would happen to a man who peels cassava, one woman noted that people will laugh at such a man, saying that he is doing women's work. A woman poultry farmer explains:\"No one will allow a man to cook if he has a wife; his siblings and parents will isolate the wife if that happens as our culture does not allow it. However, if the wife hires young men to cook at her restaurant, there is absolutely no problem.\"Female key informant, food vendor, MulebaOne woman trader mentioned that it was unusual for women to be involved in the cassava business in her community. Any woman who engages in the cassava business on a large scale will be accused of controlling her husband. Those who choose to do such activities themselves rather than paying someone of the appropriate gender to perform the activity are considered greedy.\"In the case of a woman selling chicken on the street using a crate or who is involved in the business of transporting eggs to faraway places, her husband will be blamed if she is married. They will also say that she is not a normal woman. However, if she is not married, no one will be blamed.\"If a woman engages in building a chicken coop, her in-laws will sanction such behaviour. One participant during the women's FGD noted:\"In our community, the in-laws are always there to uphold norms and if these are not adhered to, they will assume that their son is being controlled by a woman.\"One processor noted:\"If a woman slaughters chicken, people will curse her; they would not understand why she is slaughtering a chicken and will speak ill of her.\"He added that no customer would agree to have her render that service to them. Notably, this norm is linked to the community's religious beliefs.Men whose wives perform tasks deemed to be men's responsibilities are sanctioned. They are judged and described as having been \"bewitched\", \"taken\" or \"looked down upon\".\"If you tell people that your wife has gone to the lake to fish and you are waiting for her at the landing site, everyone will come to marvel at you and describe you as weak and pathetic.\"Climate change impacts and coping strategies implemented per value chain are described in the following section.Excessive rain, shortage of rain and excessive heat are key climatic events that affect performance in the chicken value chain.With excessive rain, a woman FGD participant noted that there would be lower egg productivity.\"Cold chickens have lower laying capacity and produce smaller eggs.\"There was also the increased risk of disease as explained by one of the government male representatives.\"Prolonged rainfall leads to a higher likelihood of chicken diseases such as flu.\"During excessive rains there were additional requirements for heating as noted by one of the female value chain actors who is a supplier of inputs.\"Keeping chicks warm increases expenses and discourages people from ordering chicks or stopping production\"Another noted that it would be difficult to access charcoal. These expenses compound the overall cost of production as a female respondent representing an NGO pointed out:\"There was a time it happened. Very heavy rainfall affected farmers' crops and this resulted in food scarcity. Prices skyrocketed and those who could not afford the project's running costs decided to quit the breeding project.\"Excessive rains can also damage chicken coops. One of the female FGD participants noted:\"I have been affected by excessive rain and windy conditions. The entire roof was destroyed. This happened on 5th February this year.\"Additionally, such rains can result in flooding of farms.\"Normally we have long rains in April and May, but in 2020 there were prolonged rains that caused a rise in the water levels of the lake resulting in floods. Farms and houses near the shores of Lake Victoria were affected.\"Such rains further disrupt value chain activities.\"Rain affects the transportation of chicken and eggs, and can affect activities further down the chain, such as slaughtering.\"A female chicken processor concurs:\"During the rainy season I can slaughter only one chicken per day compared to eight chickens during the dry season.\"Along with disrupting value chain activities, excessive rain can also adversely affect planning decisions. One respondent noted that rains affect the timing of purchasing chicks.Insufficient rain has an adverse effect on the chicken value chain for both women and men. Little rain decreases crop yields which are used as chicken feed; scarcity of feed leads to higher costs for chicken farmers. The effect on feed is thus explained:\"When the rains delay, we experience drought. For example, in October 2021 the rains came later than anticipated resulting in lower crop harvests. Chicken breeders depend on crops which are often affected by drought.\"Insufficient rain also notably affects women more severely than men, as water becomes scarce, yet women are the ones charged with fetching water.Heat adversely affects the chicken value chain by lowering egg production. One respondent noted that extreme heat reduces the laying capacity of chicken.Although women are affected, the effect varies depending on the financial status of different individuals. For example, women with alternative sources of income such as government-employed workers are less severely affected compared to those who solely depend on poultry for income. Additionally, women with smaller stock sizes are less severely affected compared to those with larger stocks because during prolonged heavy rains, they have to spend more on the purchase of vaccines and drugs to cure their chickens.Men are relatively less affected than women in the poultry value chain because they can easily diversify their sources of income, e.g. by seeking employment or riding motorcycles for hire (boda boda). Furthermore, because of their status and responsibilities as heads of households, they exercise greater agency than women in decision-making over the sale of crops such as bananas and coffee. With such alternative sources of income, men can re-invest in the chicken business in case of adverse climate shocks.In addition, men have several sources of income. This enables them to invest in technologies and a range of other products (e.g. install solar power, purchase wire mesh for making chicken house floors, and use incubators to hatch eggs). Men with low income and those who are married are more affected than the younger men because the latter group can easily emigrate to other regions.Fish value chain performance is primarily affected by excessive rain, wind and heat.Excessive rain results in reduced access as fish is washed away, thus making the fisherman's work harder. Heavy rains, however, can have a positive impact for men in the sense that such rains create favourable conditions for fish breeding, resulting in an abundance. However, selling fish is difficult due to the challenge of drying the catch, a task mainly performed by women. One woman reported:\"Dagaa was rotting, and fishers were forced to dump them into the lake. They had incurred costs to pay for labour to fish, plus fuel used during fishing.\"In addition, due to the slower rate of drying, the quality of fried fish is lower, resulting in lower selling prices. Vendors are also forced to sell such fish for animal feed. Women usually buy fish to process on a smaller scale, and one man noted:\"Such small-scale processors buy small quantities at higher prices, and when it rains they bear the resulting losses.\"Strong winds discourage fishers from going out to the lake due to the increased likelihood of boating accidents. According to a male respondent: \"If fishers are affected, women are also affected because they are not able to get dagaa for processing, yet this is their major source of income.\"One man explained:\"We experience strong winds which destroy fishing vessels. In 2019 or 2020, there was an individual who had more than 30 vessels; he only remained with 15 or ten. The rest were destroyed.\"Excessive heat results in reduced fish stocks. Dagaa die or move to the bottom of the lake when the water temperature rises. Fish also reproduce less in conditions of excessive heat. A community leader noted:\"In 2021, the sun was hot in March, a season when we often expect rain, but there was a drought. Fish and dagaa became scarce. Due to excessive heat, the fish were moving to the deepest water in the lake.\"One woman explained:\"In February, the dagaa usually die as a result of rising temperatures in the lake. The dead fish float to the surface and business has to stop.\"Irregular rains and rain shortages have led to drought while cases of flooding and high winds affect the performance of the cassava value chain.Irregular and/or limited rainfall results in drought and reduced crop yields. Drought results in wilting of cassava plants and increased susceptibility of the crop to disease, leading to reduced yields and productivity, thereby affecting food security.Unreliable or erratic rainfall also makes it difficult to plan when to plant cassava. Although the crop is generally considered drought-tolerant, cassava yields were reportedly lower due to the drought.\"We expect rain in mid-August and that is when we start planting cassava. So, if we face drought in September or October, it means we will have a low harvest as the roots would not have penetrated deep enough into the ground.\"Families, including female-headed households, were affected by drought in different ways, as one participant in a women's FGD noted:\"During the drought, women who did not have husbands to support them, as well as those living with older husbands who cannot work were severely affected. Such families could only afford a single meal in a day, their children could not get school uniforms, and it was difficult for them to contribute to development projects.\"Thus, the rate of household food insecurity increased due to lower yields of cassava.Climate information services (CIS) provide information about seasonal forecasts. Access to CIS and decision-making power about whether to use the information is gendered. Women have less and limited time to listen to radio and watch television (common sources of CIS), according to the female respondents. They are usually busy cooking or carrying out other household activities. When they receive the information through mobile phones, e.g. SMS, they may not be able to follow the recommended practices, e.g. prepare to keep chicken eggs warm in case of sudden cold. Rather, they must first consult their husbands who would then decide what action to take or how to use the information.Past experience also informs decision-making about how to cope with climate change. One male fisher reported:\"There are times we use experience; just by observing the wind and the waves, one can predict what the weather will be like.For example, from March to May, there is a specific time when one must ensure that he gets to the landing site.\"Experience was perceived to be more reliable due to inaccuracies of weather forecasting.Both women and men reported taking loans to, for example, upgrade the poultry shed. However, women relied on informal credit networks such as women support groups to access such credit, while men relied on formal credit services. The latter are less accessible to women due to collateral requirements, some of which women seldom own, e.g. land. The government provides loans specifically for women, the disabled and youth aged 18-40 years -an advantage that men may not have. Women still exercise low levels of agency in decision-making about loans, explaining that a man's consent is often required:\"A woman cannot apply for a loan without a man's permission because it requires a guarantor who must be her husband.\"Men FVC, FGD, Katunguru, MulebaIn some cases, women and men have different coping strategies that are, in part, linked to the scale of their enterprise. For example, in the chicken value chain, men in production use fridges while women reported that they could not afford fridges, and instead used sheds to keep the eggs cool.Across all value chains, all actors reported the importance of diversifying to other commodities or leaving agriculture altogether. In the case of fish, for example, all respondents mentioned that processors generally also started to cultivate crops to feed their families when income from fishing reduced. Men sought work as wage labourers in farms or conducted other nonfarm related businesses. Men also switched jobs if they had the skill, e.g. switching from drying dagaa to vegetable farming, or from fishing to working as wage labourers, or even from farming to fishing. Women were considered by the respondents to be less able to switch jobs -details are provided below.One man said he operates a small retail shop and relies on this when fish stock is low. Other men respondents reported switching to poultry-rearing as a strategy for income generation during climate stress. Some mentioned planting maize which does well in the area.Gender norms and roles often limit women's ability to adapt, e.g., limiting their decision-making.Men exercise more agency in decision-making in households. According to a male fisher: \"Men have greater opportunities… a woman must first seek her husband's permission and her request may be denied. On the other hand, a man may simply decide to leave the house and go out in search of money.\"Assets Women and men agreed that asset ownership, or individuals with more resources and greater financial stability, are better able to cope with the impacts of climate change. Adult women in particular, in relation to younger women, have more income and resources at their disposal. Men often own and control income from the sale of these commodities.A male chicken farmer stated:\"Men own and control most of the assets such as land and cash crops, and can use these resources to recover from incidents of climate shock, unlike women. If I encounter a challenge, I can just go to the banana farm and harvest some, sell and earn money. My wife cannot do that.\"A woman involved in the fish value chain noted:\"If a banana is cut from the field, it belongs to a man, despite the fact that it is the woman who cultivates. The man can sell bananas and will not be questioned about the money earned, but a woman must seek permission before selling bananas.'The amount of time that women spend on reproductive tasks can constrain mobility, thus limiting their ability to diversify income sources. Some of the respondents explained that both women and men pursued other incomegenerating activities, though women are less mobile due to gender norms in the community that discourage them from leaving their homes.Gendered roles Norms that engender roles and activities were also used to explain women's lack of access to diversification opportunities and adaptive capacity. A male fisher noted:\"When dagaa is scarce, a man can ask a male fisher for a temporary job and earn income, something a woman cannot do given the defined gender roles.\"Additional factors that affect women's and men's abilities to cope with climate change include relationships, specifically intrahousehold dynamics. In some cases, cooperation between spouses may be stronger in times of crises, thus increase the number and types of coping strategies within a household, thereby strengthening resilience. One woman reported:\"Married women working in conjunction with their husbands are better equipped to cope with climate-related challenges due to shared resources and responsibilities.\"Additionally, a male respondent shared:\"Today, you have to sit and discuss with your wife, because the weather is changing. For example, if I am stuck, my wife can give me money from her business so that I move forward and life goes on.\"Such instances of mutual support were reported in the fish value chain. Here, men stated that if they were unable to fish, women would work on the farm to support the family. Men perceived that they lacked skill-sets beyond fishing because they were not trained to do anything else other than fishing. Similarly, lack of spousal support undermines one's coping ability. Female-headed households are particularly affected:\"Women who lack support from husbands or widows are more severely affected during climatic shocks.\"Value chain actors, including women and men in chicken, fish and cassava value chains, experience the impacts of climate change such as irregular rainfall, drought, excessive heat and winds. Common coping strategies include taking out loans and diversifying sources of income. Generally speaking, men, compared to women, are often better able to take advantage of these opportunities which results in gender-differentiated adaptation capacities and subsequent gender differences between women and men concerning economic resilience to climate change.Gender norms shape, to a certain extent, women's and men's activities and capacities to diversify along the value chain. Within and across each value chain, norms about what women and men should or shouldn't do affect engagement in specific activities. Women producers are generally discouraged from engaging in large-scale commodity production, or along the value chain, in high income-generating activities such as aggregation. Meanwhile, men are discouraged from engaging in activities that generate lower income relative to women. The scale of commercialization, that also affects capital investments in new adaptation practices or technologies also differs between women and men. Such factors can hinder diversification of income. Norms that limit women's access to, and control over resources also reduces their ability to engage in value chains.Labour burdens can further reduce the ability of women to engage in income-generating nodes along the value chain. Gender specific norms that assign household chores and engagement in low-income generating activities to women, can generate gender-specific time constraints that affect the time that women can spend on earning income. Furthermore, norms about \"mobility\" and \"space\" limit women's engagement in activities outside the household. In addition, concerns over women's interaction with men who are not immediate family members further limits their ability to engage in off-farm activities.Norms that designate men as primary decision-makers and diminish women's role in this area can also directly influence women's ability to use CIS or take out loans to implement adaptation practices that would enable them to stay in business during seasons of climate shock. Married women generally must seek approval from their husbands prior to investing in a strategy, e.g., building shelters or purchasing technologies to maintain productivity.Exceptions to the norms exist, whereby men or women conduct themselves in ways that deviate from what is considered \"appropriate\" or \"normal\" for their gender (across other personal characteristics). So-called \"positive deviants\" in the literature, these individuals are potential champions of gendered empowerment, as observed in the data, particularly on fish. Whether women or men, they may offer positive models for behavioural change and opportunities for equitable adaptation and improvements in resilience at scale. Positive deviants may offer, for example, insight into how sanctions associated with \"breaking\" the norms (realized through discriminatory practices such as public ridicule) can be overcome to promote gender equitable opportunities in adaptation practices.The findings also indicate that during times of crisis, when the need for income is pressing, thus creating new spaces for women and men to work together. Instances of spousal support and increases in intrahousehold decision-making were reported in the data. Exploring these cases to create a better understanding of how these relationships evolve can be useful in informing interventions to support adaptation and is recommended for future study.The study shows that actors in value chains, both women and men across fish, chicken and cassava value chains are negatively affected by changes in the climate. The findings underscore the importance of assets in coping with climate shock, and how gendered access to and control over productive assets and resources generate constraints in value chain coping strategies. Private and communally owned assets, such as communal swamps in the case of fishing, are valuable for their roles in supporting adaptation, particularly for resource-poor farmers that may include women. There is need for governments and community stakeholders to work together to strengthen rights of access for vulnerable groups. It is also recommended to strengthen mechanisms to better govern and manage communal resources for longer term resilience in the landscape, e.g., restoration activities. Such anticipatory efforts may also reduce the potential of conflicts over resources and environmental degradation.Common adaptation strategies that emerged from the findings include diversification of income, taking out loans to improve infrastructure or replace lost harvest, and relying on technology to prepare for climate change. These strategies, however, are easier for men to implement when compared to women. Restrictive gender norms influence the abilities of women and men to adapt, establish and maintain economic resilience in the face of climate change. Similar norms operate across the three value chains and circumscribe \"activities\" that are considered appropriate for women or for men; \"mobility\"/ \"space\" that mostly constrain women to the domestic sphere; \"decision-making\" mostly discouraging women from making decisions independently; and \"resources\" mostly limiting women's ability to own, access or control resources needed to manage a given commodity.These norms limit women's engagement in income-generating activities, access and control over productive resources, time and mobility, and agency in decision-making, particularly in the household. Men may also be discouraged from engaging in value chain activities associated with women or those that are deemed \"feminine\". Sanctions for breaking norms may be exercised in communities, households, kin networks and work environments, whether formal or informal. Such restrictive norms compromise the potential to attain resilient food systems that support livelihoods and families in Africa in the face of climate change.Addressing gender norms and the practices that reinforce inequity in adaptation is a critical development challenge that will be essential for the survival of smallholder farmers and actors in a changing climate. Particular attention should be paid to how gender norms shape and interact with dimensions of empowerment within value chains, that may be exacerbated under climate change. For example, there is need to examine how workload varies across gender and, together with restrictions on women's mobility, limit women's ability to diversify income. There is also need to pay attention to decision-making dynamics within the household and related norms that shape who has access to which resources, spaces plus activities before and during climate shocks. These affect opportunities for income diversification and access to loans and technologies.Overall, normative constraints to women's economic resilience to climate change are common in all three value chains. While value chain-specific norms exist, some cross-cutting norms around women's mobility, decision-making, ownership of resources and capacity persist. Policy support and strategic private sector efforts are recommended to bolster women's economic resilience. Key interventions and policies are required to address normative constraints in order to open new opportunities for women and their households to cope in the face of adverse climate shocks. Attention to these gender dynamics and norms can aid in design and implementation of more gender-inclusive and even transformative social safety nets to support communities during and after adverse climate shocks.","tokenCount":"8197"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3667247703.json b/data/part_1/3667247703.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..08313bf97e042d3c00cd52dc10d4b12bc70a90fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3667247703.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eea817310e829bb9fad8faad5579e3e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/54323371-7aa6-46c7-864b-01b6feacece0/retrieve","id":"-1266675395"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"557ba0d3-041b-4a86-adb7-934f725dbc27","pagecount":"1","content":"Sweetpotato is a major staple and co-staple root crop for millions of the rural people in Africa.Recently, it has been demonstrated to be of human health importance by combating vitamin A deficiency. This paper is a summary review of recent findings on the orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) farmer varieties (FV) from East Africa (EA) and their potential contribution to combat vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Africa. Between 2000 and 2006, scientists from East and Central Africa collected several OFSP varieties from farmers' fields together with the white-and creamfleshed sweetpotato (WFSP) farmer varieties. Subsequent characterization studies using selected EA and exotic germplasm revealed critical findings for the future use of OFSP FV in Africa. Overall, molecular characterization showed that EA germplasm is distinct from non-African germplasm. It also showed that OFSP FV and WFSP FV from EA are very closely related. The two findings address suspicions that OFSP FV are of exotic origin. The OFSP FV differed from exotic OFSP on root dry matter (DM), starch and sucrose properties. Whereas the exotic OFSP are characteristically 'sweet and moist' (DM ≈ 25.0%, starch ≈50.0% and sucrose ≈ 10.3%), OFSP FV had characteristically high DM (≈33.0%), high starch (≈ 65.0%) and similar to the WFSP FV. It is these qualities that make sweetpotato a staple crop in Africa. However, root â-carotene content (BC) of some OFSP FV ['Ejumula', 240pmm; 'Carrot C', 259 ppm; 'Mayai', 264 ppm; and 'Zambezi', 233 ppm]  nearly equaled that of 'Resisto' (271ppm), one of the popular OFSP cultivars in USA. These were shown to meet ≥400% of recommended daily allowance (RDA) with 250 g serving to a 5-8 year old child. Other light orange-fleshed FV like 'ARA244 Shinyanga', 'K-118', 'K-134', 'K-46', 'PAL161', 'Sowola6', 'SRT52', and 'Sudan' had lower root BC than 'Resisto' and were shown to meet between 50-90% RDA of the child. In conclusion, OFSP FV from EA might show similar adaptation to sub-Sahara African environments as their sister WFSP and have a big potential to alleviate VAD. Also, breeding for acceptable high DM and high starch OFSP varieties for African consumers seems possible.","tokenCount":"345"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3689801387.json b/data/part_1/3689801387.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..938aa3eae867295b04c55b1b40296b4aba7886c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3689801387.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"896d361245ca7bbaaa37c150c3b1e5b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c5bc868-36a8-4e94-be33-be3ac3b3c655/retrieve","id":"837482743"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9f8668f1-cb58-41a2-94db-f4aa05a17060","pagecount":"30","content":"Por qué es el caso del fríjol amarillo relevante en el debate ?•porque puede haber acceso afuera de un sistema regulado de acceso•porque es posible hacer un seguimiento a un material biológico/ genético•porque tiene muchas implicaciones para la documentación en los países documentación: inventarios biológicos, procesos bio-tecnológicos•porque puede haber preguntas en seguimiento y control•porque la figura de la patente deja muchos interrogantes incluyendo la otorgación con poca base para evidenciar la inovación incluyendo la no reparación en caso de ausencia de inovación • otoño de 1999: alerta de organizaciones de la sociedad civil• abril 1999: el USPTO otorga una patente sobre un fríjol amarillo y sobre un proceso de mejora para producir este tipo de fríjol (patente no. 5,894,079) (presentada el 15 Noviembre de 1996)• abril 2008: la BPAI del USPTO confirmó el rechazo de todos los reclamos \"The Centers recognize that many accessions designated under the Agreements with FAO were distributed to plant breeders and researchers prior to designation in keeping with the CGIAR policy for providing \"unrestricted availability\" to germplasm -as noted in the preamble of Agreements. In dealing with this situation, the Centers will request and urge that no intellectual property rights be sought for designated germplasm that was distributed before its designation under the FAO-CGIAR Agreement\".Segunda declaración conjunta -FAO y el CGIAR -1998 (un año antes de otorgar la patente sobre el fríjol amarillo) estaba la USPTO al tanto de esta declaración conjunta ? ? otros resultados (2) después de un estudio con AFLPs, con 10 combinaciones de cebadores dando 133 fragmentos \" . . . the identity of the yellow seed color genotype with that of existing yellow bean cultivars raise questions about the rationales for the award of a utility patent and a PVP certificate for Enola. \"•un Centro Internacional del CGIAR defiende una variedad mejorada algunas observaciones sobre el caso•la variedad mejorada es del sector público de un país latinoamericano•el re-examen se ganó gracias a la capacidad de documentar el 'arte anterior'•el 'arte anterior' incluyó las colecciones de germoplasma designado•e incluyó todas las publicaciones pertinentes en todo el mundo hacia 1901 !•es muy factible hacer una 'trazabilidad' de una planta cultivada Por qué esta patente representa un problema ? ","tokenCount":"366"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3698947651.json b/data/part_1/3698947651.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9f0520d42a7ceb76f9d6debfa27acdaae5192a15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3698947651.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"557afc06f57575090d61b7074d9b1dfa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/04299251-cdb7-4de6-aeff-acfe96bdcf5a/retrieve","id":"1729925801"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0a4eb285-01bf-4b54-baf1-bb12bc76da23","pagecount":"58","content":"Output 1 Analysis of the factors affecting farmers' decisions on land management and trade-offs in the uses of crop residues Output 1.1 Socio-economic characteristics and allocation of crop residues by farm households in the subhumid and semi-arid savannahs of West AfricaThe project's goal was to identify key areas where research can make a difference in balancing trade-offs among livestock, soils and crops, while taking advantage of synergies in evolving crop-livestock systems.The specific objectives were to:Quantify trade-off effects between the use of biomass as a livestock feed and its use in • improving soil fertility;Identify the key driving forces and areas of intervention and entry points through which • research can facilitate synergies during the intensification of crop-livestock systems;Create better institutional linkages between the different actors involved in research, • extension and policy issues related to mixed farming systems.Analysis of the factors affecting farmers' decisions on land management and trade-offs in • the uses of crop residues;The identification of areas of intervention and entry points through which appropriate • crop-livestock integration technologies can stimulate the intensification of crop-livestock systems; andEnhanced institutional and partnership linkages between policy, extension, research and • private sector actors and farmers for effectively addressing constraints faced in evolving mixed farming systems in a holistic way.The system-wide livestock project 'Balancing livestock needs and soil conservation: Assessment of opportunities in intensifying cereal-livestock systems in West Africa' was carried out in Ghana, Nigeria and Niger. It was a project led by IITA in collaboration with ILRI, ICRISAT, INRAN, IAR, KVL and ARI.The general objective of the project was to identify key areas where research can make a difference in balancing trade-offs among livestock, soil, and crops, while taking advantage of synergies in evolving crop-livestock systems. The project focused on the identification of socioeconomic factors influencing decision-making on crop residue uses, quantification of trade-offs in using crop residues as soil amendment or livestock feed, and the identification of entry points for improving the productivity of cereal-legume-livestock systems.The project was implemented in villages along crop-livestock integration gradient from northern Guinea savannah in Ghana through the Sudan savannah in Nigeria to the Sahel savannah in Niger. Field surveys and experiments were conducted from June 2007 to December 2008.The key socio-economic determinants of the uses of crop residues by a household were education, household size, agriculture extension visits. Contrary to popular notion that risk perception of farmers is the major driver for residue allocation, the study observed that risk perception of farmers had no influence on the decision taken by farmers on the use of their crop residues.The trade-off analysis provided a useful insight on the profitability of crop residue allocation options. The use of crop residues as fodder for livestock increased livestock productivity but had little or no effect on crop productivity when used as soil amendments. Farmers in northern Guinea savannah achieved the optimum farm revenue by using 25% of haulm and 75% of stover as fodder, and the remaining as soil amendment.On the contrary, farmers in the Sudan savannah used 75% of haulm and 25% of stover as fodder in order to attain the optimum farm revenue. However, in the Sahel savannah, higher farm revenues were achieved by feeding all residues to livestock and incorporating none into the soil.The potential pathways for improving the prevailing trade-offs identified in the study were as follows: the use of improved dual purpose legumes in appropriate rotation to legume biomass yield, application of surface mulch and tied ridging to improve soil water storage, and processing of stover to enhance its palatability and intake.Entry points for improving the productivity of cereal-legume-livestock systems were identified by auditing nutrient flows and calculating nutrient balances at the farm and village-levels. Regardless of the regimen of N fertilizer used, N balances were negative. Positive P balances were achieved when the recommended application rates of P fertilizers were used. Key entry points identified were:Reducing the use of crop residues for fuel and construction purposes and substituting • with other locally available materials;Quantifying the short and long-term benefits of crop residue retention and packaging the • technology to boost its adoption;Developing cost-effective options for improving the quality of manure; and • Developing cost-effective technologies to control leaching. •Site descriptionCharacterization of the study areaThe studies were conducted in the northern Guinea savannah of Ghana, Sudan savannah of Nigeria, and Sahel savannah of Niger. These agro-ecological zones represent a gradient of croplivestock integration in West Africa, with low integration in the northern Guinea Savannah and high integration in the Sudan and Sahel savannahs. The villages selected for the studies were located at the Tolon-Kumbungu District of Ghana, Kano state of Nigeria, and Maradi region of Niger (Figure 1).Source: Geographical Information Systems unit, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria.Figure 1. Locations of study.The Tolon-Kumbungu district lies within longitude 0º0.5'W and 1º20'W, latitude 9º7.5'N and 0º10'N, and covers a total land area of 304.5 km 2 . Kano lies on longitude 8º30'E, The Tolon-Kumbungu district has a mono-modal rain pattern that starts in May and ends in October. The mean annual rainfall of the district is 913.6 mm yr -1. The rainfall pattern in Kano is also mono-modal with a mean of 686 mm yr -1 . The Maradi region has the least mean rainfall of 402 mm yr -1 .Temperature: At Tolon-Kumbungu the daily average temperature is highest in March through to April/May just before the rains begin. Lowest temperature occurs in December-January which is usually associated with harmattan conditions. The district has a mean annual temperature of 26.0°C. The mean annual temperature in Kano is 26.7°C while Maradi has a mean annual temperature of 28.7°C.The soils in Tolon-Kumbungu consist of several soil series that includes the Tingoli, Nyankpala, Kumayili, Kpalesangu, Changnayili, and the Volta series. The dominant soil in the district is Ferric Luvisols (FAO and UNESCO 1994). The dominant soils in Kano are Regosols (FAO and UNESCO 1994), while the dominant soils of Maradi department are Eutric Gleysols (FAO and UNESCO 1994). In recent years, greater part of land in the subhumid and semi-arid agro-ecological zones of West Africa have been characterized by significant amount of land degradation and conversion caused mainly by overgrazing and agricultural activities (Oldeman et al. 1990). Soil fertility depletion in smallholder farming is the biophysical root cause of the declining per capita food production and which largely contribute to poverty and food insecurity. As noted by Barbier (2000), many rural farm households in Africa tend to respond to land productivity decline by abandoning their existing degraded farmland and moving to new land for cultivation. However, rapid growth in human population and the problems associated with land tenure systems in West Africa have necessitated the intensification of farmland use. In order to get improved land management practices, farmers in the savannah region of West Africa are moving from shifting cultivation, bush fallowing, and pastoralism towards mixed crop-livestock systems (Tiffen 2004). Kristjanson and Thorton (2001) pointed out that crop-livestock systems are the most important means for producing food across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). About 438 million people (70% of the total SSA human population), 92 million cattle (80% of SSA cattle), and 194 million sheep and goat (80% of the total SSA sheep and goat) are found in these systems (Thornton et al. 2002). Smith et al. (1997) also noted that there would be increasing integration of crops and livestock over the next few decades due to increasing demand for crop and livestock products.However, investment in research on the challenges and potential rewards of improving integrated crop-livestock systems has been inadequate. Also, the advantages of crop-livestock systems for efficient use of natural resources and for meeting the food demand of developing countries have not been adequately promoted (Amogu 2004). The relevance of crop residue used in crop-livestock farming system in developing nations cannot be over emphasized.Several studies (e.g. Kristjanson et al. 2002) have considered crop residues and crop-livestock farming systems independently but none has quantified the trade-offs involved in the alternative uses of crop residue. Also, no study has been undertaken in the study area to examine farm households' decisions to use crop residues in crop or livestock production. This study explores the socio-economic factors which influence intensification of crop residues use in croplivestock farming systems. The trade-offs, risks, and inefficiencies associated with the alternative uses of crop residues in the intensification technology among farm households in the subhumid and semi-arid savannah of West Africa are investigated.The questions addressed in the study were as follows:What is the current re-allocation of crop residues between crop and livestock production Objectives of the studyThe main objective of this study was to examine the socio-economic factors which affect the reallocation of crop residues between crop and livestock production for improved rural livelihood.The specific objectives were to:Characterize the current allocation of crop residue use among farm households in Ghana, • Nigeria, and Niger; andAnalyse the socio-economic factors which influence the potential adoption intensity of • crop residue for crop production.Crop-livestock farming systems could be conceptualized as a complex interaction of different rural population, crop and livestock enterprises, land resources, environment, market, and government policies. As population increases in rural areas and agricultural land becomes scarce, the proportion of land available for farm households diminishes. This puts pressure on farm lands and results in land degradation. The productive ability of degraded land can be renewed either through natural regeneration (fallow) or application of fertilizer (organic or inorganic or both). In crop-livestock farming systems, crop residues and animal dung are good sources of organic fertilizer; and the livelihood of farm households largely depends on crop yields and livestock farming enterprises such as animal traction and manure.Crop residues are mostly fed to livestock or incorporated into the soil as a soil fertility improvement measure. They can also be sold or used for other domestic purposes. Rural farmers engaged in crop-livestock farming systems have multiple objectives of producing crops and livestock by maximizing economic benefits from current production, minimizing the cost of labour input, and ensuring sustainability of their resource base.Farm households undertake three major decisions in the maximization of economic benefit from crop and livestock production. These include decisions on crop production, livestock production, and crop residues allocation. Since crop residues have alternative uses, farm households are faced with trade-offs in the benefits accruable from the use of crop residues. The production risk perception, risk attitude, and technical efficiency of farm households may have significant effect on the decision to adopt crop residues for alternative uses in crop-livestock farming system. Hence, any intensification technology to be adopted by the farm households must be assessed based on these and relevant factors. Any public policy formulation, therefore, should consider not only the marginal contribution of crop residue use to the mean of output but also the marginal reduction in variance of output and inefficiency.  The Tobit Model (Greene 2008) was specified to analyse the socio-economic factors which influence the intensification of crop residues for crop production:where: ij Y denotes crop residue used for purpose j by farmer i Z is a vector of independent variables such as age, education, farm size, household labour, use of credit, crop extension visits, livestock extension visits, risk perception index and inefficiency index b denotes parameters to be estimated i e is assumed to be NID (0, 2 s ) and independent of i xThe study was undertaken in Ghana, Nigeria, and Niger in West Africa. The northern region of Ghana is located in the subhumid savannah zone while Kano State in Nigeria and Maradi District in Niger are found in the semi-arid savannah zones. In terms of crop-livestock farming in West Africa, maize-sorghum-cattle system is mostly practised in the northern region of Ghana, and the pearl millet-cowpea-cattle system is mostly practised in Kano and Maradi (Manyong 2002). Multi-stage sampling technique was used.In Ghana, 12 villages were randomly selected from 3 districts in the northern region. Similarly, 12 villages were selected from 3 Departments in Maradi. Five farm households each were selected from each typology making a total of 180 farm households each for Ghana and Niger. 1  In Kano, six local government areas (LGAs) were selected at random (i.e. two 2 LGAs from each of the three agricultural zones of the state) after which four villages were randomly selected within each LGA making a total of 24 villages. Fifteen farm households were selected randomly from each of the sampled villages making a total sample size of 360 in Nigeria.A set of well-structured questionnaires were then used to collect the relevant data after pretesting the questionnaire. Questionnaire administration was done through the assistance of interpreters who translated the questionnaires to the farmers in Hausa (Niger and Nigeria) and Dagbani languages (Ghana).1. The socio-economic typologies we considered were based on resource endowments of households, namely: Type 1: crop farmers (those farmers who produce only crops or combine livestock of less than 1 Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) with crop production; Type 2: crop-livestock non-equipped or less resource endowed farmers (those farmers who combine between 1 and 2 TLU of livestock with crop production); and Type 3: crop-livestock equipped or resource endowed farmers (those who combine more than 2 TLU of livestock with crop production).The coordinates of farmer-specific locations were collected through the use of Geo-Positioning System (GPS) equipment. Bio-physical data like rainfall, temperature, and soil types of farmerspecific locations (GPS) were also generated from the FAO soil type, rainfall, and temperature data in IITA database.This section briefly discusses some of the socio-economic characteristics and allocation of crop residues among farm households who practice crop-livestock farming systems in Ghana, Nigeria, and Niger. These distributions have been indicated in  Significant differences, however, exist in their off-farm income and non-farm expenditure; Nigeria recording the highest values of USD 1203.9 and USD 2574.3, respectively. In terms of farm size, farmers in Nigeria and Niger had the highest land holdings of 4.1 ha each and Ghanaian farmers had the smallest holdings of 1.58 ha. Also, it is interesting to note the distribution of harvested crop residue among the farm households across the three regions. The farmers mainly harvested maize, millet, sorghum, cereal, cowpea, groundnut, and soybean crop residues. Nigeria holds the record of having the highest sorghum and cereal residues.As depicted in Figure 1.1.3, the location of farm household tends to influence the trade-offs in the crop-livestock farming system. With the exception of Ghanaian farm households who harvested soybean residues, allocation of legume residues for livestock production appears to be high in all the three regions than for crop production. Also, with the exception of Ghana, allocation of cereal residues to feed livestock was higher than for crop production.These findings, thus, suggest that farm households in Ghana (65-68%) compared to those in Nigeria and Niger tend to intensify their crop residue use in soil fertility improvement for crop production than for livestock production. Intensification of crop residues for livestock production in Nigeria and Niger is not surprising because of the historical antecedents of households in these semi-arid savannah zones to engage in heavy livestock production. As noted by Amogu (2004), several attempts are now being made by international and multilateral funding agencies to promote programs that enhance crop-livestock integration in Nigeria, for instance.The Tobit estimates which explain the adoption intensity of crop residue technology by sampled farm households in Ghana, Nigeria, and Niger are shown in Table 1.1.1. The efficiency variable is negative and significant for farm households located in all the three countries. This indicates that farmers with lower technical efficiency tend to use higher proportion of their harvested crop residues for crop production. The empirical finding is also consistent with the hypothesis that farmers with low technical efficiency may want to improve their resource-use efficiency leading to changes in land management practices. On average, each additional decrease in farmers' technical efficiency increased the proportion of crop residues adoption by 4.4%. Therefore, efforts to increase crop production by farmers with low technical efficiency should focus more on increasing current users. The risk variable is positive as expected but it is not significant for any of the agroecological zones considered in the study.Household size which was used to proxy household labour has a positive and significant influence on the intensity of crop residue use for crop production in Nigeria but is statistically insignificant for Ghana and Niger. The empirical result indicates that larger farm households in Nigeria adopt the use of crop residues for crop production more than those with smaller household sizes. This finding also reveals the effect of household size on household resource allocation behaviour. Larger farm households endowed with available labour assist in the transportation and incorporation of crop residues into the soil. Each additional unit increase in household size increased the proportion of crop residues for crop production by 7.5%. The education variable is positive as expected and significant for Nigeria but insignificant for Ghana and Niger. This is consistent with the human capital theory that households with higher human capital are in a position to understand and appreciate new innovations better and would intensify their crop residue use for crop production compared to those with lower human capital.The intensity of crop residue use for crop production is positively and significantly influenced by farm sizes of households in Nigeria and Niger but in Ghana, it is statistically insignificant.The crop extension variable is positive for Ghana as expected but not in Nigeria and Niger. Since livestock production is heaviest in Maradi and Kano districts, we expect ceteris-paribus, the crop-livestock intensification trade-off to shift from livestock to crop production if the households receive more crop extension visits.The expenditure variable also exhibit the negative apriori sign but it is significant only for Nigeria. The livestock extension variable is negative and significant only for Ghana indicating that farmers who receive less extension in livestock production tend to intensify their crop residue use for crop production at the expense of livestock production. Although livestock production is very relevant to farm households in northern Ghana but relatively not as high as compared to Maradi of Niger and Kano of Nigeria, it was not surprising that farmers in Ghana who receive less livestock extension services tend to shift their intensification strategy from livestock production to crop production.This study has analysed the socio-economic characterization, the trade-offs of crop residue allocation between crop and livestock production, and the adoption of crop residue for crop production among farm households who practice crop-livestock farming systems. In particular, the study examined the factors which influence the households' crop residue use intensity for crop production in the subhumid savannah zone of Ghana and semi-arid savannah zones of Nigeria and Niger. The northern region of Ghana is noted for maize-sorghum-cattle system while the pearl millet-cowpea-cattle type of crop-livestock farming is practised by farm households in Kano and Maradi districts.Farm households in Ghana tend to intensify their crop residue use for crop production than for livestock production compared to those in Nigeria and Niger. The empirical results show that factors such as efficiency of farm households, education, household size, livestock, and crop extension visits influence the adoption intensity of crop residue use for crop production.The main findings of the study are that efforts to increase crop production through farm households with low technical efficiency should focus more on increasing current users.In Nigeria, farm households endowed with available labour supply tend to facilitate the transportation and incorporation of crop residues into the soil as a soil fertility improvement measure. The trade-off between crop residue use for crop and livestock production among farm households in Nigeria shifts toward crop production when households have high human capital. Although livestock production is very relevant in northern Ghana, less livestock extension visits to farm households shift adoption of crop residue for livestock production to crop production. Although some studies have shown risk attitudes of farmers to influence their decision to choose between alternative uses of crop residue in crop-livestock farming system, our empirical analysis did not find any evidence of this among the sampled farm households in Nigeria, Ghana, and Niger.degradation. In: Oldeman LR, Hakkeling RTA and Sombroek WG (eds), World map of the status of human-induced soil Erosion: An explanatory note. 2nd Edition, Annex 5. International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Wageningen, the Netherlands.Smith JW, Naazie A, Larbi K, Agyemang K and Tarawali S. 1997. Integrated crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: An option or an imperative? Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 5 pp. Output 1.2 Trade-offs in agricultural uses of stover and haulms in the dry savannahs of Ghana, Nigeria and Niger Introduction Crop residues have enormous potential to improve soil fertility (Bationo et al. 1995) but their use have been limited by keen competition for them as fodder and large amounts needed to achieve optimum crop yields. Currently, there are conflicting reports on the partition of crop residues for either crop or livestock production. Although Delve et al. (2001) recommended that high quality plant materials should be used as mulch and low quality plant materials as fodder, Larbi et al. (2002) maintained that 50-75% of crop residues, regardless of their quality, should be used as mulch and the remaining 25-50% as fodder.Farmers, on the other hand, prefer to feed all the high quality residues to their livestock. To enable farmers make informed decisions on the allocation of crop residues, it is imperative to provide them with information on the quantities of crop or livestock products they give away (trade-off) for allocating more crop residues into livestock or crop production.Trade-off refers to the opportunity costs of selecting one production alternative rather than the other. Smallholder farmers face multiple trade-offs when deciding on the allocation of their available financial, labour and nutrient resources to competing production activities within their farms (Tittonell et al. 2007). Crissman et al. (1998) proposed trade-off analysis as a tool for providing quantitative information to support decision-making on agricultural production systems. Indeed, trade-off analysis has been used to streamline resource allocation in peri-urban vegetable production (Francisco and Ali 2006), resource and labour allocation by smallholder farmers (Tittonell et al. 2007), investments in nitrogen fertilization and weed control (Dimes et al. 2001), and potato productivity and environmental quality (Stoorvogel et al. 2004).Until now, no study has been conducted to quantify the benefits that a crop-livestock farmer may gain or forfeit (trade-offs) for using crop residues as either fodder or mulch. The challenge for stakeholders in sustainable crop-livestock production is to quantify these trade-offs and recommend optimum rates of crop residues for soil application and livestock feeding.There is a widespread non-adoption of previous technologies on the use of organic materials for soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa (Palm et al. 1997;Nandwa and Bekunda 1998;Palm et al. 2001). Conventionally, the evaluation of many agricultural technologies has been based on agronomic efficiency, yet agronomic effectiveness alone does not determine the actual usefulness of a technology to a farmer. Certainly, to motivate farmers to inculcate emerging 'best-fit' technologies into their practices, there is an urgent need to involve them in assessing the sustainability of these technologies in terms of their agronomic superiority, economic viability, environmental friendliness, and social acceptability.Two researcher-managed on-farm experiments were conducted to quantify crop-livestock benefit trade-offs. These involve measuring the benefits that a farmer loses from crop production for a unit gain in livestock produce by feeding more crop residues to livestock rather than incorporating them into the soil. Five scenarios of allocating legume haulms (H) and cereal stover (S) for soil application (SA) and livestock feeding (LF) were evaluated as follows:Scenario 1: 0% SA (0% H, 0% S) vs. 100% LF (100% H, 100% S) The first study monitored the impact of incorporating crop residues into the soil on the productivity of the cropping system while the second study assessed the effect of feeding crop residues to livestock on the productivity of the livestock unit of the farm.Study 1: Effect of crop residue incorporation on productivity of cereallegume cropping systemThe study was conducted at two farms each at Cheyohi, Sarauniya, and Garin Labo. The soils at Cheyohi, were Ferric Luvisols (FAO and UNESCO 1994) with loamy texture. At Sarauniya, the soils were Regosol (FAO and UNESCO 1994) with sandy loam texture while in Garin Labo, soils were Eutric Gleysols (FAO and UNESCO 1994) with sandy texture. The selected physical and chemical properties of the soils (0-15 cm) at the beginning of the study are given in Table (1.2.1). Five treatments of legume haulms and cereal stover mix were incorporated into the soil: 0% H 0% S (T1); 25% H 75% S (T2); 50% H 50% S (T3); 75% H 25% S (T4); and 100% H 100% S (T5). The design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Plot sizes were 20 m × 10 m at Cheyohi, 30 m × 4 m at Sarauniya, and 20 m × 6 m at Garin Labo. Adjacent plots within the blocks were separated by 1 m wide access while blocks were separated by 2 m wide access.Crop residues used for the study were obtained from the selected farms at the end of the cropping season in 2007. Crop residues were weighed into the appropriate proportions, spread evenly on the designated plots, and incorporated manually into the soil. The amounts of crop residues incorporated at various locations are shown in Table 1.2.2. Animal-drawn mould board ploughs and tine harrows were used to prepare plots for seeding during the major rainy season of 2008. The cropping systems practised were maize-cowpea intercropping at Cheyohi; maize-groundnut sole cropping at Sauraniya; and millet-cowpea intercropping at Garin Labo. The amounts of N, P 2 O 5 , and K 2 O applied to cereals and legumes at the selected sites represented two-thirds of the national NPK recommendations specific to the selected systems. Diseases and pests of economic importance to the crops were not encountered during study; consequently, no herbicides or pesticides were applied to the crops.Dry matter content of plant samples were determined by drying plant materials at 105ºC for 16 h (AOAC 1990). Plant materials were ashed in a muffle furnace at 550ºC for 8 hours to determine ash content. Plant samples were wet-digested with a mixture of H 2 SO 4 , selenium, and salicylic acid, the P and N concentrations in the digest were determined using the automated analytical (Technicon Auto-Analyzer II) method of Novozamsky et al. (1983).The total C was determined by the modified wet combustion technique described by Nelson and Sommers (1982). Acid detergent fiber (ADF), the fraction of plant materials containing lignin, cellulose and ash, was obtained by boiling plant samples with sulphuric acidcetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide solution under reflux conditions for 1 h. Lignin was then determined by oxidizing the ADF with buffered potassium permanganate solution (Anderson and Ingram 1993).The total extractable polyphenols (consisting of hydrolysable tannins, condensed tannins and non-tannin polyphenolics) was determined by the Folin-Denin method (Anderson and Ingram 1993). Total K was extracted by 1 M ammonium acetate and determined by flame emission spectroscopy. Plant samples were categorized using the index proposed by Tian et al. (1995) as PRQI = [1/ (0.423 C/N + 0.439 lignin + 0.138 polyphenols)] × 100, with the coefficients of C:N, lignin and polyphenol representing their relative contributions to the index. The chemical characteristics and plant residue quality index (PRQI) of the crop residues incorporated into the soils are shown in Table 1.2.3. Air-dried soil samples were passed through a 2 mm sieve and analysed for particle size • distribution by the Bouyoucos hydrometer method (Bouyoucos 1926).Bulk density was determined by the core method (Blake and Hartge 1986). • Soil pH was determined in water (1:1 soil-water ratio). • Soil organic carbon was determined by the wet combustion method (Nelson and Sommer • 1975).Soil samples for NH • 4 -N and NO 3 -N determination were extracted with 2 M KCl and analysed with the Technicon Auto-Analyzer II. Total N was analysed by the auto-analyzer after digesting with a mixture of H 2 SO 4, selenium, and salicylic acid.Phosphorus was extracted by Bray 1 method and determined with the auto-analyzer. Exchangeable bases were extracted with 1 M ammonium acetate. The amounts of Na • and K in the extract were determined by flame photometry, while atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to determine the concentrations of Ca and Mg in the extract.Measured variables and estimated parameters were subjected to analysis of variance for RCBD with three replicates using GenStat discovery edition 12 (Payne et al. 2009). Orthogonal contrast was used to separate treatment means.Study 2: Effect of crop residues intake on productivity of livestockThis study was conducted in the homesteads of the selected farmers during the dry season of 2007 (December 2007 to March 2008). Thirty male Sahelian sheep (initial live weight = 26.0 (± 2.5)) were bought from a livestock market in Maradi for the study at Garin Labo, while 30 male goats (initial live weight = 11.9 (± 1.4)) were bought from a similar market at Bejuwa (Jigawa State, Nigeria) for the study at Sarauniya. The 30 male sheep (initial live weight = 13.1 (± 1.4)) used for the study at Cheyohi were bought from a livestock market at Savelugu. All the test animals were aged between 12 and 18 months.At each farm, 15 animals were blocked according to their initial live weights and assigned to the 5 dietary treatments of legume haulms and cereal stover mix [0% H 0% S (T1); 25% H 75% S (T2); 50% H 50% S (T3); 75% H 25% S (T4); and 100% H 100% S (T5)] corresponding to the proportion of crop residues not used for soil incorporation. The biochemical composition of the crop residues fed is shown in Table 1.2.4. Millet stover 5.0 91.9 1.8 80.7 50.9 10.9 40.9 29.8 13.5 443.6* Lig = Lignin.The experimental design was a RCBD with three replications. Animals were housed individually in roofed pens of 1 m × 2 m floor spacing. The animals underwent standard quarantine procedures for 14 days before the start of the experiment during which they were injected with antibiotic, drenched with anti-helminths, and treated against acaricides. Crop residues were offered daily at a rate of 50 g DM per kg live weight (Tanner et al. 2001). Haulms and stover were supplied in separate feeders. Crop residues were offered to test animals at 8:00 h; control animals were herded on range lands from 8:00 h to 17:00 h. Water and mineral lick were supplied ad libitum. Rations for all experimental animals were supplemented with 100 g of wheat bran daily except those at Cheyohi. The duration of the feeding trial ranged from 34 to 58 days depending on the amount of crop residues produced.The quantity of crop residues offered was recorded daily during the study period. The refusals (orts) were collected from the feeders and the floor, and weighed before the morning feeding (0800 hr). After every 14 days, animals were weighed in the morning before feed was supplied, and fitted with fecal bags. The fecal matter collected over 24 hours were emptied into plastic bags, air dried, and stored for chemical analysis.Mean animal live weight change per day was determined from the bi-weekly live weights after the two-week adaptation period. Fecal organic matter (FOM) excretion was calculated from the organic matter intake (IOM) and the average organic matter digestibility (OMD) of the stover and haulms as: FOM ( ). The OMD was estimated with the transfer function OMD (g kg -1 ) ( )  (2003), where NDF (g kg -1 ) is the neutral detergent fiber and NDFL is the lignin content of NDF expressed as g lignin kg -1 NDF.Crop residues were analysed for DM, ash contents, ADF, lignin, cellulose, phenols, and total N concentration. Crude protein (CP) was determined as N × 6.25. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), a measure of hemicellulose and ADF was analysed using the method of van Soest and Robertson (1985). Hemicellulose contents were calculated as the differences between NDF and ADF. Fecal samples were analysed for DM, N, P, and K.Trade-off related to the quantities of crop produce was sacrificed by a farmer for a unit benefit from livestock by allocating less than optimum amount of the crop residues into crop production. To account for the contributions from products and by-products of the farm, apparent and true values of the trade-offs were estimated. The apparent trade-offs (ATO) referred to the quantities of grains sacrificed for a unit gain in live weight and was calculated as: ATO where P G is price of a unit quantity of grain; P LW is price of a unit live weight of livestock; Gy max is the mean grain yield attained by applying the optimum amount of crop residues; Gy i is the grain yield attained by applying a given amount of crop residues LWG 1-i is weight gained by feeding the remaining amount of crop residues to livestockThe true trade-off (TTO) referred to the quantities of grains and crop residues sacrificed for a unit gain in live weight and manure voided and was calculated as: TTO where P R is price of a unit quantity of crop residues; P M is the price of a unit quantity of manure; Ry max is the mean crop residue yield attained by applying the optimum amount of crop residues;( )Ry i is the crop residue yield attained by applying a given amount of crop residues; and M 1-i is the manure voided by feeding the remaining amount of crop residues to livestock.Farm revenue was calculated as function of the revenue accruing from the sales of grains, crop residues, live weight, and manure.Data on DM intake, weight gain, and nutrient concentration in fecal samples were subjected to analysis of variance for RCBD with three replicates using GenStat discovery edition 12 (Payne et al. 2009). Orthogonal contrast was used to separate treatment means.Effect of crop residue use on grain yield and live weight At Cheyohi, the incorporation of maize stover, maize husk and cowpea haulm gave rise to significantly higher grain yields of maize but had no effect on grain yield of cowpea (Figure 1.  In Farm 2, the application of maize stover and cowpea haulm had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the grain yields of maize. No cowpea grain yield was recorded on this farm as the farmer harvested the crop earlier than expected (Figure 1.2.1).The amount of crop residues generated by Farmer 2 supported livestock feeding for 58 days. Sheep fed with crop residues increased their live weight significantly (P < 0.05) by 21-41 g/day compared to animals grazed on the rangelands.At Sarauniya, the incorporation of maize stover and groundnut haulms had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the grain yields of both maize and groundnut (Figure 1.2.2). At Farm 1 in Sarauniya, the amount of crop residues obtained supported livestock feeding for 56 days. Goats used in the study increased their live weights regardless of the source of feed. Weights gained by animals fed with 100%, 75% and 50% were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than animals fed on the rangeland (Figure 1.2.2).At Farm 2, the incorporation of maize stover and groundnut haulms had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the grain yields of both maize and groundnut (Figure 1.2.2). The amount of crop residues obtained supported livestock feeding for 56 days. Animals grazed on the rangeland attained a marginal growth rate of 3.3 g/day while those fed on maize stover and groundnut haulm grew significantly by 15-58 g/day.At Garin Labo, the incorporation of millet stover and cowpea haulms had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the grain yields of both millet and cowpea (Figure 1.2.3). No cowpea grain yield was recorded on Farm 2 as the farmer harvested the crop earlier than expected. The amount of crop residues obtained from the study farm supported sheep feeding for a period of 30 to 32 days. As indicated in Figure 1.2.3, weights gained by animals herded on the rangelands were comparable to weights gained by animals fed on the crop residues. Grain yield (kg ha -1 )Grain yield (kg ha -1 )Crop residue incorporated into soil (%) Crop residue incorporated into soil (%)Quantification of trade-offs in using crop residue as soil amendment or fodderThe quantities of maize and cowpea grains sacrificed and live weights gained by allocating more crop residues into either crop or livestock production at Farm 1 are shown in Table 1.2.5. Allocation of crop residues had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the apparent trade-offs and the TTO calculated for Farm 1 (Tables 1.2.5 and 1.2.6) and Farm 2 (values not shown). On the basis of the apparent trade-offs assessment, the best case scenario was the incorporation of 25% haulm and 75% stover into the soil; and the feeding of 75% haulm 25% stover to livestock (scenario 2). However, the TTO appraisal identified the incorporation of 75% haulm and 25% stover into the soil; and feeding of 25% haulm 75% stover to livestock (scenario 4) as the best case scenario (Table 1.2.6). In both analyses, the use of all crop residues as soil amendment and none as fodder (scenario 5), which mimicked the standard farmer practices of leaving all crop residues on the field, was the worst case scenario. Depending on the amount of crop residues incorporated or fed, the farmer sacrificed 66 pesewas to 99 pesewas of crop grains and residues for a cedi benefit from live weight and manure. In scenario 5, where the animals grazed on the rangeland, the farmer sacrificed 72 pesewas of crop grains and residues but lost 62 pesewas of livestock produce (Table 1.2.6).In Sarauniya, the allocation of crop residues had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the apparent trade-offs and TTO calculated for Farms 1 (data not shown) and 2 (Tables 1.2.7 and 1.2.8). In Farm 2, both the apparent trade-off and TTO analyses found the use of 25% haulm 75% stover as soil amendment and 75% haulm 25% stover as fodder (scenario 2) to be the best case scenario. The incorporation of all crop residues into the soil and feeding of none to livestock (scenario 5) was found to be the worst case scenario.Depending on the amount of crop residues incorporated or fed, the farmer sacrificed 35 to 78 kobos of grains and crop residues for a naira benefit from live weight and manure (Table 1.2.8).Where animals grazed on the rangeland, the farmer sacrificed neither grains nor crop residues and got 40 naira worth of livestock produce.In Garin Labo, the allocation of crop residues had no significant (P > 0.05) effect on the apparent trade-offs and TTO calculated for the two farms. The standard farmer practices of feeding all crop residues to livestock and leaving none on the field for soil application (scenario 1) was found to be the best case scenario by both apparent trade-offs and TTO assessments.The incorporation of 75% haulm and 25% stover; and feeding 25% haulm and 75% stover to livestock (scenario 4) was found to be the worst scenario.Depending on the amount of crop residues incorporated or fed, the farmer sacrificed 8 to 26 CFA cents of grains and crop residues for 1 CFA franc benefited from live weight and manure (Table 1.2.9). A strong negative relationship (P < 0.001) was found between TTO and the farm revenue in all the selected farms. At Farm 1 in Cheyohi and Farm 2 in Sarauniya, the trade-offs accounted for 87% of variations in the farm revenues accruing from the scenarios tested (Figure 1.2.4).On the other hand, 80% of fluctuations in the farm revenue of Farm 1 in Garin Labo could be attributed to the trade-offs.The proportion of maize stover and husk incorporated into the soil did not affect the grain yield and crop residue yield (Table 1.2.11). The amount of haulm incorporated and the quantities of N, P, and K supplied through crop residue application significantly correlated with maize grain yield, total grain yield, and total crop residue yield. While about 93% of the variations in maize yield could be attributed to the linear effect of the amount of haulm incorporated, only 2% of the variation in cowpea yield was due to the incorporation of haulm. Both the amount of haulm offered to livestock and the quantity ingested correlated significantly with live weight but not with fecal output. Feeding of stover, though had no effect on live weight, correlated significantly with fecal output.The quantities of CP and NDF ingested correlated significantly with both live weight and fecal output (Table 1.2.12). However, CP intake exerted a stronger effect (r 2 = 0.97) on live weight than fecal output (r 2 = 0.79). On the contrary, the linear effect of NDF ingested was stronger on fecal output (r 2 = 0.98) than live weight (r 2 = 0.77). The total rainfall collected during the cropping season in Garin Labo was 376 mm. The total requirement for a 100-day millet crop was 480 mm leading 21% moisture deficit in millet water A cowpea crop intercropped with the millet a month after sowing accessed only 205 mm of rainfall; yet, a 95-day cowpea crop required 356 mm of rainfall for its growth and development. Consequently, by practicing intercropping, only 57% of the water requirement of cowpea was met (Figure 1.2.5). However, farmers could satisfy the water requirement of cowpea by planting the crop as sole crop together with millet crop at the onset of the growing season. The observation that grain yield of maize increased with increasing amount of crop residues in Cheyohi (northern Guinea savannah) affirms the findings of Larbi et al. (2002) that along the transect from humid forest to the northern Guinea savannah, grain yield of maize increased with mulching rate. The lack of response of millet and cowpea to crop residue application in the Sahel savannah supports the conclusion of Giller et al. (2009) that crop residue management can result in yield benefits in the long-term. However, in the short-term, yield losses or no yield benefits may result.In studies where positive responses to crop yield were observed in the short-term, they were attributed to the improved rainwater use efficiency through improved infiltration and reduced evaporative water losses (Giller et al. 2009) and mobilization of soil P through the release of organic acids from the decomposing residue (Hue 1991). Nutrient immobilization (Larbi et al. 2002), occurrence of residue-borne diseases, and poor germination (Giller et al. 2009) have been cited as factors responsible for the often-observed short-term yield reductions.The results of our study indicated that the application of haulms could be a viable strategy for increasing the grain yield of maize in the northern Guinea savannah. However, approaches other than crop residue management may be required to increase the grain yield of cowpea.The strong positive correlation between haulm intake and live weight found in our study while confirming the findings of Faftine et al. (1998) and Ayantunde et al. (2007) suggest that mutton production could be increased dramatically by increasing the proportion of haulm fed to small ruminants.In addition, CP intake influenced live weight better than NDF. Following the report by Savadogo et al. (2000) that upper part of the cereal stover is more digestible and has a higher concentration of CP than the lower parts, improvement in live weights could be achieved by selective removal of 'stover tops' from the field for livestock feeding. On the other hand, less nutritious 'stover bottoms' are retained on the field to replenish the organic matter of the soil.The trade-offs estimated in this study had a strong negative relationship with farm revenue affirming the fact that the smaller the trade-off, the better the crop residue allocation option. The legume haulm by virtue of the low C:N ratio, high concentration of CP, and high digestibility exerted a significant impact on both crop and livestock production units of the farm. The tradeoffs indicated that farmers in the northern Guinea savannah where crop-livestock integration is low obtained the highest farm revenue by allocating lower amount (25%) of the haulm for livestock feeding and retaining a higher amount for soil incorporation (75%).Due to the lack of response to crop residue incorporation in the dry savannah agro-ecological zones, the highest farm revenue was obtained when more haulm (75% in Sudan savannah and 100% in the Sahel) was fed to livestock rather than incorporating it into the soil. In addition to the well-known lack of response to crop residue application in the short-term (Giller et al. 2009), the poor workability of the soils in savannahs during the dry season made manual incorporation of crop residues ineffective and allowed free roaming animals to graze the residues applied.The current trade-offs for allocating crop residues between the crop and livestock units of the farm may be improved by adopting proactive measures, which would increase the productivity of the two units. Firstly, by planting improved dual purpose legumes in rotation with other crops rather than as intercrop, the water requirement of the legume could be satisfied to supply farmers with quality crop residues for both soil application and livestock feeding. Secondly, as the quantity and distribution of rainfall is a major biophysical constraint to agriculture in the dry savannahs, improved soil water conservation practices (i.e. surface mulching and tied ridging) are important to improve crop productivity. Lastly, intake of stover in our study was 30-52% as opposed to 80-100% intake of haulm. Considering that stover forms the bulk of the crop residues at the disposal of farmers, strategies such as milling or chopping and treating stover with palatable feed ingredients are warranted to improve stover intake.Short-term benefits are important to attract farmers to crop residue management; yet, a significant effect of the application of crop residues on crop yield may require several seasons of continuous practice. Livestock, on the other hand, respond instantaneously to crop residues rations. Besides, while the residual effect of crop residues on the crop yields may last for seasons, no such residual effects are found on the live weights of livestock.The vital importance of research on the trade-offs in the alternative uses of crop residues is to determine the appropriate time-frame that would allow the impact of crop residue application on the cropping system to be evaluated in a holistic manner.Trade-off analysis is a useful decision-making tool for providing information on the profitability of crop residue allocation options. The use of crop residues as fodder for livestock increased livestock productivity; however, soil amendment crop residues had little or no effect on crop productivity.Though the trade-offs calculated for the five scenarios were not significantly different on all the study farms, farmers in northern Guinea could improve their farm revenue by using 25% of haulm and 75% of stover as fodder; and 75% of haulm and 25% of stover as soil amendment.In Sudan savannah, farm revenue could increase by using 75% of haulm and 25% of stover as fodder; and 25% of haulm and 75% of stover as soil amendment. Finally, in the Sahel savannah, higher farm revenues were achieved by feeding all residues to livestock and incorporating none into the soil.The potential pathways for improving the prevailing trade-offs identified in the study were: the use of improved dual purpose legumes in appropriate rotation to legume biomass yield; application of surface mulch and tied ridging to improve soil water storage; and processing of stover to enhance palatability and intake.A revolution in the productivity of smallholder farms is required to redress the current deficits in food production and breaking the present poverty cycle of low input-low production-low income (World Bank 2007). Apart from the prevailing farming constraints in the savannahs of West Africa, which compel smallholder farmers to rely on low-external inputs strategies for crop and livestock productions, the alarming rate of nutrient mining is a major setback to agricultural productivity (Sanchez et al. 1996;Smaling et al. 1996).On a continental scale, Africa consumes 0.8 million tonnnes of N, 0.26 million tonnes of P, and 0.2 million tonnes of K (FAO 1995) and losses as much as 4.4 million tonnes of N, 0.5 million tonnes of P, and 3 million tonnes of K from its cultivated lands annually (Sanchez et al. 1996).A quantitative knowledge on nutrient flows in such a farming system offers a credible insight into the sustainability of the system, facilitates the identification of the main losses of nutrients from the system; hence, serves as a diagnostic tool to identify entry points through which research could stimulate agricultural productivity. Accordingly, many studies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the last decade have focused on the quantification and estimation of nutrients that enter and leave the farming systems (Smaling et al. 1996;van den Bosch et al. 1998;Kanmegne et al. 2006).Most of these studies, however, provided quick balance sheet, based on a short time-frame exercise, and depended on a number of assumptions relating to system dynamics. Of concerned is the validity of such assumptions, their degree of reliability, and capability to provide insight into these dynamic processes. Scoones and Toulmin (1998) questioned the credibility of nutrient balance analysis to provide reliable directions and support for policy formulation on resource management. On the contrary, Lynam et al. (1998) provided convincing evidence that nutrient balance formed a template for economic budgeting; hence, a useful tool for understanding the determinants of soil management decisions undertaken by a farmer.The nutrient monitoring (NUTMON) framework is an integrated, multidisciplinary methodology that targets different actors in the process of managing natural resources and is useful in assessing soil nutrients balances at the farm-scale (Smaling et al. 1996;van den Bosch et al. 1998). In sum, a thorough audit of nutrient flows in these farming systems and judicious manipulation of the flows to redress the nutrient imbalances may be a plausible pathway for identifying efficient farming technologies and increase agricultural productivity.A cereal-legume-livestock system is conceptualized as a farming system comprised of a cereallegume production unit, a livestock production unit, and a homestead through which nutrient transfers take place (Figure 2.1.1). Nutrients may be imported into the farm primarily through feed concentrate, mineral fertilizers, and biological N fixation while export occurs through the sales of livestock and crop products (Watson et al. 2005). In the savannahs of West Africa, deposition of harmattan dust is another important nutrient input into the farming system (Harris 1999). Additional nutrients losses may occur through leaching, erosion, and dentrification (de Jager et al. 1998). Nutrients in crop-livestock systems are cycled in several stages, and losses at each stage may decrease the amount of useful output. For example, crop residues may be fed to livestock and the manure generated returned to the cropland. Turner and Hiernaux (2002) found rangeland to be an integral component of the daily grazing orbit of livestock in the dry savannahs as animals are typically kept on a free range. As a result, livestock grazing on rangelands may import nutrients onto croplands when the manure deposited in confinement either through kraaling or night parking is used in crop production (Harris 2002).Alternatively, nutrients in crop residues may be taken up by the subsequent crop to produce biomass and grain when left on the field after harvest (Powell et al. 2004). Nonetheless, in the dry savannahs, a substantial amount of crop residues left on the field may be lost as a result of bush fires, strong winds, termites, free roaming animals, or transhumant herds of Fulani cattle. Carsky and Ndikawa (1998) reported that 4 Mg ha -1 of Mucuna biomass disappeared during the dry season due to wind and termite activities.Nine case study farms were selected in Garin Labo to represent three socio-economic groups of farmers (rich, medium, and poor-resource) with three farmers in each group. In Saurniya and Cheyohi, the study was conducted on three case study farms with one farmer from each socio-economic group. The test farmers were selected on the basis of their resource endowment, interest in learning, and capacity to exchange information with their peers. Categorization of households into socio-economic groups was based on local wealth ranking exercise centred on ownership of draught oxen, donkeys, livestock herds, and cultivated crop land (Table 2.1.1). Differentiation of households into the socio-economic group was undertaken before data collection. The rich farmers group was also called 'equipped croplivestock farmers' while the medium-resourced farmers were referred to as unequipped croplivestock farmers. The poor-resourced farmers, on the other hand, were referred to as 'crop only farmer.' Nutrient flows managed by farmers A survey was conducted from March to October 2007 in the 15 selected households to collect information on nutrient flows managed by farmers. Farmers gave information on the different production units, land use, major farm products, and their destinations. The inflows investigated were the quantities and types of mineral fertilizers (IN 1) and manure, feedstuffs, and concentrates entering the farm annually (IN 2). The outflows were crop products (OUT 1) and residues (OUT 2) leaving the farm annually for the homestead use, sold, or given as gifts. Farmers generally gave quantities in their own units, such as sacks, bags and buckets, which were converted to standard metric amounts. Samples of the different inputs and products were collected and analysed for their N, P, and K concentrations.Nutrient inflows such as atmospheric deposition and biological nitrogen fixation were estimated from transfer functions derived from climate and soil data of the sites. The combined wet and dry atmospheric deposition (IN 3), was calculated using the transfer function developed by Stoorvogel and Smaling (1990), in which IN 3 N , IN 3 P , IN 3 K is the input of N, P and K (kg ha -1 yr -1 ) and p is the mean annual precipitation (mm yr -1 ), as follows:Biological nitrogen fixation (IN 4) in the crop production systems was estimated from the general equation:Where A L is the area of legume field, A F is the farm size, IN 4a is the symbiotically fixed and IN 4b the non-symbiotically fixed nitrogen. It was assumed that 60% of the total N demands of groundnut and cowpea are supplied through symbiotic nitrogen fixation (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1990).Non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation was estimated from the function (Smaling et al. 1993):where: N G and N H are quantities of N accumulated in grain and haulm, respectively; and Y G and Y H being grain yield and haulm yield, respectively.Leaching of soil N and K below the root zone (OUT 3) were calculated. In tropical soils P is tightly bound to soil particles; as a result, P outflow due to leaching was assumed to be negligible. The quantities of N lost annually through leaching (kg ha -1 yr -1 ) was estimated from the transfer function developed by de Willigen (2000):OUT 3 N = where: p is annual precipitation (mm yr -1 ); C is the clay content of the top soil (%); L is rooting depth (m); Nf is N derived from the application of mineral and organic fertilizer (kg ha -1 ); Oc is organic carbon content of the top soil (%); and Nu is N uptake by the crop (kg ha -1 yr -1 ).The amount of K lost annually through leaching (kg ha -1 yr -1 ) was calculated using the transfer function developed by Smaling (1993) as follows:OUT 3 K = where Ke is the exchangeable K (cmol kg -1 ) in the top soil and Kf is the amount of K derived from mineral fertilizer.The loss of gaseous N (kg ha -1 yr -1 ) from the soil (OUT 4) was calculated by multiplying the percentage of N lost through denitrification (DN) by the amount of N supplied through fertilizer application and soil mineralization as follows:OUT 4 = where Ns is mineralized N in the rootable zone (kg ha -1 ), Nf is N applied with mineral and organic fertilizer (kg ha -1 ). Ns is determined from soil total N and the annual relative mineralization rate (M) estimated at 3% (Nye and Greenland 1960).DN is a function of clay content of the top soil, C (%), and the annual rainfall p (mm yr -1 ), through the transfer function (Smaling et al. 1993 The nutrient balance was calculated without nutrient input through sedimentation (IN 5) since the cropping systems in study did not employ irrigation. Also, nutrient losses through erosion (OUT 5) were not included as slope angles measured on the test farms were less than 0.5%. The nutrient balance was estimated as:Nitrogen flows and balances in cereal-legume-livestock systems All the selected farmers in Garin Labo received 50 kg/ha of urea from the SLP team in Niger. As a result, the socio-economic status of the farmers had no significant effect on their N inputs although equipped crop-livestock farmers supplied more N through manure than the other farmer groups (Figure 2.1.2a). Equipped crop-livestock farmers also lost significantly higher amount of N (21 kg/ha) through crop residue than crop only farmers (15 kg/ha). All farmers regardless of their socio-economic status suffered similar losses of N from crop produce and leaching. Following the existing fertilizer recommendations for the study locations, farmers in Sarauniya applied more N through mineral fertilizers than those in Cheyohi and Garin Labo (Figure 2.1.2b). Nitrogen inputs through the manure application, atmospheric deposition, and BNF also differed significantly across the study locations (Figure 2.1.2b). Groundnuts supplied significantly higher amount of N through BNF than cowpea in either Cheyohi or Garin Labo. Farmers in Sarauniya lost significantly higher amount of N through harvested crop produces and residues than farmers in Cheyohi and Garin Labo (Figure 2.1.2b). Under the current farmer practice, where all crop residues are removed from the field, N balances were negative (-6.9 to -18.6 kg/ha) on all farms (Figure 2.1.3a) in Garin Labo. In a scenario where Farmers 4 and 9 incorporated half of their residues, Farmer 4 defray the negative balance by 8 kg/ha while Farmer 9 attained a positive balance (Figure 2.1.3a). In the absence of fertilizer application, highly negative (-20.3 to -40.2 kg/ha) N balances were obtained on all fields (Figure 2.1.3b). As shown in Figure 2.1.4a, N balance across the study locations was more negative in Sarauniya (-22.0 kg/ha) than in either Cheyohi (-6.5 kg/ha) or Garin Labo (-10.8 kg/ha). In scenarios where farmers do not apply mineral fertilizer, highly negative balances (-33.83 to -81.85 kg/ha) were obtained (Figure 2.1.4b). Whether farmers applied mineral fertilizers or not, the N balances estimated for these villages improved dramatically with the incorporation of half of the crop residue produced (Figures 2.1.4a and 2.1.4b).   The socio-economic status of the farmers had no significant effect on the amount of P supplied by the farmers into the cereal-legume unit of the farm (Figure 2.1.5a). All farmers, regardless of their socio-economic status suffered similar losses of P from crop produce and crop residue. In accordance with the existing fertilizer recommendations for the study locations, farmers in Sarauniya applied more P through mineral fertilizers than those in Cheyohi and Garin Labo (Figure 2.1.5b). Phosphorus inputs through manure application in Sarauniya and Garin Labo differed significantly from P input via manure in Cheyohi (Figure 2.1.5b). Even under the current farmer practice of total crop residue removal, P balances in Garin Labo were positive (3.3 to 7.4 kg/ha) (Figure 2.1.6a). However, by incorporating half of the residues of Farmers 4 and 9, only a marginal improvement in the P balances of Farmer 4 and Farmer 9 were observed. In the absence of SSP application, negative (-0.5 to -4.6 kg/ha) P balances were obtained on all fields (Figure 2.1.6b).  As indicated in Figure 2.1.7a, P balance across all locations was more positive in Sarauniya (15.7 kg/ha) than in either Cheyohi (9.7 kg/ha) or Garin Labo (5.4 kg /ha). In scenarios where farmers do not apply mineral fertilizer, negative balances (-2.4 to -7.9 kg /ha) were obtained (Figure 2.1.7b).  3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 Also, farmers generally do not retain crop residues on the field for soil fertility restoration. As a result, there is severe nutrient mining of 35-45 kg/ha of N and 66-76 kg/ha of K annually (Figure 2.1.8). Farmers heaped manure at place near the kraal without any protection against the rainfall or sunshine and caused 60% of N in the manure to be lost during storage. Finally, about of 20.2-20.8 kg/ha corresponding to 57% of the total N input into the cropping system was lost through leaching.Hence, the four hotspots for research intervention to improve the nutrient cycling efficiency of the farming system shown on The negative N balance observed at the farms and village levels suggest that annual crop production in these villages relies on soil N stocks to sustain crop production. A depletion of these reserves at the prevailing rate of 7 to 19 kg/ha per year will bring crop production to a halt if remedial measures are not used to reserve the trend. The N balances in this study were better than the average N-balance for sub-Saharan Africa (-22 kg/ha per year) as reported by Stoorvogel and Smaling (1990) when farmers applied the recommended doses of mineral N fertilizers.In the absence of mineral N fertilizer use, N balances became worse than average value. It confirms that although smallholder farmers in the savannahs of West Africa are applying N fertlizers, their application rate were short of the recommended rates. Leaching loses of N (19-22 kg N/ha) compared favourably with the 24.5 to 30 kg N/ha losses found by Wortmann and Kaizzi (1998). The observed marginal losses of N through gaseous exchanges could be due to the low pH and well drained nature of these soils which moderated the processes of denitrification and ammonia volatilization.Following the application of the recommended doses of mineral P fertilizers, positive balance was achieved. The P balances estimated without the use of P fertilizer in Garin Labo (-2.40 kg P/ha per year) agreed with the average P balance in Niger (-2.0 kg P/ha per year) reported by Stoorvogel and Smaling (1990) indicating that smallholder farmers in Niger may not be using P fertilizers in the cropping systems. Compared with average balances for Ghana and Nigeria (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1990), our estimates indicated that smallholder farmers use P fertilizer but at a lower rate than recommended. Retention of half of the residues generated on the field supplied higher amount N (8-26.28 kg N/ha/yr) than P (0.5-2.0 kg P/ha per year) into cropping system. Considering that N is the most limiting plant nutrient in the soils of the savannahs (Vanlauwe et al. 2002), returning of crop residues may improve crop production greatly.Crop residue is a scarce resource in the savannahs of West Africa as the amount of useable residues produced in the zone would support ruminant population for only 3.1 months/year if all is fed to livestock (Fernández-Rivera et al. 2004). Approaches to promote tree and shrub production such as agroforestry with pollarding and alley farming are, therefore, needed to reduce the dependency on crop residues for fuel and construction purpose. Regardless of immense benefits of crop residues retention on crop production, farmers in the dry savannahs of West Africa find it prudent to remove all from the field.Research efforts should be intensified with the farmer as a key stakeholder to ensure efficient utilization of crop residues. In this regard, a working knowledge on the short and long term benefits of crop residue retention may refine farmers' decisions. As poor handling and storage of manure significantly reduced the fertilizer value, cost-effective strategies (i.e. storing manure in pits rather than heaps; under shed and covering with polyethylene film; and on concrete floors and under roofs) should be evaluated and used appropriately. The high leaching losses found in our study demand a cost-effective integrated approach to curb these losses. Such techniques may focus on increased synchrony and synlocation of nutrient uptake by crops and moderate rate of infiltration.The current farmer practices on crop residue allocation in the savannahs of Ghana, Nigeria, and Niger, irrespective of regimen of N fertilizers used, lead to the depletion of soil N. The stocks of P in the soil are increased when the recommended application rates of P fertilizers are followed.As a myriad of factors contributed to the widespread negative N balances, a multifaceted approach is required to reverse the trend. Such a strategy should reduce the use of crop residues for non-agricultural purposes and increase their availability for crop and livestock production. It may identify other locally available materials for fuel wood and construction, promote the retention of crop residues on the field after harvest, and improve the storage of manure while reducing leaching losses simultaneously. Lastly, these management options should be affordable to the farmer and compatible with his/her practice.or mill the material and fortify it with palatable feed ingredients. Animals were bought from local markets in the study areas to make up for numbers required. Future studies may, however, foster the formation of vibrant farmer groups and entreat members to donate animal each for the study.14 Linkages with other researchThe project has worked closely with DGIS Dutch Government-APO at IITA, Kano to develop protocols for baseline data collection and the BMZ/GTZ-Postdoctoral Scientist (Soil Conservation Specialists) at IITA, Ibadan to review literature on past soil conservation projects and practices in Ghana, Benin and Nigeria.","tokenCount":"10811"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3710819114.json b/data/part_1/3710819114.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b83628e5798442467a51645a4597fd438381a8e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3710819114.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"955e5d1a410f19240678c3b127f61174","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4c345324-7898-44eb-993a-cde529a9bda3/retrieve","id":"545256284"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4542bf0-5ca8-4be3-9f98-131ffec18753","pagecount":"64","content":"© international livestock Research institute (nairobi, Kenya) 2010. ilRi encourages use of information and materials herein, with appropriate credit.Printed on paper produced through sustainable afforestation.corporate information Board of trustees Uwe Werblow Germany chair (term ended November 2009) Fee chon low Malaysia (term ended November 2009) carlos Seré Uruguay Ex-officio (Director General) Romano Kiome Kenya Host country Representative abera Deressa Ethiopia Host country Representative nieves confesor PhilippinesJames Dargie is a British citizen. He recently retired from FaO where he worked from 1978, rising through the ranks to become Head of the animal Production and Health Section in the Joint FaO/iaEa Division. He has a PhD from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, and has served as a scientific advisor/reviewer for iFS, Medical Research council (UK), Wellcome Trust UK, Edna Mcconnel clark Foundation (USa), and the cGiaR (ilRaD Scientific Review Team Member). in 1985 he was a recipient of the iaEa Director General's Distinguished award.Romano Kiome was appointed the host country representative to the ilRi Board by the Kenya Government in 2004. Born in 1956 on the Eastern Slopes of Mt Kenya, he was educated in Kenya up to the first degree. He obtained a master's degree in soil and water management at the University of Wageningen, in the netherlands, in 1985, followed by a PhD in computerized modelling and simulating crop production under various soil and water management domains at the University of East anglia, in 1992. His main research work is in computerized modelling of crop production for decision-making in soil and water management regimes and prediction of sustainable land use systems. He has 48 publications as journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and reports. Dr Kiome has been a member/or chair of twelve technical advisory committees at national, regional and international levels. He was recently appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of agriculture. He is also a member of the board of trustee of icRaF, another international agricultural research (cGiaR) organization.aberra Deressa is an Ethiopian with a PhD in agronomy and soil science from Tashkent agricultural University in Uzbekistan. He began his scientific career in 1974 at Ethiopia's institute of agricultural Research, working first as an agronomist, then as coordinator of research extension and finally centre manager. His Modibo Tiémoko Traore, Mali, Trustee Assistant Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) nieves R confesor is a member of the faculty of the asian institute of Management, and is presently core faculty at its center for Development Management and the Executive Education and lifelong learning center. During her term as institute Dean, the institute successfully received its accreditation from the aacSB and the European Foundation for Management Development's EQUiS as a graduate school of management. The institute's center for Development Management is involved in the post-conflict initiatives in Mindanao, including training the autonomous government officials as well as convening dialogues and multistakeholder processes. The center also conducts training programs in afghanistan, cambodia, china, india, indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. confesor serves as independent director and/or trustee of various companies and non-government organizations. She chairs the Government Peace Panel negotiating with the communist Party of the Philippines/national Democratic Front/ new People's army and is active in other work of the national peace process. Her areas of specialization include: public policy development and analysis; public administration; social protection strategy; women in development;Nieves R Confesor, Philippines, Trustee Faculty Member, Asian Institute of Management labour-management relations; human resources development and management; leadership and management of change; conflict management/ resolution and strategic negotiations. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy and administration from Harvard University (1990) and a Master's degree in Business administration from the Graduate School of Business of the ateneo de Manila.Emmy Simmons is an american citizen. She recently retired from the US agency for international Development (USaiD), where she worked from 1977, rising through the ranks to become the assistant administrator from [2002][2003][2004][2005]. She has an MSc in agricultural economics from cornell University, and a Ba in international relations from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. a committed international development specialist, with emphasis on strategic planning and management for economic growth and change, she is a leader in assessing constraints and opportunities, implementing organizational change and building coalitions. His academic and professional pursuits cut across several disciplines; specific areas of interest include capital markets, portfolio theory, international finance, operations research and decision sciences, applied statistics, operations management, and management information and control systems. He has been a visiting professor to academic institutions in the USa, the netherlands and Singapore. He has authored over 180 papers/articles that have been published/presented in national and international academic and business journals/publications and conferences. He has co-authored two books: Portfolio Management; and The Great indian Scam: story of the missing Rs. 4000 crore. The second book became a best-seller. He has been intimately associated with the indian financial sector for over a decade and a half, preparing policy papers for the Ministry of Finance, Government of india and the Reserve Bank of india on restructuring of capital markets and the banking sector, respectively. He was also member of the committee set up by the Federation of indian chamber of commerce and industries to prepare a Report on Reforms of Stock Exchanges. currently, he is a member of the Board of indian Oil corporation, the only indian Fortune-500 company.10BOaRD OF TRUSTEES lindiwe Majele Sibanda has held the position of chief Executive Officer of the Southern african Food, agriculture and natural Resources Policy analysis network since 2004. She is currently coordinating policy research and advocacy programs in 13 southern african countries, all aimed at making southern africa a food-secure region. Her program portfolio includes policy research and advocacy work on food policies, agricultural productivity, natural resources and environment, and the impact of HiV/aiDS on agriculture and food security in southern africa. lindiwe is an animal scientist by training and a practicing commercial beef cattle farmer. although she resides in Pretoria, South africa, she is originally from Zimbabwe. She received her BSc at the University of alexandria, Egypt; her MSc and PhD at the University of Reading, UK. Joan Sawe (Kenya) joined ilRi as Director, Finance and Operations on 1st May 2009. She previously worked with actionaid international as the international Head of Financial Performance and Standards and as the african Regional Finance coordinator. She has also acted as country Director for actionaid international in Uganda. Joan holds a Masters degree in Business administration with honours from Telaviv international School of Management and a Bachelors degree in Business administration with honours from acadia University in canada. Senior Management Team Gabrielle Persley (australia) is Senior advisor to ilRi's Director General. She has been closely associated with the development of the concept and planning of Biosciences eastern and central africa (Beca). She is the Founder and chair of the Doyle Foundation, a Scottish-based charity whose purpose is to support and advocate the role of science in international development. She has published extensively on issues associated with the safe and effective use of modern science in agriculture and the environment. She was the biotechnology manager in the World Bank in Washington, Dc, from 1991-96, during which time she worked closely with the cGiaR. Shirley Tarawali (UK) is Director of the People, livestock and the Environment Theme. She previously worked as an agronomist on joint appointment with the international institute of Tropical agriculture (iiTa) and ilRi, where she was based in ibadan, nigeria. She has over 20 years experience, 18 in the cGiaR system, in sub-Saharan africa, especially farming systems in West africa. Her Theme focuses on developing new ways for livestock to help improve and sustain agricultural production in complex farming systems of the poor. She holds a PhD in plant science from the University of london.  Bruce Scott (canada) joined the institute in 1999 and was appointed Director of Partnerships and communications in 2003. Before joining ilRi, he served as deputy director general of the World agroforestry centre (icRaF), headquartered in nairobi, where he was responsible for designing and implementing collaborative agroforestry research networks involving 14 countries in sub-Saharan africa. His expertise is in strategic and corporate planning, international partnerships and resource mobilization. He holds an Ma in international affairs from carleton University.Margaret MacDonald-levy (UK) was appointed interim Head of Human Resources in May 2009. She has worked with ilRi since 2004 as a communications consultant. She has worked as a programme manager with Doyle Foundation and prior to that as a general manager and group human resources manager in hotels in Scotland. Margaret holds a Masters degree in Business administration from the University of Strathclyde Business School and a Bachelors degree from The Queens college Glasgow, Scotland.The international livestock Research institute (ilRi) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality science and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development for poor livestock keepers and their communities. livestock are critical to the poor in several ways: as a source of income and employment, as assets to provide savings in moving out of poverty and to buffer against household emergencies and more general shocks, and as a critical tool in sustainably improving productivity in mixed smallholder farming systems. livestock keepers are very important in the world. They represent almost 20% of the world population and steward most of the agricultural land in the tropics, particularly in sub-Saharan africa and tropical asia. The expanding demand for livestock products in developing countries provide unique opportunities for improving livelihoods and linked to that, improving stewardship of the environment. ilRi's role is to provide research technologies, knowledge and evidence for sustainable and pro-poor policies and investments. ilRi focuses on key livestock value chains of importance to the poor. Smallholder dairy systems are one such system in which the availability of family labour and the ability of ruminants to exploit lower quality available roughage allow the poor to be competitive. along these value chains, bundling of improved breeding, feeding and animal health services together with financial and marketing services are critical. Smallholders are most competitive in local markets and provide an initial focus for improving the market success for the poor in most developing countries. However, Statement of Purpose as urbanization increases and incomes grow, smallholders will need to be linked through more sophisticated value chains to capture greater value opportunities.ilRi also tracks dynamic changes in livestock systems to assess future opportunities for the poor. Major research areas include identifying and assessing options for adaptation to climate change, mitigating risk from emerging and reemerging diseases and providing diversity of livelihood strategies for livestock keepers in harsher environments. locations and staff ilRi's headquarters are located in nairobi, Kenya, with a second principal campus in addis ababa, Ethiopia. in 2009, ilRi scientists were also based in partner institutions in africa (nigeria, Mozambique, and Mali) and asia (china, india, and Vietnam). ilRi employs about 660 staff from about 40 nationalities, including 102 internationally recruited staff representing some 30 disciplines. about 550 staff are nationally recruited, largely from Kenya and Ethiopia. an increasing number of scientists who work at ilRi are jointly appointed by a partner organization with ilRi. Funding ilRi is funded by more than 90 private, public and government organizations of the north and South. Some donors support ilRi with core and program funds whereas others finance individual research projects. in-kind support from national partners, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia as well as that from international collaborators is substantial and vital. This mix of generic, specific and in-kind resources is essential for the partnership research we conduct. Partnerships ilRi's strategy is based on strong partnerships as an essential way of operating and ensuring that the outputs of our research lead to development impacts. it gives us pleasure to acknowledge the donor countries and organizations that supported ilRi research in 2009 listed in exhibit 1 through 3. We could not have helped reduce world poverty through animal agriculture research without their intellectual as well as financial support. Many thanks.Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees by: carlos Seré Director GeneralThe Board of Trustees is composed of 11 outstanding professionals with particular expertise in the field of livestock science, agricultural research, development and corporate management. The key role of the Board is to determine ilRi's mission, to oversee the adequacy of the institute's strategy, strategic planning and program review processes, and to provide appropriate input into it. The Board ensures that plans and programs are appropriate for carrying out ilRi's mandate, that they are in line with cGiaR priorities and that they have high probability for impact on poverty reduction and sustainable natural resource use. The Board has the fiduciary responsibility of ilRi's financial resources.ilRi is one of the 15 international agricultural research centres supported by the consultative Group on international agricultural Research (cGiaR) which is an association of governments and public-and private-sector institutions working to reduce poverty, hunger and environmental degradation in developing countries. The co-sponsors of the cGiaR are the World Bank, the United nations Development Programme, the Food and agriculture Organization of the United nations and the international Fund for agricultural Development. The basic principles and rules concerning the organization and operation of the Board of Trustees of the international livestock Research institute (ilRi) are laid down in the institute's constitution and in the Board's Rules of Governance.The Board comprises four committees: a) Program committee; b) Finance committee; c) audit committee; and d) Human Resource committeeThe Program Committee advises the Board on all matters regarding the conception, elaboration, implementation and evaluation of the institute's programs of research, training and information.To this end, the Program committee advises on:• Suitability and conformity of the ILRI programs to the mandate and mission of the institute The Finance Committee advises the Board on all matters relating to the institute's financial status and outlook. These matters include: the development and approval of budgets for upcoming periods; the monitoring of incomes and expenditures as per approved budgets; oversight of the institute's financial reporting process; and the identification of potential opportunities, issues and risks associated with the institute's finances.The committee carries out its work against the backdrop of the institute's research strategies, its operating procedures, and policies as approved by the Board of Trustees.The Board normally meets twice a year -in april and in november. in 2009, the april meeting was held in nairobi and the november meeting in addis ababa. The attendance rate at both meetings was 100%.External auditing ilRi's auditors are appointed by the Board of Trustees for a period of four years. The current auditor Deloitte, were appointed in 2007. in line with the policy statement on engagement and management of external auditors, auditors are not eligible for appointment for consequent terms. auditors may be re-appointed provided that there is a different engagement partner but not immediately after the completion of the first four year term. The Board will appoint new auditors in its april 2011 meeting.The external auditors have presented and discussed the annual financial audit reports with the audit committee in the november meeting.The Audit Committee advises the Board on all matters relating to ilRi's accounting and financial management practices, risk analysis and management, internal controls and audit results, both external and internal. The committee recommends to the Board whether it should accept the External audit reports and suggests courses of remedial action, if any, which should be implemented to follow up on audit findings. The committee also recommends appointment and undertakes the evaluation of external auditors to the Board of Trustees. The chair of the audit committee assists the Director General in the annual evaluation of the internal auditors.The Human Resource Committee advises the Board on all human resources management issues pertaining to Board members as well as the institute's staff.Uber Uthiru! a modest urban roundabout, perfectly sized and meticulously maintained, has become an unlikely catalyst of creativity and communion, a place to experience freedom, and, yes, happiness.The headquarters of nairobi's international livestock Research institute (ilRi), located at Kabete, near Uthiru, has been working to improve the lives of poor people in poor countries through livestock science for nearly four decades. For the most part, ilRi staff work on global livestock development issues-improved animal breeding, feeding, health and the like. But sometimes they take up opportunities to enhance human well being that are found right on their own doorstep. ilRi's relations with its Uthiru neighbours is a recent example.Uthiru lies a hundred metres from the entrance to ilRi's headquarters, on Old naivasha Road, on the other side of a roundabout. in contribution to nairobi city council's work on the upkeep of public spaces, ilRi for many years has helped maintain the planted vegetation inside the roundabout as well as the grass verge between ilRi's farm and Old naivasha Road. in 2006, ilRi corporate Social Responsibility installed street lighting along almost a kilometre of public road passing along ilRi's farm and main gate, starting from an area at the bottom of a hill that gave access to a major garbage dump and ending at the Uthiru Roundabout. The lighting greatly improved security for pedestrians in an area increasingly prone to muggings due to the growth of the dump. it was applauded by local people, one of whom published his appreciation the popular 'Watchman' column of nairobi's Daily nation newspaper. cries of help at night, once commonly heard by ilRi security guards, are now a thing of the past. Members of the public now regularly walk at night from the Uthiru shopping centre safely to their residences. (ilRi maintains this street lighting at its own cost.) in early 2008 ilRi management changed its gardening contractors and used the occasion to discuss with members of the Uthiru community and city council officials ways to continue ilRi's upkeep of the roundabout in simpler, more costeffective, ways. at that time, this upkeep required two full-time gardeners working 5.5 days a week. The upshot of the discussions was a decision to replace bushy vegetation with easier-to-maintain grass.For the people of Uthiru, their roundabout has become something of a local attraction (so much so that managing the rubbish left by visitors is becoming a new maintenance issue). Many studies have shown the benefits of a clean, safe, respected public space on local self-esteem, perception and behaviour. crime rates drop dramatically. Grades of schoolchildren go up. and ilRi's cost? Just four hours a day of one gardener's time. Which makes this a great (and surprisingly human) return on a very small (and surprisingly smart) investment.This simple decision, to simplify the vegetation and its maintenance, transformed the rugged terrain of the roundabout from something of a public health hazard (used as a convenient toilet by those who had none in their homes and frequented only by young men) into something of a leisure park-a flowery, grassy lawn used by all members of the community. Families and friends now congregate daily within the park to spend quality time. The grounds also serve for amateur photography sessions, with budding musicians having lengthy videos taken as they practice their new numbers.But weekends are by far the most popular time to visit the roundabout. it's seen as a place to relax, a place to nap, read a book, study for an exam, meet a friend. increasingly, it's becoming a place for weekend weddings-booked through the church across the road. it's a place for families and friends as well as wedding parties to get their photographs taken by professional photographers (or youths ambitious to be so). it's a place for members of church choirs to practice on early Sunday mornings.People come to this public space from as far away as Kiambu and the city centre to relax in a safe, open, pleasant green space of perfect size-just large enough to allow some privacy for the different groups using it but too small for those wanting to play or watch football and other sports. as i mentioned at the beginning of this overview, 2009 was an extremely busy year for the ilRi family. But it was at the same time a very successful year. With quite some pride, the Board would like to thank all ilRi staff for their commitment and hard work.On behalf of the Members of the Board i thank our investors and partners for their confidence and continued support allowing us to fulfil our mission.The ilRi Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring that the institute has an appropriate risk management system in place to identify, assess, manage and monitor risks faced by the centre in achieving its objectives. ilRi faces risks as dynamic as the environment in which the institute operates. They include threats to ilRi's reputation, finances, operations, staff, infrastructure and stakeholders.ilRi has had a risk management policy and strategy in place since 2004. Both policy and practice of the institute's risk management conforms to cGiaR principles and guidelines. The effectiveness of ilRi's risk management policy, strategy and implementation has been assessed by the cGiaR's internal audit Unit, which is independent of ilRi business Units.The ilRi Board of Trustees reviews both the risk management system as well as major risks at each of its meetings. at its november 2008 meeting, the Board discussed and agreed the basic principles and areas for the 2009 ilRi internal audit Plan, which was formally adopted in January 2009.The Board of Trustees has reviewed ilRi's risk management policy and strategy and is satisfied that it was implemented effectively during 2009.Management is required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the institute and its subsidiary as at the end of the financial year and of the consolidated results of activities and cash flows of the institute and its subsidiary for that year. Management is also required to ensure that the institute keeps proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the institute and its subsidiary. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the institute and its subsidiary.The institute's management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with the Financial Guideline Series no.2 -accounting Policies & Reporting Practices Manual of the consultative Group on international agricultural Research (cGiaR) and international Financial Reporting Standards(iFRS). This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies, and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.Management accepts responsibility for the annual financial statements, which have been prepared  We have audited the accompanying financial statements of international livestock Research institute (ilRi) and its subsidiary, set out on pages 26 to 47 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial position as at 31 December 2009, and the consolidated statements of activities, consolidated statements of changes in net assets and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year then ended, together with the summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.The institute's management are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with consultative Group on international agricultural Research (cGiaR) financial guideline Series no-2 accounting Policies & Reporting Practices Manual (February 2006) and international Financial Reporting Standards. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with international Standards on auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.an audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. in making those risk assessments, we considered the internal controls relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that were appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the entity's internal controls. an audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.  The international livestock Research institute (ilRi) was created as an international organisation by an agreement dated 21 September 1994 signed in Berne, Switzerland, by the governments of Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Kenya and Ethiopia and the United nations Environmental Programme. On 1 January 1995, all the activities, assets, liabilities and fund balances of the international laboratory for Research on animal Diseases (ilRaD) based in nairobi, Kenya, and the international livestock centre for africa (ilca) based in addis ababa, Ethiopia, were transferred to ilRi.ilRi operates under agreements entered into with the governments of the respective host countries (Kenya and Ethiopia).The Government of Kenya (1974) and the Government of Ethiopia (1976) made available to ilRi leasehold land of approximately 70 hectares and 32 hectares respectively.The financial statements of ilRi have been consolidated with the financial statements of its subsidiary -Kapiti Plains Estate limited in accordance with international accounting Standard 27 on consolidated and separate financial statements.Kapiti Plains Estate limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of ilRi purchased in 1981and registered under the companies act of Kenya. The company operates a ranch that was acquired primarily to support the research needs of international livestock Research institute. The subsidiary sells surplus livestock to third parties.The financial statements of ilRi reflect the activities of two multi-stakeholder initiatives for which ilRi assumes legal and managerial responsibility: c) BiOSciEncES EaSTERn anD cEnTRal aFRica (\"BEca\")The Biosciences Eastern and central africa (Beca) initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of biosciences research in africa and improve products that enhance the livelihoods of farmers in the region. The Beca-ilRi hub, a research platform that includes state-of-the-art facilities and research support, is located at ilRi's nairobi campus. The Beca-ilRi hub is funded through a grant by the canadian international Development agency (ciDa) to ilRi as well as by ilRi's unrestricted funds.The SlP is a multi-centre initiative that adds value to the outputs of individual cGiaR centres and their partners by creating and exploiting synergies in crop-livestock research to reduce poverty in areas where small-scale mixed crop-and-livestock production is widely practiced. Through these partnerships, the programme seeks to contribute to the cGiaR and Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty by enhancing the productivity and sustainability of crop-livestock agriculture through improving feed. These policies are summarised below.(a) accounting conventionThe financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and on the accruals basis, modified to include the carrying of certain assets belonging to the subsidiary at fair value. (i) non US dollar grants and donations received in the year are converted to US dollars at the rates of exchange being used on the dates of receipt. non US dollar grants and donations pledged for the year but not received by the year-end are recognised in the financial statements at the rates of exchange prevailing at the year-end.(ii) non US dollar denominated expenditures are recorded at the prevailing rates of exchange for the month in which they are incurred and are accumulated in US dollars.(iii) assets and liabilities that are denominated in currencies other than the US dollar are restated into US dollars at the rates of exchange prevailing at the year-end.(iv) Gains and losses arising from changes in exchange rates are charged or credited to the statement of activities in the year in which they arise.(d) cash and cash equivalents cash equivalents are short term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near maturity date that they present insignificant risk of changes in value (e) accounts receivable accounts receivable from donors, employees and other entities are carried at anticipated realisable value. an allowance is made for doubtful receivables based on a review of all outstanding amounts at the year-end. Bad debts are written off during the year in which they are identified as irrecoverable. The write off of receivables is done after all efforts to collect have been exhausted.Donor receivables are funds expended on behalf of a donor but not yet reimbursed.notes to the consolidated Financial Statements all immovable assets constructed or carried on leasehold land donated by host countries have been capitalisedas assets of the institute. ilRi has the right to negotiate for extension of leases under the host country agreements upon the expiry of the current leases. in accordance with the host country agreements, in the event that the host country agreement is terminated or the host country does not renew a lease upon expiry, all immovable assets will be disposed off by the cGiaR (in consultation with Government of Ethiopia and Government of Kenya).Gains and losses on disposal of property and equipment are determined by reference to their carrying amount and are accounted for in the Statement of activities.Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line basis at annual rates estimated to write off the cost of each item of property and equipment over the estimated term of its useful life. The annual rates used are: Depreciation of acquired assets start in the month the assets are placed in operation and continue until the assets has been fully depreciated or their use discontinued.Property and equipment acquired using project-restricted funds are fully depreciated when they are placed in operation under the specific benefiting projects.Depreciation charge is time-apportioned in the year of disposal of items of property and equipment.For the subsidiary company, excess depreciation on the revaluation surplus is transferred from the capital reserve to revenue reserve.Operating lease rentals relating to leased land are amortised over the term of lease.inTERnaTiOnal liVESTOcK RESEaRcH inSTiTUTE 36SiGniFicanT accOUnTinG POliciES (continued) (h) intangible assets intangible assets of the institute comprise acquired computer software. The cost of acquisition and installation of computer software is capitalised and amortised over the estimated useful life of the software, usually three years.The carrying values of property and equipment, including intangible assets, are reviewed annually and adjusted for impairment losses where it is considered necessary.(j) inventories and livestock cost is calculated on the weighted average basis and includes purchase price, freight and other incidental costs.The determination of obsolescence or expiration is based on the lower of the manufacturer's recommendations and documented experience and knowledge of management. Excess inventory is written down wholly as soon as it is identified and the exact level of excess is determined.livestock is stated at fair value less point of sale costs. The fair value of livestock is determined based on market prices for livestock of similar age, breed and genetic merit. changes in fair value are recognised in the statement of activities.The institute's contributions are maintained as a defined contribution plan for all categories of staff. Full provision is made for severance benefits payable to employees at the end of their contracts. Provisions are also made in respect of outstanding leave days accruing to all staff and all repatriation costs. (See note 22).(l) net assets net assets represent the residual interest in the institute's assets remaining after liabilities have been deducted.all the institute's net assets are unrestricted.(m) accruals accruals represent liabilities to pay for goods or services that have been received/supplied but not yet invoiced or formally agreed with suppliers.(n) accounts payableThese represent amounts due to donors, employees and others for support, services and /or materials received prior to year-end but not paid for as at balance sheet date Donor payables are unexpended funds received in advance for restricted grants.notes to the consolidated Financial Statements (p) Tax ilRi -The governments of Kenya and Ethiopia have undertaken to exempt the centre from all local taxes including customs duty on goods and services received by the centre. consequently, the centre does not account for tax in its financial statements.Kapiti Plains Estate limited -current taxation is provided for on the basis of the results for the year as shown in the financial statements, adjusted in accordance with the tax legislation. Deferred taxation is provided using the liability method, for all temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying values for financial reporting purposes. Deferred tax assets are recognised for all deductible temporary differences, carry forward of unused tax losses and unused tax credits to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the deductible temporary differences, unused tax losses and the unused tax credits can be utilised.Managing financial risk is one aspect of the risk management practice of ilRi which considers all its operations. The organisation's activities expose it to a variety of financial risks, including funding risks, variation of foreign exchange risk, interest risk, credit risk, banking risk and inflation.Risk management is carried out by the management of the institute supported by the internal audit unit under policies approved by the Board of Trustees. a key element of the institute's risk management programme is minimising potential adverse effects on its financial performance. The Finance function identifies, evaluates and hedges financial risks.(a) Risk from foreign exchange risk and interest rate variationsThe organisation is exposed to foreign exchange risk arising from various currency exposures, primarily with respect to the Kenya shilling, Ethiopian Birr, British pound and the Euro. Foreign exchange risk arises from future transactions and recognised assets and liabilities.The organisation manages foreign exchange risk through natural hedging and purchase of forward exchange contracts.investment decisions are also guided by the foreseeable conditions of foreign exchange markets and a conservative investment policy.(b) Funding risk ilRi manages funding risk through financial planning systems, a conservative investment policy and its resource mobilisation strategy.Financial RiSK ManaGEMEnT OBJEcTiVES anD POliciES (continued) (c) inflation risk inflation risk is managed through conservative budgeting and a conservative investment policy.This risk is managed in three ways:• Avoiding contract with donors on a reimbursable basis The donor receivables under the fully performing category are honouring their obligations as they continue supporting the institute while other debtors in this category continue honouring their obligations in the normal course of ilRi's business. The default rate is low. cash and cash equivalents are fully performing.Effective cash flow and working capital management is carried out to ensure there is a balance between operational and investment requirements.notes to the consolidated Financial Statements The table below analyses the institute's financial liabilities that will be settled on a net basis into relevant maturity groupings based on the remaining period at the statement of financial position date to the contractual maturity date. The amounts disclosed in the table below are the contractual undiscounted cash flows. Balances due within 12 months equal their carrying amounts, as the impact of discounting is not significant.The bulk of the donor payables amounting to $ 12,175, represent funds received in advance to be spent within the next year.(g) Other financial risks are addressed through internal control systems and regular market surveys.in the process of applying the institute's and its subsidiary's accounting policies, management has made estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities within current and future financial years. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The critical areas of accounting estimates and judgements in relation to the preparation of these financial statements are as set out below:(a) critical judgements in applying accounting policies There are no critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (see below), that the trustees have made in the process of applying the entity's accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in financial statements. view is that the assessment contradicts the Host country agreement (Hca) signed between the institute and the Government of Kenya represented by the Ministry of Foreign affairs. This agreement explicitly exempts the nationally Recruited Staff or the institute from paying income tax on overseas pension plans. The institute is working closely with the Ministry of Foreign affairs with a view to having the matter resolved and is of the opinion that this matter will be resolved in accordance with the provisions of the Host country agreement and as a result, no provision has been made in the financial statements with regard to the potential liability notified by Kenya Revenue authority. The case has also been presented to the Kenya Revenue authority articulating the institute management's position that stipends are not taxable and a positive outcome is expected.Where necessary, the comparative figures have been adjusted to conform to changes in presentation in the current year.These financial statements are presented in United States Dollar Thousands (US$ '000).notes to the consolidated Financial Statements ","tokenCount":"6172"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3725986076.json b/data/part_1/3725986076.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aa6f690f4d59d21def83c1a00ce2dfc42fb337b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3725986076.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1cf43b66c74cb45fe8b4b5e6fee7aef9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f8042361-c2bf-468c-b6ee-93dbfa26ea81/retrieve","id":"-784443717"},"keywords":["Climate-smart aquaculture (CSAq)","adoption","affecting factors","tilapia"],"sieverID":"23b42642-7db1-4812-855d-58315d064bd5","pagecount":"30","content":"Climate-smart aquaculture (CSAq) is considered an appropriate and effective adaptation approach for the coastal aquaculture sector under the climate change phenomenon. This study, applying probit model, aims to assess the influence of several factors on the farmers' decision to apply CSAq practices in extensive coastal shrimp farming. Data were collected from interviews with 200 households who have both already applied and have yet to apply CSAq practices in five coastal districts of Thanh Hoa Province. The results showed six key factors that influenced the decision of the farmers to apply CSAq practices: availability of household labor; access to information on CSAq practices; market price of products applying CSAq practices; economic efficiency; ability to ensure food security; and improved pond environment when applying CSAq practices. These factors explained 69.41% of their decision to apply CSAq, among which economic efficiency had the greatest impact (30.2%). Market prices and access to information about CSAq are also important factors with respective levels of influence at 16.0% and 14.9%. The result implies that strengthening access to CSAq information and improving technical understanding of CSAq practices are important solutions to upscale CSAq in the North Central Coast of Vietnam.Vietnam, as well as its NCC specifically, has been experiencing climate change for the last 50 years, based on meteorological observations (IMHEN, 2011). Recent changes on the climate brought negative impacts on the coastal aquaculture system in Hoang Phong. Climate data shows that rainfall patterns in Thanh Hoa changed by decreasing frequency but increasing intensity. This led to greater fluctuations on pond water environments (i.e. salinity, pH). Furthermore, with 'Tieu Man' flooding frequently occurring in June, pond salinity sharply declines and drops to its lowest level (about 2-3%) during the period of September-October (VIFEP, 2013) (Figure 1). providing a stable source of income that is less vulnerable to production loss.By gradually domesticating tilapia species into brackish water farming systems, the integration of shrimp, tilapia, crab and seaweed as a CSAq practice in NCC brings higher economic gains and reduces feed uses, pond preparation costs and improves pond environmental quality. Moreover, this practice improves food accessibility of local farmers more than non-integrative practices do.Despite this success, adoption and scaling up of CSAq practices in the region still face several issues and require necessary support measures. Kumar (2018) reviewed several factors that influenced the adoption-related decisions of farmers on aquaculture technologies from a number of studies and summarized them as follows:(1) method of information transfer;(2) characteristics of the technology; (3) farm characteristics; (4) economic factors; and (5) sociodemographic and institutional factors. These factors revealed that the main modes of information transfer to farmers were based on two major channels, the Extension Approach and Media and Training.In terms of the characteristics of the new technique, factors affecting adoption decisions were the perceived benefits of the new technique compared to previous techniques such as improvements in productivity (Batz et al., 1999), reduction of used input (Feder et al., 1985), cost effectiveness (Katiha et al., 2005), and decrease in market price and yield risks, (Tsur et al., 1990). The degree of compatibility with the needs of potential adopters and the complexity of new technologies for farmers' understanding and use were also influential in their decision making (Rogers, 1995).Moreover, several economic factors such as profitability (Griliches, 1957), market price of the product (Feder et al., 1985), availability of capital (Salter, 1960), and availability of labor (Binswanger and Rosenzweig, 1986) serve as major influences in the adoption of a new technology.For farm characteristics, factors such as farm size (Globerman, 1975), ownership, and tenure are suggested to influence the adoption decisions of farmers. For household characteristics, age both has a positive effect (Shields, 1993) and a negative effect (Roger, 1995) to farmers' decision.Meanwhile, factors such as the level of education, technology, and experience of farmers have positive impacts on decision making (Spenser and Byerlee, 1976). Geographical distance wherein the new technology is being developed also has certain effects on adoption outcomes. Currently, communication of climate-smart agriculture and CSAq through mass media systems is still limited all over Vietnam. This is specifically evident in Thanh Hoa Province. The farmers can access technical information mainly through local extension system. Therefore, technical information access from aquaculture extension services are considered to affect adoption decision more than others. Regarding perceived benefits, according to Quyen et al. ( 2017), expected benefits of CSAq system are economic efficiency, food security, reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR), and improved environmental ponds. In addition, market price of CSAq products may affect farmers' decisions for adoption. The analytical framework is shown below:The decision on CSAq adoption of farmers is considered a dichotomous dependent variable measured as \"yes\" or \"no\". According to Aldrich (1987), the most popular econometric models in estimating the effects of such decision are linear probability models (LPMs), logit models, and probit models. However, LPM was not chosen for this study because of two limitations: that the estimated probabilities from LPM do not necessarily lie in the bound of 0 and 1 and also because LPM assumes that the probability of a positive response increases linearly with the level of the explanatory variable, which is counterintuitive (Domadar, 2011). On the other hand, logit and probit models generally give similar results; so in practice there is no compelling reason to choose Because there is no significant difference of results between the two logit and probit models, but rather basing on the availability of software and the ease of interpretation, in this study, the probit model is used to measure the determinants of CSAq adoption decision of farmers.The probit model assesses the impact of an independent variable on probability of dichotomous dependent variable. The dependent variable gets a value of 1 if farmers make the CSAq adoption decision. Otherwise, the variable is given a 0 value. The probability of CSAq adoption decision is shown with the following equation:In this equation, X i refers to independent variables that are factors affecting to CSAq adoption decision of farmers; β i are slope parameters. The associated latent variables are expressed as ( ) , in which u i are error term and unobserved; hence, the ( ) is also unobservable.This means that the form of Probit is expressed as follows:in which P i is probability when Yi = 1 (the farmer adopts a package of CSA); E is conditional expected probability; F is Cumulative Distribution Function:The β i parameters cannot be expressed by any direct formula of the F and X value in the observed data. In this model, the marginal effect of an independent variable is used to estimate the probability change P(Y=1/X=x) when a unit change of an independent variable occurs. It is expressed as follows:( ) ̂Factors affecting CSAq adoption decision of farmers in the above analytical framework are described in detail in table 1: The main characteristics of aquaculture farmers in Thanh Hoa Province are described in Table 2, which shows that respondent age, labour of household, pond area of aquaculture, and aquaculture revenue are not different between CSAq adoption and non-CSAq (at 5% significant level).However, there is significant difference between those two in terms of aquaculture experience at 10% significant level. CSAq adopters have more aquaculture experiences (mean=16.74) than nonadopters with their average 14.35 years. Before assessing the effects of these factors to CSAq adoption decision, Pearson correlation coefficients among independent variables and between independent variables and dependent variables were computed. The results showed that correlation between independent variables such as household characteristics (age, gender, aquaculture experience, education, number of labors), aquaculture characteristics (pond area, cooperatives member, aquaculture revenue), food security, aqua-fed use reduction and dependent variables are quite low with Pearson coefficient from 0.01 to 0.28. However, the remaining variables (including CSAq technical knowledge, information access, market price, economic efficiency, waste reduction) and the dependent variables have closer correlation with Pearson coefficients from above 0.3 to above 0.8 (Table 3). In addition, there are weak correlations among independent variables with Pearson coefficients less than 0.3, which indicates that it is possible to confirm that Multicollinearity does not exist. The results using Stata are presented in Despite the importance of aquaculture in the socioeconomic development of NCC and the entire Thanh Hoa Province, the local coastal aquaculture sector is facing many risks because of the negative impacts of climate change. A new approach is then necessary to minimize such risks.CSAq is considered a potential solution in brackishwater aquaculture. A CSAq model was tested in Thanh Hoa Province from 2015-2017, which brought initially positive economic and environmental results. However, after the testing, the number of CSAq adoption households still remained limited.The study found six key factors with positive influence on the CSAq adoption behavior among farmers: the household's labour availability (numbers of household's members); economic efficiency of CSAq farming system; pond environment improvement (decrease of organic waste in pond bed); higher price of CSAq products; access to technical information; and food security for the farming household. The three factors with the most impact on farmer decisions are economic efficiency, market price, and CSAq information access from aquaculture extension systems.Based on these results, the economic efficiency of CSA must be improved to successfully promote the outscaling of CSAq in the North Central Coast of Vietnam. This can be achieved through cost reduction, feed use efficiency, CSAq value chain linkage establishment and disease management among others. To raise the awareness of coastal farmers about CSAq, the Vietnam government must improve its communication with relevant stakeholders and develop feasible supportive policies to advocate for CSAq scaling out.","tokenCount":"1579"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3732909083.json b/data/part_1/3732909083.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4c4099c8e111a06c3e068ced2c0e5f846c1ededd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3732909083.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd12675e91d9cece71d176122adf651e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6cf7b53e-489b-4b7e-b375-da87aac46793/retrieve","id":"-1947846476"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"81c9f7b8-2d0f-4993-87ca-4ee7de9fa0d7","pagecount":"32","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Integrated systems for the Humid Tropics (hereafter Humidtropics) aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve health and nutrition and stimulate sustainable resource management. It is based on integrative systems approach to agricultural innovation using multi-stakeholder interaction. Innovation platforms (IP) are key to Humidtropics and in Uganda there are two very active IPs in rural and peri-urban areas.Based on feedback from a needs assessment, on the 20 th and 21 st of October 2015, with financial support from the Humidtropics capacity development office led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), a training was organized by the Uganda Humidtropics secretariat composed of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Makerere University, the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) and The World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC).Informed by the needs assessment, the proposed plan action constituted capacity development for two (2) Humidtropics IPs: Mukono-Wakiso, which is a peri-urban platform focusing mainly on vegetables, and Kiboga-Kyankwanzi platform that is situated in rural settings and focuses mainly on soybean. Both these platforms were formed in February 2014 with Mukono-Wakiso having selected the entry points of vegetables-livestock-banana-Agroforestry while Kiboga-Kyankwanzi focused on soybean-maize-livestock -banana-Agroforestry.For (i) Kiboga-Kyankwanzi significant progress has been made in terms of overcoming the production constraints related to the entry point, some of the progress steps include: soybean business plan development for seed procurement, soil fertility management, peer to peer promotional horizontal scaling and school porridge enrichment. While this progress is commendable, outstanding gaps still remain and they include IP leadership and innovations for soybean-livestock system integration on a sustainable basis. Similarly, for (ii) Mukono-Wakiso IP significant progress has been made on the entry point of vegetables and some key steps include the introduction of vegetable kits by AVRDC, varietal evaluation, understanding of marketing constraints, formation of the Uganda Youth Agriprenuers (UYA), institutionalization of Humidtropics in Mukono district planning structures. Some of the outstanding challenges that remain include generating innovations for ensuring full integration of the vegetables -livestock -banana agroforestry system and how to simultaneously manage the ongoing horizontal and vertical scaling sustainably. Therefore this training was designed to respond to the training needs for both IP executives in a demand driven manner. They build on past trainings but target outstanding challenges faced by the IPs. The trainings for the IP executives will take the form of a learning cycle consisting of 2 residential training blocks and interspersed by 2 periods of field experimentation/follow up learning. (i)(ii)The training covered part of the needs raised by the platform members in the preassessment form.  -From the needs assessment form, the two blocks with more demand to improve IPs performance and sustainability were Business/Financial trainings and Communication and group strengthening. The content of each of these blocks is described in detail in the body of this report, including its objectives, reflection on preforms (if applicable), overview of session activities and reflection and suggestions for improvement (feedback forms review). All the materials and manuals are available in this report as well as the program and other information of interest.Governance, group dynamics, leadership and team building blocks of this module were identified by the executive committee as important issues for the success of the two platforms. This module was designed by Professor Moses Tenywa, Makerere University and Humidtropics national facilitator to improve the performance of the platform. There was need to increase awareness and knowledge on how to deal with conflicts and groups dynamics that any group of people working together can faced. The main objectives of this training module were: In the afternoon session, Professor Charles Muyanja (who has a background of a facilitator in the challenge program) held the training on conflict management. First they were understanding the meaning of team and discussing which are the factors that can create conflict in a group of people working together and also what the best ways are to handle them.Picture 2. Professor Charles Muyanja discussing the meaning of \"TEAM\" and conflict management approaches.Reflection and suggestions for improvement IP members realized the importance of group work and how handling conflicts in a healthy manner can have a direct impact on the performance of the platform.Managing the platform, understanding which ways challenges can be faced as a team and working to achieve outcomes jointly were important lessons taken by the participants.The feedback received from the participants was very positive and many had commented on the importance of this training, at this point in time, as the IPs are evolving towards another phase. This knowledge can be very handy to achieve the objectives of this new phase. Please find feedback document in the Annex.All the IP members identified communication as a critical point within the platform for better functioning. Failing to communicate in a proper was identified as a possible cause of conflict, disinformation and poor management of activities.This module include a joint training to develop a simple communication strategy at internal and external level and two sets of different trainings with different levels on computer tools to improve organization and communication, social media and how to write a good report. To develop a Communication strategy at both internal and external level.  A level 0 to learn basic computer tools to improve communication. At level 1, to gain knowledge on computer tools that can help organize the platform as at the same time help to improve communication between members.  To learn basic knowledge in the different and more popular social media tools available.  To learn the must content of different kind of documentation.  To learn computer tools to produce quality documents.For the communication strategy training, preforms were not done. However the rest of the communication trainings regarding computer tools, reporting and social media, had preforms to be able to inform better the trainer about the knowledge level of the participants. Therefore the trainers were able to divide the participants in different trainings groups according to their knowledge.For the computer tools to better organize and communicate within the platform, the results showed that there were two clear group, those that usually use computers in their work, and therefore they have more knowledge and those that access to computer is more limited. Having this in mind two groups were formed according to their knowledge level and different content was passed. The preform information can be find in the annex.To understand better the knowledge that members have regarding social medial, the preform was filled and the results showed that most members know about Facebook, Whatsapp and Wikipedia however most were used to Facebook, Whatsapp and Skype. However their knowledge was not very deep and most of the members wanted to know more about all tools. To learn more details, please check the annex.To learn what IP members understand as the must content in certain document but also what level do they have in Microsoft Word to produce good looking documents, a preform was filled and the results showed that they write many different documents but there is need to learn better on how to produce them. To find the full report, please follow to the annex.The morning session consisted in a half an hour presentation to explain the role of communication and how to develop a simple action focus communication strategy at two levels (internal and external).Each platform was divided into two and one group of the platform worked on the internal communication plan as the other group worked on the external one.Once the groups presented some comments were raised and it was agreed that the trainer was going to work on some extra feedback on the communication plan and the different members were going to work a bit on it so it can be presented in the next IP meeting.In the afternoon session the group was split in three, one group received the social media trainings and the other two trainings were about computer tools for better work organization but for two focused at different levels.The social media training gave an overview of Internet and social media concept and afterward there was a brief introduction of the most used or practical tools.The two different level trainings on computer tools were taking place simultaneously, while one trainer was teaching the basic on internet and email, the other was focused on other tools like Google Account and its apps (Calendar, Google Docs, Google groups,…) , Doodle, Dropbox, and so on. Finally the last session was about how to produce a good looking report. First it was explained the must content of important documents as reports, minutes, formal letter and formal emails. Afterwards different tools on Microsoft word were explained to improve writing documents in a more efficient and professional way.           ","tokenCount":"1442"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3733370131.json b/data/part_1/3733370131.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f0c0cede9518c8443b79524d9803279d30221f81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3733370131.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4fe0f7bb436c10cf33ddccbc1f368f80","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f3636b0e-ee45-4959-a54f-8f31ad7615a7/retrieve","id":"886399274"},"keywords":["Action research","climate resilient options","climate smart","community innovation","climate change","farmer learnings"],"sieverID":"34bbd022-eaf2-4fa6-bafb-3d3d7bc3c7af","pagecount":"74","content":"The main purpose of this portfolio is to document climate-smart agricultural options tested and implemented in Guinayangan, Quezon, Philippines. The intention is to use evidencebased recommendations to promote out-scaling and upscaling. Participatory vulnerability assessment and action research helped in identification of climate resilient options. A community innovation fund supported the farmer-led action research. The investigators used a landscape approach in capturing how community-managed technologies worked in lowland, upland and coastal areas. The portfolio presents the rationale of the technologies, details of the implementation process, actual farmers' learnings and observed benefits. The compiled technological options resulted in a unique portfolio best-fitted to alleviate impacts of climate change while also addressing livelihood goals.A wide portfolio of climate change mitigation and adaptation options are needed, if both climate risks and people's livelihoods need to be addressed. It is well known that if landscape approaches are used, local communities must have access to a range of options relevant to restoring landscapes. A wide range of ecosystem types need to feature in such approaches (e.g., coastal communities will consider mangrove restoration while also addressing coastal agriculture in homestead areas; similarly, an upland community will have to consider crop-tree-livestock interactions and lowland systems will have to similarly explore diverse cropping and links with small livestock and, possibly, fish). These complex systems not only address livelihood needs, but they can also enhance various dimensions of resilience. Diversified portfolios reduce the climate risks and vulnerabilities of local communities.A range of approaches are relevant in a community level effort to develop portfolios of climate smart/resilient agriculture. Participatory Action Research and Participatory Technology/Innovations Development (PTD/PID) are well known approaches that can be deployed in efforts to develop locally relevant options. Capacities of local communities to experiment (to find local solutions that are relevant and can be sustained) need to be enhanced and nurtured. Participatory Action Research (PAR) can be used to develop bestbet options. Such innovations are developed by integrating local practice with concepts or materials (e.g., seeds) drawn from agricultural science. Modern science and traditional knowledge are blended through such an engagement of farmers in Participatory Action Research. In many cases this is a continuing process which though introduced via a project intervention might eventually evolve (in scope and content) into a process that is farmerled. The process of evolution means that technologies and associated processes are constantly modified in response to local situations, needs, and considerations. An important outcome of such an approach is the capacity to adapt are nurtured and developed, often outliving specific technologies.The process of arriving at a portfolio of options can also be nurtured via the provision of material support and local financing to support community level adaptation processes. The community adaptation fund is one such approach which can support decentralized farmerled experimentation and innovation and, modest scaling out of Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA)/Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). This fund is made available mostly through materials input support and in a few cases, direct monetary support (small fund grants only). Management, utilization and accessibility mechanisms are usually developed by the project management team, tested, then revised (based on feedback during a trial phase). • Decentralized small livestock and poultry breeding and multiplication centers for improved native pig breeds, goats, native chicken, and ducks.• Decentralized farmer-managed fish fingerling nurseries for Tilapia • Propagation centers for improved local and modern root and tuber crops (e.g., purple and orange flesh and commercial varieties)• Tree nurseries to support on farm forestry and agroforestry (shelter belts, green manure trees, fruit trees, etc.)• Demonstration sites for rainwater harvesting and management for small farms • Community level propagation centers for ginger, turmeric, and pineapple (to support diversification with quality planting materials • Seed production centers for resilient crop cultivars (e.g., upland rice, drought tolerant rainfed rice) peanut, open pollinated corn, and legumes (pigeon pea, mung bean, cowpea)• Seed kits to support farmer-led participatory varietal selectionThe DA-BAR and CCAFS have supported IIRR and its local government partners in Guinayangan, Quezon and Ivisan, Capiz in the Philippines to test and develop a portfolio of CSA/CRA technologies and practices. These have generated observable evidence of development outcomes at household, community and municipality levels.This publication features experiences in community-based adaptation efforts in two sites. A wide range of CRA/CSA was generated through participatory action research in local municipalities. This program was developed within the limits of what a local government can offer by way of human and technical capacities. This was intentional: to promote their outscaling mainstreaming and eventual upscaling. Such approaches are targeted to smallholders who might not have access to credit private sector sources of inputs.Related knowledge products are also developed on the processes associated with this effort. These are packaged separately, are copyright-free and freely shared.Readers are invited to this presentation of CSA/CRA portfolios developed in the Philippines.These are CCAFS-funded and IIRR-managed sites (partnerships with local governments).The engagement of the Department of Agriculture (DA) via its Bureau of Agriculture Research (BAR) and its System Wide Climate Change Office (SWACCO) has been for purposes of identifying technological, social, and institutional approaches that can be used by the Department of Agriculture -Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (DA-AMIA) villages across the country. IIRR and the UPLBFI have also managed three roving workshops (with DA BAR support) conducted at the two IIRR sites. These are significant capacity strengthening efforts targeted to representative from the DA from all the regions of the country. This is consistent also with the IIRR partnership with CCAFS to generate and develop strategies for outscaling and upscaling CSA/CRA concepts, community-based adaptations, social learning approaches at sub-national and national levels in the Philippines.The diversification and intensification of monocrops of coconuts were a priority adaptation measure.Guinayangan, in Quezon province, is a 3rd class municipality composed of 54 barangays, and covering 22,800 hectares. The town's topography is generally hilly and mountainous with some barangays located in coasts fronting the Ragay Gulf. It has at least 6 distinct ecosystems (public forestlands, protected watersheds, upland coconut-based agroecology, lowland rice-based agroecosystems, river systems and coastal areas). Sixty-eight percent (68%) or 14,235 hectares of its total land area is devoted to agricultural production. Much of the upland forest that once dominated the town's landscape before the 1970s was converted to mono-crop coconut plantations, which has been the dominant production system in the municipality since then. The municipality has a population of 45,155 (2015), most of which are engaged in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Half of the total population live below monthly per capita poverty threshold of USD 33.Guinayangan's agricultural production is dominated by the coconut sector. Coconut is the main crop grown by farmers, with 79 percent of the total agricultural land devoted to its production. Other crops are corn, rice, banana, citrus, root crops, vegetables and coffee.The majority of the farmers also raise livestock and poultry for family consumption and also as a source of additional income for their families. Other existing animal productions are basically for home consumption. With 10 coastal villages, fishery is another key sector in the municipality.Participatory vulnerability assessments (PVA), was conducted by IIRR and the local government of Guinayangan highlighted the following farmers' perceptions of changing climate since the 1980's:• Variations in the length and duration of the wet and dry seasons -dry seasons are longer now than 30 years ago.• Increasing unpredictability of the onset and duration of rainy seasons -onset of the rainy season usually starts in the months of May and June and lasts until September and October, with the months of October to December as the \"typhoon season,\" when strong typhoons pass by the municipality. Participants observed that rains now occur only when there are typhoons or low-pressure areas passing or near the province. This is most evident in the early onset of this year's dry season (in December 2013), which lasted up to this reporting period (August 2014).• Increasing irregularity of rains in terms of intensity and duration -participants observed that rains were \"stronger\" (more, in terms of volume) before but occurs more regularly and do not cause flooding. They also observed that rivers clear faster (in terms of turbidity) before. Current rain patterns are described as strong (high volume) but in short duration thus causing flooding or at times in very low volumes (drizzles) that occurring in longer durations.• Increasing incidence of flooding.• Increasing temperature -as evidenced by the changing daily working schedule of farmers in their farms. Conditions 30 years ago permit them to work in their farms even up to noontime. Farmers claim that the sun's heat is now unbearable for field work from 10:00 am up to mid-afternoon.The PVA process also resulted in the identification of two climate-related risks to the agricultural sector of Guinayangan: (1) storms/typhoons; and (2) drought conditions which can be due to the occurrence of El Nino or due to prolonged dry/summer season. Temporary Migration is the default coping mechanism for climate risks wherein farmers go to urban areas such as Cavite, Laguna, Manila, and Batangas to seek work. Impacts and coping mechanisms to typhoons and drought-like conditions are indicated below: Table 1. Impacts of extreme events coping mechanismsUprooting of trees, disruption of production and livelihood; PVA participants recognize typhoon as the hazard they are most affected with as it has the capability to inflict damage to their main livelihood -coconut farming/copra production Increased pest infestation such as cocolisap in coconut, which is observed to occur during very dry months but disappear when the rains and typhoons come A total of 1,054 hectares of the municipality's agricultural land is dedicated to rice In Barangay Danlagan Central, a field day was conducted headed by farmer cooperators and FLG members. Farmer participants assessed different stress-tolerant varieties based on crop stand, grain appearance and sensory test of cooked rice.The cropping cycle in most barangays, ranges from 1 to 2 crops a year. The wet season starts in June and ends in September while the dry season is from November to March.Local farmers avail of seed subsidy from the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist. Seed exchange with other rice farmers remains the most popular method of acquiring planting material for the next season. PSB Rc18 is the most preferred variety due its good eating quality, high yield and adaptability to local condition. Other rice varieties planted in the area are NSIC Rc218 and Rc238.Crop establishment in many barangays is randomly spaced, locally called as \"Waray\" method. Farmers roughly transplants 7-10 seedlings per hill. To prevent Golden Apple Snail infestation, seedlings are transplanted 25 days after seeding. Lack of money results to minimal application of fertilizer and pesticides. Usually, farmers apply foliar fertilizer (i.e., Crop Giant) for basal application followed by topdressing of 1 sack of urea in 1 ha rice area.Common pest and diseases include rice blast, brown spot, blight, golden apple snail, rice bug and weeds.The annual average production of Guinayangan is 5,248 MT. Laborers are paid following the system called talok-ani, wherein the same set of people who did transplanting will also harvest the crop. One-fifth of the total is given to the laborers and the rest to the land owner. Other land owners directly pay laborers amounting to Php250 to Php300 per day. 1. Four (4) key principles of low external input rice production (LEIRP) system to address issues of high production cost and water availability issues: dry nursery method, transplanting using 1-2 seedlings per hill, straight planting with 20 -25 cm interval, and trial use of green leaf manureLEIRP is a low-cost, ecologically sound and sustainable rice-based production technology that is characterized by:• Reduction of chemical inputs through the introduction of bio-fertilizers/green leaf manure;Gloria Macaraig tested different stress tolerant varieties in Barangay Arbismen. Her most preferred variety is NSIC Rc296, since it can withstand drought, has good eating quality and yields well.• Diversification of farm enterprises -integration of crops, livestock and fish; and• Promotion of systems of rice intensification (SRI) principles.The LEIRP system is considered a climate resilient technology because it helps sustainably increase productivity. Less water is consumed in alternate wetting and drying technique.Water is used efficiently. Use of wider spacing results to increase seed productivity.Application of GLM also reduces input. Lesser use of resources and improved yield means higher benefit-cost ratio.While LEIRP is multi-faceted, IIRR and MAO's interventions in this aspect is still limited to the promotion of the most basic principles of systems of rice intensification (SRI), which are: use of quality and nursery-raised seeds, transplanting of young seeds (10-15 days), single seed planting in 20 to 25 cm interval, minimal use of water (alternate flooding of paddies), and minimal use of commercial inputs (fertilizers and pesticides). The promotion of SRI has allowed farmers to increase their net productivity (lesser input) through a shift in the management of plant, water, soil and nutrients toward a more favourable environment for the growth of rice plants.In this system, rice resistance to various stresses is improved. Less irrigation water is needed because the plants developed deeper and larger root system. Proper spacing reduces competition among crops thus developed stronger and deeper roots. The tillers are thicker and sturdier which prevents if not lessen the damage caused by lodging. Silica uptake also increases with AWD. Increase in rice stems helps improved its tensile strength. Pest and diseases cannot easily damage the strong and healthy tillers. Sunlight can easily penetrate between rows creating a less humid micro-climate. A less humid canopy is not a favourable condition to most pathogens and pests.The increase in grain and biomass yield is parallel to higher amount carbon sequestered in the atmosphere. Carbon footprint is minimized in using locally available nutrient source.Use of GLM as a substitute to synthetic N fertilizer leads to minimal increase in nitrous oxide production. In addition to that, GLM increases soil N. The soil condition is not always aerobic in LEIRP production and GHG is relatively reduced.Sta. Cruz where Eugenia Marjes, has been practicing the rice-based CSA technology for approximately 4 years.LEIRP is tested in farmers field through establishment of observation trials. About 0.5 to 1 kg of rice seeds is provided to interested farmers. The rest of the inputs are the farmer's counterpart. Farmers are not required to submit formal reports. However, during FLG meeting they are expected to share their observations. The parameters include actual yield, inputs used, observed differences compared to common practice, resistance to pests and diseases, tillering ability and other basic agronomic traits. At the end of the season, twice the number of seeds shall be given back to the FLG or other farmer in the area willing to try the LEIRP system.Increase in grain yield is the usual learning shared by farmers during meetings. Farmers who tested the technology also experienced cost-efficient management of inputs. According to them, rice plants are sturdier, the number of tillers increased and more resistant to pest and diseases. Seedlings can also easily recover after transplanting. The use of GLM reduces the farmers' expenses. They lessen the application of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides. Based on their observation, the result of incorporating GLM can be observed after some time.They noticed that the seedlings grow vigorously and there are more panicles per plant after 2 seasons. On the other hand, farmers consider the technology labour intensive. They said that with GLM application they hired or asked a family member to help them in hauling the leaves. It takes same time to finish and it can be only practiced in small parcel of land.PVS is the systemic observation and comparison of stress tolerant rice varieties in comparison with local varieties. As opposed to trial planting, selected farmer co-operators who conduct PVS are expected to accomplish a simple monitoring form and present their weekly observations during FLG meetings.\"Participatory varietal selection (PVS) is a simple way for breeders and agronomists to learn which varieties perform well on-station and on-farm and to obtain feedback from the potential end users in the early phases of the breeding cycle. It is a means for social scientists to identify the varieties that most men and women farmers prefer, including the reasons for their preference and constraints to adoption.\" 2The approach provides options to farmers. Rice farmers in Guinayangan tend to replant same variety, specifically PSB Rc18. Continuous use of the same variety in the same areas builds resistance to pest and diseases. Introduction of new varieties serves as management control. The PVS provided access to stress tolerant rice varieties.In conducting a PVS, the FLG members identified salinity and prolonged drought condition as two major problems in the rice fields. The group agreed to conduct a participatory action research which aims to determine the best-suited variety in their area. Three participatory varietal selection (PVS) sites were established by selected farmer cooperators. Each farmer cooperator was provided with community innovation fund (CIF) amounting to Php2,000.The CIF covered seed and partial fertilizer inputs. The farmer cooperators shouldered the rest of the expenses including labor and land preparation. All submitted a proposal and signed a memorandum of understanding to avail the CIF.The PAR sites are in a valley and share the same landscape. They followed the same management practices. All of them shared their experiences to other FLG member during their monthly meetings. Basic parameters observed were plant height, number of tillers, resistance to pest, susceptibility to diseases and yield. Saline tolerant varieties tested are NSIC Rc296, NSIC Rc326, NSIC Rc328, NSIC Rc334, NSIC Rc340 and NSIC Rc392. On the other hand, the drought tolerant varieties tested are NSIC Rc192 and NSIC Rc278. The A farmers' field day was held in April 3, 2017 to showcase the result of PVS trials. Farmer cooperators shared their 3 months experience in conducting a PVS trial. Based from the average result, NSIC Rc334 has the highest yield among all saline tolerant varieties. It is higher than the observed yield from the check or local variety. Other varieties also outperformed the local variety. Interestingly, PSB Rc18 produced higher yield compared to the tested drought tolerant varieties. According to farmers' observation, this is probably because a serious drought was not observed during the season when the trials were conducted. They recommended that another PVS trial should be conducted in the dry season.Intra-species diversification helps enhance climate adaptation and mitigation while also improving microclimate (here, cacao, coffee and fruit trees are featured as understory crops under coconut.Most farmers depend on coconut as their main source of livelihood. About 79% of the agricultural land is devoted to coconut production. Other agricultural products include corn, rice, banana, coffee, vegetables and root crops. These crops are grown separately, hence the widespread monocropping technique.Harvesting is done eight times a year, with 30-45 days interval. During the wet season, the average coconut yield is 1,200 nuts per hectare in a single cropping cycle. Lower yields are observed during the dry season, with only 200 to 250 nuts per hectare in one cycle.Maximum yield is 3,000 nuts per hectare in single harvest. Peak season falls during the months of August to March. On an average, the sector produces 271,773 MT per annum.Typically, farmers earn Php 7,000 to Php 10,000 per hectare in one cropping cycle.Agricultural tenancy, usually leasehold, is typical in coconut plantations. The landholders get 60% of the gross profit and 40% is shared to the tenant or among field workers.Coconuts, however, are vulnerable to calamities and take longer before they can recover. This is very evident in the aftermath of typhoon Rosing in 1995 and in the most recent Typhoon Glenda in 2014. Prolonged dry season produces lesser and smaller nuts. To make coconut-based systems more climate resilient, long-term interventions in should be geared towards the intensification of diversified production in coconut plantations. The best technological option for coconut-based system is the transitioning of coconut plantations into coconut-based agroforestry systems. This helps ensure increasing the quantity of production per unit area of farms through the multi-story cropping (re-integration of trees, and other low and mid-story plants, including root crops into coconut farms) and diversification of production (more plant types and the integration of animals into farming system).To facilitate the incorporation of more crops into coconut plantations, farmers were introduced to fruit trees and cash crops in 2014 to provide them an additional source of income. Some of the fruit trees and cash crops introduced were cacao, banana, coffee, and black pepper. These are intercropped with the coconut following a proper spacing. It is mainly practiced in barangays San Pedro 1, Magsaysay, Himbubulo Weste, Ermita, Sta. Cruz, and San Roque. There are about 130 farmers who have adopted this technique, most of which are tenants living in upland areas.The main purpose of multi-storey cropping system is the optimization of land by mixing perennial crops (coconut and fruit trees) with annual and biennial crops (vegetables, root and tuber crops) in order to maximize productivity. Multi-storey cropping systems are characterized by different layers of crops wherein the tallest layers (storeys) are occupied by coconuts, middle layers by fruit trees and banana. At full establishment, the system develops different layers: coconut (tallest) followed by banana, coffee, papaya (middle), root crops and pineapple (lowest). In recent years, because of its relatively low productivity and decreasing price, coconut has tended to be replaced in the system with higher value crops like the fruit tree santol (Sandoricum koetjape), papaya and sometimes black pepper.However most multi-storey farms adhere to no specific planting layout. The multi-storey agroforestry system is intended to make the best use of resources (soil, moisture and space) for increased farm income. It is also very effective against soil erosion. The continuous monocropping of annual crops resulted in erosion and serious soil fertility decline. Even though the land is sloping and rainfall during the monsoon is extremely intensive, multistorey cropping provides adequate soil cover throughout the year, protecting the land from erosion.Fertilizer application, weeding and pruning are necessary elements of maintenance.'Natural' mulching through fallen leaves from leguminous trees helps restore and maintain soil fertility. The system is applied in a volcanic-derived soil with distinct wet and dry periods (6 months wet season, 6 months dry season). There is the risk of a destructive typhoon every 10 years. Farm income is relatively high, but labor and input costs are also high-and the technology is mostly used by relatively wealthy landowners. There is strong spontaneous adoption, as \"maramihang pagtatanim\" has been proven to be effective and The strategy of coconut area diversification surfaced from PVA and commodity profiling, which was conducted with FLG members mostly residing in Reserba Barangays (Barangay Magsaysay, San Pedro, and Himubulo Weste). Local farmers aim to integrate crops such as black pepper, banana, and cacao. However, it must be noted that results of focus group discussions may differ from one barangay to another. For example, in Barangay Magsaysay, farmers identified black pepper as their chief preference in implementing multi-storey cropping. They suggested to diversify their coconut areas with banana and cacao.Previously, upland-based farmers tried growing coffee but soon stopped the production due to lack of market in early 2000s. Also, managing coffee plantation is labor intensive and competes with coconut in terms of time and effort. This consideration is important to be identified as early as planning stage.Two strategies were executed in order to operate this CSA option: distribution of direct materials and provision of innovation fund. Different fruit trees were distributed among farmers, particularly those dwelling in multi-use zone located in the borders of Maulawin Spring Protected Landscape. Fruit tree species dispersed were rambutan, mango, atis, guyabano, jackfruit, durian, and lime. In average, each individual received 15 to 20 seedlings. Unlike the usual system of distribution, farmer recipients were well guided by field technicians. Appropriate CSA technologies were shared to them: planting in deep and wide pits, use of compost, and the concept of having multi-storey or diversified system. Another  Labor cost is considered as farmers' counter-part. The details of each PAR are well documented in a form attached to a memorandum of agreement signed by the farmer cooperator and the office providing the innovation fund. Interestingly, based on an assessment through FGD and scoreboard, farmers prefer this system compared to simply receiving inputs. Though the innovation fund is a relatively small amount of money, the signed document reminds them of the agreement and their responsibility to come up with an output that must be shared to other FLG members. Immediate benefits of having multi-storey system are achieving food security. The tenant or land owners' family now consume their initial harvests and shared them to neighbour for free. For most farmers, mostly those who received fruit tree seedlings, shared that there is no additional income gained yet. But upland farmers are sure to propagate these trees because they consider them as investment that will soon add value to their asset. According to them, they are doing diversification not for themselves but for their children.The different CSA technologies in line with multi-storey cropping is laborious and timeconsuming for coconut farmers. Though they appreciate the benefits of compost and planting in deep and wide pits, these techniques though seen as inconvenient due to labor requirements, they were sustainable in the long run. Fruit trees, though still young, exhibits resistance to drought and better root anchorage.Filomena Esmana and Vicencio Vertucio, both farmer cooperators from Barangay Magsaysay, agreed to diversify a portion of their coconut area with 10 suckers of banana (señorita), 40 cacao seedlings and 10 native black pepper.Deep and wide pits system -a technology followed by farmers who received fruit tree seedlings. Cornelia Alfiler, a female farmer from Barangay Himbubulo Weste, digs the pit by herself. According to Cornelia, fruit trees are more vigorous and sturdier if planted following this system.Testing different species made them aware of differences in suitability. Rambutan and durian grew poorly in the upland areas of Guinayangan. The rest performed well, particularly langka. Same with funded action researches, farmer cooperators learned that cacao is most suited in Reserba Barangays with near 100% survival rate. Innovative ways for water conservation were developed. For example, farmers used coconut husks to conserve soil moisture.Both FLG members and farmer cooperators appreciate having quality planting materials, proper management and timing of establishment. Farmer cooperator agree that these factors are critical in successfully testing how to diversify a monocrop coconut farm.Marketability of selected crop is also given importance by farmers. Farmers who decided to diversify their area with black pepper, they look forward to earn more (at present a kilo of dried black pepper is sold at Php800).Crops that can be integrated into the otherwise monocropping system of coconut production are those that can serve as understory of coconut trees. The primary purpose of understory cropping is to increase the production capacity of coconut farms and in the process also increase the livelihood options of coconut farmers. At least 7 crops (pineapple, cassava, sweet potato, peanut, upland rice, corn, and ube) were tested in developing learning sites of coconut-based multiple cropping systems.Before, numerous fields in Guinayangan were left untilled since most of the people worked in coconut farms. They are also involved with banana plantation, coal production, and vegetable farming. However, these kinds of livelihood are greatly affected when drought hits the province of Guinayangan. They are not able to earn enough money since harvests from coconuts and bananas decrease during a prolonged dry season. They just sell the coconut whole and refrain from producing coal since these two products cost the same at this time of the year. Farmers also struggle with vegetable production since they do not have enough water supply for the plants which causes them to wither easily.In 2014, OMA Guinayangan started distributing cuttings of the Lakan 2 variety of cassava.They gave the cuttings to 14 farmers from different barangays. Later, they distributed the Formosa variety of pineapple to eight barangays. They use the harvests for personal consumption or sell them in the market for additional income. Some of the barangays also shared their pineapple with nearby barangays so that they can adopt and start the practice on their own as well. There are some farmers who have completely neglected their fields, but there are also those who continue to plant pineapple so their lands will not remain untilled. Ube production is also practiced by five farmers in San Luis I and five farmers in San Luis II as well. Planting of cassava, ginger, kamote, and ube is mainly practiced in the Cadig area. Pineapples, on the other hand, are mostly grown in barangays Himbubulo Weste, Magsaysay, Ermita, Sta.Cruz, San Pedro 1, San Roque, Mabini, San Luis 1, and San Luis 2. In Barangay San Pedro, for instance, members of agroforestry-based FLG decided to conduct a participatory varietal selection. They selected ube -a drought resistant cropbecause it has local market. However, they lack ube varieties with purple colored flesh which is fondly called as \"ubenaube\". An FLG member, named Rey Macasuhol, committed to do the PVS. He signed an agreement and received Php4000, which was used to purchase 50 kg Testing of pineapple in between coconut rows in Barangay San Luis II, conducted by Feliza Victoriano.of planting materials and compost. Based from his observation, ube is a good under-storey crop -both white and purple colored. They grew vigorously without any infestation.Production of climate change resistant crops such as pineapples and root and tuber crops has helped farmers earn additional income, especially at times coconut harvests are low.These plants can also be processed into other products which they can sell for a higher price than when it is sold as it is. It promotes value addition which motivates the farmers to plant more of the crop and the producers to increase their production. Farmers also use their harvest for personal consumption or as feeds for their livestock, if they have any. Ariel Flores, for instance, plants root and tuber crops aside from working in a coconut farm. There are times when his family consumes their harvests of RTC. He also sells these crops and saves his earnings for his child's expenses in school (who were already able to complete college education). sharing CSA technological options because they were engaged in the trials. Some of the action researches implemented in Guinayangan, particularly with annual crops, are still under development. Sharing of insights is undertaken inside the villages and among neighboring farmers. Through farmers' field days, farmers aim to promote their evidencebased knowledge to other barangays within Guinayangan and nearby towns. Aside from which, the different FLGs intend to improve ways on how to efficiently market their produce.Aside from coconut monocropping, idle lands are common in Guinayangan. Mainly because coconut production alone consumes most of the farmer's time. Living on a day-to-day basis, farmers tend to forget the potential risk if their main livelihood gets destroyed. In relation to this, open vegetation functions as pasture area for cattle and goats alone. The potential of the areas is not maximized.Women farmers in Barangay Ermita tried planting upland rice in between corn alleys. Previously, farmers practice slash and burn. According to the farmers, their long-standing method is unsustainable because after planting several crops (upland rice, peanut and corn) they just leave the area until it recovers on its own.Cultivating underutilized open vegetation immediately increase the resiliency of farmers who solely depend on coconut production. The produce from newly cultivated lands will immediately supply food to the household and could add up to the family's budget. If viewed in the perspective of climate smart agriculture, increasing the population of species grown in an area leads to improved carbon sequestration and additional soil organic matter.In the long run, farmers will not only benefit from this approach but the environment as well.However, it must be noted that converting an idle land needs a systematic plan on which crop to establish -making sure that there is genetic diversification. Part of this approach is the introduction of intercropping of leguminous crops and fertilizer trees. Inability to purchase inputs is another reason why farmers ignore idle land. Legumes -peanut, mung bean, rice bean and cowpea to name a few, has the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. This is a sustainable system which lessens the introduction of external inputs like synthetic fertilizers. Diverse ecosystem can also help mitigate the occurrence of soil erosion.In partnership with various groups such as the IIRR and the local agricultural office, farmer groups experimented with various methods and techniques in cultivating upland rice that could prove helpful in enhancing soil productivity -these include (but are not limited to) the introduction of crop spacing, application of intercropping patterns with leguminous crops, discovering natural ways of pest management, among others. Around sixteen (16) farmers in barangays Ermita, Cabong Norte, and Mabini have been involved in participatory varietal selection efforts in which they were reintroduced to planting traditional local varieties such as Magdami, Kamoros, Pirurutong, Bihod-Dalag, Kinalangkan to identify which of these would be resilient to formidable weather conditions while ensuring a sustainable degree of productivity.Another successful story was in Barangay San Luis I and San Luis II, also known as part of Planting leguminous crops can offer a lot of benefits to the farmers. The harvests can be an alternative livelihood and additional source of income for the family. Peanut and cowpea, for example, can also be used for household consumption. In the case of Emma Alfiler, she gained additional income and support the needs of her family because of the leguminous Saturnino Olis utilized previously idle hilly areas in Barangay Cabong Norte. He did intercropping of peanut and corn.crops she plants on her field. It also prevents the land from being idle leading to the loss of its nutrients and moisture.By making the most out of the geographical advantages of upland communities, farmers involved in the practice are learning about varieties and methods that could best equip them resilient in the face of climate change. These practitioners are also reportedly refraining from the use of artificial pesticides, guaranteeing the high nutritional content and safety of their produce. Excess from the harvest can also be utilized as source for additional income.However, since most of the practitioners are tenants, they cannot easily plant the crops when they want to. They need to ask permission from the land owners first. There are also times when the weather conditions greatly affect the crops. Pest such as rats are a problem for the farmers as well.Despite these advantageous returns, some farmers are still hesitant to adopt, specifically the practice as upland rice production. For farmers, it takes relatively longer time to grow and be ready for harvest. Issues of planting space and land areas for cultivation remain a significant area for consideration for interested and would-be practitioners of upland production.Norte including PAR results and other CSA technological options. Byron Cadarit, one of OMA staff, join their discussion and provides additional technical inputs.Farmers, mostly marginalize and vulnerable, do not own livestock and merely rely on their income coming from coconut monocropping. Livestock production is primarily seen as mechanism to provide food on the table, specifically during special occasion. In fact, based from OMA data gathered in 2016, 75% of the accounted units of livestock owned by farmers are chicken -commonly consumed only at home. The rest is comprised of swine, carabaos, cattle, goats and horses. Small livestock, mainly goat and swine, is only 13% of the total number of livestock. Aside from food source, small li vestock serves as source of emergencyGodofredo Rosales from Capuluan Tulon takes care of his native pigs.fund. A commercial pig is locally sold at Php4,500 to Php5000 per unit while goat is priced at Php2000 to Php3000 per unit. Technical assistance and other services, including artificial insemination and vaccination, are provided by OMA. However, only the technicians' service is free and farmers need to buy their own medicines. As a result, owners prefer to use indigenous materials to cure their animals.Main concern of small livestock owners, particularly commercial white pigs, is the high cost of feeds. Not all farmers are capable of providing the recommended amount of feed. As a strategy, they lessen the amount of commercial feeds but the quality of their produce is sacrificed. Farmers also observed that small livestock are easily affected by harsh weather condition. Introduced breeds catch diseases easily. Goat owners shared that free grazing often results to conflict between neighbors, because unconfined animals feed on crops grown nearby. As a result, some would rather not integrate small livestock in order to avoid disagreements.Native pigs have been raised by farmers in the past, however, there has been a shift to commercial breeds of pigs to meet the demands of the market. A two-day training on how to raise native pigs was conducted in Tiaong, Quezon last 2015 to re-introduce native pig practice. Participants were given one bulaw or a young suckling pig each after the event which allowed them to form their own association of native pig growers. These farmers were the first ones to adopt the technology. They pass around or share native pigs with other farmers who are interested and capable so that they can also do such practice.Farmers who are interested to grow native pigs are required to build a house and maintain a garden which will serve as a food source for the pigs. They need to meet these requirements to ensure that the pigs are properly taken care of. The housing is made of materials which can be collected from the surroundings. Rice hulls are used as flooring. The walls, on the other hand, are made of bamboo grass. A material called buli is used as the roof. It should be cleaned (ask how often) so that the environment of the pigs Native pigs are not usually provided with commercial feeds. There are others who feed them with this type of food when they are still young suckling pigs just to make them grow faster. However, they are mostly nourished with plants such as trichanthera, puso ng saging, rice hulls, trigo, gabi, and kamote. These are cut into small pieces and pounded to make it easier for the pigs to eat. They are sometimes mixed with other ingredients to make it more appetizing.Native pig growers experience various benefits from the practice. Native pigs can grow as heavy as fifty kilos and can be sold for 120 pesos per kilo. Some practitioners butcher the pigs and sell them for at least 180 pesos per kilo, depending on the agreed price. Value addition is evident when it comes to the market of native pig meat. The pig can also ensure a household's food supply for its meat can be consumed by the family.Juliana Belmin from Arbismen grows native pigs despite her poor leg condition. She started in January 2014 after IIRR gave her and her son one young suckling pig each. According to her, caring for native pigs helped them reduce their expenses for feeds and other materials. It also helped her with her regular medication and personal expenses such as food and supplies. The meat of the native pigs also serves as food for the home. There was a time she butchered one of the pigs and used its meat as the ulam for the workers building her family's house.Godofredo Rosales from Capuluan Tulon, also takes care of native pigs. He is currently the president of the group of native pig growers in Barangay Capuluan Tulon. According to him, the pigs are helpful in times of emergency. They can just sell the native pigs to earn the money they need. He was personally able to buy materials for the house he is planning to build when he sold one of his native pigs.Aside from the benefits, the practice of taking care of native pigs has its limitations as well.One is that it is a bit laborious. Just like a parent taking care of an infant, the practitioner must ensure that the house of the pigs is properly maintained to ensure that the environment is conducive for their development. They should have a garden where plants which can act as food sources may thrive. It somehow requires physical strength to be able to accomplish the responsibilities of a native pig grower.In the past, farmers can grow pigs or goats in their own area, they are required to build a small housing and maintain a garden which will serve as a source of food for their livestock.The intensive feed garden is where a variety of crops, especially those that are droughttolerant, are planted. These are mostly observed in barangays Himbubulo Weste, San Pedro Practitioners of this technique are farmers who own a space where the crops can be planted and those who do not have the capacity to always buy commercial feeds in town. Some of the drought-tolerant varieties which can be found in an intensive feed garden are gabi, kamote, kangkong, tricantera, and cassava.A total of 3 participatory action researches were conducted in 2017 -specifically in Barangay Arbismen, Sta. Cruz and Capuluan Tulon. The learning agenda is to develop feed formulation which is composed of locally available materials yet effective in raising good quality stocks. Each learning developed their own action plan. They selected different breeds of swine: pure native pig for Barangay Sta. Cruz, upgraded native pig in Barangay Capuluan Tulon, and pure commercial pigs in Barangay Arbismen.Farmer-led technology demonstration on how to prepare feed for native pigs using different indigenous materials. In Barangay Arbismen, farmers usually incorporate San Fernando gabi, trichantera, five fingers, kangkong and root crops.Three farmers were selected in each barangay and funded with Php1500 to Php2500.Difference in CIF depends on the support that a cooperator needs. All bought piglets to be fed with different feed formulation designated and agreed upon during PAR validation and planning. Some cooperators were given additional innovation fund to support feed cost, only if necessary and part of the research plan. For 3 months, farmer learning group members actively monitor the action research. No strict plan was imposed among farmer cooperator but they were tasked to take note all their activities and feed management techniques. Every month, together with local agricultural technicians, the stocks where weighed. The physical and health status of the stocks were also monitored.A farmer field day was conducted at the end of each testing. The idea is not to impose the result of the feed management test but to make farmer aware that indigenous materials are good and sustainable way of feeding animals, specifically pigs which are commonly dependent on expensive commercial feeds. A sensory evaluation was conducted to allow participants or invitees to observe the differences of the samples' meat quality. Cuttings of intensive feed gardens were also shared by FLG members to visiting farmers.Sensory evaluation of different meat samples in Barangay Arbismen.Farmers who maintain an intensive feed garden have experienced its benefits through time.They have observed that they spend a lot less when it comes to the food of their livestock.Their savings can be used for other necessities needed by the pigs or goats they are growing. They have a sure source of food even if they do not have the budget for commercial feeds and can forage the garden as long as there are yields. Nanay Julie Belmin, for instance, grows native pigs at her backyard. Before, she still goes to town and spends about 1,500 for a sack of commercial feeds. Now, she just goes to her garden and collects crops such as trigo, balinghoy, and katawan ng saging to feed her pigs.Monthly monitoring of stocks observed by farmer cooperator, Teofila Macaraig joined the action research in Barangay Arbismen and formulated her own feed management for commercial pigs using locally grown materials.Farmer learning groups established community support facilities like nursery for indigenous feed planting materials. Members can freely access the facility to test low external small livestock management. However, there are times when the farmers are not able to manage their intensive feed gardens properly because of other responsibilities, such as attending to their fields. This makes the practice unsustainable for them. It is also limited to those who really have the area to plant the variety of crops for the livestock.Participatory action research, on the other hand, served as a good strategy in producing results or knowledge. It boosted FLG members confidence in sharing different technologies they discuss among themselves.The practice of using light materials as housing for small livestock is mainly observed in This practice allows farmers to decrease their expenses when it comes to buying materials for the housing of their livestock. Their materials come from the environment which they can gather any time convenient for them. The use of rice hulls, for example, also reduces the tasks of the farmers since it absorbs the smell of the livestock's urine and feces. With the housing, farmers are also able to contain their livestock in one area. This allows them to manage the livestock easier preventing them from getting wounds such as kayuko among goats. They are also able to collect their manure which can be used in creating organic fertilizer.Cresenciana built her goats' housing by herself. Today, she has three strong goat stocks and continuously increase her asset. Raising goats provided her additional income and emergency fund.The use of light materials gave Cresencia Untalan the opportunity to build the housing of her livestock by herself. Before, she just tied her goats in the field which allowed them to destroy or eat her crops. With the housing, she contained her goats in one area and collect their manure which she uses as fertilizer.However, farmers have observed that confined goats are relatively thinner than those who are not kept. Farmers must also have the knowledge on confined goat management to still ensure the proper growth and development of the livestock.9. Trial planting of best crops for saline conditions (beach ecosystem): Banana, cassava, sweet potato, arrow root and peanut, patola, upo, eggplant, amaranth)There are times when Guinayangan, Quezon is hit by typhoons which destroy the livelihood of farmers and fisherfolks. This livelihood diversification is essential for them so they can have alternative sources of income in times of calamities. In 2016, farmers and fisherfolks of Barangay Dancalan Caimawan were introduced to different crops which they can grow in their fields. Some of these include varieties of ube, banana, peanut, kamote, cassava, and other vegetables. These were given to them so they can experiment and find out which crop grows best when planted in coastal areas.Barangay Dancalan Caimawan is a coastal village that mainly depends on fishing as a source of livelihood. Residents, specifically FLG members, are currently integrating peanut production and tests different varieties to determine suitability in coastal areas.In March 2017, they were also given native pigs to add to their livelihood. They have now formed an association whose members meet regularly to share their situation and progress with the commodities given to them and discuss other agenda. They are continuously monitoring their crops and livestock.Gemenciano Ricafrente is a fisherfolk who also plants varieties of crops such as cassava, kamoteng baging, ube, peanut, and corn. He is still at the experimental stage wherein he is trying to find out which crop is most suitable to grow in his land of about half a hectare.However, he harvested a few from his crops which he uses for his family's own consumption, specifically for merienda. According to him, this has helped them reduce their food expenses so they are able to use the savings on other things such as the school needs of his children.He also uses his harvests as seeds for the next planting season. He does this so that he will not become dependent on IIRR and ask the institution for more supply of seeds. He shares seeds and other commodities given to him with other members of their group so that they can start their own alternative livelihood as well.Fisherfolks were enthusiastic to try different adaptation strategies and came up with brilliant observations at the end of their crop trials. Among the different species they tested, most preferred peanut because the crop can tolerate severe dry condition. However, farmers noticed that despite peanut's ability to resist heat, they must observe proper timing of planting. Other species tested in trials were banana, cassava, sweet potato, cowpea and kakawate. Banana is not well-suited in their area, but the rest resulted to good harvest.Micro-climatic condition improved as farmers diversify the cropping system. Kakawate, for example, served as additional coastal bio-shield and provided shade to smaller crops.assava, a climate-resilient crop, is tested by fisherfolks in Barangay Dancalan Caimawan. Fisherfolks bserved that cassava thrives well in sandy soil, but not as good if grown in more fertile areas.A total of 601 farmers in Guinayangan tested a range of climate resilient options from late 2016 to 2017. Fifty-five percent of the total number of farmer researchers/ innovators conducted crop trials. In a typical crop trial, planting materials were distributed to interested farmers willing to test stress tolerant crops or new varieties aimed at diversification. Farmers are expected to return twice the amount of seed/materials by offering these to other farmers in their own village or the neighboring communities. Many farmers adopted the strategy because there was no cash outlay. The seeds and planting materials served as assets inputs among farmers who cannot otherwise afford to buy these materials. This strategy helped them to innovate and experiment in small areas. Farmers were pleased to return a part of the harvest to share learnings to new farmers.Guinayangan is a copra-producing municipality. Most of the agricultural lands are situated in the uplands. Thus, it is not surprising that most farmers participated in testing multistorey cropping options. As shown in the graph (see next page), around 35% of the farmer innovators adopted ways to intensify their cropping. Farmers consider the planting of fruit trees and other crops as investment for the future. Multi-storey cropping was an attractive option. Despite a slow return of investment on trees, selected farmers were willing to integrate new crop species in between coconut. Farmer adopters planted jackfruit, cacao, black pepper, banana and root crops to diversify their coconut farms. Utilizing idle lands could improve farmers income and increase sequestration of carbon. A main factor in testing new crops was the provision of seeds and other materials. In the case of Barangay Ermita, seeds of indigenous upland rice varieties were scarce as a result of previous disinterest in upland rice production. Over time, seeds were lost. Genetic diversity was also restored through participatory varietal selection. PVS allowed farmers to decide and select appropriate crops in their area.  Out of the 601 farmers who tested various CRA options, 40% of them tested only one option. Nevertheless, the data showed that 44% of the population were willing to try two or three CRA options. While 17% tested four and above. No study has been conducted on the difference of the number of CRA options that a farmer is willing to test. But this is a good indicator of openness for innovation and knowledge generation in the field, given that learning is well supported with materials and technical advice.Guinayangan, though dominated by coconut tree farming systems, have demonstrated potential for diversification with understory crops. Cacao, coffee and fruit trees, and black pepper were all tested during the period that Guinayangan served as a climate-smart village. Small livestock and root and tuber crops were also found to be promising. ","tokenCount":"8529"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3753810222.json b/data/part_1/3753810222.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..46e4236a8065872e0a5d846dbb9621073a1f8c3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3753810222.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd84939e4ae4e3a0a9c77e608268e074","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9460040-3f7c-4c96-8ea9-3fc92833130b/retrieve","id":"-1120788034"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a78f686-c3b0-40bc-af4a-44fb1b087414","pagecount":"4","content":"The inclusion of gender considerations in agriculture and natural resource management policies is of paramount importance if Tanzania is to create sustainable, inclusive and gendersensitive interventions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, the disharmony existing between the different policies and sectors suggests the need for a planning framework that harmonizes and coordinates gender integration in policies and sectoral plans. The policy documents remain silent on the role that gender plays in the different sub-sectors and consequently the proposed actions and strategies also remain gender-blind. In addition, gender is equated to women's issues in most of the documents, presenting a narrow approach to gender and leaving untapped the important role that men could have in closing the gender gap in agriculture and natural resource management. Several of the reviewed documents relegate the achievement of these gender considerations to the NGO sector. There is need for an enhanced institutional arrangement and to mainstream gender throughout all sections of the policy documents for an improved performance. There is a mismatch between the identified gender constraints that the documents present and the suggested policy solutions, and a lack of clear strategies by which the gender goals present in the policies could be achieved.  The proposed gender policy interventions do not yet have the potential to dramatically change or address current gender gaps. However, there are opportunities to redress the situation. First, three key national policies are under review (i.e. the National Environment Policy, the National Forest Policy and the Land Policy) and could sufficiently integrate gender. Second, planning for CSA offers a great opportunity to holistically integrate gender across implementation levels.More than twenty years have passed since the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, where gender mainstreaming was acknowledged as an indispensable global strategy for achieving gender equality. Since then, Tanzania has undoubtedly made efforts in mainstreaming gender in its national policies and strategies (MCDGC, 2012). However, to date some of its policies and strategies still remain gender blind or have not prioritized gender as an area for immediate action. This insufficient consideration to gender in some policy documents, coupled with limited enforcement of the policies that were drafted as gender sensitive, might hinder progress towards gender equality in the country. With climate change increasingly threatening rural livelihoods in Tanzania (Orindi and Murray 2005;Yanda et al. 2013), the need to incorporate gender considerations in the policies and programs dealing directly and indirectly with climate change issues becomes even more apparent. Indeed, if policies fail to acknowledge the different roles, opportunities, perspectives and challenges that women and men have in the face of climate change, the adaptation and mitigation measures proposed in the policies will likely fail or may even ultimately exacerbate gender inequalities (Ncube et al., 2011). This Info Note examines the state of gender responsiveness of fourteen agriculture, climate change and natural resource management policy documents and strategy plans in Tanzania. The desk-review focuses on mainland Tanzania, acknowledging that the Zanzibar Archipelago is governed, in some cases, by independent regulations. The study was supplemented by twenty semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders, including policy-makers, NGO representatives and smallholder farmers in Lushoto and Kilolo Districts.In several of the reviewed policies all gender considerations were consigned into one thematic section, normally in the crosscutting themes chapter of the policy or strategy (see Tables 1 and 2). This \"gender section\" tends to be overly general, with no clear specific courses of action and, where explicit mention of women are made, their disadvantaged position in the sector is overly emphasized. On the contrary, the differentiated needs, constraints and opportunities of men and other social groupings are normally overlooked. In this sense, gender is equated to women's issues in most of the documents, presenting a narrow approach to gender and leaving untapped the important role that men could have in closing the gender gap in agriculture and natural resource management. This paring of gender to women's issues was also prevailing in the discussions held with many of the interview partners. Fewer policies and strategies, however, have mainstreamed gender in several sections, providing a clearer picture of the specific gender challenges that need to be addressed in each of the subsectors (e.g. National Agriculture Policy, 2013).In most of the reviewed documents there is a substantial mismatch between the identified gender constraints that the documents present and the suggested policy solutions. The proposed courses of action to tackle gender issues remain weak and disconnected from the established problem, even in the more genderprogressive policies. A clear example of this is found in the National Environmental Policy (1997), where even if the need to tackle the root causes for gender inequality is emphasized in the document, the proposed policy actions do not reflect how they would achieve this. The extent to which the Environmental Act of 2004 also takes these gender interventions as legally binding is very restricted, only introducing in the text gender quota systems to ensure women's participation in environmental governance systems. Many of the reviewed documents lack clear strategies to achieve the gender goals described in the policies. This explains in part why practitioners are unable to implement gender strategies even when gender is included in policy documents. Moreover, the strategies pay little attention to the difficulties that implementing some of these gender sensitive activities in a patriarchal society could have, and to the possible tensions that this could have with traditional and cultural beliefs. This difficulty of changing mindsets in a patriarchal society together with insufficient training on gender issues were highlighted in the interviews as the main difficulties to effective implementation of gender policy and programs.  Another main gender gap, found in a number of the reviewed policies, is the relegation of gender activities to the NGO sector. This indirectly frees all other stakeholders from responsibility for mainstreaming gender in all their activities (e.g. National Forest Policy, 1998). The fact that not all sector stakeholders are committed to gender equality and to mainstreaming of gender in all their activities and plans calls to question the effectiveness and sustainability that the proposed gender policy activities will have in reality. Furthermore, the fact that the institutional arrangement that the policies propose gives the role of mainstreaming and carrying out gendersensitive activities to the NGO sector points to a lack of commitment to gender issues by the government and other stakeholders.The content of the documents has also shown disharmony among the different policies and strategies, suggesting that the teams that developed the documents never sought to build inclusive strategies and establish common gender plans. In the absence of such coordination, there is possible risk of ambiguity in ministerial responsibilities, missed opportunities to leverage potential synergies and even the pursuit of contradictory approaches to common problems. In the medium and long term, there is need for inter-sectoral planning and for harmonization of the gender approaches proposed in the policies, which could be realized by regular cross-sectoral joint reviews and thematic meetings.The policies and strategies reviewed have shown that increasing attention is being paid to gender issues. However, the identified gender issues have the potential to lead to policy inaction and ineffective policy implementation if there is no serious commitment to gender on the part of the government and all other stakeholders. There is thus need for a revision of the implementation plans and performance measurement strategies to include gender as a mandatory indicator for the evaluation of activities and programs. This should be coupled with awareness campaigns and capacity building activities on gender issues in different sector and subsector offices at all governance levels.Even as the majority of the reviewed policies can still be considered far from gender transformative-which would imply policies that seek to challenge unequal power relations by tackling the root causes of gender inequality-some of the policies reviewed do acknowledge the need to address the foundational grounds for gender imbalances. However, the proposed activities and frameworks that these policies suggest do not seem to have the potential to dramatically change or address the current gender gaps in agriculture and natural resource management, and even less so under a changing climate.Sufficient integration of gender in policy documents, provision of a clear roadmap and tools to address structural issues, and appropriately planning for CSA will be key towards closing the gender gap in agriculture and achieving a gender-just climate change adaptation.Additionally, the fact that some of the newer reviewed policies call for the need to collect sex-disaggregated data  Acosta, M., Ampaire, E., Okolo, W., Twyman, J. (2015 ","tokenCount":"1410"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3755863753.json b/data/part_1/3755863753.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8a12b768bf682d895cc719fa376f904880ce8d73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3755863753.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39a7861fcab9073cd8ddb5ea0bf2cc0a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8aa2c6f6-8ffd-46b7-b521-7a43f2500ade/retrieve","id":"-1787964537"},"keywords":["Antonio Rota","Lead Technical Specialist -Livestock","Harold Liversage","Lead Technical Specialist -Land Tenure","Giulia Barbanente","Consultant -Land Tenure","Guyo Roba","Country Technical Analyst","Kenya","and Rikke Grand Olivera"],"sieverID":"6b55dd54-3043-4946-8cdf-c8d28277894b","pagecount":"34","content":"How To Do Notes are prepared by IFAD's Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division to provide country programme managers, project design teams and implementing partners with practical suggestions and guidelines to help them design and implement programmes and projects.They present technical and practical aspects of specific approaches, methodologies, models and project components that have been tested and can be recommended for implementation and scaling up. The notes include best practices and case studies that can be used as models in their particular thematic areas.How To Do Notes provide tools for project design based on best practices collected at the field level. They guide teams on how to implement specific recommendations of IFAD's operational policies, standard project requirements and financing tools.The How To Do Notes are \"living\" documents and will be updated periodically based on new experiences and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the originator.IFAD's pastoral development programme recognizes that pastoralists exist within challenging environments and require a specialized programming approach. A number of IFAD supported projects focus on strengthening governance of land tenure as a platform for more sustainable pastoralism. Increasingly today, pastoral areas are sites of tension and conflict due to an often-complex set of issues including poverty, population pressures, contested territorial claims, undefined or shifted resource boundaries that often do not align with administrative boundaries, weakened customary institutions and increased availability of firearms amongst other. Conflict 'multipliers' include phenomena such as land grabs, foreign land investments and climate change, many of which are aggravated by insecurity of tenure (Jonckheere et al, 2017). As a result, any development intervention working in pastoral areas needs to be able to prevent and respond to conflict should it arise. This How To Do Note (HTDN) is focused on how the increased levels of conflict over land and natural resources in pastoral areas can be prevented and/or if existing already, transformed into positive outcomes. It identifies why land tenure is a complex issue within pastoralism; the combination of factors that are contributing to more insecure pastoral tenure and triggering pastoral area conflicts; and introduces some of the frameworks, tools and approaches that can be used as part of project design to reduce the potential for conflict.This HTDN complements the IFAD Toolkit and HTDN on Pastoralism produced in 2018, and the IFAD Land Tenure Toolkit -Lessons Learned Pastoralism, Land Rights and Tenure produced in 2014 that provide an introduction to pastoralism, and land tenure and governance systems supported. The objective of this Note is to provide guidance that project developers and others need to consider when working on IFAD projects in pastoral areas, in recognition of the heightened sensitivity of land and resource issues.It unpacks some of the complexities associated with pastoralism and gives guidance on how to address the different parts, helping to prevent conflicts from occuring and resolving those that might already exist. This document has drawn from the guidelines Improving governance of pastoral lands: Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the contexts of national food security (FAO, 2016), and it is recommended to read these guidelines in full to receive more broader guidance on pastoral land tenure and governance issues.Preventing conflicts in pastoral areas is an IFAD priority as conflict impacts the ability of individuals and communities to achieve food security. The first section of this HTDN explains the context of conflicts over land and natural resources in pastoralist areas in order to provide a broad understanding of the issues. Section two then provides guidance on how project designers and implementers can promote conflict resolution or transformation, peacebuildng and improved governance for land tenure issues so that conflicts are less likely to take place.Conflicts can be common in pastoral areas and how they are perceived and handled has a strong influence on their outcomes. Often conflicts can be 'latent'unseen particularly to an outsider, lying quietly under the surface, but can be triggered and become violent by an event or action such as building a badly-situated water point. Asserting rights to resources and/or when seeking to redress injustices or inequalities, conflict can become an inherent feature of pastoralists' struggle for change. As a result, conflicts are often inevitable, legitimate and even desirable depending on circumstances and views of the involved parties. Development actors need to recognise this and be prepared to take steps to avoid conflicts and/or manage them well when they occur. People prefer peaceful situations to conflict, and will only resort to fighting as a last option. Handled well, conflicts can be transformed into positive outcomes.People deal with conflict in different ways, often related to the value that they put on their relationships and their goals. Some common responses to conflict include avoidance, confrontation, compromise and withdrawal. Pastoral communities have their own ways of preventing or resolving conflict. It has been shown that where pastoral communities find a common reason or goal for peaceful interaction, they will take it. Pastoralists as a group have many common values, issues, history, experiences, needs etc and these are good starting points for building a common vision and finding 'connectors' (issues that can form bridges or connections between conflicting parties, discussed more below). Though more challenging to identify, pastoralists and other groups can also have commonalitieswhether this be securing food security in a harsh environment, or protecting land from large-scale acquisitions. These linkages, capacities for peace and the 'connectors' between different groups are the building blocks of systems of political and economic interaction that can ensure stable, peaceful and just futures for societies prone to or once in conflict.There are often synergistic relationships within pastoral groups and with other land users (farmers, urban dwellers etc) to foster interdependence and communicationnot only are these invested in for economic capital (sale or exchange of goods) but also for social capital (good relations). Enhancement of crop-livestock interactions such as the 'manure contract' between herder and farmer communities (manure traded with access to fields for grazing post-harvest), increased trade of goods and services, intermarriage and other exchanges can help to strengthen positive relationships between groups and facilitate joint coping strategies and peaceful dispute resolution in times of crisis. Understanding and building on these relations is a good starting point for interventions and such as service delivery.Pastoralists base their livelihoods on rearing livestock. Mainly found in dryland areas, they rely mostly on natural grazing, and access often scarce and sparsely distributed natural resources by moving with their livestock. Scientific research now recognizes that dryland areas have structural variability and there is no stable state to return to after crisis. In the drylands it rains in concentrated bursts and in unpredictable patterns over time and space which, when combined with different soil types and varying topography, creates concentrated micro-niches of moisture and nutrients that support plant growth (Krätli, 2015).The pastoralist system of production works with this structural variability by using flexibility and optionality. In order for this to work, pastoralists must have access to large areas of rangeland including wet and dry season grazing areas. Most pastoralists only use dry season grazing areas for a small part of the year and rather, spend a considerable proportion of the year in wetter areas where agricultural production is also possible, often in a symbiotic relationship with farmers. Seasonal transhumance can also occur between lowland and mountain highland areas, and also north -south migration across ecological zones as in West Africa. What is important for pastoralists is to have access routes giving them the ability to move through the landscape bypassing or passing through agricultural lands as needed. These routes may be hundreds of kilometres long and cross international borders. Indeed, rangelands may cut across or not easily fit with political or administrative boundaries. There may be overlapping territorial claims (see below). Different institutions and particularly where new ones have been introduced, may manage resources in a conflicting way, and there is often a disconnect between state and customary institutions.In many pastoral areas, pastoral groups have established flexible and communal systems of governance for grazing and water sources across a territory or landscape following the use described above. These systems allow them to have access rights over a wide area of rangeland shared with other members of a group or from different groups, so all can benefit from and manage the high variability and uncertainty in resource availability (see Box 1). Pastoralism may need to exist next to crop farming or other land usesthough traditionally these relations could have been symbiotic and self-supporting, with the extra pressures on land use and particularly when land use is not well planned and/or managed, tensions even conflict can arise.Pastoral land rights consist of access to the resources required to sustain mobile livestock production such as pastures and water points as well as the right to move between seasonal grazing areas, water points, pastoral settlements or encampments, and markets. Customary tenure arrangements have mixed aspects of common property and exclusive ownership. A family, clan or entire ethnic group could claim common rights to an area of pastoral land. Pastoral tenure rights are often referred to as 'fuzzy rights' as often they are not clearly defined, yet allow people to use property belonging to another for specific purposes or limited periods of time. Such arrangements have been common, and they have created complex systems of rights and duties among pastoral users. In these property systems, individuals could have exclusive access to some types of resources, and hold these rights as members of social groups that are capable of defending the territorial integrity of the entire group rather than by virtue of a title deed issued by a government authority. Access arrangements are often reciprocal so one group can access another group's territories and vice versa (Behnke andFreudenberger, 2013 referred to in FAO, 2016).Further, there are often complicated layers of use, access, ownership and rights from landscape level through to an indiviudal tree or well. For example a particular group or tribe may have rights to use the overall rangeland landscape including wet and dry season grazing areas. They can control the use of this landscape by members of the group, as well as its use by visitors or secondary users from outside. Within this there may be clan territories. Then there will be rules and regulations for use of each type of grazing land with stronger restrictions placed on important dry season grazing areas with permanent water points. There may also be household plots of cropping land or group/individual enclosures or grazing lands. And finally there may be 'tenure niches' such as a well or a tree for hanging beehives. Each of these 'nested' tenure layers or types will have its own governance structure, institutions and rules of use and access.Nested layers of land tenure from landscape through to clan holdings to tenure over an individual tree or well, mean that pastoral land and natural resource systems are highly complex.One set of authors explained triggers or sources of conflict to be resources in \"surfeit\" (plenty) rather than or as well as, resources in \"scarcity\" (Lind and Sturman 2002). Indeed, conflict hotspots in dryland areas are often water points. Livestock can graze on remote rangelands only as long as they have access to water. In dryland areas pastoralists frequently dig deep wells for water access, with customary institutions established that control the use of these water points. Control over water points has traditionally provided the mechanism to ensure sustainable and peaceful resource use. Individuals and groups controlling access to water points may also have de facto control and access to the surrounding grazing lands (Jonckheere et al, 2017).Customary tenure arrangements offer different types of rights including the right to use, the right to transit through, and the right to own. Indeed, most pastoral groups have customary mechanisms that ensure conflict is prevented with other pastoralist groups over access to natural resources. Spontaneous agreements can also be common in pastoral systems: in India for example Maldhari pastoralists now strike deals with popcorn factories to feed their animals the corn culms and camp near leaking factory water pipes (Krätli, 2015). Pastoral communities may be struggling where customary institutions have weakened or broken down. Recent reports from Nigeria suggest that one of the reasons for the increasing levels of conflict between livestock herders and farmers is due to the breakdown of customary systems of herding and conflict resolution: cattle herding is increasingly being left to young men or boys, aged 9 to 25 years, who often lack the civility and maturity to resolve disputes amicably (International Crisis Group, 2017).Many pastoral societies require that territorial boundaries remain open and fluid with continual negotiation over access in which individuals or user groups re-evaluate their share of, and level of control over resources. This can create tension with more sedentary communities with whom pastoralists share resource rights, particularly where statutory law gives priority to the settled populations (Jonckheere et al, 2017). However, relationships between mobile pastoralists and sedentary farming groups can also be positive and mutuallybeneficial, for example in the trading of goods or exchange of services such as post-harvest grazing for manure. However, where sedentary communities have more secure land rights than pastoralists, it creates an unbalanced 'playing field', and the traditional systems of reciprocity can break down. If a common goal can be found for both parties then it becomes easier to find solutions to conflict, and reciprocal relations can be rebuilt.Land use changes from rangelands due to conversion of such as crop farming (small local encroachment through to large state-sponsored irrigated farms) have resulted in the extensive fragmentation of rangeland grazing systems in recent decades. This is squeezing pastoralists into smaller territorial areas and disrupting their access to the resources they need for livestock production. Loss of access to natural resources is a key cause or trigger of conflict in pastoral areas. Often the conflict situation is amplified by changing power relations internally and externally to pastoralist communities (see Box 2). But it is not just external factors that are impacting levels of rangeland fragmentation and land use change. Pastoralism itself is also changing with increasing commercialisation sometimes leading to pastoralists themselves fencing rangeland areas, removing resource access for others, and forcing many poorer pastoralists out into alternative less mobile and often more vulnerable livelihoods. There is said to be increasing wealth differentiation in pastoralist communities that can result in elite capture of resources, further risking outbreaks of conflict.Power relationships in pastoral societies are in a constant state of flux, an attribute closely related to mobility and flexibility. Alongside this inherent dynamism, significant widespread changes in power relations have taken place in recent years influenced by many factors. Among these factors is the growing power of the state and its encroachment on governance of pastoral lands and also the powerful influence exerted by development agencies and their projects. Factors contributing to shifting power relations include: Conflicts over land or natural resource access are intensified through a number of external factors that can serve to exacerbate underlying tensions. These include climate change where a greater number of crisis events disturb local production systems, trigger displacements of people and their livestock, and place increasing pressure on resources. Having said that:Mobile livestock-keeping is potentially more resilient to global climate change than any other land-use systems. Their mobility and adaptability make them uniquely placed to cope with climate variations. Pastoral resource management capacities to cope with such vagaries have gradually eroded due to the encroachment of other land users on rangelands, particularly in recent decades (IFAD 2018b).As such it is important to strengthen pastoralists' adaptability, coping and resilience capacities as part of conflict prevention processes. Further, a combination of causes have been documented as contributing to the highly visible pastoral area conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, Chad and Somalia amongst others, where humanitarian agencies have long been involved in peacebuilding efforts. Negative narratives about pastoralist violence have been fuelled by fear, the media, or higher level interests keen to see conflicts continue in order to gain access to land, fight proxy wars etc. Loss of access to resources can become entwined with other factors, including long standing socio-ethnic divisions stoked by external actors. Conflicts then escalate as a result of poverty, inequality, extremism, guns, rural banditry and commercial cattle raiding. Thus pastoralists are now wrapped up within wider geo-political contexts, triggered by competitions over resources, fuelled by institutional failure, corruption and land and resource tenure insecurity.Relationships between pastoralists and others have always been dynamic and sometimes disruptive, but predominantly they have had to be collaborative in order to maximise access to scarce, variable and ephemeral resources. Shared needs, positions and interests are the starting point for this collaboration. In recent decades pastoralist systems have been severely challenged in terms of maintaining their flexibiity and adaptability in the face of loss of grazing lands and other resources. Customary governance has been weakened, or been stretched beyond its capacity as new factors come into play. Systems of negotiation and reciprocity between farmers and pastoralists are less balanced as increased statutory governance favours settled farmers. Coupled with weak representation and inability of pastoralists to contribute to decision making processes including those that pertain to their lands, a situation often exists where pastoralists are often victims of conflicts due to factors beyond their control. Where new state-supported institutions have been established, they may take the power and marginalise already existing institutions creating tensions that can later lead to conflict.To avoid or transform conflicts in these situations it requires taking clear steps and approaches, whilst engaging all stakeholders, supporting fairer negotiation processes, strengthening management of resources, building relationships and supporting a more enabling peaceful environment. More details on How To Do this are taken up in the next section.Pessimists will point to the on-going marginalization of pastoralists in many countries and the fact that pastoral areas continue to be affected by droughts, conflicts and other crises. They will continue to question the viability of pastoralism as a land-use system. Yet it is clear that in most rangeland environments, no other land-use system can replace pastoralism on a significant scale. The outcome of pessimism is that isolated resource patches are removed from the pastoral system, leaving pastoralists poorer, more vulnerable to drought and in greater competition for the resources that remain. Strengthening governance of tenure is the route to overcome this cycle of marginalization. Reduction in vulnerability, poverty and conflict are the dividends (FAO 2016, p135).Section one has provided the context within which conflicts over resources are occurring in pastoral areas. This second section provides guidance on how to promote improved governance of land and natural resources so that firstly, conflicts in pastoral areas are less likely to take place and secondly, to enable greater opprtunity for conflicts to be resolved. Further, IFAD project developers are encouraged to design interventions that can support pastoral production systems while being sensitive to the possibility of land and resource conflict and make proactive, prevention or mitigation measures for this.To ensure land tenure governance is considered within project design processes, project developers need to be clear on IFAD's policy and principles that support pastoralism (mentioned above and discussed in detail in the Pastoralism HTD note). Designers and implementers are encouraged to use participatory processes for active learning and listening, and to recognise that conflict is frequently about broken relationships and power inequalities. It is crucial that project design and implementation processes take the pastoral context into account as described in the previous section. Customary conflict resolution mechanisms can be an important starting point for addressing conflict issues and need to be understood and integrated into project design and implementation.The FAO document Improving Governance of Pastoral Lands identifies nine key actions for avoiding and managing conflict within its Action Area 6 (see Box 3). Using these key actions as a broad framework, alongside lessons learned from IFAD projects and case studies from elsewhere, this section identifies what to look out for in identifying project and programme-based interventions that can help prevent conflict in pastoral areas through addressing land tenure issues and in some cases manage and/or even resolve them.1. Understanding conflict triggers and multipliersconflict analysis. 2. Restoring capability of traditional institutions. 3. Strengthening social cohesion and good social relations. 4. Strengthening environmental management and sustainability. 5. Repairing relationships. 6. Making governance and decision making processes fairer. 7. Establishing tenure clarity. 8. Strengthening (institutional) capacity to buffer and respond to crisis. 9. Addressing factors underpinning structural inequity. Source: FAO, 2016A conflict analysis is the foundation for identifying whether conflicts are likely in an intervention area and if so where, together with what appropriate conflict-sensitive project/programme based interventions could prevent or resolve them. A conflict analysis is required to:• Understand the context of the conflict; • To ensure that project interventions and activities do not cause and/or exacerbate conflict; • To understand the effects of conflict on project interventions and activities; and • To understand how a project can prevent or mitigate conflict and particularly violent forms of conflict, as well as how to transform conflict into positive outcomes.Conflict analysis involves a detailed and wide-ranging assessment of the potential factors and on-going processes that have either previously led to, are currently causing, or might potentially cause conflict in the future. If a thorough conflict analysis is not undertaken then there is a risk that conflcts will arise during project interventions that will have a negative impact on results (see examples in Box 4 and Box 5). In areas prone to conflict, it is also recommended that a conflict analysis forms part of COSOPs (Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes).IFAD has undertaken projects in Mali since 1982 and continued to work in the northern regions of Mali at a time when other donors had pulled out due to continued levels of conflict. IFAD supported the Kidal Integrated Rural Development Programme in the pastoral region of Kidal, focused on reducing competition for access to natural resources. Poverty in the northern regions is characterized by environmental degradation, lack of infrastructure and chronic food deficits. The Kidal programme empowered vulnerable groups, ensuring nomadic communities fully participated in decision making for planning social infrastructure, and continued to make progress despite extremely challenging circumstances. However, an evaluation suggested that the risks linked to conflict were underestimated, and a more thorough analysis would have helped to plan mitigation efforts from the start. The participatory approaches were a significant step forward, but conflict was a major threat to the sustainability of the project. The evaluation recommended that the COSOP should contain a more thorough analysis of conflictrelated risks and measures to reduce this threat (IFADb, 2012).Undertaking a review of existing literature is a first task towards understanding the history behind the possible causes of conflict, and for fully understanding the context and background (needs, positions and interests) of different stakeholders. It is particularly important to understand the history of such as land use and access in an area, as land-or resource-related disagreements or conflicts often have an underlying historical dimension that repeatedly resurfaces despite seeming to be resolved.A second task within a conflict analysis is a stakeholder analysis of all groups with interests in a proposed project intervention area including pastoralist groups, farmers, settlers, migrants, companies, government, NGOs, etc. Tools that generate understanding of the priority issues of key stakeholders and the power relationships between them are helpful here, as is an analysis of what is driving the often complex and longterm interactions and inter-relationships. Conflict mapping including of the status of relationships is a good visual tool (see below).In the project Jordanian National Programme for Rangeland Rehabilitation and Development significant problems arose in one of the project sites due to conflicting views between groups (sedentary and transhumant), which led to the site being abandoned. In this case, although an essentially sedentary target group had been identified, no consideration was made of the possibilities that a transhumant group (with no real incentive to participate in decision making processes) also claimed usufruct or use rights to the same land at certain times of the year. Conflict arose when the transhumant group tried to access the grazing lands that they had used on a seasonal basis for many years, and were prevented from doing so by the sedentary livestock keepers. As a consequence, activities at the site stalled and alternative sites had to be identified. If a conflict analysis had been undertaken at design and/or early implementation, this situation could have been avoided with potential solutions being the inclusion of transhumant groups in the design and planning of interventions to ensure that they participated in decision making process and benefited from interventions: or if this failed then another site could have been chosen (IFAD, 2007a).During a conflict analysis, existing or potential community-based conflict resolution mechanisms can also be identified as a foundation for conflict mitigation or transformation. Identification might involve understanding the current strength of traditional mechanisms, for example the strength of pastoralist traditional leaders to still negotiate reciprocal grazing agreements. The use of DFID's Sustainable Livelihoods Framework within a conflict analysis is a useful approach for seeing how conflict is impacting livelihood assets as well as which of those assets will be useful in conflict mitigation: conflict can be viewed as a shock or stress to the livelihood system. An example from Sengal and Chad (see Box 6) shows how carrying out a conflict analysis and using this to guide interventions on specific resources such as water has not only lead to safe and conflictfree water delivery, but also contributed to a more peaceful environment generally.The expansion of irrigated cultivation in Senegal has led to a reduction in flood plain pastures of the Senegal River in eastern Senegal, restricting pastoral seasonal movement north into Mauritania and creating greater conflict within cultivated areas. The IFAD project Agricultural Development Project in Matam and the Support to Agricultural Development and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme here created 'pastoral units' -new institutions of groups of pastoralists that shared the same water pointand who are now responsible for negotiating sustainable access to pastures and regulating the sinking of new boreholes. Support was provided for strengthening the capacities of livestock keepers and their organisations. developing participatory land use management plans for each pastoral unit and the establishment of rangeland management committees. Important partnerships have been mobilised with public institutions, local services, producer organizations, NGOs and research institutes. As a result pastoral units and their management committees, through dialogue with the government, managed to obtain the construction of schools and health posts in their region. Through negotiation with other herder groups and decentralised government offices, they succeeded in limiting the number of licences for drilling private wells to avoid overgrazing.In Chad pastoralist production started shifting from the north into sedentary farming areas of the south following long periods of drought. Herders damaged unharvested crops, and trampled newly-seeded land at the beginning of the rainy season as they returned north resulting in conflicts with the farmers. There are a wide range of tools and processes available for undertaking a conflict analysis related to land and natural resource use. They differ in terms of depth of analysis and use depending on the information required. These can be applied as part of a project design or in a more indepth participatory analysis with focus groups and discussions at the wider community and intercommunity levels as the initial step in conflict resolution in project implementation. Annex 1 contains an annotated bibliography that introduces some of these tools, and summaries are provided here:Not all conflict is open or visible and drivers of conflict are often hidden. There can be many sources of conflict which can be strongly interconnected. There are three main areas to consider -the context, the behaviour of those involved and their attitudesand using the tool ABC Triangle can help us to understand these, as well as the interconnections between them. An ABC triangle can be produced for each key actor in a conflict. How to use this tool:• Draw up a separate ABC Triangle for each of the major parties in the conflict situation.• On each triangle, list the key issues related to attitude, behaviour and context from the viewpoint of that party. If the parties are participating in this analysis, then they can each make a triangle from their own perspective.• Indicate for each party what you think are their most important needs and/or fears in the middle of their own triangle. This will be YOUR perception.• Compare the triangles, noting similarities and differences between the perceptions of the parties.For more details of this tool see for example: http://competendo.net/en/The_ABC_Triangle or in application: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333203188_A_Review_of_the_Causes_of_Land_Use_Conflicts_ between_Farmers_and_Pastoralists_in_Tanzania_and_a_Proposal_for_ResolutionsThe conflict tree is a graphic tool to stimulate discussion about the causes and effects of a conflict, and to get agreement on the core problem and priorities for addressing these. It is best used during a group discussion so that different causes and effects can be discussed and agreed upon. The roots of the conflict can go very deep and where possible one wants to get to the lowest root cause. Addressing this cause or other causes may or may not be within the scope of the intervention or even, the influencing sphere of the projectbut nevertheless interventions should be developed keeping all causes and effects in mind, and where possible, positively influence them.How to use this tool:• Draw a picture of a tree, including roots, trunk and branches, on a large sheet of paper, a chalkboard, a flip chart, on the side of a building, or on the ground.• Give each person several index cards or similar paper, with instructions that on each card they write a word or two or draw a symbol or picture to indicate a key issue in the conflict as they see it.• Then invite each person to attach the cards to the tree:1. On the trunk, if they think it is the core problem, 2. On the roots, if they think it is a root cause, or 3. On the branches, if they think it is an effect.• After everyone has placed their cards on the tree, someone will need to facilitate a discussion so that the group can come to some agreement about the placement of issues, particularly for the core problem.• An optional next step is to ask people to visualise their own organisation as a living organism (a bird, a worm, a creeping-plant) and place it on the tree in relation to the issues it is currently addressing.Is current work focusing mainly on the consequences, the roots, or the central problem?• Assuming that some agreement is reached, people may want to decide which issues they wish to address first in dealing with the conflict. This is a mapping of the relations including conflicts between the key actors in a conflict situation.A map can include:• Stakeholders involved in the conflict at different levels;• Relative access to power of these stakeholders;• Types of relationships between the stakeholders including broken relationships and conflicts;• Critical issues within the conflicting relationships; and• Overshadowing systems and structures.Steps towards developing a stakeholder, power and relationship map:• Identify a list of all of the relevant stakeholders in the context. Remember to include groups that are sometimes marginalised and excluded, including women and minority groups.• Identify the sources of power within the context.• Begin by selecting any of the stakeholders; decide on the size of the circle that should represent the stakeholder, and the stakeholder's relative access to power, and then place them on the map.• Select another stakeholder and draw them on the map, remembering to choose a size that depicts their relative power.• Draw a line indicating the relationship between the two stakeholders; choose a type of line that symbolically depicts the nature of this relationship (see below).• Record this in the key of the map, remembering that this will be used for other similar relationships as the map develops.• If there are any issues affecting the relationship draw them on the map.• Select another stakeholder and repeat the process; repeating for all identified stakeholders.• Identify any overarching influences on the context, either groups that are not physically present but that still have influence, or systems, structures and institutions that affect the power relationships in the context.Given below is a generic example of a conflict map including power, stakeholders and relationships between them. This demonstrates how complex dynamics between multiple stakeholders can be represented creatively in simple ways. Several different kinds of stakeholders are identified and depicted through this map -groups, individuals, institutions, as well as structures. The nature of the relationships between them, and within themselves, can also take many forms. There are different ways to represent alliances, normal relationships, open conflicts, and even relationships whose nature is unknown to the people who drew the map. This is important -analysis can help one understand different perspectives in the conflict, and it can also help one articulate what is now known. Internal divisions within a party (e.g. within Party A) can also be represented. Another factor to consider is the influence of actors who are not directly related to the conflict, but are affecting the dynamics of the conflict nonetheless.Source: Smith and Omondi 2018Another tool that can be effective is the mapping of conflict hotspots across a zone or rangeland landscape.Below is a map that was developed by the IFAD-funded Sustainable Rangeland Management Project (SRMP) in Tanzania, one of a set of maps that were used to guide the project in deciding where joint village land use planning would be carried out (described in more detail below). The information about conflicts was collected from local government records of recent conflicts. The possible and actual interaction of project interventions and the context need to be understood in order to avoid negative impacts and maximise positive ones. Careful planning is required using this information to avoid unintended negative consequences, including ensuring that budget is available to include all important partiesan experience from the IFAD-supported Mongolia Market and Pasture Management Development project highlights the importance of this (see below). As this example also shows, there is a need for constant sensitive monitoring of project interventions and their impacts and any warnings or 'red flags' heeded in a timely manner to avoid conflict escalation and/or negative impacts on project activities.In the Market and Pasture Management Development project, Mongolia, pasture herder groups (PHGs) made up of 40-100 households (HHs) were set up in the project intervention areas. However, not only did the high number of HHs prove to be unwieldly, due to budgetary constraints not all the herders could be covered by the component. This meant that the herder groups were divided into twothose supported by the component and everyone else. This led to tension and in some cases conflict between the two groups. This also meant that those not directly benefiting from the project were reluctant to approve the pasture management plan. This issue was flagged by several supervision missions, and it was agreed that at least trainings would be extended to non-project PHGs. This helped to relieve the situation somewhat (IFAD, 2017b).The Do No Harm methodology (see further reading below) recognise six lessons as universal:1. When an intervention of any kind enters a context, it becomes part of that context.2. All contexts are characterised by 'dividers' (factors that create division or tension) and 'connectors' (factors that pull groups together, or help them to coexist in constructive ways).3. All interventions will interact with dividers and connectors, making them better or worse.4. Interventions interact with dividers and connectors through their organisational actions (or those of their partners) and the behaviour of staff.5. The details of an intervention are the source of its impacts.6. There are always options.Source: CDA (2018)Project or programme interventions that build capacity of existing institutions to undertake improved natural resources and land governance are more likely to be successful than those that establish entirely new institutions. Existing pastoralist customary mechanisms can promote inter-community negotiation, collaboration and cooperation. They are known to work best where there are not substantial power differences. They are also low cost, promote a consensus building approach and encourage community selfreliance. Customary institutions are nomally understood to be best placed for resolving local conflicts, and often government will support them in this role.However, customary institutions can have a number of weaknesses. Their patriarchal way of working can marginalise women, who may well benefit from decisions made, yet are often not part of the decision making processes that led to those decisions. This goes against ideas of gender equality and equity. In some places overall authority levels among pastoral customary institutions are also weakening because of societal changes in terms of wealth differences and greater ethnic diversity within communities. Frequently, customary tenure systems have been over-ridden by statutory processes that do not match well with local land and resource use and for example the landscape-level management required of pastoral systems.Community elite may use their positions for personal rather than collective gain.Defining effective and sustainable governance provides a valuable opportunity for collaboration and cooperation if issues such as 'elite capture' can be controlled. Establishing (negotiating) a shared vision helps to develop common positions and goals. Positive roles can be established for both customary and statutory governance structures: for example, the role of government as a credible enforcer of the law, and the role of customary leaders as custodians of natural resources, peacebuilders and local development agents. Other stakeholders such as development agencies or conflict dialogue facilitators may also have a role to play. In addition issues of gender equity will need to be considered and ways to ensure women as well as men in decision making and management processes identified. Support and capacity building for this will be required -for further information see the HTD note on Gender and Pastoralism.•A stakeholder mapping of different local customary institutions, their membership, structure including decision making processes, and roles and responsibilities. • A common visioning exercise across all local groups to identify commonalities and disagreements in terms of a vision for the community and where it wants to be in say ten years' time. The commonalities are the starting point for discussions about how the different groups can better work together, be self-supporting, where adjustments may need to be made and what capacities need to be built. • Discussions on greater gender equality and equity in the more traditional male-dominated customary institutions and how this can be achieved. Discussions on the involvement and place of the youth is also important here. • Capacity building through such as exposure or learning visits to other communities so for example similar customary institutions can discuss similar challenges and opportunities across different geographies. This can also help to build up feelings of solidarity across different communities which leads to a stronger foundation for peacebuilding. • Identification of 'spoilers' or those in groups and institutions who are causing trouble, rifts and/or conflict. Once identified, decisions will need to be made among other members of the group about how to influence them or in worse-case scenarios, remove them from the group.A focus on strengthening social cohesion for improved land and natural resource governance can work well in contexts where pastoralists and their neighbours have relatively good relations, for example where pastoralists are transhumant and stay for a considerable percentage of the year in locations with farming communities. Improved consultation and participation mechanisms for pastoralists, as citizens with legitimate rights, can strengthen inter-community relations and lessen the likelihood of conflicts. Fostering communication and dialogue helps to strengthen connections and interaction over a common goal such as resolving land use conflicts.Indeed in Tanzania, joint village land use planning (JVLUP) has served to resolve conflicts between farmers and herders through addressing one of the root causes of the conflicts for both parties i.e. tenure insecurity.The JVLUP process led by the IFAD-funded Sustainable Rangeland Management Project (SRMP) (see Box 8) improved understandings of some of the critical issues contributing to the conflicts which were then discussed and addressed. Different stakeholders were brought together and informed of the process and its objectives, and given the opportunity to participate in it, so increasing the sense of ownership and commitment to it. Local communities whether farmers or herders had a common goal of securing their lands and protecting it from settlers from outside. Long and sometimes protracted discussions and negotiations were carried out to agree on land uses. Though the SRMP focused on the protection of grazing lands, all land uses were included in the plans so all land users benefited (excluding any land users that were illegal).With the JVLUP process being government approved, communities had a stronger foundation for enforcing their rights including adherence to the JVLUP plans. Grazing committees and others were established to facilitate this, and visibility was given to the process and activities locally and nationally, which added pressures on governnment not to renege on its commitments.Funded by IFAD and implemented through the International Land Coalition (ILC) by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, the National Land Use Planning Commission and local NGOs, the SRMP has supported district and community authorities to carry out joint village land use planning (JVLUP) as a way to secure rangelands and contribute to land and resource conflict resolution between farmers, pastoralists and other land users. Between 2010-2020, SRMP assisted four clusters of four villages to secure village lands including shared grazing lands in Kiteto District, Manyara Region, and has made preparations for others. In the second phase of the project -2017-2020the project paid signfiicant attention to the issue of conflict including undertaking several trainings on conflict resolution/transformation at national, regional, ward and local levels of government. Further, multi-stakeholder platforms were established at district level that provided a space for conflicts to be discussed, and strategies developed to resolve them.The JVLUP process involved participatory mapping of rangeland resources to develop understandings of which resources were used by whom and how, and if any conflicts were arising. Further details on the mapping process can be found in the mapping guidelines (ILC 2014). The next step was to facilitate agreement between village members over different land uses and the production of maps and plans, as well as to develop a joint village land use agreement to protect the shared grazing area, water points, livestock routes and other shared resources. Reaching agreement was a protracted negotiation process which took months and even years in some places where for example the process stalled due to interference from politicians and election candidates during local government elections. By-laws for the management of the resources were developed and adopted, and a joint grazing committee established with members from all villages responsible for planning, management and enforcement of by-laws. Certificates of customary rights of occupancy (CCROs) were then issued to the village livestock keepers who used the shared grazing area, in order to add to their tenure security. The process was well publicised with several high-level government officials visting the project area. The government recognises the value of the approach including in resolving land-based conflicts and is seeking funds to upscale it. The project has also been a site of learning for others, with visits made by government representatives, land experts, and practitioners from Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and other. The visit from Nigeria was organised by the IFAD-Nigeria office in order to learn from the experiences of the land use planning approach and to consider its application in Nigeria where conflicts between farmers and herders are rife.For more information see Kalenzi, 2016.Learning from the Tanzania example and others, some fundamental principles can be highlighted including: i) Links between the formal and the traditional systems requires the building of trust and understanding between a government and its people. ii) Communities must develop an understanding of their rights and begin to voice their issues and demand change. iii) Government should be supported in its attempts to respond to this voice. iv) Changing livelihoods calls for adapting governance systems on co-governance and co-operation. v) Adaptive institutional arrangements should incorporate the strengths of both the formal and traditional systems. The development of Pastoral Codes in West Africa is one example of attempts to do this.Environmental insecurity whether due to variabilty of supply of a natural resource or irregular and insecure access is often an underlying cause of conflict in pastoral areas. Though this confict may be latenthidden under a seeming surface of calmit can be easily disturbed if, for example, there are sudden and/or sharp changes or disturbance to the supply of the natural resource concerned. For example, different pastoral groups in an area may have limited access to waterthough this is challenging, all the groups face the same stressful situation and do the best that they can to manage it in a relatively balanced and peaceful (even reciprocal) way. However, the establishment of a large borehole in the territory of one of the groups without considering or allowing access for the others, can unbalance the situation, cause or stir-up historical disagreements, resentment, jealousy, power imbalances and ultimately, could be the spark for a conflict. Avoiding this situation through understanding the context, working with all groups in the area (and not only one group), facilitating discussions about responsibilities for maintenance and governance of access and negotiating agreements for this, can all help to avert a conflict situation.Averting or avoiding a conflict is one way of managing a situation of environmental insecurity, another way (usually better in the long-term) is trying to address some of the underlying causes. Where causes are complex such as a lack of tenure security, this will likely need to be done alongside steps to try and 'iron-out' some of the irregularity or 'creases' in the supply of a natural resource such as water. Assisting communities to better manage the resource is one way to do this. Interventions can be targeted at trying to regularise the supply. Or interventions can try to take out or avert some of the irregularity in insecurity and risk in the water supply by for example building water supply points whilst also establishing (or strengthening) a management and governance system for these. This can include setting up the management/governance structures, the development of management plans or the facilitation of management and/or access agreements. Assisting the communities to prepare for shocks and stresses such as drought through for example storing water in large tanks or ponds, can also help to avert a situation that could lead to conflict. By doing this, one is recognising that some latent conflicts might exist, but in the absence of being able to influence the root causes in the short term, managing a situation in order to avoid the triggers and sparks that might bring a conflict to the surface, is possible. At the same time and in parallel, longer-term actions can be started to address some of the root causes of the conflict such as insecurity of tenure.What is frequently needed for effective rangeland management in pastoralist contexts are approaches that operate at the scale required for maintaining the functionality of the whole rangeland landscape, whilst supporting the needs and capacities of pastoralists on the ground. Other stakeholders and land users are also found in the landscape, and relationships with these other stakeholders need to be considered and where appropriate, built. Protecting ecologically important areas from other users is also essential for maintaining the health of the system as a whole. Management works better if rights to the land and natural resources are clear and secure, however as discussed above this is often not the case in pastoral areas. As such, either rangeland management needs to occur within this context or it should seek to positively and purposefully influence the context to be more enabling and supporting. Indeed some rangeland management approaches can contribute to an improvement of resource and land tenure security and good governance of these through participatory rangeland management (PRM) (see Box 9). In Jordan for example, staff and partners of the project Mainstreaming Biodiversity in the Sylvo-Pastoral and Rangeland Landscapes where the traditional grazing lands or Hima have been rehabilitated, claimed that the rangeland management supported is in itself a conflict resolution methodology or tool as it brings back to communities the responsibility for ensuring health and availability of biodiversity i.e. communities had a common goal (IFAD, 2017b).Participatory rangeland management (PRM) is a step-by-step process to improve rangeland management, good governance and resource tenure security. Originally developed in Ethiopia (see for example Flintan and Cullis 2010) and modelled on participatory forest management it serves to build understanding of resource use, define a rangeland management area, strengthen management and governance institutions, develop a rangeland management plan, implement the plan including rangeland restoration and improve security of tenure to resources through establishing a use agreement between local communities and government. It has been shown to improve rangeland productivity and good governance including greater participation of women. Further, when applied at a landscape level it has contributed to conflict prevention and resolution (Flintan et al 2019). Similar approaches have been and/or are being implemented by IFAD-funded projects in Swaziland, Jordan, Mongolia and Ethiopia among others.The plannning and implementation of interventions in pastoralist areas need to be considered at multiple scales. Interventions at one level will likely impact anotherthe scales are highly linked vertically as well as horizontally, and should be considered and supported as such. Interventions that occur in parallel and/or in a holistic, integrated manner are likely to be more successful than interventions at only one level.Box 10 Multi-scale planning processes that may be required to adequately address pastoral issuesPlanning and implementation approaches to better manage resources peacefully need to be considered at multiple scales including:-Negotiation and planning at local, village and district levels to resolve local land-use conflicts and tenure issues (including livestock corridors); -Higher-level regional or county and national planning and support of appropriate state authorities to reach agreement on how a region/county and country's resources can be shared most effectively between different land uses and to ensure coordination with respect to transhumance corridors that cross multiple jurisdictions; -Cross-boundary regional planning and support across clusters of countries by regional bodies negotiating with appropriate state authorities to reach agreement on how a region's resources can be shared most effectively between different land users and to ensure coordination with respect to transhumance corridors that cross multiple jurisdictions including country boundaries; -Adequate pastoralist representation (including participation) and accountability measures at all levels, ensuring that final plans are subject to checks and agreement with pastoral representatives; and -Inclusive, multistakeholder monitoring to continuously and systematically monitor the implementation of plans against social, development and environmental standards.Source: Adapted from FAO 2016Projects can be designed in ways to promote peacebuilding. Co-management of development projects (getting stakeholders from diverse groups working together), enhancing communication opportunities (e.g. through radio networks and transportation routes) and establishing shared public and animal services are some examples. Sports activities such as soccer matches have been shown to be an acceptable starting point for discussions and activities involving the youth. Theatre has proved to be a less confrontational way of discussing sensitive matters. Further, service delivery projects can be designed specifically to promote peace, which can be particularly important in areas that have seen conflict or protracted crises.Projects that support improvements in infrastructure and service delivery should not only be designed to prevent harm, but also can be designed to promote peace. Some key issues to think about include:• The need for an indepth conflict and governance analysis prior to planning and implementation in order to, amongst other, guide the design of service delivery initiatives.• Accountability plays a central role in service delivery. Yet, external aid can have the effect of diluting the state's accountability for essential services and even weakening the governance framework over the long term. Misplaced paternalism on the part of the international community risks displacing governments' policy making responsibilities and stalling the evolution of governance institutions that are at the core of sustainable development. • Access constraints and problems need to be understood and interventions designed to improve them.• Services need to be provided in a manner that does not cause any further conflict between land users, or harm to local governance and other social systems. For example, favouring one group over another without due consultations and rationale can be one way of creating conflict. • Service delivery projects can serve as focal point for connecting different (perhaps previously conflicting) actors together for a common purpose and cooperation, and so likely strengthening relations between them i.e. connectors. However, they should not be seen as a replacement for also tackling or defusing the root causes of conflict and their different manifestations and service delivery should be designed to target these causes e.g. competition over water. • Service delivery should be designed to reduce competition and divisions between adversarial groups i.e. reduce dividers. • Mechanisms and safeguards need to ensure that resources provided are not redirected for war, or free-up other resources for war.Where conflicts in pastoral areas have deep roots, are endemic, and have become extremely hostile, a process of reconciliation and relationship building is likely to be a necessary component of project/programme interventions. Tasks are likely to include:• Establishing a willingness to engage among all groups and/or actors by for example understanding the different needs, interests and positions of the groups and identifying a common interest e.g. resolving the conflict. • Creating understanding across groups on the challenges and issues, and potential solutions and opportunities with barriers or hurdles to these. • Rebuilding trust between groups for long term solutions.• Defining the role of different groups including the state in implementing the solutions.Development agencies and organisations can play an important role in bringing the different groups and/or actors together in a neutral space to discuss and start building these relations. They can also provide the different groups with information that helps more informed and balanced decision making. IFAD normally has a trusted relationship with government, that can help to facilitate this. Further, development interventions themselves can be designed to purposively contribute to relationship building both in terms of taking pressure off communities in stressful environments, and through including activities that bring different actors and groups to work together for a common goal or output such as building a water point: the act of building the water point together can be a time for the different actors and groups to talk in a neutral environment, share their views and perspectives and hopefully build some empathy for these, making it easier to come to agreement.An example of an intervention that sought to do this is in Nigeria is the USAID-funded project Engaging Communities for Peace Nigeria, led by Mercy Corps with local partner Pastoral Resolve. The program sought to prevent violent conflict between farmer and pastoralist communities through three main interventions: (1) strengthening the capacity of local leaders to resolve disputes inclusively and sustainably, including training and coaching them in interest-based negotiation and mediation; (2) building trust by facilitating opportunities for people to collaborate across conflict lines on quick-impact projects and natural resource management initiatives that addressed shared needs; and (3) fostering engagement among community leaders and local authorities to prevent conflict through joint violence prevention planning as well as information sharing around conflict triggers and violent incidents. An evaluation of the project found that intergroup contact and trust between farmer and pastoralist communities increased or was maintained more than in non-intervention sites; perceptions of security increased significantly more in project communities than in non-project communities; and direct participants' attitudes and behaviors improved and later spread to the wider community (Mercy Corps, 2019).UN agencies play a key role in addressing structural inequity and in promoting the recognition of multiple rights-holders. IFAD's mandate includes acting as a catalyst for bringing partners together and supporting advocacy and knowledge for policy. IFAD has supported pastoral networks advocating for appropriate drylands land use and greater voice for pastoralists includng the Farmers Forum, FAO-Pastoralist Knowledge Hub (PKH) and the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) coordinated by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).Important tasks for project designers include ensuring that agreed policies and processes are followed by project partners. These will include IFAD's Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) (currently being updated),1 as well as IFAD's policy on Indigenous Peoples, World Bank safeguards (operational policy 14.2 on avoiding resettlement), free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), the Pastoralism Minimum Standards (already mentioned) and the Responsible Agricultural Investment principles defined by a consortium including IFAD, FAO, UNCTAD and the World Bank (2010). There is also the Do No Harm methdology to consider as previously mentioned.In many pastoralist areas responsibilities for land issues have been decentralised to district level authorities. Strengthening the capacity of local governments and local organisations to address the unequal levels of security over land tenure and natural resource access for pastoralists is an important task for projects wanting to prevent conflicts. Pastoralist customary systems can be overturned by national government or the private sector, who may seek to exploit weaknesses in customary pastoral tenure or enforce statutory tenure. Women will often be the most marginalised, however it should not be assumed that women will be better off, particularly in the long term, from individual tenure for example. Rather, collective tenure if well-functioning, can offer equal if not, more secure tenure as long as the collective itself has strong tenure security. Changes at national levels can impact the context for interventions at the local level, and projects need to be aware of this and address as appropriate (see Box 11).In Kyrgyzsthan the process of pasture reform unexpectedly resurrected a number of long lasting conflicts over pasture territories between neighbouring aiyl okmotys (rural municipality administrations). The Agriculture Investments and Services Project, Kyrgyzstan, helped to resolve these conflicts by demarcating boundaries around pastures and preventing potential conflicts associated with the use of the pasture areas. Public disclosure and dispute resolution mechanisms were established at local and national levels to settle disagreements between and among the administrations over boundaries and user rights (ILC, undated). Indeed, there are considerable risks associated with strengthening governance of pastoralist tenure using formal legal processes. The allocation of formal rights over what was governed previously through customary tenure of land and resources can lead to those rights being lost and the important collective nature of land and resource use disintegrating. This has been clearly seen in Kenya where pastoralists were forced by government in the 1960s to privatise their lands and set up group ranches, with land titles provided. This created a whole set of governance and management problems including women losing out, and led to many group ranches dissolving with the land further carved up into individual titles and later sold. What had been a productive rangeland was broken up into increasingly unproductive individual pieces compromising not only the pastoral production system but the ability of wildlife to survive there. This has continued to be a root cause of land use conflicts in the area.As indicated above, IFAD is well placed to positively contribute and influence more enabling policies and legislation for such as securing tenure and good governance. This is not only at national level, but also regionally. Working with regional economic communities or similar regional bodies can be important in this regard.Working in pastoral areas, and particularly where there are conflict issues, is challenging. Conflicts can take many manifestations, though the root causes are often the same including marginalisation of and bias towards pastoralists, loss of authority of customary institutions, insecurity of tenure to land and resources, poor land use planning processes, among other. The proliferation of arms and increased stresses and shocks in pastoral areas due to such as climate change have aggravated the situation. Sometimes conflicts can be latent looking calm on the surface but still unresolved underneath. These only require a disturbance such as a badly positioned water point to trigger a conflict between local pastoral groups, or establishing an irrigation scheme for farmers in what were pastoral dry season grazing areas to cause conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. As such immense care is required when developing and planning interventions in pastoral areas, and it is highly recommended that a comprehensive conflict analysis is carried out during design. At the very least interventions should 'do no harm' to the context and not stir up, trigger or start conflicts. More positively, interventions can be designed to build peace through developing common goals and positive relations between different stakeholders. It is anticipated that this How To Do Note has provided some guidance on these issues. The authors would be happy to receive feedback and suggested improvements.The IFAD How To Do Land tenure in IFAD Country Strategies (RB-COSOP) provides clear guidance on the review process for land issues that are a part of the preparation of the Result Based Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (RB-COSOP). They include the need to identify pastoral land issues by looking at existing regional and national legislation that promotes customary tenure and resource rights access (IFAD, 2014c).The IFAD HTDN on Participatory Land Use Planning -Land Tenure Toolkit, although not specifically focused on pastoralism, does cover rangelands and contains detailed guidance on the steps involved in participatory land use planning. Examples of tools and methods for collecting and analysing data are given in Step 3, and specifically Table 2. Guidance on how to undertake participatory mapping of land uses and resources is also provided; as are details of further reading, manuals and good practice (IFAD, 2014b). IFAD's Indigenous People Country Technical Notes (see for example those produced for Kenya and Tanzania in 2012) clarify IFAD's approach for engagement with indigenous people. These two Technical Notes contain very useful annexes on indigenous pastoralists -with details on their land rights, history and anthropology -that can help explain the context of land use conflicts. This Tenure Technical Guide for pastoral lands provides guidance specifically targeting pastoral areas. Note: Action Area 2 (Avoid and manage conflict) has been used extensively as the framework for the second section of this HTDN. GTZ Land Conflicts: A practical guide to dealing with land disputes. 2008 Babette Wehrmann 121pp https://gltn.net/2012/09/18/gtz-land-conflicts-a-practical-guide-to-dealing-with-land-disputes-eng-2008/ A wide ranging report that aims to broaden understanding of the complexity of causes that lead to land conflicts in order to provide for better targeted ways of addressing such conflicts. It also provides a number of tools with which to analyse land conflicts. Successful analysis of land conflicts is seen as a vital step towards their eventual settlement. GIZ Understanding, preventing and solving land conflicts: A practical guide and toolbox 156pp 2017 https://www.escr-net.org/sites/default/files/landconflictsguide-web-20170413.pdf Authored by Babette Wehrmann, this guide has been written for all those practitioners who are confronted with land conflicts in the course of their work or are in a position to prevent them and/or include land governance as one pillar in post-conflict policies. It aims to broaden the understanding of the complexity of causes that lead to land conflicts in order to provide for better-targeted ways of addressing such conflicts. It also provides a number of tools with which to analyse land disputes. Successful analysis is seen as a vital step towards their eventual settlement. In addition, this guidebook discusses a wide variety of options and tools for settling ongoing land conflicts and for preventing new ones. The guide also includes a chapter on the role of land in (violent) conflict and peace building and presents a broad range of good practices from a project level.Women's Land Rights Toolkit ILC, 28pp 2016 https://www.landcoalition.org/en/regions/global/resources/womens-land-rights-toolkit Contains information on five tools that have been used to promote, protect and strengthen women's land rightsincluding the use of Family Land Rights and Lineage Tree which helps identify customary tenure when women are impacted by the death of their husband. Although not specific to pastoralism, this toolkit has clear guidance and links to many other useful sources.Peace and Conflict Sector Approach (April 2016). 14pp https://www.mercycorps.org/sites/default/files/PeaceAndConflictSectorApproach.pdf This brief document provides a clear explanation of degradation of natural resources impeding livelihoods among farmers and pastoralists in Nigeria and Ethiopia, with conflicts incited by cattle raids and grabs. Mercy Corps' systems approach identifies how disruption in one system creates conflict in another, and therefore economic development programs are introduced to reduce the competition for scarce resourcescreating mutually beneficial economic ties. Details on frameworks and tools -including Do No Harm, the Relationship Mapping Tool and the Conflict and Resource Mapping Tool -are also provided.The organisation Namati (Innovations in Legal Empowerment) provides a number of useful sources on transforming oral customary norms and practices into written rules including: Drafting by-laws for good governance of community lands and natural resources, Namati 2016 available at https://namati.org/resources/chapter-drafting-by-laws-for-good-governance-of-community-lands-andnatural-resources/ See also: Strengthening Community Governance of Land and Natural Resources: The Content of the Bylaws 8pp Namati 2016; Ensuring the participation of women and minority groups; and Strengthening the land rights of women and minority groups.Integrated Conflict Prevention and Resilience Handbook 64pp 2018 https://www.christianaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-06/Conflict-Prevention-Handbook-June-2018.pdf Produced by Saferworld on behalf of a consortium of agencies, the purpose of the guide is to support agencies to strengthen community resilience more effectively in conflict-affected contexts by providing stepby-step guidance on how to integrate a conflict-sensitive approach into pre-existing and commonly-applied resilience-strengthening methodologies. It was developed as part of the DFID funded Linking Preparedness, Response and Resilience in complex contexts (LPRR) projects.UNEP and UNDPA Natural Resources and Conflict -A guide for mediation practitioners. UN Department of Political Affairs and UNEP, 2015 106pp https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/natural-resources-and-conflict-guide-mediationpractitioners The primary audience for this guide is mediation professionals and supporting institutions involved in localized or transboundary natural resource dispute, or those engaged in peace processes where natural resources play a critical role. The guide collects and summarizes good practices on the successful mediation of resource conflicts. It also features lessons learned from UNEP's work on environmental diplomacy in different conflict-affected countries, with a particular focus on how to use impartial technical knowledge to equalize stakeholder information in a mediation process.From Conflict to Peace building: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment. UNEP 2009 http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/7867 Research suggests that over the last sixty years at least forty per cent of all intrastate conflicts have a link to natural resources. Civil wars such as those in Liberia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo centred on high-value resources like timber, diamonds, gold, minerals and oil. Other conflicts, including those in Darfur and the Middle East, have involved control of scarce resources such as fertile land and water. The case study on Darfur demonstrates how a combination of factors created the conditions that make violence an option for young pastoralist menrecruited as militias to fight proxy wars where they are able to raid cattle.The Land Conflict Prevention Handbook USAID, 2012 21pp https://www.land-links.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Module-2-Land-and-Conflict-Prevention-Handbook-Freudenberger.pdf This powepoint presentation for the meeting on Best Practices for Land Tenure and Natural Resource Governance in Africa held in Monrovia, Liberia October 2012 is a useful summary of the process for understanding land-related conflict, and options for mitigating conflict and preventing violence. Although high level and wide ranging it puts forward a clear four step process that covers scoping (conflict analysis), assessment (participatory data collection, stakeholder analysis tools, assessing legal and institutional frameworks, relevant factors in prospects for change) proposing response options (including process and substantive measures), and ensuring effective roles.","tokenCount":"11179"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3762223384.json b/data/part_1/3762223384.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..25b83625513bc5decc4e24c3f5bd757a7e22f612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3762223384.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2b30f1836e947929a20baa990b622879","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ead81d1f-7a7c-4414-b9b6-b0fa0f5666ca/retrieve","id":"-1855944441"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d1efec21-4f01-4ff7-ab0f-0581f54e27ea","pagecount":"2","content":"This research highlights the dynamics of hydropower decision--making processes in Lao PDR. It shows how hydropower decision making is governed by different sets of rules embedded in multiple, often conflicting legal frameworks and illustrates how legal pluralism can function, by design or by default, as the state's structural/legal means to pursue the country's development objectives. It highlights the current state of legal pluralism as a representation of the existing governing reality in the country.Focusing on legal pluralism within the formal context of state law, the work synthesizes the underlying logic governing hydropower development in the country. We show that if this underlying logic fails to be","tokenCount":"106"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3763194218.json b/data/part_1/3763194218.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..98f3aed2b13f8bdcf2b13da72593d90398b5f278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3763194218.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2971744e6022e727580186d48cc7f4b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/503614e2-0ab7-4ccc-9d8c-84719c4aeaba/retrieve","id":"-1125588298"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7c0bb27e-a4bd-4200-b65e-f549cfb487ce","pagecount":"4","content":"The Sahel is a semiarid region of north-central and western Africa, from Senegal to Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara desert to the north, and the humid savannas to the south. Communities living in this region are economically dependent on agriculture and livestock production. They are being increasingly affected by competing demands and climate change which both reduce their access to land and water resources. Studies on land use change in the region have shown a decline of at least 15% in grazing areas in Sahelian countries over the past 30 years. This has serious implications for fodder and feed production. Sustainable and effective production of biomass, such as fodder and feed for livestock and fuel for household use, is crucial to livelihoods, food security and environmental health and resilience. A study in 2004 by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Fakara in western Niger found rapid changes taking place in key grazing areas of savannah grasslands, in 1950 these covered between 44-70% of the area but have now largely disappeared due to the expansion of crop farming.initiatives enhancing women's and youth's control of, and access to, fodder production and supply value chains and ensure that their access and control are key factors when introducing improved fodder production technologies and practices Strengthen local institutions to foster greater participation of women and youth Promote innovative ways to communicate good practices in fodder production and management in local languages Facilitate the creation, or strengthening, of multistakeholder platforms for managing fodder and feed production (in ways that consider the short and longterm environmental aspects of land and water resources and ecosystem services)The critical question is how to improve the management and production of fodder in ways that are sustainable and which ensure the resilience of the ecosystem rather than undermining it. Women and youth are key actors in these production systems but currently not always included in production cycles due to cultural (traditional) and socialinstitutional practises. Enhancing the production and management of fodder by increasing the involvement of woman and youth in decision making offers important opportunities to improve the sustainability and productivity of the fodder value chain.The main objectives of the research was to better understand the genderdifferentiated access to, and control over, resources, and the constraints to, and involvement in, activities relating to fodder production. The research team aimed to investigate the separate responsibilities of men, women and youth in the fodder production process, identifying gaps and opportunities for improved fodder production and management.The project focused on two sites in the semi-arid north of the Volta and Niger River basins. One site included four villages in Yatenga province in northern Burkina Faso, and the other included four villages in Fakara district in south-western Niger. These have annual approximate rainfalls of 650mm and 450mm respectively. Both sites are increasingly under pressure, due to population growth, to intensify crop and livestock production whilst at the same time meeting the challenges of increasing rainfall variability and temperature changes.The research project involved a diverse range of community members and approaches to data collection. Women, men and youth were randomly chosen from each of the four villages in the study sites and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires on fodder production and management practices. They also participated in facilitator led focus group discussions. In Burkina Faso 20 women, 20 men and 20 youth were involved. In Niger, 28 women and 12 men were involved. Gender roles in fodder production and management were analyzed through an assessment of perceptions about the degree of involvement of each gender category (men, women and youth) in the fodder value chain. At local and national levels, institutions engaged in promoting gender equality in fodder value chains were also consulted. The information obtained was analysed to understand the division (between men and women) of; labour, control over access to resources, sharing of resources, benefits, power and decision making, varying practical and strategic needs and influencing factors.The results revealed similarities and differences in gender participation in, and access to the benefits from, fodder production.In Yatenga province, Burkina Faso, women, men and youth have relatively equitable access to uncultivated communal land (fallow/bush) and to the fodder products available from it. Access to, and control of, land (and other requirements for production) are deciding factors when it comes to the type of investments made, crops produced and the size of land allocated for specific crops. There are a number of opportunities for the development of fodder value chains through market innovations and the enhancement of organizational and institutional capacity.Women face a number of challenges in accessing and having control over the resources that are linked to fodder and feed production. These barriers stem from a number of cultural and socio-economic barriers. For example, cultivated land in much of the Sahel is inherited from father to son. Women usually gain access to land through marriage. At the household level, cultivated land resources are also under the control of the head of the household, which is usually a man. Because women don't own the land that they work on, their access to it can be uncertain and problematic. This, among other factors such as access to funds to invest, restricts them from applying certain measures to improve the land or its use for their purposes such as planting trees, for fuel and fodder production, or making stone bunds to enhance water capture. In addition, women are often constrained by the availability of manual labour. Women's access to agricultural equipment and inputs such as seeds and fertilizer can also be limited due to lack of finance, and few opportunities for them to access credit. Access to training can also be problematic either because of their existing workloads or because they require consent from their husbands to participate.Fodder production is one of the many strategies developed by farmers and agro-pastoralists to cope with seasonal feed shortages. Having a forage reserve is important to maintaining and improving livestock nutrition and productivity. Interviews and focus group discussions conducted by the research team at the Burkina Faso site revealed the production and use of three types of fodder, and the differing gender roles involved:Collection and storage of crop residues -primarily conducted by women but with little decision making power over the crops grown Collection from natural pastures and/ or involving direct grazing of natural pastures -relatively balanced decision making between women, men and youth Cultivated fodder produced mainly in the Burkina Faso village sites (there was no mention of cultivated fodder in any of the communities of the Niger sites) -men are the sole production decision makers on types of crops, area of land involved, and input investments (fertilizers and pesticides)The situation is slightly different in the Niger locations studied. Here, although the decision to produce fodder is mainly controlled by the male head of household, women and youth do have a say in whether to pursue it, what fodder to grow and on what scale.The participation of women and youth in the fodder decision making process is currently limited, as is their access to critical productive resources such as land. Only around 20% of those interviewed in the Niger site responded that women and youth were involved in decision making on fodder biomass production. 60% confirmed that the male head of households were largely responsible for this decision making.The traditional gender patterns around fodder production are changing in the sites studied. Women are now more engaged in fodder production, but still face limitations when it comes to equal participation in this activity and the related decision making processes. For example in one community, women have (traditionally) not participated in farming activities, instead focusing on tending to livestock. This is now changing as the women in the community become more involved in fodder production and management, supporting family incomes and wellbeing alongside the men of the community.A number of opportunities exist to increase sustainable productivity, enhance equity, improve incomes and spread the benefits of fodder and feed production more widely in both Burkina Faso and Niger.initiatives enhancing women's and youth's control of, and access to, fodder production and supply value chains Women and youth play an important role in fodder and feed production and management. Despite this, they have limited access to, or control over, land and other resources such as water, forests, equipment, training, credit and market information. These limitations hold women back from equal participation in the fodder value chain, and the benefits it can bring.greater participation of women and youth and ensure that their access and control are key factors when introducing improved fodder production technologies and practicesThe establishment of local incentives to encourage women and youth to take up fodder and feed production, processing and marketing activities, and which improve their access to new technologies and practices, also have the potential to significantly improve and diversify their incomes and raise overall productivity. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) combines the resources of 11 CGIAR centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and numerous national, regional and international partners to provide an integrated approach to natural resource management research. WLE promotes a new approach to sustainable intensification in which a healthy functioning ecosystem is seen as a prerequisite to agricultural development, resilience of food systems and human well-being. This program is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a member of the CGIAR Consortium, and is supported by CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Policies and initiatives that support the establishment of a mechanism for collecting and disseminating market information via mobile phone or local radio would greatly enhance opportunities for all farmers to benefit financially from participating in the fodder value chain. This mechanism could also serve as a tool for local authorities to share information on the forage potential of an area, as well as offering an early warning system when fodder begins to become scarce.the creation, or strengthening, of multi-stakeholder platforms for managing fodder and feed production (in ways that consider short and long-term environmental aspects of land and water resources and ecosystem services)Creating, and strengthening existing, livestock related multi-stakeholder platforms would facilitate better linkages among actors along the fodder value chain and enable coordination between inputs such as water and land resources, to support sustainable production approaches. This would help improve market access and provide opportunities for co-learning and knowledge exchange among all those involved in fodder production and management.","tokenCount":"1740"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3773617523.json b/data/part_1/3773617523.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0403e7f70623aa56fcea1d7624a07342640bb778
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3773617523.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"107de6e3d7cd3463f2b55a4e179f3882","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/298e007d-3d1a-41ee-bc5a-e5dde7617cf0/retrieve","id":"327986012"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"656f399c-8824-4dab-8a39-ed3f26e45e01","pagecount":"1","content":"In Ethiopia's central wheatbelt, smallholder farmers face major challenges due to climate variability, which causes dry spells, floods and land degradation, alongside limited access to inputs and markets. To address these challenges, Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is providing a one-stop digital platform, LERSHA. The app developed by Green Agro Solution PLC (GAS) provides farmers with vital climate-smart agro-advisories, inputs, mechanization, and financial services. It particularly addresses the needs of women farmers, who are especially vulnerable to climate impacts.In 2021, only 1,500 smallholder farmers received agro-climate advisory services through the partnership. Today, over 230,000 farmers across five regions benefit from these services, empowering them to make better climate-informed decisions. With the integration of the Ethiopian Digital Agro-Climate Advisory Platform, a web-based tool designed to provide seasonal and sub-seasonal agro-climate advice, farmers now receive real-time advisory on planting dates, seasonal forecasts, and pest management. With support from the World Bank, a network of tech-savvy agents is trained to help LERSHA reach more farmers and ensure access to services, including o ine and in multiple languages.Climate-smart bundled innovations on climate information services and ag-advisories for Ethiopia's central wheatbelt ","tokenCount":"190"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3784890668.json b/data/part_1/3784890668.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2a9d2e08069080cfd6de1ce7954fc39eb6c0cbb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3784890668.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f1a5c912871f6d572780feffc9cb00ce","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d196cc51-32fb-4ae5-b8e8-02354f8d5418/content","id":"-489067864"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eef3fa8f-d742-4555-85d9-55eb531ba43c","pagecount":"12","content":"In establ ishing fert i 1 izer recommendat ions for farmers, standard production function analysis has been widely appl ied to the ar.alysis of fertil izer experimental data in order to derive optimal levels of fertil izer. That is, regression analysis is used to fit a suitable response function and then optimal levels are calculated by setting the marginal productivity of nutrients (given by differentiation of the function) equal to the ratio of the price of nutrients to the price of the crop.Several methodological studies have focused .in depth on questions of experimental design and statistics relating to the estimation of the function (e.g. Baum, Heady and Blackmore, Heady and Dillon, Colwell).However, none of these really addresses the practical questions of relating experimental results and prices to those faced by farmers. This note shows that, particularly for small farmers, the naive assumptions on yields and prices usually used by economists in this type of analysis may lead to unreal istically high levels of fertil izer recommendations which the farmer would never find practical (or profitable) to adopt. planting. For purposes of this analysis, d~ta from experiments conducted between 1973 and 1977 in the winter cycle o~flat vertisol soils are used to provide some homogeneity to the underlying conditions of the experiments. (Data are shown in Table 1.)Polynomial functional forms were used to represent the data since they provide substantial flexibil ity and also facil itate computations.The quadratic form was chosen after testing other forms. Fitted functions are shown in Table 2.The phosphorous response is rot statistically significant nor is there an economic response. The interaction between Nand P is very small and contrary to expectations has a negative sjgn. For these reasons the P terms are dropped and the function re-estimated using only N. This 'has very little effect on the coefficients of the N terms. The R 2 in the fitted function is low indicating the substantial year to year and site to site variabil ity in the area.Optimal fertil izer levels under various yield and price assumptions were derived from the fitted function. The first set of assumptions uses the unadjusted price ratios and actual experimental yields normally used by economists. These assumptions are then made more real istic by adjustirig costs and benefits to reflect farmer circumstances following procedures outl ined in CIMMYT's manual \"From Agronomic Data to Farmer Recommendat ions\" (Perrin ~~. 1976).The optimal level of nitrogen is easily derived from the equation in Table 2 by setting marginal productivity of nitrogen equal to the ratio of prices of nitrogen P and maize P ., i.e. Representing this price ratio (Pn/P y ) as r, we can obtain the optimal level of nitrogen, N*, as:N* = (13.0788 -r).090392We begin by assuming the official prices for urea (46% nitrogen) and maize. In 1969 these were 2.7/kg of urea, or $5.87/kg of N, bought from the official distributor of fertil izer and $2.9/kg for maize bought by the official marketing agency, giving a price ratio, r, of 2.02 and and optimal level of nitrogen of 122 kg N/ha.However, farmers rarely hove an opportunity to buy fertilizer and sell maize at these prices. Fertil izer is usually distributed in thearea through the official bank which charges $3.20/kg urea. Moreover, most farmers do not sell maize through the official marketing agency because the net price received is lower than the official price due to qual ity a~d moisture discuunts and because farmers must bear the cost of transportation 'to the official buying agency .. For these reasons, the farmers usually sell to private buyers who pass through the village. A recent survey showed this price to average $2.75/kg maize 1 /. Using prices farmers actually pay and received, we arrive at a price ratio of r = 2.53 and an N* of 117 kg/ha which is only sl ightly less than the optimum using official prices.While the cost of purchasing fertil izer is one of the major costs in fertil izer use, there are also several other costs that the farmer incurs. These costs are the transport of fertil izer from the store to the farm, the extra labor required for fertil izer appl ication, the cost of harvesting the extra ,yield g~ined from fertil izer use and finally the cost of the capital needed for purchasing fertil izer. Let's look at each of these.costs in turn.1/ In fact there is about a 30 percent seasonal fluctuation in maize prices.The price used reflects sales about two months after harvest when most farmers sell their maize.Cost of Transport: To the small farmer who may buy just a few bags of fertil izer, the cost of transport often adds to 10 percent or more to ttle cost of fert il izer depending on the condit ions of the that is, each extra ton of maize harvested will incur about $400/ton in extra harvesting costs.Cost of Capital: The farmer using fertil izer will make a considerable cash outlay for fertil izer purchase and appl ication at the beginning of the season which he will not recuperate until after harvest.If the farmer is short of capital he must borrow this money, thus incurring direct costs of interest charges, or he must use his own money at an opportunity cost that the money would have in other operations on maize (e.g. weeding) or in other activities. Capital is usually in short supply to small 'farmers and interest rates on an annual basis in the informal money market are usually 50 -100 percen't or more, reflecting this scarcity.For the area in question, we will conservatively assume a 50 percent cost of capitalOptimal levels with All Costs Included: Including all of the\" above costs, we can now arrive at a neW price relationship. The cost of fertil izer appl ied is equal to the price paid by the farmer plus cost of transport ($0.2/kg) plus cost of appl ication ($1.0 /kg) plus cost of cap(tal (50 percent), i.e. ' )The extra cost of harvesting which varies proportional;y with yields is best subtracted from the price of ma'ize to give a field price of maize. That is, the field prices of maize is 2.7 -.4 = $2.3/ kg. The new price relationship is now r = 5.48 and the optimal level of N is 84/kg/h~, a reduction of about 40 kg/ha from the case in which the cost of purchasing fertil izer was naively assumed to be the only cost. First, yields on small experiments plots are usually higher than on large commercial fields. One reason for this is simply border effects which are higher for small plots. In the current situation 'these effect~are probably negl igible because relatively large plots were used (20 01 2 ) dnd border rows were planted.Another reason for higher experimental yields is that small plots C3n be managed carefully, by more precise spaciRg, more timely weeding, EtC. than is possible or practical for farmers to use. In the present case, there are differences between experimental management and farmer m~naSEment which we would expect to lead to yield differences.First experim~nts were planted at precise spacings and thinned to give the desired density. This is done because experimental error may be unacceptably high with irregular stands in small plots. Second, chemical weed control was used on the experiments w~ile most farmers weed with hoes. Howev~r, since it is unl ikely that Jertil izer could be profitably adopted in th0 area without better weed control, it is assumed that we are developing fertil izer recommendations for farmers who have adopted the recommended chemical weed control technique.Finally, the largest difference between experimental and farmer yields arises because of differences in harvesting technique. Experiments are harvested at physiological m~turity or approximately 25-30% moisture content and yields converted to 15% moisture equivalent. Farmers who do not have mechanical driers must wait up to a month lo~ger to allow the maize to dry to a moisture percentage of 15-20% in the field. During this period there is considerable loss of maize due to insects and birds.One recent study in the. area estimated an average yield loss of from 15 to 30 percent between physiological maturity and when farmers harvest (Galt, 1977). Altogether then, we might conservatively expect farmers' yields to be about 20 percent less than experimental yields -15 percent because of differences in harvesting technique and 5 percent due to other experimental management practices such as precise spacing and thinning.Losses Due to Adverse Weather: It is common for both researchers and farmers to lose or almost lose a field of maize (or at least have y~ars when yields are very low and there is no measurable response to fertil i~er).This is the case in the study area where in the winter cycle under examination, it is common to have prolonged dry periods in the middle of the g!\"OWing cycle. Farmers estimate that they completely lose or obtain very low yields in one year in five due to drought. Researchers have also experienced losses resulting in abandoning the experiment but less ~requently than farmers because of better moisture retention under herbicide based zero tillage.We assume then that in one year in five (not represented in the experimental data) yields are very ;ow and there is no measurable response to nitrogen. Whether yields are assumed to be zero, 500 kg/ha or 750 kg/ha in these years will not affect the deriviation of optimal nitrogen levels w~ich depend on marginal nitrogen response which can reasona~ly be assumed to be zero in these years.Optimal Levels with Yields Adjusted: The optimum nitrogen level was re-computed with downward adjustments to experimental yields of 20 percent due to experimental management practic~s, particularly harvesting technique, and a further 20 percent adjustment to account for losses in drought years which are not reflected in the experimental data. This resulted in a final recommendation of 50 kg N/ha.The simple example used in this note has shown that when real istic assumptions of farmers' costs and yields are used, the optimum level of fertil izer use can be substantially lower than would be predicted by the usual naive appl ication by economists of marginal analysis.In the example used, optimal nitrogen •appl ication rates were reduced from 120 kg/ha when marginal response to nitrogen is equated to the nitrogen/maize price ratio to 50 kg/ha when real istic costs and yield figures were used.These costs and yield adjustments are particularly important in the case of small farmers, who often have poor access to inputs, a high opportunity cost of capital and who use management pr.:l.ctices such as drying of maize in the field to improve storage which are substantially different to experimental procedures.Of c~urse, the assumptions used in adjusting costs and yields in the example are only approximate and the optimal level of nitrogen might vary between 40 kg/ha and 75 kg/ha depending on the yield adjustment and cost of capital assumed. In fact, farmers in the area who use nitrogen fertil izer were found in a recent survey to apply an average of 47 kg N/ha very close to the predicted optimum.Finally. we have used regression analysis in this example to compute optimal fertil izer use as this is the most common procedure used 'by economists in the analysis of data from fertil izer experiments. However. we could have more easily used partial budgeting procedures to compare the various treatments (0. 50. 100, 150 kg N/ha) following Perrin 'et ~(1976).In fact, the partial budget analysis using the same cost and yield adjustment gives us the same recommended nitrogen level of 50 kg/ha. Although regression analysis is useful to smooth data and interpolate between points, partial budgeting of the treatments will usually give us very similar results -certainly at the general level of precision needed to make reconmendations to farmers. The real ism of cost and yield assumptions used in the analysis is more important than the analytical technique employed.   ","tokenCount":"1979"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3791969245.json b/data/part_1/3791969245.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..38d5151f721df2ee13c53f1882ce6589704ebfc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3791969245.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"65fe1eb5dccc8f328c1e89cb5509a784","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f64e68a3-ec2f-460a-8272-cf9eb31c7c0a/retrieve","id":"539710319"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"72eafb0c-bc99-4c43-a39f-2241ba7d656e","pagecount":"8","content":"The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa's most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.Up to 93% of global yam production emanates from West Africa (FAO, 2013) where it is a primary source of income and staple food. However, its production is limited by scarcity of clean seed yam. Several propagation methods have been developed to find a solution to the constraint of planting materials in yam production (Orkwor et al. 1998;Aighewi et al. 2015). In vitro multiplication of Dioscorea species has been performed using explants since 1980s (Shu et al. 2005) and this has been achieved mainly through organogenesis (Balogun and Gueye 2013). However, organogenesis was improved in TIBS (Adelberg and Simpson 2002;Balogun et al. 2014) relative to semi-solid tissue culture due to improved culture aeration from intermittent nutrient immersion, labor, and cost efficiency. Somatic embryogenesis is a more efficient system because all somatic cells are potentially able to produce bipolar embryos and regenerate into a complete plantlet (Mousavizadeh 2009), such that as many as there are in a plant is the number of seed yam it can produce. The white yam variety 9811-090 from Latin America, and the accession TDr 2436 were reported regenerated through somatic embryogenesis (Padron et al. 2011;Manoharan et al. 2016). Quain et al. (2011) while studying transgenic potential of Dioscorea rotundata using agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation, reported successful transformation of the local Ghanaian white yam variety \"Pona\" but regeneration was via organogenesis. However, a system for somatic embryogenesis, especially via an intervening callus phase, has not been reported for improved, released varieties of white yam in West Africa, and especially using TIBS.In contrast, somatic embryos are bipolar structures and have been reported in D. floribunda, D. composita, D. alata, and D. bulbifera (Ammirato 1976;1982). Recently, (Suarez et al. 2011) somatic embryos were induced from leaf tissues of D. rotundata in medium containing 2,4-D and incubated in darkness. However, low induction frequencies (< 30%) were recorded and protocols will have to be optimized. In D. alata and D. opposita, embryogenic cell masses were induced from root explants in liquid MS supplemented with 2,4-D and cultured in light (Twyford and Mantell 1996;Nagasawa and Finer 1989). Germination of somatic embryos of D. alata increased in the presence of GA3 (Deng and Cornu 1992;Twyford and Mantell 1996). Plantlet recovery from somatic embryos of D. rotundata was enhanced at 4.5% sucrose but not affected by benzylaminopurine (Okezie et al. 1994;Suarez et al. 2011).The stem and leaf explants (approximately 0.5 cm × 0.5 cm) of TDr 89/02665, Obioturugo, TDr 95/18544, and TDr 95/19177; and the axillary buds of TDr 95/18544, and TDa 291 were introduced into Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium modified with different concentrations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) (Table 1) using petri plates. The media had been autoclaved at 121 o C and 15 Psi for 15 minutes before being dispensed into petri plates. Cultures were incubated in darkness at 25 + 2 o C for a period of 3 weeks in a completely randomized design (CRD) with 3 replicates and incidence of callus formation was recorded. The calli formed were transferred to the same set of media and incubated at 16 h photoperiod and 25 ± 2 o C. Incidence of somatic embryo formation and plantlet regeneration was recorded. Explants found to be most responsive for the different genotypes were introduced into the optimum callus induction media for more callus production and %callus formation was recorded. For somatic embryogenesis in TIBS), 2 weeks old nodal cuttings of TDr 95/19177 containing axillary buds were introduced into the SETIS type TIBS in MS modified with 1mg/L NAA for a period of 3 weeks for callus induction. The calli were introduced into PGR-free MS medium for callus maturation and formation of somatic embryos (SE) for 2 weeks, and finally to a medium containing 1 mg/l of BAP + 9.9 mg/l of UP for plantlet regeneration. Percentage callus induction and number of regenerated plantlets were recorded. Data was analyzed using ANOVA and means were separated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of probability.Table 2 shows that callus induction was highest on modified MS + 2 mg/l of 2,4-D + 1 mg/l of NAA (87.50 ± 14.43%) as was reported by Marilyn and Jocelyn (2008), but not significantly different from MS + 5 mg/l of Picloram at 62.50 ± 43.30% and this was from plantlet buds (Tables 1 and 2) (Thao et al. 2003) while both were significantly higher than other regimes. Medium containing 4 mg/l of 2,4-D induced callus from both leaf and stem explants of TDr 95/19177 and TDr 95/18544. On MS + 2 mg/l of 2,4-D + 1 mg/l of NAA medium, up to 40% of the explant formed callus (Table 2).     2008) reported a low regeneration rate in hormone-free MS and attributed it to the slow rate of maturation of somatic embryos. The addition of BAP enhanced shoot regeneration in D. bulbifera and D. alata (Ammirato 2004) while the addition of 1 mg/l of BAP + 9.9 mg/l of UP, increased percentage regeneration to 50% and 25% in TDr 95/18544 and TDa 291, respectively, in this study (Table 3). The two-week-old nodal cuttings containing axillary buds introduced into the TIBS gave 100% callus induction as at 3 weeks of culture. Five weeks after transfer of the callus to the optimum plantlet regeneration medium reported above (1 mg/l of BAP + 9.9 mg/l of UP) at least 50 plantlets were regenerated from one-third of the callus. However, the TIBS later became contaminated and the time to regeneration of the remaining callus could not be recorded.Somatic embryogenesis is one system that can produce the highest possible numbers, in the shortest possible time. Some of the other propagation systems are constrained in terms of small number of plantlets produced per unit time. Using organogenesis plantlet regeneration system from pre-formed meristems like nodes, the propagation ratio is about 5 new plantlets every 10 weeks such that 25 plantlets will be obtained in 20 weeks, giving a ratio of 1: 25. However, with somatic embryogenesis, regeneration of yam plantlets is higher. Up to sixteen plantlets (Table 4) were obtained from a 1 cm 2 tissue section (Plate 1) via a callus phase after 20 weeks. Assuming 25 sections per plantlet, the multiplication ratio for somatic embryogenesis will be 1: 400 (25 × 16) in 20 weeks in CTC. This is expected to increase significantly in TIBS (Plate 2) when perfected due to increased automation and larger number of plantlets per TIBS. Regenerated plantlets were successfully hardened (Plate 3).  Five genotypes were tested in this study. Callus was induced in all, but regeneration was achieved in three genotypes, composed of two D. rotundata and one D. alata varieties. In conventional tissue culture (CTC), MS + 2 mg/l of 2,4-D + 1 mg/l of NAA and MS + 5 mg/l of Picloram were the best combinations for induction and proliferation of callus from the stem explants of yam, while raising the concentration of 2,4-D to 4 mg/l is adequate to induce callus formation in the leaf explants. In TIBs, callus formation was highest in MS + 1 mg/l NAA using 2-week-old nodal cuttings containing young axillary buds. In this experiment, the best condition for the regeneration of plantlets from embryogenic calli in both TIBs and CTC was MS + 1 mg/l of BAP + 9.9 mg/l UP. This protocol will be further validated for other farmer-preferred varieties in TIBS.","tokenCount":"1289"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3796817287.json b/data/part_1/3796817287.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fe0a248448e20fb6bb51a0e4b8ed83a0bee7e9cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3796817287.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"66a5885674961ea8c5e23f0dd0d57441","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e1c61ca6-0fde-432e-aed1-8654fbfddc1e/retrieve","id":"-543745275"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8a8c5caa-baa0-483b-b85f-50a5f02af48c","pagecount":"2","content":"Background to the issue/problem One of the world's greatest challenges is to secure universal access to sufficient, healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food (1). Despite major advances, our global food system still fails to feed a significant part of humanity adequately, in a healthy manner. In the 21 st Century, malnutrition like climate change looms large as a grand global challenge. Worldwide approximately 795 million people are considered undernourished, two billion people are considered overweight or obese, while two billion lack essential vitamins and minerals needed for adequate nutrition. Dietary risk factors are now the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and prominent among this is the low quality of diet associated with poor intake of fruits and vegetables and other nutrient-rich plant and animal foods. There is no one-size-fits-all definition of a healthy diet. General components of a healthy diet as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) include fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains (2). These essential elements are provided through food biodiversity, or the diversity of plants, animals and other organisms used for food, covering the genetic resources within species, between species and provided by ecosystems, both cultivated and from the wild. Yet our agriculture, food systems and diets are becoming more uniform and simplified, and agriculture remains focused on increasing the production of a narrow number of staple crops and animal species (3). Much of our food biodiversity has been neglected or lost yet it has huge potential to provide the natural richness of nutrients humans require (4). Promoting diversification of food production systems and consumption will be necessary for more optimal nutrition outcomes. It will also be important for resilience and sustainability of our food systems.There has never been a better time to facilitate a more interdisciplinary, holistic approach to addressing the above issues facing our food system and diets, involving all relevant sectors, in order to reverse the decades of unsustainable nutrition-related interventions (1). Most recently there has been significant global focus on improving agriculture for enhanced nutrition outcomes, often referred to as 'nutrition-sensitive' agriculture. 'Nutritionsensitive' agricultural interventions use food-based strategies to modify diets such as home gardening, aquaculture and small-scale fisheries, small livestock rearing, and dairy development programmes, as well as strategies to improve food processing, storage and preparation, and markets and value-chains. Empowering women and nutrition education and knowledge are also key strategies in 'nutrition-sensitive' agriculture. Although rarely targeted explicitly at food biodiversity and dietary diversification, many of these strategies have the potential to diversify diets by promoting production of, and access to, a wider variety of foods (5).Attention to these issues has also prompted calls for new thinking and approaches to better integrate food biodiversity for improved nutrition (6), including a resurgence of interest among some donors, policy makers, researchers, practitioners and consumers -accompanied by numerous high-level intergovernmental meetings -in finding ways to reshape food systems that improve nutrition outcomes. Agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the WHO and Bioversity International recognize the important role of food biodiversity in this momentum to reshape food systems (7). However, at present the importance of food biodiversity for healthy agriculture, food systems and diets is still not adequately reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While all of these elements are addressed in SDG 2 there currently are no indicators in that goal which might capture these linkages. To do so, indicators must go beyond conventional measures of agricultural production and yield to better measure nutritional quality, nutritional diversity of food systems and dietary diversity. More effort is needed to better mainstream biodiversity into relevant SDG indicators so that the multiple ecosystem goods and services it can deliver for human nutrition and wellbeing are better tracked (7).Taking advantage of the opportunities to better promote food biodiversity as a key strategy for healthy diets and sustainable food systems which the current climate presents will necessitate overcoming many barriers and challenges which have contributed to the underutilization of food biodiversity in the first place. Numerous assessments have already highlighted the barriers to the promotion of food biodiversity in agriculture, food systems and diets. These barriers are often of a governance, technical, economic or social nature. They relate to such factors as poor economic competitiveness with commodity cereal crops, a lack of crop improvement, poor cultivation practices, inefficiencies in processing and value addition, disorganized or non-existent market chains as well as a perception of these foods as being 'food of the poor' and have been summarised as including the following (8):• Disconnect between the biodiversity, agriculture and health sectors and other sectors (including education) which limit the integration and promotion of food biodiversity • Continued neglect by international and national research and extension systems of most food biodiversity • Biodiverse food-based approaches all too often fall outside the traditional scope of clinical nutrition and public health and their promotion is therefore limited • Lack of skills and institutional capacity necessary to promote multisector approaches to fully exploit biodiversity, agriculture and health linkages • Lack of data linking food biodiversity to dietary diversity and improved nutrition outcomes • Lack of evidence demonstrating or comparing the most (cost-) effective methods and approaches for delivering or mobilizing food biodiversity for dietary and nutrition outcomes • Poorly developed infrastructure and markets for the majority of food biodiversity • Reach and influence of the modern globalized food system and trade policies which impede or undermine promotion and consumption of food biodiversity while favouring the consumption of unhealthy processed foods • Inadequate agricultural and food security policies and strategies that promote major cereal staples have often diminished the dietary role of more nutritious species such as millets, indigenous fruits and vegetables and roots and tubers • Negative perceptions and attitudes to local, nutritionally-rich food biodiversity • The 'artificial' cheap cost of exotic or imported foods which externalize their health and environmental costs• Food biodiversity is the diversity of plants, animals and other organisms used for food, both cultivated and from the wild. • The nutrient content between different species or varieties/breeds of the same species can vary thousandfold. This information can be used to maximize nutritional adequacy of diets. • Using food biodiversity and food-based approaches to diversify diets is a critical element in response to global malnutrition and toward sustainable food systems. A healthy, balanced diet requires a variety of foods to supply the full range of nutrients needed (vitamins, minerals, individual amino acids and fatty acids, and other beneficial bioactive food components). A diversity of species, varieties and breeds, as well as wild sources underpins dietary diversity and good nutrition. • Food biodiversity reaches consumers through two principal pathways: 1) consumption via own production or gathering from the wild, and 2) purchase of wild or cultivated biodiversity. ","tokenCount":"1131"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3802565762.json b/data/part_1/3802565762.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..95000bc626943ecbbd8ae0b8dd990ab19e830ba9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3802565762.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ebba656ee2087f8ab6b4de9d86e1f606","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a2c26747-c4c0-41b3-a57b-5f989c234537/content","id":"-805333802"},"keywords":["Mediterranean basin","genetic diversity","marker trait association","gene flow","eigenGWAS"],"sieverID":"41ce6c87-c6d0-451d-baaf-a10adf2aa0fa","pagecount":"20","content":"Evaluation of the genetic diversity of a crop species is a critical step for breeding. Landraces are essential to avoid genetic erosion, and Mediterranean landraces are an important group of genetic resources due to their high genetic variability, adaptation to local conditions in rainfed environments, and their resilience to pests and pathogens. This study uses a genome-wide association approach employing eigenvectors to identify selective sweeps among Mediterranean durum wheat landraces and a world panel of modern cultivars.Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) originated in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 years ago and propagated across the Mediterranean basin, arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from two routes: southern Europe and northern Africa [1,2]. During this migration, both natural and human selection occurred and new traits allowing adaptation to the new environments were selected, resulting in the expansion of local landraces [3]. Landraces were broadly cultivated until the 1960s, when they were replaced by new and improved semi-dwarf cultivars arising from the Green Revolution. However, due to their wide genetic diversity, landraces are key for avoiding genetic erosion [4] and are valuable for crop breeding, providing new alleles for the improvement of important agronomic traits. Mediterranean landraces are a valuable group of genetic resources due to their adaptation to their regions of origin, their huge genetic diversity [5,6], their resilience to abiotic stresses [7], and their resistance to pests and diseases [8][9][10]. Natural and artificial selection result in adaptive changes to the populations that can be followed at the allele level by the identification of loci under selection [11]. Identification of loci under selection has been performed classically by different methods, including the genetic differentiation (FST) scan that has been widely applied in crops [12]. Recently, Chen et al. [13] developed a single-marker regression approach based on principal component analysis (PCA), eigenGWAS. In this approach, similar to classical GWAS, the phenotype is substituted with the eigenvectors to use the genetic variation in the population to identify selection signals. EigenGWAS has been successfully applied in crop species such as maize [14], wheat [15], and barley [16].In the last few years, high-throughput genotyping technologies such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays and genotyping by sequencing (GBS) platforms, including diversity arrays technology (DArTseq), have been widely used in wheat to identify marker-trait associations (MTAs) in highly saturated maps [17][18][19][20]. Additionally, the progress in whole genome sequencing of emmer wheat [21], wheat [22], and durum wheat [23] allows for the understanding of the genetic diversity and adaptation patterns in wheat, as well as the discovery of genes of interest for breeding.The main objectives of the current study were: (a) to analyze the genetic diversity and population structure in a GWAS panel, including Mediterranean durum wheat landraces and modern cultivars from the main durum wheat-growing regions in the world; and (b) to identify the selection patterns in the durum wheat genome driving the differentiation among Mediterranean landraces and modern cultivars.The diversity panel was comprised of a panel of 387 durum wheat genotypes, including 183 landraces from 24 Mediterranean and eastern European countries and a set of commercial varieties from 24 countries, representing the main durum wheat growing areas in the world (204 genotypes) (Supplementary Table S1). The landrace populations were supplied by public gene banks (the Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos CRF-INIA, Spain, the ICARDA Germplasm Bank, and the USDA Germplasm Bank) and were increased in bulk and purified to select the dominant type (frequency higher than 80%). Modern cultivars were provided by the IRTA durum wheat collection, international centres (CIMMYT and ICARDA), and breeding companies.DNA was isolated from fresh leaf samples according to Doyle and Doyle [24]. Highthroughput genotyping was performed at Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd. (Canberra, Australia) (http://www.diversityarrays.com, accessed on 01 February 2020) with the DArTseq GBS platform [25]. A total of 46,161 markers were used to genotype the association mapping panel, including 35,837 presence-absence variants (PAV) and 10,324 SNPs. The consensus map of wheat v4, available at https://www.diversityarrays.com/technology-and-resources/genetic-maps/ (accessed on 01 February 2020) (Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd., Canberra, Australia), was used for mapping purposes.Polymorphic information content (PIC) values were calculated using Cervus software v3.0.7 [26]. Genetic diversity was estimated as total diversity (HT) [27] using Arlequin 3.5.2.2 [28]. The coefficient of genetic differentiation (GST) was calculated as GST = DST/HT, where DST is the genetic diversity between populations, calculated as DST = HT − HS, with HS as the mean genetic diversity within populations. Gene flow was estimated as Nm = 0.5 (1 − GST)/GST according to McDonald and McDermott [29].Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was estimated using TASSEL 5.0 [30] as the square of marker correlations (r 2 ) for mapped markers at a significance level of p < 0.001 with a sliding window of 50 cM. The r 2 values were plotted against the genetic distance and a locally estimated scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) curve was fitted to determine the distance at which the curve intercepts the line of a critical value of r 2 to estimate the LD decay. The critical value of r 2 was determined as the mean r 2 for each genome.The genetic structure of the association mapping panel was estimated using the Bayesian clustering algorithm implemented in the software STRUCTURE v2.3.4 [31], which uses an admixture model with burn-in and Monte Carlo Markov chain for 10,000 and 100,000 cycles, respectively. The Evanno method [32] was used to calculate the most likely number of subpopulations using the online software STRUCTURE HARVESTER [33]. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) based on genetic distance was calculated using GenAlEx 6.5 [34]. Diversity analysis between genotypes was defined by the simple matching coefficient [35] using DARwin software v.6 [36]. The un-rooted tree was calculated using the neighbor-joining method [37].Identification of loci under selection among landraces and modern cultivars was performed by GWAS utilizing the eigenvectors corresponding to the top ten eigenvalues as the phenotype data, similar to the eigenGWAS [13], but using a mixed linear model (MLM) with TASSEL software version 5.0 [29]. The MLM accounted for population structure using a principal component analysis (PCA) matrix with 6 principal components as the fixed effect and a kinship (K) matrix as the random effect (PCA + K) at the optimum compression level. MLM followed the equation:where y is the trait value (the eigenvector in this case), β is the fixed effect for the marker, and u is a vector of random effects not associated with the markers; X and Z are incidence matrices linking y to β and u. Finally, e is the undetected vector of the random residual.In addition, the heading date was incorporated as a cofactor in the analysis. Two thresholds were established for considering marker-trait association (MTA) significance. A highly significant threshold was established using a false discovery rate (FDR) threshold [38] at p < 0.05, and a moderate threshold at −log10 p = 3. In order to simplify the GWAS results, QTL hotspots grouping closely located MTAs were determined based on LD decay. Graphical representations of Manhattan plots were carried out using the R package \"CMplot\" (http://www.r-project.org; accessed on 15 April 2020).Gene models for QTL hotspots were identified using the high-confidence gene annotation for the bread wheat genome reference sequence at https://wheat-urgi.versailles.inra.fr/Seq-Repository/Assemblies (accessed on 27 August 2020), the durum wheat reference sequence at https://wheat.pw.usda.gov/GG3/jbrowse_Durum_Svevo (accessed on 27 August 2020), and the wild emmer reference sequence of 'Zavitan' at https://wheat.pw.usda.gov/GG3/jbrowse_Zavitan (accessed on 27 August 2020).Overall, 46,161 DArTseq markers were used to genotype the set of 387 durum wheat genotypes, of which 183 corresponded to Mediterranean and eastern Europe landraces and 204 to modern cultivars. To diminish the risk of false positives, markers and accessions were analyzed for the presence of duplicated patterns and missing values.Of the 35,837 presence/absence variants (PAV), 24,188 had a known map position in the wheat v4 consensus map (Diversity Arrays Pty Ltd., Canberra, Australia). Of these, 4745 markers with a minor allele frequency (MAF) lower than 5% were excluded from the analysis, resulting in 19,443 PAVs remaining. Of 10,324 SNPs, 6957 were located on the wheat v4 consensus map. Of these, 1260 markers with missing data higher than 30% and 1011 markers with MAF <5% were excluded from the analysis, resulting in a total of 4686 SNPs. Moreover, 413 markers were found to be duplicated among SNPs and PAVs, so the corresponding PAVs were discarded, leaving a total of 23,716 markers for the analyses. Forty-one percent of the markers corresponded to genome A and 59% to genome B. The total length of the map was 2129.2 cM, with a mean coverage of 11 markers/cM. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values were estimated for each chromosome, ranging from 0.26 in chromosome 7A to 0.29 in 7B, with an average of 0.28. PIC values showed a skewed distribution, with 48% of the markers having a PIC of <0.3 (Supplementary Figure S1).Linkage disequilibrium (r 2 ) was estimated for locus pairs in genomes A and B. A total of 471,319 and 681,389 possible pair-wise loci were found for genomes A and B, respectively. The percentage of locus pairs showing LD at p < 0.001 was 43% for both genomes. Mean values for r 2 were 0.12 and 0.11 for genomes A and B, respectively. These means were used as a threshold for estimating the intercept of the LOESS curve to determine the distance at which LD decays in each genome. LD decays were established at 1 cM for both genomes (Figure 1). Analysis of population structure was performed according to the distance of LD decay using only SNP markers showing less than 25% of missing data, minor allele frequencies higher than 10%, and PIC values higher than 0.3. A total of 1695 markers were used. The highest value for ΔK was observed for K = 2, followed by K = 5 (Figure 2A). In the first case, the Bayesian clustering method used the Evanno test [32] to separate the genotypes by their origin (landraces vs. modern cultivars). Considering a membership coefficient of q > 0.6, the first group comprised 201 genotypes, 19 of them modern cultivars (9%) and 182 (91%) landraces. The second group included 160 modern cultivars. Finally, 26 genotypes remained as admixed (one landrace and 25 modern cultivars). When K = 5, the genotypes were structured according to their origin, showing a geographical pattern. In this case, q > 0.5 was established as a threshold for considering a genotype within a subpopulation (SP).The first group (SP 1) included 19 landraces, from which 89% corresponded to eastern Mediterranean countries and 11% to northern Mediterranean countries. The second group (SP 2) grouped 116 landraces and three modern cultivars. Landraces were mainly from northern Mediterranean countries (66%), and in lower percentages from eastern Mediterranean (21%) and southern Mediterranean (North of Africa) (13%) countries. The modern cultivars came from Italy ('Creso') and Spain ('Anibal' and 'Paramo'). The third group (SP 3) showed both landraces (31) and modern cultivars (12), mainly from western Mediterranean countries (including the south of Europe and north of Africa) (84% and 83% of the landraces and modern cultivars, respectively). The fourth (SP 4) and fifth (SP 5) groups included only modern cultivars. SP 4 (116 genotypes) was represented by modern cultivars mainly developed from CIMMYT and ICARDA germplasm, whereas SP 5 (39 genotypes) represented modern cultivars mainly from northern America (56%) and Europe (France, Italy and Spain) (41%). The remaining 51 genotypes (17 landraces and 34 modern cultivars) remained as admixed.A principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was carried out to graphically represent the results of the structure analysis in a bi-dimensional plot (Figure 2B). In agreement with the structure analysis, the first two coordinates of the PCoA separated landraces, located on the positive side of the first coordinate, from the modern cultivars, located on the negative side of the first coordinate. Admixed genotypes were in the center of the plot. Within these clusters, the different subpopulations were clearly defined, as shown in Figure 2B.As a complementary approach, a neighbor-joining tree based on a distance matrix was constructed to support the previous results (Figure 2C). The tree presented a main division in two clusters, grouping landraces and modern cultivars separately. Within the cluster of landraces, there is a clear separation among SP 1 with landraces from eastern Mediterranean countries, SP 2 with landraces from northern Mediterranean countries, and the western Mediterranean landraces from SP 3. This cluster, grouping western Mediterranean landraces and modern cultivars by structure analysis, separated both types of genotypes in the main clusters. The modern cluster separately grouped the genotypes from the western Mediterranean (SP 3), north America (SP 5) and cultivars developed by CIMMYT and ICARDA breeding programs (SP 4). In addition to these main clusters, a small one representing modern cultivars from north America and southern Europe remained separate.Results of the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that variation within SPs accounted for 92% of the total variance, whereas the remaining 8% corresponded to variation between SPs. Total genetic diversity (HT) among SPs ranged from 0.40 in SP 4 to 0.35 for SP 3 and the admixed genotypes (Table 1). The genetic diversity among SPs (DST) was low (0.03), causing a genetic differentiation (GST) among SPs of 0.08. This means that only about 8% of the variability observed was due to differences between SPs, as previously reported by AMOVA. The estimation of the gene flow (Nm) among SPs was 6.02, indicating a high level of gene exchange according to the low genetic differentiation among the SPs. Comparisons among SPs revealed that gene flow ranged from 2.54 between SP 4 (modern cultivars mainly developed by CIMMYT and ICARDA) and SP 5 (modern cultivars from north America and Europe) to 69.81 between SP 2 (landraces mainly from northern Mediterranean countries) and SP 3 (western Mediterranean landraces and cultivars) (Table 1).  EigenGWAS was conducted using the top ten eigenvectors resulting from the PCoA obtained for the whole collection of genotypes, including landraces and modern cultivars. The largest eigenvalue was 3600.4, explaining 11.3% of the genetic variation, whereas the 10th eigenvalue was 408.0, explaining 1.3% of the genetic variation. The top ten eigenvalues accounted for 32.3% of the genetic variation, which indicates the complexity of the population structure of this durum wheat collection. A total of 1575 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were reported for the top ten eigenvectors using a moderate threshold of -log10 p = 3.0. Based on the LD decay for a maximum distance of 1 cM, a highly significant FDR threshold at p < 0.05 was established for -log10P = 4.6. Following this approach, 250 MTAs were significant (Figure 3, Supplementary Table S2, Supplementary Figure S2). The number of MTAs per eigenvector ranged from 57 for eigenvector 2 to 304 for eigenvector 10. Chromosome 2B showed the maximum number of associations (279), whereas chromosome 4B showed the lowest (10). The mean percentage of variance explained (r 2 ) per MTA ranged from 0.003 to 0.108, with an average of 0.034.To simplify this information and to identify consensus genomic regions controlling loci under selection, QTL hotspots were identified by grouping closely located MTAs. Confidence intervals were defined based on the distance of 1 cM of the LD decay. A total of 89 QTL hotspots were identified, including 1491 MTAs, 248 of them (17%) above the FDR threshold (Table 2). The remaining 84 single MTAs were not considered further in the analysis. The number of MTAs per QTL hotspot ranged from 2 to 158, with a mean of 17 MTAs/QTL hotspot. The number of QTL hotspots per chromosome ranged from two in chromosome 4B to nine in chromosome 3A. The number of MTAs per chromosome ranged from 7 in chromosome 4B to 277 in chromosome 2B. Chromosome 4B did not carry any MTA above the FDR threshold, whereas chromosome 5B reported 51 MTAs out of 184 above the FDR threshold.  To identify the genome regions most involved in the selection among the different SPs, markers with -log10 p >5 (147) from the eigenGWAS were selected and a PCoA was carried out (Figure 4). Markers were widely distributed along the genomes in all chromosomes, except chromosome 4B which harbored at least two MTAs or one QTL hotspot. The PCoA separated two clear groups: group 1, on the left of the Y-axis, included 173 genotypes (mainly modern cultivars (79%)), whereas group 2, on the right of the Y-axis, included 214 genotypes, of which 69% corresponded to landraces. By SPs, those represented mainly by landraces (SP 1, SP 2 and SP 3) were mostly included in group 2 (95%, 77%, and 63%, respectively), whereas SPs represented mainly by modern cultivars (SP 4 and SP 5), were mostly included in group 1 (63% and 85%, respectively). All north American cultivars from SP 5 were located within group 1. Most of the landraces from the northern Mediterranean included in SP 2 were also represented in group 1.The selected 147 markers, corresponding to 35 QTL hotspots, were analyzed to identify differences in the marker allele between both groups, as well as the different SPs (Supplementary Table S3). To identify robust differences among groups, a threshold of allele frequency within a group was established at 80%. When both alleles of the marker comply with this condition, the marker was considered significant for locus selection. Following this approach, 35 markers from five QTL hotspots were identified: eigenQTL2A.7, eigenQTL2B.3, eigenQTL3A.5, eigenQTL3A.6 and eigenQTL3A.7 (Table 3). However, when the markers were blasted against the reference genomes of bread wheat [22], durum wheat [23], and wild emmer [21], it was observed that markers corresponding to eigenQTL3A.5, eigenQTL3A.6, and eigenQTL3A.7 shared the same physical positions. The markers showed −log10 p >5. PAV: presence/absence variant; SNP: single nucleotide polymorphism.Gene models were successfully identified using the different Gbrowse tools for the bread wheat cultivar 'Chinese Spring' [22], the durum wheat cultivar 'Svevo' [23], and the wild emmer cultivar 'Zavitan' [21] (Supplementary Table S4). The genome interval to identify gene models was defined based on the position of the flanking markers of the corresponding QTL hotspot. Thus, for eigenQTLT2A.7, 27, 29, and 6 gene models were identified in 1.40 Mb, 1.67 Mb and 270 Kb for 'Chinese Spring', 'Svevo' and 'Zavitan', respectively. For eigenQTLT2B.3, 47, 36, and 23 gene models, with 3.92 Mb 3.79 Mb and 4.11 Mb in 'Chinese Spring', 'Svevo' and 'Zavitan', respectively. Finally, eigenQTLT3A.5-7 were those with a higher number of gene models for the three genomes, with 77, 62, and 42 covering 6.12 Mb, 6.73 Mb and 6.57 Mb, respectively. Some of the gene models were represented in clusters, as was the case for F-box proteins, kinase proteins and resistance genes (Supplementary Table S4). Figure 5 summarizes the identification of common gene models between the three genomes for each of the three selected QTL hotspots. To reduce complexity, when a gene model was represented by more than one copy, it was reduced to a unique gene. From 133 gene models within the three QTL hotspots, 33 (25%) were common for the three genomes, 25 (19%) were common between 'Chinese Spring' and 'Svevo', 11 (8%) were common between 'Chinese Spring' and 'Zavitan', and 3 (2%) were in common between 'Svevo' and 'Zavitan'. Finally, 46% of the gene models were unique for the different genomes.Genetic diversity is essential in plant breeding because it represents a source of new alleles for genes of interest. A useful approach for recovering and broadening allelic variation in traits of interest is the use of landraces in breeding programs [40], which may be of particular interest for suboptimal environments such as those prevailing in the Mediterranean basin [41].The average chromosomal PIC value was 0.28. This value is similar to that reported previously in studies using bi-allelic markers such as SNP or DArT in durum wheat. Baloch et al. [42] reported PIC values of 0.26 and 0.30 depending on the marker type, (DArTseq or SNP, respectively). Kabbaj et al. [43] found a PIC value of 0.32 with 8173 SNPs from the Axiom 35K array. Pascual et al. [39] using a collection of Spanish landraces of bread and durum wheat genotyped with the DArTseq technology and obtained an average PIC value for both species between 0.30 and 0.35. According to the classification proposed by Botstein et al. [44] which separates PIC values into three categories of highly informative (PIC > 0.5), moderately informative (0.25 < PIC < 0.5) and slightly informative (PIC < 0.25), the markers in our panel are considered moderately informative. In previous studies from our group in durum and bread wheat, Soriano et al. [45] genotyped a panel of 192 durum wheat genotypes (mainly Mediterranean landraces) with 44 microsatellite markers and found an expected heterozygosity of 0.71. Rufo et al. [46] genotyped bread wheat collections of landraces and modern cultivars with a 15K SNP array and obtained a mean PIC value of 0.30, in accordance with the results obtained in the present study. These lower PIC values using DArTseq are explained by their bi-allelic nature, as the maximum PIC corresponds to 0.5 when both alleles have the same frequency [47].Population structure analysis clearly divided the collection into two main subpopulations based on historical breeding periods, separating the genotypes in landraces and modern cultivars. To conduct a deeper analysis, the second highest value for K in the Evanno test was used. The genetic distribution of the landraces in the three SPs and the huge gene flow between them may be associated with the pattern of migration of durum wheat from the Fertile Crescent to the west of the Mediterranean basin described by Moragues et al. [48]. SP 1 contains the largest proportion of landraces from countries close to the zone of wheat domestication (89.4%), and only two Italian landraces (10.5%). Therefore, it is conceivable that SP 1 may putatively incorporate the oldest genetic background within the germplasm panel used in this study. The lowest level of admixture in SP 1 (89% of the genotypes with q > 0.7) agrees with this hypothesis. SP 2 could represent a further step in the history of wheat dispersal within the Mediterranean basin, as it gathers 21% of landraces from eastern Mediterranean countries, but 76% from western areas where it is supposed that wheat arrived between 2 and 3 millennia after its domestication [1]. Finally, SP 3 includes 72% of landraces and 28% of modern cultivars from western Mediterranean countries, the most distant from the area of wheat domestication, and so the most evolved from an evolutionary point of view. The highest gene flow between SP 2 and SP 3 and the lower, but still very high gene flow between SP 1 and SP 2, agree with this interpretation.Gene flow between SPs offers clues regarding the putative use of Mediterranean old durum germplasm by the breeding programs represented here. The lowest gene flow was detected between SP 1 (assumed to gather the ancient genetic pool of the panel) and SPs involving only modern germplasms (SP 4 and SP 5). However, gene flow from SP 2 to modern cultivars was much higher, in agreement with the fact that this SP includes landraces adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. The highest gene flow between SP 3 and SP 5 suggests that modern north American and European cultivars incorporate a significant portion of the genetic background of germplasms adapted to western Mediterranean environments. The relatively low gene flow observed between Mediterranean germplasms and the CIMMYT-ICARDA genetic pool may be a consequence of these international centers acting globally, thus incorporating germplasms in their breeding programs from around the world. SP 4 and SP 5 included only modern cultivars and had a low genetic flow between them, in agreement with the CIMMYT and north American durum wheats belonging to different germplasm pools [49,50].Modern SPs presented a higher genetic diversity than SPs that included landraces in the following direction: SP 4 > SP 5 > SP 1 = SP 2 > SP 3. In agreement with the international nature of CIMMYT and ICARDA and their role as germplasm providers worldwide, SP 4 incorporates a wide range of cultivars with a worldwide distribution, thus showing a heterogeneous genetic background and the largest genetic diversity. SP 2 and SP 3 have mainly a western Mediterranean background (including the south of Europe and the north of Africa) and thus, with higher germplasm exchange, they could produce uniformity in the cultivars. The slightly higher values of HT observed in modern SPs may be due to the type of markers used in the study, as DArTseq and SNP are biallelic markers. For example, Soriano et al. [45] used SSR markers in a similar collection of 172 Mediterranean landraces and 20 modern cultivars and found higher values for HT in landrace SP and lower numbers of alleles in modern cultivars.Genetic differentiation indicated that only 8% of the variability observed corresponded to differences between SPs, according to the high estimation of gene flow among SPs, thus indicating a high level of genetic exchange. Comparison of the genetic exchange between SPs revealed that the highest gene flow was observed between the western Mediterranean landraces and modern cultivars from western Mediterranean countries, as well as those between landraces from east to west in the Mediterranean basin. However, the lowest gene flow was found between eastern Mediterranean landraces and the germplasms from CIMMYT and ICARDA and between these germplasms and the modern cultivars from north America. This agrees with the results reported by Parzies et al. [51] and Ben-Romdhane et al. [52], suggesting that the genetic differentiation among landrace SPs is due to farmer trade and is mainly influenced by geographic distances. Cultivars with a CIMMYT/ICARDA origin reported lower values of gene flow than the other SPs, as reported previously by Rufo et al. [46] in bread wheat. These authors concluded that this was mainly due to the release of improved inbred lines distributed by local breeding programs through the nurseries to which these international centers distribute worldwide.Eigenvectors are frequently used to infer the genetic structure of a given population as they are estimated for any single individual. Several studies have pointed out the usefulness of primary eigenvectors to analyze population differentiation [53][54][55]. In this direction, eigenGWAS was developed by Chen et al. [13] as an approach to identify genomic regions underlying genetic differentiation. The analysis of selective sweeps produced during breeding is important for the identification of loci under selection that will be of interest for marker-assisted selection and the selection of the improved germplasm.Other authors identified selective sweeps in hexaploid wheat. Cavanagh et al. [56] identified 21 selective regions in spring wheat and 39 in winter wheat using a worldwide collection of 2994 accessions. These authors found that most of the selective regions were involved in yield potential, vernalization, plant height, and biotic and abiotic stress. More recently, Zhou et al. [57] found 148 selective regions in a collection of 717 Chinese wheat landraces associated with yield and disease resistance. Liu et al. [15], using a worldwide panel comprising landraces from China and Pakistan and modern cultivars genotyped with the 90K SNP array, identified 477 selective sweeps. Some of these loci comprised known functional genes for disease resistance, vernalization, quality, adaptability, and yield. This is the first study of this type conducted in durum wheat. We identified selective sweeps among Mediterranean landraces and modern cultivars in the durum wheat genome using eigenvectors as phenotypic traits in the GWAS. A total of 1575 MTAs were significant for the first ten eigenvectors at a moderate threshold, whereas for a highly significant threshold, 250 MTAs were significant. To simplify this information, 89 QTL hotspots (including 1491 MTAs) were defined as consensus genomic regions controlling loci under selection. These QTL hotspots included important loci that were selected during the breeding process such as the photoperiod loci Ppd-A1 and Ppd-B1, the vernalization loci Vrn-A1 and Vrn-B1, and the dwarfing genes Rht-B1, Rht12 and Rht25. The cycle length of durum wheat was shortened during the breeding process by the incorporation of favorable alleles from these loci, as reported by Royo et al. [41,49]. The development of semi-dwarf germplasm by CIMMYT at the end of the 1960s had a world-wide impact on wheat production. The major dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1 (this last in bread wheat) incorporated in the modern cultivars reported yield increases of up to 35% in both durum wheat [50] and bread wheat [58]. The quality loci for the high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits (GS) Glu-A1 and Glu-B1 were found within QTL hotspots in chromosomes 1A and 1B, respectively. Previous studies reported by De Vita et al. [59] and Subirà et al. [60] revealed the improvement of pasta-making quality in modern cultivars during the 20th century in Italy and Spain due to the incorporation of favorable alleles for HMW-and low molecular weight (LMW)-GS loci. Other loci involved in grain quality located within hotspots were the polyphenol oxidase (PPO) genes Ppo-A1 [61] and Ppo-B2 [62], which cause the undesirable brown color in semolina, and thus the identification of the alleles producing low PPO activity is essential in durum wheat breeding programs. The peroxidase activity genes, such as Pod-A1 [63], affect the natural carotenoid pigment content and are associated with the color of flour. GPC-B1, located on chromosome 6B [64], confers a shorter duration of the grain filling period due to early flag leaf senescence and thus increases grain protein content. Wheat grain avenin-like proteins (ALPs), such as TaALP-4A, are involved in dough quality and antifungal activities [65]. Finally, Psy-B1 belongs to the phytoene synthase (PSY) gene family, which are involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoid pigments in durum wheat, influencing grain yellowness [66]. Other genes included within QTL hotspots were related to grain yield, such as the locus TaSus2-2A which is associated with grain weight as reported by Jiang et al. [67], the transcript elongation factor TaTEF-7A [68] which regulates tillering and increases grain number per spike, and the glutamine synthetase gene TaGS2-B1 [69] which plays a key role in plant growth, nitrogen use efficiency, and yield potential in wheat. The identification of these genes that were incorporated into elite cultivars during the breeding process suggest the QTL hotspot regions as target loci in wheat improvement.Among the 250 MTA over the highly significant threshold, 147 MTAs showed -log10 p >5. These markers, distributed in all chromosomes except 4B, were used to perform a new PCoA. Interestingly, a similar pattern with two main groups was observed in both analyses, separating most of the landraces from modern cultivars, with a higher level of admixture among subpopulations in the latter. When markers were analyzed to find allelic differences among the two groups, five QTL hotspots (eigenQTL2A.7, eigenQTL2B.3, eigenQTL3A.5, eigenQTL3A.6, and eigenQTL3A.7) were identified as being responsible for the main separation in the PCoA among landraces and modern cultivars. However, at the genome level [21][22][23], hotspots on chromosome 3A were located in the same physical positions. Differences in the genetic position may correspond to heterozygous genotypes and missing data. According to our results, these hotspots are suggested to be the main drivers in the genetic differentiation of Mediterranean landraces from modern cultivars.The analysis of the genome sequence covering these QTL hotspots revealed the presence of gene models involved in important biological functions (Supplementary Table S4). Among them, different gene models were related to disease resistance; a CsAtPR5-like protein was found to be linked to the powdery mildew resistance gene PmLK906 in the wheat line 'Lankao 90(6) 21-12′ [70]. According to Larriba et al. [71] Rhomboid-like proteins are involved in fungal-plant interactions. Proteins belonging to the UDP-glycosyltransferase protein superfamily were found to participate in fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in wheat [72]. The kinase family proteins are involved in different processes, ranging from physiological roles such as control of shoots and floral meristems to pathogen identification [73]. This protein family also includes the leucine-rich repeats receptorlike kinase (LRR-RLK) genes, a large and complex gene family in plants mainly participating in the development and stress reactions. LRR domains are characterized by a high variation in the number of repeats, allowing a wide range of protein-protein interactions [74]. Proteins containing NAC and heat shock domains were reported to regulate biotic and abiotic stresses [75,76].Other genes with implications in stress and plant development corresponded to MADS-box and tetratricopeptide repeats (TPR). According to Ma et al. [77], the MADSbox gene family plays key roles in different developmental processes such as flowering time, floral meristems, fruit formation, and flower organs and seeds. The authors found that several wheat MADS-boxes were expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, spikes, and grains during different developmental stages. Other MADS-box genes showed different expression under stress, as reported by Guo et al. [78] in response to stripe rust in wheat, suggesting their role in plant-microbe interactions. In Brachypodium, MADS-box genes were also identified to be regulated under drought and cold stresses [79]. TPRs mediate protein-protein interactions and are present across all plant species. Some TPRs are involved in plant stress and hormone signaling [80]. Auxin response factors (ARF) regulate the development of plant organs. Qiao et al. [81] characterized the ARF family in wheat and found that one of them, TaARF15-A.1, may regulate the development of roots and leaves. Expansins were found to be involved in root development. The experiments of Li et al. [82] overexpressing of the wheat expansin gene TaEXPB23 in tobacco enhanced drought tolerance and accelerated root development. Zinc finger proteins play important roles in several plant mechanisms, from growth regulation and development, signaling and responses, to abiotic stresses. In wheat, the zinc finger protein TaZFP34 is overexpressed in roots, reducing shoot growth but maintaining root elongation [83]. The homeobox protein LUMINIDEPEDENS was found in eigenQTL3A.5, 6, and 7 in the three genomes. This gene controls flowering time in Arabidopsis, as mutations in the gene have been found to produce late flowering that is partially suppressed by vernalization [84]. Other gene models within these eigenQTLs were found to enhance grain yield. F-box proteins were found in 'Chinese Spring' and 'Svevo' annotations in the three hotspots on chromosome 3A. Among the different functions of these genes, Li et al. [85] demonstrated that the F-box gene LARGER PANICLE improves the panicle architecture of rice, thus enhancing grain yield. In wheat, Hong et al. [86] reported that members of the F-box E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate spike development. Carboxypeptidases were implicated in grain size control in rice through the regulation of grain width, grain filling, and weight [87]. These authors found that the expression of GS 5 was correlated with larger grains in rice. Finally, a tapetum determinant gene was found. According to Lei and Liu [88], disrupted tapetum development alters the expression of many genes involved in male meiosis in higher plants.The use of local landraces in breeding programs is considered a valuable approach to broadening the genetic background of crops lost during the breeding process and improving traits of commercial importance [40,45]. The present study uses a GWAS approach with eigenvectors to identify selective sweeps among durum wheat Mediterranean landraces and modern cultivars from different origins. Most of the chromosomes reported selective regions, some of them harboring functional genes for important agronomic traits involved in yield performance, plant development, and grain quality. Three genome regions in chromosomes 2A, 2B, and 3A were identified as the main drivers for the differentiation of the Mediterranean landraces. Within these regions, gene models for disease resistance, abiotic stress, plant development, and yield were found.","tokenCount":"5864"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3806577846.json b/data/part_1/3806577846.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e40eb9fb737448a02716c2e175a3e7dadcccd001
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3806577846.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c098f8fd8490820cd18e4d101504cd9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/H3O8OT/VEKHNK","id":"1721792140"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f8d1adb-941f-4e48-a6d7-73fd5c6955ad","pagecount":"6","content":"Background To implement both CGIAR and AfricaRice 'Open Access and Data Management' policies, AfricaRice is using Dataverse as institutional repository for sharing its research data. \"Dataverse is an open source web application to share, preserve, cite, explore and analyze research data. Researchers, data authors, publishers, data distributors, and institutions all receive appropriate credit via a data citation with a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI, or Handle)\". Use of Dataverse for sharing research data is on the rise in CGIAR, with Centers and CRPs opting to use it to publish their data. AfricaRice research open data enriched with metadata are accessible at AfricaRice Dataverse repository: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/AfricaRice.","tokenCount":"104"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3828816110.json b/data/part_1/3828816110.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c88b94c322b5d2f9a1d055f9f8e3dfd2a24fb676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3828816110.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c24d1ba731e311de0484bed4ee8ce4cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a3b780d3-48ae-4a63-b6b4-e74d0d1e783e/retrieve","id":"-200274248"},"keywords":["FAW monitoring","maize yield","intervention threshold","adult moth capture","insecticide"],"sieverID":"c3368b71-e4bb-48c6-a9ea-24977a93dd66","pagecount":"11","content":"Control of fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) since its invasion of Africa still depends on pesticides. Early detection of adults is considered the key to the success of larvae control in the crop field. However, FAW control thresholds based on current monitoring techniques are not well established in Africa. We investigated the efficacy of moth capture frequencies and FAW incidence levels as decision tools for FAW management. Experiments were conducted over two maize cropping seasons during which FAW incidence, severity, and larvae count were recorded during destructive sampling after the application of a homologated insecticide. During the first season, the FAW incidence ranged from 37.5 ± 5.6% in the 25% incidence threshold treatment to 48.1 ± 8.1% in the control. During the second season, the incidence was significantly lower in the 25% incidence threshold treatment (55.8 ± 5.7%) compared with the control (75.7 ± 3.0%). Over the two seasons, no significant difference in FAW damage severity was recorded between the treatments and control. The highest number of larvae per plant (4.0 ± 0.6) was observed in the 10% incidence threshold treatment. Insecticide application did not consistently contribute to reducing FAW incidence and observed plant damage did not translate into yield loss. FAW control needs further investigation to establish a threshold above which damage translates into yield loss, thus necessitating control intervention.in 2017 (Tindo et al. 2017, Fotso et al. 2019). As of now, the pest has been officially confirmed in 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Zhou et al. 2021). FAW larvae are reported to feed on nearly 353 plant species grouped in 76 families (Montezano et al. 2018), with maize and sorghum being the main crops attacked in Africa (Prasanna et al. 2018). Day et al. (2017) reported a loss of 8.3-20.5 million metric tons of maize with a value of $2.5-6.2 billion due to the FAW invasion of Africa. In 2018, an estimated 11.6% of maize yield was lost in two districts in Zimbabwe (Baudron et al. 2019). Yield loss across Africa is reported to range from 22 to 26% in Ghana, 35 to 67% in Zambia (Day et al. 2017), and from 32 to 47% in Ethiopia (Kumela et al. 2018). FAW appears to be much more damaging to maize in West and Central Africa than most other African Spodoptera species (IITA 2016). FAW control is largely based on the use of pesticides against larvae although several parasitoids have been reported to attack eggs and larvae (Abang et al. 2020). Several pesticides have been recommended and used in FAW management in other regions of the world (Blanco et al. 2014, Sabri et al. 2016).Efforts are being made to develop environment-friendly control methods in a context where chemical control can lead to resistance to pesticides. The occurrence of insecticide resistance is related to the continuous spraying and at high doses coupled with FAW's high adaptative capacity (Giraudo et al. 2015, Carvalho et al. 2018, Flagel et al. 2018). Because FAW is an invasive and recent pest in Africa, current efforts are based on pesticide products sprayed to keep the pest below economic injury levels. However, informed decisions on whether pesticide interventions are necessary, and their timing could be more effective to avoid unnecessary applications and minimize the risk of pesticide resistance (Cruz et al. 2010a,b). These decisions should be based on recommended control thresholds for the FAW. Previous reports indicated that the application of insecticides is more effective in young larval stages (Prasanna et al. 2018). Therefore, early detection is a key component in any control strategy to be developed against FAW. Early detection and monitoring using pheromones have been a useful tool for insect monitoring and pest management since they can help to determine the optimal timing of pesticide applications (Cruz et al. 2010b), reduce plant damage, and avoid unnecessary pesticide applications (Cruz et al. 2012). According to Cruz et al. (2010b), between initiation of oviposition and ten days after, the resulting third and fourth instar larvae have not caused irreversible damage, and eggs and small larvae can be eliminated by natural enemies hence avoiding the need to spray during that period. Cruz et al. (2012) recommend insecticide application 10 d after the threshold of three moth capture in pheromone traps is reached with a repeat application recommended if the threshold is again reached, following the initial application. Other studies suggest insecticide application when 10 or 20% of plants have shot hole or pin hole injury (Cruz et al. 2010a,b). Bessin (2004) and Steffey et al. (1999) recommend pesticide application when more than 5% of the plants have egg masses or when 25% of the plants have leaf damage and feeding larvae present as a threshold level. While these FAW thresholds were adopted based on studies outside Africa, no studies have been conducted to assess their use in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these studies were conducted in the Americas. In contrast, Sub-saharan Africa consists of wet tropical rainforests and grasslands in parts of central Africa and semi-arid climates to deserts in the northern and southern areas.The objective of this research is to evaluate the applicability of the currently used FAW damage and moth capture threshold in the sub-Saharan Africa context. We tested 2 criteria for timing and frequency of insecticide applications: (1) A pre-determined number of moths captured in a FAW sex pheromone trap and (2) the level of foliar damage caused by FAW. Pheromone traps are considered the best means to monitor FAW adults and for deciding on pesticide applications to control the pest in maize (Cruz et al. 2010b) while the level of maize foliage damage by FAW is the most commonly used and simplest method for farmers to determine the need for insecticide treatments (Andrews 1980).Two experiments were conducted in 2017 at the IITA Cameroon experimental farm (03°51.791'N; 011°27.706ʹE; 747 m). The first (season 1) was conducted from April to August and the second (season 2) was conducted from September to December. The average daily temperature ranged from 22.4 to 24.6ºC (season1) and 23.0 to 24.6ºC (season 2), average daily relative humidity ranged from 84.5 to 89.9 % (season 1) and 82.7 to 88.2 % (season 2). Total rainfall was 1025 mm (season 1) and 805 mm (season 2) (Fig. 1). Historical rainfall data of the study area collected at the IITA-Cameroon weather station showed a 10-year average of 1767 mm before the study year and 1947 mm for the 4 yr after the study. This supports the little variation in environmental conditions, mainly rainfall in the study areas over the years. The high-yielding IITA maize variety pro-vitamin A (PVA) Syn6 (Badu-Apraku et al. 2020) was sown at 25 cm within rows and 50 cm between rows, with 3 grains per hole, and thinned to two plants per stand, 10 d after sowing. Buffer zones (space between plots and blocks) were planted with 2 rows of maize which were not samples during evaluations while the remaining plants were available for sampling, making a total of 192 plants per plot of size 6 m 2 . Poultry manure composed of nitrogen (0.01%), phosphorus (1.82%), and potassium (1.16%), was applied at approximately four metric tons per hectare 2 wk before sowing. A completely randomized block design was used with four insecticide treatment decision criteria and untreated control, all replicated four times with a 1 m distance between replicates. The experiments were subsequently fertilized twice with the granular form of chemical fertilizer as a side-dress: (1) nitrogen (20 %), phosphorus (10 %), potassium (10 %) at 11 g/plant, two weeks after planting (after thinning) and ( 2) urea (46%) at the rate of 11 g/plant, four weeks after planting (after weeding). The commercial lure Bio Spodoptera was used in paper Delta traps composed of lure, paper, and glue cards, all supplied by ChemTica International, Heredia, Costa Rica. The lure is a mixture of (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol acetate (Z9-14: Ac); (Z)-7-dodecen-1-ol acetate (Z7-12: Ac); (Z)-9-dodecen-1-ol acetate, (Z9-12: Ac) and (Z)-11hexadecen-1-of acetate (Z11-16: Ac) in the ratio of 81: 0.5: 0.5: 18. Two traps with the pheromone were installed within the experimental field 25-m apart, after plant emergence. The traps were fastened by a wooden post at an initial height of 1 m above the soil surface. Pheromones and sticky cards were replaced every 2 wk, and the trap was maintained above the plant's canopy.The decision to apply an insecticide was based on the level of infestations by FAW (Cruz et al. 2012). Five FAW control decision thresholds were evaluated: (1) a control where no pesticide was applied; (2) a 3 moth trap count threshold with a single pesticide application 10 d after the threshold is reached; (3) a 3 moth trap count threshold with a pesticide applied 10 d after the threshold is reached as in the previous treatment, and another application when the threshold of 3 moth capture is met again, starting the counting from the 4th day after the first insecticide application; (4) 10% leaf damage treatment and (5) 25% leaf damage treatment; with pesticide applied one time when the leaf damage threshold is reached (Chinwada 2021). The insecticide emamectin benzoate, sold in Cameroon under the trade name Emacot 50 WG (Horizon Phyto Plus, Douala, Cameroon), was used. Emacot is widely used in Cameroon for FAW control (Fotso et al. 2019) and in other African countries, America, and Asia (Wan et al. 2021). When a threshold was reached, the insecticide was applied at the recommended dose of 10 g for 15 liter of water using a knapsack sprayer. Treatment (2) represents the calendar application (or positive control) recommended by the extension services (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 2017).The traps were inspected daily and the maize plants were inspected at 3-d intervals for the first six weeks to evaluate FAW incidence using one or more of the symptoms that are characteristic of FAW damage including leaf 'windowpanes', irregularly shaped leaf holes, chewed-up whorl leaves, leaf tattering, and presence of dried larval frass. Generally circular and smaller leaf holes were attributed to maize stem and cob borers (Chinwada 2021). Each time a treatment threshold was reached as described in Table 1, the treatment was applied. All plots were sampled 24 hr after each insecticide application to evaluate larval mortality (Cruz et al. 2012) and post-treatment evaluations were conducted at 2-wk intervals after the initial treatment to assess FAW incidence and damage severity.During each evaluation, the number of FAW larvae was counted on each of 10 plants randomly selected along the 2 plot diagonals. Collected larvae and pupae were maintained in the insectary (at room conditions) on maize leaves until adult emergence to confirm their identity. FAW damage severity was scored for leaf damage on a scale of 1-5 with 1 = absence of damage, 2 = 1-25% plant damage, 3 = 26-50% plant damage, 4 = 51-75% plant damage and 5 > 75% plant defoliation (Tefera et al. 2011, Silva et al. 2015). The maize plant development stage was recorded during each evaluation as described by (Endicott et al. 2014). At harvest, 10 plants were randomly selected to measure plant height, stem diameter, cob length, cob width, and grain weight. Grain yield was converted to metric tons per hectare.Average FAW incidence at each sampling date was calculated as the percentage of sampled plants with FAW damage, and the severity as the percentage of plant defoliation. Mortality was calculated as a percentage corrected using the Abbot formula (Shamseldem et al. 2014). The effect of insecticide treatments was analyzed separately for each season with a generalized linear model with quasi-Binomial error for FAW incidence, severity, and mortality, quasi-Poisson error for larval counts, and Gaussian error for maize plant height, stem diameter, cob length, and grain yield. Where the F-test indicated a significant effect (P < 0.05), the Tukey's HSD multiple comparisons test (P = 0.05) was used to compare pairs of treatment means. A separate mixed model GLM was used to test the interactions between treatment and season with the season as a fixed effect and treatment as a random effect. The RStudio software version 4.0.2 was used for all analyses.During season 1, pesticide application for the first 3 moth threshold was applied at 25 d after sowing (DAS), and the second application for the second 3 moth threshold at 85 DAS (Fig. 2). Spraying using the condition of 10% plant damage threshold occurred l8 DAS while that of 25% plant damage occurred 25 DAS. Moth capture peak was observed at 70 DAS while maize plants were in the 20th leaf collar stage (V20).During season 2, the first capture of three moths occurred 10 d earlier compared with season 1 which triggered the single spray treatment 16 DAS. The treatments for 10 and 25% incidence were applied at 16 DAS (Fig. 2). The second capture of three moths took place 20 d after the first and the second pesticide application was applied at 36 DAS in the corresponding treatment. In season 1, the initial FAW larval infestation was low for all treatments (<0.25 larvae per plant) including the control and did not increase beyond 0.5 larvae per plant, while some treatments did not have any larvae after treatment (Fig. 3A). Results did not show significant differences among treatments at any of the crop stages (Fig. 4).In season 2, the number of larvae per plant increased to 3.3 which occurred very early but dropped to one or fewer larvae per plant within two days. The control remained at a low level and dropped below 0.3 larvae per plant two weeks later (Fig. 3B). Analysis of key crop stages in season 2 did not show differences among treatments in FAW infestations at any of the stages (Fig. 4).In season 1, all treatments started at the same level of FAW incidence, except in the control where FAW incidence was higher up to 25 DAS. There was an increasing trend for all the treatments from 25 DAS onwards (Fig. 5A). At V2 (18 DAS), FAW incidence ranged from 15% in the 10 % damage threshold treatment to 25% in the control (F = 0.715; df = 4, 15; P = 0.595). At V5 (25 DAS), the incidence was up to 40% in all the treatments except in the 25% threshold treatment where incidence (16%) did not change within 7 d (Fig. 5A). At V15 (53 DAS), FAW incidence continued to increase and ranged from 30% in the single and double spray treatments to 50% in the control, and in the single spray at 10 and 25% damage threshold treatment. At tasseling, 72 DAS (VT), incidence ranged from 43% in the double spray treatment to 70% in the single spray treatment.During season 2, FAW incidence was lowest in the control at the beginning of infestations, but after the application of the four insecticide treatments, it displayed a decreasing trend compared with season 1 (Fig. 5B). For most crop growth stages, the initial incidence was about 4-fold higher in season 2 than in season 1 (Fig. 6). Analysis based on major crop stages showed that at V2 (16 DAS), incidence ranged from 60% in the single spray treatment to 80% in the double spray treatment. At V5 (37 DAS), there was a significant difference between all treatments and the control, with the incidence in all treatments decreasing to 50% while it increased to 80% in the control (F = 3.11; df = 4, 15; P = 0.04). At V15 (56 DAS), incidence in all treatments continued to decrease with significant differences among them and ranged from 20% for the double spray treatment to 70% for the control (F = 3.32; df = 4, 15; P = 0.04). At VT (71 DAS), apart from incidence in the single spray treatment that decreased to 30%, it increased in the other treatments but remained lower compared with the incidence in the control which was up to 77% (F = 3.0; df = 4, 15; P = 0.05; Fig. 6). At the last stage R2 (85 DAS), the FAW incidence increased to 75% in the double spray treatment and 85% in the control (Fig. 6).During season 1, FAW damage severity increased with DAS (Fig. 7A) and with key growth stages, but at each stage, there were no significant differences between treatments (Fig. 8). Damage severity at V2 (18 DAS) ranged from 28% in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment to 32% in the double spray treatment. All treatments including the control increased to almost the same level (35%) at V5 (25 DAS) and at V15 (53 DAS), except for the spray at 25% damage threshold treatment where damage severity decreased to 25% and increased to 42% in the spray at 10% incidence treatment (F = 1.073; df = 4, 15; P = 0.404); but at VT (72 DAS), the severity increased in all treatments ranging from 43% in the 10 % damage threshold treatment to 65% in the control (F = 2.93; df = 4, 15; P = 0.06; Fig. 8).  In season 2, FAW damage severity was very high at the beginning, almost double that observed in season 1, and then decreased with DAS (Fig. 7B). The results based on key growth stages also showed that damage severity decreased; but at each stage, there were no significant differences between treatments. At V2 (16 DAS) severity ranged from 46 % in the control to 55% in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment (F = 1.002; df = 4, 15; P = 0.437); at V5 (37 DAS), it ranged from 28% in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment to 38% in the control (F = 1.86; df = 4, 15; P = 0.17); at V15 (56 DAS) from 25% in the double spray treatment to 34% in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment (F = 1.26; df = 4, 15; P = 0.33), and at VT (71 DAS) from 38% in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment to 25% in the double spray treatment (F = 1.940; df = 4, 15; P = 0.156). At the final stage -R2 corresponding to blistering (85 DAS), all treatments had dropped to the lowest level of the season and at virtually the same level of incidence of about 25% (Fig. 7).Incidence of FAW (%) ranged from 37.5 ± 5.6 in the spray at 25% damage threshold treatment to 48.1 ± 8.1 on the control during season 1 (F = 0.82; df = 4, 15; P = 0.52) and from 53.3 ± 9.9 in the double spray treatment to 75.7 ± 3.0 in the control (F = 3.64; df = 4, 15; P = 0.008 in season 2; Table 2). The severity of damage ranged from 37.5 ± 4.7 in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment to 42.7 ± 5.2 in the control in season 1 and from 33.9 ± 1.7 in the single spray treatment to 37.3 ± 1.3 in the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment in season 2 (F = 0.94; df = 4, 15; P = 0.45; Table 2).During season 1, the average number of larvae per plant ranged from 0.07 ± 0.01 in the single spray treatment to 0.13 ± 0.3 in the double spray treatment (F = 0.587; df = 4, 15; P = 0.677) while during the season 2 it ranged from 0.20 ± 0.04 in the single spray treatment to 0.40 ± 0.06 in the spray at 10% incidence treatment (F = 3.31; df = 4, 15; P = 0.04 in season 2).Mortality of FAW larvae 24 hr after spraying ranged from zero in the control to 32.4 ± 10.0% in the double spray treatment in season 1 (F = 6.0; df = 4, 15; P = 0.004) and from zero in the control to 93.8 ± 6.3% in the spray at 25% incidence treatment in season 2 (F = 6.27; df = 4, 15; P = 0.004; Table 2).There was no significant difference among treatments in the number of plants with foliar damage at a given scale. During season 2, the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment had the highest percentage of plants with foliar damage at scale 5 (2.8 ± 0.8%) and at scale 4 (6.9 ± 0.8%; Table 3). The lowest was in the double spray treatment at scale 5 (1.6 ± 0.6%) and the single spray treatment at scale 4 (2.2 ± 1.4%). The control had the highest number of plants with scale 3 (13.8 ± 1.3%) and scale 2 (52.5 ± 2.2%). The percentage of plants without damage ranged from 26.6 ± 3.0% in the control to 42.5 ± 1.4% in the spray at 25% damage threshold treatment (Table 3). There were significant   3).During season 1, damage severity (i.e., level of plant injury) had an increasing trend with sampling weeks on all treatments, reaching the highest values towards the end of sampling (Fig. 9). For each treatment, there were significant differences between weeks in injury to the plant in the control (F = 8.14; df = 6, 21; P = 0.001), except for the double spray (F = 1.31; df = 6, 21; P = 0.295). At each week, there were no significant differences among treatments (P > 0.05; Fig. 9).Contrary to season 1, damage severity (injury to the plant) in season 2 had a decreasing trend with sampling weeks on all treatments (Fig. 9). The injury was significantly high at the initial damage compared with subsequent observations. For each treatment, there were significant differences between weeks, in percentage of injury to the plant in the control (F = 4.82; df = 6, 21; P = 0.003), the single spray treatment (F = 9.07; P = 0.001), the double spray treatment (F = 13.4; df = 6, 21; P = 0.001), the spray at 10% damage threshold treatment (F = 9.97; df = 6, 21; P = 0.001) and the spray at 25% damage threshold treatment (F = 3.52; df = 6, 21; P = 0.014). At each week, there were no significant differences between treatments (P > 0.05; Fig. 9), except between observations at week 4 (F = 6.26, P = 0.004; Fig. 9).There was no difference between the treatments and the control in plant height, stem diameter, cob length, cob width, and grain yield (Tables 4 and 5).This is the first study in Africa evaluating decision tools for the management of FAW. FAW moths colonize maize soon after plant emergence. Daily moth captures indicated there are several peaks of moth flight each season. In season 2, both percentage damage thresholds occurred at 14 DAS which coincided with vegetative stage 2 (V2), suggesting that the 3-d interval for observation is long as incidence at 10% threshold and 25% threshold was separated by a less than 3-d  interval. According to Evans and Stansly (1990), the economic injury level is lowest (14 %) at 14 d after germination (V2), and highest (50 %) at tasseling (60-67 d after emergence). In the current study, only FAW incidence during season 2 was close to the economic injury level reported at tasseling. However, the success recorded by (Cruz et al. 2012) suggests that incidence should be coupled not only with the number of larvae per plant but also with the severity of damage and stage of plants as these are the determinants of yield loss.Spraying maize plants with insecticide once or twice after 3-moth capture did not consistently reduce FAW incidence and abundance during the two seasons in the treatments compared with the control, especially during season 1. In season 2, we observed a significant reduction of FAW incidence, especially in the double spray treatment, which is consistent with Costa et al. (2005) who suggested that two insecticide applications are needed to achieve effective control of FAW in maize fields. However, since differences between the first and second insecticide applications were not consistent between the two seasons, our results suggest that the second pesticide application can be skipped. Similar findings were reported by Jaramillo-Barrios et al. ( 2020) where one season recorded differences in FAW abundance between single and multiply sprays based on different threshold levels, but the other season did not. This indicates that using mothcapture in pheromone traps as a threshold for pesticide intervention against FAW does not provide consistent results.The reduction in FAW damage obtained for the treatment at a 25% damage threshold in season 2 validates those of Bessin (2004) and Cruz et al. (2012). The failure to obtain the same results at 25% in season 1 cannot be attributed to a delay in spraying because even spraying at 10% which occurred one week earlier was not effective in significant yield improvement. Furthermore, a threshold of 50% of the plants with severe leaf damage was recommended as a threshold by other authors (Steffey et al. 1999, Hruska 2019), even went as far as 75% of the plants exhibiting whorl feeding damage and larvae are less than 1-1/4 in (31 mm) long. In the present study, the thresholds used were far below those recommendations. Therefore, an appropriate threshold in the African context should be established considering already proven threshold dimensions.The observed inconsistency between treatment efficacy between the 2 seasons highlights the role of environmental factors that do not promote exponential growth of FAW in season 1 versus the  absence these parameters in season 2, thus enabling normal growth of the population. Indeed, the incidence and abundance of larvae and their mortality after insecticide applications were higher during season 2 while severity was lower in season 2, probably influenced by rainfall patterns. Although this is a 1-yr-study duplicated during 2 cropping seasons, historical rainfall data of the study area collected at the IITA-Cameroon weather station shows that the 2017 total rainfall (1,830 mm) and the distribution were not too different from the 10-yr (or more) average of 1,767 mm. The four years after the study year (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) recorded 1,947 mm of average rainfall still similar to 2017. Although total rainfall was higher in season 1 (1,025 mm) than in season 2 (805 mm), it was not concentrated but was almost uniformly distributed (120 and 340 mm) throughout the season, in contrast to season 2 where rainfall was not uniformly distributed (Fig. 1). The highest rainfall occurred between 18 DAS and 49 DAS (September and October) in season 2 when the plants were most vulnerable (vegetative stages I and II) which could have led to the observed drop in FAW infestations at this point and consequently reduced damage, leading to the higher yield and plant parameters observed in the season 2. Rainfall seems to be the only climatic or weather parameter with clear seasonal variations compared to temperature and relative humidity. The presence of damage or larvae on plants indicates the incidence but the impact on the crop is determined by the severity of the damage. In both seasons, neither single nor double spray treatments affected FAW damage severity. This implies that moth capture with pheromone taken alone may not guide pesticide intervention decisions in the present agro-ecological context, contrary to the results obtained by (Cruz et al. 2012). It may also indicate that the indicated threshold is not suitable as a decision tool in tropical/sub-tropical contexts where factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and season may greatly impact moth flight. There is a need to evaluate and set adapted thresholds that will trigger interventions in farmers' fields under local field conditions. In both cases external factors such as climate, natural enemies, agricultural practices present at the time of intervention may render the treatments ineffective, thus the necessity to investigate the role played by these factors to contextualize the recommendations (Buntin et al. 2001;Buntin et al. 2004a,b;Buntin 2008;Baudron et al. 2019).The observed difference in incidence and infestation level between treatments and the control during season 2 did not translate into a significant increase in yield or differences in any of the plant parameters. Similar findings were reported by (Cruz and Turpin 1983) with no effect of FAW on maize yield if treated. This could mean the plant, was able to recover which rendered insecticide application unnecessary. More investigations on the maize plant's response to injuries and other external factors that could influence recovery from damage, the time, and the level of damage are recommended. Several studies (Buntin et al. 2001;Buntin et al. 2004a,b;Buntin 2008) led to the conclusion that other factors may contribute to FAW control, with or without the use of insecticides. The maize plant's response to FAW infestations is highly dependent on these factors including the level and timing of infestation and natural enemy levels -that can help regulate the populationsand the health and vigor of the maize plant (nutritional and moisture status). During the study, appropriate fertilization methods  followed -such organic manure before sowing, NPK (20:10:10), and urea at recommended rates for the study site (Abang et al. 2020). Seeds were treated with Calthio C, an insecticide and fungicide combination with 25% Chlorpyrifos-ethyl and 25% Thiram. These crop management practices may play a role in FAW control and yield improvement which calls for more research to determine their role in FAW management. Contrary to the results presented in the current study, two incidence levels (10 and 25%) were tested and reductions in damage and yield losses were obtained (Cruz et al. 2012). Failure to obtain a significant difference in yield at least between the control and 25% incidence or the double spray treatments in season 2 highlights the need to understand the effects of external factors. Under the present experimental conditions, it is evident that pesticide intervention was not necessary. Based on the results of field trials on FAW impact on maize yield in the USA, it was demonstrated that application of an insecticide is usually not economical for FAW control except when more than 75% of plants have whorl feeding damage and the plants are under stress (Hruska 2019). This calls for a critical understanding of the context under which recommended intervention thresholds are stated, and replication or transfer of recommendations should be guided by agroecological guidelines and regional conditions. Barlow and Kuhar (2009) suggested that pheromone traps are more efficient and sensitive to regional changes and that catches are not necessarily good indicators of density but could simply indicate the presence of moths in an area. He added that insecticide applications should take place when a pheromone trap catches 70 to 140 FAW adults per night, whereas very few (2.3-8.35 per week) were caught during the current study. Cruz et al. (2012) also reported less capture but recorded results that were contrary to the current study, thus suggesting that there could be variations even within the same region. Moth counts in traps cannot be the sole trigger for FAW intervention while ignoring other biological factors such as the presence and number of FAW egg masses and larvae on the maize plants. Additionally, incidence only indicates that a plant was attacked by the pest but does not measure the pest injury. Hence, the severity of damage or injury should be a useful parameter in assigning intervention thresholds. During the present study, none of the treatments affected FAW damage severity. Damage severity was more important towards the end of the cropping cycle in season 1 as opposed to season 2. The decreasing severity in season 2 versus increasing severity in season 1 could also be a consequence of the fact that FAW came too early in season 2 resulting in lower pressure later in the season, while in season 1 it came later and increased gradually. Decreasing trends similar to those observed in season 2 have recently been reported in other studies (Murúa et al. 2006, Abang et al. 2020), and the plant is more susceptible during that period (Jaramillo- Barrios et al. 2019). Depending on the level, an early injury may come when the plants are still fragile and do not have enough vigor to recover, and late injury may occur at phenological stages that are critical for the kernel stage. According to (Hruska and Gladstone 1988), maize plants can compensate for FAW damage at any developmental stage. However, considering the importance of the degree of injury, it will be interesting to test a similar hypothesis in the context of the approach of the present study. Since the injury increased in season 1 and decreased in season 2, we expected maize yield loss in season 1, but it did not happen, suggesting that FAW damage alone cannot translate into yield loss without the contribution of external factors regulating pest population and feeding behavior and affecting plant growth (FAO and CABI 2019).This study has shown that the two decision tools are not consistent in triggering intervention that could result in reducing FAW damage on maize, and even when the reduction is effective the damage and severity may not translate into significant yield loss. Proposed thresholds by various authors should not be used as they are suggested for all agro-ecologies, but should consider various factors (rainfall, natural enemies, soil fertility, maize recovery ability, etc.), in setting thresholds for specific areas. Studies should be envisaged where a higher threshold can be set in areas where parameters like weather and natural enemies could naturally curb FAW population growth, but lower thresholds can be set where FAW populations grow without any effects of natural factors such as rain belts or high intensity of natural enemies' activities. Similarly, investigations, where incidence is coupled with severity and number of larvae per plant, may have a direct impact on plant growth and ","tokenCount":"5575"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3839946635.json b/data/part_1/3839946635.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f21ec522f52c3bcb4464b2cbb577877a7a98489a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3839946635.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4b707ca91405fe43a58e8867b260cfda","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/95d4e6a9-89df-4922-8e65-428e9caee750/content","id":"465148658"},"keywords":["Russian wheat aphid","Hessian fly","Stem sawfly","Resistance","Wheat"],"sieverID":"1e25bdab-df5a-40ac-a2f5-a26a447ca405","pagecount":"7","content":"Various insect pests attack wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that can cause significant grain yield losses to the crop. Farmers usually depend on pesticides, however, smallholder farmers often have limited and ill-timed access to control methods, including insecticides. Host plant resistance is an alternative to protect grain yield and reduce costs to farmers. Three of the most serious pests of wheat are Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), Mayetiola destructor (Say), and Cephus pygmeaus L. These pests occur in most of the wheat growing areas. However, they are of high importance in North Africa and West Asia. The aim of this study was to evaluate a set of wheat-alien translocations for resistance against D. noxia, M. destructor and C. pygmeaus. Genotypes of this germplasm set have already been reported to carry resistance against certain wheat aphid species. Genotypes 1RS am .1AL and MA1S.1RL e (1B), displayed high levels of resistance against D. noxia and C. pygmeaus, respectively. While three genotypes showed resistance reaction against M. destructor: 1R e (1D), 7A.7S-L5, and 7A.7S-Gb5. Except for the resistant genotype to C. pygmeaus, the other four genotypes were previously reported to carry resistance against Sitobion avenae Fabricius, Rhopalosiphum padi L. and Schizaphis graminum (Rondani). These five wheat-alien translocations are currently being used in the bread-wheat breeding programs at CIMMYT and ICARDA to transfer the multiple pest resistance in elite germplasm.Wheat (Triticum aestivum L) is a staple food globally, which provides about 20% of energy intake in the human diet (FAO 2018). About one third of the harvested area globally (ca. 72 million hectares) is accounted by countries with developing economies in Central and South Asia, and East and North Africa, with an average yield of 2.3 t/ha (FAO 2018). Wheat production faces several challenges in a global scenario where climate change threatens productivity and higher food demand requires to increase average yields.One of the effects of climate change is a higher incidence of pests, as with an increased temperature multivoltine species can speed up their development causing an increased number of generations per year, and potentially more damage to crops. There are various insect pests that can feed on wheat, among those that are highly important for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) target environments are, the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia Kurdjumov), the Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor [Say]) and the wheat stem sawfly (Cephus spp.).The aphid species D. noxia, is believed to originate from Central Asia, between Caucasus Mountains and the Tian Shan (Berzonsky et al. 2003). It can reduce yield up to 40% at an initial density of 15 aphids (Kieckhefer and Gellner 1992). This aphid species injects a toxin into plants while feeding, causing a characteristic leaf rolling, which functions as a protection site for the colony. When the flag leaves are infested and rolled, the heads are trapped and cannot emerge freely thus causing them to bend, also, the leaves get white, purple and yellow streaks. Diuraphis noxia is widely distributed as a pest in East Asia, South Africa and North and South America, central Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Australasia (Berzonsky et al. 2003;Blackman and Eastop 2007;Zhang et al. 2014;Yazdani et al. 2017).The Hessian fly, M. destructor, is an introduced pest in the American continent first observed in the late 1770 s, however, its origin is thought to be the West Asia (Naber et al. 2000). This insect is a serious pest in North Africa: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (Berzonsky et al. 2003). However, it is also present in Central Asia, South Europe and North America. A population of M. destructor that originated from Syria is reported to be virulent to most of the resistance genes identified, being avirulent only on genes H25 and H26 (El Bouhssini et al. 2009). The larvae of the fly feeds on the stems of young plants which prevents elongation of internodes and transport of nutrients causing significant yield losses up to 40% (Smiley et al. 2004;Beres et al. 2011).There are several species of the Cephus genus that attack wheat, the most common in North America is Cephus cinctus Norton (Beres et al. 2011). However, the predominant species in North Africa and West Asia is Cephus pygmaeus L. (Golberg 1986;El Bouhssini et al. 1987). This species, C. pygmaeus, is also reported to be present in Europe and Central Asia (Leach and Hobbs 2013;CABI-EPPO 2018). The adults of Cephus spp. are univoltine, they oviposit into elongating stems of the plant, when the eggs hatch, the larvae feed within the stem moving in, up and down. As the plant reaches maturity, the larvae move to the basal part of the plant to build an hibernaculum, above of which the plant weakens and breaks. Then the larvae go into diapause during the winter (Golberg 1986;Shanower 2008).Host plant resistance (HPR) is an environmentally friendly method to control insect pests. When HPR is present in commercial varieties, farmers can benefit because they can reduce the insecticide usage, and subsequently the production costs and negative effects on the environment and non-targeted organisms. Farmers that have limited access to other control methods can make use of HPR by simply sowing the seeds of varieties that carry the genes for resistance against important pests, and subsequently, protect yield in the occurrence of pest outbreaks. However, screening for insect HPR is time consuming and labor intensive, which makes it difficult to implement phenotypic selection methods in large breeding programs to develop elite germplasm with insect resistance.Our study aimed to identify resistance sources to D. noxia, M. destructor and C pygmaeus in a set of wheat-alien translocations and substitution lines that had been previously evaluated for resistance against three aphid species. From our evaluations, we indicate which plant genotypes carry resistance to each of these pests and the implications for further wheat breeding and research.The plant materials consisted of a set of 62 wheat-rye and wheat-Aegilops speltoides Tausch translocations produced after 6-8 backcrosses to the spring breadwheat cultivar Pavon F76 (Lukaszewski 1993(Lukaszewski , 1997(Lukaszewski , 2000(Lukaszewski , 2006;;Dubcovsky et al. 1998). This material was selected because it displayed variation of the resistance against other important pests of wheat, further description of the germplasm can be found in the work conducted by Crespo-Herrera et al. (2013).Evaluations to M. destructor and D. noxia were conducted under greenhouse conditions at 20-22 °C, photoperiod of 16:8 h (light:dark), and a relative humidity of 60-70%. Because the objective of the study was to identify resistant germplasm, and due to the fact that for insect resistance under high and homogeneous insect pressure the rate of false negatives is practically null, we conducted unreplicated tests. Only those lines that displayed resistant reactions were further evaluated in replicated tests to confirm the resistance.The Hessian fly individuals originated from a population collected in the Chaouia region, Morocco. It was reared and increased on the susceptible cv 'Radia' under the same conditions described above (El Bouhssini et al. 2013). The screening was conducted in a greenhouse. The initial screening was carried out in a standard greenhouse flat (54 cm 9 36 cm 9 8 cm) containing a mixture of soil, vermiculite and peat. At the one leaf stage, each screening flat was covered with a cheesecloth tent where about 50 mated females were released and allowed to lay eggs for 2 days. Twenty seeds of each plant genotype were sown in rows, and the percentage of resistant plants was taken from each row. Resistant plants were those that remained healthy while the susceptible check was dead due to insect damage. The resistant check for this evaluation was cv. 'Arrehane' and the susceptible check was cv 'Radia'. Lines displaying resistance were reevaluated following the same procedure but with four replications.Individuals of D. noxia were collected from the Annoceur region, in the middle Atlas of Morocco. Aphid rearing was done in the greenhouse under the same conditions as the evaluations. The aphids were reared for 3-4 generations to make sure there are no parasitoids in the RWA culture (El-Bouhssini et al. 2011). Seeds were planted in tufts in flats with five seeds per tuft, which were thinned to three plants per tuft after germination. Seeds were sown in a mixture of soil, sand and peat (2:1:6). Each plant was infested with 10 adult RWA at the two-leaf stage. Evaluations were made when the susceptible check displayed maximum level of damage on the scales of 1-3 for leaf rolling (LR) and 1-6 for leaf chlorosis (LC), where the lowest number indicates fully resistant plants, i.e., both leaf rolling and chlorosis absent. Plant genotypes that displayed resistance reactions were further tested, following the same procedures, in a four-rep evaluation. The susceptible check for this test was cv. 'Achtar'.The screening for resistance to wheat stem sawfly was done under field conditions under natural infestations during two crop cycles, first at Merchouch station (2015/16) and then at Sidi El Aidi station (2016/17) in Morocco. Genotypes were planted in 1.0 m plots in three replicated randomized blocks during each crop cycle. Average percentage of stem cut in the three reps was taken as a measure of resistance; lines with less than 5% stem cut are considered as resistant, given that 10% is considered the economic threshold (O ¨zberk et al. 2005). The material was scored just before harvest. The resistant check for this evaluation was line 'AWYT-01-LR-405', and the susceptible check was cv. Achtar.The vast majority of the germplasm we evaluated showed low or null levels of resistance against D. noxia, M. destructor and C. pygmaeus (Table 1). There were, however, five lines that displayed exceptional levels of resistance against these pests, but none against all three pests together. High levels of resistance were displayed in two single genotypes, 1RS am .1AL and 1MA1S.1RL e (1B), against D. noxia and C. pygmaeus respectively (Table 1). While three genotypes showed resistance reaction against M. destructor: 1R e (1D), 7A.7S-L5, and 7A.7S-Gb5.Interestingly, the genotype 1RS am .1AL resistant against D. noxia carries the chromosome arm from 'Insave' rye, the same that is carried by cv. 'Amigo'. In previous studies, this line was resistant to S. avenae in seedling and adult plant tests (Crespo-Herrera et al. 2013). Since the Dn7 gene for D. noxia resistance is on chromosome arm 1RS (Anderson et al. 2003), it would be relevant to determine if this is related to the resistance in 1RS am .1AL. Previous investigations have reported Amigo wheat derivatives as susceptible to D. noxia, i.e., lines carrying the chromosome arm 1RS (Webster et al. 1987). The gene Dn7 confers high levels of resistance against D. noxia populations collected in Syria, and biotypes RWASA1, RWASA2 and RWASA3 in South Africa (El- Bouhssini et al. 2011;Jankielsohn 2011). This gene is also the only one effective against emerged D. noxia biotypes from the USA (Haley et al. 2004). The 1R translocation present in cv. Amigo also carries Gb2 for S. graminum biotype B resistance, although the most common biotypes are E and I. Furthermore, it also carries the Cmc3 gene for resistance to Aceria tosichella Keifer and Pm8 for resistance against Blumeria graminis (DC.) Speer f. sp. tritici (Crespo-Herrera et al. 2017). This particular 1RS translocation is also reported to have certain yield advantage compared with Pavon F76, i.e., Pavon F76 without the translocation (Kim et al. 2004). An additional consideration of relevance for the use of the 1RS am .1AL translocation is that it causes the least detrimental effects on industrial quality, which is an advantage over 1B/1R translocations (Kumlay et al. 2003), carried by those genotypes with the Dn7 gene. The genotypes resistant to M. destructor are also reported to possess resistance to other pests. For instance, 1R e (1D) carries resistance to R. padi and S. avenae at seedling stages (Crespo-Herrera et al. 2013). Although, resistance to S. avenae at seedling stages may not be relevant since this aphid species attacks wheat during reproductive stages (Watt 1979;Voss et al. 1997). The genotypes 7A.7S-L5, and 7A.7S-Gb5 are wheat-A. speltoides interstitial translocations, and reportedly to carry resistance against S. graminum (Dubcovsky et al. 1998;Crespo-Herrera et al. 2013). Interestingly, in the report of Crespo-Herrera et al. (2013) another related genotype (7A.7S-L7) derived from the same original translocation carrying the gene  (Lukaszewski 2006). This line did not show any significant level of resistance in previous studies (Crespo-Herrera et al. 2013). Resistance to this wasp is correlated with stem solidness and plant earliness (Varella et al. 2015), and genomic regions on chromosomes 1B, 3B and 5D for stem solidness, and 2A, 3A, 5B for antibiosis to the larvae have been reported (Varella et al. 2015). In a separate study Joukhadar et al. (2013) found associations to stem cut on chromosomes 1D, 3B, 5B, 6B and 7A.Translocation and substitution lines carrying the 1R chromosome from rye are well known to cause deleterious effects on quality, in particular when 1R substitutes chromosome 1B of wheat. When the translocations is 1RS.1AL, the effects on quality are not as detrimental as 1B(1R) substitution lines (Kumlay et al. 2003). Nonetheless, the effect on agronomic performance of the 1R chromosome appears to be dependent on the source and the background into which it is transferred (Kim et al. 2004).Wheat-alien translocations can harbor stress resistance/tolerance genes, and their identification is possible through cytogenetic procedures or molecular markers. The advantage of these translocations is that they normally do not recombine with wheat chromosomes in the presence of the Ph1 gene. Hence when they carry genes for resistance to more than one pest or disease, this resistance can be inherited simultaneously, thus the importance of screening this type of materials against various pests or diseases. Translocations, however, may have the disadvantage of linkage drag, especially when large chromosomal segments are transferred from the alien species, and their expression can also be determined by other loci in the genome that may act as suppressors. Breeding efforts are underway to transfer multiple pest resistance to elite germplasm at CIMMYT and ICARDA wheat breeding programs by utilizing the sources reported in this work and other previously reported in literature.","tokenCount":"2340"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3872024299.json b/data/part_1/3872024299.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..933fbf09a99b037434d70d50dae42ab0b04f902a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3872024299.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"61262f456b802f53f85acee65724426f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cd729e42-8a09-41b0-9258-2ed068891888/retrieve","id":"-746424493"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da1333fc-ba68-4dd1-a775-547b61dc9f36","pagecount":"71","content":"Detailed guide -step-by-step 2 nd Edition 2 INDEX INTRODUCTION .New climate information tools that include historical analysis, monitoring systems, climate predictions, among others, have the power to help farmers adapt to the impacts of climate variability and change. By providing translated local climate information along with extension services, farmers are better prepared to protect themselves from extreme weather events and to take advantage of good weather conditions, thereby closing the gap between the generation of agroclimatic information and its use by farmers.A Local Technical Agroclimatic Committee (MTA) is a space for inclusive dialogue between a diversity of local actors such as farmers, extension services, representatives of the public and private sector, and scientists that seeks to understand the possible behavior of the climate in a locality and generate recommendations to reduce the risks associated with the expected climate variability (Loboguerrero et al., 2018). As a result of this dialogue, an agroclimatic bulletin is generated that contains the climate prediction, and its possible impact on crops for specific conditions in time and space, associated with recommendations as decision-making for each production system. Climate predictions are generated in consensus with the meteorological service of each country and the existing agro-meteorology groups of the institutions, in order to identify the best adaptation practices to climate phenomena, which are transferred to local technicians and producers through the Local Agroclimatic Bulletin.Within the framework of the agreement signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia (MADR) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), during 2013-2015 the MTA approach began. In Colombia's goals (formally known as \"Nationally Determined Contributions\" or NDCs) negotiated in the 2015 Paris agreement under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Colombia committed to providing the country with a network of MTA with 15 participating departments, and one million producers receiving agroclimatic information. Therefore, in a process of sustainability, institutions such as Fedearroz and Fenalce began the leadership of the local MTAs with the support of the national meteorological service -IDEAM in Colombia. Starting in 2017, MADR continued to lead the MTA initiative and, through an alliance with FAO, the implementation of local MTAs in an escalation process in Colombia.Recent initiatives and projects such as tailored agro-climate services and food security information for better decision making in latin america (AgroClimas Phase I 2 ) and Agro-climatic digitally integrated solutions (AgroClimas Phase II 3 ), led by CCAFS, Initiatives for the generation of knowledge through of processes to address a just transition path in Boyacá-Colombia (financed by Porticus 4 ), Climate Services Alliance for Resilient Development (CSRD 5 ), led by USAID, Resilient Central America (ResCA 6 ), led by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), A common journey 7 : capacity-building in Central America to strengthen policies and decision-making for climate change adaptation and mitigation, led by CIAT and IFAD, Adapting agriculture to climate today, for tomorrow (ACToday 8 ), led by the International Institute of Research on Climate and Society (IRI), have scaled-out the MTA approach to other countries, including Honduras, Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. These efforts have made it possible to strengthen the capacities of generation, translation, communication, and use of climate information for the agricultural sector in some 350 institutions in Latin America, through the implementation of more than 50 MTA in the 11 countries mentioned (See Figure 1. Map of Local Agroclimatic Technical Committee (MTA) existing in Latin America -Updated to July 2021). Likewise, the MTAs were able to inform the Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in the Agenda of Agricultural Sector and Food and Nutrition Security (SAN) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) 2018-2030, which aims to \"prevent the appearance of new disaster risks and reduce existing risks in the agricultural and SAN sector through the implementation of integrated and inclusive measures.\" 2 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/research/projects/tailored-agro-climate-services-and-food-security-information-better-decision-making-latin-america 3 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/research/projects/agro-climatic-digitally-integrated-solutions 4 https://www.porticus.com/en/home/ 5 http://www.cs4rd.org/index.html 6 https://www.resilientcentralamerica.org 7 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/research/projects/common-journey-capacity-building-central-america-strengthen-policies-and 8 https://worldprojects.columbia.edu/projects/active-projects/actoday-adapting-agriculture-climate-today-tomorrow An outcome harvesting study (Giraldo Mendez et al., 2019) shows that by empowering stakeholders involved in MTAs, climate knowledge has become accessible and understandable for farmers and technicians, including women and youth. This has been achieved through the development of local capacities and the participation of members of rural communities and organizations of different types and levels in the MTAs. In contrast to top-down approaches, where farmers hardly understand or use the information generated.As a result of the democratization of agroclimatic knowledge in the MTAs, the technicians responsible for agricultural assistance strengthen the capacity to serve producer families who adapt their productive practices by making decisions based on the information they receive about climate variability in their territory, reducing losses and increasing productivity.The study also shows 140 scopes that have been generated from the implementation of the MTAs, in five transformation areas:1) Confidence in the quality of agroclimatic information at the local level;2) The agroclimatic information is known, understandable, and connected;3) Democratization of knowledge; 4) Transformation of productive practices andAccording to the research, it is estimated that 40% of the producer families that receive information from the MTAs effectively transform their agricultural practices, generating a demonstrative effect that is imitated by neighboring families, leading to the creation of local communities of practice. The integration of diverse knowledge of farmers and actors favors the concretion of abstract knowledge (climatology) in the concrete reality (agricultural productive practices).This manual provides step-by-step instructions for working on the MTA approach. It is aimed mainly at leading institutions in the agricultural sector that are interested in implementing a space for discussion in their region. This approach consists of eight steps, which are carried out with the participating institutions. Given the specific nature of the site, there are a number of preparatory activities that need to be done prior to each meeting. Throughout the manual, BLUE BOXES will be highlighted to indicate gender and social inclusion considerations, and ORANGE to indicate relevant aspects for the proper development of the MTA. In this second edition, the manual has the mitigation (practical) considerations and the monitoring and evaluation tools applied. It is necessary to identify the demands and preferences of farmers to obtain agroclimatic information, due to important social differences found in their environment (eg, inequality and lack of equity between men and women). Therefore, the roles, responsibilities, and daily activities carried out by women and men determine how they perceive change and socio-environmental risk and how they respond and adapt to them (Bee, 2016). Consequently, women and men may have different needs, access, and response to climate information (Kristjanson et al., 2017).Climate services may risk exacerbating the gender inequalities that prevail in other institutional structures. Therefore, it is relevant to evaluate the diverse challenges and opportunities that men and women face in order to incorporate climate information into agricultural decision-making and livelihood planning (Gumucio, et al., 2018a). In this framework, this manual identifies gender-related considerations for MTA implementation in order to ensure that both women and men have the opportunity to benefit from the agroclimatic information that is generated. General aspects of social inclusion are also addressed, here are some important points:• The information generated through the MTA should be relevant to farmers; this often involves incorporating mechanisms into the MTA to ensure that the interests of women and men, and of the various social groups in the territory, are represented.• It is also very important that the MTA uses appropriate communication channels for women and men to disseminate agroclimatic information, such as through the agroclimatic bulletin content.As you go through each phase and step of the MTA process, the Manual highlights the importance of ensuring that considerations for equality and equity between men and women are integrated in a comprehensive manner, from start to finish.In this manual, the activities are divided into clear and logical steps. Each step builds on what was covered in the previous steps. Thus, the former focus on the implementation of the MTA, the climate and agricultural information of the different production systems. The following steps allow the reader to participate in a dialogue on the possible impacts of climate prediction on their cultivation and identify the best adaptation and mitigation practices based on the information presented, which will then be translated and reflected in the local agroclimatic bulletin. Finally, the reader will have the responsibility of disseminating the bulletin to their work environment (e.g., farmers, extension service), and getting feedback to the MTA with the findings found in the process of monitoring and evaluation of the use of the information generated in the MTA.The process is divided into 8 steps (as indicated below and in the activity diagram in Figur):•Step 1 -How to start the MTA implementation meeting?•Step 2 -Climate information: historical data, monitoring and forecasts, and forecasting.• Step 3 -Crop information: work tables and crop models.• Step 4 -How to generate the recommendations given the agroclimatic prediction?•Step 5 -Generation of the local agroclimatic bulletin.• Step 6 -Dissemination of the local agroclimatic bulletin.•Step 7 -Implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures.• Step 8 -Monitoring and evaluation.Each step has a set of activities that the facilitator (we will call the MTA leader) implements with the MTA participants, through a series of meetings. The activities for each step are explained in more detail in the activity sheets found throughout this manual. The names of the worksheets correspond to the name of the step to which they correspond (for example, Step 1, Worksheets 1a and 1b). The leader's first responsibility is to convene the MTA implementation meeting. When developing the schedule for MTA meetings, you will need to consider what time of year each step will take place so that the end-user of the agroclimatic bulletin can have the information they need to make timely decisions about their crop. If MTA participants regularly hold regular meetings with farmers, the information presented at the MTA can be input into these meetings.For example, in Colombia, MTA meetings are held month by month; at each meeting, the weather forecast and climate prediction for the following quarter are presented, as well as the recommendations of the crops for the most important phases, and a monthly local agroclimatic bulletin is generated. In Honduras 9 , Guatemala, and other countries in the Central American region, MTA meetings are held before the start of the important planting dates of the main crops, one during the rainy season and one meeting at the end of the cycle. In total, 3 regional agroclimatic bulletins are generated per year for the first, second, and residual rain plantings.Next, the activity diagram for each step is presented, chronologically associated with the beginning of the rainy season, which is important for the country's agricultural activities. Following this sequence step by step provides a practical and logical process to help in the generation of the agroclimatic bulletin as an instrument in planning and making decisions. However, for some steps, it may not be necessary to follow all the activities described in this manual, given the specific nature or context of each MTA.Step 1: How to start the MTA implementation meeting?Step 2: Climate information: historical data, monitoring and forecasts, and forecastingStep 3: Crop information: work tables and crop modelsStep 4: How to generate the recommendations given the agroclimatic prediction?Step 5: Generation of the local agroclimatic bulletinStep 6: Dissemination of the local agroclimatic bulletinStep 7: Implementation of adaptation and mitigation measuresStep 8: Monitoring and evaluation Through the various initiatives in the use of climate information services among small farmers in Latin America and that have supported the implementation of MTAs through different regional projects (refer to the Introduction section for more details), a list of key ingredients has been identified so the MTAs would be scalable, sustainable, and agents of change. These are summarized in the Figure below.In addition to the key ingredients mentioned, it is important to consider different aspects that will help the logistics and the proper development of the MTA in the territory. Some of these are described below.• Why implements an MTA?Thinking about implementing an MTA implies initiating a change process in attitude, knowledge and skills of the participating actors. This process is the result of reflection by the stakeholders on the need to close the gap between the generation of climate information and its use by institutions, extension services, and farmers, so that crop decisions can be made based on the expected climatic variations in the region, as an adaptation and sustainability strategy.It is necessary to review the background documents from CCAFS' work, in creating the Technical Agroclimatic Committee 10 , as part of the conceptual framework and the lessons learned from the institutions who have led the implementation of MTA in other territories.Also, it is key to identify initiatives/programs that focus on the interests of women and men in the territory and to include these actors in the MTA. Gender biases can often underlie agricultural organizations resulting in women's interests being neglected (Perez et al., 2015). Examples of organizations to include in the MTA: development institutions with a gender equality mandate, relevant sectorial NGOs that have an interest or experience in gender issues, and an organization inclusive of women. From the government sector, it is important to include gender focal points from the ministries of agriculture, the environment, or associated sectors.It is the person (s) of the institution who leads the MTA, who chairs, coordinates, and links the discussion group during the dialogue. This person must make contributions, reconcile the work of the members, give the word, announce the times and maintain an atmosphere of controversy, but with a good attitude among the participants. This person must be impartial and objective in his interventions, summaries, and conclusions. The manual proposes a series of participatory activities with clear examples. After presenting the examples it is important to remember that it is the attendees who carry out the activities. The role as a facilitator during the development of the event are: opening and closing the MTA session, mentioning the topic to be discussed, explaining the procedure to be followed, presenting the speakers, communicating the question methodology to the audience, and offering the word. The functions of the institution that leads the first meeting of the MTA:1. Identify the potential actors (institutions) that could make up the MTA. 2. Identify potential human and financial resources, partners that could make the MTA sustainable. 3. Generate an invitation letter or graphic piece indicating the reason for the meeting, as well as the date and place. 4. Create a work agenda for this first meeting. 5. Create a list with the emails of the actors to be invited to the meeting in order to send out the invitation.They are the experts who present climate predictions and agroclimatic analyzes, the results of which represent the basis for generating discussion and analysis among MTA participants, in order to propose adaptation and mitigation measures in prioritized crops, taking into account agroclimatic assessments. They must have knowledge of modeling, climate, and agroclimatic prediction analysis.Detailed guide -Step-by-step 2 nd Edition• Development of the MTAThe methodology before, during, and after the MTA, must include local planning and coordination to address issues or problems related to agricultural activities, in relation to decision-making, preventive actions, and the reduction of losses due to adverse meteorological and climatic phenomena. In general, the monthly sessions (or as agreed with the MTA participants) consist of five phases: i) the introduction -presentation of the agenda and participants, ii) the body of the discussionpresentation of the predictions agroclimatic for the coming months, with the question and answer session, iii) analysis of adaptive measures in a participatory way -by thematic groups, e.g., those familiar with each crop, iv) construction of the local agroclimatic bulletin, and v) monitoring of the MTA -application of instruments.Given the constraints in times of COVID-19, virtuality offers options for the development and sustainability of MTAs. In Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras, through the MTAs, it has been possible to identify immediate impacts of the pandemic on productive systems 11 . Through the MTAs, rural communities are accompanied and spaces are created to debate the impacts and recommendations for the agricultural sector based on climatic conditions in the context of COVID-19 with the support of facilitators, youth, and leaders of rural communities.To take into consideration that for many of the participants the concepts related to meteorological and climatic information are new and that there is a gap between the generation of climate information and its use by the agricultural sector. Therefore, before creating a local agroclimatic bulletin it is important to ensure that the participants of the MTA manage and know the concepts, that there is a language homologation, that the respective training and evaluations of the topics are completed. In Annex 1 you can find the content of the Academy of Climate Services, a model promoted by IRI 12 .In the MTAs already established in the different countries, the first 2 or 3 meetings were held to transfer capacities on climate issues, and then a training curriculum was designed according to the needs and requirements of the MTA that contributes to improving the information agroclimatic contained in the bulletin. These trainings are delivered in a separate session to the MTA meeting. In other words, the MTA meeting is scheduled in the morning, and in the afternoon, or the next day, the training on the prioritized topic. It is also important to present initiatives, programs, or activities in the territory of the participating institutions on issues related to climate or crops in short sessions within the MTA meeting.11 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/agroclimatic-information-helps-fight-covid-19-latin-america-part-1 12 https://iri.columbia.edu/resources/climate-services-academies/To achieve reliable and incidence records, it is necessary to document during the development of the MTA, the actions of each meeting, as well as the agreements between the parties and attendance lists, which will be consigned in the memory aids. In addition to taking notes, record the event with photographs, on Twitter, and videos for the development of the reports or minutes.For the development of virtual MTAs (or hybrids where there is a small group of people meeting in person and the others in a virtual way) it is recommended: A prior preparation of each point on the agenda, verify a good internet connection by the moderator of the meeting and use visual aids to represent the topics discussed.Encourage people's participation through digital resources, such as online surveys (e.g., Mentimeter, zoom surveys), collective murals (e.g., mural, Google Jamboard), or discussion subgroups through break rooms that offer different platforms.Step 1 How to start the MTA implementation meeting?Step 1 -How to start the MTA implementation meeting?At the end of this step, both you, the reader and the MTA participants should be very clear about the vision and mission of the planned MTA as well as the commitment and contribution of each institution. This will be the starting point to generate the mapping of climate and crop information, and later, the work plan. It is important that the participants work together for the same objective.Since it is the first meeting of the MTA, be sure to take the time to explain the whole process in general and the purpose of the different meetings that will be planned. According to previous agreements and experiences derived from the previous MTAs, it is proposed that the agenda for this first day has a duration of approximately 6 hours, contemplating a break for refreshments and for lunch.1. Understand the scope, background and lessons learned in the MTA that have already been implemented in different countries. 2. Identify which activities each institution carries out, which crops and areas they work in, and their interest in being part of the MTA (through actor mapping). 3. Check to see if there is coherence among the objectives, goals and activities for the establishment of the MTA through a formalization mechanism (e.g., letter, regulation, agreement). 4. Generate a starting point to explore the climatic and available crop information in the region.  An actor map is a participatory tool that describes which are the actors that intervene in the process of generating, translating and communicating information related to climate and crops, in addition an analysis of the role of the actors, their contributions and their capacities to deal with the topics. The participation of \"key actors\" is crucial for the success of any initiative and requires a prior identification process. This incorporation of actors is dynamic and strengthens as all participants take ownership of the process.The institutional technical capacities that the actors contribute to the MTA strategy are analyzed based on the generation, transfer and appropriation mechanisms of agroclimatic information. The foregoing refers to what the institutions of the agricultural sector have for the generation, appropriation, and dissemination of agroclimatic information, for example, internal climate change offices, specialized personnel, extension teams, access to radio programs, internal newsletters, regional coverage, agroclimatic stations, among others.Do not forget to take the attendance list at each MTA meeting. This will help you to perform an analysis of stakeholder networks over time to see their sustainability. An example is presented in Annex 2.You will need an attendance list, colored index cards, and markers to write the name of the institutions. Additionally, you will need a poster card with the initial questions.1. After welcoming the participants, you as the facilitator will ask the participants the following questions as an introduction, a) name and profession, b) the institution they represent, and c) what each participant thinks are a technical agroclimatic committee. This dynamic can be as creative as possible to break the ice among the attendees.2. The names of the participating institutions are written on index cards and grouped according to the type of institution (e.g., international cooperation organization, teaching, research, and/or development organization, government organization, central government, unions, associations and cooperatives, farmers, local government or local government entities, and media, among others).3. On white poster board, collect the opinions of each participant about what an MTA is.4. At the end of this step, socialize the actors map (Figure 6), which will be used in the next steps.  Initiatives to create discussion spaces among multi-stakeholders often result in informal meetings with a specific immediate purpose. In this sense, the focus on consolidating the process of agroclimatic governance in the departments should be considered as key points to solve the following aspects: permanent and systemic participation by actors from the agricultural sector; dissemination and transcendence of the generated information; and the operational technical sustainability of the MTA.When developing the rules and agreements to formalize the MTA, it is important to consider the processes and procedures that can facilitate group discussion and inclusive decision-making. This is critical given the diversity of actors that meet for the MTA and the inequalities in participation that may result due to differences in gender, ethnicity, stage of life and other socioeconomic attributes. It is important to promote the incorporation of women into technical training by convening them directly, or through organizations in which they have effective participation.It is also important to promote mechanisms that allow increasing institutional capacities in the appropriation of agroclimatic information, especially for regional actors. The creation of an MTA brings with it a process of commitment on the part of the participating institutions. For this reason, it is recommended that the MTA have a formalization and goal-setting process, which makes it possible to measure the results and assess the degree of compliance and efficiency achieved by the members. The formalization of the MTA can be carried out in several ways: a) A process of appropriation and governance during the course of the implementation of the MTA, with activities ranging from a SWOT analysis of the actors, an analysis of the participation and interest of the institutions working in the relevant topics, and appropriation of the agroclimatic information in order to generate an MTA framework agreement for the long term (MTA Colombia Case).b) An agreement of intent signed by the participating institutions to establish the MTA. Clarify that the agreement does not authorize the signatory institutions to delegate the functions that fall within their scope by law (MTA Guatemala Case). • Chapter I: Creation, object, vision, mission, address, and duration.• Chapter II: Organizational Structure (see an example below).• Chapter III: Attributions of the MTA management positions, annex work plan, fulfillment of objectives, agreements, and deadlines.• Chapter IV: Access, generation, and dissemination of MTA information.This regulation was promoted by the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), so that the MTA would be within the legal and political framework of the Adaptation Strategy for the agri-food sector of Honduras, like a ministerial agreement for the creation of the MTA facilitated their establishment and sustainability.You will need a flipchart, colored index cards and markers. 100% agree to implement an MTA for my region 4. According to the answers to these questions, an internal organization scheme made up of different committees can be proposed. An example is shown below.CoordinationTechnical SecretariatDissemination SecretariatLogistics SecretariatBased on this example, the main functions of each of the committees are described below:-The Coordination is in charge of the main aspects of the operation of the MTA, including the convocation of meetings, the planning of the year's sessions, the mobilization of resources, among others. The Coordination directs the other secretariats and maintains contact with the actors that make up the MTA. -The Assembly is made up of the members of the coordination together with the leaders of the secretariats and they evaluate the development of the MTA periodically. Being accountable to each task force is important to the effective functioning of the MTA. -The Technical Secretariat addresses the aspects related to the topics of climate and crops that are developed in the meetings of the MTAs. It should be made up of personnel from the meteorological services and the ministries of agriculture (or related personnel) to be able to analyze the impacts and recommendations derived from the predicted climatic conditions on the crops. This committee produces the agroclimatic bulletin. -The Diffusion Secretariat ensures the promotion of products derived from the MTA through the different media of the actors that are part of the MTA. -The Logistics Secretariat ensures the proper functioning of the MTA meetings, including the establishment and review of the event site or internet connections (in the event that the meeting is virtual), refreshments, sound equipment, among others.It is important to define with the participants, the geographical scope of the MTA -regional, departmental, municipal. Therefore, identifying the coverage of climate information from meteorological stations is a starting point. Before starting the first MTA, the facilitator must perform the following steps:1) Contact the meteorological service of your country, tell them about the MTA implementation initiative, make it part of the MTA.2) In the region or department in which the MTA process will be implemented, request the meteorological service for the location (coordinates and height) of the meteorological stations in that area with their respective metadata (temporality, date of installation, type of station, % of missing data).3) Through a geographic information system, a map must be generated with the administrative limits of the region, department, municipalities, and the location of the meteorological stations with their respective legend.When mapping crops and climate, it is important to distinguish the roles of women and men in agriculture, livestock and food security, and to include a discussion about the crops and agricultural activities for which each are responsible. Male and female farmers often have different domestic responsibilities, different roles in commercial and subsistence activities, and differ in their use of natural resources. As a result, they may participate differently in value chains and carry out different productive activities. For example, women often play primary roles in the value chains of crops and by-products destined for household subsistence (for example, food preparation and household food security).You will need a flip chart, plotters, or large printouts of the maps, multi-colored markers, and an attached sheet for each participating institution (Annex 3).According to the number of participants, create working groups in order to carry out an exercise to identify the main municipalities where the climate information generated by the MTA will be used for decision-making. Likewise, the work areas and actions of each participating institution must be identified. The main items (crops) and work topics will be identified at the community, municipal or departmental level, and the meteorological stations closest to their work areas. The results of this session will be presented in the plenary.In the plenary, the participants in each group should answer the following questions:• Where do I work (zones, municipalities)? Why do I work in these areas? What are the main productive items (crops) and activities? • Are there meteorological service stations near the municipality that I selected? Does my institution have stations?Where? • What problems do I have in these areas/crops related to climate? What information contained in the agroclimatic bulletin can help me with these problems? • What are the main sectors and activities in which women and men participate in the territory? Consequently, what are the main crops for which women and men are responsible in the territory? Once the participatory mapping has been carried out, it is suggested to be able to digitize it in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, for frequent use in the subsequent meetings of the MTA 19 .After finishing the MTA implementation meeting (STEP 1), you as a facilitator should do the following activities:• To form a technical committee, the main functions are the preparation of memory aids and agroclimatic bulletins, which are rotated by the members of the committee at each meeting. The criteria for the formation of this committee will take into account the role and motivation of the institutions identified in this first meeting. The committee will also be in charge of supporting the MTA facilitator with photos, meeting logistics (convocation, confirmation of attendance, meeting place), and attendance list.• With the information contained in the maps and the attached sheets, the MTA facilitator has the responsibility of digitizing the information and consolidating it into a final map. The above will be part of the memories of the first MTA.• Have the attendance list in digital format, create a mailing list of the participants, and a WhatsApp group to keep the members of the MTA informed about the latest news, events, and meeting dates, this group will only have a purpose to communicate information relevant to the objectives of the MTA.• Organize a work plan to present it at the next meeting, including the justification, importance, objectives, methodology, lines of action, organization, resources, and limitations.• Preparation of the agenda with the exhibitors, presentations, and dynamics. The agenda must contain the topic to be discussed and give the title to it, defining the order of presentation of the subtopics. The induction form generally consists of a welcome introduction to the MTA, followed by climate prediction presentations and agroclimatic analysis, participatory work, and conclusions and recommendations. The work schedule is built according to the needs and availability of resources.• The facilitator can be in charge of inviting participants as speakers to present their work in the region to the MTA or other people who can present related topics of interest to the MTA.• Generate a map of local actors (both with the institutions present and with others that did not attend the first meeting) based on Activity Sheet 1a, which allows the inclusion of new actors to the MTA in the following meetings. An example map is shown below. Step 2 How to present climate information: historical, monitoring and forecasting, and prediction?Photo: Ecohabitats Foundation -IDEAMStep 2 -How to present climate information: historical, monitoring and forecasting, and prediction?Throughout human history, milestones in civilization were marked by advances in our ability to observe and gather information. Our ancestors developed tools to measure distance, weight, volume, temperature, time, and place -each improved over time, and each was critical to the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers and city dwellers. As early as 6000 B.C., data on crop yields and fallow cycles were used to increase agricultural production and feed more people 20 .In the 21st century, we are experiencing an acceleration of this process. As data becomes more abundant and its storage cost falls, new technologies are providing scientists with cutting-edge tools that uncover valuable insights from vast amounts of data that take on more transformative characteristics. Therefore, farmers for many years have shared the challenge of learning to coexist with the climate to ensure and increase their agricultural production. This enormous challenge, added to climate variability, means carrying out adaptation and mitigation strategies, and joining inter-institutional efforts to develop research recommendations that generate useful, reliable and applicable solutions to improve decision-making. Upon completion of this step, MTA participants should understand the following concepts:1. Know and learn from the past climate: We need a good historical characterization and analysis from the climatic point of view. Therefore, we need to analyze the time series of the meteorological stations and their most relevant statistical metrics, ensuring the quality control of the information.Preventive measures can be taken, with good monitoring and forecasting of weather conditions; what is happening and where these alerts are turned on to make decisions in quasi-real time, for example when a plague or disease appears, which in a week can cause damage or even the loss of our crop. Therefore, we need to know the information products on a daily and weekly scale, as well as the real-time monitoring tools, which allow us to make short-term decisions. The MTA must take into account traditional territorial knowledge, and the customs, measurements and practices that women and men farmers use to observe the climate. Understanding local perceptions and knowledge of climate variability and change is critical for effective communication of weather and climate forecasts. For this, it is important that technical training processes are identified and generated with an emphasis on women, to improve their skills in these issues, and to sensitize men, so that the role of women is better developed.• Provide the participants with the climatic information of the area that they can use to reflect on the climate and its variability, compare it with the perception they have of the change, and its effects on the productive sectors (see Worksheets 2a and 2b).• Understand what are short-term forecasts and alerts, what are the tools and products that can be consulted to obtain this information and their usefulness (see Worksheet 2c).• Provide participants with weather forecasting, as well as the advantages and limitations in the use of the information, and its implications for decision-making (see Worksheet 2d).• Understand what climate change scenarios are and how they are generated, as well as the availability of projections based on the National Communications of the countries to evaluate and demonstrate their situation regarding climate change issues (see Worksheet 2e).• To apply a knowledge survey (e.g., using the mentimeter tool 21 ) to the participants about the concepts associated with these topics (climate information: historical, monitoring, forecasts and climate change scenarios).• That the MTA participants understand where the climatic information comes from, and the interpretation of the graphs and climatological maps with the annual precipitation totals, accumulated monthly and number of days with rain.• That the MTA participants know the tools and products of information available in the short term and alerts, so that they are better prepared to make decisions with the information available.• That the participants understand what a climate prediction is and how it is generated, as well as associated concepts such as: probability, terciles, analogs, uncertainty, verification and validation.• That the participants know the climate change scenarios generated for their country.Historical climate information is essential for the MTA approach. It is important that the participants know where this information comes from and how it has been collected, so that they can trust the forecast results presented later. Also, realtime station data will be the basis for monitoring and subsequently verifying weather and climate forecasts. Before convening the second MTA meeting, the facilitator must consider the topics to be discussed and the speakers for this meeting. Therefore, you should consider:• Meet with the meteorological service of your country to analyze the area's historical information and request that they present on it to the MTA. If that is not possible, explore with them the possibility of accessing the historical information products (maps) and the same historical climate series from the meteorological stations prioritized in Worksheet 1d.• Have a professional climate expert who can process the information from the meteorological stations, in the case that the information does not have a quality control process and the meteorological service cannot accompany the process (this is not the ideal situation).Before showing the historical information of the area, it is important that each MTA, in an internal exercise, identify the training topics, here are some suggestions that can be socialized:• Concept standardization: It is important to explain the differences between weather and climate, and to define climate variability and change, climatic variability scales, the meteorological elements.• Meteorological stations: Often times, the institutions through projects or donations install their own networks of weather stations, which when the project is finished are not sustainable. Many stations end up discontinued and all the effort that was made to build a history of climate on a local scale is lost. Therefore, it is important to give a talk about the role of weather stations, their classification, representativeness and sustainability over the years -normal weather, and advantages and disadvantages of the types of stations.• Quality control and filling in missing data: The use of historical data with sufficient quality and quantity is of vital importance to obtain results for crop modeling and climate prediction with the best possible evaluation of the associated uncertainties. It is common to find typographical errors, missing and/or atypical data, and trends in the weather series information, which necessitates running a tedious quality control process, estimating missing information and analyzing the series. It is important to show the processes of quality control and filling of missing data used according to the methods used in each country.• You will need the metadata sheet from the meteorological stations that are installed in the area with the following data: latitude, longitude, elevation, name of the institution to which it belongs, temporality of the series (number of years since installation), % of missing data. Likewise, you must ensure that you have the weather station's technical specifications and its current status.• You will need to give the MTA participants the climatology graphs (30 years) of the area stations for the available variables (rainfall, maximum temperatures) and the multi-year graphs for the entire available data series.1. When the speaker presents on the weather stations, pass out an example of the technical sheet for one of the stations in the area. Make sure that the participants understand:a. How to measure the most important variables, precipitation amount and temperatures with standard equipment. b. How the total rainfall and temperatures (maximum and minimum) are recorded daily, and if this information is collected manually or in real time.  It is important for participants to become familiar with the existing climate information in their area; however, they must also understand that what is the climatological normal, \"our history, the average\" is changing as a consequence of climate change.In this context, how many measures, planning strategies, or decision-making are based on waiting an average year? Crops are planted at certain times because on average the rain or temperature behave in such away. We plan for a year that will not exist! Therefore, the objectives of this step are:• Form working groups by productive systems according to the expertise of the participants in order to draw an agroclimatic calendar with the most representative agricultural activities in the area, carried out throughout the year (month by month).• With the historical series of the meteorological station in the area or the closest one (minimum 20 years), the participants will have the ability to identify the years of high and low rainfall, and relate them to the events of El Niño and La Niña, and in turn, analyze and rethink the calendar of agricultural, livestock and subsistence production when these events occur and what implications they have for activities.When forming discussion tables to develop agroclimatic calendars according to key sectors / crops, it is important to consider in which agricultural / livestock / subsistence activities women and men participate. This may mean: forming a specific focus group for a key crop or sector in which women play a leading role (for example, women can often participate significantly in small livestock production in cases in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia) and / or by making sure to identify those activities that women and men contribute to within each of the groups that are formed (for example, both women and men can play an important role in harvesting activities and post-harvest coffee in Nicaragua; however, men may be largely responsible for growing coffee).• You will need flip charts and colored markers to draw the agroclimatic calendar.• You will need to print out the precipitation maps for a characteristic El Niño and La Niña year, and NOAA's ONI Ocean Index 22 .• You will need a complete set of charts for the most recent weather station available. Make enough copies so that each participant has a set. Just as climate information is the basis for generating our agroclimatic bulletin, it is important for MTA participants to familiarize themselves with time (short-term) information 23 : what are the tools and products that they can consult to obtain this information, and how they can be useful in decision making? The real-time information from the meteorological stations or the maps that the meteorological services provide for the next days (1-10 days) is valuable information for decision-making in the agricultural sector, such as the preparation of tasks before planting, the application of fertilizers, specific tasks of the crop (drying of grains) or the control of pests and diseases.Therefore, having information from automatic weather stations with information close to real-time allows us to continuously monitor the daily conditions at key times of our cultivation as a monitoring tool. If we do not have information from automatic weather stations, we can consult tools such as radar information or satellite images, the latter as a key input for the era of precision agriculture. Therefore, the objectives of this step before ending the second meeting of the MTA are:• Meet with your country's meteorological service to learn about weather-related information products. It must be ensured that such information 24 is presented for each MTA.• Publicize the graphs of interest for agriculture with the daily data processed from the meteorological stations: variation of the beginning and end of the rainy season/season, duration of the rainy season, number of drought periods, duration of the drought period longer, extreme rains.• Make known what the weather is, its forecast, and the sources of consultation.• Introduce the concepts of waves (MJO), hurricanes and fronts, their forecast, and the sources for consultation.In this step, it is important to give a series of trainings to the MTA participants, here are some suggestions that can be socialized:• Make known what a satellite image is, how it is interpreted and where to consult this information in real-time.• Make known the operation of radar and how to interpret its information.You will need to provide the MTA participants with the variation graphs of the beginning and end of the rainy season/season, length of the rainy season/season, number of dry spells, length of the longest dry spell, extreme rains.1. If there is not enough time to discuss each of the graphs, ask participants to select the two or three graphs that they find most useful to discuss. Find a space where all the graphs can be displayed so that everyone can see and participate in the discussion.Ask the participants to answer the following questions based on the graph and their knowledge of the area:• When in the year does it rain more (first or second season)?• When in the year are days with rain more constant?• During which season do you plant your crops and what variables are the basis for this decision?Ask the participants to answer the following questions based on the graph and their knowledge of the area:• According to the graph, why does the rain start date vary each year?• What impact does a delay or advance in the rain start date have for your crops?• Is the graph useful, and how could you take advantage of it in your plans/options/decisions?Ask the participants to answer the following questions based on the graph and their knowledge of the area:• Which stages of your crop are the most sensitive to long periods of days without rain?• How many days without consecutive rainfall has an impact on your crop?• Is the graph useful, and how could you take advantage of it in your plans/options/decisions? 2. After the capacity building, and ensuring that the MTA participants know the concept of weather forecasting, its interpretation, and reference sources (web pages). Ask the weather expert to explain the consensus of the weather forecast for the next few days for the study area.3. Ask the participants to interpret a satellite image as an exercise and previously trained in the subject, the above will help them understand the satellite information when it is presented in the MTA or sent as part of the monitoring of daily conditions in the groups of broadcasts (e.g., MTA's WhatsApp group).Climate prediction is based on understanding the interactions that exist between the oceans and the atmosphere, which allow us to better understand the climate in a future time horizon 1 -3 months. Although climate variability is one of the main sources of risks in agricultural production (Fraisse et al., 2006), significant benefits have emerged from the use of weather forecasts and climate predictions as a fundamental tool to reduce the risks of agricultural production and support decision-making on planting, varieties, inputs, management, and others.By providing local information to small farmers translated together with extension services (Ortega Fernández et al., 2018), farmers are better prepared to protect themselves from extreme events and take advantage of good weather conditions. Therefore, the objectives of this third meeting of the MTA are:• Know the methodology and information products in the generation of climate predictions by the meteorological service of their country, ensuring that for each MTA said information is presented as the main input for the construction of the agroclimatic bulletin.• Make the participants of the MTA know what climate prediction is, how it is generated, dynamic statistical models for consultation of the forecast, and its sources of uncertainty.• Explain to the MTA in a didactic way and with clear examples the concepts of terciles, analogous years, probability, and uncertainty.Before convening the 3rd meeting of the MTA, the climate expert should ensure that the meteorological service has a retrospective assessment of the climate predictions for their region. Since the first question that arises in the MTA is how many times has the climate prediction been correct or wrong. For the above, see the article by Esquivel et al. (2018).• Bag with 10 balls of each color (red, green, blue)• You will give MTA participants an example historical series graph for the upcoming months, with the terciles defined.• You will pass out the graph of the accumulated precipitation for the historical series during the trimester in consideration• You will pass out the climate prediction based on probabilities for the next months to the participants.1. Using practical exercises, you will introduce the following concepts:Uncertainty: Show a still picture from a football game in action. Then ask the participants the following questions: Where is the ball now? Where will it be in 5 seconds? Who won the game? Why did they win? You can also perform a game dynamic called \"Where is Waldo\" 25 .In this exercise, participants need to understand how to minimize the risk from making bad decisions, which are chosen without knowing what the associated uncertainty is; decisions such as betting on a football game, investing in the stock market or knowing the prices for our harvested products in the market. In the dynamic of \"Where is Waldo\", the participants will follow a series of clues and then must identify Waldo. The objective of this dynamic is to make participants aware that forecasting is not a guessing process, but rather, that it is necessary to have \"clues/data\" in order to generate this information that is so relevant for decision-making.Probability: After exploring the concept of probability or the \"possibility of something happening\", this exercise with pingpong balls is performed. In order to understand the concept, 10 red, 10 green and 10 blue balls are placed in a bag, and the following questions are then asked to the participants: What is the probability that the first ball drawn is green? If the second ball drawn is red, what is the probability that the first ball was also red? Is there the same probability of extracting a red ball as green, if five red balls were already extracted from the bag?In this exercise, participants verify that the more information we have about the behavior of the data we want to forecast, fewer random answers will be given. In other words, more information generates more confidence about the forecast.With the example climate series graph, explain how the terciles were defined (Fig. 10). Give each participant a paper with the precipitation values from a reference month over the last 30 years from a meteorological station and ask him/her to calculate the terciles and generate the graph.Figure 16. Graph an example of terciles for a climatic series (above, normal or below normal).The analogue method aims to approximate years that experienced similar climatic conditions, both statistically and in dynamics for ocean-atmospheric processes. However, it is important to remember that this must be an exploratory method, since to find natural analogs, many years of data is needed. Now that the MTA participants have clarity on the concepts of climate prediction and its interpretation, you can pass out the climate prediction graph for the coming months and its reference source. It is important not to confuse the participants by presenting several sources of climate prediction, since the climate expert should present the final consensus (dynamic and statistical) of the prediction and its sources of uncertainty. You must ensure that the prediction information is available on the Web as an official source on the weather service page and is updated at least every three months as the main input for the agroclimatic bulletin. Some examples can be consulted in the Regional Climate Outlook Forums page 28 and on the page of the national meteorological services (e.g., Colombia -IDEAM 29 ).Recently IRI launched the Next Generation of Climate Predictions (NextGen) 30 , as a flexible and statistically calibrated forecasting system on seasonal time scales for key variables in sectors such as agriculture and food security. This new forecasting methodology validates models based on local experiences and climate data to provide more robust and adjusted forecasts for specific areas of interest with a maximized predictive ability adapted to the generated climate service.Although predictions have an element of uncertainty, particularly for longer periods of time, feedback with users suggests that it provides useful guidance in planning. Therefore, it is essential to establish a strong relationship between the generators of climate predictions and users to understand their needs.Climate change has become a major concern around the world and to adapt to its impacts, the expected changes must first be understood. In the context of climate, climate change scenarios are a simplified representation of the future climate, built from the investigation of the potential effects of anthropogenic activity (especially gas emissions). Future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the product of highly complex systems, determined by forces such as population growth, socio-economic development, or technological change. To estimate the effects that the emissions established by the scenarios have on the global climate, General Circulation Models (GCM; also known as Global Climate Models) are used. GCMs describe important elements and processes in the atmosphere, oceans, and the earth's surface. They are algorithms that simulate terrestrial processes on a global scale, based on a series of driving forces (population, economy, technology, energy, land use, agriculture). GCMs are considered the most advanced available tool that allows simulating the response of the planet as a consequence of GHG concentration. For more information, consult the IPCC assessment reports or Navarro-Racines et al. ( 2020)You will need to provide participants with copies of your country's climate change scenarios, either in terms of projected changes (known as anomalies) or in historical and future conditions of climate variables.Through group discussions, it is sought that the participants can interpret how the climatic variables (precipitation and temperature) will change in the future (usually 30, 50 years later) in the department, zone, region, or country where the development is taking place of the MTA.As an example, the Figure below shows the projected changes in the climate for the Republic of Honduras for precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature considering three future periods (rows) and seasons (columns) on the RCP 8.5 scenario 32 .Seasonal precipitation deficits are projected throughout the Honduran geography in the wettest quarter of the year (JJA), in comparison with 1981-2010 climatological normal, in the short, medium, and long term. For all other seasons, the trend is to increase, especially in the MAM quarter, which suggests that in the future the rains could start earlier in the year compared to normal conditions. Changes in precipitation fluctuate between -10% and + 20% with greater increases towards the center and south of the country, and deficits towards the Caribbean Coast. In the RCP 8.5 scenario, there is a marked projection towards a decrease in precipitation in all seasons of the year and in the accumulated annual. Step 3 -Crop information: agronomy and crop modelsAccording to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), agroclimatic services have become an essential tool to cope with changes in agricultural production due to the increase in variability associated with extreme events and climate change.For example, the dissemination of meteorological information converted into indexes of importance for agriculture allows the farmer to make tactical decisions for short-term crop planning in the different stages of cultivation that can translate into economic impacts such as reducing the application of chemical inputs for the control of a pest or disease or the efficient use of water resources. Regardless of the type of decision, it is important to improve understanding of the effects of weather and climate on crops to ensure the use of this information in an appropriate manner and at the right time.The use of crop models has advanced rapidly in the last 30 years with the goal of providing the equations that describe the plant physiology and how these processes are affected by the genotype, environment and agronomic management practices (Wheeler et al., 2007). For the use of these models, as with climate, a historical series of our study crop with important parameters that can be adjusted and verified is needed, as well as the opinion of the crop expert. To make the agroclimatic analyses, the climatic predictions become local agroclimatic predictions, with the support of the use of models and/or knowledge from the crop expert to answer the farmer's most frequent questions: What crop/variety can I sow? What will be the optimum date for sowing my crop? Will my crop have the necessary water to grow? What will be my crop's yield?At the end of this step, MTA participants should understand in this 3rd meeting of the MTA how to plan agricultural activities based on the availability of weather and climate prediction information and which type of climatic variables affect more my crop.• Participants generate a new planning calendar for their agricultural activities according to the given climate prediction for the coming months (see Worksheet 3a).• Know which are the most limiting climatic factors in the development of the crops present in the MTA, as well as their water requirements (see Worksheet 3b).• Participants understand how farming models work and their importance as a planning tool (see Worksheet 3b).When the participants know the climate information, the history has been analyzed, the present has been monitored, and how to interpret the climate prediction, they proceed to return to the agroclimatic calendar of activity 2b (working with the history), to discuss what changes would be made in the planning of the crops given the climatic prediction and that other types of climatic information (variables and scales) are relevant. Also, it is important to continue forming discussion groups that address the productive sectors and activities relevant to women and men. Therefore, the objectives of this step are:• Form working groups for productive systems according to the expertise of the participants to make adjustments to the agroclimatic calendar with the planning of agricultural activities given the climate prediction.• Discuss the requirements and demands for climate information for planning the next planting cycle.• You will need to revisit the historical agroclimatic calendars.• You will need flip charts and color markers to draw the new agroclimatic calendar.• You will need to print out the sheets with the climate forecast Process 1. At this point, it is important for all the participants to revisit together the concept standardization for the following concepts:• Adaptation and mitigation measuresBegin by circulating the climate prediction graphs for the next few months and ask the members to modify the agricultural, livestock or subsistence activity calendar based on the prediction. At the end of the agroclimatic calendar, select a representative from each group to come by and explain the calendar, with the following suggested questions for discussion:• What activities did we do differently with the crop, based on the prediction?• Which of the men and women's activities would be carried out differently, given the prediction?• What other variables and scales of climate information do I need to make decisions?Using the example of women involved in the production of livestock of minor species, heavy rain forecasts and floods might influence their decision to vaccinate their chickens. Consequently, what other variables and time scales of climate information could women and men need to make decisions?The results of the climate predictions are distributed among the participants so that they can define relationships with agricultural production factors. These results will also serve as input data for crop models that analyze different agronomic adaptation measures, in a changing climate. Deterministic local climatic predictions become local agroclimatic predictions, with support from climate-soil-water-management modeling (with CROPWAT 33 and AQUACROP 34 models, among others), to answer questions such as: What happens if I advance or delay my sowing date? How much and how often does my crop need water? (Fig. 14). Therefore, the objectives of this step are:• Know what the physiological stages of each crop are, and their water requirements.• That the experts in each crop report on the factors that limit production.• Give a presentation on applications for crop models and its importance as a planning tool.33 http://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-software/cropwat/es/ 34 http://www.fao.org/aquacropFor this step, it is important to give a series of trainings to MTA participants. Here are some suggestions to consider:Report on the methodology for translating the probabilities of climate prediction into deterministic scenarios based on the climatic history of the series.Report on what a crop model is and the parts that make it up.Carry out practice-run sessions with the CropWat and AquaCrop models (free access).• Pass out the monthly precipitation data of the last five years from the nearby station• You will need to give the participants a flip chart so that they can plot the phenological stages against the water requirements.• You will need to give participants a sheet on the crop model with the variables to complete each crop module.1. Water requirements: form groups based on crop expertise in which participants will plot the duration of the phenological stages for the crop and the ideal hydric requirements in millimeters. Then, participants will be given the monthly precipitation data of the last 5 years and they will choose a year of interest, which they will plot out against the ideal hydric requirements curve. Another interesting indicator is to count the number of days with rainfall in relation to each phenological stage.Figure 20. Graph of the water requirements of the bean crop compared to the real precipitation of a growing season and its associated number of days with rain in Santander, Colombia (\"Siembra\": sowing; \"floración\": flowering; \"formación de vainas\": pod formation; \"llenado de vainas\": pod filling).Ciclo del cultivo (días)With the use of the models, the sensitivity of crops to events such as El Niño, La Niña, or others that generate extreme conditions, in development (in critical phenological stages) and crop productivity is analyzed. This analysis allows defining adaptive measures aimed at better use and management of the available water resource.  AquaCrop is a crop growth model developed by FAO's Land and Water Division to address food security and assess the effect of the environment and management on crop production 35 . AquaCrop simulates the response of crop yield to water and is particularly well suited to conditions where water is a key limiting factor in crop production. To ensure its wide applicability, it uses only a small number of explicit parameters and, for the most part, intuitive input variables that can be determined by simple methods. For its implementation with historical weather and forecast data, CIAT-CCAFS has implemented some routines in the R language 36 , which are available through the AgroClimR package 37 .CROPWAT StepAccording to the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in the future, more and more demands are expected for agrometeorological information and services regarding agricultural technologies, systems and patterns, management water, and climate-based pest and disease control. Challenges will therefore include the need for a bottom-up approach to ensure that weather forecasts, early warnings, and climate prediction reach even smallholders so that they can apply this information in their planning and planning. the development of their agricultural activities.From the 4 th meeting onwards, there should be a portfolio of practices selected through multiple analytical and participatory processes that reflects the collective desire to promote a productive and climate-adapted agricultural sector. For these purposes, decisions must be made regarding the correct combination of traditional adaptation and mitigation strategies, farmer knowledge with science and technology, and appropriate policy environments.• Know how the portfolios of Climate-Smart agriculture (CSA 40 ) are generated with clear examples (see Worksheet 4a).• Generate the portfolio of measures for the MTA's areas of influence and analyze the bottlenecks for the implementation of the farmers' part (see Worksheet 4a).• Select adaptation and mitigation measures to promote with farmers given the climate prediction and climate change scenarios (see Worksheet 4b). This activity corresponds to the formulation of a portfolio of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices 41 , which is adjusted to the conditions of the territory in which the MTA is implemented. There are mainly two types of cSA practices and they correspond to short-term and medium or long-term measures. Short-term (operational) practices are those that can be implemented immediately or operationally in response to weather conditions, weather forecasts, or early warnings, with the aim of reducing or avoiding possible impacts on crops. An example of a short-term practice would be the selection of the sowing date for a short-cycle (early) bean variety, in response to weather or a sub-seasonal forecast of precipitation deficit.For their part, medium (tactical) and long-term (strategic) practices are those that respond to recurring events and permanently increase the resilience of production systems. An example of medium-term practices is the use of composting in dry areas with little retention of water in the soils since this measure has an immediate effect on the nutrition of the crop, but at the same time, with its recurrent use, the structure improves from the soil, allowing after a few growing cycles greater retention of water in the soil. Finally, an example of a long-term practice is the planting of trees as live barriers to break winds, in order to avoid the overturning of crops such as corn. This practice is long-term, since after the trees are planted their growth time is long, which means that the effects of the practice will be reflected on the crops several years later.Based on the previous explanation, the objective of this step is: to build a broad portfolio of short, medium, and long-term CSA practices for the different production systems, which must be constantly fed back among the different members of the MTA to include innovation practices that respond to climate challenges.You will need a projector for slide shows and the consolidation of an Excel sheet with the CSA measurement portfolio.1. Coordinate prior to the meeting of the first MTA with a representative of CCAFS, to give a presentation on the CSA practices and the three pillars on which they are based (climate adaptation, mitigation, and productivity/food security).2. Share with the participants the list of some CSA practices, as input to start the discussion and to provide feedback and enrich the portfolio.3. According to the number of participants, the institutions in which they work and/or the crops of interest in the area, divide into working groups of a maximum of 5 people. The objective is that together they review and discuss the proposed practices, with the aim of ruling out those that are not relevant for the region and include the new practices that emerge from the working groups.4. At the end, in the plenary, the groups will argue why they discarded some practices and why they included others, consolidating a local version of the portfolio of CSA practices, which will serve as input to develop short-term strategies according to weather forecasts or early warnings, medium and long term based on the climate prediction and climate change scenarios discussed in each MTA.5. As of the fourth session of the MTA, the portfolio of CSA practices may be updated, since over time it is likely that new innovative practices will be developed that will make production systems more resilient.This example is part of the framework for prioritizing CSA practices in the dry corridor in Guatemala (CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change et al., 2015) developed with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Guatemala (MAGA), with the aim of identifying, prioritizing and promoting agricultural practices or technologies that contribute to the achievement of the proposed objectives, through an integrated effort in three fundamental pillars: the strengthening of food security by means of increasing productivity in a sustainable way, increasing the adaptive capacity of farmers and lowemissions agricultural development through the reduction/elimination of greenhouse gases (mitigation). Below is a list of CSA practices that have been prioritized for various countries in the region, analyzing the contribution that one of them has to the three pillars -productivity, adaptation, mitigation, and a general description in which environmental conditions could be advisable to apply them. This list serves as a general reference to the portfolio of practices that can be adapted in the territories. However, the effectiveness of these may vary depending on the environmental, geographical, and socio-economic conditions of each particular site. The capture of rainwater that falls on the roof of homes in winter, to be stored and used for crops during dry seasons.It guarantees access to water, both for consumption and for irrigation. Increases the humidity of the farms, prevents soil from losing its nutrients.They help retain soil that is eroding.When the rains are heavy, they help drain the water. In the dry season they help to maintain the humidity of the crops.It consists of planting barriers with perennial species or that last more than a year, which must be planted following the level curves to avoid soil erosion. It promotes the capture of carbon from the soil and increases the content of organic matter in it.It allows the diversification of crops and increases income.The capture of rainwater that falls on the roof of houses in winter, to be stored in holes covered with plastic or waterproofed with clay and used for crops in dry seasons.They guarantee the water supply in periods of drought.By improving production in dry seasons, organic matter in the soil is increased.It makes it possible to increase production when applying irrigation.It focuses on not tilling or plowing the soil, sowing manually and directly into the ground, using tools such as hoe for soil preparation. Increases soil nutrients and reduces the use of fertilizers and pesticides.It allows increasing yields, diversifies the source of income, and optimizes space on the farm.Preparation and application of agroecological inputs for the integrated management of crop pests and diseases, and the fertilization of soils that are produced with local resources.Extended rain season Coffee Sugar cane Banana Plantain Vegetables NA They reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by the use of agrochemicals.costs. Generate cleaner food.The capture of rainwater that falls on the roof of houses in winter, to be stored in holes covered with plastic or waterproofed with clay and used both for harvesting fish and for irrigating crops.In dry periods, it allows irrigating crops. It can allow the introduction of new crops.When the water is used for irrigation, the waste generated by the fish is used as compost.In dry periods, it allows to harvest. Access to protein for families is improved.It consists of making good shade management in the coffee plantations to allow adequate entry of sunlight and the generation of a favorable microclimate for the crop. The contribution of the participants that make up the MTA is to seek and promote adaptation and mitigation measures in their territory in the production systems prioritized with the group of farmers and/or users of the agroclimatic bulletin, based on the climate predictions presented for the coming months and the climate change scenarios. In this step, joint solutions are proposed to the problems raised, ideas are discussed, decisions are made, regarding actions that contribute to reducing the impact of climatic anomalies and agroclimatic evaluations are presented. In Colombia, the above is done through groups of experts, by the production system, who discuss under the climate prediction given what will be the selected recommendations.The objective of this step is: given the portfolio of CSA practices identified for the region and crop of interest of activity 4a, select those response measures given the climate prediction that will be prioritized for the next production cycle and that will be part of the recommendations given in the construction of the agroclimatic bulletin. Also, consider those mitigation measures that will be prioritized in the long term given the climate change scenarios.• Pass out the printed portfolio of CSA practices developed in activity 4a• You will need flipcharts and colored markers for writingIn this activity, working groups are made with the participants of the MTA. The groups can be formed according to the competencies and knowledge of each participant and/or the entities they represent (for example, groups of soils, water, or crops). Each group has to answer the following questions:• What are the impacts (positive or negative) on the prioritized production systems given the climate prediction?• What adaptation measures or practices can I select given the climate prediction?• What mitigation measures or practices can I select given the climate change scenarios?• What recommendations would you give to farmers (women, men, from different social groups), given the weather forecast?• How to promote these practices in the region?Figure 24. Photo of the MTA in Cauca, during the analysis by thematic groups, on adaptation measures for the sector.Step 5Step 5 -Generation of the agroclimatic bulletin At the end of the 4 th meeting, there should be a draft of the agroclimatic bulletin that reflects the climatic information presented and the analyzes prepared in each of the steps of the MTA. It is important that after the MTA is carried out, in the following days (maximum one week) the agroclimatic bulletin is generated that will be sent to the MTA participants for their review and additions, and is finally published in a timely manner 42 .Build the agroclimatic bulletin summarizing all the points discussed during the MTA meeting.For the generation of the agroclimatic bulletin, the following structure is recommended:1. Cover page or header with a photo of the area according to the agricultural season, the newsletter edition number, the MTA region, and the date or effective date of the newsletter (e.g., August-September-October quarter).2. Logos of the institutions participating in the MTA, or at least of the coordinating institutions of the MTA.3. Weather information for the reference months (normal climatic conditions in the area) or a comparison of the forecast rains with the historical reference period.4. Diagnosis on the evolution and monitoring of the current meteorological phenomenon influencing the meteorological behavior (precipitation, temperature, wind) of the region (example the El Niño / La Niña phenomenon) or the Hurricane season.5. Optional: Verification of the climate prediction made in the previous meeting.Local weather forecast for the next few months based on the frequency of the MTA meeting. It is recommended to show it on simple maps or graphics and a textual explanation.7. Optional: Impacts of forecast weather conditions for each production system.8. Agronomic recommendations according to the criteria of the actors participating in the MTA (adaptation/mitigation measures for the crops of interest). In this step, it is important to ask for inputs such as photos of the crops that reflect the work of the institutions in the region. The length of this section depends on the number of prioritized crops in the MTA and the timing of the analyzes. 9. General MTA Information and Announcements.10. Contact information.Below is an example of an agroclimatic bulletin from the MTA of Chiapas in Mexico that contains all the points mentioned.The templates for preparing agroclimatic newsletters can be downloaded from the FigShare repository 43 .Photo: MTA Córdoba -Colombia Paso 6 -Dissemination of the agroclimatic bulletinIn addition to knowing relevant climate information for the future, it is necessary to look for agricultural management alternatives to adapt to such conditions and implement effective mechanisms that can be sustainable, always through a framework of effective communication with the farmer (Jones, 2003;Pulwarty et al., 2003). According to Podestá et al. (2002) and Bert et al. (2006), several conditions are needed for the effective use of climate predictions in improved decision-making:• The information must be relevant, translated and compatible with production decisions, arriving at appropriate times and with appropriate geographical and temporal resolution.• Different alternatives must be offered for decision-making in response to climate predictions, and these must provide results under different climate scenarios.• Decision-makers can evaluate (e.g., economically) the results of these alternative actions.• Decision-makers are willing to adopt climate adaptive management in a complex decision-making context.Podestá et al. ( 2002) emphasize that a key element that facilitates the use of climate forecasts, is a system of decision support tools to evaluate the impacts of the alternatives implemented. In addition, translated information that comes from reliable sources such as agricultural extension service agents or technical advisors is more likely to be taken into consideration. In a field study, Patt et al. (2005) show that subsistence farmers who apply forecasts for several years to make decisions significantly improve their harvests. They also show that farmers who have attended brief participatory workshops and learned more about forecasts are significantly more likely to use them than farmers who learned about forecasts through non-participatory channels.Gender-based factors can influence women and men to have different access to communication channels. For example, limited finance can often prevent women from owning ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and communication assets, such as cell phones and radios. In addition, due to differences in literacy, technical knowledge and levels of schooling, men may be better able to interpret ICT formats (Gumucio et al., 2018b). Household responsibilities may also limit the time available for women to listen to agricultural radio programs (Gumucio et al., 2018c).The group participants are responsible for disseminating the agroclimatic technical information generated in the MTAs, focused on the needs of farmers, which facilitate decision-making and risk management in the agricultural sector.A crucial element of the MTA is to generate agroclimatic information and then to disseminate that information among institutions, extension services, farmers, and other relevant local and regional actors who could make good use of the information provided. For this, different means of communication are used, such as the press, radio and social network services such as emails and WhatsApp groups, these means serve to disseminate the information carried out by the MTA, Other diffusion mechanisms include forums, seminars and workshops. It is important that the MTA consider the preferences of male and female farmers. This involves taking advantage of the different types of locally relevant information sources and available formats (e.g., SMS messages, radio, weatherboards, influencers). It can also be helpful to identify key contacts in the community. For example, women who own their own cell phones can share the information received with other family and friends. Similarly, interventions should ensure that the use of ICTs or media devices is compatible with women's livelihood activities and/or saves time. Bear in mind that sociocultural norms and institutions regarding interactions between women and men, space, and mobility can limit women's participation in groups where information on the climate is shared. Including women's groups as channels of communication can be an important way to respond to these challenges. Women \"communicators\" can also facilitate women farmers' access to key agroclimatic information. possible, to reservoirs with plastic cover. The proposed design consists of taking advantage of the water from the roofs of houses and other infrastructure, collecting it through channels made from longitudinal sections of 6\" PVC pipes, to collect it in a plastic tank (see photo) whose surplus can be in turn, collected in reservoirs to be used mainly as a source of irrigation in times of drought. 2 Measure the length of the channels, if they are more than 6 meters, you have to glue two pipes using a 6 \"PVC union.3 Glue two 6 \"tubes together, keeping in mind that the markings on the tubes match. This will help guide the cut.4 Mark the opposite side to the signs using a seeding, (thread impregnated with some dye) to obtain a straight cut. If you prefer, mark the tubes on both sides.5 Trim 6 \"tubes lengthwise to obtain two channels.6 Fabricate multiple channels supports using a 3/8 \"rebar.7 Firmly secure the initial and final support of each cover, allowing for a slight unevenness for the water to flow to where it will be collected.8 Pass an indicator wire between the two supports to help you secure the other supports and avoid unevenness in the carcasses.9 Mount the channels loosely so that adjustments can be made.10 With the help of the 3 \"elbows and unions, assemble the water collection system from the carcasses. This tube should go up to the 1000-liter tank.11 Cut out the inlet and overflow hole for the 3 \"tubing at the top edge of the tank.12 Install the tank drain plug.13 Assemble the tank overflow system defining the final disposition of the water.Small producers group represents 80% of agricultural holdings in Latin America and up to 67% of total regional food production. Even so, there is very little information on the contribution of their production systems to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or how small producers can mitigate these emissions or sequester carbon, and at the same time receive benefits for it.The objectives of assessing the mitigation potential are:• Model the Green House Gases (GHG) emissions of the main production systems of the MTAs• Determine the mitigation potential of the different adaptation strategies generated in the agroclimatic bulletins of the MTAs through GHG modeling.• Identify which systems or practices within the MTAs generate the greatest contributions to GHG emissions.• Identify GHG sinks or systems with the potential to store carbon.• Model GHG emissions from different adaptation scenarios based on MTAs considering the prioritization criteria of climate-smart agriculture (CSA).Through carbon calculators such as Cool Farm Tool 46 , the aim is to identify activities within farms that may have a mitigation opportunity or potential for carbon sequestration. Likewise, it seeks to measure the implicit effect that some adaptation strategies have to mitigate GHG in agricultural systems. Some of the initial results applied in the CCAFS Climate-Smart Village (CSV) in Latin America are: important changes in some management practices within the farms, such as:1. Suspension of waste burning.2. Adequate management of crop residues.3. Reduction of deforestation.4. Diversification of crops with an organic approach.5. Increase in reforestation (living fences and shade crops associated with coffee).Changes in the aforementioned practices can have a significant impact on GHG emissions, and the results will show a positive balance regarding the mitigation potential.Step 8Photo: CIAT Honduras Paso 8 -Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the transformations generated by the MTA How do we know if the Local Agroclimatic Technical Committee fulfills its purpose? Undoubtedly, the MTA constitutes a successful advance in the \"landing\" of agroclimatic information at the local scale as a model in Latin America to support the provision of timely, accessible, and useful climate services to support decision-making in the agricultural sector. However, the challenge persists of how this agroclimatic information that is generated in the MTA through the agroclimatic bulletin has generated changes in knowledge, practices, and attitude towards new decision-making. Therefore, it is important to apply structured and systematic monitoring and evaluation (M&E) instruments that can provide feedback to the MTA in each context. In addition, the M&E results allow showing the effectiveness of the MTA to donors and stakeholders, securing more funding (e.g., public funds), and collaboration.What is evaluation?Monitoring 47 is a continuous follow-up (several measurements over time) based on collecting shortterm information from the MTA process. Its purpose is to determine if the expected indicators have been achieved so that actions can be taken and feedback to the process as quickly as possible.We can use various monitoring instruments: attendance lists, online surveys, phone calls, focus groups, or short interviews.Evaluation 48 means finding out if the MTA has achieved the objectives proposed in its process, once all the steps are implemented. The evaluation is a medium-term process that can be executed at least once a year (one measurement in time)We can use several evaluation instruments: Harvest of scopes, participatory evaluation, case studies, ex-ante evaluation -------\"A Good evaluation will depend on good monitoring\" -------Therefore, the first step in monitoring is to digitally compile the MTA attendance lists (see Annex 2) to graphically generate the network of institutions that have participated in the different steps of the MTA. The second step consists of applying a short online survey at the beginning of each MTA (see Annex 4) to consider with the participants the following questions:1. Characterization of crops and climate, to identify the main agricultural systems in each region as well as the most recurrent problems associated with climatic variables.2. Perception of the quality of climate information, which seeks to identify the degree of understanding and confidence in the climate information that is presented in the MTA.3. About the agroclimatic bulletin, which seeks to understand the scope of the agroclimatic information disseminated through the MTAs in terms of a number of users, as well as the perception about the relevance of the agricultural recommendations that are incorporated in the bulletins.4. Suggestions, both from the agroclimatic bulletins and from the dynamics of the MTA meetings (virtual and/or faceto-face).The first application of the survey is carried out after the MTA has published its first agroclimatic bulletin and then systematically in subsequent meetings. In this way, constant on-site monitoring is achieved. The structured survey includes closed multiple-choice questions that mainly cover aspects related to the needs, problems, and preferences of users and open questions to obtain additional details of the perception of users that allow improving the way in which the meetings of the company are conducted. company. are carried out. MTA and agroclimatic bulletins are developed. If monitoring cannot be completed with the online survey, consider making phone calls to the participants to complete the survey.• Compile the attendance lists of the MTA and, with a network approach, analyze the size, connectivity, and characteristics of the network configuration of the participating institutions.• Carry out follow-up surveys with the instrument in Annex 4, to show changes in knowledge and adoption of new methodologies or tools, as well as the systematic dissemination and scope of the agroclimatic bulletin.• Provide guidelines for generating a scoping assessment of the MTA through a harvest of scopes that are necessary if the MTA has been in effect for more than two years.Below are some monitoring and evaluation results of the MTA, if you want more information, we recommend you go to the reference documents or contact the authors of this Manual.1. Network analysis: Through the attendance lists and the categorization of the institutions, it is possible to do a network analysis like the one shown below. Here are some results of the systematization graphs of the monitoring surveys:   This methodology allows collecting scopes of different levels generated in the implementation of the MTAs. From the documentation and organization of the information, interviews, and field visits, the theory of change emerges that helps to collect evidence of the transformations generated. During 2019, an analysis process was carried out on the transformations generated by the Local Agroclimatic Technical Committee (Giraldo Mendez et al., 2019), in the territories in which they have been established during the last 6 years. The study focuses on observable changes in agricultural communities, organizations, or institutions that have modified their actions, relationships, policies, and practices in four Latin American countries. Five areas of transformation have been identified.If you are interested in evaluating the transformations generated by the MTA, we recommend that you read the document by Giraldo Mendez et al. (2019) where the Outcome Harvesting approach has been used, a methodology developed to evaluate programs and projects in complex contexts (Blundo-Canto et al., 2017). The scope is defined as the observable changes of individuals, communities, organizations, or institutions that have modified their actions, agendas, relationships, policies, practices of one or more actors in the context where the MTA is developed.  ","tokenCount":"14313"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3880168122.json b/data/part_1/3880168122.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..514250281ea0a38630b92c0958aec7e779bbfd6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3880168122.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6491d30b6fd88110f9480c705bc6741f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d54ba9d2-f934-4172-821d-2b1067ebe0a2/retrieve","id":"-1775519558"},"keywords":["CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security","The CGIAR Initiative on Fragility","Conflict and Migration","The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT"],"sieverID":"7e976e65-d65c-4709-bc58-29528622597e","pagecount":"20","content":"Increasing climate and conflict-related displacement in fragile or conflictaffected states threaten human security and sustainable development around the world. As forced displacement increases and becomes more protracted in length, destination areas-where displaced and host communities often have low adaptive capacity and live side by side, sharing resources related to land, food, and water systems-are particularly exposed to human security risks. Here, demographic pressures can put pressure on public services and infrastructure, identity-based and political tensions can lead to violent conflict, and poor access to finance can lower the opportunity costs for individuals to engage in violence or join non-state armed groups. Thus, targeted research is needed to explore how interventions aiming to support climate resilience in destination areas also address risks across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Solutions intended to urgently meet the basic needs of households facing humanitarian crises must also support long-term sustainable development and be implemented in conflict-sensitive ways. To understand how climate resilience interventions address risk across the HDP nexus, we have developed a mixed-method approach of assessing recently completed or ongoing interventions in destination areas. It involves a medium-scale human security index survey of intervention participants (n=200), supplyside key informant interviews with the intervention design, implementation, and evaluation teams, demand-side key informant interviews that use most significant change and positive deviance approaches to understand the enablers of adversely positive outcomes, and a quantitative assessment of how well the intervention addresses local drivers of conflict and instability (Climate Security Sensitivity Tool).Increasing climate and conflict-related displacement in fragile or conflictaffected states (FCAS) threatens human security and sustainable development around the world. Globally, 490 million chronically food insecure people live in FCAS, where climate's impact further increases the risk of conflict and displacement (Läderach et al. 2021). In 2022, the number of people living in conditions of internal displacement reached the peak of 71.1 million, with year-on-year increases in both conflict (17%) and disasterrelated displacement (45%) (IDMC 2023). With global warming expected to reach upward of 1.5°C by 2100, severe impacts on land, water and food systems are likely to have a negative impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions, if not billions of people worldwide (IPCC 2022). Similarly, increasingly frequent and severe rapid-onset (storms, flooding, etc.) and slow-onset (drought, sea level rise, etc.) hazards will contribute to humanitarian crises driven by malnutrition, forced displacement, and conflict around the world, threatening human security, sustainable development, and peaceful stability (Läderach et al. 2021).While the specific impacts climate, mobility, and conflict are locally contextual, it is broadly recognized that climate, mobility, and conflict are inter-related and able to negatively reinforce one another, leading to a \"vicious circle\" of climate-related insecurity (Buhaug and von Uexkull 2021). As forced displacement increases and becomes more protracted in length, destination areas-where displaced and host communities often have low adaptive capacity and live side by side, sharing resources related to land, food, and water systems-are particularly exposed to human security risks. Here, demographic pressures can put pressure on public services and infrastructure, identity-based an political tensions can lead to violent conflict, and poor access to finance can lower the opportunity costs for individuals to engage in violence, or join non-state armed groups (Savelli et al. 2023).Thus, targeted research is needed to explore how interventions aiming to support climate resilience in destination areas also address risks across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. solutions intended to urgently meet the basic needs of households facing humanitarian crises must also support long-term sustainable development and be implemented in conflictsensitive ways.The methodology presented below has been formulated as part of the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM), which addresseschallenges to livelihoods, food, and climate security in fragile and conflictaffected settings, where mobility-related challenges are prevalent (Kosec, Läderach, and Ruckstuhl 2023). By taking a systems approach and working in partnership with local stakeholders, national partners, and international organizations, FCM seeks to generate evidence to inform effective policies and programs that promote social and gender equity, climate resilience, conflict mitigation, and peacebuilding in fragile settings. Within FCM, the STABILIZE work package focuses on evaluating policies and programs that seek to stabilize livelihoods by promoting food and nutrition security; poverty reduction and resilience; social cohesion and government accountability; and gender equity and inclusion.To understand how climate resilience interventions address risk across the HDP nexus, we have developed a mixed-method approach of assessing recently completed or ongoing interventions in destination areas. Methods are oriented toward answering the research question:To explore resilience, the research team has expanded the definition used the in Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) (UNDRR 2015) to focus more on agency and transformative adaptation. The Sendai Framework defines resilience as \"the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management\" (UNDRR 2015). However, UN and similar operational definitions of resilience can fail to capture the full scope of what the term means to those facing hazards or conceal how the concept is used to legitimize and strengthen the organizations defining it. This often results in technocratic (Quandt 2016), depoliticized interventions (Manyena 2014) that are detached from the social-ecological aspects of resilience (Talubo, Morse, and Saroj 2022) and focus more on humanitarian response than sustainable development or positive peace. Thus, we define resilience as the agency of individuals and groups to achieve wellbeing by anticipating, withstanding, recovering from, and transformatively adapting to socio-ecological changes. By agency, we mean \"the ability to define one's goals and act upon them\" in line with \"the meaning, motivation and purpose [that] individuals bring to their [activities]\" (Kabeer 1999, 438). In this sense, resilience aligns with theories that equate sustainable development with the expansion of human freedom (Sen 1999). By anticipating, we mean the ability of individuals and groups to understand and effectively prepare for socio-ecological changes before their occurrence. Withstanding relates to the adaptive capacity of individuals and groups to mitigate the negative impacts of socio-ecological changes during their occurrence. Recovery is the ability of individuals and groups to return to an initial state of wellbeing after the impact of a socio-ecological change. Finally, transformative adaptation builds on (Few et al. 2017) and (Hellin et al. 2022) to mean actions that address the root causes of vulnerability by catalysing systems transformation. In other words, transformative adaption refers to \"a process of societal and environmental change where different actors work in concert to change collectively a system towards greater sustainability\" (Hellin et al. 2022, 1). Thus, transformative adaptation is concerned with more than just day-to-day survival; it is oriented toward thewholesale reconfiguration of social-ecological systems for greater sustainability and revolutionary capacity. Acknowledging that that resilience is a subjective notion that will mean different things to different people (Jones and Tanner 2017), we intend our definition not to serve as an objective benchmark, but as a conceptual mirror against which to compare and contrast local notions of resilience that emerge from intervention participants' values, knowledge, and experiences (Jones and d'Errico 2019).Building on outcomes from the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, in 2018, the United Nations Working Group on Transitions and Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Strengthening the Humanitarian-Development Nexus in Protracted Settings communicated a \"New way of working\" across the humanitarian-development-peace-nexus (United Nations Working Group on Transitions and Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Strengthening the Humanitarian-Development Nexus in Protracted Settings 2018). Acknowledging the increasingly protracted nature of both crises and displacement, the Working Group and Task Team acknowledged the need for \"preventing and resolving conflicts and crises, reducing risk, building resilience … and sustaining peace by addressing the root causes of conflicts\" (United Nations Working Group on Transitions and Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Strengthening the Humanitarian-Development Nexus in Protracted Settings 2018, 3). This is meant to be achieved through \"greater interoperability among humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding activities, plans, and programmes\" (United Nations Working Group on Transitions and Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Strengthening the Humanitarian-Development Nexus in Protracted Settings 2018, 3).While this has led to a cultural shift among key actors in the sector, many challenges remain in aligning objectives, programming, and finance along the HDP nexus. Firstly, the four core humanitarian principles-humanity, neutrality, impartiality (UN General Assembly 1991), and independence (UN General Assembly 2004)-may, in some cases, exacerbate the root causes of conflict, which \"often stem from violations and neglect of human rights, including inequality, persistent discrimination, impunity and violence\" (United Nations Working Group on Transitions and Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Strengthening the Humanitarian-Development Nexus in Protracted Settings 2018, 3). In other words, the provision of humanitarian relief may need to be performed in collaboration with the very actors who are driving conflict. This points to the difference between peacebuilding (associated with positive peace and creating the foundations for long-term collaboration between conflicting parties), and peacekeeping (associated with negative peace, by simply ceasing the occurrence of violence) (ALNAP 2023). Similarly, the aim of humanitarian relief-to provide emergency support that satisfies the basic needs of those affected by natural disasters or complex crises, such as armed conflicts-does not always support the longer-term goals of peacebuilding or sustainable development. A common reaction has been the promotion of \"self-reliance\" strategies, which largely place the onus of building resilience on individuals themselves (Davoudi 2017). Such responses often ignore the social, ecological, economic, and political systems that marginalize people and work against sustainable development and peacebuilding (Nguya and Siddiqui 2020). This can lead to dissatisfaction among participants, who feel exploited by humanitarian interventions that are designed and implemented without their input (O'Byrne 2022). Finally, funding for HDP initiatives is often short-term and unreliable (ALNAP 2023). Thus, while an emergency funding appeal may generate resources for rapid humanitarian relief, these funds often dry up in the medium-long term, undermining sustainable development and peacebuilding in the wake of a crisis (Mena et al. 2022). Similarly, funds for sustainable development remain siloed from those earmarked for humanitarian relief or peacebuilding, and generally flow toward stable contexts less vulnerable to disasters or conflict (Scartozzi, Savelli, and Caroli 2022). A mixed-method survey will be deployed to reach a sample size of approximately 200 intervention participants. The survey will use a maximum variation sampling to capture a diverse range of participant experiences and perceptions. The survey will build on Adger et al. (2021) and Le et al.(forthcoming) to construct a Human Security Index for respondents, against which subjective experiences of the intervention and resilience itself will be measured.Survey Section 1 employs a range of demographic questions to categorize participants according to gender, age, ethnicity, income, and other relevant socio-economic markers. In Survey Section 2, a Human Security Index is constructed to serve as the independent variable. Here, \"human security\" is defined as a set of environmental, economic, and social variables that affect individual wellbeing. The original dimensions of human security, formulated by Adger et al. (2021) to examine the human security of urban migrant populations, have been modified by Le et al (forthcoming) and the research team to better address the concerns of rural populations. Additional questions are employed to categorize respondents as having a low, medium, or high level of human security based on their answers.In Survey Section 3, respondents are asked a series of questions about their experience of the intervention, which will function as the dependent variable. Specifically, the questions probe perceptions of how well the intervention has addressed issues of resilience, as defined by the research team (see Section 2.2 Resilience). Here, respondents have an opportunity to express their perceptions regarding the degree to which the intervention has succeeded in helping them to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and transformatively adapt to socio-ecological changes.Finally, Survey Section 4 provides space for respondents to elaborate on resilience-related issues or areas of importance that the intervention failed to address. An open question asks participants to articulate an individual notion of subjective resilience to be compared against a) the research team's definition of resilience, and b) notions of resilience offered by other respondents.While Section 2 will illuminate human security levels post-intervention, Sections 3 and 4 will help parse the extent to which these levels can be regarded as outcomes of the intervention. A matrix analysis will assess how the intervention was perceived by and (may have) contributed to the resilience of participants with varying levels of human security. Additionally, by comparing intervention-related outcomes across various social groups (disaggregated by gender, age, income, location of origin, etc.), we aim to enable an intersectional assessment of which community members benefited most and least from the intervention.To complement quantitative results from the survey and CSST (see Section 3.4, below), semi-structured key informant interviews (KIIs) are conducted with the intervention team and community leaders. Semi-structured interviews will be employed as they are useful for exploring complex behaviours, opinions, and emotions across a broad spectrum of experiences (McIntosh and Morse 2015). The interview questionnaire will consist of (mandatory) leading questions and (optional) supplementary inquiries. In this way, the questionnaire will ensure flexibility and allow for a conversational style (J.Rubin and S.Rubin 2005).Where the intervention team is defined as those responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating the intervention, community leaders often play a pivotal role in facilitating access to communities connecting the implementing organization with participants. The KIIs will elicit information on how the intervention's design, implementation, and evaluation team, and community leaders conceptualize resilience and sought to incorporate it into the intervention. Separate questionnaires are used for the intervention team and community leaders as their perspectives are likely to differ. The qualitative data generated by these KIIs will be compared against quantitative data from the CSST and survey to construct a more comprehensive understanding of how subjective notions of resilience have influenced the intervention's efficacy.A series of semi-structured interviews employing most significant change and positive deviance approaches are then performed with intervention participants to understand how and why certain individuals may have experienced disproportionately positive outcomes because of the intervention, as well as how to scale these outcomes to additional participant groups. Extreme (or deviant) case sampling, a form of purposive sampling, are employed to isolate intervention participants who have experienced significantly better outcomes compared to the mean. These participants will be identified through interactions of the research team with community participants and in consultation with the research partners.Most significant change is a narrative evaluation technique that explores how an intervention is experienced by participants (Tonkin et al. 2021).Positive deviance aims to identify individuals who have experienced relatively better outcomes because of a project or intervention, identify the uncommon practices or enabling factors that led to this disproportionately positive outcome, and devise ways of scaling these practices or enablers to a larger group of participants (Marsh et al. 2004). By combining these two approaches, we will employ a dual-pronged strategy to 1) understand participants' experiences of the intervention generally and in relation to various outcomes (positive, negative, no change), and 2) drill deeper into the experiences of those with positive outcomes to identify ways of improving future interventions, or new iterations of the one at hand.The questionnaire includes two sections, one for each aspect of the dualpronged approach. The first section employs a most significant change methodology adapted from Davies and Dart (2005) to define \"domains of change\" through the intervention reporting period, collect significant change stories, and feedback the stories to the respondent for verification. This section is semi-structured, enabling respondents to narrate experiences of the intervention through storytelling. Domains of change are broadly defined categories-change in practice, change in attitude, change in knowledge, and change in interactions with community-that facilitate subjective interpretations of intervention outcomes. However, additional types of dimensions of change-i.e., changes in capacity, risk, etc.-may also be identified and explored.The second section employs a form of positive deviance inquiry adapted from Shafique et al. (2016). The questionnaire explores a) positive behaviours, b) determinants at an individual, household or community level enabling these positive behaviours, and c) challenges to change and how they are addressed. Positive behaviours are changes in practice, attitudes, and interactions with the community adopted by selected participants that seemingly enabled them to better anticipate, withstand, recover, and transformatively adapt to environmental change, conflict, and climate shocks. Analysis of positive deviance data enables us to identify not only the positive behaviours that enabled individuals to improve their resilience, but also what conditions are necessary, and which challenges must be addressed to scale positive outcomes to new groups or contexts in future interventions.Finally, the Climate Security Sensitivity Tool (CSST) is used to asses conflictsensitive and peace-responsive climate action in climate action interventions (Sarzana et al. 2023). The CSST is a means for governmental and non-governmental organization change agents to support rural communities to adapt to climate change while reducing an intervention's potential for conflict and maximizing social cohesion. The CSST is deployed in a participatory manner, during a 90-minute meeting where the research and intervention teams populate the tool together and discuss its outputs.A They can be conceptualized as the means through which conflict drivers can be addressed to attain climate-resilient peace. These conflict drivers are identified using indicators and assessed at various geographic levels based on a set of pre-defined potential conflict and insecurity drivers. Contextual conflict and insecurity indicators include weak infrastructure (health systems, connectivity, physical infrastructure), weak institutions (governance, disaster risk reduction), socio-economic drivers (development and deprivation, inequality, aid dependency), vulnerable groups (uprooted people, food insecurity, shock sensitivity, health conditions), natural hazards (floods and droughts probability), and human hazards (conflicts probability). Indicators are assessed on a scale from 0 to 10, with risk threshold values differing between drivers, including very low-, low-, medium-, high-and high-risk values (Marin-Ferrer, Vernaccini, and Poljansek 2017).The CSST is composed of two steps: the context definition and the climate action scoring system. Implementing the first component results in the projection of the ideal set of climate-peace mechanisms for the selected context, while the second component provides the set of mechanisms currently delivered by the program design. Visually aligning these two sets allows practitioners to re-define their intervention to match the ideal mechanisms and prioritize their intervention components.In context definition, location-specific information (country -regionmunicipality) is provide and enables risk indicator scores to appear. Indicators are sourced from the Joint Research Centre's INFORM risk, with risk-level thresholds varying between categories (Marin-Ferrer et al., 2017). These risk threshold classes provide a weight of severeness of the drivers of conflict and insecurity. Drivers featuring very high risk are assigned a weight of 5, high risk is assigned a weight of 4, medium risk is assigned a weight of 3, low risk is assigned a weight of 2, and very low risk is assigned a weight of 1. Through the Climate Peace Framework, drivers have been linked with climate-peace mechanisms; a climate-peace mechanism is assumed able to negate one corresponding driver of conflict and insecurity. A list of conflict/insecurity drivers and their counteracting climate-peace mechanisms is outlined in Table 2, below.Risk severity coefficients affect the score of the mechanisms they have been linked to: when a driver features high risk, the mechanisms that are linked to it get a higher relevance score, while when the driver features low risk, its related mechanisms become less relevant. Relevance scores for each climate-peace mechanism are projected on a spider chart on a percentage scale informing users of the ideal scores for the selected context. This chart allows practitioners to identify the programmatic areas that require more attention -higher percentage scores -to prevent conflicts and contribute to peacebuilding.Next, the climate action scoring system defines the extent to which the intervention addresses each climate-peace mechanism. In this step, the user scores the proposed climate-adaptation intervention across the submechanisms within each climate-peace mechanism. Examples are provided for the user to get an understanding of the characteristics a climateadaptation intervention must have to address each sub-mechanism. A submechanism can be scored with either a 1, a 0.5, or a 0: a score of 1 can be added when a sub-mechanism is completely addressed, a score of 0.5 when the sub-mechanisms is partly or indirectly addressed, and a score of 0 when the sub-mechanism is ignored. These scores are then averaged for each mechanism and visualized on a spider chart with percentage scale. The percentage scores communicate how well an intervention addresses each climate-peace mechanism. Sample spider charts, based on a climate-smart village intervention in Nyando, Kenya, are provided below.Based on the percentage results of the two spider charts, the extent to which a climate action intervention addresses local climate-peace mechanisms is assessed. If a mechanism scores very high in the ideal conditions chart, it should also score high in the chart illustrating mechanism scores delivered by the program design. When this is not the case, it is inferred that programmatic features must be added to better address this mechanism.The research team views the intervention assessment process as a means of developing close working relationships with implementing organizations on the frontlines of displacement-related crises. As such, results from the above exercises will be synthesized into a single report of approximately 30 pages. Its target audience will be HDP practitioners-specifically intervention designers, implementers, and evaluators-who we hope will integrate its findings into ongoing or future interventions. Though firmly grounded in scientific discourse and the result of rigorous methodological implementation, our findings and recommendations will be presented in easily digestible language. Although we will identify gaps and shortcomings in existing programming modalities, outputs will be presented in a collaborative, constructive manner. We aim for the report to be co-branded and disseminated through at least one (but potentially several) online seminars with relevant stakeholders in the partner organization.As greater attention and resources are devoted to interventions supporting the resilience of populations affected by protracted crises and displacement, intervention-level assessments are needed to ensure that programming modalities achieve objectives across the entire humanitarian-developmentpeace nexus. To accomplish this, a four-step methodology has been developed for assessing ongoing or recently completed climate action interventions in destination areas. It involves a medium-scale human security index survey of intervention participants (n=200), supply-side key informant interviews with the intervention design, implementation, and evaluation teams, demand-side key informant interviews that use most significant change and positive deviance approaches to understand the enablers of adversely positive outcomes, and a quantitative assessment of how well the intervention addresses local drivers of conflict and instability (Climate Security Sensitivity Tool).Interventions targeting resilience across the HDP nexus face a variety of conceptual, operational, and financial challenges, and, thus, we expect to identify significant gaps within the interventions we assess. While the assessments will be rigorous, our aim is not simply to critique those operating on the frontlines of displacement-related crises, but to clearly identify entry points for strengthening intervention design and implementation. Ultimately, resilience stems from communities rather than external actors. Although governments, UN agencies, and NGOs have a role to play in supporting community-led resilience, programming is no substitute for a well-organized, agentic, empowered populace. Thus, we expect interventions that deeply involve participants in design and implementation to be assessed highly, and those that don't to exhibit the most opportunities for improvement. This work was carried out with support from the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience, and the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: https://www.cgiar.org/funders/","tokenCount":"3892"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3900288967.json b/data/part_1/3900288967.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5405ee72b8f476059863e590dde78d4a72e79106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3900288967.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"70191673a396364b963208122fdda76e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e29bf8e1-9b75-4824-83b2-8dea3f4d9a7d/retrieve","id":"1438548215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91c7694c-1963-4490-8603-6844980b901c","pagecount":"56","content":"Survivor -A survivor is a person who has experienced the SEA/SH incident in the context of this GM.Vulnerable Groups-individuals and groups, who by virtue of gender, ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, economic disadvantage, sexual orientation and gender identity, or social status may be more adversely affected by a Project than others and who may be limited in their ability to claim or take advantage of development benefits.Consultation -The process of gathering information or advice from stakeholders and taking these views into account when making project decisions and/or setting targets and defining strategies.Engagement -A process in which a company builds and maintains constructive and sustainable relationships with stakeholders impacted over the life of a project. This is part of a broader \"stakeholder engagement\" strategy, which also encompasses governments, civil society, employees, suppliers, and others with an interest in the Project.Grievance Mechanism -a process for receiving, evaluating, and addressing project-related complaints from citizens, stakeholders, and other affected communities.Stakeholders -Persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by a project, as well as those who may have interests in a project and/or the ability to influence its outcome, either positively or negatively; workers, local communities directly affected by the project and other stakeholders not directly affected by the project but that have an interest in it, e.g., local authorities, neighboring projects, and/or nongovernmental organizations, etc.Stakeholder Engagement Plan -A plan which assists investors with effectively engaging with stakeholders throughout the life of the project and specifying activities that will be implemented to manage or enhance engagement.Complainant-An individual, group, association, or organization that submits a verbal or written complaint.Grievance/Complaint -An expression of dissatisfaction that stems from real or perceived issues, typically referring to a specific source of concern and/or seeking a specific solution. For the purpose of this GRM, real and perceived impacts are treated equally and given the same due process. The term grievance and complaint are used interchangeably in this document.Sexual Exploitation: Any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.Sexual Abuse -Any unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behavior of a sexual nature that might be reasonably expected or perceived to cause offense or humiliation to another when such conduct interferes with work; is made a condition of employment; or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.Sexual Harassment-Any unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behavior of a sexual nature that might be reasonably expected or perceived to cause offense or humiliation to another when such conduct interferes with work; is made a condition of employment; or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.This Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) has been prepared to identify the key stakeholders of the Accelerating Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) Ghana Cluster, define information disclosure and stakeholder engagement measures, and design a grievance mechanism (GM). The SEP outlines how, when, and ways in which the project team will inform, communicate and consult with stakeholders including vulnerable groups and a mechanism by which people can raise concerns, provide feedback, or make complaints about project and any activities related to the project. The SEP has been prepared according to Environmental and Social Standard 10 (ESS-10) on Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure of the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and the overall AICCRA SEP prepared by Center for International Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). It will cover the whole life of the Project. This SEP is a living document and might be updated anytime during project implementation to capture issues that could arise due to address changing circumstances and uncertainties.The overall objectives of SEP as stated in the ESS-10 are to:• Identify all stakeholders and ensure their participation in all stages of the project cycle;• Establish a systematic approach to stakeholder and citizen engagements that will help to identify stakeholders and build and maintain a constructive relationship with them, in particular projectaffected parties;• Assess the level of stakeholder interest and support for the project and to enable stakeholders' views to be considered in project design and environmental and social performance;• Promote and provide means for effective and inclusive engagement with project-affected parties throughout the project cycle on issues that could potentially affect them;• Ensure that appropriate project information on environmental and social risks and impacts is disclosed to stakeholders, especially to the vulnerable individual and groups, in a timely, understandable, accessible, and appropriate manner and format taking special consideration for the disadvantaged or vulnerable groups and address their concerns and feedback during subproject activities implementation;• Provide project-affected parties, including vulnerable persons and groups, with accessible and inclusive means to raise issues and grievances and allow the Project Implementing Entity and its Project Implementation Unit to respond to and manage such grievances, especially, those coming from the vulnerable persons and groups.The World Bank-funded project AICCRA supports CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) programs and activities that are targeted specifically to Africa and aims to help scaling the most strategic and impactful CCAFS-Africa programs, promoting resilience to climate change and improved food security in target countries. and promote the adoption of CSA solutions across sub-regions within Africa that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. The Project will also support on-the-ground activities in selected countries where CGIAR science has the greatest chance of success in delivering catalytic results, which can be adopted by other countries in the region.The Project Development Objective is to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in support of scaling efforts in IDA-eligible countries in Africa. Based on this overall objective, the Project is structured into four components:Component 1. Knowledge generation and sharing: Supporting generation and sharing of knowledge products and tools designed to address critical gaps in the design and provision of agricultural climate services, enable climate-informed investment planning, and contribute to the design of policies to promote uptake of climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.Component 2. Strengthen partnership for delivery: Strengthening the capacities of key regional and national institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa along the research-to-development continuum for anticipating climate effects and accelerating identification, prioritization, and uptake of best-bet adaptive measures. Component 4. Project Management: Supporting day to day implementation, coordination, supervision and overall communication and management (including, procurement, financial management, monitoring, and evaluation, environmental and social risk management, carrying out of audits and reporting) of Project activities and results, all through the provision of goods, consulting services, non-consulting services, training and workshops, operating costs, and payment of staff salaries for the purpose.AICCRA-Ghana, led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), will focus on bridging the gap between the research institutes that produce improved technologies and the development organizations that promote the adoption of improved technologies including digital Climate advisories, for the purpose of enhancing the resilience of the country's agriculture and food systems in the face of climate change while improving livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers.AICCRA-Ghana will mutualize existing expertise to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to move CGIAR innovations off the shelf and achieve impacts in the country. The project will specifically launch a \"One-health platform for climate-driven pests and diseases. In preparation for AICCRA implementation, IITA and other implementing partners have held several engagements with stakeholders in Ghana Cluster. Before these meeting, letters accompany with a brief description of the AICCRA Ghana Project including Environment and risk management and expected benefits have been disclosed with all stakeholders. The table below summarizes the key engagements held up to date. Project stakeholders are defined as individuals, groups, or other entities who:are impacted or likely to be impacted directly or indirectly, positively, or adversely, by the Project (also known as 'affected parties'); and (ii)may have an interest in the Project ('interested parties'). They include individuals or groups whose interests may be affected by the Project or may benefit from the project implementation, and those who have the potential to influence the Project outcomes in any way.For the purposes of effective and tailored engagement, stakeholders of the proposed project can be divided into the following core categories: affected parties, interested parties, and disadvantaged/vulnerable individuals or groups.Affected Parties refers to persons, groups, and other entities within the Project Area of Influence (PAI) that are directly influenced (actually or potentially) by the project and/or have been identified as most susceptible to change associated with the project. Affected parties need to be closely engaged to identify impacts and assess their significance, as well as participate in decision-making on mitigation and management measures. Activities under Ghana Cluster will involve pilot of CSA technologies through demonstration farms with some selected farmers. These on-farm activities are expected to pose moderate to low occupational health and safety risks to farmer groups and impact on the environment. There could also be a possible risk of excluding vulnerable or disadvantaged groups from accessing and benefiting from the CSA innovations demonstration.All partners and collaborators as well as clients and end users will be positively affected in some way. Partners and collaborators will have opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills, making them more effective in their respective roles. Institutional capacities will be strengthened. Private firms will have greater opportunities to benefit either from sales of equipment and inputs or from more and higher quality produce reaching the market. End users (farmers) will potentially have higher and more stable production and incomes, while consumers will have a more reliable food supply. Governments will benefit from more rapid and predictable agricultural growth, fewer people facing hunger and destitution because of crop failures, and lower levels of migration and conflict over resource use.The stakeholders that are expected to directly benefit from the AICCRA Ghana project include: • Ghana Health Service.Interested Parties include stakeholders who may not experience direct impacts from the project but who may benefit from the project innovative technology, or who consider or perceive their interests as being affected by the project and/or who could affect the project and the process of its implementation in some way.This category will include the following individuals and groups: • Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana;• Agricultural Women focused organization such as Regional Advisory Information Network (RAINS), norsaac, Tumu Deanery Integrated Development Program;• Ghana Federation of Disability Association;• The local population who can benefit indirectly from improved agriculture and food security in Ghana;• Professionals involved in international development or climate change adaptation initiatives.Disadvantaged or vulnerable individuals or groups refers to those who may experience disproportional adverse impacts or exclusion, who often do not have voice to express their concerns or understand and benefit from this project at the same level as others, thus exacerbating social and economic inequality.Given the digital divide between rural and urban areas in Ghana, using digital platforms to disseminate climate information services will likely disadvantage women farmers, and illiterate smallholder farmers that are unable to use digital technology including mobile phones. Existing gender inequalities in access to and control over resources could also exclude women, youth, and persons with disability (PWDs) from being consulted and accessing information on CSA. Gender norms, traditional power structure, and division of labor in traditional households could also prevent women farmers and youth from meaningfully participating in stakeholder consultations at the community level. Women and youth are less able than men to participate in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods because women and youth are brought up to respect and submit to the leadership of men. Traditional practices on patrilineal inheritance, land access, and control over resources in northern part of Ghana can also exclude widows from participating in the project.Therefore, the disadvantaged/vulnerable groups on Ghana AICCRA cluster will include:• Peasant farmers;• Women farmers;• Youth;• Persons with disability, fewer revenues etc.;• Widows.To overcome these constraints, AICCRA Ghana project design include activities that seeks to identify and develop gender specific CSA, improve women and other vulnerable groups access to CSA, and overall advancement of women in agriculture. The Ghana Cluster is working with PhD female student from University of Development Studies to identify and pilot CSA innovations that vulnerable groups particularly women can access and adopt to improve their farming practices around the targeted value chains.AICCRA Ghana is also collaborating with RAINS, an organization focused on advancement of vulnerable groups, to convert information on CSA into both written local languages and video documentaries. Video documentaries in particular will be used to highlight CSA innovations in local languages during knowledge sharing and learning events. Ghana also has activities that focuses on working with local community radio stations to disseminate climate-smart information on selected value chains and other project related information. As part of the project collaboration with GMA and PARED, the project will support these partners to work with several local radio stations to offer free weather information every morning in various local languages to all citizens including the disadvantage groups identified. During these sessions, a phone-in segment will be opened for farmers to share their feedback on the regular weather updates offered in local languages.Organization of meetings will also be sensitive to local culture. Meetings will not be organized in market and funeral days as most women will not be available to attend meetings in these days. Separate consultation sessions will be held with women, youth, and person with disabilities as a way of creating an assured atmosphere to embolden frank conversations with these vulnerable groups. Relevant pictures and illustrations on climate change and other project activities will be used to facilitate understanding of the illiterate farmers.Farmer field school approach 1 was also embedded in the design of AICCRA Ghana project activities. Farmer field school approach is the established practice in Ghana for transmitting farming skills and knowledge to rural farmers that are mostly illiterate. In this regard, IITA is collaborating with a range of farmer-based organizations that works directly with rural farmers including women, youth, and farmers with disability to set up farmer demonstration fields. These fields are expected to provide avenues for disadvantage groups identified to access project benefits and information in their local language, and through engagement practices and locations suitable to their context.Within the PWD group, the project will focus on promoting the inclusion of persons with physical and hearing disabilities as these are the PWD sub-groups often come across as farmers. When needed, mobility support will be provided with persons with physical disabilities whilst sign language interpreter will be engaged to facilitate communication with hearing impaired farmers. In Ghana's socio-cultural context, persons with visual impairment and intellectual disability rarely engages in farming. However, if the project come across such situation during implementation, the project will strive to make accommodation for such groups and update the SEP accordingly. Detailed methods of engagement with vulnerable groups are provided in section 4.2.Potential vulnerable groups that may be affected by the project activities are not known at this stage. They will be confirmed through screening and consulted through dedicated means as appropriate.The assessment of stakeholder needs was based on the institutional design and stakeholder chain for the implementation of AICCRA Ghana Project. By this, we distinguished the needs of: 1) direct partners, i.e. CGIAR research institutions that will receive funds directly from the project implementing agency (CIAT); 2) indirect partners, i.e. those institutions that will receive funds through sub-contracts from ILRI 3) collaborating partners, i.e. those institutions receiving technical support, training opportunities, and workshop invitations but not directly funded by AICCRA; 4) clients, i.e. those institutions that will be responsible for making AICCRA solutions and technologies available to 5) end users, i.e. farmers and vulnerable groups. The table below provides the summary of engagement needs for the following categories of operational stakeholders. The stakeholder engagement process during the project preparation phase was mainly done through virtual meetings and a few in-person consultations with government and other in-country collaborators. AICCRA Ghana will use this same strategy for many of the consultations with implementing partners and collaborators. Additionally, emails, IITA website, blogs, periodic reports and workshops will also be used to target other stakeholders that can easily be reached through these channels.Going forward, it will be important to ensure that the different consultation and information disclosure activities are inclusive and culturally sensitive, thereby ensuring that the disadvantaged and marginalized groups identified at section 3.3 will have the chance to participate and benefit from the project. AICCRA Ghana will have different strategies for reaching out to disadvantaged/vulnerable groups, which will include use of local language, tailored focus groups discussions, use of community radios, and in-person visitations. Subsection 4.2 provides further details on these strategies. Given the risk of COVID-19 transmission during in-person meetings, protocol to minimize such transmission is provided at annex 1. The principle of inclusiveness will guide stakeholder engagements in Ghana Cluster, particularly with respect to vulnerable groups identified at Subsection 3.3. IITA and other implementing partners of AICCRA Ghana have considered the following measures to ensure equal representation of vulnerable groups in the consultation and decision-making process associated with the Project.• Consultations in local language: Most smallholder farmers in localities targeted for CSA pilot demonstrations do not speak English, therefore, the Project will hold all meetings with vulnerable groups identified by using the local languages spoken in their communities. When necessary, an experienced facilitator with a deep knowledge of the local language and context will be engaged to facilitate the consultation process. The project team will explain printed disclosure material in local language for people who are not literate or have problem in reading and understanding English. Sign language interpreters will be used as and when persons with hearing disabilities are encountered during stakeholder engagements.• Maintain sensitivity to local culture during consultations: Meetings will not be organized in market and funeral days as most women will not be available to attend meetings in these days. Separate consultation sessions will be held with women, youth, and person with disabilities as a way of creating assured atmosphere to embolden frank conversations with these vulnerable groups. In addition, the team will make sure that the vulnerable groups are informed about the consultations at least one week prior to the schedule date.• Identify and connect with local agencies working with vulnerable groups: AICCRA Ghana has identified Single Mothers Association, Youth Harvest Foundation, and Rains as some of the famerbased organizations (FBOs) the cluster will work with to reach-out and organize consultations with women farmers, youth, persons with disabilities, and widow farmers. RAINS, for instance, has been engaged to convert information on CSA into both written local languages and video documentaries.• Diversify means of communication and rely more on community radio: Community Radio Stations in local languages are highly used by peasant farmers in Ghana and are highly effective in conveying relevant information to vulnerable groups and allowing them to provide their feedback and suggestions. AICCRA Ghana will collaborate with GMA to work with local radio stations to offer free weather information every morning in various local languages to all citizens including the disadvantage groups identified. During these sessions, a phone in segment will be opened for farmers to share their feedback on the regular weather updates offered in local language.• Women focused groups: AICCRA Ghana will facilitate formation of focus groups for women during consultation and information disclosure. This will particularly ensure that women farmers have the opportunities and safe space to participate in and benefit from the project. When necessary, the project team will hire a woman as the facilitator and will keep record of issues discussed and ensure that genuine concerns are addressed.• Focus group discussions with youth and PWDs: AICCRA Ghana will give priority to tailored consultations with youth groups, and PWD to ensure that their concerns are factored into the design and selection of farms to benefit from CSA demonstrations.• In-person meeting invitation visits to peasant farmers including women, youth and PWDs: Given the peculiar challenges of reaching out to this group through formal letters and sometimes through phone calls, AICCRA Ghana will consider using a community facilitator to send in-person invitations to these groups.• Knowledge sharing and learning events: Such events will be organized to highlight CSA innovations in local languages. During such events relevant pictures and illustrations on climate change and other project activities will be used to facilitate understanding of illiterate farmers.AICCRA Ghana Safeguard Focal Person will closely monitor the consultation process to ensure vulnerable groups access and awareness of the equal access to the consultation process and to guarantee that their voice is taken into account in order to find and implement solutions to some specific situations or issues.All information requested including the project SEP with the Grievance Mechanism, E&S risks and mitigation measures, CSA knowledge products and innovations produced by the Ghana Cluster will be in the public domain. The table below provides the information disclosure plan of AICCRA Ghana. The design of AICCRA Ghana cluster activities involves considerable number of planned consultations to facilitate implementations. The table below provides a summary of all planned consultations with stakeholders. During face-to-face consultations, a precautionary approach will be taken to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. Detail protocol consistent with national requirements is provided at Annex I. The SEP will be periodically revised and updated as necessary during project implementation to ensure that the information presented herein is consistent and up to date, and that the identified methods of engagement remain appropriate and effective in relation to the project context. Any major changes to the project related activities and to its schedule will be duly reflected in the SEP and communicated to stakeholders.Project stakeholders and individuals who may be affected by sites identified and screened for pilot of CSA technologies will be informed about the outcome of the screening, key risks identified, and mitigation measures considered to respond to risks identified.Information on public engagement activities undertaken by the project during a project year will be conveyed to the stakeholders during biannual progress updates sessions with stakeholders. Information that will be shared include type of engagement opportunities given to project stakeholders, nature of participation in terms of gender and involvement of disadvantage groups, the extent to which stakeholders views were considered, and updates on project grievances.Costs related to implementation of this plan include expenses for in-person meetings, transport, logistics, as well as staff costs related to communication and grievance management. The budget for the SEP is included in the project implementation budget. AICCRA through implementing partners will allocate funds for stakeholder engagement activities.The table below gives the approximate budget for the SEP activities. The summary of key institutions concerned about the implementation of this SEP and responsibilities cast are as follows: For any comment, question of feedback on the stakeholder engagement process, the following persons can be contacted. (1) Ghislain Tepa-Yotto, Email; G.Tepa-Yotto@cgiar.org and WhatsApp number only; +229 95 78 69 88) (2) Mustapha DALAA; Email; M.Dalaa@cgiar.org; Phone: 0208882296/0243076587 6.0 GRIEVANCE MECHANISM IITA will establish and maintain a functional grievance mechanism (GM) to guide the receipt, and mediation of complaints and questions from project affected persons and stakeholders including cases linked to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and sexual harassment (SH).The GM is intended to;• Provide avenues for stakeholders to seek information and ask questions on AICCRA project;• Provide project affected people with avenues for lodging concerns, complaints and resolving a dispute arising from project activities;• Ensure that appropriate and mutually acceptable redress actions are identified and implemented to the satisfaction of complainants;• Provide avenue for vulnerable groups and victims of SEA/SH to have equal access to grievance redress process and support;• Avoid project-community conflicts and improve community support for the project activities.Although project affected parties have the right to seek redress in court, the project recognizes that court cases are known to be cumbersome and time consuming. Therefore, the project, through this guide, intends to propose an alternative simple but functional first point procedure for aggrieved project affected persons to amicably seek redress to their complaints. Nonetheless, aggrieved persons would remain free to access the court system without any hindrance or retribution from the project as provided by the laws of Ghana.The operationalization of this GM shall be guided by the following principles:• An accessible, inclusive, and free grievance mechanism (GM), broadly disclosed, which facilitates the resolution of concerns and grievances in a safe, confidential, and timely manner;• A grievance mechanism that allows stakeholders to file complaints by various means (face-to-face, mail, email, phone, text, website, and in person) and when necessary, in an anonymous manner;• A grievance mechanism that provides a clear, impartial, and objective procedures for handling and responding to complaints, including timelines for acknowledgement, decisions, and appeals;• A grievance process free of retaliation, abuse, or discrimination;• A grievance mechanism that provides an avenue for lodging SEA/SH cases in a safe, confidential, and non-stigmatizing manner and with a referral pathway for such cases.Drawing from past related projects, the grievances anticipated on this project could fall into the following categories.• The overall management of the GM will reside with the IITA Safeguard Focal Person and Country Cluster Lead with support of the AICCRA Environmental and Social (E&S) Safeguard Specialists. The Safeguard Focal Person will specifically be responsible for:• The disclosure of the GM to project stakeholders; • Sensitization of implementing partners and staff on the GM;• Keeping records of all complaints received, updating, and closing complaints; • Pre-empting and facilitating activities of Grievance Committees (GC);• Checking if all grievances have been addressed and follow-up actions have been taken; • Escalating cases to AICCRA PMU; • Referring survivors of SEA/SH cases to Gender Based Violence (GBV) service providers;• Monitoring and producing biannual performance report on the GM.Complaints and information requests can be made via multiple communication channels. The following compliant lodging points would be provided at the overall project level, in-country, and when applicable at the project host community level.• Via a web submission form (Annex II) accessible via the AICCRA website, when it is fully developed;• Via email to the AICCRA project (aiccra@cgiar.org), or AICCRA Senior Safeguard Specialist (Adams Kwaw, AKwaw@cgiar.org)• Via the following phone number (Adams Kwaw, AICCRA Senior Safeguard Specialist +233245132714), (WhatsApp number only; +223 20 7957282).• Phone calls to (Name: Mustapha Dalaa, Phone number 0208882296/0243076587) and Ghislain Tepa-Yotto, (WhatsApp number only; +229 95 78 69 88)• Toll free number that is under processing • Emails to AICCRA Country Leader (Ghislain Tepa-Yotto, G.Tepa-Yotto@cgiar.org ) Or AICCRA Ghana Safeguard Focal Person (Mustapha Dalaa, M.Dalaa@cgiar.org )• Letters and Walk-in to IITA office to register complaint at CSIR Campus opp. Old Chinese Embassy Off Agostino Neto Road, Airport Residential Area Accra, Ghana. Digital Address: GA-037-5792For project activities that will occur at the community level, two community members/farmers (one man and one woman) involved in the project activities will be designated as a focal person for receiving complaints. When designated, the contact details of such persons shall be disclosed and made available to community members. The community focal person will be trained in how to receive and promptly lodge complaints with the Safeguard Focal Person. Community members will also be allowed to lodge complaints directly during project meetings and consultation sessions with community members.Complaints received on AICCRA Ghana cluster activities will be managed through the existing project implementation structures. In so doing, three tier bottoms up grievance redress levels will be followed. This will involve in-country grievance committee, Project Management grievance committee, and Independent Steering Committee. The AICCRA Ghana Grievance Committee will comprise of a four-member committee made up of AICCRA Ghana Country Lead, Safeguard Focal Person, Gender and Social Inclusion Expert, and a representative from project implementing partners. For cases involving technicalities and/or conflict of interest with a GC member, the committee may also choose to include one or more project staff or reputable and independent third parties on the committee deliberations. The country level grievance committee (GC) is expected to handle all grievance on AICCRA Ghana activities.The GC through the Safeguard Focal Person will notify the AICCRA E&S Safeguard Specialists on all cases relating to major incidents and accidents within 48 hours, and SEA/SH cases within 24 hours. Such cases would require the active involvement of AICCRA Safeguard Specialist in the resolution process and reporting to the World Bank. In addition, the country level GC will escalate project related grievances that remain unresolved at the Country level within the stipulated period to the Project Management GC for redress.The Project Management GC will be hosted by AICCRA PMU and will comprise of the Project Director, AICCRA E&S Safeguard Specialists, Regional Project Leads and Project Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist. This committee shall mediate all unresolved complaints from the country level as well as complaints from activities of regional partners and other complaints that may be received directly at the PMU level through CIAT complaint lodging points. For cases involving technicalities and/or conflict of interest with a GC member, the committee may choose to include one or more project staff or reputable and independent third parties on the Panel. Where the Project Management GC determines a complaint to be highly significant, such cases shall be referred to the Independent Steering committee for advice.Another high-level grievance redress panel that will assist in the resolution of complaints on AICCRA would be the Independent Steering Committee (ISC). The ISC is the key governance body for the project. It consists of seven members who are all independent of the project. It is responsible for oversight of AICCRA program of work, budget, and evaluations. The ISC takes all grievances seriously and will investigate all cases referredPreject Mananagment Grievance Committee AICCRA Ghana Grievance Committee to it. All grievances referred will be recorded and discussed in ISC meetings, bearing in mind requests for confidentiality. The ISC will require the AICCRA project management to prepare a proposed response to each grievance, which after discussion and approval, will be implemented. At subsequent ISC meetings, AICCRA management will report on the progress of implementation. Where ISC deems the grievance as highly significant, the Alliance CIAT Director General and Alliance-CIAT Board of Trustees will also be informed about their discussion and action.The general steps of the grievance process comprise:• Registration/receipt of complaints;• Acknowledging the complaints;• Investigate and determine solution to the complaint;• Implement the Redress Action;• Verifying the Redress Action;• Recourse or alternatives.AICCRA Ghana will establish a register of all grievances received through the lodging points at Section 6.5 to aid monitoring of complaint resolution status and reporting on GM performance. A grievance lodging template provided at Annex VII will be used to maintain an electronic and manual database of all grievances received. Complaints can be submitted in any language applicable to the project locations either verbally or in writing to all designated lodging points.The complainant may ask for confidentiality in the handling of the request, in which case the Project shall preserve confidentiality on aspects of the complaint where confidentiality is required. However, there could be situations where it will not be possible to resolve the complaint without revealing identity (for example, when evidence needs to be presented in court). In this case, the Project will discuss with the complainant whether and how best to proceed.Complaints can also be raised anonymously and in such cases, complainants may be required to provide sufficient facts and data to enable the GC to investigate the matter without assistance. The GC will make every effort to evaluate anonymous complaints; however, anonymity may make it more difficult to investigate, protect the position of the complainant, offer, and implement resolution, and give feedback. All complainants who raise complaints outside the grievance lodging points to project implementing staff would be directed and advised to use the lodging points to officially register their complaint to the Project.The Safeguard Focal Persons shall officially register all complaints received using the proposed complaint registration form at Annex II, and further inform the GC at the country level within 24 hours of any complaint lodged. The grievance submission should be dated and signed by the complainant or the representative, except when the complaint was made verbally through phone calls from a distant location or required to be anonymous. At the project management level, the AICCRA Safeguard Specialist shall also inform the Project Management GC within 24 hours after lodging any unresolved complaint escalated from the Ghana cluster.The project will acknowledge receipt of the complaint by letter within 3 workings days of receipt. Sample acknowledgement letter is provided at Annex IV. The acknowledgement letter will specify a contact person within the project and a description of what complainant can expect next including a timeline. All SEA/SH cases shall be received with the guideline provided at Section 6.9.For each submission, the complainant is expected to at least include the following:• Detail explanation of the complaint or information requested relating to AICCRA;• Location related to the submission;• Whether the complainant lives in the project area;• Whether a similar submission has been previously filed to AICCRA;• If known, the operational procedures that have been violated by AICCRA;• Whether the submission concerns an individual submission or on behalf of a community;• Whether the submission is requested to be kept confidential;• Contact details of the complainant;• The signature of the complainant.When a grievance is recorded as per the above-mentioned registration procedures, the Grievance Committee will be called into action to investigate the case and further hold mediation meetings with interested parties to resolve the issue. Minutes of meetings will be recorded.The GC will first investigate the foundation of the grievance and then determine the redress action in consultation with the complainant and concerned parties if necessary. This is expected to be completed within 7 working days after receipt/registration of the grievance. Any redress action considered after the mediation process will also be implemented within 10 working days of receipt of complaints. The Project will implement the resolution either directly or through a third party, which will be done in consultation with the complainant.The Project will review complaints regularly to ensure progress is being made towards resolution. The AICCRA Ghana GC will get in touch with the complainant or visit the affected sit to confirm that the redress action is carried out. If the complainant is satisfied with the resolution implemented, the Safeguard Focal Person will close the case and require the complainant to sign a statement to acknowledge satisfaction using the form provided at Annex VI. However, signing the statement does not preclude the complainant from raising the issue again, or seeking other avenues for redress should the resolution not result in a permanent fix, or the issue recurs. The Project may re-open the complaint if the complainant provides new information and may also contact the complainant after closure to ensure no other problems have arisen.Verification would be completed within 7 days of execution of the redress action. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the redress proposal or action, additional steps may be taken to resolve the issues or the AICCRA Ghana GC may decide to escalate the complaint to Project Management GC. The committee may decide to refuse an appeal if they feel the complaint has not been presented in good faith. The decision to refuse an appeal must be reviewed and signed off by the AICCRA E&S Specialist.Alternatively, if the complainant is not satisfied with the resolution offered, the complainant may choose to appeal the decision through the Safeguard Focal Person or seek other recourse.Two alternative or recourse actions are considered, amicable mediation and settlement or appeal to court.If the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the AICCRA-Ghana GC, he/she can bring it to the attention of the Safeguard Focal Person. The AICCRA Ghana GC may remediate on the case or forward it to the Project Management GC for further action. In case of conflicts of interest, the AICCRA Ghana GC may decide to appoint an individual mediator or Independent Appeals Panel that is neutral and independent of the Project. The selection of the mediator or individuals comprising the Independent Appeals Panel will be conducted in consultation with the complainant and other key stakeholders to ensure trustworthiness of the process.For cases escalated to the Project Management GC, the GC may also decide to resolve the complaint or set up an appropriate mediation team to resolve the issue in consultation with the Country Lead Person and the complainant. The Project Management GC will be required to resolve the issue within 2 weeks of the date of receipt of such a deferred case. If such a timeline is not possible, the AICCRA E&S Safeguard Specialist would inform the complainant through the in-country Safeguard Focal Person by giving reasons and possible new date. When new resolution measures are considered, the implementation and verification process outlined above shall be followed to close the case or determine the next line of action.If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the mediation effort of the project grievance committee, the complainant has the option to pursue appropriate recourse via judicial process of choice. The AICCRA project will allow any aggrieved person the right of access to Court of law. Courts of law will be a \"last resort\" option, in view of the above mechanism. The AICCRA Ghana Cluster led by IITA will follow the following procedure in handling SEA/SH related complaints.Uptake of SEA/SH cases: All grievance lodging points outlined at Section 6.5 will be opened for uptake of SEA/SH complaints. When a survivor comes forward to report a case of SEA/SH, the recipient will record the survivors account of the incident. This is expected to be conducted in a private setting and ensure that any specific vulnerabilities are taken into consideration. To maintain confidentiality and minimize stigmatization, below is the list of elements that will be recorded on complaint forms of SEA/SH survivors. Sample SEA/SH intake form is provided at Annex III.• Age and sex of survivor;Grievance received through uptake points and documented in grievance logbook • Location/place where the incident occurred;• Date and time when the incident occurred;• Whether the alleged perpetrator relates to the project, as indicated by the survivor;• Whether the survivor was referred to a service provider;• The need of the survivor/ what that the survivor wants to be/ regarding the case.Where the complainant is not the survivor, the Safeguard Focal person will encourage the complainant to reach out to the survivor and explain the potential benefit of coming forward alone or with the person reporting the case. All SEA/SH cases will be reported to the World Bank within 24hours through the AICCRA E&S Safeguard Specialist and recorded in the grievance logbook at Annex VIII.The Safeguard focal person will examine the case and seek the consent of the survivor to refer the case to AICCRA Ghana GC or depending on the case, refer to any of the external GBV service providers specified in Table 9 below. In the case of children and people with intellectual disability, this will be done with full consent of the survivor's guardian. Depending on the case reported, the support services may include one or two of the following services.• Health -examination or treatment, collection of forensic evidence, provision of post-exposure prophylaxis/ abortion services • Legal/Justice -Legal advice/support to survivors and witnesses to understand benefits/barriers of taking care through legal process; support to ensure that prosecution and case closure happens with few or no delays • Psychosocial Support -Emotional support/crisis counseling; Social/community reintegration.• Safety/Security -protection of survivors and witnesses, investigation of the case, arrest of alleged perpetrator.The list of GBV service providers identified for referred cases is presented in the table below. These service providers will be:• Provided with financial support to cater for expenses in the mediation process and essential services provided to the survivors. The GBV service providers will not be paid any basic fee for their services.Payment will be based on case by case, where the Project will seek the World Bank advice and approval on the maximum expense cost that can be absorbed by the project for the survivor of each case; • Required to use their respective GBV case management procedures. The specific GBV case procedure for each of these service providers is provided in Annex IX; • Required to maintain confidentiality, safety, and security of survivors in accordance with best practices, in particular ensuring survivor centeredness through the processes and seeking the consent of the survivor when personal data must be shared; • Required to inform the Safeguard Focal person when a case is resolved so it is recorded in the grievance logbook.Acknowledgment and Follow-up: After registering the case, the Safeguard Focal Person will inform the AICCRA Ghana GC and the AICCRA E&S Safeguard Specialist within 24 hours of receipt and send an acknowledgment letter to the complainant or survivor within 3 workings days of receipt. A sample acknowledgement letter is provided at Annex IV.Fact Analysis: After receiving the case, the Accra Ghana GC will analyze the facts of the allegation by determining whether (i) the allegation falls within the definition of SEA/SH; and (ii) the alleged perpetrator is an individual associated the AICCRA project. If the GC confirms these two elements, it shall proceed to handle the case or otherwise discontinue the case and write to inform the survivor or complainant. Only SEA/SH complaints allegedly committed by any individual associated with the AICCRA project may be considered by the project after referring to GBV service providers.In the event that the survivor does not wish to pursue disciplinary action against the alleged perpetrator the case may be closed after providing referral assistance. The Safeguard Focal person shall record the survivor's preference and indicate that in the acknowledgement letter as well. However, irrespective of the survivor's choice, if the alleged perpetrator is a staff of AICCRA implementing partner, the AICCRA GC will address the case according to the implementing partner's code of conduct, sanction regime, and national legislations.The AICCRA Ghana GC will review all cases referred to it to determine and agree upon course of action for handling and resolving the case. The appropriate institution that employs the perpetrator takes the agreed disciplinary action in accordance with the employer's code of conduct and national legislation. Disciplinary actions may include informal warning; formal warning; additional training, loss of salary, suspension, or termination of employment. A survivor may continue to receive support from the appropriate GBV service providers while the case is being handled by the AICCRA Ghana GC.As and when necessary, a representative of the survivor or an independent reputable third party may be invited to serve on the resolution panel. To avoid conflict of interest, the composition of the GC may also change depending on the nature and source of the allegation. The Safeguard Focal Person shall write to inform the survivor about the course of action and disciplinary action taken against the perpetrator.Instances where the case is being handled by a service provider, the Service Provider will work with the survivor or guardian to develop a comprehensive plan that identifies what the survivor needs and how these needs may be met. The survivor may be referred to connect with a range of service providers which correspond to their needs. The Safeguard Focal Person shall continue to track, monitor, and collaborate with service providers on all such cases until they are resolved.Closing SEA/SH cases: Closing of SEA/SH cases will occur at these instances.-If the survivor does not wish to place an official complain with employer; -If after investigation, the GRC determines that the allegation does not fall within the definition of SEA/SH and the alleged perpetrator is not associated with the project; -If when the case is pursued, and the GC confirms that the disciplinary action taken is appropriate and has been implemented conclusively; -If a Service Provider follows its internal procedure to meet the needs of the survivor on the case.In all these instances, the Safeguard Focal Person may require the survivor or its representative to sign a statement to acknowledge satisfaction using the form provided at Annex VII. IPI 1.3: Satisfaction with the quality and usefulness of climate-relevant knowledge products, decision-making tools and services received under AICCRA expressed by surveyed partners and stakeholders (Percentage); IPI 2.4: Satisfaction with the effectiveness of the partnerships under AICCRA expressed by surveyed partners and stakeholders (Percentage); IPI 3.3: Use or adaptation of AICCRA-funded climate-relevant knowledge products, decision-making tools and services stated and confirmed by surveyed partners and stakeholders (Percentage).In addition, IITA with conduct regular feedback survey for local farmers including vulnerable groups on demonstration farms to be set up to pilot CSA innovations. Such surveys will be conducted in local languages and in a manner that allows the farmers to share their learning progress on the CSA innovations being piloted.Information on public engagement activities undertaken by the project during a project year will be conveyed to the stakeholders during biannual progress updates sessions with stakeholders. These reports will rely on the same sources of communication that were used earlier to notify stakeholders. Stakeholders will also always be reminded of the availability of the grievance mechanism. Any necessary changes made in this SEP in the course of implementation will be communicated to stakeholders. Biannual summaries and internal reports on public grievances, and enquiries, together with the status of implementation will be collated and reported to AICCRA Program Management Unit and included in regular reporting summaries.Consistent with the requirements of Ghana's COVID-19 protocol for public events, IITA has considered the following precautionary protocols that must be observed to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission during face-to-face consultations for the Ghana AICCRA Cluster.1. Preference would be given to venues with an open airy large compound. 2. The number of participants for each meeting would not exceed one hundred (100). 3. Meetings occurring in an enclosed area will use open windows as much as possible and avoid the use of air-conditioning systems. 4. Seating arrangements would be organized in such a way that chairs are at least 1 meter away from each other. 5. Contact details including phone numbers will be kept for all participants. 6. Microphones would be sanitized immediately after each use. 7. Thermometer guns or thermal scanners would be provided for checking the temperature of participants at entry points of all venues, as necessary. 8. All participants including those vaccinated would be required to wear face mask. 9. Mandatory wearing of face masks would be enforced throughout the meeting. 10. Free face masks would be made available at the entrance for participants that come without face masks. 11. Hand washing facilities with running water and soap and/or Food and Drug Authority approved alcohol-based hand sanitizer would be provided at the entrance to the meeting venue. 12. Participants would be required to wash their hands with soap under running water or rub with alcohol-based hand sanitizer before entry. 13. Adequate waste management facilities would be provided (bins, cans, bin-liners, and single-use tissues). 14. Adequate and separate male and female toilet facilities would be provided for participants use. 15. Ensure regular cleaning and disinfection of frequently used communal places (like bathroom and toilet surfaces) and frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs/handles, preferably every 1-2 hours depending on rate of utilization. 16. Only properly trained cleaners with the necessary personal protection equipment and cleaning items will be allowed to clean the hygiene facilities regularly and handle waste appropriately. 17. Approved health promotion materials on COVID-19 will be displaced at vantage points to remind people to keep to social distancing protocols, wearing masks, regular handwashing, coughing and sneezing etiquette. 18. Designate a holding room or area where a person who becomes sick at the premises/event can be isolated from others while deciding for evacuation. 19. Follow established evacuation procedures and call 112 or 311 for support to enable evacuation if anyone develops fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing during the gathering. 20. Participants will be required to cover their mouth and nose with tissue or bent elbow when coughing or sneezing. 21. If a participant is confirmed positive for COVID-19 after the event, IITA will collaborate with Health Authorities to trace and screen all contacts at the meeting.Actions to be undertaken when dealing with a sick person:I. Obtain person's details (name/organization/contact person/immediate family member details including a phone number). II.Inform the person that they will be separated/ isolated due to symptoms. III.Minimize contact between sick person and all other persons and direct to pre-designated holding room. IV.The sick person will always wear a facemask and observe social distancing at all times. V.Organizers ","tokenCount":"8065"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3902823227.json b/data/part_1/3902823227.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7b14e8a63a2a1f80f491aa2014de2229332277d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3902823227.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"53fea222703102f7197f5dd8db3bbbb7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e11ec734-a541-4568-89f6-2292f1d5d702/retrieve","id":"776310847"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e0e878a9-7d0e-46ec-9e06-8a190dd63dfa","pagecount":"12","content":"Fertilizer prices have been increasing since mid to late 2020 (Figure 1). Multiple factors in the international market are driving these increases, including increased global demand for fertilizer fueled by rising agricultural commodity prices; global supply chain disruptions affecting fertilizer shipping; rising energy prices, particularly natural gas; and a series of trade disruptions and export restrictions in several key fertilizer-exporting countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant driver of the observed trends. Experts are making only tentative projections and forecasts for the future (IFDC 2022; AMIS International fertilizer prices have increased rapidly since 2020 due to multiple factors. This note assesses the impact of these price increases on Rwanda's agriculture sector, with an emphasis on implications for crop production, subsidy costs, and the Government of Rwanda's agricultural budget.Using data from the Seasonal Agricultural Surveys, we simulate the impact of increasing fertilizer prices on fertilizer demand and use, which in turn affects fertilizer value-cost ratios at the plot level and, ultimately, maize, rice, and Irish potato output and the Government's fertilizer subsidy bill. Findings indicate the following.• At current subsidy rates and market prices, national output across all seasons could decrease by up to 3 percent for maize, 2 percent for rice, and 12 percent for Irish potato under strong assumptions about farmers' sensitivity to fertilizer prices. Weaker assumptions about their sensitivity result in much smaller decreases in output.• At current subsidy rates and market prices, the fertilizer subsidy bill may increase from 7 percent of MINAGRI's budget-inclusive of funds earmarked for districts-to 12 percent.Ultimately, the policy challenge will be to determine whether a return to the original subsidy levels and rates is feasible and under what conditions. In the short term, volatility in international fertilizer prices may continue, particularly in light of the conflict in Ukraine, making it necessary to maintain the current subsidy regime. But in the medium term, it is possible to move towards market prices for fertilizer without dramatically affecting output, thereby providing more fiscal space for other priorities.STRATEGY SUPPORT PROGRAM | POLICY NOTE 06 MARCH 2022MARCH 2021MARCH , 2022)). At best, they suggest that high fertilizer prices may persist through 2022, though even that prediction remains uncertain.This note assesses the impact of these increases in international fertilizer prices on Rwanda's agriculture sector. The note examines trends in fertilizer prices and budget spending within the Rwandan economy, assesses the impact of increasing fertilizer prices on the production of key crops, and offers policy recommendations going forward.The analysis focuses on three crops-maize, rice, and potato-and three main fertilizers-DAP, urea, and NPK 1 -that are prioritized under the fourth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA 4). The analysis relies significantly on a microsimulation model that calculates value-cost ratios (VCRs) for agricultural plots to determine changes in yields, revenues, output, and fiscal costs under alternative fertilizer price scenarios, drawing on several years of data from the Seasonal Agricultural Surveys produced by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). Rwanda's response to increasing fertilizer prices in the international market has been to increase both the price and subsidy on fertilizer distributed to farmers. This strategy has partly cushioned farmers from the full transmission of international prices. Although the market price for fertilizer in Rwanda is roughly 100 percent higher than it was a year ago, farmers are facing prices that are only 70 percent higher for DAP and urea, and 46 percent higher for NPK.To fully appreciate how fertilizer costs are distributed between farmers and the Government of Rwanda, it is important to understand how fertilizer market policy is implemented in the country. Since 2015, fertilizer has been distributed to Rwandan farmers under a subsidized price scheme with little or no variation in prices at the farm or market level. Typically, market and subsidized prices are announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) at the beginning of each fiscal year, which begins on July 1 and occurs just prior to Season A. These discrete (rather than continuous) changes in fertilizer prices and subsidies follow from the fact Rwanda procures fertilizer at relatively fixed points in time before each season, while international prices have shown relatively little variation between seasons.In 2021, fertilizer prices were announced as usual, and reflected both rising international fertilizer prices and an increase in the subsidy (Figure 2). This was followed by an unprecedented mid-year announcement in January 2022 of another round of price and subsidy increases. In both rounds, the Government of Rwanda effectively split the cost of the change in fertilizer prices equally with farmers, although this split changed slightly in the second round with the Government absorbing 60 percent of the increase in NPK prices and farmers absorbing 40 percent. In effect, these decisions altered the rate at which fertilizer subsidies were provided. Between 2015 and 2021, the subsidy rate was relatively constant: 35 percent for DAP, 30 percent for urea, and 15 percent for NPK. In response to rising international prices, the subsidy rate increased in July 2021 to 40 percent for DAP, 35 percent for urea, and 23 percent for NPK. In the second round of subsidy increases in January 2021, the subsidy rates increased to 42 percent for DAP, 40 percent for urea, and 35 percent for NPK (Figure 3).But the increase in international prices may not be the only factor in play. Inland transport costs or other costs incurred once the fertilizer arrives at port may also be on the rise. Additional data that is currently unavailable is required to derive a complete cost build-up for fertilizer in Rwanda. We conduct a relatively simple simulation to estimate the impact of alternate subsidy rates on output and on the MINAGRI budget, using the subsidies announced by MINAGRI in January 2022 as our starting point. The simulations consider a gradual phase-out of the current subsidies using both the market and subsidy rates set forth in that announcement.To do this, we simulate the impact of rising fertilizer prices paid by farmers on plot-level value-cost ratios, national demand for fertilizer, and national crop production, similar to an approach used by Rashid et al. (2013) to study similar issues in Ethiopia. We run this simulation with a step-wise reduction of the subsidy rates in 25 percent increments until market price is reached.Results are specific to the three priority crops and fertilizers. Unless otherwise specified, the results show the impacts of rising fertilizer prices across all seasons (Seasons A and B for maize and rice, and Seasons A, B, and C for Irish potato). Note that these simulations fix the market price of fertilizer (but not the subsidized price) and assume that farmgate prices of the three priority crops do not change across seasons. Prices used in the simulations are provided in Table 1. In all simulations, the farmgate price for each commodity was estimated by using the December 2021 breads and cereals component of the consumer price index (CPI) to scale up farmgate prices reported in the 2019 SAS. The profitability of using fertilizer is driven by a variety of factors, including farmgate commodity prices, fertilizer prices, and the crop's yield response to fertilizer. In our simulation, we calculate VCRs for each plot in the SAS data to indicate the profitability of fertilizer use. VCRs are defined as the ratio of the value added in production due to fertilizer to the cost of fertilizer use. This is calculated as the additional amount of production due to fertilizer multiplied by the farmgate price of the commodity, which is then divided by the cost times the quantity of fertilizer applied. We use a conventional benchmark of a VCR of 2 or more to indicate the profitable use of fertilizer.Figure 4 shows the share of plots in Season A that are profitable across a simulated phase-out of the fertilizer subsidy. Results are disaggregated by crop and between small-scale farmers (those operating plots of less than 10 ha) and large-scale farmers (those operating plots greater than or equal to 10 ha).Results indicate that as fertilizer subsidies are reduced, farmer's fertilizer costs increase, and the share of profitable plots decreases. The current subsidy regime (\"current subsidy\") leads to a larger share of plots with VCRs greater than 2 for both large-and small-scale famers in Season A when compared to the subsidy phase out (Subsidy -25%, -50%, and -75%) and eventual removal (\"market price\"). Similar results are obtained for Season B and C. Having calculated changes in plot-level VCRs, we then simulate the effect of fertilizer prices and subsidies on total demand for fertilizer. We use a range of assumptions about farmers' sensitivity to changes in fertilizer prices (i.e., the price elasticity of fertilizer demand). Assuming that farmers are highly pricesensitive, results indicate that demand for all three fertilizers may drop to zero as the subsidy is removed. This drop is shown along the bottom border of each shaded region in Figure 5. If farmers are highly price-insensitive, the removal of all subsidies leads to a 9 percent decrease in demand for NPK, and a 14 percent decrease in demand for DAP and urea compared to demand at the current subsidy rate. This is shown along the top border of the shaded regions in Figure 5.  Next, we turn our attention to the impact of fertilizer prices and subsidies on crop output (Figure 6). When comparing the current subsidy regime and the market price, national production for all seasons does not drop by more than 3, 2, and 12 percent for maize, rice, and Irish potato, respectively. In fact, more conservative estimates that assume farmers are relatively price insensitive result in annual production losses of just 0.8 percent for maize, 0.4 for rice, and 2.0 for Irish potato. Although these decreases in output may have a negative effect on prices facing consumers, trade can potentially mitigate these effects.Necessarily, there are limitations to this simulation model. 4 For example, because the simulations rely on data from the 2019 SAS, we only capture data on those plots that are cultivating the three selected crops, and cannot account for changes in cropping patterns or exogenous shocks such as weather events. Our assessment of the SAS data in subsequent years suggests that cropping patterns have not changed to any significant extent. However, economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and climate shocks may have been significant during this period, and may explain the difference between simulated and actual production levels for maize, in particular. The latter may result in downward biased results for maize production in our simulations. The effects on fertilizer demand and crop production described above should also be considered in light of MINAGRI's budget. In this analysis, we consider the MINAGRI budget as the total of budgets for MINAGRI central, RAB, NAEB, and earmarks for districts, and convert the budget to constant (2017) RWF to account for inflation. We also note that fertilizer subsidies are actually budgeted under and disbursed through the earmarks for districts. As such, any budget revisions made during the fiscal year to accommodate MINAGRI's announced changes in fertilizer prices will show up as revisions to the earmarked budget for districts.During FY 2019/20, fertilizer subsidies accounted for only 7.3 percent of the MINAGRI budget, and increased to just 7.8 percent in FY 2020/21. The current subsidy regime will increase this share by about four percentage points, with the new subsidy regime accounting for 11.7 percent of MINAGRI's budget (Figure 7). Based on the simulation results discussed above, the estimated total subsidy bill for all three seasons and all three fertilizer products under the current market price and subsidy regime will be between RWF 6.3 and RWF 15.3 billion. The upper estimate of RWF 15.3 billion assumes that farmers are very price insensitive and therefore will continue purchasing similar levels of fertilizer compared to before the shock, whereas the lower estimate of RWF 6.3 billion assumes that farmers are very price sensitive and therefore demand significantly less fertilizer now that prices have risen. The total subsidy bill per fertilizer product is shown below in Figure 8, and is calculated by multiplying the current subsidy rates by the total fertilizer demand. Several policy options emerge from this analysis. First, it is important to recognize that if MINAGRI caps the subsidy rate on fertilizer, it is still exposed to international price changes as well as changes in farmer demand. If farmers are weakly sensitive to fertilizer prices and if international prices remain high or continue to increase, this will result in an increasing fertilizer subsidy bill.Second, MINAGRI efforts to maintain-or further increase-subsidies on fertilizer may not necessarily result in increased output for the three crops analyzed here. Results show that output is relatively insensitive to fertilizer prices.Third, if MINAGRI caps the subsidy bill as a share of its budget at, say 10 percent or so, then it will have to closely manage both the subsidy rate and the quantity of subsidized fertilizer provided to farmers. This would require frequent analysis of market data and analysis to calibrate the subsidy rate to market demand. It would also require some degree of rationing of subsidized fertilizer under a targeting system. Both have non-trivial costs of design, implementation, and monitoring, only some of which may be offset by the fiscal space that MINAGRI buys itself with a cap on the subsidy bill.Ultimately, MINAGRI will have to determine whether a return to the original subsidy levels and rates is desirable and under what conditions. If production losses are small under most price regimes-as shown above-there may be considerable room to maneuver in terms of economic policy in the medium term. With that in mind, the immediate course of action in 2022/23 may be as follows.• In the short term, if international fertilizer prices are expected to continue rising (e.g., as a result of global market factors including those related to the conflict in Ukraine), it may be necessary to maintain the current subsidy regime irrespective of the budgetary implications. This may send an encouraging signal to farmers that MINAGRI is making efforts to manage the increase in fertilizer prices as best possible. • If and when international fertilizer prices return to their pre-shock levels, then it may be desirable to at least return to the original, pre-shock subsidy rates and levels (DAP subsidized at 35 percent; urea at 30 percent; and NPK at 15 percent). A concerted effort by Government to demonstrate that fertilizer subsidies are a flexible instrument to support agricultural production will ultimately give MINAGRI the ability to respond to future changes as and when needed, rather than letting subsidies at higher rates become a permanent policy fixture.• Even if fertilizer prices remain high into Q2 2022 when new procurement begins for Season A 2022/23, it may still be desirable MINAGRI to consider reducing the subsidy so that the rates (albeit, not the subsidy levels themselves) remain in line with pre-shock subsidy rates.Lastly, moving towards market prices in the medium term is feasible, and may have insignificant consequences on production, yet positive implications for MINAGRI's budget and the fiscal space needed to pursue other priorities. But given where fertilizer prices are at present, it may be difficult to move in that direction quickly; a slow easing if and when international prices return to their 2019/20 levels may be advisable.With all of this said, we recognize that decisions on subsidy rates and levels are not made in a vacuum. The interests of Rwanda's farmers and consumers are at stake, and factors beyond crop production and fiscal effects need to be considered. And keep in mind that the distributional impacts of these fertilizer subsidies-how they affect farmers in different income groups or Ubudehe categories-cannot be determined within the context of this exercise. 5","tokenCount":"2611"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3958345392.json b/data/part_1/3958345392.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5b15501a8451abc5fb0679071bcb958138841595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3958345392.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5855eaf4a3a96023f2c65970cfdc9588","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a0eb3387-87e6-435d-a8ba-7f64f9cf0917/retrieve","id":"45941306"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f346557-b1d0-4c06-85f4-6aa7b8240544","pagecount":"1","content":"Follow ASHC on twitter @ASHC_2011 Organic matter matters \"How much do farmers value their soils?When we ask farmers in sub-Saharan Africa how they invest the revenues generated from farming they have plenty of good ideas -from sending their children to school, to increasing their livestock numbers or setting up small business in town. And this is perfectly understandable: they want to increase their assets to feel less vulnerable in times of crisis.What we often see is that farmers (and scientists) fail to value soils as assets, which must be protected to reduce their vulnerability, just as much as their children and their livestock.When soils are degraded there is nowhere to go. Nevertheless, in many parts of the world farmers haven't invested enough in the fertility of their soils, which directly increases their asset value and effectiveness against vulnerability.In her book 'The Challenge for Africa,' Nobel Peace Laureate, the late Wangari Maathai, describes seeing a woman farmer in Cameroon cultivating her land in a way that led to severe erosion and depletion of nutrients. This woman was not deliberately destroying the resource on which her livelihood depended, she was just unaware of the consequences of her actions.A good example of the lack of investment is how manure from livestock is managed. It is true that manure alone won't suffice to support the increase in the production needed to feed growing populations. However, manure is key to start soil rehabilitation processes and to trigger soil fertility improvement (Tittonell et al. 2008).There is a wealth of research showing that manure additions lead to increases in yield. Research has also shown that the amounts needed to increase yields at a large scale are not available, and will not be available (e.g. Rufino et al. 2011). There is, however, potential to utilize manure better to target the rehabilitation of very poor soils.Farmers rarely prioritise improving the fertility of degraded soils with manure, because handling and transporting take a great deal of labour and the Mariana C Rufino and her colleagues at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) wish livestock manure was considered to be a precious resource that should be carefully managed, independently of the amounts produced.Mariana is a Livestock systems analyst at ILRI.Crop Production and a PhD in Systems Analysis from Wageningen University.At ILRI, she is involved in various projects dealing impact assessment, multi-criteria analysis, agricultural systems productivity, nutrient cycling, adaptation to climate change and mitigation. Before joining ILRI in 2010, she worked for Wageningen University as system modeler in a number of projects in Africa funded by B&MGF, EU, and IDRC. She has more than 10 years of experience in international research and education. Mariana has authored or co-authored more than 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals and edited proceedings. benefits are not quickly observed.There is no doubt that fertilizers are needed to support crop and livestock production. However, in much of the developing world vast areas have soils of such poor quality that there is no response to fertilizers. Although it might not be profitable to apply small amounts of manure to poor soils, the long-term investment on rehabilitation of soils has a larger and deeper societal benefit. ILRI's wish: For a change in perceptions and value attached to poor soils and the realization that investments are needed to improve fertility. This will help to lead research and work with farmers to achieve such a long-term goal. Livestock manure will then be considered a precious resource that should be carefully managed, independently of the amounts produced. Our environment will benefit from such a change as well.\"Farmers rarely prioritise improving the fertility of degraded soils with manure, because handling and transporting take a great deal of labour and the benefits are not quickly observed.","tokenCount":"620"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3959109849.json b/data/part_1/3959109849.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9ec2fa4353a80e806b65abe2ddca04c3aed92e70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3959109849.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5178a58f590247dab896673f72dde335","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ead5298c-91d6-47d3-bc7e-f1baaf24f561/retrieve","id":"-2135326868"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0009540d-91eb-49d0-88b2-dcc3159b63ff","pagecount":"87","content":"This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent.The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.Nothing herein shall constitute or be construed or considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.Tables Table E.1 Feasibility assessment of the country's readiness for IBDRFI products targeting pastoralist Table A3.1 Satellite data products used in the study Table A4.1 List of stakeholders Table A5.1 Summary of the assumptions made in the costing analysis Table A5.2 Annual and total costs for five years of micro-level commercial insurance implementation (in USD)Table A5.3 Annual and total costs for five years of macro-level social protection coverage implementation (in USD)The IBDRFI initiatives specifically designed to protect pastoralists in the face of drought shocks have so far been implemented in Africa with different modalities, including as retail micro-insurance products, macro-level insurance schemes for social livelihoods protection, or scalability mechanisms of social safety net programs. All these initiatives rely on similar EO technologies and indices (i.e. based on NDVI data) and are generally designed with anticipatory response principles, e.g. early drought detection for early action and impact mitigation. Micro-level retail IBLI schemes have been implemented in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, with private insurance companies involved in marketing, promoting and underwriting the scheme on a voluntary basis with individual pastoralists. Macro-level social livelihood protection insurance schemes are currently operational at a national level in eastern Ethiopia, Zambia and Kenya (through the Kenyan Livestock Insurance Program, KLIP). Scalability mechanisms of safety net programs have also been implemented in Kenya and Uganda, under the Hunger Safety Net Program (HSNP) and the Third Northern Ugandan Social Action Fund (NUSAF III), respectively. These social protection schemes can complement sovereign level products such as the ones being implemented by the African Risk Capacity (ARC).The feasibility study conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the World Bank aims to inform development and implementation policies to increase pastoralists' resilience in Senegal and the Sahel against severe drought shocks. It provides the background knowledge required to make informed decisions on whether investing resources in the design and implementation of an IBDRFI program can achieve the desired public policy objectives.The feasibility assessment considers socio-economic (potential demand and value), technical (i.e. product design) and operational (supply chain) factors that are important for the design and implementation of IBDRFI solutions in Senegal.The socio-economic feasibility analysis assesses the presence of necessary preconditions to justify the launch of an IBDRFI scheme (i.e. vulnerability of livestock to drought) and expected demand for the IBDRFI solutions from local institutions and pastoral and agro-pastoral households. It examines the relevance of the livestock sector, impact of drought on the national economy and pastoralists' socio-economic environment.The technical feasibility analysis assesses whether key conditions for the technical design of an accurate index and trigger mechanism for drought impacts on pastoral areas are met. The feasibility factors considered include coverage of rangeland, rangeland vegetation cover/density and seasonality, which are critical, not only for the design of NDVIbased indices, but also for alternative EO drought indices. When conditions are not fully met, the assessment provides indications of the type of work required to design appropriate technical solutions to refine the product design for the specific context.The operational feasibility analysis evaluates the conditions required for supplying IBDRFI solutions and supporting the development of an enabling environment (institutional, regulatory and social) for its large-scale and sustainable provision. Thus, it seeks to assess the existing financial and insurance infrastructure and services, policy and regulatory environment, potential distribution channels and the existing private and public stakeholders (insurers and financial service providers, pastoral associations, intermediaries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) etc.) and their capacity in the financial sector.A scenario analysis finally determines historical payouts and hypothetical costings of proposed IBDRFI structures. This analysis is purely illustrative and aims to show simple examples of how the technical product customization and the choices made on different programmatic options have fundamental cost-benefit implications. However, it should be noted that the proposed scenarios are not meant to be recommendations for a specific option nor to cover an exhaustive range of IBDRFI solutions. Thus, detailed analyses of alternative programmatic options and product design customizations need to be planned with local stakeholders at the early implementation stages for future initiatives.The feasibility study is largely built on technical solutions, experiences and programmatic options implemented in east African countries, which were used as benchmarks for the assessment. As such, the IBLI product design 2 was used for the technical assessments, while IBDRFI programmatic options are based on the main ones tested thus far.Therefore, micro-level retail and macro-level social livelihood protection schemes that provide direct payouts/cash transfers to policyholders or beneficiaries were presented in the scenarios.However, the feasibility conditions should be considered as widely applicable to alternative IBDRFI options that can and should be evaluated and tailored to the specific context based on the country policy priorities in drought risk management and social protection. During the program design phase, alternative drought index product design approaches might be considered, given that the Sahel pastoral regions have significant ecological and socio-economic differences to those prevailing in east Africa. More importantly, while alternative programmatic options, such as meso or sovereign level insurance are not discussed in detail in this report because of the lack of direct implementation experiences in pastoral areas, these models might need to be considered depending on the country's policy priorities and the local context.Overall, the feasibility assessment, based on socio-economic, technical and operational conditions, indicates that Senegal's readiness for the implementation of an IBDRFI initiative targeting pastoralists is very high.Table E.1 illustrates the key findings of this study with respect to the feasibility criteria considered.The socio-economic assessment (Table E1, green) emphasizes the important role of the livestock sector to Senegal and the vulnerability of pastoralists to drought, particularly in the northern part of the country. It also indicates that there is potential demand for the product from pastoral communities. However, other relevant risks for the livestock sector (e.g. diseases, cattle rustling and bushfires) that largely affect agro-pastoralists need to be considered as part of a comprehensive social protection and disaster risk management strategy.The technical assessment (Table E1, yellow) classifies 33% of the Senegalese land area as feasible (green) or feasible but needing review (orange) for the implementation of IBDRFI products for pastoralists (Figure E1). This could cover about 26% of the national livestock herd. These areas cover a vast portion of the Saint Louis, Louga and Matam regions.The areas needing further review are considered feasible from a technical point of view, but have more fragmented rangeland cover due to a higher proportion of crops or woody cover and ongoing land use changes. For this reason, it would be important for local stakeholders and experts to confirm the relevance of these areas for extensive livestock herding and to provide a more detailed assessment of the drought index performance.The operational assessment (Table E1, grey) shows that:Senegal has a conducive environment for implementing IBDRFI solutions based on legal and regulatory frameworks, public and private sector capacity, interest and experience. The government of Senegal and Compagnie Nationale d' Assurance Agricole du Sénégal (CNAAS) have already had significant discussions on potential IBDRFI options targeting pastoralists including a public-private partnership (PPP) approach, demonstrating interest and willingness to support. The country also has strong capacity in the management and provision of remote sensing datasets and agro-meteorological services, e.g. Agence Nationale de l' Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie (ANACIM) and Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE) etc. Furthermore, the government of Senegal has been a participant in the drought risk pool of the ARC since 2014, which might offer the opportunity to develop a harmonized drought risk management framework in the country.The capacity to deliver digital financial services (DFS) is still weak in the pastoral regions and this could become a barrier to effective implementation. However, the good mobile money infrastructure and dynamism of the private sector actors and development organizations toward expanding their DFS portfolio and offering indexinsurance brokerage services (e.g. Planet Guarantee and IBISA), offers the opportunity to overcome such barriers.There is a dense network of pastoral and breeding associations in the pastoral regions that could play an important role in product distribution, awareness creation and bundled DFS offering.Table E.1. indicates that there are no critical areas that would require significant investments for IBDRFI implementation (red dots). Any new IBDRFI initiative in Senegal would require, however, to address the areas identified as medium readiness (yellow dots) including:better understand the risks faced by pastoralists and how they can be exacerbated by drought;carefully design awareness creation to stimulate informed demand and market development;better characterize rangeland composition and use in central and southern Senegal to potentially customize the product design and increase the area suitable for IBDRFI technical implementation;promote the development of more effective distribution channels using existing DFS infrastructures and pastoral associations' networks.The scenario analysis carried out under the study provides illustrative costing scenarios for two alternative 5-year IBDRFI programmatic options aimed at providing a safety net to vulnerable pastoralists in the face of drought. Both scenarios are designed on the experiences of Kenya and Ethiopia, where ongoing initiatives have demonstrated positive impacts on pastoralists' welfare and income, private sector development and government budgets and contingent liability.the global cost of supporting a microlevel retail scheme with 50% subsidies targeting to insure 25,000 pastoralists (from year 5) is estimated to be $5.6m, including $4.9 million subsidies and $0.75 million for program support activities. This option should stimulate both demand for the insurance product while simultaneously increasing the incentives for insurance providers to invest in marketing and support chains, leading to broader access and longer-term sustainability. At the same time, this option can fail to meet its objectives if the private sector does not invest in the product delivery or on the complementary activities such as marketing and awareness creation, which are critical to creating a sustainable market and meeting the target coverage.the global cost of a social protection program that provides insurance for 5 cattle equivalent for 50,000 pastoralists (from year 5) is estimated to be $19.3 million, including $16.8 million premium subsidies and $1.75 million for program support activities. This option assures meeting target coverage levels but may not stimulate private investment in product marketing or awareness creation; it may not necessarily create access to insurance for those that do not receive the insurance transfer. The long-term fiscal sustainability poses a second important risk, as this scheme requires considerable medium-term budget allocation commitments by the government.Socio-economic FeasibilityThe livestock sector represents 38 and 3.6% of the agricultural and national GDP, respectively. Pastoralism is the main Source of livelihood in the country's northern and north-eastern regions. The national livestock herd is 18.4 million, excluding poultry.Even though there are no detailed records on the cost of recent droughts (to the authors' best knowledge), estimates from models indicate that Senegal would need 26 million United States Dollars (USD) on average per year and a maximum of USD 140 million to respond to drought. Drought is the main risk faced by the country due to the large number of affected people. The 2019 drought affected about 1 million people. Estimates of livestock losses during drought events that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s are USD 14-32 million per year.Pastoralists are vulnerable to drought and indicated it as one of the main risks they face. However, evidence suggests that other issues, such as livestock rustling, disease and bush fires are also relevant. In terms of poverty, pastoralists are generally better off than agro-pastoralists, supporting the importance of considering complementary IBDRFI approaches that could cover the latter, especially for social protection purposes.Existing studies suggest that there is demand for index-insurance products (IBLI) from livestock keepers in northern Senegal. A qualitative study suggests, however, that the willingness to pay might be moderately low compared to the expected premium costs in a commercial programPastoralist communities have been exposed to insurance and have some understanding of the concept. However, agricultural and index-insurance are largely unknown in the pastoral areas and their introduction would require investments in awareness creation.The cover of extensive rangeland areas used for livestock herding is dominant only in the northern parts of the country. Towards the south, the landscape is more fragmented by increased crop and woody plant cover, making the IBLI product design less optimal because the NDVI signal might be strongly affected by vegetation that is not used for grazing.The rangeland seasonality is well-defined and relatively homogenous across the country. In the northern region, the typical rangeland growing season lasts from July to November. The NDVI signal is also sufficiently strong to assess the interannual variability. These factors do not limit the feasibility of IBLI product design in the country.The product design can be considered 'fully feasible' for 14.6% of Senegal's total land area and 'feasible but needing review' for another 18.3%. This covers the northern pastoral regions of Senegal. Overall, close to 30% of the national livestock herd falls in the areas suitable for implementation. Further analyses should be considered to evaluate the possibility of tailoring the product design such that a broader extent of the agro-pastoral areas could be also covered.Senegal hosts multiple institutions with experience in handling remote sensing data for rangeland monitoring (e.g. CSE) and supporting index-insurance initiatives, e.g. ANACIM. The availability of a network of biomass monitoring sites with historical records is a strong asset for product design.Senegal is part of Conférence Interafricaine des Marchés d' Assurances (CIMA), which already has regulations in place for index-insurance. Demand for Sharia compliance has not been reportedThe insurance market development is relatively good in the agricultural sector, thanks to the activity of CNAAS and the growing role of brokers such as Inclusive Guarantee. Senegal is also part of the ARC drought risk pool.CNAAS and other private sector actors are already exploring the possibility of launching IBDRFI products for livestock and demonstrated a keen interest in the current initiative.Insurers' presence in pastoral areas is limited or absent and existing agricultural insurance initiatives do not yet utilize digital technologies. However, the growing digital financial services network and dense network of breeders and pastoralist associations in the pastoral regions offer opportunities to support cost-effective distribution channels if targeted investments are made.Senegal has a social registry, which already includes around 590,000 households (including 65% of all poor households). Even though its coverage in pastoral regions is unclear, it is expanding and aiming to cover all poor households in the country eventually.CNAAS, a national company, already offers government funded 50% subsidies for agricultural insurance products. So far, there is no clear indication of government's willingness to finance large initiatives on livestock insurance under this IBDRFI feasibility study.The government has shown interest in IBDRFI initiatives targeting extensive pastoral systems and already has multiple initiatives for financing responses to shocks, including in the livestock sector.= low; = medium; = high.Source: Authors' own illustration.Considering the limited scope of a feasibility study, the next steps toward implementing an IBDRFI initiative in Senegal would require in-depth engagement with country stakeholders and the planning of analytical studies to address knowledge gaps identified in this assessment. The details are provided in Chapter 6 of the main report.Photo credit: EAP Photo Collection/ World BankStakeholders' engagement and policy support R1: Keep the momentum on the ongoing discussions with the government. The ongoing discussion on the IBDRFI initiatives for pastoralists should be moved forward to the implementation design stage, following similar examples of crop insurance already launched in the country (Figure E.2). As part of these efforts, it is important to set up policy dialogue to define the broad objectives that the government wants to achieve with IBDRFI initiatives (e.g. protect poorest or protect better-off pastoralists with more livestock assets or both) and to consider alternative IBDRFI design and programmatic implementation options at micro and/or meso and macro levels.Identifying the scope of initiatives to implement as part of the IBDRFI solutions. The policy dialogue should discuss the scope for initiatives on social livelihood protection in pastoral areas, such as a shock responsive safety net, as part of a broader country drought risk financing strategy. Should the government of Senegal and CNAAS decide to proceed to implementation, it is recommended that a board and technical working group (TWG) for the design phase of the initiative be established. The TWG should ideally include representatives of the relevant ministries, national/ regional agro-meteorological institutions, NGOs and development organizations active in the pastoral regions, pastoral associations and private sector actors with interest and/or experience in IBDRFI. The terms of reference for the TWG should be designed to support decision-making by providing technical backstop mechanisms during the program design stage, scheme implementation structures, product design customization, quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, awareness creation efforts and evaluation of suitability for specific target areas.Follow up actions on some of the priority areas identified:A cost-benefit analysis should be conducted to evaluate alternative programmatic IBDRFI options at micro, meso and macro levels. This should include the level of government financial support (e.g. in the form of premium financing and/or subsidies on the startup and implementation costs) especially program subsidies, based on clear indications of priorities from the TWG or interested parties.Targeted investments on DFS infrastructure and service provision should be planned for establishing efficient and robust registration, delivery and distribution mechanisms. This study indicates that both the DFS service network and presence of insurance service providers still seem weak in the pastoral regions. There is significant potential to leverage ongoing initiatives such as the household registry platform by the World Food Programme (WFP), which is now targeting inclusion of all poor households and could be a key instrument for beneficiaries' registration in IBDRFI initiatives.A systematic review of ongoing pastoral development interventions in northern Senegal should be conducted to explore synergies and opportunities for bundling services. Several stakeholders have indicated the importance of connecting IBDRFI payouts with other interventions aimed at supporting improved livestock production. These include market linkages and value-chain development, feed and fodder development, forage conservation and water management, animal health, as well as access to finance and credit.Considering that so far, no IBDRFI products and programs for pastoralists in the Sahel have been implemented, it would be important to conduct technical studies to explore alternative drought index design options. This should be followed up by multi-stakeholder review exercises to tailor and customize the index product to the local context. The product design study should be informed by initiatives such as NDGI, Quality Index Insurance Certification (QUIIC) and operational rangeland monitoring systems in the country/region (e.g. CSE and Centre Régionale de Formation et d' Application en Agrométéorologie et Hydrologie Opérationnelle (AGRHYMET) systems). Similarly, existing regional surveillance systems, such as the one developed by Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in collaboration with CSE, might be considered as a platform for IBDRFI-related data services.A capacity building and awareness creation strategy targeting institutional and private sector actors and pastoral communities should be planned from the early stages of implementation. All stakeholders indicated that financial literacy is limited in pastoral areas and the knowledge around agricultural insurance mechanisms is minimal.Increasing financial literacy and the understanding of index insurance products among pastoralists would be a critical step in the early implementation of any IBDRFI initiative.A monitoring and evaluation strategy should also be designed as part of a broader learning framework to ensure that appropriate mechanisms for quality assurance and impact evaluation are in place. Senegal is at the forefront of research and development innovation in the western African context, with strong local capacity and an active presence of international organizations with experience in IBDRFI and pastoral development. This creates the opportunity to create a laboratory for learning and impact evaluation that could become a model for the region. Photo credit: EAP Photo Collection/ World BankInsurance applied to agricultural enterprises. Types of business include forestry, crop, livestock and aquaculture insurance, but normally excludes building and equipment insurance, although these may be insured by the same insurer under a different policy.Basis risk is the difference between an index and the shock that the index is supposed to be a proxy for. A payout triggered by an index may be higher or lower than the beneficiary's losses, leading to overpayment or shortfalls, respectively.Action taken prior to a potential risk event. Advance preparations for disasters help avoid inefficient response coping decisions. If ex ante strategies are not in place, short-term coping strategies will be utilized that have no significant long-term benefits.Risk management strategies developed in reaction to an event without prior planning. While ex post strategies have a role to play, risk management mechanisms can be more effective when introduced ex ante.The cover amount or sum insured for peril(s) at any one time. In crop insurance, exposure may fluctuate during the coverage period, in line with crop growth stages from planting to harvest completion.A physical or moral feature that increases the potential for a loss arising from an insured peril or that may influence the degree of damage.The amount payable by the insurer to the insured, either in the form of cash, repair, replacement or reinstatement in the event of an insured loss. This amount is measured by the extent of the insured's pecuniary loss. It is set at a Figure equal to but not exceeding the actual value of the subject matter insured just before the loss, subject to the adequacy of the sum insured. For many crops, an escalating indemnity level is established, as the growing season progresses in line with crop growth stages. Index Insurance Insurance that does not make indemnity payments based on an assessment of the policyholder's individual loss, but rather on measures of an index that is a proxy of actual losses. Two types of agricultural index insurance products are those based on area yields, where the area is some unit of geographical aggregation larger than the farm and those based on measurable weather events.A financial mechanism that aims to reduce the uncertainty of loss by pooling many uncertainties so that the burden of loss is distributed. Generally, each policyholder pays a contribution to a fund in the form of a premium, commensurate with the risk they introduce. The insurer uses these funds to pay the losses (indemnities) suffered by any of the insured.The person who solicits, negotiates or implements insurance contracts on behalf of the insurer.The person who represents the insured in finding an insurer or insurers for a risk and negotiates the terms of the insurance contract. A broker may also act as an agent (i.e. for the insurer) for the purposes of delivering a policy to the insured and collecting premiums from the insured.Insurance Policy A formal document including all clauses, riders and endorsements, which express the terms, exceptions and conditions of the contract of insurance between the insurer and the insured. It is not the contract itself but evidence of the contract.The cause of loss stated in the policy, which on its occurrence entitles the insured to make a claim.Loss Adjustment Determination of the extent of damage resulting from occurrence of an insured peril and settlement of the claim.Loss adjustment is carried out by the appointed loss adjuster who works on behalf of the insurer.The proportion of claims paid (or payable) to premiums earned. A loss ratio is usually calculated for each class of business in which an insurer participates. Analysis of loss ratios can be useful in assessing risks and designing appropriate insurance structures.The economic level at which countries and large donor agencies working with these countries experience risk of weather-induced humanitarian crises or economic instability caused by price volatility.The economic level at which banks, micro-finance institutions, producers, traders, processors and input providers experience risk due to the vagaries of weather and price.The economic level at which individual farm households experience risks due to shocks such as adverse weather events, price fluctuations or disease.The monetary sum payable by the insured to the insurers for the period (or term) of insurance granted by the policy. The premium is calculated as the product of the premium rate and amount of insurance. It is also the cost of an option contract, paid by the buyer to the seller.The price per unit of insurance. Normally expressed as a per cent of the sum insured.When the total exposure of a risk or group of risks presents the potential for losses beyond the limit which is prudent for an insurance company to carry, the insurance company may purchase reinsurance i.e. insurance of the insurance.Reinsurance has many advantages including (i) balancing the financial results of the insurance company over a period, (ii) limiting the exposure of individual risks and restricting losses paid out by the insurance company and (iii) increasing an insurance company's solvency margin (per cent of capital and reserves to net premium income), hence the company's financial strength. The reinsurer benefits from profits of the insurance company, but also contributes to cover losses, the net result being a more sTable loss ratio over the insurance period.The process of creating a risk-sharing arrangement, which pools risks, thereby reducing transaction costs and giving small households or other participants a stronger bargaining position.Care to maintain income and avoid/reduce loss or damage to a property resulting from undesirable events. Risk management involves identifying, analyzing, quantifying risks and taking appropriate measures to prevent or minimize losses. Risk management may involve physical mechanisms such as vaccinating animals or improving the management of grazing lands. It can also involve financial mechanisms, e.g. hedging, insurance and self-insurance (carrying sufficient financial reserves so that a loss can be sustained without endangering the immediate viability of the enterprise).Actions taken to reduce the probability or impact of a risk event or to reduce exposure to them.Risk retention is the process whereby a party retains the financial responsibility for loss in the event of a shock.Risk transfer is the process of shifting the burden of financial loss or responsibility for risk-financing to another party through insurance, reinsurance, legislation or other means.Strategies employed to cope with a shock after its occurrence. Some examples of risk-coping strategies include the sale of assets, seeking additional Sources of employment and social assistance.The process of managing risk and the consequences of residual risk through products such as insurance contracts, catastrophe bonds, reinsurance or options.The process of separating risk into tiers that allow for more efficient financing and management of risks. High probability low-consequence events may be retained by households to a certain extent. The market insurance layer is characterized by the ability of the market to manage risks through insurance or other contracts. Low-probability high-consequence events characterize the market failure layer and at this layer of risk, government intervention may be necessary to offset the high losses.The aggregation of individual risks for the purpose of managing the consequences of independent risks. Risk pooling is based on the law of large numbers. In insurance terms, the law of large numbers demonstrates that pooling large numbers of roughly homogenous, independent exposure units can yield a mean average consistent with actual outcomes. Thus, pooling risks allows an accurate prediction of future losses and helps determine premium rates.A social protection program that can increase its caseload and/or its intensity of support in response to catastrophic events.An unexpected traumatic event such as death in the family or loss of land and livestock, which can be caused by catastrophic weather events or another unexpected phenomenon. Price shocks occur when the price of commodities changes dramatically due to changes in local or global supply and demand, affecting the livelihoods of households dependent on this commodity either for income or caloric intake. Economic shocks can occur at the micro, meso and macro levels and can have long-term consequences for the economic well-being of actors at each level.Various services usually provided by the government that are designed to prevent individuals or households from falling below a certain level of poverty. Such services include free or subsidized health care, childcare, housing and welfare etc.A direct or indirect benefit granted by a government for the production or distribution (including export) of a good or to supplement other services. Generally, subsidies are thought to be production and trade distorting and cause rent-seeking behaviour, resulting in inefficient use of resources.To select or rate risks for insurance purposes.This report was prepared for the project entitled 'Feasibility analysis for a pre-arranged drought risk financing and insurance (DRFI) solution for livestock in the Sahel' , conducted by ILRI and the WBG. The aim of the project was to assess the feasibility of implementing financial protection solutions against drought in the pastoral regions of four Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal) and to discuss the most effective implementation modalities (as part of wider drought risk management and pastoral development initiatives) with local stakeholders (public and private sector).Among the various DRFI solutions, index-based approaches are particularly suitable for smallholder farming and extensive pastoral systems. Index-based drought risk financing (IBDRFI) instruments trigger payouts/financial response based on an ' objective' index approximating the impact/loss. Indices can be based on ground measurement networks (e.g. meteorological and crop yield data) or by EO satellite data (e.g. rainfall estimates, vegetation indices and soil moisture).The study was conducted against the background of ongoing discussions to scale-up regional or national-level IBDRFI initiatives in the Sahel and Horn of Africa (HOA) as part of a comprehensive agenda to increase the resilience to climatic shocks of pastoralists (see Footnote 1). For the last decade, IBDRFI solutions for pastoralists have been implemented and scaled up in east Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia) using different modalities, including micro-insurance, macro-level social livelihood protection, scalable safety nets and sovereign-level insurance programs. The positive impacts and overall success of these initiatives have attracted growing demand and interest from African governments and development organizations keen to explore the possibility of introducing similar approaches across other pastoral regions on the continent. In addition to the countries targeted by this project, feasibility and pilot studies have been conducted or are ongoing in Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia.This report presents the main findings and recommendations of the feasibility of implementing an IBDRFI solution for pastoralists in Senegal. This study was conducted from March 2020 to February 2021 by a joint team of ILRI and WBG experts, by combining literature review, in-country data collection, key informant interviews with local public and private sector stakeholders and dedicated technical analysis using satellite imagery and risk modelling approaches.The objective of the feasibility assessment in Senegal is to inform the government of Senegal, private sector stakeholders and development institutions about the potential of launching IBDRFI initiatives in the country as a contribution towards sustainable solutions that cushion pastoral households against the impacts of severe drought shocks. The study also provides the background knowledge required to make informed decisions on whether investing resources in the design and implementation of an IBDRFI program can achieve the desired public policy objectives.The feasibility study investigated the context, needs, challenges and potential solutions for implementing IBDRFI initiatives targeting pastoralists in Senegal. Therefore, the following three main areas were analyzed:1. The socio-economic context and potential demand for IBDRFI products (socio-economic feasibility, Chapter 2). From a national perspective, extensive livestock production systems are an important component of the rural economy, making IBDRFI solutions for pastoralists a worthwhile investment. From a development and demand perspective, livestock assets are important to rural households' livelihoods and welfare, such that their protection is critical for resilience building. These conditions are also important in understanding the type of IBDRFI solutions that would be more relevant (i.e. commercial micro-insurance, social livelihood protection coverage and social safety nets etc.).2. The technical design of a satellite-based drought index for extensive rangeland systems (technical feasibility, Chapter 3). A simple, robust, low-cost index design resulting in an accurate IBDRFI product is a critical precondition for implementation. Satellite-based indices have been proven to be reliable indicators of the impact of droughts on forage resources. The assessment therefore evaluates the geographic extent of the area where the technical design of an accurate satellite IBDRFI index would be possible. The feasibility factors considered include rangeland coverage, rangeland vegetation cover/density and seasonality, which are critical for the design of EO drought indices.3. The operational conditions for an IBDRFI scheme (operational feasibility, Chapter 4). Designing and implementing an efficient supply chain for IBDRFI solutions in extensive pastoral areas is challenging and often requires substantial initial investments. The assessment of existing infrastructure and networks for financial services delivery, institutional and private sector capacity and interest, existing legal and regulatory frameworks and technical and financial constraints is therefore essential to determine the level of investment required to launch the initiative.In addition, this study provides a simple scenario analysis to illustrate the historical payouts and hypothetical costings of typical IBDRFI structures (scenario analysis, Chapter 5). This analysis aims to provide the Senegalese government, private sector and development institutions with an overview of the costs and benefits of the proposed insurance scheme based on multiple scenarios. This is done for illustrative purposes only, with the aim of demonstrating how the technical product customization and different programmatic options have fundamental cost/benefit implications. As such, it should be noted that the proposed scenarios are not meant to be recommendations for specific options, nor do they represent an exhaustive range of IBDRFI solutions. Thus, a detailed analysis of alternative programmatic options and product design customization needs to be planned with local stakeholders at the early stages of implementation for future initiatives.Findings from the different components of the study are summarized (Section 6) in a set of recommendations for the next stage of implementation. It should be noted that the scope of this assessment is limited to the determination of whether important requirements for the development and introduction of an IBDRFI initiative for pastoralists are met and to further provide recommendations for the subsequent planning and preparatory stages of implementation.The feasibility study is largely built on technical solutions, experiences and programmatic options implemented in east African countries, which were used as benchmarks for the assessment. As such, the IBLI product design 4 was used for the technical assessments, while IBDRFI programmatic options were based on the main ones tested thus far.Therefore, micro-level retail and macro-level social livelihoods protection schemes that provide direct payouts/cash transfers to policyholders or beneficiaries are presented in the scenarios.However, the feasibility conditions should be considered as widely applicable to alternative IBDRFI options that can and should be evaluated and tailored for each specific context according to the country's policy priorities in drought risk management and social protection. During the program design phase, alternative drought index design approaches might need to be considered, given that the Sahel pastoral regions present significant ecological and socio-economic differences to those prevailing in east Africa. While alternative programmatic options, such as meso or sovereign-level insurance are not discussed in detail in this report because of the lack of direct implementation experiences in pastoral areas, these models might need to be considered.Drought risk financing and insurance refers to mechanisms that aim to reduce adverse socio-economic or ecological impacts of potential crises. This can include early financing to prevent and reduce the risk profile or preparing for and responding to a shock. Drought risk financing and insurance is becoming an integral part of climate risk management frameworks as a key component of financial protection strategic planning for low and middle-income countries. A sovereign-level drought risk financing solution for rangelands currently offered in east Africa and the Sahel was piloted by the ARC in collaboration with ILRI in Kenya.Besides the operational options just listed, alternative IBDRFI programmatic implementation schemes in the pastoral context might also be promising considering the lessons learnt from implementation in east Africa and the contextspecific policy objectives (ILRI 2021). For example, while never tested in the extensive pastoral regions, the potential for meso-level insurance may hold the greatest promise. This entails selling policies to risk aggregators such as pastoralist cooperatives, rural finance institutions or livestock services organizations (e.g. veterinary, drug and feed supplements suppliers). Meso-level distribution also offers the potential of de-risking lending to pastoralists and thus boosting investments in pastoral value chain upgrades. Box 1.1 presents an overview of micro, meso and macro-level distribution approaches. The intended investment pillars include (i) regional infrastructure networks, (ii) trade and economic integration, (iii) building resilience and (iv) strengthening human capital. The third pillar includes the development of a regional pastoralist livestock insurance scheme. Insurance would be the entry point to enhance the financial inclusion of pastoralists (through promotion of savings and access to credit) to strengthen their resilience to drought by protecting their livestock assets, which in turn protects their livelihoods. Ultimately, the delivery of insurance products with complementary programs designed to improve pastoral production systems would increase productivity and incomes (WBG 2020a). These two initiatives should provide useful insights relevant to the design and implementation of IBDRFI products and programs in Senegal and other Sahel countries with large pastoral communities (ILRI 2021).Policyholders are individuals, e.g. farmers, market vendors or fishers, who hold policies and receive payouts directly. These policies are often sold at the local level and retailed through a variety of channels, including micro-finance institutions, farmers' cooperatives, banks, NGOs and local insurance companies. Premiums are either paid in full by clients or subsidized (or both).Policyholders are risk aggregators such as associations, cooperatives, mutuals, credit unions or NGOs, whereby a reinsurer makes payments to the risk aggregators, that then provide services to individuals.Policies are held by governments or other national agencies, within the international/regional reinsurance market.Payouts can be used to manage liquidity gaps, maintain governmental services or finance post-disaster programs and relief efforts for predefined target groups. Beneficiaries of these programs can be individuals. These schemes can be operationalized through regional risk pools.Source: Schaefer and Waters (2016)All IBDRFI solutions for pastoralists currently operational in Africa rely on similar EO technologies and general principles. Satellite indicators of forage condition (i.e. the NDVI, Box 1.2) are elaborated to derive an index of forage production in a given area and to calculate payouts using a predefined payout function and trigger mechanism. The normalized difference vegetation index is a low-cost, accessible and widely used satellite indicator of drought. There is well-documented evidence of a strong relationship between rangeland biomass and NDVI for ASAL rangelands.The NDVI has been successfully used to measure the effect of progressive drought conditions on forage and grazing availability over time (Fava and Vrieling 2021).Among those solutions, the IBLI index design used in this study for technical analysis, was developed for anticipatory action and livestock asset protection in times of severe droughts that lead to forage scarcity. 5 The forage deficit estimated by the satellite index was used as an early indicator of drought conditions that negatively impact forage availability, livestock health and ultimately pastoralists' livelihoods (Appendix 2). As the satellite data provide near real-time assessment, payouts are triggered at the end of the rainy period (i.e. the most critical period for pastoralists to plan herd management) in the event of a drought. These payouts can support pastoralists to make informed and financially backed tactical decisions to better protect their livestock assets and thus cope with the shock. Pastoralists can purchase fodder and animal feed supplements on time to keep core breeding animals alive, well before major livestock losses are incurred. Studies in east Africa suggest that anticipatory responses are significantly more costeffective in protecting assets and livelihoods than humanitarian aid in later stages of the crises (USAID 2018).The IBLI product design is specifically tailored for pastoralists in extensive pastoral systems where mobility is an important herd management practice and livestock depend on rangeland resources. The insurance coverage is offered to relatively large geographical units (unit areas of insurance/UAIs) where the wet season grazing areas are located. The UAIs are designed in collaboration with local pastoral communities to reflect typical short-range livestock grazing and mobility patterns during the wet season. The product is currently not designed for transhumance corridors or long-distance dry season grazing areas.5. It should be noted that satellite NDVI is sensitive to multiple factors affecting the vegetation, including some perils other than drought, e.g. floods, fires and pests etc. The IBLI index is, however, designed to specifically target drought effects on vegetation and minimize the impact of other factors, which might affect the NDVI signal. As such, while the NDVI might also be used to design multi-peril insurance coverage, this was not the case for the IBLI design in this study.The NDVI is a relative indicator of green vegetation cover or vigour obtained by measuring the difference between visible and near infra-red light reflectance. Higher NDVI values indicate denser cover or healthier vegetation and vice versa. In the context of operational NDVI-based IBDRFI products for pastoralists, NDVI is used as a proxy for forage availability, since during a normal wet year/season, vegetation has higher NDVI than during a drought year/ season.While alternative satellite indices of drought exist, such as satellite rainfall estimates and soil moisture products, NDVI is currently the most widely used operational systems indicator for drought early warning, monitoring and index insurance in African rangelands. This is because of the well-established relationship between NDVI and vegetation condition, which is in turn directly related to forage resources available for livestock.Alternative EO-derived indicators (e.g. rainfall estimates, evapotranspiration, soil moisture) or drought indices provide a wide range of options to design new products (Fava and Vrieling 2021). Initiatives such as the NGDI aim to expand the range of options for designing IBDRFI solutions by developing a practical framework for a set of indices or indicators that will better monitor, anticipate and trigger financial responses to severe drought events. Others, such as the University of California Davis/USAID QUIIC, aim to establish effective approaches for IBDRFI product assessment and to define minimum quality standards. These efforts are expected to allow the development of innovative indices, tailored to specific needs, co-generated with stakeholders and validated according to high scientific standards.The IBDRFI initiatives implemented by ILRI in Kenya and Ethiopia thus far have produced valuable implementation lessons and evidence for governments and pastoral communities. Key impacts are summarized in Figure 1.1. They have also provided proof of concept for different implementation schemes tailored to the needs of the specific countries, ranging from commercial insurance programs with various premium subsidy levels to fully subsidized macro-level social livelihoods protection programs targeting the most vulnerable pastoralists. This has created strong demand for IBDRFI instruments from several countries across the region and increased interest from development partners based on this demand. Investment in infrastructure facilities and crowds-in additional services.More awareness on the product increases the potential for retail sales.IBLI coverage expanded from 3 to 8 countries Number of IBLI policies increased from 4k to over 20kReduced drought risk Intensification: Increased investments in higherreturns production strategies.Strategic livestock sales when prices are high. ¹Increased investments in veterinary services. ¹Greater income 1,2   Drought SeasonsLess reliance on determental coping strategies during drought.Less \"skipping\" meals during drought.[?]Maintained investments in human capital. Improved post drought economic and welfare outcomes.Early action to mitigate the impact of droughtDestocking in anticipation of price and reSource shocks.Early purchase of inputs to sustain remaining herd during the coming drought. The IBDRFI solutions for pastoralists are still evolving in response to lessons learnt and growing demand from new countries. While there are consolidated operational implementation experiences in east Africa, new programs can utilize the vast knowledge capital accumulated over the last 10 years to further improve the existing solutions, tailoring them to the local context and pastoral systems and supporting their harmonization into broader risk management, resilience building and pastoral development policy frameworks.Evidence from multi-year impact evaluation surveys on the retail micro-insurance IBLI programs in Kenya and Ethiopia shows that these programs generated considerable social and welfare benefits for pastoralists who insured their livestock (Figure 1.1, Block 3: Protect vulnerable). During good years, insured households respond to their insurance coverage by increasing investments in livestock, veterinary and vaccination services, selling more livestock and reducing their herd size (Jensen et al. 2017;Matsuda et al. 2019). These changes in production strategies result in positive impacts on indicators of well-being, such as increased household income per adult equivalent and reduced reliance on costly ex ante risk-reducing strategies such as distress selling of livestock or skipping meals (Janzen and Carter 2018;Jensen et al. 2017;Matsuda et al. 2019).Analyses of the use of payouts from pastoralists in Kenya and Ethiopia indicate that payouts influenced the decisionmaking of pastoralists on coping strategies. These payouts were used for both livelihood protection and purchasing of livestock inputs. Using data from a survey of over 1,000 KLIP beneficiaries in Marsabit and Isiolo after the 2016-17 drought, a study examined how beneficiaries changed their coping strategies in anticipation of payments and how they spent those funds once they were received. A large majority (70%) of respondents reported using part of the payouts for human food consumption, while others used the payouts for forage/fodder, water and veterinary services expenses for their livestock (Taye et al. 2019).The experience of KLIP has provided evidence that the establishment of a PPP model for implementing IBDRFI is effective in transferring risk to the private sector while crowding-in private sector capacity and stimulating market expansion. The PPP model was preferred for KLIP because private sector-only implementation proved difficult to scale-up whilst maintaining private sector appetite for retail coverage due to the high costs of distribution and the relatively low uptake. The PPP assisted in developing a new model for implementing IBDRFI solutions. Lessons learned from the implementation of KLIP are summarized as follows:Government leadership and direct investment in IBDRFI initiatives are possible and can be effective when there is strong partnership with the private sector and roles and incentive structures are clearly defined. A mechanism for long-term public commitment ne eds to be established to guarantee the stability of the scheme.Subsidies for scaling up and consolidating the scheme are important and instrumental, but they also need to be associated with smart targeting mechanisms and private sector incentives for market development and expansion.Awareness creation and capacity strengthening at all levels are fundamental and require sufficient resources for such schemes to achieve sustainability.Impact assessments require investment, planning and preparation. It is, therefore, recommended that a rigorous impact study and cost-benefit analysis of the program be included during the design phase to ensure that lessons learnt are documented and evidence is gathered.The introduction of an anticipatory logic in the IBLI and KLIP index design (for early drought detection and livestock asset protection) has been a fundamental step in improving the value and cost-effectiveness of the scheme.Accurate insurance product design is critical to create trust and achieve desired impacts but currently the data infrastructure for product quality assessments and comparisons is weak, if not absent. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the establishment of robust, transparent actionable strategies and methodologies for quality assessment of index insurance products.Engaging with local and international stakeholders and tailoring the IBDRFI product to the specific agroecological and socio-economic contexts and evolving environmental conditions is necessary not only during the program design phases but throughout the entire program implementation cycle.Effective implementation is just as important as the technical design. It is important to ensure that any premium collection and payment infrastructure designs are robust prior to the launch of similar schemes. Leveraging off existing financial service infrastructure is crucial in ensuring that development impact is achieved, trust is built and the scheme is sustainable.Scaling up IBDRFI initiatives requires strong coordination efforts and harmonization of the different drought risk management instruments to optimize their finance mechanisms, targeting approaches, data and management infrastructure.However, lessons learnt so far show that there are still significant challenges to be addressed in implementing IBDRFI in extensive pastoral regions, particularly in terms of financial sustainability and effective product distribution. The micro-level insurance retail schemes still face significant challenges such as low adoption rates and high marketing and distribution transaction costs. These challenges make the products unattractive for private insurance companies unless they are significantly subsidized. In addition, the macro-level and safety net schemes for social livelihoods protection face challenges around the long-term commitment of government budgets and efficiency of the distribution model.A recent study conducted under the DIRISHA program clearly shows that there is need to identify new low-cost distribution channels for IBDRFI in east Africa (ILRI 2021) and that meso-level channels might represent a feasible option. This is likely to apply equally in Senegal and other parts of the Sahel. Over the past decade, the micro-level IBLI programs in Kenya and Ethiopia have operated at a financial loss because of the very high administration and operating costs of implementing insurance with individual pastoralists, who often reside in very remote areas. The unit costs of promotion, awareness and education, policy issuance and premium collection from individual pastoralists exceeded the premiums generated from each micro-level policy sale. For micro-level IBLI programs to operate at a commercial profit, they will require new and more cost-effective ways of marketing and delivering cover to clients.Insurance is only one of many essential elements of a comprehensive risk management framework.On one hand, building resilience requires broader investments in risk information (e.g. probabilistic drought risk assessments), risk reduction (e.g. improved natural reSource management practices) and preparedness building (e.g. live animal offtake markets). On the other hand, index-based insurance requires certain elements to function well. Not only is there a need for more concerted financial literacy and insurance training for pastoralists, but also systems for targeting and registering pastoralists require improvement. Strengthening of private sector markets for fodder and feed supplements and provision of veterinary services are also required as without these, pastoralists receiving payouts are unable to use the money to sustain their livestock (ILRI 2021).Overall, evidence from operational insurance programs suggests significant benefits can be derived from IBDRFI instruments, both in terms of establishing mutual benefits between the public and private sector and delivering positive outcomes for the welfare and livelihoods of pastoralists during crisis and non-crisis periods. There is still need for better understanding of the short-and long-term impacts of these programs on individual, community and environmental outcomes. Investments in robust monitoring and evaluation infrastructure and rigorous impact assessment studies are important to assess and increase the product value to ensure the development of tailor-made initiatives for resilience building of pastoral communities.This section aims to review the main socio-economic conditions that may justify IBDRFI initiatives in Senegal. It examines the relevance of the livestock sector and the impacts of drought shocks to the national economy and the pastoralists' livelihoods. The prevailing socio-economic environment, in terms of the importance of livestock for livelihoods and welfare, vulnerability to drought shocks and impacts of drought and other shocks on livestock assets, is also assessed. The analysis was conducted through a combination of desktop reviews and key informant interviews with stakeholders in the country (see Appendix 3).Senegal is a growing agriculture-based economy, but poverty remains a serious challenge. Senegal's economy has maintained strong economic growth over the last 10 years, averaging 5.1% per year between 2010-19. Agriculture is still the backbone of the economy as 52% of the population lives in rural areas, where crop farming and livestock rearing are the main Sources of livelihoods. Agriculture contributes about 15% to the national GDP and is estimated to provide 29% of total employment. Given that most producers are subsistence farmers, the total number of people working in agriculture is likely to be much higher, with some estimates of total employees in agriculture as high as 77% (CIA 2021). Table 2.1 presents an overview of selected key economic and agricultural indicators in Senegal. A large share of the population is poor, with half of the population estimated to be living below the national poverty line in 2011. The livestock sector contributes more than one third to the agricultural GDP and most rural households are engaged in livestock rearing. The national statistical agency's most recent data shows that the livestock sector contributed 38 and 3.6% to the agricultural and national GDP, respectively. The 5.0% annual growth of the sector during 2016-18 mirrored that of national GDP. As per the latest general census data from 2013, around 28% of all households and 60% of farming households are engaged in livestock rearing. An estimated 24% of the total population (equivalent to 3.5 million people) in Senegal were estimated to be nomadic pastoralists or agro-pastoralists in 2015 (Table 2.2). Administratively, Senegal is divided into 14 regions, which are further sub-divided into 45 departments and 103 arrondissements. Livestock production systems in Senegal can be divided into nomadic pastoral, agro-pastoral and intensive and semi-intensive systems.Extensive livestock rearing on communal grazing lands that is mostly practiced by herders of the Fulani ethnic group living in the silvo-pastoral zone in the northern and north-eastern regions of Senegal, also known as 'the Ferlo' . The Ferlo stretches over an arid and semi-arid area of about 70,000 km2 over parts of the departments of Saint-Louis, Louga, Matam and the margins of Tambacounda.Extensive livestock rearing coupled with sedentary crop farming that can be found in the ' groundnut basin' ('Bassin Arachidier'), the Senegal river valley ('Vallée du fleuve'), the South east of the country ('Sénégal Oriental') and the south ('Casamance').   In 2019, there were an estimated 18.4 million livestock (excluding poultry) in Senegal. As per the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) data, the national herd is comprised of sheep (38%), goats (34%), cattle (20%) with the remaining 8% composed of horses, donkeys, pigs and camels. Overall, livestock numbers have grown consistently over the years, with tropical livestock units (TLUs) 6 growing by 30% over the last 20 years . However, the average annual ruminant herd growth was only There is no data on nomadic and agro-pastoralist total population sizes and their respective livestock distributions.A review of literature revealed that agro-pastoralists owned the majority of livestock in Senegal in the 2000s, approximately 67 and 62% of bovines and small ruminants, respectively (PARM 2016, citing Niang and Mbaye 2013).As agro-pastoralists tend to be concentrated in the central and southern Senegal regions and are relatively less mobile than nomadic pastoralists, a larger concentration of livestock populations is expected in these areas. However, the national statistics agency, Agence Nationale de Statistique et de la Démographie (ANSD) estimated that in 2012, more than 50% of ruminants were in the silvo-pastoral zone of northern and north-eastern Senegal (the Ferlo) (Table 2.3).Photo credit: EAP Photo Collection/ World Bank Pastoral and agro-pastoral households are among the poorest and most vulnerable in Senegal. Most households (75%) whose livelihoods depend mainly on livestock are located in the two poorest quintiles. 7 Households that mainly depend on livestock rearing also belong to the groups most affected by food insecurity. In 2013, the WFP assessed that 24% of these households were moderately food insecure while 3% were severely food insecure (WFP 2014b).Pastoralists in Senegal traditionally follow a subsistence lifestyle with little involvement in trade but there are signs of change. Agro-pastoralists have traditionally produced animal products mainly for self-consumption, which would be supplemented with crop products. Only a small portion of livestock is marketed (WBG 2015). Despite its substantially large livestock sector, Senegal still depends on meat imports to meet demand. In 2016 alone, Senegal produced more than 242,000 tonnes of meat and still imported another 8,900 tonnes (CEP-MEPA 2017). The involvement of pastoralists in livestock trade seems to be changing, with most livestock owners including those in remote nomadic pastoralist systems becoming dependent on markets. While this can boost their livelihoods, it also exposes them to market-related risks such as market quarantines due to disease outbreaks and market shocks leading to plummeting livestock prices (WBG 2015).Pastoral livestock rearing involves varying degrees of seasonal mobility to access scarce natural resources on communally managed parcels of land or open-access systems in northern Senegal and Mauritania. Seasonal livestock migrations, especially north-south, are an important herd management strategy for nomadic pastoralists in Senegal although local mobility patterns might be considerably different and less generalizable than regional ones (Figure 2.4; Turner et al. 2016). Over the years, transborder transhumance from Mauritania into Senegal and Mali has been on the increase (Touré et al. 2012). Mobility patterns can be coarsely separated into three typologies: (i) sedentary management, which refers to the grazing of livestock around a single encampment year-round (≈ 0-5 km radius), (ii) local seasonal movements in multiple directions (sometimes referred to as 'la petite transhumance') between encampments to escape flooding (movements on/off floodplain) or cropped fields or to access higher quality pasture or water (≈ 5-40 km distance) and (iii) long-distance seasonal movements (sometimes referred to as 'la grande transhumance'), generally oriented to the south during the dry season and back to the north during the wet season to take advantage of seasonal gradients in forage quality (≈ 40-250 km distance) (Turner et al. 2016).A large proportion of the livestock owned by nomadic pastoralists remains in the rangelands in northern Senegal and Mauritania during the wet season and then moves south. The rainy season typically lasts from June to mid-September.In regular years, pastoralists tend to stay with their animals in the northern rangelands until November or December before migrating south in search of markets to sell livestock or towards central and southern regions to purchase crop residues. As represented in Figure 2.3, most of the migratory movement occurs between the Ferlo and the groundnut basin in central Senegal. There have been many attempts at capturing and quantifying livestock herd movements using different methodologies but given data constraints and the complexities of pastoral transhumance, no definitive mapping has emerged (Jahel et al 2020). 87. Poverty was assessed by calculating an index which considered both the possession of goods and living conditions (WFP 2014b).8. Jahel et al. ( 2020) provides a good overview of the latest literature on the issue, citing e.g. census and network-based approaches that have been used in an attempt to map livestock movements.  1987). Following these drought years, many pastoralists did not find cultivation worthwhile thus focused more on livestock rearing (especially sheep) and increased commercialization of their activities (Adriansen 2008). However, this shift was short-lived due to pressure on pastoral lands, security issues and governmental policies, which drove pastoralists to more sedentary livelihoods (PARM 2016) as detailed in the paragraphs below.Nomadic pastoralists in Senegal have been subject to many challenges that reduce their access to grazing lands. Over the years, grazing lands have become increasingly scarce. Contributory factors include both human and livestock population growth and associated pressures on grazing lands, soil degradation, deforestation, local conflicts, increasing climate variability and growing croplands (PARM 2016). The government has also adopted initiatives towards 'modernizing' traditional nomadic pastoral lifestyles over the last 20 years 9 through legal and political initiatives aimed at creating 'pastoralist units' to limit migration or to support the spread of sedentary agriculture and agrobusinesses (Ancey and Monas 2005). 10 Many pastoralists have therefore abandoned the nomadic lifestyle and become sedentary, thus further increasing pressure on the land. Nomadic pastoralists that do not have sufficiently large herds to buffer potential shocks are particularly exposed. Food-secure households have an average of 8.4 TLUs compared to 5.1 TLUs for food-insecure households (WBG 2015). The latter households are potentially forced to give up the traditional nomadic lifestyle and become sedentary. Indeed, a retrospective study (Weicker 1993) using data from 1953 and 1979 showed that the total area of cultivated croplands more than tripled in size. The conversion of agro-pastoralist lands into crop lands reduces room for the migratory pastoralist lifestyle. Local institutional leaders also report that pastoral mobility frequently conflicts with sedentary agriculture. An example that is often cited is Podor in northern Senegal, which has attracted the interest of sedentary farmers, much to the disapproval of pastoralists in the area. 11 In addition, the drive towards increased rice production through irrigation as espoused by the 'Plan for an Emerging Senegal' , is likely to worsen farmer-pastoralist conflicts. 12 Agro-pastoralists are among the most vulnerable population groups in Senegal. Transitions into agro-pastoralism are generally a product of the described pressures, particularly limited access to grazing land. Thus, while nomadic pastoralists in Senegal are often recognized to be relatively resilient and less vulnerable, agro-pastoral households generally possess fewer livestock and occupy lands on the fringes of pastoral areas, with particularly low rainfall.They are thus exposed to the risks associated with rainfall variability but have limited opportunities to migrate their livestock herds in response. Agro-pastoral households are thus among the poorest and most vulnerable population groups in Senegal (WBG 2015). This is also reflected in the national geographic distribution of poverty, which is more concentrated in central and southern Senegal, i.e. home to most agro-pastoralist households, as opposed to the north where most nomadic pastoralists reside (Figure 2.4). Pastoralism in Senegal should also be seen from the perspective of events and developments in the Sahel region where pastoralist-centric legislative instruments have often been promoted. For instance, Sahelian countries have adopted several bilateral agreements that enhance cross-border transhumance between the countries. This process is also backed by various autonomous pastoral organizations in the Sahel region. There are, however, several factors that militate against the unfettered movement of pastoralists and their herds. For example, pastoral communities in the north-eastern region of Senegal, who are used to migrating to Mali during the dry spells are abandoning this practice because of the on-going conflict in that country.Senegal is exposed to a variety of different climate shocks, of which droughts have the most adverse impacts. According to the emergency events database (EM-DAT), during the last half of the century Senegal has experienced a total of over 40 major natural and weather-induced disasters and riverine floods accounted for most of these. In addition, the country has also faced droughts, epidemics (such as cholera and yellow fever), convective storms and insect infestations. However, as Figure 2.5 shows, droughts tend to have the most devastating impact, having affected close to 8 million people in Senegal since 1970. Given that EM-DAT often underestimates the difficult-to-quantify impacts of droughts, the actual Figure is likely to be much higher.  1968, 1972, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2007 and 2014. For their analysis, PARM defined a major rainfall deficit (drought) as occurring when annual total rainfall was below one standard deviation of the long-term mean (note that this is different from the Seuil deficit threshold shown in the graph). It should be noted that these are national Figures, which do not necessarily represent local drought conditions accurately (PARM 2016). For example, like elsewhere in the Sahel, the year 2011-12 was a significant drought year in Senegal, leading to a widespread food security crisis (WFP 2014). PARM also calculated the return periods for severe rainfall deficits and excess rains 13 in the main livestock production zones of Ferlo, the southeast and Niayes. For all these regions, both severe rainfall deficits and excesses were estimated to occur about once every 6 to 6.5 years (Table 2.4).   2.5). It should be noted, however, that there may be some important caveats to this analysis. 1514. Major deficit rainfall years are defined as total annual rainfall at least one standard deviation below the 1960 to 2014 average, while major excess rainfall years exceed this average by at least one standard deviation.15. This analysis was not conducted by the authors and it may be subject to important caveats: (i) the data are more than 40 years old and it seems unlikely that projections for 2021 and beyond are valid, given that the size of the national herd has since roughly doubled and the national herd composition has changed significantly, (ii) from the documentation available, the methodology employed by PARM to arrive at the estimated average annual losses due to drought is not entirely clear and (iii) as part of this analysis and from the documentation available, it could not be verified whether the calculated monetary values have been time-adjusted to be relevant in 2021. Drought-induced forage scarcity is identified as an important risk for pastoralists due to its negative impacts on livestock production and livelihoods. Interviews with pastoral institutional leaders 16 revealed that pastoralists face (i) a combination of risks arising from too low/intermittent rainfall (drought), (ii) too much rainfall (floods) and (iii) insect infestations, including locusts and grasshoppers. However, results of a preliminary empirical assessment undertaken by the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR) (Syll et al. 2019) indicate that rainfall deficits and forage scarcity are recognized by pastoralists as the main shocks they face.16. Interview with Mr Aliou Samba BA, president of the Senegalese branch of Réseau Billital Maroobé (RBM), a network of regional pastoral associations on the 5th January, 2021.Photo credit: Visiter Bordeaux From PixabayLivestock mobility offers an opportunity to exploit dryland areas with insufficient precipitation for crop growing and access to crop residues in regions where cropping is feasible. However, this production strategy is also extremely vulnerable to drought. Droughts can impact livestock-owning households by reducing their income from milk and livestock sales, while also causing massive losses to household wealth and productive capital stock. For example, during a recent drought in 2017, low rainfall resulted in depletion of forage in pastoral regions, directly causing cattle deaths and indirectly causing increases in conflict and food insecurity (Action Against Hunger 2018).While livestock deaths are the most obvious consequences of drought, local institutional leaders emphasize the hidden effects of drought such as reduced fertility and calving rates. This not only reduces the size of the pastoralists' productive capital stock but also deprives women pastoralists of income they would otherwise generate through the sale of milk. Furthermore, droughts also cause adverse social and psychological impacts, including family dislocations.Droughts and the resultant livestock decimation also disproportionately affect the youth (also called 'Tefanké') in the community, who are itinerant traders that buy animals in the villages and at weekly markets for resale in different local markets.Pastoralist livestock production in Senegal is also subject to several other production risks. These include:Diseases: Key diseases affecting livestock producers in Senegal include Rift Valley Fever, foot and mouth disease and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. In its 2016 livestock sector risk assessment, PARM estimated that livestock diseases accounted for average losses amounting to a staggering XOF 414 billion (USD 756 million) per year. Of all the identified production risks for pastoralists, these are the largest losses suffered annually by the livestock sector. Conversely, in interviews conducted for this study and for the World Bank's 2015 agricultural risk assessment (WBG 2015), diseases were rarely mentioned as a major risk for livestock producers. Possible explanations for this might have to do with the interviewers' focus on shocks or with the producers' perception of livestock diseases as part of 'business as usual' , as opposed to droughts which occur infrequently but when they do, present significant challenges.Bushfires: These occur every year in Senegal, particularly in the eastern and southern regions of the country. The Centre de Suivi Écologique (CSE), a natural reSource monitoring centre operated jointly by the government and technical partners, estimates that fires are mostly started voluntarily, either by farmers or criminals. They pose a serious risk to pastoralists as they obliterate valuable biomass and thus potential animal pasture. The CSE monitors the occurrence of bushfires and publishes annual results in regular bulletins. 17 During the period 2002-12, the CSE estimated that fires destroy 791,332 ha per year, on average. Of the destroyed land, 59% (466, 885 ha) was from bushfires (PARM 2016). The World Bank estimates that bushfires can destroy as much as 6 per cent of the potential dry season grazing area and 3.8 million tonnes of biomass per year, on average (WBG 2015). However, it should be noted that bushfires are mainly concentrated in the southern part of the country.Locust infestations: These directly affect pasture availability, thus significantly affecting grazing lands for ruminants. Fortunately, locust invasions are a relatively rare occurrence in Senegal. For the locust infestation of 1988, associated livestock losses were estimated at XOF 4.3 billion (USD 7.9 million).In summary, the evidence showing severe impact of droughts on pastoral livelihoods is mixed. The highlights are:The impact of droughts on pastoral livelihoods is clearly significant. Pastoral leaders frequently report droughts as one of the most important or even the most important risk faced by pastoralists. Highlights from the PARM analysis are (i) large-scale droughts tend to occur about once every five years and can lead to significant livestock losses, (ii) rainfall variability is expected to increase in future due to climate change and (iii) households dependent on livestock holdings are among the most vulnerable in Senegalese society.Agro-pastoralism, rather than pastoralism, seems to be the most food insecure livelihood. Risks other than droughts are also important for the livestock sector. Different data Sources stress that it is mostly agro-pastoralists, not nomadic pastoralists, who are among the poorest and most vulnerable people in Senegal. The WFP food security analysis also shows that it is not the nomadic pastoral areas in the northern 'Ferlo' area that are most exposed to food insecurity, but the agro-pastoral households located in central and southern Senegal (Figure 2.8). The PARM livestock sector risk assessment (summarized in Table 2.9), shows that the Senegalese livestock sector is exposed to other risks, including livestock diseases and bushfires. This suggests that complementary instruments might need to be considered as part as comprehensive disaster risk management and livelihoods protection strategies at a national level. Most livestock keepers (80%) indicated that insurance products would be valuable to them and demonstrated a basic understanding of insurance principles, but poor knowledge of the range of agricultural insurance products. A more nuanced view was shared around the level of trust in the broader insurance system, with about 56% indicating they were sufficiently confident and the rest expressing little or no confidence in insurance. The study did not investigate the specific reasons behind this lack of confidence in insurance.The study identified drought (i.e. rainfall deficit) as the most important risk to cover through insurance. Livestock rustling and livestock diseases ranked second and third, respectively. Of note, while livestock rustling was indicated as the primary risk, less interest was indicated in a related insurance product.Once the concept had been explained, there was a preference towards index-based insurance and specifically towards a product associating rainfall deficit to forage availability. During group discussions with pastoralists and pastoral breeder's associations, strong consensus was expressed on the potential value of an index-insurance product covering forage availability. However, questions were raised on how such a product would be implemented, especially considering herd mobility.The willingness to pay analysis indicates that 50% of breeders are ready to pay XOF 3,000 (about USD 6) to insure 1 head of cattle and 25% of the breeders were willing to pay up to XOF 10,000 (about USD 18) for total sum insured of XOF 100,000 (about USD 180). The results of the analysis should be cautiously relied upon since they are largely based on qualitative information. However, the results suggest that there is reasonably strong interest in livestock insurance and relatively good capacity to cover the insurance premium by pastoralists.Photo credit: Daniella Van Leggelo-Padilla / World BankThe livestock sector is an important economic sector in Senegal, contributing 38 and 3.6% to agricultural and national GDP, respectively in 2018. Around 24% of the population (more than 3 million people), are estimated to be nomadic pastoralists or agro-pastoralists.No recent data are available on livestock-related drought costs. A modelling analysis at country level indicates an average drought response cost of between USD 26 -140 million (maximum) per year. The livestock-related drought cost in the 1970s and 1980s was estimated to range from USD 14-34 million per year.The two main livestock production systems are nomadic pastoralism and agro-pastoralism.Nomadic pastoralists are concentrated in the silvo-pastoral zone in the country's northeast, termed the 'Ferlo' , while the agro-pastoralists tend to be concentrated in central and southeastern Senegal. Fueled by population growth, land pressures and government policy, agropastoralism is on the rise even though there is no reliable data on the size of this sub-group versus that of nomadic pastoralism.Households dependent on livestock belong to the poorest, most vulnerable and most foodinsecure households in Senegal. Agro-pastoralists tend to be significantly worse off than nomadic pastoralists, which is also reflected in the national distribution of poverty and food insecurity.As per the 2018 IPAR and BRACED study, there is general interest in livestock drought insurance and willingness to pay for this cover by pastoralists.This section illustrates the results of the technical feasibility assessment, aimed at evaluating the possibility of designing an IBDRFI product for the extensive pastoral areas of Senegal. An IBLI product design was used for the assessment (Appendix 2). However, the feasibility analysis could also inform the development of alternative drought indices based on NDVI or other EO satellite indicators of drought. The datasets and methodology used are described in Appendix 2.Senegal is characterized by a single rainfall season with a strong north to south gradient in temperature (decreasing) and precipitation (increasing). Extremely dry climate is observed in the northern part of the country towards the arid Sahara desert. The climate gets wetter moving southwards with a northeastern to southwestern gradient (Figure 3   Natural and human-driven bush fires are recurrent phenomena in Senegal, especially in the southeastern part of the country within savanna ecosystems (Archibald et al., 2013;CILSS, 2016;Giglio et al., 2013;Kahiu et al., 2018). These are important as they maintain the structure of savanna biomes by keeping the tree layer/cover low, thus preventing forests from encroaching onto the grassland (Bond, 2001;Bowman et al., 2009). Controlled fires also allow the rejuvenation and resprouting of more nutritious grass for herbivores (livestock/wildlife). However, as illustrated in Section 2.5, bush fires are also a key risk for herders.Recurrent droughts have also contributed to changes in vegetation characteristics and composition in Senegal. Senegal experiences recurrent droughts caused by low, erratic and variable rainfall, particularly in the northern and eastern regions of the country that lie within the Sahelian bioclimatic region (WFP 2014). Over the years, drought events coupled with overgrazing have led to the degradation of the savanna structure, vegetation cover and productivity, pushing them into steppe-like characteristics, while extreme cases have resulted in bare and unproductive land.Extensive rangelands, which are suitable for IBLI design dominate a large portion of the north of the country (Figure 3.3). The area suitable for NDVI-based IBDRFI products for pastoralists is limited in the west by the increase in croplands cover (Figure 3.1b) and in the south and southeast by the increase in woody cover (Figure 3.1c). Croplanddominated areas are considered unsuitable, while savannahs with high woody cover need to be reviewed with local stakeholders to confirm if they are effectively used for extensive grazing.    The average vegetation growing season in the suitable units is relatively homogeneous, although there is small variation in intensity of the vegetation signal in response to the increase in precipitation in a north-eastern to south-western pattern. The NDVI intensity increases southwards with increase in precipitation as shown from Figure 3.7b (Gamadji Sarre, the most northerly driest administrative unit) to Figure 3.7j (Dodji, the most southerly wettest administrative unit). The inter-annual variability, however, is quite significant, with a tendency towards strong delay in the onset of the season during drought years.In the 18 years under consideration (2002-19), the suitable units in Senegal have experienced between 2 to 5 relevant drought episodes 19 (Figure 3.8). A certain degree of geographic variability in drought frequency seems to characterize the region, with northern pastoral regions more vulnerable to drought than southern ones. However, this assessment is based on the subjective threshold of the index value (see methods in Appendix 3) and while it can provide a general overview of drought frequency, it might need to be interpreted with caution.19. A 'relevant' drought episode is defined here using a fixed threshold of the seasonal IBLI index of -0.84 (standard score). This is a subjective threshold, therefore, it should be interpreted as indicative. . In all cases, the deficits persist until the following season. This might suggest either cyclic rainfall patterns or limited ability of rangeland systems to recover after major droughts.Green and brown bars indicate above and below average vegetation production, respectively.Based on the typical forage growing season spanning from mid-July to October/November (Figure 3.10) within the suitable areas in Senegal, a single risk period can be defined. The risk period for the coverage is typically defined by the length of the vegetation growing season as the IBLI index is built to estimate seasonal deficits in forage production due to limited rainfall.  Suitable pastoral regions host a significant number of the country's livestock population (Figure 3.11 and Table 3.The suitable rangeland areas host about 26% of the national livestock herd, with the largest numbers of livestock (14% of national livestock herd) located in what are considered feasible administrative units for insurance cover, while 11% of the national livestock herd is located in administrative units that require further review. Most of the suitable areas are located in the regions of Saint-Louis, Matam and Louga. It would be important to evaluate the opportunity to design an alternative product in the southeastern region of Tambacounda, which hosts a significant portion of the national livestock herd.  Extensive natural rangelands dominate the northern part of the country and would be suitable for IBDRFI initiatives (IBLI design). The extent of extensive rangelands is the main factor limiting feasibility of an IBLI design. Small-holder cropping, or mixed crop-livestock systems are prevalent in western and southern Senegal, while the eastern portion of the county is characterized by high woody plant cover and a more complex mosaic of land uses, making these areas sub-optimal for IBLI design.Seasonality and signal intensity Rangeland seasonality is well-defined and relatively homogenous across the country. In the northern region, the typical rangeland growing season lasts from July to November. These factors do not limit the feasibility of IBLI design in the country.The feasible areas, located in the north of the country and dominated by pastoralism, cover about 33% of Senegal's land area, inclusive of those areas that are fully feasible (14%) and those requiring a review during early implementation stages (19%). The feasible areas also carry about 26% of the national herd. More substantial product design refinements should be considered to assess the possibility of including the central and eastern regions in future IBDRFI initiatives as they also host a significant fraction of the national herd.Significant land cover changes have been reported in the last 30 years, with conversion of rangelands into croplands. In addition, ongoing rangeland degradation is reported in the pastoral regions. The potential impact of these factors on the index and risk profiling should be carefully evaluated in the early implementation stages.This section reports the results of the operational feasibility assessment, which evaluated the conditions required to supply IBDRFI solutions and support the development of an enabling environment (institutional, regulatory and social) for long-term social and financial sustainability. Thus, it seeks to assess the existing financial infrastructure and services, policy and regulatory environment, potential distribution channels and the existing private and public stakeholders and their capacity in the financial sector. The analysis has been conducted through a combination of desktop reviews and key informant interviews with country stakeholders (see Appendix 4).The government of Senegal and pastoral associations have put in place different mechanisms to respond to drought emergencies in the livestock sector. While this demonstrates the importance of drought risk management and social protection in pastoral areas from a national policy perspective, there is a clear gap in the use of IBDFRI instruments targeting livestock keepers, as discussed in Section 5. It would be important to consider how the different instruments can be integrated through a harmonized framework.Programme de Réponse Nationale à l'Insécurité Alimentaire (PRNIA)/National Food Insecurity Response Program:The PRNIA distributes food assistance to affected population groups and is implemented by the food security commission, the WFP and NGOs. Like the Opération Sauvegard du Bétail (OSB), the PRNIA is managed under the second National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) with a goal \"to strengthen the resilience of individuals experiencing shocks and crises that could cause them to slip into poverty,\" (Rougeaux 2017). The NSPS represents a major departure in the country's policy evolution regarding risk management. This strategy calls for revision of the country's emergency response system by placing greater emphasis on prevention. It argues for replacing the reactive approach with a structural option, aimed at preventing and managing covariate risks by considering the specificity of the environment in which they occur.In Senegal, a broad array of more than 50 different social protection programs provides social protection services to beneficiaries. The most important one is the National Family Security Grants Program that provides regular cash transfers to some 300,000 poor households, thus enabling them to meet their basic needs. Over the last few years, with support from the World Bank, efforts have been made to utilize the existing social protection systems to provide rapid emergency transfers after the occurrence of shocks such as floods, food insecurity, fire and the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant work has been undertaken together with the WFP to expand Senegal's social registry, which already includes around 590,000 households (including 65% of all poor households). The objective is for the registry to cover all poor households in the country. In addition, over 8,300 households or 75,429 people have already been targeted through selected shock-response pilot cash transfers in response to food insecurity, floods and fire (WBG 2020). In 2020 the national cash transfer coverage was expanded to cover more than 1 million people in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.The OSB was developed in direct response to drought-related livestock losses and the subsequent food security crisis of 2011-12. Under this scheme, the directorate of livestock and animal production in the ministry of livestock purchases animal feed from suppliers and makes it available to departmental (administrative units) committees. During droughts, targeted pastoralists are provided with animal feed at subsidized rates (50% of cost) to protect vulnerable animals, usually gestating females or diseased ones (African Risk Capacity 2015). In general, the management of OSB funds is the duty of fund management committees in each of the 45 departments that decide when to effect feed subsidies. Eligibility to the subsidized animal feed schemes is contingent upon membership in local pastoralist associations. The use of pre-arranged shock-responsive financing mechanisms in Senegal is still in its infancy. Senegal has not adopted a national strategy or approach to financing shock-related costs. Work is ongoing together with the World Bank on developing a disaster risk finance diagnostic and, subsequently, a national disaster risk financing strategy. Shock-responsive financing is characterized by many different institutions focusing on specific hazard types and target populations, with little coordination amongst them. As presented below, there are some pre-arranged shockresponsive financing arrangements but these are not based on any ex ante analysis of contingent liabilities. The total amount of shock-responsive finance made available by the government frequently tends to be insufficient to respond to overall needs, leading to ad hoc budget reallocations and the intervention of international humanitarian donors. On average, Senegal received USD 12.9 million annually in external humanitarian funding during the period 2001 to 2020. Funding peaked at USD 23.2 million in 2009 after severe floods and at USD 45.6 million in 2012 after the 2011 drought and food security crisis (Figure 4.1).The estimated budget of the ministry of livestock for humanitarian relief against drought was approximately USD 2.6 million (2014), USD 4.5million (2017) and USD 5 million (2019). Much of this funding is used for the OSB. The ministry of livestock indicated that from 2012 to 2019, the government allocated more than XOF 8 billion (USD 14.7 million) in support of OSB. This financial outlay to the ministry of livestock is the only funding specifically provided by the government for shock response in the livestock sector.Other In 2018, Senegal was ranked 118th in the world in terms of insurance premium income, which is far behind several other African countries. The insurance market penetration in Senegal is very low. In 2018, the insurance business was equivalent to only 0.62% of GDP and USD 19.91 per capita. Compared with larger markets such as South Africa and Kenya, the insurance business in Senegal is under-developed.Conversely, Senegal is the third largest non-life insurance market in the CIMA zone (behind Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon). The insurance business has benefited recently from political stability and investments in infrastructure to support delivery of the country's medium-term development plan.In 2018, there were 19 licensed insurance companies operating in the Senegalese market. With a market share of 13.6%, AXA Assurances is the leading insurer followed by Allianz Senegal Assurances (12.8%) and Prevoyance Assurance (10.5%). The only agriculture focused insurance business in the country, CNAAS, ranked 18th in terms of written premiums with an equivalent 1.4% share of the overall market in the Senegalese non-life market in 2018. The motor insurance business has consistently been the largest non-life insurance class, generating 31.5% of premiums in 2018, followed by personal accident and healthcare at 27.3%. Competition among the 19 licensed insurers has been intense, leading to what is described by some observers as 'price dumping' . The second stage of increases in CIMA's minimum capital requirements due in 2021 is expected to present financial challenges to some of the insurance companies and this is expected to lead to mergers and consolidations (Non-life AXO Reports 2020).Senegal belongs to CIMA, which issued a specific framework concerning data management and index provision for index insurance in 2016. CIMA is a regional body comprising 14 Francophone countries with common insurance regulations.The code is continually revised with the view to support the development of insurance and reinsurance markets in Senegal and the wider region in which CIMA operates. In recent years, the code has incorporated provisions on microinsurance, reinsurance and takaful insurance, among others. The code outlined the licensing requirements for insurers interested in takaful insurance, the necessary operating regimes, administrative, accounting and investment rules, governance and internal controls, classes that can be underwritten and the specific requirements of intermediaries and reinsurers wishing to engage in takaful business. In December 2019, CIMA introduced the Sharia compliance framework.does not yet have a policy for disaster risk financing. In the foreseeable future, CIMA is planning to develop new regulations governing digital insurance and to modify existing micro-insurance regulations to encourage the establishment of specialist micro-insurers and increase insurance penetration in the CIMA region.The Senegalese agricultural insurance market has grown in the last few years because of investments in infrastructure to support the country's strategic development plan, which has a specific focus on agriculture. Senegal has a relatively well-established PPP framework through the CNAAS (Table 4.2).The CNAAS was set up in July 2008 as a PPP with an initial capital investment of USD 2.45 million shared between local insurers and the government (which has a 25% stake in CNAAS). It is reinsured by SWISS-RE. The CNAAS leverages off the capacity of public actors like the ministries of finance and agriculture for regional institutional support, Agence Nationale de l' Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie (ANACIM) for weather data, the Direction de l' Analyse, de la Prévision et des Statistiques Agricoles for production and yield data analysis and a network of producers and microfinance institutions (MFIs) for distribution. All private insurance companies are required to invest in CNAAS. While financial or customer data is not shared amongst the insurers, public good activities like customer education and awareness campaigns are performed collaboratively.The turnover (annual written premium) declared by CNAAS for agricultural insurance was USD 2 million and 2.7 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Of this turnover, traditional livestock insurance premiums contributed USD 0.15 million in both years (8 and 5% of the total turnover in 2017 and 2018, respectively). Crop insurance has the larger share of the turnover (above 90% of premiums) and a significant portion of this is for crop index-insurance (43%). The CNAAS provides insurance against death of livestock and drought, agricultural equipment and specific crops. The company estimates that there is potential to underwrite USD 16.34 million worth of agricultural insurance premiums in the country, mostly in the Senegal river valley. The CNAAS claims to have presence in most areas of Senegal, including the pastoral regions.A premium subsidy of up to 50% is offered to all the farmers insured under the different policies of CNAAS. This subsidy is granted by the government, which has mandated CNAAS to support the modernization efforts of agricultural activities. For crop insurance, it costs farmers approximately USD 4.51 (premium) to insure a hectare of land. A claim for a natural disaster could be as high as USD 326.83 per hectare. The biggest clientele for CNAAS are farmers engaged in cotton, groundnuts, rice and tomato production. CNAAS reported premium collection of USD 1.80 million in 2017, most of which was cover for rice and tomato crops. From the summer of 2017, the Senegalese cotton sector was insured by CNAAS against weather-related risks under an index-based insurance policy supported by financial backing from the West African Development Bank (Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement). About USD 1.18 million worth of claims were paid in 2018 under this scheme. It should be noted that existing index-insurance products are linked to agricultural credit.The agricultural insurance sector is rapidly expanding, especially index-based products for crops. Table 4.1 compares the number of agricultural insurance policies sold in 2012 (when the first index insurance product was launched) and in 2018 (based on the data that was available). There is evidence of a major growth in uptake of crop index insurance over this period as opposed to the more modest growth in sales of traditional indemnity-based crop and livestock insurance. The CNAAS is offering a traditional indemnity-based livestock insurance product called, ' All Risks Livestock Mortality Insurance' , covering livestock death under conditions of natural shocks, accidents and emergency slaughter. Premiums for comprehensive insurance are set at a percentage of the market value of cattle (between 2 and 8%), horses (9%), sheep (6.5%) and goats (6%). In the event of a loss, compensation corresponds to 80% of the market value. Under the current system, premiums are 50% subsidized by the government. Livestock insurance is tailored to the specific insured animal, which must undergo initial examination by a veterinarian to establish its health status and market value. Until now, these products have mainly been designed to cover the needs of sedentary and peri-urban livestock producers, especially targeting high yielding exotic animal breeds that are generally kept in corrals. So far, there are no Sharia-compliant products as there has been no specific demand for them.The CNAAS has recently shown interest in further developing livestock insurance to cover extensive livestock production. The plan is to develop an insurance package linked to the use of livestock feed. This plan will involve several herders' organizations and Borehole Users Associations (Associations d'Usagers de Forage), some of whom have access to warehouses. Animal feed will be purchased from manufacturers (SEDIMA and New African Milling) and transported to sites where it is required.Dialogue on index-insurance for livestock in pastoral areas is already taking place in Senegal. Under the BRACED framework, multi-stakeholder discussions around index-insurance products for pastoralists have been carried out since 2018 (Syll 2019). As part of this effort, a review study on livestock insurance has been conducted and the results shared in a workshop held in May 2019. The CNAAS has expressed interest in introducing index-insurance for livestock as a complementary product more suited to the extensive pastoral production systems. However, CNASS has indicated challenges in human and technological capacity. Most of its operations are still conducted manually, yet with the anticipated growth in portfolios, digital tools will be required to handle premium payments and claims.Private insurance brokers, such as Inclusive Guarantee (former Planet Guarantee), IBISA and Micro Ensure, are also operating in the country. Micro Ensure used to be a major player in the retail weather insurance market for smallholder farmers in Africa but withdrew from this class of business in 2015 due to concerns over basis risk. Today, the company mainly offers life, health and accident insurance underwriting for low-income consumers.Inclusive Guarantee is one of the few private companies working with CNAAS as a broker. Inclusive Guarantee develops climate insurance for smallholder farmers among other products, such as accident and death insurance.The first crop index product developed in 2012 for Senegal was a result of the collaboration between CNAAS and Inclusive Guarantee. In 2017, Inclusive Guarantee partnered with Okiocredit, a worldwide cooperative that promotes sustainable development by providing loans, investments and capacity building to the financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy sectors.Inclusive Guarantee is responsible for marketing, training and proposing the product to clients and agents. Inclusive Guarantee works with aggregators such as farmers' organizations, banks and micro-finance institutions (since 2018) for registration of clients, premium collection and claim settlements. A part of the premium collected is deducted as commission by Inclusive Guarantee. Most of these activities are manually carried out by aggregators (locally selected organizations) and Inclusive Guarantee. The sales agents and representatives of the aggregators are trained by Inclusive Guarantee on product features, risk covered and other technical aspects.Inclusive Guarantee is working on a digital platform called 'inclusive market' , which should have been launched by June 2021. The platform is expected to centralize all the processes for index insurance, including collection of premiums.The company has shown interest in livestock index insurance and claim that the digital platform under construction will be able to facilitate the implementation of the product in pastoral areas. They are interested in a product design based on NDVI data and would be able to assist in capacity building, marketing and process management.Through a risk-sharing platform, IBISA provides digital driven services in underwriting along with onboarding and management of clients. An index-insurance product similar to IBLI for the pastoral areas of Niger was designed by IBISA in collaboration with RBM. The product is based on the concept of mutual insurance and it is in pre-piloting stage. Recently, IBISA and Allianz RE have started dialogue with CNAAS and RBM to use their platform to launch a drought index-insurance product for livestock keepers.To build resilience for communities facing increasing climate risks, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4), implemented jointly by the WFP and the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (Oxfam) America in collaboration with CNAAS, is also providing weather index insurance. The weather index insurance program is based on the insurance for assets (IFA) approach. It uses a two-pronged approach, targeting both the most vulnerable and the wealthier groups. The premium for the vulnerable groups is paid through premium by work schemes, whereas clients who do not want to pay their premium through work are connected to the insurer, so that they can pay the premium directly. Two kinds of indices are used, depending on the areas of operation. A rainfall index based on ground weather stations developed by CNAAS and ANACIM is used in the Kolda region, while a satellite rainfall index developed by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is used in the Tamba region. Senegal has over 7,000 registered beneficiaries as part of the IFA scheme, leveraging off the Oxfam's Saving for Change program. Since 2018, the cheaper and, therefore, more preferred IRI product has been rolled out to regions where the CNAAS and ANACIM product was initially proposed.The overall objective of R4 is to build rural resilience to climatic and natural disasters. Currently the R4 program has been implemented in five regions in Senegal. The R4 initiative involves working with local institutions to increase their capacity for product design and sustainable insurance services provision, since effective distribution channels remain a challenge. Besides providing financial education to the target communities, the R4 initiative is working on mobile registration of clients and identification of delivery systems for efficient service provision. In 2021, the program intends to expand into four more regions, some of which are pastoral areas. The WFP, which is already involved in meso-level livestock index insurance through the SIIPE program in Ethiopia, is interested in a livestock index insurance product for Senegal and is in talks with private sector entities such as Pula Advisors of Kenya.The R4 risk transfer component distributes its product through local associations, which connect the producers to existing banking networks. In addition to the risk transfer component, the R4 initiative has the risk reduction, calculated risk taking and savings components. As part of this, the farmers are trained on technical aspects of production, provision of climate information (through the National Meteorological Agency), access to financial markets for microcredit and savings. Specifically, the WFP works with the savings groups organized in the form of Groupement d'intérêt Économique/Group of Economic Interest (GIE), with presence in almost all municipalities. The GIEs register the clients for either cash payment or the insurance for work options. For the IFA mechanism, the premium is paid by the WFP.Once collected by the IGAs, the premiums are sent directly to CNAAS, the insurer. In the event of a payout, the payment is made through cheques in the name of the GIE. The GIEs are then responsible for distributing the claims among the beneficiaries. For accountability, payouts are made in the presence of a CNAAS official. For every policy issued, the GIEs are paid 5% commission on the premium collected.The CNCAS has a 10% stake in CNAAS. This is the only bank that funds agricultural value chains in the rural areas of Senegal. Total CNCAS agricultural financing is estimated at about XOF 65 billion, which funds agricultural production (XOF 20 billion), animal production (XOF 3.9 billion), import of inputs (XOF 17 billion), seed procurement (XOF 16 billion) and processing and marketing (XOF 8 billion). The bank mainly offers different types of input credit for the agricultural season . The bank also funds some micro-finance institutions in the rural areas to support savings and credit products. It has several branches and sales offices in different pastoral areas such as Podor, Ndioum, Daara, Kougheul, Ourossogui and Matam. The branch/office also serves Ranérou, where the bank currently has no presence.The bank works closely with the ministry of livestock when implementing some of its initiatives and also holds major portfolios for the government, especially for agricultural related activities, e.g. the OSB (see Section 4.1.2). Though interested in investing in the pastoral regions and livestock breeders, the mobility challenges of the breeders have been the main reason for the lack of specific program targeted at pastoralists.The ANACIM is already collaborating with CNAAS in index-based insurance programs targeting crops. ANACIM is responsible for the supervision and coordination of all-weather related activities regarding climate change research and studies. It collects data using rain gauges that are installed across the country. It is also responsible for providing forecasts, early warning alerts and climate services. In the pastoral areas, ANACIM collects agro-meteorological data in collaboration with the National Meteorological Centre. The NDVI imagery are some of the datasets collected regularly.As part of a project called 'Bawane' , ANACIM is also trying to improve weather data availability in the pastoral areas.While the focus of ANACIM has been largely on crops, discussions with livestock breeders' associations are currently underway to support future monitoring of bush fires, droughts and floods in pastoral areas. The ANACIM is also a member of CSE, a publicly supported institution focusing on sustainable management of natural resources.The core activity of CSE is environmental monitoring through crop and pasture biomass data collection. The CSE has been conducting seasonal rangeland biomass surveys since 1998 at 24 sites distributed all over Senegal's pastoral regions. Ground data collected are spatialized using satellite NDVI data. Thus, an assessment of the correlation between pasture biomass and NDVI is available. This is a unique dataset in the African context that can support the design of insurance products targeting pastoral regions. In addition, data are collected on water availability and water points in the pastoral areas, usually at the end of each rainy reason. As bush fires play an important role in pasture dynamics in Senegal, they are also monitored during the dry season.The CSE carries out extension services by collaborating with the ministry of livestock (directorate of livestock) and the directorate of water and forests at the national level and with the technical livestock, water and forest services at the local level. The CSE also collaborates with organizations such as the National Food Security Council and Action Against Hunger (ACF) to disseminate data. However, data are made available for the pastoral regions only on request.The ACF has established a pastoral surveillance system in the Sahel region by combining satellite data to monitor pasture biomass and surface water resources. The information is integrated with ground surveys to generate early warning and food security bulletins. Since 2015, the ACF pastoral surveillance system included a growing network of sentinel sites where ground qualitative information is collected. Data collectors are chosen at the village level to provide weekly data on water availability, market prices, animal diseases and pasture conditions. The system is low cost and managed through short messaging services (SMS). While currently not used for index-insurance applications, this system could be potentially adapted for IBDRFI initiatives.The Pastoralisme et Zones Seches (PPZS) partnership system has the mandate to control the internal organization and to guide and validate the activities based on a multi-year scientific strategy. This includes the collection of biomass and socio-economic (related to household incomes and herd sizes) data in the pastoral areas. This has also included a census on transit zones for 70 families in the Ferlo region, under the BRACED framework. The PPZS partners with some private sector organizations in the dairy sector, academic institutions, breeders' associations and NGOs.The regional AGHRYMET centre, which is headquartered in Niger but operates in the whole Sahel region, also has significant capacity in managing remote sensing datasets and hosts the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-SERVIR hub for west Africa. The AGRHYMET is part of the Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) and is mandated to provide early warning information on a regular basis to support governments in managing droughts. It provides regular food security bulletins according to the integrated food security phase classification approach.Successive governments of Senegal have attempted to provide extension services to the rural population including pastoralists through the Agence National de Conseil Agricole et Rural, which has agents in all the country's districts.Of greater importance to the sustenance of pastoral livelihoods are the activities of the Direction Regional du Développement Agricole (DRDRs), which are decentralized structures at the regional level, but answerable to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water. There is one rural development directorate per administrative region. Among other activities, DRDRs are responsible for providing technical support to producers and their organizations and to local communities in the preparation and implementation of local and regional agricultural development programs. The ministry also works closely with the livestock breeders' association as a delivery channel for services, one of them being livestock vaccinations, organized by the ministry on a regular basis.The telecommunication system is well-developed in Senegal, e.g. Orange 2G (76%) and 3G (54%), including in the rural areas. Over 70% of the Senegalese adult population own a mobile phone. In addition, Senegal is highly ranked in Africa for the availability of 4G networks. Most of the population is numerate (97%) and has the required identification documents to open a bank account (95%). Two thirds of the population (66.2%) live within 5 km of a mobile money operator, banking agent, store or kiosk with over-the-counter services (UNCDF 2016).Even though many pastoral areas do not have access to telecommunication networks and services, some of the common meeting places such as weekly markets are well covered. As part of the COVID-19 pandemic intervention, the FAO ran a cash transfer program for the livestock breeders through the Orange Money Platform. This cash transfer program was launched in July 2020, to mitigate effects of market closures on pastoral households. With a budget of USD 400,000 the objective of the program is to improve the purchasing power, livelihoods and nutritional conditions of vulnerable pastoralists (FAO 2020). So far, there have been 3,000 beneficiaries, who were identified jointly by the ministry of livestock and the FAO. Each beneficiary received USD 90 to buy a food kit as part of the program. In general, mobile money operators can deliver financial solutions to pastoral areas by taking advantage of pastoralists' weekly gatherings such as at livestock markets. Sales agents from telecommunication companies such as Orange, can carry out transactions at these meetings.As a core instrument of its social protection system, the government has made significant efforts to develop a national targeting mechanism, the National Unique Registry (RNU). The registry combines community-based targeting and the application of surveys to identify the poorest households. In 2018, the register included 588,673 households (Ndiaye et al. 2019), but it has been expanded to 1 million households as part of the COVID-19 pandemic food distribution program. Accordingly, the register now includes all poor households in the country. The RNU extends and covers all regions of the country, including the pastoral areas.The broader micro-finance sector in Senegal is governed by the council of ministers of the west African monetary union through a regional act ratified on 6th April, 2007. In Senegal, the act (Act No. 2008-47) was passed by the national assembly of Senegal and enacted on 3rd September, 2008. Several startup companies and pilot projects that offer DFS solutions are emerging in the country. Interesting examples include InTouch, which offers an agent network in rural areas. However, penetration of DFS in rural areas, particularly extensive pastoral areas, seems to still be limited. Other interesting digital solutions include the mAgri platform developed by Manobi. The mAgri platform was set up to communicate information and send alerts to farmers in rural areas. The mAgri is a private platform, which aims to provide farmers with real-time information on market prices of agricultural products via SMS. to deliver what they term as numeric solutions (the INEDIT project). It is being implemented in the pastoral region of Kolda where 13,000 people are using mobile financial services tailored to their needs, including conducting money transfer services. The OXFAM and its partners are currently working with the government and telecommunication operators to reduce 'white zones' (areas in the pastoral regions without good network connectivity), thus contributing to the digital and financial inclusion of the vulnerable populations.At present, the banks serving the rural areas such as the National Agriculture Bank do not have a digital platform exclusively for the pastoral areas, but have launched an AgriCash platform called AgriTech in partnership with UNCDF. However, the COVID -19 pandemic has affected its operations and platform capacity development, as the digital literacy is still low in the rural areas. There is scope for adding features relevant to the pastoral areas as platform development improves.The Crédit Mutuel du Sénégal and the Alliance de Credit et d'Epargne pour la Production are the main micro-finance institutions working with the informal sector and in the rural areas. Most of the MFIs and cooperatives are registered and have a decentralized financial system, though they utilize community engagements and an element of informality in practice. Most of the MFIs and the cooperatives have legal and financial frameworks, which allow for control of risks to a large extent. Besides the legal structures, they also have well-structured distribution channels, usually local based community development organizations and farmers' association, thus also strengthening the overall livelihoods and resilience of the population. Among the financial institutions, the Agriculture Bank is well-known for working with vulnerable populations and remote areas, where most of the other financial service providers have no presence.The MNOs are increasingly investing in DFS while over-the-counter providers are moving towards electronic wallets.Banks are investing actively in mobile money. The financial technology entities add value to the product portfolio and distribution channels. The MFIs are beginning to invest in digital solutions. In addition, providers are showing more willingness to serve the rural communities. First-generation products and high-volume payments are offered (government to person and business to person; person to government and person to person). Merchant payments are also expanding. However, there is only one provider offering digital credit. A couple of providers facilitate insurance subscriptions as well as premium and indemnity payments.Besides the available financial inclusion services, there are several development organizations providing livelihood interventions in the pastoral areas. Some of these are Gret, an NGO that promotes technical and organizational innovations in areas of fodder production, the USAID's Global Food Security Strategy, which is working in emergency response through a multi-organization approach (including government agencies in Senegal) and PASA Lou-Ma-Kaf food security support project, working towards development of livestock infrastructure in the pastoral areas. The RBM has about 6,000 to 7,000 members in Senegal and has its subgroups in most of the local pastoral areas in the country. Besides the advocacy work on transhumance and mobility, RBM assists communities with readily available feed stock through feed stores and by mobilizing auxiliary veterinarians to provide animal health services to the communities. The feed stores are the responsibility of the local organizations, which are under the RBM umbrella.The local organizations are also responsible for sensitizing the members on the importance of acquiring feed stock. This feed in addition to the subsidized feed being provided by the government every dry season. These feed stores are also present along some of the transhumance corridors and rules governing store usage are put in place to prevent conflicts. Payments for feed are done through Orange money, where agents are part of the RBM network. The payment system is flexible, for example, if a herder wants to purchase feed for animals in one region, the owners of the animals in another region can make the payment. In addition, sales agents are also available at the weekly markets where transactions can be done. The RBM has also been collaborating with NGOs and development organizations to promote growing of forage crops amongst its members. Membership to the RBM is through local organizations, which are members of RBM as there are no individual memberships allowed.One of the main activities of BRACED was securing corridor mobility for the livestock, but now this is done by the CORAD. This organization is a network of some of the main pastoral associations such as ADENA. Both CORAD and RESOPP have been involved in ensuring smooth movement of pastoralists along mobility corridors mainly through facilitating negotiations among different pastoralist groups, establishing rest areas, mobile pharmacies and developing non-paying watering ponds for livestock. 23Policy environment There are indications of favourable enabling conditions for implementing IBDFRI, both from a regulatory (i.e. CIMA) and policy perspective. The government has shown interest in IBDRFI initiatives targeting extensive pastoral systems and has already put in place multiple initiatives to finance responses to climatic shocks, including in the livestock sector. The government of Senegal is already supporting index-insurance schemes for crops through partial subsidies.The insurance market development is relatively good in the agricultural sector thanks to the activity of CNAAS and the growing role of brokers such as Inclusive Guarantee or IBISA. The CNAAS has already shown interest in IBDRFI for pastoralists and discussions are ongoing on the implementation modalities. However, CNAAS has indicated that it has limited capacity with digital financial service delivery in pastoral areas.There are several players with capacity to provide agro-meteorological services and analytical platforms using remote sensing data. Long-term rangeland monitoring efforts (i.e. biomass data collection) carried out by the CSE would be a useful Source of data for assessing the quality of satellite indices for forage production.The financial service infrastructure is generally good with telecommunication and DFS services rapidly expanding. Senegal also has a social registry, which already includes around 590,000 households. Its coverage in pastoral regions is unclear, although it is expanding and aiming to cover all poor households in the country.The presence of insurers in pastoral areas is limited while existing agricultural insurance initiatives do not yet rely on digital technologies. However, the growing DFS network, activities of several organizations already investing in IBDRFI solutions, e.g. Planet Guarantee and the WFP and the dense network of breeders and pastoralist associations in the pastoral areas offer the opportunity to support effective distribution channels if targeted investments are made.This scenario analysis aims to provide a broad overview of how a product might work and an illustration of indicative costings for two alternative IBDRFI programmatic options: (i) a micro-level retail insurance scheme and (ii) a fully funded macro-level social livelihoods protection program. This was not a product or program design study, thus the analysis is simplified and based only on previous implementation experiences in east Africa. It should be noted that the proposed scenarios neither provide specific recommendations, nor do they pretend to cover an exhaustive range of IBDRFI solutions. Thus, a detailed analysis of alternative programmatic options and product design customizations needs to be planned with local stakeholders during the early implementation stages of future initiatives.The two programmatic alternatives, built upon experience from existing programs, should be seen as two illustrative options that represent extremes of a broader range of potential IBDRFI programs that could be designed based on Senegal's priorities. Indeed, they could be seen as complementary (not alternative) approaches in a harmonized IBDRFI framework at country level. Both options rely on the private sector for product distribution and management, provide payouts directly to pastoralists and are based on the same index-based model. The two options fundamentally differ in the main goals, targeting approach and the level of participation of non-private sector actors regarding subsidies and direct support to complementary activities. Table 5.1 summarizes key similarities and differences.The micro-level retail insurance scheme aims to not only protect pastoral households from sliding into poverty during drought periods due to livestock losses, but also to improve access to inputs and credits and stimulate investments in the value chain to improve livestock production and marketing. Clients of the scheme are expected to be able to pay premiums. The level of public sector participation, mainly through partial subsidies, needs to be modulated to facilitate uptake and financial viability of the private sector and to create incentives for additional private sector investments.The macro-level social livelihoods protection program aims to provide a social safety net to the most vulnerable pastoral households and to complement humanitarian responses that protect pastoralists' key assets and livelihoods during the early stages of drought crises. The program targets beneficiaries that own a small number of livestock assets but are unable to pay premiums. Targeting and registration, therefore become critical steps. The level of public sector support required for full (or high) subsidies and awareness creation is high. In addition to social protection, subsidies could be linked to good practices to improve the resilience of pastoral households, e.g. rangeland management. Protect from sliding down into a poverty trap.Provide a social safety net to the most vulnerable pastoral households and complement humanitarian responses.Herders' interest to protect their livestock assets during extended periods of deficit of forage resources.Public interest in anticipatory responses to drought and reduction of humanitarian support needs.Same, e.g. NDVI.Same.Same. Proxy of forage availability Same. Proxy of forage availability Sum insured Same (but could increase for larger commercial herders).It is based on estimated additional costs of livestock maintenance during seasons with forage deficit.It is based on estimated additional costs of livestock maintenance during seasons with forage deficit.Same underlying pure loss costs, but commercial premium rates may need to be considerably higher to reflect much higher operational costs associated with voluntary sales to individual pastoralists (insured policyholders).Same underlying pure loss costs, but potential to minimize operational loadings as automatic cover for large numbers of beneficiaries.Same assuming same sum insured and triggers are adopted (direct to policy holder-Insured)Same assuming same sum insured and triggers are adopted (direct to beneficiary)Target audience More affluent small/medium and large pastoralists who can afford to pay either the full commercial premium rate or a partly subsidized premium rate.Vulnerable pastoralists who depend largely on livestock herding for their livelihoods, but who cannot afford to pay commercial premium rates.These pastoralists should have a minimum herd size.Voluntary purchase by the individual pastoralist or group.Automatic enrolment of selected pastoralist by a government entity/agency.The individual pastoralist is the policyholder and insured as named on the policy certificate.The insured policyholder is the government entity/ agency on behalf of the pre-selected pastoralists (beneficiaries) listed in the policy issued to the government entity/agency.Not essential if marketing, promotion and sales functions are correctly performed by the insurer or its appointed agents/ distribution channels.Essential as pastoral communities and their members must be made aware of the scheme and why some pastoralists are being identified as beneficiaries and will be automatically enrolled, while others will not be selected.Targeting (and sales) and SelectionInsurers will be responsible for their own marketing and promotion and sales programs including:Own sales agentsThe government entity/agency will need to work closely with country-level authorities, community and pastoral leaders to identify the selection criteria and the beneficiaries of the program in each insured unit.All insured pastoralists must be electronically registered.All beneficiaries must be electronically registered.Premium subsidiesVariable.It could also change in time depending on the product uptake.100% or close to.It is, however, recommended that pastoralists contribute with a token or some other modalities.The scenario analysis takes into consideration an IBLI product type, which has been designed, customized and widely tested in Kenya and Ethiopia (Appendix 2). As already described in Section 1.2, the IBLI product design adopted in existing programs, relies on (i) an index calculated from time series of NDVI imagery acquired from satellite sensors and (ii) a payout function to convert the index values into payouts for policyholders/beneficiaries. The analysis is limited to the areas that are considered suitable or partially suitable (i.e. forage review) for the IBLI product implementation (Chapter 4, Figure 4.6).It should be noted that the index calculation and the payout function of the IBLI product must be customized during the early implementation stages of any initiative aimed at launching IBDRFI solutions in close collaboration with local stakeholders. The cost of any IBDRFI product is largely determined by calculating historical payouts (i.e. pure loss rates) according to the chosen set of parameters and customization options of the IBLI product. This allows tailoring the IBDRFI solution to the local context and to the specific goal of the IBDRFI initiative.The scenario analysis is divided into two steps, firstly a simulation analysis on historical data is conducted to illustrate the product performance in the country (i.e. independently by the implementation modality) and secondly, financial analysis is conducted to illustrate hypothetical costings of implementing an IBDRFI program in the country. The costings are generated for the two programmatic options illustrated above, a micro-level purely retail insurance program and a macro-level fully subsidized social protection initiative.Three historical payout scenarios are presented to illustrate how an IBLI product would have worked in Senegal's pastoral areas over the last two decades. The reference scenario is an IBLI product with a trigger attachment threshold 24 set to one payout in five years (S2). The two alternative scenarios are included to illustrate the implications of changing the attachment threshold to increase the frequency of payouts (i.e. 1 in 2.5 years) (S1) or decrease it (i.e. 1 in 7.5 years) (S3). All the other parameters are constant across the scenarios.In each of these scenarios, 3 main payouts would have been triggered in Senegal in response to a major drought in 2002 and two severe droughts in 2014 and 2019. The scenario S1 also captures mild drought events, which are clearly not captured by S2 and S3. It is worth noting that from 2014 to 2019, payouts would have been triggered 4 to 5 times in a six-year period (Figure 5.1). More in-depth analysis is required to understand whether this can reflect a trend toward increases in drought frequency.The observed temporal drought patterns in pastoral areas are generally well aligned with existing national datasets on the main drought events in the region. Drought events in 2002 and 2014 are relatively well documented. The 2019 drought also led to a significant payout from the ARC's sovereign level drought insurance, which estimated that at least 1 million people were affected. The 2011 drought was not fully captured by the product. However, it should be noted that available data do not provide information on the geographic location of droughts, limiting capacity to evaluate the accuracy of the assessment.24. The index threshold below which a payout is made.  The average payout (pure loss cost rate) would be 17.4, 9.6 and 7.6% for payout scenarios S1, S2 and S3, respectively, illustrating how more frequent payouts would result in significantly higher costs for the IBDRFI product. This demonstrates how decisions made during the product customization with local stakeholders on their desired frequency of payouts have important implications on the premium costs (of which the pure loss rate is a key component) and that the product can be tailored to suit the objectives of the IBDRFI program and capacity to pay the premiums.Indicative costings for the two programmatic scenario (PS) options described in Section 5.2 are presented to illustrate the financial implications for the government or donors of implementing an IBDRFI solution in Senegal. The two PS costings were modelled on the existing implementation experiences in Kenya and Ethiopia and include a microlevel commercial insurance implementation scenario (PS1) and a macro-level social livelihood protection coverage implementation scenario (PS2). Both scenarios were developed using an IBLI product and the trigger attachment threshold of 1 in 5 years (S2 in Section 5.2). The scenarios were designed for a 5-year program.The two programmatic scenarios differ fundamentally on the expected contribution from the government or development partners, as PS1 assumes 50% subsidies while PS2 assumes 100% subsidies. Another important difference to note is the level of public sector contribution to complementary investments, such as the registration infrastructure, awareness creation and monitoring and evaluation. Finally, the two scenarios differ in the level of expected uptake, as it is assumed from previous experiences that commercial insurance uptake rates are generally rather slow. A detailed summary of assumptions is provided in Appendix 5. It should be noted that the assumptions made for this analysis are an over-simplification of the reality and should be seen as purely illustrative.Indicative costs of complementary activities, including registration, awareness creation and monitoring and evaluation are provided to illustrate the importance of including these components at the design stage of any IBDRFI initiative. However, the costs are estimated based on a per-person flat rate, which is an oversimplification. In a more realistic scenario, these components would often require an initial larger investment for setting up the infrastructure. The costs would then increase proportionally to the level of program expansion till a certain critical level, when greater costefficiencies should in principle reduce costs.The micro-level commercial insurance implementation scenario indicates the costing of supporting a relatively large implementation program in the pastoral areas of Senegal of an IBDRFI micro-insurance product with partial subsidies (i.e. 50% of the premium) (Table 5.2). Under commercial implementation, the uptake is expected to be gradual and in five years, the program could target to reach 25,000 pastoral households and approximately 125,000 TLUs (i.e. five TLUs per pastoral household on average, representing 2.5 and 7.5% of the TLUs in the national herd and extensive pastoral areas, respectively). Yearly costs are presented in Appendix 5 (Table A5.2).The global fiscal cost of supporting a micro-level insurance program with 50% subsidies is estimated to be USD 6.3 million over 5 years of implementation, including subsidies (USD 4.9 million) and program support activities (USD 1.5 million). After 5 years, full-scale implementation may be in the order of 125,000 TLUs physical uptake and USD 1.62 million fiscal costs of government support per year.The insurance premium to be paid by a pastoral household would be approximately USD 12.5/TLU per year with a maximum payout of USD 180/TLU. This amount is already substantially higher than the median willingness to pay indicated by livestock keepers in the IPAR-BRACED study (i.e. USD 6) (Mame Mor et al. 2019 and Section 2.6). However, a significant fraction (25%) of breeders indicated they would be willing to pay up to USD 20. It is worth mentioning that the commercial loadings on pure loss premiums might be underestimated, especially if the insurer needs to undertake significant investments for marketing and distribution channel development.In this scenario, there is high uncertainty about the uptake Figures and levels of actual private sector investment on the complementary activities. The uptake of agricultural micro-insurance solutions has often been below expectations for a variety of reasons, including poor product design and investment in marketing and awareness creation, high transaction costs of implementation leading to unsTable private sector commitment. Partial subsidies are deemed important to support the initial market uptake, therefore, smart use of subsidies needs to be planned to incentivize the private sector to invest in critical financial and knowledge infrastructures. In this scenario, a fixed 50% premium subsidy was used, but a gradual reduction of subsidy could also be planned over the medium term.The macro-level social livelihoods protection coverage scenario illustrates the costing of supporting a relatively large implementation program of an IBDRF social protection coverage targeting the most vulnerable pastoralists in Senegal who cannot afford to pay insurance premiums (i.e. 100% of the premium is covered) (Table 5.3). Under social protection implementation, the program expansion is expected to be more rapid and in five years, could target to reach 50,000 pastoral households and approximately 250,000 TLUs (i.e. about 5 and 15% of the TLUs in the national herd and extensive pastoral areas, respectively). Yearly costs are presented in Appendix 5 (Table A5.3).The global fiscal cost of fully supporting the program is estimated to be USD 19.3 million over five years of implementation, including premium subsidies (USD 16.8 million) and program support activities (USD 2.5 million). At the end of the 5-year program, 250,000 TLUs would be protected from drought at an annual cost of USD 5.6 million.The premium cost per TLU to be covered through subsidies would be USD 22/TLU. No premium is expected to be paid by pastoral households. However, a token contribution is recommended to support awareness of the product. This is an important lesson learnt from ongoing initiatives in Kenya and Ethiopia.In this scenario, the main Source of uncertainty is associated with the long-term fiscal sustainability of the initiative, as medium-term budget allocation commitments need to be guaranteed. Depending on the social protection goals of the IBDRFI program, a gradual exit strategy should be planned from the beginning. For example, a system incentivizing graduation of pastoral households to partially subsidized commercial coverage could be implemented, allowing for a gradual reduction of fiscal costs over the medium to long term.Experience from operational programs in Kenya and Ethiopia suggest that a hybrid approach could be adopted to address sustainability issues in the two programmatic options illustrated. A macro-level social livelihoods protection program could target the most vulnerable up to a certain number of TLUs (e.g. five) with a highly subsidized product. At the same time, partially subsidized commercial insurance could be sold to those that are not beneficiaries of the social protection program and/or to top-up the coverage with additional TLUs. Subsidies could be modulated over time between the two programs and used as incentives to the private sector and clients to promote uptake and financial sustainability.This could bring multiple potential benefits including:Cost sharing for financial service infrastructure development and complementary activities, as the public sector/ donors could support the initial investments under the social livelihood protection scheme, while the private sector guarantees maintenance and invests heavily in market expansion.The macro-level coverage could be planned to scale up relatively rapidly in the medium term and create confidence in the private sector of the short-term profitability of the scheme.In the meanwhile, subsidies can be used as an incentive to the private sector to invest in the commercial scheme and expand the retail market.The feasibility assessment indicates that Senegal presents an overall high level of readiness for the implementation of an IBDRFI initiative targeting pastoralists based on socio-economic, technical and operational conditions. Table 6.1 illustrates the key findings with respect to the feasibility criteria considered in this study.The socio-economic assessment (Table 6.1, green) emphasizes the important role of the livestock sector for Senegal and the vulnerability of pastoralist to droughts, particularly in the northern part of the country. It also indicates that there is a potential demand for the product from pastoral communities. However, there are other relevant risks for the livestock sector (e.g. diseases, cattle rustling and bushfires) and these risks are greater for agro-pastoral farmers, who are the poorest group. These risks would need to be considered as part of a comprehensive social protection and disaster risk management strategy.The technical assessment (Table 6.1, yellow) classifies 33% of Senegal land area as feasible or feasible but needing review for the implementation of IBDRFI products for pastoralists. This land area carries 26% of the national livestock herd, which could be covered. These areas cover vast portions of Saint Louis, Louga and Matam regions. The areas requiring review are considered feasible from a technical point of view but present more fragmented rangeland cover due to the increased proportion of crops or woody cover and ongoing land use changes. For this reason, it would be important for local stakeholders and experts to confirm the relevance of these areas for extensive livestock herding and to assess in more detail the performance of the drought index.The operational assessment (Table 6.1, grey) shows that:Senegal has a conducive environment for implementing IBDRFI solutions based on legal and regulatory frameworks, public and private sector capacity, interest and experience. The government of Senegal and CNAAS have already made significant progress in their discussions on potential IBDRFI options targeting pastoralists through a PPP approach, demonstrating interest and willingness to support. The country also has a strong capacity in the management and provision of remote sensing datasets and agro-meteorological services (e.g. ANACIM and CSE etc.). Furthermore, the government of Senegal has been a participant of the drought risk pool of the African Risk Capacity since 2014, which might offer opportunities to develop a harmonized drought risk management framework in the country.However, the capacity to deliver digital financial services is still weak in the pastoral regions and this could become a barrier to effective implementation. However, the good mobile money infrastructure and dynamism of private sector actors (e.g. Planet Guarantee and IBISA) and development organizations to expand their DFS portfolios and offer index-insurance brokerage services offers the opportunity to overcome implementation barriers. In addition, the dense network of pastoral and breeding associations in the pastoral regions could also play an important role in product distribution and bundled DFS offerings. Pastoralists are vulnerable to drought and indicated it as one of the main risks they face. However, evidence suggests that other issues, such as livestock rustling, disease and bush fires, are also relevant. In terms of poverty, pastoralists are generally better off than agro-pastoralists, supporting the importance of considering complementary IBDRFI approaches that could cover the latter, especially for social protection purposes.Existing studies suggest that there is demand for index-insurance products from livestock keepers in northern Senegal, i.e. an IBLI. A qualitative study suggests, however, that the willingness to pay might be moderately low compared to the expected premium costs in a commercial program.Pastoralist communities have been exposed to insurance and have some understanding of the concept. However, agricultural and index-insurance are largely unknown in the pastoral areas and their introduction would require investments in awareness creation.Extensive rangeland areas used for livestock herding are dominant only in the northern parts of the country. Toward south, the landscape is more fragmented by increased crop and woody plant cover, making the IBLI product design less optimal because the NDVI signal might be strongly affected by vegetation that is not used for grazing.The rangeland seasonality is well-defined and relatively homogenous across the country. In the northern region, the typical rangeland growing season lasts from July to November. The NDVI signal is also sufficiently strong to assess the inter-annual variability. These factors are do not limit the feasibility of IBLI product design in the country.The product design can be considered 'fully feasible' and 'feasible but needing review' for 14.6 and 18.3% of Senegal's total land area, respectively. This covers the northern pastoral regions of Senegal. Overall, close to 30% of the national livestock herd is found in the areas that are suitable for implementation. Further analyses should be considered to evaluate the possibility of tailoring the product design such that a broader extent of the agropastoral areas could also be covered.Senegal hosts multiple institutions with experience in handling remote sensing data for rangeland monitoring (e.g. CSE),and supporting index-insurance initiative (e.g. ANACIM). The availability of a network of biomass monitoring sites with historical records is a strong asset for product design.Senegal is part of CIMA, which already has regulations in place for index-insurance.Demand for Sharia compliance has not been reported.The insurance market development is relatively good in the agricultural sector thanks to the activity of CNAAS and the growing role of brokers such as Inclusive Guarantee. Senegal is also part of the ARC drought risk pool.CNAAS and other private sector actors are already exploring the possibility of launching IBDRFI products for livestock and have demonstrated a keen interest in the current initiative.Insurers' presence in pastoral areas is limited and existing agricultural insurance initiatives do not yet utilize digital technologies. However, the growing digital financial services network and dense network of breeders and pastoralist associations in the pastoral regions offer opportunities to support cost-effective distribution channels if targeted investments are made.Senegal has a social registry, which already includes around 590,000 households (including 65% of all poor households). Even though its coverage in pastoral regions is unclear, it is expanding and aiming to cover all poor households in the country eventually.Finance available for premiums CNAAS, a national company, already offers government funded 50% subsidies for agricultural insurance products. So far there is no clear indication of the government's willingness to finance large initiatives on livestock insurance under this IBDRFI feasibility study.The government has shown interest in IBDRFI initiatives targeting extensive pastoral systems and already has in place multiple initiatives for financing responses to shocks, including in the livestock sector.= low; = medium; = high.It should be noted that there are some gaps in the assessment, especially the evaluation of costs and impacts of droughts on pastoralists and the livestock sector in general and the relative importance of other climatic and nonclimatic risks. Since these are critical factors to define the type of IBDRFI solution that will be more relevant in Senegal, it is important that more evidence be collected to better inform the decision-making on potential IBDRFI initiatives. Further work is also required to elicit government interest in purchasing macro-level social protection IBDRFI cover in parallel to the proposed micro-level retail program, which would be offered through CNASS. It is also important to see how the two distributional approaches can be combined to achieve financial scale and sustainability.It should also be noted that although the feasibility study was based on technical solutions, experiences and programmatic options implemented in east African countries (used as benchmarks for the assessment), the overall assessment should be generalizable to a wider range of alternative IBDRFI options for pastoralists. It is not the intention of the report to suggest that the product design and scenario options illustrated are the ones that should be considered, as the decision should ultimately emerge through a policy dialogue at a national level and from a set of technical studies during the preparatory stages of any IBDRFI initiative (see recommendations below).The recommendations below are for the government of Senegal and other public and private stakeholders should they consider to implement an IBDRFI initiative targeting pastoralists.Considering the limited scope of a feasibility study, the next steps toward implementing an IBDRFI initiative in Senegal would require in-depth engagement with country stakeholders and planning for analytical studies to address knowledge gaps identified in this assessment.Stakeholders' engagement and policy support R1: The ongoing discussion on the IBDRFI initiatives for pastoralists should progress to the implementation design stage, in line with similar crop insurance schemes already launched in the country. Considering that the ministry of livestock, CNAAS and other organizations have already conducted in-depth discussions on micro-level index insurance for pastoralists and the feasibility assessment indicates overall favourable socio-economic, technical and operational conditions for implementation, it is recommended that appropriate frameworks be established for discussing and designing an implementation plan for a future scheme.R2: As part of these efforts, the establishment of policy dialogues to define broad objectives that the government wishes to achieve with IBDRFI initiatives (e.g. protect the poorest, protect better-off pastoralists with more livestock assets and/ or both) and the consideration of alternative IBDRFI design and programmatic implementation options are extremely important. The policy objectives should guide preselection of alternative programmatic options for in-depth cost-benefit analysis (R5). The options to be considered might include the micro and macro-level approaches already implemented in east Africa targeting individual pastoralists and the innovative schemes involving meso-level distribution channels. The option of promoting meso-level insurance to risk aggregators, such as pastoralist cooperatives, rural finance institutions or livestock services organizations (e.g. veterinary drugs and feed supplements service providers) may offer potential in lowering the operational costs of the IBDRFI initiative. It is, therefore, recommended that during the planning phase for IBDRFI solutions in Senegal, early discussions are held to identify potential risk aggregators that operate with pastoral communities in the northern regions of the country and that would be potentially interested in purchasing meso-level cover on behalf of these pastoralists.The policy dialogue should also discuss the scope of initiatives for social livelihoods protection in pastoral areas, such as a shock responsive safety net as part of a broader country drought risk financing strategy. Existing experiences in Africa prove that IBDRFI social livelihoods protection schemes have positive welfare impacts and allow partial transfer of risks from public budgets to the private sector. If used in combination with commercial micro-insurance, they can facilitate faster expansion, thanks to public sector investments in subsidies and complementary interventions. It should be noted that information/data gaps in this study have limited the ability to conduct an accurate assessment of costs associated with drought responses in pastoral areas. These gaps should be filled to allow better evaluation of the drought impacts and the need for social livelihoods protection of vulnerable pastoral households in the northern pastoral regions, which are feasible for IBLI and IBDRFI solutions (Figure 3.6).R4: Should the government of Senegal and CNAAS proceed to implementation, it is recommended that a board and TWG for the design phase of the initiative be established. These committees would be comprised of representatives of all public and private sector stakeholders and development organizations with experience in IBDRFI implementation.The board would chair the strategic decision-making fora for the initiative, particularly regarding implementation sites, subsidy levels and targeting. The board could be coordinated by CNAAS and supported by a TWG. It should include government agencies responsible for extension and agro-meteorological service provision in pastoral areas and pastoral associations (among others). The mandate will be to develop practical structures for scheme implementation, product design evaluation, development of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, coordination of awareness creation efforts and the evaluation of suitability of product to specific target areas.A comparative technical approach is recommended where multiple IBDRFI products can be identified and cost-benefit analyses conducted prior to implementation. The cost analyses should also address the information gaps identified in this study on the impacts of drought and associated cost of responses. While illustrative scenarios and costs have been proposed in this study for alternative programmatic options ranging from commercial micro-insurance to fully subsidized social livelihoods protection programs, a more comprehensive review of options, subsidy levels and incentive mechanisms for private sector investment in IBDRFI is highly recommended. This should be included in the cost-benefit analyses.The review, guided by the TWG, should carefully weigh alternative subsidy options and evaluate the trade-offs from a cost-benefit perspective, including long-term financial sustainability and governance aspects. Lessons learned from ongoing IBDRFI initiatives suggest that the smart use of subsidies is important, but also that an exit strategy from a highly subsidized regime should be in place from the beginning. The assessment should also explore how to harmonize programmatic options with ongoing drought risk management and financing frameworks, for example, with the LSO implemented by the ministry of livestock to provide subsidized feed resources during drought. Finally, the assessment should consider the approach to be followed for implementation regarding priority areas and geographic expansion.A cluster approach should be used to develop pastoral systems, starting with regions where livestock input and output services are more developed. In these regions, certain minimum requirements should be already in place, such as the existence of fodder markets and pastoralists' access to them, minimum levels of financial inclusion among pastoralists and herd sizes, to ensure that payouts are useful.Targeted investments on DFS infrastructure and service provision require planning to establish efficient and robust registration and delivery and distribution mechanisms. Major challenges in operational IBDRFI initiatives have resulted from failures in the delivery chain, particularly regarding payouts. Given that the cover is designed for early responses to shocks and asset protection, quick delivery is of essence. Digital payments are necessary and largely preferred by clients/beneficiaries. An efficient distribution and delivery infrastructure is also important to reduce the insurance companies' operational costs thus making the product profiTable.The study indicates that DFS service networks and the presence of insurance service providers are still weak in the pastoral regions and, therefore, targeted investments should be planned for. There is significant potential to leverage ongoing initiatives to develop DFS services in the country. These include the new platforms supported by the WFP R4 initiative and the household registry (now targeting inclusion of all the poor households) that could be a key instrument for registration of beneficiaries in IBDRFI initiatives. Other examples are the service platforms that Inclusive Guarantee and IBISA are developing specifically for insurance service provision. These platforms could reduce the delivery and distribution costs for the insurers. In terms of distribution, the livestock breeders and pastoralist associations should be considered as potential channels given their strong presence in the pastoral areas and capacity to interact with pastoral communities. Most of the private sector entities and development organizations rely heavily on the local livestock and breeders' association as entry points for their interventions and emphasized their central role in the potential implementation of IBDRFI initiatives.Considering that to date no IBDRFI products for pastoralists in the Sahel have been implemented, it would be important to conduct a technical study to explore alternative drought index design options then establish multistakeholder review exercises to tailor and customize the index product to the local context. The product design study should be informed by initiatives such as NDGI and QUUIC. It would also need to be informed by operational rangeland monitoring systems in the country/region (e.g. CSE and AGRHYMET). Similarly, existing regional surveillance systems, such as the one developed by the ACF (also in collaboration with CSE), might be considered as a platform for IBDRFI-related data services. The multi-stakeholder reviews and customization should include the definition of unit areas of insurance that should reflect wet season grazing areas and mobility patterns, reviews of the areas flagged as needing 'forage review' in this study and considerations on alternative payout functions. Additional factors to be considered during the review include the impact of bushfires, woodland cover and land cover changes/degradation on the drought index (e.g. by conducting trend analyses). Ground rangeland biomass datasets, such as the one collected by the CSE would be an important asset to improve the quality of product design through rigorous comparative analyses. In addition, state of the art scientific studies on drought index design and herd mobility modelling need to be explored with the goal of further improving the definition of the insurance units through more objective approaches.A systematic review of ongoing pastoral development interventions in northern Senegal (e.g. PRAPS) should be conducted to explore synergies and opportunities for bundling services. Lessons learned from existing programs suggest that linking financial and physical resilience interventions can create a win-win situation toward the achievement of development outcomes. In addition, several stakeholders have indicated the importance of connecting IBDRFI payouts to other interventions aimed at supporting improved livestock production. These include market linkages and value-chain development, feed and fodder development, forage conservation and water management, animal health and access to finance and credit. A specific point was also made on the potential role of payouts in mitigating conflicts between pastoralists and farmers during transhumance. If pastoralists receive the payouts before the dry season when the transhumance is planned, the payouts will enable them to better manage the transhumance by buying animal feed/water in advance. Thus they could avoid other coping strategies, such as anticipated transhumance, that are often Sources of conflict with farmers. As indicated by multiple country stakeholders, bundling of the IBDRFI product with additional services, such as micro-credit, access to animal feed or veterinary services could also be considered to facilitate the IBDRFI products uptake and make better use of payouts.It will be critical to design this package in a collaborative manner between the insurers, implementing parties, livestock breeders, veterinary auxiliaries and agro-meteorological institutions involved in tracking and evaluating forage biomass.Appendix 1. Key differences between micro-level retail IBLI and modified macro-level social livelihoods protection programs Same underlying pure loss costs, but commercial premium rates may need to be considerably higher to reflect much higher operational costs associated with sales to individual pastoralists (insured policyholders Same underlying pure loss costs, but potential to minimize operational loadings as automatic cover for large numbers of beneficiaries and potential to achieve economies of scale in operational costsSame assuming same sum insured and triggers adopted (direct to policyholder/Insured) Same assuming same sum insured and triggers adopted (direct to beneficiary)More affluent small/medium and large pastoralists who can afford to pay either the full commercial premium rate or a partly subsidized premium rateVulnerable pastoralists who depend largely on livestock herding for their livelihoods but who cannot afford to pay commercial premium rates.These pastoralists should have a minimum herd size of no less than 5 TLUsPurely voluntary decision by the individual pastoralist or group Automatic enrolment of selected pastoralists by the project management team / government entity Policyholder (insured)The individual pastoralist is the policyholder and insured as named in the policy certificateThe insured policyholder is the government entity/ agency on behalf of the preselected pastoralists who will be listed in the schedule (or annex) attached to the policy issued to the government entity/agencyInsured pastoralist households must:Be able to pay their share of premiums Have a smartphone to receive SMS messages Have a bank account (fixed or mobile money) into which payouts can be directly made Beneficiary pastoralist households must:Own a minimum of 5 TLUs and be livestock herdersHave a smartphone to receive SMS messages Have a bank account (fixed or mobile money) into which payouts can be directly madeNot essential if marketing and promotion and sales functions are correctly performed by the insurer or its appointed agents/ distribution channels Essential as pastoral communities and their members must be made aware of the government livelihoods protection program and why some pastoralists are being identified as beneficiaries and will be automatically enrolled, while others will not be selectedTargeting (and sales) and selectionInsurers will be responsible for their own marketing and promotion and sales programs including:Own sales agentsThe government agency will need to work closely with country-level authorities, community and pastoral leaders to identify the selection criteria and the beneficiaries of the program in each insured unit (IU)All insured pastoralists must be electronically registered along with their livestock holdings and details of their address, phone number and bank/mobile money account details and name of the IU in which their livestock are normally grazed and which they have selected to be their trigger IU IBLI details must also be recorded including no insured TLUs, sum insured, premium rates for that IU and premiums paid by the pastoralist All beneficiaries must be electronically registered along with their livestock holding and details of their address, phone number and bank/mobile money account details and name of the IU in which their livestock are normally grazed and which they have selected to be their trigger IU.IBLI details must also be recorded including no insured TLUs, sum insured, premium rates for that IU and premiums paid by the governmentOn the payment of their share of premium, each insured policyholder should receive a uniquely numbered certificate of insurance (local language), policy wording and schedule of cover (as necessary)Beneficiaries do not pay any premium (at least in initial year(s)). A single master policy document will be issued to the government entity that purchases cover.Each beneficiary must receive a certificate detailing the protection they are receiving (no TLU, sum insured and maximum payouts per season and IU)End of season notification (and settlement of payouts)Ideally SMS messaging will be used to advise each insured during the coverage period if drought conditions are developing in their IU and at end of the cover period whether a drought payout has been triggered or not and the payout due Electronic money transfers should be carefully tracked to each insured's bank or mobile money accountIdeally SMS messaging will be used to advise each beneficiary during the coverage period if drought conditions are developing in their IU and at end of the cover period whether a drought payout has been triggered or not and the payout due Spatial aggregation units are administration level 2 units. Insurance units are generally defined in collaboration with local stakeholders according to a set of criteria (Chelanga et al. 2017), but this would be out of scope for a feasibility study. However, it should be noted that this is a very important step that requires planning in the early implementation steps.Temporal aggregation is set to seasonally aggregated data. To define the pasture growing season temporal boundaries, unit level SOS and EOS dates are estimated using the Joint Research Centre phenology maps. 25 When the spatial variability of SOS and EOS is limited, fixed dates are be used. For Senegal, the SOS was fixed to July and the EOS to November. Figure A2.2 shows an example of the temporal aggregation in the KLIP program.Depending on the type of IBDRFI instrument used, the temporal aggregation can be customized. For example, running averages (e.g. monthly and quarterly) have been proposed and utilized as an alternative (i.e. in the Hunger Safety Net Program in Kenya). The normalization approach is based on the use of standard scores. However, multiple options exist, such as linear scaling between minimum and maximum historic values (i.e. the vegetation condition index), percentile calculation or per cent deviation from average. However, it is not expected that there will be major implications on the payouts related to the normalization metric used.The formulation of the payout function is a linear function of the index value between an index attachment and an index exit threshold. Payouts range from 0 (below the attachment value), to a predefined maximum value below the exit. In the standard model, the attachment threshold is calculated at unit level in terms of expected payout frequency (i.e. 1 out of 5 seasons) on the historical dataset. The exit threshold is commonly fixed or set to the minimum historical index value. The maximum payout is calculated as the cost of maintaining the livestock alive during a severe drought shock . 26 These parameters are not constant across IBDRFI programs and need to be individually customized.The standard payout function is applied to end of season index values (in agreement with the temporal aggregation step described above (Appendix 2). However, options for multiple seasonal payouts (e.g. one early and one end of season) have also been proposed and utilized. The early payout is not a fully independent payout, but an anticipation of the main payout.25. (Available at https://mars.jrc.ec.europa.eu/asap/) (Accessed on date) 26. In Kenya the monthly sum insured is currently 1,167 Kenyan Shilling (KES) per TLU per month (KES amount = USD 1.00 at date) to cover the costs of purchased fodder and feed supplements. The Kenyan IBLI programs provide payouts to enable pastoralists to purchase supplementary feeds for their animals over the 5-month short rains dry season (October to February) and for the 7-month long rains dry season (March to September). Therefore, the sum insured to feed 1 TLU over 12 months is KES 14,000 (KES amount = USD 1.00 at date) per TLU. Global land cover fractions, i.e. percentage of ground cover for the four main classes used in the analysis, for 2019.Three products were used:Number of growing seasons per year,End of season.The IGAD region has both unimodal and bimodal precipitation regimes, thus each season has a start and end.These metrics were derived from long term averages of the 10-day MODIS NDVI data produced by BOKU university at 1 km resolution for the period 2013-16 (Klisch et al. 2016), produced by the European JRC.Computed decadal averages using the 10-day product for Kenya for the years 2002 to 2018, available at 0.05° (Funk et al. 2015).Once the rangeland condition was met, the unit forage availability was determined. In Senegal some of the areas are characterized by scarce vegetation and barren lands, which get drier towards the Sahara desert. To eliminate areas considered unsuitable for the product implementation, NDVI and bare land fractional cover product were used to define the extent of productive lands in Senegal.To aid in the identification of productive land areas with high NDVI intensity, the NDVI's amplitude was computed by calculating the difference between the 95th and 5th percentiles of NDVI, restricted to > 0.1 (Vrieling et al., 2016). The non-land areas were disregarded if the NDVI time series comprised < 60% of land valid NDVI values. Combining the bare land fractional cover and NDVI metrics, if the non-productive land areas were < 60%, then the forage availability condition was satisfied, otherwise it was classified as 'need for forage review' . The seasonality conditions were assessed by extracting the majority phenological metrics for NGS, SOS and EOS per arrondissment, with further refinement using average precipitation conditions and NDVI profiles.  ","tokenCount":"25758"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/3986250932.json b/data/part_1/3986250932.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d86f10a4160f473eecac78476d7129a8102d24d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/3986250932.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"46def6b81973dbbbe9fa93dcb3b0efdb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/49b9d6b7-5a1e-4ec6-995d-182fd079a9a5/content","id":"-1810271890"},"keywords":["Greenhouse gas emissions","Climate change","Cereal systems","High-yield lowemission pathway"],"sieverID":"61374038-1f10-4f3c-a9c8-7d509434ae64","pagecount":"21","content":"Increasing agricultural production to meet the growing demand for food whilst reducing agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the major challenge under the changing climate. To develop long-term policies that address these challenges, strategies are needed to identify high-yield low-emission pathways for particular agricultural production systems. In this paper, we used bio-physical and socio-economic models to analyze the impact of different management practices on crop yield and emissions in two contrasting agricultural production systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of India. The result revealed the importance of considering both management and socio-economic factors in the development of high-yield low-emission pathways for cereal production systems. Nitrogen use rate and frequency of application, tillage and residue management and manure application significantly affected GHG emissions from the cereal systems. In addition, various socio-economic factors such as gender, level of education, training on climate change adaptation and mitigation and access to information significantly influenced the adoption of technologies contributing to high-yield low-emission pathways. We discussed the policy implications of these findings in the context of food security and climate change.Global agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasing. In the past 50 years, emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries have nearly doubled due to an increase in global agricultural production (Smith et al. 2014). This is driven largely by an increase in demand for food and changes in food consumption patterns, particularly in developing countries. Recent analysis suggests that trends in population growth and food demand will result in a further 30% increase in global GHG emissions from agricultural by 2050 with Asian and African countries accounting for most of the increase (Tubiello et al. 2014).Synthetic fertilizer is one of the major and fastest growing emission sources in agriculture (Camargo et al. 2013;Shcherbak et al. 2014), together with paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation and burning of crop residues (Wassmann et al. 2000;INCCA 2010;Boateng et al. 2017). Energy and fertilizer consumption is particularly high in intensive cereal production systems. For example fertilizer and chemical energy (e.g. pesticides, herbicides etc) inputs comprise about 45% of the total energy consumed for production of rice, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) (Khan et al. 2009), about 60% of which is due to nitrogen fertilizer alone. On the other hand, projections indicate that production of food crops such as rice, wheat and maize needs to increase over the coming decades to meet food demand (Jat et al. 2011). Given the necessity to increase crop production and limited scope for horizontal expansion, fertilizer consumption is expected to increase, thereby augmenting emissions from agriculture. Therefore, production systems guided by key concerns of sustainability are necessary in order to increase food production without compromising environmental integrity.Many developing countries identified agriculture and allied sectors as one of the priority areas for emission reduction in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Richards et al. 2016). Similarly, climate change adaptation and mitigationrelated policies and programs in many developing countries highlight the need for sustainable increase in agricultural production and a reduction of emissions where possible. These countries possess immense mitigation potential for land use in agriculture and have targeted this sector to reduce their carbon footprints (CCAFS 2015). However, current understanding of the effect of various management options on GHG emissions from crops and the enabling socio-economic factors that influence their adoption is limited. This dearth of information constrains the development of evidencebased strategies and targets for low-carbon agricultural development.Reductions in GHG emissions from agricultural sector can be achieved through improved agronomic practices and adoption of precision input management and enhanced resource use efficiencies (Godfray et al. 2010;Sapkota et al. 2015a, b;Verge et al. 2007). Yield improvement and emission reduction are also directly influenced by farmers' decisions to implement farm technologies and/or practices. Farming decisions are influenced by farm size, income level, land ownership, access to market and credits and other socio-economic variables (Keil et al. 2015;Khatri-Chhetri et al. 2016;Mottaleb et al. 2016). However, there remains a major knowledge gap in terms of the relationship between agricultural emissions and socio-economic conditions which needs to be better understood in order to develop appropriate emission reduction strategy for agriculture.The overall aim of this paper is to identify high-yield low-emission development pathways in cereal production systems. To achieve this, specific objectives are as follows: (i) to identify various technologies and farm management practices that influence GHG emissions and (ii) to explore household socio-economic factors that determine the adoption of low-emission technologies and management practices at the farm level. By identifying the important determinants of GHG emissions, this paper explores a possible pathway to produce or maintain higher yields with lower GHG emissions in two major, but different, production systems in the Indian Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) through the use of a GHG emission tool, household survey and statistical models. The study has important global implications because the IGP is the major food bowl of India producing food for about 40% of India's 1.2 billion population (Saharawat et al. 2010). India is the third largest GHG emitter in the world (Ge et al. 2014) with agriculture being the second largest source of GHG emission accounting for 18% of the gross national emissions (INCCA 2010). The country has recently declared a voluntary goal of reducing the emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35% and placed emphasis on land-based mitigation measures (India's INDC to UNFCCC, http://www.moef.nic.in/climate-change-docs-andpublications). As the third largest emitter in the world, such a commitment has the potential for substantial impacts on global emissions. The state of Haryana in India represents a highinput production system with relatively high productivity whereas Bihar represents a low-input production system with correspondingly low productivity. By using these two states of India as exemplary study, we discuss the policy implications of the findings in the context of food security and climate change.Data for this study were derived from a household survey conducted in two districts: Karnal district of Haryana state and Vaishali district of Bihar state in India (Fig. 1) in 2013. Karnal and Vaishali represent high and low input production systems typical of the western and eastern IGP, respectively. Cereal production in the IGP is GHG intensive compared to other regions in South Asia. Annual GHG emissions resulting from the production of rice, wheat and maize in the Indian IGP are 113,388, 20,727 and 1632 Gg CO 2 eq, respectively (calculated using the average emissions reported in Vetter et al. 2017).An overview of the agro-ecological conditions of the study sites are given in Table 1. The household survey comprised 626 and 641 randomly selected households in Karnal and Vaishali, respectively. In this survey, farmers were interviewed to obtain information on crop production, socio-economic and demographic conditions, climate risks in agriculture and adaptation and mitigation measures. Within household, farmers manage multiple plots for different crops (rice, wheat, maize) under different management conditions. From each plot, information regarding tillage operations and fuel use, crop establishment, agronomy (nutrient, water, weed and pest), yield and residue management were obtained. Total applied N in the plots was calculated as the sum of the N from di-ammonium-phosphate (DAP), urea, farmyard-manure (FYM) and crop residue (where applicable) and assuming an N content of FYM as 0.5% (Tandon 1994) and that of crop residues as 0.8% (Dobermann and Fairhurst 2002).The soil data needed for the model but not collected during the survey were obtained from The Global Soil Dataset for Earth System Modeling (Shangguan et al. 2014).We used the CCAFS Mitigation Options Tool (CCAFS-MOT) to estimate GHG emissions (Feliciano et al. 2016) which allows assessment of GHG emissions as a function of management practice and enables the user to examine and optimize different management options. CCAFS-MOT combines several empirical models to estimate GHG emissions from different land uses. The tool recognizes context-specific factors that influence GHG emissions such as pedo-climatic characteristics, production inputs and other management practices at the field as well as the farm level. The model allows to evaluate the performance of the production system from a GHG emission perspective, both in terms of land-use efficiency and efficiency per unit of product. The model calculates background and fertilizer-induced emissions based on   Powlson et al. (2016). Similarly, effect of manure and residue management on soil C were based on IPCC methodology as in Ogle et al. (2005) and Smith et al. (1997). Emissions of CO 2 from soil resulting from urea application or liming were estimated using IPCC methodology (IPCC 2006). To estimate the total GHG emissions from the production systems, i.e. global warming potential (GWP), all GHGs were converted into CO 2 -equivalents (CO 2 e) using the GWP (over 100 years) of 34 and 298 for CH 4 and N 2 O, respectively (IPCC 2013). Yield-scaled GWP of each crop was determined by dividing the total GWP by grain yield.We used the multiple regression model in Stata 13.1 (Cameron and Trivedi 2009) to estimate the impact of different inputs and management factors on GHG emissions. Total emissions from crop production are affected by the rate and application frequency (one-time application or multi-split application) of nitrogen fertilizer, tillage practice (e.g. conventional or zerotillage), application of manure and incorporation of crop residues. The dependent variable is the emission of individual GHGs and total GWP (all in CO 2 e ha −1 ) from rice, wheat and maize production. The empirical model used to identify determinants of the emission is as follows:where E i denotes the emission of individual GHGs and total GWP for the ith plot, X n represents the total nitrogen application (kg/ha) on different crops, X m is the matrix of management practices, X t refers to the tillage method and ε is the usual error term. α, β, δ and γ are the parameters estimated.After determining the effect of various management factors on the individual and total emissions, we explored the various farm and farmers' characteristics which determine the choice of management strategies, for example, nitrogen fertilizer, manure and retention of crop residues that influence GHG emission. We broadly categorized all nitrogen sources as organic and inorganic nitrogen. The empirical model used is as follows:where Y i denotes the use of nitrogen in different forms, X s is the matrix of household socioeconomic characteristics, X r is the matrix of household access to productive resources, X k is the matrix of knowledge enhancing activities such as training and access to information services, X d is represents the matrix of crop and location-related variables. α, β, δ, γ and ρ are the parameters estimated. We also used similar empirical model to estimate the effect of various household characteristics on yield and yield-scaled GWP (kg CO2e Mg −1 grain yield of rice, wheat and maize).Changes in emissions of individual GHGs as well as total GWP with N rate were illustrated by regressing emissions with N rate using 'ggplot2' package (Wickham 2009) in 'R' software (R Core Team 2016). To identify the GHG efficient production system and corresponding N rate, relationships were established between yield and yield-scaled GWP under different N application ranges, as described by Bellarby et al. (2014). For this, the total N applied was binned into 20 kg N ha −1 range, i.e. 0-20, 20-40, ……… 220-240 kg N ha −1 , and corresponding yield and yieldscaled GWP were plotted together. Finally, a stylized framework (Cui et al. 2014) of grain yield and GHG emission was developed to evaluate different GHG-efficient production pathways.On average, rice and wheat grain yields were, respectively, 162 and 150% greater in Karnal than Vaishali (Fig. 2a). Maize grain yield was 3.4 ± 0.1 Mg ha −1 in Vaishali, none of the respondents in Karnal grew maize. Yield-scaled GWP (i.e. emission intensity) was much higher in rice (722 ± 170 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 in Vaishali and 557 ± 151 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 in Karnal) than in wheat (359 ± 185 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 in Vaishali and 389 ± 111 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 in Karnal) and maize (320 ± 179 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 ) (Fig. 2b).Crop emissions were significantly greater in Karnal than Vaishali (compare Fig. 2c, d). Of all three crops, rice had the largest GWP with CH 4 being the major contributing GHG (Fig. 2c, d). By contrast, N 2 O and CO 2 contributed to the major portion of GWP in wheat and maize accounting for between 50 to 58% and 39 to 44% of the total, respectively, in both regions.Table 2 presents the effect of various management factors on emission of individual gases and total GWP in rice, wheat and maize. The result shows that the total amount of N applied (from inorganic and organic sources) affected all the GHGs, resulting in a significant effect on total GWP in all three crops. Adoption of zero tillage in rice and wheat decreased CH 4 and CO 2 emission but did not affect N 2 O emissions. This resulted into a significant reduction in total GWP. Higher numbers of N split increased both CO 2 and N 2 O emissions resulting in significantly higher total GWP in all three crops (Table 2). Substituting a portion of the N supply through farm yard manure (FYM) and crop residue generally reduced the emissions of CO 2 , had no effect on N 2 O but increased CH 4 emission thereby significantly increasing total GWP in rice. R 2 values at the bottom of the Table 2 indicate that included factors in the model explained 70% of the variability in total CH 4 emission in rice and over 95% of the variability in CO 2 , N 2 O and total GWP in all three crops. As four out of five variables included in the model are related to fertilizer input, it is evident that fertilizer input (N in particular) is an important driver of overall GHG emission from rice, wheat and maize.Irrespective of the type of crop, total N input from organic and inorganic sources had a significant positive effect on N 2 O, CH4 and total GWP (Fig. S1). Averaged over the crops and locations, 1.15% of applied N was emitted directly as N 2 O.Figure 3 shows the response of total grain yield and GHG emission intensity (kg CO 2 eq Mg −1 grain yield) to applied N in rice and wheat. The majority of the farmers in Karnal applied more than 100 kg of N ha −1 whereas those in Vaishali applied less than 100 kg N ha −1 . In general, grain yield of rice was higher in Karnal than in Vaishali for all N bins. In rice, GHG emission intensity was higher in Vaishali than in Karnal across all N bins. Irrespective of the sites, rice yield leveled off with increased N application rate beyond 100 kg ha −1 whilst GHG emission intensity continued to increase with N rate. Wheat yield, on the other hand, increased up to 100 kg N ha −1 in Vaishali and at a higher rate of about 140 kg N ha −1 in Karnal. With the exception of few wheat farmers in Karnal, N application rates above 100 kg ha −1 in Vaishali and 140 kg N ha −1 in Karnal did not enhance the grain yield but significantly increased the GHG emission intensity. Wheat farmers in Vaishali who applied above 140 kg N ha −1 got no marginal yield gain as a result of additional fertilizer thus resulting into higher GHG emission intensities.  Table 3 presents the effect of various household characteristics on the yield of rice, wheat and maize. Rice and wheat yields were significantly higher in Karnal than in Vaishali, and yield of all crops was higher in male-headed household and significantly so for rice and maize. The effect of the household head's educational level was observed for rice yield whereas that of the spouse was observed for wheat yield. The effect of household size was negative and significant for wheat and maize yield. Remittance has a small but significant effect on wheat and maize yield. Similarly, size of landholding had significantly positive effect on maize yield. Ownership of a thresher had a significantly positive effect on rice and wheat yield whereas tractor ownership had a significantly negative effect on maize yield. Climate change-related training and access to seed from local agrovets had significantly positive effect on wheat and maize yield. Of the different methods of receiving information related to agriculture, use of information and communication technology (for example, use of mobile phones to receive agricultural information including weather forecasts and application of farm inputs) was found to have a significant positive impact on yield of all three crops. Interestingly, access to credit and information from neighboring farmers were a few of the criteria that had a consistent and negative effect on yield across all three crops. Overall, the amount of organic as well as inorganic fertilizer N input was significantly different in the study sites (Table 4). In general, fertilizer N input was significantly higher in Karnal than in Vaishali and lower in rice and maize compared with wheat. Organic, inorganic and total N inputs were positively and significantly related to total livestock units in the household implying that those households with more livestock tend to apply more N fertilizer. As in the case of yield, access to credit had a significantly negative on inorganic and thus total N input but no effect on organic N. Training on crop rotation had a significant positive effect on organic N input and negative effect on inorganic N.Yield-scaled GWP of rice and wheat was significantly lower in cases where the household head was literate as compared to the ones where household heads were illiterate (Table 5). In wheat, yield-scaled GWP was also higher in the households with more livestock. Maize yieldscaled GWP was higher in the households with smaller landholdings. Similarly, yield-scaled GWP of wheat and maize was significantly lower in the household owning a thresher, who participated in various agricultural trainings.A multivariate logit was used to examine the likelihood of adoption of yieldenhancing and emissions-reducing technologies at the plot level. Many household and plot   in) for respective crops in the respective states. Average grain yields observed in our study were, however, less than those reported from on-station trials in Bihar (Jat et al. 2014) and also those reported from the on-farm nutrient management trials of wheat in Haryana (Sapkota et al. 2014). The total GWP for rice production in our study was within the range (1027-2632 kg CO 2 e ha −1 ) reported from India (Bhatia et al. 2005;Malla et al. 2005;Datta et al. 2009) but smaller than the values reported by Linquist et al. (2012) (3900 kg CO 2 e ha −1 ) through global metaanalysis. Relatively higher emissions reported in Linquist's meta-analysis are probably because a large proportion of the data (77% of data points for rice) were from South-East Asia where rice is grown mostly under continuously flooded conditions leading to high CH 4 emission. In our study sites, rice is mostly grown as a rainfed crop in Vaishali or intermittently irrigated crop in Karnal. Thus, the magnitude of CH 4 emission from rice in our study (18-65 kg CH 4 ha −1 ) was much smaller than those reported from South-East Asia and China (Zou et al. 2005;Ma et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2010;Shang et al. 2011). The estimated total GHG emission from wheat and maize in our study was similar to those reported by Linquist et al. (2012) (1107-1238 kg CO 2 e ha −1 ) through meta-analysis of field measurements globally.Higher total GHG emission from rice than wheat and maize (Fig. 2) was mainly driven by higher CH 4 emission. This is because anaerobic conditions in rice field leads to methanogenesis (biochemical decomposition of organic matter in anaerobic environments), which is responsible for CH 4 emission. Further, rice plants are important conduits of CH 4 from soil to atmosphere sometime accounting for up to 90% of the total CH 4 emission (Butterbachbahl et al. 1997). The contribution of CH 4 to the total GHG emission was nominal in the case of wheat and maize. In both rice and wheat, total GHG emissions were higher in Karnal than in Vaishali (Fig. 2) mainly driven by higher rates of N in Karnal than in Vaishali. GWP of wheat and maize was mainly driven by N 2 O and CO 2 emissions related to fertilizer input. In this study, CO 2 emissions refer to the balance of CO 2 emissions/sequestration due to tillage and organic matter application (compost, manure and crop residues); CO 2 emissions due to production and transportation of fertilizer; and CO 2 emissions due to application of urea in the field. Linquist et al. (2012) suggest that yield-scaled GWP is an appropriate integrated metric that addresses the dual goals of environmental protection and food security. In our study, yieldscaled GWP was almost two-fold greater in rice than wheat or maize (Fig. 2b). Evidently, higher yield-scaled GWP in rice than in wheat and maize was mainly due to CH 4 emission from rice. Yield-scaled GWP in rice, in our study, was smaller than the value reported by Pathak et al. (2010) (1221 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 ) and larger than the value reported by Malla et al. (2005) (~210 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 ) for India but similar to the one reported by Linquist et al. (2012) (655 kg CO 2 e Mg −1 ). The GWP estimates of Pathak et al. (2010) are unrealistically high whilst the lower GWP estimates reported by Malla et al. (2005) were because the authors considered only CH 4 and N 2 O emission in GWP calculation. Our estimates also include CO 2 emission due to production, transportation and field application of fertilizer besides field emission of CH 4 and N 2 O.Yield-scaled GWP of wheat and maize production were slightly higher than the GWP value reported by Linquist et al. (2012) and by Malla et al. (2005) from the rice-wheat system of India. Again, this difference is primarily due to inclusion of CO 2 emission arising from production, transportation and field application of fertilizer in our GWP calculation whereas GWP from other studies were solely based on field emission of CH 4 and N 2 O.Our study that both N 2 O and CH 4 emissions are higher with higher N input (Fig. S1) leading to higher total GHG emission in all crops. Higher N input associated with number of livestock units (Table 3) indicates that farmers with more livestock in the household tend to apply more organic manure in addition to the usual amount of inorganic N. Lower yield-scaled emissions associated with literate household heads, larger holding size and thresher ownership (Table 5) suggest that richer and educated farmers intensify farming with better input-useefficiency thereby reducing emissions while maintaining yield. Our findings are similar to those of Ju et al. (2016) from China, who also reported that large farms are more sensitive to fertilizer use thereby increasing production and reducing emission. Similarly, lower yieldscaled GWP in maize among the farmers receiving information from private seed companies suggest the higher yield from these farmers resulting from high yielding and quality seeds. Therefore, use of high yielding varieties (e.g. hybrids) to increase yield is one way forward to reduce emission intensity. Lower emission intensity with the farmers receiving training on climate change, seed and cropping system management (Table 5) shows that increasing farmers' awareness and capacity in the area of agriculture and climate change is an important mechanisms to reduce GHG emission from agriculture. The negative relationship between credit access and N input (Table 3) and thus crop yield (Table 2) indicates that farmers in the study area are probably using agricultural credit for non-agricultural purposes, as has also been reported by Aryal et al. (2014). Higher GHG emissions with higher number of N-splits (Table 2) in this case were because farmers who apply fertilizer more frequently tend to apply more N fertilizer in total. Also, N 2 O emissions in our model are based on Bouwman et al. (2002) and do not take into account the effects of timing of N application. Although our results show no effect of substituting inorganic N with organic sources, it should be noted that N from the organic sources will not be fully available to crops in the same season and may induce N 2 O emissions in subsequent years also. Overall, these production technologies associated with precision nutrient management, tillage and residue management etc. also contribute to climate change adaptation and so could be promoted through appropriate programs and policies for adaptation-led mitigation in agriculture.The results from both high-input (Karnal) and low-input (Vaishali) production systems clearly illustrate the dependence of GHG emissions on fertilizer usage, particularly N fertilizer (Table 2; Fig. 3). However, GHG emissions cannot be reduced only by reducing N fertilizer input due to trade-offs between yield and food security. Lower crop yields may also induce emissions elsewhere by bringing additional land into cultivation in order to meet the shortfall in food production (Bellarby et al. 2014). As adequate nutrient input is essential to increase and maintain crop production (Tittonell and Giller 2013), a valid approach under smallholder systems is to compute and compare emissions on a per-tonne-product basis, i.e. yield-scaled GWP or emission intensity. The strong negative correlation between grain yield and emission intensity for all three crops (Fig. 4) indicates that emission intensity can be reduced by increasing yield.To develop the pathways for emission-efficient production systems and identify the role of different variables for increasing production and reducing emissions, we present a 'yield-GHG emission' framework using rice production data from the high-input prosystem, i.e. Karnal, as an Taking the mean grain yield and GHG emissions, all rice farmers in Karnal were divided into four groups: low-yield lowemission (LYLE), low-yield high-emission (LYHE), high-yield high-emission (HYHE) and high-yield low-emission (HYLE) (Fig. 5). Yield-scaled GWP was the lowest in HYLE and the highest in LYHE, with LYLE and HYHE having intermediate yield-scaled GWP. Theoretically, developing high-yield low-emission production systems would require a shift towards HYLE, i.e. lower right quadrant of Fig. 5. For this, the farmers in HYHE quadrant can follow an emission reduction (without compromising yield) pathway (long-dashed arrow in Fig. 5) whereas those in LYLE quadrant can follow yield improvement (with no additional emission) pathway (short-dashed arrow in Fig. 5). The farmers in LYHE quadrant, on the other hand, can follow production improvement pathway, emission reduction pathway or even transformative pathway (increase production and reduce emission) (solid arrow in Fig. 5) depending on production condition and resources available. Zero-tillage (ZT) is primarily responsible for low emissions, both in low and higher yield regimes. None of the farmers adopting ZT fell into the high emission quadrants (i.e. LYHE and HYHE) indicating that adoption of ZT is one of the ways towards low-emission pathway. As stated earlier, the higher emissions with higher number of N splits were mainly due to the confounding of number of N splits and total amount applied with farmers using more N splits also using a greater amount of N. Farmers in HYHE and HYLE quadrants retained more crop residues supporting the view that residue retention is an essential component of sustainable intensification in tropical agro-ecosystems (Powlson et al. 2016). Larger plot sizes in general resulted in lower emissions indicating higher input use efficiencies confirming the findings of Ju et al. (2016) from China.As cereal seeds contain large amount of storage protein reserves and protein comprises about 6% N (Ladha et al. 2016), more production will require more N uptake. However, significantly higher rate of N application by the farmers in LYHE quadrant than those in HYHE quadrant clearly demonstrates that higher total N does not necessarily result in higher yield but does lead to higher emissions. This is because crop yield is likely to be limited by other factors including other nutrients, water and soil conditions. Precision N use (right source, right time and right method of application) could be a transformative pathway for farmers in LYHE quadrant to increase production and reduce GHG emission. Our results in Fig. 3 show that N application between 80 and 100 kg N per ha (both in Karnal and Vaishali) provides the highest grain yield with the lowest GHG emission intensity in rice and between 120 and 140 kg N per ha in Karnal and 80-Fig. 4 Relationship between yield-scaled GWP (kg CO 2 -eq Mg −1 grain yield) and grain yield of rice, wheat and maize 100 kg N per ha in Vaishali for the in wheat, indicating the optimum N rate for optimization and emission reduction. However, the majority of the in the study area (95 and 82% farmers growing rice and wheat, respectively, in Karnal and 23 and 40% farmers growing rice and wheat, respectively, in Vaishali) reported application rates that exceed the optimum rate of N in rice and wheat. Part of the additional N fertilizer required to increase N uptake in order to increase production can be offset to some extent by management practices that improve N use efficiency (Mueller et al. 2014). In this line, our results show huge opportunities to reduce GHG emission whilst maintaining grain yield by reducing N rate and adopting best fertilizer management practices to increase nutrient-use efficiency.In the context of climate change, agriculture and food security, our findings have several important policy implications in relation to the following: (i) farmers' costs of production and increasing risk of future climate change Cost of fertilizer is increasing over time and supra-optimal application of fertilizer represents a wasted cost of production. At the level of individual farmer, it may not be significant, but collectively, it is a huge As seen in Haryana where 82 to 95% of the farmers were applying above the optimal rate, this leads to a huge loss of agricultural inputs and farm household income in addition to all the possible negative environmental externalities (Sapkota et al. 2014). Moreover, it has implications for climate change, which ultimately affects farm production and increases the burden of adaptation in the future.(ii) the government in terms of integrating policies and technology and enhancing farmers access to new technology and information Many developing countries' Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement have identified agriculture and allied sectors as one of the priority areas for emission reduction. Our case study from low-and high-input production systems indicates that if commercialization of agriculture in low-input agriculture follows a similar pathway to that of high-input production where rates of fertilizer use are supra-optimal, then targets for reductions in GHG emissions will be even more difficult to achieve. Therefore, the governments need to set up alternative pathways for agricultural development so that highyield, low-emission targets are achieved in the agricultural sector. For example, optimum fertilizer application in wheat using optical sensors such as the GreenSeeker can reduce national emissions in India by 0.14 to 2.5 million Mg CO 2 e without compromising yield (Basak 2016). However, such alternative pathways should not only focus on technology but also on the socio-economic and human behavioral dimensions. Our results show strong associations between grain yield and emissions with various socio-economic and household characteristics such as education and gender and access to information (mainly ICT).(iii) agricultural research community and civil society Coupled with the immediate task of tackling widespread poverty and nutritional insecurity, there is the pressing challenge of increasing farmer awareness of new technologies in developing countries. Governments need to work together with the international community to disseminate appropriate technologies that help farmers take rational decisions to make agricultural production sustainable. Our findings add to the understanding of the social drivers contributing to climate change, particularly in relation to GHG emissions from agriculture. We found that education and access to information are important factors affecting crop yield and emissions. There is a need to educate farmers about the adverse impact of adopting inappropriate technologies. Farm cooperatives and local non-governmental organizations can play a vital role here. The Governments need to support local organizations to carry out on-farm training courses. ICT can be used to inform farmers on how they can make savings in terms of reduced cost of input (e.g. fertilizer) and increase income through higher yields.The global target for reducing agricultural emissions to limit global warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels is ca. 1 gigatonne of CO 2 equivalent per year by 2030 (Wollenberg et al. 2016). Low emission development (LED) in agriculture with the adoption of appropriate technologies and practices can deliver a large portion of the needed mitigation. For this, agricultural production systems must consider the of adaptive interventions not only in terms of the primary goal of food security but also terms of GHG emissions. This study explores the options can help to reduce agricultural emissions whilst raising production and in a region of global importance in relation to the food-climate nexus. Our study highlights the contribution that improved cropland management can make to India's INDC of emissions reduction to UNFCCC.Growth in food demand and agricultural emissions is projected to be among the highest in Asia and most particularly in the Indian subcontinent. High-yield low-emission pathways are required to address the rapidly increasing demand for food and global climate change. Our analyses clearly indicate that in the case of agriculture, a high-yield lowemission pathway is possible through wide-scale adoption of improved technologies and practices such as tillage, irrigation, residue, farm manure and nitrogen fertilizer application and management.All mitigation-related interventions require investment decisions at the household level. Our analyses show that the implementation of emission-reducing technologies and practices are influenced by the household's socio-economic conditions including family size, gender of household head and farm size as well as flow of information through training and use of ICT. These socio-economic factors must be taken into account when considering the scaling out of mitigation-related interventions and the implementation of high-yield low-emission pathways in agriculture. Future research evaluating a high-yield low-emission pathway in agriculture should consider not only emission-reducing interventions but also the tradeoffs between GHG emissions and food/nutrition security in different agricultural production systems.","tokenCount":"5692"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4006057828.json b/data/part_1/4006057828.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..79d204747794459ea10a57cd2eff7a3b890616d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4006057828.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"410d69dc5f92276b5b3268c0939a8a51","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b24aa230-ea99-4ae0-b9a4-2ac84b79dd10/retrieve","id":"139149103"},"keywords":["Zoubi, B.","Mokrini, F.","Dababat, A.A.","Amer, M.","Ghoulam, C.","Lahlali, R.","Laasli, S.-E.","Khfif, K.","Imren, M.","Akachoud, O.","et al citrus","diversity","Helicotylenchus spp.","nematodes","soil characteristics","Tylenchulus semipenetrans"],"sieverID":"40ac4983-39a6-4f70-ada5-2a0b4619d241","pagecount":"17","content":"Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are found in citrus plantations throughout the world, but they are considered to be the most problematic pest in Morocco. Citrus fruit quality and yield have been adversely affected by PPNs. Due to data unavailability of nematodes associated with citrus, a detailed survey was conducted in the main citrus-growing regions of Morocco during 2020-2021 to assess the occurrence, distribution, and diversity of PPNs associated with rhizospheres of citrus trees. In addition, some soil properties have also been assessed for their impact on soil properties. Plantparasitic nematode diversity was calculated using two ecological indexes, the Shannon diversity index (H ) and the Evenness index (E). The collected soil and root samples were analyzed, and eleven genera and ten species of plant-parasitic nematodes were identified. The results show that the most predominant PPN species were Tylenchulus semipenetrans (88%), Helicotylenchus spp. (75%), Pratylenchus spp. (47%), Tylenchus spp. (51%), and Xiphinema spp. (31%). The results showed that PPN distributions were correlated with soil physicochemical properties such as soil texture, pH levels, and mineral content. Based on the obtained result, it was concluded that besides the direct effects of the host plant, physicochemical factors of the soil could greatly affect PPN communities in citrus growing orchards.Citrus (Citrus spp.) is considered one of the most extensively cultivated fruit crops worldwide, specifically in tropical and sub-tropical areas [1]. Citrus production is dominated by major producing countries including the United States, China, Brazil, Mexico, Life 2022, 12, 637 2 of 17 India, and Spain, with a contribution of approximately 2/3 of the global production [2]. The latter reached 147 million tons in 2017 [2]. Morocco grows citrus as one of its most important fruit crops. The sector represents an important economic element for the country, with an annual production of 1.5 to 2.0 million tons harvested from approximately 125,000 ha [1]. Additionally, the citrus industry provides an important source of foreign exchange, averaging approximately USD 0.296 billion annually [1]. The industry generates approximately 21 million jobs every year including 12 million in related orchards and nine million in packing and processing as well as many other related fields [2].Backed by real advantages such as the Mediterranean climate, fertile soils, effective agricultural reform programs, and geographic location, Morocco is among the top ten citrus producers in the world [3]. However, the citrus sector faces several constraints that affect its production. For example, the spread of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) harms citrus quality and yield [4]. Several species of PPNs have been found in the rhizosphere of citrus plants [5][6][7][8]. Tylenchulus semipenetrans, Radopholus similis, Pratylenchus coffee, Longidorus, Hoplolaimus, Helicotylenchus, Belonolaimus longicaudatus, and Meloidogyne spp. are important pests of citrus responsible for significant economic losses in several regions worldwide [9,10]. Other nematodes are considered less important pests because they rarely cause damage or are restricted to relatively small geographic areas. These include Hemicycliophora arenaria, H. nudata, Paratrichodorus lobatus, P. minor, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P. vulnus, Xiphinema brevicolle, and X. index [6].The citrus nematode Tylenchulus semipenetrans is a sedentary semi-endoparasitic PPN that attacks more than 75 rutaceous species, mainly citrus [11,12]. It has been found in most citrus-growing regions of the world and in a wide variety of soil types [13,14]. Infested trees show reduced vigor, leaf chlorosis, leaf drop, dieback, and reduced fruit quality and quantity [15]. This nematode accounts for 99.1% of the total nematode community in Egypt [16], 89% in northern Iran, 26% in Florida and California (USA), and 70-90% in Spain [17]. In Morocco, T. semipenetrans has been found to be associated with various rootstocks in many citrus growing regions [7,18].Nematode infection of citrus roots exacerbates under drought stress where the roots' ability to absorb water and mineral nutrients are extremely affected [19]. In addition, root injury due to nematode penetration facilitates invasion by other pathogens such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria, which forms a disease complex [20].Currently, there is limited information on the occurrence, density, and distribution of PPNs in citrus trees in Morocco as well as their relationship with soil physicochemical properties. Given this lack of data and information, the objectives of this study were (i) to provide more information on citrus-associated PPNs and their geographic distribution in the main citrus growing areas in Morocco, and (ii) to explore the affiliation of PPNs to soil physicochemical patterns across citrus orchards.Sampling was conducted during the 2020-2021 growing season in the main citrus growing areas of Morocco including Souss-Massa, Marrakech-Safi, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Gharb, and Berkane, as shown in Figure 1. A total of 224 soil and root samples were collected from the rhizosphere of different citrus trees, as clarified in Table 1. A composite representative sample of 1 kg of soil and roots collected in a zigzag path was collected in plastic bags to avoid water loss and stored at 4 • C before analysis. Soil texture for each sampled area is summarized in Table 2. Nematological analyses were performed at the laboratory of nematology (INRA, Rabat, Morocco).    Nematodes were extracted from soil and root samples using the modified Baermann technique [21]. The roots of each sample were completely cleaned in tap water and cut into small fragments (1 cm) of which 20 g was used to extract nematodes [21]. Nematodes were also extracted from each soil sample (100 g) using the same modified Baermann method. After the extraction (usually 72 h), the nematodes were stored for processing. PPN populations were expressed as the number of individuals per 100 g of soil and 20 g of root fragments. Nematodes were identified to the genus level under a stereomicroscope using reliable morphological characteristics [22,23]. The nematode samples obtained were placed in hot formalin-formaldehyde 4% [24]. The nematodes were transferred in liquid I (99 parts 4% formaldehyde + 1 part pure glycerol) to a square watch glass 7 cm in diameter. The latter was stored in a desiccator containing about one-tenths of its volume of 96% ethanol for about 12 h at 40 • C. Then, the watch glass containing the nematodes was removed from the desiccator and placed in an incubator at 37 • C. The nematodes were then prepared with the dehydration liquid II (95 parts 96% ethanol + 5 parts pure glycerol). Three ml of liquid II was added to the watch glass. The latter was partially covered with a glass slide to let it evaporate slowly. Finally, 2 mL of liquid III (50 parts 96% ethanol + 50 parts pure glycerol) was added and the watch glass was left in the incubator overnight at 37 • C. The nematodes were mounted on glass slides for light microscopic identification. Meloidogyne species were identified by preparing the perineal patterns [22]. Root-knot nematode (RKN) females were removed from roots and processed in a solution of sodium chloride (0.9%) for 2 min. The perineal patterns were trimmed and transferred to a drop of glycerin for microscopic examination (×100 magnification).Nematode diversity and incidence were determined by calculating prevalence, mean intensity, and maximum density as per the following equations [25]: For molecular identification, DNA was extracted from twenty-five individual nematodes as described by Holterman et al. [26]. The D2-D3 region was amplified with forward primers D2a (5 -ACA AGTACC GTG AGG GAA AGT TG-3 ) and reverse primers D3b (5 -TCG GAA GGA ACCAGC TAC TA-3 ) according to De Ley et al. [27]. One µL of DNA was added to the PCR reaction mixture containing 22 µL ddH2O, 25 µL 2 × DreamTaq PCR Master Mix (Fermentas Life Sciences, Leon-Rot, Germany), and 1 µM of the two primers. The thermocycler program consisted of 5 min at 95 • C; 35 cycles of 1 min at 94 • C, 45 s at 49 • C, and 1 min at 72 • C, followed by a final elongation step of 8 min at 72 • C. After PCR, 5 µL of each PCR product was mixed with 1 µL of 6× loading buffer (Fermentas Life Sciences, Germany) and loaded onto a 1.5% buffered standard agarose gel (TAE). After electrophoresis (100 V for 40 min), the gel was stained with ethidium bromide (0.1 µg ml −1 ) for 20 min, visualized, and photographed under UV light. The remaining PCR product was stored at −20 • C. The purified PCR products were sequenced in both directions (Macrogen) to obtain overlapping sequences of the forward and reverse DNA strands. Sequences were processed and analyzed using the Chromas 2.00 (Technelysium) and BioEdit 7.0.4.1 [28] software packages.All analyses of the soil physicochemical properties were performed on dry and sieved (2 mm) material. Measurements of soil texture (Stxt) were determined on the proportion of clay (0-2 µm), silt (2-50 µm), and sand (50 to >200 µm) according to sedimentation estimation [29]. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured in the ratio of 1:2.5 (w/v) soil:water suspension as per the methodology described by Richards [30]. Organic matter (OM) and carbon were quantified according to the method by Anne [31]. Sodium (Na), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca) contents were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Total (Ptot) and available (Pass) phosphorus content was estimated using the method of Olsen et al. [32]. Total soil nitrogen (N) content was determined by the Kjeldah method [33].The taxonomic diversity of PPNs was assessed by calculating two nematode indices. The Shannon-Wiener index [34] is given in Equation ( 4):where s is the number of genera; P i is the proportion belonging to the corresponding number of genera; and H is commonly used to characterize species diversity in a community (H ranges from 0 to Ln s). The second index is the Evenness index [35], as given in Equation ( 5):Life 2022, 12, 637 6 of 17This quantifies the regularity of the genus distribution within the community, E varies between 0 and 1.A principal component analysis (PCA) was established to define the distribution of nematode genera and the soil characteristics according to their sampling sites. Significant differences among variables were performed using Fisher's protected least significant difference (LSD) and the Tukey test at p < 0.05. Differences obtained at levels of p < 0.05 were considered to be significant. Molecular data were processed for phylogenetic analysis. The latter relates the Moroccan nematode isolates and published sequences of each species based on the analysis of the ITS region using the maximum likelihood method and Kimura 2-parameter model [36] in MEGAX software [37]. The tree was evaluated via 1000 bootstrap replications.The list of PPN species identified in all of the surveyed citrus orchards is presented in Table 3. Eleven genera and ten species of PPNs were identified morphologically from the collected soil and root samples. The data on prevalence, mean intensity, and maximum density in each studied region are presented in Table 3. Mean intensity and maximum density are quantitative parameters that are calculated to provide information about the specific proportion of plant-parasitic nematodes in soil and root matrices, and to have an idea of how far nematodes can be distributed within the plant environment, respectively. Tylenchulus semipenetrans, Helicotylenchus spp., Pratylenchus spp., Paratylenchus spp., and Tylenchus spp. were found in all the citrus growing regions studied. The dagger nematodes Xiphinema diversicaudatum, X. americanum, and X. pachtaichum were not detected in Gharb, while the root-lesion nematodes Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus were encountered only in the Berkane region. The major PPNs found in both soil and root samples were T. semipenetrans and Helicotylenchus spp. with high prevalence of up to 67 and 75%, respectively, while Pratylenchus spp. represented less than 50% of the total nematode population. Indeed, T. semipenetrans was highly prevalent in Marackech-Safi (62%), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (57%), Gharb (67%), and Berkane (63%), while it was least prevalent in Souss-Massa (28%). In addition, T. semipenetrans had the highest total density in Beni Mellal with 1114 individuals per soil sample, as shown in Figure 2. To confirm the morphological identification of the PPN species isolated in this study, the D2D3 region of the 28S rDNA was sequenced. The blast test showed that the D2D3 sequences obtained matched the corresponding GenBank references by at least 99%, as presented in Table 4 and Figure 3.     The genera Helicotylenchus, Pratylenchus, and Xiphinema were found in soil and root samples with a maximum density ranging from two to 13 individuals per 100 g of soil, except in Beni Mellal-Khenifra, where Pratylenchus spp. had a density of 27 individuals per 100 g of soil. Hemicycliophora and Criconemoides taxa were observed in the Marrackech-Safi and Berkane regions, as they accounted for 5% of the PPNs identified. Other PPNs were also found in all regions surveyed, although in low abundance including Tylenchorhynchus spp., Paratylenchus spp., Trichodorus spp., Longidorus spp., and Rotylenchus spp. At species level, several nematode taxa were identified including Pratylenchus vulnus, P. thornei P. neglectus, P. coffeae, Hoplolaimus indicus, Xiphinema pachtaichum, X. americanum, and Scutellonema bradys.To confirm the morphological identification of the PPN species isolated in this study, the D2D3 region of the 28S rDNA was sequenced. The blast test showed that the D2D3 sequences obtained matched the corresponding GenBank references by at least 99%, as presented in Table 4 and Figure 3. The phylogenetic analysis conducted for the PPN species identified via molecular diagnosis revealed that all Moroccan species were closely related (99% similarity) to each The phylogenetic analysis conducted for the PPN species identified via molecular diagnosis revealed that all Moroccan species were closely related (99% similarity) to each other based on their ITS region of the 28S rDNA (Figure 3). This includes Pratylenchus species (P. vulnus, P. coffeae, P. thornei, and P. neglectus), Scutellonema (S. bradys), Hoplolaimus (H. indicus), and Xiphinema species (X. diversicaudatum, X. americanum, and X. pachtaichum). Interestingly, X. americanum is a quarantine species that was recorded for the first time in citrus orchards, which gives many implications about its damaging potential.Based on the perennial patterns established to identify species of RKN (Meloidogyne spp.), M. javanica and M. incognita were found in different proportions across the surveyed citrus orchards.The spatial distribution of the nematode genera and species in the studied regions is shown in Figure 4. For instance, the loading plot of Souss-Massa shows that the proportion of variance accounted for by the first two axes of PC was 37.28% and 20.19% (eigenvalues). The PC1 axis was associated with Helicotylenchus spp. (negative value). The PC2 axis was associated with Rotylenchus spp., T. semipenetrans, Paratylenchus spp., and Rotylenchus spp. (positive value). PCA plotting showed that the nematode genera had different PPN community structures in the studied citrus areas in Morocco.species (P. vulnus, P. coffeae, P. thornei, and P. neglectus), Scutellonema (S. bradys), Hoplolaimus (H. indicus), and Xiphinema species (X. diversicaudatum, X. americanum, and X. pachtaichum). Interestingly, X. americanum is a quarantine species that was recorded for the first time in citrus orchards, which gives many implications about its damaging potential.Based on the perennial patterns established to identify species of RKN (Meloidogyne spp.), M. javanica and M. incognita were found in different proportions across the surveyed citrus orchards.The spatial distribution of the nematode genera and species in the studied regions is shown in Figure 4. For instance, the loading plot of Souss-Massa shows that the proportion of variance accounted for by the first two axes of PC was 37.28% and 20.19% (eigenvalues). The PC1 axis was associated with Helicotylenchus spp. (negative value). The PC2 axis was associated with Rotylenchus spp., T. semipenetrans, Paratylenchus spp., and Rotylenchus spp. (positive value). PCA plotting showed that the nematode genera had different PPN community structures in the studied citrus areas in Morocco.  The diversity and community indices of nematodes determined in this study were evaluated using Shannon-Wiener diversity (H ) and evenness (E) indices and the number of nematode genera in each of the five citrus growing regions studied, as shown in Table 5. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found among the studied citrus growing regions concerning the Shannon-Wiener index (H ). However, the evenness index was not significantly different among the citrus growing regions studied (p > 0.05). The Shannon index was higher in Marrakech-Safi (2.09), Gharb (2.05), and Beni Mellal-Khenifra (2.03) than in Berkane (1.4) and Souss-Massa (1.36). Thus, the citrus growing regions of Marrakech-Safi, Gharb, and Beni Mellal-Khenifra showed a similar trend in nematode abundance. The results of the principal component analysis of the physicochemical properties of the studied soils as depicted in Figure 5 show that the proportion of variance accounted for by the first two axes PC was 24.90% and 21.84% (eigenvalues), respectively. The loading plot of soil factors showed that the PC1 axis was associated with positive PC values with pH and moisture and with negative PC values with nitrogen and electrical conductivity (EC). The PC2 axis was associated with mineral content including calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), potassium (K), and organic matter (OM) in positive PC values and with EC and N in negative PC values. The bi-plot analysis of soil factors in interaction with nematode communities of citrus clearly showed that Trichodorus spp., H. indicus, Longidorus spp., and Tylenchus spp. were associated with moisture and pH. In contrast, T. semipenetrans, X. americanum, Pratylenchus spp., and Helicotylenchus spp. were particularly associated with calcium, carbon, sodium, potassium, and organic matter. However, the following genera, Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus (P. thornei, P. coffeae, P. vulnus, and P. neglectus), and Xiphinema were associated with soil texture and soil phosphorus (P) content.  To better understand the distribution of PPNs associated with citrus trees in Morocco, extensive surveys were conducted in the main citrus growing regions of the country. Based on the morphological and morphometric characteristics, eleven genera and ten species of plant-parasitic nematodes were identified. Tylenchulus semipenetrans was the most common PPN in the citrus orchards surveyed, as reported in other citrus growing areas in Morocco [7] and worldwide including Iran [38], Egypt [39,40], and Spain [12]. Indeed, T. semipenetrans was the predominant nematode found in Souss-Massa (88%), Marackech-Safi (62%), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (57%), Gharb (67%), and Berkane (63%). This species is notable not only for its close association with citrus, but also for the ability of citrus trees to support very high populations before vigor declines and symptoms appear. The wide distribution of T. semipenetrans could be attributed to many factors including infected seedlings, contaminated plant material, organic fertilizers, irrigation, and machinery [39]. In addition, the high variability of PPN genera observed in this study can be attributed to the variation in ecological and edaphic factors between and within the different regions studied [41].The second most prevalent plant-parasitic nematode was Helicotylenchus spp., which varied from 75% in Souss-Massa to 38% in Beni Mellal-Kenitra and Gharb. The prevalence of this genus in Moroccan citrus-growing regions was higher than that in Spain [12] and Egypt [40]. On the other hand, a higher prevalence of H. dihystera (80%) was reported by Kumar and Das in Tinsukia [42]. Four species of Pratylenchus spp. (P. vulnus, P. thornei, P. neglectus, P. coffeae) were identified in the surveyed regions. Population densities of this genus ranged from 27 to six nematodes per 100 g soil in Beni Mellal-Khenitra and Gharb, respectively, and from 17 to three nematodes per 20 g roots in Berkane and Souss-Massa, respectively. Several studies have reported the presence of these nematode species in citrus orchards worldwide. In Brazil, P. coffeae infests about 1% of citrus nurseries and orchards [43], while it has a major trend in Florida, USA [44]. Other RLN species were described to be prominent such as P. vulnus and P. neglectus in Israel [45], and P. vulnus and P. coffeae in Morocco [7]. These species can significantly reduce root weight, which translated into significant yield losses [4]. These nematodes have been reported as one of the main pests limiting raspberry and saffron production in Morocco [46,47]. The dagger nematode Xiphinema spp. is among the ten most economically important PPNs [48]. This genus causes serious problems for organic farming in Egypt [49], raspberry and citrus in Morocco [46,50], and vegetable production in Saudi Arabia [51]. This migratory ectoparasitic nematode is particularly problematic because it can harbor and transmit plant viruses. Thus, even at low densities, these nematode species can be very damaging to plants [52,53].The distribution of Xiphinema species identified in this study varied considerably among the citrus-growing regions. X. pachtaichum was observed only in Beni Mellal-Khenifra (3.3%) and Berkane (3.7%), X. americanum was found in Marackech-Safi (12%), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (6.7%), and Berkane (1.9%), while X. diversicaudatum, which was first reported in Morocco in May 2012 in the Gharb region, was encountered in Marackech-Safi (6.6%), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (10%), and Berkane (7.4%). According to Mokrini et al. [50], X. diversicaudatum was first reported in Moroccan citrus orchards. This nematode can transmit the Arabis mosaic virus, mainly associated with grapevine fanleaf degeneration disease [50]. On the other hand, X. americanum was reported for the first time ever, associated with citrus in Morocco. This is extremely interesting, giving the economic importance and quarantine aspect of this nematode and its potential damage attributed to citrus crops.The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne spp., attacking citrus crops was not frequently reported due to its limited distribution. In the present study, only a few citrus-growing fields were found to be infested by these nematodes, and had prevalence values of 23, 25, 22, and 13% in Marackech-Safi, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Gharb, and Berkane, respectively. This prevalence of Meloidogyne spp. was lower than that in Egyptian citrus orchards intercropped with tomato [8], which implies the decent linkage between these nematodes and citrus crops rather than its presence in intercropped trials with native hosts or in weeds. Several studies recorded in Taiwan and India have reported that Meloidogyne spp. could cause elongated galls on citrus roots [11]. Moreover, Some RKN species (e.g., M. incognita, M. javanica, and M. arenaria) were found in the infection zones of Troyer citrange and sour orange rhizospheres, causing small galls without reproduction activity [54]. Many of the nematode genera associated with citrus in the present study have also been previously reported for the same crop worldwide. The needle nematode Longidorus spp., the stubby root nematode Trichodorus spp., the stunt nematode Tylenchorhynchus spp., the ring nematode Criconemoides, and the spiral nematode Rotylenchus spp. are commonly found in the surveyed citrus growing areas. Indeed, Tylenchorhynchus spp. and Longidorus spp. have been detected in Egypt [8], Spain [12], and Tinsukia [42]. In our study, S. bradys and H. indicus were found at low densities that varied between two and four nematodes per 100 g of soil and between two and seven nematodes per 100 g of soil, respectively. According to Kumar and Das [42], H. indicus was very abundant in citrus orchards in Tinsukia. The sheath nematode Hemicycliophora spp. was the least abundant nematode. It was observed in 5% of the sampled citrus plots in the Marackech-Safi region with an average density of two nematodes per 100 g of soil. These results are in agreement with the scientific work of Shanmugam et al. [55], who found that Hemicycliophora spp. was least prevalent in some Indian weeds, shrubs, and herbs. In addition, it has been reported that H. ahvasiensis was isolated from the soil and root matrices of citrus in Egypt. However, the damage amplitude caused by this nematode to the citrus trees have not been documented yet [4]. Therefore, the rare abundance of this nematode could probably be related to the soil's temperature, irrigation, and aeration, alongside the seasonal attributes [4,17].The results of the analysis of the Shannon (H ) and evenness (E) diversity indices showed that H values were highest in Marrakech-Safi, Gharb, and Beni Mellal-Khenifra, which have extended dry seasons. Freitas et al. [56] indicated that dry season and soil depth (0-10 cm) favored the total population of PPNs associated with citrus plants in Brazil.Understanding the interaction between soil physicochemical properties and plantparasitic nematodes is critical for effective and environmentally-friendly management. The citrus nematode, T. semipenetrans was positively correlated with soil mineral nutrients (K, Ca, Na, and C) and organic matter content. A strong correlation was found between these parameters and the prevalence of T. semipenetrans in citrus growing areas in Spain [12]. In contrast, Benjlil et al. [57] reported a negative correlation between the prevalence of PPNs parasitizing saffron and soil organic matter. Soil organic matter accumulation could significantly reduce PPN abundance in wheat via decreasing their vital proprieties [58]. Moreover, the prevalence of Pratylenchus spp., Helicotylenchus spp., and X. americanum was closely related to the mineral content including Fe, Ca, and Na [59,60]. In addition, Francl [61] observed that the population density of Heterodera glycines was positively correlated with magnesium (Mg) content. In this study, most of the identified PPNs showed a negative correlation with nitrogen (N), except for Criconemoides, Rotylenchus spp., and Tylenchorhynchus spp. Interestingly, the accumulation of nitrate via nitrification is considered destructive to PPNs [62]. Phosphorus content was positively correlated with the occurrence of Meloidogyne spp., Xiphinema spp., P. thornei, P. vulnus, and P. neglectus. Nisa et al. [41] reported the same positive correlation between nematode abundance and soil P content. Soil pH also had a strong influence on the abundance of citrus nematodes. Low pH increased nematode abundance and diversity [63,64]. Soils with acidic pH increase the proliferation of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne spp. [65][66][67]. In contrast, Salahi Ardakani et al. [68] found that the highest abundance of T. semipenetrans was observed in soils of pH 7. Moreover, Van Gundy and Martin [69] indicated that the density of T. semipenetrans in citrus was four times higher in neutral soils than in acidic soils.Soil texture and structure significantly affect the movement of soil nematodes. Our results indicated that the texture of fine sandy soil positively affects the distribution of nematodes. Salahi Ardakani et al. [68] found that the maximum abundance of the citrus nematode T. semipenetrans was found in clay soils. A recent study by Laasli et al. [70] showed that Aphelenchoides spp., Merlinius spp., and Pratylenchus spp. were associated with sandy and silt soils in wheat fields. In contrast, Longidorus spp., and Xiphinema spp. were more common on soils with higher clay content. Mokrini et al. [46] found that the abundance of several plant-parasitic nematodes affecting raspberries was strongly associated with soil granulometry. Kim et al. [71] indicated that sandy soils favor the growth of nematodes such as M. incognita by promoting their motility and feeding activities.This study highlights the main plant-parasitic nematode diversity found in the Moroccan citrus-growing areas. The citrus nematode T. semipenetrans was the most abundant nematode identified in the soil and root matrices. This is probably because the local environmental and soil conditions are more suitable for its growth. Other economically important nematode species (e.g., P. vulnus, P. thornei, S. bradys, H. indicus, and X. diversicaudatum) were recorded as well as X. Americanum, which has been reported for the first time in citrus orchards. The relationship of these nematodes with edaphic proprieties has been revealed in the sense that it may help farmers to accurately tackle problematic PPNs. Additionally, the results of this study will be of great value to researchers and pest management authorities to control and reduce the spread of PPNs to improve citrus production in Morocco.","tokenCount":"4485"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4009757703.json b/data/part_1/4009757703.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9fc68a0f465ef73c7a1a7aa2ebf4ee7a7ba7185a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4009757703.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2bcd4d35844315df25a995017ca5aaaa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ad6a641-8b07-4994-b778-6c0521cf8e2d/retrieve","id":"-13481148"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d30f9306-b560-4488-9971-e559aed65508","pagecount":"12","content":"Agricultural land and water management (ALWM) -ALWM practices encompass soil, land and water technologies and management interventions from field to landscape scale. Their aim is to variously reduce soil erosion and landslides, improve soil and water health, strengthen soil fertility and crop yield, and recharge groundwater (WLE 2016; Selassie and Amede 2014).Rockström, J.; Williams, J.; Daily, G.; Noble, A.; Matthews, N.; Gordon, L.; Wetterstrand, H.; DeClerck, F.; Shah, M.; Steduto, P.; de Fraiture, C.; Hatibu, N.; Unver, O.; Bird, J.; Sibanda, L.; Smith, J. 2017. Sustainable intensification of agriculture for human prosperity and global sustainability. Ambio 46(1): 4-17.Raising global food production is essential to eradicate hunger and achieve food and nutrition security. But agriculture has become the world's single largest driver of environmental degradation, and it is pushing Earth beyond its natural boundaries. Sustainably feeding future generations requires a fundamental shift in global agriculture.Since its inception in 2012, the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystem (WLE) has developed scientific evidence and solutions for sustainably intensifying agriculture. For WLE, sustainable intensification means more than minimizing agriculture's environmental footprint; it means making sure that agriculture adds value to the environment, while it supplies global populations with sufficient food, nutrition and income.More than 500 million smallholders worldwide stand to benefit from sustainable intensification of agriculture. Historic commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement further highlights the need for investing in sustainable and resilient agriculture.But achieving sustainable, healthy food systems requires identifying incentives for sustainable farming. Likewise, it hinges on social and institutional innovations to mitigate trade-offs and achieve synergies, and enable equitable access to knowledge and resources. Not least, integrated solutions that work across sectors, disciplines and scales will be essential to realizing such a fundamental shift. Such innovations are what WLE has worked to develop. The Program's findings are summarized in this series of briefs, titled Towards sustainable intensification: Insights and solutions.Farmer-led investments in agricultural land and water management (ALWM) are transforming livelihoods and food security across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Potential exists for even greater benefits, for even more beneficiaries. Understanding what factors influence adoption and impact of ALWM interventions can help ensure sustainable, positive effects of future investments. WLE has designed a suite of tools and investment models to support policy makers and development agents to leverage and extend the investments farmers are already making.¡ Understand what drives farmers' decision making, management practices and their impacts on the landscape:The use of participatory tools can shed light on decision-making processes, preferences, trade-offs and the factors that influence adoption and change.¡ Facilitate equitable access to ALWM technologies: Improve access to credit, information and irrigation services to enable more informed and productive investment, management and marketing choices by smallholder farmers.¡ Create policy synergies across sectors: Facilitate cross-sector innovation (e.g., between agriculture and rural energy) to broaden the solution space for enhancing smallholder productivity and livelihood benefits, while minimizing potential environmental externalities.¡ Promote investments in water and energy recovery and reuse: A significant development opportunity in the rural-urban interface exists to safely convert human waste into a resource that simultaneously benefits farmers, improves sanitation and generating new business opportunities.¡ Invest in a watershed perspective: Successfully scaling up the benefits and effectively managing the risks posed by ALWM requires planning at a watershed scale and across sectors.Of the 2.5 billion people who depend directly on the food and agricultural sector for their livelihoods, 1.5 billion live in smallholder households (FAO 2012(FAO , 2013)). These households manage nearly 500 million farms and contribute an appreciable share of agricultural production and food calories in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Lowder et al. 2016;Samberg et al. 2016). Appropriate investments in ALWM generate substantial benefits for smallholders, including increased and stabilized farm incomes as well as improved land and labor productivity. They can also provide important additional benefits such as off-farm rural and urban employment, enhanced nutrition and greater resilience to seasonal and climate shocks (Theis et al. 2016;Pittock et al. 2017). However, a number of constraints hamper the potential of ALWM investments, including low adoption or subsequent abandonment of interventions, failure to target and engage key segments of rural communities such as women and poorer farmers, and inadequate consideration of aggregated impacts. Research to understand the factors that affect farmers' decision making can support the design of context-appropriate ALWM investments that strengthen smallholder farming's contribution to poverty alleviation and food security.The positive livelihood and food security impacts from ALWM investments are well documented. For example, in Ethiopia, earthen embankments to enhance infiltration of rainwater have doubled sorghum yields (Binyam and Desale 2015). In southern Niger, farmer-managed natural land regeneration-using improved, local agroforestry practices on nearly 5 million ha of land-has increased cereal production and improved the livelihoods of an estimated 2.5 million people (Reji et al. 2009). Farm ponds in Madhya Pradesh, India, have allowed farmers to produce more staple crops, extend the cropping area, increase dry-season cropping, diversify activities and increase incomes by as much as 70% (Malik et al. 2014). And longterm studies on integrated watershed management programs in dryland areas of India document multiple, positive livelihood and environmental benefits (e.g., Wani et al. 2008;Singh et al. 2014;Karlberg et al. 2015).In both rural and urban areas, smallholder farmers themselves are increasingly initiating and financing small-scale ALWM technologies and practices (Woodhouse et al. 2017;de Fraiture and Giordano 2014). Surveys carried out in Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia, for example, found that more than 80% of all owners of small-scale irrigation equipment used their own or their family's savings for the investment, and in many countries small private irrigation is already more important than public irrigation schemes in terms of land area, number of people served and income (Fig. 1) (Giordano et al. 2012;Namara et al. 2014).Significant potential exists for further growth in smallholder agricultural productivity: targeted investments and associated policy interventions could double or even triple rainfed crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, while generating additional net household revenues for millions of people (Table 1) (Giordano et al. 2012).However, achieving this potential requires more than just changes in agricultural production; it requires a better understanding of the complex constraints faced by smallholder farmers as well as the opportunities for integrated solutions. Solutions that cut across sectors and scales and support existing farmer-led initiatives have potential to achieve more equitable, productive and sustainable smallholder farming systems.Smallholder farming systems are influenced by an array of ecological, social, economic and political factors specific to the context in which they operate. Yet, research on improving smallholder ALWM has tended to focus on technical solutions for increasing agricultural productivity. This rather narrow view overlooks the range of factors that shape farmers' perceptions, choices, constraints and decision making as well as the broader impacts on the landscape and supporting ecosystem services (Cordingley et al. 2015;Adimassu et al. 2015;Snyder et al. 2017;Bjornlund et al. 2017).Many technologies remain out of reach of smallholder farmers. Women and resource-poor farmers are particularly disadvantaged and face serious challenges in accessing affordable ALWM technologies. Challenges include high up-front investment costs, absence of proper financing tools and limited access to information that would enable them to make informed investment, management and marketing choices. Women are underrepresented in the use and ownership of small-scale irrigation equipment. Research in Ghana and Zambia suggests that men are more likely to own motorized pumps, and in general pump owners have a significantly higher wealth status (Namara et al. 2013).Market inefficiencies often prevent farmers from accessing beneficial technologies and optimizing their land and water management. These inefficiencies include poorly developed supply chains; high taxes and transaction costs; and lack of information and knowledge on irrigation, seeds, marketing and equipment. Farmers are disadvantaged particularly by their lack of up-to-date market knowledge, which undermines their negotiating position and enables traders and brokers to take advantage of them (Giordano and   Van et al. 2016).Research clearly indicates that many diverse factors influence local water and land management decisions. Consequently, narrowly defined ALWM interventions, made without consideration for the environmental and social context, will likely neither solve important, complementary issues for farmers nor address crossscale, inter-sectoral, synergies and trade-offs (Snyder et al. 2017;Cummings et al. 2014).Secured land tenure, for example, may incentivize farmers to make long-term investments in land and water management. However, research on land policies in Ethiopia and Ghana suggests that on their own, policies to strengthen land ownership or use rights may not be enough. Efforts are also needed to improve legal literacy about the accompanying rights, including the use of land as collateral for credit. Further, a singular focus on improving land rights may risk marginalizing other locally identified needs for productive farming systems, such as access to water resources, financial services and off-farm marketing opportunities (Quisumbing and Kumar 2014;Yami and Snyder 2015;Dittoh et al. 2015;Kumwenda et al. 2015;Bjornlund et al. 2017).Rapid urbanization creates important cross-scale linkages and challenges. Nearly 456 million ha-an area about the size of the European Union-is under cultivation in and around the world's cities (Thebo et al. 2014). Agricultural intensification in close proximity to urban environments provides smallholder farmers with better access to markets and stable demand for produce. However, inadequate waste management compromises the water bodies used by urban and peri-urban farmers and downstream communities and thus the food safety of urban consumers. In Ghana, for example, an estimated 800,000 urban consumers benefit daily from leafy vegetables produced within the city, but these same consumers are also at risk as most of these crops are irrigated with water from polluted sources (Drechsel and Keraita 2014).Finally, policies outside of the agricultural realm can also influence ALWM investment outcomes. Solar-powered irrigation is a classic example that demonstrates the interconnectedness of the water, food and energy sectors. Technological advances in solar pumps coupled with state subsidy programs are causing a major expansion of low-cost tube wells with a lower carbon footprint in India. It is also starting to take hold in sub-Saharan Africa, where solar-powered pumps can serve as a more versatile, off-grid, green alternative to diesel or electric pumps. However, this lowcost, climate-smart intervention may threaten already vulnerable aquifers if not integrated with interventions and incentives that jointly address the related energy, livelihoods and water resource trade-offs (Shah et al. 2016).A range of complementary institutional and policy measures that cut across scales and sectors are needed for smallholder ALWM to sustainably achieve its productivity and poverty reduction potential. WLE is contributing tools and business models to support this aim.  (Emerton et al. 2015).¡ The Gender in Irrigation Learning and Improvement Tool (GILIT) identifies which policies and operational procedures in formal irrigation schemes need adjustment to promote gender equity. The tool can facilitate learning and support equitable standards by collecting feedback and ideas for specific actions to address gender inequities in the management of irrigation schemes (Lefore et al. 2017).¡ Experimental games, otherwise known as framed field experiments, can serve to gain insights into farmers' decisions regarding resource management and as a means to strengthen cooperation on shared resources. Through a variety of applications in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central America, experimental games have played a triple role in a) raising farmers' awareness of how their decisions influence the quantity and quality of common resources (e.g., groundwater), b) encouraging discussion and building of community-based institutions, and c) providing researchers and implementers with insights into the factors that affect farmers' choices (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2014, 2016, 2017).provide an opportunity to engage the diversity of actors in irrigation schemes for learning, capacity development and experimentation (e.g., with crops, marketing, watering regimes). Small-scale irrigation schemes are highly complex systems and improving their efficiency (economically, socially and resource-wise) requires supportive institutional arrangements, a clear vision shared by all actors and careful attention to the incentives for change. WLE-supported research has found that AIPs can facilitate more cohesive networks, where the dynamics and feedbacks across actors, systems and processes lead to learning and adaptation, improved system efficiency and greater returns on investments (Pittock et al. 2017;Stirzaker et al. 2017;van Rooyen et al. 2017).Investment pathways and business models WLE is designing a suite of investment models for ALWM that policy makers and development agents may use to facilitate investments in support of smallholder farmers and the complex landscapes in which they operate.¡ Investments in smallholder ALWM are transforming food security and livelihoods in Asia and Africa. The scale of current investments by smallholders is astonishing, and the potential in terms of benefits and beneficiaries is even greater. However, the full potential will not be reached without improved understanding of both the constraints farmers face and the factors that influence their decision making.Understanding and exploring opportunities for integrated solutions, which cut across sectors and scales, and supporting existing farmer-led initiatives will have the potential to support more equitable, productive and sustainable smallholder farming systems. WLE is contributing ALWM decision-making tools, solutions and implementation strategies to better understand and support improved public and private investment. WLE is also developing and piloting a range of business models to specifically address many of the principle factors that limit ALWM uptake and sustained utilization, including cost, market distortions, unintended consequences, complex multi-sectoral issues and social and institutional contexts. Finally, by adopting a watershed perspective, WLE's approaches and solutions consider how ALWM practices interact at the landscape scale, critical to sustainably scaling up the food security and livelihood benefits of improved ALWM. ","tokenCount":"2217"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4031948930.json b/data/part_1/4031948930.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c8aebaa2ffb6d9af2a13b3d355855cb865d45edd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4031948930.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a205ae0c52ee3592eac66c8ecdfc60da","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e2da0663-9c32-4f3d-bfad-b2e5876148c1/retrieve","id":"-767616173"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"addbca71-d688-48ef-b3a8-0a090d54a02c","pagecount":"60","content":"Dry Areas, ICARDA ilri.org Better lives through livestock ILRI is a member of the CGIAR ConsortiumSheep types and their ecology, geographic distribution, distinguishing physical features and population sizes  The very large breeds are more prolific than the smaller breeds, with litter sizes varying from 1.0 to 1.09 in the small breeds and 1.28 to 1.55 in the very large breeds. Estimates of genetic parameters are now available for some breeds. The estimates indicate that there is substantial within-breed genetic variation in Ethiopian sheep populations and that appreciable improvement can be made through selective breeding, especially in growth traits. Numerous studies characterizing livestock production systems in Ethiopia have been reported by research institutes and agricultural universities.Sheep genetic improvement in Ethiopia started in 1944 with the introduction of the Merino breed from Italy to improve the performance of the local Arsi-Bale breed. The strategy adopted included both within-breed selection and crossbreeding. So far, only a few sheep breeding programs have been implemented in Ethiopia. Research projects to-date include Afar, BHS, Horro, Menz and Washera sheep nucleus-selection projects/programs. Currently, two crossbreeding programs are using the exotic breeds of Awassi and Dorper. Despite decades of efforts, the research projects yielded unsatisfactory outputs and impacts. Genetic improvement is a long-term venture requiring enduring commitment, such that sustaining sheep breeding programs in Ethiopia has proved difficult. Past failures prompted research on the design of breeding programs. Village-based cooperative breeding programs have now been established for Menz, Horro and Bonga sheep breeds. Appreciable genetic improvement has been achieved in the Menz program.A number of research projects to improve the production environment (feeding, health) have been conducted, resulting in generation of new technologies and information. The impact of these research projects on the sheep industry has been quite notable in some cases. These include adoption of improved forages in some areas, identification and mapping of geographical and agro-ecological prevalence of economically important diseases, vaccine development, and design of health interventions (e.g. strategic deworming regimens and vaccination for viral diseases).The existing documentation system for research and development projects and their outputs is not systematic and the information is not readily accessible, making a comprehensive appraisal difficult. While the review reported here is not exhaustive, it can be seen that numerous research projects have been undertaken. A wealth of information and numerous technologies have been generated.Some of the research outputs have been published in technical publications and journals, annual reports and progress reports. While technologies have been demonstrated to end users through farmers' field days and promoted through pamphlets and brochures, uptake by end users remains low. There are also gaps in the research and development endeavours (e.g. breeding programs are not coordinated).This calls for a revisiting of the organization and functioning of the sheep research and development system. The links between research and development wings of the livestock sector need to be strengthened for effective dissemination of research outputs.1 IntroductionSheep production is a major component of the livestock sector in Ethiopia owing to the large population of 25.5 million head (CSA 2011) and the diverse genetic resources (Gizaw 2008). At the smallholder level, sheep are the major source of food security serving a diverse function including cash income, savings, fertilizer, socio-cultural functions and fibre. Sheep are particularly important for the pastoralist/agropastoralist and for farmers in the subalpine highlands where crop production is unreliable. Sheep are also important foreign currency earners accounting for 34% of the live animal exports.Sheep research and development have been practiced for decades in Ethiopia to improve the productivity of the local flocks, increase offtake rates, and increase their contribution to the livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists, and to the national economy. Several research and development projects have been undertaken by national and international agricultural research institutions and governmental and non-governmental development agencies.Achievements, challenges, impacts on the sheep industry and research gaps need to be periodically evaluated to direct the research and development efforts to achieve the desired goals. To this end, a methodical and systematic appraisal of research projects may be required. This review is exploratory and indicative, rather than a comprehensive evaluation of the sheep research system. The main objective is to review and document sheep research projects/ activities in Ethiopia, including an overview of major research outputs, dissemination of results, impacts on the sheep industry, and gaps in research. Thoughts on the future directions of sheep research are also presented. In Ethiopia, sheep research and livestock research in general have gone through various stages of transformation since their beginning in the 1960s. The transformations involve changes in the research strategy/agenda, approaches, methodologies and organizational structure. The research approach in the early years was largely station-based technology generation for problems identified through diagnostic surveys and researchers observations. More consideration was given to identification of real farming problems with the advent of farming systems research. Recently, on-farm studies involving the participation of farmers in the design and implementation of research projects have been adopted. For instance, sheep breeding programs have shifted from central nucleus schemes, where breeding objectives are set by researchers, to village-based breeding programs for some breeds. The research system is currently more engaged in development projects, including scaling-up of technologies and running full-fledged breeding programs (e.g. Dorper sheep breeding program).The national agricultural research system is organized under one umbrella institute (EIAR) to coordinate all research in the country. The research entities engaged in sheep research include the federal research institute (EIAR), regional research institutes, agricultural universities, international research centres, and NGOs. The national research system is more involved in adaptive and applied research, whereas the international research centres are involved in both strategic and applied research. Collaborations between the international and national research institutions have become stronger in recent years. In the following sections, sheep research projects and their major outputs are presented. The review also attempts to analyse the dissemination of information and technologies generated to intermediate and end users, their impacts on the sheep industry, and the gaps in research.2.1 Characterization of genetic resources  (Epstein 1954;Epstein 1971;Ryder 1984;Marshal 2000) and Ethiopia is believed to be one of the major gateways for domestic sheep migration from Asia to Africa (Devendra and McLeroy 1982). The history of introduction of sheep into Africa recognizes (Epstein 1971) three waves of migration from Asia of precursor populations (thintailed, fat-tailed and fat-rumped sheep, respectively). The earliest sheep in Africa were thin-tailed and hairy, and were introduced to East Africa via North Africa (Marshal 2000). The second wave of sheep introduction constitutes fat-tailed sheep entering North Africa via the Isthmus of Suez and East Africa via straits of Bab-el-Mandeb (Ryder 1984). Fat-rumped sheep entered East Africa much later (Epstein 1954;Epstein 1971;Ryder 1984). Accordingly, African sheep have been described and classified based on their tail type (Epstein 1971;Ryder 1984).Identification, classification and description of sheep genetic resources of Ethiopia began in the 1970s with the classification and of sheep populations into broad categories based on tail and fibre types (MoA 1975). Ethiopian sheep were initially categorized into fat-tailed (Arsi-Bale sheep), thin-tailed (Horro sheep) and coarse-woolled sheep (Menz and Tikur sheep), a classification that distinguished rather few of the populations. Later, Galal (1983) described the physical characteristics of four sheep types, and Sisay (2009) described the physical characteristics and ecoregional distribution of sheep resources in Amhara region. The above-mentioned classifications were not clear or comprehensive enough as they looked at sheep from a limited geographic area of Ethiopia. For instance, an earlier study described Horro as thin-tailed and Arsi-Bale as fat-tailed (MOA 1975), while Galal (1983) and Epstein (1971) described them as fat-tailed. BHS sheep have been classified as fat-tailed and fat-rumped sheep (Epstein 1971), while Galal (1983) described the tail as short and fat, with the rump being also fatty. Adal sheep are traditionally described as fat-tailed, but were categorized by Epstein (1971) as fat-rumped.A more recent and comprehensive phenotypic classification and description at the national level (Gizaw 2008) classified sheep resources as short fat tailed, long fat tailed, fat-rumped, course-woolled and shorthaired sheep types.A detailed phenotypic description of the sheep types, estimates of breed population sizes, their breeding tracts, production systems and farmers preferences have been provided (Gizaw et al. 2008a). Furthermore, a guide for their field identification has also been produced (Gizaw 2010). These studies have found that the sheep types in Ethiopia are traditionally recognized and named after the communities maintaining them, their administrative locations, or their phenotypic characteristics, e.g. Afar sheep, Horro sheep and Black Head Somali sheep. A summary of the classification of Ethiopian sheep based on their morphological characteristics and their distinguishing characteristics is presented in Table 1.Further research may be required to fill gaps in previous projects. Currently, research on morphological characterization continues at the district level mainly through Master's Degree research projects in various agricultural universities (See There is however continuing effort to characterize sheep populations at district level and a tendency to describe each population in a district as a separate breed without considering the already defined breeds nationwide or region-wide. The primary attempt should be to try to categorize populations at the district level into one of the recognized breeds by comparing and contrasting its characteristics with those described nationally and regionally. Characterization activities at district level will also contribute to provide location specific information on other components of characterization including description of the production system and environment, performance levels of the breeds, and farmers breeding practices and objectives.  2000). Assessment of the performance of indigenous sheep types in nucleus flocks has been a priority research area since livestock research began in Ethiopia. The purpose of nucleus flocks was to provide controlled environments for a more accurate evaluation of performance, measuring several traits that would be difficult under village conditions, and comparative evaluation of more than one breed under similar conditions. The objectives were to establish the merits and demerits of the sheep breeds, utilize the breeds according to their merits, and improve on their drawbacks through selective breeding (recurrent selection) and crossbreeding with improved exotic breeds. Performance evaluation included growth, reproductive, fleece and carcass traits. The Institute of Agricultural Research (now EIAR) started the characterization work on Afar, BHS and Horro sheep in nucleus flocks maintained at its research centres. Currently, on-station performance evaluation is underway in nucleus flocks of Afar, BHS, Horro, Menz, Washera and Bonga sheep.On-farm evaluation: Research on performance evaluation later shifted from on-station nucleus flocks to monitoring performance of village flocks under management by farmers and pastoralists. The objective was to obtain realistic information on the performance of breeds in the context of the specific farming system and production environment in which they are used. The information is thus more appropriate for the design of breeding and management interventions, and allows for assessment of breed risk status. In these studies, a wide range of data is collected on performance (growth and reproductive traits) and the production environment. Monitoring village flocks was a major research activity in Ethiopia, but such studies are expensive in terms of direct cost and duration; this could explain the limited number of such studies and their subsequent abandonment by the research system.Questionnaire survey: Some breed survey projects (see reference list in Table 2) also collect information on performance in single-visit surveys. In such surveys, information on production and reproductive performance is collected using farmer recall by means of structured questionnaires and linear body sizes are measured on adult ewes at the time of survey.Extensive data have been collected on the performance of sheep breeds from on-station, on-farm and questionnairebased studies. The information has been collated and utilized to establish performance levels and estimate genetic parameters. The research outputs show that there is a large variation in performance among sheep resources. The breeds can be classified based on their body weight and linear body size as small (Menz, Wollo, Tikur sheep), medium (Sekota and Simian sheep), large (BHS, Adilo, Farta and Arsi-Bale sheep) and very large (Gumz, Afar, Washera, Horro and Bonga sheep). Body weights of full-mouth adult ewes of the small breeds range from 20.1 kg in Menz to 35.4 kg in Horro sheep (Gizaw et al. 2007b). The very large breeds are more prolific than the smaller breeds, with litter sizes varying from 1.0 to 1.09 in the small breeds, and 1.28 to 1.55 in the very large breeds (Abegaz et al. 2000ab;Abegaz 2002a;Gizaw et al. 2008a;Mengiste et al. 2011b). Performance indicators for some of the sheep breeds are presented in Table 3. While information on performance of Ethiopian sheep has been published and presented in various scientific fora, such information does not appear to reach the intermediate and end users, including institutions involved in livestock development. Furthermore, utilization of the information is highly limited. The outputs accrued from performance evaluation do not seem to justify the effort, and its impact on the sheep industry is yet to be realized. Generated outputs need to be utilized in the design of breeding programs and management interventions if they are to provide a valuable impact. Further references on sheep performance evaluation are given in Table 4. On-station Abegaz (1994Abegaz ( , 1996aAbegaz ( , 1996bAbegaz ( , 1996cAbegaz ( , 2002)); Abegaz and Gemeda (2000a); Abegaz et al. (1996Abegaz et al. ( , 2000bAbegaz et al. ( , 2002c)); Gemeda et al. (1997Gemeda et al. ( , 2003)); Gizaw and Abegaz (1995); Gizaw and Thwaites (1997); Gizaw et al. (1995aGizaw et al. ( , 1995b)); Yohaness and Gizaw (1995); Yohannes et al.On-station Zelalem (1987); Sisay et al.(1989); Yiheyis (1990); Sendros (1993); Lahlou-Kassi (1995);   (Gizaw 2008). This study described the genetic diversity among and within the traditionally recognized sheep types in Ethiopia. The genetic information in combination with morphological diversity was utilized to classify Ethiopian sheep into six genetically distinct breed groups and nine breeds. Genetic distances between 14 Ethiopian sheep populations are presented in Table 5. These groups can form a reference unit to manage sheep genetic resources. The information can also be used to identify genetically unique populations, and to assess risk status of populations and formulate conservation priorities. Besides estimating genetic diversity, neutral molecular markers can be used in crossbreeding studies for parentage verification and estimating genetic composition of crossbred animals. A project is currently underway at Debre Birhan Research Centre to develop molecular tools to reconstruct pedigrees of crossbreds of Awassi and local sheep.Research has not yet focused on direct application of molecular genetics to the design of breeding programs. This is a major gap in the national research agenda. Characterization using neutral genetic markers such as microsatellites may not help much in identifying Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) that can be used for designing improvement programs using Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) tools. MAS is particularly useful for improving traits having low heritabilities, but may be less effective when applied to traits with high heritability, such as growth, which can be improved through conventional breeding (e.g. Gizaw et al. 2007a).Estimates of genetic parameters (heritabilities and genetic correlations) are good indicators of the genetic characteristics of a population and are the basis for designing animal breeding programs. Genetic parameters have been estimated for Ethiopian sheep breeds using data collected over several decades in flocks maintained in research and development centres. Estimates are now available for growth, reproduction, fleece, survival, linear body sizes, and disease/parasite resistance traits (Table 6).The estimates indicate large within-breed genetic variation and genetic improvement can be achieved throughselective breeding , particularly for growth traits as demonstrated in the Menz sheep-breeding program (Gizaw et al. 2007a(Gizaw et al. 2011a)). For reproductive traits and lamb pre-weaning survival, heritability estimates are often low and unreliable (Abegaz and Gemeda 2000b;Markos 2006). Heritability and genetic correlation estimates can sometimes identify indirect selection criteria to achieve gains in target traits. For example, heritability estimates for linear size traits (e.g. pelvic width, chest girth, body length, body height) that typically vary from 0.076 ± 0.004 to 0.361 ± 0.015 (Gizaw et al. 2008c) indicate that overall growth can be improved through indirect selection on linear body measurements, which are easier to measure particularly under village conditions. Furthermore, heritability estimates in Menz/Horro sheep for semen/spermatozoa characteristics vary from 0.16 ± 0.12 to 0.35 ± 0.13 and the genetic correlation of scrotal circumference with semen volume has been estimated as 0.55 ± 0.11 (Rege et al. 2000), indicating that testis size could be used as an indirect selection criterion to improve male reproductive capacity. Heritability estimates for resistance to gastrointestinal parasites (EPG and PCV counts) are also available for Menz and Horro sheep (Rege et al. 2002). Horro and Menz: Semen, testicular characteristics and EPG/PCV counts (Rege et al. 2000;2002).Very few of the genetic parameter estimates of have been utilized to improve efficiency of breeding. This information for breeding-objective traits needs to be combined in the construction of selection indices for use in breeding programs, but this has yet to be done. Estimation of genetic parameters requires years of painstaking effort and large on-station flocks maintained under controlled-breeding practices. Thus, the available genetic parameter estimates (see Research on indigenous breeds could serve to both conserve and improve genetic resources. Nucleus flocks maintained in research and development centres are serving conservation efforts, albeit not deliberately. Research on the management of on-station flocks shows that they can be genetically improved while conserving their genetic diversity if inbreeding is avoided (Gizaw et al. 2013). In situ conservation of sheep resources is being integrated with genetic improvement in community-based sheep-breeding programs by national (e.g. Debre Birhan Research Center) and international research institutions (e.g. ICARDA, ILRI) for Menz, Horro and Bonga breeds, although these efforts are limited to pilot villages and need to be scaled up to breed-level regional programs.Numerous studies have described livestock production systems in Ethiopia since the mid-1980s when a farmingsystem research approach was adopted by EIAR (see Table 7). Many more are likely to remain unreported and inaccessible. Results of farming-systems studies by ILRI-IPMS covering a wide range of production systems and agroecological zones have been compiled and analysed (Gizaw et al. 2010b). The extensive research on farming systems led to the classification and description of a range of livestock production systems (documented by Alemayehu 2003). Classification of production systems was based on the level of livestock production and its contribution to the community as well as the type of crop-production enterprises. The livestock production systems have also been described in relation to the sheep breeds (Gizaw et al. 2008a). The systems have been well described in terms of the production environment such as feed resources and important diseases, major constraints to sheep production, flock characteristics, farmers' sheep breeding and management practices, farmers breeding objectives, agricultural service delivery and sheep marketing. These research outputs are published in technical papers and MSc theses and are thus not readily accessible to end users. Failure to convert these materials to a usable format will limit the impact of this research effort on the sheep industry. A summary of production systems in relation to sheep breeds in Ethiopia is presented in Table 8. Definition of breeding objectives and description of the production system and environment is the basis for designing tailor-made management and breeding interventions. Methodological approaches for defining breeding objectives have been reviewed by Gemeda et al. (2008). A participatory approach has recently been adopted and used to define breeding objectives for various sheep breeds (Tesfaye 2008;Zewdu 2008;Kahsa 2009;Tesfaye 2010;Gizaw et al. 2010c; and most of the studies cited in Table 2). These studies invariably identified that farmers' primary breeding objective is to increase meat production. The breeding objectives defined for some of the breeds (Menz, Horro, Bonga, and Washera) have been well utilized to design breeding programs.Research to understand farmers' traditional breeding practices have recently gained momentum. Some of the information has been used to design village-based selection and breeding programs. Results show that farmers do select their breeding stock (e.g. 93% select rams in Menz region), using subjective selection criteria (Gizaw et al. 2010). Research conducted to validate farmers' subjective selection criteria showed that there is a high congruence between selection based on subjective criteria and that on estimated breeding values. There is also a limited research effort to evaluate the effectiveness of farmers' traditional breeding practices. An investigation on Menz sheep farmers breeding practice (Gizaw et al. 2011a) showed that the failure to achieve controlled mating hinders genetic improvement in village flocks.Studies indicate that constraints to increased productivity and market success of smallholder farmers are primarily diseases and parasites, feed shortage, and inadequate extension service delivery or lack of improved technologies (Table 7). There are also other constraints whose severity varies across production systems and agro-ecozones. The importance of diseases and parasites also vary across agro-ecozones, with the most important being pasteurellosis, fasciolosis, sheep pox, orf, anthrax, coenerosis, and ectoparasites. The major feed source across production systems and agro-ecozones are natural pastures. Sheep production is subsistence oriented and characterized by low inputs and outputs. This has led to low adoption of improved technologies and production strategies. There has been negligible impact of genetic improvement research on the sheep industry, despite there being large amounts of data and estimated genetic parameters that can inform the design of effective breeding programs, as well as well-characterized farmer breeding objectives. The pitfalls of genetic improvement studies have been the failure: to establish and maintain nucleus-breeding flocks as sustainable sources of improved rams; to develop clear selection methodologies; and to design breeding programs/schemes for most of the breeds studied. Consequently, there are hardly any effective livestock development programs in Ethiopia for improvement of sheep flocks through breeding.In addition, the sheep flocks maintained in the MoA sheep breeding and multiplication ranches at Debre Birhan and Amed Guya for Menz sheep and Horro ranch for Horro sheep are not bred due to technical limitations among the breeders in the development ranches. Lack of skills in quantitative genetics theory has been a major problem until recently.Optimism seems to prevail for livestock breeding research in Ethiopia. While the on-station Menz sheep-breeding program and the village-based Menz, Horro and Bonga sheep-breeding programs are a promising start, a longterm commitment to these initiatives needs to be built into the livestock development programs of the Ministry of Agriculture and the regional livestock development agencies. The effort put on these initiatives can also serve as a model for breeding programs for other breeds.The dominant genetic improvement strategy for cattle, chicken and sheep in Ethiopia has been crossbreeding of the indigenous breeds with sires from imported exotic breeds. Sheep crossbreeding has been condemned from two perspectives. First, crossbreeding is considered a threat to the survival of the adapted indigenous breeds. Second, crossbreeding as a strategy failed to sustain genetic improvement in village flocks owing to exotic genotypes being maladapted to the local environment. Crossbreeding can be considered ''a necessary evil in livestock improvement'', but its negative impacts on indigenous breeds can be ameliorated through rational crossbreeding strategies (see Section 2.4.3). The failure of crossbreeding programs cannot be attributed solely to poor adaptation of exotic genotypes, but also to the failure to design village crossbreeding programs that are in line with farmers' aspirations and village breeding practices.Early crossbreeding programs: Research and development on sheep crossbreeding started at CADU with the introduction of several exotic wool sheep breeds (Blue De Maine, Merino, Corriedale and Hampshire) in the late 1960s (Beyene 1989;Brännäng et al. 1987). The Menz crossbreeding program started in 1967 using Corriedale, Hampshire and Romney Marsh as sire breeds. The primary objective of the programs was to improve wool and meat production in local breeds. The program was terminated and none of the exotic breeds can be traced except for a few Corriedales in a South Wollo village with a high contribution from local breeds. Such has been the history of sheep crossbreeding in Ethiopia and the lack of critical evaluation of failures has resulted in perpetuation of the same in subsequent projects and reluctance to fund crossbreeding projects. As a result, the potential impact of sheep genetic improvement on the sheep industry is yet to be realized.The follow up to the wool improvement project was the introduction of the Awassi sheep breed from the Middle East. The Awassi crossbreeding program was initiated in 1980 using Menz sheep as dams. The research component of the program is mandated to Debre Birhan and Sirinka research centres, and the development wing is run by Debre Birhan and Amed Guya sheep breeding and multiplication centres under Amhara Bureau of Agriculture. While the program has a clear crossbreeding scheme for the multiplication of crossbred rams in the multiplication ranches, the strategy for dissemination of genetic improvement to villages and sustaining crossbreeding at the village level is not well defined. Extensive and indiscriminate distribution of crossbred rams across the country for the last three decades yielded virtually no impact on the sheep industry (Gizaw and Tesfaye 2008).There have also been problems in the production of crossbred rams. The number of crossbred rams produced over the years have been far below the demand. This is mainly because of the lengthy crossing and backcrossing in order to produce rams with 75% Awassi blood. The crossbred ram dissemination strategy may have to shift to distribution of 50% Awassi crossbred rams, rather than 75% crosses. There have also been repeated outbreaks of viral diseases (Maedi-Visna) that forced the elimination of purebred Awassi and crossbreds, followed by restocking. Furthermore, the failure to maintain purebred Awassi flock has necessitated repeated importation of pure stock. The recently imported large pure Awassi flock needs to be maintained properly to avoid further importations. This requires, among other things, planned breeding of the nucleus flock to avoid inbreeding and improved health management.Research on Awassi crossbreeding started well after the implementation of the development program. The research focused initially on comparative evaluation of crossbreds with varying Awassi blood levels to determine the optimal crossbreeding level for the local conditions, developing feeding packages, and evaluation of the combining ability of local Bonga and Washera dam breeds with Awassi (Sisay et al. 1989;Sendros 1993;Sendros et al. 1995;Gizaw 2002). Unfortunately, the recommendations and feeding packages developed were not utilized in designing Awassi sheep development programs because the crossbreeding program could not be established in villages. The observed absence of effective and sustainable crossbreeding at the village level has prompted a shift in the Awassi sheep research agenda to design of village crossbreeding programs (Gizaw et al. 2011c(Gizaw et al. , 2012a)). Subsequent pilot implementation of Awassi crossbreeding activities in model villages has shown that crossbreeding can be effective if appropriate designs are adopted and strong monitoring and evaluation are in place (Gizaw et al. 2012b Past failures in sheep genetic improvement have led to research on design of breeding programs. Small flock sizes, communal grazing/herding and uncontrolled mating did not favour the implementation of selective breeding/recurrent selection programs within village flocks. The approach adopted initially and implemented for Afar, BHS, Horro and Menz sheep was to generate improved rams in closed, nucleus flocks and to disseminate them to village flocks. The projects generally ended in failure, as most lacked long-term vision and did not involve farmers in the planning. These failures led to the argument that such breeding schemes may not be appropriate for smallholder systems in developing sheep industries. A new village-or community-based breeding scheme, which does not involve central nucleus flocks, has thus been adopted recently to improve village flocks through recurrent selection (Gizaw et al. 2009;Gemeda 2011;Haile et al. 2011;Tadelle 2011). Gizaw et al. (2011a) also suggested a breeding scheme that integrates the merits of central nucleus-based and village-based breeding schemes.Lack of appropriate guidelines to produce crossbreds sustainably with a desired blood level in village flocks, inherent complexity of crossbreeding programs and lack of follow-up by implementers are some of the reasons for the lack of impact on the sheep industry. Research has now focused on developing rational crossbreeding strategies, alternative crossbreeding systems, and design of village crossbreeding schemes. A rational crossbreeding strategy that considers the conservation of locally adapted breeds with clear delineation of crossbreeding zones is being implemented for Dorper sheep in the Amhara region. Regulation to enforce the rational crossbreeding strategy suggested for the national Dorper crossbreeding program is also suggested. A lot of effort has gone into designing recurrent-selection and crossbreeding programs suited to smallholder farmers. Various designs of breeding schemes have been developed and tested, guidelines produced (Aynalem et al. 2011;Gizaw et al. 2011b), and model villages established with simultaneous impact on improved livelihoods in the project areas (Table 10). Research projects aimed at improving the production environment can be categorized into three areas: 1) feed development and feeding; 2) disease diagnostics and health interventions; and, 3) research on husbandry practices. Some of these projects such as forage development may not be specifically targeted to sheep. A number of research projects have been conducted, with concomitant generation of technologies and information. While some of the findings have been published and are available in proceedings of the NLIC and ESAP and in some journals, the majority are published as internal documents (e.g. institutional progress reports) that are not readily accessible.Research on feed development has focused on introduction and evaluation of forages, with several varieties recommended and introduced in various agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia. The most widely adopted species include alfalfa, sesbania, Napier grass, and tree lucerne. These feeds are used mostly for fattening sheep. Despite sustained efforts by the MoA and the research system to disseminate improved forage varieties, the impact on the livestock industry has been very limited, although with some notable exceptions. This could be due mainly to low adoption rates by farmers where land for forage production is limited. Forages adopted were planted on marginal entry points such as farm and homestead fences, soil conservation terraces, and along irrigation channels. The focus of forage research may have to shift to identify suitable entry points for forage production. There is also a gap in research on improving the traditional grazing management and grazing lands.Development of feeding/fattening packages is the major component of sheep production research in Ethiopia.Fattening packages are now available for Menz, Awassi-Menz crosses, Horro, Washera, Tikur, Afar, and BHS sheep.Most of these activities are reported in proceedings of livestock conferences. These results are yet to be adopted by the farming community, although sheep fattening is common among highland farmers. Feeding packages to improve reproductive performance and lamb survival are limited (Table 11).Research has led to the identification and mapping of geographical and agro-ecological prevalence of economically important diseases. Disease diagnostics research is mainly mandated to regional disease laboratories and the national animal health laboratory at Sebeta. Horro Abegaz et al. (2005); Amensissa Eresso (2010); Gemeda et al. (2004Gemeda et al. ( , 2007)); Gizaw and Abegaz (1995); Gizaw et al. (1991); Lemma et al. (1991)  Gemeda et al (1999Gemeda et al ( , 2000Gemeda et al ( , 2007)); Yohaness et al (1997); Ulfina et al. (2000aUlfina et al. ( , 2000bUlfina et al. ( , 2003aUlfina et al. ( , 2003b While few studies on sheep value chains have been published to-date (e.g. Hailemariam 2008; Dugassa and Belachew 2008), internal reporting by ICARDA/ILRI and SNV for current value-chain studies has identified the core functions, actors, market routes, market channels, constraints, existing opportunities and recommendations on interventions at each node of the value chain. These studies cover a number of geographic locations and agro-ecological zones. The results are for the most part very similar, although there are some peculiarities for each location. The major core functions identified include input supply, production, marketing, transporting, processing, and consumption of sheep and sheep products. Among the actors are sheep producers (farmers), who are the primary actors, rural collectors, brokers, small traders, big traders, hotels/restaurants/butchers, individual consumers and export abattoirs.The studies have identified the major constraints to improving the sheep value chain:• shortage of adequate veterinary services, drugs and equipment,• lack of adequate and flexible credit service,• lack of supply of forage seeds and cuttings for forage development,• supply of ineffective drugs and vaccines, low breed productivity,• high morbidity and mortality rate,• poor feeding management,• feed shortage during dry seasons,• high incidence of diseases and parasites,• lack of training on improved sheep husbandry,• high incidence of abortion and lamb mortality,• weak vertical and horizontal linkage among actors,• multiple taxation for traders,• lack of adequate working capital,• lack of formal and adequate market information,• low bargaining power of producers,• seasonality of demand and supply for sheep,• transportation constraints, and• processing constraints.These studies uncovered constraints that could affect producers' adoption of improved sheep-production technologies. Analysis of the value of sheep across the value chain in southern Ethiopia (SNV, Gizaw 2012) showed that the values vary as they move from the producers to the final consumers. The variations are usually incremental and are the result of value adding and costs incurred by the actors across the value chain. A simplified gross-margin analysis (SGM) indicates that both type of product (value adding) and market channels affect profit of producers. The highest SGM was found for producers indicating that shoat production is a feasible enterprise for farmers in Sidama zone in southern Ethiopia. The results also indicate that fattening yearlings is more profitable than fattening bigger rams. The gross margin for farmers who have access to the big zonal markets is greater than for farmers who are far from these markets. The results show that farmers' operational profit and their gross margins will be higher if they add values and market their sheep in domestic zonal markets (SGM from 72.4 to 87.5%) rather than selling unfinished yearlings to exporters (SGM from 44.4 to 47.9%). The issue of competition between the domestic and export markets needs to be addressed. Typical market routes and value-chain mapping for southern Ethiopia are shown in Figures 1  and 2, respectively.Source: Gizaw (2012). The sheep research section of the national research institutes is organized to address problems across the various stages of the sheep value chain. The section has teams addressing research issues related to provision of inputs, production, value addition, and marketing. Nevertheless, the research is strongly biased toward inputs and production (see Table 13). Research on product quality and marketing is negligible; the only project dealing with value addition is on sheep fattening, and that on product quality is limited to carcass qualities of Ethiopian sheep (see Table 10) and darkening of frozen meat from highland sheep (Unpublished data on BHS, Afar, Menz and an unpublished MSc thesis).Research on wool quality and marketing is also lacking. Socioeconomic research includes characterization of farming systems, market structures and credit services (Andargachew and Borokken 1992;Ayele et al. 2003;Berhanu et al. 2007;Feven 2009). There is very limited research on strategic issues that could guide policy development such as analysis of sheep production and offtake trends (Senait 1992; Asfaw et al. 2010).Characterization of market structures has been a major component of sheep marketing research in Ethiopia (Ayele et al. 2003;Berhanu et al. 2007;Tsdeke 2007;Belete 2009; internal reports of ICARDA, ILRI, SNV; MSc research projects cited in Gizaw et al. 2010b). Livestock marketing structure in Ethiopia follows a four-tier system (Ayele et al. 2003). The main actors of the 1st tier are local farmers and rural traders/rural assemblers who transact at the farm level. The 2nd tier consists of small traders from different corners who bring their animals to the local market, where traders/wholesalers purchase a few large animals or a large number of small animals for selling to the secondary markets. In the secondary market (3rd tier), both smaller and larger traders operate and traders (wholesalers or retailers) and butchers from terminal markets come to buy animals. In the terminal markets (4th tier), large traders, butchers and export abattoirs (wholesalers or retailers) transact larger number of mainly slaughter type animals. Consumers get meat through purchase of live animals or from butchers.Source: Gizaw (2012).Figure 2. Small ruminant meat and beef value-chain map for four GRAD project woredas in the Sidama zone Another dimension of market research is the characterization of market prices (Andargachew and Borokken 1992;Beneberu 2003;Feven 2009). Such studies attempted to identify factors determining market prices including size, colour, and age of animals. Most of the value-chain and production-system characterization studies cited here also identified marketing problems faced by producers and marketers along the value chain. The major constraints and their rankings for some regions of Ethiopia are shown in Table 12.The focus in market research has largely been on characterization of the marketing system. There has been limited effort to develop intervention strategies for identified marketing problems such as farmers' access to profitable markets, although some studies have addressed macro-level issues such as the economic significance of sheep production and factors affecting sheep offtake rates (Adane and Girma 2008;Asfaw and Mohammed 2008). These studies found that offtake rates due to sale are low, being exceeded in some cases by mortality rates, indicating low flock productivity and that flock inventory changes over a period of one year were negative for sheep and goats in the study area.The livestock marketing structure in Ethiopia is based on traditional organization of the market channels. Meat exporting abattoirs complain of the lack of defined market routes, which is considered a hindrance to the smooth flow of livestock supply required to operate at full capacity. Value-chain analyses revealed that livestock marketing downstream and at the collectors' level is based on mutual trust between individuals and there are currently no strong market support structures in place, particularly at the woreda level. Although some Marketing Offices (e.g. Sidama Zone) are trying to organize market structures such as registration and certification of traders to control illegal trading, the Offices are limited by lack of facilities such as holding yards to accommodate animals confiscated from illegal trades. Most of the Offices are thus limited largely to collecting weekly livestock market prices.The SNNP Regional Marketing and Cooperative Office has issued guidelines for live animal marketing (SNNP 2011).While the guidelines stipulate a stringent requirement for issuance of certificates to collectors, wholesalers and exporters of live animals, field observations show that most of the traders may not meet the requirements. The guidelines also outline regulations on handling and marketing of animals, and control of illegal trading, although Marketing Offices at the woreda level are ill equipped to execute the guidelines.Institutional support of livestock inputs and product marketing in Ethiopia is largely limited to health services, even if there are still farmers who obtain alternative veterinary services from illegal sources. There are no private or governmental enterprises or cooperative associations (except very few and poorly organized cooperatives) working on livestock marketing or input supply. The informal livestock input provision, such as through retail traders, is not accessible in most parts of the country. This is in contrast to the emerging crop-marketing cooperatives that help to overcome the production and marketing problems. So far, institutions involved in generation and dissemination of improved livestock technologies (e.g. improved breeds) have had limited impact on livestock development.Absence or weakness of trade regulations and value-chain governance has resulted in a lengthy supply chain, lower profits for producers and high prices for consumers. For processors and exporters, however, the government has favourable regulations and policies, such as absence of export tax, availing access to loans, providing inspection services, and facilitation of transit. The government has restructured the former MoARD and has created Livestock Production, Health and Marketing Agency, in order to give greater emphasis to livestock, which may improve the situation at the woreda level. Adoption of improved technologies is strongly affected by the policy environment affecting input supply, market, credit, and price policies. Land-tenure regulations to producers and security to marketers should also facilitate the effective functioning of the value chains.Analyses of sheep value chains cited above indicate that enabling environments at the macro-level that includes policy, institutional and regulatory support needs to be facilitated to enhance the operation and performance of livestock value chains. Such support is the basis for all other strategic interventions to improve livestock production and farmer income. Lack of regulations, such as absence of licensing requirements for involvement in livestock trading in some regions (Berhanu et al. 2007; Marketing and Cooperative Office reports), is also a hindrance to market success of producers and consumers. In most of the studies, it has been suggested that organizing marketing groups or cooperatives and regulation of traders' activities could entitle farmers to their fair share of the market profit margins.A commonly cited gap in the livestock development effort has been the absence of breeding policy and strategy, and the lack of due consideration in the institutionalization of livestock development. The livestock resource base and the prospects and contribution of livestock development to the national economy and livelihoods of millions of farmers and pastoralists could rightly justify moving away from past failed attempts and setting up a new, dynamic and innovative institutional arrangement in Ethiopia. In this regard, a greater public investment in livestock research and development commensurate with the potential contribution of the livestock sector to the national and household economy needs to be considered.Strategic research projects are highly limited in the research agenda of the national research system (Table 13). While a few field experiments on ewe and ram reproduction were conducted ( Such organization could enhance wider research coverage in different ecological zones, but activities in the national research systems lack synergy because each regional institute is autonomous in its research agenda, although some regional projects are coordinated by EIAR. This can lead to duplication of effort and inefficient utilization of limited expertise. Ongoing research projects are summarized in Table 13.Evaluating the impact of research on the sheep industry calls for a thorough assessment of technology adoption by farmers and pastoralists, and its effect on sheep productivity and livelihoods, following standard impact assessment methods. Unfortunately, such information is not readily available and impact is assessed in this review from the few available reports and field observations.While a wealth of information has been generated by research institutions and disseminated to end-users through various media, including conferences and publications, much information remains inaccessible as unpublished reports or 'grey literature'. The published knowledge and information is certainly useful to guide research and development projects, but it remains to be evaluated whether the quality and volume of information being generated is in accordance with the real demand by the development sector.Despite the large number of technologies generated, their impact on the sheep industry and farmer livelihoods is minimal. The agenda of the national research system focuses on improving productivity and, to a lesser extent, on input provision such as improved forage materials and health services. A research gap exists at the other stages of the value chain, such as product quality, value addition and marketing. The value-chain analyses cited here have also shown that there are major problems in marketing of sheep. In general, from the current review, two areas of research and development gaps can be identified: the challenge to introduce technologies generated into the farming communities; and fair markets for inputs and products.One of the major bottlenecks in the research effort could be the challenges facing the introduction of technologies to farming communities. Research may have to focus on designing approaches and mechanisms for efficient delivery of improved genetics, forage germplasm, health services and other production technologies. This requires research on strategies; for instance, delivering improved genetics requires designing appropriate breeding schemes that suit the smallholder sheep farming systems.Two aspects of the sheep-marketing problem can be identified from the value chain analyses: farmers' access to fair markets for inputs and products, and the supply of sheep to markets, particularly to the export market. Access to markets influences farmers' incomes. Unfair profit margins due to weak product prices can discourage farmers from adopting improved technologies. Research should thus focus on addressing issues that diminish producers' profits across the value chain by developing marketing approaches to overcome the problem. Research on problems associated with the supply of small ruminants to the export market may have to focus on: quality standards to meet market demands; causes of inconsistent supply and demand; mechanisms for efficient supply chains; increasing offtake rates and factors determining offtake rates; and macro-level studies on the sheep industry to determine trends in production and marketing.There are targeted projects on small ruminant value chains including LIVES by ILRI, the Ethiopian Small Ruminant Value Chain Development Project by ICARDA/ILRI, and the GRAD project by SNV/CARE-Ethiopia in Southern Ethiopia. Duplication of effort among these projects and the national research system needs to be avoided.From Breeding strategy: Although there have been consistent efforts by the livestock department of the MoA to develop breeding strategies and programs for some sheep breeds, there is yet no countrywide strategy to guide livestock genetic improvement. Both government and non-governmental research and development institutes are developing genetic improvement projects at will without any regulation of their activities. This is rather dangerous and concerned institutes, including the Livestock State Ministry and Institute of Biodiversity Conservations, need to take immediate action. In the meantime, strategies by research institutes for their mandate breeds and zones can be developed. While this was the approach adopted for Menz and Dorper sheep breeding in Amhara region and the national Dorper/Boer breeding strategy, it is now desirable to have a national breeding strategy so that the breeding efforts will not be ad hoc and to harmonize the mandates of the different regional institutes.Breeding programs: Research centres are actively involved in sheep research projects, but the activities are not leading to effective breeding programs. Most projects are limited to maintaining nucleus-breeding flocks and the relatively effective projects are limited to pilot villages. The research system may need to embark on full-fledged breeding programs. Livestock breeding by its nature can not be delineated into research and development projects; it needs to be integrated into research-cum-development projects, carried out jointly by both research and development institutes. This is because breeding activities are long-term projects, costly, and the improved genetics developed through research have to be the basis for the breeding program. A promising example is the Dorper sheep-breeding program undertaken by ARARI. There is a pressing need to integrate efforts by research and development institutes, where resources must be pooled and utilized efficiently. To this end, ways and means must be found to utilize effectively the expertise in various research centres and the nucleus flocks in multiplication and research centres (e.g. the Awassi and Bonga flocks). A further point is that breeding programs are costly and hence should not be initiated if they cannot be sustained in terms of budget and staff commitments.The research focus has to be on designing of breeding programs. This is because absence of a plan or faulty designs without clear vision might be the major reasons for failure of some programs. The design of breeding programs should consider alternative approaches such as marrying nucleus and village-based breeding schemes, as well as the conservation of indigenous genetic resources. A lot of work is required to make crossbreeding programs effectivesuch as schemes for efficient multiplication of crossbred rams, dissemination strategies, and maintaining desired blood levels at village levels. The design of breeding programs should be coordinated at the national level, as this requires strong expertise in quantitative genetics. In this regard, establishment of the national livestock genetic improvement centre by the MoA is a step in the right direction.Genetic improvement activities have traditionally formed the centre piece of sheep research. Complementary research on improved feeding, health and socioeconomics including marketing is associated with some sheep-breeding programs, but lacking in others. The recent integrated value-chain approach with a wholesome package for sheep improvement should be promoted further. In addition, research on sheep production management needs to be revisited.While research on feeding management currently focuses on testing improved forage varieties, most of the forage species and varieties are not well-accepted by the farming community. Research may be required on approaches for effective dissemination of improved forages, adopting species with high biomass (which are lacking for the highlands and subalpine highlands), and improving the conservation and utilization of agricultural by-products that can provide high biomass. Development of feeding and fattening packages seem to be fragmented. Projects targeting development of fattening packages for the major agro-ecological zones and sheep breeds could be considered, with a component of scaling-up for further dissemination by development institutions.Research on disease prevalence may have to be scaled back, as extensive work has already been done and the major diseases and parasites have been identified in most of the agro-ecological zones. Animal-health research may have to focus on the delivery of health services such as strategic disease and parasite controls, improving efficiency of health clinics, improving existing and developing alternative systems for provision of community-based animal health services.Most survey reports indicate that farmers doubt the efficiency of vaccines and drugs.Another area of research should be improvement of net offtake rates, which have been reported as low. High lamb mortality and low reproduction rates account for the major losses in sheep and reduced offtakes.Livestock research in its early stages was limited to on-station research activities, but recently the focus has shifted to on-farm. A model village-based approach through organizing farmers into cooperatives has been adopted by some research institutes, such as Debre Birhan Research Centre, ILRI and ICARDA. Such models integrate research and development on breeding, feeding, health service, input provision and marketing in a cooperative context. A cooperative approach is essential to introduce technologies such improved breeding and disease control into villages. Model villages can serve as research sites for developing and testing technologies as well as demonstrating 'good practice'.There is a general agreement that applied research should be the primary focus in developing countries where attaining food security is a priority. The livestock research agenda in Ethiopia targets the adoption and generation of improved technologies such as improved breeds, forages, feeding, and health packages. Lately the focus of research has shifted to scaling-up of best-bet technologies rather than generating technologies. This is an appropriate strategy given the wealth of information and technologies lying idle in research and development institutions. Research for tomorrow needs to be considered today as a small fraction of the current research agenda, while the comparative advantage of involving strategic research projects in the national program versus utilization of information generated from the international research system could also be considered.The directories of projects and outputs of the various research institutes are readily accessed. These need to be accessible to planning departments and researchers to avoid duplication of effort. Collating and documenting such information in a national online repository would facilitate access. Professional societies such as ESAP or EIAR could be mandated to undertake the task.Documentation should also include the various strategies, master plans and project documents published in 'grey literature'. Review and evaluation of the research system is rather difficult with current documentation.Dissemination of research results generally targets professionals and experts through conferences and journal articles.Very little has been done to present information and technologies to end-users. The approach taken by ESGPIP and MoA to disseminate information and technologies through manuals and technical bulletins in local languages is a step in the right direction.The national research system needs to be re-organized to improve efficiency in the utilization of scarce resources and skilled personnel, within and across research centres and regional institutes. For instance, there are three main centres dealing with sheep within ARARI. Sheep research within regional institutes can be coordinated under the umbrella of one main research centre with a critical pool of staff and satellite centres (staffed with a few technical assistants) to address the different agro-ecologies and breeds. Organization of the national sheep research needs to be revised (e.g. Afar sheep/goat research by EIAR and Afar Regional Research Institute), but this cannot be done in isolation from the overall livestock research system. It is time for a more efficient research and development system and concentrating efforts on selected commodities-for instance, setting up institutes for selected species (such as an Institute for Sheep Research) and integration of research and development to facilitate the dissemination of technologies (such as Ministry of Livestock Research and Development).The way information on activities on sheep research, results/outputs and development projects is currently documented does not enable a comprehensive appraisal of the sheep research system in Ethiopia. The purpose of this review was therefore to provide an overview of sheep research in Ethiopia and suggest a way forward based on the collated information. Given the challenges encountered in obtaining all the information necessary, the review is in no way exhaustive; a comprehensive bibliographic review of individual research projects and outputs and a systematic appraisal of the entire research system are still necessary.From this review, it is clear that numerous research projects have been undertaken. A wealth of information and a number of technologies have been generated. Some of the research outputs haven been published in technical journals, MSc and PhD theses, annual and progress reports. While technologies have been demonstrated through field days and promoted through pamphlets and brochures, adoption of the technologies by end-users remains low.There are also gaps in research and development efforts (e.g. breeding programs by the research and development institutes are not coordinated) that need to be addressed. This calls for a restructuring of the entire sheep research and development platform. The link between research and development wings of the livestock sector need to be strengthened for effective dissemination of research outputs.","tokenCount":"8864"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4035036777.json b/data/part_1/4035036777.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..10459e7c8e7a59106aaaefb58d991be85543086e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4035036777.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0bb20a2370cc55b0d0180b3f9fe44048","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f3f09127-4576-4a6c-862d-e94518a75912/retrieve","id":"-1961204054"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1020fe70-5646-4654-ad60-6e7f3cfc6d32","pagecount":"14","content":"Animal source foods (AFS) are an important part of the cuisine with pork, fish, and poultry products widely consumed in Cambodia. The majority of livestock products are produced by smallholders, many of them women, and sold in traditional, wet markets where women also predominate as retailers. In recent years, Cambodia has seen growing food safety concerns.The overall aim of the Safe Food, Fair Food (SFFF) for Cambodia project is to reduce the burden of foodborne disease in informal, emerging formal, and niche markets and targeting small and medium scale producers. The project has five objectives with associated activities, outputs, and outcomes. To reach this objective, it is necessary to build capacity to better understand what food safety risks are, how to manage food safety and how to communicate it effectively among stakeholders including the government, private sector, academia, donors, and the media.The workshop took place 21-22 June 2021 in the office of National Animal Health and Production Research Institute (NAHPRI) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (for partners based in Phnom Penh), and partners elsewhere joined virtually on Zoom platform. The event was co-hosted by NAHPRI in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).The objectives of the meeting were:• To share key findings and recommendations from the SFFF Cambodia project, • To discuss the policy implication of the project and project intervention scaling up opportunities, • And, to discuss with relevant stakeholders the food safety challenges and how to address them.The meeting brought together about 70 experts who are Cambodia's national institutes and central and provincial governments, civil society, academia, NAHPRI, Livestock Development for Community Livelihood (LDC) and ILRI. participated in the meeting.Day 1 started with an opening remark by Gbola Adesogan, director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems (LSIL) who called on the country's private sector and civil society organizations to partner the government in scaling up the productive work achieved in this pilot project across Cambodia. He added that his lab will be looking for ways to spread adoption of this project's interventions in other countries across the world.Following was the opening by Hull Davun, deputy director general of Cambodia's General Directorate of Animal Health and Production (GDAHP). He reminded the participants that food safety and food security are key priorities of the Cambodian government, particularly in light of the need for the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Foodborne diseases are not only a public health problem but also a barrier to smallholders who wish to sell products in high-value domestic and export markets. He noted that though six governmental ministries are involved in managing food safety and food quality-Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery; Commerce; Industry and Handicrafts; Health; Tourism; and Economy and Finance-their overlapping mandates constrain their ability to work in harmony and to implement a food safety and quality control system in the country.The opening session was followed up by a talk by Arie Havelaar, University of Florida sharing risk ranking experience from the TARTARE project in Ethiopia, and the reporting session by the SFFF Cambodia project team with nine presentations updating the project key achievements from different components.Sothyra Tum, director, NAHPRI wrapped up the meeting then.Day 2 focused much on policy advocacy and how to scale up the project interventions after the project is over.Rob Readnour, Mountain Group, a private partner of SFFF Cambodia gave a talk on innovation technology for food safety.Sothyra Tum gave a presentation on the intervention package at the traditional market.Delia Randolph presented on scaling opportunities. This evidence-based study was successfully implemented with all project objectives being fully achieved. There were also additional outputs on Japanese encephalitis and system effect modelling. Regulation and consumer demand will be the main drivers in scaling up the intervention, with the latter more so.Hung Nguyen-Viet talked about taskforceresearch to policy and practice. The multi-sector task force developed through stakeholder consultation will help to strengthen capacity in risk-based food safety assessment. The task force is expected to continue its work with support from ILRI to scale up beyond the six provinces involved in the project.A plenary session was dedicated to discussing the question 'What we know and what is missing?' about food safety in Cambodia. Here are some reflections from the provinces• In Siem Reap, the practice of cleaning equipment and disinfecting cutting boards was adopted. There were some challenges in other provinces with adoption of recommended plastic covers for chopping boards as the meat sellers prefer to use marble and stainless-steel boards.• Training provided by the project team did not always lead to improved food safety practices. Some consumers, for example, prefer buy their meat from the roadside rather than from market stalls where vendors handle meat more hygienically. • The project's partners argued for the need to engage more local stakeholders to scale up the project's interventions. • The additional stakeholders include market managers, who can monitor vendor compliance with good food safety practices, as well as officials of relevant ministries, who can help to improve the infrastructure of these traditional markets.Following the meeting, the project team plan to scale up their interventions among local markets by disseminating a video and handbook showcasing 'Five key ways to retail safer pork in Cambodia's traditional markets'.In his closing remarks, Dieter Schillinger, deputy director general for biosciences at ILRI, said he expected that the meeting would help serve to reinforce food safety recommendations among Cambodia's several ministries and agencies concerned with ensuring food safety. ","tokenCount":"902"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4050675544.json b/data/part_1/4050675544.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..da7d04ae07531a3c44b1278a8964f6d584afabb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4050675544.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a6a350740a7f4aa9166bd12de91e90bf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9a410a97-ef87-4918-a485-ab19825adcd7/retrieve","id":"-182501458"},"keywords":["chickpea improvement","climate change","CRISPR/Cas-9","genome editing","hunger threat","TALENs","zinc finger nuclease"],"sieverID":"07eb1696-01c5-4522-bbb3-df9e5c3a2e18","pagecount":"21","content":"Genomics and genome editing promise enormous opportunities for crop improvement and elementary research. Precise modification in the specific targeted location of a genome has profited over the unplanned insertional events which are generally accomplished employing unadventurous means of genetic modifications. The advent of new genome editing procedures viz; zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), homing endonucleases, transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs), Base Editors (BEs), and Primer Editors (PEs) enable molecular scientists to modulate gene expressions or create novel genes with high precision and efficiency. However, all these techniques are exorbitant and tedious since their prerequisites are difficult processes that necessitate protein engineering. Contrary to first generation genome modifying methods, CRISPR/ Cas9 is simple to construct, and clones can hypothetically target several locations in the genome with different guide RNAs. Following the model of the application in crop with the help of the CRISPR/Cas9 module, various customized Cas9 cassettes have been cast off to advance mark discrimination and diminish random cuts. The present study discusses the progression in genome editing apparatuses, and their applications in chickpea crop development, scientific limitations, and future perspectives for biofortifying cytokinin dehydrogenase, nitrate reductase, superoxide dismutase to induce drought resistance, heat tolerance and higher yield in chickpea to encounter global climate change, hunger and nutritional threats.Since their origin, land plants have evolved in an essentially hostile environment. These factors deleteriously disturb plant productivity, growth, development and are referred to as stress in plants. Plant stress is due to drastic changes in salinity, temperatures, heavy metals, soil moisture levels, and ultraviolet (UV) emissions. Stresses including both abiotic and biotic are posturing a great menace to agriculture, ecosystems, and noteworthy production losses (Wang et al., 2003;Wani et al., 2016). According to a published report (FAO, 2019), abiotic stress affects roughly 96.5 percent of worldwide rural land areas (Cramer et al., 2011). Crop yields in lower latitude regions are currently declining, whereas yields in higher latitude regions are increasing (Iizumi et al., 2018;IPCC, 2019). Extreme weather occurrences, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2019), will interrupt and reduce the global food supply resulting in higher food costs. The current estimates of a report by UN reveals that after a continuous decline over a decade, numbers of people suffering from hunger crisis have gradually increased since 2015. Data reveals that at present there are around 690 million people who are hungry which equates to 8.9% of the world population. The report further states that a majority of undernourished population have been found living in Asia and more than 250 million live in Africa, where the numbers are increasing at a very fast rate than anywhere else in the world. On the other hand, there are an estimated 2 billion people who lack access to safe, nutritious and adequate food and are exposed to food insecurity. The report explains that if the present trend persists, the number of people affected by hunger and undernourishment will exceed 840 million, i.e., 9.8% of total population (Arora and Mishra, 2022). The Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that the number of people who lack regular intake of sufficient calories is increasing. India has ranked poorly for GHI position amongst 107 countries as 100th in 2017, 102nd in 2019, and 94th in 2020. This ranking was counterintuitive considering the fifth rank of India in the world economy. However, Indian policymakers have argued that hunger is an emotional subject and there have been many criticisms and rebuttals of the GHI. Thus, GHI is a misleading hunger index as its methodology ignores genetic factors wherein international norms on stunting and wasting may not be applicable to India (Singh et al., 2021).During the last two decades, stress has increased by more than two folds, majorly attributed to temperature rise, drought, and salinization of agricultural lands. According to a new metaanalysis study, the worldwide average temperature will rise by almost 5 °C by 2,100 (Raftery et al., 2017). Increased heavy metal poisoning of agricultural areas is restricting food output while also posing major health dangers to humans (Rehman et al., 2018). Besides abiotic stresses, biotic stresses also induce stresses through infestations with insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nematodes. Although plants have evolved with various kinds of defence systems to survive, such as halophytes have developed a specific organ to emit salt, as seen by Limonium bicolor's salt gland (Yuan et al., 2013;2016). The available basic information on chickpea for the genomic structure (Singh et al., 2013), genetic resources for Dof genes (Yadav et al., 2016), salinity (Mittal et al., 2015), drought (Singh et al., 2012;Singh et al., 2013;Bhardwaj et al., 2014;Mittal et al., 2014;Kumar et al., 2017;Yadav et al., 2019;Bhardwaj et al., 2021), nitrate reductase (Katoch et al., 2016), superoxide dismutase (Singh A. P. et al., 2022) and appropriate strategies (Chandana et al., 2022;Singh R. K. et al., 2022) are necessary and will facilitate the deployment of biotechnological approaches to develop heritably engineered transgenic chickpea plants with upgraded stress resistance. To combat food scarcity, an amalgamation of outdated plant breeding and novel methodologies such as molecular plant breeding and gene editing must be applied. Targeted genome editing boosted grain size related metrics viz; the number of tillers, and protein quality in rice and corn including several monocots and dicots (Shan et al., 2014;Sedeek et al., 2019). The introgression of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) genomic regions implicated for stress tolerance resulted in the introduction and/or over expression of selected genes into genetically altered plants and appear to be a promising alternative for hastening the breeding of \"better\" crop plants including chickpea. Thus, genetic engineering, often known as genetically modified (GM) crop technology allows scientists to transfer valuable genes from a completely separate gene pool into the crop plants with the least amount of disturbance to the plant genome and is frequently advocated as an answer for raising yields in crops including chickpea around the world, predominantly in under-developed areas where food insecurity and low crop production are major concerns (Nelson et al., 2007).Chickpea a member of the fabacean family, one of the extremely significant and second largest leguminous food crops across the globe, has an extraordinary mandate due to the high dietary value of the grain. Today, chickpea ranks third among leguminous food plants for global production, behind field pea (Pisum sativum L) and beans (Phaseolus spp.) (FAO, 2019). It is cultivated in more than 55 countries across the globe on an estimated 14.56 million hectares area generating 14.78 million tons of total production. Chickpea production, on the other hand, is insufficient to supply the protein requirements of an ever-increasing human population (Reddy et al., 2016;Henchion et al., 2017). A foremost task for crop breeders is enhancing crop production to feed probably ~10 billion worldwide civilization by 2050 (Hickey et al., 2019). Among legumes family members, after common bean, Chickpea is the economically as well as nutritionally important crop plant. However, cultivation of chickpea is limited due to the various abiotic and biotic stress factors. Being rabi crop, it also faces low temperature stress especially during reproductive stage leading to significant loss in its production. Recently, a detailed review focusing on impact of various stresses on chickpea showed how slightest change in condition can alter the development of the plant (Rani et al., 2020;Akinlade et al., 2022). Thus, various strategies have been applied to improve the tolerance of chickpea employing various conventional breeding techniques but time consuming and laborious processes are the challenges faced by breeders in developing a cultivar tolerant to stresses (Jha et al., 2014).However, genome editing technologies have tremendous effects on plant breeding techniques to guard crop plants against numerous tasks and augment crop yield (Taranto et al., 2018). Editing the target DNA sequence by adding, selecting, or substituting nucleotide bases is a cutting-edge molecular biology technique. The techniques such as ZFNs, TALENs, Base Editors, CRISPR/Cas9, and Primer Editors are currently being used for genome editing. The CRISPR/ Cas9 technologies corroborate the utmost operational GE machineries since these are precise, less expensive, speedy, and consent for numerous site-specific genome editing (Zhu et al., 2017). Hence, in this review article, we are focusing on genetic engineering approaches as comprehensive efforts for biofortifying cytokinin dehydrogenase, nitrate reductase, superoxide dismutase to induce drought resistance, heat tolerance and higher yielding diversities that will upsurge chickpea productivity, usefulness for chickpea growing farmers to encounter global climate change, hunger and nutritional threats.Presently, India is the world largest producer of chickpea (Khine et al., 2022). Yet we dawdle behind other chickpea growing countries in productivity. Hence, it is important to improve the productivity of chickpea. To sustain chickpea production development of climate resilient cultivars are needed. Scientific community around the globe had put lots of effort to enhance yield of chickpea still not able to reach at significant level. The primary reason is that chickpeas have inherently narrow genetic base as they have been extorted to natural selection, domestication syndrome, founder effect, etc. (Abbo et al., 2003).Chickpea transformation which was accomplished using cuttingedge biotechnological techniques, is a crucial part for genetic enhancement and a prerequisite for genome editing. The efficient production of transgenic chickpeas is hampered by tissue cultures that refuse to cooperate and the occasional chimerism that is found during transformation. Legumes including chickpea are well known to be both resistant to the uptake and integration of introduced DNA (Yadav et al., 2017) and recalcitrant in terms of regeneration (Ochattet al., 2018). Being recalcitrant in nature chickpea transformation is difficult and a robust transformation method is a prerequisite for researchers to carry out the genetic transformation studies in the crop. Although several labs have reported chickpea transformation, the limitations associated with the reproducibility of the technique (Huda et al., 2000;Das Bhowmik et al., 2019), poor in vitro rooting (Polowick et al., 2004), low transformation efficiency, regeneration capacity and non-transmission of genes to subsequent generations (Sarmah et al., 2004) remain problematic. The reports available till date indicate majority of the chickpea transformation works have been carried out using Bacillus thuringiensis genes for pod borer resistance (Das et al., 2017). However, recently an agrobacterium mediated transformation system in six cultivars of chickpea with 8.6% efficiency has been established (Sadhu et al., 2022). Further, major factors leading to narrowing of genetic base, utilization of available genetic resources for devising strategies to broadening the genetic base, facilitating the transformation strategies and also provide opportunities for genome editing applications in chickpea have been explained (Singh A. P. et al., 2022).Chimerism is another challenge due to which recovery of stable transgenic lines decline. For instance, earlier researchers have revealed that the percentages of non-transmitting, chimeric lines in chickpea and lentil, were 22% and 29% respectively (Christou, 1990;Dillen et al., 1997;Sarmah et al., 2004;Celikkol Akcay et al., 2009). The effectiveness of recovering stable transgenic lines is decreased by the presence of chimeric tissues (Christou, 1990;Dillen et al., 1997;Sarmah et al., 2004;Celikkol Akcay et al., 2009). Measures for removing chimerism in legumes including chickpea yet have not been published except a single report on lentil (Celikkol Akcay et al., 2009), which showed reduced chimerism and stable expression of a GUS reporter in successive generations.The carotenoid biosynthesis candidate genes have been identified as a knockout target to increase the carotenoid concentration in chickpea (Rezaei et al., 2016). Developing different abiotic stress tolerant lines would be the future genome editing target in case of chickpea. First report of CRISPR/Cas9mediated editing of chickpea protoplasts was recently published. Scientists from Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have demonstrated the feasibility of gene editing in chickpea laying a technical foundation for future trait discovery and improvement by creating knockouts of 4-coumarate ligase (4CL) and Reveille 7 (RVE7) genes associated with drought tolerance in chickpea (Badhan et al., 2021). Thus, it is evident that though genome editing is progressing well, the recalcitrant nature of the crop for in vitro gene transfer and regeneration is a major challenge and successful chickpea traits improvement will remain dependent on the efficient plant transformation and regeneration protocols.3 Genome editing (GE) tools and strategies GE technologies have been continuously in use for dissimilar plants including species such as Arabidopsis and major crops such as rice, maize, wheat, and economically less important crops such as strawberries and peanuts. In the majority of the cases, these techniques have been employed for fundamental research as proof-of-concept or to examine gene functions. Several marketoriented qualities such as improved agronomic properties, upgraded quality of food and feed, higher endurance to abiotic and biotic stresses and herbicide tolerance have been addressed. The traditional genetic engineering strategies have several flaws and limitations, one of which is the difficulty of manipulating big genomes in higher plants (Nemudryi et al., 2014). The development of revolutionary tools for procreation and biotechnology, a genetic engineering application area, has attracted a lot of attention, resulting in the rapid development of valuable tools. Genetic modification for targeted gene augmentation is widely used in the field of plant science for both fundamental research and the development of desirable characteristics in commercial crops.The generations of GM crops rely on randomly inserting new stretches of DNA sequences into the genome. The inserted genome may affect or inactivate other neighbouring genes' activity which is one of the major concerns of this strategy. However, genome editing makes advantage of more contemporary knowledge and technology to allow for the alteration of a definite area of the genome, enhancing the preciseness of the insertion, avoiding cell death, and providing flawless duplication (Voytas, 2013;Voytas and Gao, 2014). Genome editing, also known as genome engineering, is one of the utmost talented machineries applied in biological investigation (Hu et. al., 2008), engineering revolutions and right now a sophisticated tool that allows for precise changes to the genome, using only some of the nucleotides in a living cell's genome sequence. Despite those facilitations, various obstacles exist which include public scepticism about GM crops, which is heightened when \"foreign\" genes from remotely related creatures are introduced, as this is viewed as \"unnatural,\" despite mounting shreds of evidences to the differences as natural sweet potato variations are well recognized to include T-DNA from the bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens and can be seen as \"natural GMO\" (Rastogi Verma, 2013;Lucht, 2015). GM crop production is costly, and the biosafety education required to come across controlling criteria adds significantly to the cost, which is predicted over $120 million per trait (Lusser et al., 2012). As a result, GM technology could not be utilized to its potential, except in a few crops by a few countries. Similarly, in chickpeas very limited efforts on transformation for a few selected target traits have been accomplished (Table 1). Monitoring of necessities also cause significant delays in product introductions. Targeting gene expression with homologous recombination is a valuable way for obtaining facts on genetic expressions (Capecchi, 2005;Gaj et al., 2013). However, the technique's implementation has been limited owing to its low efficiency, extended study duration, mutagenesis consequences, and off-target impacts. Here, various approaches have been discussed that are/may be used in chickpea genome editing like site-specific recombinase or Site-Specific Nucleases that could be used to modify the genome.SSR is a frequently used genetic engineering technique for permanently altering the target genome. Lots of site-specific recombinase systems have been developed to accomplish DNA reorganizations including Cre/loxP and Flp/FRT (Araki et al., 1995;Allen and Weeks, 2005;Allen et al., 2009;Wang et al., 2011). SSRs can be used to manipulate genomes and stimulate or deactivate gene expression in numerous organisms (Wang et al., 2011). Recombinase has been widely utilized to modify the DNA of mammals, yeast, plants, and bacteria by introducing knockout or knock-in mutations into their genomes (Abdallah et al., 2015). One of the benefits of recombinases is that they are not reliant on intracellular repair mechanisms (Abdallah et al., 2015).SSRs are molecular machines that allow DNA molecules to be cut, paste and editing by adding, removing, or inverting precisely defined DNA segments (Grindley et al., 2006;Gaj et al., 2014). The mechanism incorporates and eliminates the bacteriophage DNA from a definite location in its host genome. Escherichia coli was the first example of site-specific recombination in bacteria (Landy, 2015). Each strand of recombining DNA has two core-type sites, which are inverted repeat recombinase binding sites, that flank an identical 7 bp \"overlap region\" called as O in both DNAs (Rutkai et al., 2006). The two active Ints on one side of the \"overlap region\" cleave and interchange the top strands of the DNA to form a fourway DNA junction called Holliday junction (HJ), which is subsequently resolved to recombinant products by the other pair of Ints cleaving and trading the bottom strands of the overlap region. Additional DNA sequences that encode binding sites for the second (NTD) DNA binding domain of Int and the accessory DNA bending proteins, IHF, Xis, and Fis are added to two of the four core-type sites. However, some sites are considered necessary either only for excisive recombination between the attL and attR sites, or for integrative recombination between attP (on the phage chromosome) and attB (on the bacterial chromosome), or needed for both reactions (Landy, 2015). Two short DNA sequences are brought together at different positions inside one DNA or in distinct molecules; the DNA fragments are damaged at specified phosphodiester links inside DNA, and the damaged ends are re- joined in a new configuration to generate recombinants (Figure 1A). The identification of sequence and biochemical catalytic phases of this procedure is carried out by the site-specific recombinase, a system-specific enzyme. It is frequently discussed as conventional particular recombination to discriminate it from procedures like homologous recombination (HR), transposition, and nonhomologous end-joining, since it does not need DNA synthesis, fragmentation, or cofactors. In more complicated systems, the SSR dimer's \"crossover site\" neighbouring to \"accessory\" sequences is acknowledged and assured by the SSR and/or additional proteins (Figure 1B). The first and foremost application, which was established more than two decades before, is the elimination of a targeted gene from a locus (Dale and Ow, 1991;Russell et al., 1992), which has been monitored quickly by site-specific integration (SSI) to construct accurate one-copy transgene loci and determining complex loci to one copy (De Buck et al., 2007;Srivastava and Ow, 2015). These applications were established for the first time using the Cre-lox system and then lengthened to include additional SSR systems such as Par A, FLP-FRT, phiC31, R-RS, Cin H, and Bxb1 (Sugita et al., 2000;Li Z. et al., 2009;Moon et al., 2011;Thomson et al., 2012). SSR systems can knock down the genome liable on the positioning of the definite sites adjoining the target site. These systems are applicable in numerous plant species and can be used in chickpeas for genetic modification tasks: 1) marker gene elimination and 2) particular external gene insertion via site-specific integration.The three SSR systems identified in the initial 1990s, namely, Cre-lox from bacteriophage P1 of E. coli, FLP-FRT from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and R-RS from Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are still in use for incorporating diversities in crop plants and can be employed also in chickpea in order to encounter the global climate change and hunger threat. Enzyme recombinase Cre, FLP, or R catalyses recombination in between its analogous recombination sites lox, FRT, or RS, in these recombination systems. Each recombination target site (RTS) up to 34 bp in length has an unequal core/spacer section flanks inverted repeats (RE and LE) that act as recombinase binding locations. Several regions confer the cross over sites, while their unevenness provides the recombination site directions. The reaction steps are 1) identification along with the binding of recombinase dimers to  Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org mandatory sites, 2) synaptic complex formation between bound positions, 3) strand exchange and fusion proceedings mediated by recombinase, 4) synaptic complex segregation (Whiteson and Rice, 2008). Some other SSR systems for plant transformation developed in recent years, such as the ΦC31att and λ-att systems, which consist of a recombinase protein, phiC31 or λ integrase (Int), and catalyse recombination between unrelated recombination sites identified as attB and attP to produce fusion sites attL and attR.The translocation, co-integration, inversion, and deletion can occur subject to the location of attB and attP. However, to catalyze the reverse reaction and reproduce attL and attR hybrid sites from attB and attP, a supplementary excision/resolvase protein is required; therefore, the incorporation reaction is one way in absence of protein.System-specific SSR organization unfolds that the majority of the thousands known site-specific recombination systems are divided into 2 families. These are recombinases of serine and tyrosine, termed after the identification of amino acid residues at the nucleophilic active sites. The side chain of serine or tyrosine breaks a strand by attacking the phosphodiester bond of the DNA and covalently links at the damaged DNA strand end. The phosphodiester link between the DNA preserves bond energy, allowing recombinant strands to be re-joined without the use of cofactors like ATP or additional polymerase or ligase processing. The common features between these two families are crossover site recognition by SSR dimer and catalysis within the SSR tetramer, although their mode of action is different and the proteins have no sequence and organizational similarities (Castillo et al., 2017).1. Tyrosine recombinases: Tyrosine side chain attacks a specific phosphodiester bond in the recombination site. When tyrosine recombinase attacks the DNA strands, the hydroxyl group of tyrosine residue covalently bonds to each 3′end of the damaged DNA. Tyrosine recombinases interchange, disrupt and rejoin two DNA strands at once; their reactions continue through a \"Holiday\" or 4-way connection intermediary, in which 2 strands are non-recombinant while the remaining 2 are recombinant (Figure 2). In experimental genetics and biotechnology, several tyrosine recombinases have been utilized; in fact, the most extensively used SSRs such as Cre (Sauer and Henderson, 1989) and FLP (Golic and Lindquist, 1989) and R (Onouchi et al., 1991) are members of this family. 2. Serine recombinases: Serine recombinase breaks the DNA strand by the aggression of the phosphodiester with the OH group of serine amino acid and covalently attaches the recombinant DNA to the 5′end at the breakdown. During recombination, serine recombinases create instantaneous double strand breaks in both recombining sites and there is no Holliday junction. A unique subunit rotation mechanism causes recombination by swapping the locations of the cut DNA ends (Figure 3). The upper and lower strand breaks are always 2 bp apart and proportionally positioned in the midpoint of the crossover sites (Smith and Thorpe, 2002;Marshall Stark, 2015). The serine recombinases family contains phiC31 Integrase and phi C31 excisionase (Thorpe and Smith, 1998).The advantages of using SSR over other methods for DNA rearrangement are concise due to its specificity, efficiency, and simplicity as SSR is rigorously restricted to a particular DNA sequence consisting of a site of 30-40 amino acids (Gaj et al., 2013;Carroll, 2014). In vitro and in vivo, site-specific recombination could be exceedingly quick and effectual under optimum conditions (Nash et al., 1996). The SSR encourages full recombination by breaking and re-joining of all 4 DNA filaments at the recombination sites. There are no additional cofactors required (Olorunniji et al., 2016).The first application of Cre to catalyze the exclusion of selectable marker genes from transgenic tobacco (Dale and Ow, 1991;Albert et al., 1995) happened in the early 90s followed by several other reports such as in rice (Hoa et al., 2002;Radhakrishnan and Srivastava, 2005;Hu et al., 2008), wheat (Srivastava et al., 1999), tomato (Stuurman et al., 1996), barley (Kapusi et al., 2012), soybean (Li et al., 2009), Arabidopsis (Vergunst and Hooykaas, 1998), maize (Zhang et al., 2003;Kerbach et al., 2005;Anand et al., 2019) and in Chickpea-Rhizobium Rcd301 utilizing site-specific homologous recombination, the hup gene fragment from cosmid pHU52 was incorporated into the genome followed by addition of two fragments of the strain Rcd301's own genomic DNA to flank the cloned hup genes for successful integration (Vijaya Bhanu et al., 1994).ODM, which dates back to the early 1980s, is a gene editing tool that is a base pair specific, precise and non-transgenic that has been greatly advanced to create unique and commercially relevant features in agriculturally important crops and can also be employed in chickpea. ODM, after its successful application in mammalian systems, has set off as an alternative novel gene edition method for plants (Abdurakhmonov, 2016;Sauer et al., 2016). ODM is a technique for targeted mutagenesis that employs a 20-100 base oligo nucleotide whose sequence is alike to the target sequence in the genome excluding a unit base pair change to achieve site-specified editing of the sequence of interest (Rádi et al., 2021). When these short oligonucleotide sequences are temporarily exposed to cultured plant cells, the repair template matches and binds to the homologous plant DNA sequence. The cell's inherent repair mechanism recognizes the single base mismatch between its DNA and the repair template once it has been attached. The cell will restore its DNA sequence by replicating the discrepancy in its DNA sequence. As a result, the oligo nucleotide is destroyed by the cell, and the required particular alteration in the plant's DNA is created. Plants with the precise mutation are then regenerated using tissue culture techniques, and standard breeding techniques are used to efficiently breed the desired features into elite plant varieties while removing undesired characteristics.ODM has been greatly advanced using Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS). The RTDS ™ machinery deals with a quick, explicit, and non-transgenic breeding substitute for traits enhancement to create unique commercially relevant features in agriculturally essential crops (Gocal et al., 2015). The RTDS method uses the cell's regular DNA repair system to alter particularly targeted bases in the genome for utilization of chemically generated oligo nucleotides. These oligo nucleotides serve as restoration templates causing DNA mismatches at the target location. The ODM approach has been used successfully in a variety of plant crops, including herbicide tolerance (Zhu et al., 1999;Okuzaki and Toriyama, 2004;Dong et al., 2006;Rádi et al., 2021). Single point mutations are one of the ways of ODM applications in plants to transform endogenous loci(s) by targeting Aceto-Hydroxy Acid Synthase (AHAS) gene. Herbicides that block this enzyme such as imidazolinones (Imis), chlorsulfuron (CS), pyrimidinyl thiobenzoates, sulfonylureas (SUs), and bispyribacsodium (BS) make mutant enzymes easily selective (Tan et al., 2005). HRAC Group B and Australian Group B herbicides are classified as Group 2 herbicides in the Canadian herbicide classification system. One of three amino acid sites P197, S653, and W574 were targeted based on numbering on the Arabidopsis AHAS protein sequence to accomplish struggles to the afore mentioned herbicide chemistries. The study defining the fruitful applications of ODM was first conducted in the tobacco Nt-1 cell suspensions (Beetham et al., 1999;Ruiter et al., 2003), henceforth on maize (Zhu et al., 1999;Zhu et al., 2000). Other crops such as rice (Okuzaki and Toriyama, 2004), rapeseed (Ruiter et al., 2003;Gocal et al., 2015), including Arabidopsis (Kochevenko and Willmitzer, 2003) were also studied and tested. The transformation rates are liable to the crop, its cellular biology, the type of oligonucleotide and its concentration, the strand being directed, and the specific mutation taking place, which makes it difficult to compare different oligonucleotide delivery systems. In many aspects, the application of a fluorescence conversion approach, in which a BFP that is a Blue Fluorescent Protein could be converted into green fluorescent protein (GFP) just by editing a unit nucleotide of the Blue Fluorescent Protein gene, has improved oligo nucleotide mediated conversions. For example, oligo nucleotide length optimization and end protective chemistries have shown the potentials in boosting conversion rates (Sauer et al., 2016).The protoplasts, generated through a BFP transgenic strain, were evaluated for the BFP to GFP gene edit for demonstrating the efficiency of oligo nucleotide mediated conversions in Arabidopsis. The findings show that oligo nucleotide mediated conversions have an excellent way to induce precise alterations in Arabidopsis. Moreover, these oligo nucleotide optimizations can have a big impact on the frequency of targeted modifications (Sauer et al., 2016). Furthermore, ODM has the potentials to improve crops without introducing additional genetic material by utilizing the plant's genome to boost abiotic (heat, drought, salinity) and biotic disease resistance (insect, bacterial, and virus), nutritional value, as well as its yield. ODM is presented as one of the numerous innovative breeding approaches that have set about the commercialization of food plants due to its capacity to accurately change sequences in genomes. Some commercial crops have been exploited via ODM such as maize, wheat, rice and rapeseed for herbicide tolerance as mentioned above. In 2016, A US based company Cibus put forward a herbicide tolerant rapeseed in several EU countries as a test case by using ODM in Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS) (Fladung, 2016). So far, no work has been reported in chickpea using ODM. Nevertheless, it is equally applicable in chickpea as well and may be expected to be done in near future.Sequence-specific nuclease-based mutagenesis was first employed in plant research 15 years ago in 2006 (Razzaq et al., 2019) where engineered nucleases (ENs) were primarily used (Bruce Wallace et al., 1981) and engineered nucleases are divided into four categories: Zinc-Finger Nucleases (ZFNs), Transcription Activator Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs), Mega-nucleases and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-Systems. SSNs work by building endonucleases that can cleave DNA onto a specific sequence in the genome. SSNs can have DNA or RNA binding pockets that attach to specific target sequences (Gaj et al., 2013;Carroll, 2014). These evolving technologies are progressing at breakneck speed, particularly in the realm of CRISPR-based genome editing (Abdallah et al., 2015;Kamburova et al., 2017) and are equally applicable in food legumes including chickpea.Currently, scientists have access to several techniques that can assist them to tackle difficulties related to precise genome editing in plants. Kim et al. (1996) discovered for the first time that protein domains like \"zinc fingers\" combine with FokI endonuclease domains, which act as site-responsive ZFNs and cleave DNA in vitro in well-defined locations (Miller et al., 2007). The chimeric protein has a modular structure because each one \"zinc finger\" domain recognizes nucleotides in the form of a triplet. This approach was used to alter cultured cells including both model and non-model plants (Cai et al., 2014). These were the first class of proteins to target a specific region of DNA and make doublestranded breaks. For their action Flavobacterium okeanokoites I (Fok1) nuclease enzymes assist them (Khandagale and Nadaf, 2016). The Cys2His2 type Zinc fingers are considered as most common eukaryotic transcription factors, whereas zinc finger nucleases are engineered restriction enzymes. It comprises 30 amino acids present in ββα fold and the inking of zinc provides more stability to the structure (Chen et al., 2014). The crystalline form of Zinc finger protein showed that it binds to major grooves of target DNA (Aslam et al., 2019). Structurally, its monomer consists of two important domains, namely, the DNA binding domain and DNA cleavage domain or nuclease domain. Out of an array of 4-6, zinc finger domains each of them recognizes 3bp of DNA sequence as shown in Figure 4. Using the phage display method wide range of ZFNs domains recognizing specific DNA triplets are identified. Knowing distinct domain recognized by ZFNs allow us to fuse them in tandem via linker peptide to form polydactyly zinc finger proteins that can target a wide range of DNA sequences (Gaj et al., 2016). Recent studies have tried to include more fingers to recognize longer and cleave rare targets (Urnov et al., 2010). The specificity of adherence to DNA is influenced by interaction with adjacent domains too (Petolino, 2015). For high specificity two ZFN monomers are required as the FokI nuclease domain act in dimerized form. Furthermore, the amino acids positioned at first, second, third, and +6 at the starting of the zinc finger alpha helix, contribute to peculiar binding to sites (Osakabe and Osakabe, 2015).To reduce off-site cleavage, FoKI variants have been developed which require heterodimerization between two monomers of ZFN (Ran et al., 2018). Engineering methods are widely used for the construction of engineered ZFNs, identification of triplet sequences, modular assembly, and oligomerized pool. The drawback of this approach is that ZFNs can bind to neighbouring fingers as well as to bases present outside of the proximity of the targeted DNA triplet (Urnov et al., 2010). GE through ZFNs yields modification with efficiencies of more than 10% by creating double-stranded breaks (Miller et al., 2007). The efficiency of mutagenesis was reported in Arabidopsis and it was found to be 78% in case of simple deletions, 13% in simple insertions, and approximately 8% in deletions with long insertions (Lloyd et al., 2005). In another study, the constitutive expression of ZFN resulted in a 2% mutation and deletion of sequence ranging from 1 to 80 bp (de Pater et al., 2009).Despite of challenges faced during the construction of ZFNs, they have been widely used to modify genes of cultivated crops Arabidopsis, tobacco, maize, soybean, and canola (Mushtaq et al., 2019). In maize disruption of endogenous inositol phosphatase kinase 1 gene by the introduction of PAT gene cassettes lead to the development of herbicide-tolerant cultivars and simultaneously alteration in inositol phosphate of developing seeds (Zhang et al., 2018). In another approach, ABA INSENSITIVE-4 (ABI4) gene was mutagenized in Arabidopsis, and the frequency of insertion and deletion was a maximum of 3% in nine transgenic lines. However, when estrogen-inducible ZFNs were used to create mutations in Arabidopsis, in the first generation the rate of mutations was 7% and 16% in the two genes, namely, alcohol dehydrogenase1 and transparent test4 (Zhang F. et al., 2010). In the oil seed family, ZFN was performed in soybean and brassica to improve agronomic traits. A similar approach was made to create mutations in dicer-like (DCL) genes in soybean to develop the Zinger finger consortium by contextdependent assembly (Curtin et al., 2013). In Brassica napus, the method has been used for activation of β-ketoac-ACP synthase II, resulting in a decrease in the production of palmitic acid and entire saturated fatty acid content (Gupta et al., 2012). Recently, purified ZFN monomer proteins were isolated from bacterial cultures and delivered into unmodified microspores to edit the inositol pentakiphosphatase kinase1 gene, which is found to be involved in catalysing the end step of phytic acid production (Bilichak et al., 2020). In the populous, the heat-inducible ZFN system mutagenizes floral genes at a rate of 0.3% (Lu et al., 2016). In tobacco, mutations were targeted in SuRA and SuRB conferring herbicidal resistance to imidazolinone and sulfonylurea compounds (Maeder et al., 2008;Townsend et al., 2009). ZFN approach can be used to facilitate multiple knockouts of the gene as seen in wheat, three homologous copies of the acetohydroxy acid synthase gene were targeted simultaneously (Ran et al., 2018). Against biotic stress, plants develop resistance against the pathogen, and ZFNs were artificially designed to bind against the circular single-stranded DNA of begomovirus (Chen et al., 2014). Earlier, an artificial zinc finger protein (AFP) without a nuclease domain was designed to block the transcription of viral replication protein of beet severe curly top virus, 80% of transgenic Arabidopsis showed no symptoms against BSCTV. Similarly, the Rep gene of tomato yellow leaf curl China virus and tobacco curly shoot Yunnan virus were targeted to increase the resistance against these viruses (Yin and Qiu, 2019). Peer et al. (2015) reported the use of ZFN for the induction of targeted mutagenesis in perennial fruits including apples and fig.The creation of lines of chickpeas with only two transgenes has been described so far (Mehrotra et al., 2011). As a consequence of the limited cloning sites inside the cassettes expressing the gene, the binary vectors employed for this transformation process have limited contribution to the transfer of more than 1-2 genes. As a result, binary vectors must be improved to transfer multiple genes in chickpeas. Dual-gene binary vectors have been created using zinc finger nucleases, which can bind and cleave lengthy DNA sequences (Zeevi et al., 2012). In chickpeas, similar procedures can be used to create a binary vector for many transgenes insertion.Despite successful examples, various challenges are certain limitations viz; the need for DNA/protein interaction, redesigning of protein for a different DNA sequence every time is a difficult task, costly and time taking approach (Piatek et al., 2018).Site-specific restriction endonucleases can be employed to make site-directed double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the genome. Mega nucleases also known as homing endonucleases are unique enzymes with high activity and long recognition sequences (>14 bp) that digest target DNA in a site-specific manner (Epinat et al., 2003;Smith et al., 2006). Epinat et al. (2003) described the manufacture of hybrid enzymes utilizing two mega nucleases that identify new target sequences, I-Cre I and I-Dmo I. Novel mega nuclease variants that detect unique sequences with enhanced nuclease activities have also been created using specialized mutagenesis and high-throughput screening approaches (Smith et al., 2006;Arnould et al., 2007;Grizot et al., 2009).In comparison to other SSN systems, mega nuclease has the disadvantage of being more expensive and time-demanding to develop sequence-specific enzymes for all conceivable sequences. As a result, each new genome-engineering target necessitates a first round of protein engineering to create a bespoke mega nuclease. As a result, working with mega nucleases has been difficult, and patent battles have hampered the progress (Smith et al., 2012).The area of GE is rapidly expanding as new approaches and technologies emerge. GE will be required to enhance crop production since the global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 (IPCC, 2019), while arable land shrinks. In 2009, TALEN effectors for DNA targeting were revealed. The discovery of distinctive transcription activator like effector (TALE) protein in 2011 that recognizes and activates certain plant developed through a sequence of tandem repeats led to the development of a new GE method based on chimeric nucleases dubbed TALENs (Jankele and Svoboda, 2014). TALENs are easier to construct and more widely used than ZFNs. Non-etheless, repeating sequences in the TALEN composition can enhance the probability of homologous recombination. ZFNs and TALENs are structurally and functionally identical because both of them contain the restriction endonuclease FokI. TALE protein's DNA binding central repeat domain is composed of a few to 33.5 repeats, each of which is made up of 34 amino acids that triggers the transcription of the target gene. Structurally, it is composed of a monomer, which binds at one specific region in the target nucleotide sequence. Monomers are found positioned at 12 and 13 repeats of 34 amino acids and are extremely variable (that are repeat variable di-residue, RVD), and are responsible for the identification of a specific nucleotide. This code degenerates and some RVDs bind to multiple nucleotides with vastly differing efficiency degrees. The targeted DNA molecule always contains the same nucleotide, that is the thymidine, before the 5′-end of a sequence, which is bound by a TALE monomer and affects the binding efficacy. The rear most tandem repeat that clips to the nucleotide at the 3′-end of the recognition site contains approximately 20 amino acid residues and is known as a half repeat (Nemudryi et al., 2014).TALEs show high specificity towards sequence in the presence of magnesium and calcium divalent cations. However, when potassium and sodium monovalent ions are present, the TALEs are strapped to a specific as well as the non-specific region of DNA with nearly equal affinity. In comparison to monovalent ions, divalent ions in turn bind to DNA which attenuates the non-specific reciprocity between TALEs and DNA which further leads to a balanced complex (Cuculis et al., 2020).TALENs are developed by fusing the restriction endonuclease Fok-I, a nuclease entity to a TALE DNA binding domain. To carry out precise genome editing TALEN work in pairs, binding to the DNA sequence in an opposite orientation such that the FokI domain could dimerize and cut the DNA sequence present within the spacer in between the two different binding sites. Half of the targeted sites of TALEN are conscripted in a way that the pairs are presented in an opposing intention on contradictory sides of dsDNA with an optimal sequence that acts as a spacer between them (Figure 5). In yeast, the activities of TALENs were demonstrated by combining the N-or C-terminal of TALEs with the catalytic domain of the Fok-I protein, which leads to cleavage of DNA with efficiencies equivalent to ZFN. As for as, the activity of the TALEs C-terminal domain is concerned, it is not vital. Hence, shortening the C-terminal by amino acids at +17, +28, or +63 and then fusing to the Fok-1 catalytic domain is possible that increases the efficiency too. Fok-I-based TALEN also works similarly to ZFN. Based on the length of the C-terminal TALE domain optimal spacer length is selected (Miller et al., 2011).When the DNA-binding domains of two identical FokI nucleases come into contact, they dimerize and cut the DNA target. When these halves are created using a homodimer Fok-I, they can interact in three different ways. The left halves or right halves can combine to form a functional nuclease just as easily as the calculated interlinkage between the left and right halves of a nuclease set, which increases the likelihood that a TALEN will bind to sites with properties resembling those of the targeted DNA. Correspondingly, TALEN molecules may be linked to various parts of the genome in various combinations. It becomes more likely that a cell will be overrun by DSBs, leading to cell death and collateral loss to the DNA of surviving cells. Several obligatory heterodimer variations of FokI have been created to lessen off target toxicity. The created versions are based on mutagenesis, DNA shuffling, and structure-guided design (Joung and Sander, 2013).This approach was created to improve genome editing efficiency, safety, and accessibility (Boch and Bonas, 2010;Urnov et al., 2010;Miller et al., 2011). The proteins imparting the effects are members of the DNA binding protein family and, like transcription factors in eukaryotic genomes, can be utilized to induce the expression of the targeted heat tolerance genes. TAL effectors (TALEs) are produced naturally by the phytopathogen Xanthomonas oryzae (Xanthomonas), which penetrates and reaches the nucleus of the cell and modify the transcription process to provide benefit to the pathogen (Cermak et al., 2011a). TALEs consist of a core where DNA-binding repeats are presented that regulate the binding specificity of DNA via an one-to-one repeated base pair binding relationship (Cermak et al., 2011a;Deng et al., 2012). TALEs can be generated to fuse any DNA sequence by modifying the number and kind of repeats (Li et al., 2013). In vitro and in vivo, fusing a TALE to nuclease results in an enzyme that is capable of creating site specific DSBs (Christian et al., 2010;Mahfouz et al., 2011;Deng et al., 2012). RVDs of the TALE repeat sequence enhance and stabilize the contact with the amino acid at the 13 positions, which give binding specificity, which are the structural foundations of TALE-DNA binding (Boch et al., 2009;Deng et al., 2012).Because of their DNA-binding specificities, TALEs can be employed as DNA binding modules in the creation of synthetic transcriptional and epigenetic regulators. TALENs have catalysed much amusement and excitement among researchers as they can be designed easily and rapidly that ally modular DNA binding of TALE repeat domains to discrete bases in a target binding site. The primitive building blocks are used to design the domain of TALENs where DNA binds are highly conserved. Recently, cocrystal structures of TALE showed that DNA binding domains were bound to their coupled sites in the major groove of DNA (Joung and Sander, 2013).For TALEs, several engineering platforms have been created. Furthermore, researchers examined the genetic makeup of bacteria besides, Xanthomonas and discovered that Ralstonia solanacearum has Ralstonia TALE-like proteins (that is RTLs) which have corresponding structure but distinct repeats with specificity as determined by numbers of RVD presence (Bogdanove et al., 2010;Remigi et al., 2011).The TALEN mediated genome editing approach was applied for crop enhancement for the first time in rice by disrupting the bacterial blight susceptibility gene Os SWEET14 and producing a mutant rice to show resistance towards bacterial blight (Li et al., 2012). TALENs have also been utilized to knock out three TaMLO homeologs in wheat to develop powdery mildew resistant wheat (Wang et al., 2014). Char et al. (2015) generated mutants of maize with the glossy phenotype, reduced amount of epicuticular wax in the leaves, and the ability to be surface manured by eliminating the maize GL2 gene. TALEN mediated mutagenesis has increased the composition of the cell wall and saccharification effectiveness in sugarcane (Jung and Altpeter, 2016;Kannan et al., 2018). During cold storage, product quality declines majorly because of the accumulation of reducing sugars. As observed in potato tubers, knocking down the vacuolar invertase (VInv) gene resulted in tubers with undetectable amounts of harmful reducing sugars (Clasen et al., 2016). Integrating TALENs and donor DNA in Gemini virus replicons markedly escalate the copy number and homologous recombination efficiency via introducing a powerful promoter upstream of the gene regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis resulting in purple tomatoes with an increased amount of anthocyanin (Čermák et al., 2015). Recently, one of the mitochondrial orf genes, orf 312 (CMS-associated gene), knocked out by this approach showed that it is responsible for pollen abortion and leads to cytoplasmic male sterility in rice (Takatsuka et al., 2022). These examples show how TALEN technology can be used to improve crops including chickpea heat tolerance and yield traits in a variety of ways. However, the production of TALE repeats remains a difficult path to follow and harness the efficacy of gene targeting.CRISPR technology was introduced 2 years later, after the discovery of the TALEN proteins. CRISPR, which consists of non-coding RNAs and Cas proteins, was developed and has since become widely employed. Unlike first generation genome editing approaches, CRISPR/Cas9 is easy to design, clone, and the similar Cas9 protein theoretically can be used with a variety of guide RNAs to target several locations throughout the genome. The most commonly used genome editing tools are TALENs and CRISPR associated Cas9. Each represents a type of engineered nuclease that can be customized to recognize, bind, and cleave a specific sequence in the genome. TALENs are entirely protein-based, and CRISPR/Cas9 has both protein and RNA components (Musunuru, 2017). Unlike the chimeric TALEN proteins, the CRISPR/Cas9 system recognizes the DNA site which needs to be altered by a complementary interaction between a noncoding RNA and the targeted site. Hence, it leads to the formation of a complex consisting of non-coding RNA and Cas9 proteins having nuclease activity. The generalized mechanism of CRISPR technology is depicted below as Figure 6. CRISPR associated Cas9 system, is the most prominent and innovative genome editing approach which has recently become popular. CRISPR/CAS-9 has been widely accepted due to its preciseness, high efficiency, and utility to ameliorate abiotic and   3.3.4.1 Applications of CRISPR/Cas9 systems CRISPR can make deliberate changes in genome structures hence it has a tremendous impact on bioengineering and molecular biology. The technology was used to improve the colour, shelf life, and commercial attractiveness of fruits and vegetables by reducing the amount of toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids. A boost in amylose, starch, aroma, good fats like oleic acid, etc., and a decrease in gluten proteins and unsaturated fatty acid content and so on were among the other modifications (Jiang et al., 2017;Sun et al., 2017). Thus, in crop plants, the CRISPR/cas9 technique can be exploited to improve the yield and quality by increasing the shell life, amending colour, size, texture, etc. (Xing et al., 2020).To develop biotic resistant crops an attempt was made, where initiation factor elF4E of cucumber was inactivated using CRISPR/Cas9 system, resulting in plants found to be resistant towards cucumber vein yellowing virus. Similarly, grape knockout of VvWRKY52 increased tolerance against fungal infection. In another experiment conducted on rice, CRISPR/ Cas9 knocked out the LAZY1 gene resulting in a tiller-spreading phenotype that may boost yield in a certain environment (Miao et al., 2013;Li et al., 2016). In another study, three different genes including Grain Number 1a (Gn1a), dense and erect panicle (dep1), and grain size (GS3) of the rice cultivar Zhonghua 11 were mutated by the CRISPR/Cas9 system those showed a greater number of grains with an increase in size and dense erect panicles. Recently, the role of Oryza sativa senescence associated protein during drought has been explored by editing drought induced genes (Park et al., 2022).Chickpea production is hampered by drought, low and high temperatures, and other abiotic conditions (Gaur et al., 2008;Mantri et al., 2010;Jha et al., 2014). Recently, two potential genes, 4 coumarate ligase (4CL) playing important role in phenylpropanoid metabolism, and Reveille 7 (RVE7) involved in circadian rhythm were chosen for CRISPR/Cas9 editing in chickpea protoplast, both of which are linked to drought tolerance. The 4CL enzyme is engaged in the phenylpropanoid metabolism pathway during the production of lignin. To knock off these targeted genes in chickpeas, researchers used DNA free CRISPR/Cas9 editing tool. In chickpeas, protoplast editing is a revolutionary technique for accomplishing targeted mutagenesis.In comparison to the 4CL gene, the RVE7 gene showed excellent in vivo editing effectiveness. According to Ninan et al. (2019), in the leaves of chickpeas, cytokines have increased sink activities. Isopentenyl transferase controls the earliest steps in the synthesis of cytokines (IPT). The cytokinin dehydrogenase or oxidase is now in charge of controlling cytokinin breakdown. Root-specific promoter CaWRKY31 of chickpeas could be used to explore the mechanism behind how cytokinin diminution impacts the development of root architecture and tolerance towards drought. In Arabidopsis and chickpeas to study definite and indeterminate growth patterns, a root specific promoter CaWRKY31 can be used. In the model plant Arabidopsis and chickpea, it is observed that root-specific CaCKX6 expression increased the proliferation of lateral roots plant biomass without impairing the vegetative and reproductive development. Root cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) gene activity was seen to be increased in transgenic chickpea strains. CKX gene functional characterization studies in chickpeas have only recently begun. Gene editing tools such as TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9 approach can be quite useful in this situation (Mahto et al., 2022). Gene editing technologies can help with knock-ins in addition to knockouts.Heat, drought, floods, temperature extremes, salt, heavy metals, radiation, and other factors can contribute to abiotic stress. Stress has a significant impact on the yield of crops. Several crops have been mutated to defend against abiotic (Shan et al., 2013;Klap et al., 2017). To boost drought tolerance in maize, researchers employed CRISPR/Cas9 to introduce a promoter at a specific region (Shi et al., 2017). Site specific genomic change has previously been accomplished using gene editing tools like zinc finger nuclease and transcription activator like effector nucleases, but these tools have limitations (Gupta and Musunuru, 2014).Biotic stress, on the other hand, is caused by microbes like fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Several crops have been mutated to defend against biotic stresses (Lu et al., 2018). Hybrid breeding, which includes improvements in hybrid wheat seed production, is another approach to increasing crop output. Hybrid crops are effective high yielding cultivars today, yet hybrid seed production requires emasculation to avoid self-pollination.These gene editing technologies like TALENs or CRISPR/Cas9 can be quite useful in the creation of non-genetically modified crops that have the desired trait, boosting yield potential under biotic and abiotic stress situations (Mahto RK et al., 2022).However, a major drawback of CRISPR technology compared to other genome editing tools is the high frequency of off target mutations even to the extent of up to 50%. (Zhang et al., 2015). The most difficult problem so far has been getting the CRISPR system into the target cells. Each crop including chickpea that uses CRISPR/Cas9 has intrinsic restrictions. At first, it is impossible to determine potential editing targets of interest or evaluate gRNAs off target behaviour without access to or incomplete assembly of a genome sequence (Hahn and Nekrasov, 2019). There is a need for additional research in this field due to technical challenges in creating viable transgenic chickpeas and the lack of a stable transient system of expression for quick study of gene expression and function (Badhan et al., 2021). The generalized limitations and benefits of CRISPR technology is depicted below as Figure 7.Over the past few years, numerous prime editing (PE) and base editing (BE) variants have been created and experimentally validated in plants (Molla et al., 2021). These are two recently established genome engineering techniques that can rapidly insert specific modifications into target regions without the use of donor DNA templates or DSB creations. Applications like controlling cis-elements, altering RNA splice sites, including synthetic miRNAs, or customizing miRNA binding sites are made possible using PE and BE technologies. The binding locations of effectors produced by fungal infections to target plant susceptibility genes may also be altered by these methods and heritable resistance may be passed down in this manner (Van Vu et al., 2022). Both base editing and prime editing have been tested on a variety of plant types and proven to be effective.BE is a game changing method for precisely implanting point mutations at the appropriate places without the use of donor DNA templates or the production of double strand breaks (Rees and Liu, 2018). First cytosine base editor (CBE) was produced using a SpCas9 (D10A) nickase in combination with a cytidine deaminase and an uracil glycosylase inhibitor (UGI) to make the transition from C G to T A (Komor et al., 2016). Following that cytidine deaminase will deaminate the exposed non-target DNA strand changing cytosine (C) to uracil (U) resulting in a C to T base change during DNA repair and replication. Structurally, the adenine base editor (ABE) is analogous to the CBE, and using E. coli transfer RNA adenosine deaminase (ecTadA), it converts adenine A) to inosine (I) in the non-target strand (Gaudelli et al., 2017). Moreover, in a variety of plant species, CBEs and ABEs have been employed to research the function of genes undiscovered and improve crop qualities (Molla and Yang, 2019;Mishra et al., 2020). To handle CT and AG conversion in a genomic area of interest, an interesting approach was applied, and a dual base kind of editor was constructed by fusing cytidine and adenosine deaminases into Cas protein. Discretely, CBE, ABE as well as dual base editors, have a similar mode of action: deamination of C and A by cytidine and adenosine deaminase, respectively (Abdallah et al., 2021). The generalized mechanism of base editing technology is depicted below as Figure 8.Although CRISPR based precision genome editing technologies have evolved and flourished fast, these tools have been unable to reach organelle genomes because of the non-availability of guide RNA as well as Cas proteins inside organelles. Hence, it is important and needs to explore the possible ways to approach organelle specific gene editing of monocots and dicots to decipher the function of the gene and limit the off targets' chance. However, very recently, organellar genome engineering has been described (Mok et al., 2020) and the group has discovered the deaminase domain of the bacterial toxin DddA which is structurally similar to that of APOBEC enzymes and deaminates the cytosines in double stranded DNA (dsDNA). DddAtox is being integrated with organelle focused transcription activator like effector (TALE) repeat arrays, which directly deaminates dsDNA in organellar genomes. Despite the efficiency of DdCBEs in a variety of species of the plants, various issues such as DddAtox deaminase sequence preference and likely editing of off target sites must be directed before precise organellar genome editing in plants can be carried out (Azameti and Dauda, 2021).PE is a non DSB genome editing method that results in all feasible base conversions, tiny indels, and combinations of them at selected regions (Anzalone et al., 2019). The target site is specified using guide RNA with a 5′spacer sequence. The Cas9 nickase reverse transcriptase and fusion proteins are the prerequisites. The prime editing guide RNA called pegRNA, which guides the fusion of proteins to identify the target site before causing a nick on the non-target strand, after which it anneals with primer binding site (PBS) and finally primes the reverse transcriptase of the reverse transcriptase template, which then copies the right sequence into the target after a lengthy DNA repair mechanism (Anzalone et al., 2019). The generalized mechanism of prime editing technology is depicted below as Figure 9.The PE method has been used with a variety of plants (Xu R. et al., 2020;Butt et al., 2020;Xu W. et al., 2020;Hua et al., 2020;Jiang et al., 2020;Li et al., 2020). In comparison to mammalian cells editing frequencies are lower in monocot plants and in dicot species not at all (Lu et al., 2021;Wang et al., 2021). PE events have been observed in stable transgenic lines of two important crops Oryza sativa and Solanum Lycopersicon, however, the ratio of homozygous in comparison to biallelic edits is significantly low (Xu R. et al., 2020;Xu W. et al., 2020;Hua et al., 2020;Li et al., 2020;Lin et al., 2020;Lu et al., 2021), indicating PE's inefficiency in plants (Hua et al., 2020). Further, Biswas et al. (2022) have shown a low range of prime editing efficiency in legumes, ranging from 0.2% to 0.5% of protoplast cells showing the targeted edits, a higher editing efficiency is expected once transgenic plants are developed. However, further optimization of the prime editing system should improve editing efficiency in legumes including chickpea.Research articles related to DSB independent genome editing tools, base editing, and prime editing considered them to be more predictive than DSB dependent genome editing tools, which have various advantages including knowing about the function of gene and precision crop breeding (Komor et al., 2016;Gaudelli et al., 2017;Anzalone et al., 2019). Bes, PEs can interrupt genes by incorporating stop codons, alternately inactivating, splicing sites,  which are highly conserved in coding regions of genes for thwarting undesired mutations in the genome, synthesis of aberrant proteins, (Billon et al., 2017;Kluesner et al., 2021;Ren et al., 2021). In addition, BEs and PEs can precisely alter possible gene regulatory regions including sites where miRNA or transcription factors bind or modifies post transitional regions and can act on the open reading frame to infer their activities (Xing et al., 2020;Ren et al., 2021).The crop genome engineering inclusive of genomics and genome editing tools have already been successfully employed in several crops, although it is still in its early phase for production enhancement and abiotic stresses including heat tolerance, drought, salinity, etc in chickpea. Various genomic approaches viz; multiomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, pan and genome editing technologies have tremendous potentials to influence the plant breeding techniques to guard crop plants against numerous abiotic/biotic stresses and augment crop yield. Editing the target DNA sequence by adding, deleting, or substituting nucleotide bases are cutting edge molecular biology techniques and Genome amending procedures viz; SSRs, ODMs, SSNs inclusive of ZFNs, TALENs, Mega nucleases, CRISPR/Cas9 and advanced approaches viz; Base Editors, Primer Editors are used. The CRISPR/ Cas9 technologies corroborate the utmost operational GE machinery since these are precise, less expensive, speedy, and consent for numerous site-specific genome editing. SSNs have been utilized to elucidate the activities of many essential genes in plants that could be exploited to boost agricultural yield and often SSN induced NHEJ were used in polyploidy plants to investigate gene function and trait development which resulted in gene deletions. Recently, scientists are focusing on fabricating plant genomes to make them withstand climatic changes. In defiance of its success in the laboratory, gene editing technology for climate change has yet to demonstrate a significant impact in the real world as regulations, societal hurdles, and proscriptive policies, among other externalities outside the technical limits stated have hampered the adoption of these technological advancements. However, current technical advances are rapidly expanding and thanks go to the continued efforts of both public and commercial organizations. Genetic engineering approaches as mentioned above that alter minimal DNA/chromatin configurations, but exact modifications in the genome or precise insertion of small DNA fragments are attractive possibilities for worldwide regulatory overhaul, policy improvements, and increased consumer acceptance. Naturally, the advantages of gene editing applications will only be recognized once farmers and producers have access to these revolutionary technologies. Despite technological restrictions, socio-political barriers must overcome and gene-modified products should be widely adopted. Thus, CRISPR gene editing tool is an essential forward step for agricultural adaptability in the face of negative climate impact and holds the great possibilities for harnessing the betterment of future agriculture including chickpea enhanced capabilities for cytokinin dehydrogenase, nitrate reductase, superoxide dismutase to induce drought resistance, heat tolerance and higher yield higher yield to encounter global climate change, hunger and nutritional threats.","tokenCount":"10026"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4079131758.json b/data/part_1/4079131758.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5681d74df695fc58d39ca27a01d200d2195da200
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4079131758.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"21d774ec7f75c723c79acd3122cbf343","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.fao.org/3/a-i4704e.pdf","id":"-637489300"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ca051e3-8f7d-40da-85d4-9369ad6fa5b4","pagecount":"169","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.Mountain soils and ecosystem services 7Agroforestry generates multiple ecosystem services on hillsides of Central America 10Sustainable mountain ecosystem results from participatory community planning: a story from the Syrian Arab Republic  13   Alpine soils and forests: securing ecosystem services in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan 16The sixty-eighth United Nations General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils with the aim of increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of soils for food security and essential ecosystem functions.Since 2002, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat has led global efforts to improve the lives of mountain peoples and protect mountain environments around the world.The Mountain Partnership is a United Nations voluntary alliance of partners of governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society, joining forces to implement initiatives at national, regional and global levels and helping mountain communities to overcome development challenges. Through its members, around 250, the Mountain Partnership works on the main pillars of advocacy, capacity development, joint projects on the ground, knowledge management and communications.As In every mountain region, soils constitute the foundation for agricultural development, supporting essential ecosystem functions and food security, and hence are crucial to sustaining life. Mountain peoples' relationship with their soil is deeply rooted in their heritage and, over the centuries, they have developed solutions and techniques that have proved to be a key to resilience.The aim of this publication is to describe the main features of mountain soil systems, their environmental, economic and social values, the threats they are facing and their cultural heritage. Case studies provided by Mountain Partnership members and partners around the world showcase challenges and opportunities as well as lessons learned in soil management.The International Year of Soils 2015 presents a fitting opportunity to raise awareness and promote the sustainable management of mountain soils on behalf of mountain peoples -peoples who are often marginalized, not included in decision-making processes and development programmes, and increasingly affected by soil-related disasters.We hope this publication will help to trigger change, by increasing understanding of mountain soils' significance and the roles they play in society at large.Farmers clear weeds from a contour ridge and trench. The trenches and ridges retain water and prevent soil erosion during rains. Kiroka (@FAO/Daniel Hayduk)Ermanno Zanini and Rosalaura RomeoThe composition of the \"parent\" material -the material from which the soil is formed -as well as climate, elevation, slope, aspect and the activities of living organisms, contribute to defining each type of soil. Indeed, soils are dynamic and are in continuing evolution, driven by the effects of physical, chemical and biological processes.Several soil classification systems exist based on their characteristics and uses. Also, each kind of soil consists of layers called \"horizons\" which have specific morphological, physical and chemical features and vary according to the area and the type of vegetation. The upper horizon, which is more exposed, is the more biologically active and is richer in organic matter. A soil profile is determined from a vertical section of the soil -from the upper horizon downwards to where the soil meets the underlying parent material. For agricultural purposes, the two key soil features are its water holding capacity and the quantity of its nutrients and organic matter that sustain plant growth.Most mountain soils evolve slowly and are shallow because the low temperatures limit the biological activities and the soil genesis and evolution. Mountain soils are generally defined as poorly developed, skeletal, shallow, acidic and relatively infertile. They are also highly diverse and can vary significantly within limited areas due to different exposure and steepness. In general, they become less fertile and less developed as elevation increases. In cold mountain areas, freeze-and-thaw cycles reduce the aggregation of soils and, as a consequence, their stability, fertility and water retention. Many plants, including crops, have adapted to grow on mountain soils and numerous mountains are covered with lush vegetation that has several fundamental roles, including controlling erosion.In most cases, mountain soils are less productive than lowland soils and agri cultural activities are more labour intensive and less productive. Where the land is very steep, farmers build terraces and similar structures to limit erosion and land degradation. Agricultural activities generally take place in intermediate elevation classes while grazing is found at higher altitudes (Box 1).French Alps (Carole Bastianelli)In this publication, mountains are defined according to a topographic criterion that combines metres above sea level (masl), steepness of slope and local elevation range. This classification was developed in 2000 by the United Nations Environment Programme -World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in order to represent the environmental gradients that are key components of mountain environments.• Class 1: elevation ≥ 4 500 m.• Class 2: elevation 3 500-4 500 m.• Class 3: elevation 2 500-3 500 m.• Class 4: elevation 1 500-2 500 m and slope ≥ 2°.• Class 5: elevation 1 000-1 500 m and slope ≥ 5 or local elevation range (LER) > 300 m. • Class 6: elevation 300-1 000 m and LER > 300 m.Slopes and altitude form a landscape where soils evolve according to the environment in which they were formed. Their evolution is a continuous process of topsoil erosion, profile truncation and burying, which are the main driving changes in space and time. On steep slopes, soil can be washed away or blown away more easily. This means that instead of building up a thick layer of topsoil over time, the topsoil on steep slopes is eroded more quickly than new soil can form. These deposits flow down the mountain, where they collect and stay in flatter, more level areas. This is why the soil on the steep parts of a mountain is thinner and less fertile than on the flatter parts.From this dynamic process derives the fascinating complexity and pedological variability that characterize mountain environments. However, this ongoing change and variability means that mountain soil has restricted biomass productivity and, at the same time, vulnerability to human settlements.The relationship between mountain people and soil is fundamental. Unsustainable farming and forest management practices increase the pressure on this fragile ecosystem, accelerating erosion, decreasing fertility and triggering natural hazards.Although mountains are characterized by high vulnerability to natural hazards, the risks can be somewhat lower when the areas are not densely settled. However, when mountain areas are densely populated the impact of natural disasters can be very disruptive with consequences on people living in the lowlands.Understanding mountain soils, their composition, dynamic and value can help to address the challenges related to sustainable mountain development and ensure better, more resilient livelihoods for mountain peoples.The \"Andenes\" are ancient stepped terraces, used by Andean farmers to plant their crops. Cusco, Peru (@FAO/Liana John)7Mountain soils and ecosystem servicesWoman on theback of a truck, captured during corn harvesting. Djalal-Abad province in the south of Kyrgyzstan (Alma Karsymbek)Soils of the mountain landscapes have the potential to generate a significant diversity and magnitude of ecosystem services needed to support life on Earth. Soils are fundamental for human well-being at all levels, generating a host of ecosystem services, including those that are life supporting, regulating, provisioning or cultural (Box 1). In all cases, whether supporting natural vegetation or managed crops, mountain soils must be properly managed.Through their provision of these ecosystem services, soils can contribute to four of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under consideration by the United Nations (UN): food security (Goal 2), water for human consumption (Goal 6), climate change adaptation and mitigation (Goal 13), and protection and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems to halt biodiversity loss, land degradation and desertification (Goal 15). Ecosystems services mediated by mountain soils extend far beyond terrestrial support -they can sustain livelihoods of smallholder mountain farming communities who often produce food in vulnerable lands and marginal soils predominantly in the tropics. This creates human-induced pressure on already aggravated naturally fragile soils.In all terrestrial ecosystems -but in mountain landscapes in particular -the area of fertile soil is limited and increasingly under pressure stemming from competing land uses. In addition, inadequate governance, increasing population demands, land-use planning and unsustainable management, among other factors, have significantly facilitated land-use conversion, mostly from forests to agriculture, which has increased degradation in general but soil degradation in particular. As a result, mountain soils increasingly face problems such as water erosion, loss of organic matter, nutrient mining, loss of biodiversity, landslides, and soil and water contamination which, in turn, affect and reduce productivity, provision of goods and services, and resilience.All this indicates that soil degradation needs to be prevented and reversed. Through appropriate rehabilitation techniques, degraded soils can, in some cases, be rehabilitated to continue performing their core functions and contributions to ecosystem services. Although avoiding soil degradation in the first place is vastly more cost-effective than their eventual rehabilitation/restoration, the latter increases the area available to generate ecosystem services without necessitating additional land use conversion.Soils in mountains are highly diverse and, thanks to recent efforts to improve their management and governance, some sound technologies for sustainable foodproduction are now available that can be adapted and disseminated using diverse approaches and tools. However, more urgent actions are needed to implement appropriate land-use planning together with sustainable management and protection of soils.During and beyond the International Year of Soils, global efforts should be made to raise today's population awareness about the fundamental roles that soils play in mountain ecosystems by enabling life-critical ecosystem services.Colorful chuquirequa flowers bloom at high atlitudes in the Andes. Las Cajas National Park, Ecuador (Jesse Lewis)Traditional smallholder agriculture on Central American hillsides is based on the ancient practice of SB -clearing lands of vegetation in preparation for planting before the onset of the rainy season. This practice improves short-term soil fertility to support crop development through fast nutrient release (as result of the burning) of fresh organic materials (from the slash activity). SB, the base of shifting cultivation, can be sustainable if the fallow length between agricultural cycles in a production plot is sufficient to allow the recovery of natural balances (e.g. biomass accumulation, soil biota). However on steep slopes this practice can lead to rapid soil degradation and reduced productivity through (i) nutrient depletion from loss of vegetation and biodiversity (fauna, soil organisms as well as vegetation), (ii) significant increase soil erosion, together with (iii) poor investments in soil conservation. In addition, higher pressure on mountain landscapes due to population growth, land use regulations or scarcity of suitable land are leading to shorter fallow periods.In the early 1990s, smallholder farming communities in southwestern Honduras faced a perfect storm: lands degraded as result of SB agriculture and three consecutive years of irregular rainfall which led to a shortage of ecosystem services. Productivity and resilience were lost, leaving soils without the capacity to produce enough food for subsistence and the whole agro-ecosystem unable to produce other key benefits for livelihoods. As a result, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other organizations worked together with local farmers and technicians to develop technological options to restore the sustainability (based on productivity and resilience) of the agricultural landscape.of Southwestern Honduras, mostly as a result of the Quesungual Agroforestry System to replace traditional slash-andburn agriculture (CIAT/Edwin García)Aracely Castro, Mariela Rivera, Oscar Ferreira, Edgar Amézquita, Luis Alvarez-Wélchez and Idupulapati RaoAgroforestry generates multiple ecosystem services on hillsides of Central AmericaOn Central American hillsides, traditional slash-and-burn (SB) agriculture has led to extensive resource-base degradation.A smallholder farming community located in the region with lowest development index of one of the poorest countries of Latin America has shown that by replacing SB with sustainable management technologies such as agroforestry systems, it is possible to rehabilitate soils and lands to enhance food production and other key ecosystem services provided by mountain landscapes.Agricultural landscape in mountains of northern El Salvador (CIAT,FAO/Aracely Castro)The following identifies some of the output of their efforts. One of the options developed -the Quesungual Slash and Mulch Agroforestry System (QSMAS) -is based on planting annual crops (maize, common bean, sorghum) with naturally regenerated trees and shrubs. The set of technologies and tools responsible for its success can be summarized in four synergistic principles that contribute to the sustainable management of vegetation, soil, water and nutrient resources:• no SB, but a rational management of natural vegetation;• semi-permanent soil cover, through the continual deposition of biomass from trees, shrubs and weeds, and through crop residues; • minimal disturbance of soil, through the use of no tillage, direct seeding and reduced soil disturbance during agronomic practices; • efficient use of fertilizer, through the appropriate application (type, amount, time, location) of fertilizers.Studies conducted from 2005 to 2007 by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), FAO and other partners in Latin America, found that production practices applied in the Quesungual agroforestry system can contribute to local economic growth, environmental sustainability and social development through improved food (maize and bean) production. Compared with SB agriculture, a Quesungual system has more potential to provide supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services through the sustainable use of renewable natural resources (Box 1).Box 1: Ecosystem services of Quesungual agroforestry system Supporting • Physical support for crop production and natural regeneration of local vegetation.• Rehabilitation of soil functions through improved structure, biological activity, organic matter, nutrient cycling and fertilizer-use efficiency, and restoration and conservation of above-ground biodiversity. 1• Improved water cycling by protecting water sources through reduced susceptibility to soil erosion (Figure 1), runoff and surface evaporation, and increased infiltration. • Enhanced nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and organic matter cycling.• Climate regulation by reducing the global warming potential at production plot scale through lower methane emissions and improved carbon accumulation, and at landscape scale by reducing deforestation (Figure 2). • Conservation of local biodiversity (in Honduras mountains, 14 local species of tree and shrub at plot scale and 50 at landscape scale).• Increased food production through improved soil health, use of green water and water productivity. • Improved water availability for crops through enhanced soil water storage capacity.• Improved quality of life through regeneration of the landscape.• Enhanced potential for attractiveness of ecosystem services compensation to convince other countries to initiate policies to protect or rehabilitate ecosystems.1 No studies were conducted on belowground diversity.The Quesungual agroforestry system is currently practised by smallholders in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. More than 10 000 resource-poor farmers have successfully adopted the system on more than 10 000 ha in the three countries.Figure 1 shows that soil erosion in SB traditional plots was 5.6 times greater in the Quesungual system. As a result, the SB system also had the highest nutrient losses (in kg per ha) of nitrogen -N (9.9), phosphorus -P (1.3), potassium -K (6.9), calcium -Ca (22.8) and magnesium -Mg (24.2). SF = secondary forests. As shown in Figure 2, a reduction of 42 percent in GWP was projected for the communities of southwestern Honduras using Quesungual over an estimated 20-year period starting from 2006, based on the rate of adoption of the system and consequent expected regeneration of secondary forests, compared with continued use of SB agriculture.Figure 1: Improved water recycling with Quesungual agroforestry system, partially as a result of protection of water sources through reduced soil erosion.• Soil degradation is a severe problem for sustainable agriculture in rural areas, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, it is urgent to develop land management strategies enhancing food production and other ecosystem services while preserving natural capital.• Smallholder communities on hillside agro-ecosystems of the sub-humid tropics can use Quesungual as a land use management strategy to generate multiple ecosystem services, including food production, soil health, resilience, rehabilitation of agro-ecosystems and protection of the environment.Soil erosion by water is a persistent problem in the mountainous areas of southern Syria, where topography is highly rugged, deforestation is common, steep lands are cultivated and, as a result, erosion rate is high. Farmers try to reduce erosion by implementing conservation practices such as physical structures (continuous and semi-circular stone walls), reduced tillage, manipulating vegetation cover, or crop residues input. In this region, where intensive olive cultivation without proper soil conservation measures is the underlying cause, farmers realize the extent of erosion, but claim that the investments demanded to conserve soils are too costly.In general, a targeted and cost-effective conservation intervention is needed to sustain ecosystem services from mountainous soils, which calls for identifying the most vulnerable landscapes and setting the priorities for implementing these interventions. In addition to adopting conservation practices, achieving tangible impact on protecting fragile ecosystems calls for farmers' participatory monitoring and evaluation of soil erosion risk assessments.This study took place in Maghara village located within a mountainous watershed northwest of Aleppo, Syria (Figure 1). Soils are generally less than 30 cm deep, and native forests have been replaced by olive groves without sustainable means of protecting the uncovered soils.Vulnerable landscapes and erosion prone areas were mapped by spatial analysis using topographic parameters generated from a 30 m digital elevation model (DEM). Flow accumulation, classified into three categories (0-2, 3-5 and >5 pixels), land curvature into two categories (convex and concave/linear), and slope steepness into three categories (0-5, 5-10 and > 10 percent) were used to classify the whole village area into three erosion risk classes (high, moderate and low).Local residents participated in mapping the farms' boundaries, ownership and current conservation practices. Once completed, the land ownership map was overlaid with the DEM-based erosion risk map to show the erosion status of each field (Figure 2). Farmers indicated that soil and water conservation interventions implemented on fields which are located at lower positions within the hillslopeSevere land degradation and ecosystem services loss. Rill and gully erosion can increase losses of water, sediments, nutrients and organic carbon, reducing provision of ecosystem services (Feras Ziadat)Sustainable mountain ecosystem results from participatory community planning: a story from the Syrian Arab Republic In some landscapes, mountain soils are naturally at risk, due to unfavourable biophysical conditions aggravated by improper land-use practices that lead to a decrease in the provision of ecosystem services. Climate change also contributes to the problem, particularly where scenarios predict both a decrease in rainfall amounts and an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall events. This would increase runoff and soil erosion, and reduce food and feed productivity, particularly on vulnerable mountainous agricultural lands that already exhibit high rates of soil degradation. The aim of this study was to design and implement soil conservation to reduce further soil erosion on threatened areas based on a participatory community planning.are not effective because these fields receive erosive runoff from the upper fields. Therefore, farmers upstream should play a role in protecting downstream fields from eroded soil during heavy rainstorms. Discussion with farmers highlighted the need for rules and/or criteria that prioritize implementing soil conservation practices to ensure obvious impact. The idea of collective action to implement measures according to the erosion risk of farmers' fields was accepted and the priority map was used by the community.To support the implementation of soil conservation interventions, the community, with assistance from the International Center for Agricultural Research for the Dry Areas (ICARDA), secured a fund from the Small Grants Programme (SGP) of the Global Environment Facility -United Nations Development Programme (GEF-UNDP) in Syria. An elected Land Management and Diversification Community Committee assumed responsibility for distributing loans to establish soil conservation measures. The committee endorsed using the map as a base to determine the priority of each field and to distribute loans based on this priority. A community watershedSevere land degradation (Feras Ziadat)Figure 2: Erosion risk and priority for implementing soil and water conservation. A map of erodible land was created for Maghara village, using topographic parameters for the small catchment. Susceptible areas for erosion were targeted with suitable soil and water conservation measures to improve productivity and enhance environmental sustainability• Participatory identification of areas under high risk of soil erosion and targeted implementation of soil conservation interventions, coupled with an enabling environment such as micro-credit system, ecosystem-friendly diversification options and the support of public policies, are necessary to maintain the provision of ecosystem services in fragile mountains.• The approach explained here is easy to implement, uses available information, and thus could be applied in other mountainous areas facing similar challenges.plan was established, revised and approved by the community. Incentive loans to implement soil conservation measures were distributed to 222 farmers based on the priorities of their fields. After two years, the conservation measures led to marked improvement in soil conservation.However, farmers were reluctant to apply soil and water conservation options because they would not generate enough direct benefits for them to repay their loans in two years. After discussion, the committee and the farmers decided that 50 percent of the loan should be used for soil conservation and the rest for some income-generating diversification options, such as cultivating herbal and medicinal plants, raising livestock at household level, or introducing home gardening, mushroom farming or beekeeping. In addition to supporting provision of ecosystem services, these options helped to empower local families to diversify their income sources and generate short-term benefits which, in turn, would partially cover the costs of the long-term benefits of land degradation mitigation activities. Adopting other production sources and ecosystem services improved the livelihoods of the community and therefore reduced the pressure on soil resources (soil is not the only source of production).People in the remote Pamir villages rely on food, fodder and fuel produced from their land for their livelihoods. However, they face many challenges including harsh climate, high disaster risk (e.g. avalanches, snowstorms, droughts), shortage of arable land, difficult access to irrigation water and lack of financial resources. Forests play a major role in providing fuelwood and non-timber forest products such as berries, mushrooms, nuts, honey, medicinal plants, foliage, seeds and seedlings. Forests are also used for grazing animals, the number of which has increased greatly over the last 20 years.The large and dense forest covering the floodplains in the Tajik Pamirs were teeming with wildlife, as mentioned by many expeditions before and in the first decades of the Soviet era (for example Korzeniewski 1903). It is estimated that forest cover in Tajikistan in 1910 was still around 25 percent. Today, official data state that forest cover in Tajikistan is only around 3 percent.Land-use changes affecting the high alpine natural ecosystems in the Tajik Pamirs increased with the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan in 1991 and the cut in imported goods, including wheat, fodder such as hay, but also coal and wood. Food and energy scarcity during and after the Tajik civil war in the 1990s led to severe land degradation, with a reduction in soil functions, such as regulation of soil nutrients, water and temperature. It also affected soil-related ecosystem services, such as soil nutrient availability, control of erosion by water and wind, length of the growing period and, consequently, biomass production and plant diversity. Overgrazing, deforestation and expansion of cropland to forest areas are Farming for subsistence in high-altitude locations, such as the Gunt valley in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan, requires specific attention to managing the soils in harsh mountainous environments. While fertile soils have developed in valley bottoms and especially under forest cover, land-use changes in these semi-arid ecosystems may critically affect soil conditions and lead to desertification. However, if soils are managed well, the ecosystem can provide multiple benefits.the main pressures on land and, especially, forest resources. In this same period, coal imports have become rare, and therefore costly, which has led to continuous cutting of the forests, bush lands and trees along rivers and on mountain slopes. As the winter is long (October to May), there is an extremely high demand for fuelwood for heating and cooking. Climate conditions are unfavourable for fruit trees, but poplar trees and buckthorn grow well.The information presented here resulted from an applied research study conducted in the Vanqala municipality, located in the Gunt valley at 3 100 masl, that identified limitations of agricultural production such as the need for irrigation, constant temperature fluctuations during the growing season that may cause crops to freeze, and cold winds that affect plant growth and lead to erosion. In general, local farmers who cultivate mainly fodder crops, such as lucerne (Medicago sativa) and sainfoin (Onobrychis), need to apply land management technologies to increase land productivity under these soils, water and temperature conditions, while reducing erosion processes and maintaining soil quality.The study aimed to identify forest cover changes as well as the specific soil conservation practices in this area, and to estimate their impact on soil resources and related ecosystem services. Soil organic matter was used as a health indicator to assess the impact of the management practices. The information on sustainable land management (SLM) technologies was documented using the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) standardized questionnaire. The land use change since the mid-1970s was analysed using satellite imagery, Corona imagery from 1968 and RapidEye imagery from 2010, covering around 130 km 2 of study area.Overall, the study found a 54 percent increase in arable land and a 34 percent decrease in forest and bush land in the study area. In specific cases, such as the village of Patkhor, it detected a 53 percent forest cover change, indicating that its forest area had been reduced to less than half of the forest area in the 1960s.Other villages were able to protect their forest resources better.While forest resources were generally heavily degraded, some families managed to improve the tree cover by, e.g. planting a dense buckthorn forest belt to shelter fields from temperature fluctuations, cold winds and frost or planting poplar forests in the flood plains of the high mountain river areas. The low temperature in the study area is not favourable for most trees species. The natural forest mainly consists of slow growing trees. However, plantations of poplar (Populus Pamirico) and willow trees (Salix Schugnanica Coerz) can be established fast with a goodRiverine forests along the Gunt river, Jamoat Vanqala, Tajikistan (Bettina Wolfgramm)water supply, which can be provided by rivers or by irrigation systems. Around 10 ha of low productive pasture land in alluvial sandy soils along the river was turned into a poplar forest by creating an irrigation canal and planting seedlings along it. In the first year, the area needed to be protected from grazing cattle and from neighbours cutting trees.The soil analysis found that soil under the poplar trees has more organic matter (3.88% in the first 30 cm) compared with other surrounding plots (2.58-2.78%).• Agroforestry and forestry systems for producing food, fodder and fuel can also contribute to improved management of soil resources and enhance long-term provision of ecosystem services in temperate areas.• These systems can protect soils from wind and water erosion, contributing to sustainable nutrient supplies. The tree cover creates a micro-climate and reduces the impact of temperature extremes in order to increase production in these harsh mountainous environments, it is also crucial to protect soils from cold winds and cold spells during the summer season.• The benefits resulting from agroforestry plots are manifold and include significant improvements of soil fertility, productivity, biodiversity and carbon stocks, compared with the surrounding arid desert landscape.Plantation of poplar forest in the flood plains of the high mountain river areas. Gunt valley, Tajikistan (Gulniso Nekushoeva)Corona imagery of the village of Pathkur, with forest cover change classification between 1968 and 2010. A misclassified area is marked with a white arrow (Selina Studer)The mountainous climatic zone is highly peculiar due to steep altitudinal gradient -meaning that mountainous regions have many climatic belts in small areas that contain a large variety of soil-forming factors and, therefore, soil types (pedotaxa) and soilscape belts. Major climatic differences among the world's mountain regions offer a variety of benefits. For example, mountain ranges are especially important in hot arid and semi-arid regions as their provide water (irrigation), wood, grass.At global level, mountain areas achieve the highest pedorichness of all the different world biomes. Mountains have also the highest richness density in terms of number of soil types per unit area.Almeria Province, located in the Andalusia Region of Spain at the southeast end of the Iberian Peninsula, is an arid mountainous land overlooking the Mediterranean Sea that extends from sea level to 2 500 m in a horizontal distance of 35 km. Some 60 percent of Almeria is mountainous, with six mountain ranges and an average altitude of 700 masl and 7º slope gradient (Figure 1). Altitudinal differences affect both temperature and precipitation, with less than 200 mm annual average rainfall along the shoreline and more than 600 mm in the top mountains.Almeria Province hosts seven Mediterranean climatic belts ranging from hot arid to periglacial, as well as more than 44 soil types. There are salt-rich soils in the lower arid mountain areas, but as the altitude increases, salts leaching occurs, with salts re-precipitated in deeper horizons of the soil profile and in the highest altitudes salts are leached out of the soil. There are nine reference soil groups with soil-ecosystem services that can be classified according to three main categories: provision services Pedodiversity and ecosystem services of mountain soils in Southwestern EuropeWithin mountain environments, it is possible to find a huge variety of soils in relatively small areas. However, the provision of ecosystem services is not the same among the different mountain ranges of the world. Factors that contribute to the great variety of soils (pedodiversity) at local level include altitudinal differences and their associated climate belts from the lowlands to mountain tops, the roughness of the topography and the lithological substrate.such as providing substrate of both cultivated and natural vegetation and providing fresh water; regulating functions such as control of climate, pests, erosion and natural hazards (e.g. flooding), and also of water flow and water purification, and cultural services that support cultural and heritage sites, as well as area recreation, geo/ecotourism, education and research.The natural vegetation of Almeria has been used as fuel for mining activities for five millennia. Most of the land in high altitudes and steeper slopes of the mountain ranges is home to plant ecosystems (natural vegetation) with only a small portion taken up by human settlements, infrastructure and food production (Table 1). Arable land for food production is mainly restricted to lower mountainous areas which account for 15 percent of the land. Traditional cultivation systems, mainly bench terraces, are rainfed but some small plots are irrigated with water harvested from underground supplies coming from the mountains.Dominant natural vegetation covers consist of arid, semiarid and dry Euro-Mediterranean shrubs including some species of African origin. Sparsely vegetated areas are extensive in most mountain areas of Almeria (30-82% of the total mountainous area, Table 1). Sparsely vegetated sites interspersed with \"islands of fertility\", which is typical of arid lands, appear in locations where soils productivity is limited by climatic and lithological (e.g. badlands) features or overexploiting activities. Sclerophyllous vegetation, which is able to survive the pronounced hot, Panoramic view of Almería (@Flickr/Rubén)• Due to the climatic gradient, from the arid coastal lowlands to the mountains tops, there are multiple bioclimatic belts that form sequences rich in soil and vegetation types offering diverse products and ecological services to the local rural communities that would otherwise live in very hostile environments.• Water coming from the mountains' tops irrigates the surrounding arid lowlands increasing their productivity.• In the Almeria province, mountain soil erosion was not caused by the traditional agricultural farming practices and grazing, but from the intense mining activity of the last centuries.• The pedodiversity and biodiversity of the study area occurs mainly in dispersed and small waterlogged soil hotspots located in lower drylands, which attract eco-tourism.dry Mediterranean climate, is dominant in the highest mountains (above 2 500 m), forming dense vegetation associations composed of numerous shrubs species on siliceous or calcareous soils.Coniferous forests (mainly pine species including shrub and bush understoreys) are the dominant natural vegetation in mountain areas located between 1 500 and 2 500 masl and slopes >5º.There are 40 plant communities in Almeria. Because many edaphophylous plant communities (whose presence in a site depends more on the soil type than climatic conditions) are endemic, the conservation of this rich biodiversity depends on soil preservation is another invaluable ecological service.Climate regulation is one of the major ecological services provided by soil in Almeria.Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) stocks are stored in plant biomass or in form of soil organic carbon. CO 2 contents in the mountain area range between 20 and 80 Mg ha-1 as is showed in Table 1, while in the lower lands, plants and bush vegetation store higher amounts of atmospheric carbon in their biomass. Although CO 2 contents depend on several factors (such as soil moisture regime and texture) well-structured vegetation cover (with or without tree storeys) is important. Studies have found that among the dominant reference soil groups, the highest average soil organic stocks are found in typical soils of arid lands as well as in clay rich pedotaxa covered by shrub or herbaceous plant communities. Soils are the foundation of agriculture, supporting crops, livestock and trees vital to feed the 7 billion people currently on Earth, a population expected to grow to 9 billion by 2030. Already, more than half of those people live in cities, which means they depend on others to produce their food -food that comes from an increasingly limited and pressured land area suitable for agriculture.This includes the world's mountainous and highland areas that support some 900 million people but present the farmers and livestock keepers with challenging, often marginal, conditions in which to live and work. Mountain peoples have to cope with high runoff rates from steep slopes and associated soil erosion and landslides. They also face challenges of highly differentiated climatic conditions due to altitude, large daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations and changes in aspect and exposure within short distances, and they are vulnerable to climate change with its associated extremes in precipitation such as rain, snow and mist. Crop growth is slower due to the lower temperatures at high altitudes, so many farmers have only one harvest per year. Also soils in mountain areas are often degraded due to leaching of nutrients and erosion by water on steep slopes and erosion by wind on exposed areas.A farmer working the land along the banks of Burera Lake. Burera, Rwanda (@FAO/Giulio Napolitano)Sally Bunning, Ronald Vargas and Alessia VitaMoreover, mountain peoples often live in remote areas that are not easily accessible. They have poor access to health, education and markets, and may have to travel long distances with their pack animals to collect water, fuelwood and basic supplies.However, the variations in soil, terrain and climate also provide opportunities. The world's mountainous areas have the capacity to store water in upstream reservoirs and to supply users downstream through gravity fed systems. Mountains host approximately 25 percent of terrestrial biodiversity as well as vital genetic resources for locally adapted crops and livestock crucial for food security.Many of the world's staple food crops, such as maize and potatoes, and a large share of domestic animals originate in mountain areas. Indeed indigenous livestock breeds -such as yak, mountain goats and sheep -are usually well adapted to the harsh mountain conditions and able to cope with the extreme and alternating hot and cold, wet and dry conditions.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that around 45 percent of the world's mountain areas is not, or only marginally, suitable for growing crops, raising livestock or carrying out forestry activities. Thus mountain peoples, who are largely family farmers and livestock keepers, have had to develop different ways of averting or spreading risks to survive. They have adapted, adopted or conceived complex and diversified farming systems on croplands, pastures and forests that make use of different soil types at different altitudes and at different times of the year. For example, they grow sun-loving plants on the warmest slopes and move livestock to graze on high summer pastures after the snow has melted.Across the generations, mountain people have developed survival or subsistence strategies and have become important custodians of indigenous knowledge and local innovations that shape and protect the soil, vegetation, water resources and landscapes on which they depend. Moreover, these livelihood strategies contribute to the provisioning of crucial ecosystem services that benefit not only peoples living in the mountains, but billions more living downstream.Unsustainable soil management practices such as overgrazing, deforestation, monocropping, and up-and down-slope ploughing, as well the sprawling of urban settlements cause serious soil degradation, which accelerates erosion, reduces soil fertility and increases the potential for natural hazards.The degradation of mountain soil and vegetation cover may happen gradually and imperceptibly, or rapidly if there is a change in land use or management practices or a natural disaster. The restoration of degraded lands is very costly in human and financial terms and in severe cases, the degradation is irreversible.Some mountain areas are more prone to landslides due to earthquakes or volcanoes or due to mass movements of rock and sedimentary materials and mud flows. The combination of steep slopes, varied topography and often alternating dry and wet spells in mountainous areas requires a combination of biological and structural soil and water conservation measures to provide a protective vegetation cover and minimize the downward transport of soil (by splash, rill and gully erosion).Measures are needed that factor in the safe storage and diversion of excess runoff water as well as for downstream erosion and flood control and reducing risk of landslides when building roads, terraces or valley dams, or for ensuring sustainable forest logging. In addition, restoration of soil organic matter is needed on slopingA shepherd keeping an eye on a herd of sheep at the former National Feedlot. Maseru, Lesotho (@FAO/Gianluigi Guercia) lands to replenish nutrients that are lost through the harvesting of crops and erosion and thereby to sustain plant growth and land productivity over the years.Mountain peoples have adopted, adapted or developed a host of agricultural systems that help them manage their land, especially their soil, sustainably.Contouring. Growing crops on sloping land is a major cause of accelerated erosion, unless soil and water conservation measures are widely practiced. On gentle slopes, this requires contour farming (i.e. ploughing, planting and weeding across rather than down the slope). In higher rainfall areas, it requires construction of permanently vegetated contour bunds or ridges with retention or diversion ditches to break up the slope, increase rainwater capture and infiltration, reduce runoff volume and velocity and hence minimize erosion.Terracing. For sustainable cropping on steep slopes, progressive or bench terraces are required which are costly and require substantial labour for their construction and maintenance. The resulting change in landscape, however, can be extremely productive as shown by breathtaking terracing systems worldwide, many of which are recognized and designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). For example, in the Andes, the terracing systems provide soil conservation which induces the formation of deeper soils and enlarges cultivated areas, ensures sunlight for longer periods during the day, increases water storage, and allows for a more efficient use of water for irrigation. It also contributes to protecting agricultural fields from possible landslides, because the use of rocks in the building of the faces of the terraces strengthens the mountain slopes.Organic mixed farming. Due to low levels of technology available, mountain agriculture generally has a low impact on the environment. In many mountain areas of the world, family farms are organic, in part because they do not have access to costly inputs (seeds, fertilizers and other chemicals). These farmers must adapt local farming practices to build and maintain soil fertility, to manage diversity and natural predators for pest and disease control, and to maintain habitat for pollinators as well as shade and watering points for livestock and wild animals. By emphasizing a holistic mixed-farming approach, where crop rotations and animals play an integral role, mountain farming is able to tap into a growing demand for high value, organic products.Terraced rice fields that march up the slopes of Toraja Land, Sulawesi, Indonesia (Jesse Lewis )Conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture is another management approach that can be used on sloping land to sustain crop yields and soil health through its three main principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation. This can include alternating staple food crops with nutritious legumes (e.g. beans and chick peas) and fodder crops (e.g. lucerne and radish) to restore nitrogen and organic matter and encourage deep rooting of plants for optimizing access to moisture and nutrients.Forests and trees. Forests and trees make an essential contribution to mountain agriculture by helping to maintain the environmental conditions needed for agricultural production while providing food, fuelwood and fodder as well as building materials and timber. With their diverse ground cover and highly developed root systems, trees and forests stabilize the soil, protect it from erosion and landslides, improve soil fertility, enhance the capacity of the land to store water, and moderate air and soil temperatures. Sustainable forest management and, as required, restoration of degraded forests and reforestation of mountain tops, steep upper slopes, and steeply incised rivers, streams or gullies are a crucial part of watershed management systems that regulate hydrological flows and provide a constant water supply downstream. Traditional agroforestry techniques, which can provide canopy cover, have been successfully used for centuries in mountain regions and areas vulnerable to cyclones and frequent storms to enhance resilience to such shocks.Pastoralism. Sustainable pastoralism is a low input-low output approach to keeping marginal rangelands productive, many of which are in mountains and highland regions. It does this through adaptive use of pasture, rangeland, water, salt and forest resources, and by maintaining mobility of herds to cover vast distances between the dry and wet seasons, or between summer and winter grazing lands.Pastoralists also manage high genetic diversity and variations in herd composition to cope with the harsh environments. Through herd management, pastoralists deliver a wide range of economic and social benefits from areas of low biomass productivity that are ill-suited to intensive management or cropping. They provide food and fuel and also contribute to climate regulation, flood and erosion control and nutrient cycling. Some examples of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)-designated mountain pastoralism systems are the traditional yak-based pastoral system in Ladakh and the high Tibetan plateau of India and China, and extensive rangeland management in the highlands of Mongolia, Yemen and the Atlas mountains of Morocco.Volunteers unload forage trees and ready to plant them. Upper Mazar watershed, Cañar, Ecuador (Alec Morton)These varied examples of sustainable crop, pasture and forest management in mountain agricultural landscapes demonstrate the need for increased awareness and greater recognition of the importance of maintaining the multi-functional role of the soil and wider landscapes in mountain areas. Good soil management contributions include the production of food and other products; water regulation and purification; climate regulation; erosion, landslide and flood control; and conservation of biodiversity. In addition, many mountain landscapes also attract visitors for recreation and tourism, are sources of cultural heritage and folklore, and provide supplementary income and employment based on local foods (dairy, meat), medicinal plants and artisanal products (e.g. made from animal hair, fleece and hides).Carmelo Dazzi and Edoardo A.C. CostantiniTerracing, an agricultural technique developed over thousands of years, has transformed landscapes and soils in many parts of the world (Table 1). Early terracing systems trace back to approximately 3000-4000 years BCE (Figure 1).  Before the development of terracing, agriculture in mountain areas was a risky activity as farmers tried to cultivate a slope while hanging from the side of the mountain in a harness. (Figure 2)Terracing was a revolutionary approach in steep mountainous areas. Success in this activity requires substantial knowledge about soils and how to conserve and manage them on steep slopes, since mountain soils are commonly thin and vulnerable to erosion.Even after the diffusion of mechanization and intensive agriculture, terracing is not only widely practiced in mountain areas, but also extensively studied and researched upon, as an example of the ongoing human struggle to adapt to these harsh environments (Figure 3). The cattle have compact size and a distinct brown colour with white patches (therefore called Semmarai). The bullocks, famous for speed and trotting, are maintained for dung and breeding, and are good draft animals and suitable for all agriculture operations in hills and also in plains. Their hooves are hard and water resistant (hence can be used for wet land ploughing) and do not need to be shoed. They are highly resistant to disease and normally no vaccination practice is followed. These bullocks are used by small farmers because of their low maintenance and feed requirements.The forest and cattle have coexisted in Bargur Hills for centuries, thereby, conserving each other. The pastoral practices of seasonal grazing in the forest conserved the Bargur Hills. The pastoralists in Bargur do not take their cattle to forest for penning in dry season. Instead they take them to their agriculture fields after the harvest and allow them to graze on grass and fodder. The herders only take their cattle to graze in the forest from mid-August to mid-January -after they have sown their fields -which checks the excess growth of grass and forest fires. As a policy, they do not collect the dung fallen during grazing, thus leaving it to act as a good fertilizer. Compared to chemical fertilizers, dung manure has a higher prevalence and a slower nutrient release because the soil nutrients are Pastoralists, mountains and soilsSome 35 000-40 000 pastoralists in Bargur Hills of southern India depend on Bargur cattle for their livelihoods.Most of them are Lingayats, a Hindu religious sect of strict vegetarians who speak a mix of the Tamil and Kannada languages. Lingayats move their animals from fields to forest, depending on the season, meaning they contribute to both forest and cropland fertility, and support the ecosystem. However, the Bargur cattle are rapidly disappearing from the area due to government regulations that deny them access to the forest and also to invasive species that suppress the growth of plants the pastoralists use as fodder. This study explores the link between the activities of Bargur Hill cattle and soil.not fully mineralized and are accompanied by a gut microbiota that catalyses the slow nutrient release. Dung also has a positive effect on increasing water holding capacity on soils, as it has a sponge effect that allows for capture of water during rains and slow release during dry times. Cow dung and urine and dung mixed with leaves of the nimtree (Azadirachta indica) are being used by local people as pesticide and weedicides. Farmers in Bargur Hills have traditionally never used chemical pesticides, weedicides and fertilizers and have preferred dung over chemical fertilizers.The presence of pastoralists has also prevented the poaching and hunting of animals in the forest, thereby maintaining the ecosystem in the hills. The current decline in pastoralism may lead to disruption of balance between soil, trees and cattle in the Hills. It can already be seen that, with a decline in cattle population and expansion of cropping, the use of chemicals for farming is rising, which in the long run will affect the soil fertility and water availability in hills. For example, a lower sustained organic matter content may cause higher erosion rates in such a hilly environment.Pastoralism is declining rapidly in hills. More than 50 percent of Linagayats have already given up pastoralism and migrated to the plains, seeking any available labour. A 2003 census found 9 091 Bargur cattle in the area, which represented a decline of around 90 percent from 1977, when there were 95 400. Now, a 2010 estimate done by Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) found that the hills are left with only 3 000 cattle, a number that continues to decline significantly, mainly due to restriction on the grazing imposed by the forest officials of both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States. Denial of grazing and penning permits by the forest department since 1994 has created a major situation leading to an increasing number of cattle being sent to the slaughterhouses.The pastoralists also are dealing with the invasion of Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora, both invasive alien species which suppress the growth of native flora and fodder grasses such as alampul or malampul and naalepul, which support the ruminants. In addition, a special police task force assigned to the area to search for the forest brigand Veerappan since 1990, led to the harassment of the locals in the search of information to bring him to court, which resulted in loss of cattle and livelihood of the pastoralists. The programme focused on optimal use of local resources and methods to improve the preparation and management of farmyard manure and compost, and the systematic collection of cattle urine which can be used as both a liquid fertilizer and as a base for bio-pesticides. Adoption of these practices has contributed to increased productivity, enhanced income, improved food security, and has had a beneficial impact on the workload of women. In fact, it is almost always the women's job to carry the manure to the fields: being the improved manure lighter, more friable, less wet and being fodder crops grown on waste or nearby land, the burden on women was alleviated. The approach also includes options to improve general farm management techniques, such as topsoil nutrient monitoring, With the adoption of improved farmyard manure management techniques and the systematic collection of cattle urine, farmers gained around 18.6 kg of additional nitrogen each year from one mature cow. This represented a significant contribution through on-farm recycling of local resources, as much of this nitrogen would otherwise have been lost through volatilization and leaching. Adoption of these practices has contributed to increased productivity, enhanced income, improved food security, and had a beneficial impact on the workload of women.The soil and farm management technologies introduced by the programme were based on locally available resources and alternative solutions, and included:• improving methods of preparation, management and storage of farmyard manure and compost, focusing on the protection of the manure from rain and sun to reduce leaching and volatilization of plant nutrients; • making cost-effective improvements to cattle sheds to permit the collection and utilization of cattle/buffalo urine as a base for on-farm production of bio-pesticides and as a liquid fertilizer (replacing urea); • using on-farm composting, vermicomposting and mulching; • introducing crop rotation and integrating legumes into the cropping systems; • using on-farm fodder and forage production to reduce the time and drudgery of collecting cattle feed; • introducing integrated plant nutrient management; • setting up collection and use of on-farm waste and runoff water.These technologies are linked with the production of high value vegetable and cash crops and improved varieties of cereal crops, and incorporate establishment of low-cost polyhouses and value chain marketing to increase farm incomes. They have been adopted in the policies of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and are being promoted through on-farm demonstrations and experiments, documenting and sharing innovations, on-farm coaching and training, and through mobilizing experienced leader farmers for the farmer-to-farmer extension A husband and wife farming team using bio-pesticides, based on cattle urine, on their cauliflower and citrus in a farmer-led experiment. Okhreni village, Ramechhap district, eastern Nepal (Richard Allen)approach. In each of the more than 2 000 farmer groups the project worked with in the period 2011-2014, the best or most innovative farmer was elected the leader farmer, i.e. she/he was the leader of the farmer group and contact person.In order to adopt and mainstream these activities at the local level, and in government policies and regular programmes, the Sustainable Soil Management Programme engaged successfully with senior government staff at local and national level for policy development and capacity building. These soil management technologies were adopted by over 150 000 farmers in 20 districts during the time of the programme (1999-2014). Now, through upscaling by the Ministry of Agricultural Development to more than 50 more districts, many other farmers will also adopt the improved practices. At the local level, more than 400 village development committees have mobilized their government grants and experienced leader farmers have promoted these sustainable soil management technologies among the farmers.• Use of the improved farmyard manure resulted in the soils' organic matter contents increasing over periods of one to three years, at rates varying from 2 to 27 percent. Overall, the increase from 3.3 percent organic matter to almost 3.8 percent was highly significant.• Sustainable land management and improved farmyard manure quality significantly increased the total nitrogen levels which resulted in reduced fertilizer applications, increased moisture-holding capacity and drought resistance, and enhanced soil erosion control.• Due to the improved farm and soil management, together with the use of improved seed and adoption of innovative technologies, all farmers who adopted the practices have improved productivity, drought and pest/disease resistance, household income, food security and resistance to climate change.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), through its Technical Cooperation Project on Improving Soil Fertility, Land Productivity and Land Degradation Mitigation and in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, helps scientists and farmers in over 60 countries measure and control soil erosion through the use of various nuclear techniques. These include tracking fallout radionuclides (FRNs), which help assess soil erosion rates, and using compound specific stable isotope (CSSI) analysis, which assists in tracing hot spots of land degradation (Box 1).Sampling of soil for FRN analysis to quantify soil erosion rates from a coffee farm. Lam Dong province, Viet Nam (Phan Son Hai)Currently, 65 percent of the Earth's soil resources -or 1.9 billion hetares -are considered degraded. Soil erosion, the main contributor to land degradation, leads to loss of 75 billion tonnes of fertile soil each year with an economic cost of about US $400 billion per year. Nuclear techniques have been developed that can help protect soil from degradation by pinpointing and measuring erosion which enables targeting conservation practices and treatments that can control the erosion.Box 1: Fallout radionuclides and compound specific stable isotope analysisFallout radionuclides mostly originated with the fallout from nuclear weapons testing that was done in the 1950s and 1960s and from nuclear accidents, such as the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.Fallout from the testing and the accidents, dispersed throughout the world and, in addition to being present in the atmosphere, the FRNs have been deposited on the soil surface through rainfall.Measuring the presence of FRNs in the soil can help i) identify changes in soil redistribution patterns and rates in large catchment areas and ii) evaluate the efficiency of soil conservation measures in controlling soil erosion. FRNs can be measured non-destructively and relatively easily using modern highresolution gamma spectrometry.CSSI analysis is used to identify where eroded soil originated because CSSIs are specific to different plants. By studying the CSSI make-up of the eroded soil, scientists can trace it back to its origins. Combining the two approaches provides information that links the sediment in the catchment to its source of erosion.Erosion affects the fertile top layer of the soil, carrying away much of the essential plant nutrients and making it difficult for plants to grow and thrive. Environmental problems also occur when these nutrients are deposited in freshwater -algae feed on them which greatly increases their presence and, in turn, sharply decreases water quality. Intensive agriculture, along with deforestation, is a common cause of erosion. Aggressive farming removes the organic matter that binds the soil particles, leaving the soil vulnerable to erosion during heavy storms and rainfalls. Nuclear techniques help identify erosion hot spots, enabling follow-up mitigation measures to target treatment on areas most at risk, which increases effectiveness and reduces cost. After introducing the project in various Asian countries, the FAO/IAEA partnership is now working to replicate its success in other parts of the world and is forming a network of national experts to share best farming practices and know-how to address land degradation.In Viet Nam, where three-quarters of the country's territory is sloping land, erosion is a major problem. An FAO/IAEA pilot project in the Lam Dong province measured soil erosion rates using nuclear techniques at 27 sites. As a result, the Centre for Environmental Research and Monitoring at Viet Nam's Dalat Nuclear Research Institute, which has participated in the project since 2012, reported that farmers were able to adopt appropriate and targeted conservation practices -such as introducing intercropping, creating basins near coffee trees to trap water, and building terraces -which led to a 45 percent reduction in soil erosion. Similar results were achieved throughout the region (Figure 1). The Centre is now assisting other institutes across the country in introducing nuclear techniques for erosion monitoring nationwide.An erosion-prone area of Perlis State in northern Malaysia, which is also part of the project, has been monitored for over ten years. The monitoring team, from the Sultan Idris Education University, switched to nuclear techniques two years ago which enabled them to obtain much more detailed information. Previously, the team could measure sedimentation rates in lakes, but could not identify the exact source of the sediments. With the nuclear measurement techniques, the team can identify precisely the erosion source and, thus, know where to undertake proper mitigation measures. The next step is to organize a training programme for farmers on techniques to reduce soil erosion.A Vietnamese farmer, who has seen his income increased by over 20 percent, now grows tea plants and animal fodder in erosion hot spots among his coffee trees. The new plantings not only curtail the erosion, they also provide extra income.Coffee plantation farm site for monitoring soil erosion study using nuclear techniques. Lam Dong province, Viet Nam (Phan Son Hai) Forests perform an important contribution to food production by helping maintain soil fertility and other ecological services (e.g. pollination) necessary for crop production. In the Himalayan region, agriculture is the mainstay of local inhabitants and livelihoods are largely dependent on forest-based resources. Forests are generally maintained at hilltops or on slopes above agricultural fields. The nutrient rich washout from the forests also contributes to the soil fertility. Fodder collected from forests is stall-fed to domestic animals and the farm yard manure, prepared from composting animal dung with forest leaf litter, is applied to agricultural fields. In addition, forests stabilize the soil, control erosion, improve the soil's water holding capacity and moderate air and soil temperatures. Thus, there is a direct relationship between forest soil fertility and agricultural land fertility. Studies on soil are extremely relevant, enabling better choices for conservation and management of forests. The soils' physiochemical characteristics -those which depend on the joint actions of both physical and chemical processes -vary in space and time because of variation in vegetation cover, topography, climate, weathering processes, microbial activities and several other biotic and abiotic factors. Vertical patterns of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N) and C/N ratios are crucial for understanding biogeochemical cycles, and for insights into nutrient inputs, outputs and cycling process in ecosystems.Uttarakhand State in India's Western Himalayan region has two major forest types -oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) and pine (Pinus roxburghii) -which spread over some 10 000 km 2 . The Oak, known also as banj oak, is a deep rooted and moderate sized evergreen tree that grows in the moist and cool aspects between 1 000 and 2 300 masl, whereas pine is a shallow rooted, and large evergreen conifer that grows between 800 and 1 700 masl. Oak forests mostly occupy deep, moist and fertile soils whereas pine forests do better on shallow and nutrient poorPure pine plantation (Rakesh Chandra Sundriyal)Oak and pine forests soil in the Western Himalayan region of India Girish Chandra Singh Negi, Gunjan Joshi, Rakesh Chandra Sundriyal and Pitamber Prasad DhyaniAgriculture is the major economic and livelihood activity for Himalayan people. In this region, forests supply nutrients to the farmland soils in the form of fodder, leaf litter and soil washouts, and contribute to the agriculture and crop yield. By investigating soils of oak and pine stands, which are the prominent forest types in the Western Himalayan region, this report highlights why oak forests are superior to pine forests and should be preferred for sustaining agriculture and other associated ecosystem services including maintenance of biodiversity and enhancement of carbon stocks in vegetation and soil pools.soil and dry habitats. In an area between 1 000 and 1 500 masl, these two forest types overlap and form mixed forests. Generally, oak forests require protected sites while pine forests endure biotic stress such as fire and grazing. About 150 year ago, pine forests were planted for their commercially important resin and timber, occupying the habitats suitable for oak forests. Biotic disturbance such as lopping for fuel wood and fodder and foraging by livestock is common in both the forests. In these forests, soil quality (particularly N) deteriorates along the disturbance gradient, and tree growth is most commonly limited by shortage of mineral nutrients. As the hardy pine has replaced oak forests, it has affected the N cycle. These forests also offer a large sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). In this case study, an effort has been made to present physicochemical properties of soils (up to 1 m depth) among oak and pine forests located in Chamoli and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand across winter and rainy seasons. Data indicated that the physicochemical properties of soil in both the forest types varied significantly (Table 1, Figures 1 and 2).Collection of oak leaves as fodder is an important task for women during lean period (Rakesh Chandra Sundriyal)  The topsoil layer (0-30 cm depth) in both the forests studied had high concentration of SOC and total N, and concentration of these nutrients decreased significantly with increasing soil depth. In both the forest types, about half of the SOC and total N stock was distributed in the topsoil layer. Shallower distribution of the most limiting nutrients for plants (those required by plants in high amounts relative to soil supply) such as N was in general agreement with earlier reports. Considering that SOC stored in surface layer is more vulnerable and less stable than that in deeper layer, the topsoil of these forests should be protected to minimize the risk of large C release.In the Western Himalayan region, oak forests are socially valued as they provide a range of ecosystem services for the rural communities -they hold high soil moisture and have the water holding capacity and soil fertility that support higher density, biomass productivity, diversity, species richness and under-storey vegetation year-round than the pine forests. In the oak forests, deep soil rich in detritus layer and organic matter coupled with higher clay content (oak 22 percent vs pine 17 percent) promotes absorption of dissolved organic carbon in deeper soil layers. Thus, the role of healthy soil for the growth and sustainability of forests is implicit through this research. Recently, the role of soil C pools for mitigation of greenhouse gas emission has highlighted the need for more knowledge on tree species and forest type, and enhancing natural sinks for C sequestration to mitigate climate change impacts.A panoramic view of western Himalayan landscape (Rakesh Chandra Sundriyal)• The report highlights that oak forests hold more fertile soil than pine forests, and the topsoil layer of these forests is particularly nutrient rich, hence needs to be protected, particularly for C stocking. • The SOC and total N stock in oak forests was significantly higher than in pine forests. Maintaining broad-leaved oak forests will not only provide higher biodiversity, fodder, fuelwood and carbon sink, but also control fire and enhance ecosystem services. • Oak forests should therefore be protected and given priority in afforestation programmes to contribute to mitigation of climate change impacts.An example of this tremendous knowledge gap refers to some peculiar soil properties, such as andic properties of mountain soils. It is noteworthy that andic soils have unique morphological, physical and chemical properties that induce considerable soil fertility and resilience to land degradation processes such as erosion and landslides.In recent years several reports from all over the world have addressed soils with andic properties in Non-Volcanic Mountain Ecosystems (NVME), including Nepal, India, Austria, North Appalachians (Canada, United States), Kyushu (Japan) and the Alps (Europe). Despite all these findings there is a huge lack of knowledge about the spatial extent of these soils and why they occur over different types of parent materials and climatic conditions.In the Italian mountains altitude (> 700 masl), slope (< 12°) and active green biomass (maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value > 0.5) have been used as preliminary criteria to identify potential sites where andic soil processes may occur. From this analysis, 42 sites were investigated over a large range of geographical and geological features throughout Italy. All soils were morphologically, micromorphologically and chemically fairly homogeneous, indicating similarities of pedogenetic processes towards andosolization, whereas the podzolization was negligible. A further analysis concerning soil genesis showed that these soils exhibit a parent material of \"autochthonous eolian deposits\" (loess) in Aluandic Andosols, Cambisols, Phaeozems and Podzols (67 percent, 63 percent, 44 percent and 73 percent, respectively), which also exhibited lower andic features, whereas eolian volcanic deposits accounted for about 90 percent of the parent material in the most andic soil type (Silandic Andosols). The outcome of this study shows the lack of knowledge of mountain soils and the need for improvement in their sustainable management.Rock structure (Christian Prat)When dealing today with mountain soils it is important to understand that very little is known about mountain soils, because most of the world's soil survey programmes are oriented towards arable agricultural production. Therefore an integrated ecosystem management is very much lacking.Addressing the knowledge gap on mountain soilsAn \"integrated\" mountain ecosystem management is very much lacking. The multifunctional role of soils calls for a holistic approach to address mountain agriculture and mountain ecosystem management. This role includes water regulation, food and no-food production, source of raw materials, climate regulation, flood control and water flow regulation, water purification, erosion control, stock of biodiversity, recreation and tourism.In this respect, it is now evident that there are many contrasting demands on mountain landscape such as tourism, primary productivity, leisure, etc. but also land degradation issues, as well as new risks and opportunities provided by climate change such as the expansion of viticulture towards higher altitudes. All these issues must be considered and managed holistically if we aim to protect mountain ecosystems.A new approach is offered by the use of Spatial Decision Support System based on Geospatial Cyber-Infrastructure (GCI). 1 One example is given by the SOILCONSWEB-LIFE+ project. This system allows dynamic, multidisciplinary, multiscale and multifunctional answers to agricultural, forestry and urban planning issues to be obtained online through the web. The system has been applied and tested in an area of approximately 20 000 ha in the south of Italy (Valle Telesina -in the province of Benevento) within a large mountain ecosystem (altitude ranging from 35 to 1 390 masl). The system has been developed with the help of end users and is starting to be adopted by local communities. Indeed, it has the benefit of having abolished current disciplinary fragmentation which is rather common in mountain ecosystem (habitat, forestry, agriculture, etc.) offering -through a smart web-based system -a truly integrated geospatial knowledge that may be directly and freely used by any end user. For example, the forestry module of the system can provide answers such as (i) forest types, (ii) the average height of forest stands, (iii) the growing stock, (iv) above ground carbon stock, etc. This is also an example which may help to bridge the divide between scientists working on the landscape and end users.Efforts to reduce poverty of people in remote mountainous areas by responding to growing demand for mountain agricultural products can often incorporate more intensive use of natural resources, in particular soil and water. Yet, across the globe, communities living in mountainous areas have developed unique and sustainable production systems adapted to their local environments, and consumers are willing to pay higher prices for high-value products produced in such ways.Successful soil management in mountainous areas calls for ensuring these locally adapted production and processing techniques maintain their focus on ecologically sound production and incorporate fair market relations. Recognizing this has increased the focus on identifying and further developing the locally adapted sustainable production systems that provide food, generate income and conserve scarce natural resources.The following looks at some of these systems.Staple crops. Through tradition, indigenous knowledge and continuous adaptation, low fertilizer-demanding staple crops evolved in mountain areas, such as buckwheat in the Himalayas, quinoa in the Andes, teff in the Ethiopian highlands and wheat landraces in the Alps. Today, due to a growing demand for these nutritious and healthy crops in northern countries, they are often marketed through organic or fair-trade channels and sold as speciality foods.Agrobiodiversidad -Quinoa. Perú (@FAO/Alipio Canahua)Peter SchmidtLivestock production. Traditional livestock production practices -such as migrating herders making use of remote pastures and applying ingenious traditional processing techniques to conserve food -are at the origin of characteristic mountain agro-ecosystems. The resulting livestock products include kymys, a fermented mere milk in Kyrgyzstan, dried yak meat in the Himalayas, and kurut, balls of dried protein-rich milk in the Hindu Kush. They not only have growing markets in urban centres, their traditional production techniques have now been complemented with semi-and fully industrialized cheese production, promoted by, for example, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the Andes, Nepal, India and Central Asia to name a few. In view of ecological sustainability needs, such as maintaining soil fertility, livestock production systems need to pay attention to solid pasture management (management committees and pasture rotation), fodder production (stall feeding and fodder trees) and nutrient management (farmyard manure and urine collection).Non-timber forest products. Non-timber forest products such as berries, nuts and mushrooms are also potential income sources in mountainous areas because, whether collected or cultivated, they are high value and are comparatively easily to transport. For example, raspberries from the Balkans (e.g. Serbia) or mushrooms from the deep forests in Eastern Europe (e.g. Kosovo or Albania) find their way to Western European supermarkets.Aromatic and medicinal herbs. Aromatic and medicinal herbs are fast growing compared with trees and, in addition to a quick economic return, growing them also provides producers with a permanent soil coverage. With support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation is engaged in the \"bio-trade\" of medicinal plants in the Mekong area -linking producer groups to national and regional processors. The sustainable trade benefits mountain peoples and contributes to conservation of tropical forests. With herb collection, it is particular important to avoid over-exploitation of the resource, requiring for example the application of respective standards such as those of the Union for Ethical BioTrade which promotes \"sourcing with respect\". Semiprocessing and the adherence to standards such as organic production can increase value addition and income for the producers, even in the most remote areas, and ensures that sustainability principles, including the maintenance of soil fertility, are followed.Radhia Abdul Kulunge's onions and tomatoes at the Kiroka market. Kiroka, Tanzania (@ FAO/Daniel Hayduk)Viticulture. The traditional production system for wine takes advantage of the steep slopes' higher sun-radiation. In addition to inexpensive mass production of wine, there is a growing demand for special wines with a certified origin of a specific region, for which consumers are ready to pay higher prices. The conscious choice of particular grape varieties and grape blends, special pressing techniques and, again, the adherence to sustainability labels increase consumers' readiness to pay a higher price which, in turn, provides an incentive to producers to apply sustainable production techniques. For example, wine producers in Georgia have revived the ancient kvevri technique whereby fermentation takes place slowly and naturally within large earthenware vessels with no chemical preservatives.In very fragile ecological contexts, such as arid and semi-arid areas, the quality of soils is particularly vital for the sustenance of rural communities. In such situations, the organic matter content of soils is of primary importance because it controls their water holding capacity. All measures to maintain and increase organic matter -for example, crop rotation, green manure, mulching and compost making -can also contribute to maintaining, promoting or even introducing soil fertility. In certain situations, changing cropping patterns or even introducing new crops may be appropriate measures for erosion control and soil fertility. For example, simple management measures such as planting and pruning transformed the beles cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) -originally an invasive species in Tigray, Ethiopia -into a welcomed multi-purpose plant, providing food for humans, fodder for livestock, and fruits and flowers for sale on urban and international markets. At the same time, beles contributes to erosion control and enriches soils with organic matter.Located in the highlands of the Panamanian Central Cordillera in the Santa Fe district of Veraguas province, the 72 636 ha Santa Fe National Park has proven critical for conveying the need for investment in the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. It belongs to the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, a highly biodiverse region that encompasses seven Central American countries and Mexico. In addition, it contains a strategic water reservoir for the major human settlements of the country, and the water streaming from its watershed and the related rivers has great potential to generate hydropower. Thanks to the elevation and steepness that characterize the geomorphology of the park, all the springs of the major rivers originating within the protected area may potentially generate renewable energy.The non-governmental organization (NGO) Fundación CoMunidad works with family farmers engaged in small-scale coffee production in the protected area and its surroundings. A buffer zone outside the natural park is a forested area with trees such as Cedrela odorata and Cordia alliodora up to 30 m high and an understorey with many fallen leaves. Hence, this area is a productive system with natural or significant spontaneous woody vegetation. These lands are suitable for the production of coffee, and their humid tropical climate also allows for the production of complementary crops such as citrus, beans and vegetables. With constant rain throughout the year and favourable soil features, the area also has good agricultural potential for various forest and fruit plantations.The park has mountain ranges with narrow valleys and elevations ranging from 600 to 1 400 masl. Mountains slopes are steep, especially in the southern section of the Santa Fe National Park and its buffer zone, and soils are thin with goodThe landscape on one of the farms of small coffee producers shaded located in the buffer zone of the protected area (Alberto Pascual)The production of shade-grown coffee is key to the conservation of mountain ecosystems. In Panama's Santa Fe National Park, coffee is a traditional crop and one of the main income sources for many family farmers who live in the protected park area and its surroundings. The cultivation of shade-grown coffee ensures environmental, policultural and agroforestal biodiversity, contributes to soil conservation and plays a crucial role in mitigating and adapting to climate change.Family coffee farmers improve mountain soils internal drainage. The predominant soils of this mountain region have a pH that tends to range from acidic (< 6.5) to very acidic (4.5). This is because the rainfall has historically induced a strong phenomenon of nutrient leaching and soils are exposed to wind erosion and other atmospheric agents.The work of family farmers engaged in shade-grown coffee generates multiple benefits due to the use of native species, soil conservation and improvement practices, reduced dependence on petrol and derivatives through agro-ecology, practice of polyculture and silvopastoralism, terraced coffee plantations and crop rotation. One of the salient features of the traditional farming systems is their high degree of biodiversity thanks to polyculture and agroforestry. Diversified systems support several ecosystem services such as soil carbon sequestration, regulation of the hydrological cycle, provision of habitat for natural pollinators and control of pests and diseases through natural enemies. All this, in turn, promotes dietary diversity and improves the long-term productivity of soils, even with low levels of technology and limited resources.The techniques the family farmers have implemented for shade-grown coffee have reduced soil erosion and nutrient loss, while also respecting the ground cover, the trees and their extensive root systems which are key elements for agriculture to conserve and improve soils in mountains.All components and joint actions of this project are framed and legitimized within the Management Plan of the Santa Fe National Park published in September 2014 by the Panamanian Ministry of the Environment which calls for:• reducing the pressure on natural resources by promoting sustainable production techniques, restoring degraded areas, strengthening local capacities, income generation and use of native species, identifying crops that are suitable to the park's soil and overall improvement of livelihoods; • promoting understanding and analysis of the human-environment interaction in the park and its buffer zone, with special emphasis on indigenous communities; • promoting knowledge sharing on the biophysical, ecological and cultural features of the region; • ensuring participative management of the park involving local communities, institutions, NGOs.In this framework, Foundación Comunidad works with local producers to establish shade-grown coffee as a finished brand product. This has potential to open new markets, build public and private partnerships, and identify new strategic partners, always ensuring sustainable use of natural resources and soils conservation and improvement within the Santa Fe National Park and its buffer zone.Sebastián Fernández, one of the thirty members of the association of coffee producers, prepares the next bag for the drying process (Alberto Pascual)Coffee is one of the main source of income for peoples living in the central mountains of Panama (Alberto Pascual)Forêt des Pins is located at an altitude from 1 500 to 2 500 masl on the top of an east-west passing ridge of Hispaniola. It forms part of the Caribbean Biological Corridor. Steep and erosion-prone slopes reach down to Haiti's south coast, and weather conditions are known for extreme precipitation and hurricanes. The high pressure on the land due to the area's rapidly growing population and its remoteness, combined with poor infrastructure and weak governance, makes it one of the world's most poverty-stricken spots. Soils are poor and water retention for both human consumption and agriculture is a key problem in the karst of the area.In order to reduce the pressure on farmers to clear the little remaining forest in order to increase crop land, HELVETAS has encouraged in the buffer zone around the forest -among other interventions -the production of vegetables for family consumption and thyme for sale. Thyme is a crop well suited to fragile mountainous agro-ecosystem: it is perennial, covers the soil well, and is easy to transport, not too perishable, high value and -most important -demanded by the market as thyme is a traditional spice in the Haitian kitchen.The promotion of vegetable and thyme production in Forêt des Pins is just one example of an intervention that fosters sustainable livelihoods in mountain areas because it responds to three fundamental needs: food, income and conservation of natural resources. HELVETAS began promoting thyme production in 2008, based on a market analysis, and today, about 1 000 of the most disadvantaged families in Haiti are involved. As in so many development interventions, there have been challenges. For example, because of presence of soil-borne diseases, producers have had to change the location of the perennial crop every couple of years. The farmers' tradition of growing thyme in rows required additional anti-erosion measures such as stone walls to protect the scarce soil.Due to the karst underground, water retention is among the key problems for agriculture in this area (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation/Flurina Rothenberg)Only 2 percent of the surface of disaster-prone Haiti is covered with forest. For more than a decade, the non-governmental organization (NGO) HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation has engaged on behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to protect Forêt des Pins, one of Haiti's few large tracts of forest located at the mountainous top of the island. It has supported farmers in the area through promoting production of crops for both family consumption and for markets -crops that do not put pressure on the area's fragile environment.Thyme cultivation is only one of many interventions to reduce the pressure on the forest and to protect its unique biodiversity. Compared with vegetable production, thyme cultivation is the most profitable activity. Farmers report that the income generated from the sale of thyme allows them to send their children to quality schools. There are primary schools in the Forêt des Pins area, but when it comes to secondary schools the families have to send their children to towns in the plains or even the capital, Port-au-Prince. Truly an investment in the future. And with the urban market demand, the students may enjoy the taste of thyme -perhaps from their parents' fields -in their food, even in Port-au-Prince.Natural disasters, scarce resources, remotness and poor govenrance makes the Forêt des Pins poverty stricken area (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation/ Flurina Rothenberg)The dry season is long around Mek'ele, the capital city of Tigray in Ethiopia, and rainfall is becoming increasingly scarce due to climate change. The landscape is a patchwork of greys and browns and, for many months, the beles cacti are the only spots of green.The plant, which stores water during the rains for the long dry season ahead, was first introduced by Roman Catholic missionaries around 150 years ago and spread quickly, turning out to be invasive. In collaboration with an array of institutions from the state, research, private sector and civil society organizations, the BSP undertook to make better use of beles and through their efforts, beles is now cultivated for fencing and planted along contour lines to stop soil erosion. Its remains enrich the soil's organic matter content and consequently its water holding capacity, a vital characteristic of soils in semi-arid and arid areas such as Tigray. Astonishingly, in an area with chronic hunger, people did not consume the edible parts of the plant, even though its fruit and leaves can be used for human consumption as well as animal feed. Today women in Tigray prepare delicious side dishes and salads from the young leaves of the cactus.The orchestrated interventions to make better use of beles is only one of the project's many contributions to comprehensive watershed management and improving livelihoods.At household level, the overall goal of BSP is to promote economically viable family farms that are able to manage their natural resources in a sustainable way, to increase their food security and adapt to climate change.Beles (Opuntia ficus-indica) is an invasive plant growing in northern Ethiopia. Properly managed beles provides food to humans and livestock (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation)The Beles SUNRise Project (BSP) in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region aims to improve food security and income generation by promoting the use of the beles cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica, also known as prickly pear). Once viewed as an invasive species, BSP has promoted the fact that it can be used for human consumption and animal feed as well as to improve soils, reduce disaster risks and contribute to climate change mitigation. Initiated as a \"cactus initiative\" in 2003, the project today operates in the Eastern Tigray Beles Belt including five districts with a total population of approximately 20 000. The project is funded and implemented by the Swiss development non-governmental organization (NGO) HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation.Beles -from an invasive plant to a blessing At community level, the project aims to contribute to the empowerment of rural communities through establishing watershed associations and community development funds. These can pave the way for future self-initiative and attract local government bodies and direct donor funding for the implementation of watershed development plans. Ultimately, this should enable communities to develop and manage their natural resources through community-induced initiatives and resources. Furthermore, it should restore community capacity and self-reliance to develop community-based safety nets that can look after disadvantaged and vulnerable households.The project also focuses on the development, expansion and strengthening of beles cactus value chains including the potential of establishing a beles processing industry in Tigray for the local or regional markets. In collaboration with women's organizations, the project promotes beles dishes as a means of enhancing food security among target communities. As a result, beles has become a source of hope for many families in the remote and mountainous area of Tigray where it not only provides food and income, it also prevents soil erosion and improves soil fertility.Cut in time, beles leaves serve as welcome fodder for livestock (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation)Today local women prepare side dishes and salads from the edible parts of beles (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation)Both small-and large-scale farmers in Nepal's highlands and lowlands have little knowledge of the nutrient requirements of the crops they grow or of the existing balance of nutrients in their soil. This means they also do not know whether they need to apply more or less fertilizer or recycled material for optimal yields. They often apply too much, too little or the wrong fertilizer and are unsure of how to adjust for the manures and other recycled materials that are applied. Even if productivity improves, the potential of higher yielding varieties is variable and often low throughout Nepal, where low levels of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus are commonplace. All of this was taken into consideration when developing the Crop-Nu smartphone app to help farmers make more informed soil management decisions.Crop-Nu takes into account climate and location, current soil nutrient status (based on soil analysis when available or on the local experience of the operator), traditional conservation and green manure practices, all the crops to be grown in one year, the expected or desired crop yield, and inputs of both recycled materials and commercially available fertilizers. It then calculates the amounts of the major crop nutrients (nitrogen -N, phosphorus -P and potassium -K) and soil organic matter required for optimal growth, and provides a recommendation as to how much nutrient to apply to the soil, and in what form -either as additional organic matter or as commercial fertilizer. Crop-Nu -a phone app to calculate crop nutrient requirementsIn addition, the app can answer many common questions: e.g. which land or crop requires further nutrient top-up, what rates of N-P-K fertilizer are actually needed to ensure no loss of production and no decline in soil fertility, and how can the use of organic manure be optimized to fulfil more of the crop's nutrient need, and maintain or increase soil organic matter levels? For example, a farmer in Dhobaha village who grew three crops on one parcel of land in a single year (spring maize, summer rice and winter wheat) only applied farmyard manure to one of the crops. Crop-Nu clearly showed her that the productivity on her land was low because all crops were not receiving sufficient N, P or K for optimal yields.Crop-Nu, developed by Nepali programmers and based on Nepali conditions and research, builds on the comprehensive work of the HELVETAS Sustainable Soil Management Programme (1999-2014), which was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to combat the decline in soil fertility and productivity in the mid-hills of Nepal, and develop an integrated plant nutrient management system for mid-hill farmers. Available in both English and Nepali, it is designed to be modified for use in other countries, in other languages, for many crops, and to be updated to include new research findings.When the app development was completed at the end of 2014, field testing began in February 2015 in two communities in south Nepal's Nawalparasi district on a first version of Crop-Nu in Android app format, with encouraging results (see lessons learned, opposite). Farmers and field extension staff were very interested in Crop-Nu, took part enthusiastically in the tests, and identified and recommended areas that needed improvement. It is envisaged that a system will be developed to link the mobile phones on the farm to databases in relevant government departments and with private sector partners where the operators responsible can provide real-time advice and assistance to extension workers in the field.• Using Crop-Nu, it takes about 30 minutes to provide a recommendation to farmers and discuss options with them as to how to best fulfil the crop nutrient requirement for optimal yields and maintenance of soil fertility.• The app works equally well for a single crop or a series of three crops to be grown on a single parcel of land over the cropping year, and for both small and large areas of land, providing that they are under the same cropping and management regimes.• Crop-Nu reported sound results whether soil analysis results were available or not, and provided farmers with sensible recommendations in terms of soil nutrient applications, potential yields and management of soil fertility.The Crop-Nu screen showing the organic manure additions to each crop, with the excess or deficit nutrition check at the bottom of the screen (Richard Allen) This is the final screen of Crop-Nu where, on the basis of the data entered, a recommendation is made for the additional soil nutrients that are required for optimal production (Richard Allen)Testing Crop-Nu after training on sustainable soil management practices with farmers. Dhabaha village, Nawalparasi District, Nepal (Richard Allen).The high spatial variability of soils is a relevant issue at local and global scales, and determines the complexity of soil ecosystem functions and services. This variability derives from strong dependencies of soil ecosystems on parent materials, climate, relief and biosphere, including human impact. Although present in all environments, the interactions of soils with these forming factors are particularly striking in mountain areas.Principle patterns of soil distribution can be found in the work of natural scientists across the decades. Writing in 1899, Dokuchaev mentioned that spatial changes in moisture and temperature conditions (i.e. in climate) determine soil properties. This gave rise to the Laws of Horizontal Soil Zonality (for plain regions) and Vertical Soil Zonality (for mountain regions).In mountain areas, altitude and relief strongly affect the soil's energy balance and, as a consequence, the soil temperature. These two variables influence snow cover duration and the amount of precipitation, which can for example differ between windward and leeward sites. The thermal conditions and availability of water in soils are the main drivers of chemical and physical weathering. The relief has additional impact due to geological uplift, the differing hardness of parent material and its resistance to erosion and weathering. Vegetation is linked to the prevailing climatic conditions, but also to the parent material as its composition determines which plant species can grow and, thus, indirectly influences soil development.At alpine sites, the bare surfaces left by retreating glaciers offer the opportunity to observe early stages of soil development, which validates existing theories about ecosystem evolution and makes it possible to determine the speed of soil-forming processes. On silicatic parent material, chemical weathering, acidification and soil formation proceed very fast in mountainous areas due to the often relatively youngFarmers tilling soil for crops aiding post-conflict districts so they can begin growing crops again. Kirimetiyawa, Sri Lanka (@FAO/Ishara Kodikara)Ermanno Zanini, Michele Freppaz, Silvia Stanchi, Eleonora Bonifacio and Markus Eglisurfaces and the availability of fresh mineral surfaces. With surface age, these rates usually decrease. In some cases, aeolian deposits may also be an important soil-forming factor in mountainous and alpine soil pedogenesis. In addition, windblown materials, such as carbonates, may contribute to reducing the acidity of soils.Often, soil morphology and properties cannot be related to surface age directly, because soils may exhibit progressive and regressive evolutional stages. At geomorphologically active sites, where erosion or accumulation are under way, soils are often polygenetic. Mountain soil development is often characterized by the redistribution of soil material along the slopes.Soil can only persist at a given location if erosion does not remove it faster than it can be produced. Erosion leads to a rejuvenation of the soils and increases their weathering rates. This means that, to a certain extent, erosion and chemical weathering rates are positively correlated. Larsen et al. showed that, under undisturbed conditions, soil production enables even rapidly eroding landscapes to retain a cloak of soil. However, a delicate balance exists between soil production and erosion that may become very intense and endanger the persistence of fertile soil.Mountain soils are highly dynamic and sensitive systems that react to environmental changes such as climate change and intense land use. Human-induced erosion rates are, in some mountain areas, much beyond (maximum) soil production rates.Extensive erosion rates lead to rapid soil degradation and loss of areas for plant growth which, in turn, also negatively affects carbon sequestration.The environmental and site variables have considerable effects on pedogenesis, organic matter input and its turnover, leading to soils that under undisturbed conditions are thick and anisotropic, and develop clearly distinct horizons. For example, at cooler sites or at sites with ample water (having anoxic conditions), the decomposition of organic materials may be hindered. As a consequence, the rate of biomass production is often greater than the rate of decomposition (plant and soil respiration). This results in a net accumulation of plant and animal remains which eventually causes paludification (i.e. waterlogging of terrestrial soils by organic materials) with the formation of histosols, which are characterized by thick organic horizons.In cold areas dominated by siliceous rocks, on slopes with conifers or in the alpine dwarf-shrub zone, Podzols are quite widespread. Leptosols dominate at higher elevations in the alpine tundra while, at lower elevations, they only occur at geomorphically active sites (e.g. shallow landslides, snow avalanches) where erosion/accumulation and other disturbances inhibit further evolution. In these areas, buried soils, often truncated by erosion, are frequently overlain by younger soils developing on colluvium, debris flows and detrital slope deposits.The \"catena\" (chain) approach is a useful tool to detect common rules of soil development even in such diverse environments. The rugged and abruptly changing topography affects soil evolution in multiple ways, including the redistribution of the soil material along the slopes to valley floors. The exposure, for example, may have a tremendous effect on chemical weathering: north-facing slopes are often characterized by a higher element of leaching and consequently a higher weathering degree than south-facing slopes at the same elevation. At high altitudes, exposure and relief influence prevailing winds or snow distribution. This is the base concept of the \"synthetic alpine slope model\", which suggests that soil development across an alpine slope is at least partially governed by the number of snow-free days per year which, in turn, affects soil temperature and moisture.Although research at the regional level is needed, theories and experiences from elsewhere can greatly reduce efforts, as can modelling. However, transferring models and technology to field conditions can present serious difficulties, particularly in heterogeneous environments, and the effect of scale emerges as one of the main problems. Soil variability also means pedodiversity which is part of local and cultural heritage. This heritage includes the human impact which has widely and dramatically changed the soil cover. Now, with the knowledge of the origin, the significance and degree of soil variations in space and time, pedologists can contribute to support conservation of soil as a primary and nearly non-renewable resource. Because mountainous soils developed in a strongly dynamic landscape, are highly variable and react very sensitively to environmental change, they deserve particular protection. The area offers many different rock types, mountain soils and associated grassland plant communities. The mountain soils Rendzina, Para-rendzina, Ranker and Cambisol are widespread and crucial components of the near-natural terrestrial ecosystems, providing important habitats for many plant and animal species, and water and nutrients for plants and soil organisms. Their chemical, physical and biological soil properties and processes usually regulate plant species composition and species richness in the terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity in the Austrian Alps is threatened primarily by habitat loss or degradation. Consequently, mountain soils play a central role in the conservation of biodiversity, including both diversity of species and habitat types.In order to set priorities in nature conservation, protected area managers, conservationists, land-use planners and nature conservation authorities need more detailed information about the relationship between soil properties and floristic diversity in different ecosystems and landscapes. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the importance of soil chemical properties in influencing plant species composition and species richness in semi-natural and naturalMountain soils are important habitats for many plant and animal species (Andreas Bohner)Mountain soils are an important environmental factor influencing regional species pools, species composition, species richness and vegetation diversity in grasslands. Thus, the conservation of species-rich grassland plant communities requires soil protection. In the Austrian Alps, mountain pastures cover 468 051 ha, represent 6 percent of Austria's total land area and 16 percent of its total agricultural area. In 2008, the Agricultural Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein conducted a study of 42 sites in order to provide detailed information for setting conservation priorities, determined that soil pH and soil chemical properties should be taken into account when assessing vascular plant species richness in the area's semi-natural and natural grasslands.Mountain pasture soils and plant species richness in the Austrian Alps grasslands of the Austrian Alps. The altitude of the 42 carefully selected study sites ranged from 1 340 to 2 220 masl with negligible browsing by wild animals or human trampling, unfertilized mountain soils and lightly grazed grassland plant communities.Soils. The studied soils were more or less completely covered by grassland vegetation, the proportion of bare ground was small (< 5 percent) and the soil moisture regime was generally well balanced or periodically moist in topsoil.Plant communities. The studied grassland plant communities represented a vegetation and soil gradient from plant communities on very strongly acid soils to grasslands on slightly alkaline soils. Only vascular plants were taken into consideration. To determine vascular plant species richness (species density), the total number of vascular plant species within a homogeneous investigation area of 50 m² was recorded.At each site, soil samples were collected from the 0-10 cm soil layer. The pH of airdried soil samples was measured in a calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) solution. Regression analysis was used to describe the relationship between vascular plant species richness and soil pH. Across all sites investigated, species richness varied between 16 and 96 vascular plant species per 50 m², and soil pH ranged from 3.4 to 7.6.Grassland plant communities on mountain soils derived from calcareous mica schist (Para-rendzinas) have the greatest floristic diversity. This grassland represents a biodiversity hotspot in the Austrian Alps. Surprisingly, there was no relationship between floristic diversity and altitude, and the sampling sites differed only marginally in the intensity of grazing. In the studied vegetation types, vascular plant species richness was mainly affected by soil pH. Figure 1 illustrates a hump-shaped relationship between floristic diversity and soil pH. • The results of this study indicate that soil pH and the pH-dependent soil chemical properties have a major influence on vascular plant species richness and species composition in semi-natural and natural grassland communities of the Austrian Alps.• They strongly influence the distribution of plant species and plant communities throughout the Alps. Moreover, they govern the size of regional species pools.Cambisol (Andreas Bohner)Nutrient-poor plant habitats are potentially rich in plant species if the mountain soils are moderately acid (pH 5.0-6.2). They are particularly poor in plant species if the mountain soils are very strongly acid (pH < 4.2). Under these conditions only a few calcifuge plant species are able to survive, forming a species-poor acidophilic grassland plant community. On moderately acid soils, especially on Para-rendzinas, both calcicole and calcifuge plant species can be present. This coexistence promotes floristic diversity and is primarily responsible for the peak in species richness in this pH range.Major soil types in grasslands of the Austrian Alps according to the Austrian soil classification systemIn the Austrian Alps, the following soil types are common and widespread.A single, dark-coloured, humus-rich soil horizon -the humus layer -overlies the calcareous bedrock, mainly limestone or dolomite. These shallow soils, which usually contain appreciable amounts of carbonates, are calcareous soils.A single, dark-coloured, humus-rich soil horizon overlies the non-calcareous bedrock, frequently composed of sandstone, mica schist, phyllite, gneiss or granite. These shallow soils are carbonate-free.Similar to Rendzinas or Rankers, a single, dark-coloured humus layer has been developed. In contrast, the parent material of Para-rendzinas mainly consists of marl or calcareous sandstone, mica schist or phyllite. Various unconsolidated sediments, composed of both calcareous and non-calcareous fragments, also serve as parent material. The humus layer usually contains carbonates. Soil depth varies from shallow (< 30 cm) to deep (> 70 cm).These soils are characterized by their well-developed brown soil layer. Soil parent material is quite variable, though different types of non-calcareous rocks or various unconsolidated sediments usually dominate. Generally, the soil is carbonate-free, at least in the root zone. Soil depth varies from shallow (< 30 cm) to deep (> 70 cm). Basophilic grassland communities dominated by calcicole species on calcareous soils with pH values above 6.2 are generally richer in species than acidophilic grassland communities dominated by calcifuge species on very strongly acid soils. This can be explained by differences in the species pool sizes at high and low pH values. Comparatively more plant species can inhabit calcareous soils, while a markedly smaller number of species tolerate strongly acid soils. Soil acidification is therefore a serious threat to vascular plant species richness in semi-natural and natural grasslands of the Alps.Plants have specific soil pH requirements. They exhibit differences in tolerance to soil acidity and alkalinity. Calcicole plant species grow mainly or exclusively on calcareous soils such as Rendzinas. They are adapted to the disharmonic nutrient supply in these soils. If a mountain soil is calcareous and soil pH in the root zone is higher than 6.2, the basophilic grassland plant community is usually dominated by calcicole species. On the other hand, calcifuge plant species are restricted to strongly acid soils such as Rankers or carbonatefree Cambisols. They are adapted to the prevailing nutrient and acid stress in these soils. Under such conditions, especially if soil pH in the root zone is lower than 4.2, calcifuge species dominate and form an acidophilic grassland plant community. The acid-tolerant calcifuge species never occur on calcareous soils (Rendzinas). However, they are not absent in the Calcareous Alps, but within this region they inhabit exclusively deep, carbonate-free, acid Cambisols. Few vascular plant species can grow on both calcareous and carbonate-free, strongly acid soils.The pH values (measured in a CaCl 2 solution) of mountain grassland soils in the Austrian Alps usually range from 3.0 to 7. Organic soils may form in shallow open waters (e.g. lakes, ponds), poorly drained soils with high water tables, and imperfectly drained soils located in areas characterized by high precipitations, low evapotranspiration and cool temperatures. In mountain areas, peatlands occur where different soil morphologies ensure the presence of water, such as at the bottom of alluvial valleys, on flat summits and plateaux, close to springs, but also along slopes on seepage sites. In these sites, generally anoxic and acidic conditions hinder the decomposition of organic materials, hence the rate of biomass production is greater than the rate of decomposition. This results in a net accumulation of plant and animal remains eventually causing terrestrialization (i.e. the filling of shallow lakes by limnic sediments and vegetation) and paludification (i.e. the waterlogging of terrestrial soils by organic materials).Terminology in peatland literature is particularly challenging. Investigators from different countries have developed distinct sets of terminology throughout the twentieth century to describe the peatlands of their respective areas. Often, a naming convention developed in one area did not adequately differentiate the peatland characteristics in other areas, and new names or redefinition of old names often occurred. In general, however, the terms \"bog\" and \"fen\" are the most commonly used to describe different types of peatlands. Bogs and fens can be thought of as describing a continuum of peatlands, rather than two distinct, separate groupings. In this continuum, the variables of vegetation (Sphagnum vs sedge dominated), chemistry (acidic vs circum-neutral) and source of water (rainfall vs ground-and surface water) differ along gradients. These three variables have been the ones most often used by scientists to differentiate peatlands along the bog-to-fen continuum. In situ, peat may sum up 90-95 percent water by weight, rendering peatlands a unique kind of natural organic-rich water system.In their natural, undisturbed state, peatlands support a unique biodiversity and regulate the flow and storage of water over areas that often extend well beyond the peatlands themselves. Although highly scattered in the mountain landscape, and normally limited to small areas, these ecosystems often control the nutrient status of drainage water with important implications on water quality at the catchment level. In fact, the waterlogging conditions also induce drastic changes in the cycling of several elements, such as iron and manganese. The formation of iron-organic complexes may involve the accumulation of highly reactive phases which can promptly undergo dissolution/ precipitation cycles following seasonal changes in depth and duration of the flooding, snow coverage, and temperature. The dissolution or precipitation of these iron-organic phases drive, in turn, the solubility of other organic and inorganic compounds, with sudden, drastic changes of their concentration, supplying or subtracting substrates for micro-organisms, nutrients for plants, or xenobiotics, and thus contributing to determine the unicity of these systems, both in physical, chemical and biological terms.Peatlands generally represent a net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) but a net source of methane (CH 4 ). Although the role of peatlands in affecting climate change is widely recognized, there is however still a poor understanding of C dynamics in these ecosystems and across timescales.Discussing only the spatial extent and variability of wetlands, in general, and peatlands, in particular, misses a very important point, i.e. the depth, that is the third dimension of these organic soils. In fact, for at least two centuries, ombrotrophic peat bogs have been recognized as excellent archives of the past. Rennie, for example, interpreted stratigraphic changes in Scottish bogs not only in terms of natural changes in palaeoclimate, but was also able to identify environmental changes induced by humans. The use of bogs as archives of climate change in the early twentieth century was accelerated by studies of fossil plant remains, and by systematic investigations of pollen grains pioneered by von Post in Sweden. In Denmark, Glob outlined the remarkably well-preserved remains of bog bodies. In Britain, Godwin provided an introduction to the use of bogs as archives of human history, vegetation change and Holocene climate. The characterization of peat bogs near glacier tongues in the Alps, for example, has contributed to the comprehension of changes in the climate of the past and the reconstruction of the sequence of past glacier advances.In conclusion, organic soils in general, and peatlands in particular, are of paramount importance not only because they are unique ecosystems (in terms of landscape and wildlife habitat), but also because they perform other functions more related to economic (peat as fuel and horticultural medium), environmental (peat as C sink) and sociocultural (peat as archive of the past) aspects. At the same time, managing such conflicting values is not easy and often becomes a political and economic debate rather than a scientific and environmental issue. Finally, these organic soils are also particularly fragile, which makes their recovery from disturbances (like drainages, exploitations), when possible, extremely long.Etang de la Gruère bog. Jura Mountains, Switzerland (C. Zaccone)During the twentieth century, the Earth's surface temperature increased about 0.74 °C, and a further increase of 4 °C has been projected for the twenty-first century.In this situation, the low-latitude ecosystems under periglacial conditions -which occupy restricted niches such as the mountain tops and may host discontinuous, sporadic or isolated permafrost -represent threatened environments of particular interest. Where a sporadic or isolated permafrost is present, the soil might not have sufficient thermal inertia to overcome the expected climate change, and the soil thermal regime warming could induce permafrost melting. Later on, the soils should evolve according to the newly acquired soil thermal and moisture regimes.Because of this, the landscapes at low latitude and their soils represent a sensitive proxy for the climatic warming.Generally, periglacial landscapes have a rather complicated geomorphology with features of three types: (i) those inherited from the past glacial periods (e.g. glacial amphitheatres, U-valleys, roches moutonnées, moraines, eskers, kames); (ii) those formed during the receding of the glaciers (kettle holes and rock glaciers); (iii) those due to the freezing/thawing cycles, such as stone fields, patterned ground (sorted circles, sorted stripes, labyrinths), flagstones with biological zonation, mires with or without organic soils (Histosols). To complicate the landscape interpretation, the features of the first two groups could have been more or less modified following the new climatic conditions.All these features are visible on the Majella massif (maximum height: 2 793 masl), which is part of the Central Apennines in Italy's Abruzzo region. The massif has a calcareous composition (limestone, dolostone, coralline limestone) and, at high elevations, shows the presence of several wide plateaux that are often covered by a thick (1-3 m) mantle of debris (glacial till). The most prominent soils on the plateaux are those with a patterned ground surface of either micro-sorted circles or micro-sorted stripes. These patterns result from cryo-selection of the skeletal particles, following freezing/thawing cycles of the water present in the saturatedHigh-elevation soils in the Central ApenninesAs a consequence of the climate change responsible for the end of Würm, the last glaciation period that lasted from 110 000 to 9 000 years ago, most of the glaciers disappeared, leaving a surface that slowly transformed into proglacial or periglacial landscapes. Proglacial areas, which start from the margin of a glacier and extend until freezing/ thawing cycles, are few, as the soil temperature regime is gelic. Periglacial areas are those characterized by numerous and intense freezing/thawing cycles that are able to produce drastic modifications of soil surface and soil horizons' turbation, and where the mean annual air temperature is usually less than +2 °C and snow-cover is scarce.A U-valley with the bottom dotted by kettle holes. Cannella Valley, Majella Massif, Italy (Stefania Cocco)soil, and occur on moderate to null slopes with scarce vegetation and a sufficient amount of fines (earthy material made of particles with diameter less than 3, 4, or even 5 mm). If all these conditions are present, stones are pushed out and aside from the freezing area, so producing roughly segregated sorted circles (islands of fines surrounded by stony borders) and sorted stripes (alternated bands of rock fragments and fine earth).Other particular soils present in the high elevated valleys of the Majella massif are those developed inside the kettle holes, which are shallow sediment-filled depressions formed by retreating glaciers. The kettle holes on the Majella massif, formed at the end of the Würm glaciation, are smaller and shallower than those reported elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, and do not contain bogs or lakes. These depressions are very effective as sediment traps and acted as sinks for materials washed in from the surrounding slopes or from more distant sources.Because of this, pedogenesis inside the kettle holes acted on a material much finer than the debris covering the plateaux, where drainage is from moderate to poor. Thus the main properties of the resulting soil horizons are mostly inherited from the amassed materials. The soils' main pedogenic process was the incorporation of organic matter that, as expected from the rather cold climatic conditions, was subjected to slow dynamics, as also indicated by the low ratio between humic C and total organic C. In the kettle holes of the Majella massif, some horizons developed from layers rich in volcanic material that was wind-blown from the volcanic complexes of Campi Flegrei (near Naples, about 140 km away from the massif). In these horizons, owing to the scarce presence of humic substances, the formation of short-range order minerals (allophane) occurred. As these soils also contain fragments of woody charcoal, the kettle holes pedons are a repository of geomorphic, pedogenic and palaeo-environmental information.Patterned ground soils (micro sorted circles and micro sorted stripes) and their relative magnification. Majella Massif, Italy (Stefania Cocco)After deglaciation, the till is attacked by many processes, such as loss of soluble compounds, acidification, weathering of primary minerals. They are enhanced after the onset of colonization by pioneer plants, when accumulation of organic matter initiates the differentiation in horizons characterized by different chemical and morphological properties.The chemistry and mineralogy of the till and the phytoclimatic belt influence the development of soils and the associated ecosystem, while temperature and rainfall influence the speed of this development. In general, Podzols are the climax soils on sialic materials under subalpine vegetation, while Cambisols develop below other vegetation types. More humid climates favour quicker pedogenesis and plant community turnover. For example, in perhumid coastal Alaska high rainfall leads to the formation of weakly developed E and Bs horizons after only 70 years, and \"real\" Podzols after 230 years. Here, E horizons immediately appear after the establishment of spruce. In the Alps, Dystric Cambisols are normally found on 250-300-year-old surfaces, while more than 1 300-3 000 years are needed for the development of Podzols. However 500 years were calculated on stable slopes.The Lys and Verra Grande forefields, located in contiguous valleys in the Monte Rosa massif, in the northwest Italian Alps, clearly exemplify the effect of parent material on soil development and vegetation succession. The Lys glacier forefield has a sialic till, dominated by gneiss, while the Verra Grande forefield is dominated by serpentinite, which represents more than 90 percent of the material in the eastern part of the forefield and the 100 percent in the western one. The effect of different vegetations on pedogenic trends and chemical properties development is also visible: in the Lys forefield, parts of the morainic system are colonized by subalpine forests, while others are covered by anthropogenic pastures or alpine grasslands above the timberline. The retreat of both glaciers started in 1821, but increased only after around 1860, with minor advances in 1922 and 1985.Climate change has huge impacts on mountain ecosystems. One visible effect is glacier retreat, which has continued with only few interruptions since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA), around the mid-nineteenth century. The released surfaces in the proglacial areas (glacier forefields) offer the opportunity to observe the development of soil properties and ecosystem dynamics: habitats characterized by different ages coexist over short distances, reducing the effect of other geographical and climatic factors. It is thus possible to observe how the time factor influences pedogenic and ecosystem processes, obtaining chronosequences.The Lys glacier front: dead ice detached from the main glacier body, proglacial lake and unstable recent till (Michele D'Amico)Location of the Lys and Verra Grande glaciers forefields. Northwestern Italian Alps (Michele D'Amico)Initial soils have near-neutral pH values, thanks to the abundance of freshly ground, highly reactive primary minerals. After the onset of vegetation, acidification proceeds quickly, together with the accumulation of organic matter. Base status was reduced to below 50 percent in more than 65 years.Under grassland, organic matter accumulation in the soil surface leads to the formation of A horizons, with a maximum thickness and organic carbon content in 260-and 130-year-old soils, respectively above and below the timberline, while weathering in subsurface horizons led to the formation of cambic Bw in the same time frame. Well-developed pre-LIA soils were characterized by thick and well-developed brown Bw horizon with strongly acidic pH values (Dystric Cambisols (Humic)).According to the World Reference Base (WRB) the soils up to 65 years in the forefield were classified as Skeletic Eutric Regosols. For the development of Dystric Cambisols under subalpine anthropogenic grassland, 190 years were necessary, whereas 260 years were needed in the less favourable environment above the timberline.The soil changes were associated with vegetation succession: Skeletic Eutric Regosols supported a pioneer community rich in basophilous species, which tended to disappear below Skeletic Dystric Regosols. Quasi-climax grassland dominated by Carex curvula, Nardus stricta or Festuca varia colonized mature Dystric Cambisols.Below timberline, where the grazing pressure is low, subalpine larch (Larix decidua) forests with Rhododendron ferrugineum colonize the moraines in around 60 years. After the establishment of subalpine forest, pedogenesis increases greatly in speed and radically changes direction: thin bleached E horizons appear in 90-year-old soils, evidencing an initial podzolization. Morphological and chemical data verify the incipient translocation of iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) towards weakly developed Bs horizons. The calculation of chronofunction for Fe and Al translocation showed that around 500 years are necessary for the formation of Haplic Podzols. The soils under subalpine forest on the LIA materials were classified as Skeletic Dystric Regosols, while \"climax\" soils were Ortsteinic Podzols (Skeletic), developed on late glacial moraines.The Lys glacier forefield, well colonized by subalpine larch forest, with a portion above timberline (Michele D'Amico)Despite the short distance from the Lys forefield, the Verra Grande forefield has a very different appearance. The western part of the LIA moraine system is almost devoid of vegetation: only a few trees and shrubs grow on bare soil. The eastern part is more vegetated, but the ground is covered by pioneer grassland species, with only a few scattered larch trees. Only limited flat and particularly stable surfaces have larch forests. The typical subalpine vegetation is developed on older surfaces.This great difference is due to the pure serpentinitic substrate on the western moraines and to small gneiss inclusions in the eastern ones. Typically, plant productivity is limited by high magnesium (Mg), low phosphorus (P) and by high heavy metal contents on serpentinite (the so called \"serpentine syndrome\").The slow vegetation succession is tightly linked to the slow pedogenesis: soils younger than 190 years are classified as Skeletic Eutric Regosols, even if thicker and darker A horizons are developed on the eastern moraines. Soils developed on older Holocene materials are Podzols on the eastern moraines, Dystric Cambisols on the western ones.Thus, a quicker pedogenesis can be observed where a small amount of gneiss is included in the serpentinitic till compared with where serpentinite is pure, but soil development and vegetation succession are much slower than on more \"favourable\" lithologies, in the Lys glacier forefield.A complex net of mutual feedback relationships between chemical properties of parent materials, plant succession, speed and direction of pedogenesis can be observed on terrains released by melting glaciers since the end of the LIA. From the two former examples, it is possible to outline the following general rules on the main drivers of early pedogenic processes and speed:• Initial chemical properties and nutrients of the unweathered substrate influence the speed of colonization by pioneer vegetation. • Different early vegetation cover influences organic matter accumulation, soil acidification and leaching. • Grassland soils tend towards Cambisols, forest soils towards Podzols.The Verra Grande forefield, with the bare western lateral moraines and the eastern ones colonized by pioneer grassland (Michele D'Amico)Total phosphorus and organic carbon contents in the soils developed on LIA moraines on gneiss, (a) under forest vegetation, (b) on gneiss under grassland, (c) on serpentinite with small gneiss inclusions, (d) on pure serpentinite. The age is log-transformed to better show the trends over time• This different acidification induces a different speed in species turnover, slowing down or accelerating the entrance of subalpine Ericaceae and conifers (Pinophytae) which are associated with the onset of podzolization. • Human activities, such as grazing, induce variations in plant succession which are correlated with variations in pedogenic trends and in the chemical development of soils. • On harsh substrates (e.g. serpentinite), small inclusions of other rocks can dramatically improve the initial conditions by adding small quantities of nutrients, favouring quicker plant colonization. • The small initial variations influence the pedogenesis throughout the soil development, soils around 11 000 years old are Podzols on slightly \"richer\" substrates, and weakly developed Dystric Cambisols on pure serpentinite.Grazing Human activities have greatly accelerated the degradation processes that became evident during the Greek and Roman periods, when people accessed mountains to exploit forest resources to use for ocean shipping, construction and the industrial development of those days. This led to widespread soil erosion and, in many areas, the natural redevelopment of soils has remained insufficient to restore the productive capacity since that time. Today, human impact on mountain soils continues, with land-use activities, resource exploration and tourism contributing to, and often accelerating, these degradation processes. This is especially the case when accompanied by development of transportation infrastructure such as road construction which disturbs the natural slopes and can greatly change the hydrological regime, creating more concentrated surface runoff and resulting in accelerated landslide activities and soil erosion.Transportation infrastructure. Transportation access enabled widespread forest exploitation in the European Alps at the turn of the last century which, in turn, led to severe soil degradation. It took several decades of natural and human-assisted reforestation efforts to restore the soil stability. Today, road construction in the world's mountains continues at an accelerated pace due to the increasing demand for mineral and energy sources, forest products, food and recreational activities.British Columbia, the most mountainous Canadian province, has a network of around 500 000 km of unpaved logging and mining roads which were built quickly Sukaqollo in the shape of Inti or sun, with growing potatoes. Community of Caritamaya. Puno, Peru (@FAO/Alipio Canahua)People in the steep uplands of central Bali are used to improvising road and trail repairs from landslides during the rainy season. Central Bali, Indonesia. (Jesse Lewis)and poorly maintained after the forests were harvested. Similar disturbances occur in the Andes and the Himalayas from access roads to mines and forests, which not only result in soil losses but are contributing to increasing sediment transport and deposition, and flooding in lowlands.Tourism. As the world has urbanized, mountains have become a new frontier for recreation, prompting intensive development of infrastructure that services both summer and winter tourism. In the winter, when tourist sites take steps to maintain and make snow last longer, they are reducing the already short growing season that is essential for soil development. Maintaining this more ice-based surface means exposing it to rain-on-snow events in the spring, which increases erosive forces and soil losses. Increasing summer tourism, which has led to rapidly expanding trail construction for hiking and mountain biking, has resulted in new disturbances that influence infiltration and runoff processes which are detrimental to soil quality and development. In addition, as urban development expands in the mountains to accommodate tourism, it creates more impervious surfaces that lead to increased surface runoff, which adds to the erosion problem.Agriculture. In many developing countries, agricultural expansion into the mountains is accelerating due to population pressure, increasing food demand and, in some areas, more favourable growing conditions as the global climate warms. This has resulted in two different degradation processes: many forests on steep slopes were converted to agriculture to meet local food demands and many remaining forests were over-exploited by fuelwood, fodder and litter collection to support agriculture.Converting mountain forests into cropland to support annual cash crops exposes the soils to rainfall events which lead to surface erosion. Without permanent plant cover, insufficient input from compost and manure, increased tilling has resulted in organic matter decline, reduced soil and nutrient storage capacity and soil erosion.In forests that were subjected to extensive biomass removal, the carbon and nutrient recycling capacity was disrupted, the tree productive capacity declined and this also resulted in soil losses.Forest encroachment (slash and burn) by farmers for planting of agricultural crops. Cambodia (Masakazu Kashio)A view of the ger district in the Mongolian capital. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (@ FAO/Sean Gallagher)Mountains are also known to store large amounts of carbon in wetlands. The extensive páramo wetlands in the tropical Andes are increasingly threatened because of global warming, agricultural expansion and organic matter extraction to enhance the diminished carbon content in agricultural soils elsewhere.Air pollution. Mountain soils are subject to contamination from air pollution from mining activities, tourism and long-distance transport from industrial areas. Air inversions are common in mountain valleys during intensive traffic around ski holidays and from large mining operations. These generate acid rain that is particularly detrimental to those mountain soils that have little buffer capacity. In parts of Eastern Europe, heavy industrial development during the post-war period caused long-term damage to forests and soils in the mountains.The key human impact on soils is from accelerated climate change, particularly as there is evidence that the effect of global warming is probably more extensive in mountains and has greater impact on mountain ecosystems than on many other ecosystems in the world. The cold climate and period of water saturation enables mountain soils to effectively convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into stable organic matter that accumulates and enhances their resilience and productivity. However, land-use activities may have negative effects on these ecological services. Protecting the most fragile soils and minimizing land conversions is the first step. Climate change can also have a positive impact because warmer climatic conditions will increase soil development processes.In areas where land conversion has already taken place, it is essential to use the most effective beneficial management practices (BMPs). In areas where mountain agriculture is being practised, the introduction of agroforestry, planting trees in hedgerows between fields or terracing slopes is effective for protecting soils.Agroforestry is particularly pertinent because not only do the trees reduce the soil loss, they also use nutrients and water from deeper soil than field crops. In addition, they provide a permanent vegetation cover, yield useful products such as fodder and firewood, and sequester carbon. If the agroforestry scheme includes leguminous plants, it also enhances the nitrogen status of the soils. Finally, transportation infrastructure should be developed and maintained with much greater care to avoid widespread land instability, as the soil erosive forces will continue to heighten as a result of increased climatic variability around the world.Wind turbines on a hillside at a wind farm in Frosolone. Italy (@FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico)Winter sports have become prime contributors to mountain economies. France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy, major winter sports destinations in Europe, provide over 85 percent of Europe's skiing areas, with a combined skiing domain greater than 350 000 ha. The construction and management of ski resorts are expected to be impacted by global warming, as the predicted increase in temperatures will shift seasonal snowline towards higher elevations and, in turn, possibly pushing the ski industry to higher altitudes.Constructions of ski runs in the Alps, particularly those above the treeline, have considerable impacts on alpine ecosystems. Natural vegetation cover and the organo-mineral topsoil are removed, boulders are rearranged to form ski runs and coarse materials from deeper horizons are mixed with finer upper soil to form the top layer. The original soil thickness is reduced due to the loss of previous soil horizonation, generally resulting in altered topsoil. Substantial alteration of ski-run soils is usually accompanied by an increase in pH values, organic matter impoverishment, and loss of both fine particles (clay) and aggregates.The rapid establishment of a continuous plant cover after disturbance can protect and stabilize the substrate and hence minimize soil erosion, due to both its evident above-ground properties and its root systems. Roots not only stabilize the soil by simple mechanical effects, but the finer roots with fungal hyphae and the associated microbial communities aggregate finer soil particles and organic components into soil aggregates by means of both physical action and the production of organic compounds. The binding of soil particles into stable aggregates of various sizes provides a range of pore sizes for storage of organic matter (OM) and water, as well as root growth.Ski run with man-made snow (Michele Freppaz)Winter sports: the influence of ski piste construction and management on soil and plant characteristicsAs winter sports become more and more important income sources in mountain areas, their expansion is impacting alpine ecosystems. The roads necessary to bring tourists into the area, construction of ski runs, grooming of snow to pack it for better skiing, and addition of artificial snow not only affect the natural vegetation and soil, they also affect when and how the snow melts, which, in turn, affects soil nutrients and future plant growth. This type of impact, which can lead to loss of biodiversity and changes in soil structure, indicates the importance of assessing the risk of establishing ski areas, and determining where their construction, maintenance and grooming will have the least impact on the environment.Snow grooming on ski slopes, one of the management practices during the ski season, affects the snow properties but also the underlying soils. Groomed snow increases snow density and reduces snow depth compared with ungroomed areas. The snow compaction reduces the insulation capacity of the snowpack and, consequently, the underlying soil can experience considerable freezing with subsequent effects on soil nutrient dynamics and plant development.Moreover, with the ongoing intensification of ski resorts, the use of artificial snow has become more prevalent, and the vegetation and soil properties have been influenced in an increasing area. Due to the greater snow mass, the beginning of the snow-free season can be delayed by more than two weeks. The late melting of artificial snow can hence alter the length of the growing season. The delay in the thaw delays plant growth to a degree that it cannot always be caught up during the course of the growing season and can bring about a change in the composition of the vegetation. Typically, there is an increase in plant species from snow beds that can grow, blossom and flower all within a few weeks, such as the soldanella (or snowbell).Using artificial snow means that extra water is discharged onto the pistes when the snow melts, plus there is also a difference in the quality of the water from artificial snow, compared with natural snow. The average amounts of nutrient salts and ions in the melting water is, on average, eight times higher on pistes with artificial snow. Although this melting water is still of drinking-water quality, there is still the possibility that the composition of the vegetation will be altered.The discharge of water and ions can encourage those species that need moist, moderately acidic conditions, but at the expense of species favouring dry, acid soils which are low in nutrients. However, the additional amount of snow can protect plants and soil against damage from snow-grooming vehicles and ski edges, and also from ground frosts.All things considered, the most serious effects come from piste levelling during the period when there is no snow. Even at altitudes below the treeline, disturbanceThe snowmelt on ski runs with man-made snow is often two weeks delayed (C. Rixen)Graded un-vegetated ski run in summer (C. Rixen)  to the soil structure can be almost irreparable and cause erosion. This means that after levelling and other ground work, it is essential to apply the newest methods to restoration of soil and vegetation. The technology to do this has made great strides in recent years, creating near-natural soil conditions and using local plant species and seed suited to high altitudes. These methods may appear to be more expensive than traditional inexpensive solutions, but in the long run they pay off, and are more sustainable. Guidelines as to how to establish vegetation are already available in several languages, but they need to be applied more consistently.Skiing and the use of artificial snow or other resources need not be demonized per se for environmental reasons, as their effects on numerous areas are actually very limited -for example, where the agricultural use of the land is relatively intense anyway. On the other hand, a more restrained approach is advised in ecologically valuable and sensitive areas, such as wetlands or nutrient-poor grassland with endangered plant species, or areas where the soil is particularly prone to erosion.Here, particular care should be taken in ski piste construction and management as there are plenty of other areas where the sport can take place without causing any problems.Snow-making machines (C. Rixen)Even though they are far from sources of contamination, studies of remote ecosystems such as the Himalayan mountain range and the Tibetan Plateau indicate that they are still subject to the deposition of long-range atmospheric contamination. Heavy metal deposition is especially influenced by precipitation, and there is evidence that mountains are regional convergence zones that trap atmospheric contaminants because of cold condensation and enhanced atmospheric deposition.Investigations of atmospheric depositions in the Himalayas have produced contrasting results. For example, they found little indication of a possible influence of anthropogenic activities on heavy metal pollution from the Mount Everest atmospheric environment, but recent studies reveal a contribution of wet and dry depositions to the concentration of metals -especially of cadmium -in the soils of the area. Also, they found influence of anthropogenic sources of metals on the soils of the southern slope of the Himalayas with a marked seasonal variation between monsoon and non-monsoon seasons.However, any investigation into the possible atmospheric transportation of contaminants must be preceded by an examination of the geochemical assemblage of the area to ascertain if there is a contribution from the rock substrate. A study of the Tibetan Plateau collected soil samples from the Nam Co basin, analysed them for heavy metals (cadmium -Cd, chromium -Cr, nickel -Ni, copper -Cu, zinc -Zn, lead -Pb and manganese -Mn) and rare earth elements (REEs), and measured their physicochemical properties -pH, organic matter, electrical conductivity and cation exchange capacity.The results confirmed that the soils in the Nam Co basin are at an early alkaline weathering stage (pH = 7.94). Mean concentrations of heavy metals decreasedThe Tibetan plateau around the Nam Co lake (Franco Ajmone Marsan)The impact of heavy metals contamination is well known.Being mainly of anthropogenic origin, they have been studied in both urban and rural locations, where the activity of humans is more intense. In view of their toxicity, the transfer of heavy metals between environmental compartments -air, soil, water -is a matter of concern, as is their long-range transport into uncontaminated areas. Mountain soils, especially those at higher altitudes, offer a unique setting for the study of such phenomena. Their soils represent the early stages of soil development and correspond to a simplified model of pedogenesis, where the influence of anthropogenic pollution can be isolated.in the order of Mn > Cr > Zn > Pb > Ni > Cu > Cd. The values of Cd, Cr, Pb and REEs were higher than the average background values for China. The chondritenormalized diagrams of REEs suggested a high REE (∑La to Eu) enrichment, a high REE (∑Gd to Lu) depletion and europium (Eu) depletion. Vertical profiles indicate that heavy metals and REEs primarily exist in the surface soil. However, heavy metals and REEs vary in the surface soil between the southern and the northern banks of Nam Co. These differences are controlled mainly by parent materials. However, a contribution of heavy metals from wet deposition was observed in this area, demonstrating that human activities -industry, mining -can have an influence even on these remote areas.Transport of suspended particulate in river waters after a monsoon (Franco Ajmone Marsan)The Tibetan plateau around Manasarovar lake (Franco Ajmone Marsan)The In addition, mountains are particularly sensitive to climate change. For example, the impact of climate change on the snowpack duration, rainfall regime and frequency of extreme meteorological events can heighten soil erosion and degradation, often leading to non-tolerable soil losses.In particular, when marginal areas are abandoned, they become even more prone to natural hazards such as shallow slope failures and heightened erosion. Besides localized events, the impact of climate change on mountain soils may also have off-site effects. For example, glacial retreat in mountains is followed by a consistent reduction in glacial runoff water, which will affect the availability of most of the world's freshwater resources for domestic, agricultural and industrial consumption. Climate change will also affect vegetation, as it can induce altitudinal shifts of plant species, threatening biodiversity. The interactions of soils, biosphere and water cycle can be therefore seriously compromised.In arid zones, populations are heavily dependent on ecosystem services provided by highland areas. One-third of the global population in lowlands survives thanks to water flowing from frequently far-off highland areas. In semi-arid and arid regions, mountains may be the only areas with sufficient precipitation to generate runoff and groundwater recharge, serving as water towers for millions of people living in surrounding lowland areas. Mountains play a key role in the hydrological cycle ofSilvia Stanchi, Michele Freppaz, Sven Walter and Luisa Vanderwegen Devastation after earthquake. Kathmandu, Nepal (Flickr/ReSurge International)dryland regions, and are the source of many of the world's greatest rivers including the Nile, Colorado, Yangtze and Mekong. Unfortunately, over-exploitation of natural resources and land conversion, as well as the spread of invasive alien species and climate change, are altering hydrological and fire regimes, leading to land degradation and desertification, and impacting mountains' abilities to deliver key ecosystem services such as water.Mountain agricultural soils face several limitations related to severe slopes, limited accessibility and mechanization. Since ancient times, terracing has been widely used to guarantee agricultural quality and to prevent natural hazards. For example wide areas in Europe have been subject to recent land reclamation and reshaping operations, carried out in order to make agriculture more profitable and to allow mechanization.Mountain soil degradation includes a variety of processes, strictly related to soil hydrology and watershed management. Recently, Alewell proposed to group all hazards that induce mountain soil loss in the wide category of \"soil erosion\", including for example shallow landslides and mudflows that involve the first decimeters of soil.In particular in drylands, sustainably managed land resources -such as those that employ organic, ecological or conservation agriculture -can significantly increase soil water retention and filtration to help ensure improved availability. Sustainable land management (SLM) and ecosystem restoration represent \"winwin\" investments that benefit multiple sectors and stakeholders operating within the nexus of food and water security.Soil vulnerability to erosion can be assessed through a wide set of lab methods such as direct field measurements with sediment collection (e.g. sediment traps); radionuclides measurements (both field and lab applications); estimate models such as the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) applied at plot, catchment and regional scales.Among the recently used methods for soil erosion estimation, RUSLE-derived models are widely applied in heterogeneous mountain environments. However, validations for non-agricultural systems are scarce, and the performance of the methods is still controversial. Recently, discrepancies have been noted between estimation models and radionuclide measurements (e.g. 137Cs) on mountain slopes -differences attributed to erosion processes that take place in winter such as snow-induced erosion from snow gliding and full-depth avalanches. Considering the wide range of processes affecting mountain soils, and their potential on-site and off-site effects, hazard and risk assessment are essential. Linking soil properties with extreme event thresholds is fundamental for improving knowledge of soils and mountain ecosystems, and would be a relevant step in mountain hazard studies.Moreover, civil protection and preparedness are becoming fundamental for mountain populations. Best practice and management suggestions that target local conditions are needed to mitigate soil vulnerability and to cope with the issues of anthropogenic impacts and climate change. In particular in drylands, the sustainable management of natural resources must be ensured in order to promote conservation and rehabilitation of land as well as of freshwater resources. This will lead to the enhancement of community drought resilience and increase understanding of other risks associated with water scarcity and land degradation in mountainous areas and related lowlands. Furthermore, sustainable landscape management over large territorial units is required to maintain the functionality and sustainability of highlands and lowlands in dryland systems.The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) promotes a wide range of such measures with the aim of enhancing sustainable environmental and natural resource management. This work is based on the understanding that the conservation, protection and rehabilitation of land together with freshwater resources are essential components of any policy that targets the protection of natural resources and the environment. This also incorporates the enhancement of community resilience to drought and other risks associated with water scarcity and land degradation.Gallreide (Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche)Rotational grazing in TajikistanDuring the Soviet era the steep mountain slopes in the Faizabad district were intensely cultivated, which led to severe soil degradation. Rotational grazing is an option for sustainable land use in these areas. Farmers near the Karsang and Tshinoro mountains applied a rotational scheme of 10 to 14, dividing a grazing day into a grazing period of four hours in the early morning and a later period in the afternoon. The dung left by the animals enhances soil fertility. The dung favours palatable species and compensates for the fertilizers that used to be applied in the Soviet era. The applied rotational scheme also has the advantage of having fewer trampled paths than the overgrazed village pastures.Many mountain peoples have developed large-scale hydrological and agricultural water-harvesting infrastructure to overcome water constraints. Water harvesting by early farmers was probably pivotal in the emergence and diversification of food production, the domestication of plants and animals, and the shaping of ecocultural landscapes. For example, the Inca civilization in the central Andes had a social organization based on water management and work sharing and cooperation. Irrigated terraces play an important role in protecting soil against erosion and in maintaining agricultural fertility, but they are also cultural and landscape elements that provide a strong identity for numerous mountain landscapes in the Mediterranean basin from North Africa to southern Europe and the Levant area of Southwest Asia.A farmer cultivating soil for fruit crops of grapes and pomegranates. Hosilot, Tajikistan (@FAO/Vasily Maximov) Dry lands. Purulia, West Bengal, India (@UNCCD/Aniruddha Pal)In the middle mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas, the Ultisols, commonly known as red soils, occur at elevations up to 1 200 masl. Known to be the oldest soils in the region, they are highly weathered, have fine textures, and high aluminium and iron content which is responsible for their characteristic colour. They are acidic, highly leached and deficient in organic matter, phosphorus and base cations. These soils are very fragile, have a long history of human use and, because they have received insufficient inputs over time, many red soil areas are highly degraded and are no longer able to support adequate biomass production.These soils, classified as Haplustults and Rhodustults, have a high clay content, and without sufficient organic matter and plant cover they have limited soil water holding capacity (important during the dry season), and tend to form crusts that reduce the infiltration rate of water (critical during the monsoon). As the chemical and physical properties declined, the use of these soils changed from crop production to grazing, and ultimately to degraded lands. Large areas have been abandoned, resulting in gullying and widespread soil erosion.To improve and rehabilitate these soils requires a good understanding of the physical, chemical and biological soil processes. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the three macronutrients that are required in large quantities to support plant growth, and as these red soils contain little organic matter, the nitrogen release from decomposing organic matter is small. They are also highly acidic (pH 3.8-5.5) and, at low pH, aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe), which are abundant in these soils, become soluble and readily interact with plant-available phosphorus to form insoluble aluminium phosphate. As phosphorus is a macronutrient, these soils then become highly deficient in plant-available phosphorus. Potassium is the only Rehabilitating red soils in the Nepalese HimalayasUltisols or red soils, the oldest soils in the middle mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas, have a long history of intensive human use and as a result the productive capacity of the soils has gradually declined. No longer able to support crops, these soils were used for livestock grazing and, today, they have become mainly degraded and eroded, producing sediments that enter the rivers, clogging irrigation channels and increasing flooding events downstream. This study tested several local trees and grasses to determine the best way to restore these soils. The combination of fast-growing native broadleaf trees that fix nitrogen and local grasses were effective in establishing organic matter, improving the nutrient status and protecting the soils from erosion during the monsoon. At the same time the trees provided fodder for the livestock, and the litter accumulation improved the soil water and nutrient holding capacity. This option was found to be much more effective than the traditional planting of chir pine forests.macronutrient in adequate supply, as the geological formations contain abundant mica minerals.The lack of vegetation cover and organic matter has reduced the soils' nutrient and water holding capacity, which has increased surface runoff and made them prone to erosion during the monsoon season. Their biological activity is also impaired due to the lack of organic matter. A study sponsored by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in the Jhikhu Khola watershed estimated that degraded red-soil sites are responsible for 40 percent of the sediment load in the river, which is responsible for clogging irrigation and local stream channels, and increasing flood events.The high demand for food and animal feed by the rapidly increasing rural population highlights the need to minimize degradation and provide new biomass from previously degraded sites. Reforesting these degraded soils is an obvious solution as it will provide vegetation cover that reduces the rain impact, and the tree roots will assist in holding the soils in place. Nepal's native chir pine, the primary species used to stabilize these degraded sites, can prosper on nutrientdeficient soils, and will be left to grow because they do not provide much useful material for the rural population in terms of firewood, fodder and litter. However, they do provide timber after 15-20 years.However, it is now evident that this type of reforestation may be causing significant long-term problems. A recent study by Ghimire et al. found that chir pine has significantly higher water demands during the dry season than natural broadleaf forests and grasslands. Additionally, because fuelwood and organic matter is in high demand, the rural farmers harvest the understorey vegetation in the pine forest and collect the pine litter on an annual basis, which reduces organic matter availability and soil water recharge which, as found by Ghirmire et al., is probably contributing to the decreased streamflow during the dry season.Pine litter decomposes very slowly, and the organic acids released during the decomposition of the litter acidifies the soils, which are already at a very low pH. This was demonstrated in an experiment that incorporated 10 kg of pine litter into the red soils every six months for three-and-a-half years. As shown in Figure 1, the addition of pine litter increased the soil organic matter content over time but depressed the pH by another 0.3 units, further increasing the solubility of Al and impairing the already low plant availability of phosphorus. In contrast, an annual incorporation of broadleaf litter did not increase acidity significantly, but did improve the organic matter content of the soil.A demonstration site was established to show how the degraded red-soil site could be improved by planting nitrogen-fixing fodder trees. Nepal has more than 20 fodder tree and shrub species which can fix nitrogen from the air and are native to the Himalayas. Six of them were planted in hedgerows on the site and additional experiments were conducted to determine which of the N-fixing fodder trees could support mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi live in a symbiotic relationship with selective tree roots and are able to convert insoluble phosphorus into a plant-available form. Two of the selected fodder tree species were found to be conducive to this process.Grasses were planted between the rows for additional surface cover, while their root systems also increased below-surface organic matter production. The combination of fodder trees and grasses has proven to be a good management approach because they draw nutrients and water from different depths in the soil. After three years, the fodder trees and shrubs were established to the point that partially harvesting of leaves was possible twice each year -once to provide fodder and once to incorporate green biomass into the soils to enhance the soil organic matter content. This helps in recycling of nutrients and improves water infiltration, water storage and nutrient-holding capacity and enhances the overall soil health.It also provides extensive year-round vegetation cover that limits soil erosion.The sustainable vegetation cover was established after six years and now is sufficient to protect the site from erosion, to improve the soil nutrients and to produce useful biomass for livestock on a continuous basis. The lessons learned are manifold. It was possible to restore the soil productive capacity and create a permanent vegetation cover that has improved biodiversity, increased resilience to extreme climatic events, and protects the soil from erosion. The knowledge generated has been transferred to nearby community forest groups in the watershed, to show the potential to restore these degraded red-soil sites using native tree species, to improve biomass productivity in addition to limiting soil erosion and downstream sedimentation. Changes in soil pH, available phosphorus and organic matter after pine litter addition every six months pH P mg/kg Organic matter % Between 2 800 and 4 400 masl, air temperature on the Pichincha decreases by 0.6 °C per 100 m of elevation, which provides a gradient of land-use constraints (Table 1). All year, the mean daily temperature remains constant, but with very high day/night amplitude. For the same range of altitude, the mean annual rainfall increases starting with 1 000 mm and reaching 1 500 mm on the crest while the rain intensities decrease. At this altitude, frequent fogs, drizzle and hailstorms contribute to the total precipitation amount, and the hydric balance is largely In the highlands of southern Colombia and northern Ecuador, soils developed on volcanic ash deposits have specific properties: high water retention, high hydraulic conductivity and high carbon (C) contents. The main role of the soils is to regulate the water available for the dense population living in the valleys. Soil properties and land use depend on their altitudes. Any important modification of land-use change has a serious effect on soil properties and consequently the ecosystem properties such as water regulation and flood control. This can be a threat for a city that relies on the ecosystem for its water supply, as is the case in Ecuador's capital, Quito. Table 1: Altitudinal levels, landuse with drainage, mismanagements and their consequences positive. The ecological function of that ecosystem described by Janeau et al. is to collect rainwater, store it in the soils and release it progressively. At lower altitude, soils are much less permeable and more prone to generate runoff, especially with the more intense rainfalls.Strong volcanic activity occurred from north to central-south Ecuador during the Pleistocene, leaving acidic ash falls that are mainly rhyodacitic to andesitic in composition. On the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, the topsoil developed on young -300 years BCE andesitic ashes over a non-weathered lapilli layer. Soils are very dark, soft with loose aggregates and very porous. The dominant Pichincha soil is classified as a vitric Andisol characterized by low amounts of amorphous constituents (aluminium -Al and iron -Fe), estimated by oxalate extraction (0.7 percent < Al o percent + ½ Fe o < 2 percent), a sandy texture with high amount of glass and a relatively high bulk density for an Andosol (0.8 g cm -3 ). The carbon content is >7percent; the water content at -1 500 kPa matric potential is generally close to 500 g kg -1 . All soils have a high hydraulic conductivity (>100 mm h -1 ).From 2 500 masl, the soil becomes an andic Cambisol and the carbon (C) content decreases (50-65 g kg -1 ), as does the water-holding capacity (<300 g kg -1 ). The water infiltration rate is still high but very variable.At lower altitudes, the vitric ash layer is often eroded, and the old volcanic ash layer outcrops in a very hard duripan (cangahua). The soil is a Leptosol or Durisol with a very low amount of carbon, high bulk density water content and very poor hydrodynamics, which lead to rapid surface water flows.The slopes of the Pichincha have been increasingly encroached by agricultural land at higher levels and urbanization at lower levels since the 1960s, due to increased population pressure in Quito.In the páramo highlands, repeated fires that generate scattered hydrophobic soil properties are associated with the overgrazing that compacts soil in localized patches and decreases infiltration. The accompanying reduction in vegetation exposes the bare young Andisols' surface to raindrop impact and aggregate slacking which generates surface crusting and runoff, and causes superficial but irreversible drying of bare surfaces. Intense solar radiation and the Andisols' black colour increase soil evaporation. When the soil cover is altered, the surface hydraulic conductivity is reduced by a factor of three, which generates concentrated flows leading to gullies.At lower altitudes, the planted forest should be protected, never burned to avoid the formation of severe water-repellent soil patches. After tillage, the soils are exposed to rain, hailstorms and rapid irreversible changes in the soil structure by irreversible drying. Dry aggregates develop strong water-repellence, leading to diffuse surface flows and interrill erosion by floating water repellent aggregates.Cultivation should be conducted in contour lines with minimal tillage and maintain a soil cover as long as possible, especially after the harvest. If the topsoil is eroded, the sterile duripan outcrops at low altitude, which is a severe constraint for cultivation and water infiltration, and can lead to mudflows on steep slopes that are catastrophic with risk of loss of life and economic problems.Due to the modification in land-use change and global climate change, the waterregulation of this ecosystem and its soil fertility could be adversely affected for the future. It is clear that such changes will have a detrimental effect on the city's water supply.Dam controlling the mudflows in the Rumipamba valley in Quito (Pascal Podwojewski)The Cointzio catchment located in the transverse volcanic belt of central Mexico covers 630 km 2 (Figure 1). The catchment bedrock consists of igneous rocks generated by Quaternary volcanic activities and, according to the World Reference Base (WRB) for soil resources, its soils are mainly Andosols in the headwater areas and on the hillsides up to 3 000 masl, Acrisols on the foothills, and Luvisols on the plains at 2 000 masl. An area river network is dominated by the Rio Grande de Morelia with a dam located at the outlet of the catchment, 13 km upstream of Morelia, the state capital, which has more than 1 million inhabitants. This dam was built in 1940 to create a reservoir to supply water for domestic consumption as well as for agricultural irrigation. However, the reservoir (4 km 2 -65 × 106 m 3 ) has undergone significant sedimentation, which has led to severe deterioration of environmental conditions in the lake and to a 20 percent loss of its water hoding capacity.Fingerprinting methods to study soil erosion in this watershed provided very similar results regarding the origin of sediment in the subcatchment, which is dominated by Acrisols and the bulk of sediment is supplied by gullies. In contrast, in the subcatchment dominated by Andosols, the bulk of sediment was supplied by cropland.The combination of the fingerprinting and the sediment export data measurements yielded information on the erosion dynamic as well the origin of the eroded soil particles. The studies showed that soil erosion in the Cointzio catchment is due to overgrazing, mainly on the upper part and the mountainsides -information used to prioritize the implementation of erosion control measures to mitigate sediment supply to the Cointzio reservoir. In Mexico, 45 percent of the country suffers from land degradation, 12 percent of which, or some 23 million ha, are degraded due to water erosion. In Michoacán, a state in west-central Mexico, the figure rises to 27 percent. A study of the soil in Michoacán determined that overgrazing was a cause of degradation and a strategy was drawn up to promote cropping of agave, which is used in production of a high-value alcoholic drink as well as in medicines and cosmetics. The agave's high value would mean farmers would need fewer cattle. While waiting for the agave to mature, the farmers intercrop trees, plants and grasses that produce marketable products and women earn income in greenhouses by selling small agaves from the seeds they have collected. This project, which started in 2011, is still ongoing.The main suggestions called for improving the agronomical system by improving cattle production, reducing free grazing and the number of animals. However, due to the fact that this proposal would call for more work, more funds and more time, and as the level of poverty in the area is medium to high, and the income from agriculture accounts for only 10 to 20 percent of the total family budget, few farmers were able to follow this recommendation. Thus, building from this information and from workshops in some farming communities with national institutions and local authorities, another strategy was developed based on plantation of native agave (Agave inaequidens), trees or fruit trees, shrubs and grasses plants to create at mid-term (7-12 years) a sustainable production of a traditional Mexican alcoholic liquor (mezcal) or cosmetic and medicinal products, fibres or fodder for cattle or wood.One part of the agave is planted in continuous lines to create a green wall to control soil and water runoff and the other part is planted in staggered. In addition, other native plants are planted between the lines of agave, to be used as food, fodder and/or medicinal products.Unlike most agave, Agave inaequidens reproduces from seed, which requires harvesting seeds from native plants found growing wild in the fields. One plant generates 80 000 seeds with a 90 percent success rate of germination, which is enough to cover 25 ha of agave forestry plantations to control soil erosion. The harvested agave, tree and shrub seeds are maintained in a greenhouse managed by the owners or tenants of the land. At the beginning of the rainy season, plants are transferred to the plots, where cattle are not allowed for at least the first two years of planting.While the trees, shrubs and grasses are harvested annually, agaves are only harvested after 7 to 12 years depending on the soil degradation level. Harvesting requires removing the heart of the agave (piña) which weighs around 50 kg. The actual mezcal production requires an average of three weeks with at least two men to process 25 agave plants (1.5 tons) and produce 300 litres of mezcal.The proximity of the site to the Michoacán state capital and recognition by the authorities of the designation of origin for this mezcal creates high value for their future production.The main purpose is to reach sustainable land rehabilitation while generating high incomes for the farmers. This allows them to reduce the amount of livestock and overgrazing, which is the main cause of soil erosion in this region. The production of mezcal will give local farmershigh incomes. While waiting the 7-12 years for the agaves to produce, farmers are growing small agaves from seeds that they collected. This activity gives jobs to a dozen women in each community who receive income from selling part of this plant production. Trees, shrubs and grasses for medicinal uses, food and fodder are complements of agave production and are processed mainly by women, while agave harvesting is a male activity.As it is very financially convenient, farmers will remain in the communities instead of migrating to cities or abroad. Biodiversity is preserved with the increased use of native agaves, trees, shrubs and grasses. Turning eroded soil into productive soil also sequesters carbon and increases water availability as a result of the new soil cover.The Along the Andes -from Chile to the Mexican Sierras Madres -layers of hard volcanic materials cover large areas of the foothills. These materials have been given local names where they are found: tepetates or stone beds in Nahuatl in Mexico, talpetate in Central America, cangahuas or hard ground in Quichua in Colombia and Ecuador (Figure 1), sillar or ashlar in Spanish in Peru, and toba or tuff in Spanish in Chile (for simplicity, this report refers to the material as tuff).The tuff layers cover a very large area: 30 700 km 2 in Mexico, 2 500 km 2 in Nicaragua, 15 000 km 2 in Colombia, 3 000 km 2 in Ecuador, areas inhabited by millions. Originally emitted A volcanic tuff rock known as cangahua (Ecuador) or tepetate (Mexico) is found throughout the Andes. Problems have arisen as the layers of light but fragile soil that once covered the tuff have been lost for both natural (environmental) reasons and because of over-cultivation. When the soil is gone, the tuff is impermeable and sterile. Now, a project in Ecuador has determined that the tuff itself can be reclaimed and is supporting a programme that sends bulldozers to the tuff regions to break up the rock and create a new fertile soil. by phreatic magmatic-volcanic explosions, they have a thickness ranging from a few centimetres to several metres. They were buried beneath loose ashes, which turned to a fertile but fragile soil during the process of weathering.Environmental (e.g. slopes, rains) or anthropogenic (e.g. overgrazing, agricultural mismanagement) erosion has made the topsoils disappear completely in many areas, revealing the hard tuff layers. These exposed tuffs are impermeable due to their high compactness and very low porosity.Environmental. When aggressive tropical rains fall, the water runs off of the hard layers, concentrating and generating huge volumes of water downstream, destroying crops and causing flash floods which strongly erode soils. As the tuff materials are rocks, they lack soil organic matter or nutrients, except in isolated cracks. Sulfur and phosphorus are especially scarce in available form, while potassium can achieve high content. Obviously, the microbiological activity is residual, because micro-organism diversity is low. So, when the tuffs are exposed, the landscape looks like a sterile desert.Anthropic. The anthropogenic pressure on the land can be very problematic. Instead of dealing with the sterile landscape, farmers have moved higher on the slopes of the mountains to reach new land with deep, fertile black soils, which forms the high-altitude ecosystems called páramos. Páramos play a key role in water resources, retaining huge volumes of water that are redistributed gradually, ensuring a permanent water supply for farmers and urban populations. But after they are used for cultivation, the soils become dry and, as a consequence, lose their capacity to retain water and resist erosion, repeating the processes observed downhill.National and local policies have focused on reclaiming exposed tuff, e.g. in Mexico beginning in the 1970s and in Ecuador beginning in the 1980s. National and European funds supported research programmes for some 20 years yet, despite some success, governments gradually stopped funding them.Cangahuas. Canton of Cangahua, Pichincha province, Ecuador (German Trujillo)However, in recent years, Ecuador has recommitted. Its 2008 Constitution of the Republic State points out the obligation to protect soil and to recover eroded areas for sustainable agricultural productions, which contribute to food sovereignty of the country. In 2012 the government funded nine bulldozers, managed by the Secretary of Agriculture, for all provinces with exposed tuffs, and launched a new project focused on transforming tuffs into soils. The project is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ecuador's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAGAP) and Ministry of Environment (MAE), as well as local programmes of some prefectures and municipalities.While Ecuadorian small farmers can break 1 m 2 of tuff per day using a pickaxe, the quickest and effective way to form soils there is with bulldozers. These machines can fragment the tuff on 0.5 to 1.0 ha per day, even on slopes, if they are less than 50 percent steep. This work also integrates an erosion-control system by breaking the highly porous tuff and creating a physical support for plants.The strategy is to establish an agro-ecological sustainable system by incorporating, as much as possible, organic residues, preferably composted, including fertilization and microbial activity. The first crop includes legumes and grasses that will later be buried as green manure. The next crop is fertilized with small amounts of mineral fertilizers, administered three times during the year, as well as with composted manure. This plus the incorporation of the crop residues (green manure) makes it possible to achieve regional yields of, e.g. oat, wheat or beans in one to three years and of corn in five years.Through this method, after three to five years, from 40 to 90 Mg C ha -1 of carbon can be captured as soil organic matter, ten times more than found in European soils. In the context of global warming, this high potential of carbon capture provides an additional environmental service. At the same time, it also makes additional land available for agriculture, which prevents farmers from expanding to higher-level páramos seeking land for cultivation. Finally, it also avoids liberation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.Different land uses (agave, crops, forests) of cangahuas turned to soil. Cayambe, Pichincha province, Ecuador (Christian Prat)Research continues to identify and select the optimal micro-organisms, for example to improve crops, crop association and rotation, and allopathic interactions between crops, as well as the quality of manure, in order to find agro-ecological systems that are correctly adapted to the typical Andean crops (such as quinoa, lupine, chia, amaranth, vegetables and pastures). Where irrigation is not possible and a traditional use of the agaves exists, agave forestry is promoted, inspired by previous Mexican experiences (see p. 107). For example, the mezcal liquor obtained from agaves could be an additional income source for families. As this species (Agavae americana) reproduces through seeds, the authorities used the plant picking and seeding activities to reintroduce the traditional collective work, the mingas, and to put emphasis on pre-hispanic traditions to protect the environment.All these strategies focus on participative works to offer opportunities to small farmers to produce highly profitable crops, helping them to emerge from poverty. This will allow peasants (including their children) to remain farmers, instead of migrating to the cities, where they will join the legions of unemployed. Creating new spaces of productive and living soils from volcanic hardpans located in the foothills of the Andes has changed the look from deserted landscapes into fertile fields, avoiding further environmental destruction, and giving small farmers and their children new opportunities to live quite well from their production. Today, glaciers are shrinking globally with losses reported in different areas of the world, from the equatorial glaciers in South America and Africa to the North America and Asian mountains. In the tropical Andes, for example, glaciers may totally disappear in the next few decades, leaving potentially severe water supply problems for countries such as Peru, where 10 million residents of Lima depend on fresh water from the Andes. In Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro -one of the nation's main tourism attractions -is suffering severe glacial melt and its glacier, along with the others of East Africa, is expected to disappear altogether in the coming decades.Thus, the newly deglaciated (proglacial) areas generally are exposing barren surfaces to physical and biological weathering processes while at the same time producing new hydrologic features. Surprisingly high elevation areas with little or no developed soils have shown large amounts of microbial activity, sometimes within a few years of deglaciation. Microbes are able to function under these extreme conditions because their response time and turnover rates are much faster than those of large eukaryotic organisms. Atmospheric aerosols may be an important vector of inorganic and organic nutrients to these barren soils, and may play an unknown role in soil formation. The Niwot Ridge in Colorado, United States, part of the United States Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, provided one of the first carbon budgets for alpine soils (Figure 2). Excluding the more highly productive tundra and meadow areas and considering the most barren and carbon-limited parts of an alpine watershed, the C budget illustrates that atmospheric C inputs can be more than 30 percent of the C inputs from autotrophic primary production.A view of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Al'Sarwat)Michele Freppaz and Mark W. Williams Most small and micro-scale variations in the alpine soil environs have resulted from the combined effect of cryoturbation, biological activity, parent-material and eolian deposition. In contrast to this small-scale variation, the large-scale variations originated as a result of the topographic/snow gradient. Snow cover (snowpack distribution and duration) is considered critical to the development of mountain soils because of its direct effect on soil temperature, soil moisture and duration of the growing season, which in turn controls nutrient availability in the alpine environment. The depth and duration of snow cover, for example, regulates soil temperature with stable values close to 0 °C when the snow depth is enough to ensure thermal insulation. Differences in the duration, amount and depth of snow at the mesotopographic scale result in large changes in soil properties and plant communities over short distances, as revealed by snow manipulation studies.In temperate mountain regions of the Northern Hemisphere, climate change is expected to result in a more unstable snow cover with earlier spring snowmelt.For the full range of the 1996 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) scenarios in Australia, Whetton estimated an 18-66 percent reduction in the total area of snow cover by 2030. Less snow cover may consequently lead to lower soil temperatures and an increase in frequency and intensity of freeze/thaw cycles. This not only effects C and nitrogen (N) dynamics, it also effects soil structure, which is a key factor for soil stability and erodibility.In the eastern Himalayas, changes in snow-cover dynamics will directly affect biodiversity at high elevations. Potential evapotranspiration is also likely to increase, due to enhanced soil water availability and higher temperatures in the future.The greater percentage increase in potential evapotranspiration compared with precipitation means relatively drier years, with implications for water resources and drought-related problems. Strong winds combined with a semi-arid to arid climate increase the risk of wind erosion when dry soil is exposed.In areas where snowfall is the current norm, warming is also expected to lead to an increase in precipitation in the form of rain, with more frequent rain-on-snow (ROS) events and potential impact on snow characteristics (e.g. snow density) and soil properties (e.g. soil temperature) when the snow melts. For every degree Celsius the temperature increases, the snow line will rise an average of 150 m. Significant flooding can occur during mid-winter ROS events, particularly if the soil is frozen, which limits the infiltration processes and increases the amount of surface runoff. Mountain watersheds are particularly vulnerable to extreme rainfall events, which may trigger shallow soil movements, involving limited soil depths and diffuse erosion.In mountain areas, soil erosion due to rainfall is generally considerable, but of special note, is the impact of other factors on soil erosion, such as snow movements. In particular, wet snow avalanches are well known for their high sediment yields, and their frequency may change in response to future climate conditions. Flowing avalanches can produce considerable soil removal and sediment transport along the avalanche path, altering the soil morphology on the local scale and transporting a significant amount of soil across the runout zone.If full-depth avalanches predominate, and the avalanche flows interact directly with the soil surface, the soils can be stripped off in the track zone and can be fragmented or highly degraded. Complex soil profile morphologies may occur along an avalanche path with both buried and truncated soil horizons.Long-term data are fundamental for detecting and evaluating the impact of climate change on mountain soils. The LTER Network links a multidisciplinary group of scientists all over the world, with the recognition that long-term and broad-scale research is necessary for truly understanding environmental phenomena under a changing climate. Interactions between complex topography and snow cover lead to steep local gradients in soil temperature and moisture which, in turn, influence the potential for C fixation by primary plant production and for losses through biological, chemical and physical decomposition processes. This points to the likelihood of high spatial variability in the C stocks held within mountain soils. In this case study we explore the variability in soil C stocks, C fixation in plant primary production and decomposition rates across an oceanic alpine landscape in Scotland.Oceanic alpine landscapes in Scotland include ecosystems typical of many mountain areas on the northwestern fringe of Europe. With a high prevalence of bryophytes and dwarf shrubs, these systems also have similarities with arctic and subarctic tundra. Winter snow cover in Scotland is highly variable, and likely to become more so in the face of climate change. Loss of snow cover could have a major impact on the distribution of plant communities within the landscape and also on the processes controlling inputs to, and losses from, the soil C store (for example by changing the quality and quantity of plant litter, or through changes in the composition or activity of the soil microbial community). There is therefore an urgent need to improve understanding of the status of C stocks in mountain soils in order to predict the likely impacts of climate change. We investigated C stocks in the oceanic alpine landscape using a study catchment. This study looks at the oceanic alpine landscape of a catchment in Scotland's eastern Highlands. Oceanic climates are typical of the western margins of continents at mid-latitudes. Scottish mountain landscapes experience an oceanic climate characterized by high rainfall, high wind speeds and cool temperatures year round, with limited differentiation between winter and summer, and a highly variable winter snowpack. These conditions give rise to specialized oceanic alpine habitats, with vegetation often dominated by mosses and lichens. Oceanic alpine habitats also occur at much lower altitude than their continental counterparts, descending almost to sea level in parts of northern and western Scotland.In the eastern Highlands of Scotland, the Allt a'Mharcaidh catchment, on the western edge of the Cairngorm mountains, covers an area of around 10 km 2 , spans an altitudinal range of 320 to 1 111 masl, and is underlain by granite parent material. The climate is cool oceanic with mean monthly temperatures (at 575 masl) ranging from 1.2 °C in February to 10.3 °C in July, and a mean annual rainfall of around 1 100 mm, about 30 percent of which falls as snow in winter. This catchment represents a typical Scottish upland/alpine ecosystem, with blanket mire vegetation on deep peat soils in the valley bottom, lichen and bryophyte-rich heather (Calluna vulgaris) moor and podzolic soils on the valley sides, and a high plateau with alpine soils and vegetation above 700 masl.The investigation included plant and soil C stocks, net primary production (NPP) and decomposition rates at the Allt a'Mharcaidh, across a typical toposequence of oceanic alpine habitats. This included blanket mire and boreal Calluna heath on the lower slopes and within the alpine mosaic on the upper slopes; earlymelting snowbeds dominated by Nardus, alpine Calluna heath on exposed ridges and moss-dominated Racomitrium heath typical of summit areas. These habitats represent the most prevalent alpine habitats in the United Kingdom. In each habitat we measured the C stocks in both vegetation and soils, estimated C inputs from net primary production of plants, and measured decomposition rates of plant litter.It was found that total ecosystem C stocks were large: 11-26 kg C m -2 in the alpine habitats and 50 kg C m -2 in the blanket mire. Spatial variability of C stocks was high, as expected. Within the alpine zone, C storage was greatest in the snowbed (S3) (26 kg C m -2 ) and least in the Racomitrium moss-dominated summit heath (S1). In all habitats, the C stocks were dominated by C held in the soil, with only a small fraction of the total C stock in the vegetation. Total C stocks did not vary consistently with altitude, but reflected topographic gradients of temperature and moisture within the alpine zone. Variability in total C stock also matched the between-habitat variability in net primary productivity of the vegetation.A typical oceanic alpine landscape in spring -complex topography leads to high soil variability (Andrea J. Britton)Early-and late-melting snowbed communities in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland (Andrea J. Britton)  In almost all habitats, the soil C stock represented approximately 280 years of current net primary production. Decomposition of plant litter was extremely slow. The cool, wet climate, combined with the recalcitrant nature of litter from the bryophytes, lichens and dwarf shrubs, which dominate oceanic alpine vegetation, produce favourable conditions for C accumulation in the soil. As with C stocks, the plant litter decomposition rate did not follow a simple altitudinal pattern; it varied between habitats and was controlled by the chemical quality of the litter and the amount of moisture in the soil. Surprisingly, decomposition was fastest in the snowbed -faster than in the blanket mire and boreal heath on the lower slopes.The results demonstrate that oceanic alpine habitats contain significant stores of C, and indeed are among the most C-dense ecosystems on a global scale. The results from this single study catchment highlight the high spatial variability in alpine soils and their C stocks, arising from complex topography and resulting gradients in temperature, moisture conditions and plant community composition.The snowbeds studied here appear to represent hotspots for carbon accumulation within the alpine landscape, but may also be under threat from future climate change. Climate warming and changes in the amount and distribution of winter snow cover could greatly impact the distribution of plant communities across the alpine landscape. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the spatial variability in C stocks and fluxes that we observed is now urgently needed if we are to predict the fate of alpine soil C stocks.Location of the Allt a'Mharcaidh catchment and toposequence study sites. S1 -Racomitrium moss-heath, S2 -Snowbed, S3 -Alpine Calluna heath, S4 -Boreal Calluna heath, S5 -Blanket mire (Andrea J. Britton)Figure 1The mountain wetlands of Lesotho play a major role in sustaining the perennial water flow and regulating the water quality of the major Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM). They also serve an economic purpose, as there is trade in quality water between South Africa and Lesotho through the Treaty on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). The main use of the mountains wetlands catchment is grazing of domestic animals, although relatively small protected portions have been made nature reserves because of their endemic alpine flora and fauna.The stock of organic carbon present in natural soils represents a dynamic balance between the input of dead plant material and loss from decomposition. The prolonged soil water saturation (high water table) and anaerobic conditions in wetlands lower the rate of organic matter decomposition and lead to organic matter accumulation. When wetlands are drained by gullies, the water table declines, the organic carbon that is normally under water becomes exposed to the air, where it decomposes and releases carbon, which is one of the major greenhouse gases. With the ongoing degradation of Lesotho wetlands, there is a possibility that their stored carbon will be released into the atmosphere (Figure 1).Land-use change can alter the water table of the wetlands through compaction, which will cause runoff and soil erosion. Land use and management also control organic carbon distribution in the soil. The vertical pattern of soil organic carbon (SOC) can be used to predict consequences of loss of vegetal cover on soil carbon storage in wetlands.The wetlands, described as peatlands, comprise bogs and fens, even though some researchers disputed the existence of bogs in these wetlands because of their varying organic carbon content. Most soil classification systems describe peat as an organic material that contains organic carbon content greater than 12 toNo buffer zones, animals graze within a wetland (Botle Mapeshoane)Lesotho mountain wetlands potential for carbon storageAbout 40 to 60 percent of soil carbon pool is held in the top 0.2 m of the Lesotho mountain wetlands soil, the layer that is most prone to changes in soil use and management.Minimum carbon distribution occurs in the subsoil due to restricted root growth. Declining vegetal cover due to grazing of wetlands reduces the potential of the wetlands to store carbon. The main threat is the release of carbon from soils due to increased rate of soil organic matter decomposition as a result of drainage of the wetlands.18 percent depending on clay content of the mineral fraction. In this project, vertical distribution and carbon pools were evaluated to a depth of 1 000 mm. Representative soil samples were collected from the three wetland types (bogs, valley head fens and hillslope seeps) at various depths in soil (Figure 1). SOC was determined from total carbon. Bulk density was determined by core samples from each depth. The soil profile carbon mass was calculated as the sum of the product of SOC and bulk density for each depth.About 40 percent of SOC was stored in the top surface soil layer which are 200 mm thick in fens and hillslope seeps, while bogs hold about 60 percent SOC in the surface layer. The SOC content showed a drastic decrease from surface layers into the subsoil. This suggested the accumulation of organic matter from above ground litter and roots, and little distribution into the subsoil. This is a consequence of limited root distribution in the subsoil -the result of shoot/root allocations combining with vertical root distributions which affects the depth of the distribution of SOC. In the subsoils, SOC is added from aboveground and root litter through large pores draining water mixed with SOC and mixing by soil animals such as earthworms. The SOC input into the subsoil is of relative importance because it is characterized by high mean residence times of up to several thousand years.The mean SOC density was 304, 210 and 205 t C ha -1 from bogs, fens and hillslope seeps respectively within the 1 000 mm soil depth. This is very low compared with 600 t C ha -1 estimated from global peats in temperate regions. Lal recalculated the soil organic carbon density of 1 170 t C ha -1 from wet organic soils, while the estimates of soil organic carbon densities from temperate grassland are between 141 and 236 t C ha -1 . Decline in above-ground biomass affects annual soil organic matter/carbon turnover and reduces potential for these wetlands to store atmospheric carbon. Additionally, an increase in soil temperature due to removal of vegetation cover will enhance the rate of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from peat.The carbon storage in the mountain wetlands of Lesotho is significantly lower than the relative similar environments of the world. The degradation of wetlands impacted by grazing is putting the top 200 mm surface layer at risk of carbon loss. Grazing in the wetlands catchments requires the introduction of a buffer zone to control trampling by animals and encourage luxurious regrowth.  Contrasting trends in SOC have been reported for mountain regions following forest expansion on grasslands, therefore its effects on SOC content and protection are largely unknown. This study aims to to fill this knowledge gap, considering that it is likely that large areas of agricultural lands in mountain regions will be abandoned over the next decades and that forest will take over the abandoned areas.It was investigated how forest expansion on abandoned grasslands affected the content (stocks) and the protection of SOC. The project was carried out from 2011 to 2015, examining a study area in Trentino province (Italy), where the forest area increased by 5 percent from 1973 to 1999. The study area has an elevation of 1 150 masl, with mean annual air temperature of 7.2 °C and mean annual precipitation of 1 278 mm (1992-2011). The soil in the area is a Cambisol, with a clay texture and calcareous parent material.View of the study area. Trentino, Italy (Claudia Guidi)Forest expansion on grassland affects soil carbon protection Claudia Guidi, Lars Vesterdal, Damiano Gianelle, Jakob Magid and Mirco Rodeghiero Abandonment of mountain grasslands followed by progressive forest expansion is a widespread phenomenon in mountain areas of Europe. Grassland abandonment can affect the accumulation of carbon in the soil and its susceptibility to external disturbances. The quantity and degree of protection of the carbon in soil decreased due to forest expansion on grassland in a study area in the Southern Alps (Trentino, Italy). The forest expansion caused a higher vulnerability of soil carbon to decomposition and climate change-induced perturbations.Box 1The protection of soil organic carbon (SOC) against decomposition (i.e. stability) results from the synergy of various mechanisms, such as molecular characteristics of SOC; spatial inaccessibility against decomposers by occlusion; and organo-mineral associations. Spatial inaccessibility and organomineral interactions are recognized as the main drivers of SOC stability.. A decrease of mineral soil carbon stock going from the managed grassland to the old forest was observed. The SOC accumulation within the forest organic layers could not fully compensate the mineral SOC stock difference between the forest and the grassland. This resulted in an overall decrease in the total SOC stock following forest establishment and an increase in organic layer contribution to total SOC stocks (Figure 1). Moreover, the decrease in SOC stocks within the mineral soil mainly took place in protected fractions of SOC, i.e. the stable aggregates, while the SOC in unprotected fractions, i.e. the particulate organic matter (POM), increased following forest expansion on grasslands (Figure 2).   The increased contribution of organic layers and POM to total SOC suggests that the physical protection of SOC decreased due to forest expansion on grassland. The SOC stored in the superficial organic layers is usually more affected by environmental and management-induced modifications than SOC in the mineral soil. Moreover, when ecosystems are disturbed, the SOC stored in POM fractions within the mineral soil often undergoes rapid losses (Box 1). According to our findings, forest SOC stocks would be more susceptible than grassland SOC stocks against management modifications or climatic changes, although the tree canopy can naturally shelter soils against water erosion and temperature extremes.Forest expansion on mountain grasslands caused a decrease in soil carbon stock within the mineral soil and within the physically protected fractions. The findings have both ecological and management implications for the sequestration of carbon in soil and climate change mitigation.It was used a physical method for soil fractionation that separated:• POM not occluded within stable aggregates (size > 50 μm; density < 1.6 g cm -3 );• stable aggregates (size > 50 μm; density > 1.6 g cm -3 );• silt-and clay-sized fraction (size <50 μm).• Forest successional stages did not accumulate as much carbon in soil as the managed grassland in a mountain area. The Taita Hills are located in southeast Kenya. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world, is located in northeastern Tanzania, approximately 110 km west of Taita Hills, in southeast Kenya. Both Mount Kilimanjaro and the Taita hills are part of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity hot spot, and are important hubs for agricultural and economic livelihoods of their mountain communities. Rain-fed small-scale subsistence food production at household level remains the principle source of livelihood for these communities.In these mosaic crop production systems, farmers plant their crops with few, if any, soil fertility inputs, because many believe that their soils are currently fertile enough to sustain crop production into the future. Crop yield reports by the local agricultural officials however show this belief to be far from the reality of the situation.Climate change signals in the Taita and Kilimanjaro ecosystems have been experienced through decreased seasonal rainfall amounts, and increased duration of hot months and occurrences of droughts. This has had a negative effect on the ecosystem' natural soil nutrient replenishment process via the carbon (C) cycle. Deforestation has substantially reduced surface biomass accumulations thus accelerated the pace for soil organic carbon and nutrient loss. In the Wundanyi area of the Taita hills, for example, home to tropical indigenous forests more than 100 years ago but converted to agricultural crop production several decades ago, there has been a systematic and drastic reduction in cereal grain yields in the last ten years. Smallholder harvests are so low in the March to April rainy season, regarded traditionally as the \"food seasons\", that some fields are unable to produce enough seed to compensate for what was planted. Insect pests and disease pressure further devastate whatever little crop material that has emerged in the fields, resulting in total harvest loss. Smallholder farmers in the Taita hills and Mount Kilimanjaro recognize the need to conserve soil nutrients of fields and farms located in the upper, middle and lower zones of mountainous areas. These mountain communities depend on rain-fed subsistence agriculture which means that for sustainable subsistence crop production, they also depend on nutrient availability and use efficiency in farming households.A study under way in the area has looked at loss of land cover and infestations of plant pests and diseases and is using this information to raise farmers' awareness of soil fertility and to introduce best cropping practices. Gender also plays an important role in mountain farming communities, where most important household decisions are made by the man of the house. In Mount Kilimanjaro and the Taita hills, men typically leave their household for work in the nearby Moshi and Arusha towns in Tanzania and the coastal town of Mombasa in Kenya. This rural urban movement often leaves only women, youth and the elderly in the homesteads, usually with women left in charge of the agricultural production. This has an important implication in future awareness campaigns, and cognizance of the need to sensitize mountain community women and youth on the outcomes and impacts of initiatives such as CHIESA.Simplified map showing organic matter status for the Taita hills, Kenya (P. Catalayud)• For some forest lands converted to agricultural lands, it only takes ten years for harvested grain yields to fall to half those obtained immediately after conversion.• Smallholder farmers in mountain regions need to be aware of strategies available to curb soil nutrient loss from their farms through fertilizer use and economy, soil management and agroforestry practices. • In mountain environments, women and youth play an important role in agriculture and represent a critical entry point for initiatives seeking to restore and improve ecosystem fertility and productivity.The concept of traditional heritage and techniques is embedded in the inherent characteristics of traditional and indigenous food systems. This represents an evolving system of practices that has been perfected over time through trial and error, and by adjusting to the changing environment to cope with socio-economic needs while managing finite natural resources, such as soil, water and forests, in a sustainable way.There are several traditional knowledge and food systems located in mountain areas. These systems have resulted in outstanding landscapes, but also in the maintenance and adaptation of biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and resilient ecosystems. Among the particularities of mountainous areas are that the weather is often more extreme than in plains and that altitude affects vegetation. These two factors have a direct effect on soils and on the traditional food systems that are viable in mountainous areas. These food systems, to survive over time and produce enough for their communities, have to be deeply rooted in tradition and heritage while being adapted to the harsh weather conditions and environment.Many of these mountain areas and the livelihoods they host constitute Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), defined as remarkable land-use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development.The ancient Ifugao mountain rice terraces in the Philippines, the waru-waru systems in Peru, the suka collos in and around Lake Titicaca in the Inca region of the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, and the khettara, a sophisticated water Soils are at the very foundation of these systems. In fact, in mountainous areas where indigenous peoples live, soil is viewed as much more than a medium for growing food. It is considered a \"sacred resource\", an integral part of life which is linked to their cultural, social and spiritual identity. Indigenous peoples respect and protect soils as a key element within an integrated system that is part of Mother Earth. With their sophisticated understanding of nature and the properties of soils, indigenous peoples know that a healthy living soil is the foundation of productivity, cultivation and diversification of crops for food and medicine, as well as for raising livestock.The relationship between soil and humans is an important part of almost all religious rites and beliefs. The earth, as the basis for human life, is present in cosmogonies as Mother Earth and as an \"element\", a basic constituent of natural bodies and humans alike. Ancient Greek and Roman, Chinese, Buddhist, Hindu, Inca and most non-monotheistic religious systems all emphasize the spiritual aspects of human interventions into soils.Prescriptions to protect the soil and ensure its regeneration are even mentioned in the Bible. For example, the book of Exodus prescribes a year of fallow, Sabbath, to allow the land to rest after six years of agricultural activity.In traditional Chinese rituals, soil altars were integrated into the greater belief system of Daoism and were a combination of an elemental approach and a fertility cult. The Altar of the Earth and Heavens in Sun-Yat-Sen Park dates back to the fourteenth century and contains hard-packed soil in five colours representing the basic soil distribution in China. Chinese religion influenced Japanese Shinto religion, which has ten deities connected to various aspects of the soil. In India, soil worship is celebrated in parts of the country on Dhulivandan day.In the Andes, the fertility goddess Pachamama, revered by the indigenous peoples, presides over planting and harvesting. Rituals to honor Pachamama take place all year, but especially in August, right before the sowing season. During this cold month, the Andean people believe that they must be on good terms with nature in order to keep themselves and their crops and livestock healthy and protected. Pachamama reinforces the relations between human communities and their natural environments, bringing together people from different clans and villages at various points of the agricultural cycle.One of the fundamental principles of agricultural heritage is conserving and safeguarding the \"sustainability functions\" of traditional food systems, because these functions guarantee a wide variety of ecosystem goods and services which we all depend on. For example, traditional agricultural and forestry systems strengthen soils by enriching and protecting their biological diversity.Many mountain peoples have developed large-scale hydrological and agricultural water-harvesting infrastructure to overcome water constraints. Water harvesting by early farmers played a pivotal role in the emergence and diversification of food production, the domestication of plants and animals, and the shaping of ecocultural landscapes. The Inca civilization in the central Andes had a social organization based on water management and work sharing and cooperation. Irrigated terraces play an important role in protecting soil against erosion and in maintaining agricultural fertility, but they are also cultural and landscape elements that provide a strong identity for numerous mountain landscapes in the Mediterranean basin from North Africa to southern Europe and the Levant.In Nepal's Kabhrepalanchok district, now an area heavily affected by the 2015 earthquakes, where the slope of the land is not too steep, farmers use controlled gullying based on traditional techniques to protect fertile agricultural land, to minimize erosion and help to prevent landslides near villages. The practice is maintained by the traditional community approach and uses only locally available materials.Women play a crucial role in managing and improving soil fertility as they are often the primary custodians of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity and the main actors in terms of agriculture, animal husbandry, feed management and other small-scale economic activities. In mountain communities, women are keepers of traditional knowledge, guardians of seeds, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine. Moreover, as men migrate to lowland areas or abroad in search of a higher income, women are left to manage the farms and households. They also participate in trade and income-earning activities by, for example, selling mountain products such as berries, mushrooms, honey, medicinal plants and handicrafts, which has proven to be the key to resilience.Indigenous peoples and knowledgeable mountain farmers who practice traditional and indigenous food systems know how to protect their soils because they live on the land and have intimate knowledge of their soils. Their knowledge and practices are important not only in terms of soil conservation but for the production of high quality nutritious food for their family's consumption and for local and global economies alike. Their livelihoods and the survival of their tradition, culture and spirituality are intrinsically linked to their relationship with the environment and in particular with the management of the soils.The man from the glacier: Similaun Man Carmelo Dazzi and Edoardo A.C. CostantiniThe specific environmental conditions of mountains, generally characterized by steep slopes, poor and shallow soils and extreme climate conditions, coupled with traditional knowledge, cultural and spiritual values have resulted in several adapted land-use practices that shape the landscape of mountain soils. Although the geomorphological characteristics of mountains usually prevent the development of big cites, there is a great diversity of environments, including patches of fertile soils, that allows for plenty of opportunities for the subsistence of small settlements. This is testified by the millennia relationship between mountain soils and humankind.The so-called \"Man of Similaun\" (nicknamed Ötzi) is the Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (Italy) (Figure 1). Ötzi was a man who lived around 3,300 BCE in the Alps, who roamed mountains to hunt dears and ibexes, forestlands to hunt birds and collect fruits, roots, medicinal plants, and grew einkorn and barley in the valleys. He was also a shepherd and a skilled copper miner. The harshness of the environment in which he lived, similar to the current one in terms of climate and vegetation (Figure 2), did not prevent the development of rather sophisticated forms of civilization, allowing him to modify the morphology of the terrain through terracing and favour crop cultivation. For generations, the medicinal plants of Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan have been an abundant natural resource. The study found that local people in Tajik Badakhshan use 92 species and those in Afghan Badakhshan use 31 species for medical purposes, some on both sides of the border but for different problems. In total, 37 percent are used for treatment of the cardiovascular system, 22.8 percent for musculoskeletal problems, 16 percent for female-related diseases, 15 percent for skin diseases, and 14 percent for treating the urogenital system.The study revealed a common understanding of herbal remedies in both Tajik and Afghan-Badakhshan as witnessed by how plants are collected, dried and stored, and how medicines are prepared and administered. At the same time, though, 32 percent of the plants used in both Afghan and Tajik Badakhshan have different uses and different vernacular names.For example, the Daucus carota L. is used by Afghans to aid with dysentery and by Tajiks for relief of hypertension and abdominal discomfort. Both use the Ziziphora pamoiroalaica plant for treating blood-pressure problems. However, the Afghans boil the plant's stem, leaves and flowers in water and milk, whereas the Tajiks only infuse it with boiled water.Both the similarities and differences in the specific uses and vernacular names of the medicinal plants can be explained by the historical interconnectedness of the two populations juxtaposed with their more recent separation into nationstates, and the mountainous isolation of the regions which is exacerbated by the Panj-Amu River separating the nations. The main scientific and local names of the common medicinal plants are given in Table 1.  As the study found, there are several reasons for this depletion. Local people lack awareness of the importance of medicinal plants for their livelihoods and sustenance, often harvesting the plants for fuel and fodder rather than medicine.In addition, there is a lack of clear government policies for the conservation and management of medicinal plants and other non-timber forest products and there has been prolonged drought coupled with desiccating winds in high-altitude pastures and mountains. These factors have not only contributed to continuous decline in the medicinal plant population but also accelerated land degradation and soil erosion in the mountain environment. Landslides and flash floods have become common phenomena, jeopardizing the very survival of poor mountain communities.A variety of interventions on behalf of development actors as well as government institutions have taken place to protect this natural resource, including soil and forestry preservation, increased training in harvesting and preparation to limit exploitation, additional on-farm planting of medicinal plants and further research on the medicinal benefits of plants in the Afghan Badakhshan region.This is happening at a time when promotion and processing of plant-based products have been given a fresh impetus throughout the world, providing a niche market for medicinal and aromatic plants. Badakhshan has the indigenous species and unique climate to capitalize on these market trends if the region starts conserving, promoting and sustainably managing its unique resources.The indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants passed down the generations in both parts of Badakhshan should be documented and preserved. This will help to revive the diminishing traditional knowledge about plants and recount it to the local communities, and to maintain a sense of pride in local cultural knowledge and practices, thus reinforcing the links between communities and the environment that are essential for conservation.Soil is a rich resource that if not managed sustainably does not have the time to regenerate. Continuous use of chemical fertilizers and hybrid crop varieties has increased agricultural production in Karanprayag but, in doing so, has gradually decreased soil health, reducing the presence of beneficial soil fauna such as earthworms, ants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.About 80 percent of the population are actively engaged in traditional agricultural systems, which play a vital role in the subsistence economies and living standards of Garhwal hill locales. The agricultural land holdings in Garhwal are very small -average 0.02 ha per capita. Terraced slopes covering 85 percent of the total agricultural land are generally rain-fed, while 15 percent are irrigated. The soil under rain-fed agriculture is particularly vulnerable to soil losses through a combination of natural factors (sloping topography, heavy seasonal rainfall) and human factors (intensive cultivation and erosion-triggering agricultural practices).There are more than 40 crops cultivated along an altitudinal gradient of 300 to 3 000 masl. The inhabitants of Garhwal are fully dependent upon forests for water as well as sustainable low-cost traditional agriculture. Monocropping has replaced the traditionally valued indigenous crops.In spite of living in uncertain, risky and fragile ecological conditions, the farming communities of Garhwal have developed and refined indigenous techniques over the centuries.Diverse crops and crop rotation. Garhwal farmers generally cultivate 10-12 staple food crops a year including finger millet, pseudo millet, lesser-known legumes, oil seeds and spice varieties. The system is locally known as barahnaja (high crop diversity that provides food sufficiency and security). This practice is Indigenous paddy cropfield (Shalini Dhyani)Sustainable indigenous hill agriculture practices to conserve mountain soils and improve crop yields in GarhwalThere is a growing recognition that healthy soils are the foundation of productive and sustainable agriculture thereby improving the livelihoods of farmers. Over the last two decades, with increasing attention to sustainable agriculture, and rural development, greater consideration has been paid in the hill states of India to integrated ecosystem approaches and to sustaining vital ecological functions including nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, the hydrological regime and climate change. This study analysed six different land uses (pea fields, potato fields, alpine pastures, oak forest, pine forest and kitchen gardens) and their below-ground fauna to study the impact on above-ground biodiversity and soil quality. It took place in two different altitudes of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, northern India -the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and Karanprayag district of Garhwal from 2 000-3 000 masl and 1 000-1 500 masl respectively -where two big watersheds are located and the local population's ingenious traditional methods of farming are diminishing, along with the area's natural resources. Due to a variety of sociocultural changes among rural communities and shrinkage in the natural resources, many of these indigenous practices are diminishing. At present a mosaic of landscape units with various degrees of disturbances, extension of agriculture and monoculture crop lands can be seen in each watershed area. The uniqueness of these practices is their suitability to the local conditions, their economic feasibility and easy implementation. One practice complements the other, so if applied in combination they tend to be even more effective in maintaining soil health.Oil yielding crop in crop field (Shalini Dhyani)Woman weeding cropfields (Shalini Dhyani)The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a predominately hilly area in southeastern Bangladesh, is home to 11 indigenous groups, totalling some 40 000 households, which have been practicing shifting cultivation, or jum, for generations. Known as jumias, most of them live in poor conditions, as their livelihoods and food security have been increasingly impacted by demographic, environmental and policy pressures. They do not have any private land for shifting cultivation, but they consider the land they cultivate -jum land -the de facto property of their communities.Shifting cultivation is a sustainable form of land use, practised by indigenous peoples who cultivate multiple crops but then leave that land fallow so it can rebuild. It is an adaptive agroforestry practice that conserves biodiversity, maintains soil fertility and enhances water holding capacity with sound scientific principles and ecological forest and agricultural activities, especially in indigenous lands and territories. Many researches have shown that shifting cultivation improves soil by restoring soil nutrients and enhances water holding capacity. Indigenous peoples have been dependent on this practice for their food security, livelihoods and their sustenance for generations. In the CHT, many jumias are still in favour of continuing jum, as it is part of their culture and tradition.The impacts of shifting cultivation have been the subject of debate for many years. Some researchers have reported that it causes deforestation and sedimentation of rivers and streams and that it amplifies soil degradation and erosion. However, other researchers have found that shifting cultivation has improved soil conditions and soil health suitable for cultivation of multiple crops with least disturbance.It is a resourceful multi-cropping system of agroforestry appropriate for hills and mountains.Jum field ready for harvest (Sudibya Kanti Khisa)Shifting cultivation: soil fertility and food security issues in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh Sudibya Kanti Khisa, Mohammad Mohiuddin and Justine CherrierShifting cultivation, a traditional method of rotating crops and fallow lands, has provided livelihoods to millions for hundreds of years. Now, the cultivators, or jumias as they are called in the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh, are facing a dilemma of decreasing availability of land due to environmental degradation and lack of policy support, because of the understanding that shifting cultivation amplifies soil degradation and erosion. However, some researchers find, and are promoting the fact, that shifting cultivation actually improves soil health. But in order to survive, many of the jumias have already converted what land they have to other farming methods which could have long-term negative effects on the land and on their traditional identity.Unquestionably, the fallow period of the jumias in CHT has now shortened to two to five years, because of the scarcity of suitable lands for shifting cultivation. This scarcity has resulted from lack of recognition of land rights; unfavourable government policies and use of jum lands for construction of a hydro-electric dam 65 km upstream from Chittagong; expansion of forest reserve areas and leasing of unclassed state forestland for industrial rubber and tea plantations; and for infrastructure development related to the government-sponsored programme that provided settlement to the Bengali population from the plains districts.Because of the short fallow period and intensive farming, the rate of soil deterioration has been quite alarming, with a long-term impact on soil fertility and productivity. In order to maintain soil fertility, the land rights and land titles should be given to jumias to motivate them to improve the jum plots and farming systems in those plots. They have sustainably maintained and enhanced soil fertility for generations by cultivating 50-60 different crop species of cereals, vegetables, medicinal herbs, spices and ornamental plants in the jum plots. The soil nutrients, bulk density and water-holding capacity of the soil found in the jum sites are the highest in CHT, but the soil colours and textures vary with the sites and land-use categories.At present, some of the CHT jumias have changed their traditional cultivation practices in order to adapt to the ecological stresses and external pressures.They have switched to cash crops such as turmeric, ginger and chillis, fruits and vegetables, and they are planting trees in their jum plots -which require heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. That means the organic jum farming is gradually converting to inorganic and, in the long term, the soil fertility and productivity will be adversely affected, not to mention the drastic increase in the cost of production. Borggaard et al. estimated the cost of inputs (especially labour) at US$380 per ha per year for the output of US$360 per ha per year. It is also estimated that US$2 million are required annually to compensate the losses made by the use of commercial fertilizers.The jumias in the CHT are highly vulnerable to food insecurity due to their limited land and lack of access to food, especially in remote areas. As many cannot afford the high prices of commercial food grains, they depend on wild food and someJum converted to agroforestry (Sudibya Kanti Khisa)An old Jumia women with her granddaughter in her back (Mohammad Mohiuddin)  collect and sell forest products as a source of income. However, many of them still believe that jum cultivation provides the organic food, rice and vegetables that are needed to provide high-flavoured, high-nutrient and tasty food for special occasions.With the experience of the jumias in CHT and of other indigenous peoples across Asia, there is a need to review existing discriminatory policies on the practice of shifting cultivation. Likewise, land security and support from the state and other development actors should be provided to help provide indigenous peoples with other sources of livelihoods and income. An estimated 10 million hectares of land in South Asia are being used by indigenous peoples for shifting cultivation, which is directly linked to their cultures, identities, traditions and livelihoods. These values and the role of shifting cultivation in food security and enhancement of soil fertility should be fully accounted for by policy-makers, researchers and development actors who are in a position to ensure the jumias can maintain their traditions in a way that supports their livelihoods and the environment.Plot near homestead slashed and ready for burning for jum (Sudibya Kanti Khisa)The benefits of healthy mountain soils go beyond mountain regions and contribute to the well-being of the world at large. Yet mountain soils are prone to rapid degradation, due to their shallowness, the steepness of mountain slopes and unsustainable soil management practices. This process is accelerated by global -including climate -changes, which in turn affect mountain peoples, their livelihoods and food security.Mountain peoples -the custodians of mountain soils -are among the most marginalized populations worldwide. Living in remote and often harsh environments, their voices are rarely heard, their knowledge and experience seldom acknowledged and their needs barely addressed in broader national development strategies. Indigenous mountain peoples are in particular affected by a combination of isolation, lack of recognition of their rights and ancestral livelihoods, and mounting pressures from extractive industries and private companies.Mountains and upland watersheds need appropriate land-use planning and integrated management policies to safeguard their soils. There is an urgent need to promote the sustainable management of mountain soils by increasing investment, filling knowledge gaps, developing capacities and organizing the necessary governance, so that soil degradation is halted and degraded mountain soils restored or rehabilitated.The case studies presented here demonstrate how mountain peoples have over the centuries developed valuable, adaptable and sustainable soil management technologies that contribute to soil conservation and limit degradation. At the same time, this timely publication aims to raise awareness during the International The recommendations are discussed in more detail below:• Empower mountain family farmers and small-scale farmers. Develop capacity and increase support to mountain communities on sustainable soil management. Appropriate policy measures should be promoted for people living and working in marginal mountain areas. Traditional techniques and knowledge should be valued, preserved and shared as they have proven to be crucial for maintaining healthy mountain ecosystems. • Empower indigenous peoples living in mountainous areas. Indigenous peoples are the holders of traditional knowledge on soils management known as ethno-pedology, many of them safeguarded under the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). When designing policies, the empowerment of indigenous peoples to determine their needs through the respect of Free Prior and Informed Consent in their territories, is fundamental to guarantee that their ancestral soil management techniques and ingenious food production practices survive in mountain areas. • Support rural women in mountainous areas. Rural women living in mountainous areas face the double burden of producing food in a harsh environment as well as taking care of the household. In order to support rural women living in mountainous areas, it is necessary to design policies that empower them economically. Specific technologies, tailored training programmes and targeted social protection policies would enable mountain women to access credit, education and health services. At the same time their rights to land should be guaranteed and proper infrastructures developed. Soil management approaches should be targeted and designed taking into account the roles and the workload of rural women. • Promote a landscape approach for provision of ecosystem services. A sound and integrated approach is crucial in the management of mountain soils, given the high variety of land-use systems and types of soils that can be found in mountain areas. Soil fertility maintenance and erosion control can be enhanced when the various influences and impacts of one system on ","tokenCount":"35608"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4080745818.json b/data/part_1/4080745818.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4b91f53f49adf45ed61732d62782d0d0839a6b67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4080745818.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"346571ab0f18c6710aa02dcae0c0512c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f4a86b7-7d45-44e7-9818-af5eb8c1f738/retrieve","id":"-1721615163"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c559f08e-87c6-488a-8975-1900e192c6f1","pagecount":"20","content":"Adrian r-la :Í' tre RESUMEN El 2 ~ de febrero, se realizb un tall er: d e call1po co n agri c ulto re s productores de frijol en ~l Valle Sagrado. El objetlvo fu~ doble: 1. Visita~ varios lotes, ~lgunos,experimentales, otros manejadas por los mismos agricul~Dres (Capitulo 3).2. Llegar a alguna s conclusion~s prác ticas (entre agricultores e inves tigadore s ) , sobre t r a baj os de 1.1 1VE'S t l.yac 1.0/1 p ara 1 asiguiente campaña (Cap'itulo 4) .,1. 1 n traducc ión IfH,o,A / CIAT para posibilitar una fnayor parti~ipació'•1 de los ay,\" i c ultores en el proceso de investigaciórl, se l~evO a cabo url taller de campo con agricultores e investigadores en el Valle Sagrado (Cusca), el 20 de Febrero de 199~: Obser va ciones de los Agricultol'\"es Los ag r-icul tares ir,¡d icar-an \\ 1 a diferencia en cuan to a 1 a é tapa de de sa rrollo' entre ambas va riedade s . \"rambién observaroll la 1n c idencia s1~n1flcativa de enf e r medades en el Poroto de tostar. Sin' embargo~ un agricultor ha tomado 10& sintomas de la~ tres enfel'\"m e dades (Antra c n osis , Phoma y Mancha Gris) como vari~s etapas de la misma enfermedad.(2) Dia s antes coin cid ie r9n los 1nvé s tigador es erl la misma observaci6n. E l trl~ol se h~bia desarrollado tan bien que resullb una ~rea demasiado grande de contacto entre el follaje de plantas vecinas. Cuál~s han sido los obJ~t~vos de este arreglo?1. Dar a conocer (a tra ;és de , la comunidad ) n~mero de comun~ros las nue v as v ariedades de a un buen frijol.(3) A la siembra del Pbroto, efectuada por la ma dr e del agricultor, se han puesto hasta 20 (') grano s p or golpe.  Peor \"¡\"rata rlliento , ------------_   T\" r. '\" 1<4(''':''0 )viL\" (. . '\" MllJo..1.o.::. <.~t.c.:,\"\"\"\"it.,.o....¡4-0 p~~. ~ 9~Q' Ce. )  Tal vez se puede volver a estos aspectos en el segundo taller, qL,e ha sido fijado para la ép,oca de cosecha: Pues, aun cuando las nuevas , oportunidades de sembrar el frijol con quinoa o con tutores~ son muy inte resantes y dignas de e x plota r, sigue ~iendo ' el potencial n\\dS grande p a ra el frijol, la asociación con maiz. ","tokenCount":"390"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4085661798.json b/data/part_1/4085661798.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a5339f37dc87aa1f7dd52d590e2e06661c46e10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4085661798.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fd014c6c14a82648933f554b2d49933c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b84bb620-d81a-4c0a-a53f-9dbc916554ce/retrieve","id":"2066916400"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bc4f551e-d6e2-4331-ba44-6324a6f42d23","pagecount":"40","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.Nadine Andrieu (Email: nadine.andrieu@cirad.fr) is a Senior scientist at UMR Innovation CIRAD in Montpellier, France and a Decision and Policy Analysis at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia.Yodit Kebede (Ph.D) (Email: yodit.kebede@ird.fr) is a Post-doctoral researcher at IRD, UMR Eco&Sols in Montpellier, France.Today, 32% to 39% of the variability in crop yields around the world is due to the climate and translates into annual production fluctuations of 2 to 22 million tones for crops such as maize, rice, wheat and soybeans (Ray et al. 2015). This is expected to increase given climate change (Mbow et al. 2019). At the same time, agriculture and livestock contribute between 19% and 29% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Vermeulen et al. 2012). In addition, FAO anticipates that by 2050, 60% more food will be needed for a world population that is growing and changing its consumption patterns through the consumption of more protein (Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2012). Some authors argue that an agroecological transformation of agricultural systems is the only appropriate response to issues caused by climate change (Altieri et al. 2015;Sinclair et al. 2019). Agroecology is one of the options of sustainable land management (HLPE 2019). It is the application of ecological sciences to the study, design and management of sustainable agriculture (Altieri 1995). Integrated land-use systems that maintain species diversity, agrobiodiversity, the improvement of ecological processes and delivery of ecosystem services, the strengthening of local communities and recognition of the role and value of indigenous and local knowledge are core elements of agroecology (FAO 2018;Mbow et al. 2019).There are two overall purposes of CGIAR Re ea ch P g a Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); one is to marshal the science and expertise of the CGIAR System Organization and partners to catalyze positive change towards climate-smart agriculture (CSA), food systems and landscapes. The second is to position the CGIAR to play a major role in bringing to scale practices, technologies and institutions that enable agriculture to meet food security, adaptation and mitigation goals. CSA aims to find synergies between its three goals or pillars (sustainable productivity, climate change adaptation, and greenhouse gas mitigation) from local to global levels. Adopting a synergistic view to the three pillars of CSA facilitates improved distinction of CSA from other conventional agricultural production systems (FAO 2013).There are controversies on whether CSA and agroecology are aligned. For Sinclair et al. (2019), while many agroecological practices are classified as climate-smart because they contribute to adaptation and mitigation, not all climate-smart practices follow agroecological principles. For example, no or minimum tillage practices, combined with the use of herbicides rather than mechanical options to destroy weeds, may be considered climate-smart but not agroecological. For Altieri et al. (2015), CSA pays too much attention to innovations and not enough to traditional practices and the underlying mechanisms that allowed existing systems to resist or recover from droughts, storms, floods, or hurricanes.Additionally, there is not enough consideration for these authors to the social resilience of the rural communities that manage such agroecosystems.There is also skepticism about the efficacy of agroecology as a systematic approach that can sustainably feed a growing population. For Mugwanya (2019), the practices that agroecology promotes are not qualitatively different from those currently in use among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. However, others question the added value of new frameworks such as agroecology rather than the improvement of existing principles for sustainability. But for Wise (2019), this argument is a defensive response to the failures of Green Revolution practices since agroecology promotes innovations around biological pest control, push-pull technology using specific crop mixes, participatory plant breeding, agroforestry and legume crop with a careful selection of tree varieties and density.However, for some authors, these debates lead to an impasse between policy makers, implementers, and scientists and call for a pragmatic use of these concepts in order to go forward (Mockshell et al. 2019). Saj et al. (2017) proposed to explore the complementarity between both concepts, agroecology having produced extensive literature on the resilience of farming systems and climate-smart agriculture on the role of institutions that support change in agricultural systems.In this paper, we present agroecological principles and how they address climate change issues. We then examine to what extent CCAFS is aligned with agroecological principles. We conclude with recommendations for improving the application of agroecological principles in a future climate change research program for agricultural development.There is no one universal definition for agroecology, however concepts of complexity, context-specificity, bottom-up and territorial or landscape processes are at the core of shared agroecology principles. Indeed, recent years have seen the multiplication of definitions of agroecology with nuances depending on the authors, institutions or organizations, highlighting its dynamic aspect (HLPE 2019). Nonetheless, there is a consensus that agroecology embraces three dimensions: a transdisciplinary science, a set of practices and a social movement (Wezel et al. 2009;Wezel, Silva 2017;HLPE 2019;FAO 2018) The HLPE (2019) report defines an agroecological approach to sustainable food systems for food security and nutrition as follows:Ag ec gica a ache favor the use of natural processes, limit the use of purchased inputs, promote closed cycles with minimal negative externalities and stress the importance of local knowledge and participatory processes that develop knowledge and practice through experience, as well as more conventional scientific methods, and address social inequalities. Agroecological approaches recognize that agri-food systems are coupled socialecological systems from food production to consumption and involve science, practice and a socia e e a e a hei h i ic i eg a i add e f d ec i a d i iThus, agroecology provides possible transition pathways towards more sustainable food systems, based on a holistic and systemic approach (IPES-Food 2016). During its historical evolution, agroecology f c went from the field, farm and agroecosystem scales to encompass the whole food system over the last decade.Bridging ecological and social dimensions, and rooted in sustainability, agroecological approaches aim to transform food and agriculture systems, and address the root causes of problems. Proponents believe it is people-centered, knowledge-intensive, and will provide holistic and long-term solutions as aimed by the 2030 Agenda (FAO 2018). Agroecology particularly contributes to no poverty (SDG1), zero hunger (SDG2), good health and wellbeing (SDG3), decent work and economic growth (SDG8), responsible consumption and production (SDG12), climate action (SDG 13) and life on land (SDG 15) (FAO 2019).Encompassing aspects related to the three pillars of sustainable development (environment, social and economic), several sets of agroecological principles were developed by different actors to characterize inherent properties of agroecology.Building on the scientific foundation of Altieri (1995) and Gliessman (2004)  In the next section, we explain how climate change is taken into consideration into these principles.The relationship between climate change and agriculture has been framed in terms of both the threat of climate change impacts on agriculture and the role agriculture can play in adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts. For comparison with agroecology principles, we focus here on the principles of climate-smart agriculture (FAO 2017):4. sustainably increase agricultural productivity and the incomes of agricultural producers;5. strengthen the capacities of agricultural communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change, including disaster risk management;6. reduce and/or remove greenhouse gas emissions.While CSA ideally seeks to meet all three objectives, there may be more focus on mitigation or adaptation. Understanding the impacts of CSA at multiple scales requires knowing whether plot, farm, household, village, landscape, national or international value chains are relevant to managing agricultural outcomes.Transformations for climate change adaptation need to consider the current climate as well as a range of future possible climate scenarios. Interactions with other agricultural and livelihood risks (e.g. pests and diseases, market failure, pandemics) and natural resource sustainability also should be considered. Transformations for climate change mitigation usually require mitigation to be a co-benefit of agricultural practices that deliver improved yields, adaptation or other benefit to be attractive to farmers.The UNFCCC Pa i Ag ee e i c de c ie edge ed ce a d ada c i a e change. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement showed that countries view agriculture as a priority sector for adaptation and disaster risk management. More than 100 countries also included mitigation targets in the agriculture sector (Richards et al. 2016).Various authors have highlighted that each of the FAO elements is relevant to respond to the challenges posed by climate change (HLPE 2019;Sinclair et al. 2019,).Diversity: diversity in agroecological systems includes crop diversification, maintaining local genetic diversity, animal integration, soil organic matter management, water conservation and harvesting, and livelihood diversification that reduces vulnerabilities to climate variability is key to address climate change.Synergies: agroecological practices aim to enhance positive ecological interaction, synergy, integration, and complementarity among the elements of agroecosystems (plants, animals, trees, soil, water) that give opportunities to build synergies and manage trade-offs across the multiple objectives of food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation.Efficiency: this principle aims to a gradual reduction in the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which are replaced by biological methods. This avoids the climate-damaging emissions that arise when these substances are produced and used.Resilience: it is a key outcome of agroecological systems based on the implementation of a various other principles in particular spatial and temporal diversity but also all the traditional knowledge of smallholders, family farmers, or indigenous people and their associated social networks that helped them to manage past and recent climate risks.Recycling: the recycling of biomass, with a view to optimizing organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling over time plays a key role to improve the efficiency in the use of resources; it also decreases wastes and costs of production with co-benefits in terms of limitation in GHG. Recycling delivers multiple benefits by closing nutrient cycles and reducing waste. Recycling also permits producers to save costs on inputs, reducing their vulnerability to price volatility and climate shocks.Co-creation and sharing of knowledge: ancestral knowledge is seen as the foundation for actual and future agricultural innovations and technologies to deal with climate change given in particular the ability of traditional farming systems to recover from recent and past climate challenges, new knowledge is necessary, but attention is paid on power asymmetries between scientists and farmers.Human and social values: agroecology pays attention to social lock-ins and power relations.By building autonomy and adaptive capacities to manage their agro-ecosystems, agroecological approaches empower people and communities to become their own agents of change and overcome the various challenges they must deal with poverty, hunger, malnutrition including climate change.Culture and food traditions: agroecological systems are based on the culture, identity, tradition, of local communities that provide culturally, healthy, diversified, seasonally appropriate diets. There are consequently the foundations for the design of innovative systems able to cope with climate change.Responsible governance: Aims at establishing supportive national and local frameworks that reduce lock-ins at local level, recognize and support the needs and interests of family farmers, smallholders, in order to avoid maladaptation to climate change.This principle aims to reconnect producers and consumers and provide innovative solutions for living within our planetary boundaries while ensuring the social foundation for inclusive and sustainable development. Particularly this means to promote fair solutions based on local needs, resources and capacities, creating more equitable and sustainable markets. Strengthening short food circuits can increase the incomes of food producers while maintaining a fair price for consumers; increasing the economic resilience of both producers and consumers. Applied to question of climate change this means tackling technical innovations (e.g., decreasing wastes) and organizational innovations (labels, short circuits) that will improve resilience to climate change with cobenefits in terms of mitigation.Climate change poses multiple threats to the food system and at different stages of the food chain. To tackle these complex set of risks, the principles of agroecology are not only relevant but are necessary to achieve the goals of adaptation and mitigation. Particularly, from a technical perspective, the diversity principle (both in term of crop production and economic activity) is fundamental to improve the resilience of farming systems and livelihoods; whereas the recycling and efficiency principles can have clear co-benefits in terms of mitigation. Additionally, the management of synergies between components of agrobiodiversity will also ensure synergies between adaptation and mitigation. However, neither adaptation nor mitigation will be successful without building on human values, culture and food traditions or working on the enabling environment (responsible governance, and circular and solidarity economy).Some authors emphasized the pathways from conventional to agroecological systems. For e a e Hi ed a c ce a f a e ca ed Efficie c -Substitution-Rede ig ESR a a e he diffe e age f he a i i ag ec gica systems. This framework makes the distinction between:1) the efficiency stage, characterized by changes in conventional systems to reduce the consumption and waste of costly and scarce resources (e.g., optimal timing of operations or by banding fertilizers),2) the substitution stage, where environmentally disruptive inputs are replaced by those that are more environmentally benign (e.g., purchase of organic fertilizers instead of mineral fertilizers), and3) the redesign stage where design and management approaches are used to rely more strongly on ecological processes and ecosystem services instead of external inputs. Duru et al. (2014) used this framework to make the distinction between a weak agroecology (efficiency and substitution stages) and a strong agroecology (redesign stage). Gliessman (2016) proposed two additional steps to this ESR framework which correspond to changes in consumption patterns, civilization and development; these steps are set as necessary for the transformation of the food systems (Figure 2). CCAFS cross cutting GSI program seeks positive development outcomes for men, women, and youth to ensure households and communities are more resilient under climate change.This includes informing, catalyzing and targeting solutions for women, men, and youth in communities to increase their control over productive assets and resources (e.g., climate A multi-regional program CCAFS focuses on five regions: Latin America, West Africa, East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The regional hubs, with regional program leaders, remain the central mechanism for connecting research and policy engagement across all FPs. Regional program leaders have developed outcome targets for each of the countries with CCAFS projects and engagement strategies. For outcomes related to organizational and institutional change, this included listing specific organizations that the CCAFS theory of change will target and estimating the likelihood of achieving change. Similarly, they examine the likely countries where flagships can achieve a specified outcome. To have a first overview of the diversity of CCAFS research outcomes and be able to locate agroecology in this panorama we conducted a literature review. We used Scopus database searching for all articles with a CCAFS affiliation. We found 315 peer-reviewed scientific articles (these do not include working papers, policy brief, reports) over the period 2009-2020. We exported the title, abstract, key words and cited references of those articles and analyzed using cortex manager (www.cortext.net) text mining software. We selected the first 300 most occurring terms, merged identical terms appearing in different spelling and performed a network analysis with the first 75 most occurring terms within the titles, key words and abstracts. The result is shown in Figure 3.For an in-depth description of the alignment between CCAFS activities and agroecological principles, we interviewed the four CCAFS Flagship Leaders in charge of coordinating the strategic implementation of the project and two regional leaders in charge of implementing the various dimensions of CCAFS on the ground.An open-ended discussion was conducted around seven questions:7. What is agroecology for you?8. Have you considered agroecological principles in the design of your flagship?9. How has your flagship contributed to agroecological principles?10. Identify 2-3 projects/papers that contributed to agroecological principles 11. What could be done in the future to better contribute to agroecological principles: e.g. key research questions, key partners, outcome and impact monitoring, priority systems?12. Did grassroots/civil society organizations or NGOs play a role in the activities of your flagship?13. If yes, in which way? If not, why?The projects or articles that project leaders found most aligned with CSA principles were reviewed (Question 4) and further analyzed according to the FAO 10 elements of agroecology (Table 1).We analyzed the inputs of the surveys using the combined lens of the 10 elements proposed by FAO and the 5 steps proposed of Gliessman (2016) as represented in Figure 2. The results are provided in  The survey conducted with the flagship and regional leaders highlighted their various conceptions on agroecology: from a very technical vision to a broader recognition of its socio-political dimension. They all confirmed that agroecology was not a guiding principle in the design of their flagships. The guiding principle was clearly CSA. Other concepts were key such as resilience or risk management. For some of them agroecology is broader than CSA because it includes nutrition issues. Conversely, for others it is more restricted, because it focuses on the local level. They explained part of the distance between their flagship and agroecological principles by their scale of intervention or their main entry point. However, they all identified alignments between their activities and some of the agroecological concepts. Particularly the platforms that were built to involve a diversity of stakeholders at various scales, gender inclusion, and the nature of most of the practices that were tested onfarm, especially in the climate-smart villages. They identified gaps in the current CCAFS research such as the lack of consideration of the entire food systems and, in particular, the lack of analysis of linkages between farmers and consumers at territorial scale, nutrition issues and circularity. They also expressed some criticisms on agroecology such as the lack of evidence on the performances of agroecological practices or the lack of clear definition.The deeper analysis of the document shared by these leaders allowed us to map CCAFS activities under FAO 10 agroecological elements (Table 1). What are the linkages between CCAFS' activities and agroecological principles?If agroecology was not a key concept in the design of CCAFS activities, on the ground many promoted practices where agroecological practices and several of the 10 FAO principles were addressed. However, it is not a surprise to find overlapping practices between CSA and agroecological approach given the diversity of activities that has been conducted under this program. Furthermore, the way to address each of these principles by the CCAFS program presents some convergence and divergence with the proponents of agroecology.Efficiency, recycling, co-creation and sharing of knowledge were the most prominent principles of the FAO agroecological framework in CCAFS activities. Indeed, many of the tested practices tried to improve the efficiency of water and nutrient usage (soil and water conservation technologies, microdosing of fertilizers, etc.). Compost was one of the most promoted practices across sites based on the recycling of crop residues or manure production. Co-creation and sharing of knowledge at various scales was quite present with the different platforms that have been supported at local and national levels for the codesign of innovative practices in CSV, the design of agro-climatic information, improved decision-making, CSA indicators or measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) approaches.Resilience, diversity, human and social values or responsible governance were also included, but with a different perspective than the one promoted in the literature on agroecology.Indeed, even if the concept of resilience was key and used as a metric of adaptation, it was mostly considered from its environmental and engineering components (Antwi et al. 2014).The socio-economic resilience of existing farming systems through the exploration of synergies between on-farm and off-farm activities and the resilience of agroecosystems to pests and diseases were not fully addressed. For the diversity principle, it was mostly considered at plot scale through the design of portfolios of practices or crop diversification.Diversity was not taken into consideration at landscape scale: maintenance of habitat connectivity to ensure pollination and pest control (that will be exacerbated with climate change), targeted location of activities within the landscape to improve flows of biomass or maintain critical carbon stocks (Harvey et al. 2014). In some specific CSVs such landscape arrangements have been explored (example of forest reserve in the Kaffrine CSV, Figure 1); however, the focus was mainly on experiments at plot and farm scale.The principle of human and social values was mainly considered through the lens of gender inclusion. Eriksen et al. (2019) showed that gender inclusion can potentially open spaces for transformation of farming systems across personal, practical and political spheres. However, other social lock-ins and associated power relations could be better explored such as access to land or other natural resources, access to knowledge, access to networks (networks driven by civil society actors, such as producer organizations, communities, and social movements) since they play a key role in agroecological transition (Anderson et al. 2019).The responsible governance principle was addressed through various platforms (sciencepolicy dialog, multidisciplinary working groups for the co-creation of agroclimatic information, multi-stakeholder workshops on MRV) and favored exchanges between a plurality of stakeholders at national and local levels and led to success stories in terms of climate policy design (Zougmoré et al. 2019). However, a remaining challenge (for CCAFS and more generally for most climate change research programs) is how to improve synergies between climate change and economic development policies that may use diverging incentives for agriculture.Culture and food traditions were addressed in CCAFS activities, since food security is one of the key pillars of CSA. However, it was mostly considered from a production perspective and many of the tested practices aimed to improve the supply of food through improved varieties, better management of soil and water resources, new crops, and plant-based alternatives to meat, etc. The implication of these changes on nutrition or modes of consumption were barely assessed.Circular and solidarity is an emerging topic in CCAFS activities that was mentioned in one project of Flagship 3. In parallel, through the involvement of some NGOs, particularly in Latin America, some activities have contributed to the development of short circuits; such activities could be strengthened by exploration of the benefit of participatory labelling involving civil society to incentivize transformation of agricultural systems.Regarding the different levels defined by Gliessman (2016) and taking into account the focus made on production, the work conducted by CCAFS mostly considered levels 1 to 3 1 . The involvement of NGOs in some CSVs permitted to take into account other issues than production (e.g. health, consumption) and some policy analyses have also addressed issues such as diet change and nutrition. However, there is room to improve CCAFS activities and to support transformation of agricultural systems. Gliessman (2016) suggested reestablishing a more direct connection between those who grow our food and those who consume it. Food system transformation occurs within a cultural and economic context, and this transformation must promote the transition to more sustainable practices.Farmers need support to move through Levels 1-3 by citizen prioritizing locally grown and processed food (such as food citizenship 2 movement) and by countries (public procurement of locally grown and transformed food for canteens of schools and governmental agencies).Thi bec e a i d f f d ci i e hi a d is a force for food system change.Communities of growers and eaters can form alternative food networks around the world where a new culture and economy of food system sustainability is being built. Food once again must be grounded in direct relationships. An important example is the current food e ca i a i e e which grows e f fa e a e supports community agriculture schemes, consumer cooperatives, and other more direct marketing arrangements that shorten the food chain.The mapping of CCAFS activities according to the agroecological principles and the discussion with the flagship and regional leaders allowed us to identify specific areas for improvement or reorientation of on-going or future CCAFS activities to better align to agroecological  2020).At the national level, an analysis of the NDCs by Darmaun et al. (2020), showed that out of 136 NDCs analyzed, 17 countries 3 (12.5 %) explicitly mention agroecology. For these 17 countries, 15 of them see agroecology as an intended adaptation strategy while only 6 countries see it as contributing to mitigation. In addition to the 17 countries explicitly mentioning agroecology as either an adaptation or mitigation strategy or both, many countries mention agroecological approaches by highlighting some of the elements of agroecology. The elements of agroecology highlighted most prominently are related to production aspects (diversity, efficiency, recycling, resilience and synergies), (Darmaun et al. 2020). CCAFS actively supported various countries in the formulation of their NDCs. A specific investment could be done to incentive countries to align their NDCs more explicitly with agroecological principles and support the development of metrics for assessment of performance. Also, CCAFS e e i e i he a a i f c i a e fi a ce c d be a ig ed i h and assessed for agroecological principles.Climate change affects not only the production but the entire food system while agroecological principles support integrative thinking between biodiversity, nutrition, climate change, and more globally various environmental challenges (e.g. health, energy).Both concepts invite consequently to system thinking for transformation of food systems.This requires the inclusion of all actors of the food system that have potential role in addressing climate change (or in taking on new opportunities such as more transformation of food at local and national level, renewable energy services) and actors from other sectors (biodiversity, soil health, nutrition, energy). This system thinking must be applied at sociopolitical level but also at technical level.At socio-political level, on-going work in CCAFS aims to understand policy mixes or the combination of policy instruments (Howlett and Rayner 2007) across scales and among economic sectors (Cash et al. 2006), to tackle climate change (Le Coq et al. 2019) and the trade-offs and synergies between climate change, risk management, agriculture or food security policies. More ambitious policy mixes could be tackled to favor synergies between various environmental challenges (health, climate, biodiversity) and the various actors/sectors of the food systems at national and local scales. The existing science-policy dialog platforms could then rely on such analyses to identify how to improve this system thinking in policy implementation.At technical level, this implies for CCAFS to:1. broaden the activities and practices tested beyond the focus on production/availability of food, in particular to nutrition and health issues.2. ensure the sustainability of production base: biodiversity, soil, water, land, energy.3. integrate natural resources concerns related to landscape planning.4. promote local and short food circuits to better connect food production and consumption.This could eventually build on the existing multi-stakeholders platforms developed in the CSV Jag ić e a built on the extensive work already addressed in Flagship 3) from production to consumption (technologies to decrease harvest and post-harvest wastes or that permit better storage of grains, improved recycling of wastes for organic fertilizer production or energy, distribution of food surpluses for aid). This also means investing further in cities and peri-urban agriculture that have the potential to shorten food circuits but that have specific challenges (vertical agriculture, services and disservices (noise) for urban citizen).Agroecology is knowledge intensive and require information and data to be specific to the local context. Therefore, digitalization may play a key role for democratization of knowledge and for reaching many actors of the food system. Climate change is an issue that requires a global perspective to solve local problems; hence, decentralizing digital tools can be crucial for collecting and sharing locally pertinent information in transparent ways. Improving access of women and the most vulnerable farmers to digital resources and integrating climate information services (CIS) with other digital platforms will be important. Building on CCAFS work, which has brought together institutions at the national and local levels, but also scientific knowledge on climate forecasts and endogenous knowledge (bioindicators) to produce (CIS), we propose examining the use of digital climate-informed advisories to meet the knowledge needs of agroecology. To really embrace an agroecological approach, the use of CIS should go beyond improving the efficiency of conventional agriculture. In fact, CIS should be used to guide the implementation of agroecological practices adapted to different contexts: as an example, CIS could be used to define the amount of mulch or the level of farm diversification according to the seasonal climate forecasts, the management and application of manure using ten-day forecast. The work also done by CCAFS to widespread these CIS using TICs could be a relevant contribution to on-going literature on agroecology that is barely exploring the use of TICs to support decision-making.Agroecology promotes fundamental changes in the way we produce and consume food.Putting people at the center, it asks for fair economic conditions for all actors in the value chain and requires political governance that fosters the balance between ecological, economic and social components of food production. Agroecology promotes a system thinking approach to meet the complexity of climate change adaptation and mitigation within the food system. FAO's 10 elements of agroecology give a framework for understanding and operationalizing agroecology.Although CCAFS activities were not designed following the principles of agroecology, on the ground many promoted practices were agroecological and several of the 10 FAO elements were addressed. Efficiency, recycling, co-creation and sharing of knowledge were the agroecological elements most addressed and explored in CCAFS activities. Resilience, diversity, human and social values or responsible governance were also included, but with a different perspective, focusing mostly on the agricultural production phase without considering the overall food system. The socio-economic resilience of existing farming systems through the exploration of synergies between on-farm and off-farm activities, the resilience of agroecosystems to pests and diseases are key gaps. Diversity was mostly considered at plot and farm scales without fully exploring diversity at the landscape scale or the diversification of economic activities. The principle of human and social values was mainly considered through the lens of gender inclusion and participatory and multistakeholder processes. It was also indirectly taken into account by the strong participatory approach of CCAFS. The work conducted by CCAFS, focusing mostly on the production side of the food system mostly considered levels one to three of Gliessman's five levels of transition towards sustainable food systems (2016).To better align CCAFS activities with agroecological principles a set of interventions are proposed to improve or reorient on-going activities. We recommended 5 main areas of intervention at policy level: a better integration of agroecological principles in the implementation of NDCs, system thinking for food system transformation, strengthening landscape-level activities, developing projects on circular and solidarity economy and using CIS to support the implementation of agroecological practices.","tokenCount":"5075"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4093294554.json b/data/part_1/4093294554.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4d98ad8c5a284e84d117e127ebe4f839d921ea4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4093294554.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62a915f69fb60e38a11b5037cee1434c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.tropenbos.org/file.php/2362/briefing-paper-improving-outcomes-community-forests-suriname.pdf","id":"737354683"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"98e39709-d428-44f9-9e92-d423528f1905","pagecount":"4","content":"In Suriname, indigenous and Maroon communities can apply for a community forest permit, giving the communities the right to practice small-scale agriculture, collect non-timber forest products and harvest timber, both for subsistence and commercial purposes.• Most permit-holders enter into a contract with a logging company, which then pays the community per cubic meter of extracted timber. • Permits used to be awarded to the village leader as the representative of the community. Since 2008, the Ministry of Regional Development demands that a community-level committee participates in the application process. • We consulted 10 Surinamese professionals representing civil society, academia and the government, and asked them about the outcomes of community forests, how the conditions for success can be improved, and the potential role of civil society organisations (CSOs). Additionally, focus group discussions were held in one indigenous and three Maroon communities. • Regarding environmental outcomes, respondents stress that companies they are involved with are seldom following sustainable logging guidelines, and this leads to forest degradation and deforestation. • The community-level livelihood benefits are considered to be minimal. Benefits tend to accrue to the village leader, who is often the person signing the contract with a company, without much involvement of other community members. • CSOs need to lobby for new regulations to ensure that contracts with companies are transparent, and include benefit sharing mechanisms and requirements for sustainable logging practices. CSOs should also help strengthen the capacity of communities, so that they can choose between either entering into partnerships with third parties based on their own terms, or managing the community forests themselves.Globally, Suriname is the most forested country and has among the lowest annual deforestation rates (less than 0.1%). The government wants to keep it that way, and aims to maintain a national forest cover of 93%. The vast majority of the forest is located in the interior, which is home to about 15% of the population-mostly indigenous peoples (4%) and Maroon tribes (11%). Since the publication of the Forest Law in September 1992, communities can apply for community forest permits, giving them the right to practice small-scale agriculture, collect non-timber forest products and harvest timber, both for subsistence and commercial purposes. Permit-holders are also allowed to enter into contracts with commercial logging companies.The community forest model grants a community with the rights of access, withdrawal, management, and exclusion, but it does not provide them with the right of alienation, so the community forest cannot be transferred to another village or legal entity. Although a community forest permit is usually issued for 10 years, it can be extended indefinitely, unless the community decides to withdraw.Previously, community forest concessions (houtkapvergunningen) were issued in the name of the captain of a village. As from 2008, the Ministry of Regional Development changed this, and now all new community forest permits are issued in the name of a community-level committee. Existing houtkapvergunningen can be converted to community forest permits. Although the Surinamese government grants community forest permits, it does not recognise formal land tenure rights for indigenous and Maroon people. This occasionally causes conflicts when common timber harvesting concessions are issued in areas which the indigenous and the Maroon people consider theirs.The process to acquire a community forest permit starts with the traditional authority submitting a formal request for a community forest permit. The request is dealt with by the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Land and Forest Management, with advice from the Ministry of Regional Development, the Department of Geology and Mining, the District Commissioner's office, and the Department of Public Domain. In case the advice is positive, the state surveyor drafts a map of the area in question, and the Minister can issue the permit. Communities are not obliged to develop a management plan in order to obtain a community forest permit. However, as from September 2019, the government's Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB), started requiring inventories and harvest plans, in case a community wants to use the forest for commercial timber harvesting. SBB has also set up the Sustainable Forestry Information System Suriname (SFISS), to improve monitoring.There are currently 140 community forests in Suriname, covering an area of 797,238 hectares. In the majority of the current community forests, the community has entered into a formal agreement with a logging company. Each agreement requires approval from the Ministry of Regional Development. The company has to pay around US$2,500. About a fifth of this amount goes to the community, and the rest is paid to the ministry. The agreement has a payment system based on the wood production of the contractor. The fee paid to the village ranges from US$10 to US$15 per cubic meter, and is transferred to the bank account of the community-level committee. The bank account is managed by the captain and the committee. The captain and committee members receive an allowance of 5-20% of the income for logistics and administration. The rest is intended for community development projects, such as the construction of meeting buildings or guesthouses.Until September 2019, communities with a community forest permit were indemnified from the guidelines and conditions that apply to common timber harvesting concessions. Enterprises that harvested from community forests thus had to comply with fewer/less stringent regulations than when harvesting from their own concessions, making their operations less costly. With the introduction of the SFISS, commercial logging operations in community forests are now obliged to follow the same regulations as in regular concessions.We conducted a review of the community forests in Suriname, to understand the extent to which they result in positive conservation and livelihood outcomes, and to identify the conditions for their success and ways in which Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) can help with achieving these. The review is based on literature, interviews with representatives of government bodies and CSOs, focus group discussions in four communities, and validation interviews with four representatives of government bodies and CSOs. Below we will highlight some of the results of the review, followed by the main recommendations for CSOs.We asked respondents to judge the effect of community forest permits on communities' tenure security, i.e., their ability to manage and make use of forest resources on a continuous basis, free from imposition, or interferences from outside sources. According to several respondents, the community forest model does not provide sufficient tenure security, primarily because the government is able to issue other permits or economic activities within community forest areas, such as mining. The Mining Law takes precedence over the Forest Law. This means that, if there are valuable ores in the soil, the government can withdraw the community forest permit to allow access for mining companies. In such a case, the community must be compensated with another area of the same size, but often this is not the case.Respondents would also point at conflicts that may emerge when the government issues a community forest permit in an area that, according to local custom, falls within the land inherited by a family of another tribe. The establishment of a community forest may thus be considered an intrusion by another community. This can happen, because the determination of the borders of the community forest does not occur in consultation with neighboring communities. The lack of criteria for processing of community forest requests, and delineating the area, makes the system weak and susceptible for arbitrary treatment and corruption. This creates problems, both within the communities (families, clans), as well as between communities.The traditional authority in indigenous communities usually consists of a village leader (captain) and several leadership assistants (basja's). Traditional leadership in Maroon communities consists of village leaders and assistants, as well as clan elders and a paramount chief (Granman). Prior to 2008, the community forest concession (houtkapvergunning) was granted to the village leader, who served as the representative authority of the community. Community members were often not able to participate in decision-making regarding forest use, or share in its benefits, according to the respondents. A common perception is that the houtkapvergunning essentially handed down all management power to one person -the village leader. Since 2008, community forest permits are granted to a community-level committee, but many respondents argue that even today, it is the captain who has all the power, and benefits most from the logging contracts. This is because decisions regarding commercial exploitation by a logging company are often made by the village leader alone, without involvement of other members of the traditional authority, let alone other community members. In the opinion of respondents, this decision-making process is seldom transparent. According to local custom, the village leaders need to involve other members of the traditional authority in their decision making, but in practice they often fail to do so.The community forest model is strongly focused on timber extraction, while there is very little attention to other options, such as agroforestry, commercial exploitation of non-timber forest products, carbon credit schemes and nature-based tourism. Respondents agree that the focus on logging, in combination with a lack of stringent harvesting regulation and monitoring, has caused deterioration of the forest resources. Logging operations within community forests used to not have any harvesting guidelines and requirements that are meant for regular concessions (such as inventories and management plans). According to respondents, many community members feel that logging companies have been robbing them from the natural resources they inherited from their ancestors. There are, however, some community forests that have dedicated areas for conservation, following the tradition of indigenous and Maroon communities to designate certain forest areas as 'reserved for the Gods'.With regard to the livelihood outcomes, respondents' opinions were divided. As positive outcomes, some mentioned the construction of meeting buildings (paid for with a share of the revenues from logging enterprises), employment opportunities at logging companies for some villagers, and improved access through the construction of logging roads by companies. But according to many other respondents, the livelihood benefits have been limited, because most revenues flow to the logging companies. Communities are paid per cubic meters extracted from the forest, but transparency is limited, and community members themselves are not able to monitor how many logs the companies extract. According to respondents, community members see themselves as bystanders, rather than 'shareholders of a joint venture'.The review identified the following barriers that hamper the conservation and livelihood outcomes of community forests.• Communities fall prey to the commercial timber harvesting companies that offer payments in order to harvest timber based on rough estimates of commercial volumes in standing forests. In some cases, the community authority's motivation for requesting the community forest permit is based on this external persuasion and not on internal community development strategies. • Village leaders have a weak negotiation position when dealing with third parties, being either logging companies or public servants who act as brokers for companies. This is because they tend to lack (western style) negotiation skills, detailed knowledge about their rights and the value of their resources, and experience. As a result, they are often not able to recognise the risks in the proposed agreements with third parties. • Agreements between companies and communities do not contain detailed requirements (e.g., inventories, management plans, monitoring systems), safety standards and penalty clauses. • Communities do not have the capacity to adequately monitor the way logging companies execute the agreement. • Communities do not have the investment capital, knowledge or skills to engage in commercial logging practices themselves.Representatives of CSOs who participated in the review agree that the community forest model will only generate conservation and livelihood benefits if the position of communities is strengthened. Empowered communities should be able to choose between either managing the community forests themselves, or entering into partnerships with third parties based on their own terms. In both cases, it should lead to actual benefits for the community as a whole, rather than profits for a few. To achieve this, CSOs will need to engage in hands-on support at the village level, as well as in lobby and advocacy efforts aimed at the Surinamese government.• Support traditional authorities to discuss the objectives, and potential risks and benefits of community forest permits and logging contracts with the wider community.  Issue date: September, 2020","tokenCount":"2017"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4096034338.json b/data/part_1/4096034338.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72239e0c1102c4513af3948da31a8b4cbd0b6204
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4096034338.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8797402c52665829a1fc732ac1c93fd6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/70d7abdf-238f-4d04-947e-4ef5faab0c64/retrieve","id":"-230352857"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"65a8f61b-01b6-45c6-9143-c0d22c73ed14","pagecount":"20","content":"China) for their review of this report; and Mahen Chandrasoma (Senior Production Editor, IWMI) for providing editorial support. This issue of the GRIPP Case Profile series builds on the study conducted by Aarnoudse et al. (2016).Desde la década de los años setenta, la extracción intensiva de agua subterránea por parte de los pequeños agricultores ha conllevado la disminución de los niveles de agua subterránea y causado múltiples problemas relacionados en muchas partes del norte de China. La Ley de Aguas revisada en el 2002 insta a las autoridades locales a regular el uso del agua subterránea en regiones con sobre-explotación. Este GRIPP Case Profile, basado en la recopilación de datos primarios, documenta dos casos de regulación local de las extracciones de agua subterránea en la provincia de Gansu, en el noroeste de China. En ambos casos, se instalaron máquinas de tarjetas inteligentes en los pozos de los agricultores para controlar la extracción de agua subterránea. Sin embargo, en el caso del condado de Minqin, las autoridades locales optaron por cuotas, mientras que en el condado de Guazhou, optaron por los precios escalonados del agua como instrumento de regulación. Las cuotas en Minqin se han implementado de una manera que afecta directamente las prácticas de uso de agua subterránea de los agricultores. En consecuencia, los agricultores ya no tienen libertad para decidir cuándo y cuánta agua subterránea usar. El precio escalonado del agua en Guazhou ha tenido pocas implicaciones para las prácticas individuales de uso de agua subterránea de los agricultores. El umbral de fijación de precios se nivela a nivel de grupo de agricultores y el precio no se eleva a un nivel que inculque un cambio de comportamiento. Por lo tanto, se puede concluir que el potencial de las máquinas de tarjetas inteligentes para controlar la extracción de aguas subterráneas depende en gran medida del diseño y la implementación del mecanismo regulador que acompaña la instalación de las máquinas. Aunque el presente estudio no puede extraer conclusiones sólidas sobre la efectividad de las cuotas y los mecanismos de fijación de precios per se, sí indica que, en el contexto social dado, la viabilidad de las cuotas para reducir la extracción de agua subterránea de los agricultores es mayor que la de los precios escalonados. Notablemente, el caso de Minqin ejemplifica que las cuotas pueden asegurar el acceso equitativo del agua a todos los agricultores y mantener la función de amortiguación conjuntiva del agua de superficie y el uso del agua subterránea. Estos son principios importantes para diseñar políticas efectivas de regulación de las aguas subterráneas, tanto dentro como fuera de China. North China is one of the world's most water-stressed regions in terms of the ratio of withdrawal to supply (Gassert et al. 2013;Sun et al. 2009;Wang et al. 2016b). Nevertheless, irrigated agriculture in the region is undergoing continued growth, primarily driven by groundwater pumping (Grogan et al. 2015;Guo et al. 2009;Liu and Feng 2015;Sun et al. 2009). China's groundwater withdrawals for agriculture, centered in the northern part of the country, was estimated to have reached 100 cubic kilometers per year around the year 2000, which accounts for about 13% of global groundwater withdrawals for irrigation (Wada et al. 2012). Groundwater irrigation based on motorized pumping took off in the early 1970s, accelerating after the redistribution of land-use rights to individual households and liberalization of the market in the late 1970s. Subsequent economic growth and increased demand for agricultural products provided incentives for smallholders to increase their income based on intensified groundwater use (Wang et al. 2006). At the same time, intensive pumping and falling groundwater levels have led to significant problems, such as land subsidence, saline intrusion in coastal areas and degradation of natural ecosystems (Kendy et al. 2004;Liu et al. 2001;Lohmar et al. 2003).For a long time, groundwater management in China was characterized by a laissez-faire attitude of the water administration.Even though regulation measures existed officially (such as well permits or groundwater abstraction fees), they were not strictly enforced. Although groundwater resources were formally owned by the state, farmers experienced a virtually openaccess situation. This applied until 1998, when a ministerial reform shifted the responsibility for groundwater abstraction management from the then Ministry of Geological and Mineral Resources to the Ministry of Water Resources. In 2002, the Ministry of Water Resources issued a revised Water Law, which, for the first time, stipulated the government to be responsible for groundwater regulation in regions in a state of overdraft (i.e., where groundwater withdrawals exceed recharge). As a first step, all groundwater use regions should be classified into different development zones depending on the level of overdraft (i.e., unrestricted, restricted and forbidden groundwater development zones) (Shen 2015). Yet, national directives on policy implementation with a focus on the restricted and forbidden development zones have not been formulated, leading to diverging local groundwater management situations and the use of different regulatory instruments to control abstraction across the country (Shen 2015).The need for effective instruments for groundwater management in a context of intensive use for agriculture is widely acknowledged (Foster et al. 2008;Kemper 2007). Montginoul et al. (2016: 556) discussed five types of direct regulatory instruments for the management of groundwater abstraction: (i) command and control, (ii) abstraction tax systems, (iii) payment, (iv) tradable abstraction water rights, and (v) persuasion. Other types of instruments include indirect regulation through the energy or agriculture sector (Giordano 2009;Mukherji and Shah 2005). The effect of different regulatory instruments on groundwater levels and farming conditions can be analyzed with the use of economic and coupled hydro-economic models (Kuwayama and Brozović 2013;Latinopoulos and Sartzetakis 2015;Madani and Dinar 2013;Mulligan et al. 2014). While these models may include multiple behavioral characteristics of human actors, they usually assume effective enforcement of the instruments. Other, more empirically-based research has been carried out to study the practical implementation of such instruments in different societal contexts (Mukherji and Shah 2005;Ross and Martinez-Santos 2010;Wester et al. 2009). This GRIPP Case Profile contributes to the literature on the practical implementation of groundwater abstraction regulations using smart card machines (Box 1) by documenting two cases from North China.Smart card machines have been introduced across at least six provinces in North China since the early 2000s under different local conditions to support groundwater demand management objectives (Wang et al. 2017). The use and implementation of the smart card machines remain uneven across the region. Currently, the semi-arid and arid provinces in the northwest, such as Gansu and Xinjiang, are ahead in the use of the machines, even though its use first developed in the northeast provinces. Yet, adoption of the machines in the northeast provinces has been limited by early technology limitations and poor system upgrades. However, the northwest provinces have benefited from lessons learned in the early stages. Box 2. Groundwater regulation mechanisms.Regulation of groundwater abstraction through water quotas implies that total water use is controlled by allocating a maximum number of water withdrawals to each user. When the quotas are set below prior water use, quota regulation can induce farmers to save water (Mohamed and Savenije 2000).Tiered groundwater pricing means that \"individuals pay a low rate for an initial consumption block and a higher rate as they increase use beyond that block\" (Schoengold and Zilberman 2014: 2). Tiered pricing (also called increasing block tariffs) is expected to stimulate users to save water, while securing a limited amount at affordable levels for all users.Source: Aarnoudse et al. 2016.The smart card technology for groundwater wells was developed in China in the early 2000s to control groundwater use for irrigation. The technology is suitable for use with volumetric groundwater pricing as well as quota regulation mechanisms (Liu et al. 2009) (Box 2). The steps involved in the application of the technology include the following:• A smart card machine and water meter are installed on the pumping installation. The pumping installation consists of a well and a pump connected to the electricity grid. • The irrigator has to swipe a magnetic card in front of the display of the card machine to turn on the pump.• The volume of water pumped is measured by the water meter and recorded by the smart card machine and the card. • The pump can be turned on and off manually by the irrigator as long as there is credit in the water account on the card. However, once the water account is depleted, the electricity connection is interrupted and the pump is turned off automatically. • The pump can be turned on again after reloading the card at a station providing this service.Smart card machine installed on pumping installation. Photo: Eefje AarnoudseThe Hexi Corridor in Northwest China is a long passage of arable land (approximately 1,000 km X 200 km) between the Qilian Mountains in the Southwest and low-lying desert lands in the Northeast (Figure 1). The major part of the Hexi Corridor belongs to Gansu Province. The area is crossed by three inland (endorheic) river basins: the Shule, the Hei and the Shiyang river basins (Figure 1; Box 3). The cases described here involve the Guazhou and Minqin counties. Guazhou County is located at the downstream reaches of the Shule River. However, under natural conditions (i.e., without human alteration of the hydrological system), the river still continues its way to Dunhuang County (Figure 1). Minqin County is located at the tail end of the Shiyang River. Average annual river runoff for the three rivers ranges from 1,500 to 2,100 million cubic meters (Mm³) per year (Gansu Province Water Resources Bureau 2008). The rivers originate from snowfall and glacial melt in the Qilian Mountains and naturally end as wetland oases in the desert. The alluvial plains in the lower parts of the basins are characterized by a semi-arid climate. Annual rainfall lies between 50-200 mm and annual evapotranspiration is between 2,000-3,500 mm. The plains are underlain by high-storage, mostly natural freshwater aquifers made up of unconsolidated sediments (cobble gravel, fine sand and clay) up to 200-300 m thick and directly connected to the rivers (Edmunds et al. 2006;Ji et al. 2006). The downstream areas are naturally characterized by shallow groundwater and springs.Reduced surface water flow due to upstream expansion of irrigated agriculture and intensive pumping has led to falling groundwater tables in the downstream areas over the last few decades (Guo et al. 2009;Ji et al. 2006;Sun et al. 2009). Because the natural vegetation relies on high groundwater tables, a decrease in the levels can be disastrous for the tail-end wetlands and exacerbates desertification rates (Zhang et al. 2008b). Reduced recharge in downstream areas from fresh surface water through the streambeds and unlined irrigation canals, and pumping from deeper groundwater layers, has also diminished the quality of groundwater and led to soil salinization (Ji et al. 2006). The plains of the Hexi Corridor are an important agricultural region. Until the 1990s, the area used to be Gansu Province's breadbasket, where wheat and maize were the main crops cultivated. Since then, cash crops such as melon, grapes and cotton were increasingly grown. The region is primarily characterized by smallholder irrigated agriculture with farm plot sizes typically below 1 ha. Prefecture capital cities are typically well below 1 million inhabitants and county capitals around 50,000 inhabitants. In the absence of megacities and with few extractive industries, the agriculture sector represents 80-90% of total water withdrawals. Water for domestic use in rural areas comes from reticulated communal well systems (typically 300-400 m deep). In the agricultural areas located upstream of the Shule and Shiyang rivers, surface water is primarily used for irrigation, whereas surface water and groundwater are used in conjunction in the downstream Guazhou and Minqin counties. Here, farmers usually apply surface water in the early cropping season and switch to groundwater in the late cropping season, when surface water is no longer available.Minqin County's irrigation districts are supplied with surface water from the Hongyashan Reservoir, while Guazhou County is supplied from the Shuangta Reservoir (Figure 1). Canal irrigation systems divert water to farmers' fields and are managed by a hierarchical water administration. At river basin level, River Basin Organizations (RBOs) are responsible for water allocation between upstream and downstream irrigation systems. At irrigation system level, a county-level government agency is responsible for the distribution of water among irrigation districts. Practical managerial tasks are carried out by Irrigation District Bureaus (IDBs) residing in local towns and water user association (WUA) boards at village level. In most cases, the WUA board consists of the same members as the village committee in charge of broader village matters.In Minqin and Guazhou counties, groundwater has essentially developed without interference from the government. In Minqin County, the groundwater boom took off in the 1970s, primarily in response to reduced surface water inflow due to expansion of surface water irrigation upstream. During those early years, investments in tube well 1 drilling were made by collective farms. At this time, farmers primarily used diesel pumps. However, after rural electrification in the 1980s, farmers switched to electricity for groundwater pumping. Over the years, the use of groundwater allowed farmers to expand the cropping area by 20% in the tail-end delta (Li et al. 2007). Land expansion usually took place informally and was not taken up in farmers' land-use rights documents. Since the 1990s, investments in well drilling were occasionally made by individual households that would cultivate the additional land. However, despite the dissolution of collective farms, most of the time farmers still invested collectively in well drilling. They divided the newly acquired land equally among the households. At its peak in the early 2000s, groundwater abstraction in Minqin County reached 600 Mm³/year from around 7,000 wells, while recharge through river inflow was reduced to only 100 Mm³/year (from 500 Mm³/year in the 1950s) (van Wonderen et al. 2008).In Guazhou County, groundwater irrigation only developed later, in the 1990s. Here, the groundwater boom was triggered by a migration project, which resettled rural inhabitants from remote mountainous areas in the Gansu Province to the Shule River Basin (Zhang and Zhang 1996). At that time, the state provided the migrants with land and invested in wells for irrigation. Over the years, farmers in old and new settlements continued to invest in drilling their own wells. Most wells are drilled collectively by a group of farmers, as only a very small number of wells belong to individual households. All wells are connected to the electricity grid.Groundwater pumping has been used to informally expand the cropping area, and village leaders reported an average expansion of 40% over the period 2003-2013. In the Shule River Basin, around 2,300 wells are in use and annual groundwater abstraction is estimated at 180 Mm³/year, while the recharge capacity reaches only 70 Mm³/year (Shule River Basin Management Bureau 2013).At government level, the responsibility to manage groundwater is assigned to different agencies in Minqin and Guazhou counties. In Minqin, groundwater is managed by the government agencies also responsible for managing surface water from river basin to water user level. However, in Guazhou, surface water and groundwater are managed by separate government agencies. The RBO of the Shule River Basin is responsible for surface water management and supervises lower-level agencies at irrigation system and irrigation district level. However, the government agency responsible for groundwater management at county level is part of the municipal government and not under the jurisdiction of the RBO. At field level, groundwater use is organized similarly in both counties. To access groundwater, farmers are organized in small groups of 30 to 70 households. The structure of these farm groups is based on old institutions from the period with collective farms. From the 1950s until the late 1970s and early 1980s, farming was organized in production brigades and production teams. These structures have been transformed into the villages and farm groups of today. One village is usually made up of five to 10 farm groups. The households belonging to one farm group cultivate crops on small plots scattered around the housing area and typically share ownership, and use and manage several tube wells. Whereas households make individual cropping decisions, the operation and maintenance of wells are primarily organized collectively at farm group level (Aarnoudse et al. 2012).Each well (typically 60 to 100 m deep) is equipped with a fixed pumping installation connected to the electricity grid. Electricity provision is generally affordable and reliable. Water is mostly delivered during separate irrigation turns from the pumping station to multiple plots through open-air cement and earth canals. Usually, one person is assigned the task of operating and maintaining the well. This so-called well operator is responsible for turning on the well at the start of an irrigation turn, while each farmer is personally in charge of irrigating his/her own plot. The well operator is one of the farmers from the farm group and most of the time also the farm group leader, i.e., the farm group representative in official village meetings. Farm group leaders are usually collectively appointed and the position is handed over after a couple of years.In both Minqin and Guazhou counties, local government agencies have assumed the responsibility for regulating groundwater abstraction, as stipulated in the 2002 revision of the Water Law of the People's Republic of China. Although this Law played an important role in the background, direct drivers of policy implementation differed between the two cases. In Minqin, earlier attempts by local authorities to relieve water stress through migration policies and regulating farmers' groundwater use bore little success (Aarnoudse et al. 2012;Bondes and Li 2013). Hence, in 2007, the central government stepped in and pushed for far-reaching policies to bring the desertification in Minqin to a halt. A comprehensive river basin management plan for the Shiyang River was adopted, which foresaw fundamental reallocation of surface water and groundwater resources within the river basin. The plan was launched with support from the central government, which provided around USD 600 million for its execution. In order to restore groundwater levels and maintain minimum environmental flows to the tail-end area, surface water inflow to Minqin was to increase from 100 Mm³/year to more than 200 Mm³/year, and groundwater abstraction should decrease from 600 Mm³ to less than 200 Mm³ (van Wonderen et al. 2008). Through a performance evaluation system, water officials at different administrative levels risk losing their jobs when the allocation targets are not met (Yu 2016). China's performance evaluation system, which allows higher-level authorities to steer promotion decisions of lower-level officials, is increasingly used for environmental policy implementation (Tsang and Kolk 2010).In Guazhou, the central government did not directly intervene with regard to groundwater policies. Here, the implementation of new groundwater policies was shortly preceded by the establishment of an RBO for the Shule River in 2005. The RBO took over the responsibility for surface water management (but not for groundwater management) from the local municipal government. Consequently, the municipal government was also deprived of its previous income from surface water fees.Officially, the new groundwater policies were implemented to curb farmers' groundwater use, as also stated in policy documents (Government of Guazhou 2015). However, it cannot be ruled out that the transfer of surface water management responsibilities to the RBO and the subsequent loss of revenue from surface water fees also played a role in the decision of the municipal government to implement groundwater pricing, as it would generate an alternative income stream.In order to implement the policies of groundwater use control, smart card machines were installed starting from 2007. Currently, all irrigation wells in both counties are equipped with such smart card machines and each farm group is provided with one card per well 2 (Aarnoudse et al. 2016).In the two cases presented here, different types of regulatory mechanisms were chosen to control groundwater use with smart card machines. Minqin County opted for non-tradable 3 groundwater quotas, which belong to the category of command and control instruments, while a tiered pricing system was introduced in Guazhou, which belongs to the category of abstraction tax systems (Box 2) (Montginoul et al. 2016). According to official sources, the quota regulation in Minqin has helped to reach the reduced groundwater abstraction target (from 600 to 200 Mm³/year) (Table 1) (Meng 2013). The quota has been implemented in combination with other policy measures, such as well closure and increased surface water supply (from 100 to 200 Mm³/year), which partially offset the reduced groundwater abstraction. The officially announced reduction in groundwater abstraction is in accordance with farmers' own perceptions on groundwater use trends and observed changes in groundwater use practices after the implementation of the smart card machines. In Guazhou, a clear target for groundwater abstraction reduction was not set and official data on abstraction before and after the policy are lacking. Based on farmers' own perceptions on groundwater use trends and observed groundwater use practices, the tiered pricing system seems not to have resulted in a reduction in groundwater abstraction.Moreover, the authors' own survey results show that farm households in Guazhou apply more than double the number of groundwater turns per household per year compared to Minqin, despite a similar level of surface water use and household size (Table 1). In line with this, it can be observed that more water-intensive crops such as melon are grown in Guazhou instead of sunflower and fennel, which are grown more widely in Minqin. Whereas this study cannot quantify the factors that determine the variation in groundwater use between households in the two counties, these figures indicate that, at farm household level, groundwater use in Guazhou is less restricted than in Minqin. In general, surface water supply to farmers in Minqin has improved due to the surface water management interventions upstream and the inter-basin water transfer. Farmers reported to have received two to three surface water irrigation turns in 2012, compared to zero to one turns a decade before. However, annual variability in snowfall remains a natural factor, which influences the surface water inflow. In essence, surface water irrigation is prioritized, and farmers' groundwater use is restricted. Farmers are only allowed to pump groundwater up to the share allocated by the combined quota, which cannot be supplied with surface water. At the beginning of the cropping season, the available surface water volume is estimated based on the water level in the Hongyashan Reservoir. The combined quota and annual adjustment mechanism is overseen by the local IDB throughout the cropping season. Farm groups need to reload their cards at the beginning of each irrigation turn, so that the irrigation interval and volume can be adjusted by the IDB's office. When a farm group has just received an extra surface water turn, they will have to skip the next groundwater turn. Although farmers' groundwater use is restricted, they are still assured of a fixed, and known, reliable amount of water on which to plan their cultivation.Groundwater pumping data recorded by the smart card machines are not made public. Therefore, it is hard to verify whether the water volumes used by farmers actually correspond to the quota allocated on paper. Survey respondents have confirmed, however, that the smart card machines are actually installed and functioning well on all pumping installations. Moreover, it can be observed that the new policy has strongly altered the operation of groundwater wells. Farmers can no longer decide independently when to turn their groundwater pumps on and off. All in all, 80% of the households reported that their groundwater use per unit of land has reduced over the years 2002-2012, i.e., after implementation of the new groundwater policies. On average, farmers applied 2.2 groundwater turns and 2.2 surface water turns during the croppingTwo important measures were taken to increase the surface water inflow to Minqin. First, the irrigation districts in the upstream part of the basin had to reduce its surface water abstraction by about 10% To reduce groundwater pumping, the local water administration closed down 3,000 out of 7,000 wells from 2007 to 2010.The policy was locally known under the slogan \"close the wells, reduce the farmland.\" Most of the wells selected for closure were located at the edge of the desert. The surrounding land was abandoned after closure. At village level, the WUA board was in charge of selecting appropriate wells for closure. The role of WUA boards as middlemen between the authorities and common farmers facilitated the implementation of the well-closing policy (Aarnoudse et al. 2012). Besides closure, a well drilling permit system was implemented, which strictly banned the drilling of new wells. Currently, well drilling permits are only released to replace dysfunctional wells.After well closure, the remaining 4,000 wells were equipped with smart card machines in order to enforce a per capita water quota for all farm households. Since 2010, farmers' groundwater pumping is restricted based on the distribution of annual water quotas. The per capita water use quota is set at 1,200 m³/year, which corresponds to an irrigated area of 2.5 mu (0.17 ha) per person. Previously, the average irrigated area in Minqin was estimated at 5.0 mu (0.33 ha) per person. This exceeded the official land-use rights due to land clearing at the edge of the desert over the last few decades. Hence, in an indirect way, the new policy was a way to enforce the formally allocated land-use rights. The water volume was calculated based on irrigation requirements of relatively low water-intensive, drought-resistant crops typically grown in the region under flood irrigation. The quota consists of a surface water share and a groundwater share. The size of the groundwater share is flexible and depends on annual surface water availability. As such, the buffer function of conjunctive surface water and groundwater use is taken into account. This implies that the aquifer system is considered as a reservoir where water can be stored and from which it can be extracted, depending on the inter-annual availability of surface water. In this context, flexible groundwater use can reduce the risk associated with surface water availability constraints during droughts (WRDMAP 2010).  1), whereas they would irrigate only once with surface water, while up to six times (for wheat) or even eight times (for melon and maize) with groundwater prior to the new policies.Because farmers' livelihoods strongly depend on irrigated agriculture, groundwater use restrictions have had an important impact on farmers' major source of income (Li et al. 2014). Based on a large survey of 300 farm households in Minqin, around 65% of the farmers reported a reduction in income since the implementation of the policies (Huang et al. 2017). Moreover, Fan et al. (2014) identified that farmers' present net income in Minqin is too low to invest in and adopt new farming techniques, such as water-saving technologies, which could potentially increase their revenue under restricted water-use conditions. Farmers' cultivation practices have changed in two major ways. First, farmers have abandoned previously cultivated land. Village heads surveyed reported a decrease in cropping area between 8 and 23% over the period 2002-2012. Second, farmers made a shift to low water-intensive crops. For example, one interviewee explained that she used to intercrop maize and wheat, but groundwater use restrictions prevented her from growing both crops during one season. The most obvious crop change is the rapid shift away from melon production. However, none of the farmers were forced to give up farming, as each household is secured a minimum amount of water (and implicitly, land). Also, due to the collective use of several wells by each farm group, well closure and consequent land abandonment implied that each farmer lost only a share of his/her land.Whereas the agriculture sector has encountered water and economic losses over the last decade as a result of the comprehensive 2007 river basin management plan, a positive impact on groundwater levels and the natural environment has been observed (Hao et al. 2017;Xue et al. 2015). Moreover, the wetland oasis at the tail end of the river basin was partially regenerated. The tail-end lakes, which had disappeared in the 1950s after early surface water irrigation development, reappeared in 2011. Although the restored lake area covers only a fraction of its original size, neighboring farmers reported that the local climate had improved since the lake returned, with an increase in rainfall and fewer sandstorms than before.Despite the success in terms of environmental restoration, restriction policies are not popular amongst the local population. However, because the policies are backed and enforced by the central government, farmers are in a rather powerless position. Protests in rural China are most likely to be successful when citizens gain national attention and find the central government on their side (for example, in the case of food and water pollution scandals) (Gilbert 2012). In Minqin, sparse counteractions have occurred to oppose the groundwater regulations, e.g., by breaking smart card machines or paying kickbacks to receive more water (Aarnoudse et al. 2012). However, one of the water officials interviewed explained that, even though illegal pumping is detected every now and then, violators can expect high fines. Many farmers submit to the new policies. Moreover, local officials are under strong pressure to reach the groundwater abstraction targets. Thus, instances of noncompliance may occur, but it does not undermine policy implementation as typically found elsewhere (Scott and Shah 2004). Due to environmental restoration, there is also a certain level of acceptance amongst the population, particularly in the villages neighboring the desert where the threat of desertification is highest. The vast majority of farmers surveyed agreed that uncontrolled groundwater pumping has negative consequences.In order to compensate for farmers' income losses, rural development support projects ran in parallel to the groundwater use restrictions. They included numerous water-saving and income-generating initiatives promoting different measures such as greenhouse crop production, drip irrigation and the cultivation of low water-intensive crops. A major project foreseen in the river basin management plan was the construction of greenhouses on 2,500 ha of land (Gansu Province Water Resources Bureau 2007). Through the use of drip irrigation and the production of high-value crops, greenhouses would allow farmers to increase their water productivity and incomes despite groundwater use restrictions. In addition, there was a plan to install 1,200 ha of drip irrigation for outdoor cropping. However, both the introduction of greenhouses and drip irrigation faced much resistance from farmers, because they considered the cultivation methods unsuitable under local conditions. Many greenhouses have been left unused after construction. Drip irrigation has been rejected particularly in the tail-end region, where farmers consider groundwater too saline to be dripped in small concentrations at the root zone. In response, the water authorities are currently building small surface water basins to allow for pressurized drip irrigation with surface water. In 2010, the county government started a new initiative to secure farmers' incomes under the slogan \"Special Fruit Tree Industry.\" This project promoted, in particular, the production of relatively low water-intensive crops, such as grape, goji berry and date, on 2,000 ha as part of new crop value chains developed in Minqin (Long and Lin 2011). Farmers' views on the project are mixed. Some are willing to try new crops and happy to receive support, whereas others (particularly elderly farmers) feel forced to grow unknown, labor-intensive crops.The Case of Water Quotas and Pricing Mechanisms in Gansu Province, China GRIPP CASE PROFILE SERIES 02As envisaged in the original river basin management plan, the rivers' tail end has recovered as a natural wetland and irrigated agricultural land has diminished over the years. However, what will happen to upstream townships of Minqin is unclear. Giordano (2009) forecasted that the problem of intensive groundwater use in China will be resolved naturally as more and more rural (mostly young) inhabitants give up farming and leave the countryside for an urban living. Yet, considering current trends of economic development and associated changing food demands, this is unlikely to happen. New constellations of farm holdings appear as soon as elderly farmers give up crop cultivation. In some villages in the Hexi Corridor, farming is taken over by large agri-businesses which informally rent land from small land-use rights holders. Moreover, often, a few households take over the land, while others leave the village. It can be expected that ongoing water restrictions will be an additional reason for farmers to move out of agriculture, and land consolidation will continue to take place in one way or another. The question is whether this will reduce the region's water stress with the use of modern water-saving technologies and increased water-use efficiency; or whether long-term environmental targets will be disregarded as large landholdings have more power to fight for unrestricted access to water than small landholdings.Until 2007, no volumetric groundwater fee had been paid by farmers in Guazhou County. In 2007, the municipal government installed smart card machines on all groundwater wells, along with the implementation of a tiered groundwater pricing system and a control on the drilling of additional wells through a newly enforced permit system. The municipal government charged the groundwater fee on top of the existing electricity fee paid by farmers for pumping. The volumetric groundwater price was set at CNY 0.01/m³ (USD 0.0016) for the first consumption block of 100,000 m³/per well, and CNY 0.02/m³ (USD 0.0032) for consumption beyond that block within a given year. Generally, farmers do not pump more than 200,000 m³ per well per year (Aarnoudse et al. 2016).Village leaders and well operators are well aware that different prices are paid for different consumption blocks. However, the pricing threshold is not known to ordinary farmers. Within each farm group, total costs of individual households are recovered through a combined rate calculated either per hour or kilowatt hour (kWh), which includes the groundwater abstraction fee, electricity fee, and the operation and maintenance costs. The combined rate is fixed based on a cost estimate, so that the price difference for water pumped beyond 100,000 m³ per well is not passed on to the individual households, even though actual groundwater use decisions on abstraction take place at this level. The irrigation interval is usually decided collectively by the farm group, i.e., when to start a new irrigation turn. However, individual households can decide how much water to use per turn and/or skip turns for specific plots. Moreover, the groundwater fee is usually paid once by the farm group as a deposit based on an estimated amount of water required at the beginning of a cropping season.In practice, this is also the only time that the smart card is reloaded at the municipal government (unless more water is required than estimated). This means that farmers can continue to use the pumps without interference throughout the season. Hence, a control mechanism on the irrigation interval and volume, as is the case in Minqin, is absent in Guazhou.Although the new groundwater pricing policies have been enforced effectively (the machines are installed and groundwater fees are being paid), farmers' did not report a declining groundwater use trend over the years 2003-2013. Forty-percent (40%) of the households surveyed reported that their groundwater use per unit of land had not changed over these 10 years, while another 40% even stated that their use had increased. Moreover, in general, the farmers surveyed do not consider the groundwater price to be prohibitive. Contrary to Minqin County, village heads reported a steep increase in melon production over the last decade, which is usually supplied with at least six groundwater irrigation turns. Overall, farmers' groundwater use and gross crop revenue per unit of land are significantly higher in Guazhou than in Minqin (Table 1). In line with this, Guazhou has been confronted with falling groundwater tables of 0.34 m per year from 1999 to 2013 (Liu and Feng 2015). At present, farmers only spend a small fraction of their crop revenue (approximately 5%) on groundwater pumping. Yet, in the face of abundant land resources and limited alternative water resources, the marginal value of each drop of groundwater is high. Therefore, it is questionable whether simply increasing the groundwater fee would lead to better results. A study of farmers' water demand elasticity in the neighboring Hei River Basin showed that higher irrigation water prices were likely to reduce farmers' income, without changing their water use behavior (Zhou et al. 2015). It is only when the water fee reaches the marginal value of water for crop production that responsive behavior can be expected (Huang et al. 2010). Yet, pushing up the price too much may not be politically feasible.Currently, the agriculture sector in Guazhou County is flourishing. This means that it is relatively attractive for young generations to continue farming as long as groundwater access is not severely restricted. Although the average age of household heads in Guazhou was not significantly different from Minqin, it was striking that almost 10% of the farmers in Guazhou were in their twenties, an age group which was completely absent in Minqin. Farmers in Guazhou may, however, be confronted with growing water stress in the near future. Not only will continuous pumping further deplete groundwater resources, but surface water inflow is also expected to decrease. On average, 30% of the river flow depends on melting glaciers, which are rapidly disappearing as a consequence of global warming (Liu and Feng 2015;Piao et al. 2010). Furthermore, in 2014, the central government decided on a surface water transfer from the counties located upstream in the Shule River Basin to Dunhuang County, which is located downstream (Figure 1). This decision would lead to a reduction in surface water allocation to Guazhou.With reduced surface water flow, associated decline in recharge from rivers and limited restrictions on intensive groundwater pumping, groundwater tables are likely to drop further. This will potentially aggravate deterioration of groundwater quality and eventually compromise agricultural production. Because the smart card machines are already in place and farmers are accustomed to the local government's interference in groundwater irrigation, it may be a relatively small step to implement other regulatory mechanisms, such as quotas, in the future. The question is whether local authorities will have the incentives to do so, as long as groundwater and surface water responsibilities are split over two different agencies and no additional pressure is exercised by the central government.Smart card machines are a useful technology to monitor farmers' groundwater use. To what extent they also allow for groundwater abstraction regulation depends on the sociopolitical context and regulatory mechanism associated with the machines. As exemplified by the two cases presented, the local, sociopolitical context has important implications on the choice of regulatory mechanism and the way they are implemented. In the first case of Minqin County, local water authorities were under strong top-down pressure to reach a given target of reduced groundwater abstraction. In this context, groundwater quotas were implemented with the use of smart card machines and integrated with additional measures, such as closure of wells and an increase in surface water supply. In the second case of Guazhou County, local water authorities were not confronted with clear groundwater abstraction targets, and incentives existed to generate revenue through the collection of groundwater fees. In the first case, farmers' abstraction of groundwater has decreased since the installation of the smart card machines. In the second case, the smart card machines do not have such a direct impact on farmers' groundwater use practices. Although farmers pay a higher groundwater fee than before, the fee has not been raised to a level that instils behavioral change. Moreover, the increasing block tariff introduced by the government is not transferred to the individual user, but evened out at farm group level and is thus not creating incentives for the individual to save money through the feedback of lowered cost from reduction in pumping.The present study cannot draw hard conclusions on the effect of groundwater quotas and pricing mechanisms on farmers' abstraction per se, and comparison across sites with unequal conditions may be difficult. Yet, it does provide an indication that, in the broader societal context of North China, the practicability of quotas to reduce farmers' groundwater abstraction is higher than that of tiered pricing. Similarly, Molle (2009) argued that, in a case of severe water scarcity, water authorities tend to fall back on quotas rather than volumetric pricing as a policy measure to restrict agricultural water use. This is because quotas can be more readily adjusted to seasonal variability in water availability and ensure it is in line with the principles of equity. Based on the two cases presented here, this argument also seems to hold true for North China. In Minqin County, where local authorities were under high pressure to reach a strictly defined groundwater abstraction reduction target, quotas were deemed to be the most appropriate regulation measure. In Guazhou, where groundwater management is not directly influenced by the central government authorities, local authorities chose not to put a hard cap on farmers' groundwater abstraction but to introduce a tiered pricing system.Besides the strong pressure and financial support from the central government, several other contextual conditions have been critical for the successful implementation of groundwater quotas in Minqin:• Farmers are organized in small farm groups to abstract groundwater, which keeps the actual number of stakeholders that the authorities needed to reach out to manageable (Aarnoudse et al. 2012).• The problem of depletion was clearly visible to groundwater users in the form of dying vegetation and encroaching desert sands. This has reduced the resistance of local inhabitants towards the policy.• Groundwater pumping in Minqin depends completely on the grid-based electricity supply. This enabled the use of smart card machines to monitor and regulate all groundwater pumping.• A large number of groundwater wells were closed prior to implementation of the quota. This homogenized the well density across Minqin and facilitated the implementation of an equal per capita groundwater quota for all rural inhabitants.• Groundwater is used and managed conjunctively with surface water. This allowed existing (surface) water management organizations (such as IDBs and WUAs) to take upon them coordinated administrative tasks related to the quota.• Groundwater and surface water reallocation policies have been integrated. Whereas farmers' groundwater use was restricted, the improved surface water supply partly offset the losses. Also, farmers are assured of a known minimum amount of water, either from groundwater or surface water, which is announced prior to the growing season.Lopez-Gunn et al. (2011: 103) critically raised the question whether \"a ruthless push toward wetland restoration is the most sensible solution when farmer livelihoods rely heavily on groundwater resources.\" In the case of Minqin County, the Chinese government has tried to strike a balance by assuring a minimum allowable amount of irrigation water for each rural inhabitant. Nevertheless, current groundwater regulation policies directly touched on farmers' most important source of income. Farmers' cropping area and crop choice changed since the implementation of the policy, which affected their income from agricultural production. Even when there is still potential to increase water productivity or to save water, this would imply additional investments in advanced water-saving technologies or new crops. A pertinent question iswhether it is possible at all to curb farmers' groundwater use without affecting their income, particularly in smallholder settings where farmers' investment potential is limited. In this light, an important argument in favor of quotas (instead of pricing) is that they do not bear an additional financial burden for farmers on top of the anticipated loss of income from irrigated agriculture. Another potential solution is to compensate farmers for groundwater fees through area-based subsidies, although this may be a time-consuming solution for local authorities (Wang et al. 2016a). However, in order to fully evaluate adequate policy measures in this regard, the extent of the economic impact on farm households should be assessed more carefully with before-and-after data of future regulatory interventions.To further minimize the impact of reduced groundwater access on farmer livelihoods, the following two principles integrated in the Minqin case need to be considered in groundwater policy design and possible out-scaling of quota regulation through smart card machines:Ensure equitable water access to all farmers. In Minqin, the groundwater quotas were set by the water authorities. In order to secure equitable groundwater access amongst the population, the quotas were calculated on a per capita basis. Each household was assigned its water-use rights based on the number of registered members. Land-use rights were distributed in the same manner after de-collectivization of the Chinese countryside in the late 1970s and redistributed based on Controlling Groundwater through Smart Card Machines:The Case of Water Quotas and Pricing Mechanisms in Gansu Province, China population changes until recently. As a result, there has never been a large disparity in landholding sizes (and consequently in farm income) between households (particularly within villages). An even per capita distribution of groundwater is likely to be less applicable in other contexts with different land tenure systems. Cases from Australia show that a reduction of groundwater entitlements can also be negotiated between authorities and water users (Ross and Martinez-Santos 2010). In the Murray Darling River Basin in Australia, the level of sustainable groundwater use was assessed by the government. Yet, to incorporate the interests of water users, a differentiation was made in the distribution of entitlements between active and occasional (inactive) irrigators (Ross and Martinez-Santos 2010).Maintain the buffer function of conjunctive use. The use of groundwater to secure access in years of low surface water flow is a valuable asset of conjunctive use in the study area. This buffering function also plays a critical role in other conjunctive use contexts found across the globe (Foster and Steenbergen 2011). An important difference between the two cases presented here is the integration of groundwater regulations with surface water management. The groundwater quotas in Minqin are adjusted to compensate for annual variability in natural surface water supply, while groundwater prices in Guazhou are fixed. In general, quotas lend themselves better for annual adjustments than pricing (Molle 2009). However, flexible conjunctive use solutions ask for good cooperation between surface water and groundwater management authorities, which is weak in most smallholder settings (Evans et al. 2014).All in all, the case of groundwater abstraction regulation in Minqin through smart card machines is unlikely to be one-to-one replicable in other river basins and aquifers in China or elsewhere for multiple reasons. First, the water policy reforms were implemented under pervasive attention and with substantive investments from the central government. Second, Shen (2015) argued that the policy reforms implemented in Minqin are too costly to be out-scaled across China. Also, outside China, the political feasibility of such costly interventions is likely to be low. Third, important contextual conditions, which facilitated effective policy implementation, are a characteristic of China and rarely found in other countries. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that smart card machines are a useful technology to monitor and potentially also control farmers' groundwater use in a context of grid-based pumping. However, the sociopolitical context and regulatory mechanism behind the machines are critical for effective regulation, water security, and equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. ","tokenCount":"7781"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4099814462.json b/data/part_1/4099814462.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d861e16dfc190f188a68e23648f048c679cbe84a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4099814462.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9595f8f399520496ecef79ec13b0f9c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d9b5096c-097f-49bb-ba51-7c9d1c4c9702/retrieve","id":"327929111"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c05dbaed-c030-4a3e-aedd-7da604f7effd","pagecount":"20","content":"To increase management integrated pest and disea~e (IPDM) awareness at village community level and among policy makers and the service providers through farmer field meetings at learning plots and facilitate cross village, district and regional visits between farmer groups to exchange information and share experiences, and to encourage farmer-to-farmer technology dissemination.Participants included farmer groups from nearby participating villages , non-participating farmers from within and outside the field day area, church   The group is involved in raising chicken using  The District Commissioner (OC) and Executive Director (DEO) were the guests of honour for the occasion and they were impressed by farmers' effort in organising and conducting the field day. They encouraged farmers to continue working in groups and collaborating with researchers and extension service providers at all levels to improve agricultural production and agro-ecosystem management in sustainable manner, and ultimately to improve rural livelihoods. The 2 policy makers promised to support and contribute to any farmer field day if they are invited to do so. AII participants applauded this positive move by their district top leaders.The women of Utafiti bean IPDM farmer group choir presented several songs which carried massages about increasing bean production using traditional and improved agricultural technologies.Hosting farmers prepared delicious traditional bean dishes and each participant enjoyed the meals","tokenCount":"211"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4122527049.json b/data/part_1/4122527049.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e7391ae6f086df5a98fc24d9b0aee2cc04254c94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4122527049.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3713128b4b192932c87f044e38de55a3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5e6de408-2d46-4d26-bde2-6cbee30132d5/retrieve","id":"140011594"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"539c9871-f4f0-4d83-ac66-2395ac4c3ec2","pagecount":"30","content":"The Agroecology Initiative (AE-I) acknowledges context-specific technologies to enhance the sustainability and resilience of food systems. It is hinged on interconnected agroecology principles. In low-input systems, improving the connectivity of these principles can be used to enhance, re-model and optimize productivity. These efforts require co-designing socio-technological innovations that reduce environmentally disruptive inputs and enhance resilience. Local stakeholders and food system actors (FSA) play a crucial role in this co-creation, testing and evaluation process to promote culturally relevant innovations and ensure natural resources are managed responsibly and inclusively.In the Mbire and Murehwa districts of Zimbabwe, the AE-I is working with 4 Agroecology living landscapes (ALLs). Most of the ALLs members rely on crops and livestock as a source of livelihood and are active in the associated value chains (Output 3.2 Value chain Mapping). In Murewa, the value chains identified include horticultural crops (tomatoes, onions, carrots, butternutswe can select), poultry (indigenous), livestock (cattle and goats), maize, groundnuts and sweet potato. Mbire's value chains included cotton, livestock (goats and cattle), honey, sorghum and sesame. However, they face several challenges (Report 1).The main challenges relating to crop production were increased pest and disease incidences (namely fall armyworm), crop failure, increased incidences of drought and, at times, long dry spells and low access to improved seed varieties. For animal production, challenges were related to poor quality grazing lands, fodder and feeds, the prevalence of several pests and diseases and poor livestock breeds. Our first entry point was the crop production aspects, which we hope can also assist with alleviating some of the issues of poor fodder and feed quality. The following interventions were co-identified: (i) introduction of appropriate scale mechanization, (ii) Push-pull (PP) for insect pest control, (iii) Conservation agriculture (CA) for improved resilience to drought, (iv) Seed and livestock fairs to improve access to inputs, markets and, showcase and promote crop and livestock diversity, and (v) Haymaking and Feed formulation for improved animal health.In our concerted effort to foster co-creation and empower farmers in driving sustainable agricultural practices, we have strategically incorporated their invaluable feedback and input into the development and testing of co-identified technologies, particularly geared towards supporting agroecological transition. Recognizing the significance of addressing challenges related to seed availability, we introduced seed and livestock fairs just before the growing season commenced. To assess the effectiveness of CA and PP technologies, the research team and extension officers collaborated to design and establish demo plots. In response to labour issues, the members of the ALLs actively participated in identifying fellow members to serve as mechanization service providers. Working in tandem with extension officers, these individuals underwent comprehensive training and were equipped with cutting-edge machinery to implement and showcase the identified technologies. Field days were organized to broaden the outreach, inviting local Food System Actors (FSA) and other stakeholders to engage actively in the evaluation process. During these events, participants were not merely passive observers; they were encouraged to actively rate, rank, and propose adaptations to the technologies on display.The commitment to co-creation extended further as farmers, in collaboration with extension officers, undertook thorough pest and disease assessments at various stages of crop development, culminating in hands-on harvesting experiences. This allowed farmers a first-hand opportunity to assess the technologies. Subsequent to this intensive engagement, farmer feedback played a pivotal role in prompting collaboration with BioHUB to identify local technological innovations that could complement and enhance the existing technologies aligned with the identified value chains. The culmination of these efforts materialized in the incorporation of both adapted and locally sourced technologies into the meticulously planned demonstration plots for the upcoming 2023/24 season. Acknowledging the dynamic nature of agriculture and the unique challenges faced by individual farmers, a consultant has been engaged to implement decision choice experiments (DCE). This Initiative aims to gain profound insights into farmers' decision-making processes concerning the identified technologies.The insights garnered from the DCE will be instrumental in informing the design and implementation of baby trial experiments scheduled for the forthcoming 2023/24 growing season. This innovative approach ensures that the farmers involved in the baby trials are not just passive recipients but active participants, as they will be provided with inputs and empowered to adapt theTechnical Report technologies according to their specific needs and contexts. Through the iterative and inclusive process (Figure 1), we hope to co-create sustainable agricultural solutions that resonate with and empower the farming community. Approach: Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted across the ALLs in Mbire and Murewa.Questions were related to challenges, opportunities, and solutions for the pre-identified dominant value chains. In Murewa, the value chains identified were horticultural crops (tomatoes, onions, carrots, butternuts -we can select), poultry (indigenous), livestock (cattle and goats), maize, groundnuts and sweet potato. Mbire's value chains included cotton, livestock (goats and cattle), honey, sorghum and sesame. Identifying appropriate agroecological technologies or interventions that would address the challenges was a consultative and iterative process involving farmers, stakeholders, members of the AEI team, and other research partners. Within the FGD, farmers would suggest a possible solution to their challenge(s). A discussion ensued to assess the solution's agroecological soundness, and the technology and associated activity were identified. The research team researched literature about the technology, which was presented to the ALLs for validation.Lessons learnt and achievements.We co-identified interventions that were aligned with the indicated challenges. The proposed technologies act as tools to assist in the agroecological transition of communities. diversification, biodiversity, synergies, and fairness. Farmers were also allowed to see different machinery that could aid land, food, and feed preparation and address their labour shortage challenges. The fairs were also used as a platform to give feedback on the initiative activities to communities and participating FSA.The researcher team, with extension officers, farmers and other food system actors, collaborated on planning and implementing the seed and livestock fair. After the first fair in 2022, we had several feedback sessions with stakeholders and communities to report on what worked and what did not. Suggestions, such as including livestock and feed and fodder section, were then incorporated into the 2023 fair and the inclusion of the ALL exchange visits between the two districts.In 2022, 1058 FSA participated; in 2023, we had 701. Farmers displayed over 40 food and fodder crop species and around ten livestock species. Over 300 farmers could access improved seed varieties, while nearly 100 exchanged local landraces.By adopting a multi-partner approach, these fairs bring local food systems actors together to ensure household food and nutrition security and improved income streams for farmers.Stakeholders, partners and other projects and initiatives, including the RAIZ project, LIPS, Grasslands research station, various seed companies, Hamara Chicks, PHI Commodities, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), BioHUB Trust (BHT), Kurima Machinery and Technology, and Zimplow Limited participated in these fairs promoting collaboration and synergies.Farmers hold a high regard for their landraces, possessing a diverse array of seeds.The participation of seed companies and other FSAs in Mbire seed and livestock fairs is limited, primarily due to the considerable distance involved.Output: Report, blogs and video Appendix 2.2.1Objective: Farmers within the ALLs identified drudgery associated with farming operations as a challenge. The objective was to set up service providers of different machinery to improve production efficiencies and ease processing and transportation burdens.Approach: In Mbire and Murehwa, a service provider model was proposed and then adopted to introduce appropriate scale machinery within the respective communities. The service providers had threshers, basin diggers, two-wheel tractors, rippers, mowers, chopper grinders, and bailers. Training was offered on equipment operation, repair, and maintenance.• A total of 8 service providers, eight extension officers and 150 farmers (50 women and 100 men) in the ALLs have been trained in using and maintaining different machinery.We have increased awareness of machinery that can aid the agroecological transition.There is an ongoing effort to engage with various institutes that deal with the environment by using two-wheel tractors and mowers to create fire guards to reduce veld fires.We expect an increase in area under conservation agriculture due to the introduction of hand-held basin diggers (soil augers)Increased participation of women operating the machinery • Improving the quality of sorghum grain due to the introduction of threshers in the communities •In the 2022/23 farming season, the rippers were introduced later than optimal, resulting in limited traction and minimal usage.There was a lack of awareness among communities regarding small-scale mechanization during the season, indicating the necessity for increased sensitization efforts.The initial group of service providers was not strategically positioned within the wards, leading to challenges for some farmers in accessing the services.Output Approach: To demonstrate the usefulness of these technologies, ten demonstration plots were established across the district and within wards where the ALLs have been established. The objective of the demonstration plots is to compare and benchmark the performance of conservation agriculture, push-pull, and conventional practices on productivity, rainwater use efficiency, and pest biocontrol. The treatments will be as follows -1. Push-pull treatment: maize or sorghum intercropped with cowpea or bean under strip-cropping, with Brachiaria as a border crop under conventional tillage as a biological control to fall armyworm 2. Conventional treatment: maize or sorghum is the sole crop under conventional tillage (control treatment) 3. Conservation Agriculture (CA) treatment: maize or sorghum under no-tillage with residue retention (water retention)The research team designed a protocol detailing how the different plots will be established in the different plots (See Appendix 2.2.3.1). Demo plot holders were selected randomly across the list of farmers participating in the baseline survey. Care was taken to select farmers across the different typologies. As such, we used a stratified sampling strategy to select demo plot holders. After the selection process, farmers were asked if they were willing and would consent to host a demo plot. All the selected farmers were willing and consented. Following the protocol, facilitators, extension officers, and farmers were then trained to set up the demo plots based on the different treatments using the established protocol. Crops were monitored and managed by the demo plot holders with the help of field facilitators stationed in each district and ward. Farmers were trained on record keeping to ensure every management practice employed was captured. A demo plot characterization survey was developed in KoboCollect and administered by the facilitators together with the farmer. This tool was meant to understand the management employed by the farmer. Local facilitators were trained to train farmers on pests and disease scouting and assessment. A survey was developed in KoboCollect and deployed twice during the life of the crops to monitor pest incidence and damage severity across all treatments. Harvesting protocols were also developed in KoboCollect; two sets of tools were developed for each crop and plot, the first ones for collecting fresh weights soon after harvesting, while the others were for collecting dry weights after the crops had dried up. The protocols detailed step-by-step processes for the harvesting. For instance, in all plots, two rows of the outer crops were treated as boundary crops to eliminate the other effects that might have affected the crop. Additional management data was also captured by the harvesting tool. Data was then analyzed using the R software. Data was first assessed for normality, which then informed the use of scatterplots and bar graphs to present data.•The initial germination of brachairia in Murehwa was very low, leading to several replantings. In Mbire the germination was around 80 -90%.Bettles and aphids severely attacked cowpeas • Farmers have knowledge of biopesticides, farmers who applied chilli sprays and blue cherry bush liquid sprays managed to harvest both sorghum and maize.Dry beans did not perform well owing to the excessive rainfall received in Murehwa • Technologies performed differently depending on the district, agroecology and farmers, suggesting that spreading the demo plots across different farms and typologies would give a good indication of technology performance.Planting of the demo plots was done after many farmers had already established their crop fields.Outputs: Protocols and Report Appendix 2.2.3.1Objective: Farmer Field days were conducted for the established demonstration plots in Mbire and Murehwa to showcase the technologies to a broader audience, including local FSA, the ALL members and extension officers.Approach: Extension offices and Farmers planned and coordinated the implementation of farmer field days-one in Murehwa and another in Mbire. Farmers showcased and explained technologies established in the demonstration plots and agronomic practices. Participating farmers got to ask questions and provide feedback on the technologies. ALL service providers demonstrated mechanization equipment distributed in the ALLs, focusing on livestock fodder production, mowing and transportation servicesLessons learnt and achievements:• 300 farmers attended the farmer-field days in Mbire and Murehwa • Many participating farmers appreciated the technologies on display but raised concerns about the cowpea in the pushpull system, which was outgrowing and choking the sorghum.Farmers appreciated the showcased mechanized technologies that they believed would help them take care of their livestock whilst providing them with transport and draft power in the absence of cattle.Output: Protocol and Report (Appendix 2.2.3.2) Objective: A rating and ranking exercise was conducted to solicit farmers' views and initial uptake or adoption of the tested technologies for the 2022/23 farming seasonApproach: A participatory approach to understanding farmer perceptions and choices was used for this exercise. The rating and ranking exercise was embedded in field day activities in both districts. A field tour was conducted first, with the host farmer explaining the activities carried out in each plot. The objective of the tour exercise was to give other farmers/actors a concise understanding of the practices, activities, challenges, and benefits encountered in each practice. Farmers were divided into four groups to evaluate the performance plot: young males/females (18 years -35 years) and old males/females (36 years and above). Discussions were done with enumerators ranking and rating exercises using a designed tool in KoboCollect. Farmers ranked and rated the three implemented technologies against the following indicators: increase in yield, increase in biomass yield, inputs use efficiency, labour efficiency, crop pests and diseases management, coping with climate change, and soil conservation. To support the focus group discussion, we conducted supplementary interviews with local leaders, government stakeholders and farmer groups to solicit the farmers' perceptions of the implemented technologies.• Some of the farmers involved in the exercise were not fully exposed to the technologies prior to the farmer-field day Approach: Assessments were done during the vegetative and flowering stages. Five points per treatment were sampled (W method); ten plants were sampled for each point. Assessments were done for armoured cricket, maize stalk borer, fall armyworm for cereals and locusts, beetles, aphids, and bean stem maggot for legumes. Treatments were assessed for severity and prevalence scores. In collaboration with demo plot holders, facilitators collected the data using KoBo collect.•The push-pull technology did reduce the incidence of pests in the sorghum and maize • Farmers indicated that they also wanted some grain yield from the cowpea, which was used as a push cropOutput: Data collection tool and report on pest and disease severity and incidence results for the three treatments (Appendix 2.2.3.4)Objective: Co-identify other technological and institutional innovations that can be implemented within the agroecology living landscapes (ALLs) to facilitate the agroecological transition. This should be done in coordination with WP3 so that the identified innovation will support identified business models. Produce a detailed report on the identified innovations and methodologies used.Approach: The farmer participants were divided into groups of stakeholders: older men (40+ years), older women (40+ years), younger men (youths, that is below 40 years) and younger women (youths below 40 years) and these groups would discuss on traditional and alternative technologies and innovations that are used at various stages of the value that are inputs, production, processing, marketing and governance for all value chains in their ward.• It was a challenge to obtain the exact measurements used by farmers in their local technologies as they mainly rely on guestimating rather than measuring equipment.Farmers are confident in the effectiveness and efficacy of their local technologies in dealing with animal health and nutrition, as well as crop pests and diseases. Further research is required for some technologies to be officially adopted.Output: Report (Appendix 2.2.4.1)Objective: Understand farmer experiences through gaps/challenges and opportunities in accessing technology innovations and appropriate-scale farm mechanization options in the areas and understand farmer-preferred choices and decision-making processes for the business models (WP3) and tested innovations (WP1)Approach: The DCEs were implemented for ALL members and non-ALL members. Focus Group Discussions were conducted to assess appropriate scale mechanization options and current technologies. Household surveys were then conducted to contextualize interventions and understand farmers' priorities and decision-making processes. After a set of interview questions, each farmer would choose their preferred bundle from the list of bundles.• To establish a network of baby trials based on farmer technology preferences.• From the farmer field days and the different conversations with the ALL members, it has been clear that farmers have different interpretations of the technologies and different preferences.Output: Protocol on farmer-preferred choices experiment• Farmers faced pest issues, with beetles and aphids attacking cowpeas that were used in the push-pull technology, but some successfully applied biopesticides to salvage the cowpea harvests. While the design of the push-pull technology was that the main crop of interest was cereal and the cowpea and brachairia were not to be harvested, the application of the biopesticide shows that farmers also prioritized cowpea as a food crop in the system.Issues such as excessive rainfall affecting dry bean performance in Murehwa and concerns about the push-pull system's impact on sorghum were raised by farmers.The multi-partner approach fostered collaboration among stakeholders, projects, and initiatives, promoting synergies.Training initiatives resulted in increased awareness and participation, with women increasingly operating machinery. Mechanized technologies were well-received for livestock care and transportation. Ongoing efforts include linking environmental institutes with service providers for fireguards.The delayed planting of demo plots after farmers had already established their fields underscored the importance of aligning interventions with local agricultural timelines. Plans to repeat studies incorporating socio-economic innovations for a holistic understanding of agroecological preferences. We have started with discrete choice experiments for better contextual considerations, as technologies performed differently across districts, agroecologies, and among farmers.In the initial stages,a deliberate inventory of past and existing technologies and innovations was not conducted; this could have helped to improve already existing technologies in the communities 4.0 ResultsWe have developed an inventory of existing technologies. First, through the challenges and opportunities exercise (See Appendix 2.1), then through the baseline survey (See Appendix 2.1) and dialogues with ALL members on existing alternative technologies (Appendix 2.2.4.1).For the baseline suvery, Intercropping, conservation agriculture, crop rotation, use of manure and biopesticides were noted.During detailed FGD, several alternative technologies were highlighted. For instance, the biopesticide made from the leaves of katunguru (blue bush cherry plant) was identified as an existing practice that will be tested in demonstrations alongside pushpull techniques, offering manageable scale testing. Meanwhile, the application of manure from chickens, goats, and cattle in sorghum fields was common. However, scientific validation has been suggested for testing of the composition and optimal quantities of technologies such as manure and biopesticides. Furthermore, considerations for potential ecological impact are raised, urging awareness of raw material destruction and reduced biodiversity, necessitating a balance between technology adoption and environmental preservation.Cultural aspects emerge as potential conduits for behavior change, as Biohub discovered during engagements where certain practices, such as witchcraft, were linked to institutional arrangements, reflecting the community's intention to address issues like theft. Drawing inspiration from cultural behaviors, such as observing elephants' feeding patterns for zero tillage, suggests a holistic approach to innovation by aligning with existing practices. The discussion on convergence or divergence of technologies and innovations vis-a-vis existing practices underscores the importance of aligning indigenous knowledge and so called improved technologies. Technologies that seamlessly integrate with local practices demonstrate convergence, while those deviating from the norm indicate divergence or parallel implementation. This nuanced approach ensures a thoughtful and context-specific implementation of alternative technologies within the broader Agroecology Initiative in Zimbabwe.The visioning process was instrumental in delineating the envisioned future context, facilitating the identification of key priorities and goals, and fostering trust and collaboration among the FSA. Following this, an in-depth exploration of challenges and opportunities within the identified value chains was undertaken. These findings were subsequently validated in successive meetings to solidify the outcomes of the visioning exercise. In the course of addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities, a collaborative effort led to the identification of potential technologies aimed at mitigating the identified issues ( Table 1 and  Table 2). A subset of farmers was then given the opportunity to field-test these technologies. Subsequent to this phase, a broader group of farmers engaged in a collective evaluation, providing valuable feedback and suggesting alternative technologies and features. In parallel, extensive consultations with ALLs were conducted to gain insights into both existing and alternative practices and technologies within the specified value chains. This comprehensive understanding informed the selection of technologies for testing, allowing for a nuanced comparison between initially identified solutions and alternative approaches. These interactions served as a critical step in aligning the technological interventions with the dynamic needs and realities of the farming community.  A participatory approach to understanding farmer perceptions and choices was used, and rating and ranking exercises will be embedded in farmer field day activities in both districts. Farmers will rank and rate the implemented technologies against the following indicators: increase in yield, increase in biomass yield, inputs use efficiency, labour efficiency, crop pests and diseases management, coping with climate change, and soil conservation. Pest and disease assessments were conducted during vegetative and flowering stages to assess the effectiveness of push-pull compared to CA and CP for the 2022/23 farming season.For the 2023/24 farming season, the assessments will be done to assess the effectiveness of push-pull compared to CA and CP and also to compare the push-pull method to identified traditional pest control measures. Severity and prevalence scores will be measured across treatments. Comprehensive data on crop management practices, rainfall data and grain and yield data were collected on all demo sites. Grain and biomass yield was compared across all three treatments to assess the performance of the treatments. For the 2023/24 farming season grain and biomass yield will be assessed across the treatments.The results from the rating exercise show that both men and women in the ALLs had similar perceptions of the performance of different technologies across each attribute. Figure 5 and Figure 6 show different ratings of implemented technologies by farmers in Mbire and Murehwa districts. Young males in the Mbire district perceived the conventional practice (CP) plot highly across all indicators, whilst both older male and female farmers perceived push-pull (PP) plots as the best. Both male groups in Mbire indicated that :\"The intercropping presented by the push-pull treatment is good for nitrogen fixation; it increases yield and helps with soil conservation.The Local leadership in Mbire indicated that:\"The AE practices you implemented help in input efficiency and push-pull and are relevant for the district. From the observations, we can see that a small piece of land can produce a high yield.Older farmers were indifferent about their perceptions of CA and PP plots regarding climate, labour use, biomass, and yield between the plots. The indifference was also reflected in the statement by local leadership in Murehwa, who also pointed out that:\" All showcased technologies are sure to increase yield and should be favourable to all age groups.However, farmers have different perceptions of their impact on all attributes except yield and biomass on PP and CP plots, where the CP plot is ranked top. Young farmers rated the CA plot low in easing labour, pests, and input use efficiency, whilst older farmers perceived CA to have performed better than the CP plot on climate, pests, and labour attributes. In the Murehwa district, with the exception of older males, the PP plot was perceived lowly for climate, pests, labour, and inputs. CA plot was rated the best in soil enrichment, climate, biomass, and yield increases by both genders; however, young males perceived the CP plot as better in yield improvement and pesticide reduction. Overall, in both Mbire and Murehwa districts, push-pull had high ratings, followed by conservation agriculture and conventional practice, which is somehow different for young male farmers who perceived CP as the best and PP as low in Mbire.  In Mbire, PP is highly ranked on most indicators by all age groups, followed by CA and at the lowest rank was CP. These results are in line with the rating of different attributes across the technologies. Regarding yield increase, most farmers perceive CP as the best, followed by PP and then CA. In Murehwa, CA was ranked highly in terms of climate, input use efficiency, and soil enrichment, while PP was ranked high on pest and disease management. There are mixed perceptions among farmers in Murehwa on labour reduction and yield, which they ranked from moderate to high. The guest of honour in Murehwa closed the field day with the following remarks that:\"The implemented technologies are offering diversity and comparing the demo trials with the nearby fields, it is evident that agroecological practices provide better yields and are environmentally friendly.  There is a high percentage of crops with leaf damage for all pests in all treatments in the first assessment compared to the second assessment. From the figures below, there is a noticeable difference between the first and second assessments on fall armyworm damage. Severity damage was higher during the second assessment compared to the first assessment, and the PP treatment had lower damage scores compared to the CA treatment Figure 11 shows sorghum yield obtained under push-pull and conservation agriculture, which has been regressed with treatments with sorghum yield under conventional agriculture. There is no distinct difference between yields grown under PP, CA or CP since the spread of the points is either below or above the regression line. The overall initial germination of sorghum was good in Mbire. The outlier plots in Mbire with higher yields can be attributed to farmers using indigenous knowledge and good management practices to control pests. While that was not in the protocol, farmers used chilli water to spray to control for aphids and leaf eaters. Others used river sand to control fall armyworms. It is not clear from the pest assessment whether this biopesticide had a significant effect on crickets, fall armyworms and stalk borers, as no significant relationship was established between yield and pest incident or severity. Sorghum in Mbire was attacked by fall armyworms, armored crickets, and maize stock borer as the crop was growing, which affected the yield.As the crops reached maturity, elephants and other animals started invading them, as the area had human and wildlife conflicts. Some farmers saved their crops from wild animals by transferring them to their homesteads to dry them up as they matured.In Murehwa, PP and CA realized higher yields compared to conventional agriculture. Some outlier plots in Murehwa had high yields, which may be due to good management practices, including several weeding and split top-dressing applications. On the other hand, the low yields observed in other plots could be attributed to factors like the type of soils (sandy), delayed weeding, incorrect location of demo plots leading to waterlogging issues, or other management practices not being implemented effectively. Murehwa also experienced dry spells (Figure 8) after planting and through the season, which affected yields for some farmers with sensitive and poor soils. When some of the plots were planted in the third week of December, there were isolated showers followed by a 10-day dry spell, and significant rains were recorded after the 1 st of January, 2023. This led to seed rot and shoots failing to emerge, resulting in low and, in some instances, zero germination. Farmers had to replant so they could get some harvest. The stover yield in Mbire Figure 13, showed a somewhat even spread of points across the PP and CA treatments when regressed with the conventional treatments. Notably, the stover yields in Mbire were observed to be higher compared to those in Murehwa.The difference in stover performance could be attributed to the differences in crop species, crop management practices and the specific rainfall patterns observed in each location. In Mbire, the PP plots exhibited lower sorghum stover yields. Framers attributed this to the interference caused by the climbing cowpea. This could have been the case as the climbing cowpea would have competed with the sorghum for light. However, in Some plots where legumes thrived after establishment reported that the push-pull cereal was protected from dry spells, as the legume provided ground cover, effectively preserving soil moisture. Cowpea was attacked by locusts, beetles, and aphids, which affected the crop's productivity. The success of higher yields in specific plots can be attributed to the implementation of alternative agricultural practices by the farmers. Among these practices, the use of chili sprays played a vital role in protecting crops from various pests that negatively impacted other plots. It is important to note that a legume yield from the PP treatment is a bonus since the purpose of the legume is to attract some pests and repel some to the brachiaria. Therefore no sprays should be applied in this plot. However, it was clear that farmers also prioritize the yield of cowpea. Some of the plots faced challenges from pests like mice and birds, causing damage to the seeds shortly after planting or during germination. Similarly, as with the grain crops, some plots suffered from crop destruction just before harvest, where elephants and rhinoceros would consume the crops. The majority of Murehwa farmers experienced significantly low dry bean yields below 0.25 tons/ha, primarily due to erratic rain patterns. The rains vanished for a period and later returned with heavy downpours, leading to crop failures for some farmers.Excessive water levels caused the bean germination crop root to rot, leading to poor establishment. The legumes also attracted insects like beetles, bean stem maggots, and black aphids which heavily affected their productivity. It is also important to note that attracting pests is the other purpose of the legume in a PP treatment. Getting a yield from it is a bonus. Murehwa's soils, particularly in Ward 27, consist of sandy soils prone to leaching and vulnerability during heavy rains. However, a few farmers who achieved better yields had relatively good sandy loamy soils. Brachiaria in Murehwa Figure 17encountered significant challenges, resulting in poor performance and even some farmers failing to harvest any yield at all. The initial germination of the crop was very low resulting in several replantings. In Ward 27, farmers faced difficulties with Brachiaria, with some completely losing the crop which maybe because it was their first time growing the crop, leading to limited knowledge about it. Some mistakenly weeded out the grass, assuming it was a weed. Additionally, germination in the area was notably low, possibly due to the sandy soil conditions. On the other hand, in Ward 4, Brachiaria did germinate, although yields remained low. Fortunately, farmers and extension officers in Ward 4 had prior experience with Brachiaria from previous projects with CIMMYT, enabling them to better manage the crop despite the challenges faced.In Mbire, all farmers harvested Brachiaria, and one farmer achieved a yield of 25+ tons per hectare. The initial germination of Brachiaria in Mbire was reasonably high compared to Murehwa; however, there was some replant ing and some farmers had to transplant the crop from areas where it had germinated. As shown by Figure 12 most farmers in Mbire managed to harvest up 10 tons/ha of grass. Interestingly, the results indicate that Brachiaria performed better in Mbire compared to Murehwa, suggesting that soil conditions might play a crucial role in its growth and productivity. Some literature from Simlesa Kenya indicates that Brachiaria also performs in acid soils. However, further assessments are necessary across different seasons to determine the exact reasons behind the contrasting performance in the two districts. • Biochar treatment: Half maize and half sorghum under no-tillage.• Traditional treatment: Maize or sorghum landraces under conventional tillage with bioinsecticide.Additionally, 48 more demo plots will be established to assess the performance of maize in Mbire and sorghum in Murehwa. This evaluation aims to determine if these cereals can serve as alternative options in their respective districts, complementing the original cereals.2. Participatory Monitoring: During the 2023/24 season, participatory monitoring will be intensified. Rating and ranking of demo plots will occur at various plant growth stages and during field days. New indicators, including cost, will be incorporated. After harvesting, follow-up conversations will be conducted with all members, and pest and disease assessments will be shared to compare results with their perceptions.3. Pests and Disease Monitoring: Pest and disease assessments will be conducted to compare the effectiveness of Push-Pull (PP) to Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Conventional Practise (CP) methods. Furthermore, the results of PP will be compared to the traditional treatment. These assessments will be shared with ALLs during meetings, as well as with other farmers and the Farmer Support Association (FSA) during seed fairs.Findings from DCEs will guide the establishment of baby trials. These trials will be set up based on farmers' preferences, and farmers will actively monitor and collect data, providing valuable feedback on the effectiveness of various approaches after the cropping season.5. Mechanization: To promote mechanization, increased awareness campaigns will be conducted. Basin diggers will be employed to establish all conservation treatment plots, and data will be systematically collected on the time required for plot establishment. Additionally, a research initiative on labour will be undertaken through an MPHILL study during the 2023/24 farming season to gather more comprehensive labour data.5.0 Lists of documents produced related to co-design and brief descriptions of their content.Title of report / document Type of document *","tokenCount":"5589"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4123866676.json b/data/part_1/4123866676.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d96e4f41d53bcb1cdf31d2cfc48f90df820dfb94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4123866676.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"badccb5b04ecfe5943d1796bcec766a1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/725399e4-976a-4761-acde-cf29fbaa56c8/retrieve","id":"-1473680471"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f0a5b74-0c5d-483b-a223-4c0346cdd977","pagecount":"23","content":"Existen técnicas de prevención y control, a través de un buen manejo poscosecha que permiten mitigar los daños sin riesgo. •Infestación por plagas.•Daños causados por aves u otros animales.•Llegada de lluvias inesperadas que favorecen el desarrollo de hongos.•Pérdidas por robo.Cosecha tu grano a tiempo para evitar:  ¿Por qué limpiar mi grano y cómo hacerlo?•Es importante guardar granos limpios porque los residuos generan infecciones y brotes de plagas. Si no los limpiamos, se pueden generar ambientes de plagas y focos de calor.•La limpieza se puede realizar manualmente usando cribas o zarandas:•Una opción de mecanización que facilita la operación de limpieza.12Opciones para cribar el grano:Manual Mecanizada Si no se logra llenar el silo completamente, se debe agotar el oxígeno que quede encerrado en el silo usando una vela.POSCOSECHA ¿Qué es la bolsa plástica hermética?Es un recipiente que sirve para almacenar granos, fabricada con plástico multilaminado, con una capa antigas que le da la propiedad de hermeticidad.Es un contenedor de almacenamiento hecho de un plástico especial que limita el intercambio de gas (oxigeno y otros gases) que le da la propiedad de hermeticidad. Se usa en conjunto con el costal de polipropileno.Uso de las tecnologías herméticas.19Cuando se usa el material de forma cuidadosa se puede reutilizar la bolsa plástica hermética máximo cuatro ciclos de almacenamiento.Realiza la prueba de hermeticidad de tu bolsa plástica hermética antes de usarla:PARA PEQUEÑOS PRODUCTORES POSCOSECHA ¿Qué es una tecnología hermética alternativa?El garrafón de PET con su tapa y con cinta para un cierre hermético.Lo más recomendable es llenar completamente las botellas PET para asegurar que no haya espacio ni aire, de esa forma podemos evitar el desarrollo de plagas.El tambo plástico con su tapa y un cincho para un cierre hermético. Se sugiere:• Colocar y extender los granos sobre una superficie limpia y a la intemperie.• Poner una lona de plástico transparente sobre la parte superior de la capa de granos.• Después de exponer los granos al sol es importante dejarlos refrescar una noche.•Luego, cribar los granos antes de almacenarlos.•Estás prácticas son recomendadas únicamente para el grano que se va a consumir y no para semilla que se usará para la siguiente siembra dado que puede tener un efecto negativo.•En el caso de las semillas, se sugiere hacer una criba y seleccionar las semillas sanas para guardar en botellas de PET. ","tokenCount":"383"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4149528883.json b/data/part_1/4149528883.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5871ea624d79ed616476b8597cb9c8e1d68fa6f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4149528883.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d51152e42647a921fb1505764bcbddac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2d97a75e-4efc-4656-a194-e388be73ed80/retrieve","id":"14187739"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"df90c7b6-5fdd-4c32-ada0-cde6220018cf","pagecount":"18","content":"The Third Annual CCAFS Science Workshop focused on consolidating research and fostering collaboration across the CGIAR. Day-1 plenary presentations along four themes identified issues including:• Opportunities to deliver messages to UNFCCC through SBSTA;• The challenges of communicating science;• The multiple scales of climate variability, stakeholder engagement, and adaptation options;• Whether adaptation and mitigation are synergistic or conflicting;• Participation as an opportunity to give respect, voice and choice -without precluding the impact of scientific knowledge.Day-2 parallel sessions enabled knowledge sharing and planning around topics of strategic interest to CCAFS. Opportunities for cross-Center follow-up actions include:• Developing a community of practice and web portal around diversification and climate risk;and projects that use household modeling to design diversification strategies; • Development of a simple, rigorous, consistent protocol for GHG measurement in smallholder agriculture. • A workshop to address results of a scoping study and launch a community of practice on modeling climate impacts on pests and diseases. The purpose of the meeting was to share exciting results, generate new ideas, refine plans, and further develop collaboration in areas of strategic importance to CCAFS -with particular emphasis on consolidating research and fostering collaboration across the CGIAR. The two-day program included thematic plenary sessions on day 1, and parallel sessions proposed and convened by participants on day 2: During the first day, a series of invited plenary presentations identified priority issues for discussion. Four thematic sessions were designed to draw attention to emerging issues that are important to achieving CCAFS objectives and outcomes, but that have not yet been mainstreamed across the CGIAR.The first session included presentations on global climate negotiations and on the institutional requirements for climate adaptation. Discussion focused on two key questions: \"What messages should CCAFS deliver to SBSTA?\" and \"How can science be best communicated?\" The 36th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) (Bonn, 14-25 May 2012) is an immediate opportunity for CCAFS to bring key messages into the UNFCCC. Discussion on how to communicate scientific knowledge in a way that can impact policy focused on how much the messages can be, and need to be, simplified.One participant noted that the three session presentations; on advances in climate science relevant to adaptation, a framework for evaluating adaptation options, and water storage options for adaptation, captured the essential elements of an adaptation framework. This prompted discussion on how to effectively link these three elements: understanding of climate variability, technical adaptation options, and decision-making. One line of discussion focused on the multiple scales of climate variability and their implications for adaptation. \"Informed uncertainty\" was proposed as a goal for climate science. Discussion also highlighted the need to evaluate where participatory action research has been successful and what it has accomplished.Two presentations covered a framework for evaluating adaptation and mitigation options, and use of household-level modeling to evaluate adaptation options ex ante. The session considered whether adaptation and mitigation are necessarily synergistic, or if there are examples where they are conflicting. This has important implications for Climate-Smart Agriculture, when it assumes they do not necessarily entail tradeoffs. There was a suggestion that GHG mitigation targets cannot be met without widespread changes in food consumption.The final session included presentations on participatory action research, and on gender challenges. Discussion raised unanswered questions about the impacts of participatory research approaches relative to their cost. Despite the costs and challenges, participatory action research was seen as empowering rural communities -giving respect, voice and choiceand contributing to more relevant interventions. On the other hand, rural communities do not have all the solutions, and can benefit from scientific knowledge.The closing session of the first day reviewed a few highlights from session presentations and discussion. According to moderator Holger Meinke, it is phenomenal that the program, and CCAFS research, spans from global negotiations to farmer participatory research. Evaluating options at multiple scales, and the research challenge of how to link the different scales, was highlighted. The importance of the multiple scales of climate variability was also emphasized.While stakeholder participation and innovation was an important theme throughout the day, participation does not preclude scientific knowledge having impact. Holger called on the group to distinguish between tradition and bad habits, noting that there is sometimes good reason to change what people have been doing. At level of global negotiations, the moderator asked participants to consider what is the right level of simplicity, given the complexity of the issues. The closing discussion also noted the challenge to re-think large-scale water storage, and consider alternatives. Tools that can help answer questions about tradeoffs and synergies between adaptation and mitigation were cited as an immediate need, to support investment planning.The second day gave participants the opportunity to convene sessions within their interests. The AgMIP and Global Futures projects both aim to develop and apply integrated assessment modeling tools to look a climate change and adaptation impacts at different temporal and spatial scale levels. Biophysical (crop, livestock, climate) and economic models are combined for regional to global impact assessments. The goal of this session was to update CCAFS workshop participants on the progress of these projects and to stimulate discussion and collaboration on the methodologies under development.The goal of the session was to plan for development of a simple, rigorous, consistent approach for GHG measurement of mitigation potentials of whole farms and landscapes to support wider data collection among smallholders in the tropics. Session outputs include an outline of a 3-5year project, and criteria for selecting test sites.Climate change leads to increasing frequency, magnitude and extent of floods and droughts -i.e. weather and water-related extremes -in most parts of the world. These extremes are not managed properly even under current climates, causing billion dollar losses annually to crops, infrastructure, as well as human lives. Participants were invited to share their knowledge on technological innovations and non-structural measures that increase resilience of farming communities to these extremes, and examples of their successful implementation in various geographical settings.Intensification may be required to encourage climate change adaptation at the plot level, and climate change mitigation at landscape level. Technical solutions have to be supported by the development, public and private sectors. Policies and trade have to consider trade-offs across scales. A working group (Alex, Todd, Dave, Leuven, Piet, Peter) will reflect on a coherent framework for analyzing trade-offs across scale and time as a research issue. A concept note for a workshop on this topic will be submitted to CRP 1.1. (Dryland farming systems), CRP1.2 (Humidtropics farming systems) and CRP7 (CCAFS), with the expectation that it will lead to a cross-center initiative.The session reported on a scoping study commissioned by Themes 1 and 2. Three presentations presented research on insect and disease modeling. Subsequent discussion revealed a lot of interest and relevant activity across Centers. The main outcomes of the session was agreement about the need for a community of practice to take advantage of the complementary capacities across Centers; and plans for a workshop to assemble and review existing resources related to the main results of the scoping study.The Following a brief overview of the current Theme 2 vision and strategy for crop and rangeland forecasting, discussion highlighted work that addresses gaps in meteorological input data incorporating rangeland modeling for pastoralism systems, opportunities to link with pest and disease modeling, and interest in forecasting weather effects on aquaculture fish production. Promising areas of follow-up include: comparison of methods for reconstructing historic meteorological data, exploring the link with pest and disease modeling through a wheat or rice blast case study, collaborative use of ICRISAT's on-station pest and disease data in southern India, and systematically sharing tools and data.Discussions focused on several driven by the underlying question: What is the substance of the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) concept? …and the resulting question: What does CCAFS understand as climate-smart? Some noted that CSA had already become a negatively charged term, which might require better ways of communicating, to make the term more concrete to climate change negotiators. Many simply wanted to learn more about the term and its implications. The group proposed a set of research questions, and outlined issues for a proposed paper.Each convener gave a very short summary of outcomes and action points that came out of their parallel session. Session moderator Bruce Campbell highlighted differences between this meeting and the two previous CCAFS Science Workshops, a few key issues that came out of discussions, and plans for collaborative follow-up activities that came out of the workshop. The previous Science Workshop focused on ESSP collaboration. About 40% of proposed projects moving well, 40% moving slowly, 20% did not continue. This year, the meeting focused on bringing the CGIAR together for more effective action. Bruce cited examples to illustrate how discussions at meetings like this can shape the agenda. The discussion on Climate-Smart Agriculture is at the heart of CCAFS efforts to influence global climate policy negotiations.Commenting on the mitigation measurement session, he suggested that the best prospect for incorporating mitigation incentives that require measurement into UNFCCC protocol is for the whole CGIAR system to get behind it.Participants were invited to fill out a workshop evaluation, to provide input for improving future CCAFS Science Workshops. Seventy-eight percent of the participants found the value received from the meeting very good or excellent, 22% found it satisfactory and none found it unsatisfactory. The majority of participants appreciated the networking possibilities, the quality and diversity of the presentations and the open way of discussions. Regarding the parallel sessions on day two, the opinions were more divided. While some participants expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to discuss specific science issues, others felt that the sessions lacked structure and called for clear instructions in what the outputs should be. Also many mentioned that the schedule was very packed, and there was a widespread agreement that the 8:00 am start on day two was too early. Some suggested the plenary presentations and parallel sessions should be split over both days to avoid a full day of either. In the question regarding what kind of sessions to include in future workshops participants pointed to activities promoting interdisciplinarity, partnerships and linkages between centers and individuals. Some participants also suggested inviting external speakers in form of NGOs and non-research partners. With regard to the venue facilities many disliked a meeting room with no windows and a venue with no open spaces.Fabrice DeClerck, Ashley DuVal and Jacob VanEttenQuestions remain as to how biological, ecological and socio-economic diversification contributes to risk management and adaptation to climate change of smallholder farming systems. We conduct a systematic literature review to determine how diversification has been used by small-holder farmers as a means of risk management. We focus on the forms of diversification in response to specific climate threats, and highlight mechanisms and direction of the contribution made by diversification. A primary objective of the review is to develop a typology of diversification options at the appropriate scope and scale for farmers in developing countries.We aim to answer two specific questions:1. How does biological/ecological diversification contribute to managing climate risk and to adaptation to climate change at the field to landscape level? 2. How does economic/social diversification at the household and the community level contribute to managing climate risk and adapting to climate change?The systematic review on diversification made substantial progress during the CCAFS meetings in Copenhagen as a result of feedback and discussion during three events: a Friday workshop amongst group members; Monday's closed session reports amongst contact points; and Wednesday's working group break out sessions. At all three meetings, a thorough presentation on the preliminary results of the systematic review built upon these definitions, opening a discussion on the methodology used in coding and databasing studies, as well as an overview of the structure and preliminary results of a meta-analysis built from a subset of the data for which average change in yield and income data were available.The review uses Campbell Collaboration Guidelines for systematic reviews. These generally must have: 1) Clear inclusion/ exclusion criteria; 2) An explicit search strategy; 3) Systematic coding and analysis of included studies; 4) Meta-analysis (where possible). This study considers papers that feature: 1) risk management by smallholder farmers (particularly those risks related to weather, climate, pests, diseases) using diversification of crops, farms or households; 2) adaptation of agriculture to climate change in which diversification is a relevant part; 3) how diversification at the field, farm/household, community/landscape level can enhance resilience and ecosystem services; 4) how diversification of livelihood strategies can reduce climaterelated risks and facilitate adaptation to climate change; or 5) how diversification can reduce resilience and increase vulnerability. At the time to of the meeting our database contained data and case studies from 142 studies in 45 countries as well as 17 regional and global reviews. Preliminary findings from this review suggest several key points. The majority of the studies found considered how diversification at the field, farm/household, community/landscape level can enhance resilience and ecosystem services (the third of the five inclusion criteria mentioned above). The majority of studies found focused on semi-arid regions, particularly of Africa, and targeted drought risks over other types of climate risks. Numeric data for increase in yield or income following one or more diversification interventions was available for 46 coded studies in contrast, increase in household income was only available for 8 coded studies. For the studies that included a single diversification element, there was a highly variable effect on yield that was dependent on the context, scale and nature of diversification. The effects of multiple diversification elements on yield, though reliant on few data points, exhibited an increasing upper bounds with increasing diversification (up to 900% increase). The same trend was found for income diversification, but with a smaller number of studies, and a maximum 300% increase report. There appears initially to be an additive effect whereby the impacts of combining different site-appropriate diversification measures at different scales may merit further review.The Copenhagen CCAFS meetings presented an opportunity to get feedback from CCAFS scientists. Below we highlight primary comments made:• It was agreed upon that the concept of \"social diversification\" is poorly defined if it has appeared at all, and that too broad of a set of criteria considered to be diversification could make the results of the review less relevant. The social relationships, structures and processes relevant in particular case studies will be inventoried within the matrix. Similarly it was suggested that there was no use for the term livelihood diversification. • Having the database georeferenced and easily searchable would add value to the project.• Several participants at all three meetings urged not making diversification a bin in which all interventions are placed. The study should give the state of the evidence on how diversification helps to manage risk. It should be broad in scope: households, livelihoods, resilience, etc. On the other hand, it should be narrow in specifying the evidence of impact.In the selected studies we should be able to clearly identify what is being diversified (diversification units), and what is the result of that diversification is (increase in yield, cash, number of livestock?). • Several comments were made targeting the search terms used. Recommendations were made that specific climate risks be including in the search terms. For example: Weather, rainfall, precipitation, heat wave, frost, hail, storm, drought, cyclone, variability (drop papers that don't include these). Others suggested expanding the search terms with specific searches for agricultural adaptations to specific climate risks: drought, etc. • Regarding the diversification search terms, recommendations were made to Reduce terms here unless well justified. Reviewers should resist temptation to include studies that focus on adaptation strategies that aren't diversification e.g.: zai pits, irrigation, etc. (unless they have a specifically biotic component) • Several new coding columns were added to the data extraction matrix including: units of variable and response; For example, it was suggested that we add indicator terms such as indicators of benefits with regards to household, livelihood, risk and resilience (income, production, assets, food security, poverty, poverty traps, adaptive capacity, risk resilience. Filter by farm/household outcomes and impacts); and Types of Risk including outcome/impact indicators-could narrow to climate/weather risks. • Some participants requested clarity of terms, particularly relating to scale. For example that we clearly define scale vs. level & scope vs. extent. Similarly we were asked to be clear about genetic versus varietal diversification; and landscape diversification versus land use diversification. • Other possible uses for such a dataset were discussed, including a searchable web portal, peer reviewed paper, and a flow chart of diversification options given pre-existing conditions • The database is growing quite large, but there is a need to consider mechanisms. What are the ways in which diversification contributed to adaptation to climate risks? There needs to be a consideration of what these mechanisms might be. Adoption is a second criterion that may need to be more explicitly considered, what are the cases where diversification strategies were readily adopted, and what were the enabling conditions behind these adoptions? Related, some mentioned that diversification is a strategy used by the wealthy, or the extremely poor. Consideration of how social status interacts with incentives to diversify merit attention. • Some suggested that the CCAFS and WOCAT databases might have additional information or insights on types of diversification strategies and merited some exploration.• It was suggested that the benefits that 'simplification' has brought to agricultural systems (particularly yield benefits) be taken into account and the interaction between diversification and 'simplification' at different scales/levels.As a result of the workshop, several key next steps were identified:• Concern was expressed that we did not have enough data to draw conclusions. In light of this limitation, and the new search terms mentioned above, we have agreed to continue to populate database; extension of Ashley's contract by 4 weeks to allow the time for this and the writing. • CART analysis on the database to identify pathways of diversification strategies. • End of May-conclude review and coding of literature; summary and basic statistics IFPRI as well has a lot of survey data.CIAT: Colombia data but on a regional level, municipality level (not household). Information about socio-economical information, implications of implementation of alternatives (both adaptation and mitigation). • The CG should consider how to integrate/collect incentive and adoption work across te system. This also relates to the sites which are common and could be managed across and within CCAFS. • There is a lot of knowledge and insights from work that has been done that is not necessarily climate change related (e.g. from the 80s-90s) and we should make sure this knowledge is not lost. • What hypotheses can we bring out from our experience around incentives: Research needs, questions and hypotheses• Pressures for intensification are driver of adoption/innovation-e.g. high protein diets for livestock. The more market-oriented system, the more push for intensification. • How have the farmers to whom we have introduced agroforestry data used it? Here we have a lot of gaps in research. Time-lapse concern. • DFID and other donors are very keen on assessing impacts. This could be a valuable source of information about adoption. But the studies are often done need to be more focused on the impact (of extension) research further. But how can we differentiate between the impacts of the extension and the research? • Value of large surveys for being able to calculate benefits, costs, barriers etc. which can inform climate finance, as we can understand the relative costs as well. • Longitudinal adoption issue and social tipping points. What causes people to behave in different ways. What data is there that would convince us that certain practices will be adopted? Cigarette smoking example -there could be more layers of tipping points. • Why not look at climate champions? Understand how are they different from farmers in similar socio-ecological systems? Why not go in depth there? • Cultural norms, behavioral change and subjective factors.• CCAFS-CARE study about the political ecology of adoption looking at the cultural issues as well. Concern that large-scale adoption could be of detriment to the farmers. IDS skepticism about promoting climate-smart technologies at the large scale. • How does CCAFS community connect to broader agricultural communities and research related to adoption pathways? Maybe also look to what has happened in developed economies for lessons-learned. Would be valuable in terms of looking at the whole theory of adoption. Useful to look at some of the theories around adoption. • Rigorous science is missing on the reasons why technologies stay or die out after project stops (beyond research projects but also development projects). What makes certain technologies go beyond the stage of the project to spread across other scales? What are the ingredients for making this change happen more often? • When we are thinking about incentives, shouldn't we be thinking about the whole innovation systems within which farmers will be adopting? Relates to Mary's comment that when we do PAR we shouldn't focus just on farmers but also private sector, distribution, cooperatives, decision-makers etc. Role of different agencies and political environment. • Adoption will take place if there is an immediate and ongoing benefit. Should focus on the immediate benefit NOW. Things can actually be simple. • Although quick fixes is not the way to go. If a technology is not adopted by a farmer it doesn't mean it cant generate social benefits. Then maybe countries and governments should be incentivized to support such practices through subsidies etc. • The issue of climate -in preparing for drought and pushing for drought-resistant seeds (e.g. extension services pushing them) the inter-annual and decadal variability should also be considered. Meteorologists should be part of the system to advice on what kind of seeds to push for in different years. Use of information technologies to support this -Global Framework for Climate Services. • We are not just interested in adoption but causal factors of innovation as well.","tokenCount":"3635"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4155705418.json b/data/part_1/4155705418.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ad9d4ccb73ff872c4483ef64a267345f04bf826f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4155705418.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3fb1f165c60fe2d86ff64a631a87e188","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9007b41a-5c4e-4ea6-a3e9-76ab11038f93/retrieve","id":"-1450034989"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"583c71cf-017b-4a8d-80c3-0c4b58ebdaef","pagecount":"12","content":"niversit of e n land ustralia 3 ots ana niversit of riculture and atural ciences s ahta c iar or stract he ur ose of this stud is to anal se the do nstrea cattle su l chain and cattle far ers arketin ehaviour and decisions in ots ana he stud sheds so e li ht on the e istin uestion of h s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana ake relativel little use of the ots ana eat co ission livestock arkets the onl entit allo ed to e ort eef transaction cost a roach is a lied to a surve of livestock far ers fro three districts hich re resent diverse a ro ecolo ical ones of ots ana ur anal sis confir s the h othesis that transaction costs in the for of infor ation and search ne otiation and ar ainin and onitorin and enforce ent costs la a si nificant role in influencin the do nstrea cattle su l chain and arketin ehaviour of s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana he stud has otential olic i lications that hel olic akers hen desi nin olicies that i rove a ricultural arket structures and ro ote arket artici ationIntroduction ivestock roduction is the ost i ortant a ricultural sector in ots ana and la s a si nificant role a on rural livelihoods and the econo contri utin ore than to the a ricultural ross do estic roduct It is also a si nificant forei n e chan e earner ith direct linka es to do estic sectors ran in fro rural su l and ur an de and of cattle to finance tatistics ots ana van n elen et al ver the ears different stakeholders includin the overn ent of ots ana have ut in lace different easures in an atte t to i rove the cattle industr roductivit enhancin easures infrastructural develo ent and i rovin arkets I rove ent of the livestock sector is vie ed as one of the otential a s to increase rural household inco es create sustaina le o s and invest ent o ortunities for the rural o ulation and drive econo ic diversification a a fro a ineral de endent econo es ite these olic efforts there is evidence that eef roductivit and rofita ilit have een declinin due to is ana e ent and the inefficient o erations of a attoirs cattle arketin arran e ents and far ers ahta and aker ahta and alo e e oso et al ven orse des ite the fact that ots ana eef en o s referential arket access in the uro ean nion there has een a decline and sta nation in eef e orts to the e tent that it has failed to fulfil its eef uota 1 van n elen et al herefore anal sis of e istin roduction and arketin structures the role of transaction costs and e istin artners is vital to understand far ers constraints in cattle roduction and arketin and e ected to rovide useful infor ation on ho to i rove the s ste o ever so far ost of the attention has focused ainl on the factors constrainin roduction and far roductivit rofita ilit e ahta and alo e e oso et al and little atte t has een ade to investi ate the constraints to cattle arketin in ots ana ast studies that investi ated the role of transaction costs in cattle arket artici ation in ots ana include khori and o el a and eleka he studies found that hi h transaction costs such as distance to arket arket infor ation and s eed of a ent affect cattle arketin decisions includin choice of arket outlets of cattle far ers in ots ana roducers ini al level of sales is also associated ith revailin hi h transaction costs for e a le far ers often co lain a out inade uate ani al trans ort dela s in issue of ani al identification related er its and slo a ents ahta et al o ever the ain dra ack of such studies is that their anal sis e edded transaction cost usin onl fe ro varia les urther ore these studies have neither investi ated arketin outlets for cattle far ers nor e a ined the transaction costs associated in far ers decision to sell their cattle in a articular arketin outlet ransaction costs are considered arriers to efficient artici ation of resource oor s allholders in different arkets andela et al oldie and u enau roducers ill not use a s ecific arketin channel hen the value of usin that arket channel does not at least co ensate the costs of doin so use a et alIn ots ana cattle far ers ho artici ate in the arkets tend to sell their ani als ainl to utcheries and the ots ana eat o ission 2 o ever in recent ti es ore and ore s allholder far ers are o tin to sell to the local arket rather than the tatistics ots ana his i ht reflect dissatisfaction far ers ith rices offered the efferis and transaction costs associated ith inaccessi ilit to arkets and hi h costs of trans ort to the collection oints are so e of the i est challen es cattle roducers in ore re ote areas face ahta and alo e he transaction costs that arket channels i ose on far ers are elieved to affect such far ers decisions in choosin a articular arketin channel oldie and u enau ransaction costs are also e ected to differ a on st households due to as etries in access to assets arket infor ation e tension services and re unerative arkets akhura ur stud seeks to understand hat factors influence far ers decisions to choose a cattle arketin channel h is arket artici ation so lo in so e arket channels hat are so e of the transaction costs that the s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana face ecificall the o ective of this stud is to investi ate the role of transaction costs in deter inin arket artici ation of s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana his stud rovides an e irical asis for identif in o tions to increase the artici ation of s allholders in livestock arkets in ots ana uch anal sis i ht hel olic akers hen desi nin olicies that ro ote arket artici ation and hence i rove a ricultural develo ent I rove ent of arkets and arket access could la a crucial role in i rovin a ricultural develo ent and reducin overt and food insecurit u a et al ccordin to arrett e irical evidence indicates that interventions directed at i rovin facilitation of s allholder or ani ation reducin the costs of inter arket trade and i rovin access of oorer households to i roved technolo ies and assets are crucial to sti ulatin arket artici ation and reducin overt a on s allholder far ers In this stud e e lo a transaction cost econo ics a roach to a cross sectional far level data 3 as the a roach allo s us to e lain the use of t o ain cattle arkets livestock far ers in ots ana an studies e lene et al akhura have used the usual transaction cost anal sis hich is tailored to understand onl h so e far ers are net sellers net u ers or autark e artin fro such an a roach the current stud is nder the cono ic artnershi ree ent the has full o ened its arket of half a illion eo le to al ost all e orts e ce t ar s and a unition fro artners free of uotas and duties or ots ana this eans uota free e ort of eef to the he is a overn ent arastatal enter rise that has ono ol ri hts over the urchase of cattle for e ort and the sale of e orted eef he allholder ivestock o etitiveness ro ect is an I funded ro ect i le ented the International ivestock esearch Institute I I in artnershi ith the ots ana inistr of riculture s e art ent of ricultural esearch ontri uted a er session ivestock roduction efficienc and arketin 224 a case of net seller households that face different transaction costs hen accessin various arket channels In such a situation the decision to ards sellin in a articular arket channel is affected the a nitude of the transaction costs the arket outlet i oses on the It is e ected that roducers ill not use a articular channel hen the cost of usin that arket out ei hs the value it can ossi l offer he assertion is that in the a sence of institutions that overn for al e chan e o ortunistic ehaviour of other chain actors is e ected to raise transaction costs hich in turn leads to the i erfection of the cattle arket differential arket rices herefore easurin transaction costs in such a arket is i ortant fro a olic ers ective as reducin transaction costs eans increasin the links et een arket channel actors increased ar ainin o er and i roved arket access oldie and u enau he rest of the a er is or ani ed as follo s ection t o details the aterials and ethods that are used to odel the transaction costs discussion of the results follo s in ection three he a er closes ith a su ar of the ain findin s and olic i lications in ection aterials and ethods here is no a vast literature dealin ith oth the theor and e irical i lications of oth the theoretical and e irical literature ackno led es that transaction costs are detri ental for the o erational efficienc of oth in ut and out ut arkets ransaction costs in the for of infor ation costs the costs associated ith the search for tradin artners h sical infrastructure and the a s institutions are for ed hich includes enforce ent of contracts are all likel to influence arketin and su l decisions households tudies that endeavoured to easure transaction costs in various arkets include a on others o s on et al and oldie and u enau or instance o s used a o it anal sis a roach to easure the i ortance of transaction costs and their effect on vertical coordination in the cattle industr e identified the relative i ortance of transaction costs that affect far ers decision to sell throu h live rin auction and direct to ackers ike ise on et al reco ni ed the i ortance of transaction costs in the arket channel choice ehaviour of eef far ers in hina sin a si ilar a roach oldie and u enau found that transaction costs in the for of infor ation ne otiation and onitorin and enforce ent costs are revalent and influenced arket channel choice of anana far ers in thio ia enerall far ers sell all a ro ortion or none of their cattle throu h a articular arketin channel s entioned a ove this stud considers cattle sales to the ain cattle arketin channels the and utcheries used livestock far ers in ots ana he uestion is ho such decisions are ade and hich factors influence the arketin ehaviour of far ers and their choice of a articular cattle arketin channel he h othesis is that the far ers decision of hether to sell to utcheries or the is influenced the transaction costs and household and far characteristics art fro these t o arket outlets other arketin outlets in ots ana include feedlots and traders hich are not considered in this stud since their contri ution is al ost ne li i le o e far ers also sell their cattle to individual u ers ho ever the lace of transaction is unclear as individuals could ean nei h ours and the transaction could involve an e chan e of ani als hus the cattle sold to individuals are not considered in the anal sis ulti sta e cluster area sa lin a roach or ila and eltonen as used to select a sa le fro the o ulation irst the entral district ots ana s lar est district as divided into four su districts to account for the differences in far in s ste ecolo and soil t e to for si clusters hen ithin a cluster e tension areas 4 ere rando l selected fro lists of all e tension areas takin into account the eneral distri ution of cattle in the stud area u se uent sta es involved a rando selection of crushes 5 or sa le of locations fro hich a nu er of far ers ere rando l selected he su ar statistics of the data are discussed in ection and ore details can e found in ahta et al esults and discussion u ar statistics a le resents a su ar of descri tive statistics on the surve ed households ousehold heads ere elderl avera e a e is ith rather lo levels of education ean ears of schoolin ousehold heads are tension areas are areas ithin districts that are classified ased on deliver of a ricultural e tension services or all the veterinar district offices kee lists of far ers crushes hus a list of far ers as rovided crushes for each e tension area in the res ective district su district ontri uted a er session ivestock roduction efficienc and arketin 226the ones res onsi le for the coordination of the household activities hence their a e and education level are crucial factors in deter inin hether the household enefitted fro the e erience and kno led e of an elder erson or has to ase its decisions on risk takin attitudes of oun er far ers out of the households ere ale headed i l in that fe ale headed households accounted for a out of the sa le onsistent ith data fro tatistics ots ana households tend to e s all ith a ean of ersons er household a le also indicates the far households access to co unication and trans ortation facilities a out and of households o ned radio and television res ectivel ur risin l a out of the surve ed households had o ile hones ccordin to aunders et al so e of the enefits accruin fro the ides read ado tion of infor ation and co unication technolo ies I s in develo in countries include increasin kno led e of arket infor ation and i rovin coordination of trans ortation n avera e a household had access to a out ha of cro land and ke t cattle and a trans ort e ui ent orth a le ocio econo ic anal sis of the far households i ure de icts arket channels used the cattle far ers in the surve ed districts out of the far ers sold their cattle to the utcheries to individual u ers and to the a attoirs hilst the rest ere sold to other arkets i e traders feedlots and rivate slau hter sla s retailers and su er arkets hese findin s are consistent ith the tatistics ots ana anal sis hich sho s that co ared to the s far ers in ots ana tend to sell ore of their livestock to the local arket than the e ort arkets i ure sho s the avera e cattle rices received fro the arket channels used far ers es ite ost of the far ers sellin their cattle to utcheries see i ure on avera e the offers relativel hi h rices ots ana ula er adult cattle follo ed traders 7 er cattle feedlots er cattle and utcheries er cattle res ectivel Individual u ers and other arket channels offered the lo est avera e rice er cattle eef cattle e uivalents ere co uted ulti l in the nu er of cattle of various t es conversion factors ollo in insi hts fro discus sions ith the the conversion factors ere calculated as the ratio of avera e slau hter ei ht of different cattle t es to the avera e slau hter ei ht of a ature eef ull is the ots ana currenc ith the rate to of irst ational ank of ots ana i ure arket channels used cattle far ers in ots ana 8 ased on i ures and e ould e ect a correlation et een the rice offered and the nu er of far ers sellin to that arket hat is e ould e ect ore far ers to sell their cattle to the and traders than utcheries since on avera e the offer etter rices o ever inaccessi ilit to arkets and hi h costs of trans ort to the collection oints are so e of the i est challen es that s allholder eef roducers in ore re ote areas face ahta ahta and alo e his eans roducers ill not choose a s ecific arket channel hen the value of usin that arket channel does not at least co ensate the costs of usin it his i ht e lain h des ite offerin hi h rices roducers still choose arkets such as utcheries close ro i it and lo er trans ort costs and there is a ossi ilit for rice ne otiation and i ediate a ent as co ared to a attoirs he hi h transaction costs such as ne otiation costs and trans ort costs distance to the arket a ent dela s and ar ainin o er that co e ith sellin to the a attoirs discoura e far ers fro accessin that arket channel o el a and eleka i ilarl ahta and auer have sho n that a on s allholder cattle roducers in outh frica distance to the arket reduces arket artici ation lso in order to sell to the a attoirs there are certain co liances that ani als have to eet such as health status cold dress ass rade and other re ulations that have een i osed the countries the e orts the a orit of its roduce to this arket hence hi h transaction costs i ure attle avera e rices various u ers ther arket channels include rivate slau hter sla s retailers and su er arkets ontri uted a er session ivestock roduction efficienc and arketin 228 a le sho s the descri tive results of infor ation search or e ante t e of transaction costs ne as ect of infor ation costs is related to search costs in findin arket s ecific infor ation and otential u ers oldie and a enau n avera e a out three fifths of the far ers in the stud area had access to arket infor ation a reason likel to e associated ith a si nificant ercenta e of households havin access to televisions and radios hich could e sources of arket infor ation a le also resents the len th of ti e far ers had to ait for veterinar ro le s and the nu er of visits the received fro a veterinar e tension officer ar ers had to ait for a out nine da s hen the e erienced veterinar ro le s hich is inconsistent ith the annual nu er of visits the had received avera e fro a veterinar officer s stated a ove it is ver co on to see e tension officers ore reoccu ied ith the issuance of livestock ove ent er its art of the livestock identification tradin s ste I his leaves e tension officers ith li ited ti e for e tension ork such as assistin far ers in identif in diseases and curin attendin to sick ani als and introducin ne technolo ies or or ani ational odels for feed roduction and utili ation he ro le s of hu an and h sical resources such as vehicles are e acer ated durin foot and outh disease vaccination ca ai ns durin hich e tension officers are re uired to rotate et een re ions leavin the e tension offices un anned a le ransaction costs infor ation and search ex ante Incidence of isreadin oluses rovision of infor ation a out ani als sold da s ccordin l cattle sales er its ust e o tained fro area veterinar e tension officers to verif the ori in and ani al health ack round of cattle for sale er its are ased on electronicall readin each ani al s olus hich as entioned a ove serves as the ain identifier under the e ort tracea ilit as ects of the ani al identification s ste he findin s fro a le sho that far ers had to s end et een and three da s or ani in a olus he lon eriod of ti e that far ers have to s end or ani in oluses for their ani als could e due to the unavaila ilit of oluses in the arkets and shorta es durin insertion his as also a conclusion reached a stud carried ladele and onkhei oreover far ers had to ait for three da s to ad inister oluses to et the sales er it and a out re orted the had e erienced an incidence of isreadin oluses his is consistent ith ahta et al ho re orted the a sence of the veterinar officer or technical ro le s ith olus readin achines hich are often a a or ro le that lead far ers to ait for lon eriods several onths dela s ere re orted to et the er its he far ers sellin to the arket had to ait on avera e a out t o da s to et infor ation on the ani als the sold or sales outside the ediated e ort s ste s itnessin of sales a villa e chief is le all sufficient and sales are ased on utual a ree ent ith the u er ahta et al o ever this re resents a lo er riced sales channel see i ures and and one su ect to s eculative urchasin hen far ers are keen to sell for cli atic reasons or hen household cash flo re uires it rust in u er• on a ent a u er is a risk ontract or a ree ent ith a u er a le sho s the varia les that reflect transaction costs ith re ard to onitorin and enforce ent e ost attle unsold due to a e affected the enforce ent costs ith an avera e of a out three cattle ein unsold due to this factor or the varia le that cattle a e as considered to e the ain ualit re uire ent the u er it as assessed hether the u er never considered cattle a e or considered it so eti es or hether the a e as al a s considered as the ain ualit re uire ent ccordin l fro the surve res ondents ho artici ated in the arket and sold cattle al ost half far ers said cattle a e as not the ain ualit re uire ent that u ers look for i ilarl a out an e ual ro ortion far ers and far ers res onded that u ers look for a e of the cattle as the ain ualit re uire ent so eti es and al a s res ectivel a le also sho s that onl of the far ers ho artici ated in cattle arkets indicated that the had dedicated u ers his is consistent ith findin s in a le that far ers had to s end on avera e a out a da and a half lookin for a otential u er ar ers had to ait t o eeks a out da s to et aid once the had sold their cattle to the his could e one of the factors that discoura e far ers ho can sell their cattle to utcheries that a durin the transaction or as re orted in a le ith an avera e of four da s o e transaction costs are i licit and difficult to o serve ut also la an i ortant role in deter inin the ethod sellers select to arket cattle uch I licit costs are related to the level of trust et een an individual u er and seller hen the co lete individual transactions aile and unnicutt he trust varia les that are considered for this stud are related to availa ilit of a contract or a ree ent durin transaction and the rate or risk of non a ent a u er once a transaction has een ade out of far ers re orted that the had si ned a contract or a ree ent ith the u er hen sellin their cattle onse uentl onl a out vie ed non a ent a u er as a risk cono etric results ara eter esti ates of the o it odel e uation are found in a le and rovide so e useful insi hts on the deter inants of choice of cattle arket channels he overall result su ests that the ro ortion of cattle sold ontri uted a er session ivestock roduction efficienc and arketin 230 throu h utcheries versus those sold to the 9 is influenced transaction costs related to infor ation and search ar ainin and ne otiations and enforce ent and onitorin costs lthou h co utin ar inal effects could ive ore insi ht into the a nitude of the effects of the statisticall si nificant transaction cost varia les on the ro ortion of cattle sold throu h utcheries this as not ossi le in this stud due to the resence of so e ero values of the o served transaction cost and household characteristics varia les on the infor ation costs varia les the coefficient of rice infor ation as found to have a ne ative effect on the ro ortion of cattle sales throu h the arketin channel of utcheries It can also e inter reted as havin kno led e on rice infor ation of alternative arkets thus the as it co onl disse inates arket infor ation to far ers reduces the ro ortion of cattle sold throu h utcheries his su ests that the reater availa ilit of arket infor ation at the utcheries than at the ena les far ers to check on the s ot rices the receive vis vis the revailin arket rices hence the est rice that co ensates transaction costs incurred his hel s far ers not to receive rices lo er than the ones the nor all kno as the a decide to seek out alternative arket outlets and in the future a ne otiate ore forcefull or tr to i rove the ualit and resentation of their roduce oldie and u enauInfor ation cost can also e esti ated the nu er of e tension visits a far er received in the ast onths ur results sho that the varia le of e tension visits had a ositive influence on arket artici ation in utcheries his i lies that far ers in our stud a e rel in on e tension officers to attain ti el and relia le arket rice infor ation hich then increases their ar ainin o er durin a transaction his ith the su ort of ell develo ed rice trans ission echanis s such as radio and television hich the a orit of the far ers a third of our res ondents have access to increases their a ilit to discover arket rice infor ation e otiation costs a ear to also la an i ortant role in arket selection a on the cattle s allholders in ots ana Incidence of isreadin of oluses and distance to co onl used arket ne ativel influence the ro ortion of cattle sold to the arket lon distance to the co onl used arket far ers sho ed a ne ative effect on the ro ortion of sales throu h utcheries hese co onl used arkets are usuall here the utcheries and u cattle after the have one throu h all ins ections the veterinar officials and olice officers certif in cattle o nershi he ani al identification related issues are also found to si nificantl increase transaction costs in artici atin in arkets articularl the cattle arket channel his i ht e lain h far ers in ots ana have een o tin for the utcheries rather than since the latter i oses ore ualit re uire ents lthou h a si nificant nu er of far ers sold their cattle to individual traders such far ers are included in the econo etric anal sis onl if the sold their cattle to utcheries or the ith re ard to onitorin and enforce ent costs s eed of a ent and incidence of non a ent u ers had a ositive influence on arket artici ation ccordin l the coefficients of s eed of a ent and incidence of non a ent u ers trust orthiness increased the cattle transactions throu h utcheries his i lies that far ers incurred fe er onitorin and enforce ent transaction costs hen sellin to the utcheries than to the s entioned a ove far ers had to ait t o eeks to et aid once the had ade transaction to the a ents fro the so eti es o e ond t o eeks hen financial circu stances do not allo far ers to e aid ithin the scheduled ti e his could e one of the factors that discoura e far ers fro sellin their cattle to the articularl at ti es hen far ers are des eratel lookin for one to cover their household e enses rade uncertaint i e the risk that cattle sold directl to the a not rade as e ected ne ativel influences ro ortion of cattle transactions throu h utcheries his is consistent ith the findin s of ahta et al ho identified the factors hich lead far ers to access distant arkets in search of etter rices as lack of a areness and infor ation a out the ualit re uire ents of arkets such as the his also leads to the reluctance of far ers to sell oun ani als or eaners hen a ents collect ani als fro far s he three household characteristics varia les herd si e level of education and a e do not have a si nificant effect on arket channel artici ation ll three varia les have ne ative coefficients hich su ests that a one unit increase in each of the varia les ould have a ne ative effect on the utcheries arket channel or e a le a one unit increase in herd si e is e ected to decrease the ro ortion sold throu h utcheries here ould e a corres ondin increase in ro ortion sold to far ers artici ation in the arket channel onclusion and i lications his stud has atte ted to anal se the do nstrea cattle su l chain and cattle far ers arketin ehaviour and decisions e lo in he a lication of the a roach allo ed us to e lain the factors that influence the do nstrea cattle su l chain and arketin decisions anal sin cattle sales to utcheries and the the t o ain cattle arkets used livestock far ers in ots ana arket artici ation decisions and transaction costs are found to e interrelated ur e irical results shed so e li ht on the e istin uestion of h s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana ake relativel little use of livestock arkets the onl entit allo ed to e ort eef ur anal sis confir s the h othesis that transaction costs la a si nificant role in influencin the arketin ehaviour of s allholder cattle far ers in ots ana he results su est that availa ilit of arket or rice infor ation reduces hile e tension visits increase the ro ortion of cattle sales throu h utcheries his i ht e hel ed the fact that far ers attain ti el and relia le arket rice infor ation fro e tension officers and the infor ation disse inated via such eans as radio and television hich a a orit of the far ers one third of our res ondents have access to he i lications of these results are that the institutions that atte t to reduce infor ation costs a have to rovide far ers ith rice infor ation of other alternative arket channels his then increases their a ilit to discover arket rice infor ation and ne otiate etter urther ore the stud confir s that the arketin environ ent does still i ose a nu er of ne otiation and ar ainin costs es eciall transaction dela s distance to the nearest arket and onitorin costs rade uncertaint on far ers he ne otiation ar ainin and onitorin and enforce ent costs a rove ore difficult to chan e therefore articular easures should e directed to addressin these transaction costs o reduce the onitorin and enforce ent costs the a consider fast trackin a ents to far ers hich in the lon ter a oost the trust et een far ers and the I rove ent of vertical inte ration et een the t o sectors ill o a lon a in hel in ots ana efficientl use the lucrative arket overn ent olicies that ini i e the transaction costs of tradin et een cattle far ers and the ould also e ver i ortant in increasin arket artici ation in that channel and i rovin the do nstrea cattle su l chain tar eted for e ort hich is ell kno n for its hi h su l fluctuations ontri uted a er session ivestock roduction efficienc and arketin 232ckno led e ents his stud as conducted as art of the o etitive s allholder livestock in ots ana ro ect funded the I and i le ented the I I and the ots ana inistr of riculture s e art ent of ricultural esearch he assistance and colla oration of local district authorities and e tension a encies in the outh ast entral and ho e districts of ots ana is ratefull ackno led ed as is the co o eration of far households selected for the surve ","tokenCount":"5886"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4157725405.json b/data/part_1/4157725405.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0194bfb9fda1eb018e422e208df0ef43e331f54a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4157725405.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"460d0d3a83949ca83c93e799a001b5cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5e6b4b78-9270-43d7-b8e3-6966057809bf/retrieve","id":"-934716190"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f380375-e362-4f65-a18c-2498c47ffbb4","pagecount":"8","content":"Background Food and nutrition notion among schoolchildren in Benin is still less documented. Few studies have examined the determinants of food and nutrition among schoolchildren while others have attempted to link knowledge, attitudes and practices to diet. The present study aims to evaluate food and nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices among schoolchildren enrolled in public primary schools canteens in Cotonou and its surroundings.Methods A diagnostic study was conducted in twelve public primary schools with canteens. A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data from 861 schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 years. Three scores were used to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice. The overall score was the total of correct responses. The maximum score for all the three parameters was 15, 6 and 4 respectively for knowledge, attitude and practices. Data were analyzed using STATA 16. Logistic regression was performed to identify the relationship between food and nutrition practices and knowledge and attitude. Pearson goodness of fit test was performed to verify the adequacy of the model. A P-value of less than 0.05 (P < 0.05) was considered significant at 95% confidence interval.Results schoolchildren's nutrition knowledge was low (mean score 2.52 ± 1.33) while attitude and practices were acceptable (mean score 4.08 ± 1.39 and 2.84 ± 0.77). Only 18.2% of schoolchildren knew the different food groups and 3.4% knew that they should eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day. Most of the schoolchildren (93.6%) were favorable to eat at least five fruits and vegetables and 86.8% were willing to eat more than 3 times a day. Among all practices, snacking between meals and eating breakfast were poorly observed by the schoolchildren. Nutrition knowledge was associated with practices observed among schoolchildren but not with attitudes. However, a significant positive association was observed (p < 0.05) between attitudes and practices. Conclusion Knowledge on food and nutrition among schoolchildren from public primary schools with canteen was low. This study suggests implementation of nutritional education to improve schoolchildren's knowledge and attitudes towards healthy diets and nutrition.Food and nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices among children in public primary school with canteens in southern Benin: a case study Faïck Bello 1* , Elie Koukou 1,2 , Sam Bodjrenou 1,2 , Céline Termote 3 , Paulin Azokpota 1 and Waliou Amoussa Hounkpatin 1Adequate and healthy nutrition is essential to reach full potential at every stage of growth and development but most studies focused on vulnerable groups often target infants, young children and women. However, malnutrition is also prevalent among older children or adolescents with serious consequences for both their health and academic performance. Statistics show that more than 372 million school-aged children around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiencies; almost 100 million of them reside in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. The most common micronutrient deficiencies are iron, vitamin A, iodine and zinc. Among schoolchildren, these micronutrient deficiencies could cause a lack of productivity and academic performance, often leading to dropping out of school. Another consequence could be a weakened immune system which can lead to an increase in infectious diseases or even extreme fatigue [2]. In addition, micronutrient deficiencies could be associated with delayed maturation, poor muscle strength leading to constraints in capacity for physical work, and reduced bone density later in life [3]. The period, considered also as a growth period with increased nutritional needs, deserves special attention as well [4,5]. Thus the 7,000 days after a child's second birthday provide ongoing opportunities for children to reach their full potential [6,7]. Good food and nutrition practices are therefore essential for the healthy development of young people [6]. Moreover, the adoption of healthy eating practices in childhood favors not only optimal growth but also the development of good eating habits in adolescence and adulthood [8].To effectively contribute to addressing the various types of malnutrition, children need to understand the role of healthy foods and how they affect their health and nutritional status. Studying the threesome knowledge-attitude-practices could be an effective model for improving food intake and nutrition [9]. This model suggests that knowledge is a prerequisite for practice change and as knowledge increases, attitudes begin to change and, over time, practices could change [9]. Nutritional interventions such as food and nutrition awareness-raising programs targeting schoolchildren are more likely to have positive long-term effects such as improved nutrition practices, reduced malnutrition problems and nutritionrelated chronic diseases [10,11]. Literature shows that nutrition education programs can significantly increase children's nutritional knowledge and improve their eating practices [8,12,13].In Benin, in 2018 nearly 10% of adolescents were stunted, 5.5% were wasted, and anemia affected one-third of the school population, i.e. 34% [14]. This situation deteriorated during the COVID-110 pandemic with increased food insecurity levels. From 2019 to 2022, the number of undernourished people and the number of people affected by malnutrition increased [15,16]. How children perceive the concepts of healthy diets and nutrition is still unexplored. To our knowledge, few studies addressed the issue by trying to highlight the knowledgeattitude-practices model of food intake and nutrition among schoolchildren. The present study therefore, aims to evaluate firstly, the level of knowledge, attitude and practices of schoolchildren with regard to food intake and nutrition, and secondly, to explore the factors associated with the practices of schoolchildren in public primary schools canteen in urban (Cotonou) and peri-urban area (Abomey-Calavi and Sèmè-Kpodji) municipalities. These three areas are experiencing rapid urbanization and transition in dietary practices; while vegetable gardening is often practiced in urban and peri-urban areas in Benin. The public primary schools have been purposively selected because of the low socioeconomic status of the Schoolchildren's households, the high prevalence of malnourished schoolchildren [14,17,18] and existence of school feeding programs through canteens. This program called (Programme National d' Alimentation Scolaire Intégrée PNASI) is funded by the government and currently implemented by the WFP. This program sets up a canteen in each beneficiary school and offers a meal to each student. To date, not all public primary schools are enrolled in the program (80% coverage rate). The present study focuses on the students who are enrolled in the public primary schools with canteen in three communes of southern Benin.The present study is an observational descriptive crosssectional study. The three municipalities, Cotonou, Abomey-Calavi and Sèmè-Kpodji (CAS) were purposively selected.Charan and Biwas [19] formula was used to calculate the sample size at 5% level of significance and 80% power. n = 2(Zα/2 + Zβ)/δ 2 where α = 5%; β = 20%; and δ: detectable difference = 6 g/L.The design effect was determined by the formula DE = 1+(K-1) * ICC where (K = 75) represents the number of schoolchildren per cluster and ICC the Inter-Cluster Correlation fixed at 0.05 [20]. A sample size of 861 schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 years old was calculated.The number of schools was then obtained by dividing the number of schoolchildren to be surveyed by the number of schoolchildren per cluster, i.e. 11.48 schools, hencethe choice of 12 Public Primary Schools (PPS). We randomly selected these 12 PPSbased on the sampling frame from the list of all PPS benefiting from the National Integrated School Feeding Program (PNASI) implemented by the World Food Program and Benin Government in these three municipalities. Between the 58 PPS benefiting from canteens in CAS, we proceeded to a simple random selection of 12 PPS with canteens at the rate of four per municipality (Table 1). In each school, 75 schoolchildren in third, fourth and fifth grades were selected due to the reason that we did not want to disturb schoolchildren who were in exam class or those who were too young (under 7 years) to participate or answer questions.Sociodemographique data (area of residence, socioeconomic level, father's occupation, instruction level, mother's age, sex of the household, schoolchildren age, grade) and data related to food and nutrition knowledge, attitude and practices were collected from December 2021 to February 2022. A structured questionnaire, based on FAO's KAP questionnaire [21], was administered to the schoolchildren. The knowledge parameters considered were related to dietary diversity (different food groups), the role of vitamins and minerals, the definition of a healthy diet, the definition of malnutrition, the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption, recommended meal frequency and the consequences of malnutrition. Schoolchildren's attitudes assessed were related to fruit and vegetable consumption, different food groups eating, having breakfast, having snacks, buying healthy foods or not, and recommended daily meal frequency. Practices were measured through the daily frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption, having breakfast, having snacks and daily frequency of food consumption. To minimize confounders, schoolchildren were randomly selected based on the list obtain from school authorities.Data were collected electronically by enumerators after training and pre-testing using the World Bank Survey Solutions version 23.06. The enumerators were those who had \"Fon\" or \"Goun\" as their mother tongue or were fluent in these languages, which are the local languages spoken in the selected communities, and had at least bachelor's degree in nutrition, sociology or agronomy.For each parameter of knowledge, attitudes and practices, correct/desired responses were coded '1' and incorrect ones were coded '0' . For each aspect (knowledge, attitudes or practices), a score corresponding to the number of correct/desired responses was calculated [17]. For the interpretation of these scores, the thresholds used by Kigaru and colleagues were considered. The maximum scores for knowledge, attitudes and practices were 15, 6, and 4 respectively; scores ≤ 4, 5-10 and > 10 were categorized as low, moderate and high knowledge respectively; a score > 3 was considered as a positive attitude and a score > 2 was considered as good practices [17]. To access the factors associated to feeding practices the varaiable was transformed to a binary variable. Feeding practices score under the median was codified \"0\" for unadequate feeding practices and \"1\" for good feeding practices when the feeding practices were above the median score.Data were analyzed using STATA 16. Bivariate analysis was used to assess the association between categorical variables using the Chi-square test. The student t-test was used for mean comparison. Logistic regression was performed to identify the relationship between food and nutrition practices and knowledge and attitude. Pearson goodness of fit test was performed to verify the adequacy of the model. A P-value of less than 0.05 (P < 0.05) was considered significant at 95% confidence interval.The age of schoolchildren ranged 7-14 years with a majority (21.25%) being 9 years old. The mean age was 9.47 ± 1.54 years. Girls represented 50.49% of the study sample. The average household size was 6.60 ± 2.45. Most of the households (86.5%) were headed by men. The average age of household heads was 43.6 ± 8.0 years old. (Table 2).The mean knowledge score was 2.52 ± 1.33 out of 15. The knowledge level was low for the majority of schoolchildren (91.17%) while 8.83% had moderate knowledge (Fig. 1). No schoolchildren had a high level of food and Nutrition knowledge. Indeed, less than one out five  schoolchildren knew about the different food groups (18.14%) and the consumption of a healthy diet (13.26%). Barely a fifth of schoolchildren had good knowledge of the recommended daily meal frequency (20.23%). Less than 5% of schoolchildren had good knowledge of daily fruit and vegetable consumption, vitamins and minerals, and malnutrition. However, almost all schoolchildren succeeded in giving examples of the consequences of malnutrition.The average attitude score was 4.08 ± 1.39 out of six. Attitudes towards food intake and nutrition were positive for 71.66% of schoolchildren. Out of all observations (Fig. 2), schoolchildren had clear positive attitudes towards two practices. Most of the surveyed schoolchildren (93.6%) agreed on the fact that eating different types of fruits and vegetables daily is good, followed by the number of times they must eat within a day (86.86%).The average score observed among the schoolchildren was 2.84 ± 0.77 with a minimum of zero and a maximum of four. 68% of the schoolchildren had desirable feeding practices. In terms of observed practices, eating at least one fruit and vegetable daily and eating three meals daily were parameters with the highest percentages. None of the surveyed schoolchildren reported consuming a minimum of five fruits and vegetables in the 24-hour recall period. Among all the schoolchildren, just over half (59.41%) reported having breakfast before going to school and one-third (32.21%) had a snack during the day (Fig. 3).Schoolchildren's desired feeding practices improved with the age of mothers (OR = 1.03; P = 0.010) and were also associated with the area of residence (OR = 1.92; P = 0.000). Schoolchildren living in urban areas were almost twice more likely to have good practices than schoolchildren living in peri-urban areas (Table 3). Food and nutrition practices were significantly associated with knowledge and attitude. Schoolchildren with positive attitudes were 2.19 times more likely to have adequate feeding practices than those with a negative attitude. The association between practices and knowledge was negative; schoolchildren with good knowledge were 0.48 times less likely to have adequate feeding practices (Table 3).The present study aimed to evaluate schoolchildren's food knowledge, attitudes and practices and to highlight the determinants of food and nutrition practices.Overall, a majority of 91% of schoolchildren have low food and nutrition knowledge, while attitude ( ∼ 72%) and practices ( ∼ 68%) were much better. This situation might be explained by the lack of food and nutrition lessons taught at school, specially at grade 3 and 4, and also by the fact that teachers and parents particularly mothers who are responsible for children's education are not knowledgeable enough about food and nutrition aspects. However some few food and nutrition aspect are teach in primary school but specially with schoolchildren in fifth and sixth grade. Similar trends were observed in the studies conducted in Kenya and South Africa [9,18,22]. A pre-post controlled design conducted in Accra, Ghana [23] shows as other studies [24,25] that teachers' or mothers' knowledge or their implication in the education of schoolchildren could have a positive impact on schoolchildren's knowledge. In contrast, a study conducted in Nairobi [17] found that most schoolchildren's nutrition knowledge level was moderate and this finding was due to the fact that health lessons were offered in school. In Teheran, a similar finding was attributed to the fact that schoolchildren obtained their nutritional knowledge from their parents [26]. Our study, however, did not look at parents' and teachers' food and nutrition knowledge; but these findings highlight the important role of parents and schools in the nutritional education of children.Schoolchildren's attitude in terms of food and nutrition was quite good. Most of them feel comfortable with consuming more fruits and vegetables or eating more than three times daily. They were also in favor of eating different food groups. This situation could be explained firstly by the fact that there are probably no cultural beliefs or taboos that obliged them to not consume a certain type of food group and secondly, the school food environment offers different types of food that are available but not necessarily affordable. The same trend was observed in a study conducted in Kajiado district in Kenya [27]. However, a contrary trend was observed in studies conducted in other countries [9,18] where schoolchildren's attitudes towards desirable food and nutrition practices were negative. This situation was explained by the food groups sold in their food environment and the lack of knowledge. Schoolchildren do not have the habit of making a lunch box; they rather carry money to school to buy snacks and sweet drinks.The present study also finds that feeding practices regarding some aspects observed among schoolchildren were acceptable and significantly associated to knowledge and attitude. Most of them ate at least three times per day and usually had breakfast. This could be due to their food habits, the fact that they carry money to school and the meals offered in the canteen (rice + tomato sauce, maize dough + tomato or leafy vegetables sauce, granulated fermented cassava + sugar, macaroni, cowpeas, yellow peas, etc.). The same trend was observed in a study conducted by Lin et al. [28] in Taiwan. Our study shows that most schoolchildren ate one fruit or vegetable daily  but none of them observed the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of five fruits and vegetables or 400 g of fruits and vegetables daily and few (32%) of them took snacks. The low fruit and vegetable consumption could be explained by the inadequate food habits, the lack of knowledge or the low availability of fruits and vegetables in their local food environment wich can be at school or home. Studies conducted in seven African countries [29] and five Southeast Asian countries [30] found the same trends where children's consumption of fruit and vegetables was poor.The present study reveals that knowledge and attitude influence schoolchildren's practices. Schoolchildren with average knowledge of food and nutrition have 0.48 time less desirable practices than those having inadequate knowledge. This situation could be explained by the fact that the school food environment is not diversified [31]. Even though schoolchildren with average food and nutrition knowledge were in higher grades, they carried money to school and instead of buying healthy food they bought snacks and sweet drinks that were available. A study conducted in Teheran [26] found that even though schoolchildren had some level of knowledge on the effect of unhealthy diets on their health, they continued to consume unhealthy diets because their friends did. Other studies have shown nutritional knowledge as a factor that influences the individual's food choices [22,32].Attitude among schoolchildren was positively associated with practices. Schoolchildren who had positive attitudes had 2.19 times better practices than others in terms of food and nutrition. The same trend was observed in a study conducted in Slovenia [33] where they found that a positive attitude to healthy dietary habits encourages children to follow recommendations taken as healthy eating habits, while a negative attitude to unhealthy eating habits can prevent unhealthy forms of nutrition practices. This implies that the more they have positive attitudes towards healthy diets, the better is their practices. Positive attitudes towards good nutrition play an important role in improving nutrition practices among school children.The results of this study highlight the aspects on which we have to focus our efforts to contribute to the improvement of schoolchildren's food intake and nutrition. The school food environment remains one of these aspects that deserves improvement. Although some schoolchildren have an average level of knowledge in food and nutrition, they do not hesitate to buy sweets and candies available in their school environment. It is therefore not enough to have a good knowledge of food and nutrition to have a good diet, you should also have access to healthy and nutritious food. By acting on the quality of the food supply in public primary schools and by working in closer collaboration with both school officials and vendors, we could, on one hand, reduce the availability of foods that are not very nutritious or ultra-processed food and on the other hand to increase the supply of desired and healthy foods in schools. Further studies must be carried out to better appreciate the role of the school food environment in all its components in school context.Moreover, the positive correlation, highlighted in the present study, existing between the positive attitude and the recommended feeding practices, gives a glimpse of hope for improving food practices among schoolchildren. The establishment of a food and nutrition education program aimed at improving knowledge and attitude could be an effective approach to improve the food choices made by school children.This study has some limitations. The first is linked to the fact that the study only concerned public primary schools with canteens and secondly it did not take into account the daily consumption of five fruits and vegetables but rather the daily consumption of at least one fruit or vegetable.Knowledge on food and nutrition among schoolchildren from public primary schools with canteen was low. Schoolchildren did not know much about the different types of food groups, the desired fruits and vegetables consumption, a healthy diet, or malnutrition, but they knew more about the consequences of hunger. Although schoolchildren's attitudes were generally favorable to healthy diets and nutrition, they remain reluctant to eat breakfast and to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Practices such as eating at least one fruit or vegetable a day or eating three times a day were observed as being good. However, eating breakfast and healthy snacks should be strongly encouraged among schoolchildren. Furthermore, significant associations were observed between knowledge, attitudes and practices. These findings suggest an implementation of nutritional education to improve schoolchildren's knowledge and attitudes toward healthy diets and nutrition.","tokenCount":"3419"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4189387928.json b/data/part_1/4189387928.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..de1ec66f6aae5758ce4eec68ad4466941dc7d301
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4189387928.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fed2e900423f79b2d81452be216f90ef","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2abd57f-7f08-4294-8e2a-2f6eb7408e35/retrieve","id":"-805949116"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"199ca4d7-4aad-45c1-9cdd-f612f7b9d3a1","pagecount":"2","content":"Every African sweetpotato breeding program has its own collection of released varieties and dominant landraces still in use. Selected varieties have gone through trials in different agro-ecologies and been proven successful in certain environments. This information, well known by the local breeders, needs to be standardized using well-defined descriptors across countries. In the past, catalogues have been printed (2010 and 2014 being the most recent), but this is expensive due to the need for color plates. In addition, both breeders and practitioners need to have faster access to disease-free starter material of good performers with desired traits.There were several objectives in establishing the Sweetpotato Digital Catalogue. First, the emphasis was to be on the best performing sweetpotato germplasm in Africa, regardless of flesh color. Breeders across 15 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries were to nominate existing varieties and local landraces to be included and provide copies to CIP-KEPHIS. Second, standardized data were to be obtained on the agronomic attributes, growth characteristics, root attributes and usage; complemented with the release document. Third, each root would be scanned using the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS), to have a profile of macronutrients, sugars, and key vitamins and minerals linked to the description of the variety. Fourth, we also wanted to capture genetic diversity among the varieties by fingerprinting their DNA. Fifth, standard quality pictures would be taken of the plant, roots and leaves and a protocol developed for how to take quality photographs for the catalogue. The catalogue was to be designed so that anyone could upload information about new variety into the catalogue. Sixth, after virus removal or \"clean-up\", the cuttings would be multiplied in a screenhouse under \"double protection\", that is in a cage with horticultural netting, to truly minimize chances of insect-mediated virus transfer.The best bets have been characterized in Kenya, where the International Potato Center (CIP) collaborates closely with the Kenya Plant Quarantine Inspection Service (KEPHIS) and the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Samples of varieties and information about each one was collected from the breeders across 15 countries in SSA. Work began in 2017 with a total of 111 cultivars submitted. Some did not establish well, but 98 genotypes were set up in a characterization trial at the KALRO station in Kiboko, Kenya. Morphological data and pictures were taken at 90 days and root samples were taken at 120 days for quality analysis using NIRS method at Namulonge, Uganda.The back-end database for the catalogue was adapted from an existing potato catalogue application developed by the Research and Informatics Unit (RIU) at CIP headquarters in Peru. Development of the front-end application was implemented by a Nairobi-based consultant under the supervision of the SASHA data manager. National program breeders were consulted at several stages to confirm the characterization information.Varietal clean-up and the establishment of a dedicated screen house for the \"best-bet\" collection, with each variety under double protection (Fig. 2) was undertaken by the CIP regional germplasm program at KEPHIS-Muguga.The Sweetpotato Digital Catalogue was set up on Sweetpotato Knowledge Portal (www. sweetpotatoknowledge.org) and the corporate website of CIP (www.cipotato.org) in May 2019. A set of 80 varieties was identified for its morphological characteristics, root• The Sweetpotato Digital Catalogue (Fig. 1) presents a collection of the best performing sweetpotato varieties or \"best bets\" in Africa.• Standardized information of 80 varieties in use in15 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries can be found at www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org on the web• Information on a particular variety can be downloaded for printing, as can the entire catalogue• Contact details are provided so that users can obtain disease-free, pre-basic cuttings or tissue culture plantlets of these varieties. A print ready version of the catalogue is available for download or each variety can be downloaded as a single A4 page with additional morphological and NIRS quality data separately (Fig. 3). A form for submitting new varieties for publishing on the digital catalogue is available on the website. Web analytics on the digital catalogue are being collected to inform on usage and future improvements.The catalogue is backstopped by the regional germplasm collection effort maintained by the CIP at KEPHIS in Muguga. Disease-free tissue culture plantlets and at least 20 virus-indexed pre-basic cuttings under double protection in the screenhouse (Fig. 2) are available.Where there any key challenges or lessons learned?The major challenge encountered was loss of some cultivars due to stress encountered during shipping, and some mix-up in cultivars during the characterization trial. However, one of the benefits of the current digital version is that it will be easy to add additional varieties, once all information is verified.Although a professional photographer was engaged, a major drawback of digital colors is that the orange root color is distorted to be more intense or less intense than the actual shade. Therefore, pictures need to be adjusted against a standard color.The digital catalogue is ready to be used, but the fingerprinting work is being finalized and will be available as part of the catalogue by December 2019. Usage data are missing for many varieties and need to be determined using standardized procedures. We need to align the catalogue with improved breeding data management tools to support standardized data collection and storage. We need to ensure continuous submission from the different countries as new releases become part of the best bet collection to keep the catalogue up-to-date. By September 2019, the catalogue will be available as a standalone android app, downloadable from the Google Play Store for free. ","tokenCount":"901"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4197539399.json b/data/part_1/4197539399.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1d5021e2d0476926a3f997188aa67d9068a6b041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4197539399.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91103949f9e8d30fa6a4409d02b849ed","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea42834f-1c4a-4223-8481-4a5f3ddd0563/retrieve","id":"-110262116"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d307f7b5-ca7a-498c-986d-b55f266d1573","pagecount":"16","content":"Communities behind the camera: different perspectives uField report from south Africa FoCUs ,11tariffs, weak competition and scattered demand. \"Transporting fertilizers from an African seaport to a farm 100 km inland can cost more than shipping the same fertilizers from North America to the African seaport. As a result, African smallholders pay two to four times the average world price for fertilizer\", observes the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Paying €1/kg of fertilizer, as is the case in Burundi, when farmers do not earn that figure in a week, is unthinkable. The sharp hike in oil prices in 2007 has pushed fertilizer costs even higher: they rose fourfold between the beginning of 2007 and mid-2008 and are still twice as high as before the crisis.In 2006, at Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, the Africa Fertilizer Summit set a goal of boosting fertilizer use from an annual 8 kg/ha to at least 50 kg by 2015. In its final declaration, the Summit urged more local fertilizer production, the removal of taxes and import tariffs on these products and the creation of financial mechanisms to make it more accessible. It proposed the creation of a fund, to be hosted by the African Development Bank (ADB), to finance programmes aimed at boosting fertilizer use. It also called on member States to grant subsidies to the fertilizer sector with support from African development partners, with a special focus on poor farmers.The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund opposed such aid as a matter of principle. But the 2007 food crisis and the success of the subsidy policy pursued by Malawi since 2005 have caused them to soften their position. In response to the crisis, the World Bank funded the distribution of subsidised fertilizer. As part of this programme, Benin has, since late 2008, benefited of US$7.5 million (€5.5 million) which has enabled it to purchase and distribute 9,800 t of fertilizer to 50,000 small-scale producers of maize and rice. At the beginning of 2010, Benin's government announced a record harvest of 1.2 million t of maize -350,000 t more than the national requirement.Mali also responded to the price rise in imported products with a policy aimed at boosting rice production. The Rice Initiative seeks to reduce imports and increase the country's food sovereignty. \"Thanks to fertilizer, average yields have increased from 1.5 t/ha in 2008 to between 2.3 and 2.5 t in 2009\", said Adama Berthé, Director General at the Mopti rice office. By subsidising fertilizer, Mali's government has cut costs by half. The success of this initiative has prompted the Minister for Agriculture to extend the subsidy to maize and wheat production for the 2010-2011 season.Earlier, Malawi, which suffered a devastating famine in 2005, had decided to help its smallholder farmers by making fertilizer available to them at subsidised prices. Yields increased dramatically and maize production reached 3.6 million t -more than double the country's requirements. Just a year earlier, Malawi had imported 400,000 t of the crop, according to President Bingu wa Mutharika, who is also Minister for Agriculture, (quoted by Kenyan newspaper, The East African). Dyborn Chibonga, executive secretary of the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM) is enthusiastic about this approach and claims that: \"it is much cheaper to help people produce than to help them to consume imported food. It is a process that is far more sustainable and much less expensive.\" A number of other African countries have followed Malawi's experience with interest.But increased use of fertilizer is not enough on its own. It has to be accompanied by a clear and decisive policy and improved farming practices in soil and water management, for example.One major challenge lies in ensuring that subsidised fertilizer actually reaches the people for whom it is intended. On numerous occasions, inputs have been distributed unfairly, often grabbed by the richest farmers, who are also the most informed, while those who really needed them have been sidelined. In 2008, in an effort to overcome this hurdle, the IFDC, together with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) launched a system in Ghana and Nigeria that involves the private sector. Money for the subsidy is first deposited in a bank. Instead of distributing fertilizer itself, the agricultural ministry issues coupons with which the farmers pay the dealer at a subsidised price. The dealer then takes the coupons to the bank which, in exchange, hands over a cash sum that is equal to the subsidy. In Nigeria, 140,000 farmers from Kano State and 80,000 from Taraba State benefited from this system. \"This way, fertilizer diversion, adulteration and political patronage using fertilizer have been eliminated in the two states\", said the IFDC's Belo Yakasai.Another initiative, a project aimed at promoting markets for regional agricultural inputs in Central and West Africa (MIR), has, since 2004, been seeking to remove obstacles to fertilizer trade within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. The project is the result of a partnership between the IFDC, ECOWAS, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and USAID. After 3 years, inter-regional trade for organisations and companies taking part in the initiative had risen by 20%.Yet another issue is the sustainability of these subsidies, unless governments decide to include them in their budgets over the long term. Less interventionist alternatives being explored include the purchase of fertilizer in bulk by farmers groups. Another approach, currently pursued in Niger by the national network of farmers' groups RECA as part of a project to boost agriculture by strengthening cooperative fertilizer stores (IARBIC), uses a credit system based on a 'buffer fund'. The fund fulfils the same role as seasonal credit and enables farmers to have access to the money they need when it is time to buy fertilizer. They repay the loan after the harvest.Micro-credit is another strategy: the farmer borrows money to buy his fertilizer and pays it back when he sells his output. But such systems are still not well developed and in any case, they do not resolve the problem of the high cost of fertilizer. So if influencing prices is not an option, it is important to promote farming or fertilizer techniques that limit the amount that needs to be used.And as with all measures seeking to boost output, there needs to be a steady flow of products on markets where the supply of foodstuffs still fails to keep up with demand. Close coordination with trade policies is therefore crucial to the success of these initiatives.Southern Africa is scaling up efforts to harness wind energy to supply electricity for domestic and agricultural use. Several countries have announced programmes to build wind farms, which are generally faster and less expensive to install than other forms of alternative energy. South Africa has two major wind projects at Klipheuwel and Darling, both in the Western Cape.The Klipheuwel farm -the first wind power plant in sub-Saharan Africa -has the capacity to deliver enough power for 2,500 households. A Ugandan study of meat from the giant West African land snail (Archachatina marginata) found it has more protein and iron and less fat than beef, as well as containing many essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and vitamin A. Ukpong Udofia, a nutritionist at the University of Uyo, also asked a group of mothers and their school-age children whether they preferred a pie made from snail or beef. Most preferred the appearance, texture, and flavour of the snail pie.The World Food Programme (WFP) has mobilised US$115 million (€82.5 million) to implement the purchase for progress (P4P) project aimed at offering smallholder farmers opportunities to access agricultural markets. The programme involves sourcing food aid from local farmers, offering them a fair price and new outlets for their products. Through P4P, WFP bought nearly 25,000 MT of food between September 2008 and October 2009.The Caribbean Innovation Research and Entrepreneurship Network (RIE Network) has launched a website aimed at promoting best practices and mobilising a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. The network is dedicated to advancing economic and social progress in the region through the application of science, technology and innovation. The website was created as a follow-up to a workshop organised in Jamaica in September 2009 by CTA with the help of various Caribbean partners.An association of small-scale women farmers in Zimbabwe striving to reverse land degradation through organic farming; a civil society organisation in South Africa developing bio-cultural procedures to help indigenous communities share the benefit of local resources; an aqua-farm in the Cook Islands providing sustainable supplies of oysters, milkfish, tilapia and micro-algae. These were among the 2009 winners of the Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Award run by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The scheme recognises promising local enterprises that work to improve livelihoods and manage the sustainable development of natural resources in developing countries. Prizes consist of individually-tailored business support services worth US$35,000 (€25,000) to help establish each scheme and increase its impact.In another competition, Global Development Marketplace, a winning entry from Nigeria features climate change radio broadcasts in the local Igbo language. The service will enable 15 million listeners to provide feedback by recording voice messages to send back to radio producers. Winners receive up to US$200,000 (€144,000) in seed money, and support for putting the ideas into practice.Zimbabwe's Ministry of Agriculture has established a Cotton Marketing Technical Committee (CMTC) to promote the cultivation, ginning, marketing, processing and manufacture of seed cotton and its products. New legislation provides for the registration of growers, contractors and their associations and regular inspections to ensure that fair trade practices are observed.Ngungunyana Building 1 Borrowdale Harare ZimbabweResearchers have located the receptors that plants use to sense abscisic acid, a hormone that keeps seeds dormant and keeps buds from sprouting until the climate is right. The team, from the Vari Andel Research Institute (USA), says the discovery could lead to the development of drought and heattolerant crops. The breakthrough, which had eluded scientists for nearly half a century, is crucial to understanding how plants respond when they are under stress from extreme temperatures or lack of water.Bananas should weather the global financial crisis better than other agricultural commodities, according to FAO. The UN agency predicts that demand from developing countries will continue to grow in the future. That is partly because the fruit is deemed by consumers to be a necessity and is therefore less sensitive to changes in price and income. The combined trade in banana and tropical fruit now accounts for nearly 40% of the global fruit market.Eastern Africa and tropical southern Africa have the highest number of new plant species, according to a survey by the UK-based Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Sixty-seven of the 250 species discovered are from Tanzania, and 32 from Madagascar. Nearly a third of the species are said to be in danger of extinction. They include giant rainforest trees, rare orchids, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant.Researchers at the Philippine Textile Research Institute have devised a technique to make fibres from the stems of the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). These can then be blended with polyester to make clothing and domestic textiles. The development offers hope for communities struggling to control the fastgrowing aquatic weed, whose rapid spread in parts of Africa and Asia is killing fish, choking waterways, reducing biodiversity and hindering water transport. Scientists at the Indonesian Institute of Science, who are also investigating the invasive plant, say they have found a number of other practical uses which can generate income for local communities. Among them are techniques to use its stems to make furniture, paper and handicrafts, and to create biogas or fertilisers.Gnetum africanum, locally known as eru or koko will not disappear from Cameroon's forests after all. This climber, whose leaves are eaten as a vegetable by forest communities, is now widely cultivated in Cameroon. Eru is also exported either fresh or dried to central and southern Africa, Europe, Nigeria and the USA. Since 2000, the Center for Nursery Development and Eru Propagation (CENDEP), launched by farmers trained at the Botanical Gardens in Limbe, have been introducing other groups of farmers to this crop. In 2008, 870 of these who were trained either at the centre or in their villages and are members of about 20 Common Initiative Groups (CIG), were farming several hundred hectares of eru.CENDEP supplies cultivated eru saplings at 6 to 8 months. The first harvest takes place after 1 year. After that, the plants can be harvested every 4 months for a century. \"Almost half the eru consumed here in the south-west and even exported is cultivated. There is no longer any need to go and search for it in the forest. People can now earn money without having to suffer too much\", says Mami Eru, who grows the climber for sale at the back of her plot in Bonadikombo-Limbe. \"By domesticating the plant, farmers are conserving the forest's ecosystem and earning money at the same time\", observes Tanda Godwin Ade, the centre's deputy director.CENDEP has set up a drying unit and is now looking for new outlets.Contact: cendep2001@yahoo.com www.cendep.orgThe trade row over bananas, which waged for 16 years between the EU and Latin American countries, finally came to an end in December 2009. These countries, backed by major US companies, had lodged a complaint against the EU at the WTO, accusing it of favouring bananas from ACP states. The EU, the world's biggest importer of bananas (with almost 50% of the market), has agreed to cut import tariffs on Latin American bananas from €176/t to €114/t by 2017, with an immediate reduction to €148/t. In exchange, the Latin American countries (who account for nearly three-quarters of global exports compared with 17% for ACP states) will withdraw their complaint against the EU at the WTO.According to a study by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), the deal could lead to a 14% drop in banana exports for ACP countries. Particularly hard hit will be sales from the Caribbean region, already in serious decline. In the wake of the accord, some African exporters are hoping to develop their national and regional banana markets. In an effort to cushion the shock, the EU will have to mobilise nearly €200 million as part of the Banana Accompanying Measures programme.The future of ACP bananas will be decided in European supermarkets. An inquiry is planned into the supply chain for ACP bananas, as well as specific initiatives to strengthen ACP producers' market position.http://tinyurl.com/y9vykmh © Syfia InternationalSpore 146 / April 2010Marine capture fisheries already facing challenges due to overfishing, habitat loss and weak management, are highly vulnerable to new problems posed by climate change, according to a new study from FAO. Small island developing states -which depend on fisheries and aquaculture for at least 50% of their animal protein intake -are at particular risk.Inland fisheries and aquaculture also stand to be affected. Sea level rise over the next few decades is likely to increase upstream salinity, affecting fish farms, lakes and rivers, warns the report.The Around 1,200 farmers have returned to cocoa cultivation with great success in São Tomé and Príncipe, Africa's smallest nation, with only 200,000 inhabitants. Cultivation of this crop had been interrupted in previous years owing to an international price slump, causing producers to abandon their plantations and farmers to opt for corn and other cereals less suited to the climate.The results of a research, study and evaluation project, carried out by the French organic cocoa producing company KAOKA in early 2000, confirmed that the traditional island crop had the potential to make a comeback and thrive. They also showed that it could be sold at increasingly stable prices by harmonising traditional production methods of local farmers with new commercial and organic farming criteria.Thanks to technological support agreements drawn up with KAOKA, project supervision and the signing of organic cocoa certificates, in addition to funding from the Participatory Smallholder Agriculture and Artisanal Fisheries Development Programme (PAPAFPA), the first 500 farmers from 11 communities were assisted in making a highly successful transition from production of average-quality cocoa beans to high-quality cocoa for chocolate.This activity brought small-scale fishing communities and farmers together through mutual support cooperatives, dialogue on social and environmental linkages and development funding.The results have been exceptional.In 2004, 700 farmers produced 50 dry t of organic cocoa, whereas in 2007 there were 1,200 farmers producing 200 t. Farmers' quality of life at the beginning of the initiative was 25% below the poverty line, whereas today it has risen to 8% above. Some beneficiaries have opened shops, while others have opted for business or commercial activities.Insurers are using satellite images of vegetation to assess farmers' claims for cattle deaths during drought.The new scheme, launched by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), is making insurance available to herders in northern Kenya's arid Marsabit District at an affordable price.The system uses satellite data to observe changes in vegetation, bypassing the need for insurers to verify animal deaths in person, a costly process which makes premiums too expensive for most farmers.ILRI has teamed up with microfinance pioneer Equity Bank and African insurance provider UAP Insurance Ltd to administer the scheme.\"Payments kick in when the satellite images, which are available practically in real time, show us that forage has become so scarce that animals are likely to perish\", said ILRI project leader Andrew Mude. Droughts are frequent in the region, and according to Mude they now represent the biggest threat to livestock in the country.© E Miller/PANOS-REAScientists in Uganda have developed varieties of coffee plants that are resistant to coffee wilt, a deadly disease causing massive damage in parts of East Africa. Caused by the fungus Gibberella xylarioides, coffee wilt leaves the soil infected for many months. A study of the disease by CABI calls it the \"largest single natural disaster ever to affect African coffee\", and puts the cost to East African farmers over the past 10 years at US$1 billion (€716,000). It is now threatening to spread to West Africa.The new varieties, which offer hope in tackling coffee wilt, are already being made available to farmers. Georgina Hakiza, head of the coffee wilt programme at the Coffee Research Institute in Uganda said that mass production of plants will be relatively inexpensive as they are obtained from cuttings. She added that the spread of the disease had also slowed recently because researchers have educated farmers on control and prevention measures. The CABI study has revealed that there are two forms of coffee wilt, one attacking the Robusta coffee variety and the other, found only in Ethiopia, attacking Arabica.São Tomé and Príncipe is relaunching its cocoa sector with the focus on quality.Tracheomycosis, a deadly disease for coffee plantsSoftware for flood risk mapping is an increasingly popular tool for communities threatened by water. SOBEK is a powerful instrument for flood forecasting, control of irrigation systems, groundwater level control, salt intrusion and surface water quality. The technology was developed by Dutch company Deltares together with several public institutes.Another software product, Delft3D offers two and threedimensional modelling software for coastal and river flow. Demo versions of both products can be downloaded online and discounts are available for university and research institutions.http://delftsoftware.wldelft.nlAs part of a reforestry programme, the Senegalese environmental organisation Oceanium de Dakar planted nearly 35 million mangrove trees in 2009, in the Casamance and Sine Saloum regions. More than 78,000 people and 323 villages in Senegal took part in the operation.The Oceanium launched a pilot programme (65,000 trees planted) in 2006 in Tobor, Casamance.The NGO is aiming to plant 100 million mangrove trees per year, thanks to twinning initiatives between villages that will enable communities to reforest together.http://oceanium.blogspot.comVillagers in Keur Momar Sarr, northern Senegal, have been trained in a simple technique to get rid of bullrushes (Typha australis), an aquatic plant that has spread out of control in the Senegal River valley since dams were built there. Bullrushes reduce the productivity of fisheries, affect water quality and encourage mosquitoes.The technique, introduced by SOS Sahel as part of the organisation's Actions Dakar programme, involves converting bullrushes into bio-charcoal briquettes for domestic fuel. In 2009, about 30 volunteers from 17 villages near Lake Guiers were trained to make the briquettes. The plants are harvested and dried in the sun before being carbonised in a drum fitted with a chimney. When cool, the ashes are mixed with clay and water and formed into briquettes using a rotary press. Sixty kilos of bullrush produce about 13.5 kg of fuel.Villagers, who until now have been using the bullrushes to make mats and fences for very little profit, see new opportunities in the biomass charcoal. Some of them are planning to launch small production units and sell the briquettes to local markets.Cité Bagdad N° 31 GS BP 24 Louga Senegal fatoukine.tall@sossahel.org http://tinyurl.com/ycygvv9In an attempt to achieve national food security, Mozambique is accepting national and international investment in renewable agriculture and energy. Procana Ltd will be responsible for the largest biofuel project in Africa and the second largest ethanol project in the world.Immediately following the signing of the fourth contract in 2008, Procana Ltd obtained authorisation for the use of 30,000 ha of land and water for irrigation. Today, 100,000 ha of land are reserved for biofuel production in Mozambique, in order to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. This has angered rural inhabitants, who have accused Procana Ltd of not respecting the agreed quotas and promised levels of compensation.Meanwhile, a further 23,000 ha of land in Maputo and Manica provinces has been transferred on a leasehold basis to Mauritian farmers for solar, wind and wave energy production and for the cultivation of rice, potatoes, corn, onions and wheat, as well as for construction of a rice milling plant.A large number of Mauritian companies have been present in Mozambique over the last 10 years, including FUEL for sugar production and INNODIS for chicken rearing, in addition to significant investment in the service sector, restaurants and banks.In December 2009, experts from around the world agreed to adopt a universal drought index aimed at making it easier to monitor drought and manage climaterelated risks. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) will serve as a common reference for national meteorological and hydrological services worldwide. The SPI estimates the probability of precipitation based on previous readings established over long periods; it is expected to make a significant contribution to improving crop insurance services for farmers.Given predictions by experts that the frequency and extent of drought is likely to increase, it is important that meteorological services have standardised forecasting indexes so that they can give early warning to farmers. Experts distinguish between three types of drought: meteorological (lack of significant precipitation over a long period), agricultural (weak soil humidity due to lack of water which hampers vegetation growth and threatens the survival of livestock) and hydrological (marked lowering of ground and surface water levels following a long meteorological drought).With the advent of SPI, two global indexes for agricultural and hydrological drought will be developed by the end of the year. They are expected to prove particularly helpful to the water and agriculture sectors in forecasting this type of event.Since the beginning of 2010, Gabon has banned the export of logs, or unprocessed timber, in an effort to boost local employment. Currently, just 60% of wood from Gabon is processed. To reach a figure of 100%, the country will have to double its industrial capacity, ensure a better energy supply, improve transport and train personnel. In the meantime, the government has agreed to grant temporary waivers to the ban.The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) launched a new label in France at the end of 2009 -Makossa Banana -a brand that makes a selling point of being 100% Cameroonian. The goal is swift and wide distribution in major European supermarkets. The CDC already produces bananas, but these are bought and processed by the multinational Del Monte. In the case of Makossa Banana, the Cameroon company will organise the production, harvesting and distribution.In northern Rwanda, mountain gorillas from the Volcano National Park are proving a blessing for the town and province of Ruhengeri which previously had little to sell but apples and vegetables. The region has invested in tourism and small hotels are appearing everywhere. The Rwandan tourist office and national parks set aside a share of the revenue from visitors to build infrastructure; jobs are being created by the production and sale of agricultural products and handicrafts.Thirteen new varieties of yam introduced into northern Congo Brazzaville from Benin in 2008 are enabling farmers and the regional agricultural centre, CRRAFO, to have two harvests a year instead of just one. These Kokoro varieties, which are both early and late maturing, were brought in by the rural development project PRODER, with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).http://tinyurl.com/ya8qaewAn African yam species, Dioscorea rotundata, has settled in well in its new home thousands of kilometres away in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), which pioneered the introduction, says growing numbers of farmers in the highlands are drawn to the tuber by its adaptability to PNG conditions and the size of its yields.One producer enthusiastic about the yam is Jennifer Kena, who has trained other women farmers to cultivate the crop. She says it is a good alternative to the sweet potato, on which PNG farmers generally rely. Unlike this staple, the African yam, as it is commonly known in PNG, has good resistance to drought and can be stored for long periods. Jennifer has more than 5,000 yams in her storage shed for use as seed tubers. She uses posters and photographs to teach production methods and encourages farmers to improve soil fertility by filling holes with composted garden and animal waste prior to planting.Mozambique has started production of ARV medicines for the treatment of AIDS patients in their own country, following four agreements signed between Brasília and Maputo and the construction of a Brazilianfinanced drug manufacturing unit. This is the first time that the Oswaldo Cruz Institute of Brazil, considered to be one of the most advanced in its field, has opened a branch abroad.It plans to promote cooperation with other African countries, the implementation of rules and methods for the distribution and control of medicines, in addition to providing training for nurses specialising in ARV treatment.According to official 2008 data, out of the 300,000 or so patients requiring urgent treatment in rural areas of Mozambique, fewer than 90,000 were able to benefit from ARV drug treatment, owing to the lack of information and poor access.This project, which will respond to national, African and even Asian needs, also involves making medicines for the treatment of tuberculosis, malaria and other tropical diseases. The great advantages of this project, particularly for the rural population, are that rural health clinics will obtain supplies simpler and faster, e.g. via jeeps and trucks, and that the number of rural health centres will possibly increase.The latest seroprevalence data in Mozambique indicate that one in six people is infected with the AIDS-causing virus. According to the Government, this means that over 3 million are infected, i.e. over 25% of the population in some areas, with 500 new people contracting the virus every day in certain regions. Since 2007, local fruit juice has been extremely popular in the area, so much that manufacturers sometimes run out of raw materials.Local NGOs also recommend planting these trees to protect fields from the sun, but Thierry Kambuya, an agronomist for a womens' producer association in Sud-Kivu, advises against planting crops under avocado and mango trees, since nothing grows well beneath their shade.In Sud-Kivu, avocadoes are proving a successful replacement for diseased banana plants.Jennifer Kena teaches women farmers in PNG how to grow the African yam.The images are haunting. In a moving documentary about climate change in Samoa, an islander shows the site of what was once his home, now obliterated by the waves. A woman recalls how she used to dry copra on a beach that no longer exists. Shots pan in on a school building, the fourth to be built in 40 years. The previous three were destroyed by cyclones and the encroaching sea. The film does a masterful job, yet it was not made by professionals. The team was made up of Samoan islanders, who learned film-making techniques in a series of workshops in August 2009. The experience, which brought together youths and elders, men and women and high chiefs and ordinary people, created a lasting bond. It also led to a film that was deemed good enough to be screened at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit last December.A powerful medium for knowledge sharing, in a cost effective format that is quite literally entertaining for both creators and users, video is particularly successful when produced by people from within the community, rather than imported from outside. Participatory video (PV), the term given to a relatively new trend that sees the beneficiaries -whether they be farmers, fishers or unemployed young people -taking centre stage in the process of film-making, is rapidly gaining ground. In the words of a recent CTA/FAO publication Filming for Rural Change, \"You can use it in remote areas to raise awareness of an issue that concerns the local community, or you can put it on YouTube and reach the world!\"The development of cheaper and simpler digital filming and editing equipment has proved the turning point in video for development. Films can now be made using all sorts of appliances, from video cameras to webcams and from photo cameras to mobile phones. The result is often far more potent than other methods of communication. Videos overcome barriers of illiteracy. They also offer a format that is more readily accepted than the written word by some cultures in the developing world.In many ACP countries, videos are proving an invaluable tool for promoting rural learning, especially when the preparation, scriptwriting, film-making and editing is done by people with whom viewers can identify. A video made by the Centre for Audiovisual Communication for Development (CESPA) in Mali to raise awareness about water purification involved villagers taking an active part in writing the script and editing, giving a more credible feel to the film. Experience shows that farmers who watch videos of other farmers using new agricultural practices or different crop cultivation techniques are more likely to be persuaded to try them out themselves.With PV, the process is almost more important than the final product. Sometimes, quality may have to be sacrificed, but lack of professional gloss is more than made up for in other ways. Team effort is crucial, and community action can often be stimulated by the exercise. \"Participatory video must be more than just about communication or 'giving a voice'\", said Chris Lunch, who with his brother Nick runs InsightShare, an organisation aimed at developing PV. \"We focus on its capacity to build new and dynamic relationships, bridge divides and lead to action and change from within.\" Seeds of Discord, a film made using PV to highlight issues of land access in Burkina Faso, led to action being taken after it was shown to politicians. In videos made of indigenous fishing practices in Tanzania, local fishers were filmed demonstrating techniques, while other fishers commented on them. One of the films led to an end to dynamite fishing which was destroying marine life. The Dominica Organic Agriculture Movement (DOAM) is using PV to produce a video featuring 30 organic farmers, as part of a campaign to obtain a local certified organic label.Farmers are increasingly involved in video-making, especially films aimed at promoting agricultural techniques and innovations. The role they play may range from planning and identifying subjects and locations to demonstrating problems or techniques on-film. They may also work as co-directors and serve as consultants for distribution. Carlos Silva, who runs the Community TV programme for the NGO Acção para o Desenvolvimento (Action for Development) in Guinea-Bissau, has been using PV to improve farmers' knowledge of plant protection, mangrove replantation, salt and firewood production. Farmers were involved in planning and filming, as well as appearing on screen in the videos, which are aired through local TV and various events.Film's ability to convey the illusion of compressing time can be invaluable when trying to explain, for example, the life cycle of a crop pest to a farmer, and the likely pattern of the damage that it will cause. In the Pacific, where distance and remote locations makeIn the Saboba-Chereponi region of northern Ghana, farmers have made videos for other farmers about their use of Siella, a clay-like material beneficial to animals. After training in PV by the Association of Church Based Development NGOs (ACDEP) and Netherlands-based NGO Prolinnova, farmers' groups made their own films, documenting their experiences in collecting Siella as well as innovations such as the addition of salt, oyster shell and a cassava binder to make mineral lick blocks for livestock. The farmers from two communities -Chegbani and Wapuli -played a leading role in the planning, research, filming, evaluation and distribution of the films. The finished videos were later screened in other villages. As well as stimulating knowledge sharing, the PV experience has produced tangible results. Farmers from both communities now produce and sell salt blocks. In doing so, they are improving their own incomes and contributing to the success of the local livestock industry. Some of the most effective films are those made in local languages, with voice-overs or sub-titles added to reach a wider audience. The interviews and commentary in the Samoan documentary are all done in the local language, which adds to the film's sense of immediacy. Malian rice production agency the Office du Niger, has used PV to make films about various water management problems with filming done in the local Bambara language and French subtitles.As well as portraying issues in an easy-to-grasp visual format, videos are also highly versatile in the manner in which they are disseminated. They can be aired on television, shown as VCDs or DVDs, on screens at public events, in local meeting places such as village halls, adapted for local radio stations or screened via the Internet. A growing number of farmers' organisations are arranging viewings of videos to illustrate a particular problem or technique as part of their regular discussion groups. A video made by the North West Farmers' Organisation (NOWEFOR), a federation of farmers' groups in Cameroon, recorded the organisation's success in commercialising ginger production in the Bafut area. The film, which features local farmers, was later shown on national television and made available to other farmers' organisations.Studies show that often a visual image will stay in the mind far longer than any information conveyed by another medium. Twothirds of rural women creatively applied ideas illustrated by videos demonstrating improved food processing techniques compared to less than 20% who attended training workshops, according to a study conducted by AfricaRice and Benin's University of Abomey. The lasting impact tends to be even stronger if a film is made from a local perspective. In Kenya and Tanzania, young people are being trained to make short natural history documentaries for use in conservation education in local schools and villages. The reaction of audiences has been far more enthusiastic than when they have been shown films made by western TV companies. The most promising of these young film-makers are now training others, ensuring that the creative process continues. In Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, several youth media groups are using PV for community development and training other young people to use the medium.In spite of rapid progress, however, there is scope for more guidelines to develop the medium. Information is still lacking on the practical aspects of video making for development, including how to use it for knowledge sharing and the nuts and bolts of filming, distribution and screening. A number of organisations are working to develop PV and overcome some of the hurdles, and several important pointers have emerged. If a video is really to be participatory -and not the work of an outsider foisted on a community -it is key for farmers or other rural players to feel involved from start to finish. That means getting local people involved in the planning and preparation process, and asking their views about the product once it is ready. Some of the most successful examples of PV have involved members of the community at preliminary viewings, getting themThe impact of video depends on the involvement of communities. Here, filming gets under way in Senegal.In to comment on draft versions and using their evaluation to avoid mistakes and enhance authenticity. Not all community videos will translate into other cultures and circumstances -film made in West Africa, for example, will not necessarily be well received in the Caribbean. For a film to work well, it is important that non-professional film-makers receive training and guidance to help them get the most out of the experience. High-end technology is best avoided and information needs to be presented in a way that will be comprehensible and interesting to its intended audience. Simple language and clear visuals work best, and shorter videos tend to have a more lasting impact than long documentaries. But as more and more film-makers are discovering, most of the other rules no longer apply.Souleymane Ouattara works extensively with PV and steered the video on land access in Burkina Faso. \"When we use video as a tool for farmers, we use journalistic techniques, but the participatory approach is completely different from that used by a professional reporter\", he said. Added specialist video editor Michelle Leibbrandt. \"Usually a producer decides on a story and together with a cameraman this is then filmed. From there a script is written. Participatory video turns all that on its head.\" \"Before the training I was a little scared. I am not educated and I was worried whether I would be able to learn\", said Phulela Dlamini. She is one of 40 people from Molweni, a rural village in South Africa's KwaZulu Natal province, to be involved in producing the country's first community documentary. Dlamini need not have worried. \"I had never heard of, or touched a video camera before. But I loved the experience and felt great when I held the camera\", she said, with a touch of pride.South African NGO the Valley Trust has been promoting participatory video (PV) in four rural areas, using film as a vehicle to help communities air their problems and stimulate action to get things changed. Training is given in script development and filming, with plenty of practical hands-on experience, said Clive Bruzas, Senior Manager for Research and Monitoring.\"The participants work in teams and learn the technique of interviewing as well as how to hold the microphone, how to take different shots, and the importance of cutaways\", he said.The Molweni film-makers worked on videos that showed soil erosion and its effect on the community, as well as one on drug and alcohol abuse. So successful was the project that two of its members were selected to help with the training of 10 villagers from Mabedlane, another rural community in the region.On the outskirts of Durban, the Inanda community, a township facing various social challenges, was given the option of choosing which topics to film. The result was virtually unanimous. One issue they all felt strongly about was water -their only source of drinking water was a tiny spring. Using video cameras, they set about documenting the situation, gathering evidence and campaigning for their basic rights. Community members interviewed local councillors and organised screenings. The pressure paid off. Today the township enjoys a reliable water supply.Another video filmed by the people of Inanda tells the story of the Zimangweni Feeding Scheme, which grows vegetables that are given to elderly women. The women then cook healthy meals for the poor, making up lunch boxes and delivering them to old people and children orphaned by AIDS. Other issues explored through PV have included HIV/AIDS and problems facing youth -viewed through the eyes of young people themselves, behind and in front of the camera. \"These productions were entirely their own work, written, filmed and edited with only minimal assistance from the facilitators\", said Bruzas.The seven videos produced by the community film-makers were played to a large audience in Inanda, to rapturous reviews. One woman, Albertina Thelelihle Majola, who watched the films said it was hard to believe they had been made by fellow villagers. \"Most of those who took part in the production held a camera for the first time\", she said.But PV is not just about the films themselves. It is also about the impact the experience has on each of the amateur video-makers, and on their daily lives. \"The experience has shown that local people are quick to take control of the participatory video process and to recognise its potential as a tool for sharing experience and local knowledge between different groups of farmers\", said Bruzas. One valuable spin-off from the PV project in Inanda has been the launch of the community's own small Media Centre. \"PV can make a difference in my community, as it strengthens hope and shifts the way people think\", said Thami Mbeke, one of the young people involved in the community videos. \"Now I look at life in a new way.\"Fidelis Zvomuya The appropriately named common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) accounts for some 95% of the global output of dry beans. It is a staple food for more than 100 million people in Africa. There, about 60% of dry beans are used for household consumption, with the remainder being bought and sold in a highly dynamic trade. Demand is especially strong in lowland areas, where this crop is not grown, and beans are sometimes purchased several thousand kilometres from where they are grown. In some cases, as in Ethiopia's Rift Valley where 90% of output is sold at market, haricot beans are a real cash crop. There is little trade for dry beans beyond the continent. However, some countries such as Madagascar are seeking to tap the export market by focusing on high value varieties.Although haricot beans have been grown in Africa for more than 500 years, and have been a popular foodstuff for a very long time, it is only in the past 15 years or so that their agricultural, nutritional and economic potential has been fully recognised and exploited. However, production figures remain unclear: dry beans are barely included in official statistics since haricots are generally cultivated by women, together with other crops such as maize or cassava. This fact goes some way towards explaining the delay in launching research into varieties adapted to the needs of smallscale producers.The creation in 1996 of the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), gave a boost to research and to the distribution of improved varieties. The Alliance, which is supported by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), operates specialist regional research networks, namely the Eastern and Central Africa Bean Research Network (ECABREN) and the Southern Africa Bean Research Network (SABRN) as well as National African Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). Its goal is to make available -especially to the women who grow, conserve and cook themmore productive beans with a greater tolerance or resistance to stress and that respond better to consumer demand.Yields on the continent average 600 kg/ha, though that figure can rise to more than 5 t/ha when climbing beans are planted on fertilised soils. Climbing varieties produce three times as much for the same area of land as dwarf varieties. That can be a significant advantage for countries such as Rwanda, which is seeking to establish these varieties, and where the average family plot does not exceed 7 ares (0.07 ha). Growing beans enriches the soil, which therefore requires little in the way of nitrogen fertilizer; however, the lack of phosphorus in African soils greatly reduces yields. The introduction of varieties adapted to poor soils is one of the main challenges facing researchers, who also need to develop high-yielding varieties that are resistant to drought or excessive rainfall.Until now, research has mainly focused on upland cultivars, but efforts such as those of DR Congo's national agricultural research institute, INERA are shifting towards developing lowland varieties. A key angle of research involves the coupling of resistant bean varieties with the use of integrated pest and disease management (to protect against root rot, rust fungus, mosaic disease and anthracnose) before and after harvesting. In West Africa, very different varieties of bean are cultivated -black-eyed beans or cowpeas -and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is working to improve these.Consumer tastes and requirements are another consideration, and taking these into account is essential if the sector is to have a firm foundation. Women, especially those living in towns, want faster-cooking varieties to give them more free time and reduce energy consumption, particularly that of charcoal.While research into new bean varieties has made good progress, there is little point in pursuing this approach unless the selected seeds reach small-scale farmers, including those living in the remotest regions, and new methods of controlling the pests and diseases that can destory more than half a harvest are adopted. In Malawi, where 17 improved varieties were available, NGOs who distributed the seeds free have involved farmers in their propagation. PABRA is behind more than 60 cooperation agreements between local research and development and various partners (NGOs, producers' organisations, seed companies). In common with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), ECABREN favours the setting up of private seed companies that respond to local requirements.the appetite for dry beans has never been stronger in both towns and rural areas. Challenges for research and for the sector as a whole include creating more productive varieties that are appealing to consumers and, above all, making them available to farmers.The urgent challenge of finding a replacement for fossil fuels has led to a rush to develop agrobiofuels, touted in many quarters as the green solution to the world's energy and environmental problems. But this book claims that crop-based fuels are neither a practical nor a desirable substitute for the energy sources that have polluted the planet.Using convincing arguments backed up with detailed scientific evidence, the authors contend that far from solving our energy problems, biofuels threaten to create a whole host of new ones, leaving us short of power and food, destroying biodiversity and doing as much damage to the climate as ever. The book presents a compelling case against large scale biofuel production from agricultural crops. It also points the finger at governments whose eagerness to accept an oversimplified solution has led them to advocate biofuels as a silver bullet. In so doing, it warns, they are playing a dangerous game with risks that cannot be ignored. How can pastoralists be helped to manage the growing complexity and unpredictability of their environment? NGO SOS Sahel UK believes that one way may be to introduce scenario planning, a system used in the private sector, to groups of nomadic herders. A short booklet illustrates the approach, which has been tested with with Boran and Somali pastoralists in Kenya and the WoDaaBe of Niger. The food crisis coupled with the global economic downturn have increased the number of undernourished people in the world to more that one billion for the first time since 1970.The new annual report from FAO presents the latest statistics on global undernourishment and concludes that investments in the agriculture sector, especially for public goods, will be critical if hunger is to be eradicated. Conflicts between humans and wildlife have occurred for as long as humans and wild animals have shared the same territory and resources. In Africa, these conflicts have become more frequent and severe over recent decades as a result of human population growth, extension of transport routes and expansion of agricultural and industrial activities which have led to increased human encroachment on previously wild and uninhabited areas. Crocodiles kill people in some towns in Mozambique; leopards kill sheep within 100 km of Cape Town in South Africa and lions kill cattle around the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya.Focusing on large wild animals such as elephants, baboons, lions and crocodiles, this book presents the issues, describes different methods of conflict management and outlines a framework for decision-making. The aim is to help humans and wildlife co-exist with as few problems as possible and to help communities apply best-management practices in dealing with their animal neighbours. Many women are prevented from playing a greater role in influencing political, economic and community decisions that could help them improve living conditions for themselves and their families. It is now a widely accepted fact that women's participation and leadership is an essential prerequisite to poverty alleviation. Just how to achieve that goal, however, is far less clear.A series of case studies from around the world provides plenty of inspiration. Each one details how women have found the courage to shape their own destinies in a range of arenas. Examples covered include women's participation in national elections and female decision-making in community livelihood initiatives. One chapter examines a successful campaign by women in Haiti to participate in public affairs. Another looks at the case of women in Sierra Leone, who are under-represented in politics and over-represented when it comes to poverty. Two projects have successfully sought to increase the number of women in local and national government.The book brings together lessons learned along the way. A key factor to emerge is that programmes aimed at strengthening women's participation will have little impact unless the structures that uphold gender inequality begin to change. Insurance is an important tool in the risk management of fisheries activities. But facilities for taking out cover for damage to vessels and equipment are still lacking, especially for small-scale fishers in the developing world. This review presents information about the insurance market, demand and supply issues, perils covered, vessels insured, risk management methods applied and underwriting experiences. It also offers guidance for the formulation of legal, policy and institutional frameworks in countries which do not have them. Wastewater can be an asset, but in most developing countries treatment systems are either lacking or inefficient. As a result, wastewater used for irrigation tends to be of very low quality, especially near urban centres. Crops grown using this method carry a high health risk for consumers, especially in the case of fruit and vegetables that are eaten without being cooked.Making the critical link between agriculture, health and sanitation, the authors take a practical approach to this issue, exploring in concrete terms how wastewater can be used in farming, and how the health risks can be kept to a minimum. By examining case studies such as wastewater-irrigated lettuce in Ghana, the book presents effective low-cost options for using wastewater safely, including on-farm and off-farm measures. Chapters also deal with related issues such as risk assessment, cost-effectiveness, livelihood impact and wastewater governance. on the move Pastoralists, or mobile livestock keepers, are widely perceived as a minority group who live outside the mainstream of development, pursuing an outmoded lifestyle that is in crisis and doomed not to last. Yet while many other land use systems are increasingly threatened by global climate change, pastoralism is succeeding in generating huge national and regional economic benefits. This book looks at the massive contribution made to the economic prosperity of Africa's drylands by the continent's mobile herders, who manage complex systems of profitable crossborder trade and draw huge benefits from rangelands ill-suited to other land use systems. Throughout East and West Africa, an estimated 50 million livestock producers support their families, their communities, and a massive meat, skins and hides industry based on animals that are fed solely on natural dryland pastures. It is pastoralists' mobility that makes all this possible and which holds the key to their continued survival. Presenting some of the new policies and innovative practices for pastoralist mobility that are starting to emerge in many parts of dryland Africa, the book makes a case for greater support for pastoralists, and for the timehonoured system they have evolved over generations, which is less outdated than it may seem. In 2009, CTA celebrated 25 years of dedication to improving rural livelihoods in ACP countries. Regrettably, as the Centre's outgoing Director Dr Hansjörg Neun observes in CTA's 2009 Annual Report, the past quarter century has also seen serious underfunding for agriculture -a situation which persists today.Following the huge success of last year's decision to publish the Annual Report on-line, CTA has opted to repeat the process this year, making the full text of its 2009 Annual Report available on the Internet. As it did last year, the Centre has also produced a 12-page printed summary in English, French and Portuguese. A copy of this summary was sent out with the February issue of Spore. A CD-Rom containing both the full text of the report and the shorter summary is also available through CTA's PDS.Entitled 'A year of change and knowledge sharing', the Annual Report for 2009 looks back at some of the major changes at CTA during what was truly a year of transition for the Centre. The Report takes an in-depth look at several key themes for CTA, such as agricultural production, natural resource management, trade and ICT/ICM management.The on-line report also features basic information such as the tables for Products and Services as well as new material, including a list of the Centre's achievements for the period 2005-2010, an FAQ section and a review of key CTA events in 2009.You can read the full Annual Report on: http://annualreport2009.cta.intThe number of people living on the planet is growing fast. UN figures project that the total population will increase from 6.8 billion to about 9.1 billion by 2050. Almost all that growth is expected to be in developing countries. And while the population is aging in developed countries, many ACP states have the opposite situation, with an increasingly youthful population. By 2050, about nine in 10 of all the world's young people will be in developing countries. This large group will need jobs, and are likely to move to towns if opportunities in rural areas are not forthcoming.How can the economies of developing countries meet their expectations? How can the urban drift of young people be halted? And how is enough food going to be produced to feed all these people? These, and other questions linked to changing population trends were the focus of CTA's most recent Brussels Briefing. The session, Population dynamics and its implications for ACP rural development, was held on 27 January 2010. A team of panellists discussed the main issues and challenges arising from the forecasts and identified critical policy interventions needed to address the impacts on public health, family planning, education, migration, trade and investment.For more information, see http://brusselsbriefings.net and look out for Spore's special edition on the issue, due out in August.  Kerala, for example, one of the country's smallest provinces, has more than 2,200 common service centres (CSC) offering a wide range of services in the field of agriculture, e-governance, education and electronic payment. Installed by public-private partnerships, these kiosks serve as centres for the use of citizens. The African professionals also had the opportunity to visit a telecentre in a village located 45 km from Bangalore (capital of Karnakata) which enables people to obtain and register documents relating to births, marriages and deaths as well as certificates of residence, all at a lower cost. Some telecentres provide as many as 40 different services such as access to digital land registers, booking train tickets and paying electricity or telephone bills. This kind of ICT also offers further scope, especially in the fields of animal and human health, disaster management etc.India has already fulfilled more than half its ambitious National e-Governance Plan, which foresees the creation of more than 100,000 telecentres. The secret of its success lies in the combination of a strong political will for government to work with citizens, a private sector given to offering innovative services and well-developed entrepreneurial skills in rural areas. It is time we open our eyes and face reality. Studies carried out in more than 5,000 rural households in Senegal, Mali, Kenya and Madagascar leave us no choice but to accept that their situation is very different from the picture that is so often painted. Rural society is still poor, very poor: the average per capita revenue is less than US$2 a day in 12 of the 15 regions investigated (and less than $1 in six regions). Diversification is certainly widespread, but this is mainly due to a need for survival, and 80% of all incomes still come from agriculture. The much vaunted concept of vertical integration in high value added sectors remains extremely marginal and trading is still largely traditional (via collectors and small rural markets).RuralStruc, the study that we have been conducting at the World Bank for 3 years on the structural change being seen in rural economies due to globalisation, shows there is no more time for delay: we need to act quickly, very quickly, for agriculture remains a major sector for African economies. Sixty five to 75% of the continent's inhabitants still make their living from agricultural activities, while the remaining 25 to 35% rely on the informal urban economy for 85% of their income. Unlike other regions of the world, Africa has witnessed the arrival of urbanisation without industrialisation, and the economic transition has yet to happen.The demographic transition, however, is well under way. With high birth rates and a fall in death rates, the population is growing rapidly (currently 860 million people, expected to rise to 1.7 billion in 2050). Each year, more than 10 million young people join the job market -that figure will more than double towards the end of the 2020s. Imagine a country that has 15 million inhabitants at the moment. It has to find jobs for 200,000 young people a year, a number that will rise to 350,000 in 15 years' time. Which sectors can absorb these bands of workers? It is hard to develop new industries at a time of increased international competition. If you factor in the feared impacts of climate change on the environment, African countries are facing a very new set of challenges -they must accomplish their double transition (economic and demographic) against a backdrop of globalisation while dealing with major environmental constraints! For at least the next two decades, agriculture will remain pivotal to African economies. Its role will of course be to feed an ever growing population, but also -and this is too often forgotten -to provide jobs, distribute incomes and strengthen the continent's productive base.It is up to governments to set in place ambitious structural policies, because rural dwellers are currently too poor to be able to invest and turn the tide. Improving access to factors affecting production, especially land and water is an essential prerequisite. The setting up of small-scale irrigation projects and products marketed for their geographical origin can be significant levers for development. Direct support should be provided for these initiatives.There can be no agricultural modernisation as long as credit costs 15 to 20%. Loans need to be offered at advantageous rates to enable access to inputs and light equipment, with more effective trading as security. Here too, governments have a fundamental role to play in improving the economic and institutional environment: roads and rural tracks so people have better access to markets, information and training, and support for organisations. It is this packet of policies that will improve yields and revenues, not some miraculous and ill advised process of mechanisation which could end up destroying jobs.Our studies show that we first need to favour the food sectors. The market for food products exists, the growth potential is huge and everyone can reap the benefits. By breaking the stranglehold that keeps food insecurity in place, producers will be able to consider gradually moving into other crops and activities. Increased output will enable farmers to supply the towns and lead to lower prices. It will also pave the way for more processing, a source of local added value. It all adds up to intensifying links between town and country, a process that can be triggered by this increase in food production.While African governments have well understood the need to ensure food security, they do not yet appear to have fully grasped the more global structural challenges and the role that agriculture has to play.Demand for jobs is going to escalate very swiftly and the hordes of mainly rural-based young people who want to earn a living will not wait. The alternatives are limited: steering a course between hypothetical El Dorados and the sale of telephone cards at traffic lights in the towns, the countryside will have to play a double role, at least for the foreseeable future, serving as both buffer and driver.An urgent need for structural policies Faced with new challenges, the countries of sub-saharan Africa must set structural policies in place to develop agriculture urgently. this, their main economic sector, is a crucial source of income for the millions of young people who join the job market each year. these are the key findings of the Ruralstruc study which includes four countries on the continent. ","tokenCount":"10197"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4202389976.json b/data/part_1/4202389976.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..573f4fc174f187a6916f028b4fe8d851400b6535
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4202389976.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"03765e871be7135fdbb405f9ee130624","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7245f3b9-129c-495c-98ff-669869236623/retrieve","id":"1214877842"},"keywords":["Gliricidia sepium","livestock production","Mucuna pruriens","organic amendments","Benin"],"sieverID":"0d9dfba6-1a52-4510-ab2c-743869ea8701","pagecount":"5","content":"The rapid population growth in West African cities resulted in rising demand for animal source foods. However, this high demand for animal source food is rarely met by domestic production in Benin due to several factors, including low feed availability and poor animal nutrition, especially during the dry months, and degraded soils. To overcome this situation, the effects of maize (Zea mays) cob biochar and green manure from Gliricidia sepium and Mucuna pruriens (2 t/ha each) and their combination (1 t/ha each) were tested on Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés agronomic performance over three months. The combination of biochar and green manure performed best with plant height increased by 57% (103.8 ± 17.12 cm) when compared to the un-amended control plots and each treatment alone two-month after planting. In addition, the number of leaves (22.9 ± 5.82) and the biomass determined (20.3 ± 5.64 t dry matter/ha) were highest with the combined treatment than the un-amended control plots three-months after planting. B. brizantha cv. Xaraés, fertilized with locally available biochar and green manure, could contribute significantly to increasing feed availability at farm level and boost meat and milk production.In Benin, animal production represents the second most important economic activity after agriculture, particularly in the Alibori and Borgou departments (Saka et al. 1991;De Haan, 1997;Djenontin, 2011). However, due to the deterioration of the environment, the dairy sector remains fragile and fails to meet the increasing population demand, resulting in a short-term response of imports of powdered milk at high prices (SOS Faim, 2015). Despite frequent climatic and food crises, the national livestock herd is constantly growing. This increase is due to a strong demand for milk and meat, following rising incomes, population growth and increasing urbanization (SOS Faim, 2015). According to Hamadou et al. (2005), Brachiaria grasses are important forage that boosts ruminants' milk and meat productions. In Benin, fodder shortage usually occurs during the dry season when transhumant herds move into the country from the Sahelian regions. To satisfy the needs of the herders and increase forage availability for animal production, the present study aimed to evaluate the performance of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés, a very palatable plant to ruminants as affected by the (i) biochar treatment alone; (i) green manure of Gliricidia sepium and Mucuna pruriens, and the (3) combined effect of biochar and green manure amendments.The trial was set-up at the Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou (Benin Republic, West Africa) located at 9°21' latitude north and 2°36'east longitude and at 350 m above sea level. Parakou is neighbored in the north by the municipality of N'Dali, in the south, east and west by the municipality of Tchaourou and covers an area of 441 km² (Monograph Parakou, 2006). The climate is tropical sub-humid with an average annual precipitation of about 1200 mm (Akoègninou et al. 2006).Mucuna puriens var utilis, a perennial legume of the Fabaceae family that protects and retains soil moisture through its mulching capacity (ProSol, 2017) and Gliricidia sepium, a shrub legume belonging to the Papilionaceae (Figures 1a, b) family were used. Their biomass (leaves plus twigs less than 5 cm) were used as green manure solely or in combination.Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés is a perennial C4 herbaceous grasses of the Poaceae family, originating from Africa. This cultivar was released by Embrapa in 2003 after 15 years evaluation in Brazil. It is a 1.5 m height grass with high biomass production, fast regrowth and late flowering (Embrapa, 2004). According to Husson et al. (2008), Brachiaria grasses produce a high biomass (quality fodder, Figure 1c), and can suppress weeds through their powerful and deep rooting system. They have a great ability to sequester and accumulate large amounts of soil organic carbon through their large shoots and roots biomass (Peters et al., 2012) and thus important for livestock feed production and soil improvement (Gichangi et al. 2017). Biochar is the by-product of artisanal or industrial pyrolysis of plant biomass. It has a porous structure which confirms its water absorption and retention properties (Brodowski et al. 2006;Liang et al. 2006). Biochar increases soil porosity, allowing oxygen supply to the soil (Yanai et al. 2007). The biochar used in the trial was produced from corn cobs' biomass at 350°C for 5 hours (Figure 2). The set-up was a randomized complete block design consisting of three blocks, each containing eight experimental units as follows: T0: Plots of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés with no amendment; T1: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biomass of Mucuna at 2 t dry matter (DM/ha); T2: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biomass of Gliricidia 2 t DM/ha, T3: Plots of Brachiaria amended with mixture of biomass at 2 t DM/ha (1 t/ha Mucuna + 1 t/ha Gliricidia); T4: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biochar at 300 kg DM/ha; T5: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biochar at 60 kg DM / ha + 2 t DM/ha Mucuna; T6: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biochar 60 kg DM/ha + 2 t DM/ha Gliricidia; T7: Plots of Brachiaria amended with biochar 60 kg DM/ha + 2 t DM/ha mixture of biomass (1 t/ha Mucuna + 1 t/ha Gliricidia). The biomass was incorporated into the soil 15 days after sowing.The seeds of B. brizantha cv. Xaraés were installed on the experimental plots of 3.6 m² according to sowing patterns of 20 by 20cm. The average number of seeds per pocket was five. The first germination started on the fourth day after sowing. The biomass of M. puriens and G. sepium were incorporated at 2 t DM/ ha on plots that received each of the treatment alone, and at 1 t DM/ha on the plots that received the combined biomasses. Biochar was applied at 300 kg DM/ha alone, but the rate of 60 kg DM/ha referring to 20% sole biochar treatment was used when combined with any of the biomass used for its effectiveness as suggested by Schmidt (2017). It was introduced at 5 cm soil depth near the B. brizantha cv. Xaraés plant roots. Each treatment was replicated three times, totaling 24 experimental units.Five plants of B. brizantha cv. Xaraés were chosen randomly to assess plant growth per treatment. The height of the plants from the crown to the flag leaf tips was measured using a tape and the number of leaves counted every 15 days for two months. The biomass was cut at two and three months after application of the treatments in a 1 m² net plot to avoid border effects. Samples of fresh biomass were put in an oven at 105°C for 2-3 days to determine DM.Data collected were checked for homogeneity and normality assumption before F-test was performed using oneway ANOVA. The statistical analysis was performed using the R programming software.Plots that received green biomass plus biochar grew more than plots with sole green biomass and biochar treatment alone. The greatest plant height obtained was with T7 (biochar plus biomass of legumes) compared to the other treatments (Table 1, P<0.05). Likewise, the number of leaves determined increased significantly with biochar and legume treatments, Table 1, P<0.05). With regard to biomass, no significant difference was obtained between the treatment at the first pruning two months after sowing (MAS). At the second cut (3MAS), the treatment T7 performed best with significantly higher biomass compared to the other treatments (Table 1). Moreover, the treatments T3, T5 and T6 produced greater biomass compared to the control (P>0.05). The different growth parameters and biomass production show that the combined application of biochar and legume biomass of G. sepium and M. pruriens significantly improve the growth of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés plants. The supply of biochar in the soil generally increases the retention of water and nutrients, through the cation exchange capacity of the soil-biochar system, the permeability, the penetration of the roots deeper without counting its indirect effects on biological and chemical properties in the soil (Lehmann and Joseph, 2009;Sohi et al. 2010). The biomass produced under different treatments showed a marked difference between the amended plots and the control plots. This is explained by the nutrient content of the legume plants used which were favoured by the biochar amendment to create favourable environment for the nutrient uptake by the B. brizantha cv. Xaraés plant. Therefore, the combination of biochar plus biomass of G. sepium and M. pruriens is recommended to improve the performance of B. brizantha cv. Xaraés fodder availability for animals. These results corroborate the findings by Sohi (2012); Kanouo (2017); Oguntunde et al. (2004) and Crane-Droesch et al. (2013) who showed that incorporating charcoal into the soil improves crop yields. However, the charcoal is not a biochar as their production processes are different. Nonetheless, they play similar role. Beyond serving as forage, our findings confirm the importance of G. sepium and M. pruriens in the restoration and protection of soil (ProSol, 2017) and could be promoted as green amendment.The present study investigating the effect of biochar and green manure amendments of Mucuna pruriens and Gliricidium sepium shows that the green biomass of these legumes could be combined with biochar to conserve their nutrient to improve Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés forage production and soil restoration through fertility improvement. Our findings could be useful to several actors working in the field of food intensification and animal production. This approach could be used to increase forage production that maximizes milk and meat production in Benin.","tokenCount":"1552"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4214106660.json b/data/part_1/4214106660.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f2028baed835cd69da6f7fb17c4dac52e181671d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4214106660.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"751624afb2c87ed4781343df573d6a74","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b853307f-65f4-4eab-bf09-942fe09c3548/retrieve","id":"184887965"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9819df5b-95cf-4f9d-9b0a-d02acbdbf14f","pagecount":"5","content":"The alluvial aquifers of the Mzingwane Catchments are the most extensive of any tributaries in the Limpopo Basin and are present in the lower reaches of most of the larger rivers. The alluvial aquifers form ribbon shapes covering over 20 km in length, generally less than 1 km in width and areal extents ranging from 100 ha to 255 ha in the channels and 85 ha to 430 ha on the flood plains. The study area is the lower Mzingwane River, downstream of Zhovhe Dam for a stretch of approximately 50 km. Five commercial agro-businesses use alluvial groundwater for citrus, wheat, maize and vegetable production. The water is abstracted from boreholes and well-points in the river and on the banks. These large users are resupplied by release of water from Zhovhe Dam, which recharges the aquifer. Zhovhe Dam also releases water for Beitbridge town, which abstracts the water from the Limpopo River, into which the Mzingwane flows. For the year May 2006 to April 2007, water released from the dam or irrigation and urban water supply was below losses recorded. Similar trends were recorded in previous years. However, there is no information available on groundwater -surface water interactions in the river below Zhovhe Dam. Thus the river-aquifer system is being instrumented with piezometers and a flow gauging station. From the data obtained, a combined groundwater -surface water shall be prepared using the recently developed MODFLOW-MIKE11 interface. Salinity of groundwater in the lower Mzingwane aquifers has been found to increase significantly in the end of the dry season, and this effect is more pronounced in water abstracted from wells on the alluvial plains. During drought years, recharge is expected to be less and if the drought is extended water levels in the aquifers may drop substantially, increasing salinity problems. This problem shall also be modelled.An alluvial aquifer can be described as a groundwater unit, generally unconfined above, that is hosted in horizontally discontinuous layers of sand, silt and clay, deposited by a river in a river channel, banks or flood plain. They are recharged either continuously if the river is fully perennial, or, more usually, annually (Barker and Molle, 2004). Because of their shallow depth and vicinity to the streambed, alluvial aquifers have an intimate relationship with stream flow. It can be argued that groundwater flow in alluvial aquifers is an extension of surface flow (Mansell and Hussey, 2005). Surface water bodies, or reaches thereof, can be classified as discharge water bodies if they receive a groundwater contribution to baseflow, or as recharge water bodies if they recharge a shallow aquifer below the streambed (Townley, 1998).In semi-arid regions, streams with alluvial aquifers tend to vary from discharge water bodies in the dry season, to recharge water bodies during the rainy season or under a managed release regime (Owen, 1991). Although there is a considerable body of research on the interaction between surface water bodies and shallow aquifers, most of this focuses on systems with low temporal variability. In contrast, intermittent rainfall patterns in semi-arid regions have the potential to impose high temporal variability on alluvial aquifers, especially small ones. For example, single high magnitude flows have been shown to have a greater influence on recharge than the more frequent, small to medium flows in the Kuiseb River in Namibia (Lange, 2005).The alluvial aquifers of the Mzingwane Catchment are the most extensive of any tributaries in the Limpopo Basin (Görgens and Boroto, 1997). Alluvial deposits are present in the lower reaches of most of the larger rivers (Bubye, Mwenezi, Mzingwane, Shashe, Thuli and their tributaries. They are narrow bands, typically less than 1 km in width on the largest rivers.The alluvial aquifers form ribbon shapes covering over 20 km in length and areal extents ranging from 100 ha to 255 ha in the channels and 85 ha to 430 ha on the flood plains (Moyce et al., 2006). Smaller alluvial aquifers occur along many of the tributaries of the Mzingwane, Thuli and Shashe Rivers. The distribution of these aquifers is determined by the river gradient, geometry of channel, fluctuation of stream power as a function of decreasing discharge downstream due to evaporation and infiltration losses, and rates of sediment input due to erosion (Owen, 1991). Infiltration rates are fairly constant, due to the physical homogeneity of alluvium. An enhancement of the thickness and areal extent of alluvial aquifers is commonly observed associated with geological boundaries, and this enhancement occurs both upstream and downstream of the geological contact. Recharge of the alluvial aquifers is generally excellent and is derived principally from river flow. No river flow occurs until the channel aquifer is saturated and such full recharge normally occurs early in the rainy season. For lateral plains aquifers, recharge depends on the permeability of the aquifer, the distance from the channel and the duration of river flow. Artificial recharge comes from seepage from small dams and from releases from large dams such as Zhove (Mzingwane River) and Silalabuhwa (Insiza River). The aquifers can sustain small-scale irrigation and infiltration galleries, and well point systems can be constructed to exploit the resource (Owen and Dahlin, 2005).The area of study is the lower Mzingwane River and associated alluvial aquifers, from Zhovhe Dam (capacity 133 Mm 3 ) to Bertie Knott bridge, a stretch of approximately 50 km, see figure 1. The alluvial aquifer downstream of Zhovhe consists of two components: a channel aquifer and a plains aquifer. Five commercial agro-businesses use alluvial groundwater for citrus, wheat, maize and vegetable production. The water is abstracted from boreholes and well-points in the river and on the banks. These large users are resupplied by release of water from Zhovhe Dam, which recharges the aquifer. Zhovhe Dam also releases water for Beitbridge town, which abstracts the water from the Limpopo River, into which the Mzingwane flows. Water released from Zhovhe reaches the Mazunga area (see figure 1) after an average of 8 days. The estimated areal extent of aquifer in the study area is 1,455 ha of channel aquifer and 3,647 ha of plains aquifer (Moyce et al., 2006).For the year May 2006 to April 2007, water released from Zhovhe Dam for irrigation and urban water supply (21.8 Mm 3 ) was below losses recorded from the dam: 43.6 Mm 3 , including evaporation losses of 13.2 Mm 3 . Similar trends were recorded in previous years.Currently, there is no hydrological information available on the groundwater or surface water in the river below Zhovhe Dam. Thus the river-aquifer system is being instrumented with piezometers and a flow gauging station (see figure 1).The main input to the system is releases and spillage from Zhovhe Dam; these are recorded at the dam. Other inputs are flows from the Zhovhe, Mtetengwe and Ndambe Rivers and rainfall. The Mtetengwe catchment shall be modelled using SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool;Arnold et al., 1993;Arnold and Foster, 2005). The model shall be calibrated against a gauging station. The calibrated model shall be transferred to the Zhovhe and Ndambe catchments to derive runoff for the ungauged Zhovhe River. To this end, rain gauges have been installed in the three catchments and discharge is being recorded on the Mzingwane River, at the downstream end of the study area.The main output from the system is flow through the Bertie Knott bridge. A series of limnigraphs have been installed at the bridge for measurement of surface and sub-surface flow. Evaporation from surface water is measured from a class A evaporation pan, located at Zhovhe Dam, and will be corrected for the proportion of the river channel flooded for a release or spillage of given size. Evaporation from sand shall be compared against that studied by Wipplinger (1958) in Namibia; the only study on evaporation in alluvial sands in the region.From the data obtained, a combined groundwater -surface water shall be prepared using the recently developed MODFLOW-MIKE11 interface.Salinity of groundwater in the lower Mzingwane aquifers has been found to increase significantly in the end of the dry season, and this effect is more pronounced in water abstracted from wells on the alluvial plains (Love et al., 2006). The difference in chemistry between the river bank aquifers on the one hand and the rivers and bed aquifers on the other is clear (figure 2). The bank aquifers (CP033, CP036) show very high levels of sodium and chloride, well above recommended levels for irrigation, livestock watering or domestic use (DWAF, 1996a;1996b;WHO, 2004). The riverbed aquifers have similar chemical signatures to the river surface water and are of acceptable quality for most uses.During drought years, recharge is expected to be less and if the drought is extended water levels in the aquifers may drop substantially, increasing salinity problems. ","tokenCount":"1444"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4216169230.json b/data/part_1/4216169230.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..652422a0a32f9f84b38371e2ab339cfc9c0ed764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4216169230.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9d7939d145461aef5e6f8ce806fa0d9a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b218ff0f-e91d-4d7e-a2dd-bdf4daa287b0/retrieve","id":"-17684511"},"keywords":["Brachiaria","molecular markers","nitrous oxide emissions","nitrogen use efficiency","participatory evaluation"],"sieverID":"76727a44-9e5c-45d8-aa06-03dbf1efe43d","pagecount":"4","content":"It is widely recognized that less than 50% of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer is recovered by crops and, based on current fertilizer prices, the economic value of this \"wasted\" N globally is currently estimated as US$81 billion annually. Worse still, this \"wasted\" N has major effects on the environment (Subbarao et al. 2012). CIAT researchers and their collaborators in Japan reported a major breakthrough in managing N to benefit both agriculture and the environment (Subbarao et al. 2009). Termed \"Biological Nitrification Inhibition\" (BNI), this natural phenomenon has been the subject of long-term collaborative research that revealed the mechanism by which certain plants (especially the tropical pasture grass Brachiaria humidicola) naturally inhibit the conversion of N in the soil from a stable form to forms subject to leaching loss (NO 3 ) or to the potent greenhouse gas N 2 O (Subbarao et al. 2012). B. humidicola, which is well adapted to the low-nitrogen soils of South American savannas, has shown high BNI capacity among the tropical grasses tested (Subbarao et al. 2007). The major ___________ Correspondence: Idupulapati Rao, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Apartado Aéreo 6713, Cali, Colombia. Email: i.rao@cgiar.org nitrification inhibitor in Brachiaria grasses is brachialactone, a cyclic diterpene (Subbarao et al. 2009). Reduction of N loss from the soil under a B. humidicola pasture has a direct and beneficial environmental effect. We hypothesize that this conservation of soil N will have an additional positive impact on a subsequent crop (e.g. maize). At present, recovery of fertilizer N and the impact on crop yield is not known. The main purpose of our interinstitutional and multidisciplinary project, targeting small-scale farmers, is to develop the innovative approach of BNI using B. humidicola hybrids to realize sustainable economic and environmental benefits from integrated crop-livestock production systems.The project is focused on 5 major outputs that will be accomplished through the development of new research tools and methodologies to test the BNI concept within a holistic agricultural context, namely: (1) Enhancement of rural livelihood benefits by involving small-scale farmers as decision makers and co-researchers in the integration of new B. humidicola hybrids in small-holder crop-livestock systems; (2) Identification of B. humidicola hybrids with different levels of BNI; (3) Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the BNI trait and development of molecular markers for B. humidicola hybrid selection; (4) Development of indicators of BNI activity for use under field conditions based on the role of BNI in improving the efficiency of utilization of fertilizer nitrogen, while reducing N 2 O emissions from agricultural production systems; and (5) Identification of application domains of BNI technology in crop-livestock systems, assessment of potential economic benefits and strengthening of local capacity to evaluate BNI. Research progress made by the project team will be presented.Output 1: Rural livelihood benefits enhanced A set of 30 apomictic hybrids was transferred to partners in Nicaragua for agronomic evaluation with farmers in 3 regions (Camoapa, Nueva Guinea, El Rama). These hybrids were also made available to partners in Colombia for farmer participatory evaluation in the Piedmont region of the Llanos of Colombia.A greenhouse trial was established to evaluate phenotypic differences in BNI using 118 apomictic hybrids of B. humidicola. They are being evaluated for growth and nutritive value, N uptake, N use efficiency and potential ability to inhibit nitrification (BNI index and 15 N natural abundance) in soil. Estimation of nitrification rates (mg NO 3 /kg soil/d) and determination of soil microorganism populations through Real-Time PCR are currently ongoing to survey potential BNI function.Genomic DNA from a B. humidicola biparental mapping population (CIAT 26146 x CIAT 16888) of 134 hybrids was extracted for genotyping purposes towards the generation of a high-density linkage map and identification of QTLs associated with the BNI trait. Genetic markers were identified from the above genotypes through Nextgeneration RNA sequencing (GS-FLX Plus and Illumina Hiseq 2000). More than 25,000 molecular markers (SSR and SNPs) have been identified and at least 500 markers will be selected for polymorphism screening. Phenotyping efforts are underway to generate data for QTL analysis.Stable carbon and N isotope analyses are being used to evaluate contrasting B. humidicola hybrids with different BNI capacity for their ability to release carbon in deeper soil layers, recover native and applied N and minimize leaching and gaseous losses of N in soil columns under greenhouse conditions. Natural abundance of 15 N was estimated in leaf samples of the B. humidicola biparental population (CIAT 26146 x CIAT 16888) to develop new indicators for evaluating BNI of contrasting hybrids under greenhouse and field conditions. A new analytical method based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also under development for a precise detection and quantification of brachialactone. A bioassay using recombinant Nitrosomonas is being improved to detect BNI activity in root exudate samples. Sampling of nitrous oxide emissions is being adapted for largescale screening of pot trials under greenhouse conditions. The residual value of the BNI function in longterm pastures (15 years old) on N use efficiency and grain yield of subsequent crops (maize) is being determined along with the estimation of carbon footprints of different systems.Extrapolation domains for potential adoption of BNI technology beyond the study areas are being estimated using data collected from local conditions in Nicaragua and Colombia. Spatial data sets, maps, demographic data, and land use information will be matched with farm-level economic surveys for further analysis. Public information available online is also being gathered from local institutions in Nicaragua and Colombia as complementary information. A survey was designed to collect information on farming systems to identify farming similarities through a microeconomic model for resource optimization.The natural phenomenon of BNI is being characterized through an interinstitutional and multidisciplinary research project funded by BMZ-GIZ, Germany. The main aim is to develop new research tools and proven methodologies to detect BNI function to minimize N losses from crop-livestock systems. Farmer involvement is a key component of the project to ensure that the new forage germplasm is successfully integrated into existing crop-livestock systems in the face of climate change. ","tokenCount":"1000"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4248368820.json b/data/part_1/4248368820.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..35d1b7b3ae9841c4c86a1f26c1f6a4ff2d7b44c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4248368820.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"37a8b7db11e4f1f0182b4e80f72e783b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/697ec864-dc3b-4cf1-b911-50311710d998/retrieve","id":"-1499211340"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"56ae61d8-088a-4ff7-9e96-b5da3383ecc8","pagecount":"7","content":"Planting and management of potato rooted apical cuttings: A field guide• Select a site that has not grown solanaceous crops for at least four consecutive seasons (2 years) to avoid the risk of diseases. The solanaceous crops include potato, tobacco, nightshade, eggplant, chilies/pepper, tomato etc.• Avoid slopes below ware potato or solanaceous crops to minimize spread of diseases by runoff water.• The soil should be fine, loose and well drained.• An adequate supply of water suitable for crop irrigation is essential.• If there is no provision for irrigation water, planting should be done at the onset of rains, and should commence when the soil has adequately moistened.• The site should not be prone to flooding which will damage the seedlings.• The site should be accessible to allow movement, transport and regular monitoring.• Tools must be clean; dip in 10% jik if the tools have been used to work soils on solanaceous crops or soils with unknown levels of hygiene.• Proper seedbed preparation improves the soil condition, helps in weed control and disease management.• Demarcate the seedbed with a sisal string; each bed measures 0.9 m width with an inter-bed spacing of 0.7 m.• The length of the bed will be determined by the number of plants to be planted at an interplant spacing of 25 cm.• Dig out the demarcated bed to a depth of 20-30 cm below the soil line. Break all the lumps to get a fine tilth.• Raise the seedbeds to 3-5 cm height above the soil line. See Fig 2.• Rake the raised seedbeds to a uniform level and firm the soil.• Different spacing give different yields and have varying impact on economics of production.• Seedbed of 0.9 m width: 2 rows, spacing of 30 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants gives the best economic yields.• Before planting, demarcate layout using a string and sticks; 30 cm between rows and 30 cm within rows; 2 rows per bed, leaving 30 cm to each edge.• Leaving 30 cm to each edge is important, as stolons need an allowance for extension; cuttings planted too close to the edge has no soil to cover the stolons. Stolons not covered with the soil form stems instead of tubers.• Poke planting holes using a stick or hand.• Transplant the cuttings, burying the collar and leaving only the top foliage above ground.• Fertilizer and manure application is best based on soil test results and recommendations.• A well-decomposed cattle or farmyard manure at a rate of 1 kg per sqm (4 tonnes/acre) is recommended to improve the soil physical condition, soil fertility and soil water holding capacity.• The manure should be applied at least a week prior to planting and be well mixed with the soil when digging out the beds.• However, be sure of the source of manure-a contaminated source is an avenue for disease spread.• Application of basal fertilizer or topdressing is not recommended when the soil is waterlogged.• NPK 17:17:17 at rates of 50 g per sqm (200 kg per acre) is generally recommended at planting. Alternative complex fertilizers or blends can be used.• Properly mix the fertilizer with the soil to avoid direct contact with the cutting; if this is not done, scorching may occur.• A final raking and firming of the soil should be provided prior to sowing.• Topdressing is done at 2-3 weeks after planting but 2 weeks before flowering; if done when the plant is too young, more vegetative growth and less tuber formation occurs; when the plant is too old, no response to nitrogen application occurs.• Use CAN or alternative nitrogen fertilizer for topdressing.• An optimal rate of 25 g CAN per sqm (100 kg per acre) is generally recommended: this activity should be guided by the general condition of the plants, but is best based on the soil test results and recommendations.• Yellowing and stunted growth are signs of nitrogen deficiency, thus indicate need for topdressing; take note however that some viral disease symptoms, salt accumulation etc. may also express these symptoms.• Do not topdress only around the plants, but also between the plants and shake the applied fertilizer off the foliage.• Foliar feed can be applied after emergence and before flowering.Fertilizer and manure application Protocol:Protocol:Protocol:• Weeds that emerge early, but not injurious to the potato plant should not be bothered within 1-2 weeks after planting. This is because the cuttings are still not well established, and weed removal at this time can lead to crop damage. At this stage, these weeds have little competition for water, nutrients and sunlight, but stabilize the soil.• If the weeds are noxious (those that come early, are injurious to the crop and persistent), then carefully control as soon as they emerge.Protocol:• Transplant the cuttings in depressions to conserve irrigation water during dry periods.• Unless the soil moisture is adequate, water the transplants immediately after planting.• Keep watering each morning and evening until the plants are fully established.• In cases where the weather is too hot, erect a shade over the plants; use shade net or local natural materials e.g. dry grass, banana leaves, maize stover etc. Take note of pests that could be harbored in the natural materials.• Keep the shade at 50% and ensure it is completely removed within two weeks after transplanting; this is important to note, as these plants need sunlight to make food.• Install a placard immediately after planting informing on variety name, number of cuttings planted and date of planting to facilitate monitoring. Demarcations (a) and depressions (b) at planting.• Weeds emerging closest to potato plants compete most severely. Ensure their complete removal.• Weeds emerging towards or after canopy senescence will have no effect on tuber yield-do not bother them.• Avoid the use of herbicides in weed control; applying nonselective, exceeding the recommended application rates, or applying the herbicide at incorrect growth stage can have disastrous consequences, resulting in total crop loss.• Trace amounts of an herbicide can react with another herbicide or carry-over to the next spraying, causing damage to the cutting.• Never use the same sprayer for herbicides and for fungicides or insecticides. No cleaning method is 100% foolproof-a very small amount of the herbicide can cause a total damage to the cuttings.• Hilling is a necessary activity in seed potato production.• This practice loosens the soil and enhances tuber formation and bulking.• Hilling also reduces tuber greening and controls potato tuber moth.• A well-hilled potato cutting produces many tubers of good size and shape.• Stolons not well covered with the soil develop into stems instead of tubers resulting in reduced yields.• Perform hilling when the soil is not too wet to avoid soil compaction and clumping.• Perform first hilling at 2 weeks after planting, when doing first weeding.• Hill by excavating soil from the 0.7 m paths and mound uniformly around the potato plant; avoid hilling individual plants with hoes/jembes/fork.• Pile up soil around the plant to about 3-5 cm high at first hilling.• Repeat hilling at 2-3 weeks after the first hilling.• The mound that forms after the second hilling should be about 30 cm high.• When hilling, ensure the plant collar is buried with the soil and take care not to damage the roots and stolons. See Fig 2.Protocol:Cuttings damaged by residual herbicide Fig 2• Only apply pesticides on need basis; keep monitoring to see presence of cut-worms, aphids etc.• Spot treat the pest to keep the chemical confined to the area requiring treatment.• Of importance pest are cutworms that are common occurrence in plots of transplanted cuttings.• Apply insecticides soon after planting to control cutworms (do this at manufacturer's prescribed rates). Some available insecticide products are listed in table 1.• When applying against cutworms at planting, ensure the insecticides are well drenched in the soil around the plant and on the entire bed.• Alternate pesticides between sprays to reduce development of pathogen resistance against the product.• Always wear personal protective gears when applying the chemicals and follow to the latter chemical directions for use, storage and disposal.• Inspection should be done at least once a week during the growing season to monitor diseases such as late blight, bacterial wilt and viruses.• Symptoms of viral diseases include leaf curl, yellowing of foliage, stunted growth, deformation and even death.• For late blight disease, leaves and stems turn grey/brown/black and appear burned.• Remove and destroy viral infected plants and remove all weeds in and around the potatoes during the growing season.• Use products with active ingredients against late blight and observe manufacturer's prescribed rates. See table 2 for some products available in the market.• When lots of rain: control late blight at every 7-10 days interval.• Alternate fungicides between sprays to reduce development of pathogen resistance against the product. Start with the protective chemical ingredients.• Bacterial wilt infected plants need to be uprooted and destroyed, along with the soil around the roots.Protocol:Protocol:  This activity is conducted at about 2 weeks before harvesting by cutting the stem at soil line to kill the potato plant. Ensure the soil is not disturbed as the tubers must remain covered with the soil to avoid tuber greening.• Dehaulming stops tuber bulking thus helping to obtain desirable seed tuber sizes. It also helps to harden the tuber skin thus reducing bruising during handling and transport.• Before dehaulming, check/scout tuber sizes to ensure that about 70-80% are egg size (after +/-60-75 days). Do this by gently removing soil away from the plant, taking care not to damage the roots, stolons or detach the tubers.• If a crop is infected with late blight, dehaulm when 2-25% of foliage is killed with the disease.• Perform dehaulming during dry conditions.Dehaulming, harvesting and seed tuber storage Follow the below procedure at harvest:1. Count and record the number of plants at harvest. Do this per bed or per line (if each line is a separate potato variety).2. Dig out the tubers from each plant using a hoe (this is less intensive than harvesting by hand) but can lead to damaged tubers.3. Take the total tuber weights per bed or per line (if each line is a separate variety).4. Grade into tuber size above 20 mm and below 20 mm, and count the number of tubers in each grade. • Potatoes should be ready for harvesting 2-3 weeks after flowering has ended. However, this activity should be based on regular scouting to ensure that about 70-80% of the tubers are egg size.• Harvesting should be done in a clear, sunny weather: sunshine helps tubers to harden and dry more quickly. Dig gently when harvesting to avoid wounding the tubers.• Only store tubers harvested from mature plants.• Do not take rotten, diseased and damaged seed tubers into the store.• Store the seed tubers in a well-ventilated cool dry place away from ware potatoes.• Avoid storing in polythene bags, as they restrict airflow and potatoes will 'sweat' and rot.• Crates and bulk storage are suitable for long-term storage of 2-3 months.• Store in crates if possibility of rotten or damaged tubers to limit spread of rot.• Store in net bags only for short-term storage, maximum of 3 weeks, and only good quality potatoes. The bags should be upright and not on their sides.• Monitor stored tubers regularly and remove rotten potatoes and any adjacent tubers.Pictorial ","tokenCount":"1874"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4263368172.json b/data/part_1/4263368172.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a9dba2315efc3029b79d19fbfd5082c36244f30d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4263368172.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea706a45b452e22e07c8f1457d4328c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8517df00-e66f-42db-8e63-e5e13809b794/retrieve","id":"500981871"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2434a188-b06f-4cda-a225-4333cbb2b560","pagecount":"9","content":"Potatoes are one of the fastest growing staple food crops in the East African Community (EAC) region and rank among the top five strategic staple crops for food and income security. Over the last 20 years, potato production across the EAC partner states has more than doubled, increasing from 1.6 to 3.4 million metric tons (mt) (FAO 2018)an increase that has resulted from expansion of acreage under potatoes rather than from improved productivity. This indicates that innovations and technologies such as new varieties, use of high quality seed, and good agricultural practices either have not been adopted or that adoption has failed to reach the necessary threshold to increase productivity in the subsector. Low productivity and the use of quality seed potatoes by less than 4 percent of farmers in the EAC remain key bottlenecks in the region (EAC 2021); if such issues can be addressed, potato yields can be significantly increased.To unlock the potential of the region's potato sector, the EAC, with the support of development partners, implemented a 2018-2023 project entitled \"Improvement of Regional Trade with Seed Potatoes in Eastern Africa\". It aimed to provide an enabling framework that supported the seed potato trade in: mapping out regional strategies and action plans; developing the capacities of member countries' national plant protection organizations in implementing sanitary and phytosanitary measures; and developing and harmonizing regional seed potato standards. This brief offers recommendations for key policy and investment priorities that are aimed at increasing the availability and supply of sufficient and affordable quality seed potatoes for internal use by EAC countries, with the surplus being traded to other EAC partner states. Such a strategy can ultimately boost yields and can unlock the potential of potatoes to contribute to multiple socioeconomic development goals. Results and recommendations focus on pragmatic options in three intervention areas: (1) policies, regulations, and markets; (2) infrastructure and technology investment; and (3) technical capacity development.This Initiative aims to support the delivery of seed of improved, climate-resilient, marketpreferred and nutritious varieties of priority crops, embodying a high rate of genetic gain to farmers, ensuring equitable access for women and other disadvantaged groups. Potatoes are the fourth most important staple food crop in the world; they are a critical food security crop that can address many of the Sustainable Development Goals (FAO 2018). Potatoes provide a good source of nutrition, they are low in fat, and they contain complex carbohydrates, essential amino acids, protein, and minerals. They are also an important source of income for many farmers and farming communities. As they tend to be more water-efficient, they help farmers navigate increasingly adverse and volatile rainfall patterns.There is plenty of available arable land in the East African Community (EAC) region and the EAC is a suitable agroecological zone for potato production. The increased demand for seed and ware potatoes in the EAC market could be met by planting potatoes in what is currently un-and under-utilized land across the EAC partner states. The possibility of three cropping seasons in the region-with the two main seasons having ample rainsallows for increased engagement in seed production and trade, and for year-round availability and distribution of seed and ware potatoes.In the EAC region, seed potatoes are acquired either through formal channels (from public or private certified plant breeding and variety development programs) or informally (from previous harvests, from family or friends, or from a small, unregistered local market). Smallholder farmers source the bulk of their seed from the informal sector. The public sector has dominated the certified seed potato industry; however, with the recent increase in demand for potatoes in the region, private sector players have started to invest in seed potato production.The current production of certified seed potatoes in the EAC region falls well short of demand. In 2018, for example, the EAC produced just over 18,000 mt of certified seed potatoes (Table 1). The total volume of seed potatoes used in the EAC that year was roughly calculated by multiplying the estimated land area under potatoes by the seed potato planting rate; according to this calculation, the volume of certified seed produced in 2018 would only have satisfied about 4 percent of the total used (EAC 2021); the remaining 96 percent must thus have been supplied by the informal sector. Increasing the production of quality seed potatoes-including both certified seed and quality assured seed-through effective policies and investments can sustainably boost the supply of affordable and accessible quality seed for farmers; this will, in turn, contribute to increased farm incomes, expanded entrepreneurial opportunities, and the achievement of broad food and nutrition security goals.In order to improve the agricultural sector in the region through its agro value chain and trade, the EAC identified the aspects of the potato value chain that required support through a project entitled \"Improvement of Regional Trade with Seed Potatoes in Eastern Africa\". It aimed to provide an enabling framework that supported the seed potato trade in: mapping out regional strategies and action plans; developing the capacities of member countries' national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) in the implementation of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS); and developing and harmonizing regional seed potato standards.Seed Equal Brief 1 This brief highlights findings and recommendations on policy and investment priorities for increasing the supply of affordable certified seed potatoes across the region. The project from which these recommendations are drawn benefited from previous research studies and capacity development interventions; these were helpful in identifying potato stakeholders across the EAC region as well as investment and policy action areas.A functional seed production system guarantees the supply of quality seed. Use of quality seed potatoes has the potential to increase yields from 8 mt/ha to 20-40 mt/ha. In the EAC region, however, poor quality seed has continued to dominate the seed market, and less than 4 percent of farmers use certified seed potatoes (EAC 2021). The majority of farmers access seeds from informal systems where quality control is limited or absent, that is, from earlier harvests, from swapping with neighbors, or from local markets. The factors contributing to this situation can be broadly categorized into four areas:(1) Low adoption and use of certified seedLow adoption of certified seed potatoes can be caused by lack of preferred variety, high cost, lack of proper promotion, absence of complementary technologies, and poor linkages with the related extension services. Weak research-extension-farmer linkages affect the adoption of many new and robust technologies, since farmers are not made aware of innovations and technologies. There have been initiatives to introduce improved technologies and practices into potato cultivation in the East Africa region; these have included the introduction of improved varieties and the promotion of good agricultural practices (GAP); these have not been successful, however, in achieving significant increases in the adoption of certified seed potatoes. Of 138 potato varieties that have been registered and released by EAC member states, only 41 varieties are currently being cultivated by farmers. Reasons for the continued use of local varieties by farmers include: market demand, taste, cooking time, and sale price; such reasons determine choice, even despite the susceptibility of these varieties to pests and diseases.(2) Insufficient technical skills and infrastructure for deploying rapid multiplication technologies (RMT) for early generation seed production (EGS) Seed production is technical and requires investment in both infrastructure and skilled labor, both of which have largely been lacking in the region. Old conventional multiplication technologies are still in use; these are slow due to lower multiplication rates, which in turn reduces the amount of adequate basic seed potatoes in the supply chain.Inadequate storage facilities have also compromised the quality of seed used by farmers. Most of the EAC partner states lack field inspectors and well-developed diagnostic laboratories for seed testing. Diagnostic tools and protocols are outdated, with current trends moving toward the use of faster and more affordable field deployable diagnostic tools.(3) Poorly organized seed potato distribution and marketing channels Across the EAC region, seed potato production is characterized by centralized production systems and very few producers have outlets at any distance from their production area. This has significantly inhibited the distribution and supply of seed potatoes to areas and consumers far away from seed producing locations.(4) An inconsistent legal and regulatory support framework Each EAC partner state has laws and regulations that govern their seed sector and a number of institutions that implement them. A lack of harmonization among the states in terms of these laws, regulations, and implementing institutions has resulted in a duplication of efforts and sometimes a conflict of mandates. Some of the regulations and laws are out of date and thus are inconsistent with regional and international reforms.Monitoring of seed quality by designated authorities in each country is weak, leading to an increase in the use of uncertified or quality assured seed.Policy and investment recommendations emerging from the 2020 study are presented below, with a focus on feasibility and pragmatism and with examples of good practices from the region. Recommendations are categorized around three key areas for intervention: (1) policies, regulations, and markets; (2) infrastructure and technology investment; and (3) technical capacity development.3.1.1 Development and adoption of country-specific minimum standards for seed potato quality assurance EAC partner states are at different levels of development of their seed potato quality assurance infrastructure. Adopting stringent measures will therefore not only discourage investment by small and medium-sized seed producers, it will also limit the availability of quality seed. Partner states should adopt measures that have been scientifically proven to increase local production of quality seed in quantities that satisfy the local market.Formal certification is a form of external seed quality assurance that commands a premium price as it reduces the risk of crop failure caused by poor quality seed and increases the chances of higher yields. The rigid inspection procedures involved, however, require a high level of expertise and can be costly, thus causing bottlenecks in the supply of certified seed. Adopting a minimum and more pragmatic standard of seed quality that allows for a certain level of tolerance for regulated pests and pathogens-for example, Quality Declared Seed (QDS)-can reduce these bottlenecks and can allow small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, farmer organizations, and farmers themselves to enter the seed potato market. This creates new business opportunities and income streams while also increasing the supply of quality seed. Tanzania is already trialling QDS for millet and sorghum as part of its efforts to adapt to climate change, while Uganda has advanced QDS for beans, potatoes, and several other crops. Lessons learned from these experiences are likely to be highly transferable to other country contexts and to vegetatively propagated crops like potatoes.demand varieties of seed potatoes EAC member states, including Kenya and Uganda, import ware potatoes for processing that could otherwise be grown locally. It is estimated that only 5 percent of the 138 varieties registered and released in the EAC are suitable for processing, and few public research organizations or state-owned seed production units are producing adequate supplies of quality seed of such varieties. The private sector could effectively fill this gap by working more closely with public institutions; together they could leverage the necessary genetic materials, financing, and technical know-how to take on a more prominent role in this market niche.To improve information flows on seed markets, trade, and business, seed potato stakeholder platforms should be formed or strengthened to link seed potato producers with the wider potato value chain within each country and across the region. Functional platforms can facilitate the flow of regulatory, technical, and market information to address what are currently major gaps in the information pipeline and in the stakeholder decision support system. An improved information flow could address, for example, demand and supply patterns and trends for quality seed potatoes; guarantee, tracking and traceability systems for quality seed; opportunities offered by new varieties; and seed production technologies that are in development.An increase in the uptake of quality seed potatoes in EAC partner states will not necessarily follow from simply improving supply; demand must also increase. Strengthening the demand signals transmitted through the value chain from consumers and processors to seed producers and farmers is an effective means of expanding the use of quality seed potatoes. This requires a more coordinated effort on the part of farmers to respond to demand signals. The response to demand signals can be enhanced through, for example, cooperatives and farmer organizations that invest in quality seed; improved production practices; postharvest loss management; and collective marketing to buyers. It also implies more off-farm investment by private value chain actors who are involved in storage, sorting, grading, packaging, and transporting. It further suggests the need for additional private investment in information and communications technology (ICT) platforms that connect sellers with buyers, help value chain actors locate sources of financing, and disseminate information on good agricultural practices. These are critical elements of a coordinated, vibrant, and competitive market.There is a clear need for investment in potato breeding programs within the partner states. The government budgets of each EAC member country should include adequate allocations for potato breeding and for the development of new varieties. New varieties currently take a long time to introduce due to the absence of data sharing mechanisms; there is therefore a need to strengthen and fast track the implementation of a regionally harmonized variety registration, protection, and release process. This will reduce the time required to make varieties of quality seed available to farmers.technologies Rapid multiplication technologies (RMT) are used to increase the amount of early generation seed (EGS) potatoes for further seed multiplication. RMTs use soilless production techniques; they also provide higher multiplication ratios of the minitubers that are principally used for certified seed production (1:40-100, or several thousand per year). The use of RMTs in the seed system reduces the number of field multiplications; this increases the flexibility of seed production, improves the health status of the ultimate seed, and reduces the time for adequate volumes of new varieties of seed to become available to growers. RMTs such as aeroponics, hydroponics, sand hydroponics, and rooted apical cuttings (RAC) are commonly used techniques for producing EGS potatoes. National research institutions in partner states can deploy these techniques to make Seed Equal Brief 1 quality seeds more available to farmers. There needs to be a sufficiently educated workforce, and training programs that are adequate to ensure the required technical proficiency. Implementing such seed multiplication programs can also bring new employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to farmers, particularly women and young people in rural areas.Most seed multiplier groups lack access to finance, technical training, and support, while most smallholder farmers rely on traditional seed production methods. Seed potato production is capital intensive, particularly for EGS, as several generations of seed production are necessary before returns are realized. Seed producers cite the inability to access adequate financing for investments and operations as a major impediment to reaching a scale that renders investment in the potato business profitable; access to affordable finance is thus key to strengthening the production of quality seed. Seed potato multiplication and certification requires a minimum of 200 hectares of land, as well as related production costs such as irrigation, mechanization, certification, packing, and storage.Quality control and assurance, a critical service, is usually implemented by government agencies responsible for seed certification processes. Boosting investment in diagnostic services using field deployable, reliable, cost effective and rapid diagnostic tools will give fast and reliable results without the need to send samples to labs with long waiting times; the efficiency and reliability of certified/quality assured seed production will thereby be increased. The simplified protocol and added convenience will further attract farmers' investment in the certified/quality assured seed business, which will increase the quantities of seed potatoes that meet quality standards; this is a major priority for improving yields, meeting increased food demand, and generally promoting the EAC seed potato trade. There need to be accompanying efforts to: (1) develop and upgrade field and laboratory testing facilities, and (2) strengthen the technical capacity of NPPOs in SPS implementation, identification, and diagnostics for pests and diseases of concern.Third party inspection and certification can increase the efficiency and efficacy of the seed certification process in a decentralized manner, thereby helping to meet the demand for seed certification officials and increasing the availability of certified seed. In Kenya, for example, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and the Kenya Accreditation Services (KENAS) have already developed a framework under the 2012 Seeds and Plant Varieties Act for authorization of qualified individuals or organizations to perform seed inspection services. Kenya also has in place a comprehensive training program for training of qualified seed inspectors. Other EAC partner states such as Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania are at different stages of introducing this provision into their respective seed laws. Providing for third party inspection and certification in the seed regulatory framework and authorizing third party inspection and certification services would require further investment in policy, infrastructure, and human capacity development.A productive and profitable seed system relies on the skills of farmers and on their ability to benefit from high quality seed as both producers and users. Improved training will help them get the best out of their quality seed. If farmers understand, for example, that viral diseases are transmitted by aphids and that aphids acquire the virus from other sources such as solanum weeds, they may see the value of removing virus-infected solanum weeds from hedgerows. Training can also help farmers understand the contamination routes of bacteria and other pests, which can motivate them to avoid planting quality seed in soil infested with bacterial wilt.East African Community (EAC). 2021. \"Regional Situation Analysis of the Potato Sub-Sector in the East African Community\". https://strapi.eacgermany.org/uploads/611f6c5eb01b9308243649_6f7f83a3f1.pdf. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2018. Food and Agriculture Data. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data.Dr. Kalpana Sharma is a Senior Scientist with the International Potato Center (CIP). Working under the \"Potato Agri Food Systems Program\", she manages research and development projects designed to intensify, diversify and strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems with potato related technologies involving local and international partners from multiple sectors in Africa and Asia.Elly Ouma Atieno is an Associate Scientist at CIP and brings multidisciplinary expertise on seed sector development and potato seed systems. He has been supporting the capacity development of public and private sectors in the Potato seed system technologies in various African and Asian countries.","tokenCount":"3046"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4266931928.json b/data/part_1/4266931928.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7577a7e4e444065eb03637de5983b46839384198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4266931928.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4f375e44c90151383d85b4c1db86d3fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0c5f9328-9ed7-4ce5-8bd3-730e284b567f/retrieve","id":"2109386559"},"keywords":["Hybrid rice","Genotypes","Grain yield","Nitrogen fertilizer"],"sieverID":"52678858-3692-485f-b038-5c62c7e293a1","pagecount":"7","content":"Nitrogen fertilizer is the major input in rice production and the optimum rate and application timing management assure profitability and sustainability of the production system. This study aims to investigate hybrid rice response to different nitrogen fertilizer levels and the timing of application and quantify hybrid rice nitrogen use efficiency. Field experiments were conducted during the dry and the wet seasons 2016 at the research station of Africa Rice at Ndiaye in Senegal. Six nitrogen rates (0, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 kg N/ha) and three hybrid rice varieties (AR031H, AR032H, AR033H) and one inbred variety (Sahel108) and two nitrogen fertilizer application timings (three split and four split) were combined within a split-split plot design. The results showed significant effect of nitrogen rate and timing on rice grain yield that varied from 4.10 to 11.58 tons/ha and most the yield components. Rice grain yield exhibited curvilinear relationship with the applied nitrogen rates during the dry season under both nitrogen application timings and a linear relationship during the wet season under three splits. Nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha was revealed optimum with best performance achieved by the Hybrid rice AR033H. Hybrid rice genotypes achieved greater nitrogen use efficiency compared to the inbred rice Sahel108. Hence, hybrid rice genotypes, and nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha applied in four splits could be recommended to improve rice production and food security for achieving self-sufficiency in rice as targeted by Senegal and the neighboring countries.Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the most important nutrients that determine rice yields [1][2][3][4]. It positively influences tillers development, yield and yield components [5]. Harrell et al. [3] reported nitrogen fertilizer rates to achieve maximum yield were 157 and 151 kg ha −1  under two tillage practices. Usually farmers apply higher rate of applied N fertilizer than the recommended amount with the assumption that increasing N would always result in increasing crop yields [6], which can result in altering and negatively affecting the sustainability of the production system and increasing the production cost. Djaman et al. [5] found nitrogen fertilizer requirement of 90 kg N ha −1 for most of the aromatic rice varieties to achieve maximum yield while optimum nitrogen fertilizer for the non-aromatic rice varieties was 120kg N ha −1 . Peng et al. [7] reported optimum Nitrogen rates range 60-120 kg N ha −1 . In Louisiana, optimum nitrogen rates for the maximum rice yield were reported to be 157 and 151 kg N ha −1 under fall-stale seeded tillage and conventional tillage, respectively [3], while N fertilizer recommendation ranged from 134 to 179 kg N ha −1 [8]. The quadratic production functions were reported by Djaman et al. [5] for the aromatic rice varieties (Sahel 177, Sahel 328, Sahel 329, Pusa Basmati) in the Senegal River valley with coefficient of determination (R 2 ) varying from 0.53 to 0.99. There can be an inter-seasonal variability in rice genotype yield response to nitrogen rate even in the same environment due to influence of climatic factors and management practices on this relationship. Peng et al. [9] reported curvilinear response of rice yield to nitrogen. Rice yield exhibited a linear response to nitrogen rate below 150 kg N ha −1 and a plateau off when the applied N rate is greater than 150 kg N ha −1 [3]. Watkins et al. [10] reported four different yield response functions on potential N response functions (quadratic, quadratic-plateau, linear-plateau, and Mitscherlich) estimated depending on location and year. Zhao et al. [11] reported rice NUE values varying from 7.1 to 13.1 kg grain kg −1 N under traditional flooding. Cassman and Pingali [12] reported farmers' field NUE range of 15-20 kg kg −1 in the Philippines while very low NUE value of 9.1 kg kg −1 N was reported by Peng et al. [13] in China and Wang et al. [14] reported NUE as low as 6.4 kg kg −1 N in farmers' field. Peng et al. [15] indicated that the low NUE of the nitrogen fertilizer is due to the high nitrogen inputs 180-240 kg N ha −1 applied by farmers. Yang et al. [16] reported higher NUE obtained by the hybrid rice as compared to the inbred rice genotypes. Cassman et al. [17] indicated that improvement in crop yields is attributed to the increase in fertilizer use, especially nitrogen fertilizer. In the dynamics of sustainable system intensification, there is a need for proper fertilizer.Application of the optimum nitrogen rate in different splits and timing has significant effects on grain yield and yield components.Perez et al. [18] indicated that several splits of nitrogen fertilizer recommendation are requirement for high yielding varieties, mostly nitrogen application at flowering stage. Blumenthal et al. [19] reported 6% increase in rice yield and 25% increase in grain protein due to nitrogen dressing at flowering stage. Hybrid rice is developed to improve yield at farm level and to reduce the increasing food demand due to population growth. Hybrid rice contributes to an increase of rice yield potential by 9% compared to the irrigated lowland elite inbred varieties [9]. Moreover, Zhang et al. [20] reported that the Super hybrid rice varieties show increase in yield potential by 12% with comparison to the ordinary hybrid and inbred varieties. Hybrid rice cultivars are characterized by large panicles or extra-heavy panicle types with numerous spikelets per panicle [9,21]. Despite this enormous potential for production, these cultivars frequently do not exhibit their high yield potential due to their poor grain-filling, as in a slow grain-filling rate and many unfilled grains [9,22]. In irrigated condition when water supply is not a limiting factor, we hypothesize that the low grain weight (unfilled grain) can be attributed to the limitation of carbohydrate supply. Moreover, it was found that the later-flowering inferior spikelets of hybrid cultivars have more soluble carbohydrate and sucrose than earlier-flowering superior spikelets at the early grain-filling stage [23][24][25]. All these constraints raise the nitrogen management issue particularly the appropriate rate and the right time of application. For irrigated rice in the Sahel environment it is recommended to apply nitrogen by splitting in three (e.g., 40% of the total dose until two weeks after transplanting, 40% of the total dose at panicle initiation and the remaining 20% at the booting stage). We hypothesize again that a fourth nitrogen application at early flowering can improve the grain filling of high yielding cultivars including hybrid rice.Nitrogen fertilizer management (rate and timing of application) under high yield rice varieties and the hybrid rice should retain attention of the researchers and decision makers relative to the selfsufficiency program in rice and system sustainability for several sub-Saharan African countries like Senegal [26]. Thus, the objectives of this study were to investigate hybrid rice response to different nitrogen fertilizer levels and the timing of application and quantify hybrid rice nitrogen use efficiency in the paddy field under the Sahelian conditions in the Senegal River Delta.Field experiment was conducted at Africa Rice Center (Africa Rice) research station at Ndiaye (16° 11' N, 16° 15'W) in the Senegal River Delta (SRV) (Senegal, West Africa) during the hot and dry season (HDS) and wet season (WS) 2016. The local climate is Sahelian climate with a long dry period from October to June and a short-wet season from July to September. The highest average temperatures are recorded in April-May and the lowers in December-January. Rice double cropping is adopted in the Senegal River Valley and takes place from February to July during the HDS, and from August to November in the (WS). At the site the soil is an orthothionic Gleysol, containing 40-54% clay, (smectite and kaolinite) with average permeability of 2.8 mm d −1 [27,28]. Weather variables were measured at the experimental site. Daily average wind speed, maximum and minimum air temperature, maximum and minimum relative humidity, incoming solar radiation and precipitation were measured over a well-watered grass surface using automated weather station (the automatic agro-weather station CimAGRO) that was installed in experimental field.Three hybrid rice genotypes (AR031H, AR032H and AR033H) and one inbred rice variety Sahel 108, the most popular grown rice variety in the Senegal River Valley used as check were tested in this study. For fertilizer management sustainability, there is a need to determine the optimum nitrogen dose of the hybrid rice genotypes, new technology introduced in the rice hubs in Senegal. Five nitrogen rates Nitrogen application rates (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 kg ha −1 ) were investigated in tin two application timings. Phosphorus and potassium were applied at constant dose of 26 and 50 kg ha −1 respectively. The first timing consisted of nitrogen splits of 40, 40 and 20% applied two weeks after transplanting, at the panicle initiation and the booting stages while the second timing involved nitrogen splits of 40, 30, 20 and 10% applied two weeks after transplanting, at the panicle initiation, at the booting, and the grain filling (approximately 10 days after flowering) stages. The three factors were arranged under a split-split plot design with three replications. Nitrogen application timing, nitrogen rate, and the rice genotype were the main plots, subplots, and sub-subplots, respectively. Rice seedlings were transplanted at the rate of 25 hills m −2 . A constant water layer of 5-10 cm was maintained during the whole cropping season under the continuous flooding regime according to the growth stages. The herbicide (propanyl, 6 L ha −1 ) was applied two weeks after transplanting, one day before the first N application; and thereafter, plots were kept weed-free by manual weeding. Insecticide [carbofuran (Furadan)] was sometimes used at 25 kg ha −1 for insect-pest control at the start of tillering, maximum tillering, panicle initiation and flowering. At crop physiological maturity stage, rice was harvested, and grain yields were determined in each sub-subplot and adjusted to a standard moisture content of 14%.Some of the rice variables were related to the thermal unit (TU), which is the accumulation of the growing degree days (GDD), which is cumulative temperature that contributes to plant growth during the growing season and is commonly expressed as:where T max =maximum air temperature, T min =minimum air temperature, T base =base temperature threshold for rice (10°C), n is the number of days. The base temperature for calculating growing degree days is the minimum threshold temperature at which plant growth starts. The maximum and minimum temperature thresholds of 35°C and 10°C, respectively, were used for rice growth in the Sahelian environment. All temperature values exceeding the threshold were reduced to 35°C and values below 10°C were taken as 10°C, because no growth occurs above or below the threshold (base) temperature values.Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was estimated as grain yield advantage divided by the N application rate [29,30]. It is a parameter that excludes contributions to N-use efficiency from indigenous N of the soil-floodwater system.where NUE is nitrogen use efficiency in kg grain/kg N, Y N =grain yield of plot receiving nitrogen fertilizer in kg ha −1 , Y 0 =grain yield of plot with no nitrogen fertilizer in kg ha −1 , applied nitrogen rate in kg ha −1 .The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to analyze the main effects of the three factors (Nitrogen application rate, timing, and genotypes) and their interactions using the statistical SAS software [31] and the means were cross paired and compared using LSD at 5% of significance level.Rice double cropping is adopted in the Senegal River Valley accounting for the HDS from February to July and the WS from August to December. There is variation in weather conditions between the two seasons. During the HDS, T max varied from 25.5 to 41.8°C and averaged 32.9°C while T min varied from 13.2 to 25.2°C and averaged 19.32°C (Figure 1a). Higher temperatures were registered during the WS with T max ranging from 28.2 to 40.7°C and T min varying from 13.0 to 27.5°C. Average T max and T min during the WS were 34.8 and 22.7 oC, respectively (Figure 1a). Mean daily temperature was 26.1°C during the HDS and 28.8°C during the WS. Consequently, the accumulated thermal unit by rice during the HDS and WS was 2552.4 and 2278.6°C, respectively, showing an average growing degree day of 16.13 and 18.75°C for the respective seasons (Figure 2). Rice plant reached maturity earlier (122 day) during the WS and during the HDS (151 days) which was characterized by low temperatures from February to early April as shown in Figure 1a. RH max and RH min varied from 49 to 100% and 7.5 to 71%, and averaged 86.2 and 35.6%, respectively, during the HDS; and from 66 to 100% and 8.0 to 79.5% (Figure 1b), respectively, and averaged 93.8 and 40.5%, respectively, during the WS (Figure 1b). Seasonal average relative humidity was 60.9% during the HDS and 67.2% during the WS. Whenever water is not a limiting factor in the irrigated lowland rice production system in the downstream Senegal River Valley, the contribution of precipitation to water input was not negligible during the WS and might have influenced the relative humidity difference between the two seasons. There were 177 mm of precipitation during the WS against 7.5 mm during the HDS (Figure 1c). Daily income shortwave solar radiation varied from 9.8 to 26.3 MJ m −2 and averaged 22.4 MJ m −2 during the HDS and from 5.9 to 25.6 MJ m −2 , averaging 18.4 MJ m −2 during the WS (Figure 1c). Radiation availability was therefore 22% higher during the HDS than the WS and may play a major role in determining biomass accumulation and grain yield and that will show increase in rice yield during the HDS. Wind speed was 71% higher during the HDS than the WS and varied from 1.8 to 4.3 ms −1 averaging 2.9 ms −1 while it varied from 0.7 to 3.8 ms −1 during the WS and averaged 1.7 ms −1 (Figure 1d).  Rice yield varied from 4.11 to 11.58 t/ha during the HDS and from 4.60 to 8.60 t/ha during the WS. Hybrid rice AR033H gave the highest yield during the HDS (11.58 t/ha) while AR031H obtained the lowest yield (4.11 t/ha) among the hybrid rice varieties as compared with the control inbred variety Sahel 108 during the HDS (Figure 3). During the WS, AR033H showed similar greatest yield as AR032H (8.60 t/ha) and the lowest yields (4.60 t/ha) were recorded for Sahel 108 under nitrogen application in three splits (timing 1). Overall, rice yield increased with increasing nitrogen applied rate and the maximum grain yields were achieved under 150 kg N/ha for all rice varieties and should be the nitrogen management option for maximizing grain yield under the Senegal River Delta climate and irrigation management conditions. Considering the nitrogen applied rate of 150 kg N/ha, the split of nitrogen rate into four applications induced yield increase of 2.12, 7.29, 10.18 and 4.45% for AR031H, AR032H, AR033H and Sahel 108 during the HDS, respectively, compared to the split of the N rate into three applications. During the WS there was yield increase of 2.80, 14.06 and 9.13% for AR031H, AR033H and Sahel 108, respectively while there was yield decrease of 3.25% for AR032H. Thus, AR033H responded better to late nitrogen application at flowering, enhancing grain filling. Overall, there was yield increase of 6.13 and 5.39% due to late nitrogen application during the HDS and WS, respectively. Particularly at nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha, all varieties combined, yield increased by 9.56% during the HDS and 7.63% during the WS.The control inbred rice variety Sahel 108 was shown to be very competitive with the hybrid rice varieties used in this study. All nitrogen rates combined, only AR033H achieved 4.26 and 5.27% under three splits and four splits during the HDS, respectively. Yield difference of 4.57 and 7.56% were observed with AR031H under the respective treatments and the AR032H yielded as Sahel 108. As the nitrogen rate of 150 kg N/ha is revealed the optimum applied N rate that should be the option for fertilizer recommendation for the studied hybrid rice varieties, yields advantage was 3.65% for AR032H and 8.74% for AR033H over Sahel 108 while AR031H showed 6.32% lower yield relative to Sahel 108. Overall during the WS, all hybrid rice varieties showed higher yield than Sahel 108. Yield advantages were 8.25, 14.73 and 8.29% for AR031H, AR032H and AR033H under three split of nitrogen rate, respectively. AR031H and AR032H showed yield advantage of 4.12 and 5.17%, respectively, compared to Sahel 108. Under the nitrogen treatment of 150 kg/ha with no distinction of the application timing, AR031H, AR032H and AR033H showed yield advantage of 5.93, 7.53, and 5.50%, respectively. The yield potential of irrigated rice was further increased by the development of hybrid rice in 1976 in China [32]. Peng et al. [9] reported that indica hybrid rice has increased yield potential by 9% over the best lowland irrigated inbred cultivars in tropical. Zhang et al. [20] indicated that ''super'' hybrid varieties produced 14% higher yield than ordinary hybrid varieties and 11% higher yield than inbred varieties. In Southern China, Jiang et al. [33] reported yield advantage of Hybrid rice that was 4.7-10.9% over inbred cultivars in Huaiji, Binyang and Haikou, 6.7% more in Changsha; and 18.6% more in Xingyi. Yield difference of 23% higher grain weight in hybrid varieties than inbred cultivars was observed by Huang et al. [34]. Average yield of F1 hybrid rice was 17% and 4% higher than that of indica inbreds in the 1998 wet season and 4% higher in the 1999 dry season [35].Rice paddy yield response to nitrogen rate and application timing exhibited third order polynomial relationship during the HDS under both timings and WS under timing 2 and linear relationship during the WS under timing 1 with coefficient of determination (R2) varying from 0.79 to 0.89 (Figure 3). From the production functions, optimum nitrogen application rate was revealed to be 150 kg N/ha for most of the rice varieties. Nitrogen rate split in four applications achieved higher yield (Figure 3). Quadratic production functions were also reported by Djaman et al. [5] for the aromatic rice varieties (Sahel 177, Sahel 328, Sahel 329, Pusa Basmati) in the Senegal River Valley with high R 2 values, ranging from 0.53 to 0.99. There is an inter-seasonal variability in rice genotype yield response to nitrogen rate even in the same environment due to influence of climatic factors and management practices on this relationship. Higher yield was obtained during the HDS. The results of this study agree with Peng et al. [9] who reported curvilinear response of rice yield to nitrogen. Linear response of rice to nitrogen rate below 150 kg N ha −1 and a plateau off when the applied N rate is greater than 150 kg N ha −1 were reported by Harell et al. [9]. Watkins et al. [10] reported four different yield response functions on potential N response functions (quadratic, quadraticplateau, linear-plateau, and Mitscherlich) estimated depending on location and year. Overall, there were no significant differences in 3 and 4 splits of nitrogen in term of yield components with slightly greater values obtained under 4 splits N treatment (Table 1). The number of tillers and panicles per hill averaged 16.2 and 14.9 under the 3 split of N, respectively while they averaged 16.0 and 14.9 under 4 split of N, respectively. The filled grain weight per panicle was higher under 4 split N treatment and averaged 2.5 g against 2.6 g for the 3 and 4 splits N treatment, respectively. 1000 grain weight averaged 22.8 and 23.5 g under 3 and 4 splits during the WS, respectively. There was not difference in harvest index between the two nitrogen application timings. Non-significant slightly higher 1000 weight was recorded under the 4 split N treatment. Further, Hybrid rice AR033H achieved the greatest 1000 grain weight of 24.2 g against 22.5, 23.0 and 22.8 g for AR031H, AR032H, and Sahel108, respectively. The hybrid rice varieties showed better performance on yield components compared to Sahel108 except to the number of tillers (Table 1). However, the number of productive tillers was higher for the hybrid rice compared to the inbred rice. The results of this study agree with Yang et al. [22] and Haque et al. [36] who reported better performance of two hybrid rice varieties over the inbred rice due to better sink regulation by hybrid rice [37]. Samonte et al. [38] reported the influence of rice yield components such as effective tillers, grain number per panicle, and 1000 grain weight. Similarly, Youseftabar et al. [39] reported that increase split application increased in hybrid rice GRH1 1000 grain weight as 22.9, 23.9 and 25.6 g for the 2, 3 and 4 split N applications, respectively, in Iran. Rice NUE varied from 8.91 to 35.68 kg /kg under nitrogen timing 1 and 5.26 to 63.56 kg/ha under nitrogen timing 2 during the HDS (Figure 4). It varied from 9.51 to 21.70 kg/kg under nitrogen timing 1 and 1.26 to 25.29 kg /kg N under nitrogen timing 2 during the WS (Figure 4). Overall, hybrid rice varieties showed higher NUE compared to the inbred rice variety Sahel 108 (Figure 4). NUE averaged 18. 33 under nitrogen timing 2 for the hybrid rice AR031H, AR032H, and AR033H, respectively. Higher NUE was achieved with late application of 10% of the Nitrogen rate during the HDS while during the WS, the application timing did not impact NUE in rice. Results of this study agree with Youseftabar et al. [39] who found increase in hybrid rice GRH1's yield with increase split application. Wei et al. [40] indicated that nitrogen application at heading stage improved grain filling rate and duration, number of filled grains as compared to nitrogen application at tillering. Wu et al. [41] reported that NUE of the varieties ranged from 35.2 to 62.0 kg/kg and from 43.1 to 58.4 kg/kg during two rice growing season., Koutroubas and Ntanos [42] reported NUE that varied from 60.9 to 90.9 kg/kg for two indica and three japonica rice varieties at an N fertilizer rate of 150 kg ha −1 under Mediterranean direct water-seeded conditions. In china, nitrogen use efficiency for grain production of hybrid rice ranged from 35.2 to 62.0 kg/kg [41]. The highest nitrogen rate showed a low NUE that might be due to nitrogen losses through ammonia volatilization, denitrification and nitrogen leaching and leach to environment pollution as reported [43][44][45]. Similar results were reported by Tirol-Padre et al. [46] and Singh et al. [47] while Koutroubas and Ntanos [42] reported high NUE ranging from 76.2 to 124.2 kg/kg. Non-consistent small difference in NUE between hybrid rice and inbred cultivars was reported by Peng et al. [48]. Li et al. [49] reported NUE within the range of 7.1 to 28.7 kg/kg. A field study was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen fertilizer rate and the application timing on grain yield and its components, yield production function, and nitrogen use efficiency of three hybrid and one inbred genotypes during the 2016 dry and wet seasons. The hybrid rice genotypes showed greater performance than the inbred rice variety Sahel108 with the maximum grain yield of 11.58 tons/ha obtained by AR033H. Nitrogen application in four splits with the application of 10% of nitrogen fertilizer rate at grain filling stage achieved better performance of rice. Further, the hybrid rice varieties achieved greater nitrogen use efficiency compared to the inbred rice. The yield production functions showed nitrogen fertilizer optimum rate was 150 kg N/ha that could be recommended for hybrid rice production within the study area and similar climate and management conditions.","tokenCount":"3912"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4269235992.json b/data/part_1/4269235992.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a3d5a390eac6a855dddcae521f38fd0c0c09d4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4269235992.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"563f9c4bb7c1e1021c5a9aadc39c8cad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ca2f3590-dd09-48bc-8302-db288c3abe6b/retrieve","id":"-755544791"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe1987a8-1f7e-4570-8655-5ca85b00574b","pagecount":"3","content":"Agricultural research and development have often generated a lower impact than expected in Sub-Saharan African countries such as Ethiopia. There are multiple reasons for this including: 1) incomplete understanding by researchers of farmers' norms, perceptions, priorities and strategies; 2) weakness of extension services and incomplete exchange mechanisms between farmers, development, research, extension and policy making; 3) thematic research promoting single technologies or semi-finished research products disregarding most of the components/interactions of households, farms and communities; 4) insufficient efforts given to integrative research with strong social and economic components; 5) the complexity and diversity of production systems.There is a wealth of information regarding single component technologies at field/animal scales but little empirical research at farm and community levels in mixed crop-livestock systems. Still, a large body of relevant knowledge was produced by modelling research tackling the complexity of mixed farming systems and the integration of resources at farm scale (Chikowo et al., 2008;Tittonell et al., 2009;Giller et al., 2011). Unfortunately, these academic initiatives have not been able yet to guide development or to offer operational decision support tools. These initiatives, however, provide a sound base for a framework of participatory R4D at farm and community levels. Yet, participatory research and co-development of solutions with farmers are too often restricted to testing single technologies or combination of technologies at field/animal scale without looking at implications of choices and combination of options at the household/farm and community level. This approach disregards the fact that the household/farm and community are key levels of decision-making processes in rural regions. Without co-development of integrated solutions at these levels, we are likely to overlook key constraints (regarding resource allocation and gender) and opportunities. Nevertheless, integration of options is farm/community specific: no silver bullet exists. Finally, agricultural scientists (agronomists, agricultural economists, breeders, pathologists, livestock nutritionists…) tend to remain in their comfort zone, conducting thematic research with some ex-ante ex-post integration efforts, but usually the integration focus is not present in research processes and not at the right scales/levels.To adapt and test the use of system and participatory research (including farmer diversity) in current R4D initiatives on integration and intensification of crop-livestock production at a farm and community level for the Ethiopian Highland, with a clear potential spill over to other FtF regions.-To build on past and current experience relevant conceptual and methodological approaches to better target R4D at farm and community levels, accounting for household diversity and gender, and using the combination of disciplines needed.To enhance the development of co-learning, integrative and iterative processes to improve farmers and other stakeholders to access, assess and adopt potential promising options (e.g. technologies) to improve crop-livestock integration and intensification.To facilitate the collaboration and coordination of similar research and development initiatives by sharing experiences and results with different partners.Project locationOutputs:-Adapted conceptual framework on how to address integral and iterative research at farm and community levels to the specific conditions of the FtF initiative (e.g. mother/baby approaches), keeping in mind the ethical aspects of experimenting with farmers with high levels of risk/vulnerability and the intrinsic social interactions within communities (e.g. equity). -Tested protocol on how to identify, enable, assess and monitor with farmers and other stakeholder potential and complementary technologies and management strategies at a farm and community level, including a basket of promising research and participatory methods and tools to conduct more integrative research (e.g. minimum-dataset models, participatory modelling, scenario development); and methods supporting farmers to select components of interest, discuss possible implications of those components and their interaction on labour, land, capital/profits, knowledge requirement, risk, marketability… -Tested rapid characterization approaches to capture the diversity of farming enterprises in given landscape/communities to sample representative farmers with whom to work, giving special attention to gender. -Disseminated results of this project to a broader public, including academic and research institutions, local and regional authorities, extension and partners in other initiative of USAID or other donors.-A workshop to discuss and adapt with different partners and other relevant participants a conceptual framework for more integral and iterative research of smallholder farmers in the specific context of FtF.Gathering and analysis of secondary data and different experiences to develop the above mentioned protocol and promising research and participatory methods and tools. -Assessment and readjustment of the protocol and rapid characterization by piloting them with farmers and other stakeholders in two sites selected for FtF Ethiopian Highlands.-Collaborate with IFPRI on performance monitoring (including refinements of relevant metrics at farm/landscape levels), modification, and evaluation of the research approaches to develop an assessment of effective research approaches.-A final workshop to discuss and disseminate findings (specifically participatory action research and community scale approaches) to scientists, extension educators and NGO partners working with the FtF ARISE project (e.g. modelling decision-making). This will be a unique opportunity to develop detailed plans for the next phase of activities -based on these findingsin Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Mali.To improve both livelihoods and human nutrition across rural households in the Ethiopian Highlands, we need to understand better the potential constrains and preferences of farmers and other stakeholders of adopting promising technologies at a farm and community level. This project builds on past and current experiences of different partners to better position famers in research and development processes, giving them a central role in the selection and assessment of options based on their own conditions. This project combines development and piloting on the ground of research conceptual approaches, which is the foundation for a successful FtF initiative being carried out in the Ethiopian Highlands and the southern eastern Africa FtF targeted regions.Two selected sites of the FtF initiative in the Ethiopian Highlands, and potentially other FtF regions.The primary target group of the proposed project will be smallholder farmers in the rainfed mixed crop-livestock systems of Ethiopia, and potentially of Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Mali.","tokenCount":"957"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4275944165.json b/data/part_1/4275944165.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4819245af58f502d2ef447aef983d085a7a29d1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4275944165.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"44dd7a2ddbdfd757df021b86afcc2f63","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_9192i.pdf","id":"-226652015"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"497279b8-c83c-4dee-ab8d-2c8989c51582","pagecount":"52","content":". Soil lithology and other soil characteristics like infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, nature of salinity and/or sodicity, soil fertility, water-table depth, etc. are prerequisites for such type of research.Keeping in view the research programme of IIMI-Pakistan, the present investigations were carried out which included the following: Detailed investigations of the soils of the area and their identification at soil phase level.Preparation of detailed soil survey maps a t a scale of 1 : 10,000 for each watercourse command and a combined report.Characterization of each soil series with special refercncc to soil lithology (mechanical analysis of soil horizons), hydraulic characteristics (infiltration rate, permeability) bulk density, porosity, soil fertility (organic matter content and micro-nutrients), etc. These investigation will help in improving the planninglexecution of research projects relating to irrigation management and to apply the results on the related soils of the area.A detailed soil survey of the project area was carriod out in Cctober-November 1995 by three separate tcams, each comprising of one Soil Survey Research Officer and one Assistant Soil Survey Research Officor. The methodology adopted included the following stages:Base maps of all the eight watercourse command areas wcrc prepa,red at 1 :5,000 scale, separately. The air-photos were scanned under a mirror stereoscope to delineate physiography and associated soils of the areas on the basis of air-photo patterns and tonalities.Field investigations were carried out using the interpretative physiography soil map and augering the soils t o a depth of 150 to 200 cm, mostly in alternate fields. -Wherever necessary, the observation sites were supplemented by additional checks, to trace the exact soil boundaries. However, in barren or dunal areas, the observation density was lower.At each auger observation site, the information recorded included: the depth and thickness of the horizons/layers; and for each horizon, the moist Munsell's colour, mottles, texture, structure, porosity, soil moisture status, consistence, calcareousnesslgypsum and soil reaction. In addition, surface salt crust (locally called \"papri\"), depth to watertable, land use and other factors influencing soil management were also noted. Soil types and their phases were differentiated on the basis of these characteristics. In total about 1100 auger observations were made in all the eight watercourse command areas.The information were recorded on prescribed proformae (Appendix I), using a separate sheet for each observation site. The sites were precisely located, marked, indexed and numbered on the base maps.Twelve soil pits were exposed to a depth of 2m on representative sites of the soils recognized in the survey area, described and sampled according to the procedures laid down in the Guidelines for Soil Description (FAO, 1977).The laboratory team performed replicated tests for infiltration (double ring infiltrometer) and permeability (auger hole and inversed auger hole methods] at the abovementioned 12 sites and collected undisturbed core samples from defined depths. In total, 213 disturbed soil samples and 73 undisturbed core samples were collected for detailed analysis in the laboratories of the Soil Survey of Pakistan at Lahore.The soil boundaries drawn in the field were finalized through a deep insight of field observations recorded, supplemented by comparison with the air-photo studies.Digitization o f the soil maps at the scale of 1:10,000 o f the eight watercourse command areas and word processing of the report was done by the relevant sections of IlMI-Pakistan at their Head Office, Lahore.All of the eight watercourse command areas, listed below with their extent, are located between latitudes 29\" 40' t o 29\" 50' N and longitudes 72\" 25' to 72\" 50' E. Four of these on the right of the Fordwah Distributary are suffixed w i t h \"R\" and four on the left of the Azim with \"L\". Their location is shown on map provided by IIMI.- The climate of the area is arid subtropical monsoonal. Average annual rainfall ranges between 150 to 179 mm, about t6o-thirds is received during monsoon (mid July to September) and the remaining in winter (December to February). Monsoon rains fall in heavy showers. The post monsoon period including winter months are extremely dry while the premonsoon period receives little rainfall.The mean annual temperature is 26.1 \"C. May and June are the hottest months with the extreme being 51.7 \"C. The mean winter temperature is 14.8 \"C, January being the coldest month with a mean minimum temperature of 5 \"C. Potential evaporation is high at 150 mm/year. Relative humidity is low at 46%. Water balance data show a continuous water deficit throughout the year (Table 1 and Figure I ) .The survey area is commanded by eight watercourses, four of which take off from Fordwah Distributary and the remaining from Azim Distributary.The command areas of 130100 R and 11 1770 L are located a t the tail ends of tho two distributaries Fordwah and Azim, respectively, and the remaining upstream in the sequence. Canal water supplies generally are inadequate, worst at the tail ends. To overcome the shortage of irrigation water, tubewells are proliferating in the area. Groundwater is generally brackish, imposing soil surface salinity and damaging soil production potential. Poor quality tubewell water has damaged a considerable part of the survey area from a few millimeters to more than one meter depth of the soil.0ne\"major canal, Fordwah, controls the hydrology of the area through a network of distributaries. Soils of the area, being mainly light textured, are p r o m to waterlogging through seepage from the irrigation network and injudicious use of irrigation water which has raised water tables t o 90-1 5 0 cm and sometimes even to 45-90 cm depths below the ground surface.   This physiographic unit refers t o the lowest parts in the landscape. Pacca and Matli soil series share this unit. The former occupying the lowest, whereas the latter slightly higher positions. Basin margins are occupied by Adilpur soil series. The Satghara soil series has been formed in the lowest parts of the basins where water stagnates seasonally. Typical cross sections and characteristic o f these soil series can be seen on the soil maps of Azim 63-L and Fordwah 14-R.This physiographic unit refers to low ridges parallel to a river channel course. In the survey area, levees are mainly coarse loamy in nature and locally sandy. Mainly Rasulpur and Jhang soil series share this unit. A major part of these levees has been levelled and brought under cultivation. The Rasulpur soil series occupies the lower parts whereas Jhang the upper parts of the levees. Typical cross sections and characteristics of these soils can be seen on the soil maps o f Fordwah 46-R, 62-R and 1 3 0 4 .This physiographic unit is formed by deposition of the sandy material on the inner side of a meandering river. In the survey area, the Sodhra soil series and its phases occupy this landform. Its position and characteristics can be seen on the soil map of Azim 20-L. a 2.General natureThe soils of the survey area are developed in mixed calcareous river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. Texturally, they range from sand to silty clay and are level to nearly level except for a few stabilized low sand dunes which occupy only a little percentage in the command areas. Physically, the soils have good tilth except for a small area, which is clayey (Pacca soils) and needs mechanical cultivation.The survey area falls adjacent to the Cholistan Desert. which has visibly affected the soils of the area. The soils, especially Rasulpur, Harunabad and Jhang series, have a sufficient admixture of the Cholistan sandy material. The silty and clayey soils (Sultanpur, Bagh, Pacca soil series, etc.) have a loamy surface due to mixing of this material transported by wind and water.Genetically, the soils have been formed in the Subrecent alluvium period and have a structural carnbic B horizon that enhances their natural fertility, porosity, and water and nutrients holding capacities and easiness for root penetration. The soils of the area can be divided into five main textural groups as under. The extent and percentage of the individual soil series is shown in Table 2.   The rest, 4.4 percent is mapped as miscellaneous land types covering stabilized l o w sand dunes with hummocky topography constituting urban land, lakes, graveyard and kiln.Soil mapping unitsThe soils in the survey area have been characterized, classified and identified as soil series/variants and their soil types/phases. Mapping w a s done a t the soil phase level.Soil series: A soil series is a group o f soils having the same sequence and arrangement o f horizons/layers w i t h similar thickness, colour, structure, soil reaction and consistence and developed from a particular parent material. Series are given geographic names selected f r o m the localities where they were first identified in Pakistan.Soil variant: A soil variant is a taxonomic soil unit closely related t o another taxonomic unit, a soil series, b u t departing f r o m it in at least one differentiating characteristic at the series level from which it derives its name as modified b y the principal distinguishing feature. Variants are in fact separate soil series but of too small an extent t o justify establishment as a n e w series. The Rasulpur saline-sodic variant is an example.Soil tvoe : Within a soil series, there may be one or more soil types, depending upon textural variations o f the surface horizon. Bagh loam, for example, is a soil type. The types within a series have substantially similar properties throughout the profile.Soil ohase: The soil phase is a subdivision of a soil type differing from the type in some feature potentially significant t o use and management. Some o f the features used for differentiating between phases within a type are slope, soil depth, substratum, degree o f wetness, reaction of the surface soil and degree o f erosion. Rasulpur fine sandy loam over moderately fine at 60-90 c m is an example.In total sixty five (65) soil mapping units at the soil phase level have been identified and mapped in all o f the eight watercourse command areas. Table 3 shows the list of these mapping units with their corresponding mapping symbols and distribution (acreage and percentage) in each of the command areas. The mapping symbols have been framed using standard abbreviations, the first two letters denoting the soil series followed by the digits \"1,2,4,6,7 and 10\" which correspond to the soil textural class o f the surface soil; sand, loamy sand, fine sandy l o a d s a n d y loam, loam, silt loam and silty clay loam, respectively. Letters \"b, a and av\" indicate, where appropriate, barren, saline-sodic surface and saline-sodic variant. The digits \"3\" in the denominator represent the soil depth, moderately deep (60-90 c m ) . \"W1 and W2\" indicate the depth t o the groundwater table at 90-1 5 0 c m and 45 -90 cm, respectively. The letters \"c, m and mf\" in the denominator indicate the textural group (coarse, medium and moderately fine) of the substratum wherever differing from the soil series criteria. The letter \" x \" at the end of the mapping symbol indicates the inseparable complex of the t w o components even at the detailed soil survey level.The soil mapping units are located on the accompanying soil maps of the eight watercourse command areas at a scale o f 1:10,000 described below, following a brief introduction to the relating soil series which have been arranged alphabetically. The watercourse nos. used in the following text and the soil maps are adopted from llMl where these are conventionally used as 20-L, 43-L, 63-L, 11 I-L, 1 4 -R , 46-R, 62-R and 130-R for 20610-L 43260-L, 63620-L, 1 1 1770-L, 14320-R, 46725-R, 62050-R and 130100-R, respectively. Emphasis is laid on agricultural potential and management of each unit with a brief mention o f its limitations and hazards. Specific improvements possible are given o n the basis of field experience in the survey area and in similar areas elsewhere. The area is being used for cotton and wheat, mostly under canal irrigation, but crops are poor due t o moderate salinity and sodicity. .The irrigation with tubewell water, which is usually of bad quality, is adding t o the salinity-sodicity problem.T o reclaim these soils, a good quality irrigation water is needed on a priority basis w i t h the recoinmendations for adding gypsum, sulphuric acid, organic matter, etc. After reclaiming the surface (upto 1 5 cm), thc area must remain iinder intensive cultivation with rotation o f jantar and berseem for 2-3 years. Baah loam (Ba 6)This unit covers 8.65 acres or 2.58 percent of Fordwah 6 2 4 command area. The soils have very good tilth with a thin loamy cover. This is very good agricultural land, highly suited to a wide variety of climatically suited crops and fruit orchards.Inclusion of legumes in crop rotation, application of manure and mixing of stubbles and crop residues will help t o maintain the organic matter contents and preserve the surface soil structure, and increasing its water and nutrients holding capacity. Intensive agriculture could be practiced profitably on these soils if additional irrigation water is made available. Remarkable increases in crop yields could be achieved by adopting modern management practices.Baah loam over coarse a t 60-90 cm, water-table at 90-150 c m jBa6/3cwl)This unit covers 11.59 acres or 2.33 percent area of Fordwah 14-R command area. The soils are level, moderately deep over sands and imperfectly drained but with good tilth. The soils are predominantly used for growing cotton, wheat and sugarcane with good yields. Locally, rice is also grown.High watertables and the presence of sands at moderate depth are the t w o main hindrances for raising deep rooted crops, especially fruit orchards on these soils. Drainage can be improved by improving regional drainage systems (vertical or lateral) coupled with canal lining in their sandy portions. Growing of high delta crops like rice and sugarcane should be avoided.After improving the drainage, all of the ecologically suited crops can be grown successfully. Adding organic matter, in any form, will enhance its water and nutrient holding capacity. Modern management practices can achieve desired results.Baqh fine s a i d v loam. water table at 90-150 c m (Ba4/W11This unit covers 6.31 acres or 1.27 percent area of the Fordwah 1 4 -R command area. The soils are deep, imperfectly drained, but with good tilth.The drainage limitation can be overcome by adopting the recommendations and improvement measures mentioned in Unit No.4. However, its production potential is high and suitability range of crops is quite wide compared to Unit No.4.The Gandhra series consists of brown/dark brown, well drained, calcareous, moderately saline-sodic, porous medium textured (loamslheavy sandy loams) soils formed in the mixed river alluvium deposited in the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon, developed to moderate depth. The substratum comprises layers of various textural groups ranging from very fine sandy loam to loamy sand.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies nearly level areas in the Subrecent river plains.Gandhra loam (Gd6)This unit covers 6.14 acres or 2.00 percent of WC Azim Ill-L command area. The soils have a moderate salinity-sodicity problem with good tilth.Moderate crops of cotton and wheat are grown with canal and tubewell irrigation. Tubewell water of poor quality is aggravating the salinity/sodicity,problems.To reclaim these soils, an application of gypsum with a few heavy irrigations of good quality water is needed, followed by growing of 'jantar' and 'berseem' or high delta crops like rice. After reclamation, intensive cultivation of a wide variety of crops must be continued. Use of organic manure, single super phosphate and ammoniuni sulphate should be preferred on these soils.The Harunabad soil series consists of brownldark brown to dark yellowish brown, well drained, medium textured (loams and heavy sandy loams) soils formed in Subrecent mixed river alluvium. It has a structural cambic B horizon, developed to moderate depth. Its substratum usually grades into coarse textured (light sandy loams to loamy fine sands) material.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies level to nearly level positions in the Subrecent river plains.Harunabad loam IHr6) The soils with a loam surface having very good tilth are flawless. A t present, crops of cotton, wheat, sugarcane and fodders are being raised under canal and tubewell irrigation with good returns.The soils are highly suited t o a wide variety of farm crops and fruit orchards. Addition of iarm yard manure after every 2-3 years will improve its surface soil structure, as well as increase its water and nutrient holding capacity. Intensive agriculture can be practised on ltiese soils if yea[-round irrigation water is available. Remarkable increases in the yield of crops can be achieved by adopting modern management practices.This unit covers 20.83 acres or 6.21 percent and 29.89 acres or 4.57 percent of Fordwah 6243 and Fordwah 1304 command areas.respectively.The soils are similar to that of Unit No.7 except for the deteriorated surface soil to a depth of only a few millimeters caused by poor quality tubewell water. \\ Addition of organic matter, or a small quantity of gypsum. will ameliorate this condition, provided the farmers try to avoid further use of bad quality tubewell water for irrigation.Harunabad loam, watertable at 90-150 crn(Hr6/Wl)This unit covers 10.86 acres or 2.19 percent and 22.71 acres or 5.48 percent of Fordwah 14-R and Fordwah 4 6 4 command areas, respectively.The soils are similar to that of Unit No.7 except being imperfectly drained but having good tilth.A t present, these soils are being used to produce good crops of cotton, wheat, sugarcane and some vegetables. The impeded drainage problem can be revcrsed with the following package: Jhakkar silt loam watertable at 90-1 5 0 c m (JK7IWl I This unit covers 15.37 acres or 4.50 percent of Azim 20-L command area. It is similar in characteristics t o Unit No.12, except for drainage, which is imperfect. Before the reclamation process is initiated, improvement of a regional drainage system is a must. Presence of a locked lake in this command area is adversely affecting the soils and needs some physicaVbiologica1 treatment.This unit covers 59.59 acres or 22.71 percent of Azim Ill-L command area. In soil characteristics and reclamation process, it is similar to Unit No.12. The soil deviates from Unit No.12 in surface texture and is comparatively more conducive for reclamation due to its better infiltration.Jhakkar fine sandv loam, watertable at 90-1 5 0 crn (JK 4 / W l I This unit falls in Azim 20-L command area and covers 8.64 acres or 2.53 percent of its total extent. It is similar to Unit No.12 in soil characteristics and reclamation package. Additionally, the soil is imperfectly drained and needs an improved regional drainage system, especially an outlet to the locked lake is required. It also differs from Unit No. 12 in surface texture which is fine sandy loam, reclamation of which is easier being more permeable.The Jhang series consists of brown/dark brown to dark yellowish brown, calcareous, excessively drained, coarse textured (loamy fine sand to light fine saridy loams) soils formed in mixed river alluvium with an admixture of Cholistan sands deposited during the Subrecent period.It has a structural cambic 6 horizon developed to moderate depth. Its substratum comprises greyish brown loamy sands and sands. The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies nearly level t o gently undulating sandy levees.This unit covers 97.10 acres or 14.86 percent of Fordwah 130-R command area. The original physiography has been changed through levelling and the soil is generally sown to cotton, wheat and millets. The soils, because of its sandy nature, has less water and nutrient holding capacity, or natural fertility, and is excessively drained; hence, the crop condition is fair to poor. Due to the shortage of canal water, the area is irrigated by tubewells that are causing salinity and sodicity problem.To realize the optimal crop production, the following set of measures is recommended:   About 40 percent of this unit comprises Jhang soils occupying interdunal valleys, while the rest of the 60 percent is occupied by stabilized small sand dunes; main vegetation is sarkanda and khabbal grass with some jandi covering about 25-35 percent of the surface area.The unit provides poor grazing and fuelwood.This area is not irrigable due to its sandy nature and undulating topography. Presently, it should be left as it is. Cor~trolled grazing and cutting are the key solutions to save the adjoining cultivated land from surface burial with wind-blown loose sands.Jhana loamv fine sand with sodic crust (&&) This unit covers 89.59 acres or 13.71 percent of Fordwah 130-R command area. It is nearly level and mostly under tubewell irrigation, producing poor crops of cotton, guawara, and wheat. For sustainable production, recommendations mentioned in Unit No. 1 6 may be followed.This unit is of minor extent with 4.24 acres or 0.65 percent a t Fordwah 130-R command area. It is nearly level, excessively drained and saline-sodic.A few extra heavy irrigations with small doses of gypsum will normalize its condition. For further improvement, follow the suggestions given in Unit No.16.Jhana loamv fine sand, sodic variant-dune land comdex (Ja2lav)-This unit covers 2.58 acres or 0.76 percent and 49.20 acres or 7.53 percent of Fordwah 6 2 4 and Fordwah 1 3 0 4 command area, respectively. About 40 percent of this unit comprises Jhang loamy fine sand sodic variant and the remaining consists of stabilized, small sand dunes. Its vegetation consists of lani and sarkanda covering about 15-25 percent of the surface area. It provides poor grazing and fuel wood. This soil should be left in its natural condition and used as a game reserve.The Math series consists of brown/dark brown to dark yellowish brown, developed to moderate deoth, moderately well drained, calcareous, fine textured (silty clays/heavy silty clay loams) soils formed in mixed river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon developed to moderate depth. The substratum comprises layers of various textural groups ranging from loamy sands to silt loams.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental cliniate and occupies depressional areas in Subrecent flood plains.Matli fine sandv loam (Mt4)   This unit is of minor extent with 5.07 acres or 1.02 percent in Fordwah 1 4 4 command area. The surface soil is fine sandy loam having good tilth. Good crops of sugarcane, cotton and wheat are being harvested presently under traditional management.. All of the ecologically suited crops can be grown economically, except fruit orchards, to which the clayey nature of the soils may create a hindrance to root penetration.Matli fine sandv loam with sodic crust, watertable at 90-1 5 0 cm J M ~~D / W I This unit covers 3.11 acres or 0.63 percent of Fordwah 14-R command area. It is similar to Unit No.22, except it has a thin sodic crust on the surface because of irrigation with bad quality tubewell water and is imperfectly drained due to high watertable. Both of the these hazards are adversely affecting the production of crops. The following remedial measures are recommended: Improvement in regional drainage system; Addition of organic matter;Growing of some high delta crops (rice, sugarcane, etc); and -Mixing of adequate quantities of canal water with tubewell water for irrigation/reclamation purposes.The Miani series consists of brown/dark brown t o dark greyish brown with few fine faint/distinct grey mottles, moderately well drained, calcareous, moderately fine textured (silty clay loams), formed in rnixed river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon developed to moderate depth. The substratum comprises layers of various textural groups ranging from fine sands to silt loams.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies slightly concave areas in the Subrecent level plains.Miani siltv clav loam (MilOl This unit covers 5.24 acres or 1.72 percent of Azim 63-L command area and is a t a slightly lower position than the surrounding area. Collection of runoff may accumulate on these soils during the rainy seasons. Its surface texture is clayey, causing difficulty in seed bed preparation. At present, good crops of cotton, wheat and sugarcane are being harvested. For its improvement, the following steps may be taken: Addition of organic matter to improve its tilth/workability; Avoid over irrigation; -Preference to grow high delta crops (rice); and Emphasize on mechanical cultivation.Miani siltv clav loam over mode ratelv coa rse at 60-90cm (Mi 1013mclThis unit covers 13.03 acres or 4.28 percent of Azim 63-L command area. It is similar to Unit No. 24 and requires similar improvement measures. It differs from Unit 24 by having a moderately coarse substratum (sandy loams) at 60 t o 90 c m which is better lor the internal drainage of the soils, however, it may not be well suited for orchards because of somewhat limited water and nutrient holding capacity of deeper layers.This unit covers 17.53 acres or 10.05 percent of Azim 43-L command area. It is similar to Unit No.24, except it has very good tilth due t o medium textured (silt loam) surface soil.This unit covers 41.99 acres or 13.79 percent of Azim 63-L command area. It is similar t o Unit No.26, rather a little better, having more permeable loam surface.The Nabipur series consists of brown t o dark brown, well drained, calcareous, medium textured (loams) soils formed in mixed river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon developed to moderate depth. The substratum comprises various textures ranging from sand to very fine sandy loams.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies level to nearly level positions in Subrecent level plains.Nabipur loam over coarse at 60-90 cm(Nb 6/3clThis unit covers 35.93 acres or 11.71 percent of Azim 1 1 1 -L command area. The soils are level, moderately deep over sandslloamy sands, with good tilth. Good crops of cotton, wheat and a variety of fodders are being harvested under traditional management.The main hazard is the moderate depth to sands at 60-90 cm, which is a hindrance for fruit orchards only. However, other ecologically suited crops can be grown economically. Modern management will enhance the yields if good quality irrigation water is available.This unit occurs only at Azim 1 1 1 -L and covers 44.34 acres or 14.45 percent of the command area. The soils have good tilth because of the loam surface and is producing good crops of cotton and wheat.Formation of a sodic crust on the surface of the soils as a result of irrigation with bad quality tubewell water is a warning t o its further deterioration. For its improvement, the following measures may be adopted:Avoid tubewell water irrigation, or mix it with canal water to minimize its adverse affect, or apply heavy canal water irrigation once or twice to each crop grown on such soils; Addition of organic matter; and Preferably use single supper phosphate fertilizer.Remarkable increase in yields could be achieved through modern management practices coupled with the abovementioned measures.The Pacca soil series consists of dark greyish brown t o very dark greyish brown, moderately well drained, calcareous, fine textured (silty clays and heavy silty clay loams) soils formed in mixed river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon. Occasionally, it contains a buried profile with the same textural groups. The substratum consists of layers of various textures ranging from fine sands t o very fine sandy loarns and silt loam to silty clay loam.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies nearly level broad basins in the Subrecent flood plains. The clayey nature of the soils create a hindrance t o root, water and air penetration. Surface texture, which is moderately fine (silty clay loamsklay loarns), needs special handling a t a proper moisture level. For its optimal use, the following practices may be adopted:Mechanical cultivation at proper moisture level to avoid cloding;Addition of organic matter to improve its tilth/workability; Avoid over irrigation; -Preferably use high delta crops (rice, sugarcane, bcrseern): and Construct an outlet to dispose of runoff quickly.The Rasulpur series consists of brown/dark brown to dark yellowish brown, somewhat excessively drained, calcareous, moderately coarse texture (sandy loams/fine sandy loams) soils formed in an admixture of river alluvium and Cholistan sands deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon. Sometimes, the series is underlain by medium texture material (silty l o a m and loamsl but often its substratum consists of single grain sands and loamy sands.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies nearly level to gently undulating levees in Subrecent flood plains. This unit covers 47.39 acres or 15.57 percent of Azim 63-L command area. It is similar to Unit No.36, except it has moderately fine texture (silty clay loams) a t moderate depth from the surface. The presence of such layers may, or may not, create a hindrance for root, air and water penetration depending upon their denseness or porosity and ped formation. These soils resemble Unit No.36 and need same improvement measures as for Unit No.36, except imperfect drainage, which requires improvements in the regional drainage system.Rasulaur fine sandv loam over coarse at 60-90 cm, w a t e r t a b u 90-1 50 crn (Rs4/3cwlLThis unit covers 29.82 acres or 6.00 percent of Fordwah 14-R command area. These soils are nearly level, moderately deep over coarse material (sand and loamy sands) and are imperfectly drained. The sandy strata at moderate depth makes the soils excessively drained, therefore, improvement devices mentioned for Unit No.36, should be followed and deep rooted crops, including fruit orchards, rnay be avoided. The regional drainage system should also be improved t o lower the watertable in the area. Rasulour fi ne-dv loarns will! sodic surface,-e at 90-1 5 0 cm / R s 4 a / w l l This unit covers 29.20 acres or 5.88 percent of Fordwah 1 4 4 command area. These soils are deteriorated to a depth of 10-20 cm. For i t s improvement, the instructions mentioned for Unit No. 40 may be followed plus the use of solely brackish tubewell water for irrigation should be avoided. Drainage can be improved as mentioned already.RasulDur loamv finesandRs21This unit covers 118.40 acres or 2 8 . 5 8 percent of Fordwah 4 6 -R command area. It occupies a highot position in the landscape adjacent to the sand dunes. These soils are nearly level and presently producing moderate crops of cottoti, wheat and sugarcane under irrigation. The very sandy surface is the main limitation towards harvesting good crops, for the improvement of which the following measures may be taken: Rasulour loarnv fine sand-dune land cornolex (Rs2-This unit covers 34.55 acres or 6.95 percent of Foidwah 14-R command area. Its topography is hummocky and undulating which makes it unirrigable. This soil contairis about 30 to 40 percent Rasiilpur loamy fine sand in a valley position, while the remaining about 6 0 percent comprises small stabilized sand dunes covered mainly with sarkanda and ktiabbal as natural vegetation which covers about 10-25 percent of the surface area. It provides poor grazing, fuelwood and material for cottage construction. Devegetation of sand dunes may be checked to save the adjacent good soils ttom burial by wind blown sand. RasulDur loamv fine sand. watertable at 90-1 5 0 c m ( R s Z i w I ) This unit covers 32.88 acres or 6.62 percent o f Fordwah 1 4 4 command area. The soils are similar to Unit No.46 and require similar improvement measures for reclamation. These soils differ from those of Unit No.46 in being imperfectly drained for which improvement of the regional drainage system is a prerequisite.The Satghara series consists of brown/dark b r o w n t o dark greyish brown, saline-sodic. dense, calcareous, fine textured (silty clays t o heavy silty clay loams) soils formed in the mixed river alluvium deposited during the Subrecent period. It has a structural cambic B horizon devcloped to moderate depth. The substratum comprises layers o f various textures ranging from very fine sandy loams to silt loamslsilty clay loams.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate and occupies nearly level basins in the Subrecent flood plains. -1This unit covers 83.21 acres or 24.36 percent and 39.46 acres or 22.62 percent of Azim 20-L and Azim 43-L command areas, respectively. The soils are level with good tilth. Very good crops of sugarcane, cotton and wheat are being harvested under normal management levels.This soil provides very good agricultural land. All of the ecologically suited crops, including fruit orchards, can be grown economically. Intensive agriculture could be practised profitably, i f additional good quality irrigation water is made available.Remarkable increases in crop yields could be achieved by adopting modern management practices.SultanDur silt loam over coarse a t 60-90 cm (Su7/3clThis unit covers 4.89 acres or 2.80 percent of Azim 43-L command area. The soils are level, moderately deep over sand and good crops of cotton, fodders, sugarcane and wheat are being harvested under traditional management practices.The soils are similar to those of Unit No.53 and same management practices are needed for sustained agriculture production. As the sands occur at moderate depth, therefore, growing of fruit orchards may be avoided.This unit covers 5.70 acres or 1.67 percent of Azim 20-L command area. The soils are level, moderately deep over sand, watertable a t 60-90 cm and poorly drained. The soils are used for moderate crops of sugarcane. The area lies in the vicinity of a lake which is responsible for high water table conditions in the soils.SultanDur loam ISu61This unit occurs in the command area of the following four watercourses, with the relevant acreage and percentage:.u.Before the soil is brought under the plough, the upper sandy mantle should be removed to expose the original soils.The Sodhra series consists of very deep, brown to greyish brown t o olive grey, single grain, calcareous, excessively drained coarse textured (loamy sands and sands) soils, formed in the mixed river alluvium deposited as sand bars during the Subrecent periods. The substratum is also sandy.The series occurs in an arid subtropical continental climate. A major part of the sand bar has been shaped as sand dunes by wind action and the resultant topography is hummocky. A small portion is nearly level and has medium textured to moderately coarse textured (loams and fine sandy loarns) surface soils. These soils are ploughed to produce maize, wheat and mustards.This unit covers 3.89 acres or 1.14 percent and 2.73 acres or 0.89 percent of Azim 20-L and Azim Ill-L command areas, respectively.The soils are nearly level, overlain by a loamy material, and used for moderate to poor crops of cotton and wheat. These soils are inheritedly very poor in natural fertility due to their sandy nature. These soils are used for a limited range of crops under special management practices.The following practices are suggested in order to harvest a good crop.Addition of organic matter in any form;Split doses of fertilizers and irrigation water; andSowing of shallow rooted crops.Sodhra loam, watertable at 60-90 c m (Sd6/w21This unit covers a small portion, 3.52 acres, or i .03 percent in Azim 20-L command area. The soil is nearly level and poorly drained. A t present, it supports poor crops of cotton and sugarcane.The poor drainage condition is due lo the adjacent lake. Prior t o commissioning o f any drainage system in the area, comprehensive investigations are recommended.This unit covers 13.64 acres or 3.99 percent of Azim 20-L command area and contains nearly level, very sandy soils with moderately coarse (fine sandy loams) surface. Horizonwise data of bulk density and total porosity of each soil series is given in Appendix 1. Tliese results may be used as an indicator of soil problems (i.e. compactness, root penetration, aeration and water retentionlmovement in the soil horizon). Soil density, soil water and soil air relationships can be read from nomograms prepared by Bodman (1942) and Taylor et, al (1966).Perusal of data indicates that the bulk density in normal soils ranges from 1.38 to 7. For planning irrigation scheduling and designing drainage systems, a knowledge of water intake rate and transmission characteristics of soils is essential. For this purpose, the basic infiltration rate (readiness of vertical intake rate of water into a soil from the soil surface), cumulative infiltration and hydraulic conductivity of distinct horizons (with respect to transmission Characteristics) were taken in the vicinity of typical soil profiles. Infiltrations were measured using the cylinder infiltrometer method (U.S.Salinity Lab. Staff, 1954) in triplicate and observations were made a t time intervals of 5,10,20,30,45,60,90,120,180 and 240 minutes. Basic infiltration rates are given at the end of each soil profile description and cumulative infiltration against time is reproduced in Table 4 and is also shown in the form of graphs. ","tokenCount":"6115"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4284977840.json b/data/part_1/4284977840.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..40778c824b1a890c4ef22468c07de15bd5553891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4284977840.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"63d85a26a5b53c4e968537575b2a03f7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6836c4d5-9edc-42b7-835d-07b19d76e131/retrieve","id":"-1368040912"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f65a0a6-f85a-4694-b1ae-6cc892944929","pagecount":"15","content":"• In Uganda, rice (Oryza, spp) is considered as a priority strategic commodity• The crop is currently the third most important grain staple after maize and millet as a source of calories• Rice production and marketing: a lucrative business opportunity (profit of > 3 M Ugandan shillings per hectare per season)• Women in rice systems:• Significant labor in rice production• Smaller proportion in the post-production (downstream nodes of the value chain-DSRVC)• only 8% of women are reported to own rice mills, majority providing labor for unprofitable activities,• Cleaning, fetching water, cooking meals for mill workers, winnowing and sorting rice at the mills • ESA data show women participation ranges• between 5 to 30% as marketing agents• < 5% in rice aggregation,• 25 to 30% as wholesale,• 30 to 35% as rice retailer• The limited participation of women in lucrative nodes of the rice value chain • Evidence on the nature of women's involvement, the challenges, and impact in the Downstream Rice Value Chain (DS-RVC) Segments is lacking. • This study was designed to generate robust evidence on men and women's participation in the DS-RVC segments. •Objectives:• Determine the activities and roles along the DS-RVC:• Assess the challenges and benefits in their participation • Determine the drivers or enablers for their participationA qualitative study of the DS-RVC • Methods• Focus group discussions (FGD-15):• 9 W only , 3 M only, 3 mixed• Key informant Interviews (KII-21):• Mill owners, extension workers, mill managers, brokers, retailers, working persons-both women and men• Observations• Tools:• a checklist: capture perceptions on participation • activities ranging from bagging, bulking transportation, milling and selling of rice among others.• Participation -youth/elderly people (women, men)• Male dominated 70 % male : 30% women • Availability of capital• Pre-payments for the bulk purchase• Ownership of livestock like chicken and goats by women• Credit:…..\"Women start their own social groups of like of 5-10 members and do cash rounds, which help out in many ways like paying school fees, capital addition among others. In these social groups each member gives shs5000-shs10000 varying from one group to another where one person receives a lump sum collection of money from group members, and after a week's time another member also receives, however, this time period and the amount varies from one group to another\"• Single women, find it much easier tahn married women to engage in the rice business:• ..... \"it is worse when a man gives you capital, he will want to control even the smallest coin you have\"….. (married woman)Team player Risk taker Access to transport facilitiesAccess to information Spousal permission Language Social capital Address workload limitations location of business.Women and men's insights on entry to participationIncome-profit-return Men earn more returns and profits: bulk-buying, storage and sale during off-season at higher prices ","tokenCount":"459"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4297457571.json b/data/part_1/4297457571.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..615d5cb9f261a47f7ec4fd00e1b5710d2df27a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4297457571.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"804e5f0404f5d0d5a8ca9b29dcb91d84","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36bb9cb0-35a2-404e-8ee4-2b777ffacb1c/retrieve","id":"608883643"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b5284c0b-9ba2-4488-be34-3f04107891d0","pagecount":"3","content":"In 2022, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) partnered with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) to jointly develop the solar irrigation pump (SIP) sizing tool for India. The tool, developed with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, was designed specifically for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, for use in the ambitious agri-solarization initiative, PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Uttham Mahabhiyan). The Excelbased beta version of the tool and the user manual are available online. The tool has since been adopted by PM-KUSUM and web and mobile versions of the tool are being developed. IWMI and ICAR have committed to promote large-scale use and deployment of the tool and support future versions.As part of NEXUS Gains, the SIP sizing tool has been identified as one of the innovations to be scaled, including by extending its use beyond India. Efforts are already underway to develop a similar tool in Nepal, in partnership with GIZ Nepal and the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC).The nature of this innovation isInnovations that already exist and undergo constant, steady progress and improvement.CGIAR Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness (IPSR)This innovation is characterized asInnovations of technical/material nature, including varieties/breeds; crop and livestock management practices; machines; processing technologies; big data and information systems.This innovation is developed, tested and/or scaled for/in the following regions The innovation is validated for its ability to achieve a specific impact under uncontrolled conditionsThe innovation is being tested for its ability to achieve a specific impact under uncontrolled conditionsThe innovation is validated for its ability to achieve a specific impact under semi-controlled conditionsThe innovation's key concepts have been validated for their ability to achieve a specific impactThe innovation is being tested for its ability to achieve a specific impact under semi-controlled conditionsThe innovation's key concepts are being formulated or designedThe innovation is validated for its ability to achieve a specific impact under fully-controlled conditionsThe innovation's basic principles are being researched for their ability to achieve a specific impactThe innovation is being tested for its ability to achieve a specific impact under fully-controlled conditionsThe innovation is at idea stage For more information on this innovation please contact Santosh S. Mali (santosh.mali@icar.gov.in) and Shilp Verma (shilp.verma@cgiar.org)","tokenCount":"376"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4303070366.json b/data/part_1/4303070366.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..815bbf585ee887292bab7e72e6211f0d6f017c25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4303070366.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b46ae1b82d781c8940435ff6b4ab7ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f9e9714-c24f-45f0-b1fa-f94158115f29/retrieve","id":"-1935675530"},"keywords":["Knowledge, Investment and Enabling Environment. ACSA's Action Group on Knowledge","• Co-leaders","FAO and CGIAR/CCAFS"],"sieverID":"54ea8a68-3e07-4d22-9de4-79a6a81a5810","pagecount":"4","content":"Since 2010: CSA has become an increasingly accepted approach, with many governments, civil society organisations, farmers and businesses interested in implementing CSA programmes.Needs for CSA upscaling: Policy frameworks and incentives; investment flows; participation of different stakeholder groups; development and exchange of knowledge.September 2014: Launch of an Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture (ACSA) to provide a mechanism to coordinate and support the global adoption of CSA.Held between 8-29 April 2014 to identify the major knowledge priorities and key areas of work.• 491 respondents.• 5 overarching knowledge priorities were ranked in the following order of importance:1. Technical interventions and practices in CSA 2. Support, services and extension for CSA AND Evidence base of CSA (joint second) 3. Inclusive knowledge systems for CSA 4. Integrated planning and monitoring for CSA• For a fuller breakdown of results within these overarching priority areas, please see the presentation (http://bit.ly/1uqIeFu) or watch the full webcast (http://bit.ly/ZiRX5x).• General remarks emphasized the importance of:-Direct collaboration with farmers and farmer-focused knowledge product development.-Accurate and reliable measurement and verification protocols for long-term success.-Capacity development specifically tailored to each stakeholder group.-A holistic approach to the five knowledge priority areas.-A rights, governance and gender approach for CSA.-Sharing experiences across country contexts and between different approaches to CSA.-The need to mobilize dedicated investment.(June 2014, Consultative Meeting of the CSA Alliance, Vietnam)The results of the online consultation were evaluated in a participatory manner and Asian perspectives on CSA were shared by participants.A network of 700 CSA practitioners has been established for ongoing knowledge exchange and to coordinate contribution to knowledge products. Email climate-knowledge@fao.org to join the conversation.To date, the Knowledge Action Group has produced the following knowledge products:• A CSA Questions and Answers Sheet to cover basic information about CSA.• CSA Practice Briefs to provide implementation guidance for policymakers and investors. Briefs on Alternate Wetting and Drying and Conservation Agriculture have been completed.• A brief on Climate-Smart Agriculture: Scientists' perspectives sharing a vision of CSA from research institutes.• A brief on Climate-Smart Agriculture: Farmers' perspectives sharing a vision of CSA from farmers' organizations.","tokenCount":"337"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4309426107.json b/data/part_1/4309426107.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6687de2566322cb544987bf2ba25cbb3c085fbeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4309426107.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9dc38dd7af488e405ceb070144ad68fe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/95d8dbcd-5540-45fb-bc04-4cbbc4fad552/retrieve","id":"2043092107"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4fe4124a-e70a-47d7-b30c-026eb58daf43","pagecount":"11","content":"Advances obtained in Colombia in recent years in the development of cassava varieties with high yielding potential have helped to improve the competitiveness of the crop, and are facilitating its insertion in different markets, especially those related to the production of balanced feed for animals, as well as other industrial uses such us starch and adhesives.To compete in these markets, production costs for cassava have to be maintained as low as possible. The cassava crop demands a high quantity of hand labor, especially in the activities of planting and harvesting. In countries such us Brazil and Thailand, important advances have been made in the development of mechanized systems for cassava production. In Colombia, CLAYUCA has been working to adapt some mechanical planters and harvesters for cassava that were originally developed in Brazil.The two cassava planter prototypes that CLAYUCA has tested in Colombia have the capacity to plant two or three rows. The three-row model can plant 9.2 ha per day using four workers (3 planting and 1 tractor driver); the two-row model can plant 6.2 ha per day using three workers (2 planters and 1 tractor driver). There are eight working hours per day. These results compare very favorably with the results obtained with traditional cassava planting systems, in which the planting of one hectare requires at least 7 man-days. These two models of mechanical planters are a viable alternative for cassava farmers, but the minimum area needed to recover the investment costs is 30 ha. The two-row prototype was considered a best option considering that it allows variations in the distance between rows, distance between plants, the length of the stake as well as the depth of planting. One of the main advantages of the use of mechanical planters is the fact that the planting material can be harvested right before planting, thus improving the quality and avoiding the need to store stems for long periods.For the harvesters, the two models tested by CLAYUCA can harvest 1.2 tonnes per man per day, which is very good compared with traditional harvesting systems in which at least 20 to 25 man-days/ha are required to harvest around 12 to 15 tonnes. The use of the semi-mechanized system, in which the roots are pulled out of the soil, and the workers later detach the roots from the stem, allows to increase the efficiency from around 500 kg to nearly 1 tonne of roots harvested per person per day.In the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, the introduction of mechanized planting is allowing farmers to reduce production costs of planting to up to 15.6% in comparison to traditional manual planting. With respect to harvest, the introduction of the harvesting machine is allowing reductions in production costs of around 18.5%. The combination of both practices is giving a total reduction in direct costs of nearly 20%.With the current trend towards economic globalization, agricultural sectors in developing countries such us Colombia, have to face strong competition from imported agricultural products, coming from developed countries in which a complex scheme of subsidies is used to support agricultural activities. Consumers have the choice of using alternative, imported, cheaper products, thus creating marketing problems for local farmers.1 Executive Director, Latin American and Caribbean Consortium to Support Cassava Research and Development (CLAYUCA), CIAT, Apartado Aereo 67-13, Cali, Colombia.2 Cassava Production Systems Specialist, CLAYUCA, CIAT, Apartado Aereo 67-13, Cali, Colombia. 3 Agricultural Engineers, Universidad del Valle, 2002. Thesis Students at CLAYUCA. 2001-2002.  Under these conditions, farmers critically need to have access to cost-reducing technologies that help them to enhance and maintain competitiveness for the crops they produce.Cassava in Colombia is a good example to illustrate this situation. During the last five years, with the steady growth presented by the poultry and animal balanced feeds sectors, a great demand has appeared for cassava as a source of energy in the balanced feeds. To be able to enter these growing markets, cassava has to compete with imported cereals, mainly maize, which is now reaching annual volumes of importation of around 2 million tonnes per year. Although some progress has been made in recent years with the development of new, higher yielding varieties of cassava, this is not enough to achieve a significant reduction of production costs and a greater competitiveness.For cassava to be able to compete in growing markets such as the animal feed sector, production costs should be kept as low as possible. One of the most important components in the production costs of cassava is the high labor requirement, especially during planting and harvesting. In some countries such as Brazil, there have been important advances in the development of mechanized systems for cassava planting and harvesting, that have allowed farmers to reduce production costs. This paper reports on the preliminary experiences obtained in Colombia with the adaptation and evaluation of Brazilian prototype machinery for cassava planting and harvesting, under the specific conditions of some of the most important Colombian cassava growing regions.The data presented in this paper were obtained during the implementation of a project financed by the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, MARD. The grant was given to CLAYUCA (Latin American and Caribbean Consortium to Support Cassava Research and Development) and the experimental work, conducted in three of the main cassava growing regions of Colombia, served as the basis for two students of the Universidad del Valle to obtain their Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Engineering.To facilitate the implementation of the project, CLAYUCA imported from Brazil two prototypes for cassava planting and two prototypes for cassava harvesting.The main technical characteristics of this prototype are (Photo 1):• Distance between planting rows: adjustable from 85 to 95 cm • Distance between plants in the row: adjustable from 40 to 100 cm • Tractor potency requirements: 60-70 HP • Hydraulic lifting system • Automatic cutting of the stakes (saw controlled by the tire of the tractor) • Storage capacity for chemical fertilizer: 150 kg • Capacity for storage of cassava stems (2 sides): 1.5 m 3 • Planting depth control: available • Output: 5 to 7 ha/day • Labor requirement: two people plus tractor driver.The main technical characteristics of this prototype are (Photo 2): • Distance between planting rows: fixed, 1.0 meter • Distance between plants in the row: fixed, 90 cm • Tractor potency requirements: 60-70 HP • Hydraulic lifting system • Automatic cutting of the stakes (jaws system, cutting by pressure on the stem) • Storage capacity for chemical fertilizer: 150 kg • Capacity for storage of cassava stems (2 sides): 1.5 m 3 • Planting depth control: absent • Output: 8 to 10 ha/day • Labor requirement 3 people plus tractor driver.The principal parameters evaluated during this project were:Soil conditions 1. Chemical and physical characterization of the soils in the three regions in which the research was conducted 2. Moisture content and apparent density (to determine the degree of compaction of the soils)The variables measured to determine the performance of the two prototypes were: 1. Uniformity in depth of planting 2. Uniformity in size of the cassava stakes planted 3. Uniformity in plant spacing 4. Mechanical damage of the cassava stakes 5. Field performance 6. Labor costsTables 1 and 2 present the results obtained during the experimental work. Data presented for each site is the average of three repetitions. In each case, the parameter is expressed in terms of percentage, which indicates the results obtained measured against the condition predetermined for operation of the machine. For example, if the desired size of the stake is 20 cm, and the prototype is adjusted to produce stakes with this length, the result of the uniformity of size parameter indicates the efficiency of the machine to produce and plant stakes with this size.This parameter depends on the mechanism of the prototype for feeding the cassava stems from which each stake is cut. It is also influenced by the degree of preparation of the soil. In general, it was observed that the two-row prototype performed better, with values around 92%. The advantage of this prototype is that it includes a device to discard those stakes that do not meet the pre-determined length of stake. Another advantage of this machine is that it allows the use of different planting distances. The three-row prototype does not include the device to control the length of the stake. All the stakes are cut the same size. In general, performance of this prototype was inferior, with values around 80% (Photo 3). 6.72 6.24 6.08 6.34 0.32 2) 1) Assuming 8 hours of work; includes only the workers operating the machine 2) In the case of manual planting , the performance value is estimated assuming the same number of workers that operate the planting machine  1 Uniformity in size of stakes: This parameter is independent of the stage of preparation of the soil but plays a very important role in assuring high germination percentages. It is well known that the length of the stake and the number of nodes have a clear effect on germination of cassava stakes. The two-row prototype gave a good performance of 97.7% when used to produce stakes with length of 15 cm (Photo 4). With the three-row prototype the results were slightly lower, around 95.9%, and the size of the stake obtained was only 11 cm, which could be too short if the variety planted does not have a large number of nodes.This parameter did not present great differences between the two prototypes. The values obtained were around 96% for both machines. This parameter is important for its influence on the germination percentage. The depth of planting of the cassava stake is highly influenced by the type of preparation of the soil. If the area to be planted is not well prepared, the machine will be subjected to variations in the regulation of the depth of planting. This effect is minimized with the two-row planter, as this machine has a device to control the depth at which the stake is released (Photo 5).Mechanical damage to the stake: Each of the two prototypes evaluated presented different degrees of damage to the cassava stakes. The differences occur as a consequence of the cutting device that each machine has. In the case of the two-row prototype, the cutting system is based on circular saws that function with the power take-off device of the tractor. The damage to the stake with this device is minimum, less than 10%. The three-row prototype gave a lower performance with respect to this parameter as the mechanical damage of the stake was around 28%. This is because the device for cutting the stakes is based on a jaws system that applies pressure on the stem to cut off the stakes with the desired length.This parameter indicates the capacity of the prototypes to perform the task of planting the cassava stakes at the given distance between rows and between plants. The efficiency of the machine is affected by parameters such us soil conditions (land preparation and moisture content), capacity of the tractor, and abilities of the workers performing the task. Tables 1 and 2 present the values obtained. The two-row prototype gave an output of 6.3 ha per day or roughly 0.8 ha per hour, using two persons and a working day of 8 hours. In the case of the three-row prototype, the output was 9.2 ha per day of 8 hours, using 3 workers. This corresponds to approximately 1.15 ha per hour. In both cases, this does not take into account the tractor driver. With the traditional planting system, by hand, a total of six workers are needed to plant one hectare in one day.The two prototypes evaluated did not present significant differences in performance, although the economic importance of using them is very high. Tables 3, 4 and 5 present the values calculated for the total cost of the planting operation using the two planters as well as with the traditional system, and its share of the total cost of production of one hectare of cassava. The use of the two-row planter allows a reduction in the costs of planting of 51% in comparison with the traditional system. With the three-row prototype, the reduction in costs for the planting operation is of 55.6%. The three-row planter, when compared to the tworow prototype allows a further reduction of costs of 2.3 dollars per hectare. CLAYUCA has also conducted research on the adaptation and evaluation of semimechanized harvesting systems for cassava. This activity is important due to the excessive cost of manual harvesting, which demands approximately 25-35 man-days per hectare. CLAYUCA imported two prototypes developed in Brazil and conducted some evaluation of the performance of the prototypes under the specific conditions of some of the main cassava growing regions of Colombia.The main technical characteristics of this prototype are (Photo 6):. • Weight: 200 kg • Output: 5 to 8 ha/day (8 hours)• Working capacity: harvests two rows at the same time with cassava planting distances between rows of 80 to 100 cm • Includes front cutting disk that facilitates the work • Soil disturbance is minimum, leaving the cassava plant at the same site • Works on soils in which it is not possible to harvest cassava manually • Requires cutting of the cassava stems prior to the operation (at 20-40 cm height)The principal parameters evaluated were: -Performance with each harvesting method (ha harvested per day) -Root losses (% whole roots, % cut roots and % buried roots) -Labor use (ha harvested per man per day and tonnes of roots harvested per man per day)Table 6 presents the results obtained during the evaluation of the prototype. Values presented are the average of several repetitions and trials. The main effect of the use of the harvester is the improvement in the efficiency of labor. Under the traditional system, in which the cassava roots are harvested by hand, a good performance for a worker is around 500 kg roots/day. With the use of the harvester Model P 900 CLAYUCA has been able to measure the harvest of around 1,100 kg roots/day. In more developed cassava production systems, such us those found in South Brazil, a good performance using mechanical harvesters is around 1,500 kg roots harvested/day.The importance of the use of mechanical harvesters is in the reduction in the number of workers that are needed to harvest a cassava field. Tables 7 and 8 present the results obtained during the evaluation of the prototype and its comparison with the manual harvest system. It can be observed that the introduction of the harvester prototype allows a reduction in labor cost for harvesting of 53%, which results in a reduction of 43% of the cost of harvest, and a reduction of 12% of the total production costs. The economic impact of introducing mechanized planting and harvesting of cassava can also be assessed considering the different technological options that are available for farmers to increase their productivity and competitiveness. In case of Colombia, the cassava farmers have to compete with imported cereals, mainly maize and to do that the cost per tonne of cassava has to be as low as possible to become attractive for the processing plants that transform the fresh roots into dry chips or cassava flour that is later sold to the animal feed companies. Figure 1 presents some data obtained by CLAYUCA that compares the impact of the different technological options available to farmers. It can be seen that the cost per tonne of fresh cassava roots under traditional production systems is US$ 29.4, and that by introducing higher yielding varieties farmers are able to reduce this cost to US$ 25.4, a 13.6% reduction. However, this price is still too high for cassava processing plants. The second option available is the introduction of mechanized planting. If the farmer maintains the traditional varieties, the reduction obtained in costs is slightly lower than the reduction obtained with the improved varieties. Furthermore, the introduction of mechanized planting and harvesting, maintaining the traditional varieties, allows farmers to reduce the cost per tonne of cassava to US$ 21.2, a very significant reduction of 27.9%. At this level, cassava starts to be very competitive with imported cereals. The ideal situation is when the farmers have access to improved varieties, and mechanized planting and harvesting is introduced. This whole technology package helps farmers to bring the production cost per tonne of cassava to US$ 17.5, a very competitive price for the crop to enter different markets. It means a 40.5 % reduction in production costs compared with traditional production systems. 100% 13.6% 11.6% 27.9% 40.5% CONCLUSIONS 1. The introduction of mechanized cassava planting and harvesting is a practice that has great potential to reduce the costs of labor, thus contributing to an increase in the competitiveness of the crop 2. The cost of the prototypes, around 3,500 US$ for the planter and around 1,500 US$ for the harvester, FOB Brazil, is affordable. Farmers' groups organized in the form of machinery rings can easily acquire and administrate these prototypes so that their cassava production can be done at lower costs and with improved competitiveness. 3. Operation of the planting and harvesting prototypes is simple and farmers can easily use them. 4. Farm workers that have to do the heavy work of digging cassava roots by hand, work more comfortably and improve their performance when they are allowed to use the harvester. 5. The discussion against the use of harvester prototypes arguing that it will to replace hand labor needs to be taken in the specific context. In many cases, where there is potential to stimulate commercial planting of cassava, investors will not move into","tokenCount":"2932"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4312616152.json b/data/part_1/4312616152.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f9715e44fa175cf5a79f97b5c3743db8e012d272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4312616152.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a1ee0e6832a5a68683f42e18b31ed1b3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0868cb73-5c0f-40e1-8745-3dfc6f2e7d29/retrieve","id":"-758926607"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"490e7ef3-3727-4c17-b085-1b7b3c572112","pagecount":"24","content":"Considering that roughly 90% of the program is supported by W3/bilateral projects, it is imperative to evaluate goals of existing and future bilateral projects mapped to the CRP, ensure their alignment to program goals, identify existing gaps in W3/bilateral coverage of program goals, and ensure appropriate resource mobilization. Of the available W1/W2 ($11.5 MM), program management cost will use $2 MM, which is intended to cover (1) the cost of the Program Management Unit, (2) salaries of the Flagship Leaders and Clusters of Activities Leaders, (3) one major annual planning and review meeting, (4) honoraria and related expenses of the Independent Steering Committee, (5) CRP-level Gender strategy, (6) CRP-level impact assessment, (7) CRP-level capacity building, and (8) Intellectual Assets policy, and others. An amount of $1 MM is set apart for Competitive Calls for strategic research. The remaining $8.5 MM is allocated to the five flagships. This allocation in 2017 will be in the proportion of 15, 25, 30, 15 and 15% to FP1, FP2, FP3, FP4 and FP5, respectively. This proportion has been arrived at primarily using the level of bilateral support to each Flagship at the present time. (Please note that the Online Submission system has not been able to recognize the input of figures for management and competitive grants yet, and hence these amounts are detailed in this section).The W1/W2 allocation under the base budget scenario will be dedicated to strategic research areas not covered through W3/bilaterals, which are critical to program success. Under the base budget scenario, the program will focus on a maximum of six countries, namely, Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, Mali, Tanzania and Uganda. The uplift budget will enable DCL to strengthen where necessary its current research efforts, and to start addressing the remaining of the 15 of the primary target countries of the program.New and Multiple Avenues: In addition to the current W2 and W3 donors, DCL will tap into new ODA, donor agencies to secure resources. Tapping multiple and new avenues, DCL will focus its resource mobilization at the regional, country and thematic levels. Based on the Country Strategies, national governments and donor agencies supporting interventions in those countries will be targeted. In addition, thematic targeting of donors who are funding for specific themes like climate change; nutrition and health; land restoration and sustainable livelihoods in drylands will help in securing funds across the region. Also, efforts will also be directed towards securing funds for cross-cutting areas like Capacity Development, Digital Agriculture, and Communications which do not have enough funding coverage in the current scenario. The Corporate Social Responsibility funding opportunity from Private sector donors with shared values will also be tapped in. Private Sector Partnerships: new partnerships with private sector partners with shared vision, values and commitments will be forged to maximize results. If the need arises, for specific campaigns or body of work, DCL would also consider crowd-sourcing as an option for additional funding.Team: Resource mobilization for DCL is a team effort. Overall, the RMC with support from the PMU and with the advice of Steering Committee will be responsible for mobilizing resources required for the program. But to focus the efforts and to protect the time commitment of all members, a Working Group (RBS-WG) led by the CRP Director will lead the resource mobilization. The RBS-WG would include the RMC representatives of five Flagships and two representatives from the Steering Committee. The Program Management Unit will support and facilitate the process for the RBS-WG. Donor Intelligence: Being aware of the varying trends of funding scenarios and understanding the potential donor interests and their priority areas is critical in prioritizing the use of resources and time in resource mobilization efforts. Constant look out for funding calls and proposals is also a key area that will lead to secure resources. PMU will monitor these trends, upcoming opportunities and update the RBS-wG on a regular basis. Harvesting information on the bilateral project donors from the M&E platform will also help in prioritizing.Communication: Delivering simple, consistent, compelling and targeted messages to donors and potential funders in the language they understand, and exhibiting common ground through shared values is a key factor for a successful resource mobilization.The annual budget for DCL under the base budget scenario is $105 MM, of which $11.5 MM is supported by W1-W2 and the remaining by W3 and bi-lateral projects. The program attracts significant bilateral funding across its Flagship Projects, and the majority of this is towards Flagship 3. The funding support to FP2 and FP3 (primarily FP3) enables the conduct of crucial research in crop improvement, productivity enhancements through narrowed yield gaps, improved adoption of technologies and gender. Funding towards the other Flagships helps support system research at varying levels. An important area that apparently is underfunded is fundamental research that is critical to set the pace and continue the momentum of technology delivery at both crop and system level to smallholders. This is an area where DCL will direct much of its W1-W2 support to enable strategic research that is central to the rate and intensity of anticipated contributions from the CRP to the SDGs and SLOs, but which is not currently supported by bilaterals or W3. An important area that the program seeks to support immediately through W1-W2 is the identification of Target Population of Environments for the DCL crops, either singly or in their system-combinations, and the development of representative testing locations to improve the confidence of selection of early and advanced breeding material. Combined agronomy and crop improvement in selected locations and breeding for increased system intensification (early maturity, tolerance to increased density) is also an area of strategic importance to the program, to be supported by W1-2.At the program level, we intend to set apart $2 MM of the $11.5 MM W1-W2, towards management cost that includes the cost of a Program Management Unit involving the CRP Director, a Project Manager, two Communications Managers, an Administrative Officer, and a part-time support on Finance Management. This amount also includes the coverage of the Flagship Management team, with an expected time contribution to the program at 40%. Further use of this Management cost covers the support of the Independent Science Committee. The CRP will have one annual review and planning meeting during which we will hold back-to-back meetings of the Research Management Committee and the Independent Science Committee, along with a science meeting of contributing researchers that will involve oral presentations and poster sessions. This amount will also provide, at the CRP level, for gender ($500k), MEL ($250k), capacity development ($200k) and communications ($50k). These amounts at the CRP level will be supplemented by contributions from W3 and bilateral projects to reach at least 10% of budget for gender and capacity development.Of the $11.5 MM, $1MM will be set apart at the CRP level for Competitive Research Grants, directed to strategic research areas underfunded by bilaterals/W3, and encouraging collaborative action between FPs and Centers.The remaining $8.5 MM will be distributed between the Flagships in the proportion of 15, 25, 30, 15 and 15% respectively for FP1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The FP Leaders will decide on the distribution of this budget between Participating partners, depending on the research already addressed by available bilaterals/W3, areas that need to be further strengthened etc.The program will use its uplift budget to strengthen its identified areas of priorities under the base budget scenario, with the primary intention of enhancing the speed and intensity of delivering solutions to smallholder challenges.DCL is supported by roughly 90% W3/bilateral funding and roughly 10% by W1-W2. In such a scenario, our primary concern is to ensure that the mapping of W3/bilateral projects to the program meets the overall goals of the program. We have developed draft guidelines for the mapping of bilateral projects to DCL by participating Centers, and one of the first orders of business following proposal submission is to agree on and finalize these draft guidelines. Allocation of the 2017 W1-W2 ($11.5 MM, base budget) to Flagships is based on a proportion of 15,25,30,15 and 15% for FP1,FP2,FP3,FP4 and FP5 respectively,and this proportion is primarily based on secured and in-the-pipeline W3/bilateral project funds to the five Flagships. Within each Flagship the distribution of W1-W2 budgets to participating Centers is initially based on the budgets from DCL-relevant mapped bilateral projects. While this serves as an incentive for securing program-relevant W3/bilateral funding to meet overall goals, it places those Centers that do not have sufficient starting DCL-relevant W3/bilateral funding at a disadvantage. Hence, we intend to determine a base budget amount that any Center would receive from W1/W2 funds, based upon the nature of proposed research to be undertaken using that budget. We also intend to use an upper limit to the distribution of W1-W2 to any one Center. The exact level of both the upper and lower limits is yet to be discussed and finalized by the management team of DCL.The Flagship Leaders have the authority, ratified by the CRP Director, to approve mapping of W3/bilaterals under the guidelines that we have developed in draft at the present time. Instances of conflict will be discussed in the Research Management Committee and resolved for the best interest and progress of the program. Flagship Leaders also have ownership of their budgets, with the authority to tract, report and revise as necessary. The MEL system used in DS, and currently being adapted for DCL, will be an important tool that supports real-time tracking of projects and budget use by Flagship Leaders.Annual variances of budget will be adjusted in the current proportion across Flagships as identified above. Any changes to the current proportion will be negotiated by discussion in the RMC, and approved by the Independent Steering Committee. A major immediate investment is in the establishment of representative testing locations for the Target Population of Environments of the DCL crops and their systems. No significant capital investment is foreseen in 2017, although strengthening of phenotyping capabilities will be assessed during early 2017 for future investments in 2018 and/or beyond.The total budget requested for FP1 is 12 million USD ($) per year over 6 years, in total $72 m$. In a base budget scenario the annual w1/w2 allocation to FP1 is estimated to $1.425 m$, which constitutes 12% of the total budget. This means that 88% will be/is expected to be funded through w3/bilateral projects mapped to and well-aligned with the FP1 activities, outputs and expected outcomes as presented in the DCL full proposal. For the first years of DCL there are ongoing w3/bilateral projects mapped to FP1 covering the requested budget. However, strong resource mobilization efforts will be required by the FP1 team, in collaboration with other DCL FPs, in order to secure enough funding for the later years. An uplift budget scenario would enable FP1 to carry out more in-depth and high quality research, analysis and synthesis as compared to a base budget scenario. It would enable FP1 to collect more and better primary data (less reliance on secondary data which often are out-dated) and be more present across the DCL target countries in collaboration with other FPs (less desk studies on distance), which would strongly enhance the role of FP1 in the overall DCL delivry and impact.The budget for the FP1 has been broken down for the CoAs. The numbers presented below are for a base budget scenario. CoA1.1 'Foresight, climate change analysis & priority setting' is the second largest cluster with a budget of 3.757 m$ per year. CoA 1.1 will deliver a large share of its outcomes through supporting FP2-FP5 with its prioritization and the CoA will thus receive 13.5% of its budget from w1/w2, whereas CoA 1.2-1.4 has been budgeted 10% from that source (see PIM). CoA 1.2 'Value chains, markets & drivers of adoption' has a total budget of 3.368 m$ and is well aligned with the w3 TLIII and HOPE2 projects (see 2.4 & below). The strategic research on gender and youth is hosted in FP1's CoA 1.3, 'Empowering women and young people through inclusive innovation systems and learning', and it has a budget of 1.295 m$. In addition there are DCL program level budgets for the cross-cutting themes on gender and youth. A large part of the budget for CoA1.3 is coming out of already funded w3/bilateral projects. CoA1.4, 'Impact assessment, enabling environments & scaling' is the largest cluster with a budget of 4.534 m$ of which a large proportion is coming out of w3/bilateral projects such as DRYDEV, TLIII and HOPE2 projects (see 2.4 & below).The CG partners participating in FP1 are ICRAF (lead), ICRISAT, IITA, ICARDA and ILRI. The FP1 planning has been carried out collaboratively and in an integrated manner and several partners are engaged in each of the CoAs. The CoA leadership is divided between IITA (CoA 1.1), ICRAISAT (CoAs 1.2 & 1.3) and ICRAF (CoA 1.4). The detailed planning with distribution of work tasks, deliverables and w1/w2 funding between individuals and partners will be continued during 2016 to ensure optimal alignment of w3 and bilaterally funded activities and maximized strategic use of the w1/w2 funding. Strong and successful partnerships from phase 1 of DC, DS and GL will be taken forward and further developed in DCL through strategic use of the w1/w2 funding (in base or uplift scenarios) and through the existing and upcoming w3 and bilaterally funded aligned projects. In an intermediate or uplift scenario FP1 will be able to carry out more in-depth and high quality research activities and analysis in collaboration with other FPs across DCLs target crops and countries. FP1 will also increase the funding to strategic partners; high end research partners as well as national research institutions and scaling partners.Pension, medical insurance, housing allowances, education allowances, home leave allowances, relocation allowancesSince the w3/bilateral projects are contributing 88% of the FP1 funding a brief summary of three selected projects is provided to give a sense of their priorities and funding to partners.Tropical Legumes III project will develop and deliver legume cultivars, with agronomic and market traits preferred by small-holders and aligns well with the strategic focus of FP1. It maps well into the outputs and outcomes set. TLIII cuts across all CoAs with varying intensity and will be implemented by the lead center ICRISAT and its CGIAR (CIAT and IITA) and non-CGIAR partners who receive 60% of the funds. The main focus areas are gender research, adoption studies and impact assessment which will have some level of prioritization implications to support the scaling aspects (CoA1.1). The work towards CoA 1.2 will include detailed studies of adoption of cowpea, groundnut and chickpea in 7 countries across SSA. These studies will highlight the adoption process with a detailed consideration of different household types and the interactions with different technologies adopted. TLIII gender studies (CoA 1.3) will highlight differences in adoption pathways for men and women farmers while also focusing on the gender yield gap in legume production, determinants and entry points for reducing it. Mapping towards CoA 1.4, TL-III will mainly feature large-scale adoption studies of cowpea and groundnut in Nigeria, common bean and groundnut in Tanzania, and common bean and chickpea in Ethiopia. Innovative approaches, such as the inclusion of a full DNA fingerprinting of planted materials undertaken to attribute yield to varieties and seed purity, will be used as part of the impact assessments. This will add not only to priority setting through better quality estimates but also feed into more robust impact assessments for legumes specifically but generally, the lessons have wider applications.Africa and South Asia focuses on the production and distribution of improved seed, the adoption of improved varieties and crop management practices for sorghum and millets in six DCL target countries. It ties in well with the strategic focus of FP1 and map directly into the outputs and outcomes set. HOPE2 is cutting across all CoAs with varying intensity and will be implemented by the lead center ICRISAT and its partners who receive 30% of the funds. The main focus areas are gender research, adoption studies and models for scaling which will have some level of prioritization implications (CoA1.1). The work towards CoA1.2 will analyze adoption drivers and tracking adoption which will be anchored around the topics of advantage and affordability of the developed technologies as compared to traditional varieties and techniques to provide feedback on what works and why. The work in the area of gender (CoA1.3) will be catalyzing adoption of sorghum and millets varieties released among women farmers and evaluate the influence of gender norms on women's decision-making. It will look at all aspects of adoption and decision making and tease out the differences across gender. Mapping towards CoA1.4, TL-III will develop repeatable models for scaling adoption and focus on the two key preconditions of adoption with awareness and access. This will be implemented through creating innovation platforms to link key R&D actors; innovative dissemination and communication strategies; and equipping frontline extension services with new knowledge and skills.A regional program in the Sahel and Horn of Africa Enhancing Food and Water Security for Rural Economic Development. DRYDEV is led by ICRAF and a major part of the budget is allocated to partners, national institutions and NGOs. The scientific contribution of DRYDEV to DCL is the process of embedding research in development in such a way as to speed up learning cycles within development and increase the probability of impact. DRYDEV is mapped to and aligned with FPs1, 4 & 5. Methods and approaches developed and implemented in DRYDEV, e.g. for testing options at scale for different contexts and scaling for impact, will feed into and be utilized across DCL. This work will be facilitated by CoA1.4.Flagship 2: Pre-Breeding and Trait Discovery Details of FP2 budget is presented in the submitted PIM Tables 2 and 3 in section 2.2. Over the 6 year period the total budget expected for FP2 is $88.738 million in a base budget scenario. A total of 14%, 74%, and 11% of this projected budget come from w1/w2, bilateral, and w3 respectively. Most of the bilateral/w3 mapped will contribute to objectives of the FP2 for pre-breeding and discovery of high priority traits in DCL crops using modern enabling technologies and platforms. The major w3 projects mapped to this FP includes TLIII, HOPE2, and HTGF. In terms of contributions to the system level outcomes the FP2 focuses 74% of the resources on SLO1 reduced poverty, 9 % on SLO2 on improved food and nutrition security and health with also targeting the cross cutting activities with 4 % of the budget directed to climate change and that of 7% to capacity building.The activities of FP2 are divided into three CoA, namely pre-breeding, trait discovery, and enabling technologies and are being led by IITA, ICARDA, and ICRISAT respectively. These three CoAs targets mainly the following 7 sub-IDOs with approximate % age of budget shown in parentheses:  4 presents the year wise outcome of the flagship with target countries and means of verification. Given the small amount (14% of total funding) of w1/2 funding available for FP2, the large number of sub-IDOs targeted by the FP and the need to use these funds for strategic research, FP2 will introduce a competitive grant (for participating centers) element for w1/w2 funding to be completed by 4Q2016 in order to start in 2017. Priority will be given to proposals targeting strategic research areas of FP2 that align with the grand challenges and that favor integrating clusters of activities among different partner centers to achieve the goals. Clearly there will need to be significant matching w3/bilateral funding also make available for projects going forward. To mobilize the extra funds from w3/bilateral a mutlipronged strategy involving multiple centers and FPs will be implemented going forward.For FPs management in DCL a budget of $1.32M will be set aside at CRP office from w1/w2 funding along with $1M for cross cutting activity such as gender, capacity development, MEL, and communications. Rest of the w1/w2 budget of FP2 ($12.75M for six years) will be allocated to strategic research (93%), genderrelated and capacity development (7%). Most of the w1/2 funding is allocated to strategic research on the sub-IDOs related to enhance genetic gain (sub IDO 1.4.3, 1.1.2) and climate change (1.4.1, A1.4). Within this over all funding scenario from all sources, we expect at least 10 % of total CRP funding for each of gender-related and capacity development built into the overall research process. The allocation of w1/w2 budget to different centers will be done later in consultations with CRP director and RMC through a welldefined transparent process.Any uplift budgets will contribute to strengthening the already planned activities for strategic research areas of FP2 in consultation with the CoA leaders and CRP director.Pension, medical insurance, housing allowances, education allowances, home leave allowances, relocation allowances Flagship 3: Variety and Hybrid Development:The vision of success FP3 requires that strategic investments be made across its Clusters of Activities (CoA) in a manner that enhances synergy, value added and high returns to investments. To this end resource planning has been informed by lessons learnt regarding resource planning and management from Phase I. The key observations and lessons learnt during Phase I are:1. Budget reductions: Both DC and GL CRPs experienced budget reductions affecting activity planning and implementation. The erratic funding situation affected window 1 and window.2. Asymmetric funding opportunity. Window I and Window II funds were the most affected funding streams. Window 3 and Bilaterals were in general larger and more stable. These were however favourably focused mainly on FP3 activities.3. Limited incentive to stimulate resource mobilisation. Most scientists and centres did not map their activities and funds to the CRP because of the absence of incentive systems. In this phase there is need to put in place a balanced reward system to incentivises successful resource mobilisers while meeting strategic but less funded areas.4. Asymmetric commodity funding opportunity. Not all DCL crop value chains attract the same levels of funding support especially from window III and bilateral funding, the main funding source. The limited Window I and II funds when invested for such crops have limited leverage exposing projects to funding vulnerability.1. Asymmetry in center budget allocation:a. The apparent differences reflect variances due to W3 and Bilateral projects mapped to FP3. ICRISAT has the largest bilateral projects, most of which are mapped to FP3.b. Also reflects projects under development and or marked for funding during period 2017-2022. These figures may change depending on funding availability especially for W1+W2.2. Technology development testing and delivery account for over 80% of earmarked funds under bilateral and W3 support.Currently activities under this account for less than 2% of the budget. The PIM provides details of the share. It is proposed to use these funds for strategic areas not funded sufficiently by bilateral and window. The target Clusters of Activities are CoA is 3.1 and CoA 3.2. These CoAs will leverage support from bilaterals. This approach funding will secure funding for these CoA against volatility.Currently Bilaterals are the main source of funding. The main projects include large multi country as well as country led multi-year projects. Many of these projects are being implemented in Africa and Asia (HOPE, TLIII) and country led projects supported by USAID, Feed the Future, Irish Aid among others. In order to attract more such projects, an incentive plan for the entire CRP is planned to attract centres to plan, allocate and map acquired resources to the CRP.Gender: FP3 gender strategy focuses on areas that unlock opportunity for women, children, youth and vulnerable community members, especially small holders', to harness modern varieties and their allied knowledge and technologies to strengthen and expand livelihood options. Gender programming runs through all FP3 Clusters of Activities (CoA), the highest intensity being under CoAs 3 & 4. It also leverages ongoing gender activities mainly supported from bilateral sources with up to 7% of funds appropriated.Capacity development: Two strategies will be implemented: 1) Training of next generation scientists by leveraging other investments and partnerships impart skill-sets needed improve breeding pipeline efficiency. Capacity strengthening for product delivery will be updated later focusing on skills development for social and market dynamics to strengthen seed systems. Budget allocated is 10% and mainstreamed across CoAs.Impact assessment: This key activities is undertaken by the CRP Result-based budget and Flagship 1. FP3 Large bilateral supported projects with evaluation studies will contribute significantly to impact assessment. Progress monitoring of FP3 activities will provide information. The budget is not allocated per se but it is part of the FP and CoA Leaders time allocation.Communication. FP3 will use cloud computing systems for repository, access and use of knowledge and information. Such platforms may be used by scientists and extension services. Under CoA4, we will test the use of modern ICT study the science of delivery. Budget allocated from all sources of funding is 5% and mainstreamed across CoAs.3.1 Immediate to short term (1<2 years) 1. Leverage bilateral support at country to regional level through strategic partnerships to cushion budget shortfalls. We will immediately work with NARS to subsume critical research activities and development agencies (civil society and Farmer organizations) for outcome and impact delivery.2. Within the FP3 the project will re-prioritize and focus activities on those critical for outcome delivery (this may lead to reduction in the number of countries and traits targeted.3. Leverage non-CG Partner's investments to sustain planned activities1. FP3 will maintain a strong resource mobilization strategy that targets traditional and new funding agencies to increase and stabilize its funding base. This will include a focus on mutual accountability with donors, governments and partners especially at country level where most funds are appropriated.2. Allocate at least 80 Percent of the budget to prioritized core R&D activities and essential core services needed to assure effective implementation. Most funding will be allocated to bilateral sources the relatively secure funding source as per lessons learnt.3. FP3 leverage other partners CRPs to co-fund activities.Flagship 4: Integrated Land, Water, and Crop Management:This is presented in the submitted PIM Tables 2 and 3. Over the 6 year period the total budget expected for FP4 is $88.7 million. In terms of contributions to the 3 system level outcomes the FP focuses 54% of the resources on SLO1 reduced poverty, 10% on SLO2 on improved food and nutrition security and health, 24% on SLO3, improved natural resources and ecosystem services with 4% directed to climate change and 7% to gender. PIM Table 4 presents the milestones to be achieved related to IDOs. Given the small amount of W1/2 funding available, the large number of sub-IDOs targeted by the FP and the need to use these funds for strategic research, FP4 will introduce a competitive grant element into the funding to be completed by September 2016 in order to start in 2017. The grant scheme is designed for those countries where there are at least 2 centers mapping W3/Bilateral funding. Priority will be given to proposals that; involve 2 or more participating centers; that align with the grand challenges outlined in the FP4 proposal; that favor integrating activities and that have a range of funding between 200-300K over the first 2 years. Clearly there will need to be significant matching W3/bilateral funding also available for a meaningful project. A project proposal template is available for these submissions.W1/2 funding will be distributed as shown in  Any uplift budgets will contribute to funding additional on agreed joint activities via the competitive grant process in collaboration with the CoA leaders and CRP director.","tokenCount":"4560"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4318934908.json b/data/part_1/4318934908.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7bdf93b0519594c5cc8ef325148ab1f729cb1b1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4318934908.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ca8054dfecd53e3c2e71942666de389","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a0c5ef7d-47bb-4edd-a483-5319f1a671c2/retrieve","id":"870462881"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"45d2ca4e-ee86-4c5f-8787-3994a6eccb40","pagecount":"32","content":"The CGIAR Platform for Big data in Agriculture aims at using big data to solve agricultural development problems faster, better and at greater scale. Data has become a valuable global commodity, but it is much more than simply information: in expert hands, it is intelligence.Already, analysts are finding ways to turn big data -the immense stocks of information collected in computers worldwide -into an invaluable resource for planning and decision-making. It is helping accelerate the development of robust responses to some of the most pressing challenges of our time: climate change/variability, food insecurity and malnutrition, and environmental degradation. The smart and effective use of data will be one of the most important tools for achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Big data represents an unprecedented opportunity to find new ways of reducing hunger and poverty, by applying datadriven solutions to ongoing research for development impact.Towards a core approach for cross-sectional farm household survey data collection: a tiered setup for quantifying key farm and livelihood indicatorsIn May 2017, the CGIAR Platform for Big data in Agriculture was officially launched. Around that time, the nascent community of practice on socio-economic data held its first virtual meet-ups. One of the first things that emerged from these discussions was the recognition that any form of standardization in the socio-economic domain was conspicuously absent. In an effort to redress the challenges facing socio-economic data reuse and data interoperability, three working groups emerged. The working group 100Q focused on identifying key indicators and related questions that are commonly used and could be used as a standard approach to ensure data sets are comparable over time and space. The working group SociO! focused on the development of a socio-economic ontology with accepted standardized terms to be used in controlled vocabularies linked to socio-economic data sets. The working group OIMS focused on the development of a flexible and extensible, ontology-agnostic, human-intelligible and machine-readable metadata schema to accompany socio-economic data sets. There is an urgent need to improve the characterisation of agricultural systems at household level to enable a more efficient assessment of the capacity households to adopt a range of agricultural intervention options. Local drivers and factors need to be identified that might constrain or provide opportunities within a specified agricultural system (Carletto et al., 2015), while on the other hand generalisable standardized characteristics need to be identified that would allow robust comparisons between different systems (Frelat et al., 2016;van Wijk et al., 2014).The assessment of opportunities at smallholder farm household level to improve their livelihoods needs integration of validated standardised agricultural, poverty, nutrition and gender indicators in the quantitative characterisation of these households. This will allow us to assess how these welfare indicators vary across a farm household population and across different agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions. Such data would also allow us to better assess how they may change over time.Furthering such a standardization across all institutes within the CGIAR (who have been estimated to conduct baseline interviews with around 180,000 farmers per year) would allow for much easier application of big data method applications for analyzing the household level data themselves, as well as for linking these data to other larger scale information sources like spatial crop yield data, climate data, market access data, roadmap data, etc. The Big Data platform of the CGIAR has therefore stimulated an effort to define how a common core of a cross-sectional household survey focusing on rural households could look like, the so-called 100Q exercise (with 100Q standing for 100 Questions that that core should contain). The core survey should deliver key information around the agricultural activities and off farm income of the household, as well as key welfare indicators focusing on poverty, food security, dietary diversity and gender equity.Within this effort a workshop was held in Rome, Italy, in December 2018, where a group of scientists from different centers of the CGIAR and partner institutions discussed how such a core approach for cross-sectional surveys could look, and what type of information should be captured. This report is a short reflection of what was discussed during this workshop, and tries to summarize the overall conclusions of this workshop into core modules of key aspects and indicators of rural farm livelihoods. This information can be used as building blocks for survey development, thereby resulting in more harmonized household survey data collection across CGIAR centers.Based on evaluation of a wide range of survey instruments (e.g. Frelat et al. 2016;RHoMIS, Hammond et al., 2017 and WordBank's LSMS-ISA survey tool (Living Standards Measurement Study -Integrated Survey on Agriculture) we decided that the key aspects that should be present in the core version of a household survey are the following: The information underpinning these will cover key information underpinning several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and then in particular SDG 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 5 (gender equity) and 12 (consumption and production).In the following chapters we will dive into how each module for these aspects could look like, and what simple and more elaborate approaches can be within these modules (i.e. different 'Tiers'). This report deals with questionnaire design, and therefore does not deal with questions related to the survey application (e.g. to whom do you ask the questions, what are appropriate sampling strategies, etcetera).This is a basic module of all farm household survey questionnaires, and it is not really possible to distinguish different Tiers here. Key variables to be collected are the age, sex and education level of all household members. The main difficulty of this module actually lies in the definition of a 'household' and which members belong to a household and which members do not. For example, members of the rural household can live in the city and send money home. So they are part of the livelihood but not necessarily of the household as they do not help with managing the farm nor do they eat from 'the same pot'. Other complicating factors for the definition of a household are the well-known family clusters that occur in West Africa where extended families live together and for some aspects (for example food or livestock herd management) function as a single unit whereas for money and crop management often smaller family units make decisions, or the occurrence of polygamy where a single husband supports more than one family.So often two aspects are combined to define the household and its members in households: 'who is eating from the same pot at least three months a year' and 'who are making decisions about and managing their agricultural resources'.The household roster can then be asked for like in Table 1, following the setup used in the LSMS-ISA survey. For farm characteristics we want quantitative information about the agricultural production resources (land & livestock), their key crops and species, and the main use of the produce.Logically this information can be divided into two subsections, 1 -Land available and use, and 2 -Livestock available and useBasic key information to be collected here are how much land is under cropping ('land cultivated'), how much land is owned, and whether common land resources are used as well. Different variations are possible, and within-year variations between cropping seasons are likely to occur.An overview of what such a module could look like is given in Table 2. Note that this information is based on farmer recall, and that this might lead to biases in the land area estimations. The 'gold standard' approach would be to GPS the fields of the farms surveyed to assess the reliability of the recall information. We realize, though, that that for many projects might be a bridge too far. Value Unit What was the total amount of land used by your household for growing crops last year? What is the total amount of land used by your household for fish culture or growout? How much land does your h/h own personally? Does your h/h have a kitchen garden or other place where you grow vegetables and fruits for home consumption?A widely used more detailed approach ('Tier 2') is to go beyond this basic information and ask for individual fields (or parcels), their size and their main land use. An example of such an approach is given in Table 3, based on the LSMS-ISA way of asking this information (where LSMS-ISA takes a seasonal approach as the survey is conducted for each cropping season). This field level approach can then also be the basis to ask for field differentiated management information, like mineral fertilizer application, manure application and irrigation. This would then also allow for more differentiated information on input costs, normally a weak point in many household and farm surveys. In the Tier 1 approach this can only be asked at overall farm level and later asked for the different crops (see below), and not at individual field level which limits the analyses focusing on land management that are possible. Although the field level approach might seem the logical choice for land use, it is important to note that it involves a simplification of a farm into consistent units of land management that is not applicable in all farming systems. Fields can change from season to season and from year to year. Parts of fields can be managed in certain ways, other parts in other ways. In complex, multi-cropping based systems with sometimes 8-9 crops in varying densities across a single piece of land, the field approach might not shed much light on land use. These limitations need to be taken into consideration when deciding on a certain approach.A basic approach here is to ask for the crops, fruits and vegetables cultivated on the farm and to ask for their main usage: for consumption, sales or for both. Table 4 below is an example of how such a set of questions can be laid out. This information will give a quick overview of the plant production diversity on farm and the farm orientation. A more detailed approach ('Tier 2') is to zoom in further and also ask for the production of the most important crops, fruits and vegetables (to ask for all crops, fruits and vegetables is in most cases too time consuming for such a generic survey as we are aiming for). The simplest version of this approach can be to only ask for production details of the most important crop, or let the respondent to decide what the 'most important crops' are and ask for the production details of these crops.Crop production can be asked for at different levels of detail in terms of aggregation by field and in time (i.e. across multiple seasons). Each of these approaches has pros and cons.The main advantage of the 'by crop' approach is speed and in some cases accuracy. These two advantages happen when there are many individual plots, with the same crop (say maize) in multiple plots. Asking questions about each of these individual plots can be time consuming, and in quite a number of cases the farmer does not know what the crop production of each individual plot was, but only knows the total amount of production. The time gained by applying the 'by crop' approach can run up to 30-40m, estimated by trial runs with the RHoMIS tool, which is a substantial amount of time. The main disadvantage of the 'by crop' approach is that 'crop by plot' management information cannot be asked for and therefore is lost.  This same information can be asked at parcel level, at annual or at, more logical if you want to do that level of detail, seasonal level. An example of this approach (which goes a bit beyond we would consider to be the 'core' approach for farm household surveys) is the CCAFS ImpactLITE survey (Rufino et al. 2013).Please answer the following questions with a list of crops, or if applicable, write 'None' Table 6. Basic land management questions On which crops did you use fertilisers during the last 12 months? How much fertiliser in total was used during the last 12 months? (specify units) What types of fertiliser does your h/h normally use? On which crops did you use manures or compost during the last 12 months? On which crops did you use pesticides during the last 12 months? Include herbicides, fungicides and similar chemicals. Which crops did you irrigate during the last 12 months? For which crops did you use improved seed varieties during the last 12 months?The most basic approach for livestock is to ask for the ownership of different livestock species, and how many of each of these the household owns. Although this seems a simple question, getting reliable information is not always easy. Problems can arise especially in pastoral communities where farmers are often reluctant to give accurate absolute numbers of their cattle herd size (it is often seen as sensitive information in those communities). Another problem can arise in communities where cattle are shared across families, and cattle can be herded by one family (who can keep the production) while the livestock is owned by another family. For more detailed information on the breeds of the different livestock species a simple follow up question can be formulated as in Table XXX. The most basic livestock production and income generation information can be separated in two aspects: sales of live animals and consumption of livestock products and their sales. In this setup we ignore the slaughtering of animals and the consumption and/or sales of the meat produced. In some agricultural systems this can be an important use of animals, and in that case a similar setup as for livestock products can be used to gain quantitative information about its importance for the farm livelihood. Another key activity of smallholder livelihoods is fish production or catching fish from open water bodies. To get insight into the importance of these activities the following series of questions can be used. The initial question 1. Did your household collect any fish or other aquatic animals in the last 12 months?Can, if answered with 'yes', be followed by more detailed questions regarding the quantity of fish caught, produced, consumed and sold, see Table 11. To get insight into the variation of fish use over time, and possible catastrophic events in recent years, this section can be closed off with the question:'During the last 3 years, did you experience any major (abnormal) mortality of fish that affected your production, incomes and livelihood?'Agricultural income will be quantified using the sales information of agricultural produce collected above. This is gross income information (or rather value of production) as no cost information is included in its estimates. As noted before in the crops section, cost estimates are often a weak element in this type of farm and household surveys. We did not include a detailed set of questions regarding costs of input use in crop and livestock production (e.g. mineral fertilizer, irrigation costs, medicine use and purchase of fodder for livestock), because such a series of questions would take use beyond the ~100 questions envisaged in this exercise. It is however important to note that this is a limitation of the current set of questions identified in this report.Key item to cover in this section is off-farm income. In many surveys off-farm income is asked for in absolute terms ('How much off farm income did you earn last year'), but there are clear indications that this leads to under-reporting by interviewees (e.g. Fraval et al., 2019). Another approach, used in for example the RHoMIS approach, is to ask for the relative importance of off farm income in the overall livelihood. By combining this information with the farm-based income one can quantify off farm income as well. Results indicate that this leads to lower under-reporting, with increased overall reliability of the survey results (Fraval et al., 2019). Table 12. An example of how basic information on off-farm income can be collected Collecting information on spending can be approached in a similar way through the relative assessment way of asking as in Table 12. Costs are difficult to capture in single survey application, without diving deeply into individual activities and their associated costs. This is beyond the scope of this report. The most basic information that can be collected on spending is given in Table 13. This basic set of questions, which gives insight into whether earnings are being re-invested into the farm or mostly spent on the livelihood, can be expanded upon to get either a relative importance of each of the spending categories, or even can be asked for in absolute terms (but the latter with all the problems associated to asking questions about money in absolute terms in a one visit survey). The more detail that can be collected in terms of production costs (e.g. seed costs, labor and other inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, livestock vaccines and medicines) the better, as this information is crucial for many economic based impact assessments assessing the impacts of new/alternative technologies.Table 13. Basic qualitative information on the spending allocation of farm households Many different asset ownership approaches exist, which normally require a thorough effort to make them locally specific and relevant. One generic approach that can be used is the Probability of Poverty Index (PPI), which uses a set of 10 questions together with a scoring system that is calibrated on the poverty estimates derived from country level representative Living Standard Measurement Studies executed by the World Bank. Applying the scoring system to the answers given in a survey application results in an overall score that can be translated into a probability of that family being below or above the poverty threshold (now the 1.9 US$ per person per day threshold). The PPI approach has attracted a substantial amount of criticism as a simplified and slow indicator of poverty, while also the PPI scoring system for some countries is quite old, and out-dated as it is calibrated on the old 1.25 US$ per person per day threshold and not one the newer 1.9 US$ threshold.However, there is no other generically applicable asset system available at the moment, which is why we chose to incorporate it in this report. We hereby give the example PPI for Tanzania in Table 14.Insight into gendered information on asset ownership, decision power, voice and empowerment is typical information that cannot be gathered in one single module, but has to be gathered throughout a survey. The most basic information to perform sex-disaggregated analysis is already available through the household composition information (age, sex and education level of each individual household member), but key information can also easily be collected at several other moments in the surveySex-differentiated ownership information of the productive resources available in the farm household is important information to get insight into asset ownership. When discussing how much land and livestock is owned, the question can be asked: Who owns the land? With options (from which more than one can be chosen) available according to:-Senior man of household -Senior woman of household -Male Child or Youth -Female Child or Youth -Other family member (male) -Other family member (female) Who owns the (cattle/goats/sheep/chickens/etc)? With the same options as above. Value Unit What was the total amount of land used by your household for growing crops last year? How much land does your h/h own personally? Does your h/h have a kitchen garden or other place where you grow vegetables and fruits for home consumption? Who owns the land? 1 1 1-Senior man of household; 2-Senior woman of household; 3-Male Child or Youth; 4-Female Child or Youth; 5-Other family member (male); 6-Other family member (female). Multiple options possible.Table 16. Basic questions regarding livestock owned, expanded with sex disaggregated ownership information Livestock species owned Quantity Who owns the livestock of this species? 1 1 1-Senior man of household; 2-Senior woman of household; 3-Male Child or Youth; 4-Female Child or Youth; 5-Other family member (male); 6-Other family member (female). Multiple options possible.More detailed knowledge about the gendered differences in decision power over the benefits over on and off farm activities can be asked for in the crop, livestock and off farm income modules.For each crop and livestock products one can ask the following two questions:1. Who decides about how the farm produce is used? With options as above 2. Who decides about how the income generated by selling this product will be used? With options as above.For off farm income one can also ask question number two, on who decides on how to use the money generated by off farm income. These questions can be added as extra columns to Tables 5,  9 and 10, and as extra row to Table 12.This information allows for detailed sex disaggregated analyses on who can decide on how agricultural produce and resulting money is used, per individual crop, livestock and off farm income activity and overall at farm household level (see Tavenner et al., 2019 for such a detailed analysis).To measure levels of empowerment in agriculture, IFPRI and partners have developed the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (http://www.ifpri.org/publication/womensempowerment-agriculture-index). This tool asks questions separately to men and women of the household (each interview taking about 45m) and generates empowerment scores for each. The scope of WEAI is beyond the simple core survey setup we aim for in this report, but the structured setup around 5 components of gendered information, i.e.1. decisions about agricultural production, 2. access to and decisionmaking power over productive resources, 3. control over use of income, 4. leadership in the community, and 5. time use allows for powerful in-depth analyses and across-site analyses.In recent years much work has been devoted to the harmonization of food security and dietary diversity indicators. Recently the FIES (Food Insecurity Experience Scale; http://www.fao.org/inaction/voices-of-the-hungry/fies/en/) emerged as a new standard for rapid food security assessments, and was also included as a core indicator for SDG2, Hunger. It consists of eight questions which can be combined into one score which can be calibrated on other food security status information, or used as a continuous scale by itself, or answers to individual questions can be used to classify households into moderately or severely food insecure. The FIES is seen as a further developed and targeted version of the HFIAS (Hunger and Food Insecurity Access Scale) developed within the USAID funded FANTA project.The FIES questions are:Think back over the last MONTH. Was there a time when, because of lack of money or other resources you personally… 1. Were worried you would not have enough to eat? 2. Were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food? 3. You ate only a few kinds of foods? 4. You had to skip a meal? 5. You ate less than you thought you should? 6. Your household ran out of food? 7. You were hungry but did not eat? 8. You went without eating for a whole day?A second standard that has emerged in recent years to assess nutritional status is the MDD-W indicator (Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women). This is a simplified version of IDDS (Individual Dietary Diversity Score) in which just the women in the reproductive age category (normally 15 -49 years of age) are targeted. For the official guidelines see http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5486e.pdf.Where indicators like Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) assess the potential availability of food to the household, the MDD-W tries to go one step further to assess the real access of vulnerable groups within the household to food. The indicator also has a clearly defined threshold (5 out of 10) to determine whether a diet is adequate or not. MDD-W makes use of ten functional food groups (which are aggregated from the information on 16 food groups):1. Grains, white roots and tubers, and plantains These food groups in MDD-W are based on the functional use of food groups, and can therefore be used to approximate nutritional status. MDD-W can be asked for in open form, where in the interview the interviewee lists all items eaten during the last 24h, and the enumerator has to classify that information according to the food groups of MDD-W. In the closed form the enumerator asks directly whether a certain food group was consumed by listing example foods that are relevant for the region where the survey is executed and asking whether one or more of these food items were consumed over the last 24h (see Table 17).The food groups that make up the MDD-W are mutually exclusive -that is, no food or ingredient is placed in more than one food group. Note that on the model questionnaire, three of the ten groups are further subdivided. This is for ease of recording and to make the questionnaire more intuitive for enumerators. For example, the food group \"Meat, poultry and fish\" is recorded on three rows (subgroups) on the questionnaire. Note that for more detailed micro-nutrient work especially the question on fish and seafood could be expanded with a question on the species of fish/seafood consumed. The micro-nutrient content of fish/seafood species is known to be very different. Both FIES and MDD-W (as well as many other implementations of dietary diversity, for example the Household Dietary Diversity Score) are typically based on recent recall information. The implementation period of the survey (before crop harvest, after crop harvest, at the end of the dry season) can therefore strongly affect the results that are obtained for these indicators. Another approach is therefore to ask for dietary or food security information for a specific period of the year (this is for example done in RHoMIS), thereby making the results independent of survey timing. However, recall length might make such an approach less reliable. The jury is still out on which of the two problems is most important (i.e. the within year variation of MDD-W or HDDS indicators or the recall error introduced by asking about a specific month earlier in the year), and new research is underway to assess both error terms.This is an extra section where we want to capture key information related to the agricultural system and common entry points for agricultural interventions. We therefore ask for extra information regarding extension services, whether the farmer has tried new technologies recently and whether the farmer is part of a social network. All are seen as important drivers of whether farmers want to trial / adopt new technologies or other interventions. The questions are based on WorldBank's LSMS ISA surveys.Have you (= the household) received advice/information on vegetable gardens, crops, livestock, or soil and natural resource management in the last 12 months? 1 Yes 2 No This question can be followed (if answered 'yes') by a question regarding the type of technology/management that was tried. For example was the technology crop/soil/livestock related? This can be expanded at will.Are you (= the household) a member of your community farmer or any other social organization or group? 1 Yes 2 NoAnd again this question can be expanded on by asking further (if answered 'yes') on which type of group they are member of. This, more detailed, question is likely to be locally specific.This report presented a simple, core approach that can easily be incorporated in household survey questionnaires. The questions presented here also form the basis of the mini-RHoMIS that has been developed recently and already applied by IITA in Rwanda and Burundi. In this way a powerful consistent and harmonized across site and across center database of household survey data can be constructed. A similar harmonized approach has been followed in the work of Frelat et al. (2016), Wichern et al. (2018) and Hammond et al. (2017), in which a common core of crop and livestock production information together with off farm income and household composition has led to a 40,000+ database of farm household data and associated indicators in 20+ countries in sub Saharan Africa (Waha et al. 2018;Van Wijk et al. 2018). By making such a data core publicly available (e.g. Van Wijk et al. forthcoming) new, insightful analyses in the pathways towards poverty reduction and increased food security in smallholder livelihoods can be performed at scale, beyond the single in-depth studies that are often performed. Furthermore, linking this information with other sources of (geo-spatial) data using a standardized library of concepts and variables (the current focus of the Big Data Socio-Economics Ontology workgroup) unlocks a new powerful world of analyses and continuous re-use of data for now and for in the future.","tokenCount":"4712"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4334237056.json b/data/part_1/4334237056.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e080641b90f33f679db85497da14e8dafd4e3025
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4334237056.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"845c7f790ad048a020f7c8b424dd748f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/PH2CCG/FBQPWO","id":"-932092574"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ae2d28d6-7366-4832-b734-ac55cecddf67","pagecount":"15","content":"This paper documents the construction process of the 2001 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Kenya, which is a part of IFPRI's analytic support to USAID's Action Plan for Kenya. This SAM is the base for a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of Kenya, which is an extension of the standard CGE modelling framework developed at IFPRI. The SAM disaggregates the entire Kenyan economy into 33 production sectors, of which 15 are agricultural sectors. Several structural and annual data sources such as national accounts, government accounts, balance of payments and foreign trade data, as well as the most recent IO table, SAMs for earlier base years and the 1997 Welfare Monitoring Survey for Kenya were used for the construction of the SAM.The history of Social Accounting Matrices for Kenya goes back to the year 1986.This was the base year for the first Kenya SAM, which was used as an input for a CGE-model in the Ministry of Planning and National Development. In a modified version, this SAM was also used as base for a computable general equilibrium (CGE) -model on Kenya's economy by Jörgen Levin (Levin J. 1998).The for the Kenya SAM.The first step in developing a disaggregated multi-sector (micro) SAM is the construction of a macroeconomic SAM, which captured the aggregated structure of Kenya's economy. The second step is the construction of a disaggregated Micro SAM as an expansion of an existing input-output (IO)-table concluding a series of activities, commodities, factors and institutions. The Macro SAM gives us a set of control totals for macro aggregates such as total gross domestic product (GDP) at factor cost, total imports & exports, total private consumption as well as total government and investment demand. The share of private consumption in GDP at factor costs is 89,5 %, while the share of government consumption is 19,5 % and the investment consumption's share in GDP at factor costs amounts to 14,8 %. Commodities are disaggregated into the same 33 sub-sectors plus accounts that capture transaction costs for exported, imported and domestic commodities respectively. Import and export data was made available by the Customs Department of the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and Planning, Nairobi.The factor classification of the micro-SAM distinguishes four production factors, that is, labour and capital, which divided into agricultural and non-agricultural respectively.The households are disaggregated according to location (rural/urban), gender of head of household and poverty status (ultra-poor, poor or non-poor). Table 3 describes the resulting 12 household categories and their particular share in total households. Although the Macro SAM is balanced, the data used to disaggregate the Micro SAM is from a number of inconsistent sources. This results in a number of imbalances between row and column accounts in the prior Micro SAM, which must be removed in order to arrive at a final balanced 2001 SAM for Kenya. A cross-entropy approach to SAM estimation is used for the balancing process leading from the unbalanced prior to the balanced final SAM. Since data availability and data consistency are limited, the cross-entropy approach is an appropriate tool for estimating a balanced and consistent database starting from an unbalanced database that contains all available information.A SAM can be defined as a matrix T of monetary flows T i, j representing payments by account j to account i. Following the convention of double-entry bookkeeping, total receipts and total expenditures of a particular agent i have to be equal (i.e., respective row and column sums are balanced). This is shown below.Dividing every cell entry of the flow matrix T by its respective column total generates a matrix A of column coefficients:In matrix notation it follows that: y = A y Balancing a SAM is an underdetermined estimation problem using information from various sources and for various years. The cross-entropy approach allows the incorporation of errors in variables, inequality constraints, and prior knowledge about any part of the SAM (as opposed to just row and column sums as in the RAS balancing method). 3 These features of the crossentropy estimation technique allow considerable flexibility in incorporating specific information and implementing limits to which the estimation results are restricted. The general crossentropy approach is described by the following optimization problem. 4 In this equation A is a coefficient matrix representing any prior SAM. Despite being inconsistent and imbalanced, this prior SAM represents the starting point of the balancing process aimed at determining a new and balanced coefficient matrix A*. 5 The described problem is set up to minimize the entropy difference between the two coefficient matrices. This becomes clearer if the optimization problem is rearranged as follows:Additional equality and inequality constraints can be formulated as linear 'adding-up' constraints on various elements of the SAM. For an aggregator matrix G, which has ones for those Micro SAM entries that correspond to a certain Macro SAM aggregate and zeros otherwise, the formulation for k such aggregation constraints is given by where y(k) is the value of the aggregate and the T ij 's are the Micro SAM flows.Measurement errors in variables can be incorporated into the system through where y is a vector of row sums and x the initially known vector of column sums measured with error. The error e is defined as a weighted average of known constants where w is a set of weights W, v are constants, and weights are subject to For the purposes of the Kenyan Micro SAM, a symmetric distribution around zero given lower and upper bounds is generally chosen using five weights. 6 Consequently, the optimization problem of minimizing the entropy difference now contains a term for the weights W, as shown below.Solving the above optimization problem in conjunction with the constraints imposed on the system derives a balanced SAM that is as close to the prior SAM as possible while still satisfying the constraints. By varying the value of the standard errors on the constraints it is possible to adjust the confidence placed on various areas within the prior. For instance, it is possible to lower the standard errors on the macro control constraints so as to ensure a closer match of the Micro SAM's aggregates to those found in national accounts. The remainder of this section outlines the constraints used for the Kenyan SAM.","tokenCount":"1035"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4336108765.json b/data/part_1/4336108765.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bd7f4f096d3b3b73887df5cab9d8c418dbd2e5e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4336108765.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"30b41ae02cc04062d2a50aed78b64dc8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/84e94983-5d8e-47c0-b5d6-b872465514b6/retrieve","id":"207339350"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ac2c7822-f282-4712-af3f-e76a469c066a","pagecount":"71","content":"The aim of this Agrodok is to enable producers and traders to improve (or start) the packaging of their products and to thereby reduce losses caused by damage or spoilage. Fewer losses mean greater profits.Useful related information can also be found in Agrodok 31: Storage of tropical agricultural products, which is also published by Agromisa and CTA. Agrodok 31 describes methods used to store foods until they are used or sold. Good storage methods also prevent damage and losses, and many fresh or dried foods can be stored unpackaged until further use. The advantage of good packaging, however, is that it reduces losses even further, makes handling and trading of the product easier and, for retail trading, improves the marketability of the product.This booklet is intended to be a practical manual that describes methods and materials that can be used by small-scale producers in developing countries to package agricultural products. It covers foods that are grown and/or processed on farms and then transported to wholesale markets or processors, or in some cases to retailers for sales to customers.I would like to thank the following people for their contributions to the production of this Agrodok booklet: Marieke Mutsaers for information on honey, Roy Keijzer of Agromisa Foundation, Piet Scheepens and Barrie Axtell for critically reading the booklet, Catharina de Kat-Reynen for editing the text, and Marinette Hoogendoorn-Meijer for the new illustrations.Peter FellowsPackaging food means wrapping or containing it in some form of material that will protect it during storage, transport and distribution. Packaging prevents food from becoming damaged due to impact or crushing, contaminated by insects and micro-organisms, or affected by moisture, air or odours. In general, packaging prevents foods from spoiling, losing value and losing volume through leakage or spillage.This Agrodok is written for small-scale producers and traders in developing countries who package (or are interested in packaging) agricultural products for storage or selling. It describes methods and materials to pack foods that are grown and/or processed on farms and then transported to wholesale markets or processors, or in some cases to retailers for sale to customers.This Agrodok is divided into eight chapters. Section 1.3 in this introduction describes the reasons for packaging agricultural products, the costs involved, the availability of packing materials, the constraints that may be faced and ways in which some constraints may be overcome. Two case studies (Section 1.4) from Sri Lanka and India show how improvements to the packaging used for shipping containers can improve both the quality of fresh fruits sent to market and also the producers' and traders' incomes.Chapters 2 to 6 describe the packaging requirements and the packaging options for different groups of agricultural products, as different foods require different levels of protection. These groups are: cereals and legumes, cooking oils and essences, horticultural products, animal products, and honey and syrups. As an example, dried grains (Ch. 2) are stable and require relatively little protection, whereas milk and fresh meat or fish (Ch. 5) require much greater protection to prevent loss of quality and spoilage and to reduce the risk of food poisoning.Each chapter first outlines the purposes of packaging for the particular group of foods. It then describes the requirements containers must fulfil in order to protect foods during storage and transport to markets, and the main packaging options that are likely to be available in developing countries.Chapters 7 and 8 outline the properties and comparative advantages of different packaging materials, respectively for shipping containers and retail packaging. Chapter 9 gives a description of the types of filling/sealing equipment that are available for small-scale operations with or without electricity. Annex 1 lists sources of information and Annex 2 lists packaging support organisations.In general, food packaging must fulfil the following requirements: ? It must hold the contents and keep them secure without leakage or breakage until they are used, and enable the food to be handled conveniently. ? It must protect the food against a range of hazards during distribution and storage. This includes serving as a barrier to dirt, microorganisms and other contaminants; protecting the food from damage caused by insects, birds and rodents; protecting it from crushing or other physical damage; and protecting it from the effects of heat and light that can cause rancidity, or moisture pickup or loss that can cause softening, wilting or other types of quality deterioration. ? It should be suitable for recycling or re-use, or be easily disposed of to prevent waste packaging from causing environmental pollution.The selection of a packaging material for a particular agricultural product depends on both its technical suitability (i.e. how well the package protects the food for the required shelf life) and the method used to sell the food.There are a number of different selling systems that small-scale food producers can use to sell their products. These include:? direct sales to customers in local rural markets ? sales to traders and middlemen who visit the farms and then sell the products on to wholesalers or processors ? sales to agents or buyers from food processing companies or government institutions ? sales to collection centres, which in turn supply food processors ? sales to urban wholesalers or retailers.Packaging requirements are less demanding for local selling systems in which the food is not transported far and customers buy from bulk containers. Examples include grains or flour sold from sacks or fresh fruits and vegetables sold from crates or baskets.When traders, agents or commercial buyers visit farms, they frequently require foods to be packaged before they take delivery. Some may provide the packaging materials, but these may often be poorquality, re-used materials that can contaminate foods. Other buyers require the producer to provide the packaging.Traders often prefer to use types of packaging that take up the least space on haulage vehicles so that loads can be maximised. This may not be the best type of packaging for a particular crop and can result in damage to the crop during transport (e.g. fresh fruits transported in sacks instead of crates).Where products such as milk are taken to collection centres, the producer may be supplied with a suitable container, and transport from the collection centre to urban markets or food processing companies is then done under the control of the centre using bulk transporters.A shipping container can be any type of sack, box, drum, barrel, etc., that contains and protects the food during transport and storage until it is processed or sold. These containers are not covered by the laws that apply to retail containers. So they do not require a label or printing to identify the contents and the producer, although some producers may choose to advertise their foods on the container.. For food products that producers sell directly to urban retailers, such as dried herbs and spices or honey, the packaging requirements are more complicated: the package not only has to protect the food, but also to advertise it and attract customers. This requires attention to the design of the packaging and the information presented on the label, both of which may be subject to local legislation.The design aspects of packaging are outside the scope of this Agrodok, but sources of information on labelling retail containers are given in Stewart (2007) and Coles et al. (2003); see Further Readings.The cost and availability of different packaging materials in a particular area also determine which packaging materials are used. The cost of a package should be considered in relation to the value of the food. For example, producers would incur serious financial losses if they used the wrong packaging materials for high-value foods that deteriorate without the correct packaging (e.g. cooking oils). These foods should therefore receive a higher level of investment in packaging than lower-value crops. This type of cost-benefit analysis should be carried out before selecting the best type of packaging for individual foods.The amount of money available to producers to pay for packaging materials also depends on which of the above markets they sell their produce to. For example, direct sales to urban retailers provide greater added-value and generate a higher income for producers. This in turn allows greater investment in packaging for their products. Conversely, sales of low added-value products (e.g. root crops) in rural markets or sales to middlemen often mean that farmers do not earn enough money to package their crops in suitable materials.The choice of available packaging materials is often very limited in developing countries and especially for rural producers. This difficulty in obtaining suitable packaging materials is a major constraint on the supply of good-quality crops and animal products in many countries. Most developing countries do not have their own packaging manufacturers; and packaging materials must therefore be imported.The types of packaging materials that are stocked by import agents depend on the local demand. If this is too small, the agent cannot meet the large minimum order sizes that are required by overseas packaging manufacturers. This means that the only materials available to producers are those that have the highest demand (and usually the lowest cost); and these materials may not be suitable for the types of foods being produced. If unsuitable packaging materials are used, there is a risk that foods will deteriorate too quickly and lose both quality and value before they are sold. For some foods, incorrect packaging can cause an increased risk of food poisoning to consumers (e.g. incorrect packaging of fresh meat and fish).Finally, a further constraint on the use of correct packaging by smallscale producers in some countries is a lack of rural infrastructure. For example, the absence of electricity prevents the use of sack stitching or heat-sealing machines for plastic bags, and poor roads cause excessive breakage of glass containers, damage to sacks, etc.The above constraints on the supply of suitable packaging materials and equipment may be overcome in a number of different ways: ? Some traders, middlemen and other buying agents supply packaging materials to producers, and some also offer advice and support on the correct ways of packaging and storing crops. ? Agricultural extension workers offer a similar service in some countries. ? Farmers' co-operatives enable producers to purchase packaging materials in bulk to reduce costs; to share transport costs; and also to share filling and sealing equipment to reduce the level of each individual's investment in the equipment. ? Finally, publications such as this Agrodok booklet and others listed in Further Reading can be used by extension agents to address the lack of knowledge or awareness among producers of the packaging options that are available and allow them to recommend the correct types of packaging materials and equipment required for different crops and animal products.Two case studies from Sri Lanka and India are provided below to show how improvements to the packaging used for shipping containers can improve both the quality of fresh fruits sent to market and the producers' or traders' incomes. The case studies also show the usefulness of research in co-operation with the target group and the importance of looking closely at the local situation before introducing new packaging.In Sri Lanka, fresh mango is transported from farms to market in re-used tea chests. During transport there is build up of heat and humidity, due to the lack of ventilation that leads to increased disease, mainly stem-end rot. To prevent losses, such conditions should be avoided. A study was undertaken to reduce damage to the crop and to improve incomes for the people concerned. Slatted wooden transport crates were introduced to collection agents in co-operation with a rural credit co-operative society that harvests and collects 40 -60% of the mangoes in Sri Lanka. Traders visit farmers and buy the right to harvest trees. Post-harvest losses are therefore not important to the farmer because they are the responsibility of the trader and any reduction in post-harvest losses benefits the traders and others in the marketing chain. A high-value local variety of mango, which is highly susceptible to damage and disease, was ripened for five days and transported to market in both the slatted crates or tea chests from three different harvesting areas (Ampara -distance 350 km, journey time 10 hours, Anamaduwa -distance 100 km, journey time 3 hours, and Nikeweretiya -distance 150 km, journey time 5 hours). Two types of crate were used: a deep crate measuring 40 x 40 x 61 cm -the same size as the tea chests, and a shallow crate measuring 40 x 61 x 40 cm.The study showed a significant improvement with fewer rejected fruits from Ampara and Anamaduwa when both types of slatted crates were used instead of tea chests. Fruits from Nikeweretiya were improved using the shallow slatted crates. It also showed that transport over a long distance during the day results in the highest losses, which is partly prevented by using slatted crates. Night transport produces fairly low losses that can be reduced further by using slatted crates.Local traders considered that the crates were a good way of storing fruit at collection points: ? Deep slatted crates combined ease of handling and transport with good ventilation, resulting in a noticeable reduction of losses.? The slatted structure allows visual inspection (avoiding the need to unload for inspection and the resulting rejects caused by more frequent handling). ? Sorting at the market is easier and quicker because there are fewer rejects and more uniform ripening, and the women involved can devote more of their time to other activities. ? There is less skin irritation caused by sorting because the slatted structure allows the irritating sap from the stem to dry.The financial benefits of the slatted crates were calculated. The improved crates produce a 6% increase in marketable fruit. Assuming that each crate is used three times per month during each of the two four-month mango seasons, and that a crate holds 250 fruits valued at Rs 4 each, the average additional income was calculated to be Rs 1440 per crate per year (6% × 250 fruits × 3 times per month × 4 months × 2 seasons × Rs 4).The cost of each crate is Rs 100 and the estimated annual repair cost Rs 16.Taking into account the interest of 24% on the finance required to purchase new crates, the average life of a crate and repair costs, the total additional costs to the trader each year are Rs 40 per crate. This means that the net financial gain is Rs 1400 per crate each year and the investment in the crate is repaid in one month.The involvement of the target group during the trial helped with the adoption of the technique by the traders, and loans were under consideration to enable collection agents to purchase slatted crates. The study recommended that traders should aim for the shortest delay during collection; transport at night when it is cool; and use slatted crates that provide better ventilation and reduce the build up of heat and humidity.In India, the situation is different and traders already used slatted boxes to transport fresh tomatoes. Small-scale growers at Shargaon in Himachal Pradesh produce the tomatoes during June to August, and because this region is the only source of supply to Delhi during this time, growers get a good price for their crop. There are frequent rains from mid-June to August, with high humidity and average temperatures of 33-34°C in June, falling to 25°C in August. Tomatoes are picked and put into small baskets or plastic crates, and these are emptied into a larger basket, made of split bamboo with a capacity of 30 -40 kg. The tomatoes are then sorted and packed for transport to market. Growers traditionally use wooden boxes measuring 39 x 28 x 20 cm called peti to transport their produce. The boxes have a capacity of 13 -14 kg tomatoes and cost around Rs 18-20 per box. They are readily available in kit form, which the growers buy and assemble using a hammer and nails.The boxes allow air to enter and have a smooth inner finish, though nails may sometimes protrude. Pine needles or dry grass is placed between the layers of fruit to provide cushioning and protection. A sheet of newspaper is placed on top and the lid is nailed on.Growers carry the petis on their back or on mules to the roadside, where they remain on damp ground for up to four hours until picked up by the transporter.Trucks are used to transport the boxes, with each truck carrying around 600 petis, stacked in columns of up to 8 tiers. A tarpaulin covering is used to protect the cargo from rain. Hill roads are narrow, with hairpin bends, steep gradients and many potholes. Journeys therefore expose the fruit to vertical, sideways, forward and backward movement in the boxes. During unloading, the boxes are thrown and caught, but occasionally a miss causes a box to fall onto the hard floor.The Himachal government has banned the felling of trees used to make the boxes in order to reduce deforestation. Corrugated fibreboard boxes were investigated as a potential replacement for the wooden peti. The boxes are a similar shape and volume as a peti with 8 vent holes on both the longer sides, on the top and bottom. Trials of 15 kg capacity boxes were made with local growers to: ? Find out whether they could withstand the 350 km, 12 hour road journey to Delhi, ? Compare the protection given to the tomatoes with the peti, ? Get feedback from growers and traders on ease of filling, handling, price etc., and ? Modify the boxes based on the trial and feedback.During the trial, the cartons were carefully filled with 15 kg tomatoes, shaken once or twice during filling to ensure proper settling, and secured with straps before loading on to the trucks. Tomatoes were also packaged in petis to compare the efficacy of the new carton. The cartons were stacked in columns of four and the petis in columns of seven to give the same overall column heights. After the journey there was no damage to any of the boxes, despite the fact that some cartons were exposed to slight wetting due to a leaky tarpaulin. Overall the damage to the tomatoes was 1.5% in cartons and 2.1% in petis, showing an acceptable level for both types of packaging.Feedback from growers in Shargaon and traders in Delhi suggested that the size of the carton be kept close to that of the peti and they also insisted that the price should be similar. Based on the results of the trial, cartons will have a volume of 21.6 litres, and the outer surface will be treated with varnish to reduce damage due to rain. It is concluded that the cartons offer a viable alternative to the traditional wooden boxes for the transport of horticultural produce and therefore have an impact on deforestation.Source: 'New packaging options for transporting tomatoes in India' by Girja Sharan and Kishor Rawale, Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 380015, India, published in ITDG Food Chain 29, 15-18, 2001, and 'Slatted wood crates: reducing losses of fresh mango' by R S Wilson Wijeratnam, Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Colombo, Sri Lanka and F W Korthals Altes, TOOL Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, published in ITDG Food Chain 16, 4-6, Nov., 1995) http://practicalaction.org/docs/agroprocessing/FC29_1518.pdf http://practicalaction.org/docs/agroprocessing/food_chain_16.pdfA large number of cereal and legume crops are produced as staple foods, including maize, millet, rice, sorghum, and many different types of peas and beans (e.g. chickpeas, cowpeas, Lima beans, Navy beans, pigeon peas, soybeans, groundnuts). These are usually dried on farms before sale. Producers may also mill grains to produce flours, which are either sold locally or to traders. This section describes the packaging requirements and options for dried grains and flours.The details of the methods used to store cereals and legumes at the farm, until they are used or sold, are given in Agrodok 31: Storage of tropical agricultural products.When grains are properly dried, their low moisture content protects them against the growth of moulds or bacteria. The packaging requirements of properly dried whole grains are therefore twofold: 1 contain the grains and prevent losses, 2 prevent contamination by insects, animals and 'foreign bodies' (e.g. fragments of metal/wood), or odours (e.g. diesel fumes).In dry climates, grains do not absorb moisture from the air. But in very humid areas they may pick up moisture, and this would result in mould growth. Moulds not only spoil grains, but some can produce aflatoxins (see Glossary) that cause food poisoning. In these areas the package should also be moisture proof to protect the grains.The packaging options depend on the type of selling system used in a particular area. For example, many producers supply unsorted and uncleaned whole grains to traders and wholesalers. The grains are packed in bulk into sacks made from locally available materials (e.g. sisal, kenaf, cotton). Newer materials such as multi-walled paper sacks and woven polypropylene sacks are increasingly common.Sacks should be clean and free from old grains, oil or grease, and there should be no holes or tearing of the material. Sacks may be sealed by hand-stitching using twine or a locally available vegetable fibre, or at a larger scale using an electric sack-stitcher.Selling unsorted grain reduces the costs to farmers and also their investment in cleaning and sorting. However, unsorted crops that contain discoloured or insect-damaged grains or contaminants such as weed seeds, chaff and leaves have a lower value, and farmers therefore receive lower prices. It is the traders who add value to the crops by cleaning and sorting them.More enterprising farmers clean, sort and pack grains in retail bags to make their businesses more profitable. The costs of sorting, plus the cost of the packaging materials, mean that the price for the products is higher. However, the sorted grains may also have a high demand because they are better quality and guaranteed to be free from dirt or stones. They are also hygienically packed with a guaranteed weight per pack.Types of packaging for retail sales include sacks or thick polythene bags that are ideally heat-sealed, although stapling is sufficient to retain the grain in the pack. Brown 'Kraft' paper sacks and bags that are stitched, stapled, glued or sealed with tape are also used for retail sales. Polythene and paper packaging are usually widely available and can often be printed by local print companies. Other plastic films that are a better barrier to moisture and air are not necessary for packaged grains and are likely to be considerably more expensive.Milling grains to produce flours is an on-farm business in many areas.In custom (or 'contract' or 'service') milling, customers bring their grain to a mill. They have it milled for a fee or in exchange for a portion of the flour, and the miller does not package the flour.Bulk flour for sale to wholesalers, bakeries, institutional customers (e.g. schools, colleges, prisons, army barracks, etc.) or international food relief operations is packed into 50 kg sacks. If the demand exists, flour can also be made from mixtures of grains and legumes for specialist markets (e.g. 'composite' bakery flours, weaning food mixes, pre-prepared breakfast cereal mixtures, or specialist flours for people suffering from intolerance to wheat).As with grains, the main packaging requirement is to contain the flour to prevent losses and to prevent it becoming contaminated with dirt or insects. Sacks made from woven polypropylene or natural fibres such as thick cotton are suitable. Each type can be sealed with a sackstitcher if electricity is available, or by hand if it is not. Alternatively, multi-walled paper sacks can be used and sealed using a sack stitcher or glue.In many countries, millers also pack flour into paper or polythene retail bags, which compete with flour that is sold in markets from open sacks. To compete effectively, the retail bags of flour must have similar benefits for the customer to those described for cleaned grains above (i.e. guaranteed quality, freedom from contaminants, guaranteed weight). The bags should be fully sealed to prevent loss of flour. Paper bags should be sealed using glue or stitching, but not stapling, which would not adequately contain the flour. Polythene bags should be heat-sealed. The bags may be contained in cardboard boxes for distribution to retailers, or at a larger scale they may be stacked on pallets or held together by stretch-wrapping.All types of grains and flours are packed by hand into bags or sacks at small scales of operation. The sacks/bags are weighed to ensure that they contain the correct net weight and then sealed. Larger scales of operation use bagging machines.3 Cooking oils and essencesCooking oils are produced from a variety of nuts (e.g. palm kernel, coconut), seeds (e.g. sesame), fruits (e.g. palm) and legumes (e.g. groundnut). They are high-value products that have a high demand for both domestic cooking and for other food processing. Oils are preserved by their low moisture content, but they can spoil and become rancid if they are exposed to air, light, heat, moisture, or some types of metal (e.g. copper or iron). Correct packaging and storage in a cool dark storeroom are the main methods to preserve oils to give a shelf life of several months. The packaging should also prevent contamination of oils and prevent the oil from picking up odours from other materials.Bulk shipping containers for cooking oils are usually drums made from steel or food-grade plastic. These are often re-used and it is essential that all traces of old oil are removed by thorough cleaning, and that the drums are fully dried before being re-filled with oil. This is because old oil is likely to be rancid and water can also cause oil to go rancid. Although cooking oil is sold from bulk containers in some markets, this is not recommended because the shelf life of the oil is significantly reduced by exposure to air, heat and light. Insects and dirt can also contaminate the oil.It is preferable to pack oil into a sealed container. The simplest pack is a polythene bag that is tied or heat-sealed. However, this only protects the oil from contamination and it does not prevent rancidity, so the shelf life is short. Better retail packs for oil include coloured glass bottles (colour reduces light entering the container) or food-grade plastic bottles. These should be sealed with an airtight cap, such as a Crown cap or a roll-on-pilfer-proof cap. If these are not available, a cork seal is a suitable alternative. The bottles should be distributed and stored in cardboard boxes to reduce the amount of light and heat that is transmitted to the oil. For more details on heat-sealing, corking and capping, see Chapter 9.Essences are also known as 'essential oils'. They are high-value oils that are used for flavouring foods and for other products (e.g. cosmetics). They are produced by distilling the oil from aromatic plants such as eucalyptus, lemon grass and a wide range of herb and spice plants (e.g. cloves, coriander and cinnamon). Their high value is due to the volatile aromas that they contain. The packaging should both prevent the loss of these aromas, and also prevent the oil from changing flavour or becoming rancid, due to contact with air, light or moisture.Coloured glass reduces the influence of sunlight and the metal screw-caps prevent the loss of aromas and the changing of flavour due to contact with air.In practice, small coloured glass bottles, sealed with metal screw-caps are the only suitable containers for these products. They are transported and stored in cardboard boxes to protect the glass bottles against breakage and also to reduce light and heat transmission to the essences. A large number of horticultural crops, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices and root crops, are produced for sale as fresh foods. They undergo no processing, sometimes minimal treatment such as washing and cooling, before being transported to markets. Because of their short harvest season, there is often an over-supply that causes prices and incomes to fall. For this reason, some producers dry their crops to add value and extend sales throughout the year. Others mill dried root crops to flours, or fry selected fruits (e.g. banana) or root crops to make snack foods for local sale.This section describes the packaging requirements of fresh, dried and fried horticultural products. Packaging requirements for dried and milled root crops are the same as for cereal flours, see Section 2.2.After harvest, a number of changes take place to fresh crops: they lose water and begin to wilt or shrivel; fruits continue to ripen; and microorganisms and naturally occurring enzymes change a crop's colour, flavour and texture. These changes are more rapid if the crop is damaged or infected with moulds or bacteria. The speed of these changes varies with different types of crops and different varieties, but compared to other crops such as cereals, there is a limited amount of time available before they must be sold or processed. This short shelf life means that packaging is only required to contain the crops and prevent damage during transport, storage and sale. If the crops are kept in cold-rooms, they may require packaging to prevent them losing water and shrivelling.At harvesting crops should be placed carefully in containers that are also used for storage and transport. This reduces the amount of han-dling and keeps damage to a minimum. If produce such as vegetables or root crops is dirty, it should be washed before packing and storage.Produce should not be piled onto lorries for transport.Stackable trays or crates are the most appropriate shipping containers for fruits and vegetables.It is important that the crates are small enough to be moved easily when full; that the crop cannot be crushed by stacking the crates; and that the crates are strong enough to support the weight of other full crates above them without collapsing. The crates can be made from wood; or plastic (polypropylene) crates may be available. High-value fruits such as avocado or mango intended for supermarkets or for export are packed into crates or cardboard boxes.The layers of fruit are separated by liners made from paper pulp or plastic that also hold fruits in place or by layers of dried grass or straw. This minimises damage to the fruit during transport.Harder fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices and root crops are often packed into sacks made from textiles or paper to prevent contamination by dirt and insects. Polythene sacks are generally unsuitable as shipping containers because they do not allow moisture to escape from the crop, which can cause mould growth and rotting. However, sacks that have perforations allow moisture to escape and fresh air to enter. This keeps the produce fresh and prevents mould growth and rotting.Horticultural products are often not packaged for retail sale, but some supermarkets now pack fruits and vegetables into perforated polythene bags. An alternative is plastic trays covered in cling-film, which are used for fresh herbs and more valuable fruits and vegetables. Root crops are usually sold without packaging, but some supermarkets pack these in perforated polythene bags. Drying removes most of the water from horticultural produce to prevent microbial growth and extend the shelf life. The reduction in weight and bulk also makes transport cheaper.Some dried foods are fragile and require packing in boxes to prevent them from being crushed.In dry climates, dried foods do not pick up moisture from the air.Packaging is only necessary to contain them and prevent contamination by dirt and insects. In humid climates, some types of dried foods pick up moisture and become mouldy. The stability of dried foods therefore depends on the humidity of the air and the type of food.Foods that absorb moisture from humid air include dried fruits such as mango or pineapple, and dried vegetables. Dried root crops and some types of dried fruit such as raisins do not easily absorb moisture. This difference determines the packaging requirement for different dried horticultural products.Dried fruits and vegetables that absorb moisture from the air should be packed in airtight, moisture proof containers. Some also need protection from light to maintain their colour. Moisture proof shipping containers include steel, plastic or paperboard drums or cardboard boxes that may be lined with polythene.For retail sale, dried fruits are usually packaged in one of the many different types of plastic film and sealed using a heat sealer.In general, thin polythene film is the cheapest and most widely available material, but it is only suitable for storing dried fruits and vegetables for a short time before they pick up moisture, soften and go mouldy.Polypropylene has better barrier properties and therefore gives a longer shelf life, but it is more expensive and it may not be available. Other more complex films, such as laminated films made from polythene and aluminium foil, offer better protection to dried foods, but are more expensive and more difficult to find in developing countries. See also section 8.2 on bags, sachets and plastic films.Preferably packs of dried foods are also contained in a box or carton. This prevents crushing and excludes light, which can cause loss of colour and development of off-flavours during storage. Cartons may be collated on pallets and stretch-wrapped for distribution.Root crops and banana or plantain fruits are also prepared as fried snack foods. Heat during frying destroys enzymes and microorganisms, and moisture is removed which preserves the foods. The main cause of spoilage is rancidity of frying oil that remains on the product. Fried snack foods are therefore packed in moisture proof, light-proof and airtight containers to give a shelf life of several weeks or months. The most common type of packaging is heat-sealed polypropylene bags. These are contained in cardboard boxes to prevent crushing and breakage of the fragile slices. The boxes also reduce light and heat transmission and so reduce rancidity of oil that remains on the fried foods.5 Animal productsFreshly caught fish and freshly slaughtered meat are highly perishable foods. They require careful handling and packaging to prevent them from rapidly spoiling and losing their value. Spoiled meat and fish can also cause severe food poisoning.The main factors to prevent spoilage are: ? rapid cooling of the fish or meat ? good hygiene by food handlers ? properly cleaned equipment ? sanitary environmental conditions ? correct type of packaging Whole carcasses are not usually packaged, but smaller carcasses (e.g. goat or lamb) may be wrapped in muslin cloth to keep them clean. Joints of fresh meat and whole fish should be transported to markets in shipping boxes. These were traditionally made from wood, but wooden boxes are difficult to properly clean and pose the risk of contaminating the food with wood splinters.Food-grade plastic trays and boxes are more hygienic and are steadily replacing wooden boxes. Fish should be packed with crushed ice in boxes or trays to reduce spoilage during transport to markets.Because of their short shelf life, fresh meat and fish are usually packaged for retail sale in simple wrappers or bags made from greaseproof paper or polythene. Newspaper wrappers should not be used because the ink can dissolve in meat or fish fats and it is poisonous. Polythene bags may be tied or heat-sealed. In some countries, plastic trays with cling film covering are used for retail display. Meat and fish can be preserved through the process of drying or smoking. This involves: ? removing water to dry the food ? heating the meat or fish to destroy contaminating bacteria, and/or ? smoking the product to produce chemicals that prevent bacterial growth.In areas where drying and smoking are traditional on-farm preservation methods, the climate allows the food to remain stable for long periods. In these conditions, provided the food is kept cool and dry, it will not become rancid or mouldy. Only a simple package is required to contain the food and to keep it clean. Muslin cloths are sometimes used to wrap smoked joints of meat. Traditionally, wooden boxes or textile sacks have been used to transport these foods. In many areas these are being replaced by cardboard boxes lined with polythene or food-grade plastic shipping trays or boxes.Retail containers include paper or plastic bags that are tied, stapled, or sealed with tape or plastic trays that are covered in cling-film.In areas where the climate is more humid, additional protection is required to prevent the dried or smoked meat/fish from picking up moisture from the air. If the products become moist they can rapidly go mouldy and become unsalable.The most common type of packaging is heat-sealed plastic bags. Polythene is the cheapest plastic and is suitable for a shelf life of a few weeks. If a longer shelf life is required, polypropylene is a better barrier to air and moisture, and so prevents the products from becoming rancid or mouldy. Bags of smoked or dried products are packed into cardboard shipping boxes to reduce damage from crushing or impacts, and to reduce transmission of light and heat to the products. At larger scales of operation, boxes may be collated on pallets and stretch-wrapped.Like fresh fish and meat, milk is a highly perishable food that requires careful handling and packaging to prevent it from rapidly spoiling or causing food poisoning. The main factors that prevent spoilage are similar to those for meat and fish (i.e. rapid cooling of raw milk and good hygiene by handlers). Milk is also pasteurised by heating it. This gives a slightly longer shelf life provided the equipment is prop-Figure 11: A small churn used to transport milk erly cleaned, the milk is processed under sanitary conditions, and the correct type of packaging is used.Dairy farmers who supply a milk collection centre or a local dairy are often provided with an aluminium milk churn to carry the milk. This is lightproof and prevents contamination of the milk by dirt, dust and insects. It is essential that churns are thoroughly cleaned, sterilised with dilute bleach, and dried before being re-filled with milk.In some places, raw milk is sold from churns by ladling it into customers' own containers and no retail packaging is involved. In other areas, the simplest packaging is polythene bags that are tied for sale in local markets or shops. Sales of pasteurised milk in more sophisticated urban shops may require packaging in heat-sealed plastic bags or in food-grade plastic bottles, fitted with foil lids or screw caps. Glass bottles are not widely used for milk in developing countries because they are too expensive. In larger production units, plastic bottles may be transported in cardboard boxes or collated in cardboard trays and shrink-wrapped for distribution to retail stores.Although a fresh egg is highly perishable, it is protected by the egg shell, which prevents loss of moisture and contamination by bacteria, insects, etc. This preserves the egg for several days or weeks, depending on the climate and storage conditions. Packaging is required to prevent damage to the egg shells during transport to markets. Traditionally, baskets lined with straw or dried grass were used. Upgraded packaging uses moulded paper pulp or plastic egg trays that are contained within cardboard boxes. The trays separate individual eggs and hold them in position, while also providing cushioning to prevent damage caused by impacts.Smaller paper pulp or plastic cartons that contain 6 -18 eggs are also used for both shipping containers and retail display packs. They are packed into cardboard or corrugated cardboard boxes to prevent damage from impacts or crushing during transport. 6 Honey and syrupsHoney is a valuable product that is sold either to domestic customers or as an ingredient for bakeries and other food processors. Honey is not only used as a food, but it also contains medicinal ingredients, some of which are not found in other foodstuffs. In many countries honey is sold in pharmacies, and it is used as a home remedy or in traditional medicine.When properly harvested and processed, honey is stable for many months due to its low moisture content. Packaging is required to contain the honey and to prevent contamination by insects and, in humid areas, to prevent it picking up moisture from the air..After harvesting, honey can be packaged straight away as comb honey, cut-comb honey or chunk honey. Alternatively, the honey can be separated from the wax by draining, pressing or centrifuging. The separated honey is liquid, but some types will later crystallise, depending on the types and amounts of different sugars that are present. Crystallised honey is made soft by creaming it, that is, mixing it while it is warm. Honey is not pasteurised and opening the lid does not influence the expiry date.Honey is often collected and transported to a processing unit using plastic 'jerry cans', which are widely used to hold water. These are acceptable for short-term transport, but if honey is stored for more than a day or two, then stainless steel or food-grade plastic storage tanks should be used. All containers should be thoroughly washed and dried before being re-used. This prevents moisture getting into the honey, which would cause it to ferment and spoil.Honey is preserved by its low moisture content (below 18%) and packaging is mainly needed to contain the honey and prevent contamination by insects.The most common types of retail packaging for honey are transparent glass jars or bottles fitted with screwcaps. Fillers for dispensing honey into jars are described in section 9.2.If glass jars are too expensive or not readily available, plastic pots are a suitable alternative for honey. Honey can also be packed into plastic sachets that are heat sealed.The label on a honey jar or bottle may show its origin. This can be the type of flower from which the honey is made by bees, or the area from which it comes. Pictures of flowers, bees, honeycomb or a traditional hive are often found on the label.Syrups are made by boiling fruit juices or tree saps until their moisture content is low enough to preserve them. They are used domestically as an alternative to honey, or as an ingredient by bakeries or confectionery and ice cream makers. They have similar properties and packaging requirements to honey as described above.  Corrugated cardboard boxes and cartons prevent damage to foods caused by impacts and compression, and they are therefore widely used to contain bottled or plastic-packaged foods. Boxes that have smaller, more numerous corrugations are more rigid; whereas those that have larger corrugations or double-and triple-wall corrugated materials provide cushioning and resist impact damage.The size and shape of the box should be carefully chosen so that it prevents the contents moving and becoming damaged during transport. The box design that uses the least amount of cardboard, and so is the most economical, has a ratio of 'length : width : height' of '2:1:2'. Corrugated boxes that are lined with polythene or wax-coated greaseproof paper are used for wet or greasy foods such as fresh meat or fish.Wooden boxes, trays and crates protect foods against crushing, are easy to stack and have a good weight-to-strength ratio. They are widely used to transport fruits and vegetables to prevent damage by crushing.Plastic containers (usually high-density polythene or polypropylene) are more easily cleaned for re-use, cannot contaminate foods with splinters, and in some countries may be imported at a lower cost than wooden containers. Because of these advantages they are replacing wooden boxes, trays and crates.Moulded trays for eggs or high-value soft fruits are made from paperpulp, plastic or foamed polystyrene. The shapes are designed to fit individual eggs or fruits and hold them securely during transport and distribution. They are stackable when empty so that they can be reused.Baskets have a number of advantages: they can be made from locally available plants (itself an income-generating opportunity for farmers); they are lightweight and strong, they are reusable and they are biodegradable. However, apart from protecting foods against damage due to crushing or impacts, they do not extend the shelf life of foods. As a result they are mainly used to transport fresh crops to markets, or occasionally for retail display of fruits, eggs, etc.Ideally, all types of boxes, trays, baskets and crates should be reusable over many journeys. However, some transporters resist carrying empty containers because they take up too much space, and in practice many containers are used for only a single journey (although they may be reused for different purposes at their destination). Designing these containers to be stackable when empty means that they take up less space and are more likely to be transported and re-used.Sacks are made from woven jute, calico (a closely woven, strong cotton fabric), coarse canvas made from fibres of the kenaf or sisal plants, or plastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene. They are used as shipping containers for a wide variety of foods including flours, cereal grains, legumes and root crops. Plant fibres are also made into cord and string, which is used to make net sacks or bags to transport hard fruits.Textile sacks are flexible, lightweight and resistant to tearing. They have good durability, and may be chemically treated to reduce rotting, although they remain bio-degradable. Their rough surfaces are nonslip, which makes them easier and safer to stack than plastic sacks.Most textile sacks can be re-used several times after washing to remove old flour or grain, or other contaminants such as grease and oil from transport vehicles. However, they are not waterproof and should therefore be kept covered against rain. They are widely used to transport fresh or dried crops, but in some countries they are being replaced by finely woven polypropylene, high-density polythene, or multiwalled paper sacks.Finely woven polypropylene sacks are more water-resistant and hardwearing, and some types are produced with non-slip properties.High-density polythene is a strong, thick (500-gauge) plastic that is a good barrier to air and moisture. Sacks made from this material resist tearing and puncturing, and form a strong seal when heat-sealed to prevent loss of the contents. They are waterproof and may be used instead of paper or textile sacks. However, they can slip when stacked and they are not suitable for fresh crops unless they are perforated.Polythene sacks are often used to supply fertilisers and other agricultural chemicals and it is essential that these sacks are not re-used to transport foods. Even after thorough washing, the chemicals can remain in the plastic and can taint foods, especially flours and grains that easily pick up off-flavours.Kraft paper is used for single-or multi-walled paper sacks for grains, flour, fruits and vegetables. They can be re-used several times provided that they are not torn or contaminated by grease, oil, etc., and are usually sealed with a sack-stitcher.Imported large (200 litre) steel drums are re-used as shipping containers for oils, although cheaper plastic drums are steadily replacing them. Large paperboard drums lined with polythene are a cheaper alternative to metal drums for dried foods or fatty foods. They are lightweight, resist compression and may be made water-resistant for outside storage.Plastic drums made from polypropylene or high-density polythene are now increasingly available. Care is needed to ensure that only food-grade plastic containers are used in contact with foods. Food-grade plastic drums are generally white, but the colour in itself is not a guarantee that the plastic material is a food grade quality.Wooden barrels are no longer widely used as shipping containers for liquid foods and have been replaced by metal or plastic drums for oils. Aluminium churns are used to collect and transport milk to collection centres.There are few can-making factories in developing countries and the high cost of new cans makes them expensive to import compared to most other containers. They are heavier than plastic containers and therefore have higher transport costs. Small-scale producers therefore generally do not use new metal cans because of these disadvantages and/or lack of availability.Metal cans that have push-on lids (e.g. tins for milk powder or coffee powder) are re-used to pack dried foods or cooking oils. Similarly, 20litre cans that have screw-on lids, used for imported cooking oils, are re-used to transport locally made cooking oils. These metal cans totally protect the oil from rancidity and contamination. The properties of polythene can be altered to make it 'cling' to itself for use as 'cling film' or in stretch-wrapping. In stretch-wrapping, the film is wrapped under tension around boxes on a pallet.Thin polythene film shrinks when it is heated and it is used in shrink-wrapping. Shrinkwrapping of bottles, jars, etc., is replacing cardboard distribution boxes in many countries because it is cheaper. The film is shrunk using hot air, either in a shrink-wrapping machine or by using a hot-air gun or hair dryer. The more expensive shipping containers, including drums, barrels, cans and boxes are usually re-used for many journeys and some may last for several years.They require careful cleaning and thorough drying between uses. Other types of shipping container, such as sacks, baskets and trays have lower costs and are sometimes made from locally available materials. These are re-used when the cost of transporting empty containers back to producers is lower than the cost of new containers, but being less durable, these are frequently single-journey packages. However, they may find alternative uses to pack non-food items at their destinations. Retail containers are used for retail sales and home storage. There is a wide variety of retail containers that can be used to package products: 1 Bags, sachets and wrapping materials 2 Bottles, pots and jars 3 Cartons, trays and tubs Specific issues for retail packaging are labelling and tamper-resistance and -evidence. These are described in sections 8.5 and 8.6.Producers should first find out which types are locally available and then discuss with the supplier(s) the most cost-effective options, taking into account the following factors:? Is the material suitable to be in contact with a particular food? ? Should it be resistant to fats or oils? ? Should it be a barrier to air or moisture? How much of a barrier is needed? ? Does the material melt at a low temperature, which would make it unsuitable (e.g. for hot-filling pasteurised milk)? ? Are the colour, clarity, and surface finish of the packaging suitable for the intended product? ? Can the material be printed locally? ? Are special filling or sealing machines required for the material? ? Is the material strong enough to prevent damage from impacts or crushing? Is a stronger shipping container needed to protect the packaging material and its contents? ? Can the containers be stacked when empty to reduce transport and storage costs? ? Can the material be re-used or disposed of with minimum environmental pollution?Paper bags Paper bags are made from either 1) strong, brown Kraft paper for holding 0.5 -5 kg amounts of flour or grains, or 2) weaker white 'sulphite' paper for wrapping smaller amounts of dried foods. Local printing companies can often print paper bags, whereas these printers may be unable to print plastic films.Meats and fish are wrapped in greaseproof paper that is resistant to oils and fats and retains some of its strength when wet. Paper can also be treated with wax or laminated with polythene to make it moisture proof and allow it to be heat sealed. Tissue paper is a soft paper that is used to protect valuable fruits against bruising and contamination by dust. Textile bags are not widely used, but muslin is an open-mesh, light fabric that is used to wrap foods such as smoked meats or small carcasses to keep them clean.Plastic bags and sachets are increasingly common in nearly all developing countries, due to their relatively low cost and good barrier properties to moisture and air. They are heat sealable to prevent leakage of contents; they are lightweight and do not take up much space during  The main disadvantages are that (aside from cellulose films) they are produced from non-renewable oil reserves, and they are not biodegradable. Environmental pollution caused by discarded plastic retail containers is an increasing problem in urban areas of many developing countries.See section 9.3 on sealing equipment for plastic bags and sachets.There is a very wide range of plastic films made from different types of plastic polymers. Each type of film can be made with different thicknesses, strengths and resistance to moisture and air. Some films (e.g. polyester, polythene, polypropylene) can be treated ('oriented') to increase their strength, flexibility and barrier properties. There is thus a very large number of possible plastic films to choose from. Professional advice is needed when selecting a material to ensure that it is suitable for the intended product and the required shelf life. However, as described in the introduction to this booklet, relatively few types of plastic film are likely to be available in most developing countries, or the cost of more unusual films is too high for small-scale processors.? Polythene is the most widely available film, because it is less expensive than most other films. It is heat sealable, inert, odour-free and it shrinks when heated. It is a good moisture barrier, but it is relatively permeable to air and it is a poor odour barrier. ? Polypropylene is a clear strong film that resists puncturing and is a moderate/good barrier to moisture, air and odours. It is used in similar applications to polythene. Oriented polypropylene has similar properties but is a better barrier to air, odours and moisture. It is used to pack fried snack foods and dried foods. ? Other single films include polyester, cellulose film and cellulose derivatives, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but these are more expensive and not widely available in developing countries. ? Coatings -There are also a large number of films that are coated either with other polymers or with aluminium to improve their barrier properties to oils, air, moisture, odours and light. ? Finally, there are laminated films (in which two or more films are bonded together) and co-extruded films (where two or more layers of different polymers are extruded together to make a single film). These can be used for fried snack foods, cereals and dried foods, but they are much more expensive than polypropylene and they are not widely used in developing countries.All films can be supplied as rolls or as sachets in which three sides are heat-sealed. Most small-scale processors use pre-formed sachets because the machine needed to make the sachets and seal them (known as a 'form-fill-seal' machine) is very expensive. When using preformed sachets, the producer fills the pack and heat-seals the fourth side with a simple heat sealer.In most countries, it is necessary to specify whether any printing is needed on bags, films or sachets when the materials are ordered from the supplier, because local printing companies are usually not equipped to print these materials.Glass bottles and jars completely protect foods against microorganisms, pests, moisture, air and odours. Coloured glass also protects foods against light. Glass does not react with foods and unlike plastic, does not contain chemicals that can migrate into foods. Containers are rigid, which allows stacking without damage, and they are transparent to display the contents.Glass containers are re-useable (with new lids) but they should be thoroughly cleaned using detergent and preferably sterilised before reuse. Jars and bottles can be sterilised by soaking in dilute bleach and then rinsing them in clean water, or better by heating them. They can be heated in an oven for 10-15 minutes or steam sterilised. Steam sterilisation is explained in Section 9.2.The main disadvantages of glass bottles and jars are that they weigh more than most other types of packaging, which incurs higher trans-port costs; the containers are easily broken, especially when transported over rough roads; and there are potentially serious hazards from glass splinters or fragments that can contaminate foods. Glass containers are still widely used for high-value foods such as honey, oils and essences, especially in countries that have a glass-making factory. However, their disadvantages and the high cost of imported containers in other places mean that they are steadily being replaced by plastic containers.Plastic bottles, pots and jars are used for cooking oil, honey and milk.They are made from a number of different plastics, including highdensity polythene, polyvinyl chloride and oriented polypropylene. Each material has specific advantages and limitations, and producers should consult packaging suppliers or local agents to find out which is the most cost-effective option for their product. See section 9.3 on heat sealing plastic pots and jars.Ceramic retail containers are not widely used because they break easily.There are a large number of different types of caps available for sealing bottles, jars, pots and tubs. Plastic bottles are sealed manually using screw-on plastic caps. Plastic pots are sealed manually using push-on plastic lids, or a heat sealer is used to seal plastic or aluminium foil membranes.There is a wide range of retail cartons, tubs and trays made from cardboard or plastic.Cardboard cartons are used to contain smaller packs of foods, to display them on retailers' shelves, and to give protection against crushing during transport. The cartons can be supplied as flat 'blanks' already printed and cut into the correct shape. The blanks are scored along the places to be folded so that they can be easily assembled at the production site.Tubs and trays are tapered (they are wider at the rim than the base) so that they can be easily stacked when empty, thus reducing the space needed for transport and storage. Plastic tubs and trays can be moulded into a wide range of shapes and sizes and they can be coloured to give protection to foods against light. Paperboard tubs and cups are used for example to pack dried foods. Plastic tubs and pots are used for honey, and plastic trays are used for fresh or dried meat and fish. Different types of plastic include high-density polythene, polyvinyl chloride (P.V.C.) and polypropylene. Producers should obtain advice from a packaging supplier to find the most cost-effective type that is suitable for their product.The label gives information to customers about the type of product and how it is used, but it also gives an image of the product to the customer. A well-designed label can give an impression of high quality or exciting taste, whereas a poor label can suggest low quality or a cheap product that is only eaten by people who cannot afford anything better.Producers may wish to have a 'logo' to help customers identify their products from those of competitors when on display in shops. However, the package and particularly the label must compare favourably with the others before customers will choose it. In general, a simple image on the label is better than a complex design. The brand name or the name of the company should stand out clearly. If pictures are used, they should accurately show the product or its main raw material.Colour can be used to produce either a realistic picture (full colour printing) or blocks of one or two colours to emphasise a particular feature. Because labels are so important, producers should invest the most that they can afford to get the best possible quality, using graphic artists at universities, art schools or in commercial agencies.Food labelling is a complex area, which cannot be described in detail in this booklet. Professional advice should be obtained from graphic designers who are experienced in label design, or from the local Bureau of Standards or equivalent organisation. In some countries there are legal requirements on the design of the label and the information that is included, with the following being the minimum required in most countries: ? name of the product ? list of ingredients in order of weight ? name and address of the producer ? net weight of food in the package ? a 'use-by', 'best-before' or 'sell-by' date.The producer may also include: ? any special instructions for preparing the product ? storage information or instructions on storage after opening ? examples of recipes in which the product can be used ? a bar code for sales to larger supermarkets The main use of tamper resistance/evidence is for bottles, pots and jars that need to be re-closable in order to allow consumers to use the contents a little at a time. Although it is not possible to completely prevent people from opening packs before they are bought, tamper-resistant packaging makes it difficult to open a pack, and tamper-evident packs show whether tampering has been attempted or has occurred. Examples of tamper-evident or tamper-resistant closures are shown in the Table below. The only types of retail container that are routinely re-used are glass bottles and jars, which should be fitted with new caps each time they are re-used. Glass is expensive and in some countries larger food companies, such as breweries and soft drinks manufacturers, have collection systems in place to return empty glass containers. In other countries, informal collection and resale operations exist to supply small-scale producers with bottles and jars.Glass containers must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised before being re-used to package foods because they may have been used in the home for temporary storage of other materials, including poisons such as pesticides or kerosene. Glass jars and metal containers are also reused in some countries for a number of non-food applications, including making them into kerosene or oil lamps, or handicrafts and toys.Recycling of packaging materials to make new containers is underdeveloped in most countries for two reasons: first there are few packaging manufacturers in developing countries, and so the demand for recycled material is small; and secondly, there are not systems in place to collect, clean and sort used packaging materials to supply pure raw materials that are suitable for making new food-grade packaging.The exception is glass-making, and in countries where a glass factory exists there is usually a system in place to collect used containers and broken glass to mix in with newly-made glass. Metal from steel or aluminium cans is valuable and may be collected for recycling, but few developing countries have can manufacturers and the metal is then recycled into other uses. Similarly, paper may be re-used as food wrappers for dry foods but its collection for recycling into new food containers is not developed because there are few papermaking factories.Of the many different types of plastics, the only one that is currently suitable for recycling into new food containers is PET (used to make soft drinks bottles in industrialised countries but less common in developing countries). Other plastics cannot yet be recycled into food containers and the difficulties of separating the different types of plastic mean that there is little use for them. A variety of suggested uses to avoid putting them in landfill dumps, including incineration in power stations and using them to make furniture, kerbstones or rubbish bags, has yet to be established in developing countries.This chapter deals with several filling and sealing machines or equipment. First the filling and sealing of shipping containers is described: sacks, boxes and stretch and shrink wrapping. Second the filling and sealing of retail containers is described: bags and sachets, bottles, pots and jars.Bagging machines Grains and flours are packed in sacks that are sealed and used as shipping containers or for bulk sales. Smaller paper or polythene bags are used for retail sales. Most small-scale millers fill bags and sacks by hand and then check the filled weight on scales.However, this is timeconsuming and faster filling can be achieved using a manual bagging machine. Flour is released from a hopper into a weighing section, which is adjustable for different fillweights. The correct weight is then dropped into the bag or sack. Typically a machine can fill and weigh bags in the range of 0.5 -10 kg. Larger machines are available to fill 50 kg sacks.Figure 25: Small bagging machineAt small scales of production, sacks are hand-stitched, but an electric sackstitcher is more commonly used at higher production rates. The machines sew a double layer of stitching across the top of textile or paper sacks to seal them.Cardboard cartons or boxes that contain packaged foods are usually sealed with either glue or adhesive tape. Simple tape dispensers are available, which make carton sealing faster and more efficient.In stretch-wrapping, thin polythene film is wrapped under tension around boxes on a pallet. The dispensing equipment for the film is simple and low-cost.Thin polythene film shrinks when heated by either hot air or a radiant heater. Bottles, jars, etc., that are to be shrinkwrapped are placed on a cardboard tray and covered with film. The film is then heated and shrinks around the containers.Alternatively the film can be shrunk using hot air from a hair dryer or similar hot-air blower.The food to be shrink-wrapped is placed in the chamber of the machine and the film is pulled over it. When the lid is lowered, the film is cut and heated to shrink it over the food. The cheapest and simplest method of filling liquids is to use a jug and a funnel. This is a useful way for filling viscous (thick) liquids but this is often too slow for low-viscosity (thin) liquids. A rod is used to stop the flow of liquid when the container is full.A simple manual filling machine for thin liquids can be constructed locally by fitting taps to the base of a large stainless steel or foodgrade bucket or tank. A stirrer is optional and more than one tap can be fitted to the stainless steel/plastic bucket. The taps should be 'gate-valve' types and not domestic water taps, which are more difficult to clean. Operators should be trained to ensure that the same volume is filled into every container.Dispensing machines ensure that the same volume is filled into each container and so do not rely on the judgement of an operator. Two types are shown below: The liquid dispenser and the gear pump filler.The liquid dispenser has a 3-way valve. In the first position the liquid fills a chamber in the dispenser from a tank above. When moved to the second position, the valve empties the food into the container. The volume of liquid in the dispenser can be adjusted to fill different sized containers.Other types of liquid dispensers have a moving piston to pump viscous products such as honey into the container, rather than allowing them to drain by gravity.This electric machine has a piston that moves backwards and forwards inside the horizontal cylinder. Liquid from the hopper is drawn into the cylinder by the piston and a valve then moves so that it is pushed into the container when the piston returns. The volume of liquid in the cylinder can be adjusted for different sizes of container.A gear-pump filler can be adjusted to dispense viscous liquids at preset volumes from 20 -999 ml. It has an anti-drip outlet that prevents food contaminating the sealing area of the container. Two plastic gear wheels rotate towards each other and pump the viscous liquid from the hopper into a container below. The time that the gear wheels operate can be adjusted to fill different sizes of containers. For more infromation on purchasing a gear pump filler: see Useful AddressesDifferent types of caps for sealing bottles, jars and pots are described in section 8.3. Each type of cap has its own equipment to fit it:Small manually operated capping equipment is available for Crown caps. The Crown cappers flatten the edges of the cap around the lip of the bottle to hold it in place. Two crown cappers are shown below.Figure 32: This simple crown capper is placed on the cap and hit with a hammer to bend the cap over the rim of the bottle.A roll-on-pilfer-proof (ROPP) cap is shown in figure 19. ROPP cappers force the metal cap into the thread of the glass bottle, thus forming a thread in the cap. The bottom of the cap is perforated so that it breaks when the cap is opened, leaving a ring of metal around the neck of the bottle. This is used to indicate whether the bottle has been opened.Plastic bottles are fitted with plastic caps by hand, by screwing the cap onto the bottle.Corking machines simultaneously squeeze the cork to reduce its diameter and insert it into the neck of the bottle. A bottle is placed on the platform and a cork is inserted into the hole in the upper part of the machine. When the handle is pulled down, a mechanism squeezes the cork to make the diameter smaller and the spike pushes it into the bottle. The cork then expands in the bottle to make a tight seal.A capsule sealing machine heats plastic capsules that are used as tamperevident seals on bottles. A bottle is placed on a tray with a capsule placed over the neck of the bottle. The thermostatically controlled heater then shrinks the capsule onto the bottle. Heat sealers for plastic pots Plastic pots are sealed using either a push-on plastic lid, or a plastic or aluminium foil membrane that is heat sealed. Manually operated electric heat sealers are available, or an electric iron can be fitted to a drillstand as a cheaper alternative. The heater is lowered onto the pot with the membrane in place and pressed down for sufficient time for the seal to form.These machines seal the open end of plastic bags, sachets or sacks, by pressing the two surfaces of the film together and heating them until they partly melt. The pressure then welds the two layers of film together. The strength of the seal depends on the temperature, pressure and time of sealing. Hot-wire sealers have a metal wire that is heated to red heat to both form a seal and cut the film, whereas a bar sealer holds the two films in place between heated jaws until the seal is Sachets can be made by buying film in the form of a tube and cutting it to the correct length. Alternatively, flat film can be cut to the correct size and sealed along the long side to make a tube. The base of each sachet is then sealed before filling and then the top seal is formed.If electricity is not available, it is possible to seal plastic bags by folding the film over a used hacksaw blade and welding it with a flame. However, the quality of the seal is variable and less attractive than using an electric heat sealer.An impulse sealer clamps the films between two cold jaws, and then heats them. After the films have been welded together they remain in place until the seal cools and sets.Rotary (or band) sealers are used for higher production rates. A continuous belt passes the sachet or bag between heated rollers that press and weld the two films together.Bags of food are placed on the conveyor. As each bag moves through the machine the open end is pressed against a metal band by heated metal rollers to make a seal. The temperature of the rollers, the pres- sure and the speed of the conveyor can each be adjusted for different types of plastic.For information on purchasing electric heat sealers: see Useful Addresses.Tape sealers for plastic or paper bags Small manual machines are available to seal retail plastic or paper bags with adhesive tape. The bag opening is twisted and passed through the machine where the tape forms a seal around the bag, sticking to itself. Scales are used to ensure that the minimum fill-weight is achieved. Scales can be either mechanical or electronic. When mechanical scales are used, the heaviest empty container is used to ensure that the minimum fill-weight is achieved by placing the container on the right-hand scale with a weight that is the same as the intended fill-weight. Electronic scales can be 'tared' with the maximum container weight.  Using special polythene film that sticks to itself but not to other packages or foods to tightly wrap other packages (also called cling film). Tamper-proof or tamper-evident A device on a package that resists opening the pack or shows whether an attempt has been made to open it.The \"thickness\" of a liquid or the resistance to flow. Thus, water is \"thin\", having a lower viscosity, while honey is \"thick\", having a higher viscosity","tokenCount":"11991"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4349781177.json b/data/part_1/4349781177.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bab5cb78f3fd293efc46281c4ad8ead93dfbe034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4349781177.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"522fe05f614514516bfaf2a2c5c37cd2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eada280d-5532-41dd-844a-dc52c4e7123d/retrieve","id":"-2039080730"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b8ec5e8-984c-4b8f-a506-c57ff13a28f5","pagecount":"4","content":"The world is facing numerous health issues including the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases. The Southeast Asia region is a hot spot for emerging infectious diseases that present serious socio-economic, environmental and development challenges. Non-infectious diseases associated with the intensification of crop and livestock agriculture also lead to impacts on human and animal health and the environment.Due to the complex interaction of disease emergence and environmental factors, the region needs strong capacity to respond to current and future challenges of emerging infectious diseases. One Health and Ecohealth approaches are more effective ways to tackle the complexity associated with emerging infectious diseases than employing a single disciplinary approach. Since 2008, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners have worked on One Health and Ecohealth in Southeast Asia in the areas of research, capacity development and influencing policy on the management of food safety and zoonoses.The main Ecohealth research activity was a project on 'ecosystem approaches to the better management of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia' (see Box 1).The project was unique in that it did not come packaged with a set of research questions for the teams to explore.Selecting research questions, collecting data, conducting analysis and writing and presenting results were led by local teams. In this way, Ecohealth research capacity was built through a learning-by-doing approach.As the project came to a close, research teams planned strategic knowledge translation activities, including policy briefs and workshops, to communicate research findings to stakeholders. Through training in this area, many researchers improved their ability to reach key decision-makers.Research topics covered included various zoonoses that are relevant to the region such as leptospirosis (Indonesia and Vietnam), brucellosis (China), salmonellosis (Thailand), rabies (Indonesia) and diarrhoea (Laos).Food safety research involving academia, policymakers and the local community was undertaken to address the safety of the pork value chain in Vietnam. A task force of risk assessment for food safety has been developed in Vietnam, bringing together representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as scientists from universities and research institutes working on risk assessment and food safety.The task force is developing guidelines for risk assessment in food safety management in informal markets catering to local consumers. These guidelines will help train a wide range of decision-makers, including high-level policymakers.A technical course and case studies on food safety in informal markets are helping to develop capacities in risk assessment among implementers, followed up by mentoring and on-the-job support. Case studies on food safety include the health risks associated with consuming contaminated vegetables and fish grown in wastewater and antibiotic residues in pork.The With the support of their academic institutions, the Ecohealth resource centres play an important role in developing national and regional Ecohealth research capacity and networks for current and future professionals to apply Ecohealth principles in preventing, managing and controlling zoonotic diseases.As part of a synthesis exercise, the teams reviewed all Ecohealth programs, initiatives and projects implemented in Southeast Asia over the last 10 years, gathering information from peer-reviewed literature to examine the lessons, challenges and ways forward. Activities include projects focused solely on capacity, those focused on solely on research and those covering both capacity and research.The review pointed to achievements such as research on infectious diseases in relation to socio-ecological factors associated with urbanization and agricultural intensification.It also pointed to challenges in project design and implementation, limited capacities and coordination mechanisms to develop Ecohealth research teams in countries, limited assimilation by teams of underlying Ecohealth tenets and their translation into sustainable disease prevention and control, and the inability to scale up Ecohealth projects.The ILRI teams suggested ways forward for Ecohealth from a regional perspective in terms of research, training and policy translation using Ecohealth in combination with the One Health approach.All these One Health and Ecohealth projects used outcome mapping to assess and document changes in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Ecohealth among partners. Facilitators from ILRI led sessions with the teams where they reflected on the process of team development and organizational learning. Teams then ranked their progress -low, medium or high -on each of the progress markers. Most teams held two outcome mapping sessions, so changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices could be compared.Group discussion at the first meeting of the task force for risk assessment in food safety, Hanoi, September 2013 (Credit CENPHER/ Giang Pham)Stall owners watch over their pork and beef stock in a wet market, Hanoi, Vietnam (Credit ILRI/ Andrew Nguyen)Further reading The business case for One Health One of the outputs was a business case for One Health that identified five potential areas where it can add value and reduce costs. These are:• sharing health resources between the medical and veterinary sectors;• controlling zoonoses in animal reservoirs;• early detection and response to emerging diseases;• prevention of pandemics; and• generating insights and adding value to health research and development.The table above gives examples for each category, along with preliminary estimates of the potential savings from adopting the One Health approach. The literature reviewed suggests that one dollar invested in One Health can generate five dollars worth of benefits. A global investment of 25 billion United States dollars (USD) over 10 years could generate benefits worth at least USD 125 billion.The challenge now is to translate these estimates into investments to save the lives of millions of people and hundreds of millions of animals.The Ecohealth is an approach that recognizes the links between people and their biophysical, social and economic environments. Ecohealth brings together physicians, veterinarians, ecologists, economists, social scientists, planners and other professionals to understand how ecosystem changes negatively impact human health and to provide practical solutions to reduce the negative health impacts of ecosystem change.One Health is a broad movement that recognises the interdependence of human, animal and ecosystem health and that multidisciplinary collaborations are often necessary to attain optimum health solutions.Outcome mapping is a participatory and actor-centred monitoring and evaluation framework that captures changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour among populations to assist research teams in learning from outreach experiences.Zoonotic diseases or zoonoses are diseases transmitted between animals and people. The biological cycle may include one or more species as well as humans. People may be an accident in the cycle. Seventy percent of all new, emerging or re-emerging diseases affecting humans originated in animals.","tokenCount":"1050"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4377043208.json b/data/part_1/4377043208.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a2a2132a889f2f231effae1f77ba13802775aa6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4377043208.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3002c0452ad073a89108f1b5629791e6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/47bc6217-936d-4b6f-a428-ea1340be8a9f/retrieve","id":"-1230864247"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"229f8756-d924-4629-816b-1fd7582c69d6","pagecount":"65","content":"The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to advance the conservation and use of plant genetic diversity for the well-being of present and future generations. It is one of 16 Future Harvest Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. IPGRI has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide.Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum R. & P.), along with several potato species (Solanum spp.), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus Caldas) and oca (Oxalis tuberosa Molina), pertains to the group of edible tuber crops indigenous to the cool-temperate Andes. Mashua is economically much less important than the other Andean tuber crops, but, as this monograph is intended to show, the crop's potential has been largely overlooked and opportunities for wider use within its native range and beyond have remained unexplored (Fano and Benavides 1992;Hermann and Heller 1997). Mashua contributes to tuber diversity, resulting in greater production stability in the heterogeneous Andean environments. So far this has resulted in the conservation of a wide range of native cultivars. However, the future role of mashua as a crop in the region seems to be uncertain. Apparently a range of positive attributes such as rusticity, pest tolerance and high productivity under low levels of inputs cannot counterbalance the present lack of 'market interest'.Mashua possesses a range of phytochemicals, which protect not only the crop itself, but possibly also associated crops, against pests. Also, except in soils of poor drainage, mashua has very few diseases. Mashua's aggressive growth makes it a very good ground cover, adequate for soil protection on the steep slopes of the Andes. Low input requirements, pest and disease tolerance, high productivity and multipurpose uses, are features that make mashua a very attractive plant for organic agriculture.Mashua's particular and strong taste has often been mentioned as a main cause for its neglect and abandonment. However, similarly pungent phytochemicals occur in several horticultural crops, such as in the Brassicaceae family (radishes, mustards) and Allium species (onions, garlic), which are well liked in many cultures and have a variety of uses in cooking. Rather than treating mashua as a starchy staple, as in Andean food systems, it might have potential as a spicy resource in raw dishes, pickles or fermented specialties. For example, thinly sliced raw mashua adds a pleasant pungency to salads, like Brassica species, which also contain glucosinolates. Mashua's reputed antiaphrodisiac action, however, imposes constraints on the marketing of the crop. Its demonstrated hormonal effect in rats indicates that there may be a physiological basis for the popular belief that it reduces libido. The possible hormonal activity in humans, and the effect of different processing methods on that activity, will have to be investigated in detail.If a wider market could be identified and marketing resources made available, mashua would be an excellent candidate for crop improvement. This is because of the considerable diversity available in mashua germplasm collections, the ease of hybridization of domesticated with (conspecific) wild mashua and with other Tropaeolum species, as well as mashua's prolific seed set, thus making conventional breeding possible.Visually distinguishing the tubers of mashua from those of oca takes a little practice, especially in the case of the yellow forms, which can look confusingly similar to the untrained eye (Fig. 1). Melchiorre (1985) provides a list of morphological features that identify the two species, but a bite into the raw tuber provides an immediate answer: oca has a tart, acidulous taste owing to its high content in organic acids, notably oxalate, whereas the taste of mashua is reminiscent of the pungency of a radish. Wild and cultivated T. tuberosum is found in the high Andes from Colombia to northwest Argentina. Cárdenas (1989) and Hawkes (1989) assume that domestication occurred in the region encompassing Ecuador to Bolivia. This is supported by the large diversity present in this wide area. However, in the absence of a comprehensive study on the diversity of wild and cultivated forms of mashua, it is difficult to pinpoint a smaller area as the likely centre of origin of the crop.Similarly, little is known about mashua crop history and dispersal. Mashua is more widespread than the minor Andean tubers maca (Lepidium meyenii Walpers) or mauka (Mirabilis expansa (Ruíz & Pav.) Standl.), species known only from isolated and 'insular' distributions, but is less common than the cool-temperate oca and ulluco. Excavations at Guitarrero cave in Peru suggest (Pearsall 1992;Smith 1980), that oca, and probably also ulluco, may have been consumed as early as 8000-7500 years before the present. The first archaeological evidence of mashua dates from 650-1350 AD (Pearsall 1992) in the Huachumachay cave sediments, located in the Jauja valley, Peru. The reduced economic scope of mashua in the colonial past and today, as well as its relatively late appearance in the archaeological record, suggests that its domestication may have taken place relatively late.On the basis of current medicinal uses and beliefs surrounding mashua, as well as the plant's use as (a rare) ornamental in northwest Argentina (Fernández 1973, Hermann 1992, personal observation), Johns et al. (1982) suggest that mashua had a significant place in the distant past for reasons other than food, and that its domestication may relate to its importance as medicine (see Section 7.5). In the same vein, Fernández (1973) argues for it to be a relict of a primordial agricultural complex.Beautiful, unambiguous depictions of mashua are present in the Nazca pottery at Pacheco, dated 1000 AD (Yacovleff and Herrera 1935;Towle 1961) (Fig. 2), Clockwise from upper left: potato, ulluco, oca and mashua. (Reproduced from Yacovleff and Herrera, 1935, p. 308, with permission from Museo Nacional de la Cultura Peruana, Lima, Peru.) suggesting that, in spite of being a highland crop, it was also well known in coastal Peru. The first historical reference to the plant appears in a chronicle cited by Yacovleff and Herrera (1935) as: 'Various, Bello Gayoso, on Cuenca and its Province, 1582'. Under its alternative common names 'añus' and 'masuas' (plural), mashua is later described by Garcilazo de la Vega (1966Vega ( [first published in 1609]]) and Guamán Poma de Ayala (1936Ayala ( [first published 1615]]). The Jesuit Bernabe Cobo (1956Cobo ( [1639]]), gives a detailed account of mashua, emphasizing its similarity with oca in size and shape. This author also mentions the antiaphrodisiac effects attributed to mashua, and how these were exploited by the Inca military to keep their soldiers quiet. Much later, Ruíz and Pavón (1802) made the first and still valid botanical description, accompanied by a detailed drawing, which is reproduced in Fig. 3.Although less common in the past and present than oca and ulluco, mashua was important enough to deserve significant selection efforts by the Andean peasants. This resulted in a large number of cultivars. In the last decades the demand for mashua seems to have decreased, to judge from its diminished presence in city markets. However, it is still available in small amounts in rural markets and from farmers who use it largely for home consumption. According to agricultural statistical data provided for Peru by Deza (1977), total mashua production in that country reached 19 500 t in the mid 1970s, with a total area of 5290 ha and an average yield of 3.7 t/ha. More recent data (Anonymous 1999) suggest an increase in yields and cropped area to 32859 t and 7244 ha, respectively, with an average yield of 5.2 t/ha. However, these figures must be treated with caution, as the small and fragmented plots in remote mountain areas are difficult to estimate, and agricultural census data in the Andean countries are notoriously unreliable. Peru is generally believed to be the largest Andean producer.One of the few rural women seen in 2001 offering a small amount of mashua in the market of Huánuco, a mid-sized town in the Peruvian highlands, is pictured in Fig. 4. This photograph illustrates and typifies the limited scale of mashua production and commercialization in Peru. The woman also displays yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poepp.) H. Rob.), another neglected Andean root crop, as well as roasted calabaza (Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché). Her attire, and the choice of these 'orphan products'-rarely present on urban markets-clearly identifies her as a specialist supplier of indigenous crops. Data for the other Andean countries are extremely scarce. Tapia (1994) estimates the cultivated mashua area in Bolivia at no more than 100 ha, with yields of 2-3 t/ha. However, both figures seem too low since production characteristics similar to those in Peru can be expected in Bolivia. There are no statistics for Ecuador, where we estimate the cultivated area to be around 50 ha, all located in isolated areas of the Sierra region. Nieto (1993) provides an overview of the use of mashua in Ecuador and the status of germplasm conservation. The area dedicated to mashua in Colombia is concentrated in Boyacá.In Argentina, mashua is restricted to the northwestern provinces, where one of us has seen cultivated plants in Colanzulí, Salta, and Chalguamayoc, Jujuy (Hermann 1992, personal observation). However, mashua, or 'sisaño' as it is known locally, is hardly more than a botanical curiosity, not seen on local markets and known to only a few farmers, who occasionally grow it for food or as an ornamental. Latcham (1936) lists mashua in his book on pre-Colombian plants of Chile, but neither the crop nor the product was found on a collecting mission in the highaltitude oases of the Atacama desert in 1993, an area once belonging to Peru, where other Andean tubers such as native potatoes, oca and ulluco are still fairly common (Hermann 1993, personal observation).Mashua (or maswa), a Quechua word for which no meaning is known to us, is the most widely used common name for the plant and the tuber, especially in southern Colombia, Ecuador and Central Peru, and is often understood even where other names prevail. Masua (or maswa) is the form used in Quechua from the Ayacucho region. A set of other terms, such as maxua, majua, mazuco, maswallo, mascho, are probably post-Columbian variations under the influence of the Spanish language. Quechua speakers also refer to mashua as 'añu', a word derived from the Aymara term isañu or isaño. Añu is used in the Cusco region, while isaño is common around Lake Titicaca and further south in Bolivia, including the Cochabamba region. In Colombia, mashua is also referred to as 'cubio', a term whose origin is unknown to us but could be from a pre-Columbian language, thus perhaps indicating the antiquity of mashua cultivation in this country. 'Navo', 'navios' or 'nabos' are also terms for mashua restricted to Colombia that appear to be modifications of 'nabo', the common Spanish name for Brassica napus. A list including less common names is presented in Table 1. The presence of at least three completely different name groups-mashua, añu and cubio-suggests that the crop was widely established before the homogenizing effect of the Inca and Spanish conquests. This phenomenon supports the notion that either the crop was domesticated and dispersed very early, or it was domesticated independently in different areas in the Andes.Mashua tubers show a notably wide range of colours and qualifiers in varietal names often refer to them. A list of the more frequent names is presented in Table 2.Some varietal names apparently refer to attributes such as shape or taste (Hermann and Cruz 1991): 'Huaka hasta' or 'Huagra hasta' (cow horns) refers to elongated, curved mashuas. 'K'eya-añu' indicates foetid smell. 'Take-añu' or 'Taqui añu' refers to tuber stores common in Cusco, and might indicate that this type holds well in storage. 'Kita-añu' and 'Añu-añu' are terms used for wild mashua (Herrera 1921). 5 Crop biologyMashua has often been mistakenly described as an annual, because of its yearly production cycle (e.g. Arbizu and Tapia 1992;Zela et al. 1997). However, the term 'annual' is reserved for plants in which only sexually formed seeds give rise to a new generation, whereas both cultivated and wild mashua persist through tubers, although aerial organs may die back at the end of the growing season. Mashua is therefore clearly a perennial species, with some genotypes presumably being very old clones. Small tubers are frequently left in the field and sprout easily, especially under the wetter conditions in the northern Andes. Under such circumstances, mashua can become a weed problem, thus fully confirming the species' perennial nature.Unlike ulluco, mashua flowers profusely, starting 3-5 months after planting and lasting for 1-2 months. The plants also set abundant seed. Tubers are ready for harvest 6-9 months after planting. A schematic representation of mashua's development is shown in Fig. 5.Mashua is a stout climber with thick or slender, often reddish, glabrous stems. Stems arising from sprouting tubers are erect but the plant soon adopts a semiprostrate or prostrate habit, producing a very dense soil cover. Stems and petioles are twining and able to climb on any available support, reaching 2 m or more in height. The tubers are usually 5-15 cm long and 3-6 cm broad in their distal part. Most tuber  3, Tuberization;4-5, Flowering;6, Fruiting;7, Tuber maturity (Source: Lescano 1994, p. 74).growth is due to pith proliferation. The tuber is covered by an epidermis with thick exterior walls, which gives a waxy aspect to the surface. Tuber colour and shape vary considerably, as seen in the cultivar samples from Peru and Colombia in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 respectively. Some cultivars are of spectacular beauty, such as the Peruvian Yawar waqac (Fig. 8), which has a skin pattern reminding the name-giving Quechua Indians of 'tears of blood' (yawar = blood, waqac = to cry).Petioles are reddish, 4-20 cm long, with thin, reddish, inconspicuous and caducous stipules. Leaf blades are peltate, suborbicular, 4-6 cm long and 5-7 cm  broad, at base rounded to subtuncate, with normally 5 lobes (sometimes 3-4), rotundate, with an obtuse to truncate apex, mucronate, upwards and slightly sideward directed. The upper surface is dark green while the lower surface is pale green with marked purple palmate nervation. The hypogynous flowers are solitary, zygomorphic, placed on long (15-25 cm) peduncles (Fig. 9). Calyx with 5 sepals, 5lobed, mostly red or reddish, but sometimes yellow; inferior lobes lanceolate, 12-14 mm long, 4-5 mm broad at the base; sepals fused at the base forming a nectar containing spur, often referred to as calcar, of the same colour, tubular with a very broad, straight or curved appendix, 18-22 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter at the base. Petals, 5, free, commonly yellow or orange with darker veins, sometimes light lilac or reddish; posterior petals are unguiculate with a rotundate blade, 6-9 mm long, 5-8 mm broad; anterior petals are elliptical, unguiculate, 10-15 mm long and 4-6 mm broad. Stamens 8; the syncarpic ovary is superior from 3 carpels, 3 locules and a simple style with 3 lobbed stigmata; each locule contains one ovule in axilar position.The described floral morphology is typical for Tropaeolum. A number of aberrations have been described by Pocco (1976) and Vallenas (1977) in clones of the   Hermann, 1991).Puno area. They include an increased number of sepals and petals to 6 or 7 per flower, flowers with 2 spurs, increased number of stamens (up to 13), increased number of carpels to 4 or 5 and a corresponding number of stigmata.At maturity the fruit, a schizocarp, separates into 3 mericarps, each one with 3 pronounced ribs and a rugged surface and containing 1 seed. The pericarp is thin but epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp can be easily distinguished. Some morphotypes from Ecuador present 2-5 mericarps per fruit at maturity. This may be an environmentally modified trait. The bulk of the seed is formed by the cotyledons rather than endosperm, with cells containing aleuron grains and thick cell walls formed by galactoxyloglucans that are mobilized following seed germination (Bewley and Black 1994).The mashua tuber is morphologically a thickened stem-it has 'eyes' from which it produces aerial stems and adventitious roots, which are slender and filiform. Lateral roots are less developed than the main ones (Chacón 1960).Unlike oca and ulluco, mashua flowers profusely and sets seed easily. Unfortunately, little is known about mashua's reproductive biology. To date the most detailed research on the subject was carried out by Pocco (1976) and Vallenas (1977). According to Vallenas (1977) mashua begins to flower 3-4 months after plant emergence. Flowering lasts for 1-1.5 months. Each flower remains open for 8-15 days. Stigmata are receptive at the beginning of anthesis, and remain receptive for 40 hours. Pollen is viable 24 hours before anthesis and pollen viability reaches a peak 24 hours after anthesis. The abundant flowering attracts a considerable number of insects and birds. Pollen viability at anthesis was estimated at 50-53% by Pocco, but Johns and Towers (1981) found much higher values (95% viability) in T. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum and T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre. Information on pollination biology of Tropeolaceae is still limited. The best-known species so far is T. pentaphyllum Lam. (Fabbri and Valla 1998), a species of Southern Brazil, Uruguay and Northeast Argentina, which is pollinated by hummingbirds and several Hymenoptera.In our experience mashua seeds can be desiccated to low moisture levels at the ambient conditions of the Andean highlands and will germinate after several months of storage, but formal experiments confirming the orthodox behaviour and germinability of the seeds have still to be conducted. The fact that mashua fields consisting of only one clonal cultivar form ample seeds suggests that mashua is self fertile. Plants grown from botanical seeds, apart from their distinct tuber morphology, resemble mother plants in terms of crop duration, phenology and capacity to reproduce asexually via the tubers. To our awareness, botanical seeds are currently not used to conserve germplasm.Mashua is propagated for production purposes in traditional Andean agriculture exclusively via the tubers, which need to be set aside from the harvest for that purpose. Rooted young tubers or aerial stems can also be used for accelerated bulking of particular clones, although this practice is limited to research purposes.As in the case of other Andean tubers (potatoes, oca, ulluco) botanical seeds of mashua are not used for propagation purposes in current agricultural practice. The reasons are probably the same as for the other tubers: failure to breed true to type by sexual propagation, extended crop duration of seed-propagated plants and predominance of vegetative agriculture in traditional Andean systems. The abundant seed set of mashua and its apparent good germinability, however, afford plant breeders and researchers with opportunities to produce and select new genotypes with relative ease.Mashua is part of the traditional, subsistence-oriented cropping systems of the Andean highlands. Like most of the agricultural production systems in the region these are polycropping arrangements, very intensive in land use, and labour intensive (Camino 1997). Mashua is interplanted with other tubers such as potato, oca or ulluco or with other crops such as faba bean (Vicia faba L.), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) or Andean lupin (Lupinus L.) (Fig. 10). In other cases, mashua together with oca and ulluco is part of crop rotation systems; they are planted in small monocrop plots before or after barley, broad bean or lupine. At lower altitudes, as in the inter-Andean valleys of Ecuador (altitude less than 3000 m), mashua is often intercropped with maize (Zea mays L.) and squashes (Cucurbita spp.). In any case, mashua is seldom monocropped in plots exceeding 2000 m 2 . In Colombia, mashua is often used in border rows surrounding potato fields. This practice is believed to repel potato pests. Johns et al. (1982) refer to a similar practice in Peru. This is supported by Rea's (1984) mention of ornamental Tropaeolum serving as pest barriers in Ecuador.In Ecuador and in large parts of the Colombian Andes mashua has been reduced to the status of a botanical curiosity or that of a medicinal plant, often tolerated in backyard gardens rather than cultivated. Some farmers consider mashua a potential weed problem in successive crops, as it can persist in the field for two or three crop seasons. Mashua regenerates easily from tubers left in the field.Because of agroecological and ontogenetic similarities and its common intercropping with oca and ulluco, mashua is subjected to similar cultivation practices, to the point that they are often dealt with together in the literature (e.g. Arbizu and Tapia 1992).Small mashua tubers are preferred for planting (or are the only material left over at planting time), which may in fact be a poor agricultural practice. By using small tubers for seed, farmers may unconsciously select for less vigorous types, which may either represent somatic mutations or material affected by pathogens.The tubers are planted on ridges 70-80 cm apart. Distances within ridges vary from 30 to 40 cm (Meza et al. 1997), giving total plant populations of 31 000-48 000 plants/ha. Barrionuevo (1975) indicates a wider distance, up to 100 cm between rows and up to 70 cm within rows. Under favourable growing conditions mashua can respond efficiently to the wider spacing. In Peru planting is done with the 'chaquitaclla', which is used to open a hole, at the bottom of which one or two tubers are placed. Planting is done from mid-August to mid-October, coinciding with the onset of the first rains.When mashua is planted as a monocrop (Fig. 11), planting distance varies from 80 to 100 cm between rows and from 30 to 50 cm within rows, depending on soil quality. The wider distances are applied in soils with high fertility. Weed control is necessary only during the early stages. Once in the ground, tubers sprout quickly and mashua develops a very dense canopy that effectively starves competing plants of light. Quispe et al. (1997) found 160 days after planting a leaf area index (LAI) of 3.6. This was less than the LAI in potato (4.5) but more than the LAI in oca (2.5) grown under the same conditions. Similar results were obtained by Valladolid et al. (1982). Fertilized mashua can reach much higher LAI values of 4.7-5 (Valdivia et al. 1999).Plants are hilled twice. Hilling is believed to increase yields by stimulating stolon and tuber formation, but no formal experiments have been conducted to confirm this. The first hilling is normally done after the plants have emerged and the soil has been moistened by the first rains. A second hilling is done at the beginning of flowering.According to Valdivia et al. (1999), mashua harvest index varies between 0.52 and 0.69.In the Andean rotation system, the first crop after fallow is always the potato. It is the preferred crop because of its importance in subsistence and for income generation. The benefits of restored soil fertility after fallow and what little manure or fertilizer may be available are targeted to potato productivity. Mashua frequently follows the potato. In Peru, such fields are called 'kqalpares de papa', a term indicating the condition of residual soil fertility. Mashua may also be used to conclude the rotation before fallow, which indicates the crop's comparatively low nutrient demands.Knowledge on mashua response to the application of mineral fertilizers is still limited. Valdivia et al. (1999) found a significant increase response to fertilization (from 28.8 t/ha in the unfertilized control to 36.1 t/ha using 80 kg N, 160 kg P and 80 kg K per hectare). However, mashua was found to be significantly less responsive than oca to fertilization. This result was obtained in the relatively poor soils of the Toralapa research station (Cochabamba, Bolivia). According to these authors an even weaker response is to be expected in the soils normally used for mashua, which usually contain more NPK.Rusticity is one of the attractive attributes of mashua. Information on the severity of mashua pests and diseases is still very limited. Some reports, such as Morales and Rea (1982), indicate no relevant damage through pests or diseases. Of the 131 mashua accessions observed by these authors in Belén (3820 m altitude) and Italaque (2800 m), La Paz Department, Bolivia, few were affected by biotic agents. Nevertheless some pests and diseases are reported in the literature and are discussed in the following paragraphs. Rarely, though, do they cause significant damage. No pests or diseases are currently known that constitute serious constraints to mashua cultivation.The first virus reported in mashua was a mosaic, which can be easily transmitted to a range of hosts including Amaranthaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae and other Tropaeolaceae (Delhey and Monasterios 1977). Brunt et al. (1996) have isolated and named two mosaic virus species: Tropaeolum 1 potyvirus and Tropaeolum 2 potyvirus. They frequently occur together and are transmitted by mechanical inoculation. The aphid Myzus persicae can act as a vector. However, these viruses are not transmitted by seed. A similar potyvirus has been reported by Soria et al. (1998). The authors named the virus Tropaeolum mosaic potyvirus (TropMV). This virus can also be transmitted mechanically and by Myzus persicae aphids. A survey of Ecuadorian germplasm from INIAP's Santa Catalina Experimental Station revealed that 34 out of 46 accessions were infected by TropMV; all eight fields surveyed contained infected plants. Observations at Santa Catalina also suggest that virus infection increases when mashua is cultivated in the same field for more than one cropping season.There are still important aspects of mashua viral diseases that are unknown, such as the actual impact of these viruses under field conditions, how easily virus-free material can be obtained and how fast reinfection would occur in the field (Lizarraga 1993).A wide spectrum of viruses has been reported to infect the garden nasturtium Tropaeolum majus L. (Soria et al. 1998), which suggests that other viruses might be found in the closely related mashua. Viruses have not, however, been found to affect mashua cultivation significantly.A comprehensive treatment of mashua diseases by Ames de Icochea (1997) describes several fungal pathogens, some of them causing considerable damage, particularly those that affect the harvested tubers. Acroconidiella leaf spot is always present in mashua crops, and its symptoms increase at the end of the cropping season, when all plants are affected to some extent. The causal agent, Acroconidiella tropaeoli, affects other wild and cultivated Tropaeolaceae. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum includes mashua within its wide host range. Sclerotinia usually affects localized sectors of the crop at the middle of the cropping season. It can cause considerable damage but this appears to be restricted to exceptionally wet conditions, as is the case with an as yet unidentified species of Phytophthora which can affect mashua.Ascochyta pinodes affects mashua under field conditions. However, this so-called black tip disease is only significant as a storage problem. Species of the fungal genera Mucor, Rhizopus, Cylindrosporium, Penicillium and also bacteria such as Erwinia and Pseudomonas have been isolated from mashua; however, they represent opportunistic pathogens affecting the crop in the wake of frost or desiccation damage (Ames de Icochea 1997). López (1986) reported Rhizoctonia spp. and Phytium affecting tubers and roots; Fusarium spp. that produces wilting plants and rotting roots; Verticillium spp. and Acrocylindrium spp., causing rotting in low stems and roots. Falconi and Morales (1983) reported mashua as host for several fungal species: Acrocylindrium, Cylindrophora, Phytium, Arthrobrotis, Fusarium, Verticillium and Mucor, producing some rotting in tuber roots; Graphium, Epiccocum, affecting the aerial stems; Pyronema, Alternaria, Ovularia, Heterosporium, Stemphylium, Eriocercospora, Mycosphaerella and Ulocladium, producing leaf spots. Nevertheless, none of these fungal diseases appear to significantly decrease yields. Mashua is still considered a highly tolerant crop and the application of fungicides is not recommended, even in the presence of the fungal pathogens listed above.In a screening for nematodes in Andean tubers Montero (1993) found species of several genera affecting mashua: Criconemoides, Paraphelenchus, Discocriconemella, Drylaimus, Aphelenchus, Neocriconema and Heiciclophora, a larger number than those affecting oca and ulluco. Members of the Criconematidae (Criconemoides, Discocriconemella and Neocroconema) were present only on mashua, suggesting that mashua has a particular interaction with members of this family.Mashua has been mentioned as a host of the oca nematode, Thecavermiculatus andinus (Franco and Mosquera 1993). However, its sensitivity is low, similar to wild herbs like Salvia spp. and Senecio vulgaris, and well below potato, ulluco and oca.Similarly, mashua can be infected by the potato nematode Nacobbus aberrans, but most genotypes showed no symptoms. Only one from eight genotypes developed nematode nodules and two were not infected at all (Balderrama and Franco 1994). Similar results were reported in Toralapa, Bolivia (Anonymous 1995b), where three accessions tested did not show any infection with N. aberrans. These results strongly suggest that mashua has a high level of tolerance to nematodes. (1988) indicates that the mashua germplasm in the INIAP collection was affected by Copitarsia turbata ('gusano cortador') and the leaf miner (Philionorycter sp.). A later report (INIAP 1993) found that most of the accessions held at Santa Catalina, Ecuador, had been affected by Copitarsia spp. However, 33% of the accessions suffered no or only minor damage (0-2% of the tubers damaged).Interestingly, mashua was more sensitive than oca to the Andean weevil, Premnotrypes vorax, and was less effective when used as a control barrier (Calvache 1991). Ruales and Moscoso (1983) reported the following insects in mashua at farm level: Copitarsia turbata, attacking aerial stems; Phyllonoryeter spp., mining leaves, and Thysanoptera spp., also affecting leaves.Information on mashua yields still reflects predominantly small trial plot results, rather than actual farm yields (Table 3). Experimental plot results indicate that mashua is very productive, particularly on a fresh weight basis. Yields frequently are well over 30 t/ha . Single plant yields under favourable conditions can exceed 2 kg of tubers (Fig. 12). Nevertheless, mashua yields at commercial level reach only 5-10 t/ha (Vimos 1987;Romero et al. 1989). Harvest time is 6-9 months after planting. The crop is ready to harvest when plants become yellowish or brown, when they lose their lower leaves or, in some cases, when they produce the tubers on the soil surface (Cabrera 1986;Vimos 1987).Owing to the small size of cultivated areas and predominant intercropping, mashua is harvested manually. The soil is opened using a hoe and tubers are collected in baskets or sacs. Farmers prefer to harvest in dry soil, which falls off the tubers completely and leaves them clean. Mature tubers can be left in the soil for some time before harvest. They will not sprout immediately after the aerial parts have senesced. Once tuber dormancy is over, sprouts emerge from the tuber eyes. Sprouting tubers lose weight and their quality deteriorates rapidly, because of water loss and nutrient translocation to the new tissues. in heaps, called 'phinas' (Fig. 13), that are covered with a layer of dry ichu grass (Stipa ichu (R. & P.) Kunth). This layer is a few centimetres thick, enough to maintain the tubers in darkness and insulate them against night frosts (which are common after the harvest period) and high day temperatures. The temperature variation underneath the cover is small and oscillates minimally around the average ambient temperature, which in the high-altitude location shown in Fig. 13 is probably below 8°C.Before consumption mashua tubers are exposed to direct sunlight for a few days to improve sweetness and palatability. This practice increases sugar content, probably by inducing starch degradation; it may also reduce isothiocyanates.Mashua tubers have relatively high hourly respiration rates: 75 mg CO 2 /kg of tuber fresh weight 3 hours after harvest and 54 mg CO 2 /kg 3 days after harvest, at 20ºC. This is approximately the same as oca and twice as much as potato and yacon stored under the same conditions at 17°C in the shade (Grau 1993).As with most other Andean root and tuber crops, the information on mashua ecology is scarce, and the crop's ecological requirements must be derived from its distributional record. The latitudinal range of mashua cultivation in the Andes is from 8°N to 24°S, and the altitude ranges from 2400 to 4300 m, with the most frequent occurrence between 3000 and 3700 m, where annual mean temperatures are in the range of 8-11°C. Morales and Rea (1982) indicate that mashua aerial organs behave similar to those of oca and ulluco in relation to frost, tolerating -1°C, but they are completely destroyed at -5°C. Reports from Romero et al. (1989) indicate that at early crop stages mashua is able to recover completely after exposure to -2 to -4°C. Recovery may not be complete at later stages. For instance, Valdivia et al. (1999) indicate that a frost event of -3.5°C at Toralapa, Cochabamba, Bolivia, killed aerial plant parts. Above freezing temperatures, mashua tolerates long chilling periods. It is able to tolerate temperatures of 30°C or slightly higher, at least for short periods.Although mashua is normally grown at high altitude, it is the cool conditions and not altitude per se which are required by the plant. Mashua is able to tuberize and produce good crops outdoors at sea level at 46°S in Christchurch, New Zealand (Martin et al. 1996) and at 49°N in Vancouver, Canada (Johns and Towers 1981).In general mashua is not irrigated. However, it has high water requirements and receives between 700 and 1600 mm on most cultivation sites. It tolerates the misty and cloudy weather typical of the eastern Andean ranges, and indeed thrives there, but it also seems capable of tolerating dry spells.Mashua is a short-day plant, requiring less than 12 hours for tuberization. Razumov (1931) obtained no tubers with 18 hours, while plants exposed to 10-hour or 12-hour days produced tubers. Bukasov (1930) indicates that 9 hours is the optimum day length for tuberization. Under long-day conditions (14-20 hours, in Finland) mashua is unable to tuberize (Kalliola et al. 1990). Day length also affects bud number, stem number, leaf size and pigments in stem and leaves. Tuberization in New Zealand at 46ºS begins when day length becomes less than 12 hours. In South Island, New Zealand and Vancouver Island, Canada, tuberization and yield formation are still possible because autumn temperature minima are moderated by maritime influence. Under colder continental conditions crop development is truncated by frost before tuberization occurs. This may explain why there is no report for the successful production of mashua tubers in continental Europe, although the species may have been introduced several times by botanists and hobby gardeners (Bukasov 1930, Kalliola et al. 1990).Apparently, mashua has a wide tolerance to soil pH, growing from 5.3 to 7.5 (National Research Council 1989). However, there has been little systematic research in this area.The water content of mashua tubers is comparatively high, ranging from 79 to 94% in the fresh or edible matter (Table 4). As seen in Table 4, the main nutritional contribution of mashua is its high carbohydrate content, particularly of starch but also of sugars. The protein content of the mashua tuber in the fresh matter approaches potato values, although potatoes are much higher in dry matter content. Amino acid analyses of mashua tuber protein show a satisfactory nutritional composition compared with the WHO recommendations (Shah et al. 1993;Stegemann and Shah 1993). These authors also indicate that there is considerable variation between the different clones analysed. The high content of ascorbic acid or vitamin C as determined by Collazos et al. (1996) (77.5 mg per 100g fresh matter) is nutritionally also important.Like other Tropaeolaceae, mashua contains isothiocyanates present as glucosinolates (Kjaer et al. 1978), compounds similar to those found in other crucifers and also known as mustard oils. Isothiocyanates are well known for their antibiotic, insecticidal, nematocidal and diuretic properties, which substantiates mashua's extensive use in Andean folk medicine (Johns et al. 1982). The characteristic piquant flavour of mashua is produced by p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate. This compound appears to be specific to subspecies T. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum, which also contains small amounts of 2-propyl isothiocyanate. This compound and 2-butyl isothiocyanate are the main isothiocyanates in subspecies T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre (Johns and Towers 1981). Thiocyanates liberate cyanide by hydrolysis and could lead to poisoning.Thiocyanate values higher than 20 mg/100 g are common in uncooked mashua. Dolores and Espín (1997) found values of 23-33 mg/100 g in mashua accessions of the Ecuadorian collection at INIAP.As explained above, most mashua tuber types contain high levels of isothiocyanates, which give them a pungent taste, and make them unsuitable for raw consumption except in small quantities. Boiling causes the isothiocyanates to hydrolyse, eliminating cyanide and improving taste. Mashua tubers are usually boiled to form a stew with other tubers and meat (Cortés 1981). Mashua can be used as a component in many dishes, ranging from soups and stews to desserts.The widespread Andean practice of exposing tubers and roots to direct sunlight is also used for mashua, as mentioned above, in order to increase sweetness and reduce cyanide levels before cooking (Dolores and Espín 1997). Another common procedure is baking mashua in the huatia, an earthen field oven, which is typically prepared at harvest time from sods or stones. Baked mashua has an aromatic flavour and a mushy texture like that in moist sweet potatoes. Cárdenas (1989) indicates that in the recent past it was a common practice for the middle class of La Paz, Bolivia, to eat cooked and frozen mashua soaked in sugarcane syrup ('thayacha') during the winter. This is a rare practice today.  Shah et al. 1993, King andGershoff 1987 Threonine mg/g protein 22-46 n.a. King and Gershoff 1987;Shah et al. 1993 Valine mg/g protein 25-88 n.a. King and Gershoff 1987;Shah et al. 1993 Isoleucine mg/g protein 25-44 n.a. King and Gershoff 1987;Shah et al. 1993 Leucine mg/g protein 35-56 n.a. King and Gershoff 1987;Shah et al. 1993 Tyrosine mg/g protein 13-62 n.a. King and Gershoff 1987;Shah et al. 1993 Tryptophan mg/g protein 5-12 n.a. King andGershoff 1987, Gross et al. 1989 Cysteine mg/g protein The per capita consumption of mashua tubers is difficult to assess and its derivation from national production and population figures makes little sense because consumption varies hugely from place to place. In rural areas, where native Amerindian people predominate, consumption can be considerable, especially during and after harvest, when mashua is a frequent side dish or ingredient in main dishes, and weekly per capita consumption may be well over 1 kg. However, consumption is limited by the seasonal availability of tubers.Mashua flowers can be consumed fresh in salads, and flower buds can be consumed pickled in vinegar in a similar way to capers (King 1987).Peasants in Ecuador (Tapia et al. 1996) and in the Candelaria area, Cochabamba, Bolivia (Terrazas and Valdivia 1998), feed mashua tubers to pigs. Few studies have been published on the use of mashua tubers as feed, but this use is presumably much more widespread than the reports suggest. The first research trial was apparently conducted by Bateman (1961) in Costa Rica. According to this author raw mashua plus skimmed milk and grains performed better than grains alone, and acceptability of mashua was considerably improved by cooking. Similar results were obtained by Ramos et al. (1976) in a more comprehensive experiment comparing a standard ration (barley, oats (Avena sativa L.), maize, cotton paste, hay and milk) and a ration in which the cereals and cotton had been replaced by cooked mashua. They concluded that the increase of weight in calves fed with mashua did not differ significantly from that of the control, and that including mashua in the diet was a cheaper alternative. They suggested that cooked mashua can be replaced by raw mashua, to feed animals over 12 months of age However, there is evidence indicating that raw mashua can be toxic. One of us observed a donkey in San Juan, Chimborazo, Ecuador, dying immediately after ingesting a portion of fresh mashua tubers (Nieto 1988, personal observation). Lethal effects of mashua intake on donkeys or mules have also been reported during ethnobotanical field work in Pisac, Cusco (King 1988), and in Colanzulí, Salta, northern Argentina (Hermann 1992, personal observation). Presumably, cultivars producing such effects contain high levels of isothiocyanide.There are no reports of aerial parts being used as forage, which is somewhat surprising, because mashua produces much above-ground biomass. This may be partly explained by the presence of the same antinutritional substances that accumulate in the tubers. Salcedo (1986) indicates that 'stems and leaves are as poisonous as tubers'. There is no information on hay production or silage, treatments that may reduce or eliminate isothiocyanates.Information on mashua processing into flour and on starch properties is limited. The first published report on mashua flour production indicates disappointing results. Processing yielded a piquant and strongly smelling product with a yellow greyish colour, not suitable for human consumption (Deza 1977;Cortés et al. 1982). Recent studies (Ramallo 1999) suggest that mashua flour could be an interesting alternative as pig feed. Mashua flour has an acceptable protein (8%) and high energy content (416 kcal/100 g). Protein levels are similar to those of maize but energy content is 30% higher (Ramallo 1999). The high water content of mashua, however, implies relatively high drying costs.Although production of flour for human consumption still has technical problems to be solved, mashua starch has interesting characteristics. Compared to potato, ulluco, oca, achira (Canna indica L.), maize, rice and manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), mashua and arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancroft) starch gels are the most resistant to freezing (minimal syneresis), after 4 weeks at -20ºC (Dufour et al. 1997). However, these results are partially contradicted by Villacrés and Espín (1996), who found high syneresis values after a freeze-thaw cycle. These authors also found that gelatinization temperature of mashua starch (60°C) is similar to that of oca starch (60°C) and ulluco starch (63°C), and higher than that of potato starch (55°C). A factor making mashua starch use economically unfeasible would be its very low extraction yield-2.3 %, according to Villacrés and Espín (1996). However, starch recovery rates reported by these authors for a number of tuber species appear to be unreasonably low. Mashua starch granules are small, with an average size of 8.8 µm (Cortella and Pochettino 1995) to 15.6 µm (Villacrés and Espín 1996).'. . . llamada añus. Dizen los indios que comida es contraria a la potencia generativa; para que no les hiziesse daño, los que se preciavan de galanes tomavan en la una mano una varilla o un palillo mientras la comían, y comida assí dezían que perdía su virtud y no dañava. Yo les oí la razón y algunas vezes vi el hecho, aunque davan a entender que lo hazían más por vía de donaire que no por dar crédito a la burlería de sus mayores' 1 Garcilaso de la Vega, writing in the sixteenth century in his 'Comentarios Reales', in reference to folk beliefs of antiaphrodisiac properties of mashua in what is today Peru (as quoted in Patiño 1964).Mashua diets are reputed to have beneficial effects on liver and kidneys (Hodge 1946;Oblitas 1969) and to alleviate prostate and urinary disorders (Salcedo 1986; __________________________ 1 'It is called añus; and the Indians say that it reduces the procreative powers, but in order to prevent it from harming them, those who prided themselves on their gallantry used to hold a little rod or stick in one hand while they ate it, saying that in this way it lost its peculiar property and did them no harm. I heard them give this explanation and often saw them do this, though they implied that it was intended rather as a joke than as a serious acceptance of the foolish tradition of their elders.' (Translation taken from Garcilaso de la Vega (1966)). Brack 1999). In Bolivia mashua is still used in treating prostate ailments and is sold in small quantities in urban areas (Terrazas and Valdivia 1998). Bateman (1961) indicates that mashua fed to pigs seemed to have a diuretic effect. This is consistent with similar effects on humans as recognized by Andean folk medicine (Cárdenas 1948(Cárdenas , 1958;;Brack 1999). Rea (1984) reported the use of mashua by people with diabetes, using both the cooked tubers and water in which they were boiled. In their catalogue of Ecuadorian mashua germplasm Tapia et al. (1996) list several accessions with collector information on medicinal uses for the treatment of tonsillitis, dengue and malaria fever, and postpartum conditions. Pérez Arbelaez (1947) indicates that mashua is useful for the treatment of skin ailments, such as eczema and 'skin spots'. The same dermatological properties are attributed to kita-añu (T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre) (Herrera 1921). Without specifying used plant parts, Oblitas (1969) indicates that mashua is used as vermifuge and 'to induce menstruation'.Among its numerous reputed medicinal effects, mashua is best known in the Andes for its alleged capacity to suppress sexual appetite and decrease reproductive potential and erectile function in men (Herrera 1933;Hodge 1951;Leon 1967;Oblitas 1969;Brack 1999). According to traditions recorded by the sixteenth century chroniclers, the Inca fed mashua to their troops 'so that they would forget their women' while on military operations (Patiño 1964, citing Padre Bernabé Cobo). With similar intentions, rural women in Cusco today prepare concoctions from mashua and add these surreptitiously to their men's food, in the hope of preventing them from becoming unfaithful (Hermann 1992). Johns et al. (1982), who review such folk beliefs, showed experimentally that they are perhaps not unsubstantiated. Male rats fed with mashua tubers had significantly reduced testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels (45%). However, test animals maintained their capability to impregnate females.Hormonal effects may also be responsible for the reputed effects on menstruation. Johns et al. (1982) failed to find any oestrogenic activity in guinea-pigs. However, their results indicate that N, N-di-(methoxy-4-benzil)thiourea present in mashua can competitively inhibit radioactively marked estradiol using a preparation of estrogen receptor in calf uterine cytosol, suggesting that mashua may still have estrogenic activity.Considering the hormonal effects of mashua in rats, and its range of active substances, it would not be surprising if these attributes were found to be the basis for some of the reputed medicinal properties. However the experimental background is still limited to the work of Johns andco-workers (1981, 1982). are also reports of T. leptophyllum G. Don being eaten by Chilean indigenous people in times of scarcity (Bridges 1842).Tropaeolum L. was referred to originally as Cardamindum Adans. Linnaeus (1735) introduced the name Trophaeum ( = trophy), because of the flowers resembling a warrior's helmet and leaves resembling shields; he later changed the name to Tropaeolum, using the original Greek word 'trópaion', which has the same meaning.Tropaeolum tuberosum was described by Ruíz and Pavón (1802) in their magnificent work 'Flora Peruviana et Chilensis', in which for the first time they gave an original, detailed and illustrated (Plates CCCXIII, CCCXIV) account of the species (Fig. 3).Synonyms of T. tuberosum are T. mucronatum Meyen, T. suberosum Walpers (1857) and T. denticulatum (Kuntze 1891). Heynhold (1840) proposed to transfer the species to a different genus as Chymocarpus tuberosus (Ruíz & Pav.) Heynh. Bukasov (1930) proposed the name T. cubio for the mashua forms found in Colombia, which he considered taxonomically distinct from those cultivated in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Sparre and Andersson (1991) dismissed this proposal, indicating that the features pointed out by Bukasov are of little taxonomic value.The only other widely cultivated Tropaeolum species is T. majus L., the garden nasturtium, which is a popular ornamental in temperate areas.T. tuberosum has been placed within the section Mucronata by Sparre (1973). This section includes five well-defined species, of which T. longiflorum Killip, T. crenatiflorum Hook. and T. purpureum are endemic to Peru; T. cochabambae Buchenav. occurs in Peru and Bolivia. All species within the section, except T. tuberosum, have relatively reduced geographic ranges. Sparre (1973) and Sparre and Andersson (1991) recognize two subspecies of T. tuberosum; the cultivated T. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum and the wild T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre, with the latter being smaller and more slender in all parts (Fig. 14). According to Sparre and Andersson (1991), the only consistent character to differentiate both subspecies is the lack of tubers in T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre. This appears to be a questionable distinction, for the authors state that the presence or absence of tubers 'can usually not be ascertained in herbarium material' of T. tuberosum. Moreover, the authors' classification does not accommodate clearly wild but tuberous T. tuberosum, such as the 'kipa isaño' used by Johns and Towers (1981) and material known to the authors of this monograph from Paruro Province, Cusco, Peru. This material has elongated and twisted tubers, a feature retained in cultivation and setting this species apart from the domesticate (Fig. 15). Ortega (2000) in his thesis on 'noncultivated' mashua pictures over a dozen accessions with similar tuber shapes, predominantly collected in Cusco's Calca and Paucartambo provinces. Notably, the same author reports the frequent occurrence of escaped mashua cultivars that could be mistaken by the collecting botanist for wild Tropaeolum species.Nevertheless, phytochemical analyses of isothiocyanates by Kjaer et al. (1978) and Johns and Towers (1981) support the assessment of two subspecies in T. tuberosum: cultivated mashua and a tuber-bearing wild species, referred to by these authors as T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre. Mashua produces p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate, whereas the wild material is characterized by benzyl-2-propyl isothiocyanate and 2-butyl isothiocyanate. Both wild and cultivated T. tuberosum extend from Venezuela to northwest Argentina along an impressive latitudinal gradient (Fig. 16). Sparre and Andersson (1991) show two areas of high concentration of ssp. silvestre, one in northern Peru and a larger one in Ecuador. However, Hermann (field observations) found wild mashua with sizeable tubers in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, but not in Ecuador or Colombia. To accommodate the different observations within a model it seems necessary to consider the presence of wild T. tuberosum and plants escaped from culture overlapping at least partially along a wide range. Hybridization between species has been observed in several other cases in the Tropaeolaceae (Sparre and Andersson 1991). Combining phytochemical and chromosomal information, Johns and Towers (1981) reinforce this hypothesis. They maintain that T. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum is of allopolyploid origin and resulted from the hybridization of T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre with another Tropaeolum species of 2n = 26, probably T. cochabambae. Nevertheless these authors analysed a relatively narrow sample of T. tuberosum germplasm. Recent findings by Román and García (1997) working with 20 Peruvian accessions of cultivated mashua indicate different ploidy levels, 2n = 18, 27 and 36, with a basic number of x = 9, and thus have added further complexity to the issue. To shed more light on this complex picture a more comprehensive study is warranted, including a range of accessions of both subspecies along the whole latitudinal gradient.Some variation has been detected at the molecular level in different mashua clones. Shah et al. (1993) studied the protein patterns in mashua tubers using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). They found that porosity gradient PAGE was the most suitable method for discriminating varieties, and SDS disk PAGE was the least suitable. The main protein bands in mashua are located in the 43-110 kD range. Monteros et al. (1997) found variation for phosphoglucomutase and malate dehydrogenase and were able to classify the INIAP mashua collection in 10 groups using this isoenzymatic information.There is general agreement that mashua has suffered a progressive reduction in its production and consumption, particularly during the last decades of the twentieth century. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of that process and there is no quantitative information on its present status.Efforts to safeguard genetic resources of mashua and other Andean roots and tubers began relatively early in the Andean countries. The first record of mashua accessions being maintained date from 1958 (Holle 1986). In Peru, the first collecting activities are documented in the 1970s. However, mashua ex situ conservation gained momentum during the 1980s. At present Peru maintains the largest number of holdings and the largest number of accessions (Table 7). In Ecuador, collecting and conservation efforts have been spearheaded by INIAP, at the Santa Catalina research station, which also holds a few accessions from Colombia (Tapia et al. 1996).The initiative of the Collaborative Program of Andean Root and Tuber Crop Diversity funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation and implemented by CIP and numerous national programmes ensured that exploration and collecting activities continued in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru during the period 1993-1997.In conclusion, large areas of the Andean countries have been covered by collecting missions. As seen in the plot of mashua genebank accessions reported from 1986 to 1998 (Fig. 17), there are several distributional discontinuities within the species range from Colombia to northern Argentina. Mashua appears to be absent from large areas of the Colombian highlands, except for Boyacá where mashua consumption and market presence is atypically high, with no obvious explanation for this phenomenon. Mashua also seems to be absent in Peru north of Cajamarca and in Loja, Ecuador, perhaps because of the low altitude of the Andes there and the lack of contiguous paramo environments suitable for mashua cultivation. Finally, there are no genebank records of mashua accessions collected in the inhospitably dry southern Altiplano in Bolivia. It is important to note that not all reported accessions, perhaps only a fraction of the total ever collected, are actually available from genebanks. This is mainly due to the fact that large numbers of accessions were lost from field genebanks in the 1980s and early 1990s. In situ conservation has been proposed as a strategy to complement genebanks and ex situ conservation (for a review see Maxted et al. 1997, Ortega 1997). The concept of in situ conservation has become fashionable and often a political issue. In the case of mashua in situ and ex situ conservation should complement each other. However, at present a systematic framework for in situ conservation is largely lacking. As in the case of most other crops, on-farm maintenance of mashua germplasm by farmers just happens as a normal part of farming practice (Fig. 18).Conservation of genebank holdings has been considered difficult to some extent. This is because mashua needs to be replanted and harvested in field collections every cropping season. This (clonal) conservation method is not only labour-intensive, but can also be unsafe, because of the associated risks posed by pathogens, weather conditions or poor management practices.Micropropagation of mashua as plantlets grown in vitro using modified Murashige and Skoog media (MS 4.6 g, AG3 0.25 ppm, sucrose 3%, agar 0.8%) as first reported by Castillo (1991) is now widely practised to maintain clonal collections under sterile conditions. A comprehensive study including protocols for callus and meristem culture, micropropagation by multiple shoot formation and nodal cuttings has been published by Torres et al. (1992).Conservation in genebanks as seed could be a less expensive and safer alternative for germplasm conservation, as mashua produces sexual seeds that are easy to collect and to store. However, more research is needed, in relation to the segregation of seed progeny, seed physiology, storage conditions, longevity and germination conditions (see Section 5.3). As far as we are aware, sexual mashua seed is currently not used for mashua conservation, which entirely relies on clonal maintenance in field collections and, to a lesser extent, on tissue culture.No protocols are currently available for pollen storage and cryopreservation of mashua.Pests and diseases do not seem to pose significant constraints to mashua culture. The main limitation appears to be the low acceptance outside family or local consumption. Urban demand for mashua is far below that for ulluco and oca, as evidenced by the marginal presence of mashua in markets. The flavour of some mashua lines is so strong that it deters potential consumers, even those used to spicy foods and eager to try 'novel' foods. The shelf life of mashua is short as the tubers lose water rapidly under the prevailing (rustic) storage conditions and deteriorate within weeks after harvest, yielding a product with little or no market value. Some cultivars do not tolerate storage at all: almost immediately after harvest, the tubers of such cultivars sprout or rapidly rot, especially if they have been damaged during harvest or transport. In summary, the main limitations for expanded use of mashua at the present relate essentially to demand, marketing and post-harvest aspects, not to production.Several potentially high-yielding clones have been identified in Ecuador (Vimos 1987(Vimos , 1989;;Romero et al. 1989;Monteros 1996), and these could be used to increase the fresh tuber yields. Similarly, clones already identified for high protein content or low isothiocyanate content should be used in breeding programmes. Rea (1984) mentions the selection of high-protein mashua clones from plants reproduced sexually. Some clones already identified by high protein content are: • Asuti from Huancavelica, Peru, with 17% protein (on a dry matter basis) • IBTA 3132, also from Huancavelica, Peru, with 16% protein • Amarillo, from Italaque, Bolivia, with 15% protein • the ornamental clone Pajarillo, from Puno, Peru, with 11% protein.However, Rea suggests that the 'bitterness' trait (high levels of isothiocyanate) in mashua may be associated with higher protein content. Thus, selecting for high protein may reduce palatability but simultaneously increase tolerance to pests and diseases.Some potentially useful correlations have already been established in mashua. Yield is correlated with size of tubers, number of tubers per plant, plant height and crop duration. It seems that clones with black tubers are higher yielding than clones with yellow or white tubers (Vimos 1987;Romero et al. 1989). Yield is not associated with stem width, stem number and tuber length (Delgado 1978a(Delgado , 1978b)). In any case, because mashua produces sexual seeds, crosses between different clones are possible. Although seed germination in mashua is low, breeding programs by hybridization should be an easy way to increase variation and to select clones with desired characters.Mashua has many attractive features, actual or potential: • high productivity, in terms of tuber fresh and dry weight • high pest and disease tolerance • good ground cover and prevention of erosion • feed potential for tubers and aerial parts • adaptation to chilling temperatures and poor soils • reasonably good post-harvest life, if managed properly • medicinal properties • potential as bioinsecticide • potential as an ornamental.Subsistence Andean farmers need to maintain mashua's good characteristics, such as rusticity, high tolerance to pests and growth habit, while improving palatability and post-harvest life. However, improving the palatability of mashua for both humans and domestic animals would mean reducing the isothiocyanate content, and this may reduce its capacity to resist pests and diseases. Developing mashua as a commodity for city consumption will require focusing on external aspect, colour and shape, palatability and post-harvest life, and may require a trade-off with maintaining pest tolerance and rusticity.Mashua has attracted some research attention in recent years. Nevertheless, it is the least well known of the Andean tubers. Several research areas and specific activities can be suggested: • Mashua's reputed medicinal properties deserve more attention. In the same way that 'aphrodisiac' properties have been a key element of the recent success of maca (Lepidium meyenii Walpers), reputed libido-reducing properties may be responsible for the failure of mashua. No research has been conducted in this field since the pioneering work of Johns et al. (1982). It is essential to quantify the effect of mashua diets in humans, especially in the long term. Similar attention needs to be paid to all the reputed medicinal properties of mashua. • If substantiated, mashua's libido-reducing property may be an attribute of economic interest for the formulation of animal feed, in order to reduce sexual drive and accelerate growth and weight gain. • Some research has been conducted on the use of mashua tubers for feed, but more detailed information is needed to promote its use, and to assess safe intake levels. The chemical composition and nutritional properties of the aerial parts of the plant is poorly known, as is the potential for silage production that may reduce or eliminate isothiocyanates. • Sound dietary information of the tubers may be one of the elements required to overcome lack of market demand in the cities, particularly by social groups with higher purchasing power. The development of city markets would also require the development of post-harvest technologies and associated information on tuber physiology. Mashua starch may have some interesting properties, but more information is required to evaluate if it is sufficiently attractive to succeed in the competitive starch market. Processing technologies focusing on pickling and canning, pigment and texture preservation need experimentation. • Although mashua appears to be highly tolerant to a range of pests and diseases, recent studies have shown that there is a range of potentially harmful pathogens.It is necessary to evaluate whether mashua's apparent tolerance will remain intact if it is cultivated on a larger scale, and if it could still be produced as an essentially 'organic' crop as is currently the case. • The extent to which mashua is affected by virus disease should be quantified under field conditions, and the advantages of using virus-free material need to be assessed. Fungal diseases also require consideration, particularly those affecting mashua after harvest. • Although little is known about mashua's floral biology and its crossability with wild species and other Tropaeolum species, the crossability observed in other Tropaeolum species provides pointers for the potential ease of mashua breeding.Studies on pollen viability and longevity, seed viability, germination, dormancy and longevity need to be conducted. • The present germplasm collections probably contain a representative sample of the variability available. Field collecting should continue, especially in Colombia and southern Bolivia, which are the least explored areas. Wild T. tuberosum and related wild species have received only limited attention so far. All species of section Mucronata of Tropaeolum tuberosum and the closely related T. umbellatum should be the first targets. T. umbellatum, with tubers reputedly reaching 3-4 pounds per plant (Sparre and Andersson 1991), was last collected in its native Ecuador in the nineteenth century, and may be on the brink of extinction, if not extinct already. Section Chilensia of Tropaeolum, with most members producing tubers, also deserves attention. • In spite of several chromosomal studies, mashua cytology still requires clarification. A comprehensive chromosomal study is necessary, including a range of accessions of both subspecies along the whole latitudinal gradient. Chromosomal studies should be combined with molecular analysis of the different mashua morphotypes in order to understand their relationships. This analysis should be extended to other relevant wild species. • The taxonomic revision of the genus by Sparre and Andersson (1991) using conventional tools is sound and comprehensive. However, numerical and molecular analysis would certainly add a quantitative dimension to the relationships between the different species and help to identify 'wild' mashua types as members of subspecies silvestre or as escapes from culture. • A separate aspect would be the development of mashua as an ornamental. It is an exceptionally beautiful species. Nasturtium (T. majus) and Tropaeolum hybrids already have a place as ornamentals worldwide. Mashua would add the advantages of asexual propagation, as begonias and lilies do, to nasturtium beauty. Beckett (1979) describes its use in Britain. A place in the home garden, as an ornamental edible plant may be a way to introduce mashua to a wider public.Prof ","tokenCount":"10447"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4377177790.json b/data/part_1/4377177790.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..35c71a2936efd2dac84816efb9448d544ffc2c2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4377177790.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e454a40817014d9c4955b9db112a2a93","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f951329e-2325-4e7b-a6b5-8fe9684ec1a7/retrieve","id":"-1465574532"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b8e62481-8396-453b-baa1-0e8fc0490dba","pagecount":"16","content":"to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecologies and socio-economic settings.Through action research and development partnerships, the Initiative will improve smallholder farmers' resilience to weather-induced shocks, provide a more stable income and significant benefits in welfare, and enhance social justice and inclusion for 13 million people by 2030.Activities will be implemented in six focus countries globally representing diverse mixed farming systems as follows: Ghana (cereal-root crop mixed), Ethiopia (highland mixed), Malawi: (maize mixed), Bangladesh (rice mixed), Nepal (highland mixed), and Lao People's Democratic Republic (upland intensive mixed/ highland extensive mixed).The International Rice Research Institute has been implementing the CGIAR initiative on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS) in Bangladesh since 2022. To help IRRI in implementing the project activities, a Letter of Agreement (LoA) was signed between IRRI and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) for the period of 1st November 2022 -31st December 2023. This report is prepared by BRRI and submitted to IRRI as per the reporting schedule of the LoA. On-farm trial on the effect of establishment methods and varieties on productivity, profitability, and heat stress of late-planted Boro rice in potato-rice-rice cropping systems in northern Bangladesh.➢ To increase the profitability and sustainability of late-planted Boro rice. ➢ To increase the system productivity and resource use efficiency of potato-ricerice cropping systems. ➢ To find the more heat-tolerant variety for the late Boro conditions.More heat-tolerant variety for the late Boro condition and direct seeded rice instead of transplanted rice will increase the profitability, sustainability, and resource use efficiency of potato-rice-rice cropping systems.Two rice establishment methods 1. Transplanting 2. Direct seeding The cropping systems trial was conducted in two locations (Rangpur and Nilphamari) and in each location there were six farmer's fields (6 replications).In both locations, the DSR had a 7-20% lower yield than the transplanted rice. The lower yield of DSR was mainly due to once the DSR crop reached the maturity stage there were no other crops in the field, therefore the rate of damage of crops by birds, and insects was higher than the transplanted rice. It is noted that transplanted rice was harvested two weeks earlier than the DSR due to transplanting seedlings being raised in separate places and 35-40 days seedlings were used. In both locations, BRRI dhan98 produced a higher yield followed by BRRI dhan96. The lowest yield was recorded from the BRRI dhan28. The details economic analysis will be shared later. Rice-Fallow-Rice Cropping Systems intensification through diversification of crops and fodder.Rice-fallow-rice is the major cropping system and covers more than 60% of the areas in Nilphamari districts. To intensify the cropping systems, BRRI has started working from Boro 2022/23 season and provided the seeds of BRRI dhan50, BRRI dhan63, and BRRI dhan84 among 45 farmers (15 farmers for each variety) in Boro season, and short-duration premium quality rice varieties BRRI dhan71 and BRRI dhan75 in Aman season. After the Aman harvest, BRRI provided the seeds of Mustard, Field pea, and Alfalfa for the same farmers as a rabi crop. All the rabi crops are now in the fields.In the Boro season, BRRI dhan84 gave the higher yield (7.79 t/ha) followed by BRRI dhan63 (7.39 t/ha) and BRRI dhan50 (6.39 t/ha). In the Aman season, BRRI dhan71 and BRRI dhan75 yielded 5.60 t/ha and 6.36 t/ha, respectively.  Performance of nano-urea on reduction of overall N fertilizer and farmers' production cost in rice.➢ To study the effect of the nano-urea on crop growth, phenology, yield attributes, and grain yield. ➢ To evaluate the impact of the nano-urea on nitrogen use efficiencies and production economics.Nano Urea is a sustainable option for farmers towards smart agriculture.   ","tokenCount":"613"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4385640588.json b/data/part_1/4385640588.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..65c30e60967dbef27ae40ee23d4c936c9488410a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4385640588.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"46d9d99a2fa7abb7075b039f90b3f9cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ee742f4-a3fc-42ce-af07-2ef77cef0b9f/retrieve","id":"-948059427"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf06de35-77a0-4c5c-aa2c-d1af6c9a7192","pagecount":"16","content":"Availability is a crucial aspect of wild edible plants (WEPs) consumption by indigenous communities. Understanding the local perception of this availability helps to determine, which contribution WEPs can make to rural communities. We used an integrated participatory approach to investigate important parameters and themes that influenced the perception of availability of woody WEPs. We demonstrate the approach in three communities in Turkana County, Kenya. By availability, we referred to the ease of accessing, harvesting, transporting, and processing WEPs for consumption. We conducted three focus group discussions (FGDs). We asked FGD participants to list, score, and discuss availability. We used logistic regression and mixed-content analysis to identify important parameters and themes, respectively. The most important WEPs were the toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica L.), Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.), and mbamba ngoma (Balanites rotundifolia (Tiegh.) Blatt.). Distance, seasonality, price, and adequacy of harvested WEPs for household consumption were important parameters. Culture and tradition, distribution of WEPs, seasonality, and climate change emerged as important themes. We showed the importance of using an integrated participatory approach when assessing the perception of WEPs' availability by local communities and could be used in comparable arid and semi-arid areas with semi-nomadic pastoralists across Africa.Availability of wild edible plants (WEPs) alone is not expected to translate directly into their inclusion into the diet by indigenous communities (Termote et al., 2012). However, assessing how such communities perceive availability of their WEPs could inform management and foster inclusion in dietary diversification programs. That is especially true for woody WEPs used by semi-nomadic pastoral communities in arid and semi-arid lands such as Turkana of northwestern Kenya. There, crop cultivation is curtailed by unfavorable climatic conditions (Otieno, 2020) and traditional pastoralism is becoming more unsustainable due to surpassed carrying capacity of land leading to such issues as cross-border conflicts, pests, diseases, and pasture degradation (Njeri, 2020;Nyabuto, 2017;Ouma, 2017).Northwestern Kenya is characterized by arid and semiarid environments. The region is home to the Turkana people (hereinafter called Turkanas) whose main livelihood strategy is largely based on livestock keeping (Akuja & Kandagor, 2019;Ratemo et al., 2020). The region's tropical plant life includes 60 wild species that are edible (Sarfo et al., 2017a). The Turkanas have depended on WEPs throughout their history (Morgan, 1981) though their contemporary diets contain less WEPs (Bender, 2017). Malnutrition and hunger rates in the County are the highest in Kenya with food poverty at about 66.1% against a national average of 32% (KER, 2020). The County also faces poverty rate of 52.7%, well above the national average of 8.6% (KER, 2020). According to the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey 2015/16 Well Being Report \"a household is in hardcore or extreme poverty if their monthly adult equivalent total consumption expenditure per person is less than Kshs 1,954 (about $20 as of 2016) in rural and peri-urban areas and less than Kshs 2,551 (about $25 as of 2016) in core-urban areas\" (KER, 2020).The availability hypothesis, see Gaoue et al. (2017), posits that more accessible or locally abundant plants are preferred for use (Albuquerque, 2006;Gaoue et al., 2017;Hart et al., 2017;Voeks, 2004) and communities tend to utilize more plant resources which are easier to reach or more abundant within their locality. The hypothesis, however, has been criticized on the basis that some native plants are used regardless of their abundance and/or limited accessibility thus posing mixed support to the hypothesis (de Oliveira Trindade et al., 2015;Estomba et al., 2006;Gonçalves et al., 2016). While availability is generally perceived as the physical distance to resource locations (Albuquerque et al., 2019;Hart et al., 2017), it can also be assessed in terms of seasonality, abundance, price, market access, and access to harvesting sites (Gaoue et al., 2017). Seasonality of resources availability, for example, can explain many of the patterns of resource utilization within arid and semiarid areas (Albuquerque, 2006;Estomba et al., 2006) where maturity of WEPs follow seasonal patterns.We aimed to better understand the main determinants that influence perception of availability of WEPs. We worked with indigenous groups, conducting FGDs in three Turkana communities that are characterized by different environmental and socio-economic settings (Supplementary Table S1). We first applied integrated participatory methods (Boedecker et al., 2019) for scoring pre-defined parameters of WEP availability derived from the literature. Second, we stimulated discussions amongst the participants with a focus on selected three priority WEPs to gain more specific insights into their perceived availability. In the next step, we analyzed the findings with Bayesian logistic regression models and by coding and extracting themes from FGDs text data in a mixed content analysis protocol. Our results illustrate important parameters and themes determining how communities perceive availability of their WEPs.We conducted this study within Loima and Turkana South Sub-Counties of Turkana County, northwestern Kenya, in April 2021 within three selected community units (Nasiger, Atala Kamusio, and Lopur). These three community units were representative of the socio-economic and environmental heterogeneity (see Supplementary Table S1) of the study region (Fig. 1). The community units were located in arid and semi-arid lands with annual rainfall of 290 mm, 557 mm, and 670 mm at Nasiger, Lopur, and Atala Kamusio, respectively (Supplementary Table S1). The major rainy season in the County spans March to June and is locally termed 'akiporo' while the rest of the year is normally dry or 'akamu' (Ng'asike, 2019).The Turkanas dominate the County though Luo, Kikuyu, Somali, Luhya among other ethnic groups of Kenya, are also present in low numbers especially within scattered town centers (Otieno, 2016b). Livelihood strategies are distinct among community units within the study area (Food Economy Group, 2016). Besides keeping livestock, those who live along River Turkwel (such as at Lopur) also farm crops on the banks of the river (Emuria, 2018;Stevenson, 2018) (Fig. 1). Communities on the hilly borders with Uganda (such as Atala Kamusio) keep livestock like goats, camels, and cows due to relatively good pastures and rainfall (Chelang'a & Chesire, 2020;Njeri, 2020). Other communities in the flat plains (such as Nasiger) keep livestock like goats, sheep, and camels that are better adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions (Joly, 2020;Lojock, 2021;Ratemo et al., 2020).To identify important parameters influencing perceptions on availability, we conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) in each of the study community units adapting the protocol by Nyumba et al. (2018) to suit our present study. Each FGD comprised 14 adult participants (male and female) not less than 18 years old. We purposively sampled participants from community members with the help of administrators (chiefs and assistant chiefs) to include key knowledge holders/ informants. We included community nutritionists, community health extension workers, community health volunteers, administration representatives (Chiefs/Assistant Chiefs), and other selected community members knowledgeable of WEPs. We only included participants who consented verbally to take part in the study and we covered their transport costs to and from FGD sites. The FGDs were moderated by two research assistants drawn from the communities with good command of both Turkana and English languages. We provided these assistants with two days of training prior to conducting the FGDs.We commenced every FGD by having participants freely list all woody (fruit trees) WEPs available and used within respective community units. We understand that WEPs can include vegetables, seeds, nuts, underground tubers, and mushrooms (Mishra et al., 2021) and diverse lifeforms like shrubs, forbs, herbs, grass, climbers, trees (Ojelel et al., 2019;Porcher et al., 2022;Rashid et al., 2008;Tiwari et al., 2010). Here, we considered only wild woody fruit trees. We assumed they have longer lifespans thus the participants would interact, know, and use them better to warrant informative discussion in addressing objectives of our study.Subsequently, we engaged participants in scoring the listed WEPs (Supplementary Table S2) using a predefined 'topic list' (Cotton, 1996) of eleven parameters that we gathered from literature (physical distance to harvest sites, seasonality, abundance, price, market access, and access to harvest sites of the WEPs, ease of harvesting, ease of portability, ease of processing, adequacy of harvest, and regeneration potential) (Albuquerque et al., 2019;Feitosa et al., 2018;Gaoue et al., 2017;Gonçalves et al., 2016;Soldati et al., 2017).Discussions on scoring of each of the listed WEPs under each of our parameters resulted in consensus on one of three possible ordinal response levels. For instance, if the WEP under discussion was the toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica), possible ordinal/categorical responses under distance to harvest sites parameter would be 1: Near, 2: Average and 3: Far depending on what participants consensually agreed (Supplementary Table S2). We did that for all listed WEPs across the 11 categorical predictor parameters. Finally, we asked participants to consensually decide on the overall binary perception of availability of the WEPs (1: Yes; 0: No, Supplementary Table S2), which was then included as response parameter in our model.From the list of available WEPs generated by FGD participants in each community unit, the participants discussed and consensually settled on three (priority) WEPs. These three priority WEPs were those that, from the list, were consensually considered by the participants to be most important as food, fodder, medicine, and all other aspects of usage they knew. The priority WEPs were similar for all three community units \"Overview of Wild Edible Plants\" regardless Fig. 1 Study area map showing the three study community units (Nasiger, Atala Kamusio, and Lopur), River Turkwel and connecting roads to the three community units. We obtained administrative boundary data from the database of Global Administrative Areas (GADM, version 4.0.4, accessed on 9 th June 2022) (https:// gadm. org/ maps/ KEN. html) using version 3.5.15 of raster package (Hijmans, 2022), we obtained roads data from Open Street Map (OpenStreetMap contributors, 2017), and we digitized River Turkwel from Google Earth pro 7.3.3.7786. We captured community units' location data using handheld GPS Garmin 64 s. We composed the map in QGIS software (QGIS Development Team, 2022) version 3.24.3 of socio-economic and environmental differences (Supplementary Table S1). We then held in-depth discussions under each of the 'topic list' parameters for each of the priority WEPs to reveal the community perceptions on their availability. We narrowed on the three priority WEPs that were best known by all community members since this increased comparability between the three study sites. It also allowed us to maximize on use of time.While discussing priority WEPs against the 11 predictor parameters, we noted down statements from the participants and appended unique codes to denote the speaker to enable traceability of the statements and subsequent clarification(s) wherever necessary (Morgan, 1996;Olsson et al., 2005). The prefix three letters of the code (NAS, ATA, and LOP) represented the first three letters of the respective community unit name while the suffix digit(s) denoted unique number assigned to the participant (between 1 and 14). For example, NAS1 code referred to first FGD participant from Nasiger community unit, ATA5 was the fifth participant from Atala Kamusio community unit, and LOP14 referred to the 14th FGD participant from Lopur community unit. We conducted FGDs in Turkana language that enabled every participant to follow through the discussions and clarify their points. We allotted every FGD participant ample time to express themselves by allowing only one speaker at a time. We then translated the FGD notes (those captured in Turkana language) into English language and verified with the local research assistants to ensure no loss of meaning occurred during translation. The FGDs lasted not more than two hours at every community unit. We summarized the whole research process in Supplementary Fig. S1.We used Bayesian regression methods because of their reliability (Etz & Vandekerckhove, 2016), accuracy in small and noisy samples (Kruschke et al., 2012), possibility of introducing prior knowledge into the model (Andrews & Baguley, 2013;Kruschke et al., 2012), and intuitive nature of their results as well as straightforward interpretation (Kruschke, 2010;Wagenmakers et al., 2018). We subjected non-correlated predictor parameters to the test for relationships between different levels of categorical predictor parameters and response parameter using the stan_glm Bayesian generalized linear regression function in rstanarm (Goodrich et al., 2022) package version 2.21.3 in (R Core Team, 2022) version 4.2.1. To ensure that the model handled our response parameter as logical, we specified binomial argument to the 'family' parameter within the function call. We programmed our model to regress two parameter levels against the first with the first being the desirable situation. For example, in the case of distance to harvest site parameter, we regressed distance_average and distance_far levels against dis-tance_near, with distance_near being the desired situation. we built four probabilistic models, one for all the three community units combined and for each community unit separately.We then assessed contribution of the predictor parameter levels in explaining variation in the response parameter in order to identify the most important parameters. We did that by plotting posterior distributions of regression coefficients of the model output at second and third parameter levels against the first (desirable) parameter level. All analyses were performed in the R programming language (R Core Team, 2022) version 4.2.1. We opted to visualize model output for ease of interpretation (Kastellec & Leoni, 2007) and comparison of within parameter variation in explaining availability. For tabulated model output results see Supplementary Tables S3, S4, S5, and S6.To prepare our data for the Bayesian logistic regression modeling procedures we checked the FGD scored data for multi-collinearity among the 11 predictor parameters (Supplementary Table S2). We dropped two highly correlated (r > = 0.7) parameters, notably abundance and market, and retained the non-collinear ones (r < 0.7) (Supplementary Figs. S2 and S3). To check multi-collinearity among predictor parameters we used the vifcor function in the usdm (Naimi, 2015) package version 1.1.18 in R (R Core Team, 2022) version 4.2.1. The function is useful in determining and eliminating collinear parameters among predictors at user specified correlation threshold before further statistical analyses (Aggemyr et al., 2018;Petanidou et al., 2018;Tuset et al., 2021). We repeated that procedure for the data from all the three community units combined and with the data partitioned specific to each community unit (Supplementary Tables S3, S4, S5, and S6).We used a mixed content analysis approach (D. L. Morgan, 1996) to extract both quantitative and qualitative information from FGDs statements about the agreed priority WEPs. The approach enables systematic coding of data into categories to discover patterns undetectable by mere listening to recordings or going through the transcripts or FGD notes alone (Gaur & Kumar, 2018;Renz et al., 2018). We followed the \"three-element coding framework\" protocol described by Nyumba et al. (2018) yielding quantitative and qualitative results from iterative content and ethnographic analytic techniques, respectively. During the content analysis, we used a deductive approach to obtain code categories from the statements to show linkages with Bayesian regression model results. By iteratively looking through each of the FGDs statements, we obtained codes that captured key ideas. We then grouped the codes that captured related ideas together to form themes. We did this iteratively until we ended up with a set of themes surrounding major ideas of the participants on how availability of the priority WEPs are perceived. We highlighted how the major themes were related to the model output results for insights into the perception of availability by the community units.The proportions of female to male participants were 5:9, 5:9, and 7:7 in Nasiger, Atala Kamusio, and Lopur community units, respectively. Considering our selection criteria for participants \"Scoring Predictor Parameters for Availability Modeling\", the roles such as chiefs, nutritionists, village elders, health workers and volunteers, were male dominated in the study region and that could explain the disproportionate male representation. Overall, 40% and 60% of the participants identified themselves as female and male, respectively. Up to 45% of the statements from the FGDs were contributed by female participants \"Content Themes on the Availability of Priority Wild Edible Plants\". As participants included people knowledgeable about WEPs, we did not expect gender disproportionality to affect the results of this study. Their ages ranged from 20 to 66 years. The majority (n = 16) had primary level of formal education, followed by no formal education (n = 11), diploma (n = 8) and lastly secondary (n = 7).We observed similarities in woody WEPs listed across the three community units (Supplementary Table S2). However, Atala Kamusio recorded almost twice (n = 23) as many WEPs as the other two community units (n = 13 each). All WEPs listed in both Lopur and Nasiger were also listed in Atala Kamusio with 10 more uniquely cited in Atala Kamusio (Supplementary Table S2). Of all the listed WEPs, we observed consistent selection of Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana), the toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica), and mbamba ngoma (Balanites rotundifolia) as the three priority WEPs in every FGD. Table 1 shows how these three WEPs were scored against the 11 parameters and by the three community units. For a full list of cited WEPs, see Supplementary Table S2.Scoring of the three priority wild edible plants across the three community units and 11 parameters. NAS = Nasiger, ATA = Atala Kamusio, and LOP = Lopur community units. Grayed columns indicated where all the WEPs received similar scores. For full scores of all WEPs see Supplementary Table  While deciding on priority WEPs the participants did not rely on scoring alone but also considered other uses of the WEPs such as food, fodder, medicine, brews, religion, among others (Table 1). All three priority WEPs were scored similarly under harvesting, market, price, access, adequacy, and were all considered available. For harvesting and portability, only Balanites rotundifolia differed, being hard to process and heavy to carry, respectively. All priority WEPs were found near the communities except Salvadora persica at Atala Kamusio. Further, all WEPs matured during dry season except Balanites rotundifolia at Nasiger that matured in both wet and dry seasons.Multi-collinearity among predictor parameters differed across community units hence we used different predictor parameters in different community units (Supplementary Table S7). Our models indicated that variations in different predictor parameter levels were associated differently with variations in participants' perceptions on availability. Of all the parameters in our models, only variation in seasonality showed consistent importance across all the four models: the overall model and one for each of the three community units.For all models combined, variations in distance to harvest sites, seasonality, price, access, and adequacy of harvested WEPs were important in explaining variability in availability of the listed WEPs (Fig. 2A). We did not consider the access parameter since all WEPs were freely accessible except one data-point of a non-priority WEP, Tamarindus indica, at Lopur that required permission to access. As distance to harvest sites got further from the community units, WEPs became less available to the participants (Fig. 2A). With seasonality, WEPs that matured in the dry season were considered more available to the people than those that matured in both dry and wet or wet season alone. More expensive WEPs were also less available to the participants. Lastly, WEPs with little or average adequacy per harvest session for individual and household use were considered more available by our model.In Nasiger community unit (Fig. 2B), only variations in seasonality and adequacy were important in explaining variation in perceived availability. The importance followed the same pattern as that of the overall model at least for seasonality. However, for adequacy, average adequacy contributed negatively to availability. At Atala Kamusio community unit (Fig. 2C), however, apart from seasonality, variations in both portability and market were important in explaining availability. As WEPs get heavier, they became less available according to the model. Lastly, at Lopur community unit (Fig. 2D), both distance to harvest sites and seasonality variations were important factors in explaining variation in availability. The kind of seasonality importance here followed the pattern of the combined model for all the community units, but not for average distance.We obtained 348 statements from the FGDs with 42 participants throughout the three study community units. Out of the 348 statements, the least contributing participant had two statements while the most contributing participant had 17 statements. Overall, however, there were balanced contributions of statements from Nasiger and Atala Kamusio (n = 120 each) and Lopur contributed the remaining 108 statements to this study. From the statements, we derived 17 (codes) that captured key ideas that we grouped, based on our own consensual judgements, into 13 themes. Of the 348 statements, female and male participants contributed 158 and 190 statements, respectively (Supplementary Table S8).Here, we highlight themes from FGDs that followed the parameters investigated in the model. Specifically, we put more emphasis on the four important parameters (distance, seasonality, price, and adequacy) that were obtained from the overall model output (Fig. 2A) as highlighted in the red bounding box (Fig. 3). We further give highlights of some contradicting findings between model outputs and themes we generated from FGDs. It should however, be noted that for these discussion statements we used only the three priority WEPs while modeling relied on all listed WEPs per community unit.By iteratively looking through each of the 348 statements, we obtained a total of 17 codes that captured key ideas in the statements. We then grouped the codes into 13 themes surrounding major ideas of the participants on how availability of priority WEPs is perceived (Supplementary Table S8). Culture and traditions strongly influenced the view of whether WEPs were available or not, with 126 statements supporting (Supplementary Table S8), with seasonality coming second with 62 supporting statements. These two themes alone were supported by about 54% of all statements with the remaining 11 themes sharing the remaining 46% of the statements.Overall, most statements from the FGDs captured aspects of culture and traditions, seasonality, and conservation and management (Supplementary Table S8). This suggests that they were important factors when participants consider availability of their WEPs. For the distance parameter, the top three extracted themes included culture and traditions, distribution of WEPs, and seasonality (Fig. 3). On the other hand, seasonality, climate change, and culture and tradition occurred sequentially in top three in that order under seasonality parameter. This further suggests that the communities looked at seasonality from the point of view of changing climate and their own inherent culture and traditions. With regards to the price parameter, culture and traditions, seasonality, and distribution of WEPs followed that order. Distribution of WEPs could be important theme regarding how much a WEP costs, as it would inform the costs involved in acquiring the WEPs and possibly selling it to the end users. Lastly, seasonality, culture and traditions, and population pressure followed the sequence under the adequacy parameter (Fig. 3). It was clear from the FGDs that adequacy of WEPs relates significantly to the number of people who are to be fed at home. More mouths demand more WEPs.In Table 2, we show some of the statements from the FGDs that contributed to the top three themes under each of our important parameters from the model. We then put into context the themes that we developed from important model parameters. While the model outputs gave important insights into how each of the studied parameters contributed to the perception of availability, discussions on the priority WEPs went even further to unravel more locally inherent themes surrounding such measured model outputs. For instance, while model outputs showed farther distance to inhibit perception of availability, discussions showed that such distances are seen from the cultural and traditional way of life.Our combined FGD and model results provided insights linking culture and traditions of the Turkanas to the distances that they cover to harvest sites of their WEPs. While the overall model results indicated that WEPs located far away were considered less available, individual FGD statements suggested that people were willing to walk longer distances to get particular WEPs for specific uses. For instance, an informant suggested that \"People making and selling local brews using Balanites rotundifolia fruits normally travel longer distances to harvest the fruits. Such distances can be longer than the distance they travel when the aim is only to eat the fruits\" (ATA9). Our model also showed that those WEPs that matured in the dry seasons were more available to the local communities. However, this might be changing since the traditional movement with livestock over space is declining due to adoption of more sedentary lifestyle.Our model and FGD results indicated that as WEPs got more expensive, their availability declined. Indeed, the FGD participants reiterated that as part of their tradition, they were well aware of harvesting sites of the WEPs and would rather obtain them from nature than spend any money in buying them from the market. We further noted that adequacy of harvest was associated with the youth who spent more time with livestock in the grazing fields. The youth ended up getting more adequate amounts of WEPs than those who remained in the homesteads. This could not be seen from the model findings alone that only indicated that averagely adequate WEPs were more available to the communities. Such model result could be due to the fact that almost all WEPs were scored as averagely available.Seasonal availability is another theme we derived from FGDs that shed more light into our observed patterns from the model results on distance, seasonality, price, and adequacy. While the model output showed that WEPs located farther away were less available \"Culture and Traditions on Availability\", FGD findings revealed that such distances to be covered depended on seasonality of the WEPs' maturity. The participants were willing to cover greater distances during lean seasons to obtain WEPs. Further, going beyond the model results that only regarded WEPs maturing in dry season to be more available, FGD statements revealed that in good seasons the WEPs can be available throughout. This could mean that WEPs that were maturing in both dry and wet seasons were regarded as more available than what our model indicated or that those maturing during dry season were more important to the study communities. \"It is no longer distinct when the plants will be producing fruits probably due to climate change issues. People could depend on the fruits in the past because their availability could be easily predicted but is no longer the case.\" LOP14 Culture and traditions \"Seasons used to play a big role in our migration with animals and where we could get ready fruits to harvest. However, in the recent past things have changed and it is hard to tell when the season starts and ends.\" NAS11 Price Culture and traditions \"For us who know how the fruits taste and where they are located, we would rather go for them than to pay any money to get them. This makes them free of cost.\" LOP2 Seasonality \"When the population of ripe fruits starts to decline from the trees, those who spend energy to search for them can sell. Such is normally during extreme hunger periods.\" ATA14 Distribution of WEPs \"No costs are involved in getting the fruits for consumption because we get them from the riverbanks and away from riverine in case of Balanites rotundifolia for free. Those taking care of livestock easily access them. Homesteads where these fruits grow also make it easy to access them for free.\" LOP13 AdequacySeasonality \"Whether what we harvest is adequate or not depends on harvesting site and season/time. When the fruits are ready, one will get enough fruits even from one plant. During other times, you cannot find even one fruit.\" NAS1 Culture and traditions \"While taking care of livestock in the field, it is very easy for one to get enough fruits for their consumption in the field. In case there is need to bring some home, then the challenge arises.\" ATA10 Population pressure \"When harvesting the fruits for a household use, then large families may not get enough fruits for their consumption. Unless if every member of the large household sets out to harvest the fruits.\" NAS10We further found that seasons were linked to price of WEPs in the market. While the model specifically showed that more expensive WEPs were less available, the FGDs indicated that such price effects were season driven. It was whether the WEP was in season or not that influenced its price in the market. Such price could also be seen as the effort involved in obtaining the fruit, as is the case of overcoming the thorny features of particular WEPs. It generally required less effort/cost to get the WEPs during plenty seasons. It also became clearer from the FGDs that the contribution of adequacy of the WEPs to availability was season based. The communities would find WEPs in season to be more adequate than those off season.From the FGDs, we learned that the priority WEPs were not distributed evenly within the three communities. Across all the three community units, some WEPs (like Salvadora persica and Ziziphus mauritiana) were said to be located along riverine areas while others (like Balanites rotundifolia) occurred in the open lands and thickets. This pattern of distribution could be linked with the four important model output parameters. For instance, the distance that one covers to harvest the WEPs depended on distribution over land. WEPs that were clustered together would likely require less distance to harvest than those that were scattered over land. Even the price parameter from the model was harmonized by the fact that participants could get the WEPs distributed along riverine areas for free while watering their livestock (except for one case of Tamarindus indica that required permission). The question of where and how the WEPs were distributed was thus critical for the availability concerns to the communities.This is another theme that emanated from the FGDs. It drew from such impacts as extended drought periods, flashfloods along the riverine areas, and emergence of invasive plants such as Mathenge tree (Prosopis juliflora). Participants mentioned that as opposed to the past when seasons were distinct and predicting fruiting periods were more accurate, the current pattern was quite unpredictable; and they attributed that to climate change and variability. Further, climate change effects have allowed for invasion by plants such as Prosopis juliflora that have the potential to outcompete native plants including some WEPs and degrade the land.Population pressure, especially household size, was mentioned as an important factor with regards to adequacy of harvest for consumption. Smaller household sizes could easily get more adequate WEPs for consumption than large household sizes. This complements the model results that showed that WEPs in adequate quantities per harvest session were more available to the communities. Those who looked after livestock in the field were mentioned to be more exposed to the WEPs and could get them in adequate quantities, however, when they had to carry some home for the whole household use, then the WEPs were likely to be inadequate. This indicated that whether the harvest would be adequate or not was subject to the number of mouths to be fed.Different communities cited and scored different WEPs, but shared the same three priority WEPs (Ziziphus mauritiana, Salvadora persica, and Balanites rotundifolia). This could be due to the long history of knowledge, relevance, and use of these particular plants beyond food consumption among Turkanas (Morgan, 1981). Related studies have also shown the importance of these WEPs in neighboring regions. S. persica is used in Ethiopia for treating respiratory infections and tuberculosis and several Ziziphus species for their edible fruits (Duguma, 2020). The fruits of B. rotundifolia are also consumed and used for medicine within the region (Duguma, 2020). Both S. persica and B. rotundifolia are used for several purposes including food in Eastern Baringo District (Termote et al., 2014). In neighboring country South Sudan S. persica is used for medicine (AbdELRahman et al., 2003). The three priority WEPs appeared to be useful beyond the current study area and thus call for enhanced assays that will culminate into their sustainable use to fight malnutrition and hunger in the region.Our results showed that distance to harvest sites, seasonality, price, and adequacy of harvested WEPs were important in explaining availability of the WEPs to the communities. WEPs located farther away from the community units were considered less available compared to those that were nearer. In terms of seasonality, WEPs that matured during dry season were the most available group to the communities. Moreover, as the WEPs got more expensive, they became less available to the communities. Lastly, WEPs of more adequate quantity of fruits per harvest session were considered more available. There are reports of similar patterns, with regards to distance to harvest sites, among studies on medicinal plants (Gonçalves et al., 2016). The observed patterns could be a result of the high hunger and poverty rates within the county (KER, 2020;Kuper et al., 2015). Turkanas rely on their available WEPs for nutrition, especially in the lean season.The need to cover longer distances from the residential places to harvest WEPs lowered perceived availability. Similar patterns had been witnessed in harvesting of wild edible ferns in Japan (Matsuura et al., 2014;Ochoa & Ladio, 2014) and neighboring Ethiopia (Kebede et al., 2017). We are however, cognizant of the fact that we obtained distance parameter in ordinal scale (near, average, and far) during the FGDs hence only interpretable to the three subjective levels from the point of view of the FGD participants. Promoting WEPs for dietary diversification should consider distance to harvest sites, since this relates strongly to how communities perceive availability.In addition to the above, the model revealed that seasonal availability of the edible parts of the WEPs was also important in explaining the variation in perceived availability. WEPs that matured in the dry season were strongly related to availability according to our model. Previous studies in the region showed that in dry seasons most locals face extreme hunger (Opiyo et al., 2015;Otieno, 2016aOtieno, , 2020)). Our findings showed that WEPs could be considered safety nets for communities facing hunger and drought. This is supported by research related studies that have also found WEPs to be regarded as safety nets by communities especially during lean seasons (Carr & Carr, 2017;Otieno, 2020;Sarfo et al., 2017b). Studies in neighboring Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda have also revealed the contribution of WEPs, especially fruit trees, in substituting for cultivated food crops during shortage seasons (Addis et al., 2005;Dejene et al., 2020;Dragicevic, 2017;Ojelel et al., 2019). Relevance of seasonal availability was beneficial in providing food security and an income source to rural communities in Maharshtara, India (Kiran et al., 2019) and in Punjab (Atri et al., 2010). The question of which WEPs mature in which seasons was beyond the scope of our study, but could be an important point for further research.Our model further revealed the importance of market price of the WEPs. As costs increased from average to expensive, perception of availability decreased. Similar findings were reported in Mapuche, South America (Estomba et al., 2006) and in Turkey and neighboring Ethiopia (Dougan et al., 2013;Duguma, 2020). Even though we noticed infrastructural improvements in road networks within our present study area that could have potentially improved penetration of the WEPs into the market, the WEPs were still largely being obtained from the wild with minimal monetary exchanges if any (FGD deliberations). Ways to stabilize price of WEPs like traditional sun-drying of the fruits during plenty to provide for lean seasons could improve availability of the WEPs to the people throughout the year.When adequacy of harvested WEPs for consumption was scored average, perception of availability increased, counterintuitively. Most of the WEPs that the communities regard as available to them yielded average fruits. It was interesting to note that not all WEPs that yielded plenty fruits were cited as adequate. It could be possible that other properties of the fruits like mass, amount of edible parts, size of seeds contributed to this effect. However, this adequacy factor was augmented by the size of household. WEPs that could be adequate for individual consumption were inadequate for a large household size (see Table 2 on adequacy).The FGD findings enriched our understanding of regression model results. The major themes from FGD statements (culture and traditions, distribution of WEPs, seasonality, climate change, and population pressure) overlapped with important factors from the regression model. These themes were consistent with the literature too. For example, cultural/traditional knowledge was highlighted in the detailed review by Chakravarty et al. (2016) as important in understanding rural communities' linkages with their wild edible fruits. Elsewhere, in a study on wild edible fungi in Mexico, Castro-Sánchez et al. ( 2019) indicated decreasing consumption among youth due to livestock raising and agricultural intensification.Seasonality was important in understanding how the local communities perceive availability, especially during the dry season. Studies elsewhere in Kenya (Shumsky et al., 2014), Ethiopia (Tebkew et al., 2018), and Vietnam (Ogle et al., 2003) have also reported that WEPs are used to cushion hunger during lean seasons. Communities have been shown to put a lot of effort into harvesting WEPs during lean periods and use them as supplementary foods in other seasons with reports from Rwanda, India and Uganda (Janvier et al., 2019;Sharma et al., 2018;Tabuti et al., 2004).The distribution of WEPs was also important theme in line with important factors in our regression model. The FGD participants emphasized that differential distribution of WEPs over the landscape informed how far one would travel to access them. Further, such distribution also informed whom the WEPs would be more available to. Children and youth taking care of livestock in the open fields and along riverine areas were more exposed to diverse WEPs compared to elderly adults back home. Comparable findings have been reported in two neighboring countries of Ethiopia (Addis et al., 2005(Addis et al., , 2013) ) and Uganda (Tabuti, 2007). In their traditional movement with livestock from one place to another, Turkanas encountered and consumed diverse WEPs (Ladio & Lozada, 2004) possibly translating into nutrition adequacy (Lachat et al., 2018) depending on their abundance within a locality (Termote et al., 2012). WEPs occurring more closely together rendered adequate harvests per session compared to scattered WEPs as revealed by FGD deliberations hence calling for optimal management and conservation efforts.Climate change also emerged as a theme from FGDs, including prolonged droughts, flashfloods and invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora (Nadio et al., 2020;Ng et al., 2016). The recent (2020) devastation by swarming desert locusts in the whole of north eastern Africa, including Turkana region, could also be attributed to changes/ variabilities in climate (Peng et al., 2020;Zhongming et al., 2020). Efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change and variability on the WEPs in this arid and semi-arid environment should thus be heightened. This will ensure enhanced availability of the WEPs with potential inclusion in fight against malnutrition and hunger in Turkana County.We also obtained an important theme on population pressure. Households with more mouths to feed would need more of harvested fruits from WEPs to achieve adequate quantity. This was of concern especially in lean seasons when the fruits were hardly available in the fields. Ensuring nutrition security for everyone by relying on WEPs was, therefore, a big concern (Lachat et al., 2018). Indeed, the whole globe is concerned about how agricultural systems could be improved to ensure increasing population is nutritionally secure from a range of research works (Gerten et al., 2020;Plesse, 2020;von Braun et al., 2021). It calls for concerted efforts to ensure that Turkana County is nutritionally secure amidst its growing population and optimized conservation of already evolutionarily suited WEPs could offer a solution.Beyond the themes that we derived across the parameters we used in modeling, the FGDs also revealed other crucial themes that we did not include in the Bayesian model. For instance, use value of the priority WEPs emerged with some participants suggesting that they could travel longer distances to obtain WEPs of high use values. Food aid from both government and non-governmental organizations during extreme hunger and drought in the study region was also highlighted, especially so in the event of extreme drought when even livestock succumbed. The communities normally called for an intervention from the government to salvage the dire situation. To this end, we noted that even though parameters in our predefined 'topic list' were important in helping us understand the availability perception, still some ideas emerged beyond our predefined list. Hence, the importance of conducting an integrated participatory study that contributes to co-development of knowledge and understanding with the communities under study.We combined both stochastic modeling protocols and theme extraction from FGDs to gain insights into the WEPs availability to local communities in Turkana County. Mere tabulated figures of regression results may not show the reasons behind the statistics. On the other hand, mere statements with no magnitude and direction of effects may not yield much actionable findings. However, by bringing together the two and co-developing knowledge with the communities in an integrated participatory approach, where the key stakeholders (local communities) contribute actively, we managed to better understand what informs perception of availability of WEPs to the Turkanas of northwestern Kenya.In our novel approach of integrating Bayesian regression results and focus group discussion findings in an integrated participatory approach, we gained important insights about the perceived availability of WEPs in northwestern Kenya. Our findings showed the relevance of involving local communities in understanding how their perception regarding their WEPs is structured. Overall, we found that distance to harvest sites, seasonal availability, market price, and adequacy of harvest were important parameters in explaining variation in perceived availability. With the integrated participatory approach, we revealed that perceived availability of WEPs was enshrined in culture and tradition and in the WEPs seasonality and distribution patterns within Turkana County. Factors such as climate change and population pressure as well as changing lifestyles were expected to change the perceived availability and use of WEPs and consequently their importance as a food source. As factors such as climate change continue to lower perceived availability, it would be important to document threats and subsequently potential suitable habitats of the WEPs for their sustainable use in future. These findings may be used in formulating programs and policies to include WEPs in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in comparable arid and semi-arid pastoral communities in Africa.","tokenCount":"6975"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4388500154.json b/data/part_1/4388500154.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2730c74eab2e690cd31a4d4c12aa563844b5b308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4388500154.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"dc6a795e-2f2e-4e3b-b853-1c4d919d93aa","pagecount":"0","content":" IWMI \nResearch \nReport\n144\nRevisiting Dominant Notions:\nA Review of Costs,\nPerformance and Institutions\nof Small Reservoirs in\nSub-Saharan Africa \nJean-Philippe Venot, Charlotte de Fraiture and Ernest Nti Acheampong \nResearch Reports\nThe publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects—from computer \nmodeling to experience with water user associations—and vary in content from \ndirectly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately \ndepends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed \nempirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic \nproblems.\nAlthough most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their \ncollaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed \ninternally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and \ndistributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible \nmay be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.\nAbout IWMI\nIWMI’s mission is to improve the management of land and water resources for \nfood, livelihoods and the environment. In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates \non the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve \nirrigation and water and land resources.\ni\nInternational Water Management Institute \nP O Box 2075, Colombo, Sri Lanka\nIWMI Research Report 144\nRevisiting Dominant Notions: A Review of \nCosts, Performance and Institutions of Small \nReservoirs in Sub-Saharan Africa\nJean-Philippe Venot, Charlotte de Fraiture and Ernest Nti \nAcheampong\nThe authors: Jean-Philippe Venot is a Researcher in Geography and Development Studies based at the \nInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI) office in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Charlotte de \nFraiture is Professor of Land and Water Development at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education \nin Delft, the Netherlands, and was a Principal Researcher at IWMI in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso \nwhen this research was conducted; and Ernest Nti Acheampong is a Water Research Scientist at the \nAfrican Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) Network in Nairobi, Kenya, and was a Research Officer at \nthe West Africa office of IWMI in Accra, Ghana, when this research was conducted.  \nVenot, J.-P.; de Fraiture, C.; Nti Acheampong, E. 2012. Revisiting dominant notions: A review of costs, \nperformance and institutions of small reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International \nWater Management Institute. 39p. (IWMI Research Report 144). doi:10.5337/2012.202\n/ reservoirs / institutions / history / investments / costs / multiple use / rural development / water users \nassociations / small scale systems / irrigation / remote sensing / Sub-Saharan Africa /\nISSN 1026-0862 \nISBN  978-92-9090-750-3\nCopyright © 2012, by IWMI. All rights reserved. IWMI encourages the use of its material provided that the \norganization is acknowledged and kept informed in all such instances.\nFront Cover: The multiple dimensions of small reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa (photo credits: Jean-Philippe \nVenot, Hilmy Sally and Ernest Nti Acheampong, IWMI)\nPlease send inquiries and comments to: IWMI-Publications@cgiar.org\nA free copy of this publication can be downloaded at\nwww.iwmi.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/index.aspx\nAcknowledgements\nThis report synthesizes contributions and research conducted over the last 3 years by the following \npeople: Profs. Saa Dittoh and Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Eric Adu-Dankwa, Frank Annor, Eric \nDr. Mohammed Abdurahman and Hailai Abera (Ethiopia); Francine Ki, Kassoum Ouedraogo, Armelle \nOueresse, Korotimi Sanou and Bio Torou (Burkina Faso); George Sikuleka (Zambia) and Joseph Mbinji \n(Ghana and Zambia). The authors would like to thank Marc Andreini and Philippe Cecchi for their advice \nall along the research process; the team from the AgWater Solutions Project for its support; and the \nmany informants who enriched our analysis, though it is impossible to name them all here. We are \nthankful to Terry Clayton for his editorial advice on several sections of this report; to Matthew McCartney, \nPrincipal Researcher – Hydrologist, IWMI, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick for reviewing an earlier version of \nthis report. This research study is an output from the AgWater Solutions Project (http://awm-solutions.\niwmi.org). This work was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The findings and \nconclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies \nof the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.\n\nv\nv\nContents\nSummary vii\nIntroduction 1\nSmall Reservoirs: Some Elements of Perspective 2\nFrom the Onset: Planning and Implementing Small Reservoir Projects 10\nLooking at Performance From a Multiple Users/Uses Perspective 15\nLocal Arrangements for Management: Questioning the WUA Model 18\nConclusion 22\nReferences 24\nAppendix 1. Country Maps: Locating Small Reservoirs 29\nAppendix 2. Small Reservoirs in Selected Countries 31\n\nvii\nSummary\nThousands of small reservoirs dot the rural \nlandscape of sub-Saharan Africa. They have \nlong attracted development and academic \nin terest  on the grounds that  they make \nvulnerable and general ly l i t t le-developed \nregions ‘drought-proof’ and allow for small-\nscale community-based irrigation. On the other \nhand, concerns have long been raised over \nthe high construction costs, poor irrigation \nperformance, low managerial capacity on the \npart of communities and little sustainability \nof investments that seem to be locked in a \nbuild-neglect-rebuild syndrome. A common \nresponse to these shortcomings has been \nto improve project  designs and organize \nfarmers in Water User Associations (WUAs) to \nbetter manage their common resources. This \nreport, however, calls for a different approach \nbased on a renewed understanding of small \nreservoirs. Drawing information from a cross-\ncountry comparative analysis conducted in \nBurkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia, \nthis report argues that high costs are not \ninherent to the technology but are caused \nby major shortcomings in the planning and \nimplementat ion processes. Non-standard \nand corrupt practices throughout the project \ncycle add to the costs and affect the quality \nof construction and hence the performance, \nand the farmers ’  ab i l i ty  to  mainta in  the \nreservoir in a workable state. Performance \nassessments are centered on downstream \nirrigation activities and universally point to the \ndisappointing results of small reservoirs in \nthese terms. Such assessments are grounded \nin field observations but remain partial. Small \nreservoirs support, and enhance synergies \nbetween,  mul t ip le  l i ve l ihood s t ra teg ies . \nThe performance of small reservoirs needs \nto be assessed against  th is backdrop of \nmultiple uses/users. WUAs, often externally \ntriggered, have been framed and instituted \nas the sole and most adequate structure for \nthe management of small reservoirs, with \ngenerally disappointing results. This is because \ndecision making on small reservoirs takes \nplace in multiple and overlapping arenas; the \nconcerns of users may thus be best addressed \nby promoting arrangements that enhance \nmultiple institutional relationships at multiple \nscales. An integrative approach, both in spatial \n(the watershed) and temporal (the project \ncycle) terms, holds the promise of sustainable \nmanagement of small reservoirs.\n\n1\nRevisiting Dominant Notions: A Review of Costs, \nPerformance and Institutions of Small Reservoirs in \nSub-Saharan Africa\nJean-Philippe Venot, Charlotte de Fraiture and Ernest Nti Acheampong\nIntroduction\nSmall reservoirs have long attracted development \nand academic attention worldwide. They are \nknown under multiple names in various regions \nof the world: tanks or johads in South Asia, \naçudes in Brazil, small reservoirs or micro-dams \nin sub-Saharan Africa, and lacs collinaires in \nNorth Africa. Defining what ‘makes’ a small \nreservoir is, however, not agreed upon, as the \ncriteria and thresholds considered can vary widely \namong regions and actors.1 This is not due to a \nlack of knowledge but rather to the multiplicity \nof meanings and the inherent tensions that \ncharacterize small reservoirs.\nLong env is ioned as  so i l  and water \nconservation and drought-proofing measures, \nsmall reservoirs have, over the last three \ndecades, been increasingly seen as a way \nto develop small-scale irrigation, especially in \nsub-Saharan Africa (Venot and Krishnan 2011). \nThis discursive shift has taken place over the \npast three decades and echoes several major \nrural development discourses. First, the growing \ndisenchantment with the costs involved and \nthe social and environmental consequences of \nlarge-scale multi-purpose dams (WCD 2000) has \nled to growing attention being given to small-\nscale projects (McCully and Pottinger 2009). \nSecond, small-scale projects are made all the \nmore appealing by their compatibility with current \n‘decentralization’ and ‘participation’ rhetoric. \nThird, there has been increasing research-\nbased evidence that small-scale, farmer-based, \nirrigation could indeed have significant positive \nimpacts on livelihoods, as observed in South \nAsia (see, for instance, Martin and Yoder 1987; \nYoder 1994). Fourth, irrigation has been gaining \nimportance once again as a potential driver of \nagricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa \n(World Bank 2007), where a concerted effort is \ntaking place to stimulate a home-grown ‘Green \nRevolution’.\nAs a result,  past and current debates \non small reservoirs resonate with broader \ndiscussions about small-scale irrigation in the \ndeveloping world.2 Three interrelated topics \nstand out: 1) the allegedly high investment \ncosts per hectare irrigated (in comparison to \nSouth Asia, in particular); 2) the allegedly low \nperformance of small reservoirs in terms of \nirrigated production; and 3) the allegedly low \nlevel of community organization to ensure proper \noperation and maintenance. Based on a cross-\ncountry comparative analysis conducted in \nBurkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia, \n1 For the sake of clarity, we use the generic term ‘small reservoir’. We do not engage in definitional debates on what is – and is not – a small \nreservoir, and instead adopt a multi-dimensional definition of small reservoirs (see Table 1).\n2 See the collection of essays published in 1994 in Land Use Policy 11(4) on the topic of small-scale irrigation.\n2\nthis report probes some common wisdoms \nrelated to these three disputed themes. First, \nwe address the question of investment costs \n(see the section, From the Onset: Planning \nand Implementing Small Reservoir Projects); \nwe specifically look into the consequences \nof planning and implementation practices, \ninclusive of corrupt practices, on the costs of \nsmall reservoir projects. Second, we question \nthe current understandings and measurements \nof the performance of small reservoirs (see the \nsection, Looking at Performance From a Multiple \nUsers/uses Perspective); they embed efficiency, \noptimization and productivity concerns that \nunderpin mainstream development paradigms but \nfail to account for multiple livelihood strategies. \nThird, we investigate the notion of participation \nin the form of ‘community governance’, and the \nrelated attempts to craft the ‘right institution’ \nfor managing small reservoirs that often fail to \nrecognize multiple decision-making processes \n(see the section, Local Arrangements for \nManagement: Questioning the WUA Model). A \nshort conclusion calls for a shift away from the \nfocus on irrigation towards the recognition that \nsmall reservoirs are sociopolitical entities that \nserve multiple purposes, at multiple levels for \nmultiple actors.\nSmall Reservoirs: Some Elements of Perspective\nCurrent Understanding of Small \nReservoirs in Sub-Saharan Africa\nAs agriculture is back on the development agenda \nas a “vital development tool for achieving the \nMillennium Development Goals” (World Bank 2007), \nprojects and reforms dedicated to agricultural \nwater management are experiencing renewed \ninterest worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, this \ninterest is notably articulated in the Comprehensive \nA f r i ca  Agr icu l tu re  Deve lopment  Program \n(CAADP), formulated by the New Partnership for \nAfrica’s Development (NEPAD), in which water \nmanagement and irrigation development feature \nas one of the “areas for primary action.” Though \nthe program aims for multiple and integrated \nanswers to the current challenges in agriculture, it \nclearly prioritizes “the identification and preparation \nof investments to support small-scale irrigation” \n(NEPAD 2003: 28), including small reservoirs.\nInterest in small-scale irrigation (and in small \nreservoirs, in particular) reflects broad changes \nin rural development thinking. As early as the \n1960s, small farms had been framed as motors \nof rural development. This paved the way to a \nparticipatory and bottom-up rhetoric (for instance, \nsee Chambers et al. 1989) that emerged in the \n1980s, and notably underpinned a sustained \ninterest in farmer-managed irrigation schemes, \nparticularly in South Asia (Martin and Yoder \n1987; Yoder 1994). More recently, the early \n1990s witnessed another boom in academic and \ndevelopment interest in small-scale irrigation, \nthis time in sub-Saharan Africa (Alam 1991; \nTurner 1994; Vaishnav 1994). Two phenomena, \nin particular, may explain this interest; first, the \ndroughts of the 1970s that dramatically affected \nagriculture and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa; \nand second, the controversy around large-\nscale dams, their costs, and their social and \nenvironmental consequences (WCD 2000). \nThese two phenomena coincided with calls \nfor decentralization of decision-making and \nparticipation of local users in the management \nof natural resources. Venot and Hirvonen \n(Forthcoming) show that this cyclical, yet, \ncontinued interest in small reservoirs finds its \nroots in the instant capacity of the latter to \nlend themselves to dominant discourses of \n3\ndevelopment, governance, environment, eco-\ntechnology and knowledge production alike.\nAt the core of our current ‘understanding’ of \nsmall reservoirs there appears to be a dichotomy: \nsmall reservoirs have tremendous potential but, to \ndate, have largely failed to live up to expectations. \nOn the one hand, small reservoirs are in high \ndemand among local communities, are a priority \nfor national governments and continue to attract \nfunding from development agencies (Venot and \nCecchi 2011). They are said to limit rural out-\nmigration, enhance the incomes of the local \npopulation (Fromageot et al. 2006) and contribute \nto food security (Savy et al. 2006) by supporting \nmultiple livelihood strategies such as livestock \nrearing, small business water use, handicraft \nactivities and, increasingly, small-scale irrigation \n(Cecchi 2007). Further, they are seen as an \noption to buffer against extreme weather events \nand changing climatic patterns (McCartney and \nSmakhtin 2010). \nOn the other hand, many studies point to \nthe low performance levels of small reservoirs, \nnotably in terms of little irrigated area, damaged \ninfrastructure and low water or agricultural \nproductivity, and propose technical improvements \n(Faulkner et al. 2008; Mdemu et al. 2009; Mugabe \net al. 2003). Others highlight the governance \nchallenges faced by small reservoir projects, both \nat the local (participation and empowerment) \nand national levels (see, for instance, Birner \net al. 2010; Venot et al. 2011). In addition, \nsustainability issues are raised at two levels. \nFirst, some scholars question the frequent need \nfor rehabilitation in a process that echoes the \nbuild-neglect-rebuild syndrome described by \nShah (2009) for public irrigation systems in \nSouth Asia. Second, emerging evidence shows \nthat uses of small reservoirs can contribute \ntowards environmental deterioration (erosion \nof the shoreline due to upstream pumping and \ndecreasing water quality) and have adverse health \nimpacts such as malaria (Ghebreyesus et al. \n1999), though adequate management can lead \nto improved human health (Andreini et al. 2009; \nBoelee et al. 2009). Table 1 summarizes the \nconflicting views and perspectives that dominate \nthe debate around small reservoirs. \nTABLE 1. Advantages and shortcomings of small reservoirs.\nOpportunities/stated advantages Limitations/stated drawbacks\nPlanning \nViable/practical alternatives to large projects Multiple approaches/lack of benchmarking\nCompatibility with local farming systems Low visibility and limited funding\nEasily adaptable to local conditions and allowing Planning processes similar to those of large-scale projects\n involvement of population in the siting/design Lack of attention to complexity of intervention\nQuicker/higher returns than large-scale projects Lack of involvement of population in planning phases\nInfrastructure/Development \nLow costs (absolute value)‡\nSimple technology Inconsistent commitment by governments/donors\nSubstantial aggregate areas† Need for/lack of attention to proper feasibility studies\nManagement \nEasy to maintain and manage Low management capacity (community/extension agents) \nCompatible with local culture and knowledge Need for/lack of attention to training\nAmenable to participatory management No sustained interest for participatory management\n  Lack of empowerment/ownership\n  Complexity of institutional (land and water) arrangements\n  Lack of maintenance/low performance\n  Local power structures impeding equitable access\n(Continued)\n4\nMethods: The Need for Interdisciplinarity\nThis report focuses on four countries in sub-\nSaharan Africa: Burkina Faso and Ghana in \nWest Africa; and Ethiopia and Zambia in eastern \nand southeastern Africa. These countries were \nselected, first, because they are illustrative of \ndiverse settings of sub-Saharan Africa; this \nenables both context-specific observations and \ncommon insights that will be relevant for the \ncontinent to be drawn. Second, the four countries \nhave witnessed significant investments (past or \nrecent) in small reservoirs.\nThe multivalent character of small reservoirs \ncalls for adopting an interdisciplinary approach \ndrawing on multiple methods to generate both \nqualitative and quantitative data. Table 2 lists \nthe methods, tools and data this report relies on \nin relation to the different issues/results that are \ndiscussed therein.\nWe collected data in a sequential process \nbetween April 2009 and October 2011. First, \na baseline inventory of all small reservoirs in \nBurkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia \nwas prepared using existing secondary data. \nSecond, a rapid regional appraisal was conducted \nin specific regions with a high concentration \nof small reservoirs: the two northern regions \nof Ghana (the Upper East and Upper West \nregions; 364 reservoirs); the center-south region \nof Burkina Faso (249 reservoirs); the region of \nTigray in northern Ethiopia (26 reservoirs); and the \nsouthern region of Zambia (205 reservoirs). The \nrapid regional appraisal consisted of organizing \nworking sessions with extension agents of the \nministry in charge of agriculture and water at the \ndistrict level. Detailed information was collected \non: (1) the characteristics of the dams; (2) their \ndesign purposes and actual uses; (3) their level \nof performance; (4) the constraints faced by the \ncommunities; (5) the benefits derived from using \nthe small reservoirs; and (6) the local institutional \narrangements and modes of management. \nThird, 41 randomly sampled small reservoirs \nin Ghana (24), Burkina Faso (13) and Ethiopia \n(4) were studied in detail to gain a qualitative \nunderstanding of the multiple uses and perceptions \nof small reservoirs. In each site, the detailed \ncase studies involved participatory exercises \n(focus group discussions, transect walks), semi-\nstructured interviews with users of individual small \nreservoirs (rainfed and livestock farmers, irrigators, \nfishermen, women) and key informant interviews \nin the community (elected local representative, \nhead of organizations, customary authorities, \nrepresentative of WUAs and Comités Locaux de \nl’Eau).\nIn addition to local-level studies, we also \nconducted key informant interv iews wi th \npolicymakers (in ministries and bureaus of Water \nResources, Agriculture, Irrigation and Environment \nat the national, regional and local level), donors \nand technical development partners (such as \nInternational Fund for Agricultural Development \nTABLE 1. Advantages and shortcomings of small reservoirs. (Continued) \nOpportunities/stated advantages Limitations/stated drawbacks\nImpacts \nGenerate employment opportunities Capture by local elites\nPromote local entrepreneurship Health (malaria) and environmental (pollution) issues\nLimit migration and related negative impacts May silt-up rapidly\nLimited social and environmental externalities \nSource: Adapted from Venot and Krishnan 2011.\nNotes: ‡ In sub-Saharan Africa, investment costs for small-scale irrigation are typically evaluated at USD 2,000-5,000/ha compared to less \nthan USD 1,000/ha for inland valley bottom and soil and water conservation, and USD 5,000-10,000/ha and USD 10,000-20,000/ha \nfor rehabilitation and construction of new large-scale projects, respectively (NEPAD 2003; Lankford 2005; Inocencio et al. 2007).\n † Small-scale irrigation (less than 100 ha) would account for 44% of all irrigated areas in Africa (Lankford 2005).\n5\nTable 2. Methods, tools and data used for documenting small reservoir dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa.\n Methods, tools and data used\n30 to 40 key informant interviews (primary data) with contractors, regional and national representatives \n  partners and project managers (mostly in Ghana and a few in Burkina Faso)\n  sessions with extension agents (more than 250 extension agents contributed to document 835 small  \n  reservoirs in four countries)\nDetailed documentation (primary data) of 41 small reservoirs: interviews with users of small reservoirs, \n  traditional authorities, elected local representatives and representatives of water committees; focus  \n  group discussions; transect walks\n  and representatives of line ministries)\n(IFAD), World Bank, Deutsche Gesellschaft \nfür  Internat ionale Zusammenarbei t  (GIZ) \nGmbH), and elected officials of local executive \nbodies (communes in Burkina Faso; districts in \nGhana and weredas in Ethiopia) to explore the \ngovernance structure and the implementation and \nplanning processes of small reservoir projects. \nFinally, three technical seminars on “What roles \nfor multipurpose small reservoirs” were organized \nin Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tigray, Ethiopia. \nAttendance included representatives from line \nministries, international donors, development \npractitioners, elected representatives, farmers and \nacademics.\nA Historical Perspective of Small \nReservoirs in Four Sub-Saharan Countries\nThe first challenge that scholars and development \npracti t ioners face when working on small \nreservoirs is that of definition. Defining what \n‘makes’ a small reservoir is indeed not agreed \nupon, as criteria (size, type of infrastructure, \nmodes of management, planning approaches) and \nthresholds (volume, height, number of farmers, \nirrigated area) can vary widely depending on the \nvantage point considered and the issues or actors \nat stake (Venot and Krishnan 2011).3 We do not \nembark here upon definitional debates on what \n3 For instance, many Indian tank-based irrigation schemes would be considered as medium-size projects, if seen through the criteria commonly \nused in most of sub-Saharan Africa (Turner 1994). Similarly, the Ethiopian micro-dams are significantly larger (in terms of height, volume stored, \npotential irrigated areas) than small reservoirs in the Sahel (but smaller in terms of inundated area), mainly due to topographical differences \n(deep valley gorge versus flat semiarid areas). In most cases, scholars agree on the fact that small reservoirs ‘imply’ that farmers – and related \nlocal management bodies – have the upper hand in terms of decision making over the allocation and management of the resources and the \ninfrastructure, though capital investments remain externally driven.\n6\nis – and is not – a small reservoir. Rather, we \nadopt a multidimensional approach that takes into \naccount the multiplicity of meanings that small \nreservoirs can assume.4 The second challenge is \nthat of inventorying and locating small reservoirs \n(see Cecchi et al. 2009 for the situation in Burkina \nFaso), despite significant progress in remote \nsensing and geographic information system (GIS) \ntechniques (Box 1; see Appendix 1 for country \nmaps of small reservoirs). \n4 When presenting the history of small reservoir construction (Figure 1), and for practical reasons, we used criteria that are relevant for national-\nlevel decision makers in the countries considered. In west and southeastern Africa, water structures that are classified as small reservoirs \n(also called small dams) are earth dams, less than 7.5 meters (m) high, that can store up to 1 million cubic meters (MCM). They sometimes \nhave a downstream adjacent irrigated area generally covering less than 50 hectares (ha). Dugouts are smaller rainwater harvesting structures \nlocated in depressions that have been further excavated (either manually or with machinery) to impound more water but often dry up during \nthe dry season. Dugouts are not discussed here. In Ethiopia, the term ‘micro-dam’ is preferentially used in lieu of ‘small reservoir’. Micro-dams \ncan be 10 to 15 m high and store up to 3 MCM.\nBox 1. The promises and perils of remote sensing.\nRemote sensing techniques and GIS have long been identified as a step towards improved information \n(see, for instance, Turner 1994) and scholars have increasingly used these techniques to detect small \nreservoirs (see, for instance, Liebe et al. 2005, 2009; Annor et al. 2009; such studies use satellite \nimages and identify the specific signals rendered by open-water bodies). However, as for any research \nactivities and results, remote sensing techniques and outputs are socially mediated. For instance, \nin Burkina Faso, the government entrusted a reputable private consultant to prepare an inventory of all \nsmall reservoirs in the country. This was carried out through remote sensing on the basis of 2001 Landsat \nimages. Results were questioned as some reservoirs that were detected did not exist on the ground, while \nothers, people claimed, had not been spotted. In 2010, after several groundtruthing campaigns and working \nsessions, the corresponding database was finally updated and validated by the government authority in \ncharge of water resources information (Direction Générale des Ressources en Eau (DGRE)). Recognizing \nthe inherent uncertainties that remain, the country is engaged in a continuous update of its centralized \ninformation system on water resources (the Système d’Information sur l’Eau (SI-Eau)).\nDuring this project, inventorying and locating small reservoirs proved to be a challenge in Burkina Faso, \nGhana, Ethiopia and Zambia, with inconsistent, dispersed and partial information. The map below illustrates \nthe challenges faced when using satellite imagery to detect small reservoirs (see also Cecchi et al. 2009, for \na discussion on the case of Burkina Faso). The map compares two sets of remote sensing information. The \nfirst set (green dots) is based on 2001 Landsat imagery (acquired after the rainy season) as presented by \nthe DGRE (for Burkina Faso) and Forkuor (2005) for Ghana. The second set (blue dots) is based on 2005-\n2006 Landsat imagery (acquired after the rainy season), the analysis of which was commissioned as part \nof the project. The red dots indicate sites that have been detected both in the 2001 and 2005/2006 images \nin the south of Burkina Faso and north of Ghana. In Burkina Faso, there are only 73 overlapping records \n(the DGRE database presents 440 records and the 2005/06 analysis presents 782 records), for the region \nconsidered. In the north of Ghana, there are 167 overlapping records (the 2001 and 2005/2006 analysis \ndetected 289 and 321 sites, respectively). Overall, the multiple remote sensing analyses are only \nconsistent up to 30%. The inconsistency between the remote sensing analysis and secondary data (purple \ndots) is even higher. New constructions and ruptures of dams alone cannot explain such differences, nor can \nrainfall variability and related changes in water surface area. As for any research work, the methods used \nhave tremendous bearing on the results and the maps that are produced, and can often serve to support \ndecisions. In this particular case, differences in datasets can originate in the type of imagery used (low/high \nresolution), the date of acquisition of the image (rainy/dry season), the sensor used, the georeferencing, \nthe methods used to classify land cover signatures (supervised/unsupervised) and delineate water bodies \n(digitization or not), the type of atmospheric correction, and treatment for clouds and land covers, which have \na similar signature to open-water bodies (burned area and water weed), the quality of groundtruthing, etc.\n(Continued)\n7\nSecondary data collected from several line \nministries and rapid appraisals with extension \nagents at district level yielded a comprehensive \ninventory of existing small reservoirs in the \nfour countries studied (Appendix 2 provides the \nnumber of small reservoirs for some selected \ncountries where they appear to be widespread).\nIn Burkina Faso, most small reservoirs were \nconstructed between 1974 and 1987 (Figure 1),5 \nlargely in response to the Sahel droughts of the \nearly 1970s and 1980s. The 1983-1987 period \nalso corresponded to the ‘Sankara socialist \nrevolution’ when the political leadership of Burkina \nFaso undertook large infrastructure construction \nprojects, including roads, railways and small \nreservoirs, while promoting mass mobilization of \nthe Burkinabè population (Sally et al. 2011). Since \nthen, there has been a continuous commitment to \nbuild more infrastructure for small-scale irrigation. \nOn average, more than 30 small reservoirs were \nbuilt annually during the period 1985-2001 in \nthe country, and a department of the Ministry \nSource: this study.\nOur objective here is not a detailed investigation of the underpinnings of the differences observed between \nthe different datasets, nor is it to bring discredit to remote sensing work, which we consider very useful. \nRather, we aim at bringing the need to critically assess remote sensing outputs to the reader’s attention; \nthis is all the more important as “a picture (a map) is worth a thousand words.”\n5 There are differences between the number of small reservoirs presented in the text and those shown in Figure 1. This is because the date of \nconstruction is only available for subsets of dams in the secondary databases we used. Admittedly, this only gives a partial view of the history \nof small reservoirs in the countries studied, but the long-term trends appear very clearly.\nBox 1. The promises and perils of remote sensing. (Continued)\n8\nof Agriculture and Water was set up in the \nearly 2000s to coordinate the development and \nmonitoring of small-scale irrigation, including \nsmall reservoir-based irrigation. Currently, several \nexternally-funded projects6 invest in rehabilitating \nand/or constructing new small reservoirs and the \ntotal number of small reservoirs and dugouts is \nevaluated at about 1,200 (DGRE database).7\nIn Ghana, considerable investments were \nmade following independence in the 1960s \n(Figure 1), after which construction slowed \ndown in the 1970s and 1980s. Since the \nmid-1990s, there has been renewed interest in \nsmall reservoir projects. This is mainly due to \nlarge donor-driven investments in the north of the \ncountry (see map in Appendix 1), among which \n6 Donors include the IFAD, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the \nBanque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) - West African Development Bank), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Arab \nBank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for a total amount of more than USD 50 million to be invested by 2015.\n7 Their irrigation ‘potential’ would be more than 10,000 ha (i.e., one-third of the total irrigation potential of the country), but this figure is likely \nto be an underestimate as it does not account for spontaneous irrigation development upstream of the reservoirs (see Ki et al. 2010; Ndanga-\nKouali 2011 for a description of this dynamic).\nFIGURE 1. History of the construction of small reservoirs in (a) Ghana, (b) Burkina Faso, (c) Zambia, and (d) Ethiopia.\nSource: This study; based on secondary databases of relevant \nministries. Construction date is available for 2,445 out of 3,522 dams \nand dugouts (e.g., about 70%) (536 out of 946 when limited to dams).\nNote: UER - Upper East Region; UWR - Upper West Region\nSource: This study; for the southern region, construction date \nis available for 152 out of 205 sites that were documented. The \ndatabase of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) \nremains incomplete; it shows 820 records even though NCG (2010) \nof dams in the country. Regarding rehabilitation, NCG (2010) \nindicates that 116 dams have been rehabilitated in the country from \n2005-2009, of which 29 are in the southern province.\nSource: DGRE database. Construction date is available for 1,051 \nout of 1,190 records (e.g., 90%).\nSource: This study; based on secondary databases of relevant \nministries. Construction date is available for 72 out of 111 dams \n(e.g., 65%).\n(a)\n(c)\n(b)\n(d)\n9\nare the World Bank-funded Village Infrastructure \nProject (VIP), and the IFAD-funded Upper West \nAgricultural Development Project (UWADEP) and \nLand Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation \nProject (LACOSREP, phases 1 and 2). Between \n1995 and 2009, 222 small reservoirs were \nconstructed in the country, among which 82 were \nlocated in the three northern regions. At least \nanother 80 reservoirs in the north of the country \nwere rehabilitated during the same period. IFAD \nand AfDB plan to invest a further USD 30 million \nby 2015 to build or rehabilitate an additional 50 \nsmall reservoirs (Venot and Cecchi 2011). As at \n2010, there are more than 1,000 small reservoirs \nin Ghana, half of which are located in the three \nnorthern regions of the country.8\nI n  1 9 9 4 ,  t h e  E t h i o p i a n  G o v e r n m e n t \nengaged in an ambitious plan to build 500 small \nreservoirs in the Tigray region in the northeast \nof the country, where small reservoirs make \nmost sense due to intermittent surface water \nflows and low groundwater potential (see map \nin Appendix 1). The scheme was funded by the \nUnited Nations Economic Commission for Africa \n(UNECA), together with the Canadian International \nDevelopment Agency (CIDA) and the World Bank, \nand implemented by the newly set up Commission \nfor Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental \nRehabilitation in Tigray (Co-SAERT). It aimed at \ndeveloping small-scale irrigation for food security \n(Annen 2001; Aberra 2004) while generating \nlabor opportunities to the population of a region \ndevastated by decades of famine and political \ninstability (Chris Annen, Helvetas, Ethiopia, pers. \ncomm., August 5, 2010). The program proved \nchallenging to implement, and disappointing results \nin terms of irrigation development were soon \nquestioned. The program was discontinued (and \nthe commission dismantled in 2002) also because \nof its high costs and due to lack of further funding \n(Leul Kahsay, Independent Consultant, pers. \ncomm., September 23, 2010). The government \npriority shifted to local household ponds and later \n8 Together, it is evaluated that they have an irrigable potential of more than 5,000 ha (public irrigation in Ghana is evaluated at about 9,000 \nha; GoG 2010; Namara and Horowitz 2009) and allows watering more than 1 million of livestock, thus benefiting a population well above 2.5 \nmillion persons.\n9 This is different from neighboring Zimbabwe where European settlements and large commercial farming (relying on water storage) was \nstrongly encouraged (NCG 2010).\non to watershed management. By the early 2000s, \nthe government had built 50 small dams. This did \nnot mark the end of investments in small reservoirs \nas local organizations such as the Relief Society \nof Tigray (REST) and international donors such as \nthe Agence Française de Développement (AFD) \n(French Agency for Development) continued to \ninvest in rehabilitating and constructing dams (AFD \nand REST 2003). By 2010, there were about 110 \nsmall reservoirs in the Tigray region and they are \nseen as pivotal for the development of the region.\nLack of data in Zambia makes it difficult \nto get an accurate picture of the history of \nsmall reservoirs in the country. It appears that \nthe construction of small reservoirs remained \nlimited until the 1940s; during the colonial period, \nsettlements were centered along the railway line \nwith the purpose of feeding mining communities \nin the Copperbelt and at Kabwe.9 Between the \n1940s and 1975, the drought-prone southern \nregion, where most reservoirs are located \n(see map in Appendix 1), witnessed steady \ninvestments in small dams. Construction seems to \nhave slowed down between 1975 and 1991 (when \nZambia was a one-party state), even though the \ngovernment had ambitious plans to construct 250-\n300 dams during the period 1988-1994 (as the \ncountry engaged in a ‘New Economic Recovery \nProgram’) as a response to the increasingly \nfrequent droughts that negatively affected the \ncountry in the 1980s (Morris 1991; Mbinji 2011). \nSimilarly to other countries, the mid-1990s \nmarked a renewed interest in small reservoirs \nwith external financial support. Several large-scale \nprojects, including the multi-donor effort Zambia \nAgricultural Sector Investment Program (ASIP) \n(1995-2001), the World Bank-financed Agricultural \nDevelopment Support Project (ADSP) (2007-\n2012) and the Zambia Social Investment Fund \n(ZAMSIF) (2000-2005) invested in rehabilitating \nand constructing small reservoirs. Today, there \nare an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 small reservoirs \nin the country (NCG 2010). Investments in small \n10\nreservoirs over the period 2005-2008 have \nbeen estimated at USD 6.5 million (NCG 2010); \nongoing and envisioned projects (FAO 2008c) \nsignify that similar (or higher) levels of investment \nare to be expected by 2015.\nBeyond context-specificities, small reservoirs \nassume a significant role in the agricultural \nwater management landscape in the four \ncountries focused on for this study. Investments \nin small reservoirs should be seen in a broader \nhistorical perspective and appear closely linked to \nsociopolitical choices. Three broad trends can be \nhighlighted. First, investment in small reservoirs \nis grounded in a dual rationale of providing \nwater for drought-relief and developing irrigation \nactivities. Second, despite the recent focus on \nirrigation, only a minority of small reservoirs in \nthe regions studied were equipped with irrigation \ninfrastructure (thus, calling for revising our \nunderstanding of performance; see the section, \nLooking at Performance From a Multiple Users/\nuses Perspective).10 Third, most investments are \nmade ‘in bulk’ to meet targets and quotas, that \nis, governments and donors engage in ambitious \nplans to rehabilitate or build significant numbers of \nreservoirs, generally, in a short time period, thus \nraising planning and implementation challenges as \ndescribed in the following section.\n10 That is 18 out of 205 in Zambia; 66 out of 249 in Burkina Faso and 148 out of 364 in Ghana. Ethiopia stands alone with 19 out of the 26 small \nreservoirs surveyed commanding an irrigation scheme downstream.\n11 This section synthesizes detailed findings that can be found in Venot et al. (2011).\nFrom the Onset: Planning and Implementing Small Reservoir \nProjects11\nPlanning Shortcomings and Corruption: \nPerverse Incentives and Circumstances\nIdentification and planning processes have \na tremendous bearing on the outcome and \nperformance of water development projects, \nyet, they remain largely overlooked (a notable \nexception is Morardet et al. 2005). This is also true \nfor small reservoirs. Donors, line ministries, local \nauthorities, contractors and communities all face \ndifficulties that result in spiraling costs, delays in \nimplementation, poor construction and the failure \nof small reservoirs to perform as envisioned.\nOur analysis is based on two small reservoir \ninitiatives that have been implemented in Ghana \nover the past two decades. The first initiative \nis a government-driven rehabilitation program \nconducted in 2009/2010 following floods that \nwashed away scores of dams in the north of the \ncountry; the second is the continuous involvement \nof IFAD in the same region since the 1990s \nthrough multiple rural development projects that \nhad small reservoir components (see Venot et \nal. 2011 for further information on these two \ninitiatives). The documented lapses are not \nconfined to Ghana or to sub-Saharan African \ncountries, but can be found in most planning \nexercises. We present our results thematically \nand Table 3 provides information on how, what \ncan be best termed ‘macro-level deficiencies’ \nor ‘inadequacies’ unfold along the project cycle \n(Table 3, column 2). We highlight that many of \nthese shortcomings sprout from a tension between \nformal practices and a de facto logic of action, \nwhich constitutes the ‘working rule’ of development \nplanning and public action in sub-Saharan Africa \nand beyond (Ferguson 2007; Bierschenk 2010). \nThis tension breeds opportunities for corrupt \npractices. Based on multiple key informant \ninterviews (see the section, Methods: The Need for \nInterdisciplinarity), we identify these daily working \ncircumstances in the third column of Table 3.\n11\n Perverse incentives drive investments in \nsmall reservoirs as donor agencies continue \nto value the number of programs and volume \nof funding over the outcomes of projects \n(Martinez and Shordt 2008)12; they can even \nsee corruption as having a functional role for \n12 One of our informants working for a technical cooperation agency in Burkina Faso, for example, stated that they chose to invest in small \nreservoirs as they were “looking for spending a lot of money fast, (and well), as some climate change money was available […] it would be given to others \notherwise” (author’s translation).\n13 The second column of Table 3 echoes the analysis of Morardet et al. (2005), in which a comprehensive list of failures in planning and \nimplementing processes of irrigation projects is presented on the basis of an analysis (desk review and key informant interviews) of 23 irrigation \nprojects funded by multiple donors.\nTABLE 3. Shortcomings in the conception and planning of small reservoir projects.13\n Macro-level inadequacies Daily working circumstances\nand numbers of projects rather than their outcomes\n  towards local communities  through design, overestimation of costs and\n  priorities and strategies\n  towards local communities  through design, overestimation of costs and\nprocurement  and hardly enforced  bureaucratic one (selection of unsuitable\n  levels of local empowerment  documentation)\n  manage contracts  consultants\n    accepted practice\n    transaction costs\n  clauses  between public servants, contractors and\n  consultants/supervisor  \nSource: This study.\n12\nthe delivery of projects (see, for instance, \nHobbs 2005). Governments, too, tend to favor \n‘big-bang approaches’ where the objective \nis to build or rehabilitate a large number of \ndams in a short period of time to secure \npolitical support. This often implies that little \nattention is given to appraisal and feasibility \nstudies with cursory assessments being the \nbasis for significant investments, as also \nobserved in emergency situations that create \na sense of urgency (such as in 2009, when \nfollowing the floods in 2007, the government \nengaged in a program to rehabilitate more \nthan 50 dams over a period of 4 to 6 months). \nThe low quality of the feasibility studies \noften offers room for contractors to raise \n‘variation orders’ (i.e., change in the initial \ndesign) as unexpected work may be required. \nIn many cases, these may be warranted, \nbut the situation breeds opportunities for \ncollusion between officials and contractors \nin the field, sometimes leading to excessive \ncost overruns (sometimes up to 50% of \nthe planned investment; Venot et al. 2011). \nPerverse incentives (notably the focus on \nfunds disbursement) mean that ‘demand-\ndriven’ approaches remain a mere rhetoric \nmost of the t ime. Communit ies hardly \ncontribute to project identification; though in \nlater stages they often divert and adapt the \nproject’s activities to meet their own ends.\nIn format ion f low,  t ransparency and \naccountability are weak and characterized \nby the absence of the local communities and \nauthorities. Responsibilities are shared among \nmultiple agencies, and within a single agency \namong multiple levels of decision making. \nActors have different interpretations of the same \nsituation; this leads to confusion, challenges \naccountability structures and opens the door to \ncorrupt practices. Complexity of funding flows \nwhen there are multiple donors add to this \ncomplexity and further challenges accountability \n(in the case of Zambia, see NCG 2010).\n Procurement processes and guidelines for \nthe management of public funds generally \nlook good on paper. However, there are \nmany structural impediments to their actual \nenforcement, such as the low quality of the \nbidding documents and the lack of time, \nresources and capacity to evaluate the bids. \nThe major underpinning of current practices \nremains the fact that award of contracts is \nlargely perceived and accepted as a political \naction rather than a bureaucratic one. This \naffects the willingness and feasibility of \nenforcing rules in a system where most \nof the actors know and interact with each \nother in multiple ways. Contracts can easily \nbe awarded to preferred contractors on any \nnumber of outwardly justifiable grounds, in \nexchange for “a token of our appreciation.” \nOften, but not necessarily always, this means \nthat unqualified or unsuitable contractors \nare selected with negative impacts on the \nquality of work. Collusion between contractors \nand public servants who can be hired as \nindependent consultants by the former (so \nas to increase their chances of winning \na contract or to circumvent policies and \nprocedures) is also common. Finally, political \npatronage, which is part of the social \nfabric, underpins the selection of sites and \nbeneficiaries as well.\n Implementation is commonly delayed due \nto lack of technical know-how of contractors \n(see, for instance, World Bank and FAO \n2007) and/or cumbersome administrative \nprocedures regarding payments. This is a \nmajor threat to the cost and sustainability \nof rehabilitation and construction work, \nparticularly when small contractors are \ninvolved and high inflation is the norm. \nUnreal ist ic t ime demands, procedural \ncomplexity and lack of transparency are \nfrequent complaints on the part of contractors \nwho feel they have no choice but to offer \n‘speed money’ to facilitate processes. This \nadds to the transaction costs of contractors, \nwhich offers incentives to recoup these costs \nby further compromising the quality of work.\n Monitoring and supervision of works \ndoes not receive adequate attention. Again, \nprocedures look good on paper, but there \n13\nis a widely shared lack of capacity and \nwillingness to enforce regulations among \ngovernment and donor agencies. A typical \nset up is to mandate site supervisors in local \noffices to conduct on-site monitoring and \nsupervision visits. In reality, few of these \noffices are properly equipped or staffed to \ncarry out their supervisory roles. Supervisors \nmust, as a necessity, rely on contractors \nto conduct their work. This is an invitation \nto ‘leniency’, but is seen as ‘reciprocity’ \nrather than a lack of integrity. Conscientious \nsupervisors can easily find themselves being \n‘transferred’ at the behest of well-connected \ncontractors.\nControlling Investment Costs to Improve \nPerformance\nThe shortcomings described in Table 3 have \nserious implications for the investment costs and \nperformance levels of small reservoirs, which \nare two hotly debated concerns. Our analysis \nrelies mostly on data from Ghana (see the \nsection, Methods: The Need for Interdisciplinarity, \nand Venot et al. 2011 for further information \non the data used and methodology followed), \nbut conclusions have a wider applicability. The \nresults indicate that investment costs are highly \nskewed because a significant number of projects \nexperience anomalies during the planning and \nimplementation processes (Figure 2; see the \nsection, Planning Shortcomings and Corruption: \nPerverse Incentives and Circumstances).\nWhere cont rac ts  are  terminated and \nre-awarded (either due to fraudulent practices \nor low performance on the part of contractors), \ninvestment costs may end up being ten times \nhigher than when contracts are handled \nwithout major setbacks regardless of the main \nfinancer, government, international donor or \nnongovernmental organization (NGO).14 This \nclearly highlights the importance of the planning \n14 An analysis of a subset of 39 dams (for which data on impounded water volume was available) showed that there was no statistically \nsignificant difference in terms of the volume of water (hence size of reservoirs) between the group of dams for which contracts were terminated \nand re-awarded and the other group of dams (whether they were newly built or rehabilitated). In other words, the reservoir’s size is NOT \ncorrelated to the termination of contract, which shows that flaws in planning and procurement can affect all small reservoirs alike.\nFIGURE 2. Cost of investments in small reservoirs in the Upper East region of Ghana.\nSource: This study.\nNote: GIDA – Ghana Irrigation Development Authority.\n14\nand procurement processes in control l ing \ninvestment costs. Even when there are no major \nconcerns and contracts hold, lapses in planning \ncause delays in payment and/or implementation of \nworks and this leads to increased costs, especially \nin a high-inflation context that is a characteristic of \nmost sub-Saharan economies.\nLack of financial transparency and corrupt \nbehavior also lead to unduly increasing costs. In \nGhana, for a sample of 40 recently rehabilitated \nreservoirs, contract amounts were, on average, \n35% higher than technical estimates (Figure \n3(a)).15 This gap is partly due to differences \nin the ru le of  thumb adopted regarding \ncontingencies that were fixed at 20% during the \nfeasibility study and increased to 25% in the \ncontract documents. Further changes in design \nthrough variation orders (linked to poor-quality \nfeasibility study) may be another reason for such \ndifferences. However, this alone falls short of \nexplaining a 35% discrepancy and tends to point \ntowards overvaluation of contracts (see Venot \net al. 2011). The case of preliminary payments \n(i.e., initial payment made to contractors before \nthey start the work) is particularly interesting \n15 Figure 3(a) does not consider ‘above outliers’ for which contract amounts were 2 to 8 times higher than technical estimates.\n16 Performance of small reservoirs was qualitatively assessed on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good) by extension agents of the Ministry \nof Food and Agriculture, who seemed to especially value the conditions of the infrastructure (damaged or maintained) and the existence \nand extent of an irrigated area. Though individual extension agents may have considered slightly differing criteria to judge performance, the \nconsistency of the explanations they gave to justify their scoring during our interviews gives us confidence to compare the scores given (see \nthe section, Looking at Performance From a Multiple Users/Uses Perspective). We do not present performance assessment levels for the \ndams rehabilitated by GIDA, as most dams were broken or under rehabilitation at the time of our surveys in 2009 and hence ranked low.\nhere. While preliminary payments average \n18%, they also vary between 4 and 65% of the \ntotal contract amount without any clear pattern \nor justification (Figure 3(b)). High preliminary \npayments allegedly conceal various forms of \n‘kickback’; they also provide a perverse incentive \nfor contractors to do low-quality work, if any \n(Venot et al. 2011).\nFigure 4(a) highl ights that control l ing \ninvestment costs is not a vain quest. Over the \nlast 10 years, 25% and 12% of the dams that \nwere rehabilitated by the government (under the \nresponsibility of the Ghana Irrigation Development \nAuthority (GIDA)) and development partners \n(IFAD and NGOs), respectively, cost less than \nUSD 5,000 per irrigated hectare. This proportion \nincreases to 35% and 60% if a USD 10,000/\nha threshold is considered. While reducing \ninvestment costs is sound in economic terms it \nseems to also have a beneficial impact in terms \nof performance. Figure 4(b) shows that the small \nreservoirs that perform best (according to the \nviews of extension agents)16 are also those that \ncost less. This conclusion confirms earlier findings \nby Inocencio et al. (2007).\nFIGURE 3. Misappropriation of funds: (a) technical estimates and contract amounts, and (b) preliminary payments.\nSource: This study.\nNote: each dot represents a small reservoir.\n(a) (b)\n15\nFIGURE 4. (a) Per-unit investment costs (USD/ha), and (b) performance of small dams.\nLooking at Performance From a Multiple Users/Uses Perspective\nAssessment of irrigation performance is often \nseen as an important management tool to aid \nirrigation projects to deliver on their promises \n(Molden et al. 2007). Performance assessments \nhave long been managerial in nature and limited \nto hydraulic, agronomic and economic indicators. \nMore recently, they have been broadened \nto account for multiple uses of water, and \nenvironmental and gender dynamics (Bos et al. \n2005; Meinzen-Dick and van der Hoek 2001; \nvan Koppen 2002). Institutional economists \nhave also successfully argued for recognizing \nthe institutional dimension of performance, \nwhen identifying ‘guiding principles’ for robust \nand enduring institutions for common property \nresource management (Ostrom 1990). This \nquick review shows that irrigation performance \nassumes multiple meanings for different people \nand purposes (Molden et al. 2007; Venot and \nCecchi 2011).\nIn this section, we engage with the meaning \nand assessment of the performance of small \nreservoirs for two types of actors – the extension \nagents of the Ministry/Bureau of Agriculture \nand the local users. The former act as brokers \nSource: This study.\nNote: Figure 4(b): blue dots represents a single small reservoir.\nbetween policy-making/planning and project \nimplementation: their interpretation of events is \npassed on to higher levels of decision making \nthrough the state apparatus; they are effectively \nthe ‘foot soldiers’ of national governments that \nseek rapid irrigation development. Local users, \non the other hand, are the final stewards of small \nreservoirs and projects are implemented in their \nname. Results of regional appraisals show that \nagricultural extension agents who were asked \nto assess the performance of small reservoirs \non a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good), \nconsidered that between one-third and two-thirds \n The situation \nwas deemed particularly critical in Ethiopia while \nZambia and Burkina Faso have the highest \nproportion of reservoirs with average and high \nperformance (Figure 5).\nIn all the countries, design and infrastructure \nproblems were identified as the main causes \nfor poor performance (in addition to siltation in \nthe case of Ethiopia). Lack of proper planning \nand design and limited technical knowledge \nof contractors has not only rendered some \n(a) (b)\n16\nreservoirs unusable but has also proven to be \ncostly. Within a time span of 10 years, some \nsmall reservoirs have been rehabilitated twice \nor thrice due to the poorly executed projects. \nA support mission by the Food and Agriculture \nOrganization of the United Nations (FAO) on \nsmall reservoirs in northern Ghana, confirms the \nassertion of faulty design and poor quality of work \ndue to lack of technical know-how and inadequate \nsupervision (World Bank and FAO 2007). Finally, \nthe lack of community management in the form of \na WUA was identified in all countries as another \nmajor cause for the low performance of small \nreservoirs.\nExtension agents assess the performance \nof small reservoirs through an engineering \nlens and in line with the objective of irrigation \ndevelopment. By voicing a concern over poor \nperformance while reiterating the potential for \nirrigation benefits, extension agents provide a \nrationale for national governments to call upon \nexternal donors or their own governmental \nagency to fund rehabilitation or construction \nof small reservoirs. It also reinforces a ‘build-\nneglect-rebuild’ cycle that characterizes the \npublic irrigation sector of sub-Saharan Africa. \nThe relatively satisfactory assessment of the \nperformance of small reservoirs by extension \nFIGURE 5. Performance of small reservoirs: the point of view of extension agents.\nSource: This study.\nagents in Burkina Faso and Zambia is due \nto their explicit acknowledgement of watering \nlivestock as being one of the main objectives and \npurposes of small reservoirs.17\nAnother level of complexity emerges from \ninvestigating the perceptions of local users. In \nmost of the 37 communities studied in northern \nGhana and southern Burkina Faso, the local \npopulation expressed a level of satisfaction \nsimilar or higher than the extension agents (see \nTable 4). \n17 Somehow, contradictorily, extension agents in Burkina Faso give a lower-than-average score to reservoirs that do not command downstream \nirrigated areas; this clearly illustrate their ‘irrigation-bias’ towards performance. \n(a) (b)\nSource: This study.\nTABLE 4. Perceptions of local users and extension agents \n Extension agents Local users\nAverage performance 3.1 4.1\nStandard deviation 1.1460 0.6117\nVariance 1.3570 0.3863\nP-value  0.02476\nWe then explored the satisfaction of users \naccording to four main aspects: the physical \ninfrastructure, the modes of management, the \nbenefits derived and the equity aspects of small \nreservoirs. Similarly to the assessment carried out \nwith extension agents, local users also pointed to \n17\npoor technical and managerial performance. They, \nhowever, showed a higher level of satisfaction \nregarding the benefits they derived and the equity \naspects of small reservoirs, showing that the latter \nare invested with social meaning (for a similar \nargument on natural resources, see Cleaver 2000). \nPopulations value small reservoirs for \nmultiple reasons. Table 5 presents the results of \na free-listing exercise, during which local users \nwere asked to identify the three main benefits \nthey derived from small reservoirs. Benefits have \nbeen categorized into four main groups: basic, \nsocial, economic and environmental based on \nthe answers given. \nother activities. Limiting floods during the rainy \nseason, improved greenness and biodiversity, \nand sustaining alternative economic activities \n(fisheries, brick-making, local breweries and \npaid agricultural labor) are also perceived as \nmajor benefits of small reservoirs. However, rural \ncommunities are not homogenous. The surveys \nrevealed that small-scale water users (e.g., the \npoor, youth, women and fishermen) tend to give \nhigher satisfaction scores when irrigation activities \nare little developed. Conversely, they face \ndifficulties to reap direct benefits when intensive \ncultivation becomes the main goal or is the main \nactivity. Performance ratings and satisfaction \nSome benefits are clearly linked to irrigation \ndevelopment (e.g., improved food security; \nenhanced productive activi t ies; improved \nincome), but the local population also value \nsmall reservoirs for other reasons. For instance, \nsmall reservoirs are said to (a) improve water \navailability for livestock and domestic uses, thus \nlimiting migration; and (b) play a positive role \non women’s position within their household, \nnotably because they can spend less time \nfetching water and divert that time towards \nlevels depend on the vantage point of the actor \nconsidered and are a reminder of the need (and \ndifficulties) to coordinate and integrate multiple \nusers and social groups around a common \nresource such as a small reservoir. Recognizing \nmultiple modes of access to, and uses of, small \nreservoirs calls for reviewing our understanding \nof their economic performance and modes \nof governance (Box 2; see the section, Local \nArrangements for Management: Questioning the \nWUA Model). \nSource: This study.\nImproved food security 58\nBathing 58\nImproved access to domestic water (drinking/cooking) 55\nEnhance women’s position within the household 45\nRecreation 41\nReduced migration (for domestic/livestock watering) 40\nImproved water availability for livestock 70\nImproved income from productive activities 49\nImproved greenness and increased biodiversity 38\nImproved weather conditions (freshness) 29\n18\nLocal Arrangements for Management: Questioning the WUA Model18\nBox 2. A cursory look at the economic performance and unplanned development of \nsmall reservoirs.\nThe economic benefits of irrigation have been widely documented (see, for instance, Hussain and \nHanjra 2004; Hanjra et al. 2009). Small reservoir-based irrigation makes no exception. On average, a \nsmall reservoir serves about 2,500 people (e.g., about 400 households) and, among them, 50 to 100 \nhouseholds may take up irrigation activities in the downstream irrigated area. A survey of 16 small \nreservoir sites in Ghana indicate that irrigators can derive, on average, USD 350/household/year (with \nsignificant differences between households and small reservoir sites); this is equivalent to 5 months of \nwork of a single individual if the minimum daily wage set up by the Ministry of Finance and Economic \nPlanning of Ghana is considered. Small plot size (0.1 to 0.5 ha, depending on the allocation rules set by \nthe implementer) does not allow for significant surplus production and makes irrigation only marginally \nprofitable when compared to other economic opportunities that are generally sought for in nearby or \ndistant urban centers. However, small plots can allow for enhanced equity (with more beneficiaries) \nand have beneficial impacts on nutrition. Positive impacts of small reservoirs on the revenue of farmers \nhave also been documented in Zambia. NCG (2010) showed that access to small reservoirs induced a \nsignificant change in cropping patterns (from staple to vegetable crops) leading to a 70% increase in \nfarmers’ income. Similar observations have been found in Ethiopia, where access to small reservoirs \nis said to induce an increase in income of 12 to 66% (AFD and REST 2003). The trend towards \nspontaneous development of a private pump-based, small-scale irrigation upstream of reservoirs, as \nobserved in northern Ghana and Burkina Faso (and to a lesser extent, in Zambia), brings about significant \nbenefits as well. It is not uncommon that the ‘unofficial’ irrigated area around the reservoir is much larger \nthan the official command area downstream. For example, the Korsimoro Reservoir in Burkina Faso \nofficially irrigates a command area of 35 hectares of rice downstream of the dam while more than 1,000 \nfarmers pump water directly from the reservoir to irrigate 250 ha of vegetables upstream during the dry \nseason. Such a practice is highly profitable (up to ten times the profitability of downstream irrigation; \nNdanga Kouali 2011) but raises environmental (over-abstraction, resource degradation and pollution from \nagrochemicals) and governance issues. Economics of other small-reservoir based productive activities \n(livestock herding, fisheries, brewery, etc.) remain mostly unknown, but are likely to be significant. Katrien \nDescheemaeker (Assistant Professor, Wageningen University, pers. comm.) identified that small reservoirs \ncan have a significant impact on livestock productivity and health, by limiting the movement of herds and \ncontributing to fodder production.\nfor maintaining, managing and enhancing \nthe performance of small reservoirs (see, for \ninstance, IFAD 2009). In most cases, however, \nthese WUAs remain promoted by outsiders \nrather than being the expression of a collective \ndecision-making process emerging from the \ncommunity. \nTo counter problems associated with alleged \npoor performance, the current blueprint for \nsmall-scale irrigation development is one of \nparticipatory community-led projects. However, \nas what can be described as a discursive \nshift, project implementers have asserted the \nprimacy of WUAs as being the rightful entities \n18 This section builds on Venot (2011).\n19\nThe performance and success of small \nreservoir projects is now partly determined by \nthe number of WUAs that are set up alongside \nconstruction/rehabilitation work. Extension \nagents articulate this view; they express that \nthe presence of WUAs is positively correlated \nto good performance (the proportion of WUAs \namong reservoirs that are performing well is \nhigher than among reservoirs that are performing \npoorly: Figure 6(a)).19 Encouraging at first, \nthis assessment and the conclusions that are \ngenerally inferred are, in fact, questionable. First, \nin absolute terms and among the reservoirs \nthat are performing well (a score equal to or \ngreater than 3), there are as many reservoirs \nwith than without WUAs (not shown in Figure \n6). This entails that the presence of a WUA is \nneither a prerequisite nor a guarantee for the \ngood performance of small reservoirs. Second, \namong the 37 detailed case studies carried \nout, there was no clear correlation between \nthe level of satisfaction of local users and the \npresence or absence of a WUA. Rather than \ncreating the conditions for collective action \nand sustainable management, the WUA has \nbecome an ‘institutional fix’, which, by its very \npresence, is a pledge of the performance of \nsmall reservoirs. This ‘institutional fix’ is drawn \nfrom new institutional economics (Ostrom \n1990), which highlights the importance of clearly \ndefined user groups, structures of authority, \nrigorous application of graduated sanctions and \ntransparent decision-making that is codified in \nwritten records (Cleaver 2000).\nThe presence of clear structures of authorities \n(such as WUAs) is, for example, often considered \nas a prerequisite to any interventions (see among \nothers, IFAD 2009), which is something local \ncommunities are fully aware of. The raison d’être \nof many village organizations in West Africa is \nindeed, “to wait for an external partner willing to \nwork in the village” (Bernard et al. 2008: 2198); \ntheir underperformance then being generally \nattributed to sociopolitical externalities such \nas the refusal of elites to relinquish powers, \ntheir tendency to corner benefits, and the lack \nof financial resources and professionalism. \nHowever, this framing overlooks the complexity \nand historicity of institutional formation.\nWhile looking for the ‘right institution’, \ndevelopment actors have adopted an over-\nformalized approach to institutional formation (for \n19 Ethiopia stands alone with less than 10% of the small reservoirs having a WUA, irrespective of their performance level. This is linked to \na more centralized system giving the primacy to the Bureau of Agriculture and farmer cooperatives over WUAs. In Zambia, the declining \nproportion of small reservoirs with a WUA (performance level of 3 and more) is not significant; it also shows that the existence of a WUA is \nneither a prerequisite nor a guarantee for the performance of small reservoirs.\n(b)\nFIGURE 6. Performance, WUAs and the main decision makers as perceived by extension agents.\n(a)\nSource: This study.\n20\na critique, see Cleaver and Franks 2005). They \nengaged in, and sustained, a true search for \npanacea, which has been repeatedly critiqued \n(see, for instance, Ostrom et al. 2007) notably \non the ground that it does not account for the \npolycentric nature of governance and decision \nmaking over natural resources (see, for instance, \nMcGinnis 1999). We suggest here that in their \ninsistence to establish “one-mode-fits-all” (the \nWUA), small reservoir projects embody narrow \nvisions of the commons and participation. By \nasserting the primacy of WUAs as the rightful \nentities for maintaining and managing small \nreservoirs, projects undermine existing collective \naction institutions; institutions that may actually \ncontribute to the good governance of small \nreservoirs.\nThis is not to say that WUAs do not have a \nrole to play, but that major shortcomings (both \nprocedural and structural) still remain for them \nto be able to fully contribute to the sustainable \ngovernance of small reservoirs. For instance, \ndevelopment partners still consider local actors as \nbeing recipients or ‘beneficiaries’ playing a given \nrole in an overall ‘concept’ (GTZ 2003) rather than \nbeing participants with an agency in a community-\nled project. When stating that “the failure to \ncomplete the appraisal target [was] partly due \nto the time wasted ‘sensitizing’ the communities” \n(IFAD 2009: 291), project workers and designers \nshow the little value they give to interacting with \ncommunities and considering their priorities over \nthe need to achieve targets that assume what “is \ngood for the communities”.\nStructurally, WUAs appear to convey the \nexperiences, perceptions and priorities of some \nsegments of the population only. Indeed, 85% of \nthe existing WUAs were centered on irrigators \nand less than half accounted for other small-\nscale water users, though the latter appear to \nderive less benefit when irrigation takes place.20 \nFurther, only 30 to 50% of the WUA (depending \non the country) counted women as members, \nand rarely were they holding an executive \nposition. Finally, WUAs do not account for the \nde facto institutional bricolage (Cleaver 2000) \nand the multiple collective action institutions \nthat contribute to the governance of small \nreservoirs (Figure 6(b)).21 These actors assume \ndifferent and complementary roles along the \nproject cycle (see Figure 6; Table 6). Water \ncommittees (e.g., WUAs) were identified as \nbeing the main decision-making body on small \nreservoirs in only about one quarter of the \ncases, and their main tasks were considered \nas minor maintenance and daily management \n(Table 6). Line ministries and government \nagencies are rarely identified as being the main \ndecision makers, but their role in procurement \nand construction processes and in supporting \nfarmers (extension, marketing) is seen as crucial \n(Table 6). Finally, traditional authorities are seen \nas the most important decision makers regarding \nthe uses and management of reservoirs in about \n25% of the cases. They are crucial in settling \ndisputes, resolving conflicts, maintaining social \ncohesion (when ad-hoc resolution mechanisms \nhave not yielded any results), and overseeing \nland allocation and redistribution (Table 6). On \nthe one hand, traditional authorities can lend \ntheir authority to the members and actions of \nthe WUAs (Table 6). On the other hand, there \nis evidence that traditional authorities can \nsimply corner responsibilities and associated \nbenefits. Finally, many decisions are reached \nthrough consensus building at the community \nlevel  (extension agents considered the \ncommunity to be the main decision maker in \n20 For instance, spontaneous irrigators (called ‘pirates’ in Francophone West Africa) are rarely members, nor do they feel accountable to the \nWUA (if it exists); typically, they do not contribute to the decision-making process on water allocation, to maintenance activities or meetings, \nand do not pay water fees.\n21 For the sake of clarity, we only present data for Burkina Faso and Ghana. Analysis for Zambia yielded similar results. In Ethiopia, where little \ndata were collected, results tend to indicate the existence of multiple decision makers, with the Bureau of Agriculture and farmer cooperatives \nplaying the most significant role.\n21\n22% of the cases) without a specific organization \nbeing singled out. This is especially true in \nZambia where most daily management tasks \n(maintenance, oversight of water delivery) \nwere seen as being the responsibilities of the \n‘community’ as a whole rather than those of a \nmanagement committee.\nWe do not  suggest  that  a t tempts  a t \ninstitutional building are doomed to failure. \nRather, we fully share the views of Cleaver and \nFranks (2005) who, diagnosing that institutions \npartly elude design, argue that attempts at \ninstitutional intervention should be based on a \nmuch better understanding of social relationships, \nexisting processes of decision-making and \nresource allocation. Small reservoir projects \nprove indeed to be the object of “competing \nforms of institutionalization: one backed by \nprojects, the State and its bureaucracy, encoded \nin official language and often exercised with \nTABLE 6. Repartition of responsibilities in the management of small reservoirs.\nConstruction 39% 5% 30% 6% 3% 2% 4% 2% 3%\nMajor maintenance 41% 13% 6% 18% 2% 8% 4% 3% 3%\nMinor maintenance 4% 0% 0% 5% 4% 34% 46% 6% 3%\nSetting of management rules 4% 0% 0% 4% 23% 40% 23% 6% 2%\nImplementing, monitoring rules 5% 0% 0% 4% 12% 47% 24% 6% 4%\nRelation with other actors 14% 1% 0% 10% 11% 39% 19% 3% 5%\n60% 22% 13% 1% 2%\nEnvironmental protection 9% 0% 0% 4% 9% 33% 34% 10% 3%\nExtension role 69% 2% 0% 2% 2% 5% 2% 0% 6%\nAgricultural practices and marketing 12% 0% 0% 1% 4% 12% 13% 49% 6%\nLi\nne\n m\nin\nis\ntri\nes\nD\non\nor\ns\nC\non\ntra\nct\nor\ns\nLo\nca\nl g\nov\ner\nnm\nen\nt\nTr\nad\niti\non\nal\n a\nut\nho\nrit\nie\ns\nU\nse\nr c\nom\nm\nitt\nee\ns/\nW\nU\nA\nC\nom\nm\nun\nity\nFa\nrm\ner\ns\nO\nth\ner\ns\nSource: This study.\nNote: †\nrespectively; we do not present data for Ethiopia, where only 26 sites were surveyed.\nthe propos of modern statehood; the other the \ninstitutionalization of informal practices more or \nless grounded in ideas and values embedded \nin institutions seen as distinct from colonial and \npost-colonial state. The competition often unfolds \nas one form of practice undercuts the other and \noffers ways of circumventing and replacing the \nother” as highlighted by Benjaminsen and Lund \n(2002: 2) in the case of land and water rights. \nThe issue is to understand these overlapping \ndynamics that define a true, but de facto, \npolycentric governance regime (McGinnis 1999) \nrather than assuming that an imposed and \nostensibly apolitical organization can convey local \ndynamics and priorities. In the context of sub-\nSaharan Africa, understanding the institutional \nrelationships that govern small reservoirs, and \nthe way they link to broader political trends such \nas decentralization and IWRM policies, becomes \ncrucial (Box 3).\n22\nConclusion\nDonors and national governments have long \ninvested in small, communally managed reservoirs \nin rural sub-Saharan Africa. Investments have \nmimicked broad changes in rural development \nthinking, and were grounded in a dual rationale of \nproviding water for drought relief and developing \nirrigation activities. Over the past decade, there \nhas been a renewed interest in small reservoirs \ndue to concerns over climate change and the \nrelated uncertainty of water supplies to people, \ncrops and livestock. In regions where other \nsources of water (groundwater, perennial rivers) \nare not easily accessible, small reservoirs play \na crucial role in providing water and supporting \nmultiple livelihood strategies such as livestock \nrearing, small business water use, handicraft \nactivities and, increasingly, small-scale irrigation. \nThough most  smal l  reservo i rs  were not \nconstructed and are not being used for agricultural \npurposes per se, the development and academic \ndiscussions around further investments have \nprogressively shifted towards irrigation. Because \nof this emphasis towards productive uses, a \ndifferent set of issues has emerged.\nDonors and governments started questioning \nthe high investment costs and disappointing \nperformance of small reservoirs. Further concerns \nare raised over the ability of communities to \nproperly operate, manage and maintain their water \ninfrastructure (i.e., the dam, reservoir, canals and \nother irrigation infrastructure). A common response \nto such problems has been to call for ‘more’ user \nparticipation; such calls have led to the creation, \nand sometimes training, of WUAs that have been \nheralded as the rightful entities for managing and \nmaintaining small reservoirs at the local level.\nBased on extensive fieldwork in Burkina \nFaso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia, this research \nstudy critically assessed the claims of high \ncosts, underperformance and usefulness of \nWUAs. First, the claim of underperformance is \nnot shared universally among those involved in \nBox 3. Structuring space: The importance of small reservoirs in IWRM policy in   \nBurkina Faso\nThe case of Burkina Faso clearly illustrates that small reservoirs are more than irrigation infrastructure; \nthey are sociopolitical constructs and can act as conduits for policy moves. Small reservoirs have long \nbeen seen as key elements of an active irrigation development policy (MAHRH 2006). At the same time, \nthe country has been engaged in the framing and implementation of an IWRM policy since the late \n1990s. Central to this policy framework is the establishment of water management entities on the basis \nof hydrological boundaries, notably the Agence de Bassin (five basin agencies have been set up in the \ncountry) and the Comité Local de l’Eau (CLE) (local water committee) at the local level (the CLE are \nmeant to oversee watersheds of 2,000 to 5,000 square kilometers (km2)). To date, about 30 CLE have \nbeen set up (Petit and Baron 2009; Sally et al. 2011). Initially envisaged as consultation platforms that \nwould bring together multiple water stakeholders to drive water management at the watershed level, most \nCLEs were actually set up to oversee the management of a specific small reservoir, thus acting as a dam \nor water user committee (Sally et al. 2011). This shows the ‘reworking’ that global policy models, such as \nIWRM, go through to meet local (in this instance, national) priorities and concerns (ensuring productive \nand sustainable small reservoir-based irrigation), and also the role that small reservoirs can assume as \nvehicles of policy choices (far beyond irrigation activities).\n23\nsmall reservoirs. Various groups rate performance \ndifferently, using different criteria. Government \nofficials and extension agents of line ministries, \nfor example, point to limited irrigated area, \nlow yield and damaged infrastructure; they \nrate the performance of small reservoirs much \nlower than local users, who put a high value \nto multiple uses and equity aspects. Second, \nthe report concludes that high construction \ncosts are not inherent to the small reservoir \n‘technology’ and hence not inevitable. The main \ncause of high investment costs appears to be \npoor planning and implementation practices, often \nunderpinned by corrupt behavior. This research \nstudy reinforces earlier studies (Inocencio et \nal. 2007) which highlighted that badly planned \nand ‘underperforming’ irrigation projects are, \ngenerally, an order of magnitude more costly \nthan well-planned projects. Poor planning \nand implementation is also a cause for low-\nquality construction; hence making it difficult for \ncommunities to properly operate and maintain \ninfrastructure later on. Small reservoir projects \nhave been ‘locked-in’ a similar ‘build-neglect-\nrebuild’ cycle, as explained by Shah (2009) \nfor the public irrigation sector in South Asia. \nThe most common answer to these challenges \nto date, forming WUAs, may not be the most \nappropriate response to the alleged lack of the \nability and willingness of communities to manage \nand maintain water infrastructure. In practice, \nan institutional bricolage of formal and informal \narrangements underpins various aspects of the \nmanagement of small reservoirs. For example, \ntraditional authorities (such as village chiefs \nand land priests) often play a crucial role in \nconflict management while government officials \nplay a key role in construction, procurement \nand agricultural extension. Imposing a new \nstructure as the only legitimate decision-making \nbody may be counterproductive, particularly \nbecause one type of user (irrigators) tends to \nbe overrepresented in WUAs. Further, in all \ncountries, the governance of small reservoirs \nneeds to be thought within broader policy trends \nsuch as IWRM and decentralization.\nThis report calls for a fresh look at issues \npertaining to small reservoirs. Performance \nneeds to be assessed from different vantage \npoints that consider multiple uses, outcomes and \nperceptions. Irrigation is only one of many uses \nof these infrastructures; not necessarily the one \nthat dominates or is most sought after by the \npopulation. WUAs are not the only legitimate \ndecision-making bodies for the management \nof small reservoirs. Before introducing newly \nformed water committees, small reservoir projects \nwould do better to explore how they could build \non existing institutional arrangements. There is \nroom to improve planning and implementation \nprocesses to achieve positive outcomes. This is, \nmaybe, the main lesson of this study. Greater \ntransparency and more open discussions about \nmalpractices would be a good starting point. \nThis is not an easy task because many actors \nalong the planning and implementation chain are \ninvolved in an intricate web of small lapses of \nintegrity and oversight. However, stakes are high: \nlowering investment costs, improving construction \nquality and ultimately enhancing the multiple \nbenefits of small reservoirs for villagers in water-\nscarce rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.\n24\nReferences\nPlateau of northern Ethiopia. The Geographical Journal 170(3): 226-237.\nAFD (Agence Française de Développement) and REST (Relief Society of Tigray). 2003. Assessment of impacts of \nREST/AFD irrigation development projects in Tigray. Tarbes, France: Compagnie d’Aménagement des Coteaux \nde Gascogne (CACG); Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: WIBD Consult.\nAgWater Solutions Project. 2011. Small reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa. Learning and discussion brief. Colombo, \nSri Lanka: AgWater Solutions Project Secretariat.\nAlam, M. 1991. Problems and potential of irrigated agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Irrigation and \nDrainage Engineering - ASCE 117(2): 155-172.\nAlbergel, J.; Nasri, S.; Lamachère, J.M. 2007. Les lacs et barrages collinaires: infrastructures hydrauliques \nd’aménagement et de conservation des terres agricoles en zone semi-aride méditerranéenne. In: Territoires et \naridité au nord et au sud du Sahara: La lutte contre la dégradation des terres, bilan des acquis et nouvelles \nperspectives de recherche, actes du séminaire, organise a tunis le juin 13, 2005. Sols de Tunisie 38(numéro \nspécial 2): 7-20.\nAndreini, M.; Schuetz, T.; Harrington, L. (Eds.). 2009. Small reservoirs toolkit. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International \nWater Management Institute (IWMI). Available at www.smallreservoirs.org/full/toolkit/ (accessed on May 4, 2012).\nAnnen, C. 2001. Promotion of small-scale irrigation in food insecure woredas of Ethiopia. Report submitted to the \nInternational Development Association. Washington: The World Bank.\nAnnor, F.; van de Giesen, N.; Liebe, J.; van der Zaag, P.; Timant, N.; Odai, S.N. 2009. Delineation of small \nreservoirs using radar imagery in a semi-arid: A case study in the upper east region of Ghana. Physics and \nChemistry of the Earth 34(4-5): 309–315.\nBashar, K.E.; Kizaa, M.; Chane, B.; Seleshi, Y. 2003. Draft research proposal on assessment of existing micro \ndams in Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. Addis Ababa: Nile Basin Capacity Building Network River Engineering, \nEthiopian River Structure Cluster, micro-dam Group Proposal. Unpublished manuscript.\nBenjaminsen, T.; Lund, C. 2002. Formalisation and informalisation of land and water rights in Africa: An introduction. \nEuropean Journal of Development Research 14(2): 1-10.\nBernard, T.; Collion, M.H.; de Janvry, A.; Rondot, P.; Sadoulet, E. 2008. Do village organizations make a difference \nin African rural development? A study for Senegal and Burkina Faso. World Development 36(11): 2188–2204.\nBierschenk, T. 2010. States at work in West Africa: Sedimentation, fragmentation and normative double-binds. \nInstitut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität. Working Paper No. 113. Mainz, \nGermany: Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität.\nBirner, R.; McCarthy, N.; Robertson, R.; Waale, D.; Schiffer, E. 2010. Increasing access to irrigation: Lessons \nlearned from investing in small reservoirs in Ghana. Paper presented at the workshop on “Agricultural Services, \nDecentralization, and Local Governance”, June 3, 2010, Accra, Ghana. \nBoelee, E.; Cecchi, P.; Koné, A. 2009. Health impacts of small reservoirs in Burkina Faso. Colombo, Sri Lanka: \nInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI). 40p. (IWMI Working Paper 136).\nBos, M.G.; Burton, M.A.; Molden, D. J. 2005. Irrigation and drainage performance assessment: Practical guidelines. \nWallingford, UK: CABI. 166p. \nBoufaroua, M.; Slimani, M.; Alouini, A. 2003. . Paper \npresented at the 20th ICID European Conference. Montpellier, September 14-19, 2003.\nCecchi, P. (Ed.). 2007. L’eau en partage. Les petits barrages de Côte d’Ivoire. Paris: IRD Editions.\n25\nCecchi, P.; Meunier-Nikiema, A.; Moiroux, N.; Sanou, B. 2009. Towards an atlas of lakes and reservoirs in \nBurkina Faso. In: Small reservoirs toolkit, (eds.), Andreini, M.; Schuetz, T.; Harrington, L. Colombo, Sri Lanka: \nInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI). Available at www.smallreservoirs.org/full/toolkit/ (accessed on \nMay 4, 2012).\nChambers, R.; Pacey, A.; Thrupp, L.A. 1989. . United \nKingdom: Intermediate Technology Publications.\nCleaver, F. 2000. Moral ecological rationality, institutions and the management of common property resources. \nDevelopment and Change 31(2): 361-383.\nCleaver, F.; Franks, T. 2005. How institutions elude design: River basin management and sustainable livelihoods. \nBCID Research Paper No. 12. Bradford, United Kingdom: University of Bradford.\nFAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2008a. National Investment Brief - Niger. Paper \nprepared for the High-Level Conference on Water for Agriculture and Energy in Africa: The Challenges of Climate \nChange, Sirte, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, December 15-17, 2008.\nFAO. 2008b. National Investment Brief - Mali. Paper prepared for the High-Level Conference on Water for Agriculture \nand Energy in Africa: The Challenges of Climate Change, Sirte, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, December 15-17, 2008.\nFAO. 2008c. National Investment Brief - Zambia. Paper prepared for the High-Level Conference on Water for \nAgriculture and Energy in Africa: The Challenges of Climate Change, Sirte, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, December \n15-17, 2008.\nFaulkner, J.W.; Steenhuis, T.; van de Giesen, N.; Andreini, M.; Liebe, J. 2008. Water use and productivity of two \nsmall reservoir irrigation schemes in Ghana’s Upper East Region. Irrigation and Drainage 57(2): 151-163.\nFerguson, J. 2007. Formalities of poverty: Thinking about social assistance in neoliberal South Africa. African \nStudies Review 50(2): 71-86. \nForkuor, G. 2005. Modeling optimum areas for constructing small reservoirs in Ghana. Unpublished Master’s thesis. \nUnited Kingdom: University College London (UCL), Department of Geomatic Engineering.\nFromageot, A.; Cecchi, P.; Parent, F.; Coppietiers, Y. 2006. Ruptures économiques sans ruptures sociales: le \nmaraîchage et la santé des paysanneries sénoufo entre résilience et vulnérabilité. Annales de Géographie \n115: 49-68. \nGhebreyesus, T.A.; Haile, M.; Witten, K.H.; Getachew, A.; Yohannes, A.M.; Yohannes, M.; Teklehaimanot, H.D.; \nLindsay, S.W.; Byass, P. 1999. Incidence of malaria among children living near dams in northern Ethiopia: \ncommunity based incidence survey. British Medical Journal 319(7211): 663-666.\nGoG (Government of Ghana). 2010. National irrigation policy, strategy and regulatory measures. Accra, Ghana: \nGovernment of Ghana/Foof and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).\nGTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH). 2003. Le Concept sur la construction, \nla réhabilitation et l’exploitation durable de petits aménagements hydroagricoles dans le sud-ouest du Burkina \nFaso. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques \n(MAHRH) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.\nHanjra, M.A.; Ferede, T.; Gutta, D.G. 2009. Reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa through investments in water \nand other priorities. Agricultural Water Management 96(7): 1062-1070.\nHobbs, N. 2005. . LSE/DESTIN \nWorking Paper No. 05-65. London, United Kingdom: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)/\nDevelopment Studies Institute (DESTIN).\nHussain, I.; Hanjra, M.A. 2004. Irrigation and poverty alleviation: Review of the empirical evidence. Irrigation and \nDrainage 53(1): 1-15. \n26\nIFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). 2009. Republic of Ghana Northern Rural Growth Programme \n(NRGP) - Design document appraisal Vol. 2. Working Papers 1-5. Rome: International Fund for Agricultural \nDevelopment (IFAD).\nInocencio, A.; Kikuchi, M.; Tonosaki, M.; Maruyama, A.; Merrey, D.; Sally, H.; de Jong, I. 2007. Costs and \nperformance of irrigation projects: A comparison of sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions. Colombo, \nSri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). (IWMI Research Report 109).\nKi, F.; Ndanga-Kouali, G.; Tankoano, J.P. 2010. Étude diagnostique de la gestion du barrage de Mogtédo. \nOuagadougou: West African Irrigation Project (WAIPRO), International Water Management Institute (IWMI). \nfrancineki.pdf (accessed on May 4, 2012).\nLaamrani, H.; Boelee, E.; Ait Lhaj, A. 2006. Are small dams and reservoir hills in mountains a development \nengine? In: Proceedings of the National Conference of the Moroccan Association of Agro-Economists. Rabat, \nDecember 1-2, 2005.\nLankford, B.A. 2005. Rural infrastructure to contribute to African agricultural development: The case of irrigation. \nReport for the Commission for Africa. Norwich, United Kingdom: Overseas Development Group (ODG), \nUniversity of East Anglia.\nLiebe, J.; van de Giesen, N.; Andreini, M. 2005. Estimation of small reservoir storage capacities in a semi-arid \nenvironment: A case study in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30(6-7): \n448-454.\nLiebe, J.; van de Giesen, N.; Annor, F. 2009. Near real time monitoring of small reservoirs with remote sensing. \nIn: Small reservoirs toolkit, (eds.), Andreini, M.; Schuetz, T.; Harrington, L. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International \nWater Management Institute (IWMI). Available at www.smallreservoirs.org/full/toolkit/ (accessed on May 4, 2012).\nMAHRH (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques). 2006. Politique nationale \nde développement durable de l’agriculture irriguée. Stratégie, plan d’action, plan d’investissement à l’horizon \n2015 - Rapport principal. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Hydraulique et des \nRessources Halieutiques (MAHRH). Available at www.agriculture.gov.bf/SiteAgriculture/documents/default.html \n(accessed on May 4, 2012).\nMartin, E.D.; Yoder, R. 1987. Institutions for irrigation management in farmer-managed systems: Examples from \nthe hills of Nepal. Digana village, Kandy, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI). 19p. \n(IIMI Research Paper No. 5).\nMartinez, G.; Shordt, K. 2008. Sealing water aid against corruption: Donor interventions, donor responsibilities. In: \nGlobal corruption report: Corruption in the water sector, (eds.), Zinnbauer, D.; Dobson, R. Cambridge, United \nKingdom: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 82-84.\nMbinji, J. 2011. Country synthesis Report: Zambia small dams. Report submitted to the AgWater Solutions Project \nSecretariat. Unpublished document.\nMcCartney, M.; Smakhtin, V. 2010. Water storage in an era of climate change: Addressing the challenge of increasing \nrainfall variability. Blue paper. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 14p.\nMcCully, P.; Pottinger, L. 2009. Spreading the water wealth: Making water infrastructure work for the poor. Ecology \nLaw Currents 36: 177-184. \nMcGinnis, M.D. (ed). 1999. Polycentric governance and development: Readings from the workshop in political theory \nand policy analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.\nMdemu, M.V.; Rodgers, C.; Vlek, P.L.G.; Borgadi, J.J. 2009. Water productivity (WP) in reservoir irrigated schemes \nin the upper east region (UER) of Ghana. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 34(4-5): 324-328. \nMeinzen-Dick, R.S.; van der Hoek, W. 2001. Multiple Uses of Water in Irrigated Areas. Irrigation and Drainage \nSystems 15(2): 93-98. \n27\nMolden, D.; Burton, M.; Bos, M.G. 2007. Performance assessment, irrigation service delivery and poverty reduction: \nIrrigation and Drainage 56: 306-320.\nMolle, F.; Cadier, E. 1992. Manual do pequeno açude (Manual of the small dams). Recife, Brazil: Superintendência \ndo Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (SUDENE). Available at http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/\ndivers/36063.pdf (accessed on May 4, 2012).\nMorardet, S.; Merrey, D.; Seshoka, J.; Sally, H. 2005. Improving irrigation project planning and implementation \nprocesses in Sub-Saharan Africa: Diagnosis and recommendations. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water \nManagement Institute (IWMI). 91p. (IWMI Working Paper 099). \nMorris, P.H. 1991. Statement of policy: Progress review of the drought relief dam construction project, Southern \nProvince. Part 1 - Main Report. Choma, Zambia: Irrigation and Land Husbandry Branch, Department of Agriculture.\nMorsli, B.; Habi, M.; Hamoudi, A. 2007. Contraintes et perspectives des aménagements hydroagricoles et \nla Francophonie), Novembre 6-9, Hanoi, Vietnam.\nMugabe, F.T.; Hodnett, M.G.; Senzanje, A. 2003. Opportunities for increasing productive water use from dam water: \nA case study from semi-arid Zimbabwe. Agricultural Water Management 62(2): 149-163.\nNamara, R.; Horowitz, L. 2009. Typology of irrigation systems in Ghana. Report submitted to the AgWater Solutions \nProject Secretariat. Unpublished document.\nNCG (Nordic Consulting Group). 2010. Economic analysis of the impact of small dams on rural poverty in Zambia. \nCopenhagen: Nordic Consulting Group.\nNdanga-Kouali, G. 2011. Gestion de l’eau agricole et économie des usagers du barrage de Korsimoro (Burkina \n. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: International Water Management \nInstitute (IWMI). Unpublished manuscript.\nNEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development). 2003. Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development \nProgramme (CAADP). South Africa: New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). \nOstrom, E. 1990. Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge, United \nKingdom: Cambridge University Press.\nOstrom, E.; Janssen, M.A.; Anderies, J.M. 2007. Going beyond panaceas. Proceedings of the National Academy \nof Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 104(39): 15176-15178.\nPalanisami, K.P. 2008. Irrigation tanks: A new way forward - Focus on tanks in South India. Paper prepared for the \n4th World Water Congress, Istanbul, Turkey.\nPetit, O.; Baron, C. 2009. Integrated Water Resources Management: From general principles to its implementation \nby the state. The case of Burkina Faso. Natural Resources Forum 33(1): 49-59.\nSakthivadivel, R.; Fernando, N.; Brewer, J.D. 1997. Rehabilitation planning for small tanks in cascades: A \nmethodology based on rapid assessment. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute. \n37p. (IIMI Research Report 13).  \nSally, H.; Lévite, H.; Cour, J. 2011. Local water management of small reservoirs: Lessons from two case studies in \nBurkina Faso. Water Alternatives 4(3): 365-382.\nSanguan, P. 2000. Tank irrigation systems in Northeast Thailand: Past, present and future outlook. Khon Kaen, \nThailand: Khon Kaen University.\nSavy, M.; Martin-Prével, Y.; Traissac, P.; Eymard-Duvernay, S.; Delpeuch, F. 2006. Dietary diversity scores and \nnutritional status of women change during the seasonal food shortage in rural Burkina Faso. The Journal of \nNutrition 136(10): 2625-2632.\nShah, T. 2009. Taming the anarchy: Groundwater governance in South Asia. Washington, DC: Resources for \nthe Future Press.\n28\nSichingabula, H. 1997. Problems of sedimentation in small dams in Zambia. Human impact on erosion and \nsedimentation. Proceedings of the Rabat Symposium, April 1997. IAHS Publication No. 245.\nSugunan, V.V. 1997. Fisheries management of small water bodies in seven countries in Africa, Asia and Latin \nAmerica. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 933 FIRI/C933: Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United \nNations (FAO). Available at www.fao.org/docrep/w7560e/w7560e00.HTM (accessed on May 4, 2012).\nTurner, B. 1994. Small-scale irrigation in developing countries. Land Use Policy 11(4): 251-261.\nVaishnav, T. 1994. Increasing food production in sub-Saharan Africa through farmer-managed small-scale irrigation \ndevelopment. Ambio 23(8): 524-526.\nvan Koppen, B. 2002. A Gender performance indicator for irrigation: Concepts, tools and applications. Colombo, Sri \nLanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 42p. (IWMI Research Report 59). \nVenot, J.P. 2011. What commons? Rethinking participation in the sub-Saharan African water sector. Paper \npresented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC), \nHyderabad, India, January 10-14, 2011.\nVenot, J.P.; Andreini, M.; Pinkstaff, C.B. 2011. Planning and corrupting water resources development: The case of \nsmall reservoirs in Ghana. Water Alternatives 4(3): 399-423.\nVenot, J.P.; Cecchi, P. 2011. Valeurs d’usage ou performances techniques: Comment apprécier le rôle des petits \nbarrages en Afrique subsaharienne. Les Cahiers de l’Agriculture 20(1-2): 112-117.\nVenot, J.P.; Hirvonen, M. Enduring controversy: Small reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa. Accepted for publication in \nSociety & Natural Resources. Forthcoming.\nVenot, J.P.; Krishnan, J. 2011. Discursive framing: Debates over small reservoirs in the rural South. Water \nAlternatives 4(3): 316-324.\nWCD (World Commission on Dams). 2000. Dams and development: A new framework for decision-making. London, \nUK: Earthscan Publications Ltd.\nWorld Bank. 2007. World Development Report 2008. Washington, DC: World Bank.\nWorld Bank. 2008. Zambezi River Basin: Sustainable agriculture water development. Washington, DC: World Bank.\nWorld Bank and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2007. Ghana Community-Based \nRural Development Project (CBRDP), FAO/CP support mission, April, 2007. Aide memoire. Unpublished document.\nYoder, R. 1994. Locally managed irrigation systems: Essential tasks and implications for assistance, management \ntransfer and turnover programs. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI). 106p. \n(IIMI Monograph 3).\n29\nAppendix 1. Country Maps: Locating Small Reservoirs.\nSmall reservoirs in Ghana and Burkina Faso\nSource: This study; based on data from the Direction Générale des Ressources en Eau (DGRE) for Burkina Faso, and Forkuor (2005) for Ghana.\n30\nSmall reservoirs in Zambia\nSource: (a) Sichingabula 1997, and (b) this study. \nSmall reservoirs in Tigray, northern Ethiopia\nSource: This study; based on data from the Bureau of Agriculture, Tigray, Ethiopia.\n(a) (b)\n31\nAppendix 2. Small Reservoirs in Selected Countries.\nCountry Number (source) Country Number (source)\n        Sub-Saharan Africa  Middle East and North Africa \nBurkina Faso > 1,700 (Andreini et al. 2009) Algeria > 1,000 (Morsli et al. 2007)   \n(as per 2003)  (in the 2000s)\nEthiopia (Northeast) > 110  Morocco > 120 (Laamrani et al. 2006)  \n(as per 2005)  (as per 1997)\nGhana > 1,000 Tunisia > 610 (Boufaroua et al. 2003)  \n(as per 2009)  (in the 2000s)\nIvory Coast > 600 (Cecchi 2007) Syria > 50 (Albergel et al. 2007)   \n(as per 1996)  (as per 2005)\nMali ~ 800 (FAO 2008b)       \n(as per 2008)  Rest of the world\nMauritania ~ 350 Brazil (Nordeste) > 70,000 (Molle and Cadier 1992)  \n(in the 2000s)  (as per the 1990s)\nMozambique > 600 (World Bank 2008) India > 208,000 (Palanisami 2008)  \n(in the 2000s)  (as per the 2000s)\nNiger ~ 100 (FAO 2008a) Mexico ~ 12,000 (Sugunan 1997)   \n(as per 2008)  (as per the 1990s)\nUganda > 425 (Bashar et al. 2003) Thailand ~ several thousands (Sanguan 2000)  \n(as per 1997)  (as per the 2000s)\nZambia 2,000-3,000 (NCG 2010) Sri Lanka > 15,000 (Sakthivadivel et al. 1997)   \n(as per 2010)  (as per the 1990s)\nZimbabwe ~ 10,000 (Sugunan 1997)       \n(as per 1997) \n \nSource:\non locally (i.e., country or region) relevant criteria.\n\nElectronic copies of IWMI's publications are available for free.\nVisit\nwww.iwmi.org/publications/index.aspx\nIWMI Research Reports\n144 Revisiting Dominant Notions: A Review of Costs, Performance and Institutions \nof Small Reservoirs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Jean-Philippe Venot, Charlotte de \nFraiture and Ernest Nti Acheampong. 2012.\n143 Smallholder shallow groundwater irrigation development in the upper east region \nof Ghana. Regassa E Namara, J. A. Awuni, Boubacar Barry, Mark Giordano, \nLesley Hope, Eric S Owusu and Gerald Forkuor. 2011.\n142 The impact of water infrastructure and climate change on the hydrology of the \nUpper Ganges River Basin. Luna Bharati, Guillaume Lacombe, Pabitra Gurung, \nPriyantha Jayakody, Chu Thai Hoanh and Vladimir Smakhtin. 2011.\n141 Low-cost Options for Reducing Consumer Health Risks from Farm to Fork Where \nCrops are Irrigated with Polluted Water in West Africa. Philip Amoah, Bernard \nKeraita, Maxwell Akple, Pay Drechsel, R. C. Abaidoo and F. Konradsen. 2011. \n140 An Assessment of Crop Water Productivity in the Indus and Ganges River \nBasins: Current Status and Scope for Improvement. Xueliang Cai, Bharat R. \nSharma, Mir Abdul Matin, Devesh Sharma and Sarath Gunasinghe. 2010.\n139 Shallow Groundwater in the Atankwidi Catchment of the White Volta Basin: \nCurrent Status and Future Sustainability. Boubacar Barry, Benony Kortatsi, \nGerald Forkuor, Murali Krishna Gumma, Regassa Namara, Lisa-Maria Rebelo, \nJoost van den Berg and Wolfram Laube. 2010.\n138 Bailout with White Revolution or Sink Deeper? Groundwater Depletion and \nImpacts in the Moga District of Punjab, India. Upali A. Amarasinghe, Vladimir \nSmakhtin, Bharat R. Sharma and Nishadi Eriyagama. 2010.\n137 Wetlands, Agriculture and Poverty Reduction. Matthew McCartney, Lisa-Maria \nRebelo, Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu and Sanjiv de Silva. 2010.\n136 Climate Change, Water and Agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Robyn \nJohnston, Guillaume Lacombe, Chu Thai Hoanh, Andrew Noble, Paul Pavelic, \nVladimir Smakhtin, Diana Suhardiman, Kam Suan Pheng and Choo Poh Sze. \n2010.\n135 Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Agriculture in Sri Lanka: \nA Review and Preliminary Vulnerability Mapping. Nishadi Eriyagama, Vladimir \nSmakhtin, Lalith Chandrapala and Karin Fernando. 2010.\nRelated Publications\nIWMI (International Water Management Institute). 2010. Dams and malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: \nInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI). 8p. (IWMI Water Policy Brief 034).\nwww.iwmi.org/Publications/Water_Policy_Briefs/PDF/WPB34.pdf\nMcCartney, M.; Smakhtin, V. 2010. Water storage in an era of climate change: Addressing the challenge of \nincreasing rainfall variability. Blue paper. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 14p.\nwww.iwmi.org/Publications/Blue_Papers/PDF/Blue_Paper_2010-final.pdf\nShah, T.; van Koppen, B.; Merrey, D.; de Lange, M.; Samad, M. 2002. Institutional alternatives in African smallholder \nirrigation: Lessons from international experience with irrigation management transfer. Colombo, Sri Lanka: \nInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI). 29p. (IWMI Research Report 060).\nwww.iwmi.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub060/Report60.pdf\nPostal Address\nP O Box 2075\nColombo\nSri Lanka\nLocation\n127 Sunil Mawatha\nPelawatta\nBattaramulla\nSri Lanka\nTelephone\n+94-11-2880000\nFax\n+94-11-2786854\nE-mail\niwmi@cgiar.org\nWebsite\nwww.iwmi.org\nISSN: 1026-0862\nISBN: 978-92-9090-750-3\nIWMI is a \nmember of \nthe CGIAR \nConsortium \nand leads \nthe:\n","tokenCount":"15362"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4416367557.json b/data/part_1/4416367557.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b64f3d95344b4f7ac674959e869db4df5f1b42ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4416367557.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1cfc362d7d343224a08d9ef9adf62a7c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/827879b7-9da1-46ba-88e4-cc8aa0ab4809/retrieve","id":"-1470275792"},"keywords":["agronomy","climate change adaptation","agricultural labor","rainfed rice","soil and nutrient management"],"sieverID":"5c562099-416b-4a35-bbf4-7c7b1afc39e0","pagecount":"15","content":"Rice production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has increaed ten-fold since 1961, whereas its consumption has exceeded the production and the regional self-sufficiency rate is only 48% in 2020. Increase in rice production has come mainly from increased harvested area. Yield increase has been limited and the current average yield in SSA is around 2 t ha −1 . This paper aims to provide the status quo of (i) current rice production and its challenges, (ii) selected achievements in rice agronomy research mainly by the Africa Rice Center and its partners, and (iii) perspectives for future research on rice agronomy in SSA. The major problems confronting rice production include low yield in rainfed environments, accounting for 70% of the total rice harvested area. Rainfed rice yields are strongly affected by climate extremes such as water stresses, soil-related constraints, and sub-optimum natural resource management and crop management practices by smallholder farmers including poor water management, and suboptimal use of fertilizers, herbicides, and machineries. For alleviating these constraints, a wide range of technologies have been developed and introduced over the last three decades. These include water conservation technologies in rainfed and irrigated lowland rice, site-specific nutrient management practices, decision support tools such as crop growth simulation models, and labor-saving technologies. We conclude that further research efforts are needed to develop locally adapted agronomic solutions for sustainable intensification, especially in rainfed rice to enhance the resilience to climate change and increase land and labor productivity and sustainability of rice cultivation in SSA.Rice (Oryza spp.) is one of the most important staple crops for food security and social stability in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Its consumption has been increasing more rapidly than any other staple crop (Arouna et al., 2021). This rapid increase is driven by high population growth, urbanization and changing consumer preferences in the region. Recently reaching CONTACT K. Saito kazukisaito50@gmail.com; k.saito@irri.org one billion inhabitants, SSA has had the highest population growth rate in the world with a mean increase of 2.5% per annum between 2007and 2016(The World Bank, 2022). During the same period, rice consumption has increased, at a rate of 6% per annum, and is expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future (FAO, 2022).In response to its growing demand in SSA, rice production has increased ten-fold since 1961 (FAO, 2022). This has resulted mostly from both an expansion of rice harvested area and, albeit to a lesser extent, an increase in rice production per unit of land (referring to as yield). Between 2000 and 2020, the harvested area increased from 6.9 million ha to 16.6 million ha, whereas the gain in rice yield was limited, increasing from 1.7 to 2.1 t ha −1 only (FAO, 2022). Recent yield levels are still much lower than the global average which is around 4.8 t ha −1 . Furthermore, on average in SSA countries, actual yields are less than half of the potential yield (Yp) or waterlimited yield (Yw) (van Oort et al., 2015), suggesting that doubling rice yield is possible. 'Yp' is defined as the maximum yield that can be obtained from a crop in a given environment, as determined by simulation models with plausible physiological and agronomic assumptions. Under irrigated conditions, potential yield is determined by climate (solar radiation and temperature), varietal characteristics and crop establishment methods including sowing date and density. Under rainfed environments, 'Yw' is affected by water availability (Saito et al., 2013). In 2020, rice consumption in SSA was estimated to be 32.2 million tons of milled rice, which was partially fulfilled by the importation of approximately 15.6 million tons (equivalent to 33% of the world market), indicating that the self-sufficiency rate in SSA is only 48%. The large gap between demand and supply for rice has pointed the attention of African governments and international donors to efforts strengthening the rice sector to achieve self-sufficiency in SSA (Arouna et al., 2021;Saito et al., 2015).The objectives of this paper are to provide the status quo of (i) rice production and its main challenges, (ii) selected achievements in rice agronomy research mainly by Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and its partners, and (iii) perspectives for future research on rice agronomy in SSA. An edited book, published 10 years ago (Wopereis et al., 2013), and a recent special issue in Field Crops Research (Rodenburg & Saito, 2022) provided comprehensive reviews on historical efforts on agronomy research. This paper does not intend to summarize their reviews, but provide complementary information, which were missing in those reviews, and present perspectives for future research, building on these publications. Thus, the main foci in this paper are on (i) climate risks and associated crop management practices in rainfed environments, (ii) soil-related constraints, and (iii) labor issues in rice cultivation. First, we summarize characteristics of rice-growing environments and farmers' rice cultivation practices, and some of the sustainable rice performance indicators (SRP, 2020) such as yield and profit of three rice-growing environments based on recent studies. Second, we discuss climate risks, soil-related constraints and labor issues in rice cultivation. Then, we showcase some of the key technologies developed by Africa Rice Center and partners, addressing various challenges, and we discuss perspectives for future research.In SSA, rice-growing environments comprise irrigated lowland, rainfed lowland, and rainfed upland, with deepwater and mangrove rice being of minor overall importance. Irrigated lowland, rainfed lowland, rainfed upland, and others account for 22%, 40%, 35%, and 4%, respectively, of the total rice area in SSA (Diagne et al., 2013). Surface-water regimes and water sources (e.g., irrigation, rainfall, water table) distinguish the rice-growing environments. Irrigated lowlands comprise bunded fields with assured irrigation for one or more crops per year. Rainfed lowlands include slightly sloping, unbunded or bunded fields on waterlogged soils, often found in lower parts of the landscape such as lower slopes and valley bottoms of inland valleys. Rainfed uplands refer to level or sloping, unbunded fields on free-draining soils.On-farm surveys in nineteen SSA countries showed that mean rice yields were 4.0, 2.6, and 1.6 t ha −1 in irrigated lowland, rainfed lowland, and rainfed upland, respectively (Tanaka et al., 2017; Table 1). Similarly, three recent studies (Arouna et al., 2021;Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020;Ibrahim et al., 2022) showed higher rice yields from irrigated lowlands (4.1 and 5.0 t ha −1 , respectively) than other environments (Table 1). The yields of irrigated lowland rice obtained in these studies are similar to the global average which is around 4.8 t ha −1 contradicting the general perception that rice yields in SSA are low. National-level statistics on rice yields, feeding this perception, do however not differentiate rice-growing environments and their share of harvested areas. The low national yield level in SSA is attributed to a relative larger area share of rainfed lowland and upland rice that inherently have lower yields. Boosting rice production in SSA should be possible through the expansion of irrigated rice cultivation (Saito et al., 2013), or by improving yields from rainfed rice growing environments.Irrigated rice cultivation can be characterized by a higher profit associated with higher yield, resulting from higher inputs including seed, chemicals, and machinery for land preparation, lower plot sizes, and better field leveling compared to the other two major rice-growing environments (Table 1). In addition, farmers who grow irrigated lowland rice also often have better access to certified seed and mechanical tillage, conduct better land preparation (bunding, leveling) and transplanting, and apply higher N and P fertilizer application rates. Herbicide application levels are similar in irrigated and rainfed lowland rice, whereas labor inputs were not consistent across the three major rice-growing environments in these studies (Table 1). Apart from traditional equipment, machineries for planting, weeding, and harvesting are still not common except for a few cases such ashand-operated rotary weeders in Madagascar (Rodenburg et al., 2019) and combined harvesters in the Senegal River Valley, in Senegal. In contrast with irrigated and rainfed lowland rice, rainfed upland rice is grown with relative low input levels such as certified seed, fertilizers, and herbicides. Table 1 does not show separate data on the potassium (K) application rate as it is generally highly correlated with application rates of the two most deficient nutrients, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) (Ibrahim et al., 2022;Saito et al., 2019;Vandamme et al., 2018). The inconsistencies in data shown in Table 1 across studies (e.g., labor input) could be due to differences in the target countries and survey sites within a given country.Reported N fertilizer application rates, especially in irrigated lowland rice, are higher than expected based on national statistics (Table 1). Again, national-level statistics do not differentiate crops and rice-growing environments, and account for their relative shares of harvested areas. For example, when the mineral N application rate was calculated by dividing total N consumption by total arable land area, the N application rate in SSA remained less than 10 kg N ha −1 (Tsujimoto et al., 2019). Yet, a relatively higher N application rate to cereals was 2 Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. Farmers buying certified seeds with quality control or using self-saved seeds for a maximum of three crop cycles and with quality control (%). 3 Data from 11 West African countries only (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo). 4 Data from five East and Southern African countries only (Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Madagascar). 5 Land having been leveled or had soil conservation practices (%). 6 Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, and Uganda. Tanaka et al. (2017) did not include data from Senegal.observed in household surveys in SSA (Holden, 2018) and the N application rates observed in irrigated lowland rice, mainly studies from West Africa (e.g., Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020;Ibrahim et al., 2022), are similar to that in some of Asian countries (IFA, 2022). Yuan et al. (2021) recently quantified yield gaps and resource-use efficiencies (including water, pesticides, N, labor, energy, and associated global warming potential) across 32 rice cropping systems covering half of the global rice harvested area including SSA. The rice production in SSA is characterized by large yield gaps, low use of chemical inputs (inorganic N fertilizer, pesticides), high risks of soil N mining, and high labor inputs. Relative higher labor inputs in SSA are associated with a relative lower use of machines. Rice production in SSA tended to have a lower global warming potential per area, but a higher yield-scaled global warming potential due to low yields. Hence, rice in SSA would need a larger production area for reaching a given production target, which, ultimately, would lead to a larger environmental impact. Furthermore, rainfed rice environments in SSA tend to have a lower yield stability than those in other regions (Saito et al., 2021;Supplementary Fig.4 in;Yuan et al., 2021).It has been frequently reported that low rice yields in SSA are caused by a range of biophysical and socioeconomic constraints that impose abiotic and biotic stresses on the rice crop during its growth cycle (Asai et al., 2021;Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020;Ibrahim et al., 2021;Niang et al., 2017Niang et al., , 2018;;Saito et al., 2013;Senthilkumar et al., 2020). Although the constraints are site-and rice-growing environmentspecific, soil-related constraints including iron toxicity and salinity, extreme temperatures, drought (water scarcity, and poor water management in irrigated and rainfed lowlands), flooding, weeds, diseases, pests, and suboptimal land and crop management interventions are the major factors causing low yields. Production risks arising from these constraints aggravate farmers' resource use inefficiency (Mujawamariya et al., 2017). As mentioned in the introduction section, we do not describe all the constraints to rice production in SSA in this paper but instead will focus on (i) climate risks and associated crop management practices to mitigate them in rainfed environments, (ii) soilrelated constraints, and (iii) labor issues in rice cultivation.It is well-recognized that cropping systems with low potential yield (Yp) or water-limited yield (Yw) typically exhibit high year-to-year yield variability (van Ittersum et al., 2013;van Oort et al., 2017;Yuan et al., 2021). This is especially the case for rainfed environments in SSA, which have both drought and flooding risks (Saito et al., 2021;Yuan et al., 2021). The harsh and variable climate generally limits maximum productivity and makes investment in agricultural inputs riskier. Year-toyear variation in Yw in rainfed rice in SSA is much higher than that in simulated Yp in irrigated lowland rice (Saito et al., 2021;van Oort et al., 2017), indicating a higher risk in rainfed rice. Using a 20% threshold, yield loss due to water stress (Yw/Yp < 0.8), 24% of all rainfed lowland sites and 76% of all rainfed upland sites in SSA were classified as suffering from drought (van Oort, 2018). With such risk, farmers' agricultural inputs are generally lower in rainfed rice than irrigated lowland rice, as shown in Table 1. Therefore, farmers in rainfed environments tend to be trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty: low investment leading to low productivity, resulting in a small income, and low capital accumulation leading to low investment. There are a few studies showing year-to -year variation in yield based on data from field experiments or surveys, i.e., 4-year field survey/experiment in Benin (Niang et al., 2018) and a 6-year experiment in Côte d'Ivoire (Husson et al. 2022). Both studies clearly showed large yield variation in rainfed environments (1.1 to 2.9 t ha −1 in Niang et al., 2018; 0.7 to 2.1 t ha −1 in Husson et al., 2022), and indicated a strong association between yield variation and rainfall or soil water conditions. Furthermore, spatial variation in soil water status strongly affects variation in yield response to N fertilizer application (Niang et al., 2018). Together with the evidence from these studies, greater climate variability predicted in future climate scenarios, resulting in increased rainfall extremes, greater risks, and a negative impact on agriculture calls for urgent development of climate change adaptation options in rainfed environments in SSA (Akpoti et al., 2020;Müller et al., 2011).Spatial and temporal impact of flooding on rice has not been quantified yet (van Oort et al., 2019). However, it has been considered that early-season flash flooding and submergence greatly impair rice production in the rainfed lowlands of SSA (Devkota et al., 2022).Soil fertility is inherently low in SSA and has been considered as one of the major constraints to rice production (Diagne et al., 2013;Haefele et al., 2013;Tsujimoto et al., 2019). Recent studies used digital soil maps for assessing soil-related constraints to rice production at the African continent level (Haefele et al., 2014;Saito et al., 2013;van Oort, 2018). Soil constraints, in general, are more common in rainfed rice than irrigated lowland rice (>75% v. 52% in poor and very poor soils) (Saito et al., 2013), whereas a relative higher percentage of problem soils (mainly saline and sodic soils) is observed in irrigated lowland rice than rainfed rice (18 vs. 2-3%). Haefele et al. (2014) identified drought-prone soils (with low soil water-holding capacity) as a major constraint to rice production in SSA. Quantitative estimates by van Oort (2018) showed that 20-33%, 12%, and 2% of Africa's total rice area, were potentially affected by drought, iron toxicity, and soil salinity/alkalinity, respectively.A recent study assessed the degrees of variation of 19 soil fertility properties for 2845 soil samples collected from 42 study sites in 20 SSA countries (Johnson et al., 2019). The majority of soil samples were collected from farmers' fields. Soil fertility properties in rice-cultivated fields across SSA varied largely except for pH. In general, soils in rice fields were characterized by low chemical fertility and high deficiencies in total N, available P, and extractable B. Furthermore, Johnson et al. (2021) assessed concentrations of six macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S) and seven micronutrients (Na, Fe, Mn, B, Cu, Mo, and Zn) in grain and rice straw samples collected at harvest from 1628 farmers' fields in 20 SSA countries. N, P, and K concentrations in rice straw in irrigated lowland fields were higher than in rainfed lowland and upland. From the studied fields, 2%, 16%, and 16% of straw samples were deficient in N, P, and K, respectively. K deficiency occurred in all three major rice-growing environments, whereas P deficiency mainly occurred in rainfed upland rice. Haefele et al. (2022) assessed soil fertility properties and nutrient concentrations in grain and straw samples in long-term experiments in the Senegal River Valley, Senegal, which included six different fertilizer treatments. The samples were collected in the 2016/17 dry season (after 26 years, implying 52 iterations of continuous rice cropping). In addition to N and P deficiencies, which are typically observed in nutrient omission trials (Saito et al., 2019), likely deficiencies of K, S and Zn are appearing in these experiments and may begin to limit rice yields in intensive irrigated lowlands. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, there are no long-term experiments (>20 years) on rainfed lowland and upland rice in SSA.The above-mentioned assessment was based on a comparison of soil fertility properties or crop nutrient concentrations observed in the literature. Quantification of relationships between soil fertility properties or plant nutrient concentration and rice productivity remains a challenge (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020;Niang et al., 2017Niang et al., , 2018;;Zingore et al., 2022). In most cases, rice yield was not strongly related to soil fertility properties assessed by soil tests. This also applied to data from nutrient omission trials; rice yields from -N, -P, or -K plots could not be simply estimated by total N, or total/extractable P or K in all three major rice-growing environments (Zingore et al., 2022). Further research is still needed for estimating yield response to indigenous soil nutrient supplies and fertilizers. The alternative is a heavy reliance on data on rice yield from nutrient omission trials (Saito et al., 2019), the establishment and monitoring of which requires substantial investment.Recently, micronutrient deficiency has been identified as one of the limiting factors for rice yield (Haefele et al., 2022;Johnson et al., 2021;Johnson et al., 2019). But, the results are inconsistent among study sites. Positive impacts of micronutrient fertilizer application on rice yield were observed in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Tanzania, but this was not the case for Niger and Uganda (Awio et al., 2021;Garba et al., 2018;Senthilkumar et al., 2021;van Asten et al., 2004). Thus, a site-specific approach is needed for enhancing rice yield via additional micronutrients.As indicated above, farmers' adoption of labor-saving technologies such as chemical inputs and machineries are limited for rice cultivation in SSA. Thus, rice cultivation requires significant manual labor inputs from both male and female farmers in SSA (Arouna et al., 2021;Ibrahim et al., 2022;Yuan et al., 2021). In addition, child labor is common in this region (Bass, 2004). The agricultural workforce contains a larger share of women than men (Palacios-Lopez et al., 2017). However, a recent study, which was conducted in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone, provided evidence that female farmers do not necessarily spend more time than men in rice cultivation in SSA (Kinkingninhoun et al., 2020).Land preparation, crop establishment, weeding, bird scaring, and harvesting are major interventions requiring substantial labor inputs for rice cultivation (Paresys et al., 2018;Komatsu et al., 2022). Delayed land preparation and crop establishment due to labor shortage or poor access to machinery tend to result in rice plants having more abiotic (e.g., lower rainfall or temperature at the end of wet season) and biotic stresses (e.g., birds) (Tanaka et al., 2015). Consequently, delayed planted rice tends to have lower yields. Competition from weeds is typically one of the major biophysical constraints, frequently leading to significant yield losses and sometimes to complete crop failure (Rodenburg et al., 2022). Without labor-saving technologies including herbicides or mechanical weeders, weeding is however very labor intensive. In rainfed upland rice, Ogwuike et al. (2014) reported that average yields of 1.2 t ha −1 are achieved after one manual weeding intervention requiring 179 h ha −1 and each additional weeding intervention, while requiring progressively less labor (130 hours ha −1 for second weeding, 125 h ha −1 for third weeding), improves yields by 0.5 t ha −1 . Weeding proved not only to reduce weed competition, but also decrease bird visits and concomitant rice grain losses from granivorous birds (Rodenburg et al., 2014). This is an important additional reason for farmers to invest in weeding because birds cause substantial damage in SSA. Annual bird damage is found to average 13% of the rice production in irrigated lowland rice. Farmers heavily rely on their traditional bird control techniques, e.g., manual bird scaring, flags, and scarecrows (de Mey et al., 2012).Based on the above, the introduction of labor-saving technologies (e.g., machineries, herbicides, early maturing varieties) for critical management operations is essential for enhancing yield as well as labor productivity. Furthermore, reducing the labor inputs for rice cultivation could also simply free time and improve farmer health and quality of life, create opportunities for other agricultural or off-farm activities, and free children from labor in favor of schooltime, thus improving their future opportunities (Brosseau et al., 2021;Kinkingninhoun et al., 2020).This section showcases some of the efforts made by Africa Rice Center and its partners to evaluate or develop technologies for addressing the challenges mentioned in section 3. This section will focus on (i) enhancing rice productivity in rainfed environments, (ii) soil and nutrient management practices, and (iii) labor-saving technologies.Rainfed lowland rice fields in SSA do not always have bunds and are often not well leveled (Niang et al., 2017). For reducing climate risks due to drought in rainfed lowland rice, water conservation technologies that involve leveled fields and improved bunding have been extensively tested and disseminated in SSA (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2022). Wherever possible, the construction of inlets for irrigation to have supplemental irrigation has been considered as one of the alternative approaches for adapting to climate change, as drought-resistant varieties cannot completely mitigate the risks for yield reduction due to drought (Asai et al., 2021;Grotelüschen et al., 2022;Onaga et al., 2020). For example, in Uganda, Onaga et al. (2020) reported that supplemental irrigation of 20 mm of water using sprinklers every 5 days during windows of dry weather starting from the panicle initiation stage significantly increased rice yield (by 37%), fertilizer use efficiency (by 54%), and profitability of rice cultivation (by 32%). Grotelüschen et al. (2022) quantified the impact of supplemental irrigation on yield in two sites of East Africa using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) over 30 years of historical weather data. Supplemental irrigation showed average yield gains of > 1.5 and > 0.4 t ha −1 in two sites. Reducing production risks could be important to foster intensification, as it would allow and incentivize farmers to invest more inputs (e.g. fertilizer), resulting in further yield increase (Niang et al., 2018). Where supplemental irrigation is not available or expensive, an APSIM model-based approach could deliver recommendations for optimum fertilizer application levels in drought-prone rainfed conditions (Grotelüschen et al., 2022). Models like APSIM or ORYZA2000 or ORYZAv3 can also be used to stimulate yield gain and risk related to sowing windows and variety options (Van Oort & Dingkuhn, 2021). However, such studies have not been undertaken yet in SSA for rainfed rice. The challenge is that such simulations require high-quality input data on soil parameters and local dynamics of soil hydrology (Van Oort & Dingkuhn, 2021). In contrast with rainfed lowland rice, climate change adaptation options such as sowing window, variety choice, and cropping pattern choice were recently evaluated for irrigated rice (van Oort et al., 2019).Up to now, there has been a limited number of studies on the evaluation of submergence-tolerant rice varieties that contain the Sub1 gene in SSA. Devkota et al. (2022) assessed the performance of two Sub1 varieties developed for West Africa under transplanted and wet-seeded conditions, in comparison with the predominant local variety (WITA 9). The fields were submerged for 1-2 weeks at 5-7 weeks after seeding. This study showed similar results to those observed in Asia, and the yield of the Sub1 varieties was 1.1-4.5 t ha −1 higher than that of the local popular variety WITA 9. Although the yield of the Sub1 varieties was not affected by the establishment method, wet seeding also reduced labor requirements and costs, and increased profitability. Thus, combining Sub1 varieties with wet seeding could provide cobenefits in terms of increased profitability and resilience to flash flooding as well as reducing labor inputs. Further evaluation of such combined packages in actual production environments is warranted.In rainfed upland rice, Asai et al. ( 2021) performed a meta-analysis to assess the impact of mineral fertilizer application on upland rice yield and to quantify the effects of soil texture and rainfall on the yield response to mineral fertilizer application. This study clearly showed the importance of rainfall, and higher rainfall is related to greater yield response to fertilizer. The effect of N fertilizer depends on soil type and is poor or negative on soils with a low clay content, especially under low rainfall conditions. The information aids in developing strategies for fertilizer management and other crop management practices. In soils with a high clay content, N fertilizer application is recommended to target higher yield because of the high return and low risk of a negative response, even under low rainfall conditions. Combining such fertilizer recommendations with highyielding varieties such as upland indica materials from Asia could enhance rice productivity further (Futakuchi et al., 2021;Saito et al., 2018). For areas dominated by soils with a low clay content and low and/or variable rainfall, water conservation technologies such as conservation agriculture including mulching, crop diversification options (e.g., rotating upland rice with maize and sorghum), and weather forecasting for fine-tuning fertilizer recommendations could also be considered. Recent studies showed that conservation agriculture practices or mulching only could reduce soil erosion (Rodenburg et al., 2020), improve upland rice yield, and reduce the year-to-year coefficient of variation (Bruelle et al., 2015;Husson et al., 2022;Partey et al., 2016;Totin et al., 2013). However, sometimes, yield increases with conservation agriculture have also been associated with increases, rather than reductions, in yield variability (Rodenburg et al., 2020). Among the above studies, three studies (i.e., Bruelle et al., 2015;Husson et al., 2022;Partey et al., 2016) showed that the yield levels obtained with conservation agriculture, even with inorganic fertilizer application, remained below 2 t ha −1 . In such conditions, a substantial increase in rice production is not expected, and more studies are needed for exploring crop diversification options having greater resilience to drought in terms of profit and crop production. Here, supplemental irrigation might be also considered. Again, evaluating various crops is needed for identifying their suitability under supplemental irrigation. Djagba et al. (2022) evaluated one of the soil digital soil maps (AfSoilGrids250m, Hengl et al., 2015) to examine if such digital soil information can predict soil fertility properties in rice fields in SSA for its potential use for the development of field-specific nutrient management recommendations. The results showed that at the field scale, the prediction accuracy of AfSoilGrids250m for pH (H 2 O), clay and silt contents, total N, and organic carbon were poor (R 2 <0.50). The best predictive performances were obtained when data were aggregated by site and rice growing environment combination, suggesting limitations of the use of soil digital information for fieldspecific recommendations. In 2021, Hengl et al. (2021) developed new, detailed pan-African maps of soil nutrients at a 30 m resolution. Evaluation of these maps is warranted for their use for field-specific nutrient management recommendations.Another advancement in the domain of research on soil and plant nutrient analyses for rice in SSA is the application of infrared spectroscopy for estimating soil fertility properties and plant nutrient concentrations. Good prediction models (R 2 >0.75) were obtained for 13 soil fertility properties including pH H 2 O, total N, total organic C, clay and silt content, exchangeable Ca, and exchangeable Mg, as well as 7 nutrients concentrations in rice plants, i.e. N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Cu (Johnson et al., 2021). These studies clearly show that diffuse reflectance spectroscopy can offer an efficient, rapid, and environmental-friendly alternative to conventional wet chemistry methods for assessing soil fertility properties and nutrient concentrations in rice plants in SSA. Chivenge et al (2021Chivenge et al ( , 2022)). reported progress in research and development of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). RiceAdvice was developed as an SSNM tool for rice in SSA, and its impact was evaluated (Arouna et al., 2021;Zossou et al., 2021). The yield gain obtained following RiceAdvice fertilizer recommendations was limited, and yields were generally still far from their potential. Emphasis is needed for integrating SSNM approach with other good agricultural practices such as land preparation, variety choice, crop establishment, and weed management. Furthermore, SSNM work for rice in SSA still focuses on irrigated rice or favorable rainfed lowland rice, i.e. where yield loss due to water stress is limited. Here, weather forecasting can be used for considering seasonal variation. Real-time adjustment of nutrient management based on weather data and crop growth could help improving farmers' decision-making. For improving nutrient use efficiency, fertilizer application methods such as application to nursery beds in transplanted rice and micro-dose placement in dry-seeded, dibbled rice were tested (Vandamme et al., 2016(Vandamme et al., , 2018)). But these studies focused on P only. Further studies should consider other nutrient elements. Senthilkumar (2022) reviewed the literature on crop and nutrient management approaches and innovations for rice in SSA. Out of 84 studies that dealt with nutrient management, only six studies were done on organic amendments (including green manures) and only four included micronutrients. With soaring inorganic fertilizer prices in SSA (Awio et al., 2022), future research should focus more on the use of renewable and locally available resources (e.g. rice husks, organic matter from crop residues or household waste). For example, Tippe et al. (2020) concluded that rice husks, widely and often freely available from local rice mills, could supplement part of the inorganic fertilizers required in both rainfed upland and lowland. What would be necessary is to quantify their availability and impact on a much larger scale and identify target domains for scaling. Yield responses to organic resources require evaluation and linking such observations with digital soil maps would be warranted to examine and understand site-specificity of gains from organic soil amendments. Furthermore, longterm soil health monitoring is needed to make sure that recommended fertilizer management practices would not have a negative impact on future environmental sustainability.Agronomists or crop scientists can play major roles in the above two topics, i.e. enhancing rice productivity in rainfed environments and improving soil and nutrient management practices. When it comes to testing laborsaving technologies, collaboration should be sought with mechanization experts and private companies (e.g., manufacturers, dealers, and service providers) with an interest in developing and upscaling technologies. Social scientists need to come to the table to gain (and apply) knowledge on gender and power dynamics and other socio-economic factors underlying needs and adoption of such technologies by farm actors. Agronomists or crop scientists would focus on onstation and on-farm field evaluation of these technologies before introducing them to farmers. Such evaluations could help further improving technologies as well. Social scientists could also play an important role in quantifying the impact of labor-saving technologies, on different user groups, in terms of labor savings and spinoffs thereof. It has been observed that the rate of women adopting labor-saving technology is low because its design is generally based on factors important to men (Vemireddy & Choudhary, 2021) and women in rural Africa are often faced with limited access to such technologies and training on their use (Achandi et al., 2018).Apart from testing of herbicides as part of integrated good agricultural practices, there were limited studies assessing the effect of labor-saving technologies on labor inputs for rice cultivation in SSA (Senthilkumar, 2022). Rodenburg et al. (2015) assessed potential time savings from mechanical weeders and herbicides, and Amponsah et al. (2017) evaluated the performance of combined harvesters. Johnson et al. (2019) worked with farmers to evaluate mechanical weeders. Labor-saving technologies for land preparation and crop establishment have so far not been considered for rice production in SSA. This does not mean that research on mechanization was not a high priority in rice agronomy research for AfricaRice and its partners (Rickman et al., 2013). There are several potential reasons for a limited publication record. First, mechanization specialists often focused on post-harvest technologies rather than rice production technologies. Consequently, the collaboration between mechanization experts and agronomists has been limited. Second, there is a scarcity of mechanization experts with academic backgrounds or interests. The focus of mechanization experts has been on the development side, rather than the experimental research and publication side. Information derived from factorial experimental research across environments and contexts would however be especially helpful for potential users who want to know more about benefits, costs, technical requirements and how to handle the machineries (Mujawamariya & Kalema, 2017).Within the One CGIAR, Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) for Sustainable Intensification and Climate Change Adaptation Initiative, which started in 2022, a strategic project on mechanization was initiated, which brings mechanization experts across different CGIAR centers together. The project explores appropriate mechanization options that can make an impact on improved efficiency of resources (i.e., land, water, nutrient, labor, and capital) and increase productivity at the field and farm level in a given location. Furthermore, it is essential to explore different mechanization service provision models that could help farmers implementing timely land preparation (e.g., two-wheel tractors), crop establishment (e.g., seeders and transplanters) and other rice cultivation practices such as motorized weeders for weeding and reapers for harvesting.This review shows that significant efforts in agronomic research for development have been undertaken to address the challenges in rice cultivation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite these efforts and achievements, however, considerable yield gaps in researchermanaged trials as well as farmers' fields persist. Further improving rice yield and closing the rice yield gaps across environments, is an essential objective for achieving food security and rice self-sufficiency. Sustainable intensification in rainfed lowlands and uplands offers substantial room for increasing rice production because total rainfed rice represents > 70% of the total rice harvested area in SSA. Agronomists and crop scientists should demonstrate how much the yield gap could realistically be closed with integrated crop management practices. We summarized the • Feasibility studies on use of seasonal weather forecasting for decision support for rice cultivation (Niang et al., 2018) Supplemental irrigation in rainfed lowland and upland riceIdentify target sites for introducing supplemental irrigation via ex-ante assessment (e.g. groundwater assessment, assessment of potential gain through supplemental irrigation using crop simulation models)Identify locally available and affordable irrigation methodsIntroduce and test supplemental irrigation with farmers Quantification of relationships between soil fertility properties or plant nutrient concentration and rice productivity through the use of advanced analytical approaches (infrared or X-ray fluorescence spectra and machine learning algorithms) (Breure et al., 2022;Leenen et al., 2019;Miao et al., 2023) • Testing of renewable and locally available resources (e.g. recycling of organic matter) and assessment of their impact on environmental sustainability for different rice-growing environments (Rodenburg et al., 2022) suggested research priority areas on a selected number of themes (Table 2). Collaboration needs to be strengthened among scientists from different disciplines. Breeders, soil scientists, crop modelers, remote sensing and GIS specialists, mechanization specialists, social scientists, and agronomists/crop scientists would play important roles in these priority areas. We believe that such collaborative efforts will deliver locallyadapted agronomic solutions for sustainable intensification especially in rainfed rice to enhance the resilience to climate change and increase land and labor productivity and sustainability of rice cultivation in SSA. In addition to such research efforts, enabling environments are essential for success in SSA, such as farmers' (particularly women) access to agro-input and machineries, training, extension systems, markets, and financial services. Engagement with public and private stakeholders is also needed for enhancing farmers' adoption of agronomic solutions.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.","tokenCount":"5978"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4420068519.json b/data/part_1/4420068519.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2401b4bcefc9123c36b7b9b3c96c3e9d76b8c563
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4420068519.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8048d991c4d5df188bea6e9c93faf713","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/301e3fd8-a9b4-4546-bb04-a6d7beea11f2/retrieve","id":"837798335"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2200aee-adaf-499d-a87e-06381b376e50","pagecount":"4","content":"eeting the dual challenges of achieving food security and responding to climate variability and change will require significant changes in agricultural practice in coming years. Climate-smart agriculture takes an ecosystem approach, working at the landscape level to increase productivity, enhance resilience to changing temperatures and rainfall patterns, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.A number of factors threaten agricultural productivity of African farmers. Many of Africa's soils are highly weathered and low in nutrients and soil carbon. As a result, they have limited capacity to retain the nutrients and soil moisture necessary for high yields. Climate variability and change pose additional challenges for producers. Some farmers are experiencing more frequent and intense storms that cause erosion, rainwater runoff, and crop damage, while others experience more frequent droughts. At the same time, rainfall patterns are becoming more variable with delayed onset and length of the rainy season and, in some cases, drought. These unpredictable patterns make it difficult for farmers to plan and manage their crops. Fortunately, there is a range of management practices and technologies that can be applied on-farm to increase agricultural resilience to climate stress.Other challenges to achieving food security include rapid population growth, limited access to agriculturerelated technical assistance, and lack of knowledge about profitable soil fertility management practices leading to expansion into less favorable land.A range of well-established restoration and management options can improve human livelihoods, repair ecosystems, and increase the resilience of both people and landscapes to climate change. The FAO (2010) highlights key components of climatesmart production systems that are relevant to farmscale management, including 6 Soil and nutrient management. Enhancing the availability of soil nutrients can be achieved by increasing soil organic matter (conservation agriculture, reduced tillage, continuous soil cover, composting); improved application of fertilizers (micro-dosing, controlled-release or deepplacement fertilizer technologies); and increasing fertility by integrating legumes into farming systems (grain-legume crop rotation, cover crops, relay crops, integration of leguminous trees onfarm). Improved land preparation practices that minimize soil disturbance and ensure that fields are ready to plant at the start of the rains can also significantly increase productivity. On-time planting allows crops to benefit from a nitrogen flush with the first rains. In Zambia, total maize production is reduced by 1.5% for each day planting is delayed (Garrity, 2009).6 Water harvesting and use. Capturing rainwater where it falls (ridge tillage, planting pits/zai holes and catchment ponds), retention of soil moisture (mulching, permanent soil cover) and increasing water productivity through irrigation and counter-season production can enhance overall yield. High runoff and low infiltration rates mean that only 15-30% of rainfall is available for crop production. However, water-harvesting technologies can reverse this trend. In Mali, adoption of improved ridge tillage increased water infiltration rates, allowing the soil profile to hold 17% more water while increasing soil carbon by an average of 8% per year. The result was a 30-50% increase in yield (Kablan et al., 2008). Trade policies that increase fertilizer prices relative to commodity prices and inefficient input markets that fail to provide timely delivery of high-quality fertilizer prove to be disincentives for fertilizer use. There is growing evidence that, where soil carbon content is low, the yield response from fertilizer application is not profitable for the farmer (Marenya and Barrett, 2009).Water management is another key constraint to agricultural productivity. Ninety-five percent of the food in sub-Saharan Africa is grown under rainfed agriculture (Rockstrom and Falkenmark, 2000), which is highly vulnerable to adverse weather conditions. The largest threat to rainfed agriculture is not overall water scarcity but extreme rainfall variability. This leads to more intensive rainfall events provoking runoff and erosion, while reducing infiltration rates. Variability can also cause longer intervals between rains, drying the root zone at critical points in the growing season, as well as more frequent and severe droughts resulting in crop failure. In the dry areas, water, not land, is the limiting factor in improving agricultural production. Maximizing water productivity, and not yield per unit of land, is therefore a better strategy for on-farm water management under such conditions. When water is scarce, higher farm income may be obtained by maximizing water productivity than by maximizing land productivity.pests due to changing climate regimes should be linked to on-farm practices such as integrated pest management and adopting resistant varieties to limit crop damage. A number of farming systems/approaches compatible with climate-smart agriculture are being adopted at a significant scale in Africa. These include the following:This is defined as having three key components: (1) minimal soil disturbance (no-till/low-till), permanent soil cover (mulch or cover crops), and crop rotation (Hobbs, 2007). According to the FAO, CA aims to conserve, improve, and make more efficient use of natural resources through integrated management of available soil, water, and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production.This is the integration of particular tree species into annual food crop systems (Garrity et al., 2010). The World Agroforestry Center introduced the concept of EA by highlighting experiences with farmer-managed natural regeneration of trees in the Sahelian Parklands and integrating agroforestry species into CA in Zambia and Malawi. Research indicates that the potential for significant productivity increases when trees are integrated into cropland.The process entails increasing agricultural production from the same area of land while reducing negative environmental impacts and increasing contributions to natural capital and the flow of environmental services.This is a landscape approach that supports rural communities to achieve three core goals: enhance rural livelihood, conserve or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, and develop more sustainable and productive agricultural systems. It recognizes farmers and communities as key stewards of ecosystems and biodiversity and the need for collective management of the landscape by a range of stakeholders (EcoAgriculture Partners, 2011).The design of climate-smart agriculture programs should pay close attention to the obstacles identified by FAO and other organizations and scientists working on climate-resilient agriculture programs.Key design issues include:6 Adopting an ecosystem approach with crosssectoral coordination and collaboration at the landscape scale is essential to adapt to climate stresses.6 A range of effective climate-smart practices already exists and could be introduced and scaled in developing country contexts.6 Institutional, technical, and financial support may be required to support smallholder transition to climate-smart agriculture.6 Data, knowledge, and technology gaps exist and should be addressed to support improved technologies, methodologies, and climate resilient varieties.6 Harmonization of climate change, agricultural, and food security policies is required at the national, regional, and international levels. ","tokenCount":"1077"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4427271861.json b/data/part_1/4427271861.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..335a11e1dca38b5da544921164e7a373a084d230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4427271861.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3d5f697b8a6188cb6fd84f57b60b3fcf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/caf8c153-7ffb-4482-acb0-032aede6ff01/retrieve","id":"-414047103"},"keywords":["Working groups","Credit: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT/R","Vernooy Bioversity International Headquarters Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a 00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino)"],"sieverID":"215e1005-ccb3-45ba-b79c-4cd5de77ea2c","pagecount":"20","content":"The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.On 27-30 March 2017, agriculture and environment representatives from nine South and Southeast Asian countries convened at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, the Philippines for a workshop on mutually supportive implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (\"Plant Treaty\" or ITPGRFA).The workshop was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in partnership with Bioversity International, the Secretariat of the Plant Treaty and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, in cooperation with the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity. The workshop was funded by the Japan Biodiversity Fund with additional financial support from the Secretariat of the Plant Treaty, Bioversity and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Ronnie Vernooy, Genetic Resources Policy Specialist, was the meeting facilitator.During the sessions, national focal points for the Nagoya Protocol and the Plant Treaty discussed mutually supportive implementation of the two international agreements, relevant for the exchange of propagation materials of agricultural crops. Representatives from Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines considered better complementarity in policies and procedures guiding exchange of plant materials for conservation or research. The list of participants is available in Annex 2.Report on the South and Southeast Asia Workshop for Nagoya Protocol and Plant Treaty National Focal Points, 27-30 March 2017, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, the Philippines.The objectives of the workshop were to:• Build links between national focal points of each participating country, and explore establishing links across countries.• Identify and analyze the challenges (and what is working well) in terms of implementing the two agreements within countries in mutually supportive ways.• Equip participants with tools to analyze and address real life scenarios that require making a decision on which of the two agreements applies to the specific situation.• Receive feedback on the kinds of support countries need to be able to implement the two agreements in mutually supportive ways.An overview of the workshop presentations, discussions and outcomes are provided below.The workshop Agenda with links to presentations is available in Annex 1. Workshop participants then shifted their attention to regional efforts to promote mutually supportive implementation. In the final phase of the workshop, participants were in solution-finding mode identifying ways to address challenges to mutually supportive implementation in their daily work.The event was concluded with a tour of IRRI's field plots and a field trip to the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity. Where are we, and how we got here: an overview of co-organizers joint activities Scenario D -Policy support for a regional response to a rapidly spreading disease You are the national Nagoya Protocol focal point. One of your national agricultural research organizations has recently become a member of a regional R&D consortium that was formed to respond to a disease -fusarium wilt -that is threatening banana production in your region. As part of the collective effort, the consortium partners have agreed to create a working collection of banana varieties, pooling together those varieties which they think may be good sources of genetic resistance to the disease. They have also agreed to share the different strains of the fungus that have appeared in their respective countries. The partners will need to exchange those genetic resources as part of their collective efforts to screen the different banana varieties to see how they respond to the different fungal strains. The fungus is spreading fast across the region; it may arrive soon in your country. So, you need to assemble the plant and fungal collections and get the work underway as soon as possible.• What laws apply? (please disregard biosafety aspects)• What can you do in the short term to help expedite things so that the consortium's work is not delayed by too much red tape?• What can you do in the longer term?• Would it make any difference if you were the national Plant Treaty focal point?You are the director of a national gene bank. You receive a request from a farmer community in another country for repatriation of rice varieties conserved in your collection.• Do you need to ask the farmers for any additional information?• Would you transfer it?• If so, under what kind of agreement?• Would it make any difference if you were the director of an international institution (hosting an international PGRFA collection) that had signed an agreement pursuant to Article 15 of the International Treaty?Scenario F -Legal space You are the head of a national crop gene bank. You have received a request from a researcher in a neighbouring country for samples of some taro from your collection. Your country has ratified the CBD, Nagoya Protocol and the Plant Treaty.F.1. There is no national law implementing any of these agreements.F.2. There is a national access and benefit sharing law that says all access to any genetic resources in the country must be subject to the PIC of the competent authority appointed by the minister of the environment and must include a number of mandatory benefit-sharing terms that are not consistent with the SMTA.For both cases (F.1 and F.2):• What do you do?• Why?You are the head of the national genebank. Your genebank holds a wide range of both Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 materials that have been collected over the last 30 years, most of it over 20 years ago.G.1. You receive a request from a research organization outside the country for rice germplasm to use in their breeding program.• Do you feel confident responding?• If not, why not?• If so, what will you do?G.2. You receive a request for some soybean (which is not included in Annex 1 of the Plant Treaty) materials that have also been in the gene bank for 20 years.• Do you feel confident responding?• If not, why not?• If so, what will you do?ANNEXES","tokenCount":"1012"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4445567563.json b/data/part_1/4445567563.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d9fc921ee645dc4c842d0d844e8ac1e6d92bea8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4445567563.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2d851c9560e9fbbc4b3d0a490247e566","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b3e1f975-605d-4ea5-8598-7776ea05c6a3/retrieve","id":"2121329708"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"950d677c-39ef-428a-9126-47be316063be","pagecount":"14","content":"Despite the numerous economic, social and environmental benefits of improved forages and forage-based production systems, adoption rates are still low, especially in Colombia and Nicaragua. This leads to a vicious cycle with numerous consequences, i.e.: Why is adoption so low?All kind of barriers: • To provide an overview on the economic viability of improved forage varieties in sustainably intensified cattle production systems in Colombia and Nicaragua.• Contribution to reducing financial and knowledge barriers of adoption. Example -Establishing a silvo-pastoral system in ColombiaNet income system ( US$ ha In all evaluated cases, the suggested interventions were superior to the respective base technologies, independent from the production system. Particularly, they:✓ increase the net income of the production system ✓ reduce unit production costs ✓ increase unit profit margins ✓ increase the Net Present Value making the investment economically viable ✓ increase the Internal Rate of Return and thus profitability ✓ reduce the risk of obtaining economic loss ✓ increase the benefit-cost ratio to above one, so that for every dollar invested, more than one dollar will be returned ✓ reduce the payback time, thus economic gains result earlier ✓ reduce the area required for a profitable system, thus less area is needed for obtaining the same results and the remaining area can be used for other purposes (e.g., environmental protection or crop cultivation)✓ reduce the sensitivity of the system to external shocks such as price and yield fluctuations• A good starting point for developing tailor-made recommendations for cattle producers and support the adoption process with urgently required information.• Relevant for extensionists, policy makers, and financial institutions that support the transition towards a more sustainable cattle sector.• The suggested interventions increase system resilience and reduce vulnerability, which becomes more relevant when climate change is considered.• They help to stabilize productivity throughout the year and thus, reduce imports (e.g., milk powder)• They help to produce more on less area, providing space for conservation, afforestation, or diversification","tokenCount":"322"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4469439524.json b/data/part_1/4469439524.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d2a769ef65af03883a081155cd2cbf2921115712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4469439524.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5d08f47a19e09b7b4a5e42f9ef6c4f7a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31d0cdb7-451e-448d-93bc-b1d31c55cbdc/retrieve","id":"-1692802987"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aaa54818-52f4-4e0d-ba42-cac6223e6ea7","pagecount":"45","content":"Sugerencias de planes y estrategias que podrían ser construidas con el apoyo de la metodología de escenarios futuros .Por sus condiciones socioeconómicas y su ubicación geográfica, Centroamérica y el Caribe conforman una de las regiones más vulnerables y amenazadas ante el cambio climático y su variabilidad. La región es afectada recurrentemente por fenómenos extremos como El Niño y La Niña, que involucran sequías, lluvias erráticas, ciclones cada vez más frecuentes e intensos. En el período 1995-2015, el índice de riesgo climático global clasificó a Honduras como el país más vulnerable ante eventos climáticos extremos en el mundo, mientras que Nicaragua está en cuarto lugar, Guatemala en el puesto 9 y El Salvador en el 15 (Kreft et al., 2016).En las regiones tropicales, entre las cuales están Centroamérica y la República Dominicana, el calentamiento global se ha observado con más fuerza que en el resto del planeta y es donde se esperan mayores cambios del clima en el futuro. Desde 1950, la temporada de lluvia ha comenzado cada vez más tarde, siendo más irregular en espacio y tiempo; el volumen total de las precipitaciones ha aumentado, así como la intensidad de las lluvias al inicio de la temporada (IPCC, 2014).La agricultura es un importante sector económico para la mayoría de países centroamericanos. La gran diversidad de condiciones agroecológicas de su territorio permite la producción de una amplia gama de actividades agropecuarias, tanto de productos para la exportación como para consumo de las poblaciones en los mercados locales. Aunque el sector agropecuario tiene una participación promedio de menos del 10 % del PIB, las exportaciones agrícolas son una importante fuente de divisas para los países, así como una significativa fuente de empleo y de medios de vida para sus habitantes. Además, el sector emplea entre un 15 % y un 40 % de la fuerza de trabajo, dependiendo del país (ODHAC, con datos Banco Mundial, 2015).La agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima (ASAC) 1 es un enfoque para desarrollar las condiciones técnicas, políticas y de inversión que potencien el desarrollo agrícola sostenible para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional en un contexto de variabilidad y cambio climático. La ASAC requiere inversiones relevantes en: gestión del riesgo climático, conocimiento y planificación para la transición adaptativa que sea necesaria, por ejemplo, en nuevos sistemas de producción o medios de vida. Además, es preciso aprovechar las oportunidades para la mitigación de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI), cuando esto sea posible (FAO, 2010).La adaptación es claramente la prioridad en los países en desarrollo, donde la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional y la reducción de la pobreza son los principales objetivos de la política agrícola (FAO, 2013). La nueva agenda de desarrollo sostenible presenta el desafío de avanzar en soluciones integrales que aborden aspectos sociales, económicos y ambientales. En este sentido, la agricultura bien enfocada permite avanzar no sólo en las metas de disminución de la pobreza y del hambre, sino también en el desarrollo económico sostenible (con equidad social, territorial y de género), en la industrialización sostenible, en el uso apropiado de los recursos naturales, en la protección de los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad, y en la acción para enfrentar el cambio climático.Por lo anterior, las estrategias que fomentan la ASAC deben buscar ser pertinentes en lo social, cultural y político, cuidando el medioambiente y sin dejar de ser factibles económicamente, para lograr un crecimiento agrícola sostenible, conjuntamente con la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de sus habitantes, abordando la adaptación al cambio climático y la mitigación de sus impactos.Los retos del desarrollo de planes y políticas en un entorno cambiante Ante la realidad del cambio climático, los gobiernos y otros actores recurren cada vez más a ejercicios de previsión para explorar posibles impactos de las futuras condiciones climáticas, con los nuevos escenarios climáticos y socioeconómicos del Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC, por sus siglas en inglés) como marco de referencia. Los países en vías de desarrollo, altamente vulnerables al cambio climático, están tratando de utilizar este tipo de estudios de prospectiva para guiar su planificación a largo plazo.Escenarios como una herramienta política para la planificación de la adaptación al cambio climático y la mitigación de su impacto Los escenarios son historias plausibles del futuro basadas en palabras, imágenes o números. En lugar de intentar pronosticar un solo futuro, los escenarios representan múltiples direcciones posibles que podrían tomar los futuros conductores del cambio (Figura 1) (van Notten et al. 2003). Se centran en impulsores contextuales de cambio para la agricultura y la seguridad alimentaria, el cambio climático y los cambios socioeconómicos (por ejemplo, en los mercados, la gobernanza, los desarrollos económicos generales y la infraestructura).Figura 1: Más allá de proveer un solo 'más probable' pronóstico para el futuro, los escenarios exploran múltiples futuros plausibles y concretos para la agricultura y la seguridad alimentaria. De esta forma, el conjunto de escenarios se acopla con un espectro de amplia futura incertidumbre para la prueba de planes, políticas, inversiones e investigaciones innovadoras (Fuente: elaboración propia).Los procesos guiados por escenarios permiten que actores clave de múltiples sectores participen en el análisis de futuras incertidumbres que influyan en el espacio de toma de decisiones (Figura 2).Figura 2: Los escenarios usados por CCAFS se enfocan en el contexto para la toma de decisiones. Los impulsores o motores de cambio, tales como el cambio climático y los impulsores socioeconómicos de gran escala, se encuentran fuera del control de quienes toman las decisiones. Los escenarios, después, exploran el significado de cambios en estos motores para asuntos que caben dentro del espacio de decisión de los tomadores de decisión, tales como los niveles de pobreza rural o los rendimientos en los cultivos (Fuente: Vervoort, 2014).Los escenarios buscan integrar retos para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, el ambiente y los medios de vida (el alcance de CCAFS) que permiten capturar las incertidumbres y complejidades de los sistemas interrelacionados con la agricultura, de una manera coherente y plausible, además de sorprendente y desafiante. Son una excelente herramienta para generar un compromiso compartido, construir relaciones, y producir nuevas ideas, así como para fomentar el desarrollo de la gobernanza colaborativa para mejorar las capacidades de adaptación, mitigación y de las políticas sostenibles.Los escenarios futuros de CCAFS son creados de manera participativa, junto con actores clave de múltiples disciplinas y niveles del sector público, privado, de investigación y la sociedad civil. Imaginar estos posibles mundos futuros y los caminos de desarrollo que implican permite identificar elementos clave para nuevos planes y políticas, a mediano y largo plazo, basados en necesidades futuras. Igualmente, permite corroborar supuestos sobre capacidades institucionales presentes y futuras, así como sobre la disponibilidad de recursos, posibles obstáculos y habilitadores.Su carácter inclusivo hace que sea una herramienta idónea para el desarrollo y la validación de políticas, con base en las necesidades de actores de diferentes sectores y niveles geográficos, incluyendo a los más vulnerables. Finalmente, el enfoque sistémico de escenarios posibilita que un amplio espectro de elementos influyentes al alcance de la política sea tomado en cuenta para su desarrollo y validación.El programa de escenarios futuros que forma parte del Programa de Investigación de CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) es apoyado por el Environmental Change Institute (ECI) de la Universidad de Oxford y el Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development de la Universidad de Utrecht, y se ha implementado a nivel global en seis regiones (este y oeste de África, sur y sudeste de Asia, los Andes y Centroamérica) desde 2011. El objetivo del programa global de escenarios futuros de CCAFS es que los escenarios socioeconómicos y climáticos futuros ayuden a los tomadores de decisión a desarrollar planes, políticas e inversiones nacionales y regionales más robustas para enfrentar los cambios en el clima. Estos escenarios buscan identificar futuras incertidumbres clave relativas a la capacidad de los países para adaptarse al cambio climático y mitigar su impacto.En América Latina, en Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Perú, Bolivia y Ecuador, el Programa de escenarios futuros de CCAFS ha apoyado a tomadores de decisión y actores clave de ministerios de agricultura, ambiente y planificación en el diseño de planes y políticas públicas con base en escenarios futuros. Originalmente enfocado en políticas que apoyan la adaptación al cambio climático en el sector agropecuario, la metodología de escenarios de CCAFS también ha sido utilizada en ambientes más amplios para fomentar procesos de desarrollo económico sostenible, para resguardar la biodiversidad y los servicios ecosistémicos, así como para promover la mitigación de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (Veeger et al., 2016). Estos esfuerzos han sido exitosos gracias a la colaboración con socios como la FAO 2 , WRI 3 , UNEP-WCMC 4 , OIT 5 , PNUD 6 y asociaciones de productores como ACICAFOC.En Centroamérica, el programa inició en diciembre de 2013 con la construcción de un conjunto de cuatro escenarios futuros para la región (Belice, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica y Panamá) al 2050, sobre seguridad alimentaria, agricultura, ambiente y medios de vida. Fueron creados con la participación activa de actores clave del sector público, privado y de investigación de estos países. En el mismo año, también se crearon escenarios para la región Andina. Se colaboró con IFPRI y IIASA para modelar los escenarios a través de los modelos IMPACT y GLOBIOM, y así conocer diferentes impactos económicos de los escenarios bajo la incidencia de una gama de escenarios climáticos.El desarrollo de una estrategia para una agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima (ASAC) busca abordar aunadamente los desafíos de producción de alimentos, así como la adaptación al cambio climático y la mitigación de su impacto, para lograr la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional en Centroamérica y República Dominicana.La iniciativa para el desarrollo de una estrategia ASAC encuentra sustento en la \"Declaración productividad agropecuaria y clima\" aprobada en la reunión del CAC realizada el 23 de setiembre de 2015, en la cual se decide \"impulsar una agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima, como opción para aumentar la productividad agropecuaria, pesquera, acuícola y forestal, y apoyar la adaptación al cambio climático, con el fin de mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. Asimismo, promover la adaptación de la agricultura al cambio climático como bien público regional\".La estrategia ASAC también es consecuente con el acuerdo alcanzado por el Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano en su reunión celebrada el 20 de agosto de 2015, al declarar estado de alerta en el sector agropecuario y solicitar la elaboración de un plan de acción regional que considere la agricultura climáticamente inteligente.La ASAC es un factor fundamental para integrar acciones con iniciativas afines, como el interés en contar con una estrategia de ganadería sostenible, con un plan de acción para atender de forma integral y permanente los impactos generados por el fenómeno de la sequía en la región, y con las iniciativas para el desarrollo sostenible, inclusivo y resiliente del corredor seco centroamericano y de las zonas áridas de República Dominicana.Entre los mandatos y acuerdos recientes del órgano supremo del SICA y de las instancias del CAC pertinentes para la formulación de la estrategia están:-Agenda Estratégica Sectorial Alineada a los ODS -Política Agrícola Centro Americana (PACA) -Plan de Acción para Atender los Impactos de la Sequía en la Región La construcción de la estrategia ASAC ha sido concebida como un proceso participativo que inicia con un acuerdo del Comité Técnico Regional del CAC, seguido del involucramiento del Grupo Técnico de Cambio Climático y Gestión Integral del Riesgo (GT-CC&GR) del CAC, en coordinación con los otros grupos técnicos y de la mano de la Secretaría Ejecutiva del CAC (SECAC). También incluye las visiones de otros actores como el Grupo Inter-Agencial de Cooperación (CEPAL, IICA, CATIE, FAO, CCAFS-CIAT, entre otros), los representantes nacionales y regionales de instituciones académicas y del sector privado.El proceso de construcción inició con un taller de lineamientos realizado el 8 y 9 de diciembre de 2016, en San José, Costa Rica, cuyos asistentes eran los miembros del Grupo Técnico de Cambio Climático y Gestión Integral del Riesgo del CAC, así como representantes del Grupo Técnico de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional y de Tecnología, Transferencia e Innovación. De igual forma, participaron los representantes del Grupo Inter-Agencial de Apoyo (FAO, CEPAL, IICA, CCAFS-CIAT, CATIE). El documento que resultó del taller fue consultado y validado en línea durante un mes por los miembros del Grupo Técnico en Cambio Climático y Gestión de Riesgos del CAC. Esta fase inicial culminó con un documento preliminar, el cual se constituyó en el insumo principal para la siguiente fase en el proceso de construcción de la estrategia.La siguiente fase consistió en la realización de un taller que involucró a más actores de los diferentes países, para nutrir y fortalecer la estrategia mediante la metodología de escenarios futuros desarrollada por CCAFS e implementada en América Latina por la Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional (UCI). Este segundo taller se llevó a cabo del 15 al 17 de febrero de 2017, nuevamente en San José.El segundo taller para apoyar al diseño de la estrategia ASAC para Centroamérica y República Dominicana tuvo los siguientes resultados esperados:1. Un documento preliminar de la estrategia ASAC para Centroamérica y República Dominicana, con contribuciones y aportes de al menos 30 actores clave del sector público, privado, de investigación, ONG y productores, robustecido para enfrentar posibles cambios futuros en los sistemas relacionados con la agricultura.2. Cuatro escenarios plausibles sobre las futuras condiciones sociales, económicas, políticas y ambientales relevantes para ASAC. 3. Posibles fondos identificados para la implementación de la estrategia. 4. Nuevos procesos de formulación de planes y políticas agrarias, climáticas y ambientales en Centroamérica y República Dominicana identificados, los cuales pueden ser apoyados por la metodología de escenarios futuros, y liderados por actores interesados en ser capacitados en ella. 5. Alianzas estratégicas fortalecidas entre países y sectores.El taller contó con la participación de 34 expertos en agricultura y ambiente del sector gubernamental, no-gubernamental, de investigación y de la academia, así como también del sector privado, provenientes de Belice, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá y República Dominicana. La mitad de los participantes eran mujeres (17 de los 34). La lista detallada de participantes se incluye en el Anexo N° XX al final de este informe. Con el fin de guiar a los participantes en el proceso de formulación de la estrategia con base en escenarios futuros, se diseñó un proceso basado en cuatro pasos, el cual permitió una doble revisión de la estrategia, tanto en lo que respecta a su contenido técnico como en lo referente a su robustez frente a cambios futuros en el entorno. El proceso se ejecutó en un taller de dos días y medio. Figura 4: El proceso de formulación de la estrategia con base en escenarios futuros (Fuente: elaboración propia)1. En el primer paso, los participantes fueron divididos en tres grupos de expertos, cada uno alrededor de un eje estratégico cercano a su área de experticia y de un eje transversal de la estrategia. En cada grupo, se revisaron los avances en uno de los ejes en el documento de trabajo de la estrategia, y se formularon las recomendaciones de mejora.2. En el segundo paso, los participantes fueron asignados a nuevos grupos, con integrantes de múltiples disciplinas, y se crearon cuatro escenarios futuros sobre sistemas agroalimentarios en Centroamérica y República Dominicana en el año 2050. Para ello, se usó, como punto de partida, un conjunto de cuatro escenarios futuros más amplios sobre agricultura, seguridad alimentaria, ambiente y medios de vida en Centroamérica, 7 los cuales fueron creados y modelados en 2013 y 2014. Para asegurarse de que los escenarios fueran relevantes para la estrategia, cada grupo usó una lista de temas clave (o variables) identificados en y atendidas a través de la estrategia.3. En el tercer paso, los participantes recibieron el documento de la estrategia que incluye las recomendaciones resultantes del paso uno. Con base en esta versión, probaron la efectividad de las medidas y mecanismos de implementación correspondientes a líneas estratégicas dentro del contexto de los cuatro escenarios futuros que crearon.Comprobaron si son efectivos y, en caso de que no lo fueran, recomendaron cómo 7 El párrafo ´Sobre el programa de escenarios futuros de CCAFS en América Latina´ en página 7 comenta más en detalle sobre la construcción de los primeros escenarios de Centroamérica.Paso 1: Revisión del documento de trabajo de la estrategia ASAC para América Central y República Dominicana. Formulación e incorporación de recomendaciones.Paso 2: Creación de cuatro escenarios futuros sobre sistemas agroalimentarios en el año 2050.Paso 3: Prueba de efectividad de la estrategia ASAC en los cuatro escenarios futuros. Formulación de recomendaciones.Paso 4: Análisis comparativo de las recomendaciones entre los escenarios y redacción de mejoras en la estrategia.reformularlas para que sean factibles de implementar, teniendo en cuenta los desafíos y oportunidades de cada escenario.4. En el último paso, los participantes hicieron un análisis transversal de las recomendaciones dadas desde el punto de vista de los cuatro escenarios y decidieron cuáles medidas y mecanismos de implementación deben ser reformulados para aumentar su factibilidad de implementación y efectividad, considerando las futuras incertidumbres desplegadas en los escenarios. El taller cerró con una versión de la estrategia validada, reformulada y robustecida en dos ocasiones.A continuación, se incluye una descripción detallada de las actividades desarrolladas en el taller y de la metodología aplicada.Ana Ríos, secretaria ejecutiva de SEPSA y presidenta pro tempore del Comité Técnico Regional del CAC, Manuel Jiménez, coordinador del Grupo Técnico de Cambio Climático y Gestión Integral de Riesgo del CAC, y Deissy Martínez Barón, oficial científica de CCAFS América Latina, dan palabras de bienvenida y orientan a los participantes sobre los motivos del taller, sus antecedentes y la importancia de este segundo paso hacia la construcción de una estrategia de agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima para América Central y República Dominicana.Laura Meza, consultora de CCAFS, presenta las diferentes etapas del proceso de construcción de la estrategia ASAC, a los participantes, y los avances en el documento hasta la fecha.Marieke Veeger, investigadora en escenarios y políticas de CCAFS de la UCI, da una presentación sobre los principales conceptos de la formulación de planes y políticas a través de escenarios futuros. Se hace énfasis en el pensamiento en sistemas y el concepto de plausibilidad. Comenta sobre la incertidumbre y sobre cómo las características del contexto influyen en la efectividad de las políticas. Se destaca la diferencia entre políticas y escenarios, y se explica la utilidad de los escenarios como contexto de prueba para examinar y aumentar la efectividad y robustez de éstos.Julie Lennox, punto focal de cambio climático y jefa de la unidad de desarrollo agrícola de CEPAL en América Latina, da una presentación sobre los principales cambios climáticos que se esperan en Centroamérica y República Dominicana, algunos impactos esperados y posibles prácticas para la adaptación del sistema productivo.Trabajo grupal: Revisión de la primera versión preliminar de la estrategia ASAC Los participantes del taller se dividen en tres grupos de trabajo. Cada grupo está asociado con un eje de la estrategia ASAC y con participantes cuyos perfiles coinciden con la temática del eje. Cada grupo revisa en detalle las líneas estratégicas de su eje, así como también las medidas, mecanismos de implementación y socios estratégicos sugeridos. Se incorporan en el texto las sugerencias de mejora. Así mismo, se revisa una lista preliminar de variables pertinentes al eje, preparada antes del taller, y se corrobora si incluye todas las variables tratadas en la estrategia. Se formulan variables para los nuevos elementos agregados a la estrategia. El conjunto de variables de los tres ejes de la estrategia será utilizado para la adaptación de escenarios futuros de Centroamérica para la agricultura, los medios de vida y el ambiente al alcance temático específico de la estrategia.Marieke Veeger presenta cuatro escenarios socioeconómicos futuros de Centroamérica relevantes para la agricultura, la seguridad alimentaria, los medios de vida y el ambiente. Estos escenarios fueron creados en 2013 por un grupo de 28 actores clave del sector público, privado y de investigación, provenientes de Honduras, Belice, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica y Panamá. A través de la lista de variables preparada en el ejercicio anterior, los participantes adaptarán las narrativas de estos escenarios para asegurarse de que sean contextos de prueba relevantes para sistemas agroalimentarios. Se imparten las instrucciones para la adaptación de los escenarios al alcance de la estrategia ASAC. Los participantes son divididos en cuatro grupos de múltiples disciplinas y países. Se le asigna un escenario y un facilitador a cada grupo.Cada grupo de trabajo lee en voz alta la descripción del escenario que le haya sido asignado. También revisa una serie de resultados de modelaje con los modelos IMPACT y GLOBIOM que muestran impactos económicos de los escenarios socioeconómicos en una serie de escenarios climáticos, entre otros, sobre el PIB per cápita, la disponibilidad de calorías per cápita, cifras de población, y la expansión de tierra agrícola. Estos gráficos pueden ayudar a entender la dinámica del escenario con que van a trabajar. Los participantes revisan la lista de variables y anotan en papelitos adhesivos sus ideas sobre el posible comportamiento de las variables dentro del contexto del escenario en el 2050. Eligen las variables que conocen bien por su área de experticia. Se comparten las ideas y se agrupan los papelitos que tienen ideas parecidas. De esta manera, cada grupo va construyendo un mundo coherente con el escenario. Al final de esta sesión, cada grupo tiene una idea clara del mundo futuro que el escenario representa.En plenaria, se repasan los conceptos básicos sobre la creación y el uso de escenarios futuros para crear planes y políticas.Cada grupo continúa el trabajo que inició el día anterior y termina la definición del nuevo escenario. Con el apoyo de los demás participantes, un voluntario transcribe la narrativa del escenario. Cada grupo elige un nombre que representa al escenario. Además, elige a un representante, quien presenta el escenario a los demás participantes.Los participantes identifican una escena característica del escenario o una situación que comunica bien la esencia de éste. Esto se conversa con la ilustradora María Daniela Espinoza Castro, quien al instante realiza una ilustración de cada escenario.En este ejercicio, el grupo literalmente prueba si la estrategia y sus medidas son factibles de implementar en los cuatro escenarios futuros que crearon. Los participantes permanecen en el grupo en el que crearon un escenario. Son cuatro grupos en total, cada uno representando un escenario. Cada grupo recibe la nueva versión de la estrategia que incluye las adiciones/mejoras generadas en el primer día. Conjuntamente se revisan las líneas estratégicas, medidas y mecanismos de implementación propuestas, paso por paso, y se valora si la implementación de cada medida sería factible dentro del contexto de su escenario. En caso de que no y en caso de duda, el grupo indica por qué no es factible (cuáles condiciones en el escenario impiden su efectividad o implementación) e indican cómo se debería ajustar la medida para que sea efectiva dentro del escenario.Los participantes se vuelven a reunir en los 3 grupos temáticos en que revisaron una parte de la estrategia el primer día. Cada grupo recibe y revisa las notas y/o recomendaciones de los cuatro escenarios sobre la factibilidad de implementación de las medidas. Llenando una matriz, los participantes identifican las fortalezas y debilidades del plan a través de la mayoría de los escenarios. Las medidas que son efectivas en la mayoría de los escenarios son las más robustas. Las medidas que no son efectivas o sobre las cuales hay duda en la mayoría de los escenarios son las menos robustas. Identifican si hay supuestos en los que esté basada la estrategia que se deban revisar. Determinan las principales sugerencias de mejora para el eje estratégico e incorporan las mejoras en el documento.Manuel Jiménez comenta cómo el equipo técnico a cargo de la estrategia tiene planeado terminar su formulación. Un equipo de redacción de CCAFS y la SECAC revisará las sugerencias dadas y realizará la redacción final. Posteriormente, se presentará el documento al Comité Técnico Regional y al Consejo de Ministros del CAC.Por su parte, los participantes proponen una serie de acciones en cada país para fomentar que la estrategia ASAC sea considerada en la formulación de planes y estrategias que apoyan la adaptación al cambio climático y la mitigación de sus impactos en el sector agroalimentario en América Central y República Dominicana.Así mismo, los participantes proponen, para cada país, planes y políticas cuyos procesos de formulación o planeación podrían ser apoyados a través de un ejercicio de escenarios futuros. Se informa que, contra entrega de una propuesta y carta de apoyo del Ministerio de Agricultura, la UCI ofrece capacitar a un equipo de funcionarios en la metodología y acompañarlo en el proceso.Ana Isabel Gómez, secretaria ejecutiva de SEPSA y presidenta pro tempore del Comité Técnico Regional del CAC, Manuel Jiménez y Deissy Martínez Barón cierran el taller con palabras de agradecimiento y compromiso para finalizar el proceso de formulación de la estrategia exitosamente.Además de facilitar un proceso participativo que apoyará la formulación de la estrategia ASAC, el taller procuró robustecer la estrategia frente a futuras incertidumbres relacionadas con sistemas agroalimentarios en la región. La exploración de múltiples escenarios futuros sobre estos sistemas permitió analizar hasta qué punto la estrategia contemplaba cambios en el entorno que podrían ser relevantes para su efectiva implementación. El proceso de creación de los escenarios se hizo a través de los siguientes pasos, los cuales fueron descritos en detalle en el apartado Programa y metodología. El escenario Economía Tensa visualiza un futuro con una generación de problemáticas sucesivas, las cuales influyen directamente en la vida de las personas, los medios de vida y el ambiente.El flujo migratorio de los campesinos a la cuidad, en busca de mejores oportunidades, ha provocado la inseguridad alimentaria que afecta la vida de las familias de productores. Dicha situación ha producido un cambio en los patrones de consumo y nutrición de la población que conlleva problemas de alimentación, principalmente en los niños. Debido a los fenómenos extremos, se incrementan el hambre y la mortalidad infantil, y disminuyen las expectativas de vida en la población del país. Existe un grado básico de seguridad alimentaria, porque el Gobierno se encarga de la canasta básica. Sin embargo, la mayoría consume alimentos sólo una vez al día, lo que aumenta la desnutrición por la falta de diversidad.La intensificación de la degradación ambiental y la pérdida de capacidad de los territorios dedicados a la producción de alimentos, la ganadería y los servicios ecosistémicos se han traducido en una expulsión poblacional del campo a la ciudad. Se pierden las áreas de cultivos por intrusión marina y el calentamiento de los océanos aleja a los peces de las costas. Se buscarán recursos externos dirigidos a repotenciar a las instituciones que están orientadas al tema climático, dada la incapacidad del Estado de prever las consecuencias climáticas. Esto último limita la toma de previsiones frente a la ocurrencia de eventos climáticos extremos.Otro aspecto estratégico a considerar es el tema de la extinción de la biodiversidad. Este proceso está afectando un patrimonio único de la región, dada su reconocida riqueza. Uno de los efectos reconocidos, causado por la pérdida de la biodiversidad, se expresa en la extensión pandémica de plagas y enfermedades que afectan tanto a plantas como a animales y humanos. Los pequeños agricultores emigran hacia áreas marginales por la falta de ingresos agrícolas, lo que resulta en bajos rendimientos y en el aumento en los precios de agroinsumos vitales para un agrosistema resiliente ante choques climáticos.La gestión de riesgos agroclimáticos en el contexto de los grandes productores ha sido reducida exponencialmente por la adopción y transferencia de tecnología de alto nivel importada por las transnacionales. Sin embargo, este impacto ha sido irreversible para los pequeños agricultores, los cuales se han convertido en empleados de las multinacionales, abandonando sus fincas por sus capacidades limitadas o la no existencia de mecanismos de adaptación climática. Las grandes empresas se encargan de la asistencia técnica, el intercambio de conocimiento y la transferencia de tecnología. Sin embargo, dicha tecnología está basada solamente en los transgénicos, limitando la investigación sobre la oportunidad de tener diversidad y sistemas de producción más agroecológicos.Los agricultores y sus familias emigran a los lugares donde se encuentran las fábricas que generan empleo y, por lo tanto, forman nuevas comunidades en torno a esas empresas. De igual manera, las familias que se quedan en las localidades incrementan el grado de pobreza, debido a que se produce una desigualdad social. Esto, de alguna manera, incrementa los delitos y la violación de la propiedad y de la vida de los residentes. Incluida en este impacto social, está la reducción en el acceso de la población a los mercados.La producción agrícola se desarrolla con un enfoque empresarial, se utilizan prácticas sostenibles y se han reducido en gran medida las fuentes nitrogenadas para la producción. Los sistemas de producción familiar son pequeños, pero muy eficientes, lo cual se ha logrado por la intervención de los institutos de investigación que han sido fortalecidos. Los productores son altamente capacitados y tienen acceso a sistemas de información climática. Una gran proporción de la gestión del conocimiento se comparte de forma virtual, dejando de lado la asistencia técnica presencial. Los territorios se especializan en cultivos específicos de acuerdo con sus condiciones agroecológicas. La integración de Centroamérica y República Dominicana ha permitido un intercambio de productos e insumos libres de aranceles, y se cuenta con una avanzada infraestructura. La asociatividad de los productores ha sido clave para lograr el éxito.El modelo educativo inclusivo ha fomentado valores y principios bioéticos que han permitido a la sociedad hábitos de consumo saludable. Los índices de nutrición son favorables en Centroamérica y República Dominicana. El sistema de seguridad social es inclusivo para toda la población y las personas en edad de jubilación tienen derecho a recibir los beneficios. La región cuenta con un sistema de gestión de riesgos climáticos y naturales que ha permitido la reducción de daños y pérdidas, y el sistema financiero es integrado y diferenciado de acuerdo con los sectores. La gestión integral del recurso hídrico, con enfoque de cuenca, se ha logrado implementar en toda la región mediante la coordinación regional de políticas. La inversión de los países se ha destinado a fortalecer la educación, la salud, la infraestructura vial y la agricultura, lo cual ha dejado de lado la inversión destinada a los ejércitos. Las condiciones de la región son muy atractivas para los migrantes, lo cual ha empezado a generar presión en los centros urbanos y rurales. Esto trae como consecuencia una amenaza sobre los recursos naturales y el ámbito social. Se ha visto una reducción de la población joven en las zonas rurales, pero se están elaborando estrategias para crear el arraigo de los jóvenes de zonas productivas.Escenario 3: Pocos mucho, muchos poco ¨El sabor dulce de nuestra tierra con el sudor amargo de nuestra gente¨ Ilustración del escenario: María Daniela Espinoza Castro.China se ha convertido en la principal potencia económica. Sus habitantes demandan recursos, cultivos, materia prima y productos de consumo.Las políticas de los países y la región no buscan el bienestar común y son altamente excluyentes. Hay diálogo entre grupos de poder de la región y transnacionales, aprovechando las oportunidades de negocios que brindan los tratados de libre comercio. Los gobiernos nacionales están subordinados a los intereses de grandes corporaciones, acrecentando la crisis de valores y la corrupción a nivel gubernamental. Las superficies con condiciones para la producción agrícola ya no pertenecen a pequeños productores, sino que han pasado a manos de privados. Pocas corporaciones agroexportadoras son dueñas de grandes superficies agrícolas, generando conflictos sociales, problemas de desnutrición y seguridad alimentaria en el campo, así como pobreza y mayor violencia en las ciudades.La información y la gestión del conocimiento son dirigidas por el sector privado. Los sistemas de información, especialmente los de relevancia para los sistemas agroalimentarios, son de uso exclusivo del Gobierno y grupos de poder, quienes no los aplican para la atención de la población en general.Los bosques y sus servicios han desaparecido, debido a un nuevo tipo de agricultura migratoria de gran escala liderada por las agroexportadoras, quienes agotan los suelos y buscan otras zonas de mejores condiciones, desplazan a pequeños productores hacia los márgenes del bosque, continuando el ciclo de degradación de recursos, contaminación y pobreza. La tala indiscriminada de los bosques y la débil gobernanza de cuencas y paisajes han propiciado la degradación y desequilibrio en los ecosistemas.No hay marcos regulatorios vigentes para proteger la diversidad genética ni los servicios ecosistémicos. Por este motivo, se han perdido importantes variedades para el sector agroalimentario, a las cuales no se les dio gran valor comercial, pero eran significativas para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. Esto está generando pobladores de campo con limitaciones serias para producir sus propios alimentos.La matriz energética es altamente dependiente de los combustibles fósiles y tiene un alto precio para la población.Hay inversión en tecnología, principalmente con capital chino, pero responde sólo a intereses del sector privado. Los sistemas de investigación y desarrollo público se han reducido y han proliferado servicios privados de investigación y asistencia técnica. Las agroexportadoras dirigen los procesos de generación y transferencia de tecnología, pero esto no es accesible a pequeños productores. Al igual que los gobiernos, la tecnología está al servicio de don dinero. Estas empresas no tienen ningún compromiso social ni ambiental.Los mecanismos financieros son diseñados por los grandes actores en las cadenas, para ser usados por ellos mismos. Esto limita aún más el acceso a mercados para pequeños y mediamos productores, así como los emprendimientos locales.Las tierras y recursos productivos están en manos de grandes productores y corporaciones. Las pocas tierras en manos de productores de pequeña escala son marginales, los productores no tienen seguridad jurídica, por lo cual, sólo acceden a recursos financieros limitados, como seguros, en contraste con el acceso que tienen los productores de gran escala. Por la marginación y la alta pobreza, las tierras de productores de pequeña escala tienden a la desertificación, que aumenta también por la variabilidad y el cambio del clima. Los distritos de riego altamente tecnificados son gestionados por grandes productores, relegando a los pequeños.El uso inadecuado de prácticas agronómicas ha contribuido al aumento del riesgo. Hay un creciente riesgo sanitario debido a que los factores se han hecho resistentes por el abuso de agroquímicos ofrecidos por las transnacionales.No hay seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, las hambrunas y la desnutrición son amplias y abarcan a todos los países del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, comprendiendo también a países como Costa Rica y Panamá, que tenían menos incidencia de hambrunas por eventos extremos.Los procesos de migración de pobres rurales hacia ciudades han aumentado, con lo que crecieron también los cinturones de pobreza. La unidad familiar se ha visto debilitada. En las zonas rurales, los padres han emigrado, dejando a sus hijos al cuidado de los abuelos. La fuerza laboral que queda en el campo ofrece sus servicios a los grandes productores, recibiendo salarios muy bajos y trabajando en condiciones desfavorables.Han crecido las tensiones sociales por inequidad, exclusión, privatización de recursos y servicios fundamentales, la degradación del ambiente y el incumplimiento de derechos humanos, tales como la alimentación. Las manifestaciones sociales son reprimidas con brutalidad.Escenario 4: Oscuridad posapocalíptica; lo peor aún está por venir Ilustración del escenario: María Daniela Espinoza Castro La era de Trump marcó un antes y un después en la región de Centroamérica y República Dominicana. La falta de capacidad para escucharse y lograr acuerdos entre los tomadores de decisión en el poder, además de la insaciable necesidad de aumentar los caudales de dinero de los corruptos, promovieron la ruptura total de alianzas en la región, convirtiendo la desintegración en una realidad.La economía es dominada por los monopolios y los grandes intereses de carácter privado, lo que ha derivado en un incremento de las importaciones y la fuga de divisas. La crisis alimentaria más aguda en la región centroamericana y República Dominicana llega a situaciones como el robo de tomates en el mejor de los escenarios, la muerte de centenares por envenenamiento, al verse obligados al consumo de ratas llenas de agroquímicos en algunas zonas y de alimentos contaminados. Los precios de la canasta básica siguen en aumento, la desnutrición y la hambruna crecen trayendo consecuencias como la mortalidad infantil y un retroceso en los indicadores de desarrollo regional sin precedentes. Más del 95 % de los productores sufren de hambre y se generan espacios para los nuevos libros de historia al hablar de los momentos de antaño, cuando el hambre era un mito urbano, reservado para muy pocos y las oportunidades de crecer y sobrevivir existían. Doña Ana, una ciudadana promedio, con un nivel de escolaridad bajo, sin tierra, sin ingresos, huye a la ciudad con su familia. La concentración de la tierra y la tenencia por parte de transnacionales, incluyendo a los narcotraficantes, crean un fantasma en una región que alguna vez practicaba deportes, que tenía infraestructura para atender a sus ciudadanos, y tenía municipios independientes y nacionales. El panorama hoy es de edificios convertidos en campos de producción para exportar, de ciudadanos con poca o nula calidad de vida, y de la entrega de la soberanía y los territorios nacionales a manos de las industrias. En Costa Rica, Guanacaste es entregado a Monsanto para pagar deudas nacionales. Además, las bajas en la seguridad alimentaria y la productividad agrícola han aumentado la migración rural hacia las ciudades. La agricultura familiar es casi inexistente, incrementando los cordones de pobreza e inseguridad ciudadana en las zonas urbanas. Esto conlleva a la huida masiva desde todos los países de la región a destinos en el norte, como Estados Unidos. Allí, debido a la construcción de barreras como el muro, se tienen que establecer campos de refugiados que albergan a más de 10 millones de centroamericanos, amontonados en la zona norte de México, provocando la crisis humanitaria más grande en la historia: plagas, enfermedades, falta de acceso a servicios, muerte de centenares. Esto provoca que los ciudadanos de esta región sean denominados los nuevos NINJA (no income, no job, no assets: sin ingresos, sin trabajo, sin activos), guiados en esta travesía por todos los medios posibles, por los ejércitos y grupos armados que se unen para establecer pasos a través de todo Centroamérica y República Dominicana, como un Armagedón en búsqueda, no de enriquecimiento, sino de sobrevivir. Doña Ana vive en las calles con su familia, sin acceso a servicios o alimentos, ya perdió a un hijo.La agricultura familiar carece de apoyo tecnológico y de inversión, y depende de tecnología extranjera. El conocimiento tradicional se ha perdido, por lo que culturalmente estamos rotos. Se ha quebrado el tejido social rural y urbano, han desaparecido las cooperativas y otras asociaciones campesinas. El financiamiento y los créditos para la producción se concentran en las transnacionales agroexportadoras, la acumulación y los excesos. Los pocos que siguen luchando en los países centroamericanos y en República Dominicana por subsistir y retomar los territorios se ven obligados a ver cómo desaparecen las variedades ancestrales de maíz y frijol, las tortillas son ahora un lujo de soya o almidón sintético, el gallo pinto se convierte en un plato importado desde China, el arroz en su totalidad es importado también, las frutas no crecen en los patios de nadie, el pejibaye y otros cultivos se unen a la lista de productos tradicionales extintos.A nivel global, no hubo mayores compromisos internacionales para reducir emisiones, por lo que en la región centroamericana y del Caribe, aumenta la temperatura en al menos 2 grados Celsius. El CSCA experimenta un aumento en las condiciones de aridez y se extiende en cobertura por más del 50 % del territorio. Paralelamente, aumentaron los eventos de lluvia extremos, como inundaciones, huracanes y deslaves. Se han intensificado los ataques de plagas y enfermedades emergentes, promoviendo el incremento del uso de agroquímicos para combatirlas. Esto se convirtió en un evento que provocó la contaminación del agua en los ecosistemas. Doña Ana está sola, se ha convertido en la última sobreviviente de su familia, se resiste a dejar su tierra.El acceso al recurso hídrico se vuelve un factor crítico para la producción y la población, se muestran conflictos de interés al no haber independencia en los sistemas políticos de los territorios y se imponen altos impuestos para la recolección, incluso del agua de lluvia, privatizándose por completo el acceso y creando conflictos por su uso, siendo los más poderosos los que se apropian del agua, mientras que la mayoría de la población sufre por su escasez. Esto crea las condiciones necesarias para una guerrilla por el agua, así como mercados negros de alimentos y medicinas. Por otra parte, la sobreexplotación y contaminación de los recursos marinos colapsan, la pesca y la acuicultura están limitadas. Aún en esta etapa, los gobiernos están ausentes, o se promueven estados de ingobernabilidad ante la corrupción.La frontera agrícola ha reducido significativamente los bosques debido a la tala y bajos controles, aumenta la presión sobre los suelos y su degradación, en especial en los bosques húmedos. Grandes ecosistemas se desintegran con pérdidas de fauna y flora. Doña Ana ahora es un recuerdo de un artículo entre periódicos que adornan las ciudades abandonadas.Posteriormente a la creación de los escenarios, los participantes hacen un ejercicio en el que prueban la factibilidad de la estrategia desde el punto de vista de los escenarios (Figura 4, página 10, Paso 3). Para ello, los participantes permanecen en el grupo en el que crearon un escenario. Son cuatro grupos en total, cada uno representando un escenario. Cada grupo recibe la nueva versión de la estrategia, que incluye las adiciones/mejoras generadas en el primer día. Conjuntamente, se revisan las líneas estratégicas, medidas y mecanismos de implementación propuestos, paso por paso, y valoran si la implementación de cada medida sería factible dentro del contexto de su escenario. En caso de que no, y en caso de duda, el grupo indica por qué no es factible (cuáles condiciones en el escenario impiden su efectividad o implementación) e indica cómo se debería ajustar la medida para que sea efectiva dentro del escenario.Al terminar la redacción de las recomendaciones de mejora, los grupos cambian nuevamente. Esta vez, los participantes se vuelven a reunir en los tres grupos temáticos en que revisaron una parte de la estrategia el primer día (un eje estratégico). Cada grupo recibe y revisa las recomendaciones sobre la factibilidad de implementación de las medidas en los cuatro escenarios. Llenando una matriz, los participantes identifican las fortalezas y debilidades del plan a través de la mayoría de los escenarios (Figura 4, página 10, Paso 4). Las medidas que son efectivas en la mayoría de los escenarios tienden a ser las más robustas. Las medidas que no son efectivas o sobre las cuales hay duda en la mayoría de los escenarios son las menos robustas. Identifican si hay supuestos en que esté basada la estrategia que se deben revisar. Determinan las principales sugerencias de mejora para el eje estratégico e incorporan las mejoras en el documento.Enseguida, se presenta la matriz de la estrategia de agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima (ASAC) para Centroamérica y República Dominicana, con las recomendaciones dadas durante los dos procesos de revisión descritos anteriormente: en primer lugar, en grupos de expertos por eje estratégico y, en segundo lugar, a partir de la prueba de factibilidad de las estrategias en los cuatros escenarios futuros.Versión del 17 de febrero del 2017 que resulta del segundo taller para la construcción de la estrategia, evento que se llevó a cabo del 15 al 17 de febrero en el Hotel Trypp Sabana, San José, Costa Rica.-En el primer día del taller, los participantes revisaron los ejes de la estrategia cercanos a su área de experticia. Sus recomendaciones de mejora están incluidas en la versión de la estrategia desplegada en este documento. -En el segundo y tercer día del taller, los participantes dieron sugerencias de mejora a partir de la comprobación de la estrategia en cuatro escenarios futuros al año 2050 sobre el sector agroalimentario y la seguridad alimentaria nutricional de Centroamérica y República Dominicana. Estas recomendaciones son escritas de la siguiente manera:o Subrayado: Texto que se sugiere agregar a la estrategia. o Tachado: Texto que se sugiere eliminar. o Cursivo: Recomendaciones que deben ser tomadas en cuenta a la hora de redactar la medida o línea de estrategia. o PMMO: Recomendaciones desde el punto de vista del escenario ¨Pocos mucho, muchos poco¨. o JA: Recomendaciones desde el punto de vista del escenario ¨El Jaguar de América¨. o OPA: Recomendaciones desde el punto de vista del escenario ¨Oscuridad posapocalíptica; lo peor aún está por venir¨. o Las recomendaciones desde el punto de vista del escenario ¨Una economía tensa¨ fueron tomadas en cuenta con las recomendaciones de los otros escenarios y agregadas como texto subrayado.La estrategia ASAC debe ir de la mano de una estrategia de financiamiento para asegurar su implementación.Eje Producción, medios de vida y seguridad alimentaria Revisar los programas de desarrollo del sector agroalimentario regional y nacional con los grupos técnicos y sus socios estratégicos de la sociedad civil, para integrar las líneas de acción de ASAC en sus marcos de operación, como condición relevante de acceso y seguimiento.Mejorar programas, mecanismos y productos de financiamiento para que integren condiciones que promuevan la investigación e innovación en ASAC, con consideración de la tipificación en los registros de agricultura familiar. X *Elaborar un proyecto regional que permita obtener los recursos necesarios para la implementación del ASAC.Mundial-BID-FAO. Comunidad europea. Cepal, universidades y centros de investigación 1.5 Promover el intercambio regional y la gestión de conocimiento.X X X Plataforma regional de intercambio regional y gestión del conocimiento (que promueve, entre otros: foros virtuales, encuentros, foros 2.5. Promover actividades para impulsar cambios hacia la producción sostenible y el consumo responsable.Establecer una feria regional para dar a conocer la oferta de productos responsables y establecer el vínculo entre productores y consumidores.Promover las compras públicas a la agricultura familiar para alimentación escolar y su desarrollo como cadena de valor corta y sostenible.FAO-IICA-FIDA-CEPAL-AID. HIVOS 3. Fortalecimiento de la ASAC en la agricultura familiar a través del desarrollo de políticas diferenciadas y de su instrumentalización.3.1. Caracterizar, tipificar y cuantificar el aporte de la AF a nivel regional, identificando diferentes categorías, con el fin de armonizar políticas al nivel regional e incluyendo retos y oportunidades en ASAC Establecer criterios bajo el enfoque ASAC para fortalecer la definición, caracterización y tipificación de la agricultura familiar.Establecer un registro para la implementación de políticas diferenciadas.IICA,FAO, REAF, FIDA, las ONG 3.2 Formular y gestionar acciones a nivel regional tendientes a apoyar la AF según las categorías identificadas, asegurando la participación de mujeres y jóvenes y la integración de grupos vulnerables, así como los retos y oportunidades en ASAC.Implementando acciones diferenciadas que permitan el acceso a los recursos productivos NOTA: La mayoría de las recomendaciones para el eje Gestión de riesgos fueron agregadas como comentarios. No se sabe desde el punto de vista de cuál escenario fueron formuladas.Líneas estratégicas Medidas C M L Mecanismo de implementación Socio estratégico 5. Gestión de conocimiento, fortalecimiento de capacidades, investigación e innovación agropecuaria 5.1 Desarrollar Implementar tecnologías y prácticas innovadoras y accesibles a todo tipo de productores, incluyendo diferentes grupos étnicos, analfabetos y entornos socioculturales, para el manejo de plagas y enfermedades producto de la variabilidad y del cambio climático. 5.2 Promover alianzas entre la comunidad científica y tecnológica, el sector académico y el sector privado, para establecer, difundir y apoyar la implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas resilientes de riesgo reducido. 5.3 Facilitar y desarrollar mecanismos de intercambio de experiencias de buenas prácticas y conocimientos ancestrales entre actores del sector agroalimentario.Plataformas regionales de intercambio de experiencia entre los institutos de investigación de la región.Coordinación con el GT de ITTI (incluir en los planes de trabajo de los GTs del CAC los mecanismos de implementación de esta estrategia). 1. Fortalecimiento a nivel político de la integración regional 2. Sensibilizar a los tomadores de decisión sobre las ventajas de la ASAC, particularmente a altos jerarcas y legisladores nacionales (senadores y diputados)Propuestas para la adopción de la estrategia ASAC a nivel nacional en los países de Centroamérica y República DominicanaAl cierre del taller, los participantes proponen una serie de acciones para fomentar que la estrategia ASAC sea considerada en la formulación de planes y estrategias a nivel de cada país que apoya la adaptación al cambio climático y la mitigación de sus impactos en el sector agroalimentario.¿Cómo lograr que la EASAC sea tomada en cuenta en planes y políticas de Costa Rica?A través de su socialización en:- -Plan Nacional de Agua, Bosque y suelo (ABS) (presidencia). Está en etapa de socialización.-Estrategia de adaptación al cambio climático para el sector agroalimentario. Está en etapa de aprobación. -Plan Nacional de Riesgo y Drenaje. Está en etapa de construcción.Consultas con: Ingeniero Armando Bustillo (DICTA-SAG) y Miguel Briceño (SAG)Estrategia de divulgación para que la EASAC sea tomada en cuenta a nivel nacional:-El Departamento de Gestión de Riesgos y Cambio Climático podría asumir la propuesta de la estrategia.-Luego la pasa al viceministerio de Planificación Agropecuaria.-Esta institución la socializa al ministro de Agricultura.-El ministro la da a conocer al sector agropecuario y a otras instituciones vinculantes como el Ministerio de Ambiente y el Ministerio de Planificación, Economía y Desarrollo. -El sector privado.Estrategia de divulgación para que la EASAC sea tomada en cuenta a nivel nacional: Instancia: Unidad de Cambio Climático encargada de la implementación de las estrategias y de fortalecer el mecanismo nacional del país.Presentar el plan modificado a la Unidad Nacional de Cambio Climático compuesto por actores del sector privado, público y científico. Este grupo se reúne cada 3 meses para ver novedades, además de hacer el monitoreo y evaluación de los proyectos existentes.Estrategia de divulgación para que la EASAC sea tomada en cuenta a nivel nacional:-Promover la elaboración de una agenda para la promoción del desarrollo de la agricultura sostenible en la región Trifinio (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala), haciendo uso de la metodología de escenarios.Sugerencias de planes y estrategias que podrían ser construidas con el apoyo de la metodología de escenarios futurosFinalmente, los participantes dan una serie de propuestas de planes y políticas relacionadas con agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima, cuyos procesos de formulación o planeación podrían ser guiados por la estrategia regional ASAC y apoyados a través de un ejercicio de escenarios futuros.Se informa que, en cada país que muestre interés, un equipo de funcionarios será capacitado en la metodología y acompañado en el proceso. Para postular a dicho proceso de apoyo en la formulación y la capacitación, se solicita la siguiente documentación:1. Una propuesta resumida de diseño sobre el proceso de formulación de la política a través de escenarios futuros que comente en qué fase del proceso de construcción se encuentran y en cuál desean trabajar con la metodología de escenarios, cuáles actores deben participar, y cuáles aportes daría el Ministerio para llevar a cabo el proceso.2. Una carta de intención de tomadores de decisión (jefes directos a cargo de la política) apoyando la solicitud.-Estrategia en Agricultura Familiar -Elaboración de Política Sectorial AgropecuariaDurante el proceso de construcción del Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático del sector agropecuario, proceso que inicia en 2017.No se recibieron sugerencias.Las variables en esta lista fueron identificadas por los participantes del taller como temas clave atendidos a través de la estrategia, y utilizados para la adaptación de escenarios futuros regionales a contextos de decisión relevantes para la estrategia ASAC. Utilizar estos temas permite crear escenarios relevantes para la estrategia y conocer el comportamiento de éstos dentro del contexto de cada escenario. Además, posibilita analizar si la manera en que son atendidos a través de la estrategia puede sostener cambios en el futuro. Las variables son descritas de manera neutral. El contexto de cada escenario define su compartamiento. Colaboración, diálogo y articulación regional  Gestión e intercambio de conocimiento  Cadenas de valor  Acceso a mercados  Mecanismos de financiamiento  Patrones de producción, consumo y nutrición  Capacidades organizativas, empresariales y productivas de (organizaciones de) productores.  Coordinación regional de políticas  Dinámicas de exclusión -inclusión social  Infraestructura productiva  Capacidad de generación y uso de información climática  Gestión de riesgos agroclimáticos  Tipos de fuentes de energía  Sistemas de riego  Seguridad alimentaria y nutricional  Inversión y financiamiento de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico  Transferencia y adopción de tecnología  Capacidades para la innovación tecnológica  Migración  Agrobiodiversidad  Capacidad de generación y uso de información climática  Manejo de recursos hídricos  Uso y manejo de suelos  Prácticas de manejo agronómico  Servicios de extensión y asistencia técnica  Planificación, monitoreo, reporte y verificación  Ecosistemas, bosques y servicios ecosistémicos","tokenCount":"8729"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4473850886.json b/data/part_1/4473850886.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0df1b3f95f602e9f21e983cb5fa2d2080fd214fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4473850886.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c128da29c86650d3b430bd279906b0a3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1a503a20-2956-46a4-95db-d8b4af53c504/retrieve","id":"-3576138"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0c4ef6a5-dead-42bc-8174-5242d16d41cc","pagecount":"2","content":"land, water, production (prod/inputs) -GHG (externalities), intensification GHG/prod up, GHG/land down Market integration (marketing %) -Mechanisation of cropping: fuel used, hand labour used (units: mega joule, dollars, ratios)prices: comparisons absolutes, -distances, time input/output markets, prices, market types, test within regions if there is effect -Input market integration (% hh buying seeds, feeds, fertiliser, animals) Diversification: no. of activities, weighted by income generation; food crops vs cash crops Crop-livestock Integration:degree of interactions: feed, traction, manure (units: energy, nutrients?) -levels of integrations: farm scale; village level Historical perspective: trends (variables still need to be selected)The meeting held in April in Naivasha, Kenya brought people from different institutions: CIP, ICARDA, ICRISAT, ILRI (Ethiopia, Kenya, India) and Wageningen University. The core of the meeting was systems analysis, but a range of different topics were addressed: indicators, outputs, modelling and publications. More info at: http://slpcgiar.wikispaces.com/Systems+Meeting+Apr-2011 options/solution: looking at 2012The next phase of the SLP crop-residue project will include the identification and ex-ante assessment of potential options/solutions for different mixed croplivestock systems. These options can be identified and assessed by a combination of participatory process, scenario development & modelling. Qualitative storylines are also possible, for instance through a Sustainability x Agricultural Investment matrix. The four quadrants would be:• high-high: green society How to present the results of the project? A first attempt was the submission of a paper for a special issue in Conservation Agriculture. Additional ideas are:regional comparison: statistics, multivariate analyses, econometrics.modelling but full Nuances framework will not be possible in 2011 because of data and model calibration and data requirements (see Options)each region should have specific questions (e.g. SAf extensification vs. intensification)identify few indicators with theoretical value and then use your 1900 hh.The SLP project on drivers of mixed crop-livestock systems lead by Herrero is a prominent output in ILRI's corporate report (http://www.ilri.org/ilrinews/index.php/archives/6394).Village surveys are being carried out again in Nigeria and revised in Niger because data quality problems. ","tokenCount":"315"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4476537300.json b/data/part_1/4476537300.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a8bd529ab648b5845edaa811c3a516eb7265ceab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4476537300.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"109083b18a8dd9008109547fab66a71c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d68fba57-d2b1-486b-9914-324cf4b36d41/content","id":"1864524746"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6c44dee2-5175-4cf3-a7b9-01fdd9d1ac7c","pagecount":"13","content":"Evaluating nitrogen(N) responsiveness in crops has many commercial/environmental advantages.Current lack of knowledge on its physio-genetic basis is a major bottleneck.We demonstrated that N dependent yield increase is driven by grain number (GN) in S.italica.GN has strong genetic basis -22 unique SNPs; six exhibiting haplotypes in natural population.Based on this, we define N responsive and non-responsive accessions with distinct panicle types. Few genes lying between SNPs with haplotypes show distinct transcript levels in two genotypes.The co-development of new agronomic practises including the application of nitrogen (N) fertiliser together with the selection of improved crop varieties lead to significant yield enhancement for a few selected crop species during the Green Revolution. However, not all crops benefited to the same level and some of the less improved species tends to be highly relevant to food security in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. One of them is Setaria italica, a C 4 cereal crop which is one of the world's ancient and second most cultivated millet globally [1,2]. It is self-pollinated lowland species with demonstrated high biotic and abiotic stress resilience [3]. Being nutritionally rich [4,5], it performs as a major crop in the arid and semi-arid areas of Asia, China as well as sub-Saharan Africa and it is distinctively enriched with slowly digestible and resistant starch making it a healthy low-glycemic index cereal [4]. Taken together, its exceptional adaptability and nutritional attributes have made S. italica a promising climate-resilient crop [5] and investigation into the strategies millets employ to regulate productivity in this context is particularly relevant for achieving sustainable future food security. The crop however remains under-investigated in terms of the traits underpinning improvements in breeding.Agricultural sustainability relies on optimal and resourceful application of fertilizers with nitrogen (N) as a major contributor. At the biochemical and physiological levels, complex interactions between assimilation of N in the form of nitrate (NO 3 -) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) contribute to crop productivity, mainly by coupling N driven leaf growth with photosynthesis (accumulation of higher amounts of light reaction components and CO 2 assimilates) [6]. Insufficient N accessibility is a major constraint to crop productivity worldwide [7]. Despite being expensive, its use in cropping systems in some parts of the developing world is considerably subsidised, often leading to its over application [8,9]. This is associated with undesirable environmental costs including eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems [10], threatening aquatic life and polluting the environment [11]. Furthermore, higher greenhouse gas emission from N fertiliser plants and as N 2 O release from fertiliser use are other contributory factors in this regard [12].Optimization of N provisioning strongly influences yield related agronomic traits [13], N assimilation rates and photosynthetic capacity [14] as well as biomass and many other physiological attributes in cereals [15]. However, in order to optimize N application in crop production, it is essential to appreciate how cereal plants respond to higher N accessibility and the underlying regulation of the process. Any insight in this regard should offer new prospects to select for or help breed new lines that will be more capable of converting applied N to harvestable product with mini-mal economic and environmental costs [9]. Understanding N responsiveness, defined as the plants ability to induce morphophysiological adaptation according to external N availability, is key to developing efficient genotypes. Selection of lines with improved ability to utilize available N holds potential genetic, agronomic, environmental and commercial advantages over conventional methods of measuring nitrogen use in crops e.g. nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) [9]. In wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) evidence exits that show selection over time has resulted in varieties having better N response compared to landraces characterized by enhanced N responsiveness at early N uptake conditions thereby pushing enhanced performance in field conditions at moderate N levels [16]. Genetic dissection of the trait can therefore highlight hitherto unidentified genomic regions of interest [17][18][19] with the potential to bridge the gap in our understanding of its regulation at the physiological and genetic levels. This in effect will allow us to understand new questions in crop N biology, for example, how external and internal N availability are perceived by plants and what are the downstream phenotypic responses. Additionally, it offers potential to understand how N is transduced and how plants monitor their N homeostasis at the interface of plant development and primary metabolism.The present study aimed to reveal the genetic basis for N response in a diverse population of 142 S. italica accessions, which are part of core collection of accessions previously studied for agronomic traits under uncontrolled nutrition conditions [20]. We used contrasting N treatments to dissect N responsiveness at the whole plant and genetic marker levels. We found that in S. italica yield is mainly driven by grain number per plant instead of grain size. Using genome wide association study (GWAS), we defined major singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to yield traits (e.g., grain number per plant) and derived indices to measure different aspects of N responsiveness. Furthermore, we defined six (6) grain number responsive (GNR) and non-responsive (GNNR) genotypes which exhibit different panicle architectures, contrasting grain number response to low N (DN100-N25) and display consistent allelic variation of six SNPs (CS3.46666559, CS3.46708881, CS4.37893830, CS4.37893921, CS8.30225088, CS8.30225110) strongly associated with grain number responsive trait. Transcript abundance profiling of 17 genes proximally linked to these SNPs in the developing panicles of the two genotypes showed that three (3) among them, Seita.3G363700 (encoding a diacyl glycerol kinase), Seita.8G160400 (containing a DnaJ chaperon and two DUF domains) and Seita.8G160500 (encoding T-complex protein 1; TCP-1/cpn60 chaperone family) are differentially regulated while being consistent within each group. This demonstrates that allelic variation of these grains per plant (GPP) linked SNPs and expression of some of their proximal genes are linked in a genotype specific manner.A collection of 142 diverse S. italica accessions (Table S1) were chosen from a S. italica core collection (Lata et al., 2011;Lata et al., 2013) and the All India Coordinated Small Millets Improvement Project (AICSMIP, 2014). Accessions represent lines originating from China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Kenya, Russia and USA exhibiting relative consistency of germination and viability of seeds.In order to ensure maximum proximity to seasonal field conditions, plants were grown in pots (19.5 cm height  20 cm diameter) outdoors under a 70% transparent cover. Three biological replicate pots per accession were settled in a randomized block design. Pots were filled with 3 kg of nitrogen free soilrite mix: vermiculite (2:1 w/w) and saturated with 1.6 L of demineralized water. Mancozeb 75% WP broad spectrum fungicide (2 g/L) was first used to pre-treat the seeds, then dried and sown. 300 ml of demineralized water was used to irrigate the pots 7 days after sowing (DAS). Germinated plants were examined at 14 DAS and seedlings were thinned to keep one plant per pot.At 14 DAS, pots were fertigated with 0.5 L of Hoagland nutrient solution (Table S10) formulated in demineralized water with three different N levels: N100 (2 mM Ca (NO 3 ) 2 )-control/optimal N strength, N25 (25% of the full nutrition, i.e., 0.5 mM) and N10 (10% of full nutrition, i.e. 0.2 mM). All plants were fertigated once every week for 17 times (between 16 h00-17 h30) in a manner that allows complete absorption of the nutrient solution by the growth medium without any leaching from the pot throughout the experiment. The three N levels were determined following a test of 5 N levels (N100, N50, N25, N10 and N0) in 9 accessions (Table S11). This showed that N10 was more appropriate than N0 as the lowest viable N level treatment and that N25 allowed greater distinction among accessions as a low N level (yield per plant performance at N50 and N25 were comparable). At maturity, panicles were collected, threshed, seed grains collected, sun dried and stored for the study.Sixteen (16) agronomically significant and yield related traits and 5 derived index traits were assessed at three N levels (2 mM-N100, 0.5 mM-N25 and 0.2 mM-N10) using a full cycle potted experiment of the 142 S. italica accessions (Supplementary Table S1; Supplementary Table S2) chosen from a previously reported core collection [20]. A total of sixteen agronomic traits were measured, and data was collected for three replications per accession. A one-way ANOVA analysis was performed to evaluate the relative contribution of the genotype, N dose and their interaction towards the trait performance (Table S13). Five index traits, namely: stability index (SI), tolerance index (TOL), mean productivity index (MPI), geometric mean productivity (GMP) and stress susceptibility index (SSI) were used to further evaluate the differences in trait performances due to any two N conditions (Table S4).Broad sense heritabilites (h 2 = r 2 g / r 2 p ) of major traits and their indices were calculated (Table S13), where r 2 g and r 2 p are variances due to genotype and phenotype, respectively.Approximately, 5 mg of the powdered grains were used for CHN analysis (CHNS (O) Analyzer, Italy, FLASH EA 1112 series, Thermo finnigan) using the method elaborated by Dumas [21]. N and C contents from each genotype was obtained as percentages of the sample weight studied with three biological replications per sample.Leaves from 4 weeks old plants were used to isolate DNA using the Cetrimonium bromide (Rogers and Bendich, 1985). Post RNAase treatment (Fermentas, USA), the isolated DNA was checked for integrity and then quantified through 1.2% agarose gel electrophoresis and NanoDrop 1000 (Thermo Scientific, USA), respectively. Double digest restriction associated DNA (ddRAD) and Illumina HiSeq4000 platforms were used to genotype and sequence the samples, respectively (Peterson et al., 2012) (Agri-Genome Labs Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad, India). Raw FastQ reads were demultiplexed with only one mismatch to obtain reads for each sample and RAD tags were used to filter the data. 5 0 and 3 0 ends of the reads were trimmed along with the removal of Illumina adapters (Cutadapt v 2.3), while Bowtie2 (version 2-2.2.9) was used to align trimmed sequences to the reference genome catalogued in the phytozome 12 database version 2.2 at default parameters (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/portal/pages/dynamicOrganism Download.jsf?organism=Sitalica).Furthermore, bcftools were used for filtering reads based on their depth and quality while sequence alignment map (SAM) tools (version 1.6) were used for variant calling analysis.Assessing population structure and linkage disequilibrium STRUCTURE version 2.2 software [22] was used to perform model based population structure analysis wherein Burn-in and MCMC were set as 50,000 and 100,000 respectively. We employed admixture model with five iterations for each run and assumed 2-10 sub-populations, with the real number of determined subpopulations by employing the delta K method [23] through an online tool STRUCTURE HARVESTOR [24]. A genotype was assigned to a specific sub-population when it had ! 80% probability of affiliation while those with < 80% of the value were considered '' admixtures''. Previous information on chromosome-and genomewide LD [25] were also used in the analysis. The genetic relatedness of the individuals in the panel was ascertained by clustering the filtered SNPs using the phylogenetic tree construction tool implemented in TASSEL v5 (neighbour joining clustering method) and visualizing the same using the Archaeopteryx tool [26] implemented therein under all default settings.For genome wide association study (GWAS), a minor allele frequency (MAF) of > 5% and missing data of < 30% were fixed as the basic cut-off values from a total of 29,045 SNPs by implementing the filter feature within Tassel 5 software [27]. We employed fixed and random model circulating probability unification (FarmCPU) package [28][29][30] for genome wide association which has been regularly used for many crop/cereal studies in the recent years [31][32][33][34]. The tool effectively eliminates issues arising due to kinship, population structure, multiple testing therefore making it one of the best models for association mapping currently available [28][29][30]. Kinship matrix is inbuild in FarmCPU and three PCA were employed (K + PCA model) for GWAS analysis. SNPs with a p < 0.001 were deemed significant SNP-trait associations (STAs) followed by p-value adjustment via Bonferroni correction (threshold set at 0.01). Quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plots were used to show how the expected and observed p-values are distributed and fit into the population structure model. A set of 16 major traits were analysed at three N levels with 10 derived index traits from each major trait (5 indices/ main trait of N10-N100 and N25-N100), totalling 208 traits (Table S2). Broad sense heritability for all traits were found to be > 0.8 (Table S13).Identification of functional genes proximal to trait specific STAs S.italica genome 2.2 (available from Phytozome v12, https:// phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias = Org_Sitalica) was used to identify genes proximal to SNPs related to significant STAs (for all traits) within the intervals of 0-1 kb, 1-5 kb, 5-10 kb, 10-20 kb, 20-50 kb and 50-100 kb distances from the SNP position in either direction. A distance of 20 Kb along the chromosome was considered a standard window to look for genes positioned proximal to trait associated SNPs for downstream analysis.SNPs found to be significantly associated with GPP traits in the study located within the LD decay distance of 177 kb as previously reported in the crop [35] were considered as prime landmarks for identification and assessment of genes linked to grain number responsiveness in the S. italica genome. Based on the above, we identified three pairs of SNPs (CS3.46666559:CS3.46708881,CS4.3 7893830:CS4.37893921, S8.30225088:CS8.30225110) and profiled the expression of genes located 25 Kb upstream and downstream to them within Setaria italica genome (available from Phytozome v12, genome version 2.2, https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal. html#!info?alias=Org_Sitalica) for qRT-PCR based assay (Table S7). A similar approach for identification of putative genes related to nutritional traits in S. italica is reported [35]. For this purpose, nine GNR and GNNR accessions were grown at low N (N25) and optimal N (N100) conditions as previously described and panicles were harvested at the early stage of panicle development when the spikelet organization of the inflorescence is decided (grain number), just before the onset of anthesis. Collected samples were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at À80 °C. Total RNA was isolated using Spectrum Plant Total RNA kit (SIGMA), visualized in 2% agarose native gel, quantified using NanoDrop TM 1000 Spectrophotometer followed by reverse transcription using Verso cDNA Synthesis Kit (Thermo Fischer) as per the recommended guidelines. qRT-PCR assay was performed by using the Power SYBR Green chemistry (Thermo Fischer, USA) and employing the QuantStudio Real-Time PCR (qPCR) for assessing the relative transcript abundance of the target genes between samples and N conditions with three biological and two technical replications. S. italica actin gene (ACT2) was used as suitable endogenous control previously established [36] for the crop. Exon spanning primers for the target genes (Table S9) were designed using the NCBI Primer-BLAST online tool (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/tools/primer-blast/)Amino acid sequences of proteins were obtained from the gene view tool using the gene ID compatible with S. italica annotation available in Phytozome v 12. The selected sequences were searched within the Pfam database (http://pfam.xfam.org/) and results from only the significant Pfam searches (sequence alignment and hidden markov model-based analysis) under default setting were included in further analysis.Nitrogen dependent trait performances were measured and visualized using the 'dplyr' R package [37] while variances were evaluated using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) function ''aov ()\" analysed using R (R studio version 1.2.5001) [38]. Linear model regression analysis was accomplished using the ggplot2 R package [39] and ggpubr package (v 0.3.0) [40] with dependencies while data analysis and plotting for multi-trait Pearson's correlation was performed using the ''ggcorr\" function within the ''GGAlly\" package (v2.0) [41]. Plots showing contrasting trait dependent and N specific responses in GNR/GNNR were plotted using the ''ggline()\" function under ''ggpubr\" R package. Normal distribution of traits were ascertained by the Shapiro-Wilk test using ''shapiro. test()\" present natively in R. Scatterplot ellipses were plotted using the ''ggplot2\" R package using the stat_ellipse() function.While hundred grain weight (HGW) did not significantly vary between N levels, most of other traits showed a substantial N response (Fig. 1B). Grains per plant (GPP) and yield showed a positive response to increased N accessibility for the majority of accessions (Fig. 1). There was a larger range of yield performance at high N (N100: 0.2 to 2.727 g), in comparison to low N dose settings (N10: 0.035-0.597 g; N25: 0.162 to 0.985 g), implying that the resultant yield plasticity to N increased availability exists in the population (Fig. 1 A), despite having comparable variance at all N levels (N10: 0.41; N25: 0.34; N100: 0.31). All other traits (shoot dry weight, panicle number, grain protein content, maturity time included) showed a noteworthy genotype by N level interaction (Fig. 1B).Analysis of N dependent yield performance showed that the trait was positively and strongly associated with GPP across all three N levels (R 2 = 0.9, p < 0.01; Fig. 1C, Table S3) unlike HGW (R 2 = 0.01, p < 0.01, Fig. 1D; Figure S1). This indicates that the observed variations in yield are strongly affected by GPP and much less so by the weight of individual grains, regardless of N levels. Notably the GPP range is much higher at high N (40-1700 grains per plant compared to 5-584 grains per plant at N10 and N25). Furthermore, we observe that the increment in GPP is reliant mostly on grain number increase per panicle (Figure S2A) and less on the panicle number (Figure S2B). In S. italica multiple panicles originate from the same stem (secondary panicles) which mean that more panicles do not translate into more tillers.Harvest index (HI), grain per panicle (GPPn; Figure S2C, D) and to a smaller degree shoot dry weight (SDW; Figure S2E) were also positively connected with yield, suggesting that partitioning of N to the panicle may contribute to increased yield. Interestingly we observed a negative (R 2 = 0.11; p < 0.01) association between yield per panicle and panicle number signifying a trade-off between overall yield capacity of a panicle and panicle number (Figure S2F). However, the absence of any correlation between overall plant yield and panicle number in this context suggests some degree of compensation for the negative correlation stated above.We employed five (5) derived indices of the traits to specifically appreciate the genetics of N response in S. italica. We define these indices focusing on yield as the major trait (Fig. 2A). Yield at N100 is weakly correlated to yield at N25 (R 2 = 0.152) and N10 (R 2 = 0.056), supporting the idea that it is important to measure responsiveness under different N conditions (Fig. 2B). The tolerance index (TOL) simply indicates in real terms (i.e., g per plant) the yield gain under high N conditions compared to low N conditions and appears to be the best representative index for N responsiveness. Therefore, a higher TOL value indicates greater yield increase after addition of N (from N25 or N10 to N100) whilst low TOL indicates a small value. The mean productivity index (MPI) and the geometric mean productivity (GMP) provide a measure of the mean yield over the range of N levels tested. While MPI is highly correlated to yield at N100 (R 2 = 0.94) and less so to yield at N10 (R 2 = 0.22), GMP is correlated with both indicating that it is less affected by extreme values and perhaps a better representation of an overall yield under contrasting conditions. The stability index (SI) is a ratio that offers a direct comparison between yield under high and low N. In this case, a very low SI (<1) indicates higher yield under high N conditions compared to low N conditions. SI tends to be negatively correlated with other indices (Fig. 2B). The stress susceptibility index (SSI) represents a similar index to SI that is normalised to the overall yield mean of the population under both high and low N. We also calculated N use efficiency (NUE) as the ratio of grain produced per unit of N provided. NUE under each N level is highly correlated to yield for each N level (Fig. 2B). As the NUE calculation simply corresponds to division of yield by a constant for a specific N treatment, this measure was not used in the further analyses.A total of 142 S. italica accessions were genotyped with a set of 29,045 high quality SNPs. Heterozygosity of both SNP markers and individuals were within acceptable limits (<25%) (Figure S3A; B). SNP markers showed uneven distribution in nine chromosomes with an overall average of 125.73 SNPs/Mb in S. italica. Chromosome 8 and 9 had the highest (235.6 SNPs per Mb) and lowest (87.45 SNPs per Mb) densities, respectively. Overall, chromosome 1 was found to have their maximum evenly distributed densities (Figure S3C). Among chromosomes, the mean polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.125 to 0.20, the least and maximum values lying in Chr 9 and 8, respectively (Table S3). Population structure analysis showed that about half of accessions were admixed (75 out of 142), and residual 67 accessions being  S5), data as p value for each factor (genotype and N level) and their interaction. GPC: grain protein content. (C) Yield correlates positively with the number of grains per plants, irrespective of N level. (D) Yield does not correlate with the hundred grain weight. For C and D, each cross represents an individual plant. Fig. 2. Index traits of a major trait measure different aspects of its N responsiveness. (A) Tabulation to show the details of all trait indices measured for each of the 16 major traits analysed for 142 S. italica accessions (B) Correlation plot to show coefficient of correlation (r) between and within Yield traits at three N levels and its index derivates on one hand and NUE major trait on the other. For ease of understanding and visualization, only N10(Y LN ) was considered for plotting index traits of Yield. Since NUE shows strong correlation with Yield main traits at all three N levels, index derivatives for the trait were not plotted. Values are a mean of three replications. Mean data of phenotypic performance of all traits and their indices are available in Supplementary Table S6. randomly spread over 9 sub-populations clustering under nine discrete phylogenetic clades (Fig. 3D).We identified 68 SNP (marker) trait associations (STAs) for the traits measured and their indices from 16 major traits (Table S5; Fig. 4). These STAs comprised of 59 unique SNPs significantly associated with ten major traits (P value set at 5 e -07 , Bonferroni correction = 0.01) [42] and related indices: D50F (days to 50% flowering), GPP, grain C/N ratio, grain C, leaf chlorophyll content, panicle number, HGW, days to panicle emergence, days to maturity and shoot length (Table S5; Figure S4). These SNPs were spread throughout the genome, with chromosomes 8 and 9 containing the most (24) and least number (2) of significant SNPs, respectively (Fig. 4). We found that all 68 STAs are highly trait specific (i.e., having no overlap with other major traits) although some SNPs could be associated with more than one trait index within a given major trait (Table S5). Intriguingly, we found more unique STAs associated with index traits (55) than with major traits (13) suggesting that more genetic loci are linked to traits that measure differences in N response due to N availability (N responsiveness) compared to those that don't (Table S5, Fig. 4).Additionally, we examined the incidence of genes adjoining the SNP loci based on the genes annotated in the S. italica genome. Within 50 Kb of such SNPs, we identified a total of 272 genes based on their closeness to nearest genes (protein coding) in six distance ranges of 0-1 Kb, 1-5 kb, 5-10 Kb, 10-20 Kb and 20-50 Kb (Sup-plementary Figure S5; Table S6). Additionally in this respect, chromosome 8 was found to have the highest gene density, followed by chromosome 5.Even though we did not find any significant SNP association with yield trait (or its indices), significant STAs could be identified for yield related traits such as GPP, panicle number and HGW (Table S5). Overall, GPP traits showed the greatest number of detected significant associations (a total of 26 associations from 59 SNPs out of which 17 STAs associated with GPP index traits) suggesting that N responsiveness of the trait is significantly regulated at the genetic level (Figure S4). Furthermore, among the 22 unique GPP linked SNPs, we identified three (3) SNP pairs (CS3.46666559:CS3.46708881, CS4.37893830:CS4.37893921, S8.30225088:CS8.30225110) which are linked to GPP index trait, lie within the linkage disequilibrium(LD) decay distance estimated previously [35] and show haplotypes for their corresponding linked traits, suggesting that allelic variation in these SNPs has significant implications for variability for linked N responsive traits MPI_GPP_N25, MPI_GPP_N10 and GMP_GPP_N25 (Fig. 5).Subsequent analysis to identify their proximal genes (upstream and downstream 25 Kb) revealed the presence of 17 unique genes (Table S7) out of which four genes (Seita.3G363300, Seita.3G364000, Seita.4G260600, Seita.4G260700) are unannotated as per Phytozome v2.2. The remaining genes broadly fall in the category of acid phos- phatases (Seita.3G363500, Seita.3G363600), kinases and kinase activators (Seita.3G363700; Seita.3G363800), nucleic acid binding and chromatin remodelling (Seita.3G363900, Seita.8G160300, Seita.8G160400), cytoskeletal organization (Seita.3G364100), hormone biosynthesis and secondary metabolism (Seita.4G260400), protein folding (Seita.8G160500), ligand-binding and ion channel activity (Seita.4G260500), glucosidase activity (Seita.8G160600).Based on our observation that N dependent yield performance is largely driven by grain number in S. italica, we explored whether specific accessions exist in the population which exhibit contrasting grain number responsiveness (GPP_TOL N100-N25) and at the same time are consistent with the allelic variation of SNPs linked to grain number responsive traits (GMP, YI, MPI, SI and TOL). Grains per plant (GPP) at N25 was used to calculate grain number responsiveness since it is appropriately placed to induce N deficiency whilst still allowing ample N for successful grain filling (than at N10) and therefore yield in majority of accessions. Our analysis showed that accessions SI 100, 168, 178, 187, 78,182 and SI 128, 146, 170, 177, 3, 56 show very high and low values for the trait, respectively and exhibit consistent difference in panicle architecture, especially with regard to awn distribution and their lengths (Fig. 6A, B). Furthermore, we observed that these two groups of accessions largely maintain the same allelic variation for six GPP linked SNPs (Table S8) that lie within LD decay distance of 177 kb (CS3.46666559, CS3.46708881, CS4.37893830, CS4.37893921, CS8.30225088, CS8.30225110), previously established for the crop [35]. Such grain number responsive (GNR) and grain number non-responsive (GNNR) accessions were analysed to further examine the basis for N responsiveness in S. italica.Apart from the differences in their capacities to utilize additional N to produce grains, GNR and GNNR also exhibit characteristically different shoot dry weights, yields, harvest indices, panicle dry weight and longer flowering times at least under high N (N100) (Fig. 6C-G) determined chiefly by the ability of GNR accessions to yield more grains. To further dissect their differences in N dependent yield plasticities, we measured four derived indices related to yield, grain number (GPP), hundred grain weight (HGW) and harvest index (HI) based on their respective trait performances at low and high N levels (N10-N100; N25-N100) (Figure S6). Two low N levels (N10 and N25) were considered for the analysis to enable a better understanding into how such trait plasticities play out at very low (N10) and low (N25) N levels against a common control (N100). We observed that except for HGW, indices for all the remaining traits (Yield, GPP and HI) differ significantly between GNR and GNNR genotypes while maintaining the same pattern of behaviour when considering very low to high N (N10-N100) and low to high N (N25-N100) comparisons (Figure S6). Similar to the overall population, yield patterns in the two types shows strong positive correlation with grain number while none were observed for HGW (Figure S7A). Comparative analysis of all these phenotypic trait classes suggest that most vary significantly as a function of genotype and N level (Figure S7B). These observations suggest that the two groups of genotypes have discrete patterns of phenotypic responses to N provisioning that are consistent within each group and provides evidence that N responsiveness between these two is significantly different across multiple derived interpretations of yield traits. Focussing on these subsets of accessions for further analysing the mechanism of the N dependent yield responses may therefore provide new insights that may still be applicable to the population under study.To examine if expression patterns of genes linked to GPP traits are differentially expressed in genotypes with high and low plasticities (GNR and GNNR), qPCR assays of genes proximal to GPP associated SNPs (in LD) were performed (Table S9), using the approach previously implemented in the crop [35]. Three accessions with similar panicle emergence times were chosen from each of the GNR (SI 100, SI 178 and SI 168) and GNNR (SI 128, SI 56 and SI 56) groups to access transcript abundances of 17 genes at high N (N100) against low (N25) N condition to measure their N responsiveness. We observed that three genes (as per Phytozome v12) namely Seita.3G363700-Diacyl glycerol kinase; Seita.8G160400-a DnaJ domain containing protein; Seita.8G160500-T-complex protein 1 (CCT8) out of 17 genes showed largely consistent and distinct expression patterns within and between the two groups, respectively (Fig. 7A). Sequence analysis of their encoded proteins (significant PFAM match, [43]) indicates that Seita.3G363700 has all the domains necessary for diacylgerol kinase activity (with accessory, binding and catalytic domains) while both Sei-ta.8G160400 and Seita.8G160500 are chaperone family proteins containing Hsp40 (DnaJ domain) and Hsp60 (TCP-1/cpn60) proteins, respectively (Figure S8). Seita.8G160400 also contains two DUF (domain of unknown functions), and exploring any connection between them and the DnaJ domain with regard to protein activity will be greatly insightful vis-à-vis N responsiveness. While greater availability of N causes a relative increase in their transcript accumulation in GNR, the opposite is true for GNNR thereby indicating commonality in their regulation leading to potential N responsive processes in a genotype specific manner. Furthermore, we also observed an overall difference of type of correlation between grain number tolerance (TOL_GPP) and expression of all the 17 genes in GNNR/GNR. While we find an overall positive correlation in the case of TOL_GPP/GNR, the same is not true for TOL_GPP/GNNR (Figure S7B), suggesting that these genes largely associate with N responsiveness in a genotype specific mannerEnhancement in yield performance has been limited in S. italica, especially in comparison to staple cereal crops like wheat, rice or maize. However, the crop can potentially play a larger role in many agro-ecosystems worldwide, including sub-Saharan Africa and India. An important feature that has pushed rise in yield output the major crops is the simultaneous use of synthetic N fertilisers and selection of newer varieties. Intensive agriculture has largely driven selection of varieties that performed better at optimal N conditions [9] and currently information on how crop plants respond to increasing N availability, though crucial is limited. Fill-Fig. 6. Grain number responsive (GNR) and non-responsive (GNNR) S. italica accessions have opposing grain number tolerances to contrasting N availability. (A) For all the accessions analyzed (on the x-axis), data are plotted from the mean grains per plant (GPP) on left y-axis at N25 (orange lines) and at N100 (blue lines). The grain number tolerance at N25 (GPP at N100-N25) is represented by black line and scaled on the right y-axis. Dotted lines indicate GNNR and GNR limits. Each of the six red and green filled circles indicate specific GNNR and GNR accessions, respectively which largely share the same allelic form of significantly GPP linked SNPs namely CS3.46666559, CS3.46708881,CS4.37893830,CS4.37893921,CS8.30225088, CS8.30225110. Panel B show panicle architectures of these accessions at N100. Panels C, D, E, F and G show data for shoot dry weight (SDW), yield, harvest index (HI), panicle dry weight and days to 50% flowering (D50F) for each of these genotypes at three N levels, respectively. Data shown as the mean +/-SE of three replicates from six GNR or GNNR accessions. Differences due to N level, genotypes and their interaction were analysed using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey Test with differences indicated by asterix (*). GNNR accessions: SI 128, 146, 170, 177, 3, 56; GNR accessions: SI 100, 168, 178, 182, 187, 78 (Table S6). Error bars show standard error. ing this gap can potentially help selection of varieties that profit from N input in order to yield more and limit N loss to the environment. In this paper, we dissected the response of S. italica plants to increased N availability and identified potential genetic markers for high N responsiveness, thus demonstrating a newer approach for variety selection in crops.Grain number per plant largely regulates nitrogen directed yield increase in S. Italica Typically, yield is determined by the number of grains produced and their weight per plant. The influence of grain number trait in effecting yield trait in cereal crops is well recognized [44][45][46]. In C 4 crop like maize, yield is primarily and positively dependent upon the kernel number and number of ears per plant [47,48] although the overall N dependent yield gain is determined by both kernel number and kernel size in the crop [49]. In millets like Sorghum, N dependent yield is largely driven by panicle number, grain number per plant and grain weight [50][51][52] while it is the panicle number per unit area which largely determines the yield performance (up to 65%) in pearl millet under nitrogen and water stress conditions [53,54]. This indicates that understanding the plasticity of N-dependent response of total number of grains produced (which is dependent on the grain number per panicle and the panicle number), has additional value for C 4 crop species beyond S. italica.Our study in S. italica shows that N-dependent increase in grain number per plant has a strong impact on the yield increase in S. italica, and that this is mainly effected by an increase in grains per panicle rather instead of rise in the number of panicles per plant. N has a strong effect on branching response in many species [55][56][57] which would relate to higher panicle number in S. italica. A further effect of N supplementation, particularly at earlier developmental stage, is the increased number of flower per panicle [58] which is facilitated by cytokinin amounts in the developing panicle in rice [59]. In our study, we observed that the N-driven yield rise in the GNR type is fixed at (early) panicle developmental stage. Therefore, comparison of earlier developmental stage signalling of GNNR and GNR types at the initial stages of panicle growth may provide major insights on how N determines grain number variation in S. italica.It is noteworthy that we did not observe any agronomic tradeoff to increased yield in terms of grain weight (Fig S6 ), which is greatly valued by breeders. This will allow identification of the economic N optima threshold for the crop thereby reducing N application rates without affecting crop productivity (grain yield) and positively impacting sustainable agriculture. This will however require the identification and utilization of genotypes that are more capable of translating acquired N into gainful and consistent yield performances with much lesser increment of N fertilizer input as exhibited by GNR genotypes.N responsiveness is a heritable multigenic trait in S. italicaIn the present study, we investigated the effect of higher N availability on yield response in S. italica which showed that N responsiveness is a valuable trait with strong genetic basis [9]. We observed that there is no strong correlation between the yield measured at N10 and the yield at N100, or between yield measured at N25 and N100 (Fig. 2). This indicates that for S. italica, the N responsiveness or increase in yield under high N conditions cannot be inferred from yield measurements conducted under low N conditions. Therefore, measurements under low and high N conditions are crucial. Likewise, GPP measured at N10 and N100, or N25 and N100 do not share any correlation. Therefore, measuring yield under only low N does not offer information on the yield potential at high N level and vice-versa, yield measurement under high N does not provide information on the yield performance achievable under low N conditions. We have evaluated a series of indices here to estimate the yield gain achieved in the presence of N, with the TOL index being a good representative of N responsiveness per se.N responsiveness is a trait which is heritable and can be mapped genetically, and therefore amenable to breeding programme. The complexity of the trait however is a major challenge as many of the STAs found associated with the trait did not overlap with STAs for major traits, signifying that the genetic basis for high N responsiveness differs from those determining major traits performance including GPP. Furthermore, we did not find any of the STAs close to known genes associated with primary metabolism. In Arabidopsis, plasticity of branching due to increased N in greatly responsive lines also less branches under low N and very high shoot branching under high N doses [56]. This is in contrast to our results in this study, where the extent of N responsiveness remains unpredictable when plants were grown under low N.GWAS analysis highlighted the presence of three pairs of GPP index trait linked SNPs (CS3.46666559:CS3.46708881,CS4.378938 30:CS4.37893921,CS8.30225088:CS8.3022511), within close proximity in the chromosome and the existence of correlation of their haplotypes (Fig. 4) with variation in trait performance in the population suggest that NR in the crop is genetically regulated and the underlying components of which are heritable and potential targets of crop improvement strategies. Further investigation of genetic components (SNPs and their proximal genes) pertaining to those linked to N dependent grain number responsive traits (GPP index traits) will be particularly useful to help identify their roles in regulating the trait and the mechanism of regulation thereof. The presence of a significant portion of trait linked SNPs within 3.5 kb upstream to their proximal genes (6 out of 12 GPP index linked genes) suggests that they are likely to have significant influence on their target genes leading to genotype dependent grain number NR (Table S9). Though many protein candidates are known to play a role in N sensing, there is still ample discussion about the molecular machinery underlying N sensing in crop plants [60]. In this regard, we observe that the genes Seita.3G363700 (diacylglycerol kinase) and Seita.4G260500 (Ionotropic glutamate receptor) positioned downstream to the GPP linked SNPs CS3.46666559 and CS4.37893830, respectively, have been previously implicated in either N sensing, N/C partitioning [61,62] or lipid metabolism [63] influencing yield response.Genes related to grain number responsiveness are transcriptionally regulated in a N and genotype dependent manner Gene expression studies to ascertain the transcriptional regulation of genes proximal to SNP (in LD and showing haplotypes in the population) linked to GPP index traits suggest that few of them are regulated differently in N responsive and non-responsive genotypes. Three genes Seita.3G363700 (encoding a diacyl glycerol kinase-DAG), Seita.8G160400 (an uncharacterized chaperone (Hsp40) protein containing a DnaJ domain) and Seita.8G160500 (encoding T-complex protein 1 belonging toTCP-1/cpn60 chaperonin family) are noteworthy since they showed strong consistent upregulation (from 3 to 13 folds) in GNRs while remaining largely uninduced in their GNNR counterparts in response to N. Diacylglycerol kinases has significant role in lipid metabolism which is altered under high N conditions with low C [64] and perhaps differential activity of the gene in GNNR leads to altered partitioning of C under low N vs high N than in GNR. Higher expression of 'NUMBER OF GRAINS 1 0 (NOG1) gene encoding enoyl co-A hydratase/isomerase (ECH)-a vital enzyme in fatty acid b-oxidation pathway was reported to enhance grains per plant [63]. Notably, lipids work as C source for fungi associated with plants in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis [65], only under a low plant N status. Furthermore, DAGs are crucial for generation of phosphatidic acid in plants, a key signal transducer of lipid metabolism/signalling [66] and have been implicated in N sensing in Arabidopsis [67] with contingent effects on organ growth and development. The observed N dependent differential expression of its encoding gene in the developing panicles of the two genotypes in this study is likely to impact the growth and development of these tissues, potentially influencing the observed variation in grain number performance. Exploring how N regulates their behaviour will potentially provide novel insights on hitherto unexplored role of N on genetic regulation of yield responsiveness in cereals.Plant cytokinin levels are known to be directly associated with N availability [68], thereby potentially modulating assimilation of N and C metabolisms [68,69]. Previous studies in tomato [70] showed that frameshift insertion-deletions (InDels) in two DnaJ encoding genes underlie the expression of a cytokinin oxidase/ dehydrogenase gene responsible for cytokinin transport to leaves under higher N availability thereby suggesting their N responsive behaviour. In a previous study, DnaJ proteins have been shown to play important roles in photosystem II maintenance and hence the extent of carbon assimilation through photosynthesis [71] Furthermore, DnaJ/Hsp40 proteins have been implicated to act as transcriptional activators of many genes by binding with many transcription factors [72]. This indicates that differential transcript abundance of Seita.8G160400 in two genotype groups identified in our study may mediate/regulate N dependent cytokinin metabolism differently leading to their observed differences in N dependent yield response in the crop. Further studies are however needed to substantiate this observation.T-complex protein 1 subunit theta (CCT8) Seita.8G160500 is a molecular chaperone which facilitates protein folding and is implicated in stem cell maintenance by transporting transcription factors and other proteins through plasmodesmata [73,74]. The distinct transcriptional responses of the gene (to elevated N provisioning) in the panicle between the two groups suggest that perhaps they target genes/components regulating stem cell maintenance differently potentially leading to differential abolishment of floral stem cell maintenance in the growing inflorescence and hence their different architectures. Furthermore, an overall higher correlation between the transcript abundance of all the 17 genes (N100 vs N10) and TOL-GPP in GNR indicate that they are largely N responsive. However, comprehensive molecular and physiological studies are required to fully explore how enhanced N availability and its perception relates to its transcript abundance and its consequences to inflorescence organization.Identifying the minimal N amount for optimal yield is key to limit the undesirable ecological impacts of fertilizer dependent cereal cropping. Here we demonstrate that N responsiveness is an important trait to consider in achieving this aim. The present study provides the first exhaustive analysis in S. italica of the responsiveness of multiple agronomic traits to applied N and identifies a set of genetic loci strongly linked to N dependent grain number response. Of the putatively associated genes, some showed strongly differential expression in a N, genotype and temporal specific manner in the developing spikelet. The insights gained and resources generated in this will help identify promising N responsive accessions for use by breeders in devising sustainable crop improvement strategies. This study provides key avenues for comprehensive dissection of N responsiveness in the climate resilient C 4 crop S. italica with a potential for translation in additional cereal crop species relevant to sustainable food security.This research work does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.","tokenCount":"7130"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4494982690.json b/data/part_1/4494982690.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..66914902a101896f8fb324757dddb6810f57586d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4494982690.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5dc774f3568c5ab3c0e0a76efb746680","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e1eb5261-94ba-413c-8204-4b2449318fd3/retrieve","id":"632535609"},"keywords":["abiotic stress","legume","Phaseolus","phosphorus","protein","water deficit"],"sieverID":"ea947230-d72b-48dc-89e7-91e9f7467365","pagecount":"14","content":"Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in the tropics typically occurs in rainfed systems on marginal lands where yields are low, primarily as a consequence of drought and low phosphorus (P) availability in soil. This study aimed to investigate the physiological and chemical responses of 12 bush bean genotypes for adaptation to individual and combined stress factors of drought and low P availability. Water stress and P deficiency, both individually and combined, decreased seed weight and aboveground biomass by ∼80%. Water deficit and P deficiency decreased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance during plant development. Maximum rates of carboxylation, electron transport, and triose phosphate utilization were superior for two common bean genotypes (SEF60 and NCB226) that are better adapted to combined stress conditions of water deficit and low P compared to the commercial check (DOR390). In response to water deficit treatment, carbon isotope fractionation in the leaf tissue decreased at all developmental stages. Within the soluble leaf fraction, combined water deficit and low P, led to significant changes in the concentration of key nutrients and amino acids, whereas no impact was detected in the seed. Our results suggest that common bean genotypes have a degree of resilience in yield development, expressed in traits such as pod harvest index, and conservation of nutritional content in the seed. Further exploration of the chemical and physiological traits identified here will enhance the resilience of common bean production systems in the tropics.Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume for human consumption (Beebe, 2012). In tropical regions where common bean is typically cultivated, 60% of production is at risk of intermittent or terminal drought stress (Beebe et al., 2008) and 50% of the area suffers from low phosphorus (P) availability in soil (Beebe et al., 2009). Consequently, drought frequently occurs in combination with low P availability (Ho et al., 2005) in regions where producers have less capital investment for improvements (Broughton et al., 2003;Cavalieri et al., 2011). In common bean, drought has been demonstrated to significantly impact yield quantity as a consequence of interference with pod development and seed fill (Beebe et al., 2008) and disruption of processes related to carbon partitioning (Cuellar-Ortiz et al., 2008). Low P availability also reduces the yield of common bean by impacting mainly on photosynthesis, metabolism, and carbohydrate partitioning between source and sink tissues (Nielsen et al., 2001;Hermans et al., 2006). Chemical and physiological acclimation and adaptation to the effects of abiotic stress are multifaceted and likely associated with greater overall plant efficiency allowing the plant to adapt to a range of abiotic stresses (Beebe et al., 2008). For example, physiological and chemical responses such as the remobilization of carbohydrates into reproductive tissues are a shared mechanism for resistance, at least to drought and limited P availability within common bean (Beebe et al., 2008;Cuellar-Ortiz et al., 2008). Understanding the physiological processes that underlie responses to abiotic stress and the implications of this on yield and nutritional quality is critical to identify superior common bean genotypes for production in tropical regions.The impact of drought and low P availability on common bean yield is well described. What is less known is the impact of these resource limitations on the nutritional quality of the resulting seed. In particular, while we know that the recycling of nutrients between plant pools is essential for producing seeds with high concentrations of proteins, lipids, and starch (Bennett et al., 2011), less known is the physiological and structural adaptations to the combined effects of abiotic stress such as drought and low P on the overall nutritional quality of seed. The soluble components of leaf tissue represent the transportable pool of resources that turns over rapidly alongside less-labile components of storage and structural material, and these pools, therefore, hold potential for indicating short-term resource limitations.To investigate the effects of both water and P deficit in source and sink tissues of common bean, a replicated study was conducted to investigate the genotypic differences in bred genotypes of common bean to an individual and combined water deficit and P deficiency on seed yield and nutritional quality. Specifically, we tested the following hypotheses: (1) variation in the magnitude of yield decrease will be observed among genotypes and treatment combinations, (2) concomitant changes in the content and concentration of nutrients (mineral nutrients, amino acids) will be observed on a background of reductions in yield due to treatment effects and (3) qualitative and quantitative changes in nutrient content and concentration in seeds will be reflected in foliar nutrient content.Plants were established as a randomized complete block design with four treatments (main plots) and 12 genotypes as subplots with three replications. Treatments consisted of (i) low phosphorus + well-watered (LPWW), (ii) low phosphorus + water deficit (LPWD), (iii) high phosphorus + well-watered (HPWW), and (iv) high phosphorus + water deficit (HPWD). The low P treatment corresponded to a soil P application rate of 10 kg/ha, high P corresponded to a soil P application rate of 40 kg/ha (Polania et al., 2009) well-watered denotes plants watered to 80% of field capacity, and water deficit denotes suspension of irrigation at 15 days after sowing (DAS).A total of 12 bush bean genotypes belonging to the Middle American gene pool previously bred by the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and its partners were selected for their inclusion in the trial based on their tolerance to abiotic stress or commercial availability (see Table 1). Genotypes selected included superior drought and low P tolerant (NCB226, SEF60, SEN56, BFS35, BFS81), drought tolerant (SEF71, RCB593), low P tolerant (SEF73, Carioca, SXB412), and commercial checks (DOR390, Tio Canela) as previously described in Beebe et al. (2008) and Polania et al. (2016c). Pedigrees of drought, and drought-and low P-adapted lines used in this study included SEA 15, which is a progeny of SEA 5, which in turn was derived from an interracial cross including races Durango and Mesoamerica of the Middle American gene pool (Terán and Singh, 2002). SEA 15 also has Apetito (G 1759), a race Durango landrace, in its pedigree (Beebe et al., 2008). Seed color and growth habits of the genotypes varied (see Table 1). Growth habits used in this study, as described by Singh (1981) were previously classified as, 2A: an indeterminate growth habit lacking climbing ability, 2B: an indeterminate growth habit possessing some climbing ability, and 3B: an indeterminate growth habit with long main stem guide possessing moderate climbing ability. Some of the genotypes had been characterized previously under drought conditions (see Polania et al., 2016a,c).Plants were grown in soil lysimeters under a movable rainout shelter from September to December 2015, at the experimental station of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Palmira, Colombia, located at 3 • 29 N latitude, 76 • 21 W longitude, and an altitude of 965 m. Lysimeters were constructed from plastic transparent cylinders inserted into PVC pipes with a diameter of 20 cm and height of 120 cm (Polania et al., 2017). Lysimeters were filled with 60 kg of dry soil with the top 10 cm of the lysimeter left empty. The soil was collected from the CIAT field station in Darien, Colombia, located at 3 • 53 N latitude, 76 • 31 W longitude, and an altitude of 1,460 m. The bulk density of the soil used in the lysimeters was adjusted to 1.1 g/cm 3 to facilitate root growth and drainage. The soil is described as an Andisol and is characterized as deficient in available P (Beebe et al., 2008). Available P content was determined (Bray-II) to be 5.7 mg/kg. Available P content was determined (Bray-II) to be 7.1 mg/kg in the low P treatment and 12.5 mg/kg in the high P treatment. For the duration of the trial, mean maximum and minimum air temperatures were 31.1 • C and 20.1 • C, respectively, with an average relative humidity (RH) of 58.4%. The initial soil moisture content of all four treatments was at 80% field capacity. Plants in the well-watered treatment were maintained at 80% field capacity by weighing the lysimeter two times each week, irrigating the top of the lysimeter and registering soil water content. Plants in the water deficit treatment were weighed two times each week to calculate the loss of soil moisture content. At harvest, the soil moisture content in the terminal drought treatments was determined to be 39% field capacity for high P (HPWD), and 42% of field capacity for low P (LPWD).The trial was managed with weeding and spraying of insecticides and fungicides as required.Gas exchange for each plant was measured using an LI-COR 6400 XT infra-red gas analyzer (LI-COR, Lincoln, NE, United States) for leaf-level photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and substomatal CO 2 concentration at two growth stages, flowering (DAS 32-37) and mid-pod fill . Instantaneous leaf gas exchange measurements were made between the hours of 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. A fully expanded, non-shaded leaf was chosen for measurement at each time point. For spot measurements, conditions in the chamber were set to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) of 1,200 µmol/m 2 /s, temperature maintained at 27 • C and RH values were kept within the range of 65-75%. The CO 2 mole fraction of reference air in the measuring chamber was set at 400 µmol/mol for ambient measurements and 2,000 µmol/mol for maximum rate of photosynthesis (A max ) measurements. Spot measurements were completed within 5 days for each growth stage, with genotypes measured in order from earliest to latest flowering. Relationships between net photosynthesis and sub-stomatal CO 2 concentration (A/c i curves) were completed using the automated program on the LI-COR 6400 XT. Parameters were set such that c a be stepped down from 400 to 50 µmol/mol before moving back up from 400 to 2,000 µmol/mol. Conditions in the chamber were set to a PAR of 1,200 µmol/m 2 /s, leaf temperature was maintained at 27 • C and RH values were kept within the range of 65-75%. A/c i curves were carried out on three genotypes; DOR390, NCB226, and SEF60 under low and high P treatments for well-watered plants only (i.e., no combined water deficit treatment). A/c i curves were taken at the same growth stages as mentioned earlier, flowering and mid-pod fill. Parameters that can limit maximum rates of photosynthesis; maximum rates of carboxylation (V cmax ), electron transport (J), and triose phosphate utilization (TPU) were derived from version 2.0 of the A/c i curve fitting calculator described by Sharkey (2015).Following gas exchange measurements, one fully expanded leaf not measured in the LI-COR6400 chamber was collected from each plant using a razor blade. The leaf sample was microwaved for 10 s using a conventional 900 W microwave oven to prevent metabolic activity according to the method outlined by Popp et al. (1996) and placed in an oven to dry at 65 • C. At harvest, leaf area (LI-COR model LI-3000) and shoot biomass distribution (leaves, dead leaves, stems, pod walls, seed) were recorded. Shoot dry weight was determined after the shoot samples were dried in an oven at 65 Samples of leaves and seeds were oven-dried at 65 • C and ground using an oscillating matrix mill. Approximately 40 mg of ground leaf/seed sample was then weighed into a 2-mL microtube and extracted in a hot water mix according to the protocol outlined by Merchant et al. (2006). An additional 20 mg of ground seed material was placed with 1 ml of 6 M hydrochloric acid in a vacuum hydrolysis tube and digested for 24 h at 110 • C. Extracts of the hot water extraction and digestion process were stored frozen at −80 • C awaiting further analysis as described in the followings sections.Determination of carbon and oxygen isotope abundance on ground bulk samples of leaves and seed was completed using a Delta V Advantage isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) (Thermo Electron) with a Conflo IV interface (ThermoFisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany).Determination of soluble amino acids and total amino acids in extracted and digested samples, respectively, was completed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer. HPLC separation was completed on an Agilent 1290 Infinity system (Agilent, Walbronn, Germany) using a Zorbax StableBond SB-CB18 column (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 3.5 µm, Agilent) including degasser, binary pump, temperature-controlled autosampler (maintained at 4 • C), and column compartment (maintained at 30 • C). The mobile phase was composed of water containing 0.1% formic acid (solution A) and methanol containing 0.1% formic acid (solution B). The flow rate was 0.3 mL/min with a gradient elution of 0-100% solution B, over 23 min for positive mode, respectively. Amino acids were detected by a quadrupole-timeof-flight mass spectrometer (Agilent 6520 accurate-mass) with a dual electrospray ionization (ESI) source. The mass spectrometer was operated with a full scan in positive FT mode for amino acid analysis. ESI capillary voltage was set at 4,000 V (+) ion mode and 3,500 V (−) ion mode and fragmentor at 135 V. The liquid nebulizer was set to 30 psig and the N drying gas was set to a flow rate of 10 L/min. The drying gas temperature was maintained at 300 • C. Internal reference ions were used to continuously maintain mass accuracy. Molecular ions [(M+H)+ for amino acids] were extracted from the full scan chromatograms and peak areas integrated using Agilent MassHunter Workstation software (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, United States). Determination of soluble and total mineral nutrients in the extracted and digested samples, respectively, was completed using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (Varian Vista, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, United States). Samples were prepared with a dilution of 400 µl of supernatant in 10 ml of ultra-pure Milli-Q water. Any results lower than the detection limit of the instrument were adjusted to zero.Analysis was conducted in R software (R Core Team, 2021). Analysis of variance was performed wherein models were fitted using the lm function, where genotypes and treatments were treated as fixed effects. Tukey's honest significant difference (HSD) test was used for multiple comparisons of means. Correlations and principal component analysis (PCA) were conducted to determine the relationships of yield and photosynthetic parameters. All figures were generated and visualized in R using ggplot2 and complimentary grammar of graphics packages.About 97% of the cumulative variation among the different genotypes was explained by PC1 and PC2, wherein overall response to water deficit and low P availability significantly decreased yield (Figure 1). Overall, aboveground biomass, harvest index, pod number, seed number, and seed weight were strongly correlated with one another (r = 0.992-0.837; P = 4.44e-16-0.000), whereas pod harvest index relatively differed from the other parameters (r = 0.760-0.695; P = 4.44e-08-3.88e-10 (Figure 1A and Supplementary Table 1). Under well-watered (WW) conditions, P availability had a significant effect on all traits (aboveground biomass, P = 0.00; pod number, P = 0.00; seed number, P = 0.00; seed weight, P = 0.00) except harvest index (P = 0.23) and pod harvest index (P = 0.99) (Figures 1B-G). In contrast, under water deficit (WD) conditions, only pod harvest index (P = 0.001) was significantly affected by P availability (Figure 1D). All treatment comparisons between different yield parameters are summarized in Supplementary Table 2. Among yield parameters mentioned above, aboveground biomass and seed weight were strongly correlated with each other (r = 0.992; P = 0.000) (Figure 1). Increased seed weight was linearly proportional to high aboveground biomass, which was more prominent under well-watered (WW) conditions (HPWW/LPWW, R 2 = 0.77-0.85) (Figure 2). In general, superior genotypes bred for resilience to abiotic stress did perform well under all treatments compared to the commercial checks DOR390 and Tio Canela (Figures 1A, 2).Leaf-level gas exchange at both ambient [CO 2 ] (data not shown) and maximum [CO 2 ] shows a significant reduction in leaf-level photosynthesis in response to WD compared to plants grown under WW conditions (Figure 3). Corresponding reductions in stomatal conductance (g s ) were observed with less than half the stomatal conductance for the WD treatment compared to the WW treatment (Figure 3). P supply impacted ambient rates of stomatal conductance under the WW treatment only (P = 0.06) (Figure 3). Ambient and maximum photosynthesis and stomatal conductance declined over development with statistically significant differences found between flowering compared to mid-pod fill (Supplementary Table 4). Ambient and maximum photosynthesis and stomatal conductance varied with genotype (Figure 3) with bred genotypes having greater instantaneous water use efficiency (higher photosynthetic capacity and lower stomatal conductance) under treatment conditions (Figure 3). Significant differences were also observed for maximum rates of carboxylation (V cmax ), electron transport (J), and triose phosphate utilization (TPU) for genotypes SEF60 and NCB226 compared to the commercial check DOR390 (P < 0.05), suggesting an increased capacity of superior-bred genotypes to photoassimilate under low P supply than the commercially available check (see Supplementary Figure 1).Carbon isotope abundance (δ 13 C) varied with treatment in the leaf tissue and seed with significant differences between WW and WD treatments and development stage (Figure 4 and Supplementary Table 5). Within the development stage, δ 13 C in leaf tissue significantly differs only in WW treatment (Figure 4A: HPWW-LPWW at flowering stage, P = 0.088; Figure 4B: HPWW-LPWW at mid pod fill, P = 0.013); while at harvest, δ 13 C in seed was substantially different under both WW (HPWW-LPWW, P = 0.000) and WD (HPWD-LPWD, P = 0.000) and becoming more depleted with WW conditions compared to WD (Figure 4C). Overall, there was significantly  (P = 0.000) lower δ 13 C in leaf tissue at flowering (−28.65) and mid pod fill (−28.09) compared to seed at harvest (−25.35) (Figure 4 and Supplementary Table 5). No variation between breeding lines and commercial checks was detected for δ 13 C from the leaf or seed tissue (Supplementary Table 6). For the measured WW plants, the relationship between carbon   and oxygen isotope abundance in the leaf tissue of select genotypes SEF60, NCB226, and DOR390 was weak (HPWW R 2 = −0.023, P = 0.445; LPWW R 2 = 0.196, P = 0.037) indicating the mild effect of LP treatment on the genotypes measured (Figure 4B). Albeit weak, a negative relationship between δ 13 C and δ 18 O indicates that the dominant influence on substomatal carbon concentrations is that of limitations to maximum net photosynthetic rate (A max ), that is, a biochemical limitation to carboxylation imparted by low P availability rather than driven by changes in stomatal conductance.Within the soluble leaf extract, greater concentrations of potassium, calcium, and magnesium were present in comparison to other nutrients particularly iron and zinc (Figure 5). Variation in the concentration of minerals as a response to different treatments within the development stage was most evident at mid-pod fill. For example, there was significant treatment response on the concentration of phosphorus (HPWW-LPWD, P = 0.000) at flowering stage and calcium (HPWD-LPWW, P = 0.000), nitrogen (HPWW-LPWD, P = 0.000), and sulfur (HPWW-LPWD, P = 0.000) at mid-pod fill, among others (Figure 5A). In general, trends varied depending on the nutrient and concentration of minerals at the developmental stage (Figures 5A,B). The concentration of nitrogen (N) significantly declined from flowering to mid-pod fill stage for WW treatments regardless of level of P treatment (HPWW P = 0.000; LPWW P = 0.000). However, under WD treatment, there was no significant change from flowering and mid-pod fill at low P (LPWD, P = 0.935) but N slightly declined at high P treatment (HPWD, P = 0.000) (Figures 5A,B). The concentration of zinc significantly increased only at WD treatments at both P levels (HPWD and LPWD, P = 0.000) (Figures 5A,B). Strong differences between bred genotypes and commercial checks were only detected for zinc and iron in the soluble leaf tissue (Supplementary Table 8) while treatment responses do not seem to vary based on bred genotypes' tolerance to drought or low P stress (see Table 1).In the soluble leaf tissue, significantly high concentrations of glutamic acid (Glu) were detected compared to all other amino acids (P = 0.000) at varying treatments and development stages. In addition, there was no significant change of Glu concentrations at both WW and WD and P concentrations (HPWW-LPWD, P = 0.177). However, Glu concentration significantly declined at mid-pod fill (P = 0.000) (Figure 6). There was a slight but not statistically significant increase in isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and tyrosine in response to WD treatment (Figure 6). In general, concentrations of amino acids declined between flowering and mid-pod fill (P = 0.000) (Figure 6). Overall, there were no significant differences between bred genotypes and commercial checks across treatments and development stages, except for differences observed between low phosphorus and drought-tolerant-bred genotypes for Glu concentrations (Carioca-RCB593, P = 0.052).Nitrogen and potassium were present in higher concentrations in the digested total seed in comparison to other nutrients, particularly iron and zinc (Figure 7A). Significant treatment differences (P = 0.000), largely between WW and WD were observed for nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, and calcium (Figure 7B). Overall, there were no differences in the concentration of minerals between bred genotypes and commercial checks, except for nitrogen (Supplementary Table 9).Almost all amino acids were detected in the seed tissue with the absence of only glutamic acid and tryptophan (Figure 8A). Statistically significant treatment differences were detected for the majority of amino acids as a consequence of the WD treatment under low P levels (HPWW-LPWD, P = 0.000) (Figure 8B). A comparison of genotype differences observed for any of the amino acids detected in the seed tissue is provided in Supplementary Table 9.  1, 2). This is unsurprising, given the substantial evidence for both abiotic stress's influence on yield and its closely associated traits such as harvest index (Beebe et al., 2008;Smith et al., 2019). Yield loss was likely driven by reductions in aboveground biomass (i.e., less leaf area equals less photoassimilate), which in WD treatments led to a ∼75% reduction in the number of pods and seeds produced resulting in reduced yield (seed weight) (Figure 1). Leaf expansion is known to be highly sensitive to both water    deficit and P deficiency (Rychter and Rao, 2005). There was a significant, but not dramatic, reduction in remobilization, as indicated by lower values of pod harvest index, in WD plants compared to those in the WW treatment (Figure 1). Within the combined LPWD treatment, the pod harvest index was significantly lower in comparison to the combined HPWD treatment (Figure 1). PCA also showed the differing response of pod harvest index compared to other yield parameters suggesting that the trait is influenced by other factors beyond those measured (Figure 1A). This response also suggests that water and P availability play an important role in the movement of photoassimilate from the pod wall into the developing seed. Remobilization of photosynthate to seed (indicated here by measures of pod harvest index) is known to play a significant role in improved adaptation to drought and low P in common bean (Beebe et al., 2008(Beebe et al., , 2009;;Assefa et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2013). However, the mechanisms that determine the movement of photoassimilate from the pod wall and into the seed are not well understood and further research is required to characterize the underlying causes of poor remobilization often described as, \"lazy pod syndrome\" (Beebe, 2012). More broadly, variation in seed weight and aboveground biomass associated with genotype was observed among the 12 common bean genotypes investigated (Figure 2). The variation in harvest index (Figure 1C) between the genotypes bred for adaptation to drought and low P availability and the commercial checks highlights the positive impact of breeding activities on yield. Nevertheless, further investigation is warranted to determine the mechanistic relationships of abiotic stress factors such as water deficit and P deficiency on the assimilation and transport of resources throughout yield development and the impacts this combined stress has on yield.Water and P deficiency significantly decreased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance over plant development (Figure 3). In this study, for plants grown under LPWD, aboveground biomass was significantly lower (Figure 2) which subsequently reduced whole-plant water use, therefore, decoupling plant growth from the treatment. For example, this may have allowed for the maintenance of photosynthesis at similar rates per unit leaf area as plants grown under the HPWD treatment which had a slightly higher aboveground biomass and hence would have required greater amounts of water at the whole plant scale (Figures 2, 3). This response indicates the importance of P supply on whole-plant function via the regulation of source-sink dynamics (Rychter and Rao, 2005;Smith et al., 2018b).Genotypic variation in photosynthesis and stomatal conductance was detected for all genotypes measured (Figure 3) and has also been observed in previous studies using common bean (Wentworth et al., 2006;Polania et al., 2016c;Rao et al., 2017). For the three genotypes, NCB226, SEF60, and DOR390, selected for A/c i curves under the LPWW and HPWW treatments, significant treatment and genotypic differences in the biochemistry that underlies photosynthesis were only detected in the flowering stage (see Supplementary Figure 1). We expected greater treatment differences in biochemistry as a consequence of P deficiency due to the important role P plays in the Calvin Cycle reactions (Raines, 2003). This response highlights that the LP treatment only caused mild deficiency (also indicated by the weak negative correlations between δ 13 C and δ 18 O, Figure 4D) while the WD increased in severity as development continued. Understanding how photosynthesis, along with the underlying biochemistry, responds to multiple stresses and fluctuating environmental conditions over time is critical (see, e.g., Zhu et al., 2010).Carbon isotope fractionation in the leaf tissue significantly decreased by approximately 2 parts per million in response to the WD treatment at all development stages (Figure 4A) while in the seed tissue collected at harvest, significant differences were observed between all treatments with decreases due to HP and WD treatments (individually and combined) (Figure 4A). These responses are similar to those detected in previous studies (Badeck et al., 2005;Smith et al., 2016Smith et al., , 2018aSmith et al., , 2019)). The difference in the responses between the leaf and seed likely occurred due to heterotrophic fractionation, which may occur in part as a consequence of changing demand for metabolites in sink tissues altering the carbon isotope abundance of the remaining soluble pool (see Cernusak et al., 2009;Smith et al., 2018a). This can be magnified by changes in environmental conditions (Smith et al., 2016) and in this case, resulted in the carbon isotope abundance of the seed harvested from the LP treatment significantly differing from other treatments, while in the leaf tissue the P treatment had no significant impact.While carbon isotope abundance indicates drought stress, it does not necessarily equate directly to measures of water deficit or water use efficiency (see Seibt et al., 2008). Nevertheless, carbon isotope abundance has been proposed and utilized as a screening method to improve water use efficiency in breeding C3 crops, including that of common bean (Polania et al., 2016c). Using carbon isotope abundance from seed, common bean genotypes have previously been classified as \"water spenders\" and \"water savers\" (Polania et al., 2016c), however, in this case, no genotypic differences were detected in either leaf or seed tissue under any treatment conditions. Relationships between δ 13 C and growth are yet to be fully described. Consideration must be made of the source of carbon for analysis, and the likelihood of the isotope abundance contained within it to reflect water use efficiency across realistic time and spatial scales. The present study did not uncover a strong relationship between δ 13 C and δ 18 O as expected (see Scheidegger et al., 2000; Figure 4B) perhaps due-at least in part-to the relatively isohydric response of common bean to such a severe water deficit. During periods of severe water deficit, changes in isotope signals are reduced because of very low gas exchange and little net assimilation of carbon. The present study highlights that the application and interpretation of carbon isotope abundance has limits imposed by plant responses at the boundaries of physiological function.Within the soluble leaf tissue, concentrations of mineral nutrients and amino acids declined in response to both the individual and combined effects of WD and LP (Figures 5, 6). The majority of the mineral nutrients detected within the soluble leaf fraction at flowering and mid-pod fill decreased in response to reductions in P availability (Figures 5A,B). Significant variation between genotypes was detected for zinc and iron, which according to the statistical model significantly interacted with genotype and treatment (Supplementary Table 7). This may have been a consequence of mobilization of iron, as this has not influenced the concentration of iron present in the seed, with similar concentrations of iron found under all treatments and no significant differences between genotypes (Figure 7B). This finding contrasts with that of Petry et al. (2015) who reported that location and management can alter iron and zinc seed concentration; however, these findings are similar to those reported by Bulyaba et al. (2020) who found that iron and zinc concentration in the seed did not significantly vary between locations with varying soil properties or varieties. While it is known that leaves serve as a substantial source of mineral nutrients for developing seeds (Garcia and Grusak, 2015), a few studies outside the initial work of Hocking and Pate (1977) have researched concurrent changes in leaf and seed mineral content (Garcia and Grusak, 2015). Seed nutrient quality is likely regulated in part by source-sink dynamics and as such the manipulation of transport processes between the leaf tissue toward the developing reproductive tissue is a possible strategy to increase nutrient allocation within the seed (Bennett et al., 2011;Pottier et al., 2014;Garcia and Grusak, 2015;Tan et al., 2017;Smith et al., 2018b).The concentration of most amino acids detected significantly differed with WD (Figure 6). Variation between genotypes was detected for amino acids at the leaf level (data not shown). In particular, the proportion of amino acids detected showed that in some genotypes, very few amino acids (aspartic acid and glutamic acid) were present in the soluble leaf fraction. The examination of the soluble leaf fraction has previously been used to infer stress responses of plants (see, e.g., Hare et al., 1998;Merchant et al., 2010;Dumschott et al., 2017). Given the variation in nutritional quality (mineral nutrients and amino acids) between each of the genotypes, further investigation may allow for the targeted improvement of the genotypes by promoting metabolites that confer resilience. While this type of monitoring could be used to reduce some of the genotypic variations and increase yield, no genotypic differences were detected for nutritional quality in the seed (Figures 7, 8 and Supplementary Table 9), and as such amelioration of reductions to nutritional quality in the seed under varying abiotic stress conditions is expected to be difficult.Water and P Deficit Impacted Nutritional Quality Equally Among Genotypes Water stress and P deficiency, both individually and combined, significantly decreased the concentration of most mineral nutrients detected (potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium) in the seed (Figure 7). However, under WD conditions nitrogen concentration in the seed was found to increase by ∼50% and slightly further under the HPWD treatment (Figures 7A,B). This may be a consequence of increasing rates of remobilization, a well-documented response under abiotic stress conditions in common bean (Assefa et al., 2013;Beebe et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2013;Polania et al., 2016b,c). The increase in the nitrogen pool of the seed is reflected in the number of individual amino acids (Figure 8). Statistically significant increases (of between ∼2 and 50%) in the concentrations of most amino acids detected (alanine, arginine, asparagine, histidine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine, valine) were found in the total seed in response to WD (Figure 8B). These results are in agreement with Gyori et al. (1998) who detected an increase in amino acids as a consequence of water stress in common bean and Nayyar et al. (2006) and Behboudian et al. (2001) who detected a similar increase of amino acids, and similar decrease of mineral nutrients, under water stress in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Despite the relative importance of stress on the nutritive value of seeds, the mechanisms of accumulation of amino acids in the seed under stress are not well understood (Behboudian et al., 2001). Given that little attention has been directed toward the improvement of protein concentration in common beans in recent years as a result of negative correlations between protein concentration and seed yield (Beebe, 2012), further investigation into the accumulation of protein compounds under abiotic stress is required.Nutritional quantity per seed or concentration (mineral nutrients and amino acids) did not vary in any of the genotypes measured. The lack of genotypic variation in nutritional content demonstrates that current breeding activities have maintained seed nutrient content notwithstanding successful efforts to increase seed yield quantity (Beebe et al., 2008). For instance, in this study, while superior-bred genotypes such as NCB226 maintained higher seed yield under WD and LP, compared to a commercial check such as DOR390 (Figure 1), and leaflevel nutrient concentration varied between the two genotypes (Figure 5), there were no statistically significant differences in the concentration of mineral nutrients and amino acids detected within the seed at harvest. The processes that have maintained seed nutrient concentration despite genotypic variation are not entirely clear. One hypothesis is that nutritional content may have been preserved due to the evolutionary requirements for seed germination. Given that a germinating seed requires a minimum amount of nutrients for successful germination and growth (see, e.g., White and Veneklaas, 2012) it is intuitive that the seed would reflect this need. Nevertheless, genotypic variation for nutrient content in common bean is present in the germplasm (Beebe et al., 2000;Blair et al., 2011;Blair, 2013) and has been exploited to increase the concentration of iron and zinc in common bean seed of recently released biofortified cultivars in Africa and Latin America (Haas et al., 2016;Andersson et al., 2017).This investigation has demonstrated that water stress and P deficiency have substantial impacts on yield and yieldrelated parameters including aboveground biomass. Water deficit and low P led to physiological changes at the leaf level, including reductions to leaf-level photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, changes to carbon isotope abundance, and genotypic variation in the soluble pool of mineral nutrients and amino acids. Water deficit significantly increased the concentration of mineral nutrients and amino acids in the seed although no genotypic variation was detected, likely as a result of the need for viable seeds for germination. Plants produce seeds, not for human nutrition but to sustain embryonic development at germination. Enhancing our knowledge of seed development and its resilience under realistic, natural environments containing multiple stresses has great potential to provide more informed management and breeding activities to improve the nutritional value and quantity of yield production.","tokenCount":"5775"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4505590381.json b/data/part_1/4505590381.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48b0f335d7e71920eab4e052f43a2595bd503237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4505590381.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aa6331262611aeeab1dff12f48e86b81","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/76b517b5-70d3-4c07-ad4c-6d57fc7db72d/retrieve","id":"929576215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9241aa80-f7c9-4287-8d4c-b353dbf2300e","pagecount":"22","content":"his paper uses case studies to examine the linkages between agricultural water and rural poverty, and demonstrates how rural household deprivation of agricultural water leads to other socioeconomic deprivations.Within the water and poverty debate, agricultural water holds a unique place. While solutions to other dimensions of the water and poverty problem such as sanitation, hygiene, and potable supplies, generally call for increased expansion of services, the agricultural water/irrigation problem requires drastic improvements in existing services. Furthermore, agriculture is now the world's largest user of water, consuming 80-90% of annual utilized supplies and providing livelihood for most of the world's poor.Within agriculture, water is a vital resource for many productive and livelihood activities, and many developing countries have promoted water resources development over the last 5 decades to improve social outcomes. Huge investmentsThere are five key interrelated dimensions of the agricultural water/poverty reduction relationship: production, income/consumption, employment, vulnerability/food security, and overall welfare. In general, irrigation access allows poor people to increase their production and incomes and enhances income diversification opportunities, reducing vulnerability caused by seasonality and other factors. Nonetheless, irrigation benefits may accrue unevenly across socioeconomic groups.A framework for conceptualizing the impact of irrigation on rural poverty is provided, taking into account household status as well as the direct and indirect impacts of irrigation. Using this framework, the first study analyzes the impact of improved community/household access to irrigation on poverty in large-scale surface irrigation systems in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The study finds that • agricultural water/irrigation access reduces chronic poverty incidence; • irrigation's impact on poverty is highest where landholdings are equitably distributed; • effective rural poverty reduction requires that agricultural water/irrigation development be targeted at poor communities/areas/localities; and • unequal land distribution is associated with inequitable distribution of agricultural water benefits.The paper examines a study of water and poverty in six Asian countries. Key preliminary findings indicate that • land and water resources are important determinants of rural poverty;• there is significant inequity in the distribution of water across irrigation system reaches; • the incidence of poverty at tail reaches is higher than elsewhere in irrigation systems, an outcome worsened when land distribution is unequal.Finally, the paper outlines case studies of poverty reducing intervention strategies for agricultural water. In particular, a study of the pro-poor benefits from providing small-scale treadle pumps is examined, as are localized examples of pro-poor irrigation management, including an institutional/technology bundling in Pakistan, a community initiative in Indonesia, cropping shifts in India, and the Dual Canal and Bethma systems in Sri Lanka.The purpose of this paper is to examine the linkages between agricultural water and rural poverty. The paper demonstrates, through a series of real world case studies, how rural household deprivation of agricultural water leads to other socioeconomic deprivations, and how improved access can reduce the vulnerability of the poor. After presenting background information on the connection between agricultural water and poverty, the paper provides a framework for conceptualizing the impacts of irrigation on rural poverty, taking into account both direct and indirect effects as well as household status. The paper then presents a series of case studies, based on empirical data, examining the relationship between agricultural water and poverty. The case studies are based on the most recent research on agricultural water and rural poverty conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The paper concludes with several examples, based on recent fieldwork, of agricultural water sector practices-initiated both through community action and external intervention-which have had a significant impact on rural poverty.Poverty is complex, multidimensional, and is the result of myriad interactions between resources, technologies, institutions, strategies, and actions. The multidimensional character of poverty has been reflected in a wide array of papers, poverty reduction strategies, and policies. 1 Although water provides only a single element in the poverty equation, it plays a disproportionately powerful role through its wide impact on such factors as food production, hygiene, sanitation and health, vulnerability/food security, and the environment. Indeed, development agencies, groups, and experts worldwide are increasingly recognizing the important role that water can have on poverty. 21 UNDP, 1997;Asian Development Bank, 1999;World Bank, 2000;Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2001; Government of The Netherlands: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2001; OECD-DAC, 2001. 2 World Commission on Dams, 2000;Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, 2000;Zoysa, Lipton et al., 2001. have been made in water resources to achieve such broad objectives as economic growth, rural and agricultural development, national food security, famine protection, and land use intensification. While irrigation development can have negative impacts on the poor under some circumstances, agricultural water/ irrigation has been regarded as a powerful factor for providing food security, protection against adverse drought conditions, increased prospects for employment and stable income, and greater opportunity for multiple cropping and crop diversification. Access to reliable irrigation can enable farmers to adopt new technologies and intensify cultivation, leading to increased productivity, overall higher production, and greater returns from farming. This, in turn, opens up new employment opportunities, both on-farm and off-farm, and can improve income, livelihoods, and the quality of life in rural areas. Overall, irrigation water-like land-can have an important wealth-generating function in agriculture, specifically, and in rural settings in general.There are five key interrelated dimensions of the relationship between access to good agricultural water, socioeconomic uplifting in rural communities, and poverty reduction. The dimensions are production, income/consumption, employment, vulnerability/food security, and overall welfare (Figure 1).In general, access to good irrigation allows poor people to increase their production and income, and enhances opportunities to diversify their income base, reducing vulnerability caused by the seasonality of agricultural production as well as external shocks. Thus, access to good irrigation has the potential to contribute to poverty reduction and the movement of people from ill-being to well-being. While there is an enormous literature on the impact of irrigation on poverty reducing intermediate variables, particularly from South Asia, no review is made here. Rather, recent case studies are presented to identify the conditions under which access to agricultural water can have significant poverty-reducing impacts. Before reviewing the case studies, it is useful to have a conceptual framework for considering the potential impacts agricultural water can have on various segments of the rural population.There is a common perception that the benefits from irrigation accrue primarily to large landholders. However, to understand the impacts of irrigation on the rural sector in general and the poor in particular, it is important to consider both the nature of rural households as well as the direct and indirect impacts irrigation services can have on the rural economy. As a conceptual framework, we can think of the rural population as comprising four groups • the landless dependent on the non-agricultural sector;• the landless dependent on agriculture (e.g., agricultural workers);• smallholders; and • large holders.Given that water is generally linked to land, the direct benefits of irrigation, in terms of increased farm output, will tend to accrue in proportion to the size of landholdings, with large holders benefiting more than smallholders, and smallholders benefiting more than the landless. However, the landless can still directly benefit from increased irrigation services. For instance, those working in the agriculture sector can experience an expansion in employment opportunities and agricultural wages, enhancements to livestock and poultry raising, and As with direct benefits, the indirect benefits of irrigation services will also not accrue evenly across household sectors. To the extent that irrigation increases crop production, food prices will decline due to increased overall supplies. For both categories of the landless, any fall in prices will result in an increase in real incomes and food security as well as increased employment and other opportunities via the multiplier effect in both local and regional economies. Smallholders will also receive indirect benefits from price declines to the extent that they are net food buyers whereas large holders-net food sellers-may experience low or negative indirect impacts. While the exact distribution of irrigation benefits among these various classes within any agricultural system is an empirical question and will be dependent on equity in land distribution, the important point is that direct and indirect effects must be considered to comprehensively understand the impact of irrigation on the rural poor. While the case studies presented here account for both direct and indirect impacts of irrigation on poverty, the focus is on more localized impacts. The cases do not explore the broader economy-level impacts of irrigation on poverty through multiplier effects.The case studies begin with an examination of the relationships between poverty and agricultural water at the irrigation system level. The two studies presented examine how access to irrigation water, household location within an irrigation system, and other variables are related to poverty. A better understanding of these linkages can help determine strategies, which can be employed within existing irrigation systems for poverty reduction.This first case study is based on a recently completed analysis of agricultural water and poverty in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 3 The purpose of the research was to assess the impact of improved community/household access to irrigation (through the rehabilitation and/or development of irrigation infrastructure) on poverty reduction. The study site in Sri Lanka, the Walawe Left Bank Systems (WLB), is in the Walawe Ganga basin about 200 km southeast of Colombo. The study area is located in the dry zone within a scheme that is part of Sri Lanka's larger land 3 Hussain, Marikar, and Thrikawala, 2002; Hussain, Jehangior, and Ashfaq, 2002.Large-Scale Surface Systems resettlement policy. Within the scheme, significant investments have been made to establish irrigated land settlements for resettlement of poor, landless families from the more crowded wet zone and provide opportunities for livelihood enhancement through irrigated farming. By 1998, some 328,000 ha of land had been developed under irrigated settlements and about 200,000 poor families had been resettled in several schemes. The land settlement policy of the Government has had a multipronged strategy. Irrigation development was coupled with an expansion of other physical and social infrastructure. Many settlement schemes are now prosperous agricultural areas forming the cornerstones of agricultural production in Sri Lanka. The irrigated settlements within the scheme can be regarded as good examples of the use of water resources development in reducing poverty.Within the WLB study site, about 12,000 ha of land provide direct and indirect support to the approximately 17,000 families settled in the system (including families encroaching lands in the area). Many families have been relocated from other districts. Each settler was given a parcel of 1-2 ha for cultivation of paddy and other field crops, in addition to land allotments for homesteads. The WLB has been developed in phases, gradually moving from upstream to downstream development. Recently, infrastructure in the upstream and midstreams of the WLB system was improved or rehabilitated to increase water availability in these reaches, as well as in downstream areas where new infrastructure is being developed.The settlement is a mix of new and old settlers. Land distribution is fairly equal and there is public and private landownership. Paddy is the major crop, followed by other field crops including bananas, chilies, and onions. Overall cropping intensity is around 200%. Surface supplies are the only source of water for crop production. Average annual rainfall in the area is around 1,500 millimeters (mm).The study site in Pakistan is located in the upper portion of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB). Irrigation systems were initially developed in Pakistan's Upper Indus during the colonial period. After independence, new works were initiated, particularly during the 1960s, including construction of dams and link canals to further expand the network of irrigation infrastructure. Since the late 1970s, efforts have been directed at improving efficiency of water use, with the focus on increasing conveyance efficiency at the tertiary level (where 40-60% of water is believed to be lost) through so-called on-farm water management programs. The core objective of these programs was to reduce water loss and improve access to water for crop production. Major components of the programs included development/improvement of tertiary level infrastructure and the formation of water users associations. In the study sites within the UIB, the On-Farm Water Management Program was implemented during the mid-1990s.Settlements in the Pakistan study area are well established. As in other parts of the country, most land is privately owned, and there is significant inequity in the distribution of landownership. Wheat, rice, cotton, and sugarcane are major crops grown in the area. Overall cropping intensity, which ranges from 120% to 150%, is fairly low as compared with other Asian countries. Shared use of surface and groundwater is common, and inequity in distribution of surface water is widely observed. Average annual rainfall in the area is 800 mm. The area of the two districts selected for study is over 0.5 million ha and is home to over 3 million people.In the absence of data availability prior to development/improvement of irrigation systems within the study sites, the research employed a \"with\" and \"without\" approach. Comparisons were made between sample areas with • well-developed/improved infrastructure, • less developed/unimproved infrastructure, and • neither infrastructure nor irrigation.The study used primary data collected through household-level surveys conducted three times during 2000-2001. The sample included 858 households in WLB and 720 households in UIB and used a detailed multi-topic questionnaire. In addition, the study employed a participatory poverty assessment approach to obtain qualitative information and data from the communities. Poverty was measured using monetary (incomes and expenditures) as well as nonmonetary indicators (under-5 mortality, dependency ratio, body mass index, housing quality, access to services, and agricultural performance). Further dynamics of income poverty were measured using the concepts of chronic or permanent poverty (defined as a state where household income/consumption is constantly below poverty line within a given time) and transient or temporary poverty (defined as a state where the household's average income/consumption is above the poverty line but occasionally falls bellow the poverty line within a given time).The selected study areas were divided into subareas or strata based on numerous criteria including availability of irrigation infrastructure, infrastructure condition (improved or unimproved), cropping patterns, and the nature of water supplies (perennial or nonperennial). A multistage sampling procedure was adopted for selecting households in each stratum. The overall approach to comprehensively assessing the impacts of access to irrigation/infrastructure on poverty, covering both its spatial and temporal aspects, consisted of • comparing various strata representing the state of infrastructure development, quantifying the differences in the value of relevant variables by developing a socioeconomic profile for each strata; • developing and quantifying key indicators of poverty covering both monetary and nonmonetary dimensions of poverty; • using econometric analysis to estimate the household income/consumption smoothing effects of irrigation infrastructure development; and • using econometric analysis to identify and quantify key determinants of household income/expenditure/poverty, including quantification of the impact of irrigation infrastructure development on these variables.In Sri Lanka's WLB system, study results indicate that household income and expenditure levels are higher in areas with access to irrigation infrastructure, vis-à-vis to those without. Household average monthly expenditure in areas with irrigation infrastructure access is 24% higher than in areas with no access to irrigation infrastructure. This is largely because areas where households have access to irrigation exhibit:• higher cropping intensities and double cropping;• higher crop productivity and overall production; and • higher employment opportunities and wage rates.For example, the agricultural wage rate in areas where households have access to irrigation is over Rs200 ($2.22) per day compared with Rs173 ($1.92) per day in areas with no irrigation.The study also indicates that • production activities in areas with access to irrigation infrastructure also provide support to households in nearby areas with no irrigation infrastructure, reducing levels of chronic poverty in these areas; • access to irrigation infrastructure enables households to smoothen their consumption, with higher incomes received over extended period of time (resulting from higher productivity, crop diversification, and double cropping); and • upgrades/improvements in infrastructure help improve crop productivity and help save water, resulting in more water available for downstream users (who are generally poorer compared with upstream households) and helping to improve equity in water distribution as well as incomes.The results of the study suggest that the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty, as measured by both monetary and nonmonetary indicators, are highest in areas where households do not have access to irrigation/infrastructure and lowest in areas with access to established irrigation infrastructure and with adequate water supplies.Incidence of chronic poverty is highest in areas without access to irrigation infrastructure (typical rain-fed areas) vis-à-vis areas with access to irrigation infrastructure. As shown in Table 1, the rain-fed extension area had the highest level of chronic poverty, with one fourth of households living below the poverty line throughout the year. Overall, the highest chronic poverty is found among nonfarm households and in areas with no access to irrigation infrastructure, and lowest in areas with access to irrigation infrastructure and adequate water supplies. The study concludes that access to irrigation contributes to food security, balanced diets, and reduced vulnerability and poverty at the household and community levels.Similarly, in Pakistan's UIB, the study indicated that access to irrigation/ infrastructure reduces the incidence of chronic poverty. Improvements in irrigation infrastructure have helped increase availability of water for crop production, resulting in higher cropping intensity, and crop productivity (up 5-25%) and improved crop incomes (with increases ranging from 12% to 22%). However, the overall impact of irrigation infrastructure improvements on poverty is found to be only marginal (with the incidence of chronic poverty only 0.8% less in areas with improved irrigation infrastructure than in those without) because of several factors including• inequity in distribution of resources, particularly land, with those having larger landholdings benefiting more compared with small landholders and the landless; andNote 1: Sevanagala area is located at the upstream of the system (in the irrigated part of Sevenagala, irrigation infrastructure is well developed/improved/lined); Kirribanara is located in midstream where infrastructure is recently improved/lined; Sooriyawewa is located further downstream where infrastructure is recently improved/lined; extension and rain-fed area is located further down to Sooriyawewa where irrigation infrastructure is being provided now; and Ridyagama is located adjacent to Sooriyawewa and extension and rain-fed area, where there is irrigation infrastructure but unimproved. Note 2: $1 = Rp90 in 2001. The study indicates that the incidence of chronic poverty is higher among nonfarm households (64.2%) than among farm households (6.5%). The majority of these nonfarm households, constituting over 39% of all households, are landless.Why are the antipoverty impacts of irrigation development greater in Sri Lanka than Pakistan? As highlighted in Table 2, the primary reasons are related to inequity in landholdings coupled with infrastructure improvements that were not targeted at the poor.The case study concludes that • access to agricultural water/irrigation can significantly reduce the incidence of chronic poverty; • the impact of irrigation on poverty is highest where landholdings are fairly equitably distributed; • for effective poverty reduction, agricultural water/irrigation development must be targeted at the poor communities/areas/localities; and • in situations where land distribution is highly skewed, such as in Pakistan, the benefits of agricultural water will continue to be inequitably distributed unless fundamental measures are taken, such as land redistribution.On a broader scale, IWMI is currently undertaking a study on water and poverty in 19 selected irrigation systems in six countries-Bangladesh, People's Republic of China (PRC), India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Viet Nam. The overall goal of the project is to promote and catalyze equitable economic growth in rural areas through pro-poor irrigation interventions. The immediate objective is to determine realistic options to improve the returns to poor farmers in lowproductivity irrigated areas within the context of improving the overall performance and sustainability of established irrigation schemes. The key hypotheses being tested in the study include the following.• Canal reaches receiving less irrigation water have lower productivity and a higher incidence of poverty. • Under existing conditions, small, marginal, and poor farmers receive less benefits from irrigation than large and non-poor farmers. • The greater the degree of O&M cost recovery, the better is the performance of irrigation management. • Participatory irrigation management (PIM) and/or irrigation management transfer (IMT) leads to improved irrigation system performance, which in turn reduces poverty. • An absence of clearly defined water allocation and distribution procedures, and absence of effective and clear water rights (formal and informal) adversely affects the poor more than the non poor. • There is scope for improving performance of irrigation systems under existing conditions, with effective and improved institutional arrangements.The following are some of the preliminary findings of the study.In selected irrigation systems, the incidence of rural poverty is highest in Bangladesh and Pakistan and lowest in the PRC. Estimates also suggest that the incidence of rural poverty is decreasing over time in all study countries except Pakistan.In rural settings, land and water resources are important determinants of poverty.Past development of land and agricultural water resources in the six countries have played an important role in significantly improving household, community, and regional food security and in reducing the incidence of chronic poverty through increased productivity, employment, wages, and income, and by increasing consumption of both food and nonfood items. Preliminary results of the study suggest that there are strong linkages between agricultural water and poverty. However, most irrigated agricultural systems are still home to large numbers of poor.Inequity in the distribution of land and water resources is highest in selected systems in South Asia-most inequitable in Pakistan and only marginal in the PRC and Viet Nam. In South Asia, much rural poverty is among • landless households where household members are unskilled, without opportunities in nonagricultural sectors, and depend on agriculture for wage labor, and • small landholders because of both water and nonwater-related constraints (e.g., information, technology, inputs, etc.).In South Asia, landlessness is increasing rapidly with population increases. The rate of landlessness is rising faster in Pakistan than in other countries. In Pakistan, in the absence of nonagricultural/industrial sector development, fundamental land reform is essential to make significant reductions in rural poverty. Improvement in the governance and management of irrigation/agricultural water would provide some indirect benefits to the landless poor and would provide considerable benefits to poor smallholders.Crop and water productivity levels in PRC, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, where landholdings are generally smaller, are fairly high with cropping intensities ranging from 200 to 300%. However, there is considerable scope to increase economic productivity of both land and water in these countries through crop diversification and value added to farm produce. On the other hand, crop productivity levels are generally low in South Asia, particularly in India and Pakistan, with substantial variations in productivity across households, communities, and systems. There is considerable scope to increase both the physical and economic productivity of land and water through interventions in the water and nonwater sectors.The study finds significant inequity in water distribution across head, middle, and tail reaches of the systems studied. Inequity in water distribution exists even in systems in the PRC and Viet Nam where there is less inequity in land distribution. Inequity in water distribution translates into productivity differences, with lower productivity at tail reaches or downstream. For instance, in 10 distributaries studied in Pakistan, wheat productivity varied from 1,680 to 3,459 kg/ha at the head to 1,236-2,965 kg/ha at the tail. The study further found that, as a result of less access to water and lower productivity, poverty incidence at tail ends is higher than at head and middle reaches.The problem of tail reach poverty exists mostly where there are neither alternative water sources (e.g. groundwater) nor alternative sources of employment (nonagricultural enterprises, market towns, etc.). These findings so far support the hypothesis that command areas of specific canal reaches receiving less irrigation water per ha have lower productivity and a higher incidence of poverty. Poverty incidence increases with reduced irrigation water access (tailends) or when there is no access at all (rain-fed areas), a situation worsened in low, dry season harvests.Overall, the study findings suggest that the causes of poverty are complex and multidimensional. In rural agricultural systems, which support the livelihoods of 60-80% of the population, water availability and access may be a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for poverty reduction. Agricultural water deprivation leads to unacceptable socioeconomic conditions, including a lack of the basic food and nonfood supplies needed to fulfill human physical needs as well as ill health, lack of education and skills, and lack of reasonable living conditions. Any one of these factors can push the already poor and vulnerable into even deeper distress. Conversely, a considerable part of rural poverty can be reduced through improved access to water with well-planned and targeted interventions.Institutional reforms and related interventions in the water resources sector are presently under way at the broader level in all the study countries, although progress is slower in South Asia than elsewhere. Reforms cover three major aspects: legal and regulatory measures, participatory management, and finance. Laws governing water use have been established in most countries, but there is often either overlapping authority or gaps in authority, lack of funding for enforcement, and lack of clarity regarding land and water rights.The need for participatory agricultural water management has been recognized for transparent and effective water management, for sharing of information, and for building awareness among farmers of the importance of saving water. However, PIM or IMT through the formation of water users associations is still in the experimental stage. Results achieved so far are mixed. Early results from the study suggest that either IMT and/or PIM has the potential to create a conducive environment for improving performance of irrigation, including equity in distribution of water and improved access to water by the poor. In South Asia, for instance, there are indications that IMT and/or PIM (although implemented on only a limited scale) has led to a reduction in agricultural water-related corruption, disputes, and water theft.Water charge recovery rates have increased (e.g., the recovery rate increased to 88-95% in systems where IMT was implemented in Indonesia and Pakistan).Along with improvements in water management, infrastructure improvements have also taken place. Also, confidence, awareness, and empowerment of farmers have improved through meetings and dialogues over water-related issues.Given the scale and period of implementation of these reforms, it is too early to evaluate the full range of impacts. However, observations and preliminary findings of the study suggest that IMT and/or PIM efforts are likely to be successful where• distribution of land is fairly equitable;• irrigated agricultural systems are relatively small and manageable; and • communities within the systems are fairly homogenous (e.g., not divided historically into lower or upper castes).In areas where these conditions do not apply, it will take a relatively long time before the reform initiatives have a chance at successful and effective implementation. Enforcement of strict regulatory measures will remain crucial to avoid any negative impacts on the poor that might emerge when these initiatives are implemented.Based on preliminary findings of the study, two sets of interventions are identified to increase the benefits of irrigation water to the poor:• broad interventions for improved management of agricultural water to improve agricultural water/irrigation system performance that would have both direct and indirect positive impacts on poverty; and • targeted interventions that would have direct positive impacts on poverty.-institutional, legal, and regulatory policy; -management, allocation, and participation; -infrastructure and technology; -economic and financial; and -research, knowledge, information, and capacity development.In recent years, there has been an upsurge in the adoption of irrigation technologies for smallholders such as low-cost pumps, treadle pumps, low-cost bucket and drip lines, sustainable land management practices, supplemental irrigation, and recharge and use of groundwater and water harvesting systems. This wide range of technologies, collectively referred to as \"smallholder water and land management systems,\" attempts to create opportunities for the poor and small landholders in accessing presently unusable water supplies, which in turn leads to increased production and income. Emerging evidence suggests that access to agricultural water through these technologies offers tremendous potential to improve the livelihoods of millions of the poorest. Thus identification and promotion of these technologies present significant opportunities in the fight against poverty.Poor smallholders and landless households around the globe are the main beneficiaries of microirrigation technologies. These technologies are particularly suited to small, poor, and even landless households as the costs self-select the poorSmall-Scale Systems• Improve institutional environment and governance in the agricultural water sector.• Involve communities in the management of agricultural water resources.• Encourage public-private partnership in managing agricultural/irrigation water resources.• Establish effective regulatory measures and mechanisms for transparency and accountability among service providers and water users.• Establish clear water rights and water entitlements in the systems by introducing effective and enforceable legal frameworks with flexible provision for seasonal water use. • Promote full O&M cost recovery to improve and maintain system performance (from which the poor benefit directly or indirectly) and to redistribute benefits of irrigation through larger contribution from the non poor for improving productivity of landless and marginal farmers. • Introduce systems of advance payments of water fees by users to improve on collection rate.• Promote shared management of surface and groundwater to help reallocate water to areas where groundwater is of poor quality.• Develop, improve, and/or line canal infrastructure in areas where groundwater is not suitable for crop production.• Introduce season-wise planning for equitable distribution and efficient use of available water resources.• Improve markets for inputs and outputs.• Improve economic value of water through diversification of both crop and non crop farm outputs.• Promote cropping pattern changes from high water-consuming crops to low water-consuming, but high-value crops (e.g., paddy to high-value crops).• Clearly recognize and incorporate rural poverty concerns and the need and importance of pro-poor interventions in national and subnational-level policies and plans.• Promote pro-poor institutional arrangements, including -Involving the poor/smallholders in water management decisions, i.e., establishing and strengthening water users associations (WUAs) with due representation of the smallholders and the poor; and -Establishing and strengthening separate WUAs of tailenders in situations where there are significant head-tail inequities in water distribution.• Establish guaranteed minimum water rights for smallholders in drought and scarcity conditions to ensure household food security.• Especially where there is significant inequity in land distribution, establish pro-poor water allocation/distribution rules that will allocate more canal water per unit of area for smallholders as compared with large farmers. Give priority in water allocations to areas and command reaches where poverty incidence is higher. • Promote canal water reallocations to canal command areas or reaches where groundwater is of poorer quality, mostly tail ends where incidence of poverty is relatively higher. • Develop pro-poor (discriminatory) pricing systems such as differential pricing for larger areas beyond specified ceiling per farm household.• Create employment opportunities for the poor, including the landless, by involving them in O&M, water fee collection, and other supervisory activities. • Increase productivity and value of water in ways that favor the poor, such as promoting crop diversification toward high-value crops on smallholder farms through the provision of necessary incentives, information, and support. • Target technological support, such as providing high-quality seeds, fertilizers, credit, and agricultural equipment to land leveling for the poor communities in canal commands. • Provide monetary and technical support to install pumps or other water-lifting devices for communities in command areas or canal reaches that are relatively poorer but have good quality groundwater. • Prioritize command areas or reaches with relatively greater poverty incidence for infrastructure rehabilitation and upgrading, and for new infrastructure for storage and distribution of water. • Improve markets for the inputs purchased and outputs produced by the poor.• Build capacity of smallholders and the poor through information and training programs.• Develop databases on poverty, location, incidence, and depth of poverty, and monitor poverty regularly.• Encourage research on agricultural water and poverty.Water for the Poor in Surface Irrigation Systems and have a strong land and water-augmentation effect. Box 2 presents an overview of potential antipoverty impacts of microirrigation technologies worldwide.Treadle Pumps in South Asia's \"Poverty Square\" \" \" \" \" 4 4 4 4 4A treadle pump is a foot-operated device that uses bamboo or flexible pipe for suction to pump water from shallow aquifers or surface water bodies. Since it can be attached to a flexible hose, a treadle pump is useful for lifting water at shallow depths from ponds, tanks, canals or catchment basins, tube wells, and The Case: The Global Initiative for Smallholder Irrigation is the world's most ambitious poverty reduction plan aimed to enable 2 million rural poor households a year to take a major step on the path out of poverty. The approach exploits the fact that small, low-cost, and affordable irrigation technologies that can fit small plots and even be useful for landless households, self-select the poor and have strong land and water augmentation effects. The pro-poor technologies successfully tested so far include treadle pumps, rope and washer pumps, low-cost drip and micro sprinkler, and bucket kits. The poverty reduction objective would be achieved through production of high-value crops, expansion of markets for the outputs produced by the poor, and job creation enabled by smallholder irrigation. The initiative is expected to benefit 30 million poor and landless households around the globe, and would bring 1 million ha under cultivation each year over 15 years. These technologies have so far been successfully tested in several countries in eastern Asia (People's Republic of China), South Asia (Bangladesh, India, and Nepal), Latin America (Brazil, Nicaragua, and Mexico), and Africa (Kenya and Zambia). We present here a summary of issues and lessons learned from case studies undertaken on smallholder irrigation in India and Nepal (Winrock International and IDE 2001).• All those who often are deep down or below the poverty line including poor rural households and landless families Core Pro-Poor Intervention(s)• Here the private sector is the key player in the promoting and marketing irrigation technologies and providing other related inputs to the poor. An initial price subsidy enables private sector entrepreneurs to mass-market these technologies among the rural poor and landless.Poor landless households use horticultural kits for income generation.The package consists of bucket kits, seed, fertilizer, pest control, and other information.Wealth creation becomes possible by growing high-value crops like papaya mixed with other vegetables, bitter gourd on the fence, and pumpkins on the roof.• Poorest households with land as little as 40-100 m 2 and water as meager as 2-10 buckets a day can earn $100 per year in net income. • Virtually all rural families have access to that much land and water and therefore, virtually all rural poor stand to benefit from this pro-poor intervention. other sources up to a maximum height of 7 meters (m). It performs best at a pumping head of 3.0-3.5 m, delivering 1.0-1.2 liters (l) per second.Recent research by IWMI suggests that treadle pump technology has had a tremendous impact in improving the livelihoods of the poor in Bangladesh, eastern India, and the Nepal Terai (the heartland of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin), South Asia's so-called \"poverty square.\" This region, which contains 500 million of the world's poorest people and is characterized by tiny landholdings, is underlain by one of the world's best groundwater resources, available at a depth of 1.5-3.5 m.The treadle pump is truly a pro-poor technology. It is cheap and affordable at $12-30, is easy to install, operate and maintain, and has no fuel costs. Treadle pump technology has the unique property of self-selecting the poor and positively impacting their livelihoods. Based on an extensive 1998 survey of 2,400 households in parts of Bangladesh, eastern India, and Nepal Teri, a study by Shah et al. suggests that• for poor smallholders constrained by limited land, treadle pump technology works as a land augmenting intervention, enabling users to raise crops in both summer and winter, thereby increasing overall cropping intensity; • treadle pump technology enables farmers to grow high-yielding varieties such as Chinese rice and high-value crops such as vegetables); and • the technology increases crop yields. For instance, in Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar, treadle pump users had average potato yields of 16-17 t/ha, a level 60-70% higher than those of diesel pump users.As a result of improvements in these intermediate variables, the study estimates that farms using treadle pump technology see an average increase of $100 per year in annual net income with gross incomes of $300-400 per acre quite common. Net incomes with use of the technology did, however, vary across households and regions. International Development Enterprise (IDE), a USbased NGO that developed and promoted the technology, claims to have sold 1.3 million pumps since the mid-1980s in Bangladesh, and 200,000 in eastern India and the Nepal Teri since the mid-1990s. IDE indicates that, \"eastern India and the Nepal Teri have an ultimate market potential for some 10 million treadle pumps. If and when IDE does saturate this market potential, it will have probably accomplished one of the world's biggest and best-targeted poverty reduction interventions, by increasing the net annual income of South Asia's poorest rural households by a billion dollars\" (Shah, et al. 2000).The case studies presented above demonstrate linkages between agricultural water and poverty at the system and household levels as well as the implications for poverty reduction. Based on the results of our recent fieldwork, we now outline examples of intervention strategies that have a potential for increasing the benefits the poor receive from irrigation systems, thereby improving the lives of the most vulnerable.A major breakthrough in wheat yield: When the crop assessment official announced from the rostrum that the average wheat yield had gone up to 51.62 maunds per acre, the jampacked pandal for the \"farmers' day\" broke into loud and spontaneous clapping (Dawn, 26 April 2000).In 1998, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) introduced productivity enhancing interventions (for experimental and demonstrative purposes) at selected sites in Punjab. The interventions included creating new institutional frameworks (organizing farmers into farmers organizations) and supplying technological packages (providing inputs such as new seed varieties, fertilizers, farm equipment, information on timings and quantities of input use, and introducing measures such as laser land leveling). The farmers organizations (FOs) were provided the following inputs/services: • farm implements and equipment for use by members as well as for renting out to nonmembers, with revenues used to build and strengthen the FO Fund; • fertilizers and improved seed varieties to members at half the cost under the condition that the inputs be used at the recommended quantity and time; • laser land leveling for members; and • agricultural extension services through the appointment of an agricultural extension advisor.This combined technological and institutional intervention package resulted in significant improvements in overall farm management, cropping intensity, and crop yields. Land leveling enabled farmers to save water and increase the irrigated area by 15-20%. IWMI's study in the Chaj area suggests that wheat yields have significantly increased (more than doubling from 2 t/ha to over 4 t/ha), resulting in improving food security at both the community and household levels. This example shows how the interactions of institutions and technologies can create an enabling environment and opportunities for the poor to improve their livelihoods and food security as well as reduce poverty.Pasir village, situated near Semarang in Central Java, is located at the tail end of the middle reach of the Klambu Kiri irrigation system. The village is home to 2,050 residents, has a total area of 929 ha and average landholdings of 0.3-0.6 ha. The village is fully agriculture dependent, with no industry or other nonfarm activities. Given its location within the irrigation system and with no suitable quality groundwater available, the village was once faced with the classical tail-end problem of water shortages. However, the village took the initiative collecting funds from community members to build infrastructure that will divert and use drainage water previously flowing to the sea. With the increased availability of water, land is now cultivated three times a year.About two thirds of the area are cultivated with high-value crops, such as onions and chilies, with the remaining third in paddy. Crop yield is high at 7-8 t/ha for onions, 1 t/ha for chilies, and 6-7 t/ha for paddy with production taking place at reasonably profitable rates. Traders come to the area to buy produce that is then transported to Semarang and even Jakarta. Demand for labor has significantly increased, especially during sowing and harvesting seasons, with wage rates ranging from Rp20,000 per day for female labor, to Rp40,000 per day for male labor. The availability of water and the increased economic productivity of water through crop diversification have brought enormous prosperity to the village. Poverty has disappeared, the village is fully food secure, and no village residents are now accepting food from the government social safety net program.Response to Water Scarcity: Madhya Pradesh, IndiaIn Madhya Pradesh, India, farmers have adopted unique cropping patterns in response to water scarcity. In most parts of the state during the rabi season, farmers allocate a significant part of their farm area to less water and fertilizer demanding wheat varieties (e.g., non-Mexican varieties requiring only 1-2 irrigations per season as compared with Mexican high-yielding varieties requiring 4-5 irrigations per season). While the yield of the less water-intensive varieties is generally lower than high-yielding Mexican varieties, production costs are lower and sales prices higher (due to a taste preference for breads made with traditional varieties), resulting in overall returns similar to or even higher than those from high-yielding varieties.The major pro-poor feature of the technology is the cultivation of traditional varieties, which require less water and lower cost of production.An Innovative Approach to Promote Equity: The Dual Canal System in the Ruhuna Basin, Sri LankaUpstream-downstream inequity, commonly known as \"head-tail\" inequity, in water distribution is a classical problem in most surface irrigation systems. There is evidence that the problem exists even in relatively small systems such as those in Sri Lanka (smaller relative to systems in, for instance, India and Pakistan, where the problem of inequity is much more severe). In the absence of alternative sources of water (e.g., groundwater), head-tail inequity in water distribution translates into differences in productivity levels and inequity in farm incomes, with those having better access to water (e.g., head-enders) generally economically better-off than those at the tail end.In response to growing water scarcity, and specifically to address head-tail problems in the Walawe Left Bank (Ruhuna Basin) of Southeast Sri Lanka, an innovative approach known as the \"dual canal system\" was introduced in the tail-ends of the existing irrigation systems and in a newly developed area further downstream that forms part of Sri Lanka's resettlement program.Under the dual canal system, mini-water storage tanks with a command area of about 80 ha were designed based on the topography of the area. Some tanks have their own catchments while others are fully fed by distributary or branch canals. Each tank has four sluice gates to regulate water supplies in four lined distributaries, two each for paddy and upland crops. Farmers in the paddy canal command are given 1 ha of land while upland crop farmers are given 0.8-0.9 ha (returns from upland crops are higher than those from paddy). In addition, each farmer is allotted 0.1 ha for a homestead. Farmers in the paddy canal command can cultivate paddy, a water-intensive crop, or less water-intensive upland crops, while farmers in the upland canal command can only cultivate upland crops (with the exception that a small paddy plot is allowed for home consumption to ensure household food security). Water supplies in paddy canals is 24 hours, while that in upland crop canals is for only 12 daytime hours. The system promotes user participation in water management. While the system is quite new and its success and effectiveness remains to be seen, overall water management within the system is considered better than in conventional canal systems and early indications suggest that the approach has significantly improved the equity of water distribution, with almost all benefits accruing to poor areas.Community Sharing of Land and Water: The Bethma System in Sri Lanka 5Dry zone villages in Sri Lanka have traditionally been located near man-made tanks. Water was distributed from the tank outward, toward paddy fields divided into three echelons where each household in the village maintained holdings.During water-rich periods, water was distributed to all fields within the system, while in drier periods the echelons farther from the tank were allowed to go fallow. This arrangement, known as the Bethma system, helped ensure not only optimal use of available water supplies, but also maintained equity across households. A variation on the traditional system is currently being followed in modern systems managed by the Mahawelli Authority of Sri Lanka in an effort to promote long-term equity among farmers and ensure household food security.In normal years, land use rights are not allocated according to the Bethma system. However, in dry years those farmers located further downstream in the irrigation systems with locational disadvantage in water access are temporally reallocated to land in the upper reaches. Simultaneously, those farmers whose plots were located in the upper portion temporarily sacrifice some of their holdings, thereby sharing the costs of any water shortage. While not equivalent to the former system, the use of concepts from the traditional Bethma system provides an innovative example of how traditional concepts can be used to increase equity in modern irrigation systems.Based on the material presented in the case studies and a review of global literature, we identify the following factors that will determine the direction and magnitude of antipoverty impacts of irrigation. While impacts of irrigation on poverty reduction will vary by agro-climatic regions and institutional settings, these are essentially the generic conditions that will determine the magnitude of the impact of any irrigation intervention on poverty • type of irrigation technology;• quality of irrigation water;• production/cultivation technologies; cropping patterns, extent of crop diversification; and • support measures (e.g., input and output marketing, information, etc.)The antipoverty impacts of irrigation can be enhanced by creating conducive conditions that could achieve functional inclusion of the poor. These conditions include • equitable access to land; • integrated water resources management; • access to and adequacy of good quality surface and groundwater; • modern production technology; • shift to high-value market-oriented production;• opportunities for the sale of farm outputs at commensurate prices but at low transaction costs; and • opportunities for nonfarm employment.To the extent these conditions or enabling environments are lacking or imperfect, on-ground benefits of irrigation to the poor would continue to be discounted. For instance, in settings with high degree of inequality in land distribution, irrigation would have lower impact on poverty, as water rights and potent benefits are virtually tied to landownership. Lack of ownership or formal land titles and poor-insensitive land tenure systems, as is the case in many developing countries, result in self-exclusion for the poor, such that benefits of public irrigation accrue mainly to fewer landholders. Even if landholdings are equitable, as is the case in irrigated land resettlements in Sri Lanka, when irrigation resources are poorly managed, or access to complementary production inputs (agro-chemicals and credit) is poor, the impact of irrigation interventions on poverty is likely to remain small. Even if the first two conditions are met, but canal water supplies are inequitably distributed or inadequate, and opportunities for conjunctive use of groundwater are constrained due to its poor quality or high abstraction costs, possibilities for reaching out to the poor through irrigation will remain minimal. A shift from low-value subsistence production to high-value market-oriented production is the next step to the road out of poverty, as it is a key driver of income diversification and risk management. Similarly, newer production technologies and crop varieties, geared to suit small farmers and fit small plots, are a must for pulling the poor out of poverty through irrigation. Even if all these aforesaid conditions are met, when poor farmers remain unable to sell their bumper harvests in distant markets, due to market imperfections or high transaction costs, actual benefits of irrigation to the poor will fall short of their potential. Existence of employment opportunities outside the farming sector, especially in areas with high land-to-man ratios, would further help diversify incomes, minimize risk, and reduce poverty. In short, it is the \"package\" that matters for effective poverty reduction and not the mere supply of irrigation water.There are strong direct and indirect linkages between irrigation and poverty. Direct linkages operate via localized and household-level effects, and indirect linkages operate via aggregate or national-level impacts. Irrigation benefits the poor though higher production, higher yields, lower risk of crop failure, and higher and year-round farm and nonfarm employment. Irrigation enables smallholders to adopt more diversified cropping patterns and to switch from low-value subsistence production to high-value, market-oriented production. The transition to the market economy integrates the poor into land, labor, and commodity markets and empowers the poor by putting them at a level playing field with other market entities, including the non-poor. Increased production makes food available and affordable for the poor. The poor and the landless are main beneficiaries of low food prices as they are net buyers of food.Indirect linkages operate via regional, national, and economy-wide effects. Irrigation investments act as production-and supply-shifters, and have a strong positive effect on growth, benefiting the poor in the long run. The magnitude of indirect benefits could be many times more than the direct and household-level benefits. Further, irrigation benefits tend to fall more squarely on the poor and the landless alike in the long run, although in the short run, relative benefits to the landless and land-poor may be small, as the allocation of water often tends to be land-based. Allocating water to the land and not to the households, is inherently biased against the landless. Despite that, the poor and the landless benefit, in both absolute and relative terms, from irrigation investments. Recent advances in irrigation technologies, such as microirrigation systems, have strong antipoverty potential.Ongoing studies in Asian countries document strong evidence that irrigation helps reduce permanent and temporary poverty. Further, it helps reduce poverty in its worst forms, namely chronic poverty. This supports the view that irrigation is productivity enhancing, growth promoting, and poverty reducing.The benefits of irrigation to the poor can be intensified by affecting broader level and targeted interventions simultaneously. Interventions should focus on reaching out to the poor through improved economic, policy, institutional, and governance measures. Generating a knowledge base through multicountry studies on constraints to productivity in irrigated agriculture is the first step to help identify the opportunities to serve the poor.  Hussain, Intizar, Fuard Marikar, and Sunil Thrikawala. 2002 ","tokenCount":"8386"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4514483219.json b/data/part_1/4514483219.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..85f66de7f27e3fdeece345698cf39a56207a0d6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4514483219.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ff94e1c27fe2a6784f7ee6fc92e67e42","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4865fb48-dffb-4cbd-be26-bead259105de/retrieve","id":"286750281"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7ad779d5-f74c-4059-b5a6-1a7bce065821","pagecount":"4","content":"Maize is a staple food and a major cereal in Nigeria. It is cultivated across a variety of environments from the forest, Savanna and relatively drier agro-ecologies. It also serves as a source of animal feed and industrial applications. While advances have been made in research, extension and subsidy provision, maize yields have remined low. The low productivity is attributed to poor soil fertility management, pest and disease infestation, and lack of credit and financial resources (Kamara et al., 2020). This activity highlighted the value of modelling related approaches in enhancing decision support through prediction of potential water-limited yields for the determination of the optimum sowing dates across various season types and maize varieties at scale. The potential yields will be used as inputs into AgWise fertilizer recommendation workflow.The study focused on Maize for Nigeria, with the aim of predicting potential maize yields as well as optimal sowing dates and varieties using the AgWise Potential Yield (Water Limited Yield) crop modelling workflows. The AgWise framework incorporates various crop models, including APSIM, DSSAT, WOFOST, and Oryza. This research utilized the spatialized DSSAT 4.8 crop model, combined with geospatial weather and soil data from CHIRPS and AgERA5, along with soil information from ISRIC. DSSAT crop model spatialisation was enabled through of the DSSAT R-Package (Alderman, 2020).Simulations were based on 22 years of historical data (from 2000) for three generic maize varieties (short, medium, and long) across different sowing dates. Model was calibrated based on a combination of field experimental data and expert feedback. Due to the agro-ecological diversity of Nigeria, different regions have varying sowing windows. The study therefore used 12 different sowing windows for different regions and states of Nigeria. The outputs of these simulations were aggregated across different sowing dates, varieties, and ENSO phases, allowing for the determination of optimal sowing dates for various season types. The date with the highest median yield was designated as the optimal sowing date.Season types were classified based on the three ENSO phases, with phase determination achieved using the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI). An ONI value greater than 0.5°C indicates El Niño conditions, while a value less than -0.5°C indicates La Niña. An ONI value between -0.5°C and 0.5°C signifies neutral conditions.The analysis aggregated maize yields across various sowing dates, varieties, and ENSO phases. Nigeria has a wider maize sowing window spanning from March to September, with April to June being the most optimal window. This however depends on the agro-ecology and State. The pattern was similar across different varieties and ENSO phases, with some exceptions where there are instances of low and high yields under El Niño and La Niña (Figure 1).  Maize yields are relatively low in the Northen and Southern Nigeria. The pattern is more noticeable under El Niño conditions and less so in La Niña and Neutral conditions. The mid-altitudes parts of Nigeria have higher yields especially in the long and medium season varieties (Figure 3). The northern parts of the Nigeria exhibited a higher standard deviation, indicating lower yield stability compared to the central and southern regions. Consequently, there is a lesser likelihood of achieving reliable yields in the northern areas than in the southern parts of Nigeria. Lower parts of Nigeria had relatively low yields which translated to higher yield stability and reliability (Figure 4). The country has a wide sowing window due to the differences in agro-ecological environments. Southern Nigeria is predominated with early sowing in March. Early sowing is predominant under neutral and La Niña conditions as opposed to El Niño. Delayed sowing dates are more predominant under La Niña -short variety and Neutral and medium and long seasoned varieties combinations (Figure 5). .Early planting does not always result in higher yields, as this is dependent on the agro-ecology, state. Additionally, there are greater chances of achieving higher yields in the mid altitude parts of Nigeria compared to the northern and southern regions. On the contrary maize yields are more stable in the extreme regions despite the low yields.The scripts used for simulations and analysis are available on github. The data used for DSSAT model calibration is publicly available.Chernet M, Mkuhlani S, Chimonyo VGP, Urfels A, Moreno P, Bendito EG, Sila A, llanos L, Degifie T, Seid JA, Tofa AI, Kreye C, Abera W, Devare M. 2024. Maize water-limited yields, optimum maize sowing time and variety recommendations summary for Nigeria. CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) Initiative. AgWise-Potential Yield. Use Case-Country Reports. 5pp.","tokenCount":"736"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4514963414.json b/data/part_1/4514963414.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c526dc1e6bb00e06b535515efa76bf0b7f69fffb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4514963414.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b7f7ed942408341ec61a8276305ed47","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e2ffc8e-8f48-4980-bf0e-25eb498e01de/retrieve","id":"87856687"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"124d0b52-5341-4692-8da7-e6a39c727ead","pagecount":"36","content":"with its partners, leads the implementation of the WISER project \"Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in East Africa (ECREA),\" funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO). This two-year initiative directly targets 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly impacts 3 million bean value chain actors across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.Through ECREA, bean crop farmers in these countries, particularly women and youths, will gain access to crucial climate and weather information and advisories. This empowerment will enhance their adaptive capacities and resilience against climate shocks, leading to increased productivity for food security and income generation. These sentiments were expressed by ECREA project partners and stakeholders during the official kick-off and launch workshop held at Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, from November 29th to 30th, 2023.The kick-off and launch workshop convened stakeholders and implementing partners, including National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS) from the four target countries, ICPAC, media houses, UK Met Office, FCDO, Rwanda Water Board (RWB), and Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). The workshop's objectives were to officially launch the ECREA project, understand, review, and design project activities, work plans, approaches, budgets, timelines, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and facilitate cross-learning of best practices from each country's bean production hub.Africa (ECREA) Project, an initiative of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through the WISER program. As we continue to face the profound impacts of climate variability and change, particularly in regions like Eastern Africa, it is more crucial than ever to strengthen our resilience and adaptability.The ECREA Project was conceived in response to the pressing need for improved Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) in East Africa, where smallholder farmers face significant challenges due to unpredictable seasonal climate conditions. Our primary objective is to enhance the quality, accuracy, user responsiveness, and reach of WCIS in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. By doing so, we aim to close the critical gaps that currently undermine climate resilience for bean value chain actors at various levels.A key aspect of our project is the focus on both the supply and demand sides of WCIS. We are working closely with local and international partners to ensure that the information provided is not only scientifically robust but also accessible and actionable for those who need it most-our smallholder farmers. The anticipated outcome is to empower these farmers and other stakeholders to make informed decisions that will mitigate the risks associated with climate variability and enhance their overall resilience.The Project officially launched with a kick-off workshop held at Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, from November 29th to 30th, 2023.The workshop brought together key stakeholders and implementing partners, including representatives from National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS) from the four target countries, ICPAC, media houses, the UK Met Office, FCDO, Rwanda Water Board (RWB), and Rwanda's Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI)Subsequently, we have conducted Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) trainings in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. These trainings are instrumental in equipping our stakeholders with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively utilize climate information in agricultural decision-making. Through PICSA, we are building the capacity of farmers and extension workers to interpret and apply climate data to enhance agricultural productivity and resilience.The ECREA Project is more than just a response to climate challenges-it is a commitment to building a resilient future for the people of East Africa. We are excited about the journey ahead and look forward to working with all of you to achieve our shared goals.Thank you for your continued support and collaboration.Scientist & Project Leader Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT Dear Partners and Stakeholders, of the ECREA project will be enhanced WCIS utilized to inform plans, policies, and decision-making at regional, national, and local levels.Why ECREA?ECREA is a regional project spanning four countries in East Africa, with a primary focus on bean farming systems. Why beans? Because, as Livingstone, the ECREA Project Coordinator, pointed out, \"most households in East Africa are engaged in bean production, and every bean farmer also cultivates other crops within the bean farming systems.\" ECREA builds upon the previous work of PABRA by targeting various bean production hubs (Figure 1), where the majority of ECREA's target farmers derive their food, income, and sources of proteins and carbohydrates. However, bean research leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda participating the ECREA project launch asserted that the production of beans in these hubs does not reach its full potential due to various stresses, including abiotic and biotic factors, with the effects of climate change being particularly detrimental to bean production. Timely and tailored provision of weather and climate information in these bean production hubs could enhance farmers' resilience. Unfortunately, the current reach of Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) provided by government-funded National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) does not meet expectations.Livingstone emphasized that ECREA will contribute to supporting existing efforts in bean production hubs by empowering vulnerable farmers with access to contextualized information and the capacity to interpret and utilize it effectively in their farming activities. This sentiment was reiterated by John, the coordinator of WISER in East Africa, who emphasized that ECREA targets beans because they are one of the most crucial food crops grown by vulnerable smallholder farmers in the region, prone to climate shocks. Additionally, beans offer numerous nutritional and financial benefits, thereby contributing to increased household incomes. \"During the launch of the ECREA project, John noted, \"ECREA will collaborate with NMHS from the four countries for the provision, translation, delivery, and utilization of WCIS. It will engage in coproducing agro-advisory services for the bean value chain actors across the four countries.\"Why ECREA Embraces a Multidisciplinary Approach?During the ECREA launch, it was emphasized that leveraging PABRA's bean production hubs enables ECREA to seamlessly integrate its Agro-Climate Advisory Committees (AACs) into established bean production hubs across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Participants at the launch workshop were informed about the necessity for the ECREA project to employ multiple approaches to directly disseminate agro-climate advisory services to 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly reach three million bean farmers. The project aims to achieve this through three main strategies: a. Strengthening the institutional capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrogeological systems to deliver co-produced Impact Based Early Warning Systems (IBEWS) and Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) products in formats and delivery modalities that enhance uptake and inclusive use by farmers and value chain actors in the bean sector.b. Enhancing the institutional capacity of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) to effectively translate and deliver Agro-Climate Advisories to bean value chains. This will be achieved by operationalizing regional WCIS/IBEWS fora, promoting knowledge sharing, and guiding the development of effective regional strategies and approaches towards national adoption.c. Employing Agro Advisory Committees (AACs), Radio Listeners clubs (RLCs), Participatory Integrated Climate services for Agriculture (PICSA) methodology, and both digital and non-digital tools to empower and capacitate farmers (including women and youth) to demand, access, and utilize a co-produced suite of WCIS and IBEWS.The project team lead and other workshop facilitators at the ECREA launch dedicated time to emphasize the crucial role of innovative approaches in propelling the dissemination plan of the ECREA project. Here are three key initiatives: Livingstone further explained to the plenary in the workshop that the above innovative approaches work together with usage of digital platforms and regional forums. This will be achieved in a close collaboration in the implementation of the ECREA project with national stakeholders from public institutions including NARS, NMHS, Rwanda Water Resources Board and private institutions including Shamba Shape Up and iShamba, private mass media (e.g. Radio Huguka), regional agencies such as ICPAC, as illustrated in the figure on the next page.ECREA aims to address gender disparities related to women's vulnerability to climate shocks by prioritizing their inclusion across all levels of ECREA's activities.During the project launch, CIAT gender expert Eileen Nchanji elaborated on the roles of gender and sex, highlighting how their interpretations evolve over time. Eileen emphasized the importance of collecting data on the roles of men and women and decisionmaking processes for effective gender inclusion in ECREA. This will enhance women's participation in planning meetings and provide increased access to technologies and information.ECREA seeks to reach, benefit, empower, and transform the lives of marginalized women. The project lead ensured that ECREA has clear activities to empower women with technologies and capacities to access, translate climate information, and make informed decisions. ECREA commits to inclusivity by ensuring that 50% of participants in the training of trainers on PICSA are women and youth. This initiative will enable 250 extension agents to train 400,000 farmers, with a target of 50% women and youth.Livingstone emphasized that Agro-climate Advisory Committees will be pivotal in empowering women and youth, ensuring that quality and accurate WCIS reach predominantly women in the bean value chain. The ECREA project team will implement a continuous, in-built Performance, Accountability, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (PAMEL) system. The Project Manager, along with project staff, will periodically monitor project implementation and collect data (in line with the PAMEL plan) to track progress of activities and outputs towards outcomes and impact. This data will also be used to inform decisions on adjustments that may be needed to ensure that the desired objectives and impacts are achieved. Monitoring measures will capture feedback from end users (the immediate target group) of the project deliverables. Risk monitoring will also be included in this process to monitor identified and new risks and mitigation strategies to minimize potential impact.ECREA will utilize various techniques for stakeholder feedback collection for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) purposes, including:• Utilizing the 5Q Approach for two-way feedback loops (using Weather and Climate Information) at national and subnational levels. The ECREA project stands as a vital initiative addressing the pressing challenges faced by bean farmers in East Africa. With a comprehensive approach spanning Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, ECREA aims to directly impact 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly benefit 3 million individuals within the bean value chain. The project's focus on providing crucial climate and weather information to these farmers, particularly women and youths, underscores its commitment to strengthening adaptive capacities against climate shocks. By bridging critical gaps in Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS), ECREA strives to empower farmers with the knowledge and tools necessary for informed decision-making, ultimately enhancing productivity, food security, and income generation.Notably, ECREA's multidisciplinary approach, employing innovative strategies such as AACs, RLCs, and PICSA, demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and effective knowledge dissemination. These methods, bundled with digital platforms and regional forums, are poised to revolutionize WCIS and Impact-Based Early Warning Systems (IBEWS) delivery, benefiting millions across the region.Gender inclusion is at the forefront of ECREA's agenda, recognizing the unequal impact of climate variability on women and their vital role in agriculture. The project will empower women and youth through tailored training programs and inclusive co-production, ensuring their active involvement in climate initiatives. Moreover, ECREA's sustainability approach emphasizes capacitybuilding within existing networks and institutions, fostering long-term resilience by integrating innovative tools and empowering stakeholders. The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework incorporated into ECREA will ensure continuous feedback loops, enabling the project to track progress, identify challenges, and make informed decisions for optimized outcomes.In essence, the ECREA project represents a significant step towards sustainable agriculture, resiliencebuilding, and inclusive development in East Africa. By leveraging partnerships, innovative approaches, and a strong focus on inclusivity, ECREA sets the stage for transformative change, benefiting both current and future generations of bean farmers in the region.Participants at PICSA lite Masterclass in Namulonge, Uganda.A WISER approach for Enhancing Bean Farmers Decision-Making in East Africa  ). This project is one of the Weather and Climate Information Services Africa programme (WISER) funded project that aims to improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of people from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda (Figure 1) to prepare for and respond to the effects of extreme weather, seasonal events and longer-term climate change.\"ECREA project is part of a suite of activities that the UK is engaged in with Rwanda and also with governments across the East Africa region to take action on climate (challenges). This is also in line with the work at the central government working on climate finance architecture in governance. This process can support mobilize sufficient resources and ensure we have the projects in the pipeline to spend those resources on, on adaptation and other issues in climate effective countries\". Added Anna.John Mungai, the East African region WISER project coordinator highlighted \"One of the reasons ECREA project is deemed important is that it addresses every crucial area of food security in East Africa and beans are major source of proteins for the people in this region\".In her remarks, Anna commended the ECREA project's actions against climate change including early warnings, building resilience and adaptation. She highlighted this vis-à-vis to the 2023 devastating floods in Rwanda and extreme weather events around the world that are becoming too common. Anna further mentioned that climate change issues are not something we can tackle through one project, it is however something we need to look at in all of our work and to mainstream across all our activities and requires action from partners across governments, private sector, academia, civil society. John further stated that ECREA project is being run by experts in the agricultural sector. ECREA project brings together National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), farmers, digital and mass media and other bean value chain actors.John stresses that \"these partners come together to co-design and co-produce weather and climate services that are impactful to the bean farmers. We Through, the ECREA project, bean crop farmers especially women, youth, and other vulnerable groups are set to gain access to vital climate and weather patterns information that will help them in increase of productivity and reduce post-harvest losses.Livingstone, the ECREA project coordinator said the project will bring together all stakeholders and partners who are going to be implementing this project together across four countries in East Africa to transform the agricultural systems, with special focus on beans.\"We focus on beans because that's where we find most of our households engaged in bean growing. You find in these countries we are focusing on having different bean hubs where most of our farmers are gaining their resources, incomes, and nutrients as they are the main sources of proteins and carbohydrates,\" Livingstone said.He points out that governments have invested significant funds in bolstering the meteorological department's capabilities. However, they have found that the communicated information is not meeting expectations due to poor outreach.\"We aim to explore methods of influencing families by providing them with contextualized information, empowering them to interpret and utilize it effectively in their bean farming endeavors\". Livingstone added. Desire, the project team leader at the Alliance Bioversity and CIAT, emphasizes that the project specifically targets beans as a commodity, acknowledging its profound importance in East Africa. Beans play a critical role in nutrition and provide essential support for the financial stability of small-holder farmers. By prioritizing beans, the project aims to enhance household incomes and strengthen food security across the region.Desire outlines the collaborative approach of the project, which involves working closely with national meteorological and hydrological institutions across the four countries. This collaboration will facilitate the provision, translation, delivery, and utilization of climate information services tailored to the needs of bean value chain actors. The project will engage in coproducing agro-advisories for these actors, ensuring that every stakeholder in the bean value chain is involved in the process. This approach highlights the project's commitment to ensuring that climate information and advisory services are accessible, relevant, and actionable for all stakeholders involved in bean cultivation and distribution. By fostering collaboration and co-production, the project aims to maximize the effectiveness of climate resilience strategies within the bean value chain across East Africa.Pascaline from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), acting as the ECREA project focal person in Kenya, highlights the importance of the project in providing valuable services to farmers, particularly bean growers in rural areas. She emphasizes that climate change has altered traditional rainfall patterns, rendering historical indigenous knowledge unreliable for farmers. Consequently, farmers who rely solely on this outdated information risk crop failure. However, with support from the ECREA project in delivering tailored climate information, farmers can make informed decisions, enhancing their chances of successful crop cultivation.Pascaline's insights align with the experiences of the WISER program, where collaborative efforts among organizations and stakeholders have facilitated the timely dissemination of information to farmers, aiding adaptation efforts. Anna, reflecting on the WISER program's impact, notes the reduction in climate-related losses due to the provision of timely information. She expresses anticipation for staying updated on the ECREA program's activities, recognizing the importance of anticipation, resilience-building, and access to appropriate information in addressing climate challenges effectively. This underscores the critical role of initiatives like the ECREA project in supporting agricultural communities in adapting to climate change and improving resilience.Eileen, a Gender Equity Social Inclusion (GESI)expert, highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change on women compared to men, exacerbated by discriminatory social norms that limit women's resilience capacities. She emphasizes the importance of addressing gender inequality in agriculture, noting that existing communication channels often overlook the needs of women, who are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. Livingstone emphasizes the need to prioritize women, youth, and other marginalized groups in climate change initiatives, ensuring their inclusion in decision-making processes and access to relevant information.GESI is a fundamental pillar of the WISER program, recognizing the need to address gender disparities and ensure inclusivity in all aspects of its activities. John emphasizes the importance of GESI principles in fostering equal participation from all segments of society, including women, the disabled, youth, and others. He underscores the commitment of UK-aided projects, including the WISER program, to ensure that no one is left behind, emphasizing the importance of inclusive approaches in achieving collective progress. The event in Kigali ended with the official launch of the ECREA project. It drew participants from implementing partner institutions from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda where ECREA project will operates. Presentations embarked on the understanding of ECREA aims, goals and objectives, MEL and GESI considerations in project implementation, guidelines on project work plans and activities, collaboration in the co-production of WCIS, required capacities to co-produce WCIS. Activities included cross-learning and finalization of work plans and activities and cross-sharing of the best practices. Also, participants learned and shared experiences and devoted themselves to collaborating for the project success.Eileen Nchanji, Desire Kagabo, Livingstone Byandaga, Patrick Mvuyibwami, Patrick Gatsinzi, & Nasson Ntwari Women as drivers of climate information in their communities?Including women in climate action projects is paramount to improving not only women's resilience and livelihoods but also that of households and communities. Women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts, as their livelihood depends mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Women are often the first to experience severe climate shocks like droughts and floods, though they are expected to provide food, energy and water for the households. Often, men leave their spouses and migrate for better livelihoods leaving them to provide for the household. But information on climate often does not reach their vulnerable group, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what (information is needed), by whom, when (timely) and how it is used.To address these women's challenges, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in collaboration with its implementing partners and stakeholders, launched the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project on 30 th November 2023 in Kigali. The project aims to reach 400,000 farmers (direct beneficiaries), including 50% vulnerable women and youths with climate information co-designed and driven by women and youth farmers.During the launch, the gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji said we need to be intentional in including women and youths not only as beneficiaries but also as co-designers and drivers of climate information at the household, community and regional levels. She called for increased women's leadership and participation and the need to not just reach women but make sure they are empowered, can make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. She further advised that for effective gender inclusion in such a project, data has to be gender disaggregated to understand better the needs of all genders and address them.decisions is what ECREA is about. According to Desire Kagabo, the ECREA Project team leader, the ECREA will ensure that women are empowered with the technologies and capacities to access and translate climate information and make appropriate decisions that significantly improve and transform their agricultural livelihoods. The ECREA project would address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like SDG 5 (gender equality) and 13 (climate action). Our focus will be on supporting and enhancing women's effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking to enhance the improvement of food security and income generation as a result of accessible and timely climate information customized for diverse farmers.The ECREA project targets bean producers of which about 80% are women. According to Livingstone, the ECREA Project Coordinator, the agency and voice of 50% of women and youths in the bean sector will be enhanced through coproduction and use of Weather and Climate Information Services at the farm and household levels. We shall ensure that women and youth are included in the training of trainers on participatory and integrated climate smart agriculture (PICSA), which will enable 250 extension agents to train 400,000 farmers (50% women and youths) so that they can implement accurate early warning systems. Furthermore, women and youths will be leaders in the Agro-climate Advisory Committees to co-design, adapt and pilot innovative tools and approaches that enhance farmers' digital adoption. \"We envisage that through enhancing the quality, accuracy, user responsiveness, and reach of WCIS across the aforementioned countries, women and other farmers in the bean chain will be empowered and resilient against the increasing climatic shocks.\" Noted Livingstone.Notably, \"It is clear you can't achieve poverty reduction and the sustainable development goals without action on climate change and we need to pursue action on climate change in a way that supports everyone and that tackles inequality and poverty globally in a sustainable manner\", highlighted Anna Willson, Development Director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) in Rwanda, Kigali. Other speakers during the ECREA project launch emphasized more concerted partnerships; access and delivery of accurate, timely and contextualized climate information to demystify indigenous climate information, which is most trusted by local farmers; downscaling climate information services to empower vulnerable farmers' agricultural decision making; and using the Monitoring, evaluation and learning approach to monitor the progress and address challenges in the implementation of the ECREA project in each regional bean production hub.The expected ECREA project outcome will be enhanced by enhanced and usable WCIS by the community for the community, driven by women to inform plans, policies and decision-making at the community, local, national, and regional levels. An empowered woman has the capacity to access information and resources; make appropriate decisions to improve their livelihood; solve conflicts, own resources and income; and participate in decision making that impacts society.Livingstone Byandaga leading participants group discussion during PICSA lite Masterclass Kenya.What Constitutes MEL?According to Chris, MEL is a system that constitutes the MEL plan which is a tool that supports management of project activities during implementation to achieve the desired results (outputs and outcomes leading to impact). Project implementers have to understand how each component interlinks. That is why MEL is participatory function that calls for close engagement between implementing partners when it comes to interventions implementation. In addition, MEL during implementation entails planning, controlling, monitoring, evaluating, and learning as a cross-cutting function within project activities dictated by the scope. Further, the MEL plan comprises of approaches as tools not limited to project description (goals and objectives), M&E frameworks, indicator matrix and reference sheets, roles and responsibilities, data flow management, analysis, and reporting, as well as plans for data use and dissemination.During the ECREA Project kick-off and launch workshop that took place on 29 th to 30 th November 2023 in Kigali, the bean production hub leaders were equipped with MEL capacities to successfully implement the Project. These leaders were among the workshop participating partners. They came from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. Chris, the MEL expert from the Alliance of Bioversity International-CIAT was the main MEL facilitator. He provided effective MEL techniques and instruments that will be crucial for the project implementation in each bean production hub. \"MEL plan helps to track and assess the results of the interventions throughout the life of a program in an efficient, within scope and timely manner\" asserted Chris. Eileen, a CIAT Scientists and Gender and Social Inclusion Expert expressed that MEL is very crucial to monitor and evaluate how gender roles in making decisions are interpreted, and played so that gender conflicts are detected and avoided.Alignment of implementing partners work plans with MEL.Workshop participants during cross-learning sessions aligned their work plans with the project results as per the logframe. Each bean production hub worked in groups, aligned their project activities and outputs to and targets and timelines in a standardized MEL plan template. Then they presented their MEL activities implementation planning along with approaches that will lead to desired results.Participants were equipped with knowledge on how the ECREA MEL system works, MEL plan that will be adopted during implementation, MEL instruments, MEL learning approaches, MEL dissemination approaches, how to use MEL in executing project work plans Besides, they were able to know each project staff role as well as what, when and how to report. It is expected that using the MEL system will facilitate adequate monitoring function to reach the 400,000 target project beneficiaries.Partners from radio Huguka-Rwanda, during PICSA lite Triaining in Karagwe, Tanzania Success of the ECREA Project with the PICSA Approach in Strengthening Bean Farmers' Climate Resilience in East AfricaIn the diverse agricultural landscapes of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project is revolutionizing how farmers access and utilize vital agricultural and weather and climate information. Central to ECREA's success is the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach, a comprehensive strategy that leverages multiple platforms to deliver bundled services, ensuring farmers are well-equipped to manage the effects of climate and variability as well as improving their productivity.The Multifaceted PICSA Strategy PICSA's approach is built on a foundation of participatory engagement and multi-platform dissemination, creating a robust support system for farmers across East Africa. To ensure the success of PICSA approach, the following mechanisms and systems are worth mentioning:Bean Production Hubs: These hubs are specialized bean production regions within which bean farmers can receive tailored information on bean cultivation, which is crucial for food security in the region. By focusing on specific crops, these hubs ensure that farmers get precise, actionable advice to enhance their yields. Wilber Ssekandi, a Research Officer at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI) of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda said that \"We have selected bean hubs from eight districts in Uganda, known for their bean production, to ensure that all our bean farmers benefit from training in weather and climate information. This will enhance their resilience to climate variability and improve food security in Uganda.\" Digital Tools: Embracing the digital revolution, PICSA utilizes mobile applications and online platforms to provide real-time weather updates, agricultural advice, and decision-support tools. These digital resources ensure that farmers have timely access to critical information, enabling them to make informed decisions.A key element of PICSA's success is its participatory approach, which actively involves farmers including women and youth in the entire process. Farmers are not merely passive recipients of information but active participants who shape the content and delivery of climate information services. This engagement ensures that the services provided are relevant and effective, fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment among farmers. The PICSA approach is strengthened by the involvement of key stakeholders and technical experts. Organizations such as the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources (RAB), and Uganda National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) provide invaluable expertise. Additionally, meteorological departments like the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA), Meteo Rwanda, and Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) ensure that the advice and information disseminated are grounded in scientific research and practical experience.Participants engage in an onsite learning during the PICSA Lite Master Class held that was facilitated by NARO-NaCCRI, at Namulonge in Uganda from 24 th -28 th June 2024.The involvement of high-level government officials has been crucial to the success of ECREA's PICSA approach in East Africa. County Executive Committee Members, such as Edwin Seroney from Elgeyo Marakwet and Leonard Bor from Nakuru, have shown strong commitment. In addition, Henritta William, Acting District Executive Director of Karagwe District, and Mr. Kanali Evance Malasa, District Commissioner of Kankoko District in Tanzania, have also supported the initiative. Their support will facilitate the integration of PICSA strategies into community development plans and increase farmer participation. This high-level endorsement has been instrumental in scaling up the approach, ensuring its sustainability, and maximizing its impact on enhancing climate resilience among bean farmers in the region.The success of PICSA in these four countries is a testament to the power of collaborative, multiplatform approaches in addressing agricultural challenges. By fostering a participatory culture and leveraging diverse dissemination channels, PICSA is building a resilient agricultural community across East Africa. This approach not only equips farmers to better manage climate risks but also enhances their overall productivity and livelihoods.The PICSA approach, integral to the ECREA project, is making significant strides in empowering farmers across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Through its multifaceted strategy and participatory engagement, PICSA ensures that farmers have access to the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the face of climate change and variability. As this initiative continues to grow, it promises a brighter, more sustainable future for agriculture in East Africa, driving collective action and resilience in the region's agricultural sector. Additionally, the scalability of PICSA's approach offers potential for implementation in other African contexts, further extending its positive impact on agricultural resilience across the continent. Enhancing Climate Resilience for Beans in East Africa through a High-Level Governments' Participation Approach Through our ongoing cascading series of workshops in East Africa, we have trained over 300 farmers and extension officers face to face on the PICSA tool as part of the Enhanced Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project. These workshops were supported and endorsed by key agricultural and meteorological institutions, as well as high-level government officials, demonstrating significant buy-in and ownership. They focused on utilizing weather and climate information to enhance resilience to climate change and variability. This initiative aims to promote sustainable agricultural practices for the better livelihoods of actors in the bean value chain.\"In the picturesque Kagera and Kigoma regions of Tanzania and Nakuru, Machakos, Elgeyo Marakwet and Homabay counties of Kenya, regions known for being bean production hubs, agriculture is not just a means of livelihood but a way of life. Here, farmers are the backbone of the economy, working tirelessly to cultivate the land and provide for their families. However, like many agricultural regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, these areas face significant challenges due to climate variability. Addressing these challenges requires more than just technical In the period between April -June, a series of workshops were held in Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania respectively. These workshops aimed to equip local bean farmers with weather and climate information services and other agro-advisory services to enhance their resilience to climate change and variability. So far, in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, over 300 farmers and extension officers have received a face-to-face training using the PICSA approach which will enable them to cascade the trainings to 400,000 farmers In Tanzania, the PICSA training workshop was led by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI). The training began with a courtesy call to the offices of the Acting District Executive Director of Karagwe District, Henritta William and Kanali Evance Malasa, the District Commissioner of Kankoko District respectively.The involvement of the government representatives significantly bolstered the credibility of the PICSA Master Class which is a training of Trainer of Trainers (ToTs). When high-level government officials actively participate in such initiatives, it sends a powerful message to the community. Their presence underscores the importance of the project and demonstrates the government's commitment to supporting local farmers. This endorsement is crucial for gaining the trust and buy-in of end-users -the farmers themselves.Enhanced Awareness and Visibility: The presence of government officials at the workshop heightened awareness and visibility of the initiative. It attracted attention from the farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. This increased visibility is essential for the project's success, as it encourages more widespread participation and support. For instance, during his welcoming remarks, Kanali Evance Malasa, the District Commissioner of Kankoko District emphasized, \"Our commitment to this initiative underscores the importance of building resilience among our farmers. By supporting these efforts, we are ensuring sustainable agricultural practices and improving the livelihoods of our communities.  of this project and are ready to provide logistical assistance whenever needed during your stay here.Mainstreamed Policy Support and Integration: The support of high-level officials facilitates the integration of agricultural initiatives into broader policy frameworks. This alignment with government policies ensures that the programs are sustainable in the long term. It also helps in scaling up successful models and replicating them in other regions. During the welcoming remarks, Henritta William, Acting District Executive Director of Kankoko District, emphasized, \"By aligning these initiatives with our existing policy frameworks, we ensure their sustainability and pave the way for scaling successful models to other regions, thereby strengthening our agricultural sector and enhancing food security for all.\"  \"Administrative support in increasing farmer engagement is of utmost importance. We thank the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT for partnering with government agencies organizations to enhance weather and climate information services awareness in our country.\" This was said by David Karanja, Bean Research Team Lead at KARLO as he was making his presentation during the training that was held in Kenya. The speeches by government representatives underscored even further their recognition of the challenges faced by farmers and emphasized the government's steadfast support. This assurance is crucial for building community cohesion and motivating farmers to utilize weather and climate information services for informed decision making in agricultural activities and other livelihoods. This collaboration demonstrates the power of direct interaction with farmers which helped demystify meteorological data and fostered trust among farmers regarding the reliability of climate information provided to inform their agricultural decision making. Rehema, a farmer from Karagwe, expressed her newfound confidence by saying, \"Since I was born, I have never met anyone from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority. Seeing them here and getting firsthand information on how they produce the weather forecasts gives me a lot of confidence that the information is correct and from now on, I will utilize it in my day-to-day decisions at my farm. Another farmer, Bendetter from Machakos, said, \"I'm grateful for learning how to access and use climate information to make better decisions about planting, crop varieties, and how to take care of my plants which will greatly increase my yield and reduce climate risks.\"The presence of these reputable institutions adds credibility to the initiatives. Farmers are more likely to trust and adopt practices recommended by recognized authorities, leading to better implementation and outcomes. \"As a farmer, I feel more confident in adopting new practices when they are recommended by reputable institutions like KALRO whom we have worked with for a long time. Their expertise and support give us the assurance that we are on the right track to improving our productivity and resilience.\" Reiterated Eunice Sakong, a farmer from Elgeyo Marakwet during the workshop.The involvement of the government agencies, alongside scientists from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT brought a wealth of technical expertise to the table. The collaboration enriched the workshop's content by offering farmers reliable and actionable information, ensuring that advice and data were based on scientific research and practical experience. This comprehensive technical support ensured farmers received top-notch guidance for improving agricultural practices and resilience to climate change and variability using the PICSA approach.The collaborative model involving government bodies, research institutions, and meteorological services paves the way for sustainable agricultural practices. It also creates a framework that can be scaled to other regions, ensuring broader impact and long-term resilience. Additionally, this model opens opportunities for farmers who are direct partners in this project, as well as private sector entities such as community radios (FADECO and Huguka) who are already partnering with the ECREA project to engage in profitable businesses. Farmers can leverage the insights and resources provided through these collaborations to enhance their productivity and profitability. For community radio, the increased listenership and improved quality of radio content can lead to higher trust and credibility across all levels. This, in turn, may motivate the owners to invest further in Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS), recognizing the business potential.In Tanzania, where agriculture sustains livelihoods, the impacts of climate change and variability, such as recent prolonged drought spells and extreme floods experienced across East Africa, are increasingly felt by farmers. These extreme weather events threaten both crop yields and food security, highlighting the urgent need for localized and accurate climate information to help farmers adapt and thrive.Like their counterparts in other East African countries, Tanzanian farmers often struggle with access to relevant weather and climate information, hindering their ability to effectively manage risks associated with bad or poor weather in a cropping season for better agricultural production. Drawing inspiration from the success of a similar initiative in Rwanda, where over 100,000 farmers are being reached with Weather Climate Information Services (WCIS), the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project is pioneering a transformative approach to disseminating WCIS in Tanzania through Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs). At the forefront of this initiative is Radio Huguka from Rwanda and FADECO radio, a community radio station with an audience of over 7 million in Tanzania.Radio Listeners Clubs Boost Engagement and Feedback, Enhancing Climate Resilience for Bean Farmers in Tanzania By: Joseline Kiogora, Desire Kagabo, Livingstone Byandaga, Patrick Mvuyibwami, Chris Ngige Recently, during a Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) workshop in Karagwe and Kigoma region, FADECO radio, a key partner in the ECREA project, benefited from the interactive workshop training sessions held on the sidelines of the main event. Participants from FADECO radio were trained by their counterparts from Radio Huguka on establishing Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs) across the Great Lake Victoria region of Tanzania. These clubs will feature multidisciplinary members and ensure gender inclusion. Other activities are scheduled for implementation in the subsequent quarters to enhance discussions and co-produce content tailored to local needs.ECREA is leveraging the successful model piloted in Rwanda, where Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs) harness the combined reach of broadcast media and participatory processes. In this model, 225 RLCs were created, and Farmer Promoters/Champions were trained to lead weekly village meetings where they listened to and discussed climate information service radio programs. They actively participated in live call-in shows, shared and recorded their action plans based on their learnings, and disseminated this information within their communities. This approach is being adapted to enhance climate information dissemination and resilience efforts in Tanzania.Brigitte Uwamariya, Deputy Director of Radio Huguka, Rwanda, training her counterparts at FADECO Radio, Tanzania, on how to establish Radio Listeners Clubs while at the same time emphasizing the role of RLCs in raising farmer voices and increasing climate awareness.RLCs approach includes an editorial committee tasked with producing content tailored to the local context of the listeners for broadcast. This committee features multidisciplinary representation from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS), National Agricultural Research Institutions (NARS), agricultural extension services, and other project partners. Their role is to translate weather and agricultural advisories into accessible formats, customizing them for various contexts and ensuring timely discussions relevant to different activities and seasons. This approach ensures that RLCs effectively disseminate information that is practical and pertinent to local farming communities, enhancing their resilience to climate change and variability.The collaborative model involving government bodies, research institutions, and meteorological services ensures sustainable agricultural practices and creates a scalable framework for other regions. This approach promises a broader impact and long-term sustainability, especially through the Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs). By integrating farmers and private sector entities like community radios (FADECO and Huguka) into the ECREA project, the model supports profitable business opportunities and enhances farmers' productivity and profitability. For community radio stations, increased listenership and improved quality of content boosts their trust and credibility. This, in turn, motivates station owners to invest further in climate information services, recognizing their significant business potential.RLCs play a crucial role in raising the voices of farmers and increasing climate information awareness, which is essential for building climate resilience. A prime example of this impact was the electrifying live talk show at FADECO Radio in Tanzania, which captivated a massive audience. Invited by the director of FADECO Radio, Joseph Sekeku, the show featured the ECREA project team led by Project Lead Desire Kagabo, alongside officials from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) and Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI). This collaboration highlighted the critical role of radio in disseminating vital agro-climate advisories to farmers.During the broadcast, community members actively called in to express their willingness to attend the PICSA Lite workshop. They also showed great interest in accessing and learning how to use weather information. This enthusiastic response highlighted the community's eagerness to engage with climate information and training opportunities. The live show boosted ECREA project awareness and showcased radio's effectiveness in disseminating vital agricultural climate advisories. For instance, Evaria Leonidas, a farmer from Karagwe, called in during the live show and shared her experience: \"This opportunity provided by Radio FADECO to speak directly to representatives from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. It has given me the chance to access weather information firsthand.\" Additionally, farmers were provided with contact numbers for TMA officials, enabling them to directly inquire about location-specific weather information. This initiative has facilitated better communication, addressing a significant challenge, and has greatly improved the availability of weather information for farmers. James Elias, another caller, said, \"I can't believe that I am now able to call the authority and get all the weather information I need to make sound decisions for my farm.\"More than 100 callers responded during the broadcast, providing valuable feedback, although only a few could be accommodated due to time constraints. Nonetheless, this overwhelming response underscored farmers' eagerness to engage with agro-climate advisories through radio broadcasts. This interactive platform ensures farmers are not passive recipients but active participants in dialogue, fostering a more informed and resilient farming community. At the heart of ECREA project lies the recognition of the pivotal role played by the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in African households. Beans have evolved from a traditional subsistence crop to a vital staple and market-oriented commodity, thus becoming instrumental in enhancing food security, gender roles, and income generation across the region. As such, the bean sector serves as the primary testing ground for the project's interventions.Central to the project's approach is co-production, which prioritizes inclusive partnerships with women, youth, and marginalized groups to ensure that WCIS are diverse, accessible, and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders. Through a multi-faceted strategy encompassing capacity-building, institutional strengthening, and knowledge-sharing, the project aims to empower smallholder farmers to navigate the complexities of climate change with confidence and resilience. This project is not merely about disseminating information, rather, it's about fostering a culture of resilience, collaboration, and empowerment that transcends borders and generations. Patrick Kesiem, the Institute Director, KALRO Katumani emphasized the importance of equipping farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in a changing climate. The Kenya Meteorology Department also played a crucial role, with the deputy director-Technical Services, Kennedy Thiong'o reiterating their commitment to providing accurate seasonal forecasts that inform farmers' decisions. Supported by regional and national coordination mechanisms as well as County Governments, research institutions, and governmental departments, the PISCA approach is paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. Together, this partnership is empowering farmers and communities alike to thrive in the face of climate change. Integrating women and young people in climate action projects is crucial for enhancing resilient agriculture. This approach improves not only the livelihoods of women but also of their households and communities.According to Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts because their livelihoods depend mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. They are often the first to experience severe climate shocks such as droughts and floods, yet they are expected to provide food, energy, and water for their households. Many men leave their spouses behind to seek better income opportunities elsewhere, leaving women to provide for the remaining household members and make decisions on resource use. However, weather and climate information often does not reach this vulnerable groups, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what information is needed, by whom, when, and how it is used.According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women are responsible for more than 50% of food production worldwide, including up to 80% of food production in Africa. This highlights the critical need to include women in climate information services to improve their resilience and ensure the sustainability of food production and community wellbeing. Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, together with the implementation team, has been at the forefront of ensuring that women and young people are not only beneficiaries but also codesigners and drivers of climate information at the household, community, and regional levels. The team has emphasized the need for increased women's leadership and participation, ensuring that women are empowered to make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. To achieve effective gender inclusion they have advocated for the collection of gender-disaggregated data to better understand and address needs.Integrating women and youth in climate action projects is crucial for enhancing agricultural productivity. This approach improves not only the resilience and livelihoods of women but also those of households and communities.Women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts, as their livelihoods depend mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. They are often the first to experience severe climate shocks like droughts and floods, yet they are expected to provide food, energy, and water for their households. Men leave their spouses to seek better income opportunities, leaving women to provide for the household and make decisions on resource use. However, Weather and Climate Information often does not reach this vulnerable group, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what information is needed, by whom, when, and how it is used.According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, women are responsible for more than 50% of food production worldwide, including up to 80% of food production in African countries. This highlights the critical need for including women in climate information services to improve their resilience and ensure the sustainability of food production and community well-being. To address these challenges, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in collaboration with its implementing partners and stakeholders, has been implementing the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project in four East African countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. By June 2024, the project has reached 400 Lead farmers and extension workers (direct beneficiaries), including 50% vulnerable women and youths, with face-to-face training on Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) co-designed and driven by women and youth farmers. Additionally, the training has been part of the project's efforts on interventions to ensure gender equity and social inclusion is realized among women and youth bean actors.Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, along with the entire implementing team, has been at the forefront of ensuring that women and youths are not only beneficiaries but also co-designers and drivers of climate information at the household, community, and regional levels. The team has emphasized the need for increased women's leadership and participation, ensuring that women are empowered to make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. To achieve effective gender inclusion, they have advocated for the collection of gender-disaggregated data to better understand and address the needs of all genders.Youth and women farmers participating in the PICSA Lite Master class in Karagwe Tanzania \"The ECREA project is ensuring that women are empowered with the technologies and capacities to access and translate climate information, enabling them to make appropriate decisions that significantly improve and transform their agricultural livelihoods, \" said Desire Kagabo, the ECREA Project team leader. \"Our project addresses multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). We focus on supporting and enhancing women's effective participation and providing equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making. This approach aims to improve food security and income generation through accessible and timely climate information customized for diverse farmers.\"The ECREA project targets bean producers in East Africa, of whom about 80% are women. According to Livingstone Byandaga, the ECREA Project Coordinator, the agency and voice of 50% of women and youths in the bean sector has been enhanced through the co-production and use of Weather and Climate Information Services at the farm and household levels.Women and youth are included in the Training of Trainers on Participatory and Integrated Climate-Smart Agriculture (PICSA). This initiative has equipped 400 extension agents and lead farmers to train 400,000 farmers, ensuring that 50% of the trainees are women and youth. The ECREA project has already begun to show promising results. With training sessions conducted in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania, 200 women and young farmers have been included and empowered to lead their communities in adapting to climate challenges. The enhanced and usable Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) driven by women inform plans, policies, and decision-making at the community, local, national, and regional levels. An empowered woman has the capacity to access information and resources, make appropriate decisions to improve their livelihood, solve conflicts, own resources and income, and participate in decision-making that impacts society.By focusing on gender and social inclusion, the ECREA project is not only addressing the immediate challenges posed by climate change but also laying the groundwork for a more resilient and equitable future for all.Further reading https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/radiolisteners-clubs-engagement-feedback-climateresilience-bean-farmers-tanzania https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/enhancingclimate-resilience-beans-east-africa-high-levelgovernments-participation https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/empoweringeast-african-farmers-weather-climate-informationservices","tokenCount":"8453"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4518416585.json b/data/part_1/4518416585.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e569688b3ef6e2f2384a0e8b25e47e08be51f749
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4518416585.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"590ea0a38a0e3c1cc5c4dbd2fa9acace","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/679af2c3-79a1-464b-bbf9-64d428e1a0b4/retrieve","id":"653703054"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"85841f26-a7b3-4f14-bdd1-dc3beb56d35f","pagecount":"292","content":"ayudO a lanzar el C/P en 1971 y ha servido como Director General por los pasados 20 anos. A su retiro, le hemos pedido que escriba este articulo como una pauta para los cientificos j6venes que comienzan su carrera en desarrollo agricola internacional.L os cientfficos que estan orientando su rumbo hacia profesiones de investigaci6n, requieren de talento y capacitaci6n diferente de la que se requerfa anteriormente y aun de la de hace una decada. Pero aun asf, los hitos y el camino que conducen hacia el exito cientffico son los mismos de antes y parece que permaneceran asf en el futuro.Cuando termine mis estudios de doctorado en la decada del 50, las areas de investigaci6n abarcaban haploides, cruzamientos amplios, reguladores de crecimiento y el uso pacifico de la energfa at6mica. Los terminos que hoy suenan incluyen sustentabilidad, biotecnologfa y tal vez planes estrategicos y modelaje. Los terminos reflejan un movimiento mas rapido y amplio de la ciencia que nos va a demandar una fuerte habilidad de conducci6n para mantener las carreras en la direcci6n correcta. Los vientos del cambio provienen de las presiones de la poblaci6n sobre las plantas, tierra, alimento, agua y aire.William Ernest Henley en su famoso poema \"Invictus\", anuncia: \"Soy el suefio de mi fe, soy el capitan de mi alma\", filosoffa que sirve muy bien como rumbo para la adopci6n de carreras. La planificaci6n estrategica de una carrera establece que somos nosotros mismos quienes nos trazamos nuestro propio camino: no nuestros superiores, no nuestras facilidades, no nuestro equipo, ni nuestros profesores. Las \"instrucciones\" que aqui se sugieren estan destinadas tanto a los j6venes cientfficos como a sus mentores.La batata, /pomoea batatas L (Lam.), tiene un papal vital en la lucha contra la carestfa de alimentos y la desnutrici6n, especialm ente en los pafses tropicales presionados por poblaciones en constante crecimiento y disminuci6n de las tierras de cultivo. Se le consume como producto fresco o procesado para los humanos, al igual que como alimento en las crianzas animales.La batata ocupa el primer lugar en la lista de cultivos del Tercer Mundo en cuanto a cantidad de energfa producida por hectarea y por dfa. Cultivada frecuentemente bajo condiciones marginales, se conoce hoy dfa que es producida mundial• mente en mas de 100 pafses, ocupando el septimo lugar en terminos de producci6n global total y el quinto en la lista de cultivos alimenticios mas valiosos del Tercer Mundo. La producci6n promedio de protefna por hectarea es similar a la de los cereales, frijoles y garbanzos.La batata, lpomoea batatas L (lam.), tiene un papal vital en la lucha contra la carestf a de alimentos y la desnutrici6n, especialmente en los pafses tropicales presionados por poblaciones en constante crecimiento y disminuci6n de las tierras de cultivo. Se le consume como producto fresco o procesado para los humanos, al igual que coma alimento en las crianzas animales.La batata ocupa el primer lugar en la lista de cultivos del Tercer Mundo en cuanto a cantidad de energfa proclucida por hectarea y por df a Cultivada frecuentemente bajo condiciones marginales, se conoce hoy dfa que es producida mundial• mente en mas de 100 pafses, ocupando el septimo lugar en terminos de producci6n global total y el quinto en la lista de cultivos alimenticios mas valiosos del Tercer Mundo. La producci6n promedio de protefna por hectarea es similar a la de los cereales, frijoles y garbanzos.El Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) es una entidad cientffica, aut6noma y sin fines de lucro, establecida en 1971 mediante convenio con• el Gobierno del Peru . . El Centro desarrolla y disemina conocimiento con el prop6sito de lograr la utilizaci6n de la papa y la batata como alimentos basicos en el mundo en desarrollo. El CIP es uno de los 13 centros internacionales de investigaci6n y capacitaci6n, sin fines de lucro, financiados por el Grupo Consultivo sobre Investigaciones Agron6micas Internacionales (GCIAI). El GCIAI es patrocinado por la Organizaci6n de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) y el Banco Internacional para la Reconstrucci6n y Fomento (Banco Mundial) e incluye mas de 45 pafses, organizaciones internacionales y regionales y fundaciones privadas.En 1990, el CIP recibi6 financiaci6n por intermedio del GCIAI de los siguientes donantes: los gobiernos de Alemania, Australia, Austria, Belgica, Brasil, Espana, Filipinas, Finlandia, Francia, Holanda, India, Italia, Jap6n, Noruega, la Republica Popular de China y Suiza; la Agenda Alemana de Cooperaci6n Tecnica (GTZ); la Agenda de Canada para el Desarrollo Internacional (CIDA); la Agencia de Dinamarca para el Desarrollo Internacional (DANIDA); la Agencia de Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID); la Agencia del Reino Unido para el Desarrollo de Ultramar (UKODA); la Agenda de Sueda para la Cooperaci6n en Investigaci6n con los Pafses en Desarrollo (SAREC); el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID); el Banco Mundial (BIRF); el Centro Canadiense de Investigaci6n para el Desarrollo Internacional (IDRC); la Comunidad Econ6mica Europea (CEE); el Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agricola (IFAD); la Fundaci6n Rockefeller; la Junta Internacional para los Recursos Geneticos Vegetates; el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo; y la Sociedad de Qufmicos y Mineros (CHILE).El l11fom1e Anual de 1991 es publicado por el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) en ingles y espaiiol. Este informe cubre el periodo entre el 1° de enero de 1990 y el 31 de diciembre de 1990. La menci6n de productos especfficos por su nombre propio no significa que el CIP los recomiende o rechace segun sea el caso.D urante el afio que ha concluido, hemos visto muchos cambios en el CIP yen todo el mundo. En el CIP, nos encontramos en los tramos finales del desarrollo de un plan estrategico nuevo para el futuro y tenemos un nuevo director general. El pafs anfitri6n donde se encuentra la sede central del CIP ha cambiado de gobierno y la inestabilidad econ6mica y social con la que hemos tenido que vivir y trabajar en afios recientes se esta reduciendo: se vislumbran en el horizonte tiempos mejores. En el afio que ha pasado ha habido un grave enfrentamiento en el mundo, de manera que muchos pafses ban unido rapidamente SUS fuerzas para detener la agresi6n. Importantes pafses productores de papa de Europa oriental, con los cuales el CIP ha tenido hasta ahora dificultad para cooperar, ban abierto sus puertas al mundo para recibir ayuda y colaboraci6n.Estamos verdaderamente en un epoca de cambios y estos pueden ser buenos o malos dependiendo de lo que hagamos de ellos. Mucha gente teme el cambio, lo incierto, lo desconocido, el desafio de las situaciones nuevas. Los visionarios, llamados a veces sofiadores, buscan el cambio como una oportunidad de ampliar sus horizontes, probar su capacidad de ajuste, adaptaci6n y desafiar a su inteligencia y habilidad creativa. Nosotros los que estamos comprometidos en investigaci6n agron6mica, los que estamos en el Grupo Consultivo de lnvestigaci6n Agron6mica Internacional (GCIAI), debemos, junto con nuestros asociados de los programas nacionales, empezar a realizar nuestros suefios en estos tiempos de cambio. Nuestro trabajo puede percibirse como un riesgo porque no hay seguridad de que podamos ganar nuestra batalla para desarrollar la tecnologfa que permita producir en un futuro cercano alimento adecuado y sostenible para las poblaciones, asf como tambien desarrollar la tecnologia para purificar el medio ambiente y mantener niveles adecuados de energia de bajo costo para combustible y transporte. En un futuro cercano, se necesitara tierra agrfcola buena para producir energfa, tanto para combustible como para alimento.Sin una visi6n del futuro y sin los planes estrategicos necesarios para el cambio, este planeta se quedara sin vida; por lo tanto, debemos incrcmentar las ventajas para favorecer el futuro de la humanidad. Todos debemos ser ganadores. Son los sofiadores, visionarios y arriesgados, los que ban producido la revoluci6n verde y nos ban puesto en la, luna. Nuestros suefios, visiones y cspeculaci6n cientffica nos pueden llevar al exito en resolver los problemas de alimentaci6n y media ambiente que encaramos actualmente.Las oportunidades que hoy en dfa se presentan en el mundo puedcn muy bien compararse con las oportunidades que Col6n present6 al mundo cuando toc6 el IV hemisferio americano hacen 500 afios. Una mirada a la historia demuestra que muchas de las oportunidades que el creara se ban usado en las luchas necesarias por la libertad religiosa y la igualdad para todos los hombres y en las naturales, pero menos necesarias luchas por el poder y dominio territorial. Hoy en dfa tenemos la bendici6n de la capacidad de comunicaci6n que une a la mayor parte del mundo con informaci6n actualizada, nos estamos acercando hacia un enfoque integrado en investigaci6n y una gran parte del m undo tiene libertad de expresi6n. Pero aunque la esclavitud ha sido mayormente abolida, la esclavitud econ6mica esta ampliamente difundida entre los paises del tercer mundo yen muchos de los paises desarrollados. El alimento inadecuado y la desnutrici6n mantienen a mas de la mitad de la humanidad en servidumbre. Hay todavfa mucho que hacer, a pesar de lo que se ha avanzado durante los ultimos 500 afios.En el CIP, estamos introduciendo cambios que van a proporcionar muchas oportunidades valiosas en el mundo de hoy. Estas incluyen una creciente colaboraci6n con los paises del tercer mundo y entre el tercer mundo y los paises desarrollados, crecientes enlaces con el sector privado para hacer frente a los problemas prioritarios, la reduci6n del USO de productOS qufmicos por medio de la biotecnologfa y el poner mayor enfasis en los aspectos del medio ambiente relacionados con la investigaci6n agron6mica.Para aprovechar estas oportunidades, las instituciones como el CIP tienen que estar programadas para el cambio. Tal programaci6n exige cientfficos agiles cuyos conocimientos y experiencia sean a la vez amplios y profundos. En el CIP, las conferencias internacionales de planificaci6n, el reciente autoestudio y las revisiones externas ban conformado en conj unto una parte del proceso de programaci6n del CIP para el cambio. El nuevo plan estrategico, desarrollado con nuestros asociados nacionales, es tambien parte del proceso y tengo confianza en que el CIP sabra aprovechar las oportunidades creadas por el cambio.El CIP tiene un nuevo Presidente en la Junta Directiva, que trae consigo experiencia de otras instituciones intemacionales y otros cultivos que pueden ser de utilidad para nuestro Centro en su programa de cambios. El esta apoyado por un grupo muy activo de miembros de la junta directiva procedentes de los paises desarrollados y del tercer mundo, quienes estan ansiosos de que el CIP se mueva en la direcci6n correcta para afrontar las necesidades cambiantes. En mi opini6n, la direcci6n del CIP es muy afortunada al tener en su Junta Directiva una mczcla de personalidades y aptitudes que ayudan con las lineas de acci6n ya revisar los program as que se conduzcan en el futuro. Asi, a medida que me dirijo hacia nuevos desaffos puedo escribir mi ultimo prefacio v para el lnforme Anual del CIP, confiando en que el futuro ponga al alcance del Centro el progreso que necesita para servir a la agricultura mundial.Me siento orgulloso de haber tenido la oportunidad de fundar el CIP y haberlo conducido hacia el progreso en los ultimos 20 afios. Ahora es oportuno que junto con otros cambios, un nuevo director sea el que conduzca al CIP hacia el futuro, manteniendo su misi6n a la altura de los objetivos prioritarios de cambio para la producci6n y utilizaci6n de cultivos de tubc5rculos y rafces.• mistica para el cumplimiento,• mente activa, abierta y avida de conocimientos y manos dispuestas a trabajar,• voluntad de persistir en el proceso de aprender y hacer, sin tomar en cuenta los obstaculos o inconvenientes que encontremos.La exploraci6n y el aprendizaje son procesos continuos para el exito del cientifico investigador de hoy y de mafiana. Durante los primeros afios de capacitaci6n formal, los estudiantes que esperan ser cientificos deben \"estar pendientes\", capacitarse en muchos frentes y mantener abiertas sus opciones. La capacitaci6n de visi6n estrecha del pasado reciente no puede producir cientfficos flexibles, capaces de ajustarse a las cambiantes necesidades de la investigaci6n y a las responsabilidades de cambio de trabajo exigidas por la ciencia del siglo XXL Para alcanzar una carrera productiva de investigador:Nose apresure y asegurese de que exista unbalance adecuado entre la profundidad de lo que aprende en relacion a aspectos de particular interes y su capacidad y adquiera conocimientos variados que lo preparen para los acelerados cambios politicos, sociales y economicos que se estan produciendo en todo el mundo.En afios recientes la ciencia ha sido bajada de su pedestal y la investigaci6n es actualmente tanto un servicio coma un producto que debe ser vendido a la clientela de la cual depende financieramente. Durante la vida de los j6venes cientificos de hoy, el mundo de la investigaci6n se va a convertir en una comunidad integrada que se disemina por los paises desarrollados y los del tercer m undo, para incluir los program as nacionales e internacionales en los sectores publico y privado. Los buenos cientificos deben asegurarse de adquirir pericia en su capacitaci6n, de tal manera que puedan explicar adecuadamente al publico en general el valor de lo que estan hacienda. Muchas instituciones de hoy esperan que sus cientfficos sean capaces de atraer fondos para su investigaci6n y sus salarios. Esto significa que los cientificos deben ser capaces de vender investigaci6n como un producto o servicio.Los afios primero y segundo del primer trabajo exigen de muchos ajustes criticos. Para m uchos cientfficos j6venes que ban pasado varios afios concentrados en proyectos de -J.esis muy especificos, el cambio a proyectos nuevos de investigaci6n puede ser diffcil. En realidad muchos cientfficos se quedan con su trabajo de tesis por el resto de sus carreras.vm Disene rapidamente un programa de trabajo bien balanceado que considere los problemas prioritarios de su instituci6n, su comunidad y supais.La tesis de grado es importante y demuestra una habilidad para hacer trabajo creativo. Sin embargo, la investigaci6n hecha durante la preparaci6n de la tesis debe abrir su entendimiento y ayudarle a establecer el curso hacia otros desaffos.Para los j6venes cientfficos que han ido al extranjero a capacitarse, el regreso a casa puede ser traumatico. Muchos j6venes esperan regresar al pafs que dejaron. Pero tanto ellos como el pafs han cambiado enormemente; de esta manera, los ajustes social, politico y econ6mico requeridos del profesional, vienen en el momento que este necesita estar estableciendo credibilidad cientffica en su primer trabajo de investigaci6n. El_ sofisticado equipo de laboratorio del que depende el joven para su trabajo de tesis, puede no estar disponible en la instituci6n a la cual regresa. (Esto puede ser muy bien una ventaja, porque podrfa ayudar a cortar la dependencia de la investigaci6n de la tesis).Los cientfficos intemacionales que van a otro pafs para su primer trabajo de investigaci6n esperan hacer frente a muchas situaciones y pueden ajustarse mas facilmente que aquellos que regresan del extranjero a su pafs. Sin embargo, se hacen necesarios muchos ajustes familiares a los sistemas de educaci6n, lenguaje, cultura, estructura social que se producen al mismo tiempo en que el nuevo profesional esta graficando la primera parada de su carrera de investigador. Mientras se comparte el proceso de ajuste de la familia, se debe persistir en los esfuerzos que requiere la investigaci6n.Como cientffico principiante, lograr hacerse facilmente visible a la administraci6n y los clientes, es esencial para su calibre como cientffico y su seguridad como persona. Usted necesita comenzar un proceso de investigaci6n que lo va a conducir hacia un flujo permanente de publicaciones en revistas cientfficas y proporcionarle reconocimiento entre sus colegas, en el mundo de la investigaci6n. El cientffico principiante tambien deseara comenzar la investigaci6n que lo conduzca posiblemente a incursionar en alguna importante que le pueda garantizar oportunidades de trabajo para una buena parte de su carrera como investigador. Tales incursiones son raras, pero conducen a esplendidas oportunidades y muchas altemativas de trabajo.El proceso de investigaci6n requiere de atenci6n inmediata en los inicios de la carrera, conjuntamente con otras ocupaciones tales como ensefianza, consejerfa, o asesorfa.Como ideal, sugiero el siguiente balance de distribuci6n del tiempo de investigaci6n: IX Tipo de investigacion Informe de progreso Revistas especializadas Descubrimiento % tiempo de investigacion 33% 33% 33%El informe de progreso le va a proporcionar una visibilidad rapida como cientffico y le va a producir resultados rapidos acerca de lo que puede decirle a los administradores y clientes. Le da resultados que pueden ser usados en sus publicaciones anuales y proporciona a los extensionistas material que se puede usar en las discusiones con los agricultores. El informe de progreso de investigaci6n incluye experimentos diversos, pruebas de herbicidas, tamizado de variedades para resistencia potencial a plagas y enfermedades, pruebas de fertilizaci6n que conduzcan a recomendaciones para los agricultores y tamizado de productos quimicos para diversos usos agdcolas.La investigaci6n para informar en revistas especializadas generalmente requiere de tres a cinco afios para obtener suficientes resultados aceptables. Esta investigaci6n puede requerir de verificaci6n en diferentes localidades tanto en las pruebas como en la acumulaci6n de datos sabre verificaci6n estacional o climatica. La emergencia de una nueva variedad, una nueva medida de control para una enfermedad o insecto, el hallazgo y verificaci6n de una nueva especie de planta o el desarrollo de una mejor tecnica de tamizado, son ejemplos de investigaci6n realizada que necesita ser compartida con los colegas por medio de publicaciones cientfficas y que pueden hacer sobresalir al autor en las comunidades cientfficas nacionales e internacionales. Ejemplos excelentes de este tipo de investigaci6n se encuentran en los informes de los Planes de Acci6n del CIP.Para la mayorfa de los cientfficos el tiempo disponible para una labor de descubrimiento es limitado en los primeros afios. La mayor parte de la investigaci6n inicial estara probablemente asociada con sus responsabilidades habituales de investiga-ci6n, generalmente en areas bien exploradas. La investigaci6n de descubrimiento puede no estar considerada entre las prioridades de la instituci6n, pero debeda estar incluida en el marco de su mandato. Este tipo de investigaci6n va a desafiar sus ideas, lo va a mantener al dia con la literatura sabre investigaci6n y va a propicfar un intercambio de ideas con sus co1egas por medio de correspondencia y discusiones en las reuniones cientfficas. La investigaci6n sobre semilla sexual de papa (TPS) y el desarrollo de papa para las zonas tropicales calidas son buenos ejemplos de investigaci6n de descubrimiento en el CIP. Esta investigaci6n tiene un impacto directo sobre la agricultura en el mundo y la gente de los paises del tercer mundo. Se debe ingresar a la investigaci6n de descubrimiento gradualmente durante los afios iniciales; sin embargo, muchos investigadores jam as ingresaran en este tipo de investigaci6n. Su capacidad los dirigira hacia otras oportunidades propuestas.Despues de haber estado en su primer trabajo por cinco a siete afios, su investigaci6n debe reflejarse en un flujo estable de artfculos publicados en revistas cientfficas. Esto va a llevar a que le pregunten si se encuentra disponible para ocupar vacantes en otras instituciones. Un cientffico debe tomar muy en serio estas solicitudes, puesto que los cambios peri6dicos son muy importantes para avanzar en la carrera de investigaci6n. La mayorfa de los cientfficos comprenderan que por lo menos dos a tres cambios de instituci6n durante sus primeros 15 afios van a beneficiar su carrera. Tales cambios pueden a veces producirse dentro de una misma instituci6n por cambio en las responsabilidades de trabajo.Los puestos de carrera en instituciones de investigaci6n avanzada como el CIP se mantienen para los cientfficos que han ingresado a la investigaci6n de descubrimiento y han desarrollado una buena imagen nacional e internacional durante sus primeros 10 afios de investigaci6n. Si Ud. no ha demostrado esta habilidad en este tiempo debe considerar seriamente retirarse antes de que la instituci6n comience a advertfrselo. Hada los 45 afios de edad, los cientfficos deben encontrarse en la recta correcta por ser estos los afios mas productivos de su carrera. Muchos de Uds. que han alcanzado prestigio como cientfficos van a tener la posibilidad de ingresar en la administraci6n y algunas de las ofertas que reciban van a ser para puestos administrativos. Antes de realizar este cambio, debe estar seguro de que tiene la personalidad y flexibilidad como para ser un buen administrador. Recomiendo mucho a los cientfficos para que tomen un buen curso de administraci6n en los inicios de su carrera de investigaci6n.Tome un curso de tulministraci6n en una epoca temprana de su carrera con el objeto de identificar sus inclinaciones naturales, habilidades y limitaciones, de tal man era que pueda f ortalecerlas por medio del estudio y experiencia cuidadosamente seleccionada.Aunque Ud. nunca vaya a escoger un puesto administrativo, su capacitaci6n en este campo le va a ayudar a manejar en mejor forma su carrera de investigador y su vida.Muchos cientificos desperdician SUS afios mas productivos de investigaci6n tomando cargos administrativos para los cuales no tienen aptitud. Algunas de las preguntas que debe Ud. hacerse antes de tomar la decisi6n de cambiar son: lAcepta las crfticas y hace Ud. crfticas sutilmente? i,Le gusta la gente? lPuede resolver problemas personales sin sentirse emocionalmente involucrado? l,Cuan emocionalmente estable es Ud.? l Quiere Ud. ingresar a la administraci6n porque piensa que es mas importante que la investigaci6n? lSe sentirfa util en una situaci6n en la que ya no produjera articulos de investigaci6n? Los calificativos por el exito en administraci6n son muy diferentes de XI los que se obtienen en investigaci6n; son mas indirectos y dependen del buen manejo que se de a la instituci6n y al personal.Prescindiendo del estado de su carrera, debe Ud. controlar peri6dicamente su rumba y preguntarse a sf mismo sobre su pasado, su presente y lo que espera del futuro. lMantiene Ud. un buen balance de trabajo entre sus actual es proyectos de investigaci6n? l& Ud. suficientemente productivo en su actual investigaci6n para merecer la libertad de elecci6n sobre parte de su tiempo de investigaci6n? z.Ha dispuesto de tiempo para capacitar a sus ayudantes con el objeto de orientar su investigaci6n a su manera? z.Se siente preso en una situaci6n en la que ya no es Ud. \"duefio de su destino\"?Las respuestas a esta clase de preguntas le indicaran la ruta de su carrera a considerar, la capacitaci6n que deberfa obtener o dar y la clase de discusiones que deberfa tener con la administraci6n y con su familia, con el objeto de hacer lo mejor de su carrera de investigaci6n.En los primeros ?O afios del CIP, se ha desarrollado y•mantenido un ambiente de investigaci6n donde los factores que contribuyen enormemente en la carrera de los cientfficos son su capacidad individual y no un espacio en invemaderos, equipos de investigaci6n, asistencia a reuniones cientfficas, o sus supervisores o administradores. El mandato y objetivos de prioridad de la investigaci6n de la instituci6n, ban servido como principios gufas para todas las actividades del CIP con preocupaci6n por la carrera de cada individuo y de la instituci6n como un todo. La obligaci6n de todas las instituciones patronales y de su administraci6n es proporcionar una nave segura para la carrera cientffica. Sea cualquiera la ruta que hayan elegido en su carrera, les deseo una tranquila travesfa.Zonas Agroecologicas e lnvestigaciones de los Planes de Acci6n en las 8 Regiones del CIP E l CIP trabaja en cuatro estaciones experimentales en el Peru ubicadas en cada una de las principales regiones agroecologicas del pafs. Se ha establecido una quinta estacion en Quito, Ecuador. Nuestra sede central est.ii localizada en el desierto costero cerca de Lima (240 m de altitud) donde las instalaciones incluyen oficinas de investigacion y administracion general, laboratorios, invernaderos, almacenes refrigerados y de luz natural difusa, camaras de crecimiento y campos experimentales. Una segunda estacion, en las frfas alturas andinas cerca de Huancayo (3 260 m) de altitud), es el hogar de la Coleccion Mundial de Papa del CIP. Las dos estaciones restantes estiin Estaciones de investigacion del CIP en el Peru, y temporadas de cultivo de papa con los datos meteorol6gicos para el afio de cultivo de 1990.Estacion:-¥ Lima-La Molina • Huancayo i,\\ / ' : . ~l~6ti ...en la region amazonica: una en la selva de altitud media de San Ramon, sabre la vertiente oriental de los Andes (800 m de altitud) y la otra en la calida selva baja de Yurimaguas, con altitud de 180m.El personal internacional del CIP incluye aproximadamente 100 cientfficos, administradores y otros expertos de mas de 20 pafses. Muchos de los miembros internacionales de nuestro personal residen en las sedes regionales del CIP ubicadas por todo el tercer mundo (pagina siguiente ), donde colaboran directamente con los programas nacionales. En Lima, el centro de operaciones est.ii respaldado por mas de 500 cientfficos de apoyo, tecnicos, personal administrativo y de oficina y secretariado, y obreros especializados.El personal y la direccion de los seis departamentos de investigacion del CIP -Ciencias Sociales, Fisiologfa, Mejoramiento y Genetica, Nematologfa y Entomologfa, Patologfa, y Recursos Geneticos-estiin integrados por expertos internacionales de pafses desarrollados y en desarrollo.N uestra investigacion interdisciplinaria est.ii concentrada en diez \"Planes de Accion\" que combinan el trabajo de los especialistas de varias disciplinas para mejorar la produccion y el uso de la papa y la batata.La capacidad del CIP se multiplica gracias a los numerosos contratos de investigaci. 6n y consultoria que aprovechan de la experiencia y facilidades existentes en otras insti tuciones, a menudo en forma de investigaci6n colaborativa con pafses desarrollados. Mediante los contratos con instituciones de los pafses del tercer mundo, compartimos los recursos humanos y ffsicos especializados para concentramos en la investigaci6n de mayor prioridad local.E l CIP ha ayudado a desarrollar cinco redes unicas en SU genero de investigaci6n cofaborativa. En estas redes, varios palses de una determinada area geografica unen sus recursos para resolver problemas comunes de producci6n. Una vez que se ban evaluado las prioridades, cada pafs ejecuta el proyecto para el cual tiene comparativamente mayores ventajas y comparte los resultados con los demas palses. El CIP participa en las redes como un mi em bro igualitario, proporcionando asistencia tecnica en las areas de su experiencia, al igual queen la direcci6n adminis-trativa. La distribuci6n de los esfuerzos permite al CIP y a los palses miembros utilizar sus recursos eficientemente.El sistema de responsabilidad compartida e intercambio activo se diferencia fundamentalmente de otras redes agricolas diseiiadas principalmente para ayudar en la distribuci6n de germoplasma. Los miembros se benefician de una amplia gama de resultados de investigaci6n y al mismo tiempo sus intereses se consolidan y su confianza en sf mismos se fortifica .- ------------------------------------~-------  (1978) Costa Rica, Cuba, Republica Dominicana, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua yPanama.Esta red colaborativa de investigaci6n une los esfuerzos de investigaci6n de Mexico y de los pafses de Centroamerica y El Caribe. El Programa de Investigaci6n de PRECODEPA incluye 10 proyectos orientados a resolver los problemas mas importantes de producci6n y utilizaci6n de la papa en la Regi6n. El tiz6n tardfo esta considerado como el problema patol6gico mas importante para los pafses de PRECODEP A. El proyecto de tiz6n tard.fo lo lideran Mexico y Costa Rica, con participaci6n de los otros miembros. La polilla de la papa tambien es un problema importante en la producci6n de papa, puesto que causa dafios severos en el campo y el almacen. Los objetivos del proyecto son reducir el dafio y reducir el excesivo uso de pesticidas. Para combatir esta plaga se encuentra en marcha un programa de control integrado que incluye el uso de feromonas, control biol6gico y practicas culturales. La marchitez bacteriana con-tim1a causando perdidas de cosecha en muchos pafses de PRECODEPA, aunque se tienen inform es de Costa Rica don de se ha alcanzado un enorme progreso en el control de esta enfermedad. Un intenso programa orientado a promover el consumo de papa en la Regi6n se esta llev ando a cabo bajo la direcci6n del coordinador de la red. Medios de comu-nicaci6n selectos se estan utilizando para alcanzar una amplia audiencia.Esta red continua su plan de trabajo de acuerdo al programa establecido en el plan quinquenal. La reuni6n anual de PRECO-D EPA se llev6 a cabo en Costa Rica, donde los representantes de los 10 pafses miembros presentaron su informe anual y discutieron los programas de investiga-ci6n, capacitaci6n y asistencia tecnica para el pr6ximo afio. El Comite Ejecutivo, compuesto de tres miembros se reuni6 en tres ocasiones durante el afio, con el objeto de seguir estrechamente el desarrollo del proyecto y otros aspectos relevantes en la producci6n regional de papa.El CIP apoy6 las actividades de inves-tigaci6n, capacitaci6n y asistencia tecnica de PRECODEPA en 1990 por media de la coordinaci6n de su Oficina Regional en Santo Domingo. La contribuci6n de germoplasma al PRECODEPAen 1990 llega a 679 clones, cultivares y progenies que ban sido enviados en forma de tuberculos, plantas in vitro o semilla botanica. La capacitaci6n, patrocinada total o parcialmente por el CIP, se dio en seis cursos y diversas actividades de capacitaci6n individual. Los cientfficos del CIP ban participado en la revisi6n de los proyectos y ban proporcionado durante el afio asistencia tecnica a varios pafses.Programa Andino Cooperativo de Investigaci6n en Papa (1982) Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela.Las actividades de investigaci6n de PRACIPA forman actualmente el flanco de investigaciones sobre papa de una red mas amplia en la regi6n andina (PROCIANDINO), la cual abarca cinco cultivos importantes de la regi6n. PRACIPA todavfa mantiene su autonomfa y su propio Comite Directivo. Los planes para el futuro contemplan la incorporaci6n xv total de todos los aspectos administrativos en PROCIANDINO. Se ha publicado un boletfn especial que incluye los resultados de las actividades, producci6n y comer-cializaci6n y se ha organizado una reuni6n de planificaci6n en Cali, Colombia. Los participantes incluyeron representantes de los investigadores, extensionistas y productores. PRACIP A expuso su requerimiento de objetivos y actividades precisos para proponer un seguimiento a la Pase III de la actual red. Las actividades nuevas incluyen lo siguiente:• Germoplasma tolerante a las heladas • Germoplasma resistente al tiz6n tardfo yvirus•• Variedades precoces• Control del gorgojo de los Andes• Manejo integrado de la polilla del tuberculo de papa• Factores limitantes para la producci6n de papa a nivel de finca. Todas estas actividades, particularmente la prim~ra y la quinta estan incluidas entre las prioridades de investigaci6n propias de CIP, por lo tan to, habra una estrecha relaci6n entre la investigaci6n nacional y las actividades del CIP. La sexta actividad incluye investigaci6n especifica dentro de cada programa nacional, pero el programa general puede estar dividido en componentes de los pafses individuales para beneficio del grupo.Programa Cooperativo de Investigaci6n en Papa (1982) Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay.Los miembros de esta red ban continuado intercambiando materiales geneticos en XVI 1990. Los materiales progenitores, asf como las progenies segregantes en su forma in vitro y de semilla sexual han estado por lo tanto a disposici6n de los programas nacionales. El intercambio de germoplasma se ha hecho con prop6sitos de mejoramiento y de propagaci6n.Igualmente se ban distribuido entre los pafses, clones avanzados de papa, seleccionados para adaptabilidad, resistencia a las plagas y con buena calidad para el consumo. Los fondos para estas actividades fueron proporcionados por cada ins-tituci6n nacional involucrada. El CIP ha contribuido al esfuerzo del desarrollo total de la papa por medio de investigaci6n colaborativa y proyectos en contrato.Para permitir que el PROCIPA expanda sus actividades habituales, especialmente sus proyectos interregionales, se ha preparado y presentado una propuesta para ayuda extema.Programa del Sureste Asiatico para la Investigaci6n y Desarrollo de la Papa (1982). Indonesia, Malasia, Papua Nueva Guinea, Filipinas, Sri Lanka, Tailandia.En 1990, los pafses miembros ban continuado conduciendo proyectos de in-vestigaci6n en papa asignados por el SAPPRAD usando fondos nacionales, con excepci6n de Filipinas que recibe apoyo econ6mico del SAPPRAD. Los proyectos incluyeron: mejoramiento de la papa para tierras bajas (Filipinas), agronomfa de la papa en zonas de elevaci6n media (Indonesia); semilla sexual (Sri Lanka); producci6n pnktica de semilla (Papua Nueva Guinea); mecanizaci6n en fincas pequefias (Malasia) y poscosecha y utili-I zaci6n (failandia). AdemID;, cada pafs ha de finalizar la Fase II, el AIDAB y el CIP continuado implementando proyectos so-ban comisionado a un equipo externo para ~ bre transferencia de tecnologfa finan-revisar el programa. Notandose el cumciados por SAPPRAD, orientados a llevar plimiento practico y la reciente adici6n de los resultados de la investigaci6n a los batata a su mandato, el equipo revisor ha campos de los agricultores. Indonesia, Fi-recomendado la extensi6n de SAPPRAD lipinas y Tailandia ban realizado pruebas a la Pase III por otros cinco afios. de evaluaci6n de batata y ban seleccionado 10 cultivares sobresalientes que ban sido enviados al Instituto de Investigaci6n PRAPAC de Plantas en Australia para ser liberados Programa Regional de de pat6genos y distribuirlos eventualmen-Mejoramiento de la Papa te a los pafses miembros. Indonesia y en Africa Central (1982) Filipinas que tienen el mayor hectareaje de Burundi, Ruanda, Uganda, Zaire. batata, ban iniciado la investigaci6n desde la perspectiva del usuario en colaboraci6n El \"Programa Regional de Mejoramiento con UPWARD.de Papa\" (PRAP AC), se estableci6 en Los talleres regionales sobre almace-1982, incluyendo a Burundi, Ruanda y namiento de papa de consumo y manejo Zaire. En 1987, Uganda se convirti6 en un de germoplasma de batata se ban conmiembro mID; de la red. ducido en colaboraci6n con el CIP y tam-La Agenda de las Estados Unidos para bien se ban hecho en cada pafs cursos de ! capacitaci6n en producci6n.el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID), proporciona el respaldo financiero para Una reuni6n conjunta del comite PRAP AC, apoyando las actividades de intecnico y de coordinaci6n se realiz6 en vestigaci6n mediante donaciones bilate-Yogyakarta, Indonesia para com partir rerales y su puesto de Coordinador. Durante sultados, revisar el avance del trabajo y 1990, esta red fue fortalecida por la asigaprobar los planes de trabajo para 1991. naci6n de fondos bilaterales en Zaire yEl SAPPRAD recibe ayuda econ6mica Burundi. externa de la Oficina Australiana para En Burundi se ha lanzado un plantea-Ayuda al Desarrollo Internacional miento integrado para el control de la mar-(AIDAB), con fondos apropiados de conchitez bacteriana en la producci6n de traparte de los pafses miembros. En 1990 tuberculos para semilla bID;ica. Este enfoel Centro Australiano para lnvestigaci6n que ha reducido la infecci6n de marchitez Agron6mica Internacional (ACIAR) ha bacteriana de 60% a menos de 1 %, usando proporcionado fondos para que el lnstituto un esquema de producci6n de tuberculos de lnvestigaci6n en Plantas (PRI), en semillas basado en el metodo de propaga-Burnley, Australia libere de pat6genos los ci6n in vitro, combinado con practicas culcultivares de papa mID; sobresalientes para turales mejoradas. El metodo ha probado los pafses miembros.ser practico y aceptable por agricultores de Como en el pasado, el apoyo del CIP ha escasos recursos.• consistido en donaciones de germo-El area sembrada con la variedad plasma, ayuda tecnica y administraci6n de \"Lupita\", seleccionada en 1989 por surefondos. Como el SAPPRAD esta a punto sistencia al tiz6n tardfo, esta aumentando XVII rapidamente. En Ruanda se han identificado varios clones avanzados con resistencia al tiz6n tardfo y estan listos para darles nombre como variedades nuevas. El Programa Nacional de Papa (PNAP) ha iniciado la multiplicaci6n in vitro que va a permitir realizar los proyectos de desarro-llo rural para m ultiplicar y distribuir a los agricultores semilla de buena calidad.La construcci6n de un centro de ca-pacitaci6n para PROPAC, localizado en Ruhengeri, Ruanda, se ha completado yen el se han realizado tres cursos de pro-ducci6n y poscosecha. En Uganda se ha establecido un nuevo programa de semillas usando variedades de Ruanda y cultivares locales. Mas de 100 t de semilla basica de calidad se ha proporcionado a los agricultores que multiplican semilla de papa. Resultados preliminares de la in-vestigaci6n sobre producci6n de papa a partir de semilla sexual, han demostrado gran potencial para su utilizaci6n por agricultores dedicados al cultivo de hortalizas. Un investigador de Zaire ha desarrollado un metodo para la producci6n de papas deshidratadas como requerimiento parcial para estudios de grado mas avanzado. Este trabajo de tesis ha sido apoyado por PRAPAC.Perspectiva de los Usuarios en Investigaci6n Agricola y Desarrollo (1989) Indonesia, Nepal, Filipinas, Sri Lanka, Tailandia y Viet Nam.UPWARD ha finalizado su segundo afio de operaciones en proyectos que incluyen consolidaci6n y expansi6n de actividades de investigaci6n. Los proyectos de batata que incluyen investigaci6n sobre poscosecha, comercializaci6n, consumo y nutri-XVIII ci6n estan en ejecuci6n a niveles nacional y local en todos los pafses de la red.El intercambio de informaci6n por todo el Asia y el Pacifico Sur sobre batata y aspectos metodol6gicos de investigaci6n ha sido facilitado por el taller inaugural de UPWARD (\" l,Por que los Usuarios se Interesan en la Investigaci6n Agron6mica?\"), que se realiz6 en Filipinas en abril y al que asistieron 33 participantes de toda Asia. Un taller nacional de capacitaci6n sobre \"Habilidades Domesticas de Diagn6stico\" realizado en Filipinas incluy6 capacita-ci6n sobre caracterizaci6n de sistemas agrfcolas, analisis de genero e interpretaci6n de los habitos de alimentaci6n. En Asia, se realiz6 tambien un curso de \"Capacitaci6n de Capacitadores\" en Filipinas, al cual asistieron investigadores asiaticos.La investigaci6n comun es la mas fuerte en Filipinas y en un futuro inmediato se le dara prioridad a la expansi6n de la investigaci6n en otros pafses de Asia, mientras se consolida y fortifica la investi-gaci6n en Filipinas. Tambien se apoyaran los esfuerzos de capacitaci6n en el pafs que cuenta con cursos intemacionales de capacitaci6n conducidos en la actualidad directamente por UPWARD.El UPWARD esta financiado por el gobiemo holandes y recibe apoyo adicional de PNUD para algunas actividades de capacitaci6n durante el afio. El apoyo en recursos humanos lo recibe de algunos programas nacionales en Asia, asf como tambien de universidades e institutos de investigaci6n. El CIP proporciona fondos para el coordinador de la red y apoya la organizaci6n administrativa de la sede central. El UPWARD se inici6 a mediados de 1989 y fue inicialmente financiado por tres afios. Se espera que una revisi6n extema en 1992 evallle las posibilidades de extensi6n de este proyecto.S i solo a Falstaff se le hubieran cumplido sus deseos. Al empezar un nuevo siglo en s6lo 10 af10s mas, el mundo tendra siete mil millones de bocas que alimentar y el numero seguira aumentando hasta por lo menos 30 afios mas. Es improbable que se incrementen las tierras buenas de cultivo. Aunque la \"revoluci6n verde\" de la decada del 60, basada en fertilizantes y variedades nuevas de arroz, ha hecho mucho para cerrar la brecha del hambre en m uchos pafses pobres, no puede satisfacer el apetito de unas pocas generaciones en el futuro. lSaldra la papa al rescate?Un grupo que tiene fe es el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), organiza-ci6n de investigaci6n y capacitaci6n agrf-. cola con su sede central en el Peru, la cual ha patrocinado a principios de mes, una conferencia en Washington sobre el potencial de la papa. Ya se ha despertado una gran confianza en la papa, en algunos lu-De \"The Economist\", octubre 13, 1990. gares donde el numero de bocas hambrientas aumenta vertiginosamente. China ha cuadruplicado el tonelaje de este cultivo en los ultimas 30 afios y esta superada s6lo por la Uni6n Sovietica ( donde una cosecha abundante se pudre en el cam po). India no esta muy por detras de China. Otros pafses • donde el cultivo se esta convirtiendo en el soporte para las familias pobres incluyen • algunos en Africa, asf como tambien Sri Lanka, Viet Nam y Filipinas.Esta diseminaci6n parecia improbable para un cultivo que generalmente se crefa de clima frfo. Esa reputaci6n inmerecida es un accidente hist6rico; sucedi6 que los espafioles la encontraron por primera vez cultivada en las alturas de los Andes peruanos, desde donde la introdujeron a Europa hacia el afio 1538. De haberse tornado los conquistadores la molestia de mirar mas de cerca todo el imperio incaico, pudieron haber encontrado que tambien se sembraban papas en las tierras bajas. XXI La papa no s6lo puede crecer en cualquier lugar--aun en los desiertos, siempre que la temperatm~a noctuma sea bajasino que rinde mayor cantidad de alimento que las gramineas. Un acre de papa, por ejemplo, produce el doble de proteinas que un acre de trigo. La papa puede tambien soportar condiciones que los granos no pueden; como cultivo de raices con su parte comestible debajo de la tierra, la papa esta practicamente a prueba de torm.entas y aunque tfpicamente demora por lo menos 150 dias en madurar en climas templados, a bajas latitudes esta lista para cosecharse entre los 40 a 90 dias despues de la siembra. Fsto permite intercalar papa entre cultivos de cereales de crecimiento mas lento como el trigo, arroz y mafz hacienda mas productiva la tierra arable.Las papas son excepcionalmente nutritivas: son ricas en potasio, magnesia, hierro, vitaminas B y C, hidratos de carbono complejos; tienen una mejor calidad de proteina que la soya y estan 99,9% libres de grasas. La idea de que la papa engorda es un mito. Algunos historiadores han argumentado que no hubiera habido revoluci6n industrial en Europa si los obreros con bajos ingresos no hubieran sido capaces de alimentarse ellos y su familia con papa. Pero la historia de la papa tiene tambien algunas lecciones. La hambruna de 1845-1851 en Irlanda, a menudo se toma como evidencia de la vulnerabilidad de la papa a las enfermedades. Por la hambruna, un tercio de la poblaci6n local se rnuri6 de hambre y el otro tercio o mas emigr6.Nada como aquella hambruna se ha vuelto a ver, pero el hecho de que el 80% de1,acreaje de papa en los futados Unidos y Canada estan sembrados con s6lo seis de las miles de variedades existentes es una sombrfa advertencia de que puede suceder XXII otra vez. Si las papas de Irlanda en el siglo XIX no hubieran sido geneticamente uniformes, hubiera existido la probabilidad de que la hambruna bubiera sido menos severa. Los incas comprendieron implicitamente la importancia de la diversidad genetica y los cientfficos del CIP estan decididos a conservarla. Ellos ban colectado 6 500 variedades latinoamericanas para su programa de mejoramiento, pero no dependen de ellas unicamente. Para contrarrestar las enfermedades bacterianas, por ejemplo, ellos y sus colegas de la Universidad Estatal de Louisiana en Baton Rouge estan experimentando con genes que bacen que los gusanos de seda produzcan antibi6ticos. Ellos quieren transferir estos genes a la papa, donde se espera que actuen en la misma forma.Tambien esperan introducir en la papa genes sintetizados en el laboratorio, de tal manera que puedan prevenir la multipli-caci6n de los virus en SUS celulas. Los antibi6ticos no tienen efecto sabre los virus; aunque algunas variedades de papa poseen genes que producen una resistencia natural a algunos virus, ninguna variedad posee resistencia natural de amplio espectro. Puesto que los bongos tambien infectan papa y son los que sin lugar a dudas contribuyeron a la bambruna en lrlanda, se estan haciendo intentos para aislar y duplicar las sustancias producidas por ciertas bacterias que actuan como antfdotos contra bongos. Una vez que se ubiquen los genes que gobieman la pro-ducci6n de estos antfdotos, puede ser posible transferirlos de la bacteria a la papa, obteniendose asf variantes que van a producir el antfdoto.Los ingenieros geneticos tambien es tan viendo la posibilidad de incorporar en la papa aquellos genes bacterianos que llevaban consigo instrucciones para producir !.lPorque se le llaman layas a las papas? Hay rumores que una Sociedad para la Prevenci6n de una Dieta Dafiina tiene algo que ver con ello. I.a antigua palabra inglesa con que se denomina a un pequefio implemento para escarbar y que precisamente es una \"laya\", parece ser lo mas probable, pero se crefa sin lugar a dudas que las papas eran venenosas (al igual que sus parientes los tomates y el ajf verde ), cuando recien fueron traf das del nuevo mundo.Como es sabido, las tres hortalizas pertenecen a la misma familia al igual que la mortal belladona y otra nociva maleza, el tabaco. I.as petunias tambien son miembros de esta familia y puesto que las flares de papa tienen gran parecido con las petunias, Marfa Antonieta las cultivaba en Versalles para adornar su cabellera.Afortunadamente para la humanidad, Antoniette Auguste Parmentier, un farmaceutico frances de aquel tiempo sabfa mas. El persuadi6 a Luis XVI que le permitiera plantar un campo de tuberculos y colocar a la guardia real para que lo cuidara durante el dfa y lo dejara sin resguardo en la noche. Como esperaba el astuto Parmentier, los campesinos ingresaron al campo en la oscurid~d de la noche. Al poco tiempo se comfa papas en todo el reino.Al mismo tiempo los escoceses vencieron su original aversion a la papa -que no s6lo era venenosa sino que tampoco se le mencionaba en la Biblia. Cuando los inmigrantes escoceses-irlandeses se establecieron en Maine en 1791, introdujeron la papa en este territorio que se convertirfa en uno de los estados de Estados Unidos de America.Sin embargo, fue Thomas Jefferson quien a su regreso de Parfs present6 papas fritas a sus conciudadanos, quienes en ese entonces les pusieron el nombre de papas fritas a la francesa. Ahora tan americana como el pastel de manzana, la papa esta siendo promocionada como \"papa frita a la americana\" en Mc. Donald's yen otros establecimientos de comida en lugares 'como Tokio y Hong Kong.En vista de que ha sido probado su caracter lucrativo para los empresarios de comida al paso y para los exportadores americanos de papa procesada, los cfnicos estan disgustados. I.as papas fritas se promocionan especialmente en el negocio de restaurante familiar, siendo la idea, la de atrapar a los nifios de edad temprana y convertirlos en consumidores de por vida. jPero muchos de los nuevos aficionados a las papas fritas a la americana no saben lo que la mayorfa de consumidores saben!, que preparando las papas en la forma de comida al paso se embeben las nutritivas y bajas en calorfas papas con inmensas cantidades de grasa nociva. Papas fri tas de entrada, cancer y enfermedades al coraz6n de postre. insecticidas naturales. Uno de estos insecticidas trabaja atacando el esqueleto e intestinos de varios tipos de insectos que destruyen la papa y cargan al agricultor y al medio ambiente con el costo y el efecto de los pesticidas comerciales. La papa es un candidato excepcional para la mani-pulaci6n genetica, porque muchas especies tienen genes de cuatro conjuntos de cromosomas en cada celula, en lugar de xxm dos, que es la caracterfstica de los animales y de la mayorfa de las plantas.Aunque ninguno de estos hechos novedosos esta todavfa en condiciones de ser aplicado en forma amplia, hay otros que sf. Por -ejemplo, las plantas de papa con las mejores caracterfsticas para diferentes condiciones de cultivo pueden propagarse en tubas de prueba cuando todavfa estan en estado embri6nico, siempre que se les mantenga primero en una soluci6n nutritiya sencilla y luego se pasen a tinglados baratos, donde se multiplican aun con mayor rapidez. Este metodo, llamado de cultivo de tejidos, adoptado en casi 30 pafses pobres ha tenido exito especialmente en Viet Nam. Los campesinos allf comienzan a producir plantas en el dormitorio, utilizando una parte para sus propios campos y quedandose con lo suficiente para vender a otros agricultores. La tecnica se ha vuelto tan popular en Viet Nam que la papa constituye actualmente el segundo cultivo mas importante (en peso), despues del arroz.El CIP tambien ha revivido la antigua practica peruana de cultivar papa a partir de semilla sexual, asf como tambien de la forma mas convencional usando tuberculos. Con este procedimiento un simple pufiado de semilla sexual reemplaza toneladas de tuberculos, los cuales son mas costosos y dificiles de transportar. Los tuberculos asf pueden usarse para el consum o en lugar de usarlos como semilla. La semilla sexual tiene tambien menos probabilidades de transmitir enfermedades y se puede disponer de ella en cualquier epoca del afio. Cerca de 40 pafses del tercer mundo estan adaptando el metodo de semilla sexual a sus necesidades y algunos ya la estan usando comercialmente.Mientras tan to, si el futuro •de la papa parece bueno, ocurre lo mismo con su similar la batata. Comprendiendo que con frecuencia crece en terrenos pobres impropios para papa, el CIP tambien ha volcado recientemente su atenci6n al mejoramiento de esta nutritiva rafz.A medida de que el CIP desarrolla su nuevo Plan Estrategico, estamos hacienda un inventario de nuestros logros y de las lecciones aprendidas durante las dos decadas de experiencia. En este resumen, unimos el trabajo actual y el pasado a cuatro destacados principios de manejo que son el fundamento de la estrategia de la investigaci6n del CIP. Ejemplos de los informes de los planes de acci6n de este aiio se usan para demostrar la relaci6n que existe entre las operaciones comunes y la manera estrategica de enfocarlos.Como en el pasado, los resultados obtenidos por los Planes de Acci6n documentan avances cientfficos sustanciales y el desarrollo de una poderosa colaboraci6n entre los pafses desarrollados y el tercer mundo (ver Perfiles de los Planes de Acci6n para un ligero recuento ). Ahora debemos aseguramos que estos esfuerzos se traduzcan eficientemente para un rapido y productivo impacto en los campos de los agricultores.Dentro de nuestro cuadruple enfoque, las operaciones estrategicas claves seran consolidadas en (1) concentrarnos en proyectos con alto potencial y de impacto inmediato, (2) integrar nuestras actividades de investigaci6n global, informaci6n y capacitaci6n, (3) balancear las metas de largo plaza con acciones para adaptar y proporcionar de inmediato los resultados de la investigaci6n a los agricultores y ( 4) desarrollar en el CIP un espfritu institucional con una profunda orientaci6n de impacto, en el cual el impacto practico es nuestra basica fuerza motriz.Nuestra primera intenci6n es concentrarnos en unas pocas actividades. , Estamos seleccionando la informaci6n sabre investigaci6n y proyectos de capa-citaci6n basados en su valor cientffico y capacidad para un rapido y sostenible uso por los agricultores. Las actividades seran integradas dentro de cada proyecto para lograr el maxima sinergismo e impacto. En pafses que ya poseen una capacidad sustancial de investigaci6n nacional, vamos a poner enfasis en la colaboraci6n. En pafses donde la capacidad de los SNIA necesita ser reforzada para un desarrollo sostenible de largo plaza vamos a poner enfasis en las actividades de capacitaci6n e informaci6n, preparando asf el camino para una futura colaboraci6n en la investigaci6n.A medida que vayamos identificando en forma mas clara las areas de concentraci6n intensiva, equilibraremos los beneficios practicos de corto plaza en el campo con las beneficios del desarrollo a largo plaza en nuestras instituciones asociadas y las SNIA. Los prop6sitos especfficos son evaluar continuamente las necesidades de nuestros asociados, desarrollar y adaptar las tecnicas apropiadas y compartir y evaluar integramente las resultados dentro de la comunidad agricola global.Una descentralizaci6n mas amplia de las actividades del CIP dentro del marco regional global ayudara a catalizar este plan de cuatro partes. Acercandonos mas a nuestros asociados podemos colaborar en forma mas eficiente con los sistemas agrfcolas nacionales (SNIA) y las sectores privados de las pafses desarrollados y los del tercer mundo. Usando este enfoque continuaremos desarrollando metodologfas nuevas como la biotecnologfa para complementar las metodos convencionales, con fuerte enfasis en el aspecto del media ambiente en relaci6n con la investigaci6n agrfcola.Nuestro trabajo en germoplasma y mejoramiento refleja aciertos sustanciales, particularmente en la creaci6n de materiales mejorados de papa que proporcionan resistencias y tolerancias a las estreses bi6ticos y abi6ticos. Tambien hemos ayudado en facilitar el uso de materiales de papa de fuentes selectas, diferentes a las del programa de mejoramiento del Centro. Como en afios anteriores, hemos hecho progresos estables en la selecci6n de papas para problemas agron6micos sefialados par las agricultores. Par ejemplo, hemos seleccionado progenitores con alta habilidad combinatoria general, todos con buenas caracterfsticas de tuberculo y adaptaci6n a condiciones de clima calido. Algunas de estas poblaciones de papa tambien han segregado para resistencia a la mayorfa de las enfermedades y estreses mas importantes, incluyendo la resistencia al tiz6n temprano, tiz6n tardfo, marchitez bacteriana, PLRV, inmunidad a PVY y PYX y tolerancia al calor. Estas poblaciones de papa de amplia base son muy valiosas para el futuro, ya que tratamos XXVI de combinar la producci6n para satisfacer la creciente demanda. Nuestra meta es alcanzar una producci6n optima sostenible al menor costo posible-tanto financiero coma ambiental-para beneficiar a productores y consumidores de escasos recursos.El reto que afronta actualmente el CIP es el de explotar intensivamente estas poblaciones para crear materiales con combinaciones especfficas para problemas agroecol6gicos especfficos. Asf continuaremos fortaleciendo el rol de las mejoradores en ubicaciones regionales, quienes trabajaran estrechamente con sus asociados de las SNIA en la combinaci6n de materiales localmente adaptados o en la selecci6n directa de variedades promisorias. Los agricultores estaran mas estrechamente comprometidos en la evaluaci6n y selecci6n, a medida que se redistribuyan los clones mejorados para ser probados en varias ecorregiones.Una de nuestras areas de investigaci6n mas intensas y exitosas ha sido la de reproducci6n de germoplasma. Por ejemplo, este afio hemos confirmado claramente el enorme potencial de haploides para facilitar la evaluaci6n de especies del germoplasma. Tambien hemos avanzado sustancialmente en nuestro trabajo a nivel diploide y luego hemos realizado cruzamientos usando el sistema diploide-tetraploide. Tales metodos han producido beneficios cientfficos importantes y ahora tenemos un virtual tesoro de materiales geneticos mejorados e informaci6n en esta area vital. Pero debemos revalorizar el balance entre la alternativa de enriquecer el germoplasma a largo plaza y el impacto de corto plaza obtenido al poner a disposici6n de los programas nacionales los materiales avanzados, para su selecci6n y uso para impacto practico en los campos de los agricul tores.Consideramos que la biotecnologfa va a ayudar a acelerar nuestro trabajo en el enriquecimiento del germoplasma de papa. Nuestro informe sabre la apli-caci6n de metodos moleculares refleja avances rapidos en el uso de la ingenierfa genetica. Esto incluye la introducci6n de genes antibacterianos que tienen una actividad de amplio espectro contra importantes bacterias fitopat6genas, tales coma Pseudomonas solanacearum, el agente causal de la marchitez bacteriana. Tambien hemos desarrollado una metodologfa para obtener plantas transgenicas con secuencias inversas para el viroide del tuberculo ahusado (PSTVd). Nuestro informe tambien refleja avances en el uso de genes que pueden ayudarnos a combatir varias plagas de insectos, incluyendo la polilla del tuberculo de la papa, asf coma tambien en el uso de genes antifungosos coma un control potencial para el tiz6n tardfo. Por media de este tipo de investigaci6n tenemos planeado insertar caracteres geneticos deseables en genotipos avanzados, evitando asf problemas de recombinaci6n asociados con programas de metodologfas convencionales de mejoramiento. El trabajo sabre desarrollo de un mapa de enlace mas XX VII detallado sobre el polimorfismo en la langitud de las fragmentas de restricci6n (RFLP) de la papa ha avanzada sistematicamente este afia, canvirtiendase en una promesa que puede servirnos para el desarrollo e identificaci6n de caracteres utiles en la poblaci6n de papa. Estas alternativas biotecnol6gicas involucr.m una fuerte colaboraci6n con las instituciones del tercer mundo. A medida de que evaluemos las ventajas comparativas, parece que sera posible hacer trabajo biotecnol6gico en calabaraci6n con el sector privado.En cuanto al germoplasma de batata y trabajo sabre mejaramienta, cantinuamos concentrandanos en la calecci6n, caracterizaci6n y enriquecimienta del germoplasma, en contraposici6n al mejaramienta per se. Nuestro trabaja sabre batata tama en cuenta el rol de este cultiva camo fuente de alimenta, forraje y productos industriales. El germoplasma y la investigaci6n sobre mejoramienta estan orientadas a ayudar al productor para incrementar la demanda de batata. La selecci6n para un alto contenido de materia seca es vital, porque esta caracterfstica es importante en referencia al producto como alimento, forraje e insumo para procesamienta. Ademas se esta estudiando la precocidad, cantidad y calidad del almid6n, producci6n de follaje para alimenta animal, asf como tambien la falta de duke y otros factores del sabar. Nuestra investigaci6n realizada este afia refleja un rapida exita en dicha selecci6n. Dieciseis clones de batata ya han ingresado al programa de liberaci6n de pat6genos y van a estar listos para su distribuci6n regional a fines de 1991. Estos clones son de rendimiento alto, buen contenido de materia seca y precocidad. A pesar de los rapidos progreSOS alcanzados en esta area, por media del USO de tecnicas COnvencionales, esperamos que la tecnologfa alcance un efecto catalf tico, como ha sucedido con nuestro trabajo en papa. Habiendo descubierto que se pueden usar tecnicas citol6gicas para romper la barrera de cruzabilidad entre el germoplasma silvestre y cultivado de batata, estamos actualmente apuntando hacia una fuente genetica mas amplia. Nuesta estrategia de mejoramiento de batata involucra la inmediata regionalizaci6n de actividades para aprovechar los clones localmente adaptados, en el desarrollo de poblaciones avanzadas para su uso en agroecologfas especfficas y para proporcionar un control 6ptimo de plagas y enfermedades. Anticipamos una estrecha interacci6n con los programas nacionales y el sector privado para definir caracterfsticas deseables.Hemos continuado mejorando el control no qufmico de enfermedades y -plagas. En cuanto a virus de papa hemos puesto enfasis en el control econ6mico por media de tecnicas preventivas. Se han desarrollado tecnicas de detecci6n de virus altamente sensibles, precisas y mucho mas baratas que las anteriores, permitiendo su uso difundido por los SNIA. Este trabajo ha sido especialmente •efectivo para trasmitir rapidamente los avances cientfficos a los asociados, por medio del sistema global de investigaci6n, capacitaci6n e informaci6n. Actualmente estamos evaluando sistematicamente el impacto de este trabajo para XX VIII documentar nuestros logros colaborativos, proporcionando materiales de siembra limpios a los pafses del tercer mundo.El enfoque que le bemos dado a nuestra investigaci6n en tiz6n tardfo es un buen ejemplo de un equilibrio apropiado entre las prioridades a largo y corto plazo. La prioridad de largo plazo es producir lfneas mejoradas con resistencia general ode cam po al bongo causante del tiz6n tardfo. Los resultados de este aii.o demuestran que los avances mas importantes se ban becbo con la ayuda de nuestro esquema internacional de prueba. A corto plazo tambien bemos becbo buenos progresos al combinar resistencia de campo a resistencia a raza especffica, para ser usado inmediatemente por los programas nacionales. Posteriormente estos materiales prodran ser reemplazados por material con resistencia de campo identificado por prueba internacional. En el futuro complementaremos resistencia genetica al tiz6n tardfo con otros componentes de una estrategia de control integrado, tales como control biol6gico, practicas agron6micas, saneamiento y uso oportuno de fungicidas, para prolongar la longevidad de la resistencia de la planta bospedante.Sohre una base mundial, la marcbitez bacteriana de la papa ocupa el segundo lugar despues del tiz6n tardfo en terminos de importancia econ6mica. Hemos becbo progresos rapidos desarrollando resistencia a la marcbitez bacteriana. A largo plazo, esta resistencia sera el soporte principal del control de la marcbitez en las tierras altas y partes bajas tropicales calidas. Por abora, se esta poniendo enfasis en las medidas a .corto plazo y se estan explorando otras tacticas de control en forma mucbo mas amplia (v.gr. el uso de semilla sana y rotaci6n de! cultivo). Un factor clave para el futuro exito en el control de la marcbitez sera el exito reportado este afio en el desarrollo de un equipo de prueba para la detecci6n de Pseudomonas solanacearum.La labor de! CIP en el control de la polilla de! tuberculo, la mas importante plaga de la papa, es ta! vez el ejemplo mas obvio de un avance cientffico importante, el cual necesita abora ser traducido en impacto practico en los campos de los agricultores. Con el tiempo, esperamos que la resistencia genetica, incluyendo aquella de los tricomas glandulares va a constituir uno de los componentes mas importantes de nuestra estrategia de control. Sin embargo, para complementar este enfoque a largo plazo, ahora estamos buscando XXIX desarrollar a corto plaza nn conjunto de medidas de control, incluyendo el uso de agentes biol6gicos tales coma los virus de granulosis y el Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Mucha de este trabajo se va a llevar a cabo en colaboraci6n con instituciones orientadas al desarrollo.Los nematodos son un excelente ejemplo de c6mo el CIP estimula y aglutina a los SNIA y a proyectos tales coma PROINPA en Bolivia, para trabajar en proyectos para los que estos tienen una ventaja comparativa. Esta colaboraci6n en beneficio mutuo va a continuar, lo cual nos va a permitir reorientar algunos de nuestros recursos para atender las necesidades de otros trabajos importantes de investigaci6n.Una de estas necesidades es el control del gorgojo de la batata, la plaga mas importante de este cultivo en el mundo. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que se esta avanzando aceleradamente, tanto en terminos de la identificaci6n de resistencia genetica, coma en la investigaci6n sabre medidas de control complementarias, tales coma el empleo de bongos parasitos que pudieran ser explotados a corto plaza como una alternativa en el manejo integrado de la plaga.A medida que se catalice la adaptaci6n y la adopci6n de nuevos productos de la investigaci6n en el mundo, iremos destacando en forma creciente en el proceso, la integraci6n coordinada de la capacitaci6n y las comunicaciones. En los ejemplos de la polilla y de la marchitez bacteriana de la papa, sefialados anteriormente, los investigadores, capacitadores y comunicadores ya han comenzado a desarrollar tecnologfas especfficas, medias y servicios de informa-ci6n para localidades geograficas especiales.Nuestro trabajo sabre semilla sexual (TPS) es el mejor ejemplo de avance cientffico que debe ser rapidamente traducido en impacto practico en los campos de los agricultores. Como en el pasado, nuestros informes reflejan nuevamente un importante progreso en el trabajo fisiol6gico y el mejoramiento de semilla sexual. Actualmente estamos poniendo mas enfasis para la adopci6n de semilla sexual por los agricultores y existe un considerable potencial para su uso en muchos pafses latinoamericanos. La investigaci6n adicional se va a dedicar a determinar areas potenciales de adopci6n en otros pafses.El desarrollo de procedimientos practicos y precisos para determinar las caracterfsticas de progenies selectas de TPS es uno de los despegues cientfficos que pueden ser de enorme valor para fortalecer el trabajo de desarrollo de semilla sexual. Este trabajo es esencial para asegurar el acceso de los usuarios al real entendimiento de esta modalidad de propagaci6n.En el trabajo de propagaci6n de batata nuestros resultados indican que las tecnicas de multiplicaci6n rapida de papa se pueden adaptar a este cultivo. Este xxx descubrimiento es de enorme importancia, porque la falta de material de siembra de buena calidad es uno de los problemas mas importantes a nivel mundial en el cultivo de la batata.En el manejo de poscosecha, procesamiento y comercializaci6n estamos centrando la mayorfa de las esfuerzos del CIP en batata. La capacitaci6n especffica y las actividades de comunicaci6n sabre las avances cientfficos que se han alcanzado en papa en investigaci6n de poscosecha van a ser capitalizados para usarlos en batata, incluyendo el almacenamiento a luz difusa que se usa para semilla de papa y las metodologfas de almacenamiento usadas para papa de consumo. La mayor prioridad en el trabajo de poscosecha de batata incluye el desarrollo de mejor informaci6n sabre comercializaci6n, procesamiento y almacenaje en las pafses del tercer mundo. Existe muy poca informaci6n sabre t6picos y estudios de esta clase que van a servir de estfmulo para trabajar con mayor amplitud en estas areas.En la investigaci6n sabre poscosecha en batata estamos dando gran prioridad a la transmisi6n horizontal y tranferencia de practicas selectas de procesamiento entre las pafses del tercer mundo. Esto va a involucrar una estrecha colaboraci6n entre el CIP y los cientfficos de las SNIA, particularmente en China y en Filipinas.La mayor parte de la investigaci6n sabre sistemas alimentarios durante este aiio, ha sido en batata y Jos resultados nos han ayudado a identificar las areas de cultivo mas importantes del mundo. Hemos mejorado nuestro marco conceptual de planificaci6n de la investigaci6n par media de estudios que demuestran la existencia de tres importantes sistemas alimentarios asociados con el cultivo: las sistemas intensivo, extensivo y de jardines caseros, par media de las cuales la batata es ampliamente adaptada a muchos ambientes diferentes. Los estudios realizados de las problemas restrictivos han puesto en evidencia la necesidad de desarrollar mercados y usos alternativos de la batata, si es que estos sistemas llegaran a expandir la producci6n. En el futuro, el enfoque que se de a las sistemas alimentarios, sera usado con mayor amplitud en el CIP coma un componente integral de su filosoffa, para ayudarnos a determinar las mejores oportunidades de investigaci6n y desarrollo.Dentro de este enfoque general, nuestra filosoffa de investigaci6n sefiala directamente hacia asuntos mas amplios de desarrollo agricola, tales como sustentabilidad, protecci6n del medio ambiente, equidad y genero. La estrategia de amplia base de nuestro Centro esta especfficamente disefiada para enfrentar estos retos sobre una base global. Nuestra investigaci6n realizada en 1990 ha dado resultados que sefialan la equidad en relaci6n con las necesidades de los agricultores pobres, en ambientes marginales. Estos resultados incluyen clones de papa resistentes a las heladas y la sequfa y cultivares de batata resistentes a la salinidad y el aniego. Nuestra investigaci6n sobre cultivos andinos de rafces y tuberculos proporciona informaci6n importante para acelerar la conservaci6n y desarrolio de estos valiosos cultivos alimenticios de gran altitud. Nuestra tecnologfa y funci6n de capacitaci6n tienen como objetivo directo ayudar a los agricultores de escasos recursos y a los consumidores. Las tecnicas mejoradas de producci6n e infor-maci6n sobre comercializaci6n ayudan a aumentar los rendimientos y la productividad de! agricultor, al mismo tiempo que se reducen los costos de producci6n y de poscosecha y se disminuye el uso de productos qufmicos para el control de plagas y enfermedades. A la vez que, los agricultores expanden sus mercados y aumentan sus ganancias y los consumidores mejoran su dieta y disfrutan de precios mas bajos, nosotros ayudamos a proteger nuestro fragil medio ambiente.Los estudios de! CIP demuestran que la mujer realiza gran parte de! trabajo de cultivo y poscosecha en la producci6n y utilizaci6n de papa y batata en todo el mundo. Por esta raz6n, estamos identificando tecnologfas especialmente utiles para la mujer tanto en el campo como en el hogar. A las mujeres se les alienta a participar en todos los niveles de planificaci6n de proyectos de investigaci6n y generaci6n de tecnologfa, asf como tambien, en la capacitaci6n (como receptoras de la capacitaci6n y como capacitadoras) y en actividades relacionadas con la informaci6n y comunicaci6n.Al mismo tiempo que escribimos esta informaci6n estamos terminando en el CIP un Plan estrategico formal para sefialar las inquietudes a nivel global y de finca en 1990. Confiamos en que nuestra investigaci6n va a continuar jugando un rol vital para mejorar el abastecimiento de papa, batata y otros cultivos de rafces y tuberculos como alimentos en el mundo.Estructura de la flor en especies de lpomoea. S olanum serratoris ha sido identificado como una especie nueva de papa diploide de la serie Tuberosa. Esta especie se hall6 en la provincia de Morona-Pastaza en Ecuador a 2 500 m, en el ambiente calido y hllmedo de las vertientes orientales de los Andes.Las actividades de multiplicaci6n ban puesto enfasis en el enriquecimiento de entradas de especies de papas silvestres que han es,tado insuficientemente representadas en la colecci6n de semilla sexual. Mas de 200 entradas cuentan actualmente con 1 000 a 4 000 semillas cada una. Tambien se ha probado un total de 228 entradas de especies de papa silvestre para PVT y PS1Vd, pat6genos que se trasmiten por la semilla. S6lo se encontraron ocho entradas infectadas con PVT y ninguna mostr6 infecci6n de PS1Vd.Se ha terminado la introducci6n de la colecci6n de germoplasma de papa a cultivo in vitro y s6lo los materiales recien colectados seran introducidos este afio. Un com pleto conjunto duplicado de la colecci6n de papa existe actualmente en Ecuador.Seis hibridos 2x de S. berthaultii ban sido factorialmente apareados como progenitores masculinos con cuatro clones 4x de tuberosum. Veintitres familias 4x x 2x han sido evaluadas conjuntamente con cuatro progenitores 4x y siete familias (intertuberosum) 4x x 4x en tres ambientes en Wisconsin. Comparadas con los progenitores 4x y las familias 4x x 4x, las familias 4x x 2x tienen mayor rendimiento, mayor gravedad especifica, mejor apariencia general del tuberculo, pero un color mas oscuro en hojuelas. Se ban identificado progenitores 2x superiores para color mas claro de hojuelas (Pl006, P133-7, Pl00-1), buena apariencia general del tuberculo (P94-1, P127-3) y precocidad de la planta (Pl00-6, Pl00-1, P133-7).Por prueba de laboratorio se ha confirmado la resistencia a la polilla del tuberculo de papa (PTP) en 39 genotipos diploides derivados de S. sparsipilum. De otros 165 genotipos diploides que involucran S. gourlayi y S. multidissectum con resistencia al NNR y/o PVY, se han seleccionado 20 genotipos con resistencia a la PTP, usando la prueba de almacenamiento durante la estaci6n seca en San Ram6n. De 13 genotipos diploides evaluados para resistencia a la marchitez bacteriana por inoculaci6n con el aislamiento CIP 204 o raza 3, se han seleccionado dos como resistentes y cuatro como moderadamente resistentes. Ademas, se han enc-0ntrado niveles altos de resistencia a la infecci6n de PLRV por afidos en las entradas OCH 13823 y OCH 13824 deS. acaule.Se ban realizado infecciones de plantas completas con A. rhizogenes y cocultivo de hojas y tallos con A. tumti/aciens, con el objeto de obtener plantas transgenicas que contengan genes antibacterianos. Cerca de 400 plantas resistentes a la canamicina GUS positivas se han obtenido utilizando A. rhizogenes; aproximadamente 50 de ellas se obtuvieron con A. tumefaciens. Las plantas con genes de cecropina o atacina unidos a CaMV o WI mostraron una diferencia significativa de resistencia en comparaci6n con las plantas testigos. Altemativas similares se han desarrollado para obtener plantas transgenicas con secuencias de sen ti do contrario para PS1V d.En el caso de la batata, se han obtenido en ocho expediciones de colecci6n en Latinoamerica 343 entradas de 287 localidades en Argentina, Paraguay y Peru. Una nueva especie delpomoea, de las colecciones hechas en afios anteriores ha sido descrita como I. sawyeri. Las actividades de colecci6n en Asia incluyeron dos expediciones en China, donde se han obtenido 64 entradas de Yunnan Occidental y 100 de Guizhou. La caracterizaci6n de los cultivares no peruanos se ha iniciado en colaboraci6n con los SNIA de Ecuador, Republica Dominicana, Jamaica y San Vicente. Duplicados de batata de la colecci6n peruana, determinados en base a comparaciones morfol6gicas han sido verificadas por analisis electroforetico en el CIP. La concordancia entre lo tipificado morfol6gica y electroforeticamente fue casi 100%. En China se han caracterizado 52 entradas de batata por el patr6n de isoenzimas peroxidasas.La colecci6n in vitro de batata ha sido dramaticamente incrementada con la adici6n de nuevas instalaciones en La Molina. Actualmente la colecci6n cuenta con mas de Un proyecto especial financiado por la GTZ se esta concentrando en la conservaci6n de otros cultivos andinos de rafces y tuberculos como la oca (Oxalis tuberosa), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), mashua (Tropaeolum) y arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), que estan en peligro de extinci6n. Existe la evidencia de que en las ultimas decadas ha disminuido la diversidad local del cultivo, debido a las demandas del mercado por un limitado numero de cultivares con ciertas caracterfsticas deseadas por los consumidores urbanos. En el CIP existe una colecci6n internacional de germoplasma in vitro de tuberculos andinos, con 148 entradas, de las cuales 61 son de ulluco, 56 de oca y 31 de mashua. Adicionalmente, en cooperaci6n con el Centro de Investigaci6n de Cultivos Andinos (CICA), de la Universidad del Cuzco, en el Peru, se va a mantener y caracterizar una colecci6n de mas de 700 entradas de tuberculos andinos del sur del Peru. El trabajo de campo ha comenzado, para obtener un mejor conocimiento de la taxonomfa popular del ulluco y la oca en el area del Cuzco. Entrevistas con los agricultores tambien ban revelado los factores que limitan aparentemente la producci6n de tuberculos andinos, especialmente los de periodo largo de cultivo (8 a 10 meses) y la falta de demanda externa.Una de las mayores contribuciones del Plan de Acci6n I para cumplir el mandato del CIP es la conservaci6n de los recursos geneticos de papa, batata y otros cultivos andinos de rafces y tuberculos. La colec-ci6n de estos recursos geneticos ya sea en su nicho ecol6gico natural o en los cam pos de los agricultores, en areas geograficas de gran diversidad genetica es el primer paso para asegurar su conservaci6n ex situ. Los estudios biosistematicos hechos del material colectado no s6lo permiten su cla-sificaci6n taxon6mica, sino tambien el descubrimiento de nuevas especies, ademas de nuevas fuentes de variabilidad.Puesto que todos los cultivos de tuberculos que se conservan en el CIP son de propagaci6n vegetativa, una estrategia sensata para su conservaci6n es identificar y eliminar los duplicados del mismo cultivar que generalmente se encuentran ampliamente diseminados en areas geograficas. La consecuente reducci6n en el numero de entradas a conservarse aumenta las probabilidades de mantenimiento de una mayor porci6n del total de la diversidad genetica presente en un cultivo. La evaluaci6n de recursos geneticos para caracteres que limitan la productividad de estos cultivos y para factores que pueden usarse con el objeto de incrementar su capacidad de producci6n actual, es otro componente de las actividades de in-vestigaci6n en este Plan de Acci6n. El uso de estos materiales selectos en programas de enriquecimiento de germoplasma facilita el trabajo en los programas convencionales de mejoramiento, los cuales generalmente se hacen mas lentos cuando se introducen genes silvestres o primitivos en sus poblaciones avanzadas. Los metodos moleculares modernos que pueden acelerar la transferencia de genes deseables de especies silvestres o primitivas a lfneas avanzadas o cultivares modernos tambien estan en estudio.Una nueva especie diploide de la serie Tuberosa ha sido descrita en 1990 como Solanum serratoris. Esta especie ha sido encontrada en un ambiente calido y humedo de las vertientes orientales de los Andes en la provincia de Morona-Pastaza (2 500 m) en Ecuador.Los estudios biosistematicos dentro de la especie Solanum chomatophilum de la serie taxon6mica Conicibaccata revelaron la existencia de una nueva forma botanica que ha sido llamada S. chomatophilum f.La posici6n taxon6mica de 600 entradas de colecci6n viviente de especies silvestres de papa ha sido revisada durante 1990. Aunque se ha confirmado la po-sici6n taxon6mica de la mayoria de las entradas, algunas de ellas han sido reclasificadas.Manteni.miento. Durante 1990 se ha hecho un esfuerzo especial para multiplicar aquellas entradas de especies silvestres que estan menos representadas en la colec-ci6n de semilla sexual. Mas de 2 000 entradas tienen ahora entre 1 000 y 4 000 semillas cada una.Se ha probado un total de 228 entradas de especies de batata para los pat6genos PVT y PS1V d que se trasmiten por semilla. S6lo se han encontrado ocho entradas infectadas con PVT y ninguna mostr6 in-fecci6n con PS1V d.Se ban obtenido cerca de 3 000 nuevos lotes de semilla sexual en la colecci6n de 6 Plan Icultivares andinos de papa para su almacenamiento a-151°C.Colecci6n in vitro del germoplasmtl de papa. La introducci6n de la colecci6n del germoplasma de papa a cultivo in vitro ha concluido y s6lo se estan introduciendo actualmente materiales recientemente colectados. Una serie duplicada completa de papa, mantenida in vitro se encuentra actualmente en Ecuador. Con el uso de una nueva camara fria en Quito el periodo de almacenamiento se ha extendido a dos afios.Se estan produciendo tuberculillos in vitro para estudiar su potencial como alternativa al almacenamiento por un plazo mediano y evaluar la estabilidad genetica de las caracterfsticas del tuberculo en comparaci6n con los tuberculos producidos in vitro. Capacidad de cruzamie11lo de especies de papa 4x ( 4NBE) con especies 2x (2NBE). Una exitosa hibridaci6n entre papas 4x y S. acaule se obtiene por poliniza-ci6n simulada y rescate del embri6n. Esta tecnica ha sido mejorada mucho mm; eligiendo el mejor momento en er que se puede rescatar el embri6n bajo condiciones 6ptimas de cultivo. Esta tecnica modificada ha tenido tambien mucho exito cuando se ha aplicado a cruzamientos entre papas 4x y S. stoloniferum. Desempefto y estabilidad de clones 4x de los cruzamie11los 4x-2x. En Wisconsin se han evaluado en seis ambientes diferentes, nueve clones provenientes de cruzamientos 4x-2x derivados de hfuridos entre haploides tuberosum y phureja o tarijense. Tres clones 4x, de cruzamientos 4x-2x fueron mas estables y tuvieron un rendimiento similar al cv. Atlantic; algunos incluso fueron de superior gravedad especffica y color de hojuelas.Utilizaci6n de haploides 2x tuberosu,m-luoridos de especies silvestres. Se aparearon factorialmente seis hfbridos 2x masculinos de S. berthaultii con cuatro clones cultivados 4x tuberosum. Se evaluaron 23 familias 4x x 2x conjuntamente con los cuatro progenitores 4x y siete familias 4x x 4x (inter-tuberosum), en tres ambientes en Wisconsin. Comparadas con los progenitores 4x y las familias 4x x 4x, las familias 4x x 2x tuvieron rendimientos mas altos, mayor gravedad especffica, mejor apariencia general del tuberculo, pero color mas oscuro de i10juelas. Los progenitores superiores 2x se identificaron por el color claro de las hoj uelas (Pl00-6, P133-7, Pl00-1); buena apariencia del tuberculo (P94-1, P127-3) y precocidad (Pl00-6, Pl00-1, P133-7).Rendimie11lo y caracteristicas del tuberculo de la progenie 4x provenie11le de cruzamie11los 2x x 2x. Se intercruzaron especies hfuridas 2x haploides, no relacionadas, no selectas que producen 6vulos 2n por segunda divisi6n de restituci6n y polen 2n por primera divisi6n de restitu-ci6n para generar progenies 4x. Se compararon en Wisconsin 19 familias 4x con siete cultivares para rendimiento, apariencia del tuberculo y tuberizaci6n. El rendimiento promedio de familias 4x fue 30% mayor que el de los cultivares. Las mejores cinco familias 4x superaron en rendimiento a los mejores cultivares, por 57% en una localidad y 69% en otra. Los cultivares fueron superiores en apariencia de tuberculo y tuberizaci6n. Los altos rendimientos observados en familias 4x se deben a la diversidad genetica de los progenitores 2x y a la habilidad de trasmitir esa diversidad a la progenie 4x utilizando gametos 2n.Herencia de dos mecanismos de for-maci6n de cigotes 2n en papas 2x. El control genetico de dos mecanismos de Plan I formaci6n de cigotes 2n fue determ~ado en la Universidad de Wisconsin, en hfbridos haploides 2x de especies silvestres de papa. La informaci6n sobre la capacidad de cruzamiento y los analisis cito-16gicos de progenies, generados con este prop6sito indicaron que el control de estos dos mecanismos se realiza cada uno en un solo locus. Las pruebas de alelismo indicaron que dos de los genes mutantes no son alelos. El simple control genetico de la forrp.aci6n de dos cigotes 2n tiene implicaciones significativas en la evoluci6n de poliploides y en el desarrollo de metodos nuevos de mejoramiento de papa.La resistencia a la polilla del tuberculo de papa ha sido confirmada en 39 genotipos diploides derivados de S. sparsipilum. De otros 165 genotipos diploides incluyendo a S. gourlayi y S. multidissectum con resistencia al NNR y/o PVY, se seleccionaron 20 genotipos con resistencia a la PTP, usando durante la estaci6n seca la prueba de almacenamiento en San Ram6n.Se evaluaron genotipos diploides para resistencia a la marchitez bacteriana inoculando el aislamiento CIP 204 de la raza 3. De los 13 genotipos probados, se seleccionaron dos como resistentes y cuatro como moderadamente resistentes. A partir de este material se produjeron 52 familias 4x x 2x con el objeto de probar su trasmisi6n de la resistencia a la marchitez bacteriana. Aunque la mayorfa de las plantulas murieron seis dfas despues de la ino-culaci6n, algunas familias tuvieron una alta tasa de sobrevivencia. Despues de reinocular las plantulas sobrevivientes se seleccionaron cuatro genotipos tetraploides como altamente resistentes.Se han encontrado niveles muy altos de resistencia a la infecci6n del PLRV por medio de afidos en las entradas OCH Uso de especies cultivadas triploides. Se ha obtenido semilla sexual, de cruzamientos 3x x 2x entre seis entradas de S. x chaucha y una de S. x juzepczukii con el diploide lvP 35. Las semillas se van a utilizar para estudiar las barreras ante el uso de especies triploides cultivadas.Duplicacwn de cronwsomas de genotipos Utiles 2x. Se ha intentado duplicar los cromosomas de 30 genotipos diploides con atributos tales como resistencia a la PTP, utilizando tecnicas in vitro y tratamientos con colchicina. El hecho de que s6lo se han obtenido algunos genotipos 4x se debi6 aparentemente no s6lo a la genealogfa de las especies silvestres sino tambien al efecto de endocrfa. Parece que existen algunos factores hereditarios que tienen efecto en la habilidad de regenera-ci6n de los tetraploides resultantes.Uso de genes antiba'cterianos. Las tecnicas de transformaci6n de papa usando A. tumefaciens (LB 4404) y A. rhizogenes (R 1000) han sido mejoradas. Estas variantes de Agrobacterium se han obtenido por medio de un proyecto colaborativo con la Universidad Estatal de Louisiana y contienen un vector binario pBI 121, el cual tiene el promotor del virus del mosaico de la coliflor (CaMV), o un inductor de heridas (WI). Ademas, las construcciones contienen dos marcadores de genes: los genes de la canamicina y de la B-glucuronidasa (GUS). Los genes antibacterianos que incluyen cecropina, lisozima, atacina y shiva con actividad de amplio espectro contra bacterias fitopat6genas han sido incluidas en esta construc-ci6n (Figura 1-1 ).Se han realizado varias infecciones de plantas completas con A. rhizogenes y se han hecho cocultivos de hojas y tallos con A. tumefaciens, con el objeto de obtener plantas transgenicas conteniendo genes antibacterianos. Cerca de 400 plantas resistentes a la canamicina, GUS positivas se obtuvieron con el uso de A. rhiwgenes y aproximadamente 50 plantas con A. tumef aciens. &tas plantas se han tamizado en el invemadero para resistencia a Pseudomonas. Las plantas con genes de cecropina o atacina ligados al CaMV o al WI mostraron una diferencia significativa en resistencia, en comparaci6n con la planta usada como testigo (Tabla 1-1). Los pat6logos consideran un grado de susceptibilidad cercano a 1,5, con respecto a la planta testigo como una buena indicaci6n de in-cremento de la resistencia a Pseudomonas. Se estan realizando mas inoculaciones para caracterizar en forma mas amplia estas plantas.Alternativas similares se han desarrollado para obtener plantas transgenicas con secuencias reversas para el PSTV d. Ci en plantas GUS positivas se estan propagando y estan listas para ser infectadas con PSTV d. Se es ta probando Agrobacterium que contiene el gen de la proteina de la cubierta de un aislamiento australiano de PLRV con genotipos de papa de buena capacidad de regeneraci6n y se han obtenido plantas resistentes a la canamicina.Uso de genes de Bacillus thuringiensis. En contrato con ENEA, Italia, se extirparon inicialmente dos secuencias (280 bp y 2 100 bp) de su plasmido original pHUND, utilizando las enzimas de res-tricci6n Bamlll y Sall, que luego se in-Figura 1-1. Construcciones de genes antibacterlanos lncluldos en A. tumefaciens y A. rhlzogenes.Tabla 1-1. Resultados de la primera inoculaci6n de plantas transgenicas de papa que contiene genes antibacterianos para Pseudomonas (Raza 3, Biovar II). vector (3223bp). Se secuenciaron los extremos 5' y 3' de los genes haciendose identicos en la regi6n ATG y globalmente muy similares a las otras secuencias Bt conocidas. No se encontraron rastros de terminaci6n en la regi6n de codificaci6n.A continuaci6n se extirparon los fragmentos del plasmido pGEM usando di-gesti6n parcial con BamHI y Sacl y se clonaron en un vector (1 lkb) PBI121.1, en el cual se habfa suprimido la regi6n GUS. Los vectores PBI, conteniendo las dos secuencias Bt han sido transferidas por apareamiento triparental a Agrobacterium, usando el variante desarmado LBA 4404 de Agrobacterium y el plasmido auxiliar pRK2013.Se prepararon discos de hojas de papa provenientes de plantas j6venes y se transformaron por infecci6n conAgrobacterium.U so de genes antifungosos de atacina. Por contrato con la Universidad de Tuscia, Italia, \"southern blots\" del ADN extraido del GUS+ (A. tumefaciens 1 ), de plantines y digerido con Hae III se hibridaron con la secuencia ADN atacina, aislada del plas- 10 Plan I mido pCa2Att (proporcionado por el Dr. Jesse Jaynes) y marcada usando el metodo \"multiprime\" (Amsterdam) y dCTP-32p. Una clara sefial de hibridaci6n apareci6 en los fragmentos de ADN de 1,250 bp de las piantulasA. tumefaciens 1 transformadas. Aunque este resultado indica la presencia de ADN atacina complementaria en las piantulasA. tumefaciens 1, se necesitan mayores estudios para asegurarse de que este tipo de ADN es de origen \"extrafio\" (via del variante 1 de A. tumefaciens).Amilisis del polimorfismo en el largo del fragmento de restriccwn (RFLP). El laboratorio de RFLP en el CIP esta casi totalmente operativo. Sin embargo, se necesita mayor desarrollo en el uso eficiente de los is6topos radiactivos asf como tambien en el marcado seguro de las sondas por metodos no radiactivos. Casi 100 muestras de ADN se han preparado en el CIP por medio del trabajo colaborativo con E.U.A., Alemania y Jap6n. Se ha realizado un examen del polimorfismo de RFLP en varios genotipos 2x con resistencias a virus.Ocho expediciones de colecci6n llevadas a cabo en Argentina (1 ), Paraguay (1) y Peru ( 6) han producido 343 entradas de 287 localidades (Tabla 1-2). La expedi-ci6n en Argentina ha comprendido las provincias cercanas al limite con Paraguay y se ha hecho en colaboraci6n con el INT A.  El area explorada esta habitada por tribus de Guaranfes, Tobas y Matacos. En estas comunidades se han obtenido las caracterfsticas de la planta y algunos datos socio-econ6micos al momento de la colecci6n. Datos similares se han obtenido en Paraguay entre las tribus Chulupi y Chiripa, en colaboraci6n con SEAG.Del material colectado en el Departamento de Puno, Peru, se ha descrito una nueva especie de Ipomoea, /. sawyeri.Por contrato con el Centro de Inves-tigaci6n de Batata en Xushou (XSPRC), se han realizado dos expediciones de co-lecci6n en China. En Yunnan Oriental donde todavfa se cultivan en forma intensiva los cultivares locales antiguos, se han colectado 64 entradas en 20 localidades de 4 prefecturas (23-25 latitud N). En Guizhou, donde los cultivares introducidos como Nancy Hally Okinawa 100 estan reemplazando a los cultivares locales, se han colectado 100 entradas en 30 localidades de 5 prefecturas (25-29 latitud N). Mantenimiento. La caracterizaci6n de cultivares no peruanos de batata se ha iniciado en colaboraci6n con los SNIA de Ecuador, Republica Dominicana, Jamaica y San Vicente. Se ha proporcionado capacitaci6n en el uso de claves de des-cripci6n morfol6gica para la identifi-caci6n de duplicados, a cientificos nacionales de estos paises. Se han regis-trado datos para las claves de descripci6n morfol6gica de plantas y hojas. Las caracterfsticas de las raices reservantes deberan ser registradas por los SNIA al momento de la cosecha. Todos los datos obtenidos se van a usar para agrupar entradas similares, las cuales van a ser plantadas en proximidad para comparaciones posteriores.Plan I lpomoea batatas colectada en Cuba. Esta popular batata conocida como Boniato Amarillo es parte de muchos platos tipicos cubanos.Se ha hecho el intento de obtener semilla sexual de 928 cultivares de batata de otros paises que no sean el Peru y que se mantienen en ambient~ de cuarentena en La Molina. Mantenidas en maceta, en condiciones de invemadero fueron.muy pocas las entradas que florecieron durante el verano. Bajo condiciones ambientales naturales s6lo 24 cultivares produjeron unas cuantas flores. De los 173 cultivares de Colombia que se mantuvieron en regimen de dias cortos (9 horas ), por 30 dias, 54 florecieron produciendo alrededor de 2 000 semillas por poliniz.aci6n cruzada. S6lo nueve de estos 54 cultivares colombianos produjeron semillas por autopolinizaci6n.El CIP ha comenzado a incrementar semilla de especies silvestres de lpomoea en la colecci6n de germoplasma de batata. El incremento de la semilla de varias entradas de /. cordatotriloba, I. cynanchif o l ia, I. grandifolia, /. x leucantha, Las semillas de polinizaci6n abierta de 77 entradas, de todas estas especies se han obtenido de plantas creciendo en el cam po en varios lugares del Peru. Sin embargo, /. peruviana e /. tiliacea no florearon en forma profusa en el campo.En China, se mantiene en el cam po yen cultivo in vitro una colecci6n de alrededor de 2 000 entradas. El germoplasma del norte y centro de China se mantiene en Xuzhou, mientras que el del sur se mantiene en Guandong.En India 14 entradas de cultivares locales se colectaron en cuatro areas de cultivo de batata.El compromiso del CIP en la conservaci6n de germoplasma de batata ha requerido la construcci6n de espacio adicional en. la Molina para almacenar los cultivos in vitro. Para evitar los problemas de cuarentena, la transferencia de germoplasma de batata de otros centros afines s6lo puede hacerse en la forma de cultivos in vitro. Actualmente la colecci6n consta de mas de 2 300 entradas incluyendo 1 200 colectadas por el CIP, mas de 900 de la colec-ci6n IITA y alrededor de 200 recibidas del AVRDC.Una ligera sustituci6n de manitol os-m6tico por sorbitol ha prolongado el tiempo entre subcultivos de batata in vitro a un maximo de 18 meses.La colecci6n de batata in vitro ha sido parcialmente duplicada en Venezuela, donde ya ha cumplido un afio en almacenamiento. Se esta preparando un conjunto completo de duplicados in vitro para enviarlos a ese pa:is.En China se mantienen in vitro, bajo condiciones de almacenamjento prolongado, 850 entradas en el Banco Nacional de Genes Vegetales de Beijing. ldentificacion de duplicados. Un gran porcentaje de entradas de cultivares de batata se ha colectado o recibido como donaci6n de m uchas instituciones del Peru. Se ha continuado poniendo enfasis en la identificaci6n de duplicados de estos cultivares. Los duplicados de batata encon trados entre las entradas peruanas usando com paraciones morfol6gicas se han verificado en el CIP por el procedimiento electroforetico desarrollado en el Instituto de Bioqu:imica de Braunschweig de Alemania. Un total de 604 entradas que comprenden 97 grupos de 2 a 43 entradas cada una se han comparado por electroforesis discontinua de poliacrilamida. la relaci6n entre los agrupamientos morfo-16gico y electroforetico ha sido casi de 100%. Una simple diferencia en la pig-mentaci6n de la planta, del peciolo o las nervaduras de la hoja en la cara superior han producido diferencias en una o mas bandas de prote:ina.En China se han caracterizado 52 entradas de batata por su patr6n de isoenzimas de peroxidasa. El patr6n obtenido incluy6 de tres a 11 bandas y todas las entradas se pudieron diferenciar sobre la base del m1mero, distribuci6n, intensidad y ancho de las bandas.Los estudios morfol6gicos preliminares hechos de 14 entradas locales de batata colectada en India, demostraron que podr:ian estar com prendidas en seis cultivares diferentes: Ganwa-red, Ganwa-white, Kali-Satha, Mungia, Nigichara y Bagafa.Evaluaci6n del gennoplasma. En tres lugares de la costa peruana, se han realizado pruebas de campo utilizando cultivares peruanos. La cosecha se realiz6 seis meses despues de la siembra. Se encontr6 que la reacci6n al gorgojo de la batata Euscepes postfasciatus no tenfa correlaci6n con los componentes nutritivos de las rafces reservantes tales como contenido de materia seca, fibra, beta caroteno, azucar y protefna; tampoco se encontr6 correlaci6n entre la reacci6n del gorgojo y las caracterfsticas de la planta en relaci6n al color de la piel y la pulpa de la rafz reservante o el diametro de las plantas.En China se hicieron 2 451 evaluaciones para resistencia a la pudrici6n radicular, pudrici6n del tallo, pudrici6n negra, marchitez bacteriana, nematodo del tallo, gorgojo de la batata y tolerancia a la sequfa y el aniego. Estas evaluaciones han sido hechas con entradas de la colecci6n china por institutos localizados en Beijing, Xushou, Guandong,Sichuan, Nanjing y Fujiang. Se han identificado varias entradas con resistencia o tolerancia a los distintos problemas, las mismas que seran sometidas a mayores pruebas (Tabla 1-3). Distribuci6n de germoplasma. La dis-tribuci6n de materiales de Ipomoea para evaluaci6n o utilizaci6n en el CIP incluyen 6 214 esquejes de tallo de 847 entradas; 3 951 rafces reservantes de 1 037 entradas y 2 055 semillas de 343 entradas.Capacitaci6n en actividades de germopklsma,. Se ha proporcionado ca-pacitaci6n en tecnicas electroforeticas aplicadas a germoplasma de batata a nu eve cientfficos del Peru, Jamaica y Colombia. Este curso fue organizado en colaboraci6n con la Universidad de Con-cepci6n de Chile y el Instituto de Bioqufmica de Braunschweig, Alemania.En anticipaci6n a que en el futuro puede ser necesario explotar algunos genes valiosos de especies silvestres de Ipomoea, para resolver problemas especfficos, se esta continuando con la investigaci6n basica sobre hibridaci6n interespecffica. Existen varios problemas que resolver, barreras en la capacidad de cruzamiento, diferencias de ploidia, fertilidad en los hfbridos y la no formaci6n de rafces reservantes.EvaluaciOn del rendimiento de hihridos interespeci.ficos 4x e I. trifula. Un total de 949 genotipos derivados de cruzamientos entre hfuridos interespecificos 4x (H) e I. trifida (1) se evaluaron en pruebas de la prueba realizada en Canete vari6 de 25,5 a 46,8% con un promedio de 38,3%.Tanto en La Molina como en San Ram6n, muchos clones H tienen una viabilidad de polen muy baja. Los clones HH exhibieron un marcado incremento en el grado de tinci6n del polen, debido probablemente a la eliminaci6n de problemas de apareamiento entre genomes de /. trifula e I. batatas en los clones H, durante la meiosis.Un total de 14 clones HH de los 17 4 evaluados, produjeron polen 2n a frecuencias que variaron entre 0,16 y 5,06%. La producci6n de polen 2n en individuos 4x (4x (2n)) va a permitir la producci6n de genotipos 6x a partir de cruza~ientos 4x x 4x(2n).Produccwn de material luorido cultivado con caracteristicas especificas. Se ban obtenido semillas utilizando 72 progenitores femeninos selectos en policruzamientos para la obtenci6n de caracteres tales coma precocidad, habito compacto de crecimiento, planta muy pubescente, abundante latex, bajo contenido de azucar, alto contenido de beta caroteno y pigmen-taci6n profunda de antocianina en la pulpa de las rafces reservantes.Producci6n de hibridos interespecificos usa.ndo especies silvestres de la seccwn Batatas. Hay actualmente un total de 29 combinaciones hfuridas interespecfficas coma familias de semilla. Estos hfuridos incluyen I. cordatotriloba, I. cynanchifolia, I. ramosissima, I. grandiflora, I. x leucantha, I. tiliaceae, I. trifida, I. triloba e I. tenuissima.Estudios sobre f ormacwn de raices reservantes en especies silvestres de la seccwn Batatas. Se ban hecho estudios preliminares para determinar la formaci6n de rafces reservantes en progenies de 68 entradas de seis especies silvestres de la secci6n Batatas. Aunque s6lo se han ineluido en el estudio algunos genotipos por entrada, se ha observado la formaci6n de raices reservantes gruesas en algunos genotipos de I. cordatotriloba, I. ramosissima e I. tiliaceae. En las otras especies, I. leucantha, I. trifula e I. triloba ningun genotipo produjo rafces de grosor similar.Para desarrollar la tecnica integra de rege-neraci6n de plantas producidas por tecnologia molecular, se esta estudiando el potencial regenerativo de los cultivares Huachano, Ihuanco, Centennial, Morada INTA, Jewel, Malefio, Sunny e Im by. Con el objeto de estimular la organogenesis de 16 Plan I vastagos en los entrenudos, hojas y peciolos de estos cultivares se estan probando diversos medios de cultivo que incluyen varias auxinas citoquininas, giberelina, putrescina y adenina en diferentes concentraciones (Tabla 1-5). Por un proyecto colaborativo con AGC, com pafifa privada Estudios sobre costumbres populares relacionadas con el ulluco y la oca. Se llev6 a cabo un trabajo de campo para llegar al conocimiento de la taxonomfa popular del ulluco y la oca en el area del Cuzco. Los resultados preliminares sobre izoenzimas han confirmado ampliamente la clasificaci6n de cultivares o grupos de cultivares de ulluco hecha por los campesinos y para los que existen terminos especfficos en quechua que se usan co-munmente. Entrevistas con los campesinos tambien han revelado factores que aparentemente limitan la producci6n de tuberculos andinos, por ejemplo, el periodo de cultivo largo (8-10 meses) y la falta de demanda externa. Los informantes mas viejos han confirmado que ha disminuido localmente la diversidad de los cultivos andinos en las ultimas decadas y lo atribuyen a las demandas del mercado por un limitado numero de cultivares con ciertas caracterfsticas deseadas por los consumidores urbanos.Analisis de isoenzima con electro-! oresi.s de gel de almidon. El analisis de isoenzima se us6 para encontrar variaci6n adicional en los materiales geneticos que son morfol6gicamente parecidos. La diversidad genetica en algunos de los cultivos de rafces y tuberculos andinos parece ser muy reducida en comparaci6n con la que se encuentra en papa y batata.La oca tiene una gran diversidad morfologica en terminos de forma y pigmentacion del tuberculo, numero de ojos y distribucion. 18 Plan IDe nueve sistemas enzimaticos probados usando tuberculos de ulluco y oca, se encontraron cinco en ambas especies que dan bandas polim6rficas y suficientemente tefiidas (bufer histidinacitrato, pH 5,7): MDH (malato dehidrogenasa), PGM (fosfoglucomutasa), PGI (fosfoglucoisomerasa), 6-PGDH (fosfoglucodehidrogenasa) y SDH (acido sikimico dehidrogenasa). Se han examinado para determinar estas enzimas 300 entradas de ulluco de Ecuador y Peru, asf como tambien 200 entradas de oca, en toda su amplitud de especies.Los datos obtenidos en ulluco confirman ampliamente la clasificaci6n basada en la morfologfa del tuberculo. Comparando los datos isoenzimaticos con los caracteres del tuberculo se pueden detectar diferencias menores, pero relevantes en la morfologfa del tuberculo. Por lo tanto, los descriptores existentes para la caracteri-zaci6n del tuberculo pueden refinarse. Se ha encontrado una gran duplicidad (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) en algunos genotipos, mientras que otros estan representados s6lo por una o pocas entradas. La cantidad de duplicidad es aproximadamente de 70 a 80%, con un m1mero relativamente pequefio de genotipos que hacen el volumen del material duplicado.La diversidad morfol6gica e isoenzimatica del ulluco en el material de la co-lecci6n peruana parece ser menor que en la colecci6n ecuatoriana. &te hallazgo, sf puede luego ser apoyado por el analisis del material boliviano, estarfa en contradic-ci6n con la creencia general de que la mayor diversidad de estas especies esta localizada en los Andes centrales ( sur del Peru y Bolivia).El analisis de isoenzimas en oca ha sido mas dificil debido a la poca resoluci6n que se ha encontrado en el patr6n de las bandas. Parece que la oca es geneticamente mas variada que lo que esta generalmente aceptado. Los patrones isoenzimaticos com unes en el norte de los Andes es raro en los Andes del sur. Existe tambien una evidencia preliminar de lineas isoenzimaticas en gradientes longitudinales y altitudinales, lo que sugiere la existencia de diferenciaci6n ecotfpica. &ta claro que estos hallazgos, si se confirman posteriormente, seran las bases para una explo-raci6n racional del \"pull\" de genes de la oca.Evaluacwn del contenido de mucilago del ulluco. El mucilago es un constituyente indeseable del ulluco, porque afecta su calidad de consumo. Por lo tanto, se puede usar este contenido altamente variable de mudlago para caracterizar el germoplasma de ulluco. Un metodo analitico para determinar esta variable podrfa ser extremadamente complejo debido a su naturaleza compuesta, por lo que se ha desarrollado un sencillo metodo viscosimetrico para detectar los niveles de mucilago.Pruebas de produccion de semilla en Pakistan .Perfil del Plan: 1991 L os clones YY-7 duplex para inmunidad y 381064.8 ban demostrado ser buenos combinantes, con una alta habilidad combinatoria general (HCG), para rendimiento, precocidad y buenos atributos del tuberculo. &tos se ban seleccionado como progenitores de una poblaci6n de 79 000 ptantulas. escarabajo de la papa de Colorado. El clon E74-7 ha sido seleccionado por poseer un buen potencial de rendimiento, inmunidad al PVY y PVX y resistencia moderada al PLRV, al tiz6n tardio y al nematodo del quiste.En un contrato de investigaci6n con la Universidad de Tacna se han identificado varios clones de papa con tolerancia a la salinidad y van a ser sometidos al proceso de liberaci6n de pat6genos para su distribuci6n regional. Estudios de genetica en la Universidad Fstatal de Carolina del Norte sobre la pudrici6n blanda causada por Erwinia indican que la heredabilidad es de h 2 =0,55.Se han probado poblaciones de batata de diversos orfgenes, bajo condiciones calidas y humedas. Los materiales de Jap6n han demostrado buena adaptaci6n en terminos de rendimiento y contenido de materia seca.Dieciseis clones de batata, mejorados en el CIP han entrado al proceso de limpieza de pat6genos y van a estar listos para su distribuci6n regional a fines de 1991. Estos clones son de rendimientos altos, buen contenido de materia seca y un periodo de cultivo de 4 a 4 1/2 meses.Penl.. En 1990, durante las estaciones de verano e invierno, se han evaluado alrededor de 79 000 plantulas de 665 progenies en 14 experimentos de campo en San Ram6n y la Molina. Esta poblaci6n ha segregado para resistencia a algunas de las enfermedades y estreses mas importantes, como por ejemplo, resistencia al tiz6n temprano, tiz6n tardio, marchitez bacteriana, PLRV, inmunidad al PVY y PVX y tolerancia al calor. El principal objetivo de estas evaluaciones ha sido seleccionar progenitores con alta habilidad combinatoria general (HCG), precocidad y buenas caracteristicas de campo y de tuberculo y para seleccionar progenies con buena adaptaci6n al calor para una posterior eva-luaci6n y utilizaci6n regional. Dieciseis clones han mostrado una alta HCG a por lo menos una caracterfstica. Los clones YY-7 y 381064.8 se han mostrado como buenos combinantes para las tres caracterfsticas (Tabla 2-1 ). las progenies seleccionadas en San Ram6n para ren- 22 Plan II dimiento alto, precocidad y tolerancia al calor se muestran en la Tabla 2-2. El clon Y84.027 ha confirmado este afio su condi-ci6n de progenitor sobresaliente para rendimiento y uniformidad del tuberculo y esta en el proceso de limpieza. Fste clon va a ser distribuido a las regiones del CIP y a los programas nacionales para su utili-zaci6n como progenitor para selecci6n varietal y uso de semilla sexual.Francia.   *\" HCG alta.-HCG muy alta.Las 73 familias de tuberculos se sembraron en el campo en Landerneau, durante la primavera de 1990, para eva-luaci6n de cam po y selecci6n. Las plantas se eliminaron a los 100 dias.despues de la siembra (DDS). A pesar de los dias largos y la ola de calor durante los meses de julio y agosto en Francia, los rendimientos fueron generalmente altos y algunas progenies produjeron mas de 1,5 kg/planta. Las mejores progenies en esta prueba fueron: del CIP, Serrana x LT-7, Serrana x 377888.8, BR63.15 x YY-1, B71.240.   x Korrigane y CGN-69.1 x Korrigane. Al momenta de la cosecha se obtuvieron seis conjuntos de familias de tuberculos, que se van a enviar a cada uno de los siguientes paises: Tunez, Egipto, Turquia y Peru para evaluaci6n y selecci6n. De los dos conj untos restantes uno quedara en Francia para subsecuente evaluaci6n y el otro se m ultiplicara para la distribuci6n regional.En el INRA-Landaemeau, tambien se ha generado una nueva poblaci6n hibrida utilizando como progenitores cultivares franceses y de otros paises europeos  ademas de materiales del CIP. Se ban obtenido aproximadamente 300 combinaciones hfbridas de esta poblaci6n y se van a usar para desarrollar cultivares apropiados a las condiciones del norte de Africa y el Oriente Medio.Kenya. Mas de 190 clones en diferentes estados de selecci6n se ban evaluado para resistencia al tiz6n tardfo y otras caracteristicas agron6micas. En com pa-Plan II raci6n con las variedades locales usadas como testigo, varios clones mostraron buena resistencia al tiz6n tardio y rendimientos altos. Los m ejores clones de estas pruebas fueron: 378711.5, 381381.20,  382136.4, 381378.18 y 387792.1. El analisis de los datos ha demostrado una alta correlaci6n entre la resistencia al tiz6n tardio y el rendimiento. En vista de que esta enfermedad es ta ampliamente disemi-nada en el este de Africa, los materiales con buena resistencia podrian contribuir considerablemente a la sostenibilidad del cultivo.Varias familias de tuberculo se han generado cruzando clones selectos del CIP con cultivares adaptados localmente. Estos materiales se van a tamizar para resistencia al tiz6n tardio y la marchitez bacteriana, tolerancia al calor y cualidades agron6micas.Bangladesh. El Centro de lnvestiga-ci6n de Cultivos de Tuberosas ha lanzado el clon 379666.50 de CIP como una nueva variedad \"Heera\" (Diamond). Esta es la primera variedad de papa lanzada oficialmente en Bangladesh. Otros clones avanzados del CIP se van a lanzar a intervalos regulares.Filipinas. Varios clones selectos y materiales segregantes, en sus formas de progenies de semilla sexual o familias de tuberculo se evaluaron en 1990 en las tierras bajas de Canlubang. Los cultivares Sequoia, Cosima, Katahdin, Atlantic, Red Pontiac y los clones del CIP LT-7 y 378597.1 han tenido consistentemente buenos rendimientos. Los clones LT-7, 7XY.1 y A VRDC 1287.19 han demostrado ser buenos progenitores para semilla sexual.En 1987, se seleccionaron mas de 1 000 clones y cultivares en almacenamiento a luz difusa (ALD), de los cuales, en 1989 se seleccionaron 50 que mostraron buenas cualidades de ALD por un periodo de siete a nueve meses. Usando como progenitores estos clones selectos se obtuvo una poblaci6n de 100 progenies que fue evaluada en cam po para rendimiento, durante el verano de 1990. Se han obtenido familias de tuberculo, las cuales se han almacenado a luz difusa por nueve meses para evaluar su capacidad de almacenamiento.La Tabla 2-3 resume las actividades de mejoramiento durante 1990.Universidad de Cornell. Dos clones ilustran el progreso alcanzado en dos de los programas de mejoramiento de poblaciones bajo este contrato. El clon L235-4 esta en SU septima generaci6n, desde que fuera extraido de la especie S. berthaultii. Dos de los retrocruzamientos se hicieron con S. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum. Este clon tiene los tricomas ti po\" A\" de la especie silvestre, pero no tiene las gotitas en el tricoma ti po \"B\". El clon inmune al PVY y PVX, redujo la densidad de los estados larvales L3 y L4 en mas de 50% cuando se le someti6 a las pruebas de exposici6n al escarabajo de Colorado. El clon L235-4 produjo 1,7 kg/planta y representa un avance importante en el desarrollo de variedades resistentes a insectos. E74-7 es un clon neo-tuberosum obtenido despues de siete generaciones de selecci6n dclica con germoplasma Clones inmunes a los virus Y y X seleccionados como variedades potenciales.Plan II Tabla 2-3. Resumen de los resultados de la evaluaci6n del germoplasma en 1990. . andigena. Es altamente resistente al PVY y PYX, moderadamente resistente al PLRV, tiz6n tardfo y sama y es de alto rendimiento. En dos pruebas de rendimiento ocup6 el primer lugar y el tercero en rendimiento de producto comerciable. 26 Plan IIUniversidad Estala[ de Carolina del Norte. Una muestra de 80 clones adaptados a condiciones de dfa largo se sembraron en un bloque de cruzamiento para generar semillas con el objeto de preservar la poblaci6n. Fstos 80 clones son de gravedad especffica alta, buena resistencia a Alternaria y Erwinia y podrfan tener alguna tolerancia al calor.Durante el inviemo de 1990 se evaluaron todos los clones para presencia o ausencia de PVX, PVY y PLRV. Nose detect6 PVX. En muchos clones se de-tect6 PVY y PLRV, pero algunos estaban libres de los tres virus (la detecci6n se hizo por el metodo de ELISA). Esto indicarfa que en la poblaci6n existe resistencia a algunos virus. Un proyecto de tesis de nivel graduado esta continuando la incor-poraci6n de resistencia al PVY y PVX de esta poblaci6n, la cual ya tiene consigo alta gravedad especffica y resistencias a Alternaria y pudrici6n blanda causada por Erwinia.Estudios preliminares han demostrado que la heredabilidad de resistencia a la pudrici6n blanda causada por Erwinia es h 2 = 0,55. La gravedad especffica ha demostrado tener muy baja correlaci6n con la resistencia a pudrici6n blanda. Se han identificado clones con buena resistencia a la pudrici6n blanda.Vniversidad Nacional de Tacna. Se ha confirmado una alta tolerancia a las sales en clones de papa que han sobrevivido en condiciones de suelo salino e irrigaci6n restringida. Los testigos susceptibles en las mismas condiciones sucum bieron a la salinidad. Los clones (Bzura x LT-7).13, (LT-8 x 378015.16).2, (Bzura x 575049).1, (Bzura x LT-7).2 y (Serrana x Y84011).6, entre otros, se adaptaron particularmente . bien a estas condiciones.Una muestra de 20 clones avanzados, con buenos niveles de tolerancia a la salinidad y condiciones restringidas de irri-gaci6n se utilizaron como progenitores para generar por polinizaci6n masiva, una nueva poblaci6n con adaptaci6n mayor a los suelos salinos. La adaptaci6n a estas condiciones ambientales implica toleran-Coaecha de experlmentos sobre semilla sexual en San Ramon.Plan II cia a la salinidad y toxicidad de boro, asf como tambien a otros estreses minerales tales como la deficiencia de N y Zn.En 1990 se ha continuado con la intro-ducci6n de resistencia al PVY e inmunidad al PVX en poblaciones de semilla sexual con materiales geneticos de zonas tropicales bajas. Ademas se han utilizado fuentes de resistencia al PLRV del contrato de investigaci6n polaco-CIP para resistencia a virus. las progenies se probaron para caracteres agron6micos y reproductivos en diferentes epocas de cultivo en San Ram6n y la Molina. Se identificaron algunas familias eficientes, seleccionandose los clones con buen rendimiento (Tablas 2-4 y 2-5).Los clones NDD 277.2 y Maine-47, excelentes progenitores para semilla se- Kenya. En la Regi6n III del CIP se obtuvieron de clones selectos del CIP 78 hfbridos y 25 progenies de polinizaci6n abierta. La mayoria de estas progenies tienen semillas adecuadas como para poner en marcha pruebas de evaluaci6n de progenies en la sede regional de Kenya y algunos de sus programas nacionales. Tanto las pruebas de evalua-ci6n de progenies como la producci6n de tuberculos de plantulas se encuentra en marcha en Tigoni y Kabete cerca de Nairobi. Muestras de progenies de semilla sexual selecta tambien fueron distri-Batata buidas a los programas nacionales de la Regi6n III.Peru. Una muestra de 80 entradas del una prueba de observaci6n en suelo alugermoplasma peruano ha sido evaluada en vial en Yurimaguas. Al momenta de la Los clones hfbridos de la colecci6n del germoplasma se evaluaron en Tacna, Canete y Yurimaguas, con el objeto de identificar los mejores clones para evaluaciones futuras. Los mejores resultados de estas pruebas se presentan en la Tabla 2-7. Sobre la base de rendimiento y contenido de materia seca s6lo se seleccionaron dos clones de los distintos ambientes de las pruebas. Los resultados confirman la baja frecuencia de clones de la colecci6n de germoplasma peruano que muestra adap-taci6n a condiciones calidas y muy hllmedas. Las Tablas 2-8 y 2-9 presentan promedios por pais de• origen y tipo de material de siembra (plantulas vs. esquejes), del contenido de materia seca y rendimiento fresco obtenidos en varias pruebas en Yurimaguas. Los materiales japoneses tuvieron alto contenido de materia seca y rendimiento. Estos materiales tambien son valiosos porque sus progenies carecen de B-amilasa en sus progenitores. La prueba A VRD/llTA que se presenta en la Tabla 2-9 se ha llevado a cabo en suelos acidos durante la estaci6n lluviosa. Tanto el promedio de peso fresco de raices como la proporci6n de clones selectos ha sido mayor para el material del A VRDC (15,7%), que para el IITA (11,3%). Estos resultados demuestran que los materiales foraneos podrfan proporcionar buenas fuentes de adaptaci6n a condiciones tropicales humedas.Un grupo de 16 clones mejorados de batata se ban sometido a limpieza de pat6genos antes de su distribuci6n regional (Tabla 2-10).Filipinas. La investigaci6n en batata se ha concentrado en la caracterizaci6n de la colecci6n del germoplasma para tolerancias a la sombra y la sequfa, para Tabla 2-7. Rendimiento y contenido de materia seca de entradas selectas del germoplasma (hlbridos del programa de mejoramiento de R. del Carpio), en Canete (C), Tacna (T) y Yurimaguas M  22 (112)  143 (37 a 337)  36,0 (27,7 a 45,4)  OT9005  22 (112)  319  (0 a 843)  30,8 (16,2 a 45,1)  OT9006  22 (112)  244  (0 a 1050)  33,8 (15,6 a 50,5  22 (187)  140 (41 a 221)  31,9 (24,3 a 38,1)  OT9007  22 (187)  504 (0 a 3600)  31,8 (15,7 a 44,2)  OT9008  22 (187)  498 (0 a 1675}  32,8 (16, 7 a 46,3)   llTA  BST9001  8 ( 30)  37 (0 a 80)   23,6  (a 29,7)  OT9007 8 ( 30) 846 (0 a 2417) 28,3 (20,8 a 41,3) OT9008 8 ( 30) 466 (Oa1360} 30,8 (22,4 a 38,7) 8 Los materiales incluidos en esta tabla se evaluaron en la misma prueba de plantulas (BST 9001) y todos se evaluaron en las mismas pruebas clonales (OT 9007 y OT 9008), realizadas simultaneamente en suelos acidos y aluviales, respectivamente.Tabla 2-10. Cultivares selectos de batata programados para liberaci6n de pat6genos y distribuci6n regional.Rendimiento S-F S = con sombra; % de cambio = -x 100 F N020, N003, N053, N052, NOOl, N060, L004, L060, N021, M011, N074, M014, N038, L066, L088, L082, DC-6, Bintung, L091 y N084.Un resumen de la evaluaci6n durante las tres pasadas epocas de cultivo indica comparativamente mayores rendimientos en los clones para tierras bajas que en los de tierras altas. Hubo una reducci6n en rendimiento, m1mero de raices por planta y promedio del peso de raices en la estaci6n lluviosa en comparaci6n con lo que se obtuvo en la estaci6n seca. La informaci6n obtenida en estas evaluaciones sucesivas va a servir de base para la selecci6n clonal. se han tamizado 54 clones para resistencia al nematodo del n6dulo. Las plantas crecieron en macetas con tres repeticiones y a los 20 dfas se inocularon en la base de la planta con 10 000 huevos por maceta. La evaluaci6n de la resistencia se hizo despues de 60 dfas. Se usaron 28 muestras de rafces para determinar la resistencia. Los datos recogidos incluyen numero de nematodos, numero de agallas y cantidad de masas de huevos por muestra. Un total de 10 clones clasificaron como resistentes, los cuales incluyen Bangkas, DC-9, L052 y X-1. Los clones CM-3, D-3, DM-7, Clarfn, L019 y M-1, se mostraron moderadamente resistentes. Otros 74 clones estan en proceso de tamizado.Universidad Estatal de Carolina def Norte. Plantulas de los semilleros de policruzamientos en 1989 se evaluaron para reacci6n al nematodo del n6dulo, calidad de consumo, precocidad y rendimiento.Clon de batata precoz, tolerante al calor. 34 Plan IIActualmente se estan analizando los datos.En 1989 se ha iniciado una poblaci6n de amplia base genetica. En 1990, 974 plantulas que representan a 18 familias de antecedentes geneticos amplios se han sembrado en un bloque de cruzamiento con cuatro repeticiones, para producir la segunda generaci6n de esta poblaci6n. Esta prueba ya ha sido cosechada y se estan extrayendo las semillas.Una muestra de 450 descendientes, provenientes de cruzamientos de 15 progenitores en 1989 han sido evaluados con y sin fertilizaci6n para determinar la heredabilidad de materia seca, nitr6geno no proteico, nitr6geno proteico y nitr6geno total, asf como tambien las correlaciones geneticas entre estos componentes que determinan su calidad como alimento. Las parcelas se cosecharon en octubre pasado y los datos estan en proceso de analisis. Universidad Nacional de Tacna. En este contrato se han tamizado varios clones hibridos provenientes de varios poli-cruzamientos, para determinar tolerancia a la salinidad y a la seguia.Como resultado se han seleccionado cuatro clones tolerantes a la salinidad y esta programado el proceso de limpieza de pat6genos para su futura distribuci6n a las regiones y a los programas nacionales.Cultivar de papa destruido por el tiz6n tardfo, rodeado de cultivares resistentes. Porc6n, Cajamarca, Peru . Programa INIAA.Perfil del Plan: 1991 Plan de Acci6n III L as enfermedades bacterianas y fungosas reducen severamente la productividad y uso de la papa y la batata en los pafses del tercer mundo. El CIP colabora con los SNIA y la industria privada para desarrollar medidas de control contra estas enfermedades, incluyendo la producci6n de cultivares con resistencia durable, derivada del tamizado para resistencia en el germoplasma del CIP. Siguiendo el orden de las prioridades de investigaci6n del CIP, las enfermedades mas importantes son el tiz6n tardfo, la marchitez bacteriana, la pudrici6n blanda, la piema negra y el tiz6n temprano. El tiz6n tardfo es la enfermedad mas perjudicial de la papa en el. mundo. Las poblaciones resistentes nuevas ban sido mejoradas con la inclusi6n de resistencia a los virus de papa Xe Y. La selecci6n para niveles mas altos de resistencia de campo ya se ha iniciado en la Estaci6n Experimental de Santa Catalina en Quito, Ecuador. Cultivares resistentes adicionales se ban seleccionado en Bolivia, Burundi, China, Colombia, Mexico, Filipinas, Ruanda y Uganda como parte de los procedimientos para desarrollo varietal. En la Estaci6n Experimental de Huanuco, Peru, la variedad INIAA-Canchan es el mas reciente de los cultivares del CIP, desarrollado o distribuido cooperativamente, que ha sido seleccionado por el personal de INIAA.La marchitez bacteriana es la enfermedad mas destructiva en climas calidos. Los clones resistentes seleccionados por los programas nacionales en los ultimos cuatro af10s incluyen: BWH-87.66 y BWH-87.446 en el Peru;8009935, 381064.8, 377852.2, 377319.7 y lOA-1, en China y 800212, 800224 y 720118, en Uganda. Estos clones se estan usando como componentes de programas de control integrado.Para producir tuberculos semillas libres de bacterias es necesario tener la habilidad de diagn6stico, para detectar al agente causalPseudomonas solanacearum. La investi-gaci6n biotecnol6gica en Wisconsin ha producido una sonda apropiada para prop6sitos de diagn6stico y se esta desarrollando un equipo para detectar Pseudomonas solanacearum.El progreso reciente en los procedimientos de tamizado para resistencia a la pudrici6n blanda y piema negra causadas por Erwinia incluyen el uso de una variante mas agresiva de bacteria, una escala de evaluaci6n que compensa los escapes y la construcci6n de una camara de incubaci6n mas grande que permite la. prueba de tuberculos de edad fisiol6gica y turgor mas uniformes. Los hfbridos derivados de Solanum brevidens, fuente promisoria nueva que no tiene especificidad en relaci6n con las variantes, han demostrado resistencia a diferentes variantes de Erwinia en el Peru y Escocia.Anticuerpos monoclonales para P. solanacearum y para las subespecies atroseptica y carotovora de Erwinia carotovora se han desarrollado en China para el uso en detecci6n de infecciones latentes en tuberculos y en plantas.Clones con resistencia combinada al tiz6n temprano (Alternaria so Zani) ya los virus Xe Y se han seleccionado en Brasil y Uruguay, en areas donde estos problemas son los factores limitantes mas serios. Tambien se han identificado resistencias combinadas similares en clones seleccionados en San Ram6n, Peru. Algunos de estos cultivares mostraron cualidades mejoradas de rendimiento, precocidad y tolerancia al calor.Un metodo de control con uso minimo de fungicida se ha desarrollado en Ecuador para la roya com un de la papa, la cual es un severo factor limitante en las zonas altas de la regi6n productora mas importante. En el Peru, el programa nacional ha seleccionado una variedad que la recomienda a los agricultores por su resistencia a la rofia, enfermedad muy destructiva en las zonas elevadas frias. El tamizado para resistencia a varios pat6genos habitantes del suelo en Bolivia ha mostrado resultados preliminares alentadores.Por medio de encuestas e investigaci6n realizada en el Peru se han identificado dos pudriciones de poscosecha previamente no identificadas en batata. Una de ellas causada por Aspergillus sp. en el Departamento de Lambayeque y la otra, causada por Pythium sp. en el Departamento de Junin. El tamizado para resistencia a la pudrici6n blanda (Rhizopus stolonifer) en San Ram6n ha dado como resultado la selecci6n de 12 cultivares con una ligera resistencia. En Guandong, China, el tamizado para resistencia a la pudrici6n bacteriana ha permitido seleccionar dos clones que no presentaron infecci6n, mientras que el testigo resistente tuvo una tasa de infecci6n del 5% y el testigo susceptible 100%.Un programa piloto en Kenya ha proporcionado los datos preliminares para un banco de datos computadorizado, basado en encuestas de enfermedades de batata en los paises del tercer mundo. Una encuesta iniciada en Argentina ha revelado perdidas sustanciales causadas por enfermedades en las camas de producci6n de plantines. Las pruebas iniciadas para el control de Fusarium lateritium, pat6geno causante de la distorsi6n clor6tica de la hoja, enfermedad trasmitida por la semilla, han sido concluyentes y la aparente infecci6n sistemica de este hongo parece estar limitada a la semilla sexual.Las enfermedades de la papa se encuentran entre los factores bi6ticos mas importantes que limitan la producci6n. Entre estas, el tiz6n tardfo es la enfer- 38 Plan III medad mas severa porque reduce enormemente los rendimientos a pesar de los fungicidas que se aplican. En las regiones frfas, donde los programas de semilla no son efectivos, la marchitez bacteriana es un serio problema y puede limitar la producci6n y expansi6n del cultivo de la papa en las zonas bajas. Las Erwinias, causantes de la pudrici6n blanda en el campo y el almacen y la piema negra en el cultivo en el campo, son las responsables de perdidas considerables en ciertas condiciones ambientales. Las perdidas debidas al tiz6n temprano estan creciendo en importancia en los lugares donde se controla el tiz6n tardio con fungicidas especfficos y en algunos ambientes relativamente nuevos para la producci6n de papa en las zonas tropicales calidas.Pero. En la Molina, el mejoramiento ha continuado con la poblaci6n A, que contienen genes R. Una poblaci6n de 30 000 plantulas se ha obtenido de 100 familias que se estuvieron tamizando bajo condiciones de cuarentena en Lima, contra la raza mas compleja (\"C\") de Phytophthora infestans (raza l,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11). Aproximadamente el 10% de estas plantulas se trasplantaron a macetas donde se les dej6 crecer hasta alcanzar la madurez.De estos trasplantes, 1 800 plantulas pertenecientes a 75 familias, con uno de sus progenitores resistentes al PVX y PVY, se tamizaron contra estos dos virus. La inmunidad fue confirmada por injerto y la prueba de ELISA proporcion6 informa-ci6n sobre inmunidad y escapes. Los materiales con resistencia combinada se van a usar como progenitores.A comienzos de 1990, la Estaci6n Experimental de Huanuco lanz6 una variedad Hamada INIAA-Cancban. El CIP proporciona cada afio a esta estaci6n materiales de Poblaci6n A; allf se probaron 120 clones nuevos en parcelas de obser-vaci6n de 10 plantas y 16 clones mas avanzados en pruebas repetidas. Como resultados de estas pruebas se ban reportado niveles elevados de resistencia y rendimientos altos con tres clones (85 LB 70.5,380474.6 y 3380474.18) que rinden 1,9 kg/planta. Las pruebas agron6micas de 590 selecciones en Cajamarca, ban dado como resultado la selecci6n de 300 clones, algunos de los cuales se ban probado para calidad de procesamiento. Otros 99 clones de este grupo se ban probado en un disefio latice simple y los resultados demuestran que el potencial de rendimiento de los clones de esta poblaci6n se mantiene aun a niveles de fertilidad bajos y condiciones pobres de suelo (Tabla 3-1). 2,0Plan III La poblaci6n A contiene una amplia gama de variaci6n en la resistencia, debido principalmente a la resistencia horizontal. &to ha sido demostrado cuando se sembraron muestras de esta poblaci6n en campos de Colombia y Ruanda donde se presentan razas complejas del hongo (ver los informes de Colombia y Ruanda mas abajo ). Un ejemplo de los resultado en Rionegro, Colombia se muestran en la Figura 3-1.Para extraer de la Poblaci6n A clones libres de genes R, con niveles altos de resistencia horizontal, se inocularon simultaneamente hojas desprendidas de 300 clones de Grupo VIII, con las razas \"O\" y \"C\". Dos gotas de in6culo a una concentraci6n de 4 000 zoosporas por cm 3 se colocaron en cada hoja del mismo clon para cada raza y se incubaron en un plato de petri. Cinco dfas despues se re-gistr6 la expansi6n de la lesi6n y la espo-rulaci6n. Despues de repetir la prueba tres a cinco veces se identificaron 26 clones libres de genes R. Otros cuatro clones similares se identificaron en los Grupos I y VII. &tos clones se estan intercruzando para producir la Poblaci6n B libre de genes R. &te trabajo debe permitir una nueva estrategia para probar tiz6n tardfo,2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 Tasas \"r\" de infecci6n visible Figura 3-1. Distribucion de valores de la tasa aparente de infeccion \"r\" de clones del grupo IX, probados en el campo en Rionegro, Colombia. 40 Plan III ya que va a ser posible la selecci6n, sin tomar en cuenta la presencia de cualquier raza que pudiera estar presente en una determinada localidad.Se ban desarrollado otras dos fuentes de germoplasma libre de genes R, para complementar a las derivadas de la Po-blaci6n A, con antepasados de Solanum demissum. Estas dos fuentes provienen de cruzamientos entre clones selectos de S. tuberosum subsp. andigena, los cuales estan en su tercer ciclo recombinante y de clones selectos S.t. andigena y S.t. tuberosum que estan en su segundo ciclo. De cada una de estas dos fuentes (80 y 116 familias respectivamente), se van a tamizar 30 000 plantulas en el cam po, en las nuevas instalaciones que tiene el CIP en Quito, Ecuador, para seleccionar niveles altos de resistencia de campo y caracteres agron6micos superiores.Bolivia. Despues de varios afios de pruebas en el CIP yen Colombia, se evaluaron 261 clones en Escalante donde el tiz6n tardio es prevalente. Nose aplicaron fungicidas en las pruebas de donde se seleccionaron 7 4 clones para futuras evaluaciones. Estos clones tuvieron rendimientos promedios entre 0,7 y 3,2 kg/planta y un promedio de lecturas de tiz6n tardio entre 1 y 2,5, ademas de buenas caracteristicas agron6micas. Los cultivares Alpha. (danes) y Huaycha Pacefia (boliviano) demostraron ser susceptibles, mientras que Rosita, Puca Toralapa y Chitaga (Monserrate), fueron resistentes. No se encontraron sfntomas en el follaje de Runa Toralapa o Atzimba.Para seleccionar cultivares resistentes con mejor adaptaci6n a las condiciones locales, se sembraron 10 200 semillas sexuales y se inocularon 5 235 plantulas en el invemadero. Este material provino de 102 familias obtenidas del CIP y de ICA-Colombia. Despues del tamizado se seleccionaron 2 830 plantulas tolerantes que se mantuvieron luego en macetas en el invemadero. Aproximadamente se ban seleccionado al momenta de la cosecha, 1 200 plantas, las cuales estan en el proceso de evaluaci6n.Burundi. Entre los materiales recibidos en 1990, 93 clones de 13 familias tuvieron un buen comportamiento en la estaci6n Gisozi de ISABU. De los materiales probados anteriormente, se ban seleccionado 20 clones como superiores. Las pruebas de cultivares avanzados con cinco clones y cuatro variedades comunmente cultivadas ha demostrado que fa variedad Uganda 11 super6 en rendimiento a los clones. En pruebas comparativas en cuatro localidades con cuatro selecciones, el promedio de rendimiento de los clones 381382.9 y 374080.5 fue mayor que el de Uganda 11, excediendolo por 3,6 y 4,1 t/ha respectivamente. Un tercer clon, BU-85058 cuyo promedio de rendimiento fue de tan solo 0,5 t/ha mas que el de Uganda 11 ( debido a su mayor susceptibilidad al tiz6n tardio ), se va a probar en tierra pantanosa durante la estaci6n seca y en otras areas de poca altitud donde el tiz6n tardio es menos prevalente.China. Las pruebas en finca usando el disefio de bloques completamente al azar, en la provincia de Yunnan ha confirmado los resultados obtenidos en las pruebas de 1987-1989, demostrando la superioridad en rendimiento de los cultivares B-71-240.2 (720088), 1-1085 (676089) y CFK 69.1 (720084) distribuidos por el CIP. El cultivar B- 71-240.2 (720088), fue moderadamente resistente y de maduraci6n mediana, con un rendimiento de 58,5 t/ha en Kunming y 43,0 t/ha en Xundian, en El tizon tardio es la enfermedad mas destructora de la papa en el mundo. com paraci6n con los rendimientos de 29,5 t/ha y 23,8 t/ha del testigo (Mira). Los otros dos cultivares en estas pruebas fueron altamente resistentes, con rendimientos, superiores a 46 t/ha en Kunming.Colombia. Continuando con la cola-boraci6n ICA-CIP para probar progenies generadas en el Peru, la IX prueba anual (Grupo IX) en La Selva, Rionegro, se complet6 con 3 227 de 80 familias (2 061 de las cuales tambien se probaron en Ruanda; ver abajo ). Para proporcionar una prueba severa y uniforme, se us6 para la inoculaci6n la raza mas compleja, aislada del mismo campo. El objetivo fue seleccionar para resistencia horizontal en presencia de genes R desconocidos. Se asegur{> un ambiente favorable para el bongo utilizando riego por aspersi6n, con el objeto de mantener una alta humedad relativa. Despues de 120 dias se seleccionaron 262 (8% ), de los clones de 60  8 AUDPC =Area por debajo de la curva de avance de la enfermedad.bSeleccionado.selecciones de los Grupos I-IX se volveran a probar el pr6ximo afio.Toluca ha hecho selecciones del germoplasma del CIP para resistencia al tiz6n tardio y ha agregado 21 clones a su banco de germoplasma. Cuarenta selecciones adicionales estan en una tercera genera-ci6n clonal y ocho selecciones estan incluidas en cada uno de los ensayos de rendimiento ( 40 plantas x 4 repeticiones) y pruebas regionales (20 plantas por parcela). Los clones del CIP 382143. 17, 380026.12, 382245.20, 381381.9, y 380018.21, ban sido seleccionados en ambas pruebas, indicando considerable potencial para el desarrollo de variedades en un futuro cercano. El clon 380024.6 se esta actualmente replicando en pruebas de rendimiento y esta considerado como excelente por el programa de papa INIFAP.Filipinas. En La Trinidad Benguet (Tabla 3-3), agricultores e investigadores seleccionaron cinco clones de 18 que habfan sido previamente seleccionados.Tabla 3-3. Rendimiento en tuberculos y puntaje de tiz6n tardfo (PTTa) 80 dfas despues de la siembra (DDS) de 5 clones selectos de 18 evaluados en La Trinidad, Benguet, de diciembre 1989 a marzo 1990. Sin embargo, como se muestra en la Tabla 3-5, Sangema, el testigo mas susceptible tuvo un comportamiento precoz y super6 a Cruza 148. Solamente siete clones superaron en rendimiento a Sangema.La adici6n de un lugar para pruebas de campo en Ruanda ha permitido lase-lecci6n de la poblaci6n A del CIP en condiciones de mayor presi6n de razas complejas en Africa, donde existe una gran necesidad de material resistente.Distribuci6n mundial. Los materiales resistentes al tiz6n tardio se ban distribuido a 30 paises durante el afio pasado. La Tabla 3-6 muestra la distribuci6n y selecciones hechas o los materiales criados para pruebas futuras.El mejoramiento y selecci6n para resistencia continuan siendo los metodos a los que se da mayor importancia para el control de la marchitez bacteriana (MB), que es causada por la bacteria Pseudomonas solanacearum. El mejoramiento y tamizado inicial se realizan en las estaciones del CIP en el Peru y luego se hace el tamizado en cam po, en diferentes lugares del Peru, en lugares regionales y por colaboradores de los SNIA. Debido a que Tabla 3-5. Siete clones resistentes de alto rendimiento seleccionados de 214 en una prueba de tiz6n tardfo con 206 clones sembrados en la Estacion Kinigi, Ruanda. Los testigos resistentes son las variedades Sangema (Ruanda), Ndinamagara (Burundi), Perricholi (Peru) y Monserrate (Colombia). Datos del PNAP-Ruanda. Molina. Los materiales avanzados se probaron en Huaraz en campos de agricultores, en colaboraci6n con el Servicio de Investigaci6n en Papa (SEINP A), por cuarta (final) vez. El clon BWH-87.66 ha sido seleccionado como el mas promisorio.El SEINP A ha continuado probando materiales en el Departamento deCajamarca y los clones , previamente seleccionados, han sido multiplicados para pruebas en gran escala. El clon BWH-87.446 ha demostrado niveles altos de resistencia de cam po a la MB. En Chingues Bajo, un total de 6 636, de los cuales 1 007 eran material bien avanzado y 5 629 provenfan de semilla sexual (4 571 tetraploides y 1 058 diploides), se expusieron a una alta presi6n de infec-ci6n. De estos, se seleccionaron 3 806 clones y van a ser distribuidos en diferentes lugares de Cajamarca para futuras evaluaciones.En la Estaci6n Experimental de San Ram6n se probaron clones para resistencia y para presencia de infecci6n latente. Las pruebas incluyeron 31 clones de la serie BWL-87, 172 clones de la serie BWL-88 y 212 de la BWL-89. En el grupo BWL-87 s6lo se seleccionaron dos clones como aparentemente libres de P. solanaceaum; sin embargo, estos mostraron infecci6n latente. En el grupo BWL-88, se seleccionaron 19 clones y s6lo se encontraron dos libres de infec-ci6n latente. En el grupo BWL-89, se seleccionaron 36 clones entre los que se encontraron tres libres de la bacteria.En las instalaciones del CIP en Yurimaguas, se ha usado un nuevo cam po para el tamizado de resistencia a la MB. Actualmente se estan evaluando 274 genotipos seleccionados en los afios anteriores para resistencia a la MB y al calor.En La Molina, la tecnica de tamizado masivo de genotipos de papa, para seleccionar resistencia a P. solanacearum ha sido mejorada (ver Informe Anual del CIP 1990). Las plantas provenientes de esquejes, minituberculos o semilla sexual se trasplantaron a bloques prensados de musgo (Jiffy-7) y se dejaron crecer por cuatro semanas o hasta que el sistema radicular se hubiera desarrollado. Las rafces establecidas se sumergieron en una suspensi6n acuosa de in6culo por 10 segundos. La evaluaci6n se realiz6 despues de 4 dfas de incubaci6n en el invemadero a temperatura de 27 a 32°C. Se sigui6 evaluando cada dos dfas por 14 dfas mas. El desarrollo de los sfntomas estuvo enormemente influenciado por la concen-traci6n de in6culo (5 x 10 5 -1 x 10 8 bacterias/cm\\ los metodos para reproducir las plantas y la edad fisiol6gica de los esquejes. Cuando se usaron rafces lesionadas y mayor concentraci6n de in6culo (1 x 10 8 ), ninguno de los genotipos probados sobrevivi6 mas alla de los 15 dfas. A concentraci6n menor (5 x 10\\ las plantas que no recibieron heridas sobrevivieron por mas de 35 dfas. Las ventajas de esta tecnica sobre otras usadas anteriormente para el tamizado masivo en bandejas incluye 1) reducci6n de la variabilidad, debido a que se elude el contacto entre rafces; 2) facil reinoculaci6n de las plantas que sobreviven y 3) eliminaci6n de las plantas marchitas. Esta tecnica, se puede usar para tamizar plantas que crecen a partir ya sea de semilla, minituberculos (10-20 mm de diametro), ode esquejes.Al colectarse los datos sobre propor-ci6n de enfermedad, a los 9, 11, 13 y 15 dfas despues de la inoculaci6n, considerandose como evaluaciones separadas para los genotipos probados, estos mostraron s6lo ligeras diferencias. La Figura 3-2 m uestra los datos de las evaluaciones a los 7, 9, 11, 13 dfas despues de la ino-culaci6n. Cuando los genotipos se evaluaron por una so la vez con 5 x 10 7 6 1 x 10 8 bacterias/cm 3 , a los 13 dfas (Figura 3-2) y a los 15 dias (Figura 3-3) despues de la inoculaci6n, muchos de los Figura 3-2. Tasa de marchitez bacteriana en tres cultivares inoculados despues de 7, 9, 11y13 dias. Las barras representan el promedio de la tasa de enfermedad de 20 plantas por cultivar, despues de la inoculaci6n con 5 x 10 7 bacteria/ml de un variante virulento de Pseudomonas solanacearum. Escala de severidad de la enfermedad 1-5 (1 =sin sintomas; 5 = planta muerta).6r-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Figura 3-3. Tasa de marchitez bacteriana en tres cultivares inoculados despues de 5 y 15 dias y el calculo del promedio en el tiempo (PT). Las barras representan el promedio de la tasa de enfermedad de 20 plantas despues de la inoculaci6n con 5 x 10 7 bacterias/ml de un variante virulento de Pseudomonas solanacearum. La escala de severidad de la enfermedad igual que en la Figura 3-2.Plan III genotipos parecfan ser susceptibles. Por otro lado, los promedios calculados en las diferentes fechas de evaluaci6n variaron substancialmente de los promedios calculados en el ti em po estipulado (Figura 3-3). De esta manera, para el tamizado en invemadero se recomienda la evaluaci6n y calculo frecuentes del comportamiento promedio de los genotipos, cuando las condiciones son mas favorables para el pat6geno. Este procedimiento es para usarse mas como medida de tolerancia que de resistencia de los genotipos.Una siguiente prueba de campo debera realizarse para evaluar la resistencia bajo condiciones naturales.Brasil. Achat figura nuevamente como la mejor entre 23 variedades evaluadas para resistencia a la MB. Esta es una evidencia convincente despues de afios de probar las poblaciones del CIP, de que el variante de MB encontrado en Brasilia es geneticamente diferente de aquellos para los cuales se ha desarrollado resistencia. Mayor respaldo a esta conclusi6n se da mas abajo en el informe sobre investigaci6n que se realiza en Wisconsin, E.U.Sichuan, se evaluaron 134 clones retenidos el afio anterior, en una cama de almacigo infestada de MB y 44 se probar en una prueba de repetici6n. Sin embargo, debido a que nose cont6 con la cantidad suficiente de semilla s6lo se pudo sembrar una parcela con los 90 clones restantes.En el Instituto para Protecci6n Vegetal CAAS, se examin6 la especificidad de cinco anticuerpos monoclonales (McAb ), usando 36 variantes de P. solanacearum obtenida de 14 hospedantes diferentes de origen geografico diverso. De los cinco, McAb3 y McAb7 tuvieron una fuerte reacci6n con todos los variantes. En pruebas preliminares, usando McAb3 en una prueba de inmunofluorescencia para detectar P. solanacearum asociada con tejido de la planta, McAb3 demostr6 tener un gran potencial para la detecci6n de infecci6n latente en plantas asintomaticas. Las Hneas celulares del hibridoma fueron estables en la secreci6n de anticuerpos monoclonales contra P. solanacearum despues de permanecer cerca de un afio en nitr6geno liquido.Indonesia. Se ban hecho estudios sob re la frecuencia de infecci6n de la variedad Granola con P. solanacearum y Erwinia spp. en 36 campos y en tuberculos semillas, en 20 almacenes de las principales areas productoras de semilla del oeste de Java. En plantas de 65 dfas de edad, el porcentaje promedio de infecci6n con P. solanacearum fue de 26% (en un rango de 10-75%) y el promedio para Erwinia spp. fue de 19% (en un rango de 10-100%). Despues de 120 dfas de almacenamiento la inf ecci6n a los tuberculos por P. solanacearum alcanz6 un promedio de 65% yen Erwinia spp. 60%. Tambien se observ6Fusarium spp. en el 60% de los tuberculos con sintomas causados por P. solanacearum.La semilla importada, considerada libre de P. solanacearum, se cultiv6 en zonas elevadas, para la producci6n de semilla, en cinco campos infestados y se aplic6 selecci6n negativa ( extracci6n de todas las plantas marchitas) o selecci6n positiva (marcado de plantas sanas distantes de las marchitas). El porcentaje de infecci6n de los tuberculos despues de un almacenamiento de 120 dias promedi6 3% para selecci6n positiva, 11 % para se-lecci6n negativa y 23% sin presi6n de selecci6n. Estos resultados sugieren el potencial de selecci6n como parte de un programa de control integrado de enfermedades en las partes altas, que de otra manera producen semilla de mala calidad y diseminan enfermedades en forma amplia.Kenya. En el Laboratorio Nacional Agron6mico de Nairobi se sembraron 40 clones avanzados y cuatro variedades locales (Desiree, Romano, B53 y Kenya Baraka), en un campo con infecci6n natural (raza 3). Siete semanas despues de la siembra 74% de los clones y todas las variedades locales se habfan marchitado y muerto. De los 14 clones que sobrevivieron despues de siete semanas, 1 O clones permanecieron sanos a las 10 semanas. Estos fueron los clones 676103, 385261.8, 755020, 377852.2, 800947, 575Q49, 676028, 382150.16, 382196.2 y 374080.5. Mauricio. En base a un programa orientado a la selecci6n de cultivares para 50 Plan III condiciones de tierra baja tropical con resistencia a P. solanacearum, el CIP ha enviado semilla sexual a Mauricio en 1989 y 1990. Se produjeron familias de tuberculo y se van a cultivar selecciones clonales y familias de tuberculo en 1991. Las familias provenientes de tuberculo se van a tamizar para adaptaci6n y resistencia a la marchitez y al tiz6n tardio.Filipinas. En Mindanao, en colabo-raci6n con el Departamento Filipino de Agricultura se hicieron selecciones para MB en dos pruebas sobre almacigos infestados en Dalwangan (800 m ). Las resultantes 86 selecciones se probaron para rendimiento y susceptibilidad en Intavas (1200 m) durante las estaciones seca y lluviosa). En Dalwangan, el clon (384015.24 x LT-7).4, derivado de cruzamientos locales y el clon 387585.3 estuvieron entre los de mas alto rendimiento y se seleccionaron por su baja susceptibilidad a la MB. En la evaluaci6n de Uganda. Entre los cultivares probados antes de 1989, los genotipos 800212, 800224 y 720118 mostraron una relativa resistencia a los variantes locales de P. solanacearum. Debido a su doble resistencia al tiz6n tardfo y a la MB el don 720118 registr6 el mas alto rendimiento en dos pruebas, en la estaci6n y en dos pruebas en finca. En un programa local de mejoramiento y selecci6n, 13 clones selectos y 307 progenies de tuberculo de 11 familias, mejoradas para resistencia dual a la MB y al tiz6n tardfo se multiplicaron para puebas futuras.Los estudios sobre control integrado de MB han demostrado que el mejor control se obtiene sembrando en terreno piano sin el acostumbrado aporque o si se aporca, esto debe hacerse tempranamente y usando una variedad tolerante.Wisconsin se ha desarrollado una sonda de ADN por hibridaci6n sustractiva para enriquecer las secuencias especificas de ADN de la raza 3. Este procedimiento ha producido un don hom6logo 2 kb con ADN de los 28 variantes probados de la raza 3. S6lo 5 de los 90 variantes no pertenecientes a la raza 3 mostraron homologfa con la sonda. Actualmente se estan estudiando los procedimientos para desarrollar una sonda no radioctiva para su uso en el cam po. Dos regiones grandes del genoma han sido identificadas, las cuales contenfari un minimo de 23 kb de ADN que era especifico para la raza 3. La supresi6n de este ADN no afecta la virulencia. Se ha encontrado que varios de estos fragmentos se encuentran adyacentes a la regi6n 2 kb que se clon6 y por lo tanto pueden ser convenientes para fines de diagn6stico.En estudios taxon6micos orientados a clasificar mejor la bacteria ya desarrollar una estrategia apropiada para mejorar la resistencia, se examin6 la relaci6n filogenetica entre las variantes de P. solanacearum por analisis del polimorfismo en la longitud de los fragmentos de res-tricci6n (RFLP). De las nueve diferentes sondas usadas, siete especifican los factores importantes en patogenicidad. Se analizaron los ADN de 150 variantes, incluyendo muchas de origen australiano, del sureste asiatico y latinoamericano. El analisis mostr6 33 patrones diferentes que se clasificaron en dos divisiones. La divi-si6n I contenfa todos los miembros de la raza 1, biovares (Bv) 3, 4 y 5 (mayormente con origen en el viejo mundo). La divisi6n II contenfa todos los miembros de la raza 1, Bvl y las razas 2 y 3 (mayormente con origen en el nuevo mundo). Se calcularon los coeficientes de similitud y se completaron los analisis de los agregados, como se muestra en la Figura 3-4.Los datos sobre el RFLP apoyan la hip6tesis de que la raza 3 (todos los incluidos en el Bv 2), es endemica de la regi6n andina de Suramerica y constituyen un grupo homogeneo (grupos 26 y 27 en la . Han sido incluidos en los grupos 29 y 33, las 25 variantes del biovar 2 de la colecci6n del CIP. Estas variantes son originarias de la vertiente oriental de los Andes, de lugares cuya altitud vada entre los 150 y 1 500 m. Estas variantes estan estrechamente relacionadas al Bv2 de las regiones altas, pero son claramente distingibles de este grupo. De esta manera, las variantes de zonas bajas que son mayormente pat6genas de la papa introducida, constituyen un agrupamiento natural que puede haberse originado de un antecesor comun que esta ampliamente deseminado entre las plantas nativas de la cuenca del Amazonas. Promedio de distancia (% de semejanza) entre grupos Grupos individuales de RFLP incluyen variantes con 100% de semejanza segun el analisis de RFLP (extremo derecho). La semejanza disminuye a medida que los grupos se juntan (hacia la izquierda en la figura). Las divisiones I y II estan unidas en 13,5% de semejanza. Figura 3-4. Analisis del promedio de vinculacion de 30 grupos RFLP de P. solanacearum.Pero. En La Molina se ban iniciado estudios para mejorar los metodos de tamizado para determinar la resistencia a especies de Erwinia causantes de la pu-drici6n blanda y pierna negra. Para estudiar la virulencia de los aislamientos CIP-004 y CIP-367 de Erwinia chrysanthemi (Ech), bajo condiciones de laboratorio, se inyectaron seis concentraciones de in6culo en 10 tuberculos del cultivar Revoluci6n. Despues de tres dfas de incu-baci6n a 26°C, bajo condiciones anaer6- 52 Plan III bicas, el aislamiento CIP-367 se mostr6 significativamente mas virulento que el CIP-004 en todas las concentraciones de in6culo, desde 1 x 102 hasta 1 x 10 7 bacterias/cm 3 .  Usandose los mismos seis niveles de in6culo sabre los cultivares de papa Desiree y Yungay, se evalu6 el aislamiento 367, con el objeto de determinar su habilidad de producir pierna negra en condiciones de invemadero. Los tuberculos se inocularon con suspensiones bacterianas por infiltraci6n al vacfo y luego se plantaron en macetas conteniendo sueloesteril. La concentraci6n 6ptima para producir pierna negra fue de 1 x 10 7 bacterias/cm 3 . La variedad Yungay fue significativamente mas resistente que Desiree a esta concentraci6n de in6culo.Esquejes de 33 hfbridos provenientes de cruzamientos entre Solanum b revidens x S. phureja-stenotomum y S. brevidens x S. tuberosum, mantenidos in vitro, se evaluaron para determinar resistencia a la pierna negra causada por Ech (6,8 x 10 5 bacterias/cm\\ Cinco hfbridos demostraron ser moderadamente resistentes, 13 susceptibles y 15 altamente susceptibles.El programa de mejoramiento del CIP ha disminuido el trabajo sobre selecci6n para resistencia asf como tambien los estudios sobre heredabilidad de la resistencia a la pudrici6n blanda, debido a la falta de consistencia en la reacci6n de los progenitores a los diferentes metodos de tamizado. Los procedimientos de inocu-laci6n se estan mejorando, porque el uso de variantes menos agresivas de Ech ha dado lugar a muchos escapes, lo que se ha pronunciado aun mas que cuando se usaba el metodo de concentraciones mas bajas de titulaci6n para infectividad. Con el nuevo procedimiento se va a usar una variante mas agresiva y una nueva escala de evaluaci6n para compensar los escapes. Debido a lo pequefio de la camara de incubaci6n se ban hecho tamizados consecutivos, con grupos de tuberculos de mayor edad en terminos crecientes sucesivos y con periodos de almacenamiento hasta de tres meses. Para reducir esta variaci6n se ha construido una camara nebulizadora de incubaci6n, la que va a permitir com pletar el tamizado de una poblaci6n de 2 000 clones en tres semanas.China. La investigaci6n en colabora-ci6n con el lnstituto para la Protecci6n de Cosecha de la variedad INIAA-Canchan en Canchan, Huanuco, por el personal de INIAA del Peru.Plantas-CAAS ha identificado seis lfneas de celula de hibridoma que segregan anticuerpos monoclonales (AcMc), especificos para Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica (Bea) y E. carotovora (Bee). Cinco de los seis AcMc han demostrado una fuerte reaeei6n con 17 variantes de Eca y Bee. Ninguno de los AcMc ha reaeeionado con 13 variantes pertenecientes a otras especies. Estos AcMc pueden jugar un rol importante en la de-teeei6n de infeeei6n latente y en la con-firmaci6n de la presencia de pat6genos bacterianos.Escocia, RU. En colaboraci6n con el Instituto de lnvestigaci6n sobre Cultivos de Dundee se han hecho estudios sobre la resistencia de varios cultivares a la pudri-ci6n causada por Bee, en funci6n a la forma en que el pat6geno se introdujo en el tuberculo, sea este 1) por inoculaci6n mecanica en la corteza, 2) por infiltraci6n al vacfo en las lenticelas y 3) por deposi-ci6n del in6culo sobre un area lesionada de la piel. La incubaci6n se realiz6 usando tres modalidades: al aire con 20°C, en una camara nebulizadora o en nitr6geno a 100% de HR. La resistencia relativa de-mostr6 ser mas afectada por el metodo de inoculaci6n que por las condiciones de incubaci6n. En comparaciones hechas entre un hfbrido de baja resistencia y S. tuberosum x brevidens, el clon hfbrido mantuvo su nivel de resistencia cuando los tuberculos se trataron con pectin liasa (PL), pero el nivel de resistencia fue menor cuando se us6 una mezcla de PL y pectin metil esterasa (PME), proveniente de tomate. El nivel de resistencia parece afectarse cuando las enzimas de Eca no logran degradar los componentes pecticos de la pared celular, debido posiblemente a un alto grado de esterificaci6n metflica. 54 Plan IIIUna prueba de aglutinaci6n, usando un antisuero policlonal contra el serogrupo I de Bea se ha utilizado para la rapida iden-tificaci6n de Bea in vitro y en los tuberculos de papa en pudrici6n. El lfmite mas bajo de sensibilidad de anticuerpos esta entre 10 9 y 10 6 celulas/cm 3 • La falta de especificidad de los anticuerpos monoclonales de Bea, en la prueba de ELISA para Eca, aun despues de la absorci6n con Ecc, se debe a la presencia de un antigeno soluble comun a ambos -Bea y Ecc-y que difunde en los hoyos del microtitulador durante la prueba.Tunez. Evaluando la importancia de las enfermedades causadas por el genera Erwinia, durante las diferentes fases del programa de multiplicaci6n de semilla, se ha observado muy poca infeeei6n, debido probablemente a que la semilla se ha producido durante una campafia de cultivo excepcionalmente seca en Europa. Al igual que lo observado en afios anteriores, las primeras perdidas se han hecho evidentes tanto en la papa para semilla como en la de consumo. Los pat6genos asociados con este complejo fueron Erwinia spp. ( especialmente Ech), Verticillium spp. y Colletotrichum coccodes. Tambien se encontraban presentes especies de nematodos del quiste.Pero. En San Ram6n se evaluaron 403 clones para determinar su resistencia al tiz6n temprano (TTe), causado por Alternaria solani. El 40% de estos clones se tuvo que descartar debido a la infecci6n por PYX y PVY. Se seleccionaron 22 clones por su resistencia a TTe, PYX y PVY, precocidad y tolerancia al calor. Los mejores clones para resistencia, pre-cocidad y rendimiento fueron (XY-4 x Maine 47).63, (XY-10 x BL2.9).61 y (XY-20 x Maine 47).51. Se inocul6 artificialmente una muestra de 72 progenies segregantes para evaluar resistencia al Tie. Las progenies (EB87.002 x YY-2), (84C-32.3 x YY-2) y (84C-32.3 x YY-3), mostraron altos rendimientos, precocidad y resistencia aceptable al Tie. Las progenies (EB87.002 x XY-13) y EB 85.008 x XY-13) fueron resistentes, de maduraci6n tardia y menor rendimiento. En un grupo adicional de 22 clones de segunda generaci6n, que se evaluaron para resistencia al Tie, tres clones se comportaron resistentes y de madura-ci6n precoz (los m1meros 1,7 y 9 de la Tabla 3-7). La investigaci6n para identificar variantes o especies de Alternaria en Lima demostr6 que cuatro especies pueden aislarse de plantas de papa colectadas de diferentes campos:A. dauci, A. alternata, A. tenuissima y A. solani. Todas las especies mencionadas fueron patogenicas al cultivar de papa DT0-33 y al tomate. Los aislamientos de A. solani de San Ram6n y La Molina fueron morfol6gicamente similares, sin embargo, diferian patogenicamente. Los aislamientos de La Molina causaron fuerte defoliaci6n y lesiones necr6ticas en los tallos de plantulas de DT0-33 y numerosas manchas foliares en Solanum chacoense y Capsicum pendulum var. baccatum. EI aislamiento de San Ram6n caus6 clorosis con ligera defo-liaci6n en plantulas de DT0-33 y sfntomas mas suaves en S. chacoense y C. pendulum.Brasil. Las familias enviadas a EMBRAP A como semilla sexual en 1989 y 1990 han sido tamizadas para virus X (generaci6n de 2 tuberculos) y virus Y (generaci6n de 1 tuberculo) y van a ser usadas para pruebas futuras de cam po sobre resistencia al Tie. Las familias generadas en 1988 han sido estudiadas en dos generaciones de tuberculo, la segunda de las cuales se sembr6 para exposici6n a A. solani. Los cultivares usados como testigo fueron Aracy (resistente), Delta (intermedio) y Bintje (susceptible). El campo fue inoculado a los 30 y 38 dfas despues de la siembra (DDS), usando in6culo de hojas infectadas. Las plantas se clasificaron por la incidencia de Tie a los 40, 50, 60 y 70 DDS y el promedio de las cuatro clasificaciones se us6 como puntaje compuesto. Los clones derivados de semilla sexual, recibidos en 1987 se incluyeron para volverlos a probar, al igual que algunos genotipos de interes local y los de la lista de prueba de  En La Molina, los clones de la lista de prueba de pat6genos se continuan evaluando bajo condiciones de invemadero para determinar la resistencia a Verticillium dahliae. Entre los 64 clones Seseni ya babfa sido probado y encontrado resistente en ensayos anteriores. Los clones P4, Ticahuasi, Tomasa Condemayta, Mex 750847, CIPA, Vin1, Mariva, Jatun Huanca y JB-13 ban demostrado su condici6n de moderadamente resistentes en una o dos pruebas previas.Bolivia. En colaboraci6n con PROINPA, se ban evaluado cerca de 22 000 muestras de tuberculos en las regiones productoras de Cochabamba, Chuquisaca y Potosi. Debido a la sequfa (tercer afio consecutivo), la incidencia deSe contim1an hacienda las encuestas, para obtener informaci6n sobre la distribuci6n e importancia de las enfermedades de batata. Esta informaci6n es importante en el Peru para determinar cuales son los pat6genos a usarse en el tamizado para resistencia. El tamizado esta en ejecuci6n en Peru y China.Peru -Encuesta de enfermedades y su incidencia. Las encuestas se ban realizado a la mitad del cultivo y al momenta de la cosecha, en los mismos tres departamentos en que se hicieron el afio anterior (Lima, Loreto y J unfn) y en tres departamentos mas que ban sido encuestados por primera vez: Ancash, Cajamarca y Lambayeque. En los primeros tres departamentos se han encontrado las mismas enfermedades observadas ante-enfermedades que se originan en el suelo fue relativamente baja. En general, los porcentajes promedios de incidencia fueron: verruga 0,22%; rofia 10%; costra negra 82%; tiz6n tardfo 0,19%; pudrici6n blanda por Erwinia 0,15% y pudrici6n seca por Fusarium 0,31 %. Nose encontraron diferencias regionales en incidencia de rofia y de costra negra. La verruga se encontr6 en zonas elevadas de Cochabamba y Potosi, pero no en Chuquisaca. La incidencia de verruga fue la mas alta en Imilla Blanca, mas baja en Waych'a y ausente en Alpha. durante el tiempo de permanencia del producto en el almacen.Por primera vez se ha encontrado Aspergillus sp. en Lambayeque y Pythium sp. en Junfn. Las pruebas de patogenicidad ban demostrado que estos organismos son los agentes causales.Un estudiante de la Universidad de Huancayo ha hecho un seguimiento sobre la incidencia de las enfermedades de batata en San Ram6n, en forma regu- Tamizado para resistencia. Se hizo la evaluaci6n de 25 entradas ( cultivares nativos) de la colecci6n CIP y 45 lfneas de mejoramiento en San Ram6n, con el objeto de determina~ la resistencia al bongo causante de la pudrici6n blanda (Rhizopus stolonifer), que es enormemente prevalente cuando no se realiza el curado apropiado antes de almacenar. Se encontraron cuatro entradas y ocho lfneas ligeramente resistentes con desarrollo fungoso restringido. Las restantes 21 entradas y 37 lfneas fueron susceptibles y el bongo coloniz6 rapidamente las rafces. Las entradas resistentes fueron RCB63-IN, RCB161-IN, RCB2679-H, y DLP-71; las lfneas fueron LM-88075, RCB122-IT, SR-89103, ST-87075, LM-88021, LM-89182, LM-89123 y ST-86006. Se tiene proyecto de hacer mayores evaluaciones para mejorar los niveles de resistencia.Argentina. En el area de San Pedro se ha encontrado Rhizoctonia solani causando cancro del tallo en las camas de propa-gaci6n, con perdidas entre el 1 y 40% de los brotes en el cv. Morada INTAy hasta un 5% en el cv. Bolivar. La pudrici6n del pie causada por Plenodomus destruens causa perdidas hasta de 5%.Kenya. Durante 1990 se ha iniciado en Kenya una encuesta de enfermedades de batata a nivel nacional. Cuatro de los distritos seleccionados ya ban sido encuestados completamente y en otros tres las encuestas estan en marcha. Se ha establecido una base de datos computadorizada. La diagnosis de los especfmenes colectados durante la encuesta esta incompleta y la patogenicidad de los aislamientos todavfa no ha sido establecida.Se ban identificado cuatro manchas foliares y se mencionan en orden de mayor a menor incidencia y dafio: Phomopsis sp. Alternaria sp. Cercospora sp. y Septoria sp. Se ha encontrado una enfermedad mucho mas seria que distorsiona las hojas y mata la planta, con sfntomas que sugieren que el agente causal puede ser Elsinoe batatas, sin embargo, el bongo no ha sido aislado.La fasciaci6n de los vastagos es otra enfermedad de etiologfa desconocida que se esta investigando. Se estan colectando datos sobre la incidencia de una excesiva Plan III vellosidad causada por un acaro, con el objeto de determinar su importancia.China. En 1988~ se han tamizado 170 cultivares de batata (B) para determinar resistencia a la marchitez bacteriana y se ha seleccionado el cv. 1081 como testigo resistente para el tamizado de 181 cultivares en la colecci6n de germoplasma de Guandong en el Instituto de Inves-tigaci6n Agron6mica de Puning. El Instituto esta localizado en una regi6n con alta incidencia de marchitez bacteriana causada por Pseudomonas solanacearum. Dos repeticiones de 20 plantas cada una se inocularon sumergiendo los esquejes en una suspenci6n de la bacteria antes de la siembra y seguidamente se hicieron varias inoculaciones en cam po por medio de infestaciones al suelo. Dos clones mostraron inmunidad (clones 134 y 718), mientras que nueve tuvieron niveles de infecci6n de 2,5 a 20%, bajo condiciones de alta presi6n de in6culo. El testigo resistente acus6 un nivel de infecci6n de 5,0% mientras que en el testigo susceptible N 69, la infecci6n fue de 100%.Resistencia a la Marchitez causada por Fusarium. En un tamizado de 195 cultivares de la colecci6n de germoplasma de batata, se sumergieron 5 esquejes apicales de cada uno en una suspensi6n del hongo Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. batatas por 20 min, con tres repeticiones, despues de lo cual se plantaron individualmente en macetas. Los sfntomas de marchitez se registraron despues de 10 y 15 dias y el cultivar No. 635, con un fndice de enfermedad de 20,0 mostr6 ser el mas resistente. Siete cultivares tuvieron indices entre 24,7 y 41,4: los clones 681, 445, 729, 662, 709, 123 y 33 en orden creciente de fndice de enfermedad. No se encontr6 inmunidad a esta enfermedad, la cual es bastante grave en el sur de China. 60 Plan IIISe va a explorar la posibilidad de aplicar la resistencia desarrollada en los Estados U nidos, con el fin de determinar si es de utilidad en China.Estados Unidos. En la Universidad Estatal de Louisiana, cientfficos colaboradores han encontrado que el agente causal de la distorsi6n clor6tica de la hoja (DCH) es Fusarium lateritium. Los trabajos de aislamiento conjuntamente con microscopia electr6nica de exploraci6n de la superficie de la hoja y observaci6n de material seccionado al microscopio de luz, ban localizado al hongo principalmente sobre y dentro de una sustancia m ucilaginosa depositada en la superficie de los meristemas apicales y en las yemas axilares de la planta de batata y tambien entre las dos mitades de las hojas que aun no se ban abierto. Hasta ahora, el bongo no se ha encontrado intemamente en ninguna parte de la planta, con la posible excepci6n de la semilla sexual por lo tanto, el caracter sistemico de la infecci6n no esta confirmado.Manchas clor6ticas causadas por el virus C-4 de la batata en el hospedante indicador lpomoea setosa.Perfil del Plan: 1991 E l desarrollo de cultivares resistentes es el enfoque mas efectivo para el control a largo plaza, de las enfermedades de la papa. Se ban desarrollado genotipos resistentes al virus del enrollamiento de la hoja de la papa (PLRY). Sin embargo, debido a la complejidad de esta resistencia, la investigaci6n actual pone enfasis en la caracterizaci6n de los componentes individuales de la resistencia, tales como la antixenosis y la antibiosis (factores de resistencia al vector) y la resistencia a la infecci6n y multiplicaci6n del virus. Cuando se haya completado esta caracterizaci6n, los componentes de la resistencia seran facilmente incorporados y la resistencia general al PLRY sera mas estable. Se ha demostrado que el eficaz factor de antixenosis encontrado en el cv. Tomasa Condemayta no es transmisible a la progenie de cruzamientos entre este cultivar y otros genotipos. Otra complicaci6n en el desarrollo de resistencia general durable al PLRY es la enorme variabilidad de la infectividad de aislamientos geograficamente diferentes de PLRY. Esto pone de relieve la necesidad de enfrentar a los cultivares resistentes con un amplio espectro de aislamientos de PLRY. La resistencia a PYX y PVY, factores estos que intervienen en la estabilidad de la resistencia al PLRY esta bien sefialada y actualmente se dispone de varios genotipos inmunes al PYX y PVY. Los genotipos con resistencia combinada a PYX, PVY y PLR Y estan en el proceso de evaluaci6n de cam po en las regiones. En el germoplasma de batata del CIP se ban encontrado 13 entradas con nivel alto de resistencia al SPFMY y muchas otras se encuentran en proceso de evaluaci6n. La estabilidad de esta resistencia tambien se esta estudiando.Algunas enfermedades de probable origen vir6tico todavfa no estan identificadas. A pedido del programa de papa de Bolivia, se ban iniciado los estudios sob re dos virus de papa recientemente observados: saq'O y amarillamientos. Se ha encontrado que estas enfermedades son prevalentes en los campos de agricultores en Bolivia. Similarmente, se ban detectado dos virus no descritos en cultivares de papa de Mexico y Peru.Para batata, una primera prioridad es la identificaci6n, caracterizaci6n y determina-ci6n de la prevalencia de los virus. El virus C-2 ya ha sido identificado y se ha encontrado que tiene una estrecha relaci6n serol6gica al que tentativamente se le ha puesto el nombre de \"virus asintomatico de la batata\", descrito en Jap6n. & un virus alargado (de 759-800 x 12 nm aprox.) y su gama de hospedantes esta restringida a la Fam. Convolvulaceae y Chenopodiaceae. No se ha encontrado vector alguno para este virus que se encuentra ampliamente diseminado en el Peru, Jap6n y China.Plan IV Debido a que la forma econ6mica de controlar los virus se basa en la prevenci6n, se estan mejorando las tecnicas de detecci6n de virus. :&tas incluyen la investigaci6n serol6gica en programas nacibnales para producir semilla con contenido mfnimo de virus, con el objeto de satisfacer los rfgidos requerimientos de los programas de cuarentena. La investigaci6n actualmente esta poniendo enfasis en la reducci6n del costo de estas tecnicas, reemplazando los reactivos costosos al tiempo que se mantienen la sensibilidad y precisi6n. Los equipos DAS-ELISA para la detecci6n de virus se estan produciendo y distribuyendo actualmente en China. Los equipos NCM-ELISA para detecci6n de cuatro virus de batata estan disponibles en la sede central del CIP.Virus X (PVX), Virus Y (PVY) y otros virus de la papa. Un proyecto colaborativo con la Universidad de Helsinki, Finlandia, ha permitido al CIP continuar con la busqueda de resistencia a los virus mas importantes de la papa en especies silvestres. Se ha encontrado resistencia a PVXc, PVXHB, PYS, PV A, TSV y CMV en varias entradas de S. brevidens. Sin embargo, estas son susceptibles a AIMV y PVf. La susceptibilidad al PVM se ha mostrado s6lo cuando S. brevidens ha sido inoculado por injerto con una pua infectada de PYM. Se ban determinado resistencias moqeradas al PVXc, PVXHB y pyyO ademas de un alto nivel de resistencia al PLR Y en S. etuberosum. 64 Plan IVPLRV. En el complejo de resistencia al PLRV, la resistencia al vector es un valioso componente, que podrfa dar como resultado un comportamiento inmune cuando se usa en combinaci6n con otros componentes, tales como la resistencia de un genotipo a la infecci6n del virus o a su multiplicaci6n. Los estudios de resistencia alM. persicae, afido vector del PLRV ban continuado y se ban identificado 18_nuevos clones con cierto grado de antixenosis al M. persicae en los clones de prueba de pat6genos del CIP. Sin embargo, experimentos preliminares ban demostrado que la fuerte antixenosis exhibida por el cultivar peruano Tomasa Condemayta contra M. persicae no se ha transmitido a la progenie de los cruzamientos con otros genotipos. Se necesitan hacer mayores estudios para determinar si es que otras fuentes de antixenosis se comportan de la misma manera.En la busqueda de nuevas y mejores fuentes de resistencia a los virus se ban tamizado 80 clones de la lista de prueba de pat6genos del CIP para buscar resistencia a la infecci6n por el PLRV. S6lo tres de estos clones ban mostrado un nivel aceptable de resistencia. Sin embargo, la prueba cuantitativa de ELISA ha demostrado que 25 de estos clones tienen una baja concentraci6n de PLRV en las plantas infectadas. Esto probablemente se debe a la resistencia que tienen estos clones a la m ultiplicaci6n del virus.En vista de que la variabilidad del virus llega a ser de gran importancia cuando se desarrolla resistencia general al PLRV, se ban becbo experimentos para analizar el comportamiento de aislamientos de PLRV en genotipos resistentes. En experimentos en los que se inocularon 10 aislamientos de PLRV a dos clones desarrollados por el Instituto Escoces de In-vestigaci6n en Cultivos de Escocia, se encontr6 queen los clones 674445 (1) y 674446(1) que tienen resistencia a la mul-tiplicaci6n del virus, su infectividad va-ri6 enormemente entre aislamientos de PLRV de origen geografico diferente (Figura 4-1 ). Los estudios sobre eficacia de trasmisi6n usando dif erentes especies de afidos tambien ban confirmado estos resultados, lo que sugiere que la resistencia  Plan IV genetica de la papa al PLRY depende del aislamiento prevalente en la regi6n. Estos resultados aumentan la necesidad de probar los genotipos resistentes frente a una mayor amplitud de aislamientos geograficamente diferentes para determinar la estabilidad de la resistencia.La resistencia combinada a los virus se esta incorporando gradualmente en los materiales geneticos del CIP. Yeintitres familias se ban tamizado para resistencia combinada a PYX, PVY y PLRY y se ban seleccionado 221 clones con resistencia a estos virus en las familias que se van a evaluar posteriormente.Purificacion y produccion de anlisueros. Los estudios realizados en el CIP estan mejorando mucho mas los metodos de producci6n y eficiencia en la detenci6n de antisueros para virus y bacterias, para los cuales hay una continua y creciente • demanda por parte de los SNIA. Las actividades de investigaci6n se ban concentrado en la eliminaci6n de reacciones no especificas en el antisuero policlonal de PLR Y producido en el CIP, con el objeto de que los SNIA de los pafses del tercer mundo puedan disponer de ellos. Los procedimientos de afinidad cromatografica que se usan en estos experimentos tambien son utiles como paso final para la purificaci6n del PLRY.Tambien se ha producido antisuero especffico para E. carotovora carotovora, E. carotovora atroseptica y E. chrysanthemi, ademas de un equipo NCM-ELISA para detecci6n segura de estas bacterias en muestras de tejido de papa, suelo y agua. Este equipo se esta evaluando en colaboraci6n con los cientfficos de algunos pafses escogidos. 66 Plan IVEn China, por medio de un proyecto colaborativo con la Universidad de Inner Mongolia se han producido anticuerpos monoclonales para PLRY y PYX y estos anticuerpos se ban usado para determinar la variabilidad serol6gica de los aislamientos de PLRV en China. Tambien, por media de este proyecto se ha producido antisuero policlonal para PYX (165 cm 3 ) y PYS (80 cm\\ El CIP continua proporcionando capacitaci6n y gufa en la producci6n de antisueros para virus en varios pafses incluyendo Tailandia y Colombia.Anli-idiotipia. La tecnologfa de antiidiotipfa va a ayudar a los SNIA a producir su propia provisi6n de antisuero, sin tener que purificar el virus. Se han producido anticuerpos anti-idiotfpicos (Ab-3), contra el PLRY y el PYX, pero el antisuero obtenido todavfa m uestra un grado variable de reactividad cruzada con PVY, PYS y las protefnas de la plan ta sana. Se estan hacienda estudios para determinar la naturaleza de las reacciones no especfficas y c6mo eliminarlas. Uso de penicilinasa. La enzima fosfatasa alcalina es uno de los productos qufmicos mas caros que se usan en el procedimiento corriente DAS-ELISA y en un intento de reducir el costo de la prueba, se ha comenzado a buscar sustitutos igualmente eficientes. Se ha probado la enzima penicilinasa y los resultados son similares en sensibilidad a los que se obtienen cuando se usa fosfatasa alcalina para la detecci6n de virus de papa por DAS-ELISA. El cos to por prueba usando penicilinasa es s6lo la decima parte de lo que cuesta cuando se usa fosfatasa alcalina. La penicilinasa-ELISA es una prueba cualitativa y va a ser de facil uso en los laboratorios de los pafses del tercer m undo, don de no se dis pone de Amarlllamiento de la nervadura de la papa en Colombia.espectrofot6metro para hacer pruebas cuantitativas.Distribucion de Los equipos serologicos. El CIP continua promoviendo entre los SNIA el uso de pruebas serol6gicas coma el mejor metodo para detectar virus de papa. En China, el uso de equipos DAS-ELISA producidos_ en la Universidad de Inner Mongolia se ha extendido a las areas productoras de papa de Kunming, Lulian, Zhaotong y Huize de la provincia de Yunnan. Se colectaron alrededor de 5 050 muestras de 119 campos de agricultores y se usaron los equipos para probar las muestras contra cinco diferentes virus. En Yunnan y Sichuan, los virus mas prevalentes son PYS, PYY, PYX y PLRY. Kunming y Weichuan han reportado bajas incidencias de PYX y PVY. En Zhaotong y Huize, el PLR Y fue el principal virus que infect6 papa. Por primera vez se ha detectado el PYM en la parte sureste de China.Los equipos DAS-ELISA y NCM-ELISA producidos en la sede central del CIP y distribuidos a las regiones y programas nacionales ban sido suficientes para probar mas de 900 000 muestras.NASH. La prueba NASH se introdujo al CIP para desarrollar el metodo mas eficiente de detecci6n de viroides y virus. Debido a su mayor sensibilidad y alto costo en comparaci6n con ELISA, esta prueba podria usarse con mayor eficiencia para distribuir germoplasma libre de virus en lugar de usarse para producir semilla con bajo contenido de virus en los programas nacionales de semilla. La investigaci6n del Plan de Acci6n se ha concentrado en mejorar su sensibilidad y facilidad de aplicaci6n, am pliando su espectro de detecci6n del pat6geno y re-ducci6n del costo. Un plasmido recombinante con un fragmento de 151 pares de bases (bp) de longitud del • viroide del enanismo del lupulo (HSYd-cDNA) y un fragmento 220-bp de PSTVd-cDNA ban sido construidos como paso inicial en la obtenci6n de sondas de amplio espectro para detecci6n de viroides de plantas. El Plan IV plasmido hfurido HSVd-PS1Vd cDNA permite la detecci6n simultanea de ambos viroides, asf como tambien detecta al viroide de la exocortis de los cf tricos que es ta relacionado al PS1V d. Las sondas de amplio espectro van a ser una herramienta util para la identificaci6n y detec-ci6n de viroides cuya existencia en batata ha sido reportada por el Dr. R. Sanger en el Instituto Max-Planck de Alemania. Un enfoque similar esta en marcha para desarrollar una sonda que pueda detectar PSTVd y PVT (ambos trasmitidos por la semilla de papa), en una so la prueba, procedimiento que va a reducir en 50% el costo de la aplicaci6n de NASH.Trabajos anteriores en el CIP han introducido exitosamente secuencias cDNA de varios virus en plasmidos vectores apropiados para el uso como sondas moleculares. La importancia de una apropiada selecci6n de la sonda molecular, para detecci6n rutinaria de virus ha sido demostrada, usando dos sondas dife-rentes contra PVX:cp y una variante europea de PVX contra un conjunto grande de aislamientos de PVX en los serotipos PVXA y PVX 0 . Am bas sondas son altamente especfficas a los virus en sus respectivos grupos. Un reciente analisis de secuencia ha revelado que la sonda pX61 es de 1 100 bp de largo y corresponde a la regi6n comprendida entre los nucle6tidos 3 008 y 4 107 del ARN gen6mico PVXcp. La secuencia de ARN del PVX:cp revela diferencias significativas con el ARN ge-n6mico del variante europeo de PVX. Se puede usar una mezcla de sondas durante la hibridaci6n; sin embargo, se estan desarrollando sondas de amplio espectro siguiendo enlaces especfficos de cDNA para cada grupo de PVX. Hasta ahora las sondas han demostrado ser mas confiables que ELISA para detecci6n de PVX, al mismo tiempo que permiten una mejor discriminaci6n sobre las variantes del virus.En China, el uso de NASH para tamizar 27 progenitores de semilla sexual, \"Amarillamientos\" causados por virus que se asemejan a la infecci6n causada por el PMTV en Bolivia. 68 Plan IVindic6 que la mayorfa de ellos estaban infectados con el PSTVd. Los progenitores para semilla, lib res de PSTV d de las variedades y Hneas producidas en la Universidad de Inner Mongolia han sido distribuidos a los Institutos de Papa de Wumeng, Humeng y Bashang para pro-pagaci6n y pruebas de cam po. La intro-ducci6n de Hneas parentales libres del PSTV d a los institutos de papa debera reducir los efectos negativos de la dise-minaci6n de este viroide en China. lde1ltificaci6n y caracterizaci6n de virus de papa y sus vectores. A pesar de que la identificaci6n de los virus de papa ya no es una prioridad del Plan de Acci6n, se continuan estudiando las enfermedades vir6ticas de importancia econ6mica en algunas regiones o pafses, asf como tambien aquellas que tienen implicancia cuarentenaria. A solicitud del programa boliviano de papa se ha iniciado este afio el estudio de dos enfermedades importantes en Bolivia, las cuales son probablemente de origen vir6tico y los agricultores las Haman comunmente \"amarillamientos\" y \"saq'O\". Las plantas del cv. Runa, atacadas de saq'O son clor6ticas y presentan proliferaci6n de yemas axilares debiles. El tamafio de las plantas varfa de acuerdo a la localidad y los tuberculos que producen las plantas enfermas no son comerciales. La prolife-raci6n de rafces es comun y los tuberculos Ba ta ta Resistenda a los Virus El desarrollo de cultivares resistentes a virus puede proporcionar a los agricultores de pafses menos desarrollados un efectivo metodo de control, por lo tanto, que normalmente tienen la pulpa amarilla muestran la pulpa blanquecina y ojos alargados. La incidencia de la enfermedad en los cam pos de los agricultores ha sido de 10 a 30% en la localidad de Pisqo Mayu.Alrededor de 20% de las plantas en los campos de los agricultores mostr6 sfntomas de \"amarillamiento\" y los datos preliminares indican una perdida en el rendimiento de 60 a 70% por efecto de la enfermedad. Aunque esta enfermedad m uestra sfntomas similares al PMTV parece que otros virus estarfan involucrados. Dos virus que no han sido reportados anteriormente y cuyo c6digo es SB23 (partfculas isometricas de contorno esferico) y SB24 (varilla flexuosa), se aislaron de cultivares mexicanos y peruanos respectivamente, los mismos que han sido enviados al CIP para su limpieza. Estos virus estan en el proceso de iden-tificaci6n en la sede central del CIP.La eficiencia de transmisi6n de PVY por afidos diferentes al M. persicae ha sido estudiada bajo condiciones de cam po en Tunez. Se han encontrado otras siete especies de afidos con mas de 10% de eficiencia en la trasmisi6n de este virus. Entre ellos, el que tiene aun mayor eficiencia que el M. persicae, en transmitir PVY en condiciones de campo fue Halopterous pruni.se le da una alta prioridad a la busqueda de resistencia para los virus mas importantes de la batata. De las 13 entradas resistentes de la colecci6n de germoplasma del CIP, evaluadas el afio pasado, dos parecen llevar consigo genes de resis-Plan IV tencia (inmunidad) al SPFMV. En otra evaluaci6n de 103 entradas resistentes en el primer ciclo de inoculaciones, 27 mostraron resistencia al SPFMV y 18 a las infecciones por. SPMMV.ldentijicaci6n y caracterizaci6n de virus de batata. La identificaci6n precisa de los virus causales es un requisito para el control efectivo de las enfermedades vi-r6ticas. En estudios serol6gicos usando anticuerpos monoclonales y policlonales para diferentes variantes del SPFMV, se ha encontrado que la variante C tiene mas determinantes antigenicos en comun con las otras variantes (RC e YV), que otras variantes de SPFMV y los aislamientos peruanos. Se ha producido un antisuero para la variante C con amplio espectro de detecci6n de SPFMV.En China se ha usado la prueba NCM-ELISA para determinar la infecci6n de virus en 400 muestras de batata colectadas en cuatro provincias (Jiangsu, Sichuan, Beijing y Shandong). Se encon-tr6 SPFMV en el 15,2% de las muestras probadas. Los resultados de dos afios de encuestas indican que el 60% de muestras colectadas en China, estaban infectadas por virus, especialmente SPFMV y SPLV. Nose ha detectado SPMMV en China. Los estudios sob re el efecto de los virus en el rendimiento de batata en China han estimado que el uso de material de siembra libre de virus puede aumentar el rendimiento en un 15%.El hecho de que por limitaci6n de facilidades, a veces se siembran papas y batatas en un mismo ambiente de invernadero puede causar infecciones cruzadas inadvertidas. Por esta raz6n la batata se ha tenido que enfrentar a los virus y viroides que se han encontrado en papa en 70 Plan IV afios pasados. En un experimento, algunos cultivares de batata incluyendo el cv. Paramonguino se infectaron con el PSTVd por inoculaci6n mecanica. Un mes despues de la inoculaci6n se pudo detectar PSTVd por la prueba NASH en el cv. Paramonguino yen lpomoea setosa, siendo el cv. Paramonguino el que mostrara una enorme reducci6n en el tamafio de la planta y la producci6n de raices (Figura 4-2). El PSTVd alcanz6 en batata grandes concentraciones en las raices no reservantes, a diferencia de lo que ocurre con infecciones de viroides en otras especies de plantas, donde la concen-traci6n de PSTVd fuera mas alta en las partes apicales de la planta (Figura 4-3). Aunque la batata no ha sido considerada coma hospedante del viroide de la papa, estos resultados indican que algunos cultivares se pueden infectar con PSTVd causando reacciones severas. Similarmente, el PSTVd tambien ha sido encontrado en palto (Persea americana L.), en el Peru, lo que sugiere una mayor amplitud de hospedantes para el PSTVd de la que se conoce. Por lo tanto, existe una gran probabilidad de tener batata infectada con PSTV d si se considera que en muchas regiones se tienen cultivos asociados de papa y batata en campos de palto durante el afio. En la batata que ingresa al sistema de prueba de pat6genos del CIP se incluye la prueba NASH para detecci6n de PSTV d.El virus C-2 reportado anteriormente ha sido encontrado en el 7 ,5 % de entradas del germoplasma del CIP. Tiene partfculas alargadas, flexuosas de c. 750-800 x 12 nm e infecta hospedantes de las fami-1:ias Convolvulaceae y Ch enopodiaceae. En el hospedante /. nil que se usa coma plan ta indicadora se desarrollan manchas clor6ticas y aclareo de nervaduras en la primera y segunda hojas que emergen despues de haberse inoculado mecanicamente los cotiledones. El C-2 s6lo produce aclareo pasajero de las nervaduras en /. setosa, por lo tanto, no es un hospedante recomendable coma indicador. Todavfa no se .ha descubierto vector de este virus. Ya se dispone de antisuero lo que posibilita la detecci6n de C-2 por NCM-ELISA. Usando este antisuero se ha enconlrado el virus en las provincias peruanas de Trujillo y Chiclayo. El virus tambien se ha encontrado en China y Jap6n. En Jap6n se le ha dado el nombre virus asintomatico de la batata. Sin embargo, se esta discutiendo la posibilidad de cambiarle de nombre, puesto que al ser traducido a otros idiomas puede ser confundido con el termino que se usa para sefialar al virus latente de la batata.Otro virus idenlificado ha recibido el c6digo de C-4. Este virus parece tener Plan IV particulas isometricas de c.26 nm de diametro. Causa puntos clor6ticos en la planta indicadora I. setosa (ver foto del Plan de Acci6n). Al C-4 se le' ha encontrado solo o en combinaci6n con el SPFMV en 15 de las 57 entradas probadas del germoplasma del CIP yen el 25% de las plantas que se cultivan en Trujillo y Chiclayo.NCM-ELISA. Debido a que DAS-ELISA ha demostrado ser poco precisa para detectar virus en batata y produce reacciones de trasfondo, se ha desarrollad? el procedimiento de NCM-ELISA. El costo de NCM-ELISA para detecci6n de virus de batata es mas o menos el mismo que para DAS-ELISA en papa. Por esta raz6n ha sido necesario hacer estudios que permitan bajar el costo. En realidad, el costo ha sido reducido sustan- 72 Plan IV cialmente cambiando algunos de los productos qufmicos que se utilizan en la prueba. Uno de ellos es la adici6n de 0,2% de sulfito de sodio como antioxidante al bufer de extracci6n en lugar de 0, 1 M de acido dietilditio carbamico (DIECA). El uso de sulfito de sodio no reduce la sensibilidad de la prueba. Otra modificaci6n que se ha hecho es la de usar Triton X-100 durante la etapa de bloqueo, con el objeto de reducir el color verde de las muestras que se van a probar, lo que de otra manera podrfa interf erir con la interpretaci6n de los resultados. Con el uso de estas nuevas modificaciones se ban desarrollado equipos de pruebas se-rol6gicas para NCM-ELISA que se estan distribuyendo para detectar SPFMV, SPMMV, SPLVy el virus C-2. .. . . ..Perfil del Plan: 1991 E l Plan de Acci6n V ha continuado concentrando sus esfuerzos en la investigaci6n relacionada con la identificaci6n de metodos no qufmicos como componente del control integrado de las principales plagas de papa y batata. En Ecuador se ban seleccionado cinco clones avanzados, G-85043, G-85044, G-85244, G-85101 y 720075 como resistentes al nematodo del quiste de la papa (NQP). Estos clones estan en su estado final de evaluaci6n para su posible lanzamiento como variedades. En el Peru se ban seleccionado varias fuentes de resistencia a las razas P4A, P5A y P6A, tanto en pruebas de campo como en invernadero. Varios materiales avanzados se ban probado en el campo en colaboraci6n con el Instituto Nacional de Investigaci6n Agraria y Agroindustrial (INIAA).En evaluaciones sobre el aspecto econ6mico en dos lugares de Junfn, Peru, las ganancias netas usando el clon 279139.5 que es resistente al tiz6n tardfo fueron de 81,1%contra34,7% obtenidas con el cultivar tradicional. Este clon mas resistente se esta estudiando actualmente en pruebas nacionales. En Bolivia se ban identificado las especies de NQP, Globodera rostochiensis y G. pallida. EI aislamiento fungoso de Trichurus sp. ha sido efectivo para el control biol6gico en el Peru.En las investigaciones sobre el nematodo del n6dulo de la raiz (NNR), realizadas en el Peruse ban seleccionado los clones Line 76 y 381446.3 como moderadamente resistentes y siete clones de la poblaci6n diploide como altamente resistentes. En Burundi se ha seleccionado un clon de la familia 387559 que produjo rendimientos 60% mayores que la variedad Ndinamagara que se cultiva localmente. Se ban identificado tres especies de NNR en este pais: Meloidogyne incognita, M. hapla y M. javanica. En otros trabajos realizados en el Peru se ha encontrado que las rizobacterias promotoras del crecimiento y los extractos radiculares deLonchocarpus ban sido efectivos en el control del NNR. En batata, varios hfbridos 4x obtenidos de cruzamientos de Jpomoea batatas e /. trifida ban sido seleccionados por su alto nivel de resistencia al NNR. Los clones identificados como resistentes en el invernadero tambien se ban comportado como resistentes en condiciones de campo. Para el nematodo de la raiz Ditylenchus destructor se ban seleccionado dos clones como altamente resistentes en Bolivia, donde se han desarrollado metodos de tamizado para detectar resistencia en la colecci6n boliviana y de la cual se ban seleccionado 63 como resistentes. La rotaci6n de cultivos y otras practicas culturales ban sido identificadas para el control del falso nematodo del n6dulo de la rafz (FNNR). En el Peruse han desarrollado varios metodos de extracci6n para facilitar el tamizado y la evaluaci6n de diferentes estados de vida del nematodo. Tambien se ha estudiado la interacci6n de este nematodo con el NQP. La formaci6n de n6dulos se increment6 enormemente cuando el FNNR y el NQP se inocularon juntos, sin embargo, el NQP redujo la producci6n de huevos del FNNR.Se ban identificado en la poblaci6n diploide nuevas fuentes de resistencia a la polilla del tuberculo de la papa (PTP). Estudios electroforeticos de poblaciones de clones de PTP indican que las bandas de proteina de aquellos que se ban criado sobre clones resistentes de papa son diferentes de los que se criaron en cinco clones susceptibles. Estos estudios son importantes para identificar los biotipos de BTP que son capaces de romper la resistencia. En Colombia se seleccionaron nueve clones de progenie proveniente de cruzamientos de S. phureja (cultivar Criolla) y S. berthaultii. Para control biol6gico se identificaron 4 parasitoides: Enytus sp. Copidosoma koehler~ Che/onus phthorimaeae y Cotesia gelechiidivoris. El parasitismo de Enytus sp. sobre la PTP alcanz6 el 60% sobre plantas espontaneas de papa. En papas cultivadas, el parasitismo debido a C. gelechiidivoris y Enytus sp. alcanz6 52%. El parasitoide C. koehleri ha sido introducido del Peru a la India y Tunez para su uso en control biol6gico. Otros agentes probados incluyen el uso del virus de la granulosis (VG) y del Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), los cuales ban dado resultados efectivos en pruebas realizadas en Peru, Tunez y Egipto. Se ha identificado una variante local del BG.En el Peru se prob6 un programa de control integrado para el gorgojo andino de la papa, Premnotrypes spp. en Cuzco, donde el bongo Beauveria brogniartii y el cultivo de barrera Lupinus mutabilis lo controlaron en form a efectiva. Las progenies desarrolladas de tricoma glandular mostraron resistencia multiple a la PTP, al afido verde Myzus persicae, a la arafiita roja Tetranychus urticae, al acaro blanco Polyphagotarsonemus latus ya la mosca minadoraLiriomyza huidobrensis. Cada una de estas plagas contribuye a la perdida sustancial de la producci6n de papa en los paises del tercer mundo.La investigaci6n sabre el manejo del gorgojo de la batata (GB) se ha concentrado en la identificaci6n de la resistencia y en investigar el potencial del control biol6gico.En el Peru se ban seleccionado tres clones con buenas posibilidades y tambien se ban desarrollado pruebas de campo para controlar la infestaci6n. El bongo Beauveria bassiana ha sido efectivo en el control cuando se aplic6 en el momenta del aporque. Se ha estudiado la biologia del parasitoide Eurydinoteloides sp. En Filipinas se ban aislado 10 variantes de Bt a partir de gorgojos infectados y actualmente se estan hacienda las investigaciones para usarlas en el control biol6gico de esta plaga. Una variante local del bongo B. bassiana control6 la plaga en forma efectiva bajo condiciones de invernadero. En otros estudios realizados en las regiones se ha comprobado la manera efectiva en que actuan las trampas de feromonas para el seguimiento de esta plaga. Estudios de identificaci6n del biotipo por medio de tecnicas cito16gicas y electroforeticas ban demostrado que no existen diferencias en los patrones cromo-s6micos del gorgojo de la batata (GB) colectado en dos regiones del pais. Las variedades Sinksuk y Miracle han sido identificadas como las que sufren menores dafios por efecto del GB. Varias pruebas en finca han demostrado que el uso de material de siembra libre de infecci6n es efectivo para reducir las poblaciones de gorgojos. En China se seleccion6 la entrada ZSl por tener caracterfsticas promisorias de resistencia. 76 Plan VEn India la feromona del GB ha sido sintetizada utilizando materiales localmente disponibles. En la regi6n del Caribe se ban identificado dos especies de GB, E. postfasciatus y Cylas formicarius como las plagas mas importantes. resistencia a las tres razas, usando el metodo del vaso de plastico. De estos, 50% se mostraron resistentes a la raza P4A, 39% a la P5A y 50% a la P6A. Estos clones se estan usando actualmente. en el mejoramiento para resistencia a las tres razas del NQP. La prueba en plato petri se ha usado para reconfirmar la resistencia de 48 clones que se seleccionaron en condiciones deinvemadero. De estos clones, el 90% se ha comportado como resistente a las razas P4A y P5A. Tambien se ha probado un total de 270 clones de la Universidad de Cornell, EE.UU. Alrededor de 50% de estos se han seleccionado para resistencia a las razas P4A y P5A. Se han probado los clones de papa mantenidos como material avanzado para la prueba de pat6genos y se han identificado 20 clones resistentes a P4A y P5A. De las 121 selecciones clonales hechas a principios de este afio y tamizadas para las tres razas importantes del NQP, se identificaron 65 como resistentes al P6A y 49 mostraron resistencia combinada a las tres razas. En el Peru se pro- rendimiento y la tasa de multiplicaci6n de la raza P4A en cuatro clones avanzados tolerantes, probados en dos localidades en Junfn. La evaluaci6n econ6mica del clon avanzado 279139.5 que es •resistente al NQP y al tiz6n tardfo ha demostrado que la ganancia neta cuando se us6 este cultivar fue de 81,1%contra34,7% al usar el cultivar tradicional. Para calcular estos datos se ha utilizado un analisis de costobeneficio. Este clon se esta probando actualmente en ensayos nacionales antes de su posible lanzamiento como una nueva variedad en el Peru.En Bolivia se ha constatado que el NQP se encuentra ampliamente distri-buido. En la mayorfa de los casos se han identificado ambas especies: Globodera rostochiensis y G. pallida.Cuatro aislamientos de bongos, seleccionados en el laboratorio se han probado en cam po en Cajamarca, Peru. El bongo Trichurus sp. fue el mas efectivo cuando se aplic6 en el surco a una dosis de 10 g de arroz cocido mas hongo por planta. La reproducci6n del nematodo en este tratamiento se ha reducido significativamente (Pf/Pi para la especie Trichurus sp. fue de 1,2 frente a 15,5 para el testigo).La investigaci6n sobre manejo del NNR concentrada en Peru y Burundi, pone enfasis en la utilizaci6n de resistencia y el estudio de los efectos de la Rhizobacteria promotora de crecimiento de la planta (RPCP) de la especie vegetal Lonchocarpus sp.Tarnizado para Resistencia al NNR y su Utilizaci6n en Papa Un total de 85 clones de la lista de prueba de pat6genos en el CIP ha sido evaluado para resistencia. Los clones Line 76 y 381446.3 se mostraron moderadamente resistentes. Dentro de la poblaci6n diploide se evaluaron 163 clones, de los cuales se ban seleccionado 7 como altamente resistentes. Estas nuevas fuentes de resistencia ya pueden usarse para ampliar la base genetica. En otras pruebas se ban evaluado mas de 16 000 plantulas representantes de genotipos tetraploides de 34 progenies desarrolladas de cruzamientos entre material seleccionado resistente al NNR y marchitez bacteriana, con adaptaci6n al calor e inmunidad a los virus X e Y. De esta poblaci6n se ban seleccionado 371 genotipos resistentes y algunos se van a probar bajo condiciones de campo. En Burundi se ban seleccionado siete clones a partir de tres familias: dos clones provienen de la familia 387551, cuatro de 387568 y uno de 387559. El rendimiento del clon 387559 fue 60% mayor que el de la variedad Ndinamagara que se_ cultiva localmente. Este clon resistente esta actualmente en proceso de m ultiplicaci6n para pruebas multilocales. Por lo menos se ban identificado tres especies de NNR en suelos infestados: Meloidogyne incognita, M. hap/a y M. javanica.Efecto de la Rhizobacteria y Lonchocarpus sp. sobre el NNR Cuando se probaron 50 aislamientos de la Rbizobacteria promotora de crecimiento de la plan ta (RPCP), para el control de M. incognita en plantas de papa y tomate, los resultadqs mostraron un incremento del peso del follaje, de los pesos seco y fresco 80 Plan Vde las raices de ambos cultivos cuando se agreg6 la RPCP a las macetas al momento de la siembra. La presencia de aislamientos de la RPCP redujo por lo menos en 50%, el fndice de agallamiento de las rafces por el NNR en plantas de tomate en com paraci6n con el testigo. Algunos de estos mismos aislamientos redujeron el fndice de agallamiento de rafces de papa hasta en 100%. Sin embargo, en general, el aislamiento de la RPCP control6 M. incognita en tomate en forma mas efectiva que en papa. Los resultados obtenidos en el sentido de que las plantas de papa y tomate inoculadas con este nematodo crecieron mejor que las no inoculadas, sugiere la utilidad que pueden proporcionar estos aislamientos de la RPCP en areas severamente infestadas porelNNR.Las especies vegetales Lonchocarpus nicou, L. urucu y L. utilis ban sido estudiadas para determinar sus efectos sobre el NNR, utilizando rafces secas molidas aplicadas al suelo como enmienda. El fndice de agallamiento de la rafz generalmente disminuy6 a medida que se aumen-t6 la enmienda al suelo (de 3 a 9 g por maceta de 500 cm\\ pero las diferencias no fueron significativas. En una prueba separada, se aplic6 al suelo una suspen-si6n obtenida por remojo en agua de las raices molidas. Este fue un tratamiento efectivo. De esta manera, estas tres plantas que son comunes en muchos pa:fses tropicales pueden ser utiles para el control deNNR.Se encuentran en proceso de analisis, 15 poblaciones de Nacobbus aberrans colectadas en Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru y Estados Unidos, con el objeto de identificar cualquier raza fisio-16gica en esta especie. Los esfuerzos de la investigaci6n se ban concentrado en Peru y Bolivia, para desarrollar un metodo confiable de detecci6n de este nematodo en muestras de suelo. En Bolivia, la prueba estandar de bioensayo se ha mejorado por pretratamiento de las muestras de suelo, usando para la prueba un recipiente cerrado trasparente a 20°C. Los n6dulos de las rafces causados por este nematodo se pueden observar a traves del recipiente 50 dfas despues de la siembra. A la fecha, se ban tamizado 660 clones de la colecci6n boliviana de papa y se ban seleccionado 63 como resistentes. Los estudios sobre rotaci6n de cultivos ban demostrado que las poblaciones del FNNR se redujeron con el uso de Vicia villosa y Chrysanthemum cinerarealifolium durante una campafia de cultivo. El control de malezas y el barbecho tambien fueron efectivos. Se continuaron los estudios sobre dinamica de poblaciones, distribuci6n, amplitud de hospedantes y diseminaci6n del nematodo.En el desarrollo de metodos de control no qufmicos para la estrategia de un manejo de control integrado de plagas (MIP), la investigaci6n ha puesto enfasis en la utili-Se estan haciendo en el Peru estudios de los metodos de extracci6n y de las fuentes de in6culo para la reproducci6n del nematodo. El uso de hipoclorito de sodio seguido por una centrifugaci6n de azucar ha constituido un metodo efectivo para la extracci6n de huevos de las rafces. El metodo de la bandeja ha sido efectivo para la extracci6n de juveniles. I.a mezcla de fragmentos de rafces a gran velocidad por dos a tres minutos ha dado buenos resultados para la extracci6n de adultos vermiformes y hembras de las rafces.El suelo infestado promovi6 la repro-ducci6n del nematodo. En los estudios de interacci6n entre el NNR y el FNNR bubo un incremento significativo en la for-maci6n de n6dulos cuando se inocularon ambos nematodos simultaneamente o cuando en FNNR se inocul6 siete dfas antes que el NNR. El NNR tuvo un efecto a<lverso sobre la producci6n de huevos del FNNR pero este no tuvo ningun efecto sobre la poblaci6n del NNR. zaci6n de la resistencia a la planta hospedante y el control biol6gico de las principales plagas de insectos y acaros de los pafses del tercer mundo.Tarnizado para Resistencia En el Peruse ban estudiado 319 clones de una poblaci6n diploide para identificar la resistencia del tuberculo a la PTP. Los clones promisorios identificados en la prueba de laboratorio incluyen: KW PTM 102,.8 y KW PTM 24. En las pruebas en almacen se seleccionaron cinco clones: 87HW 2-5, 87HW 5-9, 87HW 8-2, 87HW 8-19 y 87HW 11-12.Los estudios electroforeticos sobre poblaciones de PTP criadas en el clon resistente P82144.5 y el cultivar susceptible Desiree ban mostrado una diferencia clara en las bandas de protefna. La banda de protefna de la PTP en el cultivar Desiree fue de alto peso molecular. Se estan hacienda estudios adicionales de estas poblaciones con el objeto de determinar posibles biotipos.En Colombia, se evaluaron y se seleccionaron nueve clones de progenies derivadas de cruzamientos de S. phureja (cultivar Criolla) y S. berthaultii, PI 473331.7. Estos clones se van a retrocruzar con el cultivar Criolla para mejorar su resistencia. Los cultivares Parda Pastusa (resistente) y Criolla (susceptible) se infestaron con larvas de primer estadfo, con densidades que variaron de cinco a 20 y se evalu6 el empupado tres semanas despues de la infestaci6n. Un numero significativamente alto de pupas hembras se observ6 en el cultivar susceptible Criolla. Tant.o el empupado Preparaci6n del virus de la granulosls con talco para su uso en almacenamiento.como el desarrollo de pupas hembras fue significativamente mas bajo en el cultivar resistente Parda Pastusa (Figura 5-2).Maceracion de larvas de la polilla del tuberculo de la papa infestada con un virus de la granulosis. Se han hecho encuestas en Colombia para identificar a los enemigos naturales de la PTP. Se encontraron en el cam po plantas espontaneas de papa fuertemente parasitadas por el parasitoide Enytus sp.(Hymenoptera: lcneumonidae). El nivel de parasitismo alcanz6 65%. Esta especie es nativa de Colombia y ataca a las especies de PTP Phthorimaea operculella y Eurysacca melanocampta. Otros parasitoides de la PTP identificados incluyen a: Copidosoma koehleri, Che/onus phthorimaeae y Cotesia gelechiidivoris (ver foto del Plan de Acci6n). En cooperaci6n con el programa colombiano de papa se ban instalado laboratorios para crianza masiva de estos parasitoides que se van a utilizar en el control biol6gico. Estos parasitoides se ban estudiado bajo condiciones de campo para determinar su efectividad. A los 60 dfas despues de la siembra, el 43% de la poblaci6n de PTP ya estaba parasitado por C. gelachiidivoris y el 90% por Enytus sp. El parasitoide C. koehleri ha sido introducido a India para mayores pruebas. En el Peru, se ban probado en almacenamiento el virus de la granulosis (VG) y el Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). La viabilidad del virus se determin6 usando tres muestras del VG (larvas infestadas, larvas liofilizadas y como VG en suspensi6n en agua), las cuales se almacenaron en con-gelaci6n a -10°C por dos afios. Estas muestras se compararon con el virus recien preparado. La infecci6n de larvas obtenida con las muestras de larvas almacenadas en congelaci6n por dos afios fue de 100%. En otras pruebas se mezcl6 Bt con cal, talco y VG para el control de la PTP. Los tratamientos Bt + talco y VG + talco fueron los mas efectivos para controlar las infestaciones por larvas. Se utiliz6 a raz6n de 15 g de Bt, 300 g de cal y talco y 20 g de larvas infectadas con el VG por 100 kg de papa almacenada. Los Plan V materiales inertes (cal, talco, caolfn), no controlaron la infestaci6n inicial de huevos de la PTP. En colaboraci6n con INIANSEINP A se ha multiplicado este virus y aplicado a 2 000 t de papa para estudiar el comportamiento de esta plaga durante el tiempo que permanece la papa almacenada. Instalaciones rurales sencillas para la producci6n masiva de este virus se ban establecido en diferentes regiones del Peru.En Tunez se ha investigado el efecto del VG en la reducci6n del dano al tuberculo aplicando una soluci6n del virus en la superficie del suelo alrededor de la base de la planta, a los 50, 75, 88, y 94 dias despues de la emergencia. Para la evaluaci6n de danos causados por la PTP se tomaron muestras de tuberculos una semana antes de la cosecha. El daflo de PTP fue bajo en las parcelas tratadas (1,08% contra 10,66% en las parcelas tratadas s6lo con agua). En otra prueba se aplic6 VG+ talco a raz6n de 1,2 t/ha sobre la parte elevada del surco, usando cribas para cemir harina, a los 50 y 75 dfas Agricultores que usan esta tecnica % despues de emergidas las plantas. Al momento de la cosecha se constat6 que el dafio al tuberculo en las parcelas tratadas con VG + talco fue 14,33% en com-paraci6n con 29,33% que acusaron las parcelas no tratadas. Las pruebas de almacenamiento en finca, para probar el efecto del VG y Bt se realizaron en cola-boraci6n con 11 agricultores. En monticulos tratados con VG o con Bt, tres meses despues del almacenamiento, la in-festaci6n fue 4%, en comparaci6n con 8% que se observ6 en los monticulos tradicionales de los agricultores.Una encuesta realizada para comparar las practicas actuales que usan los agricultores, con aquellas que usaban en 1986, indic6 un sustancial incremento en el numero de agricultores que utilizan practicas de irrigaci6n para reducir la inf estaci6n de PTP. Los agricultores generalmente ban evitado el uso de insecticidas qufmicos contra esta plaga (Figura 5-3).En Egipto, tanto el Bt como el VG ban demostrado ser efectivos en almace- namiento. Despues de cuatro meses de almacenado el producto, el dafio al tuberculo fue de 17% cuando se us6 Bt + talco, 15,7% con VG+ cal y 39% en tuberculos no tratados. En otras pruebas, la planta Lantana camara, seca y desmenuzada, aplicada en la superficie de los montfculos, proporcion6 una buena pro-tecci6n: despues de cuatro meses de almacenamiento, s6lo se observ6 9% de dafio a los tuberculos.En Kenia se ha confirmado la presencia del VG en larvas de la PTP. Este virus se esta multiplicando actualmente en forma masiva para su uso en el control biol6gico de esta plaga.Un program a de control integrado para esta plaga se esta probando actualmente en Cuzco, Peru. El bongo Beauveria brogniartii, multiplicado en cascara de cebada se aplic6 al momenta del aporque a raz6n de 10 g/planta. Evaluaciones al momenta de la cosecha demostraron uqa reducci6n de 24% de dafios al tuberculo (36% contra 60% en parcelas no tratadas). En las parcelas tratadas con el bongo, los gorgojos adultos se encontraban infectados en una proporci6n de dos a tres adultos/cinco plantas. La dinamica de poblaci6n de esta plaga se ha determinado en los almacenes. Durante la fase migratoria del gorgojo se captur6 un total de 6 000 adultos utilizando trincheras cubiertas de material plastico y llenas de agua, que se cavaron alrededor de los montfculos de almacenamiento. La captura maxima de 1 400 gorgojos adultos se obtuvo en diciembre. El uso de B. brogniartii en la base de los montfculos de almacenamiento fue muy efectivo cuando se aplicaron 500 g de la cascara de cebada con desarrollo fungoso por me-tro cuadrado de la superficie del suelo. El material aplicado se mezc16 con los 5 cm superficiales del suelo y los tuberculos se almacenaron sabre esta superficie tratada. La mortalidad fue 87% de larvas, 83% de pupas y 60% de adultos. En las pruebas en que se sembr6 Lupinus mutabilis alrededor de las plantas de papa, para que actue como barrera a los gorgojos migratorios adultos, el dafio al tuberculo se redujo sustancialmente: 18% contra 34% de las sin barrera.Un enfoque de manejo integrado usando semilla limpia, practicas culturales mejoradas y B. brogniartii ha sido implementada en varias comunidades campesinas en Cuzco. El bongo se esta multiplicando en instalaciones muy sencillas y lo estan usando mas de 100 agricultores de la regi6n para controlar esta plaga en sus almacenes.Se ha puesto enfasis en la identificaci6n de clones con tricomas glandulares coma una fuente de ancha base para resistencia a las plagas mas importantes. Delos 86 clones avanzados de tricoma glandular, tamizados en el Peru se ban seleccionado ocho de ellos: T87709.2, T87703.  El nematodo de la pudrici6n radicular Ditylenchus destructor, es un importante parasito de la batata en China .. Se evaluaron mas de 560 clones de la colecci6n mundial de germoplasma, de los cuales se seleccionaron 41 por su comportamiento como resistentes.En el Peru se ban desarrollado metodos de crianza masiva para obtener grandes cantidades de adultos del gorgojo de la batata de las lndias occidentales Euscepes postfasciatus, con el objeto de usarlas en la identificaci6n de resistencia de la planta hospedante. En pruebas de laboratorio se ha tamizado un total de 237 entradas de Ram6n. El mas efectivo result6 ser B. bassiana aislado de E. postfasciatus que se colect6 en La Molina. En pruebas de laboratorio, despues de 12 dias se produjo una mortalidad de 100% a 20°C y 84% a l8°C. En _pruebas de campo, la aplicaci6n de este bongo desarrollado en cascara de cebada, a raz6n de 10 g/planta al momento del trasplante y seguido de una segunda aplicaci6n a los 60 dias redujo las poblaciones de gorgojos (7,37% contra 16, 73% en las parcelas no tratadas). Se esta estudiando la biologia del parasitoideEurydinoteloides sp. en crianza masiva, con el objeto de usarlo en el control biol6gico de esta plaga. Los resultados indican que se trata de un ectoparasitoide solitario de los ultimas estadfos de la larva y prepupa del gorgojo. Se es ta tratando de introducir este parasito en areas infestadas de gorgojo de Brasil, Venezuela y el Caribe.En Filipinas se ban investigado diversos componentes para el control del gorgojo de la batata Cy las formicarius. Los metodos de crianza masiva del bongo B. bassiana se han desarrollado utilizando tallos de mafz como sustrato. Un peso de esporas de 0,39 g con el 96% de germi-naci6n se observ6 en este substrata. En pruebas de invernadero, el bongo ha demostrado ser efectivo en reducir la pobla-ci6n de gorgojos (1,5% contra 3,3% en plantas no tratadas). Se han aislado 10 variantes de la bacteria B. thuringiensis de gorgojos colectados en el campo y se esta estudiando el nivel de toxicidad de las mismas. La tram pa de agua-feromona sexual ha sido evaluada como una herramienta de seguimiento de esta plaga. Las poblaciones de gorgojo fueron seguidas por nueve meses, comenzando en diciembre de 1989. El maximo de capturas se realiz6 durante la estaci6n seca con un maxima de 40 000/trampa durante 88 Plan Vel mes de mayo. La estaci6n seca en Filipinas se caracteriza por una temperatura ligeramente alta, humedad relativa elevada y poca lluvia. Se estan hacienda otros estudios para identificar el biotipo del gorgojo de la batata, usando tecnicas citol6gicas y electroforeticas. Los resultados de las observaciones cromos6micas fueron los mismos que para el gorgojo de batata colectado en las areas de Quez6n y Los Banos.Se ha evaluado la resistencia de cuatro variedades. Las variedades Sinksuk y Miracle tienen significativamente menos poblaciones y dafios de gorgojo. Se ban realizado experimentos en finca en tres lugares. Los resultados demostraron que el uso de material de siembra limpio redujo las infestaciones de la rafz al momenta de la cosecha. Otras especies de plagas que se han identificado incluyen afidos (Aphis gossypii), el escarabajo pulga (Chaetocnema basalis), el chinche mfrido negro (Halticus minustus) y el chinche capsido (Helopeltis collaris).En China se probaron para resistencia dos grupos de germoplasma de batata. El primer grupo consisti6 de 128 entradas de la Academia de Ciencias Agron6micas de Guandong (GAAS) y la segunda de 117 provenientes del Instituto de lnves-tigaci6n en Batata de Xizhou (XSPRC). Todos los materiales del GAAS se mostraron susceptibles. De la colecci6n del XSPRC se seleccion6 la entrada ZS 1 por su promisoria resistencia al gorgojo.En India, la feromona del GB se ha sintetizado en el Laboratorio de lnves-tigaci6n Regional (RRL), de Trivandrum. Se es tan hacienda pruebas de cam po para determinar su eficiencia y longevidad.En el Caribe, se han hecho encuestas para identificar las especies mas importan tes del GB. E. postfasciatus y E. formicarius se encuentran ampliamente distribuidos en esta regi6n. Las encuestas en finca se realizaron en San Juan, Republica Dominicana, con el fin de identificar las practicas usadas por los agricultores para controlar el GB. Los resultados indican que muchos de los productores son conscientes de la importancia de la rotaci6n del cultivo, uso de material no contaminado, riego y aporque. En otras pruebas se usaron disefios diferentes de trampas de feromonas. Vasijas baratas de plastico, con pequefias aberturas atraparon mayor m1mero de machos que las trampas c6nicas estandar (P=0,05).En Jamaica, los estudios sobre trampas se ban hecho con el objeto de evaluar la poblaci6n del gorgojo en la isla. De los datos obtenidos se desprende que las areas de cultivo localizadas en Jamaica por encima de los 400 m tenfan significativamente poblaciones mas bajas de GB.En Argentina se ha identificado al Typophorus nigritus como la principal plaga de las rafces reservantes. Se estan haciendo investigaciones sobre el ciclo de vida de esta plaga con el fin de desarrollar metodos de crianza masiva para utilizarlos en la identificaci6n de resistencia.En Kenya, la provincia de Nyanza es el area mas importante de cultivo de batata. Las encuestas en es ta regi6n indican la presencia de dos especies importantes de GB: C. puncticollis y C. brunneus. El CIP esta colaborando con varias instituciones para desarrollar un programa de manejo de control integrado para esta plaga.Varlas instituciones ban colaborado en este estudio, incluyendo el Departamen-to de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA), el Instituto Internacional de Entomologfa (IIE) y la Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA). Las muestras se han recibido de Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru; Etiopfa y Camerun. Entre los especfmenes etiopes se ban identificado cinco especies de afidos: Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Aphis craccivora (Koch), Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), M. rosae (Linneaus) y Brevicorine brassicae (Linneaus). Las muestras de Camerun incluyen cinco especies de afidos: M. persicae, Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach), Macrosiphum salviae (Bartholomew), Pentalonia nigrovervosa (Coquerel) y A. nasturtii (Kaltenbach). Mayores detalles sobre la identificaci6n del material colectado de otros pafses sedan en la Tabla 5-1.Los contratos de investigaci6n con la Universidad Nacional Agraria, La Molina, Lima, Peru, se ban concentrado en la identificaci6n de resistencia a la mosca     Chtna. Para determinar la tolerancia a la sequfa se evaluaron 31 variedades en los institutos de investigaci6n en Datang. Los datos recogidos incluyen la resistencia a la tracci6n que oponen las raf ces, peso fresco de las rafces, follaje y componentes de rendimiento. Once variedades acusaron buen comportamiento en los tres institutos, conjuntamente con las variedades del CIP B71-240.2 y N-565-1 que dieron buenos resultados bajo condiciones de sequfa. Se comprob6 una re-laci6n lineal positiva entre la resistencia a la tracci6n y el peso fresco de los tuberculos, asf como tambien entre el numero de tuberculos y el rendimiento por planta, lo que indica que la resistencia de • las rafces a ser extrafdas se puede usar como un fndice de resistencia a la sequfa en los estados iniciales de crecimiento.El sistema de riego por aspersi6n se utiliz6 para evaluar la eficiencia de los genotipos de papa para emplear el agua. Los datos de cam po reunidos, usando este sistema durante tres afios y en dos series de localidades estan siendo analizados por el metodo de analisis multivariado. Tambien se encuentra en estudio el efecto de las practicas para el manejo del riego en condiciones deficitarias de agua.Los estudios en campo, invernadero y camara de crecimiento han continuado, con el objeto de adquirir mayores cono- 94 Plan VI cimientos sobre el comportamiento de los estomas en asociaci6n con un mejor mecanismo de conservaci6n del agua por las plantas. Los parametros fisio16gicos, tales como la difusi6n de la hoja (v.gr. resistencia a la difusi6n potencial de agua y contenido estomatal, asf como la densidad), se midieron bajo una gama de niveles de deficiencia de agua. El clon LT-7 mostr6 una densidad estomatica significativamente menor que el clon ST-7.Aunque habitualmente, el clon LT-7 cuando esta en estres tiene niveles mas bajos de clorofila a y b y hojas mas delgadas en este experimento, la deficiencia de agua produjo generalmente un aumento significativo en el contenido de clorofila en la hoja. En estudios realizados en la camara de crecimiento, las diferencias genotf picas en resistencia difusiva fueron mas marcadas al atardecer que al mediodfa. La resistencia difusiva aument6 con la deficiencia de agua, pero fue fuertemente influenciada por la temperatura del ambiente y los niveles de radiaci6n.India. Se investig6 en pruebas repetidas el uso de sustancias reguladoras de crecimiento para mejorar la cantidad y calidad en los rendimientos de papa. Los tuberculos semillas del cv. Kufri Bahar se trataron 4 horas antes de plantarlos, usando soluciones acuosas de Cycocel, S-3307 y Triadimef6n, a concentraciones de 50, 100, 200 ppm; 0,25, 0,50, 1 ppm y 2,5, 5 y 10 ppm, respectivamente.Los resultados obtenidos se resumen a continuaci6n: Todos los tratamientos con CCC aumentaron significativamente los rendimientos. Los rendimientos variaron de 16,2 t/ha a 23,8 t/ha, con el rendimiento mas alto obtenido cuando se utilizaron • 200 ppm de CCC. En la mayorfa de los tratamientos hubo un aumento significativo en los s61idos totales con valores entre 18 y 22.5%. El valor mas alto de 22,5% se obtuvo con S-3307 a 0,5 ppm. Todos los productos para retardar el desarrollo aumentaron el contenido de protefna en los tuberculos de. papa. Los valores variaron de 1,75 a 2,56%, con el mas alto obtenido a 200 ppm de CCC y el mas bajo en el testigo. El contenido de azucar vari6 de 14,4 mg a 18,6 mg/100 g de materia seca. Un contenido mfnimo de azucar de 18,6 mg se encontr6 en los tuberculos de los tratamientos de 0,5 ppm de S-3307. La aplicaci6n de 100 ppm de CCC dio como resultado una ganancia adicional de Rs. 4 855/ha (US $ 189,64/ha).Uganda. En estudios realizados sobre los efectos del tamafio de la semilla y el espaciamiento, los rendimientos aumentaron linearmente con el tamafio de la semilla en ambas epocas de cultivo. La densidad de plantas tambien influy6 significativamente en el rendimienfo; asf, con los espaciamientos de 70 x 30 cm y 90 x 20 cm, los rendimientos fueron los mas altos. La interacci6n de dos factores tambien fue significativ~. Tuberculos de tamafio grande, plantados a densidades de 47 619 6 de 71 428 plantas/ha dieron los rendimientos mas altos. Los tuberculos de tamafio mediano, plantados a 70 x 30 cm 6 90 x 20 cm de espaciamiento parecen ser ideales para incrementar al maximo los rendimientos, con una gran proporci6n de tuberculos de tamafio apropiado para semilla.Egipto. Experimentos realizados en la Estaci6n del CIP en Kafr El Sayat demostraron que se puede sembrar papa como cultivo adelantado de invierno (agosto) cuando se intercala con maiz. Experimentos adicionales se han llevado a cabo usando maiz y girasol como cultivos asociados con las variedades de papa Claudia y Spunta. Las semillas de maiz o de girasol, sembradas seis semanas antes que la papa, incrementaron la emergencia de las plantas y el numero de tallos. A los 90 DDS, el rendimiento de papa fue tambien significativamente mas alto que el del control. Se obtuvo ademas un rendimiento adicional de 6 t/ha de maiz ode 2,4 t/ha de girasol.China. Un experimento de cultivo asociado de maiz con 19 clones de papa se realiz6 a 1 005 m. Se ha encontrado que el clon 860803 es apropiado para usarlo en cultivo asociado.Pero. En el verano de 1990 se evaluaron en diferentes ambientes, 1 746 clones de papa con diversas resistencias. Aunque una severa infestaci6n de polilla del tuberculo disminuy6 significativamente los rendimientos, se seleccionaron 225 genotipos y se sembraron nuevamente en el inverno de 1990 en La Molina. Parte de los clones seleccionados se evaluaron para determinar la calidad de procesamiento, de los cuales, 9 clones mostraron buenas caracterfsticas para fritura. Los pasados dos afios de evaluaci6n han mostrado una amplia variabilidad genetica en relaci6n a la capacidad de almacenamiento de la papa. Los rendimientos estuvieron entre 11y48,4 t/ha, con el 57% de los clones produciendo mas de 20 t/ha. De Plan VI los mejores clones se ha distribuido 50% a los agricultores para pruebas en finca.Carner-Un. Diez clones del CIP se probaron cony sin cobertura durante la es-taci6n seca. La irrigaci6n fue deficiente debido a la falta de fac~lidades apropiadas. El uso de cobertura tuvo un efecto supresivo sobre las malezas y aument6 los rendimientos significativamente. En las pruebas realizadas durante la primera es-taci6n (lluviosa ), de cultivo en 1990 en Babungo (1175 m), se probaron tres her-Batata Tolerancia a la Sequia y a la Salinidad Filipinas. Se evalu6 la eficiencia en el uso de agua de los cultivares de batata Bureau, Miracle y VSP-5 utilizando el sistema de riego por aspersi6n en Hnea. La producci6n de materia seca y rendimiento de raices reservantes aument6 con el incremento de humedad en el suelo, lo cual indica la habilidad en la respuesta de los cultivares al riego suplementario. Los rendimientos estuvieron entre 2,8 y 48,4 t/ha (Tabla 6-2), habiendose obtenido los valores mas bajos en rendimiento, promedio de peso y m1mero de rafces con un nivel de humedad de 84 mm.Se ha continuado el tamizado de batata in vitro, para determinar la tolerancia a la salinidad. Segmentos de tallo in vitro y una gama de cultivares y clones de batata fueron expuestos a concentraciones altas de CLNA (hasta 102 mm), por un periodo de 4 semanas. Algunas lineas que se seleccionaron como tolerantes en base a los rendimientos de rafces en el campo, se compararon in vitro. Se encontraron diferencias genotf picas en su habilidad para 96 Plan VI bicidas de preemergencia que se pueden adquirir localmente (Patoran, Lasso GD y Linuron), conjuntamente con deshierbo a mano y cobertura. Los resultados sefialan que Lasso GD control6 las malezas razonablemente bien, mientras que Patoran y Linuron no fueron satisfactorios. En particular, Setaria sp., maleza comun de la regi6n no fue controlada en forma efectiva. La cobertura aument6 los rendimientos en comparaci6n con los testigos.producir hojas y rakes en condiciones de estres in vitro, lo cual indica el potencial de esta tecnologfa para el tamizado de tolerancia a la salinidad.Fotoperiodo, Tolerancia a la Sombra y al Aniego Los cultivares Bureau, Miracle y VSP-5 se evaluaron en condiciones de fotoperfodo de 12, 18, 24 horas. La produc-ci6n de materia seca y rendimiento de rafces reservantes frescas no fue significativamente afectada por el fotoperiodo, indicando la extrema adaptabilidad e insensibilidad de la batata al fotoperfodo. Este estudio se esta repitiendo usando germoplasma mas diverso, con el objeto de ver si esta insensibilidad es valid a para una am plia gama de cultivares.Sureste Asiatico. En Asia se cultivan grandes areas de batata en campos de coco y de maiz. En Filipinas se ban hecho experimentos bajo sombra controlada y los cultivares Bureau, Miracle y VSP-5 demostraron que la producci6n de materia seca y los rendimientos de raices de En un experimento donde se utilizaron macetas bajo condiciones de invernadero, los clones Jewel e YM-88-026 fueron expuestos a cuatro etapas de aniego (0, 5, 10, 15 dias) y a 12 combinaciones de ciclos de aniego (1,4,8,16 semanas despues de la siembra). Se registr6 el numero de hojas nuevas y amarillentas, altura de la planta, peso seco y fresco del follaje, peso seco y fresco de la raiz y numero de raices fibrosas y de reserva. La variedad Jewel dio mejores rendimientos de raices reservantes que YM-88-026. Se observaron reducciones de rendimiento de 25, 52 y 62% cuando las plantas fueron expuestas a 5, 10 y 15 dias de Plan VI aniego respectivamente. Una reducci6n similar se obtuvo cuando las plantas fueron expuestas a este estres en diferentes estados de desarrollo. La variedad Jewel fue menos afectada que la YM-88-026 a diferentes duraciones y ciclos de inunda-ci6n. Las plantas expuestas a un solo ciclo dieron mayores rendimientos que las que tuvieron que soportar dos 0 mas ciclos. Una significativa reducci6n en el rendimiento se observ6 cuando las plantas fueron expuestas a periodos de inun-daci6n de 10 a 15 dfas durante el periodo de desarrollo y aun mas cuando estuvieron expuestas por tres ciclos sucesivos. Hubo tendencia a producir mas rafces fibrosas cuando las plantas fueron expuestas a este estres, asf la variedad Jewel produjo mas rafces fibrosas que YM-88-02. El peso de materia seca de la rafz reservante aument6 significativamente cuando la inundaci6n fue de 10 y 15 dfas y este incremento fue mayor cuando las plantas estuvieron expuestas a 2 y 3 ciclos de inundaci6n. El contenido de materia seca tambien aument6 en los dos clones cuando se usaron combinaciones de 10 a 15 dfas de duraci6n y 12 ciclos de aniego.En un experimento realizado en camas se expusieron tres clones (Canchari, Jewel e YM-88-026) a inundaci6n por 10 dfas a las 8 semanas despues de la siembra. Las parcelas se inundaron por lluvia y luego se regaron. Los surcos del testigo se drenaron para extraer rapidamente el exceso de agua. Los clones Jewel e YM-88-026 produjeron rendimiento similar de follaje (23,4 t/ha y 24, 7 t/ha, respectivamente), aunque ambos sufrieron una reducci6n del 10% cuando fueron expuestas a 10 dfas de inundaci6n. El peso de materia seca del follaje en el clon YM-88-026 fue mayor queen Jewel (18,9% contra 16,7%), lo que indica que 98 Plan VI YM-88-026 fue mas eficiente en la acu-mulaci6n de hidratos de carbono en condiciones de inundaci6n. La inundaci6n redujo el rendimiento de rafces por aproximadamente 40% en comparaci6n con el testigo. La variedad Jewel tuvo un mejor~ rendimiento que YM-88-026 (42,9 t/ha contra 33,0 t/ha). La producci6n de rafces de reserva se redujo en aproximadamente 30% para Jewel y 20% para YM-88-026, lo que indica que este ultimo tiene una mayor tolerancia a la inunda-ci6n. La inundaci6n redujo aproximadamente 4 t/ha en el peso de materia seca de la variedad Jewel y 2 t/ha del clon YM-88-026.Egipto. En un estudio sobre distanciamiento se usaron 25 y 40 cm entre plantas para el clon NCSU 925. El distanciamiento de 25 cm dio como resultado un incremento en el rendimiento total.El efecto de tres niveles de aplica-ci6n de nitr6geno (50, 100 y 150 kg/ha), fue materia de investigaci6n, usandose el clon NCSU 925. La aplicaci6n de 100 kg/ha aument6 el rendimiento en com-paraci6n con el nivel de 50 kg/ha, pero no se obtuvo mayor incremento a la dosis de 150 kg/ha. En otro experimento se usaron dosis de 187,5 y 375 kg/ha de K20 (sulfato de potasio 50%), habiendose obtenido un ligero incremento con la dosis mayor.India. En un experimento de campo se investigaron los efectos de la fertili-zaci6n (Fo =sin fertilizante, F1 = 80:50: 80 kg/ha, F2 = 40:25:40 Ni:P20s:K202 kg/ha); espaciamiento (S1=60 x 10 cm y S2 = 60 x 20 cm) y metodo de siembra (M1 = plantado vertical sobre el camell6n y M2= plantado horizontal sobre el came-116n), sobre la morfologfa de las plantas y caracteristicas de la rafz. Se utiliz6 la variedad Sri Vardhini para identificar los metodos de siembra y los requerimientos de fertilizaci6n apropiados para las planicies indo-gangeticas. La siembra se rea-liz6 mensualmente y se cosech6 a los 90 y 120 DDS, registrandose el crecimiento de la planta y las caracterfsticas de la rafz. A los 90 DDS nose registr6 influencia en los parametros de desarrollo y rendimiento, con excepci6n del rendimiento total/ planta y el grosor de la rafz. El mayor rendimiento de rakes/planta se obtuvo con el tratamiento de 40:25 :40. El rendimiento en rakes comerciables y el grosor de la rafz fue mas alto a un espaciamiento de 60 x 20 cm que a 60 x 10 cm. Sin embargo, el espaciamiento no afect6 otras caracteristicas. El tipo de siembra horizontal favoreci6 el rendimiento total y de producto comerciable asf como el grosor de las rakes, en com paraci6n con el metodo de siembra vertical.Los efectos de los fertilizantes 120 DDS fueron diferentes en relaci6n a la altura, m1mero de ramas/planta y numero de rafces/planta. Tambien, a los 120 DDS, las plantas del metodo vertical de siembra produjeron mayores rendimientos de rakes comerciables, pero con el metodo horizontal se obtuvieron plantas de mayor altura, con mayor numero de ramas, mas peso fresco del follaje/planta y el numero de rakes y grosor de las mismas tambien fue mayor.Egipto. Se realizaron experimentos con el objeto de estudiar el efecto que tiene la fertilizaci6n sobre la capacidad de almacenaje del producto. Las rakes de batata del clon NCSU 925 mostraron una menor perdida de peso y de deterioro a la menor dosis de nitr6geno (50 kg N/ha). La apli-caci6n de 187,5 kg de K20/ha result6 en menor perdida de peso y deterioro, en comparaci6n con las perdidas obtenidas en las parcelas que no recibieron ferti-lizaci6n y en aquellas que recibieron las dosis mayores de K20. Los tratamientos con 187,5 kg de K20 tambien se asociaron con mayor contenido de azucar hacia el final del periodo de almacenamiento en comparaci6n con el contenido de azucar de los lotes que no recibieron fertilizaci6n.Filipinas. Un total de 12 cultivares se evaluaron en Tanauan y Tarlac, con el objeto de determinar las preferencias varietales de los productores comerciales y su criterio para la selecci6n de cultivares. En sus evaluaciones, los participantes masculinos se inclinaron por las caracteris ticas cuantitativas (rendimiento, numero y tamafio de rakes reservantes), mientras que las participantes femeninas se concentraron en las caracterfsticas cualitativas (color de la pulpa, textura, contenido de materia seca). Estas diferencias en cuanto a preferencia podrfan indicar la estrecha relaci6n de los hombres con las actividades de producci6n, mientras que en el caso de las mujeres existe una estrecha asociaci6n con la comercializaci6n de la batata. La caractetistica de comercia-lizaci6n de los cultivares es tambien un im portante criterio de selecci6n en los sistemas comerciales de producci6n.Egipto. El clon NCSU 925 se eva-lu6 y compar6 con la variedad local Mabrouka. Ambas se sembraron el 1 de Mayo de 1989, en un disefio de bloque completamente al azar con tres repeticiones, usandose parcelas de 18,75m 2 .El clon NCSU 925 produjo 23,2 t/ha mientras que Mabrouka tuvo un rendimiento de 12,3 t/ha.Peru. Durante el verano, se evaluaron en Tacna 300 clones precoces que mostraron potencial para adaptaci6n a condiciones tropicales, con el objeto de determinar su tolerancia a la salinidad y adaptaci6n a fotoperfodo largo. Adicionalmente se sembraron en Tacna 187 clones durante el invemo de 1990, de los cuales se seleccionaron 34 para eva-luaci6n futura. Otro conjunto de 197 clones del mismo lote fueron evaluados y se seleccionaron los 10 mejores clones (Tabla 6-3). En San Ram6n se han sembrado 814 clones.Durante los veranos de 1989 y 1990, se evaluaron en Lima, Peru, 197 clones. Varios de estos mostraron un comportamiento inestable en comparaci6n con evaluaciones realizadas en campafias anteriores. Sin embargo, los clones ST 87.009, LM87.045 y ST87.070 mostraron rendimientos estables y potencial promisorio como nuevas variedades. Estos clones se van a utilizar tambien como progenitores en futuros policruzamientos. Otro grupo de clones seleccionados en Lima demostr6 un buen comportamiento en relaci6n a precocidad y rendimiento (grupo hfurido LM89). El clon LM89.125 se comport6 particularmente estable en rendimiento. Sin embargo, su contenido de materia seca vari6 en Lima y San Ram6n. En Lima, se evaluaron en el cam po 230 clones de prim era gene-raci6n, seleccionados de 45 familias precoces y tolerantes a la salinidad. Se obtuvieron rendimientos altos, lo cual indica un avance en la selecci6n utilizando policruzamientos de los clones seleccionados. Una muestra de 20 de estos clones se evalu6 en el campo en Lima, de la que se reevalu6 un pequefio m1mero en La Molina. En San Ram6n se evaluaron 169 clones que habfan sido previamente seleccionados por su tolerancia al calor y a la humedad alta. Estos materiales poseen buenas caracteristicas agron6micas y potencial de rendimiento elevado, los que pueden utilizarse para generar nuevas poblaciones. Otro grupo de clones obtenidos de poblaciones de polinizaci6n Un grupo de clones seleccionados de segunda generaci6n, evaluados en Tacna mostraron buenos rendimientos, pero la sobrevivencia de las plantas fue variable. Un conjunto de 58 clones de la colecci6n de germoplasma del CIP (31 de la serie DPL, 19 de la RCB y 8 de ARB), fueron evaluados para medir su adaptabilidad a suelos salinos. Entre estos, siete clones fueron de rendimiento medio, pero la relativamente baja sobrevivencia de las plantas demuestra que estos materiales no estan bien adaptados a la salinidad del sue lo.Para la evaluaci6n bajo condiciones de fertilidad relativamente baja del suelo se sembraron clones selectos en suelos con un promedio de conductividad electrica de 9,6 mmhos. Los rendimientos resultantes fueron aceptables, lo que sugiere que estos clones tienen el potencial como para producir en suelos pobres y que su com portamiento puede superarse si se siembran bajo mejores condiciones. En forma similar, los clones que previamente se seleccionaron por su tolerancia a la salinidad mostraron buenos rendimientos al ser sometidos a una nueva evaluaci6n. En base a los resultados anteriores, se ban seleccionado 16 clones de buena adapta-ci6n, los mismos que van a ser sometidos a limpieza de pat6genos antes de ser distribuidos a las regiones del CIP y a los programas nacionales. L a investigaci6n del Plan de Acci6n VII esta centrada en 1) el desarrollo de materiales avanzados de mejoramiento con tolerancia a los principales estreses bi6ticos y abi6ticos que limitan la producci6n de papa y batata en clima frio y 2) los principios agron6micos y fisiol6gicos y las practicas necesarias para una producci6n sostenible.En el Peru, el germoplasma que se esta desarrollando para tolerancia a las heladas, en combinaci6n con otros estreses se ha trasladado de la Estaci6n del CIP en Huancayo a un nuevo lugar en zona de altura (Cajamarca). S6lo se han hecho selecciones agron6micas en este lugar y de 2 000 clones se han seleccionado 537 en diferentes estados de desarrollo. En la Molina, aproximadamente el 16% de 38 876 pHintulas ha sobrevivido al tratamiento consistente en exponerlas a --4 °C y de este grupo se han seleccionado 387 clones para pruebas futuras. Ademas se ban hecho 550 cruzamientos para mejorar la precocidad de la poblaci6n resistente a las heladas y para combinarla con otras fuentes de resistencia.Informes recientes provenientes del programa nacional de papa del Peru, sobre el uso de materiales mejorados tolerantes a las heladas y desarrollados en el CIP menciona 7 clones de comportamiento excelente: 381128. 5, 381128.151, 375070.53, 375553.22, 375558.5, VH-22 y UFP-49.1. Estos materiales tambien han mostrado tolerancia a las heladas en varias localidades del pafs y se estan considerando como potencialmente aptos para ser lanzados como variedades.En Bolivia, varios clones derivados del CIP se estan seleccionando y probando en sus caracterfsticas de importancia local, ademas de su comportamiento agron6mico.Un proyecto de investigaci6n por contrato con el Programa de Papa del INIA de Chile, esta explorando la adaptaci6n de la papa a temperaturas sub6ptimas. En pruebas realizadas con una amplia gama de materiales, la exposici6n prolongada a condiciones desfavorables de frfo redujo el crecimiento y desarrollo, asf como tambien la produc-ci6n de tuberculos. Los clones del CIP, DT0-28 y DT0-33, que son de maduraci6n precoz demostraron un comportamiento promisorio. En las dos localidades estudiadas (Frutillar y Osorno), la siembra, 43 dfas antes de la primavera demuestra ser satisfactoria para el tamizado de poblaciones grandes de germoplasma segregante para adaptaci6n a temperaturas desfavorables mas frfas que el 6ptimo.En comparaciones hechas sobre las tecnologfas usadas en la estaci6n con las que usa el agricultor, los proyectos colaborativos con el Programa de Papa del INIA en Chile, ban confirmado que la tecnologfa de producci6n desarrollada por la estaci6n es mas efectiva tanto bajo condiciones de lluvia como de irrigaci6n. Esta tecnologfa se ha disefiado para reducir la brecha observada en el rendimiento comparado y para mejorar el nivel de productividad del agricultor.En Indonesia, al tamizarse un lote previamente introducido, resistente al tiz6n tardio, se seleccionaron 23 clones por su adaptaci6n, niveles bajos de tiz6n tardio y rendimientos aceptables. De las 154 introducciones nuevas se retuvieron 43 clones promisorios para pruebas y selecci6n futura. Las pruebas agron6micas indicaron que el rendimiento en tuberculos se increment6 progresivamente cuando se aumentaron los niveles de nitr6geno de 150 a 375 kg/ha. La producci6n de papa a partir de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas de Cameron super6 en rendimiento a las variedades usadas coma testigos y demostr6 cierta resistencia al tiz6n tardio. Los materiales de genealogfa sobresaliente incluyen: CIP 985001 (Atzimba x 104.12 LB) CIP 980003 (Atzimba x 7XY.1) y CIP 987004 (CFK-69.1 x 104.12 LB).En un estudio de producci6n de papa en ambientes frios se probaron muestras de germoplasma y se seleccionaron por comparaci6n en tres ambientes frios: Vitarte e lea (inviemo en la costa) y Cajamarca (tierras altas). Los clones demostraron rendimientos aceptables en las tres localidades. Sin embargo, se necesita mayor mejoramiento para una mejor adaptaci6n, precocidad y caracteristicas agron6micas. Actualmente se estan hacienda cruzamientos con los materiales mas promisorios.El mejoramiento de la papa para ambiente frio se ha concentrado en los factores limitantes de estres, coma son la tolerancia a las heladas, desarrollo en condiciones sub6ptimas de temperatura, sequfa, resistencia a las enfermedades y plagas mas importantes, y por media del desarrollo de principios y practicas fisiol6gicas y agron6micas, ayudar a mejorar y mantener la producci6n sostenible en una gama amplia de ambientes.Pero. En La Molina se tamizaron 38 876 plantulas para determinar su tolerancia 104 Plan VII al frio, sometiendolas a -4 °C durante dos horas en una camara de crecimiento.A esta prueba sobrevivieron un total de 6 247 plantulas (16% ), que fueron trasplantadas al campo. Al momenta de la cosecha se seleccionaron 387 clones de plantas individuales, en base a las caracteristicas de sus tuberculos. Estos clones se van a probar posteriormente para tolerancia a las heladas y caracteristicas agron6micas.Con el objeto de obtener generaciones avanzadas nuevas para mejoramiento futuro y distribuci6n a los pafses que las soliciten se ha puesto enfasis en el intercruzamiento de los clones mas avanzados (300) y en cruzamientos con otras fuentes de resistencia, tales como al nematodo del quiste y al tiz6n tardfo (250), en cada subpoblaci6n. que se esta mejorando para ambientes frfos andinos y no andinos. Al cambiarse los lugares de ex-perimentaci6n, la semilla sexual va a ser de mayor utilidad para un manejo mas eficiente.Las muestras clonales (10 tuberculos), de la mayor parte de materiales, en diferentes estados de selecci6n se llevaron a Cajamarca (2 700 m), para pruebas mas amplias y selecci6n. El CIP ha establecido esta nueva localidad temporalmente para complementar la estaci6n de altura de Huancayo. Las dificultades propias de una nueva sede experimental, equipada con un minima de facilidades afect6 el manejo regular y la selecci6n de material nuevo, pero no los resultados generales. De los aproximadamente 2 000 clones sembrados, se seleccionaron 537 en base a su comportamiento agron6mico. Una muestra de clones avanzados probados en esta localidad en experimentos con repeticiones, tuvieron un rendimiento de 2 kg/planta, con una densidad de pobla-ci6n de 33 333 plantas/ha (Tabla 7-1). Un proyecto colaborativo con el programa nacional de papa en la estaci6n experimental de Puno (planicie al sur del Peru), realiz6 pruebas de campo con 857 clones y 110 adicionales, previamente seleccionados por su tolerancia a las heladas. Todas las pruebas se perdieron debido a una severa sequia y a las recurren tes heladas que se presentaron durante la epoca de cultivo, en que las temperaturas bajaron a -10°C, causando enormes perdidas de los cultivos en general en la mayor parte del territorio en el sur del Peru.El programa peruano de papa, que ha recibido la mayoria de los clones avanzados con tolerancia a las heladas que tiene el CIP, inform6 que se probaron 962 clones para tolerancia a las heladas y caracteristicas agron6micas importantes, en 12 experimentos conducidos en ocho estaciones experimentales en todo el territorio nacional, a un promedio de altitud de 3 580 m. De aproximadamente el 90% de estos clones originados en el CIP, 80% se prob6 primero en Puno. La estaci6n experimental de Illpa en Puno (3 850 m), se escogi6 como el lugar principal para el tamizado para resistencia a las heladas, Plan VII debido a que esta localidad acusa dafios anuales severos para la papa por efecto de las heladas.En Illpa, lugar que ha experimentado tres severas heladas y una sequia de tres semanas, se seleccionaron 135 clones por su tolerancia a las heladas, resistencia a la verruga, rendimientos altos y buena apariencia comercial. Estos clones se estan multiplicando para futuras pruebas en otras localidades en distintos lugares del pafs. El programa de papa ha identificado siete clones sobresalientes de este lote (381128.5, 381128.151, 375070.53 375553.22, 375558.5, VH-22 y UFP-49.1 ), con rendimientos en tuberculos que exceden los 2 kg/planta. Estos clones han superado marcadamente a los cultivares locales tolerantes a las heladas. Los clones estan considerados como una promesa para el lanzamiento de variedades en el futuro.Bolivia. El proyecto PROINP NIBT A esta seleccionando y probando materiales avanzados del proyecto de heladas del CIP, en la forma de clones avanzados, familias de tuberculos y semilla sexual. A partir de aproximadamente 600 clones nativos del banco de germoplasma local, que f uera probado en la estaci6n de altura en Toralapa, se seleccionaron 60 clones por su tolerancia al calor y 154 mostraron algo de resistencia a N acobbus y al nematodo del quiste. Con el objeto de proporcionar resistencia para estos tres problemas principales se esta trabajando en el desarrollo y mejoramiento de una poblaci6n nativa paralela.Chile. Se ha iniciado una investigaci6n por contrato con el programa de papa del INIA, con el objeto de explorar la posibilidad de seleccionar clones que esten 106 Plan VII mejor adaptados a las condiciones de crecimiento en ambientes no tradicionales y no 6ptimos (particularmente regiones de latitudes intermedias con inviemos de frfo suave o de f rio que se prolonga desde fines del inviemo hasta comienzos de la primavera) y a la creciente demand a de variedades mejor adaptadas. Una muestra de 16 clones, incluyendo variedades locales de origen diverso se sembraron en dos localidades en el sur de Chile (Osorno), hacia fines del inviemo y comienzo de la primavera. Esta prueba se disefi6 para identificar el lugar mas representativo y la fecha de siembra apropiada para tamizar el germoplasma, ademas de evaluar el comportamiento de los materiales. Las pruebas se hicieron en Remehue y Frutillar, donde se sembr6 43 y 23 dfas antes de la primavera. Los rendimientos en ambas localidades variaron entre 30 y 300 g/planta para la fecha mas temprana (43 dfas) y de 300 a 1 000 g/planta para la mas tardia (23 dias). Ninguna de estas f echas de siembra es 6ptima. Los clones de brotamiento precoz DT0-28 y DT0-33 tuvieron el mejor comportamiento cuando se sembraron en fecha temprana ( 43 dfas) y las variedades Norland, Urgenta y Mirka se comportaron mejor que el res to, en fecha mas tardia (23 dias) de siembra (Figuras 7-1 y 7-2).sustancial en el crecimiento y desarrollo de las plantas cuando fueron expuestas a largos periodos de temperatura frfa sub-6ptima despues de una siembra adelantada. Los rendimientos en tuberculos fueron mayores para el material que se sembr6 mas tarde, cuando las condiciones ambientales comenzaron a cambiar. Una cosecha postergada, entre 90 y 120 dfas, para ambas fechas de siembra tambien dio como resultado el incremento de la producci6n. Estos resultados sugieren ademas que el brotamiento precoz puede ser una caracteristica crftica en la adaptaci6n a tern peraturas sub6ptimas.Las dos localidades donde se hizo el tamizado para temperaturas sub6ptimas no dieron diferencias significativas en resultados. La fecha de siembra temprana Plan VII (43 dfas), parece ser la mas apropiada para tamizar grandes cantidades de materiales segregantes para adaptaci6n a temperaturas sub6ptimas; sin embargo, se necesita mayor informaci6n acerca de la respuesta de otras caracteristicas.Materiales segregantes adicionales, incluyendo semilla sexual introducida del CIP, ban sido trasplantados al campo y cosechados en la Estaci6n Experimental de Remehue durante la epoca regular de cultivo. Se ban escogido conjuntos de familias de tuberculos no seleccionados para probarlos y seleccionarlos bajo las condiciones descritas mas arriba. En forma similar, se ha establecido un nuevo lugar de experimentaci6n cerca de Santiago, con el objeto de sembrar papas durante la epoca de invierno suave, bajo condiciones sub6ptimas ligeramente diferentes y dfas cortos.Chile. Un proyecto colaborativo con el programa de papa del INIA, para estudiar los factores que afectan la productividad ha confirmado ciertos resultados preliminares previos. Las tecnologfas sencillas de producci6n, aplicadas por la estaci6n experimental para incrementar la productividad de papa, ban sido mas efectivas que las de los agricultores, tanto en condiciones de lluvia como de irrigaci6n (Figuras 7-3 y 7-4). Los resultados tambien dem uestran que la diferencia de rendimiento entre estas dos tecnologfas puede reducirse facilmente bajo ambas condiciones en el momento en que se recomienden las medidas practicas y se canalicen estas hacia los agricultores.Indonesia. Despues de haberse vuelto a probar 68 clones previamente seleccionados para resistencia al tiz6n tardfo, en 108 Plan VIILos experimentos sobre produccion de papa examinan las tecnologias de la estacion experimental y de los agricultores.pruebas repetidas durante la estaci6n lluviosa se seleccionaron 23 clones. En los clones seleccionados se encontraron bajos porcentajes de infecci6n de tiz6n tardio y rendimientos aceptables. Otras variedades, con potencial para procesamiento (Atlantic, Katahdin, Kennebec, Norchip, Norland y Monserrate) y los testigos (Desiree, Granola y Katella), fueron muy susceptibles y de bajo rendimiento.De los 154 clones retenidos del material del CIP previamente introducido, se seleccionaron 44 por su resistencia al ti-z6n tardio y rendimientos preliminares buenos.Los resultados de una prueba agron6mica preliminar que tuvo por objeto determinar el nivel 6ptimo de nitr6geno (N), al momento de la aplicaci6n, en suelos de cultivo de arroz (70% de tierra de aluvi6n mas arcilla), demostraron un incremento progresivo en rendimiento de tuberculos (de 415 a 532 g/planta), con un aumento de N (urea), de 150 kg/ha a 375 kg/ha. El rendimiento no fue influenciado por el fraccionamiento del N a la siembra y al aporque.Camerun. Tuberculos provenientes de plantulas, almacenados por aproximada-Plan VII mente 8 meses en ambientes de luz difusa, se probaron este afio en dos lugares con altitudes de 1 350 m y 2 000 m. En ambos lugares se presenta habitualmente el tiz6n tardfo durante la epoca de cultivo, aunque este afio la infecci6n fue tardfa. Varias progenies superaron enEl cultivo de batata se esta expandiendo gradualmente hacia areas no tradicionales, tales como las zonas bajas y de altura en los paises del tercer mundo, debido a su enorme plasticidad genetica para adaptarse a ambientes diversos ya su potencial para producir alimentos y forraje. rendimiento a las variedades usadas como testigos (Escort y Desiree) y mostraron cierta resistencia al tiz6n tardio. Estos incluyeron: CIP 980003 (Atzimba x 7xy.1), 985001 (Atzimba x 104.12LB) y 987004 (CFK-69.1 x 104.12LB) (Tabla 7-2).Entre los paises que cosechan el producto de mas de 50 000 ha de batata, incluyendo entre ellas areas de clima frio en zonas de altura, estan Papua N ueva Guinea, Ruanda, Burundi, Madagascar, Indonesia y Uganda. Estos paises informan sobre la producci6n de batata a altitudes de 2 500 m. En Suramerica, la batata se cultiva a menor escala en regiones de clima frio de Peru, Ecuador y -,Colombia. En el Peru aproximadamente el 17% del area total de producci6n de batata se encuentra a altitudes hasta de 2 700 m. El Peru ofrece una rica fuente de germoplasma que se puede utilizar para desarrollar variedades nuevas mejoradas, adaptadas a climas frfos del sureste asiatico y el este africano.Pero. Con los clones seleccionados en la sede central del CIP durante el invierno se estan haciendo pruebas• de cultivo con repeticiones en dos localidades: Cajamarca (2 700 m) y Lima.En Cajamarca se sembraron en el campo 326 clones nuevos de batata del banco de germoplasma, en parcelas de 10 plantas para hacer un tamizado preliminar y seleccionar por su adaptaci6n a ambientes frios de altura. Al momento de la cosecha, se seleccionaron 66 clones para evaluarlos posteriormente en parcelas de mayor tamafio.En com paraciones hechas de una muestra de clones que tuvieron buena ac-tuaci6n durante el frio del invierno del afio pasado en Vitarte, Lima e lea (ubicados a lo largo de la costa peruana) y en las zonas altas de Cajamarca, algunos de estos clones (Tabla 7-3), demostraron no estar suficientemente adaptados como para convertirse en variedades potenciales, a pesar de su capacidad potencial de alto rendimiento. Todos los clones mostraron maduraci6n lenta (aproximadamente 7 meses desde la siembra hasta la cosecha) y una apariencia pobre de las rakes.Para hacer de la batata un cultivo atractivo para este tipo de ambiente y para ofrecer una buena alternativa al agricultor es necesario contar con una buena adap-En Cajamarca se sembraron en el cam po 326 clones nuevos del banco de germoplasma de batata en parcelas de 10 plantas para tamizado preliminary seleccion por adaptacion al clima frio de la sierra.Plan VII Tabla 7-3. Comportamiento en clima frlo de los 15 clones mas promisorios de batata. Estaci6n de inviemo en Vitarte e lea yen Cajamarca a 2 700 m de altitud  taci6n a condiciones mas frfas, precociusar como progenitores para el desarrollo dad y otras valiosas caracterfsticas agro-de generaciones nuevas de los que se se-n6micas que necesitan los agricultores. leccionen materiales mejor adaptados a Algunos clones selectos promisorios, temperaturas frfas y con caracterfsticas identificados en el germoplasma, se van a agron6micas mejoradas.Metodo tradicional de hacer fideos de almidon de batata en la provincia de Sichuan, China.Perfil del Plan: 1991L as oportunidades y problemas en la fase de poscosecha en la producci6n y uso de papa y batata continuan tomando una creciente im portancia en los pafses del tercer mundo. Sin embargo, cada cultivo tiene sus requerimientos propios. El continua incremento en la producci6n y area sembrada de papa ha generado un interes ascendente en el almacenamiento de la papa para consumo y semilla, asf coma tambien el potencial para procesamiento rustico e industrial. En el caso de la batata, la reciente disminuci6n del area sembrada en varios pafses ha inducido iniciativas para desarrollar mercados alternativos. En el Plan de Acci6n VIII, la investigaci6n interdisciplinaria, la capacitaci6n y la diseminaci6n de la informaci6n tienen el prop6sito de desarrollar y difundir tecnologfas de poscosecha, asf coma tambien fortalecer la capacidad nacional en estas areas. En 1990, estas actividades ban consistido de unos 12 proyectos de investigaci6n, un igual numero de contratos con instituciones de pafses desarrollados y del tercer mundo, nueve tesis y una serie de talleres de capacitaci6n y seminarios llevados a cabo en colaboraci6n con las redes de los programas nacionales en mas de 20 pafses en Latinoamerica, Africa y Asia. A medida que se completan los proyectos establecidos, relacionados con papa se esta dedicando una creciente atenci6n a la batata.Durante las tres ultimas decadas, la producci6n de papa ha crecido rapidamente en particular en las areas bajas de la zona tropical de la planicie indo-gangetica, los desiertos irrigados de la regi6n del Mediterraneo y de las zonas altas del este africano. Por esa raz6n se ha dado una mayor prioridad al mejoramiento de las tecnologfas de almacenamiento de la papa de consumo en condiciones calidas secas y calidas humedas. Se ban llevado a cabo experimentos en Filipinas, relacionados con el efecto del enfriamiento evaporativo sabre los inhibidores. El control qufmico de la brotaci6n se ha analizado en el Colegio Silsoe del Reino Unido. En Camerun, Egipto y Uganda se ha hecho investigaci6n sabre almacenamiento de papa. En Tailandia se ban evaluado los metodos de bajo costo para el control de perdidas en almacenamiento debidas a la polilla del tuberculo de la papa. Los cientfficos sociales ban hecho una encuesta sobre las practicas tradicionales de almacenamiento en India, con el objeto de determinar coma y por cuanto tiempo se guardan los tuberculos y para estimar las perdidas en almacenamiento. En Tailandia se llev6 a cabo un taller sobre almacenamiento para investigadores asiaticos en colaboraci6n con el SAPPRAD. La aparente disponibilidad de tecnologfas mejoradas de almacenamiento para las zonas tropicales bajas suscita preguntas acerca de la difusi6n de estos resultados, el impacto de su aplicaci6n y los problemas que todavfa hay que resolver para asegurar su uso.La investigaci6n sobre procesamiento de papa en el Peru continua poniendo enfasis en la evaluaci6n clonal de cultivares nuevos para la industria de comida al paso y bocadillos. Los metodos desarrollados en el CIP-Lima se estan utilizando actualmente en la evaluaci6n clonal de material en Filipinas y Tailandia. La investigaci6n de tesis se ha centrado en la evaluaci6n clonal (Peru), asf como tambien en el procesamiento sencillo (Kenia y Zaire). La investigaci6n socioecon6mica sob re procesamiento de papa involucr6 un trabajo de apoyo llevado a cabo por las redes PRECODEPA y PRACIPA, sobre el potencial de mercado para productos sencillos e industriales en Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala y Honduras. Tambien incluye la colaboraci6n en la preparaci6n de casos de estudio sintetizando los afios de experiencia en procesamiento rustico en India y Peru. Estos estudios permiten visualizar las importantes lecciones aprendidas, por ejemplo, la necesidad de evaluar cuidadosamente la factibilidad econ6mica inicial de tales tecnicas, asf como tambien considerar las posibles alternativas (v.gr. en almacenamiento).La investigaci6n sobre poscosecha de batata ha puesto considerable enfasis en la colaboraci6n con las encuestas basicas que incluyen el analisis de procesamiento corriente y patrones de utilizaci6n, asf como tambien los problemas ante una futura expansi6n. Mucha de esta investigaci6n tiene la naturaleza de diagn6stico, debido a una aguda escasez de informaci6n empfrica sobre estos t6picos. La necesidad de este tipo de informaci6n se basa en los resultados obtenidos de una encuesta realizada por el CIP sobre factores limitantes, habiendose encontrado que los problemas de poscosecha son mucho mas importantes que los de la producci6n misma (ver tambien el Plan de Acci6n X). El enfoque desde el agricultor hacia el agricultor, que ha tenido enorme exito en la investigaci6n en papa, ha sido adoptado para deducir las opiniones de los productores, comercializadores y consumidores, ayudando a establecer prioridades para la investigaci6n de poscosecha en batata. En Peru y China, las encuestas ban comenzado en 1987; en Argentina, Uruguay y Kenia en 1988 yen Viet Nam, Paraguay y Filipinas en 1989. Los resultados publicados a la fecha (ver tambien Plan de Acci6n X) y mas recientemente los trabajos que estan todavfa en ejecuci6n en Indonesia, India y Tailandia, sefialan la necesidad de reforzar la tendencia de estos pafses a emplear un creciente porcentaje de la producci6n de batata en alimentaci6n animal y una menor cantidad, como productos procesados para consumo humano, en un esfuerzo de expandir la utilizaci6n de este cultivo.Durante 1990 la investigaci6n sobre procesamiento de producto especffico ha puesto enfasis en las tecnicas y productos para consumo humano a nivel de aldea. Este trabajo incluye la investigaci6n sobre fideos de batata (China), hojuelas deshidratadas sazonadas, salsa de tomate y una masa de tortillas (Filipinas); hojuelas secas al sol, tiras y harina (India) y la extracci6n de almid6n de diferentes variedades de batata (Tailandia). Se ban evaluado clones promisorios de batata por sus caracteristicas de procesamiento (Peru). Una tesis para la obtenci6n del grado de Magister se ha basado en el analisis qufmico y nutricional de clones de batata para su uso en la elaboraci6n de pan (Peru). Simultaneamente, se ha llevado a cabo en Lima, Peru una rapida evaluaci6n del aspecto socioecon6mico del pan elaborado de rafces molidas crudas de batata.Una informaci6n adicional de la investigaci6n sabre procesamiento de la batata en China ha sido la documentaci6n del enorme incremento de su utilizaci6n en las tres ultimas decadas. Mas de 50% de la producci6n -unos 60 millones de toneladas al afio--se procesa actualmente, utilizandose una gran cantidad en alimento animal. &tos hallazgos sugieren que existen enormes oportunidades para expandir el procesamiento casero. En Filipinas se esta embotellando comercialmente una bebida hecha de batata. Dos clones con un contenido de mas de 30% de materia seca estan listos para ser distribuidos por el CIP a las regiones. Los promisorios resultados que se han obtenido en los analisis socioecon6micos y nutricionales del pan de batata incitan a realizar investigaci6n mas detallada sobre el aspecto econ6mico de este producto. Los planes ya se encuentran en camino para que dos estudiantes realicen el pr6ximo afio sus tesis sobre este t6pico, asi como tambien para realizar una evaluaci6n mas precisa del potencial que tiene la batata como forraje en varios pafses del tercer mundo.Las actividades de capacitaci6n del Plan de Acci6n VIII durante 1990 incluyen talleres, seminarios y estudios de tesis, asf como tambien, el desarrollo de la capacidad de los programas nacionales por media de proyectos colaborativos de investigaci6n y apoyo a las redes del PRACIPA, PRECODEPA, PRAP AC y UPWARD. En colabora-ci6n con los cientificos del CIAT e UTA se esta preparando un manual sobre pro-ducci6n mejorada, comercializaci6n y utilizaci6n de raices y tuberculos procesados. La capacitaci6n de los cientificos en los programas nacionales va a recibir una creciente atenci6n en los afios venideros.La producci6n de papa es altamente estacional en los paises del tercer mundo, particularmente en las. tierras bajas de las zonas subtropicales, donde los inviemos frios relativamente cortos permiten que se cultive (micamente durante esa epoca del afio. En consecuencia, la cosecha y com ercializaci6n de tuberculos frescos se concentra en un breve periodo de dos a tres meses. La presi6n resultante sobre el sistema de transporte, mano de obra disponible e infraestructura para la co-mercializaci6n es intensa, causando a menudo una superabundancia de papa, seguida de escasez varios meses despues. En vista de que la producci6n de papa se ha incrementado en estas ecorregiones, los agricultores en muchos paises del tercer mundo han vista la altemativa de vender el producto a bajo precio en la epoca de cosecha o de conservarla en refrige-raci6n a mayor costo para obtener mejores precios de venta. La investigaci6n y capacitaci6n del CIP sobre almacenamiento de papa se ha concentrado en la manera de aliviar los problemas asociados con el mantenimiento de papa para semilla y para consumo, por un periodo hasta de tres meses tanto en condiciones de clima calido y seco como de calido y humedo. Los promisorios resultados obtenidos en el Peru, Filipinas, Tailandia, India, Kenia, Egipto, Camerun y Uganda sefialan la necesidad de hacer estudios para su adopci6n.Peril. Los estudios sobre el manejo de almacenes de bajo costo para papa de consumo, con el objeto de reducir las perdidas de poscosecha se han llevado a cabo en la estaci6n experimental del CIP en San Ram6n. Se ha estudiado el efecto del enfriamiento evaporativo sobre las perdidas en almacenes equipados con parecles rellenas de carb6n que pueden ser humedecidas con agua. La aplicaci6n del enfriamiento evaporativo ha aumentado el promedio de humedad relativa en 70 a 83%. El promedio de las temperaturas maxima y minima del aire se redujo en 4 y 3,5°C respectivamente por medio del sistema de enfriamiento por evaporaci6n. El efecto mas importante del enfriamiento por evaporaci6n fue el de reducir la incidencia del dafio de la polilla del tuberculo de la papa (PTP). Como resultado, las perdidas de peso del tuberculo a los 60, 120 y 180 dfas se redujeron significativamente con este sistema. Los resultados tambien han demostrado que el sumergir los tubCrculos en una soluci6n de hipoclorito de sodio y espolvorearlos luego con tiabendazol para controlar las enfermedades que se producen en el producto almacenado, causadas por Erwinia y Fusarium spp. no fue efectivo y en algunos casos aument6 las perdidas por pudrici6n. Por lo tanto, estos tratamientos de desinfecci6n de los tuberculos no deben recomendarse en este sistema de almacenamiento a bajo costo. Una forma de control de bastante exito ha sido la de mantener los tuberculos fuera del almacen por dos semanas y escoger antes de almacenarlos todos aquellos que presentan sfntomas.El problema simple mas importante para un periodo de almacenamiento prolongado en los sistemas de almacenaje de bajo costo es el de brotaci6n. El supresor de brotes CIPC ha prob ado ser inef ectivo 118 Plan VIII en las pruebas realizadas, debido a la rapida vaporizaci6n del ingrediente activo, previniendo por lo tanto, su acci6n prolongada. Como resultado el periodo de almacenamiento se ha limitado a un maxima de tres meses.Reino Unido. En el Colegio Silsoe en Inglaterra, se han comparado varios metodos qufmicos con temperaturas de 17, 20 y 25°C, para controlar la brotaci6n. Los resultados confirman que el efecto inhibitorio del CIPC disminuye rapidamente a temperaturas altas. La aspersi6n de hidrazida maleica al follaje, tres dfas antes de la cosecha demostr6 tener cierto efecto inhibitorio de la brotaci6n, pero fue menos efectivo que el CIPC.Filipinas. Los estudios sobre el control de la brotaci6n tambien se han llevado a cabo en la Universidad de Filipinas-Los Banos (UPLB), con el patrocinio del CIP. En la UPLB se hizo un tamizado de plantas de la familia Labiatae para la identificaci6n de inhibidores naturales de brotaci6n. En experimentos realizados en 1990 se usaron extractos de solasi (Ocimum sanetum) y patchouli (Pogostemon cablin), a varias concentraciones (0,5, 1,0 y 2 %) y un periodo de almacenamiento de un mes. El patchouli parece mas efectivo para el control de los brotes en los ojos superiores, aunque ninguno de los extractos fue capaz de controlar el crecimiento de brotes laterales.Tailandia. En la Estaci6n Experimental de Fang se probaron 10 sistemas diferentes de almacenamiento de bajo costo, en cooperaci6n con el Instituto de In-vestigaci6n Hortfcola del Departamento de Agricultura. Se ensay6 el uso de una red de nylon para proteger los tuberculos de la polilla del tuberculo de la papa (PTP), como una alternativa al uso de productos qufmicos t6xicos por los agricultores. Los resultados demostraron que efectivamente la red de nylon protege a los tuberculos de la PTP (Tabla 8-1 ). La perdida de peso en los almacenes donde los tuberculos se cubrieron con red fue similar a la observada por los agricultores con el uso de insecticidas. La perdida de peso de los tuberculos despues de dos meses de almacenamiento estuvo entre 5,9 y 10,6% en los sistemas donde se Table 8-1. Tailandia: Perdidas ocurridas en papa de consumo en diferentes tipos de almacen ventilado en forma natural por un periodo de almacenamiento de dos meses en Fang (cultivar Spunta).Mont6n descubierto en edificio de finca (TESTIGO 1) Mont6n cubierto con paja en edificio de finca (TESTIGO 2) Mont6n cubierto con paja + insecticida (metodo de agricultor) Metodo cubierto con red de nylon+ paja Caj6n sombreado de piso levantado + red de nyl6n + cascara de arroz Caj6n sombreado con ductos de ventilaci6n + red de nyl6n + cascara de arroz Almacen redondo, parades dobles rellenas con cascara de arroz, colocado sobre plataforma levantada + cascara de arro_z Almacen redondo, paredsimple -igual que 7 Edificio de barro con techo de paja, piso levantado + red de nyl6n + cascara de arroz (almacen pequerio) Edificio de barro con techo de paja, piso levantado + red de nylon + cascara de arroz (almacen grande con puertas) OMS (0,05)  3,2 5,3Almacen de bajo costo para papa de consumo en India.protegieron a los tuberculos de la PTP, en comparaci6n con 21,1a31 % en los almacenes sin control de la PTP. Durante el periodo de almacenamiento, los precios de la papa al consumidor aumentaron de 6 a 8 baht por kilo (1 US $ = 25 baht) y este incremento fue suficiente para hacer que el almacenamiento proporcione beneficios.India . Se ha desarrollado una variedad de disefios y continua probandose en cooperaci6n con el Consejo para Inves-tigaci6n Agron6mica. En Bengala oeste se han construido 20 almacenes con la participaci6n de los agricultores, en base a las necesidades expresadas por ellos mismos. Estos almacenes se han disefiado de forma tal que sean adecuados para papa de semilla y de consumo.Una encuesta colaborativa de las practicas tradicionales de almacenamiento encontr6 que las papas se guardan frecuentemente por uno a dos meses en la 120 Plan VIII finca a nivel domestico. Los tuberculos se guardan en montones cubiertos, canastos, vasijas de barro en plataformas elevadas o debajo de la cama. Las perdidas estimadas de peso var:fan considerablemente, aunque pueden alcanzar hasta el 40% (Tabla 8-2).Varios metodos de almacenamiento de bajo costo se han comparado en coo-peraci6n con SOTEC, organizaci6n de asistencia para el desarrollo, con base en Bareilly. La perdida total de peso de los tuberculos despues de 2 meses de almacenaje en almacenes de bajo costo, ventilados en forma natural estuvo entre 7 y 8% en comparaci6n con el 3,4% de las muestras que se colocaron en una camara fria comercial (Tabla 8-3). Tambien se registr6 el regimen de temperatura en varios lugares del almacen. Las ganancias se calcularon en base a un periodo maximo de almacenamiento en cada sistema. Las ganancias netas por tonelada de papa fue- ron de US $45 para los almacenes ventilados en forma natural (A VN) con enfriamiento evaporativo (EE), US $40 para lo que se almacen6 sin EE y con ductos de ventilaci6n en almacenamiento masivo y US $10 para lo almacenado en balsas. Con excepci6n del almacenamiento en bolsas, la ganancia despues de una cam pafia de cultivo fue suficiente para recuperar la inversi6n en la cons-trucci6n de almacenes. Kenia. Ya se ha completado la inves-tigaci6n sobre almacenamiento despues de casi 15 afios de evaluaci6n en finca, en varios disefios de almacen de bajo costo. En el futuro, el trabajo se concentrara en la transferencia de la tecnologia y la evaluaci6n de clones con caracteristicas Tabla 8-3. India: Perdida total de peso (%) de papa de consumo a intervalos de almacenamiento de 4, 8 y 10 semanas, Uttar Pradesh, cerca de Bareilly.  Los estudlos sobre almacenamlento lnvestigan los efectos del perlodo de almacenamlento sobre el comportamlento de la semilla.apropiadas para ser alrnacenados en condiciones climaticas locales.Necesidad de estudios de adopcion. Durante un taller internacional sobre almacenamiento, llevado a cabo en Tailandia, las conclusiones a que llegaron los cientificos fueron que actualmente se cuenta con la tecnologfa apropiada para el almacenamiento, a corto plazo, de papa de consumo, tanto en lugares de clima calido y seco como para los de clima calido y humedo. Por lo tanto, los participantes del taller ban manifestado su preocupaci6n acerca de los factores de caracter no tecnico, tales como riesgo y credito, que segun los agricultores afecta adversamente la adopci6n de tecnologias de almacenamiento. Ellos indicaron que un analisis socioecon6mico de los problem as de caracter no tecnico relacionados con la adopci6n de tecnologias deben recibir la mas alta prioridad en la inves-tigaci6n futura. 122 Plan VIIICameron. La investigaci6n se ha realizado en tres localidades, para estudiar los efectos que tiene la duraci6n del periodo de almacenamiento sobre la etapa de posalrnacenamiento y el comportamiento de la semilla una vez sembrada en condiciones de campo. Los tuberculos se cosecharon en julio de 1989 y algunos se guardaron en almacenes de luz difusa (ALD), mientras que la otra parte se sem-br6 y luego se cosech6 en enero de 1990. En la ultima fecha de siembra (abril 1990), se usaron tuberculos de los mismo clones que se habfan guardado en ALD por periodos de ocho y tres meses. Los resultados indican que no bubo diferencias significativas con respecto al numero de plantas, numero de tuberculos y rendimientos por planta entre tuberculos almacenados por tres o por ocho meses . Se encontr6 diferencia significativa en el peso promedio de los tuberculos entre lotes almacenados por periodos diferentes. Las pruebas se van a repetir en 1991. Uganda. Los tuberculos de semilla sexual de 10 progenies se evaluaron para determinar su comportamiento en diferentes ALD. Noventa y nueve dfas despues de almacenadas, nueve de cada diez progenies estaban en buenas condiciones fisiol6gicas; la perdida de peso de los tuberculos estuvo entre 4, 9 y 11 %. Se observ6 tambien que los tuberculos mas pequefios son los que generalmente presentan mejores condiciones de almacenamiento.Egipto. Se disefi6 un experimento para probar el efecto de progenie de semilla sexual, tamafio del tuberculo ( < 5 g y 5-2 g), densidad de siembra y condiciones de almacenamiento, tales como cimara fria ( 4 °C) y almacen rustico (temperatura ambiente), sobre la productividad de los tuberculos provenientes de plantulas del cultivo de inviemo. Se encontraron ligeras diferencias entre los metodos de almacenamiento (Tabla 8-5).Se obtuvo un mayor numero de tallos por planta de los tratamientos en los que se sembraron dos tuberculos por golpe sin tener en cuenta la progenie. En general, los tuberculos semillas (provenientes de plantulas), mas grandes superaron a los pequefios y el uso de dos tuberculos por golpe produjo mayores rendimientos que los de uno solo. Serrana x DT0-33 y Serrana x LT-7 tuvieron un rendimiento relativamente mejor que las otras dos progenies. Estos resultados apoyan la conclusi6n de que los tuberculos provenientes de plantulas pueden almacenarse con seguridad a temperatura ambiental bajo condiciones rusticas por unos tres meses, como una altemativa al costoso almacenamiento en camara frfa.Pero. La industria de comida al paso y de bocadillos, se esta extendiendo veloz-  Zaire. Una tesis en el Instituto de Desarrollo Rural de Bukuvu en la regi6n de Kivu esta llevando a cabo un estudio de prefactibilidad para el procesamiento sencillo, en base al trabajo realizado anteriormente por los cientfficos sociales del CIP en Lima. Este estudio ha contado con la ayuda de PRAP AC, red que reline a los pafses de influencia francesa en el Africa central. Cerca de la mitad de la produc-ci6n nacional de Zaire (aproximadamente 120 000 t) se producen en Kivu, pero debido a que es una zona aislada de los centros urbanos, s6lo se vende una cantidad cercana al 15%. Los resultados de En afios anteriores se desarroll6 e in-la tesis (basada en entrevistas formales form6 sobre una metodologfa para eva-con comerciantes de papa en el area de a Papa frita = fritura a la francesa; hojuelas = fritura a la inglesa.El color es una caracteriatica importante cuando ae evalua la calldad de papa para fritura.producci6n de Lubero, estimados de costos y beneficios de un procesam iento sencillo, y experimentos de laboratorio), indican que la producci6n local de deshidratada, papa frita y harina de papa serfa mucho mas barata que los productos importados y por lo tanto, podrfa expandirse el volumen de papa que se podrfa vender en otras partes del pais.India. La investigaci6n sobre procesamiento de papa a bajo costo en sus formas de hojuelas, tiras y harina, continua en cooperaci6n con SOTEC. Las tasas de conversi6n y la calidad de los productos obtenidos del procesamiento de tuberculos derivados de semilla sexual ban sido similares a los obtenidos de tuberculos de las variedades comerciales.Para documentar la experiencia del CIP e instituciones relacionadas en el area -de procesamiento sencillo de papa en India, se ha preparado un caso de estudio para revisar y explicar los principios y procedimientos asociados con este tipo de 126 Plan VIII procesamiento, asi como tambien los factores socioecon6micos que ban tenido influencia en su evoluci6n en los ultimas siete a ocho afios. Los hallazgos principales incluyen lo siguiente:• El procesamiento de papa a nivel de aldea tiene ciertos requisitos basicos, incluyendo 1) una apropiada estaci6n del afio para el secado; 2) una provi-si6n de papa suficientemente barata y a tiempo; 3) capacidad de almacenamiento para dos o tres meses; 4) facilidad para operar, equipo relativamente barato; 5) credito para financiar los costos de instalaci6n y operaci6n de las plantas de la aldea y 6) un mercado potencial.• La administraci6n y arreglo institucional son igualmente sino mas importantes que los puramente tecnicos cuellos de botella. Esto ultimo se puede resolver con apoyo extemo temporal, mientras que el anterior requiere de capacitaci6n en el trabajo y coor-dinaci6n con las organizaciones publicas y privadas por un tiempo largo.Las consideraciones_ de tipo econ6mico pueden sugerir alternativas al disefio del proyecto original que pueden facilitar la difusi6n del paquete fntegro asf coma de la adopci6n de algunos componentes en particular (v.gr. almacenamiento) por usuarios en perspectiva.Edificando la capacidad nacional. Ademas de apoyar la investigaci6n sabre el aspecto socioecon6mico del procesamiento sencillo de papa en Colombia y Peru, coma parte de la red de comercia-lizaci6n de PRACIP A (ver Plan de Ac-La informaci6n que existe sabre procesamiento y utilizaci6n de la batata en los pafses del tercer mundo es notoriamente debil. En parte, por esta raz6n, la inves-tigaci6n en el CIP sabre la etapa de poscosecha de la batata ha puesto especial interes en la colecci6n de datos originales en las areas de producci6n mas importantes del pafs. Este trabajo proporciona datos mas especfficos de lugar sobre tendencias pasadas y perspectivas futuras para el procesamiento. Esto se ve como un complemento del analisis estadfstico de la producci6n, zonas ecorregionales, resultados de las encuestas sobre problemas y la revisi6n del Plan de Acci6n X de la literatura cientffica sabre este t6pico. El conjunto combinado de informaciones proporciona a los cientfficos del CIP y al personal del programa nacional, una visi6n mas clara de los productos, ci6n X), los cientfficos sociales del CIP en Lima han visitado Guatemala, Honduras y Costa Rica, con el objeto de ayudar a los investigadores locales que tratan de evaluar perspectivas futuras para procesamiento de papa. Para el pr6ximo afio se esta proyectando realizar un taller de capacitaci6n patrocinado por el PNUD, en colaboraci6n con el CIAT, con el objeto de ayudar a los programas nacionales a dirigir este asunto. En tal sentido, se han preparado varios casos de estudio y artfculos sabre metodologfa para evaluar la factibilidad socioecon6mica del procesamiento de papa, con el fin de producir un manual que se va a publicar en forma conjunta con el CIATy el UTA. procesas y tecnicas que tienen mayores probabilidades de expansi6n. Los estudios de base sabre los patrones de utiliza-ci6n se encuentran en marcha en China (en colaboraci6n con el IFPRI), Indonesia (por media del proyecto UPWARD), Viet Nam (en colaboraci6n con CGPR1), y Tailandia (mediante UPWARD). Un trabajo similar se esta realizando en Republica Dominicana, Peru, Argentina y Kenia (ver tambien el Plan de Acci6n X).China. En afios recientes se ban producido cambios drasticos en la utilizaci6n de batata. En la decada del 70, alrededor del 60% de la producci6n anual se usaba para consumo casero, otro 30% para forraje, el 5% para procesamiento y el 5% restante se dedicaba a otros usas. Las cifras para 1990 sefialan que el 40% (o mas), de la producci6n se dedica a forraje; el 10% al procesamiento para producir harina, fideos y alcohol; el 5% a otros Plan VIII usos y menos del 40% a consumo humano. Este cambio refleja, en parte, el dinamismo que se suscita en el sector industria a niveles familiar y rural en la economfa china, en respuesta a los incentivos creados por el \"sistema de responsabilidad\" domestica.De acuerdo a un estudio realizado por el IFPRI con financiamiento del CIP, la demanda de alimentos en China se va a incrementar aceleradamente entre los pr6ximos 15 af10s y una de las principales fuentes serfa la batata. Los factores claves que af ectan este escenario son la politica que adopte el gobierno para incrementar el consumo per capita de came y productos pecuarios y el precio relativo que tiene la batata en comparaci6n con el precio del mafz. Las perspectivas futuras de la batata en China parecen brillantes debido a que 1) la producci6n pecuaria, particularmente porcina se hace en finca a nivel domestico; 2) la mayor parte la producci6n de batata no entra al mercado, sino que se consume o procesa a nivel de finca y 3) los precios de la batata son menores que los de otros alimentos.Viet Nam. El estudio de baserealizado en cooperaci6n con el Centro CGPTR-ha encontrado que mas de 60% de la producci6n anual se consume como producto fresco (ver tam~ien Plan de Acci6n X). El uso de las rafces no comerciables como alimento animal es de importancia considerable. Se ha identificado y descrito una diversidad de tec--•nologfas tradicionales en el ambito rural para el procesamiento de la batata para la obtcnci6n de almid6n.Indonesia. lnvestigadores del lnsti--tuto Central de Investigaci6n en Cultivos Alimenticios en Bogor (ver tambien Plan de Acci6n X), condujeron una encuesta de diagn6stico sobre procesamiento de 128 Plan VIII batata en Java. Esta encuesta puso enfasis en la identificaci6n de productos y procesos para la transformaci6n de la batata en productos alternativos de consumo humano. El trabajo fue financiado por el UPWARD, la red regional para el sureste asiatico, con el apoyo de los especialistas en poscosecha del CIP. Los resultados indican que de la producci6n anual, 1,8 millones de toneladas se utilizan como alimento, 0,2 millones se desperdician y cerca de 40 000 t se usan como alimento animal. Los productos procesados de consumo humano que se consiguen corrientemente incluyen: rafces desmenuzadas recubiertas de caramelo (Kremes); hojuelas delgadas fritas recubiertas de caramelo (Kripic); hojuelas delgadas recubiertas de salsa picante (Kripik pedes); masa de almid6n rebanada seca y frita (Krapuk); hojuelas delgadas fritas (Chip); salsa picante (Samba!) y salsa sazonadaPreparando fideos de batata con un expulsor de almidon en la provincia de Sichuan, China.Maquinaria para el procesamiento de batata a pequena escala a nivel de aldea en la provincia de Sichuan, China.con tomate (Saos). Entre las recomendaciones hechas por los investigadores estuvo, el pedido para hacer estudios que analicen la informaci6n del mercado y la politica del gobierno sobre la importaci6n de trigo, ma:fz y otros productos agr:fcolas y como afectan ellos en el desarrollo del procesamiento de la batata.China. La investigaci6n colaborativa del CIP con la Academia de Ciencias Agro-n6micas de Sichuan (SAAS), para mejorar el procesamiento de batata a nivel de aldea se ha concentrado en la Provincia de Sichuan. Esta provincia tiene mas de 100 millones de habitantes. El area sembrada anual es alrededor de 1,2 millones de hectareas, con una producci6n total de mas de 20 millones de toneladas, mayor a la de cualquier otra provincia en China y representa alrededor de 15% de la pro-ducci6n m undial total.El procesamiento de batata a pequefia escala, para la producci6n de almid6n y fideos es de importancia considerable para la generaci6n de ingresos a nivel casero y de aldea en Sichuan. Se ban identificado tres metodos diferentes de extracci6n de almid6n: el metodo natural de precipitaci6n, el de \"liquido acido\" y el de precipitaci6n-por-agua. Las tasas tfpicas de recuperaci6n de almid6n secado al sol con el uso de estos tres metodos son de 16 a 18%, 17 a 20% y 12 a 14% respectivamente. Los procedimientos detallados de cada uno de estos metodos ban sido descritos por el grupo de investigadores del SAAS. El grupo tambien ha identificado varios tipos de equipos mejorados para el procesamiento de almid6n y fideos para cualquier lugar en China. Se esta evaluando este equipo en varias aldeas de la provincia de Sichuan.La utilizaci6n de los residuos que quedan del procesamiento de almid6n como alimento para cerdos tambien es de considerable importancia en China. En trabajos de campo realizados recientemente por investigadores chinos, con el apoyo de cientificos del CIP y del Instituto de Recursos Naturales del Reino Unido se ha encontrado que los residuos se utilizan directamente para alimentar a los cerdos o que pasan antes por un proceso de fer-mentaci6n a nivel casero. A veces los residuos se secan o se m ezclan con otros tipos de forraje, como por ejemplo, tallos de mafz o cascara de arroz. Consecuentemente, en el SAAS se van a evaluar en un futuro el uso de residuos como alimento para cerdos. En el trabajo de campo tambien se ha observado que el procesamiento de la batata en productos industriales, tales como acido cftrico, citrato de calcio, Pl an VIII Secando fldeos de batata en la provlncla de Slchuan, China. glutamato monos6dico, miel de glucosa y solventes organicos es de menor importancia. Existe un pequefio, pero creciente mercado para productos de confiterfa tales como hojuelas y caramelos.Filipinas. En un proyecto colaborativo con el Colegio Estatal de Agricultura de Visayas (VISCA), se ban identificado varios productos nuevos de batata con buenas perspectivas de mercado. Estos productos incluyen hojuelas sazonadas; hojuelas listas para freir; una mezcla para tortillas picantes que contiene harina de batata y leche en polvo; polvo para pure de batata y fideos cantoneses hechos de batata. El polvo para pure se usa como el principal ingrediente en la form ulaci6n de sopa instantanea y en la preparaci6n del desayuno tradicional. Todos los productos exitosamente pasaron la prueba de los consumidores.Tambien se ha completado una linea de procesamiento para hojuelas de batata. 130 Plan VIIISe ha desarrollado un prototipo de maquina rebanadora accionada a pedal, con una capacidad de 60 a 70 kg!hora para cortar rebanadas de 1,5 mm. Esta incluye un ensamblaje horizontal de corte que esta equipado con dos cuchillas, lo que hace posible cortar dos rebanadas por cada revoluci6n del pedal. Esta maquina se puede usar tambien para cortar tiras si se usa otro tipo de ensamblaje para las cuchillas. Para la operaci6n de pelado se ha modificado y adaptado una peladora mecanica; se trata basicamente de un cilindro vacfo de aceite recubierto de carborundum, de rotaci6n horizontal y que esta provisto de aberturas de entrada y descarga de las rafces de batata y del agua. La capacidad es de aproximadamente 100 kg/hr de rakes peladas en cantidades de 15 a 20 kg. Se ha adaptado una cocina para la operaci6n de fritura. Se esta desarrollando el proceso de tal manera que permita a los usuarios potenciales adquirir la experiencia necesaria con el equipo.El desarrollo de otros equipos tales como una mezcladora para las bojuelas sazonadas, una marmita para el procesamiento del polvo precocido y una secadora, dependera de las necesidades de los usuarios.Ya se ban dado los pasos previos para la transf erencia de tecnologfa, incluyendo la identificaci6n de los colaboradores. Simultaneamente se esta investigando sobre los productos y la com petencia ya existentes con el objeto de determinar las estrategias de comercializaci6n de estos artfculos.Tailandia. En Cooperaci6n con el Instituto de Investigaci6n de Alimentos y Desarrollo de Productos, se estudi6 en un grupo am plio de variedades, los factores que afectan la tasa de recuperaci6n en el proceso de extracci6n de almid6n. Tambien se bizo estudios sobre el uso de barina de batata y almid6n como ingredientes en el procesamiento de bocadillos y de fideos.En un proyecto con la Secci6n Agro-Industria del Departamento de Agricultura se evaluaron sistematicamente un total de 33 variedades comerciales y clones avanzados, con el objeto de determinar el contenido de materia seca, contenido de almid6n y aceptabilidad despues de frito, sancochado o cocido al vapor y asado. Esta informaci6n se va a utilizar para preparar un catalogo nacional sobre variedades de batata.Peril. El programa de mejoramiento del CIP cultiv6 clones de batata en 4 lugares diferentes y luego los evalu6 para determinar caracterfsticas de procesamiento, tales como alto contenido de materia seca y bajo grado de oscurecimiento despues de su procesamiento en hojuelas (Figura 8-1 ). Dos clones de rendimientos altos, con contenidos de materia seca de 32 y 33% ban sido considera~os para someterlos al procedimiento de limpieza de pat6genos y prepararlos para su distri-buci6n regional en el futuro.Debido al interes comercial que existe en la batata como ingrediente de productos bomeados, un trabajo de tesis para la obtenci6n del grado de Magister se ha concentrado en la evaluaci6n qufmica y nutricional de clones de batata para su uso en panificaci6n. Se analizaron un total de 444 clones para determinar azucares reductores y se seleccionaron 25. Estos clones contienen menos de 1 % de azucares reductores (sobre la base de peso seco), mas de 7% de protefna total (sobre la base de peso seco) y contenido de materia seca superior al 35% (Figura 8-2). De estos 25 clones, todos con excepci6n de tres tenfan sabor dulce despues de la cocci6n. En un paso siguiente se elabor6 pan reemplazando el 30% de la barina de trigo ( eri base a peso seco ), con rafces de batata molida cruda. Un panel de degustaci6n encontr6 que el pan resultante tenfa buena apariencia, color, sabor y textura. El nivel de dulce del clon no tuvo efecto sobre la acogida del pan que se produjo. Los valores nutritivos del pan de batata se ban determinado en pruebas realizadas para compararlo con el pan de trigo. Desde el punto de vista nutricional, se demostr6 que el pan de batata es com parable al pan elaborado con 100% de barina de trigo.Mediante un contrato realizado con la oficina de Economfa Agrfcola del Ministerio de Agricultura se ha hecho una rapida evaluaci6n del pan de batata en Lima. Los resultados indican que el precio de la barina importada y el precio y disponibilidad de batatas producidas localmente influyen enormemente en la producci6n de pan de batata. Los estimados de los costos de producci6nPlan VIII 131 o---._,_._.....r;>l_ll..__,.___~---~\"\"\"-'--t=.-m'-\"\"'<.___ . ..p:=.~oo.:.l....J.....,,.,\"'1....mL.l\"L,___\"'\"\"'-~IUL-m'-\"\"\"\".____,,,_~\"\"- Fuente: Cardenas, H. 1991 . Evaluaci6n Nutritiva/Qulmica de Cultivares lpomoea batatas (L.) Lam. de la Colecci6n de Germoplasma del CIP para Uso en Panificaci6n M.Sc., Univ. Agraria La Molina, Peru.Figura 8-2. Peru: Analisls bioqulmico comparando pan de trigo c.on pan de batata.demuestran que a pesar del elevado precio de la batata (noviembre es un periodo en que el precio de la batata alcanza un precio razonablemente alto), el pan de batata es mas barato de producir que el pan elaborado con 100% de harina de trigo (Tabla 8-7). Se tiene proyec- tado realizar el pr6ximo afio una in-vestigaci6n mas detallada sobre este t6pico.N ecesidad de evaluacion de mercado y tecnologia. Los resultados preliminares de toda la investigaci6n basica realizada sobre batatas (v.gr. en China, Tabla 8-7. Peru: Costos de producci6n comparativos entre el pan de batata y el de harina de trigo en Lima. a Para producir 1 846 unidades de pan de 32,5 g cada una, nov. 1990.b Puede no totalizar 100 debido al redondeo de cifras.Indonesia, Viet Nam, Filipinas, Peru y Argentina), apuntan hacia la necesidad de un esfuerzo colaborativo concertado por el CIP y los programas nacionales, con el objeto de estudiar cuidadosamente las perspectivas de comercializaci6n para los productos procesados de batata. Tales es-tudios pueden identificar mejor aquellos productos con mayores posibilidades de exito com ercial y ayudar a priorizar aquellas tecnologfas que ofrezcan el mayor potencial de impacto. Se esta dando la mayor prioridad a los esfuerzos para organizar tales evaluaciones.Perfil del Plan: 1991 P rogresos sustanciales se alcanzaron en la propagaci6n de papa y batata adecuadas a las condiciones de los pafses del tercer mundo. Se identificaron y distribuyeron para su evaluaci6n en varios pafses, diversos materiales geneticos con caracterfsticas especfficas apropiadas para la propagaci6n de papa a partir de semilla sexual. Tambien se ban evaluado los metodos promisorios para aumentar la eficiencia en la producci6n de semilla sexual en las areas tropicales, en ambientes de dfa corto y temperatura alta. Se ban desarrollado procedimientos seguros de prueba para determinar las caracterfsticas de la semilla de calidad de las progenies selectas de semilla sexual. El potencial para una extensiva adopci6n del uso de semilla sexual por los agricultores tambien se ha desarrollado en algunos pafses latinoamericanos. Se ban identificado nuevas alternativas para aumentar la eficiencia de los esquemas tradicionales de propagaci6n por tuberculos semillas. Los resultados que se obtengan facilitaran las actividades de hibridaci6n y el desarrollo de materiales geneticos nuevos con adap-taci6n mejorada. Las tecnicas de multiplicaci6n rapida, adaptadas de aquellas en papa ban demostrado su potencial para ser usadas en la propagaci6n de batata.Pero. La evaluaci6n de progenies de tematico para el desarrollo de progesemilla sexual se ha concentrado en la nies avanzadas con caracterfsticas me-implementaci6n de un procedimiento sis-joradas. En Lima, se evalu6 una nueva  Coaecha de tuberculos de tercera generacion provenientes de plantulas de semilla sexual de polinizaci6n abierta del clon 7XY.1 producidos en Nicaragua.combinaci6n hfurida producida bajo condiciones de campo con luz artificial, en campafias sucesivas de cultivo, asi como tambien las semillas de otros hfuridos selectos, para la producci6n de tuberculillos en camas de almacigo. Evaluaciones similares se ban realizado en San Ram6n y Lima, para la producci6n de papa de consumo utilizando tuberculos provenientes de plantulas y trasplantes de plantulas.De un total de 50 hfuridos crecidos a fines de 1989, en camas de producci6n de tuberculos a partir de plantulas, se seleccionaron 35 en base a las caracteristicas del tuberculo (color, tamafio, precocidad, uniformidad) (Tabla 9-1). Se esta produciendo semilla de los mejores hfuridos en grandes cantidades para su distribu-ci6n a varios paises con el objeto de evaluarlos en forma mas amplia. En un experimento realizado en Huancayo, en cuatro generaciones de materiales de siembra, originados de semilla sexual, utilizando un conjunto de 14 progenies, la interacci6n progenie x generaci6n no fue significativa, lo cual indica la estabilidad de rendimiento en cuatro generaciones.Estos resultados sugieren la capacidad que tienen las plantas derivadas de semilla sexual de poblaciones segregantes, para compensar las reducciones del rendimiento debidas al incremento de enfermedades trasmitidas por la semilla, despues de exposiciones sucesivas a condiciones de campo (Tabla 9-2).Tabla 9-2. Rendimiento total de papa comerciable derivada de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas de semilla sexual hasta la cuarta generaci6n. Promedio para 14 progenies, Huancayo. Tambien se evalu6 un grupo de 32 diciones de clima calido de San Ram6n progenies en base a su adaptaci6n a las (Tabla 9-3). Ambos progenitores de los condiciones contrastantes de medio am-cruzamientos anteriores tienen la particubiente de San Ram6n y Huancayo. Las laridad de producir abundantes frutos en progenies LT-8 x LT-7 y Atzimba x DTO-climas calidos, lo cual es una caracteris-28 demostraron su adaptaci6n -a las con-tica favorable. Para el ambiente frio de ChilW. Un programa de mejoramiento y evaluaci6n de progenies derivadas de semilla sexual ha dado resultados promisorios en pruebas realizadas en Wumeng y Bashang. Las mejores familias fueron 377964.5 x XY-13, LT-9 x XY-9. Las familias se mostraron sobresalientes en relaci6n a la forma del tuberculo y su mayor tuberizaci6n en comparaci6n con las progenies probadas anteriormente. En el condado de Ninglan, Yunnan, se trasplantaron plantulas de Mira (PA) y alrededor de 6 000 se sembraron con tuberculos derivados de semilla sexual.India. Progenies avanzadas de semilla sexual del programa de la Regi6n VI del CIP se evaluaron en Modipuram, Deesa y Agartala para determinar su comportamiento en varias formas de utilizaci6n de la semilla sexual (Tabla 9-4). Para la producci6n de tuberculos a partir de plantulas se evaluaron ocho familias de semilla sexual (HPS-I/67, HPS-II/13, HPS-II/67, HPS-2/13, HPS-7/13, HPS-7/67, HPS-25/13 y HPS-25/67), por siembra directa en almacigos. Todas las familias tuvieron un rendimiento promedio de mas de 5 kg/m 2 . La familia HPS-7 /13 tuvo el rendimiento mas alto de 6,2 kg/m 2 . El numero de tuberculos de plantula por metro cuadrado fue de 516 a 919. En Modipuram, los tuberculos de plantula clasificados en cuatro tamafios, al igual que los tuberculos semillas de la variedad Kufri Bahar, se evaluaron en el campo para la producci6n comercial de papa. El promedio de rendimiento de tuberculos del cultivo proveniente de tuberculos originados en plantulas estuvo entre 28, 7 y 34,2 t/ha y el cultivo con tuberculos semillas rindi6 30,8 t/ha. Los resultados indican que los tuberculos provenientes de plantulas de algunas de las familias de semilla sexual (v.gr. HPS-I/13), tuvieron mejor potencial de rendimien to que los tuberculos semillas clonales de la variedad comercial. Con el objeto de evaluar la estabilidad de rendimiento de los tuberculos provenientes de plantulas, despues de multiplicaci6n consecutiva en el cam pose hicieron pruebas utilizando tuberculos de 60 a 80 g de las generaciones C1, C2, C3 y C4 de la familia HPS-I/13. El rendimiento promedio de tuberculos estuvo entre 27,0 (C1) a 26,7 (C4) t/ha con el 69% de tuberculos comercializables en C1 a mas de 83% en C2, C3, y C4. Nose encontraron Tabla 9-4. Comportamiento comparativo de familias de semilla sexual para la producci6n de tuberculos de plantulas en las camparias de otorio (0) y primavera (P).Peso promedio Familias de (kg/m Plan IX diferencias en rendimientos que sugieran que se pueden usar tuberculos de plantulas exitosamente por varias campafias consecutivas de cultivo sin reducciones en el rendimiento.Africa. Los hfbridos de semilla sexual del CIP, prob ados para adaptaci6n y rendimiento en Agadir, Marruecos; Kalengyere y Kachwekano, en Uganda y Kafr-El Zayat, en Egipto, demostraron dar origen a cultivos excelentes, buen crecimiento de las plantas y altos rendimientos en las distintas localidades. Adicionalmente, se realizaron pruebas en finca en varias de aquellas localidades con el objeto de confirmar los resultados de la investigaci6n y estudiar las reacciones de los agricultores.En Uganda, los trasplantes de semilla sexual demostraron mejores caracteres del tuberculo y resistencia general al tiz6n tardfo que los trasplantes locales usados como testigos. Todas las progenies mostraron buen vigor de planta, con un indice de area foliar entre 3,S y 4. En una localidad, el promedio de rendimiento estuvo entre 36,8 y 49,9 t/ha en comparaci6n con 3S,4 a S4,7 t/ha de rendimiento de las dos variedades mejoradas que se cultivan tradicionalmente y que se usan como testigos. Rendimientos aun mayores se obtuvieron en una segunda localidad, donde el rendimiento de las progenies de semilla sexual fue 96% mayor que el rendimiento promedio de dos variedades mejoradas.Chile. En Osorno se produjo un total de 14,4 kg de semilla hfbrida de cuatro progenies, libres de enfermedades por medio de un contrato del CIP con el Instituto Nacional de Investigaci6n Agro- 140 Plan IX pecuaria (INIA). Se investigaron varias tecnicas nuevas de producci6n de semilla. Se demostr6 que la siembra en epoca apropiada es el metodo mas conveniente para mejorar la eficiencia de producci6n de los hfbridos de semilla sexual. Los genotipos de maduraci6n tardfa, tales como R128.6, Serrana y Atzimba mostraron disminuci6n en la duraci6n e intensidad de la floraci6n cuando se sembraron despues del 1 de noviembre en el sur de Chile (Figura 9-1 ). Utilizando polen de dos clones que llevan un gen marcador del embri6n se polinizaron flares de tres variedades de plantas madres, un dfa antes de la antesis. Se obtuvo una pequefia proporci6n de autofecundaci6n en una de las variedades de plantas madres (I-103S), pero en ninguna de las otras, cuando no se emascularon antes de la hi-bridaci6n. Varias tecnicas se han desarrollado para mejorar la eficiencia de polinizaci6n, tales como el uso de diluciones de polen, almacenamiento del polen, metodos de aplicaci6n del polen y otros, por medio de proyectos colaborativos con el INIA, los mismos que despues se han usado en la producci6n comercial de semilla sexual. La viabilidad del polen del clon LT-7 se prob6 despues de periodos de almacenamiento de cuatro, nueve, 14 y 19 dfas, a dos temperaturas -lS y +S°C. Las pruebas se realizaron tanto inmediatamente como dos a tres horas despues del almacenamiento. El polen del clon LT-7 perma-neci6 viable hasta los nueve dfas cuando se almacen6 a -lS°C, pero s6lo hasta los cuatro dfas cuando se almacen6 a +S°C.Pero. Ha sido propuesto el uso de la esterilidad masculina para producir semilla hfbrida de lineas parentales de poli-nizaci6n abierta. La segregaci6n de tipos para tetrada esteril se evaluaron en Lima por analisis de las progenies de cru- 14 nov. 28 nov.12 die. Fecha de siembra Figura 9-1. Efecto de diferentes fechas de siembra sobre el periodo de floracion de seis progenitores hibridos para la produccion de semilla sexual.zamientos entre clones que tenfan plas-m6n [Tr 8  ] (Hermsen50.3, Y-245.7, C.136 LM86-B y C.662 LM-86B) y un clon proveniente de fusi6n de protoplasto (Gal 1), como progenitor femenino. Prescindiendo de la tetrada de esterilidad masculina, la segregaci6n para este caracter fue de 100%, lo que esta indicando que los progenitores femeninos contienen el gen nuclear Tr en estado triplex o cuadruplex (Tabla 9-5).En muchos pafses tropicales hay un incremento en la demanda de los agricultores por semilla sexual de calidad. Pafses del Asia, Africa y Centroamerica han expresado sus dificultades para satisfacer esta demanda debido a las condiciones climaticas desfavorables para la producci6n de semilla sexual. Sin embargo, se han obtenido resultados promisorios por media de proyectos colaborativos con programas nacionales, para identificar materiales parentales apropiados y practicas culturales para una eficiente producci6n de semilla sexual en areas tropicales. En Lima, Peru, por me-dio de una reducci6n de la oscuridad de tres horas en la noche se han producido 2, 7 kg de semilla sexual de 36 hfbridos creciendo en macetas en el campo. Los tres cruzamientos mas productivos fueron CKF69.1 XV-2, 1-1035 x 104.12 LB y Maine 28 x TPS-13, los cuales rindieron 11,9, 7,2 y 5,3 g/planta, respectivamente. El porcentaje de establecimiento de bayas en estos cruzamientos vari6 de 72 a 90,1 %. Los valores de productividad de las combinaciones mas eficientes se parecen mucho a los que se alcanzan normalmente en el sur de Chile, en la producci6n a gran escala de hfbridos con cruzamientos selectos, lo cual indica el potencial que se puede alcanzar con progenitores mejor adaptados, bajo condiciones apropiadas de cultivo.El uso de sombra para reducir los efectos adversos de la temperatura se estudiaron durante la estaci6n de verano en Lima. Las plantas de cuatro progenitores de semilla sexual que crecieron al 50% de luz solar produjeron menor numero de flares en todos los casos, aunque la dura-Plan IX ci6n de la floraci6n se extendi6 en un 20% aproximadamente. Sin embargo, con la excepci6n de un clon progenitor (A VRDC), se obtuvo mayor cantidad de polen con igual viabilidad, de las plantas que recibieron sombra que de las que recibieron luz solar completa. El establecimiento de los frutos en cruzamientos en los que se utiliz6 Serrana como progenitor femenino, se vio favorecido por la aplicaci6n de practicas que redujeron el estres causado por el calor. En cruzamientos de Serrana y dos progenitores masculinos, el establecimiento de los frutos generalmente se increment6 cuando las plantas crecieron bajo sombra. Una respuesta completamente opuesta se obtuvo cuando se us6 LT-7 como progenitor femenino. En San Ram6n, cuando se cubrieron las plantas por seis horas, durante la parte del dfa de mayor calor (con una red que intercepta el 47% de la radiaci6n, ya sea durante todo el ciclo de desarrollo o desde la iniciaci6n de la floraci6n ), se redujo el establecimiento de flores y frutos, en comparaci6n con lo que se obtuvo de las plantas testigos que no recibieron sombra. Este efecto fue similar tanto en plantas que sufrieron estres de agua como en aquellas que recibieron suficiente riego. Sin embargo, la producci6n de po- Indonesia. En Java este, Tangkuban Prahu, 7°S, 1 400 m, se utiliz6 el clon Atzimba como progenitor femenino y los clones R128.6 y DT0-28 como progenitores masculinos, con el objeto de investigar el potencial de producci6n de semilla sexual. La floraci6n fue generalmente deficiente y los rendimientos de polen bajos, debido a la corta duraci6n del dia (horas), lluvias fuertes y vientos frecuentes. La polinizaci6n despues de una noche de lluvia requiri6 una cantidad de polen cuatro veces mayor que la requerida despues de una noche sin lluvia.En vista de que los diferentes genotipos de semilla sexual exhiben niveles variables de latencia, durante el periodo de almacenamiento, se ha desarrollado un metodo practico de prueba para predecir el potencial de vigor al momenta de la siembra. Un alto nivel de aplicabilidad de campo para determinar el comportamiento inicial de la plantula se ha obtenido utilizando el criterio de tasa de germinaci6n, el cual prueba el coeficiente de velocidad (Co V) de germinaci6n en condiciones de laboratorio, a temperaturas extremadamente altas (27,5-40°C). Esta prueba se esta utilizando corrientemente en el CIP para determinar en forma efectiva la calidad de la semilla sexual para exportaci6n a las regiones.Pero. La desigual germinaci6n de la semilla sexual observada comunmente en condiciones de ambiente tropical ha sido tradicionalmente corregida por tratamiento con acido giberelico (AG). Sin embargo, se ha demostrado con frecuencia que las plantulas que se desarrollan de semilla tratada con AG tienen un desarrollo sub6ptimo. Investigaciones previas en las que se remoj6 la semilla en una soluci6n de sal por cinco minutos y luego se sec6 o se acondicion6, mejor6 el vigor de las plantulas s6lo en el caso de aquellas provenientes de semilla que no estaba en estado de latencia. Sin embargo, las semillas recien cosechadas germinaron a alta temperatura (27-40°C), dos veces mas rapido que las tratadas con AG y las de testigos no tratados, cuando se remojaron a -1,0 MPa por periodos mas prolongados que los que se usaron prevlamente (15 contra cinco dfas). Sin embargo, el incremento de la concentraci6n osm6tica de -1 a -1,5 MPa produjo una respuesta sub6ptima. En semilla sexual que no habfa roto suficientemente la latencia (seis meses de extraida), se encontr6 que la duraci6n 6ptima y la concentraci6n osm6tica del tratamiento de acondicionamiento, varfa de acuerdo a la progenie. Un acondicionamiento osm6tico prolongado (15 dfas), fue detrimental en el caso de Atzimba x 7XY.l, porque la semilla germin6 durante el proceso de acondicionamiento, mientras que un acondicionamiento de cinco dias a -1,0 MPa fue 6ptimo para incrementar la germinaci6n a temperatura alta. Con este tratamiento se increment6 en 400% el peso seco de las plantulas, en comparaci6n con la semilla que se trat6 con AG. En la semilla sexual de Serrana x LT-7, el vigor igualmente se mejor6 con el tratamiento de remojo durante 10 dfas a -1,0 MPa asi como tambien con el de cinco dfas a -1,5 MPa. El tratamiento 6ptimo de acondicionamiento de la semilla sexual varfa de acuerdo al genotipo, probablemente en relaci6n al estado de latencia en el que se encuentra la semilla. A medida de que la latencia disminuye, la duraci6n del acondicionamiento tambien decrece. El acondicionamiento es un tratamiento efectivo para la semilla sexual, en el caso de que esta se siembre inmediatamente despues del tratamiento, porque el efecto se pierde en condiciones de almacenaje a temperaturas moderadas.Para mejorar el proceso de selecci6n para la adaptaci6n a ambientes tropicales, la calidad de la semilla es una caracteristica que debe tomarse en cuenta en las pruebas con semilla sexual. El vigor de las plantulas, medido en funci6n al tiempo requerido para que la plantula alcance el tamafio apropiado para el trasplante, podria afectar los rendimientos en pruebas donde todas la porciones de semilla se trasplantan al mismo tiempo. Por ejemplo, se ha comprobado que la progenie de Atlantic x LT-7 tiene un vigor superior de semilla porque las plantulas generalmente estan listas para el trasplante, tres semanas despues de la siembra. No obstante, cuando la semilla no ha sido producida apropiadamente, se ha almacenado por un periodo suficientemcnte largo o esta incorrectamente manipulada, su comportamiento puede ser afectado significativamente. En Lima, durante el verano se probaron 20 progenies avanzadas de semilla sexual para determinar Plan IX la emergencia de las plantulas y como testigos se utilizaron progenies selectas. S6lo cinco de las progenies mostraron niveles de emergencia y peso seco de plantulas comparables con los testigos, mientras que las semillas de las demas progenies tuvieron un comportamiento deficiente. Por lo tanto, se aconseja a los mejoradores que solamente utilicen semillas de alta calidad para probar en forma eficiente las nuevas progenies de semilla sexual.Chile. Se ban iniciado varios experimentos sobre almacenamiento por tiempo prolongado de semilla sexual producida en 1990, con el objeto de determinar el contenido 6ptimo de humedad en la semilla (en base a peso seco) y condiciones de temperatura requeridas para conservar su calidad (viabilidad y vigor de la semilla), en almacenamiento. la evaluaci6n se hizo con semilla que vari6 entre 4 a 12,5% de humedad ambiental (en base a peso seco ), a temperaturas de 30, 15 y 5°C. Los resultados preliminares, a los cuatro meses de almacenaje demostraron que la emergencia fue de 95% en todos los tratamientos, excepto cuando la semilla se almacen6 a 30°C y por encima del 8% de humedad en que ninguna germin6. Puesto que la tecnologfa para la produc-ci6n de semilla sexual esta destinada a ser usada en ambientes de clima calido, la semilla debe secarse convenientemente antes de almacenarla.Paraguay. El Programa Nacional de Papa produjo 870 kg de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas de Serrana y Atlantic x LT-7, en almacigos de la Estaci6n Experimental (IAN, CECA) y ellos la distribuyeron a varias instituciones y a los 144 Plan IX agricultores. El programa de semilla sexual esta catalizando un alentador proceso de desarrollo institucional porque involucra al agricultor y a diversos intereses agrfcolas. la distribuci6n de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas, de la Estaci6n Experimental a diversos usuarios potenciales, ha promovido la comunicaci6n entre investigadores, extensionistas, instituciones agron6micas y agricultores.Nicaragua. Los resultados de pruebas con semilla sexual en cam pos de agricultores escogidos ha demostrado que para areas com prendidas entre los 900 y 1400 m, la semilla hfbrida y de polinizaci6n abierta, de clones selectos es apropiada para la producci6n de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas en camas de almacigo. Un curso internacional sobre semilla sexual copatrocinado por PRECODEPA y el CIP se realiz6 en la sierra de Nicaragua, con el objeto de compartir la tecnologia entre los cientificos nacionales de la regi6n de la cuenca del Caribe. La tecnologfa de semilla sexual se esta adoptando rapidamente en Nicaragua donde muchos pequefios agricultores estan produciendo y comercializando exitosamente papas derivadas de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas. Para poder satisfacer la creciente demanda de semilla sexual por los agricultores nicaragilenses, el CIP ha proporcionado 3 kg de semilla hfbrida con probada adaptaci6n a las condiciones locales. Motivados por el exito inicial en Nicaragua, los investigadores de Venezuela, Jamaica y otras islas caribefias ban iniciado tambien actividades sobre el uso de semilla sexual en cola-boraci6n con los cientfficos del CIP.Tunez. Tuberculos de plantulas de 35 progenies de la prueba internacional de semilla sexual, 12 hfbridos ( cruzamientos Producci6n de tuberculos a partir de plantulaa deaarrolladaa en camaa, Eateli, Nicaragua.seleccionados por un contrato de inves-tigaci6n con Italia) y dos progenies de polinizaci6n abierta se han producido en camas de almacigo. Estos se van a evaluar para utilizarlos en el cultivo tardio (setiembre) y el temprano (noviembre), en dos localidades diferentes. La inves-tigaci6n en finca, realizada en Egipto mostr6 que el rendimiento de tuberculos provenientes de plantulas super6 a la variedad comercial en seis de las 15 comparaciones hechas. En otros seis casos, los tuberculos de plantulas produjeron tan bien como las variedades comerciales sembradas en el mismo campo. En s6lo tres casos los tuberculos de plantulas fueron menos productivos que las variedades comerciales. Los agricultores mostraron una actitud positiva con respecto al uso de tuberculos de plantulas y algunas compafiias privadas' , el Servicio de Extensi6n y la Cooperativa General de Productores de Papa ya ha comenzado a producir tuberculos de plantulas en cantidades limitadas para distribuirlos en el Delta del Nilo.Los resultados de varios casos de estudio sobre sistemas de producci6n realizados en anteriores campafias de cultivo han sido documentados con mayor amplitud. Se publicaron los casos de estudio de Filipinas y Ecuador y el estudio por contrato de los sistemas de semillas en el Reino Unido, Canaday Rolanda. En Egipto se Plan IX complet6 un articulo de evaluaci6n agro-econ6mica sobre el uso de semilla sexual y se ha publicado una serie de articulos de trabajos al respecto. Se ha iniciado una nueva actividad: \"Manejo de Sistemas de Informaci6n para los Programas de Producci6n y Distribuci6n de Semilla de Papa\", la misma que sera parte de un proyecto mas am plio para la inves-tigaci6n colaborativa sobre semilla en Ecuador.Kenia. Las tecnicas de multiplicaci6n rapida para la producci6n de semilla prebasica se estan usando rutinariamente en el programa nacional, con el em pleo de esquejes de brote y tuberculos pequefios para generar plantines madres con la finalidad de producir esquejes. Despues que los plantines ban alcanzado el estado de cinco a seis hojas, se cortan las ramas axilares (de unos 5 cm con tres hojas) y se enraizan en arena. Estos esquejes j6venes tuvieron mayores rendimientos que los obtenidos por la tecnica tradicional de esquejes de tallo. Solamente la variedad Kenya Baraka de madurez tardfa y muy vigorosa produjo bien con la tecnica tradicional de esquejes de tallo. La propagaci6n fue mas rapida cuando las plantas madres crecieron ya sea bajo condiciones de iluminaci6n suplementaria o de largo del dfa normal. Se equip6 un jnvernadero con lam paras incandescentes de 40 vatios y un aditamento para regular la duraci6n de la luz ( cuatro horns extras de luz para hacer un total de 16 horas diarias).El cultivo de tejidos ha comenzado en setiembre, para lo cual se usaron plantines recibidos del PQS Muguga, los mismos 146 Plan IX que se multiplicaron y cultivaron. Tambien se ban hecho las pruebas de rutina para detectar PS1V d en las plantas madres y en muestras que se tomaron de los esquejes enraizados.En Tigoni se han probado con exito alternativas a la tecnica de esquejes de tallo, asi como tambien, la aplicaci6n de luz extra para alargar el numero de horas del fotoperiodo normal. Como una alternativa a los esquejes de tallo, se utilizaron esquejes apicales obtenidos de esquejes de brotes y tuberculos pequefios para producir plantas madres libres de enfermedades. Tambien se esta explorando el uso de tuberculos aereos como otro metodo alternativo para la producci6n de semilla.Cameron. Se ha continuado con el seguimiento de afidos usando trampas amarillas de agua, en tres localidades de la provincia Noroeste de Cameron. En Upper Farm (2 000 m), bubo una baja poblaci6n relativa de afidos durante el afio, lo que sugiere que esta localidad es apropiada para la producci6n de semilla basica. En Babungo (1 000 m) se registr6 una poblaci6n de afidos considerablemente mayor. Sin embargo, muestras al azar de cultivares locales, recogidas de 10 campos de agricultores y de la Estaci6n Experimental mostraron sorpresivamente bajos niveles de incidencia de virus.El proyecto de la Estaci6n IRA Bambui en Camerun ha instalado facilidades para la propagaci6n de papa. Trece clones resistentes al tiz6n tardfo, enviados de Lima, se multiplicaron en el invernadero de estas instalaciones, utilizando esquejes apicales de tallo y esquejes de brotes.Uganda. En la estaci6n de altura del Instituto de lnvestigaci6n de Cultivos en Kalengyere (2 500 m), se ha implementado un programa de tres etapas para la producci6n de semilla basica. Los dos linajes iniciales de semilla elite se produjeron utilizando dos esquemas desarrollados localmente. En 1991 se espera que el programa genere unos 100 000 tuberculos libres de virus de 20 000 esquejes de tallo. Continuan los estudios sobre la dinamica de las poblaciones de afidos, asi como tambien, la incidencia de plagas y de enfermedades originadas en el suelo. La informaci6n preliminar sobre la presencia de Midos y el incremento de la poblaci6n indican que los afidos se hicieron presentes a fines de abril, despues de las lluvias, con el incremento de la temperatura y alcanzaron un maximo durante los meses de junio a julio. Despues de esta epoca el numero de afidos se redujo enormemente y entre setiembre y marzo s6lo bubo pocos de ellos.Colombia. La producci6n de semilla prebasica de los cultivares colombianos ICA-Purace, Parda Pastusa, Monserrate, Capiro, ICA-Narifio, ICA-Guantiva e ICA-San Jorge se inici6 utilizando plantas in vitro, plantas madres y esquejes de tallo. Tambien se propag6 el cultivar Andinita. Las pruebas para la detecci6n de virus realizadas por medio de la tecnica de ELISA en 21 muestras de diferentes categorfas de tuberculos-semillas de las zonas altas de Colombia mostraron una incidencia muy baja de virus, especialmente de PVS en la semilla obtenida de los agricultores. Estos resultados confirman la informaci6n previa de que los tuberculos semillas (certificados o no), producidos a 3 000 m de altitud, o por encima de esta, son de buena calidad. En Colombia, se continua apoyando el proyecto de Producci6n de Antisueros para los paises miembros de la red PRACIP A.Venezuela. Un estudio sobre la iden-tificaci6n y captura de c'ifidos (tesis para la obtenci6n del grado de Magister), ha continuado con el seguimiento de la di-seminaci6n y dinamica de poblaciones de importantes especies vectoras de virus.Paraguay. La investigaci6n sobre producci6n de tuberculos-semillas se rea-liz6 en las Estaciones Experimentales de Caacupe y N. Talavera. Se hicieron estudios de micropropagaci6n y mul-tiplicaci6n rapida con el objeto de refinar la tecnologfa para producir tuberculossem illas de papa de alta calidad. En la Estaci6n de Caacupe se produjeron alrededor de 6 000 tuberculos de alta calidad.Pero. En estrecha colaboraci6n entre el Instituto Nacional de Investigaci6n Agraria INIAA, las Universidades y la organizaci6n no gubernamental Arariwa se produjeron 1 208 t de semilla basica, para los participantes del sistema nacional de producci6n de semilla basica. Las actividades de semilla en el Peru estan concentradas en cuatro areas: selecci6n de materiales geneticos mejorados, agronomfa de la producci6n de semilla, cficiencia de la micropropagaci6n y estudios sobre la diseminaci6n de virus en los campos de semilla de papa.Bolivia. El programa de semilla prebasica de PROINP Ase inici6 en marzo de 1990. Durante el primer afio se usaron tecnicas de multiplicaci6n rapida en cl invernadero, con el objeto de multiplicar nueve variedades nativas que fueron limpiadas en el CIP. La tecnica se us6 en plantines derivados de cultivos in vitro y de tuberculillos de primera generaci6n producidos en el invernadero.Jamaica. Plantines derivados de cultivo de tejidos se micropropagaron y transfirieron a un invernadero a prucba de insectos. Las pruebas para la detccci6n de virus demostraron una contaminaci6nPlan IX relativamente baja (1 %). La poblaci6n de afidos en el campo tambien fue estudiada.China. En la provincia de Yunnan se inauguraron tres unidades nuevas con equipo y personal adecuados, para el trabajo en cultivo de tejidos y propaga-ci6n rapida que sera utilizado en la pro-ducci6n de semilla basica y elite. En 1990 se produjeron y almacenaron untotal de 100 000 tuberculos-semillas de cultivares mejorados y se espera cosechar 55 000 minituberculos. El cultivo de meristemas despues de la termoterapia se ha utilizado para eliminar virus pat6genos de las variedades locales mas comunes, Mira y Purple Skin. Mas de 400 plantines in vitro han pasado por la prueba de ELISA para detectar PVX, PVY y PLRV con el objeto de utilizarlos en propaga-ci6n rapida. En la provincia de Guandong se continu6 con la producci6n a gran escala de tuberculos in vitro en la Fabrica Biotecnica Zhongshan. Las condiciones tecnicas tales como temperatura, intensidad de luz y control de la contaminaci6n se han mejorado. Se espera que la meta trazada por el programa, de producir un mi116n de microtuberculos se alcanzara en 1991.En Benguet, Filipinas, y en Yunnan y Sichuan, China, se han llevado a cabo encuestas sobre presencia de enfermedades vir6ticas y su influencia en el rendimiento. En Filipinas se realizaron las encuestas en 63 fincas a una altitud de 2 000 a 2 300 m. Muestras de hojas con sintomas visuales se probaron con la tecnica de ELISA y los datos obtenidos demuestran que algunos agricultores habian guardado sus semillas de Granola por 12 afios. Los virus mas prevalentes fueron PVX, PVS y una mezcla de PVX Y PVS. No se encontr6 PVY y se encontr6 que 50% de las fincas estaba libre de virus. En China se han realizado las encuestas en 157 fincas en cuatro ciudades/ condados de Yunnan y tres condados de Sichuan. Los virus PLRV y PVY estan ampliamente diseminados en Yunnan; el PVS y PVM en Wenchuan y el PVY conjuntamente con el PLRV en Liangshan y la regi6n Wanxian de Sichuan. Los clones locales de Yunnan estaban mayormente infectados con PVS y PLRV.Efectos del Meclio Ambiente sobre la Floracion Pero. Se ban realizado experimentos en Lima, San Ram6n, Tumbes y Cajamarca queen conjunto representan una amplia gama de fotoperiodos. En todas las localidades se han evaluado las respuestas en el desarrollo de cultivares selectos de batata bajo condiciones naturales de campo. Estas evaluaciones se han complementado con un experimento bajo con-148Plan IX diciones controladas de fotoperiodo y luz. El experimento involucr6 el uso de luz roja filtrada, infrarroja y azul asi como tambien de Iamparas incandescentes (niveles altos de rojo) y lam paras fluorescentes (niveles altos de luz infrarroja). Aunque la batata esta considerada como una planta de dia corto, los resultados de estos experimentos preliminares indican que los cultivares pueden tener respuestas de dia corto, dia largo, neutro e intermedio.Filipinas. Se estan explorando las posibilidades de utilizar tecnicas de multi-plicaci6n rapida para la propagaci6n de batata. El estudio tiene la intenci6n de desarrollar un paquete tecnol6gico para el uso de esquejes de un solo nudo (EdUSN), para la producci6n de batata y evaluar la influencia de varios factores sobre el enraizamiento, crecimiento y rendimiento, tanto en las camas de pro-pagaci6n como en el cam po. Se ban evaluado 39 clones usando Ed USN.Kenia. En la Estaci6n Experimental de Mtwapa, localizada en la costa, se utilizaron esquejes apicales obtenidos de una cama de propagaci6n y de campos de m ultiplicaci6n, para evaluar algunas practicas agron6micas relacionadas al establecimiento de la planta, crecimiento y rendimiento de batata. En Mtwapa, tambien se ha investigado sabre varias practicas tendentes a mejorar la eficiencia de propagaci6n de la batata. El hecho de extraer las hojas de esquejes apicales (dejando s6lo los foliolos j6venes del apice ), ha proporcionado mayor numero de rafces comerciables por planta, rendimiento bruto y mayor rendimiento comerciable en la var. IIT A 222/77. Esta variedad tiene un mejor comportamiento que la variedad local Mtwapa 8 tan to en su grado de comercializaci6n coma de rendimiento bruto. Similarmente, se promovi6 el desarrollo precoz del follaje, produciendose un follaje completo a los 43 dfas de la siembra, cuando no se extrajeron las hojas extendidas de los esquejes al momenta de la siembra. La variedad IITA 222/77 cubri6 el suelo con mayor rapidez y produjo mas rafces a lo largo de los vastagos rastreros, en comparaci6n con la variedad local. Por lo tanto la variedad IITA puede cosecharse acondicionando o cosechando solamente las rafces grandes para luego cosechar las rafces pequefias a medida que van alcanzando el tamafio conveniente. Sin embargo, parece que la piel de las rafces es muy delicada y sensible a lesionarse durante y despues de la cosecha.Se ban equipado instalaciones en la Secci6n de Fitopatologfa de Muguga para limpiar todo el germoplasma keniata a usarse en las pruebas de evaluaci6n y propagaci6n. Se esta utilizando la termoterapia para producir los primeros plantines sanos por media de cultivo de puntas de meristemas. Estas facilidades se podran usar en el futuro para el germoplasma de papa y batata que vienen de otros programas de la Regi6n.Las evaluaciones realizadas por el agricultor son parte importante de la investigaci6n que sobre papa se hace en Bolivia.Perfil del Plan: 1991 L as actividades del Plan de Acci6n tuvo dos enfoques principales 1) investigaci6n sobre las necesidades y evaluaci6n del impacto por medio de estudios sobre caracterizaci6n, comercializaci6n, demanda y utilizaci6n en los sistemas alimentarios y 2) fortalecimiento de la capacidad de investigaci6n nacional por medio de cursos de capacitaci6n, talleres y conocimientos que se adquieren trabajando en investigaci6n colaborativa. El Plan de Acci6n X comparte tambien los conocimientos por medio de libros, informes, artfculos de conferencias y materiales de capacitaci6n.La evaluaci6n de necesidades para el cultivo de la batata, es un aspecto al que se le ha dado un enfoque especial y los resultados indican la abrumadora importancia que tiene la batata en China y aunque en considerable menor grado en otros paises asiaticos. Los datos agroecol6gicos demuestran que el cintur6n subtropical que se extiende desde el norte de India hasta la parte sur y central de China es el area mas importante de producci6n de batata y donde se cultiva en verano o en otofio. Grandes cantidades de batata, en zonas de China de clima templado se producen como cultivo importante de verano. La batata se cultiva tambien en forma extensiva en las zonas tropicales humedas del sureste asiatico, en Oceania y en las praderas de clima subhumedo en el este y sur del Africa. La batata se adapta mejor en areas elevadas y es probable que datos mas precisos revelaran la jmportancia que tienen los ambientes tropicales de elevaci6n media.Aunque la batata se adapta ampliamente a ambientes diferentes, hay tres sistemas alimentarios principales que es tan asociados con el cultivo 1) sistemas extensivos de lluvia y barbecho, en los cuales la batata se cultiva como alimento combinado basico o basico estacional que se comercializa en pequefia escala; 2) sistemas intensivos, a menudo irrigados en los cuales la batata es un cultivo comercial importante que se comercializa en grandes centros urbanos y 3) sistemas de huerto casero en los cuales la batata es uno de los muchos cultivos de pequefia escala que se cultivan para consumo domestico. La encuesta global sobre los problemas inherentes, pone en relieve la necesidad de desarrollar mercados alternativos y utilizaci6n de la batata, en caso de que estos sistemas incrementen la producci6n. Los casos de estudio en paises especificos sobre comercializaci6n y demanda de batata en Argentina y Filipinas sefialan la necesidad de hacer investigaci6n sobre procesamiento, con el objeto de generar demanda adicional de este producto.El trabajo sobre evaluaci6n de necesidades para el cultivo de papa tambien ha continuado. Un analisis estadistico en serie-tiempo, de las ultimas tres decadas, sefiala el enorme crecimiento de la producci6n en Asia y que constituye mas de 75% de papa cultivada en los pafses• .del tercer mundo. La encuesta sobre los problemas que se presentan sefialaron como de mayor prioridad el material de siembra, comercializaci6n y demanda y el control de virus.A nivel de pafs, la investigaci6n relacionada con la semilla en Bolivia se ha concentrado en la caracterizaci6n varietal uso y practicas de producci6n y especialmente el conocimiento del agricultor para el manejo y reaprovisionamiento de la semilla, como base para el desarrollo de un esquema apropiado de producci6n y distribuci6n. El proyecto de Semilla e Investigaci6n en Papa (SEINP A), del Peru, concentra la mayor parte de sus esfuerzos en desarrollar sistemas de distribuci6n de semilla en la sierra sur y norte.Los estudios sobre comercializaci6n de la papa han puesto enfasis en la producci6n de tecnicas relacionadas con la metodologfa del aprendizaje. Dos amplios casos de estudio se llevaron a cabo en Indonesia y Republica Dominicana. Se ha preparado tambien una sfntesis de los resultados obtenidos para el Africa sub-sahariana.El Plan de Acci6n continua prestando mayor atenci6n a la capacitaci6n nacional en investigaci6n sobre sistemas alimentarios tan to en la modalidad de talleres formales y cursos, como en la adquisici6n de experiencia por medio del trabajo y las actividades que realizan UPWARD y PRACIP A.A medida que la disponibilidad de recursos para investigaci6n agron6mica se hace cada vez mas escasa y que los efectos negativos de la intensificaci6n de la agricultura sobre los recursos naturales se viene entendiendo mejor, existe una creciente necesidad de analisis de las ecologfas y sistemas de cultivo en que se producen papa y batata, asf como tambien de los sistemas alimentarios mas amplios y la politica ambiental que tiene fuerte influencia sobre los cambios resultantes de la tecnologfa. La caracteri-zaci6n de los sistemas alimentarios busca reducir esta brecha del conocimiento e identificar los problemas prioritarios y necesidades de investigaci6n comprometiendo a los usuarios en el proceso de diagn6stico.La evoluci6n de las necesidades y el establecimiento de prioridades son particularmente importantes para la batata, cultivo que ha recibido muy poca aten-ci6n de investigaci6n sistematica en comparaci6n con la mayorfa de los cultivos alimenticios importantes en el mundo. Es por esta raz6n, que el plan de acci6n requiere poner enfasis en los estudios de evaluaci6n de las necesidades en batata. 152 Plan XA nivel global las estadfsticas de la Organizaci6n de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentaci6n (FAO), se ban usado para identificar las tendencias en la localizaci6n y evoluci6n de la producci6n. Una encuesta administrada por el CIP identific6 los principales problemas para aumentar la producci6n y utilizaci6n, asf como las principales zonas agroecol6gicas para la producci6n de batata en los pafses del tercer mundo.Estadisticas de la FAO. El analisis de los datos revisados de producci6n para el periodo 1961-1988 demostr6 que el 90% de la producci6n mundial de batata esta en Asia y mas de 80% unicamente en China. Siete de los pafses de m~yor pro-ducci6n de papa estan en Asia y 10 pafses son los responsables de 98% del incremento en la producci6n de batata en el tercer m undo en las ultimas tres decadas.Estos hallazgos sugieren que la demanda por tecnicas nuevas va a ser probablemente muy fuerte en Asia, cuna de la vasta mayorfa de productores y consumidores de los artfculos que tales tecnicas puedan producir.Zonas agroecologicas. Aunque la in-vestigaci6n para el diagn6stico en batata ha comenzado s6lo recientemente, la dis-tribuci6n agroecol6gica del cultivo puede ser ampliamente caracterizada. La Tabla 10-1 resume la distribuci6n del cultivo en los distintos continentes y su localizaci6n en 8 zonas agroecol6gicas, de acuerdo a la clasificaci6n de climas de Koppen. Considerando que China domina la pro-ducci6n mundial (80%), tambien se cal-cula la distribuci6n excluyendo a este pafs.Cuando se incluyen los datos de China la producci6n en ambiente subtropical (Ca) es muy import~nte, como ocurre con la papa. En lugares donde se cultiva papa durante el inviemo, la batata constituye principalmente un cultivo de verano ode otofio. Una excepci6n es el extremo sur de China donde aproximadamente 10% de la producci6n de batata se cultiva durante las estaciones de otofio e inviemo. Los datos provisionales sefialan que mas de 25% de la producci6n de batata en China proviene de la zona templada especialmente de la parte baja del valle del do Amarillo en la provincia de Shandong.Si los calculos excluyen los datos de China, tanto los climas calidos hllmedos (Am+ Af, como los de la zona semiarida (Aw) adquieren importancia: Am + Af en el sureste asiatico, Aw en Africa. Es probable que estos estimados para la zona tropical hllmeda y semiarida incluyan algunas areas de producci6n de elevaci6n media. La batata generalmente se cultiva en tierras elevadas, a altitudes entre 500 y 2 000 m. Esto sugiere que las zonas Af, Tabla 10-1. Distribuci6n del porcentaje de producci6n de batata (1986-88)  PlanX 153Am, y Aw pueden en cierta form.a estar sobrestimadas y que la categorfa de altura (Cb), este probablemente subestimada. Los ambientes aridos (BW y BS), son de importancia limitada para la batata.Encuesta del CIP sobre factores limi,tantes. Un grupo de cientfficos sociales y biol6gicos ha realizado una encuesta entre el personal de los programas nacionales, con el objeto de obtener datos sobre problemas agron6micos, biol6gicos y socioecon6micos especfficos de cada localidad que se presentan ante la expan-si6n de la producci6n y uso de la batata. Se les pregunt6 acerca de la importancia de 73 problemas especfficos agrupados en 12 categorfas. Durante 1990 se incorporaron a la base de datos existente 20 encuestas de 22 lugares adicionales. Como resultado, la muestra final consiste Los cientfficos de los programas nacionales sefialaron los problemas de poscosecha como los mas importantes (Figura 10-1 ). La comercializaci6n, demanda y los problemas ambientales se vieron como los factores limitantes mas importantes para una mayor producci6n de batata. La variedad, enfermedades bacterianas y fungosas (con una excep-ci6n muy importante), los nematodos y los insectos se consideraron de menor o ninguna importancia cuando se tomaron en grupo o separadamente como problemas individuales. El material de siembra y el almacenamiento ocuparon un lugar intermedio de importancia.  Los resultados de las encuestas sobre factores limitantes se presentaron y discutieron en las reuniones del plan de acci6n durante 1990, con el objeto de integrar mejor los proyectos de investi-gaci6n y las prioridades, en raz6n a las necesidades percibidas en los pafses del tercer mundo. Las estadfsticas sabre pro-ducci6n, los datos agroecol6gicos y las respuestas a la encuesta sabre factores limitantes se estan integrando en estudios mas amplios para obtener un conocimiento mas claro de estas necesidades.India. Alrededor de 80% de la produc-ci6n de batata en India, proviene de las planicies indo-gangeticas en la zona norte subtropical ( clima Ca). La batata se maneja generalmente como cultivo irrigado de la estaci6n lluviosa, aunque tambien se utilizan pozos tubulares para el riego. La siembra se realiza enjunio-julio y l!i cosecha entre noviembre y diciembre. En la mayorfa de las rotaciones, la batata es precedida por trigo o por un cultivo de pastura seguido de trigo. Las tres variedades mas importantes que se cultivan en la zona son Dholi, Kali-Satha y Mungia; las dos primeras son precoces (70 a 80 dfas), mientras que Mungia madura entre 110 y 120 dfas. La preparaci6n de la tierra se hace antes de la llegada de las lluvias en la epoca de los monzones. Algunos agricultores aplican fertilizante nitrogenado al momenta de la siembra, pero aun asf el material de siembra es el elemento mas costoso. Durante el periodo de cultivo se requieren generalmente dos deshierbos manuales. Despues de la cosecha, las rafces se limpian, se recortan las mechas terminales y se clasifican. Casi toda la producci6n se comercializa en mercados locales y en Delhi. Sin embargo, todos los agricultores consumen el producto en pequefias cantidades en forma de bocadillos o de hortaliza.Los principales factores limitantes identificados por los agricultores fueron la escasez de material de siembra, altos costos de los vastagos semillas, insectos, maduraci6n tardfa de las variedades, malezas y ratas. Los problemas de demanda/comercializaci6n incluyen la falta de productos procesados, disponibilidad limitada, precios inestables y problemas gastricos/flatulencia asociados con el cultivo.La red asiatica de UPWARD (Las Perspectivas del Usuario en Relaci6n con el Desarrollo de la Investigaci6n Agro-n6mica). La investigaci6n del UPWARD esta concentrada en tres areas principales: 1) estudios basicos sobre batata; 2) consumo de batata, babitos alimentarios y nutrici6n y 3) utilizaci6n de poscosecha y comercializaci6n.Los estudios basicos intentaron encontrar informaci6n sabre la producci6n local de batata o dentro del contexto de los sistemas alimentarios en los diferentes pafses. Se desarrollaron y fundaron proyectos para Filipinas, Nepal, Tailandia, Sri Lanka y Viet Nam. Aunque Asia y el Pacifico Sur m uestran gran diversidad en los sistemas de producci6n de batata, se pudo notar la existencia de patrones generales. Se identificaron tres sistemas asiaticos: 1) producci6n extensiva con insumos deficientes; 2) produc-ci6n intensiva con suficientes insumos y 3) producci6n en huerto casero o de econicho especializado.La producci6n de batata no se puede separar completamente del sistema alimentario con base en el arroz, donde la Plan X batata cumple un rol secundario, pero integral. Rara vez se considera el cultivo como fuente de alimento de primera necesidad, con excepci6n de las poblaciones primitivas tribales que habitan areas remotas montafiosas. Sin embargo, la batata cumple muchas funciones, tales como el control de la erosi6n, utilizaci6n de espacios marginales, ingresos extras para la mujer y alimento para el ganado. Crece en muchos sistemas de cultivo (cultivo de relevo, cultivo asociado, cultivo mezclado y de huertos interiores).El mas abrumador factor limitante a nivel de finca es el gorgojo Euscepes postf asciatus. Aunque el CIP y otras agencias estan invirtiendo mucho en programas de mejoramiento para desarrollar resistencia natural al gorgojo, los resultados obtenidos de la investigaci6n de UPWARD indican que en Asia ya se han descubierto formas de \"vivir con el gorgojo\", mientras todavfa se obtengan niveles satisfactorios de producci6n (el obtener cosechas maximas, es rara vez el mayor objetivo del productor de batata). Los metodos de control incluyen el cul-tivo de batata en tierras anegadas, ya sea despues de arroz o inundando especfficamente un area para eliminar la plaga; utilizando variedades precoces (v .gr. de tres meses hasta la cosecha) o cosechando con anticipaci6n y utilizando las raf ces infestadas como alimento animal (especialmente puercos).El trabajo de cam po en Filipinas revel6 que la batata es un \"cultivo de mujeres\" o sea que las mujeres son las principales productoras y saben mas acerca de todos los aspectos del cultivo que los hombres. Con excepci6n de poner cercos en los huertos, lo que es \"trabajo de hombre\", la mayor parte de las operaciones agrfcolas la realizan las mujeres. La batata se cultiva a menudo en micro ambientes marginales que no pueden ser usados para otros cultivos.Estudios comparativos sobre consumo han demostrado que la batata tiene diferentes funciones dieteticas entre los diferentes grupos de consumo, en las diferentes epocas del afio (Figura 10-2). Estos hallazgos indican que no se puede generalizar en relaci6n al tipo de con-Frecuencia relativa de consumo de ralces de batataimplica que se consume batata varias veces (hasta 3) por dla. Mediano (M) implica consumo regular varias veces por semana. Bajo (B) implica consumo infrecuente o ninguno. sumo de la batata. En la dieta de los filipinos, la batata sirve como 1) alimento de primera necesidad; 2) alimento neutro ode tiempo de necesidad o hambruna); 3) fuente secundaria o estacional de energfa y 4) alimento de diversificaci6n ode suplemento nutricional.En Filipinas la batata es un alimento de primera necesidad s6lo para las minorfas culturales localizadas principalmente en tierras ancestrales en las islas del norte. La batata contribuy6 hasta en 80% con el abastecimiento de alimento anual entre los ifugaos en la d~da del 60. Se conoce muy poco sobre el consumo de batata como alimento basico; sin embargo, parece que a medida que se expanden las vfas de comunicaci6n y la mercantili-zaci6n, los agricultores y consumidores cambian a otros cultivos, especialmente al arroz.La reputaci6n de la batata como alimento neutro, particularmente durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, B.a revivido como resultado del terremoto de 1990 en Filipinas. El abastecimiento de arroz de las tierras bajas se cort6 y cuando los precios del arroz subieron, hubo un correspondiente incremento del area sembrada de batata. En Luz6n como en muchas partes de Asia, la batata se siembra a menudo despues del arroz como cultivo fuera de epoca. Durante el periodo de cosecha de batata, el consumo aumenta dramaticamente a casi dos raciones diarias. Sin embargo, el bocadillo es probablemente la forma mas comun de consumo de la batata en Filipinas. Esta utilidad descalifica en algo la tesis de \"producto inferior\", puesto que los bocadillos de batata son muy apreciados por todos los estratos social es.Los estudios de posproducci6n ban constituido el aspecto mas importante para toda la investigaci6n basica del UPWARD en Tailandia, Filipinas, Nepal y Sri Lanka. En Indonesia, el programa nacional realiz6 un estudio especial sobre procesamiento y comercializaci6n de productos derivados de la batata. El estudio revel6 que mas de 2 ()()() toneladas de batata se procesaron anualmente en las zonas oeste y central de Java. Por lo menos se han desarrollado siete productos en base a batata. El principal factor limitante para el procesamiento industrial fue la falta de un seguro abastecimiento de materia prima fresca.Para la caracterizaci6n de los sistemas alimentarios, los esfuerzos se han concentrado en dos areas principales 1) desarrollo de una base de datos sistematizada sobre el cultivo usando la fuente de datos de la FAO, el conjunto de datos nacionales desagregados y la literatura de la regi6n y 2) ayuda a los investigadores en la ejecuci6n de encuestas de los agricultores batateros para entender mejor los sistemas de producci6n y utilizaci6n, los problemas asociados y las oportunidades de investigaci6n. En Kenia ya se com-plet6 y analiz6 una encuesta conjunta realizada en 24 distritos por el personal del programa nacional y el CIP. Los agricultores se seleccionaron en una secci6n transversal de regiones geograficas y zonas agroclimaticas (fabla 10-2). La batata se cultiva en tres areas m uy definidas de Kenia, siendo la mas importante, la regi6n oriental hasta las vertientes del lago Victoria; es una zona densamente poblada de elevaci6n media (1300 a 1 900 m). La complejidad de las \"tierras elevadas tropicales\" de la enorme clasificaci6n agroecol6gica descrita anteriormente. El segundo lugar en importancia lo ocupa el area de tierras elevadas de Kenia central. La batata se cultiva tanto para consumo humano como para alimento animal. La tercera area importante incluye los cinturones aridos del centro y la costa de Kenia. La batata es actualmente un cultivo relativamente menor en esta area, pero como la presi6n de poblaci6n crece, el gobierno esta interesado en promocionar cultivos que aseguren el alimento. Aunque la batata esta clasificada como \"cultivo de subsistencia\" en Kenia, la Figura 10-3 indica que tambien constituye una importante fuente de ingresos para muchas familias rurales de escasos recursos. La salida mas comun son los mercados locales, donde las mujeres venden la batata para hacer frente a sus necesidades mas inmediatas. El cultivo se 158 Plan X almacena sobre el suelo y se puede cosechar frecuentemente y vender en pequefias cantidades por un periodo largo de tiempo. La frecuencia de las ventas es comunmente de una a dos veces por semana.Los mas importantes factores limitantes que tienen que afrontar los agricultores es tan considerados en la Figura 10-4, la misma que muestra tanto el porcentaje de agricultores que sefialan cada proble-ma, como el promedio de severidad sobre una escala de 0 a 3. La desagregaci6n de estos datos demuestra que ciertos problemas estan asociados con diferentes areas. Los topos son un problema en areas frias hllmedas. En las areas semiaridas los mayores problemas son la sequfa, los gorgojos y la escasez de material de siembra al comienzo de la estaci6n seca.Los agricultores en Kenia cultivan una amplia diversidad de batatas nativas. Se Plan X han registrado descriptor~ morfo16gicos para 505 variedades de batata en campos de los agricultores y 220 variedades en colecciones de la Estaci6n Experimental. Se ha hecho un analisis preliminar de este material. La mayorfa de los agricultores cultiva 3 a 7 variedades, generalmente todas en el mismo campo. Cullivan variedades de piel roja, pulpa blanca ode piel blanca y pulpa blanca y prefieren tipos de pulpa firme y moderadamente duke.La caracterizaci6n de los sistemas alimentarios y la evaluaci6n de las necesidades de investigaci6n han proporcionado una visi6n del cultivo en Latinoamerica y El Caribe.Como se muestra en la Tabla 10-1, las tierras bajas de la zona tropical ( clima Aw), son el ambiente mas apropiado para la batata en Latinoamerica, donde se encuentra aproximadamente el 46% de la producci6n. Este ambiente incluye gran parte del noreste de Brasil, norte del Paraguay, partes del Peru y gran parte del Caribe y se caracteriza por tener el potencial para producir durante todo el afio. Sin embargo, el estres por sequia podrfa constituir un problema en los lugares donde no se cuenta con irrigaci6n durante ciertas epocas del afio y por lo tanto, el cultivo se restringe. El gorgojo de la batata es prevalente, especialmente en los sistemas de barbecho no irrigado. Dentro de estas condiciones subhumedas la batata crece en una variedad de sistemas de cultivo que incluyen el de barbecho con poca inversi6n (en monocultivo como cultivo de rotaci6n y de cultivo asociado) y el de riego, para cubrir los espacios desocupados en los margenes 160 Plan Xdel campo y como seto vivo. La batata tambien es comun en los huertos caseros donde se cultiva junto con una serie de otras plantas y arboles; se cosecha de acuerdo con las necesidades, manteniendo la misma planta en producci6n por mas de dos afios.La zona subtropical abarca mucho de lo que se conoce como el cono sur de Latinoamerica. Es un sistema grande que comprende la zona central de Argentina y Uruguay y puede llamarse \"sistema templado de barbecho\", el cual esta determinando por inviernos frfos que no permiten la producci6n de batata mas que en cierta epoca del afio. El problema mas importante en estas condiciones es la enfermedad conocida como pudrici6n del pie (Plenodomus destruens), que infecta a la batata en las camas de propagaci6n, en el campo durante el cultivo yen poscosecha mientras el producto permanece almacenado.Son pocos los problemas reportados por los agricultores en relaci6n con plagas y enfermedades en climas aridos, pero la falta de una adecuada irrigaci6n puede causar estres por sequfa, especialmente durante la siembra ya veces los suelos en las zonas aridas tienen concentraciones altas de sales, como ocurre en la costa peruana.Aunque la batata parece ser de poca importancia en las tierras bajas hllmedas de la zona tropical del bosque lluvioso amaz6nico, tiene sin embargo, un rol en los sistemas de producci6n de las islas surefias del Caribe que tienen el mismo tipo de media ambiente.Se ha visto que la batata es un cultivo sumamente versatil, que se adapta a diferentes clases de sistemas alimentarios. La batata se encuentra en tres sistemas principal es.Los sistemas metropolitanos que vinculan a los productores comerciales de alimentos en las areas rurales con una gran concentraci6n de consumidores urbanos, sean estos consumidores del producto fresco o procesado. Los ejemplos incluyen a Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Asunci6n y Lima, a pesar de que la batata no es un alimento basico general en el sector urbano de ninguna de estas areas. Puede ser un alimento basico amilaceo para sectores especfficos de la poblaci6n urbana, pero habitualmente es un alimento especializado para el uso en un manjar especffico; por ejemplo el \"puchero\" en Argentina y el \"ceviche\" en el Peru.Los sistemas locales que involucran la producci6n en pequefia escala, de una mezcla de cultivos alimenticios para consumo casero y para venta en pequefia escala y frecuencia variada en los mercados locales ya veces regionales. Los ejemplos incluyen al norte de Paraguay y ambientes de elevaci6n media en el Peru, asi coma tambien en algunas islas del Caribe.Los sistemas de subsistencia que involucran principalmente la producci6n de cultivos alimenticios en muy pequefia escala, en huertos caseros, para suplementar la dieta familiar. Existe muy poca o ninguna comercializaci6n del producto, aunque la producci6n puede ser distribuida entre familiares y vecinos.Argentina.. En una encuesta realizada en tres regiones de Argentina, las necesidades identificadas en San Pedro y C6rdova incluyen la de investigaci6n detallada sabre el manejo de las enfermedades en las camas de propagaci6n y trasplante. Se ha preparado un proyecto de investigaci6n en finca que involucra la participaci6n del agricultor en la selec-ci6n de plantas sanas para la obtenci6n de semilla; este proyecto esta a la espera de financiamiento. Las encuestas sugieren la necesidad general de estudiar la incidencia de enfermedades fungosas y bacterianas que se presentan durante la conservaci6n del germoplasma. Los metodos habituales de conservaci6n provocan perdidas sustanciales por lo que se necesitan tecnicas alternativas.La encuesta en Tucuman ha puesto de relieve la riqueza del germoplasma y el conocimiento que tienen del mismo los agricultores en aquellas regiones tan distantes del mercado de Buenos Aires y por lo tan to, la im portancia de encausar ese conocimiento. En una expedici6n de co-lecci6n del germoplasma realizada en el norte de Argentina, ademas de la hoja normal de datos de pasaporte se incluy6 el resultado de una pequefia encuesta que se hizo en colaboraci6n con los cientificos nacionales y el Departamento de Recursos Geneticos del CIP, sabre las practicas y conocimiento de los agricultores. La Figura 10-5 muestra la gama de datos colectados sabre sistemas de pro-ducci6n y caracteristicas varietales.Paraguay. Los extensionistas del SEAF y los cientfficos del CIP estudiaron la importancia, socioecon6mica de la batata en los distritos de Nueva Italia y Coronel Oviedo en 1988 y 1989 y este afio ban continuado con el estudio en los departamentos de Presidente Hayes, Neembucu, Paraguari y Concepci6n. Los resultados se estan utilizando para hacer los planes futuros de investigaci6n en batata.Se ban identificado varias caracteristicas de la producci6n y utilizaci6n de la batata en Paraguay:• La batata se consume durante todo el afio (siempre que este disponible), en la mayoria de los hogares paraguayos, sin embargo, el consumo aumenta du-Plan XCultivo asociado 5%Zona, Corrientes, Misiones, Chaco, Formosa Figura 10-5. Sistema• de cultivo de batata, N.E. Argentina (%).rante los tres meses del verano cuando la producci6n de yuca (el alimento basico principal) disminuye. Durante el verano los consumidores com en batata con mayor regularidad, a menudo tres a cuatro veces por semana, reemplazando o complementando el consumo de yuca. En el noroeste (\"El Chaco\"), la batata es alim en to basico.• La mayor parte de la producci6n comercial esta centralizada alrededor de la ciudad capital de Asunci6n con sistemas locales en pequefia escala, cerca de centros regionales o locales de co-mercializaci6n.• Los precios de venta al por mayor o menor son siempre mas altos que los de la yuca. Los precios mas altos de la batata ocurren durante el periodo de mayor demanda en la epoca de la escasez de yuca.• Son relativamente pocas las variedades de batata que se venden a los consumidores. La variedad mas comun que se com ercializa en Asunci6n es redonda de piel y pulpa blancas. 162 Plan X• Los problemas mas importantes incluyen la inestabilidad en el abastecimiento de material de siembra en algunas areas.Pero. En la costa arida del Peru, la investigaci6n incluy6 la evaluaci6n del germoplasma de batata por los agricultores en terminos de follaje y raices. Para los agricultores (la mayorfa productores comerciales), involucrados en el estudio, el follaje es un componente importante como alimento animal, sin embargo, ellos generalmente le dan mas importancia a la evaluaci6n de las raices.El grado de atenci6n que se le da al follaje varfa durante el afio; cuando el follaje es mas abundante, el criteria de evaluaci6n aplicado es mucho mas riguroso. En la evaluaci6n del follaje se consideran tanto las .hojas como los brotes. El volumen es obviamente una considera-ci6n importante, especialmente en el follaje que se cotiza mas como forraje, pero la calidad es tambien un factor importante. Un exceso de vellosidad puede convertirlo en incomible por el ganado. Los agricultores le dan poca importancia a los vastagos fibrosos o secos porque el ganado tiende a despreciarlos. Los resultados sobre el color no ban sido concluyentes. Algunos agricultores sugirieron que el ganado prefiere comer follaje verde, no asf el de otros colores.Los criterios usados por los agricultores en la evaluaci6n de rafces de distintas variedades estan comprendidos en tres grupos: producci6n, apariencia y manipuleo. La importancia relativa de estos tres grupos es variable durante el afio. Cuando hay suficiente abastecimiento en el mercado y los precios caen, la apariencia de la variedad se vuelve muy importante. En epocas de escasez, la producci6n es lo que cuenta. Pero cuando se trat6 de evaluaci6n, el agricultor no cont6 simplemente kilos; el m1mero de rafces por planta y el tamafio fueron los criterios principales, aunque otros aspectos tales como uniformidad y precocidad fueron considerados. Otro criterio importante que puede impedir la adopci6n de una variedad es la rapida emergencia de brotes despues de la cosecha. El aparente escaso m1mero de observaciones para este criterio en la Figura 10-6 es err6neo, puesto que uno solo de los clones usados en las pruebas tuvo esta caracterfstica y todos, con excepci6n de uno de los agricultores que evaluaron el clon tuvo comentarios negativos sobre el mismo.Los criterios claves, cuando se evalua la apariencia incluyen color de la piel, No. de observaciones Figura 10-6. Frecuencia en el uso de diferentes criterios durante las evaluaciones de dieciseis clones/variedades por agricultores de Canete.Plan X color de la pulpa, la forma de la raiz y la apariencia extema (brillo, tersura, ondulaciones, superficie con agujeros debido a dafio de insectos).Aunque unos pocos clones -y variedades tales como Mochero, ST87122 y Huarco, fueron unanimemente seleccionados por los agricultores, hubo otras diferencias entre las variedades que se seleccionaron en zonas agroecol6gicas diferentes del valle donde se realizaron las pruebas (Tabla 10-3). Su elecci6n refleja las distintas condiciones en estas zonas y las distintas preferencias notadas en los agricultores. Algunas variedades seleccionadas (Tambefio), no eran de buenos rendimientos, pero tenfan otras caracterfsticas atractivas como, por ejemplo, la forma y el color. Los agricultores de las areas comerciales que incluyen la zona salina de la costa central, prefirieron Jewel, variedad que tambien se cultiva en los Estados Unidos. La variedad Jewel recibi6 mayor puntaje por su forma, color de la piel y la pulpa y por que tambien fue el de mayor rendimiento. Debido a la selecci6n hecha por los agricultores en estas pruebas, Jewel va a ser la primera variedad peruana que se va a lanzar oficialmente.Republica Dominicana. Para identificar los aspectos que requieren de investigaci6n, especialmente las caracterfsticas y problemas del gorgojo de la batata, se han realizado encuestas en las areas dominicanas importantes de cultivo. Mas de 90% de los productores en el valle de San Juan (segunda regi6n mas importante como productora de batata en la Republica Dominicana), tienen acceso a terrenos irrigados y sus parcelas de batata tienen un promedio de tres hectareas. En el sistema de rotaci6n, despues del arroz vienen las batatas y luego los frijoles rojos. Estos tres cultivos son los mas importantes econ6micamente para los agricultores. Mientras que el arroz y los frijoles son ademas importantes cultivos de subsistencia la batata se cultiva principalmente como cultivo econ6mico de poca inversi6n.La mayorfa de los agricultores venden su producto al mercado en la ciudad capital ya sea directamente o por via de Cosecha de batata en Centroamerica.intermediarios. Sin embargo, alrededor de dos tercios de los agricultores utilizan algo de su producci6n para consumo familiar, la cuarta parte lo utilizan como forraje para animales. Una importante alternativa de comercializaci6n~s el mercado de exportaci6n, pero s6lo para variedades especificas.La presencia del gorgojo de la batata, la fluctuaci6n de precios y los mercados inestables han sido identificados como los problemas mas importantes por la mitad de los agricultores entrevistados. La falta de agua de riego es otro de los problemas que ha sido mencionado.Los estudios sabre comercializaci6n y demanda fueron el enfoque del contrato de investigaci6n en Argentina, por media del Instituto de Sociologia Econ6mica y Rural (IES) del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria (INT A) yen Filipinas por el lnstituto Internacional de Inves-tigaci6n en Politica Alimentaria (IFRI).Argentina. La producci6n de Batata en Argentina ha fluctuado drasticamente en las tres ultimas decadas. La produc-ci6n alcanz6 388 000 ten 1961, subi6 a 479 000 ten 1973, cay6 a 246 000 ten 1980, yvolvi6asubira461OOOten1989. Casi toda la producci6n (99,8%) de batata es para venderla en el mercado domestico; menos de 0,5% se exporta. El conocimiento acerca de la cantidad que se utiliza en procesamiento y el potencial de mercado para productos procesados es limitado, como resultado de la severa crisis que ha afectado la economia en general por casi una ctecada. El mercado mayorista de Buenos Aires moviliza aproximadamente 60 000 t de batata al afio con un maximo en los meses de mayo a agosto y la caida drastica de abastecimiento de noviembre a enero. El movimiento de los precios refleja muy bien el abastecimiento, por ejemplo, los precios son bajos en los meses de abundancia y se elevan cuando comienza a escasear el producto. La Plan X mayor parte de la batata se lava antes de ingresarla al MCBA; estas rafces reciben entre 10 y 40% mas del precio que las no lavadas y tienen un precio particularmente mas alto en periodos de abundancia. Los precios de la batata al por mayor fueron mas altos que los de la papa (16%) y la zanahoria 17% durante 1985-1987; sin embargo, sobre la base de unidad de protefna y calorfas las batatas son mas baratas que cualquier otro cultivo hortfcola, llamese papa, zanahoria, calabaza, o yuca.Estos resultados sugieren que la falta de demanda de batata en Argentina representa una barrera para la expansi6n futura del subsector. La utilizaci6n habitual esta mayormente confinada al consumo humano con un uso industrial aparentemente muy limitado; esto ultimo se refleja por el alto precio de la batata. En relaci6n a los precios al por mayor en Buenos Aires, la batata es entre 15 y 20% mas cara que la papa.Se necesita una mejor colecci6n y di-fusi6n de la informaci6n sobre el area cultivada y los precios, con el objeto de mejorar los acostumbrados procedimientos de comercializaci6n y para reducir al mfnimo las fluctuaciones anuales en pro-ducci6n y ganancia obtenida por los agricultores, de tal manera que se puedan reducir los riesgos econ6micos asociados con el cultivo de batata. Es necesario tambien mejorar las condiciones de almacenaje y de disponibilidad de material de siembra que permita a los productores aprovechar de las bien establecidas fluctuaciones anuales de los precios.Filipinas. La batata es una fuente barata de diversificaci6n en la dieta del filipino promedio. El arroz es el alimento basico y el mafz es una altemativa de mehor costo. De acuerdo a la Primera 166 Plan XEncuesta Nacional sobre Nutrici6n de 1978, el consumo per capita de batata fue de 6,2 kg entre la poblaci6n rural de consumo y 3,3 kg en la urbana. Para el consumidor promedio en Filipinas (rural y urbano) la batata representa menos del 1 % de su presupuesto.En estudios realizados utilizando datos de encuesta de nutrici6n, con el objeto de generar elasticidad entre precio e ingreso, se encontr6 que cuando sube el precio del arroz o de las hortalizas, la gente reacciona comprando mas batata, o sea que la elasticidad cruzada de precios es positiva. De esta manera, a la medida que los alimentos basicos y las hortalizas suben de precio, la gente tiende a gastar mas dinero en batata, un alimento de menor preferencia. Ingresos mayores para el consumidor filipino s6lo resultan en incrementos muy pequetios en el consumo de batata; por ejemplo, un incremento de 1 % en los ingresos del consumidor, va a dar como resultado un incremento de 0,01 % en el consumo de batata.Aunque el consumo de batata no es muy sensible a los cambios en los ingresos, sf es muy sensible al precio que alcanza el producto. De esta manera, un menor precio de la batata va a dar como resultado el incremento equivalente en su consumo y precios mas altos van a conducir a un menor consumo.Estos resultados sugieren la necesidad de desarrollar usos altemativos para la batata, si es que el incremento de la producci6n va a tener que ser apropiadamente absorbido por el mercado.Estadistica de la FAO. La investigaci6n sobre evaluaci6n de necesidades en papa ha continuado, con el objeto de refinar los conocimientos en patrones de producci6n y tendencias, lo cual complementa la in-formaci6n obtenida por FAO, en una encuesta acerca de los factores limitantes para expandir la producci6n y uso. Se esta ejecutando un trabajo mas amplio con el objeto de elaborar una tipologfa de los pafses productores de papa, basada en datos revisados y am pliados en la serie de la FAQ sobre producci6n, area y rendimientos en afios sucesivos.El analisis de datos ha demostrado que 75% de la papa de los pafses del tercer mundo se produce en Asia; esta cantidad se ha incrementado desde menos de 70% que era la producci6n a comienzos de la decada del . Asia es la responsable de 80% del incremento y cerca de 80% del area sembrada en los paises del tercer mundo entre los afios 1961-1963 y 1986-1988. Quince de los pafses mayores productores de papa llegan a producir casi 90% de lo que se produce en los pafses del tercer m undo y son tambien los responsables del incremento de la producci6n y del area sembrada desde 1963. Contrariamente, 99 pafses del tercer mundo producen poco (menos de 10 000 t anuales) o nada de papa. La producci6n de papa en Africa subsahariana se ha expandido mas rapidamente que cualquier otro cultivo alimenticio, pero la producci6n de la subregi6n permanece en una cifra menor de 5% del total de todas las regiones en desarrollo (Tabla 10-5). A pesar de que los promedios de rendimiento se han mas que duplicado desde inicios de la decada de los 60, la parte que le corresponde a Latinoamerica entre los pafses del tercer mundo ha disminuido en cerca de 50%.Encuesta sobre factores limitantes. Durante 1990 se han incorporado en la base de datos ya existente, los correspondientes a nueve encuestas adicionales que representan 29 lugares. De acuerdo a las estadisticas de la F AO estos paises producen 97% de papa en los pafses del tercer mundo. Los problemas de material de siembra, comercializaci6n y ataque de virus son los factores limitantes mas importantes en la producci6n de papa (Tabla 10-6). Estos hallazgos reconfirman los resultados de investigaciones realizadas anteriormente que sefialan el alto precio de la semilla como el com ponente mas importante de los costos de la producci6n total de papa. Existe preocupaci6n acerca de la comercializaci6n como factor limitante, desde que los promedios de peso le dan mayor importancia a los paises que producen mas papa. Estos paises tienen una enorme cantidad de papa que vender y por lo tanto mas que ganar ( 0 que perder) vendiendola. Interesante es el hecho de que los nematodos estan considerados como un factor limitante de menor importancia. Con ciertas notables excepciones 168 Plan X (v.gr. afidos), los insectos y acaros, el medio ambiente y la demanda fueron tambien de poca importancia. Estos resultados pueden servir de informaci6n util para establecer prioridades de inves-tigaci6n en papa.Una evaluaci6n basica de producci6n de papa en la zona central de Bolivia ha ayudado a identificar las necesidades de investigaci6n y las prioridades para el proyecto PROINP A. Las encuestas de diagn6stico interdisciplinario utilizaron metodos rapidos de investigaci6n rural.Se tomaron siete muestras en las zonas productoras de papa de la regiones central y oriental del departamento de Cochabamba y dos mas en Potosi y Chuquisaca durante el afio agricola 1989-1990.En Cochabamba, las principales variedades cultivadas fueron del tipo andi-Tabla 10-6. Factores limitantes para la producci6n y uso de papa. 12 grupos de problemas para los palses del tercer mundo; los puntajes son por pals (54 encuestas, 53  a Determinado de acuerdo al volumen de papas producido en los palses.gena Waych'a, Imilla Blanca y Qoyllu.La papa Tuberosum, importada de Rolanda tambien fue comun. Los agricultores producen generalmente su propia semilla y prefieren tuberculos para semilla entre 30 y 60 g. La selecci6n de la semilla se bas6 en la calidad de los ojos, brotes ademas de la forma y tamafio del tuberculo. La relaci6n semillarendimiento vari6 de 1:0 a 1:30. Los principales factores limitantes de la pro-ducci6n fueron de caracter biofisico (sequfa, heladas, granizo) y econ6mico (alto costo de materiales, baja calidad de la semilla en oferta, precios bajos y falta de asistencia tecnica). En condiciones de campo, los problemas mas conspicuos fueron los trips, Epitrix spp., sfntomas de Phytophthora infestans y Saq 'O (problema fisiol6gico de causa desconocida ). Nematodos de los generos Globodera y Naccobus se ban encontrado con frecuencia.En Potosi y Chuquisaca, la variedad Sani Imilla es la que mas se cultiv6. Se usan mas los tractores para la preparaci6n del suelo queen Cochabamba, donde el USO de bueyes es mas comun. Los factores climaticos y econ6micos fueron los mas importantes problemas citados por los agricultores. Las principales plagas fueron las mismas que en Cochabamba, pero en cuanto a enfermedades se observ6 un mayor ataque de verruga y Rhiwctonia.La comercializaci6n de la semilla se estudi6 en dos mercados agrf colas en las areas de cultivo de papa de Rodeo y Colomi en el departamento de Cochabamba. En Rodeo, la producci6n y ventas fueron mayormente de tipos de andigena. Aproximadamente 40% de la semilla producida en el area es vendida por agricultores \"confiables\" en la misma chacra a precios elevados y no en el mercado.Las mujeres juegan un rol decisivo en la evaluacion de la produccion, cosecha y comercializacion de la papa.La variedad que mas se vende en el mercado de Colomi es Imilla Blanca, la cual proviene de zonas tradicionales de producci6n de semilla en Candelaria y Melga. En Colomi, la mayor parte de la semilla se obtiene del mercado con muy poca participaci6n de intermediarios y ventas muy limitadas en chacra.Durante la cosecha principal del afio agrfcola 1989-1990, los rendimientos de papa se evaluaron en Cochabamba, Chuquisaca y Potosi. Los datos empfricos de producci6n y utilizaci6n de la papa se obtuvieron con el objeto de orientar los proyectos y dirigir la eventual transferencia de tecnicas. En un trabajo conjunto con los cientificos de los programas nacionales se entrevistaron 568 familias de agricultores y se obtuvieron datos sobre el rendimiento de sus cultivos.-• A pesar de las condiciones de sequia que obligaron a cosechar prematuramente, se consigui6 un promedio de rendimiento de 14 t/ha en Cochabamba, El proyecto SEINP A continua dando atenci6n prioritaria a la distribuci6n de semilla, lo que perceptiblemente parece ser la clave para el exito en un programa de semilla. La multiplicaci6n comercial y la distribuci6n de la semilla esta concentrada en la sierra central, donde la creciente actividad terrorista ha obligado al desbande de la Asociaci6n de Productores de Semilla despues de tres exitosas campafias de multiplicaci6n de semilla. Actualmente la producci6n de semilla ha sido reducida y continua sobre la base de productores individuales en el Valle del Mantaro y una nueva asociaci6n que se ha formado en Canta, valle ubicado en el norte de Lima. La multiplicaci6n informal o tradicional de semilla y su distribuci6n se ha concentrado actualmente en la sierra norte y sur. En Cajamarca, la multipli-caci6n y distribuci6n de semilla basica se esta realizando por los comites provinciales de los grupos de autodefensa (\"rondas campesinas\"). En este departamento, 35 comites en 5 provincias estan utilizando tuberculos semillas y brotes. En Cuzco, se ban formado comites encargados de la multiplicaci6n y distribuci6n en dos tipos de comunidades, 1) comunidades que no reciben ayuda externa y que estan coordinados directamente por el programa y 2) comunidades que estan unidas a proyectos gubernamentales y no gubemamentales de desarrollo.En 1990 se ha puesto mayor enfasis en los metodos de preparaci6n y colecci6n de datos de la investigaci6n sobre comer-cializaci6n. Los casos de estudio bajo contrato se ban terminado en Indonesia, en colaboraci6n con CGPRT yen la Republica Dominicana con el IICA.Peril. El CIP-Lima organiz6 un taller sobre metodos de investigaci6n en co-mercializaci6n, al mismo que asistieron 26 participantes de los programas nacionales de 10 pafses latinoamericanos, asf como tambien participantes del CIAT, CIMMYT, IFRI e IICA. Las actas publicadas serviran como gufa del practicante para este tipo de investigaci6n en el futuro.Indonesia. Los principales resultados del estudio fueron los que se anuncian a continuaci6n: La producci6n de papa se increment6 de 70 000 a 420 000tentre1968 y 1987.El volumen de producci6n en Java se genera como cultivo comercial en fincas montafiosas con menos de 1 ha de papa, las cuales abastecen a los principales centros de consumo ya la industria de procesamiento; la producci6n en el norte de Sumatra tiene una estrecha relaci6n con el mercado de exportaci6n.Los agricultores generalmente venden la papa (en chacra sin cosechar) a grupos de comerciantes que pagan de 75 a 90% del precio de venta al por mayor. Este descubrimiento y la tendencia altamente correlacionada de los precios en los mercados mas importantes sugiere un sistema de comercializaci6n razonablemente eficiente.La papa se consume como hortaliza en una variedad de potajes y ha adquirido popularidad en su forma de papa frita a la francesa y hojuelas de papa. El consumo per capita se ha incrementado de un estimado de 0,5 kg en 1968 a aproximadamente 2 kg en 1985. El precio estimado y la elasticidad de ingresos en el comercio de papa son de 0,6 a 0,8 respectivamente, lo cual sugiere una buena perspectiva para el incremento del consumo debido a los precios mas bajos y/o mayores ingresos. Las recomendaciones del estudio se centran en las implicancias que va a tener sobre el mercado, el aumento de la pro-ducci6n procedente de elevaciones medias, por ejemplo, la calidad de papa producida bajo estas condiciones; sobre la necesidad de investigaci6n en papa fuera de Java, particularmente en el norte de Sumatra y sobre la necesidad de evaluar la sostenibilidad de la producci6n en lugares elevados para hacer frente a la creciente demanda de papa.Republica Domimcana. Los hallazgos m~s importantes incluyen lo siguiente: La producci6n de papa aument6 de 7 700 t en 1961 a 35 000 t en 1973, se redujoa 11OOOten1979yvolvi6acrecer a cerca de -38 000 t en 1987. &tas fluctuaciones reflejan los cambios que se producen de un afio a otro en el precio de la papa al por menor y _ la inestabilidad en el suministro (v .gr. importaci6n) de semilla.En Santo Domingo el volumen de la producci6n es transferido desde los cam- El consumo per capita ha fluctuado de 4 kg en 1967, 1,8 kg en 1979 a 3,4 en 1987. Sin embargo, parece que hubiera mayor disponibilidad de papas en tiendas, hoteles, restaurantes, etc. que en el pasado.Las recomendaciones del estudio son 1) mejorar el manejo de datos en el sector papa, de tal manera que se pueda contar con la informaci6n acerca de la produc-ci6n y precios sobre una base regular y a tiempo y 2) incrementar la producci6n de semilla certificada y las medidas para fortalecer el mercado de semillas.Burundi. Los resultados de los estudios de seguimiento en 1983 sobre comercializaci6n de batata incluyen lo siguiente:El mayor obstaculo para incrementar la producci6n de papa en Burundi es la capacidad de producci6n masque la habilidad del mercado para absorber la sobre-producci6n. Los principales factores limitantes de la producci6n son la escasez de semilla de calidad mejorada a nivel de finca y la disponibilidad limitada de fertilizantes qufmicos y pesticidas.La papa de consumo continua siendo una parte reducida del volum en total de papa que se vende en Burundi. Considerando el estado precario de la disponibilidad de alimento, la investigaci6n debe concentrarse en incrementar la producci6n local. Fortificar el esquema existente de multiplicaci6n de semilla y su distribuci6n es el paso mas importante en esa direcci6n.En la reuni6n de la Asociaci6n Africana de Papa, realizada en Mauricio en 1990, se presentaron los resultados de una sfntesis de casos de estudio y de inves-tigaci6n relacionada en Afriea. Estos resultados incluyen lo siguiente.La producci6n de papa y el area sembrada ban aumentado a mayor rapidez que ningun otro cultivo alimenticio en el Africa subsahariana, durante los ultimos 25 afios (fabla 10-4). El 90% de la pro-ducci6n total corresponde a ocho pafses.La venta de papa es una fuente importante de ingresos para los productores africanos; sin embargo, la mayor parte de la producci6n es tfpicamente usada para consumo en la finca y para semilla.Durante 1986-88, 34 pafses importaron alrededor de 61 000 t anuales de papa, con un valor total de US $ 179 millones. Los dos tercios de esta cantidad fue importada por s6lo cuatro pafses.Los productores reciben alrededor de 41 % del precio de venta al por menor en ciudades capitales de Burundi, Madagascar y Ruanda, pero menos de 10% en la capital de Zaire. Estos margenes parecen reflejar una limitada infraestructura, pequefios volumenes por transacci6n y el riesgo asociado a comprar y vender un producto perecible.Plan X El informe sefiala que los principales pafses productores de papa van a requerir de esfuerzos renovados si la producci6n va a mantener el ritmo de la poblaci6n. Estos pafses deben desarrollar paquetes mfnimos de insumos porque muchos agricultores usan muy pocos o ningun insumo moderno. Los encargados de sefialar la politica a seguir deben apoyar los esfuerzos de una comercializaci6n mejorada por el sector privado y porque ademas al ser la papa un artfculo alimenticio de lujo, cualquier reducci6n en los precios se va a plasmar en un incremento del consumo.Los aspectos mas saltantes de los siguientes informes preparados por cada uno de los pafses participantes incluyen lo siguiente:Bolivia,. En la regi6n de Cochabamba por lo menos 14 instituciones estan comprometidas en la multiplicaci6n y distribuci6n de semilla de papa. Anteriormente a este proyecto, casi nadie estaba enterado de los alcances (v.gr. numero de agricultores, cantidad de semilla), naturaleza (v.gr. tipos de variedades de papa, calidad de la semilla) y procedimientos de operaci6n ( condiciones para recibir semilla para multiplicar, etc.), de los contrapartes en esta actividad. Este proyecto ha tenido exito en la documen-taci6n de estas y otras facetas de la comer-cializaci6n de la semilla en la regi6n de Cochabamba. Ha identificado practicas que necesitan ser mejoradas y ha sugerido la orientaci6n que deben seguir estas instituciones en el futuro, por ejem plo, producir de acuerdo a los requerimientos del consumidor, en lugar de tratar simplemente de multiplicar lo que buenamente ha conseguido. Ha generado tambien una 174 Plan X metodologfa y desarrollado la capacidad local para facilitar su difusi6n a otras regiones del pafs. El proyecto ha explorado el manejo de los sistemas de comercializaci6n informal de semilla que opera entre las instituciones antes mencionadas y ha recogido datos sobre las variedades que se venden, los volumenes manipulados y los precios y lugares de origen de la semilla comercializada por medio de las ferias regionales agrfcolas. la informaci6n generada de este proyecto debe ser util para otros paises de la regi6n que consideren un \"enfoque institucional\" para solucionar los problemas de distribuci6n de semilla.Colombia. El trabajo realizado por el proyecto se ha concentrado en el procesamiento de la papa para consumo humano en Pamplona (noreste de Colombia), durante 1987-1988 y sobre procesamiento simple para alimento animal en Narifio (sureste de Colombia), durante 1988-1989. Ninguna de estas posibilidades ha probado ser particularmente atractiva para los agricultores, debido en gran parte a que el excelente precio de la papa hace que se descarte la necesidad de interesarse por cualquier otra alternativa de salida del cultivo. Ademas, a diferencia de Bolivia o Peru, Colombia no tiene tra-dici6n de procesamiento sencillo de la papa a nivel de finca. Es asf que los agricultores mostraron su curiosidad, pero tambien su cautela antes de comprometerse en estas actividades.En 1990, la atenci6n en Colombia se orient6 hacia los requisitos de la planta de procesamiento semi-industrial e industrial en Colombia y los resultados preliminares han sido sorprendentes: 1) la papa procesada abarca el 15-18% de lo que se utiliza de papa en Colombia (unas 350 000 t/afio de papa fresca) y no el 5% que fue lo estimado previamente; 2) la industria esta creciendo rapidamente y 3) los requerimientos de• calidad parecen ser considerablemente diferentes de aquellos previstos por los mejoradores de papa del Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA). En 1991 se va poder disponer de los resultados de estos estudios, los mismos que serviran de modelo para otros pafses latinoamericanos que esten interesados en evaluar la naturaleza del mercado para productos procesados.Ecuador. El esquema de distribuci6n para la semilla de calidad mejorada ha sido examinado por este proyecto por medio de una serie de cuestionarios estructurados que se entregaron a los multiplicadores, usuarios y no usuarios de dichas semillas. Los resultados de las encuestas indican que contrariamente a lo que se habfa visto, los multiplicadores se reservaron gran cantidad de semilla, aunque no exclusivamente para utilizarla en sus propias fincas. En consecuencia, ellos actuaron mas como usuarios finales que como multiplicadores o promotores de semilla de calidad mejorada.El sistema existente es deficiente, ya que muchos ignoran donde pueden comprar esta clase de semilla o pueden no saber de su disponibilidad. Las variedades producidas por el sistema actual, a menudo no son aquellas utilizadas por la gran mayorfa de pequefios productores a los que supuestamente debe servir el sistema. Como primer estudio de esta clase sobre la situaci6n de la semilla en Ecuador, los resultados han probado ser utiles para las actividades del programa nacional en marcha, asf como tambien para los proyectos de semillas que se estan disefiando actualmente.Pero. La investigaci6n se ha centrado en el problema de informaci6n de mercado en relaci6n a papa de consumo y de semilla. Actualmente se ha establecido un sistema de colecci6n y analisis de la informaci6n de mercado, sobre lo cual se ha editado y distribuido un boletfn. Ademas se ha establecido una base de datos sobre papa y se ha hecho una encuesta en la sierra central y en la costa acerca de los requerimientos de informaci6n de los agricultores. Los procedimientos ordenados para este sistema de informaci6n de mercado han funcionado razonablemente bien, a pesar de las diffciles condiciones econ6micas y sociales que han impedido la difusi6n de la informaci6n a los agricultores. Por su acceso a esta informaci6n, el programa local se ha beneficiado con fines de reportaje y planificaci6n y los procedimientos parece que van a ser facilmente adoptables por los programas nacionales que afrontan circunstancias menos diffciles.Venezuela. El enfoque central de este proyecto es la comercializaci6n de papa de consumo en la regi6n andina y los resultados preliminares de la regi6n de Merida sugieren la existencia de un sistema de comercializaci6n de doble vfa. Una sirve a los grandes productores comerciales y la otra abastece a los productores pequefios de semisubsistencia. Mientras que los agricultores de nivel comercial se benefician de su participaci6n en la comercializaci6n de papa como productores y negociantes, los agricultores mas pequefios se benefician menos por su falta de acceso a la informaci6n, aislamiento geografico y poder limitado de regateo, asociado con los pequefios volumenes por productor. El borrador del informe sugiere que un centro de acopio regional rural de propiedad cooperativa y un mejor sistema de informaci6n podrfan mejorar la situaci6n de los pequefios agricultores.Aprender trabajando es un componente importante de toda la capacitaci6n impartida por el CIP.E n el CIP, la capacitaci6n es un esfuerzo cooperativo entre el Programa Regional y el Programa de Investigaci6n, bajo la coordinaci6n del Departamento de Capacitaci6n. Los programas de capacitaci6n toman la forma de cursos regionales cortos, talleres, seminarios, conferencias y cursos nacionales de acuerdo a las necesidades de nuestros asociados en investigaci6n y desarrollo, en mas de 80 pafses del tercer mundo. En 1990 el plan de trabajo consisti6 de numerosas actividades de capacitaci6n en producci6n, utilizaci6n y otras disciplinas especializadas relacionadas con los cultivos de papa y batata. El resumen presentado en la Tabla 1 contiene la informaci6n sobre el m1mero de cursos y participantes, clasificada en las categorfas mas im portantes. Los objetivos del curso fueron a) identificar y describir los principales factores limitantes en la producci6n, almacenamiento y comercializaci6n de la semilla de papa; b) estudiar los principios cientfficos para la producci6n y almacenamiento de semilla de calidad; c) identificar y desarrollar instrumentos y mecanismos para una mejor comunicaci6n entre agricultores, extensionistas y cientfficos; d) preparar proyectos de investigaci6n tendientes a resolver problemas de pro-ducci6n, almacenamiento y comerciali-zaci6n a nivel de finca. El curso consisti6 de clases te6ricas, practicas y visitas al cam po.Ruanda y Kenia. En la Regi6n III del CIP se llevaron a cabo dos cursos regionales de Producci6n de Semilla de Papa. Los cursos para los pafses de habla francesa se realizaron en Ruhengeri, Ruanda. La procedencia de los participantes fue Burundi (4), Ruan9a (7), Zaire (2) y Madagascar (3). El curso fue organizado conjuntamente por el CIP y FRAP AC. Una versi6n inglesa de este mismo curso se dict6 en Nairobi, del 28 de mayo al 6 de junio. Los participantes de este curso vinieron de Kenia, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Botswana y Etiopfa. Ambos cursos fueron patrocinados por el CIP-PNUD Proyecto de Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos. Se puso enfasis en las discusiones sobre aspectos fisiol6gicos y agron6micos de la producci6n de semilla en clase te6ricas y visitas a campos de agricultores. Se disefiaron sesiones de laboratorio e invemadero con el objeto de proporcionar experiencia practica en TMR y en tecnicas sobre detecci6n y eliminaci6n de pat6genos.Burundi. En Burundi se hizo un Curso Nacional sobre Producci6n y Manejo de la Semilla de Papa. El curso se disefi6 para permitir que los participantes se familiaricen con todos los estados del cultivo de papa. Los aspectos te6ricos sobre producci6n de semilla y las practicas en la preparaci6n del suelo, manejo de la semilla y siembra se cubrieron en setiembre. Los participantes asistieron a dias de campo en Mwokora y Munanira en noviembre y regresaron en enero para cosechar, seleccionar, y almacenar el producto.Uganda. En Kabali, Uganda, se llev6 a cabo un Curso Nacional sobre Patologfa de la Semilla de Papa, del 16 al 24 de noviembre. Al curso asistieron 22 participantes de Uganda y fue patrocinado por el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD).Un curso sobre Multiplicaci6n de Semilla se llev6 a cabo en D.F.I. Kachwekano, cerca de Kabale, Uganda, del 18 al 23 de junio. Entre cientfficos, extensionistas y agricultores pr6speros hubo un total de 25 participantes.Capacitaci6n se llev6 a cabo del 23 de noviembre al 6 de diciembre en la Esta-ci6n Experimental Central de Investiga-ci6n en Papa, Modipuram, India, y fue organizado por el Instituto Central de In-vestigaci6n en Papa (CPRI), Consejo para la Investigaci6n Agrfcola, India (ICAR) y la Regi6n IV del CIP, con fondos proporcionados por el PNUD.Tailandia. Un Taller sabre Produc-ci6n de Semilla de Papa para Consumo y Procesamiento se llev6 a cabo en Chiang Mai, Tailandia, del 19 al 21 de enero, al mismo que asistieron participantes de Tailandia (31), Jap6n (1) e Indonesia (1). Los objetivos fueron: a) intercambiar experiencias relacionadas con la producci6n y distribuci6n de semilla de papa; b) identificar las necesidades para investigaci6n y desarrollo y c) discutir planes y perspectivas futuras.A un Taller Internacional de Almacenamiento de Semilla y Papa de Consumo en Climas C31idos asistieron participantes de Nepal (3), Viet Nam (2), Tailandia (5), Filipinas (1 ), Iraq (1) y Malasia (1 ).El taller estuvo patrocinado por el CIP, SAPPRAD y el Departamento de Agricultura de Tailandia. Los objetivos de este taller fueron: a) proporcionar una informaci6n basica sabre principios de almacenamiento de papa para semilla y para consumo; b) intercambio de experiencias relacionadas con el almacenamiento de papa para semilla y para consumo en clima calido; c) informes sobre los resultados de las pruebas de almacenamiento de papa en los pafses del SAPPRAD, de acuerdo a lo definido durante el taller sabre almacenamiento realizado en Malasia en 1989 yd) identificar las areas a las que se les debe dar prioridad en la investigaci6n que se puede realizar sobre la base regional.Indonesia. En el Instituto de Inves-tigaci6n Hortfcola de Lembang, Indonesia (LEHR!), se llev6 a cabo un Curso N acional spbre Producci6n de Semilla de Papa, al que asistieron 20 participantes de Indonesia. Este curso fue financiado por la Agenda de Desarrollo Internacional de los Estados Unidos (USAID), organizado por HARD/LEHR! y administrado por el CIP.Guandong, se realiz6 un Taller sabre Germoplasma y Producci6n de Semilla en China meridional, al que asistieron 14 participantes de China. La producci6n de papa a partir de semilla sexual, continua siendo una de las areas mas desafiantes de la investiga-ci6n en el CIP. Aunque la investigaci6n todavfa continua con el objeto de refinar la tecnologfa, varios pafses ban solicitado para que sus cient~ficos reciban capacitaci6n en el CIP que les permita hacer investigaci6n en esta tecnologfa innovativa.Nicarogua.. En respuesta a la demanda, un curso internacional sabre el Uso de Semilla Sexual en la Producci6n de Papa fue patrocinado por el CIP /PRECODEP A y organizado por el programa nacional de papa de Nicaragua. El curso se realiz6 en Estell en el local del MAG. Asistieron participantes de El Salvador (1 ). Nicaragua ( 2), Republica Dominicana (1 ), Haiti (2) y Cuba (1 ). El objetivo principal fue de difundir la tecnologfa de semilla sexual a los pafses miembros de PRECODEPA. Las discusiones durante el curso se centraron sabre las experiencias adquiridas en Nicaragua, en el uso de semilla sexual para la producci6n de tuberculos semillas, producci6n de semilla de polinizaci6n abierta y tecnicas de extracci6n y almacenamiento de semilla sexual. Se discutieron los aspectos de primer orden en la producci6n y uso de semilla sexual como un metodo alternativo de propagaci6n para la producci6n de tuberculos semillas.Las sesiones te6ricas y de metodologfa se complementaron con demostraciones de campo y otras actividades manuales. Se organizaron salidas al campo para visitar varios sembrfos experimentales y de productores privados, con el objeto de ver la tecnologfa de semilla sexual in situ.Ecuador. En Quito, Ecuador, se llev6 a cabo un Taller sabre Metodologfas para la Investigaci6n Agron6mica y Socioeco-n6mica en Producci6n y Distribuci6n de Semilla -de Papa. A esta reuni6n asistieron participantes de Bolivia (5), Ecuador (4), Colombia (1), Chile (2), Brasil (1), Argentina (1 ), Peru (3), y CIP (8). Los objetivos del taller fueron a) definir metodologfas apropiadas para la investigaci6n sabre producci6n y distribuci6n de semilla; b) revisar los factores agron6micos, fitosanitarios y socioecon6micos relacionados con la producci6n y distribuci6n de semilla de papa y c) guiar a los cientfficos latinoamericanos en el mejoramiento de sus programas de producci6n de semilla. Las contribuciones escritas de los participantes se ban editado y publicado en un documento titulado \"Metodologfas de Investigaci6n en Tuberculo-Semilla de Papa\". La calidad de la semilla depende en m ucho de la habilidad para retardar la diseminaci6n de enfermedades causadas por virus y similares en el material de semilla basica. La capacitaci6n basica y avanzada impartida por la secci6n de Virologfa del Departamento de Patologfa ha contribuido marcadamente a vigorizar la capacidad de los SNIA en tecnicas virol6gicas a nivel de campo y, de laboratorio.Peril.. El Curso Practico de Virologfa se llev6 a cabo en la sede central del CIP, en Lima. A este curso asistieron participantes de Bolivia (2), Paraguay (1 ), Guatemala (1 ), Tanzania (1 ), Camen1n (1), Jamaica (1) y Peru (2). Anualmente se ofrecen dos actividades de capaci-taci6n para ensefiar tecnicas basicas de virologfa a los investigadores de los programas nacionales de las Regiones I y II.En Lima se llev6 a cabo un segundo curso avanzado. Asistieron participantes de Uruguay (1 ), Argentina (2), Chile (2) y Costa Rica (2). Este curso esta disefiado para cientfficos que estan activamente comprometidos en investigaci6n virol6gica y en la identificaci6n y prepa-raci6n de antisueros para la detecci6n de virus. El curso completo dura seis sema-nas, aunque en el futuro se va a poder tomar por m6dulos de acuerdo a las necesidades individuales.Kenia. La capacitaci6n en virologfa tambien se ha impartido en localidades regionales. Un curso sobre Cultivo de TejidosNirologfa se llev6 a cabo en Nairobi, Kenia. A este curso asistieron 5 participantes de Kenia y Tanzania.Ruanda.. A un curso dictado en Ruhengeri, Ruanda, sobre Cultivo de Tejidos y Virologfa asistieron participantes de Burundi (2), Ruanda (11 ), Uganda (2) y Zaire (1).India. Aun curso internacional de Virologfa a Nivel de Campo, llevado a cabo en Shimla, India, asistieron participantes de Bangladesh (2), Nepal (2), Butan (1), Sri Lanka (3), India (4) e Iran (2). El curso fue organizado en forma conjunta por el CPRI y el CIP y se disefi6 para proporcionar a los cientfficos que estan directamente relacionados con la produc-ci6n de papa los ultimos adeiantos tec-nol6gicos para la identificaci6n, prueba y erradicaci6n de enfermedades vir6ticas de los campos de papa.Las tecnicas de cultivo de tejidos y m ultiplicaci6n rapida se ban convertido en las herramientas basicas de mejoradores y especialistas. La mayoria de los cursos que ofrece el CIP sobre producci6n de semilla incluyen normalmente clases te6ricas y practicas sobre esas tecnicas.Burundi. Al Curso N acional sob re Tecnicas in vitro y de Multiplicaci6n Rapida de Papa que se realiz6 en Burundi asistieron cinco cientfficos nacionales.Con el objeto de cumplir una de sus metas mas fundamentales, el CIP esta dedicado a fortalecer la habilidad de los SNIA en el manejo de germoplasma de papa y batata. Esto requiere de destreza en el uso de varias tecnologfas para manipular apropiadamente el germoplasma en su forma de semilla o de propagulos vegetativos; mantenerlo y multiplicarlo libre de pat6genos y utilizarlo en sus programas de mejoramiento. En 1990 se ban ofrecido cursos sobre esta materia en las Regiones III, VII y VIII.Ruanda.. En Ruhengeri, Ruanda, se ofreci6 un Curso sobre Manejo del Germoplasma de Papa. Asistieron participantes de Burundi, Ruanda, Uganda y Zaire. En el curso se trataron aspectos generales del manejo del germoplasma. Los objetivos fueron capacitar a los programas nacionales de los pafses participantes para que reciban el germoplasma de papa, lo estudien y seleccionen aquellos clones resistentes a enfermedades y adaptados a su propio ambiente y produzcan una buena calidad de papa de acuerdo a sus propios estandares. Puesto que los dos principales factores limitantes para la producci6n de papa en los pa.fses del PRAP AC son el tiz6n tardfo y la marchitez bacteriana, el curso dio bastante enfasis al manejo de estas enfermedades.Mongolia. Se ofreci6 un Curso de Ca-pacitaci6n sobre Germoplasma de Papa en Hohhot, Wumeng, Inner Mongolia y Datong, provincia de Shanxi. Fue el segundo curso conducido por la Regi6n VIII del CIP. Asistieron 16 participantes de las provincias de Inner Mongolia, Shanxi y Hebei. Los objetivos del curso fueron mejorar la evaluaci6n de selecciones avanzadas nuevas para determinar productividad y resistencia al tiz6n tardfo y resistencia a la sequia. El curso tambien abarc6 las areas de fisiologia de la tolerancia a la scqufa, detecci6n de virus y bioestadfstica. Las clases te6ricas y practicas se combinaron con experiencias de cam po para una mejor comprensi6n de la materia y facilitar el proceso de aprendizaje de los participantes.Filipinos. En Los Banos, Filipinas, se llev6 a cabo un Taller sobre Investigaci6n de Herramientas de Diagn6stico para el Analisis Domestico y de Campo: \"Ca-pacitaci6n en el trabajo\", al mismo que asistieron participantes de India ( 4), Tailandia (3), Sri Lanka (3) y Filipinas (18).El curso fue patrocinado y organizado por el CIP-UPW ARD (Perspectiva del Usuario con la Investigaci6n y Desarrollo de la Agricultura ), una red de ciencias sociales concentrada en actividades de papa y batata. Los fondos fueron proporcionados por el UPWARD y el PNUD Proyecto de Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos y fue ejecutado en forma conjunta por el CIP, CIAT e IITA. Los objetivos del taller fueron: a) exponer al participante a las maneras de plantear la investigaci6n convencional y no convencional util al usuario para el analisis a niveles domestico y de campo; b) dar a los participantes la oportunidad de trabajar en equipos interdisciplinarios y utilizar las habilidades recien adquiridas para formular recomendaciones practicas para un problema relacionado con la producci6n agricola de cultivos de rafces y c) permitir que los participantes refuercen su experiencia de aprendizaje conduciendo un curso de ca-pacitaci6n en sus respectivas regiones.Los conferencistas invitados proporcionaron informaci6n relevante sobre in-vestigaci6n de sistemas utiies al usuario. Debido a que la investigaci6n llevaba el concepto de \"escuela de campo\", los participantes fueron enviados al campo para 182 Capacitaci6nque probaran los diferentes metodos y para luego darles las referencias sobre las ventajas y desventajas del metodo utilizado.La interacci6n en el sal6n de clase proporcion6 un foro para el intercambio de ideas e informaci6n relevante reunida en el campo. Los participantes pudieron com partir sus observaciones e intercambiar notas de campo y opiniones. Al trabajar en equipos interdisciplinarios los participantes pudieron entregar un informe de grupo sobre los diferentes aspectos de la producci6n agricola de cultivos de rafces.El CIP organiz6 un taller de plani-ficaci6n para el UPWARD, con fondos proporcionados por el gobierno holandes. La reuni6n tuvo lugar en la ciudad de Baguio, Filipinas. Los participantes provenfan de Indonesia ( 6), Filipinas (19), Sri Lanka (3), Tailandia (5), CIP (10) y los visitantes y observadores fueron de diversas organizaciones intemacionales relacionadas con el desarrollo agricola.Tanzania. En Mbeya, Tanzania, se llev6 a cabo un curso nacional sobre Produc-ci6n y Poscosecha de Papa. Al curso asistieron 20 participantes de Tanzania.Cursos nacionales sobre Producci6n de Papa se llevaron a cabo en Tunez y Marruecos. El personal que trabaja en los programas nacionales de papa en Tunez y Marruecos asisti6 a conferencias y visitas al cam po relacionadas con todos los aspectos de la tecnologfa modema para la producci6n de papa. El CIP proporcion6 ayuda econ6mica, materiales de capaci-taci6n y un instructor. Las instituciones nacionales se responsabilizaron de la or-ganizaci6n del curso y proporcionaron los instructores.Mali. Al curso nacional sob re Produc-ci6n de Papa, llevado a cabo en Segou, Mall, asistieron 20 participantes de Mali. El curso fue patrocinado por el PNUD.Cameron. El curso regional sobre Producci6n, Almacenaje y Procesamiento de Papa para Africa occidental y central fue organizado por IRA y la oficina regional del CIP en Bamenda. El curso reuni6 a participantes de Nigeria (2), Ghana (1). Mali (1), Africa occidental (1) y Camerun (13). El apoyo econ6mico para el curso fue proporcionado por la FAO, PNUD y el Banco Mundial.Togo. Aun curso regional de Produc-ci6n de Papa llevado a cabo en Togo asistieron 16 participantes en un conjunto formado por 10 representantes de grupos de agricultores, cuatro extensionistas, un consultor agrfcola y un estudiante de agronomfa, todos ellos de Togo. Este curso fue organizado por el lnstituto de Plantas y Tuberculos (INPT), en colabo-raci6n con el CIP y el apoyo econ6mico delPNUD.India. El XIX Curso Internacional sobre Metodos en Producci6n de Papa se llev6 a cabo en el lnstituto Central de lnvestigaci6n en Papa (CPRI), Shimla, India, del 1 al 30 de junio. Asistieron 14 participantes de Nepal (2), Bangladesh (1), Butan (1). Sri Lanka (1) e India (9). El curso fue patrocinado por el CIP/ PNUD. Dos talleres regionales trataron sobre los problemas de producci6n y desarrollo de la papa en las Regiones IV y VII.Espana. Un taller sobre La Papa en el Mediterraneo patrocinado por el Centro Internacional para Estudios Agron6micos A vanzados del Mediterraneo (CIHEAM) y el CIP se llev6 a cabo en el I.AM., Zaragoza, Espana. Asistieron a la reu-ni6n cientfficos de nueve pafses del Mediterraneo y tres organizaciones internacionales, donde se desarrol16 un programa de trabajo de tres afios para estudiar la adaptaci6n de la papa, la polilla del tuberculo de la papa y tecnologfas de semilla.En Zaragoza tambien se llev6 a cabo un taller sobre papa para el Pacifico Sur con los participantes del Taller sobre batata.Los objetivos fueron determinar el progreso en la evaluaci6n del germoplasma, investigaci6n agron6mica y producci6n de semilla/almacenamiento desde 1988.Costa Rica. Los cientfficos del CIP participaron como instructores en un curso de Patologfa de la Producci6n de Papa, patrocinado por PRECODEPA en Costa Rica. Asistieron al curso participantes (12) de Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Republica Dominicana, Costa Rica y Nicaragua.India. En Bhubaneswar, India, se rea-liz6 un Taller sobre Manejo Integrado de Plagas y Enfermedades de Cultivos de Tuberosas y Rafces, patrocinado mancom unadamente por el CIP, IITA, CIAT e ICAR/CTCRI. Al taller asistieron participantes de los programas nacionales que trabajan en cultivos de rafces y tuberosas de China (3), Indonesia (2), Filipinas ( 4), Tailandia(2), Viet Nam (2), Nepal (1 ), Sri Lanka (2), India (3) y Bangladesh (2). El taller tuvo el prop6sito de establecer el estado del arte en la investigaci6n sobre Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP), en los centros internacionales y programas nacionales que tienen relaci6n con cultivos de tuberosas y rafces y de desarrollar moda-En 1990 se ban ofrecido cursos y talleres sobre almacenamiento, procesamiento y comercializaci6n de papas para consumo y semilla.Pero. En Lima, Peru, se llev6 a cabo un taller sobre Metodologfas para la In-vestigaci6n de Comercializaci6n Agrfcola. El taller reuni6 a participantes de 11 pafses latinoamericanos y del CIP: Colombia (3), Bolivia (3), Guatemala (1 ), Ecuador (2), Venezuela (1 ), Uruguay (1 ), Mexico (1 ), Chile (2), Brasil (1 ), Argentina (1 ), y Peru (8). Tambien participaron un norteamericano y uno de las Indias Occidentales. El prop6sito del taller fue responder a varios pedidos hechos por cientfficos en biologfa y administradores del CIP y sus asociados de los programas nacionales y latinoamericanos sobre metodologfas en investigaci6n de comercializaci6n.Mauricio. Un Taller sobre Produc-ci6n, Tecnologfa de Poscosecha y Utiliza-ci6n de la Papa en Clima Tropical Calida fue patrocinado y organizado conjuntam ente por el Instituto de Investigaci6n de la Industria del Azucar de Mauricio (MSIRI), el CIP y la Asociaci6n Africana de Papa (AP A), dentro de la Reuni6n y Conferencia Trienal de la Asociaci6n Asiatica de Papa. A la reuni6n asistieron 136 participantes, en su mayorfa de Africa.En Tailandia se llev6 a cabo un taller sobre Producci6n de Semilla de Papa de Variedades para Consumo y para Semilla al que asistieron participantes de Tailandia (31), Jap6n (1) e Indonesia (1).Los objetivos fueron: a) intercambiar experiencias relacionadas con la produc-ci6n y distribuci6n de semilla de papa; b) identificar las necesidades de la inves-tigaci6n y desarrollo y c) discutir planes y proyectos para el futuro.Guatemala. En Guatemala se hizo un curso sobre Investigaci6n en Papa y Metodologfas de la Comunicaci6n. El curso fue organizado mancomunadamente por el lnstituto de Ciencia y Tecnologfa (ICTA), el CIP y PRECODEPA. Asistieron participantes de Nicaragua (1 ), Mexico (2), Guatemala (3), Honduras (1), Republica Dominicana (2), Cuba (1 ), El Salvador (2), Costa Rica (1) y Haiti (1).Se trataron t6picos sobre disefios de plani-ficaci6n y analisis de trabajo experimental, asf como tambien tecnicas para la presentaci6n y comunicaci6n de resultados experimentales.Nigeria. Con el apoyo del IITA, CIP y CIA T se realiz6 un Taller de Capacita-ci6n y Comunicaciones conducido por el lnstituto de lnvestigaci6n Agron6mica y Capacitaci6n en Ibadan, Nigeria. Este taller fue parte del esfuerzo conjunto de los tres centros internacionales que trabajan en cultivos de tuberosas y rafces para desarrollar y apoyar actividades de capacitaci6n y comunicaciones en los programas nacionales. Los fondos fueron proporcionados por el PNUD, por medio de un proyecto intercentros sobre desarrollo de recursos humanos para la generaci6n y transferencia de tecnologfa en cultivos de tuberosas y rakes. Asistieron participantes de Tanzania ( 2), Sierra Un curso de capacltacl6n en comunlcaclones en Indonesia al que asistleron partlclpantes de China, Viet Nam, Indonesia y otros perteneclentes a lnstituciones locales.Leona (2), Guinea (2), Malawi ( 1) Kenia (1) y Nigeria (9).Indonesia. Bajo los auspicios del PNUD, los tres centros intemacionales que trabajan con cultivos de tuberculos y rafces, organizaron en Bogor, Indonesia, el Taller Asiatico sobre Capacitaci6n y Experiencia en Comunicaciones. Rizo de anfitri6n de la reuni6n el Instituto Central de lnvestigaci6n en Cultivos Alimen-ticios (CRIFC). Asistieron 18 participantes de Viet Nam, China y Filipinas. Los objetivos generales del taller fueron: 1) preparar a los especialistas en cultivos de tuberosas y rafces en la organizaci6n de actividades tendentes a hacer frente a sus necesidades; 2) incluir componentes de las ciencias sociales en sus programas de capacitaci6n y 3) mejorarla comunica-ci6n con colegas y agricultores.Argentina. El II Curso sobre Producci6n de Batata se llev6 a cabo en la Estaci6n Experimental San Pedro, Argentina. Fue coordinado por el Instituto Nacional de Tecnologfa Agropecuaria (INTA) y el CIP. Asistieron al curso participantes de Argentina ( 4 ), Bolivia (1 ), Brasil (2), Colombia (1 ), Ecuador (1 ), Guatemala (1 ), Mexico (1 ), Paraguay (1 ), Peru (1 ), Republica Dominicana (1), Uruguay (2) y Venezuela (1). Los objetivos del curso fueron a) evaluar los factores limitantes y potenciales para la producci6n de batata; b) comprender los principios cientfficos de la producci6n de batata; c) desarrollar proyectos de investigaci6n yd) intensificar la capacidad de comunicaci6n entre los investigadores y extensionistas.El CIP patrocin6 un Curso Nacional sobre Producci6n de Batata realizado en Tucuman, Argentina. El curso, organizado por el INTA se ofreci6 a 16 participantes de Argentina, uno de Uruguay y uno de Paraguay.Tanzania. Un Taller Nacional sobre Desarrollo del Cultivo de Batata se rea-liz6 en Morogoro, Tanzania, al mismo que asistieron 19 participantes de Tanzania. Fue patrocinado por el PNUD. Egipto. Un Curso Nacional sobre Pro-ducci6n de Batata se realiz6 en Egipto. Fue patrocinado por el Proyecto PNUD.India. El segundo Curso Internacional de Capacitaci6n sobre Producci6n de Batata se llev6 a cabo en el CTCRI, Trivandrum, India. Este curso fue patrocinado mancomunadamente por el Consejo para la Investigaci6n Agricola de India y el CIP, como parte de un acuerdo colaborativo en investigaciones en batata y actividades de capacitaci6n.Viet Nam. El Curso Nacional de Pro-ducci6n de Batata se realiz6 en Danang, Viet Nam. Asistieron un total de 16 participantes de las areas mas importantes de cultivo de batata. El curso trat6 sobre investigaci6n en finca. Se puso enfasis en el trabajo de campo, incluyendo encuestas entre los agricultores para diagnosticar los factores limitantes, disefio experimental y pruebas de cam po. La experiencia fue un enfoque de la investi-gaci6n completamente nuevo para los cientfficos vietnamitas acostumbrados a los modelos clasicos de extensi6n.En 1990 se organizaron dos talleres regionales adicionales relacionados con la investigaci6n y desarrollo de la batata en las Regiones III y VI.Kenia. Un Taller sobre la Batata en los Sistemas Alimentarios del Este y Sur de Africa se llev6 a cabo en Nairobi. Reuni6 a investigadores en varias disciplinas, procedentes de Nigeria (1 ), Burundi (1 ), Etiopfa (1 ), Kenia (3), Uganda (3) y Tanzania (3).El taller se disefi6 para definir dos aspectos claves de investigaci6n sobre la batata en los sistemas alimentarios, para discutir las metodologfas apropiadas de estos aspectos y para establecer prioridades tanto a nivel de programas de pafses individuales como para el intercambio de informaci6n a nivel regional. Se va a hacer un seguimiento con apoyo para fortalecer la investigaci6n existente o para establecer proyectos nuevos el pr6ximo afio.Tonga. En el lnstituto para Desarrollo Rural USP, Tongatapu, Tonga, se realiz6 un Taller de Batata para el Pacifico sur. Asistieron participantes de Australia (1 ), Islas Cook (1), Fiji (4), Polinesia (1), Indonesia (1 ), Kiribati (1 ), Nueva Caledonia (1), Papua Nueva Guinea (2), Filipinas (2), Islas Salom6n (1 ), Banatow (2), Samse oriental (3) y Tonga (3). Los objetivos fueron: a) determinar los recursos geneticos existentes en las colecciones nacionales yen los campos de agricultores de los principales pafses productores de batata del Pacifico sur; b) discutir sobre la limpieza del germoplasma (erradicaci6n de virus) y manejo del mismo in vitro; c) determinar las prioridades para el intercambio de germoplasma, tomando en cuenta la calidad y resistencia a plagas y enfermedades.China. Un curso nacional sobre De-tecci6n de Virus de Papay Batata se rea-liz6 en Xuzhou, China, en el Centro de lnvestigaci6n en Batata. Al curso asistie-ron 25 vir6logos, mejoradores y agr6nomos chinos de universidades e institutos de investigaci6n de 13 provincias. El CIP y los cientfficos chinos compartieron experiencias en el dictado de clases te6ricas y practicas. Para el trabajo practico los participantes debfan traer muestras colectadas en sus propias provincias para analizarlas durante el curso. Se determin6 al virus del moteado plumoso (SPFMV), como el mas frecuente en cultivos de batata en las provincias de Beijing, Jiangsu, Sichuan y Shangong. Esta qipacitaci6n combinada con encuesta sobre virus pro-b6 ser un eficiente metodo de utilizaci6n de recursos escasos.Filipinas. Aun Taller sobre Utilizaci6n del Germoplasma de Batata, realizado en Los Bafios, Laguna, Filipinas, asistieron participantes de China (5), India (1 ), Austria ( 1) Indonesia (1 ), Jap6n (1 ), Malasia (1), Filipinas (5), Viet Nam (4) y Samoa Occidental (1 ). Fue patrocinado por el CIP y el Consejo Filipino para la lnves-tigaci6n y Desarrollo de la Agricultura y los Recursos (PCARRD). Los objetivos fueron disc~tir sob re la lim pieza de la colecci6n de germoplasma y procedimientos de intercambio y para desarrollar estrategias apropiadas de mejoramiento que satisfagan las necesidades nacionales. Al final del taller los participantes prepararon una lista de recomendaciones sobre 1) colecci6n de germoplasma, caracte-rizaci6n e intercambio, 2) estrategias de mejoramiento y 3) metodos de tamizado. lnvestigaci6n en Finca y Habilidades en el Diagn6stico • a Nivel de Campo cipantes de Bolivia (2), Argentina (1 ), Paraguay (1), Uruguay• (1), Peru (1) y Brasil (1). Los objetivos fueron capacitar a los cientfficos investigadores en planificaci6n, disefio e investigaci6n en los campos de agricultores sobre los factores limitantes de la producci6n y uti-lizaci6n de batata y para desarrollar las habilidades participatorias de inves-tigaci6n de los cientfficos, con el objeto de introducir la perspectiva del usuario en sus programas de investigaci6n y desarrollo.Cuba. En La Habana y Santa Clara, Cuba, se llev6 a cabo un Curso Internacional sobre Producci6n, Biotecnologfa y Control de Plagas en Batata. El curso fue organizado por la Oficina Regional del CIP en la Republica Dominicana, en coordinaci6n con el lnstituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Viandas Tropicales (INIVIT), de Cuba y estuvo patrocinado por la FAO. Asistieron participantes de Nicaragua (1 ), Republica Dominicana (2), Costa Rica (2), Guatemala (1 ), Cuba ( 4), Mexico (1 ), Ecuador (1 ), Venezuela (1 ), y Haiti (1 ). El curso se realiz6 en el Centro de Ingenierfa Genetica y Biotecnologia de La Habana y el Centro Experimental de INIVIT en Santa Clara. El curso se disefi6 para capacitar a los participantes en los desarrollos bio-tecnol6gicos mas recientes sobre pro-ducci6n de batata y para estim ular el intercambio de conocimientos entre los participantes.Durante 1990 el CIP proporcion6 apoyo econ6mico y logistico a 116 estudiantes de los SNIA de los paises del tercer mundo que se encuentran estudiando para la obtenci6n de los grados de Bachiller (33), Magister (53), y Doctor (25), en ciencias agron6micas y disciplinas relacionadas. La mayorfa de ellos proceden de Latinoamerica (70), porque son muchos los estudiantes peruanos que estan ejecutando sus proyectos de investigaci6n en la sede central del CIP en Lima. Hay tambien 34 estudiantes asiaticos y ocho africanos. La mayor parte de la capacitaci6n academica se realiza en el Peru en colaboraci6n con la Universidad Nacional Agraria. La capadtaci6n a nivel de Doctor a menudo se realiza en universidades de los Estados Unidos o de Europa. La capacitaci6n para obtener el grado proporciona a los estudiantes la oportunidad de participar activamente en el programa de inves-tigaci6n del CIP, al mismo tiempo que desarrollar habilidades tecnicas y empresariales. Los t6picos de investigaci6n para la tesis se seleccionan normalmente en respuesta a las necesidades reales del pais de origen del estudiante. Los graduados de programas academicos realizan frecuentemente investigaci6n en asociaci6n con el CIP. Muchos de ellos tambien Hegan a ser lideres en investi-gaci6n y dirigentes prominentes de sus instituciones. Los beneficios del programa son, por lo tanto, de largo alcance en terminos de desarrollo institucional.El personal del Programa Nacional recibi6 capacitaci6n para integrar el analisis estadistico y la comunicaci6n de los resultados de la investigaci6n en Cochabamba, Bolivia.El Departamento de Ciencias de la In-formaci6n, creado en 1989, ha sido consolidado este afio para integrar las funciones de informaci6n y los recursos del CIP y para responder a los desafios emergentes de comunicaci6n como consecuencia de la continuada estrategia de descentralizaci6n del CIP. Este afio tambien ha sido marcado por un intenso esfuerzo para desarrollar los componentes del plan estrategico que tratan sobre las funciones de informaci6n del CIP. Las nuevas facilidades con que cuenta el Departamento incluyen las unidades de Informaci6n, Comunicaci6n, C6mputo, Estadfstica e Informaci6n al Publico. Las principales actividades y logros en cada area se describen a continuaci6n.El personal de la Unidad de Informaci6n ha realizado las siguientes actividades en 1990:• Proporcion6 ayuda tecnica especial para apoyar en la implementaci6n y desarrollo de la Biblioteca del Programa Nacional de Papa en Bolivia y la Biblioteca del CIP en la Regi6n V, Cameron.• Produjo un programa audiovisual sobre los servicios de informaci6n del CIP en espafiol, inglCs y frances, con el objeto de dar a conocer los servicios de informaci6n a una amplia audiencia, la cual incluye a los participantes que vienen a recibir capacitaci6n en el Centro y a los visitantes.• Rizo operativa la Red de Bases de Datos de Papa e integr6 toda la informa-ci6n sobre individuos e instituciones que trabajan en papa y batata en todo el mundo. lncluye la lista de correos, asf como tambien los datos de los que ban recibido capacitaci6n en el CIP.• Fortaleci6 el intercambio de informa-ci6n entre los investigadores de papa y batata de los pafses del tercer mundo. Para cumplir este objetivo, se ha completado una base de datos sobre Procedimientos para la Publicaci6n en revistas agrf colas. Hasta la fecha esta base de datos incluye mas de 180 revistas.• Ingres6 al dfa un total de 35 600 referencias en la Base Bibliografica de Datos del CIP, de las cuales 27 200 entradas son sobre papa y 2 800 sobre batata, ademas de 5 600 publicaciones sobre t6picos en general.• Rizo 892 bllsquedas retrospectivas computadorizadas de las bases de datos bibliograficos del CIP, AG RIS y CABI, para el personal del CIP y del programa nacional.• Disefi.6 mas de 400 perfiles SDI para los usuarios del CIP y del Sistema Nacional de Investigaci6n Agricola (SNIA). Se puso especial enfasis en ayudar a los usuarios en Africa. La naturaleza individual del SDI fue muy apreciada por los investigadores que recibieron esta clase de servicio, como resulta evidente de las evaluaciones que se hacen peri6dicamente.• Continu6 distribuyendo bibliograffa especializada al personal del CIP, del SNIA y a las bibliotecas agrfcolas. Los dos proyectos in~ciados en 1990 son 1) una bibliograffa. de publicaciones sobre papa y batata por autores peruanos que han publicado en cola-boraci6n con el CIP y 2) una bibliograffa sobre la papa en Africa.• Continu6 distribuyendo a todos los programas nacionales y bibliotecas agrfcolas la lista de entradas, publi-caci6n mensual que es una relaci6n de todos los documentos recibidos por la biblioteca del CIP.• Firm6 un acuerdo con la UNESCO para adquirir y usar el disco MICRO-ISIS. Este disco que esta especialmente concebido para el manejo de bases de datos bibliografk.os en CPs, va a permitir transferir la informaci6n de la base de datos bibliograficos del CIP en disquetes y va a permitir tambien el desarrollo de pequefias bases de datos en las oficinas regionales.• Particip6 en un proyecto conjunto del CIP, coordinado por ISNAR que abastece a los SNIA con publicaciones e informaci6n producida por los centros internacionales de investigaci6n agrfcola (IARC). Esta aventura conjunta es un ejemplo de la clase de actividades cooperativas que pued~n conducir a estrechar lazos entre los SNIA y los IARC.• Colabor6 en el desarrollo del folleto de: \"Fuentes de Informaci6n del GCIAI en Latinoamerica\", coordinada y producida por el CIMMYT. Este folleto describe los servicios de informaci6n del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y CIMMYT y ha sido publicado en ingles, espafiol y frances.192 OCIEn 1990, el personal de esta unidad rea-liz6 las siguientes actividades:• Condujo un taller regional financiado por el PNUD sobre capacitaci6n y comunicaciones en Indonesia. Asistieron 17 participantes procedentes de China, Viet Nam e Indonesia. Un taller similar, financiado por el PNUD y organizado por el Instituto Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (IITA), se realiz6 en Ibadan, Nigeria. Asistieron participantes de cinco naciones africanas.• Imprimi614 libros y folletos con 4 600 copias en ingles y 5 150 en espafiol. Ademas, produjo la Circular del CIP con 10 300 copias en ingles, 6 680 en espafiol y 2 000 en frances.• Tradujo 39 documentos del CIP, al espafiol, ingles y frances.• Prest6 su apoyo al personal de la sede central y regional en la redacci6n y edici6n de artfculos y documentos cientfficos asi como tambien en lo referente a arte, fotografia y otras ayudas visual es.• Particip6 activamente en varios eventos del CIP tales como la Exposici6n de Cultivos Andinos, coordinada por el Pacto Andino y la II Exhibici6n Internacional de Variedades de Papa, realizada en Francia, donde el Peru gan6 un premio. Tambien se produjeron varias presentaciones en paneles murales para la participaci6n del CIP en congresos.• Prest6 su apoyo para la filmaci6n de experimentos en video, especialmente en genetica, entomologia y tecnologfa de poscosecha. Se ban producido tres programas grabados en video: \"El Uso • Ayud6 a organizar el congreso de la \"Asociaci6n Latinoamericana de Papa\" (ALAP), realizado en Lima.• Apoy6 al proyecto PROINP A (Bolivia) en materia de edici6n e impresi6n.• Sirvi6 de consultor al Programa Suizo-Pakistanf de Papa en su publicaci6n de Boletines Tecnicos de Informaci6n del CIP (TIBs) en Urdu.• Condujo una intensa evaluaci6n del personal de comunicaciones del CIP de acuerdo a su capacidad de pub licaci6n.• Colabor6 con el \"Comite Francais contre la Faim\" y el Canal 3 frances en la producci6n de dos programas de video sabre el CIP y sabre la papa en los Andes, para transmitirlo en Europa. S6lo en Francia, mas de 1 000 000 han vista el programa.Este afio la Unidad de C6mputo ha sido reorganizada y se le ha incorporado tres especialistas en c6mputo de la Unidad de Informaci6n. Se han reconstruido las instalaciones ffsicas de la unidad para acomodar servicios adicionales. Las actividades del personal han sido las siguientes:• Deline6 las tres areas funcionales: 1) Manejo de la VAX y componentes, 2) Desarrollo de sistemas y 3) Manejo de CP.• Trabaj6 con el Comite de C6mputo de esta unidad con el objeto de proponer estandares y polftica requeridos por el CIP. Se ha iniciado la circulaci6n de un boletfn para compartir la informa-ci6n sabre c6mputo y servicios dentro del centro, incluyendo las regiones.• Proporcion6 al personal del CIP capa-citaci6n sabre procesamiento de Word, manejo de los elementos de difusi6n de la base de datos y otros programas.• Organiz6 el area de desarrollo de sistemas con un enfoque inicial en el sector de maquinaria, seguridad, personal y los sistemas de informaci6n de la red de papa. Se ofreci6 a diferentes niveles, la administraci6n de sistemas de programas y base de datos utilizando el sistema 1032. Se ha prestado amplio apoyo a la base de datos de cultivo de tejidos. Se desarroll6 una versi6n CP de la Base de Datos Bibliografica, utilizando MICRO-ISIS para el manejo de subconjuntos de la base de datos a las oficinas regionales.• Iristal6 una red Ethernet que cubre toda la sede central y que va a permitir la intercomunicaci6n de las CP y los terminales por medio del Sistema VAX.• Instal6 nuevas CP en el CIP. El uso de CP se ha incrementado sustancialmente y el centro tiene actualmente mas de 100 CP compatibles para apoyar la investigaci6n basica y el procesamiento y manejo de la informa-ci6n administrativa.• Apoy6 el uso creciente del correo elec-tr6nico. Este afio se ha notado un gran incremento en este servicio, tanto en la sede central• como en las oficinas regionales. Comunicaciones vfa telex y fax se envfan actualmente en forma regular por medio de correo electr6nico, aumentando, por lo tanto, la eficiencia y reduciendo los costos.• Realiz6 pruebas para com unicarse con PERUNET, sistema peruano de comu-nicaci6n. Esto va a permitir al sistema de c6mputo del CIP estar en la linea para el programa de acceso nacional y regional.La Unidad de Estadistica ha realizado las siguientes actividades en 1990:• Proporcion6 capacitaci6n en estadistica experimental y en estadfstica de programas a los cientfficos asociados al PRECODEPA.194 DCI• Ofreci6 cursos cortos de capacitaci6n al personal cientffico del CIP en los programas SAS/BASE, SAS/STAT, SAS/FSP y SAS/GRAPH.• Desarro116 programas estadisticos para procesar disefios aumentados en Bloques Completamente al Azar y Cuadrado Latino para evaluar areas infestadas de Phytophthora inf es tans.• Desarroll6 documentos de capacita-ci6n sobre los disefios experimentales usados con mayor frecuencia, incluyendo el programa estadistico para uso general en el CIP.• Un miembro del personal de la unidad recibi6 capacitaci6n intensiva en el Ja-p6n sobre procesamiento de la infor-maci6n en linea.El Comite de Informaci6n al Publico, formado en 1989,. ha desarrollado un plan operativo para responder a las necesidades de comunicaciones de audiencias internas o externas, incluyendo los SNIA, donantes y la com uni dad cientffica internacional.Se ban ejecutado diversas acciones de informaci6n al publico, particularmente en coordinaci6n con la Asociaci6n de In-formaci6n Publica del GCIAI, presidida por el Director General del CIP. ND almacen de luz difusa anticuerpo monoclonal virus del mosaico de la alfalfa analisis de variancia virus latente de la papa andina virus del moteado de la papa andina curvas del avance de una enfennedad pares base virus del mosaico de la coliflor isopropil-N-3-clorofenil-carbamato virus del mosaico del pepino escarabajo de la papa de Colorado cultivar distorsi6n clor6tica de la hoja d:fas despues de la siembra ELISA tipo \"sandwich\" de doble anticuerpo acido di-etil-ditiocarbamico diferencia minima significativa acido desoxirribonucleico acido etileno-diaminotetraacetico tecnica serol6gica por media de conjugados enzimaticos esterilidad masculina citoplasmatica restituci6n de primera divisi6n gen de la B-glucoronidasa humedad relativa viroide del enanismo del IUpulo kilo bar relaci6n de area de hoja relaci6n equivalente de tierra eficiencia en la utilizaci6n de la luz marchitez bacteriana malato -dehidrogenasa sobretiem po m edio tasa de asimilaci6n neta prueba de hibridaci6n local de acidos nucleicos numero de balance del endosperma no detenninado no estudiado no significativo fosfoglucodehidrogenasa fosfogluco isomerasa fosfogluco m utasa polinizaci6n libre virus del enrollamiento de las hojas de la papa promedio viroide del tuberculo ahusado de la papa virus peruano del tomate virus A de la papa virus M de la papa virus S de la papa Virus T de la papa virus V de la papa virus X de la papa virus Y de la papa polimorfismo de restricci6n de la longitud de las fragmentos tasa de crecimiento relativo respuesta hipersensible nematodo del n6dulo de la raiz tasa de expansi6n foliar relativa acido ribonucleico error estandar de la diferencia dehidrogenasa del acido shikimico diseminaci6n selectiva de informaci6n microscopio electr6nico de barrido area foliar especial un s6lo nudo virus-caulimo de la batata virus del mosaico plumoso de la batata virus latente de la batata virus del moteado atenuado de la batata gorgojo de la batata boletines de informaci6n tecnica virus de la estria del tabaco tiz6n tardio tiz6n tern prano variedad versus herida-inducible eficiencia de uso del agua Hemos examinado los estados de situacion financiera del Centro Internacional de La Papa -CIP Cuna organizacion sin fines de lucro) al 31 de diciembre de 1990 y al 31 de diciembre de 1989 y los estados de operaciones y de cambios en los fondos no utilizados y de cambios en la situacion financiera por Los af\\os terminados en esas fechas.Nuestros examenes fueron real i zados de acuerdo con normas de audi tori a generalmente aceptadas e i ncluyeron, consecuentemente, comprobac i ones select i vas de la cont a bi l i dad y la ap l i cac ion de ot ros procedimientos de auditoria en la medida que consideramos necesaria en las circunstancias.Como se menciona en la Nota 3, al 31 de diciembre de 1990, las cuentas por cobrar a donantes incluyen US$1,444,000 de la contribucion para el af\\o 1990 del Banco Interamericano para el Desarrol lo cuyo contrato aun no ha sido firmado.A la fecha no es posible determinar con seguridad si esta contribucion sera recibida por el Centro.Como se describe en la Nota 2, de acuerdo con Los l ineamientos establecidos por el Grupo Consul ti vo sobre I nvesti gaci ones Agronomi cas I nternaci onales para la preparaci on de estados financieros de los Centros Jnternacionales de Jnvestigacion Agricola, el CIP no contabi l iza la depreciacion de sus bienes del activo fijo. Sin embargo, a partir del 1° de enero de 1990 Los principios de contabi l idad generalmente aceptados requieren la contabi l izacion de la depre• ciacion de los bienes del activo fijo por las organizaciones sin fines de lucro. El efecto de la depreciacion no registrada al 31 de diciembre de 1990 y al 31 de diciembre de 1989 no ha sido determinado.Nuestro dictamen del 26 de febrero de 1990, sobre Los estados financieros del ejerc1c10 1989, contenia una cal ificacion por la posible sobreestimacion de la donacion por cobrar al Banco Interamericano para el Desarrollo de aproximadamente US$1,000,000, debido a la forma en que esta institucion transfer fa sus donaciones al Centro; sin embargo, como se expl ica en la Nota 3, esta donacion ha sido cobrada durante 1990 y 1991 en moneda local al tipo de cambio del mercado l ibre, sin haber afectado Los menci onados estados f inanci eros del Centro. Consecuentemente, nuestra opinion actual sobre Los estados financieros del af\\o 1989 difiere de aquel la expresada en nuestro informe anterior en este aspecto.En nuestra opinion, excepto por el efecto en 1990 de la situacion descrita en el parrafo 2, y excepto por el efecto en 1990 y 1989 de la situacion mencionada en el parrafo 3, Los estados financieros adjuntos presentan, razonablemente, la situaci6n financiera del Centro Internacional de La Papa -CIP al 31 de diciembre de 1990 y 31 de diciembre de 1989 y los resultados de sus operaciones y Los cambios en Los fondos no utilizados y Los cambios en la situaci6n financiera por Los af\\os terminados en esas fechas, de acuerdo con principios de contabi l idad generalmente aceptados que fueron apl icados uniformemente.  (Expresado en d6lares estadounidenses)El Centro Internacional de la Papa -CIP es una organizaci6n sin fines de lucro, con sede en Lima, Peru, y con programas ubicados en America Latina, America Central y el Caribe, Media Oriente, Asia y Africa. Las operaciones del CIP tienen coma objetivo principal desarrollar y diseminar los conocimientas sobre la papa, camote y otras rafces tuberosas a nivel intemacional, mediante la ejecuci6n de programas de investigaci6n, formaci6n y adiestramiento de cientfficos, diseminaci6n de las resultados de investigaciones a traves de publicaciones, conferencias, forums, seminaridS y otras actividades concordantes con sus objetivas.El CIP fue constituido en 1972 de conformidad con el Convenio de Cooperaci6n Cientffica celebrado con el Gobierno Peruano en 1971 y que vence en el afio 2000. El CIP es miembro del grupo de Centros Internacionales de lnvestigaci6n Agricola que recibe apoyo del Grupo Consultivo sabre Investigaciones Agron6micas Intemacionales.De acuerdo con las disposiciones legates vigentes y las terminas del convenio antes mencionado, el CIP esta exonerado del impuesto a la renta y otros impuestos. Si par alguna raz6n importante se procediera a dar par terminadas las operaciones del CIP, las terrenos, edificios, equipos, vehfculos y otros bienes pasaran a ser propiedad del Ministerio de Agricultura del Peru.Las principales practicas contables son coma sigue: a. Moneda extranjera -Los registros contables del CIP son mantenidos en d6Iares estadounidenses. Las transacciones efectuadas en otras monedas son convertidas a d6lares estadounidenses al tipo de cambio de la fecha de la transacci6n. Las donaciones comprometidas en otras monedas son convertidas a d6lares estadounidenses al tipo de cambio de la fecha de su recepci6n o si esta pendiente al 31 de diciembre, al tipo de cambio de la fecha de cierre. Los activos y pasivas monetarios en otras monedas son convertidos a d6lares estadounidenses al tipo de cambio del mercado libre de la fecha de cierre.b. Devengado -Los estadas financieras del Centro ban sido preparados sobre la base de lo devengado, excepto par las compromisos (ver d) y la depreciaci6n (ver g).Las donaciones se reconocen coma ingresos sobre la base de las compromisos aceptados par las donantes.Las donaciones no restringidas, asf como las donaciones para bienes de capital y de capital de trabajo, son comprometidas anualmente y son reconocidas en el periodo en el cual se comprometen, siempre y cuando sea probable que se reciban. Si el compromiso es cancelado en un periodo subsecuente, es castigado y debitado a los ingresos del afio en el que la cancelaci6n se produce.Las donaciones para operaciones restringidas, que deben ser comprometidas para mas de un afio, son reconocidas como ingreso s6Jo hasta el Hmite en que los correspondientes gastos se ban incurrido o presupuestado.Los otros ingresos, netos, tales como intereses sobre inversiones, ingresos por ventas de activo fijo y materiales y por Jos costos administrativos cargados a proyectos especiales, son registrados cuando se reciben.d. Egresos -Los pedidos a firme para la adquisici6n de bienes de activo fijo y servicios se registran en el afio del compromiso. Al 31 de diciembre de 1990, el monto de compromisos registrados bajo esta practica asciende a US$ 174 900.Los egresos de fondos utilizados por programas intemacionales se contabilizan en base a informes recibidos de la entidad receptora. Los gastos relacionados con proyectos especiales se aplican al fondo respectivo en el periodo en que se incurren.e. Inversiones -Las inversiones a corto plazo comprenden principalmente certificados de dep6sitos bancario valuados al costo de adquisici6n y devengan un interes anual equivalente a las tasas bancarias vigentes.f. lnventarios de artfculos de laboratorio, repuestos y otros suministros -Los artfculos de laboratorio, repuestos y otros suministros estan valuados al valor estimado de mercado, ei mismo que se aproxima al costo.g. lnmuebles, planta y equipo -Los inmuebles, planta y equipo estan registrados a su costo de adquisici6n que incluye el precio de compra mas fletes, seguros y manipuleo. Las donaciones utilizadas en la adquisici6n o reemplazo de inmuebles, planta y equipo son debitadas al fondo respectivo como un gasto del periodo y posteriormente son capitalizadas.Como excepci6n a los principios de contabilidad generalmente aceptados, los inmuebles, planta y equipo no son depreciados. El costo de inmuebles, planta y equipo dados de baja en el periodo son debitados a la cuenta patrimonio institucional y la cuenta del activo es reducida en el mismo importe.Los gastos de mantenimiento y reparaci6n se registran como gastos de operaci6n.h. Vacaciones -Las vacaciones se cargan a los gastos de operaci6n en el afio en que se toman.i. Provision para beneficios social es -La provision para compensaci6n por tiempo de servicios del personal peruano se registra a medida que se devenga y se calcula de acuerdo a disposiciones legales vigentes. El importe del pasivo devengado es el monto que tendrfa que pagarse a los trabajadores asumiendo que ellos se retiraran a la fecha de los estados financieros.A-57La contribuci6n en d6lares del Banco Interamericano para el Desarrollo (BID), que al 31 de diciembre de 1989 ascendfa a US$ 1 650 000, debfa ser transferida al Centro a traves del Banco C,entral de Reserva del Peru y convertida en in tis utilizando el ti po de cambio del Mercado Unicode Cambios (MUC) en lugar del cambio del mercado libre, que es el cambio con el cual opera el Centro. El tipo de cambio MUC al 31 de diciembre de 1989, era casi el 40% del tipo de cambio del mercado libre, consecuentemente de haberse recibido la donaci6n en dichas condiciones, el Centro habrfa recibido aproximadamente US$ 1 000 000 menos que el monto de la contribuci6n en d6lares por cobrar a dicho Banco. Sin embargo, desde agosto de 1990, el Gobiemo Peruano dispuso la aplicaci6n del ti po de cambio libre para el registro de las operaciones comerciales. La contribuci6n antes indicada fue recibida por el Centro a fines de 1990 y principios de 1991, por lo que los estados financieros no fueron afectados.El contrato por la contribuci6n en d6lares del Banco Interamericano para el Desarrollo (BID) por US$ 1 444 000 correspondiente a 1990, no ha sido aun firmado; consecuentemente, es incierta la recepci6n de esta contribuci6n. Los vehfculos y otros bienes del activo fijo reemplazados o retirados en el afio, se eliminan de las cuentas de inmuebles, planta y equipo y patrtmonio institucional correspondiente, y se contabilizan en cuentas de orden. El saldo de las cuentas de orden al 31 de diciembre de 1990 asciende a US$519 967 (US$644 933 en 1989).El Centro mantiene lfneas de credito y acuerdos de prestamos con el Citibank N.A. por US$250 000 (US$525 000 en 1989), que devengan un interes equivalente a la tasa preferencial de Nueva York mas 1,5%. En garantfa de estas lfneas de credito, el Centro mantiene dep6sitos en dicha instituci6n financiera por US$207 767 (US$ 325 131 en 1989), que devengan un interes anual de 6,6% (7,5% en 1989).Du rante 1990 las siguientes donaciones fueron acordadas a favor del CIP para ser recibidas y aplicadas a proyectos especiales a partir de 1991 hasta 1993:A-59  El GCIAI:E l Grupo Consultivo sobre Investigaciones Agron6micas Internacionales (GCIAI) es una asociaci6n informal de mas de 40 paf ses, organizaciones internacionales y regionales y fundaciones privadas establecida en 1971 para apoyar un sistema de investigaci6n agrfcola a nivel mundial. Existen actualmente en el sistema del GCIAI, 13 centros internacionales de investiga-ci6n agrfcola en su mayorfa localizados en pafses de la zona t6rrida. Diez Centros cubren con su mandato a productos alimenticios, zonas agro-ecol6gicas, o a ambos. Sus investigaciones incluyen el mejoramiento de variedades vegetales y metodos de producci6n, sistemas agrf colas, pro-tecci6n vegetal, control de enfermedades de los animales, sistemas de poscosecha y varios aspectos de polftica agraria. Sus otras funciones basicas, adicionales a la investigaci6n, son la dise-minaci6n de la informaci6n, la capacitaci6n y la conservaci6n de los recursos geneticos. De los tres Centros restantes, uno esta dedicado exclusivamente a la conservaci6n y utilizaci6n del germoplasma. Se ha establecido un sistema internacional de bancos de genes que puede ser utilizado por los investigadores de cualquier parte del mundo. Un Centro se ocupa de asuntos econ6micos y politica alimentaria y otro proporciona asesoramiento, a los pafses del tercer mundo, sobre la organizaci6n de sus sistemas nacionales de investigaci6n. Cada uno de los 13 centros mantiene estrechas relaciones de colaboraci6n con los sistemas nacionales.Los Centros Internacionales en el sistema del GCIAI y sus colaboradores en los pafses clientes del CIP conducen investigaciones en la mayorfa de los principales alimentos que ellos consumen. La investigaci6n para el mejoramiento de cultivos incluye todos los cereales importantes que como grupo contribuyen con 60% de la energfa y 55% de la protefna en dichos pafses. Adicionalmente, los centros conducen investigaciones sobre los principales cultivos basicos de rafces y tuberculos, cultivos de leguminosas y ganaderfa. La combi-naci6n de estos alimentos contribuye con 75% de la energfa y 4% de la protelna en los pafses clientes del CIP. ","tokenCount":"69335"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4525203051.json b/data/part_1/4525203051.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..02a040facbe7cca94549b8b3dd8a30d82e7a0cb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4525203051.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"41439286793055165df5890d5adecf0a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/48f20090-76f5-44fb-bcba-94e95e90cbdd/retrieve","id":"-995493163"},"keywords":["Benchmark","MODIS","Colombia","bandwidth","remote sensing"],"sieverID":"d1f1d2a0-fa9f-46f7-9c31-f7dfe215b7af","pagecount":"8","content":"New remote sensing platforms and data programs have dramatically increased the availability of satellite image data for analysis of climate, agriculture, environment and society. Particularly important new sensor systems include the USA's MODIS system, Brazil and China's CBER platform, and India's IRS satellite. These and other systems have created considerable benefits to the international community of remote sensing analysts. Today, we have more data with greater options regarding spatial, radiometric and temporal resolution.While having these greater options is a positive development, substantial problems remain in acquiring and managing large data volumes. Data providers and consumers must support significant costs in copying remote sensing data to tapes and disks. Internet transfer of satellite imagery is only possible on broadband networks. Even then, download times can be considerable. Downloads may be interrupted if the Internet connections are unstable.How can we improve the acquisition of large volumes of remote sensing data for environmental analysis? What alternatives are available to remote sensing researchers to acquire near-real time satellite imagery for research use?This paper assesses the potential of high-speed Internet as a medium for transferring large satellite imagery data sets between the United States and Colombia, between Colombia and other Latin American countries and within Colombia. Academic and research networks have led developments in high-speed Internet. Many countries throughout the world are installing the infrastructure needed to develop these networks. In the United States this system is referred to as Internet 2. Latin American countries are developing a system called RedCLARA (Cooperación Latinoamericana de Redes Avanzadas). In January 2006, Colombia launched the National Advanced Academic and Technology Network (RENATA). Our analysis examines the potential of this network for utilizing satellite imagery for research purposes. We assess download times for transferring data. We compare the efficiency of high speed networks to normal broadband and to other forms of transferring satellite data transfer. Our analysis also considers how high speed networks can facilitate image browsing before users decide to download the data. Our analysis suggests that Colombia and Latin America's recent development of high speed Internet for universities and advanced research institutes has great potential for improving the efficiency of use of remotely sensed imagery.Capacities to carry out remote sensing science and technology have increased substantially over the last decade due to the combined influence of many factors. The availability of data has perhaps been the most important reason for this improved capacity (Chen, 2005). New data programs from non-traditional providers like China and Brazil are adding to globally available content. Data sets at finer resolutions have also helped to increase capacities to conduct analyses. Improvements in computingimproved software, faster processors, larger storage mechanisms, more efficient networks -have also helped to increase the capacity to use remote sensing for science and technology applications. Despite these improvements, substantial gaps remain in access to remote sensing technology and data, especially in the developing countries. While satellite programs in Brazil, China and India have improved capacities in those countries, a great many nations do not have this type of access. One difficulty is that often property rights or commercial interests prove to be an obstacle to disseminating data (USDA, 2003). However much of the problem for developing countries is simply the logistics of acquiring data. Poor public postal systems in many countries hamper dissemination of tapes, CDs and DVDs. Commercial courier service can be expensive. Much of the problem is the international transfer of remote sensing imagery. The Internet will likely be the solution to data transfer problems. But current data transfer speeds on the Internet are insufficient for transferring large file sizes that are typical of remote sensing imagery. This paper addresses the question of how this Internet bottleneck could be resolved.Our proposal is to increase capacity in remote sensing science and technology by taking advantage of high speed internet for non-commercial use by universities and research institutes in Colombia and throughout Latin America. The initiative would build on recent efforts to build high speed Internet connections among the academic and research communities of the region. Government data providers could participate when their data dissemination policies are goals are in line with supporting public research in the region. Some initial connectivity tests were made between research institutes and data providers in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala and the United States. Data transfer speed was as much as four times greater than conventional Internet. A ten-fold increase in data transfer speed can be obtained once the full bandwidth capabilities of the high speed Internet system are implemented.Several difficulties create obstacles to accessing remote sensing data. Acquiring data through government postal service is not an attractive option in most cases. In many countries the postal service is unreliable. Courier service is an option, but can be expensive. The logistics of making payments for shipping tapes, CDs and DVDs can be difficult to arrange for the data user due to different financial transfer processes between the country of the data provider and that of the user. The Internet would seem to be the ideal solution. But data transfer velocities for the Internet are often too slow. Acquiring more than a few image scenes could potentially take from a half day to several days to weeks to download. In many parts of the world, Internet connections fail. With long download times, this is even more likely.Our experience with a vegetation analysis of Latin America illustrates the difficulties of acquiring satellite imagery. CIAT and partners are conducting a continental analysis of vegetation change using MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) imagery. The research requires 250 m resolution image products captured every 16 days for the entire mainland of the continent. The products include spectral bands, vegetation indices (EVI and NDVI), quality data and metadata, all provided by the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Eros Data Center (EDC) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. The combined imagery corresponds to more than 2 terabytes of data. Obviously we could not download such a huge volume of data. EDC rejected our offer to send a hard drive to Sioux Falls for copying the data, a solution that conflicts with their data processing policies. The solution was for EDC to burn 500 DVDs, shipping them by commercial courier to CIAT headquarters in Cali, Colombia. It should be noted that this solution was worked out in the context of a visiting scientist program between CIAT and EDC. Acquiring these images would have been difficult without the close collaboration that the two institutions had build up over the years.The solution had several drawbacks. One problem is the time that it takes EDC to download the images to DVDs. When the data arrived at CIAT, a technician was employed to upload the DVDs to our servers. Since the project will continue into the future, new images will be needed every 16 days. The costs of mail shipments would be prohibitive.Recent developments in networking infrastructure could solve many remote sensing data access problems for Latin America. At the regional level, universities and advanced research institutes have developed the project \"Cooperation in Advanced Networks in Latin America\" (CLARA, 2006: Figure 1).The project is equivalent to Internet 2 in the United States. 18 Latin American countries in the region participate. The Latin American group has also forged high speed Internet links with Europe and the United States.Colombia's high speed Internet network is called RENATA (Red Nacional Académica de Tecnología Avanzada) and comprises six subnational networks: (Figure 2).  These sub-networks are centered around the cities of Barranquila, Bucumaranga, Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Popayan. The network consists of 47 nodes, mostly universities, but also including some advanced research institutes.The Latin American and Colombian high speed Internet networks are still in the initial stages of development. In Colombia, connectivity problems are being addressed to make the system run more smoothly. Developers of the system are working on applications in grid computing, videoconferencing, interactive distance learning, virtual laboratories and other applications. The system is made efficient by excluding SPAM, commercial Web sites, peer to peer programs and all other non-scientific content. The initiative seems to be well suited to applications in geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, fields that deal with very large files. Since much of this technology is for non-commercial use, researchers in universities and advanced research institutes could take advantage of high speed Internet to build capacities.Data providers must participate in any effort to launch high speed networks for remote sensing research in Latin America. Most satellite imagery providers have some kind of mandate to support partner countries in the use of remote sensing technology. For example, the United States' remote sensing policy mentions the need to share data as part of overall diplomatic efforts (USDA, 2003). Other countries like Brazil, China and India will make special arrangements to provide data for non-commercial use.The developers of high speed Internet must also be willing to provide the infrastructure support for using the network to support remote sensing science and technology. In principle, this kind of support is a key objective of groups like CLARA, RENATA and Internet2. For example, CLARA and Internet2 signed a memorandum of understanding with the objective of supporting non-commercial research and development between Latin America and the United States (CLARA 2003).CIAT and partners recently tested high speed Internet connections to assess the viability of transferring satellite imagery (Table 1). Tests were made between CIAT headquarters and our partners in Peru, Mexico, Guatemala and the United States. The connection with the USGS Eros Data Center is particularly important since they are one of the world's leading satellite image data providers. At present, making these connections is not simple or straightforward. A considerable amount of electronic mail correspondence was necessary to set all the connections up.Our tests included satellite image files from the MODIS platform. The MODIS files were 150 M bytes in size. Data transfer speeds from our tests showed improvements on the order of two to four faster than convention Internet (Figure 3).  The download times shown in Figure 3 are partly due to the bandwidth designed for the initial stages of development. Current bandwidth is 10 M bytes shared amongst all the universities in Colombia. Future increases in bandwidth will depend on the quantity and type of applications that will use the network. Increasing the bandwidth is not a technical limitation. Currently, it's possible to increase the link up to 155M bytes, but this depends on user requirements and funding resources.While high speed Internet could solve imagery access issues, there are many other applications for remote sensing and geographic information science and technology. For example, the system could decentralize data, models and processing throughout the region. Decentralization would be in line with larger trends in computing and networking. Another application is grid computing. Computing-intensive digital image processing could take advantage of a grid computing network over high speed Internet. Processes that take days and weeks to run could be conducted in a few hours or less. High speed Internet also opens up possibilities to collaborate with colleagues in different institutions. Groupware and collaborative tools are becoming increasingly popular, and would run particularly well on high speed networks. For example, interactive maps are notoriously difficult to use on conventional Internet. Drawing graphics and accessing data needs high velocity computing that RENATA, CLARA and Internet2 are providing.","tokenCount":"1874"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4528285535.json b/data/part_1/4528285535.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b71785a148f445f58c4c847455336a3c1e805603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4528285535.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8f783c47a213a44fa30fd960f329964e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f644392f-5c17-4fdb-9897-3156105be915/retrieve","id":"-1115813997"},"keywords":["CRP WHEAT","CCAFS","CSISA"],"sieverID":"b1a2bdc9-76ab-4169-a896-92c0449bcf1f","pagecount":"1","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Enhanced capacity to deal with climatic risks and extremes (Mitigation and adaptation achieved)• Enhanced adaptive capacity to climate risks (More sustainably managed agro-ecosystems)Is this OICR linked to some SRF 2022/2030 target?: Yes SRF 2022/2030 targets:• # of more farm households have adopted improved varieties, breeds or trees • Increase in water and nutrient (inorganic, biological) use efficiency in agro-ecosystems, including through recycling and reuse Description of activity / study: WHEAT and CCAFS scientists examined the how South Asian smallholder production systems might adapt to climatic variability, to minimize the negative impacts of climate change on food systems. They looked at why farmers use few adaptation measures, if any, despite the their prevalence, in light of the existing barriers and policy set-up. Institutional change and flexibility to enable adaptation are key challenges, as the adaptive management approaches are new to the existing bureaucratic systems in these counties. Education and interaction among farmers changed their adaptation behavior. Focusing on farmer-to-farmer communication can help to improve adaptation.• Regional Region(s):• Southern Asia Comments: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Links to MELIA publications: <Not Defined> 1 This report was generated on 2022-08-19 at 08:15 (GMT+0)","tokenCount":"200"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4553216642.json b/data/part_1/4553216642.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..538393c9d1fdbab33733c4a091d45424825670ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4553216642.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aa1e677e139c426eb3a7146102cb78b4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d1e82f70-3966-4cfd-bfaf-72b6d475181c/retrieve","id":"1333027230"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50e5ab95-b059-4992-ad9e-9e13867cf1e6","pagecount":"59","content":"Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (or banana bacterial wilt: BBW) C3P Crop Crisis Control project CBSD Cassava brown streak disease CBSV Cassava brown streak virus CCAFS CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security CFT Confined field trial CGIAR Organization dedicated to international agricultural research CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIP International Potato Center Cirad Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement CMD Cassava mosaic disease CO CGIAR Consortium Office CORAF Conseil ouest et centre africain pour la recherche et le développement agricoles CRP CGIAR Research Program CWB Cassava witch croomRTB is midway into Results Based Management (RBM), preparing for the RTB extension phase and gathering inputs for the pre-proposal for the Second Call for CRPs, due in March 2015. The meeting was about reviewing progress, taking a longer term perspective and putting science more strongly on the table . A total of around 70 persons attended the RTB Annual Meeting. Amongst them: representative of RTB's organizational structure (Management Committee, Centre Focal Points, Theme leaders, Program Management Unit, Gender Focal points, Project Management Officers), representatives from partner organizations, the CGIAR Consortium Office (CO), donors and in majority RTB scientists. Participants from an RTB project on postharvest, based in Uganda, joined for Tuesday afternoon.The meeting was arranged in three main parts:1) Science Day, by Theme (2 days) 2) CGIAR change process and RTB response (2 days) 3) Partnerships and regional perspective (1 day) Expected outputs of the meeting were 1) CGIAR change process socialized 2) Progress and next steps in communications and gender mainstreaming socialized 3) Mission critical science for Second Call and Annual Report identified 4) Roadmap for implementing results based management and Second Call shared and validated 5) Framework for flagship projects (n-1) and clusters of activities (n-2) finalized 6) Business cases for flagship projects and 5-7 clusters of activity reviewed 7) Reporting and planning schedule for 2014-15 and restructuring for 2016 agreed 8) Options and process for complementary funding in 2015-16 agreedThe workshop report is structured by the main blocks of the agenda mentioned above, broadly following the sequential order of sessions and exercises, as outlined in the workshop agenda (Annex 1). Each block contains links to power point presentations, introductory presentations, introductions for exercises, summaries of group work and discussion.The workshop started with the welcome by Graham Thiele, RTB Program Director who gave a quick introduction into the background and objectives of the workshop. This was followed by key background presentations on progress during the last year. This to lay the ground for the following two days of science presentations.For full presentation of day 1 see: http://goo.gl/NJBsShOver the past two years the RTB team has identified opportunities for improving not only the scope of work but also the program structure, and late April RTB management submitted an extension request to the CGIAR Consortium Office for the period 2015-2016. This extension request (RTB 2.0) indicates the next steps that will help to develop and improve the original proposal (RTB 1.0).The extension phase proposes a transition from output-based to results-based management (RBM), which entails a shift from planning and reporting by disciplinary Themes to \"flagship projects\" and \"clusters of activities\" -a combination of deliverables, linked products, impact pathway, and strategic objectives. The framework for the extension period is a hybrid, retaining the original seven Themes as basic building blocks.The extension phase will also involve increased gender integration, expanded linkages to regional and subregional organizations, broader alliances of partnerships, long-term discovery research and improved RTB business cases.The presentation embedded the RTB change process in the wider CGIAR reform with the main steps which RTB is envisioning: (1) Extension phase of CRPs: 2015-16, (2) Second phase of CRPs: 2017-2020.Suggested RTB timeline in response to the RTB change approach is as follows: Some of the challenges/design features with RTB 1.0 that RTB 2.0 will seek to address are the following: Themes good for achieving research products but outcomes require collaboration across themes  Results-oriented (outcomes) Flagship projects/clusters of activities and impact pathways central to architecture, co-develop with partners, and flagship project and cluster leaders  Product portfolio: planning, reporting and knowledge management  Gender mainstreaming  Performance evaluation / M&E with accountability linked to IDOs  Results-based budgets  Software platform for planning and reporting (Google Drive) overwhelmed  Partnerships with other CRPs Humidtropics, (Sub)regional organizations (ASARECA), national partnersAn independent external evaluation commissioned by CGIAR will be undertaken in 2015 and help RTB to improve program performance and get prepared for the 2 nd call.Pre-proposals for the 2 nd call are due on 15 th March 2015 for the second phase to start in 2017. RTB as a group could make use of action sites with Humidtropics CRP to improve adoption of research products.  Three-year cycle of CGIAR projects too short to show the desired impact for the CRPs.Gender mainstreaming is an important task -guided by the RTB gender strategy. Different initiatives were undertaken in 2014 to better integrate gender into RTB research. RTB carried out four categories of gender work: a) gender integration research in technical themes (i.e. 1 to 6); b) strategic gender research; c) priority assessment; and d) capacity strengthening. Gender Integration Research focuses on products and milestones with greatest potential for tangible gender outcomes in several technical themes of the RTB program.RTB is supporting an initiative to build up an RTB gender-universities partnership with the objective of linking social science students/faculty to RTB research sites and increase capacity to integrate gender into agricultural research. Scientists could contact Kayte Meola, gender focal point in CIAT, if they require more information and learn how to collaborate with universities.RTB contributes to a CGIAR-wide comparative research initiative on Gender Norms, Agency and Agricultural/NRM Innovation. RTB expects to undertake case studies in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Peru, Uganda and Vietnam. As part of this study, RTB gender focal points participated in training on strategic gender research. Netsayi presented results from case studies on gender undertaken in Nigeria, Malawi, Peru and Ecuador by RTB gender focal points. Two pilot studies in Nigeria under the NEXTGEN cassava project. Initial results indicate that women prefer and prioritize late maturing varieties and men on the other hand, prefer varieties that form roots fast and give large roots. In the \"Improve access by women and men to quality planting material: case of Malawi\" results showed that women are mostly less aware of, less trained in potato seed technology and marketing than men. In Peru and Ecuador, there are more male children with chronic malnutrition than female children which contrast with findings from other studies. More needs to be done at center level on gender, as appointment of gender focal points at centers does not automatically translate to gender mainstreaming.  Gender team, social scientists and anthropologist were urged to cover intergenerational differences as well in their research.  Indicators for measuring gender mainstreaming? Definition for gender IDO at the CGIAR level is ongoing but not completed yet.  Collaboration between RTB gender focal points and ASARECA focal points to be strengthened.Scientists and stakeholders from around the globe participated in a root, tuber and banana expert survey, which formed an integral part of a priority assessment. In addition to engaging experts from an array of organizations and institutions, the assessment strengthened cross-center collaboration.10 RTB working papers have been drafted which are available on RTB website. RTBMaps was developed and acts as an interactive online tool providing geographic information to the research and development community of roots, tubers and bananas. The maps are accessible on RTB website and the Priority Assessment (PA) team is requesting scientists to review them and provide feedback for updating purposes.Results were presented on research options for banana, adoption ceiling & benefits for yam, beneficiaries and poverty effect for cassava, adoption by region for sweet potato and extending economic surplus analysis: estimation of DALY benefits for Orange fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP).Next steps to be undertaken by priority assessment (PA) group in 2014:  Review of RTB working papers (http://www.rtb.cgiar.org/category/resources/working-papers )  Peer-review by selected independent (crop) experts  Synthesis report  Develop and implement PA communication strategy together with RTB communication unit  Sharing with and feedback from stakeholders e.g. Sub regional organizations (CORAF, ASARECA, IICA, etc.), banana networks, RTB meetings and webpage, social media  Publications: RTB working papers, journal papers Data collected are not specific enough / too general resulting in difficulties for specific actions to be pursued.  Suggestion was made that the title of the project should be \"strategic assessment\" instead of \"priority assessment\".This RTB Annual Meeting was designed to have a strong focus on critical science aspects in the different RTB Themes to share progress and contribute to the preparation of the pre-proposal. The Theme Leaders began with an overview on crosscutting work, followed by presentations on different crops and different aspects inside each Theme. Presentations can be found under the links: Themes 1 and 2: http://goo.gl/NJBsSh and Themes 3 to 7: http://goo.gl/9LSGw7.During the two days science presentations rapporteurs were in charge of capturing the key highlights on progress and the gaps for mission critical science by theme. At the end of all presentations the rapporteurs where invited to present highlights and needs (\"Mission critical science\").The information captured, will give input into the preparation of the pre-proposal of the 2 nd call of CRPs to shape the science part of the RTB proposal.Theme 1 builds on existing competencies in clonal crop conservation to implement global conservation strategies for RTB crops in close collaboration with the Genebank CRP, regional and national genebanks. Strategies will document, conserve, increase, and better exploit the diversity of RTB genetic resources conserved. This will permit researchers and farming communities to make faster and better use of the germplasm, to address biotic and abiotic stresses, mitigate the effects of climate change, improve nutrition, and supply new and expanding markets. Key aspects of work in Theme are highlighted below. Progress  Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Technologies used to genotype 5 RTB crops using GBS (Cornell) or RADseq (BGI), towards: Genetic diversity, population structure, clonal differentiation and relationship, High density Genetic Maps (used to improve the RTB reference genomes) and Genome wide association study (GWAS)  Genetic architecture of key traits determined and a perfect stage set for accelerated genetic gain.Involvement of new partners (ARIs and NARS)  Passport, morphological, genetic and genomics data in database will help systematic use of genetic resources held in trust by 4 CGIAR Centers  Identified standard procedures for systematic monitoring status of in situ conservation of land races. Hotspot-base in situ network for potato landraces in the center of origin, total diversity baseline, relative diversity, spatial pattern, collective knowledge and threats to conservation. Catalogue on hotspot-based potato landrace  Evidence base for ecosystem services through the use of diversity by smallholders Gaps  Adding value to RTB cross cutting activities on genotyping:  When will the huge data set from SNPs be enough: [For discovery yes but for genetic diversity maybe not.] Number of SNPs required is also influenced by factors such as the trait and type of germplasm  in situ conservation contributes to dynamic evolution and should complement ex situ conservation  RTB is positioned to work through the potato and sweet potato work through the wide experience of Bioversity on in situ conservation including on farm conservation  Research that will give better understanding of Institutional arrangements underlying on farm conservation (between farmers, among farmers seed production, policies at all levels)  Priority assessment exercise should be improved by measuring effect of new technologies on in situ diversity of RTB crops Cross-cutting aspects of the work reported: o The reported techniques were more advanced in some crops than others and provided opportunities for learning from each other o Common RTB bioinformatics platform o Strong datasets generated in each crop -meta analysis needed to gain full cross cutting benefits -including analysis for shared mandate crops  Studies on in situ conservation and the challenges in gap analysis in germplasm collections:Molecular markers are important in these studies but we may need to monitor how potential focus of the Genebank CRP evolves and therefore how can we assure that there is complementary work between the 2 CRPs. o Opportunities for other RTB to use this model  New tools will enable improved monitoring of the loss of genetic diversity of RTB but it is important to also consider the related institutional issues/arrangements.  How and when will the excellent progress being made in genetics influence the selection and release of new RTB varieties: eg shortening of the breeding cycle and the value of the knowledge on the gene for CMD resistance in subsequent cassava breeding.  Question of acceptability of transgenics by breeders was raised but the issue was seen as more problematic with the regulatory authorities and not the breeding per se.Theme 2 aims to exploit the genetic resources of RTB to improve productivity, enhance stability of production with particular consideration of the impact of climate change, and increase nutritional and commercial value. More productive and resilient RTB varieties are targeted at emerging markets for fresh and processed products, simultaneously addressing farmers and household needs. This will help guarantee food availability and increase income generation of households that grow and handle RTB.Women, who often have critical roles in RTB production and processing, will particularly benefit. gains, pay more attention to it?  Bacterial disease, no clear options right now except transgenics but potential strategy presented as as a cross-cutting effort to manipulate effector-target plant genes using transgenic, RNAi, or genome editing, high risk but high return.  Demand for traits under investigation has not been made clear enough while research outputs need to be made more relevant as deliverables.Theme 3 seeks to generate knowledge and novel technologies, build communities-of-practice, and strengthen capacities that enable farmers to manage existing and emergent RTB pest and disease problems. On the basis of comprehensive information on the biology and life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment, activities will be carried out to achieve sustainable increases in food production, counteract the impacts of climate change on pests' distribution and damage potential, reduce contaminants in the food chain, increase agro-ecosystem resilience through a better understanding of biological interactions in agro-ecosystems, and improve farmers' access to decisionmaking tools for Integrated Pest Management.  The consequences of pests and diseases, especially big event, happening or futured, has to be captured and articulated with greater clarity  There was an absence of 'policy' in managing pests, especially wrt new or emerging. RTB science has to be more engaged with NPPOs  Role of community and gender presents opportunity for control/eradication. Great opportunity for multidisciplinary sciences and private public partnership/commercialisation of products and services  A few diagnostic technologies can allow for the majority of lab and off-lab services.o LAMP kits can be rolled out for the known major pests and diseases o Sequencing capability can be used for others o Position diagnostics with seed systems in delivering QDS or certified seed will be game changing; but diagnostics are not the answer in isolationTheme 4 aims to ensure that poor farmers and rural communities use higher quality, low-cost, genetically adapted, high-performing RTB planting material through the use of tools, methods, and frameworks developed by RTB and public and private sector partners. The impact will particularly benefit poor women farmers, who have an increasingly important role in RTB crop management and, in some areas, are fully in charge of taking care of the planting material from one season to the other. consider gender study as a component in baseline studies  Market studies for seed  Linkage between theme 4, 3 and theme 6 to enhance scaling up/out and impactTheme 5 seeks to develop decision support tools for more productive, less vulnerable, and more resilient RTB crop systems. It will focus on the development of tools for more efficient integration of different management components, related to biotic and abiotic constraints and different levels of resources and plant genotypes (species and cultivars) to produce RTB for particular end-uses or environmental benefits.  RTB should work on decreasing environmental footprint? Charles added that there is a project in Uganda on trees on farms. They went from bunch of 6kg to 23kg using shade. This is an example of mixed-crop, efficiency, ecological, associations that work.Progress  Good progress made in light utilization from the banana work in meso-America but questions on intensification vs. sustainability remain.  Good work on yield models and nutrient/water utilization  Increasing surface of solar funnels is not always possible especially in Africa and Columbia. These funnels work well for starch and flour.  More technology and energy are needed when using sand drying techniques.  At design-stage the use of water and waste water can be minimized and at factory-level consider how to deal with waste water.  Most large and medium factories have a bio-gas water treatment for cost reduction purposes but more difficult for the small scale.  Improving processing rather than breeders making the crop correspond to market demand (texture, shape, etc.)? Advantages?  Whilst Super-food is looking at the opportunity to sell the vitamin A content of foods, the puree project is looking at the cost. It is viable because at the moment the market is in favor of substitution and perishability is an issue. Puree is a good response, especially vacuum-packed. Where the R of RTB was synonym to cassava for a long time, now yam was suddenly present as presented as an important staple crop in parts of West-Africa. Not much research have been done on yam but now consumers preferences were being determined and options for enhancing its shelf life were studied together with acceptability of alternative yam products such as flour and fries. We have discussed much about impact pathways lately but in most of the presentations it was not clear how research outcomes will link to development outcomes and who next and end-users are. In relation to this it was not always clear why we as CRP-RTB are the best actor to initiate or lead work on a specific topic; we could use more reference to priority setting.  We have had quite some discussion about responsibility. For instance the manufacturing of cakes and cookies on basis of OFSP; these products can hardly be called healthy due to high levels of fat and sugar used. Or the processing of banana for low-alcoholic beverages such as beer which could potentially be abused. Should we engage in these kinds of enterprises and if yes under what conditions?  Linked to this is the life-cycle assessment; apart from calculating financial costs, environmental costs are also included. Should such assessment be a standard part of our cost-benefit analyses or is it not our responsibility?The objective of this theme is to increase the potential of the program to achieve positive outcomes and impacts on vulnerable groups by setting priorities for RTB Research for Development capturing users' needs and perspectives, engaging the right partners, building capacity, and promoting continuous learning.Theme Overview -Impact Enhancement through partnerships: Gordon Prain, CIP and Inge Van den Bergh, Bioversity International  ILAC study of RTB collaborative networks, using social network analysis. Review of banana networks for their effectiveness, which recommended increased M&E of networking processes, more intensive capacity strengthening and increased diversity of expertise in the networks  Gender integration work that has been undertaken across five of the six RTB technical themes and the strategic gender research case studies examining gender norms in relation to agricultural innovation that have been undertaken in four countries so far.  On Communication and knowledge sharing the overview highlighted the award-winningRTBMaps which brings together spatial information on RTB crop distributions, constrains and socio-economic conditions.  Although lack of funding has limited capacity strengthening, there has been a major focus on gender capacity strengthening and efforts to ensure that capacity strengthening is included in flagship design and theories of change  Three questions were addressed: How do gender norms and agency advance or impede agricultural innovation, and under what conditions can they do harm to women.  Results: gender norms constrained women from buying land from their OFSP proceeds and this limited their ability to expand production and benefit; gender norms were in a state of flux and a source of stress in household relations.  Recommendations: researchers need to go beyond measuring increase in income and increase control of income; and, impact of innovations needs to be understood in order to come up with mitigation strategies to engage men.Evaluating Bioversity International's Banana Networks. Inge Van den Bergh, Bioversity International  Study to assess the nature and effectiveness of selected banana networks. The networks were: global knowledge-sharing platform ProMusa and the four regional R4D networks BAPNET, BARNESA, Innovate Plantain and MUSALAC.  Results: creation and maintenance of links between the global and the regional networks is key for the effectiveness; monitoring and evaluation must be use in order to measure outcomes, research, coordination and communication; regional networks should facilitate training and collaboration with local and national institutes; there should be diversification of members and an expansion of expertise. The ProMusa network was created for the scientists but needs to liaise with those who can do the scaling up. Regional networks and national platforms play an important role.  There is a lack of human resources in Theme 7 especially for the Capacity Strengthening aspect. We need more funds to carry this out. What is the mechanism for gender research to be fully integrated? Like for research we need new tools, new approaches, need input from upstream disciplines. There are researchable issues that are needed for a full integration. For full presentations and results of group work of day 3 see: http://goo.gl/4tp4hxTo broaden the scope of accountability, in 2013 RTB initiated a shift from its output-focused research agenda, based on Themes, to RBM. The RBM framework, still under development, will improve program performance, enhance achievement of outcomes, and increase value for money through evidencebased impacts. Information on aspects related to RBM, extension phase and RTB program structure were key topics of day 3 of the Annual Meeting.An exercise was implemented to allow a participatory analysis of key elements of RBM and the question of \"what is it all about\". Participants divided in 5 groups and were invited to collect their ideas and understanding of what RBM is. The commitment of scientist is very important in order to make this \"experiment RBM\" work and to prove the value of investment from the Consortium. To close the session, Graham explained: \"Since RTB works on development projects, it is important to be accountable for things that are further down the impact pathway. However, what RTB is really accountable for, is for putting in place the kind of things that make the research outcomes and development outcomes possible. RTB needs to have research and development partners on board; it needs to make sure that it is making everything possible such that the impact pathway goes through. In order to do that, some questions should be answered: is RTB creating the right steps for creating partnerships? Is it implementing mechanism for rating advocacy? Is it making those changes to happen? Ultimately the changes will be the responsibility of other people. But, RTB is accountable for measuring the changes that occur, and the program needs to do a much better job at tracking those changes. That means, working with the development in place, with a system of accountability and engaging with national level incentives that will build things together\". He further specified: \"A ToC is something bigger than IP as a ToC includes assumptions, risk, and strategies and IP rather explain via a narrative\".RTB submitted an extension proposal for 2015-2016 to the CO. Key objectives proposed are:  Transition from output-based to results-based management (RBM).  Increase integration of gender and implement strategic gender research to enhance gender equity.  Expand linkages with regional and subregional organizations.  Build broader alliances of partnerships.  Maintain longer term pipeline of discovery research.However -against the suggested timeline for complete transition to RBM for the 2 nd call of CRPs for 2017 -CO requested the restructured program to be implemented in 2016. The restructuring process also includes an adjustment to CGIAR concepts of \"flagships\" -which RTB is currently using in a different way -as shown in the figure on the right.The framework for the extension year 2015 is a hybrid, retaining the original seven Themes as basic building blocks. These provide a clear scope of work to underpin contracting, planning, and reporting, while laying the groundwork for a much more significant change. The transition will allow RTB to (1) focus on research products that make the clearest contribution to outcomes, drawing on the RTB priority assessment; (2) restructure the way teams of scientists work together; (3) secure extensive stakeholder involvement; and (4) create capacity for RBM at Center and partner level.Research products will become more aggregated and focused as they are restructured and prioritized by clusters and flagship. An M&E system will be based on a combined system of research milestones, flagship/cluster research/ development outcomes, and IDO indicators aligned with annual performance monitoring. The conceptual M&E system will be accompanied by the development of user-friendly software system, including a \"dashboard\" showing key outcome indicators.In 2013 RTB initiated a structured process for shifting from an output-focused research agenda to a RBM model, which follows a sequential process putting stakeholder participation at the center of the program. As a result, in 2014 RTB started to define its Theory of Change (ToC) with a set of RBM pilot projects, under which RTB organized workshops with stakeholders to co-construct impact pathways and define shared responsibilities with development partners for achieving outcomes. This will create the basis for a comprehensive M&E system to track change as part of RBM. The process will allow RTB to adapt and improve the RBM framework, incorporating lessons from the application to improve its utility. Two of the four RBM pilots were initiated and presented.R&D organizations in Kenya and East Africa have been vocal in the need to address the quality seed bottleneck as a crucial element in improving the livelihoods of potato farmers. Given its importance, tackling deteriorated seed quality and in order to scale up the promising work achieved so far, CIP/RTB invited partners to jointly prepare a business plan for going to scale and putting in place a shared framework for RBM to maximize the value of investment in potato research. The seed potato cluster aims at improving livelihoods of potato farmers in Africa by breaking the seed bottleneck. There are seven linked products to this cluster:1. Client-oriented (i.e., small-scale potato farmers in SSA) approaches to rapidly access quality seed 2. Robust market-demanded varieties 3. Seed technologies and business models 4. Decentralized multiplication 5. On-farm seed quality and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) technologies 6. Awareness campaigns to create demand 7. Scaling strategies and evidence base During the workshop, a refined impact pathway with corresponding indicators was constructed by all stakeholders and 3 case studies were identified to be implemented on country level. There will be one case study each in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda where the research institutions have varying degrees of control. There is progress in the Kenya pilot where multi-stakeholder intervention matrix and impact pathway drafts have been developed and stakeholder meeting held for 96 participants.Over the past decade, Bioversity and IITA, and together with governmental and non-governmental organizations, private companies and farmers, have been developing tools and approaches for managing BXW in East and Central Africa. There is widespread evidence that in the benchmark sites where technology was effectively disseminated, disease incidence is declining and banana production is picking up. In order to scale up/out the promising work achieved so far, Bioversity, IITA and partners prepared a plan for going to scale and putting in place a shared framework for RBM aimed at maximizing the impact of research on BXW management and the related investments. To this end, national partners from the public and private sectors, civil society in Uganda and eastern DR Congo and CGIAR researchers came together in a planning workshop. Improved impact pathway for the two countries (Uganda and DRC), with some corresponding indicators, were developed by all stakeholders present. Links of this cluster to BXW platforms in Uganda and innovation platform in DRC hosted by the CRP \"Humidtropics' were highlighted. Emphasis was laid on partnership, integration of gender and the enabling environment within the impact pathways for Uganda and DRC. The presentations reflect the difficulty of the process to create and integrate indicators, and issues that have to be faced. It also showed the need to align tasks and work in the same direction with other CRPs.  RTB might need to re-think on the partnership relationship, levels of control and responsibilities sharing. It must put away scientific thinking that looks for absolute control and consider different decisions arrangements.  The process presented in these two pilots is an example for RTB and needs to be replicated for other clusters worldwide in a manageable and cost effective way.The presentation gave further information on the program structure for the new RTB 2.0: the proposed set of Flagship Projects (FP) and Clusters of Activities. Flagship project are: Basis for organizing scientists across centers; units for planning, reporting, monitoring and budget; generic theory of change -which builds on constituent clusters. A cluster of activity corresponds to multidisciplinary science teams; has about the size of large BMGF grant; are units for managing for results; build on specific theories of change co-constructed with specific stakeholders. The new RTB structure is based on a typology of three flagship projects: Discovery, Delivery and Learning & Support with the following characteristic: To advance during the Annual Meeting and complete in next months it was proposed to: Refine the framework of the Program structure for RTB 2.0.  Develop framework of business cases for Flagship Projects  Agree optimal portfolio of clusters in the flagship projects through iterative process between top-down and bottom-up  Align clusters with regional priorities  Design the breeding platform for synergy and integration across Clusters and Flagship ProjectsThe new proposed RTB program structure was extensively discussed. The general typology and the framework for RTB 2.0 received broad agreement; the concrete structuring of the delivery flagship projects by crops however was strongly questioned. The CGIAR Science Council has recommended the Board to approve the RTB extension proposal.  The Science Council commented that the RTB structure needs some work on capturing the dimension of flagship projects and the cluster of activities.  The Science Council questions whether a delivery flagship project structure by crops -as currently proposed -is appropriate and recommends that RTB tries to show that this structure builds on cross-cutting synergies and is not going backwards to a Center/crop focused structure.Based on the controversy and discussions and the proposed RTB program structure organized around crop specific delivery flagship projects, working groups were built to refine the framework of the program structure for RTB 2.0. and to jointly propose a new structure that finds broad acceptance.Results by groups can be found in Annex 3 and on http://goo.gl/IIoVuK.In plenary, each group presented the proposed design option for the program structure. Suggestions should several similarities and the RTB Management Committee and Focal Point was given the task, to revise, synthetize to a single proposition and present next morning.The presentation took the case of Vietnam, where several CGIAR Centers and CRPs are working in a small geographical space. The question was analyzed: how can we avoid the redundancy that might be created from having so many actors? In Vietnam there are 8 CRPs co-located with limited inter-CRP collaboration. The focal site would be a place to bring CRPs together, however there are multiple programmatic frameworks and strategies and each CRP is designed differently. The presentation stressed the following challenges and opportunities: Why do we have separate impact pathways and start to see others CRP as our impact pathways  It really makes sense to participate in different CRPs impact pathways.  Competing demands on the same local partner: are we listening to our partners? Different meetings with different staff. We need to be engaged more meaningfully. If we invite a partner, we need to know who else is partnering with. Start to build and work together  Inter-Centre RTB collaboration  Inter-CRP CollaborationIn the first part of the 20th century, Fusarium Wilt Race 1 (popularly known as 'Panama disease') wiped out the popular Gros Michel banana variety. Currently the Tropical Race 4 (TR4) is threatening the Cavendish variety, the most important exported banana, which had proven to be resistant to Race 1. Prof. Altus Viljoen, from the Department of Plant Pathology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, discussed TR4 and what is being done in Africa to combat this fungus in Mozambique.For full presentations and results of group work of day 4 see: http://goo.gl/pR5jwQDay 4 of the RTB Annual Meeting was dedicated to work on the proposed new RTB program structure and the development of inputs for business cases of flagship projects.The management group synthesized the design options of the different working groups for a proposed RTB program structure. This structured was then approved by participants of the RTB Annual Meeting to be the basis of RTB 2.0.  The new flagship on varieties and seed might have the risk of being a breeder's flagship structure. In that regard, it might be important to analyze if it is relevant to pull all the breeding into this flagship project.  Some flagships might not be that different from the others, for example what is the difference between Nutritious food and adding value income?  It is better not to have too many clusters. It is better to keep them few in number. But, at the same time is important to address some gaps that the structure might have. For example, the abiotic and cropping system constrains might not be represented so well.  The new structure will never be perfect. Perhaps this is good enough, based loosely on SLOs. There's functionality between the number of clusters and the volume of investment into that area.Preparing for second phase: business cases for flagship projects and clusters of activities.The presentation gave an introduction of the concept of \"business case\" for flagship projects and clusters of activities. Business cases are quantified description of outcomes and impacts we plan to achieve (with budget). Quantified results are extremely important for donors and we have to be able to show them from cluster up the level of flagship projects. Basis for results based management  Need to demonstrate \"value for money\": quantifiable results (IDOs/genetic gain)  Central to proposal Second Phase  Flow down \"value for money\" to RTB teamsTemplates were developed for FP and cluster business cases, whereas cluster business cases are based on the former flagship descriptions. There is a need to identify development challenge and the way of contributing in a large scale in the areas where RTB has a comparative advantage and the strategy objectives are the link to that challenge. Strong potential research content (CGIAR comparative advantage) has to be shown. Credibility to contribute in a large scale to each strategic objective must be linked to that challenge. Business cases will be peer reviewed by a group of independent experts to assure high quality for the preproposal for the 2 nd call of CRPs. The process for the design and peer review was presented. Gender should be mainstreamed according to clusters.  Relationship with other CRPs should be included in the partnership section.  A section on Capacity Building will be completed in the template.  IDOs are built at the level of cluster activities. Flagship project gives a more aggregate impact.  There must be coherence between the clusters of activities and the flagship project.Working groups were formed to give input for flagship projects business cases. Results of the working groups can be found in Annex 4. Identify grand development challenges the FP addresses  What are the specific RTB contributions in response to these challenges?  How do they lead to large scale and significant improvements in the well-being of RTB beneficiaries?  Review the current set of clusters under the FP and identify possible gaps and adjustments in response to the challenges addressed. Guiding questions to work on business cases during a second round Starting from the gaps/overlaps analyzed  Identify interaction of your FP between the L&S cluster and other clusters in your FP  with clusters of other FPs  with Development store/impact for scale FP  with other CRPsFor full presentations of Day 5 see: http://goo.gl/BBEmWk Day 5 of the Annual Meeting was designed to round up the information on RTB, discussions and business cases (flagship projects). A strong focus was given on RTB collaboration with partners.The presentation gave information on the process of (1) planning for 2015; (2) reporting of 2014; and (3) restructuring during 2015. As mentioned in the presentation on \"RTB extension request\" (see IV.2) the year 2015 will a transition phase with a hybrid structure. While basing operational work still on the RTB 1.0 Theme based structure (Product Portfolio) and existing software instruments (google drive) a parallel process will be under way to design RTB 2.0 -ready for 2016.Plannning/updating of the Product Portfolio will be done in google drive and follow the procedure of former years. The reporting of 2014 achievements will be based on 5 types of reports with deadline 31 st January 2015.The restructuring process will include the finalization of business cases of FPs and Clusters of activities as well as the definition of outputs and activities of clusters of activities. The current product portfolio will have to be reviewed and attributed to the new cluster structure.Parallel to the conceptual restructuring a new software platform will be developed and fed with the new data/information.At the beginning of the Annual Meeting a short questionnaire was distributed to capture opinions on RTB communication. Results of communications survey can be summarized as follows: RTB group feels aware of new developments  Website should cover more crops, partnerships, publications, success stories  RTB group should use Facebook and Twitter as do other CRPs  RTB group would like a friendly platform to share info with fellow scientists working on same project or disciplineThe presentation showed that RTB is well positioned with institutional communication products and channels, as e.g. social media channels, RTB newsletter, dedicated website with news and blogs. Furthermore RTB is engaging with partners & donors amongst others via personal, tailored engagement; accomplishments and success stories; cross-communication linkages with a broader range of partners and the RTB Annual Stakeholder report.Veronique highlighted the following aspects on RTB communication: The definition of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is broad. GMO have a significant commercial success including for smallholders. Although damages to health are not proven after 20 years activists and farmers attack research experimentations. Handling GMO is regulated everywhere in the world.We need some communication strategy on Biotech but we believe that good products will make their way anyhow. We need to team up either by an additional CGIAR policy, a RTB working group or advocacy with partners at different levels. Biotech should not be reduced to GMO.  Need for a long term plan on how to deal with communication on GMO -need a full time person or a platform, not a scientist.  Non-use of GM leads to massive loss for farmers. It is for us to do the advocacy and inform the partners. Communication should be around the potential loss and provide the evidence.  Importance of harmonized communication strategy across RTB centers and adequate training for scientists.CGIAR centers and French partners can build on many years of collaboration in a number of areas of R&D (Challenge Programs, bilateral activities, hosting of scientists and specific training activities). French partners have invested for many years on R&D of RTB crops, owing to their importance as major stable food crops worldwide. In May 2013 the French institutions Cirad, IRD, Inra and Vitropic joined RTB as a strategic partner to bring together forces of a larger research community and partnership, focused on improved benefits of RTB for the end-users. CIRAD is working within 4 main areas:1) Improved post-harvest quality and processing of products 2) Genetic resources and agro-biodiversity 3) Innovative cropping and production systems 4) Detection of pathogens and disease management CIRAD and RTB successfully implemented various activities and collaboration takes place in the RTB complementary funded projects as e.g. the cross-cutting RTB-Bacterial Disease Initiative (BDI) to develop new strategies for detecting and managing major bacterial disease in RTB -led by IR or the planning workshop to develop tools for improved research in cropping system intensification in mixed crop systems -led by CIIRAD.The Global Cassava Partnership for the 21 st Century is a global alliance for the improvement of cassava. GCP21 advocates for cassava research in key areas, through convening of partners for targeted action, fundraising and communication. GCP21 is a partnership platform for RTB, hosted by CIAT. GCP21 activities generally constitute a subset of RTB interests and focuses on cassava-related aspects within RTB product portfolio. As such, GCP21 links up with some of the cassava activities of RTB. Most partners of GCP21 are a subset of partners of RTB. GCP21 holds thematic convening meetings where one question is treated by over 30 experts (eg declaring war on viruses in Africa). They will produce a road map and then identify gaps in the work that is currently done. The presentation highlighted some of the linkages between ASARECA and the CRPs.ASARECA offers huge opportunities for CGIAR to reach NARIs and to develop joint projects. There is a need to formalize relationships as ASARECA is invited to working groups but nothing is officialised. The KI Hub is an interactive hub, a repository for as much information as possible.  ASARECA has 50 full time staff; they are a consolidating unit, a secretariat. They are aware that with resources spread in 11 countries there is under staffing in some places and that existing personnel need training.  Local impact and tackling general issues is insufficient, CGIAR partners need to agree with ASARECA what the priorities are and understand how these priorities are being decided with local organizations.Participants were divided into groups to undertake an exercise on the topic \"Principles for country and sub-regional integration and priority setting assessment\". Some of the results from the group work were:Challenges  Set country priority and check against regional priority  Regional differences and partnership models: differential approaches for partnerships  'Bad' experiences with partners in the past  Gender was well integrated and it was great that in working groups scientists were conscious about gender integration and actively suggested ways of doing this without leaving everything to gender focal points.  The fact that scientists from different regions especially from the developing world and partners were represented was one of the greatest achievements of this workshop. Everyone was on the Participants: Kayte Meola, Gordon Prain, Dindo Campilan Discussion on Development Impact at Scale: Consequences of maintaining three clusters divided on development store, integration and gender. Group assured that there's coordination and coherence between those three. ","tokenCount":"7207"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4555286034.json b/data/part_1/4555286034.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1711e3f129561cd60aa633b57d620eb18cac298d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4555286034.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"541d6044bed696d95c852077704bc340","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4e2ee2b1-2048-422b-80e2-d9936851db0f/retrieve","id":"-515531881"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"20d6c414-16d2-45fc-b74a-d77e6ed0a090","pagecount":"1","content":"An inventory of five soil organisms in seven tropical countriesBacterial nodules in a soybean plant• Ants, beetles and termites was extracted using monoliths (25 x 25 x 30 cm) and pitfalls on a 20m transect and hand sorted for identification. Beetles were extracted from litter using the Winkler. • Earthworms were extracted using three large monoliths (50 x 20 cm) around the central sampling point and hand sorted for taxonomic identification. • Soil core samples were used for AMF extraction in 2 rings of 3m and 6m radii around the centre point and dilution and microscopy techniques used for isolation and taxonomic identification. • Species Richness and Species Biological diversity (Shannon Index) were determined by analysing data after taxonomic identification. • The number of windows varied for each country from one to six and selection was based on the heterogeneity of the benchmark areas in the individual country.Glomus agregatum attached to the root of a plant Soil biota constitutes an important living community in the soil system. They play a crucial role in the sustainability of the soil systems and provide essential services for the functioning of ecosystems to meet essential human needs. For example, the carbon tightly bound in lignin is broken down largely in the microbial soup of termite hindguts and half of the world's oxygen is produced by ocean microbes, and they fix an unknown, but presumably enormous, amount of atmospheric carbon and nitrogen.• The highest mean species richness observed was in agroforestry systems which had 17 species of AMF. • Forests recorded the highest number of species of ants (12), termites (5) and beetles (5). • Whereas AMF showed the highest richness in all the land use kinds, earthworms had the lowest richness, even in forests. • Termites, ants and beetles showed highest biological diversity (Shannon Index) in the forests, than in the other land use kinds. The richness gradually reduced in disturbed forests, in agroforestry systems, with lowest diversity occurring in the fallows. • Annual crops though intensely used showed surprisingly higher species diversity compared to agroforestry and perennial land use systems (i.e., coffee, tea, sugarcane, etc).• Forests have high biological diversity compared to other land use systems for sampled soil organisms (i.e., ants, beetles, and termites). • AMF populated degraded environments mostly probably to assist plants absorb nutrients through their mycelia. • Species richness and diversity declined with increased land use intensification.Fallows had the lowest diversity. • Earthworms were most diverse in agroforestry systems than in the natural forests.• Fallows might not be sustainable in the long run.System Priority 1: Sustaining Biodiversity for current and future generations","tokenCount":"433"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4557555493.json b/data/part_1/4557555493.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bdf1d55ce163fdfe2204739960d20e9c34d2b70a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4557555493.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ac242eff684998d5b4442f83d8df3cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/08b067c3-c0f9-401c-b401-ff6e12810b6a/retrieve","id":"-1277946217"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6825952b-e53a-4658-8a19-d4b13dc75920","pagecount":"12","content":"The impacts of climate variability and change are immediate, intensifying, and potentially 2 dangerous. Climate services offer valuable information and tools that allow users to anticipate 3 or address these impacts. However, climate services lack a cohesive ethical framework to 4govern their development and application. This paper is an early step in an open--ended process 5to establish a set of ethical principles to ensure that climate services are effectively deployed to 6 manage climate risks, realize opportunities, and advance human security. 7The need for a climate service ethic is significant and growing. To   Public data is a public good.Other relevant codes exist (WMO, 2 FAO, 3  Climate services have the potential to contribute to the maximization of human security and 288 the avoidance of negative consequences. As the climate continues to change, society will 289 increasingly turn to climate services to help them understand risks and to guide them in taking 290 advantage of climate--related opportunities. Given a position of trust, climate information 291 providers and the products they generate must be held to the highest ethical standard. Climate 292 service providers that do not consider the consequences of their actions may contribute to 293 maladaptation, with associated losses for their clients and/or society as a whole. 294 295We have outlined the core values that we believe should inform a climate service that help 296 guide behavior in this emerging field; we have also interpreted these values with respect to the 297 products and practices of climate services. We see this paper as a first step in a community--298 wide discussion regarding standards and accountability; we are eager to hear others' opinions 299 regarding what we can and should expect from climate service providers and will look forward 300 to continuing this dialogue in a range of venues. Honing and articulating our shared values will 301 benefit not just the emerging field of climate services, but society as a whole.","tokenCount":"320"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4582413582.json b/data/part_1/4582413582.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dbeb72a67299ce2432b5cd591b80af8ed883ee82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4582413582.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1fde850de4b5d7c5456e1008f3c10c98","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a43fd0b5-bd17-4b1b-b7a0-34a83a94efed/retrieve","id":"220591174"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aef172ae-f0b9-4e7f-94ff-a0f53898f66b","pagecount":"8","content":"Using scientific evidence to link private and public sectors in the planning process: Observations from coffee sector engagement in Nariño, ColombiaCoffee farming is an important source of income for an estimated 40,000 farming families in the Department of Nariño in southwestern Colombia. Nariño is widely recognized as one of the world's leading origins of fine coffee, as measured by both the subjective preferences of leading specialty coffee companies and the objective standards of Nariño's Denomination of Origin. Despite the commercial success of Nariño's coffee in the marketplace, household-level data collected by CRS and CIAT suggest that most of Nariño's coffee farmers likely live in poverty, and recent investments of public resources to help growers create and capture additional value have not achieved their poverty reduction goals. This policy brief describes how a participatory multi-stakeholder planning process in Nariño's coffee sector in 2012-2013, facilitated by credible third parties, succeeded in both introducing result-based evidence into the decision-making process and aligning the interests of the public and private sectors and civil society around a shared strategy to increase the sector's competitiveness. That strategy formed the basis of significant public investment in the coffee sector that involves key actors from the public, private, and non-profit sectors.The process documented here is worthy of careful consideration by policymakers and private-sector firms interested in channeling scarce public resources toward market-responsive poverty reduction investments, development agencies seeking to contribute to lasting impact in the field, and research institutes seeking high-leverage applications of scientific evidence.www.ciat.cgiar.orgAgroecological conditions in the Department of Nariño, Colombia, are ideal for producing two high-value crops with stimulant properties: coca and coffee. Since 2007, Nariño has been the leading coca-producing department in Colombia, and production has increased annually over each of the past 3 years despite the Government's commitment to eradication. 1 Coca production, processing, and transport in Nariño is both the cause and effect of the presence of armed actors in the department, both legal and illegal. These include units of the Colombian Army, two guerrilla movements -the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) -and bacrims (Spanish abbreviation for criminal bands), devoted to various illicit activities. Violence between and among these actors displaced more than 80,000 people in Nariño between 2008 and 2010. 2 Many of those displaced fled from the low-lying areas on Nariño's Pacific Coast where coca thrives to communities at higher elevations in Nariño's Andean region where some of the world's finest coffee is grown.The coffee-growing municipalities of northern Nariño have been affected by violence both directly and indirectly: some have been the scene of violence that has displaced smallholder farmers, while others have seen smallholders displaced by violence elsewhere arrive in search of a new start. Furthermore, in 2012, coffee growers in Nariño had a 53% probability of falling below the national poverty line, and farmed on average less than one hectare of coffee. 3 Market conditions were uncertain, and climatic conditions were progressively changing and increasingly variable, with risk factors potentially increasing in coming decades.Against this backdrop, CRS introduced the Borderlands Coffee Project in Nariño in 2011 with support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and in partnership with CIAT and a range of local institutions. The project is working to facilitate inclusive value chains that unlock coffee's potential as a licit strategy to increase family incomes, reduce poverty and improve the quality of life for smallholder coffee farmers in Nariño.Borderlands is a five-year initiative (2011-2016), coordinated by CRS, and implemented by three local partners in Nariño: Carcafé Foundation, a non-profit organization related to the Colombian coffee exporter Carcafé; the Pastoral Social Catholic Diocese-Ipiales (Caritas Ipiales); and the Pastoral Social Catholic Diocese-Pasto (Caritas Pasto). The project serves 1,600 smallholder coffee-growing families in eight municipalities. Its overall goal of increasing household incomes is anchored by efforts to expand smallholder access to high-value segments of the coffee market and consolidate inclusive coffee value chains. The project also invests in efforts to diversify farm production, smooth income streams, and improve the adaptive capacity of households confronting climate change. Finally, the project features a multi-faceted collaboration with CIAT, aimed at improving 1 See Colombia: Coca cultivation survey 2014. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2015 at http://bit.ly/1QwONm5 2 See web page Síntesis de la violencia y la confrontación armada en Colombia 2010-2011 in \"Observatorio de Derechos Humanos (DDHH) y Derecho Internacional Humanitario (DIH)\" at http://bit.ly/1POaWr9 3 According to the reports issued by the Departmental Coffee Growers Committees to the National Congress; see years 2009 to 2013 at http://bit.ly/1TksBfE 4 A strategy for competitiveness comprises a group of activities planned and executed with the active participation of the diverse actors of a chain. The goal is to achieve common objectives, around which are articulated one or more business organizations and interest groups, with their focus broadened to the outcomes for project participants and generating result-based evidence that improves decision-making on the farm, in the policymaking process, and in the industry. This \"research-forinfluence\" collaboration between CRS and CIAT has delivered technical and scientific information to key regional actors in the public and private sectors to inform their decision-making in the coffee sector and facilitated a cross-sector planning process that achieved broad alignment among multiple actors on shared strategies to make Nariño's coffee sector more competitive. The Government of Nariño not only adopted those strategies as public policy toward the coffee sector, but it also invested approximately US$4.5 million (as of this writing) to support the implementation of those strategies to strengthen the coffee value chain and approximately US$567 million in related projects, including road infrastructure, irrigation, and food security.Within this project's \"research-for-influence\" framework (Figure 1 production chain. This strategy is executed across the short, medium, and long term and, depending on the analyses of the production chain's critical points, can be directed at development and research on production operations, postharvest handling and processing, marketing, and business organization. Thus, competitiveness is improved (See Lundy et al., 2004 at http://bit.ly/1nwA9QE).For this project, CRS also created a private-sector advisory body called the Borderlands Advisory Council (Figure 1, column D), comprised of six US-based specialty coffee companies, that delivers best-in-class market-based advisory services to project staff, partners, and participants, while supporting its commercial objectives through the purchase of coffee from project participants. The activities of the Borderlands Advisory Council may also be considered part of the project's influence over public policy and spending, as the project brought members of the Advisory Council into direct contact with policymakers as part of their annual visits to origin, during which they were able to offer perspectives and issue recommendations on ways to more effectively foster the creation of a competitive and inclusive coffee sector. CIAT and CRS will analyze the Borderlands Advisory Council construct more thoroughly in a separate and forthcoming policy brief, including sections on lessons learned and recommendations.Immediately prior to the start of the Borderlands project, the GON had adopted as a matter of public policy the Agreement on Competitiveness of the Coffee Production Chain, embodied in public guideline No. 2 of 30 March 2011. The policy calls for the establishment of a Regulating Council, comprised of representatives of local institutions involved in the coffee sector and charged with advising the Government on policies that would make the region's coffee value chain more competitive. The Agreement calls explicitly for the participation of diverse actors from the region's coffee sector. The GON, in other words, had already created a general enabling environment for cross-sector collaboration processes by the time Borderlands began and called more specifically for such a process in the coffee sector (Figure 1, column A).CRS and CIAT used three separate tools and processes to support decision making in the development of these public policies. First, the collection of detailed household-level data through a rigorous baseline survey of smallholder coffee growers, which included both farmers participating in the Borderlands project and nonparticipants.Second, facilitation of a participatory value chain analysis that involved key actors from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and assessed the current state of the coffee sector in Nariño, identified key constraints and opportunities, and advanced recommendations to make the sector more competitive and inclusive. The key results of the baseline survey were shared as part of the participatory coffee sector planning process and contributed significantly to a clear and shared understanding of the current situation of coffee growers in Nariño.Third, generation of up-to-date analysis of potential climate change impacts on the agriculture sector to support decision making on the farm and in the policy process.Colombia's coffee institutions report that 39,423 families in the Department of Nariño are currently working 56,000 coffee farms covering about 39,000 ha. 5 These findings suggest an average area of 0.7 ha per coffee farm, meaning that most coffee growers in this region are smallholders.The Borderlands baseline survey was designed to complement these department-level data and deliver more precise figures for the eight municipalities in which the project is being implemented, namely, Buesaco, Chachagüi, El Tambo, La Florida, La Unión, Linares, Samaniego, and Taminango. According to the National Coffee Census of 2012, the total population of coffee growers in those eight municipalities was 14,414. Of these, 1,597 were project participants at the time the baseline was designed.Interviews were conducted with 510 farmers for the baseline survey.Of these, 228 were participants in the Borderlands project and 282 were non-participants. The 110-question interview was divided into the following thematic sections: geographic location, family composition, connectivity, level of poverty, food security, farm characterization, non-coffee-based income and production, services, access to capital, coffee production system, coffee sales, and division of labor. The data collected represented baseline values for key performance indicators that the project is tracking to measure its own progress, as well as data being mined in connection with the project's research agenda.The baseline survey led to the identification of three distinct types of farmers growing coffee based on their main livelihood strategies. These were categorized as: (1) off-farm income earners: rural families that derive most of their income from off-farm activities, including non-agricultural activities;(2) diversified farmers whose income is generated through a range of agricultural activities including coffee growing; and (3) coffee specialists whose income is based primarily on coffee marketing.The off-farm income group (32% of farmers) is made up of households whose main source of income comes from agricultural wages earned off the farm, non-agricultural income, self-owned businesses, public transfers, and remittances. For off-farm income households, 85% of income comes from non-coffee sources, making them less vulnerable to the income impacts of loss of coffee suitability due to climate change. This group has the smallest average farm size at 1.66 ha and the lowest income of the three groups.The diversified coffee farmer group (51%) comprises households where most of the income comes from livestock production, agriculture, and coffee. Diversified coffee farmers derive 45% of their income from coffee and have a 53% chance of falling below the national poverty line. Farmers in this group are also the most exposed to climate change, with a 27% decline in the climatic suitability for coffee.The coffee specialist group (17%) corresponds to households whose income derives mostly from coffee, with more than 65% of land devoted to the crop and more than 10 years of experience in coffee growing, and possessing their own processing plant (Vellema et al.  2015). The coffee specialist group has a 45% probability of falling below the national poverty line 6 (Table 1). Coffee specialists are more exposed to fluctuations in the international price of coffee than other farmer types since they depend on coffee for 74% of their income, on average. However, this group also has the opportunity to take advantage of the farm's total area for climate adaptation as it possesses the largest average farm size at 2.32 ha.The high rates of probability for farmers in each group falling below the poverty line (45-52%) suggest that the region's coffee sector is not effectively creating pathways out of poverty for smallholder farmers. Similarly disconcerting is the presence of food scarcity across all three groups. Baseline data collected on months of adequate household food provisioning (MAHFP) suggest very little difference on average across the three groups, with the highest average of months of food scarcity (2.05 for diversified farmers) differing relatively little from those of the other groups (2.02 for off-farm income and 1.85 for specialized coffee farmers).See Table 1 below for a summary of key data points for each of these three farmer types. In 2012, the GON convened the Mesa de Café (task force) a cross-sector working group charged with identifying and analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the region's coffee sector, and making concrete recommendations to make the sector more competitive. This process contributed to important outputs in the public-policy process.The Mesa de Café developed the Nariño Coffee Value Chain Competitiveness Strategy to address these five limitations on the efficiency and inclusiveness of the Nariño coffee sector. That strategy was presented to leaders in the public sector, the private sector, non-profit organizations, and farmers associations, and embraced by the GON as a blueprint for the development of the region's coffee sector. It also informed the design and budget of the project \"Strengthening the value chain for high-quality coffee in the Department of Nariño\" (Figure 1 CIAT researchers combined global climate models with digital elevation maps and crop models to generate models of climatic suitability 7 for coffee, cassava, beans, maize, plantain, and sugarcane for the years 2020 and 2050. The five non-coffee crops were selected by the Mesa de Café because of their importance to local food security. The modeling was carried out under a \"business-as-usual\" scenario under which no greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures are taken. This modeling was also undertaken for a scenario with no adaptation. Climatic suitability for a given crop was estimated by using an algorithm for modeling potential species distributions (MaxEnt), recorded with geographic coordinates that indicated sites carrying the crops (coordinate references taken from the project's baseline) and environmental variables of the study area.The model found that most farms had a level of climatic suitability of more than 50% for coffee by 2050 (Figure 2), which is positive in that it shows that the farms had more than a 50% favorability for coffee production in environmental terms. The modeling for 2050 showed that the potential area of climatic suitability for coffee would rise in altitude to as much as 2500 meters above sea level (masl), with the appearance of new suitable zones through increases in temperatures.Despite the possible gains in high-elevation zones (>2100 masl), net loss of area for 2050 could be a little more than 50%, as observed in Figure 3. This would affect almost 25% of current coffee farms in the department. This is equivalent to about 10,000 of the more than 40,000 coffee growers who live in the area, according to the 2013 National Coffee Growers Congress.The group of diversified coffee farmers (Table 1) may suffer the highest loss of climatic suitability for coffee production with a 27% reduction. However, this group may also have the most capacity to respond when adapting to climate change because they possess the largest farms and are less exposed to coffee suitability reductions since roughly 50% of their incomes come from non-coffee production activities. The coffee-specialist group may suffer the least loss of suitable area (only 13%), compared with the other groups (Table 1). Increases in suitable cropping areas are also projected for the five crops grown in association (and important for food security in the coffee-growing region). Sugarcane and maize would each gain an extra 20% or more in suitability, while cassava would gain 33% or more. Plantain and beans both maintain present suitability levels, with potential increases of less than 5% each (Figure 3).7 A climatic suitability model shows a suitability index (between 0 and 100) for a given crop under the specific climatic conditions of a given study site. Current suitable area at >50% Future suitable area at >50%Recommendations for improvements in public policies for the coffee sectorThe process described in this brief is worthy of careful consideration among research institutes and development agencies and may show a new way forward for collaboration to achieve influence at scale and contribute to improved, more inclusive public sector policies, and spending priorities.The process described above was part of an intentional effort by CRS and CIAT to support and influence decision making on the farm, in the policy-making process, and in the marketplace through the generation and delivery of result-based evidence to key coffee sector stakeholders. The Borderlands Coffee Project's \"research-forinfluence\" agenda was designed to enlist technical and scientific evidence in the promotion of more inclusive practices and policies at each of the levels mentioned above. The project's success in exerting influence over public policy and spending priorities for Nariño's coffee sector broadened the project's reach from the 1,600 smallholder farming families who participate in the project directly to affect the entire population of coffee growers in Nariño, who number around 40,000. At a time of dwindling investment in development programming, pairing field-based operations with \"research-for-influence\" partnerships could position development agencies to contribute to broad-based impact even at a time of declining investment in the sector.The success of the process described here was driven by the fact that its facilitation was perceived by key stakeholders as being: able -possessing the skills necessary to effectively facilitate constructive cross-sector engagement; credible -perceived as having expertise and substantive understanding of the content on which the process focused; disinterested -lacking any financial or vested institutional interest in any particular outcome besides a clear commitment to inclusion; and evidence-based -driven by technical and scientific findings generated through rigorous and participatory processes.The Borderlands project team identified three discrete farmer typologies through the project's baseline survey and analysisspecialized coffee farmers, diversified farmers who grow coffee, and rural dwellers who rely primarily on off-farm activities for income generation but also grow coffee. Each of these groups allocates resources -labor, time, and inputs -differently across a range of activities, with different levels of efficiency in each of those activities, including coffee farming. Public policies aiming at poverty reduction in the coffee sector should reflect the differences between farmer types in their efforts to maximize net income of farmers in the coffee sector. Effective interventions will be adapted to the conditions of each farmer group.The Borderlands project team identified \"winner\" and \"loser\" crops -agricultural products that gain and lose suitability over time under likely climate change scenarios. Effective adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers currently growing coffee will take these crop-specific projections into account.Staple crops including beans and plantain may continue to have the same degree of climatic suitability as they do now in coffeegrowing regions, making continued cultivation of these highnutrient crops viable in the study area.Sugarcane may increase in suitability in the coffee-growing areas covered by the study, creating the possibility of an increase in the supply of products such as panela -a shelf-stable processed sweetener obtained from sugarcane through a light industrial process. To fully capitalize on increased production of sugarcane, improvements to panela-processing infrastructure and a comprehensive marketing strategy should be developed and directed primarily at consumers in Nariño and markets in neighboring departments.Maize may gain more suitability in the coffee-growing region and could help to smooth family income if it is planned for harvest or stored for sale during seasons when prices are more stable and Cassava products are better remunerated. Cassava may also gain more suitability, thus improving access to this carbohydrate-rich food crop.Studies involving simulations of climate change and rigorous soil mapping in zones that will suffer significant reductions of suitability for coffee can be crossed with information from studies of national and international markets to identify crops in the current coffeegrowing region of southern Colombia that combine agronomic suitability and market opportunity.In all scenarios involving changes in land-use patterns, careful consideration must be given to ecological impacts, especially in the case of transition away from shade-grown coffee to annual or short-cycle crops grown in full exposure to the sun, and in the case of any crops planted on steep hillsides. Soil degradation, soil erosion, loss of soil organic matter, loss of soil fertility, reduction of greenwater resources and sedimentation of bluewater resources are all likely negative effects of such transitions, especially in the absence of explicit soil and water conservation and management efforts. 8Environmental or agroecological variables were shown to be critical determinants of the suitability of a particular farm for coffee production. They are also important determinants of a farm's ability to produce coffee with the specific sensory or organoleptic attributes sought in high-value segments of the coffee market. The identification of distinct agroecological or environmental niches with different levels of suitability for quality-based differentiation would position public-sector service providers for more \"intelligent\" approaches to agronomic extension and programming in the coffee sector.Environmental niches need to be identified and joined with specialty marketing niches, taking advantage of the \"denomination of origin\" and the international market's recognition of Nariño's high-quality coffee, while seeking the maximum expression in the cup-of-coffee profile with respect to the relationship between variety + environmental offer + postharvest handling + markets.This could be achieved by designing geographic maps that show specific information (demography, environment, technical infrastructure, and socioeconomics) for each of the department's regions. The maps could also show segmentation of supplies of available coffees (cup profiles) and identify pilot processing plants that benefit the coffee community by increasing incomes through permitting (in theory) economies of scale in postharvest handling and quality control. However, a monitoring and evaluation study of the process must also be carried out to discover the viability of such plants over the medium and long term. In zones where the potential for high differentiation is not promising, but are agronomically still viable for cultivating coffee over the medium term, focus must be given to high productivity + farm diversification to maintain a balance between coffee and non-coffee incomes.It is also essential to generate local capacities focused on achieving high quality in aspects such as postharvesting, ideal fermentation times according to geographic location, drying infrastructure, and storage. This could be catalyzed by implementing more inclusive business models that facilitate communication with the private sector, both for high-quality and mass-produced coffees, as is done for other sectors such as fruits and vegetables.CIAT Policy Brief No. 23 December 2015","tokenCount":"3715"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4582956193.json b/data/part_1/4582956193.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8f1a030693933c558ef734b0356ad658d23ec555
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4582956193.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e59bdab11025603924e6466d1e68611b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9029c7a7-07ad-4083-b9c2-1e80b22f60f5/retrieve","id":"653587831"},"keywords":["Musa hybrids","agronomy","Mycosphaerella fijiensis","Radopholus similis","Cosmopolites sordidus"],"sieverID":"9f8c0368-693b-470b-8638-12414d79b2ef","pagecount":"18","content":"Plantain is one of the major staples contributing to food security and income generation in West and Central Africa. Local cultivars in Cameroon are susceptible to pests and diseases causing severe losses in plantain production. This study aimed at evaluating the agronomic performance and producer's perception of plantain hybrids in the humid forest of Cameroon. Field trials were established in a completely randomized block design with eight genotypes and three replicates. Data on pest and disease as well as farmer perception were collected over two growing cycles. These genotypes included seven improved and one local genotype (check). Improved genotypes were highly tolerant to the Black Sigatoka disease compared to local plantain. While root necrosis index was above 50% in local varieties, indices below 25% were recorded in hybrids. Weevil severity in local was higher (55.0 ± 5.2%) compared to 21.0 ± 4.6% to 28.5 ± 3.2% in improved plantains. Average bunch weight was higher for FHIA 21 with 17.9 ± 0.7 kg in the first and 19.7 ± 0.3 kg for the second cycle, while those of the local Ebang were 9.6 ± 0.5 kg and 12.8 ± 0.9 kg, respectively. FHIA 21 and CRBP 568 were the preferred varieties by farmers (68.8% and 56.3% acceptance) from an agronomic perspective. The consumers' preferences for all the genotypes varied with types of cooking. The implications of these findings for adoption by farmers and consumers as well as for the promotion of the plantain sector in central Africa are discussed.Plantains are starchy bananas that constitute over 80% of world banana (Musa spp.) production and are considered one of the major staple food and economic crop for about 70 million people in West and Central Africa (Goenaga et al., 2019). Worldwide, green or ripe fruits are consumed in several forms including fried, baked, roasted, pounded as fufu, porridge, and flour, and are eaten alone or together with other foods depending on local cuisines (Etebu & Young-Harry, 2011). In Cameroon and several other countries in Central Africa, plantains are essential components of food security and are important sources of income for millions of producers and retailers (Folefack et al., 2017;Nkendah & Akyeampong, 2003).Plantain production in Cameroon is second in Africaafter the Democratic Republic of Congo -with an annual production of 4,526,029 MT (FAO, 2020). Much of the production is sold and consumed locally, with up 150 kg per capita per year (Cauthen et al., 2013;Swennen et al., 1995), but Cameroonian plantain exports to neighbouring countries like Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria are increasingly taking a greater share of plantain production (Nkendah et al., 2011). The demand for plantain is expected to increase with the projected increase in human population and the associated increase in food demand in sub-Saharan Africa (Dury et al., 2002;Tomekpe et al., 2011).Botanically, plantains are giant herbaceous perennial plants that grow from underground stems (corms) and are generally propagated vegetatively, either by directly planted suckers or with seedlings generated from macro-or micropropagation (Njukwe et al., 2007;Tenkouano et al., 2006). Plantains are either naturally occurring farmer selection or synthetic triploid hybrids (AAB) from a combination of two diploid species, Musa acuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla, which, respectively, contribute the A and B genomes (Singh et al., 2016). In West and Central Africa, local natural plantain selections are the most widely planted types which are mostly grown in the humid forest and moist Savannah areas with 1200 mm minimum annual rainfall (Jalloh et al., 2012;Norgrove & Hauser, 2014). A plantation can produce up to 4 cycles of bunch harvests (Lassoudière, 2007), approximately once a year but that depends on several factors such as genotypes, soil fertility, pests and diseases, and rainfall (Ssali et al., 2003).The most important diseases of banana and plantains in Africa are three fungal leaf diseases (Yellow Sigatoka, Eumusae leaf spot, Black Sigatoka), one widely distributed fusarium wilt (Panama disease), and another newly introduced into Africa (Fusarium wilt Race 4), two bacterial diseases (Xanthomonas wilt, Moko disease), and two viral diseases -banana bunchy top disease and banana streak virus disease (Carlier et al., 2000;Ngatat et al., 2017;Tushemereirwe et al., 2004). Black Sigatoka, Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet, is the most widespread and most important fungal leaf disease in Africa where it is considered a major economic threat to bananas and plantains (Fullerton & Casonato, 2019;Rieux et al., 2019), with yield losses due to the disease ranging from 20% to 80%, especially during the second cycle of production (Aba et al., 2011;Mobambo et al., 1996). Local cultivars grown in West and Central Africa have been reported to be highly susceptible to Black Sigatoka disease (Tenkouano et al., 2010).Plant-parasitic nematodes and banana weevils constitute the major worldwide pests affecting, respectively, the roots and corms of bananas and plantains (Gold et al., 1998;Hauser, 2000). Three groups of nematodes (Radopholus similis Cobb, Meloidogyne spp., and Pratylenchus spp.) are considered important nematode pests of bananas and plantains in Africa (Viljoen et al., 2004), with R. similis (the burrowing nematode) being of highest importance (Coyne et al., 2006;Speijer & Fogain, 1999). Besides their impact on declining nutrient absorption, poor anchorage, and plant lodging (Fogain, 2001;Masanza et al., 2006), nematode infestations can predispose bananas to other problems such as increased banana weevil infestation (Coyne et al., 2006;Gold et al., 1998).Four weevil species have been reported to infest bananas and plantains worldwide, of which Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) is considered of highest economic importance (Okolle et al., 2009). Banana weevil damage manifested in tunneling mostly in the corm (galleries) weakens the stability of the mat and impedes water and nutrient uptake, resulting in reduced bunch weights, plant lodging, mat disappearance, and shortened plantation life (Gold et al., 2001;Okolle et al., 2009). Damage and yield losses increase with time and crop cycle (Masanza et al., 2006). Together, nematode, weevil Black Sigatoka damage along with generally declining soil fertility contribute to increasing yield losses and reduction in plantain farm lifespan, leading to farm abandonment (Norgrove & Hauser, 2014;Okolle et al., 2009). As a result, farmers tend to establish new fields on forest lands, which adds to the environmental costs of plantain farming.Synthetic fungicides and leaf pruning are recommended for the control of Black Sigatoka disease; however, they can add approximately 30% to the total cost of production (Etebu & Young-Harry, 2011;Kumakech et al., 2015). Black Sigatoka disease in plantains and bananas has been effectively controlled with the application of fungicides (Barraza et al., 2011;Marín et al., 2007). Proper management of organic matter and soil fertility can reduce Black Sigatoka damage (Etebu & Young-Harry, 2011;Mobambo et al., 2008).Plant parasitic nematode infestations in plantain can be managed with the use of clean planting material, crop rotation, fallowing and mulching with some species such as Pennisetum purpureum and Tithonia diversifolia, and synthetic nematicide (Coyne et al., 2006;Speijer & De Waele, 1997). In particular, the use of T. diversifolia mulch has been shown to reduce nematode damage and improve yields (Fogain, 2001;Ssali et al., 2003;Tripathi et al., 2015). Various physical methods, including steam disinfection, soil solarization, and hot water injection, have also been employed with varying success for the control of nematodes as alternatives to soil fumigation with synthetic chemicals (Su et al., 2015).Banana weevil control is currently based on cultural practices, such as the use of clean planting material (Fogain, 2001;Okolle et al., 2009), mass trapping of adult weevils with the pheromone Cosmolure or pseudostem traps (Alpizar et al., 2012), cover crops (Carval et al., 2016) and field sanitation (Gold et al., 2001). However, high labour input and material requirements limit the adoption of weevil trapping and field sanitation (Gold et al., 1998;Tinzaara et al., 2005) and cover crops can reduce weevil numbers but not damage to plants (Carval et al., 2016). Several factors related to weevil biology, pheromone efficacy, trapping design, cropping system, and environmental factors were found to variously influence the effectiveness of pheromone baited (Beauhaire et al., 1994;Jallow & Achiri, 2016). The proper use of synthetic insecticide (organophosphates and carbamates) is effective against banana weevils but is economically not feasible for subsistence producers. In addition, the banana weevil has developed resistance to a range of commonly used chemical pesticides (Barraza et al., 2011;Gold, 1998;Jallow & Achiri, 2016).In light of issues with labor and material costs, and environmental and human hazards of the various control options for diseases, nematodes, and weevils, host plant resistance to these biotic constraints has been regarded as the most appropriate and sustainable control strategy (Barraza et al., 2011;Polidoro et al., 2008;Tenkouano et al., 2010). Plantain hybrids with resistance to Black Sigatoka disease and good agronomic characteristics have been developed by breeding programs at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Nigeria), the African Research Centre on Banana and Plantain (CARBAP, Cameroon), and the Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA, Honduras; Dépigny et al., 2019;Tenkouano & Swennen, 2004). Most of these improved varieties have been reported to be 2-5 times more productive than traditional plantains landraces and with considerable resistance against the Black Sigatoka disease in several countries and across a wide range of agro-ecologies (Leiva-Mora et al., 2015;Tenkouano et al., 2010;Tenkouano & Swennen, 2004). However, since the introduction of several of these hybrids into Cameroon and other countries in Central Africa, information on their adaptability and performance under the country's agroecology as well as their response to the Black Sigatoka disease and to nematodes and weevils are still sparce. Moreover, while the use of improved plantain hybrids provides an ecologically sustainable management option for pests and diseases, their acceptability by consumers remains a major challenge.The overall objective of the present study is to evaluate the agronomic performance of eight improved plantain hybrids from three institutions -CARBAP, FHIA, and IITA -along with a widely planted local plantain over 3 years. Specifically, the study seeks (1) to determine the differences in disease infection and pest infestations, targeting Black Sigatoka, nematodes and weevils, plantain growth and survival, and fruit production and quality; and (2) to evaluate farmers' perception and ranking of plantain vegetative growth, bunch and fruit appearance, and the quality of various plantain food preparation. Together, the information obtained from the study will inform researchers' and farmers' choice of plantains and provide the country's government with the information necessary for the eventual official release of the plantains for widespread planting. Moreover, given the similarities of the environment in the bimodal rainfall humid forest agro-ecology of the study area with much of Central Africa -between the Congo and Sanaga rivers, the findings of the present study would be relevant to countries beyond Cameroon.The study was carried out at the research farms of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nkolbisson, Cameroon (03°51.791′N; 011°27.706′E, 747 m.a.s.l.). The site is in the humid forest with bimodal rainfall agro-ecological zone with 125-175 days of rainfall distributed over 7-9 months in 2 rainfall seasons, from March through mid-July and from September through November. Average temperature and relative humidity ranged from 22.4°C to 24.6°C and from 84.5% to 89.9%, and total rainfall of 1,024.6 mm during the first cropping season, and from 23.0°C to 24.6°C and 82.7%-88.2%, and a lower total rainfall (805 mm) during the second cropping season (Abang et al., 2021). The tropical, humid climate of the study site is favourable for plant disease development. The soil is a Rhodic Kandiudult (USDA classification), with well-drained sand clay soil in the 30 cm layer (Selatsa et al., 2009).Seven improved plantain genotypes originated from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Nigeria), the African Research Centre on Banana and Plantain (CARBAP, Cameroon), and the Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research (FHIA, Honduras; Table 1). One local cultivar (Ebang, triploid AAB) from Cameroon was used as a check.The trial was established in October 2012 on land that had been in a natural fallow (i.e. with spontaneous natural plant growth) for 4 yrs, which is a very common fallow system throughout the Congo Basin (Ngobo et al., 2004). The trial was set up as a randomized complete block design with three replicate blocks (experimental units) and eight plantain genotypes per block (see, Table 1 for details of the plantains). Plants of the eight genotypes were grown from disease and pest-free tissue culture plantlets produced by the IITA-Cameroon tissue culture laboratory. Six-month-old plants were planted in 30 × 30 × 30 cm holes at 3 × 2 m spacing, respectively, between and within the rows with 20 plants per experimental plot. Two kg of locally sourced poultry manure was mixed with the soil at planting time and repeated twice thereafter, in March 2013 and 2014. Average contents of nutrients in chicken manure were 1.95 ± 0.25% N, 1.42 ± 0.25% P, and 1.97 ± 0.32% K. At the start of the experiment, composite soil samples were taken from each plot by sampling the upper 25 cm with an auger at 5 different points in each plot (4 points close to each corner and one in the middle). The samples were then analysed at the IITA-Cameroon soils laboratory for pH, total N, available P, and exchangeable K by following the methodology described by Okalebo et al. (1993). The soil of the trial was characterized by pH (5.50 ± 0.19), N (0.14 ± 0.02%), P (2.69 ± 0.23%), and K (0.15 ± 0.07%). Weeding and leaf pruning were done manually as needed. There were no other interventions throughout the 28 months of the trial.Agronomic performance of tested plantain genotypes was assessed according to the methodology described by Gaidashova et al. (2010). Data were collected during two cycles of production -on the mother plant for the first cycle and the first ratoon for the second cycle. In each block and for each genotype plot, six inner plants were evaluated at flowering and harvest stages. Agronomic performance data included four growth parameters: plant height, girth, and the number of standing and functional leaves (NSL). The number of suckers was recorded at flowering. Plant girth was measured at 100 cm above the soil level at the flowering and harvest stages. The number of functional and standing leaves counted at flowering (NSLF) were those having at least 75% of leaf area green. At harvest, the number of standing and functional leaves (NSLH) was also recorded. Six yield traits were measured at harvest including bunch weight (kg), number of hands per bunch, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), and fruit weight (g).Black Sigatoka disease infections on tested plantain genotypes were evaluated with the pathological parameters described by Oluma et al. (2004). The youngest leaf with streaks (YLSt) and the youngest leaf spotted (YLS) were recorded at flowering. YLSt is the rank from the topmost open leaf downward, of the 1 st leaf bearing disease symptoms (yellowing depigmentation on lower surface). YLS is the number of the 1 st (from the topmost leaf) leaf bearing at least 10 necrotic spots with dry centers (Oluma et al., 2004). YLS is an important parameter to differentiate the response of Musa genotypes to Black Sigatoka disease (Barekye, 2011). The position of YLS is used to indicate the severity of the disease (Tushemereirwe et al., 2011). Index of non-spotted leaves (INSL) was derived from NSL (number of standing leaves) and YLS parameters was calculated as follows: (Selatsa et al., 2009) This index represents the percentage of standing leaves without symptoms of Black Sigatoka (Craenen, 1998) and indicates also the severity of Black Sigatoka (Mobambo et al., 1996;Oluma et al., 2004). The leaf survival rate after the production phase was determined as the ratio of the number of standing leaves at harvest over the number of standing leaves at flowering (NSLH/ NSLF; Seydou et al., 2016).Root damage by parasitic nematodes was equally assessed at flowering and harvest stages following the method described by Speijer and De Waele (1997). This was done on the same plants on which agronomic data were collected. At the base of each sampled plant, a hole (20 × 20 × 20 cm 3 ) was dug to collect all exposed roots. The roots were separated into two groups -dead and functional roots. Root necrosis index (RNI) was estimated on five functional roots randomly selected from a sample. The selected roots were cut into 10 cm fragments. Each fragment was longitudinally and symmetrically divided, and the necrotic area was scored as the percentage of cortical tissue damaged by nematode infestation. Each root fragment accounted for a maximum score of 20% and the 5 root fragments accumulated to a total score of 100% in a sample. RNI was estimated using a scale of score 1-5 as follows: 1 = no damage, i.e. absence of necrosis; 2 = low attack: <25% of root cortex presents necrosis; 3 = moderate attack: 26-50% of root cortex presents necrosis, 4 = severe attack: 51-75% of root cortex presents necrosis; 5 = very high attack: >75% of root cortex presents necrosis (Loubana et al., 2007).Weevil damage was evaluated at harvest on six inner plants in each experimental plot. This was done according to the method described by Gold et al. (2001). The harvested plants were uprooted, and corms were isolated from the pseudostems at the collar level. A transversal section was made in the corm, 5 cm from the collar level to expose the corm surface. The number of galleries was recorded and transformed to a 0-100% score as follows: no gallery = no damage = 0; 1 or 2 galleries = 5%; 10 galleries = 10%; 30 galleries = 25%; 40 galleries = 50%; 60 galleries = 75%, and 100 galleries = 100% (Dassou et al., 2016;Gold et al., 1998).At harvest of the 1 st cycle, a field day was organized to collect the perception of plantain producers of agronomic performances of the eight plantain genotypes. A total of 20 plantain producers of both sexes (35% female and 65% male) participated in the field characterization of 8 plantain genotypes at the harvest stage. Each genotype was scored for plant height and bunch size. For each characteristic, the following scale was used: 1 = Very good, 2 = Good, 3 = Poor. Then, each farmer scored his/her acceptance of the genotype based on plant height and bunch size with the following scale: 1 = Strongly agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Disagree.At harvest, three common plantain foods (boiled, pounded, and chips) were prepared for each genotype by following the methodology described by Newilah et al. (2005). Fingers (fruits) from different bunches of a genotype were randomly selected and fruits were manually cleaned and peeled with a stainless-steel knife. For chips preparation, plantain fingers were sliced with dicer into 2 mm thick circular pulp discs and fried in refined palm oil until light brown or golden colour at an oil temperature of 165°C for 3 min. For boiled plantain, fingers were cooked in water for 30 min. Half of the boiled plantains were served directly for tasting while the other half was pounded into a traditional homogenous flexible pastry using a wooded mortar and pestle. This food is called 'Ntuba' in Cameroon (Newilah et al., 2005). Each preparation was assessed by 42 untrained Cameroonian plantain consumers: 24 males and 18 females, aged from 22 to 58 yrs, with an average of 26 yrs of age, including the 20 plantain farmers who evaluated the plants in the field. The panelists were pre-screened; only those who consumed plantain regularly were invited to participate. A 3-point scale (1 = Good, 2 = Acceptable, 3 = Non-acceptable) was used to evaluate the plantain food preparation quality in terms of texture, taste, and general acceptance.Data were analysed and presented per fruiting cycle for each genotype. Data with a normal distribution (plant height, girth height, bunch weight, finger length, and circumference of finger) were subjected to analysis of variance using R software package version 3.6.3 (R Development CoreTeam, 2020). Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) with quasi-Poisson and quasi-binomial distributions of errors were used to analyse the data related to the number of standing leaves at harvest and flowering, the number of suckers, the ratio NSLH/NSLF, Index of non-spotted leaves (INSL), roots necrosis index and weevil severity, respectively. The likelihood-ratio test based on the Fisher-Snedecor test (over-dispersed data) was used to test the significance of the effects. Tukey's range test was used for multiple comparisons to determine the significant differences (at 5% probability level). Wilcoxon test was used to compare the rank of YLSt and YLS among genotypes. Data on the producer's perception and acceptability were analysed using the chi-squared test with JMP software package, version 8 (SAS, 2008).Plant height of all the genotypes ranged from 186.6 ± 2.8 cm to 283.7 ± 11.4 cm for cycle 1, and from 201.5 ± 8.3 cm to 369.4 ± 9.7 cm for cycle 2. CRBP 568 plants were the shortest during both cycles. Pseudostem girth of all genotypes varied between 33.6 ± 0.8 cm and 45.6 ± 1.1 cm for cycle 1, and between 40.9 ± 1.8 cm and 46.5 ± 0.8 cm for cycle 2). Plants of PITA 27 had the smallest pseudostem diameter during the 2 cycles. Plantain genotypes showed highly significant differences (P < 0.001) for plant height and pseudostem girth during the two cycles of production (Table 2). A higher number of suckers were recorded with PITA 27 (7.8 ± 0.8 suckers) and the lowest for CRBP 568 (4.1 ± 0.3 suckers). Sucker production was significantly different among genotypes in the first cycle (F (7, 14) = 4.6; P < 0.001), but not in the second (F (7, 14) = 0.5; P > 0.05).At flowering, the number of standing and functional leaves (NSLF) for all the genotypes ranged from 7.8 ± 1.6 (PITA 23) to 10.9 ± 0.6 (CRBP 568) for the 1 st cycle and from 9.1 ± 0.8 (Ebang) to 10.8 ± 0.1 (CRBP 969) for the 2 nd cycle (Table 3). Leaf emission at flowering stage was significantly different among genotypes for the 1 st cycle (F (7, 14) = 4.6; P < 0.001) and for the 2 nd cycle (F (7, 14) = 0.4; P < 0.001). Conversely, the remaining standing and functional leaves at harvest (NSLH) for all the improved genotypes were significantly higher than those of local for the 1 st cycle (F (7, 14) = 12.6; P < 0.001) and 2 nd cycle (F (7, 14) = 8.7; P < 0.001; Table 3). The number of remaining leaves of standing and functional leaves for the improved hybrids was significantly higher than local plantain for both cycles. There was a significant reduction of standing leaves from flowering to harvest for all improved plantain, but this reduction was even more drastic in the local plantain Ebang. The surviving rate of leaves (equivalent to NSLH/NSLF ratio) was significantly higher on improved genotypes than local plantain for both cycles and ranged from 0.1 ± 0.0 to 0.4 ± 0.0 for the 1 st cycle and 0.1 ± 0.0 to 0.4 ± 0.0 for the 2 nd cycle (Table 3).Plantain genotypes significantly influenced all yield traits for the two cycles of evaluation (Table 4). During the 1 st cycle, the average number of hands per bunch for all the genotypes varied from 3.8 ± 0.2 to 7.0 ± 0.1, with finger length varying from 20.1 ± 0.8 cm to 24.4 ± 0.7 cm; and girth from 12.1 ± 0.6 cm to 14.2 ± 0.5 cm. Bunch weight ranged from 9.6 ± 0.5 kg to 17.9 ± 0.7 kg with finger weight from 136.1 ± 9.0 g to 254.2 ± 8.2 g. The yield traits of bunches for all the genotypes harvested during the 2 nd cycle also showed significant differences among genotypes. Overall, PITA 27 produced the lowest number of hands while PITA 23 and FHIA 21 produced the highest number of hands for both cycles. PITA 27 also had the smallest fingers while local plantains showed the longest fingers among all the genotypes. For fruit girth, CRBP 535 was the largest for both cycles. The heaviest fruit weight was recorded on the local Ebang for both cycles. FHIA 21 produced the heaviest bunches the local Ebang lightest bunches (Table 4).Improved plantain hybrids responded differently to Black Sigatoka infection compared with the local plantain during the two cycles of evaluation. The youngest leaf with streaks (YLSt) was recorded from the third leaf on local plantain plants for both cycles. For hybrids, it was noted from the fourth to the seventh leaf in the 1 st cycle (χ 2 = 55.7; P < 0.001) and on the 4 th leaf during the 2 nd cycle (χ 2 = 47.2; P < 0.001; Table 5). Youngest leaves with spots (YLS) ranked 5 th on the local cultivar but 7 th on the improved genotypes for the 1 st cycle (χ 2 = 46.3; P < 0.001) and the 2 nd cycle (χ 2 = 67.9; P < 0.001). The index of non-spotted leaves (INSL) for all the genotypes ranged from 43.1 ± 1.0 to 77.8 ± 0.7% in the 1 st cycle and from 41.9 ± 1.7 to 74.7 ± 1.7% for the 2 nd cycle. No significant difference was found among hybrids, but they all scored higher than the local plantain Ebang during the two cycles.The level of root necrosis recorded for all plantain genotypes in the 1 st cycle was significantly lower than in the 2 nd cycle at the flowering and harvest stages (Figure 1). At flowering in both cycles, the number of roots damaged by nematodes on the local plantain (Ebang)  was significantly higher than on those of CRBP 535, CRBP 568, which did not present any damage at the flowering stage (F (7, 14) = 5.2; P < 0.001). There was no difference in root necrosis index among the improved genotypes (Figure 1). At harvest, root damage on the local plantain Ebang was significantly higher than roots of FHIA 21, CRBP 535, CRBP 568, and CRBP 838 (F (7, 14) = 16.6; P < 0.001; Figure 1). During the 2 nd cycle, nematode root damage was higher than in the 1 st cycle and varied with plantain genotypes (Figure 1). However, the root necrosis index recorded on the local plantain was higher with 51-75% of root cortex presenting necrosis, than on improved plantains at flowering (F (7, 14) = 5.1; P < 0.001) and at harvest (F (7, 14) = 4.6; P < 0.001).The level of weevil damage varied among genotypes for the two cycles (Figure 2). For the 1 st cycle, weevil damage on CRBP 838 was significantly higher than on other genotypes, except for FHIA 21. By contrast, during the 2 nd cycle, weevil damage was higher on all genotypes but more pronounced on the local Ebang compared with the hybrids (F (7, 14) = 4.1; P < 0.001).  Plant height and bunch size of improved and local plantain genotypes were appreciated differently by producers. For plant height, the percentage of farmers that scored a genotype as 'good' ranged from 20% (CRBP 535) to 81.3% (PITA 23; Figure 3a). The shortest genotype CRBP 568 was scored as good by 33% of farmers. There was a difference in the producer's preferences for plant height (χ 2 = 26.5; P < 0.001). The appreciation of farmers varied also for the bunch size of all the genotypes (χ 2 = 36.6; P < 0.001). The percentage of farmers that score bunch size for a given genotype as good ranged from 20% (CRPB 535) to 63% (PITA 23; Figure 3b).For the texture of the three preparations, genotype CRBP 838 scored the highest appreciation (84%) for the boiled plantain while Ebang was highly appreciated by 84% and 80% of producers, respectively, for the chips and pounded preparations (Figure 4a-c).The taste of the three preparations was either scored as acceptable or good for all the genotypes. Among the  genotypes with 'good' taste scored by the consumers, CRBP 838 ranked last -with 83% for boiled preparation, while PITA 23 ranked last for chip preparation (64%) and CRBP 969 (12%) for pounded preparation. FHIA 21 was scored as good by at least 96% of the consumers for the 3 preparations (Figure 4d-f). Overall, at least 78% of the consumers found all the genotypes either acceptable or good (Figure 4g-i).This study has quantified the growth and fruiting characteristics of eight plantain genotypes, through two fruit production cycles, and evaluated the response of the genotypes to infestation or infection by major banana pests and diseases occurring in central Africa. Overall, only CRBP 568 and FHIA 21 were within the recommended plant height of ~3 m, as taller plants require additional staking and are more vulnerable to lodging due to winds resulting in substantial yield losses (Dzomeku et al., 2009;Noupadja et al., 2007). The shorter genotypes can further support heavier bunches without additional need for bunch and pseudostem support with wooden props (Daniels et al., 2002). Lower hanging bunches also lend themselves to partial harvest as fruits ripen progressively from top to bottom (Dzomeku et al., 2007;Seydou et al., 2016). Conversely, some farmers expressed the concern that lower hanging bunches at lower heights may favor fruit theft, which in some cases can account for 20-30% preharvest losses (Desdoigts et al., 2005;Folefack et al., 2017).The tested plantains produced, under the conditions of our experiment, a wide range of sucker numbers. In general, the hybrids produced more suckers than the local Ebang plantain. PITA 27 produces the highest number of suckers per plant at the flowering stage for the first production cycle. Higher sucker production is considered an advantage as suckers are widely used for planting new fields or replacing old plants. Suckers are also widely traded and can be an important source of income, in addition to the sale of fruits (Folefack et al., 2017;Tenkouano et al., 2019). Higher suckering characteristics, in combination with good root and shoot development, promote the successful perennial establishment of Musa plants (Mukasa et al., 2005). There were also pronounced differences in pseudostem girth among plantain hybrids and the local variety Ebang. Larger pseudostem girth can help in sustaining yields over several production cycles (Goenaga et al., 2019). In this study, there was a significant correlation (r = 0.44) between plant girth and bunch yield.Fruit yield of improved plantains was generally higher than that of the local plantain Ebang, except for fruit (finger) weight, which was higher for Ebang compared with all the hybrid plantains. This difference could be attributed to the group of plantain to which Ebang belongs. Ebang, like many local plantain varieties in Cameroon and the broader Central Africa, is in the false horn group of plantain characterized by large fingers, while all the improved plantains were French type, which generally have many fingers with lower finger weight, though generally higher total fruit weight than Ebang and similar types. Among the improved genotypes, FHIA 21 produced the heaviest bunches. The lower overall fruit yield of the local plantains could also be due to higher susceptibility to pests and diseases compared with hybrid plantains. The average bunch weight of each improved genotype reported in this study is higher than that reported from farmers' fields in Cameroon (Banful et al., 2008;Dépigny et al., 2019;Pierrot et al., 2002). It is however below the average yield of 24.7 kg recorded in the plantain Optim trial done by CARBAP (S. Dépigny et al., 2018). This yield difference could be explained by the fact that CARBAP trials were conducted in the Littoral region of Cameroon, precisely in Njombe location, which has sedimentary and volcanic fertile soils which is favourable for banana production (Sama-Lang, 2004).Plantain breeding has focused considerably on developing resistance to Black Sigatoka with the distinct advantage of allowing plants to reach flowering while maintaining a good number of healthy and functional leaves (Adheka et al., 2018;De Langhe et al., 2005).For all the evaluated genotypes (local and improved), little variation was observed between them for the number of leaves at flowering for both cycles. The total number of functional leaves at flowering has been reported as a good indicator of a plant's tolerance/resistance to pests and diseases and correlates strongly with bunch weight (Alvarez, 1997). All plantain genotypes had at least eight functional leaves at flowering which improved good bunch development and high-quality fruits (Erima et al., 2016). Noupadja et al. (2007) and Boyé et al. (2010) also reported that to obtain heavier bunches and to increase yields, a sufficient number of functional leaves must be present on the plant from flowering to harvest. In our case, from flowering to harvest, the number of functional leaves decreased for all the genotypes, but this reduction was more drastic for the local plantain Ebang. This reduction was related to the low ratio NSLH over NSLF in Ebang, which effectively reflects the rate of disappearance of leaves as a result of the susceptibility of Ebang to Black Sigatoka disease (Tenkouano et al., 2010). In general, the number of functional leaves at flowering and harvest corresponded to Black Sigatoka rankings, i.e. the most resistant (i.e. lowest disease index) had the highest number of functional leaves (Irish et al., 2013). The high value of the ratio of NSLH over NSLF of improved genotypes could be explained by the fact that they were less susceptible to Black Sigatoka disease compared with the local plantain. The level of resistance expressed by all the improved plantains, particularly FHIA 21, is similar to those of Irish et al. (2013) who reported that the FHIA hybrids were consistently more resistant and developed less disease between flowering and harvest (i.e. had more functional leaves at harvest) than other accessions. This was further supported by the rank of the youngest leaf with first symptoms (YLSt), youngest leaves spotted (YLS) and index of non-spotted leaves (INSL) recorded on improved genotypes at flowering. The position of YLSt of local plantain plants was generally close to YLS while for improved hybrids, YLSt and YLS were separated by at least two leaves. This showed the susceptibility of local genotypes to Black Sigatoka compared with the improved plantain hybrids. Additionally, the index of non-spotted leaves (INSL) was higher on improved genotypes compared with Ebang. Erima et al. (2016) also mentioned that the high rank of the youngest leaf with streaks, of the youngest leaf, spotted and the high number of functional leaves at flowering shows the tolerance of a genotype against Black Sigatoka. It also correlates significantly with disease development time (Craenen, 1998). This implies that most of the banana hybrids which had more than 8 leaves without spots, were tolerant to Black Sigatoka disease (Mobambo et al., 1996;Oluma et al., 2004). Therefore, the banana hybrids, because of the high index of the nonspotted leaf also had a high surface area to capture more radiant energy and greater potential for photosynthesizing and producing more assimilates which eventually promote the growth of large plantain bunches (Erima et al., 2016).Indeed, there was a positive correlation (r = 0.30; P < 0.001) between the number of leaves at flowering and fruit yield and also between the number of standing leaves at harvest and fruit yield (r = 0.33; P < 0.001). Erima et al. (2016) reported that the development of large and heavy banana bunches depends on the photosynthetic potential of the leaves -an increase in banana leaf area increases fruit production but this parameter will have some location specificity as photosynthetic activity is a function of leaf area and incident of solar radiation (Buah et al., 2000;Smithson et al., 2001). Large bunch weight and yield in bananas are also attributed to a higher growth rate before flowering and a high number of functional leaves at flowering and harvest (Erima et al., 2016), but genotype could be a more critical factor in determining the yield potential (Njuguna et al., 2010) which probably explains why some genotypes produced relatively smaller bunches even though they had a good number of functional leaves both at flowering and at harvest.Nematodes can cause up to 70% losses in plantains and cooking bananas in Africa (Tripathi et al., 2015). In our study, nematode damage was less than 25% root necrosis of burrowing plant parasitic nematodes at flowering and harvest during the 1 st cycle, based on the scale used by Loubana et al. (2007).This could be attributed to the use of healthy planting material (tissue-culture seedlings) for the establishment of the trial. In the 2 nd cycle, nematode damage increased for all plantain genotypes at flowering and harvest; however, the local plantain had a nearly 2-fold increase (close to 50%) in root necrosis, indicating greater nematode infestation and damage on local compared with hybrid plantains. The increase of root necrosis from the 1 st cycle to the 2 nd cycle in all genotypes parallels the increase in banana weevil damage over the two cycles, as was also shown by Masanza et al. (2006). Loubana et al. (2007) demonstrated that plantain yield losses, all else similar, begin to be realized with >50% nematode-caused root necrosis. Other studies, however, have shown that 6-12% root necrosis is sufficient to reduce banana yield (Speijer et al., 1994). It is therefore difficult to conclude from our study if nematode damage which did not exceed 50% necrosis would have contributed to plantain yield losses. Nematode damage would have been expected to increase through the 3 rd cycle with more likely effects on plantain yields in our experiment, possibly much more in the local than in the hybrid plantains. While nematode control could be often achieved by periodic application of synthetic nematicide, which is not affordable by farmers and is generally not environmentally safe. Therefore, plant resistance appears to be a safer alternative to nematode control (Okolle et al., 2009), hybrid plantains offer a level of tolerance that could replace the use of nematicides. Controlled studies are needed to establish the level of yield loss avoidance by hybrid plantains compared with the use of nematicides.In our study, we relied exclusively on root necrosis symptoms to quantify nematode damage to plantains. Previous studies effectively identified six species of plant parasitic nematodes in Cameroon, namely, Radopholus similis (Cobb, 1893)   Bridge et al., 1995;Loubana et al., 2007). It appears that the lesions recorded on all genotypes corresponded to those of R. similis (small dark purplish-red lesions on the outer part of the roots), based on the characteristic necrotic lesions on the roots described by Speijer and De Waele (1997). Future studies would benefit from the isolation and identification of nematode species associated with the plantain genotypes.Banana weevil damage varied similarly to that of nematodes among the plantain genotypes and cycles of production. For all genotypes, weevil damage was higher in the 2 nd cycle (ratoon plant) than in the 1 st cycle (mother plant), with improved hybrids appearing more tolerant than the local cultivar. Gold (1998) also reported that weevil damage is usually greater in ratoon crops and that sustained weevil attack may prolong maturation rates and reduce yield by up to 60%. Banana resistance to weevil infestation is often attributed to biophysical factors like suckering ability, corm hardness, resin/sap production, and corm dry matter content to biophysical factors like corm diameter (Kiggundu et al., 2003). In our study, plantain hybrids displayed greater suckering capacity which could explain their greater tolerance to weevil damage compared with the local variety. In the humid agroecology of the present study, and likely elsewhere in Central Africa, the average on-farm plantain production duration is estimated at three cycles with weevil damage attaining its maximum level in the last cycle which can result in plant lodging due to weevil larvae feeding activities in the corm (Gold et al., 2004). The two production cycles of our study may not, therefore, capture the full impact of weevil damage on the performance of the tested genotypes. Nevertheless, weevil damage by the 3 rd production cycle would have been still lower on the hybrids than on the local plantain, based on the observed trends over the first two production cycles.The appreciation of agronomic traits by producers in the field was diverse. Plant height and bunch size of CRBP 568 and plant height and bunch size of FHIA 21 were highly appreciated by producers in the field which also reflects the performance of both improved genotypes. Thompson and Wainwright (2007) reported that bunch size influences consumer preference and accordingly most banana producers and consumers prefer cultivars with large bunches as well as large well-filled fingers, with a bright external and internal colour. The consistency should be neither too soft nor too hard (Dury et al., 2002). The basis of consumers' preferences for plantains is complex and goes beyond bunch size, finger size, and finger colour, as consumers may choose specific plantains for a particular meal according to their tribe or socio-cultural eating habits (Newilah et al., 2005). Dury et al. (2002) and Udomkun et al. (2021) reported that plantain is not considered by consumers as a homogeneous product and their preference for plantain varieties varies with the type of cooking or uses. In addition, the most important factor influencing Cameroonian consumers' choice of plantain and its products is taste (Udomkun et al., 2021). Therefore, the field performance of a genotype would not guarantee that it will be effectively adopted by producers without sufficient knowledge of the culinary use of the fruits. Following the responses from consumers based on three food preparations, none of the genotypes was rejected, but consumer appreciation varied according to preparation. Although there were some differences in plant agronomic traits, the taste of the tested genotypes was equally appreciated by consumers. Some preparations such as pounded form, however, should be variety-specific (e.g. FHIA 21), corresponding to farmers' expectations.In this study, we determined the response and infection status of eight plantain genotypes to one leaf disease and two root pests. We did not report on the response of the plantains to other diseases such as Fusarium wilts, Xanthomonas wilt, Moko disease, banana bunchy top disease, and banana streak virus disease because these diseases were not present in the area where the study was conducted. However, the banana bunchy top disease is widely spread in the plantain fields in some localities of the South region of Cameroon, with higher severity in Abang Minko'o locality, which is situated at around 270 km from the trial site (Yaoundé town) in the Centre region (Ngatat et al., 2017).This study presented agronomic traits and consumers' acceptability of eight plantain genotypes in the humid forest area of Cameroon. These genotypes differed significantly in most of the parameters such as plant height which was diversely interpreted by farmers. The number of functional and standing leaves at flowering and harvest was higher in the hybrids, supporting the knowledge of their resistance to Black Sigatoka compared with the local plantain Ebang. The higher number of leaves, along with their tolerance to weevil and nematode damage, may have accounted, at least in part, for higher yields of the hybrids compared with the local plantain Ebang. Consumer preference showed that none of the varieties were rejected based on three plantain food preparations. The deployment of improved plantain genotypes will be more powerful and enhance the farmer gains in terms of fruit yield, income, food security, longer plantation longevity, and potential benefits in terms of forest conservation since more food would be produced on the same land that the farmers presently produce using local plantain varieties. Together, high fruit yield, resistance to Black Sigatoka, tolerance to banana weevil and nematode damage, and consumer acceptance should open the way to the release of the hybrids to producers and their introduction into other countries in Central Africa with similar humid ecology to the study area.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","tokenCount":"7242"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4584710302.json b/data/part_1/4584710302.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c343af5ec9b4341413fa5762a476a0411e02565
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4584710302.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef172233a7e43e9596304f41a709ff19","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6fe73f76-043e-4e65-854d-260121b52afb/retrieve","id":"1539778460"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7ae5867a-e94d-4c9d-9e09-ccbf375ac53e","pagecount":"1","content":"The CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security thanks the ISPC for insightful and valuable comments on the 2017-2022 proposal, plus the endorsement of CCAFS as positioning the CGIAR to play a major role in bringing to scale the practices, technologies and institutions that enable agriculture to meet the triple goals of food security, climate change adaptation, and mitigation. CCAFS will strive to serve as a true integrating program for climate change across all CRPs and Centres.We have responded to the comments with edits to the proposal text and annexes, accompanied by some revision to the budget, including greater detail on management elements. In the Addendum we respond in turn to all of the major recommendations of the ISPC and the Consortium Office. We have paid particular attention to the four headline comments on alignment with nutrition, prioritization among AFS CRPs, strategic prioritization of partners and sites, and the elevation of MELIA in general and IA in particular.Director","tokenCount":"161"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4611611836.json b/data/part_1/4611611836.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..99d80797872c2272ff0841d726e918ef4731c8f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4611611836.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"71b70eff918fac816f5c958872228b67","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/baf6d908-4044-4cb1-90a8-4c63a028b13d/retrieve","id":"-218257250"},"keywords":["Ammar, H.","Kholif, A.E.","Soltan, Y.A.","Almadani, M.I.","Soufan, W.","Morsy, A.S.","Ouerghemmi, S.","Chahine, M.","Ajuga iva","chemical composition","nutritive value","unconventional feeds","phenolic","growing conditions"],"sieverID":"406da98f-cd79-4ac3-81d6-6e7f75f38406","pagecount":"13","content":"This study aims to evaluate the nutritive value of Ajuga iva (A. iva) harvested from three distinct altitude regions in Tunisia (Dougga, Mograne, and Nabeul). The chemical composition, phenolic concentration, gas production, and in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility were determined. The highest concentrations of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were for A. iva cultivated in Nabeul. In contrast, the highest crude protein (CP) concentration was observed in that cultivated in Mograne, and the lowest (p < 0.01) CP concentration was noted in that cultivated in Dougga. Additionally, the cultivation regions affected the concentrations of free-radical scavenging activity, total flavonoids, and total polyphenols (p < 0.01). The highest free-radical scavenging activity was observed with A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Mograne. The highest (p < 0.05) gas production rate and lag time were observed in A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Nabeul regions. DM digestibility differed between regions and methods of determination. The highest (p < 0.01) DM degradability, determined by the method of Tilley and Terry and the method of Van Soest et al., was for A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Dougga, while the lowest (p < 0.01) value was recorded for that cultivated in the Nabeul region. Likewise, metabolizable energy (ME) and protein digestibility values were higher for A. iva collected from Mograne region than that collected from the other sampling areas. In conclusion, the nutritive value of A. iva differed between regions. Therefore, care should be taken when developing recommendations for using A. iva in an entire region. Season-and region-specific feeding strategies for feeding A. iva are recommended.Inadequate feed supply is one of the significant challenges facing ruminant livestock producers, making exploring new feeds a premium issue for successful animal production [1]. Evaluating the nutritive value of unconventional feeds is essential before feeding them to animals. However, the nutritive value of plants depends on many factors and may differ for the same plant under different conditions. Reasons for that variability can be classified as intrinsic (variety, chemical composition) or extrinsic factors (growing conditions, storage, etc.) [2]. In addition, soil types, environmental conditions, geographical areas, and many more characteristics affect the nutritive value of feeds [3].Plants contain secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, phytosterols, tannins, saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, cyanogenic glycosides, etc., with multiple biological activities [4]. The concentration of secondary metabolites in plants depends on growth stage, soil type, etc. Soil type plays a vital role in determining the concentration and type of plant secondary metabolites. It is the matrix through which potential secondary metabolites are adsorbed and pass [5]. The activities of plant secondary metabolites in the soil are strongly linked with the soil's physical, chemical, biological, and physicochemical properties, which in turn affect adsorption and degradation [6]. Ajuga iva (L.) Schreber (Lamiaceae) (A. iva) is a plant that has been used in traditional medicine due to its anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antimicrobial, antifebrile, and anthelmintic activity [7]. A. iva contains polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant properties [8]. Its extract has been used traditionally as a diuretic, cardiac tonic, hypoglycemic, or a cure for fever. It exhibits a high stimulating effect on animal protein synthesis [9,10]. Chemical studies on A. iva have revealed the presence of several flavonoids, tannins, terpenes, and steroids [11]. The natural presence of bioactive compounds in the plant suggests the possibility of its use in animal feed to alter ruminal fermentation [12,13]. Recently, Bouyahya et al. [14] compared the volatile compounds of A. iva essential oils at three developmental periods, and noted that phenological stages significantly affected the volatile compounds resulting in different biological properties. They identified 28 volatile compounds in A. iva essential oils at the three developmental periods, with carvacrol, methyl chavicol, and octadecane among the significant compounds with different concentrations in each developmental period.Additionally, the antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties of Ajuga were significantly affected by the concentrations of total phenolics and flavonoids [9]. Thus, the hypothesis of the present study depends on the possibility of a relationship between the nutritional value of A. iva feed materials and the sites of cultivation, as well as their content of phenolic substances, which may have an impact on their in vitro gas production and digestibility. Therefore, the present trial was undertaken to compare in vitro the nutritive value of A. iva at different sites (Dougga, Mograne, and Nabeul) in Tunisia.Approximately 1000 g of naturally cultivated mature A. iva parts (leaves and small stems) were randomly collected in Spring 2018 from three different sites in Tunisia: Nabeul (latitude 36  40 920 N and longitude 10 • 27 918 E). These sites were selected to represent the majority of Mediterranean conditions in Tunisia. The texture of the soil in Nabeul was sandy, it was silty in Mograne, and vertisol (very fertile and rich in clay) in Dougga. The three regions are situated in semi-arid areas (precipitation ranges between 400-600 mm/year). The plant samples were air-dried at room temperature (40 ± 2 • C) for one week, ground by a Retsch blender mill (Normandie-Labo, 7210, type ZM1, Lintot, France), and sieved through a 0.5 mm mesh screen to obtain a uniform particle size. The ground substrates were bagged and stored at room temperature until the chemical analysis and in vitro experiments.All A. iva samples were analyzed in triplicate for dry matter (DM, method ID 934.01), ash (method ID 942.05), ether extract (EE, method ID 920.30), and crude protein (CP, method ID 984.13) content following the methods of AOAC [15]. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL) were determined using an ANKOM2000 fiber analyzer [16] (ANKOM 2000, ANKOM Technology, Macedon, NY, USA) with the reagents described by Van Soest et al. [17]. Sodium sulfite, but not β-amylase, was added to the solution for NDF determination.For a detailed analysis of the bioactive components in A. iva, triplicate samples (1 g) were extracted with 20 mL of hydro-ethanolic solution (700 mL/L) according to the method described by Neffati et al. [18]. Extractions were carried out using maceration at room temperature for 24 h. The mixture was then filtered through Wattman No.1 filter paper (Bärenstein, Germany) and micro filter paper (Wattman, 0.45 µm). The resulting solutions were evaporated under vacuum at 40 • C using a rotavapor (Buchi Corporation R-210, New-Castle, DE, USA), and the yield (%) of extraction was determined. Samples were stored at 4 • C until use. The extract yield (%) was determined according to the below equation:The total phenolic (TP) content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method [19] with some modifications, using gallic acid as the standard. The method is based on reducing phosphotungstate-phosphomolybdate complex to blue reaction products [19]. The modified method is described briefly: A. iva leaf extract and the chosen standard (gallic acid) were dissolved at different concentrations, and 0.1 mL of each solution was mixed with 1 mL of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (10%). The mixture was incubated for 5 min before adding 1 mL of 10% (w/v) Na 2 CO 3 . Prepared solutions were then diluted with 8.4 mL of deionized water and incubated in the dark at room temperature for 90 min. The absorbance of each sample and of the standard mixture was measured at 760 nm against the appropriate blank using a spectrophotometer (Jenway spectrophotometer monofaisceau UV/visible model 7315). The TP concentration was expressed as gallic acid equivalents per milligram of dry extract (mg GAE/mg DE).Total flavonoid content (TF) was measured using a colorimetric method based on the formation of flavonoid [20]. Each diluted sample extract (0.25 mL) was added to 0.075 mL of NaNO 2 solution (7%) and mixed for 6 min before adding 0.15 mL of freshly prepared AlCl 3 solution (6H 2 O, 10%). Catechin was used as a standard. After 5 min, 0.5 mL of 1 mol/L NaOH solution was added. The final volume was adjusted with distilled water to 2.5 mL, and thoroughly mixed; the absorbance of the mixture was determined at 510 nm. TF of dried A. iva leaf extract was estimated according to the calibration curve obtained by a series of concentrations of the catechin standard (0 to 700 µg/mL range). Samples were analyzed in triplicate, and results were expressed as catechin equivalents per mg dry extract (mg CE/mg DE).The anti-radical activity (ARSA) of A. iva leaves was evaluated as the scavenging of the free anionic 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. At different concentrations, the sample solution (50 µL) or standard Trolox solution was added to 1 mL of 40 µM DPPH in methanol. The mixture was then shaken vigorously. After incubation (1 h), changes in color (from deep violet to dark yellow) were measured at 517 nm. The radical scavenging activity for DPPH was evaluated by calculating the percentage of inhibition (PI) using the control and sample recorded absorbance (Abs):The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated from the linear equation of the curve obtained by projection of PI versus the respective sample concentrations.In vitro trials were carried out using two different methods: the in vitro dry matter digestibility, a gravimetrical method, and the in vitro gas production technique. In vitro dry matter digestibility analysis was performed in Spain (University of León, León, Spain) according to the technique proposed by Tilley and Terry [21] or by Van Soest et al. [22]. The in vitro gas production analysis was carried out in Tunisia at the Sylvo-Pastoral Institute of Tabarka.Four mature Merino sheep with 49.4 ± 4.2 kg body weight (mean ± standard error) and fitted with a permanent ruminal cannula were used as inoculum donors to carry out in vitro incubations of the plant material. Animals were allowed 1 kg of Lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay (the traditional Mediterranean forage) once per day supported with ground maize and soybean meal (0.7 kg/100 kg live weight, 156 g CP/kg), and had free access to a mineral premix and fresh water. Sheep were cared for and handled by trained personnel in accordance with the Spanish guidelines for experimental animal protection (Spanish Royal Decree 53/2013 on the protection of animals used for experimentation or other scientific purposes). The experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee on Animal Experimentation (ULE_014_2016) of Universidad de León and the Junta de Castilla y León (León, Spain). Ruminal liquid and solid parts were collected separately from each animal before morning feeding. The liquid part was collected by a stainless steel probe (2.5 mm screen) attached to a large-capacity syringe. The solid part was collected from the dorsal rumen sac through the cannula, and squeezed by hand. Liquid and solid parts were placed separately under anaerobic surroundings into pre-warmed thermo containers (39 • C) and were carried immediately to the laboratory. The two parts were blended at 1:1 (v/v) for 10 s, squeezed through four layers of cheesecloth, and retained in a water bath (39 • C) flushed under CO 2 until the inoculation took place.The in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) was determined using the Ankom Daisy procedure [16], to which two different approaches were applied as proposed by Tilley and Terry, and Van Soest et al. [22]. Both techniques were carried out separately in different trials. A culture medium containing macro and micro mineral solutions, resazurin, and a bicarbonate buffer solution was prepared as described by Van Soest et al. [22]. The medium was kept at 39 • C and saturated with CO 2 . Oxygen in the medium was reduced by adding a solution containing cysteine-HCl and Na 2 S, as Van Soest et al. [22] described. Rumen fluid was then diluted into the medium at a proportion of 1:5 (v/v). A. iva samples (250 mg) were weighed into artificial fiber bags (size 5 cm × 5 cm, pore size 20 µm), sealed with heat, and placed in incubation jars. Each jar was a 5 L glass recipient with a plastic lid provided with a single-way valve to avoid the accumulation of fermentation gases. Each incubation jar was filled with 2 L of the buffered rumen fluid transferred anaerobically, closed with the lid, and the contents mixed thoroughly. The jars were then placed in a revolving incubator (Ankom Daisy Incubator, ANKOM Technology Corp, Macedon, NY, USA) at 39 • C, with continuous rotation to facilitate the effective immersion of the bags in the rumen fluid. After 48 h of incubation in buffered rumen fluid, samples were either subject to 48 h pepsin-HCl digestion as described by Tilley and Terry [21], or gently rinsed in cold water followed by extraction with a neutral detergent solution at 100 • C for 1 h as described by Van Soest et al. [22]. According to Van Soest [23], the original method of Tilley and Terry is a measurement of the apparent in vitro digestibility (AIVD).Treatment with the neutral detergent solution removed bacterial cell walls and other endogenous products and, therefore, the residuals can be considered a determination of the true in vitro digestibility (TIVD) of dry matter. The first stage of ruminal incubation (48 h) following the Goering and Van Soest technique corresponds to the determination of dry matter degradability (IVdeg). Each technique was performed in duplicate (two bags per sample) and repeated in three runs in different weeks, giving six observations per sample.Rumen fluid was extracted from four mature slaughtered Queue Fine de l'Ouest sheep (48.5 ± 4.3 kg body weight), collected in a thermos, and transported immediately to the laboratory where it was strained through various layers of cheesecloth and kept at 39 • C under a CO 2 atmosphere. A culture medium was prepared as described previously and the rumen fluid was diluted in the culture medium at the proportion 1:2 (v:v). Plant material samples (300 mg) were weighed in a glass syringe (capacity 100 mL), added to 30 mL of the culture medium, and incubated in a water bath. The volume of gas produced in the syringes was measured every 2 h (from 0 to 72 h). Data were fitted to the model proposed by France et al. [24]:where G (mL) denotes the cumulative gas production (GP) at time t; A (mL) the asymptotic gas production; c (h − 1) the fractional rate of gas production and L (h) is the lag time.Effective degradability (ED, g DM degraded/g DM ingested) for a given rate of passage (k, h −1 ) was estimated following the approach derived by France et al. [24]. To calculate ED, a mean retention time of digesta in the rumen of 30 h was assumed, giving a rate of passage of 0.033 h −1 (which can be found in sheep fed on a forage diet at maintenance level). The partitioning factor (PF) was calculated as the ratio between net GP and the degradation of the organic matter during 24 h, and was used as an indicator of microbial protein syntheses [25].Metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/kg DM) content was estimated using CP and EE contents (g/kg DM) and the volume of gas measured after 24 h of incubation (G24 in mL per 300 mg DM incubated), as described by Menke and Steingass [26]:The digested organic matter (DOM), protein values [dietary protein undegraded in the rumen (PDIA), true protein degraded in the small intestine (PDIN), and true protein absorbable in the small intestine (PDIE)], and net energy status (in terms of forage units for lactation (UFL) or meat production (UFV)) of Ajuga foliage were assessed according to the INRA [27] feed evaluation system. These were estimated from the feed characteristics (chemical composition and in vitro digestibility parameters) obtained in our study using the INRAtion software (V5, RUMIN'AL, Paris, France).The partitioning factor (PF) was calculated as mg DM digested potential of degradability (D144)/mL gas production (A) [25], as an indicator of the efficiency of ruminal microbial protein synthesis.All data were analyzed by Tukey's test according to a split-plot design, with the whole plots arranged in a randomized block design. Statistics were carried out using the PROC GLM procedure of SAS (v. 9.2; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). The mean values of each parameter and the pooled standard error of the mean (S.E.M.) are reported in the tables. Differences between treatments were considered significant at p < 0.05 using Duncan's test.Table 1 shows the chemical composition of A. iva cultivated in different Tunisian regions. A. iva cultivated in Nabeul provided the highest (p < 0.001) values of Ash, NDF, ADF, and EE compared with the other regions, while that collected in Mograne had the highest (p < 0.001) CP value compared with the other two regions. On the other hand, the lowest (p < 0.001) values of CP and EE were observed for A. iva cultivated in the Dougga region.  Results of TF, TP, and anti-radical scavenging activity \"ARSA\" of A. iva samples collected from different regions of Tunisia generally showed that Ajuga is a rich phytochemical plant (Table 1). Highly significant values (p < 0.001) of TP and ARSA were recorded in A. iva from Dougga, while those collected from Nabeul had the highest (p < 0.001) TF compared with A. iva from other regions. Leaves collected from Mograne had the lowest TF and TP, while samples collected from Nabeul resulted in the lowest (p < 0.001) ARSA compared with other plant samples.As shown in Table 2, the highest values (p < 0.05) of in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) measured either by the Tilley and Terry or Van Soest et al. methods [23] were observed in A. iva collected from Mograne and Dougga, while leaves collected from Nabeul had the lowest (p < 0.01) nutrient digestibility values. The gas emitted from leaves of A. iva collected from three different regions incubated at different times (0-72 h) is illustrated in Table 3. A. iva collected from Nabeul had the lowest (p < 0.05) GP at 8, 16, and 24 h incubation times, the lowest yield of GP calculated at 24 h (GY24), and lowest average rate (AR) of GP compared with those collected from Dougga and Mograne regions.     The CP concentration of A. iva ranged between 8.2 and 13.5%, which is within the acceptable range reported for different foliage plants [28], and was above the minimum threshold of 80 g/kg DM required for rumen microbial growth and activity [29]. A. iva cultivated in Dougga had the lowest CP concentration (p < 0.05), while that cultivated in Mograne had the highest CP (13.5%). Irrespective of the region, based on CP, it appears that leaves of A. iva were at least comparable in value to most traditional Mediterranean legume forages such as lucerne hay [30]. Therefore, the significant contribution of such pastoral plants would suggest their potential for overcoming feed limitations for ruminant livestock in Mediterranean regions, especially during the drought season, justifying their use to complement poor-quality pastures and crop residues [30]. However, it is supposed that some nitrogenous compounds are encrusted in the cell wall structure [31], and consequently, the utilization of CP by animals may not be as high as expected. Thus, the chemical composition of these browse species should not be the sole criterion for judging the relative importance of a particular species. Concerning cell wall fractions (NDF and ADF), A. iva cultivated in Mograne had the lowest values (p < 0.05), at 26% and 20% for NDF and ADF, respectively. The variability observed between cultivated regions could be due to differences in climatic conditions, soil types, soil fertility, agronomical management, and other environmental factors [30,32,33]. In this context, Mountousis et al. [34] reported that NDF and ADF content of forages were affected by the altitudinal zone and the season.Our present study shows that secondary metabolites (types and concentrations) varied widely with the site of A. iva cultivation. The environmental conditions across the three collection sites are the most probable causes of variations in the plant phytochemicals [35]. In the present experiment, these differences also resulted in variations of antioxidant activity. The differences between regions are related to many factors including differences in meters above sea level, soil type, soil chemical composition, erosion status, management systems, and other related aspects [33,36]. Moreover, the differences in AA between regions and extraction methods could be associated with differences in active ingredients due to different concentrations of phenolic compounds in A. iva [14].Free-radical scavenging is one known mechanism by which antioxidants inhibit lipid oxidation [9]. In the present study, the AA differed between regions and from other studies examining the leaves of A. iva harvested in Tunisia [9]. In the current study, we used ethanolic extraction; thus, the solvent extraction method seems to be the main reason for the differences between studies [37]. Extracts with high polarities, such as ethanol, give better results than weakly polar solvents such as petroleum ether or methanol. The primary function of plant secondary metabolites is defense against different environmental threats. Therefore, concentrations of plant secondary metabolites are expected to differ between cultivation zones. Extraction is the foremost step for recovering and isolating phytochemicals from plant materials, and the concentration of phytochemicals in plants depends on plant samples' physical properties and the solvent's polarity [34,35]. Extraction efficiency is affected by the chemical nature of phytochemicals, the extraction method, and the solvent used [5,38]. The sensitivity of the chemical method used to quantify the phenolic compounds and the nature of the standard can affect concentrations in the same sample. Makni et al. [9] observed that the extraction yield of A. iva differed between methanol, aqueous, hexane, and chloroform extractions. For A. iva, Bendif et al. [39] observed different concentrations of total phenolics and free-radical scavenging activity with different extraction methods (acetone, ethanol, and water). Ouerghemmi et al. [40] compared the phenolic composition and antioxidant properties of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts from leaves of Rosa canina, Rosa sempervirens, and Rosa moschata collected from different Tunisian regions and observed differed yields. Higher phenolic compounds indicate higher antioxidant activity (i.e., low free-radical scavenging activity).Phenolic compounds are critical components in plant samples, and their ability to scavenge free radicals is due to their hydroxyl groups [35]. The highest free-radical scavenging activity was observed for A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Mograne. It has been proven that levels of total phenols and flavonoids are high when the living environment of the plant is not appropriate. In this case, the plant promotes the synthesis of secondary metabolites to adapt and survive.  [21] (AIVD) for A. iva from different regions was within the range (36 to 69%) of in vitro DM digestibility observed for most browse plants [41]. The digestibility of DM determined using Goering and Van Soest's method was high for A. iva cultivated in Mograne, while the lowest value was recorded for that cultivated in the Nabeul region. The different results obtained by different methods of DM digestibility determination could be related to the conditions of each determination method. In vitro methods such as in vitro digestibility and gas production measurements are more reliable for detecting inhibitory compounds in feeds, because these compounds are likely to affect the activity of rumen microbes in a closed system [42,43]. As previously observed by Ammar et al. [44], using the in vitro gas production technique is preferred to other in vitro methods for estimating digestibility [26]. Moreover, in vitro gas production is very suitable for assessing the biological activity of tannins and other anti-nutritional factors affecting the digestibility of browse plants [44,45]. In the present experiment, A. iva cultivated in Nabeul showed the lowest values of AIVD, TIVD, degradability potential, and effective degradability compared with samples cultivated in Dougga and Mograne.The kinetics of the in vitro GP differed between regions. Gas production is a good indicator of the ruminal fermentability of feeds [46,47]. It depends mainly on the degradability of soluble components in the incubated substrates, and the partitioning of fermented substrates to volatile fatty acids and microbial biomass production [25,48]. During the first 24 h of incubation, A. iva from Dougga and Mograne regions produced higher gas levels, a higher average rate of gas production, and higher gas yields at 24 h; however, the asymptote and the rate of gas production were not significantly affected, indicating different fermentability between A. iva from different regions. Differences could be due to variations in the chemical composition and nutrient degradability [49] of the Ajuga cultivated in different zones. In the present experiment, the asymptotic gas production followed the same trend as OM and CP content and in vitro digestibility, conversely to the fiber content in A. iva, which confirms the results obtained by Ammar et al. [44,50]. They observed significant positive correlations between in vitro digestibility, GP parameters, and CP content, and negative correlations with NDF, ADF, and lignin contents. Furthermore, other factors including non-soluble carbohydrate fractions and phytochemicals affect the production of gases [51]. In the present experiment, the insignificantly different partitioning factor indicates similar efficiency of ruminal microbial protein synthesis [25].The higher NDF and ADF concentrations in A. iva collected from Nabeul may be the main reason for the low degradability revealed in the GP experiment. The observed greater ED of A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Mograne, compared to that in Nabeul, is an indicator of how well it can be utilized by ruminants. Differences in ED may be attributed to chemical composition, particularly the structural and non-structural protein and carbohydrate fractions [52][53][54].The low values of UFL and UFV indicate low energy availability for milk and meat production for animals consuming A. iva cultivated in Nabeul, compared to those in the Dougga and Mograne regions [27]. Moreover, the measured parameters of protein value indicate that A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Nabeul had lower nutritive protein value compared to that cultivated in the Mograne region [27]. Greater concentrations of protein undegraded in the rumen but truly digestible in the small intestine, as well as true protein absorbable in the small intestine when rumen fermentable energy is limited, are good indicators of high nutritive value and are important from a nutritional view as lower degradability at the beginning of incubation indicates greater bypass protein that can be utilized in the duodenum [55,56]. Microorganisms could more easily attach to better degradable protein in the rumen and reflect greater protein solubility [57].Based on the chemical composition and the in vitro digestibility results, it seems that A. iva could be successfully used to complement protein deficiencies in the diet of ruminants during periods of feed scarcity. The nutritive value of A. iva greatly varies between geographical zones, suggesting a need for season-and region-specific feeding strategies. Further studies are needed to evaluate its palatability and demonstrate its efficacy in vivo. Studies are ongoing examining other biochemical activities of A. iva to demonstrate its medicinal properties.","tokenCount":"4413"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4642837788.json b/data/part_1/4642837788.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd3155946c382cad65976f2220368a52a25f60ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4642837788.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd5acbab1fe394cd9e606bb5cdd6c0c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/711ac074-2eec-4f0b-81e2-48bde5f7afd1/retrieve","id":"411185125"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"74ec8806-7a3b-4689-9a22-0f3334373d50","pagecount":"18","content":"The National Stakeholder Consultation workshop, held in New Delhi on December 4, 2023, marked a pivotal step in advancing digital innovation and inclusion in agriculture. Jointly organized by the CGIAR Digital Innovation (DI) Initiative team from IRRI and IWMI, along with CRISP, this workshop served as a platform for sharing progress on the Digital Inclusion Index (DII) and the implementation of the Rice Crop Manager (RCM) within India's dynamic agri-digital ecosystem. The DII, still in its early stages, is designed to address multifaceted challenges in food systems, while the RCM integrates digital technology with scientific research to provide tailored nutrient and crop management advice, aiming to enhance yields and farmer incomes. The workshop's objectives centered around raising awareness and refining the DII, fostering collaboration for its pilot implementation, documenting best practices for digital inclusion, and supporting digital innovators in leveraging underutilized data assets to improve digital innovation quality and efficiency. Engaging 38 participants from diverse sectors including NGOs, research, and digital solution management, the workshop catalyzed a collaborative effort to propel digital inclusion and innovation in agriculture forward.In a significant step towards fostering digital innovation and inclusion in agriculture, the CGIAR Digital Innovation (DI) Initiative team from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) organized a one-day National Stakeholder Consultation workshop in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP) in New Delhi on 4th December 2023. Through this workshop, the research team shared its progress in development of Digital Inclusion Index (DII) and implementation of Rice Crop Manager (RCM) with the diverse stakeholders within India's evolving agri-digital ecosystem.Currently, in its nascent form, Digital Inclusion Index aims to provide solutions to various challenges in food systems including reliable information; faster communication; better and faster collection, processing, and storage of data; better decision support; improved working conditions; and improved transparency in supply chains and governance arrangements. While RCM works on blended digital technology and robust scientific research to generate a nutrient and crop management recommendation specific to a farmer's field that, if followed, is capable of boosting yields and incomes.The major objectives of the workshop were to:• Create awareness regarding the Digital inclusion index (DII) and receive feedback from the participants that could help in revision and finalization of the index. • Explore collaboration opportunities with the national stakeholders to enable a pilot run of the index in the ongoing projects. • Document good practices for promoting digital inclusion and find potential use case study for Digital Inclusion Index. • Support digital innovators in coordinating the delivery of enabling data and analytics on underutilized data assets, improving the quality and efficiency of digital innovations, and generating new insights for impacts.A total of 38 participants comprising 15 females and 23 males, representing NGOs, research and development organizations, entities involved in management and implementation of digital solutions and policies from the nationwide actively participated in the workshop.The session started with an overview presentation by Dr. Aayushi Malhotra (Assistant Scientist, IRRI) on the One CGIAR Digital Innovations Initiative that focuses on harnessing digital technologies for timely decision-making across food, water, and land systems. Aayushi emphasized on digital inclusion, which holds significant prominence within the initiative and specially in the Work Package 2 that aims at bridging the digital divide by assisting innovators in evaluating and understanding the inclusivity of their services. Furthermore, it aims to furnish research-backed solutions and pathways that could contribute to narrowing the gender digital divide and empowering users including women, youth and other marginal groups within agriculture. This informative introduction to the Digital Innovations Initiative was followed with a rapid introduction of participants. Furthermore, he highlighted the significance of ensuring inclusivity within digital solutions, defining it as the process of ensuring equitable access, participation, and benefits for all groups, regardless of gender, race, socio-economic status, or other characteristics, in the management and utilization of these vital resources. To achieve inclusivity, Dr. Opola proposed a starting point with fundamental questions of \"WHAT it is?, WHO it serves ?, WHY it matters? and WHEN to use it?.\" The discussion also emphasised the absence of standardized metrics and guidelines for enabling and evaluating digital inclusiveness, which is the gap the Digital Inclusion Index targets to bridge. He concluded the presentation by saying that \"Inclusiveness emerges at the intersection of inclusion (ensuring access and participation) and inclusivity (the quality and extent of how welcoming and accommodating the digital environment is).\"The session was continued by Dr Carolina, who explained why the DII is not aiming to be yet another index to compete in the current index ecosystem, rather it is a tool to add value and promote collaboration. She explained that the index specifically focuses on under-represented groups viz., women, unlettered groups, youth, people with specific needs and rural communities in the food water land systems. The four purposes that the index can serve is for certification, scoring evaluation of inclusive assessment, scoring evaluation of exclusion risk and for risk mitigation feedback that helps in mitigating exclusion. She explained the implementation, theoretical and conceptual framework of the index. The major users of the index can be divided into three categories, as mentioned in the next section.The first group of users are the 'requestors' who are the public or private organizations or individuals that would like to review a digital innovation. The second group is 'evaluators' who can be organizations or individuals that collect and analyse information during the review as well as innovation and inclusion specialists. The third group are the 'consumers' who use the results from digital inclusiveness reviews like funders, knowledge institutions, governments.Further she elaborated on the 7 indicators of the conceptual framework of the index which are accessibility, beneficial impact, usage efficiency, ethical and responsible innovation, cocreation and governance, adoption facilitation and risks and harms. Each of the indicators explained were evaluated by the stakeholders through an online rapid survey, the participants scored each indicator and their components based on their perceived level of importance in promoting digital inclusion. Additionally, the feedback was also collected through a breakout session where particular questions related to the index were thematically discussed in three different groups. Such consultation is crucial for improving the scope of the index and making it more robust and effective in assessing digital inclusion in various contexts.The participants were divided into three groups for reviewing the Index based on the guiding questions provided by the organizers. The sessions were facilitated by Felix Opola, Deepa Joshi, and Carolina Martins. The three groups had three different sets of questions for guiding the discussion (Annexure 4). The first group discussed the index parameters, the second group on user groups and the third group on implementing the index.All participants highly rated every parameter and agreed that none should be excluded from the index. When discussing which indicators were crucial, participants highlighted 'accessibility' and 'beneficial impact' as primary for marginalized users, as these reflect their specific needs. They also emphasized that the remaining five indicators are equally vital in establishing an enabling and safe environment for accessing digital innovation and deriving benefits from it.Within accessibility, the 'availability of digital and physical infrastructure' is the most important aspect. The degree of analysis, whether at the individual, household, farmer association, or village level, determines the interplay between accessibility and usability. For instance, innovations that engage with households and communities benefit from a built-in support network, enhancing their accessibility and usability. As for usability, the pivotal dimensions revolve around capacity development and language.The participants opined that within the dimension of beneficial impact, sustainability factor is not as important since this is already built into the programs/interventions. What could be important is sustainability of the innovation itself or the organization involved in its development rather than sustainability of the benefit. Within benefits, economic effectiveness/value of the digital innovation to the targeted actors is an important aspect that can be added in the index. Further participants highlighted that it's a challenge to assess the inclusion aspect of digital innovation alone as these innovations are usually offered as a package with other types of innovations.The discussion on the user groups started with the factors contributing to the digital marginalization of farmers. The focal point of the discourse revolved around identifying the key elements that hinder farmers' seamless integration into the digital sphere. Participants collectively opined that a multitude of factors, including demography, gender, social class, and financial status, play pivotal roles in perpetuating the digital divide. Demographic disparities were recognized as a significant hurdle, with age and geographic location influencing farmers' access and adaptability to digital tools. Additionally, the participants acknowledged the role of crop-specific challenges, where farmers growing cash crops were given more focus.The participants emphasized the importance of validating data collection with the target audience to ensure accurate representation of the needs of marginalized farmers. They also highlighted the necessity of being mindful of social segmentation before administering the index to prevent a generalized assessment.Regarding the role of marginalised farmers in the development and use of index, participants did not think there will be direct use of the index by individual farmers considering their limited interest and time to contribute to the discussions as well as limited resources and literacy. However, farmer organizations or farmer groups may be interested to use the index to assess the inclusivity of digital interventions their member farmers are using, such data can also be used to continuously improve the index. Many stakeholders who can potentially use the index were identified like NGOs, Government, researchers, CBO, private companies, donors and investors, FPOs etc. Furthermore, participants expressed the view that the index would prove beneficial within their respective organizations by enhancing the inclusivity and customization of digital solutions, attracting donors and investors, and facilitating the development, validation, and scaling of digital solutions.The discussion raised several queries regarding the index's implementation. Participants were curious whether the index would be introduced as a distinct, dedicated tool or integrated into existing tools. Additionally, concerns were raised about cybersecurity, acknowledging the potential impact of any mishap on community trust on the tool. When discussing the optimal certification period, the majority recommended a maximum duration of 6 months, emphasizing the importance of this timeframe being contingent upon testing and gathering empirical evidence.Post lunch session focused on mapping the existing practices on digital inclusion undertaken by different organizations represented by the participants. The main aim of the session was to understand what the diverse strategies are these organisations adopt to make their solutions more accessible and what can be learnt from their practical experiences to enhance the scope of DII. The interested participants were invited to deliver presentations addressing three pivotal questions viz.,1. What digital tools/platforms/interventions has your organization developed or is currently using?2. How do you ensure digital inclusivity? i.e., who are your target audience, how do you evaluate the adoption of the digital solution and what are the challenges faced in scaling?3. What outcomes have resulted from your efforts in ensuring digital inclusivity (in terms of reach and impact)?The session was facilitated by Dr Rasheed Sulaiman (Director, CRISP) and eight presentations were made by the participants representing their respective organisations including Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Farmsio, The Agri Collaboratory, Self-Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN), Dvara E-Registry, Farm DSS, National Association for Farmer Producer Organization (NAFPO).The first presentation was by Mr. Ajay Shelke from (WOTR), an internationally recognised not-for-profit organization based in Maharashtra. WOTR works at the intersection of practice, knowledge and policy across scales and in collaboration with various stakeholders across sectors. WOTR's goal is to ensure water and food availability, along with livelihoods and income security -to support the sustainable growth and well-being of vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in rural India. Mr. Shelke talked about their Farm Precise mobile application which generates dynamic weather-based crop management advisories that are tailored to crop and farm specific conditions. He explained that WOTR has been emphasising on inclusion by focusing on small holders, youth and women. The main challenges to digital inclusion faced by them are lack of strong internet connectivity in rural areas, inaccessibility of smartphones, particularly for women farmers, lack of digital literacy and inability to conduct hands-on training and provide support at a large scale due to resource constraints. Few of the strategies adopted for digital inclusion is participatory development of advisories by involving farmers, free trainings to farmers who cannot afford to pay, making multilingual content in four different Indian languages, enhancing user experience through incorporation of multimedia content, an in-app forum called Krishi Manch for issue sharing and resolution, outreach and handholding through FPOs and women groups and continuous updation of content and features based on farmers feedback.The next presentation by Mr. R Rajkumar from M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), a not-for-profit trust focused specifically on tribal and rural communities with a propoor, pro-women and pro-nature approach for sustainable agriculture and rural development.He elaborated on the various digital tools developed and used by MSSRF like the digital plant clinics, MobiMOOC, audio and video conferencing, video-based learnings, audio advisory etc. One of the main strategies adopted for making their services more inclusive is using gender sensitive designing for content development and conducting a need assessment before content development. The digital tools are made user friendly (e.g through voice-based SMS) and content is made more understandable and interesting for semi-literate farmers and youth by using local languages and pictures. To overcome the lack of access to infrastructure like mobile phones and internet connectivity, video-based learning, audio conferencing etc are also used. Keeping in view the time poverty among women, capacity development and outreach programmes are scheduled to suit their timings. Marginalised communities are often reached out through collectives and village knowledge centres.Mr Afzal Khan from Farms.io, a private tech company based at Tamil Nadu, with a diverse portfolio of digital tools like mobile application, web-based application, remote sensing tools and Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) based tools. Their target audience are marginal farmers, women farmers, tribal farmers and other stakeholders. Offline applications that can work even in the remotest places where internet connectivity is an issue is a major inclusion strategy adopted by them. Also, they are focusing on building unicode applications that are supported by multiple operating systems. This helps them overcome the primary barrier to access that the small and marginal farm holders face by eliminating the need to have high end mobile phones. One of the main challenges they face in expanding their work is regarding the reluctance among the farming communities in adoption of new technologies.Further the co-founder of The Agri Collaboratory (TAC) a non-profit private limited company, Mr Sanjiv Rangrass detailed on how they are democratising agri-finance for small, tenanted and women farmers. He talked about how a digital public infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture can provide effective interventions across the value chain and the rural ecosystem. Leveraging intermediaries like FPOs and farmer collectives to increase their reach and making the digital solutions that are affordable resource poor farmers is a major step they take for ensuring inclusion. Later, he explained about their on-going work on Agri-Digitisation Index that aims to assess the levels of digital readiness across all the states in India. This index would be helpful in generating actionable insights for the government and other stakeholders regarding the existing infrastructure that can be leveraged for digitisation of agriculture and also for identifying the areas for improvement and investment.Ms. Juhi Kumari from Self-Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN), a not-for-profit organization based in Delhi, elaborated on SRIJAN's commitment to enhance the overall wellbeing of the rural poor through livelihood initiatives, social development, and women empowerment. Following this, Mr Vijay Shastri and Mr B.T. Gore presented about inclusion strategies of Farm DSS Agritech Pvt Ltd. They have developed two mobile applications, online zoom courses and are highly active in social media platforms like YouTube, Telegram, Facebook etc. they deliver knowledge based agricultural extension services using digital tools. The major step they take for making their services inclusive is by providing free zoom courses for the farmers who cannot afford it.Further, Mr Tarun Katoch from Dvara E-Registry, a portfolio company of Dvara holdings, spoke about their Doordhrishti digital platform that offers personalized crop advisories, market information, and virtual shops for FPO products. They conduct digital skill training for farmers. Dvara E-Registry, is a private limited company which aims to be a platform for financial inclusion and productivity enabling for all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain by providing farm level analytics and actionable insights by harnessing the transformative power of artificial intelligence, remote sensing & emerging technologies at scale.The final presentation in this session was made by Ms. Aneesha Bali, from National Association for Farmer Producer Organization (NAFPO), a multi-stakeholder owned organization working towards building an enabling ecosystem to support Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) through institutional development, business stabilization & growth. They have a digital toolbox with a diverse set of digital tools like a digital accounting platform called Simplykhata, management and control system, e-learning management system, business planning tool etc. Capacity building, cost effectiveness and handholding are the key inclusion efforts undertaken by them.This session coordinated by the colleagues from the work package 5 of the DI initiative on enabling digital platforms and services focused on understanding the use of underutilized data assets in improving the quality and efficiency of digital innovations and generating new insights for impacts. Ms. Preeti Bharti, Associate Scientist IRRI, presented a case study on the Rice Crop Manager (RCM) application developed by IRRI. She explained in detail about the working of RCM app which has both web-based and mobile based versions. Further, she elaborated that for disseminating and increasing the outreach of RCM, IRRI partnered with different implementing partners or outbound channels like Extension agents from the public sector, NGOs, private sector organization and rural youth. Also, common service centers, input dealers, state agriculture department offices and NGOs were the major inbound channels in RCM dissemination, where farmers came themselves for getting the RCM recommendations. For enhancing the shift from outbound to inbound channels, awareness creation through sensitization training, field days and capacity building training were undertaken. Further she explained about IRRI's efforts to institutionalize RCM by collaborating with the Odisha State Department of Agriculture and integrating with other digital tools like Meghdoot app of IMD and FarmRise app of Bayer.The session was further led by Dr. Shalini Gakhar, Data Scientist, IRRI, who presented on how IRRI is leveraging underutilized RCM datasets. She elaborated on IRRI's plan on using artificial intelligence and machine learning to derive insights from the data. The session overall gave an idea about the immense potential of underutilized data available with various digital tools. Extending the scope of RCM, the platform commenced from the year 2015 -till date in India, RCM has been developed for Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. The analysis includes the most common varieties grown, the tentative date of sowing year-wise, the gender details, youth involvement and many more discernments. In this regard, the AI based approach is capable of predicting crop yields, disease outbreaks, and market trends by analyzing historical data. This helps farmers make informed decisions and optimize their agricultural practices. AI-powered recommendation systems can suggest the most suitable crops based on soil conditions, climate, and other factors.Summarizing the day's learning, Dr. Deepa Joshi underscored the need to have a focus on human-centered design in developing inclusive digital solutions, which also remains an important consideration for the development of DII. She emphasized that it's the human intention behind technology and not merely the technology itself that fuels change. Dr. Joshi articulated that in the current phase of index development the central question revolves around the progress toward an inclusive design that aligns with the context and needs of stakeholders. She highlighted the necessity for the index to be adaptable enough to cater to a diverse range of stakeholders in terms of content, language, and design while also striking a balance between the benefits and risks of digital solutions. She further thanked the participants for their contributions and active involvement, noting that the inputs from the participants would significantly contribute to shaping the conceptual and theoretical framework of the index development process. Dr. Joshi concluded by stating that the workshop marks the beginning of a robust, interactive dialogue, and emphasized that it is not the end of the process but rather the commencement of collaborative efforts in co-designing and co-piloting with all stakeholders.Dr. Rasheed Sulaiman V while delivering the concluding remarks, expressed gratitude to the participants for accepting the invitation. He provided a brief recap of the discussions held in various sessions. He highlighted that the workshop served as a common platform to bring together minds behind various digital initiatives working in the agricultural sector across India. Many of the experiences on digital inclusion shared during the workshop clearly revealed the need for building capacities among marginalized groups and communities including women in using digital technologies. In other words, efforts must be made at both ends, namely strengthening capacities to use digital solutions and also in generating relevant content that meet the needs of diverse audiences and offer the same through the right digital tools that address the challenges of inclusion. Dr. Sulaiman emphasized the necessity for more collaborative partnerships involving multiple stakeholders, crucial for both research and scaling digital solutions. He stressed the importance of not just pushing digital solutions but also focusing on developing the capacities of the end users, especially those excluded from digital access. He concluded by asserting the need to document the ongoing developments in the digital realm to generate actionable evidence.A significant takeaway from the workshop was the realization that despite the existence of numerous digital solutions, the evaluation process often neglects the crucial aspect of inclusion due to the absence of standardized metrics or methodologies. As evident from the presentations made by participants on good practices in digital inclusion, efforts are being made to make the services inclusive but there is very little effort in measuring and documenting it. Participants reached a consensus that the application of DII will contribute towards identifying and addressing the digital inclusion gaps.Major rationale for organising the consultation workshop was to gather the feedback from diverse stakeholders on the digital inclusion index, innovation and datasets. Towards the end of the workshop, feedback was collected using a three-sectioned short questionnaire that can be thematically analysed as:The participants assessed five aspects of the index: Clarity and Comprehensibility, Understandability, Usefulness, Relevancy, and Applicability in their work. Among the participants, 90 percent expressed a comprehensive understanding of DII and its operational mechanisms.The remaining 10 percent raised inquiries pertaining to the validation of negative consequences using DII, the rationale behind developing an index instead of a framework, potential variations in category weighting based on individuals or target audiences, the specific roles of stakeholders in implementing the index, the cost implications of moving forward, and the flexibility of DII to seamlessly integrate with other platforms.Some of the suggestions from the participants to improve the index include, adding an economic effectiveness dimension to the index, building a mechanism to keep the index updated with changing dynamics in the digital domain, and conducting need assessment using primary data collection to make the index more localised and context based etc.Approximately 81 percent of the participants indicated extensive utilization of data assets for decision-making within their organizations, while the rest reported moderate usage. Among the available data assets within the participants' organizations, structured data emerged as most prevalent but underutilized, followed by unstructured data. A small minority (4-5 participants) noted underutilization of big data, IoT data, and other data types within their organizations.The primary challenges rated by participants in unlocking the potential of underutilized data were data quality issues and restricted data integration. Subsequently, concerns about data security, limited data accessibility and management, and data governance followed in descending order of significance. Participants also highlighted challenges such as insufficient data ownership, lack of access to open data sets, and inadequate in-house capacity to leverage the available data.As per the information gathered from the participants, key strategies or technologies explored by the organizations include advanced analytics and machine learning. Some other strategies as stated by them also include enhancing data accessibility through API integration, investing in data quality and assurance, cloud-based data storage and processing. Around 47 percent of the participants were exploring emerging technologies to enhance digital innovation in their organizations and the most quoted technologies were artificial Intelligence, machine learning, remote sensing and block chain technology.Around 98 percent of the participants indicated that they are very satisfied with the way the workshop was organized. Remaining two percent were moderately satisfied and provided suggestions for improvement such as making more comfortable seating arrangements for group discussions, involving a greater number of stakeholders as participants and extending the time duration of the workshop to at least two days to have in-depth discussions. Additionally, all the participants rated the feedback process in the workshop as effective. ","tokenCount":"4154"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4655079973.json b/data/part_1/4655079973.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..576c8f8d03924efc1802be52830d651bafc9b054
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4655079973.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"001e38d913400a1d112c39b7f3267995","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ca8a06f2-6e7e-443b-ac34-c99ead484949/retrieve","id":"1163841252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4c92b1eb-86ed-42b4-b896-4a15d31f02f3","pagecount":"30","content":"eminentemente ganadera, con características de explotación Que corresponde a un sistemas de tipo extensivo. debido principalmente' a la gran disponibilidad de tierras y la baja densidad demográfica Que presenta esa región. La producción ganadera se ve limitada por muchos factores; entre los cuales, la disponibilidad de forrajes pr.incipalmente durante los periodos de sequía y la baja calidad de 'estos que inciden fundamentalmente en los indices 'de producción bovina. \" Los paráme~ros reproductivos se ven seriamente afectados debido probablemente a un bajo consumo de nutrientes tanto protéicos como minerales en la dieta diaria.Por lo antes mencionado. surgió la necesidad de buscar especies con la finalidad de garantizar una mayor disponibilidad y mejor calidad del forraje principalmente durante los periodos críticos (verano) del año. Es así como actualmente el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAr después de varios años de' invest,ígación, viEme:eyaluando (bajO pastoreo en fincas) el comportamiento de algunas especies forrajeras consideradas como promísorias para la zona, y la incidencia de las mismas en el comportamiento de los animales tanto en \"el aspecto reproductivo, como de levante y ceba. Esta actividad se viene desarrollando en diferentes fincas de los llanos Orientales de Colombia que fueron seleccionadas bajo los criterios de Que estas sean representativas de los sistemas de producción ganadera que se desarrolla en la región, disposición a cooperar por parte de los responsables de la finca. acceso fácil a la finca todo el año e infraestruc-'tura mínima de corrajes para manejo de ganado.Evaluar el comportamiento reproductivo de las novillas bajo condiciones de pastoreo en pastos mejorados • 2.2 Establecer comparaciones entre el comportamiento reproductivo de las novillas que tienen acceso a pastos mejorados versus las ~ue se encuentran solamente en sabana.2.3 Evaluar el comportamiento de los pastos mejorados a travez del tiempo. principalmente lo correspondiente a persistencia. composi ción botánica e invasión de malezas.3.1 Factores que influyen en el comportamiento reproductivo de las nov; 11as.3.1.1 Nutrición de novillas 2.Son muchos los factores que pueden modificar el comportamiento reproductivo de las novillas. discutirlos todos sería un tema muy amplio y complejo. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar los aspectos relacionados con la nutrición. su efecto en el crecimiento y. la vida rep•roductiva de las novillas. Aspecto que depende directamente de la calidad de las praderas y la suplementación mineral (CIAT 1983), afirma que una de las características de la ganadería extensiva en los trópicos es el muy lento crecimiento de las hembra~ jóvenes de reemplazo. existiendo una relación entre las bajas tasas de crecimiento y la manifestación del primer celo; debido probablemente a una interacción entre peso y edad para alcanzar la pubertad. La nutrición adecuada permite al animal expresar todo su potenCial genético en términos de eficiencia reproductiva; peso al destete. crecimiento y engorde; altos índices de conversión alimenticia y buen rendimiento al mercado (Plasse 1979)  . ,Según Helman (1977), en la primera de las etapas dé crecimiento, que ,es muy activo y se extiende hasta los seis y ocho meses, la' alimentación ,queda cubierta por la leche de la madre. Esto significa que, para satisfacer plenamente las necesidades de las mamonas, el esfuerzo deberá dirigirse a asegurar un buen amamantamiento brindando buenas pasturas a la madre. y, es en este 'aspecto donde el clima tropical, con sus altas temperaturas, tiene un poderoso papel negativo. Como reacción a la incomodidad fisiológfca que ,producen los fuertes calores, las vacas padecen una intensa inapetencia. Dejan de comer para no aumentar la formación de calor, pero, al disminuir el aporte de nutrientes reducen la producción de leche.Una ración nutricional adecuada es básica para un buen crecimiento y normal funcionamiento del proceso reproductivo. Es bien conocido que la falta de fósforo dispon~ble en los suelos tropicales influye negativamente en la eficiencia reproductiva y el mismo resultado tiene la falta de proteína, , ''energía y de algunas vitaminas (Plasse 1979). Cajas (1984), menciona que niveles bajos de energía resultan en inactividad ovárica y anestros postparto, sin influencia de los niveles óe proteína dados a vacas jóvenes lactando. Según (Helman '1977), se ha demostrado, en forma experimental, que la falta de energía en la alimentación de vacunos en crecimiento es responsable de una disminución en el volúmen del animal, mientras que carencias o disminuciones en el aporte de proteína retardan la formación muscular. la edad de 1 a vaca, el estado de 'lactanci a y 1 a interacción entre ambos constituyen influencias de orden no genético inherentes al animal. Existen suficientes observaciones para considerar un hecho el fenómeno de que la vaca, cebuína no concibe bien durante su primera lactancia. resultando esto en valores, altos para el primer intervalo entre partos y en un porcentaje de preñez bajo para vacas que entran a su segunda temporada de monta. Aun cuando este fenómeno ha sido corregido en parte por cruzamientos y un mejor desarrollo de las novillas de primer servicio, se observa en rebaños 'con una adecuada eficiencia reproductiva que las vacas de primer parto tienen una efi~iencia reproductiva muy por debajO del promedio del rebaño (Plasse 1979). Cajas (1984) menciona que la ,más baja reproduCCión'en el ganado de la Florida fue observado en novillas de dos años en su primér parto y en vacas lactantes de tres años, en su segundo parto. La razón principal para la baja reproducción de las novillas. fue el nivel nutricional inadecuado 5.después del destete. al punto de que el crecimiento y la pubertad no fueron alcanzados a la edad deseada. As1 mismo los bajos niveles de nutrición de las vacas de tres años tuvo como consecuencia el que éstas no entrasen en' calor después del parto. dentro del período de apareamiento regular. Si no existe un adecuado crecimiento después'del destete. la novilla tratará de obtenerlo cuando esté criando su prime'r ternero. Esto es agravado por la necesidad de mantener un nivel nutriciona1 suficiente para que continúe ovulando y conciba durante el segundo período de apareamiento; entonces son necesarios nutrientes adicionales para mantener la función fisiológica, normal de una madre adulta en el período de lactancia.Estudios real; zados por ETES en los L-l anos Or;-enta 1 es de Co lombi a encontraron que los pesos ,dramáticamente bajos de vacas y novillas en estas fincas muestran claramente que su n'ivel nutricional fue inadecuado.Entre novillas de 36 meses de edad, las que aún no habían'concebido pesaban, aproximadamente. 255 kg; las que estaban preñadas. cerca de 300 kg; y las que ya hab1an parido, solamente 252 kg. En otras palabras. descontando el efecto de ]a gestación sobre el peso. estos animales pesaban a los 3 años lo que en otros sistemas de pastoreo podrían haber pesado al aJi.o de edad.Dentro de este panorama de nutrición insuficiente. ,con una baja tasa de procreo de las vacas y un tardío comienzo de la actividad reproductiva de las novillas, se puede examinar la variación de los parámetros reproductivos entre las fincas en función de la variación en peso vivo de las hembras. La tala de preñez estuvo estrechamente asociada con el promedio del peso de las vacas, la tasa de preñez aumentó en 2.8 unidades porcentuales. con un coeficiente de correlación de 0.8 (ETES 1982)   Es bien sabido que las pasturas tropicales suelen caracterizarse por ser pronunciadamente pobres en proteínas y relativamente parcas en el sumistro de los niveles necesarios de principios energéticos. Cuando se trata de .los• meses correspondientes al período seco del año. las pasturas abundan en celulosas'y ligninas. poco digestibles y con extrema escasez de hidratos de carbono solubles y proteínas. por lo' tanto configuran una alimentación 7.extremadamente deficiente para las novillas que se hallan en pleno crecimiento y desarrollo (Helman 1977).La presentación periódica de épocas de insuficiencia en el aporte de alimentos es casi habitual en las regiones tropicales, como consecuencia de la pronunciada estacionalidad de ras pasturas. De esa situación deriva que los animales en crecimiento manifiesten un retardo en la .evoluciÓn de su conformación y aptitudes. En. las vaquillas se registra una demora de más de siete meses en la presentación de la pubertad y de alrededor de más de 10 meses en la obtención de la primera cria (Helman 1977). La sequía se convierte en estas condiciones en un modifi~ador preponderante de los sistemas de producción (Paladines y Leal 1978). En la sabana nativa, la baja carga animal que se emplea, es lo que permite el mantenimiento del equilibrio biológico. Los intentos de intensificación de la producción, con el solo 'aumento de la carga animal, tienen como consecuencia final la perturbación del balance ecológico y la disminución de la productividad, ya -inicialmente baja (Vilela '1977, Paladines y Leal 1978). La vegetación predominante en la sabana nativa y que es consumida por el ganado como forraje, está constituida por: Trachypogon vestitus, Heptochoritium lanatus, Paspalum pectenatum, Andropogon semiberbis, Axenopus pulcher, Panicum versfcolor, etc.; los cuales ofrecen allá una disponibilidad de forrajes (Paladines 1978). No es posible afirmar que la~ diferencias en ganancia de peso se deban a la di•sponibil idad de forrajes. En este tipo de praderas la quema juega un papel importante. siendo costumbre quemar las praderas durante la época seca para conseguir un rebrote tierno, en esta forma se consigue aumentar el crecimiento de los animales hasta en 250% (Paladines y leal 1978).Es clara la evidencia en el sentido de la baja calidad de la sabana nativa y en general de las pasturas nativas en los trópicos; lo cual incide fundamentalmente en el comportamiento de los animales, tanto en el crecimiento como en el aspecto reproductivo. ¡ 8.. La disponibilidad de energta radiante y de temperaturas favorables para el crecimiento de las.plantas forrajeras determinan que el potencial de p~oducción de materia seca de los pastos tropicales sea muy alta (Tergas 1983) • Lo antes mencionado llamó la atención de investigadores y empezaron las pruebas con pastos mejorados. primeramente en la Estación Experimental de Cárimagua y posteriormente en fincas colaborativas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia en condiciones de sabana bien drenada.'En trabajos realizados por el ClAT. a 'nivel de granja experimental, . como a nivel de fincas comerciales se ha encontrado una alta correlación \" entre el peso del animal y la tasa de concepción. Se encontró relación entre ~l peso y la edad al primer celo, de modo que las novillas de menor edad y mayor' peso presentaron el primer celo más temprano que las demás (Cajas 1984).Se vienen desarrollando experimentos. con la finalidad de evaluar diferentes modalidades de uso estratégiCO de pasturas mejoradas como suplemento de la sabana nativa', para mejorar parametros reproductivos en novillas y vacas de cda.Resultados preliminares sugieren que durante el pertodo' examinado, el uso estratégico de pequeñas áreas de pasto mejorado fueran capaces de mantener los indices productivos de la sabana nativa a pesar de una carga animal mayor en aquellos. Desde el punto de vista del peso de las vacas, se observó la tendencia a que los animales de los sistemas de manejo intensivo lograron pesos ligeramente más altos en los periodos críticos de concepción y parto, momentos en los cuales tenían acceso controlado a \"los pastos mejorados.En experimentos realizados por (Tergas, Paladines. K1einheisterkamp y Velásquez 1983). reportan el potencial de las pasturas mejoradas para aumentar la productividad animal en Brachiaria decumbens de un 8-26%, mediante el pastoreo complementario con Pueraria Orientales de Colombia, debido prinCipalmente al en la nutrición animal durante la estación seca. por (Holroyd, O'Rourke, Clarke, Loxton 1983) para phaseol.oides en los Llanos efecto de la leguminosa En un estudio realizado examinar el comportamiento 9.reproductivo de vacas y la tasa de crecimiento de sus terneros hasta el momento del destete durante un periodo de 4 años. las vacas pastorean en una pradera natural con una carga animal de 1 vacal 4 ha; o en una pradera natural sobre la cual se sembró Stylosanthes .humilis y fertilizada con superfosfato (carga animal de 1 vaca/ 2 ha). Se observó que las vacas que pastorean en una pradera de leguminosa fertilizada presentaran tasas de concepción significativamente mayores, as1 como fecha de parición mas tempranas; estas vaca~ presentaron generalmente una mejor condición f1sica, mayor peso. y sus terneros alcanzaron más rápidamente el momento del destete que las que pastorean en una pradera natural. La pradera de leguminosa fertilizada produjo un aumento de 2.4 veces (en comparación con la pradera natural) en el peso vivo de vacas y terneros/unidad de área (38.7 Kg/ha vs. 159.8 kg/ha) durante los 4 años.(Caja~, .1984) encontró un efecto altamente significativo de carga •anima1 en pastos mejorados sobre las ganacias diarias de peso vivo. La mayor gana~cia fue para la carga baja, siendo las novillas de dicho tratamiento las que en menos tiempo alcanzaroñ el peso. que se había establecido para entrar al servicio. Las novillas de carga media alcanzaron dicho peso tres meses después, mientras que las de carga alta llegaron al final del experimento con solo 219 kg en promedia. Esto fue debido principalmente al efecto de la carga sobre las disponibilidad de forraje; aún que la calidad fuera buena, la baja disponibilidad de forraje en la carga alta afecta tremendamente el crecimiento y consecuentemente en el comportamiento reproductivo de dichas novillas. la edad a la cual se presentó el primer celo estuvo relacionada en este trabajo con el peso vivo. .. ,entre Puerto lópez y Carimagua. se considera este tramo como representativo de las sabanas de la Orinoquía Colombiana que ocupan aproximadamente, 17 millones de ha. el 15% del territorio nacional.Dentro de las características del ecosistema de esta región. se'distinguen cuatro unidades fisiógráficas bien demarcadas y diferenciadas entre si: a) Sabana alta o bien drenada. son sectores altos y planos. de topografía ligeramente convexa y con pendientes muy suaves. la vegetación, es la típica sabana. casi sin árboles ni arbustos; estas áreas soportan un período de sequía de aproximadamente 4 meses tienen general~ente buen drenaje 10 cual hace posible la mecanización 'agrícola. ya que favorece la topografía; carecen de pedrejosidad. y presentan buenas condic';ones físicas para el laboreo.las limítantes de estas áreas son su baja fertilidad y la falta de humedad del suelo durante el verano para facilitar el desarrollo vegetativo de las especies forrajeras. La ganaderí'a del Ll ano se desarrolla principalmente en las áreas de sabana alta durante la mayor parte del año. es aquí donde se tiene toda la infraestructura existente para el manejo de los hatos y los potreros con pasturas . ' \" mejoradas. b) Sabana .baja, llamada también bajos. se caracteriza por presentar mal drenaje, son estrechos y elongados que sirven como sistema de drenaje de la sabana alta. Los bajos aparentan pequeños valles muy humedos la vegetación es de tamaño medio donde predomina la palma moriche que le dá también la denominación de morichales. La corriente de agua es estacional, solamente en la época lluviosa, condición que favorece al desarrollo de pasto tierno durante las épocas críticas del año (sequía) y es muy bien aprovechada por los ganaderos. el valor de Cabe mencionar de que los bajos son la tierra en la altillanura plana.   Q) Bosque de galería, se presenta en las márgenes de lechos con agua ~nente conocidos en la región con el nombre de caños. aquí el moriche es desplazado por una vegetación más diversificada y de mayor embergadura encontrandose hasta especies maderables.Según los estudios realizados por ETES Colombia, las características de los suelos son marcadamente similares a lo largo de todo el paisaje. la fertilidad de estos suelos es extremadamente baja y se clasifican como Haplustox Típico, caolinítico, arcilloso. isohipertérmico. Son suelos profundos, bien estructurados. porosos. muy permeables. que no se encharcan con las lluvias torrenciales. No tienen pedrejosidad ni en la superficie ni en la profundidad. En las áreas mal drenadas se presentan abundantes moteados y pocas concreciones blandas fracturables con las uñas. Los bajos presentan una mayor disponibilidad de fósforo razón por la cual son considerados como suelos buenos por los ganaderos.Para caracterizar el clima de la región se toman en cuenta los registros meteorológicos del Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (CNIA) en Carimagua por considerarse los más representativos para el área en estudi•o. .. Brasil Colombia Brasil Colombia --------------------kgl an ; r.la 1 --------------------- ' ,--, ¡, --' . ' \", '-: . ,; 91t, 1975 197.6 197i 1978 1~79 1980' 1961, \\91\\2 1~53 l'ror::c- : Julio '.  -.--,. Realizando una observación del panorama general de la ganadería en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, pueden diferenciarse tres niveles de\" explotación ganadera. 4.1.4.1 Uno de los tipos, qUizás el ancestral, se caracteriza por la oacupación de grandes superficies de tierras que no tienen infraestructura digna de mención, cuando más un corral rústico y cercas perimetrales. Lo's animales se encuentran libres en la sabana. no se realiza ningún tipo de manejo, excepto al final de la época lluvio~a cuando son recogidos para hacer la hierra y' el aparte de las reses para la venta. Los costos de producción en estos hatos son insignificantes así como los rendimientos obtenidos: y los ingresos que obtiene el ganadero o finquero más propiamente dicho. es por la cantidad de animales que dispone para la venta y ~ .. ,. . n~,as' por la calidad de estos.En el segundo nivel, el ganadero ya ha cercado su propiedad y ha realizado algunas subdivisiones. El ganado es trabajado dos veces al año, a la entrada y finalización de la época lluviosa con el fin de herrar los becerros, vacunar los animales y hacer el aparte para la venta, cría y ceba. 12. 4.1.4.3 Finalmente, hay un reducido número de ganaderos que realizan grandes inve.rsiones económicas destinadas a la construcción de infraestructura de manejo (corrales, bretes, alambradas y bañaderos) e implantación de, pasturas: se toman medidas profilácticas en la prevención de enfermedades y parásitos. En estos hatos se realizan controles permanentes del estado ~eproductivo de los animales, se llevan registros 'bien organizados del hato y generalmente tienen la visita periódica del Médico Veterinario que es, también solventada por ellos-o .' \"-13.Los resultados de estudios realizados por ETES indican que el tamaño de las fincas varían entre 375 y 8.891 ha. En_promedio el 65% de la superficie de las fincas estaba ocupada por sabana alta y un 20% por bajos. El resto de la superficie comprendía la serranía (11%) y bosque (4%). la sabana bien drenada es el principal recurso forrajero durante la época lluviosa. mientras que-'os bajos constituyen la base del pastoreo durante los periodos de sequía y en algunas fincas. los caños constituyen los abrevaderos para el ganado. los suelos de todas las firicas tienen las características edáficas comunes a la región. es decir. son ácidos e infértiles. Dentro de éstas características generales el suelo de Jos bajo tiene, en promedio. una disponibilidad de. fósforo mayor y una saturación de aluminio algo menor que el suelo de la sabana alta.La subdivisión de la mayor parte de las fincas en potreros respondía a un esquema común. en que era típica la presencia de uno o dos potreros de más_de 1.000 ha que representaban 60% o más de la superficie de la finca, y de un número variable de potreros menores generalmente de menos de 100 ha que en muchos casos ocupaban un área cubierta con pastos cultivados (ETES 1985).Al iniciarse el estudio. en 1977, siete de las fincas tenían más del 5% de su superficie cubiertos con pastos cultivados. mientras que en otras tres fincas había exclusivamente sabana nativa. Los pastos cultivados estab~n representdos exclusivamente por las gramíneas Me1inis minutiflora, Hyparrhenia rufa y Brachiaria decumbens. Esta última está sustituyendo a las otras dos en la preferencia de los ganaderos.El material utilizado por el Proyecto ETES en la fase de validación de tecnología, está constituido por especies forrajeras que fueron liberadas por el Centro N~cional de Investigac\"iones Agropecuarias de Carimagua. Este material está constituido por gramíneas y leguminosas que serán evaluadas en fincas comerciales bajo condiciones de pastoreo en establecimientos de praderas asociadas. En cada finca se realiza la 'selección de las novillas bajo el criterio de obtener lotes o grupos más o 'menos uniformes en edad y peso. alcanzando una edad promedio de 15 meses y 165 kg de peso vivo aproximadamente. 10 importante es que todas las novillas no hayan llegado todavía a la prubertad El número de animales por grupo es variable así como también el número de grupos en las diferentes pasturas o tratamientos.La ejecución de los programas en las fincas empieza con el establecimiento de las pasturas. ya sean estas solamente de gramíneas o de asociaciones con leguminosas. Las siembras se realizan con una aplicación simultánea de , \" \". fertilizante para el establecimiento a base de Calfos en la proporción. de 300 kg/ha. En el caso de asociaciones con leguminosas, e'stas últimas, 15 . deben ser previamente inoculada con la rizobia correspondiente para garantizar una buena modulación y conSecuentemente asegurar un buen establecimiento. Las densidades de siembra son variables según la especie; en el caso de las asociaciones de ~. gayanus más ~. capitata, se emplean 7 kg de semilla de ~,gayanus más 1.5 kg de semilla de ~. capitata por hectárea. Cuando se trata de asociaciones con Centrosemas, se utilizan 2 kg de semilla de éstas por hectárea, Las siembras se realizan al boleo, con boleadoras calibradas para garantizar una distribución uniforme tanto de la semi 11a éomo del fertil izante.El terreno debe ser preparado con anticipación para asegurar un buen reciclaje de la materia orgánica hasta el momento de la siembra.El equipo técnico del CrAT, realiza como m~nimo tres visitas por año a las diferentes fincas del programa para realizar trabajos de corral y evaluaciones en las pasturas donde se toman los siguientes datos:-De los animales, información correspondiente a peso y reproducción: peso de los terneros, pesó de los levantes, pesos de 'los terneros al año de edad, lo cual permite calcular las ganancias de pesos ~n los levantes; en el aspecto reproductivo, se toman pesos de las novillas a los 36 meses de edad. peso de las vacas, tasa de preñez por palpación rectal; tasa de aborto y de pérdidas de terneros. Con la tasa de preñez se calcula el intervalo entre partos por vaca.De las pasturas, datos de composición botánica como número de plantasl m 2 , porcentaje de cobertura, porciento de maleza y altura promedio de las plantas. También se toman muestras de cada potrero para determinar materia seca, relación hoja tallo y,material inerte. ,Estos datos permitirán evaluar el comportamiento de las praderas bajo el efecto del animal y en el transcurso del tiempo, 10 que en otros términos se denominaría persistencia de la pradera.   -.---O--t --oPeso En el presente trabajo se muestran algunos resultdos preliminares registrados hasta el año 1984 con las diferentes especies forrajeras en estudio: Brachiaria decumbens es una de las gram~neas mejores adaptadas a las condiciones de los LLanos Orientales de Colombia no solamente por su tolerancia a bajos niveles de fertilidad natural del suelo ( Spain. 1975) sino también por su productividad animal y facilidad de manejo (Tergas et aL 1982).En la Evaluación de un hato por su comportamiento reproductivo en 16.~. decumbens. 4 terneros murieron durante la lactancia: estas presentaron sintomas de fotosensibilización. 10 cual podría obstaculizar la evaluación precisa del potenCial reproductivo en pasturas de esta gramínea. Sin embargo. el comporta~iento de los terneros sobrevivientes fue satisfactorio. La reconcepción de las vacas lactantes fue también alta. 78%. 10 cual contrasta con la sit4ación observada normalmente en las sabanas nativas: la diferencia es debida probablemente a los altos pesos de éstos animales.La alternativa más interesante que se presenta en pastúras constituyen indudablemente las asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas. Las asociaciones que se vienen evaluando en fincas son: ~. gayanus +~. capitata y ~. humidico1a + Q. ovalifolium. en este último caso por problemas de nemátodos desapareció la legumi'nosa y se evaluó a los animales como en !. humidicola sóla. Otras asociaciones como~. gayanus + Centrosema sp. 5277. ~. gayanus + Centrosema brasilianum y Brachiaria.dietyoneura + Arachis pintoi. están recién en fase de establecimiento a nivel de fincas comerciales en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. por tanto no se tiene •.todavla absolutamente ningún dato sobre comportamiento de animales pastoreando \".estas asociaciones en fines comerciales.Actualmente se está evaluando la asociación de~. gayanus y ~. capitata en las fincas cooperadoras de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia •. En 'dos de las mismas se compara el crecimiento y desempeño reproductivo de novillas en sabanas. sujeta al manejo habitual del productor (tratamiento los datos antes citados sobre peso y natalidad sugieren que las mezclas minerales utiljzadas no han limitado el desempeño de los animales hasta el presente, y comparando el comportamiento de 'novillas en sabana versus asociación ~. gayanus/~. capitata parecerla que en presencia de estos niveles de suplementación mineral, la disponibilidad suficiente de forraje de buena calidad es factor determinante del comportamiento reproductivo de \"ovil 1 as.-Durante los primeros años del uso de pastos mejorados para el levante \"de novillas. confirman la superioridad de la asociación de~. gayanus y~. capitata en ganancia de peso. capacidad de carga y desempeño reproductivo en relación a la sabana.-Los pesos y edades a la primera concepción reflejan claramente el muy lilllitado potenci a 1 de 1 a sabana. en 1 a cual 1 a primera gestad ón comienza a los tres o más años.En la asociación de~. gayanus/~. capitata se dió la primera parición a los tres años de edad de las novillas • . Por el contrario. la pastura de ~. numidicola confirmó que en ausencia de una leguminosa asociada. su potencial para generar ganancia de peso no es superior al de la sabana • la influencia del peso en la tasa de concepción de las novillas se pone de manifiesto. concontrándose una alta correlación entre ambos parámetros. Cajas, G., S • celos de","tokenCount":"4250"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4674700555.json b/data/part_1/4674700555.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5732f7071f185425a02fefd34bbea0cf1255109c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4674700555.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f1b9a1f663ab2062745c736dc423aef3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de2c4676-029c-4819-97e6-f3f3eb96d746/retrieve","id":"1616288402"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a47dfba8-de3c-4446-9363-24882c670ba0","pagecount":"4","content":"Root and tuber crops (RTCs) aretraditionally grown as a staple crop for food and animal feed by generations of farmers around the world; but in regions vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change such as Vietnam, RTCs are gaining more popularity as climate-resilient crops that could ensure greater food security for smallholder farmers. In addition to being tolerant of environmental stress, RTCs such as cassava (Manihot esculenta) and sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) are now more in demand for their versatility. Cassava has turned into a commodity traded globally as the industry for starch and dried cassava for livestock feed and industrial uses grows (Howeler et al., 2013); while sweetpotato is becoming more popular in processed foods, and for its role in combating Vitamin A deficiency and diversifying diets in developing countries (Scott et al., 2000).Meanwhile, climate smart agriculture (CSA) is an increasingly popular framework that allows for the sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems while at the same time addressing evolving environmental issues in the face of climate change. While the framework is fairly comprehensive, it also recognizes the difficulties that arise in prescribing solutions because interventions must be highly location-specific and knowledgeintensive (Howeler et al., 2013).Since it is a relatively new framework for agricultural development, there is paucity of studies about CSA for RTCs. There is, however, extensive research that has been done on sustainable cropping systems involving RTCs, mostly for cassava. Farmer trials within Vietnam have shown that no the sustainable farming and improved management strategies of cassava and sweetpotato based on many years of research (Howeler et al., 2013;Howeler & Maung Aye, 2014;and Stathers et al., 2013).Recognizing the potential of RTCs in increasing the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change impacts in Vietnam, this research aimed to determine potential gaps in farmer knowledge on climate smart practices for cassava and sweetpotato production. The results of this research provides supplemental information to the initial FoodSTART+ scoping study that was done in Quảng Bình and Hà Tĩnh provinces (Even et al., 2016) and provides a more detailed evaluation of the RTC systems in two communes in Quảng Bình province. The project aims to enhance food resilience among poor households in upland and coastal communities of the Asia-Pacific region through introducing root and tuber crops (RTCs) innovations. To achieve this goal at scale, the project develops, validates and implements effective partnership strategies with IFAD investment projects to promote RTCs for food security. The project's key components are: 1. Project start-up and scoping studies including mapping on food vulnerability of RTC production and use; 2. Research for development (R4D) partnership development; 3. Needs and opportunities analysis on gender sensitive RTC innovations; 4. R4D action planning and launching; and 5. Documentation and knowledge products development.The first series of the FoodSTART+ Research Briefs featured the results of the country scoping studies under Component 1. This second series presents the key findings and recommendations of in-depth studies conducted by the project under Component 3 to assess needs and opportunities on RTCs innovations. These studies were carried out in the first and second year of project implementation.tillage planting of potatoes combined with rice straw mulch led to higher yields and lower pest incidence (Dung et al., 2012) and that intercropping cassava with peanuts and beans, as well as the use of grass hedgerows, successfully controlled erosion (Arslan, 2010) while maintaining yields (Phien & Tam, 2000). It should be noted that most sweetpotato research is focused on Sub-Saharan Africa where interest in promoting the crop to improve farming livelihood has been growing in the last decade (Stathers et al., 2013).International organizations such as the International Potato Center (CIP), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have also published manuals and guidebooks on• Qualitative data gathering techniques were used to assess the current cassava and sweetpotato farming practices of smallholders in Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng communes, Quảng Bình, Vietnam; and to compare it with known climate smart agriculture practices for root and tuber crops.• Farmers in Quảng Bình have grown cassava in the same way for generations and some of their practices may not be considered climate-smart. Major gaps in farming practice are cassava stake and row spacing, fertilizer usage, land preparation and erosion control and limited knowledge on pest and disease management.• Sweetpotato is a household garden staple used for food and animal feed in the study site, however, poor tuber quality and yield as well as limited opportunities to sell in local markets deter farmers from expanding production. The lack of knowledge on pest management also contributes to the reduced quality and yield.Quảng Qualitative methods for primary data gathering, including focus group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII), were used to document farmers' cropping practices for cassava and sweetpotato in the research sites in June to July 2016. FGDs with male and female RTC farmers were conducted in the six chosen villages, with a total of 32 and 29 farmers for Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng, respectively.For the KII, five farmers per village, five cassava traders, five input sellers, two cassava starch factory executives, and one large scale cassava farmer were interviewed. The respondents were chosen to represent both male and female farmers as well as a range of social classes from poor to wealthier farmers. All of the farmers interviewed planted either cassava or cassava and sweetpotato in the past year. However, cassava and sweetpotato are only considered major crops by farmers in Quảng Thạch, along with pepper and eucalyptus. In Cao Quảng, major crops include acacia, peanuts, and maize.Cassava cropping practices are similar in both communes, with only slight differences. For almost all farmers, farm size allotted to cassava is small (<0.19 ha), often due to pressure from more profitable crops such as acacia in Cao Quảng and pepper in Quảng Thạch. However, it is worth noticing that majority of farmers were growing to sell in Quảng Thạch compared to very few in Cao Quảng. Cao Quảng farmers indicated that limited market access and low farm gate prices caused many of them to just feed their crops to livestock. Some also use their cassava for food.Planting material. In both Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng, the most commonly used variety is Sắn Cao Sản or KM94, the variety sold for starch processing. Traditional varieties are often planted alongside KM94.Field preparation. Many farmers undertake tillage in two stages, first is the initial pass with a buffalo or cow to break up the soil and then a second tillage to kill weeds. A few farmers in Quảng Thạch reported that they sometimes rent and use a scooping machine or an excavator first, followed with animal tillage. They claim that it is best to use the excavator every couple of years to improve soil quality, but most farmers cannot afford it. To reduce soil erosion, most farmers also construct raised beds that slow down the flow of water or dig ditches around the crops to divert water around or between cassava rows.Planting. All farmers grow cassava in monoculture, except for one who intercrops with beans. Most farmers have tried intercropping beans or corn but found it unsuccessful. While planting methods are similar in both communes, there is significant variability in stake spacing, though most farmers plant their stakes further apart in better soils. Cao Quảng focus groups reported spacing 33-60 cm apart while Cao Quảng farmers plant 40-80 cm apart.Planting usually occurs from December to January but may be done from November through February.Fertilization. Almost all the farmers apply fertilizers before planting and during cropping. Most use manure as well as complete fertilizers such as Đầu Trâu, while some use a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium-based amendments; or whatever is left from other crops. Many farmers cited the high price of fertilizer for their low rate of application but expressed that they would like to use more fertilizer.Weeding. All farmers in both communes reported manual weeding after planting cassava. During interviews, farmers explained that the timing of weeding often depends on labor availability and can be put off if the family is engaged in other farming activities.Pest and disease management. Farmers in Cao Quảng and Quảng Thạch claim that they do not experience major pest problems and that they do not use pesticides on cassava, even as some farmers reported occasional major losses of about 20-30% from pests. Farmers did mention that the most common cassava pests are termites and crickets for Cao Quảng and Quảng Thạch farmers, respectively. Many farmers also experienced minimal losses from leafeating bugs. Two farmers said they use the pesticide 'Terex' to address bug problems.Location of Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng Communes in Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam.as food or animal feed rather than for the market. In fact, many farmers were not able to specify the exact size of their land allotted to sweetpotato, unlike with cassava. Majority of those who answered had less than 500 m 2 , especially in Quảng Thạch. In Cao Quảng, there were more farmers who said that they do not know or are planting only in their home gardens.Only four farmers in Quảng Thạch and none in Cao Quảng regularly sell their sweetpotatoes at the local markets. Those who do not sell explained that whatever produce left from pest damage were eaten by the household while the damaged parts are fed to livestock.Planting material. Common varieties grown in both communes are Khoai Chiêm dâu and Khoai Đỏ. Some farmers also plant a variety that they refer to as \"cổ truyền\", or traditional, but the exact variety is unknown. Almost all farmers grow a small patch of sweetpotatoes near their home where they take shoots for planting material as needed.Field preparation. In both communes, farmers always till their fields before planting sweetpotatoes, similarly to cassava. They then make raised beds and plant shoots at the top of each bed which make weeding easier because farmers generally weed based on the length of vines down the sides of the bed. Because of its short production cycle, sweetpotatoes are often planted in the few months between rice cropping seasons and are rotated with corn or beans.Planting and harvesting. In Quảng Thạch, common planting times are July to August and harvest is September to December while in Cao Quảng, limited data show main planting in May or September and harvesting in October or December.Outside of these growing periods, sweetpotatoes are often grown in home gardens for household use and planting material. Crop leaves and small roots are commonly fed to animals while young leaves and larger roots are eaten.Fertilization. Similar with cassava, farmers also make use of leftover amendments for fertilizing sweetpotato but generally apply less amendment than on cassava. The most common commercial fertilizer used in the Cao Quảng villages was Kali (phosphorusbased) and Đạm (nitrogen-based). In Quảng Thạch, farmers apply urea and/or phosphorus amendments. Most farmers add supplemental fertilizer of urea or Kali, 20 to 30 days after planting or after the first weeding. Sometimes, additional fertilizer use is dependent on the type and amount of amendment left from other crops.Weeding. Most farmers in both communes weed their sweetpotatoes once, usually at the same time with adding supplemental fertilizer. While some farmers claim they weed an additional time, many are constrained by labor or do not consider it necessary. Cassava Monocrop Farm in Quảng Bình. (Photo by Georgina Smith/CIAT) At the same time, farmers in Quảng Thạch did not report any diseases affecting cassava, while root rot due to flooding was mentioned by some farmers in Cao Quảng.Harvesting. Farmers growing cassava for animal feed harvest at different time intervals than farmers growing for starch processing. Harvesting can be done by either the farmer or laborers hired by the trader. Plants used for livestock feed are pulled up by farmers a few at a time, as needed, while the remaining are left in the ground for up to two years. Some farmers may harvest a large amount at once and then chip and dry the roots to store for later use. On the other hand, farmers planting cassava for starch will harvest their field in a day or more and then sell the lot by weight or, alternatively, a trader will pay the farmer for the cassava in his field and then hire laborers to harvest.Yield. Farmers growing cassava for animal feed reported yields that were higher and more variable (7-80 t/ha) than farmers growing cassava to sell (25 t/ha in Quảng Thạch and 60 t/ha in Cao Quảng). It should be noted, however, that most farmer estimates are significantly higher than official data on average cassava yields in Quảng Bình at 18.5 t/ha (QBSO, 2015 as mentioned by Even et al., 2016). This could mean that farmers, especially those who do not sell cassava, tend to overestimate yields.Farmers in Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng have grown cassava in the same way for generations and some of their practices may not be considered climate smart. In both communes, the major gaps in practice are the following: Crop spacing. Cassava stakes are planted too closely, while recommended spacing between plants is about 80 cm to 1 meter (Howeler & Maung Aye, 2014). It was also recommended that plants should be grown closer together in poor soil to maximize yield per area, however, farmers tend to space stakes widely in poor soils and more closely in fertile soils. This crop spacing may have contributed to the farmers' lack of success in intercropping cassava, even though this practice has been proven successful in many trials throughout Vietnam (Howeler et al., 2013).Fertilizer use. Some farmers do not apply the optimal mix of fertilizers and generally apply too much phosphorus and too little potassium, while many of the average or wealthier farmers report using fertilizers at higher rates than recommended. Many farmers also either use compound fertilizers or nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertilizers alone. CIAT recommendations for the sustainable management of cassava suggest increasing nitrogen and potassium inputs and decreasing phosphorus applications over time (Howeler & Maung Aye, 2014), something that farmers do not report doing. Supplemental fertilization of nitrogen or potassium should be provided for healthy plant development.Many farmers in the study site have issues with poor drainage during the rainy season as well as erosion in sloping crop fields. However, while it is recommended to use a sub-soiler to improve drainage and reduce potential for cassava root rot, an excavator dramatically alters soil structure and may create a hard pan layer below the surface (Howeler & Maung Aye, 2014). In flood areas, these machines could reduce water infiltration and cause soil waterlogging, erosion, and increase the potential for root rot disease. Moreover, while farmers use ditches to channel water around cassava fields, a more climate smart strategy would be to use hedgerows or other living barriers to slow water and reduce erosion.Pest and disease management. Generally, pests are not considered a major issue in both communes. Farmers seem willing to accept crop losses because they do not have the time, manpower, money, or interest in reducing damage from pests; as well as sufficient knowledge about pests and diseases and how to manage them.While cropping practices are similar for both cassava and sweetpotato, there is a stark difference in that sweetpotato is primarily planted for household utilization Pest and disease management. Several Cao Quảng and a few Quảng Thạch farmers reported sweetpotato pest issues, specifically leaf and root eating bugs, which caused a drastic decline in yield in their area. Crop damage from stem borers were also reported by some farmers, as well as a variety of other insects which cause more damage the longer the crop remains unharvested. Despite this, very few in both communes use pesticides to control pests because they are either unaware of available pesticides or hesitant to spray because of the perceived negative health implications.In terms of diseases, some reported that their sweetpotatoes have crinkled or yellowed leaves, but do not know the cause. Other farmers also experienced diseases but could not describe specific symptoms, however, nothing is done to prevent or treat the symptoms.In both communes, poor root quality and yield, as well as limited opportunities to sell in local markets, deter farmers from expanding production. There is, however, a difference in the attitude and the needs of farmers in improving production.In Cao Quảng, poor quality and inconsistent supply lead to poor public perception towards produce coming from local farmers. Because of this, none of the farmers sell their sweetpotatoes at the local market even though there is local demand and competitive prices. Although the exact cause of the problems are unknown, this study found gaps in terms of poor-yielding varieties and the lack of pest management. The farmers are also either not aware of any alternative or better management techniques or believe that there is nothing that can be done to improve their current practice. Even if they were aware of an improved technology, like an appropriate insecticide, farmers may be trapped in a vicious circle and refrain from using it as long as the quality stigma persists. More intensive research on the root cause of the low yield and quality decline are needed to provide sustainable and long term solutions.In Quảng Thạch, some farmers can and do sell in local markets, albeit in small quantities and only when there is extra supply or high seasonal prices. Farmers expressed a desire to improve production through high quality varieties, increased fertilizer use, and more effective pesticides. Despite these, only a few farmers expressed interest in selling or increasing the area for production, and many would rather consume their sweetpotato or use as livestock feed because of competition from other crops and the limited market.To close the aforementioned gaps, farmers need interventions to help them change into more climate smart cropping strategies. However, it can also be concluded from the results of this research that the most significant gap in RTC cropping in Quảng Thạch and Cao Quảng is not information, but rather access to markets and varieties. Improving market access and farm gate prices could encourage farmers to expand production of RTCs, invest in improved practices, and participate in markets. This intervention should be coupled with the introduction of more performing and resilient varieties.It is also recommended that any intervention for improving RTC production should be made site specific and based on more rigorous examination of the actual needs of farmers. This is to overcome the social and structural barriers to change in cropping practices and entry into markets that are unique to each of the study sites, including:• Inaccessibility of Phú Xuân and Vĩnh Xuân villages in Cao Quảng due to seasonal floods, which limits the ability of farmers and traders to transport their crops.• Low buying prices in the cassava processing trade center in Cao Quảng, likely driven by the limited number of local traders and high transportation cost to factories.• The mindset of farmers in Cao Quảng, wherein cassava is not treated as an income generating crop, which deter farmers from making changes to their cropping system.• The limited willingness and interest of farmers in both communes to embrace new technologies and innovations due to lack of perceived benefits, except for a call for more fertilizers.• Low yields and pest problems in sweetpotato from Cao Quảng that leave farmers with limited marketable product and a stigma for low quality.• The low interest of Quảng Thạch farmers to sell their sweetpotato, since they would rather consume it or use as livestock feed.• The competition from more profitable crops and the limited market in both communes that deter farmers from expanding sweetpotato production. ","tokenCount":"3267"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4695455326.json b/data/part_1/4695455326.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f90e896830dce261a60c70d0d3f236c1910e9309
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4695455326.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"697f8e73b2abdaf3e12e93169fbc93cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/748b588a-426b-4fc0-bb32-394ba929a2d1/retrieve","id":"-478940155"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b6781198-4684-4cd1-aa8c-24358b176b2c","pagecount":"1","content":"Cassava is a major staple in Africa for food and nutrition security and improved livelihood. Fresh root yield, dry matter and starch yields constitute major determinants of demand by end-users. Increased demand for seed of improved varieties will facilitate development of a sustainable seed system translating into higher yield per unit area thus generating more income. The need therefore to continuously evaluate among elite varieties for industrial suitability and food uses to identify market demand and recommend suitable cultivars for specific uses.A participatory demand creation trial (DCT) was established to evaluate cassava varieties with farmers and processors using large plots utilizing best practices. Seven released varieties and one candidate variety were grown in three locations to compare varieties with farmers and processor and identify varieties most suitable for commercial seed production.The DCTs were conducted in Ikenne, Ago-Owu and Ilorin Nigeria during the 2016-2017 cropping season. Two of the locations had two replications and one had a single replication. Varieties were randomized within reps with plot size of 128m 2 with 1 m ridges and 0.8 m between plants within ridges. Data were collected on total root number, marketable root number, fresh root yield, shoot weight, harvest index, % dry matter content and dry yield. Data were analysed SAS .Results from ANOVA showed that genotype (G), environment (E) and GXE interaction effects were significant (P<0.01) for fresh yield and dry matter concent (Table 1). TMEB419 gave the highest fresh and dry root yields of 28.2 t/ha and 10.6 t/ha, respectively. This was followed by IBA961632 with 25.3 t/ha and 9.9t/ha for fresh and dry yield, respectively. Genotype IBA961632 performed better than all other clones for dry matter content with CR36-5 and TMEB419 also showing excellent DM (Table 2). This study identified varieties three promising high starch varieties for cassava processor demand in Southwest Nigeria, IITA-TMS-IBA961632, TMEB419 and CR36-5. These have high yield potential that satisfy demands for farmers and industrial uses. Increased usage of these genotypes would promote scale out of quality seeds for improved output. Six DCTs have will be harvest in 2018 for additional participatory assessment by farmers and processors. ","tokenCount":"351"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4718747435.json b/data/part_1/4718747435.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df6f7b85ee605394c0990fe450b354969032cb03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4718747435.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"beaa688ce21e75e345cc0a302a743f1d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H041868.pdf","id":"48646245"},"keywords":["physical capital","Africa","water infrastructure","water supply","irrigation","hydropower"],"sieverID":"d92e0ae3-205a-4554-8356-8a061faf8e81","pagecount":"15","content":"Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is faced with deep rooted poverty, malnutrition and inadequate food production. Key contributory factors include high population growth, low agricultural productivity, high natural and man-made tragedies such as climatic variability and change, conflicts and war. About 70% of SSA's economy is dependent on agriculture and the majority of the population is engaged in agriculture. This paper focuses on challenges and opportunities related to the development of physical capital, with special emphasis on the development of agriculture and water infrastructure in SSA. It also summarizes aspects with respect to communication, road infrastructure etc. Key challenges in relation to water supply and sanitation, agricultural productivity and its gap, influence of climate variability, water scarcity, and inadequate infrastructure are discussed. The paper further examines the potential and opportunities for infrastructure development to contribute to improving land and water productivity in agriculture. It points out that while SSA has adequate natural capital, productivity enhancement is constrained by relatively low levels of development of physical, human, financial and social capita; hence, the need for investment to improve access to domestic and agricultural water, energy generation, communication, road infrastructure, etc. It concludes that it is possible to achieve a green revolution in Africa, if through a judicious mix of expansion and intensification in agriculture through investments for improving agricultural water management, access to high yielding varieties and improved soil fertility management combined with policy and coping mechanisms against factors such as shocks associated with climate variability and climate change.Sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world -and getting poorer (NEPAD, 2003), a consequence of population growth outstripping the growth of both overall and agricultural GDP (World Bank, 2007a). Figures 1 and 2 and the issues discussed below illustrate this situation of poverty and food insecurity.Figure 1. Sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world -and getting poorer (Source: AfDB et al., 2007).Figure 2. Population growth in sub-Saharan Africa has exceeded the growth of both overall and agricultural GDP, so that the population has become poorer (Source: AfDB et al., 2007).African economy is heavily reliant on agriculture. A review of the importance of the agriculture sector, in terms of its contribution to GDP, export earnings and employment, reveals the unchallenged prominence of agriculture in the economies of most African countries.Sub-Saharan Africa's population remains predominantly rural (70%), and poverty is widespread. Agriculture, providing 60 percent of all employment, constitutes the backbone of most African economies; in most countries, it is still the largest contributor to GDP; the biggest source of foreign exchange, still accounting for about 40 percent of the continent's hard currency earnings; and the main generator of savings and tax revenues. The agricultural sector is also still the dominant provider of industrial raw materials, with about two-thirds of manufacturing value-added in most African countries being based on agricultural raw materials. Agriculture thus remains crucial for economic growth in most African countries (NEPAD, 2003). Despite the importance of agriculture in African economy, there is a huge potential for agricultural growth and improving agricultural productivity. The investments required to realize this potential have to be directed at enhancing five different types of 'capital': natural capital, social capital, human capital, financial capital, and physical capital. For successful and sustainable agriculture, all five capitals are needed in reasonable amounts. However, some of these capitals may already be present while one or two others maybe in short supply, which is where the proposed investments (both direct and indirect) should be the focused. When all capitals are present in reasonable amounts, production processes are more efficient and hence yield a higher return on investments than when one or more capitals are lacking. Furthermore, actions to augment 'natural capital' would be different from those needed to augment 'human capital', and the same for the other capitals. This is an important consideration for investment decisions. While the above is true, this paper specifically looks at physical capital.Physical capital refers to any non-human asset made by humans and then used in production.While physical capital encompasses transport and market infrastructure, communication, water storage and distribution, irrigation systems and drainage works, mechanization and energy supply etc., the focus of this paper will be on the gaps, needs and potential for improvement of the physical capital related to water infrastructure. It specifically looks at water storage and distribution, irrigation and drainage systems, hydropower and energy production and also to some extent considers road networks, communication and transport.Inadequate and unreliable infrastructure services are a fact of life for the majority of rural communities in Africa. Many rural households do not have access to safe drinking water, electricity, good transportation, or modern communication services (Torero and Chowdhury, 2004). Infrastructure is critical to the achievement of social and economic goals as well as to ensure sustainability. Infrastructure development contributes to poverty reduction, and therefore it is a key factor to achieve the MDGs both directly through improving access to vital resources such as water and electricity, and indirectly by enabling access to other key resources such as schools, hospitals, and markets. Sub-Saharan African countries need more infrastructure development that is environmentally sound, socially acceptable, and financially sustainable. If Africa had enjoyed infrastructure growth rates comparable to those in East Asia in the 1980s to 1990s, its annual growth rate could have been about 1.3 percent higher (World Bank, 2007b).Table 1 provides the coverage of water supply, sanitation, road and railway, telecommunication, electricity access, area under crops and proportion of irrigated land in Eastern Africa. The data is based on World Bank data (World Bank, 2006a).Although there have been improvements in the various countries since the data period of 2004/2003, the table shows that there are still significant infrastructure gaps that need to be filled in the continent. We shall now discuss some of the key challenges and gaps related to water infrastructureagriculture-and economy in Sub-Saharan Africa:The annual global burden of water-related diseases is estimated at 82 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2000. Burden of diarrhea alone in sub-Saharan Africa is 25 million DALYs. Annual diarrhea cases in SSA: 1.2 billion which leads to 769 000 deaths of children under 5. Ninety percent of deaths are children under 5. Diarrhoea and malaria are a greater burden than HIV/Aids (Lean, 2007;Rijsberman, 2006). Improved water supply and sanitation combined with hygiene education can have a great impact on reducing such effects.As discussed in Winpenny (2003), water is one of the most important issues in the world today for a number of reasons: 1) access to water is a right and a basic need; 2) water is one of the vital MDG declarations and essential to fulfill the other goals such as poverty, education and gender equality; 3) water has been underemphasized and neglected in the past, compared to other sectors; 4) access to clean water and proper sanitation, and attention to wastewater disposal and treatment, has proven benefits to public health; 5) effective water resources development and management are basic to sustainable growth and poverty reduction, in several ways. Broad-based water resources interventions such as major infrastructure provide national, regional, and local benefits from which all people, including the poor, can gain.When we consider agriculture, the backbone of the SSA economy, its productivity is low and stagnant. Africa is the only region where per capita food production has fallen over the past forty years. SSA has yet to close the agricultural productivity gap as Asia and Latin America have done through the green revolution as shown in figures 3 (World Bank, 2003) and 4 (Molden, 2007). Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve productivity of agriculture in Africa. Due to lack of infrastructure, unmitigated variability of rainfall and hydrology agriculture, significantly affects the economy and livelihood of poor people in SSA. Africa has very high spatial and temporal variability in rainfall compared to other continents (FAO 2003;World Bank 2002;UN Millennium Project, 2005;Walling, 1996). The coefficient of variation in annual rainfall ranges from 200% in desert areas to 40% in semi-arid areas, and 5-31% even in humid areas (Africa Water Task Force, 2002).Figure 5 for example shows the impact of rainfall variability on GDP and agricultural GDP in Ethiopia. The 2002/2003 drought caused negative 3.3% real GDP growth. Although the following years were positive at 11.9% and 10.6%, the growth over the three years averaged only 6.4% (MOFED, 2006). About 15 million people were obliged to seek food aid in Ethiopia alone and about 1,570,000 metric tons of food aid were needed. Figure 6 (EDPPC, 2006) shows the resulting related dependency on aid during last decade. 1 8 6 6 1 8 7 1 1 8 7 6 1 8 8 1 1 8 8 6 1 8 9 1 1 8 9 6 1 9 0 1 1 9 0 6 1 9 1 1 1 9 1 6 1 9 2 1 1 9 2 6 1 9 3 1 1 9 3 6 1 9 4 1 1 9 4 6 1 9 5 1 1 9 5 6 1 9 6 1 1 9 6 6 1 9 7 1 1 9 7 6 1 9 8 1 1 9 8 6 1 9 9 1 1 9 9 6 2 0 0 1 yield in ton/ha USA SSA L America China  As shown in figure 7, most SSA countries are faced with economic water scarcity, lacking the financial or human capital to adequately develop their water resources (Molden, 2007).  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Thousands Year Foor R equired (M T) a reflection of the low level of water resources development, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Per capita water withdrawal in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest of any region in the world, being just one-fourth of the global average. In fact, Lautze and Giordano (2007) point out that the region with the second lowest water withdrawal per capita, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, uses approximately twice the water per person while more developed regions such as North America and Europe withdraw more than five times as much. Africa also has the lowest levels of per capita storage (Sadoff and Grey, 2002), which limits its ability to withdraw water for beneficial uses in irrigation, hydro-electric power, municipalities and industry.No doubt that irrigation and investment in water infrastructure have transformed the socioeconomy of many countries through increasing productivity, mechanization and modernization of agriculture, enhancing agro-industries, enabling green revolution, etc. The last 50 years have seen remarkable developments in water resources and in agriculture. Massive developments in hydraulic infrastructure have put water at the service of people. While the world population grew from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 6.5 billion today, the irrigated area doubled and water withdrawals tripled (Molden, 2007). Figure 8, obtained from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management for Agriculture (Molden, 2007), shows trends in irrigation investment by the World Bank, food price and overall irrigation development in the world. It must be pointed out that food prices are showing a worrying upward trend in the past few years.Figure 8. Expansion of irrigation and food prices (Molden, 2007).Since the 1980s, the focus of investment has shifted from new infrastructure to rehabilitation and institutional reform. However, there is now a revival of interest in investments in agricultural water management in a broader, integrated framework that includes poverty reduction and natural resources management (World Bank, 2006c) Sub-Saharan Africa never benefited from the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s with high-yielding crop varieties, irrigation, fertilizers, and pest management (Rockstrom et al., 2007). Africa has missed the past opportunity during the major investment and many pessimist views argue that it is not possible to repeat a green revolution in Africa, which is not acceptable. Availability of sound infrastructure can make major contributions to uplifting African economies. Road and transport facilities to enable marketing of products; efficient communications; better access to improved energy sources to enable manufacturing, processing and value adding of products; better water infrastructure for improved water control and management not only to meet daily requirements, safe access and increase productivity but also to provide security against extreme and variable hydrological events (droughts and floods).What should be new now among others is the emphasis on 'investments in water.' Although it will become clear quickly that there is no such thing as investing in 'water only', articulating it this way does help to focus upon the issue. Physical and economic scarcity of water is very common and is a growing problem in Africa. Although it is not a magical single-factor solution, investments in water combined with complementary policies (for example, to encourage private enterprises) and other infrastructure (roads and communications) can bring to the rural and peri-urban poor a significant improvement in household food security, poverty relief and economic growth. The impact of investments in water will also be far greater, if accompanied by investments in other sectors, (such as roads, communications and health and by appropriate policies effectively implemented) and vice versa.Although there is no argument that Africa needs investment, it is important to look at the potential and scope of enhancing physical capital related to water infrastructure, and the following sections focus on three areas: upgrading rainfed systems, irrigation development and hydropower development as examples of physical capital related to some of the water infrastructures.SSA agriculture is dependent on rainfed agriculture and is vulnerable to rainfall variability, with more than 90% of the food crops in SSA being rainfed. Better management of rainwater, soil moisture, and supplemental irrigation is the key to helping the greatest number of poor people, for three main reasons (Molden, 2007): it cuts the yield losses from dry spells, which claims one of every five harvests in SSA; it gives farmers the security they need to invest in other inputs such as fertilizers and high yielding varieties; it allows farmers to grow higher value market crops such as vegetable and fruits and to move away from low value staple foods. Management of rainfall and agricultural water in a holistic way is a key requirement for improvements in crop and livestock productivity under conditions of extreme rainfall variability.Rainfed agriculture is upgraded by improving soil moisture conservation and providing supplemental irrigation. These techniques hold great potential for quickly lifting large numbers of people out of poverty and for improving water productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (Molden, 2007). Thus, upgrading rainfed system requires proper management of rainfall in terms of capturing, storing, availing to crop, plan and other uses.In addition to upgrading the rainfed system there are strong reasons to develop the irrigation sector in SSA. Irrigation can increase productivity of land and labor, can curtail expansion of agricultural land to marginal areas and minimize environmental and natural resources degradation. Irrigated systems also significantly reduce chronic poverty (Hussein, 2004). Without intensification of agriculture, such as through irrigated agriculture, many countries face huge challenges to cope with population growth. Irrigation reduces reliance on rainfall and mitigates the consequences of its variability; it also provides opportunities for high value crops and export markets, creates more job opportunities and fosters rural entrepreneurship and a more vibrant economy through forward and backward linkages.A recent study by Inocencio et al. (2007) showed that irrigation is not uniquely expensive in Africa. Cost of irrigation in Africa can be comparable with those in Asia. Simply put, the average unit costs of \"success\" projects in sub-Saharan Africa are comparable with the averages for the non-SSA regions while the \"failure\" projects are significantly more expensive, so that they inflate the \"average\" for the region. The popular view that irrigation projects in sub-Saharan Africa are more expensive has to be properly understood and put into context if we are to move forward and develop sound and attractive irrigation investments.Africa has a large untapped potential of irrigation. FAO (2005) shows that only a small share of the potentially irrigable area of 39.4 million hectares has been developed in sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, 185 million ha of area is under cultivation in Africa, of which 6% or about 12 million is under irrigation. This proportion is very much lower for SSA if the irrigation development of North African countries is not taken into account.Figure 9. Total irrigable area in SSA (Source FAO, 2005).In order to upgrade rainfed and irrigated agriculture in Africa, agricultural water management approaches ranging from field water conservation to full irrigation through improved water control and management supported by infrastructure.Total irrigable land in SSA (Total potential: 39.4 million hectares) 12% 6% 82% area equipped for irrigation actually irrigated area equipped for irrigation not currently irrigated area with further irrigation potential Africa has abundant energy resources (oil, coal, natural gas, hydro, biomass and other renewable sources) but these are unevenly distributed. While some countries are major exporters of oil and gas, access to energy services in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest in the world: More than 600 million Africans still rely on traditional biomass as their main source of energy and are subject to the daily drudgery of fuel collection, health effects of smoke inhalation, as well other economic, social and environmental repercussions. About 500 million people in Africa have no access to electricity. The present trend is not encouraging: at current population growth rates, more than 60% of sub-Saharan Africans would still lack access to electricity in 2020 (BMZ, 2007a). Per capita electricity consumption in East Africa is as low as 18KWh per year in Burundi and reaches a maximum of 119.7 kWh in Kenya.Rising fuel costs and increasing concerns over the effects of climate change are reinvigorating the policy-makers' interest in renewable energy sources such as hydropower and bio-energy. Development of any of these sources has the potential to generate positive economic and environmental benefits, yet, at the same time, they can cause negative food and equity impacts (McCornick et al., 2007).Development of hydro-electric power, especially when combined with other sectors such as irrigation, flood protection, drought resilience, can yield attractive returns on investments in water infrastructure. The following figure (BMZ, 2007b) shows the hydropower usage as compared to the potential and the data for the 10 countries having the highest hydropower potential. For example, in Ethiopia, the economically exploitable hydropower potential is reckoned at 30,000 MW whereas actually developed capacity so far is only 667 MW (Beyene & Abebe, 2006). As a result, only 17% of the population, mainly in urban areas, has access to electricity. Low coverage and poor quality of power also cause heavy economic losses. For instance, during the drought of 2002-03, it is estimated that each day of lost service reduced the GDP for that day by up to 15% (World Bank, 2006b).Equally serious are the environmental consequences of the present energy composition. Due to intensive biomass exploitation, for example in Ethiopia, it is reported that only less than 3% of the natural forest remains at present. Siltation from land degradations has led to the storage loss of Koka reservoir (World Bank, 2006) and to date, more than 30% of the total volume has been lost to sedimentation (Michael, 2004). Degraded catchments, on the other hand, have exacerbated the risk of extreme events (droughts and floods) and biodiversity loss (Taddesse et al., 2004). Recent developments on the other hand are encouraging in terms of transforming energy source from traditional to modern source and plans to increase access to rural populations, such as the recently launched Universal Electricity and Access Program and the start of three projects with a combined capacity of 1,180 MW. There are also ambitious plans to develop hydropower (and other energy sources) to both meet domestic needs, and to export electricity to Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt (World Bank, 2006;McCornick et al., 2007).An important precaution in regard to investment in infrastructure is to fully consider the possible environmental impacts. Large, capital-intensive infrastructure systems with high gestation period, in particular, unless properly planned can not only adversely affect the environment and the livelihoods of people but also diminish returns to investments. McCartney and Sally (2005) argue that past experience shows that construction of large dams without full understanding of the social and environmental consequences can have devastating impacts for the livelihoods of many poor people. Very often negative impacts arise as a result of lack of foresight and because dams are planned and managed in isolation from other developments occurring in a river basin.Africa is endowed with a good natural resource base. Transforming the natural capital to appropriate physical capital and infrastructure to support sustainable social and economic growth also requires the development of other capitals and assets. Investment in physical capital is impossible unless there is financial capital to invest and human capital to enable the investment and manage the capital itself, and social capital to synergize the traditional norms, beliefs and practices with modern concepts and technologies.Given the comparatively low levels of per capita water withdrawals and storage in sub-Saharan Africa, there is significant scope for investing in water infrastructure as a means of ensuring water and food security. Developing SSA's water resources offers opportunities to stabilize agricultural output, improve land and water productivity, mitigate the region's vulnerability to climate variability and the associated damage caused by extreme events (floods and droughts), and overcome its high and persistent levels of poverty. Improving poor people's access to water for domestic and productive purposes also uplifts levels of health and sanitation and brings the region closer to attaining the MDGs.Investment in the development of appropriate physical capital, while necessary for improving SSA's water and food security, is not sufficient. In order to derive optimum returns, the infrastructure put in place has to be properly managed and maintained. The transboundary nature of much of the continent's waters sometimes poses special governance challenges in this regard. Moreover, water resources development alone will not resolve all the region's problems. Investments in transport infrastructure, market outlets, technology transfer, and human capacity building will enhance prospects for growth and economic development.The disappointing results of many existing agricultural water investments resulted in a shift in investment policy in the last two to three decades, away from new infrastructure development towards initiatives favoring the improvements in the management and performance of existing investments. Greater emphasis on natural resources management and environmental conservation, notably on the part of donor countries and agencies, may have also contributed to a slowing down of water resources development in SSA.While it is true that investment decisions in physical capital and infrastructure in SSA should benefit from experiences and lessons of the developed world, the value of local and regional priorities and concerns must also be recognized, especially in the context of the low levels of water development prevalent in SSA.","tokenCount":"3757"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4721223145.json b/data/part_1/4721223145.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d7078bfad9603c4be553da4a33fb595c063c8e94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4721223145.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cab592d6d7b5a8d908412d27171add14","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0f0d596b-c688-4a43-8555-f42e15ded593/retrieve","id":"1148003288"},"keywords":["Fragility","Con ict","and Migration"],"sieverID":"197e3374-63ea-4ab0-9865-5f5daac7fbe6","pagecount":"38","content":"This report benefitted from the excellent inputs and contributions of colleagues from the Ministry of Land and Environment, Swiss and Belgian Embassies and UNHCR for their support in the organisation of the workshop. A special thank you goes to all the workshop participants for their active participation and engagement. This work was carried out with support from the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict and Migration (FCM) and the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR). We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: https:// www. cgiar.org/funders/.Mozambique is one of the countries most exposed to climate change in the world. It is highly vulnerable to climate change, that manifest in the form of cyclones, floods, and other extreme weather events due to its coastline and location downstream of nine major rivers (Mavume et al., 2021). Mozambique is also characterized by a tropical to subtropical climate with rainfall distribution following a north-south gradient, with more rainfall along the coast, where the annual average varies between 800 and 1200 mm (Macassa et al., 2021). The inland high-altitude areas in the Northern and Central regions receive approximately 1000 mm, whereas the inland Central and Southern areas receive approximately 600 mm (Macassa et al., 2021).The South of Mozambique is generally drier, more so inland than towards the coast, with an average rainfall lower than 800 mm, decreasing to as low as 300 mm. The average temperatures at the coast are 25-27 °C in the summer and 20-23 °C in winter (Sumila et al., 2023). This means Mozambique's geographic location exposes vast areas of the country to tropical cyclones, droughts (every three to four years) and river/coastal storm surge flooding (USAID, 2018). Over 60 percent of the population lives in low-lying coastal areas, where intense storms from the Indian Ocean and sea level rise put infrastructure, coastal agriculture, key ecosystems, and fisheries at risk (Sumila et al., 2023). As such, droughts, flooding, and tropical cyclones have led to the loss of lives and adversely affected food, land, and water systems, along with housing and other infrastructure.Similarly, the adverse impacts of climate change have altered access to and availability of natural resources.Moreover, the changing and worsening weather patterns have detrimental impacts on the agriculture sector. These trends are projected to increase in the near future. For example, Manuel et al (2020) find that more erratic rainfall and changes in temperature are likely to contribute to the spread of existing and new agricultural pests, such as the fall armyworm. Increased risk of floods and droughts will also inevitably impact key value chain crops such as soy, pigeon pea and sesame, disrupting local markets and farmers' income (Macassa et al., 2021). These combined effects will negatively impact rural and the most remote livelihoods that are mainly dependent on natural resources, central to food, land, and water systems, thus worsening poverty and food insecurity.At the same time, Mozambique is still recovering from the impacts of the 16-year long civil war (Morier-Genoud, 2018). This is further compounded by the ongoing conflict and violence perpetrated by non-state armed groups in Cabo Delgado that had led to mass displacement and forced migration, disruption of livelihoods and economic activities, and a lack of access to basic services. According to recent estimates, approximately 700 thousand people have been internally displaced due to violence perpetrated by non-state armed groups and extreme weather events with most of them being children and women (UNHCR, 2024).While conflict remains the prime driver of displacement (accounting for the 79% of IDPs), the intensifying impacts of extreme weather events have further exacerbated displacement trends (21% of IDPs).For example, the double landfall of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in February and March 2023 devastated the country, destroying infrastructure and displacing approximately 184,000 people (OCHA, 2023a). As this happens, communities must compete for resources along food, land, and water systems to sustain livelihoods, thus altering social cohesion and stability. Notably, displacement, loss of income, volatility in food prices and resource-based conflicts due to climate and non-climatic factors create new challenges for local and national governments, as well as the affected communities. In Cabo Delgado, decades of underinvestment and under-development, weak public services and infrastructures, and democratic fragility make it challenging for governmental and humanitarian actors to reach the most affected populations. This issue is becoming particularly challenging after climate hazard occurrences and opening windows of opportunity for non-state actors to increase their legitimacy by acting as alternative relief providers.The consequences of climate change, coupled with fragility, conflict and displacement, have the potential to further undermine peace and security in Mozambique and make the Sustainable Development Goals agenda even harder to achieve. The immediate destruction of infrastructure limits food and water supplies and access to markets, impacting the general health and well-being of the affected populations. These compounding vulnerabilities are increasing the conflict potential, ranging from reduced social cohesion to community-level tensions and intensified conflict dynamics at a larger scale. Given the increasing cooccurrence of climate change, displacement, and fragility, understanding how these stressors and shocks interact and reinforce each other to affect peace and security in the country is of foremost importance to develop durable solutions and to build the resilience of forcibly displaced populations and host communities.The actions of the government and other stakeholders within the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus, and the degree to which they are able to manage the delicate interplay of climate, conflict, fragility, and displacement in Mozambique will determine peace and security outcomes. Changing climatic patterns subject Mozambique to extreme weather events that may aggravate current patterns of displacement, instability, and social intolerance, while simultaneously feeding new negative patterns. While political, social, and economic factors play a role in abetting the lingering threats to peace and stability in Mozambique, their interactions with climate change impacts should be addressed in initiatives aimed at resilience building and building peace. This is in line with the vision of the Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations (UN) who stressed the importance of advancing a responsive and evidence-based approach to the compounding risks of climate change, fragility and conflict, and who ranked this agenda as a top priority for Mozambique during its period as an elected member of the UN Security Council (UNSC).In this light, a focus on climate, peace, security, and migration should inform efforts within the HDP nexus to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in Mozambique. To do this, there is a need for a common understanding of how the intertwined challenges of climate change, fragility, and displacement can exacerbate conflict risks and outcomes and undermine efforts to build and maintain peace in Mozambique and how to address the ramifications for climate resilience and stability. This will entail embracing conflictsensitive and peace-positive ways of thinking and working beyond the siloed humanitarian and climate change and development interventions.It would also entail a deep understanding of the evolving discourses on these issues, both locally and internationally, especially in relation to the key priorities, concerns and lived experiences among affected communities, the general population, and national and international actors engaging in this space. An analysis of representations of the climate security-human mobility nexus on social media conversations in Mozambique found diverging priorities between actors, with national discussions focusing on immediate livelihood needs and international discussions highlighting displacement and natural resource availability (Carneiro et al., 2023). Such findings support the need for approach that ensures a shared understanding of the risks and identification of opportunities that can be harnessed to inform a common vision of climate resilience, sustainability, and long-lasting peace in Mozambique.To this end, the CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security team at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT organized a workshop in Maputo, Mozambique, on the 20th and 21st of September 2023. The workshop was co-convened with the Ministério da Terra e Ambiente (MTA), the Belgian Embassy, the Swiss Embassy, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Mozambique and hosted in partnership with the African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD). It marked a first step towards building a common understanding and vision for climate, peace, security and migration in Mozambique.The workshop was funded by the CGIAR Climate Resilience Initiative (ClimBer), the Fragility, Conflict and Migration (FCM) research initiatives, and the Belgium Embassy. It brought together representatives from government institutions and ministries, international humanitarian and development organisations, civil society, and academia to discuss a common agenda for climate, peace, security, and migration in Mozambique towards sustainable food, land and water systems, climate resilience, and a more inclusive and socially equitable society. More specifically, the workshop sought to:Build evidence and improve understanding of current and foreseen conditions under which climaterelated risks to peace and security can emerge, focusing on displacement, gender and intersectional social issues.• Identify priority actions and more integrated approaches across the HDP nexus to mitigate and address these compounded risks in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.• Promote a cross-fertilisation of ideas and explore possible areas for further collaboration and entry points for joint actions to simultaneously advance humanitarian assistance, climate resilience and sustaining peace objectives.This report is a synthesis of an extensive literature review on climate, peace, security, and migration in Mozambique and the main findings gathered through discussions at the workshop. The next section gives a contextual analysis of Mozambique based on the review of literature and focuses on climate change and security, socio-economic vulnerability, fragility, conflict, and displacement, as well as gender, climate, and displacement. Thereafter, the report presents the possible pathways of climate and displacement-driven risks to peace and security in Mozambique. The initial pathways were identified through the literature review and were validated and further expanded by the participants during the group discussions at the workshop.Finally, the report highlights several key priority areas, developed by the workshop participants, for moving towards a national vision for climate, peace, security and migration in Mozambique that is shared among concerned stakeholders and can support more coordinated and collaborative efforts across the HDP nexus.Mozambique only contributes 0.14% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change (Hope, 2019). The 2021 German Watch's Global Climate Risk ranked Mozambique 1st among the world's most affected countries (Mutizwa, 2023). The country is highly susceptible to climate change due to its geographic location, high rates of poor and rural population, high reliance on rainfed agriculture, climate-sensitive hydropower, and low adaptive capacity (Scheffran et al., 2019;Uamusse et al., 2020). Mozambique has semi-arid, subtropical, tropical and mountainous areas, and is a coastal country with a coastline that is among the most active basins of tropical cyclones worldwide (Baez et al., 2018;Uamusse et al., 2020). In addition, more than 60% of the population resides in low-lying coastal areas (Manuel et al., 2020;Uamusse et al., 2020). Therefore, large areas of the country are constantly exposed to tropical cyclones and droughts.The varying climate disturbs the temperature and rainfall patterns, exacerbating the recurrence and intensity rate of tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, and heat waves in Mozambique. Notably, heightened vulnerability to drought and heat events is observed along the Eastern Coast under future conditions (Fig. 1a). An incremental increase in flood events across the entirety of Mozambique is also expected under future conditions (Fig. 1a). The compound impact of these climate-related hazards, such as simultaneous droughts and heatwaves or floods can result in substantial loss and damage (Fig. 1b) (AghaKouchak et al., 2020). The greatest exposure to compound hazards currently occurs in the Western to Southern region of Mozambique but has a substantial regional spread with a nucleus on the coastline in future (Fig. 1b).Background and contextual analysis Climate change related disasters such as floods, droughts and cyclones have increased since the 2000s (Muhala et al., 2021). The country has been struck by intense and destructive tropical cyclones in recent years, such as Ana, Gombe, Idai, Freddy, and Kenneth. These natural weather disasters have resulted in loss of jobs and livelihoods, deaths, injuries and disease outbreaks, destruction of infrastructure and property and damages and losses of crop yields. In essence, climate variation adversely impacts health, agricultural and economic development sectors. The impacts of climate change land on existing socio-economic and human security challenges in Mozambique. For example, approximately 20 million people in the country live below poverty line and without electricity, and the climate change has adverse impacts on water resources, and subsequently the generation of hydropower (Uamusse et al., 2020). In the early 1990s, more than 1.3 million people were affected by food insecurity in the country due to drought, and it was difficult to address the drought as it occurred during a civil war (Chesterman et al., 2020).Future predictions indicate that the number of people living below the poverty line in the country will increase by 1.6 million by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change (World Bank, 2023). In addition, varying climate and extreme inequality gap worsen conflicts (Kosec et al., 2022). Thus, climate change is exacerbating human security risks and conflict potential, particularly in poverty, violence, and social insecurity-prone areas (Scheffran et al., 2019).Mozambique ranks 185th out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index, despite being rich in natural resources such as liquid petroleum gas, ruby, graphite, gold, and timber, especially in Cabo Delgado (UNDP, 2023). Mozambique's GDP is largely made up of the agriculture and fisheries sector as well as services such as small-retail businesses, transport and communication along with energy and manufacturing ventures within the industry sectors (Almedida Santos, 2018). 70% of Mozambique's population depends on rainfed agriculture for food security and livelihoods (Uamusse et al., 2020). Although the informal agricultural sector employs an estimated 70% of the population, its contribution to the GDP is only around 25%, indicating inefficiencies, a lack of economies of scale, and limited value-added processing within a sector that employs the greatest proportion of the population (CAPS, 2023) Nonetheless, natural disasters in the agricultural sector threaten the country's socio-economic stability.Mozambique is grappling with considerable socio-economic instability due to the displacement of its The anticipated decline in demand for Mozambique's agricultural exports because of climate change, coupled with the potential disruption of global value chains, is expected to severely impact the country's economic activity and subsequently, employment. In a broader context, the socio-economic instability in Mozambique due to displacement is a multifaceted issue that encompasses a blend of conflict, natural disasters, public health threats, and economic challenges. The repercussions of these disasters on the nation's economy and the livelihoods of its citizens are significant. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced an additional layer of complexity to the situation (Otto et. al, 2022). The public health crisis has strained Mozambique's already fragile healthcare system and has significantly impacted the economy, further intensifying the vulnerabilities of the displaced populations. In summary, addressing the socio-economic instability in Mozambique due to displacement requires a comprehensive and integrated approach. It is imperative for the international community to support Mozambique in its efforts to manage this crisis and construct a more resilient and inclusive society.Right from the historical times, Mozambique has faced significant challenges related to fragility, conflict, and displacement. Over the years, the country's fragility has stemmed from a combination of political, economic, social, and environmental factors (Artur, 2022). Historical legacies of conflict, weak governance, poverty, inequality, and susceptibility to natural disasters contribute to the country's fragility. For example, Mozambique's political landscape is still dominated by the main parties RENAMO and FRELIMO, who opposed each other in a devastating civil war from 1977 -1992 which led to massive displacements.Tensions between the two parties emerge particularly during elections, like in 2019, marked by violence and fraud allegations (Animashaun, 2020). The government under the ruling FRELIMO party struggles to maintain control over its entire territory, contributing to insecurity dynamics (Estelle and Darden, 2021).A historical north-south divide in Mozambique has further perpetuated deep-rooted issues of marginalisation and economic disparities, which fuelled tensions and grievances within the North (Sambo, 2022). A fertile ground of high poverty, social upheaval and youth despair saw NSAGs, mostly connected to jihadist roots, emerge. In recent years, the northern region of Cabo Delgado has experienced escalating violence attributed to insurgency on NSAGs, resulting in significant casualties, displacement, and humanitarian crises.The Islamist insurgency erupted into violence in 2017 when armed groups seized control of Mocimboa de Praia in Cabo Delgado (Warner et al., 2022) The armed conflicts in the northern region have been significant drivers of displacement. As of June 30, 2022, over 946,508 individuals were displaced due to insecurity and the aftermath of natural disasters ( IOM, 2022b). This sharp increase in displacement has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and seek safety in makeshift camps or host communities in safer regions. This conflict not only affects targeted areas but also neighbouring regions, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining security and well-being for both host and displaced communities (IOM, 2022). In 2024, conflict dynamics raised again with increasing spillover effects from Cabo Delgado into the southern district of Nampula, capitalizing on the regions socio-political and economic grievances, compounded by the influx of displaced people (ACAPS, 2024). Thus, the conflicts, coupled with environmental disasters such as cyclones and floods, have led to internal displacement in Mozambique leading to humanitarian crises, with affected populations facing challenges related to access to food, shelter, healthcare, education, and protection. Displacement, therefore, exacerbates existing vulnerabilities, particularly for women, children, and other marginalized groups, who are at heightened risk of exploitation, abuse, and trauma (Maviza et al., 2024).Relatedly, extreme climate events are compounding fragility and insecurity dynamics in Mozambique by inducing large scale displacement, disrupting livelihoods and social services, and degrading natural resources and infrastructure. The conflict-affected northern part of the country has seen the most profound impacts of the interplay between conflict, climate extremes, and displacement (Sturridge et al., 2022).While the conflict in Cabo Delgado is still the main driver of displacement, the unprecedented impacts of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019, as well as more recently, the double landfall of Cyclone Freddy in 2023, are augmenting displacement and the need for humanitarian assistance (Ndapassoa, 2023;Mugabe at al., 2021). The quick succession of cyclone Kenneth after cyclone Idai resulted in over 600 deaths and the displacement of more than 17,000 people in Mozambique (Muhala et al., 2021). Effects of climate and conflict undermine the social cohesion and local peace and security landscape while increasing human security risks for local and displaced populations (Sturridge et al., 2022). Considering the foregone, efforts to address fragility, conflict, and displacement in Mozambique require sustained commitment and collaboration among national and international stakeholders to promote peace, stability, and sustainable development.Due to the adverse impacts of climate change in the form of intensified cyclones, flooding, and droughts and their effects on agricultural livelihoods, poverty and vulnerability levels have increased dramatically with differential impacts on men, women, boys, and girls (OCHA, 2023a;OCHA, 2023b). Given that women are often the backbone of rural economies, they find themselves on the front lines of climate-induced challenges, amplifying the urgency for climate-resilient strategies (Ribeiro and Chaúque, nd). On one hand, considering women's predominant responsibility for familial support (through their triple roles), increased occurrences of droughts, water scarcity, and food insecurity expose women to heightened vulnerability to climate-induced hazards as they are at the forefront of addressing challenges associated with climate change. For instance, in Mozambique, women are primarily responsible for agricultural cultivation (Forsythe et al., 2021;FAO, 2021), so in instances of displacement, loss of land deprives them of opportunities to access food and generate income for themselves as well as their families. Typically, women lack control over productive assets and resources, a situation exacerbated in displacement scenarios where resource scarcity is intensified, and providing for families becomes even more arduous and perilous for women in such contexts (FAO, 2023;Bryan et al., 2023). This trend is evident in Mozambique, where women are often restricted from land ownership despite being the primary cultivators of the land (Forsythe et al., 2021;Porsani et al., 2019;FAO, 2021;Maereka et al., 2023).Additionally, women and girls constitute a significant majority within displaced communities, whether resulting from conflict or climate-related hazards and are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of climate change (Pearse, 2017). Consequently, in displacement scenarios, women persist in caring for and sustaining their families, albeit often constrained by severely limited resources to facilitate these crucial roles. Moreover, the loss of livelihoods generates the emergence of additional vulnerabilities, such as girls' heightened exposure to child marriage, often seen as means to alleviate financial strain on families (UNICEF, 2024;Castañeda Camey et al., 2020). Child marriages not only subject girls to domestic violence but also deprives them of educational opportunities (UN Women, 2017;Castañeda Camey et al., 2020). Additionally, incidents of sexual violence have been documented in Mozambican schools, occurring both en route to and within classrooms (UNFPA, 2023;Amaral et al., 2023). In displacement scenarios, the accessibility of schools diminishes, exacerbating the perilous journey that girls must undertake.Given that displacement often disrupts traditional gender roles and expectations, it may also lead to shifts in femininities as women take on new roles and responsibilities to adapt to changing circumstances. For example, women become the primary breadwinners if male family members are killed, recruited, injured, or displaced. On the other hand, in the context of climate change, conflict, and displacement in Mozambique, men and boys face multifaceted challenges that stem from the intersecting vulnerabilities and pressures experienced in these crises. Traditionally, masculine identities in Mozambique have been associated with notions of strength, resilience, and provider roles within the family and community (Donaldson et al., 2009;Maviza, 2020). However, the compounding effects of climate-related disasters, conflict, and displacement disrupt these traditional roles and norms, leading to shifts in power dynamics and reconfigurations of masculinity. The erosion of livelihoods due to climate-related events such as cyclones, floods, and droughts often emasculate men as they can undermine men's ability to fulfil their roles as primary breadwinners and protectors of their families. With the destruction of agricultural lands, fishing grounds, and other sources of income, men fall short in meeting societal expectations of providing for their families, leading to feelings of emasculation and loss of identity. For instance, in the Northern provinces, constrained economic opportunities, the expansion of industrial mining, and lack of access to land have led to a proliferation of harmful and illicit income-generating activities among men (Sturridge et al., 2022). This includes engaging in illicit artisanal mining practices as a means of survival.Additionally, the economic strain has resulted in the exploitation of boys through forced child labour (Sturridge et al., 2022), perpetuating the narrative of men as primary breadwinners from a young age. In Mozambique, this phenomenon is particularly evident, with younger men and boys often compelled to participate in artisanal mining, exposing them to various forms of abuse and even fatalities (Sturridge et al., 2022;Club of Mozambique, 2023). These coping strategies have contributed to heightened tensions, especially amid increased insurgencies by non-state armed groups in Mozambique. Furthermore, the expectation of men to provide for their families financially means that the loss of livelihoods disproportionately increases the likelihood of their recruitment by non-state armed groups or criminal gangs, exposing them to direct violence and the risk of death (UN Women, 2020; UNHCR, 2022; Sturridge et al., 2022).The lack of income generating activities due to displacement also heightens risk taking in legal livelihoods.As many of the displaced men relied on fishing as a primary source of income, attempts to seek out alternatives for fishing presses men to travel great distances and fish in settings with heightened exposure to violence (Sturridge et al., 2022;Ewing-Chow, 2023). As the traditional constructs of masculinity face challenges in the aforementioned contexts, subsequent developments often exacerbate the situation. This includes scenarios where displacement occurs, such as relocation to camps, or instances where males are displaced while women remain in their customary residences, leading to women taking on masculinized roles as de facto heads of households. In instances where assistance is provided, blatant biases towards women and girls have been observed at the expense of men and boys in programming efforts. This phenomenon resonates with what Riley and Dodson (2016) aptly termed as 'gender hates men', highlighting the discriminatory treatment faced by men and boys in such contexts. This bias not only perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes but also exacerbates vulnerabilities faced by men and boys, potentially leading to their marginalisation and exclusion from essential services and support systems.Examining gender dynamics, climate change impacts, and conflict-induced displacement in Mozambique also reveals a complex interplay of factors shaping the experiences of individuals across gender lines (Maviza et al., 2024). Women often face disproportionate vulnerabilities in the face of climate-related hazards and displacement events, as they often bear the primary responsibility for familial support and livelihood activities. Traditional gender norms further exacerbate these vulnerabilities, particularly in situations where displacement disrupts established social structures and roles. Interestingly, there are also challenges confronted by masculinities in displacement contexts, where traditional provider roles are disrupted, leading to shifts in power dynamics and identity constructions among men. Economic hardships resulting from climate-related disasters and conflict contribute to feelings of emasculation and loss of identity, increasing the likelihood of recruitment into armed groups or criminal activities and exposure to harm.The changing gender dynamics intertwine to shape complex gender specific experiences of displacement.While women may assume new roles and responsibilities in displacement settings, they may find themselves in spaces that were perhaps already occupied by someone else (the man). As such, the disruption of gender roles forms a complex interplay between gendered experiences, where power and vulnerabilities human security and resilience, we still don't know enough about the ways in which some of these challenges interact and reinforce each other to affect peace and security outcomes. To shed light on this, we introduced here the concept of \"pathway\", which has been largely employed in the practice of climate, peace, and security to explore how the combination of multiple stressors and shocks with pre-existing contextual determinants of vulnerability can reduce social cohesion and increase conflict potential at various social scales.We know that a complex interplay of environmental, social, and political factors have an impact on communities, nations, and global stability, but we don't understand the exact processes involved. From Although the pathways overlap and are interconnected, there are also distinct differences that warrant an exploration of the diverse variables that influence peace and security outcomes in Mozambique. expose women to unequal access to land, as predominantly men, counting as the head of the family, hold official land rights (or in the lesser case when woman own the land, management often still falls on the men) (Forsythe et al., 2021). The depletion of resources and lack of decision-making power also threatens women in relation to water access. Women are traditionally tasked to collect water and are often exposed to genderbased violence while doing so (UNFPA, 2017). Furthermore, they have little voice in the decision-making process of where new boreholes should be constructed that could reduce travel distance, particularly in the face of increasing droughts, and risks of gender-based violence.Land-related tensions escalate through displacement dynamics. Various factors drive displacement in Mozambique, predominantly climate-related extremes like cyclones and floods, which often result in temporary displacement or relocation programs. Conversely, conflict induced displacement leads to a more long-term relocation. Lastly, people have also been evicted in connection to new mining sites, as well as conservation areas, such as in Limpopo Park. As these evictions mostly contain insufficient compensations, livelihoods of affected communities are threatened and grievances against the government and mining companies are leading to conflicts. Moreover, the outsourcing of labour in these towns exacerbates the situation, as the local community remains largely unemployed, fostering resentment towards the mining industry. This was a key issue mentioned in the North of Mozambique.In the case of relocation after extreme weather events, the lack of proper land use planning has led to displaced people settling in informal settlement on land without clear ownership and demarcation. While housing is provided by the governmental relocation programms, it does not contain agricultural land. This drives IDP´s to use local land, which is leading to tensions with the host communities. Workshop participants described, that many host communities show solidarity with the loss, that their fellow countrymen had endured through extreme events. However, tensions may arise over time, induced through resource competition, as well as resentments if displaced people are prioritized over hosts in terms of aid provision.An example of such conflicts has been named in the Corrane IDP camp, where people were placed into areas that were already inhabited. Besides inter community tensions, intra community and household conflicts were also discussed as a result of displacement. Examples include families being forced to share food, shelter and medication, while polygamic families, that traditionally live separately, are placed under one roof. Local conflicts are mostly mediated by community and religious leaders. However, as displaced communities often bring their own chief with them, tensions arise around accountability and between traditional belief systems.The economy of Mozambique is based on agriculture, fisheries, livestock, forestry, and mining. However, the mainstay of the economy is agriculture, even though the other sectors contribute more to the country's GDP.About 70% of the country's population lives in rural areas and depends on rain-fed agriculture. Participants at the workshop shared that farmers are vulnerable to drought, floods, and other extreme climatic conditions that interfere with agricultural production. For instance, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth caused widespread destruction of agricultural land, crops, infrastructure, and human settlements, severely impacting food security and livelihoods and exacerbating pre-existing food insecurity. This impact has contributed to instability, tensions, and violence due to clashes over scarce resources or when climate adaptation interventions have not been well conceptualized and implemented.It emerged that communities grappling with food insecurity or loss of livelihoods often face the harsh reality of environmental degradation due to unsustainable land use practices. For instance, in rural areas, where agriculture is a primary source of livelihood, farmers sometimes resort to slash-and-burn agriculture or unsustainable logging practices to meet immediate food needs or to generate income. This often results in deforestation, destroying vital habitats and contributing to increased greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change. Furthermore, in the pursuit of higher yields, farmers choose to intensify agricultural practices by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides without proper management. This leads to soil erosion, degradation, and water pollution, affecting agricultural productivity and environmental health. The participants named the government as a key player in ensuring food security and protection of livelihoods in Mozambique. The government has the responsibility to facilitate food security and livelihoods by formulating enabling and favourable agricultural and food production policies, developing secure land tenure systems for access to and control over agriculture and investment in the land, and providing agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and seeds. A shortage of extension workers to support farmers was noted to be inhibiting food security and sustainable livelihoods.The participants noted that gender is a cross-cutting theme in climate-related security pathways, with women being the most affected. Men have more access to land resources than women. When floods displace communities, women, while prioritized for evacuation, still carry the burden of feeding families,  Disaster and conflict-related displacement are linked to insecurity through complex, multidirectional relationships. The compounded effects of disaster and conflict displacement can undermine livelihoods and significantly decrease household resilience. Limited livelihood opportunities can then push people to engage in maladaptive practices and illicit activities, and overall reduce opportunity costs to join non-state armed groups.Unemployment emerged as a central driver of conflict and disaster-related displacement. Participants directly linked unemployment with rapid-onset climate hazards, notably cyclones, which can destroy crops, livestock, and infrastructure, leading people to move in search of new livelihood opportunities. Similarly, unemployment is linked with poor resource access and seizure of resources, both of which can lead to resource competition. Lacking effective interventions to ease tensions and improve human security, competition can, in some cases, lead to conflict and subsequent displacement. Similarly, participants saw unemployment itself as a key driver of conflict, as youth without jobs are easily recruited. Government programs and investments in safeguarding employment were seen as key means of preventing conflict from escalating further and reducing people's support to non-state armed groups.In Mozambique, rapid-onset climate hazards, such as storms and cyclones, can also drive temporary or longterm displacement. Recurrent hazards are found by participants to affect local ecosystems by degrading land and causing erosion. This, in turn, reduces the ecosystem's capacity to withstand future hazards and increases human security and social protection risks related to the impact of extreme events, such as floods and landslides. In coastal areas, participants report that sea-level rise increases soil salinity and further contributes to a decrease in overall land productivity.This points to the critical role that food, land and water systems play in displacement. As the ability of Mozambicans to satisfy their basic needs is put under increasing stress, household risk increases, and displacement or involuntary immobility become more likely. For example, sea level rise can lead to soil/land degradation, which decreases agricultural productivity, and, in turn, either forces outward migration or \"traps\" the most vulnerable households in place. While some lack the resources to move outward, others often stay due to psychosocial connections with their places of origin. Here, the line between agentic migration, where individuals or households move in search of improved livelihood prospects, and displacement, where livelihoods are impacted to such a point that survival necessitates movement, can become blurry.Slow and rapid-onset hazards identified by participants combine with existing issues related to the use of and access to natural resources. Degrading quality and quantity of accessible resources, such as land, are found to negatively impact pre-existing grievances abased on socio-economic inequalities. Groups that are politically and economically marginalized are often most vulnerable to the negative impacts of extreme weather events, with severe consequences for their physical and economic security. For example, displaced communities with limited access to natural, economic, and social resources in the host community, are likely to lower capacity to withstand or recover from climate hazards. However, displaced communities in formal settlements may have access to aid or support services that host communities struggle to access.Participants viewed slow-onset hazards through the lens of climate justice; as most carbon emissions are generated elsewhere, international support to help Mozambicans adapt to sea-level rise, erratic precipitation, and drought should be more forthcoming.Conflict-related displacement, like disaster-related displacement, is reported to significantly affect access to resources, with negative consequences for household livelihoods and food security. Food insecurity is identified as an indirect outcome of multiple interconnected drivers. Access to resources that can enable food security is regulated by policies and cultural norms, which can either favor or constrain groups' opportunities to pursue development and wellbeing. For example, in Mozambique, femaleheaded households face greater challenges in accessing land than those headed by men, with significant consequences on their capacity to generate income and/or secure food production.Participants note that both conflict and climate-related disasters diminish agricultural production, decreasing household assets, hurting community infrastructure, and disrupting social networks, including family support systems. In destination areas, underdeveloped social networks can reduce income opportunities for the displaced. This may push some people to engage in illicit and often harmful activities. Women, for example, sometimes engage with prostitution as a coping mechanism, decreasing their physical safety and social security.Disaster and conflict displacement are expected in general to increase pressure on existing resources and infrastructure, both in urban and rural contexts. While decreasing resources should not be assumed to lead directly to conflict, increased intra and inter-community tensions, if unaddressed, can undermine social cohesion and stability. Ineffective policies can also lead to tensions between host and displaced communities in destination areas. Similarly, a lack of policies that prevent resource seizure can lead to conflict between those who have lost access to natural resources, such as land.While cultural and social issues in Mozambique play a role in driving violent conflicts, political and economic drivers are often the most important. The latter often surface around with struggles for power or resources.For example, participants agreed that the nominally religious and cultural drivers of conflict-related displacement in Cabo Delgado were more closely related with competition to control key economic and natural resources. Rather than being driven by insurmountable religious divisions, the participants were optimistic that developmental approaches could be wielded to address the underlying causes of this conflict, thus mitigating conflict-related displacement.Participants agreed that effective policy formulation and implementation can mitigate the risks that relate to disaster and conflict displacement. Conversely, poor policy implementation can exacerbate the physical and social risks related to poor resource management. In relation to extreme weather events, such as cyclones, ineffective Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) policies can lead to potentially avoidable disaster-related displacement, particularly in coastal areas. In addition, people's perceptions of insufficient or politically biased State's governance of disasters and related displacement may hamper State's legitimacy and generate resentment. This can eventually be leveraged by non-state armed groups to recruit militants. More inclusive policies could mitigate this risk. The fair and equitable provision of public services is also seen as key to limiting tensions between host and displaced communities in destination areas.The last pathway through which climate impacts can increase peace and security risks in Mozambique is through negative social behaviours. Negative social behaviours refer to actions and conduct within a society that deviates from accepted norms, values and standards and may cause harm or distress to communities. Individuals, households, and communities adapt to climate change in various ways. Some of these adaptations may be directly or indirectly harmful to those directly involved or to the society at large. For example, the impacts of climate variability and change affect rain-fed agriculture, and when agricultural yields are reduced, individuals and households are forced to adapt and expand their livelihood options. Some of these adaptations may have direct short-term negative effects, whilst others can lead to medium-to longer-term negative socio-ecological impacts. Thus, in Mozambique, some households try to increase their income by engaging in activities like making and selling charcoal. This may improve their livelihood options in the short-term. However, it can also lead to deforestation, erosion and other forms of environmental degradation that will negatively affect their ability to make a living from agriculture and ecosystem services in the future. A similar example in the fisheries sector is that fisherfolk harvest smaller fish or fish in protected areas, which may hurt future fish stocks.In some cases, households may opt to move to other areas where the opportunities for agriculture are perceived to be better, or they may opt to urbanize. According to the workshop participants, one of the risks associated with these adaptation strategies is that households or communities can become disconnected from their social support networks, which may reduce their resilience to future shocks. It may also increase the risk of negative social behaviours as the normal social checks and balances are disrupted. For example, parents may have to work, leaving their children unguided and without protection for many hours of the day in communities lacking support.Where household income is increasingly under pressure due to the vicious circle of climate impacts and conflict dynamics in some parts of Mozambique, poor fishermen, former farmers, and unemployed youth may turn into fighters for NSAGs. The major motivations are either the income they can gain or because such groups may offer them meaning and dignity. This can sometimes serve as an outlet for frustration with current governance and institutional systems. By leaving the household, these members reduce the pressure on the household, and they may also help the household by sharing the income they gain with their family. However, it also means that the household is now without their labour, social support, and protection, increasing the burden on those left behind.It is often men and boys that leave the household to seek alternative forms of income or to explore other pastures for livestock, and this increases the burden and risks on the women and girl children in these communities. Girls may have to stay out of school or reduce the number of hours they can be in school to help with household chores. Some of these chores, such as fetching water and gathering firewood, may expose them to higher risks of sexual and gender-based violence. In addition, some women and girls have turned to prostitution to increase their individual and household incomes. Some girls and boys may run away from home and become destitute and homeless and turn to drugs and crime.Some alternative ways of gaining income, like smuggling, artisanal mining, fishing, hunting, etc., may be illegal, and engaging in these activities stimulates organized crime. A growing criminal sector undermines governance and the rule of law, with various negative social impacts, such as increased corruption and reduced state revenues. Civil servants may also turn to corruption to increase their livelihoods under stress from environmental factors.Weak governance, poor social support systems and low education exacerbate the likelihood that households and communities will turn to negative social behaviours to safeguard their livelihoods. Corruption was another enabling factor mentioned by the workshop participants, particularly in relation to traditional leaders failing to act as channels of communication between national policies and communities. As such, improvements in government support, both in the form of agricultural advice and support, as well as enhanced social protection mechanisms, will reduce maladaptation that leads to negative social behaviour.Similarly, investments in social resilience and social cohesion are likely to increase the ability of households and communities to adapt in ways that prevent or reduce negative social behaviours. A common vision for Climate, Peace,The foregone sections foregrounded the unprecedented impacts of climate change and conflicts, and highlighted the undeniable intricate links between environmental shifts, peace, security, and displacement.Mozambique stands at the nexus of pivotal global challenges -climate change, conflict, peace, security, and displacement. Like many other countries, Mozambique grapples with the profound and interconnected impacts of climate change-related environmental shifts, the quest for sustained peace, the imperative of human security, and displacement dynamics. As communities grapple with the multifaceted challenges of a changing climate and increasing conflicts, it is essential to forge a collective response that transcends disciplinary boundaries and the siloes currently existing in the HDP sectors. There is a need to recognise the urgency of simultaneously addressing the converging challenges arising from climate-related risks, potential conflict, and the displacement of communities. Combining expertise from diverse fields will foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovative solutions at the nexus of climate resilience, conflict prevention, and displacement management. This is driven by the understanding that these issues are deeply interconnected and require a comprehensive, transformative and systemic approach. Maximum gains will be realised if there is joint evidence generation, collective policy design, formulation and implementation, multi-disciplinary conflict-sensitive and peace-positive programming, as well as the availability of finance to influence the development and implementation of strategies that not only mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change but also contribute to building resilient, stable and peaceful communities. In this way, collaboration among stakeholders will ensure effective confrontation of the climate and conflict-induced challenges, paving the way for a sustainable, secure, and stable future.Considering the foregone, there is a need for a common vision grounded in the perspective that addressing the complexities of climate, conflict, peace, security, and displacement requires collective understanding, shared knowledge, collaborative action, and sustainable solutions. This agenda seeks to foster innovative solutions through collaborative efforts for proactive climate adaptation and conflict prevention to minimise Research evidence is pivotal in addressing the multifaceted challenges of climate change, peace, security, and displacement in Mozambique. In the face of escalating climate-related disasters, such as cyclones and floods, thorough research helps to understand the local vulnerabilities and design resilient strategies.Evidence-based insights are crucial for formulating effective policies that promote sustainable development, mitigate climate impacts, and foster peace and security (Liebig et al., 2022;von Uexkull and Buhaug, 2021).Additionally, research aids in comprehending the complex dynamics underlying displacement, enabling the creation of targeted interventions to support affected populations (Kenny and Lawton, 2023). By The following are the key takeaways to consider under the evidence pillar:• Improving the evidence base on climate, conflict, migration and gender is essential to respond to the challenges now and ahead. Both quantitative and qualitative data is required to develop policies that build preventative measures as well as plans to tackle immediate shocks.• Data will strengthen decision-making processes around climate and peace, enabling a more integrated approach to security. Evidence will aid in understanding the pathways for how climate interacts with the national security landscape, enabling a targeted response to climate-related insecurity.process to respond to specific challenges communities are facing through compounding risks of climate and conflict.The policy landscape in a country is critical in addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, peace, security, and displacement. A well-crafted and comprehensive policy framework provides a roadmap for sustainable development, offering guidelines to mitigate climate impacts, promote peace, and enhance security (UNDP, 2023; Mobjörk and Smith, 2017). Climate policies can encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources, sustainable agriculture practices, and resilient infrastructure to build climate resilience.Concurrently, peace and security policies contribute to stability, reducing the likelihood of conflicts that often exacerbate displacement. Moreover, displacement-focused policies can provide a legal and institutional framework for protecting and assisting affected populations. In Mozambique, a conflict sensitive and peace-promoting cohesive and adaptive policy approach is essential for fostering resilience, ensuring the well-being of communities, and creating an environment conducive to long-term peace and security. The following are the key aspects to consider in ensuring a robust policy framework that adequately addresses climate, peace, security and displacement issues in Mozambique:• Integrating climate security into policies such as the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) enables a more joined-up approach between climate and peace related initiatives, and can help to make climate mitigation and adaptation plans and programmes conflict-sensitive and peace-positive.• Similarly, developing climate-sensitive peace and conflict policies strengthens the peace potential and enables a broader spatial scope for climate adaptation. It is essential that the effects of climatic variabilities are carefully considered in policies and plans to improve peace and security, for example in policies and planning related to stabilization and reconstruction in Cabo Delgado.• Guide the climate security agenda by fostering partnerships and collaborations through multistakeholder platforms within different levels of regional, national, and subnational work and between international, national and non-governmental actors to address the multi-dimensional challenges of climate security.Programming is fundamental in addressing the intricate challenges of climate change, peace, security, and displacement in Mozambique. Tailored and effective programming can implement specific initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate change, promote sustainable practices, and enhance environmental resilience (De Coning et al., 2021;Morales-Muñoz et al., 2022). In peace and security, well-designed programming can foster community engagement, conflict resolution, and the establishment of inclusive institutions, contributing to overall stability (UNU -CPR, 2023). Moreover, targeted programming for displaced populations is crucial in providing essential services, livelihood support, and integration strategies. By integrating these elements, programming becomes a strategic tool for creating synergies between climate resilience, peacebuilding, security, and displacement management. In Mozambique, a thoughtful and adaptable programming approach can catalyse transformative change, fostering a more The following points summarize the entry points identified at the workshop:• Implement risk informed programming along the HDP nexus through integrated approaches, responding to the compounding challenges within conflict-affected areas exposed to climate impacts.Understanding climate security-related vulnerabilities improves peace-sensitive operations that work to enhance social cohesion and human security.Increase the capacity of peacebuilders to address climate change impacts and their interaction with peace and conflict dynamics. Enhancing the understanding of concepts and terminology and approaches to identify and address climate-related peace and security risks, leveraging on synergies between peacebuilding and climate action.• Mainstream a gender lens in programming not only as a component of projects but throughout the programming on climate security. Gender-sensitive methodologies can help improve power imbalances and gender-specific vulnerabilities, tactically targeting investment where it is most beneficial.• Re-establish and strengthen local government structures and institutions to drive these processes based on comprehensive climate and conflict analysis mainstreamed into the design and implementation of all development strategies that should aim to tackle both local and national vulnerabilities.Mozambique has been significantly affected by climate variability and change, including cyclones, floods, droughts, and sea-level rise, those combined impacts have in turn exacerbated vulnerabilities, driven displacement, and disrupted the lives and livelihoods of most vulnerable populatons. These climate-driven transformations are combining with pre-existing sources of fragility and conflict to generate social dynamics that make sustainable peace and security even harder to achieve. From a response perspective, the main consequence of this is that current approaches that deals with humanitarian assistance, climate change and development, migration, and peacebuilding from a siloed standpoint are unlikely to succeed.Addressing the peace and security implications of the interaction of climate change impacts with displacement and other sources of the country's fragility requires more coordinated and collaborative efforts where different actors, ranging from governmental institutions to grassroots organisations, have a specific role to play according to their respective expertise, skills and mandates. To realize this vision, which is a better alignment of humanitarian, development and peace strategies, actions need to start from a common understanding of the pathways through which climate change can combine with and reinforce displacement and fragility patterns to negatively affect peace and security outcomes.While the challenges of climate change, fragility, conflict, and displacement entrap local populations in increased vulnerability with dire consequences for human security and resilience, there is insufficient knowledge about the ways in which some of these challenges interact and reinforce each other to affect peace and security outcomes. The workshop and reviewed literature identified resource availability and access, livelihood and food insecurity, disaster and conflict displacement and negative social behaviours as the four pathways for climate and displacement-related risks to peace and security to emerge.While these pathways may unfold differently across different contexts and social scales, they provide opportunities for developing effective response strategies where building resilience to one risk can similarly contribute to building resilience to other risks. More specifically, one of the key takeaways from the workshop is that strong complementarity and synergies exist between transforming conflict systems and addressing the root causes of climate change vulnerability, such as poverty, socio-economic and gender inequality, as well as governance challenges. Promoting more resilient, inclusive and peaceful societies in Mozambique will indeed be possible only by challenging harmful power dynamics and entrenched patterns of exclusion and marginalization that expose populations to any form of shock, be it climatic or conflict.Engagements at the workshop highlighted the need for a coordinated and holistic approach to addressing the intersecting challenges of climate change, peace, security, and migration in Mozambique. This requires collaboration and cooperation among government agencies, civil society organisations, international partners, and local communities to develop and implement context-specific strategies that promote climate adaptation, build resilience, and enhance peace and security. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the importance of addressing the root causes of climate-driven insecurity, such as poverty, inequality, and governance challenges. Additionally, it is vital to promote inclusive and participatory approaches that prioritise the needs and rights of vulnerable populations, including women, children, and marginalized communities.","tokenCount":"8498"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4723389476.json b/data/part_1/4723389476.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..45e6c0e93c80ed3f72de3106e5f3382fac0f1bd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4723389476.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"44cb846c738615afe29f0e80015591b3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de70668a-01fd-4193-af27-44857f55524f/retrieve","id":"1505544915"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bf6ba5a7-f991-468a-8180-57d9032d59ec","pagecount":"22","content":"for the 1 st year by SNC's 2. Realization that facilitation skills are life skills \"These are skills we should use more, even at home\" 3. The impact of facilitation skills and style on attaining a common objective \"The PI's and Co-PI's should have been present at the meeting\" Achievements 4. A deeper understanding of the project goals and activities \"We received more than facilitation training. We now understand a lot more about the project, and aspects of planning for forthcoming activities\" 5. Value chain diagnosis and identification of opportunities to catalyze VC transformation -Priority Action Areas :  2. The quality of stakeholder engagement matters -a lot! 3. We need ongoing injection of inspiration into the system, e.g. celebrating wins as they come 4. Progress will significantly depend on passion and energy of the country teams 5. There is a need to ensure greater participation and engagement of youth and women 6. Innovative use of emerging ICT could catalyze increased participation and sharing within the IP -e.g. WhatsApp in TanzaniaPlans for 2016  ","tokenCount":"172"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4734907108.json b/data/part_1/4734907108.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..892ea8ce20b8cdc1918310ad23e8f1b223893268
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4734907108.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"07f3a778cfba8fa689806acef92e9fe8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f271c942-a0b9-4ed8-a54c-1b9417feceba/retrieve","id":"-1848825449"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cb44760c-7040-4311-8dbb-5a2d463e8b85","pagecount":"8","content":"The project covered by this EMP is the 2006 programme of technology packages being introduced in Fogera Wereda, Amhara Region, a Pilot Learning Wereda (PLW) of IPMS Ethiopia, that are considered likely to have potential environmental impacts.Three types of potential impact of the programme of intervention are considered in the Environmental Screening and Assessment Report (EASR) for this PLW:  Principal environmental impacts, defined as potential effects directly attributable to the concerned IPMS activity (see Table (i) of the EASR);  Cumulative environmental impacts, defined as the possible long-term effects of the concerned activity, including the accumulated effects of multiple activities that may arise in association with, or encouraged by, the concerned activity (see Section 5 of the EASR);  Impacts of the environment on the performance of the concerned activity (see Section 6 of the EASR).A follow-up program to ensure that the recommended mitigating measures are implemented as required will be conducted by the staff of the Environment and Natural Resources Unit in the Wereda Office of Agriculture, with support from IPMS as appropriate. This EMP provides the basic framework for the follow-up.The following Tables set out the potential impacts and related mitigating measures, and the monitoring to be conducted for each mitigating measure.Table (a) shows the indicators to be monitored for the implementation of mitigating measures designed to address the potential impacts of the following activities: Use of agrochemicals in improved cultivation of vegetables and pulses,  Use of livestock and poultry drugs and chemicals  Improved fisheries programme  Improvement in efficiency of cultivating vegetables under irrigation,  Expanded and improved rice production programme,  .   Note that the mitigating measure indicators listed in Tables (a) to (c), and summarised in Table (d), are designed to verify that the mitigating measures are being implemented as intended. It is not intended that the long-term effect of the mitigating measures on the environment should be formally monitored within the scope of the IPMS project, particularly as in most cases such 'state of environment' changes will be measurable only in the long-term. Such monitoring is normally the responsibility of the Wereda authorities. However, the IPMS staff concerned will be alert to any significant environmental change that may occur during the implementation of the programme.There may be exceptions to this general rule. In the case of special topics of environmental concern on which IPMS is arranging for special research to be conducted, the monitoring will include actual environmental impacts. In the case of Fogera Wereda, The Potential Cumulative Environmental Impacts of the Promotion of Peri-Urban Zero-Grazing is one such topic. Depending on the outcome of this research, additional environmental indicators may in due course be generated for inclusion in the regular monitoring programme outlined in the present EMP.The sources of information used for this Environmental Monitoring Plan are as follows: ","tokenCount":"469"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4737033709.json b/data/part_1/4737033709.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..88c49a696117d33054fc4653071b7a1ecd7ffd1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4737033709.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"960987445834ee5bca5db21c073045be","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7170456e-7f30-471b-84ba-adce064e948d/retrieve","id":"-783258740"},"keywords":["Climate-smart agriculture","gender","climate-smart villages","scaling. Regional Program Coordinator"],"sieverID":"2dbe7580-1647-4977-a914-346438e4cd28","pagecount":"43","content":"To cite this report Mehar M. 2020. Compendium of partners for scaling gender and social inclusion. CCAFS Report.Mamta Mehar is an interdisciplinary social scientist and a 2017 Borlaug Fellowship by the US Department of Agriculture. Email: mamta.dse@gmail.com Introduction Vernooy and Bouroncle (2019) have critically reviewed conceptual, methodological, and practical aspects of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) scaling interventions. Their study, analogous to the findings of Koernet et al. (2018), argue that the phrase \"what scaling is\" lacks clarity and is poorly conceptualized. The authors also documented \"poor understanding and use of the theme of gender and no funds to implement gender related activities\" in the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security's (CCAFS) scaling project. To address these challenges, the CCAFS gender and social inclusion (GSI) strategy was recently updated (Huyer et al., 2016). To impact millions, as the CCAFS GSI strategy indicates, scaling requires collaboration with global, national, and local level actors. To scale gender and social inclusive CSA, collaborative partners need to have the potential and vision to address gender norms. The present report is initiated by CCAFS GSI and the Climate Services Flagship to collect information about women's and civil society organizations with the potential to serve as partners for scaling out future GSI outcomes.The information for this report was collected at the global, regional, national, and subnational levels in CCAFS countries and included the following methods:• Semi-structured key interviews with Flagships leaders (FLs), Regional Programmes Leaders (RPL), Project Leaders (PLs), Science Officers (SO), and CCAFS country gender specialists (ex: field researcher, research assistant, senior scientist). Interview participants are listed in Appendix A.• A desk review to cross-examine and complement the information shared by above key informants (KI).The report consists of four parts. The first section will have information compiled under major themes from all regions and countries. The second section includes detailed information about region-specific organisations, with their existing or potential role for CCAFS, specifically GSI, to scale CSA, climate information services (CIS), and climate-smart villages (CSVs). The third section will highlight successful models where organizations have benefitted, or made the effort to reach out to, both men and women equally at a larger scale. The fourth and last section compiles organisational contact information.In total, information from about 75 organisations was received. Due to cross-country complexities surrounding gender-norms, political arrangement, and need, understanding the distribution and type of organisations remains a challenge. The organisations are classified in five major categories, as listed in Table 1. The categorisation is based on common characteristics (refer to Appendix B). In this section, detailed information about collaborating organisations, suggested by KI, are provided, including more information about their classification from Table 1 and their regionspecific prevalence (Table 2 to Table 6). It should be noted that the region listed is where the collaborative organisation conducts its work. Information is also collected to assess their strength in context of collaboration with them for GSI.  • Research protocols to identify and ensure gender and equity research gaps are identified along with gender-responsive research methodologies and outputs.• Establishing a database to collect qualitative and quantitative data on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) indicators, including disaggregation by gender and social groups.• Policy reviews which apply gender and equity filters to identify incentives and barriers for inclusive and equitable ACIS.Part of the ACIS implementation includes engagement with the CCAFS created a gender toolkit, \"Gender and Inclusion Toolbox: Participatory Research in Climate Change and Agriculture.\"Another example is International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in the Philippines, where CCAFS, in cooperation with IIRR, showed how climate-smart interventions can provide opportunities to enhance the economic status of women and reduce gender gaps (Villavicencio et al 2018, Rosimo et al 2018). IIRR tested CSA approaches that were uniquely relevant for women's roles in farming systems.For example, flooring included bedding made of rice husk and raising native pig breeds, which are tolerant to high temperature and heavy rains and typhoons, both of which were previously in men's control (Rosimo et al 2018).South Asia: CCAFS collaborated with a local, non-profit organisation, BAIF Development Research Foundation, in the Betul districts of Madhya Pradesh States of India to scale CSA. To lead the technology implementation, one Super-Champion farmer, four women Champion farmers, and 134 CSA farmers, both women and men, were selected from each of the 25 targeted villages 7 (Chanana et al 2018).Latin America: Plantwise, 8 an initiative led by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) in Colombia, helps farmers manage agriculture loss due to plant health problems. CCAFS trained plant advisors and assistants provided diagnoses, treatment advice, and recommendations to farmers. Women farmers were encouraged to join the program. 9As the Rural Market Opportunities in the Gulf of Fonseca project, led by Swisscontact, is funded by the Canadian Government, the project is subject to Canada's feminist policy for international cooperation. KI believes that, due to Canada's policy, the project will reach and benefit women through the establishment of participation rates. For instance, the project's implementation of Farmer Schools requires a percentage of participants are women. A gender balance is also expected among the project's extensionists and 7 Super-Champions are large landholders, have the capacity to implement a large portfolio of technologies and practices, are financially well-off, and have influence and play a leadership role in developing a climate resilient agricultural production system. Champion farmers are medium to large landholders and can implement a relatively limited number of technologies and practices. CSA farmers are small, resource poor landholders who can implement a very limited set of technologies and practices. 8 https://www.plantwise.org/ 9 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/working-women-farmers-make-cambodian-communities-%E2%80%9Cplantwise%E2%80%9D#.XfOHyugzaUl specialists. Furthermore, through intra-household surveys, focus groups, and participatory workshops, barriers for women's empowerment and/or involvement in the value chains of the study, including cashews, dairy, and fruits, where identified. Overall, the project implemented actions that reduce, or at the very least do not increase, gaps.Another ongoing project, titled \"His and hers, time and income: How intra-household dynamics impact nutrition in agricultural households,\" 10 partners with CRS to reach and benefit women. The prime focus is to understand how intra-household relations affect nutritional outcomes. To do this, the preferences of both men and women are studied to understand the relationship between preferences and the nutritional status of all household members (Muriel et al 2019).CCAFS in Latin America also regularly interacts with policymakers at the regional level, such as the Parliamentary Institute of Colombia, to support the adaptation and implementation of gender and social inclusion principles. 11,12   A national guide, using a participatory approach, was developed, 13 with CARE involved in some of the workshops that helped to develop the gender guide. The CCAFS Latin America team felt CARE had a strong gender focus and suggested the organisation as a potential strategic partner.Together, these cases point to important considerations for initiatives which seek to scale-out gender outcomes. Employing information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as television, radio, and mobile phones, as in the case of East and West Africa, can make information more accessible. Projects should also explicitly focus on the needs and perspectives of men and women, including the collection of sex-disaggregated data. In the case of Southeast Asia and Latin America, women were actively included in project design and implementation. Finally, the use of gender toolkits and guides, such as those used in Latin America and Southeast Asia, can help researchers and project practitioners to plan and carry out project-related activities with a gender focus.To plan for scaling, the KIs were asked, \"What strategy or approach you have in plan/progress for gender inclusion. Are there any specific target for scaling CSA/CSV/CIS with gender inclusion?\"The Southeast Asia team suggested, that for Phase 2 of CCAFS, the FP2 project will focus on scaling gender-sensitive CSVs in Southeast Asia. Previous CSV projects generated a pool of scalable, transformative CSA innovations, with the potential to deliver outcomes at scale, including gender.For CIS, the Climate Services Menu for the Southeast Asia project will ensure gender roles are clearly understood and addressed as a scaling driver in the framework. Mechanisms for assessing and including youth in design and implementation of climate services will be assessed as a factor to define potential scaling pathways across CS-VC. Sustainable climate services require that women and men are involved in designing business models and scaling pathways for CS-VC. In connection to this, the project will evaluate user categories, as gender is a scaling driver in the business model. The role of youth as intermediaries, or translators of climate services, especially for digital climate service solutions will be investigated.The Latin America team developed a national guide for the inclusion of gender issues in CSA initiatives in Guatemala using a participatory approach. Since 2018, CCAFS has worked closely with the climate change and gender units of Guatemala's Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA) to improve the integration of gender considerations in activities. The gender guide exemplifies the results from four participatory workshops with 22 institutions in the country. The gender guide is expected to be implemented within a national program called Programa de Agricultura Familiar para el Fortaleciminento de la Economía Campesina (PAFFEC) of the MAGA. The guide has already been distributed to extension agents in Guatemala. To further scale efforts, the gender guide was also presented in different avenues to various Central American countries, including a Spanish gender guide titled, Paso a paso para la inclusión en género en iniciativas de agricultura sostenible adptada al clima para Guatemala. 14The information in this report was received from KIs of different backgrounds and institutes within CCAFS. The information was cross-checked with a secondary search. Key points, based on interaction with KIs, include:• The prevalence of organisational collaboration between CCAFS and other organisations varied across region and type of collaborative organisation. West African and Southeast Asian countries appear to have the most incidents of collaboration, while South Asia shared the least information. Although Latin America had relatively few actual collaborations, there were many potential organisations mentioned.• Most of the organisations mentioned are local-and national-level governmental organisations.The West and East Africa CCAFS programs differed in that most collaborations were with nonprofit or private organisations.• Organisations can be stand-alone platforms or multiple organisations can complement each other to scale-up. For example, in the case of the East African television show, Shamba Shape Up, information about, including the benefits of, CSA/CIS practices can be shared. Field government offices or other local organisations, such as private organisations or NGOs, can provide demonstrations and technology/service trainings. Private players or NGOs can assure the availability and accessibility of CSA technologies and/or services.• While few organisations have collaborated with CCAFS in the last two years to undertake gender inclusive research themes, there are a few successful examples (see Section III).It is important to understand the scaling unit's dimension (ex: household, community, village or community-based organisation). The needs and priorities of men and women vary across entire value chains, which is important to consider for scaling. An understanding of how, where, and in which contexts CSA-relevant technologies and practices influence gender with evidence from South Asia and Africa is discussed by (Mehar & Subash 2020). These arguments should be considered for the report.CCAFS programs are also implemented at different capacity levels, with single-, multi-, and transdiscipline approaches incorporated into various programs. Guidelines for a common methodological approach, one which integrates gender and includes gender analysis in program and research design, is important for encouraging all disciplines to work with similar gender concepts and to develop a GSI strategy plan. 15 Give the importance of gender to CCAFS' work and scaling CSA activities, identifying potential partners at the global, regional, national, and sub-national levels is essential. As this analysis lists only organisational details, it is important for future work to authenticate organisations and to","tokenCount":"1943"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4755359623.json b/data/part_1/4755359623.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..394b9166aa69e03eb6c96b2f47dcfd4c17a09931
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4755359623.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6a2e23b1d5bafdd20565cd309fee9b97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b88144bf-7c09-4665-9453-4904e4831d2f/retrieve","id":"-420930977"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f88735ff-f028-4606-ac50-015e0ffa379d","pagecount":"22","content":"An importé.nt objective of agricultural rcsearch i\" to achieve incrcaseu fo'od consufilption and improved nutritivn, especially arnong the poor. In order to assess hot\" best to achieve thiG objective, it i5 nccessary to have sorne understanding oi the factor s detennining food cons\\1¡r,ption pattern8 and change in diets.Individual prcferences of consumers, that 1.6. psycholor,jc~l attitudes towaJ'ds díffercnt foods, interact with <,o.on01ni\" facton to determine food consumptioit. ¡,hether people prefer red beans to hlnck, 01' sir10in steaks to halllhurg, or rice to maize, are important influences on what they C,1t. The ability to exercige preferences and \"at the most high1)' prefencd foods, though. is frequcntly constrained by economic circumstances. Ií income 15 Iow and prices of preferred foods high, food consumption cwbits have to be adapted accordingly.As Lat1n American societies increasingly urbani7.\", and agriculture becomes ever more commercial ized even amone small farmers, I,hat peorle eat in lhe region 15 mediated tbrough tI\", markct. With the role oí subsistence productJon of foad declhlÍng in Latin America, food consumption pattcr\\15 are strongly related to prices and 1ncomc8. 'fhe • Bean COllSUmpUOncentral focus of this paper 15 to explore ho\" econom!c factors-priccE and incomes-affcet food eonsumption in Cali, Colombia.ThIs paper examines food consumption patterns among household of different income levels in Cali. Particular attention ls paid to bean consumptlon habits, but the relation between cOllsumption ,\"nd income is examined for cassava, rice. and beef. as weH as for bealls. Chnngrf' in Cali dict over the la-st decade are presented, 8nd the inf.1llrnrp \"r priccR on ehang\"\" in food consumption, is eonsidered. Fina 11y, the contribution of different foods to protein nutrition ia analyzed.Survey intcrvie,lE covering food cxpenditures, family charaeteristics, income, and bean consumption and prefer~nces, viere conducted with a sample of 186 house,-,ives in Cali, Colombia, in Augllst 1982. As is commun in household survey, a two stage cluster sampling procedure was utilized (Solnim; Cochrane). In the first .stage, a stratified random salOple of neighborhoods was drawn. These neighborhoods \"ere stratified into íncome eategories based on the Colombian census. Then from thesc neigltborhoods, households were randomly selccted so that a 1/1000 sample was drawn from c~ch ineOIlil' group as defined by the Colombian cenSURo FOE the purpose o[ an.ly.in, many of the results of the surv<?y are presented by four incom~ gr~\"I'•.Eaeh strata contains rotlghly 25% of the surveycd households, ranked by reported per capita ineome. The results of this 1982 survey are frequent1y compared with those of a 1970 survey. al so carricd out 'by CIAT in Cal! (Anderson & Londoño,undated) Both samples are dívidcd into four income graups. Thcse groups are similar in definition, and offcr a fair basis for comparíEon.Ilousewives were interviewed about their family's bean consumption and pllrchase habits. In the vast majority of families the housewives are responsible for bllying the beans, so they are clcarly the approprinte subject for the lnterview (Tahle 1). Some differences ~\"jst by income 1evel in the type of retail outlet in which beans are boup,ht.The proportion of families buying beans in neighborhood shops is highest among the 10\\01 inceme graups and declines steadiIy as lnceme rises (TabIe 2). Purchases in \"galerías\" acceunt for a third of bean purcha\"es, except among the highest income group. FinaIly, supermarkets are a far more impertant source of beans for the highcst income group than for lower income levels. Ilence, there are some fairly marked•differences by income group in \"he re people buy hean8. Any effort do \"58ess bean market eondHions by ohserving 1.hat happens <it the retail leve1, must take into account these differences.Frequency of buying beans also diffcrs by incoroe group (Table 3).Although across a11 income groups most peop]e purchase bean\" in their weekIy marketing, among the low income groups sorne people buy beans as they need thern on a day to day basis. In eontrast, purchase of beans on él bi-\"eeltJy basís is most common among the high incomc groups, who have least clifficulty in financing stocks oí food to be storcd at home. Similarly, diffcrences exist by lncome group in the frequency of bean consumption, with the poore8t famiIies eating beans an average of 3.2 times per ueek, and the high income familü,s cating benns on1;, 2.2 times per week (rabIe 4). Moreover, the quantity of dry beans eonsumed per capita (exeluding '''¡ütc beans and beans bought when still green), is relatively constant across income groups. lil conscquence, the poor cat an average of 56 grams oí beans per serving, \"hile the hígh income group eats un average of 82 grams/serving. Thus, the poor are stretch:lng out their bean consumption, in part by simply eating smaller portions, and in part by preparing hcons mjxcd \"lth potatocs and plantains, which thicltens broth while lUDintaining thc appearnnce and toste of benns. As incomes rfsc, people achieve greater diverH1ty In tbeir dict and cat beans less frequently, but their overa11 consumption remains constant because the amount of consumed per serving increases.Bean consumption in Cali Can be grouped convenientJy into threc categories: dry beans, a11 the red aud red mottled types as well as black beans; white beans, \"blanquillo\", ,{hich are not conm,o,¡}y recogn:lzed as beans (frijol) but are considered by consumers to be a differeut product; and Breen beaus. The latter are s.eed of the common red varieties, harvcsted before physio1ogical maturHy. Dry henns comprise the bulk of bean constlmption, but white and green beans are a1so quite important (TabIe 5). Consumption of these three types oí beans is relatively constant across income groups.Among legumes, bcans hold the majar market share in Cal! (Table 6).Although this is true in all iucome groups, beans have a .rclatively greater market ahare among low income groups. 'fhe incrcasing market share for peas is probably due principally to greater consun1ption of fr~\"h peas as a vegetable among the relativel)' welf to dó. 'fhe consuIllption of peas ,md lentils i8 much greater in the h1gh income groups (Tahle 7). In Cali total legume cousumption docs arpear to rise lV'ith increasing income, but bean consumption remains constnnt. Lm.¡er price or improved quality factor s might enable beanü to compete for a share of the rise in legume consumption that occurs with increased incomes, but consumera may beexpressiug a desire far a more diversified diet, varying the traditioual staple legume of Colombia, beuns, with ather legumes.Not only does divcrsity exist •among different grain lcgumcs in the diet, but a1so there exiRts a nlllnber oi bean varieties which are important in Cali (Table 8). Red beans clearly dominate the markct, there are five major varieties of red s rhat are conunonly consumed.(here red benns refer to bcans that are red WllCll cooked). These Uve reds occupy \"ver 60% of the total hean morket: Cnlima ho1ds 26.4% of the mnrket, Rojo Americano 13.3%; and Hortiiio 12.71:. Fr('sh or f,reen beans, a high proportion of which are Calima bcans, have 19.0% of the but market. White beans are also qui.te important wlth 16.4% of the mm:ket, but black beans account for only 2.4%.Among the red bean varieties, important differences exist in prices. These price differences are hypothesized to be related to differences in quality characteristics of the varieties such as size, cooking time, and broth thlckness. Laboratory tests of theGe tralts \"ere conducted by the Nutritíonal Quality Laboratory at CIAT for lIJe five principal red seed types found in the Cali market. Cooking tIme and broth thickncss «ere [ound to have no statistically signiftcalll relatíon to price. Host consumers in Cali use pressllre cookers, so cooking time is not a major factor, while many consumers add plantains or pota toes to the beans in order to thicken the broth, makíng the inherent broth thíckness of the beans themselvcs a not especially important quality factor. In contrast seed síze was found to be strongly related to price in a linear regression eqllation.(1) Y = 26.05 + 0.45 x where, y = retaíl price, and x = \"eight in grans of 100 secds. This equation indicates quite clearly that, in the Cali mClrkct, given \"n acceptably red color, seed size i8 the principal dcterminm1t of price.Sinee size is the main discríminatíng factor in terms of consumer preference for red beans in Cali, red beaos were grouped inta two categorics: hlgh quallty, high price, preferred, large sceds, and low quality, lo\" price less prE'ferred amall seeded varietíes (Table 9)-. The cheaper small reds are consumed primarily in the lo\" income groups; \\-11th consumptian declíning as income rises. The more expensive large reds playa very small role in bean eonsumptian <1mong the poor, but their importance ríscs as incaUte lncreascs. From thls it i8 clear that product differentíation exists Dmong red beons by size in the Cali market. Thus, consumption functions are estimatcd for the t«o typc o[ beans.In the estimated [unctiong, household cxp,;,nditures on beans are dependcnt on total famUy in come , number of family members, and a dummy variable for regional origin of the family. reo pIe from the Antioqnian region oí Colombia are known, among other things, for belng great consumers of beans. In the Cali sample, families in which either the house,life or her huslland comes from Antioqllia, have much higher average eonsumption of red beans than [\"milies that do not come from Antioqnia, exeept within the highest income group (Table 10).The equations \"'ere estimated in several functional [orms, of \"hieh the inverse provided the best fit (Table 11). Income elasticities of demand calclllated from these equations show that small red beans are an inferior good at all income levels, that is their consumption, drops with rising incoroe (Table 12). However, large red beans have a {airly high elasticity of óemand among the poor, indicating that consllmptJ.on of large reds viII incrense fairly rapidly among the poor ns tlleir incnmes incrcasc. Among the highest incom\" group, though, there is little further growth in large bean consumption as incomes rise. These results indica te a fairly wenk demand for small seeded red beans, but a stronger demand for large seeded red beans, especially among low and middle income groups.Sorne changes in the consumption oí grain legumes can be notecl hy comparing the data of this 1982 with those of a 1970 survey also conducted in Cali (Table 13). Among the bighcst income group, consumption of beans, peas, and lentils all appear to have declíncd, whilc among the lm,er lncome groups, grain lef,llroe eonsumption has generally risen. Thus, in 1970 bean consumption rose fairly consistently \"ith increasing income. By 1982, rising consumption of beans among the poor lcd to essentia1ly COllstant consumption across income elasses. Lentil and pea consumption c¿ntinues to be greater among Ioigh lncome gronp\"', in 1982 as in 1970, even though consumption rose amo\\lg the lower J.ncornc grotlps wloile it tlcclined amang the highcst income group.Not only do there appear to be changes in the consumption of h,,;ms and other lcgumes between 1970 snd 1982, but significant changes have occurred in other cornmodities, for examp1e in cassava and potatoes. In the 1970 survey cassava consumption was very high within the low income group, 35.6 kg/capita/yr.\" (TabIe 13). Moreover, cassava was very \",nch a food of the poor at this time, with consumption highest in the low income grDup, Ilnd lowest in the hieh lncome grDups. By 1982 this pattern had been reversed. Cassava consumption dropped dramaticaJly in the three lowest income groups, and consumption was now lowest among the poorest income group, 8.3 kg/capita/yr. At the sllme time there a1so appears to have occurred some shifts in patato consumpCion. Hhile patato consumption was re1atively constant acroes incorne grDups at about 30 ke/capita in 1970, in 1982 it wns ~bout 50-60 kg/capita. However, given the sharp drop in cassava consumption in the two lowest income groups, total root and tuber consumption remained constant in these strata, with the rise in potato consumption a1most exact1y substituting for the fall in cassava consumption.Changes have occurrcd in the consumption of ccreals (rabie 14). In 1970 rice conswnption was about 30-32 kg/capita. For the three lowcst income groups, and their intake of rice rose slightly to about 36-38 kg/capita. Nore drmnntic changes took place in maize. Like cass,wa, in 1970 maize was princ:ipally a food for che poor and its consl1Inption \"'DS lowest among the high incomc group. Like cassavo, by 1982 a dramatic decline in maize consumption had occurred in a1l but the highest in come group. \"hile maize consumption Has falling, consumption of wheat products incrcased substanttally. Some shífts in the consumption of meats can also be observed.Although there appeara to be little change in the consumptlon of beef, per capita pork consumption has plunged in 011 income groups, and chicken cOllsumption Iios soarcd in all income groups.In sum, then, caBsava, maize und pork consumption have declined dramatieally in Cali since 1970. Consumption of beef. beilns and rice has changed relatively little, with perhaps some slight tendency to increase. Rapid growth in the consumption of chicken, wheat products, and pota toes has oecurred. The sources of these ehanges can to a large extcnt be understood by comparing changes in consumption with change in prices (Table 14). Here, a very clear relationship Can be noted. Thosp products whose prices have risen most, have had majar declines in consumptiol1 (eassava, mai.ze, and pork). Those products whosc prie€' in constant pesos have fallen or risen least (ehieken, wheat, potatoes), have had the greatest increases in consumption.Although consumers have preferences which affeet their food consumption patterns, prices are clearly an extremcly powcrful ínfluellce on food consumption. Cassava has been displaced by pota toes from the diets of the poor because of chan¡;cs in relative príccs. Similarly chicken has substituted for pork, and \"heat has substitl1teu tor mai;;c, all due principally to changes in prices•. Since príces can cause such major shifts in food consumption, the potential impart of new agricultural production technologies which alter rclative prices, should be obvious.However, relative prices are not the sole economic factor that exerts influence on food consumptl.on patterns. As was Scen abpve in the consumption functions estimated for beans, income is also an l.mport<lnt determinant of what peopIe eat. •1'0 examine this relatlonship, consumption functions have been estimated for the CIAT conunodities-ricc, beef and cassava, and provisional results are presentcd here (Table 15).Equatíons were estimated for ea eh product in a variety of functional forros, and the mode1s ,-dth the best fit were chosen for eaeh product (rice and cassava 10g ínverse; beef semi-log). In the cases of rice and beef fair1y good fits were obtailled, but the R 2 in the cassava equ8.tion is quite 101\".From these equations the incorne elasticity of demand ls conlputed for each product for each income grollp (Table 16).The clasticities for rice are quite 10w, indicating lhat people in Cal! are very near saturatíon wit11 respcct to rice consumpt!on. ~lilh growing incomes. rice consllmption should not be expected to inercas\".In Cali, it is very near a maXintllm in per capita consumptíon, and future market growth for rice w111 come almost 501e1y from increasing popu1ation.The income elasticities of dcmand for becf are fatrly large comparcd to the otllcr food prodllcts. Although these provisional estimated elastieitics are not quite so high as othcrs reported [or beef, sti11 the demand for heef is strong compared to other food products.The eassava model suggests that there is Jittle tendency for consumption to ríse lúth increased incom\", and this is relatively consisteut l-dth avcru¡;e per capita consumption levels hy íncoUlc grollp (Table 13), which sho\" essential1y constant consumptioil across in come groups 2, 3 aud 4. Nevcrtheless, the cassava equatíon 15 not sufficientIy powerflll to permit the dra\"ing of categorica1 conclusíons.  group 2 probably have significant protein problems, \"hile others do noto Among those in the lowest illcome group \",ho are most exposed to protein malnutrition, there have been sorne major chan!)es in the eomposition of their protein intake. In 1970, maíze \"'liS the leadjl1~ source of protein ín the diet of the poor in Cali, eontrjbuting 22.5;( oí total protein (Table 18). As a result af the sharp faH ín maize consumption, by 1982 it provided --7.7% of total protein ín the dict of the poor. Bcef, rice, and beans are the next three most important.sources of protein in the diets of the pOOl', and were the top thrcc protein sources for the poor in 1982. They were al1 somewhat more important sources of protein in 1982 than they had been in 1970. 1'h\" protein contribution of wheat prouucts and ehicken both rose quite dramatieally in this period, while that of pork fel! precipitously.Priees are an important explanatory factor in ehaneing pattenlS of nutritíon. \\fucn maíze \"'as the leading source of protein in 1970, ,it ,;as also by far the cheapest souree oí protein (TabIe 19). In 1982 itremained a fairly chcap source of protein, but it was no longer such an outstanding protein bargain as it had becn, and its importanee declined.Both io 1970 and in 1982, beans was a very clieap forro of protein, and coosequeotly was a majar eontributor to protein nutrition. Lenti1s, which \"ere a re1atively more expensive form of protein than beans in 1970, had achieved price competitiveness with beans by 1982.Beef occupicd 11 promincnt positian in both periods, even though It was ah.'ays a fair1y expensive [orm of proteia. It was lhc cheapcst meat protein in 1970, by in 1982 chickcll was the cheapest meat protcin.Thesc prlro changes, along with tl,oRe ohserved in pork Rod eees, nre very consistcnt with changes in the relativo role of differellt foods in protein nntritíon. Foods, like maíze and pork, that lose ground in their price competitiveness, can face rapidly dcclining markets. In this context, the increasing price competitiveness of chicken meat compared to hecf, cotlld lead to a long run erosion in the market dominancc that hecf cllrrently enjoys in the meat sub-sector.Similarly, among lcgumes, benns face competition witl, lcuti18. , ,n. _ the relative price of lentils has fallen, its market share in the legume sub-sector has risen. Preferences do afford sorne pratection to preferred foads. Beef remains the majar meat, and the leading pratein source, even among the paor, despite its fairly high price compared to other pratein saur~es.Still, competitían from cheap substitutes, can be disasterous tor a producto Cassava, for example, was á ve~y cheap calorie source in 1970, but its rising price led ta its displacement in the market by 1982 (Table 20). Rice and caSS8va equatlons are specificd in lag inverse form, whiIc that beef i8 in the semi-lag formo .03 .42 .07----- ","tokenCount":"3067"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4766867799.json b/data/part_1/4766867799.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a80dbb86638aefc1a1af739925cb36ffa3331d92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4766867799.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9c1df6d846524bead41515532ed25e6d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/1BEBFCF4606D33B57E19C6BFE0C54731/S2755177623000163a.pdf/place-for-sociohydrology-in-sustainable-and-climate-resilient-agriculture-review-and-ways-forward.pdf","id":"1069233946"},"keywords":["agricultural water","climate change","human behaviour","resilience","socio-hydrology"],"sieverID":"46074d68-8eaa-485c-a656-98389a003014","pagecount":"11","content":"Given the increasing demand for high-quality food and protein, global food security remains a challenge, particularly in the face of global change. However, since agriculture, food and water security are inextricably linked, they need to be examined via an interdisciplinary lens. Sociohydrology was introduced from a post-positivist perspective to explore and describe the bidirectional feedbacks and dynamics between human and water systems. This review situates sociohydrology in the agricultural domain, highlighting its contributions in explaining the unintended consequences of water management interventions, addressing climate change impacts due to/on agriculture and incorporating human behaviour into the description of agricultural water systems. Sociohydrology has combined social and psychological insights with novel data sources and diverse multi-method approaches to model human behaviour. However, as agriculture and agriculturalists face global change, sociohydrology can better use concepts from resilience thinking more explicitly to identify gaps in terms of desirable properties in resilient agricultural water systems, potentially informing more holistic climate adaptation policy.Agriculture is key to human survival but has large impacts on resources and the environment globally. Out of the nine planetary boundaries (Steffen et al., 2015), agriculture is a major driver of four boundaries which have been completely transgressed, that is, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, land system change and freshwater use (Richardson et al., 2023). Agriculture also both affects and is affected by climate changeanother boundary that has been transgressed (Richardson et al., 2023), thus requiring a reduction of its environmental impacts while adapting it to future climates. Changing earth systems and biosphere further hinder human development and well-being outcomes, such as ensuring just and equitable access to resources while remaining within the planetary boundaries (Steffen et al., 2015;Folke et al., 2021;Rockström et al., 2021).Given the increasing demand for high-quality food and protein caused by global population growth and changing diets, global food security remains a challenge (Calicioglu et al., 2019). While food availability and total material wealth have improved globally, unsustainable resource exploitation (leading to resource scarcity), pollution and degradation of ecosystem services, and inequitable social-economic and political conditions remain challenges to local and global food systems (Raudsepp-Hearne et al., 2010;Steffen et al., 2011;Zwarteveen and Boelens, 2014;Gordon et al., 2017). FAO (2017) has recognised several global agricultural needs such as addressing climate change and the associated intensification of natural hazards, and eradicating extreme poverty and reducing inequality, for example, in the context of agriculturalists.Agriculture, food and water security are inextricably linked (Pereira, 2017). Agriculture uses about 38% and 70% of the global land and freshwater resources, respectively (Pimentel et al., 2004;Rosegrant et al., 2009;FAO, 2020). Water footprint of food production (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2014;Senthil Kumar and Janet Joshiba, 2019), and blue and green water needs for agriculture (Chiarelli et al., 2020;Wang-Erlandsson et al., 2022) are large. Hence, how we design future agriculture is driven by and affects local water resources, which are limited, spatially dispersed and uncertain under climate change (Matthews et al., 2022).Water availability and management are complex issues due to the coupling of social and biogeophysical processes, and need to be looked at through an interdisciplinary lens such as hydrosocial, water food energy (WFE) nexus and sociohydrological approaches (Vogel et al., 2015). Hydrosocial approaches apply a political ecology lens and use qualitative methods to unpack social, cultural, political and economic issues in terms of either access or control that emerge from human interactions with its water environments (Ross and Chang, 2020;Haeffner et al., 2021). The WFE nexus can be seen as a top-down quantitative approach to simulate or interpret human-agricultural water relations. It identifies and defines connections between water, food and energy subcomponents and uses them to simulate the trajectories of variables such as water and energy use, as well as food and energy production (Khan et al., 2022). Sociohydrology was introduced from a post-positivist perspective to study and account for the bidirectional feedbacks and dynamics between human and water systems (Sivapalan et al., 2012). It aims at interpreting the coupled evolution of such systems using inter-, multi-and transdisciplinary methods along a spectrum of qualitative and quantitative methods, eventually informing policy (Di Baldassarre et al., 2019). Endogenous human agency has been central to its bottom-up approaches, yet it has mostly limited itself to emergent patterns and not been so much about the agents such as agriculturalists, for example, what properties of a system can sustain climate-resilient livelihoods.This requires a review of what sociohydrology has learned that can aid agriculturalists adapting to climate variability, for example, through the understanding of mechanisms underlying adoption of technologies, and what remains to be learned. For example, is sociohydrological understanding of human behaviour underlying adoption, adaptation and water use enough or is there more to translate this to understanding resilient (or not) agricultural water systems? For this, Section \"Sociohydrological understanding of emergent dynamics in agriculture water systems\" first illustrates how sociohydrology has been able to understand the emergent dynamics (including paradoxes) that arise within agricultural systems. Section \"Sociohydrology in addressing climate change\" relates this to agricultural water systems facing climate change. Section \"Incorporating human behaviour into sociohydrological understanding\" examines efforts to endogenise human behaviour in sociohydrology and highlights the need to identify desirable properties of resilient agricultural water systems. Section \"Emerging sociohydrological issues: integrating resilience thinking into agricultural water and for agriculturalists\" suggests a way forward for future sociohydrological studies to incorporate and address resilience for agriculturalists and in agricultural systems. Section \"Conclusions and ways forward\" concludes the review.Agricultural challenges are complex and context-specific, often resulting from the interplay of factors such as population requirements, governance, water scarcity and climate. In many regions, challenges of increasing food production are linked to agricultural water management (i.e., irrigation management and/or a socioecological imbalance between the approach to agricultural development and ecological limits including available water resources) (Pimentel et al., 2004;Pereira, 2017;Turner et al., 2019). Future irrigation management will likely require increased irrigation coverage and improved irrigation efficiency, through central and decentralised infrastructure/measures, particularly in the face of global change projections. The increasing demands for finite water resources in agriculture have led to a focus on the need for shifting towards demand-side management of water in agriculture instead of supply-driven solutions (Di Baldassarre et al., 2018;Garrick et al., 2020). Such infrastructural irrigation solutions can be complemented by improved water management, through measures like using locally adapted crop varieties (e.g., avoiding water-intensive crops in water-scarce areas), water-smart production methods (e.g., soil management and other techniques to minimise water loss through evapotranspiration) and water harvesting (Oweis and Hachum, 2006;Castelli et al., 2019).Yet, ill-planned implementation of these interventions can lead to negative externalities and unintended and unexpected impacts on hydrological and social systems (Alam et al., 2022). Human adaptation can lead to a \"lock-in\" towards unintended or undesired states (Pouladi et al., 2022;Prasad et al., 2022). Irrigation investments can significantly alter the availability and allocation of water flows in a given region, leading to hydrological externalities such as reduced runoff, upstream-downstream impacts, decreased groundwater recharge and baseflows (Calder et al., 2008;Bouma et al., 2011;Alam et al., 2022). At the same time, societies can respond to these interventions and new hydrological conditions in unpredictable and nonlinear ways (Zhang et al., 2014;Alam et al., 2022).For example, improvements in irrigation water-use efficiency have not always resulted in effective or equitable allocation of finite water resources (Perry and Steduto, 2017;Grafton et al., 2018). Rather, such interventions have often led to increased water use instead of the expected reduction (Zhang et al., 2014;Birkenholtz, 2017). This phenomenon is known as the irrigation efficiency paradox (a subphenomenon of the Jevons' paradox or the rebound effect), which can be explained by the supply-demand cycle -'as availability increases, consumption tends to increase' (Di Baldassarre et al., 2019Baldassarre et al., , 2018)).Sociohydrology explicitly accounts for the changing and adaptive responses of humans and their impact on the environment. Sociohydrological models have investigated many of these externalities, unintended consequences and emerging phenomena (see Table 1 for some examples). For example, Ghoreishi et al. (2021aGhoreishi et al. ( , 2021b) ) developed and applied an agricultural water demand model to understand and model the phenomenon of the rebound effect in the Bow River basin in Canada where water conservation strategies to reduce water usage have in fact led to increased irrigation. Birkenholtz (2017) showed that policies supporting drip irrigation to reduce water use paradoxically led to crop intensification and increased groundwater extraction. Ilyas et al. (2021) developed a system dynamic sociohydrological model to understand and simulate the phenomenon of irrigation efficiency paradox (Jevons' paradox for irrigation efficiency), where increasing on-farm irrigation efficiency does not lead to increased water availability at the basin scale. Similarly, Kuil et al. (2018) showed how the rebound effect can be captured by developing a sociohydrological model framework which links farmers' perceptions of water availability to their crop choice and water allocation in Kenya's Upper Ewaso Ng'iro basin. Pouladi et al. (2022) provided a sociohydrological explanation of the lock-in effect of lake desiccation and soil salinisation of Lake Urmia (Iran), which resulted from interacting anthropogenic and (surface and subsurface) environmental processes, while Prasad et al. (2022) explained lock-in in irrigation from groundwater emerging from 'aspirational' and 'vulnerability' intensification that is mediated by agriculturalists' perception of income risks in horticulture in Maharashtra (India). Garrick et al. (2019) have pointed out that water reallocations from agriculture to cities have been documented in many regions across the world. Fuelled by growing urban populations, such transfers are shown to have inequitable outcomes both within cities and for rural agriculturalists (Boelens et al., 2018). Such transfers may challenge not only food systems but also especially impact smallholder farmers and their associated livelihoods and cultures. Garrick et al. (2019) indicated that water-use efficiency measures can either be a driver or be adopted as a result of such rural-urban transfers. Such efforts to increase water-use efficiency have often triggered complex power dynamics with impacts on surface water irrigation management where tail-end and smaller farmers are adversely impacted (Hu et al., 2017;Linstead, 2018). Such phenomena are important topics to address with sociohydrology. Table 1 provides an overview of such phenomena related to agricultural water studies in sociohydrology.Not accounting for such externalities and human-water feedbacks can lead to limited understanding of unsustainable outcomes such as drying of reservoirs and wetlands, groundwater depletion, and water, soil and ecosystem deterioration. Additionally, these negative impacts are often mediated by weak financial capital, knowledge, gender and power relations, leading to affect certain and often poor and marginalised populations disproportionately. Often rich or influential farmers with more access to social, financial and biophysical capital capture more advantages, more subsidies and more benefits, thus exacerbating existing inequalities. Thus before investing, it is crucial to consider potential negative externalities and feedbacks to avoid reinforcing existing inequalities and longterm natural resource degradation.Climate change is affecting the availability of the water resources vital to agriculture via changes to precipitation patterns (quantity, intensity, types and timing), snowmelt timing and rate, stream flows, groundwater recharge, soil moisture, increased temperature and hence atmospheric water demands and evapotranspiration (Jimenez Cisneros et al., 2014;Ficklin and Novick, 2017;Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021). A reduction in water available for crops is expected (Cook et al., 2020). The increased frequency of intense precipitation and long dry spells and changes in their timing (Breinl et al., 2020) are expected to further increase variability in water availability. Together, these changes are projected to reduce average crop yields (e.g., Hasegawa et al., 2022) and their year-to-year stability (Challinor et al., 2014). Impacts additionally reverberate throughout non-production aspects of local and global food systems (i.e., energy consumption, storage, transportation and food safety). Smallholder farmers can be particularly vulnerable, having limited financial capital, debt cycles and dependence on rainfed agriculture. While climate trends are a challenge for average crop yields and their stability, and hence food security, the impact and extent of such trends and extremes can be exacerbated or alleviated by human decisions and management (Kreibich et al., 2023).Adaptations to changed growing conditions have been proposed, such as changes in crops and their planting dates, enhanced crop diversification in space and time, drought-resistant crop varieties, water and soil conservation practices, agroecology (i.e., agricultural production drawing on ecological principles and traditional management which may be particularly useful to smallholder farmers) and irrigation application. While these approaches have the potential to reduce the impact of detrimental climatic conditions (e.g., Hasegawa et al., 2022), they might clash with other needs and preferences, or have unintended consequences.To exemplify these mechanisms, we consider multiple cases, beginning with irrigation as a measure to climate change adaptation. Irrigation can substantially reduce the impact of projected heat and water stress (e.g., Siebert et al., 2017;Luan and Vico, 2021). Model estimates show that deficit irrigation (i.e., irrigation aimed at stabilising yields and maximising water productivity, but not necessarily maximising yields; Zhang and Oweis, 1999) could be sustainably expanded in approximately a third of currently rain-fed croplands under a + 3 °C warming (Rosa et al., 2020). Yet, the choice of water source for irrigation affects and is affected by the sociohydrological system, requiring difficult decisions. For example, crop yield maximisation and risk minimisation emerged as increasingly hard to reconcile under more extreme climatic conditions, according to a model for sizing small on-farm ponds as sustainable source of water for irrigation. At the regional scale, the choice of source of irrigation water is not just a question of water availability (Bierkens and Wada, 2019) but also a problem of collective action. An agent-based model (ABM) showed a single farmer can attain the highest average economic return exploiting a communal resource (groundwater) in a community that is otherwise long-view oriented, that is, privileges renewable water sources (e.g., small farm ponds; Tamburino et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the advantage diminished under more extreme climatic conditions. Considering the entire community and the evolution of choices of water source based on previous experiences, an intensification of climatic extremes reduced the fraction of long-view farmers, that is, those relying on renewable water sources instead of nonrenewable groundwater, and caused a worsening of average economic gain and its stability. This is the consequence of nonrational decisions (Di Baldassarre et al., 2019;Schill et al., 2019) and experiential lock-ins (Payo et al., 2016) and might be exacerbated by policies that undermine the sociocultural underpinnings of collective action in traditional societies (Basel et al., 2021). All in all, climate change and feedbacks between social, hydrological and climate systems (Basel et al., 2022) could enhance the environmental fragility-economic poverty vicious circle (Cheng et al., 2019) and undermine food systems, leading to unintended consequences. These feedbacks and the place for sociohydrological understanding of collective, traditional or individualistic behavioural outcomes are particularly strong when considering smallholder farming. For example, cropping decisions in the Dhidhessa basin (Ethiopia) were influenced by lower sensitivity of crop prices to rainfall variability and farmers' expectations regarding the same, inducing more climate resilience into the system, unravelling the endogenous role of crop prices resulting from the culture of crop diversification and leading to climate-resilient agriculture (Teweldebrihan et al., 2021). In Oaxaca (Mexico), agriculturedependent Zapotec communities experiencing extended drought self-organised for collective action to implement small-scale managed aquifer recharge (MAR; Basel et al., 2021). Here however, if the individual water-use behaviour is not distinguished from the adoption of technologies such as MAR, it may exacerbate the drought conditions due to overuse of saved water due to misperception of water abundance (i.e., another example of the rebound effect) (Kallis, 2010;Gohari et al., 2013;Di Baldassarre et al., 2019;Basel et al., 2021). Meltwater-dependent irrigated agriculture, which is crucial for livelihood security of mountain communities, also requires adaptive efforts for climate change resilience (Nüsser et al., 2019b). Changes in seasonal snow cover can lead to water scarcity; such situations can be compounded by infrastructural interventions such as dams (Nüsser, 2017;Nüsser et al., 2019a). Collective action or not, adapting to such changes through adoption of 'artificial glaciers', have to be understood in terms of the benefits perceived by farmers, including perceived reduction in water scarcity, perceived risks of crop failure and the possibility to grow cash crops (Nüsser et al., 2019a).These examples, among many, clearly show the importance of considering not only whether a specific climate change adaptation is technically feasible, but more importantly whether it is also socially and individually acceptable (i.e., in line with perceived risk, attitudes, abilities and preferences), in how without these measures the human-agricultural water systems may evolve to undesirable states. Sociohydrology recognises that humans are the agents of change, whose actions are mediated by their perceptions of risks, cultural norms, perceptions of risks and ownership of resources. These perceptions may vary from person to person, as a result of which individuals in similar environments respond differently in terms of, for example, their use of water (Daniel et al., 2022). Moreover, individuals tend to continually develop their unique lenses to focus, categorise and interpret information (Elliott, 2003) and perceive the world differently based on personal experiences and reflective learning (Kuil et al., 2018). This calls for novel methods based on behavioural theories to improve the understanding of human decision-making that is unique to sociohydrology (Bertassello et al., 2021). Without effective behavioural prediction, efforts to introduce policy and initiatives for innovation to build resilience against global environmental change may turn out to be ineffective (Weersink and Fulton, 2020) (Figure 1).In earlier sociohydrological works, efforts to endogenise human agency (Pande and Sivapalan, 2017) led to the conception of social state variables such as environmental awareness (van Emmerik et al., 2014) or community sensitivity (Elshafei et al., 2014) (e.g., towards the health of the environment), that are consistent with the values, beliefs and norms sociological theory (Wei et al., 2017). These were incorporated into system dynamics models to explain emergent phenomena of pendulum swings in agricultural systems (Roobavannan et al., 2017). Other models assumed that humans are rational beings able to evaluate options and maximise their wellbeing in interpreting rise and dispersal of water-scarce societies (Pande et al., 2014).Several studies have developed dynamic sociohydrological models based on insights from psychology and sociology and applied them in agricultural contexts. Kuil et al. (2018) investigated smallholders' cropping and water allocation choices by developing a sociohydrological model based on the theory of bounded rationality (which assumes that rational behaviour is bounded by practical considerations like the availability of information and time, Simon, 1955). With an application in Kenya's Upper Ewaso Ng'iro, the model simulated the rebound effect and found that while different perceptions of water availability could lead to different cropping patterns, near-optimal similar cropping patterns would also emerge. Studies have also used agent-based models (ABMs) extensively to capture heterogeneities in socioeconomic characteristics and behaviour of farmers (Pouladi et al., 2019(Pouladi et al., , 2020;;Kasargodu Anebagilu et al., 2021;Wens et al., 2020Wens et al., , 2022)). Agent-based models were developed to explain the catastrophic shrinkage of Lake Urmia (Iran), using questionnaires and field observations based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB, which consists of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control shaping a certain behaviour, Ajzen, 1991) and a data mining technique (Pouladi et al., 2020) to generate behavioural rules for farmer agents for performing their agricultural practices. More complex psychological approaches towards behavioural change, built on multiple theories including the TPB, have also been used to explain farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and behavioural perceptions which drive/prevent them towards/from adopting irrigation technologies in drought-prone regions of Maharashtra, India (Hatch et al., 2022).A further level of complexity is the social structure and its slow evolution as a result of changes in external drivers (e.g., climatic conditions) and internal dynamics (e.g., via adaptation). For instance, social cohesion (via the role of mutualism) emerged as an important force buffering against water availability stresses, in conceptualising a community-managed irrigation system in New Mexico (Gunda et al., 2018). Collective human actions in response to water scarcity may have even led to the rise (and dispersal) of ancient civilisations via technological progress, economic growth and environmental degradation, arising from intrinsic endogenous processes, as is shown by Pande and Ertsen (2014) for the Indus and Hokoham civilisations. Moreover, the inclusion of institutional arrangements can disentangle social processes into rules (norms), behavioural choices towards these arrangements (whether society abides by them or opposes them) and situational factors influencing decision-making (like social memory) (Konar et al., 2019).Such sociohydrological studies suggest that human agents such as agriculturalists often tend to not make rational or optimal decisions, particularly while facing uncertainty in terms of biophysical and socioeconomic circumstances (Tittonell et al., 2010;Richard Eiser et al., 2012;Howley et al., 2015). In particular, their motivations to adapt or adopt agriculture water practices and technologies can extend beyond purely economic (profit) considerations. These extend towards social, psychological and cognitive factors, for example, perception of risk, that may influence their individual behaviour, and cultural or institutional factors that may condition what farmer may perceive to be a normal practice (Konar et al., 2019;Weersink and Fulton, 2020;Nair and Thomas, 2022). This has been demonstrated in examples on low-adoption of wells and irrigation measures (Sampson and Perry, 2019;Nair and Thomas, 2022), among others. Moreover, rather than being a binary (yes/no) decision, adoption-related decision-making is a multistage process, starting with awareness (of the existence of the technology/solution), followed by evaluation (of using the technology), adoption and revision/dis-adoption based on further changes in circumstances (Weersink and Fulton, 2020). While economic considerations are important during the later stages of the adoption process, social and cognitive factors may be more influential during the earlier stages (of awareness and evaluation).While these studies have been geared towards understanding human-agricultural systems better, there is scope to consider aspects that could make such systems more resilient against global environmental change (Penny and Goddard, 2018). The body of knowledge generated by incorporating human behaviour informs us about how agriculturalists may adopt good agricultural interventions. The gap which remains is to identify the set of interventions that would make the system resilient for agriculturalists. Sociohydrological studies have highlighted, for example, that the Murrumbidgee River basin was more resilient due to its diversified economy and therefore was able to transition to a less-waterintensive economy within the basin. However this proved to be difficult for desiccated lake basins (like Aral Sea) whose economy singularly depended on agriculture (Pande et al., 2020). This alludes to 'diversity', one desirable property (of many) exemplifying resilient systems. The following section discusses the way forward for understanding what resilience could mean to agriculturalists.Resilience, the capacity of systems to function and develop with change and uncertainty is a vital need for agricultural systems (Morecroft et al., 2012;Ward, 2022). While resilience concepts may be inherent to sociohydrology, there is much scope to incorporate key resilience attributes (diversity, redundancy, connectivity, adaptive learning and inclusivity and equity) more explicitly while conceptually framing sociohydrological problems (Penny and Goddard, 2018;Rockström et al., 2023), potentially improving interpretations of unintended consequences.Diversity (e.g., biodiversity and diversified livelihoods) increases system flexibility through the ability to respond in multiple ways to systemic changes or external shocks (Rockström et al., 2023). Redundancy ensures system functioning and reduces the chances of single-point failure (Rockström et al., 2023). Diversity and redundancy work in tandem so that multiple functionally similar system elements respond differently to disturbances to enhance resilience (Penny and Goddard, 2018). Sociohydrological studies could more explicitly incorporate diversity and redundancy attributes to test hypotheses such as the effect of too little or too much diversity on system resilience (Penny and Goddard, 2018).Connectivity relates to how resources, information, species or people interact within systems and higher connectivity can facilitate knowledge transfer, learning and enhance resilience (Penny and Goddard, 2018;Rockström et al., 2023). While sociohydrological models have incorporated connectivity through the flow of capital (Pande and Savenije, 2016), migration of people (Elshafei et al., 2014) or pathways of processing information (Kuil et al., 2018), intra-community connectivity can be further explored through agent-based analyses of social networks (Penny and Goddard, 2018).Learning can be both individual and collective (social or institutional) and has been conceptualised as a multilayered iterative process (Medema et al., 2014). Single-loop learning, focussing on correcting errors by changing behaviour, is evident in how Pande and Savenije (2016) model smallholder farmers to adjust their actions based on their capital (Medema et al., 2014;Penny and Goddard, 2018). Double-loop learning, which includes an examination of the underlying values and policies within a system to facilitate such corrections, can be seen in community sensitivity studies where societies change their underlying behaviour from environmentally exploitative to restorative (Elshafei et al., 2014;Medema et al., 2014;Penny and Goddard, 2018). Similarly, while learning (generation of new knowledge) and consequent experimentation (by farmers in their decision-making) has been explored in some studies (Kuil et al., 2018), such dynamics can be further explored in the context of adoption or behavioural change.Equity and inclusion, via participation (i.e., engaging relevant stakeholders in managing and governing systems), is key to resilience due to its role in collective action and cooperation and can be shaped by power dynamics (Leitch et al., 2015;Hahn and Nykvist, 2017). Inclusive and equitable value chains with social safety nets for vulnerable sections can enhance resilience (Rockström et al., 2023). Without addressing and transforming historical inequities, rapid shifts from top-down approaches to more holistic ones will not result in increased resilience and successful adaptation. This is applicable to both water used by agriculturalists and in agriculture. Adding power dynamics as inputs that vary water manipulation can lead to understanding alternative outputs that affect people based on their sociodemographics.Referring to water used by agriculturalists, accessibility refers to the ability of people to access the physical, economic and information means to attain nearby water safely and without discrimination, including the ability of people to participate in water decision-making. Unfortunately, discrimination undermines attempts for universal access. Some people are prevented from accessing water because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, income, gender, ability, age or other social categories. For example, in an investigation of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh, Sultana (2007) drew attention to the numerous ways through which gender, intersecting with social class, age and geographic location, influenced water access, control and exposure to water. Yet, at least in low-income countries, women often control water reliability in rural areas through water hauling (Zwarteveen, 1997;Meinzen-Dick and Zwarteveen, 1998;Were et al., 2008). At least one study found that women leaders invested more in drinking water resources than men (Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2004). Despite the global advances made in gender equity, women commonly feel excluded and underrepresented in decision-making around water (Haeffner et al., 2017). As water becomes less of a service and more of a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market, households need purchasing power to access water (Bakker, 2001). However, water prices have outpaced inflation (Cardoso and Wichman, 2022). Water affordability refers to the price households pay for water but is also related to the costs of extracting, treating and delivering water since these costs are often passed down to end users through tariffs. Water unaffordability has become more prevalent in high-and low-income countries alike (Mack and Wrase, 2017;Vanhille et al., 2018). Water pricing, too, is socially differentiated from rural users sometimes paying more for trucked or kiosk water than urban users relying on pipes (Haeffner et al., 2017;Pihljak et al., 2021). Moreover, a governmental solution such as raising prices to encourage water conservation may have the desired effect for affluent households but increase water insecurity for low-income households (Savelli et al., 2021). Instead, a sociohydrological perspective has the potential to enable us to identify the areas that are missing or ignored and contribute to advancing current models of measuring water poverty. In the case of agricultural water, while processes of inclusion (or financial exclusion of smallholders based on power dynamics) have been implicitly explored by models (Elshafei et al., 2014;Pande and Savenije, 2016), the mechanisms of how participation can transform social preferences into environmental decisions can be understood and incorporated more explicitly in sociohydrology.Traditional societies may have had certain desirable attributes that lead to climate-resilient outcomes (Berkes et al., 1995;Usher et al., 2021). These are often linked to culture and other informal institutions that govern water use in a sustainable manner. However, culture and institutions are slow moving variables that take generations to change and only influence individual decisionmaking and collective actions via norms (Pande et al., 2020).Policies developed and implemented without adequate prediction of behaviour, or including different perspectives (across gender, or of upstream and downstream residents) in a participatory manner, can be ineffective (Baker et al., 2015;Chen et al., 2016;Weersink and Fulton, 2020). Resilient systems are diverse with inbuilt redundancies, but positivist approaches in hydrological sciences have historically been focussed on efficiency which often has to be introduced at the expense of redundancies or diversity in the system (Morecroft et al., 2012). Sociohydrology, with its postpositivist approaches, can potentially play a significant role in informing such policies by understanding complex system dynamics (including attributes linked to resilience), offering alternatives to sustainable intensification or enhanced irrigation efficiencies (Scott et al., 2014). Martínez-Valderrama et al. (2023) recommend complex policy mixes aimed at reducing the water supply-demand gaps (also considering climate change) via actions at many levels (rural vs. urban; structural vs. nonstructural; local vs. global), highlighting the effectiveness of a \"cocktail of solutions\" approach over single solutions. Sociohydrology similarly offers multilevel and multiplesource approaches to conceptualise and assess agricultural water and climate policies, such as narrative approaches combined with document analysis and other sources of water system information to describe policy pathways at different governance levels and scales (Yu et al., 2022). Furthermore, more robust and representative sociohydrological modelling incorporating resilience aspects can be used to simulate scenarios arising from different policies with added realism, evaluate potential unintended consequences and test alternative scenarios to iteratively inform policy development.Sociohydrology, as an interdisciplinary field, is placed well to understand and describe the interlinkages between agriculture, water and food security. This review examined how sociohydrology can explain the emergent dynamics of agricultural systems, account for climate change impacts due to/on agriculture and incorporate human behaviour into the description of agricultural water systems. Sociohydrological models have investigated the unintended consequences of water management interventions in agriculture (such as rebound or reservoir effects), highlighting the importance of accounting for such emergent phenomena to avoid unsustainable outcomes, degradation of natural resources or reinforcing existing inequalities. Sociohydrology also highlights why climate adaptation measures need to consider unintended consequences as well as individual behaviour (of individuals and communities), particularly for smallholders affected disproportionately by climate change impacts. Farmers can make apparently nonrational agricultural decisions due to their unique perspectives and experiences, bound by practical considerations. In this regard, sociohydrological models have considered social and psychological insights and have used novel data sources and diverse multi-method approaches to model human behaviour.Sociohydrology has been used in understanding policy development for agriculture by investigating demand management measures, technology adoption and incentives for behaviour change to improve water-use efficiency and sustainable intensification. However, identified as a gap, this review proposed that sociohydrology can incorporate resilience thinking more explicitly to understand susceptibility of agricultural systems and agriculturalists to global change and uncertainties (in human-water systems) and possible unintended consequences resulting from agricultural policy. By accounting for technical approaches, earth sciences and the complexity of human behaviour, such interdisciplinary understanding can better inform agricultural policy, from conceptualisation (to initially identify and potentially avoid unintended consequences) to appropriate modifications (based on changes in the contexts of water, human behaviour or institutions).This review thus positioned sociohydrology in how it has been incorporating social-scientific perspectives in agricultural water systems, identified key gaps in terms of desirable properties that are missing in current models to interpret climate resilience and consequently to develop policies which can enable more accessible, equitable, affordable and holistic solutions for improved resilience and successful adaptation.Open peer review. To view the open peer review materials for this article, please visit http://doi.org/10.1017/wat.2023.16.","tokenCount":"5261"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4773543932.json b/data/part_1/4773543932.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..03890c595c6fd000b18db443fa88c37a402763d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4773543932.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8921c3a48e345aabe670ee8c67b51aff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/41fcb556-41c0-49f6-8061-a5434b40ff4e/retrieve","id":"-2081040117"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5ce199b6-2cde-4957-ba55-538cf247d4a9","pagecount":"18","content":"Farming systems of Vertisol areas in Ethiopia -Background Farm surveys in some Vertisol locations in highland Ethiopia Natural resources Farm resources Crop and livestock interaction Feed production and livestock feeding Constraints to production Livestock production constraints Researchable areasIn 1986, ILCA carried out informal surveys at Dogollo and Inewari in order to understand the farming systems. Such surveys were also conducted by the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) at Ginchi in 1986 and by the Alemaya University of Agriculture at Ada/Debre Zeit in 1988/89. This was followed by one-time detailed formal farm surveys at Dogollo, Inewari and Ginchi in 1988/89. The rest of this chapter mostly presents results of these formal surveys.The objectives of the farm surveys were as follows:• To understand the existing farming systems in order to develop appropriate Vertisol technologies• To identify recommendation domain, and• To compile baseline data in order to assist in ex-post Vertisol-technology evaluation.In the formal survey, sample farmers were selected randomly from representative Peasant Associations (PAs) in each study location. At Dogollo, 142 farmers were sampled from a total of 1537 farm households in three PAs: PA015, PA023, PA024 each with farm family size of 714, 402 and 421, respectively. A sample of 165 farmers were selected at Inewari from a total of 1529 families in four PAs: Wele Deneba, Tatessa, Ejersa Kubete and Bolo. The household size of each PA was 211, 356,345 and 617, respectively. The sample farmers at Ginchi were 102 from a total of 781 families in four PAs: Berdo Legebatu, Taro Legebatu, Taro Jemejem and Okote Awash. At Debre Zeit, 65 sample farmers were surveyed. The summary of the sample size is given in Table 1. The study areas located in the high potential cereal livestock (HPCL) zone represent the farming systems of Vertisols areas in the Ethiopian highlands (see map in Chapter 2). Debre Zeit and Ginchi are located at 1900 m and 2200 m asl, respectively, while both Dogollo and Inewari are at an altitude of 2600 m asl. Each of these locations represents different traditional Vertisol management practices.Vertisols, heavily textured soils dominate the survey area. Because of the high content of shrink-swell clay in these soils, cultivation is difficult when they are dry and waterlogging is a problem when they are wet. On average the clay content of Vertisols amounts to 64% at Inewari, 59% at Ginchi and 62% at Dogollo (Kamara and Haque, 1988a).The rainfall in the study areas is bimodal. Up to 60 to 70% of the annual rainfall is received during the main rains (meher) that normally occur from June to September. The short rains (belg) usually start in February/March and extend into April but are inadequate for cropping in any of the study locations. In years when belg rains are adequate and reliable some farmers grow pulses on Vertisols. The belg rains are, however, useful in high altitude (2600 m asl) to grow barley on soils other than Vertisols. In Vertisol areas the belg rains are important for seedbed preparation and planting is done during the main season. The belg rains are also important for the regrowth of natural forages which contribute significantly to livestock production at this time of the year.At Dogollo, Ginchi and Inewari the rainfall averages between 900-1000 mm/year. In rare cases the total amount of rainfall drastically drops below average resulting in moisture stress. But its effect is not as severe in these areas as in the lowlands or other highlands. The main rainy season normally starts in June, reaches its peak in August and gradually ceases in mid-September. Average annual rainfall and mean temperature of several years in other Vertisol locations in the Ethiopian highlands are shown in Figure 1. In general, daily temperature is moderate in the survey locations. On average the minimum temperature does not fall below zero, and hence frost damage to crops is uncommon as in areas above 2600 m asl. October to February are normally the coldest months.The survey locations being densely populated, farm sizes are on the average small with some variations within and between the survey locations. The land size allotted to individual farmers by a Peasant Association (PA) as per the Land Reform Declaration of 1975, depended on family size, fertility of the land, the number of PA members and the total land area available within the PA. Hence farm sizes varied within and between PAs and between locations.Average farm sizes at Dogollo, Ginchi and Inewari are shown in Table 2. Cultivated 1.7 2.6 1.9Pasture land 1 0.2 0.5 0.1 Total 1.9 3.1 2.01 Does not include communal grazing areas.In the highlands, arable Vertisols are extensively cropped. Over 90% at Dogollo and Inewari and 84% of the land at Ginchi is cultivated.Farm sizes being generally small while family sizes are large, land is hardly left fallow. Fallow land, on the average, accounted for less than 1% of the total land holdings in all the survey locations. For example, if a farm family is unable to till all the cultivable land because of shortage of inputs particularly labour and draught animals, the land is normally leased.Individually owned pasture lands are quite small. Farmers mostly depend on communal pasture lands to graze livestock but these lands are heavily stocked and overgrazed.There is a high variation in the distribution of land holdings among farmers of the three sites considered as shown in Table 3. At Ginchi the distribution tends to be skewed to the right.Here, 41% of the farmers own 3.5 ha or more, and 24% own over 4 ha. About 5% of the farmers own less than 1.5 ha.The land holdings of about 54% of the farmers fall between 1.5 ha to 3.5 ha. Contrary to that at Ginchi, farm land holdings at Dogollo, is extremely skewed to the left with 52% of the farmers owning less than 1.5 ha. The proportion of farmers owning between 1.5 ha and 2.5 ha accounts for 25%. At the time of the survey only 2% of the farmers owned over 2 ha. Allocation of land holdings at Inewari is normally distributed compared to Ginchi or Dogollo, Twenty-one per cent of the farmers own less than 1.5 ha, and 61% of the farmers own between 1.5 ha and 2.5 ha. Only 5% of the farmers owned over 3 ha.Land holdings are highly fragmented. The average number of plots per farm at Dogollo, and Inewari is 4.4 and 6.3, respectively. Source: Getachew Asamenew (1991).In general family sizes per farm are large, and it amounts to five persons at Dogollo, and 5.6 persons at Ginchi and Inewari. The family is the major source of farm labour and most of it comes from members of 15 to 65 years of age. Children over the age of eight years also contribute labour, particularly to livestock tending. The proportion of the active adult family members contributing to the total work force per farm in the three survey locations is nearly equal (76% at Dogollo, and 74% at Ginchi and Inewari).There is division of labour by sex and age. Women and children contribute to weeding, harvesting, threshing and transporting grain. Livestock husbandry activities (feeding, milking, herding, barn-cleaning, dung cake-making and forage collection) are shared among the household members. The responsibility of women includes milking cow (at times assisted by men), barn-cleaning and dung cake-making. Men are involved in forage collection and feeding livestock. Herding of livestock is mostly the responsibility of children. Ploughing is done by men and in general farming is their responsibility.Some family members engage in other non-farm activities during the dry and the main rainy season. Hence, all of the family members are not available for farming.Children between eight and 14 years old are also involved in farming during the main rainy season. They contribute to the manual construction of broadbeds furrows (at Inewari) to oxenhandling, weeding and transportation.The available labour for farming is restricted by religious holidays and tradition. As most farmers in the Ethiopian highland Vertisol locations are followers of the Coptic Orthodox church, they observe a number of religious holidays on which they are customarily prohibited to undertake any cropping activities. Hence on average only some 15 days a month are used for such activities. This constrains labour available for cropping during the peak demand period. Fencing and livestock husbandry activities are permitted to be undertaken on religious holidays.Additional labour is acquired through exchange labour between families (locally known as debo) or hired. The local wage ranges between EB 1.00 to EB 3.00 per day.Cattle are the most important livestock species in Ethiopian agriculture. Their principal contributions include draught power for cultivation, threshing and to provide manure.The cattle owned are the shorthorn zebu breed and they are mainly kept to produce draught oxen. Milk production is secondary because of absence of regular market. Hence except around Addis Ababa, where milk markets are available, in all other Vertisol areas crossbred cattle are rare. Other livestock on farm are small ruminants and equine.The number of oxen accounts for 38%, 29% and 36% of the cattle herd at Inewari, Dogollo, and Ginchi, respectively, generally the stocking rate/ha is high. Individually owned grazing lands are quite small (Table 2) and communal grazing lands are not available to all farmers, and when available it is usually overgrazed.Sheep are economically important in the highlands. Farmers keep sheep for various reasons. They are a significant source of investment, security end cash. They are easily sold off at times of economic difficulties. In normal years too, sheep are sold and purchased according to the needs of farmers. Two or three sheep are slaughtered per household per year on average in the Vertisol areas. They also provide manure. During the dry season manure collected from the pens is mixed with cattle manure and prepared into dung cakes to be used as household fuel. During the rainy season however, the sheep manure collected is often wet and mixed with mud which makes it difficult to use as fuel. It is then used to fertilise crop land.Breeding ewes above one year old make up the highest proportion within the flock: up to 57% at Dogollo, and 54% at Inewari.Crop and livestock subsystems are highly integrated. Crop residues provide a major share of the livestock feed while milk, meat, hides, manure and income are major livestock outputs.Livestock also serve as stored wealth in the form of physical animal number, and therefore serve as an asset and security. The major contribution of livestock to smallholder farming is provision of draught power for cropping. Figure 2 illustrates the crop/livestock interaction in the Ethiopian highlands mixed farming systems.Oxen are used for cultivation, planting and threshing, generally oxen are preferred for cultivation, but whenever there is a shortage of draught power bulls are paired with oxen under the same yoke. In all instances cultivation is traditionally done with paired animals. The Inewari and Dogollo, areas are two of the few areas in Ethiopia where the use of horses for ploughing is very common. Horses are paired either with each other or with oxen and, in some instances, with bulls under the same yoke. Horses tend to be faster than oxen but can tee used for shorter intervals (four hours on average compared to 6-7 hours for oxen) because they get tired more quickly. However, the area covered per day is similar to that of paired oxen. Oxen can also be resold when they are unable to pull the plough or at any time in case of economic difficulties. Hence, oxen are more valued than equine.In the Vertisol areas farmers who own less than two oxen overcome the problem of inadequate draught power by the following arrangements:1. Mekenajo, a farmer with one ox pair his ox with that of a neighbour farmer's who also has only one ox 2 Yegeleba shiyach is an arrangement whereby a farmer without oxen borrows a pair of oxen to cultivate his land and repays with his straw harvest to the oxen owner at the end of the cropping season 3. Hiring oxen for cash. The rent for a pair of oxen with a harness in Inewari and Dogollo, is EB 5.00 per day.Minda is renting of one or two oxen in exchange for grain or human labour.Debo is another arrangement whereby relatives and friends with oxen assist in cultivation, free of charge except for the lunch provided to them.In the Ethiopian highlands the majority of farmers own oxen. Farmers who own at least one ox account for 60% at Dogollo, 83% at Ginchi, 76% at Inewari and 91% at Debre Zeit. Cereals, pulses and oil seeds are food crops grown in Vertisol areas in the Ethiopian highlands. The importance of each crop type in terms of area covered varies from location to location. Wheat is the major crop at Dogollo, and Inewari covering 50.4% and 40% of all cultivated land, respectively. Nearly all farmers grow wheat at Dogollo, (99.1%) and Inewari (98.2%). The percentage of farmers growing various crops at Dogollo, Ginchi and Inewari is shown in Table 4. At Inewari teff (Eragrostis tef) is the third important crop in terms of the area it covers (15%) and grown by 83% of the farmers. Although some oats and barley are also grown, land area devoted to these crops is insignificant (Table 4). Faba bean is the major pulse crop, and it is grown by 80.6% of the farmers on 17.3% of the total cultivated area. Other important pulse crops in the area are chick pea (Cicer arietinum) and rough pea (Lathyrus sativus) (Table 5).At Ginchi teff is the major crop, grown by 97% of the farmers on an average of 1.31 ha/farm (cv 46%) and occupying 49.2% of the total cultivated land. Wheat is the second important crop. Other cereals grown at Ginchi include maize, sorghum and barley. Chick pea (Cicer arietinum) and rough pea/grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) are grown by over 60% of the farmers and each occupies 9.6% and 10.9%, respectively. Noug (Guizotia abyssinica) is also grown at Ginchi (Table 5).In general cereals require finer seedbed preparation than pulses and hence more cultivations are carried out before sowing cereals. As specified earlier, seedbed preparation for planting begins normally with the belg rain in March/April. Cultivation generally continues up to May depending on the soil moisture, and resumes in mid-June when the main rain commences.Traditionally, farmers without adequate number of draught animals take advantage of the long ploughing period to share them with others. Farmers have various ways of overcoming the problem of waterlogging in Vertisols. The traditional Vertisol management practice at Inewari is more efficient compared to other sites, all crops except teff are grown on manually constructed broadbeds and furrows (BBF) at Inewari. To make these BBF, the fields are cultivated several times (at least twice), using pairs of oxen or horses or pairing one with the other. Then the fields are sown with crops. Next, narrow furrow lines, approximately 80 cm apart, are demarcated with the use of well-trained oxen. Following these furrow lines, the farmer's family members scoop up the soil from either side of the line to construct the BBF by hand. The distance between the furrows at the deepest points averages 120 cm (broadbed of 80 cm and two midpoints on the furrows on either side measure 40 cm).At Dogollo, furrows and ridges locally known as shurube are the conventional seedbeds in Vertisols which are constructed with the use of oxen. Furrows are shallow and the ridges are narrow (30-50 cm). Therefore, the drainage is less effective compared to BBF. At Ginchi crops grown on Vertisols are traditionally on flat fields after excess water has been drained off.Since teff tolerates waterlogging, it is sown awing the wettest part of the rainy season, i.e. from late July to mid-August. The seedbed for teff is commonly puddled and trampled. Planting of crops that require better-drained soils at the time of planting is delayed until August/September after the fields are drained off naturally. The disadvantages of this practice are that the full length of the growing period is not utilised, and that soil degradation occurs since the cultivated fields are exposed to erosion awing the early part of the growing season. Vertisols on higher slopes drain faster and hence crops can be planted relatively earlier. Faba bean and barley are the main crops grown on higher slopes.The general cropping calendar for the Ethiopian highland Vertisols is illustrated in Figure 3. Most farm activities often overlap. As the Vertisol fields get puddled when wet, weeding is done after the end of the main rains. This is also a busy period for planting pulses like chickpea and rough pea/grass pea. In high altitude Vertisol areas, weeding extends from mid-September to the beginning of November. In lower altitude Vertisol areas e.g Debre Zeit, planting is done early and the growing period is short. Harvesting of cereals (teff and wheat) starts in November compared to higher Vertisol areas where most crops are planted late and harvested in January and February.Inputs to cropping in the Ethiopian highlands differ between areas. Unavailability and high costs are among the main limiting factors to the wide use of purchased inputs. Pesticides are not usually available, but required occasionally to control pests. The same constraints apply to the use of herbicides by smallholders Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP, 18% N 46% P) and urea (46% N) are the commonly used inputs. These fertilisers are sold to farmers on credit or cash by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) through Peasant Service Cooperatives. Farmers usually apply fertiliser on cereals: teff, wheat and barley. Its use on other crops is very rare.At the time of the survey, 35% of the farmers at Dogollo, 76.5% at Ginchi and 673% at Inewari used fertiliser. Quantity of fertiliser used per farm was small (Table 6).At Debre Zeit farmers' modal fertiliser application rates were: DAP 87-100 kg/ha and Urea 30-38 kg/ha (Workeneh Negatu and Gezahegn Ayele, Debre Zeit Research Center, Ethiopia, unpublished data). In general very little manure is returned to the soil. As manure is the main household fuel source little is spared for use as fertiliser. But in some instances sheep manure and ashes are used on garden plots.  Source: Getachew Asamenew (1991).The traditional livestock husbandry practiced across the Ethiopian highlands is similar. Livestock are kept in a 'kraal' during the night. During the day time, they are herded on communal pasture, private grazing lands or in a stubble depending on the season. Livestock of mixed species are herded together during most of the day. The movement of livestock is closely monitored to avoid crop damage.There is a seasonal pattern in the use of grazing lands. From February to early June most grazing is on bottom-land pastures and on crop stubble. Stubble grazing takes place mostly after the harvest, i.e the end of November in lower altitudes and December in higher altitudes generally extending up to January/March. Since the bottomlands get flooded during the rainy season, all grazing takes place higher up where the land is better drained. Animals are moved to the hill sides to graze.In the Ethiopian highland Vertisol areas fodder supply is erratic and seasonal. On-farm supply of fodder depends on:• The cropping pattern The low yield, particularly at Dogollo, is due to the critical waterlogging during the growing period. At that location in a normal wet year, excess water results in extremely low growth so that the average crop residue yield amounts to only slightly higher than one ton DM/farm. Although the problem of waterlogging is better controlled by planting crops on manually made BBF at Inewari, yields of straw are still low. The average yield per farm amounts to about two tons DM. Source: Getachew Asamenew (1991).The availability of fodder from individual farms and communal lands depends on the rainfall distribution. Almost all the fodder production is rain-dependent and occurs between June and September.Due to the variation in the climatic conditions feed supply within a given year fluctuates considerably. Three feeding periods may be identified: (1) the main rainy season or the meher (July-September) with abundant plant regrowth, (2) the dry period with scarce native pasture, and (3) the short rainy season, the 'belg' that normally occurs between February and April. As the start and end of the meher season varies from year to year, the beginning of the subsequent feeding periods also shifts. Natural grazing is the main source of livestock feed but its availability can vary particularly during the dry season. As pasture areas are extremely small, hay-making is not a common practice. Hay making begins as early as September in some cases and continues up to the beginning of November. Some farmers use communal grazing land throughout the year except when it is flooded but not all farmers have access to communal pasture lands in every Peasant Association.In the Ethiopian highlands, natural pasture can produce 6 tons DM/ha but when continuously grazed it yields only 2.5 tons DM/ha (Jutzi et al, 1987a). As frequent grass outtake leads to a reduction in DM yield upto 50%, yield from heavily grazed pasture may not exceed 1.5 t DM/ha (Jutzi et al, 1987a).On average, the available feed per farm in the Vertisol areas only meets the body maintenance requirements of the animals. Very little is left over for growth and production. The estimated available feed per farm per year at Inewari, Ginchi and Dogollo, is 27%, 30% and 37% less than the annual requirements, respectively.Teff and wheat straws are important sources of livestock feed in the highland Vertisol areas. Barley and oat straws are also important in areas where they are produced. Only cereal straw has commercial value. As pulse straw is stocky and rough, it is commonly used for household fuel and floor cleaning. When pulse straw is fed to animals, it is mixed with cereal straw. Straw supplementation is commonly restricted to work-oxen and lactating cows. However, farmers who are well-supplied with feed also supplement calves and working equine. But grass hay is commonly fed to working oxen and milking cows during the dry season. Feed supplementation is commonly done when the animals are at the homestead. Oxen engaged in work have priority for most feed supplementation. The amount of straw fed depends on the work expected from the ox. During the peak period, on average 5 to 10 kg of straw is fed to an ox each day.Weight of straw is locally expressed in kurbet, which is roughly the size of a hide for packing straw when transporting on donkey. A small kurbet weighs about 30 kg, while medium and large sizes weigh 40-50 kg. In a normal year, the price of one kg of cereal straw, on average, amounts to EB 0.10 in Vertisol areas like Debre Zeit and Inewari. Grass hay which is used for making hay is cut between September and October. Hay becomes available in the market from December upto August. As straw is available after the crop harvest, i.e. from December to April, the price of hay also drops during this period. The price goes up again between June and August when straw is highly in demand because during this time all stored feed on-farm is depleted and natural grass is inadequate. This is also a peak working period for oxen.Like for other classes of livestock, the main source of feed for sheep is native pasture and stubble grazing. In general hay, straw or other feeds are supplemented only during severe feed stress. Although sheep fattening is fairly common throughout the highland Vertisol areas, supplementation is not common except in the Inewari area. A number of farmers are engaged in sheep-fattening activity. At the time of the survey, 32% and 27% of the farmers at Inewari and Dogollo, respectively, are reported to have fastened sheep.The major reasons cited for not fattening sheep are shortage of capital and feed. Traditionally sheep fattening takes 4-8 months, and is usually targeted for consumption at Ethiopian Christmas and Easter (January and April).Farmers' view of constraints to their farm production can give a good insight into the opportunities for technological intervention. Constraints to agricultural production in the Ethiopian highlands are summarised in the following subsections. This summary is a compilation of farmers' responses, discussions with informants, and application of observations and analyses of the farming systems.Constraints to crop production in the Vertisol study sites include waterlogging, shortages of land, land degradation, improved inputs, working capital, animal draught power and labour as well as weeds, pests and diseases.Seasonal waterlogging is a general constraint in the Ethiopian highland Vertisol areas. As a result yields of grain and crop residue are low (Tables 7 and 8). The severity of this constraint vary from location to location depending on the availability of rainfall during the growing period, the degree of temperature that affects evapo-transpiration, and the tillage practice to overcome waterlogging. Farmers in all the Vertisol areas surveyed realise the negative effect of poor drainage on food and feed 'production. They also know that solution to waterlogging could increase farm productivity.In the highland Vertisol areas farm sizes are' small averaging less than 0.5 ha per family member (Table 2). However, they have to support large families and livestock. The situation is further aggravated by the low farm productivity. This is a critical problem in view of the evergrowing population and decline in yields.Due to poor management end shortage 'of land sloppy lands are continuously cultivated and natural vegetations are denuded. Hence the rate of soil erosion is high.The commonly used fertilisers: Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea are not widely used by farmers because of their unavailability, irregularity in their delivery and the financial inadequacy to purchase them. At the time of the survey fertiliser was sold to farmers in some Peasant Associations (PAs) mostly on a loan basis by the Ministry of Agriculture through Service Cooperatives (SCs). SCs required that all other farmers who took fertiliser loans should repay the cost immediately after their crop harvest in order to be eligible for the next loan. A farmer would not be eligible for a loan until all farmers in a given PA repaid their debts. This was reported to be a critical constraint to those farmers who regularly settled their debts promptly.Although farmers in general are aware of the positive effects of chemical fertilisers on crops, the rate used per farm is quite low (Table 6) because of the reasons listed aboveThe seeding rate is high because of the impurities and low germination rate of local variety seed. Although there are some, IAR-released varieties of wheat in the country, they are not yet readily 'available to all farmers.Hence, the constraints' on the use of fertiliser and improved seed are more institutional in nature.The uneven distribution of work-oxen has been a critical problem in the farming systems of the Vertisol areas. As most crops are planted after several cultivations with draught animals, farmers without these animals are at a disadvantage to plant the most profitable crop mixes on time. The traditional draught-animal exchanges are no relief because animals become available only after cultivation of land of the owner of the animals is completed. This was a problem for 79% of the farmers at Dogollo, 42% at Ginchi, 73% at Inewari as they had none or only one ox.The reason for several cultivations before planting most cereals in the Vertisol locations is to control weeds. In spite of several cultivations weed infestation is extremely high in these areas. The major weeds in the Ethiopian highland Vertisol areas are: 'asendabo' (Phalaris paradoxia), 'borecho' (Scorpiurus muricatus), 'wortebet' (Plantago lanveolata), 'wajema', (Medicago polymora) etc. Use of impure local seed largely contributes to the proliferation of weeds. The weeding operation that normally starts after the Vertisols are drained off naturally in September/October is highly labour-intensive. It takes 28-35% of the labour required by the crops. Moreover, early manual weeding is difficult in waterlogged soils. Generally use of selective herbicide is limited.On the other hand, as farm sizes in most areas shrink and shortage of animal feeds becomes critical, weeds will be an important feed source in many of the Vertisol farming systems.Sometimes a short dry spell following onset of the main rains, insects (mainly grasshoppers) attack crops in the lower and medium-altitude highlands such as at Debre Zeit and Ginchi. Insects such as aphids cause considerable damage to wheat even in high altitude Vertisol areas. Faba bean is frequently attacked by the stalk borer. The main crop diseases are chocolate spot, rust and smut.Livestock feed supply is erratic and seasonal. There is severe shortage during the dry season and at the beginning of the main rains. The most critical period is between April and the beginning of July, when all feed resources are virtually depleted. Conservation of straw and, in a few instances of hay is inadequate. Whatever is conserved is preferentially fed to draught animals. Additional feeds are required awing ploughing and planting. The high energy demand of working animals is not met and hence their condition deteriorates rapidly awing this period.Individually owned pasture lands are small and rare in some areas. Due to land shortage grazing lands are being encroached for crop production. The stocking rate on available communal lands is high. There is no restriction on the number of livestock tended on the communal grazing lands. Consequently, every individual farmer tries to maximise the feed intake by his livestock, causing overgrazing and land degradation. Farmers maximise the number of animals in their herd because (1) work oxen are frequently replaced (2) livestock are regarded as a very important asset of wealth and security, and (3) individual benefits are higher from larger herds since grazing is communal property.The commonly used feedstuffs (i.e. pasture straw and hay) in the Ethiopian highlands have low digestibility (Mukassa-Mugerwa, 1981). The protein content is below the required level.Hence the feed available can at most meet the maintenance requirements of livestock. As a result animals suffer from low growth rates, poor fertility and high calf mortality (Gryseels, 1988).Although output of livestock products particularly of milk is low, there is no ready market for livestock products in the Vertisol areas away from Addis Ababa, since they are not served with milk collection centres. This forces farmers to process milk into butter which is normally sold to merchants and occasionally to local consumers.In general the main livestock diseases reported in the case study areas were: (1) internal parasites e.g. fascioliasis, lung worms, ascaris etc (2) bacterial diseases e.g. sheep pasteurellosis (3) blackleg and (4) anthrax Mostly local medicines are used since modern veterinary services are not widely available.Farm cash income is extremely low with almost no surplus available for reinvestment on the farm itself. This had partly hindered the wide use of purchased inputs. Credit to individual farmers is not widely and readily available.An understanding of traditional farming systems can enable one to design appropriate technology options for on-farm research. Technologies can be introduced from elsewhere and be adapted. Technologies in the target area can also be modified or refined to solve constraints. The desired characteristics are that technologies should be (a) simple, low-cost and quickly comprehensible by farmers; b) be within users' reach and c) compatible with overall extension objectives and policies.The Ethiopian highland Vertisol locations have common socio-economic characteristics. Land and capital are scarce. Available farm resource has to sustain large farm families and livestock. Hence, appropriate technologies are required to increase productivity using the scarce farm resources. Vertisols in the target areas are known to have high agricultural potential. As there is a high livestock and crop interaction, intervention in one of the subsystems directly or indirectly affects the other. Improvement to the livestock subsystem could, in turn, improve the crop subsystem or vice versa.Appropriate technologies to better manage Vertisols is a desirable intervention in the Ethiopian highland Vertisol farming systems. A better Vertisol management can be brought about by improving the surface drainage. The positive effects of surface drainage on agricultural productivity of Vertisols have been widely documented. Few of the improved techniques suggested to solve the problem of surface drainage in these soils include the use of the wheel-tool carrier by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India and the formation of cumberbeds with the use of tractors by the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) in Ethiopia.As these techniques require a high financial investment, they can be adopted only within the recommendation domain that has the means to procure them. When resource-poor smallholder farms are the target group, farm technologies have to be simple and cheap.Where farms are subsistent-oriented with low annual farm cash income as in Ethiopia, research on simple, low-cost and easily adoptable surface drainage technologies are needed. An effective surface drainage technique does exist locally at the Inewari plateau in central Ethiopia. But as already pointed out, human drudgery in constructing the BBF can be replaced by animal draught power, thus increasing social welfare. The development of an animal-drawn implement for this purpose becomes a priority research area. The formation of broadbeds and furrows (BBF) with the use of an appropriate animal-drawn implement is basic to solve seasonal waterlogging in Vertisols.On-farm verification and transfer of such a technology are discussed at length in Chapter 8.","tokenCount":"5520"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4796967243.json b/data/part_1/4796967243.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5f5af3b6e1b8772fffc0252cd26d343eb4a91ffb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4796967243.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b2e01cfd8a303cf95c82293010a6753d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a32361c1-86b9-460d-8653-aa58f4a9ab5e/retrieve","id":"1802930372"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f363621a-b2ef-4640-8bf3-c5b91c65e683","pagecount":"79","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder, CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears. Please send a copy to the Communications Department at the address below.To the Board of Directors of INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER 1.We have audited the accompanying Financial Statements of International Potato Center (CIP), which comprise the Statement of Financial Position as of December 31, 2020, and 2019 and the related Statements of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income, of Changes in Net Assets and Cash Flows for the years then ended and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes, from 1 througt 31.Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these Financial Statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, and for such internal control as Management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of Financial Statements free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.Auditor's responsibilityOur responsibility is to express an opinion on these Financial Statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with International Auditing Standards approved in Peru by the Board of Peruvian Association of Public Accountants.Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the Financial Statements are free from material misstatement.4.An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the Financial Statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditors' judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the Financial Statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the Financial Statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by Management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the Financial Statements.We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.The Board of Trustees of the International Potato Center (CIP) remains firm in its commitment to providing programmatic, governance, financial oversight and leadership to ensure the Center's effective and efficient management. As the world begins to tackle the enormous challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, CIP has doubled down on its work to improve food and nutrition security, catalyze gender-equitable livelihood opportunities, and strengthen the productivity and sustainability of farming and food systems-efforts that are more important now than ever.During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, CGIAR took the bold decision to accelerate the transition to One CGIAR, enhancing the integration of our collective assets, partnerships and operations to strengthen capacity to respond to new and emerging global challenges. In January 2020, a Transition Consultation Forum, thematic Transition Advisory Groups and a Transition Program Management Unit, were established to gather advice and support from stakeholders throughout the process.In September, the System Board was reconstituted and the new three-member Executive Management Team (EMT) took up its role. The EMT is responsible for leading and delivering the transition to One CGIAR, reporting to and overseen by the System Board. To guide our transition, the System Council approved the new CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy and the Performance and Results Management Framework, which provides a bold and forward-looking road map for innovative research with the potential to drive transformative change.In 2020, CIP's TAP-5 breeding program made significant strides creating novel varieties that mature in short crop cycles (<90 days), demonstrate climate resilience and disease resistance, and include quality consumer traits. In partnership with the Syngenta Foundation, GIZ and HZPC (a leading Dutch global potato breeding company) CIP has used accelerated breeding, molecular markers and elite breeding parents to develop high-performing clones in just four years. These varieties will soon be deployed in the commercial and non-profit sectors of Vietnam and neighboring countries. The project will build resilience into smallholder farming systems while bolstering food and nutrition security for vulnerable populations.In India -as in many parts of the world -climate change is disrupting weather patterns and growing seasons. In response, small farmers are finding strength in numbers. With the support of CIP and India's Central Potato Research Institute, small-scale farmers are mechanizing and incorporating other inputs to reach new markets. Much of the success in India is owed to innovation with apical rooted cuttings. This technology was successfully piloted in Kenya where sales increased 44% in 2019, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue for farmers.In Malawi, where agriculture constitutes 80% of the national economy, CIP is leading two large EU interventions, KULIMA and DeSIRA, to help farmers become more climate-resilient through the adoption of improved crop varieties. These interventions are building on the leading Irish Aid-sponsored RTC-ACTION in which nearly 70,000 households (including 40,000 women) have gained access to quality planting material for orange-fleshed sweetpotato. Late year, the 83 CIPtrained vine producers earned more than USD 127,000 in revenues and sales of sweetpotatobased bread grew sixfold.Statement by the Board Chair (continued)Total revenue in 2020 amounted to USD 51.4 million, against total expenditure of USD 53 million, resulting in a deficit of USD 1.6 million. On 31 December 2020, CIP reserves were USD 13.6 million (equal to 90 days of expenditure-within CGIAR norms), compared to USD 15.2 million on 31 December 2019. The indirect cost ratio of the Center was 16.3% for 2020. The ratio is calculated in line with the CGIAR Cost Principles and Indirect Cost Guidelines (issued April 2019), and expresses the relationship between direct and indirect costs.CIP's financial indicators reflect the Center's continued financial health, though no institution is immune to financial or operational risk. To mitigate risk, the Board's Audit and Risk Committee ensures oversight of CIP's risk management policies and plans. In a much broader sense, the Board oversees Center operations in the interest of funders and stakeholders.I would like to express my gratitude for years of service on the CIP Board to Andres Casas, Linley Chiwona-Karlton, and Jim Eckles who stepped down in 2020. Their contributions to our leadership were many and very much appreciated.On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank CIP's funders, investors and all CGIAR partners for their support. I also extend my appreciation to CIP's management and staff for their continued dedication to the organization and its important mission.April 27, 2021To the Board of Trustees:The 2020 Financial Statements expressed in US dollars have been prepared in accordance with the lnternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). CIP's Management is responsible for the reliability of the financial statements and is of the opinion that they give a true and fair view of the state of the financial affairs of the Center and of its operating results.The Center maintains an internal control system over its financial reporting, which is designed to provide reasonable assurance to management and the Board of Trustees that the financial statements provide reliable information. The systems of internal controls include established policies and procedures communicated and applied throughout the Center.The Board of Trustees, operating through its Audit and Risk Committee, provides oversight of the financial reporting process and of the safeguards in the system of internal control to avoid unauthorized acquisition, use or disposal of assets. The Audit and Risk Committee meets privately with external auditors to discuss the results of their work, the adequacy of the internal control system and the quality of financial reporting.Every year, the Audit and Risk Committee recommends to the Board the appointment of an external audit firm, and the terms of reference for their work. The external audit for 2020 was performed by BDO.April 27, 2021Dr. Barbara H. Wells, Ph.D. Amanda RodriguezDirector General Chief Financial OfficerThe Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate risk management system is in place which enables management to identify, manage and take steps to mitigate significant risks to the achievement of the center's objectives. The Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) assists the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its risk management responsibilities.The ARC regularly receives an update on the effectiveness of CIP's risk management and progress against agreed targets as well as independent assurances from its internal and external auditors. With this information, the ARC satisfies itself that the attention paid by management to CIP's activities. Thus assured, the ARC communicates its views to the Board on the effectiveness and efficiency of CIP's risk management.Risk mitigation strategies have been ongoing at the Center and include the implementation of systems of internal control which, by their nature, are designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk. The Center also endeavors to manage risk by ensuring that the appropriate infrastructure, controls, systems and people are in place throughout the organization. The Center has implemented a bottom up approach to risk management beginning in 2011. Risks are identified at the department, regional and country level and are regularly evaluated by a Risk Management Team.Management has established detailed guidelines to ensure risk is assessed at all levels. The process includes a plan by which the Center's management identifies, evaluates and prioritizes risks and opportunities across the International Potato Center; develops risk mitigation strategies that balance benefits with costs; monitors the implementation of these strategies; and reports, in conjunction with the internal audit, semi-annually to the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board.The Board is satisfied with the comprehensive risk management system adopted by the International Potato Center. The pandemic generated by COVID-19 has developed rapidly in 2020, with a significant number of cases globally. The measures taken by governments to contain the virus have affected, to a greater or lesser degree, the economic activity of the countries where the virus operates.As a consequence of the current pandemic regarding Covid-19 virus, the Peruvian State declared the country under national emergency effective as from March 16, 2020, and motivated social isolation and suspension, in workplaces, of any industrial, commercial and service activities, not related to food processes, hospital services and some other strategic sectors; it also closed both national and international ground, air and maritime borders, except for the loading and unloading of goods.These restrictions have been removed gradually and many businesses have restarted operations according to the economic reactivation plan based on phases ordered by the Peruvian Government. Therefore, many sectors have been operating on a limited basis.CIP Management has taken a series of measures to monitor and mitigate the effects of COVID19, such as health and safety measures for its staff, such as social distancing and the development of remote work from homes for administrative staff and in-person for jobs in laboratories and experimental stations, but applying the corresponding sanitary protocols; accommodations and adjustments were also made in alignment to the labor frameworks of countries where CIP has employees.In this context, Management has analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it has generated on the main aspects and accounting estimates of the financial statements, and does not identify that its core business will deteriorate in the future.The main accounting policies applied in the preparation of the Financial Statements are detailed below.Management is responsible for preparing the Financial Statements, and expressly states that CIP prepared them following the applicable standards and interpretations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the Financial Statements are consistent with those applied in previous years.2 The preparation of the Financial Statements in accordance with IFRS requires management to use of certain material accounting estimates, judgments and assumptions in the application of the accounting policies of CIP. Actual results may differ from these estimates; however, in Management's opinion, actual results will not vary significantly from estimates and assumptions applied by CIP. The areas involving a major degree of judgment or complexity or areas where assumptions and estimates are material for the Financial Statements are described in note 4.The standards that became effective in 2020 and are applicable for the CIP are summarized below, but they had no material effect on the financial statements.Amendments provide a new definition of materiality establishing that \"information is material if omitting, misstating or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence the decisions that the primary users of general purpose financial statements make on the basis of those financial statements, which provide financial information about a specific reporting entity.\"Amendments clarify that materiality will depend on the nature or magnitude of the information, either individually or in combination with other information, in the context of the financial statements. A misstatement is material if it can reasonably be expected to influence the decisions that the primary users.Conceptual Framework for Financial Information issued on March 29, 2018The Conceptual Framework is not a standard, and none of the concepts contained therein override the concepts or requirements in any standard. The purpose of the Conceptual Framework is to assist the IASB in developing standards, to help preparers develop consistent accounting policies where there is no applicable standard in place and to assist all parties to understand and interpret the standards.This will affect those entities which developed their accounting policies based on the Conceptual Framework.The revised Conceptual Framework includes some new concepts, updated definitions and recognition criteria for assets and liabilities and clarifies some important concepts.The following describes the accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the Financial Statements and, are consistent with those followed in the preparation of the annual Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2020:(a) Financial instruments: Initial recognition and subsequent measurementi.Financial assets -Financial assets are classified, on initial recognition, as financial assets at fair value (with changes in results or other comprehensive income) or assets measured at amortized cost. All financial assets are initially recognized at fair value.For the purposes of the subsequent measurement, financial assets are classified into three categories:-Amortized cost (debt instruments), -At fair value through changes in other comprehensive income (equity instruments) and -The classification depends on CIP business model and the contractual terms of the cash flows.Financial assets measured at amortized cost -A financial asset is measured at amortized cost if the following two conditions are met: (i) the financial asset is maintained within a business model whose objective is to maintain the financial assets to obtain the contractual cash flows; and (ii) the contractual terms of the financial asset give rise, on specific dates, to cash flows that are only payments of the principal and interest on the amount of the outstanding principal.These assets are subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest rate method and are subject to impairment losses. Any gain or loss from derecognition, modification or impairment is recognized in Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income.The CIP's financial assets measured at amortized cost include accounts receivable and short and long term investments and their par value is similar to their amortized cost, financial assets at fair value through profit or loss include cash and cash equivalents.Cash is a financial asset because it represents a means of payment and is therefore the basis used to measure and recognize all of the transactions on the financial statements. Cash equivalents correspond to time deposits highly liquid in the short term.Any changes in the fair value of these assets and any interests earned are recorded in the statement of comprehensive income.ii.Recognition and initial measurement -Financial liabilities are classified at the time of initial recognition as financial liabilities at fair value through profit or at at amortized cost net of transaction costs directly attributable to the acquisition of the financial liability.Liabilities classified at amortized cost are measured using the effective interest rate method. Profits and losses are recognized in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income.The amortized cost is calculated taking into account any discount or premium on the acquisition and the commissions or costs that are an integral part of the effective interest rate. Amortization in accordance with the effective interest rate method is recognized as a financial cost in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income.The CIP's financial liabilities at amortized cost include accounts payable to third parties , and other accounts payable, and its par value is similar to its amortized cost.Financial assets and liabilities are offset when there is legal right to set them off and Management has the intention either to settle on a net basis or to realize the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.Financial assets:A financial asset is derecognized when: (i) title to receive cash flows from the asset has ceased; or (ii) the Company has transferred its title to receive cash flows from the asset or has assumed an obligation to pay the cash flows in full immediately to a third party under a transfer agreement, and (iii) the Company has transferred substantially all of the risks and benefits derived from the asset or, if not all of the asset risks and benefits have been transferred or withheld substantially, it has transferred its control on it.A financial liability is derecognized when the obligation to pay is either discharged or cancelled or expires.When an existing financial liability is replaced by another one of the same lender under significantly different conditions, or the conditions are materially modified, such replacement or modification is treated as a derecognition of the original liability, recognizing the new liability and showing the difference between them in the period profit or loss.iii.Compensation of financial instruments -Financial assets and financial liabilities are offset so that the net amount is reported in the Statement of Financial Position, only if there is a current legally enforceable right to offset the amounts recognized, and there is an intention to settle them for the net amount or to realize assets and cancel liabilities simultaneously.(b) Accrual basis -CIP prepares its Financial Statements based on an accumulation or accrual basis.Based on an accrual basis, the expenses represent actual or estimated cash outflows incurred or will be possibly incurred as a result of CIP's operations in progress during the period.(c) Foreign currency translation -The items included in the Financial Statements are measured in the currency of the primary economic environment where CIP operates in (its functional currency). The Financial Statements are presented in US dollars, which is the CIP's functional and presentation currency.Foreign currency transactions are translated into functional currency at exchange rates ruling as of the dates of transactions or the date of valuation in case of revalued items.The income and expenses for exchange differences resulting from the payment of such transactions and the translation of monetary assets and liabilities stated in foreign currency at exchange rates at the closure are recorded in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income, except when they are deferred as other income and expenses in transactions qualifying as cash flow hedge and net investment hedge.(d) Cash and cash equivalents, note 6 -Cash and cash equivalents presented in the Statement of Financial Position comprise the cash balances held in cash, in bank checking accounts, and bank time deposits with a term of less than three months.(e) Investments, note 7 -Investments correspond to time deposits, commercial papers, bonds, opened and/or acquired with the funds from Donors to be used in the execution of projects. These investments bear interest at market rates.Investments are initially recognized at their fair value. Subsequently, they are measured at their amortized cost using the effective interest rate less estimate for impairment. The impairment of investments is estimated according to the policies established by the Management and they are recorded when there is objective evidence that CIP will not recover all amounts.Investments with maturity over twelve (12) months are presented as non-current assets.(f) Accounts receivable, note 8 -The accounts receivable correspond to the amounts CIP has the right to demand from Donors, CGIAR Centers, and third parties for the activities inherent to the normal course of the business. The accounts whose maturity is within a twelvemonth period or lower from the date of the Statement of Financial Position are classified as current assets. If their maturity is over a twelve-month period, they are recorded as non-current assets.The accounts receivable are initially recognized at their fair value. Subsequently, they are measured at their amortized cost using the effective interest rate less estimate for impairment.Donors and other receivable will be subject to impairment evaluation applying the simplified approach. However, the CIP has concluded that based on the historical behavior of its donors portfolio where no defaults are observed, the credit quality of the donors and a qualitative evaluation of prospective macroeconomic information will not be required the recording of additional provisions for impairment of accounts by charge as it is not expected that the level of credit risk in the future will deteriorate significantly.(g) Inventories, note 11 -Inventories of materials and supplies are recorded at their acquisition cost. The acquisition cost includes the purchase price plus freight, insurance, and handling charges. Inventories are valued at the average cost, which should not exceed the market value. Materials in transit are stated at cost.(h) Property, plant, and equipment, note 13 -Properties, plant, and equipment are valued at acquisition cost, net of the corresponding accumulated depreciation, and accumulated losses for impairment, if so.The initial cost of facilities and various equipment comprise their purchase price, including tariffs and non-reimbursable purchase taxes, as well as other costs directly attributable to the respective placement and start-up.Subsequent costs attributable to assets are capitalized only when they may be reliably measured and to the extent that is probable that future economic benefits over a normal performance of such an asset will flow to CIP.The maintenance and repair expenses are charged to the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income in the period they are incurred. The cost of interest (and exchange differences for this interest) based on loans granted to finance the construction of buildings, facilities and equipment are capitalized.The carrying amount of these assets is revised on a regular basis to guarantee that it does not differ significantly from their fair value at the closure of each fiscal year.When the carrying amount of an asset is higher than its estimated recoverable value, it is immediately reduced to its recoverable amount.The cost and accumulated depreciation of the sold or disposed assets are eliminated from their respective accounts and the profit or loss impact the results for the period.The assets with an individual purchase price of US$3,500 or higher, including taxes, freight, and installation costs, are classified as property, plant and equipment.The residual values and useful lives of the assets are revised and adjusted, if necessary, as of the date of each Statement of Financial Position.Estimate of useful life of property, plant and equipment is as follows:Buildings 50 Agricultural machinery 15 Laboratory and scientific equipment 10 Office equipment, furnishings, and accessories 10 Servers, network systems, and telecommunication equipment 10 Vehicles 5 Computers and peripheral devices 10CIP properties, plant, and equipment (fixed assets) depreciation is calculated based on its estimated useful life as per the years specified above, except for assets purchased for projects and returned to the donor or transferred to other entities as per donor designation in the agreement, which will be depreciated according to the useful life of the project or the useful life of the fixed asset, the lower.An item of property, plant and equipment and any significant part initially recognized is derecognized upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected from its use or disposal. Any gain or loss arising on derecognition of the asset (calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset) is included in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income when the asset is derecognized.(i) Intangible assets, note 14 -Intangible assets are recorded when it is probable that future economic benefits will flow, and CIP is responsible for asset management risks.Intangible assets are recorded at the initial cost less their accumulated amortization and mainly correspond to payments made for software acquisition and/or development.Correspond to a defined intangible and the amortization is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life. In the initial recognition, CIP assesses if the useful life of the intangible asset is defined or undefined.The estimate of the useful life of intangible assets is ten (10) years.(j) Leases -LessorsIn the case of lessors the actual practice is maintained. Lessors continue classifying lease contract as financial and operative leases. The lease income is recognized as the service is rendered.(k) Impairment of non-financial assets -CIP's non-monetary assets property, plant and equipment and intangible; are subject to impairment testing when there are events or circumstances indicating that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. The losses for impairment arise when the carrying amount of the asset is higher than its recoverable value. The recoverable value of an asset corresponds to the higher of its net amount after the sale, less its cost of sales, or its use value.If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its recoverable value, a loss for impairment is recognized as an expense in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income for the year. The losses for impairment will be returned if there is a change in the estimates used to determine the recoverable value of the assets. They will be returned until the carrying amount of the asset does not exceed the determined fair value, net of depreciation if a loss for impairment is not recognized.(l) Employees' benefits -CIP has short-term benefit obligations for employees' benefits, including salaries, payroll contributions, and legal bonuses. These obligations are monthly charged to the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income on an accrual basis.Resignation benefits are paid when the labor relationship is stopped before the normal date of retirement or when an employee voluntarily accepts to resign in exchange for benefits.CIP recognizes the resignation benefits when it is committed i) to stopping the labor relationship with employees according to a detailed formal plan with no possibility of resignation or ii) to offering resignation benefits to promote voluntary resignation. The benefits maturing in more than twelve (12) months from the date of the Statement of Financial Position are discounted at current value.The annual vacations of personnel are recognized on an accrual basis. The provision for the estimated obligation for annual vacations of personnel resulting from services provided by the employees is recognized as of the date of the Statement of Financial Position.The severance indemnities corresponding to CIP's employees are under applicable legal provisions in each country where CIP operates in.(m) Recognition of income and expense -Income from donations in cash or in kind without any type of restriction is fully recognized when it is receivedor agreed by confirmation letter.The grants received with the restriction of being destined to a specific purpose are recognized provided that such donations are used for such a specific purpose.The restricted donations are initially debited from \"Cash and cash equivalents\" and credited to \"Deferred Income from Donors\", respectively, in the Statement of Financial Position. Subsequently, while they are used, the funds granted are recorded in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income in the same amounts they were executed.The disbursements made by CIP that will be reimbursed by the Donors are recorded in \"Accounts receivable from Donors, net\" in the Statement of Financial Position. In case CIP has not used the total amount received, it will be transferred to the donors.Other income and expenses, including income from services provided by CIP, are recognized as they accrue, regardless of when the payment is made or received and are recorded in the periods to which they relate.Income comprises the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents the amounts receivable for service provision, net of returns, discounts, and sales tax.CIP recognizes its income when it may be reliably measured and when is probable that future economic benefits will flow to CIP, provided that the transaction complies with the specific criteria for each activity of CIP.The expenses are recognized as earned, regardless of when it is paid, and recorded in the periods to which they relate.( The institutional costs (overhead expenses) are business support costs that cannot be directly related to research activities. These costs are gathered in a common group and are distributed to benefiting activities by a cost allocation process involving the application of a percentage rate (overhead expense rate).(p) Provisions, note 19 -Provisions are registered when 1) CIP has an obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of a past event, 2) it is a probable outflow of resources embodying economic benefits to settle the obligation, and 3) when a reliable estimate of the obligation can be made.When CIP expects that one or all provisions are reimbursed, the reimbursement is recorded as a separate asset but only when reimbursement is certain. The expense related to a provision is recorded in the Statement of Activities and Other Comprehensive Income, net of any reimbursement.The provision for the repatriation of GRS corresponding to the liability that will incur and the benefits that the repatriation personnel have at the end of their contract periods. CIP expects to grants loans for repatriation payable to all the world's personnel based on estimated flights, relocations and freight costs. See note 18.(q) Contingent -A contingent liability is a possible obligation arising from past events, whose existence will be confirmed only by the occurrence or not of one or more uncertain future events that go beyond the control of CIP or a current obligation arising from past events but it is not recognized due to the fact that:-It is not probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits to settle the obligation arises or -The amount of the obligation may not be reliably measured. In May 2020, IASB issued Property, Plant and Equipment-Proceeds before Intended Use, which prohibit entities from deducting from the cost of an item of property, plant and equipment any proceeds from the sale of items produced while the entity while bringing an asset into the location and condition necessary for it to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management. Instead, a company will recognize such sales proceeds and related cost in profit or loss.The amendment is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022 and shall be applied retrospectively only to items of property, plant and equipment available for use on or after the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements in which the entity first applies the amendment.CIP is committed to promoting a risk management culture and developing and maintaining a framework, procedures, and structures to identify, assess, and manage risk on a formal and systematic basis. In 2015, the Board of Trustees approved the Risk Management Operating Policy establishing CIP's risk management principles and practices, as well as the institutional assessment criteria and parameters to guide the Management to deal with risks.CIP has created a Permanent Risk Management Committee, which will monitor and assess periodically the implementation and efficacy of the risk management program resulting from the operations of CIP, as well as to create a risk assessment and mitigation culture.The activities carried out by CIP expose it to a variety of financial risks. The main risks that may adversely affect the financial assets and liabilities, as well as future cash flows are variations of the exchange rate and a decrease in funding from Donors.The Management assesses and monitors these risks and tries to reduce potential adverse effects in the financial performance on a regular basis.Liquidity risk results from the administration made by the CIP of its working capital, financial charges, and capital payments of its debt instruments. The risk is that the CIP will have difficulties to meet their obligations when due.The CIP policy is to make sure that it always has enough cash for them to be able to meet their obligations when due. To that effect, they try to maintain cash balances to cover their expected requirements for a period of at least 90 days.The customer's credit risk is administered by Management, subject to policies, procedures and control established by it.Credit risk also arises from cash and deposits in banks and financial institutions.In the case of banks and financial institutions, only independently evaluated companies with a high rating are accepted.Interest risk is the risk of fluctuation of the fair value of future cash flows of a financial instrument due to changes in the market interest rate. The CIP is not exposed to this risk, as it does not keep any financial liabilities that are subject to interests and its financial assets are not exposed to interest rates fluctuations.Exchange risk -Most of the Company transactions are made in US Dollars, which is its functional currency.In order to mitigate the Company exposure to exchange rate, cash flows in non-functional currency are continuously reviewed.The estimates and criteria used by CIP are permanently assessed and are based on its historical experience and other factors, including the expectation of occurrence of future events that are considered reasonable according to the circumstances.CIP makes future estimates and assumptions. The resulting accounting estimates by definition usually differ from the respective actual results.Estimates and assumptions with a significant risk to result in material adjustments to the balances of assets and liabilities next year are the following:-Allowance for expected credit losses -The CIP applies a simplified approach when calculating expected credit losses to trade receivables and contractual assets that do not contain a significant financing component. Therefore, The CIP does not track changes in credit risk, but recognizes a provision based on expected credit loss for life on each reporting date.The CIP has established a provisions matrix based on its historical experience of credit losses, adjusted for specific prospective factors for debtors and the economic environment.-By their nature, provisions are resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. Assessing the existence and potential amount of the provisions inherently involves the exercise of significant judgment and the use of estimates about the outcome of future events.-Useful lives of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets -The accounting treatment of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets requires the use of estimates to determine their useful lives for the purpose of depreciation and amortization. The determination of useful lives requires estimates regarding future technological developments and alternative uses of these assets.The assumptions regarding the technological framework and its future development involve a significant degree of judgment to the extent that the timing and nature of future technological advances are difficult to predict.-The impairment of investments is estimated according to the policies established by the Management and they are recorded when there is objective evidence that CIP will not recover all amounts.Management considers that the estimates included in the Financial Statements were made on the basis of their better knowledge of the relevant events and circumstances at the date of preparation thereof; however, the final results may differ from the estimates included in the Financial Statements.As of December 31, the classification of financial instruments is as follows:As of December 31, 2020 _____________________________________________ The balance corresponding to intangible assets is the following: The balance corresponds to software Unit4 Business World (OCS), for accounting and financial application to record and consolidate all operations carried out in the different countries where the CIP operates in.The amortization period corresponding to this application is ten (10) years.The balance is detailed below: The deferred income from Donors corresponds to the balance of donation received, whose application is pending in consecutive periods.The balances whose execution is pending will be used in project management within a one-year period as maximum. The project management contract signed with the Donors establishes that the balances of non-executed received subsidies will be kept in CIP's accounts up to the respective execution.Correspond to fixed assets acquired with donors funds less the corresponding depreciation during their useful life or as per the useful life of the project, the lower -see note 2.3 (g).(c) Correspond to donation of fixed assets that was received from Government of China in 2017, less the corresponding depreciation during useful life. The assets includes research equipment and laboratory furniture, see Note 13(e). The provision for repatriation expenses corresponds to repatriation costs related to staff under global contracts and they are paid according to the contract terms. The staff under global contracts are entitled to repatriation benefits on the completion of their contract periods.Provision is made for repatriation payable to all global staff based on the estimated air flights, relocations, and freight expenses.This caption comprises the following: The movement from designated to undesignated has been made to reflect the current total of institutional property, plant and equipment, and intangibles as designated assets.As mentioned in Note 1, CIP is a root and tuber research-for-development institution delivering sustainable solutions to the pressing world problems of hunger, poverty, and the degradation of natural resources.According to Article 19º (b) of the Consolidated Ordered Text (TUO for its Spanish acronym) of the Income Tax Law, approved by Executive Order Nº 179-2004-EF, the income -destined for the specific purposes through the country -of foundations subject to tax and non-profit organizations, whose articles of association exclusively comprise some or various of the following purposes: charity, social assistance, education, culture, science, arts, literature, sports, politics, unions, housing, provided that they are not distributed, directly or indirectly, among the partners, and their by-laws establish that, in case of dissolution, its net assets will be used for the mentioned purposes, shall be exempted from income tax.(a) This caption comprises the following: The expenses by nature are classified as follows: Research expenses correspond to those activities supporting research matters on a direct basis.Unbilled research expenses incurred in 2020 and 2019 amount to US$ 0.6 million and US$ 0.06 million, respectively. They correspond to research expenses incurred during project implementation and that are not accepted according to donor rules.General and administrative expenses incurred in 2020 and 2019 amount to US$ 5.8 million and US$ 7.06 million, respectively. They correspond to the offices mentioned below. Facing the increase of positive cases as a result of the second wave of infections with Covid-19, in the framework of the current emergency state in the country, the Peruvian State declared a focused quarantine including certain social and commercial restrictions from January 31 to February 28, 2021. This measures have not affected the CIP operations.Additional to the above stated, no significant subsequent events are known that had occurred between December 31, 2020 and April 26, 2021 that may affect the reasonableness of the financial statements issued and/or that may require disclosure in the notes.In the opinion of Management and its legal advisors, there are no considerable legal proceedings or lawsuits in progress, or other contingencies brought against the CIP as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. ","tokenCount":"6474"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4825397334.json b/data/part_1/4825397334.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0554bd6f3642dad53eb81b46a520655ecada5ac2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4825397334.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be2bcfbda90d52d49abcb47298ffae00","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf1210c1-0720-40e6-a595-a40ae7a3de25/retrieve","id":"64026794"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8a1959d8-90a8-4b21-8109-d982cd3b02b4","pagecount":"35","content":"• Pork is an important component of the Vietnamese diet• Dominance of smallholders in pig production, significant contribution to household (HH) income (accounts for 14% of rural HH income)• Projections show that even with no growth from smallholders, large farms will likely account for only 12% of the national pork market share• Enabling policy environment: willingness of policymakers and development partners to engage in R4D initiatives targeting smallholders 11 Combines very small scale and small scale farms Demand for pork Pic value chain in Vietnam -some key factsThere is comparative advantage of small holder pig systems:• Generate efficiency gains from low-cost locally-sourced feeding options• Strong demand for fresh (not frozen) pork that smallholders can supply through preferred outlets by consumers (local markets)• Most of pork sold in wet markets which are rather informal Assessing food safety in informal markets ","tokenCount":"139"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4826692834.json b/data/part_1/4826692834.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e765eabcc48c0f3ca11dfaa99ee405abec94159d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4826692834.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0fb55a8c5c18a10f60b9dbcba42db3e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3b288208-eea0-4eb2-903e-4a53c9c9ac49/retrieve","id":"1870236065"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f75de722-47c3-4cf1-b567-e8d32451d3d3","pagecount":"9","content":" Urgence : Etant donné que les changements climatiques affectent l'alimentation et l'agriculture à l'heure actuelle, nous devons accélérer le rythme de l'adaptation et assurer les coavantages de la réduction des émissions de GES, dans la mesure du possible. Investissement : Nous devons accroître le pourcentage de financement climat alloué à l'adaptation et assurer un flux de ressources vers les localités et les populations dont les besoins d'adaptation sont les plus importants.Financement privé : Nous avons besoin de produits de financement et d'assurance innovants afin d'améliorer tant la gestion des risques que l'accès au capital pour les mesures d'adaptation, en particulier pour les petits producteurs. Filières : Nous devons accorder davantage d'attention à la manière dont les filières alimentaires sont gérées, faire face aux risques climatiques, assurer un approvisionnement en denrées alimentaires abordables et nutritives pour les consommateurs pauvres et améliorer l'accès des petits producteurs et transformateurs aux marchés stables locaux ou reculés. Savoir : Etant donné que les changements climatiques ne sont guère statiques, nous aurons constamment besoin de produire et de partager de nouvelles connaissances, en étendant la révolution de l'information aux champs, aux forêts et aux zones de pêche, dans les endroits les plus reculés. Sélection : Nous avons besoin d'investir à présent dans une sélection variétale stimulée par les agriculteurs et par la science, car c'est manifestement l'une des mesures d'adaptation les plus efficaces d'ici à 2030, vu que l'homologation de nouvelles variétés végétales et de races animales nécessite un délai de 8-20 années. Nutrition : Nous devons orienter les interventions de développement non seulement vers le maintien de l'apport en calories dans le contexte des changements climatiques, mais également vers l'accès à des paniers diversifiés de denrées alimentaires.     ","tokenCount":"283"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4857993022.json b/data/part_1/4857993022.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7687b139310531181a25683cc580369699cf9b7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4857993022.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"54731e9361871f7560002c1ee581095d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb4795a3-c728-4514-b03c-36c2adcd417a/retrieve","id":"574658534"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9dbd8518-294c-4480-b883-bff81f6eb668","pagecount":"14","content":"❖ Composition of Watershed committees (WSC):❖ Tokenistic participation for most of the committee members, including woman\"All the villagers met near the primary school in the evening…(we were told that) we need to make a committee with representatives from each community.We Note: There were no responses for the following option: Clean-up campaigns Source: Authors' calculations from Field Survey (2018) data. ❖ Watershed projects seen to address agricultural productivity related issues, therefore women are often excluded as they have limited ownership of land ❖ Intersectional impacts of caste and gender impact ability to benefit from the outputs of the watershed program ❖ Women did not attend WSC meeting as they felt that they were not taken seriously or were explicitly forbidden by their families to attend these meetings\"No one asks women anything. Men are the only one who are consulted on these matters. Do you think they will ask women about these issues?\"-Female participant from dominant category in FGD, Parasai \"…People come in a big car, discuss with men and go away. They do not consult women on anything.\" \"(Men from our community) routinely silence us by asking, why do women need information related to such work?\"Female FGD participants in Chhatpur.","tokenCount":"199"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4859562408.json b/data/part_1/4859562408.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b961e5265b816a46c2dc1dd4f44ff760b4ffa0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4859562408.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"31865553f67b2971997acf04c82ac366","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b054c475-a8fa-420f-9cf2-3feb131ddf0b/retrieve","id":"-26325442"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9c026ad4-6ba5-4848-9672-066ec7e1ed2a","pagecount":"33","content":"The problemThe effectiveness of detecting and controlling animal diseases is dependent on a solid understanding of their dynamics and impacts through scientifically sound qualitative and quantitative methods by trained personnel. Veterinary epidemiology is the systematic characterization and explanation of patterns of animal diseases and the use of this information in the resolution of animal and human health problems. This discipline exploits an increasing inventory of tools for effective data gathering, assembly and analysis, modelling and reporting, all targeted at decision making by producers, governments and international development agencies. Furthermore, the integration of epidemiology with agricultural economics and other social sciences provides a uniquely effective tool for evaluating disease as a constraint to broader development agendas, for assessing the absolute and relative economic importance of diseases, and for evaluating the costs and benefits of alternative intervention options, at different levels ranging from farm to national to global. Furthermore, veterinary epidemiological and economic impact sciences are key components in a number of the global grand challenges relating to disease control, climate change and food security.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its predecessor, the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD), have played an important international role in identifying and developing epidemiological tools for the investigation and resolution of animal health constraints to livestock production. When the group was formed in 1987, it was charged with addressing the two diseases considered the priority in Africa, namely East Coast fever (ECF) and trypanosomiasis, to support the development of vaccines against these two diseases, which was the mandate of ILRAD.Following the transition from ILRAD to ILRI, the institution has been a leader in exploring new epidemiological approaches, and in widening the disciplinary spectrum of epidemiological investigations. However, arguably most important of all, ILRI has played a facilitating role in collaborating with countries, institutions and organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America to respond to requests for both short-and long-term partnerships and support at international, regional, national and local levels, and in extensive capacity building in epidemiological tools, techniques and approaches.Initially, ILRAD and ILRI focused almost exclusively on the dynamics and impact of tickborne pathogens of livestock in Africa, but during the 1990s, the geographical focus, disciplinary make-up and range of tools used broadened substantially, tackling multiple diseases in Africa, Asia and Latin America and building capacity in epidemiological and economic impact assessment techniques.For a period of 15 years (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) ILRAD/ ILRI's epidemiology and socio-economic impact assessment capacity was assembled in one team serving a range of institutional and externally commissioned needs and was recognized internationally for its focus of health issues affecting development and poverty reduction. Through a major study of animal health research priorities commissioned by UK Department for International Development (DFID), the team made a substantial contribution to the design of ILRI's new strategy, which emerged in 2002, and to the povertyfocused agendas of other organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Wellcome Trust.Veterinary epidemiological and economic impact sciences at ILRAD and ILRI have left a valuable legacy of publications in peer-reviewed journals, strategic reports and policy documents, as well as methodologies and approaches that have been applied in virtually all corners of the world, and many trained epidemiologists now serving different institutional needs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Australia.The range of diseases subject to epidemiological and economics research has been wide, and included the viral infections rinderpest, footand-mouth disease (FMD), Rift Valley fever (RVF) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and the context of impact assessments has been applied to trade, livelihoods and poverty reduction. ILRI has worked with a multitude of partners around the world and has contributed substantially to research and development networking in many areas of animal health, including tickborne diseases, rabies, and the fundamental tools of epidemiology and socio-economic impacts.The group brought the science of structured epidemiological analysis to the institute in methodological terms (particularly in observational field studies), and also expanded the disciplinary contributions to include social, economic and environmental considerations in the analysis of disease impacts, and the impacts of disease control interventions.Most of the earlier economic impact assessments carried out by ILRAD and ILRI were disease specific, such as on ECF, rinderpest and FMD, and built on evidence derived from underlying epidemiological data. Economic impact assessments gained increasing momentum as ILRI's mandate broadened. The epidemiology group concluded that no longer should studies of the economics of diseases of production animals be limited to animal scientists seeking the collaboration of agricultural economists to affix prices to estimated productivity losses, and the new discipline of animal health economics emerged in which the quality of economic evaluations depended on integrating the products of good epidemiological studies into economic frameworks.In 1998, the World Organisation for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties, or OIE) approached ILRI to compile and edit a special edition of the OIE Scientific and Technical Review on Animal Health Economics, which comprised nine chapters on various topics such as the demands of economic impact knowledge, and seven case study chapters addressing specific diseases and different scenarios affecting the validity of the economic studies.While we cannot ascribe higher productivity to ILRI's veterinary epidemiology research per se, the research has increased our understanding of infection dynamics, which has influenced disease control and the role of interventions in different settings.Over the years, epidemiology has gone through both administrative and locality changes, seen as a unified entity for 15 years, and later under the new ILRI strategy it was fragmented and diminished. However, during the 15-year period from 1987 to 2002, the institution had supported approximately 15 MSc students and 37 PhD students with approximately 50 scientists predominantly from African countries. In addition, there have been several postdoctoral fellows who have been trained. As most of the epidemiology is conducted under a specific disease, it is difficult to determine how many more have been trained to date.ILRI has worked with a multitude of partners around the world and contributed substantially to research and development networking in many areas of animal health, including tick-borne diseases, rabies and the fundamental tools of epidemiology and socio-economic impacts. In 2007, the Participatory Epidemiology Network for Animal and Public Health (PENAPH) was developed to connect groups and individuals who apply participatory epidemiology in controlling emerging and existing diseases.During the 15-year period from 1987 to 2002 a substantial number of MSc and PhD students were trained through incorporation into ILRI's research activities; these were predominantly from African countries.The epidemiology group provided a role model of investigative problem solving, which was picked up, copied and adopted by some institutions in African countries.ILRI's epidemiology research has made substantial contributions to our understanding and control of ECF and trypanosomiasis in Africa, to the preparedness and responses to RVF in eastern Africa, to a greater understanding of the economic impact of rinderpest in Africa and of FMD in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and to regional understanding of the drivers of rabies control. More recently, epidemiology research at ILRI has contributed substantially to our understanding of food safety risks in formal and informal markets and to the dynamics and risks of zoonotic diseases. The research has also contributed to the global understanding of the importance of these and other diseases to African livestock systems and to the particular animal health constraints facing the poorer sectors of Africa's livestock-engaged communities.During the days of ILRAD, the epidemiology and socio-economic programme had little or no impact on ILRAD's research and strategy; rather, it was seen as providing evidence justifying the existence of the laboratory-based vaccine research for the two target haemoparasitic diseases. Nevertheless, after ILRI's birth in 1995, the programme played an important role in providing impact assessment services, which progressively enhanced the engagement of the institution with different national, regional and donor clients. This situation changed dramatically in 2002 following the publication of the DFID-commissioned study on animal research priorities for poverty reduction. The matrix of three 'pathways out of poverty' provided the framework of the new institutional thematic structure, not just for animal health research but also for ILRI's entire programme.Veterinary epidemiology is the systematic characterization and explanation of patterns of animal diseases and, importantly, the use of this information in the resolution of animal and human health problems. It is a subject that exploits an increasing inventory of tools for effective data gathering, assembly and analysis, targeted at decision making in the field of animal disease control and sustainable livestock enterprise development. The integration of epidemiology with agricultural economics and other social sciences provides a uniquely effective tool for evaluating disease as a constraint to broader development agendas, for assessing the absolute and relative economic importance of diseases, and for evaluating the costs and benefits of alternative intervention options, at different levels ranging from farm to national to global. ILRI and its predecessor, ILRAD, have played an important international role in exploiting epidemiological tools for the investigation and resolution of animal health constraints to livestock production and poverty reduction in many regions of the developing world. Furthermore, ILRI has been a leader in exploring new epidemiological approaches, and in widening the disciplinary spectrum of epidemiological investigations. However, arguably most important of all, ILRI has played a facilitating role in collaborating with countries, institutions and organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America in response to requests for both short-and long-term partnership and support at international, regional, national and local levels, and in extensive capacity building in epidemiological tools, techniques and approaches.The fundamental belief at the creation of ILRAD in 1974 was that vaccines against ECF and trypanosomiasis were the mandate of ILRAD. The evidence available to answer these questions at the time was derived almost entirely from African veterinary services and diagnostic laboratories, which had, for the previous 60 or so years, been servicing livestock production enterprises of the colonial powers. There were little if any economic data to quantify the impacts of these diseases, even in commercial systems, and the potential returns from vaccines.ILRAD alone among the international agricultural research centres of CGIAR had a unique mandate to carry out basic research and as such undertook very little of the technology transfer functions. Pressure progressively increased from partners to quantify the impacts of these two diseases on African agriculture in order to better justify the scientific investment in the study of these two diseases.Thus, it was some 13 years after the establishment of ILRAD that veterinary epidemiology was introduced into the institute. The Rockefeller Foundation initially for 3 years (and subse-quently extended for a further 2 years) supported what became the Epidemiology and Socioeconomics Programme. The group was joined in 1992 by an ecologist to explore the environmental impacts of trypanosomiasis control (Reid et al., 1995). The team expanded in the late 1990s to include another staff epidemiologist and two postdoctoral epidemiologists.The group rapidly laid out a work plan, beginning with the establishment of databases on African production systems at risk from the two diseases and on methodologies for determining their impact. This challenge led to the realization that disease incidence and prevalence data in Africa were scarce and unreliable, notably on the structure and ownership of the livestock populations at risk. The need for structured quantitative epidemiology capacity emerged, which led to a sustained programme of data assembly, digital data documentation and assembly, the development of modelling techniques and, of course, the gathering of field data.The first field site of diverse ecosystems and disease impacts was in Kilifi District on the Kenyan coast. A collaborative programme between the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) was established in 1988 at KARI's Mtwapa Regional Research Centre, near Mombasa.The smallholder dairy group was setting up a broad study on the constraints to smallholder milk production in the coastal lowlands of Kenya and how extension services covering the areas of feed and health could be improved. Specifically, the study estimated the demand for milk and dairy products, identified technical and policy constraints on production in mixed smallholder farming systems, evaluated dairy cattle breed resources, estimated disease risk to dairy cattle and tested disease control methods, and developed feeding systems appropriate to smallholder dairy production systems.The ILRAD epidemiology team provided support to the studies on the epidemiology and impact of ECF in the form of design and analysis of studies led by KARI staff. The challenge was a total lack of data on ECF occurrence, and so a series of cross-sectional studies was set up. Key was understanding the link between infection preva-lence, as measured by antibodies to Theileria parva in an indirect fluorescent antibody test, and disease incidence. ILRAD's entry into this research area was at a time when infection prevalence, as measured by antibody prevalence, had not been correlated with disease incidence, and, where prevalence studies had been undertaken, they had often been reported on the basis of administrative boundaries such as the FAO's 1975 study in Kenya (Kariuki, 1988).In 1983, the Farm Management Handbook of Kenya was published (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983), which provided a unique landscape synthesis of Kenya's agricultural environment, aggregating a number of variables into a kaleidoscope of colours representing the suitability for different crops and agricultural enterprises. With the knowledge that the epidemiology and impacts of ECF were highly dependent on environmental suitability for the main vector tick, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (the brown ear tick), the zone boundaries provided a new and useful sampling frame that had previously been unexploited.A series of studies was set up in coastal Kenya to determine the prevalence and incidence of ECF and the other tick-borne infections such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis, and to evaluate the role of immunization against ECF using the infection-and-treatment method (ITM). The studies provided an initial quantitative assessment of antibody prevalence to the spectrum of tick-borne disease parasites in order to assess the epidemiological status of these infections in both indigenous Zebu cattle kept, and in improved dairy cattle in three different agroecological zones (AEZs) (Deem et al., 1993;Maloo et al., 2001a,b,c).The coast work provided an opportunity to engage at the front line with national partners and to explore impact study design; it also illustrated the need to disaggregate factors affecting ECF epidemiology and impact. However, as the coastal systems were not fully representative of the intensifying livestock systems in the temperate highland areas of eastern Africa, additional studies were set up. The first was in Uasin Gishu, where larger-scale dairy and beef production was rapidly being replaced by small-scale commercial dairy enterprises (Mukhebi et al., 1992a). This work coincided with the introduction of the discipline of human nutrition into the impact equation (Curry et al., 1996).In 1992, the focus of the ECF epidemiology studies moved to the central highlands of Kenya, first to Kiambu District, with a 1-year study of the dynamics of theileriosis (O'Callaghan et al., 1998). This was followed in 1994 by investigations in the neighbouring Muranga District, which hosted a range of livestock production systems in diverse AEZs. There were five distinct AEZs within Muranga District, giving the opportunity to investigate the influence of a range of climate, livestock breeds and farming practice variables on ECF dynamics. The work started with a cross-sectional serological study on 750 smallholder dairy farms in Muranga District, selected in a stratified random sample (Gitau et al., 1997), which showed the markedly different prevalences of T. parva infection across AEZs. The area was typical of the highland areas of eastern Africa in which the process of smallholder dairy intensification was gaining momentum. The investigation continued with a study that related prevalence with incidence, case morbidity and case mortality (Gitau et al., 1999), and with a study of how these infections affected weight gain in calves (Gitau et al., 2001). The work concluded with a synthesis of the implications of the research on disease risk and on the potential role of vaccination against ECF (Gitau et al., 2000).The synthesis concluded that ECF risk is low in predominately zero-grazing areas. Thus, tick control or future vaccination programmes will probably only be used by very risk-averse farmers who wish to protect their highly valuable cows from the low risk of ECF mortality. In contrast, for open grazing systems, particularly in the lower-elevation upper-midland 4 (UM4) zone, the risk of ECF is much greater and probably much more variable. In this system, there will be much more substantial direct impact of ECF control programmes. In areas where ECF control will be through vaccination, irrespective of the grazing management system, there will be a greater likelihood of the development of endemic stability. Increased vaccination coverage to enhance the development of herd immunity, combined with modification of acaricide control strategies to allow sufficient challenge, seemed to offer the best prospect for establishing endemic stability. It was quite clear from these studies that attention needs to be paid to the variation in ECF risk, both spatially (as ECF risk changes over relatively short geographical distances) and temporally (seasonally), to develop optimal combinations of control measures for ECF under different ecological and grazing situations.It was in 1997 that the ECF epidemiology work expanded into other parts of Kenya, following the submission of a research proposal to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The revised proposal strengthened the epidemiology and impact assessment components and placed them in an ex ante context. Vaccine efficacy trials were limited to two sites in Kenya, while the impact assessment broadened into new areas. The impact assessment studies included an evaluation of mechanisms for optimal delivery, adoption and impact of the p67 vaccine (p67 is the major surface protein of T. parva sporozoites), determining the impact of a recombinant vaccine on a series of productivity and economic indicators in smallholder dairy systems. The project also included key laboratory studies to support the field studies and disease-modelling work (Ochanda et al., 1998).Table 5.1 outlines the various studies undertaken in Kenya, illustrating the differences in impacts by region, AEZ and grazing management.There were a wide variety of products emerging from the IFAD study, ranging from Technical Advisory Notes such as ' Assessing farmer preferences for the provision of livestock health services' to international presentations (Leneman et al., 2000;Kiara et al., 2000Kiara et al., , 2003;;Ndung'u et al., 2000Ndung'u et al., , 2003;;Wanyangu et al., 2000;Di Giulio et al., 2003, Karimi et al., 2003;O'Callaghan et al., 2003;Diaz et al., 2003) to peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals.In a review article of the ECF work (Perry and Young, 1995), it was postulated that the degree of mortality and production losses from T. parva infections were dependent on four key factors, which all exert their influence as a gradient (or cline) of effects:• The ecological cline, in which the climatic suitability for the tick vector varies with rainfall and altitude; the ecological cline gradient can be affected by differences in vegetation cover.• The host genetic cline, in which purebred taurine cattle bred under tick-free conditions are highly susceptible to disease, and taurine cattle bred in tick-borne infection endemic areas and some Zebu breeds (such as Boran) bred in tick-free conditions are moderately susceptible, but Zebu cattle bred in tick-borne infection endemic areas are of low susceptibility to disease.• The feeding management cline, which controls the exposure of hosts to the ecological conditions; this can range from no influence, where cattle are herded on natural pasture, to complete influence, where cattle are kept on concrete and fed on cultivated forage grasses, as in the smallholder zero-grazing units of eastern Africa.• The tick control cline, where tick control ranges from highly effective, regular application through to no tick control at all.At the start of these intense epidemiological investigations in Kenya, a regional meeting on tick-borne diseases was held in Lilongwe, Malawi, in 1988(Dolan, 1989), which provided an opportunity for sharing of information and understanding on theileriosis throughout the eastern and southern African regions, and where it became apparent that there were significant differences in the disease epidemiology between the eastern and southern regions. The Lilongwe meeting led to a textbook on theileriosis, The Epidemiology of Theileriosis in Africa (Norval et al., 1992b). The book was published by Academic Press, with ILRAD supporting the time contributions of the three authors and the preparation of camera-ready copy, and the book became the reference point for all those working on control of the disease. This book remains the only textbook on theileriosis, a product of ILRAD's epidemiology team of substantial impact. The disease called ECF was said to have been eradicated in southern Africa as a result of an intensive dipping programme, with the last case occurring in Swaziland in 1960. Nevertheless, T. parva infections persist, but with the official eradication declared, the names of theileriosis and corridor disease have been used to describe disease outbreaks. This curious confrontation of science and officialdom of disease and parasite nomenclature was reviewed in an article entitled 'The naming game: the changing fortunes of East Coast fever and Theileria parva' (Perry and Young, 1993). It is encouraging how these studies have led to our current understanding of theileriosis epidemiology, as illustrated by a recent review by Gachohi et al. (2012).Through funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a 5-year project on the epidemiology and impact of another important tick-borne disease of livestock in Africa, heartwater (also known as ehrlichiosis; caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium infection, formerly Cowdria ruminantium) was initiated in 1994 1 . This work subsequently received ILRI's award (and ILRI's nomination for the CGIAR Chairman's Award) for Scientific Partnership, 2000. The collaborative research in epidemiology and economics between the Veterinary Research Laboratory (VRL) in Harare, the Heartwater Research Project of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Universities of Florida (USA) and Warwick (UK), and ILRI determined and quantified the infection dynamics of heartwater in the major production systems and AEZs of Zimbabwe, the economic impact of the disease, and the technical and economic viability of different control interventions, with particular emphasis on the role of inactivated vaccines. The project outputs were as follows:• Distributions of tick vectors in Zimbabwe were defined and documented. A national survey of 3000 collections determined that Amblyomma hebraeum is the dominant tick in the south and that it had spread into central and eastern areas of the high veld. The survey also found that Amblyomma variegatum is present mainly in the north-west but that it is also found in central and eastern parts of the high veld, with some overlap of the two species (Norval et al., 1994;Peter et al., 1998Peter et al., , 1999)).• Spread of heartwater was documented and quantified, and factors affecting the spread were determined. A. hebraeum had spread far north due largely to movement of cattle (and some wildlife) to the high veld. A gradual reduction in acaricide use, particularly in the communal lands, contributed to the expanding distribution of this tick (Norval et al., 1992a).• Infection dynamics in the tick vector and mammalian hosts were determined and quantified. Endemic stability, in which population immunity develops, was found to be widespread but not present where acaricides were used intensively to interrupt natural infection. These results suggest that use of inactivated vaccines in many circumstances will allow a reduction in acaricide use with a transition to endemic stability and subsequent natural infection boosting the vaccinal immunity.• The impact of endemic stability, and carrier infections, on sheep productivity was determined. Studies in sheep revealed that creating endemic stability artificially with vaccines does not harm the health and reproductive performance of breeding ewes or the growth and milk consumption of their lambs (Martinez et al., 1999a,b).• Infection dynamics models were developed using data generated by the research. A mathematical model of the infection dynamics of the heartwater pathogen, E. ruminantium, showed that endemic stability is due principally to the protection of calves and lambs against disease by innate or maternally derived factors (O'Callaghan et al., 1998).• Economics of livestock production in heartwater areas was determined. Both largeand small-scale livestock production could be increased significantly with more, and more cost-effective, heartwater control methods (Perry et al., 1998;Chamboko et al., 1999).• The economic impact of heartwater, and of future vaccine use, was determined. The annual total direct losses in Zimbabwe (acaricide costs, milk losses, treatment costs) from heartwater were estimated to be US$5.6 million. A new inactivated vaccine was predicted to have a benefit:cost ratio of 2.4:1 in the communal sectors and 7.6:1 in the commercial sectors (Mukhebi et al., 1999).• The efficacy of future vaccine use was evaluated in epidemiological models. The timing of vaccination and frequency of revaccination were shown to have greater effects on population protection than vaccine efficacy. In the face of an epidemic, the frequency of administration is critical to a vaccine's success. Vaccines of relatively low efficacy (about 50%) can significantly reduce livestock morbidity and mortality if administered with appropriate frequency (O'Callaghan et al., 1999).• The economic impact of the disease and of its control through vaccines was evaluated and quantified in the countries of the SADC region. In total, 31 million cattle and 28 million small ruminants were found to be at risk of heartwater in the nine SADC countries affected: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The total annual losses were estimated at US$47.6 million, of which 61% were production losses and 39% control costs. New inactivated heartwater vaccines could yield benefit:cost ratios of up to 4.4:1, particularly in commercial and emerging market-orientated systems of the region (Minjauw et al., 1998(Minjauw et al., , 2000)).The successes of this collaborative project were considerable, with all objectives met and all findings published within a period of 5 years. The results of the project have given scientists a sound understanding of the factors influencing the distribution of tick vectors, and the infection dynamics and impacts of the disease in different AEZs and production systems, and predictions of the technical and economic impacts of control with a new generation of inactivated vaccines now emerging. The results generated have strong implications for heartwater control in other countries of Africa. Design and modelling features of the study have been used in studies of other tickborne livestock diseases.Apart from its technical achievements, the project boosted scientific capacity, particularly in Zimbabwe, through postgraduate training for national scientists. Project members produced 23 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 15 of which were authored by VRL scientists. Project staff produced another 36 publications, including 22 presentations at scientific meetings and ten articles in the project newsletter.The first opportunity to undertake an economic impact assessment came in the late 1980s with the ILRAD/KARI partnership on the Kenya coast, where an immunization trial was being carried out using ITM to control ECF. Adrian Mukhebi showed greater profitability in immunized cattle compared with unimmunized, through lower mortality and higher weight gains (Mukhebi et al., 1989). This was a solid first piece of evidence, although it was compiled on a state-run Agricultural Development Corporation beef ranch.The authors commented that 'these results and the recommendation apply to one immunization trial on one farm which was under an atypical management system for the region'. Building on the potential for ITM, Mukhebi et al. (1990) then dissected the complicated vaccine preparation process and calculated the costs of establishing a vaccine production facility (at a hypothetical site in Kenya but using a methodology generic to other countries).These initial forays into the economics of ECF and its control led to an Africa-wide assessment, presenting the estimated total costs of ECF in affected countries in 1989 as US$168 million (Mukhebi et al., 1992b). The authors calculated benefit:cost ratios for the control of ECF through vaccination of between 8.9 and 16.8, depending on the intensity of postvaccination acaricide use. The authors warned that 'the input values and hence results presented in this paper are dependent upon sparse and inadequate data and are largely illustrative of the methodology and data needs. Nevertheless, they provide an estimated magnitude of the economic losses attributed to theileriosis, and the economics of its control by the infection and treatment method in the infected region'.A series of further economic studies of ECF was undertaken by PhD student Hezron Nyangito, who, in a partnership with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, used a whole-farm simulation model to estimate the financial and economic pay-offs from the use of ITM vaccination, drawing on data collected from Uasin Gishu, Kenya (Nyangito et al., 1994(Nyangito et al., , 1995(Nyangito et al., , 1996)).The study by Mukhebi et al. (1999) provided one of the first attempts to truly integrate epidemiology and economics models to predict future economic impacts of different control scenarios under a set of epidemiological scenarios.The need to understand the geographical scale of impact of both ECF and trypanosomiasis very quickly led into the area of modelling, primarily of the vectors but also to a degree of the disease itself. The first was the database on tick field samplings assembled by Jane Walker. The second was a climate matching model, Climex, developed by Robert Sutherst, with parameters for the conditions favoured by the brown ear tick (among others). Instead of the model being run on climate data for any given location, it was run for the whole of Africa, in each of the 25 km 2 pixel cells of an interpolated climate surface for the continent. The results plotted the potential distribution of R. appendiculatus (Lessard et al., 1990;Perry et al., 1990Perry et al., , 1991)), but when compared with the database of Jane Walker and others of where the tick had been recorded, the potential distribution exceeded the historical records, suggesting that Climex did not tell the whole story. This finding stimulated interest in other predictive modelling approaches to estimate tick distribution (Randolph, 1993), in which much closer attention was paid to the climatic requirements of all three instars of the tick, which eventually led to a more biologically sound spatial prediction platform (Randolph and Rogers, 1997).In a follow-up case study of predicting outbreaks of theileriosis in Zimbabwe using multiple climatic variables (Duchateau et al., 1997), the methodology for assessing distribution drivers using climate databases was addressed. The database was considered to suffer from collinearity, because most climatic variables share qualities with (or are influenced by) other variables in the database. Fitting logistic regression models to disease occurrence with highly correlated independent variables can lead to misleading conclusions if the true biological meaning is not clearly understood. This case study used the analysis of principal components to reduce large numbers of variables to smaller sets of variables that more efficiently describe the important features of the database.An important early stage in the impact assessment process had been to determine more accurately the distribution of diseases and their vectors. This had four major impacts:1. It enhanced the understanding of disease vector distributions, and factors affecting these, such as climate and vegetation. 2. It enhanced the understanding of the role of GIS in predicting disease and vector distributions, and the need for appropriate high-resolution georeferenced databases, including the use of satellitederived imagery. 3. It allowed exploration of new methods for improving the predictive capacity of distribution models (illustrated by Duchateau et al., 1997). 4. It alerted Ethiopia, where R. appendiculatus had never been recorded, to the climatic suitability of the survival of this vector in certain parts of the country (Norval et al., 1991). This stimulated the Ethiopian government to revise its policy on importation of live cattle from Kenya. A new study confirming the susceptibility of Ethiopia to ECF has since been published (Leta et al., 2013), repeating the warnings made by ILRAD in 1991.Soon after the observational studies on ECF on the Kenya coast had started, it was felt that there was a need to develop a mathematical model (Anderson and May, 1992) of T. parva infection dynamics that could contribute to our understanding of disease impacts and offer a framework to test the effect of interventions, such as vaccination. This started a 15-year collaboration on infection dynamics of tick-borne infections with Graham Medley, which eventually moved from theileriosis to E. ruminantium infection (heartwater). This launched a wider exploration of modelling in impact assessment, and ILRAD, in collaboration with FAO, organized a modelling workshop in Nairobi in November 1992 to explore the approaches being made by different research groups (Perry and Hansen, 1994).The collaboration with Imperial College London, and subsequently the University of Warwick (where Graham Medley moved), led to the first attempt to develop a quantitative framework of the infection dynamics of theileriosis (Medley et al., 1993). It was able to demonstrate how infection was maintained in cattle populations and quantified the important role of carrier animals. With the progressive understanding emerging from field studies in different regions, the model was updated and reported by O'Callaghan et al. (2003).The principles behind this first model were then applied to heartwater, and a quantitative framework was produced that demonstrated for the first time the concept of endemic stability (O'Callaghan et al., 1998). The approach went on to explore the effects of vaccination against heartwater (O'Callaghan et al., 1999).The various observational field studies and the supportive modelling initiatives raised many issues, particularly the mechanism for establishment of endemic stability to both theileriosis and heartwater, and the implication of different interventions, particularly tick control, on the development and maintenance of endemic stability. This led to an extrapolation of the findings to other diseases, including malaria, warning that certain interventions might interrupt endemic stability and lead to outbreaks of disease (Coleman et al., 2001). This Lancet publication won the ILRI's award (and nomination for the CGIAR Chairman's Award) for the Outstanding Scientific Article of 2002.The focus of impact assessment remained largely on tick-borne pathogens until 1997. In the early 1990s, the epidemiology group adapted a model that had been used for theileriosis impact assessment to quantify the impacts of trypanosomiasis and its control in Cameroon, Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire and Zimbabwe. The model estimated the proportion of the national herd at risk of the disease and the annual economic cost of the disease and produced a breakdown of the costs into production losses and input costs. Work based on this model was reported in Shaw (1992), in Mukhebi et al. (1993) and in the later review of Shaw (2009).Subsequently an ex ante model of a potential trypanosomiasis vaccine (Kristjanson et al., 1999) indicated that the potential benefits of improved trypanosomiasis control, in terms of meat and milk productivity alone, were US$700 million per year in Africa. The disease cost to livestock producers and consumers was an estimated US$1340 million annually, without including indirect livestock benefits such as manure and traction. Given an adoption period of 12 years, a maximum adoption rate of 30%, a discount rate of 5%, and a 30% probability of the research being successful within 10 years, the net present value of the vaccine research is estimated to be at least US$288 million, with an internal rate of return of 33%, and a benefit:cost ratio of 34:1.While praising the estimated returns to trypanosomiasis control, the critics were uncomfortable with these returns being attributed exclusively to the effects of a vaccine. The predicted reduction of trypanosomiasis could in fact be achieved by several different interventions, including some for which technologies were already available. It could also be an evaluation of more effective deployment of tsetse traps, or of genetically engineered livestock resistance to the effects of trypanosomiasis or of effective chemotherapy; the productivity impacts may be similar. What will differ will be the probability of success, the cost of the research/implementation, the time to achieving that success, and the adoption rates. This is important, because there are those who believe that a vaccine will be out of our reach for a long time to come, and while the evaluation demonstrated probable benefits from trypanosomiasis control, it was not specific to a vaccine as the way to achieve this. Notably, 15 years on from this study, there is still no vaccine on the horizon, whereas the results were based on one being available 9 years ago.In the late 1990s, ILRI began research on the epidemiology and impact of trypanosomiasis in several African countries. Field work was undertaken in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia (in collaboration with the national agricultural research system and the University of Glasgow) and Burkina Faso (in collaboration with the Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l'Elevage en zone Subhumide (CIRDES) and the Free University of Berlin (FUB). Highlights of this work included the following:• Support from the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ) for several phases of an ILRI/CIRDES/FUB project on the epidemiology of trypanocide resistance in West Africa (see Chapter 3, this volume);• Collaboration on trypanocide resistance in eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia);• Epidemiology studies of drug resistance in Mukono County, Uganda.• Support for drug resistance studies undertaken by the Kenya Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI) in collaboration with Glasgow University.These studies resulted in a series of multiauthor and multi-institutional publications (e.g. Gall et al., 2004;Knoppe et al., 2006).An area of emphasis was the development of models to understand factors influencing the transmission dynamics of trypanosomiasis and assessing and predicting the impact of control strategies. The objective of this research was to determine whether transition models, as proposed by Diggle et al. (2002), could be applied. This modelling approach offered two major advantages over standard methods. The first is that risk factor associations can be assessed simultaneously for both new (incident) infections and recurrent infections after chemotherapy. The second is that such statistical methods can allow monthly rather than weekly or fortnightly sampling intervals in the field. This latter feature is crucial logistically and would allow the analysis of data from a much wider variety of sampling sites, as monthly sampling is commonly employed. The use of transition models allowed the distinction to be made between key factors influencing both the incidence and persistence of trypanosome infections in cattle in the Ghibe Valley, Ethiopia, over a 12-year period from 1986 to 1998 (Schukken et al., 2004). With an observed average prevalence, based on microscopic examination, of approximately 50%, Ghibe ranked as an area of severe trypanosomiasis impact relative to other tsetse-infested areas in Africa (Snow and Rawlings, 1999). The real benefit of using a transition model to investigate infection dynamics of trypanosomes in cattle is its ability to assess both the incidence and persistence of infections. This was particularly useful because the main factor influencing changes in incidence, namely tsetse control, differed from the factor most likely to be responsible for increased duration of infection, namely resistance to commonly used trypanocidal drugs. Age and the number of previous infections also influenced incidence and duration of infection, raising interesting hypotheses for further investigation (e.g. potential of selection of trypanotolerance in local Ethiopian breeds).The ILRI epidemiology group began work exploring the historical resurgence of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT; also known as sleeping sickness) in Uganda (Fèvre et al., 2001;Welburn et al., 2001) and went on to explore different potential control options using modelling techniques (McDermott and Coleman, 2001).HAT remains an important disease in Uganda, and cattle are its main reservoir. This project assessed the role of cattle in human disease and how control of cattle trypanosomiasis can be used to reduce the public health burden of T. brucei rhodesiense HAT. Activities included: (i) development of tests to differentiate human-infective and -non-infective T. brucei spp.; (ii) studies into cattle movement in new outbreaks of HAT; and (iii) studies to evaluate factors that influence HAT risk, burden and under-reporting.The initial modelling work of ILCA's research in the Ghibe Valley of Ethiopia moved on into an environmental impact study, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who were at the time exploring the potential role of the sterile insect technique to eradicate trypanosomiasis. While there was general scepticism over the widespread use of this technique, there was at the time substantial political support for wider tsetse eradication under the Programme against African Trypanosomiasis (PAAT) programme. This work also built on previous collaborative ILCA/ILRAD studies of environmental impact of long-term trypanosomiasis control in the Ghibe Valley, including impacts on bird species richness (Wilson et al., 1997).Underlying several studies on trypanosomiasis were studies on predicting the distribution of tsetse species. The GIS capacity set up in the late 1980s was subsequently applied to support studies on the impact of trypanosomiasis control (Perry et al., 1994) and later exploited by Robin Reid, who went on to explore various aspects of the environmental impacts of tsetse control (Reid et al., 2000) before moving into broader ecosystems research at ILRI. The leaders in the use of statistical methods and spatial climate and vegetation databases were David Rogers and colleagues at the University of Oxford (e.g. Rogers et al., 1996;Wint and Rogers, 2000). However, with the greater engagement of ILRI in predicting the effects of climate change on the length of the growing period and the implications this had on livestock production systems, an assessment of the potential for changing tsetse distributions was considered (McDermott et al., 2001). Subsequent research has included work on the economic impact of trypanosomiasis (Robinson et al., 2014a).In April 2012, a final report on 'Preventing and containing trypanocide resistance in the cotton zone of West Africa' was issued, which was one of a series of projects exploring drug resistance in trypanosomiasis control. Previous work had focused on methods to evaluate resistance to trypanocides in north-east Guinea, southern Mali (Affognon et al., 2009;Talaki et al., 2009) and south-west Burkina Faso (Der et al., 2011), and on testing integrated control strategies to reduce the risk of new drug resistance. In the final phase of the project, the project continued to evaluate resistance and raise awareness and capacity to address the problem across much of the rest of the zone and to scale up the prevention strategies developed earlier. Appropriate strategies were also being developed for containingand, if possible, reversing -resistance in the pockets previously characterized, and a specific study was undertaken to assess the impact of the trypanocide resistance research efforts to date.This series of projects has generated an important body of evidence for improving the sustainability of trypanosomiasis control in West Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa (McDermott et al., 2003;Clausen et al., 2010). The final project focused on four main outputs, with capacity strengthening in the region as a cross-cutting objective. First, national research teams generated evidence that trypanocide resistance occurs in several locations across the cotton zone of West Africa, and the partnership has provided national services improved tools for detecting and monitoring it. Through collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp), progress was made in developing markers for identifying resistance in trypanosomes (Delespaux et al., 2010); this is expected to provide even more rapid and increasingly accurate diagnostics for detecting and monitoring drug resistance.Second, informational aids, decision tools and media messages targeting farmers and animal health service providers to reduce the risk of resistance were further developed (Grace et al., 2008(Grace et al., , 2009)). There is a better understanding of how farmers access information about animal health care and of the most important actors in national-level information networks that communicate such information. A third set of activities demonstrated the effectiveness of integrated control strategies for containing trypanocide resistance in a location once it has established. In such situations, the public sector is probably required to implement tsetse control interventions and strategic treatment of cattle to suppress trypanosome populations. Actions improving cattle health status, such as helminth control, may also help further suppress surviving trypanosomes. Longer-term research is needed to confirm the subsequent dynamics of resistant trypanosome populations if trypanosomes re-establish.Finally, a preliminary assessment of the potential impact of the investments made to date in research on trypanocide resistance indicates that adequate returns will be achieved to justify the investment (Affognon et al., 2010).Research findings and outputs from the project have been taken up by continuing efforts in the region to improve control of trypanosomiasis, notably by a network to monitor drug resistance (RESCAO: Réseau d'épidémiosurveillance de la résistance aux trypanocides et aux acaricides en Afrique de l'Ouest), the FAO PAAT and a 5-year, €3.1 million project involving the principal German partners and CIRDES to extend the project approach and findings to new countries (Togo, Ethiopia and Mozambique).ILRAD had no mandate in rabies research, but, beginning in the early 1990s, joined the Southern and Eastern Rabies Group (SEARG). Its first contribution was an overview paper on the epidemiology of rabies in Africa (Perry, 1992).As part of the capacity-building function of the epidemiology and socio-economics programme, partnership with the rabies control groups in Kenya and neighbouring countries was established, including the supervision of Philip Kitala in his PhD research on rabies in the Machakos District of Kenya, and a series of papers emerged (Kitala et al., 2000(Kitala et al., , 2001(Kitala et al., , 2002)). Other strategic contributions emerged from ILRAD and ILRI (Bingham et al., 1993(Bingham et al., , 1995;;Perry, 1993Perry, , 1995;;Perry and Wandeler, 1993). In addition, the epidemiology team was called in to evaluate the controversy surrounding the role of rabies and rabies vaccination in the demise of the African wild dog packs in the Aitong region of Kenya's Maasai Mara (Macdonald et al., 1992).The impacts of the engagement with rabies were substantial, and mostly centred on the building of a rabies epidemiology and control network through SEARG, in capacity building on rabies epidemiology, diagnosis and control throughout the eastern and southern African region, and in highlighting priority research needs. Furthermore, ILRI's work contributed to some of the principles of dog rabies control, such as the need to understand the vaccination coverage required to prevent rabies (Coleman and Dye, 1996), the need for a sound understanding of population ecology (in this case, dog ecology) in order to target vaccination initiatives (Perry, 1993) and the need to exploit community engagement in rabies vaccination campaigns (Perry et al., 1995).Rinderpest has had a devastating effect on the livestock industries of Africa since its introduction to the continent in the late 19th century. In its classical form, it was responsible for high levels of mortality and its mere presence constrained trade in livestock. During the 1960s, the first coordinated international control programme was put in place, known as the Joint Project (JP) 15. Although largely successful, rinderpest returned in a major epidemic throughout much of the continent after JP15 concluded in the late 1970s. As a result, the Pan-African Rinderpest Control (PARC) programme was initiated under the auspices of the African Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) funded by the European Union (EU) and national governments to control and ultimately eradicate rinderpest from Africa. A decade after the campaign started in 1986, increasing donor concern about its impact, coupled with an increasing public and private demand for information on the benefits and costs of rinderpest control, prompted the call for an economic impact assessment of the campaign.Despite Africa being the last bastion of rinderpest before its global eradication in 2011, ILRAD did not become involved in research into its control, although following its eradication, ILRI did exploit the participatory epidemiology and surveillance tools used in the final phases of the campaign during its research into HPAI in Indonesia. Just before the merger of ILCA and ILRAD in 1995, the EU, which at the time was making large investments in rinderpest eradication through the AU-IBAR, approached both institutions. The PARC programme had been planning for some time to undertake an economic evaluation of the rinderpest control programme. However, the funds made available by the EU were not considered sufficient to employ an independent economist. As a result, the task was offered in 1994 to both ILRAD and ILCA, on the supposition that they could supplement the limited funds with their institutional capacities in agricultural economics. ILRAD, with its historical focus on vector-borne haemoparasitic diseases, turned the offer down, while ILCA accepted it. The two institutions were then amalgamated, and ILRI was born, and the newly created Systems Analysis and Impact Assessment Group (SA/IA, the successor to the Epidemiology and Socioeconomics Programme) 'inherited' the project. This provided a new opportunity for ILRI to work with AU-IBAR, and two agricultural economists were recruited under the leadership and supervision of the SA/IA group.The study indicated that, for a sample of ten sub-Saharan African countries, the rinderpest campaign was implemented in a cost-effective manner, with average per livestock unit costs appearing within the narrow range of US$0.30-0.66 (Tambi et al., 1999). Benefit-cost analysis revealed that the benefits of the campaign in each of the ten countries covered the value of the investment. The estimated average return over the ten countries of US$1.98 for each US dollar invested in the campaign indicated that rinderpest control in Africa has been economically profitable. The net present value of US$32 million indicates that the rinderpest campaign has been a wise public investment decision.The work by ILRI scientists demonstrated further that rinderpest control has also improved the well-being of livestock farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as that of consumers of livestock products. Analysis of the distribution of welfare gains from rinderpest control between producers and consumers revealed that producers derived the greater share (80%) of the US$64 million in net value of production losses avoided due to rinderpest control in the ten countries, while consumers derived approximately 20% in net benefits from increased supplies leading to lower prices (Roeder and Rich, 2009).With For ILRI to make an effective move into Asia in animal health research, it was considered that it should exploit the generic research capacity it had developed in epidemiology and economic impact, rather than its traditional disease focus of vector-borne haemoparasites of ruminants, as these were not considered to be a high priority in the region. In addition, it was considered that the first phase of ILRI's involvement in the region should be to better define constraints to livestock production and trade, and ways of alleviating these. To this end, it was suggested that enhancing the regional animal disease surveillance and monitoring programme, the Animal and Plant Health Information System for Asia (APHISA), in the field of epidemiological and economic impact assessment would be the most appropriate entry point. ILRI was invited to undertake an initial case study on the impact of FMD in the region, and the impact of alternative FMD control strategies. This provided an opportunity to enhance impact assessment capacity in the region, initiate longer-term disease control priority evaluations and provide immediate support to the newly created OIE-coordinated FMD control and eradication programme that had been set up. The OIE operation was funded by the Australian, Swiss and Japanese governments, with the Swiss Government offering to provide the ILRI portion of the funding.A regional FMD coordination unit was set up, based in Bangkok, Thailand, led by Laurie Gleason, and an advisory committee was established, on which Brian Perry of ILRI was invited to sit. The first meeting was held in Bangkok on 1 March 1998. This set the scene for the first of the FMD economic impact studies, which focused on Thailand within a South-east Asia regional context. Thai epidemiologist Wantanee Kalpravidh was assigned to the study, and agricultural economics support was provided by Suzan Horst of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. The World Reference Laboratory for FMD (WRL-FMD) in Pirbright, UK, provided the FMD-specific technical support. Later in 1998, after he was recruited to ILRI's epidemiology and impact assessment group, Tom Randolph took over the economic impact analysis components of the initiative.The first product of this work was presented at the annual meeting of the South-east Asia Foot-and-Mouth Disease (SEAFMD) group, under the auspices of OIE, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in February 1999, and emerged as a peer-reviewed publication later the same year (Perry and Randolph, 1999). This group provided a cost-benefit analysis of different FMD control scenarios and different emerging trading opportunities that would result from greater FMD control.ILRI work on FMD in the Philippines had a significant impact. Randolph et al. (2002) developed scenarios, based on the plans and timetable of the Government of the Philippines, and more optimistic and pessimistic assumptions, each discussed in detail with national stakeholders. It also had an additional component, which was an analysis of the distribution of the benefits. It illustrated that, while the FMD control programme was funded entirely from public sector government coffers, in eradication scenarios the major beneficiaries would be the private sector pig producers, traders and marketers; the commercial swine sector was estimated to capture 84% of the benefits generated by the public investment in eradication, versus 4% by backyard swine producers.ILRI later undertook a collaborative study on FMD on smallholder agricultural enterprises in southern Laos (Perry et al., 2002a). This demonstrated the widespread impacts the disease had on multiple species and enterprises in the smallholder systems of southern Laos and has been often cited as evidence of the disruption to the livelihoods of smallholders globally.The results of a benefit-cost analysis showed that FMD control would benefit the economy of Zimbabwe (Perry et al., 2003). First, in a comparison between the Baseline Scenario and the pessimistic FMD Control Scenario 3 (in which disinvestments in FMD control by 50% and resultant loss of beef export markets was predicted), it was shown that for every US$1 that Zimbabwe disinvests in the FMD control programme, a further US$5 would be lost by the country. No transboundary effects were taken into account, and the losses calculated were incurred by Zimbabwe alone. However, the association of the outbreak of FMD in south-eastern Botswana in March 2002 (after over 30 years of freedom from the disease) with the outbreaks in western Zimbabwe suggested that the costs to the region as a whole of Zimbabwe's disinvestments could be much greater. Second, the results showed that if Zimbabwe were to invest further in the fences and the veterinary service infrastructures required to create a much larger and much more secure export zone that was internationally recognized as FMD free by the OIE, there would be returns of approximately US$1.5 for every US$1 invested. As in the disinvestment scenario, this does not incorporate benefits to the region as a whole through greater disease security for FMD control, nor does it include the other benefits that would result from an enhanced national veterinary service. This analysis did not consider whether Zimbabwe would be able to maintain the capacity, in terms of quantity and quality of beef, to supply the export market on a sustainable basis.Importantly, the distributions of the costs and benefits turned out to be highly skewed. Expenditures from FMD control are borne almost entirely by the public sector, but when losses from trade bans resulting from FMD outbreaks are included, private sector costs are dominant. The majority of impacts of FMD and the benefits from its control are related to the ability to trade internationally, and so most of the benefits accrue to the commercial sector, comprising cattle production, beef processing, and related input industries and services. The Social Accounting Matrix/Computable General Equilibrium (SAM/ CGE) modelling indicates that approximately 16% of the increased value of economic activity resulting from trade is eventually transferred as income to low-income households in both rural and urban areas.The direct impacts on the poor of FMD, and of measures established to control it, are very limited. FMD has not been a problem in communal areas where the majority of the poor live, and its effects on indigenous cattle are considerably less than on commercially orientated herds. Furthermore, despite the fact that about 75% of poor households own or have access to cattle, over 60% of these households own fewer than five animals. Most of these households use cattle for wealth storing and other livelihood functions such as traction, and do not have the herd size capacity to engage actively in commercial cattle marketing. As such, only about 2% of households are engaged in regular marketing of cattle.This study provided one of the most extensive analyses of FMD impacts carried out, applying new methods such as the SAM/CGE modelling to a most complex subject. Randolph et al. (2005) explored further the highly skewed equity impacts emerging from this study.In 1995, the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of the IAEA requested ILRI support for an economic assessment of FMD control. An economic impact assessment plan emerged (Romero et al., 2001). Unlike the South-east Asia partnerships, these Andean initiatives did not result in completed benefit-cost analyses; rather, the impacts of these studies in the region were in the field of networking, training, capacity building, awareness raising and methodology development.In April 2006, Brian Perry approached the Wellcome Trust and the EU for support for an international workshop on the research needs for better FMD control in endemic settings of many low-and middle-income countries. This was approved, and the Global Roadmap for Improving the Tools to Control Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Endemic Settings was duly held in Agra, India, in late November 2006 (Perry and Sones, 2007b) and the Global Roadmap was launched in April 2007.ILRI developed a proposal for a GFRA with five research pillars:1. A detailed understanding of the host immune responses to FMD virus.sive and thermostable vaccines that meet the requirements of both endemic and epidemic FMD control and management.A full understanding of the factors that permit the development of virus carrier animals, the risk that they pose and options for managing them.The identification of antiviral compounds to inhibit virus replication and rapidly reduce virus release.Quantitative predictions of the performance of the new technologies developed in different settings through the use of epidemiological and economics models.The leadership of each pillar was assigned to different institutions, with ILRI taking on this latter pillar. The US$70 million proposal was launched as a Strategic Global Research Partnership for the Control of FMD in April 2004.The proposal was received with enthusiasm on the scientific side, but participants urged the development of a business plan. This was duly commissioned and in June 2005 representatives of the partnership set out to visit key donors (DFID and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK; the EU; the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Canada; and various partners in the USA).Considering the different contexts of FMD control in the developed and developing world, GFRA revised its approach to adopt two complementary programmes. Programme 1 was targeted at the FMD vaccine and diagnostic needs of FMD-free countries, and their trading opportunities, while Programme 2 focused on the needs of endemic settings, principally in developing countries. At this point, ILRI assumed the leadership of Programme 2, and initiated contact with potential research sponsors and development agencies. Programme 1 was assigned to the four participating research laboratories in the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia, funded through national bodies supporting each laboratory. The outcome would be a better set of tools to manage the risk to the four countries currently posed by FMD in endemic areas. This would focus on improved vaccines and diagnostics and the further development of antivirals.Program 2 was designed to focus on developing better tools for use in endemic areas with the overall aim of a gradual reduction of the disease in endemic areas. It was recognized that targeted research would be needed to develop specific tools for Programme 2 and that this work could occur both inside and outside of the current GFRA partner institutes. It was foreseen that, for Programme 2, much still needed to be done in the area of epidemiology and impact assessment, and that ILRI would take the lead in this, and that it would be a core component of funding under Programme 2.However, ILRI management was not at the time supportive of ILRI's engagement with GFRA, in part because it was considered that FMD did not rank highly enough in the health constraints facing smallholder producers.Research into RVF at ILRI commenced with an evaluation of the impacts of the 2006/2007 outbreak that occurred in eastern Africa. This work was commissioned by USAID and FAO, and focused primarily on the north-eastern region of Kenya, thought to be the epicentre of the epidemic in Kenya. The outbreak occurred between December 2006 and March 2007 and affected more than 700 people; approximately 150 human fatalities occurred throughout the country. It was believed that people suffering severe clinical disease had close contact with infected livestock.The impact assessment was implemented by a team of epidemiologists, economists and social scientists. A memorandum of understanding was established with Kenya's Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), enabling the DVS to participate in the project as a key partner. This work was later extended to the Arusha region of Tanzania with additional support from FAO. Surveys conducted in both sites utilized participatory epidemiological tools and the data collected were synthesized and published (Jost et al., 2010). The key observations made were that there were major weaknesses in preparedness and the response to the outbreak, and that pastoralists noticed RVF-compatible events long before official notifications were made by the government. At the same time, economic impact assessments were conducted by Karl Rich and Francis Wanyoike (Rich and Wanyoike, 2010). This demonstrated that the disease induced substantial production losses, employment losses and reductions in operating capital among various value chain actors including producers, livestock traders, animal transporters, and slaughterhouse and butchery operators. It was estimated that the outbreak cost the Kenyan economy US$32 million.These findings fuelled discussions on the need for improved warning systems and a structured contingency plan for managing the disease. More importantly, timelines developed with local communities showing events that preceded the outbreak were transformed into a decision support tool (Consultative Group for RVF Decision Support, 2010). This is considered a major contribution by ILRI and FAO to RVF contingency planning given that this tool has now been incorporated into the Ministry of Livestock's Contingency Plan for RVF. More work still needs to be done, however, to develop a harmonized contingency plan that unites the public health and veterinary sectors in line with the One Health paradigm.The outputs of the impact study supported the formulation of a new study to assess the costeffectiveness of RVF control options from a multidisciplinary perspective. This work also aimed to estimate economic costs of RVF in people using DALYs. The estimates generated suggest that the 2006/2007 outbreak caused a total of 3974 DALYs, or 1.5 DALYs per 1000 population. Provisional results further show that strategies to enhance mass vaccination of cattle and camels over a sustained 2-year period would greatly reduce DALYs. It also showed that integrating vector control measures, for instance through the application of larvicides, would yield even better results, although the practicability of implementing such interventions through institutional collaboration has not been fully resolved.ILRI epidemiologists have developed risk maps for the eastern Africa region that can be used together with the decision support tool to enhance targeting and evaluation of RVF interventions. This work builds on previous studies done by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other research institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two methods that have been applied for this analysis are: (i) ecological niche modelling based on the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP); and (ii) a logistic regression model, followed by mapping predicted probabilities on a spatial landscape. Both models use historical data on RVF outbreaks from the 2006/2007 outbreak. Statistical analyses demonstrate that RVF risk is significantly associated with exceptionally high rainfall, low altitude, clay soils and high normalized difference vegetation indices. Such maps could also be used to enhance our understanding of ecological niches for the virus, particularly if the existing hotspots can be classified based on their abilities to support disease persistence. More importantly, these maps are being integrated with socio-economic variables to determine areas that are most vulnerable to the disease given their livelihood patterns, capacities to access public health services and literacy levels.With increasing awareness of the impacts of RVF epidemics, there is a growing interest in determining processes that cause RVF occurrence and transmission, as well as those that promote its persistence during inter-epidemic periods. ILRI is currently leading a project in Kenya that seeks to understand RVF drivers from a multidisciplinary perspective. The project is founded on the premise that intact ecosystems can regulate disease epidemics, and that factors that disrupt ecosystem structure and function, such as climate, land use and demographic changes, contribute to disease emergence and spillovers. The project involves local partners such as the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), DVS, University of Nairobi and Ministry of Health.Preliminary observations indicate that there is a great potential for endemic transmission of RVF in irrigated areas established in arid and semi-arid zones, as poorly managed drainage systems and watersheds provide ideal conditions for the development of primary and secondary vectors of RVF. Observations also show that areas that are RVF endemic tend to be vulnerable to other infectious/zoonotic diseases, malnutrition or insecurity, presenting multiple challenges to the implementation of sustainable RVF control strategies.ILRI published a field and laboratory handbook on the epidemiology and diagnosis of gastrointestinal parasites entitled The Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Control of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites of Ruminants in Africa (Hansen and Perry, 1990).A second edition, The Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Control of Helminth Parasites of Ruminants, was published several years later (Hansen and Perry, 1994).In 2000, ILRI began work on animal health and poverty reduction involving scientists and opinion leaders in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. This eventually delivered one of the highest-impact products of ILRI's epidemiology group (Perry et al., 2002b). The Inter-Agency Donor Group (IADG) had just been born, as part of a process to bring greater coordination among its membership in the funding of livestock research. As part of this process, it sought to better define the research options and priorities, and DFID proposed that these be placed in the context of poverty reduction. This required first defining poverty and the association with livestock, and then quantifying the association, a process that continues (Robinson et al., 2014b). There were seven major components to the study (Perry et al., 2002b). The first was to describe and quantify the distribution and extent of poverty in South-east Asia, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and to determine the association of poverty with different agricultural production systems that involve livestock. These two tasks were accomplished in a companion study commissioned by DFID (Thornton et al., 2002), which developed maps to quantify populations of poor livestock keepers and to predict how they would change over the next five decades. The results provided data on the number of poor (people on less than US$1 per day) in each of the major livestock production systems of the world. These figures served as a weighting factor in determining the importance of different livestock diseases to the poor.The second component was to determine the priority species to the poor in each region and production system. This was undertaken by a literature review and through stakeholder workshops in West Africa, eastern, central and southern Africa, South Asia and South-east Asia.The third component was to quantify the disease constraints by species. Diseases and syndromes considered to negatively affect the livelihoods, productivity outputs and marketing of livestock products by the poor were identified in a set of stakeholder workshops. The socioeconomic (primarily production losses and control costs incurred by the poor), zoonotic (for those diseases transmissible from animals to humans) and national impacts (a combination of marketing impacts on the poor with public sector expenditures on disease control) were identified and scored.Published literature on the impact of livestock diseases and of their control in the target regions was scrutinized and synthesized by commissioned reviews. Research opportunities to alleviate these constraints were then identified. First, research needs were identified from the end users' perspectives by participants in several regional workshops. Second, research opportunities were identified from the upstream perspective by international experts specializing in different diseases. In addition to identifying relevant research opportunities, the experts were asked to estimate the cost, time frame, probability of success and available capacity to undertake such research. To ensure that issues other than technology generation were addressed, additional reviews of research opportunities for the better delivery of animal health services were commissioned. A specific review of the role of research into the genetics of resistance to disease was also commissioned.The next step was to score the disease impacts (Shaw et al., 2003), synthesize the disease impacts on the poor with the research needed to reduce them and identify priority research opportunities. A conceptual framework matrix was developed to classify different types of diseasespecific research: (i) transferring knowledge and available tools; (ii) developing improved tools and strategies that were better delivered; and (iii) developing new tools and approaches by the contribution the research product will make to poverty reduction (by securing the assets of the poor; reducing the constraints to intensification or improving marketing opportunities).This study has had a lasting impact on research priorities for development and is still the most cited reference in this context. In addition, it set the stage for measuring the association between poverty and livestock, and for applying greater emphasis to the impacts that research in animal health have on the processes of poverty reduction, rather than simply on national agricultural development. The methodology has been further developed (Perry and Grace, 2009).In January 2002, the DFID-commissioned study entitled 'Investing in Animal Health Research to Alleviate Poverty' was published (Perry et al., 2002b) In January 2007, the Wellcome Trust held a meeting to give scientists funded under earlier grant programmes the opportunity to present research findings, and to consider future needs in the field (the meeting was entitled ' Animal Health Research: Recent Developments and Future Directions'). To coincide with the meeting, a policy review paper was commissioned (Perry and Sones, 2007a), and ILRI presented an invited talk on the challenges of research outputs influencing policy (Perry and Hooton, 2007).In summary, the epidemiology group at ILRI undoubtedly had a substantial impact on the shaping and development of the Wellcome Trust's programmes of funding for livestock disease control in the developing world, and the impacts were spread to many different research institutions and countries.Economic impact assessments gained increasing momentum as ILRI's mandate broadened. In a paper prepared as an invited plenary presentation to the 17th International Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology, Perry and Randolph (1999) wrote: 'The traditional veterinarian views disease as evil, and often embarks on a career with a \"Superman\" like determination to destroy it, regardless of how important it is. To the classical healer, economic considerations are secondary. The economist on the other hand sees animal disease as just one, and often an insignificant one, of a great spectrum of constraints to human and societal wellbeing that needs to be put in context.' They concluded that no longer should studies of the economics of diseases of production animals be limited to animal scientists seeking the collaboration of agricultural economists to affix prices to estimated productivity losses. Rather, a new discipline of animal health economics emerged in which the quality of economic evaluations depended on integrating the products of good epidemiological studies into economic frameworks.In addition, during 1998, the ILRI Epidemiology and Disease Control group leader was approached by the director general of the OIE to coordinate the design, compilation and editing of a special edition of the OIE Scientific and Technical Review on Animal Health Economics. This peer-reviewed edition comprised nine chapters on different demands for economic impact knowledge, and seven case study chapters addressing specific diseases and different circumstances affecting the validity of economics studies. This book, in combination with the study by Perry and Randolph (1999) mentioned above, served as important milestones for the integrated science of epidemiology and economics. Rushton (2009) described as it as 'the first book to bring together a number of important themes in animal health economics: farm-level economic assessments; trade implications of sanitary requirements; and veterinary service delivery'. ILRI later did an economic analysis of the potential costs, benefits and competitiveness of trade in meat from Ethiopia to the Middle East (Rich et al., 2008). This report was further developed for a peer-reviewed publication, presented by Karl Rich at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA) in June 2009 (Rich and Perry, 2009), where it won the Best Paper Award. At the time, it was widely believed that poor countries with abundant livestock were well placed to develop exports to high-value livestock product markets in Europe and elsewhere. The studies in Ethiopia showed that investments in the quarantine and testing required to ensure that beef feedlots were free of FMD were not the limiting factors affecting the economic viability of beef exports to Middle East markets; rather, it was the high cost of feeding animals to ensure that the product arriving in the market was competitive with others coming from Australia, Brazil and other sources.ILRI later studied the potential role of commodity-based trade on international market access by developing countries (Rich andPerry, 2009, 2011). This work concluded that, on a geographical basis, the benefits of commoditybased trade are much more likely to be felt in countries like Argentina, Brazil and India than in African countries. Opportunities exist for southern Africa but are predicated largely on continued preferential access that may or may not be sustainable in the long term. While there are numerous opportunities for some African countries in niche markets, it is also important to balance this potential with the sound exploitation of livestock resources and a pragmatic understanding of the challenges in marketing and competitiveness. The constraints that complicate market access for Africa are much more those related to infrastructure, productivity and efficiency throughout the livestock supply chain, and it is in these areas that policy attention is urgently required.The ILRI was active in providing several background guidance and methodological frameworks for the global response to HPAI. In 2009, ILRI was a partner in the production of a manual entitled Introduction to Participatory Epidemiology and its Application to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Participatory Disease Surveillance. A Manual for Participatory Disease Surveillance Practitioners (Ameri et al., 2009). ILRI also developed a user guide for initial bird flu risk maps as a contribution to improving the surveillance for bird flu (Stevens et al., 2009). These have recently been built on and updated in a new risk mapping report (Gilbert et al., 2014).A Nigerian Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project (NAICP) began in July 2006 and invited ILRI to do an independent impact assessment of the project. The evaluation developed ten 'outcome pillars' to depict the benchmark 'gold standard' of best practices against which to evaluate NAICP (as discussed in Perry et al., 2010). The evaluation report was presented to the Government of Nigeria (Perry et al., 2011) and there were also two independent peerreviewed publications (Henning et al., 2013;Bett et al., 2014).The International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, known commonly by its acronym ISVEE, has been held every 3 years since the inaugural meeting in Reading, UK, in 1976. It brings together directors of veterinary services, disease control planners, quantitative epidemiologists, agricultural economists, modellers and statisticians to present and discuss on a wide range of diseases and issues. Kenya was proposed by ILRAD's epidemiology group and later confirmed as the venue for 1994 at the 6th ISVEE in Ottawa in 1991, with Brian Perry as secretary of the organization (ISVEE, 1991). This provided the first opportunity to bring ISVEE to Africa, and to engage national and regional programmes in presenting their work and participating in the meeting. Through the hard work and commitment of John Rowlands, a statistician at ILCA, the full proceedings were handed to participants as they registered, a first for ISVEE, in a special edition of the Kenya Veterinarian. The full meeting proceedings are now also available online (ISVEE, 1994).The next ISVEE was held in Paris in 1998 with a strong representation from ILRI and its partners. But from here the level of participation grew substantially, and the 9th and 10th ISVEEs (in Colorado and Viña del Mar, Chile, respectively) brought the research of ILRI's epidemiology group to new levels of recognition; in the Chile meeting of 2003, the group had 29 papers and posters accepted. At this meeting, under joint sponsorship with the International Association of Agricultural Economists, Tom Randolph organized a mini-symposium on Animal Health Economics, which comprised plenary papers, independent papers and a discussion forum. In this, he concluded that animal health economics has established a solid, although remarkably narrow, foundation in the literature, but that it had not exploited its potential (Randolph et al., 2003). While ILRI continues to be represented at subsequent meetings, the commitment to and impact of ILRI seen during the period 1994-2006 has waned.Veterinary epidemiology and socio-economic impact research has gone through both administrative and locality changes during its existence over the last 27 years. It was a unified entity for 15 years, but in 2002, when the new ILRI strategy was developed, epidemiology and impact assessment became both fragmented and diminished in human resource capacity.From 1987 to 1994 under ILRAD, it was the Epidemiology and Socioeconomics Programme, also varyingly referred to as the Epidemiology and Socioeconomics Unit and Socioeconomics Programme in emerging documentation. In the early days of ILRI from 1995 to 1997, epidemiology was accommodated under the newly created Systems Analysis and Impact Assessment Group, placing it under the Production Systems Programme, but this did not last for long, and from 1997 to 2002 it became the Epidemiology and Disease Control group under the Animal Health Programme.During the 15-year period from 1987 to 2002, a substantial number of MSc and PhD students were trained through incorporation into research activities; these were predominantly from African countries. In addition, as mentioned in the section on ISVEE, the group and its associated students presented at many international meetings and in most cases published their research findings in peer-reviewed journals.The epidemiology group provided a role model of investigative problem solving, which was picked up, copied and adopted by other institutions. However, this mostly occurred where there was a specific donor-funded project to support the establishment of an epidemiology group and was more common in academic than in public service bodies such as veterinary departments. Many newly trained graduates return to their institutions with a sound training but do not have the opportunity to build on that, often because of institutional weaknesses, with inadequate financial resources for research and for staff development. Veterinary epidemiologists rely on collaboration with colleagues at the bench, in the field and in the planning arena, and particularly with agricultural economists and other social scientists, so may find substantial difficulty functioning in a 'conservative' public sector environment.ILRI's epidemiology research has made substantial contributions to the understanding and control of ECF and trypanosomiasis in Africa, to the preparedness and responses to RVF in eastern Africa, to a greater understanding of the economic impact of rinderpest in Africa and of FMD in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and to regional understanding of the drivers of rabies control. More recently, epidemiology research at ILRI has contributed substantially to our understanding of food safety risks in formal and informal markets, and to the dynamics and risks of zoonotic diseases. The research has also contributed to the global understanding of the importance of these and other diseases to African livestock systems, and to the particular animal health constraints facing the poorer sectors of Africa's livestock-engaged communities.During the days of ILRAD, the epidemiology and socio-economics programme had little or no impact on ILRAD's research and strategy; rather, it was seen as providing evidence justifying the existence of the laboratory-based vaccine research for the two target haemoparasitic diseases. Nevertheless, after ILRI's birth in 1995, the group did play an important role in providing impact assessment services, which progressively enhanced the engagement of the institution with different national, regional and donor clients. This situation changed dramatically in 2002 following the publication of the DFIDcommissioned study on animal research priorities for poverty reduction (Perry et al., 2002b). The matrix of three 'pathways out of poverty' (see Perry et al., 2002b, Table  ES1: securing assets, reducing constraints to intensification and improving market opportunities) and three research and development opportunities (transferring knowledge and available tools; improved tools, better strategies better delivered; and new tools and approaches) provided the framework of the new institutional thematic structure, not just for animal health research but also for ILRI's entire programme. Ironically, while a key product of the epidemiology and disease control group provided the framework for ILRI's new strategy, by the same token it also triggered the decline of epidemiology as an institutional entity in ILRI.","tokenCount":"13387"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4867668598.json b/data/part_1/4867668598.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0bca86cd9e61c82128eac6ea4a16299824399e04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4867668598.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c16a49c49d4e5598ce2d5e64ec2d156","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/70bb14bb-a80e-48fa-909a-93a4f4d0c736/retrieve","id":"-972892655"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f274e2e-abf1-428f-b426-cf3652e6bf99","pagecount":"2","content":"The main objective was to determine the impacts of participatory rangeland management (PRM) on rangelands, environment, good governance and management processes, security of rights to land and resources, livestock production, gender issues, women's empowerment and other social equity aspects and on policy influence. The study identified key lessons learnt and best practices and opportunities for scaling up. The assessment applied a mixed-method approach comprising quantitative data collected using household surveys and qualitative data collected using key informant interviews and focus group discussions. In total, 2,000 household representatives were interviewed through the survey, with almost 150 focus group discussion participants and more than 40 key informants.• Multi-national Country(ies):• Tanzania, United Republic • KenyaComments: <Not Defined> 1 This report was generated on 2022-08-19 at 08:12 (GMT+0)","tokenCount":"124"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4880223577.json b/data/part_1/4880223577.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9459ece1b0711a5f19f080be40c8839b32cfd548
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4880223577.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ba4603dda348ea2e9da81016a7e20bd5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/30719f67-2c3c-4f34-bb22-9f9f51e80155/retrieve","id":"80585150"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d5382abb-09e3-4ae3-aa9a-85b02eb3c05f","pagecount":"4","content":"In order to reach the most vulnerable, decision makers and those involved in insurance schemes could: ensure a thorough understanding of the socio-economic context in which insurance schemes are implemented and identify which social factors create vulnerabilities. provide farmers, especially those who are illiterate or particularly vulnerable, with adequate information and training on the most suitable insurance products and how to make best use of them. take into account how gendernorms restrict women's ability to cope with disasters and to access and benefit from insurance schemes. encourage active collaboration between farmer cooperatives, women's groups, state departments and government bodies, extension services, nongovernmental organizations and municipal corporations to document land tenancy arrangements. foster links between institutional platforms, such as farmers cooperatives and clubs, women's saving groups like Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and relevant insurance schemes to maximize the potential for a diverse range of men and women farmers to benefit from them.Agricultural and weather insurance schemes have emerged as a promising tool to protect farmers from the financial losses that result from these flood events, and in helping more generally to reduce the risks of climate variability. Agricultural insurance programs in India are some of the largest in the world, with several running in the country. But many of the poorest in these flood prone regions are unable to successfully benefit from these schemes.Conventional insurance schemes base payments to farmers on estimates of an individual farmers' loss in yield. In contrast, weather index-based insurance Not less than 100 million people were adversely affected by floods in India between 2001-2013 1 . Beyond loss of life and property, floods can severely impact health, for example by increasing the incidence of malaria and cholera. They also threaten livelihoods and food security by destroying crops, agricultural land and livestock. Floods particularly affect the rural poor as they often live in the most vulnerable areas. They are also less resilient to shocks as they already struggle to meet basic daily needs. Women are often more affected than men, because of gender norms restricting mobility, limited access to information and risk of gender-based violence. Vulnerability to floods is shaped by social factors, such as poverty levels, gender, land tenure and migration status. In the Eastern Gangetic Plains those most vulnerable to floods are small scale, marginal, tenant and women farmers. Yet, the requirement of most public crop insurance schemes to provide land titles, or written tenancy agreements, means they aren't accessible to the most vulnerable farmers. With significant increases in land tenancy and with changing gender roles in agriculture across South Asia, agriculture focused flood insurance schemes need to be more inclusive and offer products that are tailored to the needs of the farmers themselves. Index-based flood insurance may offer a solution.The Index-based Flood Insurance (IBFI) project, led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), aims to develop remote sensing products for IBFI that can accurately depict yield loss due to adverse weather and other disasters on smallholder farms. The overarching goal is to help smallholder farmers better manage their production risks and thereby help contribute to a more secure future for farmers in India. Once these remote sensing products are developed, tried and tested the team aim to ensure that they are scalable to enable them to be used effectively in large scale insurance schemes.Index-based flood insurance is an innovative approach to developing rapid, effective payout schemes for low-income, flood-prone communities. This project uses hi-tech modeling and satellite imagery with other data to predetermine flood thresholds and estimate crop losses. This could speed up compensation payouts, enabling farmers to more quickly move on from a destructive flood event.Researchers are working in collaboration with a range of organizations and experts from central and state government bodies, private insurance firms, community-based organizations and nongovernmental organizations. This brief was developed as part of this research project aiming at understanding the equity issues related to access and benefits from the insurance scheme. It was developed based on a review of literature and fieldwork with local communities in Bihar using qualitative surveys and focus group discussions.The project is focusing on three sites in the Bihar region of northeastern India; Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Katihar and three sites in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh; Sirajganj, Gaibandha and Pabna.One insurance scheme that aims to reach those more vulnerable to the impacts of flooding (such as sharecroppers and tenant farmers) is the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY).It was launched by the Government of India in 2016. The scheme includes innovative and attractive provisions such as low premiums, rapid payout for replacement seeds if required, and includes payouts covering post-harvest losses. It also explicitly aims at expanding coverage to poor, rain-fed areas and to farmers who are unable to obtain bank loans to cover inputs because they don't have clear land records, as well as sharecroppers and tenant farmers.However, the PMFBY has a homogeneous or area-based approach, rather than an individual approach, to assessing vulnerability or when assessing the impacts of a flood event. The pay-out is based on the effects of floods on a large area -if only part of the area is affected, there will be no pay-out. In contrast an individual approach uses farmer's fields as the unit considered. This means that PMFBY faces similar constraints to other insurance schemes on offer such as the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (which offers area-based crop yield insurance) and the pilot Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (which offers area-based rainfall insurance). Studies 4 note that although PMFBY has reduced the insurance coverage unit from the block (district sub-division) to the village, individual farmers suffering crop losses still cannot benefit from the scheme unless the disaster affects the entire village area. This limits the ability of this scheme to effectively reach the poorest and most marginalized groups who are often the ones living in the most flood prone areas.Although in principle the commitment of the PMFBY to reach sharecroppers and tenant farmers is progressive, in practice most farmers in these categories are in reality still excluded because they are unable to fulfill key submission requirements, such as providing an applicable contract or agreement permitted by the relevant state government. Current land sharing arrangements in rural India, such as those in Bihar, are usually based on mutual trust and verbal commitments. Limited documentation and/or a lack of written proof of land tenancy is a barrier that excludes tenant farmers, women and marginal farmers from insurance coverage. Women whose husbands have migrated usually do not possess land titles in their names and therefore are also not eligible for insurance schemes.It is essential to first understand the socio-economic context in which insurance schemes are implemented and identify which social factors create vulnerabilities.Vulnerabilities to climatic and biophysical events are ultimately rooted in social characteristics.Floods can have dramatically different impacts on lives and livelihoods across different locations depending on pre-existing social, economic and political conditions. Even in one location, floods can affect individuals within the same community very differently. In Bihar, previous studies have indicated that some of the key drivers of vulnerability are linked to gender, age, class and migration. Farmers in Bihar are not only challenged by vulnerability to floods. They also face increasing pressure to develop resilient livelihood strategies to combat low agricultural productivity, the rising cost of inputs, and their already low agriculture-based incomes. At the same time there are limited alternative livelihood options.Faced with these difficulties, many are choosing to migrate from rural to urban settings. Youth are withdrawing from agriculture and instead pursuing non-farm activities to support themselves and their families. The agrarian structure in Bihar consists of a large number of middle and low caste laborers, tenant farmers and marginal land owners and a small politically powerful class of landlords.These landlords are able to derive most of the benefits from agricultural activities through rent, credit, loans and insurance. This leads many marginal and tenant farmers to migrate to cities in search of cash-based incomes. However, their households remain largely dependent on agricultural production for food, to repay debts and to invest in agricultural inputs, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of flood events. Gender roles in agriculture and household production relations are also changing, leading to a transformation in the rural agrarian economy in India. Nearly 25% of the rural population in India now consists of female-headed households due to widowhood, desertion or male out-migration 2 . There has also been a rise in the proportion of small scale farmers with less than 1 ha of land, from 80% in 1990 to 89% in 2000 3 . There is a need for insurance schemes to design strategies to specifically target and reach women and tenant farmers as they face specific barriers to access information, enroll in and benefit from insurance schemes.Provide farmers, particularly those who are illiterate or especially vulnerable, such as women, with adequate information and training on the most suitable insurance products and how to make best use of them.The research shows that poor female and tenant farmers in Bihar are the most vulnerable to floods and droughts. Yet they lack access to relevant information, training or the right connections, to make use of and benefit from crop loss insurance schemes. It is important that insurance schemes develop capacity building and communication strategies that specifically target women, and illiterate and tenant farmers, taking into account their time availability and the mobility restrictions that women might face. This could be done through dialogue and creating awareness among insurance companies and government agencies of the need to develop gender responsive products and services.Encourage active collaboration between farmer cooperatives, women's groups, state departments and government bodies, extension services, nongovernmental organizations and municipal corporations to document land tenancy arrangements.Adopting an individual approach in insurance schemes faces major challenges in India. Small farm holdings, land fragmentation and a large variety of crops across seasons make it a complex system. Crucially, the adoption of an individual approach is hindered by the lack of records on land ownership and tenancy, and a lack of data on yields and crop damage incurred at the farm level.\"I don't have any documentation for the sharecropping land, so I cannot claim any crop loss compensation for flood from the block [local government] office...The landowner will not agree to give any documentation, neither for three years contract nor seasonal. A legal land sharing document is only provided by the landowners in case the land is on mortgage and not for sharecropping\" explained a landless tenant farmer in Barari in Bihar state Foster links between institutional platforms, such as farmers' cooperatives and clubs, women's saving groups such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and relevant insurance schemes to maximize the potential for a diverse range of farmers to benefit from them.Through focus group discussions with village communities, researchers found that farmers had limited knowledge of crop and index-based weather insurance, whether or not they could afford it or even whom to approach to find out about it. This means that few had taken out crop insurance and so few can have benefited from the support that flood insurance schemes can offer.","tokenCount":"1846"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4888080041.json b/data/part_1/4888080041.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ecbe3306b18abea0af8c01ee07c980b9dfd3f9fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4888080041.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"88915c9c18e0b1735ab419f6e91c5092","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/45ccbed1-2de7-4b10-9a81-1141638ca188/retrieve","id":"576424369"},"keywords":["Agriculture-nutrition linkage","dietary diversity","difference-in-difference propensity score matching","correlated-random effects Lee-Maddala-Björklund-Moffitt model","panel data","Tajikistan"],"sieverID":"d23eecb2-fb0f-49d5-8eb6-aa2fee8889fa","pagecount":"48","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture is considered a viable strategy to achieve the dual goals of improving food/nutrition security and reducing poverty through agricultural income growth in developing countries (Fan et al. 2019). A growing body of evidence suggests that various nutritional outcomes of impoverished households, many of whom are smallholders, are robustly associated with the production of different food items on their own farms, particularly in areas with limited market access (e.g., World Bank 2007; Ruel et al. 2018;Fan et al. 2019). In particular, strong linkages have often been observed between dietary diversity and the diversity of food items produced by these smallholder households in developing countries in Asia (e.g., Pandey et al. 2016;Sibhatu & Qaim 2018;Zanello et al. 2019;Gupta et al. 2020;Takeshima et al. 2023b). In addition to its potential benefits on dietary diversity, agricultural diversification at the farm-household level can lead to income growth for the poor, much as many other types of livelihood diversification (Asfaw et al. 2019). Diversifying the agricultural commodity portfolio can often contribute to risk mitigation (Paut et al. 2019), including risks against emerging climate shocks (Birthal & Hazrana 2019). Agricultural diversification can also raise overall agricultural productivity if economies of diversification (or economies of scope) exist (e.g., Chavas 2008;Takeshima et al. 2020b), for example, through nitrogen fixation by leguminous crops or livestock manure that benefit soil nutrients for other crops, crop rotations that can reduce pests incidence, among others.However, a knowledge gap remains in countries like Tajikistan, a small, land-locked lower-middle income country in transition from a state-controlled to a more market-based economic system, regarding the effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive agriculture focusing on agriculture diversification. This is despite the growing recognition that multisectoral approaches, which include the agricultural sector and other sectors, are critical for food and nutrition improvement in Tajikistan (Kawabata et al., 2020). While Tajikistan has historically promoted more smallholder growth compared to some other Central Asian countries (Lerman & Sedik 2018), Tajik smallholders still face constraints, such as limited autonomy on farmland use rights (Hofman & Visser 2021) and limited technical support in irrigation use (Buisson & Balasubramanya 2019), or growing farm labor shortages (mainly of male workers) as a result of increasing male emigration (Ghimire et al. 2023). Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that realizing effective agriculture-nutrition linkages at the household level in Tajikistan may also depend on food processing technologies (such as improved cooking equipment) (e.g., Takeshima et al. 2022) and perceptions of taboos that affect food consumption decisions (McNamara & Wood 2019). To the authors' knowledge, studies that show the potential effects of householdlevel agricultural diversification on dietary diversity in Tajikistan so far offer evidence based on cross-sectional data only (e.g., Takeshima et al. 2020), which cannot separate out household or individual fixed effects from the observed associations and further weaken causal interpretation.This paper partly fills this knowledge gap by assessing the linkages between dietary diversity and household-level agricultural diversification in the Khatlon province, one of the poorest regions in Tajikistan. We do so by using panel data of households and individual women of reproductive age collected in 2015 and 2023 and applying difference-in-difference propensity score matching (DID-PSM) and panel instrumental-variable (IV) regression methods. We further obtain insights into the potential heterogeneity of these agriculture-nutrition linkages and how potential returns and costs may explain such heterogeneity by extending the Lee (1979), Maddala (1983), and Björklund & Moffitt (1987) (LMBM hereafter) model employed in Takeshima et al. (2020) into the panel data context.As is shown, our results suggest that greater agricultural diversification at the household level leads to higher dietary diversity, particularly in areas with poor food market access. Typology analyses and crop-specific analyses suggest that vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, dairy products, and eggs (main poultry products) are particularly important commodities for which a farmer's own production contributes to dietary diversity improvement. Furthermore, nutritional returns and costs of agricultural diversification vary across households, and expected nutritional returns may be partly driving the adoption of agricultural diversification.This paper contributes to the various strands of literature. First, the paper contributes to the literature on agriculture-nutrition linkages (World Bank 2007;Ruel et al. 2018;Fan et al. 2019), including the studies that focus on dietary diversity and agricultural diversification (Pandey et al. 2016;Sibhatu & Qaim 2018;Zanello et al. 2019;Gupta et al. 2020;Takeshima et al. 2023b), by providing additional evidence from Tajikistan. The paper also contributes to the emerging but still thin literature on agrifood system transformation (Lambrecht et al. 2023a(Lambrecht et al. , 2023b) ) and agriculture-nutrition linkage in Tajikistan (e.g., Lerman & Sedik 2018;Buisson & Balasubramanya 2019;Takeshima et al. 2020Takeshima et al. , 2022;;Hofman & Visser 2021;Ghimire et al. 2023) by showing nutritional benefits as potentially additional drivers of agricultural diversification decisions by smallholders. Lastly, the paper contributes to the literature that applies impact evaluation methods to observational studies (Smith & Todd 2005;Mason et al. 2017;Tranchant et al. 2019;Bravo-Ureta et al. 2021;Takeshima et al. 2023a;Eisenhauer et al. 2015), by extending their application to Tajikistan panel data.The remaining sections of this paper are structured as follows: Section 2 briefly describes agricultural production systems in Tajikistan. Section 3 describes empirical methods. Section 4 describes data and descriptive statistics. Section 5 discusses the results. Finally, section 6 concludes.2 Agrifood system, nutrition, gender issues, and government strategies in Tajikistan Agrifood system Despite significant strides in poverty reduction since the end of its civil war in 1997, Tajikistan remains the poorest country in Central Asia and the fifth poorest country in Asia at large (World Bank, 2024). Its mountainous terrain renders large parts of the country unsuited for intensive agricultural production, but employment opportunities outside the agricultural sector are limited, particularly in rural areas (Lerman & Sedik 2018;Mukhamedova & Wegerich 2018). Khatlon province, where our data come from, covers 40 percent of all agricultural and 48 percent of arable land of Tajikistan (Lambrecht et al. 2023).Tajikistan's agrifood sector nevertheless accounts for about a quarter of its GDP and employs about 2/3 of its workers, 90 percent of whom engage in primary agricultural activities (Diao et al., 2023). A sizeable share of food consumed is produced domestically. According to FAOSTAT, domestic production accounted for about 40 percent of the total wheat and derived products produced and imported in Tajikistan in 2021. However, for others, these shares are much larger (generally more than 90 percent), including for other grains like maize and other key food products such as potatoes, vegetables, fruits, pulses and legumes, dairy products, eggs, and meat (FAO 2024).Since the 1990s, after it seceded from the Soviet Union, a growing share of food crops and commodities in Tajikistan has been produced on privately operated individual farms. Similar to other Central Asian countries, the legislation in Tajikistan in the late 1990s reorganized enterprises and codified land use rights to de-collectivize state farms into private farms called dehkan farms (Lerman & Sedik 2018). Furthermore, Presidential Decrees in 1995 and 1997 distributed another type of private farms, called presidential plots, to disadvantaged households who had less than 0.15 ha of land for agricultural activities to improve their food security (Behnke 2008;Boboyorov 2012;Ghimire et al. 2023). These added to small household plots (sometimes described as kitchen gardens (Ghimire et al. 2023)), which individual Tajik farms have had access to since the Soviet era (Wädekin 1973;Lerman & Sedik 2018), where they have grown primarily vegetables and fruits.Since then, Tajikistan's farm sector has gradually shifted from enterprise type state farms to more individually operated farms, including household plots, presidential plots and dehkan farms (sometimes also referred to peasant farms in Central Asia). In Tajikistan, all land remains state-owned, but are cultivated by individual farmers based on individual land use rights (Lerman & Sedik 2018). As such, household plots, and all individual plots (household plots, presidential plots, individual dehkan farms) have increasingly accounted for a greater share of agricultural production, accounting for more than 60 percent and 90 percent, respectively, of total gross agricultural production by mid-2000s and afterward (Lerman & Sedik 2018).Among the individual farms, dehkan farms have generally been cultivated by a small share of relatively better-off farmers, primarily for the production of cotton in summer and wheat in winter (Ghimire et al., 2023). The scope for household-level agricultural diversification, therefore, remains largest on the household plots and presidential plots. In 2011, household plots contributed to 65 percent of the gross agricultural output in Tajikistan (Buisson & Balasubramanya 2019) and are expected to account for significant shares in the future.Food and nutrition insecurity remains a challenge in Tajikistan and is generally worse than in other countries in Central Asia. As of 2022, 9.3 percent of the population in Tajikistan was undernourished, 13.1 percent of children under five years of age were estimated to suffer from stunting, and 5.6 percent suffered from wasting (FAOSTAT 2024). At the same time, overweight and obesity are on the rise, with a total of 58.8 percent of the Tajik population estimated to be either overweight or obese (WHO 2024). Anemia is prevalent among 38.6 percent of pregnant women and 37 percent of children aged 6-59 months (WHO 2024).Access to a healthy diet is problematic for a significant fraction of the population. While less than 1 percent of the population could not afford an energy-sufficient diet in 2017, a staggering 37 percent could not afford a healthy diet (FAO et al. 2020). Data from August through November 2017 in 2017, show that 20 percent of women of reproductive age (15-49) did not achieve adequate minimum dietary diversity (consuming at least 5 food groups within the prior 24 hours) (FAO et al. 2020;WFP 2019). This, however, masks major regional and seasonal differences. In Khatlon province, this was much lower, at 25 percent of women, and in rural areas the share of women with inadequate diet diversity is about 10 percent points higher than in urban areas (FAO et al. 2020). Moreover, August through November reflects a season with larger food availability, lower food prices, and higher household incomes compared to the lean season which typically falls in January -March.Many households rely on remittances from international labor migration to help pay for day-to-day expenditures, including food expenditures (Shimizutani & Yamada, 2023;World Bank, 2023). In 2022, it was estimated that one-third to one-half of all households in Tajikistan had at least one member working as a migrant abroad (World Bank 2023). As labor migrants are mainly men, this vast extent of outmigration significantly affects the gender composition of the population, leading also in part to a feminization of agriculture (Mukhamedova and Wegerich 2018). Traditional and religious norms emphasize women's roles as caretakers, thereby also restricting their mobility and economic opportunities (Mukhamedova and Wegerich 2018;Turaeva and Becker 2022). As a consequence, and in the aftermath of the dismantling of collective farms, women's positions have shifted further towards unpaid work on the family farm and as low-paid casual farm wage workers -for example, for picking cotton (Hierman & Nekbakhshoev 2020, Kandiyoti 2023). Using data from Khatlon Province, Lambrecht & Mahrt (2022) estimated that female household members in Tajikistan perform nearly half of all total household labor days on crop production (Lambrecht & Mahrt 2022), in addition to being responsible for the bulk of unpaid household work. Women also face more restrictions in access to training and resources useful for agriculture (Balasubramanya 2019). Tajik women are also often subject to certain food taboos and health beliefs, sometimes as a result of intrahousehold relations with male head or older members, which often affect their food consumption and nutrition intake (e.g., McNamara & Wood 2019).Tajikistan places agriculture, food, and nutrition as key components within its latest National Development Strategy set forth toward 2030 (NDS-2030) (Government of Tajikistan 2016). NDS-2030 focuses on food security and nutrition as one of the 10 priority issues. NDS-2030 aims to improve nutrition by means of a multisectoral approach, including the agricultural sector development, through measures including equitable and sustainable distribution of land for cultivation of essential crops, irrigation, and drainage system improvement (e.g., improved maintenance and operation, power subsidies, reduced import tariff for irrigation and drainage equipment), agrifood market development (Government of Tajikistan 2016, p.10). The NDS-2030 also emphasizes the need to improve the efficiency of agriculture toward food and nutrition security as one of the core actions to achieve one of three key development goals of the country, i.e., ensure sustainable development through diversification and increase of competitiveness of the national economy (Government of Tajikistan 2016, p.10). In 2023, the Tajikistan government launched The Agrifood System and Sustainable Agriculture Development Program (ASSADP 2030) as one of the key initiatives to achieve the aforementioned goals of agricultural development and food and nutrition security through agricultural diversification, commercialization, infrastructure, improved land and water management system, value-chain development as well as enhanced food safety.The NDS-2030 also emphasizes the importance of reducing all forms of social and gender inequality and integrates a gender focus throughout its strategy document and across the different topics it tackles (Government of Tajikistan 2016). Addressing the gender gap is also one of the key aspects of NDS implementation during the 2021-2025 phase (Government of Tajikistan 2016, p.23). Likewise, the ASSADP-2030 specifically integrates gender, for example, by stating the need for gender-sensitive interventions and support for women farmers. Finally, the National Strategy for the Activation of the Role of Women in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2021-2030 intends to raise the status of women in society and ensure gender equality and equal opportunities and representation of men and women in various fields of activity (Government of Tajikistan 2021).We estimate the association between household agricultural production practices (APP) and dietary diversity, both at the household level and individual level for women aged 15-49 years old. Within this empirical framework, APP can be potentially endogenous to dietary diversity, due to reverse causality (e.g., better nutrition intake affecting family members' labor productivity (e.g., Pitt et al. 1990;Marcus et al. 2021), including that in farming) To address the potential endogeneity of the APP variable, using our panel datasets, we use two different estimation methods; (i) we employ a panel fixed-effects instrumental variable (FE-IV) regression and (ii) we employ a difference-in-difference propensity-score matching (DID-PSM). IV-based methods like FE-IV regressions generally rely less on the unconfoundedness (or selection-onobservable) assumption than propensity-score-based methods do (Imbens & Wooldridge 2009). However, FE-IV requires more restrictive conditions that can hold for multiple parameters than PSM (including DID-PSM), as PSM can focus on one parameter instead of many parameters (e.g., Heckman & Vytlacil 2007). Further, DID-PSM improves over a standard PSM by controlling for unobserved agents' specific effects and adding validity to the unconfoundedness assumption (Smith & Todd 2005). DID-PSM has been increasingly used in impact evaluation studies (e.g., Mason et al. 2017;Tranchant et al. 2019;Bravo-Ureta et al. 2021;Takeshima et al. 2023a).We estimate the following panel fixed-effects IV regression, 1 HDDS are based on aggregated food consumption at the household level during the previous 7 days leading up to the survey date, using the classification of 12 food groups defined by FAO (2010). WDDS are based on individual women's consumption across 10 food groups during the previous 24 hours leading up to the survey date (FAO & FHI 360, 2016). Similar definitions have been used in other studies focusing on agriculture-nutrition linkages in developing countries, including Tajikistan (e.g., Ruel et al. 2018;Takeshima et al. 2020Takeshima et al. , 2021)). 2 The production diversity score of the household is constructed using the same 12 food group categories used for HDDS and counting the number of food groups of commodities produced by the household by themselves.Difference-in-difference propensity score matching method In DID-PSM, we estimate (modified from exposition in Villa 2016), \uD835\uDC37\uD835\uDC3C\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC46\uD835\uDC40 = {\uD835\uDC38(\uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2023 |\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2023 = 1, \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 1) − \uD835\uDF14 \uD835\uDC56 × \uD835\uDC38(\uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2023 |\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2023 = 0, \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 0)} −{\uD835\uDC38(\uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2015 |\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2015 = 0, \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 1) − \uD835\uDF14 \uD835\uDC56 × \uD835\uDC38(\uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2015 |\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61=2015 = 0, \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 0)} (4)In DID-PSM, we identify farm households in two groups, based on a certain threshold of Δ\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56 = \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61+1 − \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , in other words, experiencing relative increase in aforementioned APP indicators between 2015 and 2023. Specifically, in our analyses, we set the thresholds at sample medians of Δ\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56 . We then assign a time-invariant binary indicator \uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 1 if farm households \uD835\uDC56 are those who end up experiencing Δ\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56 above those thresholds at \uD835\uDC61 = 1 (\uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56 = 0 if otherwise), and \uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61 denotes the actual Δ\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56 exceeding at \uD835\uDC61 = 1.DID-PSM (4) improves over standard DID through weights \uD835\uDF14 \uD835\uDC56 which depends on the propensity score of \uD835\uDC56 to experience Δ\uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56 beyond the threshold:which is a function of \uD835\uDC56's exogenous, observable characteristics \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56 at baseline year t = 2015. The translation of \uD835\uDC5D \uD835\uDC56 to \uD835\uDF14 \uD835\uDC56 depends on the matching method used in PSM. In our primary specification, we use a nearest neighbor method with a caliper, which has generally been suggested as more consistent than other matching methods (e.g., Caliendo & Kopeinig 2008). We then also estimate kernel matching methods to check the robustness of the results.Food group specific linkages Our primary analyses (1) through (5) focus on the associations between dietary diversity scores and agricultural diversification with all food groups combined. We supplement the analyses by also estimating (1) through (5) for key specific food groups, replacing \uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , \uD835\uDC4C \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC57\uD835\uDC61 and \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC43\uD835\uDC43 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 with dummy variables indicating whether the household or individual women consumed a particular food group, and whether the household produced that particular food group on their farms. As is shown later in our typology analysis of dietary diversity and production patterns, we identify vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, dairy products and eggs as these key food group categories.Modeling unobserved heterogeneous returns and costs in ag-nutrition linkages Marginal utility for HDDS and WDDS and costs of adopting particular APPs can be heterogeneous. Whether households or individuals with higher marginal utility and lower costs are more likely to adopt APPs that can lead to greater HDDS and WDDS is vital from an efficiency perspective in welfare economics. In many cases, however, these returns and costs are not readily observable, partly because of the semi-subsistence nature of the farm households. Takeshima et al. (2020) tackled this issue by applying LMBM methods to cross-sectional data and provided indicative evidence. Here, we extend Takeshima et al. (2020) to the panel data context. Specifically, we incorporate the Correlated Random Effects (CRE) device proposed by Mundlak (1978) and Chamberlain (1984). Due to its technical nature, we relegate the discussion on LMBM-CRE methods to the Appendix.Set of control variables Variables \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , \uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , and \uD835\uDC4D \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 (which appear in LMBM model in Appendix A) are selected following the previous similar studies that assessed agriculture-nutrition linkages in Tajikistan (Takeshima et al. 2020).Household demographics in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 include age and gender 3 of household head, and household size by gender and age groups (0-5, 6-15, 16-60, and 61 or above years old). Human capital variables include the average years of formal education completed among working-age household members aged 15 -60.Agroecological variables in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 include elevation, historical rainfall, soil, hydrological conditions (proximity to the nearest major rivers, groundwater depth), local area's share under perennial crops, and terrain ruggedness. Terrain ruggedness can proxy isolation (Nunn & Puga 2012;Takeshima 2017) and may be relevant for Tajikistan given its geographic characteristics. 4  Wealth variables in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 include durable assets owned and agricultural equipment, both measured in per capita value, as well as livestock owned measured in Livestock Units (LU) (using conversion rates for \"Transition Markets\" countries defined in FAO ( 2011)). A variable indicating whether any household member has obtained credit from the formal sector proxies the access to finance. The amount of remittances received by households is included to capture the remittance income flows.Key living conditions in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 are proxied by the types of improved materials used for flooring and exterior walls. 5 Using an improved source of drinking water and an improved sanitation system are included to proxy sanitary and hygienic conditions. 6 We also capture whether the community has centralized garbage collection and disposal systems, as well as a centralized sewage system. An improved sanitation system is often considered an important factor affecting nutritional outcomes (Mulmi et al. 2016), which can thus potentially enhance the demand for dietary diversity (as better sanitation may help calorie and more nutrients consumed to be more efficiently absorbed by the bodies (e.g., Banerjee & Duflo 2011)).Access to institutions in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 is proxied by the first principal components of the distance to institutions that are health related (hospital, polyclinic, feldsher point, first aid/ambulance, women's consultation, drugstore/pharmacy, doctor, children's doctor, and dentist), education related (state secondary school, private school, professional-technical school, institute/university), and food market related (state stores, private store, food market/bazaar, livestock market/bazaar, restaurant, café). Typically, the constructed first principal component captures around 70 percent of all the variations of respective variables.Lastly, \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 includes the size of farm areas that the household has use rights on, and whether the household has use rights to Dehkan farms or not.Individual level characteristics in \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 include individual women's age, education level, and pregnancy status.Variables \uD835\uDC4D \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , which affect the returns to greater APPs, include the ownership of a fridge or freezer which may affect a household's ability to store food commodities harvested. Variables \uD835\uDC4D \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 also include the composite price of food commodities in the community where the household resides, since higher prices may induce a household's agricultural production and the linkage with domestic production and nutritional outcomes. The price variable is simply the average price per kg over all 12 food groups reported in the local market, whereby average price was first computed for each food group, and then averaged again across these 12 average food-group level prices.Variables \uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 , which are used as excluded IVs in (3), and also affect the cost of greater APPs in LMBM model (Appendix A), include household farmland endowment measured by the size of land with use rights and the value of agricultural capital owned and whether any household members received the extension visits from the public extension services within the past 12 months. While these variables may affect the costs of the various APPs, they may not affect the benefits on nutritional outcomes once the effects of the resulting APPs are controlled for.This study uses a panel dataset encompassing two household survey datasets collected by IFPRI in the USAID Feed the Future (FTF) zone of influence (ZOI) in Khatlon province in 2015 and 2023, respectively. In each survey round, a total of 2,000 households were interviewed from the 12 districts (raions) that constitute USAID's ZOI in Khatlon province. Approximately 1,600 households were successfully interviewed in both periods. At the individual level, 322 women of reproductive age were interviewed in both periods regarding their dietary diversity. 7 Data collections took place around the same season (February-March) in both 2015 and 2023. After dropping observations with missing data, our analyses use 1,588-panel households and 314-panel women as our primary samples.The sample for the 2015 survey was primarily determined by the sample of an earlier baseline study, the 2012 FEEDBACK PBS survey (Feed the Future FEEDBACK 2014). Enumerators sought to re-interview the households of the 2012 survey with the intention of assessing the progress in various food-security-related indicators in the ZOI (more details are provided in IFPRI 2016). The households from the 2012 sample that could not be interviewed in 2015 were randomly replaced by another household in the same enumeration area. In 2023, the survey team -lacking personally identifiable information about the households in the 2012 FEEDBACK PBS survey -intended to re-interview those households who participated in the 2015 IFPRI/USAID PBS. Households that could not be interviewed were replaced by the nearest neighbor. As the 2012 FEEDBACK PBS survey data does not include information related to agricultural production, this dataset could not be used in the current analysis.In addition to the primary datasets mentioned above, our study relies on multiple spatial data sources to construct various agroecological variables. Groundwater table depth is taken from Fan et al. (2013). Euclidean distance to the nearest major river is calculated using the map of major rivers from Lehner et al. (2006). Elevation, slope, and topography are obtained from the United States Geological Survey (USGS 1996) and used to calculate the terrain ruggedness index following Riley et al. (1999). Historical averages of rainfall and temperature data are from WorldClim (Fick & Hijman 2017). Lastly, soil-related information is obtained from FAO et al. (2012).Table 1 provides descriptive statistics from the household-level data and Table 2 shows the statistics for individual women of reproductive age. Most households are headed by male household members, but the share of female-headed households increased significantly between 2015 and 2023, possibly due to accelerated out-migration and/or death of male head. Most households have use rights to about 0.3-0.4 hectares of farmland and modest agricultural capital. Ownership of agricultural capital increased between 2015 and 2023, indicating some asset accumulation taking place in these households. The housing conditions, sanitation infrastructure, and garbage collection services and sewage systems also improved between 2015 and 2023.The women of reproductive age (15-41 years old in 2015 round and 23-49 years old in 2023 round) in the panel samples were on average 29 years old in 2015 (37 years old in 2023), completing 11 years of education by both 2015 and 2023, and a small fraction being pregnant (Table 2).Table 3 presents household-level APP characteristics. At extensive margins, the number of food groups produced remained relatively stable, slightly under 3 for 12 months (around 1.5 in fall/winter seasons) in both 2014 and 2022 seasons. At intensive margins, land productivity also remained relatively unchanged while production scale per capita expanded. The commodity compositions of each food group produced have exhibited some fluctuations between 2014 and 2022 (Table 4). Relative to 2014, more households produced fruits and legumes/nuts/seeds, while fewer households produced vegetables, dairy products and oils/fats (derived from dairy production and vegetable oils).Table 5 and Table 6 summarize the dietary diversity at the panel household-level (7-day recall) and for panel individual women of reproductive age (1-day recall). Typically, households consumed 8.3 food groups over the course of 7 days in 2015, which increased to 9.1 in 2023 (Table 5). Nearly all households consumed grains, roots/tubers, vegetables, oils/fats, sweets and spices/condiments/beverages. About half or more households consumed fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, flesh meat, eggs, and dairy products, while a small fraction of households also consumed fish/seafood. Between 2015 and 2023, the shares increased particularly for fruits, flesh meat, and eggs. Individual women typically consumed 3.6 food groups in 2015 and 3.5 in 2023. While a majority consume grain, roots/tubers, and vegetables, relatively few consume other food groups.Panel fixed-effects model Table 7 shows the associations between APP and dietary diversity at household/individual levels estimated with panel fixed-effects IV regressions (1) through (3). The diagnostic test statistics shown at the bottom rows suggest that all models are consistent and efficient (i.e., models are not overidentified, and excluded IVs offer sufficiently strong identification). The results generally indicate that dietary diversity scores at both household-level and individuallevel are positively associated (with statistical significance) with greater diversity in food groups produced by the households, as well as production values per land and per capita. These patterns are particularly pronounced in more remote areas located far away from the food markets than in areas closer to the food markets.Table 8 summarizes associations between APP and dietary diversity at household or individual levels estimated with the DID-PSM model ( 4) and (5). As was described in the methodology section, the results shown are associations with changes in APP values (between 2014 and 2022) exceeding sample median values. For example, 0.751 in the first row indicates that household-level CDDS exceeding sample median values is associated with 0.751 higher HDDS. Therefore, these coefficients are not directly comparable to those in Table 7. Nonetheless, the associations are statistically significantly positive for most APP and dietary diversity outcomes, consistent with the findings in Table 7. Furthermore, the associations are generally more significantly positive in remote areas with limited access to food markets than in areas closer to food markets. Diagnostic statistics based on Rubin's R-values and B-values (Cochran & Rubin 1973) indicate that our DID-PSM models generally have good balancing properties. 8 Furthermore, estimated Rosenbaum bounds are generally above 1.5, and often above 2.0; i.e., statistical significance and signs hold even when the true propensity scores (accounting for all unobserved factors) among the treatment groups are 50 percent higher or lower than estimated propensity scores, suggesting that the results are robust against the moderate violation of conditional independence assumptions in PSM.Overall, results from both panel IV fixed effects and DID-PSM are generally consistent with the literature which shows relatively stronger linkages between nutritional status and households' own food production when access to food markets is limited (e.g., Ruel et al., 2018;Takeshima et al. 2020).Table 9 summarizes the results of the LMBM model to identify potential heterogeneity and factors associated with unobserved returns in dietary diversity and costs of APPs within the framework of semi-subsistence agriculture. Coefficients under the \"Returns\" columns show how each factor is associated with potential returns from higher dietary diversity for the household or individual women. Similarly, coefficients under the \"Costs\" columns show how each factor is associated with unobserved costs of raising agricultural diversification.Most importantly, the coefficients at the bottom row, \"Effects of expected returns on the adoption,\" are statistically significantly positive. This suggests that a household's decision to expand agricultural diversification (i.e., to increase the number of food groups they produce on their farm) is significantly driven by the perception of returns to dietary diversity for the households and individual women. In other words, households' decisions to diversify agriculture may be partly driven by potential nutritional benefits associated with enhanced direct on-farm access to diverse food items.Similarly, significantly negative coefficients on agricultural capital in the cost equation suggest that greater access to agricultural capital (agricultural equipment and financing resources) may be one of the key factors that reduce the costs of agricultural diversification. Such associations are consistent with past studies showing that agricultural mechanization can often raise economies of scope and economies of diversification in developing countries (Takeshima et al., 2020).The statistical significance of other various factors indicates that these perceptions of returns and costs are quite heterogeneous across households and individuals. Better understanding these perceptions is therefore essential in identifying suitable agricultural diversification pathways for different farm households.Our dietary diversity data were collected mainly during February through March in each survey round. It is, therefore, possible that, for specific food items (particularly perishable ones), production in the fall/winter seasons may be more relevant for our dietary diversity data. We therefore re-examined results in  12, respectively. The results in these tables are broadly consistent with our primary results, suggesting that agricultural diversification in the fall/winter season is equally likely to be critical for dietary diversity in the lean season of February -March.Results for specific food groups Results presented so far establish the generally positive associations between householdlevel agricultural diversification and dietary diversity when food groups are aggregated. However, these results do not yet show that associations hold for the production of a specific food group and consumption of that food group. Here, we delve deeper into individual food groups to further verify such associations.Typology of dietary-diversity sensitive agricultural diversification As was shown in the descriptive section Table 4 through Table 6, the commonality of the production and consumption vary considerably across food groups. For example, grains and roots/tubers are almost always consumed regardless of the household's APP, while fish/seafood are rarely consumed. For other food groups, the prevalence of production and consumption is more variable. We therefore first gain insights into potentially important food groups in the context of nutrition-sensitive agricultural diversification with respect to our respondents from the Khatlon province. We do so by applying a simple typology analysis to classify major types of households according to their dietary diversity and agricultural diversification patterns (we relegate discussions on methodologies to Appendix B). Figure 1 illustrates household dietary diversity, consumption of each food group, and production of each food group, for each of the 6 major types of households identified through the typology analyses. Similarly, Figure 2 illustrates the similar figures for 5 major types of women of reproductive age.In Figure 1, 6 types of households exhibit varying dietary diversity levels, ranging from type 1 (high HDDS) households that typically consume 11 food groups in 7 days, to type 6 (low HDDS) households that typically consume only 6 food groups. The upper panel in Figure 1 shows that households in higher HDDS types generally produce more food groups (as would be expected from our results from the previous section), but in somewhat varying ways across food groups. In particular, the variations in the prevalence of production across 6 types are relatively greater for dairy, legumes/nuts/seeds, and fruits, vegetables, and to some extent eggs. The bottom panel of Figure 1 illustrates that variations across types in the prevalence of consumption are relatively greater for meat, egg, dairy products, legumes/nuts/seeds and fruits.Similarly, in Figure 2, women of reproductive age range from high WDDS type (type 1) who consumes as much as 10 food groups in 24 hours, to low WDDS type (type 5) who consumes only 2 food groups. Here, the variations in production prevalence are again relatively greater for dairy products, legumes/nuts/seeds, as well as fall/winter season production of vegetables and fruits (lighter gray shades). As in the bottom panel of Figure 2, increased consumption prevalence of dairy products and vegetables is associated with an increase in WDDS at a lower range (thus important in raising WDDS from a very low level to a moderate level). Increased consumption prevalences of eggs, legumes/nuts/seeds and fruits are associated with an increase in WDDS at a higher range (thus important in raising WDDS further up from moderate levels). Consumption prevalence of meat is also important at the relatively higher range of WDDS, but the prevalence of production is relatively low for this food group, suggesting a greater hurdle in diversifying into meat production in the short term.Given the reasonably high overall prevalence, as well as significant variations in prevalence, of production and consumption, we identify five food groups -dairy products, eggs, legumes/nuts/seeds, vegetables, and fruits --that are particularly important for promoting nutrition-sensitive agricultural diversification. 9 We thus focus on these five food groups in subsequent analyses.Associations between consumption and household-level production for dairy products, eggs, legumes/nuts/seeds, vegetables, and fruits Table 13 through Table 15 shows the results of panel fixed-effects IV regressions, counterparts to Table 7 but estimated instead for associations between production and consumption of specific food groups (vegetables and fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, and dairy products. Similar to Table 7, test statistics indicate that models are consistent and efficient (i.e., models are not overidentified, and excluded IVs provide sufficient identification power). Production variables are found to be endogenous in various models, suggesting the adequacy of using IV approaches. Results are generally consistent with our primary results in Table 7. Producing vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, and dairy products during the previous 12 months or in the fall/winter season is associated with a significantly higher likelihood that the household or the women of reproductive age consume each of these food groups. These positive linkages hold more broadly in the more remote areas with limited food-market access than in areas closer to food markets. To account for the possibility that the decisions on vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds may be interrelated, we also estimate the equations for these food groups as systems of equations through panel-fixed effects three-stage least square regressions. As is shown in the bottom rows in Table 13 through Table 15, results are generally consistent with the single equation models described above.Similarly, Table 16 and Table 17 show results that are consistent with Table 8, based on DID-PSM methods applied at specific food-group levels. Starting production of vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, and dairy products between 2014 and 2022 has been positively associated with a greater likelihood that the household or women also start consuming each of these food groups. These positive associations are relatively more significant in remote areas while more ambiguous in areas closer to food markets.The above analysis may also raise concerns that the production of nonfood commodities, such as forage crops and cotton, may compete with food crops production in terms of the benefits of agricultural diversification on dietary diversity. We investigate whether such concern is justified by adding forage crops and cotton production into CDDS, production per capita, and yield variables, and re-estimate the same models for Table 7 and Table 8. 10 If cotton, forage crops significantly compete with food crops, adding these into APP should weaken the linkage between APP and dietary diversity. Table 18 and Table 19 show the results. Results show that adding forage crops and cotton production into APP does not significantly change our main results in Table 7 and Table 8, suggesting that production of nonfood items like forage crops and cotton may not compete with the production of food crops. This may be partly due to the fact that a relatively small share of farm households in Khatlon province engage in cotton production on presidential plots or household plots (Lambrecht et al. 2023b), and forage production can often contribute to the production of livestock products including dairy products and eggs.Relative importance of household plots and presidential plots Table 20 presents the sample shares of each type of plot on which each food group of field crops were grown in 2022. Table 20 indicates that legumes/nuts/seeds, vegetables, fruits are disproportionately more likely to be grown on household plots, and grains are disproportionately more likely to be grown on presidential plots. These patterns suggest that promoting nutritionsensitive agricultural diversification on household plots is particularly effective, and enhancing the productivity of grains on presidential plots is critical as well given that grains often provide the most basic nutrients to achieve food security.Nutrition-sensitive agricultural diversification continues to receive interest among lowand middle-income country stakeholders as a viable option for achieving dual goals of poverty reduction and food/nutrition security improvements. Assessing the effectiveness of this strategy is also essential in countries like Tajikistan; the country continues to experience widespread nutrition insecurity despite having arguably better infrastructure outside the agrifood sector (e.g., education and health) compared to other low-income countries outside Central Asia. At the same time, the country is highly vulnerable to shocks, ranging from the effects of climate change as well as to regional and global shocks -for example, due to its heavy reliance on remittances from Russia and other neighboring Countries (World Bank 2023). We attempt to enrich the evidence base in this regard by assessing the linkages between household-level agricultural diversification and dietary diversity (both household-and individual-levels) using unique panel samples of households and individual women of reproductive ages in the Khatlon province.Using difference-in-difference propensity score methods and panel instrumental variable regressions, we show that agricultural diversification at the household level is positively associated with higher dietary diversity, particularly in areas with poor food market access. Typology analyses and crop-specific analyses suggest that vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, egg, and dairy production are particularly important commodities for which a farmer's own production contributes to dietary diversity improvement. Furthermore, decomposition exercises within the subsistence farming framework suggest that nutritional returns and costs of agricultural diversification vary across households, and expected nutritional returns may be partly driving the adoption of agricultural diversification. In other words, households' decisions to diversify agriculture may be partly driven by potential nutritional benefits associated with enhanced direct on-farm access to diverse food items rather than farm income growth alone.Our findings have important policy implications. To improve nutrition for households in remote areas with relatively limited access to agrifood markets, identifying the tools to promote agricultural diversification at the farm household level remains vital, including diversification into vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds. These directions align with the goals of the Agriculture Reform Programmes and the ASSADP 2030, which emphasize the importance of raising productivity and diversifying production risks at farmer levels -both for crops as well as with respect to livestock, and also the Multisectoral Action Plan for Nutrition (MAPN) (Government of Tajikistan 2020) which highlights the importance of multisectoral approaches to achieve nutrition security in Tajikistan through effective inter-ministerial coordination. Our analyses suggest that improving access to agricultural capital (agricultural equipment and financing resources) is one of the practical tools to lower the costs of agricultural diversification. Stimulating the development of markets for agricultural equipment through policies that encourage healthy competition among equipment suppliers, regulations to assure equipment quality, information dissemination about available machines, and training on their appropriate use are some of the options often considered adequate in developing countries (e.g., Diao et al. 2020). Improving access to agricultural capital may also facilitate agricultural diversification by addressing the male labor shortage, which is also becoming increasingly challenging in Tajikistan.Our results also suggest that enhancing farmers' knowledge of the benefits of higher dietary diversity (for example, through education programs and sensitization) may also raise their demand for and adoption of agricultural diversification. At the same time, our results also suggest that, while the strongest linkages (between production and home consumption) are observed in remote areas, positive linkages are also often observed even in the areas closer to agrifood markets. The latter regions can critically benefit from enhanced efficiency of agrifood markets, another important focus of ASSADP 2030. Improving access to more affordable supplies of staple crops through improved market efficiency can encourage food-insecure farmers to invest more in the production of other micro-nutrient-rich foods (including vegetables, fruits, legumes, dairy products, and eggs) while improving market function for those micronutrient-rich foods itself can also help stabilize access to more diverse diets. The Food Security Council, established by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to play a coordinating role in ways that enhance the efficient functioning of the agrifood markets. Better integration into more modern value chains of these micro-nutrient-rich foods can also contribute to improved productivity of these commodities. Strengthened food safety implementation (another focus area of ASSADP 2030) can enhance nutrition among not only consumers but also farm households to the extent that enhanced ability to ensure food safety stimulates commercial production, and increased production translates into increased home consumption.       3,196 3,196 3,196 3,196 Source: Authors. Asterisks indicate the statistical significance: * 10%, ** 5%, *** 1%.            ","tokenCount":"7178"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4892195072.json b/data/part_1/4892195072.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8d48fd59b0e7211710995dddf198bc68be83a2d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4892195072.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"99552744e8e2c1b954f86ec982222000","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/343478c1-945c-4197-ae1b-81a2cccdb99e/content","id":"1011226909"},"keywords":["AGROVOC Descriptors Cereals","Wheat","Plant diseases","Pathogenesis","Mycosphaerella graminicola","Stagonospora","Epidemiology","Taxonomy","Evolution","Biological control","Host pathogen relations","Disease management","Disease control","Genomics","Genetic resistance","Germplasm","Breeding lines AGRIS Category Codes H20 Plant Diseases F30 Plant Genetics and Breeding F01 Crop Husbandry Pathogen Biology, Taxonomy and Evolution 1.-G. Diria, F. Gaboun, R. Abdlwhad, M. Benchaba, M. Labhilili, M. Ebriz Marker Assisted Selection for Septoria tritici Resistance in some RIL wheat lines and Pathogen Biology, Taxonomy, and Evolution"],"sieverID":"e7d2fdb1-4e7e-4b1c-956d-a8d6e6332ec0","pagecount":"123","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.org), is a not-for-profit research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries. The center works to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems and thus ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The center's outputs and services include improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems, the conservation of maize and wheat genetic resources, and capacity building. CIMMYT belongs to and is funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR; www.cgiar.org) and also receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies. CIMMYT is particularly grateful for the generous, unrestricted funding that has kept the center strong and effective over many years. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) 2011. All rights reserved. The designations employed in the presentation of materials in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CIMMYT or its contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and are not necessarily those of CIMMYT or our partners. CIMMYT encourages fair use of this material. Proper citation is requested.The cytoskeleton in plant infectionDepartment of Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK Fungi invade plant tissue by polar hyphal growth. This process involves the cytoskeleton, along which vesicles and other growth supplies are delivered to the expanding cell tip. Intracellular transport towards the growth region involves molecular motors, which are nano-machines that utilize ATP to walk along the fibres of the cytoskeleton. Filamentous fungi contain a unique motor protein, myosin XVII, thought to transport secretory chitin-synthase containing secretory vesicles. This myosin motor is also a class V chitin synthase and is a pathogenicity factor in many plant pathogens, including the corn pathogen Ustilago maydis. I will summarised the most recent outcome of our work on myosin XVII in U. maydis and which explain the cellular importance of myosin VII in pathogenic fungi. I a second part of the talk I will present first results on the morphogenic variability of various strains of Mycsphaerella graminicola. Improved sequencing technologies have greatly enhanced our ability to understand the genomic evolution of plant pathogens. The recently released genome of Mycosphaerella graminicola and subsequent genomic comparison with the closest known progenitor species, named M. graminicola S1, are just two of a growing multitude of comparisons. Here we present the unique features of the mitochondrial genome of M. graminicola. Two isolates (IPO323 and STBB1) have been completely sequenced, compared and annotated and with addition of 35 partially re-sequenced isolates, revealing one of the lowest levels of intraspecific mtDNA diversity ever published. Another unique feature in the mtDNA of M. graminocola, in comparison to other members of the fungal kingdom, is the complete absence of introns. This is remarkable, especially if compared to the largely invaded mtDNAs of Podospora anserina or Leptosphaeria maculans. Previous analyses based on sequence variation at six nuclear loci indicated that M. graminicola diverged from an ancestral population adapted to wild grasses during the process of wheat domestication approximately 10,500 years ago. We tested this hypothesis by conducting coalescence analyses based on four mitochondrial loci, using 143 isolates, including four closely related pathogen species, originating from four continents. Pathogen isolates from bread and durum wheat were also included to evaluate a putative emergence of specificity towards these hosts in M. graminicola.Although mitochondrial and nuclear genomes differed greatly in degree of genetic variability, their coalescence was remarkably congruent, supporting the previously reported phylogeny based on nuclear markers. The coalescence analysis was unable to trace M. graminicola host specificity through recent evolutionary time, indicating that the specificity towards durum or bread wheat has a recent origin.Population processes of Septoria and Stagonospora diseases of wheat on multiple time-scales M. Shaw School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AS, UK Observations by Fraaije and co-workers from long-term wheat experiments at Rothamsted in England suggest that the balance between Mycosphaerella graminicola and Phaeosphaeria nodorum has swung between the organisms on century time-scales, and that pathogenic characteristics have jumped between alternative states. Likely drivers of these changes include both pollution and varietal changes. To clarify how these would have affected the data and test hypotheses we need models. For short-term forecasting purposes, it is common to limit pathogen population linearly by a fixed or exogenous host area and then link the rate of multiplication of the pathogen to weather. This is manifestly wrong on scales longer than months. Over longer time-scales, we can begin with a spatially uniform host and pathogen and modify standard SIR models. In continuous time this will give logistic dynamics leading to an equilibrium severity. However, the pathogens have important dynamical features on time-scales less than a year. To capture these, more elaborate models incorporating host dynamics are needed. The result is still a static equilibrium. However, with this degree of elaboration we have models in which we can ask whether variation in external drivers (environmental, host disposition and fixed varietal resistance), rather than internal dynamics, could in principle explain what we see in nature. Environmental effects (pollutants, weather, CO 2, variety etc) enter as variations in parameters controlling the multiplication of the pathogen and/or host. A key feature missing from such models is long-term persistence. If host area drops, or varietal resistance rises, or the environment becomes unfavourable, the pathogen either persists at fairly high levels or disappears altogether. Yet like all ecologically obligate pathogens, M. graminicola and P. nodorum persist (though evolving) indefinitely. So density-dependence and competition must be included. Data on these is very limited. Most studies of pathogen-host interactions use dense inocula, but critical phases of the life-cycle may involve a few spores per plant. For heterothallic pathogens, the probability of mating has inverse density-dependence; this raises another way in which systems with multiple stable equilibria between host and pathogen may arise: this is consistent with historical changes and observed evolution.Occurrence of leaf blotch pathogens on wheat in the Nordic countries and potential role of toxin-sensitivity loci in determining susceptibility under field conditions M. Lillemo 1 , M. Jalli 2 , A. Ficke 3 , A. Djurle 4 , L.N. Jørgensen 5 , S. Latvala 2 , E. Teperi 6 , I. Happstadius 7 1 Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway 2 MTT Plant Production, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland 3 Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research (Bioforsk), NO-1432 Ås, Norway 4 Dept. of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7026, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden 5 Dept. of Integrated Pest Management, Research Centre Flakkebjerg, Aarhus University, Forsøgsvej 1, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark 6 Boreal Plant Breeding Ltd., FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland 7 Lantmännen SW Seed, SE-268 81 Svalöv, Sweden Insufficient resistance to leaf blotch diseases is a major yield-limiting factor and the main cause of fungicide application in the Nordic wheat production. The leaf blotch disease complex consists of Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB) caused by Phaeosphaeria nodorum, tan spot (TS) caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis and Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola. Historical records show that SNB dominated as the main leaf blotch disease until the beginning of the 1980s. Since then, STB and TS have taken over as the most important diseases in Sweden and Denmark where mostly winter wheat is grown. TS became common in Central Sweden in the mid 1980's, and in Denmark since 2000, promoted by minimum tillage and wheat-intensive crop rotations. SNB is still important in Finland and Norway where most of the wheat acreage is sown to spring wheat. The first TS epidemics in Finland occurred in 2004, and SNB and TS are now equally common on spring wheat while STB mainly infects winter wheat. SNB is still dominating in Norway, but STB occurs frequently in winter wheat and TS has become important in recent years. In 2009-2010, leaf samples were collected from 111 Nordic spring and winter wheat fields (84 Finnish, 11  Norwegian, 11 Latvian, 3 Swedish, 1 Lithuanian and 1 Estonian field). For 10 sites per field, 10 leaves were collected from 10 randomly selected plants; 100 leaves per field in total. The leaves were dried immediately after collection, and pathogens later identified using a specific PCR test. P. nodorum was present in 98%, P. tritici-repentis in 88%, and M. graminicola in 13% of the investigated fields. Only two of the studied 111 wheat fields had none of the tested pathogens (one from Finland and one from Estonia). A diverse set of about 100 spring wheat and 50 winter wheat cultivars and breeding lines were genotyped with closely linked molecular markers to the toxin sensitivity loci Tsn1, Snn2, Snn3 and Snn4 and tested for leaf blotch severity in the field based on natural infection at different field locations in Norway. Preliminary results from the 2010 field data indicate that some of the variation in leaf blotch severity in both spring and winter wheat can be explained by allelic variation at Tsn1 and Snn2. The effects of these loci will be further studied during the 2011 field season in near-isogenic lines from wheat breeding populations, and \"fresh-from-the field\" results from this testing will be presented at the conference.F. Suffert 1 , F. Bernard 2 , N. Galet 1 , M. Chelle 2 , I. Sache 1 , C. Lannou 1 1 INRA, UR BIOGER-CPP, Campus AgroParisTech, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France 2 INRA, UR EGC, Campus AgroParisTech, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France Complete resistance in Septoria leaf blotch (isolate-specific interaction) is detected on seedlings either with detached leaves or whole plants. Assessment of aggressiveness components of Mycosphaerella graminicola in controlled conditions close to those observed in field during the epidemic period, is, however, required to estimate quantitative resistance. The objective of this study is the design and validation of a standardized method to assess the development of lesions during a complete infection cycle. To this end, localized infection was obtained on adult plants using moderate inoculum concentrations. Chlorotic, necrotic, sporulating areas and number of pycnidia were then assessed every 3-4 days in greenhouse conditions. The resulting curves were fitted to a Gompertz model. Among the several epidemiological variables extracted from the fitting, those with straightforward biological significance were considered as the most relevant components of aggressiveness: incubation period (time from inoculation to the appearance of first chlorosis), latent period (time from inoculation to first pycnidium), development rate of necrotic and sporulating areas, maximal sporulating area, area under the sporulating area progress curve, pycnidial surface density, and pycnidial sporulation capacity (number of pycnidiospores liberated by a single pycnidia). The method was validated in a greenhouse experiment replicated once (2008 and 2009) by inoculating four popular French wheat cultivars with four M. graminicola isolates. Correlations between aggressiveness components, specifically those related to symptom dynamics and sporulation capacity, were calculated. This method will be used in further studies: 1) Assessment of partial resistance via the quantification of isolate × cultivar interactions.2) Comparison of leaf temperature (really perceived by the fungus) and air temperature as indicators of the length of the incubation period.3) Identification of trade-offs between aggressiveness components related to symptom dynamic (monocyclic phase) and sporulation capacity (dispersal). 4) Investigation of physiological, temperature-related trade-offs between selected aggressiveness components in winter and summer M. graminicola isolates sampled within a local population.A. Ficke 1 , M. Lillemo 2 , O. Elen 1 , G. Brodal 1 1 Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research (Bioforsk), 1430 Ås, Norway 2 University of Life Sciences (UMB), 1430 Ås, Norway Three primary causal agents are involved in the leaf blotch disease (LBD) complex of Norwegian winter and spring wheat: Phaesophaeria nodorum, Mycospaerella grammimicola, and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. The dynamics of symptom development, similarity of symptoms caused by each agent, and confounding of disease symptoms by leaf senescence interfere with accurate assessment of disease. Empirical and regression models for disease and yield loss forecasting are only as good as the data upon which they are based. Accurately describing the relationship between symptoms and yield loss is therefore critical to meaningful economic thresholds for management decisions and advisory systems. A general guideline for yield loss and disease severity has been described as 1% yield loss per 1% disease severity on the flag leaf at BBCH stage 70-75. However, several years of field trials in Norway indicate that disease severity can increase exponentially during these developmental stages, making disease severity highly dependent upon time of assessment. LBD severity on flag leaves of the spring wheat variety 'Bjarne' at two different locations in 2010 varied during the above BBCH stages from 27% to 44% and from 4.45% to 23.2%. Different varieties may compensate differently for loss of photosynthetic area on the flag leaf due to leaf blotch pathogens, rendering the general guide line for yield loss inaccurate. Preliminary studies in Norway indicated that the relation between yield reduction (TKW) and disease severity of the flag leaf differed substantially for five different spring varieties and ranged from 0.03 to 1.4 at BBCH 70 and from 0.8 to 4.1 at BBCH 75, at one field site at Aas, Norway in 2010. The causes of the observed variation in the relationship between flag leaf severity and yield reduction are poorly understood. Effects of other diseases are not accounted for by leaf blotch assessments, nor are fungicides applied to reference plots necessarily eliminating all disease effects on yield. Timing of assessments may be as critical as the accuracy of the assessments; making it necessary to time the assessments properly, and distinguish clearly between leaf senescence and leaf blotch symptoms.Wheat fields in South America are annually affected by several foliar necrotrophic pathogens. Most of the spotting leaf complex diseases are originated and associated in a direct proportional relation to the amount of available stubble from previous crops. Soil conservation practices advise farmers to maintain the stubble above the soil or incorporate it after been fragmented. Burning wheat straw and their residues after harvesting, still is been practiced in some areas, and should disappear in the near future by farmer decision or impose by governments policies toward reduction of global warming, CO2 release, and/or soil conservation issues. In the last years, farmers have more commonly incorporated in their farming systems high yield varieties [5 -12 t/ha] that also produce high amount or residues [6 to 14 t/ha] and most of it remain as unused stubble. The importance of the teleomorph stages observed on wheat stubble are: genetic recombination-new virulence eventually arise; dissemination-windborne ascospores are more efficient infective propagules than their anamorphic stages and pathogen survival -since pseudo/or perithecia could be seen as a resistance structure that release ascospores differentially throughout the crop season. The identified pathosystems associated to the stubble in South America are: Mycosphaerella graminicola/Septoria tritici (Septoria Leaf Blotch), Phaeosphaeria nodorum/Stagonospora nodorum (Stagonospora nodorum blotch), Giberella zeae/Fusarium graminearum (Fusarium head Blight), Lewia infectoria/Alternaria infectoria (Black Point and Minor Leaf Spot), Pyrenophora tritici repentis/Drechslera tritici repentis (Tan Spot), Mycosphaerella tassiana/Cladosporium herbarum (Minor Leaf spot), Pleospora herbarum/Stemphyllium botryosum (Minor Leaf Spot), Tapesia yallundae/Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides (Sharp Eye Spot), Cochliobolus sativus/Bipolaris sorokiniana (Bipolaris Leaf Spot) and the recently reported and major tread to the Americas Magnaporthe grisea/Pyricularia grisea (Pyricularia Blast). A survey of the operativeness of the wheat pathogens teleomorph in South America is presented and discussed. In foliar fungal diseases, leaf temperature is the actual temperature perceived by the pathogen during its development. Due to the leaf energy budget, leaf temperature may differ greatly from the air temperature. The difference depends on the canopy architecture, but also on the climate features (cloudiness, wind regime, etc). Such differences can generate prediction errors in epidemics models, whose development have been over the past 30 years based on the air temperature recorded from weather stations. We hypothesize that the reliability of models could be improved by taking into account the leaf temperature. To test this assumption on Mycosphaerella graminicola, we first established the response of STB development at the leaf scale to both wheat leaf and air temperature; then we will study the impact of non-linear responses on STB models. A two-year experiment was carried out in growth chamber (stationary microclimate regime) and greenhouse (fluctuating regime) to characterize the response of STB to temperature on adult plants. Three M. graminicola isolates were used to inoculate 576 leaves. The plants were placed for 72 hr in conditions conducive to infection. Every 2-4 days, chlorotic, necrotic, and sporulating areas were estimated on each inoculated leaf, allowing the calculation of incubation and latent periods. Infrared heat lamps positioned above the leaves enhanced the range of mean leaf temperature (10-23°C) without modifying light incidence and the regulated air temperature. The temperature of each leaf was measured with T-type thermocouples during the whole experiment. These experiments have enabled the assessment of the dynamics of STB symptoms for a wide range of leaf temperature. First results have shown that M. graminicola is clearly more sensitive to leaf temperature than to air temperature. The response curves of the pathogen to leaf temperature will be presented. The next step will be the upscaling of the obtained relations to disease dynamics observed on whole plants over a complete epidemic. In a longer term, integration of these relations to epidemiological models of STB is expected to improve the accuracy of models simulating and predicting epidemics, especially in the context of global change.The use of different strategies to characterize pathogen populations can be of a great help for a better understanding of plant diseases and an improvement of their control. Here, we describe population genetics and biology of the wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola in France studied by several approaches: mating type assessment, molecular typing and the measure of pathogenicity level and resistance to fungicides. More than 500 isolates of the fungus originating from sixteen localities covering most of the wheat producing areas in France were characterized. Genetic assays disclosed several findings which are consistent with high potential for sexual reproduction within the French population of M. graminicola: (i) equal distribution of the two mating types everywhere in the country, (ii) high conservation of the mating type sequences at both nucleotide and population scales, (iii) strong genic and genotypic diversities of the population and (iv) the occurrence of distinct genetic groups within the population as revealed using microsatellite markers and SSCP analysis of actin and β-tubulin sequences. The high genetic diversity seems to generate a great diversity at the cytological, biochemical and phenotypic levels within the population, especially regarding pathogenicity determinants such as infection process, cell-wall degrading enzyme production and disease development (leaf necrosis and sporulation). At the field scale, an occurrence of widespread resistance to strobilurin and azole fungicides was disclosed within the population, thereby confirming the high ability of the fungus to overcome chemical treatments. Results reported here indicate that M. graminicola possesses a potentially high biological diversity comparing to other plant pathogenic fungi probably conferred by its frequent sexual recombination in the field. We therefore established at different levels the high ability of this plant pathogen to undergo various and efficient adaptations to environmental changes.Two types of dissemination propagules play a role in the epidemiology of Septoria tritici blotch (STB). Airborne ascospores are the major source of primary infections in autumn and winter, whereas the development of the epidemic in spring and summer is thought to be driven by splash-dispersed pycnidiospores. Recent observations in various countries, however, have shown that the airborne inoculum of Mycosphaerella graminicola can be produced all year round. In order to understand the role of airborne inoculum in STB epidemics in Belgium, a monitoring technique involving 7-day recording Burkard spore traps and real-time PCR was developed to quantify the total daily airborne inoculum at five locations in the Walloon region in Belgium over 2 years, from April 2009 to April 2011. Four traps were placed in wheat fields and a fifth trap was placed on the roof of a 25 m high building. The reliability of the quantification technique and the homogeneity of the distribution of the STB airborne inoculum at the field scale were controlled in preliminary assays. STB airborne inoculum was detected throughout both years at each of the five locations. Lower but sometimes important quantities were detected in the air above the building, indicating the possibility of long-distance transport. Differences in airborne inoculum quantities in fields were also observed at the network scale and might be linked to the STB level. From the seedling to stem extension stages, there were frequent peaks of detection at each site. The quantities trapped were correlated with the severity of the disease the previous year. Significant quantities of the airborne inoculum were also trapped between the cereal stem elongation and heading stages, suggesting the possible influence of this type of aerial inoculum on STB incidence on the upper leaves in spring and summer. The highest detections, however, generally occurred later, between heading and harvesting, especially in 2009 when disease pressure was high, supporting significant production of pseudothecia during that period. These results illustrate the presence of airborne inoculum all year round, suggesting a possible effect of M. graminicola airborne inoculum on STB epidemics throughout the growing season.A. Septoria tritici leaf blotch induced by the heterothallic ascomycete Mycosphaerella graminicola is found in most wheat growing areas of the world and is one of the most damaging diseases on wheat in Morocco. It occurs endemically across all wheat growing areas and it is found on the totality of inspected fields of both bread and durum wheat. Its severity ranged from 30 to 100%. In some highly infected fields, yield loss was estimated to be arround 50%. Despite the big effort made to breed for resistance to this disease, national commercial cultivars need further improvement for resistance. To reach such goal, a deep knowledge of the pathogen is a prerequisite. To do so, a project to study the genetic diversity of the population of Mycosphaerella graminicola was launched in collaboration with ISA-Lille within a frame of PRAD project. The output of this cooperation is the detection for the first time of the presence of both mating types (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) of the wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola even on the same leaf lesion and with the same frequency. The presence of the two mating types that offers then a suitable genetic condition for M. graminicola to occur sexual reproduction, and the even distribution of early infection in the field that are likely induced by ascospores might be considered as indirect proof of the presence of sexual bodies (pseudothecia) of this pathogen. Accordingly, searching and quantification of pseudothecia in the field will be carried out. Moreover and in order to ensure the durability of resistance of the host, fungicides are to be used in areas where Septoria tritici blotch is known to occur in order to avoid yield losses for susceptible cultivars and to avoid the build up of inoculum levels and consequently to reduce the disease pressure and the risk of breakdown of resistance. However, the pathogen evolves to breakdown the host resistance but also to breakdown the effectiveness of fungicides. Regarding the latter issue, we highlighted for the first time the occurrence of strobilurin-resistant isolates of M. graminicola in Morocco. Further genetic investigations will determine if the resistant isolates emerged independently in Morocco or traveled by wind-migration from Europe.Peculiar chromosomal evolutionary processes in filamentous fungi, RIP, lateral gene transfer, sectional gene loss and mesosynteny, are amplified in dothideomycetes R.P. Oliver*, J.K. Hane, R. Syme ACNFP, Curtin University, Australia *E-mail: Richard.oliver@curtin.edu.au Comparisons of fungal genomes have highlighted four processes which seem to be prevalent and even unique in filamentous fungi. The best known is RIP, a genome defence mechanism that mutates copies of repeated sequences during meiosis. We have developed semi-automated methods of detecting RIP in genome assemblies and of predicting the progenitor sequences. The acquisition of genome sequences of multiple isolates of Stagonospora nodorum, has revealed patterns of gene conservation within a species. Extraordinary numbers of genes are unique to each isolate. Furthermore the distribution of \"missing\" genes is not random. Rather many runs of adjacent genes are missing -a phenomenom we call sectional gene loss. Thirdly comparison of gene content between species suggests that many genes have been laterally transferred into and between filamentous species on times scale that range from decades to millions of years. Comparisons between species reveals a novel form of synteny characterised by retained chromosomal gene content, but shuffled gene order and orientation; we call this mesosynteny. Mesosynteny promises to expedite genome finishing. These four processes are prevalent with the Dothideomycetes, a group that includes the most damaging plant pathogens. We will discuss whether these phenomena have causal relationships and whether this group's success as agricultural patterns can be attributed to these peculiar evolutionary processes. Mycosphaerella graminicola causes Septoria tritici blotch (STB) on wheat leaves and is one of the most damaging diseases of wheat. STB control is possible through the use of fungicides and of resistant wheat cultivars. A better understanding of the mechanisms of M. graminicola infectious process is necessary to improve the control of STB. It is likely that M. graminicola possesses an arsenal of secreted proteins helping the fungus to infect its host plant. Such proteins are called \"effectors\". Most effectors are small secreted proteins (SSP) without a known enzymatic function, some of which are translocated into plant cells. These proteins interfere with important plant cellular functions, including defence mechanisms. However, some effectors are recognized by plant resistance genes, inducing a rapid defence reaction and interrupting the infection. These effectors correspond to avirulence genes. The bioinformatic analysis of fungal genome sequences allows the rapid identification of genes encoding SSPs. The genome of M. graminicola isolate IPO-323 has at least 489 predicted genes coding for SPP smaller than 300 amino acids. We selected a subset of these genes specifically expressed during infection according to EST libraries. We have confirmed the expression of the selected genes by RT-qPCR in vitro and in planta, during infection time courses of compatible interactions at two different plant developmental stages (first leaf from seedlings and flag leaf from adult plants). Most of these genes were up-regulated at an early phase of the infection, just before the apparition of the symptoms, at both plant developmental stages. We sequenced the alleles from these genes from 20 M. graminicola isolates that have different virulence spectra and are genetically distinct according to molecular markers. Most of these genes have particular evolution patterns either with an increased number of adaptive mutations (non-synonymous) compared to neutral evolution (diversifying selection), or with an exceptionally low number of adaptive mutations (purifying selection). In addition, few genes were either deleted or mutated to an inactive allele, in a number of isolates. This work resulted in the identification of several genes coding for SSPs whose expression is highly up-regulated during the infection and that have clear signatures of diversifying or purifying selection. The functional analysis of these genes is underway to validate their role in fungal virulence or avirulence. Plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) of plant pathogens are receiving increasing interest for their potential to trigger plant defense reactions. In an antagonistic co-evolutionary arms race between host and pathogen, PCWDEs could be under strong selection. In a first population genetic study, we tested the hypothesis that PCWDEs in the fungal wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola have been positively selected by analyzing ratios of nonsynonymous and synonymous nucleotide changes in the genes encoding these enzymes. Analyses of five PCWDEs demonstrated that one (ß-xylosidase) has been under strong positive selection and experienced an accelerated rate of evolution. In contrast, PCWDEs in the closest relatives of M. graminicola collected from wild grasses did not show evidence for selection or deviation from a molecular clock. Since the genealogical divergence of M. graminicola from these latter species coincided with the onset of agriculture, we hypothesize that the recent domestication of the host plant and/or agricultural practices triggered positive selection in ß-xylosidase and that this enzyme played a key role in the emergence of a host-specialized pathogen. Using a second approach based on comparative genomics, we assessed molecular patterns of adaptation and/or selection of all orthologous PCWDEs on a population genomic scale between M. graminicola and its closest relatives. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Oral Presentations -Session 3 21A.M. Gohari 1 , R. Mehrabi 3,4 , A. Inc 2 , S. Boeren 2 , P.J.G.M. de Wit, G.H.J. Kema 1 1 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Plant Research International, P.O. Box, 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 2 Wageningen University, Laboratory of Biochemistry, Dreijenlaan 3, 6703 HA, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 3 Wageningen University, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 4 Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, P.O. Box 4119, Karaj 31585, Iran.Mycosphaerella graminicola is a hemibiotrophic plant pathogenic fungus that causes Septoria tritici blotch, a devastating disease on both durum and bread wheat worldwide. Upon infection, the fungus secretes a repertoire of proteins into the apoplast to suppress or evade plant responses. The identification and characterization of such effector proteins provide a better understanding of the M. graminicola lifestyle and pathogenesis. Recently, a putative transcription factor (SGE1) that regulates the expression of six effectors in Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici was functionally analysed. We identified a homologue of this gene in the M. graminicola genome that we knocked out which resulted in complete loss of pathogenicity and hence we designated this gene as Mgwor1. A potential role as regulator of other genes was subsequently studied by a comparative in vitro proteome analysis of M. graminicola IPO323 and the Wor1 knock-out strain IPO323Wor1. Secreted proteins of the two isolates were obtained from three different liquid minimal media in four biological replication that were subjected to MS/MS. In total, 115 proteins were identified and functionality annotated with 18 unique proteins with no hits in BLAST analyses. Ninety-nine proteins had predicted signal peptides and two proteins were not expressed in the mutant indicating that these are positively controlled by MgWor1. Ongoing experiments, including additional expression analyses of 14 unique candidate effectors, will be discussed. Several plant pathogen species were shown to harbour supernumary or dispensable chromosomes. Such chromosomes were thought to be facultative for the completion of certain life cycle stages. The highest known number of dispensable chromosomes was found in Mycosphaerella graminicola. In order to understand the evolutionary history of these chromosomes, we aimed to describe the variability in dispensable chromosomes in 96 isolates originating from the United States, Israel, Australia and Switzerland. We designed a dense PCR assay on exon sequences at regular spacing (approximately 100kb) along all eight known dispensable chromosomes. In total, we scored presence-absence of exon sequences in 72 different genes. In contrast to the Dutch reference isolate IPO323, we found a large number of putatively deleted chromosomal sections in all studied isolates. Furthermore, complete chromosomes were likely missing in some isolates. We detected a high variability in putative length of different chromosomes within and among populations. In order to study the inheritance of dispensable chromosomes, we extended the PCR assay to 48 isolates obtained from two different crosses involving four Swiss isolates. We observed Mendelian segregation for most markers. However, in cases where the parental strains carried more than one putative segmental deletion, we frequently observed strong deviations from Mendelian segregation. Furthermore, complete loss of particular chromosomes likely occurred in several progeny. Taken together, our data showed that variation in dispensable chromosomes was dependent on population structure, including for the large segmental deletions we detected. Mating among isolates with different dispensable chromosome contents may be a key factor contributing to the high variability found in these populations.Septoria tritici (teleomorph: Mycosphaerella graminicola) causes Septoria tritici blotch (STB) of wheat and is a common and damaging disease in all wheat growing regions of southern Australia. Significant pathogenic variation occurs among Australian isolates of S. tritici both between wheat growing regions and over time. Stb resistance genes in wheat are well characterized however the genetic basis for pathogenic variation in S. tritici is poorly understood. A better understanding of the genetic underpinning of pathogenic variation would be of value to wheat STB resistance breeding programs. We used the recently published genome of Mycosphaerella graminicola and our own whole genome assemblies of Australian STB screening isolates in a comparative genomics study to examine the genetic basis of pathogenic variation. Isolates ST79.2.1a and ST55 were chosen for this comparative study because of their postulated contrasting Avr genes. The isolate ST79.2.1a is postulated to carry AvrStb1,2,3,7&12,11,15 / avrStb4,6,10 while ST55 is postulated to carry AvrStb1,2,3,11,15 / avrStb4,6,7&12,10. The corresponding resistance genes have been widely used in Australian and global breeding programs making them an important resource. In addition they provide a contrasting study with the reference isolate IPO323 which carries the isolate specific avirulence gene AvrStb6. The whole genomes of isolates ST79.2.1a and ST55 were sequenced using Illumina GAII x next-generation sequencing, de novo assembled and compared to each other and the reference sequence of M. graminicola. Repetitive elements were identified and assembled into classes and the gene content was identified using GeneMark-ES. Genome organization, chromosome number, dispensome arrangement, gene content and genetic variation between the three isolates were compared. The primary objective of the study was to identify and compare AvrStb genes. These genes were functionally annotated and mined for SNPs of biological significance. We present here the results of this study.In the last decades, a slow but steady shift towards reduced sensitivity of M. graminicola to sterol 14α-demethylation inhibitors, of which triazole derivatives are most extensively used, has been observed in Europe. This shift is believed to be mainly caused by mutations in the CYP51 gene encoding the 14α-demethylase target protein for these fungicides, whereby some specific mutations could be linked to the use of certain triazoles. To date, about 19 mutations have been reported in CYP51. In this work, about 100 M. graminicola field isolates were sampled at 23 sampling plots spread over wheat-growing areas in Flanders (Belgium) and their sensitivity towards different triazoles was analysed. Furthermore, we sequenced the CYP51 gene of these isolates and performed a mutation analysis on them. The results showed that there is a large variability in triazole sensitivity between the isolates, even within one field, which is reflected in a high diversity in CYP51 haplotypes within the M. graminicola population in Flanders. Furthermore, the population is dominated by isolates with several point mutations, which were previously associated with increased resistance towards triazoles. Finally, we found haplotypes that haven't been described in literature before, which might indicate cross-country variation in the M. graminicola populations. The major foliar pathogens of wheat and barley in Australia and in many other areas on the world are necrotrophic fungi from the order Pleosporales. The wheat pathogens are Stagonospora (syn. Phaeosphaeria or Septoria) nodorum, causal agent of Stagonospora nodorum blotch and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, cause of tan spot. The barley pathogens are Pyrenophora teres teres (net-type net blotch) and P. teres maculata (spot-type net blotch). The adoption of minimum tillage practices and climate change are both linked to emergence and increases in these diseases in the last few decades. Our research group initially focussed on S. nodorum. Until recently, this pathogen was treated as an undifferentiated species, which employed a poorly understood arsenal of non-specific toxins and cell-wall degrading enzymes to cause disease. Resistance was partial at best, genetic analysis revealed many weak QTL and no molecular markers were in use. Furthermore, fungicide resistance was reported. A combination of studies based on the genome sequence, released in 2005, revolutionised this picture. S. nodorum isolates were found to produce a range of small, secreted proteinaceous effectors (NEs, previously called host specific toxins). This differentiated the pathogen into a large number of races. These effectors interact with wheat sensitivity genes and simplify the interaction into a series of major QTL. The amount of disease is rationalised as a function of the number of effectors produced by the infecting pathogen population that match sensitivity genes in the host. The presence of necrotrophic effectors in S. nodorum aligned this species with the archetypal producers of NEs Cochliobolus heterostrophus, Alternaria alternata and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, all species from within the newly recognised class the Pleosporales. One of the S. nodorum effectors was highly similar to a well known NE from Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, ToxA. ToxA versions from both species interact with the wheat sensitivity gene Tsn1. Purified ToxA is now used by Australian wheat breeders to select cultivars that are insensitive to the effector and thus more resistant to these diseases. The area planted to ToxA-sensitive wheat cultivars has declined by 500,000 ha in the last 5 years, a development that we estimate has already reduced disease losses by A$10m pa. and which promises to grow to A$150m p.a. The key to this approach is to acquire a series of genomic and genetic resources. These are fungal genome sequences, from which effector gene candidates can be identified and host mapping populations, so that effector/sensitivity gene interactions can be mapped. We have acquired initial genome assemblies of both P. teres subspecies. Progress in the use of these assemblies to identify and map effector genes will be described. SnTox1 was the first necrotrophic effector (host selective toxin) shown to be produced by Stagonospora nodorum. SnTox1 interacts directly or indirectly with the product of Snn1, the wheat gene located on chromosome 1B that confers sensitivity to SnTox1 as well as susceptibility to S. nodorum strains expressing SnTox1. The gene (SnTox1) encoding SnTox1 has been verified by heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris as well as by gene transformation and knockout experiments in S. nodorum. SnTox1 encodes a 117 amino acid protein with the first 17 amino acids predicted as a signal peptide. The mature protein contains 16 cysteine residues. SnTox1 was present in ~85% of a global collection of S. nodorum isolates. The SnTox1-Snn1 interaction induces an oxidative burst, DNA laddering, and pathogenesis-related gene expression, all hallmarks of defense response. Interestingly, in the absence of light, SnTox1-induced necrosis and disease symptoms are completely blocked. By comparing the infection processes of a GFP-tagged avirulent isolate and the same isolate transformed with SnTox1, we conclude that SnTox1 may play a critical role in penetration. This research provides important insights into the molecular basis of the wheat-S. nodorum interaction, an emerging model for necrotrophic pathosystems. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011 Septoria tritici blotch (STB) is an important disease worldwide. The genome sequence of the pathogen is available, yet its mode of pathogenicity and the means by which host cells are resistant or susceptible are poorly understood. The TWIST project aims to collect large scale transcriptomic data about different types of interactions (resistant/susceptible) between wheat and Septoria tritici (Mycosphaerella graminicola). Genome-wide Affymetrix expression arrays are being used to detect genes up-or down-regulated from both the pathogen and the host. Infection time courses have been produced from six wheat cultivars carrying different genetic sources of resistance towards STB, including cultivars with partial resistance, and others with major resistance genes (Stb genes). Time courses of infection (0-24 dpi) have been harvested from resistant and susceptible interactions on young leaves and adult flag leaves (14-51 dpi). The RT-qPCR analysis of classic wheat defence gene expression was used to select samples for Affymetrix hybridisation. qPCR fungal biomass measurements and cytological observations are available to support the gene expression data. The wheat gene expression data available so far have shown many differential patterns between susceptible and resistant interactions. A far greater change was observed in wheat gene transcription during the susceptible interactions (~11, 900 genes being differentially expressed) than during the resistant interactions (~3, 100 differentially expressed genes). Functional analysis of the pathways up or down regulated in susceptible and resistant interactions will be presented. Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB) is a ubiquitous and sometimes damaging disease of winter wheat in the southeastern U.S. Twenty-four winter wheat cultivars, mostly advanced experimental lines, from 14 southeastern U.S. breeding programs were chosen due to high levels of either resistance or susceptibility to SNB in Eastern U.S. Uniform Septoria Nursery field trials. A total of 39 S. nodorum isolates were derived from wheat debris collected in seven states in the southeastern U.S. Culture filtrates were produced from the isolates and infiltrated into seedling leaves of the 24 cultivars, and sensitivity or insensitivity to the filtrates was assessed visually at seven days post-infiltration. Positive controls included necrotrophic effectors produced by Pichia pastoris engineered to express SnToxA, SnTox1, or SnTox3, and spring wheat lines known to be sensitive to S. nodorum effectors either singly or in combination. Only one of the 24 cultivars possessed a named sensitivity gene (Snn3), judging by the Pichia controls. Just one and nine of the 39 isolates appeared to produce SnToxA and SnTox3, respectively, according to the culture-filtrate test. Dot-blot analysis revealed that more of the isolates carry named effector genes than were positive in the infiltration experiment. By dot-blot, however, southeastern U.S. frequencies of named necrotrophic effectors were considerably lower than those found previously in a global population of about 800 isolates: 15% of the 39 isolates carried SnToxA, 74% carried SnTox1, and 39% carried SnTox3 in the Southeast, compared to 25%, 85%, and 61%, respectively, in the larger international collections. Based on culture filtrates, 41% of the 39 isolates produced as-yet-unidentified effectors, the targets of which are presumably unidentified sensitivity genes in wheat. Additionally, five SNB-susceptible commercial winter wheat cultivars were screened with filtrates from 23 of the S. nodorum isolates originating from four states, along with relevant controls, and only one of those cultivars displayed sensitivity (to SnTox1 and one or more unidentified NEs). The interaction of winter wheat with the S. nodorum population in the southeastern U.S. involves a novel set of necrotrophic effectors, probably selected for by the presence of regionally specific host genes for resistance to biotrophic pathogens.A Blotch on the Landscape: Mycosphaerella graminicola and its Interaction with Wheat and Mildew E. Orton 1 , M. Cailliau 1 , J.J. Rudd 2 , J.K.M. Brown The necrotrophic fungal pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola causes Septoria tritici blotch, the most important foliar disease of wheat in Europe. During a compatible interaction, host responses to infection allow the development of necrosis as a form of programmed cell death (PCD) which appears to aid infection rather than hindering it. This contrasts with many host-pathogen interactions involving biotrophic pathogens in which there is a hypersensitive response during incompatible interactions. In comparisons of compatible and incompatible interactions of wheat and M. graminicola, genes associated with defence against biotrophic pathogens are expressed in susceptible wheat varieties in response to infection by virulent M. graminicola isolates. The interaction of two pathogens infecting the same leaf is a significant issue for disease control in agriculture but is currently poorly understood. The hypothesis that responses to M. graminicola, a necrotroph, affect the ability of the plant to respond to biotrophs has been tested. Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici causes powdery mildew, another potentially serious disease of wheat. We have developed a method for dual inoculation of wheat leaves with both Septoria and mildew. Leaves initially inoculated with virulent M. graminicola and subsequently inoculated with a normally virulent isolate of B. graminis had substantially reduced mildew. The very low frequency of colony formation was not the result of reduced success of infection or early development of B. graminis spores on leaves inoculated with virulent M. graminicola. Genes upregulated during infection with M. graminicola potentially inhibit the ability of B. graminis to develop on the wheat leaf.A.M. Gohari 1 , R. Mehrabi 2, 3 , P.J.G.M. de Wit 2 , G.H.J. Kema 1 1 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Plant Research International, P.O. Box, 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 2 Wageningen University, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 3 Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, P.O. Box 4119, Karaj 31585, Iran.Mycosphaerella graminicola causes the major wheat disease Septoria tritici blotch in durum and bread wheat especially in regions with high rainfall. Despite its tremendous economic importance the molecular mechanisms controlling the interaction with the host poorly understood. Similar to many other plant pathogens M. graminicola produces a wide array of secreted proteins during plant colonization that interfere with host responses. In attempt to gain insight in the regulation of pathogenicity we identified a single copy homologue of the Wor1 transcription factor in Candida albicans that is called SGE1 in Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici where it regulates effector secretion. We deleted the M. graminicola homologue and characterized the mutant. Microscopic observation showed that the mutants do not conidiate and hyphal cells walls are balloon shaped, probably due to cell wall perturbations. Moreover, these strains are dramatically compromised in pathogenicity. We designated the Wor1 homologue in M. graminicola MgWor1 and conclude that it is an important pathogenicity factor. Additional proteome studies indicate that MgWor1 also regulates the expression of specific small secreted proteins that may act as effectors. Ongoing work, including complementation with SGE1, will be presented.Control of Septoria tritici blotch -Aiming at an IPM approach L. Nistrup Jørgensen 1 , K.E Henriksen 1 , G.C. Nielsen 2 1 Aarhus University, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Integrated Pest Management, Research Centre Flakkebjerg, Denmark, 2 Knowledge Centre for Agriculture, Skejby, Aarhus, Denmark Septoria tritici blotch (Mycosphaerella graminicola) is seen as the most yield reducing wheat disease in Denmark. Depending on the season and cultivar grown yield reduction due to the disease varies between 5 and 15 dt/ha. Several commonly grown cultivars provide good resistance to Septoria tritici blotch but even so control relies in most seasons on application of triazole-based fungicides using one or two treatments. Precipitation from GS 32 onwards is the main factor used for forecasting the risk of attack. The economically optimal fungicide input for control of Septoria tritici blotch under Danish conditions is in the range of 30-75% of an effective product combination applied applied as either a single or a split application. The last 3 seasons have only given low yield responses (5-6 dt/ha) for control of Septoria tritici blotch, and a negative prognosis being better at predicting the actual loss is still lacking. Over the years a slight shift in triazole sensitivity has taken place using EC 50 values from epoxiconazole as the main reference. Field performance has been found to be quite stable for the triazoles although a decrease in efficacy has been seen since the epoxiconazole products were introduced in 2004. Microtiter testing has shown shifting in sensitivity for both epoxiconazole and prothioconazole. Characterisation of the CYP51 mutations in the populations has shown a dominance of R6 and R7-types in the Danish population. Repeatedly, the efficacy of epoxiconazole has been seen to be slightly superior to that of prothioconazole, although the yield responses have been equal. Introduction of 3 new triazole mixtures (epoxiconazole + metconazole; difenoconazole + propiconazole; tebucoanzole + prothioconazole) have shown only slight or no increase in efficacy compared to epoxiconazole used as a reference. For the mixture epoxiconazoles + metconazole an improvement has been seen, which relates mainly to a total increase in input. The mixture of epoxiconazole + boscalid has shown slightly improved control and also a slightly increased yield response and is currently seen as the most effective solution. Despite widespread strobilurin resistance a low input of the strobilurin pyraclostrobin mixed with certain triazole products has been found to still give a slight improvement of control and yield.T. Wetjen 1 , M. Semar 1 , P. Cavell 1 1 BASF SE, Agricultural Centre, Speyerer Strasse 2, D-67117 Limburgerhof Wheat is one of the world's key food pillars along with rice, corn, millet and soybean. From 1997 to 2005 cereal production grew by only 6.3% whereas the world population increased by 10.5%. 2008 and 2009 were the most productive years ever but in 2010 world wheat production was 4% below the previous year. Meanwhile yield production is stagnating in developed countries. It is expected that utilization of wheat will exceed world production in the 2010/11 marketing year. As a result, a reduction of some 6% (or over 32 million tonnes) in carryover stocks will be required to meet consumption needs. This already resulted in a sharp increase in world prices with wheat currently trading around 50% above the previous year's levels. This development has different consequences for societies depending on whether they are net exporters or net importers of wheat. On the one hand, this offers good opportunities to increase income for countries producing more grain than consumed. On the other hand, for countries where 40% or more of income needs to be spent on nutrition and not enough grain can be produced locally, this can have severe socio-economic consequences. Independently from whether people are living in areas with a positive or negative wheat producing balance, it would be beneficial if they could produce a consistently higher yield level. Unfortunately output is endangered in some areas by unpredictable water supply, and even where enough water is available severe outbreaks of disease epidemics can have dramatic and tragic effects. The infections with Septoria species are the main caused for dramatic yield depression in many wheat growing countries. To avoid the dramatic consequences of yield losses of up to 30% possible an integrated pest management program could be a promising approach. Besides breeding for more tolerant or even resistant wheat varieties, the use of modern fungicides for disease control and yield protection offers an important tool to ensure both the production of food and farmers income. In this presentation a general overview on Integrated Pest Management including fungicidal usage is given. It illustrates how far new chemistry is investigated during the registration process to avoid harm to the user, the environment and the consumer of treated crops. In addition, experiences from North and Central European countries on the most efficient way to use fungicides are highlighted. Experience from decades of research performed in various cooperations between crop protection manufacturers and independent organizations under various climatic conditions are available. Important technical principles have global validity. Recent results on the use and value of fungicide applications in North Africa and the Near to Far East as in northern Europe are presented. Finally, the first ideas on how to best introduce fungicides under local conditions will be discussed. This will include a first outline on how to implement IPM measures on the ground with specific emphasis on the use of modern, highly effective cereal fungicides.H.J. Cools 1 , J.G.L. Mullins 1 , J.E. Parker 2 , J. Motteram 1 , D.E. Kelly 2 , J.A. Lucas 1 , J.J. Rudd 1 , S.L. Kelly 2 , B.A. Fraaije 1 .1 Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom. 2 Institute of Life Science and School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, United Kingdom Azole (imidazole and triazole) fungicides are relied on for the control of Septoria leaf blotch, caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola. The dependence on azoles for Septoria leaf blotch control is set continue for the foreseeable future as newly introduced fungicide groups, for example the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs), are used in mixtures with azoles. Therefore, the recent development of resistance to some azoles and a decrease in sensitivity to others in Western European populations of M. graminicola, is the primary threat to control of this disease. We, and others, have identified changes in the coding region of the CYP51 gene encoding the azole target, the sterol 14α-demethylase, associated with azole resistant phenotypes. The precise impact of these changes on azole fungicide sensitivity and intrinsic protein function was established by heterologous expression in yeast and the results provide a rationale for the sequence in which CYP51 mutations emerged in Western European populations. We have also demonstrated the effect of recently identified CYP51 variants on sensitivity to the two most effective azoles, epoxiconazole and prothioconazole, and by using a novel approach, developed a model of the M. graminicola CYP51 protein that includes important fungal specific regions for which no structural information is available. We shall also present homologous gene replacement studies that provide direct evidence of the effect of changes in CYP51 coding and regulatory regions on M. graminicola isolate azole sensitivity. Given the erosion of fungicide efficiency and the breakdown of resistance genes, there is an urgent need to identify alternative farming practices, such as the increase of within-field genetic diversity. Mixtures of wheat cultivars with different resistances to pathogens can gain performance compared to the average of pure stands by reducing severity of diseases such as rusts and powdery mildew of cereals, which are due to air-borne pathogens. However the efficiency of cultivar mixtures for controlling splash-dispersed pathogen such Mycosphaerella graminicola, with pycnidiospores being carried by droplets produced by raindrop impacts on lesions, remains poorly documented. On-farm trials have shown that cultivar mixtures with a single fungicide application can slightly reduce septoria leaf blotch epidemics while stabilizing productivity and crop quality. Our aim was to assess how cultivar mixtures can reduce septoria leaf blotch progression as a function of rain events. Field experiments during four years were carried out on small plots, replicated four times, with pure stands and 1:3 mixture of a susceptible and a partially resistant cultivars (with and without fungicide treatment). We assessed weekly the number of sporulating lesions, diseased and green foliar surfaces on the three last leaves which are determinant for grain filling. During the two years with significant disease, the number of sporulating lesions per susceptible plant of the cultivar mixture was greater until 6. 3 (2008) and 16.5 (2009) compared to the susceptible pure stand, after a 10 mm cumulative rain. The green leaf area of the susceptible cultivar in mixture was increased by 11% and 20%, respectively, during the 2 years, due to a decrease of 6% and 20% of diseased area, compared to the susceptible pure stand. Cultivar mixtures allowed to delay leaf blotch spreading to save until one green leaf for the susceptible cultivar in mixture compared to the pure stand, at the heading stage. Furthermore, green leaf area of the susceptible cultivar in unsprayed cultivar mixture was intermediate between green leaf area of the sprayed and unsprayed pure stands of the susceptible cultivar. The mechanism of Multidrug Resistance (MDR) is well described in human pathogens such as those provoking candidiasis and mycosis or in human diseases such as cancer cell lineages. This mechanism is mainly driven by transporters extruding drugs outside the cell. In agriculture, the wheat Septoria tritici blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola shows a progressive and continuous increase in its ability to resist sterol 14α-demethylation inhibitors (DMIs). Our last field surveys, based upon phenotype analysis of bulk populations, allowed the detection of strains with highly resistant phenotypes to some or all DMIs [from French, English and Irish populations]. These isolates were first observed at very low frequency but reached 30% of the French populations in 2010. In field isolates weakly or moderately resistant to DMIs in vitro, one or several mutations were recorded in the target encoding-gene Cyp51. In some field isolates highly resistant to DMIs, cross-resistance with QoIs and SDHIs (two classes of respiratory inhibitors) was also recorded, suggesting a combination of alterations in Cyp51 and overexpression of drug efflux transporters to be involved in these multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotypes. Finally, some isolates moderately or highly resistant to DMIs harbour an insertion in the Cyp51 promoter and/or new combinations of already known mutations in the target gene. Our results show that there is (i) no obvious correlation between the promoter insertion, the Cyp51 expression level under azole exposure and the MDR phenotypes; (ii) In a 14 C radio-labelled DMI accumulation rate experiment using two susceptible strains vs. two MDR strains we specifically demonstrated that the MDR phenotype could be linked to an ATP-dependent azole transport system and (iii) We performed crosses between two MDR strains as well as crosses to a sensitive strain. The latest data and analyses will be discussed. Mycosphaerella fijiensis causes the threatening black Sigatoka disease in bananas and plantains. Cavendish cultivars are particularly highly susceptible and disease management is mainly through the application of systemic fungicides, including azoles. However, as expected, their intensive use has favoured the appearance of resistant strains. Previous studies showed several point mutations in the CYP51 gene close to the putative substrate-binding site that were correlated with resistance to cyproconazole and propiconazole. In the present study we found that strains with very significant resistance phenotypes to azoles have more than one insertion of a 19 bp repeat element in the promoter region of the CYP51gene. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that strains with the highest number of repeat insertions overexpress the CYP51 gene. We then developed a PCR-based assay to screen field populations for the presence of the repeat unit and found that populations from regions under high selective pressure have much higher frequencies of strains containing five or more repeat units. The data show that the number of repeats in the promoter and the presence of mutations in the coding region of the CYP51 gene are clearly related to reduced azole sensitivity in M. fijiensis. These studies will provide important information to optimize azole management for black Sigatoka control. The parallels between host-specific toxins produced by necrotrophic pathogens (we now prefer to call them necrotrophic effectors (NEs)) and avirulence gene products produced by biotrophs (we suggest the name biotrophic effectors or BEs) have accumulated over the last decade. The effectors produced by both classes of pathogen operate in a species-and cultivar-specific manner and produce reactions in the host that are operationally very similar. In at least three cases, we now know that the host partner (the direct or indirect receptor) for NEs is -like in BEs -an NBS-LRR gene. Nonetheless there is a clear functional difference; recognition of a BE leads to resistance; recognition of the NE leads to virulence. Overall, resistance in biotrophic interactions tends to be qualitative because recognition of a single effector is sufficient to induce resistance. In contrast, resistance in necrotrophic interactions tends to be quantitative; this has assumed to be because multiple effectors interact with multiple receptors and each positive interaction acts quasi-additively to produce the virulence phenotype. High dN/dS ratios have been observed in many BE and R-genes in biotrophic interactions and this has been cited as evidence of diversifying selection associated with qualitative interactions leading to a co-evolutionary arms race. This paper discusses and refines the parallels between NEs and BEs in the light of new data about ToxA. ToxA is a proteinaceous NE produced by two wheat pathogens, Stagonospora nodorum and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Both pathogens produce several other NEs and resistance is quantitatively inherited. ToxA makes a significant contribution to virulence in interactions of both species with wheat cultivars that carry the NBS-LRR gene Tsn1. Seven mature versions of the ToxA protein are encoded by different ToxA genes in S. nodorum populations while a single version exists in most isolates of P. tritici-repentis. The genes exhibit an elevated dN/dS ratio. known sensitive alleles of the gene in bread wheats encode an identical protein. We expressed and purified 8 versions of ToxA. Circular dichroism spectra indicated that all versions were structurally intact and have indistinguishable secondary structural features. We expect that each variant has a similar tertiary structure. All versions induced necrosis when introduced into any Tsn1 wheat line. However, we observed quantitative variation in effector activity for the different ToxA variants. The least active version was the one present in isolates of P. tritici-repentis. Different wheat lines carrying identical Tsn1 alleles varied in sensitivity to ToxA. The presence of diversifying selection is often indicative of direct protein-protein effector/receptor interactions leading to a co-evolutionary arms race. If diversifying selection led to the observed ToxA diversity, then given that all Tsn1 alleles are identical, we predict that the gene or genes encoding wheat proteins that interact with ToxA and with the Tsn1 gene product will also show diversifying selection. An alternative explanation for the observed diversity is directional selection that has favoured ToxA alleles encoding higher virulence in regions where Tsn1 wheat is common. In either scenario, our results indicate that subtle differences in effector alleles may underlie quantitative differences in virulence in gene-for-gene systems.H. Momeni 1 , M. Javan-Nikkhah 2 , M. Razavi 1 , M.R. Naghavi Recently tan spot disease of wheat caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis has become very important disease in north parts of Iran and causes severe yield loss. Although the anamorph of the fungus has been reported previously on infected leaves from Mazandaran province (Forotan et al., 1996), but there is no report on mass production of conidia in laboratory and the telemorph of the fungus in Iran. Infected leaves were collected from wheat fields in Golestan and Mazandaran provinces and were investigated in laboratory and greenhouse conditions. The results showed that after seven days the colonies of the fungal mycelium in V8-CaCo3 medium was dark gray color, conidiophores swollen at the base, yellow to brown color, 7-8 μm thick and 100-300 μm long, conidia were yellow, with 5-7 pseudosepta, 14-18 × 100-200 μm and the basal cells were conical. 5-mm plug taken from an active colony margin of a young culture grown on V8-CaCo3 were used to inoculate 2%WA medium containing wheat leaves and these media were kept in special treatment including 12 hours photoperiod of white fluorescent and near UV light at 22 ºC. After two weeks, dark colored pseudothecia with 200-250 μm size, were produced on leaf tissues, Ascospores were oval shape with three transverse and one longitudinal septa, and 16-20 × 40-50 μm size. Based on morphological characters the fungus was identified as Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Pathogenicity test was carried out on susceptible cvs, Bolani and Tajan with the suspension of ascospores with concentration of 10 6 at 2-3 leaf stage. Inoculated seedlings were kept under black plastic bags for 48 hours at 22 ºC with the photopriod of 16 hours. Plastic bags were removed after that and inoculated seedlings were placed in greenhouse at 22 ºC with the photopriod of 16 hours. Symptoms of the disease including distinct necrotic and chlorotic lesions were observed after six days. The fungus was isolated from the infected leaf tissues. This is the first report of sexual stage of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis from Iran.Association genetics of resistance to Septoria tritici blotch in north-west European wheat cultivars and breeding lines, and implications for resistance breeding J.K.M. Brown 1 , L.S. Arraiano 1,2 1 John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, NR4 7UH, England 2 Present address: Vilmorin SA, Centre de recherche de La Costière, 30210 Ledenon, France Septoria tritici blotch, caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, first became a commercially important disease of wheat in Europe around 1980. A genome-wide association mapping analysis was conducted to investigate the genetics of resistance to Septoria in germplasm used in breeding in the United Kingdom from the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The entire population of 225 wheat cultivars and breeding lines was tested with Diversity Array Techology (DArT) markers, while a subset was also tested with simple-sequence repeat (SSR, microsatellite) markers. Two methods of estimating kinship were used, from published pedigrees and from sharing of alleles at unlinked loci. The set of lines tested formed a single population, with no evidence for sub-division, owing to the presence of several common ancestors of large parts of the pedigree. Use of both types of kinship estimate led to similar postulations of quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling Septoria resistance on 11 of the 21 chromosomes in wheat. Abundant genetic variation in partial resistance to Septoria in UK wheat cultivars was therefore detected. This may be exploited in breeding to improve Septoria resistance, for example by selecting lines which combine genes from different lineages and thus have greater resistance than either parent. Calculation of best linear unbiased predictions (BLUP) of susceptibility to Septoria allowed identification of lineages of the UK winter wheat pedigree through which four chromosome regions affecting significant proportions of resistance have been transmitted as well as one such chromosome region in spring wheat. It is very likely that genes which increased susceptibility (or reduced resistance) to Septoria were introduced inadvertently into wheat breeding programmes from cultivars used to increase yield, rust resistance and eyespot resistance between the 1950s and 1980s. This implies that there is a significant potential cost to using non-adapted material in plant breeding, in the form of an accidental increase in susceptibility to a previously insignificant disease.Efficacy and mapping of resistance to Mycosphaerella graminicola in wheat S.M. Tabib Ghaffary * , J.D. Faris, T.L. Friesen, O. Robert, V. Laurent, P. Lonnet, E. Margalé, T.A.J. van der Lee, R.G.F. Visser, G.H.J. Kema Plant Research International, Dept. Biointeractions and Plant Health, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands * E-mail: mahmod.tabib@wur.nl Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the ascomycete Mycosphaerella graminicola, is one of the most devastating foliar diseases of wheat. We screened five synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHs), 13 wheat varieties that represent the differential set of cultivars and two susceptible checks with a global set of 20 isolates and discovered exceptionally broad STB resistance in SHs. Subsequent development and analyses of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from a cross between the SH M3 and the highly susceptible bread wheat cv. Kulm revealed two novel resistance loci on chromosomes 3D and 5A. The 3D resistance was expressed in the seedling and adult plant stages, and it controlled necrosis (N) and pycnidia (P) development as well as the latency periods of these parameters. This gene, which is closely linked to the microsatellite marker Xgwm494, was designated Stb16 and explained from 41 to 71% of the phenotypic variation at seedling stage and 28 to 31% in mature plants. The resistance locus on chromosome 5A was specifically expressed in the adult plant stage, associated with SSR marker Xhbg247, and explained 12 to 32% of the variation in disease. This quantitative trait locus (QTL) was designated Stb17q, and is the first QTL for adult plant resistance to M. graminicola to be identified. Our results confirm that common wheat progenitors might be a rich source of new Stb resistance genes/QTLs that can be deployed in commercial breeding programs. A screening of the French bread wheat cultivars Apache and Balance with 30 M. graminicola isolates revealed a pattern of resistant responses that suggested the presence of new genes for STB resistance. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of a doubled haploid (DH) population with five M. graminicola isolates in the seedling stage identified four QTLs on chromosomes 3AS, 1BS, 6DS and 7DS and occasionally on 7DL. The QTL on chromosome 6DS flanked by SSR markers Xgpw5176 and Xgpw3087 is a novel QTL that now can be designated as Stb18. The QTLs on chromosomes 3AS and 1BS most likely represent Stb6 and Stb11, respectively, and the QTLs on chromosome 7DS are most probably identical with Stb4 and Stb5. However, the QTL identified on chromosome 7DL is expected to be a new Stb gene that still needs further characterization. Multiple isolates were used and show that not all isolates identify all QTLs, which clearly demonstrates the specificity in the M. graminicola-wheat pathosystem. QTL analyses were performed with various disease parameters. The development of asexual fructifications (pycnidia) in the characteristic necrotic blotches of STB, designated as parameter P, identified the maximum number of QTLs. All other parameters identified fewer but not different QTLs. The segregation of multiple QTLs in the Apache/Balance DH population enabled the identification of DH lines with single QTLs and multiple QTL combinations. Analyses of the marker data of these DH lines clearly demonstrated the positive effect of pyramiding QTLs to broaden resistance spectra as well as epistatic and additive interactions between these QTLs. Phenotyping of the Apache/Balance DH population in the field confirmed the presence of the QTLs that were identified in the seedling stage, but Stb18 was inconsistently expressed and might be particularly effective in young plants. In contrast, an additional QTL for STB resistance was identified on chromosome 2DS that is exclusively and consistently expressed in mature plants over locations and time, but it was also strongly related with earliness, tallness as well as resistance to Fusarium Head Blight. Although to date no Stb gene has been reported on chromosome 2D, the data provide evidence that this QTL is only indirectly related to STB resistance. This study shows that detailed genetic analysis of contemporary commercial bread wheat cultivars can unveil novel Stb genes that can be readily applied in marker-assisted breeding programs.In Western Australia Stagonospora nodorum blotch and tan spot frequently occur together and present important resistance breeding targets. Research has focused on understanding the genetic control and deployment of resistance to the two diseases in relevant wheat genetic backgrounds. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for Stagonospora nodorum flag leaf resistance on chromosome 1BS, 2AS, 2DL and 5BL and glume resistance on 4BL and 2DL have been consistently identified in at least 2 environments and account for 10-40% of the total phenotypic variation in various spring and winter genotypes. It is yet inconclusive whether adult plant resistance in any winter or spring wheat genotype is associated with effector based insensitivity loci. The chromosomal map position of markers associated with flag leaf resistance QTL on 1BS, 2DL and 2AS indicates that they are unlikely to be associated with known host-toxin insensitivity loci. QTL on chromosome 5BL from a spring wheat cultivar EGA Blanco had a highly significant association with markers fcp001 and fcp620 based on disease evaluation in 2007 and, therefore, is likely to be associated with tsn1-ToxA insensitivity for flag leaf resistance. However, fcp001 and fcp620 were not associated with a QTL detected based on disease evaluation in 2008, indicating two linked QTL for flag leaf resistance with multiple genes residing on 5BL in EGA Blanco. The deployment of various QTL for S. nodorum resistance in susceptible genetic backgrounds relevant to Western Australian environments has been successfully achieved and the effects of different QTL for improving resistance to stagonospora nodorum blotch is currently being investigated through phenotypic evaluation. Research on tan spot has mainly focused on identifying genes other than tsn1 (5BL) which is currently the only known gene used in Australian breeding programs. So far, three mapping populations have been assessed at different growth stages and in multiple environments. Transgressive segregation was observed for seedling, tillering and adult plant response to tan spot in various populations. Disease correlations between growth stages and between environments were moderate (r = 0.4 to 0.5). Various QTL for tan spot resistance have been identified on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 4B, 6B and 7B. Efforts are now focused on developing a series of fixed lines, each carrying tan spot resistance genes from various sources, in elite Australian backgrounds to generate potential parental stocks enriched for resistance. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011    It has an alternative type of growth joining the required lateness for a crop that need to survive heavy rainfall, fast grain filling under drought but not necessarily possess winter hardiness. Lancero had been use for epidemiological, breeding and chemical studies for several years. Every year the phenology of the fungus was monitored on Lancero beginning with the maturity of the pseudothecia and ascospores discharge of the teleomorph [April -May] on infected non chemical sprayed stubble from previous season, the appearance of pycnidia [June -October] from the lower to the upper leaves of the plant depending of the amount of rainfall, and seldom the occurrence of pycnidia on head [January]. Summer months maintain the stubble intact and only the first rains on March -April will trigger the teleomorph formation to restart the cycle. The repeatability of the results using Lancero as susceptible control on breeding nurseries help to select every year new combinations of genotypes with low SLB scores. Ten chemical control experiments on Lancero realized between 1998 to 2009 had been very useful to understand the impact of the disease on each crop season. Experiments were carried out on randomize block design, 9 to 12 chemical treatment, four replicates, experimental unit of six two meter rows 0,2 m spaced. Control plots without chemical protection yield 6.08 t/ha meanwhile the best treatment reach 9.05 t/ha (** p<0.05) and disease record dropped from 93 vs 45 on double digit Eyal/Saari Prescott [DD] scale respectively. The most significant response to fungicide [+ 49 %] occur on 2002 crop cycle when annual rainfall reached 1630 mm, 45 % greater than a normal year. SLB of the untreated control climb to 9_30 score, DD scale and became the only record we have SLB was able to form pycnidia on the awns and glumes. Lancero is an adequate genotype for SLB studies. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Oral Presentations -Session 7A yield penalty of Septoria resistance -and can it be overcome? L.S. Arraiano 1, 2 , J.W. Snape 1 , J.K.M. Brown 11 John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, NR4 7UH, England 2 Present address: Vilmorin SA, Centre de recherche de La Costière, 30210 Ledenon, France Since the emergence of Septoria tritici blotch, caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, around 1980 as the major disease of wheat in Europe, it has been a significant challenge for breeders to release varieties which combine very good resistance to Septoria with the high yields expected in modern agriculture. An association genetics analysis showed that while yield and Septoria resistance both advanced in wheat varieties bred for the UK in the latter part of the 20 th century, selection for increasing yield inhibited the advancement of Septoria resistance. It was also evident, however, that there must be genes which increase yield but do not depress Septoria resistance, or vice-versa. The yield penalty of Septoria resistance was analysed further in a recombinant doubled-haploid (DH) population of 130 lines derived from the cross Spark x Rialto. Two QTLs were identified as making significant contributions to Septoria resistance, one on chromosome 3A, at or near the Stb6 locus, and one on chromosome 4D, close to the Rht-D1b (formerly Rht2) locus. The effect of Rht-D1b on Septoria was complex; while the semi-dwarfing allele was associated with reduced Septoria disease, consistent with reduced plant stature being a risk factor for Septoria, lines with this allele tended to have less Septoria on flag leaves than plants of the same height which had the wild-type 'tall' allele. The relationship between susceptibility to Septoria and yield potential depended on the fertility of the trial site. Septoria data was obtained from disease trials in England in 2006 and 2008 while yield data had been obtained from an earlier series of trials in the UK, France and Germany in diseases, including Septoria, were controlled. Septoria-susceptibility was associated with high yields at sites at which the mean yield of Spark x Rialto DH lines was high but with low yield at sites with low mean yields. These data support the hypothesis that there is a yield penalty of having Septoria resistance when wheat is grown in modern, intensive farming conditions. It should be possible, however, for breeders to select lines which combine high yields with high levels of durable, partial resistance to Septoria.S. Ferjaoui, S. Hamza Institut Agronomique de Tunisie, 43 Avenue Charles Nicolle, 1082 Tunis, Tunisia High resistance to virulent Tunisian isolate of the ascomycete fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, which causes Septoria tritici blotch of wheat, has been detected in old local durum wheat 'Agili'. High yield durum wheat cvs. 'Karim' and 'Khiar', susceptible to the virulent isolate 'Tun6' were crossed with the resistant 'Agili'. In both F 2 populations, a segregation 3:1 (resistant/susceptible) was observed after inoculation in the field with the virulent pathotype 'Tun6' at seedling and adult stage, indicating that the resistance is controlled by a single dominant gene. This was supported by F 2 -derived F 3 families segregating in a 1:2:1 (homozygous resistant/segregating/homozygous susceptible) ratio and F6 progeny segregating 1:1 (homozygous resistant/homozygous susceptible). These data are consistent with a gene-for-gene interaction in the wheat-M. graminicola pathosystem and provided evidence that qualitative resistance to Seproria tritici blotch exist in durum wheat. Analysis of the polymorphism between the resistant ('Agili') and the susceptible ('Khiar' and 'Karim') parents using 19 SSR linked markers to stb genes revealed that only 7 markers were polymorphic. The resistance gene of 'Agili' was not linked to any of these markers in particular with the markers for Stb2, Stb7 and Stb12 genes indicating a different source of resistance carried by 'Agili'.M.S. Gharbi 1 , S. Berraies 2 , K. Ammar 3 , Y. Amor 3 1 Field Crop Laboratory, National Agriculture Research Institute of Tunisia 2 Biotechnology and Immunology Laboratory, Faculty of Science Tunis. 3 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), MexicoThe significant durum wheat productivity gains made in Tunisia over the last decades through both breeding for higher yield potential and stability and the implementation of improved agronomic practices have often been hampered by severe yield and/or income losses due to biotic constraints in the favorable northern part of the country. Several pathogens affect wheat in Tunisia, with different impacts on yield. Leaf rust, is present in most years, but comes generally late in the season and rarely at yield-limiting levels. However, the main productivity-threatening biotic constraint in Tunisia is, by far, Septoria Leaf Blotch (SLB). The prevailing strains seem to have developed a unique aggressiveness towards durum wheat. All commercial durum cultivars released previous to 2003 are highly susceptible to this pathogen, and yield losses in excess of 40% are not uncommon in years or environments with average to high rainfall. Extensive screening and crossing work done by the national program, lead to the release of Nasr in 2004, Maali in 2007 and Selim in 2009. All of these three cultivars have better disease resistance than the widely grown susceptible cultivar Karim. Under heavy epidemics of Septoria tritici, Nasr yields up to 42% higher than Karim. Results from seven years of replicated yield testing (2004-2010) show that Mâali has the highest yield potential of all previously released cultivars and a good level of resistance to SLB, though not as that of Nasr, under favorable conditions in Beja. Its wide adaptation, its good resistance to leaf rust and particularly to lodging put Mâali in the best position to take over significant acreage from Karim. More significant progress was achieved with the most recent release of Selim. This cultivar has shown the best level of resistance to SLB so far and a good resistance to leaf rust. The new generation of Septoria resistant (Nasr and Selim) or less-susceptible (Mâali) cultivars with outstanding agronomic performance is in a strong position to finally take-over from the landmark cultivars of the Tunisian durum \"Green Revolution\" and provides an opportunity for a more sustainable and hopefully less unstable, national durum production.S. Berraies 1 , F. Belzile 2 , J. Martine 2 , C.J. Pozniac 3 , N. Trifi 1 , K. Ammar 4 , M.S. Gharbi 5 , M.R. Hajlaoui 5Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the ascomycete Mycosphaerella graminicola (anamorph Septoria tritici) is an economically important foliar disease in the major wheat-growing areas of the world. In Tunisia, breeding for resistance is an effective way of controlling STB on durum wheat.In this study, resistance to STB in durum wheat was investigated in a population derived from a cross between the susceptible variety Karim and the newly released variety Salim. One hundred and forty-five single-seed descent derived F6 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and parental lines were tested for resistance to Septoria under natural infection in field conditions during 2009 and 2010 seasons. Symptoms of STB were assessed by the Double digit 00-99 scoring method at early grain filling stage. A genetic map was constructed using the recombinant population genotyped with a total of 293 DArT markers and 22 SSR markers. Linkage analysis defined 29 linkage groups with a total map length of 795 cM. Most markers were mapped to the B-genome with length of 450 cM against 345 cM to the A-genome. A QTL for resistance to STB was identified and located on chromosome 3B. This QTL showed significant effect in 2009 and 2010 seasons with R 2 value of 23,47%. DArT markers linked to the QTL influencing resistance to STB have potential use in durum wheat breeding programs.M. Maccaferri 1 , K. Ammar 2 , A. Massi 3 , M.S. Gharbi 4 , R. Talebi 5 , T. Ghaffary Mahmod 5,6 , G.H.J. Kema 5 , J. Crossa 2 , S. Corneti 1 , R. Tuberosa 1 , M.C. Sanguineti Septoria tritici blotch, caused by the fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola has been an important yield-limiting factor for durum wheat in North Africa and has recently spread around the Mediterranean Basin. The high genome plasticity of the pathogen and its specialization features (differential pathogenicity towards durum and bread wheat) hinder the identification and exploitation of resistance genes across diverse growing areas. The genetic variation of the response to M. graminicola and the chromosomal location of resistance factors were studied in a durum wheat panel of 183 accessions of diverse origin suitable for association mapping. Phenotypic evaluation of the panel was conducted in the field in four environments: Béja in Tunisia (2008, 2009 and 2010), Toluca in the Mexican highlands, Argelato and Ferrara in Italy, using local isolates. Additional phenotypic evaluation was conducted under controlled conditions at the seedling stage by inoculation with ten isolates from durum wheat collected from various Mediterranean countries. The panel was genotyped with 300 mapped SSR and some 900 durum wheat DArT markers. Significant marker-trait associations involving specific chromosomal regions have been detected using both field data (infection score at peak epidemics) and seedling assay data (percentages necrosis and pycnidia on primary leaves). Significant marker-septoria reaction associations related to photoperiod/vernalization genes (Italy) or height genes (Tunisia) were detected, but were not the only ones. A region on 1BL was found to include gene(s) related to resistance to both Tunisian and Italian field isolates. Most other associations were country specific. A preliminary analysis highlighted some chromosome regions consistently involved in resistance to Septoria tritici blotch in bread wheat, particularly in chromosomes 1BL, 2AL and 4AL that accounted for a sizeable portion of phenotypic variation among this panel. The detailed results will be presented and discussed. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011 Air temperature is commonly used to characterize the effect of temperature on foliar diseases. However, leaf temperature, different for each leaf within a canopy, differs from the air temperature measured within a canopy and ever more greatly if measured by a weather station. Such differences depend on the plants architecture and on climatic variables (wind, cloudiness, etc). Thus, the simultaneous measurement of the temperature of many infected leaves may be of great importance to study the actual impact of temperature on the different processes involved in the infectious cycle and establish temperature response curves, with possible consequences on the future disease forecasting. To generate and record a range of many infected leaf temperatures. We propose an experimental method that has been tested on Mycosphaerella graminicola for wheat plants grown in growth chamber and greenhouse. First, to easy replications and avoid artifacts from lighting, inoculated leaves were maintained horizontally. Second, the range of leaf temperature has been increased without impacting light incidence by using infrared heat lamps, positioned above some of the leaves. Third, the temperature of each leaf was measured with thin T-type thermocouples positioned under the inoculated area. Each thermocouple was connected to a datalogger, recording leaf temperature every 20 seconds, averaged per quarter hour. Due to the high number of leaves, several dataloggers were required. The contact of thermocouples with leaves was checked three times a week. Fourth, the measurement quality was assessed. The calibration of all thermocouples was carried out before and after the experiment. To avoid bias from using many dataloggers, the temperature of one brass block was continuously measured by each datalogger. This method has enabled the simultaneous measurement of 288 inoculated leaf temperatures. We obtained a wide range of mean leaf temperatures from 10 to 17°C in growth chamber and from 17 to 23°C in greenhouse, allowing the characterization of the relation between leaf temperature and the STB symptom development. This method enables several temperature treatments in a single growth compartment, well suited for climate change studies. It also could be applied to other foliar diseases. Its extrapolation to field conditions is under study. Mycosphaerella graminicola is nowadays the most frequent and the most economically damaging pathogen on wheat in France, especially in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, where the environmental conditions are suitable for the fungal epidemics. Four hundred and three monoconidial M. graminicola strains were obtained from fungal isolates sampled in 2009 from 17 fields covering this region. We aimed at examining mating type distribution in relationship with sexual reproduction. The sampling was carried out in most cases according to hierarchical sampling, by isolating 4 isolates from distinct plants in 6 m 2 -field squares separated each other by 10 m, leading in average to 24 isolates per field. The mating type of each isolate was determined with multiplex PCR. Overall, 195 (48 %) out of the assessed isolates were MAT1-1 and 208 (52 %) were MAT1-2. Undergone χ 2 tests revealed that the two idiomorphs were equally distributed at the whole region scale (P = 0.52 > 0.05) as well as within each of the 17 sampled fields. At the field scale, both mating types were scored together in 83 (87 %) out of the 95 m 2 -sampled squares, thereby putting forward the co-occurrence of the two mating types within the region. No relationship was found between mating types and either infected wheat cultivars, disease pressure level or crop systems. The even distribution of the two mating types reported here strongly suggests a large potential for sexual reproduction of M. graminicola in Nord-Pas de Calais and confers suitable conditions for both teleomorph formation and high genetic diversity that might lead to local adaptations to environmental pressure. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Poster Presentations -Session 2The intraspecific structure of populations of Septoria tritici (teleomorph Mycosphaerella graminicola) on wheat in different regions of Russia E. Pakholkova, N. Salnikova, A. Sanina All Russian Research Institute of Phytopathology, Moscow, Russia Septoria tritici Rob. et Desm. is one of the most widespread Septoria agents on wheat in Russia. By frequency of occurrence this pathogen dominates in south and central areas of country (North-Caucasian, Central-Chernozem and Central regions), where its share in septorioses complex is 60-80%. Moreover, it occurrs in Volga and Siberia regions. S. tritici isolates are characterized by variability of cultural-morphological features on nutrient medium. The isolates are separated into three main groups of colonies (yeast-like, mixed and mycelial) and 10 morphotypes. The ratio of morphotypes varies in different regions of RF. The virulence of 140 single-spore S. tritici isolates from three regional populations (North-Caucasian, Central-Chernozem and Central) was determined on the cultivars with known resistance genes: Bulgaria 88 (Stb1), Oasis (Stb1), Veranopolis (Stb2), Israel (Stb3), Tadinia (Stb4), CS/Synthetic 70 (Stb5), Estanzuela Federal (Stb7). The virulence was studied at seedling stage by the percentage of infected leaf area and by fungus sporulation in vivo. The isolates had different virulence spectrum. In whole, the number of virulent isolates to cultivars with Stb1, Stb5 and Stb7 genes was greater, than to cultivars with Stb2, Stb3 and Stb4 genes (25,6-61,8%  and 1,8-34,0%, respectively). None of Stb genes was effective to all S. tritici isolates. The effectiveness degree of some Stb genes to different S. tritici populations was unequal. Comparison between long term number of precipitated days and those of 2011 year shown that number of precipitated days affected on the last year Septoria epidemic. Earlier observations shown that although numbers of varieties grown in southeast Anatolia had different reactions to disease, the most susceptible varieties were Cumhuriyet, Nurkent and Pehlivan. Also, pathogens were observed on some wild graminea species. These results shown that pathogen may has highly pathogenic variation in Southeast Anatolia in which wheat were firstly cultivated in the world and varieties grown in this region may have different resistance genes. More detailed studies are needed to characterize the species at molecular level.Septoria tritici blotch caused by the fungal pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola is currently one of the most frequently reported diseases on both bread wheat and durum wheat in Morocco. A total of 96 single-conidial isolates of the fungus were sampled in 2010 during the growing season from 6 Moroccan wheat producing regions (Tadla-Azilal, Doukkala-Abda, Chaouia, Fes-Boulmane, Gharb-Chrarda and Meknes-Tafilalet) in order to examine the genetic diversity of the Moroccan population of M. graminicola. The genotyping of the isolates was performed using 8 microsatellite markers: ST1A4, ST2C10, ST1D7, ST1E3, ST2E4, ST1E7, ST1G7 and AC0007. The highest number of alleles was obtained for ST1D7 showing 8 distinct alleles, while the lowest number of alleles was found with ST2E4 for which only 3 alleles were observed. In average, 5.25 alleles were obtained per marker. Statistical analyses revealed that the assessed population consists of 60 % of unique haplotypes, corresponding to a clonal fraction of 40 %. Identical clones were mainly collected from a same lesion, a same leaf or a same region. Further analyses using POPEGENE and STRUCTURE software will be undertaken in order to determine additional genetic parameters allowing a better characterization of both the genic and genotypic diversity and the population structure of M. graminicola in Morocco.Substitutions in the CYP51 gene and triazole performance against Mycosphaerella graminicola, the cause of leaf blotch of wheat M. Qasim Abdulla University of Nottingham, Departament Plant and Crop Sciences. United Kingdom Septoria leaf blotch is the most economically important foliar disease of wheat in UK, France and many other European countries. Because of the lack of the high resistance wheat cultivars, the main method to control the disease is by using fungicides. Sterol 14α-demethylation inhibitors (DMI) which belongs to sterol biosynthesis inhibitors (SBI), also called triazoles, have been played an important role against M. graminicola for last few decades. Over the past of 10 years, many reports indicated the field performance decline of DMIs. Changes in Cyp51gene, encoding the sterol 14α-demethylase, is one of the mechanisms causing reduction in the sensitivity of M. graminicola isolates. Molecular analysis of Cyp51 gene of 18 M. graminicola isolates has revealed the existence of 13 alterations or deletions. The bioassay results has revealed great differences in fungicide resistance levels among genotypes and therefore, the existence of 6 phenotypes found displaying reduced sensitivity to DMIs. Combinations of the changes I381V, Y459S and/or A379G caused significant reduction in DMI performance in planta. Furthermore, the high frequency of the change I381V caused high resistance to tebuconazole and other DMIs, but not prochloraz. Likewise, S50L combined with Y461H or Y136F, also caused high resistance to tebuconazole and lower resistance to prochloraz and other DMIs. However, the mutations V24D, S50L, S51T, V136A and Y137F, alone or in combination, resulted in only a small shift in sensitivity to triazoles.Mycosphaerella graminicola E. Marchegiani, S. Deller, T. Marcel, M-H. Lebrun * UR 1290 BIOGER-CPP, INRA, Thiverval-Grignon, France * E-mail:marc-henri.lebrun@versailles.inra.fr Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), are essential components of evolutionary conserved signaling pathways in eukaryotic cells. Mycosphaerella graminicola a worldwide pathogen of wheat causing Septoria tritici leaf blotch (STB), has three MAPK pathways depending respectively on kinase MgFus3, MgHog1 and MgStl2. These three signaling pathways are involved at different stages of the infection process. To decipher the infection related mechanisms controlled by these signaling pathways, we are developing a combination of molecular approaches. Comparative transcriptomics will be performed using null mutants from these three genes (MgFus3, MgHog1, MgStl2) and wild type strains with genome wide DNA microarrays grown under conditions corresponding to either an active or an inactive pathway. Additional transcriptomic analyses will rely on conditional MAPK mutants to better control the activation/inactivation status of these pathways. Genes whose expression (induction, repression) require an active MAPK will be further studied using reverse genetics and biochemistry (phosphorylation status, protein-DNA interaction).D. Gouache 1* , S. Thepot 1 , C. Roisin-Fichter 2 , S. Selim Quantitative PCR (q-PCR) allows for a measurement of mycelial growth in planta. This technology has been extensively used for the study of Septoria tritici blotch (STB), arrival of primary inoculums, disease resistance and escape to its long-term dynamics. The results reported here are the first to attempt to quantitatively link mycelial growth as measured by q-PCR to the evolution of necrotic symptoms on leaves. The results from three field experiments and a previously published data set show that, for a given leaf layer, mycelial quantity and necrotic area are strongly related. Mycelial quantity at a given time can be used to predict the thermal duration until onset of necrotic symptoms, approached by time to 10% necrotic symptoms obtained by fitting a gompertz curve to necrotic symptoms. For a given experiment, the ratio of necrotic area per unit of mycelium (log-transformed qPCR value), plotted over thermal time from onset of symptom development, follows an exponential or quadratic pattern. This empirical evidence at the field level calls for a mechanistic approach to modeling the quantitative link between mycelial growth and symptom development, which could serve as a general framework for understanding STB resistance. In Lithuania, the most destructive pathogens in wheat production are Mycosphaerella graminicola (Septoria tritici), Phaeosphaeria nodorum (Stagonospora nodorum) and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Dreschslera tritici-repentis) As a new disease, tan spot was recorded in Lithuania in 1997 in commercial fields and is the most prevalent leaf spotting disease, especially under continuous wheat cropping. Earlier studies showed that P. nodorum prevailed over M. graminicola; however, in recent years the domination of Septoria leaf blotch has been noted. Outbreaks of this disease were recorded in 2007 and 2010 when the severity of Septoria leaf blotch reached 30-75% in the untreated plots at milk growth stage. Septoria and Stagonospora leaf blotches and tan spot significantly affect grain yield in both winter and spring wheat crops. Research on leaf spotting diseases in winter and spring wheat indicated that a disease severity ranging between 1-5% was responsible for 5.5% grain yield reduction compared to healthy plants. Fungicides are important tools for managing leaf spotting diseases in wheat. However, pathogens' resistance to fungicides has become one of the most critical problems recently. The first surveys on M. graminicola resistance to the QoI group fungicides were made by pesticide companies in 2004 in Lithuania, and the first resistance isolates were found in 2005 and reported by FRAC. Monitoring of resistance has been carried out at our institute since 2008. The sensitivity of M. graminicola to QoI (azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin) and DMI (epoxiconazole, cyproconazole and prothioconazole) fungicides is being tested in vitro using microtiter plate test. The M. graminicola resistance to QoI and DMI fungicides is being assessed also as part of resistance monitoring in Nordic-Baltic countries according to NORBARAG (Nordic-Baltic Resistance Action Group) activity. Increasing resistance to QoI and emerging resistance to DMI fungicides in M. graminicola obligate researches, advisers and cereal growers to review the existing control strategies. Recommendations for cereal disease control as given by NORBARAG's fungicide subgroup with respect to minimizing the risk of fungicide resistance are forwarded to Lithuanian cereal growers. Strobilurins are to be applied preferably once per season, DMI fungicides should be combined with the fungicides differing in the mode of action.Effect of wheat debris as source of primary inoculum on the early stages of Septoria leaf blotch epidemics F. Suffert, N. Galet, I. Sache INRA, UR BIOGER-CPP, Campus AgroParisTech, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France Management strategies of Septoria leaf blotch could be improved by a better characterization of the onset and early stages of epidemics. The inoculum build-up and overseasoning potentially involve various fungal structures (ascospores, pycnidiospores, mycelium) and plant material (wheat seeds, stubble and debris; wheat volunteers; other grasses). Among the mechanisms reportedly involved in disease establishment and year-to-year disease transmission, infection by ascospores, wind-dispersed from either distant or local infected wheat debris, is considered as the most significant. Nevertheless, infection by pycnidiospores, splash-dispersed either from neighbouring wheat debris or from senescent basal leaves, has also been inferred from indirect evidence. The contribution of wheat debris to the early stages of Septoria leaf blotch epidemics and the relative importance of different types of inoculum to the establishment of Mycosphaerella graminicola were assessed in a three-year, field experiment conducted in the Paris Basin, a main wheat producing area in France. Three options of debris management (chopped debris, removed debris followed by tillage, tillage in absence of debris) were tested, which had a strong effect, although transient, on the early epidemic dynamic: the more debris present on the soil surface, the more severe initial disease was. The relative production of pycnidiospores and ascospores was measured on the chopped debris. Autumn conditions, characterized by moderate temperature with alternating wet and dry periods, were favorable for the production of ascospores and pycnidiospores, which concomitantly peaked in October-November; thus both types of spores can be involved as primary inoculum in North-West European conditions. During the winter period, the decrease in primary inoculum delayed disease progress; later on, disease progress resumed because of the input of inoculum from remote origin (ascospores). Management of wheat debris at the plot scale cannot be expected to decrease final disease severity and yield loss, although it can reduce the local amount of primary inoculum. Such a decrease, however, is likely to be obtained by limiting inoculum on a larger scale, considering that local inoculum sources in a given plot will also act as inoculum sources for distant plots.Combined treatments to reduce Septoria tritici in wheat and their impact on crop yield and its components C. Cordo 1,2 , M.R. Simón 4 , M. Stocco 1,2 , G. Lampugnani 3 , C. Abramoff 3 , N. Kripelz 1,2 , N. Alonso 5 , E. Paredes 5 , F. Navarrete 5 , J. Aventin 5 , C. Mónaco Field experiments were conducted to analyze the effect of Trichoderma harzianum as natural biofungicide of Septoria tritici in wheat. The effect of two biocontrol strains of T. harzianum alone or in combination with a fungicide were evaluated on the severity of leaf blotch of wheat (LBW) with different application techniques at three growth stages (seedling, tillering, heading).The impact of these treatments on spikes number/ m 2 , grains per spike, thousand kernel weight (g) and grain yield (kg ha -1 ) were studied. Plants of Buck 55CL2 variety received different treatments: control plants inoculaed with S. tritici; plants from coated seeds with the strains (Th5cc, Th118) of T. harzianum and inoculated with the pathogen; plants from coated seeds and spray application on leaves of conidial suspension of T. harzianum alone or in combination with an aerial fungicide (Amistar Xtra) sprayed 7 days before the inoculation with the pathogen. With respect to severity, at seedling and tillering, only necrotic tissue development was assessed by the low incidence of pycnidia. At heading, only the pycnidial coverage percentage was assessed because of high incidences of necrosis in all treatments. With only coated seed treatment the reduction in the pycndial coverage percentage was maintained until heading stage (p ≥ 0.05). Lower values of necrosis were obtained when seeds were coated with the antagonist and seedlings were also sprayed with half-doses of fungicide (p ≥ 0.05).When applying the single antagonist the use of the st rain Th5cc is recommended with 3 applications( coated seed and two spray applications at tillering and heading) that decreas the pycnidial coverage until heading (p ≥ 0.05). The analysis of the yield components showed that spikes /m 2 and thousand kernel weights were altered by the combined treatment (p≥ 0.05).Y. Mansilla 1,5 , C. Segarra 1,5 , C. Cordo 2, 4 , M. Stocco M 2,4 , G. Lampugna 3 , C. Abramoff 3 , N. Kripelz 2,4 , N. Alonso 6 , E. Paredes 6 , F. Navarrete 6 , G. Aventin 6 , C. Mónaco The use of antagonists, single or combined with fungicides, is proposed an important tool for the leaf blotch of wheat management. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the induction of a biochemical response when T. harzianum strains actived an antifungal action against Septoria tritici of wheat at three growth stages The experiment was conducted in an experimental field during 2009 and 2010. A block design with 18 treatments and 3 replications was used. The treatments were: 2 strains of T. harzianum (Th5cc and Th118) that were applied as a seed coating and as a leaf spray at two growth stages (tillering) and (heading); healthy control plants(T) without the pathogen and the antagonists and control plants (Ti) inoculated with S. tritici. After 21 days of S. tritici inoculation, the extent of the leaf necrosis area and the pycnidial coverage percentage were estimated for each growth stage on Buck 55CL2 wheat cultivar. In addition, the leaf apoplast antifungal proteolytic activity was measured in plants 22 days after sowing. The proteolytic activity of the intercellular wheat fluid (IWF) and the endogenous germin-like protease inhibitors (GPI) were demonstrated throughout the growth stages till maturity. The literature shows that the antifungal action decreased in plants that were only inoculated with S. tritici but increased in those grown from seeds coated with the T. harzianum (Th5cc) strain. This increase stimulated defenseses to the wheat cultivar. For the present experiment the proteolytic activity of the (IWF) decreased on (Ti.) at tillering and heading. The proteolytic activity was similar to the healthy control when plants coming from coated seeds were sprayed with T. harzianum in both mentioned stages. The proteolytic activity was regulated by the GPI activity. At heading, the GPI was almost undetectable in the IWF of the flag leaf. Even so, its inhibitory activity was critical in the regulation of proteases. It is a first time that we have seen that T. harzianum stimulates a biochemical defense response in plants inoculated with S. tritici in all growth stages.M.M. Fakhfakh 1 , S. Rezgui 2 , T. Jarrahi 1 , R. Zouani 1 , A. Bousalmi 1 , K. Sgatni 1 , A. Yahyaoui Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L var. durum), is the most important cereal crop in Tunisia, it occupies about 2/3 of cereal grown area. The average yield of durum wheat ranges from 1.5 to 3.0 t/ha under rainfed conditions and about 4-6t/ha under irrigated conditions. The low yield is mainly due to extended drought conditions and to fungal diseases that become an important limiting factor during rainy seasons. Septoria Leaf Bloch (Mycospharella graminicola) is the major leaf disease which cause significant yield loss that varies between 5% and 35% and over than 60% during epidemic conditions. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, commercially grown durum wheat fields in Northern Tunisia were surveyed for Septoria leaf blotch at the tellering and stem elongation growth stages. The prospected areas represents the major durum wheat areas in the country where the annual rainfall is relatively high (>500 mm) in the sub-humid areas to relatively low (<500 mm) in the semi-arid areas. Onset of septoria disease was recorded in prospected fields during 2002 and 2003; and disease incidence was estimated during 2004 and 2005 crop seasons. Development of Septoria leaf blotch disease varied from year to year within and between regions. Five different regions were identified on the basis of disease development. Septoria diseases hot spots identified in the sub humid and semiarid areas were characterized by early infection establishments at the beginning of winter season (mid-December and mid-January respectively). Epidemic disease development occurs later in the season (mid-March). Disease infections in the medium spot area were detected towards the end of winter (mid-February) and an epidemic disease development was concurrently encountered under conductive climatic conditions. Disease infection was rarely observed in the semi-arid regions. A GIS disease map was developed and has allowed detection of risk areas and hence better management of disease control program. Integrated disease management options were then proposed for each of the Septoria hot spot areas.Since the early 2000s, the evolution of sensitivity to azoxystrobin and azoles in Belgian populations of Mycosphaerella graminicola has been determined in microtiter assays. The rapid and widespread increase in resistance to azoxystrobin was observed over 4 years, with the percentage of resistant strains being less than 4% in 2002 but exceeding 90% after 2007. Tests carried out on 1,569 strains from 2002 to 2009 showed a reduction in sensitivity to epoxiconazole: the median EC50 value increased from 0.04-0.08 µg/ml for strains collected in 2002 to 0.16-0.32 µg/ml for strains collected in 2006. A further increase in resistance to epoxiconazole was not apparent in strains collected from 2006 to 2009. The tests for sensitivity to propiconazole, performed on 1,407 strains from 2000 to 2009, revealed an increase in the median EC50 value from 0.04-0.08 µg/ml in 2002 to 0.16-0.32 µg/ml in 2008 and 2009. Nevertheless, an analysis of the sensitivity of 689 strains to tebuconazole revealed an increase of the median EC50 value from 0.32-0.64 µg/ml in 2007 to 0.64-1.28 µg/ml in 2008 and 2009 A comparison of the levels of sensitivity to the three triazoles showed that resistance to tebuconazole was not correlated with resistance to propiconazole or epoxiconazole. This could be linked to the various mutations in the target-encoding CYP51 gene in M. graminicola associated with changes in sensitivity. The sequencing of parts of this gene for 33 strains collected in Belgium from 1993 to 2007 reveals the existence of more than 20 variants. The effects of seven fungicide treatments in the field on the levels of resistance of the strains to epoxiconazole, propiconazole and tebuconazole differed from one treatment to another. A large distribution of EC50 values of the strains was consistently observed. The variable effects of the treatments with triazoles and/or carboxamide (boscalid, penthiopyrad) highlighted the important of using different fungicide families to reduce the selective pressure on M. graminicola populations. Tan spot, incited by the ascomycete fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs, is a major foliar disease of wheat. Pyrenophora tritici-repentis induces two distinct symptoms on susceptible wheat cultivars, tan necrosis and extensive chlorosis. Tan spot causes on average yield losses of 5-10%, however under conditions favourable for disease development losses can be higher than 50%. Significant reduction in grain quality is manifested by tan spot due to grain shriveling, red smudge and black point. Conservation agriculture in combination with wheat monoculture involving cultivation of susceptible cultivars has resulted in frequent onset of tan spot epidemics worldwide. Increasing temperatures and drought due to climate change could result in a higher degree of leaf senescence which is likely to further increase tan spot severity. Development of resistant cultivars, in conjunction with crop rotation, will provide an effective, economical, and environmentally safe means of controlling tan spot. CIMMYT, Mexico in collaboration with SLU, Sweden has initiated major efforts to mitigate the threat of tan spot. Efforts include large scale screening of wheat germplasm under traditional seedling and hydroponic tests and association analysis for identification of genomic regions contributing to resistance. Screening experiments reveal that CIMMYT's elite bread wheat germplasm has a high level of resistance to tan spot caused by P. tritici-repentis race 1. Resistant breeding lines have diverse genetic make-up and the resistance is likely broad based. Association mapping studies done with CIMMYT germplasm reconfirmed that, in addition to the previously identified genomic regions contributing to tan spot resistance, CIMMYT germplasm has novel genomic regions on the long arm of chromosomes 6A and 7B for tan spot resistance. Efforts are being made to incorporate this broad genetic resistance into modern wheat cultivars. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Poster Presentations -Session 6 92 Development of tan spot of wheat in Georgia L. Gorgiladze, G. Meparishvili, Z. Sikharulidze Ministry of Education and Science, Institute of Phytopathology, 6200, Kobuleti, Georgia Tan spot, sometimes called yellow leaf spot, is an economically important disease in all the major wheat growing areas worldwide. Georgia is not exception, as climate and wheat growing conditions favorable for wheat production also favor tan spot development here. Mainly, winter wheat varieties are growing in Georgia. The tan spot fungus survives and produces on infected wheat straw and spreads by ascospores in the spring, and during whole vegetation season -by asexual spores, called conidia. Disease development favored by period of overcast, high humidity with often rain and warm temperatures. The first symptoms of tan spot were mainly observed at Z37 (flag leaf just visible) growth stage of crop. High level of disease was indicated at late milk-early dough ripe stage of wheat. Accordance with results of 10 years surveys tan spot has been recorded in all sowing areas of Georgia and on all released wheat varieties. Survey locations generally were not different by pathogen incidence. 548 pure cultures of fungi from different climatic zones of Georgia have been isolated and cultivated as pure culture. Cultural and morphological peculiarities of fungi were investigated on three media: PDA (Potato Dextrose Agar), CPA(Carrot Potato Agar), V4 (Tomato Potato Carrot Beet Agar). Especial abundant sporulation was recorded on CPA media. Two types of fungi has been revealed: Colony -dirty gray, velvet, fast-growing aerial mycelium with sporulation on the colony center and black substrate; Colony -dark-grey or blackish, velvet, moderate growing, aerial mycelium with black substrate and abundant sporulation on whole colony surface. Breeding material of different origin was evaluated under natural infection of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis in four climatic zones of Georgia during 2007-2010 growing seasons. The majority of the tested entries were susceptible to tan spot (incidence 30-100%, severity 5-60%). Seven endemic species and twelve variations were evaluated under artificial infection of Georgian population of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Resistance to tan spot was detected in 26% of the tested entries. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Poster Presentations -Session 7 93 Posters Session 7 Host Genetics and Resistance Breeding Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola is one of the most destructive foliar diseases in wheat. Single resistance genes have been among close wheat relatives, inculding TmStb1 from Triticum monococcum. Agropyron elongatum (syn Thinopyrum ponticum), a tertiary gene pool for potentially favorable traits, has been extensively used in wheat improvement. Complete resistance to STB under field conditions was observed in a wheat-Agropyron amphiploid of unclear origin (designed PSR3628, from the so-called Sandoz material). Cytogenetic studies using in situ hybridization coupled with pathological tests were initiated to identify chromosome(s) carrying the resistance gene. The amphiploid has 56 chromosomes that includes 18 chromosomes of Agropyron and 38 chromosomes of wheat. Based on in situ probing, there are 14 chromosomes of A. elongatum (genome E) and four of some other related genome. As of now, it is still unknown which wheat chromosomes are missing. PSR3628 was crossed and backcrossed twice to T. aestivum cv. Pavon 76, the progenies were screened by the in situ probing, plants with between one and five labeled chromosomes were selected and grown. Their progenies were tested for resistance to STB. Plants with resistance to the pathogen were grown to maturity and their progenies were again screened by in situ probing with the same probe. Those with Agropyron chromosomes were grown, backcrossed again and their progenies were screened for resistance. The process was repeated three times. In all instances resistance to STB correlated with the presence of a single chromosome of the E genome, here labeled D, or its long arm. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book Resistance to Stagonospora nodorum glume blotch is quantitative. Three Quantitave Trait Loci have been previously identified in wheat genome by our group. The major QTL explains 31.2 percent of the phenotypic variation and locates on the short arm of chromosome 3B. In order to isolate this QTL by map-based cloning we developed a high-resolution mapping population consisting of Near Isogenic Lines derived from a cross of resistant Swiss winter wheat cultivar Arina and susceptible Swiss winter wheat cultivar Forno. Parental cultivars demonstrated contrasting phenotypes in the field infection tests. Construction of the genetic map benefited from the physical map of 3B chromosome as well as from sequence analysis of fragments available for the target region. Phenotyping of the fine mapping population was conducted using artificial infection in three field sites in Switzerland. Mexico City September 10-14, 2011   Book of Abstracts -Poster Presentations -Session 7 98 Occurrence of Septoria leaf blotch in Algeria and assessment of wheat resistance K. Benbelacem 1. × , Z. Bouznad 2, * , H. Benslimane 3,+ , N.L. Salhi 1 1 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique d'Algérie, Algeria 2 Ecole National Supérieur d'Agronomie, Département de Botanique, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie et Biologie Moléculaire, El-Harch, Algeria 3 Université M'hamed Bougara de Boumerdès, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Biologie, Laboratoire de biologie Moléculaire, Boumerdès, Algeria × E-mail:benbelkacem@mail.com * E-mail:bouznad@mail.wissal.dz. + E-mail:benslimh@yahoo.fr Septoria tritici (Mycosphaerella graminicola) and Stagonospora nodorum (Phaeosphaeria nodorum) causal agents of Septoria leaf blotch of wheat occur throughout the major wheat growing regions in Algeria. The Septoria diseases are the source of major damage on susceptible varieties of bread and durum wheat. Surveys have been performed in Algeria during the last decade, they covered wheat growing areas of eastern and central regions, mainly in coastal areas (Annaba, Skikda, Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, Algiers) and sub-littoral (Guelma, Souk Ahras, Constantine, Sétif, Mila, Bouira). The disease development was always observed except during 2000-01 and 2001-02 growing seasons because of the excessive drought conditions. The surveys showed that Septoria diseases are more prevalent in coastal areas and sub-littoral where risk is very high. The surveys also revealed the presence of both Septoria species (M. graminicola and P. nodorum), but M. graminicola was more prevalent. Algerian National Wheat improvement Program in collaboration with ICARDA conducts routine screening for resistance to Septoria diseases since 2005. A collection of 150 durum wheat and 100 bread wheat genotypes were tested under natural conditions at two Septoria hot spots representing high and low rainfall areas, where the foliar diseases are normally expressed each year under field conditions. Wheat lines that carry resistance to Septoria leaf blotch were identified. Subsequently, resistant lines were tested under controlled condition. Introduced and local germplasm with resistance to Septoria were identified. During the last years, our group studied the genetic structure and diversity of Mycosphaerella graminicola population from several locations of the Argentinean wheat region: sub-region IV (SE of Buenos Aires Province) and II South (central part of Buenos Aires Province) with ten ISSR primers. A high degree of genetic diversity was found: 81 different haplotypes among the 126 isolates studied. A high gene flow was found between both sub-regions. Virulence test were conducted on nine Argentinean and 14 foreign wheat cultivars with some level of resistance to the pathogen with 16 genetically different isolates selected from the previous work, in two environments. Cultivars with good levels of partial and complete resistance to some isolates were detected. Populations with some of these materials are been developed to identify genes in Argentinean wheat cultivars. Our recent work have also mapped a resistance locus on the centromeric region of chromosome arm 7 DS of a Synthetic 6 x at the seedlings and adult stage. On the basis of its relationship with the microsatellite marker Xgwm44, it is likely that the gene involved was Stb5, which proved to be effective against M. graminicola isolates originating from both Europe and South America. In addition, a source of resistance has been mapped on chromosome 7D of spelt wheat, Triticum aestivum L. subsp. spelta (L.) Thell. Two regions of the chromosome were associated with isolate-specific QTL expressed one at the seedling and another at the adult plant stage. The seedling resistance locus QStb.ipk-7D1 was found in the centromeric region of chromosome 7D, which corresponds to the location of the major resistance gene Stb4 originated from bread wheat cultivar 'Tadinia' and Stb5 originated from Triticum tauschii. The adult resistance locus QStb.ipk-7D2 was found on 7DS in a similar position to the locus Lr34/Yr18 known to be effective against multiple pathogens. Furthermore, using a mapping population of the ITMI (W7984 x Opata 85), three loci were discovered on the short arms of chromosomes 1D, 2D and 6B at the seedling stage, and two loci-specific QTL were found on the long arms of chromosomes 3D and 7B at the adult stage.","tokenCount":"19303"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4939599826.json b/data/part_1/4939599826.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ce27f9af495dbf2606e9b428e992662e8251bb5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4939599826.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7956e8185d7a5e9e23f502a18438431b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b981647c-3834-4c94-b346-a033574f9d76/retrieve","id":"-1133908249"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b292e02f-9b5e-439f-be49-27a503cf04fd","pagecount":"11","content":"Women, in agricultural settings, often identify themselves as \"helpers\" supporting their husbands, especially with on-farm production.• Dry Corridor of Honduras • Value chain project seeking to increase women's economic empowerment Cashew -export market Dairy -cheese for local markets Two nodes• Production (raw products: cashew nuts and milk) • Processing (processing raw products into marketable product for consumers)The main objective of this study is to understand how women's participation in value chains is linked to empowerment. 1. What is the relative performance of the value chains (and/or nodes) in terms of participation and empowerment? 2. What factors (opportunities, and/or barriers) impact women's participation and empowerment?• Few ag VC and gender studies in LAC • Few that include more than one node in more than one value chain.• Participatory workshops • FGDs • Interviews.• A-WEAI -4 surveys, 1 per node per VC. Qualitative findings: Supporting quantitative results• \"Because the cashew business takes a lot of time, not all people are willing to work in this area. That is why there are almost no women. Only my mother in the region does that, because it takes a lot of processes. It is a very long procedure, so it is quite heavy. Not every woman is willing to work in that kind of job. \" (Cashew processor women)• \"I get up at half past five in the morning. When it's time to order, when my husband goes to bring the order, I get up at 4:30 a.m., because he leaves at 5 a.m. I spend the morning at the grocery store. When the milk is coming in. I go to the plant, around 10 am, to see how they are processing, about two hours. That's how I spend my time because I'm close by\" (Dairy processor women)• The involvement of women in value chains significantly impacts their empowerment. Women in dairy value chains tend to experience heavier workloads and lower participation in group activities, whereas women in cashew value chains have more leisure time to engage in group activities. • The specific node to which women belong also plays a crucial role in their empowerment. Production activities involves a lesser daily workload, as seen in processing nodes, tend to facilitate women's participation and empowerment. • Furthermore, women who consider themselves \"Helpers\" in the activities of their node tend to experience greater empowerment compared to \"Not involved\" women. However, these findings may not be applicable to women in \"Managers\" roles, as the responsibilities associated with such positions can significantly affect their empowerment.• It is essential to address the workload of women and promote their participation in groups to enhance their empowerment.Thanks!","tokenCount":"436"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4944566211.json b/data/part_1/4944566211.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fde07e4060e93e633e3f847cada908caad7f1ad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4944566211.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4a6719af58c8c0eb45c7246bcc8eceee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/125000bd-a03f-4b89-ab59-7d96a88ba2d5/retrieve","id":"849001196"},"keywords":["Meja watershed","Ethiopia","water use efficiency","water scarcity","crop management"],"sieverID":"4e2ec4ed-9e6d-4386-96e5-4af69ac2290d","pagecount":"9","content":"Mixed crop-livestock farming system is a major livelihood strategy in most sub-Sahara African countries. Low water use efficiency and water scarcity characterize the dominant rainfed agricultural production system in the densely populated highlands of Ethiopia. Improving water productivity in the rainfed system is among the ways of overcoming the water scarcity challenge. This study was conducted in Meja watershed, located in Jeldu district, West Shewa in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin to estimate economic crop water productivity based on agro-ecology and crop management practices. The watershed was classified into three landscape positions (local agro-ecologies) and major crops representing at least 70% of each landscape position were identified through discussion with farmers and development agents. Five farmers field were randomly selected for each major crop and crop management practices implemented by the farmers were monitored and yield (grain or tuber and straw) was measured at harvest. The local market value of the crops and the production cost was estimated based on the local market value for labour and other inputs. CROPWAT model was used to estimate effective precipitation based on weather data generated using NewLocClim and crop characteristics. The result indicated that the landscape positions, crop variety and management practices significantly influenced the net economic water productivity. The net economic crop water productivity for barley, wheat, tef, sorghum and maize grains and fresh potato tubers were 3.31, 2.45, 3.09, 3.01 and 5.20 and ETB 13.56 m -3 , respectively. Similarly, physical water productivity of the crops ranged from 0.47 for teff to 9.98 kg m -3 for fresh potato tubers. Hence, farmers can enhance economic benefit from the land and water resources they are endowed with rainfed by using improved agronomic practices that could raise grain/tuber and biomass yield. Enhancing improved input use, improving access to market for outputs and integrating livestock with crops may further augment the benefit at system scale.Management practices and agro-ecological effects on crop water productivity in Meja watershed, Ethiopia Introduction Mixed crop-livestock farming system, which is characterized by a strong complementarity in resource use (Devendra and Thomas 2002), is a major livelihood strategy in most sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries (Steinfeld et al. 2006) including Ethiopia and supported the livelihoods of approximately 80% of the population (Thornton et al. 2002). In this system, achieving higher production and improved rural livelihoods is highly restricted by underdevelopment, rapid population increase, land degradation, climate uncertainty and associated water scarcity (Singh et al. 2011). Among others, the problem of water scarcity has been aggravated and seriously hampered crop productivity in rainfed agriculture mainly due to non-water related factors. Among water related factors, increasing competition for water among agricultural and other economic sectors as well as household consumption and environmental demand (Molden et al. 2007), increasing temporal and spatial variability of rainfall resulting in amplification of extreme events (IPCC 2007), poor land and inefficient rainwater management systems implemented by most smallholder farmers (Rockström and Steiner 2003;Wani et al. 2003;Zemadim et al. 2011) and decreasing potential of irrigation water withdrawals due to its stressing effect in many of the world's major river basins (Molle et al. 2007). These factors reduced water available for agricultural sectors. Among non-water related factors, land degradation, poor soil fertility, soil salinity, lack of improved varieties, low rate of fertilizers used, poor weed management, unsecured land ownership, limited access to capital for investment, limited skill and abilities are the determinant factors for low crop productivity (Kijne et al. 2003;Mulugeta 2006;Singh et al. 2011). Generally speaking, water available for agricultural sector is continued to be reduced despite the increasing food demand (Kijne et al. 2003) due to increasing human population. One of the best solution to alleviate this problem lies on improving crop water productivity (Cai et al. 2010). Hence, technological interventions that could significantly increase crop water productivity and improve rural livelihoods in different landscape positions at farm and watershed levels are highly required. The Ethiopian Institutes of Agricultural Research (EIAR 2004) also recommended that water productivity improvements in crops, livestock and fishery can effectively address food insecurity and poverty. In line with this, the major objective of the study was to estimate net economic water productivity of major crops based on agro-ecology and management practices. Therefore, the study result would confidently serve as a valuable input for the concerned governmental, NGOs, policymakers and others at local, regional and country level to design and implement appropriate technological intervention strategies to the study area in particular and upper Blue Nile Basin in general so as to address the problem of water scarcity and food insecurity.Meja watershed is located in Jeldu district, West Shewa in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin. Mixed croplivestock farming system is the most common livelihood strategy in the area (Zemadim et al. 2011). It was estimated that about 4769 households were living in the watershed from which 16% were females and the average family size of the district was six. The watershed was predominantly characterized by subsistence, low yielding rainfed agriculture, lack of appropriate soil and water conservation practices and increasing human and livestock population pressure (Berhanu Ayana 2011). The watershed covers an area of about 85.36 km 2 with an altitude ranging from 2440 to 3200 masl (Zemadim et al. 2011). Barley is the dominant crop cultivated followed by wheat, potato and enset (false banana), respectively. Farmers used both traditional and improved farm inputs to treat soil fertility problem and enhance crop yield. Cattle, sheep and equines were the dominant livestock species reared by farmers (Berhanu Ayana 2011). Smallscale irrigation through traditional diversion of the major river is common along the downstream regions. The area receives bimodal rainfall pattern with main rain from June to September and short rain from March to May having mean annual rainfall varies from 900 to 1350 mm (Zemadim et al. 2011). The mean maximum and minimum annual temperature ranges from 17ºC to 22ºC. Farmers obtained income mainly from the sale of barley, potato, green maize, eucalyptus and livestock products.The watershed was classified into three landscape positions (local agro-ecologies) and major crops representing at least 70% of each landscape position were identified through discussion with farmers and development agents in the district. Five farmers field were randomly selected for each major crop and crop management practices implemented by the farmers were monitored and yield (grain/tuber and straw) was measured at harvest. The sampled crop fields were continuously monitored in 10-20 days intervals and detailed data on crop management and agronomic practices including tillage frequency, crop rotation patterns, types of precursor crops, planting dates, seeding rates, types and rates of fertilizer applied, methods of sowing, weed control method, date to flowering, date of maturity and harvesting dates were recorded. Above ground biomass and grain yield were also estimated using quadrate sampling technique at the time of harvesting. Samples for grain and straw were brought to laboratory and forced to dry in the oven at 65 o C for 24 hours and grain moisture content was adjusted to 12%. Finally, average productivity of each crop in kg ha -1 was determined.The other input data required for CWP analysis is amount of rainwater consumed to produce crop products. Weather data required for simulation of crop water requirement was generated by using New-LocClim model from FAO data base due to absence of weather station in the area. Effective precipitation (m 3 ) was simulated by CROPWAT model using imported weather data and both crop and soil water characteristics of the study area. According to Singh et al. 2011, rainfed crops use infiltrated rainfall that forms soil moisture in the root zone which accounts for most of the crop water consumption in agriculture. As compared to other components of water, effective precipitation is more affected by crop management practices. As a result of this, effective precipitation was preferable to be utilized for CWP analysis of this particular study.Both physical and economic water productivity with respect to effective precipitation were determined as a ratio of unit mass of agricultural output (kg ha -1 ) and economic return in ETB to effective precipitation (m 3 ) (Kijne 2003;Steduto et al. 2007) using the following procedures:• WP of GY or FTY (kg m-3) = GY or TY (kg ha-1) ¸ Effective Precipitation (m 3 ha-1) (A)• WP of SY (kg m-3) = SY (kg ha-1) ¸ Effective Precipitation (m 3 ha-1) (B)• EWP of Grain (ETB m-3) = GY (ETB) ¸ Effective Precipitation (m 3 ha-1) (C)The net economic crop water productivity was determined by subtracting costs of production (ETB) from monitory values of BM, GY or FTY through the following course of action:• GEWP (ETB m-3) = above ground BM for cereals and total BM for potato in kg ha-1¸ Effective Precipitation (m 3 ha-1) orWhere WP, EWP, GEWP, ETB, Q, BM, GY, FTY, SY refer to Water productivity, economic water productivity, gross economic water productivity, Ethiopian birr, Costs of Production, Biomass, grain yield, fresh tuber yield and straw yield, respectively.In order to test whether there is significant mean net economic biomass, grain or tuber water productivity difference among the three agro-ecological zones or not, comparison of means was employed. The null hypotheses for such test would be: H O : x 1 = x 2 = x 3 = … = x k where x 1 to x k represent sample means of the 1 to k groups (Storck et al. 1991) and the most appropriate statistical technique to test such hypothesis is the analysis of variance (Norusis 1987). Analysis of variance is used to examine the degree of variability in the mean net economic biomass and grain or tubers water productivity results. Based on the variability, some conclusions about the means were drawn. Again, one-way analysis of variance (multiple comparisons) test was also applied to justify the differences among mean net economic biomass and grain or tubers water productivity magnitudes of the major crops with respect to each local agro-ecology. In addition to this, several management practices that could affect crop water productivity in the study watershed were considered to test their degree of association with net economic biomass and grain or tuber water productivity. The Pearson's correlation analysis was employed to test the existence and strength of relationships between the selected crop management practices and net economic biomass, grain or tuber water productivity across the three local agro-ecological zones by using SPSS software. Based on the results and level of significance, the possible effects of those management practices on EWP magnitude of each crop was presumed.Productivity is a ratio between a unit of output and a unit of input and the term water productivity is used exclusively to denote the amount (physical) or value (economic) of product over volume or value of water depleted or diverted (Renault and Wallender 2000;Kijne 2003;Steduto et al. 2007). For this particular study, the amount of product and individual net monetary value over volume of effective precipitation was considered. Hence, the average rainwater productivity result of barley grain was 0.78 kg m -3 while that of wheat (0.83 kg m -3 ) in the upper zone and 0.98 kg m -3 in the middle zone. WP of teff in the lower zone (0.64 kg m -3 ) was more than twice of that of middle zone (0.29 kg m -3 ). Similarly, the WP of sorghum in the lower zone (0.71 kg m -3 ) was better by 17% than that of the middle zone (0.52 kg m -3 ). WP of maize was 1.14 kg m -3 and that of fresh potato tuber was 9.98 kg m -3 in the upper zone (Table 1). These cereal crops WP results are strongly agreed with research output by Droogers et al. (2001) and Cai and Rosegrant (2003), in that the value of WP index for cereals ranged from 0.50 to 1.50 kg m -3 depending on variety, soil, climate and management. According to FAO (2011), the world average WP of barley, wheat and fresh potato tubers range from 1.20 to 1.40 kg m -3 , 1 to 1.20 kg m -3 and 4 to 11 kg m -3 , respectively. Likewise, the average WP of sorghum at global level also ranges from 0.80 to1.30 kg m -3 (Steiner 1986). Thus, the average WP results of barley, wheat and sorghum were by far lower than that of the global average while that of fresh potato tubers falls within the range of world average. There is no well-defined study on teff WP in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world except Araya et al. 2010 andAlemtsehay et al. 2011, who tried to estimate normalized WP test to use in AquaCrop simulation. However, its average WP result (0.47) was extremely lower even as compared to all other cereal crops considered for this study. Therefore, WP of the dominant food crops like barley, wheat, teff and sorghum needs to be improved so as to bring sustainable livelihood improvement in the area and beyond. Water productivity calculated in terms of net value output gives better picture of the net gain from a unit of water in production than gross value output (Mulugeta 2006). The results also help to make comparison of economic benefit of one crop with other crops and also assist farmers to make proper decision to invest on more valuable crops at the expense of others. Economic value of the crops and production costs i.e. seed, fertilizers, labour, agrochemicals and other inputs were determined based on their local market value. The result indicated that potato has extremely high cost of production (ETB 25,551 ha -1 ) as compared to other cereal crops whereas sorghum has the least cost of production (Figure 1B). The net economic water productivity of sorghum, teff, wheat, barley and maize grains were ETB 3.10, 3.27, 3.49, 3.73 and 5.54 m -3 , respectively, while that of fresh potato tubers was ETB 15.17 m -3 (Figure 1A). Regarding economic benefit of food crops, potato tuber has the highest economic value followed by maize, barley and wheat while that of sorghum has the least value in the study district. In terms of net economic BM water productivity (food and feed), barley, wheat, teff, sorghum, maize and potato has ETB 4. 77, 4.78, 4.97, 6.63, 7.09 and 13.56 m -3 , in that order (Figure 1A). Here, potato again ranks first followed by maize, sorghum and teff whereas barley was the lowest. Thus, it is possible to say that potato is the most appropriate crop in economic water productivity than all other crops in the upper zone of the study watershed. Similarly, wheat is more appropriate in the middle zone and that of teff in the lower zone. Generally speaking, net economic benefit obtained from BM (food and feed) is by far better than that of food crop indicating the need to integrate crop with livestock. Several research results confirmed that crop-livestock interactions increase productivity and the income of farmers and improve system resilience and environmental sustainability (Devendra and Thomas 2002;Parthasarathy Rao et al. 2005). Therefore, if farmers integrate crop with livestock, they will generate better economic benefit from available land and water they are endowed with rainfed and also bring sustainable livelihood improvement in the long run. Effect of agro-ecology on physical and net economic CWPThe ANOVA test result indicated that there was significant mean of both physical and net economic CWP variation (at p = 0.014 and P = 0.001, respectively) between the three local agro-ecological zones. However, one way ANOVA (multiple comparisons) test result showed that the variation was significant for both variables only in between upper and middle and upper and lower zone indicating that treating the middle and lower agro-ecological zones independently is not necessary but rather treating them as one. Therefore, the three local agro-ecological systems arbitrarily classified by the local people should be corrected to only two zones (upper and middle) having no lower zone and the whole watershed, except few areas around the outlet, fall in the upper zone. Ecologically, the upper zone was highly degraded and more populated than the other two zones. The severity of land degradation due to high human and livestock population pressure, poor land and water management practices (Berhanu Ayana 2011 andZemadim et al. 2011) increased surface runoff and reduced infiltration resulting in low water productivity. In addition, barley was a dominant crop in the district in general and in the watershed in particular but, its total BM water productivity was found to be the lowest. Therefore, technological interventions that could increase soil water availability, improve productivity and enhance economic benefit are required mainly here. Most of the soil and soil nutrients washed away by erosion from the upper zone deposit in the middle and lower zones. This aspect was livelihood improvement in the long run. In addition to this, the one way ANOVA (multiple comparisons) test result shows that there was significant variation of both variables only in between upper and middle and upper and lower zone indicating that treating the middle and lower agro-ecological zones independently is not necessary but rather treating them as one. Therefore, the three local agro-ecological systems arbitrarily classified by the local people should be corrected to only two zones (upper and middle) having no lower zone and the whole watershed, except few areas around the outlet, fall in the upper zone.Hence, some of the recommendations include implementing improved technology at both farm and watershed level such as using improved crop varieties, improving rate of fertilizers use, using improved crop ration, appropriate seeding rate, improve method of sowing and timely harvesting, diversifying rainwater management systems, crop diversification and integrating crop with livestock could significantly improve both the quantity and economic vales of crops. Moreover, given the high current and potential productivity of potato in the upper part of the watershed and poor market linkage, all local and regional actors need to facilitate the development of value chain for this essential product. Furthermore, scaling up and implementing these findings to the whole basin could help to address the problem of water scarcity and food insecurity so as to bring sustainable livelihood improvement in the long run.","tokenCount":"3016"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4946483222.json b/data/part_1/4946483222.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a8fe86d943386eedac7a033882782358df4ca903
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4946483222.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"76f6fc03c2e9516b098efbf861476f11","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/63491362-4629-476f-8a39-4105b218ee52/retrieve","id":"1602727950"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"41a0b715-d6b8-4af4-9cfb-3c92276d12a8","pagecount":"16","content":"Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore our work at aiccra.cgiar.org aiccra.cgiar.orgWajir County has a rich history of relying on pastoralism as the primary livelihood strategy. However, the sustainability of pastoralism is currently at a critical juncture due to a myriad of challenges, notably exacerbated by indiscriminate water development and unplanned settlements. These factors are posing a severe threat to the traditional pastoral system, which has long been dependent on a delicate balance of use of the wet, dry, and reserve seasonal grazing areas and reserves. This is exacerbated by the breakdown of the traditional rangeland management system, further weakened by the diminishing strength of traditional institutions responsible for overseeing and regulating these vast grazing lands.The threats to pastoralism are multi-faceted, and a key aspect lies in the need for capacity development within the rangeland management institutions. Participatory Rangeland Management (PRM) is a viable approach to address these challenges across pastoral areas. The Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool (ICAT) is used to assess and monitor changes in the governance capacities of community rangeland management institutions. ICAT was developed under the Human, Environment, Animals and Livelihood (HEAL) project.The ICAT assessment has been developed as a monitoring tool for external assessment of RMI with scores taken at the beginning of a project or intervention and changes in the RMI are monitored over the lifetime of a project or intervention.However, it could also be used as a self-reflection tool by communities wanting to understand the status of their RMI and where it needs improvement.It is an important monitoring tool for systematically evaluating the status of a community or other institutions and their capacity to govern effectively and equitably.It considers the functionality, structures, processes, composition, strengths and weaknesses of institutions and other elements of good governance.It is important to note that an accurate representation of the status is essential for ensuring that the right support is provided to the RMI.In an external evaluation, the PRM facilitator administers the ICAT tool using focus group discussions with a mix of community members, including those participating in the RMI. The main parameters assessed by this tool include governance, engagement, planning, implementation, financial competency and monitoring. Each parameter has subparameters on which the facilitator initiates discussions. Discussion points are noted in the \"Remark\" column of each subparameter. Each parameter is assigned a score of 1 to 4, i.e. Latent, Emerging, Established and Advanced.PRM facilitators must remain objective during the assessment, focusing on documenting the status of the subparameter. Scores should not be inflated for any reason, as the primary goal of the initial ICAT assessment is to establish a baseline for measuring subsequent changes, whether improvements or declines.The ICAT enables rangeland management institutions to identify areas for improvement, to strategically allocate resources and inform decision-making and successful implementation of activities. This capacity assessment also provides for tailored support and interventions to maximize impact and achieve long-term goals.Once the ICAT is carried out, the facilitating team, supporting NGOs and government, and the RMI can agree on building capacity.The RMI was established in 2016 to respond to issues within the community, particularly related to rangeland management.and overall land use practices. According to participants, meetings and engagement with neighboring communities is occasional, such as when conflict arises over resources.2: Emerging. RMI is being established or re-established with the aim of developing a rangeland management plan.The RMI does not have a rangeland plan in place.2: Emerging. RMI is being established or re-established and has plans to develop a plan in a participatory way.The RMI does not have a rangeland management plan.2: Emerging. The RMI is being established or re-established.There has been no implementation to report about since the RMI does not have an existing RMP2: Emerging. RMI is being established and there is a plan to engage with neighboring communities.There are no clear plans to engage with the neighbors. However, the RMI notes that there is need to engage with the neighboring communities due to the nature of grazing and use of pasture.2: Emerging. The RMI is being established and there is a plan to raise funds for implementation of the RMP.The RMI has not raised any funds. The RMI indicated that they would want to strengthen their monitoring practices.2: Emerging. RMI is being established or re-established and has plans to practice adaptive management.The RMI indicated that they would want to understand more about adaptive management.2: Emerging. RMI is being established or re-established and has plans to write regular report.The members indicated that there were no reports on any monitoring activities since they have not done any and would like to be trained on how to monitor the rangelands and report.The ICAT considered years of existence, legal status of the RMI, presence or absence of the constitution and the bylaws, women and youth inclusion and participation.The existence of the rangeland committee was rated at 3 (Established). The committee was established in 2016 and comprises 18 members and three ex-officials. It was formed to address various environmental issues, such as drought and bushfires and help eliminate mushrooming settlement issues.In terms of its functionality, the RMI was rated at 2 (Emerging). Rangeland users state that it is not functioning well. Some of the community members stated that they were not aware of the existence of the committee. Knowledge of the RMI among users was ranked at 2 (Emerging). Among focus group participants, only 1 participant knew about its establishment. In terms of the existence of a constitution, the RMI was ranked at 1 (Latent) as there is no constitution, and the participants do not have an idea about its existence.The existence of bylaws was rated at 2 (Emerging). Despite having bylaws in place, the community has yet to comprehend, respect and adhere to these fully. In addition, political interference and other decisions interfere with the agreed-on practices, calling for a multi-pronged approach to create awareness and build consensus on rangeland planning. The grazing area and settlement location (permanent and temporary) have been decided according to locally agreed bylaws but have not been adhered to for the last two years.The conducting of meetings was rated at 1 (Latent). The RMI has not held any community meetings in the last two years. Participants said they held only one meeting due to disputes over the Gabra community's settlement in an area that is not allowed for settlement. The RMI is not formally registered or certified. It is working towards its registration and was therefore rated at 2 (Emerging).The inclusion of women in RMI is rated at 2 (Emerging). Despite having women represented in the committee and even present in the meetings, this does not automatically translate to women's involvement, engagement and representation.Participants said women are encouraged to join different committees established for rangeland management, but they do not know if women were included.The inclusion of women in RMI meetings was rated at 2 (Emerging). Participants of the focus group discussions said that women's participation in rangeland management issues is 'very low'.The inclusion of youth was rated at 2 (Emerging). Almost all members are middle-aged or elders who have indigenous knowledge about traditional rangeland management systems. Inclusion of youth meetings was rated at 2 (Emerging). During the discussion, participants said that the number of youths attending rangeland meetings is less than in other meetings.When considering the RMI's engagement, its relation to other stakeholders, such as government, NGOs, neighboring communities and other rangeland users was considered.Other land user engagement was rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI does not regularly engage with other non-rangeland users. Participants said they never saw other land users involved in rangeland management affairs. NGO engagement was also rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI does not regularly engage with NGOs. Most NGOs engaged in rangeland management often work with the government and ignore the RMI, but some try to reach the community level. NGOs mainly provide training and facilitate community gatherings and meetings.In terms of engaging with the neighboring community, the rating was 2 (Emerging).The RMI exists but does not have regular engagement with neighboring communities.According to focus group discussion participants, meetings with neighboring communities are occasional and occur more often when there are conflicts.Rangeland Management Plan rated at 1 (Latent). The RMI has not developed a rangeland management plan and people do not have information about the development of a management plan for Arbahajan.Level of participation rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI is still unknown to most people; hence, there is low participation and community engagement. There is a need to create awareness, keep the RMI active and inform the community about the RMI activities.Implementation Status was rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI is being established or reestablished. There has been no implementation to report about since the RMI does not have an existing plan. Relations with neighbors was rated at 2 (Emerging). There are no clear plans to engage with neighbors.Budgeting and Funding rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI is in the emerging stage of development. While there is a plan to raise funds for implementing the RMP, no funds have been raised as yet. Additionally, the RMI currently lacks an existing management plan. The absence of a running bank account is a notable gap, although there are plans to open one.Institutionalizing Monitoring rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI is in the emerging phase, demonstrating intentions to monitor its progress. However, there is an expressed need for capacity building among members to monitor the rangelands and report on their findings.Adaptive Management rated at 2 (Emerging). Similar to monitoring, the RMI is in the emerging stage concerning adaptive management. There are plans to practice adaptive management, and members have expressed a desire for further understanding.Monitoring Reporting rated at 2 (Emerging). The RMI has plans to write regular reports, showcasing a commitment to transparency and accountability. However, the absence of any reports to date underscores the early stage of establishment. Members acknowledge the lack of monitoring activities and expressed a need for training on how to conduct monitoring and report effectively.The findings suggest a need for an approach to create awareness and build consensus on rangeland management planning. Enhancing the functionality of the RMI will require addressing the challenges related to constitution development, understanding and adherence to bylaws, women and youth inclusion, political interference and managing and sharing resources. To realize this, several interventions need to be considered:Given the absence of an existing RMP, the RMI needs to prioritize the development of a comprehensive rangeland management plan. This plan should outline strategies for sustainable resource use, address community concerns and guide future actions.Create opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with neighboring communities.This could involve establishing regular meetings or forums to discuss shared rangeland resources, address conflicts, and develop mutually beneficial resourcesharing plans.Explore opportunities for dialogue spaces that involve RMI members and the broader community, neighboring communities and other stakeholders. This could include workshops, community forums, or collaborative planning sessions to gather input and build consensus.Consider capacity-building initiatives to enhance the skills and knowledge of RMI members, community members and other stakeholders involved in rangeland management. This can empower them to actively participate in planning and implementation processes.Actively involve stakeholders, including neighboring communities, NGOs and government agencies in planning and implementation processes. Collaborative efforts can lead to more effective and sustainable rangeland management.Work towards developing clear resource-sharing plans that address the needs and concerns of both the Arbahajan Ward RMI and neighboring communities. This can help prevent conflicts and ensure equitable access to rangeland resources. ","tokenCount":"1942"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4950198295.json b/data/part_1/4950198295.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0e47bdc9c3b6a11ed0df9e7ac45544b95e80af93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4950198295.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"42a7ec53f0f8c8951cc9eb70ccf1d6ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4603a86c-03e8-4d2a-b013-32c269bfb23e/retrieve","id":"-400600410"},"keywords":["Cowpea","breeding","polymorphism","varieties","food security","SSR markers"],"sieverID":"d0108961-8db4-43b0-a9c1-1169d6a39ab5","pagecount":"7","content":"Background and Objective: Several new varieties are released from breeding programs targeted at solving specific threats to cowpea production in Nigeria. As part of efforts to promote crop improvement, this study was carried out to determine the level of genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic relationship that exists among four selected improved varieties of cowpea (SAMPEA-14, SAMPEA-15, SAMPEA-17 and SAMPEA-18) using ten SSR molecular markers. Materials and Methods: The DNA was extracted from 14 days old seedling using the CTAB method. A total of 10 SSR primers were used in the DNA amplification process on a programmed thermal cycler followed by electrophoresis, visualization and scoring of the banding pattern. Data were analyzed on the Minitab 16.0 software for clustering patterns while the Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) of each primer was calculated. Results: Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.619 in RB20 to 0.881 in RB38 primers. The top three markers in PIC values were RB38 (PIC = 0.881), CLM0342 (PIC = 0.873) and RB7 (PIC = 0.866). The mean PIC of the ten primers was 0.884. The genetic similarity index of the dendrogram was very low as SAMPEA-17 showed the lowest similarity coefficients of 18.35 away from other varieties while SAMPEA-15 had similarity coefficients of 33.33. Conclusion: This study has revealed high genetic differences among the four varieties studied. All of the varieties may be used as genetic materials in breeding work to improve local landraces to achieve sustainable cowpea production and food security in Nigeria.Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) has become an important food crop being an essential diet in many developing countries including Africa and Asia 1 . With its origin first traced to Africa, its cultivation spreads throughout the tropical and semi-arid regions of the world 2 . It serves as a means of livelihood that generates income for the farmers and those who trade on the crop. It is the cheapest source of protein when compared to fish, meat and egg 3 . After the harvest of the grains, the fodder serves as food for livestock 4 .Cowpea is predominantly grown in Africa with Nigeria and Niger Republic as leading producers. Brazil, West Indies, India, Srilanka, Yugoslavia and Australia are also producing countries 4 . The different habits of growth identified are erect, prostrate, climbing and glabrous 3 . The crop is suitable for drought-prone and heat-generating regions like ours (Nigeria) where other food legumes fail due to inadequate rains. It can fix atmospheric nitrogen through its root noodles and as a result, thrives in nutrient-deficient soils where other crop fails. This feature, in addition to its ability to survive shady areas, makes cowpea an intercrop-friendly crop with cereals like maize, millet and sorghum 5 where the fixed nitrogen is also utilized by crops that are intercropped with or grown in rotation with cowpea. Despite the valuable nature of cowpea, its production is constrained by a lot of biotic and abiotic factors 1 . Efforts to improve the crop are of utmost importance and many research institutions, either singly or through collaborative means, have deployed different approaches such as the conventional breeding methods or use of molecular markers in marker-assisted selection (MAS) and marker-assisted breeding (MAB) respectively to solve the problem limiting production 1 . Molecular markers are a valuable and reliable tool that have accelerated different research programs and are effective in cost and labor while maintaining outstanding accuracy 6 . Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have been applied in genetic diversity studies of cowpea [7][8][9][10] . It has been used in the determination of phylogenetic relationships among cowpea genotypes 11 and in the population genetic studies of other crops 12 .The different cowpea varieties at the molecular Biology Laboratory of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi are the most accessible part of cowpea diversity by farmers around the university community, Benue State and some parts of Nigeria. Several new varieties are released from breeding programs that were targeted at solving the problems faced by cowpea farmers in the community, state and Nigeria at large. However, the genetic knowledge about these varieties which could be used to understand their evolutionary relationship is still lacking. This knowledge gap is a serious limitation to utilizing, managing and conserving the cowpea gene pool in the university. The use of morphological markers to explain evolutionary relationships would have been easy but may be misleading due to their epistatic and pleiotropic effects. Morphological markers are also affected by environmental conditions and the stage of growth of the plants, this makes them unreliable. Molecular markers, however, are efficient in genetic and phylogenetic studies as reported by Mirzaei 6 . Olasupo et al. 9 encouraged phylogenetic studies on new varieties using genetic-based tools and molecular techniques. This study aimed at determining the level of genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic relationship that exists among four selected improved varieties of cowpea (SAMPEA-14, SAMPEA-15, SAMPEA-17 and SAMPEA-18) using SSR molecular markers.The study was carried out from August, 2022 to November, 2022. Twenty seeds each of the four improved varieties of cowpea (SAMPEA-14, SAMPEA-15, SAMPEA-17 and SAMPEA-18) were obtained from the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Science, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.Planting for DNA extraction: Seeds were planted in rubber pots in the Laboratory Screen House where breeding work is usually done. They were watered at intervals. After two weeks of planting, leaves of seedlings were collected in leather sachets containing silica gel and preserved in a desiccator to enable them dry. After 4 days, the leaves were dried and were due for extraction of DNA.The CTAB method of DNA extraction was used 13,14 . Two leaves of a trifoliate 14 days old plant were placed in silica gel for 3 days to dry. The crispy dry leaves were squeezed into a 2 mL Eppendorf tube containing two steel balls (leave tissue is about 1/6 of 2 mL Eppendorf tube) and ground vigorously using a vortex for 1 min until it becomes powder. Buffer (1M Tris-HCL, 0.5M EDTA, 5M NaCl, 2-Mecarptoethanol) was added and incubated in a water bath for 30 min at 60°C. As 600 µL of Chloroform: Isoamylalcohol (24:1) was added and spun for 10 min at 4000 rpm. The upper layer was transferred into new tubes and this step was repeated. As 600 µL of ice-cold 2-propanol was added into the supernatant and inverted for a few seconds. Tubes were kept at -20°C overnight to precipitate nucleic acid out of the solution. Tubes were then centrifuged for 35 min at 4000 rpm to form a pellet at the bottom of the tube and the supernatant was discarded. The pellet was washed with 400 µL of 70% ethanol, centrifuged for 15 min and ethanol decanted. The process was repeated and the pellet air dried for about 1 hr (until no droplet of ethanol was seen). The pellet was suspended in 100 mL of molecular-grade water/RNase water. The quality was checked using 0.8% Agarose gel 13 .The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) was carried out in a thermal cycler (Applied Bio system in Life Technology 2720 Model) in 35 cycles consisting of the following gradient profiles: Denaturation at 94°C for the 30 sec, annealing at 57.5°C for 30 sec, extension at 72°C for 2 min and a final hold at 72°C for 10 min using the method of Omoigui et al. 13,15 . Each SSR primer was applied for screening all the varieties for PCR amplification. The list of 10 SSR primers used in the amplification and their sequence was given in Table 1.Gel electrophoresis: Amplicons were dispensed into the agarose gel-based electrophoresis chamber (Galileo Bioscience tank connected to Consort EV243 electrophoresis power supply) that consisted of 1X Tris acetic acid (TAE) buffer at 8.4 pH. A 50 kb ladder as the reference band ethidium bromide was also dispensed to stain the DNA for visualization. The connection ran at 120 Volts for 90 min. The separated bands were visualized on a UV trans illuminator while photographs were taken using a camera 15 (Canon SX120).The DNA bands were scored according to the method of Aguoru et al. 16 to generate a binary matrix. This was uploaded on the Minitab 17.0 software. Polymorphic bands were analyzed for each SSR primer used. Calculation of polymorphic information content (PIC) was done using the formula 14 :Cluster analysis was done using the Single Linkage method measured on Euclidean Distance. The level of significance was set at 5% (p#0.05).Selected gel images of the DNA of the four cowpea varieties amplified by SSR primers were shown in Plate 1. Primers gave a clear resolution of bands that indicate the presence of marker genes coding for a particular trait, possibly disease resistance genes. This was because the selected primers were previously used in cowpea breeding for resistance to diseases 17  Fig. 1: Distribution of DNA bands present among cowpea varieties using 10 SSR markersThe polymorphic information content (PIC) of the SSR primers was given in Table 1. It ranged from 0.619 in RB20 to 0.881 in RB38 primers. The top four in PIC values were RB38 (PIC = 0.881), CLM0342 (PIC = 0.873) CLM0400 (PIC = 0.866) and RB18 (0.865). The mean PIC of the ten primers was 0.884. The reported PICs were higher than the average of 0.51 earlier given by Olasupo et al. 9 in the SSR markers for evaluation of genetic diversity in mutant cowpea lines. In their studies, primers used were considered polymorphic since they surpassed the 0.50 benchmark. Ogunkanmi et al. 8 in their studies on cowpea lines characterized by 12 SSR markers described the genotypes as high in genetic difference as PIC was between 0.603 and 0.705. Thus, the four varieties of cowpea studies in this work are very high in terms of genetic differences as indicated by a maximum PIC of 0.881.SAMPEA-15 and SAMPEA-17 had the highest percentage number of bands of 30% each amplified by all primers. SAMPEA-18 recorded 25% while SAMPEA-14 was the least (15%) as shown in Fig. 1. These bands are DNA macromolecules carrying the genes flanked by the marker under study, hence, unique traits of interest are identified. This submission is in tandem with other reports where SSR markers are used as landmarks for monitoring traits 13 and constructing the genetic structure of a population of Vigna unguiculata 12 .The information provided by the ten SSR markers is complimentary to the results of cluster analysis that gave very high genetic differences. The genetic similarity index of the dendrogram was very low as SAMPEA-17 showed the lowest similarity coefficients of 18.35 away from other varieties while SAMPEA-15 had similarity coefficients of 33.33 as shown in Fig. 2. These are the most distant genotypes that diverged from the other two varieties. SAMPEA-14 and SAMPEA-18 are closely related in genetic constituents based on the primers employed. A similar pattern of genetic divergence was earlier presented by Badiane et al. 11 using 49 SSR markers to determine the phylogenetic relationship that exists among some local varieties and inbred lines. It also supported recent phylogenetic constructions among some legumes using SSR markers 6,18 .The outcome of this study implies that there are genetic differences among the four varieties of cowpea where sample-17 was an outstanding genotype based on the molecular marker employed. This could be a reflection of differences in genetic coding for a useful agronomic trait. Fig. 2: Dendrogram of four improved cowpea varieties implies significant functional or structural divergence and these sequences are unrelated in a phylogenetic tree. This study recommends further molecular studies on the four varieties of cowpea using extensive molecular breeding tools as the present work is limited by the size of the markers employed. Hence, a large number of SSR and other markers may be used in future work.This study has revealed high genetic differences among the four varieties studied. Polymorphic information content values of the 10 SSR primers were very high thus complimenting the low genetic similarity coefficients reported. SAMPEA-17 was the most distant of the four varieties. All of the varieties may be used as genetic materials in breeding work to improve local landraces to achieve sustainable cowpea production and food security in Nigeria.Several new varieties are released from breeding programs targeted at solving specific threats to sufficient cowpea production in Nigeria. As part of efforts to promote crop improvement, this study was carried out to determine the level of genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic relationship that exists among four selected improved varieties of cowpea (SAMPEA-14, SAMPEA-15, SAMPEA-17 and SAMPEA-18) using 10 SSR molecular markers.","tokenCount":"2079"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4962176967.json b/data/part_1/4962176967.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b163729709758a669e36b8008d95130c4c06aaae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4962176967.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4467030f7cb1d886ef06782bf872760b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2f57573a-74ce-4d35-96fa-347fc75f458f/retrieve","id":"-1627372870"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d0f49c6a-c559-4456-9cc4-438ceee72670","pagecount":"6","content":"La recherche sur les races bovines laitières au Sénégal montre que combiner de meilleurs potentiels génétiques bovins à de bonnes pratiques de gestion des animaux, peuvent résulter en une augmentation significative des bénéfices pour les ménages. Pour les éleveurs bovins laitiers non-transhumants dans deux sites d'étude, la métisse issue d'un croisement entre les zébus indigènes et les Bos taurus avec une meilleure gestion, est la plus rentable parmi toutes les options envisagées. En effet, ce type de métisse est bien adaptée aux conditions environnementales (gènes indigènes) et productives (gènes Bos taurus). L'amélioration de la gestion a également permis l'expression de ce potentiel génétique. Ces résultats, issus de l'une des rares études de ce type dans les pays en développement (Marshall et al. 2015), permettra aux différents acteurs de ce secteur de prendre des décisions fondées sur des données scientifiques sur quelle race ou croisement de vaches laitières à promouvoir ou à élever.Cette publication est sous copyright de l'institut international de recherche sur l'élevage (ILRI). Elle est sous licence publique Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.Juin 2016Au Sénégal, la production laitière, assurée principalement par des bovins élevés dans des systèmes à faible apport d'intrants, ne satisfait pas la demande et par conséquence des quantités importantes de lait et produits laitiers sont importées (FAOSTAT). L'amélioration de la productivité des vaches laitières devrait avoir des effets positifs sur les moyens de subsistance des éleveurs et des autres personnes impliquées dans les chaînes de valeur du lait. Augmenter le faible niveau de consommation de lait par habitant peut également contribuer à l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle. La faible productivité des vaches laitières au Sénégal est généralement attribuée au faible potentiel génétique laitier des bovins zébu de races locales. Elle est aussi liée aux conditions environnementales difficiles et à une mauvaise gestion des animaux.Dans le but d'accroître la productivité des vaches laitières, le gouvernement a encouragé l'utilisation des races bovines exotiques à travers un programme national d'insémination artificielle (IA), dans lequel les éleveurs accèdent gratuitement aux races exotiques. En outre, l'IA avec des semences provenant des taureaux de races exotiques est disponible auprès des professionnels des services privés. Cela a conduit à une augmentation du nombre de métis (croisements des races locales et exotiques), et du nombre de bovins de races exotiques pures. Malgré cela, il y a relativement peu d'informations sur les performances des différentes races de bovins laitiers au Sénégal pour permettre aux éleveurs de faire un choix éclairé sur la race à utiliser. C'est dans ce contexte que le ministère finlandais des affaires étrangères dans le cadre du programme FoodAfrica, et le programme de recherche du CGIAR Elevage et Poissons ont financé un projet dans le but d'identifier et de promouvoir les races de bovins les plus appropriées dans certains systèmes de production au Sénégal. Ce rapport de recherche présente les premiers résultats du projet.L'étude a été réalisée dans deux sites au Sénégal, situés dans les régions de Thiès et Diourbel, comme présenté sur la Figure 1. Les sites sont en zone semi-aride avec une courte saison des pluies allant de juillet à octobre, et une pluviométrie annuelle moyenne de 300 à 500 mm. Le principal système d'élevage dans ces régions est agro-pastoral. Les bovins sont généralement élevés pour la viande et le lait. Des données sur la performance des bovins ainsi que des données économiques au niveau des ménages sur la gestion de ces animaux ont été obtenues par le suivi de 220 éleveurs laitiers avec un effectif de plus de 3200 bovins sur une période d'environ deux ans. Ces ménages étaient situés à la fois en zones rurales et péri-urbaines. Le suivi a été effectué par 14 séries de visites à la ferme durant la période d'enquête, qui était de mai 2013 à avril 2015.On a attribué à chaque animal un type de race, comme indiqué au Tableau 1 et à la Figure 2 ; sur la base d'informations génomiques (628 animaux femelles) ou des renseignements fournis par l'éleveur. Ces types de race représentaient les principales races de bovin et leurs métisses dans les élevages suivis (en sachant que plusieurs ménages élèvent différents types de races). Les paramètres associés aux animaux, tels que les paramètres de reproduction, les taux de mortalité et les prix de vente etc., ont été calculés pour chaque type de race en tenant compte du niveau de gestion des élevages ainsi que les différentes classes d'âge des animaux. Ces classes d'âge sont : veaux, animaux âgés de moins de 12 mois ; jeunes, animaux âgés de 12 à moins de 36 mois et adultes, animaux âgés de plus de 36 mois.Les paramètres économiques comprenant tous les coûts et les bénéfices ont été calculés : (a) pour chaque type de race et par niveau de gestion des animaux lorsque le paramètre à calculer est au niveau des animaux (tels que le prix de vente de l'animal ou le coût des aliments), ou (b) pour chaque ménage possédant en majorité un type de race dans leur troupeau lorsque le paramètre à calculer est au niveau des ménages (tels que le prix de vente du lait ou le coût du logement des animaux).    ","tokenCount":"855"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4993532994.json b/data/part_1/4993532994.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a096b67e7fb3daf0e3075eb6f5f3211f3b431e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4993532994.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"78da8ffb20d3e1f97dc0794bc7cc03fd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3150a3ec-8ccc-4876-a655-b920021e8402/retrieve","id":"-1558001014"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"35b1216a-df20-4081-96a4-d8ed43269474","pagecount":"16","content":"Over the past decade, the pig sector in Rwanda has experienced significant growth driven by both domestic and export demand for pork. This has resulted in a nearly twofold increase in the national pig herd, with the number of pigs rising from 684,708 in 2010 to an estimated 1,498,721 in 20221,498,721 in (MINAGRI, 2022)). Despite this growth, the pig value chain in Rwanda faces several challenges. Most of the pig farming is carried out by smallholders using low-input systems, with limited access to technology, information, and services. Constraints include low productivity due to low adoption of technology, unstable and costly feed supply, high incidence of diseases, lack of organized pig breeding, and insufficient information and training for pig farmers. Furthermore, poor market infrastructure and an underdeveloped marketing system limit smallholder farmers' access to inputs and pig markets, resulting in reliance on middlemen and low profit margins. While there is potential for increased productivity and market development, interventions targeting feeds, herd health, genetics, and market linkages are needed to incentivize farmers and improve the overall performance of the pig value chain (Hirwa et al., 2022).This brief presents the results of a rapid assessment of the pig genetic-resource value chain in Rwanda, in terms of actors, their roles, and inclusion (considering women and men, as well as youth versus non-youth). It is intended for use by stakeholders who are collectively working to strengthen the pig sector in Rwanda, with the pig genetics value chain representing one component of thisThe value chain was mapped under the \"Profiting from pigs in Rwanda\" project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with the Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), the University of Rwanda, Land O'Lakes Venture37, Orora Wihaze Activity, and the Rwanda Pig Farmers Association. This project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Food Security as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. The overall aims of the project are to improve the livelihoods of smallholder men and women pig producers, in a sustainable manner, through increased productivity and incomes and strengthened market linkages in pig value chains, and to strengthen the capacities of Rwanda's National Agricultural Research and Education Systems in pig husbandry, including the production and delivery of quality pig genetics.A stakeholder workshop was held September 2022, comprising 35 persons (8 women and 27 men) from different nodes of the pig value chain. During this workshop an activity was performed to map the pig genetic-resource value chain, as well as gather stakeholders' perceptions on various aspects of it, including the representation of women and men, as well as youth and non-youth (with youth defined as 35 years or less) at the different nodes. The mapping was implemented as a focus group discussion comprising a subgroup of workshop participants who self-selected based on being knowledgeable on this topic.Additional information, including on the importation of pigs into Rwanda and the involvement of specific initiatives / projects in the pig sector, was obtained through discussions with various experts, particularly from the RAB, post the stakeholder meeting.A schematic of the pig genetic-resource value chain in Rwanda is given in Figure 1. The majority of pigs within Rwanda are kept by smallholders, who generally keep breeding animals and / or fattening piglets under low-input conditions. Those who keep sows usually keep one to a few (Enabel Technology Audit, 2021;Hirwa et al 2022;Shyaka et al., 2022). Boars are kept by only a small portion of pig keepers, with the majority accessing boars located within the community such as those kept by neighbors or village boar keepers. Pedigree records are not kept, and crossing is unstructured, thus smallholder pig keepers do not generally know the exact genetic background of their pigs. However, breeding pigs are perceived to mainly be of the local breed, or a cross between the local breed and one or more exotic breeds. The local breed of pig is considered to have originated from Northern Uganda, with the Ugandan 'local' pigs considered to have ancestry contributions from black or belted old British pigs (see Babigumira et al., 2021). Exotic breeds have more recently been introduced into Rwanda, as discussed in more detail below.There have been several major initiatives to introduce high-performing pig genetics into Rwanda, starting from 2019. Both live animals, as well as semen, have been imported from Belgium. The imported genetics currently comprise animals (both sows and boars) of the breeds Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Pietrain and Camborough® with this importation facilitated by the RAB with the support of various projects. The animals are received by \"breedingmultiplication units\", including the RAB Centre of Excellence in Pig Breeding (located at Muhanga, Figure 2) as well as a number of private units. These units have the capacity to maintain the pure-lines, or produce specific desired crosses, as well as perform semen collection and processing (Figure 3). Some of the private units are also accessing improved pig genetics from outside of Rwanda (mainly Europe) through private importation of frozen semen.Rwanda has a pig semen distribution system that is unique to East Africa, using drones operated by the company Zipline. The drones transport semen from the RAB Centre of Excellence in Pig Breeding Unit to specific \"dropsites\" across the country, where they are collected by artificial insemination service providers (Figure 4). Ground transportation of semen also occurs, with semen transported from breeding-multiplication units either to semen depots or direct to artificial insemination (AI) service providers.Pig AI service providers are trained and certified by RAB typically with project support. Details of the inseminations performed by the AI service providers, as well as the resultant progeny, are recorded through a paper and electronic-based recording scheme facilitated by RAB (Figures 5 and 6).In additional to the breeding-multiplication units, some additional pig keeping units (referred to here as \"multiplication-commercial\" units) receive support to cross their own animals to the improved genetics from the breeding-multiplier units with subsequent progeny sold to commercial producers for fattening. Both breedingmultiplication units, and the multiplication-commercial units, also sell excess animals, or those not suitable for breeding, as slaughter animals.Smallholder pig producers (Figure 7) can also access the improved genetics directly, such as through AI to their existing sow. In time, with repeated matings and selection of the resultant progeny as parents, this will result in an \"upgrade\" from the current genetic base towards that of the imported higher-performing genetics. Smallholders are encouraged by the artificial insemination service providers and other advisors, who most-commonly have been trained by RAB, to rotate the breed of boar-semen used to perform AI to avoid inbreeding (as replacement sows are often sourced on-farm). As such, a structured cross-breeding scheme, where commercial piglets are produced from the cross maternal-line sow (e.g. Landrace and Large White) and terminal-line boars (e.g. Pietrain and Duroc), as is practiced in many pig sectors globally is not the current aim (Figure 8). Rather the current aim is to upgrade existing genetics with higher performing breeds while maintaining an acceptable level of inbreeding. The resultant breed-type would be an admixture (a mixture of many breeds, with the underlying breed types and proportions varying and not necessarily known).      Figure 6. Recording booklet on progeny born from artificial insemination, with copies distributed to farmers, RAB, the inseminator and to district officials. Information is also entered into an electronic database. (Photo credit: Claire Hirwa/RAB). Figure 8. A schema of a typical cross-breeding schemes in pigs, as commonly adopted globally.Individual nodes of the pig genetic resource-value chain in Rwanda are described below, with further details on key actors and their roles.Pig breeding -high-performing pig genetics: Pig breeding companies focus on breeding high-performing pigs (both pure breeds and synthetics) meeting the demands of different markets. Genetics is mainly distributed in the form of live breeding animals or semen. The companies typically use the latest genomics, phenomics, reproductive, and data technologies to achieve rapid rates of genetic gains, for breeding lines (pure-breeds, crosses, or synthetics) linked to a specific breeding objective. A limited number of such companies, often multinationals, dominate and provide the majority of the world's pig genetics (Simm et al., 2020).A summary of improved pigs recently imported into Rwanda is given in Table 1 below, with representative breed photos in Figure 9. Imports of Pietrain, Landrace, Duroc and Large White occurred in 2021, with additional animals from these breeds, as well as the Camborough® line, imported in 2023 (Table 1). The pigs were sourced through SOITEC Limited (a Rwandan company) with RAB and the Development Agency of Belgium's Federal Government (Enabel) initiative supporting these importations. The pigs originated from Belgium. Landrace, Large White and Camborough® are typically considered maternal lines, whilst Pietrain and Duroc are typically considered terminal sire lines. The Camborough® line was developed by the Pig Improvement Company (https://www.pic.com), bred for both low maintenance and high performance (https://www.pic.com/products/camborough/). For more on these breeds see Simm et al. (2022). The pigs have been distributed to various breeding-multiplication units across the country.  Photo credits: Janvier Karangwa/RAB.Pig breeding-multiplication units: Pig breeding-multiplication units comprise the RAB Centre of Excellence in Pig Breeding as well as a number of private units. They primarily function to receive and breed the improved pig genetics, and disseminate this to others as live animals or semen. Each of these units has the capacity to collect and process semen.The RAB Centre of Excellence in Pig Breeding is located in Muhanga. Currently it has 12 breeding sows and 30 breeding boars of the breeds Duroc, Pietrain, Large White, Landrace and Camborough®. The Centre of Excellence has good capacity to collect and process semen, which is then distributed to artificial insemination service providers located in all districts except Rusizi and Kigali city by drones in partnership with Zipline. Semen is transported from the Centre of Excellence to Zipline by ground, and ground transport can also be used to transport semen to semen depots or AI service providers.Private AI units have been selected by RAB to receive support by the initiatives to function as breeding-multiplication units. Criteria for selection was based on farmers having more than 10 cross-bred sows and showing willingness. Support was provided in the form of breeding animals, equipment and consumables associated with semen collection, processing and packaging. Currently there are six of these units located in the districts of Gicumbi, Rwamagana, Bugesera, Rulindo, Rusizi and Rubavu. Of these, five are male owned and one (Bugeresa) female owned, and all owners are older (non-youth).The University of Rwanda also has a pig breeding center based at Musanze that, while it currently has some animals, it is not producing semen. It is not clear if/when this center will be reactivated.The multiplication-commercial units comprise numerous private pig enterprises that inseminate their pigs with semen from the breeding-multiplication units. The resultant improved piglets are sold to commercial producers for fattening. Following the stakeholder workshop where this value chain was mapped, 97 household pig enterprises across 9 districts (Rwamagana, Bugesera, Muhanga, Rulindo, Gicumbi, Nyamagabe, Rusizi, Rubavu, Gisagara) were selected to be multiplication-commercial units and receive support under the Enabel project. These units are 64% male owned and 34% female owned, with youth comprising 30%.Semen transporters: Semen transporters move semen from one location to another while ensuring it remains at a constant temperature of 4°C. Within Rwanda, semen is delivered by drones operated by the company Zipline. Zipline, an American company, is renowned for its design, manufacturing, and operation of delivery drones. Within Rwanda, Zipline primarily focuses on the delivery of medical supplies to remote areas, but also provides other services such as pig semen delivery. The Zipline headquarters in Muhanga (and a second location in Kayonza) act as both a semen depot and distributor. The company receives semen, in labelled vials, from the RAB Center of Excellence in Pig Breeding (also located in Muhanga) where it stores it at 4°C for up to seven days. Upon RAB receiving a request from an AI service provider for semen, Zipline is notified, and the semen dispatched in special protective packaging within a two-minute time frame. The drone follows specific flight paths to 'drop-sites' where the semen is dropped and collected by the requesting AI service provider. Currently one drone carries one vial of semen, for insemination of one pig. Semen is also transported throughout the country by bus using cool boxes to maintain the required temperature.Semen depots: Semen depots are places where semen can be stored, maintaining the cold-chain. Currently, with the type of semen processing and semen extenders used in Rwanda, semen is considered to be storable for up to 7 days. The current semen depots include the Zipline main headquarters at Muhanga and a second Zipline dispatch center at Kayonza, plus a number of private agro-vets in various locations.There are more than 600 veterinarians and animal health care workers that have been trained in pig artificial insemination in Rwanda. These include sector and district level veterinary officers (employed by the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), private veterinarians or animal health care workers who usually offer AI as one of their services, and veterinarians from Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF) and World Vision (both NGOs). RAB has provided the majority of training for the AI service providers, with the support of various initiatives / projects including Enabel, Orora Wihaze and DUHAMIC-ADRI. The stakeholders perceived the AI service providers to be mostly men (80%) with some female (20%), and mainly youth (90%) with some non-youth (10%).Smallholder farmers typically keep one to two sows, and practice a mix of wean to farrow, wean to finish, and farrow to finish operations (Mbuza et al., 2016;Claire et al., 2022). Pigs are most commonly sold as slaughter animals to traders or aggregators. The stakeholders perceived that within a dual-headed household it was common for both women and men to be involved in the household pig enterprise, with women mostly responsible for labor including feeding and watering the pigs, as well as cleaning the pens, and men mostly responsible for decision-making and income control. Few youths are involved, due to lack of means, including land to house the pigs and capital for start-up.Decision makers. Key decision makers on pig genetics (not shown in Figure 1) include the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources and RAB. The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources is responsible for policies guiding the pig value chain in Rwanda. RAB is involved in approval of live animal and semen imports as well as health care of the pigs. Other key decision makers involved in pigs more generally include the Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA), which supports the protection and promotion of pig consumers rights, and the Rwanda Food and Drug Authority (FDA) which ensures protection of public health through regulation of veterinary medicines, vaccines and other biological products.Supporting initiatives / projects. There are a number of initiatives / projects that include a focus on the pig genetics value chain, as summarized in Table 2. Of note is: support to import of new pig genetics, the private breeding-multiplication units as well as the multiplication-commercial units, by the government of Rwanda (GoR) and Enabel: support to training of AI service providers by the GoR, Enabel, and Orora Wihaze; and support to a recording database and development of a national genetic improvement plans for pigs by the GoR and Profiting from Pigs in Rwanda. Stakeholders indicated that key constraints to the pig genetics value chain included: ▪ the high cost of importation of improved pig genetics, whether live animals or semen; ▪ low levels of record keeping across the chain, decreasing traceability; ▪ lack of a certification system for breeding-multiplication units; ▪ lack of linkages between actors across the pig genetics value chain; and ▪ lack of farmer knowledge on breeds, breeding and artificial insemination. Efforts to address these various constraints are strongly recommended. Information on the demographics of the actors, with older non-youth males owning the majority of the breedingmultiplication and multiplication-commercial units, as well as the artificial insemination service providers mainly being male youths, suggest that inclusiveness is also concern. Further studies in relation to this are currently being undertaken through the Profiting from Pigs in Rwanda project.","tokenCount":"2684"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/4994926251.json b/data/part_1/4994926251.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d84d6220d842f49e43260d210c409e6440743981
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/4994926251.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9f27b6ecf76698b8f0290c259c411170","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ef8a3569-d5fb-4dae-a0c3-07537682aa0f/retrieve","id":"337999764"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9761fbda-90c0-4c9d-aa82-21a37693f461","pagecount":"14","content":"• Same format as standard economywide datasets (e.g., national accounts)• Allows us to measure AFS structure and performance using actual dataTotal value added generated by all agricultural value chains (in constant dollars)Total number of workers who are primarily employed in an agricultural value chainStructure 2019 | Mozambique's Agrifood System Today GDP and employment in Mozambique's agrifood system (2019)• Part 1 focuses on the current size and structure of the national agrifood system    • Most value chains with fast AgGDP+ growth rates (*) ( > 5%) are in exportable group• Exportable value chains grew fastest (4.9%), accounting for more than half of total AFS growth • Less-traded value chains made an important contribution to AFS growth because of their large size; their total growth was below AFS average (3%)• AgGDP+ growth driven by strong growth in offfarm AFS (5.4%), including processing (7.2%)   • Average across outcomes• The value of outcome indicators (elasticity or multiplier) is expected to differ across value chain growth; not all value chains are equally effective at achieving all outcomes • Normalizing the individual outcome scores• The values of each outcome indicator are scaled so that the most effective value chain is given a score of one and the least effective is given a score of zero. A value chain with adverse impact is also given a score of zero.• An average score with equal weights is used to measure the total impacts across all value chains","tokenCount":"239"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5019804519.json b/data/part_1/5019804519.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3ce675513b7bdb790b18d1e841e1decb42369653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5019804519.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a7d8069d5915c4c43c496002165ef984","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a392b51e-8c14-4b6c-8206-7fb24a2f8612/retrieve","id":"1020443201"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"12c08c95-e39d-4e8d-be99-9e8d844aa2ee","pagecount":"4","content":"Feed the Future and its Innovation Lab on Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) approach gender by recognizing that women are important food producers and therefore reducing gender inequality is critical to achieving global food security. Improving the status of women can lead to increases in agricultural productivity, poverty reduction and improved nutritional outcomes. 1   Feed the Future and ILSSI therefore integrates gender-based analysis in all its work. To track changes in women's empowerment levels that might occur as a direct or indirect result of interventions under Feed the Future, USAID employs the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which measures indicators across five domains of empowerment: production, resources, income, leadership, and time. ILSSI identifies these domains as relevant to irrigation and informs the Lab's gender responsive 2 approach to research design and implementation. Indeed, ILSSI partner IFPRI identified \"irrigation as an entry point for women's empowerment (through increased asset ownership and control over resources and reduced time spent on water collection)\" (Domenech and Ringler, 2013). An ILSSI working paper produced by Domenech (2015), expanded on the earlier paper and identified four potential impact pathways linking irrigation with gender and positive nutrition outcomes in Africa: Irrigation as a source of more diverse foods (through increased agricultural productivity and crop diversification);  Irrigation as a source of income (from market sales and employment generation, particularly in the lean season);  Irrigation as a source of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (through multiple water use, reducing environmental enteropathy), and  Irrigation as an entry point for women's empowerment (through increased asset ownership and control over resources and reduced time spent on water collection).At the same time, potentially adverse linkages between irrigation and nutrition from irrigation, such as through water-related diseases (such as malaria) or increased water pollution from agro-chemicals, and the role that women and men play in these linkages, are being addressed in ILSSI.ILSSI thus seeks to contextualize the overall Feed the Future gender responsive approach to irrigation and localize this to project countries and Feed the Future areas in Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania.There is limited research-based literature on the links between irrigation and gender on issues related to production, resources, income, leadership and time. ILSSI will expand upon this body of research with further field-based studies. In addition, ILSSI seeks to further understand the complex linkages between gender, irrigation and nutrition, which has had little attention in the past. Toward that, the research is identifying the factors that constrain women from both accessing and benefitting from small scale irrigation (SSI) development, including critical decision-making processes at household level. The research results will be important to establish an evidence base for developing pathways for the expansion of SSI in Africa that can reduce constraints to and expand benefits from SSI for both women and men, thereby contributing to improved outcomes for nutrition and health.Central research questions on gender 1. What are the links between irrigation, nutrition and gender? 2. What are the key constraints to adoption of irrigation technologies and practices by women and men? What are the key constraints to equitable benefits from investment in irrigation and agriculture water management practice by women and men? 3. What measures can be taken to reduce constraints to expand SSI by women and men? 4. What measures can be taken to ensure equitable distribution of benefits from SSI between men and women? Additional gender-related questions in household survey In addition to the irrigation themes highlighted in the WEAI, several questions in the household questionnaire highlighted below touch on gender-relevant themes. Furthermore, we focus on connections between irrigation, gender and nutrition specifically, since women who are empowered may have greater potential to improve nutritional outcomes for their households through irrigation and other pathways. Gender research outputs and knowledge products IWMI and IFPRI have jointly developed a protocol for Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to be conducted in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana. The goal of these FGDs will be to better understand the relationship between resources, technology use, adoption and access, and gender. These FGDs will take place in all intervention sites, and one control site will be surveyed for each intervention village.There will be one group of men and one group of women interviewed at each site. The topics in the protocol include 1) understanding livelihood resources (e.g. common livelihood activities, roles, and the influence of institutions in these roles), 2) understanding household water use (e.g. water sources, who collects water, and time collecting water), 3) how improvements in water technology could improve livelihoods, 4) irrigation practices (e.g. how technology is used and for which crops, and gender roles/responsibilities), and 5) innovation and agricultural technology adoption (e.g. characteristics of early adopters, and effects on social standing). By separating the FGDs by gender, we will be able to compare men and women's responses to better understand their perceptions of gender roles in water technologies and practices.IFPRI plans to use the data collected from the household survey and FGDs to inform a publication on the role of gender and irrigation. We will use data from both qualitative and quantitative sources, including the WEAI, to explore the relationship between irrigation and women's empowerment.In addition to research that seeks to identify constraints and opportunities for sustainable intensification of farming practices using SSI for men and women farmers, ILSSI is also using a gender responsive approach to capacity development. Additionally, IWMI is collaborating with local partners to provide training on managing credit specific to SSI technologies. The trainings target the inclusion of female-headed households and women farmers, in addition to men farmers. The expected outcome of the trainings is to strengthen knowledge and capacity to increase access to credit for farmer investments in SSI technologies and to inform design of finance products for SSI targeted at women.IFPRI is collaborating with USAID in developing a training on gender, to be administered in each of the countries. The training will cover basic concepts of gender analysis, their application to irrigation, connections to nutrition, and how to monitor progress, including the use of the WEAI and USAID's Gender Integration Framework, with applications to irrigation and nutrition. The expected outcome is to strengthen capacity to recognize and address gender issues in irrigation. In preparation of the ILSSI gender workshops that are planned to be implemented back-to-back with USAID gender training in the three ILSSI countries, a gender training needs assessment was implemented in the three countries in early 2015. The training will strengthen local capacity to address and include gender as a component of projects in other sectors, including irrigation, nutrition and agriculture. The project will not only train members of government and academic institutions, but also local implementing and collaborating partners, on considerations for mainstreaming gender into programs and policies.","tokenCount":"1115"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5042803670.json b/data/part_1/5042803670.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e92b45e76bee8da05453971b7fab57bbb71f7c7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5042803670.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0c486ba34fcdde0cccb43fa8e4082b4e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f2ebf07a-8bdc-412e-85d4-c2ef0c56b720/retrieve","id":"-1680107791"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aa0bd45d-0f9b-40fa-b8b6-5ab9b011a092","pagecount":"11","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used..Atsbi district (woreda) is located in the eastern zone of Tigray region, at the the boarder with Afar region. Gebrekidan kebele is one of the kebeles in Atsbi woreda. This kebele has a large livestock population and the livestock sub-sector, particularly sheep production and apiculture, is an important component of the agricultural sector. Despite its huge livestock population, its contribution to the livelihood of the households is limited. One of the factors which limit livestock productivity in the area is severe feed shortage. Thus, the objective of the current study was to assess feed resource availability and utilization using a feed assessment tool (FEAST) within the context of the overall farming and livestock production systems and to determine feed improvement options and interventions.Gebrekidan kebele is located 14 o 00'06.03''N, 39 o 43'30.55''E at an altitude of 2855 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l). It is 83 km from Mekelle City and 18 km from Atsbi town. The average rainfall of the kebele is 668 mm per annum and the average temperature is 18 o C. The total area coverage of the kebele is estimated at 117.554 sq km (ILRI-IPMS report, 2004) and is known by its erratic rainfall which starts at the end of June and ends in mid-August. This kebele is one of the drought prone kebeles of the woreda. There are five administration villages in Gebrekidan kebele namely Barka, Atsgebet, Wukro, Hichean and Ketema-Dera with a total human population of 10,148 human populations, 4502 males and 5646 females.Two tools, the participatory rural appraisal approach (PRA) and FEAST were used to collect information. Farmers were selected based on gender (men and women household head), land size (landless, below average, average and above average), and age group (youth, middle age and elders). Twenty participants were selected. 9 farmers (3 from small landholdings, 3 from medium landholdings and 3 from large landholdings) were selected for individual interviews. The survey was undertaken on 22-23rd December, 2013.The information gathered during the group discussions was examined and reported. The quantitative data collected from individual key informant farmers were entered into the FEAST excel template (www.ilri.org/feast) and analyzed.The kebele has a crop-livestock farming system. The major crops grown are barley, wheat, fababean, fieldpea and lentil. The livestock production of the kebele was dominated by sheep and cattle production. The average farm size in Gebrekidan is 0.25ha (Table 1). Land shortage is a major problem. The kebele has one cropping season called Kiremti that begins at the end of May and extends to mid-December. The rainy season begins end of June and ceases during the first week of September. The farmers are used their land for different crop such as barely, wheat, faba bean, field pea and lentil (Figure 1). Fallowing is not commonly practiced because of land scarcity. At least 35% of the households in the kebele irrigated portions of their land.Labour availability is in excess as most of it is hired labour using farmers networking groups (1 to 5 farmers), labour exchange through human and oxen and family support. In the kebele, labour is required mainly in May-July (for planting), July-August (for weeding) and October-December (for harvesting and trashing). The labour costs for the three periods are Birr 100, 70 and 100 respectively ($ 3.5 -5). These labour costs do not include food and local drinks (estimated at Birr 50) provided to the each labourer. The reason for the high cost of labour during planting and harvesting/threshing is because men are involved in these activities. labour costs for weeding are low because only women are involved. Availability of agricultural inputs is a main problem because the farmers have to travel a distance of 18 km to Atsbi town to purchase the inputs. The main source of income is selling of handicrafts made in the community. Fattening of sheep, goats and cattle also contribute to income (Figure 2). About 30% of the population migrates from the kebele for different reasons such as migration to Arab countries for employment work in the construction industry, for trading (mainly animal and grains), marriage and education.There are credit providers in Gebrekidan, however farmers shun the services for various reasons which include low amount of cash that can be borrowed (below Birr 10,000; $500), a high interest rate (15%), group loans (from 3-5 people) and a lot of bureaucracy involved in processing the loans.The predominant livestock raised in the kebele are sheep, cattle, pack animals, poultry, apiculture and goats (Figure 3). They are reared mainly for milk, meat, honey and wax, sale, gifts (small ruminant and poultry), dung, transport (pack animals), egg and meat (poultry), draft power (oxen, dry cows, donkeys), dung (organic fertilizer), water fetching (donkeys), threshing (oxen and donkey) and prestige (cattle and horses) as shown in  Animal are housed in soil-roofed houses that are open on one side (opposite of the wind direction) locally called as \"afgebella\". These protect the animals from predators, cold, wind and rainfall. All types of animals are placed together except the improved dairy cows (crosses) that are kept in separate rooms of the soil-roofed house. Local breed animals graze freely in the farms while the cross cows are reared within the homesteads.The kebele has a problem of veterinary service, shortage of quality drugs, limited AI service and shortage of skilled veterinarians. The veterinary service is found in Atsbi town and is offered by the woreda veterinarians every two months. Cattle drugs are Birr 2-3.5 ($ 0.1-0.175) per head and Birr 1 ($0.05) for small ruminants. Syringe treatment for cattle is Birr 5-10 ($0.25-0.5) and Birr 5 for small ruminants. Vaccinations are Birr 1.85 ($0.09) and Birr 0.55 ($0.03) for small ruminants. Spraying of external parasite costs Birr 1 ($0.05) for cattle and Birr 0.5 ($0.025) for small ruminants. Farmers complain of low quality AI service because the cows require more than 2 times of repeat AI service on average. The price of AI service is Birr 2 ($0.1) and no payment is required for the repeat services give. Due to perceived low quality of the AI service, farmers prefer bull service at their village that is free. Farmers are increasingly choosing the cross-breed bulls for breeding. Traditionally, the farmers combine wheat straw and barley straw to improve the palatability of wheat straw. There is low intake of wheat straw when it is fed alone. Farmers mix forages with the straws when feeding dairy cows. Common forages include napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum, sesbania (Sesbania sesban) and lucerne (Medicago sativa). Straws from pulse crops are fed to animals without mixing them with any supplements. No treatments are carried out on straws. The main feeds purchased are barley straw, hay and wheat bran (Figure 4). The main feedstuffs contributing to the dry matter, metabolizable energy and crude protein content of livestock diets are crop residues, grazing, naturally collected fodder and purchased feed as shown in Figure 5a-c. Crop residues from cereals are the main source of feed during the dry reasons (Figure 6). Legume straws also contribute minimally. ","tokenCount":"1203"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5062508383.json b/data/part_1/5062508383.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..05061d4af1bb732599fec0e6e8c81f4bfc37ea20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5062508383.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"97970cafb96d6cc8b88070345c74a106","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9eaf4349-50db-4887-aa8e-66165200a2ad/retrieve","id":"1985956791"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b6715296-fd9a-4b6e-a103-501d7575a6d8","pagecount":"12","content":"Based on changes in the international markets.Aim: Adaptation to new scenarios in order to strengthen the position in the international market.This opening process has generated changes in the productive structure expressed in the way stakeholders interact (e.g., to become more competitive).Three periods have been identified:The slow kick-off of livestock policiesThe beginning of the end of protectionismModernization, conflict and postponements Accumulation of functions and responsibilities was a constant in the agricultural sector, but there was a lack of institutional capacity to enforce the new regulations (e.g., ICA, INCORA).The new legislation generated a boom of land acquisitions by public institutions caused by incentives for public officials to buy and redistribute land. However, this was mainly oriented towards buying unproductive plots.  Government had to take urgent actions to rescue producers from bankruptcy and uneven market conditions.The dismantling of the protectionist model was carried out in a radical way and sought to boost the economy through important reforms in all sectors, promoting competitiveness and an open trade model that supports the cattle export processes (meat and milk).The main problem in applying these policies was that the situation of the more remote rural areas with low levels of profitability and high risks had not been taken into account leading to knowledge and capacity gaps necessary for complying with the new regulations.Law 811: Defined that all new regulations should be focused on particular value chain segments Strong movement of lobby agents to postpone regulations.An accelerated process of enacting specialized and strong norms begun, emphasizing on strengthening the critical points of the value chain.Stakeholders, e.g., primary producers and slaughterhouses, received more attention given their strong impact on food quality and safety.Growing interest in adopting international guidelines on animal welfare, but to date no specific norms have been enacted.Policies enacted for each value chain segmentThe legislative development varies among the value chain segments (asymmetry): Regulation of the most important actors to ensure compliance of the aligned processes.Concepts such as traceability and animal welfare work only if they are applied properly in the most important value chain segments.Most of the difficulties and problems arose due to a lack of support for rural and remote areas with low levels of education and competitiveness.Implementing economic reforms in the 1990s and competitive reforms in the 2000s had serious consequences on agricultural production and the livelihoods in rural areas (e.g. decreasing growth rates, unemployment, decreasing animal inventory).Institutional weakness is not only due to low capacity development but also a result of the duplication of responsibilities in institutions and limited coordination among them. (Díaz & Burkart, 2017).Although there exist regulations regarding animal welfare, environment and sustainability, they are squeezed in general regulations and not stand-alone acts which decreases their visibility and importance.Promote studies that analyze the impact of public policies affecting different types of value chain actors.A strengthening of the institutions at local and national levels will facilitate a correct compliance with and M&E of the regulations as well as a better understanding between the state agents and value chain stakeholders.It is necessary to promote regulations specialized on animal welfare, environment and sustainability in order to increase the importance and impact of the topic.National legislations should incentive mechanisms for products differentiated by animal welfare, sustainability and environmental characteristics, benefitting consumer welfare and satisfying consumer demand.The implementation of new policies and regulations should be uniform at all levels: national, departmental, local in order to reduce the negative impact on rural populations (e.g., as was the case with the closure of slaughterhouses).A land reform and a new legislation in order to reintegrate the victims of the armed conflict in rural areas is necessary for achieving a fair distribution of benefits among primary producers. Measures such as updating the cadastral system, optimizing the registration of land titles, and simplifying the process for land purchase are the basis for the development of the livestock sector.","tokenCount":"637"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5063824003.json b/data/part_1/5063824003.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4b4ce08d640e5bd33fb47c018ffb228a63bb2411
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5063824003.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6812a23a48eb4fdd82d37f1921a725c4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.resakss.org/sites/default/files/2021%20CAADP%20Biennial%20Review%20Brief_Angola.pdf","id":"-464365875"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7ebf41ec-7167-4057-9bba-ce656010d990","pagecount":"9","content":"Established in 2006 under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) supports efforts to promote evidence-and outcome-based policy planning and implementation. In particular, ReSAKSS provides data and related analytical and knowledge products to facilitate CAADP benchmarking, review, and mutual learning processes. AKADEMIYA2063 leads the work of ReSAKSS in partnership with the African Union Commission, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), and leading regional economic communities (RECs).In June 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) endorsed the Maputo Declaration (NEPAD 2003) through which the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was adopted as the vehicle across Africa for wealth creation, food security and nutrition, economic growth, and prosperity for all. Following ten years of CAADP implementation, in June 2014 the Heads of State and Governments of the AU met in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to endorse the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihood (AUC 2014). Through the Malabo Declaration, African leaders reiterated that agricultural transformation and food and nutrition security remained at the top of their political agenda and CAADP remained the main vehicle for coordinating the achievement of those goals. Between 2015 and 2025, the Malabo Declaration calls for the pursuit of the following seven commitments through a multi-sector approach:1. Recommitment to the principles and values of the CAADP process, This brief assesses the performance of Angola toward meeting the Malabo Declaration commitments across the three rounds of the BR, highlights challenges and lessons faced by Angola in the third BR of 2021, and outlines policy and programmatic measures required for Angola to meet the Malabo Declaration commitment targets by 2025.The overall performance of Angola over the three BR rounds is summarized in this section, comparing Angola's performance to that of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as a whole and to all Southern African countries, as Angola belongs to both country groups. Figure 1 illustrates the overall BR performance scores of Angola, SADC, and Southern Africa. Angola's overall BR score rose from 2.10 for the first BR to 4.80 for the second, an increase of almost 130 percent. However, Angola's performance fell between the second and third BRs, falling by over 20 percent to 3.77 for the third BR. Despite the improvement in Angola's performance between the first and second BRs, the overall scores for Angola for all three BR rounds were below the benchmark scores for each. As the benchmark score for each round represents the minimum score for a country to be considered as being on-track at the time of the BR round for meeting the Malabo goals and targets set for the seven commitments, Angola has not been on-track to achieve the Malabo Declaration commitments by 2025 at any time since the first BR was conducted in 2017. Considering Angola's performance relative to other countries in SADC and in Southern Africa, Figure 1 also demonstrates that, except for the second BR, the overall performance score for Angola falls short of that for the SADC and Southern African countries. However, Angola's improvement in terms of its overall BR performance score between the first and second BRs was considerably higher than the improvement registered by the SADC and Southern African countries as a whole-80 percent for Angola versus 13 percent for SADC and 10 percent for Southern Africa. Moreover, Angola performed better on the second BR than both the SADC countries and the Southern African countries.We now turn our attention to assessing the performance of Angola across the seven Malabo Declaration commitments for the first (2017) and third (2021) BRs (Figure 2). Angola's commitmentspecific performance scores from both the first and third BRs fell short of their benchmark scores for all Malabo Declaration commitments, except for the commitment to adhere to CAADP principles and values in the first BR. However, Angola's performance on this commitment for the third BR, while it improved from the first BR, fell short of the third BR benchmark. These results show that Angola was not on-track to meet any Malabo Declaration commitment by 2025. Although not shown, a similar pattern is seen for the performance score for each commitment in the second BR of 2019. This poor performances of Angola across all commitments over all three BR rounds are of concern. The country will need to make substantial further efforts if it is to realize the Malabo Declaration commitments by 2025. The performance of Angola relative to the SADC countries in aggregate across all Malabo Declaration commitments shows a mixed picture. For the first BR, Angola's performance was worse than that of all SADC countries across six of the seven Malabo Declaration commitmentsthe exception was on the commitment to end hunger by 2025. However, for the second BR, Angola demonstrated an improved performance relative to all SADC countries; having higher scores for four out of the seven commitments. Unfortunately, Angola's performance relative to SADC countries regressed for the third BR of 2021, with the country showing higher performance scores than the SADC countries as a whole only for two commitments.Despite failing to reach each benchmark score, Figure 2 shows that from the first to the third BR, Angola realized sizable improvements in its performance for five of the seven Malabo Declaration commitments-commitment 2 to enhance agricultural finance fell over this period, while commitment 6 for enhancing resilience to climate variability barely changed. However, although these improvements for the five commitments suggest that Angola is moving in the right direction toward achieving the Malabo Declaration commitments by 2025, they are not enough.The performance score for the commitment to enhance agricultural finance (commitment 2) declined by 58 percent between the first and third BR from 2.33 to 0.98, making it the worstperforming Malabo Declaration commitment for Angola. The poor performance for this commitment is related to weak performance for two sub-categories under this commitment: public expenditure to agriculture, with a score of 3.28; and access to finance, with a score of 0.63; against a benchmark of 10.00 for both sub-categories. The reduction in performance for enhancing agricultural finance between the first and third BRs is of concern given empirical evidence that shows increased expenditure on agriculture, especially on agricultural research, to exhibit among the highest returns in increased agricultural productivity and poverty reduction. Alene and Coulibaly (2009) found that a 1.0 percent increase in expenditure in agricultural research over time resulted in a 0.38 percent increase in agricultural productivity, a 0.95 percent growth in per capita income, and a 0.60 percent reduction in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.The two other commitment areas in which Angola's performance relative to the on-track benchmarks is poor are the country's commitment to halving poverty through agriculture (commitment 4the deficit of the commitment performance score relative to the benchmark score is 83 percent) and to enhance resilience to climate change (commitment 6-a deficit of 58 percent). The poor performance for the poverty reduction commitment is related to weak performance for several sub-categories under this commitment: agriculture gross domestic product (GDP), with a score of 2.50 against a benchmark of 6.25; women participation in agribusiness, with a score of 1.50 against 7.00; and youth employment in agriculture, with a score of 0.05 against 5.00. The poor performance for the commitment to enhance resilience to climate change is predominantly due to Angola's poor performance related to investment in resilience building, with a score of 6.70 against a benchmark of 10.00.Despite not meeting the benchmarks for achieving the Malabo Declaration commitments by 2025, Angola performed relatively well on several commitments. These included those on mutual accountability (commitment 1), with the deficit of the performance score relative to the benchmark score estimated at only 11 percent, and ending hunger by 2025 (commitment 3), with a deficit estimated at 30 percent. The elements that contributed to relatively good performance on the commitment to mutual accountability for Angola were its capacity for evidence-based planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, with a score of 10.00 against a benchmark of 5.00; and Angola having in place a biennial agricultural review process, which garnered a score of 7.00 against a benchmark of 10.00. For the commitment to ending hunger by 2025, food safety, social protection, and post-harvest loss mitigation were the three out of the six performance subcategories for this commitment for which the country met the benchmark.The computation of BR performance scores is quite demanding in terms of data-43 indicators were tracked for the first BR, 47 for the second, and 46 for the third. Generating accurate national performance assessments on progress toward achieving the Malabo Commitments requires reliable agricultural data systems, which is a challenge for many African countries. Angola is no exception. For the third BR, Angola had 75 percent of the data required to compute indicators for all seven performance categories, but with significant variation across themes (Figure 3). While this data coverage is relatively low, it represents an improvement from the first BR for which data coverage stood at 52 percent. The performance score improvements from the first to the third BR are in part related to increased data coverage between the two rounds. Despite the significant progress made between the first and third BR in terms of data coverage, Angola still faces challenges in data access both in terms of availability and quality. These data constraints affect the country's performance under each BR round because a country receives a zero score for a given performance indicator when the required data to compute the indicator are not reported by the country. The commitments that are shown in Figure 3 to have the greatest challenges in terms of data availability are enhancing investment finance in agriculture (theme 2), ending hunger by 2025 (theme 4), boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities (theme 5), and enhancing resilience to climate variability (theme 6). These notably are the commitments on which Angola's performance has been the poorest (Figure 2).Angola needs to invest in reliable data systems. These investments should include developing protocols for data collection, processing, verification, and validation to improve evidence-based planning and formulating policies to fully report on all Malabo Declaration commitments and indicators. To avoid duplication of efforts, to strengthen data consistency, and to minimize data discrepancies, these data systems should be centrally managed under a single authority, such as the National Institute of Statistics. To be more effective and efficient, these data systems should be complemented with institutional strengthening and capacity building, including sufficient numbers of appropriately trained personnel.The policy and programmatic changes emerging from the three rounds of the BR in Angola that will be necessary to fast-track the country toward achieving the Malabo Declaration commitments include:• Strengthen the multi-sector technical working groups responsible for compiling the BR data for Angola.• Enhance public financial management to improve the quality of public agricultural expenditure and to promote planning of public investments in the agricultural sector, including donorfunded projects. This should be done in close partnership with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector, resulting in an increased allocation of public resources to the sector.• Update the National Investment Plan for Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition (PNIASAN), in light of the Malabo Declaration to better coordinate and promote accelerated growth and transformation of agriculture.• Create a better enabling environment for both domestic and foreign private sector investment in the agricultural sector. Such efforts should include approving a strategy for expanding the role of the private sector in agriculture.• Promote domestic agricultural processing, improve storage to reduce post-harvest losses, strengthen transportation networks for distribution and logistics, and increase agricultural marketing activities.• Strengthen and modernize national social protection programs and contingency plans for natural disasters.• Promote breastfeeding for two years and exclusive breastfeeding for six months.• Implement initiatives for economically empowering youth and women, particularly through job creation for them in the agricultural sector;","tokenCount":"1968"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5070666023.json b/data/part_1/5070666023.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ca62ffecaafe812d5481a147322abd39b344908
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5070666023.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e797969b7381c2ae119d3437ef9f41ca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fe95687c-87f3-4391-9234-ebc38a20ce6a/retrieve","id":"2038881092"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2a3f1814-07e1-4a9d-9cce-d871a6ac2dc0","pagecount":"4","content":"Livestock keepers and the stakeholders who support them through research, policymaking, and program implementation need more support to adapt livestock systems to the growing challenges of climate change.In sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are over 300 million impoverished people who rely on livestock as a key primary or even sole productive asset (Herrero et al. 2014). For many of these people, livestock also serve as their financial backup in times of economic stress. Similarly, Asia is home to over half of the world's total livestock population, including pigs, chickens and ruminants. Of these, 50-70% are kept by smallholder producers (Ahuja 2013). In recent decades, the number of livestock in Africa and Asia have maintained growth trends in response to increasing consumer demand and rural livelihood needs, trends which are expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Livestock systems in both regions are characterized by significant vulnerabilities to climate change impacts.Climate change impacts are affecting livestock systems through a variety of pathways. Dryland pastoral systems often receive the most attention in climate change interventions due to periodic droughts. However, dryland pastoralists are also perhaps the most attuned to drought management strategies, as they emerged from the need for resilience in the face of high environmental variability. Despite this common association, climate change adaptation is actually an issue in all kinds of livestock systems, from extensive dryland pastoral systems to mixed crop-livestock systems and intensive dairy systems. Heat and water stress, fodder productivity, as well as parasite and disease pressures are being affected by climate change in different ways and in different production systems (Thornton and Herrero 2009). Furthermore, as climate change impacts may reduce crop yields and profitability in mixed systems, livestock may become increasingly important elements of smallholder livelihoods in many places.Compared to cropping systems, livestock systems still remain under studied and under represented in the science and policy discussions of adaptation. Substantial knowledge gaps in livestock adaptation strategies makeClimate change adaptation in livestock systems it difficult to effectively develop and target adaptation interventions that support livestock keepers. Despite adaptation in livestock systems being a high priority in developing countries, the international community-including CGIAR's research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)-has been investing much more on lowering GHG emissions intensities from livestock systems than supporting the priorities of nations to adapt livestock systems to current and future climate stresses. While there is likely some overlap in practices that support both adaptation and mitigation, the general lack of knowledge production and practical interventions regarding adaptation in livestock systems makes it difficult to confidently target and leverage potential synergies.support of adaptation in livestock systems can contribute to important outcomes in livelihoods, nutritional security and environment. In addition to being sources of food and other products, livestock often also serve as salable assets to cope with financial stresses. Because so many people in vulnerable regions depend on livestock as key sources of food and income, measures must be taken to adapt to climate change in order to protect their livelihoods. In addition to sustaining rural livelihoods, pursuing climate change adaptation in livestock systems can also contribute to nutritional security at both household and national levels through maintaining or improving access to nutrionally dense foods. Animal source foods hold an important place in food systems as sources of high-density protein and micronutrients. Without adaptation measures, climate change impacts on livestock systems threatens to degrade nutritional security of both the rural and urban poor. Finally, climate change adaptation measures can contribute to improving environmental outcomes. Many likely adaptation measures are based on closer attention to natural resource management, such as with land, water and organic matter. This means that well-considered adaptation interventions will improve environmental stability and resilience. This product line blends upstream basic research with outreach efforts for achieving impact at scale.2. Support the planning, design and implementation of adaptation policies and investment by governments, donors and development NGOs. We will achieve this by generating a better understanding of climate change impacts on livestock systems and identification of impact hot-spots. This will be done by continuously updating and downscaling climate change projections and incoming evidence from adaptation tracking. Furthermore, ILRI will contribute to strengthen the capacity of policy makers through the development of a decision making framework that can identify and target best-bet adaptation strategies for various livestock systems. This framework will combine an inventory of practices, the biophysical and social conditions for their effectiveness, and trade-off analyses to identify potential downsides to particular adaptation practices.Monitoring, reporting and verification protocols for GHG emissions are well developed, but frameworks and methods for tracking social and environmental aspects of adaptive capacity are only now just beginning to be developed. Such frameworks and methods will be necessary as countries start to report against international agreements and obligations.Rather than being discrete silos, these three product lines overlap and intertwine, as do the thematic subjects.For example, research on developing and testing adaptation practices needs to be embedded within efforts to promote and disseminate the practices. This process may involve private sector partners or development NGOs and may, furthermore, involve engagement with policy makers to create an enabling policy environment. Likewise, improving dairy breeds needs to go hand in hand with improving quality and quanity of fodder which may involve basic research on fodder production combined with facilitation of improvements in the seed and fodder value chains. Overall, ILRI's combination of basic research and applied engagement, as well as our integration of biophysical and social science knowledge products, gives us a very strong position to be a pivotal actor in promoting climate change adaptation in livestock systems.By implementing against these three objectives, ILRI will achieve the following:1. Livestock producers will have improved access to high quality knowledge and technologies that will assist in adapting to climate change in their livelihoods. This will lead to higher productivity and greater household resilience in the face of climatically induced stresses, such as drought. This in turn will promote greater national and regional food and nutritional security. It is important to note that many adaptation technologies will be based on improving production efficiencies and environmental health, both factors associated with reducing GHG emission intensities in livestock systems, thus complementing ILRI's existing and expanding agenda on climate change mitigation in livestock systems.2. Policy makers, donors and international NGOs will be able to better target and tailor their interventions and programs to support adaptation in livestock systems. The high quality findings, refined models and improved technologies that will emerge from ILRI's upstream research will inform more effective planning, prioritization and implementation of appropriate and effective adaptation measures.3. Beyond improving livelihoods and food security in the face of climate change, ILRI will contribute to increasing national capacities to report against targets that are set in international agreements. For example, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) specify both adaptation and mitigation targets and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should soon provide a framework for reporting on adaptation in agricultural sectors. ILRI's work will help make this framework operational through methodological developments that are tailored to livestock systems and building capacity of national governments for implementation of adaptation tracking.ILRI can drive impact for livestock keepers through an integrated approach to climate change adaptation in livestock systems. ILRI's combination of basic upstream research and downstream outreach through partners, as well as biophysical and social sciences, make it uniquely suited to take an integrated approach to climate change adaptation in livestock systems. Climate change adaptation in livestock systems is urgent. Even though we need more information, we also need to act now while simultaneously pursuing a robust long-term research agenda. ","tokenCount":"1263"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5082950855.json b/data/part_1/5082950855.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..150d8ae9b4e26a0ab7d0d6d1483b5dfc8cfb9cf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5082950855.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7cbed6dcbcce17a85b6ef2f473fccc47","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb15868d-28ad-47bd-b671-d92a99bc72ca/retrieve","id":"-1798455319"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c382b830-58fd-4be6-9163-99a659999226","pagecount":"8","content":"Banana is grown in the humid and subhumid tropics, the tropical highlands, and even in the drier subtropics. In terms of production, bananas are the world's fourth most important food crop, mostly grown and consumed in the tropical and subtropical zones. The banana's ability to produce fruits all year round makes it an important food security crop and cash crop in the tropics. The crop is grown in more than 120 countries; around a third each is produced in the African, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American and Caribbean regions. As shown in Table 2.1.1, three categories of bananas are produced. Plantains and cooking bananas are staple foods, while dessert bananas are an important source of calories, minerals (such as potassium) and vitamins consumed as a fruit.The data in the table do not include production of export bananas. The production figures per capita can therefore be considered the production available for domestic consumption. About 87% of all the bananas grown worldwide are produced by small-scale farmers for local consumption as a food security crop, and for local markets rather than for international trade.They provide a staple food for millions of people, particularly in Africa. The regional figures do not highlight the subregions for which bananas are an important staple. Bananas and plantains supply more than 25% of the carbohydrate requirements for over 70 million people in Africa. These include parts of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Eastern DRC for which East Africa Highland bananas are a staple food consumed in some localities two to three times per day. East Africa is the largest banana-producing and consuming region in Africa with Uganda being the world's second leading producer after India, with a total production of about 10.5 Mt. In some African countries such as Uganda the daily consumption of banana may exceed 1.6 kilogrammes per person, which is the highest in the world.The plantain zone of Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon figures into the averages for West and Middle Africa. In Asia, the vast majority of cooking bananas is consumed in the Philippines. Papua New Guinea is the major consumer of cooking bananas in Melanesia, while countries such as Colombia and Peru have high per capita consumption of plantains in Latin America. Approximately 13% of worldwide banana production is destined for the export market. The banana fruit is extremely important as an export commodity especially in Latin America and Caribbean, which contribute over 83% of the total banana in the international market. The banana export industry is also the backbone of the economies of many Caribbean countries, and the crop plays a vital role in the social and political fabrics of the islands. In Africa, only five countries, namely Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Somalia, Ghana, and Cape Verde, export approximately 427,000 t of banana and plantain. There are more than 500 banana varieties in the world, but the Cavendish is the most exported banana cultivar.Nutritionally, fresh bananas contain 35% carbohydrates, 6-7% fibre, 1-2% protein and fat, and major elements such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, and vitamins A, B6 and C. Bananas are also used to manufacture beer, wine and other products and form an important part of the cultural life of many people.Bananas, plantains and cooking bananas are an herbaceous semi-perennial vegetatively Based on this summary of banana response to climatic parameters, the impact of climate change on banana production can be hypothesized. The effects were projected by Ramirez et al. (2011), although the limitations of the ECOCROP model for semi-perennial crops were described in greater length by Ramirez et al. (2012).Suitability for banana increases in the sub-tropics due to increases in winter temperatures and a decline in the frequency of frosts and cold snaps. The upper altitudinal limit for banana cultivation in highland tropics will increase due to increasing temperatures. The time from planting to harvest at intermediate altitudes in the tropics will decrease, although bunch size may also decrease. Higher temperatures will also increase the water demand for highland bananas. Productivity of bananas in lowland tropics may decline in those areas with extended periods of temperatures above 30˚C.The effects of changes in precipitation are harder to project. Greater irregularity of rainfall and declining rainfall will increase the length of the crop cycle and the seasonality of bunch production.  Source: Ramirez et al. (2011).Recent studies on bananas in East African highland bananas suggest that banana yields might continue to increase with increasing rainfall, at least until 1500 mm per year. For the East African highland bananas, yield losses of 9% were observed per 100mm annual rainfall decrease (Van Asten et al. 2011).Banana pests and diseases such as black leaf streak and banana bunchy top virus vectored by the banana aphid can be expected to expand into higher altitudes and into the subtropics with increases in average annual temperatures. In lowland areas, more complex interactions with rainfall and relative humidity make predictions of the impact of climate change on the severity of black leaf streak more difficult. Other pests which have temperature-dependent life cycles may also become more severe as temperatures increase in mid-and high-altitude and subtropical production areas.Highland banana areas that are currently little exposed to nematode, weevil, and sigatoka problems will significantly see yield losses increase (Figure 2.1.2). The major highland banana production areas are currently located over 1300 m above sea level. Weevil damage is still very low or absent at these altitudes. In lower areas, maximum yield is limited by weevils, with approximately 4% banana bunch weight loss per percentage point of weevil corm damage (XT). If temperature increases by 2°C, then the major production areas will be infected and yield losses due to weevils are estimated to increase to 30% or more. Similarly, Radophilis similis nematodes are currently limited to elevations below 1300 m and can cause up to 50% yield loss. Yield response curves are not yet established, but it is estimated that nematodes can contribute to yield losses in the same order of magnitude as weevils. Black sigatoka is currently the biggest plant health constraint in the major lowland production areas and this fungal foliar disease will also become more important in the highland areas.However, little is known about the effects of temperature on interaction with biocontrol agents. Besides increased problems with drought, pests and diseases, bananas are sensitive to extreme weather events such as hailstorms, droughts, floods, and strong winds. These are likely to increase in the future. No information is available on the effect of CO 2 concentration changes on banana productivity.In terms of vulnerability, bananas provide a buffer function in the farming systems. Short drought events at critical periods of annual crops may severely affect their yields, whereas bananas remain much more stable, albeit with yield losses as well. The biggest threat of climate change is an increase of pest and disease outbreaks, particularly in highland areas where farmers currently have bananas as their primary staple. For example, the genetic base of East African highland bananas is very narrow, and new pest and disease dynamics, triggered and/or enhanced by climate change will severely threaten the sustainability of these important buffers in smallholder farming systems.The highlands of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Eastern Congo stand out for their dependence on bananas for food security. Over 30 million people in poor households consume bananas as frequently as twice a day. This area is highly vulnerable in terms of percentage of poor households with limited resources and the challenges faced by national governments. The area is composed of many microclimates depending on proximity to the lakes, geological origin of soils, and altitudes that vary from 1000-2000 m above sea level, which makes climate change projections somewhat general. Temperatures are projected to increase, which will upset a delicate balance between bananas, annual rainfall (which is near the lower limit for banana production) and evapotranspiration. The increased temperatures may increase the pressure from black leaf streak disease and accelerate the reproduction rate of banana weevils and nematodes, three problems which are kept somewhat in check currently in production areas above 1400 m elevation. The projected increase in rainfall may be positive in offsetting the increased evapotranspiration from higher temperatures, but higher humidity may make conditions more favorable for black leaf streak. In summary, the highland banana areas of Uganda and Great Lakes Central Africa are potentially highly vulnerable, but climate change modelling needs to continue at a finer scale with greater attention to the interaction with pests and diseases and crop productivity.","tokenCount":"1406"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5118417657.json b/data/part_1/5118417657.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..87c8f46a24ff7dae35fe7a2afe8c95b39846eedd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5118417657.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d465c2c350cd718b16264e290dc97d24","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d46f41e4-e380-46ad-8e5b-b97e1521c063/retrieve","id":"462571740"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e1b4e2ec-a137-4fd9-9b1a-1378a701ab50","pagecount":"2","content":"Over the years, farmers have developed a range of production and management practices to conserve and sustainably use tropical fruit species diversity in Asia and elsewhere. These good practices can either be farmers' own innovations or developed by formal research agencies and further adapted by farming community in their own context. Because of perennial nature of the tropical fruit tree crops, research on these crops tends be a long term and costly.Good practice means different things for different people. For our purposes, we defi ned good practice as a system, method or process, that over time and space maintains, enhances and creates crop genetic diversity and ensures their availability to and from farmers and other actors for improved livelihoods on a sustainable basis.Multiple varieties of mango maintenance in a single tree could be a good practice for scion maintenance for those nurseries and fi eld genebank who have limited land resources and staff. The practice of grafting of multiple varieties (4-5) in a sapling could be an income generatingThe news of this unique mango reached the Nawab who owned the land. Being aware of the genetic wealth and he took due care to protect and conserve this exquisite mango variety which later became the popular 'Dashehari' variety of North India.opportunity to nurseries for marketing diversity and raising public awareness in urban home gardens. It could be also a novelty that can be practised to promote agro tourism and educational tool (i.e. to demonstrate varietal diversity without having to walk through entire orchard).It is hard to believe that a farmer can have a hobby for grafting multiple varietal scions of interesting and unique mango diversity on to a single tree. I did not believe either until I saw the orchard of Haji Kaleem Ullaj Khan in Malihabad where he maintains several trees with many varieties as sources of scion for his mango nurseries (http:// abdullahnursery.com/). A good and reliable source of scion is essential to run a successful and credible mango nursery. To have scion block in a large fi eld is expensive in terms of maintenance of healthy mother trees and land required to maintain scion block of 100-300 matured mango trees.Son of a magician grafter, Najmi showed me two the very rare mango trees. One is said to be a 100 years old tree named Al-Muqarrar which has more than 300 varieties of mango skilfully grafted by his father. The other younger tree hasPhoto: Dr. Bhuwon Ratna Sthapit more 150 mango genotypes grafted on to it; each branch looking like a unique tree! Both trees are bearing fruits of different colour, shape and size at different times.Born in 1945 Haji Kaleem Ullaj Khan does not have any academic horticultural degrees per se but he is well renowned in India for his skills and knowledge in multiple grafting on a single tree. He was awarded as Udhyan Pandit (Professor of Orchard) by ex-President of India. He has also presented a mango tree of 54 varieties to the President of India for the premises of the Mughal Garden of Rastrapati Bhavan. He was acknowledged by many high profi le visitors from abroad and also decorated by Padamashri award. His name is recorded in the Guinness Book of the World Records for this feat.Abdullah Nursery, besides being famous in Malihabad and India for his innovation, also markets saplings of commercial nature to the distant places of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Unlike government research station, he is using ground layering for his propagation for most commercial saplings whereas he used veneer or wedge grafting grafting for special cases. He has also grafted guava tree that fl owers and fruits all year round which is another attraction of the nursery.This traditional practice of nurserymen -an innovation borne out of local need-can be a good practice for nurseries to maintain scion at low cost. However, in spite of low cost maintaining scion material, it can be a high risk practice because several varieties depend on one mother tree's survival. If someone practices this technique, it is important to duplicate the same for safety reasons or have the scion material tress separately. It can also be a good practice for innovative marketing of diversity in urban garden/home gardens. This will create new market for nursery growers and raise public interest in the diversity of mangoes. This activity has been conceptualized in the project of UNEP/GEF Conservation and Sustainable Use of Tropical fruit Tree Diversity in India.(Compiled by Bhuwon Sthapit, Bioversity International).","tokenCount":"745"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5121593380.json b/data/part_1/5121593380.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..603cfa07ce50df69e889af9d97642b6dc0217667
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5121593380.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8a69ad0af8ef109871b3864c2f92c2f4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31b75056-7183-48ce-8950-71172dcfc240/retrieve","id":"-1625938341"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5086fd1e-0010-4955-a0c2-697251c45b63","pagecount":"13","content":"Meets at least ONE of the following conditions for \"decision on spending or sending income\": 1) Makes related decision solely, 2) Makes the decision jointly and has at least some input into the decisions 3) Feels could make decision if wanted to (to at least a MEDIUM extent) 7 Ownership of land and other assets • 1018 female returnee migrants surveyed, with the latest migration experience in or after 2017.• Randomly sampled from a list of 330 villages in Bangladesh from districts with high international out-migration of women to West Asian countries.• WEMI modules administered to the female respondents only, as WEMI has no GPI component.  • Empowerment is context specific (Destination vs Home country); Generalized index will not be able to capture country specific nuances.• Retrospective answers for pilot study (recall bias)(Respondents: Returnee vs Current migrants)• However, there is possibility of Selection Bias if current migrants are interviewed at the destination country (more empowered women available for interviews)Way forward• Explore \"Social Capital\" in addition to group membership to be included in• Access to network of migrants in destination and home country• Learning from others experience-making informed decisions• Bonding, bridging and linking social capital• Validation analysis (test associations of WEMI score and indices with life satisfaction, psychological health, attitudes towards migration, and other objective welfare indicators)• Sensitivity analysis-do different weights make a difference?","tokenCount":"223"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5126857007.json b/data/part_1/5126857007.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..44deceba61b2f922016225c1e6b0e5179ce25cd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5126857007.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3ec6e5486f9819efc3839abe81398a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb91ddb6-fd02-45a8-8515-d2f5445c534c/retrieve","id":"-1553177115"},"keywords":["Agroecological transitions","multi-stakeholder platforms","incentives, landscape analysis","cocoa value chain, Peru"],"sieverID":"6d2054e0-ab05-4438-a656-b75421541b75","pagecount":"42","content":"Using multi-stakeholder platforms offers a promising approach for sharing agricultural innovation, reducing transaction costs, and catalyzing development through stimulating stakeholder engagement in the innovation process to accelerate food systems transformation. Agriculture-related multi-stakeholder platforms (AMSPs) are major players to intervention strategies of agricultural development programs. However, often AMSPs have faced multiple challenges that limit and negatively impact their functions. This study aims at mapping the AMSP landscape, examining operational activities, and providing recommendations for strengthening greater private and public sectors engagement to support long-term sustainability in Peru. The study used a three-step qualitative research approach to identify AMSPs, then collecting secondary and primary data. Results reveal three types of AMSPs classified from 28 identified platforms: development organization-led, civil society organization (CSO)led, and government-led platforms. Their main characteristics were then investigated according to the four basic dimensions of organization theory: structural, contextual, operational, and relational aspects. Next, the study analyzed the influence of each AMSP type on agricultural policies and practices, including those integrating agroecological approaches. The study then examined each AMSP's achievements and challenges related to AMSP impact and sustainability, together with constraints to private and public sector engagements, incentives and investment in agroecological transitions. From this landscape analysis, various mechanisms and possibilities have been identified for the Agroecological TRANSITIONS and other related sustainable approaches projects to engage with the existing AMSPs. This will provide a process to co-design and co-create innovative incentive mechanisms to leverage investments, support the use of holistic traceability tools and scale out agroecological practices in cocoa value chains in Peru.Multi-stakeholder platforms, networks, dialogue, and processes (MSPs) are increasingly popular approaches used in agricultural research and development to stimulate stakeholder interaction, collaboration, and engagement in innovation processes (Hermans et al., 2017;Minh et al., 2020). MSPs are platforms for interactive learning, knowledge sharing, resource mobilization, and collaboration and coordination among stakeholders. MSPs come in many forms, including formal (e.g., multi-stakeholder alliances, partnerships, platforms, and initiatives) and informal (e.g., networks, interactions, and relationships). MSPs may be led or initiated by the government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, the private sector, and development partners. MSPs can be orientated around innovation, research, or development, or established for coordination and networking (Melaku and Minh, 2021). MSPs can be a mechanism to facilitate collaboration between private-sector companies and other actors across sectors by creating organizational and institutional spaces bringing together multi-stakeholders and providing them with a sphere for learning, action, and change whilst stimulating private-sector investments and partnerships (Davies et al., 2018;Schut et al., 2019;Minh et al., 2020).Agroecology, as an approach, promises a more sustainable and resilient future for food systems through minimizing damage to natural resources, reducing chemical inputs (e.g., fertilizers), and increasing social inclusion, amongst others. Yet, despite widespread support from social movements, transitioning to agroecology remain constrained by a lack of holistic performance metrics, top-down innovation system regimes, and weak private-and public-sector incentives and investments.These three constraints provide the main impetus for the new CGIAR Program on Agroecological Transitions for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural and Food Systems (TRANSITIONS). Over the next four years (2022 to 2025), the Agroecological Transitions program aims to empower farmers to make large-scale \"climate-informed agroecologically-based transitions\" by developing: 1) innovative incentive and investment mechanisms for adopting agroecological principles, (2) integrating holistic metrics in digital tools for traceability, 3) co-creation, capacity strengthening and scaling out of agroecological innovations for food systems transformation in three continents.Many agriculture and development programs have used AMSPs as one of the key intervention strategies. Often, AMSPs exist at multiple national, regional, and local levels within and across sectors as well as within and across thematic areas. These existing AMSPs can be related to agroecological approaches in different ways.Hence, a comprehensive overview and insights related to the existing AMSP landscape is needed in each country where TRANSITIONS (P3/PSii) operate. These insights will help engage relevant AMSPs to build local institutions' capacities for developing and applying private-public investment models, assessments, and policies that support agroecological transitions.The cocoa sector is critical for millions of smallholders around the world, and particularly in Peru. In the last two decades, the cocoa and chocolate value chains in Peru have grown exponentially, positioning the country as one of the biggest exporters of fine-flavor cacao, gaining awards in international contests. From 2015 to 2021, harvested area expanded from 120,370 ha to 184,840 ha with production increasing from 92,590 t to 160,220 t. Cocoa is produced in the following regions: Amazonas, Cajamarca, Huánuco, Piura, San Martín, Tumbes, and Ucayali (ARD, 2023).Although the cocoa sector plays an important role in poverty reduction and economic development in Peru, it faces significant challenges, including producer families' poverty and negative environmental impacts. Low productivity and lack of sustainability in the cocoa sector are related to increasing production costs, poor access to quality genetic material, climate change, deforestation, and natural resources' deterioration (MIDAGRI, 2020). Pest and disease attack, and traces of heavy metals (especially cadmium) in cacao are further issues (ARD, 2023). These are obstacles that require multi-level, multi-sector and multistakeholder decisions to harmonize agendas and find the most appropriate solutions. One way to address these challenges is a multi-stakeholder platform approach. This aims at balancing interests of different stakeholders including civil society organizations, farmers, government officials, processors, and traders (Thorpe et al., 2021). Multi-stakeholder approaches move away from mandating through government regulations towards more holistic approaches (Ingram et al., 2018). This creates an enabling environment for stakeholder collaboration to identify and address conflicts, strengthen intersectoral linkages, and make collective decisions promoting sustainable cocoa production practices that mitigate environmental impacts.This AMSP landscape analysis focuses on multistakeholder agroecology platforms, processes, and networks (AMSPs) that build multiple stakeholders' resilience and adaptive capacity in the agricultural infrastructure, water, health, and natural resources sectors, as well as in socio-economic sustainability, environment, and climate-change issues. The research involved three primary components of analysis: identification, categorization, and indepth analysis. The identification aims to search for agricultural MSPs work, including those involved with cocoa production in Peru. Purposive sampling was used by applying expert knowledge of the population to select samples in a non-random manner (Lavrakas, 2008). The sampling identified the corresponding governmental and non-governmental actors (NGOs and private sector) and their platforms, networks, and ongoing processes.The sample considered the areas of (agroecological) agriculture, natural resource management, environmental protection, sustainable development, climate change adaptation, food and nutrition, gender and social inclusion, and beyond. These areas were used as a set of keywords to search for the relevant AMSPs. Throughout the searching and identifying, the set of keywords were updated to consider the new relevant areas and AMSPs. In total, 28 MSPs that operate at international, national, and local levels in Peru were identified. Fifteen of these AMSPs were selected for analysis based on their relevance, dynamics, and data availability. They are documented in Annex 1.The study collected data and information from each AMSP identified from secondary sources such as grey literature gathered from MSPs and organization/ project websites, meeting reports and proceedings, briefs, brochures, and presentations as well as academic literature on AMSP-related topics. Links to these AMSPs' websites are listed in Annex 1. Secondary data collection also included additional information on MSPs' operating context and regional / international experience. The data was systematically organized in an excel worksheet, designed according to the four analytical dimensions (Annex 2). A total of 14 grey literature sources, 2 reports, and 7 academic publications were reviewed and cited.Primary data was collected from key informants via semi-structured interviews via online meetings, email correspondences, and telephone calls. Key informants were first identified from secondary sources (websites and grey literature), followed by non-probability sampling (purposive and snowball sampling) using social and professional networks.So far, four potential respondents have been contacted for information on AMSPs and/or other potential sources of information about MSPs, of which three provided inputs. The remaining interviewees will be followed up in coming weeks. A protocol for data collection was developed and used to organize and document different types of qualitative information about each AMSP that was identified (Annex 2). This information includes AMSPs' geographical coverage, thematic focus areas, objectives, lead organization, participants and stakeholders, strategic and routine activities as well as life cycle (short-term/projectbased, long-term/non-project-based), achievements and challenges. An interview guideline for the primary data collection was developed to cover the information gaps that could not be collected from the secondary data sources.The categorization also employs a qualitative method that relies on literature, and researchers' knowledge and judgments in interpreting patterns to define the specific categories of different AMSP groups. Guiding questions for the categorization include: This section provides an overview of AMSPs in Peru. The documented AMSPs are organized and presented by three main typologies based on the type of lead organization as presented in Table 1. • Engaging and influencing: promote dialogue, create environment for advocacy, adoption/ integration of agroecological knowledge/ innovations into policy.• Facilitating collaboration and partnerships: create coalitions to reach agroecological transitions.• Knowledge management: generate and disseminate knowledge, develop, validate and implement resilient agroecological production systems, foster cultural understanding and learning, build capacities, exchange experiences.• Engaging and influencing: dialogue/ advocacy, with/to policy makers and stakeholders to create commitments towards agroecology as climate friendly solution, and to create an attractive agricultural sector, to lower systemic bottlenecks, create market access.• Facilitating and collaborating: promote dialogue between stakeholders to strengthen local and regional networks, to create market access, co-create processes, facilitate partnerships between private sector and civil society, improve livelihoods of farmers, create alliances.• Establish economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cocoa sector.• Knowledge management: knowledge and experience sharing, capacity building, innovation management; identify problems, challenges, barriers and possible solutions.• Engage and influence: increase sector competitiveness, advocacy, coordinate and agree on environmental, agricultural policies, promote sectoral development, strengthen regional economy and social capital.• Facilitate partnerships and collaborations to co-create and connect, provide market access, facilitate local/sectoral environmental problems.• Operationalize regional policies at local level.• Conduct interdisciplinary applied science research; generate, document and disseminate knowledge; strengthen and add value to existing knowledge; facilitate knowledge exchange, address knowledge and innovation gaps; co-design and implement context-relevant innovative solutions and best practices related to agroecology; assess their impact; evaluate policies.• Capacity building: provide trainings and technical assistance; enhance capacities for policy implementation.• Partnerships and collaboration: bridging farmer-centered agroecological research, action, and influence; collaboration of various organizations and initiatives on various levels.• Advocacy and dialogues with policy makers and stakeholders to promote benefits of agroecology and to promote institutional commitments and support large-scale adoption of agroecology. • Develop incentives for agroecology and zero-deforestation that are scalable.• Establish alliances with national and international institutions to promote producers' interests; connect producers cooperatives and buyers; promote agroecological products to consumers; establish market access; enable access to organic certification.• Coordinate and collaborate between and support existing organizations: local, regional, national to overcome bottlenecks in technology, financing, organizational productivity; create working groups.• Advocacy and dialogues with policy makers to establish commitments and promote policies towards agroecology and rural development.• Monitor and evaluate different communication strategies.• Events to connect stakeholders and collaborate, elaborate/co-create working plans, strengthen value chains, address problems/conflicts in the sector, promote territorial development through coordinated participation.• Advocacy and dialogue with stakeholders to disseminate knowledge and promote execution of policies.• Coordinate and establish processes to implement agricultural policies.Coverage National, regional National, regional, local.  ) and is supported by FAO. TPP seeks to promote knowledge exchange, capacity building, and policy dialogue on agroecology, with the goal of transforming current food and agricultural systems into systems using more sustainable and resilient practices. The platform operates at global and regional levels, and has established regional hubs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Other examples are the Latin American and the Caribbean Knowledge Platform (LACKP), the Global Collaboration on Resilient Food Systems (CRFS), and the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (Swissco).Development organization-led AMSPs involve and engage with a wide range of stakeholders, which are categorized under government (ministries, various institutions, sectoral bureaus at different levels and policy makers), research and academia (universities and research institutions), non-governmental development partners and actors (NGOs, civil society organizations-CSOs, donor agencies, international organizations and development partners), private sector (small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), agro-industries and agribusinesses, and technology suppliers), farmers and farmer organizations (smallholders and other organized producers) (Table 1).Development organization-led AMSPs have the largest geographic coverage, which is not only limited to Peru. Most of these are project-based with implementation periods from 3-5 years. iii) strengthening and adding value to existing knowledge; iv) taking steps to avoid duplication; v) facilitating knowledge exchange; vi) addressing knowledge and innovation gaps; vii) co-designing, implementing and assessing impact of contextrelevant innovative solutions and best practices related to agroecology; viii) evaluating policies and institutions that support agroecological initiatives; and ix) providing trainings and technical assistance.Routine activities: Organizing periodic events, administration of knowledge management including updating infrastructures.(ii) Engaging and influencing aims to promote dialogue and create an environment for advocacy that supports agroecology adoption and integration into policies. Examples include CRFS, AGRAP, LACKP, and Swissco. The following activities are undertaken to achieve these objectives:Strategic activities: Policy-relevant research and trainings are used to build stakeholders' capacities including policy-and decision-makers to enhance their understanding of agroecology and promote adoption of agroecological practices. Initiatives also engage in advocacy and communication efforts to i) promote the benefits arising from agroecological approaches; and ii) raise awareness of the need to transform food and agricultural systems into those implementing more sustainable practices. Research results are used to increase visibility and credibility of agroecological approaches.Routine activities: organizing periodic events to engage and influence decision-makers and other stakeholders via learning and experience sharing.(iii) Facilitating partnerships and collaboration focuses on networking and fostering partnerships and collaborations between stakeholders.Examples are AGRAP, CRFS, LACKP, Swissco, and TPP. For this purpose, the following activities are undertaken:Strategic activities: i) Creating platforms for knowledge exchange where stakeholders connect and collaborate; ii) promoting private-sector partnerships; iii) connecting stakeholders; iv) promoting collaboration with different organizations, institutions and initiatives; and v) networking to exchange information to identify and harness intra-regional trade potential.Routine activities: organizing periodic events for connecting stakeholders and fostering partnerships.E. Ramírez/CIAT Strengthening multi-stakeholder agroecology platforms in Peru: a landscape analysis Routine activities: i) organizing meetings, events and workshops for connecting stakeholders and fostering partnerships; ii) providing space towards joint actions and coordination; iii) facilitating market linkages and trade promotion; iv) monitoring member compliance with standards; v) organizing regular field visits of private sector to support operations; vi) providing support for certification processes.This category includes five AMSPs that are led by government organizations: i) the Technical Roundtables on Cocoa (TRC) present in the regions of Amazonas, Cajamarca, Huánuco, San Martín, and Ucayali; ii) the Regional Committee for Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in Ucayali (COREPO), iii) the Environmental Commission Ucayali (ECU), iv) the Regional Agriculture Management Committee of Ucayali (CGRA), and v) the Regional Development Agencies (ARD).Most importantly, this type of AMSP does not have available funding. The TRC mention that sometimes projects from international organizations sponsor meetings and events. This also applies to ARD San Martín and ARD Cajamarca, which have received support from the German Development Agency (GIZ) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The absence of funding for government-led AMSPs is a common problem caused by an institutional design challenge. Due to its lack of jurisdictional status, this AMSP type cannot apply for funds.An ARD (regional development agency) is comprised of a set of relatively new platforms, which initiated their activities in 2021 or later. Their main goal is to promote and strengthen regional economies and social capital of territories in production chains that are prioritized in the respective regions. They do so by bringing together the private sector, academia, civil society and the government. ARDs have already been established in 13 regions and prioritized the cacao value chain in Cajamarca, Huánuco, Piura, San Martín, and Tumbes. In each of these regions, the cocoa sector is represented by its respective technical roundtable. The regional government in Ucayali recently approved the creation of the ARD in the region. The Regional Directorate of Agriculture manages implementation (Gobierno Regional de Ucayali, 2022). The regional ARDs are led by the respective regional governments and include the technical roundtables of the prioritized agricultural commodities. These platforms are of interest, offering a new approach that connects already-established platforms like TRCs and links them with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders. They aim to jointly identify problems, challenges, barriers and potentially innovative solutions to strengthen competitiveness of the cocoa and chocolate sector in Peru.The TRC (cocoa technical roundtable) Ucayali has been established by the Ucayali Regional Directorate of Agriculture. This institution also coordinates the platform, which mainly operates through events.The platform aims at sustainable development in the cocoa sector. It establishes a space for dialogue and discussion by linking different types of stakeholders. COREPO is responsible for promoting and facilitating the Organic Agriculture and Agroecology Law in the Ucayali region. ECU is an environmental management instance that is in charge of coordinating and agreeing Ucayali regional environmental policy. CGRA is responsible for promoting territorial agrarian development through the coordination and collaboration of different stakeholders. All four AMSPs led by the government are regional platforms that are connected to and collaborate with their respective national-level AMSPs.They have been selected due to data availability.The thematic areas of the government-led AMSPs are less diverse than those of the development organization-led AMSPs, focusing on agroecology (organic agriculture), sustainable regional development, environmental protection, and land-and natural resource management. The MSPs have multiple objectives which are like the previously discussed AMSP types. The stakeholders involved in these AMSPs are similar to the ones mentioned above. However, not all of the stakeholders are participating actively in the AMSPs and are often absent, especially the private sector.Government-led AMSPs have the following objectives:(i) Knowledge management focuses on strengthening knowledge and experience sharing, and building capacities. Examples include ARD, CGRA, ECU, and TRC. To achieve this objective, these AMSPs implement a set of strategic and routine activities:Strategic activities: i) knowledge and experience sharing; ii) applying and evaluating environmentalmanagement instruments; iii) developing and planning regional environmental plans and agendas; iv) developing annual work plans.Routine activities: organizing periodic events and sharing experiences. Strategic activities: i) Developing proposals for regional regulations, for the promotion of organic and agroecological principles in agriculture; ii) offering dialogue and advocacy to agree on regional policies, instruments and legal regulations relating to the environmental sector; iii) proposing recycling standards; iv) influencing conservation of streams; v) promoting commercialization of family agriculture products; vi) elaborating work plans, and evaluating performed activities.Routine activities: organizing periodic meetings.(iii) Facilitating partnerships and collaboration focuses on networking and fostering partnerships and collaboration between stakeholders, and implementing policies and innovation strategies.Examples include ARD, CGRA, COREPO, ECU, and TRC. To achieve this objective, these MSPs implement the following set of activities:Strategic activities: i) Facilitating decisionmaking in the agricultural sector, involving national, regional and local actors; ii) networking to strengthen the cocoa and chocolate value chain, to improve networking between members, and increase sector competitiveness; iii) organizing organic and agroecology fairs; iv) promoting and facilitating the Organic Agriculture and Agroecology Law in Ucayali; v) involving all levels of society in co-creating environmental plans; vi) collaborating with the environmental commission to operationalize environmental policy at local scale; vii) approving management instruments such as the Regional Agrarian Agenda, and Regional Agrarian Operational Plan; viii) developing annual work plans; ix) evaluating performed activities; and x) implementing the regional development and innovation strategy.Routine activities: organizing periodic meetings; leading managing and organizing activities.From the data collected on the AMSPs, three categories share some similarities and differences. These similarities and differences are observed in the different aspects of the AMSPs, such as organizational structure, thematic areas, objectives, main activities, geographic coverage, life cycle, and types of stakeholders they engage.Firstly, the three platform types share common thematic areas and focus issues in: i) sustainable development; ii) agroecological transitions; iii) poverty alleviation; and iv) environmental protection. However, CSO-led and development organization-led AMSPs also focus on gender, social and intercultural equality and equity. CSO-led and government-led AMSPs also focus on fair trade and on trade promotion.Secondly, although the three categories share similar general goals (i.e., knowledge management, engaging and influencing, and facilitating partnerships and collaboration), there are slight differences in their specific objectives. For instance, on the one hand, development organization-led AMSPs' knowledgemanagement objective is to conduct research and assessments to underpin advocacy, and scale up successful practices. On the other hand, CSO-led AMSPs are more concerned with generating and disseminating knowledge; developing, validating and implementing resilient agroecological production systems, and fostering cultural understanding and learning. Government-led AMSPs aim to share experiences and build capacities.Furthermore, engaging and influencing objectives also show some variations among these platform types. Government-led AMSPs focus on engaging and influencing to secure agreements on regional policies and their implementation, and to promote sectoral competitiveness and development. In contrast, AMSPs led by the development sector and civil society are concerned with engaging and influencing to promote dialogue, create an agroecology advocacy environment, and integrate agroecological innovations into policy.Regarding partnership facilitation and collaboration objectives, all AMSPs focus on facilitating and collaborating to reach common objectives such as agroecological transitions and to co-create processes and actions. Government-led AMSPs are also concerned with addressing local and sectoral challenges.Thirdly, most platforms work to influence both policy and practice in their respective thematic areas, through strategic and routine activities that are common across the AMSP types.Strategic activities include: i) conducting research and assessment to generate knowledge that underpins advocacy; ii) testing research results; iii) documenting and disseminating knowledge using innovative communication channels; iv) providing training and technical support; v) building capacities; vi) raising awareness; vii) reviewing and formulating policies; viii) facilitating dialogues to influence policy-makers; ix) creating platforms to connect stakeholders; and x) exploring innovative ways to establish long-term collaborations.Routine activities include i) organizing periodic events; ii) creating spaces for experience sharing; iii) leading, managing and organizing activities; and iv) holding field visits to monitor member compliance with organizational standards.Fourthly, all three types of platforms engage similar stakeholders, which are This section briefly evaluates if and how the different AMSPs influence practice and policy in Peru.For this purpose, the study examines how the three types of AMSP perform engagement and influencing, knowledge management, and other relevant strategic activities. It assesses how these contribute towards improving the policy environment and the adoption and scaling of best practices. Key points are summarized in Table 2. Their aim is to inform donors and policymakers about the social and environmental benefits of agroecology.CSO-led AMSPs concentrate on dialogue, advocacy, and lobbying to improve the policy framework for agricultural organizations. CAP seeks to influence public opinion and policies that promote agroecological transition of food systems, healthy diets, sustainable development, and policies against transgenic crops. They do so by bringing together policymakers and other stakeholders, creating spaces for collaboration -for example, a platform for healthy diets, or technical roundtables on different topics, including food environment, and food security. In these spaces for collaboration, they develop public policy instruments aiming at implementing organic and sustainable production with local, regional and national levels of government and in coordination with the private sector. They also use awareness-raising campaigns to form public opinions about different topics using different communication channels, such as podcasts, YouTube videos, and radio.CSP also focuses on creating and facilitating alliances for joint action and for the establishing commitments towards zero-deforestation value-chain policies. APP cacao is also involved in establishing alliances for joint action and uses advocacy and dialogue to promote the Peruvian cocoa value chain, and to promote sustainable development policies in the cocoa sector. ANPE uses dialogue and advocacy to promote agroecology as well as family agriculture. They also organize fairs to provide a space for advocacy, lobbying and for agroecology and biodiversity awareness-raising campaigns. RAE also uses the same approach to promote policies that support sustainable agricultural and rural development and provides advocacy for policies related to organic certification, land use and market access.Most government-led AMSPs are more directly involved in policy processes. The ARD are directly involved in regional policy processes since they apply the Regional Development and Innovation Strategy (EDIR). This strategy is a tool for facilitating the process and articulation of prioritized interventions. It is used to detect market opportunities and challenges and to find solutions to these latter. The regional environmental commission in Ucayali is responsible for agreeing and coordinating regional environmental policy, as well as legal regulations, and instruments related to the environment sector. The ARD is part of the Regional Environmental Management System (SRGA) which has the mandate to direct environmental policy and necessary standards in its jurisdiction.The ARD provides a space for collaboration where the regional environmental plan and agenda is developed, and where proposals for operation, application and evaluation of environmental management instruments are made to operationalize policies at a local scale. CGRA is involved in policy processes related to regional and rural agrarian development. It is responsible for approving management instruments like the Regional Agrarian Agenda, and for collaboratively establishing the Regional Agricultural Operational Plan for Organic Production, which has not been established yet. The Regional Committee for Organic Production (COREPO) proposes policies and standards that promote organic agriculture and organic products. It collaborates with the National Council of Organic Products (CONAPO) to elaborate the Concerted National Plan for the Promotion of Organic or Ecological Production. The AMSP's main mechanism is political advocacy, focusing on awareness raising among public-sector authorities and CSOs. The RCUs aim at targeting policies related to the sustainable development of the cocoa and chocolate sector by providing space for dialogue, advocacy, and lobbying between policy makers and other stakeholders.• Agroecological transitions.• Sustainable, climate-smart agricultural practices.• Create necessary conditions for green inversions to grow.• Deforestation-free value chains (including cocoa.)• Pro-poor policies that benefit rural development.• Sustainable development of agricultural sectors (including cocoa).• Intercultural and gender equality.• Family agriculture.• Food security.• Policies related to sustainable agriculture and rural development including organic certification; land use and market access.• Biological and cultural diversity.• Organic agriculture.• Sustainable development of cacao sector.• Low emissions and rural development.• Agroecological food systems.• Healthy eating, nutrition.• Sustainable territorial development.• Organic agriculture.• Agroecological transitions.• Environmental policy.• Sustainable development of the agricultural sector (including cocoa and chocolate).• Disseminate research results to inform policymakers.• Advocacy and lobbying to promote and scale best agroecological practices.• Evaluate and support institutions that support agroecology.• Awareness raising and capacity building through workshops for policymakers to promote the adoption of agroecological practices.• Technical support for policy and standards and performance indicator development.• Facilitating partnerships and coordination for resource mobilization and joint action for policy implementation.• Advocacy for zero-deforestation policies.• Creation/promotion of alliances with public and private actors for joint action and advocacy.• Awareness raising and campaigns for benefits of organic agriculture through different communication channels, e.g., podcast, platforms, radio.• Creation of spaces for collaboration and engagement of stakeholders and policy makers (e.g., technical roundtables).• Provide space for dialogue and discussions of stakeholders and policy makers.• Facilitating the Organic Agriculture and Agroecology Law in Ucayali.• Approving management instruments, such as the Regional Agrarian Agenda and the Regional Agrarian Operational Plan.• Coordinating and implementing the National Environmental Policy in Ucayali.• Evaluation and application of environmental management instruments.• Engage and collaborate to agree on regional policies.• Facilitate and collaborate with stakeholders to operationalize environmental policy at local scale.• Application of regional development and innovation strategy (EDIR). • Good practices and technologies (deforestation free, agroecological transformation, climate resilient, climatesmart).• Enabling good practices (financial access market barriers, traceability, fair trade, equitable food systems, nutrition, responsible supply chains, social integration).• Good practices and technologies (organic agricultural practices, soil management, crop rotation, pest management and organic certification, climate change resilient, agroforestry).• Enabling good practices (healthy food and nutrition, organizational productivity, value chain, market access, business development, trade promotion).• Good practices and technologies (agroecological, organic).• Climate change, biological diversity and conservation mechanisms.• Enabling good practices (water and resource management, solid waste management, communication and environmental education) .• Collaborative agroecological research and knowledge sharing to be applied by farmers.• Documenting and disseminating knowledge and information, organizing training, learning, and experience sharing events; advocacy and lobbying for wider adoption and scaling of agroecological transitions.• Monitor and measure impacts developing assessment frameworks of agroecology.• Influence national funding flows of agroecology and align public and private financing mechanisms: donations; accessible loans with competitive interest rates.• Develop, validate and improve agroecological/ organic production systems.• Promotion of organic products via e-commerce platform, agroecology fair.• Capacity building and awareness raising of agroecological transitions, organic agriculture, agroforestry, youth entrepreneurship, markets, value chain development, experiential learning experiences, experience exchange.• Formation of public opinion through podcasts; YouTube videos.• Development and implementation of participatory organic certification system.• Strengthen cocoa value chain: increase cocoa sector competitiveness and provide market access by dialogue and discussion.• Political advocacy to propose recycling standards, influence conservation of streams, and promote commercialization of products of family agriculture.• Collaborate and consolidate of public investment projects.• Allocation of resources to native communities.• Provide space for discussion and problem solving in remote localities.• Working groups on topics: productivity, commercial, innovation that set goals actions, implement projects and activities.All types of AMSPs influence agroecological practices and technologies related to i) good practices and technologies; and ii) enabling good practices (Table 2). Government-led AMSPs mainly influence practices through coordination and implementation of sectoral policies and strategies where they aim at implementing and promoting innovative solutions and approaches.Interventions target: i) improving agroecological and organic agricultural practices; ii) responding to climate change; iii) developing and implementing biological diversity and conservation mechanisms; and iv) improving water and resource management, solid waste management, and communication and environmental education practices. COREPO has been created by the regional government for developing the Regional BioTrade and Agroecology plan and works on three strategic axes: i) the national seed program for the Amazon region, where they aim at storing and distributing seeds to promote biodiversity; ii) the organic fertilizer production modules, that aim at establishing district-level organic fertilizer production centers, and iii) family farming markets where small farmers can market their products at an equitable price. In the cocoa and chocolate value chains, the ARD created three working groups on productivity, commercialization, and innovation. The working groups serve to set goals, plan actions, projects and activities, such as developing new cacao agroforestrysystem models. The TRC aim to strengthen the cocoa value-chain, increase cocoa sector competitiveness, and provide market access by providing a space for dialogue and discussion.Additionally, CGRA consolidated a public investment project in the Curimaná sector in Ucayali, which aims to establish an irrigation system that should benefit 8,000 families farming 19,000 hectares. They also allocated resources for the titling of native communities, and also provided spaces in remote localities with difficult access where local communities voices are heard, problems are solved, and technical assistance can be applied when necessary. Their lifespan is mostly short due to their project-based nature. This is a well-known challenge because their operation stops when projects end. This often makes ownership by local people difficult. Also duplication of project themes makes them less efficient.Civil society-led AMSPs are responsible for scaling agroecological practices, for providing market access for farmers, for introducing innovations contributing to lower GHG emissions and zero-deforestation approaches in many cases. It is noteworthy that RAE and ANPE connect farmers directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms. Both AMSPs strengthen farmers' capacities through workshops and trainings.ANPE successfully implemented a participatory certification system that enables small-scale farmers to achieve price premiums for their agroecologically produced products. CSP achieved joint action and constructed a voluntary agreement \"Cacao, Forests, and Diversity,\" which has been integrated into the National Cacao and Chocolate Plan to 2030. CAP successfully influences formation of public opinion and policies through innovative communication strategies.Despite all achievements, CSO-led AMSPs still face several challenges. Absenteeism due to high transaction costs is a common problem. Furthermore, conflict of interests leads to problems of stakeholders of AMSPs. For example CSP had problems with farmers applying agrochemicals, despite their organic production agreements. Experts advise that these problems most likely stem from agrochemical firms creating confusion among farmers, when promoting their agrochemical products in AMSPs. Also, member concerns are often not adequately represented by CSO-led AMSPs. CSO-led AMSPs also lack funding, price information and qualified staff. These AMSPs experience the well-known problem of collective action: i.e., organic certification loss, due to the application of non-organic pesticides by farmers. Another challenge is the lack of cacao farmers' commitment. Farmers are reluctant to implement technologies, innovations and knowledge obtained in trainings. Producers are often reluctant to participate in workshops since they lack incentives to do so. They also need to offset any opportunity costs incurred and are cash constrained.Government-led AMSPs successfully organized agroecology fairs (COREPO) and a cocoa festival (TRC). ECU was in charge of the resolution of environmental conflicts, and CGRA consolidated a public investment project \"Irrigation System in the Curimaná Sector,\" involving 18,000 hectares and benefiting more than 8,000 families. Thanks to the political will of the regional government in Ucayali and to the technical support of CGRA, the project could be formalized. Constant changes in authorities due to political instability in Peru challenge this type of AMSP, leading to weak leadership. For example, CGRA had seven presidents between 2017 and 2020. Stakeholder absenteeism is another well-known issue in government-led AMSPs. This is mainly caused by high transaction costs, and spatial dispersion in agriculture -i.e., in the TRC farmers do not participate in meetings in the regional capital due to high travel expenses and opportunity costs. To resolve this problem, meetings were shifted to areas closer to farmers, but then stakeholders from the regional capital did not participate. This impedes sustainable decision-making processes because some stakeholders are not represented. A further problem is information asymmetry. Information and knowledge do not get passed on properly. This is also influenced by the above-mentioned staff turnover.Poor-quality public goods, such as bad infrastructure, reinforce the problems of high transaction costs. Government-led AMSPs also face a lobbying problem.In the TRC, agrochemical firms create confusion amongst farmers because they promote unsustainable fertilizer use. Furthermore, government-led AMSPs in Peru lack funding. This impedes initiation of projects, and AMSPs do not achieve their objectives. Technical assistance requested by farmers cannot be financed. This is caused by the institutional design of this AMSP type. Despite efforts by public-private initiatives to change institutional design, government authorities do not seem to be interested in change. It is also confirmed by the president of COREPO that authorities lack commitment to enforce national policy on sustainable organic production. In general, this lack of the authorities' commitment is a challenge in the AMSP landscape. Furthermore, government-led AMSPs lack incentives for farmers to participate. Another challenge is exclusion of stakeholders that cannot be reached by the AMSPs, caused by the low degree of farmer association in Peru.From the collected data and in-depth analysis, the study identified gaps which restrict the engagement and investments of the public and private sector for agroecological transitions. In the Peruvian cocoa sector, experts mention that national buyers lack interest in quality and sustainability of products, and are more interested in volumes. This might be caused by the absence of a national market for agroecological products.Although private-sector actors interested in agroecology and sustainability exist, they are not the norm.A further challenge for private-sector involvement in agroecological transitions is lack of transparency, which leads to investors perceiving agroecology as a \"risky\" investment. There is also confusion among various stakeholder types about the agroecology concept. Government officials use the agroecology concept as substitute for the concept of organic production. Even experts seem to struggle in differentiating between different terms and concepts such as agroecology, climate-smart, climate-change resilient, adapted to climate change, which are used in the AMSP landscape in Peru. The lack of a standard definition for agroecological production also results in the absence of a specialty market, a certification system, and a price premium for agroecologically produced goods. This leads to a lack of private-sector incentives and producers. Regarding standards and certification, most platforms work with organic certification systems and fair trade. ANPE, which is a CSO-led AMSP, developed an innovative participatory certification system to build trust and credibility between consumers and the private sector and be independent of third-party certification.Global developments, such as the COVID 19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and rising logistical costs, are challenges that affect the Peruvian agricultural sector and limit public and private-sector investment. Further issues that limit private-sector involvement are political instability, inflation, lack of labor and high concomitant labor costs.Governance challenges observed in the cocoa sector limit private-sector investments. ▪ Improve policies and their implementation strategies.From the challenges facing AMSPs and the gaps in facilitating public-and private-sector engagement and investments in agroecological transitions, there are some priorities and mechanisms that should be considered for three types of AMSPs to strengthen such engagement and investment.First, the TRANSITIONS project should collaborate with key platforms led by the government but also civil society, i.e., ARD, CAP, CSP to map opportunities and challenges regarding the concept of \"agroecology\" and create a standard definition that is then articulated to all stakeholders in Peru's cocoa sector. Then, successful agroecological practices for cocoa cultivation should be identified and promoted to articulate the economic, environmental and social benefits of agroecology to the private sector and other stakeholders. Furthermore, successful examples from companies and associations from other parts of the globe should be used to illustrate the case. This can be done through joint research activities and operating sustainable business models.Furthermore, joint research activities should be implemented to create incentives for privatesector and farmers' involvement. This can help to make investments in agroecological transitions in the cocoa sector more attractive to the public and private sectors. Collaboration with CAP and CSP could enable dissemination of research results through their communication channels. This could result in the promotion of agroecological approaches to a broader range of stakeholders, since CAP and CSP are connected to international platforms.In addition, the project should build capacities of farmers and their associations, local communities, and cocoa cooperations and associations, to adopt agroecological practices and engage with the public and private sector. To achieve this, joint training activities and technical assistance could be organized in a collaborative way with ARD, but also through the networks of ANPE, RAE, and CAP in the regions where cacao value chains have been prioritized. The regions are: Cajamarca, San Martín, Piura, Tumbes, Huánuco, and Ucayali. It is important to incentivize farmers to participate in these capacity building workshops. This could be done by, e.g., giving out seedlings of cover crops, when they are presented as agroecological practice. Furthermore, visually attractive flyers could be given out after workshops to ensure the dissemination of knowledge at farm level and to also reach the younger generation, which is usually not present in workshops since they are required to work on the farm. Collaboration with RAE and CAP, which already use innovative communication channels such as podcasts or other social media, could be a chance to further disseminate agroecology knowledge. This could create a more enabling environment for private-sector involvement and investments, and also help create a market for agroecologically generated products in Peru.Collaborations with ARD could offer a chance to address governance challenges mentioned in chapter 5.1 such as infrastructural issues, and to prompt discussions about the legal status of government-led AMSPs to enable financing opportunities for them.Furthermore, the TRANSITIONS project should emphasize developing partnerships with privatesector actors in cocoa production and trading to leverage resources and facilitate applying metrics that assess agroecology, and for trade promotion.Moreover, the project should also advocate policy changes that support agroecological transitions and that create incentives for the private sector and farmers involved in sustainable cocoa production.It is important to collaborate with government-led AMSPs because they represent the mechanisms for operationalizing and implementing national policies at regional level. ARD is a set of relatively new platforms that is active in all cocoa-producing regions in Peru and connects all levels of government to prioritized production chains and stakeholders. Collaboration with this AMSP could be a chance to advocate for policy changes favoring agroecological approaches in different production chains, and to scale these across Peru. Targeted policies and regulations should create incentives for private-sector actors to invest into cocoa production and support the adoption of agroecological production. Additionally, they should incentivize farmers to participate in agroecological initiatives. This can be done by collaborating with governmentled AMSPs, such as ARD, to co-organize dialogues and workshops. The participation of all stakeholders will more effectively address power imbalances and to include diverse perspectives, hence incentives for their participation should be implemented. To allow for continuous learning and improvement, it is also important to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of AMSPs, the engagement of the private sector, and investment strategies that are in place. Strengthening multi-stakeholder agroecology platforms in Peru: a landscape analysisThis study conducted landscape analysis for agroecological, agriculture-related multi-stakeholder platforms (AMSPs) in Peru. The analysis aims to support strengthening public-and private-sector engagement and investments for agroecological transitions, especially in the cocoa value chain. A total of 28 AMSPs that operate at international, national, and local levels were identified. Fifteen of these AMSPs were selected for analysis according to their relevance, dynamics, and data availability. Based on their functions, three types of AMSP were classified, specifically development organization-led platforms, CSO-led platforms, and government-led platforms. After that, the main characteristics of these types of AMSP were studied with respect to four basic dimensions of the organization theory: structure, context, operation, and relation.Then, the influence of each AMSP type on agricultural sector policy and practice, including agroecological agriculture was investigated. Furthermore, the study analyzed the achievements and challenges related to AMSPs' impact and sustainability, together with the gaps in facilitating private-sector engagement and investments in agroecological transitions. Finally, the analysis identified appropriate mechanisms for the TRANSITIONS project to engage with each type of platform to encourage private-sector engagement and investments for agroecological transitions.To strengthen public and private-sector engagement in AMSPs, the authors recommend:Greater collaboration with key governmentand CSO-led AMSPs to map opportunities and challenges regarding the concept of \"agroecology\" and create a standard definition ii) Identifying and promoting successful agroecological practices for cocoa cultivation to articulate their economic, environmental and social benefits iii) Creating incentives for private-sector and farmers' involvement iv) Building capacities of farmers and their associations, local communities, and cocoa cooperatives and associations v) Addressing the identified governance challenges vi) Emphasizing developing partnerships with private-sector cacao-sector actors vii) Advocating policy changes that support agroecological transitions and that create incentives for the private sector and farmers involved in sustainable cocoa production.","tokenCount":"7043"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5137025741.json b/data/part_1/5137025741.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcbdbcb25e2165635ff025771473ee9fbffbfeb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5137025741.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b0d0334f1031cafeb8c34896cdee28d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f0b5be62-4d24-4017-8499-5062e2f01cda/retrieve","id":"-1821875086"},"keywords":["Farmers","Agriculture","Climate change","Participatory knowledge"],"sieverID":"63476050-a1f1-4524-8dfc-1170ae6a6dc3","pagecount":"26","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), in common with other CGIAR research programs, understands that farmers are at the centre of agricultural innovation and adaptation. This publication describes some of the many ways in which CCAFS works with farmers and farmers' organizations to solve problems generated by climate change. Recognizing the importance of participatory knowledge systems involving farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders in responding effectively to climate change, this document seeks to provide an overview of the many ways CCAFS collaborations with farming communities work in practiceand how this can serve as a springboard for more effective dialogue and planning, leading ultimately to better outcomes for farming in a climate-constrained world.The actions, values and knowledge of farmers are pivotal to achieving future food and nutrition security under climate change. This publication describes some of the many ways in which the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) works with farmers and farmers' organizations to solve problems generated by climate change.Etrida Luhanga, a smallholder from Malawi, had the final word at the 2013 'Dublin Conference on Hunger -Nutrition -Climate Justice' on behalf of fellow farmers, pastoralists, and fishers. Addressing the assembled policy-makers, she said: \"In the past, you've been talking to people who do not know anything about farming…But we are the owners of this work.\"Rural households have indeed managed the vagaries of local climates and environments for millennia. CCAFS, in common with other CGIAR research programs, understands that farmers are at the centre of agricultural innovation and adaptation. Climate change is altering agricultural conditions at an alarming rate, and in times of such rapid change, farmer-led research to reduce exposure to climate risks provides an alternative to approaches driven entirely by 'experts'.On the other hand, within the next century climate change may push many habitats and farming systems outside all previous experience. Thus science has a valuable role to play in helping farmers plan for completely new conditions.Participatory knowledge systems involving farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders, will be key to responding effectively to climate change. These systems may cost more but they can trigger and disseminate innovation faster and more widely and equitably than either farmers or scientists alone. Science and farming need to work together.In this document we give practical examples of the work of CCAFS with farmers. We hope it will give farmers and our other partners a good overview of the many ways our collaborations with farming communities work in practiceand how this can serve as a springboard for more effective dialogue and planning, leading ultimately to better outcomes for farming in a climate-constrained world.Even without the rising uncertainties and risks of which climate change is the progenitor worldwide, farmers in the poor South would face a daunting challenge over the next few decades, struggling by some estimates to produce as much as 70 percent more to feed a growing population.Farming systems all over the developing world face being destabilized in even the most conservative climate scenarios examined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Agriculture will have to contend with substantially modified environments, rising global temperatures, unpredictable seasons, altered precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels that threaten, especially, coastal communitiesall spawning additional stressors for farmers.Put at its simplest, most farmers in most countries rely on rain-fed agriculture; this makes them very vulnerable to topsy-turvy seasons and the vagaries of precipitation under climate change. As yields decline, so does the chance of generating a surplus that can be invested in the technologies and practices that might helplike rotating crops, or mixing familiar varieties with new drought-resistant ones, for example, or integrating crops and livestock.A key objective for CCAFS, therefore, is to help reinforce the ability of farmers and fishing communities to adaptresearching and deploying a wide range of strategies, from product diversification to better institutions and policies. It will be important to do this without disrupting fragile livelihoods; holistic approaches are needed that consider how technical and policy sectors interact.At the outset, it's clear that there are significant gaps in people's knowledge about what adaptation options are even available, what a cost-benefit calculation for them might look like, when and where they should be deployed, and what learning processes can support widespread change amid an uncertain and risk-laden future.The main objectives of CCAFS research are threefold. The first action we need to take to adapt farming systems to the world of 2030 is to close the yield gap -the difference between what farmers actually harvest and what they could get under more favourable or better-managed conditionsby effectively using current technologies, practices, and policies. We model different approaches through field-based research to test their effectiveness in relation to expected future climatic conditions.Secondly, we can develop breeding strategies for the improvement of crops and make varieties available that can stand up to the many challenges of the future climate.And thirdly we will enable policies and institutions, from the farm to national level, to promote change. We investigate the social, institutional, and policy environments required for adaptation options to bear fruit, so that together they can be used to establish effective agricultural adaptation plans and strategies.All over the world it is possible to take 3 categories of rural people and observe a high degree of overlap between them: the poor, the food-insecure, and smallholders. Belonging to of one of these groups is a good predictor of membership of at least one of the other two.Almost all African farms are small-scale; a majority of the population of sub-Saharan Africa rely on subsistence agriculture for survival; typically, the people who till, sow, hoe and pick are women, without easy access to machine tools, fertilizer, pesticides or artificial irrigation.In the CCAFS East Africa region (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) agricultural systems are highly vulnerable to frequent, severe climate shocks like drought, floods and extreme temperatures. The West Africa region (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal) encompasses a diverse agricultural base spread over a wide range of agro-ecological zones, yet with significant potential for improved productivity.Latin American countries are highly vulnerable to climate change due to their socioeconomic, geographic and institutional characters. Agriculture, in particular, is highly sensitive to climate variations. The CCAFS region (Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru) has also faced human and biodiversity losses from extreme-weather events. Most of the impacts of climate variability have been in Central America and along the Andes mountain range.Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), the newest region in the CCAFS system, is also exposed to climate impacts because of the interaction between disasters and population density. It contains important biodiversity -the world's second largest rainforest after the Amazonand the huge rice bowls of the Mekong and Red River deltas, themselves at risk from extreme weather and rising sealevels.South Asia overall is home to nearly a quarter of the world's population, yet it has only 2.4 percent of global land surface area, making it the most densely populated region of the world. It has achieved tremendous progress in last four decades in food, yet a quarter of the world's hungry and 40 percent of malnourished women and children live there. The region is prone to climate impacts like floods, droughts, cyclones and heatwavesall projected to intensify. CCAFS works in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.CCAFS has been developing baseline surveys and 'participatory diagnosis' to determine farmers' household and agronomic starting pointsfiguring out exactly where you are today helps to plot a course toward a better future.Through its partners and starting in 2010, CCAFS engaged in 15 baseline surveys at household, village, and organizational levels in locations across 3 target regions in East and West Africa and South Asia. The challenge was to design new tools for data collection of the highest standard, to allow for comparisons to be made between sites on different continents but facing many of the same issues.The surveys were designed to develop simple indicators of food security, assets, crop diversity, farming practices and gender indicators, for which changes can be evaluated over time. They were conducted in (alphabetically) Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. The exercise covered just over 4000 households in 206 villages.The plan is to revisit these households and villages, where many partners have already been working, after 5 years and again in 10 to monitor progress. The goalthrough participatory diagnosisis to assess what changes have occurred and whether they are helping households adapt to and mitigate climate change.This first set of 15 sites may be added to as new opportunities emerge; some may receive more attention than others; some sites may even phase out. Additional sites and partners will be added as research priorities for CCAFS are developed with partners. Work is also underway to define locations for 'climate analogues', where the climate projected for 2030 at one geographical location matches the climate now at another. This approach enables farmers to visualize what their future might look like and what options they need to consider.Land use is another important issue for which a baseline needs to be drawn. CCAFS and its local partners have identified blocks of 10 square kilometres where researchers can integrate socioeconomic and land-use factors into a 'big picture', also including, for example, carbon measurements from satellite images. In some African countries, blocks 30 kilometres square were chosen because of lower population densities, ensuring the criteria for household sampling were met everywhere.The first baseline indicator is food security. For years when there was neither drought nor exceptional rainfall, households were asked, firstly, whether the food they accessed month by month came from their own supplies or other sources, and, secondly, which months of a typical year they struggled to feed their families, from whatever source.The baseline surveys revealed the highest incidence of food insecurity in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. Over half of the Ethiopian households surveyed experienced more than 6 'hunger months' a year; 60 percent of Tanzanian households reported more than 5 in an average year; 47% percent of Ghanaian households surveyed reported more than 5. In Kenya, however, it is rare to find households that experience more than 4 hunger months.Understanding how climate variability affects rural men and women in different regions is difficult. Men, women, and children are all placed differently to respond to climate change.The CCAFS baseline surveys picked out female-headed households, allowing patterns to be discerned in areas where there were significant proportions of such households. We also itemized agricultural labour inputs by gender, and highlighted some of the differences in levels of access to climate-related information reported by men and women.Farm labour tends to be differentiated by gender. Women had no power over cash crops such as rice in the Bangladesh sites, for example, because their domain is the kitchen garden; in Uganda, women could not make decisions about the precious coffee and banana crops (see below) because of insecure land tenure. In Ghana, women had more say over improved crop varieties, but less with staples such as cereals and legumes.'Participatory video' can give women a voice to share perceptions and knowledge of the climate issue with a larger, online audience. The song above features in a 2012 CCAFS-funded participatory video directed by 12 women on the Thadhi Jhijha village development committee (VDC), in southern Nepal's Dhanusha district. They were given 3 days' training in production techniques and spoke (and sang) about how climate has affected their livelihoods.Like many of the village's men, Dhanmanti Pradhan's husband works abroad and she's left to cultivate their fields alone with her children and hired labour when she can afford it. The climate impact this year, bedevilling the entire area's agricultural effort, is drought.\"In my childhood there was a lot of rain,\" she recalls, standing in the middle of one of her parched paddy fields. \"Now we irrigate using boreholes. This is winter time. But look at how strong the sun is, like summer.\"The 2012 droughtwhich the Thadhi Jhijha women contrast to the stormy, rainy weather of the previous yearis having other, more insidious effects than just the withering of various vegetables crops they need to celebrate Baisakh, the Nepalese New Year. Drought is conducive to pests.\"Earlier when there was rain we didn't have to use as much pesticide as we do now,\" says Dhanmanti. \"It is not good. It affects our health badly.\"The women must pay for water from privately owned boreholes: the rupee equivalent of up to 4 US dollars an hour, further sapping families' reserves for things like school fees. Says Dhanmanti: \"We only water plants every 15-20 days. Look how many have died.\"Her VDC colleague Sabitri Sah, a mother of three, always liked to put on a good spread of vegetable dishes for Baisakh (April-May), using plants like mooli (radish) and bantha (eggplant).\"Toor lentils are OK with less rain,\" she says, \"but everything else has been affected. The lack of rain has caused many people's paddies to go bad, and the potatoes didn't germinate in the ground. Now I live from selling buffalo milk.\"The Dhanusha participatory video project was implemented by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) and the country office of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).The After a site is selected, a steering group of community members and researchers identify climatesmart options in a fully participatory process. These might include climate-smart technologies, climate information services, local development and adaptation plans or supportive institutions.In Kenya's Lower Nyando valley, farmers are discovering the value of 'agroforestry'maize, sorghum and other crops sown between rows of trees that stabilize and enrich the soil. The demand for trees has led to nurseries springing up to supply seedlings, and these are becoming an important source of income, particularly for women, who own more than half the nurseries now thriving in Lower Nyando. Farmers have been encouraged to incorporate poultry, sheep and goats into their farms, generating additional income and food.Other activities focus on the management of natural resources. In Bihar state in northern India, where soils are prone to water-logging, new drainage techniques get rid of floodwater more rapidly and recharge aquifers at the same time. In dryer villages in India and Kenya, rainwater harvesting is important. More effective management of soil carbon, precise application of fertilizers, and energyefficient machinery all play a part.In addition to farm practices, farmers in climate-smart villages are also testing climate-smart services such as tailored weather-forecasts to plan planting and harvesting. These may come by SMS, and mobile phones are also being used to enable farmers to buy insurance cover against extreme weather.Another project that comes under the general heading of 'site-level participatory action research' is underway in Uganda, which in 2008 was the second-largest banana producer and the eleventh-largest coffee producer in the world. However, with a growing population farmers are increasingly short of spaceboth crops tend to grow at around the same altitude, from 800 to 2300 metres.The old colonial-era systemof separate cropping areas for coffee and bananasis still in use today, for lack of an obviously better option. But new research by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Kampala and other CGIAR centres shows how growing bananas and coffee together leaves yields virtually unaffected but greatly increases the value of a single plot of land.Including bananas in the coffee system also alleviates risk for the farmer. If one crop fails they can still harvest the other. Ugandan farmers say shade from bananas also decreases coffee's susceptibility to drought and extreme weather. The residue from the trees provides mulch which would otherwise cost time and money to acquire, and they say bananas also motivate them to manage coffee better during the early unproductive years, because bananas produce even when coffee is not. This is especially true for women, who often do not see the proceeds from coffee sales but can use the banana harvest for home consumption.There are trade-offs, of course. 'Intercropping' places a greater burden on the soil and the system may require larger inputs of labour and capital at the outset. More work needs to be carried out to identify constraints and develop ways of addressing them. Farms of the Future will improve understanding of local practices and tools. Once refined, the methodology will be global enough to be implemented anywhere, giving scientists the ability to testand hopefully validatetheir models against real-world assessments.Down the ages, farmers have used traditional knowledge and coping strategies to adapt to changes in the weather and climate. They can predict the arrival of the rainy season by a change in wind patterns, for example. However, climate variability has now intensified to the point where they struggle to keep up.Agricultural research, extension systems, and NGOs are all affected by climate uncertainty because it limits the back-up they can offer; it has a negative impact on providers of credit and markets.Climate information (or 'climate services'), on the other hand, reduce uncertainty and can help farmers make better use of seeds and new technologies; they enable better decision-making, especially when reinforced with communications and training. With pilot projects in several African countries, CCAFS is tapping farmers' memories of rainy seasons, dry spells and planting dates. This helps researchers map the probable future and provide better seasonal forecasts.But to be effective, climate services rely on data tailored to farmers' needs, and under-resourced national meteorological services need support to supply information applicable to large areas.Mobile phones and radio have been used to convey weather information to a very large audience, even if personal interactions remain probably the most effective way of communicating complex messages about climate. CCAFS is building connections between national meteorological services and local organizations that have access to farmers and good information-technology skills.In Senegal, CCAFS and its local partners are developing new ways of reducing the risks farmers face.Farmers have been involved every step of the way, helping meteorologists and other specialists package information useful to them.\"Our biggest challenge was explaining [the concept of] probability to farmers, and also how to help them interpret the forecasts into actionfor example, when to plant,\" according to Ousmane Ndiaye, Head of Climate and Society with the Senegal National Meteorological Agency, interviewed about the CCAFS work in Kaffrine, on the northern Gambia border.But he added: \"The farmers were very keen and enthusiastic. And after the training they shared the information…and we felt we were filling an actual gap that exists. We built trust by trying to connect our climate information to things that are well-known to farmers.\"In East Africain the districts of Lushoto in Tanzania and Rakai and Hoima in Uganda -CCAFS partners include the Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, and the National Agricultural Research Organization and Makerere University in Uganda.CCAFS researched the integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific weather forecasting and early-warning systems to sharpen farmers' and policy-makers' decision-making. In Lushoto, seasonal drought occurred most often compared to other extremes. Farmers in Rakai and Hoima districts planted early-maturing crops such as beans and sweet potatoes and drought-tolerant varieties of cassava.Local communities identified a 'good' season by watching for signs from birds, insects and animals, plants, the moon, winds and air temperature, and making decisions such as field preparation, dry planting, purchasing seed, and deciding on types of crop. The goal now is to evaluate the scientific basis of this traditional knowledge and link it to forecasts to reach a consensus.ICT and 'index-based' insurance: the example of India CCAFS has been working with farmers in India to maximize the benefit they can derive from information and communication technology (ICT) -especially 'advisories' about crop markets and weather via SMS, and index-based insurance schemes. Our researchers have also been looking at ways farming communities can record crop losses using modern ICT.India's agriculture depends heavily on the annual monsoon, which has become increasingly uncertain in onset and intensity. Unpredictable monsoons can account for half or more of the fluctuations in the country's harvests. Under these conditions, index-based insurance against weather shocks buffers farmers from losses. It uses a simple, measurable weather index such as rainfall to determine payouts, which can be made more quickly and with less fuss than conventional insurance.India has seen the widespread adoption of index-based insurance schemes, with the private sector playing a leading part in devising affordable policies for smallholders that are reliable, transparent, fast and less susceptible to fraud.Insurance companies don't need to visit the policyholder to assess damage and arbitrate claims. If recorded rainfall is below an agreed threshold, the insurance pays out automatically. Faster payouts mean farmers don't have to sell their assets to survive, and the need for emergency food aid is reduced.In many Indian states, public and private programmes now offer index-based insurance contracts for a variety of crops, providing cover against excessive rainfall or drought, temperature extremes and high winds. The index is based on measurements taken at weather stations around the country. By 2012, up to 12 million farmers growing 40 different crops over 15 million hectares were insured against weather losses.To achieve its full potential, index-based weather insurance needs to reach a much higher proportion of India's 1.2 billion people, 60 percent of whom dependdirectly or indirectlyon agriculture. To help meet that goal, CCAFS is investigating the behavioural and economic constraints that limit uptake by smallholder farmers.We are also working with the Agricultural Insurance Company of India to design schemes better suited to farmers' needs. This means, for example, ensuring payments match losses. CCAFS researchers are combining crop models with climate data to identify payment-triggers for various crops.Finally, through climate-smart villages, CCAFS is working with farmers to test tools and technologies such as water management and soil conservation. When combined with insurance, these can produce long-term benefits for farmers and help them become more resilient.In Bihar, for example, the 2012 monsoon was late, leading to delayed planting and losses in the rice crop. But in the Vaishali climate-smart villages, where more than 200 farmers had crop insurance, they got their first payment soon after the rains failed, enabling them to quickly invest in new seeds and re-plant.There are also synergies between insurance and credit. With insurance, farmers may be happier to borrow and banks more willing to lend, enabling farmers to invest in new technology.Agriculture is sometimes considered to be 'climate-smart' when it contributes to food security, adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable way. That may simply be through an otherwise disparate collection of practices, like water management or being more strategic about grazing.But now CCAFS and experts at Bioversity Internationalwho research the role of agriculture and forest biodiversity in a nutritious, resilient and adaptable futureare evolving a broader concept of climate-smart agriculture; one that not only stays within the limits of ecological systems but actually enhances them. Biodiversity gives farmers options, helping them minimize the risks associated with climate change.This workwhich includes local vulnerability, adaptation planning and seed systemscontributes to CCAFS programs and the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems. Bioversity International's 'Seeds for Needs' projects, for example, are based on the premise that with an array of different crops, farmers are more likely to cope with unpredictable weather.The program introduces farmers to different crop varieties and strengthens their seed systems so they can move with the climate. For example, wheat is particularly sensitive to heat and dries out quickly when it flowers; if farmers plant different varieties that flower at different times, they are less likely to suffer losses from sudden hot weather.\"It is definitely getting hotter. This has been the situation for the last five years,\" says Mamta Kumari, a farmer and a member of Bhatadasi Ladies' Group, in Bihar, India. \"But when we talk about the weather now, both summers and winters are getting extreme.\"One answer is to take varieties from other locations that are likely to thrive in the prevailing conditions. Jacob van Etten, a Senior Scientist with Biodiversity International, explains the process: \"We make a shortlist of varieties that we think are going to do well. Then we make a smaller set for farmers so they can get access to diversity, do some systematic observation, collect the information\" and share it.Mamta Kumari was pleased with the results: \"They [Biodiversity] helped select the varieties of wheat to grow this year and last year also. The trial was a big hit. Farmers came from far-off places to see this.\"In Papua New Guinea, another Seeds for Needs country, together with local implementing partners, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), the program is identifying models for taro and sweet potato for current and future climatic conditions. The project is also expected to develop \"an improved seed multiplication and delivery system, leading to improved genetic production potential of staple crops in Papua New Guinea,\" according to NARI.Seeds for Needs started in Ethopia in 2009 with barley and wheat; as well as in India and Papua New Guinea, it also works on bean varieties in Honduras, Rwanda and Uganda; and on sorghum, pigeon pea and cowpea beans in Kenya and Tanzania. Additional projects in Cambodia and Laos are expected to start in 2014.In India, the CCAFS site in the Indo-Gangetic plains lies in an agriculturally vibrant region playing a vital role in the food security of the country. Since the mid-1960s, increases in agricultural productivity, rapid industrial growth and expansion of the informal rural economy have quadrupled per capita GDP and significantly reduced poverty.But now a host of factors threaten future progress: soaring food and fuel prices, volatile markets, the global economic downturn, depletion of water resources, diversion of human capital from agriculture, soil degradation, indiscriminate use of chemical inputs, shrinking farm sizes, and the overarching effects of the climate change that is projected to lead to uncertain monsoons and more frequent weather-extremes.Significant efforts are being made through various institutions on the development and dissemination of new technologies, including climate-smart practices, but large-scale adoption is sluggish. Scalingup climate-smart agricultural systems and other knowledge-intense technologies and practices has turned out to be more difficult than were 'green revolution' methods like new seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.One major bottleneck centres on the increasing average age of farmers, lingering traditional mindsets, and the loss of young people who move out of farming. Discussing with communities ways to break the impasse, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT) decided to undertake technology development with young farmers in the belief that engaging them in a community-based approach will facilitate adaptation and adoption of new technologies.CIMMYT also recognised the advantage of bringing young farmers together to influence policymakers to support the promotion of technologies, targeting not only adaptation and mitigation but also farm profitability and generating alternate employment for rural youth through technologyled business opportunities. The other benefit was to evolve institutional mechanisms for buying and sharing assets such as expensive farm machinery, for real-time decision-making, and for using resources more effectively at community-level.CCAFS decided to interact with a group of young farmers from Taraori village, in the Karnal district of India's Haryana state. The response was overwhelming: farmer groups showed a keen interest in new-generation technologies to help with problems like: sowing rice with less labour; surface levelling to save irrigation water; residue management for more healthy soil; eliminating burning and tillage to save fuel, energy and water; more efficient use of nutrients; and general adaptation to climatic risks.The enthusiasm was so great that a group of 20 young people formed the 'Society for Conservation of Natural Resources and Empowering Rural Youth'. A community-based movement led by young farmers was born. Now more than 4000 people including senior policy-makers have visited these innovative farmers to learn more about resource-efficient, climate-smart and profitable technologies.As farmers' participation in technology and adaptation is critical, a new research platform was established with CCAFS at this village cluster to build awareness of different stakeholders including farmers, extension agents, students, scientists and policy-planners. Through capacity-building, different climate-smart technologies were demonstrated to large number of farmers in the CCAFS cluster as well as farmers and extension agents in other areas.The new society has also been publicizing the technologies through print and electronic media, including national newspapers and television and international conferences. The chief minister of Haryana announced incentives for community-based climate-smart and resource-efficient technologies -primarily conservation agriculture and 'smart' mechanization.This became a model for rural youth and communities, with 5 more young-farmer cooperatives in the clusters of CCAFS climate-smart village.Agriculture contributes as much as 24 percent of man-made emissions of GHG globally and is an important driver of deforestation. Yet it also offers opportunities to mitigate climate change through, for example, enhancing soil carbon, planting trees, improving livestock management, and more efficient uses of nitrogen fertilizer and energy.What are the relationships between emissions reductions, food and energy security, climate change adaptation and other environmental goals? Which agricultural systems and geographical regions have the largest potential for mitigation? How can we create incentives for lower-emissions food systems around the world? How can GHG in smallholder systems be quantified? CCAFS research seeks to answer these and other questions.We use a variety of metricsmany of them highly innovativesuch as farm emissions measurement, systems analysis, remote sensing, modelling and socioeconomic analysis. We test practices such as agroforestry, efficient use of nitrogen fertilizer, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) of rice paddies, improved livestock management, minimum tillage and more.In a project called Standard Assessment of Mitigation Potential and Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems ('SAMPLES') that started in 2012, CCAFS researchers are using the irrigated area of Bulacan province in the Philippines to test new metrics for emissions, and comparing mitigation options in smallholder agriculture.The project promotes mitigation in smallholder agriculture by developing a protocol for modelling and field-testing mitigation options and building local capacity for analyzing data. The subsequent protocol will be a tool for scientists and decision-makers who want to analyze low-emissions agriculture in smallholder systems.Scientists associated with SAMPLES are also testing methods and collecting data in Kenya and Vietnam, where field sites cover a range of smallholder systems including rice, rice-wheat rotations, and mixed systems of maize, sugarcane, livestock and vegetables. The research will provide a full year of data on low-emissions strategies.The sites are also serving as a classroom for more than 20 research fellowsbuilding in-country capacity for implementing the strategies being tested.Rice farmers in Bulacan are even more concerned about water than they are about climate. Their irrigation reservoir has been steadily depleting for at least 30 years due to droughts and the demand from the capital, Manila; another issue is that Philippine law prioritizes domestic over agricultural use of water.CCAFS researchers and their partners have been testing an AWD solution. This allows paddies to dry until the water table is below the soil surface before irrigating again. Compared with maintaining paddies in a continuously flooded state, it can lower water use by 25 percent and reduce energy used for pumping.The assessment process demands accurate measurement of emissions reductions associated with AWDdifficult because methods for doing so in smallholder systems have not yet been well defined.Investment by the public sector in adaptation is rising but it will be largely the private sectorfrom small-scale farmers to multinational companiesthat will lead adaptation of global food systems to achieve food security under climate change. The important thing will be to identify areas where companies' vital interests in adaptation overlap with opportunities for building adaptive capacity among vulnerable agricultural communities.Of 72 companies surveyed by the UN in 2010, 86 percent reported that climate change adaptation presents new opportunities; other studies indicate a large variety of motives that encompass both exploitation of emerging opportunities and management of growing threats. Incentives for engaging in adaptation can be summarized as: gaining competitive advantage; 'climate-proofing' future business; social responsibility; and compliance with regulation.The development by seed companies of crop varieties that have strong defences again drought, flood, salinity and pests clearly brings down farmers' vulnerability to climate risks. But their success is highly dependent on local factors. Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, for example, a project led by CIMMYT, is developing maize cultivars that produce up to 50 percent higher yields in drought conditions. It has released 105 drought-tolerant varieties and seed production has risen from 700 tonnes in 2009 to 30,000 tonnes in 2011-12 in 13 African countries.The Stress Tolerant Rice in Africa and South Asia project, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and AfricaRiceboth CGIAR affiliateshas, for 6 countries, developed 10 rice varieties that tolerate floods, droughts and increases in salinity. One has survived being completely submerged for nearly 3 weeks and is spreading across Bangladesh, India and Nepal, reaching nearly 4 million farmers in 2012.IRRI and AfricaRice share an extensive network of partners from public and private sectors, NGOs, seed companies and farmers' organizations, through which these new products can be disseminated.Index-based insurance (see above) is also used in the arid rangeland areas of northern Kenya. To help pastoralists cope with climate change, CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners launched the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) product in the Marsabit district. The average client has about 50 cows, camels, goats or sheep, or a combination.Unlike weather-based insurance, IBLI is based on a vegetation index; some 3000 pastoralists have bought cover. ILRI provides technical support while the private sector builds relationships with pastoralists and tries to overcome the problems of remoteness with SMS transactions.The most visible impacts of these developments and others like them are on farmers' assets; their ability to expand adaptive capacity depends on whether they can afford the goods and services on offer, and whether companies can engage in outreach when transaction costs are high or communications poor. As climate change develops, more companies are likely to respond to risks and market opportunities alike, which may provide farmers and herders with more options.In Phu Tho, two hours from the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, where the Red River Delta meets Vietnam's northern mountains, lies a small family farm which shared its experience of 'Vuon Ao Chuong' (VAC) agriculture with CCAFS researchers busy planning our expansion into Southeast Asia.The scene that met the researchers was a testament to the success of VAC (which translates as 'garden-pond-pen') agriculture in Vietnam: dozens of sows and piglets grunting happily in their pen; a fish pond with resident ducks flapping on the water; bamboo beehives scattered around the property; about 100 chickens; workers tending a rice paddy. At the back of the property, a small wood provided much-needed shade.All these uses of land were being managed in the intensive but sustainable VAC system, in which nutrients from the pond fertilize rice and maize, while livestock manure generates biogas for cooking. The farm produces enough rice to feed a family of six and generates steady income through the rest of its products, allowing the family to invest in education, materials, and possible new ventures.It's experience and local wisdom like this farm and hundreds of others like it that CCAFS will attempt to harness as it rolls out climate-smart villages across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Integrated and intensive systems like Vuon Ao Chuong already give farmers an edge in the race against climate change: they do not rely on a single crop; GHG are reduced thanks to nutrient cycling and the use of intensification rather than just expansion.There is concern that climate impacts such as rising sea-levels threaten to erode the region's agricultural land and contaminate supplies of fresh water for agricultural production in a region responsible for much of the world's rice. Combined with rising salinity, which damages fertility and stunts rice and other crops, researchers warn that the region's huge deltasthe Red River, Mekong and Chao Phrayaand the millions who live on them, are at risk. The villages to be located in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines will be \"learning laboratories where multiple partnersresearchers, government agencies, the private sector, farmer groups, civil society organizationscome together to trial integrated solutions to climate change,\" according to Bruce Campbell, who led a 'convergence meeting' in Bangkok in December to build a climate-smart road map with local CGIAR partners.The program will not be without its challenges. \"Do you know how difficult it is to ask farmers to change their crop?\" says Dr Leocadio Sebastian, CCAFS Regional Program Leader for Southeast Asia. \"It's like asking someone to change their career. It's not something they can do overnight.\" \"It will require change in attitudes and acquisition of new knowledge, skills and practices and links to new markets.\" Buy-in from local partners will be crucial to identify target villages and the climate challenges to be tackled in them. \"Local ownership is very important,\" Dr Sebastian adds. \"Local people need to be part of local solutions.\"CCAFS does more than just gather evidence of the effects of climate change and agriculture on each other; it also strives to ensure each realm is understood in the other, requiring constant effort to engage at all levels with national decision-makers. For example, the Coffee Under Pressure project with smallholder producers in Central America and Mexico has brought sophisticated modelling of climate impacts to the community in a context that is relevant and useful for farmers. 'Double-loop' learning is emerging as scientists react to the resulting demands for information.Recent studies show that climate change threatens coffee systems, with impacts on yields, quality, and pests, among others. These findings have been extensively covered in the media, and now a roundtable dialogue is planned in Nicaragua, new research is being funded, and the largest US coffee roasting company is considering investing in adaptation by smallholder farmers upstream in its supply chains.Social learning has become important to CCAFS under its mandate to rethink agriculture and food security in a warming world. Strategies for addressing climate change ultimately depend on local contexts, so it is critical to link knowledge with action and explore tools for local decision-making.We are trying to help policy-makers, development partners, researchers and farmers make choices with a greater understanding of the many factors involvedlocal conditions and knowledge, national policies and programmes, international development paradigms, and the increasingly diverse drivers of global change. To support this process, CCAFS research and the tools it produces have to be based on the needs and knowledge of local actors.The CCAFS 'Integration for Decision-Making' team are looking at how social learning might help, and we are interested in learning from innovative work across the CGIAR network; in the next few years, we will mainstream new ways of working in climate, agriculture and food security.But we need new models for scaling-up and changes in institutional culture to spread social learning through research and development. We also face methodological issues such as learning how to work with different social groups and power structures, and reconciling stakeholders' varying timescales.There is also plenty of evidence The idea is to involve farmers in evaluating varieties as 'citizen scientists'; each farmer grows a combination of 3 varieties drawn from a broader set of 10. The farmer then ranks them according to characteristics like vigour, yield and grain quality.Things are made as easy as possible for the farmers; then we, the researchers, use nifty statistical methods to combine the rankings and share the results with them. With this information, farmers can identify the best varieties for their conditions and preferences.Farmers become scientists, actively contributing to science with their time, effort and expertise. In India, around 800 farmers are now testing wheat varieties as citizen scientists.It was a lot of fun to visit the plots and talk with the farmers. Each had its own story: wheat growing in an orchard or next to a cooperative, women's groups getting involved, etc. One thing we wanted to test is whether this approach is more cost-effective and less complicated than the usual demonstration plots or participatory trials. In the new set-up, logistics are simpler because the seed comes to the farmer; the farmer doesn't need to go to the demonstration plot.As the plots are smaller (with only 3 varieties from 120 grams of seed), they are easier to accommodate. In extreme cases, you can always just \"pull out the radishes,\" as one farmer put it.Also, the varieties farmers are testing have become the new local favourite topic of conversation, as farmers feel they are fully involved in the scientific process. We are also starting to test if they can report their results using a mobile phone.An important aspect of this work is the collaboration with national and local organizations; the litmus test will be whether the approach is picked up by our partners after their first experience of it.In Vaishali, our partner organizations liked the approach a lot. They found it practical and clearly saw its value for getting varieties to farmers. They were, however, a bit worried about how scientific it really was. But I believe that after going through the whole cycle with them (including applying the statistical methods mentioned above), they will be more confident about the scientific value of the exercise, explains van Etten.And if the approach is successful, we would not only make the crop improvement process cheaper but also fasterimportant given the speed of climate change.The crowdsourcing approach could make it possible to scale-up this effort to even larger areasinvolving thousands of farmers, increasing productivity and decreasing climate risk. Encouraged by the experience in Vaishali, we'll soon be starting similar tests in East Africa and Central America.Climate change affects not just a few thousand farmers, pastoralists and fishers, but all of themhalf a billion people or more. CCAFS harbours ambitious targets for reaching large numbers of farmers in the regions where we work. With the collaboration of partners, some of this ambition is beginning to be realised.The local government of Maharashtra in India, for example, is looking to scale-up CCAFS's climatesmart villages to at least 1000 across the state, concentrated in the most disadvantaged and vulnerable areas. Almost 100,000 women and men farmers will be involved, with secure government funding to support their efforts to manage the growing climate risks they face.Working with farmers is critical to CCAFS in achieving its long-term goals for poverty reduction, better nutrition, environmental benefits and fair outcomes for women and men. CCAFS seeks to be as strategic as possible in its partnerships with farmers and farmers' organizations, and this means: Improving policy-makers' understanding of the issues.  Listening to farmers' priorities, ideas and proposals.  Building the capacity of farmers to deal with climate risks.  Enabling learning on climate change across farming communities.  Ensuring farmers can access and utilize knowledge. Empowering farmers to drive research and policy.  Amplifying farmers' voices in all policy arenas.The role of governments, NGOs, businesses and research agencies is to support the true \"owners of this work\", as Malawian smallholder Etrida Luhanga put it in Dublin, to provide the services, infrastructure and incentives that enable farmers to manage and build agriculture under climate change.","tokenCount":"7098"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5137254471.json b/data/part_1/5137254471.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e75bc38c1f638d57dc0d805a134f0c832fe26572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5137254471.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b645269fabd6015a8e07087a34ac1ddc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5886b08c-4e1d-4ca1-813e-a81175a5235b/retrieve","id":"2031159614"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"509b34c4-3478-4ebc-9feb-0f68d49e789b","pagecount":"2","content":"National Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Defined> Country(ies): • Tanzania, United Republic Description of Stage reached: Collaboration between HarvestPlus, CGIAR breeding centers, and NARS resulted in the release of 23 new varieties of 7 biofortified crops in 9 countries, in 2020. Evidence provided links to the biofortification crops map. An internal HarvestPlus database along with breeding reports can be made available upon request. Name of lead organization/entity to take innovation to this stage: TARI -Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute Names of top five contributing organizations/entities to this stage: • Alliance of Bioversity International & the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) • HarvestPlus","tokenCount":"103"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5147788598.json b/data/part_1/5147788598.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..20fa7123f8ca18d84e0f24442e52d8c28bf0e6f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5147788598.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3bdbca246547d88ccd52161537e55ee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d49fb80e-1a4f-4106-94d8-9a5fb611c7ae/content","id":"-73207744"},"keywords":["wheat biofortification","QTL mapping","grain Zn","grain Fe","transgressive segregation"],"sieverID":"56ea3a34-4e0f-4f85-9f86-94817e00a20d","pagecount":"12","content":"More than 50% of undernourished children live in Asia and more than 25% live in Africa. Coupled with an inadequate food supply, mineral deficiencies are widespread in these populations; particularly zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies that lead to retarded growth, adverse effects on both the immune system and an individual's cognitive abilities. Biofortification is one solution aimed at reducing the incidence of these deficiencies. To efficiently breed a biofortified wheat variety, it is important to generate knowledge of the genomic regions associated with grain Zn (GZn) and Fe (GFe) concentration. This allows for the introgression of favorable alleles into elite germplasm. In this study we evaluated two bi-parental populations of 188 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) displaying a significant range of transgressive segregation for GZn and GFe during three crop cycles in CIMMYT, Mexico. Parents of the RILs were derived from Triticum spelta L. and synthetic hexaploid wheat crosses. QTL analysis identified a number of significant QTL with a region denominated as QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P2 on chromosome 7B explaining the largest (32.7%) proportion of phenotypic variance (PVE) for GZn and leading to an average additive effect of −1.3. The QTL with the largest average additive effect for GFe (−0.161) was found on chromosome 4A (QGFe.cimmyt-4A_P2), with 21.14% of the PVE. The region QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P2 co-localized closest to the region QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P1 in a consensus map built from the linkage maps of both populations. Pleiotropic or tightly linked QTL were also found on chromosome 3B, however of minor effects and PVE between 4.3 and 10.9%. Further efforts are required to utilize the QTL information in marker assisted backcrossing schemes for wheat biofortification. A strategy to follow is to intercross the transgressive individuals from both populations and then utilize them as sources in biofortification breeding pipelines.Malnutrition in its different forms affects more than 2 billion people across the globe, and undernutrition is the main cause of the 45% of deaths in children aged under 5 years of age (WHO, 2017). Recent figures indicate that 155 million children suffer from stunting and 52 million are wasted, of which more than 50% live in Asia and more than 25% live in Africa (WHO, 2017); areas where there is an alarmingly high incidence of malnutrition (Muthayya et al., 2013). Mineral deficiencies, particularly Zn and Fe lead to retarded growth and affect the immune system and cognitive abilities (Bryan et al., 2004;Osendarp et al., 2007;Stoecker et al., 2009;Kambe et al., 2014). In 2016, the United Nations established a decade of action to combat malnutrition and this included the promotion and provision of healthy and sustainable food systems, encompassing investments in agriculture (WHO, 2017).The generation of biofortified, staple food crops such as wheat, is an important opportunity to contribute to the solution of the hidden hunger problem in low income countries (Velu et al., 2014). Agronomic practices can contribute to wheat biofortification. For instance, it is proven that foliar applications of Zn can increase this mineral concentration in the grains, but only in conditions when the soil is Zn-deficient, and there are indications that an effective method for increasing grain Zn is the combination of soil fertilization with foliar applications (Velu et al., 2014). However, augmenting mineral concentrations solely through agronomic practices implies increased production costs for farmers, which are often not able to afford.Genetic biofortification offers a solution that is not opposite to agronomic practices, and in fact can be synergistic (Velu et al., 2014). However, wheat improvement for higher concentrations of micronutrients in the grain requires substantial efforts in resources and money, starting from the identification of source materials with high nutrient concentration in the grain, to pre-breeding and breeding for final product development. Furthermore, the identification of favorable alleles from diverse origins is fundamental for wheat biofortification (Singh and Velu, 2017), since breeding progress requires the combination of different loci in breeding pipelines. Sources with vast genetic diversity for grain Zn and Fe concentrations, besides wheat landraces, are species such as Aegilops tauschii (Coss.), Triticum monoccocum L., Triticum dicoccum Schrank ex Schübl., Triticum boeticum Boiss., and Triticum spelta L. (Velu et al., 2014). The exploitation of these genetic resources can be through the development and utilization of synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHWs) to introgress favorable alleles from the tetraploid species T. dicoccum and the diploid species A. tauschii in elite bread wheats (Mujeeb-Kazi, 1995). Also favorable alles can be transferred from T. spelta to bread wheat by direct crossing due to the hexaploid nature of T. spelta. Even though, landraces, SHWs and T. spelta can be directly crossed with bread wheat, it requires substantial efforts to apply the appropriate selection methods to only transfer the loci of interest without losing the adaptability and yield potential of elite germplasm (Velu et al., 2012(Velu et al., , 2014)).Modern technologies such as next-generation sequencing and advanced statistical procedures can facilitate the identification and introgression of genomic regions associated with higher Zn and Fe in the grains of elite germplasm. One way to identify genomic regions associated with traits of interest is the QTL or linkage mapping procedures. When mapping populations are developed and then phenotyped in different environments or years, it is possible to conduct QTL analysis for multi-environmental trials in various ways (Da Costa E Silva et al., 2012b;Li et al., 2015). An approach that can be utilized is inclusive-composite interval mapping (ICIM) (Li et al., 2015), where first a stepwise regression is performed in each environment to identify markers that significantly explain the phenotypic variation, which are then used to adjust the phenotypic values, and then interval mapping is conducted on the adjusted phenotypic data across environments to detect QTL with significant average additive effect, and/or QTL with significant interaction with the environment. This two-step approach has proven to be effective in controlling the genetic background effect (selection of cofactors), which in consequence reduces the variance of the estimated genetic parameter and hence increases power and precision (Li et al., 2015). The ICIM approach for multi-environmental trials gives three LOD scores, the first for the QTL-by-environment interaction, the second for the average additive effect and thirdly an overall LOD score which is the sum of the first and the second. The genome wide significance threshold can be obtained through an empirical formula or through permutation tests (Li et al., 2015).One gene that is cloned and reported to increase Zn, Fe, and protein content in wheat grains is the Gpc-B1 locus in chromosome 6BS, initially mapped in a population of recombinant inbred lines of tetraploid wheat (Uauy et al., 2006). Gpc-B1 gene encodes a NAC transcription factor (NAM-B1) that accelerates senescence and increases nutrient translocation from leaves to grains (Uauy et al., 2006). Additionally, various authors have identified QTL associated with grain Zn and Fe concentrations and efficiency on various chromosomes of wheat and wheat relatives, for instance 1A, 2A, 2B, 3D, 4B, 6A, 6B, and 7A (Tiwari et al., 2009;Xu et al., 2012;Srinivasa et al., 2014;Velu et al., 2016). Some of these works have mapped QTL that are either tightly linked or are pleiotropic for grain Zn and Fe concentration, and even show some association with thousand kernnel weight (Xu et al., 2012;Hao et al., 2014;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2016). These findings are relevent, since they indicate the possibility of breeding for higher concentration of micronutrients sumultaneously. Supported by previous QTL mapping results in the Global Wheat Program at CIMMYT (Hao et al., 2014;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2016), efforts are being made to develop molecular markers associated with grain Zn and Fe concentrations in the grains, and their further validation and utilization in marker assisted backcrossing schemes.In the present study we evaluated two diverse recombinant inbred line populations for three crop seasons. With the aid of genotyping by sequencing and QTL analysis for multienvironmental trials, we identified QTL for grain zinc and iron that may be useful for wheat biofortification.Two F6 populations (Pop1 and Pop2), each of 188 recombinant inbred lines (RILs), were developed from the cross of a synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) and a T. spelta L. derived line (Table 1). The parental lines were developed at CIMMYT for their medium-high concentration of GZn and GFe and crossed with the expectation of observing transgressive segregation in the mapping populations. Parent 1 (Table 1) of both populations Trials were irrigated five times throughout the crop cycle and fertilized at a rate of 200-50 (N-P), of which 50-50 was applied in pre-sowing, and 150-00 at tillering stage. Diseases and pests were controlled chemically, whereas weeds were controlled manually and chemically. The soil of the field trials was previously enriched with 25 kg ha −1 of ZnSO 4 .7H 2 O over three crop cycles. Soil analysis of the land were RILs were grown had an average Zn concentration of 1.2 ppm at soil depth of 0-30 cm, and 0.86 ppm at a soil depth of 30-60 cm. The average Fe concentration in the soil was 5.01 and 6.1 ppm, at 0-30 and 30-60 cm soil depth, respectively.Mineral concentrations in the grains (GZn and GFe) were measured with a \"bench-top, \" non-destructive, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) instrument (model X-Supreme 8000; Oxford Instruments plc, Abingdon, UK) standardized for high-throughput screening of GZn and GFe in whole grain wheat (Paltridge et al., 2012).All analyses of the phenotypic data were conducted in R v3.3.2 (R Development Core Team, 2013) with the lme4 package (Bates et al., 2015). Best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) of each RIL were obtained for single crop cycles by specifying a single year analysis model where RILs and reps were regarded as random effects. Additionally BLUPs across years of evaluation were obtained by specifying a multi-year analysis model, where RILs, RILs × year interaction and reps within year were regarded as random effects. Heritability (h 2 ) was computed from the variance components. In addition, to assess the significance of the genotype-by-year interaction (GxY), we performed an analysis of variance with the RILs, years and the interaction of these as fixed effects.Populations were genotyped with the Diversity Array Technology (DArT), and DArT-Seq. The array technology reduces the DNA complexity by using a combination of restriction enzymes to obtain a representation of the whole genome; the variable fragments of DArT are hybridized to a library of the species of interest, thus showing its nature of \"presence/absence\" patterns (Wenzl et al., 2004). The difference between DArT and DArT-Seq is that the latter works with the next generation sequencing technologies and skips the hybridization process, thus greater amounts of marker information can be obtained (Sansaloni et al., 2011). SNP calling was made simultaneously for both populations.A total of 9,034 markers were obtained for each population after the genotyping procedures. The markers that were not retained for the linkage analysis were those with: more than 20% missing data, minor allele frequency lower than 5% and those that were monomorphic between the parents of each population. Linkage and QTL analyses were conducted with the ICIMapping software (Li et al., 2008;Meng et al., 2015). The chromosome location of DArT markers (Akbari et al., 2006) was used as anchoring information to group the DArT-Seq markers using a LOD = 5.0 as significance threshold, in this way the markers with unknown chromosome assignment (DArT-Seq) can be grouped together with those that have chromosome information (DArT) given the indicated significance threshold. Markers were ordered with the Traveling Salesman algorithm, using a 5 cM window size for rippling the markers in linkage groups (LGs). Linkage groups with less than three markers or markers with no linkage were discarded from the analysis. The LG for Pop1 were built with 5,301 markers, of which 4,120 were DArT-Seq. The LG for Pop2 were constructed with 4,875 markers, of which 4,521 were DArT-Seq. Consensus maps derived from both populations were built for chromosomes that commonly harbored genomic regions associated with GZn and GFe. The consensus maps were built with the package LPmerge (Endelman and Plomion, 2014) in the R software R v3.3.2.Inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) was used to make QTL analysis. The ICIM method applies a strategy in which a stepwise regression is firstly made, so markers with significant effect on QTL are selected, and then follows an interval mapping step, where the phenotypic values are adjusted by the selected marker variables, except for the two markers that flank the scanning position at each mapping step for background control. ICIM was performed with the multi-environmental model built in ICIMapping (Li et al., 2015). Significant LOD thresholds were taken at the 5% tail of the null distribution in a 1,000 permutations test (Da Costa E Silva et al., 2012a,b).After the QTL analysis a search was conducted with the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) in the Ensemble Plants database of the bread wheat genome (http://plants.ensembl.org/ index.html) with the default provided parameters. The search was conducted with the sequence of the markers flanking the QTL.The levels of GZn in the progenitors of Pop1 ranged from 43.7-61.7 to 31.1-35.6 mg•kg −1 for GFe, while the range of GZn in the progenitors of Pop2 was 49.5-66.2 and 33.2-37.6 mg•kg −1 for GFe (Table 2).The GZn in Pop1 ranged from 49.5-70.1 mg•kg −1 (Y13-14), 39.8-50.8 mg•kg −1 (Y14-15), 42.6-52.8 mg•kg −1 (Y15-16), and 45.3-56.2 mg•kg −1 (across years) (Figure 1). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a highly significant GxY interaction [p < 0.0001, F (374, 555.2) = 1.702]. The GFe varied from 30.4-36.2 mg•kg −1 (Y13-14), 30.2-33.6 mg•kg −1 (Y14-15), 33.3-36.8 mg•kg −1 (Y15-16), and 31.0-36.3 mg•kg −1 across years (Figure 2). The ANOVA indicated a non-significant GxY interaction for GFe [p = 0.41, F (374, 555.01) = 1.019]. Heritability   estimates for GZn were 0.73, 0.62, 0.44, and 0.49 for Y13-14, Y14-15, Y15-16, and across years, respectively, whereas the estimates for GFe were 0.54, 0.40, and 0.36 for the respective years and 0.42 across them. In Pop2 the GZn ranged from 50.9-90.5 mg•kg −1 (Y13-14), 43.3-57.0 mg•kg −1 (Y14-15), 45.7-65.6 mg•kg −1 (Y15-16), and 56.5-78.3 mg•kg −1 across years of evaluation (Figure 1). In case of GFe for Pop2, the predicted values ranged from 33.3-39.7 mg•kg −1 (Y13-14), 31.8-34.2 mg•kg −1 (Y14-15), 33.8-39.3 mg•kg −1 (Y15-16), and 33.2-37.0 mg•kg −1 for the acrossyears evaluation (Figure 2). The ANOVA indicated a highly significant GxY interaction for GZn [p < 0.0001, F (374, 563) = 1.78] and a non-significant GxY for GFe [p = 0.06, F (374, 561) = 1.15]. Heritability estimates for GZn were 0.83, 0.46, 0.70, and 0.60 for Y13-14, Y14-15, Y15-16, and across years respectively, whereas the estimates for GFe were 0.33, 0.20, and 0.57 for each respective years and 0.29 across them.Statistically significant (p < 0.001) correlation coefficients (r) were observed for each population between GZn and GFe in each year of evaluations and across years (Figure 3). Additionally, since significant GxY was identified with the ANOVA for GZn, we calculated Kendall's τ coefficient of concordance to determine the presence of significant rank changes, which ranged from 0.20-0.35 (p < 0.01) of Pop1, and 0.27-0.49 (p < 0.0001) for GZn of Pop2. Kendall's τ coefficient of concordance was not calculated for GFe as the ANOVA did not indicate significant GxY interaction.Of the total number of markers for Pop 1 (5,301) and Pop2 (4,875), more than 50% were grouped within the B genome, whereas the D genome had the least number of markers grouped (Table 3). Linkage groups representing all wheat chromosomes were built with the genotypic data of each population. For Pop1 the number of markers in the linkage groups ranged from 24 (5D) to 635 (2B). The number of markers of the LGs for Pop2 ranged from 40 (2D) to 1,002 (1B). The map distance of the linkage groups ranged from 62.6 cM (5D) to 641 cM (3B). The average density of the linkage maps ranged from 0.5 to 1.7 markers•cM −1 .The multi-environmental QTL analysis showed the association of various genomic regions with GZn and GFe in both populations (Tables 4, 5). The genome wide significant threshold was LOD = 4.5 and LOD = 5.0 for Pop1 and Pop2, respectively. The analysis indicated the presence of QTL for GZn on common chromosomes of both populations, namely: 1B, 6A, and 7B. In addition, one QTL for GFe in 5B was found in both populations. The consensus map built for 7B mapped the QTL for GZn from each population on near-by positions (Figure 4), indicating the presence of common regions for GZn. Consensus maps for chromosomes 1B and 6A were not possible to construct because of the reduced amount (<20%) of markers shared between linkage groups of each population.The proportion of the total phenotypic variance (PVE) explained by the QTL for GZn in Pop1 ranged from 2.86-16.75%, and 5.49-10.35% for GFe (Table 4). On the other hand, the PVE of the QTL for GZn in Pop2 ranged from 3.3-32.79%, and 5.79-21.14% for GFe (Table 5). The QTL that had the highest PVE for GZn in Pop1 was QGZn.cimmyt-7B_P1 (16.75%), and in Pop2 was QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P2 (32.7%). For GFe, the QTL with the highest PVE were QFe.cimmyt-3A_P1 (10.35%) and QGFe.cimmyt-4A_P2 (21.14%) for Pop1 and Pop2, respectively. We localized two genomic regions with pleiotropic effects on chromosome 3B for GZn and GFe of Pop2 (Figure 5), both regions with minor effects (Figure 6, Table 5). The first one for GZn (QGZn.cimmyt-3B_1P2) and GFe (QGFe.cimmyt-3B_1P2), linked to marker 3533713 between the interval of 275.5-284.5 cM (Table 5). The region derived from Louries (Parent 1, Pop2) and explained 4.37 and 5.81% of the PVE for GZn and GFe, respectively (Table 5). The second region, from Bateleur (Parent 2, Pop 2), was associated to QGZn.cimmyt-3B_2P2 and QGFe.cimmyt-3B_2P2, linked to marker 3947677, between the interval 511.5-513.5 cM, with a PVE of 10.93 and 7.19% of GZn and GFe, respectively.The QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P2 region linked to marker 1079651 had the largest PVE for GZn (32.7%) on chromosome 7B from Louries, which was also displayed the highest additive effect of all QTL (−1.29) (Figure 6, Table 5). Whereas, for GFe the QTL with the largest PVE (21.14%) was QGFe.cimmyt-4A_P2 on chromosome 1B (Table 5).The QTL with the second largest average additive effect was found on chromosome 6A (QGZn.cimmyt-6A_P2) between the interval 178.5-179.5, linked to marker 1697218, which explained a total PVE of 8.53%. Additional QTL of interest are those found on chromosomes 1A and 1B (Table 5), which displayed 10.78 and 11.25% of PVE, respectively.The sequence of the flanking marker of each QTL were entered in the Ensambl Plants database of the bread wheat genome sequence (http://plants.ensembl.org/index.html). Of all the QTL identified, 10 were located where genes coding for uncharacterized proteins are present and/or no-gene annotation is available. The rest of the QTL appeared to be located in regions were genes coded for diverse proteins, including mainly: Leucine-rich repeat (4 QTL), P-loop containing nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase (3 The study of mapping populations, through the implementation of QTL analysis is useful not only to identify genomic regions associated with traits of interest, but also to utilize the information of associated markers in breeding programs to efficiently incorporate particular loci in elite germplasm. In our study, through the application of QTL-by-environment interaction with composite interval mapping (Li et al., 2015) it was possible to locate several genomic regions associated with  a Overall LOD score of the QTL; b LOD score of the main additive effect; c LOD score of the Genotype x Year interaction; d Overall proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the QTL in percentage; e Proportion of the phenotypic variance explained by the QTL due to Genotype x Year interaction (%); f Main additive effect; g,h,i Additive x Year interaction effect for each crop cycle.GZn and GFe in the two mapping populations that were studied over a period of three crop cycles in northwest Mexico. Our results are in agreement with other authors' findings in that GZn and GFe are traits of quantitative nature (Tiwari et al., 2009;Xu et al., 2012;Hao et al., 2014;Srinivasa et al., 2014;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2016;Krishnappa et al., 2017). These Previous QTL studies have also mapped QTL for GZn and GFe in various chromosomes of wheat and wheat related species, inlcuding 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3D, 4B, 5A, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, with PVE ranging from 2.3% in chromosome 5A (Krishnappa et al., 2017) to 27.1% in chromosome 3B (Srinivasa et al., 2014). In our study the largest PVE (32.79%) was displayed by QGZn.cimmyt.7B_1P2 in chromosome 7B.A recent QTL mapping study also identified promising genomic regions on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 2B, 5A, 7A, and 7B, with PVE ranging from 2.3 to 14.4% (Krishnappa et al., 2017). Such QTL originate from the line \"Triticum dicoccon PI94624/Aegilops squarrosa [409]//BCN, \" a SHW parent that is also present in the pedigree of Turutur (Parent 2, Pop2). QTL in our study were also found on those chromosomes of Pop2, except in 5A. However, it is difficult to stablish similarities between the genomic regions, because our map and that produced by Krishnappa et al. (2017) are based on different and not easily comparable type of markers (DArT vs. SSR).The genotype by environment interaction has important implications for crop performance and breeding, particularly the cross-over type interactions. For wheat biofortification, the ideal case is to obtain stable wheat genotypes that perform well without cross-over interaction when evaluated in other environments or years in a determined geographical area. The analysis of the phenotypic data in our study indicated the presence of significant GxY interaction, however when we examined the data further and calculated the Kendall's τ coefficient as an indicator of rank changes in the data, we observed that τ values are highly significant (p < 0.001), particularly for GZn of both populations, which indicates a change-of-magnitude rather than a cross-over type of interaction. In addition to that, the QTL analysis showed that most of the LOD scores for the additive average effect were larger than the LOD score of the interaction (Tables 4, 5), which indicates that QTL with larger LOD (Add) are more stable than those with larger LOD (GxY) (Li et al., 2015).Transgressive segregation was observed in both populations, particularly for GZn, given that the progenitors had similar GZn levels and the source of higher mineral concentrations are putatively of different origin, i.e., one from SHW and the other two from T. spelta. In fact, the coefficient of parentage (COP) between parents of Pop2 is 0.02, which is equal to the probability of genes being identical by descent, and it is calculated from pedigree information as described by Cockerham (1983) with the Browse application of the International Crop Information System (ICIS) software described by McLaren et al. (2005). The largest range of segregation was detected in Pop2, which on average doubled that of Pop1 (COP = 0.148), and also progenitors of Pop2 contained higher GZn than the progenitors of Pop1 throughout the period of evaluation (Table 2). The fact that the progenitors of Pop2 were more distantly related than those of Pop1 could be the reason why more QTL were found in Pop2 than in Pop1. One of the attributable causes of transgressive segregation is the action of loci with complementary additive effect differentially present in parental lines, which can be observed when progenitors are distantly related (Rieseberg et al., 1999). In line with this, QTL were found to be originated from both parents, indicating the complementary effect of QTL. In addition to the finding of complementary genomic regions in the two evaluated populations, it is possible to select those transgressive individuals with ideal QTL combination to utilize them in the breeding pipeline.QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P2, detected in Pop2 and located on chromosome 7B between markers 1079651 and 1262636, was the major QTL identified this work, with 32.8% of the PVE, and the largest additive effect (−1.29) for GZn, originated from Louries (Parent 1, Pop2). Interestingly, in the consensus map of 7B, this region co-located with another QTL (QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P1) detected in Pop1, which also displayed the highest PVE in this population. However, the relationship between these two regions needs to be further validated to determine if they are the same or not. One possibility to study this relationship while the wheat genome sequence is fully annotated and complete, is by firstly developing user-friendly markers from the DArT-seq sequence and then intercrossing the lines that carry this QTL to study the seggregation pattern in F2 and F3 generations.Even though, the assembly and annotation of bread wheat remains challenging, recent advances report a 78% genome coverage (Clavijo et al., 2017), and it was possible to align the sequence of the markers flanking the QTL with the reference sequence of the wheat genome, available in the Ensambl plants database. Various sequences overlapped or were located in regions where genes code for proteins with unknown function, low confidence coding or not annotated yet. Nevertheless, the BLAST results for QGZn.cimmyt-1A_P2, QGZn.cimmyt-7B_2P2, QGZn.cimmyt-7B_1P1, QGFe.cimmyt-2A_P2 displayed its location in a region where genes code for the Kinase like superfamily, which catalyze phosphorylation processes in which some protein structures are Zn related (Scheeff and Bourne, 2005). Additionally, in the region of QGZn.cimmyt-1A_P2 there was a gene encoding for Multicopper oxidases, which are reported to be involved in the uptake of Zn and Fe in green algae (Herbik et al., 2002). Furthermore, for the QGZn.cimmyt-3B_2P2, QGFe.cimmyt-2A_P2, QGFe.cimmyt-2B_P2, and QGFe.cimmyt-3B_2P2, the BLAST results showed that on such region of 3B there are genes encoding for the Cytochrome P450, which is reported to be related to Zn and Fe homeostasis, and frequently expressed under high Zn conditions in Arabidopsis (van de Mortel et al., 2006).The QTL in 1B of both populations displayed a large PVE, 15.1% in Pop1 and 11.25% in Pop2. According to the BLAST results, QGZn.cimmyt.1B_P1 appears to overlap with a gene that codes a protein belonging to the endo/exonuclease/phosphatase domain, which function is associated with DNA binding and repair during DNA replication (Wu et al., 2015;Kim et al., 2017). The QTL in chromosome 1B from Pop2 was located in a region where genes code for proteins with unknown function. The additional QTL found in a common chromosome were QGZn.cimmyt.6A_P1 and QGZn.cimmyt.6A_P2 in chromosome 6A. According to the BLAST results, QGZn.cimmyt.6A_P1 appeared to be located in a region where genes belonging to the Leucine-rich repeat, P-loop NTPase and Winged helix DNAbinding domains are present. QGZn.cimmyt.6A_P2 overlapped with a gene coding for a protein of unknown function. However, all these findings require further studies to determine if these regions are effectively related to our QTL findings.We found that two genomic regions on chromosome 3B that are either pleiotropic or tightly linked for GZn and GFe. Other studies have also reported similar patterns in different chromosomes such as 2B, 4B, and 5A (Xu et al., 2012;Hao et al., 2014;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2016). These pleiotropic or tightly linked regions can partly explain the positive correlation that exists between GZn and GFe. Furthermore, this finding indicate the possibility of simultaneously breed for both traits. However, an additional, non-genetic factor that can contribute to the simultaneous allocation of Zn and Fe to the grains is nitrogen uptake. For example, in durum wheat, at high enough availability of N, Zn, and Fe are more significantly translocated to the grains (Erenoglu et al., 2011;Kutman et al., 2011).From our analysis we conclude that the regions identified on chromosomes 7B, 6A, 3B, and 1B are of particular interest for wheat biofortification. Further efforts are required to incorporate the marker information in marker assisted backcrossing schemes. With the current information, one strategy to follow is to intercross the transgressive individuals from both populations and then utilize them as sources in the breeding pipeline, under this scheme we are currently validating and introgressing the QTL found by Crespo-Herrera et al. (2016) and Hao et al. (2014).","tokenCount":"4584"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5176671446.json b/data/part_1/5176671446.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..186877ae7150a92a16ef69a8342b1365ff9a24bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5176671446.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"519758fad4ebf3302bf77b6771b191e8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fb861150-a461-452b-b1ed-9c51de36df47/content","id":"-1413628454"},"keywords":["Triticum aestivum L.","coeficiente de parentesco","árbol de parentesco","árbol múltiple de parentesco","pedigrí"],"sieverID":"8dbbe970-9113-4323-8b24-1779c60bc51d","pagecount":"8","content":"Se presenta un sistema de información que calcula los Coeficientes de Parentesco de Trigo (WCOP, por sus siglas en inglés) como herramienta de cómputo que facilite la labor de los fitomejoradores de trigo (Triticum aestivum L.), para la elección de mejores progenitores y estimar la diversidad genética. El sistema genera árboles de parentesco de cada línea de trigo seleccionada por el mejorador, con base en las cruzas e historias de selección, incluyendo a sus ancestros. Todos los árboles se integran en un \"Árbol Múltiple de Parentesco\", que relaciona todas las líneas comunes entre sí, al tiempo que calcula el WCOP. El cálculo se basa en la teoría genética de Mendel, en el algoritmo de Rodgers y Cox y en las reglas de Souza. El WCOP está estructurado en el análisis y diseño de sistemas de información, bases de datos relacionales y análisis de algoritmos, desarrollado en Visual Basic para Windows. Su operación es fácil e intuitiva, ya que aprovecha las ventajas y facilidades del entorno Windows. Como ejemplo se aplicó en cuatro variedades de alto rendimiento: ERA, ARRAS, TASSILO, CYRANO, de los cuales ERA no tiene ningún antecesor en común con los otros tres, mientras que entre ARRAS y TASSILO existe 50 % de afinidad, TASSILO y CYRANO tienen 25 % de afinidad y entre CIRANO y ARA sólo es de 15 %.mon with the remaining three lines, while between ARRAS and TAS-SILO exists a 50 % of similarit; between TASSILO and CYRANO exists 25 % and between CYRANO and ARA only 15 % of similarity. Index words: Triticum aestivum L., coefficient of parentage, individual progeny parentage tree, multiple progeny parentage tree, and pedigree.El programa de trigo (Triticum aestivum L.) del Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIM-MYT), propuso en 1995 el proyecto \"Sistema de Información Internacional de Trigo\" (International Wheat Information System, IWIS), con el objeto de generar un conjunto de sistemas de cómputo que muestren, reporten y procesen la información recabada durante más de treinta y cinco años de investigación en el CIMMYT (Fox et al., 1994;Smale y Mc Bride, 1996). Uno de estos sistemas es el de \"Coeficientes de Parentesco de Trigo\" (Wheat Coefficient of Parentage, WCOP).El sistema WCOP sirve para calcular los coeficientes de parentesco entre diferentes líneas de trigo, con base en su pedigrí. Con una lista de líneas de trigos, el sistema WCOP calcula una matriz de dimensión genotipo x pedigrí de sus antecesores, mediante la información referente a cruza e historia de selección de cada línea contenida en el sistema manejador de base de datos de trigo (Wheat Pedigree Manager System, WPMS). El WCOP encuentra los genotipos y todos sus ancestros y construye los correspondientes árboles genealógicos de progenitores, para posteriormente fusionarlos en un \"árbol múltiple de parentesco\" y calcular el coeficiente de parentesco.La diversidad genética puede ser estimada indirectamente con base en los coeficientes de parentesco (COP); sin embargo, la exactitud de esta medida depende de la disponibilidad de registros de pedigrí y del análisis de sus postulados. Muchos de los procedimientos estadísticos empleados en los estudios de diversidad genética provienen de su aplicación en taxonomía numérica (Manjit, 2002;Cruz, 1990). Estos procedimientos y sus justificaciones teóricas son objeto de críticas que están relacionadas con el origen (relaciones de parentesco, evolutivas, temporales o espaciales) o con las propiedades observadas en los caracteres de estudio (propiedades fenotípicas o de similitud) (Brennan y Fox, 1998;Barrett et al., 1998). El coeficiente de parentesco (COP) es considerado como uno de estos identificadores de diversidad genética, que se calcula a partir de información genealógica y refleja la similitud de parentesco entre cultivares, al expresar la diversidad genética latente conferida a través de sus ancestros (Hintum y Van Haalman, 1994;Souza et al., 1994).En trigo, el conocimiento genético tiene el doble propósito de reducir la vulnerabilidad genética (aumentar la diversidad genética) y asegurar un potencial a largo plazo de ganancias genéticas en rendimiento (Van Beuningen, 1997;Mercado et al., 1996). Existe un gran esfuerzo por identificar, aplicar y comparar marcadores de diversidad genética en trigo, algunos de ellos basados en la integración o adaptación de datos con información genealógica (Smale y Mc Bride, 1996;Cox et al., 1985;Souza et al., 1994), por lo que es importante el desarrollo de un sistema de cómputo que calcule los coeficientes de parentesco para la estimación de las relaciones existentes entre las diferentes líneas de germoplasma de trigo, además de que tenga las características siguientes: rapidez, eficiencia, sencillez, ambiente gráfico y ser amigable al usuario. El sistema WCOP se desarrolló con base en los siguientes objetivos: 1) Calcular los coeficientes de parentesco entre diferentes líneas de trigo basados en su pedigrí individual; 2) Debe poder operarse en el sistema operativo Windows, bajo un formato gráfico mediante el uso de la programación orientada a objetos; 3) Sus algoritmos deben ser rápidos y eficientes para trabajar en equipos de cómputo con escasos recursos de velocidad de procesamiento y memoria, y que ocupen el mínimo de espacio en disco duro; 4) Debe ser capaz de migrar la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco a otros programas estadísticos con el fin de que se puedan realizar cálculos más complejos; y 5) Debe contar en todo momento con una ayuda en línea, como las usadas en aplicaciones Windows de hipervínculos, esto es, que tenga un índice de contenido, búsqueda e impresión de tópicos.El programa que permite calcular los coeficientes de parentesco se define como WCOP 1 , está desarrollado co-1 El sistema IWIS y el programa WCOP están disponibles en CIMMYT Int. mo una aplicación de 16 bits en el leguaje de programación Visual Basic versión 3.0, un lenguaje de programación orientada a objetos para la plataforma Windows y utiliza como mínimo una computadora con procesador 486 con 4 MB de memoria RAM, 37 MB de disco duro y sistema operativo Windows 3.1.El sistema WCOP parte de los principios básicos de la ingeniería de software (Sommerville, 1998), del diseño de bases de datos relacionales (Silberschatz, et al., 2000) y de las estructuras de datos y análisis de algoritmos (Aho, 1990). El diagrama de flujo del sistema WCOP se muestra en la Figura 1.Debido a su complejidad, el análisis del sistema WCOP se divide en dos fases principales. La primera consiste en producir todos los progenitores en una lista que contiene sólo los genotipos -específicos (GE) y todos sus ancestros; esto es, genera cada árbol independiente de cada cruza. La segunda fase consiste en calcular el coeficiente de parentesco de cada GE, con base en la información generada en la primera fase.El sistema WCOP está integrado por seis módulos principales: 1) El de búsqueda de información, el cual es una ayuda si no se está seguro del dato de entrada; 2) Entradas/Salidas, la forma de introducir los datos al programa y la generación de los resultados; 3) Creación de los árboles genealógicos y fusión de árboles genealógicos; 4) Cálculo de la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco entre líneas de trigo; 5) Presentación de resultados, para visualizar e imprimir los datos resultantes; y 6) Ayuda en línea, que provee la información general del programa.El sistema WCOP tiene integrado un módulo de búsqueda de información para introducir los datos de entrada de los GE (Figura 3). La búsqueda se realiza mediante oraciones del lenguaje de consulta (Structured Query Language, SQL) a través de los campos clave de \"Nombre de cruza\" o del \"Código de cruza\". La fuente de información del sistema WCOP son los cuadros \"Pms_Crosses\"  \"Pms_Names\" de la base de datos de Wheat Pedigree Manager System, WPMS.Para las entradas, el sistema contempla dos distintas formas de introducir los datos. La primera es introducir los datos directamente en las cajas de captura: por el nombre de cruza, por el número identificador de cruza (Cid) y el identificador de selección (Sid) o por el código de crianza o de progenie (BCID) (Figura 4). La segunda es mediante un archivo de texto con un formato predefinido que contiene los números de Cid -Sid.Para las salidas el sistema contempla dos formatos, el de guardar en un archivo y el de imprimir tanto los datos de entrada como los resultados generados. En la impresión de los resultados se configura la impresora para darle formato a la matriz de resultados COP, y mediante el archivo de texto plano se tienen dos opciones: una que es un archivo con un formato de columnas establecidas y la que es un formato de separación por comas y comillas. Este último formato puede ser utilizado para ser importado por alguna otra aplicación como Excel o SAS y así realizar posteriormente otro tipo de análisis.La primera acción (fase 1) es la generación o creación de cada uno de los árboles (GE) que el usuario ha seleccionado; si existe el árbol previamente generado no lo crea otra vez. La Figura 2 muestra la expansión del árbol CY-RANO. El algoritmo utilizado para crear cada uno de los árboles es un algoritmo recursivo de creación y recorrido de un árbol binario.La siguiente acción (fase 2) es la de conjuntar todos los nodos que sean iguales de los diferentes árboles generados en la fase 1, en un sólo árbol múltiple de parentesco. Para tal efecto se hace uso de cuadros temporales que contienen la información de cada uno de los árboles generados en la fase 1, dentro del cuadro IPPT (Individual Progeny Parentage Tree) y el resultado de la fusión se almacena en el cuadro temporal MPPT (Multiple Progeny Parentage Tree). Estos procesos son internos, ocultos y sin la intervención del usuario, sólo se muestra una pantalla de indicación del porcentaje del proceso que se está ejecutando.Se calcula la matriz de COP al utilizar las leyes de Mendel. Se completa la información de los GE al insertar el nombre y abreviatura a cada celda de la matriz del objeto \"Grid\", para su despliegue en pantalla.Se define el coeficiente de parentesco r entre dos genotipos X y Y como la probabilidad de que un alelo aleatorio tomado desde un locus aleatorio en X, es idéntico en descendencia a un alelo aleatorio tomado desde algún locus en Y, y provee un estimativo de la relación genética entre dos fenotipos con base en el análisis de su descendencia (Murphy et al., 1986). Los valores posibles de r varían de 0 a 1, en donde 0 representa ausencia de parentesco y el 1 representa la completa relación entre el par de entradas; valores cercanos a 0 indican líneas con muy pocos ancestros en común, y valores cercanos a 1 indican una estrecha relación ancestral entre el par de líneas. Como referencia, para dos padres totalmente independientes, la relación entre padres e hijos es de 0.5 (Souza et al., 1994).El algoritmo para calcular los coeficientes de parentesco (COP) del programa WCOP, está basado en los postulados de St Martin (1982) y de Cox et al. (1986), y en el principio sencillo del parentesco entre dos genotipos X y Y, determinado por el grado de parentesco entre los padres de X y Y. Los postulados son : 1) Cada genotipo es completamente endogámico (homocigoto); 2) Cada genotipo tiene un COP(r) consigo mismo de uno y dos genotipos sin ancestros en común tienen un COP(r) igual a cero; 3) Los padres inmediatos contribuyen genéticamente a la progenie en partes iguales, esto es un COP(r) = 0.5; y 4) Los genotipos criollos (sin información de pedigrí) no están relacionados y por tanto tienen un COP(r) igual a cero.La matriz de salida de WCOP representa los genotipos que fueron seleccionados, en donde cada número con coordenadas (X,Y) para genotipo X y genotipo Y, será el valor del coeficiente de parentesco para el par de genotipos involucrados.Una vez terminados los procesos anteriores, se muestra el resultado final en pantalla (Figura 5), el cual se puede imprimir o guardar en un archivo plano o con formato. Para poder visualizar mejor la salida de resultados, el programa puede ocultar algunas columnas de la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco, y puede regresar a mostrar la información completa. Puede reiniciar el proceso sin salirse del sistema, ya sea por selección, borrado o agregado de otros genotipos a la lista.El sistema WCOP es auxiliado mediante una ayuda en línea, tal y como funcionan en la mayoría de las aplicaciones Windows, las cuales utilizan hipervínculos a otros temas o secciones de la misma ayuda. Para tal efecto se utilizó el programa HelpHikes Pro (TM) El sistema WCOP calcula los coeficientes de parentesco entre distintas líneas o variedades de trigo. Está diseñado en un ambiente visual de desarrollo gráfico y utiliza las ventajas y facilidades del entorno de Windows. Exporta la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco a otros programas de análisis estadísticos y corre bajo cualquier versión de sistema operativo Windows, como Windows 2000 y Windows NT.El sistema WCOP tiene las siguientes ventajas: 1) Los tiempos de respuesta son muy aceptables, aún en equipos de cómputo con recursos pobres (Cuadro 2); 2) Tiene la opción de buscar la información para los datos de entrada al sistema; 3) Puede guardar y cargar desde un archivo de texto, diferentes genotipos (GE); 4) Los resultados del proceso, es decir, la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco, puede ser impresa o exportada a un archivo de texto plano o con un formato de delimitadores para ser importado por otros programas como SAS o EXCEL; y 5) Se puede hacer la creación y montaje dentro de la propia aplicación de la ayuda en línea.El WCOP tiene la ventaja de ser un sistema de bajo costo y hasta la fecha no ha requerido de mantenimiento. Otros programas que calculan coeficientes de parentesco, tales como KIN (Tinker y Mather, 1993) programa en Turbo Pascal y SAS, COP en SAS (Hogan et al., 1995) en programación SAS, y programas en Fortran desarrollados por Rodgers y Cox (1986), son aplicaciones genéricas para cualquier cultivo, resultan complejas y difíciles de configurar en el paso de parámetros y por lo general son aplicaciones que corren bajo sistema operativo MS-DOS con submódulos por separado en SAS o aplicaciones muy robustas que sólo corren en servidores o equipos mainframe.WCOP como primera versión liberada es muy completa para simplificarle la labor de cálculo COP al usuario y cumple con las expectativas, objetivos y resultados que se plantearon desde el principio del sistema.Por otro lado, el sistema WCOP tiene algunas limitaciones. La principal es que no puede calcular el parentesco entre líneas hermanas; es una aplicación exclusiva para la plataforma Microsoft, y no puede ser transferido a otros sistemas operativos como Unix, Linux o en equipos MAC; es distribuido en un CD-ROM y por lo tanto está sujeto a las actualizaciones de la base de datos, es decir, de versiones periódicas de la información.Para el ejemplo se consideran los 14 GE mostrados en el Cuadro 1.Cuadro 1. Ejemplo del sistema WCOP con 14 genotipos específicos tomados de la base de datos WPMS.No.Identifi El resultado que proporciona el sistema WCOP para estos 14 GE, es la matriz de coeficientes de parentesco que se muestran en la Figura 5. Como se puede observar, entre los genotipos VEERY y MILAN existe 14 % de parentesco en común; TASSILO y CYRANO tienen 25 % de progenitores en común; y entre TASSILO y ARRAS hay 50 % de afinidad ancestral. Si dos genotipos se acercan a 100 % de afinidad indica que esas líneas tienen los mismos ancestros.El Cuadro 2 muestra el desempeño en tiempo de respuesta (velocidad) del sistema WCOP en diferentes equipos de cómputo, en los 14 GE escogidos en el Cuadro 1. El WCOP es un sistema de cómputo económico, fácil y rápido para estimar diversidad genética, pues fue creado para dar una estimación sencilla, real y confiable a los mejoradores de las relaciones genéticas existentes entre las diferentes variedades de germoplasmas de trigo. Su ambiente gráfico hace amigable su funcionalidad y sencilla su operación, se intuyen las acciones de su funcionamiento mediate sus botones y cajas de texto. Opera con eficiencia en cualquier equipo de cómputo con capacidades mínimas y con todas las versiones de Windows para computadoras personales, al optimizar los recursos de memoria y espacio temporal en disco duro.Este sistema logra las expectativas propuestas por el proyecto International Wheat Information System y por las del propio sistema Wheat Coefficient of Parentage. Aún así, se sugiere incluir las siguientes mejoras: información del habitad de la variedad (tipo de suelo, porcentaje de material orgánico, número de riegos sobre el cultivo), datos agroclimáticos (precipitación pluvial, grado de humedad o sequía) en la base de datos Wheat Pedigree Management System; el módulo que calcula el parentesco entre líneas hermanas; implementar el módulo de \"creación de los árboles genealógicos en paralelo\" es decir, crear con programación en paralelo (hilos o instancias) cada uno de los fenotipos -específicos seleccionado por el usuario.Se recomienda que el sistema WCOP puede ser utilizado en proyectos de trigo como: 1) Explorar e identificar variación genética; 2) Predecir niveles de heterosis dentro de progenies; 3) Reflejar niveles de variación genética dentro de poblaciones segregantes; y 4) Evaluar patrones de diversidad genética en el espacio y en el tiempo. Por lo tanto, encomendamos el sistema WCOP a los fitomejoradores de trigo como una herramienta auxiliar de cómputo confiable, fácil de trabajar, amigable, sin requerimientos especiales de cómputo o de computadoras costosas y con bases sólidas para nuevos desarrollos en el área de la bioinformática.","tokenCount":"2873"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5182470916.json b/data/part_1/5182470916.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bdf1f67fa3336d7fc7092dd050aa4b791d10e646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5182470916.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"07a7a5b6e4062132497831ec68ab09e3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1336e11c-6929-4628-9738-c7c168aa8ec8/retrieve","id":"-762840741"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"25e0efdc-9f2c-43b9-aa6f-4fd79fbf1856","pagecount":"1","content":"CIP) desempeña un papel fundamental en la recopilación, caracterización y criopreservación de la diversidad genética, centrándose en variedades autóctonas y locales. Más allá de la preservación, el CIP tiene como objetivo movilizar estos recursos genéticos para acelerar el retorno de variedades locales limpias a los pequeños agricultores y desarrollar variedades de cultivos superiores, enfatizando una colaboración más estrecha en la investigación y las actividades de campo.Nuestro objetivo es compartir la diversidad genética con los sectores público y privado para mejorar el cultivo y la investigación. Al mismo tiempo, las iniciativas de desarrollo de capacidades contribuyen a una red mundial de bancos de germoplasma resiliente. El rápido crecimiento demográfico, la pérdida de biodiversidad, la urbanización y el cambio climático son desafíos globales que ponen a prueba la seguridad alimentaria, destacando la importancia de conservar y utilizar la diversidad genética de los cultivos. El compromiso del CIP se extiende a enriquecer su banco de germoplasma, su agroecología y sus medios de vida en todo el mundo mediante la promoción de una agricultura sostenible y diversa. A medida que el cambio climático aumenta las amenazas de plagas y enfermedades, la genómica avanzada y los programas de mejoramiento basados en datos se vuelven esenciales para el desarrollo de rasgos específicos.El CIP aboga por una estrategia integral, que combine esfuerzos de conservación in situ y ex situ, para garantizar la preservación a largo plazo de la diversidad genética adaptada y resiliente.Conservación efectiva de la diversidad genética de los RTC a perpetuidad mediante un enfoque de red de conservación in situ y ex situ.Los actores de los sectores público y privado aumentan el uso de material genético de RTC del banco de germoplasma en mejoramiento e investigación.• % de datos de la colección disponibles para el usuario en términos de datos de pasaporte/caracterización/evaluación de rasgos. • Número de solicitudes de adhesión por tipo de uso, usuario y país.• Número de distribuciones por tipo de uso (repatriación, investigación, mejoramiento y educación), usuario y país.Permitir que otros bancos de germoplasma conserven raíces, tubérculos y otros cultivos prioritarios que no pueden conservarse como semillas para las generaciones futuras.• Número de acuerdos firmados con socios desagregados por tipo de acuerdo y país. • Número de capacitaciones sobre conservación de germoplasma impartidas a socios.• Número de muestras conservadas en criopreservación, desagregadas por tipo de colección (principal o copia de seguridad), país y cultivo.• Nivel de cumplimiento de estándares internacionales para la conservación ex situ.  ","tokenCount":"403"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5215234925.json b/data/part_1/5215234925.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..10bf6ea1116d0ac7215b5f0fbcc53d23f79f8c6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5215234925.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"81403fdbd7e2fef0648cb1cd99dbc583","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e7f7bfef-8012-406b-9574-757291c381e8/retrieve","id":"-984628460"},"keywords":["Postharvest handling, drying, food safety, renewable energy drying characteristics","food safety","innovative solar drying","maize quality","mycotoxin","solar bubble dryer","Africa"],"sieverID":"d5f6d6db-e348-4b59-a981-fd4c2d0c7793","pagecount":"14","content":"Maize is an important staple in Africa, which necessitates immediate drying to preserve the postharvest quality. The traditional drying of maize in the open sun is prone to adverse weather and extraneous contamination. In this study, the drying performance of an inflatable solar dryer (ISD) was compared to direct sun drying (DSD) in Gombe Town, Wakiso District (Uganda) by analysing the moisture content, yeasts, moulds, aflatoxin, and colour. The maximum temperature inside the ISD reached 63.7 • C and averaged 7 • C higher than the ambient temperature. Maize was dried using both methods to a moisture content below 14% after two days. In one of the received maize lots that was already heavily contaminated after harvest, drying with DSD and ISD reduced the aflatoxin content from 569.6 µg kg −1 to 345.5 µg kg −1 and 299.2 µg kg −1 , respectively. Although the drying performance in terms of drying time and product quality regarding colour, yeast, and mould was similar for both drying methods, the advantage of ISD in reducing the risk of spoilage due to sudden rain is obvious. A strategy for the early detection of aflatoxins in maize is recommended to avoid contaminated maize in the food chain.Maize (Zea mais) is the most cultivated cereal crop in Uganda, with an annual production of 2.9 million tons cultivated on 1.1 million hectares [1]. Improving the quality of the produce and reducing the postharvest losses is a major objective of agricultural research [2]. Furthermore, better food quality and quantity contributes to the food security, nutrition, and economy of the country. The district of Wakiso, in the Lake Victoria Crescent agro-ecological zone (AEZ), is one of the main maize-producing districts in Uganda. Farmers in this district and across the country face several postharvest challenges leading to losses of maize. Most of the postharvest losses are mainly a result of poor storage management that causes the infestation of yeasts and moulds, as well as with insects and rodents [3]. In humid tropical regions like Uganda, the infestation with moulds results in the production of mycotoxins that have detrimental consequences on human health and affect the economy [4]. An estimated 25-40% of cereal grains worldwide are contaminated by mycotoxins [5]. The tropical regions are classified as the most conducive regions for mycotoxin contaminations [6]. Similar issues were revealed in research on the effect of storage time on the contamination of maize in different AEZs of Uganda [7]. It was found that most farmers could hardly dry maize to the required storage moisture content of <14%. At the same time, it was determined that the contamination levels with aflatoxins were higher with longer storage times, with an average contamination level of 30.2 µg kg −1 , especially in humid zones. In East Africa, the maximum limit for an aflatoxin contamination of maize was fixed at 10 µg kg −1 [8]. The European Union Commission set the maximum limit of total aflatoxins to 10 µg kg −1 for maize intended for sorting and processing, but this limit is 4 µg kg −1 when maize is intended for direct consumption [9]. The USA Food and Drugs Administration set, on the other hand, a limit of 20 µg kg −1 for the total aflatoxins in maize [10]. A study on the level of exposure of the Ugandan population to aflatoxin showed that the exposure was ubiquitous among the rural population and that this exposure was suspected to be related to the consumption of contaminated food products like posho (also called ugali, a stiff porridge made of maize flour) and groundnuts [11,12]. Aflatoxins are a group of mould metabolites produced by strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus [13]. There are four major aflatoxins: B1, B2, G1, and G2, and B1 is the major aflatoxin produced by toxigenic A. flavus strains [14,15]. A. flavus contamination can occur in the field, as well as during storage, but happens most commonly in storage under favourable conditions. These are the moisture content of the grains, the storage temperature, and the relative humidity in the storage facility all related to the water activity (a w ) [6]. Another essential quality parameter for maize, which is affected by drying, is the grain colour. The colour of maize is evaluated using the CIE Lab colour space. It was shown that slight changes in maize colour could occur during an extended drying time for maize [16].Maize producers in the tropical and subtropical regions face difficulty in drying the harvested maize to the desired moisture content for storage [17]. High humidity and frequent rainfall during the harvesting season delay the drying process and can result in a loss of quality by enhancing mould infestation [7,18]. A moisture content of <14% is necessary to keep the a w of maize grain below the safe storage level of 0.6 [19]. In humid and sub-humid tropical regions, maize is harvested with a moisture content around 30% w.b., necessitating drying before safe storage. In the district of Wakiso, conventional sun drying is a common practice for maize drying, which is done by spreading grains on a mat to expose them to sunlight [20]. The shortcomings of this method are an uneven moisture removal; exposure to insects, rodents, birds and dust; and failure to reach a safe moisture content due to a high dependency on the weather conditions [21]. An alternative and affordable method for smallholder farmers is the use of solar dryers. There are different types of solar driers used to dry cereals in Africa, but due to economic and technological constraints, their application has been obscured [22]. The solar tunnel dryer is a forcedconvection direct-type solar dryer that was developed at the University of Hohenheim [23]. It was first applied to dry fruits and showed advantages by significantly reducing the drying time and mass loss while protecting the crops from dust, rain, animals, and insects [24]. Its application in cereal drying, initially with paddy rice, was promising, but improvements were needed, such as the ability to mix the grains to achieve a homogeneous drying process [25]. The inflatable solar dryer was developed in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as an improved version, which is adapted to cereal crops in tropical regions [26,27]. Asemu et al. [28] conducted experiments on the use of an inflatable solar dryer to dry maize. Assuming a thin layer drying model, they proved that the diffusion approach fitted their results better.The objective of this study was to assess the performance of an inflatable solar dryer (ISD) compared to open sun drying, referred to as direct sun drying (DSD), for maize drying with regard to the product quality. The quality parameters assessed were the moisture content, mycotoxins (total aflatoxins), yeasts, and moulds, as well as maize colour. The results of this research allowed us to draw conclusions on the use of an inflatable solar dryer in the postharvest handling of maize and recommendations on the future actions for maize handling to avoid contamination in the value chain.The ISD (SBD 25, GrainPro Inc., Zambales, the Philippines) was used for the drying experiments, with the two main components used to manufacture the ISD being a UVstabilized transparent polyethylene (PE) film (150 µm thick), which is used for the top part of the dryer; and a reinforced black polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film as the bottom of the dryer, both connected by a zipper [26]. The dryer had a length of 26 m and a width of 2 m. Figure 1 shows pictures of the dryer during the experiments.Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 7074 moisture content, mycotoxins (total aflatoxins), yeasts, and moulds, as well as colour. The results of this research allowed us to draw conclusions on the use inflatable solar dryer in the postharvest handling of maize and recommendations o future actions for maize handling to avoid contamination in the value chain.The ISD (SBD 25, GrainPro Inc., Zambales, the Philippines) was used for the d experiments, with the two main components used to manufacture the ISD being stabilized transparent polyethylene (PE) film (150 µm thick), which is used for the to of the dryer; and a reinforced black polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film as the bottom dryer, both connected by a zipper [26]. The dryer had a length of 26 m and a widt m. Figure 1 shows pictures of the dryer during the experiments. The air flow was produced by one 12-V DC axial flow fan (RDF2589B12N18S, R Electronics CO., LTD, Shenzhen, China) powered by one 100-W peak solar panel 75-Ah solar battery. The recorded average air velocity during the drying experimen 4.13 m s −1 . Maize was spread on a tarpaulin next to the ISD for direct sun drying (DThree experimental batches of maize were dried using both an ISD and under sun (DSD) near the city of Gombe in the Wakiso District of Uganda. The experiment is located at coordinates 0°32′01.2″ S and 31°37′39.0″ E. The experiments took place d the months of July and August, the driest months in the Lake Victoria Crescent AEZ an average 67 mm of rainfall. The average solar radiation of 438.4 W m −2 was mea throughout the experiments using a solar data logger (DL-131 LUX, Voltcraft, Hirs Germany). Maize was supplied by local farmers in bags and was loaded into the IS The air flow was produced by one 12-V DC axial flow fan (RDF2589B12N18S, Runda Electronics CO., LTD, Shenzhen, China) powered by one 100-W peak solar panel and a 75-Ah solar battery. The recorded average air velocity during the drying experiments was 4.13 m s −1 . Maize was spread on a tarpaulin next to the ISD for direct sun drying (DSD).Three experimental batches of maize were dried using both an ISD and under direct sun (DSD) near the city of Gombe in the Wakiso District of Uganda. The experimental site is located at coordinates 0 • 32 01.2 S and 31 • 37 39.0 E. The experiments took place during the months of July and August, the driest months in the Lake Victoria Crescent AEZ, with an average 67 mm of rainfall. The average solar radiation of 438.4 W m −2 was measured throughout the experiments using a solar data logger (DL-131 LUX, Voltcraft, Hirschau, Germany). Maize was supplied by local farmers in bags and was loaded into the ISD and spread on the bottom surface in a 2-to-3-cm-thick layer. For DSD, maize was spread on a tarpaulin with the same grain layer thickness next to the ISD. The experiments were conducted during the daytime and ended when the moisture content of the grains reached the recommended level (14% w.b.). The moisture content was measured at the beginning of the drying experiment (to account for the difference in the moisture content as they were harvested at different periods of time) and at constant intervals until the end of the experiment.Miniature USB data loggers for the temperature and relative humidity (DL-181THP, DL-210 TH, and DL-111K; Voltcraft, Hirschau, Germany) were placed at different locations inside the ISD, as well as on the tarpaulin for DSD to monitor the drying process (see Figure 1). The sensors were collecting temperature and relative humidity data at constant intervals during each experimental period for each batch. For monitoring of the moisture content of the grains, mesh bags were placed inside the ISD and weighed every hour. Three samples per batch were collected at the beginning of the experiments, as well as at the end for the quality analysis. At the beginning of each experiment, the samples were collected randomly in different bags supplied by farmers. At the end of drying, the samples were also collected randomly from different positions in the dryer. The samples were then thoroughly mixed to make an aggregate sample. They were finally transported to the laboratory and stored at −18 • C in sealed bags before analysis.Temperature and relative humidity data were used to calculate the absolute humidity x, expressed in g kg −1 , using Equation ( 1):where ϕ is the relative humidity in %, p is the ambient pressure in hPa, and p s is the saturation pressure in hPa, which was calculated using the formula given by Tetens, shown in Equation ( 2) [29]:where ϑ is the temperature of the air in • C.The moisture content of maize samples was measured using the oven method. The sample was ground and homogenized. From the sample, 10 g was placed in weighed crucibles and dried in an oven (Memmert UM 700, Memmert GmbH & Co. KG, Schwabach, Germany) for 24 h at 105 °C, and the final weight was taken. The moisture content MC wb (%) was calculated using Equation (3):where m i (g) is the initial mass before drying, and m f (g) is the final mass after drying.To compare the drying experiments with different initial MC, the moisture ratio MR t (-) was calculated using Equation (4):where MC t (d.b.) is the moisture content at time t, MC in (d.b.) is the initial moisture content, and MC eq. (d.b.) is the equilibrium moisture content.For yeasts and moulds enumeration, the pour plate method was used as suggested in the standard method [30]. The test sample was extracted in a stomacher (BagMixer 400 SW, Interscience, Saint Nom la Brétèche, France) with peptone water. The extract (1/10) was further diluted to a dilution of 10 −6 . A 1-mL droplet of each dilution was transferred to a Petri dish, and approximately 20 mL of agar (Dichloran Rose-bengal Chloramphenicol) were added and left to solidify. The Petri dishes were incubated at 25 • C for 1 week with intermediary colony counting after four days. Petri dishes with countable colonies were considered for the log yeasts and moulds colony count N divided by the sample dry weight, expressed as CFU g −1 dry weight, using Equation ( 5) [31]:where ∑C is the sum of the colonies counted on the considered plates, n 1 is the number of plates counted in the first dilution, n 2 -is the number of plates counted in the second dilution, w-is the dry weight, and d-the dilution from which the first count was obtained.A competitive enzyme immunoassay method by RIDASCREEN ® was used for the quantitative determination of the total aflatoxins. A ground and homogenized sample of 2 g was extracted with 100 mL of 70% methanol, and the extract was filtered with No. 1 filter paper. The filtrate was diluted to the ratio of 1:7 and 50 µL of the extract, and the standards were added to their respective wells for total aflatoxins determination. A conjugate, as well as the antibodies, were added to each well and left to react for 30 min at room temperature (20-25 • C). The liquid was poured out of the wells, and they were washed with buffer solution three times. Chromogen was added to each well and left to incubate for 15 min at room temperature. A stop solution was then added. The measurements were performed at 450 nm with a UV photometric microwell reader (Epoch, BioTek, Winooski, VT, USA). The percentage absorbances of the different standards were calculated from the zero standard and drawn on a semi-logarithmic graph against the aflatoxin concentration to obtain a calibration curve. The concentrations contained in the samples were read on the curve and further multiplied by the corresponding dilution factor to obtain the concentration that was corrected to be reported on a dry basis.Colour measurements were taken using a reflectance colorimeter (CR-400 Minolta Co, Ltd., Chiyoda, Japan) with a 2 • observer that closely matched the CIE 1931 standards observer [32]. A standard white plate with D65 illumination (Υ = 93.7, x = 0.3158, and y = 0.3324) was used to calibrate the instrument prior to the measurements. The measurements were taken in triplicate and randomly on different maize kernels spread on a plate by placing the instrument on top of the kernel. The colour parameters were expressed in terms of L* related to the lightness (L* = 0 for black and L* = 100 for white), a*, which represents the intensity in green-red (a* < 0 for green and a* > 0 for red), and b*, which describes the intensity in blue-yellow (b* < 0 for blue and b* > 0 for yellow). From the a* and b* values, the chroma and hue were computed. Chroma (C*) indicates the colour saturation, which is proportional to its intensity and is calculated using Equation (6):For the hue, an angle of 0 • indicates a red hue, while the angles of 90 • , 180 • , and 270 • indicate yellow, green, and blue hues, respectively. To obtain the hue, Equation (7) was used.Colour alterations were estimated and expressed as the total colour difference ∆E* of the samples before and after drying using Equation (8):Significant differences were determined by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS ® 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). The least square difference (LSD) option was used to evaluate the differences among the means. Graphs were constructed with the software Origin Pro version 2019a (OriginLab ® Corporation, Northampton, MA, USA). The results of the temperature and relative humidity collected by the sensors installed inside the ISD and on the tarpaulin for DSD are presented in Figure 2, together with the calculated absolute humidity (water content in the air) for batch 1.A significant higher temperature was recorded in the ISD compared to the conditions under DSD (p α≤0.05 = 0.0001). An average temperature of 47 • C was recorded in the ISD, 7 • C higher than the temperature under DSD. The maximum temperature in the ISD was reached at 13:30 on the second day of the drying experiment with a temperature of 63.7 • C, while, for DSD, the maximum temperature was only 54 • C. An average relative humidity of 28% was recorded in the ISD, and for DSD, the average relative humidity was 34%. The minimum relative humidity of 14% was recorded inside the ISD at the same time when the temperature was highest, while, for the DSD, the minimum relative humidity was 19%. The change of the relative humidity in the ISD and for DSD is a typical characteristic of a psychometric heating process where the increase in air temperature at a constant humidity results in a reduction of the relative humidity [29].The absolute humidity, which is the measurement of the amount of water vapour in the air; inside the ISD, it was higher than the one observed for DSD. This is explained by the uptake of vapour from the evaporation of water in the maize grains. For the same reason, the absolute humidity was higher at the outlet of the dryer compared to the outlet of the solar collector. The maximum absolute humidity of 27.37 g kg −1 was recorded at 13:00 at the outlet of the ISD, the time when the temperature was highest. The saturation deficit was 10% lower than the one recorded for sun drying, an indicator of an efficient drying process. A similar pattern in absolute humidity was observed in maize drying by Sanghi et al. [33], which was attributed to a higher drying rate, as the temperature was higher inside the ISD. The results of the temperature and relative humidity collected by the sensors installed inside the ISD and on the tarpaulin for DSD are presented in Figure 2, together with the calculated absolute humidity (water content in the air) for batch 1.  The variation of the moisture content during the drying process of maize in the three batches with use of ISD and direct sun drying is shown in Figure 3.The total drying time for the maize in the ISD was 19.9 h and 10.3 h distributed over 3 days for batches 1 and 2, respectively. For batch 3, it required only 9.5 h to dry the maize to the required moisture content. The starting moisture content for the ISD was 26.6% for batch 1 and 23.6% for batch 2, and the final moisture content was 11.9% and 12.3% for batch 1 and 2, respectively.For batch 3, the starting moisture content was 17%, and a final moisture content of 11% was reached in 2 days. A small re-humidification of the maize in batch 1 was observed on the third day of the experiment, as a result of the humid conditions prevailing during the night on that day. Due to the difference in the initial moisture content, the moisture ratio was used for a better comparison of the different treatments.Table 1 shows the t-test comparison of the moisture content of the samples dried by both methods among the three batches.The starting moisture content for maize dried in the ISD was 23.5% for batch 1 and 21.3% for batch 2, and the final moisture content was 11.9% and 13.2% for batches 1 and 2, respectively. For the maize in batch 3, the starting moisture content was 15.1%, and a final moisture content of 12.5% was reached in 2 days. The significance t-test did not show a difference in the moisture content among the different drying methods (t-test, α = 0.05), except for batch 3. The drying temperature was sufficient to reduce the moisture content to the recommended level within a reasonably short period [33].Sanghi et al. [33], which was attributed to a higher drying rate, as the temperature was higher inside the ISD.The variation of the moisture content during the drying process of maize in the three batches with use of ISD and direct sun drying is shown in Figure 3.    Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05).The results of the yeast and moulds analysis for different drying treatments of the three batches are summarised in Figure 4.The yeast log 10 colony count ranged from 5.0 to 6.0 CFU g −1 , and the moulds log 10 colony count ranged from 5.2 to 5.8 CFU g −1 , with no significant differences among treatments. The average yeast log 10 count was 5.5 ± 0.4 CFU g −1 , 5.7 ± 0.4 CFU g −1 , and 5.7 ± 0.4 CFU g −1 for fresh maize and maize dried with ISD and DSD, respectively. Similar results were observed for moulds where the log 10 colony count ranged from 4.4 to 6.3 CFU g −1 . The mean log 10 colony count in the three treatments was 5.4 ± 0.2 CFU g −1 , 5.7 ± 0.6 CFU g −1 , and 5.6 ± 0.6 CFU g −1 for fresh maize and maize dried with ISD and DSD, respectively. The short time of drying was not sufficient for the moulds to develop significantly. The results of the analysis of the total aflatoxin in fresh maize and maize dried under direct sun and with ISD are presented in Figure 5. The results of the analysis of the total aflatoxin in fresh maize and maize dried under direct sun and with ISD are presented in Figure 5.The total aflatoxins analysis showed a high variation in contamination among the batches of fresh maize that were delivered by different farmers. Whereas batches 1 and 2 were well-below the threshold of 10 µg kg −1 fixed by the East African Standard maize specification, and batch 3 was severely contaminated prior to drying, reaching a value of 569.6 µg kg −1 . The lower initial MC compared to the other batches suggests that an uncontrolled drying occurred before delivery to the experimental site, resulting in a high production of aflatoxins. During drying, the aflatoxin content in batch 3 could be significantly reduced to 345.5 µg kg −1 for DSD and to 299.2 µg kg −1 for ISD. However, these values were still far above the level for safe consumption. In batch 2, the aflatoxin content of fresh maize of 3.3 µg kg −1 was not affected by drying, whereas, in batch 1, the initial aflatoxin content of 3.1 µg kg −1 significantly increased to 12.1 µg kg −1 for DSD and to 11.1 µg kg −1 for ISD. The reason might be the higher MC during the first night as compared to batch 2 that favours the production of aflatoxins in a humid atmosphere.As a consequence, drying should start in the early morning to reduce the MC sufficiently before sunset. The total aflatoxins analysis showed a high variation in contamination among the batches of fresh maize that were delivered by different farmers. Whereas batches 1 and 2 were well-below the threshold of 10 µg kg −1 fixed by the East African Standard maize specification, and batch 3 was severely contaminated prior to drying, reaching a value of 569.6 µg kg −1 . The lower initial MC compared to the other batches suggests that an uncontrolled drying occurred before delivery to the experimental site, resulting in a high production of aflatoxins. During drying, the aflatoxin content in batch 3 could be significantly reduced to 345.5 µg kg −1 for DSD and to 299.2 µg kg −1 for ISD. However, these values were still far above the level for safe consumption. In batch 2, the aflatoxin content of fresh maize of 3.3 µg kg −1 was not affected by drying, whereas, in batch 1, the initial aflatoxin content of 3.1 µg kg −1 significantly increased to 12.1 µg kg −1 for DSD and to 11.1 µg kg −1 for ISD. The reason might be the higher MC during the first night as compared to batch 2 that favours the production of aflatoxins in a humid atmosphere. As a consequence, drying should start in the early morning to reduce the MC sufficiently before sunset.The mean values for the L*, a*, b*, chroma, hue, and total colour difference for maize before drying (fresh); maize dried in an inflatable solar dryer (ISD); and direct sun drying (DSD) are presented in Table 2. The results show that there was no significant difference in colour due to the drying method. The L* a* b* values for the grains show that the maize was white in colour, as L* The mean values for the L*, a*, b*, chroma, hue, and total colour difference for maize before drying (fresh); maize dried in an inflatable solar dryer (ISD); and direct sun drying (DSD) are presented in Table 2. The results show that there was no significant difference in colour due to the drying method. The L* a* b* values for the grains show that the maize was white in colour, as L* was high, with a slight tendency towards pale clean. The b* value, which indicates the variation from yellow to blue, was positive, an indication of the yellow tendency of maize grains [34]. The relatively higher ∆E* value of grains treated by DSD means that there was a slight effect of drying on the colour. However, this change was not statistically significant. Experiments in another study showed that temperatures of 120 • C and higher had a significant influence on maize lightness, redness, and yellowness [19]. Our results are consistent with those of Prachayawarakorn, Soponronnarit, Wetchacama and Chinnabun [16], who analysed the impact of different drying methods on the colour of maize and found that the impact was not significant. Several other scientific publications have also indicated the minor impact of solar drying on a product's colour [35].Inflatable solar dryers have recently become popular in tropical regions, but there is a lack of research on their performance and their effect on the quality of dried products. In this research, the performance of an inflatable solar dryer was compared with direct sun drying (DSD), and the impact on maize quality was evaluated. Five maize quality attributes were evaluated: moisture content, mycotoxins (total aflatoxins), yeasts, and moulds, as well as colour. The temperature in the solar collector was, on average, significantly higher compared to the ambient temperature (Figure 2). The observed drying temperatures were suitable for drying maize with a batch drier. For maize grain intended for flour milling, a maximum temperature of 65 • C is recommended in order to avoid that the high temperature affects the chemical structure and deteriorates the quality [36]. A higher temperature was associated with a lower relative humidity and resulted in higher drying rates. Salvatierra-Rojas, Nagle, Gummert, de Bruin and Müller [26] developed an ISD for drying paddy rice, and the experiments showed that rice was dried to a moisture content of 8% and 12% in dry and rainy seasons, respectively. Asemu, Habtu, Delele, Subramanyam and Alavi [28] evaluated the drying characteristics of maize grain dryed in a solar bubble dryer, where the moisture content reached a safe storage moisture content after 40 h. Comparable performances were achieved for our experiments in terms of the moisture content and drying time. The cascades observed in these curves are characteristic for solar drying systems. They are caused by the diurnal cycle of solar radiation, which, in turn, affects the air temperature [37]. In terms of moisture content reduction, there was no significant difference in the moisture content reduction in maize dried in the ISD compared to the DSD method, because maize reaches the recommended storage moisture content at a comparable time with both methods. Numerous experiments on maize grain storage have shown that maize with an initial moisture content below 14% w.b. could keep the quality attributes like germination capacity, low ethanol and acetic acid contents, and low microbial count under long-term hermetic storage [38]. To stay below this threshold in our experiment, <14%, was considered as a safe moisture content for storage, and drying was stopped when the moisture content reached this level (Figure 3).The quality parameters analysed showed a slight effect on the maize quality, mostly on the yeast and moulds and the total aflatoxins (Figures 4 and 5). The total aflatoxins was, on average, higher compared to the standard level of 10 µg kg −1 [8]. The results of the yeast and moulds in Figure 4 showed a nonsignificant (p ≤ 0.05) effect of the treatment on the contamination level. Schemminger et al. [39] modelled the impact of ambient air drying on mould growth using a batch dryer. The results showed a mould colony count of up to 10 7 CFU g −1 in the uppermost layer after 400 h of drying [40]. This is a high level of colony count in comparison to the maximum 1.5 × 10 6 CFU g −1 observed in maize dried under ISD in 3 days. The mould count could not be reduced, but the risk of an increase in the colony count is the minimum, because the maize was dried to a low moisture content, which does not allow further mould growth. Kaaya and Kyamuhangire [7] reported that mould infection rate varied with the length of storage and dryness of the region, with a highest rate of 50% of the total analysed samples found in the moist mid-altitude regions of Uganda. In Figure 5, a high variation in the total aflatoxin contamination levels of the different samples analysed was observed. The high prevalence of the total aflatoxins in maize in Uganda was previously reported [7,9,10]. In their cross-sectional survey conducted in five major markets in Kampala on different staple crops, Osuret et al. [41] found that 40% of the analysed samples were contaminated by aflatoxins. They also proved that maize samples that were within the permissible safe storage levels of moisture content were less prone to aflatoxin contamination. Raters and Matissek [40] investigated the thermal stability of aflatoxins and showed that Aflatoxin B1 was completely degraded at 150 • C when in the protein matrix. The experimental results in our research showed a slight reduction in the aflatoxin contents in drying treatments compared to fresh maize for batch 3, which might be because of the exposure to high temperatures inside the dryer or under sun drying. Evidences exist of up to a 30% aflatoxin reduction in contaminated maize exposed to the sun for a prolonged period [42]. The contamination level in batch 1, on the other hand, increased from 3.1 µg kg −1 to 12.1 µg kg −1 and 11.1 µg kg −1 for DSD and ISD, respectively. Battilani et al. [43] showed that aflatoxin production is the maximum at temperature between 25 and 30 • C and, mostly, aw above 0.9. Drying with ISD should be planned as best as possible to maximise the solar energy and prevent contamination by mycotoxins. Experiments on rice in Burkina Faso also showed that the ISD dried rice had less aflatoxins and impurities compared to conventional sun-dried rice [27]. This slight effect observed for maize in our research was not significant enough to reduce the contamination level of aflatoxins.In this research, three batches of maize at different moisture contents were successfully dried both by ISD and DSD. The temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content were monitored throughout the experiments. The temperature reached a level sufficient to dry maize with insignificant damage to the quality and was enough to dry maize to the recommended moisture content. The maximum temperature inside the ISD was 63.7 • C, with an overall average of 47 • C. A moisture content below the recommended level of <14% was reached. The original aflatoxin contamination was very high in one of the received maize lots, and a minor reduction by drying was observed in this case. The colour was not significantly affected by the drying process. Although the drying performance in terms of drying time and product quality was similar for both drying methods, the advantage of ISD in reducing the risk of spoilage due to sudden rain was obvious. To maximise the drying performance and minimise the risk of contamination during drying, it is recommended start drying early in the morning to reduce the moisture content sufficiently before sunset. The effect on the aflatoxins was not enough to reach the standard recommendations when the original contamination was high; thus, a rapid and non-destructive method to determine the mycotoxin content of maize ought to be developed to detect contamination at an early stage of the value chain before drying.","tokenCount":"5672"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5233769172.json b/data/part_1/5233769172.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e8efa15ecac2fd362606919a30916d835f64dcaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5233769172.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"15c10e21fd3f2ca21d960314ad42d253","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b978311e-7f82-46cc-b869-0d76a86ccaf7/retrieve","id":"-2107280305"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"88ff371e-4d4d-4dd2-966b-1953e0dc5cc0","pagecount":"34","content":"Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore our work at aiccra.cgiar.org aiccra.cgiar.orgIn Ghana, agriculture is fundamental to the economy employing ~45% of the population and contributing ~19% to the total GDP 1 . Agricultural production is predominantly small-scale, with landholdings of less than two hectares. Smallholders produce many of the important commodities, such as cocoa, maize, rice, and soybeans.The sector accounts for over 30% of export earnings and serves as a major source of raw materials for domestic and export markets 2 . However, the sector faces serious constraints that curtail its competitiveness and ability to drive economic growth.These constraints include -sub-optimal sector coordination; low farm level productivity; weak market linkages, high post-harvest losses and limited access to finance. Low farm-level productivity is attributed to limited access to productivity-enhancing technologies, services, and access to finance, among other factors 3 . Only about 5% of all commercial lending goes into agriculture 4 . The reasons include low levels of financial literacy among farmers, high transaction and monitoring costs, the perception that financing agriculture is inherently riskier and less profitable than financing other sectors, lack of options for medium-to long-term financing, and lack of appropriate and affordable financial products.In order to design better financial products for smallholder tomato farmers in Ghana, AICCRA conducted a study on three farmer cooperatives to understand their constraints when accessing financing. The three cooperatives include Tampola Young Farmers Cooperative, Anongtaaba Framers Cooperative and Weija Water Users Association (WWUA) with smallholder farmer memebership of 4,000, 1800, 340, respectively. Due diligence and investment case analyses were conducted, and the following gaps were identified; 1) high postharvest losses, 2) Low adoption of improved varieties and agronomic practices resulting in lower yields and 3) Gaps in governance and bookkeeping. These factors resulted in constraints inhibiting access to financing.The study recommends the following solutions to address the challenges identified: 1) Capacity strengthening for farmer cooperatives in governance, management, and bookkeeping 2) Design a tailored loan product to accelerate the uptake of Climate-Smart Agriculture-Climate Information Service (CSA-CIS) bundled agro-input packages and 3) Capacity strengthening in post-harvest management and increasing access to cold storage solutions for farmers.The study recommends technical support and training for the farmer cooperatives to implement best practices in cooperative governance, management and bookkeeping.Post-harvest losses at the pre-consumer level for fresh vegetables in Ghana have been estimated at between 20% and 50%, and the cause is attributed to poor post-harvest management practices by farmers. Limited access to structured market opportunities and lack of cold storage facilities force farmers to sell their crops at harvest, resulting in reduced incomes. The study recommends capacity strengthening in post-harvest management and support to enhance access to cold storage solutions for farmers.To increase access to finance for productivity-enhancing technologies, the study recommends collaborations with partner financial institutions to co-design tailored financial products, such as CSA-CIS-bundled agro-input loans, for smallholder farmers in the tomato value chain in Ghana. The design of the CSA-CIS bundled agroinput loan product will incorporate blended finance mechanisms of insurance and loan loss guarantees to derisk and provide comfort for partner banks to lend to smallholder farmers. Blended finance is the strategic use of public and/or philanthropic concessional funding to catalyze private sector investment towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-related investments in developing countries. Blended finance tools and solutions can help stimulate and facilitate lending from banks to agribusinesses and farmers in developing countries.This study also recommends a pilot implementation of a CSA-CIS bundled agro-input credit scheme with 400 tomato farmers in Ga South and Upper East in June and December 2024, respectively. The pilot implementation is expected to catalyze US$140,000 in financing for CSA-CIS bundled agro-input packages, with an average loan size of US$350 for the production of 400 acres of tomatoes in 2024. The average production cost per acre is estimated at US$711 in the first year (2024). However, production costs are expected to increase in 2025 and 2026 due to local currency depreciation and the logistics costs of imported agro-inputs.Smallholder farmers in Ghana rely primarily on rainfed agriculture and are highly exposed to the impacts of climate change and variability. With only one rainfall season annually, Ghana's savannah landscape is one of the driest regions in Africa. Erratic rainfall, low precipitation, extended hot temperatures, dry spells, and associated drought conditions, particularly from December to February, have an impact on agricultural yields and, in the worst cases, can result in complete crop failure.The AICCRA Cluster in Ghana promotes Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) technologies and related Climate Information Services (CIS) in addition to crop-and location-specific one-health technologies included as bundled products for various value chains. The concept of One Health recognizes that the health of humans, animals and our broader environment is interconnected. As part of AICCRA's implementation, the Ghana cluster has been supporting crop demonstration set ups and field days, to showcase and promote adoption of improved crop varieties and technology bundles that incorporate innovations in climate-smart agriculture with 'One Health' principles. AICCRA Ghana's Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) innovations are based on a selection process that prioritize crops (maize, cowpea, yam, sweet potato, and vegetables -specifically tomato) in Ghana.In the vegetable value chain in Ghana, for example, irrigation water is a major source of weed seeds in farmers' fields coupled with high pressure of other crop pests. This contributes to the excessive use of herbicides and over-reliance on other synthetic pesticides. The project promotes the use of biological pesticides and physical barriers to pests as options in a CSA-Integrated Pest Management strategy. The project also promotes vermicomposting to improve water and nutrient use efficiency while reducing the odour from poultry manure piles that has become a nuisance to the community.Through preliminary assessments, the AICCRA Ghana cluster selected three farmer cooperatives engaged in vegetable production that have the potential for CSA and CIS uptake. One of the reasons for the low uptake of CSA technologies is access to finance. A more thorough due diligence assessment was conducted on these cooperatives to develop an investment case for innovations to improve access to finance. The investment case analysis was used to recommend a suitable financial product that bundles CSA and CIS technologies and can be scaled out by market actors.This report is based on findings and insights from interviews with the executive member teams and selected farmers from three farmer cooperatives: Tampola Young Farmers Cooperative, Anongtaaba FarmersCooperative, and Weija Water Users Association in Tampola and Bongo communities in the Upper East region, and Tuba in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra region.Primary data (Table 1) was collected through site visits and semi-structured interviews with farmers in the selected farmer cooperatives. Other service providers, financial institutions, agro-dealers, agricultural technology providers, and local NGOs whose activities are linked to the operations of the farmer cooperatives were interviewed. A thorough literature review was used as a source of secondary data, which then served as the basis for contextualizing the findings of this assessment. Tomatoes form an important part of local diets. Tomato consumption is estimated to be over 440,000 metric tons per year, or about 40% of the amount households spend on vegetables 5 . Nearly every household in Ghana consumes tomatoes daily, whether they are processed or fresh. Tomato production is characterized by low yields, and the country's demand for tomatoes far outstrips its supply, making Ghana a net importer of tomatoes. In 2019, the total demand for tomatoes was estimated at 450,000 tons. Between 2010 and 2016, Ghana imported an average of 9,400 tons of tomatoes annually, the majority of which came from Burkina Faso, according to estimates from UN Comtrade. Ghana also imports large volumes of processed tomato paste (approximately 92,000 tons) annually 6 .Tomato production in Ghana is seasonal, depending on geography, rainfall patterns, and water availability.  Tomato supply chain actors in Ghana, particularly traders and transporters, have been organized into a member-based trade association known as the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters Association (GNTTTA), established in 2007, to ensure ethical supply chain business practices. The trade association, as of 2022, had approximately 3,500 fresh tomato buyers and approximately 500 transporters. GNTTTA members are also involved in fresh tomato imports from neighboring Burkina Faso, and these imports play a significant role in the supply chain, particularly during the first half of the year, between January and May, when there are limited supplies in Ghana.Tomatoes are perishable nature and processing them can help reduce post-harvest losses, especially when they are transported over long distances. However, the tomato processing industry in Ghana is not well developed, and the three main tomato processing facilities in Pwalugu, Wenchi, and Techiman currently have either halted their operations or operate intermittently. With support from the Government of Ghana, the main tomato processing facility in northern Ghana was refurbished in recent years. Moreover, in 2021, the Government of Ghana, through its nationwide industrialization initiative, One District, One Factory Initiative, commissioned a new tomato processing company, WEDDI Africa Limited Tomato Processing Factory, a wholly owned Ghanaian tomato processing factory in Berekum 11 . However, due to the limited supply of fresh tomatoes, the unavailability of appropriate tomato varieties, and the relatively low cost of imported processed tomato paste, these companies are currently operating below their installed capacities and would need some time to develop sustainable fresh tomato supplies for their processing operations. In addition, since the fresh tomato market often offers higher margins, finding reliable year-round tomato supplies is an obstacle for domestic processing companies. • High cost of agro-inputs due to volatile local currency and high costs of logistics and financing (including high import duties) which are passed on to farmers.• Limited access to structured market opportunities and a lack of cold storage facilities force farmers to sell at harvest due to the high perishability of tomatoes, resulting in low incomes for farmers.• Limited access to finance and the high cost of lending (30-40% interest rate per year) for farmers.• Awareness creation and improving access to productivity-enhancing technologies for farmers.• Support to strengthen linkages between farmers and offtakers.• Investment in post-harvest management and cold storage facilities• De-risk lending and strengthen the capacities of producer groups to access financing.• Low demand for agro inputs, especially \"blockbuster\" high yielding seeds due to high cost.• High cost of financing and logistics increase the cost of agro-inputs to farmers.• Awareness creation toshowcase improved agro inputs and demand creation activities through crop demonstrations.• Access to affordable and appropriate financing options for agro-dealers.-aggregators and offtakers• Limited access to working capital financing for aggregators.• In general, there are no structured and formal relationship between producer groups and aggregators/off takers.Negotiation power lies with itinerant market women and the marketing channels to some extent are controlled by these GNTTTA members.• Improved access to appropriate and affordable financing options for aggregators.• Technical and financial support to strengthen market linkages.• Ghana has the potential to expand the processing of fresh tomatoes into canned products and paste. However, due to the limited supply of fresh tomatoes, the unavailability of tomato types required for processing, and the rather low cost of imported processed tomato paste, the three main tomato processing factories in Ghana have either halted their operations or operate intermittently.• Support processing companies to develop business models that integrates with smallholders for sustainable supplies.• Only about 5% of all commercial lending goes into agriculture for several reasons, including low levels of financial literacy among farmers, high transaction costs, the perception that financing agriculture is inherently riskier and less profitable than financing other sectors, a lack of options for medium-to long-term financing, and a lack of appropriate and affordable financial products for farmers.• Financial and technical support to develop loan products tailored to the needs of agricultural value chain (AVC) actors, including smallholder farmers.Tampola Young Farmers Cooperative is a member-owned and governed farmer cooperative operating in Tampola and neighboring farming communities in the Kassena-Nankana East district of the Upper East region of Ghana (see Figure 6). The farmer cooperative was established in 2011 but was formally registered with Kassena-Nankana East District Assembly in 2021.Tampola Young Farmers cooperative has an executive team consisting of the chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, organizer, assistant organizer, treasurer, and financial secretary. The farmer cooperative is governed by a written constitution and by-laws that outline the cooperative's business activities, organizational structure, membership, and rights and obligations (Figure 5). It has a membership of over 4,000 farmers, organized into farmer groups and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) at the community level. Smallholder farmers in the cooperative are engaged in the production of tomato, maize, rice, soybean, and cowpea. Though Tampola Young Farmers Cooperative's strategic goal towards gender mainstreaming is not documented, the leadership indicated that women farmers constitute roughly 70% of the total membership, and data on membership is disaggregated by gender both at the apex and community levels. In addition, women hold executive positions at the apex as well as community levels and are hence involved in decisionmaking and recruitment of new members. The farmer cooperative leadership and promoters, as well as local NGOs that assist in setting up farmer groups, intentionally advocate for women to serve as leaders and to take active roles in recruiting more women.With regards to farmer-level services, service providers, i.e., financial service providers, and agri-SMEs linked to the farmer cooperative currently do not offer tailored services and product packages for women farmers. In order to better serve women farmers, service providers-such as banks and agribusinesses linked to farmer cooperatives-need to better understand their needs and tailor their offerings to meet those needs.Business and operational model and farmer services (access to agro-inputs, mechanization, markets, finance, trainings etc):The leadership of the farmer cooperative is committed to ensuring access to timely and efficient services for its members throughout the agricultural season. Smallholder farmers in the cooperative presently access the services listed in Table 5 from private providers and local NGOs:Output market• The cooperative sales and marketing activities are not structured. There are no existing formal relationships or contracts with end buyers.• For many of the farmers in the cooperative, produce sales are made individually or collectively with community-level aggregators, itinerant market women from southern Ghana at the farm gate, and the open market in Navrongo.• With support from the Ministry of Food Agriculture (MoFA), Tampola Farmers cooperative has established a business relationship with the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters Association (GNTTTA) for supplies in the 2023-2024 dry season.• Agro-inputs accessed by the cooperative members include improved seeds, fertilizers, and crop protection products.• Farmers can register as a group for bulk procurement of agro-inputs from suppliers and the Government of Ghana's input subsidy program. However, financial constraints, the high cost of financing, lack of appropriate financial products, and inadequate delivery channels limit farmers' ability to access improved agro-inputs.Some farmers reuse seeds, resulting in poor yields.• The farmer cooperative has also previously worked with agribusinesses such as Akandem Farmers and Ribufa Enterprise on donor-funded projects for agro-input supply.• Some cooperative members have access to loans from Naara Rural Bank Plc. The loan period is usually 6-9 months, and the lending rate is 29% per annum with a 2% processing fee and 1% of the loan value as an insurance premium for death and permanent disability.• At the community level, smallholder farmers are organized into VSLAs, which help them make weekly savings contributions and take out loans at low interest rates.• Private local tractor operators are the main providers of farm mechanization.However, there are limited supplies of tractor services during peak land preparation periods due to high demand for tractors.• Some farmers use draft animals for ploughing and weed control.• MoFA, Meta Foundation, and other local NGO partners provide training in new and improved technologies, planting, fertilizer application, climate-smart agriculture, safe use of agrochemicals, and financial management to farmers.• MoFA and AICCRA currently support the Tampola Framers cooperative in setting up crop demonstration fields to showcase and promote the adoption of CSA technologies.With regards to partnerships and collaborations, the farmers Cooperative currently works directly and indirectly with the service providers listed in Table 6: • Provides technical trainings in good agronomic. Practices (GAPs) and post-harvest handling techniques.• Support in setting up and managing VSLAs.• Facilitate access to finance.• Farm mechanization services.• Agro-input credit scheme for women farmers.• Commodity aggregation.• Agro-input supply.Adakat Farms Private sector actor• Farm mechanization services.Anongtaaba is a member-owned farmer cooperative operating in the Soe and neigboring farming communities in the Bongo district of the Upper East region (Figure 8). The cooperative was formed in 2011 with support from World Vision International but formally registered with the Cooperative Department of the Bongo District Assembly in 2015. The cooperative has a written constitution that outlined the purpose and functions, governance structure, and the rights and obligations of its members (Figure 7). It has a seven-member leadership team consisting of the chairperson, secretary, vice chairperson, organizer, assistant organizer, treasurer, and financial secretary elected to lead the operations of the cooperative. Anongtaaba has more than 60 groups, with an average membership of 15-30 farmers participating actively. Smallholder farmers in the farmer cooperative grow tomatoes, sorghum, cowpeas, soybeans, and maize.  The Bongo district has a large dam at Vea (one of the two irrigation projects under the management of ICOUR)and small dams and dug-outs in farming communities for rice and dry-season vegetable production. Millets, guinea corn, maize, groundnuts, cowpea, sorghum, and dry-season vegetables (onions, tomatoes, peppers, garden eggs, and most leafy vegetables) are the main crops. Production of tomatoes under irrigation occurs from December to April (Table 7). The average landholding of smallholder farmers is 0.4 hectares. Women farmers play significant roles and have decision-making authority in the Anongtaaba Farmers Cooperative. Women farmers constitute about 69% of the cooperative's membership, and the cooperative takes records of members gender at the time of registration. The leadership team has four women at the apex level, and they are actively involved in the running and have decision-making powers. At the community level, women farmers are also actively involved, hold leadership positions, have decision-making power, and are involved in new member recruitment.With regards to resource allocation, land available at the irrigation scheme is limited, and allocations are yearly rotations that do not give any preference to women farmers. Moreover, supporting agricultural value chain actors and the rural community bank in the area do not offer distinct service and product packages for women farmers.The cooperative was set up mainly to bring smallholder farmers together for collective agro-input procurement, sales, and marketing activities and to improve their living conditions. The members of the cooperative currently access the services listed in Table 8:Output market• The farmer cooperative currently does not have any structured or formal way of engaging with agricultural market access players.• The Anongtaaba Farmer Cooperative has had formal business engagements with the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters Association (GNTTA) for supplies in the past.• Access to agro-inputs is through agro-dealers like Simple Prince and other retail distribution outlets.• In the past, the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (GASIP) program has supported the cooperative to access agri-inputs from Yara and other input providers.• Some farmers have previously come together to access agro-inputs through input credit schemes and government input subsidy programs.• Co-op members can access loans from Anongtaaba Community Bank in Bongo. The loan period is 6-12 months, and the lending rate is 20% per annum.• Some farmer groups are members of VSLAs and make weekly cash contributions to build savings and access loans from the VSLAs.• Private local tractor operators are the main providers of farm mechanization.• As tractors are not consistently available, some farmers use draft animals (bullocks and donkeys) for ploughing and weeding.• MoFA, Meta Foundation, GASIP, USAID LINK Project, and other local NGO partners provide training in new and improved technologies, planting, fertilizer application, climate-smart agriculture, safe use of agrochemicals, aquaculture production, beekeeping, and financial management to farmers.• MoFA also supports farmers in setting up demonstration farms for training and showcasing improved technologies.Table 9 identifies the key actors providing services to the cooperative. Established in 1983, the Weija Water Users Association (WWUA) is a formally registered member-owned and governed farmer cooperative operating at the Weija Irrigation Scheme in Tuba, Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra region (Figure 10), under the management of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA). The co-op has a written constitution that outlines its functions, governance, and the rights and obligations of its members. The total membership is 340, and 50 are women, with five groups at the zonal/community level. WWUA has a leadership team consisting of the chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, vice secretary, vice chairman, assistant organizer, treasurer, and financial secretary (Figure 9). The farmers in the cooperative are engaged in tomato, onion, pepper, cabbage, and maize production.  10.Zonal groupings (Total of 5 groups) Individual smallholder farmers spread across various villages.• WWUA was set up by GIDA as a component of a governance structure for sustainable management and use of water at the Weija Irrigation project site. • Currently, WWUA has five zonal farmer groups with a membership of 60 farmers each. • Water Users Association members pay GHc6,000 (~ US$530) in annual land leasing and water usage fees for a hectare of land.Source: Consultant's analysis of farmer cooperative's production schedule through field interviewsWWUA works with few women farmers and has low female participation in leadership and decision-making.Only about 14% of the 340 Water Users Association members are women, and there is no clear strategic goal for increasing women farmers participation. The association records the genders of its members at the time of registration. The irrigation scheme has limited land area for production, with women having limited access due to financial constraints to pay for the annual leasing and water usage fees, which explains their poor participation in the scheme.Table 11 summarizes the services available to the members of WWUA:Table 11 Farm level services accessed by WWUA• WWUA members sell produce in the open market to itinerant market women from Central, Western, and Greater Accra. There are no formal contracts with buyers.• Farmers access agro-inputs from key importers and distributors such as Wynca Sunshine, Dizengoff, Rainbow, RMG Ghana, etc. through their distribution networks in the Ga South municipality. • Ga Rural Bank is the main financial service provider for WWUA members. About 50% of WWUA members have accessed loans from Ga Rural Bank. The Loan period is 6-10 months for production loans with a 3-month moratorium, a lending rate of 30% per annum, and a 2% processing fee.• In 2019, WWUA accessed financing from Ga Rural Bank to acquire a tractor to provide services for its members.• WWUA members receive technical and agronomic advisory support from partners such as GIDA, CABI, MoFA, Calli Ghana, etc.• MoFA and Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) also support farmers in setting up demonstration farms for training and showcasing CSA technologies.WWUA works in collaboration with public institutions, NGOs, and private sector players to access farm-level technical services, agro-inputs, and financial services.  and post-harvest handling techniques.• Support setting up demos to showcase improved technologies.• Agro input provision under the Government of Ghana's \"Planting for Food and Jobs\" agro input subsidy program.• Technical training in good agronomic practices.(GAPs) and post-harvest handling techniques.• Support in setting up of crop demonstartions. The Upper East Region is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change and variability, and farmers are exposed to climate risks and effects. The region has an annual average rainfall of 921mm, which ranges between 645mm and 1250mm. The distribution of rainfall is unimodal, resulting in a single 5 to 6 month crop production season between April/May and September/October and 6 to 7 long dry seasons from October to April 16 . Farmers may be better able to withstand climatic shocks if they invest in climate-smart agricultural practices, improved agro-inputs, and have access to appropriate financial products and services. Table 13 highlights the climate risk issues identified by farmers in the cooperatives. To help improve resilience and better manage the impact of climate change, smallholder farmer cooperative members are implementing some CSA practices as shown in Table 14. The product is now being introduced to farmers using crop demonstration sites in Tuba.Th farmers in the cooperatives currently access climate and agronomic advisory information services from the Ghana Meteorlogical Agency (GMET), Nabina FM radio and Esoko through SMS/IVRs (Table 15) to help them better prepare for and manage the impact of both climate change and climate variability.Table 15 CIS and channels of deliveryWeather alerts, agronomic advisoryWeather alerts and agronomic advisory information are accessed through agricultural radio programs on Nabina FM and SMS/IVRs from Gmet and Esoko.AICCRA's top priority in the first year of technical support to farmer cooperatives will focus on strengthening the cooperatives, awareness creation, improving access to finance for CSA-CIS bundled agro-input packages, and capacity strengthening in post-harvest management and increasing access to cold storage facilities for farmers.Table 16 Solution prioritization -Capacity strengthening in governance and bookkeeping.There are gaps in farmer cooperative governance and bookkeeping systems.Capacity-building support to strengthen the governance system, management capacities, and professionalize their operations.Collaboration with a technical service provider or NGO to support capacity strengthening.   Increase access to finance for CSA-CIS bundled agro input packages -Generally, tomato production by smallholder farmers is profitable. However, the crop's high sensitivity to adverse climatic conditions, perishable nature, and price volatility makes it risky to grow. Smallholder farmers ability to access improved agro-inputs is constrained by the high cost of agro-inputs due to volatile local currency exchange rate and the high costs of logistics and financing (including high import duties) passed on to farmers, which is the main reason for high input costs. High cost of lending and lack of appropriate financial products also limit farmers ability to access loans for improved agro-inputs. Lending rates in Ghana are between 30% and 40%, and financial institutions are too risk-averse to lend directly to smallholder farmers. (AVC) actors, the study recommends designing a tailored financial product, a CSA-CIS bundled agro input loan (shown in Figure 11), to enhance access to finance for tomato producer. The agro-input financing scheme proposed will be based on partnerships with AVC actors and other service providers operating in the ecosystem. While AICCRA can provide technical and financial assistance in setting up several types of agroinput financing models, the study recommends prioritizing a shared risk model since it has the potential to scale and is more sustainable in the long term. The product design proposes a blended finance de-risking mechanisms of loss guarantees and risk insurance to mitigate against risks and provide comfort for partner financial institutions to lend to smallholder farmers. Blended finance is the strategic use of public and/or philanthropic capital for the mobilization of additional finance towards sustainable development in developing countries 17 . Blended finance solutions and tools can help stimulate and facilitate lending from financial institutions to agribusinesses and farmers in developing countries.This study also recommends pilot testing of the CSA-CIS bundled agro-input lending model with 400 tomato farmers in Ga South and Upper East in June and December 2024, respectively. The pilot implementation is expected to catalyze US$140,000 in financing for CSA-CIS bundled agro-input packages, with an average loan size of US$350 to produce 400 acres of tomatoes in 2024. The average production cost per acre is estimated at US$711(Table 21). However, production costs are expected to increase in 2025 and 2026 due to depreciation of the local currency and logistical costs of imported agro-inputs. Tomato production usually starts from June to September of the calendar year in southern Ghana and December to April in the north. Due to the seasonality of production, it is crucial that financing is provided in a timely manner to farmers for agro-inputs and other production related services.Capacity building in post-harvest management and increasing access to cold storage solutions for farmer cooperatives -Post-harvest losses in tomato production are very high because of their perishable nature. Post-harvest losses at the pre-consumer level for fresh vegetables in Ghana have been estimated at between 20% and 50%, and the cause is attributed largely to poor post-harvest management practices by farmers 18 . All three farmer cooperatives currently have no formal relationships with buyers, coupled with a lack of cold storage units, which forces them to sell at low farmgate prices at harvest, resulting in reduced incomes.The use of rentable cold storage units are emerging solutions to help reduce post-harvest losses and provide a lifeline for perishable vegetables. The study proposes capacity building in post-harvest management and a partnership with a cold storage service provider to offer pay-as-you-go cold storage services for farmers in the cooperative. Cold storage cooling technology can help extend the shelf life of tomatoes from 5 to 21 days.Potential partners -Implementation of the proposed recommendations would require strategic collaborations among AVC actors to help reduce costs and mitigate potential credit risk. ","tokenCount":"4820"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5238692691.json b/data/part_1/5238692691.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e1fa5eb86dddeb6ba2f12d072d1d555820c473b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5238692691.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e0dd208d04c5a89feffb3d782ede1c98","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/57467209-4b46-47e9-bbe6-b5e6433a6cd8/retrieve","id":"1898391823"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51662c6f-61c4-43de-a89b-97d26f642f26","pagecount":"27","content":"Microdosing refers to the application of small quantities of fertilizer with the seed at planting time or as top dressing three to four weeks after emergence. Microdosing provides sufficient nutrients especially on poor soils or degraded lands in amounts that are not too costly and are not damaging to the environment. Microdosing has been identified as a climate smart technology (The Montpellier Panel, 2013). Apart from being a climate smart technology, microdosing can be considered a pathway for the intensification of agricultural systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.Microdosing technology was developed and promoted by ICRISAT and partner institutions over a decade ago to promote the use of fertilizers in the semi-arid tropics. The technology was developed after realising that crop yields in the semi-arid areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have been declining over time due to a decline in soil fertility resulting from mono-cropping, lack of fertilizer, unfavourable climatic conditions and low fertilizer use driven by the belief that inorganic fertilizers \"burn crops\". Despite the growing body of literature quantifying the impacts of microdosing on yields and farm income, there are few studies that have systematically quantified the impacts of microdosing on crop productivity and food security and building resilience under climate change.Building on cross-sectional data from a recent survey on 415 smallholder farmers (193 microdosing adopters and 222 non-adopters) located in eight semi-arid districts of Zimbabwe, the results of this study demonstrate that microdosing increase crop production and productivity; reduce output and yield risk as well as improve food security. Such results have important policy implications for smallholder farmer's welfare in drought prone areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, these results demonstrate that microdosing is a welfare enhancing technology that potentially contributes to the first pillar of climate smart agriculture. Hence, the promotion of microdosing should be strengthened. Once farmers are convinced of the yield gains from using fertilizers, increased policy efforts should be placed not only on intensification of fertilizer use but on promoting fertilizer technologies such as microdosing that enhance nutrient use efficiency.Based on the Just and Pope Production function corrected for sample selection, we found that fertilizer microdosing positively increase maize output, sorghum output and yield as well as cereal output in Zimbabwe. Furthermore microdosing reduced output and yield risks for maize and cereals. With regards, to the results from the endogenous switching probit model, we found that microdosing improves household food security. Among adopters, the adoption of microdosing increased the likelihood of being food secure by 47 percentage points compared to the counterfactual case. Based on the average treatment effects, microdosing increases the likelihood of being food secure by 17 percentage points. These findings demonstrate the importance of microdosing technology for enhancing the food security of smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas.Data on the determinants of fertilizer use and microdosing technology suggest that farmer training on fertilizers; in particular microdosing increases the probability of using fertilizers and adoption of microdosing. Female headed households were less likely to microdose their crops, probably due to poor access to information by women. Receipt of fertilizer vouchers positively increases the probability of using fertilizers and adoption of microdosing. The data also suggest that fertilizer training is positively associated with the adoption of a portfolio of climate smart agricultural practices.In addition to analysing a single climate smart agricultural practice: microdosing, we also did further analysis on the adoption and impacts of climate smart agricultural practices on maize. Farmers obtained higher maize yields when minimum tillage and manure application were combined with microdosing. This finding has important policy implications. Efforts to improve maize productivity should combine appropriate climate smart practices such as microdosing, minimum tillage and manure application that increase productivity while enhancing ecosystem resilience and sustainability.Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is defined by FAO (2010) as agricultural practices, approaches and systems that sustainably increase food production and ability of farmers to earn a living, while protecting and restoring the environment. CSA practices enable farmers to: sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes; adapt and build resilience to extreme weather events and a changing climate; and where appropriate, contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations (FAO, 2010;Scherr et al., 2012). CSA consists of sustainable intensification practices such as conservation agriculture, microdosing, agroforestry, residue management and others (Scherr et al., 2012;The Montpellier Panel, 2013;Teklewold et al., 2013). Sustainable intensification practices aims to enhance the productivity and resilience of agricultural production systems while conserving the natural resource base (Teklewold et al., 2013;The Montpellier Panel, 2013). Therefore climate smart and sustainable intensification practices can be viewed as complements.Microdosing is one sustainable intensification practice (The Montpellier Panel, 2013) that has been identified as a climate smart technology. Microdosing refers to the application of small quantities of fertilizer with the seed at planting time or as top dressing three to four weeks after emergence (Twomlow et al., 2010;Aune & Ousman, 2011;van der Velde, Marijn et al., 2013). Twomlow et al. (2010) highlights that microdosing provides sufficient nutrients especially on poor soils or degraded lands in amounts that are not too costly and are not damaging to the environment. Microdosing technology was developed and promoted by ICRISAT and partner institutions over a decade ago to promote the use of fertilizers in the semi-arid tropics (Chianu & Tsujii, 2005;Hayashi et al., 2008;Twomlow et al., 2010). The technology was developed after realising that crop yields in the semi-arid areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have been declining over time due to a decline in soil fertility resulting from mono-cropping, lack of fertilizer, unfavourable climatic conditions and low fertilizer use driven by the belief that inorganic fertilizers \"burn crops\" (Twomlow et al., 2010).Microdosing contributes to CSA through various mechanisms. In Figure 1, we concentrate on the impact pathways of microdosing on the first pillar of CSA -of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes and food security. The first impact pathway is through higher nutrient use efficiency. Instead of spreading fertilizer over the entire field, microdosing results in higher nutrient use efficiency and ultimately improves productivity. Research results show that smallholder farmers' investment in microdosing has demonstrated the potential of chemical fertilizers in some of the low-rainfall areas (Twomlow et al., 2010). Twomlow et al. (2010) assessed the impact of microdosing over three seasons in Zimbabwe. The study results showed that microdosing with nitrogen fertiliser (17 kg Nitrogen ha-1) could increase grain yields by 30 -50% across a broad spectrum of soil, farmer management and seasonal climate conditions. Ncube et al. (2007) using on-farm trial results revealed that farmers could increase their yields by 50% by applying approximately 9 kg of nitrogen per hectare compared to no application in Zimbabwe. In West Africa, ICRISAT (2009) show that microdosing increased sorghum and millet yields by 44 to 120% and family incomes by 130%. Recently Winter-Nelson et al. (2013) found that microdosing increased maize and sorghum yields in Zimbabwe.Second, microdosing potentially lowers the risk of fertilizer poisoning, and this is particularly relevant in the semi-arid areas where rainfall is erratic. Through higher nutrient use efficiency and reduced fertilizer poisoning, microdosing technology could enhance crop productivity. Increased crop production and productivity could enhance commercialization activities through higher marketable surplus thereby boosting household incomes. Improved household food security could then be realized from higher household incomes and enhanced own food production.Source: Authors computation Third, microdosing saves on smallholder farmer's fertilizer budget thereby ensuring more money remains in the hands of farmers. In addition, minimizing the use of fertilizer inputs contributes to the mitigation of climate change (Teklewold et al., 2013). Earlier studies have shown that microdosing is one technology that can be affordable to farmers and ensures that poor farmers get the highest returns from the fertilizer quantities that they are able to purchase (Twomlow et al., 2010). Chianu & Tsujii (2005) highlight that fertilizer costs is one of the reason for low fertilizer use in Africa. In addition, if fertilizer is used appropriately, it might reduce the variability of production (output risk) and improve welfare of farmers (Guttormsen & Roll, 2014). This is particularly important in semi-arid tropics that experience erratic and unpredictable weather patterns.Apart from being a climate smart technology, microdosing can be considered a pathway for the intensification of agricultural systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. If farmers who don't apply chemical fertilizers see the yield gains from microdosing, they may be nudged to start applying fertilizers to their crops. This is an important policy avenue considering that fertilizer use rates are low in Africa. Therefore exposure to microdosing through training, field demonstrations and trials is a critical component for farmers to adopt the technology. Based on the discussion above, microdosing can be viewed as a climate smart technology because it involves the altering of fertilizer rates and has the potential to boost crop production and productivity especially in drought-prone regions (Howden et al., 2007;Twomlow et al., 2010;Winter-Nelson et al., 2013). Despite the growing body of literature quantifying the impacts of microdosing on yields (ICRISAT, 2009;Twomlow et al., 2010;Winter-Nelson et al., 2013) and farm income (ICRISAT, 2009), to the best of our knowledge there are few studies that have systematically quantified the impacts of microdosing on crop productivity and food security. Building on cross-sectional data from a recent survey in Zimbabwe, this article contributes to literature by analysing the impact of microdosing on crop productivity and food security. We use various econometric techniques to analyse the impacts of microdosing.The article is organized as follows. In the next section we describe the evolution of microdosing in Sub-Saharan Africa. We then discuss the methodology -description of survey data and outcome measures used for empirical analysis, followed by the estimation strategy employed. Empirical results are presented and discussed. The last section concludes.Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, ICRISAT primarily targeted the development and dissemination of early maturing varieties of sorghum and pearl millet as means to improve productivity and reduce the risks of drought in semi-arid agro-ecologies of Africa. Evidence suggests that adoption rates of the new varieties were favourable owing to their early maturity and large grain size. Unfortunately, limited gains were achieved in crop yields and productivity because of the low inherent fertility of most soils in the region and farmers' reluctance to risk investments in fertilizer.In the late 1990s, ICRISAT started using crop simulation modeling to analyse how different soil fertility technologies behave under conditions of high rainfall variability. Simulation results for a 1951 to 1999 rainfall period in southern Zimbabwe suggested that farmers could increase their average yields by 50% by applying as little as 9 kg of nitrogen per hectare (Ncube et al., 2007;Twomlow et al., 2010;ICRISAT, 2009). These simulation results indicated that farmers were better off applying lower rates of nitrogen (microdosing) on multiple fields instead of concentrating a limited supply of fertilizer on one field. Micro-dosing involved the application of nitrogen fertilizer using a bottle cap per 3 plants at 4 to 6 weeks after crop emergence (Ncube et al., 2007;Twomlow et al., 2010). The microdosing application rate is a quarter to a third of the recommended rate in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe. It is also recommended that at the time of fertilizer application, the field should be weed free and moist. The on-farm trial results revealed that farmers could increase their yields by 50% by applying approximately 9 kg of nitrogen per hectare compared to no application. (Ncube et al., 2007)  This study uses data collected from smallholder farmers located in eight semi-arid districts of Zimbabwe. A multi-stage stratification approach was used to draw the sample. In the first stage, three wards were selected in each district. Two wards captured households which were known to be exposed to microdosing technology based on the 5 year Conservation Agriculture panel study (Winter-Nelson et al., 2013). The third ward in each district was not exposed to microdosing (non-microdosing wards). The selection of the non-microdosing wards was done in consultation with local extension agents. During the survey, it was realized that some households in non-microdosing wards in Chivi, Masvingo and Zvishavane had actually received microdosing training. Therefore the classification into microdosing was done at plot level after the survey and based on information provided by respondents. In this study, a plot is considered to be microdosed if either basal or topdressing fertilizer was applied to the plot using the method of spot application. In addition, a household is considered to have adopted microdosing if it applied fertilizer on at least one plot using the spot application method. Farmers who spot apply usually use small quantities of fertilizer in contrast to banding and broadcasting methods and this is consistent with our definition of microdosing.The data were collected through personal interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire during December 2012 and January 2013. The questionnaires were administered to the household head and/or the spouse. The data collected includes information on household demographics, crop and livestock production, training in microdosing, extension techniques, and fertilizer use and adoption, with particular attention paid to management practices and output on cereal plots two previous cropping seasons, household assets, and social networks. The survey covered 415 households of which 193 adopted microdosing and 222 are classified as nonadopters (Table 1). Tables 2 show the details for the plots that were microdosed for each district differentiated by crop. The majority of farmers in our sample microdosed more maize plots compared to sorghum. This is expected as maize is the staple crop of the country and farmers usually apply new technologies to this crop. The main focus of this study is to analyse impacts of microdosing. Households have to be using fertilizers first before they can adopt microdosing. Fertilizer use has spread rapidly in Zimbabwe since the 1980s. Nonetheless, not all households apply fertilizers to their crops.Second, not all households using fertilizers adopt microdosing, so that a first question of interest is as to what factors influence both the use of fertilizers and the adoption of microdosing innovation. Since microdosing adoption in this study is an outcome of fertilizer use, an econometric model has to be specified that takes into account a possible sample selection bias. Those farmers who are using fertilizers have a greater chance to successfully adopt microdosing than randomly selected farmers. As a result, the same unobservable factors that influence fertilizer use might also influence microdosing adoption. Hence, the two decisions are interrelated. The first stage includes all farmers and we estimate determinants of fertilizer adoption and second stage only considers fertilizer adopters and identifies determinants of microdosing adoption. In our setting, microdosing adoption is conditional on fertilizer adoption. To analyse this, we use a bivariate probit model with sample selection to control for potential selection bias (Greene, 2012;Kersting & Wollni, 2012). The bivariate probit model with sample selection is appropriate because it allows for two separate probit models with correlated error terms. If error terms are significantly correlated, this indicates the existence of a self-selection bias (Greene, 2012;Kersting & Wollni, 2012).In this subsection we are interested in analysing the impact of microdosing on maize, sorghum and cereal production and output risk in Zimbabwe. As discussed earlier, we argue that fertilizer microdosing is a climate smart agricultural practice that influences crop production. In order to determine the impact of microdosing on both the mean production and variability of crop output, we use a stochastic production function. In particular, we use the Just and Pope stochastic production function developed by Just & Pope (1979). The basic concept decomposes the production function into a deterministic one related to the output level and a second related to the variability of that output (Just & Pope, 1979;Isik & Devadoss, 2006). The approach allows for estimation of the impacts of an input variable, such as microdosing, on expected output and its variance (output risk). The Just and Pope production function is expressed as (Just & Pope, 1979;Isik & Devadoss, 2006;Cabas et al., 2010): \uD835\uDC66 = \uD835\uDC53(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFD) + \uD835\uDF07 = \uD835\uDC53(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFD) + ℎ(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFC) 0.5 \uD835\uDF00 (1) where \uD835\uDC66 is crop output or yield, \uD835\uDC4B is a vector of explanatory variables, \uD835\uDC53(. ) is the mean function (or deterministic component of production) relating \uD835\uDC4B to average output with \uD835\uDEFD as the associated vector of estimated parameters, \uD835\uDF07 is a heteroscedastic disturbance term with a mean of zero; ℎ(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFC) is the variance function (or stochastic component of output or yield) that relates \uD835\uDC4B to the standard deviation of output with \uD835\uDEFC as the corresponding vector of estimated parameters, and \uD835\uDF00 is a random error with zero mean and variance \uD835\uDF0E 2 . From this formulation, inputs such as microdosing can independently influence mean output (\uD835\uDC38(\uD835\uDC66) = \uD835\uDC53(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFD)) and output variance (\uD835\uDC49\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC5F(\uD835\uDC66) = \uD835\uDC49\uD835\uDC4E\uD835\uDC5F(\uD835\uDF07) = ℎ(\uD835\uDC4B, \uD835\uDEFC)\uD835\uDF0E 2 ).The model expressed in equation ( 1) can be estimated using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) or a three-step estimation procedure involving Feasible Generalized Least squares (FGLS) under heteroscedastic disturbances (Cabas et al., 2010;Isik & Devadoss, 2006;Chen et al., 2004). In this study, we use the FGLS. The three step FGLS takes the following steps. First, the model was estimated by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and the residuals (μ ̂) are obtained. y = f(X, β) + μ(2) In the second step, the logarithm of squared residuals was regressed on X.Using this second stage estimation, variances are predicted. Using the square roots of these variances as weights, the output or yield model is re-estimated using the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) technique. In order to correct for endogeneity of microdosing adoption, we follow Koundouri & Nauges (2005) and apply the Heckman sample correction method to the Just and Pope Production function. In the first step, we estimated the Heckman two-step procedure and generate the Mills ratio. The Mills ratio is then incorporated into the Just and Pope Production function as an additional explanatory variable to control for selectivity bias. Failure to control for endogeneity of microdosing adoption would bias parameter estimates. Robust standard errors clustered at household level are used to account for multiple plots. In addition, in the variance function standard errors are bootstrapped. In the third stage of the Just and Pope Production function we correct mean regression for heteroscedasticity by using weights generated from the second stage.The production function is specified with four inputs: namely plot size, labour, capital and fertilizer microdosing. Plot size is measured as the total area (in hectares) of the plot. Labour is proxied by the total number of household members aged 18-60 years who contribute to farm labour. The value of household assets is used to proxy capital. Fertilizer microdosing is measured as dummy variables indicating one if household microdosed the plot and zero otherwise. The model also includes management, demographic and socio-economic variables thought to influence production and productivity, including gender of household head, age of household head, farming experience, soil quality and rainfall among others.While the majority of inputs in the econometric model are expected to increase crop output, some inputs may reduce the level of output risk, while others may increase risk. The Just and Pope production function is appropriate in situations when some inputs may decrease and others increase risks (Just & Pope, 1979). In the study area, agricultural production depends heavily on family labour. This is typical of most rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa where mechanized agriculture is limited. Increasing the use of labour is expected to have a risk-reducing effect, as labour is crucial for crop management operations such as weeding and crop protection that enhance a health crop growth and reduce crop losses. Smallholder farmers in many developing countries do not receive the necessary training for applying fertilizer and as a result may poison their crops. Because of this fertilizer is regarded as a risk increasing input (Guttormsen & Roll, 2014;Just & Pope, 1979). In our case, fertilizer microdosing involves the application of small quantities of fertilizer appropriate to boost yields and reduce output risk in semi-arid areas. Therefore we expect that microdosing results in no crop poisoning and increases crop production and reduce output risk.Food security constitutes dimensions of food availability, stability, accessibility and utilization (FAO, 1996). Food security is multidimensional and this makes its measurement quite complex. There are several indicators that are used to measure food security. Barrett (2010) highlights a variety of objective measures of food security, e.g. dietary intake, expenditure, and health indicators. Haen et al. (2011), however argues that most of the approaches based on dietary intake and anthropometric indicators are expensive and data intensive. Maxwell et al. (2014) provides a review of the subjective indicators for example: dietary diversity and food frequency and self-assessment measures. The subjective measures are simple and easy to use but their main disadvantage is that they focus only on measuring food access and do not account for food intake and availability.From our dataset, we use one subjective self-assessment measure of food security while acknowledging that food security is multidimensional which should be measured by multiple indicators. For the subjective food security measure, each household identified one category describing the food situation the household experienced as: 1 = We always have enough of every type of food that each person wants; 2 = We always have enough food for everyone, but not always the types of food that each person wants; 3 = We usually have enough food for everyone, but some people sometimes get less food than they want; 4 = We rarely have enough food for everyone to get enough; 5 = We never have enough food for everyone to get enough. In the analysis, we follow Winter-Nelson et al. ( 2013) and merge categories 1 and 2 into food-secure households, and categories 3, 4 and 5 into food-insecure households.Our interest is to quantify the impacts of microdosing on household food security. Adopters and non-adopters are systemically different (see Table 3) and therefore it might be informative to estimate separate regressions for these two groups. A switching probit model is used for estimation because of the binary nature of our treatment and outcome variables (Lokshin & Sajaia, 2011). Consider a model with two binary outcome equations (whether food secure or not) and a criterion function \uD835\uDC40\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56 that determines which regime the household faces. \uD835\uDC40\uD835\uDC37 \uD835\uDC56 is a treatment variable denoting whether the household adopted microdosing or not. The treatment and the outcome can take one of the two potential values (Lokshin & Sajaia, 2011):Observed \uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC46 \uD835\uDC56 is defined asWhere \uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC46 1\uD835\uDC56 * and \uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC46 0\uD835\uDC56 * are latent variables (household food security status) that defines the observed food security status \uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC46 1 and \uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC46 0 (whether household is food secure or not); \uD835\uDC4D \uD835\uDC56 and \uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56 are vectors of observables generating the selection equation and the food security equation; \uD835\uDEFE, \uD835\uDEFD 1 and \uD835\uDEFD 0 are the vector of parameters to be estimated. \uD835\uDF07 \uD835\uDC56 is the error term for the selection equation, \uD835\uDF00 1\uD835\uDC56 and \uD835\uDF00 0\uD835\uDC56 are the regime-specific error terms. \uD835\uDF07 \uD835\uDC56 , \uD835\uDF00 1\uD835\uDC56 and \uD835\uDF00 0\uD835\uDC56 are assumed to be jointly normally distributed, with a mean-zero vector.One advantage of the endogenous switching probit model is that it offers the possibility of deriving probabilities in counterfactual cases for household's food security status on microdosing (Aakvik et al., 2005;Lokshin & Sajaia, 2011). In particular, it enables estimating the treatment effect on the treated (ATT), treatment effect on the untreated (ATU) and average treatment effect (ATE). For details on the computation of the treatment effects see Aakvik et al. (2005) and Lokshin & Sajaia (2011). The endogenous switching probit model is identified by nonlinearities of its functional form (Lokshin & Sajaia, 2011). The variables microdosing training and access to poster or pamphlet on microdosing were used as exclusion restriction to improve on identification. Khonje et al. (2015) and Shiferaw et al. (2014) also used access to information variables as exclusion restrictions.In the previous section, we have discussed econometric approaches to analyse the adoption and impacts of microdosing on crop output and yields. Farmers usually adopt a portfolio of different climate smart practices on their crops in an effort to maximize returns. Therefore focus on adoption and impacts of a single practice may be insufficient as this may fail to capture the complementarities and trade-offs between practices (Teklewold et al., 2013). We therefore improve our earlier analysis by analysing a combination of three climate smart agricultural practices (CSAP). These are also sustainable intensification practices. The first CSAP is minimum tillage. Minimum tillage reduces soil erosion and nutrient depletion while conserving soil moisture thus conserving the ecosystem (Teklewold et al., 2013;The Montpellier Panel, 2013). The second CSAP is manure application. Manure improves soil fertility and conserves soil moisture. The third CSAP is microdosing. Microdosing improves soil fertility and saves farmers costs of fertilizer (Twomlow et al., 2010). The minimum use of fertilizer also contributes to the mitigation of climate change.In this section, we analyse the adoption of a combination of CSAPs and their impacts on maize yield. Specifically this section has two objectives. First, we analyse factors influencing the adoption of a combination of CSAPs (i.e., minimum tillage, manure and fertilizer microdosing) on maize crop in Zimbabwe. Second, we analyse the impacts of adopting various combinations of CSAPs on maize yield. The simultaneous adoption of minimum tillage, manure, and microdosing leads to eight possible combinations of CSAP that a farmer could choose. The actual choice is expected to be based on the farmer's expected utility derived from adoption given his/her constraints. We model farmers' choice of CSAP portfolios (i.e., alternative combinations of minimum tillage, manure, and microdosing) and outcome variable (maize yield) using a multinomial treatment effects regression (mtreatreg) (Deb & Trivedi, 2006).The mtreatreg according to Deb & Trivedi (2006) fits models with multinomial treatments and continuous, count and binary outcomes using maximum simulated likelihood. The mtreatreg model considers the effect of an endogenously chosen multinomial-valued treatment on an outcome variable, conditional on two sets of independent variables (Deb & Trivedi, 2006). The outcome variable can be continuous, binary or integer-valued while the treatment choice is assumed to follow a mixed multinomial logit distribution. The mtreatreg model is estimated using maximum simulated likelihood and the simulator uses Halton sequences (Deb & Trivedi, 2006). For a detailed discussion and model specification refer to Deb & Trivedi (2006).The mean differences in outcome indicators and socio-economic characteristics between adopters and non-adopters are shown in Table 3. On average, households that adopted microdosing obtained higher yields for maize and sorghum and are also more food secure than households who did not adopt. These descriptive results suggest that these categories of households are systemically different. We now analyse differences in explanatory variables. Furthermore, more adopters received training on microdosing than non-adopters. This training was offered by NGOs in collaboration with ICRISAT and the public extension agency. Our results also show that adopters have better access to agricultural information through posters and pamphlets on microdosing compared to non-adopters. Access to agricultural information through microdosing training and posters is expected to enhance microdosing adoption only. Adopters have more access to social capital proxied by leadership in community compared to non-adopters. Access to social capital improves household access to information and resources. More adopters tend to apply fertilizer to their crops than nonadopters. Furthermore, more adopters received a fertilizer voucher compared to nonadopters. Adopters have on average higher asset values, more labour supply and bigger land sizes. Labour is an important input for enhancing agricultural production and productivity, which in turn could enhance food security. Land is an important investment in Zimbabwe. Households with bigger land holdings are likely to have higher output. Land is also used as collateral to secure loans to finance agricultural production. Figure 2 show the cumulative distribution functions (CDF) of maize output differentiated by microdosing status. The maize output distributions for microdosed plots and non-microdosed plots are statistically different. The CDF of maize output of microdosed plots clearly dominates that of non-microdosed plots. Here we assess whether the distribution with microdosing (first order) stochastically dominates the distribution without adoption, which means that the probability of average maize output falling below any threshold level is lower with the practice than without it (Mas-Colell et al., 1995). This suggests that the adoption of microdosing reduces risk as well as increase mean output. In figure 3, we present the CDF of cereal output differentiated by microdosing status. The cereal output distributions for plots that were microdosed are statistically different from nonmicrodosed plots. The CDF of cereal output for microdosed plots stochastically dominates that of non-microdosed plots. Here, we provide the descriptive statistics of a combination of climate smart agricultural practices. The CSAPs considered in this study are minimum tillage, manure and fertilizer microdosing, providing eight possible combinations of CSAPs. Table 4 shows the proportions of maize area cultivated under different CSAP packages. Of the 825 maize plots, about 32% did not receive any of the CSAP (T0M0F0), while the three practices were simultaneously adopted on 12% of the plots (T1M1F1).  The binary triplet represents the possible CSAP combinations. Each element in the triplet is a binary variable for a CSAP: minimum tillage (T), manure (M) or microdosing (F). Subscript 1 = adoption and 0 = otherwise. In all econometric analysis that follows, we drop choices 2 and 6 because of few observations.Estimation results from the bivariate model explained above are shown in Table 5. The parameter athrho shown at the bottom panel of the table is significant and provides evidence for selection bias which is controlled for by the bivariate probit model with sample selection. This shows that the bivariate model is appropriate. The coefficients show the direction of impact of the explanatory variables on fertilizer use and microdosing adoption. Several variables turn out to be significant in explaining fertilizer use and microdosing adoption. Holding all others constant, the results show that microdosing training increases the probability of using fertilizer and adoption of microdosing. This has important policy implications for both extension and the intensification of agricultural systems. Fertilizer training should be a core component of the extension messages to stimulate farmers to use fertilizers. Female headed households are less likely to practice microdosing on their crops. This can be a reflection of poor access to information by farmers. Receipt of fertilizer vouchers positively increases the probability of using fertilizers and microdosing adoption. In line with Winter-Nelson et al. (2013) environmental factors have a strong influence on both the probability of fertilizer use and microdosing. Households residing in NR III which receive higher rainfall are more likely to use fertilizers and adopt microdosing than those in NR IV. In addition households residing in NR V are less likely to use fertilizers, owing to low rainfall patterns. The econometric results in Table 6 show the Just & Pope Production estimates corrected for sample selection. The results show that adoption of microdosing has a positive and significant impact on maize production. The adoption of microdosing increases maize production by 1.40% 1 and this agrees with our hypothesis that microdosing has a positive impact on production.As discussed earlier the production or yield risk is captured by the variance function in the Just and Pope Production framework. In order to disentangle the effect of the technology from the pure fertilizer effect, we included the quantity of fertilizer applied as an additional variable. We interpret the elasticities of the variance function by looking directly at the parameter estimates from the variance function in Table 6 (Guttormsen & Roll, 2014). Microdosing is negative and significant, in both maize output and yield risk functions. Microdosing reduce maize output and yield variability by 0.47% and 0.43% respectively. Such a result corroborates with our expectation, that microdosing reduces output and yield risk. This is partly because microdosing reduces the possibility of fertilizer poisoning when low and erratic rainfall is experienced. For maize, our results show that microdosing increases maize output, stabilize output and yields in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe. These results that microdosing increases maize production and stabilize yields suggests that microdosing contributes to the first pillar of climate smart agriculture.Labour positively increases maize output. Labour is important for crop management operations such as planting, weeding, fertilization and harvesting that are critical and enhances a healthy crop growth. Though labour is negative in the variance function it is not significant. This contradicts with Guttormsen & Roll (2014) who found that labour has a riskreducing effect on crop production. Capital is important for crop production. Our results show that capital is positive and highly significant in the yield function. Fertilizer has a positive and significant effect on both maize output and yield.The econometric results in table 7 show that microdosing have a significant impact on sorghum output and yield. The result that microdosing positively influences sorghum production and productivity is a confirmation that microdosing contributes to the first pillar of climate smart agriculture (of boosting productivity). Sorghum is one of the predominant crops in the semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe and our results have significant policy implications. The policy implication is that microdosing should be promoted among sorghum growers to boost production and productivity. The other variables: labour, capital, fertilizer and farming experience are all positive and significant in explaining sorghum output and productivity. Low rainfall and older farm households tend to be associated with lower sorghum output and yields. In terms of risk, results show that microdosing has no impact on sorghum output and yield variability. In Table 8, we present econometric results of the impact of microdosing on cereal output and productivity. The cereals used in the analysis include maize, sorghum and pearl millet. The regression coefficient for microdosing is positive and significant at the 10% level in the mean output function and insignificant in the yield function. Microdosing increases cereal output by 1.31%. Microdosing has a negative and significant effect in both the output and yield variance functions, suggesting the technology has a risk-reducing effect. These results show the importance of microdosing on stabilising cereal output and yields.The other variables that increase cereal output are capital, plot size, capital, fertilizer, soil quality and farming experience. Residing in a low rainfall area reduces cereal output. Capital and age of household head positively influences cereal productivity. Surprisingly, and unexpectedly fertilizer turns out to be negative and significant in influencing cereal yields. Table 9 presents the econometric results of the impact of microdosing on household food security. Endogenous switching probit model is used for estimation. Capital positively influenced the likelihood of households being food secure for non-adopters only. Capital proxied by value of household assets is important for boosting agricultural production and productivity. Higher agricultural productivity and commercialization may in turn improve household food consumption and liquidity which is crucial for food security. Land size has a positive and significant effect on increasing the likelihood of being food secure for microdosing adopters only. Adopting households with large land holdings are more likely to be food secure. Low rainfall has a negative and significant effect for adopters only. For non-adopters, having more dependents decreases the likelihood of being food secure. These results show that dependents increase the risk of food insecurity among non-adopters. The effect of microdosing on food security is presented in Table 10 which is estimated following Lokshin & Sajaia (2011) approach of computing treatment effects. The average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) was 0.472. This implied that among adopters, the adoption of microdosing led to about 47 percentage points more likelihood of being food secure compared to the counterfactual case (not adopting microdosing). Based on the average treatment effects (ATE) regression results show that adoption of microdosing increases the likelihood of being food secure by 17 percentage points. These findings demonstrate that microdosing is important for food security among smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas. This is consistent with the view that adoption of new agricultural innovations can improve household welfare in developing countries (Shiferaw et al., 2014;Khonje et al., 2015). The results from the multinomial logit model are presented in Table 11. The base category is non-adoption (T0M0F0), where econometric results are compared. The Wald test that all regression coefficients are jointly equal to zero is rejected[Χ 2 = 870.34; \uD835\uDC5D = 0.000]. This implies that the model fits the data well. The results in column 2 to 6 show the estimated coefficients for different packages.The adoption of T0M0F1, T1M1F0, T0M1F1 and T1M1F1 is positively influenced by microdosing training and residing in Natural Region 3. The implication is that farmer training on fertilizers is crucial for the adoption of a package of CSAP. Farmer training could be achieved through lectures, demonstration plots and print material. Asset value has a positive influence on the adoption of manure and microdosing package only (T0M1F1). Safe plot location highly influences the adoption of T0M1F0, T1M1F0, T0M1F1 and T1M1F1 with the exception of microdosing (T0M0F1). Safe maize plots offer protection from stray animals and include those nearer to homesteads and/or fenced. This is expected as farmers put investments on protected fields. Safe plot location increase the adoption of CSAPs therefore the policy implications is to encourage smallholder farmers to fence and protect their plots.The second stage estimates on the impacts of a combination of CSAP on maize yields are reported in Table 11, column 7. Our interest is on the impacts of different combinations of CSAPs shown in the bottom panel of the Table . We found that for farmers who adopted packages (T0M1F0 and T0M0F1) had average maize yield that were not significantly higher than it would have been if the adopters had adopted T0M0F0. The result that adopting microdosing in isolation (T0M0F1) has no effect on maize yields is consistent with our earlier results in Table 6. The adoption of T1M1F0, T0M1F1 and T1M1F1 significantly increased maize yields. In almost all cases, the adoption of a combination of CSAPs provides higher maize yield compared to adopting each CSAP in isolation. Farmers obtained higher maize yields when minimum tillage and manure application were combined with microdosing. The largest yield effect is from adoption of the package T1M1F1. The goal of CSA according to FAO (2010) is to simultaneously achieve increased agricultural productivity and incomes (food security), improved resilience to climate change (adaptation) and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation). In this article, we focus on the impact of microdosing on agricultural productivity and food security -the first pillar of climate smart agriculture. We used cross section data from a recent survey conducted on 415 farm households in Zimbabwe.Before presenting results of the impact of microdosing, we first present the determinants of fertilizer use and microdosing technology. Results from the bivariate probit model show that farmer training on fertilizers; in particular microdosing increases the probability of using fertilizers and adoption of microdosing. Female headed households were less likely to microdose their crops, probably due to poor access to information by women. Receipt of fertilizer vouchers positively increases the probability of using fertilizers and adoption of microdosing. Results from the multinomial treatment effects model show that fertilizer training is positively associated with the adoption of a portfolio of CSAPs. This further reinforces the importance of farmer training. These results have important policy implications for both extension in Zimbabwe, and fits perfectly to the emerging discussion and policy thrust on the intensification of agricultural systems in Africa. Fertilizer training should be a core component of the extension messages to stimulate farmers to use fertilizers. Government and private sector should invest in the promotion of fertilizer microdosing through increased awareness and technical training. Training farmers is crucial for increasing uptake of fertilizer microdosing in Zimbabwe. The training could be in form of lectures, demonstration trials as well as distribution of print materials (e.g. posters etc) to farmers.The results of this study suggest that fertilizer microdosing positively increase maize output, sorghum output and yield as well as cereal output in Zimbabwe. Microdosing reduces output and yield risks for maize and cereals. Furthermore, microdosing improves household food security. Among adopters, the adoption of microdosing increases the likelihood of being food secure by 47 percentage points compared to the counterfactual case. Moreover, microdosing increases the likelihood of being food secure by 17 percentage points. These findings demonstrate the importance of microdosing technology for enhancing the food security of smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas.In addition to analysing a single climate smart agricultural practice: microdosing, we also did further analysis on the adoption and impacts of a portfolio of CSAPs on maize. The results modelling the portfolio of CSAPs have important policy implications. First, they highlight the importance of training on fertilizer and protecting crop fields on the adoption of a portfolio of CSAPs. Second, adoption of CSAPs increases maize yield, and the highest payoff is achieved when CSAPs are adopted in combination rather than in isolation. Farmers obtained higher maize yields when minimum tillage and manure application were combined with microdosing. The finding that the adoption of the combined CSAPs has a positive effect on maize productivity has important policy implications. Efforts to improve maize productivity should combine microdosing with appropriate climate smart practices such as minimum tillage and manure application that increase productivity while enhancing ecosystem resilience and sustainability.","tokenCount":"6808"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5255772021.json b/data/part_1/5255772021.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..50193d21c457544d9c624250b68d37512e248e54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5255772021.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3346d1103ab397e1b2cba6ef46537070","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d8738d71-7373-437c-a03c-02d8067a57ce/content","id":"1962435029"},"keywords":["wheat rusts","Puccinia spp.","tetraploid wheat","QTL","multi-location trials"],"sieverID":"6b443df3-7d7c-433e-b399-f33c95b43916","pagecount":"17","content":"Rusts of the genus Puccinia are wheat pathogens. Stem (black; Sr), leaf (brown; Lr), and stripe (yellow; Yr) rust, caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt), Puccinia triticina (Pt), and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), can occur singularly or in mixed infections and pose a threat to wheat production globally in terms of the wide dispersal of their urediniospores. The development of durable resistant cultivars is the most sustainable method for controlling them. Many resistance genes have been identified, characterized, genetically mapped, and cloned; several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for resistance have also been described. However, few studies have considered resistance to all three rust pathogens in a given germplasm. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out to identify loci associated with resistance to the three rusts in a collection of 230 inbred lines of tetraploid wheat (128 of which were Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) genotyped with SNPs. The wheat panel was phenotyped in the field and subjected to growth chamber experiments across different countries (USA, Mexico, Morocco, Italy, and Spain); then, a mixed linear model (MLM) GWAS was performed. In total, 9, 34, and 5 QTLs were identified in the A and B genomes for resistance to Pgt, Pt, and Pst, respectively, at both the seedling and adult plant stages. Only one QTL on chromosome 4A was found to be effective against all three rusts at the seedling stage. Six QTLs conferring resistance to two rust species at the adult plant stage were mapped: three on chromosome 1B and one each on 5B, 7A, and 7B. Fifteen QTLs conferring seedling resistance to two rusts were mapped: five on chromosome 2B, three on 7B, two each on 5B and 6A, and one each on 1B, 2A, and 7A. Most of the QTLs identified were specific for a single rust species or race of a species.Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) is the most important cultivated tetraploid wheat in the world. Although durum is considered a minor crop because its global production is less than 5% of total wheat production, it is economically and nutritionally relevant because of its use for human consumption (e.g., pasta, couscous, bread, and bulgur), particularly in Mediterranean countries (Letta et al., 2014). Moreover, the tetraploid (AABB) wheat genomes show extensive similarities with the hexaploid (AABBDD) genomes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and both crops often share the same pathogens. Foliar diseases caused by fungi, especially the three rusts (stem/black rust, leaf/brown rust, and stripe/yellow rust), can severely affect the yield and quality of the crop at a continental scale (Singh et al., 2011). Wheat rust pathogens have many common characteristics but also differ in key traits like their host ranges and conditions for infection, development, and survival. They can be effectively controlled by fungicide treatments; however, genetic resistance is the most economically and environmentally acceptable way to control them. Both qualitative and quantitative resistances have been described in durum wheat against the rusts. Qualitative resistance is usually conferred by one or a few genes (\"R\" genes) that have a large effect on the host reaction phenotype and are only effective against certain races of pathogens (i.e., race-specific) (Yu et al., 2014). In many cases, these genes confer resistance from the seedling to the adult plant stage and are referred to as all-stage resistance (ASR) genes. By contrast, quantitative resistance is usually conferred by multiple genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL), with smaller effects on the host reaction phenotype. This type of resistance is generally effective against the spectrum of races within a pathogen and is therefore often considered as race nonspecific. As the effect of these resistance loci is clearly manifested in adult plants, the resistance is referred to as adult plant resistance (APR) (Yu et al., 2014;Yu et al., 2017).Stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers. f. sp. tritici Erikss. & E. Henn. (Pgt), is a destructive disease of wheat in many parts of the world (Hodson et al., 2011). Over 60 (stem rust or Sr) genes and many QTLs against stem rust have been identified in wheat and its wild relatives (Saccomanno et al., 2018). Among these many described resistance loci, the most important race nonspecific ones are Sr57, Sr58, Sr55, and Sr2 (Juliana et al., 2017). Unfortunately, only a few (i.e., Sr55, and Sr57) of these are still effective in different regions of Europe and North Africa due to the ability of the pathogen to overcome deployed resistance genes. Over the past decades, other virulent races of Pgt have been described in the United States and Sicily (TPMKC and TTTTF) (McVey et al., 2002;Bhattacharya, 2017), Uganda (TTKSK) (Jin et al., 2009;Rouse et al., 2014;Patpour et al., 2016), and Ethiopia (TRTTF, JRCQC, and TKTTF) (Olivera et al., 2012;Olivera et al., 2015).Leaf rust, caused by Puccina triticina Erikss. (Pt), is the most widely distributed rust pathogen of wheat and is adapted to a wide range of environments. Approximately 100 leaf rust resistance genes and allelic forms have been identified and characterized in bread wheat, durum wheat, and diploid wheat species, and only eleven of them, Lr1, Lr9, Lr10, Lr13, Lr14a, Lr21, Lr22a, Lr34, Lr42, Lr58 and Lr67, have been cloned, as recently reviewed by Mapuranga et al. (2022).Stripe rust is caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Erikss. (Pst). Stripe rust infection may occur on the wheat plant from the time the first leaf emerges from the soil until maturity. Stripe rust has been found on every continent except Antarctica, with over 60 countries reporting outbreaks of the disease (Park, 2016). Ten stripe rust resistance genes (Yr) have been isolated so far: Yr10, Yr18, Yr36, Yr46, Yr5/YrSP, Yr7, Yr15, Yr27, YrU1, and YrAS2388R (Mapuranga et al., 2022). Among the cloned Yr genes, Yr36 confers broad-spectrum resistance to races of Pst (Fu et al., 2009) and several confer multi-pathogen (partial) resistance against the three wheat rusts and powdery mildew (Yr18, Lr34, Sr57, Pm38, Yr46, Lr67, Sr55, and Pm39) (Krattinger et al., 2016).Given the continuing threat of rust diseases, an ideal cultivar should be bred with durable resistance to all three of them; unfortunately, only a few identified genes, such as Yr18, Lr34, and Sr57 and Yr46, Lr67, and Sr55, confer such broad-based resistance. In such a complex scenario of wheat/rust pathogen interactions of susceptibility and resistance, mapping QTLs can allow the detection of genes with major and minor effects and the identification of linked molecular markers that could be used for gene stacking in breeding programs to achieve more durable rust resistance (Soriano and Royo, 2015). The recent revolution in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and the development of both lowcost and high-throughput SNP genotyping systems have promoted the rapid development of reliable markers for marker-assisted breeding in wheat. Traditionally, QTL mapping has been used to identify underlying genetic variation that co-segregates with a trait of interest using a biparental mapping population (Zhu et al., 2008). For example, Lin et al. (2018) reported a QTL for seedling and adult plant stripe rust resistance in a doubled-haploid population of durum wheat. This QTL for APR was mapped to chromosome 7B and validated in a breeding panel. In a recent study by Kumar et al. (2021), a stable major effect QTL was identified for stem rust resistance on the short arm of chromosome 6A in durum wheat. This QTL accounted for 71% of the variation for seedling resistance and up to 46% of the variation for field resistance.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) can dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits in natural populations, such as germplasm collections, often identifying a high number of QTLs with minor effects on phenotype together with those with major effects (Zhu et al., 2008;Hall et al., 2010). A GWAS conducted on a world collection of elite durum wheat accessions revealed a major effect locus for both seedling and adult plant stripe rust resistance (Yrdurum-1BS.1) (Liu et al., 2017). In a recent study by Kumar et al. (2020), a germplasm panel consisting of 483 spring bread wheat genotypes was phenotyped against all three rust diseases in greenhouse and field environments, and 25 genomic regions were found to be associated with resistance to at least two rusts. Of these, seven were associated with all the three rusts on chromosome groups 1 and 6 (A and B) along with 2B. Moreover, a meta-QTL analysis for multiple disease resistance (MDR) was carried out in hexaploid wheat and identified ten MQTLs involving all three rusts, overlapping with known R genes on different chromosomes (Pal et al., 2022). In this study, we conducted a large-scale association mapping study and a multi-location trial with the aim of identifying QTLs conferring seedling and adult plant resistance common to the three rusts of wheat in a single panel of 230 tetraploid genotypes, in both controlled and field conditions. Moreover, the availability of reference genome sequences of durum (cultivar 'Svevo') and wild emmer wheat (accession 'Zavitan') allowed the search for candidate genes in the physical region where QTLs for resistance to the rust pathogens were identified.The germplasm collection used in this study consists of 230 inbred lines belonging to seven tetraploid wheat subspecies of Triticum turgidum, subdivided as follows: Triticum turgidum ssp. durum (128), ssp. turanicum (20), ssp. turgidum (19), ssp. polonicum (20), ssp. carthlicum (12), ssp. dicoccum (19), and ssp. dicoccoides (12). Laidò et al. (2013;2014) provided a list and description of the genotypes (number/name, year of release, country, and pedigree) for each subspecies. Each accession was genotyped using the Illumina ® iSelect 90K wheat SNP assay (Wang et al., 2014). The resulting dataset was filtered using the following criteria: (1) markers showing residual heterozygosity were entered as missing values; (2) markers with less than 10% missing data and accessions with less than 20% missing data were retained; and (3) markers with a minor allele frequency (MAF) greater than 10% were retained. The genotypic analyses were finally carried out on three distinct subsamples as described in Laidò et al. (2013;2014) and Saccomanno et al. (2018): the whole collection (230 genotypes, WC), the durum subsample (127 genotypes, durum), and the Q2 group (98 genotypes, Q2), which mainly contains wild and domesticated accessions of tetraploid wheat other than durum. The remaining five genotypes (Russello, ssp. durum;PI 278350, ssp. turanicum;PI 361757 and PI 208911, ssp. polonicum;PI 352324, ssp. dicoccoides) were excluded because they had >20% missing markers.Table 1 summarizes all the details of the phenotypic evaluations of the tetraploid collection in terms of the reactions to the three rust species at the seedling and adult plant stages, challenged with either single virulent isolates in controlled conditions or natural pathogen populations in field experiments from 2015 to 2016 (Morocco, Spain, Italy, Mexico, and USA). The phenotypic data were collected by the participating institutions as disease severity (DS) and/or infection type (IT) data. Field experiments conducted by CREA, CSIC, and CIMMYT employed a randomized complete block design with two replicates, whereas those conducted by USDA-ARS, the University of Minnesota, ICARDA, and CREA in 2016 were organized according to the model replicated check. In particular, using as controls, the susceptible wheat line \"PS279\" in the USDA-ARS experiments with stripe rust, \"Rusty\" in the University of Minnesota experiments with stem rust, and \"Pedroso\" for the ICARDA and CREA experiments with stripe and leaf rust. The accessions in all field experiments were sown in 1.0 to 1.5 m long rows. Rust disease severity (DS) was assessed visually on the stem and leaf sheath, two times a week, as the percentage area (0,5,10,20,40,60,80, or 100%) covered by pustules, using the modified Cobb scale for stripe rust and leaf rust (Peterson et al., 1948). Stem rust severity was assessed on a 0-100% scale using the diagrammatic scale of James (1971).For the seedling experiments, at the University of Minnesota, inoculations for the reaction to Pgt were conducted in a standard GH7 greenhouse for the domestic races of stem rust TTTTF and TPMKC; the exotic races TRTTF, JRCQC, TKTTF, and TTKSK were inoculated in a greenhouse at the Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) Containment Facility of the Saint Paul campus. As for the reaction to Pst, inoculations for races PSTv-14, PSTv-37, and PSTv-40 were undertaken in a Biosafety Level-2 (BLS-2) growth chamber, whereas inoculations to evaluate Pt with races PSB14 and Spain 5-2 were conducted in a BSL-3 growth chamber.In the leaf rust experiments carried out in the greenhouse at CSIC, the isolates CONDESA and CONIL were used. The Pst races used at the University of Minnesota were provided by USDA-ARS For the leaf rust experiments, Tc Lr37 and Little Club were used as the resistant and susceptible controls, respectively (Steffenson et al., 2017).In the greenhouse, stem rust ITs were assessed using the 0-4 scale of Stakman et al. (1962), whereas for leaf rust, the scale described by Long and Kolmer (1989) was used. In both scales, ITs from 0 to 2 represent resistant reactions and those from 3 to 4 represent susceptible reactions. Stripe rust infection types were scored using the 0-9 scale described by Chen (2013), in which ITs from 0 to 6 represent resistant reactions and those from 7 to 9 represent susceptible reactions. To meet the data format required for association mapping analysis, the raw seedling IT data were converted to a 0-10 linear disease scale for stem rust and a 0-9 scale for stripe and leaf rust. In cases in which lines exhibited a heterogeneous reaction, only the most prevalent IT was used in the analysis.Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed for each experiment. The genotype means were compared using the least significant difference (LSD) at a 5% probability level. Additionally, genetic variance (s 2 G) and broadsense heritability (H 2 ) were estimated. Statistical analyses were conducted using the statistical computation software R (http:// www.r-project.org). The experiments were carried out using the following design settings: 1) a randomized complete block design according to the model Yij= m+ G_i+ B_j+ ϵ_ij, where Yij is the value of the characteristic of the i-th response in the i-th block, m is the general mean, Gi is the effect of the i-th RSI (i = 1,2,…, g), Bj is the effect of the j-th block (j = 1,2,…, r), and ϵij is the random error; and 2) a replicated check design according to the equation Yij= m+ T_i+ ϵ_ij, where Yij is the value of the characteristic of the i-th response, m is the general mean, Ti is the effect of the i-th replicated check, and ϵij is the random error.After filtering the SNP dataset for marker residual heterozygosity, missing data, and alleles with <10% MAF,17,678,12,225,and 19,191 polymorphic SNP markers were retained for the whole collection, durum subsample, and Q2 group, respectively; these markers were then used for population structure and association mapping analyses. Using the high-density consensus tetraploid wheat map reported by Maccaferri et al. (2015), 16,425, 12,194, and 16,744 mapped SNP markers were used for linkage disequilibrium analysis for the whole collection, durum subsample and Q2 group, respectively. Correlated markers distributed every 1, 2, and 10 cM intervals on the genome were selected to evaluate population structure. Population structure was also assessed based on uncorrelated SNPs using the tagger function r 2 = 0.5, 0.8, and 1 in Haploview 4.2 (Barrett et al., 2005).Population structures, for the whole collection, durum subsample, and Q2 group separately, were analyzed using a Bayesian model-based clustering approach and principal component analysis (PCA). The SNP data were processed using the STRUCTURE software package v.2.3.4 (Pritchard et al., 2000) (http://pritch.bsd.uchicago.edu/structure.html); the number of subgroups (K) was estimated after 20 independent runs for each K (from 2 to 20), as reported by Saccomanno et al. (2018). A genotype was considered to belong to a group if its membership coefficient was ≥0.50 (Royo et al., 2010).TASSEL software (ver. 5.2.18) was used to calculate the LD (allele frequency correlation, r 2 ) between all marker pairs in the three groups. The significance of the pairwise LD (P values) was computed using 1,000 permutations. LD statistics were calculated individually for each chromosome and subsequently aggregated over all the chromosomes of the A and B genomes. LD was calculated as reported by Saccomanno et al. (2018). The map distance at which LD fell below the r 2 threshold of 0.3 was used to define the confidence intervals of the QTLs detected in this study (Ardlie et al., 2002).For GWAS, TASSEL (ver. 5.2.18) was used to conduct mixed linear model (MLM) analyses. Marker-trait associations (MTAs) were determined by two statistical models: MLM+K+Q and MLM+K. The loci considered for association mapping were characterized by the frequency of the rarest allele >0.1. The trimmed marker dataset was used to generate a marker similarity matrix containing all the lines (K matrix); once the matrix was calculated, the numbers were rescaled between 0 and 2 (Papa et al., 2007). The kinship matrix was implemented in TASSEL for the MLM based on the kinship matrix (MLM+K) and the MLM based on both the K matrix and Q matrix (MLM+K+Q). In addition to the genotypic and phenotypic data, the Q matrix was integrated as a covariate to correct for the effects of population substructure, and the kinship matrix (K) was used to correct the family structure effect. The critical P-value for the assessment of the significance of marker-trait associations (MTAs) was calculated based on a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.05 (Mosig et al., 2001). The algorithm by Benjamini and Hochberg (1995) was used for FDR correction; FDR and Bonferroni corrections were applied for p-values obtained for the MLM. The genetic positions of MTAs were compared with those previously reported in the literature based on common markers between genetic maps.For candidate gene identification, the nucleotide sequences of each QTL peak marker, as well as markers included in the respective confidence interval for each QTL, according to genome-wide LD decay, were used as queries in a BLASTN search (threshold, E-10) against the gene sets of the T. dicoccoides accession 'Zavitan' (Avni et al., 2017) and the durum wheat cultivar 'Svevo' (Maccaferri et al., 2019). All genes occurring in the confidence intervals were thus retrieved along with their functional annotations.In the tetraploid wheat collection, a high level of variability was recorded for the reaction to the three rust species in all experiments, except in the field experiment at Marchouch, where very low levels of leaf rust infection were observed (Supplementary Tables 1, 2). High heritability values were observed, indicating a significant weight of the genetic component on the traits (Supplementary Tables 1, 2). In the field experiments, broad sense heritability ranged from 62.0% to 90.1% for the stripe rust reaction, from 75.8% to 93.6% for leaf rust, and 91.5% for stem rust (Supplementary Table 1). For the seedling experiments, heritability values were all above 91%, except those in response to the Pt races PSB14 and SPAIN52 (88.8% and 77.4%, respectively; Supplementary Table 2). Statistically significant differences were found across genotypes for all experiments conducted in this study, with the most significant p-values recorded for the experiments in controlled conditions (Supplementary Tables 3, 4). The frequency distributions of DS and IT at the adult plant and seedling stages, respectively, suggested a complex genetic control for these traits (Supplementary Figures 1-6). A prevalence of susceptible genotypes was observed in the seedling experiments against all Pt races, all Pst races with the exception of PSTv-14, and against all Pgt races except JRCQC (Supplementary Figures 4-7). If the IT data of the germplasm are divided into subspecies, some differences in the proportion of resistant vs. susceptible accessions were noted, but this also depended on the rust isolate challenged (Supplementary Figures 8-10). The wild emmer group was in general characterized by a higher proportion of susceptibility; moreover, very limited phenotypic variation was observed in response to any of the races of the three rusts, the exceptions being with the Pst race PSB14 and the Pgt race TKTTF. Other germplasm groups exhibited a wider variation of reaction types. For example, durum wheat and domesticated emmer (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum) had a higher number of resistant to highly resistant genotypes, although the two samples were unbalanced in their number of accessions. The durum wheat group was the most variable in response to all tested races of rust pathogens, the exception being the Pt isolate CONDESA, against which a higher number of resistant genotypes were found among the domesticated emmers vs. durums. Correlation and PCA-Biplot analysis generally identified more positive than negative correlations, with the highest positive being found as expected between the reactions to isolates of the same pathogen species. However, within each rust species, positive correlations were also found between controlled and field experiments (Supplementary Figures 11-14). Interestingly, negative correlations were recorded among reactions to the Pgt (stem rust) isolates and leaf rust in field experiments (Supplementary Figure 11). If the selection of genotypes is undertaken on the basis of their resistance spectrum against each single isolate of the three rust species, the main observations are as follows. The durum subgroup and the T. turgidum ssp. polonicum genotypes showed, in general, the highest level of resistance to the three races of stripe rust (Supplementary Figure 9). In particular, 13 durum varieties and 5 accessions of ssp. polonicum were identified as resistant to all races (Supplementary Figures 7, 9). The durum wheat cultivars Altar 84, Granizo, and Grazia showed strong resistance to all Pgt and Pst races tested. Additionally, the accession PI 366117 of T. turgidum ssp. polonicum was notable for its resistance to all Pgt and Pst races, as well as to the Pt race PSB14. Pt races CONIL and CONDESA were highly virulent as a high degree of susceptibility was observed across all the subspecies (Supplementary Figure 10). With respect to individual accessions within a subspecies, the genotype MG5300/1 of T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum was identified as resistant to the four races of Pt, and the durum wheat cultivars Saragolla and Giotto were resistant to the CONIL race.The population structure was analyzed using a Bayesian approach, as implemented in the STRUCTURE software, following Evanno et al. (2005). The results generated maximum DK values occurring at K=3, K=4, and K=6 for the whole collection, at K=5 and K=6 for the durum subsample, and at K=5 and K=8 for the Q2 group considering one marker every 1 cM. In the whole collection, durum subsample, and Q2 group for one marker every 2 cM, maximum DK was found at K=3, K=4, and K=8, at K=6, and at K=4, K=6, and K=8, respectively. When one marker every 10 cM was considered, the maximum DK values found were at K=3 and K=6 for the whole collection, at K=4 and K=5 for the durum subsample, and at K=3, K=5, and K=7 for the Q2 group. For noncorrelated SNP markers, the results obtained, considering r 2 at 0.5, 0.8, and 1, were similar; in particular, K=3 for the whole collection, K=6 for the durum subsample, and K=5 and K=6 for Q2 group.Linkage disequilibrium analysis was performed for the whole collection, durum subsample, and Q2 group by using the SNP markers aligned on the consensus map in Maccaferri et al. (2015). The plots of the LD estimates (r 2 ) as a function of genetic distance (cM) indicated a clear decay of LD with genetic distance and suggested LD was dependent on population structure. The point at which the LOESS curve intercepted the critical r 2 was determined as the average LD decay of the population. The scatterplot of the distributions of the r2 values as a function of the genetic distance between intra-chromosomal pairs showed LD decays for the whole collection, durum subsample, and Q2 group of approximately 9 cM, 20 cM, and 1 cM, respectively (Table 2). Based on these criteria, the LD decays for the individual chromosomes ranged from ~1 cM for chromosome 3B to ~13 cM for chromosome 2A (Supplementary Material 2.1) for the whole collection, from ~9 cM for chromosomes 6B and 4B to ~23 cM for chromosome 3B (Supplementary Material 3.2) for the durum subsample, and from ~1 cM for several chromosomes to ~7 cM for chromosomes 2A and 5A (Supplementary Material 4.1) for the Q2 group.Association mapping analyses were conducted using MLM + K as the best model for the subsamples used in this study (Supplementary Material 5, a to f). Analyses were carried out separately for each rust species on the three different subsamples, taking into account all environments tested and the plant growth stages. In Table 3A, the number of QTLs defined by at least two significant closely linked markers at a FDR <0.05 is reported for each rust species at both growth stages for each subsample. The highest number of QTLs (26) was found for leaf rust resistance at the adult plant stage, 23 of which were identified in the whole collection.With respect to single MTAs for resistance to each rust species, taking into account a high level of significance (FDR<0.01) to avoid false positives, a total of 57 MTAs were identified. Of these, the majority of them (36) were associated with seedling resistance to leaf rust (Table 3B).Tables 4 and 5, respectively, and Figure 1 show the co-mapping QTLs of resistance to more than one rust species identified at the adult plant and seedling stages. The haplotype peak, defined as the marker with the lowest p-value among those of the single QTL identified by any phenotypic study, is the only marker reported, together with its functional annotation. In particular, six different QTLs for resistance were found in common to the different rusts at the adult plant stage, of which four were for resistance to both leaf and stem rust; the remaining two (one each) were for resistance to stem and stripe rust, and to stripe and leaf rust (Table 4; Figure 1). As adult plant resistance has been detected with artificial and natural inoculations, we found a higher number of associations under natural infection, particularly from the ICARDA site for testing resistance to leaf rust (Supplementary Material 6).Among the four Sr-Lr QTLs, only the locus on 7B was confirmed in two different subsamples (WC and Q2), whereas the other three associations were found in the WC only. The QTL on chromosome 5B, involved in stem and stripe rust resistance, was identified in the WC. Finally, the resistance QTL common to leaf and stripe rust on 7A was found in the Q2 subsample. With respect to the percentage of explained variability (R 2 ) for the QTL harboring leaf rust and stem rust MTAs, the highest R 2 values were always found for stem rust resistance. The same was true for resistance QTLs to Pst and Pgt on 5B. On the contrary, regarding the co-mapping of resistance QTLs to leaf and stripe rust on 7A, the one targeting the latter notably explained 50% of the trait variation observed, which was more than that for leaf rust (23%) (Table 4; Supplementary Material 6).Sixteen QTLs were involved in resistance to more than one rust species at the seedling stage and were dispersed across the genome, except a couple homoeologous QTLs on 3A and 3B and on chromosomes 1A, 4B, 5A, and 6B (Table 5; Figure 1). Fifteen of them conferred resistance to two species, and in particular 12 to Sr-Lr and 3 to Lr-Yr. Therefore, as in the case of the resistance QTL For each chromosome, the number of mapped SNP markers is reported in brackets.active at the adult plant stage, the most common co-mapping QTLs were those for resistance to leaf and stem rust. No loci conferring resistance against both stem rust and stripe rust were identified. Finally, and most interestingly, a region on the long arm of chromosome 4A, with its peak marker IWB34249 identified in all three datasets, conferred resistance to all three rusts (Table 5; Supplementary Material 6). Associations were highly significant for the mapped QTLs, particularly for the one common to the three pathogens mapped on 4A (Lr-Yr-Sr, P-value 1.13E-17) and two other QTLs tagging two out of three species on 7B (Lr-Yr, P-value 1.21E-24) and 2B (Lr-Sr, P-value 5.13E-18). All loci were identified by analyzing a single subsample of the collection, with the exception of Lr-Sr on 2B, Lr-Yr-Sr on 4A, and Lr-Sr on 7B, in which the associations were confirmed in two different subsamples (Table 5). The QTL conferring resistance to the three rust species on 4A contributed greatly to the resistance against leaf and stem rust by explaining nearly 30% of the variability observed for each species, whereas it controlled 19% of the phenotypic variation for stripe rust. Among the QTLs conferring resistance to two pathogens, those on 2A and 2B contributed significantly to leaf rust resistance, explaining more than 30% of the phenotypic variation. They were mapped in the durum subsample, with the only exception being the QTL at 95.2 cM on 2B, which was identified in the Q2 group (Table 5; Supplementary Material 6). On the contrary, the QTLs on 1B, 5B, 6A, 7A, and 7B (165 cM) all explained the resistance to stem rust and were all significant in the Q2 subsample, except for the one on 5B identified in the whole collection. As for the common regions of resistance against leaf rust and stripe rust, three regions were detected, two on 5B and one on 7B (at 211 cM), contributing more to leaf than to stripe rust resistance and mapping in the WC and durum subsamples, respectively. The third region on 7B (187 cM) was identified in the durum subsample, and it notably explained approximately half (49%) of the observed variation for resistance against stripe rust.The sequence of the peak QTL markers associated with resistance to multiple rust species, as well as the markers of the QTL confidence interval, were used to search for candidate genes. A) The number of QTLs identified by at least two closely linked markers, reported for each rust pathogen at both growth stages and for each subsample. The number of MTAs that define the QTL are shown in brackets. QTLs found in common between subsamples are also indicated. B) Single MTAs at a FDR <0.01 identified for each rust/subsample are reported.The results are summarized in Table 6, with additional detailed information presented in the Supplementary Materials 8, 9. Table 6 reports the physical intervals corresponding to the genetic ones and the number of functional categories annotated in the QTL regions. The physical intervals of QTLs were very similar in both genomes in terms of size, except for some regions of chromosomes 4A, 7A, 2B, and 5B, for which a bigger interval was found on the Svevo genome and vice versa (Table 6). By contrast, the number of annotated genes in the intervals varied, ranging from two genes on 2A, 6A, and 7A to 150 on 5B in the Zavitan genome, and from seven genes on 6A to 403 on 4A in the Svevo durum wheat genome. In general, a larger number of candidate genes were found in the Svevo genome than in Zavitan, the exceptions being for chromosomes 1B and 2B. Genes annotated in defense-related functional categories were found in all the considered genomic regions of both genomes, except for one region of chromosome 6A (IWB13129), where no defense-related genes were identified either in the Svevo or Zavitan genomes (Supplementary Materials 8, 9). In particular, an array of genes encoding the resistance (R-gene) proteins NBS-LRRs (nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeats) and RPM1 (resistance to Pseudomonas syringae protein 3), the defense-related proteins RGA2 (Rho-type GTPase-activating protein) and RPP13 (recognition of Peronospora parasitica 13), and kinases, receptor-like kinases, PR (pathogenesis-related) proteins, Pm-like proteins, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, ankyrin repeat family proteins, and sugar transporters were found in the regions corresponding to the resistance QTL acting against two or three species. Additionally, transport receptors, different kinds of transcription factors, and signal transduction pathway proteins were identified, with annotations fully described in Supplementary Tables 8, 9. Moreover, in general, across seedling and adult plant resistance QTLs, not only single annotated genes but also significant clusters of defense-related genes were found at QTLs on chromosomes 4A, 6A, 1B, 2B, and 7B in the Svevo and Zavitan genomes. A gene annotated as Lr21 in the Svevo genome was identified within the QTL explaining seedling leaf rust and stem rust resistance on chromosome 7B, although at 1.9 MB from the peak marker (Supplementary Material 8). Functional annotations of genes corresponding to the peak markers of the QTL regions related to plant disease resistance are also reported in Tables 4, 5. In particular, with regards to APR QTLs (Table 4), disease-related annotations were found for two peak QTL markers on chromosome 1B (at 43.5 cM and 115 cM) and for one on 5B that respectively corresponded to a shikimate kinase like 2 protein, an imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase subunit HisF, and a UTP-glucose-1phospate uridylyltransferase. No functionally annotated gene was found for the peak marker IWB41378 on 1B; however, hits with genes from categories not related to pathogen resistance mechanisms were found for the two peak markers of 7A and 7B (Table 4). With respect to MTAs for rust resistance at the seedling stage, all genes corresponding to the peak markers were annotated as disease-related, except those corresponding to the MTAs on 2B  (Letta et al., 2013) In the column \"Rust diseases (experiments)\" the diseases controlled by the QTL are reported, whereas the bold letters indicate the rust pathogen against which the QTL is primarily acting. The number of the experiments referred to in Table 1 are shown in brackets. The haplotype peak is the MTA with the lowest P-value in the QTL and is referred to the rust reported in bold; the annotation of the related gene is reported in the brackets, if any was identified. The genetic position in the chromosome, the P-value, the subsample in which the QTLs were identified, and the R 2 are referred to the haplotype peak. CI indicates the confidence interval of the QTL as the map distance at which LD fell below the r 2 threshold of 0.3. The \"References\" column contains studies reporting previously identified resistance genes and QTLs against these pathogens. Yr, stripe rust; Lr, leaf rust; Sr, stem rust. (IWB70131), 5B (IWB72712), 6A, and 7A (Table 5). The peak marker for the resistance QTL effective against all three rusts on chromosome 4A corresponded to an acetyltransferase gene. Notably, well-known resistance-related genes, such as NBS-LRRs and receptor-like protein kinases, and complex resistance genes, such as Rp1, were shown to correspond to the MTAs IWB66736 on 2A, IWB55526 on 2B, and IWB38104 and IWB9405 on 7B, respectively (Table 5). The MTA IWB71824 on chromosome 1B corresponded to a subtilisin-like protein, whereas a chaperone protein dnaJ and a callose synthase corresponded to the hits of MTAs IWB448 and IWA8055 on chromosome 2B, respectively. Moreover, an ADP-ribosylation factor GTPase-activating protein was the candidate for the MTA IWA6468 on 5B. A mediator of RNA polymerase II transcription subunit 15a corresponded to the MTA IWB71982 located on 7B. Finally, the peak MTA of IWB59762 on 2B corresponded to cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor subunit 5.Resistance to fungal diseases, in particular to the rusts, is an important target for modern wheat improvement. The most sustainable way to limit yield reductions due to the rusts is to identify new resistance loci in diverse germplasm panels and include them in breeding programs. The reaction of a given genotype to the rust pathogens can vary strongly with respect not only to the species but also to the races within a species and to the environment in which the experiment is carried out. For these reasons, genotypes should be tested for their reaction to the rusts across a range of environments to obtain robust information about their general level of resistance.In the present investigation, we conducted a genome-wide association study by exploiting a structured panel of tetraploid wheat accessions, comprising of a large set of durum wheat cultivars and a representative sample of other T. turgidum evolutionary lineages, including wild and domesticated accessions. Rust resistance phenotypes were investigated across a large number of environments and experimental conditions, i.e., in 28 evaluation tests with three rust species, of which 15 experiments were conducted on adult plants and 13 on seedling plants (Table 1). The number of field trials allowed us to assess rust resistance across a wide range of environmental conditions and variable populations of the rust pathogens and compare the field results with those conducted under controlled environments, in which seedlings were challenged with 13 isolates of the three rusts. Resistance sources were identified among domesticated accessions of T. turgidum but also within the durum wheat germplasm. Examples are represented by the durum wheat cultivars Altar 84, Granizo, and Grazia, which exhibited a strong resistance phenotype to all races of the stem rust Lr (Maccaferri et al., 2008;Marone et al., 2009;Terracciano et al., 2013;Aoun et al., 2016) Sr (Haile et al., 2012;Kthiri et al., 2018) Yr (Singh et al., 2013) The haplotype peak is the marker-trait association (MTA) with the lower P-value in the region; the annotation of the related candidate gene is reported in brackets, if any was identified (na, none). The genetic position in the chromosome, the P-value, and the subsample in which the QTLs were identified are referred to the haplotype peak. The R 2 is the highest value of the percentage of the phenotypic variation for resistance against a single rust disease identified for each QTL. CI indicates the confidence interval of the QTL as the map distance at which LD falls below the r 2 threshold of 0.3. In the column \"Rusts (experiments)\", the bold letters indicate the rust pathogen against which the QTL is primarily acting; the experiments in which the QTL was identified, numbered in accordance with Table 1, are shown in brackets. The \"References\" column shows reports of previously identified resistance genes and QTLs against these pathogens. Yr, stripe rust; Lr, leaf rust; Sr, stem rust.and stripe rust pathogens tested, and by the T. turgidum ssp. polonicum accession PI 366117, which was found to be resistant to all Pgt and Pst races and the Pt race PSB14. Further studies can be conducted to elucidate the genetic bases of resistance in these highly resistant genotypes. Regardless, Altar 84, Granizo, and Grazia may be useful for developing resistant wheats in breeding programs. The transfer of resistance from the less adapted T. turgidum ssp. polonicum requires more pre-breeding work to avoid introducing deleterious alleles through linkage drag.The analysis of LD in the three subsamples of the collection revealed a more rapid decay in the Q2 subgroup than in the durum subsample and the whole collection, which was expected, and in accordance with that observed in a larger collection (nearly 1,800 genotypes) comprising wild and domesticated tetraploid wheat accessions and durum wheat varieties (Maccaferri et al., 2019). The LD values observed for the tetraploid germplasm panel used in this study suggest a good resolution for the GWAS, particularly for the Q2 subsample.Highly significant QTLs were identified in this genome-wide association study, some of which conferred APR and seedling resistance and explained a high portion of the phenotypic variation. Among the most important QTLs identified, one on chromosome 4A is noteworthy because it confers resistance against all three rust species at the seedling stage, tagged by a peak marker with a very low P-value (1.13E-17), and explained up to 30% of the phenotypic variation for resistance to both Spanish Pt races (CONDESA and CONIL). Other notable QT loci found included one on chromosome 7A, identified by the peak marker IWB64911, that explained up to 50% of the phenotypic variation for field APR to Pst, one on chromosome 7B, tagged by MTA IWB71982, that explained up to 49% of the phenotypic variation for resistance to the Pst race PSTv37, and the MTA IWB38104, which explained up to 37% of the variation for stem rust resistance with the race JRCQC. Such loci are of potential interest for future gene cloning and functional characterization or their employment in markerassisted breeding schemes using KASP or other breeder-friendly marker technologies.The majority of the QTLs identified in this study are potentially coincident with other QTLs and MTAs reported in the literature for tetraploid wheat (Table 4). Yet, two novel QTLs were identified: one on chromosome 5B (Yr-Sr), for adult plant resistance (104 cM), and one on 2B (Lr-Sr), for seedling resistance (182.7 cM). Two seedling resistance QTLs against two rust pathogens (Lr-Sr on 2B at 137.9 cM and Lr-Sr on 6A at 126.7 cM) in this study colocalized with QTLs for resistance to all the three rust pathogens identified in Indian spring wheats evaluated in both controlled and field trials (Kumar et al., 2020). In most cases of map correspondences with previous studies, these regard QTLs involved in the response to the Schematic representation of durum wheat chromosomes based on the durum consensus linkage map (Maccaferri et al., 2015) with map positions of QTLs for rust resistance identified. QTL are identified by confidence intervals on the left side and the QTL tagging markers on the right side of chromosomes. same rust pathogen; for example, the QTL Lr-Yr on 7B (at 187.5 cM), which is coincident with a QTL for Lr resistance (based on SNP IWB71560, Marone et al., 2009) and one for Yr resistance (IWB21278; Liu et al., 2017). However, there are also many cases of QTLs putatively mapping to the same positions in different reports, contributing to the resistance to different rust species, suggesting that the number of loci protecting against different rust pathogens could be higher than previously thought. For example, the region conferring resistance to stripe and leaf rust on 7A at the adult plant stage was coincident with loci previously identified for resistance to stem rust (Sr) under natural infection, based on the markers IWB8374 and IWA8390 (Letta et al., 2013;Aoun et al., 2019). Interestingly, as no cataloged rust resistance genes have been reported in durum or bread wheat on chromosome 7AS, the QTL identified in this study could be novel. Similar results were also found for seedling stage resistance QTLs. The three regions on chromosome 1B, all for Lr-Sr, were coincident with previously identified MTAs for Yr resistance based on the markers IWB72789, IWB59152, and IWB51279 (Liu et al., 2017); these regions might represent loci involved in resistance to all rusts or clusters of genes with different specificities. Moreover, the region on 2B at 95.2 cM (Lr-Sr) was coincident not only with MTAs for leaf and stem rust resistance but also with a locus for Yr resistance previously identified in controlled conditions, based on the marker Xgwm374 (Naz et al., 2012). The region on chromosome 4A found to harbor a QTL for resistance against all three rust species in this study is associated with the presence of QTLs for Yr (Liu et al., 2017) and Sr resistance (Letta et al., 2013;Saccomanno et al., 2018;Saini et al., 2018), but no loci for durum wheat leaf rust resistance were retrieved in the same genomic region in the literature; therefore this common QTL could represent a new multi-pathogen complex.The positions of QTLs against more than one rust pathogen identified in this work have also been compared with known bread/ durum wheat resistance (R) genes (Figure 1). None of the known (and cloned) R genes have been found to correspond to the MTAs identified at the adult plant stage, whereas the positions of several identified QTLs for seedling resistance are coincident with known race-specific genes (Figure 1). The MTA IWB66736 on 2A could be colocalized with the R gene Lr17a, based on the position of close markers Xgwm636 and Xwmc407 (Xue et al., 2018), and Sr32 (a gene effective against the strain TTKSK), based on the position of the microsatellite Xbarc124 (Yu et al., 2014). Wheat chromosome 2B is very rich in resistance genes. Among them, Sr36, linked to Xwmc477 and Xgwm319 (Jin et al., 2009), could be co-mapped with IWB448 (a peak marker of QLrSr(S)-2B.1, Table 5); a second R gene, Sr9h, can be considered coincident with IWB55526, a peak marker of QLrSr(S)-2B.3 (Table 5), because of the position of the marker Xgwm47. Interestingly, in the same region of the QTL identified on 4AL and involved in resistance against all of the rusts, one Sr gene (SrND463, based on the marker Xwmc219 and reported to be moderately effective against the Pgt races of the Ug99 lineage, including TKTTF) and two Yr genes-Yr51 from the map in Randhawa et al., 2014, and Yr60, also associated with the marker Xwmc219 (MAS Wheat website, ucdavis.edu)-have been described previously. No described Lr genes are present in this region, suggesting that the QTL common to the three rusts could have identified a new multigenic complex. However, the question of whether the conferring of resistance by QTLs to multiple rust species is due to tightly linked/clustered paralogs or to single genes with pleiotropic effects cannot be resolved from this study and should be investigated in the future.Within all the genomic regions detected, we identified several candidate genes known to have a bona fide role in resistance, such as NBS-LRR genes, protein kinases, or complex resistance genes (Rp). In particular, four QTL peak markers were directly annotated as NBS-LRR genes, protein kinases, and Rp1-like proteins. Interestingly, among them, some were positioned in the same regions where resistance genes for rusts have previously been identified in wheat. An example is the QTL for Lr-Yr resistance on 7B (211.5 cM), the peak marker of which, IWB9405, was found to correspond to a Rp1-like protein in the Svevo genome, in turn coincident not only with a rust-specific gene (Lr14a; Herrera-Fossel et al., 2008) but also the APR gene Lr68 (Herrera-Fossel et al., 2012). These could represent two closely linked genes, but allelism tests should be performed to determine the true relationships between the detected loci and previously reported genes. Other functional categories were annotated in the QTL regions, together with wellknown disease-related classes, such as callose synthase, which plays a role in pathogen-induced callose deposition at sites of infection (Ellinger and Voigt, 2014), or sugar transporters, which could be responsible for resistance phenotypes, e.g., the cloned gene Lr67 (Moore et al., 2015).The QTL controlling the response against the three different rust pathogens on chromosome 4A has a marker peak corresponding to an acetyltransferase, a component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Although a direct linkage to a resistance mechanism is not evident, Balmant et al. (2015) demonstrated that a redox-responsive protein was involved at the early stages of Pseudomonas syringae infection in tomato. Mediator of RNA polymerase II transcription subunit 15a, a candidate gene for the MTA IWB71982 on 7B (Table 5), was demonstrated to be involved in plant defense in tobacco (Lee et al., 2003). Finally, five clusters of defense-related genes were identified in the QTL regions on chromosomes 4A, 6A, 1B, 2B, and 7B, confirming previous results reported in wheat, i.e., that QTLs for resistance to fungal diseases like rusts often coincide with clusters of defense-related genes. Although this is not surprising given that NBS-LRR genes can occur in clusters (Chen et al., 2015), it can be hypothesized that one or more elements composing such clusters could be the causative genetic variants at the basis of the QTL phenotypic effects.Minor effect QTLs that alone are not significant for effective resistance in the crop could interact with other QTLs and positively increase the resistance, as demonstrated by Singh et al. (2013). Therefore, the array of minor-effect QTLs identified in this study could also enhance disease resistance if used in combination with main-effect QTLs. With this in mind, the genotypic and phenotypic datasets generated in this study deserve to be exploited by models of genomic selection.This study reports valuable genetic variation for resistance to multiple rust pathogens in seedling tests and field trials in a tetraploid wheat panel. Some durum wheat varieties and one T. polonicum (PI 366117) genotype were highly resistant in multiple environments and against multiple rust species. The GWAS revealed a highly significant QTL for resistance to all three rust pathogens of wheat. Six QTLs for APR to two different rust pathogens were identified. Additionally, 15 QTLs for seedling resistance to two rust species were found, with most being effective against leaf rust and stem rust. One QTL for seedling resistance on chromosome 4A was the only one conferring resistance to all three rust pathogens. The identified QTLs with the highest explained phenotypic variances are suitable targets for cloning and functional characterization. For breeding uses, the identified QTL with major effects on the resistance are available for pyramiding and marker-assisted selection, by the development of KASP markers useful to screen germplasm panels; while the whole set of QTL, for genomic selection of rust resistance in wheat.","tokenCount":"8085"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5266278586.json b/data/part_1/5266278586.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..86ff5a7d85415a709e015ee8afd60b2ac12eab38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5266278586.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b21653fab8d77975e3afffc93631fd3e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93cd9233-04ce-4bc7-8311-95061884c497/retrieve","id":"-1727365066"},"keywords":["nutrition-sensitive agriculture, community-based participatory approach, dietary diversity, agriculture-nutrition pathways, Kenya CHV, community health volunteer","FGD, focus group discussion","KI, key informant","KII, key informant interview","TANDI, Tackling the Agriculture-Nutrition Disconnect in India"],"sieverID":"3c50cf08-24d3-45b0-9043-313ce166623f","pagecount":"10","content":"Background: There is a current need for better understanding the impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions. This study is based on a community-based participatory project that diversified diets of women and children by making use of local food biodiversity. This retrospective impact pathway analysis aims at explaining why and how impact was reached.Objectives: This study aimed to understand how a nutrition-sensitive agriculture project improved people's diets by analyzing the pathways from agriculture to nutrition. It also aimed to test theoretical pathways by comparing the documented pathways with those from a widely used framework from the literature.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in 2019 through 10 semistructured focus group discussions with community members engaging in the project and 5 key informant interviews with local authorities that worked with these communities during the project. Summative content analysis was used to identify pathways through which the project affected diets of beneficiaries. The defined pathways were compared with the pathways of the widely used Tackling the Agriculture-Nutrition Disconnect in India (TANDI) framework from the literature. Results: Out of the agriculture-nutrition pathways that are presented in the literature, 3 were found in the responses: 1) food from own production; 2) income from sale of foods produced; and 3) women's empowerment through access to and control over resources. In addition, 5 other pathways were identified and indicated spillover effects from the intervention to the control participants, increased nutrition knowledge, improved health, savings, and empowerment and harmony in the household. Conclusions: Pathway analysis in nutrition-sensitive agriculture can provide valuable understanding on how and why dietary improvements have been achieved in an intervention. The approach can hence be instrumental in addressing the current demand within the field on understanding the progress and impact of interventions. Pathway analysis also helps to address knowledge gaps regarding theoretical frameworks, as in the present study, concerning women empowerment pathways. Curr Dev Nutr 2022;5:nzab140.Agricultural interventions will have to become nutrition-sensitive to improve food access and attain global nutrition targets (1)(2)(3). Nutritionsensitive agriculture approaches incorporate nutrition objectives, concerns, and considerations to achieve food and nutrition security by drawing on the sectors of agriculture and health. To increase impact, agricultural programs need to be implemented at scale, reaching highly vulnerable populations (4). Evidence from impact evaluations in lowand middle-income countries suggests that nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions can improve both maternal and child nutrition outcomes (5)(6)(7)(8). That said, there is a current need to conduct further research beyond impact evaluations. Further studies are needed to understand how and why nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs achieve their outcomes, because a more nuanced understanding of these mechanisms can inform future program design (9)(10)(11)(12)(13).To better understand the impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, multiple outcomes, in addition to nutritional outcomes, must be evaluated (1,10). For example, impact assessments tend to overlook social outcomes that mediate nutrition outcomes, such as women's knowledge, education, social status, and control of resources (14).Theoretical frameworks have previously been used to better understand the pathways by which agriculture and nutrition are linked. The characterization of these pathways, as well as the mediating role of women's empowerment in these linkages, have been instrumental in stimulating the development of new initiatives that leverage agriculture to improve nutrition (5). In the past 10 y, several conceptual frameworks have been developed that highlight the dynamic and multifaceted linkages between agriculture, health, and nutrition (15)(16)(17). One framework developed for the Tackling the Agriculture-Nutrition Disconnect in India (TANDI) project has been used to conceptualize pathways through which the agriculture sector may affect nutrition outcomes (18)(19)(20). This framework has been helpful in moving the debate on agriculture's contribution to nutrition beyond the implicit assumption that increases in the output of nutritious foods would be sufficient to improve nutrition; the framework maps 6 pathways that unpack the diverse processes mediating such links between nutrition and agriculture.It is, however, unclear how well this theoretical framework captures the reality of how an agriculture intervention might actually affect people's nutrition (21). According to a review by Sharma et al. (22), there is limited evidence on the pathways depicting the effect on each temporal stage from nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions to nutrition outcomes. Several studies in the literature report a knowledge gap regarding the exact functioning of women empowerment pathways in agriculture-nutrition frameworks (5,22,23). Moreover, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effect of income gained from agricultural work on nutrition outcomes (22). Contextual understanding is particularly important for programs that aim to simultaneously improve women's status, agricultural production, and nutritional wellbeing (24).The present study documents the pathways by which a nutritionsensitive agriculture project in Kenya improved diets. Since 2015, this project has aimed to diversify diets of women and young children by making use of the local food biodiversity (more information to project in Box 1). An impact assessment of the first 2 y indicated that dietary diversity of women and young children had increased, and that the share of children consuming legumes/nuts, flesh foods, and dairy significantly increased (25). That said, more research was needed to fully understand how the project activities led to the improved dietary outcomes.This study aimed to understand why and how the intervention resulted in improved nutrition outcomes of women and young children. In addition, this study tests theoretical pathways by comparing our documented pathways with the pathways from the TANDI framework. Lastly, this study investigates if the intervention led to possible secondary effects beyond nutrition outcomes, such as factors that increased overall well-being.The documentation of pathways between interventions and outcomes is valuable because it can inform our understanding of how and why an impact was achieved. Understanding pathways better in their complexity can help maximize the role agriculture can play in achieving long-term nutrition outcomes (22). With the building of understanding of agriculture-to-nutrition pathways in real-world conditions, this research is situated within the field of implementation science. The growing recognition of the critical importance of addressing the \"implementation gap\" has stimulated interest in developing and applying implementation science in nutrition (26,27).In 2015, 36 men and women were selected in each of the 5 intervention sublocations to participate in a series of workshops. Onethird of workshop participation was reserved for women with a young child, the second third for male farmers, and the last third for community members whose decision-making role can affect childcare and nutrition decisions (village elders, spiritual leaders, teachers, etc.). The workshops were designed to encourage and support communities in autonomously identifying and planning agricultural activities to improve nutrition, as well as raising awareness on nutrition. At the workshops, all groups identified poultry raising and kitchen gardening (particularly traditional leafy vegetables and legumes) to support dietary diversification. They also expressed strong interest in receiving nutrition education. Through group work, discussions, and presentations, they developed community action plans specifying how the identified activities would be realized. After the workshop series, almost all workshop participants registered themselves as project members, paying a fee that they themselves determined. During the first year of implementation in 2016, the project members received training in kitchen gardening, poultry keeping, and nutrition education. Workshops and implementation of activities were supported by community health volunteers (CHVs) (25).Linkages between agriculture and nutrition are complex and contextspecific (28). Therefore, a qualitative, cross-sectional study using focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) was used for the present study. The qualitative data help understand the motivations and thought processes of people behind a decision (29). In addition, they allow keeping a broader scientific scope to also investigate unintended effects of an intervention. Previous studies have shown how qualitative research with beneficiaries and key informants (KIs) provides plausible explanations for how nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions bring about changes in communities (1).Vihiga County is located in the Lake Victoria Basin of Western Kenya. It is divided into 4 administrative subcounties and further into 9 divisions, 37 locations, and 129 sublocations. Vihiga County mainly lies in the upper midland agro-ecological zone (30). The county's economy is predominantly agricultural, with ∼85% of the population earning their livelihood mainly from agricultural activities. Of the 65% of the population estimated to be living below the absolute poverty line, subsistence farmers account for 90% (31). According to the 2019 population and housing census, Vihiga County has a population density of 1047 persons/km 2 . The dominant ethnic group in the county are the Luhya (32).In each of the 5 sublocations, 2 FGDs were conducted: 1 with the male participants and 1 with the female participants of that sublocation. The CHVs who have supported the project from 2015 developed lists of all male and female project participants per sublocation. Project participants represent the community members who have participated in the introductory workshops (2015), as well as in the implementation of the agricultural activities (2016). From each list, 8 participants were randomly selected for each of the 2 FGDs in that sublocation. Because some of the selected participants did not show up, a final sample of 67 participants in 10 FGDs was obtained.The FGDs were complemented by KIIs with government and nongovernmental organization employees that have been involved in the project since 2015. The interviewees were affiliated with the local Ministry of Health (2 KIs), the local Ministry of Agriculture (1 KI), the Western Region Agriculture Technology Evaluation (WeRATE) (1 KI), and the Sustainable Organic Farming and Development Initiatives (SOFDI) (1 KI). Individuals with a variety of perspectives on project activities were selected to assess different aspects of the topic, to increase comprehensiveness of the results, and to help interpret the FGD statements. In addition, the 5 chosen individuals represent everyone working on this project in 2015 and 2016. Because the local Ministry of Health was particularly strongly involved, it was decided to choose 2 representatives from this entity.The FGDs and KIIs were conducted in July 2019. After drafting the FGD interview guide in English, it was translated into the local language (Luhya). Each FGD was conducted by our research team, which included 1 facilitator (female) and 1 note taker (male) who spoke the local language, and 1 Bioversity researcher (female; first author). The FGDs were not audio-recorded because we wanted to encourage participants to feel at ease giving direct and honest feedback. The note taker took handwritten notes. Every evening, the research team reviewed and discussed the notes of the 2 FGDs that were done that day to clarify any ambiguities.The study was introduced to the FGD participants as an intention to capture changes in their community. In all FGDs, the same 2 very general questions were asked: \"Have there been any changes in your community in the past four years?\" and, if so, \"Which kind of changes?\" These general questions were supposed to reduce the subject bias, by not guiding the respondents toward any project activities.If they mentioned changes related to nutrition and agriculture, the moderator probed for details. If these topics were not mentioned, the moderator asked whether any changes in the field of nutrition and agriculture had occurred. For the FGDs with women, participants were asked about the agricultural and nutritional changes specifically affecting women, whereas male FGD participants were asked about the agricultural and nutritional changes specifically affecting the men. The research team took note of nonverbal communication, e.g., the dynamics among the participants, as well as the level of agreement or disagreement.The first FGD (with women) was used as a pilot. Because the interview guide did not have to be altered based on the findings of the pilot, the responses from it were included in the analysis (33). Each FGD took ∼2 h.The Bioversity researcher conducted the KIIs and took handwritten notes. Because all KI interviewees were fluent in English, the interviews were conducted in English. All interviewees were asked the same questions that were asked during the FGDs; they were asked if they saw any changes in the 5 subcommunities. The questions were kept broad so they could discuss male participants, female participants, or both. KIIs took ∼1 h.This study aimed to understand why and how the intervention improved the nutrition of women and young children. In addition, this study aimed to test theoretical pathways by comparing our documented pathways with the pathways from the TANDI framework. Moreover, we investigated if our intervention led to possible secondary effects beyond nutrition outcomes, such as factors that increased overall well-being.The same approach was used to analyze the data from FGDs and KIIs. For the purposes of the study, a \"pathway\" is defined as follows: a chain of nodes describing the exact process that possibly lies in between an intervention component (kitchen gardening, poultry keeping, nutrition education) and expected outcome (increased dietary diversity among household members of the intervention sublocations). Nodes represent the basic units of the pathway structure with the purpose to illustrate the main stations within a pathway. A connection between 2 nodes is considered a 'link.' Transcripts were analyzed by 2 researchers: a Bioversity researcher and a PhD researcher from Ghent University. Both researchers independently looked at the FGD and KII transcripts. They defined all pathways, and relevant nodes within pathways, leading from the 3 main project activities (kitchen gardening, poultry keeping, and nutrition education) to the increased dietary diversity among the household members participating in the project activities. They also investigated unintended secondary effects of the intervention, which have enhanced the beneficiaries' overall well-being beyond their nutrition. After analyzing the data from each FGD and KII, the researchers compared their results and reached a consensus. During this analysis process the researchers developed a pathway framework including all nodes they found and agreed upon.A large number of nodes were identified, leading researchers to create a \"summative content analysis\" to structure and filter the results. All agreed-on links, pathways, and secondary effects were listed in a table. The researchers went through all FGDs and KIIs again and counted how often each link, pathway, and secondary effect was mentioned. It was also noted whether the statements came from a female or male participant, and from an FDG or KII. Only the contents mentioned at least twice in all FGDs and KIIs were considered for the results. The presented strength of pathways and links is based on how frequently they were mentioned in FGDs and KIIs.Krueger and Casey (34) provide 5 established criteria that suggest the following headings as a framework for interpreting qualitative data: frequency; specificity; emotions; extensiveness; big picture.Looking at the transcripts, the frequency with which certain contents are mentioned is striking. Therefore, we measured the weight of a link, pathway, or secondary effect according to the number of mentions. Determining the frequency with which certain objects (or persons, institutions, or concepts) are mentioned is a common strategy for interpreting qualitative data (34)(35)(36).When statements needed clarification or verification, moderators and KIs were consulted via phone. To assess whether the intervention  showed any additional links and pathways compared with the ones in the conceptual frameworks from the literature, we compared the simplified framework with a widely used framework developed for the TANDI project (19,20). This framework shows 6 main pathways from agriculture to nutrition: 1) food access from own production; 2) income from the sale of commodities produced; 3) food prices from changes in supply and demand; 4) women's social status and empowerment through increased access to and control over resources; 5) women's time through participation in agriculture; and 6) women's health and nutrition through engagement in agriculture. Ruel et al. (5) refer to the same 6 pathways ( 13) in their comprehensive review on nutrition-sensitive agriculture. We adapted the TANDI framework according to our findings, meaning that pathways not applying to our situation were deleted from their framework and additional links and pathways we had found were added.Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Review Committee of the accredited University of Masinde Muliro in March 2019. Written informed consent was obtained from all respondents. Survey objectives were explained to village chiefs in order to obtain their permission to conduct the survey in their respective locations. To ensure anonymity, each participant was given a unique number and no personal identifiers were stored.This results section is divided into 3 main sections: Respondents' characteristics; Pathways to diverse diets; and Unintended secondary effects of the intervention. The descriptions of pathways and secondary effects in the latter 2 sections are supported by quotes which were carefully selected for best illustrating the researchers' conceptual interpretation of the data.Table 1 presents respondents' characteristics per FGD. A mean of 6.7 people participated in each FGD. Women (61%) accounted for a higher percentage in the FGD participants than men (39%). This difference can mainly be explained by the uneven participation in Wanondi, where 12 women participated in the female FGD and only 1 man participated in the male FGD. We decided to interview him on his own.This section describes the identified pathways that were derived from our participatory project to improved diets. Figure 1 presents the framework. The numbers represent the pathways that were found: 1) Food access from own production; 2) Income from the sale of commodities produced; 3) Women's empowerment through increased access to and control over resources; 4) Spillover effect; 5) Nutrition knowledge; 6) Improved health; 7) Savings; 8) Empowerment and harmony in the household. The arrows represent the links within the pathways and differ in width based on their strength, which was measured by the number of times the links were mentioned in the FGDs and KIIs. Very wide links were mentioned 10-21 times, wide links 5-10 times, and thin links 2-4 times. Within the framework, the starting point is represented by the box \"Agriculture and nutrition knowledge.\" As previously mentioned, project participants received training in kitchen gardening and poultry keeping, as well as nutrition education during the first year of implementation. Their agriculture and nutrition knowledge thus increased, which led to the adoption and implementation of the chosen activities. The livelihoods resulting from these income-generating activities led to increased employment. Employment mostly refers to female employment, because these agricultural activities were culturally viewed as \"women's responsibilities.\" After starting implementation, it took ∼3 mo to produce food. \"Food production\" is tied to several pathways and links that led to improved nutrition outcomes.The FGDs and KIIs indicated unintended secondary effects that had improved the community members' well-being beyond nutrition. The most prominent of these secondary effects were related to empowerment and improved harmony in the household. Because both empowerment and harmony in the household were directly linked with other nodes, these secondary effects were included in our framework.Pathway 1: Food access from own production. Regarding Pathway 1, Project members and their families directly consumed the farm products from the activities of kitchen gardening and poultry keeping. One woman expressed: \"Through the trainings, I know how to keep chicken  Pathway 2: Income from the sale of commodities produced. Pathway 2 was the most frequently mentioned. As depicted in pathway 2, participants also earned an income from selling the food they produced. A man stated: \"I sold cowpeas and mrenda (jute mallow/Corchorus olitorius) and got kshs 5000 [∼$50 USD] in one-month sales. I used the money to pay school fees and buy maize flour and sugar.\" A male KI mentioned: \"Earnings from the vegetable selling is spent on health care for women, which increases women's health.\" Pathway 3: Women's empowerment through access to and control over resources. Pathway 3 can be found in several links in our framework. First, women decided on how to spend the income they earned from the agricultural activities. They reported that they spent it on food items (e.g., meat, sugar, maize flour, fish) and nonfood items (e.g., school fees, books, medicine, household utensils). Women also mentioned purchasing some self-care items, such as cosmetic products and clothes. One woman from the FGDs said: \"We were taught how to kitchen garden to make some money while at home. I sell the vegetables and buy meat.\" Another woman mentioned: \"Women sell farm products to buy clothing and can afford to make their hair and afford body oil.\" In addition, women decided how to spend the extra time gained from their improved health status (explained below in \"Pathway 6\"). This newfound time was often spent on self-care or farm work. A female KI noted: \"Women have more time to take care of themselves as nutritional status of children improved (don't need to bring them to facilities so much), this time they use for other work, some ventured into farming, most started own kitchen gardens and small animals.\"Pathway 4: Spillover effect. Pathway 4, an additional frequently mentioned pathway, refers to a spillover effect regarding agricultural activities. Project participants frequently shared their knowledge on kitchen gardening, poultry, and healthy diets with their neighbors, friends, and other community members. Non-project participants often initiated this process, as they approached the project participants when they saw these individuals successfully producing vegetables. Project participants, in turn, were eager to share the newly obtained agricultural and nutritional knowledge. In exchange for their knowledge and guidance, participants were often given seeds from non-project participants for new kitchen gardens. Sometimes this knowledge sharing was initiated by the project participants. For example, project participants taught neighbors how to grow their own food as a protective measure to prevent them from stealing. A woman said: \"We teach our neighbors so that they don't steal from us. Currently, there is a lot of vegetables in the community.\" In other instances, it was done as a strategic business decision. A male KI explained that if farmers sold vegetables together, they were more likely to be able to sell at bigger markets and CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN NUTRITION Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/5/12/nzab140/6442096 by guest on 10 February 2022 generate additional income. Each of these points could explain the participants' motivation to share their knowledge.Pathway 5: Nutrition knowledge. The nutrition knowledge from the trainings provided encouraged many project participants to consume a more diverse diet and to prepare a more diverse diet for their children. Project participants frequently reported that fruits were now eaten more often, because participants had learned that fruits are a valuable addition to their diets. A man mentioned, \"Like avocado. We used to see it and think it has no value, but after the training, we eat them and give to children.\" Pathway 6: Improved health. A moderately strong pathway goes from the improved nutrition outcomes to improved reported health statuses. The FGDs and KIIs frequently mentioned that improved diets (especially increased consumption of vegetables) led to improved perceived nutrition outcomes. This again led to an improved perceived health status, and to fewer hospital visits from all household members (especially men and children). A woman from an FGD expressed: \"With the TLVs [traditional leafy vegetables], we do not get diseases most of the time. We are healthy and diseases have reduced.\"Improved health status saved time, especially for women who usually take their children to hospital. Women used the time previously used to care for sick family members to take care of themselves. In 1 KI women said they were \"taking care of themselves,\" which usually meant doing their hair and taking care of their homes. A female KI mentioned: \"Women's nutritional status improved as they have time to take care of themselves due to less hospital visits.\" Women also chose to spend some of this saved time farming (food production). Fewer hospital visits saved money as families could reduce treatment and transportation costs. Because men would have usually paid for these expenses, they now saved money. A man said: \"It has saved me money, I used to visit the hospital often. The incidence of diseases has also gone down in my household after eating these vegetables.\" Men partially spent this saved money on nonfood items (e.g., school fees). A female KI stated: \"As malnutrition decreased, the costs of treating malnutrition decreased as well in terms of money and time for treatment and transport to the hospitals. Now money is spent on school fees, improving home development and on other farming activities. The saved time is spent for farming.\" Pathway 7: Savings. As vegetables were increasingly produced by participants' own households, expenditures for vegetables reduced. This led to increased savings for men and women, which were used for nonfood expenditures. A woman stated: \"We no longer buy vegetables, we save money and use it to pay school fees, make group contributions and make our hair.\" A man mentioned: \"Now women have been empowered, they know how to plant, some of the vegetables they used to buy they can now pluck from their farms. As a husband, it is a big boost to me. I can save some money because my wife is now independent.\" Pathway 8: Empowerment and harmony in the household. Men appreciated the additional vegetables, income, and increased savings that were generated by the kitchen gardening and poultry-keeping activities. This resulted in men increasingly supporting women in these agricultural activities. The new collaboration between men and women in agricultural tasks and income generation also increased harmony in the household. A male KI noted: \"Men are sure now that women can generate money and that they can produce seeds and sell. This strengthens men-women relationships, the understanding is more: helping each other.\" A woman said: \"Our husbands and in-laws are happy; I advise neighbors in types of vegetables to eat to reduce diseases; husbands are happy and support us in our work.\" A female KI explained: \"Agriculture was a women's job, now we can see partnering between men and women. It has been the cultural belief that kitchen gardening should be done by women. Now more men are involved in it. This is important for farm production as men and women partner together.\" A man indicated: \"Men now know the importance of supporting women when it comes to vegetable farming.\" This collaboration between husband and wife positively affected food production.The following definition of empowerment was used:Empowerment is a multidimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. This is a process that fosters power (that is, the capacity to implement) in people, for use in their own lives, their communities and their society, by being able to act on issues that they define as important. (37) Empowerment increased for both men and women during the course of this project. Owing to the participatory nature of the project, project participants decided how to improve nutrition in their community, gained the respective skills needed to accomplish these goals, and then implemented their chosen activities. In this way, project participants gained more power over their lives, and were able to act on important issues in their communities.Both male and female FGD participants emphasized that they had come to spend their time more usefully. A man said: \"I am now spending my time usefully, my family and I used to loiter a lot.\" Another man stated: \"The little land that was lying fallow is now in use. I have paved roads in Mombasa but now I have created my own employment. I can pay school fees, medication, and clothing.\" A woman noted: \"Some women were too idle, now they are busy on the farm.\" This can be a sign of participants taking control over how they spend their time and putting it toward activities that they deem important.Women had increased capacity to provide (more) food to their household, through either farm production or food expenditure (bought with the income generated from their kitchen gardening activities). A woman mentioned, \"Some women used to wait for their husbands to bring food but now they can provide food on their own through their farms.\" Another woman indicated, \"As a wife, I feel I am strong and happy. I no longer wait for my husband to bring everything to the household.\" This is an example of women's ability to be more independent and self-sufficient, giving them more control over their own lives.Female project participants, in particular, gained recognition in their communities for their successful kitchen gardens and poultry units. This acknowledgment came with increased social status and respect, which in turn increased their ability to act on important issues within their communities. One woman recognized, \"We have been recognized in the community as farmers.\" Another woman said, \"Some community members have seen benefits members within the Bioversity team have got and are willing to learn some more. They stated, 'If you want chickens, go to Bioversity members, you will get chickens in their homes.'\" Harmony in the household. Male and female interviewees, from FGDs and KIIs, reported that the project increased happiness within the household, increased husbandwife collaboration, and reduced intrahousehold conflict. Before the project, a major point of conflict in the household was women's need to ask their husbands for money for food expenditures. Now that women had an independent source of income through farming, men had more money left to spend on nonfood items (e.g., school fees). One woman expressed: \"There is reduced poverty; we sell vegetables to buy other foods. We are no longer asking for money from our husbands every time and this has reduced conflicts among couples.\" A man indicated: \"Before knowing how to plant vegetables, women were disturbing us, asking for money to buy vegetables. They no longer ask for money, I come home to get the food ready.\" Another man stated, \"Conflicts have reduced since we are not being asked for vegetables and food.\"As aforementioned, female project participants increasingly received support on the farm from their husbands. This collaboration between husband and wife increased harmony within the households and the social status of women within the household. They were viewed as partners in income generation, rather than dependent of the husbands.Female participants spent much more time at home, owing to the nature of the work (growing/selling vegetables at home) and a reduced need to go to the market (as they grew more of their own food). As a result, the household was viewed as more secure. Moreover, women were usually home to prepare dinner at an earlier time, which was appreciated by their husbands. One man from the FGD stated, \"There is improved security at home because women are always at home so no one can dare come and steal. My wife now cooks at the right time and when I come from work, I always find her at home. I no longer have to worry about vegetables.\"The present study explored the pathways from a nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention to improved diets of women and young children. It also tested theoretical agriculture-to-nutrition pathways by comparing our documented pathways with the pathways from the widely used TANDI framework. Moreover, it was investigated if our intervention led to possible secondary effects beyond nutrition outcomes, such as factors that increased overall well-being.From the pathways of the TANDI framework, 3 were observed as pathways in the present intervention: 1) Food access from own production; 2) Income from the sale of commodities produced; and 3) Women's empowerment through increased access to and control over resources. Our framework identifies 5 complementary pathways in addition to the pathways from the literature, which we named as follows: 4) Spillover effect; 5) Nutrition knowledge; 6) Improved health; 7) Savings; and 8) Empowerment and harmony in the household. The most obvious connections between the project and the improved nutrition outcomes among women and children are represented by pathways 1 (Food access from own production), 2 (Income from the sale of commodities produced), and 5 (Nutrition knowledge). The implemented participatory nutritionsensitive agricultural project led to secondary effects that contributed to well-being beyond improved nutrition, including aspects of increased empowerment and increased harmony in the household.Not only did project participants benefit, but so did those around them. A previous impact assessment (25) reported increased dietary diversity among female non-project participants in these sublocations. The present qualitative data imply that their improved diets can be related to dissemination regarding nutritional and agricultural knowledge. Project participants were eager to share their knowledge acquired through the project. The participants talked at length about the family, friends, and neighbors that they shared their information with. Although some information sharing was anticipated, the extent of knowledge dissemination among community members was surprising in the present analysis. Moreover, project participants were motivated to share information for several reasons, including concern for community members, increased social status, theft-prevention, seed sharing, creating business partners, etc. It is worth noting that in this community neighbors seemed to know each other well. They had already established a sense of community and a level of cohesion. Results could be different in areas with high levels of community conflict, large wealth gaps, tribalism, an increased value of independence, etc.The extent to which nutrition education contributed to improved nutrition outcomes was also addressed in the present findings. According to Ruel et al. (5), agriculture and nutrition education need to be linked to address the underlying determinants of maternal and child undernutrition. Our results support this theory, by showing that nutrition education played an important role in increasing consumption of nutritious foods.The unintended secondary effects that were noted (empowerment and harmony in the household) are linked to other nodes within our framework. They thus contribute to the final outcome of improved diets. This confirms that social outcomes can mediate nutrition outcomes (14), as stated in the Introduction.Looking at other studies on nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, a clear emphasis on women empowerment pathways was noted in the responses. Rao et al. (18) refer to 3 pathways of the TANDI framework when stating that women's work in agriculture may lead to improvements in nutrition (TANDI pathway 4: women's social status and empowerment through increased access to and control over resources) or deterioration (TANDI pathway 5: women's time through participation in agriculture; TANDI pathway 6: women's health and nutrition through engagement in agriculture). Pathways 5 and 6 of the TANDI framework illustrate trade-offs between women working in agriculture, their child-care obligations, and their own nutritional status. Several studies highlight that agricultural programs and interventions demand a large amount of women's time, which in turn reduces their time for childcare duties, health care-seeking behaviors, food preparation, and leisure (24,(38)(39)(40)(41).The present findings show no indication that women from the project had been physically or temporally overburdened and that their increased work in agriculture negatively affected their own or their children's diets. van  and child health and nutrition outcomes. Despite increasing the time women spent on agriculture, there was no evidence that this contributed to deleterious effects on their own or their children's nutrition.Rather than feeling overworked, women in the project conveyed that they had time, energy, and motivation to increase their agricultural workload. They also described that they were idle before, but were now spending their time more productively. Many women in this project had the advantage of selling the vegetables from home, which allowed them to act simultaneously as a caregiver to their family. Moreover, the time spent on agricultural activities appears to indirectly save women time in other areas of their lives. At first glance, it might seem like women have less leisure time owing to the agricultural activities. Yet owing to the improved health and nutrition status of their children, they save time taking them to the hospital. In addition, they do not have to go to the market every day to buy vegetables, which also saves them time.Another possible explanation is that women in the project were spending less time on agricultural activities than in other projects. Farm sizes in Vihiga County are small, which may have limited the amount of time and energy required of the female participants in our project. Moreover, the participatory nature of our project may have mitigated potentially harmful impacts on women. The project participants-most of which were women-chose their own activities. Therefore, it is likely the participants selected activities that seemed manageable. Lastly, it is possible that the increased male support in a traditionally female activity spread the workload across members of the household.Pathway 4 of the TANDI framework (Women's social status and empowerment through increased access to and control over resources), which is pathway 3 in the framework proposed here, was however quite prominent in our study. According to Kumar et al. (42), women need to have some level of control over their own decisions and be respected within their communities to benefit from any inputs: e.g., income, agriculture, health and nutrition, behavior change communication. This has been the case for the present project. When women gained more control over the decisions involved in agricultural activities (such as the type of crops to cultivate and sell), they became recognized in their community as successful farmers. Moreover, women gained more control over their lives by managing the income gained from agricultural activities. Women also decided on how to spend their additional free time. The nodes related to our pathway 3 (e.g., women's time) are linked to other nodes within our framework and thus contribute to the final outcome. It is, however, not clear whether women's self-care also relates to improved nutrition.Similarly to our female respondents, women in a qualitative study on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and gender dynamics in Nepal reported increased decision-making power, new knowledge and skills, increased recognition by their family members of their new knowledge and contributions, and self-efficacy as farmers and sellers.Pathway 3 of the TANDI framework (food prices from changes in supply and demand) did not emerge from the responses. According to a review of impact pathways to nutrition outcomes in nutrition-sensitive agriculture (22), none of the studies reported on this pathway, perhaps because food price has traditionally been considered at the policy rather than intervention level.This study also has some limitations. A major limitation is that behavior along the pathways was self-reported and not observed. Assessing the behaviors would have required extensive probing during the FGDs and KIIs, beyond what was already being done. These data were not collected because we did not want the interviews to be a time burden for the participants. This limitation was mitigated by having separate FDGs for men and women, as well as KIIs. The separation of these groups was valuable because we had multiple actors independently make statements related to behavior, which therefore mutually confirmed each other.That said, one of the strengths of this study is that general, openended questions were used during our interviews. This enabled us to discover unexpected information about behaviors. Moreover, the openended questions limited any potential social-desirability bias. Asking specific questions about empowerment or community cohesion would have likely resulted in affirmative answers (whether true or not). By leaving the questions open-ended, these topics were brought up spontaneously by participants.Assessing pathways from project-related agricultural activities and nutrition education to improved diets increased understanding on how dietary improvements have happened and helped with documenting the internal dynamics of our intervention. The present findings are an encouragement to assess agriculture-to-nutrition pathways before project start. This will help to prevent harm (e.g., not increasing the agricultural workload of possibly already overworked women) along the pathways and to point out potentials and capacities (e.g., women's motivation to invest more time in profitable agricultural activities). Comparing the pathways before and after the project can provide considerable understanding regarding the changes that occurred toward improved diets.A systematic mapping of agriculture-to-nutrition pathways in experimental projects could contribute to an understanding on how nutrition-sensitive agricultural projects affect nutrition. It could also offer important insights on why some interventions work and others do not. Pandey and Gautam (43) identified the linkage between agriculture and nutrition in India using the UNICEF framework. This shows that pathways emerging from nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions can be mapped for a country and that the results are highly relevant for maximizing the role agriculture can play in achieving nutrition outcomes. It also indicates that theoretical frameworks can be used as a guide when comparing pathways of different projects and programs. A comparable analysis was done by Wordofa and Sassi for Ethiopia (44).Theoretical frameworks in nutrition-sensitive agriculture can have several purposes. For the vast majority, including the TANDI framework, the main purpose is exposition. This means that frameworks are used to visualize concepts and linkages to facilitate reader understanding of text descriptions. Frameworks, however, can also provide a summary of empirical evidence about specific linkages or pathways (28). Even though the purpose of the TANDI framework has not been to summarize empirical evidence, but rather to facilitate the understanding of linkages, it is important that all depicted pathways are well understood. Our study results can help with narrowing the knowledge gap regarding the exact functioning of women empowerment pathways.Moreover, research on gender and nutrition-sensitive agriculture has been primarily quantitative, with little qualitative work on how gender dynamics facilitate or impede predefined agriculture-to-nutrition pathways. The present findings provide contextual understanding on the important role of women's empowerment in agriculture-nutrition projects.Pathway analysis in nutrition-sensitive agriculture can provide valuable understanding on how and why dietary improvements have been achieved in an intervention. The approach can hence be instrumental in addressing the current demand within the field on understanding the progress and impact of interventions. Pathway analysis also helps to address knowledge gaps regarding theoretical frameworks, as in the present study, concerning women empowerment pathways.","tokenCount":"6813"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5272655054.json b/data/part_1/5272655054.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ac2055c9b8970f6a0f40f1d07205b1401748af0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5272655054.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c161de81f3b3b7cb8ad4301c85569667","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b56a3419-1655-4aa9-88fa-2388ce63d9f0/retrieve","id":"-1284020332"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2452cb4a-a192-49ac-a3bc-face92d22c6b","pagecount":"20","content":"Meeting an expanding urban demando A complementary approach is to increase production and move cassava from surplus-producing areas (or potential surplus areas) to food-deficit areas.Such an approach depends first on a marketing system where transport costs do not become excessive in the eventual retail price, and second on a certain minimal level of purchasing power in the importing region.For the latter reason such trade in cassava will probably bese be directed at rapidly expanding urban areas and particularly at the low-income strata in those areas.Processing also will be critical to such a role. Such a strategy can build on the extensive trade in gari (a fermented food product) that already exists in West Africa. In many urban areas of West Africa, gari is already the cheapest source of calories and stores well.Marketed surpluses, moreover, provide the basis for utilizing cassava in a longer term development strategy for the agricultura! economies oi Africa because marketable surpluses are an avenue for increased farm incomes and increased employment.Africs this surplus generation has been based principally on non-food cash crops, principalIy for exporto The multiple uses of csssava can provide a basis for developing cassaVa ss a cash crop, with the advantage that sn expanded production can stabilize food consumption when national foad production of other crops is adversely affected by weather.In Asia cassava has provided such stability to the foodeconomies of Indonesia and Kera1a (India), where a large proportion of the crop i8 grown becau8e oí the demand by commercial processors but where it can move into food channels wben rice supplies are limited.Moreover, development of cassava based on sma1l-scale, rural processing can provide significant sources of off-farm employment. Cassava can thus make a significant contribution to both bridging the food gap and laying a base for longer term economic development, but only if the strategy for research and development of the crop focuses on its role as a source of income generation and not purely on its role as a subsistence food crop.Making this strategy operational depends on more detailed information abont cassava growing conditions, production systems, processing methods, marketing, and urban consumption patterns. Not only is tbere very little information on these issues available but even the production statistics are at best no more than educated gnesses. The data base on whicb to begin to structnre cassava research and development activities is so weak as to provide on1y rougb bypotheses.Justifying a larger role for casssva to pol1cy-makers, as well as to outaide donor agencies, will require a much more systematic study of the economics of the crop.  Like\",ise the study \",ill identify those areas \",here more cooperative research projects bet\",een UTA and CIAT are required to meet research needs in Africa.Finally, the study \",ill aid policy-makers of national programs in setting priorities and developing strategies for cassava.An economic atu~y oí cassava in Africa ia a means to an end, that being the elaboration of a solid analytical base for consistent planning of research and development activities of the crop. Needless to say this is not an essy task. There are very fe\", reliable secondary data on cassava production, prices, marketing channels and consumption.National production statistics for cassava are often incomplete and may be quest10nable under scrutiny. Moreover, very fe\", case studies exist that focus on cassava 1n any detail. While there 1s an obvious need for such a study, in 1tself it is handicapped by the lack of secondary data on \",hich to form hypotheses or plan surveys. Thus a central feature of the project \",i11 be the collection of primary data; and, as the study \",ill be continental in scope, selection of survey sites will have to be done in a systematic manner.The overa11 objective of the project, therefore, will be to provide an in-depth characterization of cassava production, processing and marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa.The specific objectives are as follows:l.Describe the structure of cassava-based cropping systems in principal and potential producing areas. Estimate demand parameters for different cassava products in urban areas.Quantify the impact of price and import policies for grains on the produetion and consumption of cassava.Virtually no reliable secondary data on eassava exist for Afriean countries. Moreover, in contrast to Asia and Latin America. the dominant issues shift from demand constraints to production and marketing constraints. In order to understand these constraints. given the laek of secondary data, there is a need for a project fundamentally based on surveys and primary data collection. Sing1e-visit surveys are usua1ly inappropriate if accurate data on production, yields, resource use and on-farm utilization are desired. Appropriate survey methodology. experienced personne1. and close field supervision are critical to the study.The data col1ection and analysis can be divided into four relative1y independent subject areas. namely: (1) production. processing and consumption at the village level, (2) marketing of cassava products and price formation, (3) urban consumption patterns and urban foad demand, and (4) effects of price and trade policies on cassava production and demando The bulk of the primary data collection wi11 focus on the first component. The second and third components will a1so require primary data col1ection but these wi11 be undertaken in more• 11 limited areas to complement existing marketing studies and food budget surveys and will aaseas global marketing and urban conaumption issues by means of well-defined case studies.There will be a significant technieal input into specifie areas, particularly production and processing, and possibly nutrition.Technical expertise in defining constraints on cropping sy5tems will be They have shown great interest in collaborating with this project.The study will be continental in scope, but will have to be selective in terms of where in-depth surveys will be carried out.Operationally. the project will be divided into three regions, namely, West, Central, and East and Southern Africa (Figure 1). In each oí these regions, priority countries will be chosen that reflect both major production zones as well as global issues of interest to the study. A first approximation to these priority eountries i8 as follows: Appropriate samp1ing 1Oi11 be the key to establ1shing the variabi1ity found in African production and consumption patterns of cassava. Deve10ping a samp1ing frame 10hen the popu1ation is essentia11y unknown and agricu1tura1 census data are scarce requires a series of stages in 10hich information is deve10ped to feed into the sample designoThe frame100rk Cor se1ecting survey sites 1Oi11 be based on the experience CIAT gained in the Latin American study. Ihis process 1Oi11 involve three stages:1)An agro-climatic mapping of the distributlon of cassava productlon 10111 be deve10ped.CIAT has developed such a mapping for Latin America and has the meteoto10g1ca1 data base, 8011 maps, and zon1ng characteristics to do the Same for Africa. The difficu1ty ia in getting a first, a1beit gross, estimate of the apatia1 distribution of cassava production. IDRC has finaneed a project to eollect basic existing informatian on cassava in a11 principal produc1ng eountr1es.These data 1Oi11 be the basia for the mapping of eaasava distributian.2)The mapping 1Oi11 be used to subdivide and samp1e re1atively 1arge geographica1 areas. Dra10ing on CIAT's experience in this area , cassava product10n and eonsumption 10111 be eharacterized on a regional basis through key informant surveys; Le., extension agents, cassava researchers and farmer-leaders. Ihe focus of the survey ia nor on the farm, but on the region and on e1icitlng the spatia1 distribution of characteristiea of interest. This stage 1Oi11 provide the samp1ing frame for selection of areas, stratified by characteristics that inf1uence variability in cassava production and consumption, and 10eighted by production.3) Once geographical areas have been sampled, then a more conventional sampling strategy wíll be used to select villages and farmers within villages. At this stage detailed questionnaires will be developed on production, processing and consumption. A balance will be sought between generating comparable data across survey sites and understanding che particular influences on cassava systems at each aite.Some of che variability will be apparent in the second stage, which will allow focus on particular issues in given areas in the farmer survey stage.Project Structure and AdministratíanThe project organization will have a full-time project leader, to be based at IITA, and who will adminlster and coordinate the project.He will report to the Director of the Resource and Crop Management Program (RCMP) of lITA where the position which will be located. A steerlng committee, consisting of the CIAT cassava economist, the Director of the RCMP at lITA, and the project leader will be responsible for the overall supervision of the project. Each of the three regions (i.e. West, Central, and East and Southern Afrlca) will have one agricultural economist or economic anthropologist who will act as regional coordinator and will be responsible for leading the research in each region.In priority countries a national coordinator will be contracted part-time from one of the universities or research institutes and will be in charge of (a) identifying graduate students for day-to-day survey management in the survey sites; (b) establishing the research agenda for the eountry; aud (e) overseeing data management and doing some oí the analyses. Sueh a strueture will assure a well-supervised field survey capacity, but w1th research objectives defined at a continental scale.In the priority countries che following national research institutes and universities are potential collaborators in the project. They will be formally contacted when the project funding is secured. At that time a mechanism for ensuring their effective eollaboration will be worked out.This will include a formal consultation mechanism.3.5.7.8. The project is expected to require three years to complete. Given timely funding, the project head will be appoínted in early 1988 and the regional coordinators shortly thereafter. The informarion search '1\"111 be completed by this time, and the agro-climatic mapping should be under way.Prior to the initial planning meeting, an in-depth background study on cassava in Africa will be wrltten by Paul Dorosh of lITA. The second stage of the project involving the key informant surveys wi11 begin in 1989. The village level surveys wil1 continue for one year.Data collection in the marketing, urban consumption and policy areas '1\"111 occur simultaneously and will also overlap with the analysis and write-up perlod in the third year which '1\"111 extend to the middle of 1991.The budget consists of the leader's offiee and the three regional The following budgetary notes assuroe that the Regional Coordinators oi West, Central, and East and Southern Afr1ca '1\"111 be located at National coordinators may be obtained through secondment from the national university or research systems which will be refunded at cost or they may be recruited as direct hires at the local going rate. The full-time persons will be needed in each of the three regions at an estimated cost of $5.000!p.y.The secretaries and other local staff will be hired locally at the current national rate inclusive of social benefits. The cost will vary from one country to another.Ph.D. Fellowships -Five agricultural graduates from each of the three Regions of Afrlca will be glven the opportunity to work for the Project. They wl11 be awarded a fellowshlp for the entire period (or it could be for the second and third year only) of their Ph.D. studies.The cost of the fellowship for a student registering at one of the leading African universities and for each of the three years has been evaluated and used as the basie of this budget. Two visits to lITA are included in this budget estimation.Ihe national coordinatora will be required to travel regularly (100 days/year) withln their countriea to the survey sites. In certain countries, e.g. Zaire, this entaila travel by air to the sub-regiona and by public transport within the sub-region. ","tokenCount":"1913"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5276537713.json b/data/part_1/5276537713.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f5ad4da27dde8f9ec91da05605b3cd87296be4eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5276537713.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ba8d913e44f2d13315fcb51c272aa9f5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6e6f0585-138c-48cd-847f-27506e960ad7/retrieve","id":"1063150273"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"40876233-aaa9-47f9-93a6-2d717afec3b3","pagecount":"22","content":"• Innovation data was self-reported by the Initiatives in the CGIAR PRMS• Innovation readiness data, gender-and climate-tagging is evidence-based• Innovation data was quality-assured by 2 independent assessors • The data used has been validated by Initiative Leadership• In this overview, both innovations that Initiatives lead (as primary submitting Initiative) and contribute to (as contributing Initiative) are included• The objective of this overview is not to give a verdict of right/wrong. Rather, the objective is to creat a starting point for understanding, reflection and discussion  • Highest reported # of innovations per Initiative = 99 (of which 59 breeding pipelines)• 58% technological innovations of which 28% new/improved varieties/ breeds• 28 disruptive innovations in the pipeline (close to 50% of which are policy/ organizational/ institutional innovations)• Top 3 countries: Ehtiopia (54), Kenya (48), Bangladesh (42)• 844 unique partnerships on innovation development  Reported innovation use data of all RIIs can be accessed here ","tokenCount":"150"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5282770987.json b/data/part_1/5282770987.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..866d9691f635028c9dd36efe00f51035df12a762
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5282770987.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c529ff83ceff862f6dd935ad0ce03ed9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7852eb7f-3e55-4245-95c4-bf6afc6559f9/retrieve","id":"-293740877"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4498bbe0-d665-43fc-8bec-7e88a9bee919","pagecount":"17","content":"Two dry bean cultivars (Umtataa single-time flowering variety, and Kranskopa continuously flowering variety) reported to be suitable for growing under conditions prevalent in the area around Pietermaritzburg are studied. A randomised block factorial experiment was planned and carried out at Ukulinga Research Farm of the University of KwaZulu Natal to compare growth and yield of the two cultivars at different seeding rates and with and without nitrogen side-dressing. The design, layout and sampling of the experimental plots are described.Total biomass and grain yield after three months of growth are analysed. Total biomass was higher in the Kranskop than the Umtata cultivar but grain yield was lower. Seeds were planted at a 75 cm between-row spacing and at three different within-row spacings: 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm apart. Biomass and grain yield increased in a linear manner with decreasing spacing. Application of nitrogen fertiliser had no effect. There were no significant interactions involving cultivar, level of spacing or fertiliser application.Plant height and number of leaves were measured weekly over a four-week period after the start of emergence. Analysing weekly data together results in a split-plot in time model. The difference between this and the conventional split-plot experiment is described and methods of analysis outlined. Kranskop plants grew higher than those for Umtata over the four-week period.The difference in cultivar type (continuous versus single flowering) is considered to be the primary reason for differences in plant growth and yield. Planting later in the season than is normal practice may also have had a bearing on the way the two cultivars performed.Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a food crop of high economic importance with high protein content and grown in all habitable continents (Beninger and Hosfield 2003). It has probably been domesticated from a wild form having a long slender vine which is found in Mexico and Central America (Beninger and Hosfield 2003). Dry bean is an annual crop which thrives in warm climates. It grows optimally at temperatures of 18oC to 24oC and requires a minimum of 400 to 500 mm of rain during the growing season. It prefers an optimum soil pH of 5.8 to 6.5, is very sensitive to acidic soils (pH<5) and will not grow well in soils that are compacted, too alkaline or poorly drained (Dry bean Production in South Africa 2002).The choice of cultivars to be grown in a particular area is also important to be sure that the cultivar produces beans of an appropriate size and colour, which can be both genetic and associated with growth and yield performance (Dry Bean Production in South Africa 2002). For successful production, high-quality (certified) seed with a high germination percentage (80% or higher) must be used. Low quality seed can cause a poor and an uneven field stand, resulting in uneven maturity and loss in yield. The growth habit of a dry bean cultivar also needs to be well understood. Some cultivars are determinate (i.e. they produce flowers once) or indeterminate (i.e. they flower continuously over a period of time).The probability of fully effective inoculation and high rates of nitrogen fixation is rather low. Accordingly, many growers apply nitrogen to reduce the risk of inoculation failure. Soil tests are recommended to determine whether other nutrients are at appropriate levels. Preliminary research was conducted by the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan on nitrogen fertilisation. Results from their research in 1999 indicated that inoculation had little effect. However, addition of fertiliser nitrogen increased dry bean yield.The density at which seed is sown influences dry bean yield. Studies with other row crops have shown that crop competitiveness can be increased by reducing row spacing and increasing plant density (Goulden 1976). Growers are nowadays interested in narrow row dry bean production that allows them to use the same seeding and harvesting equipment that they use for cereals. Narrow row dry bean production, however, may preclude or greatly inhibit inter-row cultivation to control weeds. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of varying the density at which dry bean seeds were planted, with or without nitrogen fertiliser, on dry bean growth, yield and seed quality.This study sets out with three objectives:To compare growth, yield and seed quality of two dry bean cultivars: Umtata (a determinate variety) and Kranskop (an indeterminate variety) when grown under conditions prevalent in the area around Pietermaritzburg. To determine the effect of application of nitrogen fertiliser on growth, yield and seed quality of Umtata and Kranskop dry bean cultivars when grown under these conditions. To determine the effect of different densities of plant spacing on growth, yield and seed quality of Umtata and Kranskop dry bean cultivars when grown under these conditions.In this case study we shall discuss: How to design, lay out and sample plots in a randomised block factorial experiment that allows each of the objectives to be investigated simultaneously. How to analyse the results of a randomised factorial experiment.We shall also describe the meaning and use of contrasts to investigate the patterns expressed by variations in yield resulting from the three levels of spacing used in the experiment.Plant growth was measured weekly. Analysis of weekly values together results in a split-plot in time model. We shall discuss the difference between a conventional split-plot experiment and a split-plot in time experiment.Finally we shall give some tips for presenting results from factorial experiments.A randomised complete block design with four blocks was used to lay out a factorial experiment at Ukulinga Research Farm, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Details of the field plan and treatments are presented on the next page. Two cultivars (Umtataa determinate variety and Kranskopan indeterminate variety) were used for the experiment.These cultivars are genetically different and are two of the most popular varieties shown to be suitable for the environment around Pietermaritzburg.The seeds were planted at three seeding rates: 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm apart. Two levels of fertiliser (0 and 60 kg/ha N) were applied with the application of 60 kg/ha supplied as Limestone Ammonium Nitrate (LAN) two weeks after planting.Plots were square (3 m long and 3 m wide) with a spacing of 50 cm between plots. Five rows were planted 75 cm apart within each plot. These spacings, both within and between rows, were within the spacings commonly used for commercial dry bean production in South Africa, namely, 50 cm to 75 cm between and 5 cm to 15 cm within rows.The factorial arrangement for the treatments randomised within blocks is shown alongside in black. The first number (0, 1, 2) represents seed spacing, the second (0, 1) fertiliser level and third cultivar (0=Umtata, 1=Kranskop). Plot numbers are indicated in red.Seeds were hand sown over a period of two days from the last day of February to the first day of March 2007. This was somewhat later in the season than when dry beans are conventionally planted. Two of the four blocks were planted on each day so that any differences that may have occurred between days of planting were confounded with block.Measurements were made from plants in the three inner rows. The outer two rows and the ends of the inner rows were ignored, their purpose being to protect the inner plants from influences of adjacent plots. One week after first emergence five plants in each of the three inner rows were selected at random for weekly measurement of height and number of leaves over a period of four weeks. They were tagged for ease of identification at each week of measurement.This method did lead to some bias since only a proportion of the shoots had emerged when the 15 plants were selected. During the four weeks of measurement of height and number of leaves these will have likely remained amongst the tallest. This was unavoidable but the primary interest was to compare trends in growth between the two cultivars.Total biomass yield, grain yield and harvest index were calculated from harvesting all inner plants at 3 months.The skeleton analysis of variance for biomass and grain yield demonstrates that there are more than sufficient degrees of freedom for the residual term.The data are stored in CS15Data1 and CS15Data2. CS15Data1 contains weekly mean values of plant height (cm) and number of leaves per plant measured on five plants selected at random. CS15Data2 contains yields recorded at three months after sowing, namely total biomass and grain yield (recorded in kg per plot) and harvest index (%). It also contains emergence (%) values at two weeks. Corresponding documentation files are CS15Doc1 and CS15Doc2, respectively.When opening the two data files one will notice that the order in which plot numbers is presented differs in the two files (see below). This is discussed under Data Management.Note how the data are organised in CS15Data1 and CS15Data2. Open these files. The first column contains the plot number. This is followed by the number of the block in which the plot resides and then each of the factors: level of spacing, whether or not fertiliser was applied, and the cultivar. CS15Data1 also contains week number. These columns are followed by columns containing the values recorded for each of the variables. Both files have been entered into GenStat, tidied up and stored as Excel files. Note how many decimal places are recorded for biomass and grain yield in CS15Data2 and height and number of leaves in CS15Data1. Values have been derived from raw measurements. Thus they have been recorded with a suitable number of decimal places consistent with the likely precision of measurement. Harvest index is derived from grain yield and biomass and so shows more decimal places.The numbers of decimal places in CS15Data1 are not fixed (* is the default in GenStat and also Excel). This means that data are presented up to the last non-zero digit. Thus, the average height of plants in plot number 8 is presented as 12, rather than 12.0. This is not a particularly useful way to present the data for it makes it more difficult to check by eye that the data have been entered correctly in the spread sheet. It would have been better for all height values to have been presented with one decimal place. GenStat has a useful Spread → Column → Attributes/Format... command (the same can be achieved by right clicking a column heading) that allows the numbers of decimal places to be changed and also the width of the column. Thus, by using this command for the variable Biomass in CS15Data2 all values can be made to have the same number of places, namely two.CS15Data1 is presented in plot number order. The data in CS15Data2 have been sorted into factor level order. Some researchers feel that data have to be presented in treatment order for statistical analysis. This is not true, certainly in the case of GenStat. This program can handle data presented in any order. It is much better to leave the data in the order that they have been entered, as in CS15Data1, for this means that the data in the spread sheet can at any time be compared with the values written in the experimental recording sheet.Analysis From the analysis of variance for biomass it can be seen that there are significant differences between cultivars (P<0.001) and among spacings (P<0.01) but that addition of fertiliser had no significant effect. There are no significant interactions.A coefficient of variation of 15.4% is displayed at the end of the GenStat output. This is not an unreasonable level of error variation for this type of experiment.It is interesting to see how the analysis of variance command is expressed in the GenStat Input log.At any time the user can alter the above text, select the five lines and click Run → Submit Selection. Sometimes this may be more efficient way of doing things than filling in the dialog box again.The levels of the spacing factor (namely 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm) are equally spaced. We can therefore include a contrast within the analysis of variance to test for linear or quadratic relationships. We do this by clicking the Contrasts... box in the dialog box shown alongside and entering Spacing for the 'Contrast Factor'.This causes an additional two lines to be included in the analysis of variance. They show that biomass is linearly related to level of spacing (P<0.001) and that this accounts for virtually all the variation caused by differences in spacing, with hardly any left in the Deviations mean square.The table of means shows that biomass yield was lower for Umtata (Cultivar C0) than for Kranskop (Cultivar C1). This is possibly related to the different growth habits of the two cultivars. Umtata has a determinate growth habit (flowers once) whereas Kranskop has an indeterminate growth habit (flowers continuously). It can be calculated from the values below that mean biomass yield per plot decreased linearly with increased spacing by an average of 0.27 kg per plot per 5 cm increase in spacing.It is worth clicking Options... in the analysis of variance dialog box and then Residual Plots to examine the distributions of residuals. The shapes of both the histogram and the normal and half-normal plots of residuals (which should lie on a 45 o line through the origin) indicate some non-normality amongst the residuals. The scatter plot of residuals suggests a possible slight increase in variation with increasing value. However, there are no extreme residual values displayed and it is difficult to think of a reason for these patterns. Analysis of variance is a robust procedure and can often deal satisfactorily with departures from normality, and we shall assume that it does in this case.We can likewise analyse grain yield and harvest index. From the analysis of variance for grain yield we can see that there is a significant difference between cultivars (P<0.001) and a significant but smaller difference among spacing levels (P<0.05). Again there are no significant interactions. If we were to include a contrast term for spacing we would find that the linear component is again significant (P<0.001). The relationship with cultivar, however, was opposite to that for biomass (see below).The reason for Umtata having a higher grain yield may be that being determinate it is able to utilise its energy better and not waste it in growing in a vegetative way. Kranskop, on the other hand, may continue to grow in a vegetative way, even after reaching flowering stage, resulting in competition between leaves and seeds for nutrients and water.There is a significant difference in harvest index between cultivars (P<0.001). Umtata (C0) had a higher harvest index than Kranskop (C1). As already mentioned this may be due to differences in growth habit. Spacing had no significant effect on harvest index.Plant height was measured weekly over four weeks from 15 plants selected at random. Although emergence by week 2 was just 50% it had reached 100% by week 4. There were no significant differences in rates of emergence among cultivars or levels of spacing.To analyse all the weekly data together we need to create a dialog box for a Split-Plot Design via Stats → Analysis of Variance... with week playing the role both as a factor and a subplot.However, this method does not fulfill the requirements for a regular split-plot design since, as a subplot, week, being a repeated measure, is a regular measurement in time and so cannot be considered as a random component.One way to get around this is to think of the analysis in terms of a 'split-plot in time' model. This design is different from that of a conventional split-plot design and needs a degree of caution in the interpretation of the analysis of variance. A simple approach that can sometimes be applied is to replace the degrees of the residual for the sub-plot part of the analysis by the main plot residual degrees of freedom and to recalculate the F-probabilities for week and its interactions with other factors.The analysis of variance is shown here. We have used the contrast button in the dialog box to add linear and quadratic components for spacing.Consider the main plot component of the analysis (Block.Plot stratum). Notice first the size of the residual mean square compared with that of the sub-plot stratum (6.52 times larger). A common mistake when dealing with these types of data is to analyse them as a randomised block including week as a factor in the same stratum as the others. When this is done the residual mean square becomes a composite of the two residual means squares to the right, resulting in faulty conclusions about the statistical significance of main plot treatment effects.The analysis of variance shows significant differences in mean plant height between cultivars (P<0.001) and also a significant linear effect of spacing (P<0.05). Note, however, that we may look at these results differently after we have examined other assumptions of analysis of variance.Now consider the sub-plot component of the analysis of variance.The printed Fprobabilities are shown in grey, but these are based on 108 degrees of freedom, which, as described earlier, are applicable to a split-plot, not a split-plot in time design.For a split-plot in time analysis we apply the conservative method of recalculating the Fvalues by using the same 33 degrees of freedom shown in the main plot stratum also for the subplot stratum.Thus, the F-values in yellow have been recalculated with 33 degrees of freedom for the denominator.These probabilities can be seen to be slightly higher than the original values, although in this example the significance levels remain as P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively, and so are not changed.With the knowledge that significant interactions have been highlighted between week and cultivar and between week and spacing we can now study twoway tables of means. The first thing that one should notice is that there is a rapid increase in height over the 4-week period. It is likely that the variation in plant height has increased too, and, if so, this could invalidate the combined analysis of variance for the four weeks. We should have carried out an exploratory analysis first!! -see Study question 3.However, let us proc eed assuming all is well. (Alternative solutions will be discussed later.) It can be seen that Umtata (C0) is shorter than Kranskop (C1) and that the linear (though not the proportional) difference in height between the two cultivars has gradually increase d over time. Similarly, the relative decrease in plant height with increased spacing also increases over time.The full GenStat output provides two standard errors for differences between means. One is for comparison between subplots across main plots and one for comparison between subplots within the same main plot. Thus, for week x spacing the standard errors are 1.510 for comparisons across main plots and 1.010 (as used for the calculation of the L.S.D. on the previous page) for comparisons within a main plot.GenStat also calculates, as shown here, a composite number of degrees of freedom (namely 69.35) from the main plot and subplot residual degrees of freedom. However, as we are dealing with a split-plot in time analysis, not a conventional split -plot, the composite value becomes 33 anyway.The problem that we have been ignoring (investigated in Study question 3) is that the residual variance increases with increases in plant height from week 1 to 4; so this rather invalidates the analysis that we have been carrying out. So what can we do? Study question 4 provides one solution by calculating linear and quadratic components for week which can then be analysed separately using the simpler randomised block model. This approach for dealing with repeated measurements (i.e. expressing variations over time in terms of one or two linear functions of the repeated measure) is also described in Biometrics Unit, ILRI (2005) for the analysis of body weight and packed cell volume measured over time in a pilot vaccine experiment in cattle.The standard errors featuring in this table have been abstracted from the GenStat output and placed below the means. Multiplying them by 2 gives approximate least significant differences (LSDs) (P<0.05) for comparisons within each week. Thus, the L.S.D. for spacing is 2 x 1.010 = 2.02. It can be seen that a significant difference in spacing (P<0.05) begins to occur in the third week.We shall here describe how to present results of analysis of the data for yield per plot.When there are no significant interactions mean results can be readily presented in the form of a simple table of overall means. The following table lists the two factors that had an effect on yield down the left hand side and presents the variables of interest across the top. Notice that for each variable a standard error (S.E.D.) is included to compare the differences between two means. Mean values are presented with a suitable number of significant figures and S.E.D.s have either the same number of significant decimal places or, where these are inadequate, one more. Presenting the results in this way makes it easy for the reader to judge both the biological and statistical significance of the mean differences between cultivars and spacings. Note that it is not necessary to introduce indications of statistically significant effects within the table (e.g. superscript letters). Note also how the title fully describes the contents of the table.  Results presented in scientific publications should not be duplicated. The author needs to decide which form of presentation is better -as a table or a figure.The study has shown that: Application of nitrogen fertiliser had no effec t on dry bean yield under the conditions that prevailed in Pietermaritzburg. Decreasing the spacing between plants caused an increase in plant height and yield in terms of both total biomass and grain yield, irrespective of the cultivar. The determinate dry bean type, Umtata, yielded more grain yield than the indeterminate type, Kranskop, which in contrast produced the higher total biomass.It is hypothesised that the poorer grain yield of Kranskop may be due to the late planting date which restricted the period of indeterminate growth.Regarding statistical methods we have gained a better understanding of: the design and analysis of factorial experiments; plot design and methods of sampling; the use of contrasts in assessing the significance of the linear e ffect of a factor with more than two equally spaced levels (e.g. the spacing factor); the meaning of split-plot in time and approaches to the analysis of repeated measures; the value in studying distributions of residuals to be sure that methods of analysis of variance are valid; methods of presentation of results from factorial experiments for scientific reports.1. Define the term 'contrast'. Describe the circumstances when a contrast can be useful in an analysis of variance. 2. Plants were randomly selected for the recording of plant height and leaf number when only a proportion of plants had emerged. Think of an alternative method that might reduce possible bias and provide a more accurate estimate of average plant height across the whole plot. 3. Use the Spread → Restrict/Filter command in GenStat to select data for plant height in CS15Data1 for each week in turn. Analyse each week separately using the design for a randomised block and comment on the changes in residual variance. Explain how you feel statistical analysis should proceed and give your reasons. 4. Again using the data for plant height calculate linear and quadratic contrasts for week. To do this calculate the linear transformation (-3xweek1 -1xweek2 +1xweek3 +3xweek4) and the quadratic transformation (-1xweek1 +1xweek2 +1xweek3 -1xweek4). Note that in order to do this calculation you will first need to unstack the data. Perform an analysis of variance of these two variables and comment on the results of the analysis. 5. Repeat Question 3 using number of leaves instead of plant height. 6. Repeat Question 4 using number of leaves instead of plant height. 7. Analyse the data for percentage emergence in CS15Data2 and verify that there are no significant effects on emergence for any of the factors. Sometimes the arc sign transformation is used for the analysis of percentage data. Explain why this is not necessary here. Had there been a difference in emergence rate bet ween Umtata and Kranskop suggest how you might deal with this in the analysis of yield. 8. Write a report to summarise in fewer than 50 words the results displayed in the table shown under Reporting. 9. Total grain yield was higher in this experiment for Umtata than for Kranskop. This was opposite to the difference in total biomass. Taking into consideration the determinate and indeterminate natures of the two cultivars suggest reasons for this. 10. Discuss how the poorer harvest index of Kranskop compared with Umtata may be related to the late planting date. Taking into account the conclusions that have been drawn in this experiment design a follow-up experiment at a more suitable planting time that can yield more information on the suitability of different cultivars in the Pietermaritzburg environment.","tokenCount":"4141"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5283304417.json b/data/part_1/5283304417.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cbfc4833c0b9120402295042dde9225d59272338
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5283304417.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"44faa2b7f749e013dfb581d9f1b195d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93ea15de-4d27-4acf-b404-691fff110279/retrieve","id":"-1966851773"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ec374ff2-9538-4766-8050-e0e538aebbf1","pagecount":"1","content":"Citizens around the world currently express strong concerns about environmental problems (e.g., deforestation, loss of biodiversity, exploitation of natural resources, and climate change) giving rise to the so-called socially responsible consumption.» Food production has a high share of responsibility in the various stages, ranging from production to distribution, consumption, and waste generation.» Despite the fact that sustainability labeling in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region is showing a growth trend recently, there is still no documentation on how this growth has occurred, the governance arrangements of the labels, or their potential impacts.» Dissimilar advances in labeling efforts for sustainable beef products stand out: the initiatives correspond mainly to large producers and exporters in the region, exposing lags in the Central American and Caribbean countries (Figure 1).» Instead of the transition from quality labels to sustainability labels, sustainable labels for beef are not being understood as a priority but as an added value parallel to productivity increases (Figure 2).» Semi-structured interviews with representatives from entities involved in the development, monitoring and promotion of sustainability labels.» Literature review consulting documents from a) international organizations, b) public institutions, and c) entities that work with sustainability labels » Sustainability labeling is just one among many other strategies in pursuit of sustainable intensification. Consequently, it must be understood in a broader setting and articulated with public policies, legislations, and national and local initiatives, among others.» Despite the growth of label certification, major challenges arise: the evaluation of the carbon balance, deforestation and animal welfare still lack rigorous technical monitoring.Moreno-Lerma L 1 ; Díaz MF 2 ; Burkart S 2 . Private entities should carry out an adequate distribution of obtained price premiums throughout the value chain, since often they do not reach the primary producers.» In the cases of Mexico and Argentina, it is necessary to rapidly advance the implementation of sustainability labels in order to not lag behind their competitors (such as Brazil and Uruguay). In Colombia, it is essential to get intl. entities involved in the monitoring of the labels.  ","tokenCount":"338"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5289243908.json b/data/part_1/5289243908.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e5c37e1290d1a0af56978e746a68415cc54cc17e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5289243908.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce87f255401487c0dee8bcfaa60cc4a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4809e8ad-4a2f-48c7-9d9d-2bce17c6736d/retrieve","id":"-1924828858"},"keywords":["1= Neighbours","2=Restaurants","3=Milk Vendors","4 Collection Centres"],"sieverID":"4ce8f39e-6209-4adf-8003-f9c82dc0267b","pagecount":"78","content":"Projections from the agricultural census carried out by the Government of Tanzania (2007/08) indicate that Tanzania currently has some 21 million cattle out of which only 700,000 are dairy cattle types consisting of Friesian, Jersey, Ayrshire and their crosses to the East African Zebu. Most of the cattle are indigenous Zebu producing milk and meat. About 70% of milk produced is from indigenous breeds. Milk productivity remains low at only 1.5-2 litres and about 5-7 litres per cow for indigenous and improved cattle, respectively. In recent years, an increased milk production was reported mainly due to increased herd size rather than increased productivity per dairy cow. Currently, small amounts of milk are marketed into urban areas, while the large amounts of milk produced are sold in rural areas mainly to neighbours and local restaurants. At the farm level, poor feeding and general management practices lead to seasonal milk production. This, coupled with unorganised marketing procedures such as price setting, hinders commercialisation of dairy products.In view of this, ILRI and partners formulated projects known as MoreMilkIT (to adapt dairy market hubs for pro-poor smallholder value chains in Tanzania) and MilkIT (to enhance dairy feed innovations and value chains in India and Tanzania).In 2012, with funding from Irish Aid, ILRI and partners organised focus group discussions in selected villages to diagnose the current status in relation to milk production, marketing, feeding practices, type of breed kept, epidemiological issues and livelihoods, including gender roles in the livestock sector.The Focus Group Discussions (FGD) used a multidisciplinary team formulated by ILRI and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The team comprised a gender analyst, animal scientist, value chain analyst and veterinary scientist from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The team worked under close supervision of ILRI and the Irish Aid project country coordinator in Tanzania. The team went through training on the PRA tools that were to be used in the field. Under the guidance of the village leaders, 24 men and women were interviewed in each of eight villages: Mbwade, Twatwatwa of Kilosa District, Kambala and Manyinga of Mvomero District, Kabuku and Sindeni of Handeni District and Kwang'wenda and Kwapunda of Lushoto District. The discussions dealt with village mapping, value chain mapping, epidemiological issues, feeding and breeding management, gender roles, livelihood assessment and decision making power in the livestock sector.The findings indicate that improvement in livestock production is possible due to the abundant natural resources available in the villages. Rivers across the villages provide the possibility to grow fodder for animal feed and provide water for livestock. Some of the villages had Chaco dams that serve as sources of water in the dry season. With the exception of two villages (Kambala and Mbwade) all the remaining villages had electric power supply that would enable installation of chilling plants for milk collection. With the exception of Kambala village, the remaining villages are accessible throughout the year due to presence of road infrastructure.Seasonal milk production was a feature, especially in extensive systems, where much milk is produced in the wet seasons. Milk prices are low in the long wet season. Three main milk channels were identified in extensive systems: through collection centres (Tanga Fresh and Tan Dairies), via local restaurants and neighbours, and through vendors. Some of the channels are dropped in the dry season (mainly the individual households and restaurants). Vendors complained about price fluctuations (changing 2-3 times in a year) offered by the collection centres, which leads to business unpredictability. The highest prices were offered by individual households and local restaurants. Vendors prefer selling milk to collection centres regardless of the low price offered as this maintains their income from collectors in the wet season when they buy large amounts of milk. Furthermore, payments modalities offered by the collection centres are preferred as vendors receive a lump sum of money after 10-15 days unlike the other channels where payment is done after 2-7 days or on cash basis.Milk channels in semi-intensive systems were selling milk to neighbours and local restaurants directly by the farmers or through vendors. Lack of strong farmers' associations that could be used in organising farmers to solve some of the constraints related to milk selling activities was noted.Supply of inputs, mainly veterinary drugs, in extensive systems is obtained from the primary auction markets, where informal drug dealers visit from nearby towns. Other sources are livestock officers employed by the Local Governments Authorities (LGA 's) in the respective districts. Farmers complained of high prices offered by input suppliers in all the 8 villages. Vaccines and artificial insemination (AI) services are mainly provided by government officials through LGA's. Milling machines available in the villages or nearby towns provide maize bran as feed concentrate, mainly for farmers in semiintensive systems. It was noted that molasses in some villages of Manyinga and Kabuku are currently not used as feed for animals. Lack of access to credit due to high interest rates offered by financial institutions was mentioned by input suppliers as a challenge to expand their business.More generally, the lack of markets for milk in both semi-intensive and extensive production system was voiced as there are few collection centres. This requires interventions to improve the livelihoods of vendors and producers in the 8 villages. Low knowledge on various diseases affecting cattle was mentioned by farmers as a challenge especially under semi intensive/intensive production systems -in contrast to extensive systems where farmers are more knowledgeable as they often diagnose diseases and administer drugs on their own. Lack of knowledge and equipment for milk testing was also mentioned by vendors as a challenge.Feed availability varied with seasons. In the long and short wet seasons there was abundant feed in the 8 villages. In the dry season, little feed was available in both extensive and semi-intensive production systems. The extensive system necessitated seasonal movement or migration (temporary transhumance system) of animals to areas where there is pasture and water. This affects milk availability in the three main milk channels and the price of milk increases.Lack of access to feeds (concentrates) was mentioned as a challenge in semi -intensive systems. Preferential feeding was reported by farmers in semi-intensive/intensive systems, especially Manyinga village where pregnant cows were fed with concentrate 2 -3 months before calving. There are fewer types of feed contributing to the diet of an animal in the extensive than in the intensive system, for example animals are fed on communal grazing land, legumes and cereal residues, grazing in the valley and transhumance while in semi-intensive and intensive systems animals have greater varieties of feeds, including grasses from communal land, planted grasses, crop residue (cereals and legumes), maize bran, tree leaves, conserved feeds, as well as banana pseudo and stem tubers. Constraints related to feeds in extensive system s are attributed to scarcity of land and water, while lack of knowledge on feed conservation is the main constraint in the semi-intensive/intensive systems.In extensive systems, indigenous breeds dominate, with just a few improved breeds. The main traits of indigenous breeds include tolerance to harsh environments and diseases. The types of animals kept in semi-intensive and intensive systems are mainly crossbreds of indigenous breed (Tanzania shorthorn Zebu and Boran) with exotic breeds of dairy cattle mainly Friesian, Ayrshire and Jersey and few exotic breeds (only one farmer in Kwang'wenda village kept pure exotic breed). The main characteristics of the improved breeds include producing high quantity of milk and meat, high growth rate, and high prices in the market.The main mating method in the extensive system is through use of bulls (natural mating) while in semi-intensive/intensive systems, both AI and natural mating are practiced. There were challenges of low conception rates when AI was used. Farmers in the extensive system reported that they acquire new animals through purchasing from the primary market and from neighbours, while farmers in semi-intensive areas (Mvomero and Lushoto) acquired animals through Heifer Project International (HPI). Others purchase from neighbours. Livestock keepers in Handeni and Lushoto normally purchase crossbred animals from a government institution known as Buhuri Livestock Institution located in Tanga.There is a clear gender division of labour in the extensive system. Men oversee all activities related to livestock production. On top of domestic chores, women perform the daily management of calves, milking and selling of milk. Women spend more hours performing activities related to animals than men in the extensive system. Both men and women fetch grasses and water for animals in semi-intensive systems. Similarly, important decisions on livestock management are jointly made in semi-intensive systems. In the extensive system, men make most decisions except on issues related to marketing of milk. Women also control income from sale of milk in both semi-intensive and extensive systems.Livestock production was the main source of income among farmers in the extensive system, with crop production being the second source. Crop production was the main source of income among farmers in semi-intensive systems, followed by livestock keeping.Farmers practicing extensive farming are more knowledgeable on livestock diseases compared to those in the intensive systems. There is less knowledge on zoonotic diseases, as farmers in the extensive system believed that raw milk is safe after filtering and they did not link raw milk consumption to any diseases. The participants had less knowledge of zoonotic diseases like anthrax, brucellosis, rift valley fever or salmonellosis that could be associated with human illness sourced from animals.It is recommended that short and long term interventions are required to improve livestock production across the 8 villages. Awareness/training of farmers on issues related to zoonotic diseases, feed production, conservation and storage is required. Furthermore, farmer based hubs are recommended in both extensive and intensive production systems as there is enough milk to be collected in some areas, and all farmers need inputs and services in all areas. Concerted effort in the management of the farmer based hubs is required in collaboration with the local government and private sectors to ensure sustainability of the venture. The livestock production sub-sector is the second employer next to agriculture in Tanzania. Of 4.9 million agricultural households, about 36% keep livestock (35% are engaged in both crop and livestock production; only 1% are purely livestock keepers). The livestock sector contributed 5.9% to total GDP in 2006, of which dairy production contributed about 30%, after beef production (40%). Other stock provided 30%. Livestock not only contributes to the national GDP but also provides food (meat, milk and eggs) to communities. The sector therefore acts as a living bank as it acts as a source of income for the livestock keepers. Furthermore, the sector contributes manure and draft power (Njombe and Msanga, 2009).Despite its importance, the contribution of livestock could be higher. This is because, among others, subsistence production dominates the sector and commercial (smallholder) dairy production is constrained by diseconomies of scale. Other constraints include high risks associated with unorganised milk sales particularly in relation to prices, limited feed sources and animal health problems. Furthermore, complex cooperative models and technology-driven solutions for smallholder cattle owners in most locations have largely failed because they presuppose an unrealistic level of production and organisational commitment and capacities. Moreover, the sector lacks suitable organisational models to facilitate collective action for bulking milk. This could be an entry point to milk markets and access to inputs and services while increasing the capacity of poor cattle keepers to innovate, manage risk, reduce vulnerability, increase their income and ensure food security.Based on these challenges, a project known as \"adapting dairy market hubs for propoor smallholder value chains in Tanzania\" was formulated to ensure inclusive growth and reduced poverty and vulnerability among dairy dependent households. ILRI and the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) are implementing the project (also known as MoreMilkIT). The FGDs were carried out to inform the next steps in this projecy as well as two others: the IFAD-funded MilkIT project and the BMZ-funded Safe Food Fair Food (SFFF2) project.The diagnostic (value chain assessment) toolkit applied in this phase was developed under the three CGIAR research programs on Livestock and Fish, Agriculture for improved Nutrition and Health and Policies, Institutions, and Markets. The kit was adapted for Tanzania with various national partners. The FGDs aimed to:  Characterize the context, and community perspectives of the current situation with respect to dairy production, market channels and actors, including flows of dairy inputs and outputs along the marketing chain;  Identify constraints, barriers to participation by poor men and women, opportunities for value chain upgrading and expansion, and associated risks with particular regard to domains of feeds, breeding, animal health and food safety;  Characterize the possible forms and functions of dairy hubs, by looking at producers' problems and opportunities and identifying key indicators to be factored into detailed site selection for the hubs and baseline survey to address.Eight FGDs were conducted, each with about 24 male and female cattle keepers, in Morogoro (Kilosa and Mvomero districts) and Tanga regions (Handeni and Lushoto districts). These sites were previously identified through spatial analysis, consultation with stakeholders and pre-site selection scoping studies. The districts were chosen to represent: a) pre-commercial rural production to rural consumption and b) relatively more commercial rural production to urban consumption. Within each district, the aim was to randomly select a village that represents the dominant and emerging (if ≥5% of cattle) dairy production systems: extensive/ (agro) pastoral, semi-intensive/sedentary and intensive/also sedentary as indicated in Table 1.  The first two production system categories mainly have Zebu cattle while the latter represent improved dairy that is a total of about 192 farmers (2 regions x2 districts x2 systems=8 FGDs x 24 farmers each) as shown in Table 2. The aim was to have a relatively homogenous group of farmers in terms of their production system/breeds during each PRA. All systems were therefore represented by at least 2 villages (3 groups of extensive/agro pastoral Zebu farmers; 3 groups of extensive/sedentary Zebu farmers and 2 groups of semi intensive and intensive improved breed farmers).Farmers were randomly selected from a typical village community identified by the local government authority representing the site production system. Using the list of households (hh) available from the village leaders, farmers were randomly selected (using a table of random numbers). The random selections targeted only cattle-keeping households. In some villages, such as Kwang'wenda in Lushoto district, replacement was done after the selected participants postponed attending. To ensure gender balance, the first household picked was asked to send a man to the meeting, the second a woman, the third a man etc. Random replacement was done where, for example, a female representative was due for selection but the next randomly identified household was male-headed, and vice versa.Key input and service providers were identified using information from the preceding farmer FGDs and key informants. The number of input suppliers interviewed depended on their availability, for instance in some villages such as Kabuku, only one supplier was interviewed, therefore a purposive selection was employed depending on the number of input suppliers available in the area. In general, input suppliers were individually interviewed.Key milk vendors and traders were similarly identified. Again the number of milk vendors/traders depended on local availability. In some villages such as Kwampunda there was one trader buying milk from nearby villages and selling it fermented to Kwampunda communities. Similarly, there was a trader in Kwang'wenda village buying fresh milk from farmers within the village to make fermented milk. In Kilosa district, a good number of vendors were in Kimamba area collecting milk from Mbwade and Twatwatwa villages.The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) team was led by the gender analyst responsible for a gendered value chain assessment (VCA) in project sites. The team visited four districts of Kilosa and Mvomero in Morogoro Region, Handeni and Lushoto of Tanga Region. Two villages were randomly selected from each district to make a total of 8 villages. Three FGDs were concurrently run in each village.In the morning session, the facilitator introduced the aim of the research, thereafter requested participants to select few representatives to draw up a village map. Mainly two men and two women (or three men and one woman in some areas where the number of women participants were few or came late) mapped out their village indicating natural resources, social and financial resources, infrastructures, social services and land use system within the village.The remaining group was further divided into two sex-disaggregated groups of men and women. Participants were requested to explain their responsibilities from the time of waking up to when they go to sleep. Furthermore, participants were asked to indicate their decision making power between men and women on various aspects related to livestock keeping.Livelihood analysis was also done in sex-disaggregated groups indicating the contribution of livestock to livelihood of men and women. Furthermore, participants identified important livelihood activities and income sources (on farm, off -farm, and non-farm) and trends. All livelihood sources both from within the area were listed and ranked. The main emphasis was to compare the role of livestock related activities to other activities. A short discussion was held with participants to assess if the importance of livelihood activities has changed in the past five years for men and women.In the afternoon session, participants were divided into three separate groups each with a mix of men and women. One of the three groups handled the participatory epidemiology aiming at acquiring information on animal health, knowledge on public health related issues as well as milk-borne diseases and zoonotic. Participants were requested to list constraints to dairying including feed, disease, markets, improved breeds, low production, insecurity etc.The second group discussed issues related to feeds mainly focusing on understanding the role of producers in the livestock value chain, with respect to feed availability in various seasons; feed use, conservation, and quality along the year and the technical support services affecting feed production. Some of the quantitative aspects arrive d at through group consensus were recorded. Breeds and a breeding management tool were administered by this group mainly focusing on the breeding practices and management strategies.The third group discussed issues related to the value chain with producers. The main emphasis was on the place of the producer in the milk value chain. An interactive diagram was drawn indicating actors buying from and selling to producers. Furthermore, marketing channels were identified and characterized. All the transactions and relations between buyers, sellers and other actors were described.On the second day, a few representatives from the research team visited input and service providers.Through FGD, participatory mapping for each village was conducted to indicate natural resources, infrastructures and social services available in the study area.The two rivers of Wami and Mgombelanga which serve as sources of drinking water for livestock in Mbwade village, Kilosa district were located on the map. The borehole located near the primary market is used as a source of water for domestic use and livestock (mainly calves and shoats) in Mbwade village. Twatwatwa village shares the Wami River with Mbwade village which is west of Twatwatwa village. The Mkata River is the northern boundary of Twatwatwa village which serves as a major source of water. Water flows diminish in both rivers in the dry season. Livestock migrate during dry seasons along the Mkata River in search of water. In addition, the Rugenge stream which originates and ends within Twatwatwa village serves as a watering source during the heavy rain season.Kambala village in Mvomero district has three rivers which maintain water flow throughout the year, though water levels differ with seasons. The rivers are Wami, Mkindo and Wami which act as the eastern boundary of the village. The Manyinga village is endowed with the Kiongoya River which is the landmark that defines Manyinga. There is a stream in the northern part along the sugar cane plantation, the presence of Chaco dam around the settlement is a source of water for livestock.Sindeni village in Handeni district is endowed with seasonal rivers such as Mchonzi, Mnyuzi and Longwelo in the south, the Mnyuzi River traverses the village and provides water for livestock and domestic use. The village also has Tumbili Mountain and a forest within the mountain which is important for rainfall catchment.In Kwang'wenda village, there is a river situated in the southern part of the village. The presence of hilly forest known as Kwemringoti facilitates better access to livestock feeds and rainfall catchment. Agricultural activities serve as source of crop re sidues for animals in the drought/feed shortage. The Mshizii River serves as a source of water for livestock. Similarly the rivers Zege, Mponde and Kwandogoi provide water for livestock in Kwampunda village. The village is also bordered with a mountain to the north which is important for rainfall catchment. The village maps also indicate social services such as schools, churches, mosques, hospitals, NGO offices and primary courts. For extensive system, the primary market serves as a place to sell livestock and purchase veterinary inputs. A cattle dip tank operated by the farmer's association in Sindeni is an indicator that these farmers are committed in fighting against tick-borne diseases and biting flies.Almost all 8 villages had road networks except Kambala village which is only accessible in the dry season. Other villages such as Kabuku are at the highway from Dar es Salaam to Arusha which offers potential for milk marketing.Most of the villages visited have electrical power except Mbwade and Kambala.Electricity provides an opportunity to install chilling plants where milk could be collected before transferring it for processing. Farmers in villages such as Twatwatwa, Manyinga, Kabuku, Sindeni, Kwang'wenda and Kwampunda have access to electricity and therefore have access to maize hurling and milling machines where they can buy maize bran as feed supplement to cattle.The common economic activities revealed from the participatory mapping were livestock keeping and agriculture. Livestock keeping is dominant under the extensive/agro-pastoral system while agricultural activities dominated the semiintensive system (Manyinga and Kwang'wenda villages).Three main seasons were identified: the dry season, long and short wet season. Livestock (cattle) keeping under the extensive production system (in Mbwade, Twatwatwa, Kambala and Sindeni) is characterized by migration of livestock during the dry season whereas crop production is carried out during the rainy seasons. The figures for rainfall distribution are indicated in Table 4. In almost all villages in Ki losa and Mvomero districts, rainfall reaches its maximum in March, April and May whereas the dry season runs from June to September. The short wet beginning in the last two weeks of September-January brings some relief in feeding of animals. Lushoto district mainly in Kwang'wenda village experience a different rainfall pattern with the dry season running from January to February and it is very short compared to other villages. The long (heavy) wet season runs March to June while the short wet also takes almost six months from June to December. This is an opportunity to grow pastures throughout the year. For Manyinga village, the trend was different as the amount of milk produced reaches its peak between March and May and drops in August to October. However, the extent of the decline in milk production is not as high as it was in extensive systems. In Kwang'wenda village in Lushoto, more milk is available during July to October with less milk in the two months of January and February in the dry season. Milk production increases gradually from March reaching its peak in July. In September and October there is a constant milk production thereafter a gradual decrease beginning from December to February.There were three milk selling channels in all the extensive production systems. Milk outlets such as selling at collection centres through vendors, individual households/neighbours and local restaurants for the villages of Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kambala were mentioned. Previously, Sindeni villagers used to sell their milk to an agent for Tanga Fresh (collection tank) which is currently closed, therefore the village only has two outlets (individuals/neighbours and restaurants). Proportional pilling techniques was used to allocate the quantity of milk retained at home and the proportion of milk sold to outlet markets. vendors in all seasons (table 6). Some of the producers were also vendors taking milk direct to collection centres. Almost 50% of milk is sold to restaurants in the dry season, because of the high price they offer for Mbwade and Twatwatwa villages. Other channels such as Tanga Fresh and Tan Dairies are supplied with small quantit ies of milk or drop out in the dry season. However, more milk is sold to collection centres in the long and short wet seasons where milk production is at its peak. Kambala village depends mainly on outlets available within the village, Turiani Township and beside the Dakawa highway between Dodoma and Dar-es-salaam). About 48 to 57% of milk produced in Kambala is retained for home consumption due to lack of markets in the long wet season. In Sindeni village nearly 78% of the Zigua ethnic group sell milk to vendors while most of the Maasai producers (56%) sell milk to local households and restaurants. The Maasai often reside in inaccessible areas which are not easily accessed by vendors. When the Tanga Fresh collection centre was operating, vendors used to take milk from the Maasai areas as well and only 7% of milk was sold to neighbours, 19% to local restaurants and 74% was sold to the Tanga Fresh agent. Following the absence of the Tanga Fresh agent, they depend on village consumers who can't consume more than 30% of the marketable milk. Milk producers in Kabuku said that 80% of milk produced is sold to neighbours within the village while 20% is sold to nearby restaurants. Participants reported that 1 to 2 litres is consumed each day at home to improve the nutritional status of the family.Milk produced in the semi-intensive system is mainly sold to neighbours (Manyinga). During the wet season, farmers have to walk around selling milk within Turiani township. All the channels operate year-round. Small amounts of milk are channeled to restaurants through vendors, as indicated in the individual village reports. In Kwang'wenda village, a large proportion of the milk (55%) is supplied to restaurants, neighbours (25%) and the remainder (20%) is consumed at home, especially during the wet seasons.More milk is supplied to restaurants because of the higher prices they offer, typically 500 to 600 TSh per litre compared to the fixed price offered by neighbours of 400 TSh per litre in Kwang'wenda village (table 7). The flow of milk is mainly rural-rural. Based on the fact that the dry season is only for two months, less milk is produced b ut still all the channels are maintained throughout the year.For Manyinga village, the prices range from 600 to 800 TSh per litre. The highest price is also offered by restaurants and neighbours while the lowest price is offered by vendors. For extensive production systems in which plenty of milk is produced in the long wet season, the selling prices range from 250-400 TSh for Twatwatwa, Mbwade and Kambala villages, mainly selling to collection centres. Good prices are offered by restaurants and neighbours. Milk sold at restaurants and neighbours at Kabuku village offers the highest price (1000-1500 TSh for fermented milk). The only reason given was because of being close to the highway, there is high movement of people. Payments are through cash and bills. The bill system dominated in the extensive production system such as Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kambala villages. It was rare to conduct a cash payment when selling to collection centres. For instance, Tanga Fresh and Tan-dairies collection centres take 10-12 days to pay for milk. Restaurants take 3-5 days and individual consumers take 15-30 days. Payments in Manyinga and Kwang'wenda were mainly cash and when check off are provided it takes just 7 days through verbal agreements.Value chain mapping in extensive (Zebu dominated system)Value chain mapping was done a day later after identification of vendors and traders during the focus group (FGD) session with producers. The sales outlets were milk vendors who purchase milk from producers and sell to milk collection centres namely Tan-Dairies/DESA and Tanga Fresh, households and restaurants in Kimamba, a small town located about 5 km from Mbwade and 20 km from Twatwatwa village (figure 3).Vendors said that only vendors with motorcycles manage to collect milk from Twatwatwa village due to long distances. A few women in Twatwatwa process milk into yoghurt and ghee which is sold within the village.Milk vendors in Kambala village supply milk to Tan Dairies located in Dakawa highway and restaurants in Dakawa. Similarly, Kambala farmers used to sell milk to Shambani milk collection centre which is currently not operating. Other vendors sell milk at Turiani Township and to households in Kambala. PP Farmers obtain inputs (such as veterinary drugs) from the primary auction market and from veterinary shops located in Morogoro for Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kambala villages. The milling machine available in Twatwatwa could be used as source of maize bran for livestock feeds. Provision of AI services is through local government authorities and vaccination services during disease outbreak were mentioned by livestock producers in the extensive system.Vendors collecting milk from Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kimamba continue selling to collection centres in the dry season when milk supplies are low as this ensures they can continue selling in the long wet season when milk production is higher than demand. Vendors collecting milk from Mbwade and Twatwatwa villages supply to Kimamba restaurants and individual households. Vendors collecting milk from Kambala supply milk to restaurants at Dakawa highway and other villages.Milk retained at home in the extensive system is processed into products mainly fermented milk (figure 4). These are sold within the villages to neighbours and friends and are not a reliable business. The value chain map on milk products is therefore very short and the main actors are women. Participants say they rarely sell butter because most of it is stored for use in the dry season. Most farmers in Kambala village purchase inputs from Dakawa area. The representative for Tan-dairies collection centre located at Dakawa highway says that they sometimes sell a mineral leak commonly known as 'Jiwe lishe' to producers in Kambala village. The Tan Dairies representative further said that they have a plan to provide motorcycles and veterinary drugs through credit. The Tan Dairies representative in Kimamba township collecting milk from Mbwade and Twatwatwa said that they were involved in a public health campaign with district officials to distribute motorcycles to milk vendors Milk producersNeighbours households friends on credit. Milk vendors collecting milk from Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kambala said that they sometimes purchased veterinary drugs, medicine and some basic household requirements for producers in Kambala from Wami-Dakawa centre.Milk produced by farmers in the semi-intensive system in Manyinga, Kwang'wenda, Kwapunda and Kabuku villages is sold through three main channels, which are local sales to neighbours, restaurants and vendors (Figure 5). Prices offered by farmers in Kwang'wenda were lower compared to Manyinga in Mvomero (table 3). There is only one vendor in Kwang'wenda village purchasing fresh milk to process into fermented milk.Input suppliers in semi-intensive systems include government veterinary officers in Kwang'wenda and Manyinga who provides veterinary drugs, advisory and Artificial Insemination (AI) services. Prices offered at Kwang'wenda village for AI service are higher (25,000 TSh) compared to Manyinga village (10,000 TSh). AI services in Kabuku are provided at (10,000 TSh) by an individual provider trained by Land'O'Lakes. Farmers complained about the use of AI for breeding purposes as conception rate was found to be very low. Some of the farmers said that they sometimes repeated insemination up to three times with no success. Based on this, farmers do not have much trust in AI. The government also supplies services such as vaccines against animal diseases and Boran bulls for breeding in some of the villages of Kambala, Kabuku and Manyinga village s.Other inputs such as feed supplements such as maize bran and sunflower cake are available from the local mill at Turiani (mainly from Madizini area for Manyinga village). Farmers in Kwang'wenda purchase maize bran from mills at Soni Township and from Mombo area (30 km away). Molasses are available in Turiani and Kabuku area, though they are currently not used as feed for animals but rather used to make local brews. For extensive systems in which milk is sold at the collection centres, the Tan-Dairies purchase price is determined by the company's marketing officers based in Dar es Salaam. The collection centre is then given the indicative purchasing price per litre which is then announced to vendors and producers. Procedures are similar for Tanga Fresh whose prices are determined by the head office.Price-setting for household/individual/neighbours and restaurants and vendors relies on verbal agreement based on market forces and prices offered by the companies. Price fluctuations were reported by both vendors and producers, with changed two to three times a year depending on milk availability as influenced by the season. In the semiintensive system, prices are also set through verbal agreements with neighbours and local restaurants.Tan-Dairies and Tanga Fresh collection centres test milk quality using various tools. Since some farmers use a certain tree locally known as msisiro to improve milk aroma, they also test for smell.Milk vendors test milk quality using local means such as pouring some milk on the ground and observing viscosity. Others said that they pour a small amount of milk in a container and dip a nail (ukucha wa kidole) and a match box stick (njiti ya keberiti) to test for viscosity of milk. Milk with high viscosity is of good quality. Constraints in semi-intensive systems  Inadequate markets for milk so producers waste time walking around looking for customers (Kwang'wenda and Manyinga).  Lack of input suppliers within the village (Kwang'wenda).  High prices for inputs for both extensive and intensive production system s.  Lack of knowledge on diseases affecting cattle as farmers must wait for a livestock extension officer who serves many farmers and sometimes has no means of transport.  Lack of knowledge on milk testing was also mentioned by vendors, especially in the dry season. There is a tendency for farmers to add water to the milk. Unreliable markets for milk, especially in the long wet season.  Few collection centres in all 8 villages visited. Price fluctuations at collection centres.  High prices for inputs in all 8 villages.  Lack of access to feeds (concentrates) as some villages have no electricity and therefore no mill where they can buy maize bran. In some areas molasses was used to make a local brew and not as feed for animals.  Input suppliers mention lack of access to credit due to high interest charged by financial institutions as a challenge to expanding their business.  Lack of strong associations for farmers to tackle some milk selling constraints such as price setting. An exception is Kambala village where there is a milkselling association called Kikundi cha Wauza Maziwa Kambala (KIWAMAKA).Constraints to milk purchase were mentioned by vendors (table 8):Distance: vendors say they travel long distances from one producer to another and therefore take 1-2 hours to collect milk from farmers. Milk from producers is transported by bicycle to the collection centres at Kimamba township which is 3-20 km from Mbwade or Twatwatwa villages. Similarly, milk transported from Kambala to Dakawa travels 20 km by bicycle; sometimes the road is not passable especially during the rainy season. In addition, distance increase when cattle are moved to search for pastures in the dry season.Bicycle breakdowns may also cause delays. Milk vendors are required to make all milk deliveries to collection centres by 10:00 am. Based on this, vendors prefer motorcycles because more milk can be collected at a time and less time is taken to collect and transport the milk. Vendors said that a motorcycle can also be used for other businesses after delivery of milk, for example to transport passengers.Price offered at the selling points: Vendors say that the low prices offered by the collection centres do not give them high enough profit margins.Lack of milk quality test equipment such as thermometers and lactometers was mentioned, especially to inspect and reject adulterated milk at the farm gate. The main objective of the assessment was to understand seasonal feed availability, feed use, feed conservation and quality through the year and the technical and institutional support services affecting feed production.The villages involved in the study under the extensive livestock production system were Twatwatwa, Mbwade and Kambala in Kilosa district and Sindeni in Handeni district. The systems are characterised by large herds of indigenous cattle and goats.The main feeding systems used by farmers under the extensive livestock production were grazing on communal land in the wet season and pastoral transhumance (only the livestock are moved) in the dry season. Animals are moved because the available pastures in the village lands during the dry season cannot support the large herds. Only a few animals, normally ten lactating cows, young calves and one bull per family, are left behind to provide milk to the family. The animals remaining at home when others migrate are grazed on communal land within the village, where they largely survive on limited natural pastures, crop residues and tree branches, such as acacia species.Supplementation is rarely practiced; only a few farmers in Kambala said that they supplement maize bran to animals which are left at home in the dry season. This suggests a transition step for pastoralists, moving from traditional transhumance to sedentary production systems. In addition, the herders grow crops, implying that any attempts to reduce the existing effects of seasonal feed availability and increasing land sizes would shift the system towards sedentary semi-intensive systems. There is a possibility to intervene on the few cows that are left at home during the dry season by improving their productivity through proper feeding and where possible upgrading them through cross-breeding with exotic dairy breeds. This could bring some awareness to the pastoralists of the importance of investing in fewer animals to meet their needs.Results from the proportional pilling in all the four villages under extensive production systems indicate that there is normally plenty of pasture during the long and short wet seasons and feed scarcity is experienced only in the dry season.The months with plenty of pastures and deficits differ between villages as summarized in Table 9. Generally, March to June has excess feed in all the villages under the extensive production system. During these months, animals graze in the communal village land and are placed in kraals at night.Feed conservation is not commonly practiced in these areas. Further probing revealed that livestock keepers had no knowledge of feed conservation. Pastoralists could practice rotational grazing during these months in which animals graze in one area at a time and conserve standing hay or `ngitiri` as done in Shinyanga and other parts of Tanzania to be used during the dry season, normally August to October. However, land shortage in relation to herd size is another challenge in these villages.Milk production Mbwade Variation in milk yields match feed availability in all the villages and is lowest between August to January, except for Twatwatwa village where milk yield was highest in January. Milk production was peaks when pastures in the village communal areas were plentiful, during the long wet season from March to May. From late July when there is pasture scarcity in the villages, milk production declines until January. This is also associated with migration of the animals. The high milk yield in January for Twatwatwa is probably due to the short rains which increases pasture availability. The trend in milk yield was also related to calving periods. Cows normally produce high milk in the first two months after calving. In some villages, such as Twatwatwa and Kambala, the peak calving period was in December. In Kambala this period coincides with shortages of both water and pastures, resulting in low milk yields.In the extensive livestock production system it was observed that animals rely largely on natural pastures in the communal land, as well as crop residues. In Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Kambala villages, animals graze on communal village land from January to June and most animals are moved (transhumance) to other areas from July to December. Few animals remain in the village to feed on crop residues, mainly maize stover and tree branches. In Sindeni, the situation is slightly different, where in January and February there is a feed shortage and animals graze by the valleys and river basins. Some pastoralists move their cattle to another place called Mswaha, about 25 km from the village centre, where feeds and water are available, implying that they practice transhumance system, due to shortage of both pastures and water.From March to June, cattle graze in the communal land within the village as there are plenty of pastures due to the rainy season. In July and August, animals are partly grazed in the communal village land and in the valleys and river basins. In September animals are grazed on the crop farms, where they obtain crop residues from maize, beans and cowpeas. Grazing also occurs in the valleys and river basins. Towards the end of October to November, short rains are expected, which enhance pasture growth in the fields whereby animals are mostly grazed in the communal village land.The subject on feed quality was difficult for the respondents to comprehend. They indicated that selection of pastures for grazing was based on physical characteristics, rather than what pastures offer to the animals. Appropriate areas for grazing are chosen by observing an area where the sward has not been trampled by other animals.They do not have knowledge on feeding and feed quality, thus they acknowledged the need for such knowledge. Respondents noted that they never have received advice from extension officers or any others about feeds and proper feeding of animals.There was no feed conservation practiced in either of the villages under the extensive system. Participants indicated a lack of knowledge on feed conservation. Others were quoted whispering \"how can one conserve feed for such large herds of cattle?\" Generally participants indicated the need for training in relation to feed conservation. None of the pastoralists cultivated pastures or fodder plants.Farmers in villages under extensive production system rarely buy feeds for their cattle but sometime they buy some concentrates for chickens. There is minimal investment in feeding animals. Only one farmer in Twatwatwa claimed to buy maize bran to supplement animals which remain in the boma during the dry season. A few herders indicated that they buy crop residues from farmers for their animals.The main feed related constraints facing the livestock farmers under the extensive system in the order of importance were lack of water and feeds in the dry season, land shortage, conflict between crop growers and livestock keepers, limited extension services and hence knowledge barriers.Limited water and feeds during the dry season was mentioned as the major obstacle (table 10) and the major contributors to the problem of seasonal milk supply by the farmers. Only seasonal rivers and streams were available in these villages; they normally dry up during the dry season.The problem of water supply both for humans and animals could be solved through rainwater harvesting or construction of bore holes. In some of the villages visited, rainwater harvesting was practiced mainly through construction of Chaco dams, which require institutional solutions due to the required high investment costs. However, some of these dams dry out during prolonged dry seasons.Various other techniques could be used to solve the problem of feed shortage in the dry season. Feed conservation, through standing or harvested hay could be used. However, farmers have limited knowledge on feed conservation techniques. Farmers in in some villages, Sindeni and Kambala for example, indicated that they need knowledge on feed conservation to ensure feed availability in the dry season.They perceived the need for feed conservation in the future because land for grazing is becoming smaller and smaller due to the influx of pastoralists from northern Tanzania and the increasing population of cattle in the villages. This trend has led to shortages of pasture, especially during the dry season, forcing herders to move animals to other places. There was an initiative to conserve standing hay, but they participants were unable to control animals grazing on their areas.Some people in Sindeni had individually-demarcated farms, though grazing was communal. In such case, partitioning of the farms into paddocks and practicing rotational grazing could save some plots being grazed during the dry season, hence minimizing the problem of dry season feeding. Proper utilisation of crop residues could also alleviate the problem of feed shortages in the dry season. All villages visited cultivate crops such as maize, paddy, pulses, sorghum, sunflower, sesame and sweet potatoes. Some of the residues from these crops are grazed in situ, which result in much feed loss due to trampling. Other residues, such as paddy straw are rarely used because grazing animals are restricted from entering paddy fields in case they destroy the irrigation systems. These materials and other residues are normally burned by the farmers. The straw could be collected, conserved and treated to improve feed quality before being fed. The question is how one could harvest, store and treat enough feed for the large herds normally kept by pastoralists. In addition, the herders face conflicts with farmers, especially when animals graze in farmers' fields. The village councils in some villages have had to allocate areas for grazing animals to avoid conflicts between herders and farmers.Some of the pastoralists in Kambala and Twatwatwa villages indicated that they negotiate with crop farmers and pay for stover before animals graze in the farms. Animals are only allowed to graze in crop farms after harvesting.Problems of seasonal feed availability could also be minimized by establishing fodder banks in the valleys. Participants indicated a lack of knowledge on fodder planting and a lack of seeds. On-farm demonstrations of fodder planting in the valleys would improve dry season feed availability in some villages under the extensive system, for example Sindeni. The challenge remains to control fodder banks from being grazing by animals.Another issues linked to the availability of feeds is shortage of land. This is due to various factors. The continuous influx of livestock from other communities to the villages significantly contributes to the land shortage. Lack of enough land for grazing was mentioned by participants in Sindeni, mainly the indigenous (Zigua) due to influx of migrants from Arusha (Waarusha and the Maasai). When asked about a solution, participants had no answer because the indigenous (Zigua) sold land to the migrants and they live in harmony. Reducing the numbers of stock per grazing area is one solution to the problem. This was not supported by Maasai women as one of them was quoted as saying \"Maasai hashibi ng'ombe\" which literally translated means \"Maasai will never ever have enough cattle\". Allocation of land to some private investors is also mentioned as reducing grazing land in Twatwatwa. This also led to conflicts between the investor and the herders to the extent that the investor sprays toxic substances on the pastures so prohibiting animals from grazing in his fields. In Kambala, which is close to Morogoro town, there is high influx of immigrants buying village land.Weed and bush encroachment and termite destruction of the pastures also reduce pasture for animals. The herders were shown to have limited knowledge of controlling weeds, bush and termites in their grazing fields. Research is needed on appropriate ways to control termites in standing hay or harvested conserved feeds.Lack of associations dealing with issues of feed availability also limits cattle productivity. Only in Kambala were farmers organised to solve feed problems in an association known as KIPOK (a Maasai word literally means \"healing\"). The group deals with the production of animal feeds, supervised by the Ward Executive Officer under the local government program known as District Agricultural Development Program (DADP).In conclusion, there is seasonal feed availability in all the villages, with excess feed during the rainy season (March to May) and extreme scarcity during the dry season (August to October). This is linked to seasonal milk production, with high milk production in the rainy season and minimal production in the dry season. The main constrains to feed availability were centred on limited land and knowledge and minimal attention taken to solve some of the identified feed related problems.The villages under the semi-intensive and intensive livestock production systems were Manyinga in Mvomero district, Kabuku in Handeni district, Kwapunda and Kwang'wenda in Lushoto district. The system is characterised by smallholder production with small land sizes (1-5 ha) and small cattle herds (2-3 lactating cows) of improved or crossbred cattle. There were also some extensive systems being practiced in these villages. In all these villages, livestock is integrated with crops such as maize, pulses, paddy, banana, cassava, groundnuts, vegetables and sugarcane. Sisal is also cultivated in Kwapunda village.In the semi-intensive system in Kabuku and Kwampunda villages, animals are grazed in the fields during the day and confined in barns during the night, where they are fed harvested chopped grasses in their feed troughs. In some cases, animals are tethered on a tree and allowed to feed on the grass grown underneath. Animals under the intensive system in Manyinga and Kwang'wenda villages are confined throughout the day in constructed animal structures in backyards. They are fed grass and other feeds. A few farmers practice preferential feeding, whereby pregnant cows 2-3 months before calving are given supplemental feeds, normally hominy feed/maize bran or rice bran mixed with mineral supplements. Other farmers supplement cows after calving. Calves were normally fed soft grass and supplemented with the same concentrate mixture as was fed to cows until they are 3 months of age. Leftovers from lactating cows and calves are given to the bull.Table 11 summarizes monthly feed availability and milk production in the study villages under the semi-intensive and intensive production system as perceived by the focus group participants. Low feed availability is experienced in the dry season, while abundant feed is available in the long and short wet seasons in all the villages. Except for Kwangwenda village, the seasonal patterns of feed availability are similar in all villages, experiencing critical feed scarcity in October and excess feed between March and May. A period of critical feed shortage in Kwang'wenda occurs from November to February; excess feed is available in July and August. This variation is due to differences in agro-ecological zones: Kwang'wenda is at a high altitude, the other three villages are in the lowlands.  Despite the prolonged cropping season, the quality of feed resources in Kwang'wenda seemed not to decrease, thus milk yield increase from May to November. The weather in the village is cool, a typical temperate type of climate. It could be that the quality of forages matches those found in temperate climates. This however, needs to be investigated in another study.Milk production follows a similar trend to pasture availability and depends on rainfall patterns in Manyinga and Kwang'wenda. In Manyinga, milk production slightly drops from July to October but not as severely as pasture availability. The probable reason is that during the dry season farmers go to the valleys far away to harvest forages and bring this to the animals. Participants say they go as far as 20 km with bicycles and it is normally a full day's work. Another reason is that farmers normally buy more concentrate and supplement animals during forage scarcity. One thing to note here is that farmers consider forages as the only feed for their cattle. Thus, the pattern indicated on Table 11 is mainly for the forage or pasture availability.Farmers only feed crop residues when there is forage scarcity. One respondent narrated that farmers are not aware of the use of rice straw as animal feed. Most crop residues are plentiful in the fields and freely available in Manyinga village, in other villages, farmers purchase stover and bean straw from crop farmers.The types of feeds used by farmers under semi-intensive and intensive systems to feed their animals are more than those used in extensive system. They include natural pastures, crop residues, fodder crops, banana leaves and pseudo stems, conserved feeds, concentrate and mineral supplements.The study revealed that the commonly used feed resource is forage from the natural grasses, harvested from owned farms or open lands. These are abundantly available during the rainy season. Another source are planted forages especially Guatemala and Pennisetum that are normally planted on terraces in farms and in some valleys. Tree leaves and branches and other forages also contribute significantly to the diet of the animals throughout the year.Farmers in Kabuku, Manyinga and Kwang'wenda villages have planted multipurpose trees such as Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala and other fodders, such as pennisetum, as these were some of the conditions for getting a dairy animal by the Heifer Project International. The contribution of banana leaves and pseudo stems is also considerable during the rainy season. Crop residues, mainly maize stover and bean straws and hauls contribute considerably to the diet of animals during the dry season.Farmers in Kwapunda revealed that they graze on communal land in the mountainous areas, and in the sisal fields and crop farms after crop harvest. They do not have planted fodder. During the dry season, farmers normally move long distances and sometimes outside their villages to seek pastures. There is normally no conflict between farmers and crop producers, since forages are harvested from the communal land and there are good relations in terms of harvesting in ones cultivated farm. A few farmers conserve feeds, mainly crop residues, to use when there is feed scarcity. However, they said they have limited knowledge on feed conservation and are not knowledgeable in hay making. Participants insisted that feed storage requires a constructed barn; their main constraining factor was lack of capital for such construction. Another limitation with conserved feeds was revealed to be unacceptability by the animals. Some use various additives, such as soda ash, salt to sprinkle on the materials to enhance intake.Other feeds used are weeds from the cultivated farms, banana pseudo stems, cassava, both leaves and tubers, and sugarcane tops. Maize bran, rice polishing, seed cakes and minerals were rarely used to supplement animals, mainly only during milking. Lack of capital was often mentioned as a limiting factor to supplement animals with concentrate. This indicates that farmers have limited knowledge on the commercial aspects of farming that needs investment to accrue profits. Nevertheless, there are limited credit facilities for farmers to draw on should they want to pursue more commercial paths.In all the villages under semi-intensive and intensive systems, purchased feeds are mainly used to formulate concentrate diets. Table 12 is an inventory of feeds purchased in Manyinga village. The major feeds purchased were hominy meal, rice polishing, sunflower seed cake and mineral supplements. Hominy meal was obtained from the grain mills. Most respondents in other villages said they get hominy feed when milling maize for their home use, implying that only a limited amount of it is used. Rice polishing was available in paddy de-hulling machines in Manyinga villages, where paddy is being cultivated. Sunflower cake was obtained from the oil processing plants in Manyinga and Kabuku. Other villages could get some of these inputs through traders.Farmers in Kabuku village buy these feeds in large quantities when supply is plentiful and store it for use when there is scarcity. Farmers purchase minerals from farm input shops. There was no complete formulated dairy meal in any of the villages visited as it is rarely available in Tanzania. Molasses is available in sugar processing factories and could be a cheap energy supply to the animals during the dry season. However, it is not much used in feeding animals in all the villages.Trading of forages is done rarely. Some farmers in Kwapunda village buy plots of maize stover and sometimes bundles of forages. However, they indicated that people who cut and trade forages are poorly-respected by the community, hence discouraged.Extension services: Free extension services are available to farmers when requested.Farmer training: Farmers who received dairy cows from Heifer Project International received some initial training on animal husbandry. Some farmers in Kabuku village received training from various institutions on feeds and feeding of cattle.It was revealed that knowledge on feeds and feeding was low for farmers in all the visited villages. The extent that farmers understand the quality aspects of feeds and levels of feeding differs between among villages. Some farmers in Manyinga and Kabuku show some understanding of feed quality and feeding of animals, such as rationing, supplementation and also how to mix different grass types for nutr ient balancing for animals. Farmers in Kwapunda and Kwang'wenda were shown to be less knowledgeable in all aspects. This could be due to differences in levels of education and location of the villages. Some respondents in Manyinga and Kabuku were well educ ated and were government workers and these villages are closer to sub towns and the highway, whereas Kwapunda and Kwang'wenda are in remote areas.Feed supply: In most of the villages visited there were no specific shops for cattle feed supply, such shops are available in the nearby sub-towns.Veterinary services: Animal treatments are provided on request. The costs of transport and treatment are paid by farmers. Artificial insemination (AI) services were available in all villages under semi-intensive and intensive systems, except Kwapunda village. These services were found to be expensive by the farmers. The high cost was due mainly to the distances travelled by the inseminator to follow the farmers. Most of the inseminators stay in the sub-towns near the villages. Another challenge with AI was revealed to be animals not conceiving after several inseminations. Limited services related to feeds and feeding is available in all the villages.Credit services: In all villages visited, there was no indication of any institutions which could provide credit to the farmers. Only the Village Community Based Organisation (VICOBA) is available in some villages.In some villages farmers were organised for solve various problems related to animal production. In Kabuku for example, there was a union for livestock farmers known as UWAKA (Umoja wa Wafugaji Kabuku). Membership is limited to livestock keepers residing in Kabuku and each pays a membership fee of 2,000 TSh and a subscription of 1,500 TSh per month. The group has a well-established constitution. Its activities include provision of livestock education to members, procuring improved breeds of cattle and improving the local breeds through cross breeding with exotic breeds.Respondents in Kabuku also mentioned benefits like collective selling of milk, lending cattle to members, training on livestock keeping and receiving AI service for breeding purposes. They said that their relationships are improved through the association as they help each other in various aspects including social issues. This already established association could be used to transfer technologies on dairy cattle improvement to farmers.In Manyinga, farmers are organised in a group known as KIWAMA. The association is engaged in agricultural activities and livestock keeping. It has a constitution. It aims to install two milk collection centres in Turiani and Madizini. It provides one cow to a member of an association and the first two calves or heifer have to be passed onto another person. They have a slogan in Kiswahili \"Kopa ng'ombe lipa ng'ombe''. Some individual farmers were also members of VICOBA.In other villages there was no farmer organisation dealing with livestock. Some farmers in Kwang'wenda village are members of VICOBA, which is not much involved with livestock improvement. Its main purpose is to build capital to provide small loans to members.The feed-related problems and possible solutions in the semi-intensive and intensive systems are summarized in Table 13. The problems are grouped based on the feed type.Feed-related constraints are linked to some production factors, that are land, labo ur, information and knowledge as well as other factors, such as capital, infrastructure and policy.It is concluded that farmers in the four villages (Manyinga, Kabuku, Kwapunda and Kwang'wenda) under the semi-intensive and intensive livestock production system are smallholders with 1-5 crossbred dairy cows and small land holdings (1-3 ha). The animals are mainly stall-fed with forages and some concentrate supplementation. The sources of forages are open areas, crop farms and own lands. Planted fodder is l imited to a few farmers. The constraints on feed availability are due to small land holdings, seasonal weather variations, small investments and limited knowledge on feed conservation and feeding. Livestock numbers and breeds is a good indicator of the potential of an area to attract investment in milk collection centres and animal health services provision.Participants under both production systems enumerated their stock sizes and breeds. Thirty six participants indicated that they own a total number of 1,127 cattle. Of these, 1,095 were Zebu and 32 were cross-breeds. The extensive production system was dominated by the Tanzanian shorthorn Zebu (indigenous/Zebu) while the semiintensive and intensive were dominated by exotic cross-breeds. In semi-intensive and intensive systems the total number of cattle was 134 (reported by 34 participants). Of these, 52 were Zebu and 82 were exotic or cross-breeds.Focus group participants indicated that the main breeds kept under extensive system s in Twatwatwa, Mbwade, Kambala and Sindeni were indigenous breeds (see Table 14). Most (over 90%) farmers say they keep indigenous breeds; the remaining 10% said that they keep Zebu cross-breed with different levels of exotics such as Boran (for beef) Friesian, Jersey and Ayrshire (for dairy). When participants were required to indicate the main characteristics (both positive and negative) of the breeds mentioned, m ost indicated that the indigenous Zebu tolerates diseases and drought, and provides delicious meat and milk. On the other hand, this indigenous breed produces little milk compared to the improved breeds. Providing comparatively high milk and meat yield was the positive characteristic given to cross-breeds, however, the quality of milk and meat was said to be poor (table 14). Another source of animals was the primary auction market mainly used by farmers in the extensive system. Buying new animals from neighbours was mentioned by farmers from both extensive and intensive system. Participants indicated that their main sources of information on breeding management were mass media and extension officers. They said they were willing to adopt changes such as keeping improved breeds; however lack of capital was a challenge. Participants in the extensive system were not willing to acquire exotic breeds because of the harsh environment. Participants were requested to explain their responsibilities from waking up to when they go to sleep. Livelihood analysis was done to indicate the contributions of livestock to the livelihoods of men and women. Income sources of men and women (on farm, offfarm, and non-farm) and their trends were elicited. The main emphasis was to compare the role of livestock related activities to other activities.Findings (table 19) indicate the gender roles as perceived by women in villages representing the extensive production system (Kambala, Mbwade, Twatwatwa and Sindeni). Women were asked to mention typical daily livestock-related activities in the villages and build a consensus on the same. Women had different timetabl es in the wet and dry seasons. Women wake up early in the wet season as compared to the dry season. They milk larger numbers of cattle than in the dry season. However, in villages such as Twatwatwa where water sources are located far from their residence, women wake up early in the morning, thus having a higher workload than men.Kambala, Kabuku and Kwampunda villages represent agro pastoralists in the extensive system. Crop production is also indicated on the activity profile (table 19). During the wet season men graze around the household in the morning locally known as ( Linga) which has been nicknamed as cattle breakfast.The number of hours spent by women in Kambala was 9 and a half hours working during the dry season and 11 and a half hours in the wet season dealing with activities related to cattle. Men spend 4 and a half hours working with cows in the dry season in Twatwatwa village. Both men and women are involved in livestock production with different and sometimes shared roles.In Twatwatwa village, women escort animals to grazing as it needs some care to prevent cattle grazing near the private ranch. A woman in Twatwatwa village revealed that women are responsible for the daily management of calves, and if a calf is missing the woman will search until it is found. If it is still missing for a day, the husband may assist. If the calf is still missing, the woman will be beaten and asked to go to her parents or relatives and ask for a replacement of the lost animal. Focus group discussants said that both men and women are responsible for separating animals (adult from young animals) and verifying the number and the health status of their animals. During the dry season, when livestock migrate to better pastures, men said that milking cows was part of their responsibility as women are left behind at home.The findings (table 20) indicate the roles assigned to men in extensive system. It was observed that men are the overseer of all activities pertaining to livestock. So me of the activities claimed to be done by men were also done by women. For instance, opening the boma's is usually women's responsibility as they wake up early in the morning to do the milking. Similarly the role of receiving animals from the field is usually done by women as they prepare for milking. Generally men perform the regular guarding at night, specifically in the wet season when the cattle shed is full of mud. Apart from guarding in the night, men spend less time (5-6 hours) doing activities related to livestock in the day time compared to women. Take the animals to graze (young men) 09:30-10:00 10:00-18:00 Men take breakfast (stiff porridge Ugali and fermented milk) Construct or repair the bomas if need arises Searching for areas to graze their livestock in dry season 05:00-18:00Receive cattle from graze 05:00-19:00Check the cattle if are all present Check their health and treating of sick animals 19:00-22:00Rest and eat 22:00-04:00Sleep, but wake up regularly and guard the herd 05:00 Wake up.Women had different gender roles depending on the season in Kwang'wenda village. The dry season is also divided into two sub-sessions; women had two-three days in a week for fetching water for domestic use and cattle. Women wake up early in the morning (3:00am) up to 6:00am fetching water, thereafter; women do the milking and take milk to the market at Soni Township (table 21).Looking at the number of hours women spend dealing with cattle related activiti es include fetching grass, milking and selling of milk, they spend five and a half hours in the dry season. Similarly women spend less time in the wet season because there is plenty of grass. Furthermore, unlike the gender roles in the extensive feeding sy stem, women had time to rest. Men and women do the milking and fetching of water for domestic use and for the animals. Men in Kwang'wenda are willing to perform some of the activities believed to be performed by women in other societies. Similarly, men in Kwampunda village perform activities that are usually done by men in the extensive system, for instance milking. However, women in Kwampunda reported that they go for grazing, an activity done by men in the extensive system.Men in Manyinga village spend morning hours fetching grass while women in both male and female headed households also fetch grass in addition to the domestic roles.Women discussants said that they usually perform crop growing activities in the wet season. Activities related to livestock production and marketing are carried out by both men and women at Manyinga village. This is due to the mutual contribution of the livestock keeping activities to their daily livelihood through selling live animals as well as milk. They tend to wake up and sleep at almost the same time. Milk selling and marketing was a task for each family member but women oversee sale of milk.Women's roles in Kabuku differed from one household to another in different seasons.For instance in the long wet seasons, some women cultivate crops, while others are employed in various government institutions, NGOs and in the private sector. In view of this, it was difficult to establish a sequence of roles as indicated by one of the participants who was quoted \"I normally finish household chores at around 8.00am, cultivating crops and come back at 11.00am with a bundle of grass for livestock\" and another woman representing those employed said \"I usually come back from my office making butter, yoghurt and cheese) (Nombo and Sikira, 2011), women in Kwang'wenda had all the support from their husbands to process milk into other products such as cheese that could be sold within Lushoto district because the district is currently a tourism area. There was neither a milk collection centre nor cooperative where they could sell the excess milk.Women in Kambala, Mbwade and Sindeni villages said they keep livestock as their major source of income. Men in Kambala say they keep livestock as their culture. Both men and women in Kambala, Sindeni and Mbwade villages indicated that li vestock are kept as sources of food for the family and they ranked livestock highly. Similarly, men in Twatwatwa village revealed that livestock keeping is mainly a source of food. Almost all groups in Kambala, Sindeni, Mbwade and Twatwatwa added that cattle are used to pay dowries. Livestock is also a source of milk and other products such as butter which is also a source of income. Other products such as hides and skins are used as bedding materials for women. Milk is also used for medicinal purposes. Men in Kambala reported that livestock are used to pay fines.Women in Kwampunda village reported that apart from being a source of income and food, livestock act as living bank, they are a form of savings. Livestock keeping for manure and as a source of biogas was mentioned by women in Kabuku village.In Kwang'wenda and Manyinga villages, the main reason for keeping cattle was given as being an important source of nutrition and ensuring food security. This was ranked number 1 by men. Livestock was also kept as a source of income from sales of milk, live animals and other products. Women in Kwang'wenda and men in Manyinga villages said that having livestock is just like having a living bank, \"Livestock keeping is a saving strategy\". Livestock are also important to pay dowries before marriage. Communities in Kwang'wenda and Manyinga villages are agro-pastoralists and see livestock as a good source of manure.Participants were asked to indicate how they measure success from keeping livestock.Women and men agreed that building good and modern houses was an indicator of success in Kambala, Sindeni, Twatwatwa, Kwampunda, Kabuku, Manyinga and Kwang'wenda villages. Participants in Kwampunda said that educating children in Uganda was considered as success. They further revealed that educating child ren in an English medium school and keeping money in the bank were also indicators for success.Possessing cars or motor bikes was an indicator of success given by both men and women in almost all villages.Men in Kambala and Sindeni villages indicated measures for success based on herd size (1200-1500 cattle) and having improved cattle breeds (such as Boran). Owning a business or houses for rent were indicators given by women in Sindeni. Men in Kwampunda village reported that the ability to diversify to other investments such as shop keeping or acquiring land was an indicator of success. One group member revealed that he started with one animal, purchased six more, and eventually bought land and build a house. Participants (women) in Kabuku reported that having a water source for domestic and animal use and being connected to electricity were indicators of success. Men said that high quantity milk production and hiring labourers were indicators of success. Participants in Kwang'wenda reported that owning large farms and owning many improved/exotic dairy cattle were also indicators of success.This analysis aimed to identify important livelihood sources on farm, off farm, and from non-farm sources. The group of women discussants in Kambala village indicated that milk sales contributes much on their livelihoods and as a source of cash income. Milk is seen as becoming more important than before, mainly due to the collection centre located at Dakawa. Income from sale of live animals is controlled by men although money from sales of animals is kept by women. Women discussants say that they keep this money in a similar way as it is kept in the Bank, a woman quoted \"if you attempt using even a single coin, the husband beats you.\"Both men and women in Twatwatwa, Mbwade and Sindeni village said that livestock keeping is the main source of livelihood followed by crop production. Men in Sindeni village said that crop production is the main source of income because one must start by cultivating crops and thereafter buy livestock \" from the genesis, land started before livestock and hence, those without livestock, they should start with crop cultivation followed by buying livestock if they were not lucky to inherit from their parents.\"Men and women in Kabuku, Manyinga, Kwang'wenda and Kwampunda mentioned crop production as their main source of livelihood, while livestock keeping was ranked number two. Both men and women regard livestock keeping as being very important in contributing to cash income. Men also indicated that livestock keeping is central to the livelihood of the communities as they were quoted in Kabuku village \" with dairy cows one has a continuous income flow almost throughout the year.'' They further said that livestock keeping provides a cash income on a daily basis, unlike crops. Participants in Kabuku, Sindeni and Kwang'wenda said that the trend for crop production is not changing while animal keeping and business are becoming more. Nevertheless, men in Manyinga reported that the trend for small businesses is increasing compared to crop production.Other sources of income for men include carpentry and masonry in Kwang'wenda village and employment in sisal processing factories in Kwampunda village. Tailoring and employment in Kabuku was mentioned by women as sources of income.Through brainstorming, groups identified the main constraints affecting livestock keeping in their respective villages in the order of their impact on livestock.The constraints under extensive production systems in order of decreasing importance are indicated in the table below ranking from 1 to 8. Lack of pastures apart from drought can be grouped together with lack of land due to high number of livestock owned by pastoralists. Diseases can be grouped together with less access to quality veterinary drugs. The constraints under semi intensive/intensive production systems in order of decreasing importance are indicated in table 26 ranking from 1 to 7. The major constraint in livestock production was milk market as it was mentioned three times and hence ranked the first followed by dairy breeds, diseases and pastures the least. Market for the milk score higher because most of the society in Manyinga village does not have the culture of drinking milk and as well there is no cooperative for selling the milk produced by the livestock keepers. Lack of good breeds is the big constraint in Kabuku village because with good breed one will get enough milk. Animal diseases ranked second owing to high treatment cost and deaths. They all had a consensus that given good breeds and improved animal health, you can focus then on markets, water and land for livestock feeds. While in Kwampunda village the major constraints in order of decreasing important were: the prevalence of livestock diseases, low potential of cattle breeds, lack of feed and water during drought. Lack of good cattle breeds was the leading constraints according to the participants. This was attributed to lack of high milk producing potential bulls and Artificial Insemination (AI) as most farmers have shorthorn Zebu which gives partly 3 litres per cow per day, incidences of inbreeding were said to be common as there are very few bulls.Livestock diseases ranked first due to livestock mortalities and the high costs of treatment particularly the East Coast fever which was said to be endemic. Lack of feed and water ranked low as shortage is only experienced during dry seasons. On the other hand, in Kwangwa'nde village, the major constraints in order of decreasing importance were: prevalence of livestock diseases, lack of capital for cowsheds, lack of feed and lack of markets for milk and live animals. Most participants rear exotic cross-breeds which are prone to diseases which ranked as the first most significant constraint , particularly East Coast fever and anaplasmosis.Cow sheds ranked as the second constraint to the farmers as they noted the capital required for construction, though it is essential for their dairy cattle.Livestock feed is a problem mostly during long dry season when conserved feeds are in short supply. Lastly, the market for milk was mentioned but at the moment most of the milk produced is sold to neighbours and restaurants at Soni centre in Lushoto (rural to rural consumption).Reasons for cattle exits from the community were explored from the participants. Simple ranking was applied to the proportions that exited for better analysis of the results whereby the main reason was found to be selling to meet household needs.The main reasons for cattle exit in extensive system include sales, paying dowry and exit due to predators. Diseases were also mentioned as one of the reasons for cattle exit.The main reasons for cattle exit under semi intensive/intensive production system in decreasing order are sales, dowry, DRC, accidents, theft, ceremonies, burial and drought.Animal diseases occurrences and mortalities as well as specific disease impact s were assessed through a key informant interview covering the past one year. The main livestock diseases mentioned as well as the relative morbidity (MB), mortality rate (MR) as well as case fatalities (CF) are listed in Tables 26 and 27. 66.7 EP= epidemic, FMD out breaks has been coming once in a year but this year there has been three outbreaks in the last six month making it a big epidemics with associated with High mortalities in calves.From the table it is evident that the case fatality from ECF is very high followed closely by LSD and CBPP. This could be due to lesser access to veterinary services in the area in terms of the high cost of treating ECF and no proper dipping facilities. The high case fatalities from LSD and CBPP could be due to farmers having less access to the vaccines and the CCBPP being endemic in the area.Table 35 shows from the individual herd that, the most prevalent disease is ECF closely followed by trypanosomiasis and CBPP. Other diseases all together have high case fatalities followed by CBPP, ECF, anthrax, trypanosomiasis, and FMD in decreasing order.From table 36, it is evident that morbidity from FMD is very high followed by ECF, CBPP, babesiosis and LSD. Similarly, FMD causes high mortality compared to other diseases in the area; however, babesiosis leads to high case fatality followed by CBPP. High mortality from FMD was explained to be the sudden death in calves.Table 36 shows from the individual herd that the most prevalent disease is ECF closely followed by CBPP with anthrax being the third. Anthrax though with low morbidity, upon outbreak, results into high mortalities (7) compared to ECF (4) CBPP (5) as well as case fatalities 58.3%, 14.3% and 19% respectively. This is attributed to the fact that, there is no routine vaccination against anthrax while the disease occurs as an outbreak associated with sudden death. This is contrary to CBPP and ECF which, upon manifestation of clinical signs, farmers can treat themselves or look for advice, reducing case mortalities and fatalities (table 28) The interviewed participant from Manyinga village mentioned the main livestock diseases that affected his herd. It was noticed that he practices most routine/required management to his cattle herd (6 dairy cows), including spraying against ticks and biting flies, deworming and vaccinations. He was also knowledgeable in treating trypanosomiasis using trypanocidal formulations.In view of the above, as for the past one year there were no cases of sick animals in his herd. Following these findings, the disease relative mortality, morbidity as well as case fatalities were not calculated. The semi intensive system is said to be mainly affected by mastitis but it was not mentioned. This could be due to the effective management measures and the smaller numbers of livestock kept. Trypanosomiasis ranked comparatively lower. However, the low impact of trypanosomiasis may be due to the spraying of cattle against the biting flies. Anaplasmosis has high case fatality due to farmers having less knowledge of early detection. Mastitis was said to have high morbidity rate. However, recovery was found to be 100% and hence no mortalities. Though there may have been indirect negative effects in terms of reduction in milk production.The participant was also interviewed about his livestock herd health for the past one year. He mentioned only two livestock disease cases that affected his herd namely ECF and worms. No case fatality derived from his herd as all cases were managed and recovered thus no mortality was experienced. In Kwang'wenda village, the individual(s) were interviewed about their livestock herd health for the past one year. From the FGD, the number of cattle reared by each farmer was small hence to get representative morbidity and mortality would need more herds. There was no mortality reported by all the four farmers interviewed individually. This could be due to the production system (intensive) and the availability of veterinary services from the Livestock Field Officer based in Soni ward close to Kwangw'enda village. In Mwade village (table 30), the livestock diseases with the highest impact on the benefits according to the participants were LSD and FMD with equal scores, followed by CBPP, heart water, and ECF and for any disease related intervention the action priority should be based upon the disease impact matrix score above. Four of them, CBPP, LSD, FMD and ECF were as well noted by the Leigwanani during individual herd proportional pilling for morbidity and mortality.The farmers said that nobody will accept an animal with FMD. Even if it is given as a gift, it will be rejected as the disease spreads fast and brings high mortalities to calves.In Twatwatwa village (table 31), CBPP has bigger negative effect to the benefits derived from cattle and hence affects the household livelihood followed closely by FMD and LSD. Anthrax and trypanosomiasis seemed to have less impact on the benefits. This could be due to occurrences of anthrax as outbreaks in foci and the endemic nature of trypanosomiasis in the area. For livelihood improvement, diseases to be addressed first are CBPP, FMD and LSD. However, trypanosomiasis may be carrying higher impacts than others due to hidden costs as well as less production from cattle (milk and meat) that is overlooked by farmers. In Kambala village (table 32), CBPP is the disease most affecting the livelihood benefits derived from cattle in the village. For cash income and milk production improvement, CBPP control needs to be first addressed followed by LSD, FMD, ECF, babesiosis, black quarter and trypanosomiasis in decreasing order for livelihood improvement. In Sindeni village (table 33), CBPP was found to be the livestock disease most affecting the household livelihood of the livestock keepers followed by ECF, anaplasmosis, FMD and babesiosis. CBPP was explained to be endemic in the area, ECF treatment and the vaccine are very expensive, anaplasmosis is treatable but difficult to be diagnosed in the early stages, FMD comes in the form of outbreaks with high mortalities in calves associated with reduced milk production and lastly was babesiosis with less occurrence frequencies and easily to be treated. In Manyinga village (table 34), the most challenging disease affecting the benefits derived from keeping cattle is ECF followed by anaplasmosis, trypanosomiasis, mastitis and helminthiasis. In Kwampunda village (table 35), anaplasmosis is the disease most affecting the benefits (food and cash income) and thus the disease to be first addressed to improve the livelihoods. This is associated with inadequate knowledge for early detection and reporting. The ECF is highly weighted due to its high treatment cost. Both conditions are spread by ticks and it was mentioned that the village dip tank was not working, which could be the main reason for the importance of these tickborne diseases. In Kwangwénda village (table 36), cash benefits from the sale of milk and fermented milk scored high at 31% for live cattle and meat at 16% in the form of slaughtered animals.Together with manure which they sell and use in their crops at 32% these are the leading benefits from cattle. Hides and dowry were ranked 13% and 8% respectively. Dowry is losing value as most people do not pay cattle immediately but instead they sell cattle and pay dowries in cash, so they will also retain some of the money earned from the sale. Dowry ranked last because they said paying dowry is not a must and it can take long before one pays. The high ranking of manure is because most of the farmers grow horticultural crops and need manure for their farms. The current price of manure is 50-100 TSh per bucket.The diseases most affecting livelihood benefits from cattle are tick-borne anaplasmosis and ECF followed by black quarter. Participants mentioned that ECF and anaplasmosis are common leading to declines in production and loss of livestock. Anaplasmosis can be treated if detected early while ECF treatment is always difficult. The effect of ECF on hides was that, when a cow dies of ECF they bury the animal and the hide hence there is a total loss. This also applied to animals that died from prolapse as they consider it a bad omen. Tick-borne diseases are major challenges as participants lacked knowledge on tick control. Tick control is therefore an important intervention. In Kabuku village (table 37, participants practiced both production systems. Animal health is a constraint in cattle production within the village particularly for extensive farmers. The semi-intensive system suffers mainly from mastitis, reduced milk production from stress, and helminths due to poor hygiene, close animal contacts and small herd sizes. The costs of managing diseases was said to be high in both systems.For the extensive system, due to movement when animals search grazing pasture, there is high contact with ticks and biting flies which leads to a higher incidence of diseases such as anaplasmosis and trypanosomiasis. These were followed in importance by helminths, ECF and CBPP. Anaplasmosis is always detected late, leading to high mortalities.Animal health services were assessed under each production system to evaluate how often and how easily farmers can access veterinary services, the sources of drugs, treatment, vaccinations and information for animal health improvement.Mbwade village gets animal health services from Morogoro town, primary cattle markets in Kilosa district (Mbwade, Parakuyo, Ngaiti and Kivungu) and from Melela cattle market in Mvomero district. The services are provided by drug seller (cattle keepers with experience in treating their own livestock though without formal training in livestock treatment) and the distance generally ranges from 1 to 58 kilometres.Respondents said that there is no health service provider in Twatwatwa village. Animal health services are accessed from primary markets (Parakuyo kibaoni -35 km away and Mwade -25 km away) and from Morogoro town. The main sources of information on animal health aspects are radio, newspapers, workshops and sometimes researchers. Vaccination services are provided by government in which the pastoralists are asked to prepare the cattle holding ground and pay some charges like transportation for the vaccinators.Farmers in Sindeni village get animal health services like drugs, advisory services and treatment from the local animal health officer and local agro vets within the area. The local animal health officer is easily accessed by phone and comes to each area on a weekly basis. News on animal health issues are sometimes obtained through radio.Elsewhere, such services are also obtained from the village livestock officer who lives and work in the village. Livestock keepers asserted that each of them is an expert in livestock health for his livestock herd ('kila mtu ni daktari wa mifugo yake') as the art of treating animals is passed from father to son. Farmers also get veterinary services from agro vets located in Morogoro town and the primary livestock markets (Mkongeni cattle market).In Manyinga village, veterinary services are available and accessible both from the local agro vet shops and from the village livestock extension/field officer. They have the village livestock field officer's phone number who responds promptly when called upon and has a vaccination and de-worming schedule for the area. The most common channels of getting news on livestock health are seminars and Sokoine University researchers who come once in a year. Person to person information exchange is also common.Farmers in Kabuku village get animal health services from the local animal health officer and local agro vets within the area. The local animal health officer is easily accessed through phone and comes to each area on a weekly basis. News on animal health issues is sometimes provided via the radio. Similarly, participants in Kwampunda village get all animal health services from the village auxiliary livestock officer and ward livestock field officer, who attends the sick animals on call and sometimes offers free services. They do not have an agro vet in the area to source livestock drugs and thus the animal health officer buys drugs and treats livestock himself. It is worth noting that farmers rely fully on him for all type of animal health support.In Kwang'wenda village, animal health services are provided by ward and district livestock health officers, who attend sick animals on call. They access information on animal health via the radio and from livestock field officersThe focus group discussions also assessed the presence of common human clinical signs or symptoms (fever, anorexia, diarrhoea, vomiting, headache, etc.) that could be associated with consumption or improper milk handling. These signs may occur within 2 to 6 hours or more following milk consumption.Participants mentioned the following symptoms in the community, in descending order: fever 2) vomiting 3) diarrhoea 4) coughing.They also identified milk-borne diseases (tuberculosis, brucellosis, Rift valley fever and typhoid fever) and zoonotic diseases (rabies, tuberculosis, anthrax, Rift valley fever and brucellosis). The general symptoms they mentioned for milk and waterborne diseases were abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, malaise and coughing. They associated climatic change to the upsurge in many diseases.Other diseases mentioned were malaria, HIV/AIDS and sure (measles). Malaria and fever were hard to distinguish among them so they generally referred to fever as malaria. It is possible that fever may include brucellosis, malaria, FMD and typhoid fever. There is some occurrence of carbuncles in humans which could also be associated with anthrax.In Twatwatwa village, the disease symptoms in humans in order of prevalence were: fever, painful joints, change in voice, headache, difficulty in breathing and warm breathing, nausea and vomiting. They further mentioned severe fevers, TB, FMD, brucellosis, rabies and anthrax. Participants noted that pregnant women aren't allowed to drink milk from animals suffering from FMD, as it causes abortion and fever. There are no vaccination services for dogs because dogs are strays, without owners. They have good knowledge of TB and the way it is spread from animals to humans and humans to humans. There is general lack of boiling or filtering of milk in the community. Those who sieve milk presume that it is safe to consume.In Kambala village, except for one person, all participants said it is impossible to spread diseases from animals to people and vice versa. The exception mentioned tuberculosis that can be got through milk consumption. Common human conditions mentioned by respondents were malaria, asthma, flu, coughing, TB, fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and weakness. These were ranked decreasing order of occurrence as: fever, malaria, diarrhoea, TB, vomiting, flue, coughing, asthma and weakness. Fever was ranked first because every condition they mentioned starts with fever.In Sindeni village, the human diseases and symptoms in order of frequency occurrence were: fever, headache, coughing, malaise, malaria, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, amoebic dysentery, typhoid, yellow fever, and nausea and vomiting.They considered fever as the first symptom of any disease which develops into a headache. Without treatment they said that headaches develop into coughs and malaise. If the above symptoms persist, malaria will develop leading to loss of appetite and diarrhoea. Amoebic dysentery and typhoid fever infection is from drinking unsafe water, particularly during the dry season, causing nausea and vomiting and stomach ache.It was difficult for participants to distinguish diseases from symptoms hence the two are mixed in the ranking. Coughing is associated with TB, while loss of appetite and diarrhoea are associated with both typhoid and malaria.In Manyinga village, participants said that diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans include tuberculosis, rabies, rift valley fever (RVF) and typhoid fever. The y mentioned the following symptoms as common in the community, in descending order: body weakness, colds, coughs, fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea. The ranking was based on the view that the hard work they do means that everyone wakes up weak; colds are common because of climatic change and these lead to chest problems and coughs and fevers which result in vomiting and diarrhoea. Fevers, vomiting and diarrhoea may be associated with salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and pathogenic E.coli.In Kabuku village, the most common diseases and symptoms in descending prevalence were: malaria, typhoid fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, cholera (occurs yearly during the dry season), bloody diarrhoea (amoeba), and tuberculosis. They said that nearly everyone suffers from malaria each year, followed by typhoid because of poor hygiene and lack of clean drinking water. Diarrhoea and vomiting were associated with drinking unsafe milk and water, bloody diarrhoea associated with amoebic dysentery linked to lack of safe drinking water. Bloody persistent diarrhoea was said to be common, and TB was ranked low due to its prevalence only in groups who do not follow good milk hygiene practices and lack awareness on how it spreads.In Kwampunda village, the disease symptoms in order of prevalence were: fever, malaria, abdominal pain, malaise, coughs, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, and vomiting. They identified fever as the most common symptom, developing into to malaria. Malaria will generally manifest symptoms like abdominal pain and malaise. Coughs were also very common and sometimes lead to TB. Diarrhoea and vomiting were mentioned as common due to changing climatic condition. While abdominal pain and fever were yearround, diarrhoea and vomiting are common during the dry season when clean water is scarce. It was hard for participants to distinguish diseases from symptoms hence the two are mixed in the ranking.In Kwang'wenda village, the disease symptoms in order of prevalence were: body weakness, fever, malaria, typhoid, coughs, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. They said that almost everyone suffers from body weakness and fever; then they go to hospital they are usually diagnosed with either malaria or typhoid, owing to lack of safe drinking water. Diarrhoea was also associated with bad food, dirty water and typhoid, while vomiting and coughing were linked to fever and changing climatic con ditions.Since most food-borne and zoonotic disease are associated with frequently-ocurring symptoms like fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and malaise, it is worth investigating the presence and prevalence of Campylobacter spp, Brucella spp, enterotoxin E.coli spp, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis/bovis Salmonella spp(non-typhoid) and Toxoplasma gondii to establish any links between these symptoms and the causative agents.Discussions in the focus groups also assessed farmer understanding of zoonotic diseases and whether these could be linked to milk consumption. The focus was on milk and milk products consumption (milking, sources, transportation and storage).Most people consume raw milk and raw milk products like mtindi. They also consume rumenal juice and drink raw blood. These practices increase the risk of infection with pathogens and the spread of zoonoses, especially if consumed from sick animals.Anthrax cases were reported and normally experienced in healthy cattle leading to sudden deaths. Participants also mentioned close contact with animals which equally increases the risk of TB. High levels of E.coli in rumenal content may be normal in cattle but not in humans. There is a belief among cattle keepers that due to the hard work they do, they will suffer from malaria, TB and other fevers. Through probing, this mortality could be associated with presence of anthrax foci in the area.The culture to eat dead cattle without knowing the cause of death and the habit of pastoralists to undercook meat may predispose them to contract zoonotic diseases. Consumption of rumenal content juice as a treatment for malaria and to induce vomiting in sick people may be associated with typhoid and or other infections like diarrhoea and vomiting in the population. Some farmers drink fresh milk from their own herd as well as from others herds, increasing the risk of milk-borne diseases.It was noted in Twatwatwa village that fermented milk prepared in calabashes from fresh milk takes 2 days during the wet season and one day during the dry season. The livestock keepers consume unpasteurized fermented and fresh milk. It was further established that they drink fresh blood from cattle by looking at the animal's health without considering the possibility of subclinical cases. This translates in a knowledge gap of subclinical cases which can result in transmission of diseases from animals to humans. Brucellosis is said to be common following occurrences of abortion in the third trimesters and severe fevers in human. This is always associated with witchcraft. Some people had no knowledge of the possibility of transmission of zoonosis while some eat meat from dead animals without knowing the cause of death, while others typically undercook meat. Farmers had no knowledge of the withdrawal period of drugs and they consume livestock products from animals under medication.Participants in Kambala village mentioned that many people consume raw milk, ruminal juice (emoyoo), raw milk products, and fresh blood from live animals. Most of the community does not boil milk as they said they have been using it for many years without casualties. To avoid getting diseases like TB, a few of them filter the milk followed by boiling; though some believe filtering is enough.In Sindeni village, participants were aware of zoonoses by mentioning diseases like TB, FMD, brucellosis, rabies and anthrax. They said that FMD leads to sores on lips and mouths, while tuberculosis causes persistent coughing. The TB mortality rate is very high and patients (mainly children) get admitted for 60 days for treatment in a referral hospital in Kilimanjaro region. Furthermore, they said that anthrax causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting and all who participate in eating the meat will be affected. One participant and his 4 in-laws had suffered from anthrax after eating meat from a dead carcass. It seems they have good knowledge of TB and the way it is spread from animals to humans and humans to humans. The proportion of those who boil milk among participants was 4 from 11. This implies that most people consume raw milk which exposes them to zoonotic and milk-borne pathogens.Most participants consume fermented milk (mtindi) from raw milk. One woman explained a typical way of milk consumption, in which she said \"as you milk early in the morning, children always cry for milk as they are hungry which necessitate giving them fresh raw milk so that she can continue milking other cows\". It was not strange to get a comment from one male participant that he knew TB as a disease of children. Fresh milk takes 2 days to ferment during the wet season while only 24 hours during the dry season. There is a general lack of boiling or sieving of milk in the community. Those who sieve milk presume that it is safe enough.Consumption of raw and fresh blood from subclinical cattle may predispose livestock keepers, especially those lacking routine vaccination against diseases like anthrax, to zoonosis infection. It was noted that the fore stomach of goats is used to plaster and bandage patients suffering from an anthrax wound and that the bandage is then given to women to eat. Bandage consumption by women may predispose them to anthrax infection from bacteria or spores.The farmers do not observe a withdrawal period after treating their livestock which may lead to microbial residues above maximum residue limit and consequent antimicrobial resistance. Consuming dead animals and half-roasting meat may increase the risk of food-borne illnesses to humans.Most people consume boiled milk in Manyinga village. Every farmer insisted on practicing hygienic milking practice, with only cats and dogs fed on milk from cows under treatment till the end of the withdrawal period. In Kabuku village, participants were aware of zoonoses and identified rabies, tuberculosis, anthrax, Rift valley fever, avian and swine flu. One farmer said his nephew was diagnosed with anthrax after eating meat, but was treated and recovered.Tuberculosis was said to be associated with the consumption of raw milk, undercooked meat from infected cattle and lack of milk sieving. Milk sieving is seemingly believed to reduce pathogens in milk. One participant said that \"some people consume raw unpasteurized milk alleging that it is a medicine\".Participants in Kwampunda village were knowledgeable on hygiene milking practices and the need to observe the drug withdrawal period in lactating cows. Participants had little knowledge of zoonoses although high TB incidence was mentioned with participant family members suffering and the disease attributed to consumption of raw milk and milk products. TB was the only known zoonotic disease, with only one participant aware that TB is transmitted by inhaling breathing droplets of infected cattle when one share house with cattle.They generally believed that raw milk is safe after filtering and could not link raw milk consumption to any diseases. Participants had no knowledge of other zoonotic diseases like anthrax, brucellosis, rift valley fever or salmonellosis. Participants generally don't boil milk unless it is for tea or porridge. Milk for mtindi making is sieved then poured into a fermentation container without heat treatment. They allege that milk can only make mtindi when not boiled and that boiling gives a bad flavour. The increased time in fermenting milk is due to reduced fermenting microbial population during boiling.Milk consumption by villagers is relatively less as children are mostly fed on porridge with milk and the main milk product consumed by the general household members is mtindi -fermented milk. Participants mentioned that nearly everyone share houses with cattle for security reasons. This practice was observed as a possible exposure route to TB through pulmonary route, and other GIT pathogens like pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni, E.coli and salmonellosis from cow dung.In Kwang'wenda village, participants were aware of the presence of TB and its spread via aerosols from infected cattle breath. Many participants have had TB patients in their homes and they mentioned how difficult it is to treat the disease. Currently TB was mentioned to be prevalent in the village. The participants generally don't boil milk with the perception that sieving milk takes away all the germs. Milk for mtindi making is sieved then poured into a fermentation container without heat treatment. They allege that milk can only make mtindi when not boiled and that boiling gives a bad flavour.Participants had no knowledge of other zoonotic diseases like anthrax, brucellosis, rift valley fever or salmonellosis.From the discussions, it seems that the zoonosis knowledge gap is so large that there is a need for training on food and milk handling hygiene to reduce exposure.Focus group discussants greatly depend on livestock and livestock's products for their livelihoods in the study area. Cattle kept are the Tanzania shorthorn Zebu and exotic cross-breeds under extensive and semi-intensive and intensive systems. The Zebu produces less milk, though numbers kept are high compared to the cross-breeds which are kept in smaller numbers but with relatively higher production. Under each system, several constraints were elicited which affect production or have an impact on the benefits farmers derive from cattle keeping -issues mainly linked to pastures and feeds, diseases, breeding, markets and animal health services.All villages included in the study are endowed with natural resources such as rivers and forests which offer potential for agriculture and are sources of feed and water for livestock. From the forests, farmers get better access to livestock feeds while agriculture serves as a source of crop residues for animals, especially during droughts or periods of feed shortage. Some villages such as Manyinga, Kambala, Sindeni, Kwang'wenda and Kwampunda are situated near basins that could serve as sources of water for irrigation to cultivate green forages like elephant grass. These are potential as entry point for interventions for livestock feed and hub formation projects.With the exception of Kambala and Kwang'wenda villages, all the villages have electrical power supply that could also facilitate the availability of milling machines for maize bran. This is also an opportunity for livestock feed improvement to enhance production and installation of chill plants or collection centres for boiled milk. Roads are important for transportation of milk from producers to consumers and collection centres.Land use management is regarded as a solution to the free movement of livestock.Handeni district was a pilot area under the government program on property and business formalisation commonly known as MKURABITA in which resources such as land was well allocated and demarcated to individual farmers. It was anticipated that this would reduce some of the conflicts between livestock keepers and crop producers as well as reduce opportunities for livestock movement searching for pasture. However, farmers lack control of the demarcated land. Formulation of by-laws to protect land and other formalized resources is recommended.Milk production varied with the season. Production was high in the rainy season while almost all villages experience low milk production during the dry season beginning from the last week of July to October. High milk availability in the long wet season under the extensive system allows installation of chill plants in areas such as Twatwatwa, which could be shared by neighbouring villages of Mbwade and others not included in the study.Kwang'wenda village in Lushoto district had different trends as milk production is low in January and February. In Manyinga village for instance, during the long wet season less milk is produced because despite the abundance of pastures, these pastures are lush, with low dry matter content, hence low dry matter intake. Farmers are also highly engaged in crop farming activities, hence they have less time available to feed and care for their animals. During the short wet season there is nutritive pasture, farmers spend less time in their gardens and more attention is given to the cattle, hence more milk is produced and sold. Milk vendors in Kambala village supply milk to Tan Dairies located in Dakawa highway and restaurants in Dakawa. Similarly, Kambala farmers used to sell milk to Shambani milk collection centre which is currently not operating. Other vendors sell milk within Kambala village and at Turiani town.The price offered by the collection centres is low compared to restaurants and individual households. Based on this, some farmers, mainly from extensive production systems like Kambala village sell milk at Turiani (Madizini Town) which is 30-40 km away. While Madizini area is a potential market for Manyinga farmers (semi-intensive) the Kambala farmers flood the market by selling at relatively low prices. Formulating a milk marketing hub would allow dialogue between the collection centres and producers especially in price setting, allowing producers to cover their production costs. This is especially important for farmers in semi-intensive systems where production costs are higher.Vendors revealed that most of the milk is sold to collection centres namely Tan-Dairies/DESA and Tanga Fresh, households and restaurants. Among other challenges faced by vendors is a lack of transport. Most use bicycles and therefore vendors cannot collect milk from distant farmers. Using plastic containers to collect and transport milk from producers to collection centres increases the chances for contamination and sometimes the milk fermenting, hence the rejection rates at collection centres. Formulating marketing hubs could improve all value chain nodes, including equipment and working tools for vendors.Payment is mainly through bills whereby vendors supply milk at the collection centre and payment is done after two weeks. This was partly accepted by some of the vendor s and producers as they receive a lump sum rather than daily cash. However, some farmers and vendors preferred cash so they could meet their daily requirements. Nonetheless, some collection centres such as the Tanga Fresh agent in Sindeni village closed the centre without paying money they owed to farmers. This is a big challenge to both farmers and vendors requiring that farmers have a strong association, formally registered, that can enter into formal agreements with collection centres before delivering milk at the centre. Farmers in semi-intensive systems sell milk on a cash basis; however, sometimes they provide check off for 7 days or less.Gender roles are specific and well-demarcated between men and women in extensive systems in Mbwade, Twatwatwa, Sindeni and Kambla villages. All important decisions are made by men and control of income from sale of live animals is done by men. However, decisions related to milk and milk products are made by women. Similarly control of income accrued from sale of milk is done by women; however it was apparent that commercialisation of milk sales leads to men getting integrated in the decisions as more money is earned. Traditionally milk sale is purely a women's role and they could use sales to buy cattle or sheep and goats, which belong to women, but men will still have control of all the cattle or sheep and goats in the household.In the intensive and semi-intensive systems, gender roles are shared between men and women (Kabuku, Manyinga, and Kwang'wenda and Kwampunda villages). Decision making in intensive production system is done by both men and women. This is an opportunity for women to process milk into other products. Furthermore, communities in Kwampunda and Kwang'wenda villages are matrilineal society where women are culturally endowed with power in various aspects at home. Women have the support from husbands to make butter, yoghurt and cheese that could be sold within Lushoto district because the district is currently a tourism area. Despite milk availability, there is neither milk collection centre nor cooperative where they could sell the excess milk.Most participants wished to keep pure exotic breeds of animals because the current improved breeds are not producing more milk as expected. However, looking at the management practices offered to the animals, less milk production was due to poor feeding. Furthermore, use of one bull in some of the villages such as Manyinga and Kwampunda increased the chances for inbreeding.Maasai people were not willing to change their local (Zebu) breeds to improved ones because of a reluctance to reduce the size of the herd. They also believe that milk from indigenous breeds is better than from improved/exotic breeds. However, most were willing to keep Boran type of breeds because of their high growth rates and higher market prices.AT challenges such as low conception rates could be solved at the national level, but sources of bulls and probably storage of semen is a challenge. Lack of a reliable supply of liquid nitrogen to maintain the required conditions in semen storage containers might be a reason for low conception. Low knowledge of farmers in detecting when a animal is in heat, especially in the rainy season when agro pastoralist are busy with farming activities might be another reason for low conception.Participants in Kwampunda, Manyinga and Kwang'wenda and Kabuku villages revealed that their cattle do not eat dry grasses. However, some participants said that they mix dry feeds with salt and water so as to make the feeds more palatable. This indicates a lack of knowledge on feed availability and quality. Furthermore, farmers consider forages as the only feed for cattle. This was noted in all villages visited whereby farmers only feed crop residues when other feed is not available, for instance in the dry season.Animal health should be the first priority as part of a one health philosophy which will minimize human risks associated with keeping cattle as well as consumption of products derived from cattle like zoonotic diseases. The identified lack of animal health services as well as the public health risks put farmers and the public at large at risk of milk-borne and other zoonotic diseases. The likelihood of unsafe food consumption, especially from cattle products (milk and meat), is high due to lower quality animal health services.Symptoms of illnesses caused by various bacteria commonly found in raw milk include vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, headaches and body aches -which were all identified by participants during the interviews. Producing and consuming safer food, especially from animal products, requires education focusing on animal health and management husbandry, zoonotic diseases, meat consumption, milk consumption and handling. This could be done through establishment of decentralised animal health systems, vaccination programs, farmers groups and further studies to confirm the study findings on public health. Last but not least, it is critical to look at hygienic milking procedures, consumption habits (milk, blood and dead carcass), milk storage (for home use and for selling) and milk transportation. Under extensive production systems, pastoralists have a relatively good knowledge of animal diseases. This could be because the reported diseases are endemic. Diseases reported included viral (FMD and LSD), bacterial (black quarter and anthrax) tick-borne (ECF, anaplasmosis, heart water and babesiosis), trypanosomiasis and CBPP. Villagers ranked disease impacts on livestock benefits between 25 and 57%, mainly from CBPP, ECF and LSD.  Under semi-intensive and intensive production systems, farmers had less knowledge on disease causation. However they benefit from closer proximity to livestock field officers who help diagnose and treat diseases. Frequently reports diseases and conditions included tick-borne disease, mastitis and worms.Villagers ranked disease impacts on livestock benefits up to 40%, mainly from tick-borne diseases in particular ECF and anaplasmosis.  Under extensive systems, farmers have existing veterinary knowledge inherited from earlier generations. Since they are completely dependent on livestock for their livelihoods they know a lot about diseases and their animals. However, they have less knowledge to distinguish between diseases and the clinical signs , mixing symptoms with illnesses. Since they do most diagnosis themselves, the treatments are likely to be more based on symptomatic assumptions or trial and error, probably leading to drugs misuse.  Under extensive systems, most of the drugs used, apart from trypanocides, are broad-spectrum antibiotics covering a range of bacterial infections. Viral, mycoplasma and tick-borne diseases thus tend to remain the major problem in these areas. By contrast, producers in semi-intensive and intensive systems have less knowledge of disease causation but can call on trained advice. Their main problems are more to do with the high cost of treating livestock and the high impact from anaplasmosis due to late recognition of the disease.  Generally, there are few proper animal health services available to farmers in extensive production systems. Livestock keepers source drugs from informal drug sellers and primary livestock markets. In some areas, there are no livestock field officers, no vaccination programs, and inadequate dipping facilities. Under semi-intensive and intensive systems, the situation is better. Producers are closer to livestock field officers, the can access formal agro vets shop, some have vaccination programs and because they keep fewer cattle, these can be sprayed against ticks and biting flies (instead of being dipped).  Animal source human health problems and risks identified included human tuberculosis, anthrax and typhoid which could be associated with consumption of livestock products especially milk and meat. Inadequate knowledge about zoonoses, especially in extensive production systems, increases the possibility of infection from livestock to humans.  Some risky practices and beliefs were: Raw and unpasteurized milk was said to be medicinal, most people do not pasteurize milk, children are given raw and unpasteurized milk early in the morning, TB was said to be a disease of children, milk for fermentation need not be pasteurised as it loses flavour and taste, filtering and sieving milk makes milk safe from harmful bacteria, no human can be infected from the same diseases affecting livestock, hard work leads to TB occurrence in humans, and fresh blood from cattle is highly nutritious (generally true, unless the animal is sick).","tokenCount":"19330"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5302044148.json b/data/part_1/5302044148.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..189c0719322e4737b483510a4c49552ef7f514d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5302044148.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f1b7ac800d2cbb8844746d456bfb9f23","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/858cacd3-20d8-4896-abc0-3954ed442eef/retrieve","id":"10902157"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08b57e76-62db-4274-a6b3-3a7d4558c569","pagecount":"18","content":"In the so-called difficult envíronments, institulional planl breeding appears to be a fanure, mainly because breeding is direcled al increasing yields in more favorable environments. Although the improved varielies have broad adaptability, under varied marginal environments, they do nol express their yield potenlial or lhey do not satisfy olher user requirements. In any environmenl, the polential of a plant is controlled by the inleraetion ofits genelie compositíon with the environment. Tlús involves adaptation of the planl lo both physical environmenls (climate, ,oil, abiolic and biotic stress) and the sncioeconomic environmenl (userconcerns, consumers' preferenees, economíc status, markets, etc.). Afterthe íntroduetion of high-yielding varieties and hybrida during the Oreen Revolution in Indía, hundreda oflandrace. and indigenous varieties have beeome extinet or on the verge of extinctíon, largely hecause they have not been eonsidered economíeal to grow under the present market economy. Despite this, small-scale farroees in marginal envíronments continue lO grow a mixture of crops and vari• etíes as a buffer agaíost temporal and spalia! variation to cope wilh stress factoes. It has been a lime-tested practico by farmers to continue lo seleel their nexl generation of seed., thereby modifying the genelk eharacterislÍcs of the crops. Tapping into Ihis practice .nd empowering farmees lO improve Iheir crops has now come lo be referred lO as \"particípatory plan! breeding.\"Conservatíon of plant genetic resources has been initiated by lhe Oreen Foundation, workíng in the dryland regians ofSoulh India. As a meaos ofempowering farmers, the Oreen Foundation has conserved several varietíes of staple food crops', Iike fingermillel and rice, on-farro. Using the genepool available to them, farmers have selected varieties, based on a se! of criteria, for varietal purification, as a frrst step towarda participatory plant breerung. Tlús paper describes tbe process of vanetal selection for improvement oflncal cultivars and lhe upgrading offarmers' skills as independent seed producees.The authors are with the Oreen Foundation in Bangalore, India.Indigenous seed practices encompass practically all aspects of crop productíon, since seed saving is an integral partofcropping activities in indigenous systems. Farmers engaged in tbe production and multiplication of quality seeds deal witb asexual propagation, land preparatíon and soil management, seed and seedling preparation and care, crop and pest management, flowering induction, tbe enhancement ofseed quantity and quality, crop improvement, harvestíng or collection, seed processing, storage, and genetic conservatíon (Fernandez 1994).The holistic understanding of cropping in semi-arid areas has lent support to tbe conservation of diversity in various parts oftbe country. In tbe last few decades, there have been dramatic changes in Indian agriculture. The advent ofthe Green Revolution in tbe mid-1960s has been a major threat to India's vast genetic díversity. Intercropping has been replaced by monocroppíng, and as a result, food production is perched on narrow genetic diversity. The erosion of agricultural biodiversíty tbreatens tbe long-terro stability and sustainabílíty ofIndian agriculture in tbe following ways:• It erodes the genetic base on which scientists are dependant for crop breeding .• A monocrop ofhigh-yielding varietíes (HYVs) does not provide adequate insurance against failures caused by natural calamitíes.A considerable amount of the genetic material that has been maintained by farmers over several years is now no longer available to the farmers. The ex situ collections play an important role in preserving germplasm under freezing condítions but they have theír own limitations, like cost and 108s of viability during storage. This limits the natural course of evolution, since the environmental conditions to whích erops are constantly adapting cannot be recreated in a refrigerated gene bank.It is in this context that a plant-genetic-resources conservation program was introduced in 1992, to ultimately create a village-based community seed bank. Since then, the program has gone through the stages of colleetion, multiplieation, monitoring, evaluation, and farmers' partlcipation in selection, rating, and distribution of varieties.Thally block, in the State ofTamil Nadu, and Kanakapura, in the state ofKarnataka, are semiarid, with an annual rainfall of700-9oo mm. The Oreen Foundation works in the dry-land regíons lyíng between these two administrative regíons-Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Seed conservation work extends across 85 villages, involving more than 500 farmers. The agricultural scene paints a bleak pieture. The combination ofílliteracy, poor infraSÍf\\lcture, poverly, and srnallland holdings on the one hand and changing agricultural practices and market pressures on the otber have rendered agriculture very vulnerable for the farmers of the area. More than 85 percent of the cultivated area comes under rain-fed dry-land. Changíng rainfall patterns have affected the improved varieties introduced in the area. Yet the area also represents a rich source ofbiodiversíty, whích is on the verge of extinetion. It is against this baekdrop tha! the Oreen Foundation has initiated a genetie resource conservation programoThe major food erops of this region are frnger millet and dryland paddy, followed by wetland paddy, pulses, sorghum, maize, oílseeds, vegetables, and otherminor millets. Many ofthe indigenous varieties have been reíntroduced with low-input agrieulture sínce 1993, when the foundation started its work in the area. rablel gives the detaíls ofthe collectíons between 1995 and 1999. In 1998 an attempt was rnade to upgrade local varieties through a process of partlcipatory varietal selechon, and as an initial step, ragí (finger millet) and rice crops were selected.Earlier practices recall cultivation offour seasonal crops such as gingelly in the pre-monsoon season; groundnuts, paddy during early monsoon; ragi, pulses in the monsoon season; and horse gram in the post-monsoon periodoChanges in climatic variations have had an impact on the rainfall pattern and, as a consequence, have affected different erops ín dífferent ways. Intercropping has been popular as a traditíonal practice, although many farmers have shifted to the improved varicties of finger millet, leading to erosion of tradítional ones. The program of seed conservation has widened the choice of finger millet varieties for farmers (figure 1).The foeus ofthe program was not only to wíden the choice ofvarieties but also to increase yields by improving the quality of seeds. The on-farm conservatíon program, with nearly 34 indigenous varictíes of finger millet and 38 varieties of wetland and dry-land paddies provídes the basic materials for the particípatory plant breeding (PPB) process.   To ensure household food security and optimize productivity under available conditions, which are highly resource-constrained farming environments, the farming cornmunity continuously relies on diversity of crops and crop species. The efficiency of formal breeding lines or improved cultivars has remained largely confined to favorable environments and high-input conditions. Decentralized breeding approaches have been started in Western Asia and the Near East (Ceccarelli et al. 1994),Central Africa (Sperling, Loevinsohn, and Ntabomurra 1993;Voss 1992), and West Africa (Jusu 1995). Farmer-based breeding is an important strategy for maintaining and using genetic diversity in agriculture as part of a multilateral system for conserving plant genetic resources (PGR) by making a wider range of genetic material available to farmers, directly as well as through fue use of a broader genetic base in formal breeding (Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga 1995), by developing plant varieties suitable for resource-poor farrners in marginal areas, and by creating incentives for in situ conservation ofPGR (Cooper, Engels, and Frison 1994).Although agricultural universities and private-sector organizations are releasing a number of varieties, the farming community has continued to maintain their own varieties. Although advances are being made to decentralize the varietal evaluation process for incorporated traits, breeders have not risked making selections under fue non-uniform conditions typical of a small and marginal farmer.Even today a number of farmers prefer their varieties and reject modem varieties because of the probability oflow yields and crop failures in unfavorable environments. Besides it is also realized that fue use of inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and chemicals for weed control is uneconomical and risky for resource-poor farmers.As a process of decentralizing the formal and conventional breeding system, PPB approaches were developed with the involvement offarmers. PPB is more likely to produce farrner-acceptable products or varieties, particularly for marginal environments, as in our context. It also has a greater effect on increasing biodiversity, though its impact may be limited to smaller areas as acknowledged by authors'like Witcombe et al. (1966). .There are many improvement programs that involve farmer participation, with different degrees of participation for breeding, identifying improved cultivars, or upgrading landraces. One participatory approach is being varietal selection, which broadly aims at purifying the seed material-a precursor to the plant-breeding programoIn the initiatives of our program, fue concept of PPB has been employed in three broad areas: (1) crop improvement, (2) conservation ofbiodiversity, and (3) empowerment of farrners. Rere, crop improvement involves informal varietal breeding under variable environments using traditional varieties. As described by Witcombe et al. (1996), fue first phase ofPPB starts with the identification offarmer-preferred traits in a particular variety.Altemative approaches for identifying cultivars that are acceptab1e to resource-poor farmers have been suggested and tried by a number of researchers. Maurya, Bottrall, and Farrington (1998) tested advanced lines ofrice cultivars in villages in Uttar Pradesh, India, and successfully identified superior material that was preferred by farmers. The first step in a successful participatory varietal-selection program involves identifying farmers' needs in a variety of crops. The farrners' requirements can be identified using several methods (Joshi and Witcombe 1996), such as participatory rural appraisals, examination of farrners' crops around harvest time by providing a pool of genetic material s in a demonstration plot, and comparative evaluation on the farm.A similar set of methodologies was adopted to identify farmers' needs over a variety. W ifu an on-farm conservation program around, farmers had a number of choices to select sorne varieties suited to their requirements. Rural appraisals were made to assess both qualitative and quantitative characteristics (figure 2).Afier identifYing farmer's requirements, three indigenous varieties offinger millet and rice were selected for the participatory crop-improvement programo Selections from segregating populations The [¡rst selection of seeds from five different Carmers was bulked into a single lot and divided ínto two halves. One halCwas sown in the [¡eld oC a farmer who was trained to take observations along with the researcher. Another set was sown at the conservation center, where close monitoring and optimal agronomíc conditions could be rnaintaíned. Adjacent to the selected seed, a control check was carried out usíng nonselected seed of the same variety. Close monítoring and clear data for Nonlodging. etc, these two sets were kept during the course of plant growth. 8elections were made from these populations involving more farmers for the set criteria, A sízable quantity of seeds was taken to disseminate in order to test the variety under varied agroclimatic condítions and to involve more farmers,The second year's selection was tested at five different localities involving tbree new farmers and two of the old locations. Under each set of conditions, a check ofthe unselected population is maintained for comparison and analysis, Selections involving researcher and farmers will be made from these crops,Various strategies in PPB depend on the selections from 8 2 generations of already improved varieties, where the objective of conservation ofbiodiversity in farmers' fields has not been taken into account. Therefore, in this approach, selections were made from traditional varietíes, and in each generation the number of farmers and vilIages rnaintaining the variety will be doubled, This provides a base for on-farm conservatí?n of plant genetic resources.From the S3 populalÍon, a bulked composite set will be developed in order to have genetic variability intact, and from each individual farmer, two different sets of selections will be made for performance evaluation and to disseminate the selected indigenous variety across the farming cornmunity (figure 3).Ibis will be continued until the variety is stable with respect to the desired traits of selection (figure 4), The evaluation assessment will be carried out tbrough the following:1, Field assessment or crop assessment 2, Pedigree record analysis 3, Evaluatíon and appraisal by the farming cornmunity Therefore, a participatory plant-breeding program in our context aims at the following:1. Improving local cultivars in a participatory mode under open conditions 102 2, Selecting a variety for farmer-preferred traits under marginal, uncontrolled environmental conditions 3. Improving the skill base of farmers with scientific inputs, in order to empower them as an independent seed producers 4, Conserving genetic resources among many farmers under varied agroclimatic conditions 5, Maintaining a bulked composite mixture to conserve genetic variability, which will be expressed under different (genetíc x environment) interactions 6. Breaking the low-yield barrier and inducing morphometric uniformity 7. Increasing the participation offarmers in post-development testing of improved varielÍes in order to develop an acceptable variety /\\ _ Sele.tion 3 00 00 00 00 00 DO DO 00 DO DO  The term participation in rescarch and dcvelopment (R&D) i8 becoming devalued (Farrington  1998) and evcn abused, partiy in response to donor pressure (much ofwhich is rhetoric) and partly as a fashion wíthout substance. Particípatíon is also a notion that has been hotly debated arnong ít5 practitíoners and used as a means to achieve the objectives of projects and prograrns (Narayan 1995). But in thís paper, 1 am conceptualizing partidpation and participatory approaches in the broader context as both a means and an end. In thí8 conceptualization, participation i8 a 'multi-dimensional, dynamic process of contributing, influencing, sharing, or redistributing power and of control, resources, benefits, knowledge, and skills to be gained through beneficiaries' involvement in decision making.' Therefore, participation i5 a voluntary process by which people, especially the dísadvantaged (in income, gender, ethnícity, education, etc,) influence or control decisions regarding plant breeding that affect thero. As a non-plant-breeder, 1 arn visualizing participatory plant breeding (PPB) from thís frarnework. There are dífferent levels of participation, ranging from passive participation (farmers participate in activities decided unilateralIy by PPB professionals), participation in information giving (farmers answer questions posed by PPB professionals), partidpatíon by consultation (PPB professionals consult farmers and listen their víews), participation for material incentives (farmers particípate to obtain miní-kits given by PPB professionals, to be involved in farmers' field trials, etc,), functíonal participatíon (farmers participate in the predetermined functional requireroents ofPPB professíonals), interactive participation (joint analysís with farmers lo make action plans and mobilize local institutions, using ínterdisciplinary methodologies Bishnu Raj Upreti is a PhD candidate in the Department af Social Sciences. Wageningen Agricultural University. Wageningen.Netherlands.that seek multiple perspectives) and self-mobilization (fanners take initiatives themselves in plan! breeding) (Prerty et al. 1995).Participatory processes have certain characteristics: they integrate community mobilization for PPB planning and action based on equal an partnership between farmers and researchers; theyairn at strengthening fanners' problem-solving, planning, and management abilities; they promote fanners' capacity to develop appropriate new technologies; they encourage resource-poor farmers to learn tbrough experimentation, building on their knowledge and practices (action and reflection); they recognize that aH farmers are not the same-with conflicts and differences in ínterest, power, and capabilities. Farmers participate when they realíze tha! the benefíts of participation outweigh the costs. So the pertinent question is, Do such PPB practices pro vide benefits to fanners? In the context of PPB, different rnodes of participation can be discussed, ranging from contractual (PPB professionals contraet farmers to provide physical resources such as land, germplasm, or indigenous knowledge) to consultative (PPB professionals consult farmers about theirproblems and then develop solutions) to collaborative (PPB professíonals and farmers collaborate as partners in the breeding process) to collegial (PPB professionals work to strengthen farmers' breeding systerns) (Prerty el al. 1995). When we talk about participatory processes, we have to be clear abaut which mode and leve! ofparticipation are relevant at a particular stage ofPPB.The essence ofPPB needs to be looked at from two levels:• First, within the PPB process, Who initiates research? Whose research agendas are used? Whose needs are being met? Who directs and controls the PPB process? What is the bottom line ofPPB? Does PPB specifically focus on poor and rural women as key players in managing plant genetic resources (PGR), post-harvest processing, and the nutritíon of children.• Second, on broader global challenges: Does PPB work on equity and poverty issues? Does PPB focus on the empowerment of marginal, resource-poor fanners to írnprove their position in society? Does PPB have the capacity to deal with the threats posed by globalization and the abuse of advancements made in the field ofbiotechnology in exploíting the poor fanners of developing countries? How does PPB deal with increasing bio-piracy? How does PPB deal wíth growing starvation and famine? In my opinion, these are some of the pertinent questions that need to be critically considered in promoting PPB.In this paper, 1 attempt to examine the essence, opportunities, mínimum conditions, and threats to PPB frorn the non-plant-breeder's perspective and pose sorne critical questions to promote discussion and debate to irnprove the performance ofPPB. This paper is divided into tbree sections.The first sectíon introduced paper and its outline. The second section raises issues related to PPB, i.e., How particípatory is PPB? What are its approaches and methodologies? Who defines participation and who initiates it? What seale and level ofparticipation is involved in PPB? What is the poliey context and institutional framework for PPB? What are the threats to PPB from genetic engineering bioteehnology, and globalization. It argues that PPB has increasingly shifted to the control of commercial interests. A discussion is presented on the need to integrate the social and technical sciences to promote PPB. And finally, the third section concludes tbat there is not only great scope for prornoting real PPB but there are also big challenges.The eommon categorization of plant breeding into fanner-led and formal-Ied PPB is problematic because in either case fanners, especíally poor fanners, are involved in the initiatives ofbreeders. Furthermore, the formal-led PPB is limited by organizational conditions, criteria, and obligations. It develops separate regimes and widens the gap between them. The dichotomy is vague and confusing if real poor and marginalízed fanners are to be targeted. In the philosophy of participation, no one leads but both collaborate to achieve common objectives. Therefore, the chaIlenges for professionals working in PPB are how to achieve collaborative participation to meet the needs of poor and marginal farmers, how to negotiate or cope with the commercial exploitation of PPB, how to sacrifice the personal benefits ofbreeders that are ensured through patenting and the Intemational Convention for the Protection ofNew Varieties ofPlants (UPOV), l and how to share these benefits with poor fanners. In the following section 1 will briefly discuss these issues.Genetic diversity in agriculture enables fanners to select varieties of plants that are best adapted to a changing environment and economic and social pressures. Access to such diversity is vital for securing current and future agricultura! production and food security. In this context, the need for PPB is enhanced by a growing realization that conventional plant breeding has been unable to address .the erop requirements for the 1.5 billíon food-deficit people ofthe world (PRGA 1999). The socioeconomie and agroecologieal conditions offarmers are complex, diverse, and risk-prone, and the conventional breeding approach based on unidirectional breeder-and lab-centered work is unlikely to address the complex problems of resource-poor fanners. PPB is an alternate approach that closely engages fanners through diagnosis, experimentation, and dissemination and systematicaIly incIudes fanners' knowledge, skills, and preferences in the process (PRGA 1999). PPB helps to increase understanding of the conditions, the opportunities, and the constraints fanners face and to build on that. Therefore, PPB will be adaptable, locaIly owned, and sustainable.1 believe that PPB, in ita current changing context, needs to be seen from a broader perspective, which encompasses relationships among plants, anima!s, microorganisms, soil, and water within particular social, cultural, and ecological systems, as well as fue contribution ofPPB to local food security and the empowerment of marginal farmers. Therefore, tradition, culture, indigenous knowledge should be importanl elements ofPPB. PPB should not only aim lo increase productivity but it should also be targeted to bridge fue gap between farmcrs and the formal RD sector, empowering fanning communities, contributing to moditying agricultural policies in general (and seed and breeding policies in particular), and documenting indigenous knowledge and skills. PPB should not be limited lo enhancing genetic diversity alone, but it should also be expandcd lo conserve the diversity of the ecologica! system, of the .furming system, of species, and of output (Shiva et al. 1995) as well as ofthe sociocultural syslem. In reality, are these aims fulfilled by PPB? Unot, why not? What are the bottlenecks? It is time to rethink these issues. In this paper 1 am discussing these issues from the perspective of food seeurity, globalization, the abuse of genetic engineering and bioteehnology, and the empowerment ofpaor and marginal fanners. We have a bitterexample ofGreen-Revolution-type development where the gap between rich and poor was widened (Shiva et al. 1995). Breeders have developed varieties of crops that are suitable to mid-income and rieh fanners, not to resource-poor fanners. PPB needs to be able to provide benefits to poor fanners in order to secure their meaningful participation.The extinction of seed varieties, the erosion of genetic diversity, and the abuse ofthe rapid advancement of genetic engineering and biotechnology to create genetic unifonnity and vulnerability are the major threats to food security and the survival ofresource-poor fanners. Increasingly, the native varieties upon which the survival of many poor farmers is based, are becoming inaccessible or being replaced. This poses severe challenges for PPB, exemplified by the following statement ofMr. LI-BIRD research findings also show that several varieties ofvegetables are on the verge of extinction in Nepal (Rana, Joshi, and Lohar 1998).How participatory is PPB?In the existing PPB, the role of fanners is no more than that of contractual participation, as they provide gennplasm to breeders and seed companies to keep in gene banks. But such gene banks fail to conserve genetic diversity because of scientific flaws and technical and polítical inadequacies (Shiva et al. 1995). In conventional plant breeding, fanners are merely the suppliers of genetic ma-. terials, based on the hope of future use. F anners are cornmonly kept at a distance from the breeding process and only considered as consumers ofthe product, i.e., the seed. The fanner-breeder link is stilllinear and top-down.In recent years, plant breeding has radically shified from the conventional domain to genetic engineering and biotechnology and has been unexpectedly manipulated for cornmercial interests. Therefore, it is time to critically assess which groups offanners are involved in PPB and which are benefitting from PPB. Generally, the fanners who are consulted by breeders are from the middle and higher economic strata; they are not the backward and marginalized resource-poor fanners. F anners from middle and higher economic classes are more articulate, better able to invest in the breeding process, have a greater risk-bearing capacity, and are more capable of dealing with breeders (by expressing their ideas and responding to requests for infonnation). They are therefore involved in PPB and getting benefits from it. The argument 1 have ofien heard is the inability of poor fanners to carry out PPB activities. However, the major unexpressed reasons for limiting the participation of these fanners--or excluding them altogether-are their inability to offer good facilities for lodging and food for R&D professionals, poor environmental hygiene, language differences, cultural biases, geographical biases (their concentration in accessible areas), etc.Many R&D professionals rhetorically use the participatory paradigm as a ready-made solution to improve the livelihood of extremely poor fanners without considering underlying principies of participation and local dynamics and conditions. Such interventions not only create social tensions and conflicts, but they also abuse the essence of participatory discourses in R&D. Participation engenders financial, social, physical, and psychological costs as well as benefits. Furthennore, PPB professionals also exploit the financial resources obtained from donors in the name ofPPB for personal benefits (e.g., higber studies, training abroad, higher salaries, etc.). Many professionals working in R&D still lack lhe appropriate knowledge and skills to facilitate participatory processes. Considering this, how does PPB contribute to improving the livelihood of poor farmers, enhancing food security, and empowering marginal farmers?1 realized that the existing PPB approach limits itself to a functional type of participation where farmers are merely involved in a breeding agenda set by the PPB professionals, not to lhe extent of lheir empowerment.There are several global and local opportunities to promote PPB. Among them the fol!owing two are importan!.Convention on biodiversity as a broader framework for PPB. A decision reached at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 by signatories to lhe Convention on Bio-Diversity (CBD) establíshed lhat genetic resources (seeds) are no longer \"the cornmon heritage of mankind\" but fal! under lhe sovereignty of individual countries. The CBD legally binds member countries to conserve genetic resources and farmers' rights (Chaudhary 1999). The threats posed to biodiversity, lhe environment at large, and human health by globalization and the new genetic engineering and biotechnology are major concems under the CBD (TWN 1998). The preamble oflhe CBD, Indent 9, regarding precautionary principies states that \"where lhere is a threat of significant reduction or loss ofbiological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimise such threats.\" Article 8(g) ofthe CBD, dealing with in situ conservation, obliges contracting parties to \"establish or maintain means to regulate, manage or control lhe risks associated wilh the use and release ofliving modified organisms resulting from bio-technology which are líkely to have adverse environmental impacts that could affect the conservation and sustainable use ofbiological diversity, taking also finto 1 account lhe risk to human heallh.\" Artiele 8(h) requires parties to \"prevent lhe introduction of, control or eradicate lhose alíen species which threaten ecosystems, habitats and species.\" Artiele 8 G) oflhe CBD addresses lhe knowledge, innovations, and practices of indigenous and local cornmunities embodying traditionallifestyles relevant to lhe conservation and sustainable use ofbiological diversity (Ho 1998). Therefore, CBD is supportive and provides a promotional regulatory framework to enhance PPB.Civil society awareness and NGO initiatives. Civil-society movements to promote PPB, to conserve biodiversity, and to minimize the negative impact of globalization emerging and gaining momentum. The protests at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and lhe meeting ofthe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCT AD) in Bangkok, and lhe Navdhnya and Beej Banchao movements in India are examples of civil awareness. Likewise, several nongovernmental organizations, farmers groups, and activists are increasingly working towards PGR conservation and lhe protection of farmers' rights througb lobbying and advocacy. Sorne NGOs are even strongly emerging to promote PPB. LI-BIRD in Nepal is an example of such an initiative.In order to promote PPB at the nationallevel, sorne minimum favorable conditions need to exis!. Sorne oflhese are brief1y discussed as follows:Conducive policy context and supportive institutional and regulatory frameworks. Is the national polícy context conducive to the promotion of PPB and are institutional and regulatory frameworks supportive enough? This is the major question to be debated and discussed in the present context. The conducíve policy context and supportive institutíonal and regulatory frameworks are essential to materialízing, promoting, and sealing up PPB to merease people's livelihoods and have a broader impact on resource-poor farrners. The regulatory measures have great bearing on PPB-how supportive they are to promotíng PPB and how strong they are to protect farmers' rights and to prevent bio-piracy, genetic erosion, monopoly oftransnational seed compames, etc. It is essential to deve10p the institutional capacity, relationship with farrners, and research-ínstitutions to create an environment favorable to promotíng PPB. Decentralized management structures and effective mechanisms for sharmg and disseminating informatíon, as well as systems for regular monitoring, evaluation, feedback, and feed-forward are important charaeteristies of institutions that can and will support and promote PPB. However, policymakers, plarmers, and semor managers of agricultural research have yet 10 realize the importance ofPPB, at least in Nepal. For example, in Nepal there is neither cIear policy on PPB nor any interest or concem from policymakers and politicians. Similarly, neither there is regulation on the import Oí informal entry into the country of genetically modified or terminator seeds that can have a negative impact on the local seed-management system and which can contribute to genetic erosiono Nepalese laws and regulations are either silent or uncIear about genetically modified crops, patenting, bio-piracy, CBD, or farrners' rights (Timsina 2000).New professionalism to improve PPB performance. Since PPB itself is an integration of social and technical scíences, it is essential to develop a new professionalism with an adequate understanding ofthe importance ofboth sciences. Shared cognition and mtention, along with appropriate institutions are essential ingredients to an interactive design thatviews people as participants, no! as object that can be instrumentally and strategically manipulated (Roling 2000). So far, the egocentric attitudes of natural and social scientists, and their lack ofknowledge and skills in participatory processes, have restricted collaboration not on1y m particípatory R&D activities but also in developing thís new, integrated professionalism. PPB not only deals with technical issues of genetics, plant breeding, entomology, and plant pathology but it also combines the perspective of economics, socíology, anthropology, farm management, etc., to social íssues Iike the attitude and behavior of farrners; their economic, social, and cultural conditions for adaptaríon of PPB outcomes; local knowledge and information about the characteristics of particular plants and varieties, etc. One can not assume that the goals ofPPB are the goals of farrners. At this juncture, there is a gap bctween social and natural scientists that could be bridged by developing a new, integrated professionalism through appropriate training, sharing, and experimentation.It is increasingly realized that the \"delivery\" of science-based innovations like planl varieties to farmers does not work (Roling 2000). This approach was attempted by the Green-Revolution model but failed to reduce the gap between rich and poor, which increased instead. Therefore, a newapproach is essential in order to develop effective action according to the objectives, expectations, priorities, and knowledge of farrners. It is time to integrate hard, positivist-objectivist, biophysical science with 50ft, participatory, constructivist social science to deal with PPB, which imparts knowledge, skills, and a change m the attitude of scientists (both social and biophysical), and 10 work in a collaborative and complementary way to improve the performance of PPB. One important characteristic of a successful professional, whether breeder or social scientist who works with communities, ís the learnÍng attitude and communication skills. One of the major constraints observed in PPB is the lack of intemalizing the role and importance of íntegrated professionalism.Changing from an ethnocentric, own-discipline bias to accommodation of multidisciplinarityshifting perspectives and feeling from \"we are the master and, therefore, part of the solution and theyare the lay person and therefore part of the problem\" to \"we both are leamers and collaborators\"-is another challenge to be intemalízed by PPB professíonals. Attítudinal differences between two groups of scientists are due lo differenl kinds and levels of knowledge, orientation, background, professional bias, and experience. Therefore, balancíng recognition and exploring latent conflict is essential to increasing commitmenl, collaboration, and interdisciplinarity.In Ihis section, the effeet of globalization, intellectual property rights, UPOV, genetic engíneering and biotechnology, and bio-piracy is presented from the PPB perspectíve. The dominant reductionisl scientific world view of fue West and its inventions like genetic engineering and bíolechnology ís causíng suffering, widening poverty, and destroying earth (Ho 1998). Intemational agricultural trade does no! benefit fue poor because it is based on the monitory interests of transnational and multinational companies. Ralher, it is severely threateníng farmers' rights to seed and plant genetic resources (Action Aid 1999). It ís increasingly accepted that genetic engineering, in general, and patenting of genetic resources, in partícular, have a potentially negative impact on resource-poor farmers. Studies have shown thal the Iiberalization of global trade is not only exerting enormous pressure on resource-poor agriculture and marginalizíng poor and small farmers, but it is also promoting starvation and the eros ion of agricultural biodiversity and indigenous knowledge (Action Aid 1999). Transnational and multinational agribusiness corporations are benefitting from globalization and the Iíberalizatíon oftrade at the cost of inequality, hunger, and the threatened survíval of resource-poor farmers of developing countries like Nepal.Threats to PPB by genetic engiÍteering and biotechnology. In lhe field ofbreeding, genetic engineering and biotechnology is a departure from lhe conventional breeding índuced by industrialized countries. The sole motive of these innovations i5 to monopolize global agriculture and maximize profit (Ghale and Upreti 2000). Genetic engineering is widely touted by lhe giant biotech industries of lhe developed countries as the cure for world hunger. Their argument is lhat genetic engineering and biotechnology will help to restore a healthy environment, prevent further degradation of plant genetic re80urces, and globally pro vide more choices and opportunitie8.lt i8 assumed lhat hunger is due to lack of foOO. But lhat i8 a simple and incorrect analysis of world hunger. The fundamental cause ofhunger is not Iack of food but a whole range of things from unjust and inequitable political and economíc structures lo ecological degradation for maximization profit lo lhe marginalization of poor people (Ghale and Upreti 2000). Even some ecological economists argue that hunger ís lhe inevitable result of globalizatíon and lhe free-market economy.Genetic engineering and biotechnology have been directed solely al meeting lhe conimercial interests of a few giant food producers and processors in industrialízed countries. Genetic engineering and biotechnology bypass the natural reproduction process because they horizontally transfer genes from one individual to anolher, as compared to vertical transfer from parents to offspring. These horizontal gene transfers not only spoil genetic diversity but also raise ethical questions (for eXJunple, human gene transfer to pígs, sheep, or bacteria). Transgeruc plants are generally resistant to broad-spectrum herbicídes, which cause acute and chromic loxicity and have a negative impact on biodiversity (ESRE 1999). Similarly, intervention in agriculture through genetíc engineering and biotechnology reinforce existing social structures, maximíze monopolistic profits, and inten-sifY agricultural practices, which willlead to widespread environmental destructíon and ecological imbalance.Intellectual property rights, the Union for the Protection ofPlant Varieties, and PPB. Intellectual property rights (IPR), plant breeders' right, and patents 2 as a regulatory arrangement introduced in the field ofbreeding to universalize the command and control of most developed countries has not provided protection to public interests in developing countries (Ghale 1999). How do breeders and other professionals working in the field ofPPB perceive plant breeders' rights as embodied in the UPOV convention, which strongly centralizes the plant breeding (TWN 1996)? Which options do breeders involved in PPB prefer in IPR protection-protection through patents of protection sui generis J or open?Due to the UPOV convention, the trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs), and genetic engineering and biotechnology, the control over plant breeding and seed is shifting from farmers to giant multinational seed companies. In this context, do participatory plant breeders advocate farmers' rights to use, produce, multiply, share, exchange, sell, modif'y seed, and plant genetic materials freely? The restrictions imposed by IPR infringe on farmers' rights. UPOV claims that the implementation ofthe new plant variety protection (PVP) arrangement stimulates protection ofthe environment and conservation ofbiodiversity and stability offood availability. That is only a nightmare and misleading (GRAIN 1999) because the uniformity criterion specified for PVP by UPOV tends to destroy diversity and enhance genetic erosiono IfPPB practitioners realize this, then the fundamental shift from conventional PPB to PPB led by advocacy and lobbying is essential. This is probably too hard for the breeders. Another ethical question related to PPB is the IPR issue. PPB builds directly on farmers' knowledge and germplasm to select and develop crop varieties. Therefore, the ownership rights, access, benefits, and control of such varieties needs to be held by farmers instead ofbreeders. But does this happen in reality?Threats to PPB from globalization. Technological advancement and the international expansion of trade and cornmerce have fundamentally shifted the focus on plant breeding. Global competitiveness is emerging as a determinant ofplant breeding. The World Trade Organization (WTO), through its TRIPs arrangement and patenting of life forms, is posing new challenges and eroding the scope of self-supporting PPB. In the developed world, local seed saving is increasingly considered as a barrier to trade and cornmerce, and provisions are being imposed on farmers to pay royalties to plant breeders and companies. Globalization, through WTO and other similar arrangements, is forcing a radical change, not only on the setting of agricultural research but also by pressurizing member countries to change their legal, regulatory, and fiscal policies. In the case of plant breeding, the development of genetically modified foods and terrninator technology by giant multinational agro-biotech companies like Monsanto, Novartis, and DuPont are examples ofthreats to PPB.As the global market becomes more liberal, there is a countervailing trend to privatize knowledge and agricultural innovations for cornmercial profit (Action Aid 1999). Under TRIPs, iffarmers use patented seed, they will be forced to pay royalties to the patentee ifthey keep seed to re-sow in the following years. Giant bio-tech companies are using local knowledge on the properties of plants to identif'y \"useful\" genes. They then patent the gene and its use. As a consequence, farmers in the country of origin have to buy it back and pay royalties. For example, neem trees from India and Nepal, basmati rice from India, and jasmine rice from Thailand are patented by Monsanto-like 2. A patent is a fonn ofintellectual property protection that gives a rnonopoly right to exploit an invention for a period of 17 to 20 years. Artic1e 27.3b of TRIPS requires developing countries to allow companies to take out patents on the products and processes ofbiotechnology. This artic1e also demands that countries supply either patent protection or an effective sui generis (a wIique intellectual property system for a specific good or process). 3. Sui generis is a Latin phrase cornmonly used in the IPR debate, which means \"ofits own kind.\" companies. By placing the control of gennplasm in the hands ofthe most powerful corporate bodies in global agriculture, the social, political, and economic structures that underpin poverty and hunger will continue to flourish (Action Aid 1999).The open-market economy, free trade, and economic liberalization are the basic premises ofWTO, in which patenting and IPR are the most controversia! issues related to agricu!ture. Article 27.3 (b) of the TRIPs agreement does not recognize Ihe right of local corrununities to their indigenous know1edge and agricultural practices. This article forces members to protect Iheir rights to genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRAIN 1999). The corrunercialization of terminator techno!ogy, a genetically engineered trait Ihat causes crop seeds to become sterile at harvest time, is posing another threat around the world (GRAIN 1999). The majority of Ihe intemational and transnational life science companies are no! only ignoring basic ethics and values but are also destroying indigenous knowledge, technologies, and practices for the so!e aim ofprofit (UvA 1999). Therefore, excluding agricultural biodiversity and plant genetic resources from the patent protection within TRIPs 27.3 (b) and the protection of farmers' rights is essential 10 minirnizing Ihe negative effect of the TRIPs agreement on Ihe livelihood of rcsource-poor fanners. In reality, the relationship between intellectual rights on Jife fonns and Ihe conservation and sustainable use ofbiodiversity is highly conlentious (GRAIN 1999).Bio-piracy as an emerging threat. Bio-piracy is anolher threat emerging from patent arrangements and TRIP' Bio-piracy from developing countrÍes lo paten! innovation and earn money is on the inerease. Recent seed-related research in Nepal has shown that bio-piraey is rapidly increasing in Ihat eountry (Timsina 2000). The research report states that Ihe germplasm of buek-wheat (Fagopyrum spp), barley (Hordeu'm spp.), chuehe karela (Momordica spp.), wild rice varieties containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Oryza spp.), several herbal medicinal plants, and colocacia were taken from Nepal wilhout permission by Japanese, Gennan, and American researchers working in and or visiting Ihe country. Nepalese breeders and NGO workers supported Ihem in Ihis bio-piracy.It is time to relhink Ihe approaches, methodologies, and focus ofPPB to address changing global challenges and to raise Ihe livelihood of resource-poor farmers. As a people-centered approach, PPB has to work in Ihe spirit of conventional plant breeding, wruch seeks to promote Ihe establishment of a sovereign community and indigenous rights to plant genetic resources. TRIPsIWTO, UPOVI plant-variety protection, genetic engineering and biotechnology, and bio-piraey are beeomíng increasingly serious threats to PPB, food security, indigenous knowledge, and conservation ofbiodiversity. Corporate control of seed and plant genetie resources is creating inequalities. To minimize Ihese adverse effeets, it is essential for PPB to take Ihe initiative in developing a gennplasm-sharing network among fanners, PPB practitioners, and civil society, by establishing in situ seed banks as a cornmon property resource, promoting the exchange of indigenous knowledge, registering seed and plant genetic resources at Ihe community level, strenglhening the management capacity of farmers for plant genetic resourees, recognizing fanners' innovations, etc. Sínce Ihe last decade, PPB has been widely advocated by donor-supported researeh centers rather than poor farmers. Much of Ihe discussion on PPB has been rhetone, ventunng into professional debate among the believers ofPPB. Sorne practical efforts have been made to promote PPB, but they have been limited to a small-scale, disorganized, and mechanistic use of a few participatory tools such as PRA, on-fann trials, and fanner groups in a superficiallevel. Not much attention has been given to empowering fanners and increasing their livelihood. Therefore, a substantial reform in existing PPB-through the development of new professionalism and ideas, frameworks, and methodologíes, particularly by engaging in collaborative action-is essential ifPPB is to address the globalIy emergíng challenges in plant breeding. Experiences over the last decade suggest that plant breeding approaches are donor driven, operating under the broad conceptual framework and financial condítíons imposed by donors, which are, therefore, more rhetoríc than \"real participatíon\" to empower a weaker sectíon of society. The lack of cornmunication and facilitation skills, policy measures, and supportive institutional and regulatory frameworks in national agricultura! research systems, combined with the egocentricity ofbreeders and social scientists and a sectoral approach, are sorne of the major bottlenecks to prornoting a PPB tbat airns to use participation both as an end and a means. The scaling-up, institutionalizing, simplifying (dernystífication of prevailing jargon and rhelorie), ernpowering of fanners, rnanaging ehange, reorienting training, eoping with globalization and TRIPs/patenting, and developing a new professionalisrn are sorne of the major areas to be improved in order to reform the existing PPB.The on!y way to cope with the threat of genetic engineering and biolechnology at the globallevel is lo work in line with the Convention on Bio-Diversity, an intemational treaty Ihat has been sígned by more than 160 member states ofthe United Natíons. This convention provídes an international legal framework for the conservatíon ofbiologícal diversíty, including access to and exchange of genetic materials and biodíversity prospecting.","tokenCount":"7003"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5304419100.json b/data/part_1/5304419100.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..937e7f03029cf79ed79f8406250a47bb34eddb4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5304419100.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c442065fe57a05b6c45f3b515909fe92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bfde8bd9-3afb-48f2-abac-8559481c6569/retrieve","id":"-801709057"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"64fc2259-d53d-4cb4-80f8-99a534a52a9a","pagecount":"215","content":"Cuốn sách này được hoàn thành với sự tài trợ không thể thiếu của Chương trình Biến đổi khí hậu, Nông nghiệp và An ninh lương thực, khu vực Đông Nam Á (CCAFS-SEA) và sự đóng góp quí báu bằng cách chia sẻ thông tin, cung cấp địa chỉ, hình ảnh minh họa, hoặc tư vấn, hỗ trợ thu thập dữ liệu về thực hành CSA của rất nhiều cá nhân và tổ chức, từ Bắc vào Nam. Lời cám ơn chân thành nhất xin được gửi đến:Tôi xin chúc mừng nhóm chuyên gia đã hoàn thành cuốn sách này, dẫn đầu là Tiến sỹ Phạm Thị Sến, Viện Khoa học kỹ thuật nông lâm nghiệp Miền núi Phía Bắc (NOMAFSI). Xuất bản ấn phẩm này là một trong những hoạt động của CCAFS nhằm cung cấp thông tin cho các nhà nghiên cứu, nhà quản lý cùng các cán bộ kỹ thuật và khuyến nông viên các cấp về những kỹ thuật và thực hành nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu (CSA) để có thể lựa chọn nhân rộng ở các hệ sinh thái khác nhau của Việt Nam.Trong 5 năm trở lại đây, Việt Nam đã thực sự là một trong những nước bị ảnh hưởng mạnh nhất bởi biến đổi khí hậu toàn cầu. Điều này không chỉ còn trong các kịch bản, dự báo mà đã được tất cả trải nghiệm. Bão, lũ, sương muối, rét đậm, rét hại, hạn hán và xâm nhập mặn khắc nghiệt đã ảnh hưởng nhiều vùng trên cả nước, từ miền núi tới đồng bằng, gây thiệt hại nặng nề về người, tài sản và sản xuất nông nghiệp.May mắn là việc nghiên cứu phát triển các kỹ thuật và thực hành CSA đã và đang diễn ra không ngừng ở các cơ quan nghiên cứu, trong nông dân và các doanh nghiệp. Ứng dụng thực hành CSA để thích ứng với tác động của biến đổi khí hậu trong sản xuất cũng đang được tăng cường. Tuy nhiên, vẫn cần phải thúc đẩy quá trình nhân rộng những kỹ thuật và thực hành này nhằm tiếp tục tăng trưởng sản xuất, đảm bảo an ninh lương thực, cải thiện thu nhập cho nông dân, và phát triển nền nông nghiệp thích ứng và góp phần giảm nhẹ biến đổi khí hậu toàn cầu.Chương trình CCAFS hân hạnh được đóng góp vào nỗ lực của Việt Nam trong lĩnh vực này. Từ năm 2015 CCAFS đã thực hiện nhiều hoạt động thúc đẩy đánh giá và nhân rộng thực hành CSA. CCAFS cũng hỗ trợ thành lập 3 mô hình làng thông minh với khí hậu, hay còn gọi làng nông-thuận-thiên (CSV) ở 3 miền, miền Bắc, miền Trung và miền Nam Việt Nam. Mục tiêu của các CSV là thúc đẩy phát triển nông nghiệp, nông thôn hòa thuận, thân thiện với thiên nhiên, góp phần cho Chương trình Mục tiêu quốc gia về xây dựng nông thôn mới.Tôi khuyến khích bạn đọc tận dụng triệt để lợi ích của ấn phẩm được biên soạn bằng tiếng Việt này.Trân trọng,Theo đánh giá của Tổ chức Khí tượng Thế giới (WMO) và Ủy ban Liên chính phủ về Biến đổi khí hậu (IPCC), Việt Nam là một trong những quốc gia bị ảnh hưởng nặng nề nhất của biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH) ở cả hiện tại và trong tương lai. Dưới tác động của BĐKH, tần suất và cường độ các hiện tượng thời tiết cực đoan ngày càng gia tăng trong những năm qua, gây nhiều tổn thất to lớn về người, tài sản, cơ sở hạ tầng và tác động tiêu cực đến các hoạt động kinh tế, xã hội ở Việt Nam. Với điều kiện tự nhiên đa dạng, tỷ lệ dân cư sống dựa vào nông nghiệp và tỷ lệ đói nghèo còn ở mức tương đối cao, BĐKH được dự báo tiếp tục có những tác động lớn đến kinh tế, xã hội tại Việt Nam trong các thập kỷ tiếp theo và là nguy cơ hiện hữu đối với mục tiêu xóa đói giảm nghèo, mục tiêu thiên niên kỷ và sự phát triển bền vững của quốc gia. Lĩnh vực nông nghiệp và phát triển nông thôn (bao gồm trồng trọt, chăn nuôi, thuỷ lợi, thuỷ sản, lâm nghiệp, diêm nghiệp, nông thôn) luôn chịu tác động lớn bởi BĐKH. Việt Nam hiện được coi là một trong những quốc gia xuất khẩu nông-thủy sản hàng đầu thế giới (gạo, hồ tiêu, điều, cà phê, trái cây, thủy sản…). Chính vì vậy, những tác động của BĐKH đối với sản xuất nông nghiệp ở Việt Nam không chỉ tác động đến an ninh lương thực và giá cả thị trường nông-thủy sản trong nước, mà còn ảnh hưởng đến an ninh lương thực và thị trường nông-thủy sản trong khu vực và trên thế giới. Hiện nay, Chính phủ và Bộ Nông nghiệp & PTNT đã và đang có nhiều nỗ lực nhằm ứng phó với BĐKH, thể hiện qua các chính sách và các chương trình mục tiêu quốc gia, chương trình hành động, kế hoạch hành động, đề án phát triển đã được ban hành và triển khai, trong đó nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc kết hợp thích ứng và giảm nhẹ BĐKH trong ứng phó với BĐKH của ngành nông nghiệp, nhằm đảm bảo việc thực hiện mục tiêu xóa đói giảm nghèo, mục tiêu tăng trưởng ngành và giảm phát thải khí nhà kính.Phát triển nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu (CSA) tại Việt Nam đang nhận được sự quan tâm của Chính phủ, sự hỗ trợ về kĩ thuật, công nghệ của quốc tế và sự đầu tư của khối doanh nghiệp tư nhân thông qua các dự án phát triển nông nghiệp xanh và bền vững. Bên cạnh đó, tri thức bản địa và sự chủ động của nông dân trong việc thích ứng với các biến đổi của điều kiện thời tiết hiện cũng đang ngày càng được đề cao và khuyến khích. Chiến lược về sản xuất nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu có thể sẽ là điểm khởi đầu phù hợp nhất cho một nền nông nghiệp Việt Nam bền vững, tăng trưởng ổn định và ứng phó tốt hơn với BĐKH.Thực hiện sáng kiến của Chương trình Nghiên cứu \"Biến đổi khí hậu, Nông nghiệp và An ninh lương thực (CCAFS)\" của Hiệp hội Tổ chức Nghiên cứu nông nghiệp quốc tế (CGIAR), Văn phòng CCAFS Đông Nam Á và Viện Nghiên cứu lúa gạo quốc tế (IRRI) đã giao Viện KHKT Nông lâm nghiệp MNPB (NOFMASI) chủ trì, phối hợp với các cơ quan nghiên cứu và chuyên gia trong và ngoài nước thu thập, tập hợp và cập nhật là một hệ thống hoàn chỉnh và tương đối ổn định, bao gồm tất cả các sinh vật (hay còn gọi quần xã sinh vật) và khu vực sống của chúng (hay còn gọi sinh cảnh). Trong hệ sinh thái, các sinh vật luôn luôn tác động qua lại với nhau và tác động qua lại với các thành phần của sinh cảnh (gồm khí hậu, đất, nước, không khí và các chất có trong đất, nước, không khí).Hệ sinh thái được chia ra thành hệ sinh thái tự nhiên (HSTTN) và hệ sinh thái nhân tạo (HSTTNT). HSTTN tồn tại không do con người và hệ sinh thái nhân tạo do con người tạo thành.là HSTdo lao động của con người tạo ra, bao gồm các sinh vật sống (cây trồng, vật nuôi) tương tác với nhau và với ngoại cảnh. Các tương tác này chịu tác động của con người với mục tiêu tạo ra nhiều sản phẩm vật nuôi và cây trồng.1 Theo FAO, tại Hội nghị Thượng đỉnh lương thực thế giới, 1996.bao gồm chủ yếu các hoạt động của con người sản xuất ra toàn bộ của cải vật chất của xã hội. Hệ thống kinh tế nông thôn gồm các hoạt động nông nghiệp và cả phi nông nghiệp.là sự hợp nhất của hệ sinh thái nông nghiệp và hệ thống kinh tế. Trong hệ thống nông nghiệp có các hệ thống sinh học (cây trồng, vật nuôi) và các hệ thống kinh tế (hoạt động kinh doanh).là khi tất cả mọi người có khả năng (đủ điều kiện về kinh tế và các điều kiện khác) tiếp cận và sử dụng một cách đầy đủ, mọi lúc, mọi nơi, lương thực, thực phẩm an toàn và bổ dưỡng, để duy trì cuộc sống khỏe mạnh và năng động 1 .là biểu hiện và diễn biến ở ngoài trời của các yếu tố gồm nhiệt độ, áp suất khí quyển, gió, nắng, mưa, mây, độ ẩm tại một địa điểm nhất định vào thời gian nhất định, thường là trong một khoảng thời gian ngắn (ngày hoặc giờ).là \"thời tiết trung bình\" hay nói một cách chính xác hơn là \"bình quân định kỳ\" của các yếu tố thời tiết (gồm nhiệt độ, áp suất khí quyển, gió, nắng, mưa, mây, độ ẩm) trong các khoảng thời gian dài hơn của một vùng, miền nhất định.là sự thay đổi (tăng hoặc giảm) giá trị trung bình của các yếu tố thời tiết trong một khoảng thời gian dài (thường là 30 năm trở lên) 2 .BĐKH khác với những biến động về thời tiết. Những thay đổi của các yếu tố thời tiết về dài hạn (quan sát được trong thời gian dài, hàng thập kỷ, thế kỷ) là do BĐKH. Những thay đổi ngắn hạn (theo giờ, theo ngày, theo mùa, theo năm hoặc một số năm) là những biến động thông thường của thời tiết.BĐKH được cho là có liên quan trực tiếp hay gián tiếp đến những hoạt động của con người; những hoạt động này phát thải ra các khí nhà kính (KNK), như khí ô-xít các-bon (còn gọi khí cacbonic, CO2), oxit nitơ (N2O), metan (CH4) và một số khí khác vào bầu khí quyển, làm trái đất nóng lên, dẫn đến BĐKH.-Trái đất nóng lên: Nhiệt độ trung bình của trái đất đã tăng khoảng 0,74oC trong khoảng thời gian từ 1906 -2005. Những năm gần đây nhiệt độ tăng nhiều hơn so với những năm trước. Dự báo, nhiệt độ trái đất vẫn tiếp tục tăng.-Lượng mưa và phân bố lượng mưa thay đổi: Lượng mưa và phân bố lượng mưa ngày càng không đều hơn giữa các tháng, các mùa trong năm và giữa các địa bàn khác nhau. Ở nhiều nơi, hiện tượng mưa lớn tập trung có dấu hiệu tăng lên gây nguy cơ ngập úng, lũ quét nhiều hơn, đồng thời hiện tượng khô hạn vào mùa khô cũng nghiêm trọng hơn.-Nước biển dâng: Do trái đất ấm lên, băng ở các cực trái đất và đỉnh núi cao bị tan chảy, làm mực nước biển trung bình toàn cầu dâng lên. Ước tích, so với năm 1990, hiện nay diện tích của lớp phủ băng theo mùa ở bán cầu Bắc đã giảm 7%, riêng trong mùa xuân giảm tới 15%.-Hạn hán xuất hiện thường xuyên hơn ở vùng nhiệt đới và cận nhiệt đới: Từ năm 1970, ở nhiều vùng lượng mưa giảm và nhiệt độ tăng dẫn đến hạn hán thường xuyên và nghiêm trọng hơn.-Các cơn bão mạnh gia tăng: Từ những năm 1970 xu hướng xuất hiện ngày càng nhiều hơn các cơn bão có quỹ đạo bất thường, khó dự báo, 'mùa bão' kéo dài hơn.chủ yếu gồm các khí ô-xít các-bon (CO2), ô-xít ni-tơ (N2O), mê-tan (CH4), ô-zôn (O3) và các ôxít flo. Các khí này luôn tồn tại trong khí quyển, có khả năng hấp thụ bức xạ từ bề mặt trái đất và phát xạ trở ra làm phân tán nhiệt trở lại trái đất, và nhờ đó giữ cho trái đất được ấm. Có thể hiểu các KNK tạo thành một lớp giữ nhiệt, giống như lớp chăn bọc quanh trái đất. Khi lớp chăn này dày lên hay mỏng đi thì trái đất cũng ấm lên hay lạnh hơn Các hoạt động của con người tạo ra phát thải KNK, làm tăng nồng độ KHK trong khí quyển và vì thế làm cho trái đất nóng lên, gây ra BĐKH.đối với ngành nông nghiệp, là thực hiện những việc để làm giảm mức độ bị tổn thương hoặc tránh không bị tổn thương do tác động của BĐKH đối với con người, các hệ thống sản xuất và hệ thống tự nhiên, hoặc để tận dụng cơ hội có lợi do BĐKH mang lại, hoặc để khắc phục các hậu quả của BĐKH, phục hồi sau khi bị ảnh hưởng bởi BĐKH.Có thể thích ứng bằng các cách: (i) tránh các nguy cơ bị tác động của BĐKH, (ii) giảm mức độ bị tổn thương do BĐKH, và (iii) tăng khả năng thích nghi BĐKH 11. Tránh nguy cơ bị tác động của BĐKH đối với ngành nông ngiệp, là áp dụng các giải pháp tránh không để cây trồng, vật nuôi bị tác động bởi BĐKH. Muốn làm được điều này cần xác định được nguy cơ ảnh hưởng của BĐKH tới sản xuất nông nghiệp (SXNN) để làm căn cứ xây dựng các kế hoạch quản lý và sử dụng tài nguyên thiên nhiên, tái cơ cấu cây trồng, vật nuôi, tái cơ cấu ngành nông nghiệp và thay đổi lịch gieo trồng một cách phù hợp, nhằm tránh cho cây trồng, vật nuôi không \"có mặt\" trong vùng bị ảnh hưởng của BĐKH khi cây trồng, vật nuôi ở vào các giai đoạn mẫn cảm, dễ bị tổn thương.Đối với ngành nông nghiệp, khi bắt buộc phải để cây trồng, vật nuôi có mặt trong vùng bị ảnh hưởng bởi BĐKH, cần ứng dụng các giải pháp phù hợp để làm giảm mức bị độ bị thiệt hại (như sử dụng các giống chịu hạn, chịu mặn, chịu rét, chịu ngập úng; xây dựng các hệ thống tưới tiêu phù hợp để có thể quản lý nước tưới một cách hiệu quả; cải tạo độ phì nhiêu của đất và tăng khả năng giữ nước của đất; ứng dụng các kỹ thuật quản lý cây trồng, vật nuôi thích hợp; nuôi trồng đa dạng nhiều cây, con vv) để giúp cây trồng, vật nuôi khỏe, ít bị ảnh hưởng bởi các điều kiện thời tiết xấu, đồng thời có khả năng phục hồi nhanh nhất sau khi bị tác động bởi những biến động của thời tiết, và giảm nguy cơ thất thu hoàn toàn.Đối với ngành nông nghiệp, thông qua việc xây dựng và thực hiện các biện pháp, các chiến lược phù hợp để đa dạng hóa các hoạt động tạo nguồn tạo thu nhập, đa dạng các hệ thống sản xuất, cải thiện cơ sở hạ tầng, tăng cường ứng dụng các kỹ thuật nông nghiệp phù hợp, sử dụng hiệu quả các nguồn vật tư (giống, phân bón, thuốc BVTV...) để giúp cây trồng, vật nuôi có thể sinh trưởng và phát triển ngay trong những điều kiện thời tiết khó khăn.đối với ngành nông nghiệp, là giảm khả năng xuất hiện và/hoặc làm giảm nhẹ mức độ BĐKH. Giảm nhẹ BĐKH bao gồm việc cắt giảm lượng phát thải KNK do các hoạt động của con người và tăng khả năng thu hồi KNK (chủ yếu là khí các-bonnic) từ bầu khí quyển và lưu giữ lại trong các hệ thống sản xuất nông nghiệp, ví dụ như thông qua trồng rừng.Có 3 cách để nông nghiệp giảm thiểu BĐKH, bao gồm (i) giảm phát thải KNK, (ii) tránh phát thải KNK, và (iii) loại bỏ phát thải KNKtrong nông nghiệp, là việc ứng dụng các kỹ thuật sản xuất có tác động làm giảm lượng phát thải KNK vào không khí. Chẳng hạn như, bón cân đối các loại phân, tránh bón quá nhiều phân đạm và phân chuồng chưa hoai mục, vì đây là các nguồn phát thải một số KNK (CH4 và N2O); xử lý tốt rác thải chăn nuôi vì phân gia súc là nguồn khí thải CH4 lớn; và không đốt ruộng, nương vì như vậy sẽ thải khí các-bon vào không khí.Trong nôn nghiệp, ứng dụng một số kỹ thuật sau thu hoạch, chế biến và bảo quản hợp lý có thể giảm thất thoát lương thực, thực phẩm (LTTP), và như vậy giúp giảm được lượng phát thải KNK do quá trình sản xuất ra lượng LTTP bị thất thoát, dẫn tới giảm tổng lượng KNK phát thải để sản xuất ra lượng LTTP được tiêu thụ. Sử dụng nhiên liệu có nguồn gốc sinh học (biofuels) thay cho nhiên liệu hóa thạch dùng trong sản xuất nông nghiệp (để chạy máy bơm nước, máy cày, ô tô vận chuyển v.v) cũng cắt giảm được lượng KNK phát sinh.đối với ngành nông nghiệp, là ứng dụng các biện pháp phù hợp để đất và cây trồng hấp thụ được nhiều khí các bon từ không khí và tích tụ lại lâu dài trong đất hoặc trong cây, đặc biệt là cây rừng, như các biện pháp canh tác tạo điều kiện giúp bộ rễ của cây phát triển tốt, sinh trưởng tốt và tạo sinh khối lớn, trồng cây lâm nghiệp, phát triển các hệ thống nông lâm kết hợp v.v., như vậy sẽ góp phần làm giảm lượng KNK trong bầu khí quyển và vì thế giúp giảm nhẹ BĐKH.là bao gồm cả thích ứng và giảm thiểu BĐKH.là tất cả chất hữu cơ ở dạng sống và chết (ở cả phía trên hoặc dưới mặt đất). Nói cách khác, sinh khối là tổng khối lượng của toàn bộ các phần một cây hoặc một quần thể nhiều cây hay nhiều loại cây trên một đơn vị diện tích.Sinh khối càng cao thì lượng các bon tích lũy trong đó càng lớn. Lượng các bon tích lũy trong một đơn vị khối lượng sinh khối phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố, bao gồm loại 3 Theo FAO, 2013. Climate smart agriculture Sourcebook. (available at www.fao.org/ publications) 4Dựa theo Neha Gupta, devalt.org Hình 1.1. Ba mục tiêu (ba trụ cột) của nông nghiệp ứng phó BĐKH 4 cây, giống cây, thời gian cân và đo, chế độ phân bón và tưới nước cho cây vv. Các cây lâu năm (cây lấy gỗ, cây ăn quả và cây công nghiệp lâu năm) có sinh khối lớn và có khả năng thu hồi các bon từ không khí và giữ các bon lại trong phần thân gỗ của mình. Quá trình này gọi là tích tụ các bon vào thân cây.Ha còn gọi nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu, viết tắt là CSA (theo thuật ngữ tiếng Anh, Climate-Smart Agriculture), là nền nông nghiệp bền vững và thân thiện với môi trường có tính đến các vấn đề của BĐKH, nhằm đạt các mục tiêu phát triển, cả ngắn hạn và dài hạn, trong bối cảnh BĐKH.CSA hướng tới 3 mục tiêu: 1) ANLT thông qua tăng trưởng sản xuất lương thực và tăng thu nhập, tăng hiệu quả kinh tế; 2) thích ứng với BĐKH của cây trồng, vật nuôi và các hệ thống sản xuất nông nghiệp để đảm bảo ANLT bền vững; 3) giảm nhẹ BĐKH và giảm các tác động xấu của các hoạt động sản xuất LTTP tới môi trường 3 .CSA thực chất là nền nông nghiệp bền vững và thân thiện với môi trường có tính đến các vấn đề của BĐKH.là hệ thống sản xuất, trong đó cây hàng năm, cây bụi, cây thân thảo được trồng cùng các cây lâu năm, cây rừng trên cùng một diện tích đất, cũng có thể kết hợp cả trồng cỏ và chăn nuôi.là nền sản xuất nông nghiệp dựa chủ yếu vào việc phát huy lợi thế và sử dụng hợp lý nguồn tài nguyên thiên nhiên, phù hợp với hoàn cảnh và nguồn lực của người sản xuất, hạn chế tới mức thấp nhất những tác động tiêu cực đến môi trường.NNST giúp bảo vệ môi trường, giảm thiểu tác động không tốt của các hoạt động sản xuất tới khí hậu và tài nguyên thiên nhiên, đồng thời tăng hiệu quả kinh tế, chất lượng sản phẩm và đảm bảo vệ sinh an toàn thực phẩm của các sản phẩm nông nghiệp.là sản xuất nông nghiệp không sử dụng bất cứ loại hóa chất tổng hợp nào trong chăn nuôi, trồng trọt, nuôi trồng thủy sản, cụ thể là không sử dụng phân bón hóa học tổng hợp, thuốc bảo vệ thực vật hóa học tổng hợp và các chất điều hòa sinh trưởng cho cây trồng, không sử dụng kháng sinh trong chăn nuôi.Các nguyên tắc này đươc quy định trong tiêu chuẩn Quốc tế của IFOAM (Liên đoàn Quốc tế các phong trào canh tác nông nghiệp hữu cơ) và tiêu chuẩn Việt Nam TCVN 11041-1: 2017 về Nông nghiệp hữu cơ, với mục tiêu bảo vệ hệ sinh thái, cây trồng, vật nuôi, tạo ra những sản phẩm có chất lượng, an toàn, đem lại hiệu quả kinh tế, duy trì và nâng cao độ phì nhiêu của đất.Nông nghiệp hữu cơ dựa tối đa vào việc tái sử dụng sinh khối, các phế, phụ phẩm nông nghiệp và ứng dụng biện pháp canh tác thủ công nhằm duy trì độ màu mở của đất để cung cấp các chất dinh dưỡng cho cây trồng, kiểm soát cỏ dại, côn trùng và các loại sâu bệnh, nhờ đó bảo vệ các hệ sinh thái và môi trường.là một phương pháp quản lí hệ thống sản xuất nông nghiệp theo 3 nguyên tắc: (i) không làm xáo trộn kết cấu đất (chỉ làm đất đủ để gieo hạt, trồng cây); (ii) luôn che phủ bề mặt đất bằng lớp thực vật sống, hoặc bằng tàn dư thực vật đã chết, và (iii) đa dạng hoá cây trồng bằng việc luân canh và xen canh cây trồng.Nông nghiệp bảo tồn yêu cầu trồng thêm các cây phân xanh, cây che phủ để tạo vật liệu che phủ; không đốt bỏ tàn dư cây trồng, cỏ dại; áp dụng phương pháp quản lý dịch hại tổng hợp (IPM); hạn chế tối đa việc cày, cuốc làm xáo trộn bề mặt đất.Nông nghiệp bảo tồn giúp duy trì và dần cải thiện độ phì nhiêu của đất, bảo vệ đất khỏi bị xói mòn, rửa trôi, tăng năng suất và hiệu quả kinh tế, đa dạng nguồn thu và giảm ô nhiễm môi trường, giảm phát thải KNK do giảm sử dụng thuốc BVTV, phân bón.là cung cấp cho cây trồng các nguyên tố dinh dưỡng cần thiết với liều lượng đúng, tỉ lệ thích hợp với từng thời điểm sinh trưởng phát triển của cây trồng.Mỗi cây trồng có nhu cầu về các yếu tố dinh dưỡng với liều lượng và tỷ lệ nhất định. Thiếu hoặc mất cân đối một yếu tố nào đó đều làm cho cây sinh trưởng và phát triển kém, ngay cả những khi các yếu tố dinh dưỡng khác dư thừa.Thời gian và lượng phân bón phụ thuộc vào cây trồng, giai đoạn sinh trưởng của cây, điều kiện về đất đai, nước tưới, các yếu tố về khí hậu, thời tiết. Bón phân theo nguyên tắc 4 đúng: đúng chủng loại phân, đúng liều lượng, đúng lúc và đúng cách.là những sinh vật có ích, giúp tiêu diệt sâu bệnh hại (chúng có thể ăn hoặc gây bệnh cho những sinh vật có hại cho sản xuất nông nghiệp). Các thiên địch phổ biến bao gồm dế ăn trứng sâu, bọ cánh cứng ăn sâu, bọ rùa ăn rệp, bọ ngựa bắt sâu, rắn bắt chuột, mèo bắt chuột, ong ký sinh (làm chết nhộng sâu cuốn lá, sâu đục quả, sâu đo...), nấm gây bệnh cho sâu cuốn lá, nấm gây bệnh cho rệp vv.là quản lý dịch hại cây trồng dựa trên điều kiện cụ thể của môi trường và những biến động quần thể của các loài sinh vật gây hại, các loài sinh vật có lợi, sử dụng kết hợp tất cả các kỹ thuật và biện pháp thích hợp, nhằm duy trì mật độ của các loài gây hại ở mức không thể gây ra những thiệt hại đáng kể về kinh tế cho cây trồng (dưới ngưỡng kinh tế).Trồng và chăm cây khoẻ: Chọn giống tốt, phù hợp với điều kiện địa phương; sử dụng cây giống khỏe đủ tiêu chuẩn; trồng, chăm sóc đúng kỹ thuật để cây sinh trưởng tốt có sức chống chịu sâu bệnh hại tốt và cho năng suất cao. Thực hiện phòng bệnh hơn chữa bệnh.Thăm đồng thường xuyên: Kiểm tra đồng ruộng thường xuyên, nắm được diễn biến về sinh trưởng phát triển của cây trồng, diễn biến của sâu bệnh hại, của thời tiết, những thay đổi về đất và nước tưới vv để có biện pháp xử lý phù hợp và kịp thời.Nông dân là chuyên gia: nông dân thực hiện thăm đồng thường xuyên và lựa chọn, thực hiện các giải pháp phù hợp và kịp thời.Phòng trừ sâu, bệnh hại: Sử dụng các biện pháp thích hợp tuỳ theo mật độ của sâu bệnh, thiên địch, thời kỳ sinh trưởng của cây, điều kiện môi trường, thời tiết. Chỉ dùng thuốc BVTV khi thật cần thiết, và tuân thủ nguyên tắc 4 đúng: đúng thuốc, đúng liều lượng, đúng cách và đúng lúc. Thực phẩm an toàn là thực phẩm không gây hại cho người tiêu dùng khi chuẩn bị, chế biến hoặc sử dụng theo công dụng của nó.Mỗi một quốc gia, địa phương có quy định, tiêu chuẩn an toàn khác nhau, theo đó, sản phẩm an toàn là sản phẩm không chứa các mối nguy, hoặc có các mối nguy hại tiềm năng tới sức khỏe và tính mạng của người tiêu dùng, nhưng phải ở dưới ngưỡng cho phép.   Một số khu bảo tồn tự nhiên, vườn quốc gia, khu rừng văn hóa-lịch sử-môi trường, như vườn quốc gia Ba Bể (Bắc Kạn), lòng hồ sông Đà (Sơn La), vườn quốc gia Hoàng Liên Sơn (Lào Cai)... tạo lợi thế để phát triển du lịch sinh thái.Trung du và miền núi phía Bắc có tiềm năng phát triển thủy sản, với nhiều hồ chứa nước và hệ thống sông, suối, ao. Tuy vậy, diện tích nuôi trồng thủy sản hiện chỉ chiếm khoảng 47% tổng diện tích mặt nước và chưa hình thành được các vùng sản xuất hàng hóa tập trung. Tổng sản lượng năm đạt hơn 73.000 tấn (trong đó nhiều tỉnh đạt sản lượng hơn 5.000 tấn như Bắc Giang, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên, Yên Bái và chủ yếu phục vụ nhu cầu tiêu dùng tại chỗ. Kỹ thuật chủ yếu vẫn là bán thâm canh, theo hình thức nuôi ghép các loài như cá mè, trôi, chép... Diện tích nuôi thâm canh cao còn ít. Hình thức nuôi trong các hệ thống VAC, VACR vẫn được thực hành khá phổ biến, song vẫn ở quy mô nhỏ.Hiện toàn vùng có 1.750 hồ chứa vừa và nhỏ, 40.190  Năm 2017 là năm Việt Nam phải hứng chịu nhiều thiên tai, trong đó miền núi phía Bắc bị ảnh hưởng rất nặng nề. Ba trận lũ lớn liên tiếp xảy ra vào các tháng 8 -10 đã gây nhiều thiệt hại về người và cơ sở hạ tầng. Chỉ tính riêng trận mưa lũ tháng 10/2017 ở miền núi phía Bắc đã làm 29 người chết, 33 người mất tích, 189 ngôi nhà bị sập, trên 2200 ngôi nhà bị sập và ngập, nhiều hecta lúa và hoa màu bị thiệt hại, gia cầm bị cuốn trôi, đường giao thông bị ảnh hưởng, khiến cho nhiều địa phương bị cô lập 25 .Theo kịch bản phát thải trung bình (RCP4.5) 26 , dự báo, nhiệt độ của MNPB sẽ tăng thêm khoảng 0.5°C vào năm 2020 và tăng thêm 1.2oC -1.3°C vào năm 2050 so với mức nhiệt bình quân giai đoạn 1980-1999; lượng mưa cũng sẽ tăng 1.4% -1.6% vào năm 2020 và 3.6% -3.8% vào năm 2050 so với lượng mưa trung bình giai đoạn 1980-1999. Trong khi lượng mưa cả năm tăng thì lượng mưa vào mùa khô lại giảm, và các hiện tượng khô hạn, mưa lớn kéo dài, rét đậm, rét hại cũng tăngg. Hơn nữa mưa phân bố không đều, có nơi tăng nhưng có nơi lại giảm.Từ thực tế trên, nông nghiệp TD&MNPB cần có các biện pháp ứng phó BĐKH và giảm thiểu các tác động xấu tới môi trường. Cụ thể, việc thích ứng và giảm thiểu BĐKH của nông nghiệp khu vực này cần hướng tới:-Bảo vệ đất canh tác khỏi bị xói mòn, rửa trôi và khôi phục độ phì nhiêu của những diện tích đất đã bị thoái hóa, bạc màu;-Thích ứng với điều kiện khô hạn kéo dài, mùa mưa ngắn hơn, mùa khô dài hơn và lũ quét gia tăng;-Thích ứng với điều kiện rét đậm, rét hại, rét bất thường;-Giảm phát thải KNK từ các hệ thống sản xuất, góp phần giảm thiểu BĐKH và đạt mục tiêu quốc gia về nông nghiệp phát thải thấp và giảm phát thải KNK;-Xử lý rác thải, bảo vệ môi trường và tài nguyên nước. -Trình độ học vấn nói chung là cao so với cả nước, nông dân trong độ tuổi lao động hầu hết có trình độ phổ thông (lớp10/10 hoặc lớp12/12).Hiện lúa gạo vẫn là sản phẩm chính yếu nhất. Trong những năm qua, cơ cấu có sự chuyển dịch theo hướng giảm tỉ trọng trồng trọt, tăng tỉ trọng chăn nuôi và thuỷ sản; Trong trồng trọt thì giảm tỉ trọng cây lương thực, tăng tỉ trọng các cây công nghiệp và cây thực phẩm. Cho tới nay sản xuất nông nghiệp vẫn là trụ cột của nền kinh tế, đóng góp khoảng 30% tổng GDP của các tỉnh năm 2014 (Thái Bình là 37%, Nam Định là 24,6%, Hà Nam là 15,2%).Sản lượng lương thực hàng năm là 6,1 triệu tấn, chiếm 18% sản lượng lương thực toàn quốc, trong đó lúa là chính. Cơ cấu mùa vụ chính như sau :- Trâu, bò và dê: Năm 2015, đàn trâu gồm 130.000 con, đàn bò 496.000 con, chủ yếu ở qui mô nông hộ nhỏ, dưới 10 con/hộ. Thực hành chủ yếu là chăn thả có kiểm soát và bổ sung thức ăn gồm cỏ và thức ăn tinh như cám gạo, bột ngô v.v. Nông dân đã làm chuồng và quan tâm tiêm phòng bệnh cho gia súc.Lợn: Năm 2015 toàn vùng có khoảng 7,1 triệu con lợn (trong đó lợn thịt là 6 triệu con), chiếm 25% đàn lợn của toàn quốc. Các tỉnh chăn nuôi nhiều gồm Thái Bình với 1,04 triệu con, Hà Nội với 1,5 triệu con. Qui mô chủ yếu vẫn là nông hộ nhỏ lẻ (chiếm 65-70% về đầu con và 56-60% về sản lượng). Tỷ lệ đàn nái trên tổng đàn chiếm 14,7% (năm 2013) trong khi trung bình của thế giới là 8-10%. Chất lượng giống tuy đã được cải thiện trong những năm qua nhưng vẫn chưa đáp ứng yêu cầu của sản xuất.Gia cầm: Theo số liệu thống kê năm 2015 toàn vùng có khoảng 91 triệu con gia cầm các loại, các tỉnh có trên 10 triệu con gia cầm gồm Hà Nội, Hải Dương và Thái Bình, chủ yếu ở qui mô nông hộ nhỏ lẻ (trung bình từ 10-20 con/hộ); Một số trang trại có qui mô nuôi khoảng 50-100 con. Nông dân hầu hết chưa quan tâm xử lý chất thải, chưa chú ý tới chất lượng sản phẩm và vệ sinh môi trường, sử dụng đệm lót sinh học còn hạn chế.Vấn đề cần được quan tâm đầu tư khắc phục hiện nay là chất thải chưa được xử lý, làm ảnh hưởng tới môi trường và tạo nhiều phát thải KNK. Mặt khác, chất lượng sản phẩm chưa đáp ứng yêu cầu vệ sinh an toàn thực phẩm, chủ yếu do khẩu phần ăn chưa hợp lý, nguồn thức ăn không đảm bảo chất lượng. Tổng số có 128.000 ha diện tích mặt nước nuôi trồng thuỷ sản, phân bố ở cả 10 tỉnh, khoảng 5.000 -23.000 ha/tỉnh 32 . Qui mô ao, hồ nước ngọt khoảng 200-300 m 2 /ao. Các tỉnh ven biển có nhiều đầm nước lợ để nuôi trồn thủy sản, dao động từ 5.000 -6.000 ha/tỉnh (ví dụ, Nam Định 6.159 ha, Thái Bình 3.465 ha). Ngoài ra toàn vùng có khoảng trên 200.000 ha ruộng trũng, trong đó có khoảng 79.450 ha có thể sử dụng để nuôi trồng thuỷ sản hoặc ứng dụng mô hình lúa -cá.Nông dân chủ yếu nuôi nhiều loại cá khác nhau, hầu như không bổ sung thức ăn công nghiệp, và chưa ứng dụng tốt các biện pháp phòng, chữa bệnh cho thủy sản. Chất lượng con giống cũng là một trong những vấn đề cần quan tâm cải thiện.Hệ thống thủy lợi vùng ĐBSH có thể được coi là phát triển so với cả nước. Theo báo cáo của Ban chỉ đạo xây dựng chương trình nông thôn mới, tính đến năm 2012 hệ thống thủy lợi về cơ bản đã đáp ứng 85% yêu cầu sản xuất và dân sinh. Tuy nhiên, các hệ thống kênh mương chủ yếu được thiết kế phục vụ sản xuất lúa nước theo phương thức cũ (ruộng lúa luôn được giữ ngập nước) và ở qui mô ô thửa nhỏ lẻ, chưa phù hợp để thực hiện quy hoạch sản xuất theo mô hình cánh đồng lớn và cũng chưa đáp ứng được yêu cầu chuyển đổi cơ cấu cây trồng 33 ; Hiện tại phần lớn các cây trồng cạn, cây ăn quả, cây rau màu chưa có tưới hoặc tưới bằng các biện pháp lạc hậu và lãng phí nước.Hàng năm toàn vùng vẫn có khoảng 60.000 -120.000 ha (chiếm 10 -20%) diện tích đất nông nghiệp vụ xuân bị hạn hoặc khó khăn về nguồn nước tưới, có năm số diện tích này lên tới trên 250.000 ha.Với tổng dân số chiếm 22% dân số cả nước, tiềm năng thị trường nông sản tại chỗ của vùng ĐBSH là rất lớn. Mặt khác, nhờ có vị trí địa lý và giao thông thuận lợi, các tỉnh ĐBSH đều có thể dễ dàng tiếp cận các vùng miền khác trong nước và thị trường quốc để tiêu thụ nông sản. Tuy nhiên, việc tiêu thụ hàng hóa vẫn còn nhiều hạn chế do chưa phát triển được các mối liên kết bền vững giữa sản xuất và thị trường, chưa phát triển được các mặt hàng có sức cạnh tranh cao.  - Chăn nuôi chủ yếu của vùng là trâu, bò, lợn. Ngoài ra, còn cón dê, hươu được nuôi ở Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh; vịt ở Thanh Hoá. Chương trình Shin hoá đàn bò và nuôi lợn hướng nạc phát triển tốt, tuy nhiên chủ yếu vẫn là chăn nuôi qui mô nông hộ nhỏ lẻ; chăn nuôi lợn quy mô dưới 2 con/hộ vẫn chiếm đến 50%, số hộ nuôi trên 10 con/hộ chỉ chiếm 7,2%; số hộ nuôi gia cầm dưới 20 con/hộ vẫn chiếm đến 57%, hộ nuôi trên 100 con/hộ chỉ chiếm 2,2% 47 .Kỹ thuật chăn nuôi cũng còn nhiều vấn đề cần cải tiến, như dinh dưỡng chưa cân đối, việc phòng chống dịch bệnh chưa được quan tâm triệt để và hiệu quả, chất thải chưa được xử lý tốt, vì thế, năng suất và hiệu quả kinh tế của chăn nuôi chưa cao, đồng thời lại gây ô nhiễm môi trường và gia tăng lượng phát thải KNK. Thuỷ hải sản được nuôi trồng nhiều ở các vũng, vịnh, đầm, phá. Dọc ven bờ biển nuôi cá lồng gồm cá song, cá vược, cá đối, tôm, cua được phát triển mạnh. Đặc biệt, tôm hùm được nuôi nhiều ở Phú Yên, tôm nước lợ và cua ở Bình Định, cá các loại ở Phá Tam Giang, đầm Thị Nải... Tôm công nghiệp và bán công nghiệp được nuôi nhiều ở vùng đất cát ven bờ biển, như ở Phú Yên. Khoảng 82% diện tích nuôi trồng thủy sản của hộ ở qui mô dưới 0,2 ha/hộ, diện tích trên 0,5 ha/hộ chỉ chiếm7%.Về kỹ thuật nuôi trồng, cũng giống như ở các nơi khác trên cả nước, chủ yếu là bán thâm canh. Diện tích nuôi thâm canh cao chưa nhiều, và diện tích nuôi ứng dụng các thực hành bền vững, thân thiện môi trường và thích nghi biến đổi khí hậu còn ít. Khó khăn lớn nhất, theo nông dân, là phòng chống dịch bệnh, giảm tỷ lệ vật nuôi bị chết.Toàn vùng có tổng chiều dài kênh dẫn nước là 54.174 km, trong đó mới 40% được kiên cố hóa 48 ; tổn thất nước trong quá trình dẫn nước tưới, chi phí điện năng và chi phí quản lý còn ở mức cao. Tỷ lệ kênh chưa được kiên cố hóa tập trung nhiều ở các kênh nội đồng 49 . Đối với hệ thống tiêu, cũng mới chỉ khoảng 40% là tiêu động lực. Năm 2014 Tây Nguyên có đàn trâu, bò thịt gần 900.000 con, trong đó có trên 785.200 con bò, tăng 5% so với năm 2009. Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai là những địa phương có đàn trâu, bò nhiều và tốc độ tăng trưởng nhanh nhất 58 .Chăn nuôi chủ yếu qui mô nhỏ lẻ, manh mún, phân tán trong các hộ gia đình với mục tiêu tạo thêm thu nhập, do vậy, các hộ chăn nuôi chưa có ý thức phòng, chống dịch bệnh cho gia súc, gia cầm, nên dễ bị thiệt hại nặng khi xảy ra dịch bệnh. Giống chủ yếu là các giống địa phương, do người chăn nuôi tự để giống nên sản lượng không cao. Mặt khác, vệ sinh môi trường và xử lý chất thải cũng chưa được quan tâm đầu tư thỏa đáng.  65 .Hiện một số hệ thống nông lâm kết hợp đang được phát triển, như rừng -tôm quảng canh, rừng -tôm bán quảng canh, rừng -tôm kết hợp thả cua, rừng -tôm -cua và sò huyết. Nhìn chung, qui mô chăn nuôi lớn so với trung bình cả nước. Tuy vậy, việc phòng trừ dịch bệnh và xử lý, chất thải và cải thiện chất lượng sản phẩm vẫn còn là vấn đề.Rừng ngập mặn ven biển, đặc biệt là hệ thống rừng ngập mặn mũi Cà Mau được công nhận là khu dự trữ sinh quyển thế giới. Ngoài ra những cánh rừng tràm ở U Minh, Cà Mau, Đồng Tháp có giá trị hạn chế xỏi lở và xâm lấn mặn.Một số mô hình nông lâm kết hợp như nuôi trồng thủy sản trong rừng ngập mặn, mô hình cộng đồng tham gia quản lý rừng... đang được xây dựng. Xuất khẩu nông sản ĐBSCL, đặc biệt là lúa, trái cây và thủy sản, đã phát triển khá tốt, mở rộng thị trường tới khắp các châu lục (gần 80 quốc gia). Theo quy hoạch, đến năm 2020 diện tích cây ăn quả sẽ đạt khoảng 420.000 ha, cho sản lượng khoảng 4,2 triệu tấn/năm. Các loại cây ăn quả chính bao gồm bưởi, xoài, quýt, cam, vú sữa, chôm chôm. Ở đây đã hình thành liên kết doanh nghiệp-nông dân để sản xuất và tiêu thụ hàng nông sản.Tuy nhiên, hiện vẫn chưa có các hợp đồng dài hạn giữa nông dân và doanh nghiệp mà chủ yếu vẫn là các hợp đồng theo mùa vụ, giá cả bấp bênh, và nông dân vẫn chịu thua thiệt. Các khâu tổ chức sản xuất, bảo quản và xử lý thu hoạch chưa được cải thiện, chất lượng hàng hóa chưa ổn định và chưa có sức cạnh tranh cao..ĐBSCL là một trong ba đồng bằng trên thế giới dễ bị tổn thương nhất bởi BĐKH và nước biển dâng. Dự báo, tới 2030 khoảng 45% diện tích của ĐBSCL đối mặt với nguy cơ nhiễm mặn. Theo những kịch bản mới nhất về BĐKH và nước biển dâng, nếu nước biển dâng lên 73cm -100 cm vào năm 2100, sẽ có tới 39% diện tích đất ĐBSCL bị ngập lụt, 35% dân số ở đây chịu ảnh hưởng trực tiếp.   -Đào rãnh sâu 0,7 -1 mét, rộng khoảng 1 mét, phía trong hành cây để dự trữ nước tưới cho mùa khô hạn, để tiêu nước trong mùa mưa và trồng một số cây (khoai môn, bèo lục bình, rau muống) dùng che phủ đất và làm phân hữu cơ.-Ở giữa, lên luống và trồng đa dạng các loại cây (các loại rau, đậu, dưa, ớt, khoai lang v.v), tùy vào mùa vụ, theo nhiều băng, nhiều tầng, phù hợp nhu cầu ánh sáng của cây; cây ưa sáng ở trên, cây ưa bóng ở dưới.-     -Trồng cây rừng, hoặc duy trì rừng tái sinh ở trên đỉnh đồi -Ở nương phía dưới trồng các cây ngắn ngày (ngô, sắn, lúa nương), cây ăn quả, chè, cà phê... hoặc làm thành ruộng bậc thang để trồng lúa. Có thể xen canh hoặc đa canh.-Có thể nuôi gia súc và ong mật trong rừng hoặc trong vườn cây ăn quả.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Rừng bảo vệ đất và nguồn nước, giúp cây trồng sinh trưởng khỏe, thích nghi với hạn hán, mưa to, lũ quét và tăng tích trữ các bon, giảm nhẹ BĐKH; Tăng đa dạng nguồn thu, giảm rủi ro và đảm bảo ANLT.Để khôi phục, phát triển rừng, bảo vệ đất canh tác, nguồn nước và môi trường, giảm nhẹ tác hại của thiên tai, nhà nước có qui định phải trồng cây rừng hoặc duy trì rừng trên đỉnh dốc, dưới sườn dốc thấp mới được trồng cây ngắn ngày.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Các tỉnh miền núi phía Bắc, miền Trung đang mở rộng ứng dụng mô hình này.  -Phủ bề mặt đống ủ để giữ ẩm và giữ nhiệt, nhằm tiêu diệt nấm và khuẩn có hại và để rơm rạ phân hủy một phần. Sau 10-15 ngày lấy rơm rạ từ đống ủ để trồng nấm.-Rải một lớp rơm dày khoảng 20 cm lên mặt luống (liếp) rồi tưới nước và rải meo giống nấm dọc hai bên luống, cách mép 5-7cm. Rải 3-5 lớp như vậy trên mỗi luống. Cuối cùng rải lớp rơm mỏng 4-5 cm để che phủ kín bền mặt luống.-Tưới nước và giữ đủ ẩm. Sau 10 -14 ngày bắt đầu được thu hoạch nấm.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Giảm đốt rơm rạ, bớt ô nhiễm môi trường và giảm phát thải KNK; tạo thêm nguồn thu nhập từ nấm, bổ sung nguồn phân hữu cơ từ rơm rạ sau khi thu hoạch nấm để bón cây trồng.ð Có thể mở rộng ứng dụng tại tất cả các vùng trồng lúa có chân ruộng cao, có thể lên luống để nuôi nấm sau thu hoạch lúa. Khó khăn chính để nông dân ứng dụng là thiếu công lao động và thị trường tiêu thụ nấm không ổn định.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Tại Hưng Yên, Nam Định, Thái Bình, Hà Nam, Hải Phòng, Bắc Ninh, Vĩnh Phúc, Hải Dương, Cần Thơ, An Giang, Vĩnh Long từ năm 2014 ứng dụng với qui mô 500 tấn rơm, rạ và 320 hộ tham gia.  Đối với thân cây sắn:-Chặt nhỏ thân cây sắn thành từng đoạn, mỗi đoạn dài từ 2-5 cm, sau đó trộn đều với muối (0,5%) hoặc rỉ mật đường (5%);-Thêm cám gạo hoặc bột sắn, trộn đều -Cho vào bao tải, túi nilon hoặc bể chứa đậy kín để ủ cho lên men tự nhiên.-Sau 30-60 ngày có thể dùng cho gia súc ăn. Có thể bảo quản trong vòng 5-6 tháng. Ứng dụng cho cây vụ đông trên đất lúa:-Sau khi thu hoạch lúa, rơm rạ được giữ lại toàn bộ trên ruộng -Lên luống và trải đều rơm rạ lên trên mặt luống -Gieo trồng cây màu (ngô, đậu xanh, rau các loại) bằng phương pháp cuốc hốc hoặc chọc lỗ bỏ hạt.Ứng dụng cho rau màu ở đất chuyên màu:-    Thăm quan đồi chè hữu cơ của Viện KHKT NLN miền núi phía BắcVườn         ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tiết kiệm nước, tạo điều kiện quản lý dinh dưỡng cho cây trồng sinh trưởng khỏe, ít bị thiệt hại bởi khô hạn; giảm sử dụng năng lượng để bơm nước tưới, vì thế dán tiếp giảm phát thải KNK.ð Có thể mở rộng ứng dụng cho nhiều loại cây, như hoa quả, rau màu, đặc biệt là các cây có giá trị kinh tế cao, vì cần nhiều kinh phí đầu tư thiết kế và xây dựng hệ thống tưới.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Được ứng dụng cho rau và hoa ở Đà Lạt, dứa ở Đồng Nai, nho ở Ning Thuận và rau, cây ăn quả nhiều nơi.Tưới phun sương cho cà phê ở Tây Nguyên -Thiết kế hệ thống đưa nước tưới lên cao, tạo áp lực phun mưa hoặc phun sương, điều chỉnh kích thước hạt phù hợp với từng loại cây trồng, từng giai đoạn phát triển của cây.-Có thể kết hợp tưới nước và bón phân qua lá.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tiết kiệm nước, giảm rửa trôi phân bón, giúp bề mặt đất không bị đóng váng, cây sinh trưởng khỏe, giảm ảnh hưởng của khô hạn; tạo điều kiện phát triển sản xuất rau, hoa, quả vào mùa khô, tăng thêm nguồn thu cho nông dân.ð Thích hợp cho các loại cây trồng cạn, đặc biệt là cây trong vườn ươm, cây con và rau, hoa, nhất là vào mùa khô hoặc ở những vùng khan hiểm nước tưới. Để ứng dụng đòi hỏi nông dân phải có khả năng đầu tư xây dựng hệ thống tưới.ð Một số điển hình ứng dụng: Tây Nguyên ứng dụng cho cà phê, Hòa Bình cho cam, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên cho chè.Việc ứng dụng cho rau, hoa và cây ăn quả, đặc biệt là trong vườn ươm khá phổ biến ở nhiều địa phương. ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tiết kiệm nước tưới và công tưới, không làm đóng váng bề mặt đất, hạn chế rửa trôi phân bón và lây lan nguồn bệnh, giúp cây trồng sinh trưởng phát triển tốt, giảm ảnh hưởng bởi các điều kiện khô hạn, nắng nóng; giảm sử dụng nhiên liệu dùng để bơm nước, nhờ đó giúp giảm phát thải KNK.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng cho các vườn cây ăn quả, đậu, lạc, rau, khoai ở những nơi đất bằng phẳng. Để ứng dụng, cần có đủ nguồn nước tưới và nông dân có kinh nghiệp quản lý nước.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: phương pháp tưới này được ứng dụng phổ biến cho khoai, lạc và các các loại rau. Đậu xen trong nương ngô  Băng đồng mức bằng cỏ chăn nuôi để bảo vệ đất dốc -Lựa chọn loại cỏ phù hợp, trồng thành băng rộng 0,5 mét, theo đường đồng mức.-Khoảng cách giữa các băng cỏ tùy theo độ dốc của nương; nương càng dốc khoảng cách giữa các băng càng ngắn (5-6 m); Ở nương dốc trung bình, 15 -25 độ, các băng cỏ cách nhau 10 mét.-Cach tác cây trồng ứng dụng nông nghiệp bảo tồn (thực hành số 25), có thể kết hợp trồng xen đậu đỗ (thực hành số 26)-Quản lý tốt băng cỏ, thu cắt cỏ thường xuyên để cỏ không làm ảnh hưởng tới cây trồng -Sử dụng cỏ làm thức ăn chăn nuôi gia súc (cho ăn tươi hoặc chế biến để dự trữ), và làm vật liệu che phủ đất.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Băng cỏ giảm xói mòn đất tạo nguồn thức ăn để thúc đẩy phát triển chăn nuôi, giảm thiệt hại bởi khô hạn, mưa lũ và những thay đổi bất thường khác của thời tiết.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở tất cả các vùng đồi, núi, hay bị mưa, lũ quét, như miền núi phía Bắc, vùng cao của Bắc Trung Bộ, Nam Trung Bộ và Tây Nguyên..  ð Lợi ích và tác động: tạo thêm nguồn thu nhập (gỗ, hoa quả, dược liệu, tinh dầu...); Bảo vệ và giúp cây trồng sinh trưởng khỏe, giảm thiệt hại bởi sương muối, bão cát, gió to, nắng nóng kéo dài, khô hạn, cho hiệu quả và thu nhập tăng; Bảo vệ đất khỏi bị thoái hóa, rửa trôi, tăng tích tụ các-bon, góp phần giảm thiểu BĐKH.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng cho các cây trồng cần che bóng (hồ tiêu, cà phê, chè) và tại các vùng bị ảnh hưởng bởi cát và gió bão, nhất là khu vực ven biển. Để ứng dụng, cần lựa chọn được loại cây trồng phù hợp đối với điều kiện cụ thể tại mỗi vùng.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Sầu riêng, tràm, muồng được trồng làm trụ và che bóng cho hồ tiêu xen với cà phê ở Tây Nguyên; lát trồng che bóng cho cà phê ở Sơn La; thông, phi lao, keo, tre trồng làm hàng rào chắn gió, chắn cát, che bóng cho cây trồng vùng ven biển; Lát, hoa hòe làm cây che bóng cho chè và cà phê ở miền núi phía Bắc. Mô hình với chè, cho năng suất chè tăng trên 10% và giúp cải thiện chất lượng chè. ð Lợi ích và tác động: Cây trồng, vật nuôi sinh trưởng khỏe, ít bị ảnh hưởng bởi các điều kiện thời tiết xấu như mưa, gió to, nắng nóng, khô hạn, rét đậm. Tạo đa dạng và ổn định nguồn thu, đa dạng sản phẩm, hạn chế rủi ro thất thu, giúp nông hộ đảm bảo ANLT và dinh dưỡng, ứng phó với BĐKH; Các cây trồng lâu năm trong vườn tích lũy các bon, giúp giảm thiểu BĐKH.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở tất cả các vùng miền trên cả nước, với qui mô vườn gia đình từ vài chục mét vuông trở lên. Nông dân cần có kinh nghiệm quản lý nhiều loại cây trồng theo các qui trình bền vững (ICM, IPM).ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Cao bằng có hơn 2.000 ha vườn đồi gồm thông -trúc sàocam -ngô -dong riềng ở Bảo Lâm, Bảo Lạc. Tại CSV ở thôn Mạ mô hình thí điểm cho thu nhâp từ cây ăn quả, rau màu các loại tăng 15-25%. Vườn tạp có ở hầu hết gia đình nông thôn ở tất cả địa phương, nhất là vùng đồng bằng và trung du, tuy nhiên đa số vẫn ở dạng quảng canh hoặc thâm canh không bền vững, VACVINA và hệ thống khuyến nông bước đầu hỗ trợ nông dân ứng dụng thực hành thâm canh bền vững.  -Dưới cùng là vườn, trồng nhiều loại cây với qui mô nhỏ để sử dụng trong gia đình (chè, đậu đỗ, rau, chuối và các loại cây ăn quả khác) tùy thuộc vào điều kiện khí hậu và đất đai.-Có thể kết hợp nuôi gia súc và ong mật trong vườn hoặc trong rừng.-Ứng dụng các thực hành bền vững để quản lý cây trồng (ICM).ð Lợi ích và tác động: Vườn cho đa dạng sản phẩm, giúp đảm bảo an ninh dinh dưỡng; Canh tác bền vững trên nương giúp bảo vệ đất dốc khỏi bị xói mòn; Rừng bảo vệ đất và nguồn nước, đồng thời tích trữ các bon, giúp giảm nhẹ BĐKH, giảm bị thiệt hại do hạn hán, nắng, nóng, mưa, gió to và sâu bệnh hại, cho thu nhập đa dạng và ổn định.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở các sườn đồi dốc, với diện tích tương đối lớn, từ 0,5 ha trở lên. Khi diện tích sườn đồi được chia nhỏ cho nhiều nông hộ, có thể ứng dụng nếu các hộ đồng thuận trong việc lập kế hoạch và cùng thực hiện kế hoạc chung về sử dụng đất.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Dọc tuyến hành lang đường Hồ Chí Minh, đặc biệt ở đoạn qua tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế, gồm các mô hình vườn nhà -nương cây ăn quả -rừng, vườn nhà -bãi chăn thả -rừng, qui mô từ 0,5 đến vài 5-6 ha. Rừng trồng thường sau 10 năm cho thu hoạch, đạt 100-150 triệu đồng/ha. -Thu hoạch đúng thời điểm (khi lúa vừa chín và tùy thuộc vào điều kiện thời tiết), phơi, sấy, làm sạch, đóng gói và bảo quản ở nơi khô ráo, an toàn trách làm thất thoát và giảm chất lượng lúa gạo.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tạo cây trồng khỏe, sinh trưởng và phát triển tốt, ít bị ảnh hưởng sâu bệnh và thời tiết bất lợi như mưa úng, nắng nóng, khô hạn, gió to; Giảm sử dụng phân hóa học và thuốc BVTV, giảm lượng lúa giống, nhờ đó giảm ô nhiễm môi trường và phát thải KNK; Tăng năng suất và tăng hiệu quả kinh tế và chất lượng gạo.ð Thích hợp ứng dụng tại tất cả các diện tích lúa trên cả nước. Để đạt hiệu quả đỏi hỏi phải có các hoạt động tập thể, nhiều nông dân cùng ứng dụng ở qui mô cánh đồng lớn và qui mô cộng đồng.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Một số mô hình thí điểm ở miền Trung và miền Bắc giảm được tới 46% lượng phân đạm, giảm 50% thuốc BVTV, giảm 50% lượng giống, tăng năng suât và hiệu quả kinh tế 10 -15%. ICM được chuyển giao ứng dụng ở Việt Nam từ những năm 2000 -2001. Do gói kỹ thuật gồm nhiều khâu và phức tạp, nông dân thường chỉ ứng dụng mộ số khâu chứ không đầy đủ toàn bộ các khâu như hướng dẫn.Thực hành quan sát hệ sinh thái ruộng lúa theo qui trình ICMTham quan mô hình lúa 3G3T ở ĐBSCL 3G3T là một ứng dụng cụ thể hóa của ICM, nhấn mạnh vào khâu giảm mật độ, chi phí vật tư.-3 giảm: giảm lượng giống; giảm số lần phun thuốc BVTV; giảm lượng phân đạm.-3 tăng: tăng năng suất lúa; tăng chất lượng lúa gạo; tăng hiệu quả kinh tế.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Giảm chi phí về giống, thuốc BVTV và phân đạm, nhờ đó giảm chi phí sản xuất, giảm phát thai KNK; Khi cây lúa đủ dinh dưỡng và ánh sáng, sinh trưởng tôt, sẽ có khả năng chống chịu tốt hơn với điều kiện bất thuận của thời tiết như khô hạn, nắng nóng, mưa úng, gió bão;.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng cho tất cả các diện tích lúa trong cả nước.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Một số mô hình ở Cần Thơ giảm được 100 kg/ha/vụ lượng giống lúa, giảm 30 -50 kg/ha/vụ lượng phân đạm, giảm 2 lần phun thuốc trừ sâu bệnh, 2 lần phun thuốc trừ sâu bênh, tăng lợi nhuận 3.069.000-5.330.000 đồng/ha/vụ. 3G3T được ứng dụng phổ biến ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long và một số tỉnh Đồng bằng sông Hồng và vien biển miền Trung.Mô hình canh tác lúa theo 1P5G1P5G là một ứng dụng cụ thể hóa của ICM, cụ thể là:-1 phải: phải sử dụng giống chất lượng (hạt giống cấp xác nhận), đảm bảo hạt giống khỏe, sạch bệnh, có nguồn gốc, chất lượng -5 giảm: giảm lượng giống (giảm mật độ); giảm bón phân đạm; giảm số lần phun thuốc BVTV; giảm nước tưới; giảm thất thoát sau thu hoạch. Gần đây, các nhà khoa học khuyến cáo thêm 2 giảm nữa là giảm lao động (thông qua tăng cường cơ giới hóa) và giảm phát thải KNK bằng việc ứng dụng tưới ướt -khô luân phiên.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Cây lúa sinh trưởng khỏe, có thể thích ứng và chống chịu tốt hơn sâu bệnh và thời tiết khó khăn; Giảm ô nhiễm môi trường, bảo vệ cân bằng sinh thái, và phát thải khí KNK khác nhờ giảm lượng phân đạm.ð Thích hợp cho ứng dụng tại tất cả diện tích lúa của cả nước.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Mô hình ở An Gian giảm 60-80 kg/ha thóc giống, giảm 41-46 kg/ha phân urea, giảm 2,1-2,4 lần/vụ số lần phun thuốc BVTV. Được ứng khá phổ biến ở Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long và Nam Trung Bộ.SRI là một ứng dụng cụ thể hóa của ICM, với các yêu cầu cụ thể về mật độ, tuối mạ và tưới ươt-khô xen kẽ.- ð Lợi ích và tác động; Tiết kiệm giống và nước tưới, giảm thời gian ruộng lúa ngập nước, vì thế giảm phát thải KNK; Giúp cây lúa sinh trưởng và phát triển khỏe, ít bị đổ, lốp, giảm thiệt hai do sâu bệnh và các điều kiện thời tiết khó khăn.ð Thích hợp ứng dụng ở tất cả các địa phương với điều kiện đồng ruộng phải thật bằng phẳng, có hệ thống kênh mương và nguồn nước đảm bảo tưới, tiêu hoàn toàn chủ động. Điều này hiện hầu như không đáp ứng được đối với đa số diện tích lúa.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Một số mô hình thí điểm giảm được 30-35% lượng nước cần tưới cho lúa, giảm 50% lượng giống, giảm 50-70% lượng thuốc BVTV, giảm 20-25% lượng phân đạm, giảm 50% phát thải KNK, tăng 10-15% năng suất lúa.Trong thực tiễn sản xuất, do không có đủ điều kiện kênh mương và chủ động hoàn toàn việc tưới nông-lô-phơi, do mặt ruộng không bằng phẳng, SRI chưa được ứng dụng đáng kể.Mô hình canh tác lúa theo SRIMô hình canh tác lúa ứng dụng tưới ướt-khô luân phiên -Chỉ tưới đảm bảo ruộng lúa đủ ở trong các giai đoạn cần thiết, các giai đoạn còn lại thực hiện nông-lộ phơi. Qui trình cụ thể phụ thuộc vào lúa cấy hay gieo sạ, và chân ruộng có hay không bị nhiễm mặn hay nhiễm phèn -Giai đoạn từ bón thúc đẻ nhánh tới cuối đẻ nhánh: giữ mực nước ruộng 1-3 cm để lúa đẻ nhánh tập trung -Giai đoạn phân hóa đòng và giai đoạn lúa trỗ: duy trì lớp nước mỏng trên mặt ruộng 1-3 cm để lúa trỗ tốt, trỗ đều -Chăm sóc, bón phân, phòng trừ sâu bệnh theo các qui trình IPM, ICM ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tiết kiệm nước tưới, giảm thời gian ruộng lúa ngập nước,vì thế giảm phát thải KNK; Giúp cây lúa sinh trưởng và phát triển khỏe, ít bị đổ, lốp, giảm thiệt hại do sâu bệnh, thời tiết khó khăn.ð Thích hợp ứng dụng ở tất cả các địa phương, cho các diện tích lúa nước có nguồn nước và hệ thống kênh mương đảm bảo cho việc chủ động cấp và thoát nước. Phương pháp này không phù hợp ứng dụng cho vùng đất phèn ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Bạc Liêu năm 2016 thực hiện trên 700 ha. Một số mô hình ở Cần Thơ, Thái Bình giảm tới 30% lượng nước tưới, giảm phát thải KNK tương đương 3,3 tấn CO 2 tương đương/ha/vụ, tăng năng suất lúa 0,3 -0,5 tấn/ha.Tại tỉnh Bình Định, vụ Đông Xuân 2012-2013 do khô hạn, hồ chứa nước Hội Sơn chỉ trữ được 20% lượng nước so với bình thường, nhờ ứng dụng phương pháp tưới này tỉnh đã tăng được trên 1000 ha diện tích lúa được tưới.Thực hành bón phân nén dúi sâu cho lúa -Phân bón (đạm, lân và kali) được trộn lẫn theo các tỉ lệ khác nhau và nén thành viên để sử dụng bón dúi sâu dưới bề mặt đất, ở gần vùng phát triển rễ của cây lúa.-Làm đất và bón lót phân chuồng (30 tấn/ha/vụ).-Cấy mạ non, cấy thưa và mật độ đồng đều.-Sau khi cấy 2-3 ngày, dúi phân nén đủ với liều lượng ước tính cần cho cả vụ lúa; Dúi phân sâu 5-8 cm dưới mặt đất, vào giữa 4 hốc lúa. Trong vòng 30 ngày sau khi dúi phân không lội vào ruộng dể tránh làm xê dịch viên phân.-Duy trì ruộng đủ ấm để viên phân tan từ từ và cung cấp dinh dưỡng cho lúa trong cả vụ.-Kết hợp ứng dụng các kỹ thuật ICM để quản lý ruộng lúa.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tiết kiệm, hạn chế rửa trôi phân bón, vì thế giảm phát thải KNK, giảm ô nhiễm nước; Cây lúa sinh trưởng khỏe, thích nghi và chống chịu tốt hơn với sâu bệnh hại, thời tiết xấu; Giảm chi phí, tăng năng suất và hiệu quả kinh tế.ð Phù hợp để ứng cho lúa ở các chân ruộng có thể giữ ẩm tốt. Để ứng dụng cần có công lao động để bón phân dúi tập trung trong thời gian ngắn và phải cấy lúa với mật độ đồng đều, điều này khó đáp ứng ở những nơi thực hiện gieo sạ và nông hộ có qui mô ô, thửa lớn.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Yên Bái, Tuyên Quang và Bắc Kạn ứng dụng cho khoảng 40.000 ha, giảm được 30-35% phân đạm, tăng 16-30% năng suất lúa.Ruộng lúa cấy theo hàng rộng hàng hẹp -Điều chỉnh khoảng cách giữa các hàng lúa; cứ hai hàng cách nhau xa (33 cm, hàng rộng) lại tới hai hàng cách nhau gần (11 cm, hàng hẹp); không thay đổi mật độ khóm trên đơn vị diện tích.-Cấy lúa thẳng hàng -Ứng dụng cùng với 1P5G, 3G3T, ICM hoặc tưới ướt khô xen kẽ.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Nhờ hiệu ứng hàng biên (khoảng cách rộng giữa hai hàng lúa) cây lúa hấp thụ tốt ánh sáng mặt trời, sinh trưởng khỏe, chống chịu tốt hơn với sâu bệnh hại và thời tiết xấu, cho năng suất tăng.Tạo điều kiện trồng gối bầu ngô hoặc rau, khoai, đậu vào hàng rộng trước khi thu hoạch lúa, góp phần thúc dẩy phát triển sản xuất vụ đông tại ĐBSH.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở các vùng lúa sản xuất qui mô nhỏ, nông hộ có nhân lực để thực hiện điều chỉnh khoảng cách hàng lúa và nhất là trồng và chăm sóc cây vụ 3.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Mô hình thí điểm ở Nam Định, Thái Bình giảm được 20-40% thuốc BVTV, giảm mật độ bệnh vàng lùn, lùn sọc đen và và khô vằn, rầy nâu, tăng 10-15% hiệu quả kinh tế. Mô hình đang được mở rộng ứng dụng ở một số tỉnh Đồng bằng Sông Hồng như Nam Định, Thái Bình, Bắc Ninh, Hải Phòng, và bắt đầu được chuyển giao cho miền núi phía Bắc.Ruộng lúa tái sinh tại Quảng Ninh, Quảng Bình -Ở vụ Xuân lựa chọn giống có khả năng đẻ nhánh và tái sinh khỏe; Thu hoạch khi lúa vừa chín tới, gốc rạ còn tươi, 3 lá trên cùng còn xanh; Gặt bằng tay và cắt lúa cao trên mặt đất 10-30 cm (Ruộng càng trũng càng để lại gốc cao, tuy nhiên gốc rạ càng cao thì khả năng tái sinh càng kém).-Sau khi gặt, tưới nước vào ruộng, bón ngay phân đạm và duy trì mực nước trong ruộng 3-5 cm để lúa tái sinh, đẻ nhánh và phát triển; không được để nước ngập gốc rạ.-Ứng dụng các kỹ thuật ICM để chăm sóc lúa.ð Lợi ích và tác động: Rút ngắn thời gian sinh trưởng của lúa vụ 2 được 30-35 ngày, vì thế giảm được nguy cơ bị thiệt hại do thời tiết (lũ sớm, hạn hán, rét đậm), tạo điều kiện sản xuất vụ 3 (rau màu, hoặc nuôi vịt); Tiết kiệm được chi phí (không cần lúa giống, không mất công gieo cấy, giảm lượng phân bón và thuốc BVTV), giảm được thời gian ruộng lúa ngập nước, nhờ thế giảm được phát thải KNK, tăng hiệu quả kinh tế.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở những vùng có thể giữ tưới và nước ở ruộng lúa cuối vụ 1, đặc biệt là các vùng chiêm trũng, các chân ruộng lầy thụt, khó làm đất để cấy vụ 2. Để ứng dụng cần có giống lúa phù hợp có khả năng đẻ nhánh và tái sinh khỏe để cấy vào vụ Xuân.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Huyện Hải Hậu, tỉnh Nam Định ứng dụng nhiều, đạt năng suất lúa chét 3,5 -4,5 tấn/ha, chi phí sản xuất giảm tới 79%, lợi nhuận tăng gấp đôi. Hiện được mở rộng ứng dụng tại nhiều vùng thấp trũng của miền Trung và vùng chiêm trũng đồng bằng sông Hồng và diện tích đất lúa lầy thụt trung du miền núi phía Bắc (Phú Thọ, Vĩnh Phúc, Nam Định, Quảng Bình, Phú Yên, Thừa Thiên Huế).Ruộng lúa ứng dụng phương pháp cấy không làm đất ð Phù hợp ứng dụng cho các chân ruộng lúa có thể chủ động điều tiết nước sau khi gặt lúa vụ 1.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Xã Hải Đông, huyện Hải Hậu, Nam Định ứng dụng cho 90% diện tích lúa vụ 2 (khoảng 10.000 ha), đạt năng suất lúa tương đương với canh tác thông thường, hiệu quả kinh tế cao hơn nhờ giảm chi phí công lao động và phân bón. ð Lợi ích và tác động: Tạo thêm nguồn thu nhập từ đậu đỗ; Đậu đỗ cố định đạm và tạo sinh khối che phủ đất, giúp cải tạo đất, bảo vệ đất khỏi bị xói mòn, hạn chế cỏ dại, giảm chi phí về phân bón và thuốc BVTV, giúp cây ngô sinh trưởng khỏe, ít bị thiệt hại bởi sâu bệnh, khô hạn, mưa, gió to.ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng cho tất cả các ruộng, nương ngô. Để ứng dụng hiệu quả cần lựa chọn giống đậu đỗ phù hợp với điều kiện khí hậu, đất đai, và nông dân cần có kinh nghiệm và công lao động để gieo trồng, chăm sóc và nhất là phòng trừ sâu bệnh cho đậu đỗ.ð Điển hình ứng dụng: Một số hộ ở Sơn Là và Lai Châu ứng dụng, đạt năng suất ngô tăng 10-31%, thêm thu nhập từ đậu đỗ 5 -10 triệu đồng/ha, hiệu quả kinh tế tăng 20 -40%. Rải rác ở các tỉnh miền núi phía Bắc, miền Trung và Tây Nguyên thực hành này được ứng dụng sử dụng các cây họ đậu khác nhau (lạc, đậu nho nhe, đậu xanh, đậu đen, đậu tương).   -Khi thu hoạch lạc và đậu đỗ lấy phần thân lá tủ gốc sắn.     ð Phù hợp để ứng dụng ở những vùng mía khô hạn, khó dự báo về mưa, nắng, với điều kiện có thể tưới rãnh trước khi đặt hom; Đặc biệt thích hợp cho những trường hợp khó bố trí công lao động trồng mía vào thời vụ gieo trồng chính. Kỹ thuật này cũng có thể ứng dụng cho cây sắn.ð Hiện được ứng ở nhiều vùng mía thuộc Tây Ninh, Đồng Nai, Khánh Hòa, Gia Lai, Nghệ An, Thanh Hóa với tổng diện tích khoảng 18.000 ha.      -Tạo điều kiện chuyển đổi diện tích đất canh tác cây ngắn ngày trên đất dốc sang trồng chè, giúp bảo vệ đất dốc, thích ứng điều kiện khô hạn, mưa, lũ và tăng được tích lũy các bon, giảm thiểu BĐKH.ð Ứng dụng nhiều ở các tỉnh miền núi phía Bắc và miền Trung, Thái Nguyên, Yên Bái, Tuyên Quang, Nghệ An, Hà Giang, Phú Thọ. Riêng tỉnh Lai Châu năm 2015 ứng dụng cho 370 ha chè mới trồng, cho thu nhập từ đậu đỗ trên 12 triệu đồng/ha.Tiểu bậc thang để trồng chè -Thiết kế các tiểu bậc thang theo đường đồng mức -Khoảng cách giữa bậc thang bằng khoảng cách giữa các hàng để trồng chè (thường 4-5m)-Bề mặt của bậc thang 80-120 cm, đủ rộng để trồng một hàng chè; độ dốc nương chè càng cao thì độ rộng bề mặt các tiểu bậc thang càng hẹp.-Có thể kết hợp tủ gốc và trồng xen cây ngắn ngày khi cây chè còn nhỏ, chưa khép tán Xem thêm về kỹ thuật, tác động ở thực hành số 28.ð Được ứng dụng nhiều trên đất dốc miền núi phía Bắc, đặc biệt là ở Yên Bái, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên, Tuyên Quang và Hà Giang.       -Nếu nuôi gia cầm, lợn cho ăn bổ sung bằng thức ăn an toàn hoặc thức ăn hữu cơ.  Vịt nuôi trên cánh đồng sau gặt lúa -Thả vịt vào ruộng sau khi thu hoạch lúa vụ cuối trong năm, nuôi vịt theo phương thức quảng canh, di chuyển đàn vịt từ cánh đồng này sang cánh đồng khác, vịt ăn thức ăn tìm kiếm được ở ruộng lúa.-Tiêm phòng cho vịt trước khi thả ra đồng để phòng chống dịch bệnh   Nuôi cá trên ruộng lúa vào mùa nước nổi ở ĐBSCL -Mùa khô, ươm cá ở các mương cạnh ruộng lúa -Sau khi gặt lúa, khi mực nước dâng cao dần, cá sẽ bơi vào ruộng.-Cũng có thể thả cá trực tiếp vào ruộng lúa sau khi gặt; mật độ cá là 1 -2 con/m 2 .-Nuôi theo phương pháp quảng canh, cá ăn các thức ăn có sẵn trong ruộng (côn trùng, sâu bọ, gốc rạ, lúa chét, rong, rêu)   -Ao nuôi quảng canh: Mật độ tôm 5-10 con/m 2 , xen cá rô phi, cá đối với mật độ 4-5 con/m 2 mặt nước; Không cần bổ sung thức ăn cho tôm, cá.-Lấy nước từ ao nuôi thâm canh cấp nước cho ao nuôi quảng canh khi cần thiết. Chất thải và thức ăn thừa từ an nuôi tôm thâm canh sẽ là nguồn thức ăn cho tôm, cá ở ao nuôi quảng canh. Cá đuối và cá rô phi ăn tạp, sẽ dọn tạp chất bẩn, rác thải từ ao nuôi thâm canh.-  -Trên mặt băng trồng các cây rừng chịu mặn như mắm, đước để giữ đất.-Ở kênh giữa các băng rừng thả nuôi tôm, mật độ tôm không quá 20 con/m 2 ; hoặc cua mật độ 500-700 con/ha.-Nuôi tôm, cua theo phương pháp quảng canh, tôm, cua ăn thức ăn có sẵn trong tự nhiên.-Có thể cho thêm các loại vật liệu hữu cơ như lá cây đước, mắm, cỏ dại, dây leo v.v. vào kênh với mật độ vừa phải để tạo điều kiện cho vi sinh vật phân hủy hữu cơ và tảo phát triển, tạo màu nước và làm thức ăn cho tôm.-         -Nếu luân canh 2 vụ lúa 1 vụ ngô (lúa -ngô -lúa, hoặc lúa -dưa -lúa): Sau khi thu hoạch lúa cho nước vào ruộng vừa đủ ẩm, đợi 1 ngày rồi làm đất, bón phân và gieo hạt ngô (trong khoảng 25/3 -10/4). Cũng có thể sử dụng ngô hoặc dưa bầu để dễ dàng bố trí mùa vụ.   -Sở hữu đất đai: Việc không có quyền sử dụng đất lâu dài có thế ảnh hưởng tới quyết định của nông dân liên quan tới ứng dụng kỹ thuật, đặc biệt là những kỹ thuật liên quan quản lý đất và nguồn nước, đòi hỏi phải đầu tư nhiều và liên tục.-Văn hóa, tập quán: Một số cộng đồng có các qui ước, tập tục có thể cản trở mở rộng ứng dụng kỹ thuật.-Hạn chế về tiếp cận thông tin, thị trường và các dịch vụ khuyến nông: Nông dân không có khả năng tiếp cận thông tin và tìm kiếm sự giúp đỡ để có thể hiểu và ứng dụng kỹ thuật được hiệu quả.(Nhìn chung, đây là một trong những thách thức chủ yếu đối với việc mở rộng ứng dụng thực hành CSA. Những kỹ thuật giúp quản lý đất bền vững, giảm xói mòn như làm tiểu bậc thang, trồng băng cỏ hay che phủ bề mặt đất v.v. đòi hỏi phải có một khoản đầu tư ban đầu đáng kể, đặc biệt là về công lao động. Việc chuyển đổi sang trồng các cây dài ngày, hay việc phát triển các hệ thống nông lâm kết hợp v.v làm giảm thu nhập của nông dân trong 2 -4 năm đầu, và đây là rào cản làm nông dân ít ứng dụng. Mặt khác, ứng dụng một số kỹ thuật CSA có thể làm tăng nguy cơ rủi ro thất thu và giá bán sản phẩm. Ở qui mô nhỏ của các nghiên cứu và thử nghiệm, các nhà khoa học dễ dàng quản lý rủi ro, bởi thế họ có thể không phát hiện đươc hết các nguy cơ, khó khăn và không có giải pháp thỏa đáng khi các kỹ thuật được ứng dụng bởi nông dân trên diện rộng. Mặt khác, các gói kỹ thuật thường có nhiều công đoạn, phức tạp, khó để nông dân ứng dụng được một cách đầy đủ, nhất là ở qui mô nhỏ.Chi phí cho việc ứng dụng các kỹ thuật CSA có thể được chia thành các dạng như sau:-Chi phí đầu tư \"một lần\": Bao gồm đầu tư cho thiết bị, máy móc, cơ sở hạ tầng (như với việc ứng dụng tiểu bậc thang, tưới phun sương hay tưới nhỏ giọt, chuyển đổi sang trồng cây lâu năm v. Như vậy, tùy vào điều kiện cụ thể, cần thiết phải hỗ trợ nông dân lựa chọn, điều chỉnh và ứng dụng các kỹ thuật phù hợp với điều kiện và khả năng của họ.(Tiếp cận thông tin: Nhiều nông dân chưa được biết tới các kỹ thuật CSA, họ cũng chưa biết kỹ thuật nào là phù hợp để họ ứng dụng. Mặt khác, đa số nông dân chưa biết cách và chưa chủ động tìm tiếm thông tin, trong khi đó hệ thống khuyến nông ở nhiều địa phương chưa có đủ nguồn lực để phổ biến thông tin và chuyển giao kỹ thuật cho nông dân một cách hiệu quả.Tiếp cận thị trường: Nông dân, đặc biệt là ở các vùng sâu, vùng xa, hiện còn gặp khó khăn trong tiếp cận thị trường để mua một số vật tư, công cụ cần thiết để sử dụng trong sản xuất, nhất là để ứng dụng một số kỹ thuật mới. Đặc biệt, họ gặp nhiều khó khăn trong tiếp cận thị trường và tiêu thụ sản phẩm. Những điều này làm nông dân không thể hoặc không muốn ứng dụng kỹ thuật.Sử dụng đất: Việc các nông hộ không có quyền sử dụng đất dài hạn có thể hạn chế việc họ ứng dụng các kỹ thuật CSA, đặc biệt là các thực hành quản lý đất bền vững, vì thông thường các thực hành này yêu cầu đầu tư cao ban đầu, nhất là về công lao động, nhưng lại chỉ mang lại lợi ích sau một số năm ứng dụng.Quản lý tài sản chung của cộng đồng: Hiện, đa số cộng đồng nông dân chưa có cơ chế quản lý tài sản chung của cộng đồng, như là tài nguyên rừng và nguồn nước và đây cũng là một rào cản quan trọng cản trở việc mở rộng ứng dụng CSA. Chẳng hạn như, để các nông hộ ứng dụng các gói kỹ thuật CSA như IPM, SRI, ICM và Vi-etGAP, đòi hỏi phải đảm bảo điều tiết nước chủ động trên diện rộng, và phải thực hiện nhiều hoạt động ở qui mô lớn, điều này nằm ngoài khả năng của các nông hộ riêng rẽ.Văn hóa, tập quán, và thói quen của nông dân: Một số phong tục/tập quán, hương ước hay quy ước của địa phương, và nhất là thói quen của nông dân cũng có thể cản trở nông dân ứng dụng các kỹ thuật CSA. -Phát triển liên kết giữa các đơn vị có liên quan ở các cấp: Chia sẻ thông tin, kinh nghiệm hoặc cùng tham gia lập kế hoạch, tổ chức thực hiện, kiểm tra, giám sát và đánh giá các hoạt động liên quan;-Áp dụng phương pháp tiếp cận có sự tham gia của nông dân: các đơn vị nghiên cứu, khuyến nông, chính quyền địa phương và các ban ngành đoàn thể địa phương cùng nông dân thực hiện các thử nghiệm, đánh giá, lựa chọn, và hoàn thiện các kỹ thuật CSA, và tìm giải pháp cho các khó khăn cản trở nông dân ứng dụng các kỹ thuật;Ở mỗi địa phương và cả ở cấp trung ương có nhiều tổ chức cùng tham gia hoạt động trong các lĩnh vực quản lý tài nguyên thiên nhiên, nông nghiệp và ANLT. Chẳng hạn, ở một xã miền núi phía Bắc, có nhiều bên liên quan và có khả năng đóng góp cho việc phát triển nông nghiệp. Tiềm năng và vai trò của các bên được thể hiện ở Hình 4.2. Tuy vậy, hiện nay, việc kết hợp giữa các bên còn ít và chưa hiệu quả, đôi khi còn trùng chéo, thậm chí mâu thuẫn nhau. Như vậy, để tháo gỡ các rào cản, thúc đẩy mở rộng ứng dụng kỹ thuật CSA cần có sự tham gia đầu tư và hợp tác của tất cả các bên liên quan, cần có sự phối hợp hoạt động để đầu tư từ các nguồn khác nhau được sử dụng hiệu quả, không lãng phí.Việc này có thể được thực hiện thông qua:- Để liên kết được các bên, vượt qua được các rào cản, đặc biệt là những khó khăn về tăng chi phí đầu tư và kết nối với thị trường tiêu thụ sản phẩm, cần có những cơ chế hỗ trợ và thúc đẩy phù hợp đối với từng đối tượng.-  69 ","tokenCount":"13072"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5304454901.json b/data/part_1/5304454901.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..18c15545e4dfd97a1a54a91a7d07fbdcab8ca774
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5304454901.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cdb188932b4237049ac56a0d756f2af","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2cd940c1-0cd3-456f-ba26-71d0f992f8ae/retrieve","id":"-1593112421"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"787f8523-a4fd-458f-bb0b-6f15e3346ee5","pagecount":"5","content":"This collaboration will create a resilience for the sector currently in the tide of changes and challenges posed by among others: population pressure, climate changes, shortage of power, unwise use and depletion of natural resource, new crop diseases and pests and the growing reduction of expertise in the field of agriculture. The current agricultural technologies and practices needs to be continually improved to respond to the intricate challenges of today and tomorrow.The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT in its Spanish acronym) is leading this project by bringing together national and international organizations under one umbrella to streamline the contribution of science-supported innovation to the economic growth of Pakistan's agriculture by utilizing the agricultural research for development (AR4D) paradigm.AIP operates through three 'Activity Windows', namely: commissioned projects, a competitive grants system, and human resource development. Work within these activity windows is divided into four 'Science Windows' -cereals and cereal systems; livestock; vegetables; and perennial horticulture. Consideration of gender plays a key part in all activity windows and women will be actively encouraged to participate and contribute to the human resource element of AIP.Apart from its overall responsibility for AIP, CIMMYT also provides direct oversight of the cereals and cereal systems science window. Four primary partners are part of the AIP team to ensure the program adheres to the A4RD principles and promote rather than compete with Pakistan's agricultural research systems. These are: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) manages the livestock portfolio; the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) manages the vegetables science window; UC Davis manages the human resource development component, perennial horticulture science window, and ICT support. training; the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will bring its global leadership in rice as a partner in the cereals/cereal systems science window and PARC manages a province-inclusive competitive grants system. AIP started leaving its footprints in short span of time and we would like to share our achievements, lessons and what we will do next. The AIP Newsletter is one of our effort to update partners in our activities and to receive their feedbacks. We would like to thank our donor and all the stakeholders in their effort to make AIP a success.The beginning: message from the project leader With the assistance of Chairman/ PARC and DG/NARC few rooms at the Animal Science Institute complex were allocated for ILRI, which were renovated, furnished and were ready for occupation in April 2014. m.ibrahim@cgiar.orgAccelerating the deployment of wheat varietal diversity in Pakistan: key to improving and sustaining wheat productivity gainsPakistan is one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of wheat area and production. Eight wheat varieties and a total of more than 12 tons of seed were used to compose a total of 321 on farm demonstrations that were conducted across 45 districts of Pakistan (Figures 1). The maize trials introduced from Colombia, Mexico, and Zimbabwe were distributed to five private companies, six public research institutes and two universities (Table 1). The evaluation of the trials began in this spring season and under this network partners will share performance information from the different sites and well adapted varieties will be proposed for registration by each participating partners. This approach will not only strengthen the already weak public-private partnership but also ensures accelerated diffusion of improved maize cultivars to the smallholder at affordable price. a.issa@cgiar CIMMYT provided conservation agriculture machineries including multi crop zero tillage planter, happy seeder and bed planters under AIP. Multi crop bed planter would provide an opportunity to initiate work on conservation agriculture technologies in Pakistan. Multi crop bed planter was used for planting of maize in field of Maize program, NARC Islamabad. In addition, the bed planter was successfully used for weeding and application of fertilizer in maize on already made beds at NARC. Imtiaz Hussain: i.hussain@cgiar.org For the AIP newsletter contact:a.issa@cgiar.org","tokenCount":"637"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5317501259.json b/data/part_1/5317501259.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..278b41115ccb06ccd3e8b5ab1d4aae98ec08699c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5317501259.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12247e668a837ff36f631de4b487ce1c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b0bbbf3b-637a-4cda-8ef1-c07f6560e40f/content","id":"-1574232695"},"keywords":["The Potential for Expanding Wheat Production in Marginal and Tropical Environments","B.C. Curtis","Director","Wheat Program","CIMMYT","Mexico 3 ---","\" Rl00:30:30"],"sieverID":"c4c980e1-d9e0-46d1-8cde-f5b0c5deb7bf","pagecount":"421","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an Internationally funded. nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered In Mexico. the Center Is engaged In a worldwide research program for maize. wheat. and triticale. with emphasis on food production In developing countries. It Is one of 13 nonprofit International agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agrtcultural Research (CGIAR). which is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Donors to the CGIAR system are a combined group of 40 donor countries. International and regional organizations. and private foundations.CIMMYT receives core support through the CGIAR from a number of sources. including the International aid agencies of Australia.The international conference on Wheat Production Constraints in Tropical Environments was held in Chiang Mai. Thailand. January 19-23. 1987. This was the second major conference addressing the problems associated with introducing wheat into the warmer environments of the world. Eighty-three participants from 26 countries in Asia, Africa, and North and South America attended.Following the presentation of 25 invited papers discussing the major constraints that confront wheat growing in these nontraditional areas, breeding, pathology. and agronomy discussion groups identified future research objectives, established priorities. and identified areas for international cooperation.Obviously. progress has been made in the 2V2 years since the first conference in Mexico, but additional efforts are still required if wheat is to become a commercial crop in warmer environments.These proceedings are a companion piece to Wheats for More Tropical Enviroments: Proceedings of an International Symposium, CIMMYT 1985. Grateful acknowledgement is given to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDPl. our Thai hosts. and the growing team of international cooperators working on these constraints for making this valuable conference possible.It is my privilege to welcome you to the conference on Wheat Production Constraints in Tropical Environments. This conference is a follow-up to the tropical wheat workshop held in Mexico in September 1984. Its main purpose is to bring together wheat researchers from various countries that have been doing research on developing wheats and wheat technology for the more tropical environments. It is an honor that CIMMYT and UNDP consider Thailand an appropriate place to hold a conference with so many distinguished delegates.Traditionally, Thailand is a foodproducing country. An estimated 35 million people, about 70% of the Thai population, are engaged in agriculture and agriculturally related activities. Sixty percent of the land cultivated in Thailand is planted to rice. Thailand is currently the largest rice exporter in the world, haVing recently accounted for 4 million tons, which is about one-third of worldwide trade.Bread was first introduced to the taste of Thai urban life by the bakery house of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok about a century ago. The consumption of wheat in various forms has gradually built up in a conservative manner. Currently, the annual per capita consumption is 145 kg for rice and 2.5 kg for wheat. Wheat consumption now is double the figure of 25 years ago. At this level, we have to spend about US $20 million to import wheat.Many factors complicate the distribution of wheat, including people's tastes, desires, and traditions. Wheat has to survive in a cultural as well as a physical environment. Wheat experiments in Thailand were first conducted in northern Thailand in 1934. Some adapted varieties have emerged from introduced materials. However, the crop has not yet taken farmers' preference because of production and research constraints. Our recommended wheat varieties are 20 years old. There is a national cooperative yield trial to evaluate new varieties for their adaptation and yield potential. A number of the newly introduced varieties look very promising and yield substantially well.Another field of interest is wheat agronomy in rainfed upland and irrigated lowland after bunded rice. The development of local-use technology for wheat has been started and looks encouraging. Some small farmers have expressed an interest in wheat cultivation after being shown how to convert whole wheat grain into flour and products that can be consumed at home or sold to neighbors.The national wheat breeding and production program is a cooperative activity among the Department of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, and Kasetsart University. The other principal cooperating institutions include the Department of Agricultural Extension, the Office of Agricultural Economics. andWheat is already grown across a wide range of environments around the world. In fact, it has the broadest adaptation of all the cereal crop species. More land is already devoted worldwide to the production of wheat than to any other commercial cropabout 232 million ha. Some may then ask why we are trying to expand wheat production into nontraditional areas. especially in light of the fact that folloWing the 1986 harvest. much of North America. Europe. China. and India had great excesses of wheat and other cereal crops. In many places, this bountiful harvest was stored on the ground for lack of any better alternative. Presently. the export market is weak, prices are depressed. and wheat stocks held by the major producing countries amount to almost 125 million tons! A recent World Bank report (3) stated. \"The world has ample food. The growth of global food production has been faster than the unprecedented population growth of the past 40 years-yet many poor countries and hundreds of millions of poor people do not share in this abundance. They suffer from a lack of food security, caused mainly by a lack of purchasing power.\" However, I can assure you that these \"apparent\" surpluses are merely tranSitory. Sooner or later. grain scarcities will return. At an International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium meeting last month at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). economist Robert Herdt of the Rockefeller Foundation said that within 10 years, we will again be in a period of grain scarcity.Exploding population in the developing world necessitates the continued work of increasing cereal production. Early in 1986, the population of this planet reached 5 billion. Between 1990 and 2000, the developing countries will add a whopping 828 million more people to the world's population-more than three times the current population of the United States. By the year 2000, only 4729 days away from today. January 19, 1987, an additional 1.2 billion people will live on this earth.The birth rate at the end of the century will be 4.5 new hungry mouths every second. Ninety percent of these new people will be born in the Third World. Developing nations, which already account for threefourths of the world's population, will be groWing at least three times faster than the developed nations at the end of the century. The International Food Policy Research Institute (lFPRI) expects that the proportion of the population of developing countries living in urban areas will increase from about 30% in 1980 to about 44% by the year 2000 (2). This is a massive demographic shift. without precedent in human history.In addition. wheat consumption has continued to increase worldwide dUring the 1980s. especially in the developing world. According to Per Pinstrup-Andersen (2), the main driving factors are urban population growth. rising incomes, income distribution, relative prices, and taste -all leading to a higher per capita wheat consumption. with increases of 4 to 5% annually in some countries, well above population growth. Bread is becoming a staple food for more and more people in the tropics. There is a strong desire to substitute wheat bread for other cereal-based foods. a phenomenon found in most higher-income developing countries. Bread is a preferred commodity. For many developing nations. this has led to an increased dependency on wheat imports and the accompanying foreign exchange drain.Wheat production in developing countries has increased at an average pace of 5 % per year . However this production has been very unevenly distributed. with traditional wheat-growing countries taking the biggest share (China. India. Turkey, Argentina. Pakistan). This indicates that many farmers in environments that are less favorable did not participate in the productivity gains of wheat made worldwide. These environments include the marginal areas and the warmer regions of the world (that is, between 23°N and 23°S latitudes).Traditional wheat-growing countries in the developing world have increased yields. but have also expanded wheat areas into less favorable environments. that is. the more tropical regions of peninsular India. Bolivia. the formerly forested areas of Parana state in Brazil, and Paraguay. In addition. countries lying entirely in the tropics have initiated wheat research for their circumstances-Brazil (Sao Paulo. Minas Gerais, and Mato Grosso states). Ivory Coast. Nigeria. Cameroon. Madagascar, Dominican Republic. Colombia. the Chaco region of Bolivia and Argentina. Thailand, the Philippines. Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, to name a few.Much attention has been given by scientists to developing wheats suitable for climates that are cooler than the crop's qriginal habitat in the Middle East, and agronomic practices to realize the yield of such varieties have been greatly refined and adapted to modern inputs. Likewise, in recent years, yields have been increased in the temperate climates similar to the Middle East, largely through the development of semidwarf varieties resistant to the prevalent diseases. These varieties, commonly referred to as HYVs (High Yielding Varieties), combined with new technology, such as chemicals and fertilizers. and, under some circumstances, new irrigation facilities and mechanization, have greatly increased production. These varieties are now grown on about 50.7 million ha in developing countries, including China. as of the 1982-83 crop year (1).However, until 1982, little effort had been made specifically to broaden the genetic variability of wheat for the more marginal areas and warmer climates and tbeir environmental stresses, although production areas have expanded towards the equator over recent years (Figure 1). The total potential wheat area in the tropics is estimated to be between 3 and 4 million ha in nearly 60 countries (Table 1). These countries can be divided into basically two types of environments-I) high temperatures, dry. short crop season. few disease problems, and 2) high temperatures. more humid, short crop season, significant disease problems.Starting in the late 1970s and early I980s, many of these countries began requesting from CIMMYT wheat germplasm capable of producing acceptable and reliable yields in tropical climates.One donor responded and in his keynote address to the 1984 symposium. Wheats for More Tropical Environments. Mr. W.T. Mashler. senior director for the Division for Global and Interregional Projects of the United Nations Development Programme. said that in the late I970s. he and the UNDP recognized the need to fund a project to aid in the development of wheats to fit into the nontraditional. more tropical areas. This led to a 5-year UNDP-funded project. which started on July I, 1982. In this project. CIMMYT has aimed to develop improved wheat germplasm suitable for these warmer subtropical areas with cooperating research institutions in many developing countries.The project's overall goal has been to develop high-yielding. diseaseresistant. semidwarf wheats with proven performance in target countries. Specific objectives have included:• Development of wheat germplasm with the folloWing characteristics:-wide adaptation with high yield potential, -photoperiod insensitivity.-improved heat tolerance. -high tillering ability, high hectoliter weight, -different maturity classes to fit the range of environments, -semidwarf stature and strong straw to withstand lodging, -acceptable milling and baking quality, and• Multilocation testing-to facilitate the identification of suitable parental material for crosses as well as to make suitable material available to interested national programs;• Training and conferences-to build up a network of scientists familiar with research in a completely new crop through workshops and conferences as well as formal training courses; and• Funding of necessary research equipment-to permit newly trained scientists to be efficient in their work for an often not yet commercially grown crop.All project activities are being carried out as proposed. Segregating generations have been exchanged between Mexico and specific areas or \"hot spots\" known for disease occurrence and/or environmental stress. Specific international nurseries for fusarium. helminthosporium, and heat tolerance. including lines superior for the respective characters. have been established and distributed annually to interested national programs. Flow-back of reliable data has been used to plan further crosses and refinement of breeding research approaches.Two conferences. several workshops. sponsoring of visiting scientists to Mexico and between national programs. in-country training courses. and fonnal training in Mexico have contributed to creating a core of researchers familiar with the problems of grOWing wheat in warmer environments and the techniques for the development of potential solutions.These activities have contributed toward the overall goal of development of suitable germplasm and capable national staff to use it.Progress has been made in most of the project's breeding objectives.Let me point out some specific areas that CIMMYT has been involved in to broaden the genetic variability of wheat for the marginal and warmer environments.CIMMYT pathologists have developed techniques to obtain reliable information about scab and helminthosporium resistance. These include inoculation techniques. production and storage of inoculum, standardization of disease reaction readings, and identification of hot spots. that is, suitable environments for screening inside Mexico as well as in other countries. such as China and Brazil for scab. and Bangladesh, Brazil. and the Philippines for helminthosporium.CIMMYT breeders have started intensive crossing on the basis of previous information and have continued this with more confidence as information from cooperating countries has been returned with grOWing reliability. Lines from initial crosses. based on limited information about their adaptation and performance in target environments. have reached international nurseries within the last year.Germplasm for specific disease and stress purposes being developed through shuttle breeding with cooperative countries is now only part way through its development. since alternating generations in two countries allow only one generation per year. due to the logistics of international seed shipment. These materials will reqUire additional cycles of selection and subsequent testing before they are ready for release in the respective countries.Local reseachers have received training to handle a completely new crop for their areas. In countries that are Just starting to do research on wheat, this includes basic knowledge of breeding and agronomic practices, selection criteria. diagnosis and scoring of diseases. and seed handling and storage. Unfortunately, turnover of local staff in nontraditional wheat countries is high because often a lifetime career on a noncommercial crop is not possible and researchers prefer \"safer\" Jobs if they become aVailable. I must point out that a threshold number of researchers trained in wheat is still to be achieved in many national programs. CIMMYT has trained numerous young researchers.Training officers have visited tropical areas and have included relevant aspects from these environments in their curricula.CIMMYT agronomists are assisting in research to develop suitable management practices in cooperation with experiment stations and farmers in target areas. The initial problem in the nontraditional areas has been the research and extension workers' total unfamiliarity with wheat. So much attention has been.and is being. focused on in-country training. both formal and informal. Now that some research and extension workers have achieved a reasonable level of competence, soil management practices. fertility management, weed control techniques. and integrated methods of disease control are being addressed. both on experiment stations and farmers' fields.The CIMMYT wide cross program continues to make interspecific and •. tergeneric crosses to transfer m~~ded genes from alien genomes into wheat. Hopefully these will contribute to the improvement of characters important in warm climates.Other activities CIMMYT's commitment to the development of germplasm for the warm and nontraditional wheat environments is reflected in the follOWing activities:• An associate scientist position has been created to work on heat tolerance and helminthosporium resistance inside Mexico.• A staff pathologist is working parttime in Mexico on scab.• Wide crosses are being made for hot climate characters. as I mentioned earlier.• There has been intensive cooperation on many levels with Chinese. Brazilian. and Mexican scientists where scab is the main disease.• A large cooperative program with Brazilian institutions has been initiated to further promote tolerance to acid soils and aluminum toxicity. which are widespread in tropical soils.• CIMMYT wheat research teams have been placed here in Thailand and in Paraguay.• Some screening work for saline soils. an increasing problem in tropical irrigation systems, is being done.• Agronomists have been based in Southeast Asia and East Africa in order to develop suitable agronomic practices for these environments. and soon another agronomist is expected to be based in Latin America for the warmer areas.• A large number of policy makers and research administrators have visited Mexico or other countries relevant to wheat for marginal areas.• Several national program scientists have visited Mexico and other countries to study problems of growing wheat in marginal areas.One important reason for CIMMYT's emphasis on wheat germplasm development for nontraditional areas lies in the expected high spinoff of this activity for traditional areas and/or stress areas of a different kind than ones dealt with for tropical wheat. For example. the diseases of hot climates are present in traditional wheat areas too, although with less pressure; but they do show up after genetic control of traditional diseases has been achieved. Also terminal heat tolerance is important for areas such as South Asia, the Mediterranean Basin. and Latin America where high temperatures occur frequently.After working on wheat for warmer environments for a number of years now, we have shown that there is good potential for growing it commercially in some areas. We have also found that the variability exists to further increase productivity and dependability of production under these conditions. However, before we can realize the potential of producing wheat in the tropics. there are still a number of things that must be done.For the future, we need to integrate the achievements realized thus far and bring them closer to farmers' reach and adoption. Our specific goals include the follOWing.Germplasm improved over the last 5 years for single characters such as wide adaptation, photoperiod insensitivity. heat tolerance, tillering ability. earliness, semidwarfism. acceptable industrial quality, and resistance to leaf rust, helminthosporium, and fusarium has to be recombined for the needs of the principal wheat environments in the warmer areas to withstand the relevant hazards.New breeding objectives-Some new breeding objectives that have been recently identified as important must receive additional attention. These include the foot rots caused by a variety of fungi. waterlogging tolerance, and tolerance to saline soils.Study of agronomic practices-Agronomic practices appropriate to farmers' circumstances and existing cropping practices must be intensively researched. Major areas include seedbed preparation methodology to reduce the turnaround time and consequent moisture loss, waterlogging avoidance on heavy paddy soils, irrigation and fertilizer technology, weed, disease. and insect control with an emphasis on integrated approaches, and improved threshing methodology. Attention must also be given to postharvest technology aimed at preserving viability of wheat seed stored at the farm level.To accomplish our goals. we need to continue activities in the following areas.Breeding-Breeders will have more parentaf lines available that have been improved through crossing over the last 5 years. As I have already stated. future hybridization must involve character combination according to the needs of actual and potential growing areas in warmer climates.Information will be collected and distributed about genetic variability for new characters that have posed problems for national programs. such as foot rots. bacteria. waterlogging. and some insects.Shuttle breeding within Mexico as well as with national programs in the Southern Cone of South America and Southeast Asia will be an important means to identify germplasm with the desired combination of characters. because only in this way can segregating generations become exposed to different types of stresses.Testing and exchange-Special international nurseries for heat tolerance. drought. scab. helminthosporium. and acid soils will prOVide a means for germplasm distribution to interested countries. An increasing number of entries will be the result of crosses made for these environments. rather than existing lines that proved superior dUring screening.Direct exchange of lines developed on a national level from locally made crosses or from local selections of F2 populations from Mexico will take place from a nursery initiated by breeders in South and Southeast Asia 2 years ago. There are plans to broaden this nursery to include lines from all national programs interested in such direct exchange of local germplasm.practices-Crop management is more critical in hot climates where a small error can result in very large yield losses relative to comparable errors in temperate climates. For this reason. precise crop management techniques must be developed to exploit the superior yield potential of better adapted lines as they become available. Research will center on soil management. fertility maintenance. disease control. harvesting and threshing techniques. and appropriate small-farm equipment.Training and conferences-In order to teach extension workers and farmers with confidence. we hope to increase the number of trained reseachers as well as strengthen the experience of trained researchers through in-service training. support for visiting scientists. regional workshops. and a conference that will address global wheat problems and research progress.Farmers in various types of warm environments and other nontraditional areas will benefit from this work. Improved varieties are one of the cheapest inputs for a reliable and high-yielding crop and appropriate agronomic practices help to achieve the optimum utilization of the normally poor resources at the disposal of farmers.Farmers who are already attempting to grow wheat but are experiencing a wide range of yields due to hostile climate and diseases. will realize benefits the most quickly through higher and more reliable or stable yields. Farmers in areas where wheat is still not a crop will have a new option to increase food output during the cool and dry season through the introduction of high-quality cereals that adapt to many cropping patterns; especially where short duration. water-use efficiency. and/or low labor input are important. Farmers will gain from breeding progress in wide adaptation. yield potential, and disease resistance. The same farmers will reap extensive benefits from the new crop management techniques derived from the increased attention given to agronomic research.For resource-poor farmers. wheat offers high flexibility due to its potential dual purpose for the farm economy. In years when food is in short supply, it can be used for the farmer's family; in years with abundant staple food, it can be considered a cash crop that is relatively easy to handle, store, and transport.On the national level, cultivation of wheat offers the benefit of foreign exchange savings.Ultimately, millions of people, as well as national economies in subtropical and tropical countries, can confidently be expected to benefit-provided germplasm and crop management technology can be developed that is acceptable to farmers.Briefly, I have outlined what we have accomplished and what research still needs to be done to develop wheats for warmer environments. Over the next 5 days, we will hear more details from more than 30 researchers from around the world.This conference has been divided into four sessions:1) Characterization of tropical wheat environments2) Constraints associated with ricewheat rotations3) Constraints to wheat cultivation in nonirrigated areas 4) Discussion groups according to discipline (breeding. pathology. and agronomy) to identify future research objectives, establish priorities. and identify areas for international cooperation I look forward to hearing these presentations and participating with you in the coming days.In South and Southeast Asia, This review will center mainly on approximately 33 million hectares recent experiences in the more are sown to wheat in India, Pakistan, tropical countries, but reference will Bangladesh, and Burma. Of this, an be made to the more temperate areas estimated 7 million hectares are of the region as basic similarities sown to wheat below the Tropic of exist, particularly in relation to the Cancer. principally following rice, in rice-wheat rotation. India and Burma.In the more tropical countries suchas Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, there is increasing interest Some climatological characteristics in domestic wheat production to at of three current target areas are least partially substitute for the shown in Figure 1. Northern increasing wheat importations. In Thailand, represented by Chiang Burma and Bangladesh, wheat Mai, has the longest dry season and production is contemplated in the coolest temperatures. Wheat is sown more tropical southern regions.from October to December depending on the farming system. In the Cagayan Valley of Luzon. Philippines (Tuguegarao), the peak rainfall is in November. normally in the form of A-----A t. max. typhoons. which typically delay rice harvest and the subsequent seeding of the wheat crop. Wheat in the past few seasons has normally been sown in late December. Sitiung. representing the lower altitude areas of western Sumatra has virtually no variability in temperature throughout the year. August being the driest month (approximately 100 mm on average). This area is highly experimental and research is aimed at establishing the wheat crop in April-May to harvest in August.As rainfall and temperatures increase. diseases become more of a problem. In northern Thailand. while leaf rust (primitive races).Helminthosporium sativum, Fusarium spp.. and Sclerotium rolfsii exist. they rarely cause significant yield reductions. In the Philippines. up to 60% of the established plant population has been lost due to Sclerotium rolfsii or a complex of foot rot organisms (27). Complete crop losses due to Helminthosporium sativum have been observed.In Indonesia. in addition to these. fusarium head scab can be severe.In discussing wheat target areas. an initial point must be established. Wheat is not a tropical crop and will require a considerable effort in breeding and crop management research to become truly competitive with traditional tropical crops. For the present, therefore. it must be viewed as an additional crop within a rotation in which, for some reason (low temperature. insufficient irrigation). there is a cropping void dUring the dry cool season. Under these circumstances. a number of opportunities for wheat cultivation exist.Wheat can be sown following the harvest of upland rice or maize into a full soil profile. In northern Thailand. where most research on this system has been conducted, the optimum seeding date appears to be the first week of October. approximately 2 weeks after harvest of the preceding crop. Some rains are expected in October to partially refill the soil profile. The follOWing months are dry until maturity. Indian experience suggests that soil moisture storage should be 200 to 300 mm/m of the soil profile for satisfactory yield levels (22). In northern Thailand. adequate yields have been obtained on soils haVing an available water content of 250 mm in the upper 1.5 m of soil (17).Yields have proved variable. depending on climatic conditions and soil moisture storage capacity. but up to 2.5 Uha have been achieved.From surveys. two consistent problems have emerged -1) late seeding (into a rapidly drying topsoil). usually resulting from poor organization of seed distribution. and 2) shallow seeding. The latter is not merely related to soil moisture relations. For reasons that are unclear. plant development from seeds sown 5-6 cm deep is superior to that from sowing 2-3 cm deep. with moisture as a constant factor, resulting in more fertile tillers with larger spikes.A major potential problem is that wheat is being promoted as an additional crop in farming systems in which fertilizer is rarely. usually never, used. Given timely seeding. responses by wheat to fertilizer. principally nitrogen. are universal. The potential danger is that fertility depletion by the additional crop (wheat) will lead to a reduction of yield in the subsistence crop (rice or maize).About 85% of the wheat area of Burma (currently about 145,000 hal is cultivated under rainfed conditions. The same general problems eXist-seeding too late (resulting from the need to carry out many cultivations to obtain a reasonable seedbed), shallow seeding, and very low fertilizer use.The average yield under rainfed conditions was reported as 1369 kg/ha in 1983/84 (24).Upland rainfed cultivation of wheat in the Philippines has not as yet been attempted, the National Wheat Program has initially concentrated on lowland paddies. However, due to the rainfall pattern extending into December, the system would appear to have some potential.In both the upland and the lowland, there are instances where irrigation system storage is not sufficient to supply water for the complete dry season. If water is available for the first month of the wheat crop, with two irrigations, yields of up to 2.4 Uha have been obtained (20).Fully irrigated lowland paddies Lowland paddies are thought to be the largest potential area for wheat cultivation. In many irrigation areas,  Source: Layaoen (9) the dry season temperatures are too low for rice production utilizing current varieties. In addition, where temperatures are satisfactory for rice, its cultivation is being discouraged due to the poor outlook in world rice trade.Although 4 to 5 Uha on-farm yields have been attained in Thailand (26) and the Philippines (9), the Variability among farmers with relatively restricted areas (Table 1) is indicative of the management problems that exist in rice paddy conditions.Germplasm development Varieties currently used in production fields are relatively old varieties. Monywa White (IP4) was introduced into Burma in 1929 and even thoulVl its rust resistance broke down in If}50 (24), it is still the most Widely grown variety due to its yield stability under 4rought conditions. Under irrigation, V 1287 (Punjab 81), introduced from Pakistan in 1980, is consistently high yielding. Some newer lines (e.g., Veery 5) are promising.In Thailand, INIA 66 (Samoeng 1) and Sonora 64 (Samoeng 2) are the current varieties. In the Thailand National Yield Trials for the last 2 years (14. 25). these have been outyielded by 20% by lines from crosses made at CIMMYT some 15 years ago. Some lines from more recent introductions from CIMMYT are producing similar yields.In the Philippines. lines from local crosses between introductions made in the 1950s and 1960s have not been outyielded by more recently introduced lines. Trigo 1 (pedigree unknown) and Trigo 2 (Fiorello/Ace. 1194), while tall and rust susceptible (not a current problem in the Philippines). possess some heat tolerance and a moderate level of helminthosporium resistance (particularly Trigo 1). Seeding date is another factor to which attention must be paid in germplasm evaluation. Farming system scientists often say that the use of earlier maturing rice varieties will allow wheat to be sown at more optimum timings. In some areas this is not possible. In Thailand. for example. there are very strong preferences for a particular rice quality and aroma that have not been transferred to photoperiodinsensitive. shorter-maturing rices.In addition. due to marketing difficulties with ordinary rice. there is now a strong promotion for the production of basmati rice. which also matures late.In the Philippines. another problem exists -late typhoons. These are regular and devastating, occurring in mid-to late November. resulting in late rice harvesting and difficulties in seedbed preparation. Consequently, wheat can rarely be sown before mid-December. usually later.It is therefore imperative that varieties capable of reasonable yield under late sowing are developed. Testing in the Philippines resulted in a new release (Trigo 3) that has superior yield over the older variety.Trigo 1. at late s~eding dates (Figure 2). Subsequent experiments over 2 years in farmers' fields in the Cagayan Valley demonstrated the yield superiority of Trigo 3 in Virtually all seeding dates (after December 17). Trigo 3 appears to consistently exhibit increased spike fertility and relative tolerance to increased post-anthesis temperatures and late drought (more stable thousand grain weight) (11).No lines currently available have adequate helminthosporium or fusarium resistance. Recent evidence from India (18) indicates there may be variability for tolerance to Sclerotium rolfsii. which may be worth pursuing. Similarly. recent research in Pakistan (M.S. Sadiq. personal communication) has shown that strong tolerance to waterlogging may be available.Seedbed preparation-With the low levels of mechanization available, seedbed preparation has proved difficult and time consuming in most localities, but particularly folloWing lowland rice.For this reason, some work has been carried out on zero or minimum tillage. In the Philippines this has proved successful (Table 2); there being no yield advantage with cultivation.In Thailand where the soils tend to be heavier and less structured, zero tillage has not yet been shown to be practical. The IRRI Rotary Injection Planter becomes blocked with soil.The IRRI Incline Plate Planter glazes the furrow surfaces, restricting the wheat roots to the furrow itself. Early indications are hopeful for a small, hand tractor-mounted seeder designed at IRRI using principles developed in New Zealand. A large tractor-mounted seeder unit from New Zealand has been used in Pakistan in the rice-wheat areas and has proved an outstanding success (12).In Bangladesh, relay seeding of wheat into standing rice approximately 2 weeks before rice harvest is proving successful and expanding rapidly. This was attempted in Thailand, but did not succeed because the wheat roots were unable to penetrate the soil. A surface root mat established which maintained the plants before rice harvest. After that time, the topsoil rapidly dried and the wheat plants desiccated.Also in Bangladesh but in the deepwater rice area, all straw is removed immediately folloWing rice harvest, the surface is lightly scratched, seed and fertilizer are broadcast, and the rice straw roughly returned to cover the 8eed. This method has given yield increases, probably because the wheat is sown some 15 days earlier than with conventional land preparation (2). However, this has not been attempted in the countries of Southeast Asia.More development work is required on zero or minimum tillage, particularly in relation to time and quantity of fertilizer application. Chemical weed control may also prove necessary.Fertilizer application-Research into NPK requirements for wheat has been quite extensive in Thailand and the Philippines. Responses to phosphorus have been rare (10). Banding of phosphorus with the seed has been shown to be more efficient than incorporation before planting (Figure 3). Indigenous rock phosphate applied at equivalent rates of available phosphorus produced yields not significantly different to triple superphosphate (7). In addition. residual activity was no greater than triple superphosphate in the following year (P. Jeungyusuk. personal communication).There have been no significant responses to potassium.With nitrogen fertilizer, a fairly consistent picture has emerged. Under irrigated conditions, a straight line response to nitrogen is obtained. usually up to 100-120 kg N/ha (Figure 4), with seeds/spike normally being affected to a greater extent than other yield components (Table 3).However, efficiency of nitrogen response is low, rarely exceeding 10 kg additional grain yield/kg nitrogen applied, and more normally about 7 kg/kg N. The response to nitrogen is markedly affected by seeding date (Figure 4).In no instance has the splitting of nitrogen resulted in increased yields. In fact in recent work in the Philippines (1) all fertilizer (NPK) applied at the first irrigation resulted in yields slightly higher than basal or split application, and significantly increased the number of spikes/m 2 . No significant differences have yet been found between nitrogen sources.For commercial production. median applications are recommended. In the absence of consistent responses to phosphorus and potassium, 60 kg N/ha for irrigated and 30 kg for rainfed conditions are the general recommendations.Irrigation-Irrigation management must aim to avoid waterlogging, particularly dUring the establishment phase. Where possible. pre-irrigation is recommended although this is not practical in the heavier soils in  Thailand with present technology.Research is currently under way to investigate bed size and shape to avoid prolonged waterlogging.Many of the soils form a crust before the wheat emerges. This can be partially overcome by increasing the seed rate to increase pressure on the crust. However, it remains a substantial problem necessitating high labor inputs to maintain a moist surface until emergence.After establishment. the stage most sensitive to drought stress is around anthesis (15,20).Disease control-As the current levels of genetic resistance to tropical diseases are low. some measure of control must be attempted by crop management.A wide range of chemicals has been tested as seed treatment against the soil-borne disease complex (Sclerotium rolfsii. Rhizoctonia solani. Fusarium roseum. and Helminthosporium sativum) in the Philippines. Thiram resulted in the highest emergence from inoculated soil and gave the most effective control post-emergence (8). Field studies under low disease pressure indicate that both propiconazol and mancozeb partially controlled Helminthosporium sativum when applied at 50 days after sowing (Table 4) with the former being more effective. However, propiconazol is not currently available in the Philippines and mancozeb is recommended. Under high inoculum loads, it is totally unsatisfactory. An additional problem with helminthosporium control is that farmers must be educated to enter the crop to assess severity. instead of looking at the edges only. which are drier and hence less susceptible to the disease.Agronomic factors may be manipulated to aid with helminthosporium control. It has been noted that wider row spacing reduced disease severity. Nitrogen application may be restricted in high disease incidence areas in order to avoid excessive vegetative growth by which high humidity is maintained December 181 5 0 0 , . . --------------within the crop. In addition, some farmers are convinced that the use of NPK fertilizers (in areas where no P or K response has been obtained under controlled conditions) reduces the severity of the disease. It is our contention that research into disease control, particularly helminthosporium and fusarium, must be intensified in the natural, high inoculum areas.Weed control-The predominant weeds in the wheat target areas are various species of Echinochloa, Eleusine, and Digitaria for grassy weeds, with Amaranthus spp., Portulaca oleracea, and Trianthema portulacastrum the main broadleaf weeds. Volunteer rice can also be a problem.The lower yields of wheat currently attained in rainfed conditions preclude intensive weed control measures. Where some supplementary irrigation is available, the increased yield potential should encourage  more thorough weed control. Experimental data show that weed control is essential in the first 4 to 5 weeks (5). If the crop is kept weed free dUring that period, yields are as high as those from crops kept continuously weed free. Quite low populations, particularly of grassy weeds. reduce yields (Figure 5).Mechanical aids to weeding (rotary hand weeders. hinged hand hoes. shallow ploughs and harrow weeders) are being promoted. However. a more satisfactory longterm solution may be obtained using chemical weed control.Beginning in 1983/84, a wide range of chemicals were tested in Thailand and the Philippines. In both countries, very few chemicals normally used on wheat in more traditional climates are freely available (only bentazon. diuron, trifluralin. 2. 4-D and MPCA). Diuron and trifluralin were shown to be quite phytotoxic to wheat under the more tropical conditions. As the major yield loss is more commonly from grass weeds. bentazon, 2,4-D. and MPCA were only marginally useful (21).Of the most commonly available chemicals (butachlor. alachlor, and oxadiazon used extensively in rice). the first two proved the most useful in wheat. Oxadiazon gave the best broad spectrum weed control but caused mild to severe phytotoxicity that resulted in yield reduction.In further tests the following year, the reaction of wheat to butachlor and alachlor was found sensitive to soil moisture conditions (Figure 6) and seeding depth. Heavy rains or irrigation 1 to 2 days after herbicide application caused phytotoxicity. reducing yield about 30%.Of the traditional wheat chemicals, the combination application of diclofop-methyl and chlorsulfuron is superior in weed control and consistently results in higher yields than with other chemical treatments.The mixture adequately controls the complete weed spectrum. with the possible exception of Digitaria spp. It also controls volunteer maize and, under certain moisture conditions, volunteer rice.As these chemicals have not, up to now. become available in the target countries, pre-emergence application of butachlor followed by spotweeding over the first four weeks of crop growth has been recommended where chemical control has been warranted.Harvesting and threshing-Farmers have universally reported the difficulty of wheat threshing-much more difficult than rice.  A study from the Philippines reported heavy losses from traditional threshing methodsrecovery was only 60% from hand threshing and 53 % from the pedal thresher. Using the Multicrop Rice-Wheat thresher developed under the IRRI-Pakistan machinery project resulted in a grain recovery of 93 % (13). While these data undoubtedly overstate the true situation, there are obviously substantial losses from traditional hand threshing.The difficulty for hand threshing is probably due to the harvest method having been developed from the \"rice mentality.\" There is a general tendency to harvest prematurely and stack the material to dry. This results in the rachis and glumes being somewhat \"plastic\" and makes the grains difficult to extract from the head.The on-farm recommendation is that if the grain rubs out of the head when threshed between the palms. and the chaff can be separated from the grains by blowing. and the grain cracks when bitten. then it is time to harvest.In the Southeast Asian region. (with the possible exception of Indonesia) and parts of South Asia (Nepal. Bhutan. Bangladesh) there is minimal use of fertilizers. With the current drop in profitability in most crops. there is even a tendency to further reduce the use of fertilizer.Wheat is being proposed as an additional crop. filling a void in the cropping system and thus representing an intensification of the cropping system.Yields in rice-wheat systems are decreasing in the Punjab of Pakistan and are related to the number of years of continuous rice-wheat cropping. While part of this decline is related to an increase in grass weed competition, other factors are operating significantly (4). This study was only involved with wheat yield. but in India (23). it has been Dry matter (91m 2 )1 0 0 0 , . . -----------800-+----------1:: 600-+----400+----o (A) (8) shown that yields are declining in some areas in both crops. in others wheat, and in still others rice.Studies in these areas have shown that yields can be stabilized by high levels of NPK fertilizer.However, in the Terai of Nepal results of various fertilizer treatments to a rice-rice-wheat  In discussing the characteristics of the \"tropical\" wheat growing environments of South and Central America. I have not been confined by the Tropic of Capricorn. I have followed the definition of \"tropical\" suggested by A.R. Klatt in the Symposium. Wheats for More Tropical Environments. held in Mexico in 1984, and thus assume that we are referring here to environments that are warmer than the traditional wheat grOWing areas. In defining these areas I have been gUided by. and used extensively. the climatic classification of Papadakis (5).A review of the papers presented in the symposium 2 1 /2 years ago shows that the main limiting factors stressed by the various speakers were:All of these factors, together with other actual or potential problems. can be divided into three main groups. based on whether their principal cause is the climate. especially moisture and temperature, or the soils. ObViously. in many cases there is an interrelationship between these problems and an interaction between the climate and soils. Drought. a serious problem in the winter season in many of the warmer areas. is a function not only of the rainfall, soil moisture retention. and infiltration rates, but also of the crop root exploration. often severely restricted by aluminum toxicity in the acid soil regions. However. a division of the problems into three major groups will. I hope, be useful in comparing the different wheat production and experimentation environments in Central and South America.The various areas where wheat is being produced or researched in the warmer areas of South and Central America are shown in Figure 1. I have not attempted to define exactly the production areas, or to have marked all the experimentation areas, but rather to have identified some of the major sites for discussion purposes.ObViously, given the number of combinations of climatic and soil factors found in the various wheat production and experimental areas, it is difficult to prioritize production constraints. However, it may be useful to enumerate the various constraints with some discussion of their importance in different areas, and to briefly outline what has been achieved in overcoming them.Of the three environmental factors, temperature per se is probably the least limiting in the warmer, or tropical. areas. High temperatures can certainly limit potential, but probably less so than the constraints imposed by humidity and soils. The wheat crop in the warmer areas is subjected to higher temperatures than in the traditional wheat areas. especially dUring the early stages of development. This makes the crop develop faster. which is normally an advantage. as due to this it will fit in a rotation. However, development may be so fast that potential is greatly reduced, for instance. by bolting and the resultant lack of tillers. Thus varieties in the warmer areas need a physiological brake on their development. probably using the vernalization and/or photoperiod sensitive genes. In this regard. it is interesting to see the number of varieties in the warmer areas that are the result of spring x winter wheat crosses. The main winter temperature environments are shown in Figure 2. where these different zones are described by Papadakis as follows:Ec-Sufficiently hot for equatorial crops (e.g. rubber. cacao) Tp-Cooler. without frosts. too hot for temperate crops (e.g. wheat) tP-Idem, but wheat not completely excluded tp-Idem. but sufficiently cold for many temperate crops Ct-Not free of frost, but sufficiently benign for citrus; marginal for temperate crops Ci-Idem. but sufficiently cold for temperate crops A map of this scale can. of course, only show generalities. However, it is worth noting one modification to this map and that is. the presence of frosts in the Planalto of Brazil. south of the Tropic of Capricorn. These are not, eVidently, confined to the area shown with a Ct classification on this map. Also it is worth mentioning that Papadakis' description of the environments tP (wheat not completely excluded) and Ct (marginal for temperate crops) would appear now to be overly conservative. Large areas of wheat are produced in areas within a Ct winter temperature climate-the Chaco of Argentina, eastern Paraguay and Santa Cruz. Bolivia. as well as the tP climate of part of Parana, Brazil. However. there is as yet no wheat production in areas with winter temperatures classified as either Tp (too hot for temperate crops) or Ec (sufficiently hot for equatorial crops).In the very hot areas (Ec winter) such as the Llanos of Colombia, there has been some indication that high temperatures (22°min, 30 0 max) may kill the vegetative apex, leading to large numbers of aborted tillers, and, in many cases, no spikes. However, this may be a result of interactions with the other major environmental constraints. In this environment, sterility is also common and studies are under way to determine whether temperature, humidity, or soil factors are the causal agent of this phenomenon.In the warmest areas, soil temperature may be a limiting factor, especially when associated with drier conditions. There is evidence from the Philippines (D.A. Saunders, personal communication) and from H.M. Rawson (quoted by Fischer, 1) that high soil temperatures can have very severe effects on tiller and crown root initiation.On the other end of the scale, frost may be a problem in some of the cooler areas of the warm regions, as for instance in the higher altitudes south of the Tropic of Capricorn in Brazil (3).Insects are more of a potential problem in the warmer areas, presumably because of their greater rate of reproduction. For the same reason, biological control with arthropod predators may be even more feasible than in the temperate climates.Soil moisture Figure 3 shows the principal moisture regions of South and Central America, with the following definitions:HU-Always wet Hu-Wet MO-\"Monsoon,\" wet Mo-\"Monsoon,\" dry mo-Semiarid d-DesertIt should be remembered that in monsoon-like environments, the summer is the wettest part of the year and winter the driest part.Moisture is a limiting factor, especially in the areas that have the semi-arid (mo) or desert (d) designations, and in these either yields are severely restricted by moisture limitation (e.g., northern Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Chaco, Argentina) or crops are grown with irrigation (Brasilia, Chaco Bolivia; coastal Peru).  (5).Where irrigation is used. the crop may suffer from constraints normally observed in the wetter areas (HU. Hu. MO). In these wetter areas. soilborne diseases are a serious problem. The most important of these diseases are Helminthosporium sativum. Sclerotium rolfsii, Gaeumannomyces graminis and Rhizoctonia solanii. Of these. it appears that H. sativum. as a foot rot. and G. graminis may be confined to the cooler parts of the warmer areas. H. sativum is important in southern Brazil and eastern Paraguay. but not in much of the State of Parana. Brazil. This could possibly be due to a temperature effect on the breakdown of organic matter. In areas affected by this disease. more work is needed on the effect of cultural practices on its control.G. graminis has been reported as important in the wheat-soybean rotation of Brazil and there is evidence from Indiana. USA. that soybean may be an alternate host for this pathogen. It also becomes a problem with poorly managed liming to overcome the soil acidity problem.In the wetter areas. waterlogging may also be a severe. albeit temporary. problem. The repercussions however. may be of longer duration. Whole nurseries have been Wiped out in the Llanos of Colombia by waterlogging associated with high rainfall on level land. even though the soils are relatively freedraining. Apart from the direct effects of saturation on soil aeration and the root environment. these conditions also prove ideal for the establishment and spread of Sclerotium rolfsii. The disease has become the main biological limitation to wheat production in coastal Ecuador (7).Little progress has been made in breeding for resistance to the foot rots in general. Work in many parts of the traditional areas on cultural control of these organisms is advanced. but little has been done in the warmer areas. with the exception of Brazil where a considerable research effort is under way. Farmers in Rio Grande do SuI have reduced the wheat crop intensity in the rotation to one crop in 3 or 4 years. otherwise H. sativum foot rot would decimate the crop.Humidity is a grave problem in that it proVides an ideal climate for many of the foliar diseases. Even in areas where rainfall is low dUring the winter. relative humidity may be appreciable. leading to severe disease problems.Rusts-The main rust problem in the warmer areas is Puccinia recondita. leaf rust. The humidity requirements for the spread of this disease appear lower than for the other common leaf diseases. so that it is a problem in even the driest areas. e.g.. Chaco of Bolivia and coastal Peru. Temperatures in all the environments being discussed here are sufficiently warm for the establishment and spread of this disease.Leaf spots-Leaf spots caused by Helminthosporium spp. are one of the major diseases in the warmer areas. and much effort. with considerable success. is being devoted to selection for resistance to the organisms. Their humidity requirement is higher than leaf rust. and they do not appear to be problems in the semi-arid or desert environments. except in northern Santa Cruz. Bolivia. which is a transition environment (Malmo) and where the prevailing wind is a moist northwesterly. Septoria spp. is less common in the warmer areas. but its environmental niche appears similar to that of Helminthosporium spp.Head scab-Head scab caused by Fusarium spp. is confined to the most humid areas and is basically neutral for temperature. so that it may be a severe problem in all the humid areas (HU. Hu, MOl of the warmer climates. Some progress is being made in identifying resistance to this disease by means of a shuttle program between Brazil, China, and CIMMYT. based mainly on partial resistance encountered in some Chinese wheats.Powdery mildew, Erysiphi graminis-Powdery mildew is also a serious problem in the wetter (HU. Hu. mol areas. Genetic variability is available. but more emphasis must be placed on screening for resistance in varieties for these areas.Bacteria-Bacteria are a problem in the moist humid areas, but can also be severe in wet seasons in the drier areas. as they spread rapidly if conditions are conducive. Thus. a relatively short period of high humidity may lead to an epidemic. However. their problem status is mainly confined to the HU environments. although they may be a problem in some environments classed as MO.  (6). divides the warmer areas of Central and South America into two regions based on their principal soil types -high base status soils and acid infertile soils High-base status soils Generally high base status soils are not a major constraint except in terms of macronutrients. Locally they may, however, prove to be the main constraint, as. for instance, in the Bolivian Chaco. Here the high proportion of kaolinite clay reduces infiltration rate to such an extent that irrigation becomes relatively ineffective after the first two or three irrigations.Acid infertile soils cover the major part of the warmer areas of South and Central America. The main feature of these soils is the low pH coupled with high soluble aluminum levels and low phosphorus availability. Aluminum may occupy as much as 90% of the exchange sites of the clay fraction. Definite advances have been made in both the genetic and cultural avenues for overcoming this problem. Genetically. tolerance has been incorporated into wheats with high yield potential, using mainly the old Brazilian wheats as donors. However, generally even the \"tolerant\" wheatsHigh base status soils Figure 4. Soil regions of the warmer areas of South and Central America (6).do not produce well when Al saturation is above 60%. Liming to replace some of the Al on the clay fraction has been successful. especially when combined with resistant varieties. The main problem with liming has been the lack of movement of Ca downward in the profile; thus the root zone is restricted to the top 20 to 25 em. leading to drought and nutritional problems. Recent work in Brazil with gypsum as a source of calcium shows great promise. especially in a mixture with agricultural lime. as the gypsum is far more soluble and moves farther down the profile (4).These soils generally have a low moisture holding capacity. a severe problem where root exploration is inhibited by soluble AI. and exacerbated where temperatures are high and organic matter breakdown is rapid.Other nutrient limitations which have been identified on these soils are sulfur deficiency and micronutrient deficiencies (B. Zn). and further work is needed in most areas to establish nutritional limitations. One nutrient that is often overlooked is calcium. and large responses have been obtained to relatively small applications of this nutrient in parts of the Cerrados of Brazil on wheat. (2) and in other crops in the Llanos of Colombia.The production areas and experimentation sites are shown in Figure 1 and classified in Table 1. according to the three major factors shown in the preceding maps.It is interesting to note that no two of these areas share the same conditions. and thus problems will differ greatly among areas.The potential for wheat production in the various areas of the warmer regions of South and Central America depends on the combination of three main environmental factors: temperature. moisture. and soils. Of these. the most devastating are the acid infertile soils predominant in this region and high humidity. especially in the hotter areas. Of the environments in the region. potentially the most productive are those with the coolest temperatures. and high base status soils. e.g.. coastal Peru. The most difficult will be those with equatorial climates, humid or wet moisture regimes and acid soils, as for instance, the Llanos of Colombia.Wheats that produce in areas with winter temperature classifications tP, tp, Ct. and Ci (5) are available.Diseases are serious problems in all the warmer environments. but are potentially worse in the wetter (HU, Hu and MO) climates, especially where associated with higher temperatures. The prevalent diseases depend on the moisture and temperature environment. Acid soils impose a severe limitation on crop production, and this limitation must be overcome by both genetic and cultural means.Given that more than 40 African countries fall within the latitudinal boundaries set by the Tropics of Cancer (23 0 N) and Capricorn (23 0 S), it is exceedingly difficult and perhaps foolhardy to attempt to generalize about wheat production in Africa. Just as a diversity of human cultures exists on the African continent, Virtually every conceivable mode or system of wheat production is currently in practice somewhere in Africa. Wheat is grown under rainfed conditions (in areas receiving unimodal or bimodal distribution of precipitation). on residual moisture in river basins or seepage depressions, and under irrigation (flood and sprinkler). Some countries. such as Ethiopia. have a cultural association with wheat extending back through their recorded history. while for others wheat was a crop introduced by the Arab traders. the missionaries. or the colonialists. Wheat seed is sown and covered by hand. by ox plow. or by grain drill and harvested by sickle or by combine harvester. Wheat is grown on state farms or on private plots managed by large-or small-scale operators.NotWithstanding this amazing degree of diversity. allow me to engage in a few. hopefully indisputable. generalizations:(1) Despite the fact that most African countries produce some wheat (Table 1). none is self-sufficient and few even approach that target. which the majority have adopted as national policy.In fact. due to high rates of population growth and urbanization. the shrinking landholding unit, political disruptions. and policy constraints. sub-Saharan wheat importation has grown at a faster rate than domestic production in the past decade (2). Additional constraints to wheat output have been imposed by nature: in 1984, wheat yields in many regions were halved due to severe drought, and even under irrigated production systems, such as in Zimbabwe. wheat area was drastically reduced because of shrinking reservoir and ground water levels.( chosen to characterize and discuss the tropical wheat environments in Thus. as a result of Wgh wheat Africa using the thermal and importation bills and despite humidity regimes proposed by questions of comparative advantage.Fischer (3). Specifically. four domestic political pressure in much principal regimes are encountered in of sub-Saharan Africa is applied in Africa (Table 2), and case studies will favor of increased domestic wheat be discussed under each category. production. As illustrated by the selected cases we shall review. -Very hot. humid regime (Somalia) sometimes tWs has resulted inThe Ministry of Agriculture of attempts to produce wheat under Somalia is interested in increasing extremely challenging and perhaps domestic wheat production in order inappropriate conditions (Le., to reduce the annual importation of Zambian minfed wheat); in other approXimately 180,000 tons of bread cases, wheat has filled or could fill wheat and durum wheat. Wheat an otherwise underutilized niche in products such as spaghetti, injera. the national production system (I.e.bread. and cakes are the preferred irrigated lowland wheat in Sudan, food in Somalia. Thus, as incomes Ethiopia. Somalia. and Malawi).rise. consumption of wheat is expected to rise disproportionately as per capita maize and sorghum consumption decreases (currently, maize and sorghum consumption totals 180,000 and 400,000 tons per year, respectively).At present, only 4000 ha of rainfed wheat are produced by smallholders in the remote highlands of the northwestern region of Somalia, with yields in the order of 350 kg/ha. The state farm that used to produce wheat in the northwestern region was abandoned due to the departure of the SOViets, the increase in tensions, and the refugee influx along the border with Ethiopia.In the last 2 years, the Agricultural Research Institute (ARl) has initiated limited trials on irrigated wheat in the highly productive Jenale area, south of Mogadishu. While Somalia has a total potentially irrtgable land area of 310,000 ha, ARI scientists estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 ha would be allocated for wheat production. In Jenale, wheat is envisioned to have potential value as a short season crop (I.e., less than 90 days to maturity), groWing between the maize (harvested in mid-July) and the sesame crops (planted in late October dUring the second rainy season). ObViously, more research will be required to determine the optimum economic cropping pattern and practices.In 1985, the ARI received seeds of six bread wheat cultivars (Haramoun. Belbec, Mexipak. Super X, Sannine. and Florence Aurora) and one durum wheat cultivar (Produra) from FAO. Trials were planted on two different dates in the Jenale area (using a 30-cm row spacing, diammonium phosphate with the seed. a topdressing of 50 kg urealha, handweedin~, five irrigations and Furadan insecticide to control stem borers). Yields varied considerably, but in one seeding, Belbec yielded over 3 tlha. A subsequent trial of five of the cultivars in 1986 produced grain yields from 700 to 1550 kg/ha over a maturity range of 71 to 90 days (Table 3).That these \"nontropical\" wheat cultivars survive, let alone produce seed at this location, is quite surprising in itself. Jenale has an altitude close to sea level, a latitude of approximately 2 ON and a mean minimum temperature that ranges between 16 and 20°C (the mean ranges between 24 and 28 °C and the maximum between 30 to 34°C). In addition to the temperatures, one would expect that the high relative humidity (70 to 90% year-round) would have encouraged the growth of foliar pathogens: to the contrary, the plots that I have seen had good stands of well-tillered (but short) plants with clean leaves. In the 1986 planting. a trace infection of spot blotch (H. sativum) was present on the leaves, and a 10% level of infection of the seeds (I.e .. blackpoint) was observed after harvest, probably due to the rains dUring grain filling. One possible explanation for such an unexpected performance of \"nontropical\" wheats under tropical conditions is that the high and constant winds coming off the Indian Ocean cool the plants and minimize leaf wetness periods.Since irrtgated wheat research in Somalia is in the fledgling stage, there are many agronomic and economic issues yet to be tackled. We consider that the introduction of new germplasm is an important first step-germplasm selected for heat tolerance and resistance to the diseases such as spot blotch and scab (Fusarium spp.) which could logically be expected to increase in severity as wheat area expands.Additionally. more detailed work on irrigation schedules. fertilizer rates. weed control, and cropping systems will have to be undertaken to facilitate the development of an optimum production package.Very hot, dry regime (Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi) Sudan-With 140.000 ha of wheat annually. Sudan represents the major tropical production regime currently utilized in Africa. In the early 1960s. government policy was directed toward the expansion of wheat production on the irrigated clay soils in a double cropping system with the main season crop. cotton (1). In the Sudan. wheat is grown dUring the short winter period (October to March) dUring which the relatively high temperatures are probably the major constraint on yield (I.e. monthly mean minimum temperatures descend to 14°C while mean maximums reach 34°C dUring the same period). In the major wheat grOWing region of Gezira. commercial-scale yields have fluctuated between 550 and 1400 kg/ha over the past decade.Additional factors reported to have significantly affected wheat yield levels in Sudan are high aphid infestations. necessitating one or two insecticide applications. and serious rust problems. controlled by the use of resistant varieties (1).Ethiopia-In the vicinity of Melka Werer (300 km east of Addis Ababa. 700 mas!). the potential exists for the double cropping of up to 175.000 ha of irrigated wheat with cotton.The constraints to expansion of the wheat area include: 1) the supply of water from the Awash river. which is only sufficient to irrigate 175.000 ha; and. 2) the availability of sufficient labor for timely hand harvest of the cotton crop.The Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) of Ethiopia has conducted agronomic trials for several years at this locatjon and now has a package of wheat varieties and recommended agronomic practices to prOVide to the state farms. which are currently growing only cotton in the summer season. The wheat varieties are early maturing to allow a 60-day vegetation-free fallow period preceding the cotton crop; by eliminating all vegetation. the most serious pests of the cotton crop. the American bollworm and the white Deep tillage of the heavy clay soils in the rice schemes has been deemed necessary to ensure aerobic conditions suitable for wheat growth.As the small land units are tilled primarily by manual labor. this recommendation has imposed an additional constraint to wheat production. No work has been done to date on sowing wheat into rice stubble using minimum tillage practices.The following agronomic practices are recommended as the optimum for irrigated wheat in this specific environment: wheat is to be sown at 100 kg/ha in mid-May in a 30-cm row spacing (to facilitate hand weeding) with 100 kg Nlha as a topdressing. Irrigation furrows are situated at 1.5-m intervals across the field.Unless a solution can be found to the land preparation constraint mentioned previously and higher yielding cultivars can be developed. wheat is unlikely to gain acceptance by the rice farmers. who currently obtain higher economic yields with horticultural crops in the winter season.In common with the other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. those of West Africa are interested in increasing the domestic production of wheat as a means of reducing high levels of grain importation. By far. Nigeria is both the largest wheat importer and producer in West Africa (Table 1).Wheat production in Nigeria. estimated at 16.000 ha, is restricted to the river basin irrigation schemes in its northern states. lying between the latitudes of 10 and 13° N (5). The potential wheat production area is estimated to total 345.000 ha in the Sudan savanna areas.Planting date is one of the most critical management factors. Wheat is sown in mid-November at the start of the cool season. dUring which temperatures range between 5 and 30°C. and harvested at the end of enclosed and heated sections of field under High Temperatures crops and demonstrated yield reductions. particularly when the treatment was applied dUring the pre-anthesis In the field environment it is difficult period. it could not be concluded to separate the effects of high that the effects were solely due to temperature on growth and yield from the effects of radiation. vapor temperature. as VPD was also changed. VPD has major effects on pressure deficit (VPD). and soil water water-use efficiency (WUE) (58). availability. Even in studies (18) that Perhaps the only way to examine the effects of temperature alone is to use fully controlled environments. Traditionally. these have had severe limitations. particularly in their inability to achieve radiation levels comparable with sunlight and their inability to mimic the daily cosine changes in temperature. radiation, and VPD that occur in nature. With the advent of inexpensive microcomputer controls and high output discharge lamps. these objections have been overcome (52). Several of the unpublished studies referred to in this paper were done in such cabinets (Thermoline Scientific P.L.. Sydney. Australia). The programmed daily cosine cycles were from 16 to 34°C. 4 to 34 mb VPD. and 0 to 1.5 mmol PAR prOViding 24-hr means of temperature of 23°C. VPD of 11 mb and total short wave radiation equivalent to 24 MJ/m 2 /d.In order to examine yield potential under such high-temperature conditions. mini-crops. 3.32 m 2 , of genotype Tobar! (Triticum aestivum L.) were llrown in gravel beds at 100 plants/m~and drip-fed a nutrient solution so that water and nutrients were nonlimiting. Carbon dioxide ranged between 10 and 380 ppm. matching normal field patterns. Though the double ridge stage was reached as early as 2 weeks after planting. first anthesis by 6 weeks. and maturity by 11 weeks. grain yield was remarkably high at 1005 g/m 2 . Figure 1 details the growth of these mini-crops. Salient features were that crop growth rates reached 60 g/m 2 /d. rather higher values than have been recorded for crops in temperate climates (61). Furthermore. very high leaf area indices (LAIs) of over 9 were generated and maintained. and shooUroot ratios were comparable with those in high latitudes (24). Indeed. if the x-axis of Figure 1 shOWing day degrees (thermal time) is used instead of that shOWing days (calendar time). it is very difficult to distinguish the performance of these mini-crops from those grown under much lower temperatures.The question then arises as to whether the fortuitous choice of Tobar! was one of an outstandingly heat-tolerant genotype; these seemingly are available (56). However. data produced in high• temperature glasshouses (30 to 25°C) suggest that Tobar! is qUite ordinary. as it ranked 8th for grain yield among 24 genotypes selected at random (47). Although yields in that soil-based study (With lower nutrition) were not as high as in the cabinet crops, 70% of the genotypes exceeded 500 g/m 2 . The indication. therefore. is that potential yields under conditions of high temperature are very high. and especially so when considered in terms of yield per unit of calendar time.  ., ,,,,., discussed later. Now. each organ. to reach a particular size. requires a particular amount of substrate. Taking an hypothetical case, if the plant clock allows 30 00 for a specific organ to be produced, the plant will have 3 days to accumulate the substrate for that organ at lo°C, but only one day at 30°C. At lOoC. that is 3 days of photosynthesis and nutrient and water uptake. but at 30°C. it is only 1 day.As temperature has minimal effects on rate of photosynthesis per unit leaf area. providing water is not a limitation (2. 13. 63). carbohydrate accumulation is directly proportional to hours and intensity of sunlight and area of leaf per unit ground area. Thus in our hypothetical case, the organ at 10°C will grow three times as big as at 30°C. However. we could make that organ grow as big at 30°C as at 10°C if we increased radiation threefold and kept nutrients and water nonlimiting. Taking this argument of matching inputs to requirements. and knOWing the stage in the plant's life when each organ is developing and its potential contribution to yield (26,50), it should be possible to manipulate inputs at each stage to control the size of each organ and thus the final yield up to a genetic ceiling.Returning now to controlled environment studies. which have demonstrated a reduction in growth with increased temperature: these all changed temperature in a common radiation environment. Thus the effect of increased temperature was to reduce the radiation received for each developmental stage, thereby redUcing growth proportionately. This was recognized by Rawson and Bagga (49). who were assessing the relative sensitivity of different developmental stages of wheat to high temperature by transferring plants among three temperature regimes every 4 days after double ridge appearance. They expected to see steep changes in sensitivity, much as has been found after water stress (40). However, they showed that no 4-day stage between double ridge stage and ear emergence was any more sensitive than any other, because this whole period is an overlapping progression of development for different florets: thus, it is a period when potential grain number is being progressively accumulated. They demonstrated this by expressing all their temperature treatments in terms of the amount of radiation received by the plant per unit temperature (eqUivalent to an expression of the amount of radiation received in each developmental stage, Figure 3). ...Photothermal quotient (MJ/m 2 /d/oC> 7) between double ridges and ear emergence The concept of such a photothermal quotient (PTQ) was popularized by Nix (37); also see 39 for an early PTQ. Fischer (17) has recently argued convincingly, by using data from a wide range of field crops, that kernel number increases in proportion to PTQ in this preanthesis period, and therefore that PTQ is an important determinant of grain yield.It has been shown that PTQ varied with month of the year. This can be seen in Figure 4 for two locations at high and low latitude (37) in Australia: PTQs at each location are lowest in autumn and highest in spring. with the amplitude being greater at high latitude. Details of temperatures and radiation from which PTQ was calculated (Figure 5) indicate that the monthly differences are largely due to the difference in soil heat storage after summer and winter, respectively. Autumn wasMonth of year Data source cited in Nix (38) 4°C hotter than spring for the same radiation receipt in this example at low latitude, but can increase to 6 to BOC hotter at high latitudes.The monthly change in radiation and temperature with latitude is better demonstrated in Figure 6 where it can be seen that with reduction in latitude, in a marine environment, temperature increases, but radiation does not. Mean annual PTQ for marine locations at sea level can be estimated from the relationship shown in Figure 7. Elevation increases PTQ at any latitude.Using the relationship in Figure 7 (though remembering that it is an annual mean for a marine enVironment) together with the knowledge that kernel number per m 2 is determined by the PTQ in the 30 days before anthesis (17), or more precisely by PTQ dUring the floret development, it follows that yield potential for wheat can be roughly estimated for any global location.  :c. 71 .sot ...Radiation per day (MJ/m 2 /d)   Photothermal quotient (MJ/m2/d/oC> 0) The field data of Spiertz and Ellen (61), also included on Figure 8, demonstrate the importance of nitrogen in reaching potential yield. Raising their early application from 50 to 100 kg/ha, and adding 50 kg/ha at the boot stage increased yield from 65 to 87 % of the estimated potential yield at the appropriate PTQ. This change resulted largely from a 15% increase in kernels/m 2 , which paralleled an increase in LAI and radiation interception. In order that potential yields at particular PTQs be achieved, radiation interception by the crop must be complete. Plants are exposed to the temperature part of PTQ regardless of canopy cover, but the effective PTQ is reduced as radiation interception is reduced (17).Delaying phenology Midmore et al. (3:3, 34) highlighted the correlation between phenology and leaf area production under high temperatures. Their conclusions are substantiated by Figure 9 which shows LAI data for six genotypes of wheat grown at 30 to 25°C in a glasshouse and subjected to two vernalization treatments and various radiation levels. The figure shows that treatments resulting in earlier floral initiation (double ridge) resulted also in less leaf area at 5.5 weeks after planting; this was the anthesis stage in the early genotypes, and a little beyond double ridge in the latest lines. According to the regression, each day's delay in floral initiation increased LAI by 0.34. Though phenology explained 70% of the variation in LAI for the earlier genotypes, there was a poor relationship once LAI exceeded about 6.0.The effect of phenology on leaf area production is often via tillering. which can cease at the double ridge stage (3. 70). though this relationship can be modified by plant spacing (9) and nitrogen availability (43). Indeed. nitrogen applied continuously to Tobari grown at high temperature resulted in new tillers emerging up to heading of the main shoot and final tiller numbers of 1350/m 2 ; this yielded 1110 ears/m 2 .Changes in the rate of phenological development arise through photoperiodic or vernalization sensitivity (10. 64). Unfortunately. little work has been done on the phenology of plants under high temperatures as affected by these factors and so the performance of genotypes in the tropics cannot be 8 r ---------------,./  predicted from their phenology in temperate regions (31). Recently. it has been demonstrated that the vernalization response of plants. normally thought to be satisfied by cold. can be more rapidly satisfied by shorter photoperiods than by low temperatures (12). and can also be accelerated by high radiation. This implies that genotypes with a vernalization response are not precluded from the tropics where photoperiod is around 12 hours. and the degree of vernalization response can be used to manipulate phenology and optimize leaf area for the particular location (67).Unfonunately. phenological delay does not necessarily result in more yield (33. 34). particularly if the delay results in water or nutrition becoming limiting. Indeed. R.A. Richards (personal communication) has shown that as environments progressively deteriorate with respect to available water. the ranking of genotypes for yield also changes progressively from the latest to the earliest; there must always be enough water left in the profile at anthesis to fill the grain (41, 42. 54).Via reduced phyllochron interval (PI)-Since Friend (20) demonstrated the close association between leaf emergence and tiller emergence. several authors have shown that leaves appear at strict intervals measured primarily in day degree terms. This phyllochron interval (PI) can be modified by photoperiod (22) and apparently by rate of change of photoperiod (4). though I suspect that the latter response would be more appropriately described by PTQ. which affects leaf expression (51) and is correlated with rate of change of photoperiod (r 2 =0.80) (54).PI also marks time for tiller appearance (27. 28. 32).The range in PI for winter wheats in temperate zones is from 70 to 100 DD (5). In the high-temperature study of Figure 1 with Tobari, PI was 70 DD (3 days) for all tillers that appeared prior to the double ridge stage. It reduced slightly, though progressively, for tillers that emerged after this stage by 0.078°CIDD> 300 DD (Figure 10 and cf. 68 for a similar response). Consequently, the PI for a spring wheat fitted at the margins of response for winter wheat in temperate zones, and conclusions can be interchanged between the groups with caution. As there is variation among genotypes in PI in temperate regions (5,65), there will also be variation that can be utilized at high temperature (47).Unfortunately, there is a general positive correlation between area per leaf and PI. so that fast leaves equates with small leaves (52), and so selection for shorter or longer PI is unlikely to infiuence leaf area production, though it will infiuence potential tiller and ear number. Via reduced sowing depth-Sowing depth is often detennined by depth of available water. It has been suggested that deeper sowing should increase the plant's proportion of roots to emerged shoot at emergence and thus enable the plant to meet more readily the higher evaporative demand usually associated with increased temperatures (47). The argument was based on the premise that shooUroot ratio would not change significantly until the shoot emerged. In fact, under conditions of high temperature and evaporative demand, shooUroot ratio increased linearly over the first few days after planting regardless of whether the shoot was emerged or not. Thus, deeper planting. by delaying emergence, resulted in an increased total shooUroot ratio at emergence. In spite of this, seedlings sown at 50 mm had 30% more root upon emergence than those sown at 25 mm (Figure 11), while those sown at 75 mm had the greatest proportion of root of all, though establishment was reduced.Although root to emerged shoot ratio was increased by deeper planting as predicted, there was a negative aspect; emergence was delayed.Figure 11 shows that the seedling increases in weight very rapidly once it emerges and photosyntesis begins.For example, at one week after planting, seedlings sown at 25 mm were 23% heavier and had proportionately more leaf area than those sown at 75 mm, because of a difference of 3 day's photosynthesis. This difference would gradually disappear in the long growing seasons of temperate regions, but in the shorter seasons of hot regions with the likelihood of low LAIs the proportional differences could remain until harvest (and see 16 and 25 for effects in field plantings).A further important and negative aspect of progressively deeper planting is that an increasing proportion of the early order tillers fail to emerge, and these are potentially the best yielders (e.g., 45 and see 62 for comparative developmental rates of main shoot and tillers) because they accumulate more time and leaf area before the double ridge stage. As plant time accumulation commences at seed imbibition, deeper planting also reduces the amount of photosynthesis that can be accomplished before double ridge and also curtails the accumulation of tillers at higher positions. In the example of Figure 9, more than 50% of the time to double ridge stage had elapsed by the time that the earliest seedlings in the deepest planting emerged and started to photosynthesize and accumulate leaf area. The conclusion, therefore, must be that the shallowest planting consistent with water depth is to be encouraged for rapid early leaf area production and early growth.Via increased seed size-The importance of large seeds for good establishment and rapid early growth has been stressed from as early as 1899 (8,25). This is demonstrated again for hightemperature conditions in Figure 12 where seedlings were grown from half or full seeds and at two radiation levels. Because seeds were planted at 25 mm, only half the full seed was exhausted by seedling emergence (Figure 11) and there were no effects on establishment. However, at low radiation (PTQ = 0.3), plants from half seeds were 25% smaller than plants with all their seed after 4 weeks growth; the proportional difference due to seed amount at high radiation (PTQ = 1.15) was less but absolute differences were similar. Removing half the seed significantly reduced the areas of leaves 1 and 2 by 15% (and by 27% after total endosperm removal follOWing emergence). Tiller numbers were also reduced. This study therefore suggests that seed reserves continue to influence growth after seedling emergence and even under radiation levels that should be sufficient to optimize photosynthesis.Conclusions from the above study may be dubious because of damage to the seed. However. the results were substantiated by using genotypic variation in seed size in a further high-temperature study. Plants of six genotypes were established at 30 to 25°C and under various PTQs and coefficients of determination calculated between initial seed weight and leaf area at 14 days after planting. Seed size accounted for 70% of the variation in leaf area under dull, hot conditions, but for only 15% under bright conditions (Figure 13). Thus, although large seeds may germinate slightly more slowly than small seeds (30, and see 7 for variation in this). they are essential for Vigorous early growth. particularly under conditions of deep planting and low radiation.Via increased area of the first leaf and changes in biomass allocation-Just as a large seed leads to rapid leaf area establishment, so too can a large first leaf have a major effect. The contrast between two barleys and Hira wheat is seen in Figure 14.The barleys have first leaves that are twice the area of Hira's. In spite of a higher rate of photosynthesis per unit leaf area. a higher shooUroot ratio, and a marginally higher relative growth rate after leaf 1 emerged. Hira had achieved only half the pfant leaf area of the barleys at 30 days after planting and only 55 % of the biomass. Similarly a wheat. Cleopatra. with a 50% larger first leaf than Hira, had produced 25% more biomass by this stage. There is of course a correlation between seed size and area of the first leaf. but it is by no means fixed.The pattern of allocation of biomass by the seedling can also have major effects on the rate of production of leaf area. Thus. a high specific leaf area. which generally equates with a large area of thin leaves. and a high shooUroot ratio are allocation strategies that increase leaf area, and both are common characteristics of barley. There is significant genotypic variation in these characteristics in wheat grown at high temperatures, however (47,52). It should be pointed out that large leaves frequently have lower rates of photosynthesis (6. 48), and so the small-leaved genotypes eventually catch up. and may overhaul the large-leaved genotypes if given enough time. The other complication is that small-leaved genotypes often have a shorter PI (53), which means that leaves and tillers are produced faster. So. given enough time and good enough conditions. they can also produce more ears.Increased leaf area inevitably means increased water use, though part of this can be offset by improved water efficiency (14), and if the water requirements cannot be met then the components of the plant being generated dUring the stress period will suffer. In Figure 15 the wateruse pattern of a crop with the eqUivalent progression of biomass accumulation to that in Figure 1    uptake or retranslocation. kernel number would be reduced (57). because all the floret primordia initiated would not grow large enough to become competent to set grains (49).The first requirement before introducing a crop into a new environment is that the environment should be adequately described (31).The timing and degree of severity of the climatic constraints can then be gauged and the development of the crop matched to them.If water is not a constraint because of deep soil storage. a high likelihood of rainfall, or the availability of irrigation water. the following practices should be adopted:1) Planting time calculated by day degree summations. so that the floret development stage from terminal spikelet to anthesis. when LAI is high. coincides with peak PTQ.2) Utilization of a large-seeded genotype if the PTQ at emergence is low.3) Shallow planting into a uniform seed bed to ensure good establishment.4) Selection of a genotype with the characteristics of a short PI to prOVide high tillering potential. and a high specific leaf area and a high shoot/root ratio to ensure Vigorous early above-ground growth. This results in early shading of the soil to minimize soil evaporation (66. 67) and decreases soil temperature. 2) Use a genotype with a large first leaf to maximize early photosynthesis. although a high proportion of that growth will be utilized in deep root production (a low shoot/root ratio).3) Select a genotype with a long PI; large leaves (2) and long PI are correlated. so this is probably inevitable. This will result in sparse tillering because of the reduced number of tiller sites available prior to double ridge. and particularly if low-order tiller buds have failed to become competent tillers through deep planting (1). Long PI will lead to low tiller mortality.  1).At the Phrae Research Centre conventional wetland tillage is used for rice cultivation. Plowing and harrOWing are done by tractors The main disadvantages of puddling are that it results in poor soil structure and the formation of a hard plow pan that restricts water percolation. After rice harvesting. the land is left to dry before preparation for wheat growing. Heavy four-disc harrows are used to tum over the soil surface and break the plow pan. The big clods are broken down by lighter disc harrowing after 3 to 4 days. A rotovator is used 2 to 3 times to reduce the soil clods. In our experimental fields. the beds are raised along the length of the field. Generally. the beds are 1 to 2 m wide and 20 to 25 cm high.To irrigate wheat fields after rice. two to three irrigation methods are used at the Center. The first time (after sowing). furrow irrigation is used. Sometimes the water is left between the furrows overnight to allow the moisture to move by capillary force across the beds. Supplemental water is splashed by hand over the bed. Bed flooding followed by immediate drain-out is used when the plants are well established. The field is usually irrigated 3 to 4 times at approximately 20-day intervals after the young seedlings have emerged.In our studies. we have observed that poor plant establishment is mainly associated with soil and water management problems.When dried after the puddled rice crop is harvested. the soils shrink and crack and become extremely compact. Plowing is difficult and results in a largely cloddy condition. When wheat is sown into these conditions. emergence is extremely low. Rotary cultivators have been used to reduce the clods to a more manageable size.In 1986 tests. seeds were placed on a cloddy so11 surface and irrigated. The irrigation washed a minimal amount of so11 over the seed. This resulted in excellent emergence and appears to be an attractive alternative to repeated cultivation to produce a good seedbed.We recognize that. in general. farmers do not possess the equipment we use. so we are planning to do research on zero or minimum tillage.Even when heavy disc harrows are used. the hard compact layer (at about 20-cm depth) cannot always be broken. This causes waterlogging problems which are most severe in the seedling stage. due to lack of aeration and seedling blights. particularly Sclerotium rolfsii. Waterlogging causes fewer problems at later growth stages.Some fonn of bed system appears appropriate to provide drainage for wheat. However. bed preparation consumes time and labor. which delays the seeding date. In addition. furrow irrigation requires narrow beds to obtain unifonn moisture distribution and very unifonn land leveling.A system of splashing or throwing water from the furrow over the beds has been developed in some other upland crops such as tobacco or garlic grown after rice. This is now used for early irrigation of the wheat crop.However. because the topsoils are structureless. a substantial surface crust fonns after the water is splashed. The effect of this crust on plant establishment is minimized if the topsoil is kept moist. This necessitates labor-intensive irrigation by hand every day (if not more frequently) for the first 5 to 6 days after seeding.We have increased the seeding rate at Phrae to 150 kglha in an attempt to overcome the establishment problem caused by crusting. In addition. the use of straw mulch to reduce crusting and to slow the drying of the topsoil is being investigated.Irrigation management has been a prime constraint to high and stable wheat yields at the Phrae Rice Research Centre. However. the turnaround time is also very important.Late seeding can markedly reduce yields as has been reported from India (6) and other parts of South Asia. As it is unlikely that changes in rice varieties will result in substantial changes in the rice harvesting date. more attention must be placed on reducing the time between rice harvest and wheat seeding. Given that in Thailand the paddy soils are generally heavy and difficult to cultivate into a traditional wheat seedbed. and given that very little mechanization exists on the small farms of northern Thailand. it seems most appropriate to develop zero or minimum tillage options. Zero tillage has been suggested as an alternative to reduce soil disturbance and minimize soil compaction (7). It also has been found that directly sowing wheat into standing rice stubbles and applying nitrogen fertilizer at the tillering stage could maximize the yield of wheat after rice (1).Only limited work on zero tillage for wheat has been attempted in Thailand. with little success. The techniques developed must be simple and cost effective. They must be appropriate to small farmers and utilize hand labor. animal draftpower or at the1r most sophisticated. small hand tractor-powered tractors.A wheat-rice rotation in northern Thailand will require considerable fertilizer for wheat. as the nutrient status is low. However. farmers' purchasing power is generally very low and will be a major constraint to high yields.A study on wheat response to nitrogen fertilizer in paddy fields (  Yield (kg/ha) 4 0 0 0 \" \" T \" \" \" ----------------------------.o Rice MN 62M (3594) (:::::::::) Wheat  Wheat is planted after rice on more than 17.5 million ha on the Indian Subcontinent and the Chinese mainland (7). It is one of the major cropping patterns for the region. Wheat yields in this cropping pattern are also some of the poorest in the region.Late planting of wheat is the major reason for low wheat yields in this cropping pattern. Using 4 years of planting-date data from Pakistan. Hobbs (6) calculated wheat yield losses of 35 to 40 kglha per day when wheat was planted after November 20. Similar data were presented from India (10). Longduration varieties gave the highest yields when sown in late October and short duration varieties when planted dUring the first 2 weeks of November. All varieties lost yield linearly with time planted after mid-November.Late planting of wheat after rice is the result of several factors in the subcontinent. In the Punjab province of Pakistan. Basmati rice. a photoperiod sensitive. fine quality. desi-type variety. is grown on 80% of the land. This variety does not mature until after mid-November and many farmers do not harvest it until December. Many farmers also put priority on drying and threshing the rice crop. one of the major cash crops. before st~ting land preparation for wheat. The 20% of land grown to rice of the International Rice Research Institute (lRRI) varieties is harvested from late October to early November. depending on the date of transplanting. and wheat planting is not delayed. In the Indian Punjab and the Sind province of Pakistan. IRRI varieties are the major varieties grown and they are not a factor as to when the wheat is sown.Basmati is a tall rice variety. and its stubble residues are a major problem in preparing a good wheat seedbed. In Pakistan. farmers average 6 to 8 plowings with the spring-tined cultivator or animal-drawn plow to tackle this problem. Even after this input of time and power. residues persist. The farmers are forced to broadcast-plant wheat because rice stubble prevents the use of a seed drill.Most farmers stop irrigating their rice after flowering to hasten maturity of the crop. If no rains occur in this period and farmers plow their fields. soil moisture for a good wheat crop can be insufficient. In this instance. farmers must irrigate their fields and wait for the correct moisture condition before preparing their land for wheat. With cool temperatures and low evaporation rates in late November and December. delays can be 10 days to 2 weeks or more.For heavy textured soils, preparation of a suitable seedbed for wheat after rice is almost impossible and very costly (5). The resulting poor stands are a factor in poor wheat yields after rice. Another factor is the low N aVailability resulting from extensive removal of mineralized nitrogen by rice and microbial immobilization of N applied to the following wheat crop (4,9). Increased soil bulk density and reduced soil stability after flooding and puddling may also be important. This paper will concentrate on the potential of reduced tillage for wheat after rice to help reduce the turnaround time between rice and wheat for more timely wheat sowing.In Pakistan. traditional land preparation for wheat after rice consists of 6 to 8 cultivations with the spring-tined cultivator followed by leveling with a heavy wooden plank. Usually. after every two plowings. the land is left for a few days to allow residue decomposition before the next plOWing. The land is planted when the farmer is satisfied with the tilth obtained, although in the majority of cases the resultant seedbed is not perfect for wheat emergence. Some farmers use rotovators to get a better seedbed but with resultant higher costs.A comparison was made between the above traditional method and a system of planting directly into the rice stubble. All other management factors were kept constant. These trials were done over 2 years and 23 locations in farmers' fields with each field divided into half for two equal treatments. The results are shown in Table 1. Both plots were planted on the same date. Grain yield and biomass production were similar. Spikes/m 2 were equal or even better for direct drilling, whereas other yield components showed a compensatory effect. Direct drilling did improve plant emergence (Table 2), possibly because of more uniform placement of seeds in the soil.In Australia (1) it has been demonstrated that direct drilling techniques with the rice stubble retained on the surface or burned gave up to double the growth of plants where the stubble was incorporated or burned and then cultivated (Table 3). The experiment was conducted over 4 years. The plots with the stubble retained had either the highest yield or were not significantly different from the best treatment in each season. Burning the stubble did create a problem in some years because it exposed the soil and heavy rain caused crusting. which inhibited water penetration and subjected the plants to severe drought stress later.Dhinam and Sharma (5) compared zero tillage with traditional methods of tillage for wheat after rice (Table 4). Part of the benefit of zero tillage was due to being able to plant 5 days earlier.We can conclude that direct drilling with zero tillage is a feasible technology for establishing wheat after rice. It has the added benefit of allowing earlier planting which should result in higher yield and better use of the residual moisture following rice harvest.Economically. direct drilling saves the farmer substantial production costs and makes wheat cultivation after rice more profitable. In Pakistan, plowing and planking costs for wheat after rice are estimated at between US$50 to $60/ha or almost 20% of the cost of production (2). Similarly. in India zero tillage gave significant saVings in expenditures and energy required for sowing wheat compared to traditional methods (5).Weeds were a major problem in wheat following rice in Pakistan (11) (Table 2). The most common weed encountered was Phalaris minor. Populations of this grassy weed were lower in the direct drilled plots than in those traditionally cultivated. Traditional cultivation exposes more seed to air and results in a higher population of weeds than in the zero tillage plots. The conditions for weed gennination are also better in cultivated plots. Very few weeds are observed following rice harvest and those that are present are warmseason weeds that do not compete well in the cool season. Problem weeds for wheat have not genninated at this stage of the wheat cycle. Therefore, good stands of wheat in zero tillage plots have a competitive edge over winter-season weeds. The traditional bullock plow and tractor-drawn. spring-tined cultivator used in much of India and Pakistan are not ideal implements for preparing land for wheat after rice. In Pakistan. in 1984. the use of a moldboard plow followed by the spring-tined cultivator was compared with conventional tillage and direct drilling. There were no significant differences between these tillage treatments. However. in the area where the experiment was done. subsoil sodium and salinity were brought to the surface by the moldboard plow and affected wheat growth. The moldboard plow did reduce the problem of rice stubble residues.Dhinam and Sharma (5) compared five different tillage operations on the yield of wheat after rice in heavytextured soils in Haryana. India (Table 5). average. The hot climate in Bangladesh was a major factor in reducing yield of broadcast wheat since surface-planted wheat did not develop a good root system when temperatures were high. The technique should be evaluated in other areas.The possibility of topdressing of P within 45 days after sowing in wheat is certain in almost alI categories of soils. This dispels the old belief that P could only be applied at or before sowing. The efficiency of all P together with the N topdressed just before the first irrigation or half of the total fertilizer at the first irrigation and the remaining half at the second irrigation has been found to improve yields. This practice will help to adjust the economic balance due to the shortage of fertilizers during peak sowing times.Rajasthan. Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh (Table 1 There was no response to applied potash.In the laterite soils of Kharagpur (Orissa), both crops responded up to 120 kg N, 80 kg P205. and 40 kg K205/ha. General yield increases of both crops were observed with fertilizer application in subsequent years, due to the previous practice of continuous cropping and manuring.In the alluvial soils of Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), wheat yields have improved in general over the years, while rice yields have shown a declining trend. Both crops responded up to 120 kg Nand 80 kg P205/ha. There was a low response to applied K in wheat, and the rice response was not significant. In the alluvial soils of Sabour (Bihar), rice yields have been maintained without appreciable decline, although the wheat yields are low. Rice responded up to 120 kg N/ha in the presence of 40 kg P205/ha, while potash application had no positive influence on yield. The wheat crop had poor yields and the response to N-P-K fertilizers could not be properly evaluated because of poor management.In the alluvial soils of Pura farm at Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), there has been a decline in the grain yield of both rice and wheat in the ricewheat rotation. Fertilizer responses in both crops were obtained up to 120 kg N and 80 kg P205/ha, with no response to K. In the alluvial soils of Masoda at Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh), wheat yields have declined slightly over the years, but the rice yields have been increasing. There was a fertilizer response up to 120 kg N and 80 kg P205/ha in both crops, but no response to K application.In the medium black soils of Rudrur (Andhra Pradesh). yields of rice and wheat have declined. Fertilizer responses up to 120 kg Nand 40 kg In the deep black soils of Navsari (Gujarat). a general reduction in the rice yield has to some extent been compensated by an improved wheat yield in the rabi crop. Fertilizer responses up to 120 kg N/ha and 40 kg P205 for both crops have been obtained; without any response to K (13).A general trend emerging from these studies on rice-wheat rotations in Information on nutrient removal from rice-wheat rotations. together with information on fertilizer dose and yield from Ludhiana and New Delhi. clearly indicate that there has been depletion of soil fertility with this cropping sequence. particularly for potassium and to some extent for nitrogen (2).   Fertilizer economy obtained with 120 kg N/ha (Table 8). through manuring Fannyard manure also gave a Green manuring significantly residual effect eqUivalent to 30 kg N increased rice yields and also had a and 30 kg P205/ha in tenns of significant carry-over effect on the chemical fertilizer in the yield of the succeeding wheat crop (Table 7) (24). succeeding wheat crop (Figure 1).  Rice-wheat rotations became common even in nontraditional temperate and subtropical areas with the advent of high-yielding rice and wheat varieties relatively well adapted to the local conditions and responsive to higher inputs. The spread was also partly due to the development of an agronomic package for the individual rice and wheat crops and the expansion of irrigation systems over the last 15 years.Rice-wheat rotations are mainly practiced in India (as described earlier) and Pakistan. and recently in Nepal. Bhutan. and Bangladesh.In tropical countries where wheat is not a commercial crop. attention is now being given to producing wheat because of the heavy costs of importing it for local consumption (Table 9). Research to develop wheat production technology is now in progress in Indonesia, Thailand. the Philippines. Burma. Vietnam. Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, countries that have become surplus producers of rice. The objective is to diversify with wheat because it is relatively drought tolerant and a potential alternative crop for cultivation in the cool and dry season after rice.However. some very critical problems have started to appear in the areas where this continuous cropping system is being adopted. The foremost among them is soil fertility management. which affects production to a great extent.Information on the use of N-P-K in rice-wheat rotations is meager. as research is only in the preliminary stages in these South and Southeast Asian countries. A brief review in this direction is presented here. The main rice-wheat area of Pakistan lies in Punjab and Sind provinces. and covers approximately 1.5 million ha.The most commonly practiced fertilizer application to wheat after rice has been 1 bag/acre of diammonium phosphate (DAP) at planting time followed by 1 bag/acre of urea at the first irrigation (Le .. 80-57-0 kg/ha N-P-K). About half of the farmers follow this practice. which is close to the recommendation of 1.25 bags/acre each of DAP Grain yield and urea. although significantly less than that applied by the extension service in its demonstrations. Le .. 2 bags of urea and one bag of DAP. Evidence suggests that N application at 75 kg/ha gives highest returns. Phosphorus at 50 kg P205/ha gave a positive. but substantially lower return (Figure 2). Some farmers applied ammonium sulfate instead of urea and reported positive results. This is possible as most of the soils are alkaline and the use of ammonium sulfate would help lower the pH. A few farmers also applied potash. but wit.hout definite results.1.5+---1:1.0 0.5 Comparatively more N is applied to Nepal wheat after rice than after other Rice-wheat rotations are practiced on crops or after fallow. This is probably approximately 480,000 ha in Nepal. to compensate for late sowing of There is potential for doubling the wheat after rice and poor seedbed area in the Tarat region. Wheat is preparation, as well as lower rotated with rice in both the irrigated available nitrogen following rice. and rainfed areas. The yield and Farmyard manure was applied to economic returns of different wheat at only 4 Uha. It is a cropping patterns tested in Ratna traditionally known source of Nagar and in Bahuwari with nutrients, but the high cost of tubewell clearly indicated that wheat application has reduced its use (3).has good potential in Nepal (Table  11). All N could be applied at planting (11) when the crop is grown either under rainfed or irrigated conditions (Table 12). For some reason. the wheat did not respond to phosphorus application.In another study at Cagayan. the grain yield and'total matter production increased linearly up to 120 kg N/ha (12). with maximum values of 2.6 and 7.1 tJha. respectively.  Fa = all at planting (basal). PI all at panicle initiation, and SP = split (% as basal, Y2 at PI).system in northern Thailand. Soil fertility and nutrient management may become one of the serious limitations.Yield response to N has been obtained up to 40 kg N/ha in rainfed upland (16) and lowland conditions and up to 80 to 120 kg N/ha with irrigation. Split application of N has not demonstrated any clear yield advantage over a single basal application. Although P levels measured in these soils are low, Virtually no response to applied phosphorus has been obtained, even at rates up to 300 kg P205/ha. Applications of K have also given no response. However, even with the generally low yields of wheat that have been achieved. this region of northern Thailand is a potentially productive area and deserves further experimentation (23).The author first conducted field studies on the prospects of topdressing fertilizer in wheat for 4 years (1973-77) with N only. Later, in a second study, emphasis was given to both Nand P for 3 consecutive years , and to further investigations in a third study (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983). This research was conducted on a sandy loam soil of low Nand P content at IARI, New Delhi, to assess the efficiency of late application of N in general and P in particular, for which placement at sowing had been the only recommended practice.Results of the first 4 years of the study indicate a linear increase of wheat yields and corresponding N uptake (Table 13) as applied N increases to 120 kg N/ha. This was due to the increased plant vigor (height) and more tillers and final earheads per m 2 , coupled with more grains per head.In general, the results suggest that the N applied at sowing (basal) was somewhat less efficient for grain production and for N recovery through grain yield. The efficiency was higher when all N was applied by topdressing at first irrigation (21 DAS), or in two splits, half at first irrigation plus half at tillering (or second irrigation, 45 DAS), or in three splits, Le., half at first irrigation. one quarter at tillering. and one quarter at jointing (65 DAS).The N efficiency was slightly reduced (but was still better than all applied at sowing). when all N was topdressed at the second irrigation (tillering). When all N was applied at the boot stage an acute reduction in efficiency was obtained. resulting in 2/3 the grain yield and one-half the N uptake of the best treatments.Similar results occurred in another study when the highest yield was obtained when N was applied half at sowing and half at first irrigation or all at first irrigation. Hamier (7) reported the highest grain yield when 20 kg N/ha was applied at sowing, 50 kg/ha at tillering, and 50 kg/ha at boot stage. Ayoub (1) reported highly increased uptake when the N was applied at tillering or at the jointing stage. Soper (22) reported that split N application is better and that all N applied at tillering showed greater efficiency for increasing grain yield and N uptake. based on results of experiments from 15 countries in Africa. Asia, Europe, and South America.In the second study. the application of N significantly increased dry matter accumulation in all plant parts. The increase in dry matter was greatest in grain, followed by chaff. stem. and leaves. In general. total dry matter accumulation was slightly more when the fertilizer was applied at first irrigation compared to all fertilizer applied at sowing or at second irrigation (Table 14). The placement of fertilizer at sowing proved slightly superior to broadcast in respect to grain yield and dry matter in the leaf.The increase in N uptake due to 30 kg P205/ha was significant in grain. leaf. and chaff and with 60 kg P205/ha the increase was significant in the grain only. Phosphorus uptake was also found significantly increased in all plant parts with addition of 30 kg P205, while with 60 kg P205/ha. P uptake increased significantly in the grain and leaf only. Topdressing of Nand P fertilizer at first irrigation increased the N and P uptake significantly in almost all plant parts over that of basal or later applications (20). This treatment was very similar to the results obtained from half basal and half topdressed at first irrigation. The above results have been confirmed by the N (Figure 3) and phosphorus (Figure 4) uptake patterns obtained at critical physiological stages of the wheat plant. Findings also indicate that a major portion of the P was assimilated after tillering and this benefited grain and straw yield (9). Nitrogen and phosphorus uptake and grain yield Nitrogen application significantly increased wheat grain yield and N and P uptake during all the three years of the second study (Table 15). .;\"  and Sarwar (8), using 32p labelled superphosphate, reported that P applied at tillering was most efficient for grain and straw yields and its utilization was significantly higher than the P applied at sowing.Results from the third study indicated that applied N (120 kg/hal    Rice stubble creates a problem of high C:N ratio, but the more serious fertility problems in a rice-wheat system are nutrient immobilization, exhaustion, and leaching. The utilization of green manuring, farmyard manure, and bio-fertilizers in the rice crop, the balanced use of N-P-K in both the crops with split applications, including a small dose of N at the time of seedbed preparation after rice, will improve soil fertility andJertilizer use efficiency. These practices may help to minimize the chances of fixation and leaching of nutrients, particularly in rice crops. Further investigations in soil and fertility management in rice-wheat systems are urgently needed.  (16,80). Similarly, the fall or rise in absorption of other nutrients due to a micronutrient deficiency has led to the use of certain nutrient ratios to diagnose a deficiency (36). Widescale use of Fe:Mn ratio to asses an Fe deficiency is a notable example.Crop plants are known to differ in their ability to absorb nutrients from the soil. As a result, crops show differential response to varying levels of micronutrient availability in soils (Table 1). According to Brown and Jones (10), plant response to a micronutrient stress is a genetically controlled adaptive mechanism. Possible mechanisms (30) are 1) the ability of a species to absorb micronutrients at suboptimum concentrations, 2) the ability of roots to exude certain substances that enhance availability and favor absorption, 3) the ability to retranslocate absorbed nutrients within the plant, and 4) the low nutrient requirements of a species, I.e., ability of a species to grow well at low tissue concentrations.Response of wheat, maize, and rice to a micronutrient stress is given in Table 1. High response of a crop to a micronutrient deficiency means it has high sensitivity to a deficiency and rice (65%) (Table 2). This lower and vice versa. Compared with rice vulnerability of wheat to a Zn and maize, wheat appears relatively deficiency has been established in less responsive to a deficiency of Zn several other independent studies. and Fe and more responsive to Mn Tiwari and Pathak (79) found that, and Cu. All three crops seem to contrary to lowland rice, wheat did exhibit low sensitivity to deficiencies not benefit from Zn application on of Mo and B.an alluvial soil testing 0.8 ppm DTPA-Zn (DTPA-Zn refers to plant-In simple fertilizer experiments available Zn, as discussed in a involving N-P-K with and without subsequent section). Once the soil Zn, conducted on farmers' fields in was depleted to less than 0.6 ppm India and judged by the proportion DTPA-Zn. wheat began to respond to of those in a high-response category, Zn application. Relatively higher it was evident that wheat (53%) was critical limits of plant-available Zn affected by a Zn deficiency less for rice growth than wheat growth frequently than were maize (73%) (30) (see Table 5 for wheat) proved that on soils where normal yields of rice will be obstructed by a Zn deficiency. wheat yields may remain unaffected.In another study (65. 66). none of the wheat tissue samples showed inadequacy of B. whereas 95% of the groundnut tissue samples from the same area (light-textured Entisols and Inceptisols) were found to be Bdeficient. A remarkable improvement in the yield of groundnut in comparison to a nil response of wheat to B fertilization confirmed tolerance of wheat to conditions of B deficiency for groundnut.Wheat has also shown differential sensitivity to Fe and Mo stresses. Monocots in general are less efficient in Fe uptake than are dicots (15). On a Typic Ustipsamment (pH 8.0) upland rice suffered severely from Fe deficiency. but wheat did not (observations by Katyal). As compared with other cereals. including wheat. legumes exhibit a higher response to applied Mo.Among the crops. particularly temperate cereals. the response of wheat to a Cu deficiency is generally greater than that of barley. oats. or rye (52. 73). In fact. rye shows the greatest tolerance to low concentrations of available Cu in soils. Wheat produced no grains without supplementary Cu on Cudeficient sandy soils in Australia (Table 3) (21). In contrast. rye and hexaploid triticale were remarkably tolerant of this soil. producing as much grain in untreated soil as when Cu was added. The unusually low yield of rye in this study was due more to its poor adaptation to the environment (late maturity and high temperatures) than to low Cu.Clearly hexaploid triticale has similar tolerance to low Cu supply as its rye parent. The difference in tolerance of wheat and rye on Cu-deficient soils is due to the ability of rye to maintain a high concentration of Cu in the shoot (52. 73).In several studies wheat has exhibited high sensitivity to Mn deficiency in soils (44). a characteristic shared by oats (50).Like interspecies differences. genetic variations (Table 4) within each species are undoubtedly important to micronutrient stresses. At times the genotypes chosen will influence the order of sensitivity observed in crops. For example. in several studies (23. 52) tetraploid wheats (Triticum durum) were more sensitive to Cu deficiency than hexaploid wheats (T. aestivum).Important differences in vulnerability to Cu deficiency exist within hexaploids (1). Cu deficiency is known to reduce grain yield more severely than the straw yield (14); therefore. genotype differences will be more distinct in grain yield than in vegetative yield. Nambiar (52) reported that deferred supply of Cu to deficient wheat plants increased the grain yield more than the straw yield. A decrease in the number of grains per head seemed to be the major factor for the yield depression in Cu-inefficient types.The relative tolerance of wheat to Zn deficiency has already been mentioned. With this micronutrient. choosing genotypes on the basis of their response to Zn will be a viable strategy in avoiding the need for Zn fertilizers. Shukla and Hans Raj (67) reported that susceptibility to Zn deficiency among the Indian wheats was related to their capacity to utilize soil Zn; varieties differed in time of onset and intensity of symptoms. tissue Zn concentration. and relative yield depression. Similar to variability in responses to micronutrient stresses. interspecies and intraspecies differences in tolerance of micronutrient toxicities also exist (18). Rice is known to be more tolerant of excess Mn. Some varieties of wheat tolerate higher levels of Mn in their tops than others. Cultivation of tolerant varieties is a practical way of solVing Mn toxicity problems in acid soils.Based upon the values given by several researchers and compiled by Katyal and Randhawa (35), approximate micronutrient contents in wheat plants have been determined (Table 5). Judgment of micronutrient deficiency, sufficiency. deficiency condition exists and a sharp reduction in growth/yield is noticed. The values of micronutrient contents listed as deficient in Table 5 may be regarded as the critical limits of deficiency.The critical limit of Fe, which distinguishes deficient plants from the sufficient, is not presented in Table 5. This is largely due to a general lack of close relationship 5.~3.5<5 2,0 0.5~--\"'''''''''''-''''''--'''''-\"\",,\"\"''' between total Fe content of plants and yield (37), which suggests that plant analysis for total Fe may not be a reliable index of Fe deficiency.To resolve this problem, Katyal and Sharma (36) suggested analyzing plants for Fe 2 + fraction rather than total Fe. In their subsequent studies (37), yield of sorghum and tissue Fe 2 + concentrations were significantly correlated.Apart from a lack of a universal correlation between total concentration of an element and occurrence of a deficiency. another problem with diagnosis of micronutrient deficiencies by plant analysis is that it is often too late for correction of a deficiency. Assays of micronutrient-containing enzymes have been designed to overcome this difficulty.Micronutrient deficiencies may inhibit or stimulate production of certain chemical and biochemical constituents. Depressed or increased accumulation of these substances leads to the development of certain symptoms related to a specific micronutrient deficiency such as 1) abnormal coloration or discoloration  of leaves, 2) reduction in the normal size of the plant organs (malformed and/or reduced size of leaves, shortening of stalk internodes), 3) death of the affected tissues/plants. 4) uneven crop stands, 5) delayed maturity. and 6) sterility. At times there may be qualitative alteration in biochemical processes before the visual symptoms can be seen. Such a situation is referred to as \"hidden hunger\" and is only possible to diagnose by plant analysis. Multinutrient deficiencies or disease syndromes obstruct the development of specific symptoms and thus lead to complications in diagnosing a deficiency disorder.Specific symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies in wheat are described in the following sections (1, 5,.Copper-Symptoms of Cu deficiency begin at around mid-tillering as limpness or wilting (loss of turgor). At tillering the tips of leaves become pale yellow and curled (wither tip); the leaf tips then die (whip-tail).Stem elongation of Cu-deficient plants is retarded. and there is excessive late tillering and high mortality on late tillers. Heading is delayed. Spikelets are devoid of grain, and the ears are mostly empty. The few grains that are formed are shriveled and have blackened endosperm. A Cu deficiency may lead to total grain loss, but the loss in straw yield may not exceed 20% of the normal yield.Zinc-Symptoms of Zn deficiency are generally seen in 3-to 4-week-old plants. The third leaf from the top develops brownish-gray or bronze necrotic lesions near the base of the lamina. The necrotic areas coalesce, and the affected tissue becomes discolored. Finally. the leaf collapses. The plants are stunted, and many die; thus. the wheat stand is uneven.If the deficiency is unattended, the crop duration is prolonged and the yields are severely reduced.Manganese-Symptoms of Mn deficiency are seen first as white or buff necrotic streaks on the lamina of young leaves. These lesions enlarge and coalesce, resulting in long irregular necrotic bands. The symptoms are very conspicuous in the flag leaf at heading.Iron-The most common Fe deficiency symptom is the chlorosis of the young leaves. First effects of Fe deficiency can be seen within 2 weeks of sowing. Typically, Fe chlorosis begins as pale leaf color followed by chlorosis or yellowing of the interveinal areas of the new leaves. In some wheat varieties, (e.g.. UP301) (2), the veins remain green and tum chlorotic only as the deficiency becomes severe.Boron-Boron deficiency symptoms appear as small. chlorotic patches on young and middle leaves of 3-weekold plants (grown in sand culture).Later the chlorotic spots become pronounced and develop bright orange coloration. The inflorescence is improperly developed (zig-zag axis. short awns. apical part discolored), and thus grain formation is poor. Total contents-Total micronutrient contents vary in soils. The variations may be attributed to the composition and nature of the parent rocks, the weathering process, and the age of the soil. Infonnation on total micronutrient contents of soils has been compiled by Katyal and Randhawa (35) and shows the following:• Boron levels of most soils range from 2 to 100 ppm with an average of about 30 ppm. The lowest values are found in soils derived from acid igneous rocks and fresh water sedimentary deposits (coarse textured) and in soils with low organic matter. Soils formed from shale, loess, and alluvium (fine textured) show higher values of total B.• Copper contents in soils vary between 10 and 200 ppm with an average value of around 55 ppm. Soils derived from basalt are richer in total Cu than those originating from granite. Total Cu increases with the fineness of soil texture.• Total Mn contents in soils can vary from a trace to as high as 10% or even more. However, Mn contents between 200 and 3000 ppm are most common.• Total Mo contents in soils range between 0.6 and 3.5 ppm. with an average value of around 2.0 ppm.• Among the micronutrients, Fe has the distinction of being most abundant in soils. On an average, soils contain around 5% Fe by weight. Ferruginous soils contain a higher amount of Fe (> 10%). Sandy soils contain low amounts of total Fe (= 1%) and leached acid sands the least « 1%).• Total Zn in soils varies from 10 to 300 ppm, with an average of around 80 ppm. Some highly leached acid sands are unusually low in total Zn. • Molybdenum availability, contrary to that of B, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe, is restricted to acid soils.  Regions of micronutrient deficiency According to research data generated thus far, deficiency of Zn can be suspected somewhere in every wheat-growing country. Alkali soils in general show an inadequacy of Zn for normal plant growth. In India Zn application is considered critical for reclamation of 2.5 million ha of alkali and saline-alkali soils of the Indo-Gangetic alluvium (8). So severe is the deficiency that, despite amendments with gypsum. annual applications of Zn are necessary for obtaining optimum wheat (and rice) yields (72). More than 50% of the soils in the main wheat-growing states of India are suspected of suffering from a Zn deficiency (34). Entisols (Fluvents. Calcifluvents, Psamments), Inceptisols (Ustropepts. Ustochrepts, Eutrochrepts. HalaqueptsJ, Alfisols (Natraustalfs, Haplustalfs. Ochraqualfs). Aridisols (Salorthids, Natrarp;ids, Camborthids, Calciorthids). and V'ertisols (Chromusterts and Pellusterts) are the dominant soil orders covering the wheat-growing areas in India.Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Analyses of 49 benchmark soils of India (33) (Table 7) and 152 soil samples from four provinces of Pakistan (39) confirm the probability of a wide incidence of Zn deficiency.A generally low level of all nutrients including Zn in sandy soils. a high pH arising either from calcareousness or saline-alkali conditions. and unusually low levels of organic matter are the key factors leading to Zn deficiency. Prevalence of these conditions in the soils of arid and semiarid regions makes them more prone to Zn deficiency than are the soils of humid and subhumid regions (38). In a study by Singh et al. (71). a sip;nificant increase in wheat yield was noticed in 50 of 55 wheat-growing districts in India. Irrigated wheat appeared to benefit more from Zn treatment than nonirrigated wheat (Table 8). A need for Zn fertilization has been established for wheat grown on floodplain soils of Bangladesh (26,60). Although an economic response of wheat to Zn application has been noticed in Pakistan ( 6), effects of Zn application are no doubt less widespread than those observed in India.As in Asia, Zn deficiency seems to be a major soil constraint in tropical Latin America. According to Lopez (43), 50% of the soils (Brazilian Cerrado and Venezuelan and Colombian Llanos, highly weathered. aCid. low-CEC soils) suffer from low Zn. Response of wheat to Zn applications has, however, rarely been investigated (40). In Africa, Zn may be a major nutrient deficiency for cereals in the Chad basin (70) and on Vertisols of the Sudan Gezira (28).Copper deficiency in wheat is common in strongly leached, young acid sandy soils derived from pumice and ash (Rift Valley area in Kenya) and granite (northern Zimbabwe) (56,78). Coarse-textured ferrallitic and ferruginous soils that have gone through extensive weathering and leaching are another group of soils that are mostly Cu deficient.Examples of this type of soil are found Widely in Australia, Latin America. and Southeast Asia (20,22). Calcareous soils formed on chalk. crystalline limestone, and calcite-cemented sandstones are Cu deficient because of low total Cu. high pH. and dominance of Ca 2 + in the exchange complex (5). Such soils fringe the Western Australian coast (20).Peats and mucks are well known fOJ\" producing Cu-deficient crops in Malaysia and elsewhere. Even mineral soils with more than 10% organic matter. and particularly with alkaline reactions, are prone to Cu deficiency.Indiscriminate use of Cu fertilizers (see a later section) and a regular use of Cu fungicides and pesticides can lead to high amounts of Cu in the soil. which may prove toxic to plant growth.Low aVailability of Mn is usually associated with high pH. Probability of Mn deficiency is therefore high in countries with generally alkaline soils-India and Pakistan. Recently in India, Mn deficiency has been observed in heavily percolating sandy soils (pH = 8.0) where wheat follows lowland rice. Leaching losses of Mn due to unusually frequent irrigation of rice result in Mn deficiency in wheat (53). Excess Mn may be a problem in acid soils of countries in Africa and Latin America. Iron deficiency is a problem of calcareous soils and in alkaline sandy soils with low organic matter. Iron deficiency has not been commonly recorded in wheat.Micronutrient deficiencies are corrected by application of carriers either as chemically pure salts (e.g.. zinc sulfate. copper sulfate, manganese sulfate. ammonium molybdate. etc.), as chelate compounds (Fe-EDDHA. Zn-EDTA. etc.) or as fertilizers that have been fortified with micronutrients. Small amounts of micronutrients get inadvertently added when present as contaminants in the N-P-K fertilizers or when soils are treated with organic manures. Irrigation waters (particularly underground) can be a potent source of some micronutrients (like B and secondary nutrient S).The more common micronutrient fertilizers are listed in Table 9.On the basis of economic considerations in alleviating deficiency problems, the application of pure salts should be preferred. In some cases the addition of micronutrients to N-P-K fertilizers may be advantageous because the method may give optimum balance between the various nutrients applied. Cost of application is reduced. although at times nondeficient nutrients also get added. A summary of methods, rates (Table 10). and times of application is given below for each of the micronutrient elements. Details are discussed in several publications (5.  Foliar applications of Zn are made to prevent Zn deficiency in a growing wheat crop. Foliar treatment, however. produces less response than preplant soil application. This is evident from the comparative data on response of wheat to soil and foliar applications of Zn (Figure 2); except on 2 of the 12 sites. foliarapplied Zn was inferior. Foliar sprays are to be made 2 to 4 times at biweekly intervals. Foliar applications leave no residual effect and have to be repeated each season.Copper-Copper deficiencies can be prevented by soil or foliar applications of CuS04 (or other carriers). Soil application of Cu is made at the time of seeding either through broadcast (incorporated) or band placement. Band placement is generally more efficient, so the application rates are reduced (Table 10). Rates of Cu application higher than those given in Table 10 may produce toxic effects and should be avoided. For organic soils, rates of Cu application can be as high as 20 kg Cu/ha without ill effects. The usefulness of one soil application of Cu lasts at least for 2 to 8 years. Repeat applications may cause toxic accumulations of Cu. Banded Cu applications produce relatively short residual effect.Copper deficiency in wheat can be effectively controlled through foliar application (Table 10). In order to avoid leaf scorching. the spray solution should be neutralized with lime. For maximum response, multiple sprays spaced at biweekly intervals may be needed (first spray is made as soon as symptoms are seen). Manganese-Manganese is applied to soil through broadcast or band placement at the time of seeding. Band applications are more efficient (Table 10). Foliar application of Mn is the most effective method of correcting Mn deficiency. At relatively low rates of application, foliar-fed Mn is often as effective as much higher rates applied to the soil (53). Two to three sprays at 14-day intervals often are sufficient to cure Mn deficiency disorder completely.  The. most common method to overcome Mo deficiency is to apply Mo salts (equivalent of 50 to 100 g Mo/ha) to seed in a liquid or slurry form. This method of application allows a uniform distribution of small amounts of Mo. which otherwise is difficult to achieve. Sulfur is involved in several functions in plants (9). Among these are the synthesis of the essential Scontaining amino acids. cysteine. cystine. and methionine. The protein quality. and hence the nutritive value. of cereal grain is determined by the proportion of S-amino acids present. Sulfur is also reqUired for the formation of chlorophyll and ferredoxin. both essential to the photosynthetic process. The synthesis of certain vitamins (biotin. thiamine. and B1). glutathione. and coenzyme A also reqUires sulfur. as does the activation of proteolytic enzymes such as papainases.Since sulfur is involved in the formation of chlorophyll. its deficiency results in reduced chlorophyll production and a general and interveinal chlorosis of the leaves. In this sense S deficiency resembles N deficiency. However. because S in high-S proteins is not as readily remobilized as N. the older leaves of wheat plants groWing into a deficiency remain green while younger growth experiences yellOWing -in contrast to N deficiency where the reverse occurs.In general. the sulfur content of plants is similar to that of phosphorus. S:P ratios of 0.3 to 0.4 at 30 days after sowing. 0.5 to 0.6 at 60 days after sowing. and 0.64 to 0.89 at maturity have been reported for whole wheat plants grown at optimal levels of S and P fertilizers (27. 46). The S concentration in wheat grain grown under field conditions where S is nonlimiting ranges from 0.12 to 0.19% (63). A wheat crop yielding 3 Uha of grain (8 Uha total dry matter) extracts approximately 14 kg S/ha from the soil (46). This amount may be considered the S reqUirement of the crop at this particular yield level; the S fertilizer requirement. on the other hand. would depend on the soil S reserves. natural accessions of S from the atmosphere. rain. and irrigation water. losses by leaching and erosion. and the fertilizer use efficiency factor for the crop. most of which are location-specific. Atmospheric accessions of S are approximately 2 to 3 kg S/ha (based on data from northern Nigeria. Kenya. India. and Australia summarized by Kanwar and Mudahar [29]). and leaching losses. which depend on soil properties and water received. are generally an unknown quantity.Table 11 provides estimates of S removal by wheat and crops commonly grown in rotation with wheat at various yield levels (29).Clearly, under more intensive modem agricultural practices, S exports from the soil can be substantially greater than inputs. An analysis by Kanwar and Mudahar (29) of S inputs and exports under various cropping scenarios indicated the need for substantial inputs of S fertilizer in the intensive cropping systems. Deficiencies may not be apparent in many of these systems as yet since soil reserves have not been fully exploited; however, it is clear that deficiencies must eventually develop and will lead to reductions in both yield and crop quality. Effect of S deficiency on wheat quality Although the requirement of a crop for a specific nutrient has been defined as the minimum concentration of nutrient in the plant that is associated with maximum (grain) yield, for a nutrient such as S, which affects crop quality as well as yield, such a definition may be inadequate. Under conditions of balanced nutrient supply, organic S in grain constitutes 80 to 95% of the total S, the remainder being sulfate (64). The essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine, account for most of the organic S. In wheat, as in other cereals, deficiency of S leads not only to a reduction in grain yield but also to sharp decreases in grain S-amino acid content and in the proportion of S-amino acids in relation to total amino acid content (Table 12) (11). Even where yields are not reduced as a result of S deficiency, reduced Samino acid contents may occur (socalled \"hidden hunger\"). Since nonruminant mammals are incapable of synthesizing methionine from inorganic S, the reduced content of S-amino acids in grain reduces the nutritive value of the crop (68). Moreover, dough formation and hence baking quality of wheat flours is considered to depend strongly on the,presence of  Source: Kanwar and Mudahar (291 sulfhydryl and disulfide groups associated with the S-amino acids (48,81). Increased toughness and reduced extensibility of dough have been found in S-defic1ent wheat flour samples (48).Soil sulfur occurs in both organic and inorganic forms with organic forms generally predominating. The common inorganic forms are broadly classified into two fonns: S in the sulfate esters and carbonbonded S. Although the proportions of each vary widely in soils. they are of a similar magnitude.  are preferred. However, high levels of adsorbed sulfate do not necessarily imply adequacy because the very presence of adsorbed sulfate in large amounts suggests that it is strongly held by soil colloids and may not be readily released to plant roots (59). Thus. Fox (17) has suggested the use of soil solution concentration of sulfate to determine the need for S fertilization. The fact that adsorbed sulfate tends to accumulate in subsurface layers of many wellweathered tropical soils must also be considered when sampling soil for S so11 tests. The common practice of sampling only the surface layer would overlook the larger amounts of available S at greater depth.Transformations of organic S further complicate the estimation of available S in soils. Although some extractants purportedly attempt to estimate m1neralizable organic S. they are limited by the inability of chemical procedures to assess the influence of external/environmental variables on organic S mineralization rates or the possibility of sulfate immobilization under certain conditions.Plant tissue tests-Several indices have been evaluated as possible diagnostic criteria for S deficiency in wheat. Concentrations of total S and sulfate S in the tissue have been found to be of limited value since both are greatly affected by plant age (Table 14) and, in the case of sulfate-S. plant part and N supply (19,74). Although the limitation of plant age can be overcome by appropriate timing of crop sampling. results of Rasmussen et al. (63) suggest that critical concentration may vary from year to year.The ratio of sulfate-S to total S (expressed as a percentage) has also been assessed as a measure of S deficiency (19. 74). Of all the indices compared. this was found to be the least affected by plant age (Table 14) or N supply. Source: Spencer and Freney (74) The intimate relationship of Nand S in plant protein has led several researchers to evaluate the ratio of N:S in plant tissue as a diagnostic tool for S deficiency. Critical ratios of about 16/1 have been obtained by both Rasmussen et al. (63) and Spencer and Freney (74). Moreover, the ratio was not greatly affected by plant age (Table 14) (74).Nevertheless. as pointed out by Blair ( 9), the difficulty in using this ratio on its own is that increases above the critical value could be due to either a deficiency of S or an excess of N. He suggests the use of multiple criteria (N:S ratio and S concentration) to overcome these difficulties.in retrospectively diagnosing S deficiency and assessing the quality of wheat grain. Under adequate N supply, the critical concentration of S in wheat grain is about 0.12% (61.63). However. this criterion must be used in conjunction with the N:S ratio since the grain S concentration of wheat grown under N deficiency is also less than 0.12% (61). Thus. as in the case of tissue testing, each sample reqUires at least two determinations. A rapid and simple test which depends on the coloration of S-deficient whole wheat grains soaked in glutaraldehyde solution has been developed by Moss et al. (49). Such a test is useful for screening large numbers of grain samples for S deficiency and baking quality.Responses to sulfur fertilizer applications have been reported for numerous crops in many countries in the tropics and subtropics (9. 29). However. only a small proportion of these reports concern wheat. Sulfur responses ranging from 9 to 186% have been observed on light-textured soils in the northwest of India (Punjab, Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan) (Table 15). In Bangladesh. where it is estimated that some 70 to 80% of rice soils are S-deficient (57), wheat is being increasingly planted on these soils as an off-season crop. While S deficiency is expected to be less severe when soils are in the oxidized state. responses to S fertilizer have already been reported in both rainfed and irrigated wheat in that country (Table 15) (60).Although there have been no reports of S deficiency in wheat in other countries. responses in other crops suggest that deficiencies may be expected where, as in Bangladesh. wheat is introduced as an alternative or dry season crop. Examples include Thailand. where sulfur deficiency in maize and pastures has been reported on the coarse-textured soils in the north and northeast (25). and eastern and southern Africa where maize responses to S fertilizer have been observed (24. 45). Wheat production in Zambia and Zimbabwe has increased tremendously in recent years. probably onto soils similar to those planted to maize. Similarly. in northern Nigeria where responses by groundnuts to S fertilizer are common. wheat production on irrigated sandy soils is also likely to encounter S deficiencies.There are a great many alternative sources of fertilizer S (Table 16) (29. 54) although the availability of any particular one will depend on the local market. Agronomically. the choice is essentially between a sulfatic source or an elemental S source. Sulfatic sources. which are the most common. prOVide S that is immediately available to the crop.whereas elemental S sources mustfirst be oxidized to sulfate before they can be taken up. The rate of In addition to the sensitivity of oxidation of elemental S depends on wheat and its genotypes to such factors as particle size. soil micronutrient stresses. factors that moisture and temperature (54). Fine govern decisions related to particle sizes (l00 mesh or smaller) supplemental nutrient additions are well dispersed in the soil are usually 1) the specific beneficial or required for the source to be effective deleterious effect of a preceding crop for the crop to which it is applied.on the nutrient needs of a The advantages of elemental S are succeeding wheat crop; 2) that leaching losses can be reduced contributions of micro-and and that it can be introduced into secondary nutrients from manures. high-analysis fertilizers without fertilizers. and irrigation waters as substantial dilution of their N or P well as atmospheric accessions of S; contents. Rates of application of and 3) nutrient mobilization/ fertilizer-S to S-deficient soils may immobilization caused by the range from 5 to 40 kg S/ha. cultural environment. Response However. actual requirements must studies will be more meaningful if be developed for particular soil types the influence of these factors on in each agroclimatic zone. Bangladesh (rainfed) Narsingdi Sandy clay loamPanba Kotwali Sandy clay loamJessore Kotwali Clay loamKushtia Sadar Clay loamBangladesh (irrigated) Narsingdi Sandy clay loamPanba Kotwali Clay loamJessore Kotwali Silty clay loamKushtia Sadar Sandy clay loamSource: Tandon (77) and Rahman et al. (60) 123 micro-and secondary nutrient needs is a part of future studies. Specific questions that must be addressed with respect to sulfur deficiencies in crop rotations involving wheat include the following:• Is it more efficient to fertilize each crop in the rotation or only one. leaving the other to rely on residual S?• If only one is fertilized. which crop should it be? This is especially important when elemental S sources are used in rice-wheat rotations because elemental S will be less available to rice under flooded conditions.• What are the effects of residue management on the availability of S to subsequent crops in the rotation?Thus far. the differential sensitivity of wheat genotypes to micronutrient stresses has largely been investigated in pots under controlled greenhouse conditions. Future studies in the field are needed to validate these results. In the pursuit of breeding for tolerance of nutrient deficiencies. crop scientists and soil scientists should work together. The objective should be to breed varieties that can efficiently utilize low levels of applied nutrients to deficient soils.Breeding for tolerance of micro-  nutrient toxicities is more profitable because it is less expensive to cure a deficiency than to ameliorate a toxicity.In Ecologically rice and wheat have In warmer temperate climates. been isolated in time and space growing seasons are sufficiently long (Figure 1. patterns 1 and 2). Before to allow rotation of early-matUring early-maturing rices and wheats rices and wheats (Figure I, pattern were bred and expanded irrigation 3). The association of rice and wheat systems developed, only some will increase as new wheat varieties temperate areas were suitable for are bred for more tropical environboth crops to occur together. ments, changing the status of insect Consequently there have been few pests.' . opportunities for pests to adapt to both crops.In the wetlands. crop intensification -more crops per year and more In the short-season temperate area planted -brought about by the regions, winters are too long to allow modem rices and irrigation. has led wheat and rice to be grown to severe pest problems of rice in sequentially in a single year, but recent decades (68. 102). A method they can be found in adjacent fields to counterbalance these problems is in diversified dryland (wheat and to break the rice cycle by rice) or transitional dryland (wheat) community-wide adoption of crop and wetland (rice) areas. Traditional rotation. early maturing varieties, photoperiod insensitive japonica rices strict planting schedules. and crop are adapted to temperate regions. residue destruction. They tolerate cold. drought. and pest stresses -traits lacking in the As with rice. the wheats were wetland indica rices adapted to accused of being highly susceptible flooding and long monsoon seasons.to pests as outbreaks accompanied Wheats. in contrast, are ill-adapted their spread across Asia (29. 33). It to the tropics.was not the varieties themselves that were responsible, but the change in ecological aVailability of the crop to pests by increased area planted per year. Traditional varieties would have led to these problems if they had been as widely planted over the dimensions of space and time.Introducing wheat into rice-based systems increases the cropping intensity on the one hand, but also fosters crop rotation, a fonn of pest control. In Japan, a change from rice-wheat to rice-fallow increased Nephotettix cincticeps and virus diseases of rice because more favorable grassy weed hosts grew in the uncultivated fallow (58). But in certain circumstances, crop rotation may increase pest problems (105). In India, a rice-wheat rotation in the Punjab increased pink stem borer,  belonging to more than one family. Oligophagous insects fall in between. developing on plants within a single family. In biological terms. an insect plant host is a species or a local population of species that can sustain development from egg to egg.Insect pests that can develop on both rice and wheat are necessarily oligophagous or polyphagous as each crop belongs to a different genus within the grass family Poaceae. Rice belongs to the subfamily Oryzoideae. tribe Oryzeae and wheat to the subfamily Festucoideae. tribe Horbeae.Crop rotation in the same field is particularly effective against pests with narrow host ranges. low dispersive powers. and long life cycles (50). Crop scheduling should be carried out over a wide area to be effective. The size of the area should have a radius larger than the effective dispersal range of the pest Rotating a host with a nonhost will mean the death of the pest unless it disperses or physiologically enters dormancy until the host reappears. High pest mortality usually accompanies dispersal or dormancy. By definition. monophagous pests will be harmed most by rotation of rice and wheat. and polyphagous pests least.The host range of a pest is not limited so much by the food value of the plant. as by its defensive system. Plants fend off insect pests by producing toxic chemicals called allelochemics. Morphological defenses such as pubescence or silica-rich stems are less significant.Pests overcome chemical defenses by possessing enzymes specific to each toxic allelochemic. As it takes energy to produce these enzymes. each pest is limited to how many enzymes it can efficiently produce. set against other uses for that energy such as reproduction or dispersal. With exceptions. the more closely related plants are botanically. the more similar are their chemical and morphological defense systems. Most pests are oligophagous. In areas where irrigated rice can be grown year-round. monophagous species become major pests. Wheat is not grown year-round and therefore is similar to upland rice in haVing oligophagous or polyphagous major pest species (67).Rice and wheat have almost 200 insect pests in common on a worldwide basis (AppendiX). These records are not necessarily from the same location or from a rice-wheat rotation.Termites utilize dead plants and would not be expected to be agricultural pests. But a number of grassland-adapted species harvest young plants. which they take to underground chambers to be inoculated with fungi. The fungi break down the plant tissues. and the termites feed on the fungi. In the absence of dead plants. termites will harvest living ones. particularly at the beginning of a crop cycle where land preparation has turned under plant residues. which become difficult for termites to locate.Termites will be more attracted to a crop that is not growing Vigorously. perhaps one suffering from water stress.In the Philippines. Macrotermes gilvus selectively decimated wheat plots in an upland rice field. The wheat crop literally disappeared. while the rice crop was hardly damaged. Wheat was growing less well on the acid soil than the rice.In India termites were emphasized more as pests of wheat. None of the termite species mentioned attacked both rice and wheat (88).Flooding normally controls termites, but Microtermes spp. damaged rice seedlings in a wetland seedbed soil in India. In this case, greater damage was done to rice.Minimum tillage methods leave plant residues on the surface of the field to divert termites from attacking a young crop. Agronomic practices that produce vigorous growth allow crops to resist termite damage. The Rice and wheat are sufficiently distantly related and ecologically separated that few major pests shared by rice and wheat occur at economic levels on both crops. Most of the species we listed are highly polyphagous and have low pest potential on either crop. More revealing is not which pests were mentioned. but which major pests were not recorded on both crops. has a more beneficial effect in controlling pests than if rice followed rice or wheat followed wheat. But with this group of pests. it is necessary to maintain natural enemy populations. which are also favored by the extended crop season and availability of hosts. Minimizing broad-spectrum insecticides will conserve natural enemies that regUlate these pests. This group of pests increases in severity with increased use of nitrogen fertilizer. Therefore. using only optimal amounts of nitrogen will temper their population increase.The sap feeders-shoot aphids. planthoppers. leafhoppers. plant bugs. and thrips-are more important as vectors of diseases than as causing direct feeding damage.Heavy rainfall is a natural controlling mechanism to these exposed softbodied insects. The role of natural enemies is less helpful to prevent insect vectors from transmitting diseases. Plant resistance to both the vector and the disease becomes an important control method along with breaking the crop cycle during the year.Seed pests-seed bugs. blossom midges. and meadow grasshopperswill be helped if an additional crop is grown. but the major pest species for either rice or wheat do not readily feed on both crops. Polyphagous species will benefit most. Seed pests are generally difficult to control. Insecticides have to be used repeatedly. especially if rainfall is frequent. Synchronous planting and particularly synchronous flowering is important to minimize the time available for these pests to undergo more than one generation each crop. The aVailability of other flowering hosts when rice or wheat is not flowering is also important. These pests are highly mobile and can locate small isolated fields.Pests are highly adaptable to changing crop production practices.We can expect pest problems to develop in proportion to the ecological apparency of suitable crops for pest development (21) The soilborne plant pathogenic Diseases caused by S. rolfsii are fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., especially rampant in the tropiCS and infects an extensive number of crops subtropics and in areas of the comprised both of dicotyledonous southern and southeastern United and several monocotyledonousStates. These areas are characterized species. It has been estimated that by hot, humid climates, which are the host range of this pathogen conducive to growth and survival of includes well over 500 plant species the pathogen. Under optimal (1). In the United States. crops that conditions of temperature and have been most severely affected in moisture, mycelial growth rate is recent years include carrot. pepper, prolific and may range from 1 to 3 tomato, and annual bluegrasscm per day. Sclerotia produced by bentgrass golf greens. Initial the fungus represent the overwintering symptoms of infection usually are or survival structures and generally wilting and severe necrosis, which constitute the primary source of are followed by the death of the inoculum for disease initiation plant due to stem and primary root (Figure 1). The sclerotia measure 0.5 infections. Most initial infections to 2.0 mm in diameter. are dark occur close to or at the soil surface, brown in color, and have an outer where saprophytic growth of the melanized rind. Sclerotia may fungus and sclerotial germination are survive in the soil for periods of 1 to the greatest. S. rolfsii can become a 3 years. Abundant sclerotial serious problem dUring storage and formation usually occurs when in nursery beds where planting nitrogen levels are low or densities are high. carbon:nitrogen ratios are high (14). Sclerotial germination is enhanced by a period of drying (17) or exposure to volatile compounds emitted from dried and remoistened plant tissues (18).The prevalence of S. rolfsii in the warmer regions of the world is a reflection of the high temperature optimum for growth and sclerotial germination. The growth rate of the fungus and disease progression are highest at 25 to 33°C. with the optimal at 27 to 30°C (Figure 2). The pathogen is rarely found in areas where the average daily minimum winter temperatures drop below OOC or where the average summer temperatures are less than 20°C.Germination of sclerotia of S. rolfsii and mycelial growth are increased with increasing soil moisture up to Mycelial growth of S. rolfsii and sclerotial formation and germination in soil usually are most abundant within the upper 8 to 10 cm of the soil profile. At deeper depths. sclerotial germination is inhibited (Figure 4). Elevated carbon dioxide levels up to 10% do not significantly reduce germination or mycelial growth to account for this inhibition (Figure 5). The increase in pressure imposed on sclerotia by the overlying soil may. in part. account for the reduced germination deeper in the soil (23). Survival of sclerotia is also decreased with increased time of burial in soil. Possibilities for disease control exist follOWing deep burial of sclerotia (8. 16). Sclerotial germination is optimal at with limited success. even at high low pH. in the range of 2.0 to 4.0 rates of application (21). Application (Figure 6). At pH above 7.0, of salts containing the bicarbonate germination is inhibited. Attempts to (HC03) ion (19). however. have some control disease by raising soil pH potential for reducing the disease through application of lime have met (16. 20).Fine sandy loam Reproduced with permission from Phytopath. 74:752A summary of the parameters influencing germination of sclerotia of S. rolfsii is given in Table 1.Exposure of sclerotia or mycelium of S. rolfsiJ to dried and subsequently remoistened plant tissues of numerous crop species stimulates Vigorous growth (Table 2). The distances over which the mycelium can grow to infect a host also are greatly increased (Table 3), especially if sclerotia are dried prior to exposure. These plant tissues emit numerous volatile compounds, primarily alcohols and aldehydes, which trigger germination (18,25). Due to the nonspecificity and abundance of plant materials in the soil, control measures aimed at removal of the source of volatiles may be impractical.Microorganisms in natural soil may influence sclerotial germination and survival of S. rolfsii. Sclerotia exude sugars and amino acids. particularly after a period of drying or exposure to volatile compounds. and these increase the activities of soil microorganisms (13.29). The activity of soil microflora may also be increased by adding nitrogenous compounds (9). Enhancing the levels of microorganisms antagonistic to S. rolfsii could provide a possible means of disease control.Growth of S. rolfsii is greatly enhanced by the presence of decomposing plant debris at the soil surface. The fungus colonizes the organic matter rapidly and grows from the debris onto host tissue.Senescing lower leaves provide a suitable bridge for infection of healthy tissue. Subsequent maceration and death of the tissue result from the secretion of oxalic acid concomitant with the production of cell wall degrading enzymes, particularly endo- polygalacturonase (4. 22). The oxalic susceptible to degradation (Figure 7). acid sequesters calcium present as The oxalic acid also lowers the pH of calcium pectate in the cell walls to the tissue to the optimum for form calcium oxalate (4. 24), thus enzyme activity (around pH 4.0 to rendering the pectic materials more   Disease due to S. roJfsii is greatly favored by high soil temperatures and moisture. Serious disease outbreaks are usually associated with wet periods, particularly when preceded by a dry spell. On processing carrots grown in North Carolina. the time of disease onset and continued progression in the summer of 1984 was associated with maximum daily air temperatures above 27°C. Close spacing of plants within the row in carrots greatly facilitates secondary plant-to-plant spread of the pathogen via root contact. The extent of spread from initial infection sites or disease foci to adjacent plants during one growing season can be extensive (Figure 9). Disease progress curves on carrot show that over a 70-day period. percentage of dead plants can increase from 0 to 39% (Figure 10). Thus. in a planting bed or in a seedling crop where plant populations are high. S. roJfsiJ has the potential to devastate the entire crop. Sanitation practices and greater plant spaCing could reduce the rate at which disease progresses.There are numerous potential disease control strategies for reducing plant mortality due to S. roJfsiJ. Their applicability to wheat would depend on the nature of any limitations. such as cost effectiveness. adverse side effects. practicality. etc. These strategies are described below in detail and summarized in Table 4.Planting wheat in areas without a previous history of disease or avoiding fields infested with sclerotia of S. roJfsii could minimize crop losses prOVided land availability was not limiting and a reliable approach could be developed to assay fields. Sclerotia of S. rolfsii in field soil tend to show a clustered spatial pattern. making it difficult to accurately sample a field. By examining various sampling patterns (Figure 1 n. it was concluded that samples taken along diagonal paths prOVided an inoculum density estimate within 5 % of the population mean (Table 5) (26). This approach could perhaps be used to identify fields with low or no potential for disease development. Soil samples may be obtained with soil probes or other sampling devices.Once retrieved, various procedures can be used to recover and enumerate sclerotia. These include a Reproduced with permission from Can.J. Plant Path.wet-sieving procedure (11,26), a flotation-sieving method using molasses (27). or a methanol germination-stimulation method (28).Comparison of these three assay procedures has shown that recovery of sclerotia and efficiency differed with each procedure (Table 6). With large soil volumes. the wet-sieving assay was the most desirable.To be utilized commercially. the site selection approach requires that the relationship between sclerotial numbers and the potential for disease development be established. On processing carrots grown in Georgia. one or more viable sclerotia per 300 cm 3 of soil is sufficient to cause significant levels of disease (Figure 12). Similarly, with increasing numbers of disease foci in a field. the percentage of plants dead is also increased (Figure 13). Thus, with carrots, only fields with no or extremely low inoculum levels are acceptable for planting (15. 26).Days after planting 88 1 0 9 ' 158  Deep plowing of infested fields prior to planting has been shown to reduce inoculum levels, compared with disking (16) (Figure 14). Since sclerotia of S. rolfsii do not genninate deeper in soil, plowing may reduce disease incidence provided the residual inoculum Nitrogen fertilizer application There are numerous nitrogenous compounds that directly affect sclerotial gennination and mycelial growth of S. rolfsii (19). Among these, urea and ammonium bicarbonate have been applied in the field and shown to reduce disease on golf greens (20,21). potato (3). and processing carrots ( 16) (Tables 7-9). Other compounds. such as calcium nitrate and gypsum, which have no inhibitory effects on the fungus, may also reduce disease under certain conditions (16). Release of ammonia from ammonium fertilizers under alkaline conditions was suggested to be one of the mechanisms by which S. rolfsii is suppressed following fertilizer applications (16. 19).Increasing the levels of calcium in tissues by application of calcium nitrate or gypsum has been shown to reduce disease on processing carrots under nonepiphytotic conditions   (16). This approach could prove to be effective and economical where calcium supply in the soil is limiting. particularly in light, sandy soils.Numerous fungicides have been reported to inhibit germination of sclerotia or reduce mycelial growth in culture. The most effective of the compounds tested are given in Table 7. A number of these have effectively controlled disease on various crops in the field (8, 10. 16. 20. 21) (Tables 8-10). Several applications of the fungicides usually are reqUired. and frequently they are applied at high rates. Thus, cost may be prohibitive and many compounds may not be registered for use. Treatment of wheat seed would not be expected to prOVide sufficient carry-over of fungicide for protection against the rapidly growing mycelium of this soil inhabiting fungus.Treatment of soil prior to planting with fumigants and soil sterilants such as methyl bromide. chloropicrin. or metham-sodium may reduce disease incidence. since these compounds are toxic to sclerotia of S. rolfsii (10. 12). However, cost would be a major factor limiting use of these materials on an agronomic crop such as wheat.-g 40  Due to the fact that S. rolfsii has a wide host range and can persist on virtually all types of crop debris. crop rotation is not likely to be an effective or practical method for disease control. On the other hand. rotating away from very susceptible crops to those less affected by the pathogen. such as maize. may result in lower disease incidence in subsequent years by reducing inoculum levels (10).Susceptibility of host tissue to S. rolfsii is influenced by plant age and succulence, Older. woodier tissues tend to be less susceptible than younger. fleshier tissues. In tomato, an accession of L. pimpinellifolium possessing tolerance to infection was characterized as having a lignified and thickened stem. which presented a barrier to fungal penetration (1). In pepper, germplasm is available which shows resistance to S. rolfsii (5). The prospects for controlling disease through host resistance in a crop such as wheat are promising. and tolerance may be manifested by early development of lignified or suberized stem tissue.Development of disease may be favored by the accumulation of organic debris around the base of the plant. the presence of weeds, and high plant densities. All of these tend to increase moisture within the canopy. and the organic matter can serve as a substrate for mycelial growth. Deep plowing may eliminate crop debris from the infection court and subsequent cultivations could reduce buildup of weed and debris. Increasing plant spaCing, where possible. would reduce the frequency of plant-to-plant spread of the pathogen.C.  Applications in the field of various formulations of the biological control agent Trichoderma harzianum have been reported to reduce disease due to S. rolfsii (2. 6. 7). High rates of application may be required and disease control may not be complete. The feasibility of producing and applying large volumes of the antagonist could be a problem in its use against S. rolfsii. However, amendments to soil may reduce the length of survival of the sclerotia and reduce inoculum levels. This approach to disease control warrants further investigation.Soil solarization Solar heating of moistened soils under polyethylene tarp has been reported to reduce both sclerotial numbers and disease due to S. rolfsii (7,10). The pathogen can be effectively eliminated from soil to depths of 6 to 20 em. depending on location and time of year. Solar heating combined with application of T. harzianum may result in less disease than either method alone (10). Sublethal temperatures also may hasten death of sclerotia. possibly by enhancing nutrient leakage and microbial antagonism. This method has applicability where temperatures are sufficiently high and land can be set aside for 1 to 2 months.Flooding of soil for a period of time may enhance sclerotial decay and reduce inoculum levels. The potential of this method for disease control has not been investigated.A diagrammatic summary of the parameters influencing growth and infection of host tissue by Sclerotium rolfsii is given in Figure 15. A summary of the strategies for control of disease and their potential for use on wheat is given in Table 4.Future research should emphasize strategies for disease control. For wheat, a predictive model for the relationship of inoculum density in soil to the potential for disease development needs to be developed. The rate at which disease progresses in relation to stage of development of Testing for straw strength and sprouting was also possible. Grasses that are well developed at the time when rainfed wheat is being seeded are considered to be a major source of H. sativum inoculum. Spore trapping over land where wheat has never been grown showed that H. sativum spores were present in the air prior to seeding and emergence (2). These spores are believed to have originated from the surrounding bush.In  of the grain (28% Mount Makulu. 32% Mbala). This species, identified at the Commonwealth Mycological Institute, was not recorded previously and does not appear to be a wheat pathogen (7). Phoma sorghina and F. equiseti were also present.Seedling A uniform method of disease scoring has been introduced. This method should overcome previous disease assessment difficulties with:• recognition of the pathogens• interaction of H. sativum and other pathogens• qUick crop and disease development• escapes due to late maturity• confusion about interpretation of resistance elsewhere• various scoring methods Table 1 shows when various diseases are scored. By using \"number of days after 50% heading\" rather than referring directly to growth stages, the scoring may be easier to carry out and become more accurate. H. sativum is scored at 5 and 25 days after heading. For bread wheat. this corresponds in general with anthesis and the soft dough stage.    Stem break caused by node infection negatively correlated with yield, of H. sativum is not scored each thousand grain weight, and season. Varietal differences are hectoliter weight, and the observed under high disease correlations were highly Significant. pressure only. Susceptible linesThe correlation between black point usually break immediately above the and yield was negative and top node or the penultimate node Significant at P «;;0.05 only. There (20).was a highly significant negative correlation between plant height and Linear correlation severity of spot blotch on the flag Table 3 shows the correlation matrix leaf and head blight and incidence of with H. sativum scores, yield stem break. The correlation parameters, and agronomic coefficients between vertical spread characteristics of 40 entries that had of infection at anthesis and spot already been screened and yieldblotch and head blight severity at tested during previous rainy seasons. the soft dough stage, stem break, Scoring in 1986 was done according and black point were all highly to the methods described above. The Significant. A significant correlation factors used in black point scoring (P ~0.05) between spot blotch and were 0, I, 2, 3, and 4. Tables 4 and head blight at the soft dough stage 5 show the significance of the and black point was recorded. correlation coefficients between disease scores and yield parametersThe scoring method appears to and between H. sativum scores and prOVide reliable information about plant height as derived from Table 3. the interaction of the H. sativum syndrome and yield parameters The H. sativum scores on foliage, under high disease pressure. ear, and stem -except severity of infection at anthesis -were Varietal resistance at the Mount Makulu location. which is considered to be a \"hot spot\" for these diseases. can be detected. Black point and head blight scoring may have to be refined further.Highly significant correlation coefficients between lesion types (0-5) and H. sativum scores at anthesis and soft dough (positive correlation) and plant height (negative correlation) were recorded in the Disease Observation Nursery.  Our present sources of resistance originate from:• Brazil (Passo Fundo)• CIMMYT nurseries    (shallow seeding) appear to be more prone to attacks than machine-Sclerotium rolfsii infections have Foot and root rots are minor been observed during the stem problems in zambia at present. elongation stage. and the pathogen There is no intensive production was isolated from the occasional with wheat-wheat rotations. and soil-plant with \"whitehead\" symptoms. borne diseases causing common foot Rhizopus spp. caused pre-emergence and root rots have not built up.damping-off at the Mount Makulu Seedbome inoculum of H. sativum station in plots seeded with and Fusarium spp. is excluded by untreated seed in 1986. seed production under irrigation in the cool season. Disease-free seed The major constraint to wheat production under rainfed conditions in Zambia is the high disease pressure caused by the H. sativum disease complex. In the Yangtze River Basin. rice is planted after the wheat is harvested.The time frame is so critical that even a delay of 1 week in maturity may upset the system. The varieties of both species are so precisely tailored that they must mature in an exact time frame. The agronomic operations have to be done so fast that. in certain situations. the wheat is harvested and the rice is planted the same day.The varietal characteristics of this region are completely different from the Subcontinent. The major difference is the reqUirement for some cold tolerance. followed by heat tolerance. The tropical region includes Thailand. the Philippines. Sri Lanka. Indonesia. and other countries. where wheat is not commercially cultivated now. but could become an important food crop if grown in a rice-wheat system. The problems of varietal production are surmountable. but there are many other production constraints. I personally believe that varieties can be tailored to suit tropical environmental situations. What I am not sure about is whether agricultural authorities of the region will maintain viable breeding and production programs long enough to achieve the reqUired resuits. The gathering at this conference is a positive sign.Because of numerous environmental constraints (such as temperatures). the growth of wheats and hence total biomass production are going to be limited even with the best agronomic practices. It will not be possible to achieve the 12 Uha yield of Western Europe or the 6 Uha yield of Sonora. Mexico. However, with extensive efforts (both in breeding and production), economic yield levels can be achieved. What is that yield potential? We do not know yet. What we know is that, because of high temperatures, the yield potential will not be comparable to yields of subtropical or temperate regions.I do not want to appear too pessimistic in regard to wheat for this area. However. the task will be difficult. Diseases such as helminthosponum. fusarium head scab. and leaf rust could be devastating. In certain situations. Sclerotium rolfsii may be a serious problem. In addition. drought and heat tolerance will be needed to stabilize production.There are ongoing breeding and production programs in each of the above regions. The scope of this paper does not provide an opportunity to discuss the details of each. Nonetheless. I will attempt to provide a constructive and positive analysis related to each region.   We firmly believe that it is necessary to amplify bilateral cooperation through shuttle breeding activities to produce varieties for rice-wheat rotations. We are already shuttling germplasm with Tarat, Nepal (for heat and helminthosporium). Sudan (for heat), and Paraguay and Brazil (for heat and helminthosporium).The performance of the lines in the first WAWSN may be less than satisfactory, and we ask for time and support to make it successful. Please remember that the International Bread Wheat Screening Nursery (IBWSN), a highly sought nursery worldwide (200 locations), was not successful in its first year.Fusarium head scab is one of the major disease problems in the Yangtze River Valley of China. The disease is so severe in some years that without fungicide applications. wheat cultivation would be next to impossible. Yield losses up to 30% have been reported. Scab is endemic in the region and takes on epidemic proportions almost every other year.Part of the problem lies with the commonly utilized rice-wheat rotation, because the causal organism survives in rice also. The maturity requirement of wheats for the Yangtze Basin is even more difficult to satisfy. The vegetative period must be long enough to avoid cold damage. Cold tolerance genes need to be incorporated to achieve this. Meanwhile. heat tolerance and a early maturity are needed to accommodate subsequent rice planting.In closing. I want to state that I have not touched all the facets of breeding for the rice-wheat rotation. In addition to the above points. yield potential. quality characteristics. agronomic sUitability. and resistance to other stresses would be reqUired for satisfactory results.   This paper will attempt to identify is an integration of discipline-and some researchable issues for the rice-commodity-oriented programs to wheat cropping pattern, which is investigate production problems in a regionally important in South and cropping system or farming system Southeast Asia. Some of these issues perspective. are being discussed in this conference, and for some issues Pinkley (24) looked at the variance decomposition of wheat in Pakistan and his data showed that the ricewheat zone of the Punjab produces about 16% of the country's wheat. but is responsible for over 25% of the year to year variability in wheat production attributable to individual zones. This means that any research that would increase the production and stability of yields in the ricewheat zones would be beneficial for stabilizing wheat production for the country.Crop establishment and land preparation The most critical factor in determining yield for wheat after rice is plant stand. This is a complex factor influenced by soil type. quality of land preparation. tillage implements. crop residues. and time. The crop management used for a transplanted puddled rice crop is not favorable for the follOWing wheat crop. In many cases it results in a soil structure that is very difficult to convert into a suitable seedbed for wheat cultivation without considerable inputs of money and time for land preparation. On some heavier textured soils it is not possible to prepare a good seedbed even with these inputs. and the resulting poor yields deter farmers from investing a lot of resources for wheat production.  1). Similar data are available from other countries in the region. In some rice growing areas excess moisture is present at rice harvest and wheat cannot be planted until the water table drops. In these situations. either wheat should not be grown or practices to minimize turnaround time should be used.There are two possible research thrusts for the problem of crop establishment and land preparation:1. Develop more efficient implements for qUick turnaround 2. Develop a technology based on minimal or zero tillage.In the first thrust. the use of a soilturning primary tillage plow followed by a secondary rotary hoe or rotavator removes the problem of the rice crop residues and, if soils are not too heavy or wet. results in a good seedbed for wheat. Research is needed to detennine the effect of the depth of primary tillage on the plow pan f9nned durjng puddled rice cultivation. Would the added benefits of better rooting in wheat and subsequent higher wheat yields offset the problem of greater water percolation in the next rice crop and possibly lower rice yields? What would be needed to reform the plow pan for the next rice crop and what would it cost?ObViously this thrust would only be feasible for the more mechanized countries of the region. Costs obtained from some pilot projects in Pakistan show that the above system (one moldboard followed by one rotavator operation) is equal in cost to the traditional system of repeated passes of the spring tined cultivator.The benefits are a better seedbed that can be drilled. resulting in a better plant stand and earlier planting.The second thrust. zero tillage. is probably more practical for resource poor farmers, and several countries have reported success with this system -Australia (3). India (10). Philippines (8). and Pakistan (21). A more thorough review of this system is presented by Majid et al., in these Proceedings.The following are issues for zero tillage that require verification or further research in the region:• Development of a suitable drill. In Pakistan. we are using a multicrop seeder that utilizes an inverted-T opener developed in New Zealand and adapted to either a tractorpulled drill or a single or double row drill that can be pulled by animals or two-wheel tractors (8).• Study on the effect of zero tillage for wheat on the stem borer population in the next rice crop.One reason for plowing rice stubble is to kill the stem borer larvae that hibernate in the base of the rice stubble. The benefits derived from direct drilling of wheat. such as lower production costs and earlier planting. must be compared with the cost required to control stem borer in the next rice crop. This research also needs to look at the effect of different stem borer species.  Weeds are major yield limiting factors in the wheat-rice cropping patterns of the subcontinent. Gill and Brar (12) showed that from 1976 to 1982 a continuous rice-wheat rotation using herbicides encouraged the growth of PhaJaris minor. Byerlee et al. (7) reported that 28 % of the wheat fields in the rice-wheat area of the Punjab had an economic level of PhaJaris infestation to warrant weed control measures.Volunteer rice was also reported as a strong weed competitor in wheat in more tropical environments (29).Research is needed to quantify the weed species present in rice-wheat rotations and assess the yield losses caused by the dominant weeds.  Other methods of weed control in this system. including crop rotation (using an alternate fodder crop to wheat) and pre-irrigation or delayed planting to allow the first flush of weeds to be killed by cultivation. need to be quantified economically.In much of the rice-wheat cropped land of South and Southeast Asia. some irrigation water is aVailable.The issue is how efficiently it can be used; if only one irrigation is available. when should it be applied.An issue in this rotation is the timing of the first irrigation. Because of the restricted rooting zone caused by the plow pan and slow percolation of water. waterlogging frequently occurs after an irrigation. Since young wheat seedlings are sensitive to waterlogging. early irrigation often results in yellOWing of plants and reduction in plant stands.Most irrigation recommendations are based on data from a fallow-wheat rotation where no plow pan constraint exists. Work is needed to measure the consumptive use of water in the rice-wheat rotation with and without the presence of the plow pan.In Pakistan and India. vegetable oil production is only a fraction of the countries' needs. The balance is imported at great expense. Research is needed on developing cropping patterns to help alleviate this deficit. For example. it may be more economic to grow sunflower or soybean after late harvested rice than wheat. These patterns need to be evaluated over time with regard to the same potential problems as in wheat. such as stand establishment. fertilizer. Pests. diseases. weeds. and irrigation. Economics and stab1l1ty of production would then determine farmer acceptance.Byerlee et al. (6) showed that in fields where rice-wheat had been planted continuously for 3 or more years, there was a large and significant decline in yields. Even when weeds were included in the regression as an independent variable there was still an effect of -400 kglha due to continuous cropping of wheat. Rotation with berseem was a major alternative to continuous cropping, and its large positive effect could be due to factors such as residual fertility, improved soil structure, and perhaps control of root diseases or nematodes. Data from fertilizer trials conducted in farmers' fields by soil fertility surveys and soil testing institutes dUring the past 15 years, which were analyzed by the National Fertilizer Development Centre, Islamabad (Case deBie, personal communication), confirm this finding. In order to ensure stable production, long-term studies are needed to explain these declines in yield over time and to develop cropping patterns that minimize these problems.One of the major reasons for poor performance of wheat after rice occurs because of the puddling needed to reduce water infiltration in the rice crop. Also. in Pakistan it is becoming more expensive and difficult to get labor to do the more menial farming jobs like transplanting. Research is needed to develop a rice-wheat system that reduces the need for transplanting (direct seeding) and that could remove the need for puddling. The advantages of non-puddling to the next wheat crop must be evaluated against the increase in water use. weed problems, and yields of the next rice crop. There is also a possib1l1ty that some environments would be able to support a dryseeded rice-wheat rotation, especially if soil properties and high water tables were favorable for this rotation. In fact, a high percentage of the wheat grown in Bangladesh follows deep water aman or aus rice. two rice crops that are planted dry without puddling.Harvesting, threshing. and marketing costs account for as much as 30% of the total gross returns in wheat and rice production in Pakistan. Many farmers also concentrate on drying, threshing, and marketing of the rice crop before starting cultivation of the wheat crop, which further delays planting. Analysis of constraints and implications of large-scale mechanical harvest using reapers and combines is needed.No pathogen appears to be exclusive to rice-wheat rotations, but the entrance of wheat into these areas, where high temperatures and humidities generally preVail, has resulted in greater stresses on the crop and the greater importance of diseases caused by polyphagous pathogens, such as Helminthosporium sativum Pam., King & Bakke. Sclerotium rollsii Sac.. Fusarium spp.. and Rhizoctonia solani, Kuhn, some of which are only marginally important in temperate climates. Although the danger of leaf and stem rusts is no less important than in more traditional areas, genetic variability for resistance is available and is straightforwardly bred into appropriate backgrounds. However, as a general rule, resistance to wide-spectrum, opportunistic pathogens has not been easily defined or transferred in any crop species. The danger presented by these organisms is compounded by predisposition to diseases imposed by stresses often associated with rice-wheat rotation environments, which may significantly reduce yields alone. Further, the influence of rice-wheat rotations on disease incidence and severity and on the life-cycles and survival of phase pathogens has yet to be adequately assessed. Control of these pathogens will challenge pathologists, plant breeders, and agronomists alike.Taken as a whole, diseases caused by Helm/nthosporium sativum perhaps present the major pathological obstacles to wheat production in tropical environments (16,17,22,25,26,27). The common foliar phase, spot blotch, perhaps because it is so obvious, has precipitated the most concern, with epidemics that have resulted in up to 100% crop loss (17,22,25). However, the pathogen may also cause pre-and post-emergence damping off, root rots, and head blights. Crop loss assessments are not readily conducted for the latter types of attack and the total loss may be much more alarming than that due to leaf blotch alone. The pathogen is opportunistic and disease tends to be more severe under stressed plant growth conditions caused by leaf rust (L. Butler, unpublished observation) or other environmental factors. The pathogen can be seedborne and loss of seed Viability and/or seedling blights may occur as a result of heavy infections. These interactions and indirect effects are insufficiently understood and should be studied.Although variation for levels of susceptibility or tolerance is clearly observed among wheat varieties (22,25), simple inherited resistance independent of physiological races of the pathogen (17,22,25) or ameliorating environmental factors and plant growth stage does not appear to be aVailable. Resistance instead may be composed of minor genes or additive factors that will be only slowly accumulated, if at all, in adapted plant backgrounds. Alien genes for resistance from species of Elymus and A!!ropyron may offer opportunities, but the problems of incorporating this resistance into an appropriate background make this a long-term possibility. Moreover. since the pathogen has an extremely wide host range, which includes rice (23). such single-gene resistance may soon break down in the face of high inoculum pressure. We believe the identification of resistance and the accumulation of these factors. to as high a degree as possible. in conventional ba~kgrounds aided by \"shuttle\" breeding programs offer the best strategy for the near term.Fungicides, such as dithiocarbamates, may offer a degree of economic control as seed treatments against damping off (15. 17) (which may be due to a combination of H. sativum, Fusarium spp.. R. solan/. and S. rolfsii). but how safely or effectively they can be used by small farmers to whom they may be expensive and/or unavailable and in environments where they may be toxic to seed is uncertain. In Bangladesh, for example, the government seed producing agency is prohibited from applying fungicides to certified seed because of the fear that foodstuffs may be contaminated or that the seed may be eaten. More research on the effectiveness and phytotoxicity of seed treatments (over time) in warmer, more humid environments is needed.Fungicides such as triadimefon and fentinacetate-maneb (25) and Tilt 250 (17)  Although no cultural practice will eradicate the disease. some may signiflcantly reduce incidence. A strategy in which these are used in combination with seed treatment of more tolerant varieties probably offers the best approach. More research on the cultural control measures of this disease and their interaction is reqUired.The various species of Fusarium that could cause disease in wheat are Widely distributed (27). with wide host-ranges. and some may be both root and foliar pathogens. Seed treatments. such as those mentioned preViously. offer varying degrees of protection to the seedling and must be assessed under the terms referred to: above. Applications of fungicide to the developing head may offer protection. but timing would be critical and probably not practical in low yield environments.Environmental changes have profound effects on the incidence and severity of fusarium diseases. and those changes that increase crop Vigor and/or promote the proliferation of antagoniSts may reduce severity of root rots significantly (33). Research is needed to assess the efficacy of various cultural practices in combination with seed treatments to reduce disease incidence.Rhizoctonia solani. a root and culm pathogen of wheat, has perhaps the broadest host-range of any pathogen. and most economic crops appear to be susceptible to some degree (33). The organism's capacity to survive in soil is legendary and is due. in part. to its ability to compete successfully as a saprophyte. Losses due exclusively to this pathogen have not been assessed in the ricewheat rotation. and assessment may be impossible due to the interaction with other root invading organisms.As with other root pathogens mentioned herein. the organism is profoundly affected by changes in the environment and tends to be more severe in crops lacking vigor (33). Besides disease resistance. several other characters need genetic improvement in order for wheat to fit into a rotation with rice. Although it may seem contradictory to the previous point. drought tolerance is often reqUired in the same field where waterlogging is found. This can be due to problems associated with irrigation water availability. water holding capacity above the plow pan. or soil type. Progress for this character has been achieved and is discussed in a separate paper of this conference.Research must shift from the traditional isolated. disciplineoriented approach to an integrated. The introduction of high-yielding, In this region, wheat is one of the short-season wheat varieties in the most important crops. On the 1970s made fertilization more average for the 5 years from 1980 to feasible. As a result. fertilizer use has 1985. 6.3 million ha were planted increased. annually to wheat. The average yield for the same period was about 1.8The cost of fertilizer to the average Uha. resulting in an average annual Argentine farmer has been generally production of 11.5 million 1. There too high relative to the market price are many reasons for annual of wheat grain. Cirio et al.(3) variations in wheat production. such reported that about 8 to 10 kg of as climatic conditions, diseases. etc. wheat were necessary to pay for 1 kg However, there has been a positive N. However. since 1984, when the yield increment trend of 75 kg/ha National Fertilization Program was per year due to the introduction of introduced, the wheaUnitrogen new production techniques.relationship has been reduced to 5 to 6 kg of wheat per kilogram of Even though the trend is positive.nitrogen. the consumption of fertilizers is low. There are several reasons for the low Another reason for the low fertilizer fertilizer use, principally: use is that most of the soils in this region still produce crops profitably • Lack of sufficient fertilizer without fertilization, except where response data cropping has occurred for many years without a legume rotation. In the past, it has been common to have pastures in the rotation, generally a mixture of grasses and legumes. However, the uncertainty of beef prices has increased the land dedicated to crop production. The shift of production systems from those that include legume rotation to continuous cropping of cereals has caused concern about soil nutrition management strategies.The wheat production area under study is shown in Figure 1. It is a flat area (slopes vary between 0 to 2%). The soils are derived from loess deposits and belong to the order of Mollisols. The predominant suborders are Udolls, Albolls, and Aquolls.The soils in the northeast are classified as Argiudolls with a well developed clay horizon, which varies in depth over the area. In the southwest part of the region, the soils are coarse-textured and classified as Hapludolls, in which the typical profile is an A-AC-C sequence.As a rule, the soil clay content of the B horizon varies from 20% in the west to almost 50% in the east. A similar variation is observed in the soil organic content. These variations are positively correlated with the average annual rainfall. Unfortunately, a gradual degradation of the originally high organic matter content (5 to 6%) has been observed, primarily due to the intensive soil cultivation. The soil pH ranges from 5.5 to 6.5..  1). Since the trials were surrounded by the farmer's wheat crop. the weed and pest controls were done by the farmer. Information regarding previous crops and management of the field was collected at each site.Available P was determined with the method described by Bray and Kurtz(1).Total N was measured by the normal macro-Kjeldahl technique (2). while nitrates (N03-) were analyzed by the disulfonic phenol method.Exchangeable K was extracted with 1 N ammonium acetate solution and measured by a flame photometer (8).Values ranged between 1.5 and 3 meq/100 g soU.Soil pH was measured by using a glass electrode in a soil water suspension with a soil to water ratio of 1:25.The soil was found to be deficient in nitrogen throughout the area. In the southeast. 57% of the experiments showed significant crop response to N fertilizer application (4). A highly significant crop response was reported in 75% of the 65 experiments carried out in the northcentral part of Buenos Aires province (9). Similar results (52% and 85%. respectively) were reported for the southern parts of Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces. and the northern part of Santa Fe (6. 7).There was strong variation in the relationship between soil N03content and crop response. and the reliability of the results seemed to be related to the amount of rainfall.Better correlation coefficients were found in the areas with lower precipitation at planting time.Other parameters such as soil organic matter and total N content were used to predict crop response to N application. but the correlation coefficient was also low.No Significant effect was found on wheat yield with pH values ranging from 5.5 to 6.8. A 5.9 pH average value was reported over 65 experiments carried out in the northern part of Buenos Aires Province (9). No negative effect on either wheat grain yield and/or crop response to fertilization was observed.Table 1. The average value. Moisture availability was one of the most important factors (Table 2). The water content of the soil surface layer (0 to 20 cm depth) was significantly related to wheat grain yield. For each mm of water, an increase of 30.9 kg/ha was registered. In addition. both high yield and crop response were associated with adequate winterspring rainfall; for each 10 mm of precipitation above the average (86 mm dUring tillering), the yield was increased about 210 kg/ha.The length of the fallow period, which varies from a few days to 2 to 3 months. depends on the region and the previous crop. Gambaudo and Vivas (6) reported that the longer the fallow period, the higher the wheat yield and the lower the crop response to N fertilizer (Figure 2).The previous crop influenced the wheat yield (9). In one study (9), the wheat yield following soybeans or any other legume crop was about 485 kg/ha higher than following maize or any other crop. In another study (7), wheat yielded 514 kg/ha more following soybeans than following a nonlegume crop.   Source: Gambaudo and Vivas (6) management factors that affect the response of wheat yields to fertilization at different sites.Through this type of model, it is possible to diagnose the fertilizer requirements and estimate the economical doses.Novello et al. (7). using this methodology. reported that wheat yield was explained in a R2 = 56.4% Based on this methodology. Table 2 compares three levels of rainfall: 50. 100. and 150 mm; six soil nitrate levels from 20 to 95 ppm. and three wheaUnitrogen price-cost relationships. 3: 1. 6: 1 and 9: 1.Similar resul ts were reported by Senigagliesi et al. (9). In addition. they reported that there are moderate responses when N is applied alone and the response is highly dependent on soil moisture content. In contrast. the crop response to phosphorus fertilization. when applied alone. was very small. However. a very strong N*P The southern part of Brazil has well defined growing seasons that allow double cropping in Rio Grande do SuI, Santa Catarina, Parana, and Sao Paulo. Under irrigation it is possible to extend the double cropping area to Mato Grosso do SuI, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, and Goias. In the southern region, winter crops are seeded from May to July and and soybeans) use wide row spacing, harvested from October to take a long time to fully cover the November. Summer crops are seeded ground surface, and require a more from September to December and intensively prepared seedbed. Under are harvested from March to April. conventional tillage, in which the farmer tills the soil for seedbed The annual precipitation in Rio preparation once or twice and then Grande do Sul is slightly over 1700 incorporates herbicides by discing. mm and is well distributed soil losses will obViously occur due throughout the year (Table 1). The to the high erosion index dUring mean monthly precipitation is these months (October, November. approximately 150 mm. The rainfall and December). distribution pattern is not the principal cause of soil losses byThe annual precipitation in Parana erosion: the main factor is the high State is between 1200 and 1900 intensity of the rainfall (Figure 1). mm, with the southern region Forty percent of the erosivity index receiving the larger amount. Rainfall is concentrated in the months of is high dUring the summer months October. November, December, and and averages less than 100 mm per January. October and November are month in the winter, when drought months in which the farmer has to of up to 6 weeks may occur. August till the fields or when summer crops is usually the driest month of the are being established. Under year. Frost seldom occurs north of conventional tillage the soil is bare, latitude 24°S. while in the south and with Virtually no protection against southeast regions it is common raindrop energy. In addition, during the winter. summer crops (black beans, maize. In the Cerrado region (central Brazil) Diseases the total annual rainfall ranges from Generally speaking, the largest 1400 to 1800 mm. The average for wheat production losses are due to the last 10 years is 1540 mm.diseases. Breeding programs have to Usually the rainy season starts in take into account the genetic October, a month in which the Variability of the causal agents of rainfall intensity is high (460 mm in diseases, which makes it difficult to 22 days), and extends into April. The obtain promising new material. The dry season coincides with the coldest severity of this problem becomes months of the year. The temperature evident if we consider that there are varies from 21.0 to 27.2°C. During 26 and 20 different races of leaf and the rainy season, normally only stem rusts in Brazil, respectively. short periods (l to 3 weeks) of Therefore, suitable germplasm has to drought occur (6).be resistant to all races of the causal agent that preVail in the growingregion.The main constraints for wheat Leaves are mainly infected by leaf production in Brazil are related to rust (Puccinia recondita), tan spot soil conservation/management, soil (Pyrenophora tritici-repen tis) , leaf fertility and acidity, diseases, and blotch (Septoria tritici) , glume blotch insects. Soil conservation and (S. nodorum), and powdery mildew fertility will be treated separately.(Erysiphe graminis f.sp. tritici). All The main diseases attacking the the above cause reductions in yield roots, stems, leaves, and heads are by reducing the leaf photosynthetic listed in Table 2 Aluminum toxicity is an important growth limiting factor for plants in many Brazilian soils and restricts the root development of most crops (21).The damaging effects of excess aluminum on plant growth are among the most important attributable to soil acidity. Hence, considerable research has been devoted to describing and elucidating the physiologicci1 aspects of aluminum toxicity. The most striking effect is the stunting and thickening of the whole root system at high aluminwn concentrations (8).18-r------------------------------......, §] Precipitation However, plant species and even cultivars differ widely in their tolerance to excess soluble or exchangeable aluminum. In some plants, aluminum tolerance is associated with accumulation of aluminum in the tops, rather than exclusion from the tops and/or roots. This differential tolerance among cultivars of the same plant species is of interest because it suggests the possibility of breeding for greater tolerance to toxic aluminum (9). Cultivars that are different in aluminum tolerance are valuable tools in gaining a better understanding of the morphological, physiolo~ical, and biochemical nature of aluminum toxicity. This plant material may be useful as a biological indicator to test for potential aluminum toxicity in various acid soils (9).A better understanding of wheat cultivar differences may provide significant insight into plant adaptation to low levels of fertilization. Hence, a complementary or supplementary approach to the problem of acid soils in Brazil is to select genotypes tolerant to aluminum toxicity and/or soil acidity. This approach does not imply the elimination of fertilizing and liming, but it could result in higher fertilizer and lime efficiencies (9). Fortunately, several Brazilianbred genotypes are tolerant to aluminum toxicity, which allows the crop to be grown in areas that have never been cropped before. Some of this aluminum-tolerant material also shows higher phosphorus extraction efficiency (1).Brazil is a very large country, and thus has a great variety of soils that differ Widely in their chemical, mineralogical, and physical properties. The most common are Oxisols and Ultisols. In the southern states (Rio Grande do SuI, Santa Catarina, Parana, and Sao Paulo) more than 60% of the soils belong to the Oxisol type. In the Cerrado area of central Brazil (which covers more than 20% of the country), they account for more than 50%. They are highly weathered and the crystalline clay fraction is dominated The intensive use of agricultural machinery beginning in the 1960s. and the promising soybean market associated with subsidized credit. led to an expanSion of our agricultural frontiers. In these regions. the farmers have moved from a diversified cropping system into an intensive cropping system based on wheat and soybeans only.With the aim of reducing production costs and lowering erosion risks. the no-tillage system was investigated as an alternative to conventional (plOWing + disking) tillage systems. However. due to some deficiencies. the no-tillage system has not been Widely adopted and tillage systems carried out chiefly with diskings have preVailed. The exaggerated use of shallow diskings at the same depth has induced the deterioration of the plow layer. generating two distinct sublayers: a well pulverized (structureless) layer at the surface and a slightly harder one below. These alterations reduce the water infiltration rate and restrict root development. resulting in surface runoff and losses in crop yields. This aspect. along with the lack of crop residues. the high-intensity rainfalls at the time summer crops are being established. and the use of terracing as the only means to control soil erosion. are the main factors contributing to the soil degradation process and soil erosion in those regions. There are other soil characteristics that are altered under any tillage system. This can be illustrated by comparing two fields from one farm in Mato Grosso do SuI. in which the soil has been tilled by disking only (Table 5). In the 3-year-old field, 6 cm at the surface were completely structureless. This surface pulverization exposes the soil to the erosive action of rainfall, breaks down the aggregates, and reduces Besides altering the soil physical characteristics. the use of diskings also causes an uneven fertilizer distribution pattern in the soil profile (Table 6). During a heavy rainstorm the farmer may lose all fertilizer located in the top layer. while under short dry periods the crop may suffer water deficiency because the roots are confined in a thin structureless soil layer.Soil management comprises all practices involved in a production system. Le., soil tillage. crop species.seeding time. cultural practices. and harvesting. An adequate soil management system takes into consideration the three factors: soil. climate. and crop. The present state of soil degradation and its capabilityof-use classification are the main soil concerns. Intensity. erosivity. and distribution of precipitation are the major climate aspects considered (Figure 1). Seedbed preparation depends somewhat on the crop.Winter cereals do not have the same need for an intensively prepared seedbed as do soybeans. for example. An adequate soil management system under Brazilian conditions must involve practices that a) retain the rainfall where it hits the soil surface. b) increase the water infiltration rate, c) decrease the surface runoff. d) increase water storage capacity. and e) prOVide good physical and chemical conditions. so that any crop can be grown.The main objective of any soil tillage system is to increase production at low costs. In any case. the farmer has to see a cost-effective profit from this system. It is very clear at present that the tendency is changing from costly conventional tillage to modem conservation tillage systems. which are more costeffective. Degradation of the nation's cropland will continue unless conservation tillage systems are adopted. These systems can result in optimum yields, and they leave crop residue on the surface to help improve tilth and to protect the soil from erosion. Few innovations in agricultural technology offer as many potential advantages as conservation tillage crop production, although more research is needed to solve problems associated with the system. One has to be aware that as scientists develop the technology. farmers must be able to adapt it to field conditions.Conservation tillage is \"any tillage system that reduces loss of soil or water relative to conventional tillage; often a form of noninversion tillage that retains protective crop residues on the surface.\" Conventional tillage, on the other hand, is \"the combined primary and secondary tillage operations performed in preparing a seedbed.\" Notice that the term \"conservation tillage\" has a broad definition. but requires the reduction of soil or water losses compared to conventional tillage. Successful conservation tillage reduces soil and water losses by leaVing appreciable crop residue on the surface, or by leaVing the surface rough, porous, and cloddy, or a combination of the two. The effectiveness of any tillage system for controlling erosion ultimately depends upon the amount of crop residue left on the soil surface (13).Thorough tilling of soil was once regarded as a necessary practice on most soils. The soil was stirred or manipulated to prepare a suitable seedbed. Additional stirring of the soil controlled weed growth and promoted desirable physical conditions to encourage air and water movement and plant root growth. Thorough tillage also prOVided an opportunity to incorporate plant residue, fertilizer, and other crop production material into the soil (4). Using a field cultivator for secondary tillage leaves more residue than using disks (14).For each 10% increase in groundcover. erosion is reduced about 40%. The greatest reduction in erosion comes between 0 and 20% cover.No-tillage is generally the most effective means of erosion control. mainly because more crop residue is left on the soil surface. The longer a field remains in no-till. the more effective erosion control becomes. This is due to the improvement of soil structure with larger size aggregates; it is also more water   conservation tillage also follows these stages and that is why it takes a long time to adopt any system of conservation tillage.The major obstacle dUring the adoption stage involves the adaptation of the technology to the operation or the adaptation of the operation to the new technology (15). Conservation tillage is a system that must continually be adapted to the . changing environment in which it is used. Additional obstacles may arise in this adaptation process. The managerial decisions that worked in a dry year may not work in a wet one. Farmers who followed recommendations by changing to conservation tillage expect a followup from research. How adopters evaluate conservation tillage can be an obstacle or can be an inducement to their neighbors. Ultimately what matters to farmers is net return. and not only yield.Southern region: Rio Grande do SuI and Santa Catarina states All fertilizer and limestone recommendations are based on soil analysis (20).  Fertilizer-All fertilizer recommendations are based on soil analysis as indicated in Table 8. Seed-placed sulfur (10 kg/hal is recommended. For early and short-strawed wheat cultivars under irrigation. 40 kg N/ha topdressed 30 days after emergence are recommended.The maintenance fertilizer recommendation is based on soil analysis and is designed to be seedplaced, preferably using soluble sources (Tables 9 and lOl.Topdressed N fertilization is optional and the rate is up to 35 kg N/ha. Liquid N as urea can be used as foliar fertilizer at concentrations of not higher than 10%. Foliar fertilization of micronutrients is not recommended. Use of boron is encouraged for correction of male sterility (1.0 kg/hal.Central region: Mato Grosso, Goias, Minas Gerais, and Bahia Acidity neutralization-The lime requirement is calculated as follows:A re-application of lime is recommended either when aluminum saturation is greater than 20% or if Ca 2 + + Mg2 + is smaller than 2 me/100 g of soil (17).Corrective fertilization-This fertilization is based on soil analysis and on soil texture and is aimed to improve soil P and K status. Two different ways are recommended:1) Fertility correction (P and Kl in one operation according to Tables 11 and 12; and2) Gradual correction according to    The predominant species idenUfied from 2450 samples of isolates from 21 provinces of China was Fusarium graminearum. A significant difference was found in virulence of isolates. But no pathogenic specificity of isolates of F. graminearum was found. There were no significant differences in pathogenicity between ascospores and conidia or between 1 to 2 and 100 spores per 5 p,L suspension.Inoculation methods, in vitro and in vivo, have been compared. It is suggested that the selection of FHB-resistance should be based on primary selection in large screening trials of wheat germplasm using the traditional field method. The selectea advanced materials should be screened again using the inoculation inJecUon technique and etiolated coleoptile bioassay in order to confirm their FHB resistance.)The greatest problem, however, is (FHB), caused by Fusarium spp. is a head blight of wheat. Since 1952, serious problem in many countries FHB of wheat has been epidemic 16 with temperate climates including times in the Yangtze River region. Japan, parts of North America, and Generally, the yield loss was 10 to eastern Europe (16). The disease can 20%. However, in years of severe also be found in more than 20 epidemics, the incidence of diseased provinces in China. The wheat-heads reached 50 to 100% and the growing areas of China where FHB yield loss was between 20 and 40%. occurs encompass more than 6.7More than 1 million tons of wheat million ha (5). The most affected can be lost in a bad year. In areas are the provinces along the addition, grain contaminated by Yangtze River. Many crops, including fusarium mycotoxins (eg. deoxyniwheat. barley, rice, cotton, maize, valeno. zeralenone). is toxic to sorghum. rapeseed. legumes. domestic animals, thus causing vegetables, and green manure crops losses in animal production (4, 15. can be infected by Fusarium spp. 20). After infection, the fungus causes root rot, stem ear damage and seed decay.It has been known for at least 50 years that resistance to FHB is based on at least two factors: resistance to initial infection and resistance to disease spread in the plant (12). While these generalizations are supported by empirical observations (10), little is understood about the genetic basis of any resistance mechanisms. The fact that FHB remains such a serious worldwide concern in terms of lack of resistant germplasm and the confusion concerning the epidemiology of the disease argues that the biochemistry involved must be understood for economic solutions to be achieved.Recent studies have demonstrated that the secondary metabolites of Fusarium graminearum affect and are affected by plant cells. Acetylated secondary metabolites of F. graminearum are deacetylated by plant enzymes. For example, deoxynivalenol can be formed by wheat and maize cells from 3-or 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol produced by the fungus (8,21). Various studies have demonstrated that some wheat and com varieties have enzymes that degrade deoxynivalenol in vivo (8. 9. 10, 11, 13). These facts led Miller et al. (9) to propose that a third type of resistance existed in wheat and maize based on plant biochemistry associated with the metabolism of fungal toxins.Studies made in China for 20 years show that FHB has become a serious problem due to at least three factors: 1) susceptible varieties of wheat planted in large areas: 2) sufficient inoculum present dUring the flowering stage of wheat; 3) weather (rainy and warm) favorable to the production and dispersal of spores of the fungus. Continuous moisture over 3 days and a daily mean temperature above 15°C dUring the wheat flowering stage play important roles in disease initiation and epidemic spread (12,14). Therefore, the severity of FHB in the field varies with years. Due to this Variability of infection under uncontrolled field conditions, it is necessary to develop more precise and consistent methods for screening FHB-resistant cultivars for use in wheat breeding.Since 1976, more than 10,000 wheat varieties and lines have been studied in the Plant Protection Institute of the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China. Wheat sources from China and abroad were screened in the field by artificial inoculation under environmental conditions suitable for disease occurrence. Although 321 FHB-resistant wheat sources were selected (2). only about 40 of them. including Su mai # 3, Wang shw-bai, Zheng 7495, and Xin zhong-chang have been used::in breeding programs (Table 1) (7,22). The higher yielding and disease resistant wheat varieties or lines, Ning 7840. Ning 8017. Ning 8026. Su8113. Su7906, and others, were developed from thousands of crossing progenies in Jiangsu province and have been used in wheat breeding by other provinces in China and in other countries.According to the Jiangsu cooperative wheat variety comparative test, these varieties produce more than Yang mai#3, which is planted Widely in the Yangtze River Valley (22). In particular, the cultivars belonging to the 'Ning' system-Ning 7840, Ning 8026, and others-are resistant to the three rusts, powdery mildew, and FHB (18). In addition, Ning 8026 has 14% protein (Table 2). The planting area of this variety is being extended. Differences were found in virulence of isolates and in the resistance response of the wheat cultivars that were apparently significant. However, when the virulence of isolates was averaged county by county, there was no significant difference between regional collections. These results indicate that no pathogenic specificity of isolates of F. graminearum was found. Our experience has shown that it is generally best to use the most virulent isolate available (as tested locally) for resistance testing. This strain should be stored in a lyophilized state to ensure that virulence is retained on a year-toyear basis (never on agar media). If such an isolate is unavailable, a mixture of several strains should be used.The virulence experiments were focused on the types and concentrations of inoculum (F. graminearum) that would be used in s~reening wheat varieties (18). The FHB susceptible cultivar Ning mai:/:l:: 3 was used. Spores were injected (5 JLL) as suspensions containing 1-2, 10. 50. or 100 ascospores or conidia into a single floret in the middle of the spike (10 replications). The inoculated spikes were incubated in a moisture chamber at room temperature (25°C). The percentage of diseased spikelets was calculated 8 days after inoculation.The results showed that the difference in incubation time of the disease for the two kinds of spores was less than one day. In both cases. the percentage of diseased spikelets was about 94%. There was a trend toward a shorter incubation stage of the disease with higher spore concentrations. with a 1.7-day difference in incubation period between the highest and lowest concentrations of spores used. There were no significant differences in pathogenicity between ascospores and conidia or between 1 to 2 and 100 spores per 5 ML suspension. Therefore. conidiaI suspensions containing 100-200 spores/mL were used.Two types of FHB resistance. resistance to initial infection (type 1) and resistance to spread of hyphae inside plant tissue (type 2) . have been described by Schroeder and Christensen (12). The resistance to initial infection was highest in Su mai # 3. Ning 7840, 2108. and 6718-7 -2-2-13-4 (Table 4). Infection ratings of the varieties inoculated indicated differential resistance to spread of the fungus in the plant as well. For example, the resistance to fungal spread by Su mai # 3. 12G-12-4, Ning 7840. and Wang shui bai was much higher than for the others. In addition, the field data from 1976 to 1981 indicated there was a wide variability in the .'infectionresistance\" of wheat cultivars to F.graminearum. The resistance to disease spread in the plant for the same varieties was relatively constant (Table 5).The inoculation and evaluation methods most appropriate to the study of type 2 resistance were examined (18).  a Infection rating was evaluated in four levels. Each was assigned points: 1-the disease was restricted to the inoculated spikelet and there were no symptoms on the axis; 2-the axis was invaded, but the other spikelets were not; 3-the axis and a second spikelet adjacent to inoculated spikelet were invaded; 4-the axis and more than one additional spikelet were invaded and/or whole head appeared to be wilting 245 inoculated floret. the moisture was inoculated spikelet. In susceptible removed and the temperature was varieties. severe symptoms spread to adjusted downward to 20°C. The the axis or whole spike and caused number of diseased spikelets was head wilt. The appearance of assessed daily. recorded. and moderately resistant varieties was subjected to statistical analysis by a intermediate; the disease developed multiple comparison procedure 8 to along the axis and the spikelets 9 days after inoculation.adjacent to the inoculated floret. Forty-four HR. R. and MR single-There were significant differences plants were selected in 1981 from among the varieties. The fungal 305 cross-progenies (AuroralSu mai growth on diseased spikelets of # 3/fYang mai.#:2) by using this resistant varieties Su mal #3 and method. Wang shui-bal was much lower than on the susceptible varieties Shu ye # In the field. the same inoculation 1 and Ai Gan zao and even than on method was used as described above the moderately resistant variety Wan in vitro. Thirty-seven wheat varieties Han # 2 (Table 6).and two sowing times (Nov. 1 and Nov. 20) were tested in 2 years (1979 FHB-resistance could be identified and 1980). Spikes (20 to 25) were from the symptoms of inoculated inoculated from each cultivar. The spikes. On highly resistant varieties.degree of infection was recorded 20 the symptoms were restricted to the days after inoculation according to   4; inoculation by injecting 50 p,L of conidial suspension (10 spores) on a single floret of a spike; 1-1.9 = R-HR; 2.0-2.9 = MR; 3.0-4.0 = S results (Table 7) indicated thatThe correlation between the effects differences with respect to FHB of in vitro and in vivo inoculum resistance were significant only injections was tested on 181 wheat between varieties and not between lines in 1981. The disease infection sowing times or between years.rating of wheat lines in vitro However, when the plants were generally was slightly higher than inoculated by spreading diseased those of same lines in vivo. The grains or by spraying spore correlation of laboratory and field suspensions. differences were also results was 92%. significant between sowing times and years. Therefore. the FHB resistance of varieties is most reliably determined by needle inoculation. The bioassay used for the study of the interaction between wheat coleoptile and mycotoxins was described by Cutler and Jarvis (3). These experiments focused on the response of different wheat varieties to F. graminearum metabolites (17).Coleoptiles (4-mm segments) were cut from 4-day-old etiolated wheat seedlings. Ten coleoptile segments were added to test tubes containing 2 mL of phosphate-citrite buffer solution (pH 5.6) and 2% sucrose plus the metabolite to be tested. Each mycotoxin was tested at 10-3 , 10-4 , 10-5 , and 10-6 M for effects on growth. The coleoptile sections were incubated with gentle shaking for 18 to 20 hours in the dark at 25°C.Each segment was measured by placing it on an overhead projector to project an enlarged image (X3). The sensitivity of etiolated coleoptile tissue of wheat cultivars to these metabolites differed among cultivars (Table 8). The response of seven representative winter wheat varieties from China to DON was consistent with the FHB resistance of these  varieties in the field. The difference in sensitivity concentration of six mycotoxins on 21 wheat varieties varied over 3 orders of magnitude (17). For example\", deoxynivalenol was active at lo-'t M on the very resistant variety Wang shui bai. but down to 10-6 M on susceptible varieties. The results in the etiolated wheat coleoptile bioassay can be used to determine FHB-resistance in wheat germplasm in conjunction with field tests (17).Screening techniques for FHBresistance should be improved in order to rapidly select reliable resistant sources. Some methods have been attempted and are briefly discussed below.• Inoculation by spreading inoculated grains on the surface of the soil or spraying spore suspensions on flowering spikes is simple and convenient. and approaches the natural situation. However. infection processes are variable depending on environmental conditions. This is the most common method used. but is not reliable and is suitable only for mass screening.• Inoculation by injecting a spore suspension into a single floret on plants in the field or on the excised spikes in vitro is more labor intensive than the above method. but is more precise. This method can be used in resistance selection of key materials and single plants of advanced cross-progenies.• The etiolated coleoptile bioassay is a simple. rapid. sensitive method to determine the biological actiVity of metabolites produced by F. graminearum. Soilborne diseases are associated retard root development over a long with inhibition and/or dysfunction of period of time. Only rarely. e.g.. as a plant root system. One early seedling pre-and post-emergence perspective on soilborne disease was damping-off. do root pathogens cause summarized in 1913 (1): \"When a outright plant mortality over a valuable fertilizer is present and the relatively short period of time. For roots are dead by disease. the wheat this reason. we may not always be plant cannot make use of it. If the fully aware of the yield suppression roots are healthy. they can make use that root pathogens cause. of it.\" This is an important concept regardless of the area of wheatThe root system of a plant is production.comparable to the foundation of a building or a factory; obViously If producers follow soil fertility.neither will be a productive unit for weed, and insect control long if the foundation is inadequate recommendations. and use good soil or fails. management and preparation practices, they should expect to Thus. let us keep in mind two things economically increase their biomass relative to root health: production potential. However. if soilborne pathogens are present and 1) A dead or damaged plant root root rot damage occurs. the benefits system does not allow for the of these practices will be reduced in expreSSion of a plant's maximum proportion to the severity of the root genetic potential for productivity. rot epidemic. Roots debilitated by root rot cannot take advantage of 2) Poor root development can result these optimum environmental not only from the effects of root conditions. The term \"debilitated\" is rot pathogens. but from less than important because soilborne optimum agronomic inputs. pathogens damage plants throughout inappropriate planting dates. their life cycle. from planting inadequate seedbed preparation. through maturity. In fact. most and an inadequate fertility soilborne pathogens are persistent program. \"nibblers\" of the root system. and In any case, the result of an unhealthy root system will be reduced capacity for wheat to produce an economic return for the producer. Again, these considerations are applicable regardless of the production environment. However, we will be concerned with some of the problems that might be encountered when growing wheat in tropical environments.A summary, modified from Klatt (16) of the environmental situations associated with growing wheat in problems associated with \"nontraditional\" soilborne pathogens such as Sclerotium rolfsii will likely be encountered. In tropical environments, there should be optimum conditions for the survival and development of soilborne pathogens, and less than optimum conditions for the host's growth and development.However, in environment I. the probabiUty for low to high levels of root disease potential has been included. Fusarium spp. and Helminthosporium (Syn = Bipolaris) are causal agents of diseases associated with \"traditional\" stressactivated root rot problems. Because tropical areas, is presented in Table 1. of their ubiqUitous presence, these In this table, the environments are differentiated in terms of expected temperature and relative humidity differences. Their probable effects on the occurrence of foliar and soilborne disease problems are shown in terms of their probability of occurrence and anticipated importance.In both environments (Table I), resistance to foliar diseases, such as the rusts and other common airborne pathogens, will need to be utilized in the normal scheme of cultivar development.In environment II, resistance to various soilborne disease pathogens will be important. Also. under these environmental extremes, more pathogens probably will be present and potentially damaging in both environments. This is especially true in environment I if the host is subjected to periods of drought stress as a result of the high temperatures and limited rainfall.Assumptions with regard to anticipated host and pathogen characteristics associated with growing wheat in tropical environments are shown in Table 2.Initially-, wheat cultivars will be poorly adapted for growth in tropical environments for various agronomic as well as pest related reasons. Reasonably. these cultivars should Root pathogens can limit wheat production in tropical environments (8. 30). Recognition of a soilborne pathogen's role. and therefore its relative importance in reducing wheat yields in tropical areas. wlll always be a problem because of the more highly visible foliar pathogen symptomology. Root rot pathogens are more subtle in effecting wheat yield reductions than foliar pathogens.Because of their soilborne environment, elucidation of the presence of root rot pathogens requires more sophisticated techniques and procedures than the simple visual observations needed to detect the presence of foliar pathogens.Various techniques are available for elucidating soilborne disease effects (37). Regardless of the technique employed. we are primarily interested in answering the following questions:• Do we have a significant root rot problem in an area?• What type of losses are being encountered?• Which pathogens are involved?Various approaches can be taken in answering these questions about suspected root rot disease problems.Here. we will be concerned with some indirect and direct approaches that can be used. These approaches are presented as examples, and are not meant to imply that these are the only methods available. There are limitations to each approach. and no one approach is sufficient to answer all of the above questions.Indirect approaches-The recognition of the importance of soilborne diseases really came about with the development of soil fumigation techniques (37). These techniques and. more recently. selective fungicides can be quite useful for indirectly characterizing soilborne disease problems in an area.Two advantages to soil fumigation are: 1) it provides information about the importance of soilborne disease pathogens in an area. and 2) it prOVides an estimate of yield potential for a given environment in the absence of the biological components of the soil. Disadvantages to soil fumigation include: 1) possible overestimation of the contribution of soilborne pathogens to yield suppression because it also controls weeds. nematodes. and other pests, and 2) it is not an economical control measure for soilborne pathogens of wheat.Four advantages to selective fungicides are: 1) the effects are specific using Ridomil. Imazalil. and other types of fungicides with well defined spectra of activity. 2) they can be used in the form of seed treatment. granular broadcast, or infurrow treatment. 3) they may inexpensively prOVide an indicator as to the types of pathogens present in a soil environment because of the specificity of their action. and 4) they may prOVide preliminary data for economic chemical control for some pathogens. Disadvantages include possible underestimation of total effects of the soilborne pathogens in an area because of the narrow spectrum of activity and such fungicides may lead to an increase in damage caused by pathogens outside the spectrum of activity.Direct approaches-Most soilborne disease problems can be observed in terms of seedling disease and mature plant effects (36. 38).Seedling disease problems are manifested as stand establishment problems. and are usually quite evident soon after planting. The severity of seedling damage as preand post-emergence damping-off can lead to reductions in stand to the extent that replanting is necessary. However. seedling damage may be more subtle. resu1ting in weakened plants that never fully recover. Other problems such as nutrient deficiency can be confused with root rot damage. However, stands weakened and yellowed as a result of root rot pathogens will not respond to postplanting applications of nitrogen as one would expect if only nitrogen deficiency were involved. Thus, the lack of response to fertilization prOVides a further clue that root disease problems may be involved.Comparison of the root systems of diseased plants and healthy plants should prOVide clues as to the reasons for the symptoms. The observation should also be made here that true nutrient deficiency symptoms usually occur uniformly over a field. assuming that there are no drastic changes in soil type within an area. On the other hand, soilborne disease problems appear as irregular and patchy areas throughout a field because of the unlikely occurrence of uniform inoculum distribution throughout a field.The major mature plant effects caused by soilborne pathogens would be variable plant height, premature death of individual scattered tillers, and/or quite large irregular areas of dead plants throughout a field. Direct examination of such plants will usually provide clues as to the causal agent.Once we have defined the symptomology associated with a given root disease problem, our diagnosis should be confirmed by isolating the causal agent. This would provide us with isolates for use in pathogenicity testing and/or cultivar screening. There are various techniques and methodologies available for this type of work (6,15). Two approaches to this problem will be briefly presented.The first approach involves the direct isolation from host tissue of pathogens such as Fusarium spp., Helminthosporium spp., Rhizoctonia spp., and Sclerotium rolfsii, which have less fastidious growth requirements. This can be done using a nonselective medium such as Potato Dextrose Agar or various types of selective media. For example, selective media have been developed for isolating Fusarium spp. (28) and Helminthosporium spp. (32) directly from host tissue.The second approach involves the indirect isolation from diseased host tissue using a baiting technique for more fastidious pathogens that are less aggressive than competitive saprophytes. For example, Pythium can be isolated from field collected and washed roots by using roots of young wheat seedlings as a selective medium. Wheat seeds are planted directly into a balled up root mass, covered with sterile soil, and allowed to grow for 6 to 7 days. The seedling roots are then removed, washed thoroughly, and placed directly onto cornmeal agar (1/5X). If Pythium is present, colonies of 20 to 50 mm in diameter will be present within 24 to 48 hours. This pathogen may be completely overlooked if a direct isolation method is used because of its inability to compete successfully with pathogens such as Helminthosporium and Fusarium.We have found that this technique also allows for the selection of pathogenic strains of Pythium.The next step involves testing the isolated strains of a given pathogen to determine if they are pathogenic. These isolates can be used later for various field and greenhouse screening trials. Gilchrist (12) has outlined a procedure that should be adaptable for screening for resistance to most pathogens.It is obvious that we will be unable to make all the right assumptions at this point for identifying all of the potential soilborne pathogen problems in tropical environments. However, from the limited literature, we can be certain that some of the common pathogens such as Helminthosporium, Fusarium, and Pythium that are important in temperate climates, are also likely to be important in tropical environments. Soilborne disease problems in tropical areas may be more important because of the environmental stresses associated with wheat growing outside of its area of adaptation. Because of its well documented occurrence in the tropics (8. 30). Sclerotium rolfsii will be used as an example of a nontraditional soilborne pathogen problem. This is not to imply that it will be the only problem, but it will give us a baseline from which to start.Organism-Helminthosporium sativum P.K. & B. (syn. Bipolaris sorokiniana Sacco in Sorok.) has been identified as important in tropical areas (30).Field symptomology-For helminthosporium, the most characteristic symptomology would be brown to black colored lesions on the subcrown internode. These lesions tend to increase in severity as the growing season progresses. Changes in lesion severity can be monitored throughout the growing season as long as the subcrowns maintain their integrity.Helminthosporium can also cause whitehead symptoms as the plants approach maturity, like fusarium and take-all. In tropical areas, there may be further potential for progression into a foliar blight phase (36), where it can cause distinct dark to black lesions on the leaves. The foliar phase of development may be a more common occurrence in humid areas than in more temperate climates.Survival-This pathogen can survive as free conidia in the soil and in association with infested crop residue. If wheat is being grown in rotation with rice. it needs to be determined if one crop is producing inoculum for the next. Host studies (17,27) indicate that H. sativum isolates can attack quite a wide host range of plants including rice seedlings. Thus, the possibility exists for rice and wheat to produce inoculum for each other. Survival-Pythium primarily survives as oospores in soil and in plant tissue.Organism-Gaeumannomyces graminis var. triUci (Sacc.) Arx & Olivo (syn. Ophiobolus graminis Sacc.; common name. take-all). The importance of take-all in tropical environments cannot be assessed at this time (8). In greenhouse studies. Henry (14) found that take-all damage was suppressed as soil temperatures increased up to 27°C (13. 14). Thus with high soil temperatures in tropical areas. this pathogen may be suppressed and not important.Field symptomology-Darnage in temperate areas is primarily associated with the occurrence of 'irregular patchy areas of prematurely dead plants (whiteheads) similar to that caused by fusarium for example. Examination of the lower internodes will reveal the presence of a deep black charcoal-like discoloration of the roots and lower internodes of the wheat plants that is distinctly different from the symptomology caused by fusarium.Microscopically. a superficial black network of mycelium will be present on infected root surfaces.Survival-Take-all survives primarily as mycelium in the root crown or other colonized host tissue.Organism-Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn. This pathogen has very broad host range capabilities.Field symptomology-Rhizoctonia can cause seedling blight damage and/or mature plant damage similar to that caused by helminthosporlum and fusarium. As a mature plant problem. it causes eyespot-like lesions on lower culms. which can result in weakening of the stem and subsequent lodging.SurvivaJ-This pathogen can survive in soil and host debris as mycelium and sclerotia.Organism-Sclerotium rolfsii. This organism has very wide host range capabilities. and has been found to seriously affect production in some tropical areas (8. 30).Field symptomology-This pathogen will typically produce a white mycelial growth on the surface of plants and soil under the plant canopy (30). Also associated with this growth. dark brown to white sclerotial bodies resembling mustard seeds are usually produced.Survival-This pathogen survives as sclerotial bodies in soil and plant debris. and as mycelium in infested host tissue.Control of soilborne diseases of wheat in tropical environments is going to be an interesting challenge for pathologists. breeders. and other plant scientists. Pathologists will be confronted with many of the soilborne pathogen problems found in temperate climates. Also. several nontraditional pathogens such as S. rolfsii and minor pathogens like Rhizoctonia may rise to prominence as causal agents of soilborne diseases of wheat in tropical areas. Initially. the wheat cultivars are going to be unadapted and at a disadvantage because of environmental stresses. Conversely, soilborne pathogens will have an advantage over the host as a result of their indigenous adaptation.A listing of all the soilborne pathogens that will be encountered cannot be prOVided in this treatment.Based on the available literature. probable soilborne pathogen candidates have been presented. ObViously for the same reason, precise control recommendations for all soilborne pathogens cannot be given. but various principles or approaches for control will be presented. Some sources for control recommendations and principles for soilborne disease control can be found in references 5,7. 11. 18. and 36. Most disease control measures encompass the follOWing basic principles: exclusion. eradication, and protection (33). Once a soilborne pathogen has been found in an area.it is really too late to take advantage of either exclusion or eradication as control measures.Exclusion and eradication as control measures can be useful in preventing the introduction of seedborne pathogens into a virgin area. Good seed monitoring and sanitation programs will go a long way toward preventing such introductions. Also, these principles could be useful on a local basis (field to field). For example. a farmer has two fields. and one is infested with S. rolfsii. Since S. rolfsii can survive in host debris and soil. we know that even minute amounts of soil or plant debris should not be exchanged between these fields. The pathogen cannot be eradicated from the infested field. but it can be excluded from the uninfested areas.Similarly, the gathering and feeding of infested plant material to livestock may be a common practice. However, the subsequent use of the manure for a field may not be a desirable practice. It has been found that Sclerotinia sclerotia from infested peanut hay fed to ruminants were still viable and pathogenic (24).Possibly an intermediate composting step may prOVide a solution because this would allow time for the breakdown of soilborne pathogen propagules and infested plant debris. Thus. these aspects of crop production should also be considered when developing soilborne disease control programs.Protection measures must consider that soilborne pathogens are: 1) endemic and enVironmentally adapted for survival, 2) have broad host range capabilities. and 3) survive as resistant propagules in soil and as mycelium in crop debris.We cannot have much of an influence on the endemic and adapted characteristics of a soilborne pathogen. However, we must recognize that a pathogen is present, and develop control measures to deal with it. For example, there are some possibilities for control of pathogens with specific environmental requirements for survival. Take-all is favored by alkaline soils that are deficient In nitrogen and phosphorus (36). As a result, it may be possible to decrease the soil pH and increase the soil fertility, thus effectively putting the pathogen at a disadvantage to the host.The broad host range capabilities of soilborne pathogens must be dealt with in terms of host resistance. Also, the possibility for diversification in developing and using rotation systems that include nonhosts should be explored.Unfortunately, this may seem to be an unlikely possibility with the group of pathogens that we have covered. However, in cases where a pathogen has a narrow host range, advantage must be taken of such a weakness in a pathogen's life cycle.Most soilborne pathogens have some well adapted means of survival in the soil as propagules and/or in association with plant debris. Thus, most soilborne disease control practices will utilize various cultural, chemical, and host resistance in an integrated package with other agronomic practices. The expected result will be a program that will allow the producer to economically produce a wheat crop.Cultural control includes tillage, soil fertility, green manure crops, crop rotation, and sanitation practices. With these approaches our main objective is to reduce pathogen inoculum levels and their effects to such an extent that the producer can attain an economic return. Tillage methods would include burying infested host residues to hasten decomposition of pathogen propagules and infested plant debris, thus exposing a pathogen to direct competition with other soil saprophytes. Obviously, these practices will be more effective against the more fastidious pathogens like G. graminis var. tritici, and less effective against pathogens such as S. rolfsii. Where it is possible, crop rotation schemes should be employed to avoid situations where a previous crop will produce inoculum for the next.With the development of chemicals with systemic capabilities in addition to protectant action, there has been an increase in the possibilities for soilborne disease control. For example, it was found that triadimenol as a seed treatment could delay the development of takeall on spring wheat for up to 53 days (22). Such results with this compound and others such as Ridomil for Pythium and Imazalil for helminthosporium control indicate the need for further work of this type. This should be Viewed, however, as a short-range solution, and not the ultimate answer to a soilborne disease problem. Why? As a result of their specificity of action, there is the possibility for the development of chemically resistant strains if chemicals are used extensively. This has already become a problem with foliar pathogens with similar types of compounds. In tropical areas, chemical control may not provide an economically feasible solution to such problems because of the added input costs. Here, mention of biological control has been excluded as an adjunct to chemical control. This is because they are based on similar principles. and both are going to cost the producer money to use.Without doubt. effective root rot disease resistance characters are going to be necessary in tropical environments for efficient and stable wheat production. Herein lies the greatest unknown in dealing with the traditional and nontraditional soilborne pathogens in tropical environments. Will pathologists and breeders be able to identify and utilize host resistance against these pathogens?.The following points must be considered and resolved. The genetics of resistance to soilborne pathogens are largely an unknown (9). and the modes of inheritance are generally found to be complex. involVing more than one or two genes (3). Thus. pathologists and breeders are going to be dealing with characters such as yield. where many genes may be involved.Secondly. such resistance characters may be functionally inoculumdependent (high levels of inoculum may decrease the effectiveness of a resistance character). Thus in tropical areas. it might be reasonable to expect that soilborne pathogen inoculum levels may be much higher than normally encountered in temperate climates. As a result. functional levels of resistance in temperate areas may not be useful in tropical areas because of high inoculum levels. Other possibilities for problems with host resistance characters may include sensitivity to high temperatures and differences in pathogen biotypes.For these reasons. the development of soilborne disease resistant cultivars in tropical environments is not going to be an easy task.However. it will be necessary if a stable level of wheat production is going to be attained in these areas. Throughout this paper. the importance of the environment as it relates to being more favorable for the soilborne pathogen than the wheat host has been stressed. When programs are initiated and areas are chosen for developing resistant cultivars. research must be conducted under environmental conditions that favor the pathogen even though rigorous if functional levels of host resistance are to be identified. Too often. the tendency is toward carrying out selections under conditions that favor the host. which may not reflect the actual worth of . the cultivar. Bacterial diseases are often species (10). Host specificity is now considered to be relatively minor in indicated by the subspecific taxon importance on wheat compared to pathovar. Therefore, in many diseases caused by fungi and instances the former species name is viruses. However, under certain now the pathovar name. It is likely environmental conditions, bacterial that additional changes in the diseases can cause significant yield taxonomy and nomenclature of losses. Bacterial diseases are a wheat bacteria will occur as more potential threat to wheat in tropical precise data are gathered on their environments because they are physiology and genetics. Synonyms favored by warm. humid conditions. are included with the current names The causal agents of most bacterial for clarity.There are seven species of bacteria where wheat is grown. Bacterial pathogenic to wheat (Table 1). pathogens of wheat occur in three Several of these have only been genera. Corynebacterium.briefly described because they arePseudomonas. and Xanthomonas.only found occasionally and are probably very weak pathogens. They Changes in nomenclature of bacterial cause disease mostly when certain plant pathogens since 1980 have stressful environmental conditions resulted in name changes for most of occur (5,39). Additional information the species attacking wheat. Under on diagnosis and control of bacterial the former system many species diseases can be obtained from names were based on the host range various references that have already of the bacterium. eventually turns brown. forming cerealis has been reported only once streaks along the midrib. The causing white to light tan streaks bacterium is seedborne and can There has been a recent proposal to place these two and several other Corynebacterium species in the new genus Clavibacter (8,9). Therefore, it is likely that additional changes in the nomenclature and taxonomy of these pathogens will be forthcoming.& Wilkie (syn. P. atrofaciens) causes water-soaked irregular spots on leaves and peduncles and most prominently on the lower portions of glumes (40). The affected areas qUickly tum from dark green to brown. This disease may sometimes be overlooked and be diagnosed as septoria nodorum blotch or frost injury (11,27). When severe, the disease causes shriveled grain.Losses are usually very light and are associated with extended periods of excess moisture during the grainfilling period. The bacterium occurs worldwide, but has been reported mostly from temperate areas. Apparently, resistant lines are easily selected. Improved resistance was considered to be responsible for its decline in Canada.The two bacterial diseases that cause the greatest economic loss in most wheat growing areas of the world are also likely to be serious in tropical regions. The first of these is bacterial leaf blight caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae Van Hall. It causes an irregular white to tan leaf blotch which can result in extensive blighting of the foliage. The disease often appears rapidly near the time of heading follOWing prolonged periods of wet weather when leaves remained watersoaked (13,24,34).Losses to bacterial leaf blight are probably underestimated because the pathogen is often difficult to isolate. Avirulent strains occur commonly in nature with virulent strains. It is difficult to prove pathogenicity because symptoms often do not develop in greenhouse inoculations.The most important bacterial disease of wheat is bacterial leaf streak or stripe, also known as black chaff, caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens (Jones et al.) Dye and X. c. pv. undulosa (syn. x.translucens). In the older system of nomenclature, isolates of X. translucens primarily associated with wheat were designated subsp. undulosa. However, the various subspecies had a host range of one or more small grain species or grasses. Often the host ranges overlap when individual isolates are compared. Now that the species translucens and subspecies undulosa are both pathovar names, the correct designation is confusing. Most authors refer to the pathogen as X. c. pv. translucens, recognizing that individual isolates may vary in host range. From the practical point of view, it is important to understand that the inoculum source for wheat or another small grain crop may originate on that crop or another species of Gramineae.Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens produces very narrow, elongated watersoaked lesions that make the leaves translucent when held to the light. The stripe lesions produce copious amounts of yellow bacterial exudate, which hardens into coarse flakes or spheres when the leaves dry. These dense quantities of bacterial cells permit the pathogen to disseminate rapidly. The black chaff symptom is very prominent on the heads. It may be confused with physiological melanism which is also referred to as false chaff (27). Water is the main means of spread, but aphids and other insects may also carry the bacterium to healthy plants (2).This disease may be especially important in tropical areas because it is favored by a wide range of temperatures (15 to 30°C), whereas bacterial leaf blight is favored by cooler temperatures (15 to 20°C). Bacterial stripe has been found throughout the tropical areas of the world where wheat is grown. It is found only in irrigated areas in the more arid areas. It is most severe in the cooler highland areas in the more humid regions and less common in the hotter lowlands (J.M. Prescott, personal communication).translucens is also a potentially serious problem on triticale (6,14,28,42). Most strains from wheat, rye and triticale are virulent to all three crops. Cunfer and Scolari (6) compared strains of X. c. pv. translucens from triticale and wheat collected at several locations in the southeastern USA and at several CIMMYT test sites in Mexico. A strain collected from triticale in Ethiopia was also compared to the others. There were no significant differences in host range or host genotype response, indicating that there were no host-specific races among the strains compared. There have been no reports of strain difference for this bacterium from any host speCies. My experience has been that isolates from wheat, rye, and triticale are virulent on each of the other species. Isolates from barley tend to be more restricted to barley.Requirements for disease Bacteria have more stringent requirements than fungi for invasion of the host and for pathogenesis. It is necessary that plant tissue be watersoaked to provide a continuous water film for the bacterial cells to enter through natural openings (stomata, hydathodes) or wounds. Some bacterial pathogens are weak parasites, only causing disease under very specific environmental conditions and only when their population reaches critical levels (23). Following invasion of the host, wet, humid conditions which keep plant tissues at full turgor are required for bacterial multiplication.Usually the younger tissue is more likely to become infected although this is not always the case. Optimal temperatures for disease development are variable but generally bacterial diseases are favored by warmer temperatures (20 to 30°C).Survival of inoculum occurs by several means. Bacteria pathogenic on wheat do not form spores; they survive only as vegetative cells. The polysaccharide exudate produced by some, notably X. c. pv. translucens serves to protect the cells from desiccation and ultraviolet light.Bacterial pathogens of wheat survive poorly in soil away from crop debris. Bacterial cells free in soil probably survive only for a few days or weeks at most (2). Bacteria pathogenic to wheat survive for varying lengths of time on crop debris. Survival of X. c.pv. translucens is related directly to the rate of deterioration of the crop debris on which it resides (2. 23). In warm and humid climates, organic matter decays rapidly. Therefore as crop debris decays, the population of bacterial pathogens declines also. Even in semiarid temperate climates wheat debris does not usually persist for more than a year and pathogenic bacteria decline accordingly.An experiment was conducted to determine the survival of X. c. pv.translucens in soil. Leefield sandy loam at pH 5.3 when collected from the field was adjusted to three higher pHs with lime. A suspension containing 10 7 colony forming units (cfu)/ml of the bacterium pathogenic to wheat and triticale was used to saturate air dry soil. The strain used was a mutant tolerant to the antibiotic rifampin to facilitate recovery. The soil samples were stored at 20 to 25°C in the laboratory. They were allowed to air dry, then rewetted to saturation dUring the course of the study. Periodically soil was removed from each treatment and planted on nutrient agar with 100 p,g/ml of rifampin. The bacteria declined to undetectable levels within 14 days at pH 5.3 and 5.9 (Figure 1). The rate of decline was slower at pH 6.6 and 267 7.2, but after 14 days only 10 3 cfu/ml were detected. The experiment was repeated and X. c.pv. translucens did not survive beyond 14 days (Cunfer. unpublished).A similar experiment using the same soils was set up to follow the survival of X. c. pv. translucens in leaf tissue. Triticale leaves with many lesions were air-dried and placed in moistened soil. Periodically leaf samples were removed and soaked in sterile saline. A portion of the bacterial suspenSion was plated on agar and another portion was injected into triticale leaves. In two tests, the leaf tissue decomposed within 57 days and X. c. pv.translucens could no longer be recovered from the soil (Table 2).Water suspensions injected into plants no longer induced symptoms (Cunfer, unpublished).Log cfu/g air dry soil 7..,--------------------, An important means of survival that has gained recognition recently is epiphytic growth of bacterial pathogens on both host and nonhost species. Pathogen populations are maintained and may increase on leaf surfaces. This is the major means of inoculum increase for P. s. pv.syringae. Large populations build up on wheat leaves without causing disease. When mild wet conditions persist for several days. bacterial cells migrate into intercellular spaces through natural openings or wounds and multiply rapidly (13. 24. 25).Epiphytic growth of bacteria on wheat may be important in another epidemiological aspect. P. s. pv.syringae and X. c. pv. translucens are ice-nucleating bacteria (23). This means their cells can serve as nuclei for ice crystal fonnatlon. There is evidence from growth chamber experiments that X. c. pv.translucens may cause wounds by initiating frost damage (1). This mode of invasion would only be likely to occur in highland areas where mild frosts may occasionally occur dUring the growing season. Infection initiated by frost damage could lead to rapid disease development. especially to the upper leaves and head if epiphytic populations are high. Within a field. the major means of movement are by splashing rain or irrigation water (34). Overhead irrigation is most conducive for creating prolonged periods of high humidity and water-soaked conditions in leaves that favor disease development. Overhead irrigation is the primary factor in many recent outbreaks of bacterial stripe of wheat (N. W. Schaad. personal communication) and barley in the western USA (30). Furrow irrigation contributes somewhat less to the creation of optimum environmental conditions, but it can be more conducive to widespread dissemination particularly when excess water from a field with disease is subsequently used to irrigate additional fields (23). Bacteria may move from wheat or from weeds or other crop species to wheat (30).Little is known about the role of insects in the dissemination of bacterial pathogens of wheat. Insects may be important when their populations are high and wet weather persists. It is unlikely that use of insecticides will provide a practical means to reduce spread of bacteria. Cultural practices will probably be more economical and practical.Other cereals hosts and grassy weeds may be important inoculum reservoirs. A strain of X. c. pv. translucens from barley in India was virulent to rice. This bacterium and the bacterial stripe pathogen of rice, X. c. pv. oryzicola, are probably closely related (26). Therefore it is quite possible that X. c. pv. translucens may survive as an epiphyte or a pathogen on rice and be disseminated to wheat.Losses to bacterial streak are infrequent and often imprecisely documented. Yield reduction can be considerable and may range up to complete loss. Losses on durum wheat from 20 to 100% were recorded in Syria (19). Yield losses up to 43% have been reported on triticale in CIMMYT trials in Mexico (14,28,42). Losses on triticale as great as 25% occurred in replicated field tests in Georgia, USA, when plants were inoculated prior to the heading stage of growth. When initial infection began at milk stage or later, no yield reduction occurred (Cunfer, unpublished). Improved methods for loss assessment are needed. The only assessment key currently available is from James (18).Seedborne inoculum is the most important means of dissemination of bacterial pathogens of wheat. Therefore seed certification programs whose emphasis is high seed quality should also include elimination of seedborne pathogens including bacterial pathogens. A standard protocol should include growing seed wheat on land with at least a one year rotation away from wheat. Seed wheat should be grown under nonirrigated conditions whenever possible. If the land is furrowirrigated care should be taken to be sure incoming water has not passed through other wheat fields. Seed should not be grown under overhead irrigation.Seed treatments have been only partially effective. Forster and Schaad (12) compared several inorganic heavy metal compounds and organic mercury treatments against X. c. pv. translucens. The only treatment completely effective was cupric acetate combined with hot water (33). This is a laborious method, but it can be effective for treating small lots of breeder's seed or seed lots being moved from one country to another. Antibiotic treatments have usually been only partly effective. They are expensive and use of products also used in medicine is unwise because of the possible development of resistance to human or animal pathogens.Because organic matter decomposes qUickly in the humid tropiCS, a I-year rotation from wheat should be quite effective in reducing debrisborne inoculum. Because some bacterial pathogens such as P. s. pv. syringae can survive epiphytically. studies are needed on survival of wheat pathogens on rice or common weed species associated with the rice-wheat cropping system. This is likely to be an important inoculum source.Resistance will be an important means of control. In order to assess resistance accurately. reliable inoculation methods are needed. An important factor is means to differentiate true susceptible reactions. P. s. pv. syringae has been the most difficult of the bacterial pathogens on wheat to test. A new procedure (36) should provide a reproducible method to evaluate lines for resistance accurately. Several months are available to test for resistance in the greenhouse and field (6. 20, 30). Because the bacteria pathogenic to wheat are easy to grow in vitro, large populations for inoculation can be increased within 24 hr or less. Inoculation methods for greenhouse tests usually involve infiltrating or injecting about 10 6 cfulml of the bacterium into watersoaked leaves. After a drying period plants are maintained at 10% relative humidity for 48 hr or longer. Field inoculations are more difficult, but methods to introduce the bacterium into wounds are usually part of the procedure. Hypodermic injection or scissors inoculation are effective but laborious. I have inoculated X. c. pv. translucens on wheat and triticale as well as P. s. pv. coronafaciens on oats and rye with a battery-powered grass clipper whose blades are constantly sprayed with a bacterial suspension (7).Portable \"weed-eaters\" have also been used successfully to introduce bacterial cells into leaf wounds. These methods can introduce the pathogen into susceptible tissue even when environmental conditions are less that optimum.There has been very little research on the genetics of resistance to bacterial diseases of wheat. Resistance to X. c. pv. translucens has been identified (2) and resistance to P. s. pv. syringae has been found in a large number of wheats (24,35).Because numerous strains can be found and the population of P. s. pv. syringae is so variable, genotypespecific races have not been identified.It is likely that host range is controlled by one or a few genes.Cunfer and Scolari (6) compared numerous isolates of X. c. pv. translucens from triticale collected in the southeastern USA and Mexico that were also pathogenic to wheat. No evidence was found for designating races although significant differences in genotype susceptibility on triticale was found.Bacterial diseases represent a significant threat to wheat production in the tropics. Accurate diagnostic methods to determine the importance of bacterial pathogens will be ~ssential. Control will require use of resistant germplasm whenever possible, combined with appropriate cultural practices. Drought is a major production constraint on approximately 37% or 40 million ha of wheat area in the developing countries (10). In tropical environments. wheat. as a \"cool\"season crop. will be grown predominantly under droughtstressed situations in rice-wheat rotations. generally on residually stored soil moisture. low precipitation, and supplementary irrigation. or their combinations. Witb a target area of 20 million ha in tropical environments. differences and improvements in water-use efficiency of the wheat cultivars grown will have a large impact on eventual production and on the feasibility of groWing wheat in these nontraditional areas.Since drought is affected by many biotic and abiotic factors. there are difficulties associated with the term \"drought environment\" (Table 1). The interactions between these many factors make it difficult to separate the individual effects, and create an infinite number of combinations that can be highly location-specific. The effects of heat and drought stresses can be confused with damage caused by such factors as nutritional problems and diseases. As a result, no universally acceptable definition of drought exists (9), and in the context of this paper, there can be no universally applicable analysis and investigation.Based on QUizenberry (9), four types of environments can be associated with drought stress and water-use efficiency:1) The stored moisture environment. The crop completes the entire life cycle on stored soil moisture.2) The variable moisture environment. A rainfed drought stress environment with alternating dry and wet periods. 3) The reduced irrigation environment. Suboptimum irrigation causes drought stress. Since irrigation can be applied dUring critical stages of crop development, water-use efficiency can be maximized.4) \"Optimal\" moisture environment. Usually optimum, but occasional drought stress can occur dUring short periods when evaporation greatly exceeds root uptake.Most plant breeders accept these classifications, but opinions differ as to whether these types of drought environments should:• determine different appropriate breeding methodologies for varieties that are highly adapted to only one of the different moisture environments. or• whether an integrated approach of developing multiple purpose varieties -broadly adapted varieties that are superior under both high yielding and drought stress situations -is suitable and possible.CIMMYT follows the second plant breeding approach and frequently receives criticism because this approach excludes materials with a plant architecture normally associated with drought-stressed environments. namely tall and low tillering plant types. Major cultivars for semiarid rainfed conditions have evolved from high-yielding germplasm such as the variety Barani 83 in Pakistan. Also semidwarfs such as Veery and Flycatcher compete favorably with the adapted dryland wheats C 306 and SUjata under conserved moisture conditions in India (11). The Rhtl and Rht2 dwarfing genes. the basic sources for reduced plant height and high tillermg capacity. are highly correlated with high yield potential and are present in all CIMMYT germplasm.This Figure 1 gives the yields of the longtime checks. Siete Cerros 66 and Inia 66. as a percent of the location mean in the drought-stressed locations of ISWYNs 4. 6. 10. and 13. The sites within one ISWYN are ranked by site means (X-axis).In ISWYNs 4 and 6. Siete Cerros 66 and Inia 66 gave outstanding performances at all locations included in the analysis. The yields at specific sites were above average. and high yields across sites and in different years indicate a high level of spacial and temporal yield stability in drought-stressed environments -even considering that the high percentage yields and differences were associated with relatively small differences on an absolute scale.Comparing the yield performance of these two entries over the ISWYNs/ years with the mean yield of all the 50 entries included in the trial (solid line) gives an indication of the breeding progress achieved. The mean yield of the checks decreased from an average 130% level in ISWYN 4 to an average 100% level in ISWYN 13. The drought tolerance of the average genotype in the set increased by 30% relative to these two entries.The percent yield of the highest yielding entries under drought stress in each of the four ISWYNs is given in Figure 2.  great magnitude (2. 7. 8). The open circles in Figure 5 represent the locations where drought stress was reported. obviously most of these locations are medium to high potential sites -suggesting that drought is not necessarily associated with low site mean yields.Concentrating on low-yielding sites where Siete Cerros 66 yielded up to 3 tJha. Seri 82 performed equally or higher in 19 of 20 locations. The comparison with Pavon 76 gives a similar result (Figure 6). however it is less dramatic. Pavon 76 has about the same level of disease tolerance as Seri 82. therefore. the yield differences at disease-stressed. lowyielding sites are smaller. But Figure 6   Results obtained in 1986 in comparative yield trials under full and reduced irrigation at Cd. Obregon. Sonora. have to be interpreted in the same way (Figure 7). The entries included in the experiment were released between 1962 and 1986 for the YaqUi Valley. Mexico's major wheat area. One entry is a candidate for release in 1987.      • differentiate genotypes according to water-use efficiency. In addition, testing in diverse locations facilitates •the identification of genotypes that are high yielding and well adapted to various environmental conditions. including optimum, intermediate. and drought-stressed conditions, plus a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses.A better measure of the selection efficiency of CIMMYT's methodology is indicated by the correlation of r=O.773* * between the yields of these varieties in high-yielding locations and their yields in droughtstressed locations across eight ISWYNs. including all entries. those developed by CIMMYT as well as materials developed by national programs. Further, the results demonstrate that progress was achieved over years in phenotypically similar, semidwarf materials that were selected under near-optimum conditions. This confirms the validity of selecting germplasm for drought-stressed conditions under optimum water situations. This method is gaining popularity in plant breeding programs in developing and developed countries, since it overcomes the problems associated with breeding under drought stress, namely. low heritabilities and low genetic variances. Genetic variances are usually high under favorable conditions and the genetic advance is greater (Tables 2 and 3). Further, under natural conditions when the amount of stored moisture or precipitation changes. the However. we do not ignore the fact that traditional drought-tolerant cultivars are generally later in flowering and maturity, taller in plant height, and lower in tillering than cultivars with high yield potential. The wheat areas where such cultivars are grown prove their suitability. In several breeding programs, selection for droughttolerant materials is performed exclusively under drought stress. and scientists approach this objective by selecting for mediocrity or even low yield and for characters that decrease yield ( However, there is now sufficient scientific evidence to suggest that high yield potential and input responsiveness can be combined in drought-tolerant materials. In fact, C 306 and C 273 were originally developed for the irrigated areas of the Punjab in the Subcontinent.To take both approaches into account, CIMMYT utilizes traditional tall, drought-tolerant types in crosses with widely adapted, high-yielding germplasm. The variability in these F2 populations allows national programs to select for the preferred plant types. To achieve this objective, CIMMYT's Wheat Breeding Program recently redesigned and modified its selection and breeding methodology for drought (Table 4). Based on the assumption that different traits are controlled by different genes or gene systems and that they can be selected independently ( 9), a physiogenic approach with the combined use of optimum and drought-stressed environments may lead to materials with better drought tolerance than can be obtained from the two classical methods mentioned earlier. Germplasm emanating from this selection system will be We will continue to use highyielding. widely adapted germplasm as the basis for our breeding efforts and strive to add specific characteristics such as tolerance to drought and heat in order to better target our gennplasm. This combination of high yield potential and wide adaptation guarantees maximum spatial. temporal. and system-independent yield stability.We will continue to develop germplasm for various agroecological zones. combining resistance or tolerance to all limiting biotic and abiotic constraints. In this context. combinations of characters such as tolerance to heat. rusts.helminthosporium and fusarium. appear to be more desirable for increasing production under droughtstressed situations than a separate drought breeding program with selection of pre-defined plant types. especially in the case of tropical growing areas.A change in selection criteria and methods in the near future is unlikely; so far there are no gUidelines for selecting specific physiological traits. even though quite a number of characters have been associated with drought tolerance and water-use efficiency.However. the practical situation requires more emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach to exploit the given potential of droughtstressed environments.For the near future. we must thoroughly evaluate the physiogenic approach. In addition. key locations for drought screening need to be identified that maximize selection gains. The next step would be the The presence of toxic aluminum (or exchangeable aluminum, or toxic acidity) in many of the Brazilian soils, added to the high manganese levels in some areas, produces a complex in the soil that partially inhibits the growth of many cultivated species, including wheat. Besides inhibiting the growth of the  Economically. enhancing root exploration in this kind of soil can only be done by correcting the pH to levels of 5.5 to 6.0 in order to eliminate the free aluminum. This is nonnally accomplished by incorporating limestone into the top 20 cm of the soil (liming).Wheat plants cultivated in acid soils demonstrate very well defined symptoms. In the roots. the main effect of toxic aluminum is the cessation of growth. due to the absence of cellular division. making them short and thick with a dark color. The growth interruption of the main roots induces the development of tertiary and quaternary roots. When aluminum concentration in the soil is low. typical symptoms may be observed only in the roots. A reduced root system results in reduced absorption of nutrients and soil water. since the soil volume that the roots can explore is greatly reduced.Besides affecting the absorption and translocation of nutrients and water, the toxic aluminum also limits the metabolism of the nutrients. Depending on the level of toxicity. aerial symptoms are characterized by reduced plant growth. yellOWing of leaves. and a purplish color in both culms and leaves. Manganese, common in many Brazilian acid soils. also may cause tOXicity to wheat when found in high concentrations. However. its effect is considered of lesser importance in comparison to that caused by aluminum. It has been determined that manganese tolerance is genetically independent of aluminum tolerance in wheat. Liming the soil to increase the pH to 6.0 eliminates the toxicity of both elements simultaneously. Wheat The first indication that tolerance to toxic aluminum was a heritable characteristic that could thus be transferred through breeding came from Beckman (2). His studies. and those of others. showed that resistance was dominant and possibly controlled by a gene pair. According to Nodari (3), tolerance to crestamento seems to be differentiated by two independent loci.In 1956 and 1957 the early varieties Preludio and Carazinho were released. These varieties had average yields of 1000 kg/ha and had better resistance to leaf rust and aluminum toxicity. Both varieties became very popular among wheat growers.In the 1960s. a group of varieties was recommended that maintained the original rusticity and adaptation. but had better agronomic characteristics. Among them. lAS 20-Iassul became one of the most Widely cultivated varieties. With these varieties the yield potential increased to 1400 kg/ha.Starting in 1968. the increase in soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) production from the wheat-soybean double cropping systems brought about two main consequences. The first was the need to lime the soil to correct the pH. the toxic acidity. and the soil fertility in order to allow efficient root exploration by the leguminous plant. Lime and fertilizer applications increased soil fertility. thus contributing to increased productivity of the wheat crop. The second consequence involved the type of wheat variety used in doublecrop systems. The late-maturing varieties were abandoned. and since that time the cultivation of early maturing wheat varieties has predominated.Liming the soil does not eliminate the need to maintain varietal tolerance to aluminum toxicity. Once lime is applied in the top 20 cm of the soil layer. the remaining soil below this layer still contains toxic levels of aluminum. When sown in limed soils. susceptible varieties develop their root system only in this superficial layer. resulting in inefficient absorption of nutrients. and increased vulnerability to water deficiency.In the late 1960s and early 1970s. germplasm exchange was initiated between CIMMYT and some Brazilian research institutions. such as FECOTRIGO (Federation of Wheat and Soybean Cooperatives) and EMBRAPA (Brazilian Enterprise for Agriculture and Livestock Research).The main objective of this work. which was intensified in 1973, was to combine the aluminum toxicity tolerance of the Brazilian wheats with the high-yield potential of the Mexican germplasm.The Brazilian wheat varieties. even though improved over the years. were still low-yielding. too tall. and deficient in agronomic characteristics such as spike fertility and straw strength. The material developed through the utilization of mainly Mexican germplasm. greatly contributed to increased wheat production. The average yield in experimental trials in Rio Grande do SuI dUring this period was 1600 kg/ha. In the last 5 years. average yield has increased to 1750 kg/ha.In the commercial fields of Rio Grande do SuI. the largest wheat producing region during the last 35 years. the average yield has increased gradually and constantly (Table 1). Better varieties. along with more efficient agronomic practices. have contributed to more stable wheat production. On the average. the increase in productivity dUring this period was 25 %.The Brazilian cultivars are. in general. tolerant to aluminum toxicity. This tolerance enables them to be successfully cultivated in areas with toxic acidity. However, when the free aluminum exceeds a certain level. no cultivar produces satisfactorily. and correction of the soil pH with liming becomes essential.Constant germplasm introduction. on a worldwide basis. must be accompanied by Vigilance in the selection process in order to maintain the tolerance level needed for Brazilian conditions.Basically. two methods are used in Brazil to maintain this tolerance to aluminum toxicity. The first is that used by the majority of breeding programs. consisting of evaluation and field selection of resistant genotypes. The second uses a preliminary evaluation in the laboratory with a nutrient solution containing aluminum. followed by field evaluation.The first and most widely used method is described below:• In the crosses. at least one of the parents must be aluminum tolerant.• The F2 generation, or the F3 in some cases, is space-planted in acid soils to allow selection of individual plants that are tolerant to free aluminum. The selection procedure may be in bulk, individual plants. or through individual spikes.• F3. F4, F5, and F6 generations are sown in limed soil. either as bulks, plant rows or head rows, depending on the selection method used.• Selected advanced lines are included in preliminary yield trials either in limed or acid soils to confirm their tolerance. Normally, the percent of those discarded due to susceptibility at this stage is very low, proving the efficiency of the method.Field reaction is evaluated twice, at the end of the tillering stage ( Due to the adverse conditions, the great majority of the tested material is discarded for its susceptibility to aluminum toxicity and/or various diseases. However. after analyzing the hundreds of lines selected over the years. we have concluded that the final result is highly positive. It is important to emphasize, from the Brazilian point of view, that two important aspects have resulted from this alternate selection process. 1) better agronomic types (reduced height, stronger straw, and larger spike size) and 2) better levels of resistance to diseases that are important in southern Brazil. e.g., septoria. have been identified. The material obtained thus far. if not used directly. has been of great importance for the breeding program.Recently. several cultivars obtained through this alternate selection method were recommended for cultivation in several Brazilian states (Table 3).Many Brazilian research institutions use Ciudad Obregon to obtain an additional generation of materials from their wheat improvement programs through CIMMYT's cooperation.Even though we still have a long way to go. our current status demonstrates the Viability of wheat in Brazil. The new cultivars and lines are producing, in field experiments. yields higher than 4000 kg/ha and. in some cases, higher than 5000 kglha. Tables 4-8 show. by state and region. the yield performance of some new varieties recommended for cultivation in 1985 and the better advanced lines being tested. The data represent state or regional averages. In some locations, as shown in Figures 3-7, higher yield values have been obtained. Many of these new advanced lines and cultivars respond better to higher amounts of fertilization. thus increasing their productivity levels.Another aspect to consider is irrigation. currently available only in certain areas of central Brazil. Sao Paulo. and Mato Grosso do SuI. The high-yielding Mexican varieties can be grown on the acid soils of the Cerrados that have a low aluminum level with liming and under irrigation. Under these conditions. average yields of 5000 kglha or above have been obtained (Table 9). In 1985, some lines yielded as high as 7220 kg/ha (Figure 8).Even though the level of resistance or tolerance to the main diseases has been increased. it is still necessary to apply fungicides to achieve effective control of the main diseases. in order to guarantee higher yields and production stability.The utilization of all recommended technologies has enabled many wheat growers to obtain yields higher than 2500 kg/ha in acid soils, after adequate liming and fertilization.To further improve the productivity levels, the following objectives are being considered by the various wheat improvement programs: • Identify cultivars with tolerance to frost, which is very common in southern Brazil.• Identify cultivars with a greater capacity to extract phosphorus.Research has shown genetic differences among genotypes in extracting this element from the soil.• Maintaining the aluminum toxicity tolerance level.  3.2-t-----=::-----J::::8'8l----l :::::  2. The soil must be capable of supplying the nutrient to an improved genotype.3. There must be sound agronomic and economic reasons for pursuing a breeding solution to the nutrient limitation.The genetic potential for improvement of nutrient efficiency is readily apparent in a diverse literature including symposium proceedings and reviews of which one author (2) lists 20. Among wheat and its near relatives, rye is especially nutrient efficient and may be viewed as a standard to achieve in wheat with sufficient breeding effort. Rye is more capable than wheat in the uptake of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), and phosphorus (P), all elements of relatively low ironic mobility in the soil. In our Adelaide-based research on Cu. Zn, and Mn, we have shown that rye's adaptability to utilize these elements is inherited by the amphiploid hybrid triticale and are thus immediately available in a more wheat-like cereal (8). Diversity within wheat for tolerance to these deficiencies is also considerable (Tables 1, 4, and 8).The outstanding efficiency of rye also demonstrates that the soil is capable of supplying the extra nutrient. Calculations (6) show that even the most impoverished siliceous sand contains sufficient quantity of the immobile nutrients for hundreds. if not thousands of crops. if they were only capable of extracting them. The exception is N for which there is sufficient quantity for only a few dozen crops.The agronomic and economic criteria are less obvious and we are only just developing the case for breeding nutritional characteristics into wheats for our semi-arid rain-fed cropping zone. In this environment. soils are dominantly high in pH and, therefore, low in availability of P, Cu, Zn. Mn. and Fe (as well being low in total N). All our cereals appear to be remarkably Fe efficient (in contrast to maize and sorghum (2); and P deficiency is treated with fertilizers, adding annually three to five times what is recovered in the crop.The most difficult nutritional problem is the chronically Mndeficient soils for which Mn fertilizers are quite inefficient, lasting only a matter of weeks in these alkaline soils before becoming fixed in unavailable forms. A breeding solution in the case of Mn is therefore highly desirable.Topsoil drying in our environment occurs quite frequently after 2 to 3 weeks without rain. The bulk of the roots, all the recently added fertilizer, and most of the residual fertilizer are immobilized as the topsoil dries. The crop must survive for water and nutrients on the subsoil. If the nutritional status of the subsoil is low (almost universally so in South Australia), nutritional stress can result; and if this occurs dUring microsporegenesis, yield depression can be severe. In this way, crop failure occurred in Queensland due to Cu deficiency (11) in spite of heavy soil applications of Cu. Foliar sprays of Cu on wheat partly solved the problem, but the use of Cu-efficient crop (triticale or sunflowers) has been the best solution. We have simulated this situation experimentally in the glasshouse. inducing deficiency in an otherwise nutritionally adequate system by drying the topsoil where the Cu fertilizer was placed. Nutrient-efficient genotypes capable of mobiliZing nutrients from less available subsoil forms can overcome this type of growth reduction, as Grundon (11) demonstrated. Most importantly. they may present as more drought-tolerant owing to better development of the subsoil root system.South Australian soils are not only severely nutIient deficient but also promote severe root disease problems. We have repeatedly shown that micronutIient-deficient crops are less tolerant and/or resistant to pathogens (9. 18. 20); and moreover, nutrient-efficient genotypes are more resistant. This factor may prove to be the most pressing argument for nutrient-efficient genotypes since locally-placed fertilizer bands in the soil may not protect the whole root system from diseases (7).Finally. there is the problem of subclinical deficiency that is common for P and the micronutrients. Some cultivars of wheat show no sYmptoms of Cu deficiency, yet at anthesis may prove to be completely male steIile; that is the extreme. but in general 10-30% of the yield potential can be lost without any visible indication of a nutritional problem. Numentefficient genotypes can restore that potential yield. Figure 1 shows an extra 1.0 t/ha yield due to Cu efficiency above that of foliar Cutreated inefficient control genotypes (recurrent parental lines).3Oxley '84 Warigal  Potassium-The situation with K, based on its soil chemistry. is probably midway between that for N and P. Breeding for K-efficiency. at least in wheat. is probably marginal.Copper-Deficiency of this element is Widespread in Australia and globally. being most notable on peats and light sandy soils. While it is usually easily corrected by soil dressing of Cu. subclinical deficiency of this element is perhaps the most serious of all the trace elements. In a few soils. the residual value of added Cu is low. Our interest in breeding for Cu tolerance in wheat arose from its obvious sensitivity to this deficiency when compared to rye and to the wheat-rye hybrid. triticale (6). Since many interesting wheat-rye hybrid genotypes exist. it was easy to show that Cu efficiency in rye (and triticale) was carried on the 5RL chromosome arm (8). We have some evidence that a single gene is involved. The 5RL translocation lines. being readily available for backcrossing to locally adapted wheats. were used to produce adapted. Cu-efficient advanced lines (10). The Cu efficiency of these lines is shown in Gatcher and Gabo are also poor. The 5RLl4A translocations improved the Zn efficiency of Gabo and Warigal, but not of Oxley. In any case, the translocation lines were not as good as other released cultivars. Rye and triticale are, however, Zn-efficient (Table 5), but from an addition line study. it appears that chromosomes 2R, 3R, and 7/4R contribute more to Zn efficiency than chromosome 5R.The analytical data of Table 6 confirm that most cultivars were Zndeficient at 12 weeks (-Zn treatment), but these Zn concentrations are poorly correlated with final grain yield from the same plots (-Zn). First. rye has been shown to be opposite ends of the efficiency particularly Mn-efficient relative to spectrum. Zn uptake is a better wheat (Table 7) and this character indicator of subsequent grain may be transferred to triticale. On production under Zn deficiency than the other hand. three widely grown is Zn concentration. wheat cultivars. Condor. Millewa. and Bayonet. one triticale (Coorong) A comparison of Tables 1 and 4 and one new barley (Galleon) proved shows little association of Cu to be exceptionally sensitive to Mn efficiency and Zn efficiency. Blade deficiency. The release of Galleon. and Oxley perform reasonably in especially since barley is the both environments.preferred crop on Mn-deficient soils. has increased the awareness of the Manganese-Mn deficiency is the extent and severity of the natural Mn most intractable trace element deficiency of many of the soils of the deficiency in South Australia. and a state. program to develop Mn-efficient In an attempt to screen for Mn efficiency in a fast, routine way, seedling bioassays have been developed growing three seedlings for 4 to 5 weeks in 250 g of Mndeficient soil, scoring for symptoms and harvesting for yield and Mn content (Table 7). The results were found to depend heavily on Mn content of the seeds sown (15), a factor which may be partly genetic (acquired from the Mn efficiency of the mother plant, and therefore heritable) or environmental. The seedling screening technique has so far proved unreliable, unless all seed is produced under the same conditions; on the other hand, the Mn content of the seed has proved to be important in the field. On Mn deficient soils, seed from elsewhere, higher in Mn content, has outyielded locally grown seed of the same cultivar. The genetics of loading Mn into seeds has not yet been explored, but could be a useful Mn efficiency trait.Mn efficiency appears to be an important character for disease resistance and/or tolerance. Not only does Mn deficiency predispose cereals to diseases, especially root disease as discussed earlier, but Mn efficiency rankings are well correlated with disease resistance scores (compare take-all rhizoctonia, and eelworm ratings of G.J. Hollamby, et al. (13); rhizoctonia ratings of barley, MacDonald and Rovira, (16). In particular, N.S.  Wilhelm (personal communication) Zn). Blade. Warigal. C8MM. and has shown that Mn-efficient wheat is Halberd have a moderate degree of more resistant to take-all than Mn-efficiency for all three elements, inefficient wheat when both are while Venus and Currency triticales grown in Mn-deficient soil inoculated have good, and rye, outstanding. with the fungus. In a similar vein.efficiency in all three elements. Zn-efficient wheats are also more tolerant of Fusarium graminearum Summary of progress (see scores of Burgess et al.. [1]).1. Useful genetic diversity exists within wheat for tolerance of Durati, Gatcher, and Songlen are deficiencies of Cu. Zn. and Mn in the nutrient inefficient for three soil. elements, Cu, Zn. and Mn. whereas others are efficient in only one 2. Efficiency for each element element (Millewa, Zn; 5RL lines, Cu) appears to be independent of other or two (Aroona, Zn. Mn: Raven. Zn. efficiency factors. but to date there is Mn: 426QKMH. Zn. Mn; Kite. Cu. Zn; no evidence that these traits may not Cook. Zn. Mn: Coorong triticale, Cu.be combined in a single genotype.  The situation for K is probably intermediate between that for N and P, considering its soil chemistry and plant requirements. Because it is an expensive fertilizer, the potential for improved K efficiency deserves to be assessed, but where soils are deficient it seems intUitively that greater K efficiency in terms of uptake, would only be \"buying time.\" However the question of better K utilization efficiency through genetic tolerance to the partial substitution of Na for K should be the initial approach to this question. as it has been in other crops.In both high-input and low-input agricultural systems. micronutrient deficiency problems are common. This is due not so much to the cost of inputs. but to lack of awareness by farmers of the problem or lack of techniques for resolving agronomically the limitation to yield. Micronutrient-efficient genotypes could eliminate these problems in most cases and lead to increased yields. increased efficiency of use of macronutrient fertilizers (especially N and Pl. increased resistance to foot rot diseases. increased root penetration into extremely infertile. high pH subsoils. and by virtue of the latter. increased drought tolerance (avoidance). In particular. subclinical deficiency and transient deficiency due to cold or were surface soils. would be eliminated. It is suggested that these latter conditions may permit the entry of pathogens. such as the take-all and crown rot fungi. which events do not manifest themselves as yield losses until months later.An advantage of a different kind for nutrient-efficient wheats is the improved nutritional value of the grain for human and animal consumption where cereals are a major part of the diet.The immediate prospects for such an approach to wheat improvement is the successful combination of our best known levels of Cu. Zn. and Mn efficiencies in a single genotype. We know of no reason why this objective is not attainable and have begun crossing. At the same time. it is desirable that a much greater range of wheat germplasm be explored for genes. at least as efficient as those in rye.Greater expression of these characters and genetic markers for them would materially assist in a necessary research project: the study of the genetics of these traits. their heritability and combining ability. Allied to this is the urgent need to know what biochemical/physiological processes are involved in nutrient efficiency characters. A thorough and elegant research program (17) has recently unveiled a sophisticated mechanism in cereals for the acquisition of Fe. and it seems possible that the traits discussed in this paper are physiologically and biochemically no less elaborate.Much more research is needed on the link between genetically controlled micronutrient efficiency traits and resistance to such root diseases as take-all, crown rot. and rhizoctonia. In this lies one of the most compelling reasons for breeding for micronutrient efficiency characters.Other areas deserving attention include the genetics of the nutrient loading of seeds. and the transfer of rye efficiency genes to wheat via chromosome translocations (Zn and Mn).On the technical side, the most compelling need is for efficient screening techniques for the nutrient-efficiency traits. To begin with, empirical approaches will be necessary since the mechanisms remain obscure. and some lateral thinking may produce much needed improvements in screening effectively large numbers of genotypes. The approach to screening will most likely be very different from that derived from the empirical approach once the underlying mechanisms are discovered. IPM strategies are only relevant in the context of an agroecosystem that interacts with an economic and a social system. We are concerned here with tropical wheat agroecosystems of diverse deSCription. Pest management is an important factor wherever wheat is grown. but it may be even more critical in the tropics. Warm temperatures, rainfall patterns. and humidities typical of many tropical environments tend to accelerate epidemics and reduce pest generation times in comparison to many temperate environments. It has been suggested that warm temperatures may induce higher rates of mutation in pest species (12). perhaps resulting in pest populations more diverse genetically in terms of virulence and host range spectra than temperate pest populations.One characteristic that most tropical wheat systems have in common is that the wheat crop is a new addition to the cropping system and is usually subordinate in importance to another crop. such as rice. The introduction of wheat is a major change in these cropping systems and one should anticipate that new pest problems will occur as a result.Endemic organisms may become pests on the new crop and the new crop may also affect the pest situation on the existing crop. For example. several rice pathogens have been shown to infect wheat plants under certain conditions (Table 1) (16). Likewise. rice insects such as rice stem borer are readily adapted to wheat as a food source (10).It is reasonable to speculate that. if the winter fallow period in the paddy rice cropping system were replaced by a dry season wheat crop over large agricultural regions, there would be an increase in populations of several pests of significance to both crops. When wheat is introduced into traditional cropping systems. other problems may be encountered. For example. wheat introduced into cropping systems with maize may experience increased problems with scab, caused by Fusarium spp. (15). Significant differences between various tropical wheat ecosystems should also be considered when developing IPM strategies.Another feature that most tropical wheat systems have in common is that they are being accommodated into traditional farming systems managed by peasant farmers. It is quite unlikely that these systems will be amenable to the type of IPM programs being implemented in modem agricultural systems. I.e.. programs that are highly dependent on energy. synthetic chemicals, infrastructure. trained personnel, information management, and decision-making. However, it is erroneous to think that ecologically sound pest management always requires that level of sophistication.The basic categories of tactics available to manage crop pests are genetic. cultural. chemical, biological, and regulatory (4). Some tactics overlap in category. Tactics of each category potentially could be useful in pest management of tropical wheat. but each has its inherent strengths and weaknesses.Genetic pest management tactics, I.e.. germplasm improvement for resistance or tolerance to pests, are discussed first because they are the primary thrust of CIMMYT's efforts and the area in which the greatest gains are likely to be realized. Incorporation of strong. race-specific genes for resistance to rusts and other diseases played an important Meloidogyne spp.Fusarium spp.Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn role in the development of the green revolution wheat cultivars (23). However. because of the strong directional selection that this type of resistance places on pest populations. the usefulness of a particular gene is usually short-lived.The average commercial life of a rust-resistant cultivar in temperate areas is 5 years. but may actually be 5horter in tropical areas. This tactic is expensive to maintain over time and. without effective monitoring and early warning systems for shifts in the pathogen population. it risks catastrophic pest-induced losses. IPM strategies to prolong the usefulness of strong genes include the regional deployment of specific genes (also a regulatory tactic). pyramiding several genes into one cultivar. and using multilines. cultlvar mixtures. or crop mixtures to enhance disruptive selection on the pest population.Major gene. race-specific resistance will undoubtedly be an important means of controlling leaf and stem rusts in tropical environments because genes are readily available and easily incorporated into adapted cultivars (23). However. incorporation of race-nonspecific. quantitative resistance (Le .. rate-reducing or horizontal resistance) genes into tropical wheats may ultimately be more cost-effective. This type of crop improvement undoubtedly was practiced inadvertently for centuries by subsistence farmers when they selected land races. Slow-rusting cultivars may be combined with other tactics to give satisfactory control.Genetic resistance is appealing from an environmental standpoint but. when used as the sole management tactic. is subject to many of the same pitfalls as reliance on chemical control (9 Potentially. the introduction of predators and parasites from the pest's center of origin could be an important means of controlling many wheat insect pests in the tropics. This strategy is most likely to be effective against pests that occupy a limited habitat. I.e.. their populations are regulated by intraspecific competition (4).The most promising area for biological control of wheat diseases is the enhancement of natural biological control of root and crown rotting fungi. The use of leaf surface antagonists for control of foliar diseases also holds some promise (7). but practical applications are many years ahead. The use of insects and pathogens for biological control of weeds in wheat may have some utility where this tactic is combined with other tactics that stress the weeds (4. 5). Table 2 is a subjective rating of the potential efficacy of various tactics for management of five diseases of importance on tropical wheat. For the reasons elaborated previously. it is unlikely that chemical tactics, with the possible exception of seedapplied pesticIdes, will be adapted to traditional cropping systems. Pestresistant cultivars, cultural tactics (much research is needed on this). and biological control (especially for insects but potentially also for weeds and soilborne diseases) will be the backbone of IPM programs for tropical wheat. The need for and importance of IPM research on specific local cropping systems cannot be overemphasized (11). Detailed, comprehensive pest surveys should be done. These programs should be long term since pest problems can be expected to change over time. Agronomic research on yield loss assessment is desperately needed for prioritizing other pest management research and for establishing economic thresholds. Social scientists should be involved in the development of treatment thresholds so that they reflect farmers' perceptions of risk (10). IPM decision criteria should be easy to understand and tactics simple and safe to implement (9, 10. 17, 20. 22).Goodell (10)      recombination purposes and potential. The most important aspect multilocation testing of of heat is related to the hastening of segregating/advanced germplasm will plant development and shortening of playa key role in the breeding for developmental phases dUring which higher yield potential under unstable various components of yield are climatic conditions. determined. Fischer and Maurer (8) showed that a 1°C rise in Heat temperature above ambient dUring A major characteristic differentiating the period between the end of tropical wheat areas from the tillering to the beginning of grain traditional regions is their high-filling reduced yield by 4%. Yield temperature regime. Average reduction was associated with a maximum and minimum reduced number of spikes per plant temperatures dUring the wheat cycle and grains per spike. of several locations in the southern cone region are compared with those According to Warrington et al. (18). of the Yaqui Valley in Mexico of the three major developmental (Figures 3 and 4). Note that a greater stages. the growth stage GS 2 difference and more variability exists between spike initiation and anthesis among locations for the average was the most thermo-sensitive. minimum temperature than for the Reduction in duration of GS 2 under average maximum temperature.high temperature conditions resulted in the reduction of number of spikes The adverse effects of high per plant and of spikelets and/or temperature contribute to a lack of grains per spike. The partial spike adaptation and reduced yield sterility observed at many locations in the Southern Cone region is also ascribed to the effects of high as compared with Condor under temperatures combined with low increasing temperatures is a relative humidity dUring the remarkable example (1). flowering period (4).Kalyansona (a sister selection of The strong influence of heat on Siete Cerros) has previously been wheat growth and yield raises an described as a widely adapted important question regarding variety. available genetic variability and adaptation to the hot environments.As a result of reduced thermo-Photoperiod and vernalization sensitivity at GS 2. there are wheat sensitivities. which delay the rate of genotypes better able to sustain development up until flowering. do grain number per spike at higher not improve adaptation to hot areas.temperatures. as exemplified by as this delay is not related to an Kalyansona (1). The reduction in the increase in number of grains per number of grains per spike in hot spikelet or per spike. However. once environments is the result of reduced the vernalization and photoperiod number of grains per spikelet and requirements are fully met. wheat fewer spikelets per spike. Both varieties differ in the extent of heat components can be very easily effect on number of spikelets per assessed by visual observations. spike (10). The excellent stability in Therefore. the selection of spikes grain number per spike demonstrat-with a higher grain number under ed by the wheat variety Kalyansona hot environmental conditions is likely to result in improved yield and stability.Temperature °C 2 4 ------------------------------  In the tropical Southern Cone region. heavy cloud cover and thereby reduced solar radiation dUring the wheat season is a common phenomenon (Table 3). Shading experiments conducted at CIMMYT dUring the 1972-77 period demonstrated the impact of reduced solar radiation on the total dry matter production and the yielding ability of highly productive varieties (3. 4. 5). The reduction in crop growth (measured by dry matter accumulations) was found to be an amount approximately equal to the percentage reduction in radiation.The results of these trials indicated that early shading has little or no effect on the grain yield although tillertng is substantially reduced. Shading dUring spike emergence. or just before. has a drastic effect on grain yield through reduced number of grains/per unit area. The result is fewer grains/spikelet with little increase in kernel weight to offset the loss. This is the period of maximum dry matter accumulation in the spike. The anthesis and early grain growth pertod is relatively insensitive to shading. Kernel weight mayor may not be sensitive to postanthesis shading.The effect of relatively lower solar radiation at three plant growth stages was recently studied by Wendt and Cayetano (19) in Brazil (Table 4). Their shading studies (60% light reduction) on two wheat varieties. lAS 20 and BR 4. indicated the pre-heading pertod to be most crttical in terms of dry matter reduction and yield loss.It was stated earlier that the annual rainfall pattern of the region is very unpredictable. Rainfall from Chaco. Paraguay. proVides an example of this unpredictability dUring the wheat crop cycle (Table 5). While there is some variation in the total precipitation received from one year to another. there is strong variation within each year. Lack of knowledge regarding appropriate moisture conservation technology in this area. combined with the unreliable early precipitation pattern. leads to In general. there is a highly significant correlation between grain yield and maturity under drought situations. with early flowering favoring higher yields under stress conditions. However, there is evidence that some late lines are also less affected by drought conditions such as, C5849 (Paraguay). E. Lusitano (Uruguay). and Chaqueilo INTA (Argentina). The use of yield reduction as a criterion to measure drought tolerance must take the yield potential of a variety, under well watered and highly fertilized conditions, into consideration. For varieties with low yield potential that do not benefit greatly from high fertility or abundant water, the percent reduction in the yield by drought will be similar compared with a larger reduction in the highyielding varieties. This topic has already been dealt with in great detail earlier so we will only discuss it briefly. The problems of soil acidity combined with toxicities of aluminum, manganese, or iron, indiVidually or in combination, are important in some parts of Latin America and also in Africa.The Brazil-CIMMYT shuttle breeding program over the past 13 years has been able to combine the tolerance to aluminum toxicity of the Brazilian wheats with the short stature, stiff straw, and highly fertile traits of the Mexican types. The additional advantage of improved disease resistance in the resultant germplasm has been a key to the recent release of six varieties from this program in Brazil.In addition to improving further disease resistance in these wheats, it may be useful to broaden their adaptation by adding an efficient phosphorus extracting mechanism to the newer germplasm. The superior phosphorus uptake ability of the varieties PG-l, Toropi, and Alondra need to be exploited further.Several wheat breeding programs including that of CIMMYT are using aluminum screening techniques in the laboratory for both segregating populations and advanced generations. The use of this method to discard a large number of susceptible plants in the early generations, combined with field testing of resistant plants, may prove to be very efficient. The laboratory screening technique allows the testing of various levels of mineral toxicities individually, or in combination to suit the need of a particular region. Some work on phosphorus uptake efficiency is also being done in the laboratory by C.Camargo (personal communication) at Campinas, Brazil, which may prove beneficial to achieve the overall objectives of developing highyielding wheats for acid soils areas.The  (12) and Septoria tritici (7) indicates the presence of extensive variability in these pathogens in the region. It has also been observed that some sources of resistance to scab from Argentina are susceptible in Brazil and those from the whole region are susceptible in China. Under such circumstances, to look for a high degree of resistance to anyone of these diseases or their combination seems like a futile effort. When we think of moisture available for plants we have to think not only of the amount that falls in precipitation. but also of the amount that is stored in the soil and  supeIior to conventional tillage. Its yield relative to conventional tillage was 159 % and 402 % in the 2 years of inadequate rainfall. respectively. In what was classified as a normal year, the yields were relatively similar.In the no-tillage system of crop production. a mulch consisting of plant residues is present on the soil surface dUIing the growing season. The rate of water loss through mulches is generally very slow in companson to the rate of water loss from a moist soil surface. The reasons for this are threefold:1) In order for water to be lost by evaporation from a mulched soil. the water must change from a liquid to a vapor at the soil surface. The water vapor must then diffuse through the thickness of the mulch which significantly reduces the rate of loss when compared to a bare soil surface.2) The mulch reduces the quantity of direct solar radiation reaching the soil surface. thereby reducing the amount of energy available for evaporation. This is a factor that is very important under these subtropical conditions. 3) Mulches act as insulators to the downward conduction of heat into the soil.A schematic representation of cumulative evaporation versus time for a bare soil and for the same soil with a mulch is shown in Figure 7.The mulched soil retains the same rate of evaporation all through the time shown in Figure 7 while the bare soil has a much higher rate initially. If given sufficient time without rainfall, the cumulative evaporation of the mulched soil can exceed that of the bare soil because in the mulched soil water will be lost from greater depths. Soil water will be conserved in the mulched or notillage soil if rainfall occurs before the two curves cross each other. This time will vary for each soil type and location. but can be easily determined. In order that the maximum amount of water be conserved due to a mulch or no-tillage, rainfall should occur at about time A. When sufficient rainfall occurs to rewet the surface of the bare soil. evaporation will start again at an initial high rate and the curve shown in Figure 7 will be repeated. The more often this occurs. the more water is conserved by no-tillage or mulch. This increased amount of water may then be transpired by the growing crop.  through it cannot cause erosion. Permeability is highly correlated with the volume of macropores in the soils found in this area. such as Oxisols and Alfisols (Figure 8). The macropore volume is also correlated with soil compaction-the lesser the volume. the greater the compaction.    The national wheat breeding effort has been structured to identify varieties that are sufficiently flexible to produce well in the country's complex rice-based cropping systems, rather than attempt to change the systems to provide favorable conditions for the wheat crop. Such \"flexibility\" has meant relative yield stability across a range of 1) planting dates, from about mid-November to the first Of January, and 2) moisture availability.History has not been kind to varieties that did not measure up to these imposing standards. An indication of this lesson can be seen in Table I However, demand for Pavon declined soon after its release, as its yields tend to decrease dramatically when it is sown late (Table 2). This confines its use to the small percentage of farmers who can consistently plant at a favorable date.On the other hand, the yield of the earlier-maturing Sonalika is more reliable across planting dates, which accounts in part for its endurance in much of South Asia, including its position as de facto \"traditional\" wheat variety in Bangladesh. Despite   5), but significant saVings in time and animal energy would be gained.   During the early stages of the introduction of high-yielding varieties of wheat in Bangladesh, Dr. Sufi Ahmed, now Project Director of the Wheat Centre, and his small team personally attended and spoke at numerous farmers' meetings arranged by the DAE and even preached alone in rural market places to extend the new technology.The rapid speed at which both seed and information spread can only be accounted for by farmer-to-farmer contact, rather than institutional efforts. Although such media as radio and informational pamphlets are increasingly used, the structure of the extension efforts is grounded in the belief that farmer-to-farmer contact is the most effective means of promoting new but proven technology. Accordingly, we have taken the case for the \"Bangladesh\" varieties directly to the farmers in cooperation with the DAE.   The location of demonstrations has been at DAE discretion, but half were previously measured and designated for irrigated-favorable date of planting and the remaining dryland-favorable date of planting. Due apparently to the success of the program thus far, the DAE has accepted our suggestion that for maximum impact and relevance, demonstrations should also be directed toward a variety of unfavorable production environments. The additional 250 kits in 1986/87 are designated for late planting. We will continue to exert pressure toward demonstrating these varieties under increasingly marginal growing conditions.However, both the DAE and CIMMYT feel the program already has been successful. The DAE has been provided a foundation on which to support various extension efforts; farmers' \"rallies\" are organized around particularly good demonstrations, for example. The Wheat Centre has been provided 1) a door through which we may introduce new varieties directly to the farmers without having to wait at least 2 years for certified seed from BADC to become generally available to farmers; and 2) a qUick reading as to how successful we may expect these varieties to be on the basis of yield results and cooperators' opinions. The latter information has been also welcomed by BADC. Tables 3 and 4    The now more experienced wheat maximum of 30 farmers and 5 DAE research team of the Wheat Centre is officers to encourage fullest meeting the challenge of an participation. This program has been increasingly volatile socioeconomic initiated no less to \"train\" our own environment through the developofficers and selected DAE personnel ment of varieties more stable across than farmers; interaction. impossible production opportunities severely with large crowds. is imperative.limited by a traditional rice Two such \"seminars\" have been agriculture. The philosophy held each year since 1984/85 and.governing the extension of research although the program is small. the products is grounded in the belief quality of training per person is high. that farmer-to-farmer contact is the Farmer response has been very best vehicle for their dissemination. Seeds must be stored. As nearly all of the farmers seed is only stored for a period of about 8 months. the role respiration plays in the deterioration of seed quality may not be as great as expected as once thought. The storage period is too short to allow the deterioration to reach a critical stage unless the grain is extremely damp when stored.Insect damage is a problem for seed storage whether in the research station. the commercial seed store. or on the farm. Under conditions of poverty. illiteracy. and the relative inexperience with chemicals, chemical seed treatment presents a risk to human health. In Bangladesh, even certified seed is not treated for fear that it will find its way into the food grain market. At the farm level, insect control open to the commercial seed sector, such as artificial drying and the use of fumigants, is not available.The monsoon climate is ideally suited for insect activity and reproduction rates. which increase with the increase in temperature. Insects such as the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L.). lesser grain borer (Rhizopertha dominica F.J, the angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cereallea 0.). and the khapara beetle (Trogoderma granerium) require high levels of moisture to live. Dry seeds therefore, in addition to being generally more resistant to insect attack, proVide a poor environment for such pests. There are, however. insects that are capable of attacking even dry seed. Among these are the ant (Monomorium pharanois) which. in a recent survey of seed storage in Bangladesh (1), was found to be capable of attacking even very dry, hard wheat seed. Although seeds may be capable of germinating even with insect damage. the seeds are more susceptible to fungal attack both during storage and after planting.The most common fungi in stored wheat are the numerous species of Aspergillus and Penicillium (2).Heavy infestations may occur under conditions of high temperature and humidity which can result in either the death of the seed or a weakened plant after germination.Rodents, mainly black field rats (Bandicota bengalensis) , cause damage to stored seed through two means. The obvious effect is the eating of the seed. The less obvious, but probably more important damage, is done by creating holes in the farmers' plastic storage bags which results in an increase in moisture in the seed and subsequent insect infestation.The relatively short, but very successful history of wheat in Bangladesh has been well documented (1). In the 10 years between 1971 to 1981, local varieties were nearly completely replaced by high-yielding varieties. Production increased at a rate of 20% per year (3) of which nearly 40% of the increase was due to yield improvements. Wheat area increased from 150,000 ha in the rnid-1970s to 600,000 ha by the mid-1980s.The supply of institutional seed has been instrumental in enabling the farmers to shift from local to high yielding varieties. Yet the institutional seed supply, whether imported or locally produced, normally accounts for only 20 to 25% of the national wheat seed reqUirements. Although institutional seed supply is the cornerstone of the introduction of new higher yielding or disease-resistant varieties and the maintenance of pure seed stocks, it is evident that the seed stored on the farm has a pivotal role to play in a country's wheat production performance. A review of the Bangladesh experience may help to shed some light on the problems facing the smaller farmers in other tropical environments.Farms in Bangladesh are small. The area planted to wheat by farmers ranges from 0.1 ha up to 1.5 ha with an average of about 0.2 ha. Seed requirements therefore range from a few kilograms up to 150 kg. The type of storage used depends not only on the quantity to be stored, but also the financial capacity of the farmers and their knowledge of storage techniques. Generally farmers do not differentiate between grain and seed and simply retain enough of their wheat stocks for the next season's planting.In Bangladesh, the typical storage method of wheat seed is to carry out five to eight sun dryings until the seed has a moisture content of around 12-13.9%. The farmer estimates the moisture content by biting down on the kernel. After cooling overnight, the seed is placed in a container. If the container is not airtight, sun drying every 3 to 4 weeks throughout the summer will be necessary.The most common types of containers used are:Metal drum-If sealed, a metal drum can be used to store dry wheat seed throughout the monsoon season with little or no deterioration in quality. Drawbacks are the price (USSlO) and the capacity (170 kg) which are beyond the capabilities and reqUirements of the small farmer. Farmers also mix sand or wood ash with the grain, which has the effect of scratching the cuticle of the insect's body and the insect loses moisture through the scratches. If the grain is comparatively dry. the insects will not get enough moisture to replace the moisture loss.By far the most common form of insect control is through sun drying as most insects will leave the grain when temperatures reach 40 to 44°C.Rodent control is mainly through using rodent-proof containers or placing the seed in a location where it is difficult for the rodents to reach. Otherwise. rodent control measures are simply those commonly carried out by farmers to keep the rodents out of their liVing quarters.Except for the introduction of new varieties. the ideal situation would be for all other seed to be produced and stored by the farmers themselves. In reality, there will always be a need for an annual input of certified seed to maintain the purity of seed stocks used by the farmers. If the wheat production area is to increase in the tropiCS. farmers must be capable and willing to improve seed storage. both in terms of quantity and quality.The quality of a seed lot can be judged by both the purity of the sample. in terms of varieties and foreign material. and the vigor of the individual seeds. which is normally determined by the germination percentage. Major areas where seed quality can be adversely affected are:1) Impure crop stands being harvested for seed purposes.2) Inclement weather during harvesting/threshing.3) Lack of proper seed cleaning prior to storage.Storage of improperly dried grain.Ineffective storage containers resulting in moisture buildup and/or insect infestation and fungal infection.Lack of sufficient sun drying storage period for seed stored in non-airtight containers.The constraints to imprOVing the quality of wheat seed stored under tropical conditions are:1) Availability of appropriate storage containers.2) Availability of appropriate technical packages for smallscale farm level storage.3)The presence of a well trained. well motivated extension service for imparting the appropriate technology to the farmers.The availability of capital or credit facilities to enable farmers to purchase storage containers.The quantity of seed farmers intend to store will depend on their expectations of their own requirements in the following year.plus their estimates of the potential market for seed dUring the coming season. The amount they actually successfully store for the next planting season will depend on:1) The farmers' ability to store the seed free from major insect. fungal. or heat damage.2) The farmers' financial position through the storage period. Cash or food requirements may force the farmers to sell or consume part or all of their seed stocks.There are a number of areas where research is still required to reduce some of the constraints discussed above. These include:1) Appropriate cost-effective storage containers.Use of extracts from indigenous plants for the control of seed storage insects pests.3) The economic importance of fungal infestations of seed in relation to the effects not only on germination but also on crop yields. Twenty participants contributed to the pathology session. Several aspects of wheat pathology in tropical areas were discussed with the emphasis on integrated disease management.The group made the following 13 recommendations for future international collaboration:• Closer integration between disciplines in cropping systems management is needed. especially as it relates to interactions of biotic and abiotic factors.• There is a great need for uniform disease scoring methods.• Methods need to be developed for screening resistance to important pathogens.• Hot spot disease locations need to be located worldwide.• The etiology and epidemiology of important diseases under tropical conditions and the losses these diseases cause need to be studied more thoroughly.• A disease incidence and severity survey and standardized trials at key locations are required to determine the role of biotic factors in crop growth and development.• Investigations on the efficacy and phytotoxicity of seed treatment formulations are highly advisable.• The distribution of disease-free seed among international cooperators must be ensured.• Methods for appropriate on-farm storage need to be established.• Lab facilities at key locations should be upgraded.• CIMMYT should serve as the accumulator and processor of abiotic and biotic data generated by collaborators.• Increased funding for appropriate regional plant protection workshops is desirable.• Collaborative support for disease identification is necessary. The discussion group also identified whether cooperation should be on international or regional levels. or both.The group gave a high ranking to establishing a network of meteorological stations on an international basis. On a regional basis. estimating water-use efficiency and yield potential in drier areas. irrigation management for specific soils. and soil drainage were considered essential.Less importance was given to associating wheat culture with regional weather patterns (planUharvest date. frost. drought, waterlogging).Crop establishment problems were rated high for international cooperation. On a regional basis. long-term tillage x rotation studies. tillage x disease interaction. stubble retention, and planting time were given top priorities.Intermediate on the scale for regional cooperation were sowing equipmenUseed placemenUsowing techniques. Herbicide use and its residual effects. stubble management, and soil erosion were considered less essential.Diagnosis of nutritional stress (symptoms, soil and plant analysis, local fertilizer experiments) was assigned a high priority for both international and regional cooperation. Breeding for genotype tolerance to nutritional stress was considered significant for international cooperation. On a regional basis, fertilizer technology related to type. rate. method, and time of application; nutrient cycling in rotations; acid soils; and breeding for genotype tolerance to nutritional stress were ranked high by the group.Lower priority was assigned to fertilizer technology related to the benefits of green manure crops and farmyard manure and estimating the residual value of applied fertilizers.The discussion group urged that an international conference on Crop Nutrition in the Tropics be held in the near future.This category includes chemical. cultural, rotational, and biological control; regulatory issues. and sanitation. Pest population dynamics and control measures were considered major activities for regional cooperation.Research on weeds. diseases, insects. and integrated pest control was determined less important for regional cooperation.For regional cooperation, the group ranked cultivation, harvesting, and threshing high. Sowing, traction, grain storage. and spraying equipment were given lower priorities.Development of local markets for cash crops and cash flow was considered important for regional cooperation.Adoption of new technology and involvement of extension staff in local research (including prioritiZing of research) were regarded as important activities for regional cooperation.Trainirig was assigned a high priority for both international and regional cooperation.A.R. Klatt. Associate Director, CIMMYT Wheat Program. MexicoIt is no easy task to summarize what has been taking place during the last 5 days. but I will attempt to do so.On Monday we began by learning that there was a large range of environments in the tropical wheat zones of the world. These vary from the rice-wheat rotations common in South and Southeast Asia, to the warm dry environments in Africa, and finally the more humid environments common in certain parts of Latin America. I am sure many of us visualize the rice-wheat areas as the typical tropical wheat environment. However, we now are aware that the tropical wheat region comprises many environments, each with its special problems or constraints.From our discussions, it is still evident that we do not have a good definition of tropical environments as it pertains to wheat. It might be better to define these areas as nontemperate or nontraditional areas with higher than normal temperatures, generally throughout the growing season. In all cases it is important to point out that we are attempting to introduce a crop during the cool season in the tropics when normally no crop is currently being grown. Under no circumstances are we trying to introduce wheat into the humid tropical areas.We then moved into a discussion on the constraints of the rice-wheat rotation. Nearly all of the papers in this section, and probably most of the papers throughout the conference, discussed the problem of high temperatures and its effect on the wheat plant. ObViously, this led us to the conclusion that additional heat tolerance would be needed for wheat to be grown successfully in the tropics.We learned about the term \"PTQ\" and received the impression that heat tolerance may not be a major constraint to wheat production in many of the tropical areas-that is if other factors can be controlled so that the wheat plant can develop normally. Critical factors that must be present include sufficient nutrients, water. and sunshine for the plant to achieve this rapid growth. The author also pointed out that 4.5 Uha have been obtained in the tropics in a period of 100 days. If we think on a plant efficiency basis or a time efficiency basis, 4.5 Uha in 100 days compares quite favorably with a 7-Uha crop in a period of 150 days, which is quite typical of the more temperate areas. Please remember that our research in the tropical environments is just beginning and that 4.5 Uha may be common place within 10-15 years and it might even be possible in the future to compete with yield levels from many of the more temperate environments.Another common theme throughout the conference was the problems with plant establishment. We even had an opportunity to see the actual problems in the field. We know that this problem is related to waterlogging and to crusting that is common in the paddy soils of this region. Certainly, researchers must try to resolve these problems so that better stands can be obtained in the field. thus leading to higher yield potential.Quite certainly. where water is available. management of irrigation will be very important-not only to avoid waterlogging. but also to get maximum yield from the environment. In areas with limited water for irrigation. we must determine when is the opportune time to apply the water in order to achieve highest yields.With the main theme of our conference dealing with the ricewheat rotation areas of the world. we found that turnaround time between rice and wheat is critical. We had discussion on the benefits of minimum-and zero-tillage and how these practices might reduce this turnaround time and increase yield potential of the subsequent wheat crop. However, there are various problems associated with the minimum-and zero-tillage practices. including the reqUirement for mechanization and its special equipment, and the problem of increased insect and disease damage due to the carryover of the stubble. There will also be problems of farmer adoption in the South and Southeast Asia regions as well as maybe in other parts of the world.We then turned our attention to fertility management. discussing both macro-and micro-nutrient requirements. Without a doubt. macro-nutrients will still command the major portion of the researchers attention. but undoubtedly micronutrient research must be increased. especially in the rice-wheat rotation areas of South and Southeast Asia. With more intensive cultivation and multiple crops per year. it is quite likely that we will encounter micronutrient deficiencies in many parts of the world in the future years and we must adapt our research to resolve these impending problems.Without a doubt. diseases and pests will be important throughout the rice-wheat areas. We have heard that stem borer may become more serious on wheat due to its carryover in the rice stubble and this also may lead to increased problems in the subsequent rice crop. Most likely. there will be other insect problems that will become associated with a long-term rice-wheat association. Genetic resistance to these pests is a very long-term proposal and most control will have to be accomplished through management practices.A potentially severe problem in the tropical environments of South and Southeast Asia is the footrot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii. TWs organism is well adapted in areas of high temperatures and reasonably high humidity and is quite characteristic throughout South and Southeast Asia. We have seen evidence of the organism in the field and. as most of you know. it is capable of attacking a wide range of host crops. Genetic resistance is a possibility but will be a long-term endeavor. Other footrots will also play an important role within the rice-wheat rotation. Among these. we must include the fusariums. helminthosporium. and maybe even others. Quite obviously. more attention must be given to genetic control of these footrots in the futlire and agronomic practices must be investigated as an alternative means of control.Foliar diseases will be important throughout the region and the most permanent one will be helminthosporium leaf blotch. This disease was evident in some of the fields that we visited and losses can be quite traumatic if the conditions are conducive to disease development.Unfortunately most of the commercial varieties are susceptible and additional efforts must be made to find sources of resistance and incorporate those. genes into adapted genotypes. For sure. we can not forget the other foliar diseases. namely the rusts. but. for these. better sources of resistance are available.Our discussions then moved on to the breeding strategy that will be needed to resolve the constraints of the rice-wheat rotation. Again, due to the fact that we are dealing with a wide range of environments. We then turned our attention to the constraints in the nonirrigated tropical environments. We had hoped to have a paper dealing with moisture conservation tillage. but unfortunately the speaker could not come and so this topic was not discussed. I believe that you will agree with me that this topiC should be discussed in one of our future conferences. We heard that genetic improvement for drought tolerance has achieved some success. but all of us here would most likely agree that there is still more to be done in the future to improve the drought tolerance of the genotypes adapted to tropical environments. ObViously. this will take a concerted effort on the part of all of us to achieve this objective.Fertilizer management on nonacid and acid soils was discussed dUring the conference. Researchers in various countries have formulated excellent recommendations for the farmers. but these results need to be disseminated and additional research needs to be carried out in many countries. This is a research topic that will continue to require attention.Aluminum toxicity tolerance is a major factor in many parts of the world. especially in the acid soils of South America and in certain parts of Africa. Breeding for tolerance to toxic levels of aluminum has been successful. but additional progress can and must be made in the future.On the general theme of nutrient deficiencies and efficiencies. we discussed the macro-elements and the need for better testing procedures and probably the need for better identification procedures. especially for the micro-nutrients. Among the micro-nutrients mentioned were iron. zinc, manganese. copper. magnesium, boron. molybdenum, and one that surprisingly received little attention at this conference-sulfur. Sulfur will probably become one of the limiting micro-nutrients in the near futurenot only throughout the rice-growing areas of this part of the world, but also in many other areas.Scab resistance was another important topic discussed. We have heard about the progress achieved by the Chinese scientists and these superior materials are being used by many breeding programs around the world. including the CIMMYT program. Genetic resistance to scab obviously is present in the Chinese materials and it is only necessary to transfer this to adapted material for the tropics.The topic of footrots was also mentioned for the nonirrigated areas and these footrots are probably not that different from those mentioned for the rice-wheat area, but they may have a different ranking in the nonirrigated areas. It is doubtful that Sclerotium rolfsii will be a problem in the nonirrigated areas, but many of the other diseases including fusarium and helminthosporium will be present.In many parts of the wheat growing areas of South America. bacteria is becoming increasingly important. Preliminary indications are it will increase in importance in other areas of the world also. An author has indicated that resistance to bacteria can be incorporated through genetic means and our efforts must increase in this area in the near future.QUite certainly, we can not forget the other diseases, such as leaf rust. stem rust, and in some areas septoria and. of course, barley yellow dwarf. just to name a few. Excellent sources of resistance exist for leaf rust and stem rust. however we must increase our efforts to enhance septoria resistance for certain areas of South America and Africa. Barley yellow dwarf is a disease that is quite likely to increase in many parts of the world as wheat cultivation becomes more intense. Efforts are currently underway at CIMMYT to identify and incorporate better sources of resistance to this organism.We had a short discussion on one of the successes that has occurred in the tropical environment for wheat production-namely the story of Bangladesh. Fifteen years ago, many people in Bangladesh said that wheat could not grow there, but wheat researchers, most of them young. have shown that it can be accomplished. Today. Bangladeshi farmers are growing almost 700,000 ha and have an average yield of almost 2 tlha. More importantly, wheat has been accepted by the general population and now is eaten widely on a regular basis.Even more interesting is that in the short span of 10 years. Bangladesh has moved from the ranks of the nontraditional wheat growing countries into what can be called the traditional wheat groWing countries. This makes us wonder if a similar change can be accomplished in other countries-such as Thailand.One of the speakers also discussed the storage of seeds under tropical conditions and I believe that this will be an important factor if wheat growing is to be a success in many of the tropical areas. Farmers must learn not only how to effectively grow wheat. but also how to store it from one season to another without loosing germination. It was pointed out that very simple technology can achieve this objective and that many farmers are very willing to implement what needs to be done.Where are we today? Quite certainly. wheat can be grown in the tropics as we have seen in farmers' fields dUring the conference field trip. I have just mentioned the Bangladesh success story. but we also have the example of Burma and it is quite likely that Thailand will be next.There is also another question. Is wheat an economic crop in the tropics? I doubt that any of us here can answer that question. but we definitely have to think of wheat as a crop that is filling a void. instead of trying to compete with other crops. In other words. tropical wheat is an attempt to intensify the agricultural system. rather than the displacement of existing crops. In this manner. wheat has a bright future in many tropical areas of the world.Please understand that the following is my ranking of the future research priorities for wheat in the tropics.For the moment. I will put agronomy or crop management first primarily because I think we need to learn how to grow wheat successfully in the tropics-not only from a yield standpoint. but also from an economic standpoint. To accomplish this will require a great deal of research from many different individuals and institutions.Among the topics that must be investigated. we must include water management, stand establishment. problems with waterlogging. fertility management (macro-and micronutrients). minimum and zero tillage. and crop rotations. Obviously. the overall objective will be to obtain a satisfactory crop with good economic return and then convince the farmers to adopt the same practices. I firmly believe that wheat can be grown in the tropics and that it will become a more predominant crop in the future.Future research must concentrate on the issue of the sustainability of yields in rotation or in cropping sequences. This not only is a problem in South and Southeast Asia. but is a global problem that must be attacked on several fronts. In many countries. total production per year is beginning to decrease or at best is failing to increase. Further. we must not only find ways to maintain current levels of production. but also to increase yields and total productivity per year in order to maintain pace with population increases and to improve food standards of various peoples around the world.To accomplish this will reqUire a concerted effort not only on wheat but on the other crops that are grown in the system or in rotation with wheat and will reqUire a team of scientists from various disciplines working together.Fertility management must command a sizable research component in the future. In the ricewheat rotation. we are dealing with a fairly fragile environment and I believe we are going to see new problems. especially in regard to the micro-nutrients. The intensive cropping system. which is currently predominant throughout South and Southeast Asia and also in other parts of the world. will probably lead to more micro-nutrient deficiencies and. of course. will necessitate the continued application of the macroelements.Tillage practices definitely must be researched carefully and we have to find a way to shorten the turnaround time from one crop to another. thereby giving maximum advantage to both crops. Minimum and zero tillage are possible alternatives to solve this dilemma. Additional research needs to be given to rotations. One of the speakers in this conference indicated that rotations in most areas are fixed. however. I would say that they are fixed today. but farmers can and will change if there is an economic reason to do so. This has been demonstrated by the farmers in South and Southeast Asia repeatedly as they have switched to wheat in many areas.As priority number two. I would list government policies. especially agricultural polices. Maybe this deserves a number one ranking, but for the moment let us place it at a secondary level. QUite obviously, the governments of the world must give support and priority to agricultural research. They need to establish and maintain fair markets for the produce and to furnish incentives to the scientists who have to do the research. Most importantly, governments have to formulate policies that will create an interest on the part of the farmers to grow a crop-especially a new crop such as wheat. This may include price incentives. incentives on inputs, or other matters depending on the country.Government policies. whether correct or not. will determine the fate of wheat as a new crop in the tropics. If the policies give incentive to the farmers, then wheat will be adopted. If they do not, then quite certainly wheat will never become a commercial crop in the tropical zones.Even though I am a breeder by training. I will place germplasm improvement as priority number three. It may not have any less importance then the other two. but certainly at this point in time, greater gains can be achieved through agronomy and government policy then through germplasm improvement.Within the field of germplasm improvement. I rank both breeding and pathology important since they basically go hand in hand. We have to look for better adaptation to the tropical conditions. especially enhanced heat tolerance and characteristics that will resolve the other constraints that have been mentioned in this conference. There is a definite need to identify types with better tolerance to waterlogging and the source of this variation may come from the Chinese wheats.A wide array of diseases will be constraints throughout the tropical wheat regions of the world. All of these must be confronted and genetic resistance will need to be incorporated. For some diseases. this will be quite simple, while for others this will be quite difficult and time consuming. To achieve these objectives. it will require an integrated approach involVing wheat breeders. pathologists. and probably also agronomists.Epidemiology of diseases in tropical environments is an area that will command more attention in the future. We have very little information about how fast organisms will mutate and new races or biotypes will develop. We may be dealing with an environment where changes occur very rapidly and this will necessitate the incorporation of durable types of resistance or the • release of new varieties every 1 or 2 years. Only through research will we be able to determine whether epidemiology differs in the tropics versus what we are accustomed to in the more temperate environments. This research must begin in the near term.It is my impression that to successfully cultivate wheat in the tropics will require a very precise production technology. A small mistake may lead to disastrous results. For example. even a little bit too much water can result in severe waterlogging of the wheat plant and greatly reduce yield potential or can result in crusting and poor plant establishment. Farmers must be informed of these potential hazards and must make every effort to apply the proper package of techniques to assure good crop production. To develop the technology necessary for wheat production in the tropics will require a concerted and coordinated effort on the part of a team of scientists at the international level. This team must involve breeders, pathologists. agronomists, physiologists. soil scientists. and maybe, most important of all, government officials who are willing to implement good and sound agricultural policies. With sound agricultural policies that support agricultural research and research scientists and with well trained scientists. I have no doubt that wheat will find its place in the marginal and warmer environments of the world.We have heard a lot about PTg during this conference. Since the environment is probably not limiting. we must make every effort to supply the necessary ingredients to take advantage of the conditions that prevail throughout the tropics. However, I want to give PTg a different definition because I think we need it more now than we have ever needed it before. I would say PTg stands for perseverance, tenacity, and quality-in that we must have perseverance and tenacity on the part of the researchers to resolve the problems in the various tropical regions of the world and quality as related to quality of research, in order to make wheat a commercial crop for these areas of the world.Identificaci6n de las restricciones a la producci6n y progreso logrado en el sur y el sudeste de Asia D.A. Saunders. Programa de Trigo. CIMMYT. Bangkok. Ta11andiaEn los paises mas tropicales de esta regi6n. como Tailandia. Filipinas e Indonesia, existe un creciente in teres en 1a producci6n interna de trigo. En esta etapatemprana de 1a obtenci6n de genotipos y de 1a definici6n de las practicas de manejo, no se puede esperar que e1 trigo compita con los cultivos tradicionales adaptados. Mas bien. se debe fomentar 1a producci6n del trigo como cu1tivo ad/clonal en las rotaciones en las que ex/ste un vacio durante 1atemporada seca y [ria, que, por diversas razones, sue1e produc/rse en los medios de tierras altas de secano 0 en los de cultivo del arroz. En los primeros, ya se han registrado rendimientos en las fincas de hasta 2.5 Uha y, en los segundos, de hasta 5 Uha.Se pueden esperar mayores aumentos del rendimiento como resultado del emp1eo de germop1asma mejorado (mediante 1a se1ecci6n de pob1ac/ones segregantes en los medios que se desea beneficiar) y de las teen/cas de manejo del cultivo. La siembra mas oportuna, un mejor aprovechamiento del agua, 1a 1ucha contra las enfermedades y las malezas, una mayor efic/encia en e1 emp1eo de fert1lizantes y tecnicas mas aprop/adas para 1a trilla contribuiran a aumentar cons/derab1emente e1 rendimiento.Los costos de los insumos constituyen un factor esencial eel las comunidades agrico1as de toda 1a regi6n y, en algunas zonas, t/ende a dism/nuir 1a util/zaci6n de fert1lizantes a causa de las presiones de los precios de esos productos en e1 mercado. En ciertas zonas nunca se usan fert1l/zantes. Existe un riesgo en potencia de que e1 cultivo ad/cional del trigo agote 1a fert/lidad y esto provoque una reducc/6n del rendim/ento en los cultivos para autoconsumo, o sea. e1 arroz 0 e1 maiz.Identificaci6n de restricciones a la producci6n y progreso logrado en America Central y del Sur P.C. Wall. Programa de Trigo. CIMMYT. Quito. EcuadorLa mayoria de los problemas re1ac/onados con 1a producc/6n de trigo en las zonas mas calidas de America Central y del Sur se vincu1an con tres factores ambientales basicos: 1a temperatura. 1a humedad y los tJpos de sue10. Se han usado las definiciones de Papadakis (5) y mapas de sue10s para caracterizar distintos medios de acuerdo con las temperaturas invernales. 1a humedad y e1 tipo de sue10. Se produce trtgo 0 se experimenta con este cultivo en un variado conjunto de medias de 1a regi6n.Las temperaturas e1evadas pueden l/mitar el potencial de rendimiento, pero. en general, los efectos de 1a temperatura parecen afectar los cu1tivos menos que los efectos del regimen de humedad 0 los sue10s acidos. Hay indicios de que las temperaturas muy altas pueden causar trastornos fis/016gicos y las he1adas suelen representar un problema en zonas restringidas de 1a regi6n.Los regimenes de humedad varian mucho en las zonas mas calidas y en muchos medios 1a falta de humedad es un grave factor limitante. En las partes mas hlimedas de 1a regi6n. se producen enfermedades: en este trabajo se anal/zan las combinac/ones de temperatura y humedad necesarias para la aparici6n de las principales enfermedades encontradas.Los suelos acidos abarcan la mayoria de las zonas mas calidas de America Central y del Sur e imponen gran des limitac/ones al desarrollo de los cultivos. Se han obtenido variedades de trigo con cierta resistencia a la toxicidad del aluminio. No obstante, es poco probable que las var/edades basten por si solas para superar los problemas que plantean estos suelos yen el futuro sera necesario hacer hincapie en las tecnicas de manejo de los cultivos y el suelo.Identificacion de restricciones a la produccion y progreso logrado en Africa 5i bien es este trabajo se incluye la \"receta\" para producir 10 Uha con temperaturas elevadas. junto con las necesidades de agua seglin los distintos deficit de presi6n de vapor y las cantidades requeridas de nitr6geno y radiaci6n solar. tam bien se consideran los efectos de los medios restrictivos sobre el desarrollo del cultivo. Se hace hincapie en las practicas agron6micas 6ptimas durante las primeras etapas del desarrollo antes del doble aporcado. y en la selecci6n de un genotlpo apropiado para las condiciones de desarrollo previstas. Las caracteristicas genotipicas que varian incluyen el tamaflO de la semilla, la superficie de la primera hoja, el intervalo entre fllocrones y la respuesta a la vernalizaci6n.Necesidad de macroelementos y aspectos relacionados con el manejo de la fertilldad en las zonas de rotaci6n trigo/arroz Fusarium graminearum fue la espeeie predominante identiflcada en 2.450 muestras de aislamientos obtenidos en 21 provlncias de China. Se detect6 una variaci6n signiflcativa en la virulencia de los aislamientos. pero no se descubri6 patogenicidad especiflca en los aislamientos de F. graminearum.No hubo diferencias signiflcativas en 1a patogenicldad de las ascosporas y los conidios 0 en la de una 0 dos y 100 esporas por cada 5pl de suspensl6n.Se han comparado metodos de inoeulaci6n in vitro e in vivo. Se recomienda que la selecci6n para lograr resistencia al tiz6n de la espiga causado por Fusarium se base en la seleeci6n primaria efectuada en grandes ensayos de selecci6n usando el metodo tradicional en el campo. Los materiales avanzados obtenidos deben ser sometidos nuevamente a la selecci6n usando la tecnica de inoculaci6n mediante inyecci6n y el bioensayo del coleoptilo etiolado con el fln de conflnnar la resistencia. Enfermedades bacterianas del trigo y su importancia en las regiones tropicales • el rendimiento medio de todas las entradas incluidas en los ISWYN.• variedades producidas par el CIMMYT que se lanzaron mas recientemente. y• variedades altas y tolerantes a la sequia desarrolladas en la localidad.Los resultados demuestran que. en los dos liltimos decenios. se 10gr6 un avance continuo en el potencial de rendimiento en medios afectados por la sequia usando variedades semienanas seleccionadas en condiciones casi 6ptimas. Las dos variedades testigos mostraron una gran estabilidad temporal y espacial del rendimiento en esos medios y produjeron renmmientos superiores a los de las variedades altas. desarrolladas en la localidad. Las variedades obtenidas mas recientemente. que const1tuyen el mejor grupo de trigos de alto rendimiento y adaptacion amplia del CIMMYT. se comportaron mejor que los testigos y las variedades mas antiguas en practicamente todas las condiciones. incluso en las de sequia.Esos resultados indican que se pueden combinar el potencial de rendimiento elevado y la capacidad de respuesta a los insumos en materiales resistentes a la sequia.Se analizan los resultados en el contexto de distintos metodos de fitomejoramiento para las situaciones de carencia de humedad. incluido el metoda de fitomejoramiento del CIMMYT para obtener tolerancia a la sequia.Progreso alcanzado en Brasil en la obtenci6n de trigos con mayor tolerancia a la toxicidad del aluminio R.G. Matzenbacher. Centro Experimental y de Investigaciones de FECOTRIGO. Cruz Alta. BrasilResumen La gran mayoria de los suelos brasileiios cultivados con trigo tienen un pH bajo. un alto grado de toxicidad provocada por el aluminio y una escasa concentraci6n de f6sforo. El aluminio interfiere en el desarrollo de las plantas y causa una anomalia fisiol6gica llamada \"crestamento \". Todas las variedades brasileiias de trigo lanzadas para este tipo de suelo (latosol) son tolerantes a la toxicidad del aluminio. Los problemas del suelo y la incidencia elevada de enfermedades son factores que limitan la producci6n de trigo. La aplicaci6n de cal para eliminar la toxicidad del aluminio aumenta la productividad del suelo.Actualmente varias instituciones brasileiias llevan a cabo dinamicos programas de fitomejoramiento y contribuyen asi a lograr una productividad mayor y mas estable del trigo. La evoluci6n de los trigos brasileiios paso por muchas elapas y. entre ellas. tuvo gran importancia la introduccion de trigos mexicanos. En los liltimos aiios. gracias a las variedades mejoradas nuevas. se han obtenido rendimientos de grano de hasta 5.000 kg/ha en condiciones experimentales en suelos acidos. En condiciones de campo se han alcanzado rendimientos de 2.500 kglha en las zonas donde se aplican las tecnologias recomendadas. En suelos encalados e irrigados. los trigos mexicanos pueden producir hasta 7.000 kg de grano por hectarea.Obtencion de trigos mas eficientes en el aprovechamiento de los nutrientes: progreso y potencial R.D. Graham. Instituto Waite de Investigaciones Agricolas. Glen Osmond. Australia MeridionalSe define la eficiencia en el aprovechamiento de un nutriente como la capacidad de un genotipo de desarrollarse en un suelo que carece de la cantidad de ese nutriente requerida por un genotipo normal. En el trigo hay considerable diversidad genetica en relaci6n con la eficiencia en el aprovechamiento del Cu. el Zn y el Mn. y parece posible el mejoramienw para obtener esas caracteristicas y combinarlas en un solo genotipo. Existe una gran eficiencia en el centeno y aparentemente se podran transferir esas caracteristicas del centeno al trigo mediante la translocacion de cromosomas. EI triticale ha heredado la eficiencia en e1 aprovechamiento de los nutrientes de su progenitor. el centeno. E1 progreso hacia una mayor eficiencia en el aprovechamiento del P se ve obstaculizado por la falta de conocimientos sob,e los elementos bioquimicas que intervienen y la carencia de procedimientos eficaces de' selecci6n. Se arguye que el aprovechamiento del N en e1 triga es ya tan eficiente como se requiere. La eficiencia en el aprovechamiento de los nutrientes puede conferir mayor resistencia 0 tolerancia a las enfermcdades y la sequia. un cnraizamiento mas profundo y mayor capacidad de respucsta al empleo de otros fertilizantes. en particular al N.Practicas de manejo integrado de las plagas en los medios tropicales donde se cultiva el trigo Almacenamiento de la semilla de trigo en medios tropicales D.J. Clements. Equlpo del Sector de Agricultura de Bangladesh y Canada. Dacca. BangladeshEl almacenamiento de la semilla del trigo en las condiciones de los medios tropicales plantea problemas distintos de los del almacenamiento en las zonas don de el cereal es un cultivo tradicional. Las temperaturas y la humedad relativa elevadas no permiten aplicar metodos de almacenamiento eficaces y de bajo cos to. Los agricultores se han adaptado muy bien a los nuevos problemas v/nculados con la produce/on de semJlla de trigo. Una de las principales lim/tac/ones para mejorar la calidad y la cant/dad de la semJlla almacenada en las flncas es la carenc/a de contencdores para el almacenamiento. Otra restricci6n importante es que los agrtcultores. a causa de su necesidad de alimentos y de dinero en efectivo. no pueden reservar parte del grana cosechado para conservarlo como semilla.  ","tokenCount":"57749"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5328921654.json b/data/part_1/5328921654.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4e779c94b9f4123bf3eab2fbf3b2dc776eade106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5328921654.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"568705b2c548c0f730230f3a9b3ddfe7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d42ebb62-fcaf-43ef-9c5e-714acabdbf1e/content","id":"824402787"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"31d4fa9b-7a3c-40c0-ab8e-83125b7946d4","pagecount":"24","content":"Multistage linear selection indices select individual traits available at different times or stages and are applied mainly in animals and tree breeding, where the traits under consideration become evident at different ages. The main indices are: the unrestricted, the restricted, and the predetermined proportional gain selection index. The restricted and predetermined proportional gain indices allow null and predetermined restrictions to be imposed on the trait expected genetic gain (or multitrait selection response) values, whereas the rest of the traits remain changed without any restriction. The three indices can use phenotypic, genomic, or both sets of information to predict the unobservable net genetic merit values of the candidates for selection and all of them maximize the selection response, the expected genetic gain for each trait, have maximum accuracy, are the best predictor of the net genetic merit, and provide the breeder with an objective rule for evaluating and selecting several traits simultaneously. The theory of the foregoing indices is based on the independent culling method and on the linear phenotypic selection index, and is described in this chapter in the phenotypic and genomic selection context. Their theoretical results are validated in a two-stage breeding selection scheme using real and simulated data.1. To predict the net genetic merit H ¼ w 0 g, where g 0 ¼ [g 1 g 2 . . . g t ] is the vector of true breeding values of an individual for t traits and w 0 ¼ w 1 w 2 . . . w t ½ is the vector of economic weights. 2. To select individuals with the highest H values at each stage as parents of the next generation. 3. To maximize the MLPSI selection response and its expected genetic gain per trait.4. To provide the breeder with an objective rule for evaluating and selecting several traits simultaneously.When selection is based on all the individual traits of interest jointly, the LPSI vector of coefficients that maximizes the selection response R ¼ k ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ffi b 0 Pb p and the expected genetic gain per trait E ¼ k Cb ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi b 0 Pb p is b ¼ P À1 Cw, where C and P are the covariance matrices of the true breeding values (g) and trait phenotypic values (y) respectively, and k is the selection intensity. In MLPSI terminology, the LPSI is called a one-stage selection index. The MLPSI is an extension of the LPSI theory to the multistage selection context and, as we shall see, the MLPSI theoretical results are very similar to the LPSI theoretical results described in Chap. 2.Let y 0 ¼ y 1 y 2 Á Á Á y t ½ be a vector with t traits of interest and suppose that we can select only n i of them (n i < t) at stage i (i¼ 1, 2, Á Á Á, N), such that after N stages (N < t), ∑ N i¼1 n i ¼ t. Thus, for each stage we should have a selection index with a different number of traits. For example, at stage i the index would be I i ¼ ∑ where the double subscript of y ij indicates that the jth trait is measured at stage i, so that at each sub-index I i , all the n i traits are measured at the same age.Suppose that there are four traits of interest and that y 0 ¼ y 1 y 2 y 3 y 4 ½ is the vector of observable phenotypic values and g 0 ¼ g 1 g 2 g 3 g 4 ½ is the vector of unobservable breeding values. If at the first and second stages we select two traits, then n 1 ¼ n 2 ¼ 2 and y 0 can be partitioned as y 0 ¼ x 0 1 x 0 2 ½ , where x 0 1 ¼ y 1 y 2 ½ and x 0 2 ¼ y 3 y 4 ½ are the vectors of traits that become evident at the first and second stages respectively. At the first stage, the phenotypic covariance matrix of x 1 (P 1 ) and the covariance matrix of x 1 with the vector of true breeding values g (G 1 ) can be written as Varrespectively. For the second stage, in addition to matrix P 1 , we need the phenotypic covariance matrix between x 1 and x 2 (P 12 ) and the phenotypic covariance matrix of x 2 (P 2 ); thus, the covariance matrix of phenotypic values at stage 2 is. In a similar manner, in addition to matrix G 1 , at stage 2 we need the covariance between x 2 and g (G 2 ); that is, at stage 2 the covariance matrix between phenotypic and breeding values can be written asand C are not exactly the same, because although! and this latter matrix changes at each stage.Let w 0 ¼ w 1 w 2 w 3 w 4 ½ be the vector of economic weights; then, at the first and second stages the MLPSI vectors of coefficients are b 0The selection indices at stages 1 and 2 can be written as2 y, which could be correlated and then numerical integration would be required to find optimal truncation points and selection intensities (Xu and Muir 1992;Hicks et al. 1998) before obtaining the maximized MLPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait.The accuracy of the MLPSI at stages 1 and 2 can be written as respectively. Let k 1 and k 2 be the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2; then, the maximized MLPSI expected genetic gains per trait can be written asand the total expected genetic gain per trait for the two stages is equal to E 1 + E 2 . In a similar manner, the maximized selection responses for both stages areand the total selection response for the two stages is R 1 + R 2 . In Eqs. (9.1) to (9.3), matrices P * and C * are matrices P and C respectively, adjusted for previous selection onThat is, the MLPSI accuracy, expected genetic gain per trait, and selection response at stage 2 are affected by previous selection on I 1 (Saxton 1983) and it is necessary to adjust P and C.One method for adjusting matrices P and C has been provided by Cochran (1951) and Cunningham (1975). Suppose that X, Y, and W are three jointly normally distributed random variables and that the covariance among them is known, then the covariance between X and Y adjusted for the effects of selection on W can be obtained aswhere u ¼ k 1 (k 1 À τ), k 1 is the selection intensity at stage 1 and τ is the truncation point when I 1 ¼ b 0 1 x 1 is applied. For example, if the selection intensity at the first stage is 5%, k 1 ¼ 2.063, τ ¼ 1.645, and u ¼ 0.862 (Falconer and Mackay 1996, Table A).According to Dekkers (2014), with the result of Eq. ( 9.4), it is possible to obtain matrices P * and C * using the following two equations:With the Eq. ( 9.5) result, the correlation between ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ffi b 0 2 Pb 2 q are the standard deviations of the variances ofSelection intensity k is related to the height of the ordinate of the normal curve (z) and the proportion selected ( p) in the LPSI as k ¼ z/p. In the multistage selection context, it is usual to fix the total proportion to be selected ( p) before selection is carried out and then to determine the unknown proportion q i (i¼1, 2,Á Á Á, N ) for each stage under the restrictionwhere N is the number of stages. In the two-stage selection scheme, we would have p ¼ q 1 q 2 . Based on the fixed proportion p and the ρ 12 value (Eq. 9.7), Young (1964) used the bivariate truncated normal distribution theory to obtain the selection intensity for two stages. A truncated distribution is a conditional distribution resulting when the domain of the parent distribution is restricted to a smaller region (Hattaway 2010). In the multistage selection context, a truncation occurs when a sample of individuals from the parent distribution are selected as parents for the next selection cycle, thus creating a new population of individuals that follow a truncated normal distribution. Suppose that I 1 ¼ b 0 1 x 1 and I 2 ¼ b 0 2 y have joint normal distribution and let I 1 and I 2 be transformed as v 1 ¼with a mean of zero and a variance of 1, where μ I 2 and μ I 2 are the means, whereas σ I 1 and σ I 2 are the standard deviations of the variances of I 1 and I 2 respectively. In this case, the method of selection is to retain animals or plants with v 1 ! c 1 at stage 1 and v 1 + v 2 ! c 2 at stage 2, where c 1 and c 2 are truncation points for I 1 and I 2 respectively.The selected population has bivariate left truncated normal distribution with a probability density function given byp , whereand ρ 12 is the correlation between v 1 and v 2 . The fixed total proportion ( p) before selection can be written as p ¼where c 1 and c 2 are truncation points for I 1 and I 2 , respectively. Then, as p is fixed, Young (1964) integrated by parts (Thomas 2014)and found the expectations of v 1 and v 2 in the selected population, writing the selection intensity values for stages 1 (k 1 ) and 2 (k 2 ) asp are the heights of the ordinates of the standard normal distribution at the lowest value of c 1 andp and p is the total proportion of the population of animal or plantand Q(b) ¼ 1 À Φ(b) are the complement of the standard normal distribution;probabilities of the standard normal distribution, i.e., Φ(a) ¼ P r (W a) and Φ(b) ¼ P r (T b).Young (1964) provided figures to obtain values of c 1 and c 2 when the ρ 12 values are between À0.8 and 0.8, and the p values are between 0.05 and 0.8. For example, suppose that ρ 12 ¼ 0.8 and p ¼ 0.2 (or 20%), then, according to Young (1964, Fig. 9), c 1 ¼ 0.80 and c 2 ¼ 1.6, and to find the selection intensities for the first (k 1 ) and second stages (k 2 ) we need to solve Eqs. (9.10) and (9.11). That is, as c 1 ¼ 0.80, c 2 ¼ 1.6, ρ 12 ¼ 0.8, andBased on these results, the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2 areNote that the values of Φ(a) ¼ 0.6064 and Φ(b) ¼ 0.5 can be obtained from any table with values showing the area under the curve of the standard normal distribution (e.g., Rausand and Hϕyland 2004, Table F.1).One problem with Eqs. (9.10) and (9.11) is that they tend to overestimate the selection intensities values and also overestimate the selection response when the total proportion retained p is lower than 10%. Cochran (1951) have given two equations to obtain selection intensities in the two stages context but his equations also overestimate the selection intensities values when p is lower than 10%. Up to now, there is not an accurate method to estimate selection intensities for two or more stages in the MLPSI context. Mi et al. (2014) have developed an R package called selectiongain that enables calculation of the OMLPSI selection response for up to 20 selection stages. Selectiongain uses raw integration to obtain the first moment of a lower truncated multivariate standard normal distribution and then it estimates the OMLPSI selection response at each stage; however, this integral requires complex numerical algorithms with no convergence criteria (Arismendi 2013) and could also overestimate the selection intensity at each stage.To illustrate the two-stage selection theory, we use the poultry data of Xu and Muir (1992). This data set contains four traits: age at sexual maturity, defined as the age (in days) at which the first trap-nested egg was laid (y 1 ); rate of lay, defined as 100 times (total eggs in the laying period)/(total days in the laying period) (y 2 ); body weight (in pounds) measured at 32 weeks of age (y 3 ); and average egg weight (in ounces per dozen) of all the eggs laid up to 32 weeks of age (y 4 ). . Suppose that at the first and second stages we select two traits (n 1 ¼ n 2 ¼ 2); then,  were the estimated standard deviations of the variance of b I 1 and b I 2 respectively. Assuming that p ¼ 0.2 (or 20%), an approximate selection intensity for the first stage was k 1 ¼ 0.744, whence the estimated MLPSI selection response, expected genetic gain per trait, and accuracy were bAccording to the k 1 ¼ 0.744 value, the approached value of u was u ¼ 0.554, and by Eqs. For the second stage, the approximated selection intensity was k 2 ¼ 0.721, whereas the estimated MLPSI selection response, expected genetic gain per trait and accuracy, weretively. Finally, the total estimated MLPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait wereThe multistage restricted linear phenotypic selection index (MRLPSI) is an extension of the null restricted linear phenotypic selection index (RLPSI) described in Chap. 3 to the multistage case; thus, the theoretical results of the MRLPSI are very similar to those of the RLPSI. The MRLPSI allows restrictions equal to zero to be imposed on the expected genetic gains of some traits, whereas other traits increase (or decrease) their expected genetic gains without any restrictions being imposed.In Chap. 3, we indicated that vector b R ¼ Kb is a linear transformation of the LPSI vector of coefficients (b) made by the projector matrix K, and that matrix K is idempotent (K ¼ K 2 ) and projects b into a space smaller than the original space of b.The reduction of the space into which matrix K projects b is equal to the number of zeros that appears on the expected genetic gain per trait. Hence, the MRLPSI vector of coefficients for stages 1 and 2 should be a linear transformation of the MLPSI vector of coefficients at stages 1 (b 1 ¼ P À1 1 G 1 w) and 2 (b 2 ¼ P À1 Cw) described in Sect. 9.1.1 of this chapter, and should be written asrespectively, where, at stage 1,1 is an identity matrix of the same size as P 1 , and2 is an identity matrix of the same size as P, and P À1 is the inverse of matrix P. By Eqs. (9.12) and (9.13), the MRLPSI for stages 1 and 2 can be written asx 0 1 and x 0 2 are the vectors of traits that become evident at the first and second stages respectively.Let k 1 and k 2 be the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2 (Eqs. 9.10 and 9.11) respectively, and let P * and C * be the covariance matrices adjusted in the MRLPSI context according to Eqs. (9.5) and (9.5) respectively. The maximized MRLPSI selection response, expected genetic gain per trait, and accuracy at stages 1 and 2 can be written asrespectively, whereas the total MRLPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait for both stages are equal toTo illustrate the MRLPSI theory for a two-stage selection breeding scheme, we use the real data set of the White Leghorn chickens of Hicks et al. (1998). This data set is conformed with six traits ( y 1 to y 6 ) that correspond to records consisting of the number of eggs laid during different periods: from week 0 through 4 (y 1 ), 4 through 8 (y 2 ), 8 through 28 ( y 3 ), 28 through 32 ( y 4 ), 32 through 36 (y 5 ), and 36 through 52 (y 6 ) respectively. respectively, and w 0 ¼ 0:08 0:08 0:38 0:08 0:08 0:31 ½ was the vector of economic weights.Let y 0 ¼ y 1 y 2 y 3 y 4 y 5 y 6 ½ and g 0 ¼ g 1 g 2 g 3 g 4 g 5 g 6 ½ be the vectors of observed phenotypic and unobserved genotypic values respectively, and suppose that at stage 1 we select four traits and at stage 2 we select two traits, then x 0 1 ¼ y 1 y 2 y 3 y 4 ½ and x 0 2 ¼ y 5 y 6 ½ are the vector of observations at stages 1 and 2 respectively, whereasis the vector of total observations at stage 2. We need to estimate vectors b1 and b 0 2 ¼ w 0 G 0 P À1 . In Chap. 3, we described methods of estimating matrices respectively. At both stages, traits y 1 and y 2 are restricted. Matrix U can be written as U 0 ¼ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 ! , whence the estimated matrix of The estimated vector b  Young (1964, Fig. 8), and Eqs. (9.10) and (9.11), the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2 were k 1 ¼ 0.641 and k 2 ¼ 0.593 respectively. The estimated selection responses and expected genetic gains per traits for both stages were We can explain these results considering that although b ρ R 2 was obtained with six traits, b ρ R 1 was obtained only with four traits, two of them restricted.The main objectives of the multistage predetermined proportional gain linear phenotypic selection index (MPPG-LPSI) are the same as those of the predetermined proportional gain linear phenotypic selection index (PPG-LPSI) described in Chap. 3, i.e., to optimize, under some predetermined restrictions, the expected genetic gains per trait, to predict the net genetic merit, and to select the individual with the highest net genetic merit values as parents of the next generation under some predetermined restrictions. The MPPG-LPSI allows restrictions different from zero to be imposed on the expected genetic gains of some traits, whereas other traits increase (or decrease) their expected genetic gains without any restrictions being imposed.In a similar manner to the MRLPSI, the MPPG-LPSI vector of coefficients for stages 1 and 2 should be a linear transformation of the MLPSI vector of coefficients at stages 1 (b 1 ¼ P À1 1 G 1 w) and 2 (b 2 ¼ P À1 Cw), and should be written asrespectively, where, at stage 1,, I 1 is an identity matrix of the same size as P 1 , and, I is an identity matrix of the same size as P, P À1 is the inverse of matrix P, and, the vector PPG (predetermined proportional gains) imposed by the breeder (see Chap. 3 for details).By Eqs. (9.17) and (9.18), the MPPG-LPSI for stages 1 and 2 can be written asy respectively, where, assuming that at stage 1 we select four traits and at stage 2 we select two traits, x 0 1 ¼ y 1 y 2 y 3 y 4 ½ and x 0 2 ¼ y 5 y 6 ½ are the vectors of phenotypic observations at stages 1 and 2 respectively, and y 0 ¼ x 0 1 x 0 2 ½ is the vector of total phenotypic observations at stage 2. Let k 1 and k 2 be the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2 (Eqs. 9.10 and 9.11) respectively and let P * and C * be the adjusted matrices according to Eqs. (9.5) and (9.6) in the MPPG-LPSI context. Then, the MPPG-LPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait for both stages can be written asrespectively, whereas the total MPPG-LPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait for both stages are equal toIn addition, the MPPG-LPSI accuracy for both stages can be written asWe use the real described in Sect. 9.2.2 to illustrate the theoretical results of the MPPG-LPSI in the same form as we did with those of the MRLPSI. We need to estimate vectors b 0 respectively, whereas w 0 ¼ 0:08 0:08 0:38 0:08 0:08 0:31 ½ was the vector of economic weights. The traits restricted at both stages are y 1 , y 2 , and y 3 . The vector of PPG was d 0 ¼ 2 3 5 ½ , whence D 0 ¼ 5 0 À2 0 5 À3 ! and U 0 ¼ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 3 5 were matrices D 0 and U. The estimated matrices of M 0 1 and At stages 1 and 2, the estimated MPPG-LPSI vector of coefficients were b b 0According to Young (1964, Fig. 8), the selection intensities for stages 1 and 2 were k 1 ¼ 0.744 and k 2 ¼ 0.721 (Eqs. 9.10 and 9.11) respectively.The estimated selection responses and expected genetic gains per traits for both 755 2:662 4:797 ½ 2:561 4:161 2:639 were the total estimated MPPGLPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait respectively. Note that the vector of predetermined restriction was d 0 ¼ 2 3 5 ½ . This means that the MPPG-LPSI efficiency at predicting the total expected genetic gain per trait was high because the difference between each predetermined value (2, 3, and 5) and the total of each predicted value (1.755, 2.662, and 4.797) were 0.245, 0.338, and 0.203 respectively.Finally, the estimated MPPG-LPSI accuracy at stage 1 was b ρ:428; that is, both were very similar.We describe the multistage linear genomic selection indices (MLGSI) as an extension of the linear genomic selection index (LGSI, Chap. 5) theory to the multistage genomic selection context; thus, the theoretical results of the MLGSI are very similar to those of the LGSI. The MLGSI is a linear combination of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) and is useful for predicting individual net genetic merit and for selecting individuals from a nonphenotyped testing population as parents of the next selection cycle.The objective of the MLGSI is to predict the net genetic merit H ¼ w 0 g, where g is a vector of true breeding values and w 0 is the vector of economic weights, using only GEBVs. In Chap. 5, we indicated that the covariance between γ i and g i is equal to the variance of γ i , i.e., Cov g i ; γ i ð Þ¼s 2 i , and that the GEBV associated with the ith trait is a predictor of the ith vector of genomic breeding values (γ i ). In the testing population, the only observable information is w 0 and the GEBV associated with the traits of interest. For this reason, in practice, we construct a linear combination of GEBVs, which should be a good predictor of H ¼ w 0 g.Suppose that the breeder is interested in four traits, and that Matrix A 1 indicates that we are assuming that the covariance between γ i and g j (i, j ¼ 1, 2, Á Á Á, g; g¼ number of genotypes) is equal to the covariance between γ i and γ j . This is because, in practice, in the testing population, we can only estimate matrix Γ.At stage 2, Γ ¼ Var(γ) is the covariance matrix of γ and A ¼ Γ is the covariance matrix of the vector of genomic breeding values γ with the vector of breeding values g. The MLGSI vector of coefficients at stages 1 and 2 arerespectively, and the MLGSI for both stages can be written asLet k 1 and k 2 be the MLGSI selection intensities for stages 1 and 2. For both stages, the MLGSI accuracies ( ρ HI 1 and ρ HI 2 ), expected genetic gains per trait (E 1 and E 2 ) and selection responses (R 1 and R 2 ) can be written asThe total MLGSI expected genetic gain per trait and selection response at both stages are equal to E 1 + E 2 and R 1 + R 2 . To simplify notation, in Eqs. (9.23) and (9.24), we have omitted the intervals between stages or selection cycles (L G ). Matrices C * and Γ * in Eqs. (9.22) to (9.23) are matrices Γ and C adjusted for previous selection on I 1 .We adjust matrices Γ and C for previous selection on I 1 asrespectively, where u ¼ k 1 (k 1 À τ), k 1 is the standardized selection differential, and τ is the truncation point when I 1 ¼ β 0 1 γ 1 is applied. All the terms in Eq. (9.26) were defined in Eq. (9.6).The correlation between I 1 ¼ β 0 1 γ 1 and I 2 ¼ w 0 γ can be written aswhere ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ffi β 0 1 Γ 1 β 1 q and ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi w 0 Γw p are the standard deviations of the variances of I 1 ¼ β 0 1 γ 1 and I 2 ¼ w 0 γ respectively. In Eq. (9.27), matrix Γ was not adjusted according to Eq. (9.25).All the MLGSI parameters are associated with matrix Γ; thus, the estimation of this matrix in the testing population is very important. We estimate matrix Γ according to the estimation method described in Chap. 5 (Eq. 5.25), that is, asu q 0 at stage l or selection cycle of the testing population; g is the number of genotypes; b μ γ ql and b μ γ q 0 l are the estimated arithmetic means of the values of b γ ql and b γ q 0 l ; 1 is an g  1 vector of 1s and G l ¼ c À1 X l X 0 l is the additive genomic relationship matrix at stage l or selection cycle in the testing population (see Chap. 5 for details).We illustrate the MLGSI theoretical results using the data described in Chap. 2, Sect. 2.8.1 simulated for eight phenotypic and seven genomic selection cycles, each with four traits (T 1 , T , T 3 and T 4 500 genotypes, four replicates for each genotype, 2500 molecular markers, and 315 quantitative trait loci in one environment. The economic weights of T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , and T 4 were 1, À1, 1, and 1 respectively. In this subsection, and only for illustrative purposes, we use the data set from cycle 1.The genotypic and genomic estimated covariance matrices in cycle 1 were are the estimated covariance matrices of Γ 1 and A 1 respectively, and the estimated MLGSI vector of coefficients was b, the estimated MLGSI vector of coefficients is the vector of economic weights. Thus, b ρ  9.5 The Multistage Restricted Linear Genomic Selection Index (MRLGSI)The restricted linear genomic selection index (RLGSI) described in Chap. 3 is extended to the multistage restricted linear genomic selection index (MRLGSI) context in a two-stage breeding selection scheme.In Sect. 9.4.1, we indicated that the MLGSI vector of coefficients at stage 1 can be written asIt can be shown that the MRLGSI vector of coefficients is a linear transformation of vectors β 1 and β 2 made by matrix K G , which is a projector (see Chaps. 3 and 6 for details) that projects β 1 and β 2 into a space smaller than the original space of β 1 and β 2 . Thus, at stages 1 and 2, the MRLGSI vector of coefficients is2 Γ are matrix projectors. By Eqs. (9.29) and (9.30), the MRLGSI at stages 1 and 2 can be written asare vectors of genomic breeding values, which can be estimated using GEBVs, as described in Chap. 5. In Chap. 6 we described methods for constructing matrix U 0 and estimating matrix K G ; those methods are also valid in the MRLGSI context.In a similar manner to the MLGSI context, MRLGSI accuracies, expected genetic gains per trait, and selection responses for stages 1 and 2 in the testing population can be written asrespectively. The total MRLGSI expected genetic gain per trait and selection response for both stages are equal to where β R 1 was defined in Eq. (9.29) and vector b R 1 can be obtained according to the RLPSI as described in Chap. 3. The term u ¼ k(k À τ) was defined earlier.The correlation between I R 1 ¼ β 0 R 1 γ 1 and I R 2 ¼ β 0 R 2 γ can be written asare the standard deviations of the variances ofIn Eq. (9.36), matrix Γ was not adjusted for previous selection on I R 1 ¼ β 0 R 1 γ 1 .To illustrate the MRLGSI theory in a two-stage breeding selection scheme, we use the simulated data described in Sect. 9.4.3. In that subsection we indicated that the was the estimated MLGSI vector of coefficients at stage 1. At stage 2, the estimated MLGSI vector of coefficients was w 0 ¼ 1 À1 1 1 ½ , the vector of economic weights.Suppose that we restrict only trait 2; then at stages 1 and 2, matrix U 0are the estimated matrices described in Eqs. (9.29) and (9.30) for stages 1 and 2. It can be shown that, at stages 1 and 2, b1:01:0 are the MRLGSI vectors of coefficients respectively. Suppose that the total proportion retained for the two stages was 20%, then at stage 1, k 1 ¼ 0.744 is an associated approximated selection intensity and the estimated MRLGSI selection response, expected genetic gain per trait, and accuracy where k 2 ¼ 0.721 was the approximated selection intensity value for stage 2.The estimated total MRLGSI selection response and expected genetic gain at stages 1 and 2 were653 respectively. Note that, in effect, the expected genetic gain for trait 2 was 0, as expected.The MPPG-LGSI is an adaptation of the predetermined proportional gain linear genomic selection index (PPG-LGSI) described in Chap. 6; thus, the theoretical results, properties, and objectives of both indices are similar. The MPPG-LGSI objective is to change μ q to μ q + d q , where d q is a predetermined change in μ q . We solve this problem by minimizing the mean squared difference between I ¼ β 0 γ andis the vector of predetermined restrictions, U 0 is a matrix (t À 1)  t of 1s and 0s, and Γ is a covariance matrix of additive genomic breeding values, γ 0 ¼ [γ 1 γ 2 . . .γ t ], where r is the number of predetermined restrictions and t the number of traits.According to the results in Chap. 6, at stages 1 and 2, the MPPG-LGSI vector of coefficients can be written aswere described in Eqs. (9.29) and (9.30). Also, it can be shown that the proportionality constants for stages 1 (θ 1 ) and 2 (θ 2 ) arerespectively. By Eqs. (9.37) to (9.39), the MPPG-LGSI for stages 1 and 2 can be written as I P 1 ¼ β 0 P 1 γ 1 and I P 2 ¼ β 0 P 2 γ respectively, where γ 1 and γ are vectors of genomic breeding values, which can be estimated using GEBVs (see Chap. 5 for details).For stages 1 and 2, the MPPG-LGSI accuracies (ρ HI 1 and ρ HI 2 ), expected genetic gains per trait (E P 1 and E P 2 ), and selection responses (R P 1 and R P 2 ) can be written as The correlation between I P 1 ¼ β 0 P 1 γ 1 and I P 2 ¼ β 0 P 2 γ can be written as:43ÞIn Eq. (9.43), matrix Γ was not adjusted for previous selection on I P 1 ¼ β 0 P 1 γ 1 .To illustrate the MPPG-LGSI theory, we use the simulated data described in Sect. 9.4.3. Suppose that we select two traits at stages 1 and 2; then, at stage are the estimated covariance matrices of Γ 1 and A 1 respectively. We restricted trait 2 with d ¼ À 2; then, at the stage 1 matrix U 0 1 ¼ 0 1 ½ and at the stage 2 matrixare the estimates of matrix projectors associated with stages 1 and 2 (Eqs. 9.37 and 9.38 for details).In Sect. 9.4.3, we showed that the estimated MRLGSI vector of coefficients for stage 1 was bThus, by Eq. (9.37), to obtain b R P 2 ¼ 9:99 and b E 0 P 1 þ b E 0 P 2 ¼ 4:62 À2:45 1:85 1:07 ½ respectively. Note that the total expected genetic gain for trait 2 was À2.45, which is similar to d ¼ À 2, the PPG imposed by the breeder. Finally, to simplify the notation, we omitted the intervals between stages or selection cycles (L G ) in the estimated MPPG-LPSI selection response and expected genetic gain for both stages.","tokenCount":"5530"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5361122379.json b/data/part_1/5361122379.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..012cfd23bceee7ef038ec846b292e638beac766b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5361122379.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a088aaa23829e53a7dca776e00614616","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/50bea977-0df4-44fd-b441-16d395438b4c/retrieve","id":"1718122452"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db465047-a0c7-4b52-8328-7d1ec6f58cdc","pagecount":"4","content":"The International Livestock Research Institute Nigeria's livestock sector plays a vital role in the economy, contributing about 17% of the agricultural GDP and 5% to the national GDP. However, it faces challenges that impact productivity, sustainability, and food security. Inadequate feed resources contribute to farmer-herder conflicts, while low local breed productivity and diseases hamper growth. Lack of data and inefficiencies are further hurdles. Downstream, insufficient support and extension services limit the adoption of modern techniques by livestock farmers. Coordination within livestock value chains is lacking. Addressing these issues requires better resource utilization, funding access, marketing and favorable policies. Research for alternative feed resources and indigenous breed improvement is crucial to boost productivity amid growing demand for livestock products. How is ILRI addressing these challengesThe International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has the capacity to play a significant role in supporting Nigeria's livestock sector through research, technical assistance and evidence-based policy frameworks. By closing production gaps and fostering sustainable growth, ILRI and its partners are helping to build resilience in Nigeria's livestock sector and unlock its potential for a prosperous future.In strong partnership with government agencies, the private sector and all stakeholders, ILRI has been a driving force in livestock research and development in Nigeria for over four decades. Throughout this time, ILRI has undertaken projects that remain priority areas for ongoing research and development in the country.• Feed Resource Development: ILRI's focus on researching feed and forage improvement methods has led to advancements in climate-smart forage species and conservation. Ongoing research involves the evaluation of new forage species in various agroecological zones and exploring the potential of food-feed crops. ILRI also conducts research on the use of High Quality Cassava Peel (HQCP) as a partial replacement for maize in animal diets, particularly in poultry farming. 'As an experienced poultry farmer who has tested and adopted the use of HQCP, I am encouraging ILRI to push and get more people to be trained and certified on the processing. I am ready to be an ambassador and tell all poultry farmers that HQCP is a good alternative to Maize and can help reduce the price of poultry products.'High Quality Cassava Peel fine mash. Photo ILRIILRI's ongoing initiatives encompass a diverse range of projects aimed at fostering sustainable and resilient livestock development in Nigeria.• High-Quality Cassava Peel (HQCP) production scaling, providing training and support to over 1,100 individuals individuals who are either starting up or intending to scale up the HQCP technology. Efforts to scale HQCP production is increasing the demand from poultry and ruminant farmers for this innovative feed resource.• Capacity development through specialized training in different livestock production and value chains, which are benefiting over 3,300 youths in goat production and 100 entrepreneurs in poultry production.• Promoting fodder potential from staple food crops such as maize and rice with partners Africa Rice and IITA. Successful efforts could lead to the availability of approximately 26.5 million tonnes of rice straw and 18.4 million tonnes of maize stover annually for livestock feed.• Evaluating and identifying suitable forage species such as grasses and legumes for areas with limited resources, reducing the environmental impact of livestock production and ensuring sustainable practices.• Assessing fodder market potential in Nigerian livestock markets, enhancing market access and efficiency for livestock farmers. • Assisting the USAID Feed the Future's GAIN initiative, addressing food safety and foodborne disease issues in Nigeria's livestock sector.• Analyzing demand and consumption trends of animal products in Nigeria, providing critical insights for strategic planning. ","tokenCount":"577"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5369477631.json b/data/part_1/5369477631.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..34790bc5b51020a5953b06cec55301fa010805e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5369477631.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1848b1ab1ad7c8033adc32a236d1bee7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e807fdc-e0f3-4906-a756-54018a583fa7/retrieve","id":"-181707876"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0cc2462d-f2d9-4262-a606-a82567399a6e","pagecount":"14","content":"Las consideraciones que se hacen en este documento son una contribución de CLA YUCA a ta discusión que: se realiza actualmentt:: en Colombia, sobre el potencial de utilizar el cultivo de la yuca como una estrategia de desarrollo agroíndustrial del sector rural.Estas consideraciones están basada. .. en las experiencias que bemos tenido en el eIA T con el cultivo de l~ yuca durante los últimos 25 años. y en CLA YUCA durante los óltirnos cuatro años.Los datos que se presentan a continuación han sido generados por CLA YUCA basándose en fuentes confiables de información como el U . . .lo que ejercía una preslón en la demanda de materias primas. especialmente cereales como sorgo y maíz. Los trozos de yuca se usaban como un componeme energético de los alimentos balanceados. En 1980, se estaban importando en Colombia cerca de 200,000 toneladas de sorgo por año.3. El desarrollo de este mercado fue muy rápido. Ya en 1993. se produjeron cerca de 35,000 toneladas de yuca seca, con un valor aproximado de 6,2 millones de dólares, que demandaron un volumen de 90,000 toneladas de raíces de yuca. Durante las dos últimas décadas, el sector avícola ha mantenido sus tasas de crecimiento sostenido (más de 9% por año. en promedio para los años 1990s).lo que ha ayudado a convertir a Colombia en un país con una agricultura de puertos, si se considera que en el año 2000 se importaron lJ1ás de dos millones de toneladas de maíz para uso en la alimentación animal. El tamaño del mercado aumentó díez veces en los últimos años; sin embargo, la oferta de trozos de yuca seca en 1999 fue solamente de 15,000 toneladas (Figura 5).4. La pregunta lógica sería entonces: ¿por qué los agricultores colombianos no han aumentado su oferta para atender la demanda creciente? Entre las razones que se han dado para explícar esta situación están la falta de tierra para aumentar las siembras de yuca, los buenos precios de la yuca en el mercado fresco como consecuencia de este mercado alternativo y los altos <.:ostos de las raíces en función de la baja productividad, ta cual reduce la competitividad de la yuca con relación a otros cultivos con los que debe competir como el maíz importado de Estados Unidos y Canadá, pa(ses en los que es producido con grandes esquemas de subsidios.5. EstimalÍvos hechos por algunas entidades, considerando un reemplazo del 20% de los granos importados por harina de y\\lca. indican que en el año 2003. la demanda en Colombia por harina de yuca. sl hubiera estado disponible. habría sido cerca de 470.000 toneladas.También indican que si las tendencias de crecimiento del sector se mantienen, en el año 2010. el tamaño del mercado de los alimentos balanceados en Colomb¡u se habrá incrementado en un 132% en comparación con 1990, y en un 65.53% comparado con el dd año 2000 (Tablas 3) 6. Basado en estas: eApenencias. el Gobierno de Colombia inició en el año 2000 la implementaci6n de una nueva estrategia destinada a promover el desarrollo del cultivo de la yuca corno un componente competitivo en la industria. de alimentos balanceados para animales, Esta nueva estrategia incluye la fonnación de alianzas estratégicas con empresas del sector privado, entidades del séctor publico, grupos de productores. y entidades de investigación y transferencia de tecnología como el elA T y CLA YUCA. La meta establecida. por el MADR para tos próximos años. es que el sector yuquero de Colombia sea capaz de producir 400.000 toneladas por año, de harina de yuca y de trozos. secos. Este volumen ayudaría a reducir las importaciones actuales de maíz para alimentación animal en cerca del 20%, Para atcanzar -estos objetivos. se va a necesitar procesar cerca de un millón de toneladas de raíces, en un área sembrada de cerca de 40,000 a 50,000 hectáreas.7. Uno de los aspectos daves en estos programas es la selecci6n de la tecnología de procesamiento. Si se toma la decisión de seguir el modelo Tailandés, basado en grandes áreas de pisos de cemento, las inversiones de capital necesarias para construir la infraestructura serán muy altas. Por otra pane, si se adopta una tecnología alternativa. basada en desarraBas recientes de CLA Yl:CA y algunas empresas colombianas. la inversión inicial requerida será mucho menor y la calidad final del producto será mejor.CLA YUCA ha elaborado algunos cálculos para comparar ambas opciones (Tabla 5), Se observa que la. instalación de una planta de procesamiento de harina de yuca, usando secado J artificial. tendrfa un costo aproximado de USS 150,000 y tendría una capacidad de producción de casi 6,000 toneladas por año de harina de yuca con óptima calidad del producto final. De otra parte, considerando las condiciones climáticas que prevalecen en Colombia. al utilizar la tecnología de secado natural en pisos de concreto. para producir la misma cantidad de harina de yuca. se haría necesaria una inversión de US$ 583,000 casi cuatro veces más.8. Otra consideración importante es en relación con los costos de procesamiento, los cuales son detenninantes en el precio final de la harina de yuca. La Tabla 6 presenta un estudio comparativo de los costos de procesamiento de harina y trozos de yuca utilizando las tecnologías de secado artificial y secado al sol. respectivamente. Se observa que los costos finales en ambos-sistemas son muy similares. La diferencia importante es en la calidad final del producto. ya que con la tecnOlogía de secado al sol. el producto {trozas) tiene un riesgo mayor de contaminación. 9. La rentabilidad del negocio de la harina de yuca en Colombia está relacionada con el precio del maíz.. Se considera que el precio final de la harina de yuca debe ser alrededor del 70% del precio del maíz. En la Tabla 7 se presenta un análísis actualizado de la estructura de costos para producción de harina de yuca, a precios de mayo 2003. en pesos por tonelada, Se incluyen los -costos de procesamiento 'j también los COStoS de transporte de las raíces haSIa las plantas de procesamiento. Además. la equivalencia entre yuca fresca y harina de yuca debo! ser considerada; es decir, el factor de conversión de 2,7 kilogramos de raíces para obtener 1 kilogramo de harina de yuca. El otro factor que tiene influencia en el precio de la barina de yuca son lQS aranceles de importación que estén vigentes en el país. Se observa de este análisis que para garanti7N la rentabilidad del negocio de la harina de yuca, los precios máximos de captación de la materia prima en las plantas de procesamiento deben estar alrededor de Col$ 90 por kilogramo, Jos costos de procesamiento no deben exceder de Col$57 kglharina de yuca y los costos de flete local para llevar la materia prima hasta las plantas de procesamiento no deben ser supenores a Col$ 10,000 par tonelada de raíces de yuca.10. El desafío que se le presenta al sector yuquero colombiano es, entonces, producir raíces de yuca a precios competitivos (alrededor de Col$ 50,000 a 60,000 por tonelada; 17 a 21 dólares por tonelada), de forma que aún en una situación de reducción de aranceles de import.ací6n. los precios de las raíces de )'Uca al nivel de finca le pennitan a los productores obtener ganancias y, además, el precio final de la harina de yuca le permita a la planta de procesamiento obtener ganancias. Una situación en la que tados ganen es la única garantía de que las plantas de procesamiento de harina van a funcionar y que los agricultores se verán estimulados a incrementar sus siembras de yuca pam abastecerlas de materia prima.11, Análisis econÓrrucos. hechos en el CIAT y.en CLA yt;CA, basados en el uso de variedades industriales con prooucti\"idad alrededor de 25 toneladas por hectárea indican que aún con aranceles de importación del 0%, la harina de yuca puede ser-una opción competitiva para el mercado de alimentas balanceados para animales. Los elementos claves para consoJJdar este potencial san el uso de variedades más productivas, un manejo adecuado del cultivo, especialmente en relación con el mejoramiento y mantenimiento de la fertilidad del suelo y una tecnología eficiente de procesamiento. El reto para el erA T y para CLA YUCA es apoyar el sector yuquero colombiano en la implementación de este macro proyecto agroindustnal de yuca en v:lrias regiones del país.12. Análisis financiero de una planta de procesamiento de harina de yuca. La estrategia.sobre la cual se están formulando actualmente en Colombia los proyectos agroindustriales con el cultivo de la yuca, está basada en la instalaci6n de una planta de procesamíento de harina de yuca en una zona productora deI cultivo. que ayude a los agricultores a establecer y fortalecer vínculos con mercados alternativos como el de los alimentos balanceados para animales. Estos mercados crecientes le darán a los agricultores acceso a mejores precios y les ayudarán a mejorar sus ingresos y su calidad de vida, Adicionalmente, los nuevos mercados estimularán los agricultores a volverse más competitivos. adoptando tecnologías mejoradas para la producción de yuca. Para facilitar el análisis de la viabilidad económica de las plantas de procesamiento de harina de yuca, CLAYUCA ha realizado algunos cálculos utilizando un modelo sencillo de análisis financiero, Las características generales de la planta de procesamiento y los parámetros que se han asumido para realizar estos cálculos se presentan en la Tabla 8. Los resultados obtenidos con el modelo de análisis financiero se presentan en la.Tabla 9.13, Utilizando los datos presentados en la Tabla 9 se puede observar que el proyecto es económicamente viable con la altemati va básica seleccionada de comprar raices de yuca a precio de 90 SCúllkg. tener costos de procesamiento de 57 $Collkg de harina de yuca y vender la yuca a 350 $Collkg. puesta. en la planta de secado. en estas condiciones. fa t.a.. .. a interna de retorno es de 47.2%, En la Tabla 10 se presenta un análisis de sensibilidad para díferentes opciones de precios de la materia prima y de la harina de yuca Este análisis indica que la viabilidad financiera del proyecto es altamente susceptible a los precios de la materia prima y a los cambios en el precio de mercado para la harina de yuca, El precio de la materia prírnJ. admite aIgún grado de control por parte de los agricultores dadas las opciones tecnológicas que ex.isten para aumentar los rendimientos y la motivación de los agricultores para adoptar las tecnologías propuestas. Por ejemplo, con un precio de la harina de yuca de 350 $Collkg. una reducción del precio de la material prima en un 10%, (de 90 a 80 $CoVkg de yuca fresca), aumentaría la tasa intema de retorno del proyecto hasta 68.4%. Esta disnúnución de precio puede lograrse mejorando la productividad del cultivo de la yuca, Por otro lado, ta viabilidad del proyecto es muy afectada por cambios en los precios del producto final, la harina de yuca.Se observa que una disoúnuclón del 10% en el predo de la harina de yuca, de 350 a 315 $Collkg. reduce la tasa interna de retomo a 11.1 %. El precio de la harina de yuca en el mercado es un parámetro más dificil de controlar por parte de los agricultores. ya que depende de factores externos como las tasas de aranceles que estén vigentes en el país para la importación de cereales corno el maíz, Esta vulnerabilidad a factores externos es compensada en cIerta forma por el hecho de que, aún COn aranceles de importación reducidos, el precio doméstico para los cereales importados es alto. pues los costos de transporte desde los puertos hasta los sitios de producción de animales y de alimentos balanceados son altos, La ventaja comparativa de la yuca en estos casos es la posibilidad de instalar programas de producción de yuca y plantas de procesamiento de harina de yuca en áreas cercanas a los sitios de mercado, En los datos presentados en la Tabla 10 se observa que aún con precios de barina de yuca de 235,000 $CoUt (cerca de tOO USSlkg), se óbtleneuna tasa interna de retomo positiva (24J%), siemprey cuando el precio de las raíces de yuca no exceda un valor de 75 $CoVkg de raíz.14, El tamaño del mercado exi.stente para la harina de yuca en Colombia es otro de Jos factores importantes a considerar en la formulación de los proyectos agroindustriales. Utilizando la información presentada en las Tablas 1,2 Y 3, se pueden hacer las siguientes consideraciones: 5 -/ Para el año 2003, la producción estimada de alimentos balanceados en Colombia será de 3.950,000 toneladas ..,¡ Considerando que en una tonelada de alimentos balanceados, el 60% es maíz, entonces se tiene que la demanda de malz por parte de este sector, para el año 2003, sería de 2,370.000 toneladas../ Ante la insuficiencia de oferta de .maíz por parte del sector agrícola nacional, se tiene que recurrir a las importaciones. Para el año 2003, el volumen de maíz importado debe superar los 2 millones de toneladas ../ Asumiendo que el 20% del maíz importado pudiera ser sustituido con la harina de yuca producida en el país. tendríamos una demanda potencial de 470,000 toneladas por año ../ Para producir 470.000 toneladas de harina de yuca, con un factor de conversión de 2.7, sería necesario producir 1,270,000 toneladas de raíces de yuca ../ Considerando una productividad de 25 toneladas por hectárea, sería necesano sembrar 50,800 hectáreas para atender la demanda del sector de alimentos balanceados para animales.15. El modelo de planta procesadora de harina de yuca que se está promoviendo en Colombia, con capacidad de procesar 3,5 toneladas de raíces de yuca por hora, trabajando 16 horas diarias y operando 270 días por año, tendría una demanda anual de 15,120 toneladas de raíces, lo que equivaldría aproximadamente a 600 hectáreas por cada planta de procesamiento de harina de yuca.16. Para atender la demanda de harina de yuca por parte del sector de alimentos balanceados para animales, sin considerar otros sectores industriales, se tendría entonces un potencial en Colombia para establecer 85 proyectos agroindustriales, con una planta de procesamiento de harina de yuca y un área de 600 hectáreas de yuca, cada uno. 17. El impacto social y económico de un proyecto de esta envergadura estaría representado no solamente en la contribución a economizar divisas a través de la sustitución de parte de las importaciones de cereales sino que también contribuiría a crear oportunidades de empleo. Por cada hectárea de yuca que se siembre, se necesitan aproximadamente 70 jornales, con un nivel moderado de tecnología (Tabla 11). Se tendría entonces que un proyecto agroindustrial de yuca, con 600 hectáreas, contribuiría a la creación de cerca de 140 empleos directos, en la producción de la yuca y en la operación de la planta de procesamiento de harina de yuca. Sin duda, una contribución importante que un cultivo tropical como la yuca le puede dar al desarrollo económico del sector agrícola del país .   o Maíz Importado 1,799,860 1,805,000 1,800,000 1,600,000 1,506,316 1,620,119 1,638,935• 1,400,000• 1,200,000 \" 1,028,670• 1,000,000  : TranSpOrte Buenaventura -Buga\"'*. oor tonelada : Precio de maíz, BU2a. por tonelada Precio eouivalente cara harina de yuca vara alimentación avfcola, 70% Costos de OfO(:esamiento, por tonelada de harina de yuca i Precio de harina de yuca, por tonelada : Factor de conversión, yuca fresca ¡ harina de YUCa. 2.1 : Costos de tr'ansnorte local (distancia estimada ::::: 20 kmts) I Precio máximo de 1 tonelada de raíces de yuca en finca  ","tokenCount":"2552"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5371428711.json b/data/part_1/5371428711.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0efc59842029c9e26ab53e3ac218b7ec7139f2cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5371428711.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de35e08328033f69b4dc050ad30f51f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7bc7755c-f9da-40a4-834c-cd40028d098d/retrieve","id":"-2027344769"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cb387902-d84a-4c28-8e84-c78f8be50801","pagecount":"6","content":"The name was given because single plant produces 5 to 7 medium sized roots, enough for each child in a family of 6 children (families with many children). The vines are very spreading hence it has high vine growth and yield. It is a late maturing variety between 5 and 6 months which can produce up to 25 MT/ha. The name was given to it since it produces large roots, and early maturing allowing for piecemeal harvesting. Kaphulira vines are spreading. It is an early maturing variety between 3 and 4 months, with a potential yield of 35 MT/ha. Nankhwali strives to renew basic starter material for multiplication of OFSP vines via purchases from DARS/Bvumbwe. All Nankhwali multiplication fields are regularly rogued to remove any diseased plants and off types, ensuring healthy planting material of a pure variety. Nankhwali is registered with the Government of Malawi Seed Inspection Service and all fields are formally inspected at least twice a season -first in the midseason and then again prior to harvest. Nankhwali planting material is prepared in bundles of 100 x 30 cm long cuttings which are labelled with the name of the variety and the Nankhwali contact information to facilitate traceability.Nankhwali Farm is located along the Mulanje -Phalomber Road in Mbewa Village, T.A. Mabuka, Mulanje District, 11km from Mulanje Boma, along the Nankhwali River.Nankhwali Farm has 11 hectares of land which is irrigated. Seven hectares are currently dedicated to sweet potato multiplication. The farm has adequate water supply from the Nankhwali River and gravity irrigation with overhead sprinkler system. As a result Nankhwali Farm is able to harvest up to 20,000 bundles of high quality and certified sweetpotato vines twice a year to meet both rainy reason as well as winter season demand.","tokenCount":"293"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5376210481.json b/data/part_1/5376210481.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..147b6046d14387d5421f1ecfcb0901f9b5d070a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5376210481.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12640ad5764ecf5d5a9b13d26121935d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9bd38a18-c390-48a0-8cfc-2045156d0ed5/retrieve","id":"1656363292"},"keywords":["• P740 -Product Line 5","1","2: Fit-for-purpose national and meso-level strategies for livestock investment and policy OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report"],"sieverID":"6557d108-e57f-4b7b-a134-88e0f91ce643","pagecount":"5","content":"The 2019 EAT Lancet Report introduced new global dietary guidelines that promote reduced consumption of animal source foods. In response, scientists from the CGIAR research programs on Livestock and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) synthesized and promoted evidence on the contribution of livestock to human nutrition and livelihoods in developing countries, highlighting the need for more inclusive dietary recommendations. Global discussions were also influenced by an op-ed by a senior official from Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture developed with ILRI.In early 2019, a report released by the EAT Lancet commission took the world by storm, proposing a new planetary diet to feed a growing global population while staying within planetary boundaries. This diet recommends a big reduction in animal source foods (ASFs) and leans heavily towards plant-based food sources. What the report did not adequately address, however, is what the diet would mean for the global south, where livestock are not only a critical source of nutrition but also essential to livelihoods.2019 also saw the rise of plant-based alternative meats (alt-meats), further fueling anti-livestock media coverage. ILRI and partners led advocacy efforts to provide perspectives on the diet from low and middle income countries and to balance global and national media coverage of the report focused heavily on reduced consumption of ASFs. One powerful example is when ILRI staff developed an evidence-based op-ed targeted at global policy development specialists to help them understand the report's negative implications on developing world diets. Authored by a senior ministry official from Ethiopia, the op-ed offered a Global South perspective and pointed out gaps in the report, particularly in its implications for the South where such recommendations would be hard to adapt. The article was picked up and promoted on various social media channels and by senior decision-makers in global policy development. The op-ed was also quoted in an official statement issued by the Permanent Mission of Italy to the International Organizations in Geneva that called for the World Health Organization (WHO) to retract its support for the report.Another successful media piece was the opinion article authored by ILRI agricultural economist, Isabelle Baltenweck, entitled \"'Alt meats' are not the answer for poorer countries\", published in the Financial Times, which made the point that animal-source food is less a consumer product than a vital source of income, food and livelihood. ILRI, A4NH, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) also organized a side event at the EAT forum in June 2019, to highlight potential solutions and pathways towards healthier, diverse diets in developing countries.• https://tinyurl.com/y23hsdas The 2019 EAT Lancet report sets new dietary guidelines to promote a global sustainable diet. While the report provides recommendations to achieve balanced human and planetary health, its applicability in low and middle income countries (LMICs) has not been well understood.Although the report acknowledges in parts that the guidelines are not a 'one-size-fits-all' solution, the report summary and ensuing media coverage focus heavily on the recommendation to reduce consumption of animal source foods (ASFs). The report is built on limited scientific evidence that such reduction would lead to better health and environmental outcomes, especially in LMICs. By focusing on the consumption side, the authors overlooked the huge contribution of livestock to people's livelihoods in these systems. A reduction in this sector would have negative consequences on women and men's incomes, impacting not only production but also inputs and services across livestock value chains.Advocacy efforts by ILRI and partners focused on shaping a more balanced conversation that includes perspectives from LMICs. Existing scientific evidence was used to demonstrate the negative impacts that the EAT Lancet diet could have in LMICs, where micronutrients from meat, milk and eggs have the potential to help these countries achieve their nutrition security goals. Additional evidence was derived from ILRI's White paper on 'Meat: The Future Series-Options for the Livestock Sector in Developing and Emerging Economies to 2030 and Beyond (1), that explains how the world's smalland medium-scale livestock sector can in fact help feed the world sustainably, safely and equitably.Finally, at the EAT forum in June 2019, ILRI, A4NH, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) organized a side event to highlight potential solutions and pathways towards healthier, diverse diets in developing countries (2). The session was chaired by Zimbabwean scholar Lindiwe Sibanda, ex-chairperson of ILRI's board and a co-author of the report, whose quote on the differences in meat consumption in the global north and south was included in a New Yorker article on Impossible burger and alternative meats.","tokenCount":"761"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5383824891.json b/data/part_1/5383824891.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9538f7563a4ce6a34739fd8cbc65d16212387ef6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5383824891.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1cb0dd59123c1033778a238a3aba8eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/80922c27-c336-4213-9772-123bc54b5815/retrieve","id":"-849791315"},"keywords":["Screen house","field resistance","taro cultivars","taro leaf blight","Phytophtora colocasiae"],"sieverID":"b7c58a68-0639-4903-a9b4-505e7b36fc5d","pagecount":"15","content":"Introduction: Taro leaf blight disease cause by Phytophtora colocasiae has become an economic disease in Cocoyam growing regions of Cameroon. Aims: To screen for resistance 10 improved and 4 local cultivars of taro against taro leaf blight disease. Study Design: A randomized complete block design study. Place of Study: Studies were conducted at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Yaounde Nkolbisson from July 2013 to January 2014. Methodology: Taro cultivars from tissue culture were planted in the screen house conditions and Original Research Article tested for virulence and pathogenicity with 4 isolates of Phythophthora colocasiae at spore density of 3×104 spores /ml of distilled water. Plants were planted in the field to assess disease incidence and severity.Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a perennial tropical starchy root crop which belongs to the Araceae family [1]. It originated from South East Asia and later spread into other parts of the continent and Africa of tropical climatic settings [2]. Taro cultivation is high in Nigeria, China, Cameroon and Ghana, where the annual rainfall exceeds 2000 mm and it grows best under hot and wet conditions with temperatures above 21°C. It is sensitive to frost and it is therefore a lowland crop [3]. Taro is grown as an important economic food crop and vegetable in West Africa, particularly in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon [4].Taro has both medicinal and nutritional uses as it is used as food for man and animal feed [5]. Taro storage roots form the basic carbohydrate element of the diet and can be eaten in many forms: roasted, boiled, fried, baked and pounded while the leaves are eaten as preferred vegetable, representing an important source of vitamins [6]. These vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, folate, thiamine and riboflavin. The petioles and flowers are consumed in certain parts of the world. It is also rich in proteins, sugars and minerals such as calcium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc [7]. From an ethno medicinal point of view, the uncooked taro root is applied to cuts to stop the bleeding of wounds and the washed fresh leaves are used to treat tooth ache [8]. The crop is a good source of income to its producers to the extent that some subsistence farmers generate enough revenue from taro production to take care of basic family needs [9].Despite the importance of taro, the major constraints to its production in Cameroon are diseases and pests [10]. The crop is susceptible to fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode infections [11]. Among these various diseases, taro leaf blight disease is caused by Phytophthora colocasiae (Raciborski). It is one of the major important economic diseases of taro because it reduces corm yield of up to 50% [12] and leaf yield of up to 95% in susceptible genotypes [13]. Phytophthora colocasiae causes corms to rot both in the field and in storage, and this has led to heavy storage lost [14]. In 2010 taro leaf blight disease was reported in Cameroon and it caused between 50-100% yields lost of taro in most of the crop growing regions. This has led to a reduction in food, house hold income, increase poverty and some farmers have abandoned their farms and are now growing other crops [15,16].Taro leaf blight disease (TLBD) is characterized by large necrotic zonates spot on the leaves often coalescing to destroy large areas of leaf [17]. The margin of the lesion is marked by a white powdery band of sporangia and numerous droplets of orange or reddish exudates [18]. Phytophthora colocasiae originated in South East Asia [17] and is widely distributed throughout the tropical regions of the world [19].This study was conducted to investigate test for virulence and pathogenicity of P. colocasiae under screen house and field conditions.The study was carried out in the field, screen house and Laboratory of Phytopathology at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Nkolbisson, Yaounde, Cameroon. IITA is located at the North of Yaoundé latitude 3°86ʹ N and longitude 11°5ʹ E. The altitude of the institution is 754 m above sea level.Infected taro leaves with young lesions of blight were collected from the field at IITA Yaoundé from four local cultivars, Dark green petiole with small leaves, Red petiole with small leaves, White petiole with large leaves, Red and white petiole with small leaves. These leaves were preserved in separate plastic bags and transported to Phytopathology Laboratory. These leaves were cut with razor blade in to small fragments of 2 mm from the advancing edges of the disease and surface-sterilized in 5% diluted solution of sodium hypochlorite for 30 seconds and rinsed in three successive changes of sterile distilled water for 3 minute. The leaf fragments were dried on sterilized filter paper and four fragments placed on solidified cool V6 juice agar containing culture medium in each Petri dish. These dishes were labeled and put in an incubator at room temperature of 22-26°C (Brunt et al., 2001). After 2-3 days extensive mycelia formed around the leaf fragment was aseptically collected and sub cultured in Petri dishes containing freshly prepared V6 juice agar medium that contains Ampiciline (250 mg/l), penicillin (250 mg/l) and nystatine (20 mg/l) (antibiotics) to inhibit bacterial growth. This transfer was carried out 2-3 times to obtain an axenic culture. Identification of fungus was carried out under the microscope and fungi isolates were determined based on morphological characteristics such as the type of mycelia and fruiting structure, the shape/size of spores as described by Nelson et al. [13].Spore suspension was prepared from 21 days old culture of different isolates, by flooding the surface of the growing colonies in each Petri dish with 5ml of sterile distilled water and dislodging the spores with a small brush. The suspension was centrifuged for 3 minutes and the supernatant was filtered through a 2 layered sterile muslin cheesed cloth. A drop of spore suspension was placed on the haemocytometer chamber, covered with a slide and the number of spores per ml estimated as an average of the spores counted in 10 standard heamocytometer fields. The number of spores / ml was calculated using the formula adopted from Duncan and Torrance [20]. A spore suspension (inoculum) of each isolate was adjusted with the aid of haemocytometer to 3×10 4 spores / ml of distilled water. The four inocula were put in a refrigerator at a temperature of 4°C for 30 minutes to stimulate liberation of zoospores and a drop of Tween 80 (25 µl) was added to each spore suspension as a surface wetting agent. The control was made up of 20 ml of sterilized distilled water [21]. Temperature and humidity were also recorded with the Hobo metre [22]. Percentage incidence was calculated using the formula:Severity of symptom on each variety was scored using the syndrome scale below: 0= No symptom, 1= Presence of lesions less than 10 cm 2 of leaf area, 2= Presence of lesions 11-30 cm 2 of leaf area, 3= Presence of lesions 31-60 cm 2 of leaf area, 4= Presence of lesions 61-90 cm 2 of leaf area, 5= Presence of lesions more than 90 cm 2 up to 25% of leaf area, 6= Coalesce of spots more than 25% of leaf covered, 7= Coalesce of spots more than 50% of leaf covered, 8= Coalesce of spots more than 75% of leaf covered, 9=Collapse of petiole accompanied by complete leaf blight [4].All data collected from taro infection, severity and incidence were subjected to analysis of Variance (ANOVA) as described by Wichura [23] using statistical software [24]. Mean variability amongst the cultivars were determined. Their treatment means were separated using Duncan Multiply Range Test (DMRT) and the Least Significant Difference (LSD) at statistical significance of 95% confidence interval.The results of virulence and pathogenicity of P. colocasiae (4 isolates) on 10 improved and 4 local cultivars of taro under screen house are shown on Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5. All the four isolates were all pathogenic to the ten improved and four local cultivars of taro causing lesions on leaves after they were inoculated (Tables 2, 3, 4  and 5). There was no symptom expression of lesion on the control treatment. Lesions appeared on all the cultivars two days after inoculation and had a distinctive water-soaked margin of newly invaded tissue bearing a white mass of sporangia, and orange liquid droplets. There was variability in pathogenicity based on the small lesion lengths produced on cultivars, this included BL/SM132 and Red petiole where leaves collapse and defoliation were not observed on the 14 th day. Holes were also observed on most of the cultivars of BL/SM132 on the 14 th day.      The studies conducted to investigate the duration of tissue collapse of infected cultivars showed variability's amongst the improved and local cultivars as shown in Table 6. From the results at 14 days after inoculation of leaves with the isolates (Table 5), there was a significant difference of tissue collapse at p = 0. Effect of field survival of cultivar was determined by assessing leaf defoliation of both the improved and local cultivars. There was a significant difference in leaf defoliation on exposure to the different fungal isolates as shown in Table 6. Cultivar BL/SM120 took longer mean days (13.3±0.  The taro cultivars showed significant differences (p = 0.05) in infected leaf severity with fungal isolates and taro sensitivity to infection as shown in  [13] who reported that in some resistant taro cultivars the centre of lesions become papery and break apart, which gives a conspicuous \"shot-hole\" appearance.From the results, there was defoliation of leaves on most of the cultivars except BL/SM132 where there was little or no defoliation of leaves based on the fungi isolate. This defoliation of leaves could be due to maximum and minimum humidity of (103.8% and 74.4%) and temperature of (34.43°C and 20.57°C) respectively that were recorded during the experiment that favours P. colocasiae development. This tie with reports from Brooks [25] who reported that P. colocasiae is a warm -weather pathogen, growing most rapidly at temperatures between 27-30°C. Maximum and minimum temperatures for growth are 10°C and 35°C respectively. Reports from Mbong et al. [10] who stated that the pathogen can cause rapid and complete defoliation of leaves and crops destruction.High percentage incidence of 100% of P. colocasiae was observed on all the cultivars of taro at 154 DAP. This result showed that the incidence of P. colocasiae can be very high when there is high humidity and temperatures. This idea is supported by finding of Brooks [25] who reported that the warm humid days and cool wet nights of the tropics are ideal for the reproduction and spread of P. colocasiae. During rainy weather, leaves of taro cultivars that are normally destroyed for 30-40 days may be destroyed in less than 20 days. Therefore a healthy plant that carries 5-7 functional leaves may have only 2-3 leaves when infected. This reduces photosynthesis resulting in reduced corm yield. Highly susceptible cultivars appear to be destroyed in the field, producing smaller and smaller leaves on shorter and shorter petioles. All the cultivars were infected with P. colocasiae indicating that there were susceptible to the pathogen except BL/ SM132 that was resistant to the pathogen and showed classical symptom of another disease.The Phytophthora colocasiae severity and percentage leaf infection on the different cultivars of taro increases with age 126-154 days after planting. The increase in Phytophthora colocasiae severity and percentage leaf infection with age of the plant could be due to environmental conditions such as increase in humidity and favorable temperatures. This result is in accordance with reports of Mbong et al. [10] who reported that when conditions are warmer 28-30°C, the sporangia germinates directly by a germ tube and infect the leaf. Nelson et al. [13] who also reported that Phytophthora colocasiae (Raciborski) reduced leaf yield of up to 95% in susceptible genotypes. Improved cultivar BL/SM132 did not show symptom of the taro leaf blight disease and therefore it was resistant to Phytophthora colocasiae as compared to all the other cultivars which showed high severity rates of infection of the disease and thus were susceptible to the disease.The results obtained on virulence and pathogenicity of Phythophthora colocasiae on the different taro cultivars revealed that all the 4 isolates showed variable pathogenicity. They caused lesions, on inoculated leaves. Isolate 3 showed a stronger sensitivity to leaf collapse and defoliation irrespective of the cultivar tested. There was variability in pathogenicity based on the small lesion lengths produced on cultivars, these included BL/SM132 and Red petiole where leaf collapse and defoliation were not observed on the 14 th day. There was a significant difference (p = 0.05) in tissue collapse and leaf defoliation on exposure to the different fungal isolates.The result of field infection rates of P. colocasiae at 126 DAP-154 DAP on 10 improved and 4 local cultivars indicated that there was a significant variability (p = 0.05) in disease incidence and severity, with high incidence and severity occurring at 154 DAP in all cultivars. Improved cultivar BL/SM132 showed no classic symptoms of P. colocasiae and therefore it was resistant to Phytophthora colocasiae as compared to all the other cultivars which showed high severity rates of infection of the disease and thus were susceptible to the disease.","tokenCount":"2198"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5390833725.json b/data/part_1/5390833725.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9e49de3c450326139c4a199827f1b13b4a93c53c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5390833725.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"715fea1491c28f777ffe539a1d7ca15b","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://old.icraf.org/sea/Publications/files/policybrief/PB0076-14.pdf","id":"-1488418831"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2d77a9e9-70c0-4193-ad10-20a114909330","pagecount":"4","content":"1 REALU can provide significant emission reduction benefits with moderate income loss to farmers from production activities compared to business as usual and conventional REDD+ approach.2 Forest plantation with fast growing species like acacia helped \"re-green\" large tract of forest land, but if not regulated, such planted forest may expand into natural forest areas, reducing C-stocks and undermining REDD+ efforts.3 Cross-sectoral planning enables formulation of policies that address drivers of deforestation and provide long-term incentives to communities from adopting sustainable land use practices.. 4 A forward looking scenario using models that rely on land use dynamics can help to estimate emission reduction potential of a landscape and formulate appropriate land use strategies with limited technical constraints and past data availability concerns. 38 http://www.asb.cgiar.org Implications • Carbon-rich land uses and practices outside forest lands should not be ignored while seeking for land based emission reduction strategies such as REDD+.• To effectively address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and sufficiently support sustainable practices, any REDD+/ REALU benefit-sharing mechanism should be designed based on opportunity cost of land use options.• For a forest conservation landscape like Bac Kan province with very limited agricultural land, the sustainability of a REALU mechanism is uncertain, not only in terms of sustained financing, but also in terms of addressing widening economic tradeoffs and doing less harm to the poor.There is growing concern amongst tropical countries on the emphasis of REDD+ to the conservation of forest areas alone, while significant tree cover can be found outside forest areas and officially demarcated forestlands may have little tree cover. A landscape approach to REDD+, which accounts for emission reductions from all land uses can help address this concern.Reducing Emissions from All Land Uses (REALU) is a landscape approach that is being tested in selected tropical countries.The REALU concept is based on the argument that trees outside forests contribute to carbon-rich landscapes, and incentives for forest conservation alone may undermine the potential of local communities to conserve or enhance carbon outside forest boundaries. Drawing from our REALU feasibility study in Bac Kan province, in the northeast region, we provide insights for a national REALU strategy in Vietnam.Is REALU feasible in Bac Kan province? YES, IF:1. An incentive mechanism is in place to compensate for income loss from production.2. A whole landscape approach to carbon accounting is applied.3. A forward looking Reference Emission Level (REL), which requires \"reachable\" data and will potentially offer more carbon credits than the conventional historical REL, is applied.4. Carbon rich land use practices such as agroforestry are widely promoted and incorporated in major development plans in the province.    • Land-use scenarios including 'business as usual' that reflect current trends, views and aspirations of different stakeholders.• Economic and ecological impacts and trade-offs of different land use scenariosPotential carbon reward as compensation for loss of income from conservation programs.How feasible is a landscape approach to REDD+ in Vietnam?2  The objective of REALU is akin to the 'green development' vision, where both economic and ecological values of a landscape are to be enhanced. Historical land use changes and implication to CO 2 emissions is planted with forest tree species and illegal logging is completely stopped 5. REALU--REDD+ and maize mono-cropping is replaced with agroforestry e.g. combining xoan trees (Melia azedarach) with maize, in shifting cultivation areas, or trees planted in a parkland system or alley cropping system)Figure 5 represents the relative C-stock and income per capita of each scenario compared to \"business as usual\". In general, the simulated scenarios show that: (1) some tree-based land uses in Bac Kan landscape have high potential for carbon sequestration if well supported by C payment schemes;(2) stimulation of acacia plantation can result in a loss rather than a gain of landscape's carbon stock.Acacia expansion increases income per capita accompanied with a significant loss of landscape's carbon stock, since the landscape emits more carbon as acacia replaces natural production forest that has high carbon stock.Both REDD+ and REALU scenarios give carbon stock sequestration in the landscape, while economic benefit reduced slightly (4 USD/capita and 16 USD/capita, respectively). Introducing trees into shifting cultivation land thus brings carbon benefit to tree plantation within forest lands, but comes with greater economic costs to farmers.3How feasible is a landscape approach to REDD+ in Vietnam?Figure 6: Projected land use maps of Bac Kan province by FALLOW for different scenarios ( 2030)• Land use changes between 1990 and 2010 resulted in both carbon emission and sequestration, but progressing towards carbon sequestration.• Net emission increased from 1990-1995 to 1995-2000, followed by a significant drop in 2000-2005. During 2005-2010, the net emission was -56,385 tCO2eq/year, indicating that the landscape was sequestering carbon during this period. This was identical with reforestation efforts of the province, particularly 661 Programme initiated in 1998. As a result of the programme, during 2005-2010, a large area of fast wood plantation and generated forest (around 83,000 ha) replaced bare hills and shrubs, while deforestation was decelerated compared to the previous period (around 22,000 ha only).The total emission for the period 1990-2010 was still larger than total carbon sequestration, resulting in an average net emission of 539,014 tCO 2 eq/year.•The biggest emission was caused by conversion of poor timber forest to regenerated timber forest.• Focused discussion groups at village level revealed two reasons for this change: (i) clear cut or heavily logged forest and (ii) slash and burn practices for a short period on poor timber forest land.• Forest plantation on bare land and natural forest regeneration were the two main carbon sequestering land uses.• Forest related land use changes were the biggest sources of both emission and sequestration among all land uses, contributing an average of 99.97% of total emission and 99.96% of total sequestration, respectively. Do, T.H, Catacutan, D.C., Mulia, R., and Jindal, R. 2013. How feasible is a landscape approach to REDD+ in Vietnam?. Hanoi: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Vietnam.The ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins is working to raise productivity and income of rural households in the humid and sub-humid tropics without increasing deforestation or undermining essential environmental services.ASB is a consortium of over 90 international and national-level partners with an ecoregional focus on the forest-agriculture margins in the humid and sub-humid tropics. The partners have established 12 benchmark sites in the tropical forest biome of Brazil, Cameroon, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines and Vietnam.The ASB Policybriefs series aims to deliver relevant, concise reading to key people whose decisions will make a difference to poverty reduction and environmental protection in the humid and sub-humid tropics.© 2013 ASB Opportunity costs are understood as financial incentives required to encourage local smallholders to switch from current unsustainable practices to more environment-friendly practices or to compensate smallholders for accepting restrictions from shifting from good practices to more profitable but less sustainable practices. Opportunity costs (in USD/ton CO 2 eq) of relevant land uses were compared for feasibility assessment. The results are shown in Figure 7. The opportunity cost for assisted natural forest regeneration is relatively higher than other options, thus bundling payments or benefits in combination with law enforcement may be needed.Converting monocropped maize on sloping lands to agroforestry systems Acacia mangium + maize (7 year) and Melia azedarach + maize (10 year) is a superior option due to relatively low opportunity cost and diversified products.For planted production forest, extending Manglita glauca plantation from 7 to 30 years to increase economic benefits and expand the market for Manglita glauca timber is likewise, a viable option.Establishment of processing units to produce timber products from Melia azedarach and Manglita glauca is highly recommended as part of a suite of REALU incentives.If the province adopts REALU as its emissions reduction strategy, at least two land use pathways should be considered:• Enhancement of forest carbon stock under both REDD+ and REALU with activities including planting forest tree species in forest areas and assisting natural forest regeneration.• Maintenance and enhancement of carbon rich land uses under REALU but may not be under REDD+, including forests, agroforestry and other sustainable land use practices, such as integrating native tree species such as 'xoan' (melia azedarach) in sloping maize farms.• It may be unrealistic to expect that the high rates of plantations and forest growth witnessed over the last 20 years will not only be maintained but also exceeded through REDD+ payments.• It may even create perverse incentives for not continuing with the forest management plans that are being considered by the government.• REALU is a better option if payments offered by the global REDD market are added to the incentives already proposed.• However, the province' target of 84% forest cover and 6% agricultural land by 2020 suggests that significant economic tradeoffs may make local people poorer than they currently are.We therefore proposed the elements of a sustainable and adaptable REALU mechanism: (i) bundling environmental services and payments; (ii) linking the mechanism with rural development support programs; (iii) national guidance and support for building the capacity of local implementers; and (iv) increasing the effectiveness of (forest) law enforcement.","tokenCount":"1491"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5398907299.json b/data/part_1/5398907299.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..207c9e9c9e1cf4219429a837a13940e6a7a26d28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5398907299.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5023f47e044d2c9006fe8b0aebd436ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/77a89915-7a0f-4e78-b84a-f1f4b852a154/retrieve","id":"154793562"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c2f7899-9001-4d4c-b85c-c71a720b79c2","pagecount":"10","content":"Understanding the human-forest relationship is key to sustainable development and forest management. The increase of agricultural land expansion mainly focuses on satisfying the competing interest amongst stakeholders and rural households, which neglects the impact of forest losses. The study looked at rural households' farmland expansion dynamics in Adaba (Oromia Region) and Adiyo, located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNR) of Ethiopia. Thus, the study identified the role of push and pull factors in rural households' agricultural land expansion using primary and secondary data. We found that the livelihood of the rural households significantly impacts farming land expansion at the expense of forest resources (deforestation). In addition, we noticed that the increase in household size and living expenses, followed by the need for income diversification, are amongst the major drivers directly causing farmland expansion. In contrast, economic pressure was generally found to be the key push factor for most rural households to expand their farming land. Hence, some farmers were \"pulled \" by the current economic return and market attraction of timber due to the booming market demand, which was seen as one of the reasons for forest loss. These findings also reported the negative impacts of agricultural expansion on biodiversity and the environment, which need alternative agricultural development pathways.Human interaction with the environment has changed land use due to the increasing population and associated demand for resources ( Meyer and Turner, 1992 ;Goldewijk, 2001 ;Chanie and Aleme, 2021 ;Gudesho and Woldu, 2021 ). The existence of forests conveys abiding importance towards ecosystem service, which could potentially improve rural households' livelihoods and well-being ( DeFries et al., 2010 ;Mohammed et al., 2020 ). As a result, forest biodiversity greatly impacts the rural household economy and cultural and social roles ( Babigumira et al., 2014 ;Mohammed et al., 2020 ). Despite its benefits, human activities have significantly altered the forest ecosystem due to deforestation and agricultural land expansion ( Gibson et al., 2011 ;Arroyo -Rodríguez et al., 2017 ;Leblond, 2019 ), which is expected to continue globally at an increasing rate ( Steffan-Dewenter et al., 2007 ;Krause et al., 2019 ). The change in land use and agricultural land settlement expansion through deforestation, which varies depending on the interaction between environment and social dynamics, adversely affects aggravated agricultural lands at the expense of forests influence biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, socio-politics, government policies, and management strategies play a vital role in expanding farming land, contributing to global forest losses ( Curtis et al., 2018 ;Falk et al., 2018 ;Scullion et al., 2019 ). Agricultural land expansion is globally expected to exceed 1 billion ha by 2050 ( Tilman et al., 2001 ;Hertel, 2011 ). Future projections indicate that farmland conversion is mainly from wetland and deforestation ( DeFries et al., 2010 ;Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2011 ;Kura and Beyene, 2020 ). Crop production and livestock farming are done mostly by smallholder farmers in developing countries ( Liao and Brown, 2018 ;Ketema et al., 2020 ;Ahmed et al., 2022 ). As a result, smallholder agricultural land expansion shows an increasing trend due to their livelihood dependency ( Zaveri et al., 2020 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ). The land-use decision and farming practice of smallholder farmers are influenced by the market demand, which is mainly linked to the production and consumers' livelihood ( Tolessa et al., 2020 ). The existing trend of land expansion is primarily due to the dominance of crop production by smallholder farmers and the increasing population ( Santpoort, 2020 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ). Access to market and crop price fluctuations also become the major driver of the smallholders' land-use change and agricultural land expansion ( Ketema et al., 2020 ;Tolessa et al., 2020 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ). Combined with rainfall variability, landholding size, increasing population growth, settlement, and land for livestock production are smallholder farmers' main drivers of land expansion ( López-Carr and Burgdorfer, 2013 ;Zaveri et al., 2020 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ). Furthermore, smallholder farmers prefer agricultural farming, which provides annual income and supports household consumption ( Mwavu et al., 2018 ;Santpoort, 2020 ;Ahmed et al., 2022 ). In developing countries, agriculture and forest continue to be the primary source of income for a living ( Barton, 2014 ;Duguma et al., 2019 ). A typical example is Ethiopia, where the country's economy mainly depends on agriculture and forest farming ( HE et al., 2017 ). Forest availability contributes to socio-economic development and ecosystem services, which is the rural community's main income source. Ethiopia's available natural forest resources are known to provide different ecosystem services and goods to society. Due to the rising livelihood demands and change in climate, forest resources have been enormously degrading for agricultural and settlement expansion and generating more income ( Lemenih and Teketay, 2006 ;Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2011 ;He and Chen, 2022 ). In East Africa and Ethiopia, several institutions have developed operational and seasonal studies on the trends of agricultural land expansion and its associated impacts due to the economic importance of forest resources in that region. Particularly in Ethiopia, climate change and local features such as topography, soil moisture, loss of vegetation cover and soil fertility are becoming the main reason for forest clearing and agricultural and settlement expansion ( Lemenih and Teketay, 2006 ;Gebrehiwot et al., 2014 ;Hengl et al., 2015 ). In addition, the increase in crop price and access to the retail market further accelerated the agricultural land and settlement expansions in Ethiopia ( Ajami et al., 2014 ;Ketema et al., 2020 ;Key, 2022 ;Tabe Ojong et al., 2022 ).The existing land expansion by smallholders offers opportunities for better food production with the expense of spare land for nature which is based on satisfying individual household demands ( Ravikumar et al., 2017 ;Zaveri et al., 2020 ). As a result, forest lands are farmed by smallholders for food production in which the changes will impact their livelihoods and the implications of increased agricultural intensification need to be addressed ( Namonje-Kapembwa et al., 2022 ;Tabe Ojong et al., 2022 ). There have been limited studies on the current drivers and impacts of land expansion with its broader challenges to sustainable development ( Tolessa et al., 2020 ;Weldearegay et al., 2021 ;Tadele and Hibistu, 2022 ). Hence, smallholder agricultural expansion and its impact on ecosystem services remain uncertain. Thus, due to the interaction dynamics between society and the environment, studies that attempt to understand the drivers and effects of agricultural expansion through appropriate methods are crucial ( Barton, 2014 ;Hengl et al., 2015 ;Shiferaw and Suryabhagavan, 2019 ). Therefore, understanding the dynamics of push and pull factors towards the farming land expansion is crucial for forest management and sustainable development.This research aims to understand the main drivers of the agricultural land expansion. Specifically, the study focuses on: (i). Understanding the drivers of rural households' agricultural land expansion, and (ii). Assessing the push and pull factors of farming land expansion by the rural households. Hence, a multi-disciplinary approach was used to understand the push and pull factors of farming land expansion. Accordingly, field observation, consulting advisory literature, formal and informal communication with respective organizations, stakeholder interviews, household surveys and focus group discussions were used for this study. The study regions were selected based on their extreme exposure to farmland expansion through forest conversion. Therefore, this study utilized an interdisciplinary and holistic approach and is expected to fill the information gap by addressing human-forest relationships and the impact of agricultural land and settlement expansion.The study was conducted in Adiyo district from SNNR and Adaba district from Oromia regional states. The geographical location of Adaba lies between 39°36 ′ -40°00 ′ E and 6°00 ′ -7°10 ′ N ( Fig. 1 ). Three zones that characterize the agro-ecology of the district as Zone 1 and Zone 2 are Midland (1500-2500 m.a.s.l.) and Zone 3, which is Highland ( > 2500 m.a.s.l.). The main crops grown in the region were barley and wheat, followed by vegetation production such as onion, tomato, hot pepper, carrot and cabbage. The temperature of the study area ranges between 3.6 -24.3 °C ( Bazezew et al., 2015 ). The average annual rainfall of the area is about 1000 mm, mainly during the wet season (June -September). In the Adaba district, different types of forest trees are common, which are called Heexxo/koosso (Hagenia abyssinica), Hansha (Aristolochia ringens), Garambaa (Hypericum revoltum Vahl.), gattirra (Juniperus procera), birbirssa (Podocarpus falcatus) locally. Hence, Heexxo/koosso is mainly used as medicinal plants for humans and livestock while Garambaa is primarily used as forage for honey bees.The Adiyo district is geographically located between 7°16 ′ -7°31 ′ N and 36°18 ′ -39°00 ′ E ( Fig. 2 ). The Adiyo receives an annual rainfall of about 1300 mm during the rainy season, such as a short rainy season called Belg (March-June) and heavy rainfall season Meher (July-November) ( Gizaw, 2009 ). The temperature of the Adiyo district ranges between minimum temperature (14 °C) and maximum temperature (20 °C).The study indicates that livestock and agricultural farming are the main income source of the rural households living in the study area ( Table 1 ).Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were considered to collect data for this study. The study was conducted using primary and secondary data collection methods, including mainly qualitative data. The data needed for this study were collected from surveys and site observations. The primary data include focus group discussions, interviewing stakeholders, key informants, and individual household heads. The study also involves field and forest/farmland observation using a transect walk method. The site observation was done before the focus group discussions. The study sites were selected purposefully based on their history of farmland expansion through forest conversion and the likelihood of this expansion to continue in the future. Hence, the data was collected in two-phase. The first data collection phase was from  Manual (oxen, labour, etc.) Manual (oxen, labour, etc.) Household number 5-12 children per household 5-13 children per household the Oromia region, and Adaba district was selected due to the increased agricultural expansion rate. The second phase was from the SNNP region of the Adiyo district. Snowball sampling method was also used to select individual households with different wealth categories and farmland expansion experiences especially for the focus group discussion and interviews ( Goodman, 1961 ;Johnson, 2014 ). Furthermore, secondary data was collected from the Ministry of Agriculture, Central Statistical Agency and other relevant governmental agencies. The secondary data were used to validate the primary data.The analysis was done using the qualitative data collected from both districts. The selected assessment method is crucial for understanding the existing interaction between the environment and humans. Moreover, the current agricultural farming system at the household level and the extent of converted agricultural land were assessed.The farming system practised in the area is crop cultivation with a mix of honey production and livestock farming, mainly using traditional farming methods such as oxen, labour and manual agriculture activity ( Table 1 ). Findings indicate that most rural households are used to practicing a mixed farming system which is also documented in previous studies ( Riar et al., 2017 ;Jovanovic et al., 2020 ;Zewdie et al., 2020 ). In addition, the changes in the farming system are mainly linked to the land-use trend and the socio-political system, as it was reported in earlier studies ( Gezie, 2019 ;Mohammed et al., 2020 ;Key, 2022 ). Furthermore, the use of modern fertilizer is low. Cereal crops, primarily maize, dominate the agricultural practice in both districts and are barely followed by livestock farming. Overall, the respondents indicate that human activities may impact the study area's environment and farming system, which is also consistent with the previous studies ( Araya et al., 2015 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ).The result from focus group discussions and interviews indicates that an increase in population is one of the main drivers of expanding farming land and loss of forest production ( Fig. 3 ). The respondents stated that the growing number of rural households became the key reason for the agricultural land expansion and land grabbing in the forest area. According to Centeral Statistical Agency ( CSA (2013) , the population of Oromia region increased from 35,467,001 in 2017 to 39,292,474 in 2021, and the same population showed increasing for the SNNP region from 19,170,007 in 2017 to 21,237,685 ( CSA, 2013 ;CSA 2017 ;Dorling, 2021 ;World Bank, 2022 ). There is also an increase in population density in the country from 87.64 in 2010 to 120.8 in 2022 (world population record, 2022). The key informants also suggested the government focus on protecting the forest resource given the current rural farmer's problems with fulfilling household consumption ( Fig. 3 ). During the focus group discussion, the respondents mentioned that agricultural land expansions for satisfying household demands become the leading reasons for forest clearing in the study area. Moreover, the response from the focus group discussions (FGDs) and the key informant interview indicates that the government strategies and policies on forest protection were not successful due to a lack of farmers' participation and integration between the apprehensive stakeholders and the lack of appropriate implementation in the study area. The result indicates that increase in family size and unemployment rate are listed as amongst the main drivers of agricultural land expansion for more agricultural production and settlements ( Fig. 3 ). Hence, the smallholder farmers depend on agricultural and livestock farming in which the land and water availability links with productivity. Fig. 3 shows the direct and indirect interlinkages between the drivers of land expansion in the forest area. Therefore, the absence of integration amongst the concerned sectors, organized policy implementation, and weak enforcement of laws aggravate the agricultural land expansion in the study area.The rural households (85% of the respondents) depended on agricultural farming. This agricultural dependence on smallholder farmers was one of the drivers of the farmland expansion. According to Belenok et al. (2021) , the applied the landscape analysis in which includes both quantitative and qualitative indicators towards the change in land cover. The increase in food price and expenditure motivate the farmers to expand their farmland ( Table 2 ). The list of main agents and direct drivers of land expansion in the forest are indicated in Table 2 . Additionally, Table 2 shows the causal factors of agricultural land expansion and the level of an increasing trend. In addition to the growing number of households, this study indicates that the lack of job opportunities has promoted agricultural land expansion ( Appendix A ). The census data shows that the population of rural households increased over the past decade, as it was reported in other studies ( López-Carr and Burgdorfer, 2013 ;Mekuria, 2018 ;World Bank, 2022 ), and the change in population has increased the initiation of agricultural land expansion for satisfying the rural household demand ( Table 2 ). The studies suggests that the land use analysis using GIS and remote sensing is crucial for land use management ( Belenok et al., 2021 ;Noszczyk et al., 2022 ).The survey result indicates that the households are triggered by land expansion in which the number links with the socio-economic characteristics and household number increase ( Fig. 4 ). The finding shows that households with big family members and relatively wealthy have easy access to forest land and expand their farmland. Fig. 4 illustrates the causal interpretation and interlinkages between cause and effect of land expansion. Hence, the finding indicates that most of land use changes are caused by anthropogenic and socio-economic development due to the population growth ( Belenok et al., 2021 ;Noszczyk et al., 2022 ).The analysis indicates that the smallholders are forced to expand their land to satisfy household consumption. Thus, the key informant interview and FGDs show that the household number increase ( Table 3 ) and change in crop price are listed amongst the main drivers of farming land expansion ( Appendix A ). Thus, about 60% of the respondents indicate that the increase in expenditure and food price is amongst the highly encouraging drivers, followed by the population increase (57%). The population growth, increase in crop price, and expenditure are indicated as the main \"push \" factors of land expansion. The finding is consistent with the previous studies that reported the farming tradition of smallholder farmers' to crop production and management and their impact on the available land and forest ecosystem ( Leblond, 2019 ). Additionally, the rise in unemployment ( Table 3 ) also forces smallholder farmers to look for extra land for residential purposes and as income sources ( Appendix A ). This highlights the increasing trend of demand and food price in the global market that impact the land use decision of smallholder farmers, which is consistent with recent studies ( Hertel, 2011 ;Maja and Ayano, 2021 ;He and Chen, 2022 ). About 37% of the respondents indicate that the availability of nearby forest   areas creates an opportunity for farmers to get a source of income and becomes the main encouraging driver in which the rural households are \"pulled \" by the income from the forest area ( Fig. 5 ). Furthermore, the push factors of agricultural land expansions are mainly the increases in expenditure and food price and the increase in the number of households. Therefore, the rural households are forced to look for land to expand their agricultural land to fulfil their household demands. The food insecurity pushes the farmers to satisfy daily needs ( Fig. 5 ).The farmers who reside in the forest area mentioned (Focus group discussions, May 2021) that the government recently took the forest protection initiative by formulating forest protection associations with the involvement of non-governmental organizations. Thus, the associations were working with the participation of the district leaders and government officials. These associations were community-based organizations  that were aimed at the improvement of forests and the livelihood of rural households living in the forest area named \"Waldaa jiratoota Bosonna (WAJIB) \" in the Adaba district ( Fig. 6 ). Hence, the institution has its own rules and regulations with the involvement of Kebele and community leaders, which encourages the community to protect the forest area. The key informants witnessed that the establishment of WAJIB has played a role in forest protection.On the other hand, in the Adiyo district, the initiation of forest protection in participation with administration officials was started by the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). About 70% of respondents witnessed that the establishment of WAJIB in Adaba impacted the agricultural land expansion and NABU in Adiyo had a role in forest protection in the area ( Fig. 6 ). Consequently, the key informant interview and focus group discussions suggests that the involvement of NGOs and the government played a key role.This paper assessed the main drivers of rural households farming land expansion and the expected impacts of forest loss on the local community's livelihood in the forested area of Adaba (Oromia region) and Adiyo (SNNP region) of Ethiopia. The assessed main drivers are broadly categorized into \"push \" and \"pull \" factors implying the possible triggers that are either \"compelling \" or \"attracting \" the farmers towards expanding their agricultural lands and farming activities. Accordingly, increase in expenditure, food price, and population are identified as the main push factors of agricultural land expansion and forest losses in their order of importance. Moreover, an increase in the number of unemployment and lack of job opportunities are found to be the second push factors for agricultural land expansions both in Adiyo (SNNR) and Adaba (Oromia) regions. This study also identified an increase in the availability of nearby forest areas and market values of forest products such as timber, fuel wood, and charcoal, coupled with the existing poverty level and hardship experiences are considered to be the main pull factors for forest losses in the study areas. Overall, it was indicated that although farmers and local communities are very well aware of forest areas' ecological and socio-cultural value. Hence, the benefits of their unplanned and improper use of forest land are merely short-lived; the lack of strong regulations for forest protection and enforcement mechanisms has led to the aggravation of the problem from time to time.The existing challenges call for systematic and coordinated actions through informing and improving local governance structures mainly in order to tackle the \"push factors \". This can be achieved through interventions such as the capacity building of local farmers to enhance the productivity of their existing farmlands through intensive and modern agricultural practices instead of extensive ones. Whereas the 'pull \" factors might be addressed through awareness-raising and creating a system of strong regulatory and enforcement means to protect forest areas.Therefore, detailed investigations of the main drivers of land expansion and its implication in different agro-ecological zones would be needed to enhance forest protection policy and sustainable development.We declare that there are conflicts of interest amongst the authors and other organisations regarding the submitted manuscript. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have enquiries and send all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at mesidawit1@gmail.com . Thank you so much for your attention and cooperation.Meseret Dawit On behalf of the authors  ","tokenCount":"3526"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5408613957.json b/data/part_1/5408613957.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..99430162ec3857357e48ee6229d1cb13ef244189
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5408613957.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7ac575c51e3e6726f73291102a137039","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/18abacff-ec5d-476a-8c15-d73f715e8070/retrieve","id":"1824535618"},"keywords":["Chile","Water User Association","participation","irrigation vii"],"sieverID":"9342d900-8408-4cb0-88d9-3bde151413fc","pagecount":"44","content":"was established in 1975. IFPRI is one of 15 agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).Political map of Maule RegionWater regulation has a deep and storied history in Chile, dating back nearly 200 years. From the first known water decree of 1819 to the renowned National Water Code of 1981, Chile has steadily earned international recognition for its innovative and market-oriented approach to water management. Today, water rights in Chile, in law, are fully transferable and separable from land, tradable through market negotiations, and independent of land use. Theoretically, a market-based approach to the management of resources, particularly water, has many advantages over public management. When markets function correctly, the price reflects scarcity, and thus the opportunity cost of the resource. Optimally behaving individuals will buy and sell the resource until their marginal costs are equated to marginal benefits. Incentives to overuse the resource are reduced because the price reflects the negative externalities normally associated with overuse. Similarly, incentives to underinvest in the maintenance of irrigation infrastructure are reduced. Hence, overall economic efficiency should increase under a market-based approach.However, markets do not always function perfectly. In the case of water markets, additional investments must be made in infrastructure and technology to ensure the flow and monitoring of the water across households and geographic areas. A variety of institutions are necessary at the national, state, and local level. Moreover, proper balance must be maintained between private and public interests to keep the market functioning. Despite Chile's advanced system of water management, in which local Comunidades de Agua (CdAs), or water communities, and their umbrella organizations manage the majority of local infrastructure, Bauer (1997) finds that geographic, infrastructural, legal, and administrative barriers greatly limit the amount of water traded.In rural areas, where water tends to be traded less and is mostly used as an essential farm input via irrigation canals, CdAs have gained recognition as an alternative to national or state-run resource management institutions (Meinzen-Dick et al. 1997). Because rural communities tend to share irrigation infrastructure, which transforms the water into a common-pool resource, CdAs face many of the classical problems of collective action in their management (see Ostrom 1990).From a household perspective, water users must decide whether or not to contribute to jointly used infrastructure. In communities where punishment for not contributing is rare or group size is large, incentives exist to free ride on the contributions of others. If monitoring of resource use is absent or weak, headenders (those at the front of the canal) have incentives to overuse the resource and undermaintain the infrastructure, imposing an externality on tailenders (those at the end of the canal), particularly in regions where market infrastructure to facilitate water trades is absent. Heterogeneity among users, in terms of the quality and quantity of land endowments, as well as human capital and the opportunity costs of labor, lead to differences in the marginal productivity of water and thus different incentives to use and maintain shared resources and infrastructure. Ultimately, the characteristics of the household, the community, and the CdA will influence the contribution decision (Fujiie et al. 2005;Ostrom and Gardner, 1993).From the CdA's perspective, leveraging funds and maintaining canals will thus critically depend on the CdA's ability to coordinate support from a critical mass of heterogeneous users. Management skills, membership size, social connections, and regional history are a few of the many characteristics that will influence coordination efforts. If too few individuals contribute, maintenance funds and labor may be underprovided, causing existing facilities to deteriorate or even collapse and generating potential water shortages at the community and household level. Coordination of households' contributions to infrastructure maintenance is essential to the proper management of water as well as to the revenues of farmers reliant upon irrigation as an essential input.The purpose of this study is to analyze the interplay of CdAs and water users in the Maule Region (VII) of Chile. Specifically, the study is concerned with answering the following questions:1. Which household and CdA characteristics influence the type (labor/money) and amount of participation selected by households? 2. What factors appear to help or hinder collective action decisions at the CdA level?The study is organized as follows. Section 2 develops a theoretical model that integrates standard features of common-pool resource management problems. Predictions are made regarding the behavior of water users under a variety of circumstances. Section 3 reviews the area of study and the institutional framework of the water management system. The fourth section discusses the data used and relates the predictions of the theoretical model to key variables used in the analysis. Section 5 reviews the empirical approaches employed, and Section 6 summarizes the results. The final section offers conclusions and discusses policy recommendations based on the empirical results.The modern theoretical underpinnings of common-pool resource management date back to Gordon (1954), Olson (1965), andHardin (1968). The early literature focused on the behavior of self-interested individuals, predicting that unless group size is small or coercion mechanisms exist, individuals will not act to achieve common or group interests. Sandler (1992) synthesized the advances in understanding individual collective action since Olson's seminal work, mainly in the provision of public goods. Sandler's work emphasizes that few general predictions can be made regarding factors affecting the successful provision of public goods because outcomes will depend on the underlying technology generating the public good, strategic assumptions made about interacting agents, and agents' tastes and preferences. Baland and Platteau (1999) specifically evaluate how heterogeneity in wealth may or may not hinder successful collective action. To the extent that the wealthy gain more at the margin by provision of the public good, they may provide a large share of the good themselves; however, to the extent that the wealthy have greater opportunities to substitute for the collective good, collective action may be harder to sustain. In the context of irrigation user groups, Repetto (1986) modeled the negative impacts on individuals' incentives to participate in collective action where links with higher-level organizations (usually government agencies) were weak.At the group level, Ostrom's (1992) seminal work on self-governing irrigation groups lays out eight design principles hypothesized to foster successful irrigation use and maintenance activities at the level of the water user association (WUA). These factors include clearly defined boundaries, proportional equivalence between the costs borne by members and the benefits they receive, collective choice arrangements, monitoring systems, graduated sanctions for enforcement, conflict resolution mechanisms, an external authority that either passively grants or actively supports members' right to self-organize, and the nested institutions required to ensure that management of complex irrigation systems occurs at the \"right\" level.There is also a large body of empirical literature examining the success of collective action in managing irrigation systems, of which we will mention but a few examples. 1 Gulati, Meinzen-Dick and  Raju (2005) present detailed analysis concerning the management of irrigation systems in India. Results indicate that the relationship between the WUA and the higher-level government agencies responsible for water flow and maintenance of primary canals affects intra-WUA capacity to support successful collective action; the importance of the links with higher-level organizations is also captured in Lam (1998), Rice (1997), andWade (1995). Internal factors affecting WUA success include whether the WUA-managed canal covered just one village or multiple villages (as covering multiple village reduces effectiveness); whether other important social organizations were located in the village and whether a traditional leader or college graduates were present in the community (all of which are hypothesized to reduce the transaction costs of meeting and coordination); and whether the group was sufficiently large and close to a market, indicating that economies of scale in providing collective goods and services were particularly important, especially where crop returns were higher. Results obtained by Fujiie et al. (2005) indicate that when irrigation associations have many members, and when the ratio of nonfarm households is high, the collective action needed to maintain canals is difficult to organize and sustain; thus, economies of scale can be outweighed by increased coordination, monitoring, and enforcement costs. A number of authors have also found that social and/or economic heterogeneity has a negative impact on the functioning of WUAs, including Dayton-Johnson and Bardhan (2002), Khwaja (2000), Lam (1998), andTang (1992).The theoretical models discussed above are generally based on cooperative or non-cooperative game theory and concentrate on the single decision regarding how much of the public good to provide. Water is but one input into crop production, however, and in this section we develop a two-person, two-input noncooperative model of farmers' decisions to provide a public good and purchase private inputs.Consider the profit function, We assume that. These conditions ensure that each individual's agricultural production function is strictly concave in the two inputs, that water and the purchased input are gross substitutes in production, and that contributions to maintaining the irrigation canal generate a pure public good via perfectly substitutable contributions among members. Suppressing household and community characteristics in the production function, each individual maximizes the following:this results in the following first-order conditions (FOCs):(2) and similarly for each player.Next consider the social optimizer's problem, which, given that agents are homogeneous, is the same as joint maximization. This is written as follows:This yields the following FOCs:(4) and similarly for each i.Comparing the derivatives with respect to i x for the individual versus the social optimizer (comparing equations [1]  and [3]), we immediately note that [1] < [3] when evaluated at the same ,. The following holds when evaluating the FOCs at the same , i ix k pair:where SO and NC in the superscript refer to the inputs resulting under the social optimum and noncooperative game, respectively. If second-order conditions are satisfied, then the only possible solution is for. 2 Thus, both private and public inputs are lower than optimal and total revenues are also lower than would be the case under the social optimum.Extensions to the simple model above would include allowing for heterogeneity across players. First consider the simplification in which water is the only choice variable, and is given. In the two-player case, and assuming that player one uses water more productively than player two, the following results:In this case, we obtain the standard result in the two-player game that the more productive player would be \"exploited\" by the less productive player, since the first player would have greater contributions in equilibrium. Considering now the private input, i k , the decision for both players would depend on whether 1 2 x x  with heterogeneity were greater or less than 1 2 x x  where players are homogeneous. With linear reaction functions, for instance, 1 2x x  would be the same under both heterogeneity and homogeneity, and thus i k would be unchanged. 3 Another source of heterogeneity arises from the location of the irrigator along the irrigation canal. Every irrigator has an incentive to keep the shared canal or canals clean above his or her own lateral, but the marginal incentives to do so will be greater for tailenders than for headenders, to the extent that the marginal return to keeping the canals well maintained increases as the water passing through declines (compare Freeman 1990). An additional extension is to consider the game in a dynamic framework. The focus in this paper is on evaluating factors affecting the decision to participate in yearly maintenance activities; the \"impacts\" of current behavior occur in one period, with no further impacts on next-period production. In other words, there are no dynamic externalities. In a repeated game, then, the Folk Theorem tells us that 2 Because we assume that contributions to irrigation maintenance are perfectly substitutable, and that they generate a pure public good, second-order conditions for the four-equation system will be satisfied whenever second-order conditions are met for the corresponding two-equation individual maximization problem. Also note that this game has a unique solution; in other words, it has a \"prisoner dilemma\"-like incentive structure (compare Dasgupta and Heal 1979) and not a \"coordination\" type structure. This is due to the fact that we have assumed that, that is, increasing effective water availability increases with contributions at a decreasing rate, which seems the most realistic assumption in this context. 3 The reaction functions will themselves be a function of the substitutability between water and other inputs in production. Where, as here, substitutability is limited, it is more likely that total contributions will remain unchanged. Total contributions are more likely to fall where the public and private goods exhibit greater substitutability in production.socially optimal maintenance levels can be achieved, but so can a bounded but infinite set of maintenance levels, including the Nash non-cooperative equilibrium. However, most irrigators form water user groups to manage these incentives and coordinate actions to reach the repeated-game possibility of socially optimal maintenance levels. That is the case in our study area, where the CdAs are the WUAs.The goal of a WUA is to ameliorate directly the incentives to underprovide contributions to irrigation maintenance, which should also indirectly increase use of the private input and thus total output as well. The ability of the WUA to do so will depend on its ability to collect contributions, which, following McCarthy, Sadoulet, and de Janvry (1998), should depend on the incentives of group members to contribute or not contribute, as well as on the community-level characteristics discussed above.The most important factors in our study area are the number of members, economic heterogeneity, and CdA links to other organizations in the irrigation scheme. There is limited social heterogeneity in the study area, and the roles and responsibilities of the CdAs are recognized in law. The CdA makes decisions regarding the level of monetary and/or labor contributions to request of members, and members subsequently decide on their contributions. While nonpayment of quotas for water rights made to higher-level water user organizations may lead to termination of irrigation water in the study area, we observed few punishments or attempts (other than through moral suasion) to force compliance with CdA contributions. The CdA thus chooses the value of contributions that maximizes the effective water supply for users given the costs of monitoring and enforcing those contributions.Thus, the CdA chooses * CdAx as a function of the characteristics of the users (e.g., the number of users and economic heterogeneity), the characteristics of the water resources effectively available to the community (e.g., the location of the CdA canal within the irrigation system, the functioning of the higherlevel irrigation authority in terms of operation and maintenance of the primary canals, and their links to neighboring CdA irrigation authorities in operation and maintenance), and the decision-making rules used by the CdA (e.g., whether votes or consensus are relied on to reach decisions). These factors comprise the vector WUA Z in the profit function given above. Thus, the reduced form input and crop revenue equations can be written as: * ( , , , , ) , , , ) , , , )The study focuses on the Maule Region (VII) of Chile. Located in central Chile and bisected by the Maule River, from which the region takes its name, the area is predominantly rural. Agricultural production, for both domestic and export purposes, is one of the primary economic activities. Due to the semiarid environment, irrigation water is an essential input into the agricultural production function and is delivered by a variety of mechanisms. Figure A.1. in the appendix provides a detailed view of the area.The institutional setup of the private water sector in Chile is organized in a hierarchical manner, with some overlap in organizational responsibility (Berger et al. 2007). At the local community level, water users are organized into Comunidades de Agua (CdAs). These groups are primarily responsible for distributing water to users' plots, maintaining secondary and tertiary irrigation channels, and collecting fees for higher-level organizations. At the next highest level, Associacións de Canalistas (AdC, canal associations) and/or Juntas de Vigilancia (JdV, watch committees) are compromised of CdAs receiving water from one irrigation channel. In some cases, a CdA may belong to an AdC, which may in turn belong to a JdV, while in other cases, a CdA may belong directly to a JdV; this generally depends on whether the CdA receives water through the main canal or a secondary channel. These bodies mainly oversee the distribution of water into canals serving the CdAs and the maintenance of primary channels, as well as managing the distribution of water from larger bodies of water (e.g., streams, reservoirs, and lakes) to primary channels. The AdCs and JdVs may also provide additional services to CdAs; for instance, some JdVs have permanent hydrological engineers on staff who can provide advice to CdAs considering alternative infrastructure upgrades or investments, some have developed sophisticated computer databases that are used to provide strategic planning and investment information, and others organize various maintenance tasks for the CdAs themselves. Finally, in some cases CdAs receive water directly from rivers or streams, or from spillovers from other CdAs; in these cases, the local CdA is not linked to either an AdC or JdV. Whereas all the CdAs that belong to a JdV or AdC are formally registered, five of the CdAs that are not directly tied are not formally registered, and thus are not legally recognized WUAs; however, individual farmers' rights to water may still be recognized, with the possible exception of spillover rights. Because we do not further distinguish between membership in either a JdV or AdC, hereafter we simply use \"JdV\" for convenience, even though the CdA may actually belong to either an AdC or JdV.While theoretical models provide a foundation for examining and predicting a household's contribution decision, data capturing the actual conditions of the environment permit the testing of theoretical results through statistical inference. The data used in the study are from two surveys administered under the auspices of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The purpose of the surveys was to collect information on the empirical conditions of the water management institutions (primarily CdAs) and households. As a first step in data collection, lists of all CdAs were obtained from all relevant JdVs in the study region; these lists included all CdAs in the JdVs' areas of influence, whether or not the CdAs actually formally belonged to the JdVs. Next, from the list of CdAs, 35 were randomly selected and interviewed. During each CdA interview, enumerators collected lists of all households holding water rights within the CdA. From these lists 8-12 households were randomly selected and interviewed. Information from both the household and CdA level were integrated to form a final data set, which contains 318 households falling within the jurisdiction of 35 CdAs distributed across five JdV areas.While every household falls within a CdA jurisdiction, and each CdA within a JdV jurisdiction, only 19 of the 35 CdAs are members of their respective JdVs. In total, 174 households are members of CdAs that are also members of JdVs. This leaves 144 households as members of CdAs that are not directly tied to their local JdVs. As discussed in the section on the empirical approach, the CdA's membership status within a corresponding JdV may influence a household's decision to provide monetary or labor support to the local CdA, since this support will be in addition to quotas paid to the JdV. As noted above, besides ensuring the operation and maintenance of the primary canal, JdVs may also provide information and technical services, and may help organize-or even manage-maintenance and repair of the secondary canal system, so that accounting for membership in a JdV is required to control for household-level contributions to the CdA. The potential impact of membership in a JdV on overall expenditures for maintenance and repair are reflected in the total monetary contributions made by irrigation users. Table 1 below presents descriptive statistics on users' contributions to the CdA and the JdV. Using the daily agricultural wage rate, the value of labor is far higher for users belonging to CdAs that do not belong to a JdV than for those that belong to a JdV-12,653 Chilean pesos (CP) versus 4,851 CP, a difference that is statistically significant at the 1 percent level. In terms of cash contributions, for users in CdAs that are part of a JdV the average figure is 12,624 CP, compared to 27,449 CP for users whose CdAs do not belong to a JdV, which is also significant at the 1 percent level. The total value of contributions is more than double; however, where a CdA belongs to a JdV, the quota is nearly the same as the total value of contributions for those whose CdA does not belong to a JdV, so that total contributions are higher for users who belong to a CdA that belongs to a JdV. Net revenues per hectare are also higher for those whose CdA belongs to a JdV, a difference that is statistically significant at the 5 percent level.As noted above, one factor distinguishing CdAs is their relationship with higher-level organizations, and whether or not they are registered (most are registered, but many are not formally linked to higher-level organizations). From the literature review, it appears that the most important factors affecting collective action in such organizations are membership size and heterogeneity among members. The smallest CdA in our sample had just 10 members, whereas the largest had 200; the mean was 40 members. As a measure of economic heterogeneity, we asked about the smallest and largest landholdings in the community; landholdings ranged from 1.5 hectares to 200 hectares, with an average of 64 hectares. Following Ostrom's design principles, as discussed above, internal structures may also affect households' decisions to participate in collective action. In terms of water allocation rules, all but one CdA followed a \"by turn\" distribution system, so there was very little differentiation along this dimension. In terms of monitoring and enforcement, all but two communities relied solely on \"moral suasion\"; even if a potential sanction was mentioned, very few sanctions were levied. Thus, CdAs did not differ along this dimension. The CdAs did differ in terms of whether or not decisions are made predominantly by vote or by consensus, and how actively the president interacts with other CdA presidents, higher-level water user organizations, and relevant government agencies. Decisions are taken by consensus in 14 of the communities. 4 The \"connectivity\" of the president with representatives of other water user organizations is captured by the number of different representatives that were met with during the past year; on average, CdA presidents met with just 0.4 representatives, with the number ranging from 0 to 3. Of the four unregistered CdAs, three in fact had no recognized \"president\" or indeed any formal CdA organization, and information on the structure and functioning of these CdAs is thus not applicable. We do have information on whether or not these CdAs belong to a JdV and on the total number of users for all CdAs; in the analysis below, we present results for two specifications: those including just the information on membership in a JdV and number of users, and an additional specification (with fewer observations) for those with a functioning CdA.In terms of hypothesized impacts on households' contribution decisions, group size is generally thought to increase under provision in public-good games mainly due to increased transaction costs. However, some authors have argued that the relationship between collective action and group size may be positive or have an inverted U-shape (consult Sandler 1992), particularly for lumpy investments or maintenance activities exhibiting increased returns to scale over the relevant range (e.g., hiring equipment to clean all the CdA canals or repairing the main intake). In these latter cases, very small memberships may make collective improvements very expensive, while larger memberships reduce the required per member contributions. At some point, however, transaction costs will offset gains from reduced per member requirements, thus leading to lower overall contributions. We tested the U-shape hypothesis in the estimations below, using a quadratic specification; this specification did not reveal a U-shaped relation. Instead, we used the natural log of the number of members, which performed best in the estimations; this specification would capture increasing returns to membership at a lower rate as membership grows (and transaction costs figure more prominently). Next, we hypothesize that households located in communities that are members of higher-level JdVs should have lower contributions, as the JdV often organizes and spends resources on more than just the primary canal, as discussed above.For the smaller subset with functioning CdAs, we hypothesize that heterogeneity, captured by the land difference within the community, reduces contributions. 5 Greater connectedness of the CdA president to other actors in the irrigation system should increase contributions by increasing the CdA's efficiency through increased information sharing, perhaps greater access to external resources, and better coordination. Finally, we include a dummy variable that equals 1 when the consensus method is used in decision making. On the one hand, voting should be more efficient, particularly in larger groups, but consensus may be more useful to successful negotiations when members have different incentives and constraints outside the landholding differences already accounted for in the estimations. A priori then, we have no specific hypothesis on this variable.In addition to labor and monetary contributions to the CdA, the relevant endogenous variables for the household are revenues per hectare and purchased inputs. Households grow a wide variety of different crops, including grains, contract crops, and perennials. Maize, wheat, rice, beans, and potatoes are commonly grown for domestic markets and local consumption. Raspberries are the primary export crop grown in the study area. Sugar beets and, to a far less extent, tomatoes are also produced, largely on a contractual basis. Five households did not cultivate any land, 13 households dedicated activities exclusively to livestock production, and 12 households planted a variety of \"household-garden\" crops on very small land areas (two-tenths of a hectare, on average). Because of the difficulty in valuing output per hectare from these farms, these observations were not used in this analysis. Finally, given available information on prices, an additional 18 observations were dropped for those households that produced crops with missing or no information on the relevant market rate. 6 For the remaining 270 households, 176 grow row crops only, 54 grow only high-value crops (raspberries or sugar beets), and 37 grow both row crops and high-value crops. While such crops do entail different investments and input requirements, we aggregate gross returns per hectare, which then reflects both yields and the crop mix chosen. 7,8 We also run two factor equations, one being expenditures per hectare on purchased inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and the second being expenditures per hectare on labor and/or equipment hire.At the crux of the study are the questions regarding how and why households contribute to irrigation maintenance, given CdA characteristics and factors directly affecting household-level incentives. As 5 Though this is not a CdA \"structure\" variable, the question was not asked in communities without a formal CdA. 6 Excluding only the 13 households that focused exclusively on livestock, the area cultivated in crops that were used in this analysis (wheat, maize, beans, rice, sugar beets, and raspberries) comprised 90 percent of the total area cultivated, on average. 7 In the appendix, Table A.3, we present results for row crops separately, using a selection regression to account for the choice to grow row crops. Given the few observations on high-value crops, the selection regression never converged; thus, we cannot present results for this subset. Results for row crops are qualitatively similar to total gross revenues.8 Because certain households had very low yields for a variety of reasons (net revenues were negative for 18 households), we chose to run the regressions in log gross returns. The simple correlation coefficient between gross and net returns is .88. noted in the discussion of the conceptual framework, a number of exogenous household-and communitylevel characteristics will have different effects on a household's contribution decision, use of purchased inputs, and total farm output. A full descriptive summary of the dependent and exogenous variables is reported in the appendix, in Table A.1.At the household level, human capital measures-such as labor availability, measured as the number of adults in a household; the age of a household head; and the average years of schooling for adults in the household-are hypothesized to have a positive effect on overall contributions, purchased inputs, and farm revenues. However, in terms of labor or monetary contributions, the sign on labor availability may be ambiguous, as poorer households with more labor may tend to avoid monetary contributions in favor of labor. Higher levels of education and experience within a community should positively influence a household's contributions, to the extent that these variables increase the marginal returns to irrigation, thus leading to greater purchased inputs and farm revenues, both directly and indirectly. Farm management ability is captured by a dummy variable for whether or not the farm household maintains book-keeping records. Typically, households involved in keeping records are more cognizant of the optimal input mix, having learned from past experiences. The effect of book keeping is posited to have a positive relationship on contributions to the CdA, greater purchased inputs, and higher farm revenues, for similar reasons as education and experience. Total land endowments and the number of agricultural implements control for fixed inputs; both should lead to greater contributions to the CdA, to the extent that greater agricultural assets increase the marginal return to water. Given previous empirical work, gross returns and factor expenditures are likely to decrease or remain constant as the total land endowment increases. Agricultural assets may also have a positive or negative impact on gross returns and factor expenditures (though they should be positive for net returns), depending on the substitutability between such assets and other expenditures, for example, equipment hire. Household wealth, measured in terms of the number of consumer durables, controls for wealth differences across households. To the extent that greater wealth captures greater access to credit and reduced transaction costs in purchasing inputs and marketing outputs, greater wealth should lead to greater contributions to the CdA as well as more purchased inputs and higher overall net revenue. Finally, the distance to the nearest market is hypothesized to affect negatively contributions, purchased inputs, and farm revenue, as isolated households may face less pressure from social sanctions and the costs and the marginal revenue for marketing crops are lower.Given the hypothesized effect of household-and community-level variables, a cursory testing of means between contributors and noncontributors for each activity provides a useful baseline from which initial comparisons can be drawn and hypotheses tested. While means testing is not conditioned on other explanatory variables, the exercise is useful, as it can uncover stark differences between the contributors and noncontributors. Table A.2, in the appendix, summarizes the results for each contribution category, with the null hypothesis in each test being that the means between the two groups are equal.Of the 270 households, 157 provide labor to their local CdA. The means-testing exercise reveals that households living in communities with less land inequality and further away from agricultural markets give labor. Transitioning to monetary participation, the results show that 148 households provide money. Well-organized (book-keeping) households in well-connected CdAs are more likely to make monetary contributions. This may also reflect an advanced organizational capacity of the CdA. For households providing both labor and money, the results are similar. The following section extends the analysis, building on theses preliminary findings.This study is primarily concerned with (1) evaluating the household-and community-level factors that affect a household's decision to participate in yearly canal maintenance activities and (2) examining how variables that influence the contribution process also affect purchased input choices and farm revenues. The outcome variables of interest for the first question are the number of labor hours or pesos contributed. To analyze the first step of the problem, we must consider the possibility that an underlying decision process may directly influence the amounts contributed to each activity. Certain households may be more inclined to give labor rather than money, or vice versa. 9 If the sub-sample of labor contributors is not random, this selectivity may bias the coefficients in the regression estimating the number of labor hours contributed. To correct for this potential selection bias, we employ a Heckman two-step estimator to model each contribution process. In the first stage, we specify a probit regression for the binary decision to contribute labor (money/money or labor):where X is a vector of exogenous household, community, and CdA characteristics influencing the participation decision and is an error term with mean 0 and variance 1. The second stage then uses a truncated least-squares regression to estimate the level of contributions:where X is a vector of exogenous household, community, and CdA characteristics influencing the participation decision and i v is an error term. We assume that i u and i v take on a bivariate normal distribution (ui, vi) ~ N (0, 0, 1, σ2, ρ) and ρ is the correlation between the error terms. In the second step, we obtain unbiased estimates by including the inverse Mills ratio (IMR) for selectivity bias obtained from the estimation of the first equation. Statistical significance of the t-statistic on the IMR variable in the second stage supports the conjecture of selection bias in the sample. We also adjust standard errors for clustering at the CdA level.In total, the study uses three Heckman two-step estimators to model the contribution process of labor, money, and money and labor. Due to missing values for selected variables, the sample size is smaller than the total observations for each of the analyses.To determine how the exogenous household-and community-level characteristics influence variable input purchases and farm revenues, the study transforms the reduced form solutions above (equations 6 and 7) into a modified linear regression model:(11) 9 Though the CdA-level surveys provided information on the amounts of money and labor requested, either per household or per number of water rights held, informal discussions as well as the descriptive statistics indicate that poorer households appear to informally substitute labor for money, and vice versa, despite the \"fixed requests\" for labor or monetary contributions reported in the surveys. Instead, the total value of labor or money is likely to be an indicator of overall contributions.where i k is the logged value of variable input expenditures per hectare (pesticides and labor and/or machinery), farm revenues per hectare (Yi) are constructed as a logged sum of the revenues from the six primary crops grown among households in the sample (wheat, maize, rice, beans, raspberry, and sugar beet), the household-and community-level characteristics are those referred to in the descriptive analysis, and i  is a stochastic error term. Because certain households may be more inclined to use certain inputs, the factor expenditure equation is also modeled using a Heckman two-step estimator similar to the one above. Farm revenues are modeled using ordinary least squares (OLS) with adjusted standard errors for clustering at the CdA level. 10 Missing variables in the data limit the revenue analysis to 262 households.Tables 2-3, below, present the Heckman two-step estimator results from the contribution process. Table 2 reports two specifications for labor participation and subsequent contributions. The first specification indicates that households with fewer agricultural assets and those in communities that are not part of JdVs are more likely to provide labor contributions. The statistical significance of the incidental variable in the second-stage regression confirms potential selection bias for labor contributions. Given that a household contributes labor, the amount of labor contributed is largely determined by the amount of land and agricultural assets owned, with both variables having a positive influence on contributions. Results from a second specification, adding additional CdA control variables as well as a measure of community heterogeneity (land difference), are also reported. The results are similar to those of the first specification, with the same variables influencing participation. Group size appears to have a negative effect on labor participation. Owning more land and agricultural assets again positively affects labor contributions.Table 3 summarizes the results for monetary participation and contribution amounts. The first specification indicates that whether or not a household undertakes book keeping strongly influences participation. Conditional on participation, the second stage suggests that owning more land increases contribution amounts, whereas membership in a JdV reduces contributions. The second specification shows a stronger effect on monetary participation decisions than was the case for labor participation. CdA connections and making decisions by consensus are both statistically significant and positive, suggesting that a socially connected CdA president and the more time-consuming but flexible consensus decisionmaking process are essential for inducing monetary participation. The need to control for selection bias vanishes in the second stage, as the incidental variable is no longer significant. Owning more land positively influences the amount of money contributed (a 1 percent change in landholdings increases monetary contributions by about 0.42 percent), whereas JdV membership decreases monetary contributions.The analysis is rounded out in Table 4, with similar variables driving the decision and contribution process for both labor and money. One noticeable difference is the positive effect of the household labor supply on the participation decision. The importance of land differences, CdA connections, and consensus voting reappear in the second stage for the second specification.In summary, the first round of analysis suggests that, for labor participation, households that do not belong to JdVs and that own few agricultural assets are more likely to participate. Of the households contributing labor, agricultural assets and the amount of land owned strongly influence the number of labor hours given. Land differences have little to no statistically significant effect on any of the contribution decisions. At the community level, the size of the CdA negatively affects the probability that a household will contribute labor or both money and labor. CdA size also tends to reduce the amount of labor contributed. There is no effect on monetary participation. The connections of a CdA president moderately affect monetary participation and contributions, and strongly influence the amount of labor and money contributed. JdV membership tends to reduce participation and contribution amounts across all categories.Tables 5 and 6, above, summarize the results from the factor expenditure equations. First-stage results point out that agricultural assets and the amount of land owned are the primary farm-level characteristics driving the decision to purchase pesticides. At the CdA level, group size negatively influences the decision, though the effect vanishes across specifications. Given that a household purchases pesticide inputs, owning more land and agricultural assets and belonging to a large CdA negatively affect expenditures. However, moving to the second specification, the results are somewhat different. First, whether or not a CdA belongs to a JdV strongly influences the decision to purchase pesticides, whereas CdA heterogeneity tends to reduce participation. While CdA characteristics may affect the decision to purchase pesticide inputs, they appear to have minimal influence on expenditure amounts. The quantity of land owned and the distance to the nearest agricultural market negatively affect pesticide expenditures.The story differs for labor and machinery expenditures, summarized in Table 6. The amount of land owned again positively influences the decision to purchase labor or machinery inputs, but negatively affects the total amount purchased. Household book keeping and CdA membership in a JdV both have a positive effect on expenditure amounts. Moreover, focusing on the second specification, which adds additional CdA control variables, we see that voting by consensus has a substantial positive impact on whether or not a household decides to purchase labor or machinery inputs. Together, these results demonstrate that certain CdA characteristics may influence the binary decision to purchase a certain type of input, whereas other CdA connections, especially membership in a higher-level JdV, are essential in determining how much income a household allocates to factor input purchases.Table 7 presents the results from three different OLS specifications for farm revenues. The first model is parsimonious and focuses on core household and CdA characteristics. The signs on all the coefficients are mostly consistent with expectations, yet only average education, whether or not a household kept agricultural books, and the distance to the nearest agricultural market were statistically significant. The second specification includes additional CdA control variables. At the household level, education and book keeping again have a positive and statistically significant effect on revenue, whereas agricultural assets and distance to the nearest market have negative effects. A larger CdA, in terms of the number of members, and the social connections of the president both positively influence revenues, but land differences slightly reduce the dependent variable.To summarize, older, more educated households with greater managerial capacity earn more revenues on average. At the community level, households located in larger CdAs with a well-connected CdA president have higher farm revenues. But in CdAs whose members have vastly different landholdings, revenues are lower, as group heterogeneity appears to impose a cost on community members. differences to 0. The simulation results, presented in Tables 8 and 9 below, represent an upper bound on the potential gains. Under the intervention, monetary contributions increase, on average, by 9 percent (9.64 to 10.50), while farm revenues jump by 11 percent (13.32 to 14.73). These results are encouraging from a policy perspective, as they suggest the need for programs to connect CdA presidents across groups and to ameliorate the negative effects of landholding differences on contributions. The final section discusses these policy implications from a broader perspective, integrating the results from all the models.  This article uses combined household-and community-level data collected from the Maule Region (VII) of Chile to evaluate factors affecting the decision to participate in yearly irrigation maintenance activities, and the impacts of current behavior on input purchase and farm revenues. A theoretical model is developed to highlight the impact of the decision to provide irrigation maintenance (through contributions) on the simultaneous decision to purchase private inputs and thus on total agricultural output. The empirical analysis reveals that CdA characteristics explain much of the variation in participation decisions, contribution amounts, and subsequent farm revenues. Similar to previous researchers, we find that group heterogeneity, captured by landholding differences within the CdA community, de-incentivizes households to contribute to irrigation maintenance activities and also lowers farm revenues. However, although CdA size tends to reduce labor-based participation, the effect on revenues is positive, indicating that an irrigation group may need to reach a minimum size to effectively implement canal maintenance activities. CdA membership in a higher-level JdV is detrimental to fostering support for CdA contributions but vital in the household's decision to purchase inputs. Membership appears to affect household expenditures on labor and machinery. Finally, connecting CdA presidents to higher-level water authorities and to other CdA presidents appears to have a twofold effect. First, these connections appear to induce monetary participation and increase contributions across all categories. This in turn enables CdAs to keep canals well maintained, thus yielding higher revenues for farmers.To a policymaker, these findings are of direct relevance for two reasons. First, this study demonstrates the need for policy interventions that address CdA characteristics, specifically the need to account for economic heterogeneity among members and to lower the transaction costs of maintaining connections with other irrigation authorities-be it neighboring CdAs or the JdV. While an intervention may not be able to redistribute land, it can assist CdAs in recognizing and addressing the cost that group heterogeneity imposes on canal maintenance funding, activities, and thus factor expenditures and farm revenues. Alternatively, programs that connect CdA presidents both laterally, across groups, and vertically, to higher-level water authorities, should have positive effects on the ability of the CdAs to improve management of the internal canal infrastructure, due to better information flows and coordination with neighboring CdAs, better coordination with the JdV, and perhaps better infrastructure and reliability of water flows at the turnout. The effect of these connections and the process by which they induce contribution participation and affect farm revenues deserves further research.Second, in light of the ever-changing climatic environment, our results suggest the need to critically analyze and carefully assess the ability of CdAs to manage resources. Although the Maule Region today relies on adequate mountain runoff, rising temperatures affecting the level of snowfall may place increasing pressure on CdAs and thus on household profit levels and welfare. As water levels ebb and flow, and water scarcity truly becomes an issue, marginal changes in CdA activities and/or characteristics may have dramatic effects on household welfare, food security, and overall irrigation infrastructure. The ability of the household, as well as the CdA, to adapt to climate change must be considered when assessing the impact. Thus, addressing CdA inefficiencies today may not only have immediate effects on household welfare; it may also enhance the ability of CdAs, and thus households, to adapt in the future. ","tokenCount":"7459"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5420201624.json b/data/part_1/5420201624.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e16845372cf96c75cd08873c3a8bed4816cfba7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5420201624.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8d1ba83ea935dd7f9ae04f0e4aee0ae0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/T8G8IV/M2ULYV","id":"1507617043"},"keywords":["Questionnaire A","Household Demographics A1: Family structure A2: Migration History A3-A12: Farm History G1:Household Drought Experience G1-G2 Food Aid G4-G25 Questionaire B","Assets and Stock Holdings B1","Household Assets B2-B3: Livestock holdings ILCA Ox/seed project participants Questionnaire B4","Land and Grazing holdings (Livestock Holdings) B5a","Recall Livestock Stocking Level Questionnaire A","Household Demographics and Drought experience A1","Family structure A2","Migration History A3","Farm History G1","Household Drought Experience G1-G2 Food Aid G4-G13 Recall Non-farm Employment C6","Remittances and Loans C7","Savings C8","Non food expenditures No quest","D Questionnaire E: Mothers' Questionnaire E1: Weekly Food Consumption and expenditures E2: Womens' Drought Experience Wolayta (GaraGodo) Questionnaire A","Household Demographics and Drought experience A1","Family structure A2","Migration History A3","Farm History G1","Household Drought Experience G1-G2 Food Aid G4-G13 Recall Non-farm Employment C6","Remittances and Loans C7","Savings C8","Non food expenditures No quest","D Questionnaire E: Mothers' Questionnaire E1: Weekly Food Consumption and expenditures E2: Womens' Drought Experience"],"sieverID":"73e44f7c-e1b8-40fe-968c-ae737880364b","pagecount":"6","content":"Income from hiring out oxen, labor and tools C2. Income from sale of wild foods, wood, food aid, crops C3. Gross income from sale of animal products C4. Bulk Food purchase C5.","tokenCount":"32"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5420650774.json b/data/part_1/5420650774.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bbabc2bad8ef54b1f4787b1f80d6b68ba42cc215
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5420650774.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"08870b9f537851f431d852d58a05a026","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/27fe67aa-3c9d-46a4-ac04-57637bfbbe76/retrieve","id":"1730732030"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"89f80aab-0c9d-443e-bc5d-80cd3183a253","pagecount":"140","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.The objective of the Uganda mission was to conduct an assessment of the gender capacities of LAF partners in the Uganda Pig Value Chain and identify capacity development needs for appropriate interventions. The gender capacity assessment tools that were developed by TI for ILRI were used to collect the data in Uganda between the 28th April and 5th of June 2015. The tools were implemented at organizational and individual levels using two different data collection techniques to assess organizational and individual level gender capacities. An interview guide was used to collect organizational level data through focus group discussions while questionnaires were administered for the individual level interviews. The following six development partner organizations were assessed; Iowa State University (ISU) Uganda Program in Kamuli District Veterinary Office (DVO), Masaka; DVO Mukono; Volunteer Efforts for Development Concern (VEDCO) in Kamuli; Kaboneera-Kyanamukaaka Cooperative Union (KKCU) in Masaka; and Pig Production and Marketing (PPM) Limited in Mattuga. One national research partner, Makerere University, was also assessed. In addition, key informant interviews were also held with gender experts from SNV Uganda; Village Enterprise; District Community Development Officer (DCDO), Mukono; Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) veterinary office; VEDCO; and Makerere University to assess the gender enabling or disabling environment including downstream and upstream policies, rules, regulations, power relations and social norms that influence the Uganda pig value chain.Almost all the partners except Food Science and Technology of Makerere University were development organizations as LAF Uganda Smallholder Pig Value Chain mainly works with development partners to test \"best-bet interventions for upgrading the value chain\". From these assessments, it was found that most partners apart from VEDCO, scored low in core capacities for gender analysis and strategic planning. Most of them however collect sex-disaggregated data about their beneficiary participation in project activities but have limited capacity to conduct gender analysis. These partners lack mechanisms to ensure gender is taken into consideration in analysis, programming and leadership with exception of VEDCO that has a gender policy and gender experts at both the board and management level. A gender responsive M&E system was also lacking in many organizations assessed. VEDCO has the capacity to develop and implement joint gender advocacy materials with other organizations such as PELUM 1 , Food Right Alliance, Climate change alliance; and use research outputs and other material to advocate for gender equality. This core capacity received the highest scores in general. All the assessed organization, with the exception of VEDCO, did not have capacity in gender transformative approaches at all.VEDCO had scored highest in more than one third of the six core gender capacities and it the organization could be useful for building the capacities of, and sharing their experiences with other partners in line with existing tools and methodologies. This is a starting point to a networking drive and knowledge sharing on gender issues. The GALS approach is one of the GTA tools and methodologies that should be shared by VEDCO. LAF's gender strategy could be used as a guideline to develop a gender strategy for other partners with clear activities, expected results, indicators, roles / responsibilities, and budget.The gender capacity assessment aims to analyze the current gender capacities against desired future gender capacities of the LAF partners in the four value chain countries, and to subsequently design tailor-made capacity development interventions per country. The objective of the Uganda mission was to conduct the gender assessment of the LAF program partners in the Uganda Pig Value Chain.Between the 28 th April and 5 th June, 2015, the gender capacity assessment guide and tools developed by TI for ILRI were administered/ used to collect data in Uganda. The team consisted of ILRI/LGI gender team and UG Pig VC scientistThe gender capacity assessments were conducted for ILRI national research and development partners in the Central and Eastern regions of Uganda. The partners for capacity assessments were selected based on criteria agreed upon by ILRI Uganda staff during a one day brainstorming exercise. The first step involved mapping out all ILRI partners and scoring them on a scale of 1-5 based on:1. Level of Capacity 2. Partner Category 3. Shared Common objectives 4. VC Experience 5. Trust (credibility, governance, transparency) 6. Learning partnerships 7. Long term vision (food security & poverty reduction) 8. Grounded local action (engagement) and commitment 9. Influencing Ability 10. GenderThe purpose of scoring was to put into use the available resources. This led to identification of 39 potential partners that could be suitable to undertake the gender assessment. The next step in the partner selection process involved ILRI Uganda and Nairobi consultations through emails, and face to face interactions. Hand picking was applied to the list of partners selected in step one to come up with a total of 11 Organizations interviewed.Before the commencement of the assessments, ILRI gender researcher took two days to train the participating gender research team and VC Scientist in the gender capacity assessment (toolkit), and adapt it to the local context while drawing from Ethiopia and Tanzania assessment experiences. The team also got to interact with the TI Consultant, who clarified on issues/comments that emerged from the training and shed more light on the tool and the methodology.The assessment kicked off with a Key Informant Interview (KII) workshop with the national representatives composed of SNV Uganda; Village Enterprise; District Community Development Officer (DCDO), Mukono; Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Animal Nutrition division; VEDCO; and Makerere University. This workshop aimed at introducing the partners to the gender capacity assessment and development agenda within the Livestock and Fish CRP and to collect relevant information on the gender enabling or disabling environment including downstream and upstream policies, rules, regulations, power relations and social norms that influence the Uganda pig value chain. Focus group discussions utilizing an interview guide for organizations were used to assess organizational level capacities of seven partners. These included six development organizations (ISU; DVO Masaka; DVO Mukono; VEDCO; KKCU Masaka; PPM Limited) and one national research partner (Makerere University). Individual level capacity assessments were conducted through administration of questionnaires to each staff member of the participating organization. Conducting the FGDs together with administering the questionnaires lasted for about five hours for each organization. However, for organizations like KKCU, the assessment took close to six hours as the participants shared that they were not aware of the differences between sex and gender, and needed a deeper understanding of the concepts before proceeding with the assessments. The facilitators took almost an hour giving them basic training through demonstration and brainstorming exercises (Figure 1). This section highlights the results from KIIs organized into the following three categories: Political environment, the influence of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the environmental factors, and gender issues in the Uganda smallholder pig value chain.In 2007, the government of Uganda through the leadership and coordination by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) developed a National Gender Policy 2 which serves as a guiding framework for other policies. This policy was considered by the key informants as ineffective because the taskforce did not have any gender background and also had not carried out any systematic gender analysis to put forth evidence and that most sectorial levels were poorly represented. The capacity 3 of the team involved in development and implement such key documents to guide the implementation was terribly lacking. According to key informants, this therefore points to the fact that gender issues 4 are minimally or not taken into consideration at all while formulating the policies.It was also reported that the 2007 National Gender Policy does not offer room for capacity development/building or deliberate training of public and private entities and individuals in order to address the gender disparities. The policy also lacks a clearly spelt out approach to link/systematic integration between various local governmental departments/sectors. For example, the DCDOs who work under the MGLSD, who are mandated to handle gender agenda, do not work closely with the production department under Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) which is tasked to undertake agricultural research and development. Most key informants in the development sphere perceived that they are performs other program tasks other than mainstream gender in program activities.On the other hand, it was noted that the National Gender Policy does provide a conducive environment for bilateral and multilateral aid/funding e.g. the CANAGE funding for girls in Makerere University that also had a condition for establishing the department of gender and development studies (start of gender mainstreaming drive in Makerere University), civil society, Research institutes, Private sector, Producers and processors associations by not being rigid about such issues.However, an informant from Makerere University reiterated that \"there are no policies on gender per se, though there is 'the agricultural policy 2014' which was not really informed by proper gender analysis so as to address the root causes of gender constraints in order to come up with specific objectives, interventions and budget. Gender as a development issues is not critically and systematically looked into when it comes to planning and budgeting at the national level. There is need for better approaches and methods in order to transform the agricultural sector to be gender sensitive\". In addition, the other informants also alluded that other than the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADs) gender strategy 5 , there is no specific gender policy or parts of it highlighting the policy environment that influences the pig value chain. The pig enterprise does not even feature in the development agenda of the country because of religious and cultural reasons. For long, pigs have been categorized as dirty animals that were eaten in hiding. It is only recently that some district local governments through their production departments have taken up piggery as a priority under the rebranding of NAADs termed as 'operations wealth creation'.2 See http://mglsd.go.ug/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/policies/Uganda-Gender-Policy.pdf for the 2007 National Gender Policy.3 Capacity according to informants basically entailed academic trainings (number of men and women grounded in gender theories and background) and associated practical skills in gender mainstreaming (gender analysis, policy writing, gender strategy formulation, etc); latest information on gender analysis limited to a few in the NGO world. Capacities were also tagged to budgets and policy documents that are shelved in office cabins. 4 Not informed by field finding thus abstract. Sometimes civil society organizations like UWONET, FIDA etc are also consulted but this focus majorly on human rights issues leaving out the core aspects e.g. the pig enterprise where gender should be mainstreamed. This does not give a holistic picture of Agricultural development.No documented methodologies for picking up those to discuss and table contentious gender issues for policy review and implementation. There is also no back and forth interactions between the beneficiaries and the policy formulators plus those consulted 5 www.naads.or.ug/files/downloads/PIM.pdfEven though national policies are not gendered, most departments in the Ministry of Agriculture have designed gender mainstreaming guidelines, though not specifically addressing the pig value chain work. Indeed, the Constitution of Uganda has a provision for gender mainstreaming, and there are also national action plans for women. Training manuals on gender issues are also available. The greatest challenge is lack of good political will when it comes to gender budgeting. The policies only appear at a national level but they don't get to be implemented at local level because of lack of budget. As one informant asserted:\"Politicians usually support activities whose results are tangible. For instance, a politician would rather give out pigs (tangible) than invest in capacity building and advocacy activities (intangible) simply because they can showcase of what they have done as they can be evaluated by citizens based on tangible results. This makes it hard for policies to materialize as gender cannot be given a 'lip service'\". The influence of organizations on the environmental factorsThere are quite a number of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that are active in Uganda and who mainly advocate for gender equality through working with women activist groups. These CSOs particularly have advocated for women's rights to the level that bills like domestic violence, property ownership have been drafted. These organizations however focus mainly on women, leaving out the holistic gender agenda. Youth and men are usually left out thus such groups often tend to think gender is synonymous with women and that the organizations are empowering women to rule over men. These advocacy drives have had a fair share of domestic violence and role shift in cases where men have surrendered some of their husbandry roles to women.The informants also noted that almost all the existing public and private sector organizations are dependent on the funders to mainstream gender in their programs. This means that, they more or less address the agenda of the donor and not what should be done. Some of the donors however don't clearly clarify on what they want to achieve.The pig sector is dominated by smallholders and women contribute significantly in terms of labor provision at the production node but in post-production, men takeover is usually high. Men are thus in control of income and benefits that accrue from this. In spite of this, the informants reported that women do appreciate that the men have more marketing networks as compared to them and are therefore important when it comes to pig marketing. Also women are not able to know the weight of the pig, and where to market them. This is attributed to lack of knowledge, incentives and capacity by women to correctly estimate pig weights. In addition, getting an active pig market in Uganda is not easy as pigs are mostly sold at farm gate. This means that men are critical in the marketing domain. Addressing these gender stereotypes is an important step to ensure that women pig producers have access to markets and the revenues generated through the pigs they contribute to or rear'It is also worth noting that in Uganda, there are no physical markets for pigs. This is due to transportation difficulties as well as cultural and religious taboos (Stuart, 2013). Technically, most transporters and motorcycle riders are men. Even though the male and female extension staff are usually given motorcycles, the female staff end up not using/riding them. On this note, it was reported that culturally, men and women form the Baganda community (Central region) in Uganda have a mindset that riding a bicycle as a woman before getting married ''breaks ones virginity'' and one can become infertile. This is a deeply seated belief and most women do not easily share, and thus might be one of the reasons why transportation and marketing node of the pig VC is a dominated by men. Pigs are seen as 'unclean' and 'unholy' by mainstream religious communities (Muslims). Pig production and consumption is therefore something that carries stigma in Uganda.Slaughtering of pigs is also a men's domain. However, if slaughtering technologies are put in place, it is believed that women can also participate at this VC node though the uptake might be gradual. Culturally in the olden days, it was abnormal for a woman to even buy meat. Even slaughtering chicken is not easy/normal for women in Uganda. In Masaka for example, they believe that people who slaughter pigs are dirty and filthy, thus explaining why women cannot participate.Access and control of production resources such as land varies by gender across Uganda. Some organizations such as Village Enterprise give piglets to women but women must negotiate with their husbands on how to share returns because they are raising the piglets on the man's land. The Key informants also noted that planting permeant crops such as bananas and tress for women connotes landownership which is contrary to the traditional set up of land rights being vested on men/boy children or the clan. Only land bought by women can be put to such use otherwise those who insist on planting such crops only extract firewood for tress while men harvest and sell as timber. For the pig enterprise, in Central Uganda, women tend to control the pigs simply because they just collect the wastes and feed them. Women also have a bigger say on the pig enterprise while still on small scale but men slowly takeover when scaled up and that there is improvement in breeds; men takeover becomes high as they now can claim ownership. However, when a woman has one to two pigs, she is able to control/own it. Women who operate piggery business enterprises in groups also face challenges such as access (user rights) to land where pigs are reared. When the women gain profits, the men (husbands) claim to have a share of the income since they offer land, help construct the pig houses and in some cases offer security. This makes women to end up switching to other businesses.However, in some places, like Masaka, where most women groups report that they can control income from pig enterprise, they also experience the challenge of being overburdened by household responsibilities as men shy away from their duties as breadwinners. On the other hand, there is a tendency that as women become economically empowered; the men seem to feel disempowered. According to KIs, there is thus the need to look for ways of how the society can cope up with this new \"woman\" who is transitioning.Gender norms also play a big role in shaping women's access to food in the community. Men are particularly responsible for buying meat in central Uganda making the household nutrition dependent on him. The informants also noted that it's a taboo for women in Busoga region to eat pork while pregnant for fear of the unborn child can develop a long mouth like the snout of the pig.The seven organizations that have been assessed show several differences. VEDCO had the highest scores for all the capacities (between 4.8 and 3.0 at organizational and 3.5 to 2.9 at individual levels respectively), while the rest largely scored low. This sends a clear signal that all the other partners' gender capacities were less developed. However, the overall highest scores were reported in gender and leadership while the lowest scores were reported in the innovations for gender responsive approaches.  Findings per core gender capacity, interrelated levelsAt the organizational level, all the partners, except VEDCO, were weak in gender analysis and the use of gender analytical tools. VEDCO displayed capacity to analyze gender issues in the organization and to develop strategies to deal with these challenges. This has been due to provision of access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff and related resources through partners such as OXFAM GB. They have a gender policy, which clearly stipulates their focus on engendering their organizational activities including targeting both male and female and youth in the project areas. This organization has close to five gender focal persons at management levels with grounding in gender theory and practice. Staff are innovative to a level of creating a farmers parliament where issues are presented through plenary sessions in a competitive and fair manner. They use the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) strategy 6 which all staff are encouraged to apply to build the capacity of their target beneficiaries in the pig value chain.   The capacity to systematically include gender analysis in all research of the targeted VC 2.5 2.5The capacity to develop and apply gender analytical frameworks and tools in research 1.0 1.0 The capacity to analyze gender dynamics in the organization and to develop strategies to deal with these, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance.4.0 4.0Providing access to gender (analysis) training for female and male scientists 2.0 2.0The capacity and commitment of scientists to include gender analysis in their research work 2.8 2.8The ability to understand and use gender analysis tools and frameworks 1.9 1.9The ability to apply and translate gender (analysis) training in work 2.0 2.0The best developed parameter under this capacity based on the six development organizations that were assessed was the capacity to translate research outcomes to define and/or adjust gender responsive programs with VEDCO scoring highly followed by IOWA, DVO Masaka and Mukono. VEDCO has been a key partner of OXFAM for the last 10 years, and have learnt to design and implement their activities in a gender sensitive way. VEDCO also has a gender strategy and full-time gender staff with expertise in gender, and they ensure that gender issues are mainstreamed throughout their work.In contrast, data from the national research institute that was also assessed showed that the most developed parameter under this capacity was the capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, identification and sharing the weakest points etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance. The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance.      The capacity to develop and maintain effective partnerships with actors along the VC targeted at advocating for and promoting gender equality together with the partner 2.0 2.0Scientists' competency to build partnerships and coalitions 2.0 2.0This core capacity received the highest scores in general. For VEDCO, this is by far the best developed capacity. PPM 7 had the lowest score on this capacity, reiterating that they have six staff (5 male and 1 female) and that this disparity exists because women don't have much capacity in moving to slaughter houses and selling/marketing of pork as the average weight for pigs/porkers is 30kg thus its organizational gender imbalance. They also alluded that women also often shy away due to perceptions that pigs are dirty and that not quite many of them feel free to be known to get in work associated with the pigs, and are therefore not comfortable to introduce themselves in public as working in piggery activities.   The capacity to undertake research on women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions and how to make these more equitable 3.0 3.0Effectiveness in hiring women as researchers and fellows and to acquire gender balance throughout the organization 3.0 3.0Presence of women in leadership (management, senior scientists) and balanced representation 1.0 1.0Capacity to research women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions and decision-making bodies 1.9 1.9Researcher's knowledge, attitudes and practices towards enhancing women's positions in leadership 3.0 3.0Gender transformative approaches are being promoted in the LAF gender strategy, but partners do not have much knowledge on the content of this strategy. This capacity was the lowest compared to all the other five capacities although VEDCO scored much better of all the seven organizations by mentioning that they use the GALS approach whereby they use pictures among beneficiaries to envision the future. They also use case studies and success stories in reference to the GALS approach. They have piloted the GTA tool in Moyo and scaled out in Apac, Kamuli and Mukono districts. They further posited that men now allow and respect projects that address women's development needs and regard them as benefiting the entire family. However, the rest of the assessed organizations did not have a clue on what GTAs mean.   The capacity to develop, test and apply Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs) 1.0 1.0The capacity to evaluate and share insights on Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs) 1.0 1.0The capacity to ensure innovative GT approaches are used by others and scaled up 1.0 1.0Scientist's ability to conduct research into Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs) and other innovative approaches and methods that empower women 1.5 1.5The partners that were interviewed showed interest to integrate gender in their work, but appear to lack the capacity to implement this integration of gender in interventions. However, VEDCO was far ahead of all the assessed organizations and could be used by the ILRI Uganda office in implementation of the key proposed interventions emerging from the overall assessment of this study.ISU used to operate jointly with VEDCO (which was also assessed), but since 2014, they became independent. The assessment of ISU showed that in general, gender and leadership is the most developed capacity, whereas partnerships and advocacy, and innovation in gender responsive approaches are developed relatively weak.According to the participants, gender and leadership is the best developed capacity to them as they have eleven staff (4 female, 7 male). General Director is male, 3 associate directors (2 female, 1 male). The participants felt that they are balanced in leadership. All their advertisements/recruitments usually give equal opportunities for male and female candidates.The participants all agreed that as an organization, they have never been involved in advocacy for gender equality. They have never documented or designed GTAs although they deal with men and women, and before an intervention/project is implemented they ensure that the couple in the household are trained and sensitized about the benefits of the project. This happens mainly in the poultry projects.However, this organization is also committed towards collecting, interpreting and reporting on sex-disaggregated data. The assessment exercise was composed of eight participants (3 female, 5 male) working in different areas of specialty namely agronomy, livestock specialist, nutrition, finance and administration.This organization scored very low in all the gender capacities, though with their best score in gender and leadership. This organization claimed that they have no incentives for the female vet staff since their belief from time immemorial is that veterinary course is masculine and that leadership for women is constrained by their reproductive roles and they therefore fear that women may go off on maternity leave and offices are left empty.This organization lacks the independence to make own decisions regarding how they conduct their work as they are a part of the Ministry of Agriculture, who is also the appointing authority of their staff. Staff are deployed to district offices, and the latter do not have mandate to employ staff. Some staff do show the willingness to engage with wider gender issues but there is no incentive nor even the resources to do this.However, more women pig producers are represented during trainings sessions because they own the pigs. There is no specific strategy to mainstream gender in all their activities because they don't have capacity too. Therefore, they do not have the capacity to conduct gender responsive research activities.The assessment exercise was composed of twelve participants (3 female, 9 male)This organization scored low in almost all the gender capacities. Their best developed capacities were gender and leadership followed by gender responsive programming, budgeting, and implementation. This organization basically focuses on production. They mainly look at how many men and women have been trained and in most cases, it stops at the numbers other that the actual gender analysis of roles, access to and control resources and benefits accrued from production. Gender budgeting is usually done at a higher level by the Ministry of Gender.There is lack of coordination and communication between the Ministry of Gender and Ministry of Agriculture -Livestock sector-of how to conduct gender work However, they usually collect sex-disaggregated which in most cases, it stops at the number of men and women other that the actual gender analysis and budgeting which are usually done at a higher level (ministry of gender). Uganda has national policies on gender which mandates this organization to submit gendered reports based on numbers to the higher level scale in the Ministry. There is lack of coordination and communication with Ministry of Gender and Ministry of Agriculture (Livestock sector) of how to conduct gender work.The Ministry of Gender is the budget holder for all the gender work and only uses the livestock staff (technical expertise) when it comes to production activities. There is a problem with the central government system as there is no multi-sectoral approach in planning, designing and implementation of gendered programs/activities.They usually use research findings. For example, findings from ILRI showed and informed them that pork was not inspected in Mukono and therefore the staff were assigned places where they should go for inspection. DVO Mukono is an equal opportunity employer and there are no specific jobs designed for female and male staff. The female staff in the DVO is in charge of the Sub-County activities. They have an office policy that is guided by the public service policy on harassment and discrimination.The assessment exercise was composed of nine participants (8 male and 1 female)PPM is a private sector profit making organization that mainly deals with pig production advisory and consultancy services, breeding pigs, and pig farm marketing services. Since 2011, PPM has had informal partnership with ILRI when it comes to conducting rapid assessment/benchmarking activities i.e with the FEAST tool, conducting trainings and contribution to production of training manuals. PPM mainly engages men in their work since most women don't show interest in piggery work (slaughtering, sales and marketing).Currently, almost all the core gender capacities are non-existent, and developing them will need more than shortterm, one-off training in gender. This organization generally scored very low in all the core gender capacities. However, there was slight variations between the organizational (1.0) and individual scores (2.4) regarding gender and leadership.Though PPM does not deal with gender issues as an organization, they partner and work with partners such as ILRI, Netherlands Embassy and many other private companies that deal with feeds and drugs to ensure that the products reach the farmers. PPM utilizes some of the research-field findings especially recommendations by ILRI for business planning but not for gender.The assessment exercise was composed of five participants (4 male and 1 female).VEDCO is a private sector non-profit making organization that mainly deals with advisory services including pig production. VEDCO's vision statement is to 'Improve quality of life of small/medium holder farmers'. Its mission is to 'empower small/medium holder farmers for food and nutrition security, agricultural trade and institutional development'.In general, they have almost all the capacities in place. They have a gender policy; VEDCO is clearly a focus on engendering their activities. They Used the GALS strategy to build the capacity of their target beneficiaries in the pig value chain. All VEDCO staff have capacity building in gender.VEDCO mainly works in partnerships with OXFAM, and are thus conversant with the OXFAM'S gender analysis frameworks. They have worked closely with OXFAM close to 10 years. They have a gender focal person who is responsible for guiding VEDCOs interventions, national and local gender campaigns. They also have an M&E specialist who keeps track of the implemented activities.The organization embraces the GALS approach as an avenue towards gender transformation.The strongest capacity was in gender and leadership as the organization is almost balanced in term of male and female representation (46 staff in total-60%Male, 40%Female). The entire management and the board committed to gender equality.This assessment was composed of 10 participants (7 male and 3 female).This is a private sector cooperative that was started so as to help women pig farmers, who are the majority in Masaka district.In general, they scored very low in all the core gender capacities except for gender and leadership simply because they have never been trained in gender issues nor do they understand the meaning of gender.This assessment was composed of eight participants (5 male and 3 female) and was done with the help of a translator. The individual questionnaires were administered only to 5 participants (2 female and 3 male) because of language barrier and time constraints.A. Gender analysis and strategic planning All the partners, except VEDCO, were weak in gender analysis and strategic planning. However, most of them do collect sex-disaggregated data but they do not have the capacity to do gender analysis.B. Gender responsive programming, budgeting and implementation Majority of partners have not mainstreamed gender and do not have mechanisms in place to ensure gender is taken into consideration. VEDCO has a gender policy and gender experts in place both at the board and management level.C. Knowledge management and gender responsive M&E Majority of the organizations assessed collect and interpret sex-disaggregated data based on numbers of men and women participating, though this is mostly done for reporting purposes, and most of them do not have a gender responsive M&E system.All the assessed organizations work in partnerships with ILRI Uganda pig value chain. However, gender is neither central to these partnerships nor a core component in the advocacy agenda. Among all the assessed partners, only VEDCO has the capacity to develop joint gender advocacy materials with other organizations such as PELUM, Food Right Alliance, Climate change alliance; and use research outcomes and other material to advocate for gender equality.This core capacity received the highest scores in general. Almost all the partners claimed that their organizations were committed to gender equality and transforming gender power relations.The LAF gender strategy provides a starting point for developing, implementing, and scaling up gender transformative approaches. However, all the assessed organization, with the exception of VEDCO, did not have this capacity at all. It was during this assessment that most of them were then hearing of the term 'gender transformative approaches'. Access to leadership training of female staff 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.4 3.0 0.0 1.9The capacity to apply gender transformative approaches (GTAs) 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.0 3.0 1.0 1.0VEDCO is piloting the GALS methodology which is good for integrating gender into value chain development and research and has individuals/staff well qualified to implement it. The rest of the partners did not have access to such tools and methodologies. Despite all these, there was a general request by all partners to develop organizational and individual capacities on how to develop policies on capturing systematic data and carry out analysis of gender dynamics. Special interest was drawn to gender analytical frameworks and tools (gender analysis and strategic planning) as a starting point.The LAF gender strategy can be used as a guideline to develop in a participatory manner the organizational level gender strategies that highlights clear activities, expected results, indicators, roles / responsibilities, and both human and financial resources/budget.The question that was often asked at the assessment of these organizations was pertaining gender indicators to be monitored. The LAF gender strategy and associated M&E system would still be a guide in capturing information. This would provide a common ground towards having gender sensitive M&E systems with ILRI partners.For assessed organizations, some form of partnerships existed except for topics not related to gender. Tightening these partnerships especially with ILRI and other gender sensitive organizations like VEDCO would boost the other partners. These partnerships could be harnessed through networking drives and knowledge exchange around gender issues.ILRI in partnership with organizations such as VEDCO need to work towards changing the mindsets of other partners to embrace gender and leadership specifically in ensuring balance of men and women at recruitment and their understanding the codes of conduct.  The capacity to collect, interpret and report on sex-disaggregated data 4 Effectiveness in hiring women as staff members, extension officers, and in leadership positions, and to acquire gender balance 4Organization's commitment to gender equality and transforming gender power relations 3The capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 3The capacity to translate research outcomes to define and/or adjust gender responsive programs 3 The capacity to develop strategies for strengthening women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions 3 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0Gender responsive programming, budgeting, and implementationEffective partnerships and advocacy on promoting gender equalityOrg IndStaff's knowledge, attitudes and practices towards stimulating women's leadership in programs 3The capacity to ensure that interventions benefit women and men equally 2Existence and quality of a gender responsive M&E system and ability to use it 2 Organization's leadership / senior management accountability to gender equality and transforming gender power relations 2Providing access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff 1The capacity to implement programs in line with national gender policies and frameworks 1The capacity to develop gender responsive programs 1 Existence, quality and scope of a gender (mainstreaming) strategy including financial and human resource allocation 1The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance. 1Presence of gender experts who have the capacity to develop and implement gender responsive programs 1Position and mandate of dedicated gender staff (expert or focal point) 1Balance between responsibilities of gender experts and general staff members on gender mainstreaming 1Access to and production of knowledge documents and publications on gender 1Narrative-IOWA used to operate jointly with VEDCO (which was also assessed), but since 2014, they became independent.Although their projects were managed by IOWA while they were still together, VEDCO still claims that the initial farmers/farmer groups that they were working with as there. On this regard, IOWA has started a fresh to recruit farmers for their project activities.The participants admitted that they seem not to be very conversant with what \"gender mean\" though they collect sexdisaggregated data. The capacity to design and conduct gender analysis within the context of any of the flagships, access to and level of knowledge and experience in applying gender analytical tools and methodologies, and the capacity to use gender analytical data to inform new research and policies and to create new opportunities that can be leveraged to support the program activities and eventual scaling up.Make sure that everyone understands the definition of gender analysis and gender analytical tools.Discussion: what are gender issues in the targeted value chain?• Gender division of labor (productive, reproductive, community roles) and roles;• Gender differences in access to markets and control resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work, including financial resources; • Gender differences in decision-making and leadership;• Nature and level of participation of men and women in livestock and fish value chains; • Gender differences in educational level and technical knowledge Give some examples. Are these gender issues analyzed by the organization?Current score (1-5) CommentsThe capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 3.0They have done FGDs with FEAST questionnaire which was gendered. They found that women mainly collect the forages and men are the one who markets. Even in poultry and pig farming they have collected data which shows men mainly own resources such as land and they control the income earned, yet women are the ones who owns the chicken and pig, and only have access rights to use of land. In Nutrition training especially in HIV/AIDS, they ensure that both men and women from the same household are trained. 5 participants voted 3 while 3 participants scored 2.The attendance lists are usually sex disaggregated. The supervisor ensures that when staff go out for training, the data/attendance sheets must be sex-disaggregated. They don't have a policy written down but the knowledge is there. In the pig production, they are mainly emphasizing on involving women in the project since they are the main pig keepers. The other staff working on different projects always work with men and women in the community, and the sex disaggregated data they collect from them help IOWA to plan, though its not documented. To what extent does the organization understand internal gender dynamics and develops strategies to deal with these, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender 2.0 responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance? E.g. are affirmative actions necessary and to what extent?The capacity to implement gender responsive programs as planned, to mainstream gender throughout all operations and programs and allocate financial and human resources for it, having a gender sensitive structure and organizational culture, reflected amongst others in an internal gender balance. The capacity to develop strategies for strengthening women's decisionmaking power and their role in leadership positions 3 They look at the position in terms of leadership, but not who is in the leadership in terms of sex. To what extent does the organization develop and implement programs/projects on women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions? Give an example from 2014.To what extent do staff support women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions? 3Effectiveness in hiring women as staff members, extension officers, and in leadership positions, and to acquire gender balance 4 They usually ensure that students who come for internships are both female and male. To what extent are mechanisms such as affirmative actions in place to hire women and to promote them in leadership positions? 4General Director is male, 3 associate directors (2 female, 1 male). The participants felt that they feel they are balanced In leadership.In 2014 when they this organization began, they started with four staff, one female and three male To what extent is the organization balanced in terms of female and male representation at all levels?3 What were the numbers of men and women in 2014 at management and middle management level? Is it balanced? 2 What were the numbers of men and women (see The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1.0 The capacity to apply gender analysis tools and frameworks 1.0 Providing access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff 1.0 The capacity to analyze gender dynamics in the organization and to develop strategies to deal with these 1.0The capacity to sensitize communities on gender issues 1.0 Existence, quality and scope of a gender (mainstreaming) strategy including financial and human resource allocation 1.0The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance.1.0Presence of gender experts who have the capacity to develop and implement gender responsive programs 1.0Position and mandate of dedicated gender staff (expert or focal point) 1.0 Balance between responsibilities of gender experts and general staff members on gender mainstreaming 1.0This organization lacks the independence to make own decisions regarding how they conduct their work as they are a part of the ministry of Agriculture, who is also the appointing authority of their staff. Staff are deployed to district offices, and the latter do not have mandate to employ staff. Some staff do come across as willing to engage with wider gender issues but there is no incentive nor even the resources to do this.  40% of farmer group members should be women as a prequalification for the youth livelihood project. One of the gentleman seemed to have been involved in a range of projects that are gender sensitive. Another example was ILRI surveys.Two ladies scored 1 because data collected projects under projects is directly used by the respective projects while all the men (8) scored two. Achieving a consensus very hard To what extent are gender dynamics within the value chain, including interpreting the various gender roles played by men and women, access to and control of resources and benefits, and other gender issues that enhance or hinder men and women to equitably benefit from the value chain, analyzed and understood by the organization? How does the organization know of these gender issues?2 To what extent are incentives and procedures in place to ensure that staff applies gender analysis in their work? To what extent do staff always apply gender analysis in their work, e.g. before starting a project or intervention? Are projects checked on the existence and quality of gender analysis? 1We have never designed any questionnaires or procedures; we don't analyze gender disaggregated data.The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1.0They feel that gender issues are family business and don't think it's worth interfering with their affairs. The may not have written out strategies but at least they target farmer groups and these have both men and women. The capacity to implement gender responsive programs as planned, to mainstream gender throughout all operations and programs and allocate financial and human resources for it, having a gender sensitive structure and organizational culture, reflected amongst others in an internal gender balance.Discuss the kind of programs that this organization implements, are gender issues taken into consideration? Examples: -gendered participation in livestock and fish value chains; -gender roles and relations in feed resourcing and feeding and animal health, use of technologies and innovations, and breeds; -women's access to markets and control over resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work; -level and equity in animal source food consumption within poor households; -Preferences of male and female producers for certain breeds; e. To what extent responsibilities for gender mainstreaming shared within the organization? Do other staff members have formal responsibilities for integrating gender in their work, e.g. in their job descriptions?1.0The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance.To To what extent does the organization collect, develop and make accessible knowledge documents and publications on gender? How many did you publish in 2014? Who provided the gender expertise for each? Can we get one or two copies?1To what extent does the organization provide gender inputs, perspectives, insights to other organizations' reports and publications? Which organizations in 2014? Who did it? Can we have one or two such reports?1The capacity to build coalitions; influence government and external partners, and to advocate for women's rights. The definition of development partnership relationships provided in the development partnerships strategy identifies inspired alignment of independent autonomous organizations that come together for strategic reasons, not financial ones.Make sure that everyone understands the definition of partnerships and advocacy for gender equality. Discussion: Do you have partnerships around gender equality, with other organizations along the value chain, e.g. service providers, producer organizations, development organizations? Do you advocate for gender equality?Current score (1-5) Comments To what extent does the organization develop and implement programs/projects on women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions? Give an example from 2014.1To what extent do staff support women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions? 3To what extent are mechanisms such as affirmative actions in place to hire women and to promote them in leadership positions? 12 What were the numbers of men and women in 2014 at management and middle management level? Is it balanced? 1 2 females and 5 maleWhat were the numbers of men and women (see Organization's commitment to gender equality and transforming gender power relations 5 The capacity to develop strategies for strengthening women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions 4Staff's knowledge, attitudes and practices towards stimulating women's leadership in programs 4The capacity to ensure that interventions benefit women and men equally 4The capacity to implement programs in line with national gender policies and frameworks 3The capacity to translate research outcomes to define and/or adjust gender responsive programs 3The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance. 3The capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 3The capacity to apply gender analysis tools and frameworks 2 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0Gender responsive programming, budgeting, and implementationEffective partnerships and advocacy on promoting gender equalityInnovation in gender responsive approaches Org IndProviding access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff 2The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1The capacity to analyze gender dynamics in the organization and to develop strategies to deal with these 1Presence of gender experts who have the capacity to develop and implement gender responsive programs 1Position and mandate of dedicated gender staff (expert or focal point) 1Balance between responsibilities of gender experts and general staff members on gender mainstreaming 1Staff's ability to implement gender responsive interventions 1The capacity to collect, interpret and report on sex-disaggregated data 1Capacity to train other actors on gender responsive M&E 1Access to and production of knowledge documents and publications on gender 1Capacity to provide gender inputs, perspectives, insights to other organizations' reports and publications 1This organization basically focuses its work on production. They usually collect sex-disaggregated which in most cases, it stops at the number of men and women other that the actual gender analysis and budgeting which are usually done at a higher level (ministry of gender). There is lack of coordination and communication with Ministry of gender and ministry of agriculture (Livestock sector) of how to conduct gender work.The ministry of gender is the budget holders for all the gender work and only uses the livestock staff (technical expertise) when it comes to production activities. There is a problem with the central government system as there is no multi-sectoral approach in planning, designing and implementation of gendered programs/activities.The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1 3Gender programming and analysis 1 3Staff's ability to implement gender responsive interventions This office mainly partners with ILRI's Uganda pig value chain in the production node.The mission of this office is better service provision by increasing incomes.In Makerere University, the department of women and gender studies should be renamed to \"Men and gender studies\" because men will not easily enroll for gender courses in such a department since the name denotes it's a women training department.The participants posited that they find it difficult to differentiate between gender and sex.The capacity to design and conduct gender analysis within the context of any of the flagships, access to and level of knowledge and experience in applying gender analytical tools and methodologies, and the capacity to use gender analytical data to inform new research and policies and to create new opportunities that can be leveraged to support the program activities and eventual scaling up.Make sure that everyone understands the definition of gender analysis and gender analytical tools.Discussion: what are gender issues in the targeted value chain?• Gender division of labor (productive, reproductive, community roles) and roles;• Gender differences in access to markets and control resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work, including financial resources; • Gender differences in decision-making and leadership;• Nature and level of participation of men and women in livestock and fish value chains;• Gender differences in educational level and technical knowledge Give some examples. Are these gender issues analyzed by the organization?Current score (1-5)The capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 2.5 They do but not fully. In pigs, we ask questions of who does what and you will find it's mainly the men who are involved in pig husbandry because women fear pigs as they are dirty. Men do the construction of pens and providing feeds. Women will just throw vines in the pens. In most parts of Mukono, the most tethered pigs (one or two) are owned by women but when it commercializes via increase in numbers, then men take over the ownership. When women business grows, even the women's behavior changes like They have a gender component even at the reporting level but when it comes to analysis, nothing is done much as it's meant to be done at a higher level. Gender component is just included at the project design just to appease the donor. They have several tools such a SWOT analysis but they have never done gender analysis along the pig value chain. There is a gender officer at the sub-county level who is meant to critically look at the gender issues. This office's tools basically focuses on production. They mainly look at how many men and women have we trained and in most cases, it stops at the number of men and women other that the actual gender analysis and budgeting which are usually done at a higher level (ministry of gender). There is lack of coordination and communication with Ministry of gender and ministry of agriculture (Livestock sector) of how to conduct gender work.The ministry of gender is the budget holders for all the gender work and only uses the livestock staff (technical expertise) when it comes to production activities. There is a problem with the central government system as there is no multi-sectoral approach in planning, designing and implementation of gendered programs/activities.To what extent are gender dynamics within the value chain, including interpreting the various gender roles played by men and women, access to and control of resources and benefits, and other gender issues that enhance or hinder men and women to equitably benefit from the value chain, analyzed and understood by the organization? How does the organization know of these gender issues? 2 They do but not fully. In pigs, we ask questions of who does what and you will find it's mainly the men who are involved in pig husbandry because women fear pigs as they are dirty. Men do the construction of pens and providing feeds. Women will just throw vines in the pens. In most parts of Mukono, the most tethered pigs (one or two) are owned by women but when it commercializes via increase in numbers, then men take over the ownership. When women business grows, even the women's behavior changes likeThey have a gender component even at the reporting level but when it comes to analysis, nothing is done much as it's meant to be done at a higher level. Gender component is just included at the project design just to appease the donor. They have several tools such a SWOT analysis but they have never done gender analysis along the pig value chain. There is a gender officer at the sub-county level who is meant to critically look at the gender issues. This office's tools basically focuses on production. They mainly look at how many men and women have we trained and in most cases, it stops at the number of men and women other that the actual gender analysis and budgeting which are usually done at a higher level (ministry of gender). There is lack of coordination and communication with Ministry of gender and ministry of agriculture (Livestock sector) of how to conduct gender work.The ministry of gender is the budget holders for all the gender work and only uses the livestock staff (technical expertise) when it comes to production activities. There is a problem with the central government system as there is no multi-sectoral approach in planning, designing and implementation of gendered programs/activities.To what extent are incentives and procedures in place to ensure that staff applies gender analysis in their work? To what extent do staff always apply gender analysis in their work, e.g. before starting a project or intervention? Are projects checked on the existence and quality of gender analysis? 3The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1.0The budget they receive does not encompass the gender element.1.0The capacity to apply gender analysis tools and frameworks 2.0 Worked in conjunction with ILRI and used tools on gender roles and responsibilities, decision making wheel, activity clock. This was in 2013. They need to be updated on how to use the above mentioned tools.To what extent does the organization make use of a toolkit or inventory of tools? 2.0Providing access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff 2.0 They had some trainings in gender under the National agricultural advisory services (NAADS). This was because it was a donor requirement. As an organization, they are not all at the same level in terms of gender skills.To what extent have all staff received sufficient training on gender (analysis)? How many trainings have they attended? Are the trainings sufficient in quality and quantity?2To what extent does the organization understand internal gender dynamics and develops strategies to deal with these, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance? E.g. are affirmative actions necessary and to what extent?1.0The capacity to implement gender responsive programs as planned, to mainstream gender throughout all operations and programs and allocate financial and human resources for it, having a gender sensitive structure and organizational culture, reflected amongst others in an internal gender balance.Discuss the kind of programs that this organization implements, are gender issues taken into consideration? Examples:-gendered participation in livestock and fish value chains; -gender roles and relations in feed resourcing and feeding and animal health, use of technologies and innovations, and breeds; -women's access to markets and control over resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work; -level and equity in animal source food consumption within poor households; -Preferences of male and female producers for certain breeds; etc The capacity to ensure that interventions benefit women and men equally 3.7 They don't discriminate when the men and women demand for production services, including inputs, training and technologies. At the starting point, women, youths and People with disabilities were given piglets for close to three continuous years.They help both men and women do have increased productivity, and even help them get the markets for pork.Consumption of pork in Uganda is culturally stigmatized as women are not supposed to eat. Pork consumption in Uganda is gendered in that men usually go out (leaving behind their wives and children) to eat pork (it's like going out to watch football). One must be careful when buying and eating pork because it's abnormal.The mandate of this production office in Mukono is to improve the well-being of households. Pigs are living banks as they can easily be converted into money. Pigs keeping is like a factory of recycling of left overs because women and men collect all the residues around in order to feed them so that they get pork.To what extent, and how does the organization make sure women and men benefit equally from provision of services, inputs, trainings, and technologies? Give examples.To what extent, and how does the organization make sure women and men benefit equally from envisaged program impacts such as on the increase of household income, increased farmers' participation in the value chain, improved access and consumption of animal source food, etc? Give examples.Are mechanisms, such as policies and procedures, in place to ensure that interventions benefit women and men? Are they effective, e.g. does all staff understand and implements? To what extent responsibilities for gender mainstreaming shared within the organization? Do other staff members have formal responsibilities for integrating gender in their work, e.g. in their job descriptions?1.0The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance.To what extent are actions towards a more gender responsive organization implemented? Give specific examples of actions implemented towards a better gender balance in 2014 and with what results?3To what extent are policies and procedures in place to ensure gender equality in the workplace?3The capacity to collect and analyze sex disaggregated data, to monitor and to report on gender responsive programming, specific gender outputs and outcomes, knowledge management, outreach and communication capacity to document stories, blog post and research publications, ensuring wide (social media) outreach on gender responsive programming and its results.Explain the difference between sex-disaggregated data within and beyond the household, and household data disaggregated by household head. Explain the extent to which these two data are useful for gender analysis and the invisibility of women from MHH in data disaggregated by HH head.Explain the definition of gender responsive monitoring, evaluation and learning.Current score (1-5)The capacity to collect, interpret and report on sex-disaggregated data 1.0 1The capacity to build coalitions; influence government and external partners, and to advocate for women's rights. The definition of development partnership relationships provided in the development partnerships strategy identifies inspired alignment of independent autonomous organizations that come together for strategic reasons, not financial ones. 1Commitment and accountability to gender equality and women's leadership, and the organization's leadership's capacity to provide adequate vision and guidance to enhance policies on gender mainstreaming.Current score (1-5)Organization's commitment to gender equality and transforming gender power relations 5 DVO Mukono is an equal opportunity employer; there are no specific jobs designed for female and male staff. They have an office policy that is guided by the public service policy on harassment and discrimination.It the training that leads to staffing. When jobs are advised, mostly women are encourage to apply.To what extent is the organization's leadership committed to gender equality?  Discuss highest and weakest scores and vote to define the priority of importance of capacities: each participant gets 5 votes to indicate which five capacities are more important / relevant according to him / her. Important capacities can include weak capacities that need to be strengthened, as well as existing capacities that need to stay in place. Discuss the outcome of the voting and make a priority listing of 5 -10 capacities. Discuss and agree for each prioritized capacity how to maintain or strengthen them. To attach/lobby for a gender focal person/expert to the DVO production unit 3Existence, quality and scope of a gender (mainstreaming) strategy including financial and human resource allocation 1 The capacity to implement actions towards a more gender responsive organization, including the adjustment of internal policies, procedures, business plans, etcetera to make them more gender responsive, affirmative actions towards a better gender balance. 1Narrative This is a business enterprise with their sole purpose being to make profit. They are very weak in the core gender capacities and they also lack the resources (both financial and human) to pursue any analysis of gender issues. Currently most gender capacities here are non-existent, and developing them will need more than short-term, one-off training in gender.Desired score Build organizational capacity to carry out gender analysis 1 3 ILRI to support PPM to come up with innovation and specific ways of how to integrate gender in all activities 1 3 Gender responsive budgeting-which budget and where to effect gender in it 1 2 Support for design and implementation of gender responsive programs 1 2 Gender analysis to identify specific issues along the pig value chain from production to slaughter, marketing etc. 1 3Proposed This assessment was composed of 5 participants (4 male and 1 female). PPM is a private sector profit making organization. It mainly deals with pig production advisory and consultancy services, breeding pigs, and pig farm marketing services. Since 2011, PPM has had informal partnership with ILRI when it comes to conducting rapid assessment/benchmarking activities i.e. with the FEAST tool, conducting trainings and training manuals. PPM mainly engages men in their work since most women don't show interest in piggery work (slaughtering, sales and marketing). Women engaging as transporters (motorcyclists) is not possible because this domain is energy demanding and can lead to infertility. Even climbing trees is not allowed for women since when they become pregnant, it becomes difficult to push the baby.In Northern Uganda, men are very weak and redundant. Women have taken up their activities. Thus, low income men from this region really appreciate and are proud of their women.PPM has never been keen about gender issues in their activities/daily business. They therefore don't have capacity to conduct a gender analysis, dedicated gender budget etc. PPM is aware of the gender issues in the pig VC but the problem is lack of financial resources to train and carry out gender sensitization the smallholder farmers.In terms of the pig enterprise, women are seen/involved at the production stage while men come in at the marketing and sharing of benefit/income node If a budget is dedicated for gender work, PPM can take men and women smallholder farmers to demonstration farms so that they can learn new knowledge and skills on pig farming since piggery is mostly done as a backyard farming activity. The average weight for pigs/porkers is 30kg which goes of 180,000 Uganda Shillings. According to the Production manager, they have few male staff because of the nature of the work (slaughtering and carrying meat)--social construct and also low academic qualifications issues. The female participant perceived that being a taxi driver and other heavy/masculine tasks has serious side effects. She feared becoming muscular--that the body becomes like a stone. She also feared that climbing trees etc is hectic and thinks that this might be very difficult during child birth. Two ladies/older women operate as taxi conductors in Kampala but have children.The capacity to design and conduct gender analysis within the context of any of the flagships, access to and level of knowledge and experience in applying gender analytical tools and methodologies, and the capacity to use gender analytical data to inform new research and policies and to create new opportunities that can be leveraged to support the program activities and eventual scaling up.Make sure that everyone understands the definition of gender analysis and gender analytical tools.Discussion: what are gender issues in the targeted value chain?• Gender division of labor (productive, reproductive, community roles) and roles;• Gender differences in access to markets and control resources, technologies, labor, power and the benefits of their work, including financial resources; • Gender differences in decision-making and leadership;• Nature and level of participation of men and women in livestock and fish value chains; To what extent are policies and procedures in place to ensure gender equality in the workplace? 1The capacity to collect and analyze sex disaggregated data, to monitor and to report on gender responsive programming, specific gender outputs and outcomes, knowledge management, outreach and communication capacity to document stories, blog post and research publications, ensuring wide (social media) outreach on gender responsive programming and its results.Explain the difference between sex-disaggregated data within and beyond the household, and household data disaggregated by household head. Explain the extent to which these two data are useful for gender analysis and the invisibility of women from MHH in data disaggregated by HH head.Explain the definition of gender responsive monitoring, evaluation and learning.  Current score (1-5) CommentsThe capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 3.5 Participation and involvements inform of records e.g. in input distribution, during trainings.70% of our beneficiaries are women and 30% men. They have well written out guidelines that stipulate that, 70% of women should be targeted right from organizational planning, inception workshops to validate field results and during routine data collection To what extent are gender dynamics within the value chain, including interpreting the various gender roles played by men and women, access to and control of resources and benefits, and other gender issues that enhance or hinder men and women to equitably benefit from the value chain, analyzed and understood by the organization? How does the organization know of these gender issues?To what extent are incentives and procedures in place to ensure that staff applies gender analysis in their work? To what extent do staff always apply gender analysis in their work, e.g. before starting a project or intervention? Are projects checked on the existence and quality of gender analysis? 3The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 3.0 They have a gender policy, VEDCO is clearly a focus on engendering their activities. They Used the GALS strategy to build the capacity of their target beneficiaries in the pig value chain. We score three because the issue of adaptability is still low and also we have had changes in the staffing level so they have got to learn about the tools and strategies.  To what extent does the organization develop and implement programs/projects on women's decision-making power and their role in leadership positions? Give an example from 2014.The capacity to analyze gender dynamics within the value chain 1 The capacity to develop strategies to address gender dynamics in the value chain 1 The capacity to apply gender analysis tools and frameworks 1 Providing access to gender (analysis) training for female and male staff 1 The capacity to analyze gender dynamics in the organization and to develop strategies to deal with these 1 The capacity to implement programs in line with national gender policies and frameworks 1 The capacity to develop gender responsive programs 1 The capacity to translate research outcomes to define and/or adjust gender responsive programs 1 The capacity to ensure that interventions benefit women and men equally 1 The capacity to sensitize communities on gender issues 1This cooperative was started so as to help women pig farmers, who are the majority in Masaka district. However, majority of the cooperative members are women, thus scoring themselves better in gender and leadership. Their executive committee is composed of 8 members -4 female (a treasurer and 3 members) and 4 male (chairperson, vice chair, secretary general and one member). This members are usually elected by the cooperative members. They believe that women are usually trustworthy when it comes to finances and affirmative action is there to ensure that the treasurer should be a woman.Moreover, they scored very low in other gender capacities simply because they have never been trained in gender issues.In the middle of the assessments, all the participants reiterated that for all the six core gender capacities score is 1 (or zero Given the problem of language barrier, we scored each core gender capacity immediately after its translation (with the help of a translator from the DVO's office in Masaka) so that the participants could easily understand what the six different core gender capacities are/mean.Desired score Gender analysis and strategic planning as it was one of the least scored capacity. If this is developed it will be an eye opener for them to integrate gender in their work. This assessment was done with the help of a translator (Appointed from the DVO's office, Masaka).The total number of participants were 8 (5 male and 3 female).The individual questionnaires were administered only to 5 participants (2 female and 3 male) because of language barrier and time constraintsWe scored each core gender capacity immediately after its translation so that they participants would easily understand what the six different core gender capacities are/mean.The community is repulsive to gender issues since they feel gender is fighting their culture/ normal way of life. They are silent about gender. People who join the cooperative have HH arrangement since the women members are not able to afford the membership alone, and that their husbands don't just allow their wives (who are members ) to keep on attending to events/meetings at the cooperative. This also applies to the male cooperative members. They will say \" I will join the cooperative, though my husband/wife is not for it\".One of the participants noted that he has always been attending the trainings and he is now a cooperative member, although his wife and children have never attended the training. Sometimes we just answer and respond to this gender issues just to please the donors/partners but in reality nothing happens on the ground to change/transmit the gender knowledge.They are very low/weak when it comes to gender analysis and strategic planning since they only collect sex disaggregated data when ILRI asks them. Otherwise nothing of the sought exists in this cooperative.In the middle of the assessments, all the participants reiterated that for all the six core gender capacities score is 1 (or zero) simply because they have never been trained on what gender is. They requested to be taught on what gender is. The facilitators took over this role of giving them basic training on what gender is. This encompassed the difference between gender and sex using demonstrations and brainstorming exercises (photos from flip charts available).At the end of this assessment, the chairman of this co-operative noted that ILRI has never been tangible as it has done in this day's activity of identifying their gender capacity gaps. He commended the interviewers for the good work by teasing out the areas they need to work on in terms of building their gender capacity. He further reiterated that ILRI as their partner organization should try and collaborate with them in the feeds component since availability of feeds is one of the most constraints that the pig farmers face. If ILRI can connect them with a feeds company/market, then they sell them to farmers that will be a big plus for them as a cooperative. This cooperative was started so as to help women pig farmers, who are the majority in Masaka district. However, majority of the cooperative members are women, and that they have equal number of men and women in the executive. Currently the treasurer is a woman and that women are trusted as treasurers compared to men.","tokenCount":"12083"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5455523692.json b/data/part_1/5455523692.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..865e512d7871e2a6a5dff3a32a9d0a638c82d185
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5455523692.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"682657c7abbff8aabd12313ef773d023","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8fc7eb3e-0cfa-47c0-aa5b-6b8001f97dc5/retrieve","id":"-1753561086"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6bc42a91-e149-41d4-8bdb-3b9f3b049c75","pagecount":"1","content":"• A random parameter logit model was used to analyse data collected through a choice experiment survey.• Findings of the study indicated that adap9ve and produc9ve traits and traits of cultural importance are preferred by farmers.• Important traits of chicken to farmers, according to their value to farmers are : • Mothering ability -good mothering ability, the ability to hatch op9mum propor9on of eggs set for hatching and raise chicks are the most important trait in chicken profile choice among rural farmers, while eggs per clutch was the least. • Plumage colour -this is a trait of socio--cultural importance. Farmers highly preferred and valued white plumage colour, but black plumage colour created disu9lity to them. • This study employed stated preference--based valua9on methods to evaluate Ethiopian smallholder farmers' willingness to pay for poultry vaccine services and to iden9fy and value preferred traits of poultry for reproduc9on purpose.• We found that farmers recognize the benefits of vaccina9on programmes and are largely willing to pay for it.• Analysis of farmers' preference for traits of poultry revealed that mothering ability, disease resistance and traits of cultural significance are important to farmers. It was also found that farmers prefer and value a vaccina9on programme that is good at reducing disease severity and that could be administered by veterinary technicians. programmes indicated that farmers recognize the benefits of the vaccine programmes and are largely willing to pay for it.• The result from exponen9al probit reveals that farmers' willingness to pay for village poultry vaccine service is influenced by whether farmers believe the vaccine programme is effec9ve or not.• Farmers' willingness to pay varied between regions.• Farmers who had some form of educa9on were generally more willing to pay while older farmers were found to be more reluctant.• Farmers' willingness to pay for vaccine services were further explored using choice experiment for detail analysis.• Result from the choice experiment data indicates that farmers highly prefer vaccine programmes that are:• good in terms of reduc9on of disease severity for individual birds;• efficacious for a reasonable propor9on of the flock, and;• administered by veterinary technicians (rather than by the farmers themselves).• Farmers are largely willing to pay for a poultry vaccine service, though there was varia9on between regions.• A vaccine programme that is good in reduc9on of disease severity and that could be administered by veterinary technicians is preferred.• Mothering ability (ability to hatch and raise a larger propor9on of chicks), disease resistance and traits of cultural significance are important to farmers. This may ques9on the relevance of efforts focusing exclusively on improved produc9vity in village poultry by targe9ng specialized egg layers.• This study employed stated preference approaches, which are commonly employed to value non--market goods in Environmental Economics and to asses demand for poten9ally marketable products and services in marke9ng literature. • Both Con9ngent Valua9on Method (CVM) and Choice Experiment (CE) were used. • Hypothe9cal vaccine programmes were designed to elicit farmers' willingness to pay. • A sta9s9cal so]ware programme was used to combine traits of chickens to obtain chicken profiles for the CE survey. • Primary data were collected through household surveys.• Robust econometric methods were used to analyse the stated preference data collected through the CE and CVM survey. • The study was conducted in 2 areas of rural Ethiopia: Horro and Jarso (Figure 1).Research Objec@ves • Evaluate farmers' willingness to pay for poultry health vaccines • Iden9fy features of vaccine services that farmers would prefer, and to value these features • Iden9fy preferred traits of hens and es9mate economic value for these traitsVaccina@on Preferred traits","tokenCount":"591"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5465888397.json b/data/part_1/5465888397.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..56a54c05433ec36d1479da8a0b5ee26460b7e030
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5465888397.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e171f8c07714d10db7c6420ad021e928","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d3c09bc3-ca48-456f-a0c6-386176335921/content","id":"2123929893"},"keywords":["genotyping","wheat","Triticum aestivum","breeding","Axiom array","single nucleotide polymorphism"],"sieverID":"57908f5b-c24b-4cfd-a3f5-18f1f732f6ae","pagecount":"13","content":"High-throughput genotyping arrays have provided a cost-effective, reliable and interoperable system for genotyping hexaploid wheat and its relatives. Existing, highly cited arrays including our 35K Wheat Breeder's array and the Illumina 90K array were designed based on a limited amount of varietal sequence diversity and with imperfect knowledge of SNP positions. Recent progress in wheat sequencing has given us access to a vast pool of SNP diversity, whilst technological improvements have allowed us to fit significantly more probes onto a 384-well format Axiom array than previously possible. Here we describe a novel Axiom genotyping array, the 'Triticum aestivum Next Generation' array (TaNG), largely derived from whole genome skim sequencing of 204 elite wheat lines and 111 wheat landraces taken from the Watkins 'Core Collection'. We used a novel haplotype optimization approach to select SNPs with the highest combined varietal discrimination and a design iteration step to test and replace SNPs which failed to convert to reliable markers. The final design with 43 372 SNPs contains a combination of haplotype-optimized novel SNPs and legacy cross-platform markers. We show that this design has an improved distribution of SNPs compared to previous arrays and can be used to generate genetic maps with a significantly higher number of distinct bins than our previous array. We also demonstrate the improved performance of TaNGv1.1 for Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and its utility for Copy Number Variation (CNV) analysis. The array is commercially available with supporting marker annotations and initial genotyping results freely available.Single Nucleotide Polymorphism genotyping arrays (SNP arrays) play an important role in advancing studies of genetic variation in both animal (Chen et al., 2014a) and plant populations (Bassil et al., 2015;Koning-Boucoiran et al., 2015;van Geest et al., 2017). They allow the identification, and analysis of up to hundreds of thousands of SNPs in a single assay providing a high-throughput and cost-effective way to analyse genetic diversity. As such, they have been widely used to generate genetic linkage maps, study evolutionary relationships, unravel functional genomics and support conservation efforts. They have also proved to be highly valuable in breeding programmes, being used for Genomic Selection (Gebremedhin et al., 2024;Kang et al., 2023) to enable prediction and evaluation of quantitative traits, for marker assisted selection (MAS) (Arruda et al., 2016;Thomson, 2014), genome-wide association studies (GWAS) (Balagu e-Dob on et al., 2022;McCouch et al., 2016;Negro et al., 2019;Yu et al., 2023) and the mapping of QTL (Stadlmeir et al., 2018;Xu et al., 2017). Their power and utility are evidenced by the large number of arrays available for crop species (strawberry - Verma et al., 2017;rose -Koning-Boucoiran et al., 2015;chrysanthemumvan Geest et al., 2017;potato -Vos et al., 2015;rice -Chen et al., 2014b;Daware et al., 2023;Kim et al., 2022;maize -Unterseer et al., 2014).Genotyping arrays play a critical role in the genotyping of hexaploid bread wheat allowing researchers to rapidly screen wheat varieties, identify genetic variants associated with important traits and develop markers for use in breeding programmes. For wheat, several SNP arrays have been developed (Allen et al., 2017;Rimbert et al., 2018;Soleimani et al., 2020;Sun et al., 2020;Wang et al., 2014;Winfield et al., 2016). These arrays contain a large number of SNPs and have been demonstrated to be effective tools for linkage analysis, QTL mapping of important traits and genome-wide association analysis (Allen et al., 2017;Bourke et al., 2018;Vukosavljev et al., 2016).However, previously developed genotyping arrays for wheat suffer from uneven marker distribution and marker redundancy due to linkage disequilibrium (LD). Uneven marker distribution means that regions of the genome being over-or underrepresented. This can lead to bias in the results and limit the ability to accurately detect genetic variants in certain regions of the genome. This is particularly problematic for bread wheat, which has a large and complex hexaploid genome with significant structural variation. In addition to these technical limitations, older genotyping arrays are also limited by the genetic diversity of the populations used to develop them. Bread wheat is a highly diverse crop with significant genetic variation both between and within different populations. Therefore, genotyping arrays developed using a limited set of wheat lines may not capture the full range of genetic diversity present in the crop. As a consequence of these limitations, scientists and breeders have called for a new generation of wheat genotyping arrays that overcome these technical and biological challenges, provide a more comprehensive view of the genome and capture the full range of genetic diversity present in bread wheat's pangenome. Here, we describe the development of a new SNP genotyping array for wheat, the TaNG Array, that has been designed to overcome several of these issues and, thus, provide a more comprehensive coverage of the genome than previous versions.The SNP markers selected for inclusion on the array were from skim sequence data from 315 wheat accessions (204 elites and 111 landraces -Data S1) and from existing genotyping arrays (see Methods). Markers taken from the Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Array (Winfield et al., 2016) hereafter referred to as the 820K Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Arrayand the Axiom TM 35K Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array (Allen et al., 2017) hereafter referred to as the 35K Arraywere entirely exonic, whilst those derived from sequence were intronic, exonic and intergenic. As a panel, the markers were evenly distributed throughout the genome based on positions relative to IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 (International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), 2018).The initial array design (v1.0) was screened using a standard collection of 182 elite cultivars and landraces (Data S4). The sample call rate ranged from 94.5% to 98.8%. Based on their cluster patterns, probes were classified into the following six categories: Poly High Resolution; No Minor Homozygous; Off-Target Variant; Call Rate Below Threshold; Monomorphic High Resolution and Other (Figure 1; Table 1). The first three categories are considered most useful as they generate accurate polymorphic genotype calls. Of the 44 258 probes on the initial array, 23 068 (52%) fell into the three useful categories (Table 1). Approximately 28% were monomorphic; that is, they generated a strong signal to indicate the target sequence was present, but no polymorphism was detected. Of these monomorphic markers, 93% were derived from skim sequence data rather than sourced from existing genotyping arrays, indicating that these SNPs failed to convert into useful Axiom markers.Of the accessions used for screening TaNG Array v1.0, 144 were also present in the original skim sequencing panel (Data S1) thus allowing direct comparison to be made between genotype calls on the two platforms. Given the sequencing-derived genotypes for the 144 varieties, only four of the 12 490 markers reporting monomorphisms were predicted to be monomorphic, and only 112 of these apparently monomorphic markers were expected to have less than 10 instances of the minor allele.  Due to the large number of monomorphic probes on the first iteration of the TaNG array (version 1.0), the array was redesigned. Monomorphic probes were replaced with probes from the Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Array proven to be polymorphic; these replacement probes were selected by re-running the marker optimization algorithm with monomorphic markers excluded from the input file, whilst other markers were retained as they had performed well in screening (Data S3). Additional markers were integrated into the optimized design by analysing combining genotyping data from our existing 820K Wheat HD Genotyping Array with that derived from TaNG v1.0, where the same samples had been run on both platforms. This improved array, designated TaNG v1.1, was screened against an extended collection of elite cultivars, landraces and other Triticum accessions (Data S4). The sample call rate ranged from 84% to 99.8%. Compared to the initial implementation of the array, TaNG v1.1 showed an increased number of markers in each of the useful probe quality categories and a decreased number in each of the less useful categories (Table 1). Therefore, all further study was based on TaNG v1.1 and, thus, from this point forward, all results and discussion refer to comparisons between the 35K Breeders Array version v1.1 of the new array.The TaNG v1.1 Array has more markers in total than the 35K Array (43 373 vs. 35 143) and, for all chromosomes except 1D and 2D, there are more markers assigned to each chromosome (Table 2). Furthermore, markers are more evenly distributed between the 21 wheat chromosomes and the number of markers per chromosome better reflects chromosome size (Data S5).For broad scale distribution of markers, the chromosomes, regardless of their reported lengths (Table 2) were divided into 20 equally sized bins and the number of markers in each bin totalled and plotted (Figure 2a); markers on TaNG v1.1 are more evenly distributed across the chromosomes than those on the 35K Array. That is, there is neither a bias in marker number towards the telomeres nor a relative paucity of markers across the centromeres. At a smaller scale, marker distribution was determined by dividing chromosomes into 10 Mb bins and counting the number of markers in each (Figure 2b). The number of markers in the 10 Mb bins is much less variable and there are no extreme outliers with very low or very high numbers of markers. For example, on the 35K Array, the region 240-290 Mb on chromosome 4A is represented by only 6 markers; on TaNG v1.1 the same region is represented by 125 markers (Data S5). Indeed, on chromosomes 3A and 4A the 35K Array has no markers assigned at all to a small number of 10 Mb bins (Data S5).Although there is a relatively strong relationship between chromosome length and the number of markers assigned to that chromosome, the density of markers is relatively higher on the smaller chromosomes than on the larger chromosomes. The mean number of markers per 1 Mb on the A, B and D genome is 3.0, 2.9 and 3.4, respectively, highlighting the efforts made to improve D genome marker coverage compared to previous array designs.The older 35K Array SNPs were derived from exome-capture sequencing, based on a set of genes de novo assembled genes from cDNA sequencing of Chines Spring (Winfield et al., 2012). Unsurprisingly, a variant effect prediction analysis annotated over 86% of these SNPs to be within or immediately adjacent to coding regions (Data S5). In contrast, more than 27% of the SNPs on the new TaNG1.1 array were annotated as having an intergenic origin (Data S5).As a measure of reproducibility between technical replicates, the accessions 'Paragon' and 'Cadenza' were genotyped as four  aliquots from the same DNA extraction (Data S4). The genotype correlation was extremely high with 99.86% and 99.49% correlation for 'Paragon' and 'Cadenza', respectively. This represents a less that 1% technical error rate. The genotyping errors were predominantly a mis-call between the homozygous (AA, BB) and heterozygous (AB) states with only two and four probes presenting a change in homozygous call ('hom-hom mis-call') in 'Paragon' and 'Cadenza', respectively. Only six markers presented a genotyping error between both accessions, each on a different chromosome suggesting that the 1% error rate was random in nature (Data S4).The genetic location of markers and performance of the haplotype optimization marker selection method was tested by generating genetic maps using three mapping populations. These were the Avalon 9 Cadenza (AxC) and Oakley 9 Gatsby (OxG) double haploid populations, and Apogee 9 Paragon (AxP) produced by single seed descent to the F5 generation. For the three maps, AxC, OxG and AxP, 10 113, 7734 and 4673 markers were assigned to linkage groups, respectively (Data S6).The AxC and AxP populations had previously been genotyped using the Axiom TM Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array, making it possible to compare the position of markers on the arrays. The TaNG AxC genetic map consisted of 10 113 markers with 1652 unique locations, whilst the Wheat Breeder's AxC genetic map consisted of 7237 markers with 1082 unique locations (Figure 3, Data S6). The TaNG AxP genetic map consisted of 4673 markers with 1984 unique locations, whilst the Wheat Breeder's AxC genetic map consisted of only 2997 markers with 1519 unique locations. The TaNG array both increased the number of markers and the number of unique positions for both the AxC and AxP genetic maps. For all chromosomes the number of SNPs and the chromosome length (cM) was greater using the TaNG v1.1 array than the maps previously constructed using data from the Axiom TM Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array. Although restricted by the limits of recombination of the population, the new array gives a greater number of more evenly spaced markers for all three populations.The genetic map positions of markers from all three genetic maps were compared to the physical assignment based upon alignment of sequences to the Chinese Spring, IWGSC v1.0 reference assembly: physical assignment based on alignment to IWGSC assembly v1.0; Avalon 9 Cadenza map; Apogee 9 Paragon map; Oakley 9 Gatsby map. A marker was assigned a consensus chromosome only when at least two of the assignments were the same. In total, 12 981 markers were assigned a consensus chromosome (Data S3).The comparison showed that the physical assignment based on skim sequence data was close to 100% accurate whilst that derived from previous platforms was less reliable, especially for D genome markers (Figure 4). There was good correlation between physical position of the markers and the cM position of the bin to which they were assigned. However, physical assignment for markers taken from previous platforms (820K Array, 35K Array and DArT marker) were more variable with an average concordance of 85% for A and B genome markers but as low as only 40% for D genome markers.Copy number events were observed across each chromosome with the exception of 4D, 5A and 5D (Figure 5; Data S7). The   As the initial array screening was performed with a mostly European collection of elite cultivars and landraces (Data S4), additional genotyping was also performed using different sources of material. A collection of USA material grouped by geographic origin was genotyped as the initial screening panel (Data S4). The marker call rate was consistently high with 42 476 markers (98%) generating a call in 90% of samples. The performance category of markers was also high with only 3746 probes (8.6%) found to be monomorphic across the dataset. The genotype data clearly distinguished the USA material by region (Figure 6) with a clear separation of North region and East region germplasm.A collection of 81 wheat wild relatives including Aegilops, Amblyopyrum, Secale, Thinopyrum and other Triticum species were also genotyped alongside 50 Durum (T. turgidum ssp. durum) landrace accessions (Data S4) to examine the suitability of the array for genotyping pre-breeding wild relative material alongside T. aestivum. Whilst not all samples could hybridize, 34 588 markers (80%) generated a genotype call across at least 90% of the samples. The majority of markers clustered unclearly with the 'Other' performance category (18 784; 43%) but very few markers were monomorphic (4008; 9.2%).As a test of performance for the optimized SNP selection, three traits were selected for GWAS analysis: Heading Date; Response to Leaf Rust; Response to Stem Rust. Whilst the previous 35kBreeders array was unable to identify a significant QTL for any of these traits, the 43K TaNG v1.1 array was able to identify QTL that favourably compared to the entire 10 million SNP panel generated from whole genome sequencing (Figure 7).The existing 35K Axiom TM wheat breeder's genotyping array designed in 2011 has been widely used by academics and breeding companies with 288 citations in research areas recently spanning pathogen resistance (Grover et al., 2022;Nannuru et al., 2022), yield (Sheoran et al., 2022), grain nutrient quality (Rathan et al., 2022) and grain architecture (Kumari et al., 2023). Whilst a valuable tool, improvements to technology and our understanding has made it possible to improve upon the design in several ways. The most noticeable difference is the source of SNPs. In the 820K Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Array (Winfield et al., 2016), the 35K Axiom TM wheat breeder's genotyping array (Allen et al., 2017) and the 90k wheat iSelect array (Wang et al., 2014) used exome-capture sequences as the source of putative SNPs. This resulted in all SNPs being within or very close to genes, resulting in uneven chromosomal distribution, the potential exclusion of rare alleles and a strong ascertainment bias (You et al., 2018). Recent large scale skim sequencing (Cheng et al., 2023) of a highly diverse set of globally significant breeding and landrace accessions made available a new source of SNPs free of ascertainment bias and suitable for global users. Prior the release of the IWGSC Chinese Spring reference (IWGSC, 2018), genetic maps were used to obtain marker location information. In the 35k Array this led to significant ascertainment bias due to prioritizing SNPs that could be placed on the Avalon 9 Cadenza or Rialto 9 Savanna maps (Allen et al., 2017). For SNPs without polymorphisms between these parents, the locations (physical or genetic) were initially unknown. After the release of the CS reference, the distribution was found to be variable, chromosomes had markers clustered together in some regions with large gaps in between with no marker coverage. In the areas of marker clusters, many would be in linkage disequilibrium (LD) meaning that the SNPs would be inherited together more often than expected by chance. LD represent a duplication of effort, as additional markers are no more informative. With a gold standard genome sequence now available and the physical positions of all SNPs now known, more careful consideration can be made with regards to the marker distribution.The original draft TaNG v1.0 array design showed promising performance for many of the markers but with 12 490 (28.2%) markers that were found to be monomorphic. Whilst the 'Call Rate Below Threshold' and 'Other' categories may be considered less useful categories, the designation of these categories depends on the samples used. Probes with an 'Other' category in one sample set may have a clear genotype clustering in another sample set. However, as probes were designed to be polymorphic within the test set, monomorphic calls were an indication of marker design failure. This high-level of marker failure is not unexpected when converting sequence-derived SNPs to markers in a polyploid and was observed with our first high wheat axiom array (Winfield et al., 2016) Because consistently monomorphic or failed probes are of no value, a two-step approach of screening followed by redesign was used. The final design (TaNG v1.1) was produced by combining genotyping results from our original 820K Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Array (Winfield et al., 2016) with those from TaNG v1.0. The SNP optimization algorithm used in the initial design was re-applied to this combined dataset for marker selection to ensure that the replacement markers were fully integrated with the new design. The resulting TaNG v1.1 array had a decreased ratio of probes in all of the 'low quality' categories (Figure 1) and an improvement in D genome coverage (Data S5).The use of a two-step design method has been employed in the design of other genotyping arrays such as maize (Unterseer et al., 2014) and pear (Montanari et al., 2019)   et al., 2017). As not all of the accessions used for marker generation were used in the array testing (Data S1 and S4), this value may be lower when additional diverse lines are used.The bias towards SNPs in genic regions in the previous 820K HD Array and 35K Array resulted in markers being negatively correlated with chromosome length; that is, relative to length there were more markers on the shorter chromosomes than on the longer ones (Allen et al., 2017;Winfield et al., 2016). On the TaNG v 1.1 Array there is a strong positive correlation which in addition to physical distribution, has been optimized for haplotype grouping. We employed a novel selection algorithm to select the optimal combination of SNPs in each 1.5 Mb bin of each wheat chromosome. Rather than allocating the same number of SNPs to each bin, the SNPs within a bin are minimally correlated with each other to avoid effective duplication. In this way, each SNP has considerably more diagnostic power than those identified at random. The result was a more even physical distribution than the 35K Array and greater diagnostic power even when fewer markers are present per bin (Figure 2). The power of this method was illustrated in use of the array in GWAS (Figure 7). Previously, genotyping arrays have been limited for GWAS applications due to the limited marker density. Even in regions that appear to have good coverage, SNPs in LD provide redundant information about the same genetic variation and bias kinship estimations.To compliment the sequence-derived SNPs, markers selected from existing arrays by haplotype optimization or public nomination were included. The incorporation of a subset of markers from existing genotyping arrays can maintain continuity and consistency when comparing genetic data across different studies and populations. Combined datasets can enhance statistical power and increase the ability to detect genetic associations without the regeneration of data. In the case of wheat breeding, multi-year studies are not unusual and benefit from the use of consistent marker sets even as genotyping technologies evolve. This approach is already established in medical genotyping arrays such as the Transplant array (Li et al., 2015), Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array and the Axiom Human Genotyping SARs-COV-2 Array (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Santa Clara, CA, USA) which all contain cross-platform markers. More recently, agricultural genotyping arrays such as the Axiom 50K 4Tree array, Axiom 44K Rice and Infinium Apple arrays (Guilbaud et al., 2020; Affymetrix Datasheet P/N GGNO05960 Rev. 1; Howard et al., 2021) have been designed to include markers compatible with previous edition genotyping arrays.As the previous 35K Array used exome-capture derived sequences for SNP discovery, there were far fewer intergenic SNPs included than has been possible with the TaNG v1.1 array (Data S5). For SNPs contained within genes it has been possible to use existing information to identify 157 which are associated with important traits (Data S3).The TaNG v1.1 array has a stable 1% technical variation which is in line with other Axiom arrays (GenomeWide 6.0 Human array; Hong et al., 2012) and genotyping technologies such as the 1% variation reported using SNP DArTSeq (Alam et al., 2018;Nantongo et al., 2022), 0.5% reported using SeqSNP (Harper et al., 2020) and the 0%-1% variation reported using Infinium (Cai et al., 2017;Pavy et al., 2016;Senthilvel et al., 2019). The nature of the genotyping errors between technical replicates were predominantly hom-het mis-calls. This may be due to the probe partially binding to a secondary homoeologous site, sample contamination or due to difficulties in the genotype calling software in identifying a clear cluster. As all assays have been test-screened with a diverse set of accessions (Data S4) any probes which presented difficulties in genotype calling have been assigned SNP specific priors as described in the methods to ensure consistent calling by the software (Data S3) making the calling of SNPs on the array as accurate as possible.Genetic maps were constructed using the TaNG v1.1 array and compared to the 35K Array. On average markers were more evenly distributed across the chromosome with a higher number of unique locations represented and less markers clustered together at the same location (Figure 3, Data S6). Although limited by recombination in the populations this represents a significant improvement in the resolution of the maps and utility of the markers for accurately mapping QTLs and marker assisted selection. In addition, a comparison of genetic map position and physical position on the Chinese Spring v1.0 reference sequence allowed an analysis of the accuracy of the physical position assignment. This revealed that the physical assignment based on skim sequence data is close to 100% accurate. However, the physical assignment of markers derived from existing platforms still require information from mapping populations to help identify the correct homeolog (Shorinola et al., 2022). To aid correct placement of markers, the mapping locations are included in Data S3.The ability of a genotyping array to perform Copy Number evaluations is limited compared to sequencing methods, but the ease of use and the high-throughput nature allows for insight into sample panels and populations. We used copy number variation (CNV) analysis to characterize the accessions screened. Several common regions of increased (CNV gain) or reduced (CNV loss) signal were observed which could potentially represent deletions, introgressions or repeat regions. Some of these regions are already well documented such as the 1RS introgression from rye on 1BS which is reported to result in variable copy number (Xiong et al., 2023) and the Ae. ventricosa introgression on 2A (Gao et al., 2021) which is commonly found in wheat due to the addition of the Lr27 resistance gene. Deletions were also clearly represented by a copy number loss in the genotyping data such as the ph1 deletion on 5B (Figure 5: 5B).The bread wheat genome already contains significant genetic variation, and much work is being done to enhance the germplasm with novel alleles from wide crosses. The previous 35k Breeders array had previously been used with wheat wild relative material in a pre-breeding context (Horsnell et al., 2023;Kumar et al., 2020;Wright et al., 2023) and for elite durum wheat cultivars (Ganugi et al., 2021;Kabbaj et al., 2017;Shewry et al., 2023). The genotype calls generated on the TaNG v1.1 array across a diverse set of wheat relative material here (Data S4) illustrate that secondary and tertiary gene pool material may also be genotyped alongside T. aestivum accessions. As the primary purpose of the array was the genotyping of T. aestivum, we suggest a DQC cut-off of 0.6 to be used for wheat relative material to account for the absence of some reference sequences used to generate the DQC metric. The grouping of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid material with a wide range of ancestral genomes created a valuable insight the relatives for which the TaNG array may successfully hybridize but for more accurate genotyping study, we suggest that samples be grouped by project before genotype calling.To support cross-platform projects and better support data sharing, the TaNG array has incorporated SNP probes from other public arrays such as the CIMMYT Wheat 3.9K DArTAG array and the previous 820K HD Wheat array and 35k Breeders array. Further to this, other commercial genotyping platforms have included our probes in the same way. We have compiled these including the 90k iSelect array (Wang et al., 2014) and 660k array (Cui et al., 2017) synonyms with full sequences and known trait associations from literature (Data S3). We believe that together with the TaNG array, this will be valuable resource for all researchers working across genotyping platforms.In essence, SNP genotyping arrays have revolutionized the way researchers and breeders study plant genetics and manipulate traits. They provide a high-throughput and cost-effective way to analyse the genetic makeup of plant populations, enabling more targeted and efficient research and breeding efforts. As technology continues to advance, SNP genotyping arrays will continue to be a cornerstone of plant science, contributing to sustainable agriculture, crop security and our understanding of plant biology.Marker selection: Skim sequence sourced probesThe SNP calls generated from skim sequence data from 315 wheat accessions (204 elite wheat lines and 111 wheat landraces taken from the Watkins 'Core Collection' -Data S1) were used as the source of SNPs for haplotype optimization (Cheng et al., 2023). Varieties with ≥1% heterozygous loci were excluded. SNPs were initially filtered to have a maximum of 0.5% heterozygous calls among all varieties, a minimum minor allele frequency of 0.01, a minimum call rate of 0.95 and a minimum mapping quality score of 5000. SNPs with a flanking sequence mapping to more than one genome location in the IWGSC v1.0 Chinese Spring genome assembly using the BWA version 0.7.12-r1039 were removed. Additionally, SNPs were checked by BLAST (blastn v2.6.0+) against the IWGSC v1.0 Chinese Spring genome assembly and those matching multiple locations were excluded. Each chromosome was then divided into 1.5 Mb intervals and up to six SNPs representing the highest combined discriminatory power were selected for each interval (Winfield et al., 2020). The haplotype optimization pipeline is available at https://github. com/pr0kary0te/GenomeWideSNP-development.For cross compatibility, SNPs for which there are existing markers from various platforms were also included in the design. That is, 2528 markers selected for trait association or physical locations were taken from the CIMMYT Wheat 3.9K DArTAG array (https://excellenceinbreeding.org/toolbox/services/mid-densitygenotyping-service) as were 4220 of the best performing markers from the existing Axiom TM Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array (Allen et al., 2017). In addition, a public call was made to researchers and wheat breeders to nominate markers from existing arrays which they would like to see included on the TaNG array; this call resulted in 1223 marker nominations (Data S3). The final design also has 936 cross-platform probes with the now discontinued Illumina 90k iSelect array (Wang et al., 2014) and 8232 cross-platform probes with the Wheat 660k Axiom array (Sun et al., 2020).On an initial screening of an early version of the array (designated TaNG v1.0; Data S2) against a diverse set of 119 elite and 60 landrace accessions, 16 507 SNPs failed to convert to polymorphic SNP assays. These markers were replaced with 14 774 selected from the Axiom TM Wheat HD Genotyping Array (Winfield et al., 2016), to maximize the differentiation of varieties described above. This final, optimized array design, designated TaNG v1.1 (Thermo Fisher catalogue number 551498), contains 43 373 markers (Table 1; Data S3) Some markers may be present on multiple arrays under different names, when this is the case, pseudonyms are given in each column.For consistency, the same Dish-QC probes were used as the 35K Axiom TM wheat breeder's genotyping array for generation of the non-genotype producing DQC sample quality metrics. For probe quality, of the markers on TaNG v1.1, 299 generated clusters that were not correctly identified during allele calling using Applied Biosystems' (Waltham, MA, USA) software package Axiom TM Analysis Suite v5.2.0.65. To ensure the correct genotype call for these alleles, the analysis file was modified with sequence specific priors for the affected markers ('SSP' in Data S3). The modified analysis file designated 'Axiom_TaNG1_1.r4' is available from the Thermo Fisher website.Genomic DNA from wheat leaf tissue 14 days after germination was prepared as described in Burridge et al. (2017) for samples listed in Data S4. Genotyping was performed using 11 lL of 25 ng/lL DNA in water. Array processing was performed using the GeneTitan system according to the procedure outlined in Axiom TM 2.0 Assay 384HT Array Format Automated Workflow User Guide (Applied Biosystems). Allele calling was performed using Applied Biosystems' software package Axiom TM Analysis Suite v5.2.0.65 using prior file Axiom_TaNG_SNP.r1 for the first array design (v1.0) and Axiom_TaNG1_1.r4 for the final array design (v1.1). In all cases a Dish QC of 0.8 for T. aestivum (Initial Testing, USA Material) datasets and 0.6 for the wild relative genotyping. A sample QC call rate of 80% and 75% was used for T. aestivum and wild relative sets, respectively. The SNP QC cutoff for 'Call Rate Below Threshold' was 95%. Comparisons of technical replication was made using markers across all probe quality categories with 'No-call' genotypes omitted from comparison. The TaNG v1.1 Array is available from Thermo Fisher Scientific with catalogue number 551498.The CNV analysis and Manhattan plots were generated for all accessions screened on TaNG v1.1 using Axiom TM Analysis Suite v5.2.0.65, with prior file Axiom_TaNG1_1.r4 and the annotation file Axiom_TaNG1_1.r4.annot.db. No samples were excluded from reference creation. The recommended minimum base lengths and probe numbers for each CNV state were followed from Axiom TM Copy Number Data Analysis Guide (r3 May 2022, MAN0026736).SNP effect predictions were made using the Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) hosted on the EnsemblPlants website http://plants. ensembl.org/Triticum_aestivum/Tools/VEP Release 110 (Martin et al., 2023). The genome selected was that of Triticum aestivum. Variant call format (vcf) files were uploaded to the website and the web tool run using default settings.For the three mapping populations, markers with more than 10% missing data were removed. The remaining markers were tested for significant segregation distortion using a chi-square test. The software program MapDisto v. 1.7 (Lorieux, 2012) was used to assemble the loci into linkage groups using likelihood odds (LOD) ratios with a LOD threshold of 6.0 and a maximum recombination frequency threshold of 0.4. Linkage groups were ordered using the likelihoods of different locus-order possibilities and the iterative error removal function (maximum threshold for error  (Kosambi, 1944) was used to calculate map distances (cM) from recombination frequency. Maps were drawn in MapDisto with bins represented by a single marker.Where possible, markers were assigned to a chromosome based on consensus of calls from four different data sets: (i) physical position from BLASTing sequence to IWGSC assembly v1.0; (ii) Avalon 9 Cadenza genetic map (10 113 markers); (iii) Apogee 9 Paragon map (4673 markers); (iv) Oakley 9 Gatsby map (7733 markers). To be assigned a consensus chromosome, the calls from at least two of the data sets had to agree; if a marker had only a physical position or only conflicting calls, it was not assigned a consensus. A comparison was made between the consensus calls and initial physical call to estimate agreement (Data S3); this analysis was performed taking into account the origin of the markers, skim sequence-derived versus acquired from earlier genotyping platforms (820K Array, 35K Array, DArT).The GWAS analysis was performed using the Watkins collection accessions and associated phenotype data as described in (Cheng et al., 2023) to compare the core 10M SNPs from the sequenced dataset (Cheng et al., 2023); SNPs from the Axiom TM Wheat Breeder's Genotyping Array (CerealsDB) and those of the TaNG Array v1.1. Extreme outlier values of phenotypic data were removed. Kinship matrix was calculated as the covariate using GEMMA-kin. Based on these, GWAS was performed using GEMMA (v0.98.1) with parameters (gemma-0.98.1-linux-static -miss 0.9gk kinship.txt and gemma-0.98.1-linux-static -miss 0.9 -lmm -k kinship.txt). In-house R scripts were used to visualize the results.","tokenCount":"5620"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5478025557.json b/data/part_1/5478025557.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d8180ce752f60cc7408375ed3868f4e2049ad3b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5478025557.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bb72eaa76db21a6e30872d1535b2790c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e06583db-1b3d-4c5f-9075-adeb3aee7455/retrieve","id":"333000872"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a264de77-81f1-43c2-b1dd-5b789f9f9fd3","pagecount":"21","content":"The main GHG is carbon dioxide or CO 2 , which accounts for almost 70% of human-induced GHGs. Six billion t are produced by burning fossil fuels, principally petroleum, for industry and transport. Western countries are responsible for the largest volumes of emissions, with the USA leading the field. But the emerging countries of China and India are catching up fast.Added to this are the 1.6 billion t produced by deforestation in countries of the South. A burning forest releases carbon, while growing trees capture it. Likewise, working the soil releases carbon stored there. The problem, as the latest research reveals, is that the more the planet heats up, the less the plants and seas are able to absorb CO 2 … and the more land surface temperatures increase.Agricultural activity plays a significant role, mainly by producing methane (CH 4 ), the second most important GHG, though it is hard to assess these emissions with any accuracy. Methane is mainly produced by anaerobic (without air) fermentation, especially in rice paddies and in flooded areas (marshes and ponds). Ruminating cattle emit nearly 100 million t of methane into the atmosphere each year. Though small, termites produce an annual 15 to 35 million t of methane! They achieve this surprising output by fermenting vegetable matter from tropical forests in their intestines with the help of bacteria which live there.However, the greatest threat to the planet is the melting of permafrost. As they defrost, these soils in the arctic regions could release billions of tonnes of CH 4 and CO 2 into the atmosphere.Finally, dinitrogen oxide or nitrous oxide (N 2 O, 16% of GHG emissions) is produced by intensive agriculture (notably pesticide use), deforestation and chemical processes such as aerosols.It has taken a long time -too long -for the world to face the facts: the Earth is getting warmer and human beings are mainly to blame. Not all the world's inhabitants are ready to accept that everyone can take action to limit the damage. But even the most hardened sceptics are starting to waver in their convictions. The climate has been thrown completely out of kilter and each day brings fresh proof: more frequent and more violent cyclones in the Caribbean, floods in Africa, the gradual sinking of islands in the Pacific, heatwaves in Europe, the melting of glaciers, etc.Scientists first raised the alarm more than 20 years ago. The first report of IPCC dates back to 1990. Based on an analysis of studies carried out by researchers worldwide, the IPCC regularly assesses the situation and charts the likely evolutions of climate. With each new report, its conclusions have become more sombre, backed up by increasingly damning research. The 4 th report, published in late 2007, is chillingly clear: \"Warming of the climate system is now unequivocal […] 11 of the last 12 years (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) rank among the 12 warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperatures (since 1850)\".Even more significant are the long-term trends. In just one century, the Earth's average temperature has risen by 0.74°C. That figure may seem small, but its consequences are massive. The regions of the Northern hemisphere have seen the greatest temperature rises; they now have fewer very cold days in winter and more very hot days in summer. Since 1993, sea levels have risen by an annual average of 3.1 mm. Since the industrial age and the 1900s, it has definitely rained more in North and South America, Northern Europe and Central Asia, and less in South-East Asia, the Mediterranean basin and the Sahel. Intense tropical cyclones have become more frequent in the North Atlantic. But while these facts are now established and the figures official, the precise causes are harder to determine. Today, the only certain truth is that human activity is the main cause for these upsets.A quick explanation of how weather patterns work will make it easier to understand what is happening. Each day, the sun emits rays of light onto the Earth's surface. The Earth absorbs part of their heat, reflects another share into the atmosphere and sends out a third share in the form of infra-red rays. These rays 1 | Global trends concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by human activity has increased significantly. These GHGs trap a greater quantity of rays which are reflected on to the Earth and cause it to heat up -this is the infamous greenhouse effect, a phenomenon first explained in 1824!The EU and the USA account for more than half of global GHG emissions, sub-Sahara 1.59% and the small island States 0.37%. But GHGs know no borders and, as UNEP points out, 'ecological interdependence' is a fact: the impact of climate change on livelihoods and agriculture in countries of the South is inversely proportional to these nations' responsibility for the problem. The countries of the Northern hemisphere, which are currently seeing the most pronounced warming, are not necessarily experiencing hardship as a result. The increased temperatures extend the growing season of trees and plants. Species which once only grew in the south of these countries are now spreading towards the north. In France, maize, which is currently cultivated and irrigated in the south, could, due to lack of water and thanks to the milder temperatures, migrate to the northern plains over the next century. Cereal output is set to rise in North America, while that of fruit is already growing in France. Production of wheat, maize and pastureland is going to increase. On an overall scale therefore, the agriculture of these regions is going to benefit from the changes.It is the dry tropical regions, already fragile due to population pressure, that will bear the brunt of climate variations. For here, unlike in temperate zones, the growing season becomes shorter when the temperature rises. Rice yields, for example, start declining at over 34°C. Even more worrying are changes in the length of the rainy season and rainfall intensity, since these factors have a direct impact on crops (see p. 7). Falling outputs in areas where communities rely almost exclusively on agriculture have a devastating effect. Africa is particularly susceptible, especially the least developed countries (LDC), which are already very vulnerable at the social and economic level. Climate change \"will exacerbate deep inequalities within countries\", forecasts UNEP in its 2007-08 report.The stakes are global, and the world is beginning to wake up to the fact. In 1997, 30 industrialised countries signed the Kyoto Protocol (see Box), which entered into force in 2005. They pledged to cut their emissions of six GHGs by 5.2% (compared with 1990 levels) by 2012. Countries of the South, including Brazil, China, India and Indonesia have also signed the Protocol, but have no set targets for reducing emissions so as not to hamper their development.As an incentive to cut GHG emissions, principally CO through investment in clean technologies, European companies in particular now have emissions quotas. If they exceed their quota, they must pay a fine or buy emissions credits from other companies. They can also fund projects in developing countries to reduce or store GHGs as part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, see p. 20). Greater use of renewable energies, energy saving and behaviour changes -a whole new approach is taking hold, especially in European countries, in an effort to fulfil the pledges.In December 2007, during the Bali (Indonesia) negotiations for the second phase of Kyoto after 2012, countries failed to agree on lower emission targets suggested by the IPCC. Yet it is crucial to cut emissions in order to limit temperature increases which, depending on various scenarios, are predicted to rise by 1.8 to 4°C between now and 2100 (see p. 5). It is already too late for the first half of this century.There is an urgent need for local or regional climate change adaptation policies to limit the adverse effects, as well as for technology transfers and massive funding to help put these in place. The Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund, both managed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), are available for countries that have launched a national plan of action defining urgent measures and priorities. But given the scale of the requirements, funding mechanisms are still being studied.In the words of the Human Development Report 2007-08, whose title alone speaks volumes, Fighting climate change: human solidarity in a divided world, \"Climate change demands urgent action now to address a divided world, \"Climate change demands urgent action now to address a divided world a threat to two constituencies with a weak political voice: the world's poor and future generations\". The future looks decidedly stormy.  In spite of rapid advances using geographical information systems (GIS) and simulation models, there is no clear picture of how climates will change. But there is now a wide consensus that changes in weather patterns are inevitable and that these will have significant impacts on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, as well as on infrastructures and lifestyles. Doomsday visions predict that as many as a fifth of the world's population will face starvation and millions will be forced by heat, drought and rising sea levels to abandon their land. Even the more measured forecasts envisage a future with entirely new climatic zones, which will put significant strains on agriculture, affecting how producers earn a living.Most climate models predict shifting crop patterns that will generally benefit northern temperate areas and damage the tropical regions. The biggest impacts are forecast for Africa and the small island States of the Caribbean and the Pacific. The 4th assessment of IPCC, widely held as the most authoritative voice, has predicted that food production in Africa could halve by 2020. A study by Stanford University suggests that maize production could drop by 30% in the next 20 years. Production of other staples like millet and rice is projected to fall by at least 10%.According to the UK's Hadley Centre for Climate Change, temperature increases in parts of Africa could be double the global average increase. Given Africa's heavy dependence on agriculture, its high proportion of low-input, rainfed farming (95%) and existing stresses such as land degradation and population pressure, the impact there is likely to be the greatest. An increase of 5 to 8% of arid and semi-arid land in Africa is projected under a range of climate-change scenarios.Some climate-induced changes are expected to be abrupt, while others will involve gradual shifts in temperature, vegetation cover and fish stocks. Secondary stresses triggered by climate change are likely to include the spread of pests and alien species, biodiversity losses and the increase of human and animal diseases. Depending on the rate of global greenhouse emissions, the IPCC predicts a rise of 1.1 to 6.4°C by the end of the 21 st century. A 3°C rise in temperature would lead to famine for more than 150 million people, CTA's Brussels Briefings heard in February 2008. A similar temperature increase in Uganda would decimate coffee producing areas.Climate change will affect livestock by changing the yield and nutritional quality of fodder, 1 | Global trends increasing disease and diseasespreading pests, reducing water availability, and making it difficult to survive in extreme environments, say researchers at the International Livestock Research Institute.Sea-level rise is likely to exacerbate flooding, storm surge, erosion and other hazards, causing major problems for coastal communities, especially in the Caribbean and Pacific where more than 50% of the population live within 1.5 km of the shore. The impact on freshwater is also likely to be grave. The Niger River Basin, which runs through nine countries, faces serious threats, according to the International Institute for Environment and Development. Studies in Tanzania show that fish production in Lake Tanganyika has dropped dramatically over the past decade, due to increased temperatures -further falls are forecast. The receding of Lake Chad's waters is expected to continue unabated.Rising GHG emissions threaten at least 75% of key fishing grounds, as the ocean's natural pumping systems come under threat, says UNEP. Increased carbon dioxide will raise the acid level in seas and oceans, which will further damage coral and plankton. At least a billion people will be forced from their homes between now and 2050 as climate refugees, predicts a study by the UK NGO Christian Aid.A report issued by the Working Group on Climate Change and Development puts the overall cost of adapting to climate change at an annual US$10 to 40 billion (€6.7 to 26.9 billion). And the longer the world delays, the more that bill is likely to rise. Oceanographic survey ships, satellites, stratospheric balloons, research aircraft… every conceivable tool has been used in a range of initiatives aimed at reaching a better understanding of this complex phenomenon, which is mainly caused by temperature differences between the ocean and warm continental land masses. The project is a key to improving climate models and developing clear forecasts for climate variations in the future.AMMA will also enable scientists to determine the impact of these changes on the output and lives of the 300 million people who depend on this monsoon, whose influence on global climate patterns cannot be overstated.www.amma-international.org There can be little doubt that small-scale producers in ACP regions are going to be the hardest hit by climate change. The recently released 4 th assessment report of the IPCC has clearly stated that human-induced climate change is already occurring and that some parts of the world will be particularly vulnerable. These include all small island developing States, many of them in the Caribbean and Pacific, which will be affected by a sea level rise as well as higher intensity of hurricanes and typhoons. The report also identifies Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, as extremely vulnerable due to the fact that these countries' economies are highly dependent on natural resources and rainfed agriculture, and they generally have a low level of adaptive capacity.However, if communities and governments take proactive steps to deal with climate change, they can do much to reduce the adverse impacts. Indeed, they may even be able to take advantage of new opportunities. Some of the options available include accessing international funding for mitigation of greenhouse gases by planting trees and vegetation, and tapping new funds for climate change adaptation. Rain-water harvesting technologies in low rainfall areas and shrimp aquaculture in coastal areas that are becoming more saline -these are just some of the opportunities that are being explored. The province of Tahoua, in Niger, has become green again thanks to reforesting.Juma Njunge Macharia is a herbal medicine man from Murungaru, 100 km west of Nairobi, Kenya. His long experience and keen eye have been telling him for some time what climatologists now confirm. \"When I was young the rainy season in the Kinangop area was known to start in mid-April, but it has shifted to June when it used to end,\" he says. Global data show that weather patterns are indeed changing, and natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and tropical storms are increasing in frequency and intensity.In 2007, parts of Africa suffered severe drought while floods on much of the continent destroyed roads and buildings and wiped out millions of hectares of farmland. In March 2008, Cyclone Ivan struck Madagascar, destroying crops, livestock and buildings. Persistent drought in east and southern Swaziland has prompted some officials to suggest moving communities out of these areas. The Caribbean has been hit by a succession of extreme weather events, causing millions of dollars worth of damage. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), Cyclone Guba caused flash floods in late 2007, burying crops under mudslides. Meanwhile, in the northern islands of Kiribati, where coconut is the economic mainstay, production has plummeted due to drought.Dramatic though the picture may be, the situation is far from hopeless. Most experts now agree that a blend of global and more localised strategies can do much to help producers weather the effects of climate change. Conservation agriculture, which involves minimal soil disturbance, can improve water use efficiency, carbon sequestration and the capacity to withstand weather stresses. Raising productivity through improved irrigation will be key to ensuring food security as weather patterns shift. Producers may have to change the times they plant and the crops they grow; for example, sorghum may fare better than maize in the drier conditions forecast for parts of Africa. In South Africa, farmers are already delaying planting of maize to take account of changing rainfall patterns.A US study in Mali found that farmers in the relatively cool, wet region of Sikasso, who grow maize and cotton, could benefit by turning to sorghum and millet, crops currently grown in Segou, in the hotter, drier north. The real challenge lies in finding an option for the farmers of Segou, as their climate becomes even warmer.A number of climate-resilient crop varieties have already reached farmers' fields, and more are being developed (see Box). Photosynthesis slows down as the thermometer rises, and research shows that rice yields are declining by 10% for every degree Celsius increase in night-time temperature. One approach explored by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) involves modifying the plant to boost its photosynthetic capabilities.Small-scale maize farmers of the Regional Agricultural Association Group, a community-based organisation in Western Kenya, have quintupled their yields in a year, using a drought-resistant variety of maize called Kakamega Synthetic-I released by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. A UNEP study in The Gambia shows that millet crop yields can be increased even in a climate-constrained world with harvests improved by 13% if new varieties are used. ScientistsResearch suggests that higher mean temperatures will increase pest developmental rates and fecundity, the frequency of outbreaks, and lead to expansion in the range of insect pests, diseases and weed species. Altered wind patterns are expected to change the spread of windborne pests and of bacteria and fungi that are crop disease agents. Higher winter temperature increases the abundance of the striped stem borer and green leafhopper in rice systems.Numbers of parasitoids -insects such as wasps and flies that lay their eggs on or inside caterpillars -fall when rainfall is variable, studies reveal. Parasitoids are an important means of natural pest control for many tropical crops.Climate change also has repercussions for human and livestock health, by shifting the distribution of certain disease vectors. The World Health Organisation established a clear link between heavy rainfalls over much of eastern Africa earlier this year and major outbreaks of malaria. Dengue, a mosquito-borne virus that causes serious illness, is reaching epidemic levels in the Caribbean.In many ACP regions, climate-related disasters are already taking a heavy toll, causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure and forcing some people to flee their homes. But a range of options can help farmers protect their output from climate change.Tea farmers in Kenya's Rift Valley Province saw their crops devastated by torrential rains and a series of freak hailstorms. The downpours, which local farmers say were more intense than any they have previously seen, left a trail of destruction on tea plantations in Kericho, Bomet, Transmara and Gucha districts in late 2007, as well as on subsistence crops including bananas, maize and vegetables. In February 2008, more exceptionally heavy rainfall was accompanied by hailstones -a sight most Rift Valley residents had never witnessed in their lives. \"The hailstorms left the ground covered with about 2 inches of ice and shredded the leaves on trees and tea bushes,\" said Godfrey Meli, who works on the Nandi hill tea plantation. As a result of the storms, all tea factories in the affected districtsThe costs associated with crop damaging weather events double each decade, according to some estimates. Agricultural insurance is one response, though this sector is dominated by the North. Developing countries account for just 13% of global crop insurance premiums, partly because many small-scale producers cannot afford them.A new tool known as weather index or coupon insurance may be a more practical option. It uses a meteorological measurement as the trigger for indemnity payments. The classic insurance policy is replaced by a coupon, and when a weather event is verified -a certain minimum temperature, amount of rainfall or wind speedthe farmer receives a pre-established figure as compensation.Many believe this system offers a solution to some of the barriers to classic insurance for small-scale farmers and fishers. These include the high cost of administering individual insurance policies and the expense of loss assessments on single farms. \"Index insurance offers a more viable approach to agricultural insurance for most farmers,\" said Peter Hazell, visiting professor at Imperial College, London.Improving the way in which insurance is delivered remains a major challenge. Some of the more successful initiatives use NGOs or producer organisations as a channel. In the Windward Islands, about 6,000 smallholder banana growers have taken out insurance against windstorms, the major peril. The insurer, WINCROP, is owned by the Banana Growers' Associations, ensuring reliability and affordable premiums for a range of weather-related events, including major hurricanes. In Mauritius, the Mauritius Sugar Insurance Fund (MSIF) provides automatic coverage against cyclones for all sugar growers. The fact that coverage is mandatory means premiums are lower due to economies of scale.at the International Potato Center (CIP) are researching resistant cultivars to help farmers in PNG and parts of Africa prepare for increased incidences of late potato blight, a disease which is likely to spread in the warmer, wetter conditions forecast for some potato-growing regions.Traditional technologies also have a role to play in combating climate change. Farmers often select crop combinations that will survive harsh conditions, such as maize-beans, cowpea-sorghum and milletgroundnut. John Morton, of the Natural Resources Institute in the UK, believes that \"possession of a store of indigenous knowledge should not be underestimated,\" when it comes to small-scale farmers' small-scale farmers' ability to weather ability to weather climate change. climate change.In Malawi, in-In Malawi, increased incidences creased incidences of flash floods have of flash floods have convinced some com-convinced some communities to revive the munities to revive the ancient but long aban-ancient but long abandoned practice of making doned practice of making bunds to halt soil erosion and bunds to halt soil erosion and run-off. Other villages prone to run-off. Other villages prone to drought have introduced coping systems, drought have introduced coping systems, setting aside part of the maize crop to use as a safety setting aside part of the maize crop to use as a safety setting aside part of the maize crop to use as a safety net for communities in times of need.In both arid and humid areas, farmers are looking for adaptation strategies for crop growing.Luís Santos Pereira, Professor at the Agronomic Institute of the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, and a leading irrigation expert Although temperature rises and rainfall decreases are predicted worldwide, climate models are unclear as to whether or not net radiation will increase or decrease. This makes it difficult to predict whether demand for water from crops and vegetation will rise or fall. Increases in CO 2 may also have an impact on water demand.Rainfall decreases are predicted in most areas where irrigation is presently used. These changes may occur seasonally or throughout the year, but they will mean less water available for crops and natural vegetation. Moreover, storms are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity, resulting in less water infiltrating into the soil and aquifers. In areas where storms become more frequent and rainfall decreases, some rainfed crops may become marginal or no longer viable. In addition, dry spells are predicted to become longer and more frequent.For all these reasons, irrigation is likely to become much more important than at present, but water resources may not be able to meet the extra demand. Therefore, farmers may have to adapt by switching to different crop varieties with shorter cycles and better resistance to water stress. Another option will be to adopt water conservation practices that favour infiltration and soil water storage, and combat evaporation from the soil. Improved irrigation technologies and water saving practices will become essential.A wide array of technologies exists, either for improving the performance of irrigation systems -surface, sprinkler or microirrigation -or for adapting irrigation scheduling to save water. There are also a number of tried and tested water conservation methods, such as terracing, surface tillage, soil mulching and direct seeding.However, adopting improved technologies requires investment and knowledge transfer to farmers. This may not be a problem for large farms, but it is difficult for small-scale producers with very limited capital and poor access to information. Deficit irrigation (where the crop is exposed to a certain level of water stress during a particular period or throughout the whole growing season) requires know-how and may result in yield reduction.This shift from maximising production per unit area to maximising production per unit of water consumed (or water productivity) will pose difficulties for small-scale farmers who have limited land and often no other source of income. Their survival could well become one of the first challenges for climate change and will require new technical, economic, social and cultural approaches to irrigation in many parts of the world. interview 2 | Crops were forced to suspend production and some tea pickers were made redundant as the crisis hit. Said tea farmer, Franklin Bett, \"We are pruning tea bushes to avoid further losses. We pray that the frost does not attack again because our output will drop even further.\"Meanwhile, communities living along Kenya's River Tana face the opposite problem -the lack of water threatens this once flourishing cropproducing area. The river, which has its source in Mount Kenya, crosses seven districts before flowing into the Indian Ocean. In recent times, the waters have receded and some of the farmers with land adjoining the riverbanks have been left high and dry. Already, many producers have left, and more are planning to follow. Abae Kalasigha, chairman of the Tana River District's small-scale farmers association, said 20 settlements had closed down to date. \"Farmers are leaving and moving into urban centres in search of labour and better living standards,\" he said.In spite of visits from NGOs and agriculture ministry officials, many farmers attribute the changes not to climate change but to a curse from ancestors who are unhappy due to lack of appeasement. One farmer, Alice Lopo, says that schools have closed down as people move to towns. \"The river has dried up, leaving people no alternative but to move out of the settlements or practise nomadism.\" Another farmer, Halima Ali, says she has switched from growing maize to sorghum, as this can grow in hotter weather, with less water.All the farmers who have stayed behind say they realise that things will never be the same as they once were. For years, Albert Bouda has grown vegetables in fields washed by water from the River Tana. But now, he says, \"We have to dig wells to get enough water for our crops.\" He adds, \"The temperatures are higher, water evaporation from the ground is so fast, and there is a spread of agricultural pests on our crops\".Abjata Khalif Some parts of Kenya were flooded in 2007 and 2008 while others were hit by drought.In mid-April 2008, violent rain and hailstorms lashed down on a hill in the Kirundo region, in the far north of Burundi. Several hectares of maize, sorghum, rice, haricot beans, sweet potato and bananas were wiped out. Anatole Misago describes what happened: \"In the previous days, it had been raining normally, and we were expecting a very good harvest. But on 17 April, there was a real hurricane. I'd never seen anything like it in my life.\" Just 15 km away, the scene was one of total desolation. \"There has been virtually no rain since March. Our crops are beginning to turn yellow, soon they will wither altogether. How is it that the dry season starts in April ?\", asks Esperance Icizanye.In the past few years, the seasons have become less clearly defined in almost all regions of the country. The rains sometimes arrive a month late or finish early. \"The rain began in February. After 3 weeks, we planted. But the rain quickly gave way to sun, which shone throughout almost the whole of March. When the rain returned 2 weeks ago, it was as if it was trying to uproot our already emaciated crops\", recalls one woman farmer.Helpless to change things, the farmers carry on growing their crops using the calendar that they have always known. \"We have to plough and sow, even though we don't know what the weather will be like and in spite of the high cost of seeds. We would be sorry if we didn't sow and the weather turned out to be better than expected and our neighbours produced good harvests. You have to try your luck.\" These farmers are convinced that the vagaries of the climate are a sign of divine anger. \"It can't be that the sun and the rain are taking it in turns to strike us,\" explains one of them. \"Perhaps it is that there are many sinners in our midst and God is trying to punish us.\"Désiré NshimirimanaSteve Maximay, a plant pathologist consultant based in TrinidadCaribbean agriculture has always been characterised by risk, whether related to yields, markets or other factors. But whilst weather was often the single greatest determinant of risk, climate rarely entered the discussion. Today, every facet of Caribbean agriculture is being impacted by climate change. Fish stocks have been depleted as a result of reduced coral ecosystemdependent spawning. Farm animals are suffering from suspected heat-related stress. There are reports of changes in the flavour of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee as a result of temperature and humidity variations. Less water is available for agricultural use and higher tidal variations are causing salinisation in aquifers.Risk management is intrinsically linked to adaptation. Extreme climate events such as hurricanes pose serious risks to Caribbean farmers and though there have been sporadic attempts at commoditylinked insurance, these have been largely uninspiring. One approach that I believe holds promise is helping producers with the timely use of proven mitigation strategies. With this in mind, I have developed a mitigation strategy based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Mitigation Points (HACMP). It uses the critical point principle common to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), the worldwide food safety protocol. The critical point is a step which, if controlled, will eliminate a hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.This system helps farmers assess the level of risk, according to the three sides of the so-called risk triangle: hazard, vulnerability and exposure. In the Caribbean we cannot reduce the hazard, so we must decrease our exposure either by completing the product cycle outside the season when the hazard is most likely to occur or by physically protecting the product (e.g. channelled watercourses to protect crops from floodwaters). The other option is to reduce vulnerability and that requires using tougher plants and animals. Research on hardier plant varieties is going on at the University of the West Indies and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, to ensure that they can survive in more saline or dry conditions.Climate change presents opportunities as well as threats. Consumers are willing to pay more for products that are certified as eco-friendly. In much of the Caribbean, the tourism product is getting greener. Hoteliers and agriculturalists are already coming together to explore some of the opportunities.Rural communities in Malawi are turning climate change to their advantage, harnessing flood waters for irrigation and fish farming. \"Whereas previously we relied on rainfed agriculture, we are now using harvested rainwater for both fish farming and irrigation,\" said Molesi Waumira, in Zomba District. Waumira says he and other farmers are using food scraps and farm waste as nutrients for small fishponds stocked with local species such as tilapia. The ponds also provide water for crops and sediment for fertiliser. The fisheries department and NGO World Vision International are playing a leading role in developing innovative rainwater harvesting techniques as climate change adaptation strategies.In the Dzimphutsi area of the southern region's Chikwawa District, another scheme is helping farmers to see floodwater in a different light. Changing rainfall patterns exacerbated by deforestation have caused increasingly frequent flash floods in this area, deluged by water from further up the valley.\"We used to consider floods as a curse in this area. However, now we use the same flood waters for irrigation and fish farming, so it is a blessing in disguise,\" said cotton farmer Spy Alufisha. The Dzimphutsi project, launched by the Southern Africa Development Community and the Malawi government, focuses on helping communities affected by climate change and flash floods in particular. The idea is to show how even 'problem water' can be managed and channelled to improve economic and social welfare without compromising the environment.Malawi: bad water made good Burundi: \"God is punishing us\" It is the region that has experienced the most dramatic rainfall shortage in the whole world over the past 30 years, but (though we do not know why) in more recent years the situation appears to have returned to normal. However, although the quantity of rainfall now appears to be satisfactory, we are observing more frequent extreme weather events -dry periods during the rainy season, floods with serious consequences for agriculture and health (malaria, cholera, bilharzia, etc.).For the next 50 years, forecasts for the region vary widely from one model to another. Some predict a return to wetter conditions, while others foresee a return of drought. It makes it difficult for politicians to take action when no one knows how things are going to evolve.The project has taken an original approach by tackling problems in a multi-disciplinary fashion -climatic and social studies -and by carrying out participatory research, linking researchers, communities and decision-makers. NGOs, producer organisations, cooperatives and local communities all play an active role. However, the findings of these research initiatives will have to be accepted by the people who live in these extremely fragile areas. And above all, it is crucial that the results be adopted by decision-makers so they can include them in their policies and planning strategies.The main objective is to make a precise analysis of these climatic phenomena so as to reduce the uncertainties that currently surround forecasts. And above all, there needs to be a change in scale, for weather events do not occur uniformly throughout the region. We have to be able to draw up scenarios at the local level so as to develop adaptation strategies that are useful to the people who live there.The most pressing need is to strengthen the observation network in specific regions, for we lack historical data that can tell us what has changed and how. This is the focus of the first 25 projects selected. They are implemented by locaI services in conjunction with AGRHYMET. The subsequent phase aims to strengthen the human dimension in projects. An analysis of the interaction between humans and the environment is very important, because growing population pressure in particular has an impact on climate change.The first thing is to set up alert systems to help communities foresee weather events. The project supports seasonal forecasting. It is now possible to know in advance if the rainy season will be wet or dry, and therefore enable farmers to adapt their growing techniques and their seeds.Better observation produces clearer understanding and more accurate forecasts -that is how I would sum up the project.In Mali as in other parts of West Africa, the farmers are bewildered. The rainy seasons are no longer the way they once were when producers used them to get the best out of their crops. These days, the rains sometimes stop suddenly for several weeks, fall in torrents or carry on for much longer than normal.Four years ago, GTPA, an agrometeorological working group, was set up to help farmers. It groups 10 different services, including weather forecasts, agriculture, livestock and an early warning system (SAP). Throughout the rainy season, it broadcasts a radio bulletin every 10 days, which provides information about the weather and advice for farmers. The rain forecasts are based on data from national and regional weather services as well as from field trips carried out every 10 days. There are still gaps in the country's weather coverage, but information supplied by livestock keepers and farmers themselves help to make the service more accurate. Local branches of services involved in GTPA play an active role.The bulletins are also based on satellite monitoring which gives some advance warning of when rains are likely to begin or end. By working together with the AGRHYMET centre in Niger, GTPA is able to indicate to producers whether the winter will be wet or dry. This information, broadcast by national and community radios, is closely followed in rural areas, where it is highly valued. On the basis of the rains forecast, listeners know that they must begin planting this or that variety or start harvesting quickly. The launch of this service has greatly improved farmers' ability to adapt to the increasingly erratic climatic conditions.The GTPA service relies heavily on the long experience of SAP, which is a member. Created in 1986 during some of the worst droughts, SAP has a network of almost 2,000 volunteers throughout Mali, who continually collect data on crop growing, forest, livestock and health issues so as to evaluate the food situation in the various regions. Each month, local councillors, agricultural authorities, farmers and herders fill out detailed questionnaires on, for example, the price of cereals, the movement of herds and problems encountered with crops. These questionnaires are sent back to the regional level, where they are analysed. A national bulletin is produced from their findings and distributed to the government, embassies and international organisations.Weather alert  www.open-si.com Zero tillage, or conservation agriculture, protects and restores soils while capturing carbon (see Spore 112). Extensive trials carried out in Brazil show that soils cultivated using this method trap CO 2 rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The absence of tillage -which avoids disturbing the layers of soil -combined with the rotation of crops and permanent ground cover limits the oxidation of organic matter in the soil, a major source of CO 2 in tropical environments.Zero tillage was pioneered in the USA and Brazil, where 22 million ha are cultivated in this way. It is now taking hold in parts of Central Asia and Africa. It is practised on 3,000 ha in Madagascar. During the past 5 years, pilot projects for conservation agriculture have been launched in Southern and East Africa. Farmers who practise it obtain higher yields and can benefit from 'carbon credits'.Photo: © Syfia International Photo: © CIMMYT Photo: © CIMMYT Maize plants exposed to drought: only the most resilient will be selected.Livestock's global responsibility for climate change is now an established fact. In 2007, FAO's Deputy Director-General Alexander Müller estimated that this sector caused 37% of methane emissions and 9% of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) output and that it also used 8% of the world's water. The belching and flatulence of ruminants release vast quantities of methane into the atmosphere. In areas where livestock keeping is more intensive and industrial, cultivation of feed crops uses chemical fertiliser, the manufacture of which produces CO 2 . At the other end of the production chain, packaging, refrigeration and transport of the meat to the consumer also churns out greenhouse gases.Global demand for animal products is increasing with growing urbanisation and rising meat consumption, especially in emerging countries. This trend is expected to lead to a rise in the number of livestock reared worldwide, a factor which threatens to exacerbate climatic imbalances. Livestock already uses 30% of land for grazing or fodder cultivation, according to a report from FAO. New pastureland is often created by burning forests, especially in Latin America.In the particularly fragile arid areas of some developing countries, transhumant livestock are both victims of climate change and contributors to it, since they accentuate its impact. As they pass, animals degrade plant cover and nibble at young trees. In the Sahel, herds that leave for the more humid zones in the dry season have completely destroyed shrubs and grasses in some places. Drought coupled with overcrowding reduces the amount of grazing available, forcing herders to take their animals ever further afield and encroach on agricultural land. \"After several years with no rain\", observes Jean-Charles Clanet, a geographer at France's development research institute, IRD, \"the water points have dried up. On land that was once rich, there is often nothing left but stones.\"According to a recent World Bank study, \"Farmers in Africa are likely to move slowly toward livestock (especially goats and sheep). Managing livestock in Africa is likely to be more profitable than growing crops under future climate conditions.\"In arid zones, the increasingly dry conditions linked to rising temperatures threaten the survival of animals. For these regions, experts are weighing up solutions aimed at restricting the passage of herds in certain areas, thereby reducing conflicts with farmers. For example, German researchers have started marking the trails at the request of authorities in western Niger. Water reserves there are strictly monitored and grazing areas are regulated. Elsewhere, climate change may modify the distribution and nutritional quality of forage plants, factors that will influence milk and meat production.Although livestock keeping is partly responsible for the greenhouse effect, it will be less affected than agriculture by climate change, except in arid areas. The challenge is to limit its impact on the environment while satisfying the growing demand for its products (meat, milk and eggs).Adamou Djibo, 49 years-old with seven children, is a Peul cattle breeder in the pastoral zone of Ekrefane, 400 km northwest of Niamey, Niger \"I was 15 when I started taking the herd off to graze. Raising cattle is not like it used to be. Twenty years ago, we moved around without any great problems. Everything went as it was supposed to. Throughout this area, there was plenty of grazing for the animals. But today the herd is suffering badly from lack of grass. New diseases are appearing. It is very hot during the dry season. Our cows often die when giving birth; frequently, the calves are premature. None of this ever used to happen. The vet in our area has told us that these new diseases are caused by climate change. But I don't understand anything about that.\"Interview by Souleymane Saddi Maâzou History has caught up with Yaya Guariko. \"When I settled here in 1985, there were more animals, more water and more grass than there are today\", recalls this herder from Hamdallaye in Burkina Faso. Guariko has seen pasture land disappear before. Raised in Burkina Faso's prime livestock region in the north, he watched the land succumb to desertification during the years of acute drought, before he moved close to Ouagadougou to carry on the time-honoured tradition of life as a Peul herder. \"A decade or so ago, we took our animals to graze close by. Now, we have to go almost 20 km to find even poor quality grass and the long trek tires the animals out\", observes the herder, who blames lower rainfall levels. Dr Moumouni Ouédraogo, a specialist in environmental sciences at the Ministry for Animal Resources, confirms the bleak picture: \"With every new drought, the herders move further away to new areas. Today the problem is particularly acute because all the available space has been taken over by new villages.\"It is a constant worry. From November to June, nothing grows and almost all the water points run dry. In Hamdallaye, there is only one solution -intensify livestock keeping. Small herds ofGalisso Nagouza, 36 years-old and father of two children, is the son of a well established Peul livestock keeper in Nord Tahoua, 600 km from Niamey, Niger \"Some of my brothers are sceptical about climate change. But I've been to school and I know a bit about it. People here are too fatalistic. Before, everyone knew when the dry season would come and when there would be the rainy season. But now, that has all changed. Our livestock have to walk long distances to get water. When I was a child, we used to find water without having to travel dozens of kilometres as we have to these days.I remember: there were times when our animals stayed in the fields for months at a stretch after harvest, eating the millet and sorghum stalks that were left. Now, that is just a distant memory.The fields no longer produce much due to lack of rain. It is very hot and grass is getting scarcer. In a few years' time, many livestock keepers like me won't know what to do any more. That worries me because our livestock are a part of us.\"Research results show that the most striking change caused by climate fluctuations will be the type of livestock species farmed. If the climate becomes hotter and drier, goats and sheep will take precedence over cattle and chickens, which are very sensitive to the heat. The humid zones will in turn become more suited to poultry and large livestock, notably dairy cows, especially in high altitudes. But if rainfall increases in these areas, goats and chickens will become more attractive options. \"With climate change, livestock ownership will increase across Africa, except in the deserts\", concludes the World Bank study. In 2007, the UNEP suggested doubling the number of small ruminants in Africa and Asia. Already in Ghana, goat rearing is gaining ground.There is also an urgent need to use more improved local breeds, which are better adapted than imported breeds to the climate and to its variations. During a recent drought, Ugandan herders who had kept their Ankole cows were able to take them to watering points further away, while herders who had replaced them with imported breeds lost everything.In places with poor grazing where feed crops can be cultivated, keeping animals in stalls is advised, so as to limit their impact on the environment. Efforts are under way to improve fodder crops and other feed and make them more digestible so as to reduce flatulence in ruminants. At the same time, researchers are trying to improve the management of animal waste (manure and slurry) to reduce methane emissions, notably through more efficient conversion into biogas.vgrowing populations. But there may have to be major changes in the way vgrowing populations. But there may have to be major changes in the way they choose and manage their animals if this sector is to weather the vagaries of climate change.Burkina Faso: the last of the big herds Uganda: shrinking pastures For years, Uganda has been known as the pearl of Africa, due to its natural vegetation and fresh waters. But global warming, exacerbated by deforestation and charcoal production, has reduced rainfall in many parts of the country, leading to drought. Uganda's Cattle Corridor, which stretches from western and central Uganda to mid northern and eastern regions, has seen a dramatic shift from semi-arid to arid conditions. These changes have had a significant impact on livestock productivity.Gaudesius Opio, a farmer and agricultural engineer from Soroti District, says he believes climate change is responsible for the prolonged drought. Since the devastating floods that destroyed Photo: © Syfia International special issue / August lives and property in his region in September 2007 at the time of this interview, in April, not a drop of rain has fallen. \"It has never happened like this. There is no grass or drinking water. Animals are dying.\" Opio adds that herders from all the neighbouring villages now take their livestock to the wetlands for grazing but this poses problems of a different kind. \"Our young animals are attacked by snakes and crocodiles,\" he observes. Competition for the wetlands is also triggering conflicts among herders and crop farmers.The long drought and subsequent reduction in pasture has led to a fall in both livestock quantities and quality, causing malnutrition in communities that rely heavily on the cattle economy. Opio is one of many farmers who have seen a sharp drop in productivity. \"I used to get one litre of milk a day from a cow, but now I can hardly get half a litre,\" he says.A 2007 food assessment carried out by Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries shows that approximately 980,000 households from 19 districts in the Cattle Corridor have been seriously affected. Coping mechanisms adopted by livestock farmers include 'paddocking' and planting drought-resistant pastures such as Panicum maximum. 'Paddocking' involves dividing land into small plots and fencing each one separately. When the grass is exhausted, the animals are transferred to another paddock.Akello Stella, a livestock farmer in Lira district, says she and other herders have resorted to rearing small-sized indigenous livestock. \"We have realised that our local short-horned cattle are somehow more manageable. Heifers of other breeds were getting sick while others died.\" Mukama Robert, programme officer for Fida International, a food security project in northern Uganda, says more and more farmers are turning away from higher-yielding exotic breeds. \"Local breeds are being maintained because they are more resistant to weather changes. Unfortunately, their turnover is low,\" he said.Angella Nabwowearound 20 cattle have replaced the bigger ones of former times. The animals no longer wander in search of rich grassland that now only exists in the memories of the elders. The cattle are kept in pens. Feeding has also changed. Today it largely consists of cereal bran (millet, maize or rice), oilseed cake and fodder specially cultivated for livestock. \"At present, I have a herd of less than 30 cattle, which I can manage better. Aside from oilseed cake, which I buy, I produce hay ready for the dry season\", explains Guariko. Wealthier livestock farmers use cross-breeding to produce animals with greater resistance to heat and higher milk yields (a daily average of 4 l compared with 1 l for the local breed). Animals bred this way adapt more easily to being kept in stalls.In desperation, some herders send their flocks to the east of the country. Others leave the land of their forefathers to settle in coastal countries such as Benin, Ghana and Togo. \"With no more grasslands, nomadic herders, who were used to grazing their cattle in northern Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Ghana, have decided to settle in those countries. That represents considerable lost earnings for the national economy\", says Dr Ouédraogo. The herders would much rather stay in Burkina Faso, but they feel cornered and abandoned. \"The government should help us. If it doesn't, in a few years' time there will be no meat nor milk left in Burkina, for all the livestock will have moved to neighbouring countries\", predicts Hamadou Cissé, who owns more than 100 cattle.Thierry Rolland Ouédraogo and Nourou-Dhine SaloukaHamadou Salah, 45 years-old and father of six children, is a Tuareg camel herder at Toukounous, more than 300 km from Niamey, Niger \"I inherited livestock keeping from my grandparents and I have been doing it since I was a child. In those days, there was grass just behind our huts. But over the years, everything has changed. There is no more grass for our animals. The little rain that falls in this area has become even less frequent. Even when we move to new pastures, grass is increasingly hard to find. This change in the weather has had an effect on our livelihoods. Twenty years ago, we had more than 100 camels; today, there are just 20 left. We have sold almost all of them to the butchers. I very much regret this state of affairs, since for us, livestock is like gold.\"S MLivestock keepers (here in Burkina Faso) have to travel further and further to feed and water their animals. First, greater attention should be paid to the issue to see what is really happening. We need to find out if climate change has caused any precise geographical shift in disease. And if that turns out to be the case, we need to know exactly where the disease is now located. It is no good doing things by chance; we need to identify the real problems, the real consequences, and above all predict what will happen if the trend continues. There also needs to be a great deal more communication so that people are informed and can adopt good practices.At the technical level, we need to establish precisely what type of livestock keeping will be suited to the new conditions. Which animals should be kept in which areas? Which diseases should we be fighting against? Which diseases have disappeared? If we don't have this kind of information and continue, for example, to fight diseases whose vectors are no longer present in this area due to climate change, that will be a big waste of money.All this is extremely important for political decision-makers. If we can forecast what our livestock is going to look like in 10 to 15 years, the decision-makers can take the necessary measures. But they need real-time information at the right moment (…)As far as national action plans are concerned, our countries are putting forward a number of institutional measures. These are proposals, not solutions for the herders or political decision-makers. We need action.If nothing is done, as far as food supplies go, we will become increasingly dependent on western countries for animal products. And within the region, the dependency of one country on another will also increase, as will the cost of foodstuffs. There is a risk of a wholesale change in agricultural practice, with people producing just to survive instead of to live in a sustainable manner. Science must come up with some sustainable solutions.Oh no! I would not go so far as to say that there will be no animal species left on our continent, or in our sub-region. Maybe a new form of livestock keeping will emerge. But imagine if there were fewer livestock. The output of our animals is already low. That is why we keep so many of them. A cow only produces a litre of milk per day. If we had fewer animals, think of the consequences! Interview by Souleymane Ouattara Climate change has already had a clear impact on animal disease. Concerned about the problem, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recently launched a special working group which held its first meeting in July.One of the issues that researchers are currently investigating is whether or not viruses responsible for animal diseases can change vectors (the organisms they use to spread) so as to migrate into areas where the climate is favourable but where their traditional vectors do not yet exist. Scientists also need to monitor the evolution of traditional vectors' habitats so as to prevent the spread of diseases for which they are carriers.The most striking example of the effect of climate on animal disease is that of Rift Valley Fever. The resurgence of this disease in East Africa is directly related to increased rainfall in the region, say OIE officials. The disease, which reappeared in Kenya in late 2006, has spread throughout the region, especially in Sudan and Tanzania. The virus is passed on to livestock by mosquitoes, which proliferate with the rains, especially when there is flooding. It affects cattle, sheep, goats and camels, as well as wild ruminants and various small rodents. Animals infected with the disease have a high death rate. Humans are also very sensitive to the virus. The disease poses a threat to the traditionally vibrant livestock export trade from the Horn of Africa to countries of the Middle East.Conversely, in regions where the climate is becoming drier, there could be fewer watering holes in pastoral areas, a factor that would increase interaction between domestic livestock and wild animals. Wild animals are frequently a source of diseases that can be transmitted to domestic animals. Increased contact between cattle and gnus, for example, could trigger outbreaks of malignant catarrhal fever. All gnus are carriers of this disease, which is fatal to livestock. Forests are unusual in that they are a potential prime cause of climate change -through deforestation -but can also play a key role in mitigating its impacts. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), between 20 and 25% of all CO 2 emissions are caused by burning forests to clear the land for farming. Poor forest management policies, including unrestricted logging, excessive harvesting of firewood and road construction contribute to the problem. The world is losing about 200 km 2 of forest a day, according to FAO, with forests in Africa being felled at twice the global average.Research into the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems lag behind, though initiatives such as the Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project are trying to redress the imbalance. Some climate models indicate that towards 2050, temperatures in tropical forest areas will increase by up to 2°C from their 1970 levels. Combined rainfall changes and secondary factors such as increased fire and pest outbreaks, these could produce severe consequences.Direct impacts are likely to include lower volumes of forest goods and services, among them timber, fuel wood, and valuable non-timber products such as fruits, fungi, honey and natural medicines. Forests are also crucial for safeguarding other ecosystems -they regulate water cycles, protect biodiversity and provide physical buffers against desertification, drought, land degradation and flash floods. The ripple effect could be incalculable.A number of initiatives are under way in ACP countries to combat illegal logging. Many countries now have national schemes, though these have had mixed results. The industry itself is showing an understanding of the need to change its ways. In February 2008, senior executives of some 15 of the leading tropical forestry companies announced their commitment to sustainable management. Good governance is crucial, and legally protecting forests by designating protected areas, indigenous reserves, non-timber reserves and community reserves has proved effective in maintaining forest cover in some countries.As well as suffering the effects of climate change, forests have huge potential for offsetting it. Trees have the capacity to trap vast amounts of carbon which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere Tropical forests are highly vulnerable to changes brought about by lower rainfall and higher temperatures, but they can also play a key role in mitigating climate change. Political hurdles are limiting the use of instruments to encourage sustainable community management.A double-edged sword Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been the target of much criticism for its handling of one of the world's largest tropical forests. Massive logging and land clearance have put the island's forestry sector in the international spotlight. Each year, 50,000-60,000 ha of forests are cleared, including 50% for agriculture, 25-30% for industrial logging, and the rest for infrastructure. Most of the logging in PNG is carried out by Malaysian firms who pay landowners very little. Fire is often used for land-clearing and at times -especially during dry El Niño years -they burn out of control. But there are pockets of good management, and the island is home to what some say is one of the best examples of community forest enterprise anywhere in the world.Globally, community control over forest areas has doubled in the past 15 years as community cooperatives, associations and non-profit companies succeed in coupling commercial success with a fair distribution of social and environmental benefits. In PNG, 29 community companies have joined forces under the umbrella company Forcert, and linked up with seven central marketing units spanning four islands. The community producers handle logging and transport to the marketing units, which dry, process and export the wood. Forcert handles marketing, technical support services and management of certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label. Timber sales go mainly to Australia, with both FSC and Fair trade certification. \"Whether for timber, other forest products or emerging environmental service markets, strong democratic community forest enterprises are an excellent model through which to channel resources or avoid deforestation and poverty reduction,\" said Duncan Macqueen of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).Photo: © WWF Spore special issue / August 2008 as CO 2 , one of the worst GHG offenders. A growing awareness of the role of forests in protecting against climate change has sparked a number of tree planting initiatives. In Nigeria, the government has launched tree planting in three zones. In Malawi, pupils from primary schools in the districts of Msanje and Salima have formed clubs to replant trees on bare land. The Kabara community in Lau, Fiji, has planted 2,600 Vesi trees (Intsia bijuga) as part of a Intsia bijuga) as part of a Intsia bijuga reforestation effort.Providing incentives to conserve the forests that we already have could be just as important. Carbon payments can be an effective stimulus in reducing forest degradation, as they offer local communities a chance to help cut global carbon emissions, while increasing prospects for their own livelihoods. However, at present, the rules are stacked against the forestry sector. Under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), carbon offset schemes are limited to afforestation and reforestation. Credits can therefore be earned for planting new trees but protection of existing forests does not qualify. Some forestry experts say that farmers' cooperatives, or even rural banks, could arrange to certify a community's carbon sequestration, apply for carbon payments, and distribute funds back to farmers. Heavily forested countries charge that the failure to extend CDM financing to the preservation of old-growth forests is unjust. In September 2007, Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, DR Congo, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, which together contain 80% of the world's remaining tropical forests, formed the contain 80% of the world's remaining tropical forests, formed the Forestry Eight to challenge the exclusion. Forestry Eight to challenge the exclusion.Many agree that forestry has been neglected Many agree that forestry has been neglected in the climate change debate. To date, of the almost in the climate change debate. To date, of the almost 1,000 CDM projects undergoing or granted approval, 1,000 CDM projects undergoing or granted approval, only three are from the forestry sector. only three are from the forestry sector.Estimates of the total amount of carbon stored in the forests vary greatly. One calculation, based on research by the IPCC, puts the total at about 1,000 billion t. Africa contains about 15% of the world's remaining forests. The vast forests of DR Congo alone are estimated to contain as much as 8% of all the carbon stored in the Earth's vegetation.Alain Karsenty, of the forestry resource and public policy department at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).Forests play a very important role, for they absorb and conserve carbon or CO 2 , the main gas responsible for the greenhouse effect and hence climate change. The CDM which was set up as part of the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases (GHG) offers incentives for reforestation in countries of the South. These latter are offered carbon credits in exchange.Unfortunately, in practice the CDM does not work for forests. For a variety of reasons, the industries of wealthy countries, which are obliged to cut their CO 2 emissions either by directly reducing them or by purchasing carbon credits, do not buy credits from forests. As a result, out of 1,023 projects registered under the CDM over the past 10 years, only one involved reforestation. Yet deforestation accounts for the equivalent of 15 to 20% of global GHG emissions. So we cannot allow this state of affairs to continue.In 2005, a new proposal was made by the Rainforest Coalition, a group of forest nations led by Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. This proposal, currently being debated for post-2012, is known as 'avoided deforestation'. It involves paying direct compensation to developing countries that reduce deforestation, either compared with previous levels or compared with a projected scenario for the future. But some countries have deforested to such an extent in the past that their deforestation levels will automatically fall in the future. Should they be 'compensated'? And who can make clear predictions about deforestation? The concept could turn out to be impossible to implement.No, because there is now wide agreement that forests must be included in efforts to mitigate climate change. Many believe that in any case there should be an international fund. This would be financed by taxes created, for example, on carbon and would fund structural measures to address the fundamental causes of deforestation. These could focus on improved land security and better Sylvie Andriambololonera, an expert in plant conservation and biodiversity, is coordinator of a Missouri Botanical Garden project.Plant biodiversity in Madagascar is very rich and quite unique, with some 90% of species peculiar to the country. All 13,000 plant species found in the three forest types (humid, dry and thorny) have proved to be sensitive to climate change. The slightest variation seriously upsets the balance of the ecosystem, resulting in losses of habitat and plant populations. Climate change is already making itself felt in Madagascar, with temperature rises, infrequent and torrential rainfall, longer dry periods and increasingly violent cyclones.Many plants can only reproduce and grow within a certain temperature range. They respond to precise doses of rain according to the seasons and risk being ousted by competition from other plants or failing to survive the changes.At present, little data is available; so far, no studies have been carried out on this subject. However, we can discern a general trend. From the west and north, plant cover is moving eastwards towards the coastal strip. The flowering and fruiting seasons are becoming less certain for many species. Increasingly, there are long delays for both, due to erratic rainfall. Mountain species are tending to seek refuge in higher altitudes, often as much as 200 m further upland. In the south and southwest, dry zones are shifting northwards.With an average of 19°C, the weather is usually cool all year round in Sud-Kivu. In this mountainous region in eastern DR Congo, the altitude ranges between about 350 and 2 000 m, rising as high as 3,400 m in the Kahuzi Biega National Park. Bayubasire Bikaya, who heads the Provincial Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, believes the shrinking of the forest \"from 50 to 100 km around towns and large conurbations\", and linked to the growing demand for charcoal, has contributed to local climate variations. \"The temperature has risen by an average of half a degree and the thermometer sometimes reaches 28°C\", observes Cyprien Birhingingwa, a geographer. The climate has also become drier. \"Rainfall has dropped from 1,400 to 1,000 mm/year.\"Local vegetation is suffering as a result. Already, several varieties of trees and shrubs have been affected by these sudden changes. \"Cinchona (Cinchona spens) and Arabica coffee no longer flourish as they did even 5 years ago. These are varieties that we have always cultivated on the hillsides\", recalls Bulongo Lukendo, a member of the Natural Resources Network in Kivu. Tetradenia riparia or Iboza riparia, which has white flowers, perfumed leaves and curative properties for humans, livestock and plants, is also disappearing.Gervais Igugu, a member of POPOF, a local association that works in the Kahuzi Biega National Park area, has also noticed that certain species are disappearing at lower altitudes. Prunus africana, a tree whose bark is used to make remedies for sterility, is increasingly hard to find. Hagenia abyssinica, whose leaves are used to treat headaches and stomach pains, has also become very scarce. But though the effects are all too clear, the reason for these dwindling resources has yet to be identified. Both climate change and overharvesting are thought to be to blame.Thaddée Hyawe Balundi DR Congo: trees are disappearing For kilometres at a stretch, along the road that links Antananarivo to Toamasina in eastern Madagascar, flames lick at the slopes, lighting up the night sky. Just before the rainy season, the farmers burn the forest without any let up. Here, slash and burn cultivation, or tavy, remains a common practice. \"All you need is a scythe and there is no need for irrigation\", explains one farmer. According to Jeanniq Randrianarisoa, manager of Conservation International, \"At least 100,000 ha of forest are destroyed each year.\" Such intensive deforestation accounts for 95% of Madagascar's CO 2 emissions and severely disrupts climate patterns. \"A leaden sun, prolonged drought punctuated by torrential rain, suffocating air, increasingly intense cyclones.\" Pauline Marthe, a farmer from the Toamasina region, is well aware of these changes, which have had a serious impact on output. \"I harvest 20 times less rice than I did 20 years ago,\" she complains. The climate is so variable that agricultural technical staff no longer recommend crop calendars to the farmers. \"We are no longer in a position to say when the best time is for crop growing because of the uncertainty of the rains\", says Gilbert Raharinosy, an official from Toamasina's regional agricultural department.At the global level, however, the island prides itself on being a carbon sink: with 9 million ha of forest (15% of the surface area), it captures 35% more CO 2 than it emits.Mamy AndriatianaWhile some ACP rural dwellers are cutting down trees for charcoal and timber, others are busy planting new ones and earning money. Carbon sequestration schemes, launched by the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), allow industrialised countries to offset CO 2 emissions by investing in forestry projects in developing countries. In return, the communities receive payment, derive income and products from the newly planted trees and profit from the sustainable development benefits that all carbon offset projects must include.In Uganda, the Plan Vivo Project is selling carbon credits to UKbased companies on behalf of local farmers. Under the Nhambita Community Carbon Project in Mozambique, each household will receive US$242.60 (€158) per ha over the next 7 years. Some projects have a strong environmental component. In Uganda, the Forest Rehabilitation Project is helping to conserve Mount Elgon and Kibale National Parks, which have suffered serious deforestation. The Western Kenya Integrated Ecosystem Management Project is using trees to improve erosion control and watershed management in the Lake Victoria Basin.Globally, carbon sequestration projects are worth an estimated US$300 million (€196 million), but Africa accounts for a tiny share with just 19 projects. One obstacle to widespread take-up has been the difficulty of calculating how much CO 2 small-scale farmers are removing from the atmosphere. Scientists have addressed the problem by using satellite imagery and infrared spectroscopy. Working with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Michigan State University, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has developed methods that integrate satellite data, field survey and rapid laboratory analyses. Highly accurate, the new technique greatly reduces the need for expensive on-the-ground verification.Studies show that planting trees between crops and around land plots can help prevent soil erosion, restore soil fertility and provide shade, thereby offsetting some of the effects of climate change. By planting certain fast-growing shrubs on fallow land, farmers help the soil retain more water. One modelling exercise showed that this system could maintain maize yields in dry years when traditional practices give very low yields. Agroforestry also contributes to climate change mitigation, since trees and shrubs absorb more carbon than other crops. The IPCC reports that agroforestry has the potential to sequester nearly 600 Mt CO 2 a year by 2040.Growing numbers of ACP producers are integrating trees into farming systems, planting fodder trees for cattle, fruit and nut trees for food and other trees and shrubs that produce gums, resins and medicines.Trees help maintain production during excessive or poor rainfall. Their deep root system can explore a larger soil volume for water and nutrients during drought. In times of heavy rainfall, their high evapotranspiration rates help them pump excess water out of the soil.The parkland or scattered tree system can buffer against climate variability. In the traditional farmed parklands of West Africa, dense shading by shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) and néré (Parkia biglobosa) can reduce millet yield by 50-80%. But economic yields from tree products outweigh crop losses. In semiarid Kenya, farmers have developed an intensive parkland system using the fastgrowing Melia volkensii (Meliaceae), which produces high value timber in 5-10 years. Trials show that income from tree products exceeds the value of crop yield lost through competition by US$10 (€6.5) or 42% during average years and US$22 (€14.50) or 180% when 50% of the crop fails due to drought. The oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface with an average depth of 3,800 m. This huge mass of water (3 billion billion m 3 ) traps heat and slowly releases it, thereby regulating the outside temperature. The climate influences the marine ecosystem which in turn influences the climate. A deeper understanding of this environment has therefore become central to research on climate change.Discussions on global warming and oceans inevitably lead to the subject of rising sea levels caused by the melting of the polar ice caps. Researchers now agree that this phenomenon is a real and significant problem, and calculate that, since the end of the 19 th century, the average level of oceans has risen by about 12 cm. The warmer the Earth becomes, the faster the polar ice caps melt and the faster the ocean levels rise. These levels increased from less than 2 mm per year last century to a current rate of 2.5 mm and could reach an annual 3.5 mm by 2100. Depending on the various models, they could rise by 15 to 80 cm between now and 2100. Each time a forecast is reviewed and refined, it is in an upward direction...In 2005, the first communities to be evacuated from sinking islands were moved out from Vanuatu in the Pacific. A similar fate awaits islanders in the atolls of Tuvalu and the Maldives. The great deltas of the Ganges, the Nile and the Mississippi are at risk, as are the densely populated coastlines.Coastal erosion is another problem. The West African coast has been particularly exposed for several decades; in Benin, some parts of the capital Cotonou had to be evacuated. The intrusion of salt water in the water table of coastal zones increases salinity in soils, resulting in fertility loss. Global warming can also transform the sea into a merciless agent of death, by intensifying cyclones and tornadoes. In this respect, the protective role of mangroves is becoming increasingly recognised -when well maintained,The warming of the oceans upsets a fragile ecological balance whose first victims appear to be the fish. Climate change is beginning to take a heavy toll on coastal areas. 'Marine deserts' are becoming increasingly common.As far as the eye can see, there are stubs of trees and rice fields. Hectares upon hectares of mangroves have vanished from Guinea's coastline. The elders no longer recognise their once wild and marshy region, which is now densely populated. Soumaila Bangoura, 35, cut down 240 ha of mangroves to grow rice, the staple diet of Guineans who consume more than 90 kg/year. He hopes to carve a further 25 ha out of this precious and fragile land. The coast is dotted with encampments, set up for salt harvesting, which devours huge quantities of fuel wood cut from mangrove trees, as does the fish smoking widely practised in the region.\"They tell us that it is not good to cut the mangroves. But what are people supposed to do if they want to cultivate land?\" asks Mamoudou Soumah, a farmer. \"We have less rainfall and the rains stop earlier than they used to. Our yields are much smaller\". Other puzzled farmers note that they too harvest less and less rice, though they cannot explain why. Ahmed Faya Traoré, who heads the Climate C hange in Guinea project, is well aware of the cause of this vicious circle. Rising sea levels and coastal currents have also contributed to the shrinking of the mangroves and hence to the \"impoverishing of soils for cultivation, caused by the intrusion of saltwater which has a direct and damaging effect on soil fertility\". This leads farmers to clear yet more land, only to harvest poorer and poorer yields.Through awareness-raising campaigns, NGOs have managed to persuade some coastal dwellers that it is in their interest to change their ways. Yayah Cissé is one of them. Like growing numbers of salt farmers, he uses a new technique to extract salt. He traps seawater on plastic sheeting stretched out in the sun so that the salt dries naturally, without the need to burn any wood.Just like the farmers, the fishers look on helplessly as their catches decline with every year that passes. The days of plentiful fish are over. Morlaye Touré remembers how it used to be: \"Before, we stayed near the coast and caught large numbers of big fish, but for at least 5 years now, we have had to go out much further in our small canoes if we want to get a good catch.\"The tree stubs offer increasingly scant shelter to the fish for which the strange roots of the mangroves were once prime breeding grounds. \"The more you cut them down, the fewer fish you have on the coasts\", says Ahmed Faya Traoré. A cruel case of cause and effect.Alpha CamaraGuinea: less rice and fewer fishIn Guinea, drying salt in the sun avoids burning wood they cushion the force of waves and the wind and also help combat coastal erosion (see page 23). More complex phenomena, equally alarming, are having a serious impact on aquatic life. So-called 'marine deserts' are spreading. These are areas of the ocean where life has completely disappeared. The warming of the surface waters causes a slowdown in the mixing of these with the lower, colder layers that contain the nutrients essential to the growth of plankton. The gradual disappearance of plankton leads to a decline in the more evolved species which feed on it, beginning with fish. Marine deserts are currently developing in the North and South Atlantic and in the North and South Pacific, according to surveys carried out by the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For the time being, the Indian Ocean appears relatively unscathed. Since 1998, these marine deserts have taken over some 6.6 million km 2 , twelvefold the surface area of France!Added to this threat to fishery resources is the slowdown of the Earth's major ocean currents due to an overall rise in land surface temperatures. A report titled In Dead Water, published in early 2008In Dead Water, published in early 2008In Dead Water by UNEP, clearly shows that this slackening of pace will have a major impact on fish stocks. It could affect three-quarters of the world's most important fishing grounds, says the report, which observes that \"millions of people including many in developing countries derive their livelihoods from fishing while around 2.6 billion people get their protein from seafood\". A decline in circulation of the ocean's natural pumping system affects the 'washing and rinsing' mechanism of the continental shelf, which keeps the waters healthy by flushing out growing levels of wastes and pollution and brings nutrients to fisheries. Half of global fish catches and all small-scale fish catches are taken on this shallow continental shelf bordering the coasts.Another alarming prediction: according to UNEP, \"80 to 100% of the world's coral reefs may suffer annual bleaching events by 2080\" and die as a result, a major risk given that these are a crucial source of food for the fish who live there (see page 23). The corals of the western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean Sea are particularly at risk.\"We are gambling with our food \"We are gambling with our food supply\", warns Christian Nelleman, supply\", warns Christian Nelleman, who coordinated the UNEP report. who coordinated the UNEP report.Time is running out for the people of Carteret Island, an atoll that is part of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville off the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG). \"Food gardens and coconuts have been destroyed and children are going to school hungry,\" said Ursula Rakova, who heads Telele Peisa, an NGO trying to help families on the sinking island. With sea levels rising inexorably, the islanders face the prospect of leaving their homes. There is simply nothing left to eat.Climate experts have forecast that the island, which is home to 1,000 people, will have completely disappeared by 2015. Already, the encroaching water is making life very hard. \"It is extremely difficult now for food crops to grow on the atolls. Salt water seeps through the land, making it impossible for food to grow. Breadfruit is seasonal and is not as plentiful as it was 30 years ago.Fruits are getting smaller in size,\" said Ursula, who is fighting to get the islanders relocated on the larger island of Bougainville 90 km away as climate change refugees. \"Bananas struggle to grow in salt-inundated land.\" For the time being, the island community is struggling to survive on rice sent by the Autonomous Bougainville Government. But food aid can take days or even weeks to arrive on the island due to transport difficulties, and supplies are running out. The government of PNG has allocated K2 million (€450,000) to the Carteret Relocation Programme, but this is unlikely to be enough to help the islanders buy land and start new lives. The Catholic Church of Bougainville has donated land to build 10 homes, and the first families left the island in June 2008.Juliana Samsi, a nurse who runs the local clinic, says that though the people of Carteret have always lived in harmony with the sea, they are now starting to be frightened. \"We are so scared living on these atolls, anytime soon waves will come and just sweep over us all,\" she said.Ursula echoes the community's feeling of helplessness. \"Carteret islanders are victims of climate change and rising sea levels. The atolls are sinking and despite not knowing the sciences, people can see with their naked eyes the impact of the rising sea levels,\" she said. \"The atolls are going down, and going down really fast.\"Eric TapakauPapua New Guinea: sinking by degreesClimate experts have forecast that the island, which is home to 1,000 people, will have completely disappeared by 2015. Already, the encroachingPenina Moce, 45, lives on Kabara, part of a small group of islands off Fiji's main island of Viti Levu.To many, my island may not be an ideal place to live. We do not have any rivers or streams and therefore depend mainly on rain for our household needs. We do not have much land suitable for growing crops. But my people have survived like this for countless generations. In the 40 or so years I have lived on Kabara, I like many of those on my island have noticed changes, like the rapid erosion of coastal areas near our villages, longer periods of dry hot weather, the increased frequency of storms and storm surges, changes in the seasonal patterns of our plants and animals and the bleaching of corals in our fishing grounds.In one village, Naikeleyaga, the beach has eroded 10 m back over the past decade, so that it now threatens the school. If we are constantly forced inland by the sea, it is unlikely we could relocate, as all four villages are surrounded by high limestone cliffs. The only option then would be to abandon our island, but I hope that day never comes.Water shortage has always been a part of our lives, but in recent years we have noticed that our normal dry season seems to have extended and the weather is far drier. This not only affects how much water we have for our daily needs, but also our gardens. The leaf and root crops like slimy cabbage, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams and bananas wither and the white bugs that thrive during this period infest and destroy what is left. During times like these we often resort to drinking coconuts, but when the dry season is prolonged the young coconuts fall off the tree before we can use them.The seasons for trees in the forests to bear fruit and for fish to spawn have changed. Recently, we have noticed that these either happen earlier or later than usual. In the past, the fruiting of certain trees coincided with the spawning or breeding times of certain fish -now they are out of sync. Our fishing grounds have begun to change.In the past, most of our corals were very colourful, but now everything appears white and the fish we harvest are fewer and smaller.As we come from islands that are isolated, assistance from government is often very slow. However, the communities on my island have begun to take action, by planting more trees, protecting our reefs by banning all damaging activities to corals and implementing community water use restrictions. These are just small steps we have taken ourselves, but as I understand it, since climate change is a global problem, our efforts will still be useless if others do not take action as well. According to a study carried out in 2006 by the Climate Change in Guinea project, rising sea levels linked to global warming should result in stronger coastal currents, higher tides and sea encroachment of land. Guinea's coastal region, home to West Africa's largest and richest mangroves, will therefore bear the brunt of global climate change. The region's entire economy is now under threat. \"The main victims of all these climate variations will be people living near the coast. As far as the economy is concerned, estimates are that more than 2 million people will suffer income losses\", says the study.In an effort to limit the foreseeable damage, Guinea has launched a national plan of action for climate change adaptation (PANA-CC), adopted in April 2008, which sets out priorities, among them measures for protecting the coastal areas. It outlines vigorous action for saving the mangroves and reforesting the region, planting teak and cashew.At the same time, there is an urgent need to encourage the production of biogas and the use of butane gas as substitutes for the fuel wood which is the main source of energy for almost all households in Guinea. \"In my opinion the government is being rather slow to establish a national policy for gas production. If this is not done, we will continue to suffer the effects of desertification\", warns Ahmed Faya Traoré, who heads the Climate Change in Guinea project.Faced with rising water levels, communities are being advised to build sea walls and plant trees along the coast in order to protect the rice fields that have taken the place of mangroves. Other recommendations include enforcing laws on coastal settlements and tackling pollution. For these adaptation measures to work, it is crucial that local people be provided with environmental education and prepared for possible catastrophes in the future.For coral reefs in the Caribbean, 2005 was not a good year. Water surface temperatures of 30° C or more led to severe bleaching of 50-95% of coral colonies over a huge area, killing many of them. What if you could move the coral to more favourable places?Various factors can put corals under stress, but elevated sea surface temperature appears to be one of the main threats. A study using data from 263 sites across the Caribbean found that hard coral now covers just 10% of reefs, down from 50% a few years ago. In 2005, the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit collected data from 4,600 colonies of 29 species of hard corals. Bleaching ranged from 59% to 86% and affected 26 species. These observations support other reports from the region that a consistent water temperature of 30-31° C is the precipitating factor in bleaching.But the ability of some species to resist bleaching in specific physical conditions may offer hope for conservation. The discovery of over 700 magnificent hard coral colonies led to a 3-week delay of an extension project at the Bridgetown port in Barbados, while the colonies were relocated.Marine biologist Andre Miller was called in: \"No one thought that there would have been so many large coral colonies, and since we were working against the clock we decided to initially focus on carefully severing and removing all viable hard corals.\"While awaiting transplantation, the corals were kept in barrels of fresh salt water. A marine park was chosen as the new site. The corals were reattached with a non-toxic mix perfected by Miller and fellow divers, based on ordinary cement and various additives. Prepared on board the dive boat and taken underwater in plastic bags, the mix had to be the right consistency to bond the base to the substrate but not immediately dissolve in the water. Once secured, the corals were marked with coloured plastic tags and monitored regularly.Within just a few months, it was difficult to differentiate between the original and transplanted colonies as natural calcification had started to fuse the base of each colony onto the substrate.The technique, also used on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, offers the possibility of re-populating damaged reefs. Since species have differing responses to bleaching at various depths, transplanting could also be used to redistribute colonies to more favourable locations.Miller and his highly trained team have worked on several coral transplant projects in Barbados, the Grenadines, Jamaica and St Lucia, and in all cases the survival exceeded 90%. Corals left in their original areas would already have been smothered. The future for coral transplantation as a management tool seems bright.Andy TaittPhotos: Laboute © IRD Coral transplanted to prevent its bleaching and death.","tokenCount":"14880"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5487375170.json b/data/part_1/5487375170.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..20c86b0e6b740eb9b9c99651ea2edaae8a9206cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5487375170.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9aa1fc306539f55abfbbf4e7ce6ef04","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/127975/filename/128186.pdf","id":"-313757477"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8deac955-8433-49bb-be70-80b46216a438","pagecount":"20","content":"Indonesian food markets are undergoing profound and rapid change with a growing modern retail sector transforming how supply chains operate (Gulati and Reardon). Farmers participate in the supply chain in many different ways, marketing their products in ways that suit their individual characteristics. In the Indonesian potato industry, few farmers sell to modern market channels. In their study of West Java's potato producers, Natawidjaja et al. estimate only about 3% work with supermarkets or food processors. The difficulties small producers face include their inability to meet quality, quantity and consistency requirements.Another common difficulty found in many emerging economies with modernizing food retails is an increasingly complex market relationship resulting as perceptions between buyers and sellers about product attributes diverge (Leminon). In recent years, studies focusing on market relations have become more important to an understanding of evolving food and agriculture chains (Batt; Gyau and Spiller; Boniface et al.). Establishing relationships with buyers can allow farmers to reduce risks and uncertainty currently presented in their transactions (Batt). Moreover, relational marketing variables such as communication and cultural similarity can provide long-term buyer-seller benefits (Boniface et al).The benefits differ among agricultural industries and among farmers with different styles of individual and corporate behavior inhibiting or supporting the buyer and seller relationships (Batt and Rexha; Cunningham). In terms of relational marketing concepts, a critical determinant of good relationships is trust (Morgan and Hunt).This study explores chain participation differences among three different groups of potato producers in Indonesia. The three groups include (i) participants in Farmer Field School (FFS) programs; (ii) farmers working with a large food processors, Indofood; and (iii) a random sample of potato producers. FFS programs provide growers with an opportunity to learn and practice new management techniques. The FFS approach involves 'learning-by-doing.' Farmers practice new agroecological concepts and develop integrated pest management (IPM) skills through self-discovery activities (Ooi).The growers working with Indofood sell their potatoes under forward contracts to the company. The third grower group is a random sample of the general potato farmer population (GPF). The GPF farmers often sell their potatoes directly to traders along the road near their plots. The three groups are expected to have different characteristics and behaviors related to trust in their relationships with buyers. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of trust within the three groups of potato farmers.Potato marketing in Indonesia is dominated by general trading with limited contract farming schemes (Saptana et al., 2010). General trading refers to an informal and flexible relationship between sellers and buyers and the commodity price is defined in an agreement (Saptana et al. 2006;Saptana et al., 2010). The traders' positions in determining prices are usually stronger than the farmers as farmers have tight budget constraints in terms of loan repayments for seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, and household goods. On the other hand, contract farming is 'an agreement between farmers and processing and/or marketing firms for the production and supply of agricultural products under forward agreements, frequently at predetermined prices' (Eaton and Shepherd).In general, there are two types of potato marketing channels with the majority of potato producers in Indonesia producing either granola or Atlantic varieties (Sayaka et al. 2010). Granola refers to a common marketing channel for selling to the main markets for household consumption. Atlantic is mostly sold through a marketing partnership between farmers producing Atlantic varieties and Indofood, to supply raw materials for potato chips. The partnerships are conducted without a formal agreement between the company and the farmers.A recent study of potato marketing in Indonesia by Natawidjaja et al. divided the potato channels in West Java into five segments;(1) Farmer -traditional wholesaler -wholesale market -retail market; (2) Farmer -local collector -traditional wholesaler -wholesale market -retail market; (3) Farmer -farmer group -industry specialized supplier (vendor) -food industry; (4) Farmer -traditional wholesaler -supermarket specialized supplier -supermarket; and (5) Farmer -farmer group -supermarket. The study highlights a transformation of market channels in potato as a result of the increase in the modern food retail channels, including supermarkets and food processing industries. However, the potatoes sales over the past 10 years are still dominated by the traditional market (almost 99%) which is represented by marketing channels 1 and 2.Natawidjaja et al. also find that growers producing and selling for the modern channel have profits that are about 150% higher by the traditional producers selling to traditional channels. Saptana et al. (2006) reveal that the supply chain in the Indonesian horticulture industry formed a long marketing channel with an oligopolistic market. Hastuti suggests that marketing costs are relatively high, while the potato farming community's access to formal financing institutions is quite low. Most traders made partnerships with farmers to maintain supply continuity, providing capital for inputs.The literature review and key informant field research suggest three forms of participation in Indonesia's potato chains, including farmers organized into Farmer Field Schools (FFS), those selling to Indofood and the broader potato farmer population who are not participating in specialized programs nor selling to Indofood.The FFS provides an opportunity for learning-by-doing, based on principles of non-formal education. In this arrangement, extension workers or trained farmers encourage farmers to discover key agroecological concepts and develop integrated pest management (IPM) skills through self-discovery activities practiced in the field (Ooi). The FFS approach represents a paradigm shift in agricultural extension: the training program utilizes participatory methods \"to help farmers develop their analytical skills, critical thinking, and creativity, and help them learn to make better decisions\" (Kenmore). Expectations and perceived characteristics of FFS farmers include their motivations to innovate, to adopt new practices earlier and to be more environmentally friendly than the average potato farmer. FFS producers mostly sell potatoes through their group leaders.The contract farmers sell their products under forward contracts to the Indofood company. Indofood is the largest food processing company in Indonesia, which began as an instant noodle company in 1990. The snack food sector in Indonesia is dominated by tradtional food snack, potato chips showing rapid growth as a non tradtional snack food. To maintain and guarantee the sustainable supply of raw materials, Indofood has built up a partnership with potato farmers by introducing a new variety for processing potato. Access to seeds is designed through a partnership in the major potato producing areas which is concentrated in several Districts in West Java (Bandung and Garut) and Central Java (Dieng).The general potato farmer (GPF) is not involved in FS programs nor the Indofood partnership. These farmers often sell their products directly to the market and other middle men. In the Natawidjaja et al. study the GPF group is represented as value chain 1; farmer -traditional wholesaler -traditional wholesale market -traditional retail market, and value chain 2; farmer -local collector -traditional wholesaler -traditional wholesale market -traditional retail market.In this study, we provide a discussion of trust and factors that may influence the development of trust in the potato industry. Specifically, we compare the factors among the FFS program, contract, and GPF groups. Relational variables such as flexibility, price satisfaction, communication, dependency, culture, reputation and problem solving together are expected to influence the level of trust. In addition, some demographic factors such as farm size, experience, and potato price are examined for their impact on trust.Trust can be a significant component of social capital contributing to economic development (Fukuyama; North; Ostrom; Dasgupta). Trust is related to institutions and affects the costs of transacting. If one's confidence in an enforcement agency falters, one is also less likely to trust people and their agreements will not be established (Dasgupta). A buyer's trust reduces the perception of risk and reduces transactions costs in an exchange relationship (Ganesan; Doney and Cannon). Hence, trust can be categorized as a catalyst that helps to make an economy function more efficiently. Anderson and Narus define trust as the belief that a business partner will perform actions that will result in a positive outcome for the firm and not take unexpected actions that may result of negative outcomes. Johnson and Grayson add competence, reliability and dependability to the trust. In short, although the marketing scholars and practitioners cannot define a single model of trust, it can be defined as willingness to rely on an exchange partner's attributes with confidence (Moorman et al.; Yee and Yeung).Researchers have divided trust into various dimensions. For example, Sako distinguishes between three types of trust: contractual trust; competence trust; and goodwill trust. Contractual trust stresses shared moral norms of honesty and promise keeping. Competence trust requires a shared understanding of professional conduct and technical and managerial standards. Goodwill trust exists when there is consensus on the principles of fairness. Other researchers, such as Nooteboom et al. and Das and Teng classify trust into competence and goodwill trust. They use Mayer et al. to explain competence referring to the expectation of the ability and expertise of the trustee to fulfill his/her promise, agreement and/or obligation. Geyskens and Steenkamp view trust encompassing two essential elements; honesty and benevolence. They define honesty trust as a belief that a partner stands by their word, fulfilling their promised obligations and are sincere. Goodwill trust means the expectations of other's moral obligations and responsibility in social relationships to demonstrate a special concern (dependability, responsibility and integrity) for other interests above their own (Barber; Ring and Van de Ven; Rempel et al.).Batt explains trust between growers and market agents as an expectation of high returns when there is some uncertainty associated with the decision outcomes and when the outcome is considered important. Moreover, Batt conceptualizes trust as an expectation to acquire incomplete buyer information. For example, depending on a partner's verbal pledges and a willingness to make oneself vulnerable to the actions of another party (Mayer et al.). Trust can be identified through partners' honesty and goodwill. The multidimensional nature of trust is expected to be influenced by price satisfaction, dependence exploitation, reputation, flexibility, joint problem solving and communication.In the three farmer groups studied here, the level of trust is also expected to be different among groups. Farmers who are closer to partners are expected to have a better understanding and be able to satisfy customer needs, and facilitate the informal resolution of conflicts (Batt and Rexha; Hakansson and Sharma).Many factors influence the building and maintenance of trust in the food industry. One of the most important determinants of trust is communication. Anderson and Narus defined communication as the formal as well as informal sharing of meaningful, timely and frequent information between firms. This definition stresses the efficacy of information exchange rather than the quantity or amount. In agribusiness studies, researchers such as Batt and Rexha, Matanda and Schroder and Schulze et al. investigated the relationship between communication and relationship quality as well as trust, finding that communication impacts positively on relationship quality.Price transparency is also an important factor which may influence trust. Beukema and Zaag reveal that farmers are more likely to establish long-term relationships with seed suppliers t to reduce uncertainty in the output market. Price transparency helps decrease uncertainty. It can be achieved through communication and information sharing (Naude and Buttle; Lages et al.).Relative price satisfaction (comparing price levels to a reference price) may also influence the development and maintenance of trust between the potato farmers and the buyers (Schulze et al.) and is included in the model. Jaervelin finds that when comparing the own price received with price paid by other dairies/slaughterhouses, relative price satisfaction was the construct comprising short and long-term satisfaction. Hence, farmers seek other buyers' price before they sell their products. When farmers are satisfied with their buyers, they tend to rely on the buyers offered price rather than seek another buyers' price.Price quality ratio is an important determinant of trust in the model presented here. Fornel et al. consider the perceived level of product quality relative to the price paid as perceived value received by customers. Fiegenbaum defined quality as a customer's actual experience with the product that consistently meets their specifications.Joint problem solving is also included in the model. The join problem solving construct is described in terms of collaboration. Yilmaz and Hunt define collaboration in a buyer-seller relationship as a departure from the anchor point that underlies spot-market transactions towards a relational, bilateral exchange. The other variables in the model include partner reputation, dependency and flexibility in the relationship. Morgan and Hunt stated partners' reputation is one of three additional constructs assumed to have influence in assessing the level of trust among supply chain partners. Kwon and Suh stipulate that a partner's reputation in the market has a strong positive impact on the trust-building process, whereas a partner's perceived conflict creates a strong negative impact on trust. Heide and John identify flexibility as a dimension of relationship management practices that influences relationship outcomes, viewing relationship flexibility as the willingness to move beyond the terms and conditions specified in contractual agreements as circumstances require. MacNeil argues that the requirement for flexibility in contracts arises as a result of the bounded rationality of manager's decision making, the limited availability of information and non-constant state of the environment.The last antecedent as a determinant of trust is dependence. Pfeffer and Salancik state that firms engaged in transactions because they require resources from other firms. Dependence increases when outcomes obtained from the relationship is higher than or better than the outcomes available from alternative relationships and when fewer alternative sources of exchange are available to the firm. Studies suggest that dependence usually engenders power which when used indiscriminately leave partners feeling under rewarded and resentful and may result in suspicion and mistrust in the relationship between the buyers and sellers (Ganesan; Gruen).In addition to the antecedents discussed above, socioeconomic and demographic variables are included in the trust model. Farm size is expected to have a positive influence on trust since large farms potentially allow potato producers to use their size to negotiate special conditions such as discounts unavailable to smaller producers. Moreover, Key argues that small scale growers might be preferred by contractors as the bargaining strength of contractors is inversely related to the scale of the grower. In this study, land size of potato farms is the measure of firm size. La Porta et al. provide evidence that trust is positively related to the size of firms. We also include experience measured by the number of years in potato farming as a determinant of trust.Finally, an actual price of potato received by the farmers is also expected to influence trust. Actual price in neo-classical market models is considered to be the key coordination mechanism of exchange relationships in perfect competition (Arndt; Hobbs). A commodity price should be important for the quality of business relationships which may be engendered by trust if the producers behave like neo classical economic man (Gyau and Spiller, 2010).The study uses data collected from 307 household surveys during February and March 2009. The entire sample is from two Regencies in West Java: Bandung and Garut. These two Regencies account for more than 90% of West Java's potato production (Natawidjaja et al.). Farmers that did not grow potatoes in the 2008/09 rainy or dry season were not interviewed.The 197 households in the GPF sample resulted from randomly selecting an average of 12 households from potato producers in 16 villages. The 16 villages were selected in the following way. First, Regency sub-districts (kecamatins) were stratified into two categories, major and minor potato production areas based on published production and area data and key informant interviews. Second, two sub-districts were randomly selected from the major and minor potato production zones, resulting in eight sub-districts. Third, site visits and key informant interviews were used to develop a list of potato producing villages in each sub-district. The research team visited the land registry in each of the randomly sampled villages to obtain names and contact information for potato producers from the land tax office files.The Indofood sample includes 60 households drawn randomly from a list provided by Indofood of more than 400 producers. The 50 FFS producers were selected randomly from lists of more than 200 households provided by extension officers working for two government departments. The questionnaire provides data on household characteristics, assets, potato production and marketing history, other sources of income, contractual details, and perceptions of changes over time.Table 1 presents basic descriptive data. Farm size data shows average land holding by FFS, Indofood, GPF farmers is 1.22, 1.24 and 0.99 hectares respectively. The average age and the years of potato farming experience is the lowest in the FFS group. Indofood farmers received relatively higher prices than other farmers. The independent variables are the farmer groups and the dependent variables are trust, its antecedents and the demographic variables. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and post-hoc test are used to test the hypotheses that there is a significant difference in the level of trust, its antecedents and the demographic factors among the groups. Multivariate differences across groups were assessed using the Wilks' Lambda criterion (known as the U statistics). The test examines whether groups are somehow different without being concerned with whether they differ on at least one linear combination of a dependent variable. Finally, the variables identified are modeled in a linear regression model to determine which dependent variables influence trust.The variables, flexibility, price transparency, relative price satisfaction, price quality, communication, dependence, reputation, flexibility and joint problem solving, are measured on a five-point likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. The dimensionality of trust and the relational variables are checked using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. All items with Eigen values above one were extracted. In addition, items with factor loading above 0.5 are extracted and all those with cross loadings above 0.5 were deleted (see Appendix A).A reliability test using Cronbach's Alpha was used to analyze the measurement scale for all the variables. In this study, there were seven statements to measure trust. The results of the PCA indicate two dimensions of trust namely goodwill and honesty as shown in Appendix A. To test for the appropriateness of the PCA for the scales, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO-MSA) was conducted for all the variables. All measurements are accepted as the KMO-MSA is in the accepted region of greater than 0.5 (Nunnally).Table 2 shows the MANOVA results. The MANOVA is used to accommodate more than one dependent variable (Ndubisi and Jantan). The MANOVA is applied to control simultaneously the effects of trust, its determinants and the demographics variables such as firm size, experience and potato price. Table 2 gives four numbers of the p-values (sig.) for different multivariate tests, Pillai Trace, Wilks' Lambda, Hotelling's Trace and Roy's Largest Root. These results show that there is a significant (p < .05) effect of the independent variables on all of the dependent variables, considered as a category.Table 3 provides a univariate test for the three categories on each of demographic variable and relational behaviours. The pvalues show that the category which the farmers belong to have a significant effect on the results of price transparency (p=.000), relative price satisfaction (p=.017), price quality (p=.000), joint problem solving (p=.014), reputation (p=.041), flexibility (p=.008), dependence (p=.000), experience in potato farming (p=.015) and actual price (p=.025). This indicates differences among these variables between FFS, GPF and Indofood groups. A post hoc analysis based on the Benferroni test of differences was next applied to compute the mean difference in demographic factors and relationship quality factors in the three categories. The results are presented in Table 4 indicating the differences in the GPF group compared to Indofood in price transparency, relative price satisfaction, joint problem solving, reputation, flexibility, dependence and actual price.The different behaviors between Indofood farmers and FFS and GPF farmers in terms of experience is reasonable since the FFS potato programs tend to recruit younger producers and farmers with little potato farming experience. On the other hand, GPF and Indofood groups differ in price transparency, relative price satisfaction, joint problem solving, reputation, flexibility, dependence and actual price. Regression analysis is used to determine how the various antecedents and demographic variables affect trust among the three groups.The results of the regression analyses are provided in Table 5. It shows that there are differences in factors which influence trust among the three groups. The following discussion highlights how some variables significantly influence trust among the groups.Communication has a positive influence on GPF's trust. The results correspond with Han et al. who find that trust is developed by the constant and detailed exchange of information, reducing uncertainty. These results are similar to other research describing how communication and information exchange influence trust between growers and buyers (Osborn,). However, communication does not impact on Indofood and GPF trust.Price transparency is found to have a positive impact on the level of honesty trust for FFS and GPF. This means growers have more trust in the buyers when they perceive they are paid a fair and reasonable price. This supports other studies in the agribusiness literature such as Batt, Geyskens et al., Jaervelin, and Gyau and Spiller. The results also reveal that relative price satisfaction has a positive impact on honesty trust of FFS members. Even though the farmers do not sell potatoes directly to buyers, they rely on coordinators of their FFS group who takes responsibility to seek the best prices for the farmers in the group.The joint problem solving results presented in Table 5 shows a positive contribution to GPF' goodwill trust linked to their relationships to those buyers who offer technical assistance and access to seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. This result relates to the Zaheer et al. study findings that exchange of personnel and shared decision making lead to improved performance and decreases in transactions cost. Bahlmann and Spiller also highlight that management cooperation is a relevant determinant of trust by farmers. However, in terms of honesty trust, the GPF seems to do not rely on what potato buyers say and promise although they offer joint problem solving.Reputation affects positively the Indofood and GPF groups' honesty trust. Indofood is one of Indonesia's largest food companies and the only processing company conducting contract farming with potato farmers. For , GPF farmers the buyer's reputation is influenced by their willingness to provide cash payments, financial assistance, technical support and keeping promises to pay for potatoes on time.Flexibility refers to the willingness to move beyond the terms and conditions specified in contractual agreements as circumstances require. This variable results in positive impacts on goodwill trust of Indofood and GPF, but influences negatively on honesty trust for Indofood and GPF. FFS farmers state that they lack contract flexibility about how to sell potatoes as their harvest is turned over to the FFS group coordinators. Indofood farmers face a take it or leave contract, leaving little room for flexibility in contract negotiations and delivery.The positive impact of goodwill trust on Indofood and GPF farmers is linked to the provision of technical assistance and support with high yielding seeds from Indofood. Growers also perceive that as a large Indonesia firm, Indofood is more concerned about their welfare than a small independent trader. The GPF groups also have a high proportion of farmers who receive financial assistance and related support directly from their buyers.Dependence in market relationships is expected to influence trust negatively (Ganesan; Gruen). However, the results shown by Table 5 reveal that dependency impacts positively on trust for all three groups. For Indofood farmers the dependence allows them access to highly sought after imported, high yielding Atlantic potato seeds as part of their contract. In potato farming, seed expenditure contributes the highest portion of production costs, on average 72% of total production cost for granola potato (Natawidjaja et al.). Farmers need Indofood to access Atlantic seeds and Indofood is the main buyer of the variety and the only large food processor producing potato chips. Indofood contracts also mean access to better quality inputs and better timing. For the GPF group, many farmers receive loans from buyers to purchase seeds, chemicals and fertilizer. This access is important as loans from banks are difficult to organize for small producers in Indonesia.The potato price received by the FFS and GPF groups has a positive influence on goodwill trust. Although average potato prices of FFS is smaller, Rp 3,169 per kilogram, compared to Indofood and GFP, Rp 3,455 and Rp 3,386 respectively. The impact of price on trust is significant, the coefficient value is 0.327. The variable influences trust since in the FFS projects, costs were much lower as potato seeds were provided by the project and pesticides were not used. The farmers obtained good profits and new management practices and knowledge, resulting in higher trust. ","tokenCount":"4086"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5508293684.json b/data/part_1/5508293684.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f184079807e540c6e9418c7745ed5eec7ed7d610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5508293684.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c8d310b5ad7fded67c575da7328aaa0c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ba7a717a-8a8d-4273-8722-6ab176810e61/retrieve","id":"1509923402"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"97d39549-65c2-4745-8e17-ece7f9d2560e","pagecount":"37","content":"About the workshop IV. Results V. CCAFS Planning meeting Annexes 1. Agenda 2. Participants 3. 150 ideas and issues 4. Plenary and Breakout session discussion notes 5. CCAFS Planning Meeting synthesis I. Summary CGIAR and partner scientists met in Cancun, Mexico, with the purpose to advance science on climate change adaptation and mitigation, according to the scope of the CGIAR program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food security (CCAFS).The objectives of the workshop were to (1) understand ongoing research as a foundation for future collaboration and advances, and (2) explore research that shows the highest promise for scientific breakthroughs.their respective partners in an innovative collective effort to be coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).By 2020, the effort aims to reduce poverty by 10 percent in targeted regions, lower the number of rural people who are malnourished by 25 percent and help developing country farmers contribute to climate change mitigation by enhancing carbon storage and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to 1,000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over a decade, compared with a \"business-as-usual\" scenario.The launch of CCAFS marks the beginning of a long-term endeavor with an initial 3-year budget totaling US$206 million. Much of its field work will begin in 2011, with an initial focus on East and West Africa as well as South Asia's Indo-Gangetic Plain, regions that are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. CCAFS partners will identify technologies and policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation that are suitable for poor, smallholder farmers and other rural people. Scientists will also refine models used to predict the impacts of a changing climate on agriculture and livelihoods, and identify ways to select hardier crop varieties and livestock breeds as well as novel farming and food systems that are suitable for future climate conditions.Within this context the CCAFS team decided to start a series of science meetings (with an objective of at least one per year). The first workshop in the series aimed to start a process of productive engagement from scientists across the CGIAR who are involved in research that is relevant to CCAFS but who haven't had the opportunity yet to sit down as a group to discuss science priorities and strategy for the program. Indeed, after many months of proposal writing and administrative research planning it was time for the \"doers\" to come together, share their work and start to form a scientific community.The workshop dealt with three of the four Program themes (see figure 2), mitigation and adaptation. In the workshop design it was decided to maintain two parallel session streams, one for adaptation and one for mitigation and combine those with short plenary sessions dedicated to summaries and analytical reflections. The issues and ideas that came out of the mitigation and adaptation sessions were documented in format of cards which were then organized in form of a visual mind map posted on a meeting wall room. Furthermore, the workshop offered an Open Space session, an opportunity for participants to self organize short 45 minute parallel session of topics of their interest, which generated an additional 5 sessions.The event was organized by Lini Wollenberg, leader of the mitigation theme and her research assistant Alison Nihart of the University of Vermont, and facilitated by Simone Staiger-Rivas who is currently leading the capacity strengthening and knowledge management initiative of CIAT.In a short one page evaluation of the workshop the objectives, content and process could be evaluated. The 21 responses show that the meeting objectives were very relevant for 16 participants but that they could have been clarified in more detail (only 10 said were very clear). For 4 participants the objectives were fully met, for 15 satisfactorily and for 2 not very well. The content of the workshop and the topics addressed were very clear for 13 participants and very relevant to the work of 15 participants. With regards to process, the facilitation was rated as very good by 15 and as satisfactory by 6 participants. The balance between presentations and discussions was evaluated as excellent by 11 and good by 8 participants. The logistical organization and coordination was excellent for 18 and good for 3.Thomas Rosswall is the Chair of CCAFS Steering Committee and kicked of the meeting with contextual contributions that highlighted the big disconnect that appears when we look at how development and global change have been addressed, researched, and funded as unrelated issues. The main challenge that Rosswall highlighted is about \"asking for a wide range of agricultural sector actors to change their behavior, to innovate, under conditions of incomplete and unintegrated markets, asymmetric information & missing insurance and credit markets.\"Bruce Campbell, CCAFS Director, summarized for the participants the four research themes that constitute the program's research agenda: He also stressed climate change as an opportunity for economic and social transformation that can lead to an inclusive and sustainable globalization and highlighted CCAFS' comparative advantage in summarizing, synthesizing, and making accessible the considerable CGIAR knowledge on improved technologies for adaptation and mitigation as well as its role in supporting decisions for Policy Makers and synthesizing spatially relevant knowledge for harnessing dynamic adaptation-mitigation synergies and minimizing tradeoffs in agroecosystems.Simone Cook, a currently independent consultant and previous staff of CIAT and the Water and Food Challenge Program (CPWF), underlined the need to base CCAFS work on a framework for adaptation and mitigation and suggested one that on the basis of existing knowledge of likely impacts looks for: 1) behaviours that inhibit/support change -attributable to global climate change, 2) scans for institutions -the people doing the changing, 3) looks for 'instruments' of change-things that will accelerate adaptation and mitigation, like insight, technologies, policy, law and 4) identifies how science will support /improve the instruments.The workshop offered an Open Space session, an opportunity for participants to self organize short 45 minute parallel session of topics of their interest, which generated an additional 5 sessions:1. Adaptation and Mitigation Framework (Simon Cook, consultant): The session aimed at collecting some ideas for case studies that could help in trialing the framework that Simon Cook presented as a key note during the introductory session of the workshop 2. Diversification as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (Laura Snook, Bioversity): Includes genetic, crop, farming system diversification incl. tress, crops, livestock, fish. The Need to start with a critical literature review was discussed and the need for site specific data gathering. The session led to a series of inputs that will allow to put together a concept note. A post workshop meeting allowed some 20 CGIAR staff to get more information about CCAFS future structure and operational mode, and to narrow down the 150 issues and ideas raised during the workshop to 9 issues considered relevant and of particular interest to the participants who signed directly up to the topic of their concern. Those issues relate to: 1) Intensification; 2) Diversification / Intensification; 3) Breeding; 4) Impact of CBD / adapted germplasm; 5) Adaptation and mitigation synergies; 6) Adaptation; 7) Integrated analysis; 8) Mitigation potential; 9) (Ex-ante) evaluation of adaptation (see full list in annex).The group also undertook a short but critical analysis of the previous 2 day event. Among the ideas that emerged where the need to structure at least partially the next workshop along some cross cutting adaptation and mitigation themes in order to allow a higher level of cross fertilization among both streams. It was also suggested to ask some speakers who work in related areas to prepare presentations together so that their talks reflect some collective thinking and therefore more progressive ideas.Finally the group discussed potential outputs of the workshop, including an editorial in Science, a CCAFS report, and a journal article. Several participants signed up to collaborate on those pieces of work.Annex 1: Agenda • Link products to the IPCC ARI process • get case studies to trial the framework (now have 6-8) -Diversification (Laura Snook)• need site-specific data gathering as case studies • (missing notes) -Special issue of IPCC (Bruce) • 8 synthetic product ideas to pursue (ask Simone for list) -Resilience and ex-ante modeling at HH level (Jim Hansen) • how to make decisions now about an uncertain future of stochastic shocks… how to bring together different factors in a probabilistic model? Can we do it at a HH level? -Emissions factors for farming practices (Lydia)• trying to understand data needs and gaps for models in developing countries What other synergies?• Diversification • Carbon finance o Payments for environmental services (few billion dollars available now, Norwegians) § Esp impt given rural-to-urban migrations and increasing pressures on ecosystem services • Orphan crops (peach palm, et al.) that were food crops in the past • Integrated food energy systems (energy security for farmers + mitigating potential) • Fertilizer GHGs -plot level vs. landscape level Tradeoffs: potato story (improving production comes at cost of emissions)Wednesday -Mitigation Session I Rodel Lasco presentation Maisa -tenure rights -FAO counsultation 2 wks ago. Only 80% of area tenure rights(?) We have to develop some models of security of rights for individuals and communities. Rodel -Philippines exception. 20% land in community forest. Moushumi -more detailed research on governance -collective action. Smallholders working together may qualify if they work together. Lydia Olander -connections b/t afoul and REDD -what are drivers for deforestation? Are there activities on Ag side that would reduce deforestation? Rodel -beyond ag -industry develops Bruce -looking for the big strategic emphasis. If C is such a pittance, why focus on C markets? Rodel -Small study to quantify the potential for C credits in forest, compared to budget for forest management. To determine whether it is worth it. Dollar amount on potential is single most important piece for policy makers. Lou Verchot -size of markets exceed current flow of budgets for rural areas. We need to think about other models on how C models can flow. Christine -broaden scope of research beyond project -institutional econ, governance issues Erick -WB helping Costa Rica w/ agrosilvicultural scheme -develop a region in a way that is aesthetically pleasant. Came up with GEF concept whereby farmers could reforest and be compensated based on an index determined by C value. Worked to create massive change. $15-25/ha. When GF fund ran out, went to minister of finance, who wasn't interested in C. Intervention had increased production, which was well-documented, and he was interested in providing funding for this. C becomes icing on cake. Henry -Trees on farms are something we want for co-benefits. If delivery of C market means farmers receive money at later stage, that won't work -farmers need the money when they make the change. We need to invert the payment structure. We have this in Ag systems to pay for crops that haven't been planted yet. C market can be strong catalyst, but C is not what it is about for the farmers. Jim G -agree with Lou and Erick, given the importance of Ag in overall C cycle, (1/3 of global emissions) and given high transaction costs for paying ind. Farmers, question becomes what kind of avoided emissions do we get for investments in ag research or extension or rural infra that lead to productivity gains. This is what CCAFS is about, which is food security and environment. So research question in part is what is the elasticity of that avoided deforestation or degradation from alternative investments, where investment is not into some intervention to get more C on the farm, but to increase the overall productivity. Asad presentation. Bruce -ppt hits on one development pathway. Bangladesh has done a fantastic job to understand the tradeoffs and synergies. Would be great to get these studies in other questions. How to tweak subsidies to change pathway is a great questions. Lini -in many countries, Ag is not included in low-C plan. Was it difficult in Bangladesh? Asad -trust fund that funds research. We are trying to do projects in specific ecological settings instead of large scale research. Cutting edge research needed is in Bangladesh setting is… Difficult to convince policy makers that something bad will happen. Trying to push a more holistic view. Challenge right now is with Minister of Ag in Bangladesh. Christine -building capacity, tools for developing and optimizing Maisa presentation. We need practice-based emission factors. Practices can be monitored.Reduce transaction costs -use existing contract systems, certification systems, we could create a C-smart brand. Bundled contract for various ecosystem services. Best way to get funding to farmers is through better price for products.Note: The notes below are only about questions/discussions following the ppt presentations. Peter Laderach -these are high input systems. What is situation when using organic matter? Reiner -depends on quality of organic matter. If decomposition occurs before application, emissions are not high. Opportunity to use compost from biogas plant. Ivan -CIMMYT has been asking IWMI to work on a aerobic rice. What would happen to emissions? Reiner -Methane would go down. Nitrogen would be higher, question is how much higher.Depends on conditions and context. Alex -are there similar dramatic effects in terms of delaying nitrogen applications by one day in terms of yields?• When talking about working at the landscape scale, how to define \"landscape\"? o Sites must be: Sufficient size to explore interactions, but manageable • Diagram: Why are agroforests high ecosystem services but low (agric) productivity?o BUT can be more productive if there are also goods that come from the trees • Hw to quantify biodiversity?o Land and soil biodiversity -e.g., number of species/families of plants….Though soil biodiv is difficult to determine and labor-intensive to measure using trend-sects(?) o how to match needs when there are multiple futures (diff models, diff time scales) -also predictions must be downscaled to an agriculturally significant level o need many more analogue sites to refine thisThematic/Theoretical Issues• Biological and economic diversification -are there tradeoffs?• Is diversification better than intensification? (…as a farmer, given these 2 options) o Alternative models of intensification: Is our historical model of intensification (simplification, homogenization) the ONLY model of intensification? In the past, intensification was based on the idea that we could CREATE the environment we wanted to maximize yield. Under uncertainties of CC, can we accept that we don't know what that ideal environment would be--and think about intensification differently? § Agroforestry systems = type of intensif? (when they end up as more productive) … synergies btwn biodiversity, adaptation, and mitigation § Historically, 2 models of intensification:ú Labor-scarce (US) à save labor, use capital (e.g., built machines, etc.) ú Labor-intense (Asia) à save capital, use labor ú SO… looking fwd: what's cheap? Information! CCAFS needs to take advtg of information revolution § Farm sizes will prob get larger (esp as incomes increase and ppl move out of agric sector) -so we need to think about how to adapt these kinds of farm systems • Need to engage with climate scientists more? • Darwinian approach to let system learn itself? Just introduce things and see whether the system can evolve properly… o BUT those than \"win\" today won't necessarily (and will probably not) work in the future, given GEC à why climate analogues are a great idea! • Analogues: how can we think beyond biophysical variables to also include human/social characteristics? o How to separate CC as a driver from other drivers affecting landscapes?difficult/impossible, so maybe a need to think about analogues on a LANDSCAPE scale• Comparing alternative approaches to reconstructing historic climate • Intensification vs. diversification (from biological and socio-economic points of view) • Thinking about (potential) climate change winners -keeping a balanced perspective • Assessing current on-the-ground adaptability • Robust climate change projections at a meaningful agricultural/decision-making scale (tradeoff: specificity vs. uncertainty) o Space for involving climate scientists here! • Systems-level adaptability and response to climate change (integrative: bio, social, economic, etc) • Energy-agricultural (esp. water) nexus • Experimental methodology for evaluating impact/success at system level of specific adaptations/policies/interventions o \"Convergence of Sciences\" -economists seeing how coffee price increases affect systems, also studying payments for ecosystem services • Genetic AND species diversification as win-win synergy between mitigation and adaptation (providing ecosystem services and improving resilience)Thursday -Mitigation Session I Henry Neufeldt presentation. Alex -bundles are more complex. Henry -yes. Mario Herrero presentation. 50% of world grains associated with meat production. Biggest CC impacts are land use change and N2O. Sig potential to reduce emissions, esp in places where productivity is low. Need to delve into social and economic impacts when considering the GWP. What will people do when you displace them? Sustainable intensification is essential -fewer better fed animals reduce emissions. Understand tradeoffs with a \"multi-currency\" approach for multifunctional sustainability objectives. Michael Peters -ruminant production is on less productive/marginal lands. Christine Negra presentation. Rodel Lasco -role of civil society/NGOs? Remember that forests took 10 years to take off, it will take time for Ag as well. Gerald Nelson -worry about whether REDD is going to be a big mistake. How do we learn from the mistakes? Ag mitigation may be easier to do and justify than REDD. Louis Verchot -If CGIAR and CCAFS want to get involved, they need to start showing up.Hope that CCAFS secretary can engage policy makers, who are hungry for this information. Otherwise we won't see Ag go forward, won't be pro-poor, won't be sustainable. Christine -Also real time, country specific information is very useful to policy makers. Alex de Pinto presentation. Marginal land has low mitigation potential. Farmers on marginal land have an incentive to replenish the resource; farmers on good land have an incentive to mine the resource. Louis Verchot -Experience shows farmers have an incentive to leave degraded land, not invest in it. Alex -yes, but there is an inherent difference in behaviors -how they react to increasing carbon.And yes, skeptical, but something we need to explore. Lini -Can people draw upon presentations to think about the research priorities? Michael Peters -So maybe potential for degraded lands is huge, but difficult. Lou -Possible but expensive Michael -On complexity of payments -do we need a common certification system, otherwise transaction costs will be too hight. Christine -sense that there is experimentation with building incentives. Idea: successional scheme for CCAFS? Maybe PES is early successional species for shifts in land management practices, and other programs come in when it's about upscaling. Research direction, project, support tools could be a CCAFS research priority -how to know when to use which approaches in which contexts. Mario -re: degraded land. In Latin America case, it seems to be good. Need to know how to pick our battles -which land?Jim -Our question should be what do we do if everything remains at national level and project based interventions are viewed as too costly and difficult. Experience with PES and CRES seems to point in that direction. What is the implication for CCAFS agenda on food security and mitigation. Seems to come back to the argument about intensification and land use change on a global level. Mirjam -how to prevent that -payments for degraded lands reduce food security. Lower interest in ag because they receive money and can buy food, or may require labor not for food production. Gerald -From tech perspective, most of the things you do for degraded lands is good for food production, not bad, with some short term consequences. Coffee example (5 million ha in Kenya abandoned due to Vietnam). Indirect impacts are much more powerful than direct impacts. We need roads in the country side so they can sell. Maisa -need to address at 2 levels. 1) farmers, need an incentive to adopt practices that mitigate.2) National level, whether country has an interest or obligation to mitigate, it has to decide how to do it. Roberto -Pasture leads to increases in C in soil? Mario -yes, it was calculated. Erick -I think we're underselling the idea of intensification. Brazil decline in deforestation.Financial sector interventions preventing incentives for deforestation. It's not clear that REDD will go ahead. Eliminating fire is key -how to get fire-free intensification. Fossil fuel development losing steam. CCAFS may want to commission a study on bio-energy. This is an interesting pathway for intensification. We need to push the envelope. Also, tenure and pastoralism is important -these two extremes. Pushing tenure destroys the system. Pastoralism only requires access. Interesting environmental service provided through ancient agreements in Africa. Indigenous communities -some signing over of forest rights. Interpol looking into REDD as a money laundering scheme. We might want to have someone come talk to us about that. Lini -sounds like consensus that payments will be difficult, if not impossible, to the farmer.Payments to nations may expand growth without a transformation that leads to low-c development. Erick -many examples of low-c development. Ivan -Conservation agriculture for intensification. Seq is in question, but certainly lower fossil fuel use. Christine -CCAFS research agenda -don't pursue the \"right\" answer. Create a typology of intensification. Tool to know when to use what. Michael -agree conservation ag may be one avenue. There will be some tradeoffs between economy and environment. E.g. balance b/t soil fertility and income. o Two camps of beliefs: § There's so much uncertainty anyway that it doesn't make sense to go that in detail § Yes, we need to reflect real life and ensure that our projections mean something and are applicable • What does uncertainty mean? Range of possibilities• We're doing lots of complex modeling but are we getting any closer to any simple diagnostics? • Whom are these models for? Primarily scientists, maybe policy-makers? But how do you translate these models and communicate them farmers? o Why do farmers need to be the audience? Much of this info doesn't need to filter down to them. This is kind of a process to inform ourselves first… • Need to move beyond general discussion for need for indicators. We aren't starting from scratch. • Which indicators should we focus on? There are a range of options.• Are there any geotechnologies available to affect atmospheric levels? (e.g., suck out CO2 from the atmosphere, inject certain particles in the air) And have we ever tried modeling these possibilities in the models? o These technologies are a long way off. • Are there programs for breeding cold-tolerant crops?o Very doubtful that this is necessary. ","tokenCount":"3690"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5553687399.json b/data/part_1/5553687399.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2143af689d80207a6e3ef0cde9c5c1a094063255
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5553687399.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b9379455e4c42714c4f2b65004a1efd5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9b44416f-76a0-423f-baed-fafc88919345/retrieve","id":"1186150041"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4e927122-8f40-4dc1-b26e-ac903e2015a9","pagecount":"37","content":"Improving the Agency Model in distribution of Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI)-a study of Takaful Insurance of AfricaTables ivTables Table 1. County-wise distribution of data collected  Since 2008, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has been carrying out research and supporting implementation of index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), designed to help pastoralists deal with severe drought situations in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. ILRI has been working primarily with APA Insurance and Takaful Insurance of Africa (TIA) as private-sector partners in marketing, distribution and sale of IBLI as a commercial product. TIA introduced IBLI as a Sharia-compliant product-Index Based Livestock Takaful (IBLT)-in Wajir county in August-September 2013, using a distribution model based on temporary employment of local youth. The young people were largely secondary-school leavers who were identified and taken through a formal product-training module jointly delivered by TIA and ILRI.This approach faced various challenges, which included low levels of trust by the community towards the temporary agents, a high turnover rate of the agents after training and difficulty in monitoring and retaining agents before, during and after the sales period. 1   In 2014, based on the request of TIA, a joint market study conducted by ILRI, Kenya Markets Trust and TIA resulted in the latter adopting an agency structure for the sale and distribution of IBLI based on recommendations from the study. The agency structure entailed having a county coordinator who would identify lead agents for each IBLT division who, in turn, would be responsible for identifying 'sub-agents' at the village/ward level. TIA rolled out this model in Wajir, Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Marsabit and Tana River counties, where they are currently operational.Under the new three-tier agency structure, the county coordinator oversees the overall operations of IBLT within the county. They are supposed to identify lead agents and recommend them for hire, with the support of the TIA head office for all the divisions within their county of responsibility. The lead agents' role is to identify and create their own distribution channels and networks to sell IBLI. The network created under the lead agents comprises sub-agents who should have business established within the community, be well known in the community and be competent enough to sell IBLI; being a shop-based agency model.The sub-agents are trained in the mobile sales application prior to the sales period and are provided with a programmed mobile handset which they use for insurance sales transactions. At the 'back end' of the system, the mobile phones are activated on the first day of the sales window and deactivated on the last day of the sales window; after all sales transactions have been recorded on the database. According to this model, sub-agents receive 8% commission on individual sales at the end of the sales window, while the lead agents receive a retainer of KES20,000 2 (approximately USD200) per month together with a 2% commission on each of their division's combined sales.Within this model, TIA has been able to retain most of its lead agents because of the monthly retainer of USD200 and has gained a level of trust among community members by recruiting local shop owners as agents. The use of a mobilebased sales transaction platform has helped to reduce the loss of sales data, reduce challenges in tracing beneficiaries during payouts, assist in calculating commissions and reduce the time spent filling out manual forms.Despite these gains, TIA still faces various challenges with this model. First, varying literacy levels among the subagents have posed a challenge to the delivery of standardized alternatives to agent training (for example, mLearning and eLearning) 3 , leaving face-to-face training as the only reliable training method despite high costs. Secondly, the use of the mobile-based sales transaction platform is a challenge to agents who are not technologically savvy; while TIA has been determined to have all sales transacted via the platform, the requirement has become a deterrent to some otherwise good agents who are not technologically savvy. Finally, the cost of remuneration of lead agents throughout the year, including months that are non-IBLI sale windows, is extremely high.In the light of these constraints, the model in its current form is commercially unsustainable, thus limiting its expansion and scalability. This led TIA and ILRI to conduct a study on the existing agency model to understand the current system of recruitment, identify the characteristics of the existing agents, and provide recommendations on criteria of agent selection and a possible revised agency function. This revised agency function aimed for one that could be efficiently expanded, effective in conducting the business with manageable costs that can eventually be fully supported through revenues generated.This document presents some of the key findings and recommendations based on the insights from the study of the existing agency model. Section 2 provides a description of the emerging challenges that the current agency model is facing. Section 3 is our justification and outline of the objectives of the study. A description of the methodology in section 4 highlights the study sites, sampling, methods of data collection and the use of grounded theory for data analysis. The findings and discussion in section 5 focus on the most pressing themes that emerged during the study, leading to recommendations from these findings in section 6. The report concludes with a way forward that TIA could take towards adopting and implementing the recommendations.Since the adoption of the three-tier agency model in 2015, TIA has made a deliberate effort to reduce the cost of transactions within the model. The company adopted a strategy to reduce the number of lead agents to cut down on recurrent costs while increasing the number of sub-agents to enhance the ground coverage and volume of IBLI sales. A refined mobile-based sales transaction platform was also introduced to ensure easier, faster and more transparent IBLT sales transactions by the agents. TIA has been able to attain extensive field presence and an improved level of client trust. However, insights and reports from the field during the IBLT sales periods and from a recently concluded scoping study in Isiolo county indicate a new range of challenges to the effectiveness of the current agency model: a. Use of mobile phones to conduct IBLT sales transactions: As a requirement, agents have to be trained on how to use the TIA phone application and are expected to use it during the sales period to complete all their IBLT sales transactions. While conducting sales using the mobile application, some agents are not able to use the mobile phones, while others shy away from the system simply because they do not feel confident using digital technology.The adoption of a blended face-to-face, mLearning and eLearning method for training of the lead and sub-agents has created challenges because the agents selected for training have varying literacy levels. Some of them have basic literacy while others are illiterate, hindering effective communication and learning.c. Sustainability of the agency model: TIA has to retain the agents on a salary and a commission. There are still challenges when it comes to retention of the agents, especially during months without IBLI sales. Therefore, 8 months out of 12 are considered 'idle'; only 4 months make up the active IBLI sales period. Within the idle period, some agents drop out, leading to a loss in the technical and human capacity developed over time.TIA must replace and train agents for every sales window, which is an expensive and time-consuming exercise. This could be attributed to a lack of capacity assessment methods of agents during and through the recruitment process. Within the current structure, there is a knowledge gap about the profiles of the clients who have been purchasing IBLI or who would be the likely clients. This includes information on clients who are renewing the product, their location and socio-economic status. There is no division-based information on the potential market density, which could help TIA set sales targets and also enable the agents to reach the target based on the information.Despite these challenges, the agency model presents an opportunity for cultivation of best practices for a versatile agency system which is anchored on institutional and technological innovation and value-addition. Kenya has one of the highest mobile phone penetration rates in sub-Saharan Africa (Pshenichnaya and Westhead 2011). Prolific use of mobile phones-especially for mobile money transactions (for example, M-Pesa), communication between pastoralist networks on the whereabouts of pasture grounds and water and even conflict and theft of livestock-is an indicator that a critical mass of residents in pastoralist communities are likely to have embraced mobile phone technology.TIA envisions the use of digital-based interfaces for its IBLT operations and expansion to develop a robust agency structure that is digitally fit. To have such a system, it is imperative that the agents possess requisite literacy levels and technological awareness that will allow them to deliver on their jobs. Moreover, to build a sustainable agency network, TIA agents need to be versatile enough to adopt other functions within their communities that would improve the use of the technology and knowledge accessible to them, while at the same time creating new livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves, their communities and TIA.While working towards building a sustainable agency network, it is important to acknowledge that there is a clear dichotomy in the TIA vision for a digitized agency model versus the realities of the current agency structure because of high levels of illiteracy and semi-literacy among the agents.Such a scenario raises a fundamental question: 'How can the current situation be improved to implement a costeffective sustainable agency model that supports digital marketing and capacity development for IBLT in pastoralist areas?' To answer this question, a study was designed for the TIA zone of influence with the following objectives:i. identify and propose standard and prerequisite characteristics for agent selection and measurable indicators of recruitmen;ii. assess the viability of the current 'shop agency model' against alternative agency models;iii. get feedback on the current TIA management information system (MIS)-its strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement-from users; and iv. investigate the possibility and viability of other income-generating opportunities and IBLI value-addition for TIA agents.The sites for the study were the Wajir and Isiolo counties. The counties were chosen since the 2014 market study was conducted in Wajir, and the April 2016 scoping mission for the Accelerated Value Chain Development program-Livestock component was conducted in Isiolo. Given the vastness of the counties, study sites (divisions) were selected in a manner that could be representative of the other divisions of the county. A list of lead and sub-agents was provided by TIA and, based on it, a third of the agents were selected from the total available in the divisions.The divisions were selected based on their IBLT sales data-areas of high and low sales. Isiolo Central, Kina and Oldonyiro divisions were selected in Isiolo county. In Wajir county, the divisions initially chosen were Wajir Central, Habasweini and Wajir Bor. However, on consultation with the Wajir coordinator, Wajir Central and Habasweini were replaced with Eldas and Hadado divisions because the lead agents were available in these divisions and would be able to identify the sub-agents in the divisions. 4The primary mode of data collection for the study was qualitative. A total of 37 respondents were interviewed. They consisted of 7 county coordinators from the project sites, 5 lead agents, 21 sub-agents, and representatives of serviceproviding groups and associations. Focus group discussions were carried out with the coordinators in Nairobi, and the representatives of fodder and farmer associations in Isiolo and Wajir counties. Key informant interviews were carried out with the sub-agents and agro-veterinarians in the study sites. In addition, field observations were carried out in the business establishment of a lead agent and sub-agents as they were carrying out their day-to-day activities to get a better understanding of the agents' interactions with customers, number of customers coming and locations of the establishments within the study sites. Table 1 provides a summary of the data collected. An agent mapping tool was designed to help identify the geographical locations of the current agents, and the density of the distribution matched to their performance of IBLT sales volumes across all the TIA zones of influence. It is expected that the information from this tool would be collected by TIA staff with support from the coordinators and lead agents. It is further expected that this tool's data would be eventually be geo-referenced to get an exact idea of the number of agents and the volume of operations being carried out in a particular area by them over time.The study began with an assumption that standardized recruitment criteria which can be measured would allow commercial partners to assess the capacities of the agents better, and give the agents the necessary support to ensure effective service delivery, while maintaining relatively low transaction costs. Having a firm agency structure would also enable the commercial partners to respond to demands for allied services in the ASALs. The investigation started with getting an understanding from the TIA staff in Nairobi about the current recruitment criteria used. This was followed by conversations with coordinators and lead agents to examine what, in their opinion, should be the criteria that fit the role of an ideal agent, how measurable the criteria are, and if there was an awareness among the TIA field staff of the existing criteria for recruitment.The second level of investigation was interactions with the sub-agents based on an assumption that there are potentially three types of sub-agents 5 : (i) agents who cannot use a smartphone but can be trained to use one and the sales application, (ii) agents who know how to use a smartphone and, therefore, can use the sales application with relative ease and (iii) agents who are completely illiterate and do not have basic skills for reading and writing. In the process of analysis, besides the validation that the recruitment process was ad-hoc, a critical factor emerged that could potentially have an effect on an effective agency model: limited incentives and misunderstanding about who within the shop premises should be trained as an agent (that is, the owner or the operator). These issues were further interrogated in other field sites.The method of analysis used was based on grounded theory (Strauss and Glaser 1967). Although grounded theory was initially designed to develop theories and conceptual frameworks from a purely inductive perspective, it has evolved to encompass a combination of both inductive and deductive approaches (Charmaz 1991;Strauss and Corbin 1998), also referred to as an abstractive approach.The interviews recorded during the process of data collection were transcribed verbatim. The coding process was the most important part of the analysis, as it formed the basis of the emerging findings related to the recruitment criteria, incentive and motivation for agents to continue selling IBLI, their understanding and knowledge of the product, the capacities of the agents and potential alternative models.Initially, open coding was used-each sentence or group of sentences was analysed and notes were made to reflect the situation and meanings implied by the respondent. This was followed by axial coding, where the themes that emerged from the open coding process were further coded, that helped in extracting information on the emerging themes. The field notes served as initial memos which were integrated in the final stage of analysis as a way of filling the gaps (Emerson et al. 1995).5. For the purpose of this study, sub-agents will now be addressed as agents.This analytical process provided insights and an in-depth understanding of the issue by probing, clarifying and listening to the agents and stakeholders talk about the topic in their own words. The process was iterative-attempts were made to keep clarifying the understanding of the agent selection process and the roles and responsibilities of the agents by the respondents. It freely allowed the respondents to give their own interpretation of 'why' and 'how' the process was happening and 'what' they were doing based on this understanding. Four categories emerged from the analysis, namely: (i) recruitment-owner versus operator, (ii) incentives, (iii) alternative model and bundling of services, and (iv) capacity of the agents and understanding of the product.Among all the agents interviewed in Isiolo and Wajir counties, three were women. All the women agents were from Isiolo. Most of the establishments in both Isiolo and Wajir counties were shops; a few were pharmacies and hotels.The existence of the establishments ranged from 8 months to 15 years. Our initial theories were challenged, namely, that (i) the longer the establishment, the more trust from the community and hence larger customer base and (ii) young people are potentially more literate and technologically savvy than the older population.From the respondents interviewed, examples from Isiolo showed that some establishments that have been running for fewer than two years were not only popular among the locals and had a broad customer base in the area, but that the agents had also recorded considerable sales compared to the others from nearby areas that had been running for over three years. In Wajir county, it was found that the relatively young people were not so well educated and the senior ones seem to be more literate, more conversant with mobile applications and also have a better understanding of the product. This was quite different from what we found in Isiolo county.Though a range of issues emerged during the study, this section focuses on themes which potentially have direct implications on the future efficient and effective operation of the agency model.To understand the process of recruitment, coordinators and lead agents were interviewed. As much as there seems to be some guidelines on recruitment for agents, there is no evident use of standardized criteria for recruiting lead agents and sub-agents. None of the respondents could recollect any written documents which had a set of criteria with measurable indicators that they could refer to while recruiting agents. In addition, several instances were mentioned where sub-agents-and even lead agents-were replaced while the sales window was ongoing, further affirming that there was a guideline about recruitment but no standardized recruitment process for the agents. Box 1 provides examples of the process of agent recruitment.Box 1. How agents are selected Isiolo county 'Chosen by the lead agent and because of some of the things I was selling. Moreover, I am a pastoralist have livestock and also the need to insure them. I myself have bought IBLI policy this season' 'Lead agent came and approached me and I agreed to become an agent' Wajir county 'I, myself went and asked the lead agent that I wanted to be a sub-agent, because it was a good chance of an additional source of income' 'A trusted elder in Qarsa, the shop I own is the oldest in Qarsa and have command and opinion in the community'As told by the respondents when asked about how they were selected to be agents When the lead agents were asked about their roles and responsibilities, none of them mentioned recruitment of sub-agents as part of their terms of reference, unless probed. Most of the lead agents had their own criteria for recruitment, which are summarized in Table 2. As much as literacy and reluctance to adopt digital methods of transaction were identified as problems among the current agents, it was interesting to note that not only did all the lead agents interviewed feel that ability to read and write and use mobile phones were important criteria, but some of the lead agents also made the effort of training some of the agents they hired on how to use mobile phones/smartphones. As an example, one of the lead agents explained that he carried out tests to ensure that his potential sub-agent/s knew how to use the phone by making them do transactions of small amounts through m-money (M-Pesa or Airtel money).One of the key findings of the recruitment process was the issue of 'owner versus operator'. As we were designing the study, from our experience of training agents, we had an assumption of a possibility that the owner of an establishment was not necessarily the one who would be carrying out the day-to-day operations but someone else. Findings in Isiolo confirmed this assumption when a significant number of the agents we met, though they were the owners of the establishment and were trained as agents, were not actually operating the establishment. Box 2 provides an example of such a finding.Sub-agent Isiolo-older brother who is the owner, is a livestock trader and does this activity with the sister's husband. He has been trained as an IBLI agent. The respondent is the operator of the shop and also a school teacher at a local school. He has also been trained as an IBLI agent. Most of the time the respondent and his brother are not around and their sister manages the establishment. She sells IBLI on the respondent's behalf. She has been trained on IBLI by the respondent and has not attended any formal IBLI training. In the agents' absence, she does manual transactions through the register and after and when the agent is back, he transfers the details into the phone.To further test this, we asked questions related to owners and operators in Wajir. The owner versus operator theory was confirmed when we found that most of the agents who owned the establishments had operators in the form of next of kin or hired assistants. These operators play a significant role not only in managing and operating the establishment, but also in selling IBLI. Most of these operators/assistants were not formally trained in the product by the lead agent or the coordinator/s, but were instructed on 'how to sell IBLI' by the agent.These operators and assistants then filled in for the owner when they were away to take care of other issues or businesses such as livestock trade. It should be noted that not all the assistants were permanent staff of the establishment/s. This leaves significant room for misspelling and misinformation on the product, as there is no mechanism of monitoring to ensure that the owner is passing the right information about the product to the operator.There seemed to be no set method of monitoring the performance of the agents during the sales window. Most of the lead agents use the register as a reference point as they make their rounds to areas where network connectivity is poor and electronic transactions are only completed when the agent moves to an area with network availability.In places where electronic transactions are possible, lead agents are usually questioned based on the sales numbers coming in from each particular area and interventions are done accordingly.Most of the lead agents visit the agents once in every two weeks, though there is no evidence of those visits. The agent can also call and seek assistance from the lead agent depending on their needs. It is expected that the lead agent is the principle problem-solver for the agents, but instances also call for the coordinator to come in as a trouble shooter, depending on the severity of the issue at hand.Through the discussions with the agents, most of the respondents felt that there were benefits in being an IBLT agent.One of the benefits they cited was the additional source of income. To understand if being an IBLI agent has affected their current business, the respondents were asked to give an estimate of the number of customers that they were receiving per week. This question was asked in reference to before they were agents and after becoming agents.Figures 1 and 2 compare the customer base of the agents interviewed across Isiolo and Wajir counties. As much as being an agent was cited as an incentive for the respondents, there were some seemingly demotivating factors hindering them from continuing as agents or even giving their best to sell the product:• Commission: Most of the agents were unclear about the system of commission. Some agents expected payments even though they had not made any sales.• Mobile phones: In two of the study sites, in spite of having network availability and the agents being able to use smartphones, they had not received the TIA sales phones. The reason cited was that initially they were given the phones but, due to some technical glitch, the phones were taken back and not replaced.• Communication: Agents complained that most of the time they had to use their own airtime to call potential clients and lead agents.• Mobility: It was cited that, since most of the potential clients were spread out herding their livestock around water points and pastures, in a lot of instances they had to go looking for them using their own means of transport and money, in addition to closing their establishments-incurring business losses in the process.• Identity: A lot of agents believed they did not feel a sense of belonging to TIA, as there were no posters or branding material for the community to make them believe that they were appointed agents of TIA. Community members were sceptical of their authenticity.• Presence of TIA staff: In the recent past, there have been instances of misinformation and misunderstanding among the communities, especially in Wajir county, leading to a relatively hostile environment for the agents to operate in. Under such conditions, there was a general feeling among the agents that the lack of presence of TIA staff member/s from headquarters during mobilization or for clarification of concepts off-season had been quite demoralizing.Figure 3 provides a representation of the main factors that are potentially causing a loss of motivation among the agents in Isiolo and Wajir counties. The factors in Figure 3 were further confirmed when we spoke to the coordinators, who acknowledged the need for an incentive structure either in-kind, of gestures or even aiding the business of the agents. This was considered important especially if there was to be a standardized recruitment process to identify the right kind of agents. However, there was a realization that since transaction costs of operations had to be kept significantly low; the methods adopted would have to be such that they improve the functions of the agency, garnering high sales while keeping costs under control.Along with the agents, certain groups and individuals were interviewed, to explore the potential of other service providers in the counties being part of the sales and distribution channel for IBLI. The coordinators and the lead agents were of the opinion of creating an alternate mobilization and awareness creation channel by reaching out to teachers and professionals who are either based in the areas of operations or in cities such as Nairobi. As part of the distribution channel, they felt that getting organized groups involved would be useful to increase the network base of potential clients within and outside the groups. Box 3 provides an example of why the respondents thought having organized groups could boost IBLI sales and distribution.Box 3. Alternative model for IBLI sales and distributionInvolvement of known groups. One such group takes the product and they buy it, and their families buy it and then if they are given a payout, it incentivizes the community to buy as it will show a good image for the product. Bigger groups make a good market and a good team in a village along with an individual agent.Once we train them, we have a good team-we know that the group takes it up and provides legitimacy to the product. It could be any kind of registered known group-youth, women, fodder, water users associations and other groups in the community.As told by the coordinators during the Focus Group DiscussionBased on this feedback, we identified two fodder groups in Isiolo county, namely, the Malka Bisanadi Cultural Village-fodder group in Kina division and the Naserian fodder farm in Oldonyiro division. Both the fodder groups were registered formalized groups with office bearers. The fodder groups had some sources of livelihood like accommodation and catering (Kina group) and beads making and handmade paper business (Oldonyiro group) besides producing fodder.On being asked, if they were willing to be agents for IBLI, there was willingness, though the Malka fodder group members lacked knowledge about IBLI. The Naserian fodder group was aware of the product as some of the members had purchased IBLI before. Both the groups had few educated members, who were mainly the office bearers and these members could speak fluent Kiswahili and were able to use phones.In Wajir county we met with representatives and office bearers of three groups: The Wajir farmers' association, the district pastoralist association and the secretary of the Eldas fodder group. The Wajir farmers' association has 109 groups across the county, with 17 members and certain individuals knowing how to read and write in each group.The representatives were of the opinion that TIA could play a significant role as a link between them and the pastoralists who are in need of fodder and feed especially during the dry seasons. According to them, TIA could link the pastoralists directly to their association rather than the pastoralists waiting for the county government to buy fodder and sell to the pastoralists. Since they were aware of IBLI, the representatives showed interest in being part of the IBLI distribution and sales network.The secretary of district pastoralist association was aware of the concept since he was involved in the initial stakeholder engagements, through MercyCorps, when IBLI was launched in Wajir county in 2013. This group works with the Wajir farmers' association as an entry point for interventions related to crop production and livestock feeds. The association is spread across the county with some pastoral associations being more active than the others. The secretary felt that the link between TIA and the community needed to be strengthened and though they were interested in being involved in the sales and distribution process of IBLI, such a partnership would have to be mutually beneficial for both parties.The assistant chief, also the secretary of Eldas fodder group, has been an IBLI client since 2015. There are 15 members in the group with 7 of whom are women. Five of them could use mobile phones and could read and write. In addition, of the 17 members, 6 members bought IBLI policies in 2016. The secretary displayed an openness to the idea of the group being a potential agent of IBLI, provided that the price and the product are affordable to the community.Following the suggestions from the coordinators and the lead agents, a few agro-veterinarians were interviewed through the course of the study in Wajir county. Some of the agro-veterinarians were part of the district pastoralist association, while others were trained by Oxfam and other NGOs working in the area. The agro-veterinarian, who was a member of the district pastoralist association, was also trained in disease surveillance and reporting by the Accelerated Value Chain Development program of the USAID. All the agro-veterinarians could read and write and had smartphones. The agro-veterinarians were willing to be potential agents of IBLI, as they felt it would work well as a product integrated with other service provision, along with being an additional source of income for them.Additional services to bundle with IBLI One of the objectives with which we started the study was to find out the possibility of other value added services that the agents could provide to the pastoralists besides the IBLI product. Therefore, the respondents were asked the kind of services that they would be interested in providing, if there was an opportunity to do so. Most of the agents thought financial services, feed and fodder, animal and human health services would be most useful for the pastoral communities. Very few agents thought that commercial services such as motor insurance would be useful. Figure 4 provides a representation of the preferences of services that the agents would like to provide in Isiolo and Wajir counties.Figure 4. Services that agents are interested in providingFrom experiences of training agents over six sales windows, issues of literacy and challenges in adopting digital methods of learning and transactions have been emerging. This has been because of the knowledge gap about the capacities of the current agents selling IBLI. Therefore, through the study, we tried to get a basic understanding of their abilities to sell IBLI, given that a major part of selling IBLI includes the ability to carry out electronic transactions.The coordinators of TIA were of the opinion that almost 50% of the agents across each of the zones of operation of TIA had the capacity to use phones. From their experience, they stated that, even in areas where there is no network coverage, there were agents who are able to use the phones. Therefore, in some areas where manual methods of transactions were being used, it was largely because of lack of network coverage. They were confident that almost all the lead agents had smartphones and could use them well, but among the agents there was a mix of those who could and could not use smartphones.On asking the lead agents in both Isiolo and Wajir about the ability of their agents to use phones, they confirmed that of the total number of agents under each lead agent, approximately 60% of them have the capacity to use smartphones. Among the ones who were not able to use smartphones, there were significant numbers who they felt could be taught to do so. As mentioned in section 4, some of the lead agents have been training agents in the use of phones; for the agents who were completely unable to use phones, the lead agents themselves transferred sales data electronically to the system.In order to triangulate the information we got from the coordinators and lead agents, the sampled agents were asked about their ability to use phones and the purpose for which they used the phones. As ILRI and its partners are progressing towards digital methods of learning, we wanted to get a sense from the agents on the possibility of having training contents on the phone and if it would benefit them. Tables 3 and 4 summarize the responses of the agents from Isiolo and Wajir counties on their ability to use phones. In addition to understanding the agents' abilities to use phones, one of the critical points was their ability to use the TIA sales application. The agents in both counties were asked about their experience with the sales transaction application. Most agents could use the application very well and felt that, to an extent, it had even made it easy for them to explain the product to the pastoralists. Some of them were unable to use the application, even though they were trained on it, because of network challenges; there were some who did not use it since they were not provided with TIA phones. The ones who said that they could not use the sales application were mainly the agents who were replaced in the middle of the sales period and had not received any formal training, or the ones who did not know how to use a phone at all. Figure 5 is a representation of the ability of the agents to use the sales application in both Isiolo and Wajir counties. The coordinators and the lead agents believed that as much as it was important that agents were able to use mobile phones and be technologically savvy, given the areas that TIA was operating in, there was a need for agents who did not know how to use the phone well but were making good sales. The coordinators believed there were usually two scenarios where agents faced challenges with digital transactions: (i) agents who were proficient in using phones but lacked network coverage and (ii) agents who could not use a phone but were in a networked area. They felt that there was a need for capacity assessments of all the agents to know who were quick and slow learners; training and capacity development tools could then be provided.To better support the agents, the lead agents felt that having training early enough before the start of the sales window would provide them with sufficient time to assess the capacity of the agents' understanding of the product, which would enable the lead agent to determine the level of support the agent would need while mobilizing clients and carrying out IBLI sales.Understanding and acceptance of IBLT has been gradually increasing since the launch by TIA in 2013. This is evident from the increase in the number of the pastoralists who have bought the product so far. However, certain levels of misinformation and mis-selling have continued, resulting in some negative effects and perceptions about the product. Since most of the cases of mis-selling and extreme dissatisfaction were reported from Wajir county, the agents interviewed were specifically asked to explain their understanding of the main features and the information they give to their clients about the product.It was concerning to note that, except one or two agents, while most of them did not have a clear understanding of the product, the others had a complete misconception of the product. On being asked their information source and clarifications about the product, the sub-agents said that in the case of any difficulties about answering questions on the product, they usually would call the lead agents; the lead agents (except for one who was hired in the middle of the last sales window) said that they got their information from the former coordinator of Wajir county. Box 4 provides some quotes from the agents on their understanding of the product and an agro-veterinarian who was a policy holder in 2016, from Wajir county.Box 4 Features about the IBLT product as it is being passed on to the clients 'For IBLT, in case you contribute money for six months you will be getting back almost double. I have invested 50,000 and the community members have contributed to sums of 3.7 million. This information was told by the lead agent. When information was being given, a person called Hassan along with the lead agent and a Christian man came.''I was told by the coordinator that if there is a drought within February to August, there will be a payout, and if there is no payout the amount would double. In case there is no payout, they will be given the original amount. For example, if there is a payout the community would get double the amount it put in i.e. if it put in 400, it will get 800. I asked the lead agent separately; he confirmed that Hassan was saying the truth. The lead agent used to put more pressure with the promise that there would be a payout no matter what. People are now complaining and are demanding their money back.'Similar narratives were noted in the Hadado division, where it was clear that the agents were quite unaware of the product features or claimed that wrong information was passed onto them about the product. Though cases of misselling and misinformation have come out strongly from Wajir county, such a situation can also arise in other counties where TIA operates. This will have a negative effect not only on the product but also on the reputation of TIA as an organization, leading to the complete distrust from the community.One way such misinformation and mis-selling could be controlled is if there is a structured recruitment process of agents with a strong monitoring system put in place. Such systems should have the capacity to track agents' performance-not just of sales but also the kind of marketing messages that are going out to the pastoralists about IBLI, resulting in necessary action in case of mis-selling and/or misinformation.6. RecommendationsThe findings suggest that having standardized recruitment criteria alone is not enough for an effective and efficient agency model; the entire recruitment process has to be a formalized, systematic process. This section, therefore, proposes a process of recruitment which includes selection criteria based on some of the insights from this study. For the purpose of this document, the recruitment criteria have an individual enterprise-based approach and suggestions for modifications for other approaches and models of sales and distribution. The following steps are recommended as part of the recruitment process:Step 1-Identifying and mapping current and potential clients of IBLI in the zones of influence of TIA One of the challenges mentioned previously was the knowledge gap about the clients who have been purchasing IBLI and the potential clients. It is advised that TIA should carry out a mapping exercise on the profile of the clients who are renewing the product, the potential clients, their location and socio-economic status, to get an idea about the market density for the areas of TIA operation. Based on this information, outreach strategies can be designed and a fixed number of agents cannot only be appointed for that area but also be given realistic and measured targets for IBLI.Step 2-Have recruitment criteria for agents which are measurable and yet take into account the settings of the ASALsProposed criteria What to look out for Should be able to read and write At least Kiswahili. Would be ideal to get a form II graduate but even a class 7 or 8 dropout would be acceptable. Should have purchased IBLI At least for two seasons in the existing areas of operation. If the agent is a livestock owner he/she should also buy-an agent buying will influence clients to buy. Should be able to use phones Should be able to comfortably read and send SMSs and carry out mobile transactions such as M-Pesa. This is the minimum requirement for graduation to the use of smartphones. Should have a stable operator in case of absence of owner/an enterprise If there are supplies the operator should be the one who runs or manages the enterprise in the absence of the owner. The operator should be stable and not changed frequently. This will be in instances of small villages or locations. Should be older than 25, with an establishment for at least 2 years ID stating the age. In case of an operator, the age should not be less than 18 years.At least 5-10 customers per day at the establishment, depending on the location.In case of a 24-hour establishment, at least 30 customers per day. Having a stable shop could qualify towards indication of trust by the community. Willingness to learn IBLI Ability to describe at least two features of IBLI-what the product is for, circumstances of payout and sales period of the product. This is to ensure, from the outset, the understanding that IBLI is an insurance product and not an investment venture or a savings product.We emphasize the identification of the operator, from the outset, as a way of resolving the issue of a potential candidate who could have a good customer base but with little ability to read and write. In such a case, if the operator or next of kin who assists in the enterprise is identified who fits the criteria above, it could be a potential solution.If the operator is identified at the outset, they can be provided with the appropriate training on the product, along with the identified agent. Observations from the field have shown that the enterprises which had at least one literate manager (either the owner or the operator) were doing well, with a good customer base, compared to enterprises which were run by not-as-literate agents.Some of the criteria, such as identifying the operator and finding out the customer base of the establishment, would require observation on the part of the TIA staff, besides asking questions of the potential candidates.Step 2.1-Having an incentive structureThe recruitment process remains incomplete if it is not supported by an incentive structure. Insights from the study indicated that while some agents felt a lack of belonging with TIA, others expressed that TIA helped them better their businesses. Since one of the prerequisites of an effective agency model is having low transaction costs, the aim would be to have an incentive structure which do not escalate the already high transaction costs and, at the same time, is effective enough to motivate the agents.Step 3-Shortlisting and screening the potential agentsThe current process is that potential agents are handpicked based on the information given by chiefs and community elders, or because of the expression of interest by the potential agents themselves. However, it is recommended that TIA staff (which would include the coordinators and lead agents-as part of the current structure-and the planning and development officer) have a shortlist of candidates from each area where they want agents. This shortlist should be at least twice the number wanted for each area. The assessment of the number of agents per area should not only be based on the vastness of the geographical area, but on the density of potential clients and current policy holders for IBLI. Once this shortlist is established, this list can be run by the community elders and chiefs for screening and providing suggestions.Step 4-Certification of candidates as TIA agentsOnce the screening process of the shortlist is complete, it is recommended that the candidates be put through certain simple tests as part of an initial capacity assessment as potential TIA agents. These could include simple tests of mathematics, mobile transactions and insurance-related questions. These tests should not take more than 30-45 minutes to complete. Based on a minimum agreed score, the candidates who qualify would then go through a process of certification to become TIA agents who, at the end of this process, are not only certified to sell IBLI but any microproduct that TIA would like to introduce in the ASALs.Step 5-Being a Takaful agentThe certification process to being a Takaful agent indicates the finalization of the agents for TIA. At this stage, every agent should have a biometric card with a passport-sized picture, agent name, number and phone number. The biometric card will enable the geo-referencing of the agent and having their information fed directly into the TIA database, so that their performance can be tracked through the season and potentially throughout the year. It should be noted that since these agents are certified agents of Takaful, they will be selling other TIA products besides IBLI on a fixed commission, during the off season, while still running their enterprises. In case of groups or organizations, a similar system will be applicable.The agents 6 are then assembled for initial face-to-face training, after which they are equipped with phones, refresher courses, product-based games, eLearning materials and branding materials for their enterprises (such as posters and/ or boards, picture books, t-shirts) to be displayed at their establishments.Figure 6. The diagrammatic representation of steps to be followed. This process will be followed for recruiting new agents, either shop-based, group-based, organization-based, or a mix of all, for new zones that TIA wants to enter or expanding into existing areas. TIA could also use this process for existing agents to retain high-performing ones and letting the non-performing ones go.The incentive structure could be designed around an in-kind and service-provision format, besides the standard commission that will be paid for each sale made. Some options include:• Branding the enterprise or organizations involved. It is important for TIA to have adequate and appropriate branding of all its agents. This branding could be in the form of boards, posters, stickers, t-shirts and wall paintings for all agents-instead of selective agents, as per the current practice. The branding should be done as soon as agents are appointed and not delayed until the sales window.• Providing a basic minimum amount of airtime to agents during sales windows. One of the reasons of demotivation cited by the agents was using their own money for airtime to call lead agents, coordinators and even potential clients. If TIA could provide a minimum amount of airtime, this could go a long way in motivating the agents to reach out to current and potential clients along with TIA staff for clarifications.• Have a loan or a health scheme attached to performance. Some agents expressed a wish for the possibility of financial support to get utilities for their businesses. Instead of providing direct financial assistance to agents, small loans and micro-health products could be provided based on the performance of the agents after three seasons (1.5 years). The criteria for qualifying for such a scheme could be based on sales: target given, number of renewals per season, number of new clients acquired per season. 7 This is with the assumption that all sales and renewals will be based on informed demand from accurate product information provided.• Training on business practice based on needs and performance. Using similar indicators to those mentioned above, for the agents who would want to expand their businesses and who show potential, TIA could arrange capacity building training on business development, in areas of designing business plans, marketing, accounts and budgeting and risk assessments-thus taking a few selected agents through a graduation program. Such a graduation program could be supported by education and learning materials in the form of picture books and/or digital-based tutorials.From our findings, it was clear that relying solely on a shop-based agency model was not the best way of reducing transaction costs and increasing efficiency in sales and distribution of IBLI. Therefore, we propose and recommend three alternative models with details on how they could be implemented. It should be noted that all agents in the models proposed would be expected to go through the recruitment process (Steps 1-5), with a few alterations to suit each model.The first model (Figure 7) uses milk cooperatives to develop a sales and distribution network for IBLI based on the active participation of pastoralists within their local organizations. The assumption is that groups such as self-help groups, farmer associations, water-user associations and fodder groups are linked with milk cooperatives because individuals who are members of the groups mentioned would be part of the cooperative as well, since milk is both produced, sold and consumed by the pastoral community.The second model uses an approach with individuals such as community disease reporters (CDRs) and small-livestock traders to develop a sales and a distribution network. The assumption is based on the mobility of the CDRs and the traders as part of their jobs, providing veterinary services for the pastoralist in case of the former, and moving from one market to another in the case of the latter.7. The number of renewals and new clients will be based on proportion of targets that will be provided by TIA.The third model (Figure 8) takes a mixed approach of a cooperative-/group-based, individual-based and the current shop-based model, taking a value chain approach. The assumption for this model is based on the ability of agents to refer potential clients to other agents for areas that certain agents cannot reach or is beyond their scope of reaching. The approach through community animal-health workers (CAHWs) is where individuals are identified for delivering services at local level as a substitution for the government veterinary officers at district and divisional levels. These are trained members of the community who handle basic animal health care issues at the village level. They are linked to a drug-supply system as well as a referral system with veterinary professionals. These interventions were mainly undertaken by non-governmental organizations in remote areas which lack essential livestock services.Many CAHWs within the pastoralist communities are freelancers and, because of the nomadic practices of pastoralists, the CAHWs can work either at the base camp or at a satellite camp based on the livestock migrations from one area to another, on a needs basis. The self-employed CAHWs work on their own terms and time, which makes them available to take up additional assignments given to them. Therefore, TIA can take advantage of their nature of work and could identify them as potential agents to sell IBLI, with suitable motivations and incentives.The CAHWs have certain characteristics that would make them a good fit in the insurance model. CAHWs are mobile and can reach large numbers of pastoralists. Since mobility has been one of the challenges for the shop owners, the CAHWs resolve this challenge as they already have the ways and means to reach the remote areas, because that is where their clients are. They usually go to these places to provide animal-health services and, if they were to be appointed as agents, they could also sell insurance to these clients. Moreover, being an IBLI agent would provide them with additional income in the form of commissions earned from each policy sold.Many pastoralists, mostly men, have been getting involved in livestock trade. Some of these traders continue to practice pastoralism, while others have dropped out because of calamities such as drought and raids. Many of these traders have derived their starting capital from selling their own livestock, borrowing from family and friends or engaging in other small businesses.Small-livestock traders use various strategies to buy animals and maximize their profits. Some buy directly from the producers in the satellite camps, base camps, small markets in the village and big livestock markets, and resell within the same markets. They are also very visible 'on the ground' because of the nature of their work.The nature of work of the small traders makes them a good fit for being insurance agents. They move from one village to another to look for livestock they need for trade and, in the process, they meet good numbers of pastoralists who are potential insurance clients. Like the CAHWs, the mobile nature of the traders puts them at an advantage in resolving the current challenge of the agents unwilling to go out of their villages because of a lack of transport. Small-livestock traders can reach pastoralists at places such as water points, markets (big and small) and villages. Most of the time, pastoralists are unable to buy IBLI because of a lack of liquidity or cash constraints. If the small-livestock traders were to become agents, as part of their transactions, they could buy an animal from the potential client, and the client-with that money-could get an insurance policy, which creates a win-win situation for both parties. The commission made after each sale should be enough to incentivize the traders to become a part of the sales and distribution system.Through the study, we have highlighted suitable identification, continuous capacity building, value proposition and technological support as the factors which would enable effective implementation of alternative models. Based on these factors, there are a few pre-conditions that need to be considered for TIA and for the agents. Below we elaborate on some of the points mentioned in Figures 7 and 8. Identifying points of common interest. TIA should carry out an identification process of common interest with the organized groups; it can then select the groups that it would want to work with for the process of sales and distribution. Given that the product is an asset-protection contract, it would be strategic to work with groups who are dealing with livestock related production and services (refer to model 1 and model 3 for such an example). Moreover, some groups are strategically placed as links between county governments and policymakers and, in the long run, could be used to bundle services. It will be important for TIA to assess the network (both mobile and physical) of these groups in terms of their outreach and influence in the community, especially with the elders and religious leaders.Mapping the presence of CAHWs in an area and characteristics of small-livestock traders/ businesspersons. If the CAHWs are to be involved in the sales and distribution process of IBLI, a mapping exercise will have to be carried out to understand the (i) legal framework under which they are currently working and (ii) number of animal-health workers in a given area.For the traders to be viable as potential agents, a characteristics study would have to be done to find out (i) if these traders/businesspersons are regular or seasonal buyers, (ii) the kinds of phones they usually use and their knowledge of smartphones, (iii) their mode of transaction, whether through M-Pesa or cash and (iv) their process and knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping.Capacity assessments. This is an integral part for any model to work. Before applying any of the alternative models or even improving the existing model, it is imperative that capacity assessments of the potential and current agents be carried out. This is important to understand what the level and kind of interventions required are, how they will be provided, and by whom. These assessments will have to be carried out through customized tools to meet the needs of the context for all the models proposed.Incentive structures. TIA should consider partnering or teaming up with service-providing entities in its zones of influence to enable organized groups to see the value of being part of the sales and distribution process. This could be in the form of subsidies on: animal drugs, vaccination facilities, linking to financial or human-health services, for every certain amount of sales made, among others.Monitoring and evaluation system. Having a clear monitoring and evaluation mechanism is important for the alternative models to work. Hence, having a geo-referenced database of the agents is necessary to monitor their activities, progress and performance. For example, if an area which normally does not have a history of high sales starts recording very high sales, the system in place should be able to detect the reason for such sales-whether it is the efforts of the agent or misinformation which is causing such a high rise in sales. In addition, in the existing model, mechanisms can also be considered to monitor and track the number of visits that the lead agents make to their subagents.Identifying potential agents within organized groups. From conversations with the representatives of organized groups, we learned that all groups or group members may not have the capacity to meet the standard of becoming an agent. Therefore, it should be the responsibility of the association/group leaders to identify groups or members of the groups who would fit the criteria of becoming agents.Targeting potential clients. On the assumption that each of these organized groups have their own network base and group members, they also have a structured way of dealing with other 'actors' (people) within their 'system'. Therefore, each group should take up the responsibility of mapping their potential client base and the process of targeting them. This can then be translated into a sales strategy or method, together with TIA.We conclude with the findings and the recommendations made. To assess the effectiveness of the recommendations made, a pilot study should be carried out of different elements of the models proposed, in either some of the already existing TIA project sites or new areas where TIA would be expanding its operations, to understand what would work, what needs to be modified, and what needs to discarded.Along with piloting the recommendations, a capacity development pathway needs to be embedded in the agency structure that TIA eventually adopts. This capacity development pathway should be complemented with an effective monitoring and evaluation framework for agents. The monitoring and evaluation framework should have learning components to enable improvement in processes, incentive structures that motivate agents to make genuine sales, and capacity assessment methods over time. Figure 9 is a representation of the proposed concept of the capacity development and training pathway.","tokenCount":"9866"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5567200287.json b/data/part_1/5567200287.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..84ccabd06fca956c2f69ac4794be8e24a675fce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5567200287.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73908f62dd97b199a137e04169807550","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd5d9a70-4d82-429a-9065-eb9dd88b205f/retrieve","id":"1828442964"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"738f7f01-8daf-4492-b88b-fc1213b063c1","pagecount":"8","content":"Maize is a staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa, but yields remain sub-optimal. Improved breeding and seed systems are vital to increase productivity. We describe a hybrid seed production technology that will benefit seed companies and farmers. This technology improves efficiency and integrity of seed production by removing the need for detasseling. The resulting hybrids segregate 1:1 for pollen production, conserving resources for grain production and conferring a 200 kg ha −1 benefit across a range of yield levels. This represents a 10% increase for farmers operating at national average yield levels in sub-Saharan Africa. The yield benefit provided by fifty-percent non-pollen producing hybrids is the first example of a single gene technology in maize conferring a yield increase of this magnitude under low-input smallholder farmer conditions and across an array of hybrid backgrounds. Benefits to seed companies will provide incentives to improve smallholder farmer access to higher quality seed. Demonstrated farmer preference for these hybrids will help drive their adoption.ncreasing the productivity of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is an important step toward improving livelihoods and reducing risk 1 . Maize yields in SSA remain the lowest in the world, and historical production increases are associated with an unsustainable increase in maize area. At current yield levels, the area under maize cultivation must increase by 184% to meet future food security needs 2 . Obsolete varieties that were developed for climate conditions that have subsequently changed are still widely grown. Rapid-cycle breeding and faster varietal replacement are essential to increasing yields under changing climates 3 .Progress in SSA has been made through modernizing breeding programs, engagement with seed companies, and the development and delivery of elite, stress-tolerant varieties 4 . Improved maize production in Ethiopia, through improved maize genetics and other agronomic inputs 5 , has helped lift an estimated 788,000 people out of poverty annually 6 . There is an increasing focus on improving the efficiency of public sector maize breeding 7 but seed production remains a key bottleneck in SSA 8 .Hybrids are maize varieties in which the seed is produced by crossing two different parent lines, increasing the yield through heterosis. Detasseling in hybrid seed production in SSA is manual, unlike in other regions of the world, leading to higher cost of the seed and issues with quality 9,10 . Most commercially available hybrids in SSA are three-way hybrids which are formed by crossing two lines together to form a single cross female parent and then crossing the single cross female to a third inbred to produce commercial seed. Three-way cross hybrids are common in SSA, even if yields are lower since the cost of goods sold (COGS) is lower due to the higher seed yield of single cross females compared with inbred lines. Technologies to reduce both COGS and the complexity of producing high-quality hybrids would offer smaller seed companies greater opportunities to provide new hybrids to smallholder farmers 11 . Seed production technology (SPT) is a process previously used by Corteva Agriscience to produce commercial hybrid maize seeds in the United States. The original SPT system was based on a recessive male sterility gene, ms45, and it utilized a transgenic maintainer cassette containing the dominant Ms45 allele to restore fertility to ms45 homozygous plants, an α-amylase gene to render transgenic pollen non-viable, and a seed color marker gene 12 . SPT enables the production of homozygous male sterile non-transgenic seed.Subsequent development of an SPT system based on the dominant male sterility gene, Ms44, enables seed increase of homozygous dominant non-pollen producing (NPP) inbred and heterozygous NPP female single-cross parent plants 13 . The Ms44-SPT system is well suited for three-way hybrid production as it eliminates the need for detasseling maize hybrid production fields during both hybridization steps. Three-way hybrids produced using heterozygous NPP female parents segregate 1:1 pollenproducing (PP) and NPP and have been shown to increase yield by 8.5% under ultra-low nitrogen managed stress field testing in the US 13 . Such hybrids are designated 50% non-pollen-producing (FNP). An alternative dominant male sterility (DMS) system has subsequently been developed using the PHD-finger transcription factor ZmMs7 together with a transgenic restoration system 14 . This system is hypothesized to deliver a similar yield benefit to the Ms44-based system in an FNP hybrid form although field validation has not yet been reported.Biotechnology has had mixed success from a scaling perspective 15 . Translating results under controlled stress environments in experimental research stations to on-farm, with a repeatable yield advantage across a range of environments and multiple genetic backgrounds, has proved complex even in high-yielding, uniform environments 16 . The transfer of genetic technologies developed under controlled environments in the USA to low-yielding conditions in SSA has had limited success 15 . In SSA, maize is primarily grown in challenging environments, with high spatial variation even within a single smallholder farm 17 . Technology development centered in experimental research stations may lead to products that fail to perform in the target environment. Recognizing this and the need to co-develop technological solutions with farmers is leading to an increased interest to move testing on farm 18,19 . Although FNP hybrids have demonstrated yield benefits in limited testing in the US, yield levels of these trials (6.3-8.1 Mg ha −1 ) were 3-4 times higher than those typically found in farmers' fields in SSA. The impact of the FNP trait on yield needs to be measured robustly across diverse on-farm sites, environments, and genetic backgrounds in order to assess the potential for FNP hybrids in SSA. Low fertilizer use (<17 kg ha −1 ) is a major factor contributing to the yield gap in SSA 20 , particularly in female-managed plots 21 , and is exacerbated by low and variable returns on investment 22 .Here we investigate the potential of FNP hybrids to increase maize yields under a range of conditions including low input and droughtstressed conditions commonly encountered by smallholder farmers in SSA. Agricultural research often involves only researchers, without any participation from farmers 23 . Working with the primary beneficiaries is essential to ensure an understanding of what the user needs or wants in order to facilitate adoption 10 . For this reason, trials were conducted largely on-farm with primary beneficiaries and farmer perceptions of FNP hybrids were evaluated. The primary objectives of this study were to quantify the yield difference of FNP hybrids in on-farm conditions with smallholder farmers in Africa and to assess farmer perceptions of FNP hybrids to determine the likelihood that an FNP hybrid would be accepted in the market by the primary intended beneficiaries. Additionally, we investigate changes in agronomic traits and yield components associated with the FNP trait.FNP hybrids have increased yield relative to PP hybrids. Multiple hybrid pairs (FNP and PP versions) were grown in both onstation trials (OST) and on-farm field trials (OFT) across Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, from 2016 to 2019 (Supplementary Fig. 1). The FNP trait was evaluated in 26 different hybrid backgrounds. Trials were conducted in 112 locations (Supplementary Table 1). FNP hybrids demonstrate a 202 kg ha −1 advantage over PP hybrids with equivalent grain moisture (Table 1). FNP hybrids increase yield over a broad range of environments. When averaged across all hybrids within a location, the grain yield of FNP hybrids, relative to their PP controls, was consistently higher across yield levels (Fig. 1a). FNP hybrids significantly out-yielded the PP controls in 75% of the locations tested, with an overall average yield increase of 202 kg ha −1 . Absolute yield improvement was consistent across yield levels (Fig. 1a). Predicted yield improvement is 192 kg ha −1 (9.6%) in highly stressful, low-potential environments (2000 kg ha −1 ) and 229 kg ha −1 (2.4%) in high-potential conditions (8000 kg ha −1 ) (Fig. 1b).The yield benefit of FNP was consistent across 19 hybrid backgrounds with more than 22 locations of data (Fig. 2). Seven hybrids were not included as they were grown in 12 or fewer locations. From these 19 hybrids, the average yield advantage of FNP in single cross hybrids was 178 kg ha −1 and for three-way crosses the benefit was 264 kg ha −1 .In these same trials, photos of all the ears harvested from NPP and PP plants were taken at harvest, and image analysis was used to estimate ear parameters 24 . Table 1 indicates that NPP plants had a significant 5.9% increase in the number of kernels per plant and a small but significant increase in 100 kernel weight of 0.9%. Ear length was increased significantly (4.9%), reflecting the larger number of kernels for NPP plants.Farmer participatory evaluation. In Kenya, 2697 farmers (62% women) visited the trials to evaluate the FNP technology at eight different sites in 2017 and 2018 (Supplementary Table 2). When participants were first asked to score the importance of the different criteria on a scale of 0 (not important) to 3 (very important), they gave high scores to most of the criteria. During the mid-season evaluation, the criteria with the highest scores were yield, early maturity, ear size, and the number of ears, which all received an average score between 2.5 and 2.7. When farmers were asked if tassel formation was important during the midseason evaluation, they scored the trait very high (2.68) second only to yield (2.69) (out of a maximum of 3). Similarly, the amount of pollen shed received an importance score of 2.6. During the mid-season evaluation in 2017, farmers scored the conventional PP hybrids significantly higher for tassel formation and pollen shed than the FNP hybrids, indicating they can clearly distinguish the two types (Table 2). In the mid-season, both the yield score and the overall score of the FNP hybrids were significantly higher than that of the conventional, PP hybrids. Otherwise, there were few differences between the scores for the individual criteria. At the end-season (harvest) evaluation, there was no difference between scores for tassel formation of PP and FNP hybrids, indicating that participants could no longer tell the difference. At harvest, FNP hybrids generally scored better on several criteria, including significant differences in ear size and yield, and for the overall evaluation. At the mid-season evaluation in 2018, scores for the amount of pollen shed were similar between PP and FNP hybrids, the latter even getting slightly higher scores for tassel formation. During group discussions after the (individual) evaluations, farmers explained they now understood the trait and did not give FNP hybrids lower scores, even though they recognized the morphological differences. The results at harvest in 2018 were similar to those in 2017: there was no difference between the two hybrid types for tassel formation, but FNP hybrids scored higher on yield and overall evaluation compared to conventional hybrids. The results indicate that 13.2 ± 0.18 13.9 ± 0.18 0.64 4.9 <0.0001 469Grain yield and grain moisture were measured in on-farm and on-station trials. Ear and plant height, grain weight, number of tassel branches, and tassel weight were measured on individual non-pollen producing (NPP) or PP plants tagged within an FNP hybrid plot on a subset of on-station locations. Kernel number, grain weight, 100 kernel weight, and ear length were estimated from image analysis of NPP and PP ears taken from tagged plants within an FNP hybrid plot on a subset of on-station locations.Fig. 1 Yield benefit of 50% non-pollen producing (FNP) hybrids over conventional (PP) hybrids. Yield (kg ha −1 ) of 50% non-pollen producing (FNP) hybrids compared with conventional PP hybrids grown across multiple locations and years as shown in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Fig. 1. a FNP hybrids yield (kg ha −1 ) (y-axis) plotted against the yield of pollen-producing (PP) conventional hybrids (x-axis). Each point represents the mean of four to nine hybrid backgrounds for on-farm trials (OFT) (blue diamond) and 4-15 hybrid backgrounds for on-station trial (OST) (yellow square). The solid black line represents the 1:1 relationship and the fitted regression line is shown (blue dotted). b Percent yield increase predicted by growing FNP hybrids (yaxis) plotted against location mean yield (x-axis). Yield increase was projected using the fitted linear regression in a to predict the yield of FNP hybrids.farmers can distinguish FNP from PP hybrids and identify them as higher yielding and better overall (Table 2).Impact assessment. At this stage, technology adoption rates are unknown but based on preliminary discussions with seed companies two scenarios can be considered. An adoption rate of FNP of 10% of the current area in maize hybrids seems a reasonable low-end scenario, while 25% would be an optimistic scenario.Based on FAO statistics and the adoption literature, the maize area in the top 25 maize-producing countries in Africa is estimated at 36.6 Mha, of which 34.2% or 12.6 Mha is planted to hybrids. The total seed needed for the low scenario (10% adoption by hybrid users) is calculated at 31,390 tonnes, and 78,000 tonnes for the high scenario (25% adoption). At an adoption rate of 10%, only 11 countries have a demand of more than 1000 tonnes (17 have a demand of >100 tonnes). The total demand for FNP seed for these 11 countries adds up to 27,906 tonnes, 93% of the total (Supplementary Table 4). To compare the benefits to the cost, we use net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) 25 (Supplementary Table 5).Based on the current cost of the development of the technology, from 1 to 1.6 million $ yr −1 , the discounted cost comes to $28.9 million. For the benefits, we assume the technology to be on the market in 2023, and to take 10 years to reach the target 10% adoption (market penetration of FNP hybrids as a percentage of hybrid seed), keeping maize production constant. Under this basic scenario, maize production is expected to increase by 244,204 tonnes per year at the target adoption rate, valued at $40 million. The discounted benefits, up to 2040, are estimated at 180 M$. The NPV is calculated at 152 M$, the BCR at 6.25, and the IRR at 24%. Under the optimistic scenario, the adoption rate of FNP reaches 25% of total hybrid use, and the extra production is estimated at 610,511 tonnes annually, valued at $100 million. Under this scenario, the discounted benefits up to 2040 are estimated at $452 million, the NPV at $423 million, the BCR at 16, and the IRR at 32%.A key objective of this study was to move the evaluation of the FNP trait from US germplasm tested in managed field conditions to African germplasm tested in farmers' fields in SSA. In farmers' fields across hybrid backgrounds in Africa, we demonstrate that FNP hybrids, segregating for Ms44, increase yield by ~200 kg ha −1 at current SSA yield levels. There is an urgent need to increase genetic gain for yield under low fertility conditions; observed rates of genetic gain under drought are 23-32 kg ha −1 yr −1 and low nitrogen 21 kg ha −1 yr −1 26 . The yield benefit of FNP hybrids under stress conditions represents at least 6 years of progress in plant breeding. This study demonstrates the ability of FNP hybrids to deliver 10-20% yield increase under extremely stressful growing conditions faced by millions of smallholder maize farmers. The stability of the yield benefit across genetic backgrounds indicates that FNP can be successfully deployed across an array of hybrids to meet the needs of farmers in various agroecological zones throughout SSA. On-farm trials are being increasingly scrutinized due to high input and yield levels that are not representative of the actual realities of the farmers testing the technologies 27,28 . Our aim was to evaluate yield benefits at close to national average yield levels by targeting farmer-managed on-farm trials with minimal nitrogen inputs, typical of many smallholder farmers. Participatory research was a key component given the visual differences of FNP hybrids compared to conventional hybrids. Kenyan farmers interviewed during the participatory evaluation of these trials could observe the differences in tassel and pollen formation but favored FNP hybrids overall due to the improved ear size and increased yield. As the technology broadens to other African countries it will be important to continue to seek farmer feedback on FNP hybrids. Yield improvement was correlated with reduced tassel size prior to anthesis and lack of production of pollen, as the formation of tassel structure and pollen competes for resources with grain production. Reducing this competition also reduces anthesis silking interval (ASI) under stress 29 . Reduced ASI has also occurred during selection for yield in SSA 26 . In FNP hybrids, 50% of the plants do not produce pollen, and partitioning of resources within the plant early on in development is shifted from the tassel in favor of the ear, leading to earlier silk protrusion and reducing ASI under stress. This change in partitioning results in more efficient use of nitrogen, a scarce resource for many smallholder farmers. Therefore, an added benefit of FNP hybrids is that they do not increase total N uptake but improve nitrogen utilization efficiency by reducing partitioning from the tassel in favor of the ear, increasing kernels per ear and kernel weight 13 . The adoption of modern FNP hybrids and the realization of associated yield benefits will still require nutrient inputs, given that current production largely relies on mining of nutrients which is unsustainable 30,31 .Widespread acceptance of FNP hybrids will be dependent on adoption by both farmers and seed companies. In this paper, we have described yield benefits to the farmer (about 200 kg ha −1 ) and highlighted farmer acceptance, indicating the hybrids are likely to be adopted quickly. Under the conservative scenario (adoption of FNP in 10% of current maize hybrid area), we estimate that FNP would increase maize production in Africa by 0.245 Mt per year, valued at $40M. While this increase is relatively modest, for example when compared to the potential benefits of Bt maize 32 , the benefits would still outweigh the cost by more than 6:1, indicating a good return to the research investment.Apart from benefits to farmers, the technology also provides benefits to seed companies. These include: a reduction in detasseling costs, as the NPP females will not require detasseling during seed production; improved seed purity, as there is no self-pollination of female plants during seed production; and increased kernel numbers, leading to reduced seed production costs. Kernel number was increased by 6% in NPP plants under low N in these studies but was not measured under favorable conditions more typical of seed production. In US trials, kernel number was increased by 9.6% in plants with NPP tassels compared with wild-type controls under optimum conditions 13 . This will be evaluated in African germplasm under seed production practices in SSA, but the expected increase in seed production of about 10% is an additional anticipated benefit to seed companies. The benefits to seed companies are also expected to help catalyze a shift towards more modern hybrids, improving the selection and purity of climate-smart hybrids available to smallholder farmers by providing incentives for seed companies to replace older, lower-yielding varieties with more recent higher-yielding ones. The replacement of older hybrids in the market will have added benefits for farmers, on top of those predicted from the ~200 kg ha −1 benefit of growing FNP hybrids. We plan to collect additional data on the average age of hybrids that will be replaced, but assuming the average age of replacement is 10 years, this would reflect an additional 275 kg ha −1 benefit to the farmer using conservative estimates of genetic gain. Therefore, the adoption of FNP hybrids would benefit farmers growing at the 2 Mg ha −1 yield level by almost 25%, or 0.5 Mg ha −1 , approximately $76 ha −1 in added income.The development and use of dominant male sterile technology across crops such as maize, rice, and wheat have been demonstrated but not yet widely applied, showing promise in delivering improved seed production and yield 33 . The Ms44-SPT system provides a unique opportunity to transform the maize hybrid seed industry in Africa, providing recognizable benefits to both seed companies and farmers. The FNP trait delivered using the Ms44-SPT system can deliver economic benefit in the form of improved input use efficiency to smallholder maize farmers faced both with limited ability to purchase recommended quantity of fertilizer and the uncertainty of drought stress.Germplasm and incorporation of Ms44. The dominant male-sterile allele Ms44 was introgressed into five inbred maize lines. For the first year of trials, four of these inbreds were used, one had been backcrossed six times (BC 6 ) and three had been backcrossed four times (BC 4 ) to the respective recurrent parents. For each line conversion, four to five ear sources were selected for increase upon heterozygous marker calls for the donor allele and minimum introgression segment size. For subsequent trials, all five inbreds utilized had been backcrossed five or more times. As a dominant male-sterile allele, Ms44 must be maintained in the heterozygous condition during increase by placing pollen from male-fertile plants onto silks of male-sterile plants. At each generation, the progeny rows segregate 1:1 for malesterility. The five converted Ms44 inbred lines were used as female parents and crossed with 3-4 male inbred parental lines each to produce 18 unique single cross hybrid pairs. Female rows were segregated for pollen-producing (PP) and nonpollen producing (NPP) plants and these were classified and tagged separately at flowering. Ears were harvested separately for PP and NPP plants. The F1 hybrid seed harvested from NPP plants segregated 1:1 for pollen-producing (PP) and nonpollen producing (NPP) are referred to as 50% non-pollen-producing (FNP) hybrids. The F1 hybrid seed harvested from PP female plants produced 100% PP near-isogenic control hybrids. Eight three-way cross hybrids were produced by planting F1 seed harvested from NPP plants and crossing these to inbred PP males, resulting in three-way crosses segregating 1:1 PP and NPP plus the 100% PP controls.Yield testing. From 2017 to 2019, yield trials were planted both on-station (OST) and researcher-managed on-farm (OFT) in Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 1). Trials at experimental stations were conducted under optimal, low-N, heat, and drought stress. Optimal, heat, and drought stress sites were optimally fertilized based on local recommendations and received recommended weed and insect control measures. Optimal trials were planted during the main maize growing seasons, irrigated twice at planting and emergence, and supplemental irrigation was applied as needed to avoid drought stress. Managed drought trials were planted in the dry season and irrigation was withheld approximately 2 weeks prior to mid-anthesis. Delayed planting in the dry season allowed for high temperatures at the reproductive stage for heat stress trials. In low-N, fields had been depleted of nitrogen for at least 4-seasons. Rescue irrigation was only applied to avoid total crop loss when required. Depletion was achieved by applying no N fertilizer to plots and removing stover from the field after the grain was harvested.Experiments were in a randomized complete block with a split-plot restriction, where the hybrid background was the main plot treatment and trait (PP or FNP) was the sub-plot treatment. Different hybrid combinations were grown in different years and locations depending on seed availability. On-station trials were 2-4 row plots of 5 m length and 0.75 cm between rows. There were 4-6 reps per location and usually more hybrid pedigrees planted across fewer locations. At selected OST locations, plants in the middle two rows were tagged at flowering according to phenotype: NPP for non-pollen-producing and PP for pollen-producing. When all PP plants were shed, the tassels from two PP and two NPP tagged plants in each plot were removed and the number of tassel branches was recorded. The tassel was cut at one inch above the flag leaf, oven dried to zero moisture and dry weight recorded. At 2-3 weeks after flowering, ear height (from the ground surface to the highest ear node) and plant height (to the tip of the tassel) were recorded for 4 PP and 4 NPP plants per plot. At OST locations in Zimbabwe, ear photos were taken and images analyzed 24 to estimate ear length, kernel number, 100 kernel weight, and grain weight per plant. Photos were taken using a tripod with the camera fixed at least 50 cm above the ears. Dehusked ears were placed on a black background, with 15-20 ears per photo. A 30 cm ruler was placed in the same orientation as the ears to be used as a reference.For on-farm trials, smallholder farmers were identified by agricultural extension agents in each country. Extension agents were given a small monetary amount to cover all expenses related to trials. In Zimbabwe, additional seeds and inputs were given as compensation to farmers. On-farm trials were 2-4 row plots, 5 m rows with 0.75 m between rows. Plots were double planted and thinned, leaving an intra- Farmer evaluations of pollen-producing (PP) and 50% non-pollen producing (FNP) hybrids in 2017 and 2018, on a 5-point hedonic scale (1 = dislike very much, 2 = like, 3 = neither like nor dislike, 4 = like, 5 = like very much) in mid-season and end-season for different criteria and overall. Values presented are mean ± s.e., N (number of data points) and P-values using pairwise t-tests. The number and description of participants in the questionnaires are shown in Supplementary Table 2.row spacing of 25 cm. There were 2 reps per location and multiple locations per year. In each country, project partners worked alongside extension agents and directly with farmers. Researcher-managed trials implemented by farmers are often higher yielding than farmers' own fields 27 , thus farmers were asked to use appropriate pest and weed management, but not to apply N fertiliser. Target yields were less than 4 t ha −1 , based on the average yield of target farmers. Harvesting was conducted by hand, ears were shelled and grain weight and moisture were recorded. The yield on an area basis was calculated and adjusted to 155 g kg −1 moisture. Analysis was conducted using ASREML (VSN International Ltd). In the analysis for grain yield, the main effect of trait is considered as fixed effects and hybrid background and interaction between trait and hybrid background are treated as random effects. Location and interaction between location and trait are considered fixed. The blocking factors such as replicates are considered random. Yield for trait within hybrid was predicted using best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP), as the hybrid effect was treated as random. Yield for trait across hybrids was predicted using best linear unbiased estimates (BLUE), trait is considered a fixed effect. Differences between the 100% PP and the FNP trait were assessed by a two-sided t-test using the standard error of difference (SED) from the linear mixed model and were considered significant at the 5% confidence level.Farmer evaluations. Farmer evaluations were organized in eight trial sites in Kenya in the main season of 2017 and 2018. The original sites were randomly selected from the trial sites in 2017. In 2018, two of the sites were dropped from the trials, so for farmer evaluations, they were replaced by nearby suitable sites. The evaluations were conducted twice in each year/season, mid-season (June-July) and end season (July-August). While breeders observed yield and other traits in the field, social scientists invited farmers to come and evaluate the entries in a subset of trials. The evaluations were double-blind: plots were identified by number and neither farmers nor facilitators/enumerators knew the treatments. For the participatory evaluations in 2017, 8 OFT sites were randomly selected from the trial sites, 4 in Central Kenya and 4 in Western Kenya. In 2018, 2 sites in Central Kenya were replaced, and the other 6 were maintained.At each site, neighboring farmers were identified through farmer groups, local administration, and extension officers, and invited to evaluate the trials. In Kenya, women often tend to the farms while men are more likely to look for employment elsewhere, and it is common to have more female farmers participate 34 . The participants, 2697 in total, of which 62% were women, were adults of all ages (from 17 to 88) (Supplementary Table 2). Most participants were experienced farmers, with an average of 17 years of farming experience. Most had also finished primary education, with on average eight years of formal education. Most participants owned their farm, with an average size of almost 1 ha (0.85), more than half of which (0.5 ha) was planted in maize. Most participants practice a mixed crop/ livestock system, with about two-thirds owning cattle and a quarter of oxen. The average cash income over the previous year was KES 92,617 (almost $1000), of which about half came from agriculture.Ethical compliance. We have complied with all relevant ethical regulations regarding human research participants. The study protocols were approved by the Social Economics and Global Maize Programs of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Participation of local partner organizations on the ethics review committee had not been implemented at the time the study was reviewed. Risk management plans for the health, safety and security of researchers were overseen by KALRO, ARC, and CIMMYT. Health and safety standards met or exceeded local requirements. Security measures followed guidance from the United Nations concerning staff residing and operating locally. Informed consent was obtained from all farmer participants in the preference survey conduct.Farmers' evaluation of new technologies, including varieties, is a two-step procedure, where first the selection criteria or traits important to farmers are identified, followed by an evaluation of the new technologies or varieties on those criteria. Criteria during the first year were set and, based on discussions with farmers, four more criteria were added in 2018 (Supplementary Table 3) 35 . To confirm the importance of these criteria to the participants of this study, we asked them, individually, to give these a score for importance (0 = not important, 1 = somewhat important, 2 = important, 3 = very important) (Supplementary Table 3).Participants were asked to evaluate the different entries on these criteria. In 2017, they evaluated the eight entries and two reps, so all 16 plots in total. In 2018 there were 16 entries and the participants only evaluated one of the two reps each, randomly assigned. To score the entries, they used a 5-point hedonic scale, following previous experience 36 . Experience has shown that using numbers for the scores can be confusing, as \"1\" can indicate both a very good or a very poor score. Therefore, letter scores were used, which correspond to the Kenyan school system and hence are easy for farmers to understand. The options were A (like very much), B (like), C (neither like nor dislike), D (dislike), and E (dislike very much) 34 . In 2017, farmers were randomly assigned to the control (without evaluations of tassel or pollen), treatment 1 (including the criterion \"good tassel formation\"), or treatment 2 (including both the tassel criterion and the criterion \"amount of pollen shed\"). As the results of 2017 indicated treatments 1 and 2 were very similar, they were merged in 2018, with only one treatment group, whose members evaluated the entries on tassel and pollen. All criteria were expressed in both English and Kiswahili on the questionnaire, the national languages in Kenya. In the different counties, depending on the situation, the criteria were translated into local languages.To analyze the scores, the alphabetical scores were converted to numerical scores (from A = 5 to E = 1), mean scores were calculated for all criteria and the mean scores for FNP and PP hybrids compared through pairwise t-test. Impact assessment. To estimate maize area and production in SSA we used the FAOSTAT data from 2018 which includes 50 countries) with an area of 37.55 Mha a production of 70.51 Mtonnes and an average yield of 1.92 t ha −1 37 . For levels of adoption of improved maize varieties and hybrids we searched the literature and found data from the top 25 countries [38][39][40][41][42][43][44] . These 25 countries, including all countries with a maize area of more than 100 kha (except for Burundi and South Sudan) (Supplementary Table 4) plant 36.6 Mha (97.4% of maize area in SSA) with a production of 70.4 Mt. Multiplying adoption rates of improved maize varieties by country with their 2018 maize area, resulting in an estimated total area in improved maize varieties of 19.3 Mha (52.6%). Similarly, multiplying the % of hybrids for each country by the maize area led to an estimated area planted in hybrids in these countries at 12.6 Mha (34%). The yield benefit for each country was estimated using the regression from Fig. 1 (Δy = 0.006x + 180.2). The weighted average (for the 25 countries with adoption figures, and area in hybrids used as weight) comes to 193 kg ha −1 .To compare the benefits to the cost, we use the following project performance parameters: net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) 25 (Supplementary Table 5). The cost of the development of the technology is estimated by the annual cost of the FNP project, US$ 1 million per year from 2010 to 2016 and US$1.6 million from 2017 to 2020. For the future, we expect the further development cost to be about $1.25 million per year from 2021 to 2024, after which the cost will gradually reduce from $0.8 million in 2025 to 0.1 in 2028. For the benefits, we assume the technology to be on the market in 2023, and to take 10 years to reach the target 10% adoption (market penetration of FNP hybrids as a percentage of hybrid seed), keeping maize production constant.Statistics and reproducibility. OST was run in 11 locations across three countries between 2016 and 2019, on replicated plots for 26 genotypes on a total of 2784 plots. OFT was run in 79 farmer fields for 3 years, on replicated plots for 19 genotypes on 1851 plots. Farmer evaluations were conducted on a total of 2697 farmers in eight farmer fields in 2017 and six farmer fields in 2018. Field data was analyzed using ASREML. Charts were produced in Excel and using packages ggplot2.Inclusion. Research herein reported was designed and implemented with the full partnership of local researchers from KALRO, ARC, and CIMMYT. Five of the nine authors are local scientists. Data ownership and intellectual property rights are guided by the research collaboration agreement between the four implementing institutions. Research is locally relevant as determined in collaboration with local partners. Roles and responsibilities were co-developed and agreed upon prior to each season with extensive input and guidance from local partners. Capacity development was a critical component of both the SPTA project and the predecessor project Improved Maize for African Soils. Participation of international scientists supported by these projects in regional training events hosted by CIM-MYT occurs annually. Four local scientists have participated in the projects as part of their dissertation research.","tokenCount":"5817"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5571786888.json b/data/part_1/5571786888.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fe356140d9a1a277924a0620a21a82f489c02375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5571786888.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"30014dca199a8843daa789842b172e89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f9b903e3-91cc-4015-a4af-9791d53260bf/retrieve","id":"-592703888"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"25ffb4aa-8428-471c-833e-1c7392fcc43e","pagecount":"353","content":"Rice has been cultivated in Asia since the dawn of history. Improvements took place over many centuries in mainland China and elsewhere, as farmers selected and planted their best varieties. But yields throughout the area remained low and static.Research to develop new varieties began in Japan shortly after the turn of the century, and by the 1940s work on improved varieties was also taking place in Taiwan, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia. Efforts were also made on a number of occasions to introduce into the tropics technology from the United States and Japan, including the importation of Japanese farmers, usually without success. Moreover, the traditional varieties were not responsive to fertilizer applications beyond a low level. As in the case of wheat, the tall, leafy plants that resulted cut down the rate of photosynthesis of the lower leaves and lodged long before harvest. By the late 195Os, some of the national research programs had achieved moderate results in developing short, stiff-strawed varieties that responded better to fertilizer and had a higher yield potential, but there had been no breakthrough of widespread application.Still, Asian rice breeders were acquiring knowledge and experience with rice that would later serve them in good stead.12 During the early 195Os, Rockefeller Foundation officials were considering ways in which they could contribute more to improving food prospects in Asia. Rice, as the major food crop of the region, seemed to be a logical target, and improved research the best approach for the foundation. 11.Agricultural Research-the ccx%R-is the result of one of the least known but most successful international development initiatives of the postwar era. With modest resources contributed from many quarters, it has helped developing countries to grow enough food to provide better lives for millions of their people and in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere to stave off recurrent famine.To most people such an outcome seemed visionary in the 1960s and 197Os, when agricultural research was first being undertaken on an international scale. Populations in the developing countries were rising rapidly, in large part because the introduction of modern medicine had begun to improve health and reduce infant mortality. There was widespread concern-shared by the rich, wellsupplied countries as well as those hard pressed to meet their people's basic needs-that the developing world would not be able to grow enough food to meet the rapidly rising demand. Farmers in earlier times had increased the supply of food to keep pace with growing population by bringing unused land into production. Now, however, the farmers in many developing countries were already cultivating all of the arable land, using for the most part seed varieties and farming methods that were centuries old and offered small prospect of increased yields. There was little hope that this traditional agriculture could meet the growing need for food.It was against this background that the CGIAR and the thirteen international agricultural research institutions under its aegis came into being, a partnership of scientists, developing countries, and aid-giving countries and institutions. Today the CGIAR system com-V vi FOREWORD prises over six thousand people-scientists, technicians, and workers on experiment farms-who are developing the new technologies needed to expand agricultural production in the developing world. They have been eminently successful, for today agriculture in many countries has begun to be transformed. Production of rice and wheat, the staple foods in many countries, has already increased, through the introduction of new plant varieties and methods of cultivation, by enough to feed half a billion more people, and the potential exists for increases in other crops.Thlese gains have been possible because, beginning more than twenty years ago, knowledgeable, creative, farsighted people saw the need for action and devised the means to take it. These were, at the outset, the people in the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations who joined together in the 1960s to design and establish a new kind of agricultural research center, international in scope, independent and multidisciplinary in character; then the people in the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Bank who in the early 1970s designed, sponsored, and promoted a new kind of international venture-the cGIAR-to oversee and finance a network of these new research centers; the people in the aid ministries of donor countries and the international development finance institutions who came forward to contribute the funds needed; and most of all the scientists in the research centers and their collaborators in the developing countries who have worked with great dedication to develop better crops and better ways of raising them.Since the CGIAR was founded in 1971, the World Bank has provided the chairman from among its senior officers. Warren C. Baum was the second chairman and held the position for ten years, through 1983. He has written this book about the genesis, development,, achievements, problems, and potential of this lively international effort. The World Bank is proud of its involvement in the CGIAR and is pleased to offer this work as a token of respect and encouragement to the CGIAR and to those who have taken part in making it a success or who will guide it in the future. We believe the book will also be of interest to others in the development and scientific communities who wish to learn more about this unique enterprise. To WRITE A BOOK about the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research has been for me a labor of love. Like most of those who have been associated with this remarkable enterprise, I count the time that I have spent with the CGIAR as the most rewarding of my professional career. No doubt this enthusiasm has colored the book, although I have tried-not always successfully I am sure-to present objectively the evidence on which the reader can reach his own conclusions.The CGIAR is now (in 1986) celebrating its fifteenth birthday. This is not old as international organizations go, but it is old enough that several different books might be written about it. Some might find the scientific activities of the international agricultural research centers, of which those dealing with rice (IRRI) and wheat (CIMMYT) are the best known, to be the subject of greatest interest. I have tried to convey some understanding of the nature and importance of these activities, which are the raison d'etre of the CGIAR, and of what has been accomplished. But I am an economist rather than a natural scientist by training, schooled in the doctrine of comparative advantage. Having served as chairman of the CGIAR during ten of its fifteen years, I have chosen to orient the book primarily around the workings of the CGIAR itself.I believe, again in common with many of those familiar with it, that the CGIAR is one of the more successful ventures in the art and diplomacy of development assistance. So the lessons of the CGIAR experience, including the occasional mistakes, shortcomings, and failures, may be worth recounting in their own right. This means that aid administrators and other public officials will share the stage with the international scientists who hitherto, and not without justice, have received such public attention as the CGIAR has at-xii PREFACE tracted. This unique partnership of individual scientists, staff and officers of private foundations, and officials of industrial and developing countries and of international organizations has made the CGIAR one of the most effective weapons in the campaign against hunger.Given the orientation of the book and that it is based in considerable part on my own experiences and observations, I have taken sole responsibility for its authorship. But I hasten to acknowledge the special contribution of Michael L. Lejeune, a former colleague in the World Bank and executive secretary of the CGIAR during the years 1974 to 1982. Mr. Lejeune collaborated with me on much of the book. He provided background material and initial drafts of several of the chapters. He also reviewed and commented on the manuscript as a whole and helped in its editing and revision. Harold Graves, who was executive secretary during the CGIAR'S earlier years, drafted background materials, marked with his own sprightly style, for chapter 3.Other former colleagues in the CGIAR-Ralph W Cummings, Richard H. Demuth, Lloyd Evans, Curtis Farrar, Lowell Hardin, Robert Herdt, and John Nickel-read and commented on the entire manuscript; Jock Anderson, David Bell, David Hopper, and Donald Plucknett commented on parts of it. While I benefited from their many criticisms and suggestions, I am responsible for the contents of the book, the views and opinions expressed, and the mistakes of commission and omission that undoubtedly remain. The numerous secretarial tasks during the writing and editing were handled very capably by Virginia Acio throughout. Moreen Tolerton also participated in the secretarial work until her reassignment.A word of explanation may be in order about the paucity of footnotes. Much of the material on which the early history in the first two chapters is based comes from the archives of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, including the oral histories of some of the participants. I am very grateful to the foundations for granting me access to this information. (I am also indebted to the Rockefeller Foundation for my period as a resident fellow at its international conference and study center at Bellagio, Italy, where I was able to work on the book at what is, for the CGIAR, a historic site.) For the later chapters dealing with the CGIAR itself, I have relied for the most part on internal documents of the World Bank, the verbatim record and summaries of proceedings of CGIAR meetings, the proceedings of the meetings of the Technical Advisory Committee, and other CGIAR documents that are not in the public domain. There seemed to be little point in making detailed references to materials to which the public at large does not have access. I believe that the record presented in the book is factually accurate, however much my enthusiasm may have influenced the conclusions I have drawn from it. of how the international community organized and is operating a system of scientific research and development to combat hunger in large parts of the developing world. It is, by most standards, a success story. The system's contribution to the Green Revolution-the astounding jump in basic food production that has occurred in the developing world, particularly in Asia, since the mid-1960s-is by now well documented. The institutional cooperation that brought the system into being has been called \"a remarkable chapter in the diplomacy of international development assistance.\"' The system, as well as individuals and organizations within it, has received international recognition and award, and it has been flattered by imitation. Yet some efforts to emulate it in other fields have been abortive or met with limited results, and its success, through a healthy and perhaps inevitable process, has spawned skeptics and critics. How the system came into being, how it works, what issues it faces, what it has-and has notaccomplished, and what lessons can be learned from its experience are the subjects of this book.The 1960s and early 197Os, when the new research system was being developed and put in place, were a period of widespread scientific and popular concern that rapidly rising population, particularly in developing countries, would soon outstrip the world's capacity to increase food supplies. The Malthusian threat of a world food crisis, if not worldwide famine, seemed real and was given further credence by the droughts in Asia in the mid-1.960s. Articles and books were written, not only about the \"limits to growth\" but also about the \"lifeboat\" strategy and the principles of triage: how society should decide which countries or groups of people should survive in the event of a food shortage of global proportions.That this apocalyptic vision has not yet come about is due to many factors-including faulty premises in the reasoning-but the new agricultural research system has played its part.This was also a period when agriculture was gaining ascendancy in the economic strategies of developing countries. Experience was demonstrating that in many countries industrial development alone could not provide the engine for sustained economic growth. A prosperous agriculture was essential. But in many countries only a limited amount of new arable land could be brought into production.Increasing the productivity of existing land therefore appeared essential both to meeting food needs as population increased and incomes rose and to promoting a thriving agriculture on which the development of the rest of the economy depended. The stage was set to welcome a new approach to agricultural research and development that held out the promise of greatly increasing yields from existing land.At the heart of the new research and development system is a process-of large-scale plant breeding and testing that has produced new, higher-yielding varieties of wheat, rice, and other crops. As it has developed, the system has also come to represent a holistic approach-combining biology with socioeconomics-to raising the production of food of improved quality in the developing world. Thus, scientists within the system investigate plant physiology to maximize yields and plant response to the supply of nutrients, soil and water management and better agronomic practices to deal with varying and often difficult ecological conditions, and plant pathology and entomology to better control the perennial crop pests and diseases that have proved perversely resistant to some of the early genetic improvements. Economists and other social scientists have joined forces with the natural scientists to study how new crop varieties can be combined with existing farming systems, what policies and incentives are necessary for the new technologies to be adopted, and how obstacles to change can best be overcome. Research and development has also focused on strengthening the national agricultural research systems of developing countries-which have become important partners in the process and bear the ultimate responsibility for adapting the new technology and introducing it to the farmers' fields-and on conserving the developing world's supply of plant genetic resources.The principal agents in developing and disseminating this new approach are a group of independent, international agricultural research centers, now numbering thirteen. The concept of agricultural research centers that are both international in character and self-administering was a novelty when it was introduced in the 1960s. Also innovative, early in the 197Os, was the concept that the centers, loosely joined together, should come under the aegis of a Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR was conceived as an informal, voluntary association of donors that reviews the centers' programs and budgets, provides their funding, and sets priorities for future research and action. A small number of representative developing countries (in addition to those that are donors) are also members, and the Consultative Group is advised by a committee of distinguished agricultural scientists. The international centers and the Consultative Group together compose what is called here the CGIAR system, a collaborative effort of scientists, administrators, and donors who together have forged a unique experiment in international cooperation.Early History of Agricultural ResearchThe origins of modern agricultural research can be traced to the second half of the nineteenth century, when efforts were first made to find scientific alternatives to traditional agricultural methods. In traditional agriculture, yields depended in large part on the inherent fertility and other qualities of the soil. Agriculture tended to flourish where soils were rich and rainfall was adequate or where irrigation and drainage could be controlled. The principal varieties of crops available to farmers were those that had been planted for centuries because of their ability to produce dependable, although modest, yields. These varieties had also become adapted to the low levels of crop management employed by most traditional farmers.Among the scientific discoveries and innovations that have revolutionized agriculture, one of the most important is the application of Mendel's laws of genetics to plant breeding, which has made it possible to develop new varieties with predetermined characteristics.J. George Harrar, who will figure promi-nently in the early portions of this narrative, has described the modern geneticist as \"a sort of biologic tailor who fits varieties into a specific environment, using such techniques as induced polyploidy, multiple topcrossing and backcrossing to obtain and fix desirable characteristics and produce blended progenies.\"2 Plant breeding offered alternatives to native varieties, which for most crops had proved to be ill suited to the high levels of fertilizer and intensive management used in modern agriculture to obtain higher yields. In particular, the cereal grains tended to develop excessive vegetative growth under modern techniques of cultivation. As a result, the plants became so top-heavy that they \"lodged\" (fell over) long before harvest or shaded the lower leaves, which reduced overall grain yield.3Particularly dramatic has been the development through plant breeding of new strains of wheat with strong stems and the genetic potential to benefit from increased nutrients. Japan has a long history, going back at least to the 187Os, in the development of a dwarf wheat stalk that would not lodge even on the richest soils and with the heaviest applications of manure. One strain, known as Norin 10, was released to Japanese farmers in 1935. The Japanese varieties were, in turn, used in breeding programs, first in Italy and then in the United States and Mexico. In 1946, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist acting as agricultural adviser to the occupation army in Japan brought back varieties of Norin 10 to the United States. Norin 10 was not satisfactory for direct use, but it was crossed in breeding programs with domestic varieties eventually to produce a number of semidwarf lines. One semidwarf winter wheat variety, Gaines, developed by Orville Vogel of the Department of Agriculture and Washington State University, was released in 1961 and spread rapidly through the northwest United States.\" 2. \"Food for the Future,\" p p a er p resented at the Symposium for Natural Resources: Power, Metals, Food, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Berkeley, California, December 27, 1954. 3. See Sterling Wortman, \"The Technological Basis for International Agriculture,\" in Rockefeller Foundation, Agricultural Development: Proceedings of a Conference (New York, 1969); and Sterling Wortman and Ralph Cummings, Jr., To Feed This World: The Challenge and the Strategy [Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978). Both references contain an extensive bibliography on the subject. The pioneering cooperative effort in international agricultural research was a joint program on food crops initiated in Mexico in 1943 by the Rockefeller Foundation and the government of Mexico. The program was the Rockefeller Foundation's first venture into the field of agriculture; theretofore its operations had been confined to public health, a field in which it was already well known in Mexico. Two men played key roles in bringing about this partnership between the government of Mexico and the Rockefeller Foundation. One was Josephus Daniels, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who had tried in 1935 to interest the foundation in Mexico's agricultural problems. The other was Henry A. Wallace, who as vice president elect represented the United States at the inauguration of General Manuel Camacho as president of Mexico in December 1940. To the Mexicans, Wallace represented modern, scientific agriculture, both as a former secretary of agriculture and as an Iowa farmer with worldwide recognition as a breeder of corn (maize). Wallace spent a month in Mexico after the inauguration, conferring with Mexican agricultural officials, including Marte R. Gomez, the minister of agriculture, and Alfonso Gallardo, subsecretary of agriculture.Undoubtedly through Wallace's influence, they promptly established a maize-breeding program.5 In early 1941, when Wallace and Daniels were both back in the United States, the latter had a chance meeting with a long-time friend, John A. Ferrell, who was regional director of the Rockefeller Foundation for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Daniels urged Ferrell-who himself had also tried unsuccessfully to interest the foundation in Mexican agriculture-to speak with Wallace. He did so promptly, accompanied by Raymond Fosdick, president of the foundation. Advances in Agronomy, vol. 6 (1954), pp. 103-04.Wallace told the foundation officials that work in health and in agriculture should go hand in hand. Improved health alone was insufficient:reduced mortality would in fact lead to a decline in per capita food availability. Raising the yields of maize, wheat, and beans (the principal Mexican foods) through modern agricultural methods would have a greater effect on national living standards than anything else that could be done. Fosdick was persuaded and responded quickly. Following a time-honored foundation procedure, he appointed a committee to look into the matter and recommend a course of action. At the committee's recommendation, a survey commission consisting of \"three eminent agricultural scientists, tempered by experience and distinguished by achievement,\" was sent to Mexico.6 This team consisted of Richard Bradfield, a soil scientist; Paul Mangelsdorf, a geneticist and plant breeder; and Elvin Stakman, a plant pathologist. These men, who later became known as the Three Musketeers of Agriculture, had among them seventy-five years of experience in agriculture.The survey commission advised a \"top-down\" approach, relying heavily on research as the first essential step. It proposed that a highly trained research team of Rockefeller-appointed staff work jointly with Mexican scientists, who would be trained under the program, to solve local problems in ways adapted to the physical and cultural requirements of the local environment. (This approach was a precursor of the international centers that would come into being later.) Three priorities were established initially: breeding better varieties of maize, wheat, and beans; improving methods of soil management and crop protection; and increasing the productivity of domestic animals. Wallace had undoubtedly instilled in his Mexican colleagues a desire to look abroad for help in bringing about an agricultural revolution which, they recognized, was needed to complement and give effect to the agrarian (land reform) revolution begun in 1910. They turned naturally to the Rockefeller Foundation. Not only had the foundation already demonstrated its commitment to public health in Mexico, but at the time there was no official U.S. aid program, nor was there a United Nations or a Food and Agriculture Organization to turn to for assistance. The first staff member of the joint Mexico-Rockefeller Foundation program, and the leader of the four-man Rockefeller team, 6. Raymond Fosdick in the foreword to Stakman and others, Campaign against Hunger.was J. George Harrar. 7 Edwin Wellhausen arrived in Mexico in September 1943 to head the maize-breeding program. Norman Borlaug arrived in October 1944 and took responsibility for the wheat-breeding program early in 1945. Progress in wheat research was slow, as had been expected; the early breeding efforts ran into a yield plateau because the plants lodged when nitrogen fertilizers were applied, and they were susceptible to stem rust. Borlaug corresponded with Vogel at Washington State University, and in 1953 a few seeds of a Norin 10 cross arrived in Mexico. After a first unsuccessful attempt, a new type of wheat was produced in 1955 with higher-yield potential. It took another seven years of experiment, and frequent failures, before the first Mexican semidwarf varieties, Pitic 62 and Penjamo 62, were released for commercial use. Some characteristics of the new semidwarf wheats were attributable to Norin 10 genes, and some to careful selection for desirable features from other parent varieties. The principal characteristics of the semidwarf wheat varieties, as compared with the traditional varieties and as they have developed over time, are: as much additional grain as the traditional ones for each kilogram of added nitrogen fertilizer up to the first 70 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare. (Beyond this level, yields of the traditional varieties do not increase significantly because of lodging, but yields of semidwarfs respond up to 150 kilograms of nitrogen..) l Disease resistance. Breeders have incorporated in the semidwarfs greater resistance to many diseases. * Wide adapfability. Many semidwarfs adjust well to a wide range of temperature, soils, moisture, and day length and hence can be u.sed more widely in different environments and at different planting dates.s In 1944, when wheat yields averaged eleven bushels per acre, Mexico was importing half the wheat it consumed. By 1966, only four years after the new varieties were released, they had taken over 95 percent of the area cultivated to wheat in Mexico. By 1969, wheat yields had increased more than threefold, to thirtynine bushels per acre, and Mexico had become self-sufficient in wheat.By the early 196Os, the cooperative program in Mexico had advanced to the stage where Mexican scientists and the national research organization were able to take full command of the research in their own country. The Rockefeller Foundation closed down its formal program in Mexico in 1964; a small staff, including Borlaug, remained to continue work on the international aspects of the program, linking Mexican varieties with other breeding programs around the world. Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his service to agriculture.9As the wheat, maize, and other programs in Mexico developed, other countries in Latin America became interested, and 8. Hanson and others, Wheat in the Third World, pp. 18-23. 9. Borlaug has been described as a perfectionist, with a fanatical devotion to wheat. Once, after a hard day's drive, he and a companion arrived at an experiment station. Borlaug said, \"How about going over and taking a quick look at the wheat plots?\" His companion responded testily, \"Tonight? It's way after midnight; we can't see wheat now.\" Borlaug's response was, \"There's a good moon; we could at least see what the plots look like.\" Quoted in Stakman and others, Campaign against Hunger, p. 81.the Rockefeller Foundation received numerous invitations to establish similar collaborative arrangements elsewhere. One of these, from Colombia, was accepted in 1950, and a cooperative research program in potatoes, wheat, beans, and forage crops was established. The first Rockefeller staff members sent to Colombia were transferred from the Mexican program. They found that the improved materials developed in Mexico could be used immediately in other areas with similar climate, so that rapid progress was possible. As in Mexico, the program was organized as a special office of the Ministry of Agriculture, with Rockefeller and Colombian personnel joining forces to conduct the various research activities. As in Mexico, the objectives were to increase production of basic foods, to help educate young scientists, and to promote the development of educational and research institutions. The results in Colombia were also impressive, with improved wheat making its way faster than maize. Ecuador became linked to the Colombian program and received help from the foundation. A program similar to those of Mexico and Colombia was begun in Chile in 1955. Harrar, after leaving the Mexican program to take positions of increasing responsiblity within the foundation, began to link these national efforts into a mutually supportive international program.In 1963, the governments of Pakistan and India invited Borlaug to look into their wheat problems. In both instances, the invitations to Borlaug, still relatively unknown on the international scene, were very likely inspired by foundation representatives who were working closely with the governments on their agricultural problems. Ralph Cummings of the Rockefeller Foundation performed this role in the case of India. Haldore Hanson was the representative in Pakistan of the Ford Foundation, which had been active in education, economic planning, population control, and rural development in various parts of Asia since the early 1950s.In examining the genetic material in Pakistan, Borlaug found a number of lines from Mexico growing at several stations. They had been brought back by two Pakistani trainees who had attended the Mexican training program under the sponsorship of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Although the Mexican semidwarfs were already outproducing native wheats, the trainees had hidden them in a far corner of the research station; according to Hanson, they were cautious about the reaction of local government scientists to the introduction of foreign varieties.The following year, with Ford Foundation support, a program of accelerated wheat improvement was launched in Pakistan. Called the All-Pakistan Wheat Research and Production Program, it was led by the president of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, himself a. landowner and farmer. Ignacio Narvaez, director of the Mexican national wheat program, followed Borlaug to Pakistan and took up residence there in 1964 to help with the program.The results achieved went beyond Borlaug's fondest expectations. Wheat production in Pakistan rose from 3.9 million tons in 1966 (the year before semidwarf varieties were introduced) to 7.3 million tons in 1971. The near doubling of production was achieved partly by increasing the area under cultivation, partly by better weather, but largely by improving yields. The national average yield rose from 760 kilograms a hectare in 1966 to 1,171 kilograms a hectare in 1971 (it reached 1,500 kilograms a hectare during the late 1970s). In 1980, the new wheats, most released under the name Mexipak 66, covered 75 percent or more of Pakistan's wheat land, and the wheat harvest reached 10.8 million tons. lO In the early 196Os, Indian agricultural scientists had been working, with the assistance of the Rockefeller Foundation, on the introduction of Mexican wheat and hybrid maize. They were able to build on a tradition of scientific research going back to British rule, which had resulted in the establishment of strong national institutions.Pitic 62 and Penjamo 62 reached India in 1962 among the varieties made available for world testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The Mexican varieties were tested on Indian research stations in 1962 and 1963 and performed well. After his visit, Borlaug arranged for shipment of samples of other Mexican wheat varieties, which were used in the spring trials in 1964. Two of the Mexican semidwarfs outyielded all Indian test varieties by 30 percent. After 1964, the 10. Norman Borlaug, \"National Production Campaigns,\" in Strategy for the Conquest of Hunger, Proceedings of a Symposium Convened by the Rockefeller Foundation, April 1 and 2,1968 (New York: Rockefeller Foundation, 1968); and Hanson and others, Wheat in the Third World, pp. 49-50.Indian government committed itself to a dynamic national wheat production program built around the new semidwarf varieties, together with appropriate adjustments in production technology and market incentives. The campaign, under the leadership of the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute and the Indian Council on AgriculturalResearch, involved a wheat-testing program on research stations, agronomy trials at numerous sites, a speedup in seed multiplication, a demonstration program in farmers' fields that eventually covered all wheat-producing states, and massive importation of Mexican wheat seed and of the necessary fertilizer. The minister of agriculture, C. Subramanian, played a key role in giving impetus and policy direction to the program.National demonstrations were organized in 1966, in cooperation with the states and universities, involving hundreds of halfhectare plots in farmers' fields. Each plot had two parts: one \"Your Way,\" using the farmers' traditional seed and cultivation practices; and one \"Our Way,\" using a semidwarf variety and agronomic practices developed by the research service, including heavy applications of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. In the 1967 harvest, \"Your Way\" yields averaged 1,200 kilograms a hectare and \"Our Way\" gave 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms a hectare. Much of the semidwarf wheat harvested in 1967 was saved for seeding the next crop. In 1968, the national wheat harvest was 16.5 million tons, almost 50 percent more than in 1967, although weather accounted for part of the difference.A revolution in wheat growing was under way. When wheat farmers in the Punjab learned of the great yield advantage of the dwarf varieties, their demand for the new seeds quickly exceeded the supply. The seeds commanded a premium price on the open market, and the experimental plots and warehouses had to be protected to prevent the seeds from being stolen.The dramatic harvest of 1968 had required only six years of intensive research, crop testing, and training of farmers from the time the first semidwarfs arrived from Mexico. India did not rely long on imported wheat varieties, however. Its scientists, by careful breeding of local and Mexican germ plasm, developed new varieties that were as high-yielding and disease resistant as any of the Mexican semidwarfs and were also resistant to some diseases encountered in India that had not been important in Mexico. Two new varieties were released in 1967 under the names of Kaljransona and Sonalika; within a few years they be-Warren Weaver, director of the foundation's Division of Natural Sciences and Agriculture, and Harrar, then the deputy director, visited Asia in 1952 and again in 1953. In the following year, they prepared a paper for the foundation's board of trustees proposing the establishment of an \"International Rice Research Institute in Asia.\"r3 They had concluded that a single center of international scope was the best way to deal with the basic problems of rice growing, which were universal. They argued that \"many of the really fundamental physiological, biochemical, and genetic problems are essentially independent of geography, and they are certainly independent of political boundaries . . .\" A central institute would be the most economical way to concentrate expensive equipment and, more important, a \"highpowered and efficient international team of experts,\" who would supplement each other and form a more effective team than any one developing country could hope to create. The team members would be able to work together on common problems under optimal conditions. Thus, Weaver and Harrar's reasoning foreshadowed the international agricultural research institutes that would be established over the next twenty-five years.The original hope was that the Rockefeller Foundation would provide the funds for building and equipping the institute and that the major rice-producing countries of Asia would jointly meet the operating expenses. When the countries were approached, however, each stated that it would gladly support such an institute, but only if it were located in that particular country. On this rock of narrowly conceived national interest the prospect of multiple-country contributions foundered, and the Rockefeller staff concluded that it would be unwise to undertake such a venture on their own. The proposal was shelved, and in its stead the foundation began a program of grants for equipment, books, fellowships, and specific research projects in the region.This was the state of play when the Ford Foundation entered the picture. The foundation was very much interested in the food problem, but had decided to stay out of science and research. Community development projects were the centerpiece of the foundation's activities at the time, particularly in India.The central concept was to have one or more \"multipurpose\" workers assigned to a village or group of villages to help the villagers discuss their development needs and organize themselves to seek and use government assistance. It assumed that the technology required to raise agricultural productivity already existed (through prior research), as did the extension agencies to deliver it. In 1956, when Forrest (\"Frosty\") Hill, then vice president for overseas development, visited the large, foundationsupported community projects, he became convinced that much more research was needed to develop suitable technologies for traditional farmers, as well as more training of extension workers.14When Hill left his post as provost of Cornell University in 1955 to join the Ford Foundation, he had never been in a developing country. Still, he was attracted by the opportunity, in his words, \"to get a ringside seat at the greatest social, economic and political revolution the world has ever seen.\"15 Hill became acquainted with Harrar a few years later. By one of those bits of serendipity that played an important part in this story, they commuted together to New York City from time to time on the train from Scarsdale. Hill on various occasions suggested to Harrar that the Rockefeller Foundation become active in rice research in Asia. Another opportunity to press the point was afforded by a meeting of officials of the two foundations on August 18, 1958 to consider a proposal that had been developed for the joint financing of a College of Agriculture in Lyallpur, Pakistan. Toward the close of the meeting, the following conversation took place, as reported by Hill: Hill: George, when are you guys going to do something about rice? Harrar: We just don't have the money. Hill: We've got some money. You have the experience in conducting research. Why don't we get together and see what we can do?r6 Hills further comment was that \"this seemed like a good idea to both of us.\" From this casual conversation was forged a re-14. See Lowell S. Hardin, The Ford Foundation and Third World Activities: A 25 Year Perspective (New York: Ford Foundation, 1978).15. This discussion and other sections of this and the next chapter are based in part on unpublished materials in the archives of the Ford Foundation.16. See Chandler, Adventure in Applied Science, pp. 65. Chandler was present at the meeting. markable partnership between the two foundations that over the next decade laid the basis for the international agricultural research system that is now in place. Staff of the two foundations worked together as a team reporting jointly to their respective heads, and with less dissension than one would expect to find within the confines of even a single organization.The proposal for an International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)  was revived. This time the institute would be supported jointly by the two foundations, with Ford providing the capital funds and Rockefeller providing the scientific staff, meeting the operating expenses, and managing the institute.The proposal was strongly endorsed by the presidents and the boards of trustees of the two foundations.Hill advised his board that agricultural research would have to be supported on a long-term basis (such as fifteen years), an important departure from the foundation's policy of making grants for a maximum of five years. Each of the foundations committed itself to support IRRI for a period of at least seven years.The proposal put to the Ford Foundation board did not minimize the importance of this undertaking:Aside from the possibility of all-out nuclear war, two of the most important problems confronting the world today are the related problems of population and food supply. The socalled \"median estimate\" of world population made by the United Nations demographic office is 6 billion people by the year 2000, compared with an estimated 2.8 billion at the present time. Added to the prospect of a staggering increase in numbers is the hard fact that millions of people in the world today have never had a nutritionally adequate diet. At best, the world food outlook for the decades ahead is grave; at worst, it is frightening.Rice is the most important single food crop in the world . . . Rice is the major item in the diets of more than one half of the world's population.It supplies 70 to 80 per cent of the entire calorie intake in many countries.Over 90 per cent of the world's rice crop is produced in Asia, with South America, Africa, and North America ranking next in order of importance. Small amounts of rice are produced in Europe, the U.S.S.R., and Oceania. As this suggests, most of the world's rice production occurs in the so-called underdeveloped countries, areas that have been largely by-passed by the stream of modern science and technology. Except for Japan and the United States, production methods in most countries are primitive and inefficient, yields are low, and prices are relatively high.Although rice research is in progress in various parts of the world, the major advances lie ahead. Great opportunities exist for increasing the quantity and improving the quality of rice for the rapidly growing number of people dependent upon this important crop for food.There had been previous discussions with the Philippine government on the use of a plot of land adjacent to the experimental rice fields of the College of Agriculture of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. The Philippines commended itself to the foundations because of its stable and friendly government, its use of the English language, and its good health and education facilities. The formal establishment of the International Rice Research Institute took place in 1960 by an act of the Philippine legislature, which granted it tax immunity.Work on staffing the institute at Los Banos proceeded apace, with Robert Chandler, Jr., and Sterling Wortman, both of the Rockefeller staff and graduates of the Mexican program, serving as director and assistant director, respectively. Harrar was the first chairman of the institute's board of trustees; he was succeeded in 1963 by Hill. Construction began in January 1961, and only a year later the institute was dedicated with a sizable international staff on hand.17Profiting from the Mexican wheat experience, IRRI staff knew what they were searching for: an improved short-statured variety. In their effort to develop one or more as soon as possible, IRRI plant breeders collected 10,000 of the world's rice varieties and strains; not one met all their requirements. IRRI'S scientists then embarked on a major rice-breeding program, including multiple crosses between dwarf and tall varieties. The most successful of these crosses was between Peta, a tall Indonesian variety then being grown extensively in the Philippines, and Dee-geo-woo-17. IRRI'S staff was truly an international, multidisciplinary team. By 1964, the scientific staff included I? R. Jennings (United States) and T. T. Chang (Taiwan) in plant breeding and genetics, S. H. Oh (Taiwan) in plant pathology, Mano Pathak (India) in entomology, E N. Ponnamperuma (Ceylon) in soil chemistry, James Moomaw (United States) and S. K. De Datta (India) in agronomy, Akira Tanaka (Japan) and Benito Vergara (Philippines) in physiology, Takashi Akazawa (Japan) and Bienvenido Juliano (Philippines) in chemistry, and Vernon Ruttan (United States) in economics. Wortman and Cummings,To Feed This World,p. 152. gen, a Taiwanese dwarf variety thought to have come from southern China several hundred years earlier. From this mixed parentage there emerged one particular variety that performed outstandingly in field trials throughout tropical and subtropical Asia. In variety trials at experiment stations in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Malaysia in 1966, yields exceeded those of the best local varieties by amounts ranging from 2.3 to 3.5 metric tons a hectare, or by 60 to 100 percent. In 1966, just four years after the research program got under way, IRRI released it as its first named variety: 1~8.IRS was a plant of short stature, with thick, sturdy stems that resisted lodging; narrow, erect leaves to allow maximum penetration of light; a high tillering capacity; a high grain-straw ratio; and insensitivity to day length. In West Pakistan, approximately 10,000 acres were planted to 1~8 in 1967. By 1968, 1~8 covered l,OOO,OOO acres; in the following year, almost double that amount. Total rice production in West Pakistan, including both old and new varieties, increased from 1.4 million metric tons in 1967 to 2.0 million tons in 1968 and 2.8 million tons in 1969.Experience in some other countries was similar. The rapid spread of IRS throughout the rice-growing areas of Asia was the second half of the contribution of foundation-sponsored research to the Green Revolution-\"miracle\" rice to accompany the \"miracle\" wheat. The progress of the research program at IRRI exceeded the expectations of both Harrar and Hill. They thought that it would take ten to fifteen years to develop a dwarf rice variety with superior characteristics-in fact, it took only four.** IRRI'S capital cost of $7,510,000 was provided entirely by grants from the Ford Foundation, while Rockefeller provided the funds for the operating budget in the first two years. In 1964, the two foundations agreed to become equal partners in supporting IRRI on a continuing basis, with the understanding that Rockefeller's share of the operating cost would include its staff assigned to the institute.18. IRRI'S rice-breeding story, of course, only begins with IRS. Although it is still grown in limited areas, IRS proved to be very vulnerable to pests in some locations (such as the brown plant hopper in Indonesia) and its chalky flavor did not appeal to some consumers. Moreover, although well adapted to areas where water depths in the rice paddies could be tightly controlled by irrigation, it was less so to rainfed conditions. IRRI has therefore been engaged in a continuous breeding program to produce new varieties, each superior in some important respect to its predecessors. When IRRI won the Third World Prize in 1982, it was for 1~36.Neither foundation had initially envisaged IRRI as the forerunner of other international institutes, but after IRRI had been in operation only two years the foundations were studying the possibility of creating additional ones, and by the mid-1960s Hill and Harrar had begun to think about a set of international institutes addressed to the major food concerns of the tropics, although neither the number of institutes nor the agenda for each was clear as yet. They and others were aware that such agricultural research as had been conducted in the tropics under colonial governments had been focused on cash crops for export-sugar, coffee, tea, and palm oil, for example; almost none of it had been devoted to food crops. They also knew that little of the research done on food crops in temperate zones was directly transferable to the tropics, although the research methodology, centered around plant breeding, was applicable. So an important research gap existed, which the foundations together, with their financial resources and scientific experience, were well positioned to help fill.In 1962 President Lopez Mateos of Mexico visited mRr,which was rapidly acquiring worldwide recognition. When he returned home, he pressed for the creation of a similar international institut(e specializing in the problems of maize and wheat, to be located in Mexico. An agreement between the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation of October 25, 1963 led to the establishment of the Centro International de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trig0 (CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center). As initially conceived, CIMMYT was to have a small cooperative program, with Mexico providing facilities and the foundation the services of its staff and the necessary foreign exchange. CIMMYT was to be included in Mexico's national agricultural complex at Chapingo and was to be governed by a board of directors, with the Mexican secretary of agriculture and the president of the Rockefeller Foundation serving as chairman and vice chairman of the board, respectively.When Wortman became director for agricultural sciences of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1966, he visited CIMMYT and reported that it could not become an international center as effec-tive as IRRI with the inadequate facilities available at Chapingo and with the limited financial support of one foundation. A new agreement was reached on April 12, 1966, which reconstituted CIMMYT under Mexican law as a private corporation with some of the privileges and characteristics of an international organization. The charter was also amended to provide for a selfperpetuating board of trustees, with the chairman and vice chairman to be elected by the members. The agreement permitted CIMMYT to receive funds from any source and, it was hoped, gave CIMMYT the status required to attract additional support. The Rockefeller Foundation's willingness to proceed was based in part on encouragement from the Ford Foundation, which had informally indicated its willingness to join in support of the new organization.Additional land was provided by the Mexican government at the institute's present site at El Batan and at two additional sites in the valley of Toluca and on the tropical coast at Vera Cruz. The Rockefeller staff that had remained in Mexico, including Borlaug and E. J. Wellhausen (who had directed the maize program), formed the nucleus of the new international staff. Funds for the new facilities were provided by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1966; the Ford Foundation began its support in the following year. The capital costs of CIMMYT were borne by the Rockefeller Foundation, with the two organizations sharing the operating costs.CIMMYT'S headquarters were dedicated in September 1971. Research on the development of new varieties proceeded rapidly, and CIMMYT and IRRI shared the Unesco science prize in 1970, the same year that Borlaug became a Nobel laureate.lg lITA In October 1963, Harrar and Hill, by then president and vice president for international programs of their respective foundations, visited Nigeria to explore the possibility of establishing an agricultural research institute. They proposed to their boards in the following year that an International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) be located at Ibadan, the site of one of Nigeria's universities.A Ford Foundation discussion paper on the IITA proposal subsequently set forth the philosophy underlying and the other centers: \"a first and basic requirement to increase [agricultural] production is the development of improved varieties of crops and cultural practices suited to a wide variety of local conditions. Lacking this, an extension service, even if well organized, has nothing to 'extend' and the organization of farm supply and credit services is likely to yield disappointing results.\" That the foundation was thinking of a research system in global terms is indicated by a further statement: \"a few additional institutions of this kind [like IRRI] located at strategic points in the underdeveloped world, could make major contributions towards helping to solve the world's food problems.\" Moreover, \"large private foundations appear to be the only organizations on the horizon at the present time that are in a position to make the kind of long-term commitments necessary to insure the success of such a venture.\"Although patterned on IRRI, IITA represented a significant departure. Its responsibilities were to be for the improvement of agriculture in a specific ecological zone (the low, humid tropics) rather than for the improvement of one or a few specific crops. Management of the tropical, laterite soils for sustained high productivity under continuous tillage was to be its principal focus. It was to do research on a number of food crops: food legumes (cowpeas and pigeon peas), root crops (sweet potatoes, yams, and cassava), and, in cooperation with IRRI and CIMMYT, rice and maize. The institute was also to develop systems of permanent cultivation for the region to replace the existing pattern of shifting cultivation. IITA was viewed as having a pace-setting role in improving the effectiveness of the research, training, and extension activities of other organizations in the region.The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations shared responsibility for IITA from the outset, but with a formula somewhat different from that adopted initially for IRRI: Ford was to provide all of the capital costs, and the two foundations were to share equally in the operating costs. (The arrangement for IRRI was changed at this time to provide for equal sharing of its operating costs as well.) Rockefeller was to assume responsibility for managing the center, although in practice Ford staff (or staff recruited for the purpose) also played a key role.Although the Nigerian government gave strong and continuing support to the proposed center, activity proceeded slowly because of civil war in the country and the desire of the foundations to keep a close watch on events. The boards of the two foundations committed themselves initially to providing finan-cial support for seven years, beginning whenever the institute became operational. A ceiling of $750,000 a year for the contribution of each of the foundations to operating costs was fixed, \"if possible.\"The legal charter of IITA was promulgated by a decree of the government of Nigeria on July 24,1967. The decree included the unusual provision that the foundations would support core activities for a minimum of fourteen years, if operation was satisfactory. The government made land adjacent to the University of Ibadan available on a long-term lease with an annual rental of one peppercorn. Rockefeller had appointed Will M. Myers, at the time dean of international programs at the University of Minnesota, as the director designate of IITA in January 1965, but by the time the board of trustees first met in 1968 he had become a vice president of the foundation.Ford then engaged Herbert Albrecht, president of North Dakota State University, in his stead. The research program got under way in 1970, but construction was not completed until 1972, by which time the capital cost had mounted to about double the original estimate of $10 million. As it had done in other cases, the Rockefeller Foundation transferred experienced staff who had worked in other international programs to provide a nucleus for the fledgling institute.The fourth and last of the international agricultural research institutes launched by the two foundations during the 1960s was the Centro International de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture).It grew out of the cooperative agricultural program begun in Colombia by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1950. Encouraged by the early success of IRRI, Lewis Roberts of the Rockefeller Foundation and Lowell Hardin of the Ford Foundation jointly prepared a prospectus for an international institute in Colombia. The report submitted to the two foundations in October 1966 bore the self-explanatory title: \"A Proposal for Creating an International Institute for Agricultural Research and Training to Serve the Lowland Tropical Regions of the Americas.\" The proposal contemplated that, like IITA, the Latin American institute would primarily have a regional, ecological orientation rather than focus on one or two crops. Among the arguments in favor of establishing a center on tropical agricultural research for Latin America was the extent of underutilized, almost empty land in the region. These were acid, infertile soils, mostly in remote areas, which had the potential for increasing agricultural production if their fragile ecosystems could be mastered.From 1966 to 1968, the Rockefeller Foundation was the sole supporter of CIAT'S capital and operating costs, with the notable exception that the Kellogg Foundation provided the capital for construction of training and conference facilities and the Kresge Foundation gave capital for a library and publications building. The Ford Foundation, although involved at the outset, had reservations about the evolving program. The Rockefeller Foundation's decision to proceed unilaterally was made with the understanding that, should the Ford Foundation later decide to give its support to the institute, that support would be welcome. The Ford Foundation made its first contribution in 1969, when it became an equal partner with the Rockefeller Foundation in sharing the operating costs. It thus turned out that for each of the four institutes a different modus vivendi was worked out between the two foundations for the funding of capital and operating costs, at least initially.The agreement between the Rockefeller Foundation and the Colombian government was signed on November 7, 1967. Once again the legal agreement was tailor-made to the circumstances of the host country, a fact that would later pose considerable problems when the \"international status\" of the centers became an issue (see chapter 7). For its part, the Rockefeller Foundation's commitment was \"to consider annual grants, not only for the establishment of the center but also for its operating costs.\" Ulysses J. Grant, who had been head of the Rockefeller program in Colombia, was designated CIAT'S first director, and other foundation scientists in Colombia became part of the initial staff complement.CIAT'S research program took a number of years to become stabilized. This was due in part to delays in completing the physical plant at Palmira-adjacent to the Faculty of Agriculture of the National University-which was not inaugurated until October 12, 1973. In the interim, the Colombian Agricultural Research Institute generously offered its Palmira station to the growing nucleus of homeless CIAT staff. There was also a continuing controversy concerning the content of the scientific program. The original Rockefeller Foundation program in Colombia had been very diversified and ambitious, and CIAT'S early research program had components in beef, swine, maize (in cooperation with CIMMYT), beans, and rice (in cooperation with IRRI), as well as studies in agricultural economics and rural sociology. After considerable debate, the CIAT program gradually became more concentrated into the four components that it has today: dry beans, cassava, rice, and, for the infertile soil regions, tropical pastures.20The two foundations, which historically had somewhat different interests, forged an unusually close and effective collaboration in their creation and support of the original four centers. Establishment of each of the four was dealt with by the two foundations in a manner adapted to the particular circumstances of the case. On the whole, the arrangements between the two foundations worked extraordinarily well. The interests of Ford, better endowed financially, were more socioeconomic, while those of Rockefeller, older and with a wealth of scientific staff, were more educational and scientific. Their shared concern to find a way to boost food production in developing countries eased and cemented their collaboration despite occasional and minor differences.One source of some misunderstanding arose from the different personnel policies of the two organizations in their field programs. Rockefeller concentrated on developing a cadre of career scientists, some of whom had been on the staff since the 1940s and who were available for assignment to new institutes as needed. Ford, in contrast, had a policy of employing its field staff on contracts of two, three, or five years. Because the IRRI scientists were identified with the Rockefeller Foundation, some newspaper stories and magazine articles incorrectly gave that foundation the principal credit for IRRI'S successes. In 1966-67, Ford began to permit longer-term employment of key scientists in a few specific cases. Nonetheless, Ford believed that all institute staff should be direct employees and that deputation of staff from the foundations should be progressively reduced. These and other matters were the subject of procedural guide-20. Lowell Hardin presented an interesting paper, \"CIAT as Originally Conceived and CIAT Today: Mandate, Objectives, and Achievements,\" at CIAT'S tenth anniversary celebration of the completion of its physical plant, Palmira, Colombia, October 1983. lines for the selection of directors and staff of the institutes that were agreed between the foundations in 1967.A further difference between the two foundations was that Ford initially was more disposed to recognize the potential contribution of economists and other social scientists as recruits to the multidisciplinary teams of the institutes. This difference also disappeared with time.The mutual trust between the two institutions is evident in the role assigned to Hill. In 1968, when he reached the mandatory age, Hill stepped aside as vice president and became a program adviser to the Ford Foundation.At that time, he took on, virtually for both foundations, the role of principal officer in their work on the centers. Thus, his periodic progress reports were addressed to the heads of both foundations.Hill was succeeded later in 1968 by David Bell, who became executive vice president with responsibility for Ford's international programs.Finding the Funds By 1967, the four institutes were in various stages of construction or operation, and costs were beginning to mount rapidly. In their budget requests for 1968 to their boards of trustees, officials of the two foundations committed themselves to a maximum contribution of $750,000 each to each center, at least for the time being. The total of $3 million to be contributed by each foundation was recognized to be arbitrary and probably inadequate for the centers to reach their full potentials. But some ceiling was considered necessary in order to secure financial support from other sources, to induce cost-effectiveness in the management of the centers, and to encourage the center directors to take the initiative in seeking outside financial help. Moreover, the early successes of IRRI and CIMMYT had given rise to various proposals for additional institutes to work on other crops or regions of the world, which gave further impetus to the search for funds. It had been anticipated from the outset that financial support from additional sources might be desirable, if not essential, and provision had been made in the charter of each institute to enable it to receive gifts and grants from any appropriate source for purposes consistent with the institute's mission and responsibilities.The expected life of the institutes had not been explicitly addressed, but some of the founding fathers thought that the institutes might work themselves out of their jobs in twenty or twenty-five years.In mid-1968, Hill estimated that an additional $5 million to $10 million would be needed annually for the four institutes. Mobilizing funds from other sources proved to take longer than had been expected, or at least hoped, and the foundations each had to provide more than the $750,000 limit-$890,000-to IRRI in 1969.The time had come, in Hill's words, to \"go public.\" The first source to which the foundations turned was the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).In 1965, USAID had made a one-time grant of $350,000 to IRRI for a special project (outside the regular or \"core\" budget) for the development of agricultural machinery. The five-year project was highly successful, but did not immediately lead to other contributions from USAID. During the first half of the 196Os, USAID was hamstrung by congressional attitudes opposing foreign assistance for the development of crops that might compete with U.S. farm production.These attitudes changed in the mid-1960s at the time of the disastrous harvests in India and Pakistan. USAID made a grant of $400,000 to IRRI in June 1968. Eighty percent of the money was tied to the purchase of goods or services from the United States.One of USAID'S annual program reviews conducted by its senior staff had dealt with the topic of the new varieties and had emphasized their great potential. John Hannah, the agency's administrator, and his staff were receptive to the foundations' solicitation of funds to support the work of the centers. Through some confusion in the aid-seeking process, IRRI did not obtain any core funds from USAID in 1969. But CIMMYT did receive $425,000 from USAID in that year, half of it tied to purchases in the United States. The agency was gearing up to accept the foundations' invitation to become a \"full and official\" partner in supporting the centers on a long-term basis. It declined the foundations' offer to have an agency-appointed representative serve on the boards of trustees of the centers, but it did send observers to board meetings and participate in the centers' program reviews.Overtures to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and its president, Maurice Strong, also fell on receptive ears. CIDA proposed to the Canadian government that it provide core budgetary support to IRRI in 1969, but the government turned down its request: Canadian wheat was piling up in storehouses as a result of bumper harvests, and the government did not find the time opportune to seek funds from Parliament to support food crop research in developing countries. CIDA, nev-ertheless, proceeded with plans, to be implemented when the moment was ripe, to join as a full and equal partner with the foundations by pledging $750,000 to one of the centers.The Kellogg Foundation, as noted previously, had been an early supporter of crAr. In 1968 it indicated its willingness to continue its support of CIAT'S outreach and communications programs with grants of up to $250,000 annually.Discussions were also initiated with other potential sources. There were a number of contacts during 1967 and 1968 with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and formal requests for support were submitted, but no assistance was in sight.The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had begun in 1967 to express interest in the role that its member countries might play in strengthening agricultural research activities, both national and international, in developing countries. The United States (later supported by Canada) took the lead in stimulating DAC'S interest in the subject. Meetings of OECD and of DAC were held in Paris in October and November 1968, respectively, with Rockefeller Foundation officials present. It was anticipated that IITA, because of its African location, might be the first institute to receive support from the individual European donors that were DAC members.This was the state of play in the early months of 1969. Numerous contacts had been made, and there were encouraging signs of interest. But the process was slow and time-consuming, and, as Hill observed, the centers needed something more concrete than encouragement with which to pay their bills. As costs continued to rise, the need for more outside support became urgent. The establishment of some kind of consortium of international aid agencies and donor countries had been mooted by Hill and others in 1968, but they were skeptical of the possibility of organizing it.Clearly some kind of more comprehensive approach to raising funds was badly needed. The conference that was held in Bellagio, Italy in April 1969 provided just the opportunity.1969-71on Agricultural Development that took place on April 23-25,1969 at the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy was a landmark in the events leading up to the formation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.There are differing versions of the genesis of the conference (perhaps illustrating the adage that \"success has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan\"). The written record is confusing, and memories are fading, but it would appear that events took place as follows.To promote coordination among the agencies and organizations working on the agricultural problems of the developing world, Addeke Boerma, in one of his first acts as head of the FAO, called a meeting at the United Nations in New York, which was attended by senior representatives of the FAO, the UNDP, the World Bank, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, among others. The meeting considered the merits of convening a conference to discuss and coordinate views on agricultural development. The two foundations wanted to avoid a formal meeting at which the official agencies would have a preponderant weight. Sterling Wortman therefore proposed to hold a small, informal gathering of heads of agencies at the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center in Bellagio, which was ideally suited to such a purpose. The other participants welcomed the idea. The Rockefeller Foundation issued the invitations and hosted the conference.For the foundations, the conference was a golden opportunity to bring the work of the international institutes before the heads of aid agencies that were potential financing partners. Forrest Hill was inspired to raise the level of interoffice correspondence to an alliterative high in a memorandum entitled, \"Selling the Centers at Serbelloni. NThe Bellagio Conference was a unique gathering of top officials of international, regional, national, and private organizations concerned with agriculture.It included the heads of three United Nations agencies (the FAO, the UNDP, and the World Bank), the heads of the U.S., Canadian, Swedish, and British aid organizations, and senior representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both of the foundations were well represented by top officials. A list of the participants is given in the appendix to this chapter.The conference met against a background of worldwide concern, if not despair, over the problems of static food production and rising population in the developing world, mixed with a new hope that modern technology might offer an answer to this ageold problem. These thoughts were well expressed by Will M. Myers, the chairman of the conference, in his foreword to the published proceedings:In recent years we have become increasingly aware that in the underdeveloped nations, most of which are predominantly agrarian, agricultural development must precede or at least be concomitant with industrial and other economic and -Jcial development. We now understand, better than in the past, that a modern industrialized society cannot be built on the quicksand of a traditional subsistence agriculture, particularly in nations where 75 to 85 percent of the people are engaged in agriculture . . . If the developing nations are to catch up with the developed nations, they must make massive strides in increasing the productivity and efficiency of their agricultural sector . . . Meanwhile there has been deepening concern about the food gap in the face of rapidly expanding numbers of people. Increases in food production in the developing countries have hardly kept pace with growth in population, so that in most countries there has been no increase in per capita food production and in several, in fact, there has been a sharp decrease. Since it is in these developing coun-tries that the most critical food shortages already exist, the decline in per capita food production exacerbates an already serious situation . . . Some authorities, viewing the lack of success of past efforts to achieve agricultural development in the developing countries, have expressed despair regarding the possibility of increasing agricultural production rapidly enough to keep up with the growth in human population over the years ahead . . .In the past two or three years there have been, however, strikingly encouraging developments in agricultural productivity increases in a few countries. These results generate optimism regarding the possibility of increasing food production rapidly enough to close the food gap over at least the next two or three decades, and thus buying time for population programs to reduce the rapid rate of population growth . . .iThe range of concerns of the participants was reflected in the papers presented: varieties and to the significance of the new technology for closing the gap between worldwide food production and rising population. The FAO paper on highyielding varieties, for example, called them \"the most exciting breakthrough in tropical and subtropical agriculture for a great many years,\" and Wortman's paper began with the promising statement, \"Mankind now has the capability, given the will, to meet food needs for two or three decades . . . II As the informal summary of the proceedings put it: \"The importance of vastly superior technologies of production was a thread running through the entire meeting. Such vastly superior technologies are a pervasive force in disrupting traditional agriculture and paving the way to its modernization and to great increases in agricultural production.\"The conferees were a disparate group of individuals, some of whom had never met and who had no experience of working together. As one participant (David Bell) saw it, the conference did not begin to coalesce until Hill, in a homespun and persuasive presentation, spoke about how the new varieties were transforming agriculture in places like India's Punjab. Thereafter, a consensus began to form about the importance for the international community to seize the opportunity afforded by the new technology.Later in the discussion, Robert S. McNamara, president of the World Bank, mentioned the possibility of forming a consultative group or consortium for fund raising, and John Hannah of USAID promptly seconded the idea, indicating that the U.S. government would consider providing 25 percent of whatever amount could be raised. The new technology and the new means to fund it were beginning to fit in place.The summary of proceedings stressed the need for financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral agencies to support a hierarchy of institutions, ranging from the international agricultural research institutes through regional research institutes to national research and extension programs. Within this hierarchy, institutions were to be complementary: the international institutes were to provide shortcuts in developing technologies and in training people that would fill the gap while national institutions and programs were established and strengthened. The additional financing needs of the four existing institutes were identified. The conferees also mentioned half a dozen other institutes that could be established, if funds were available, to deal with water development and utilization; economic, social, and agricultural policy problems; arid lands; protein-rich crops; animal health and production; and rodent and pest control. This list was considered speculative; the conferees thought that even more institutes might prove necessary after careful study.There was a consensus on the desirability of additional support for the existing four institutes, up to the levels indicated by the foundations, and for some of the additional ones mentioned. How to mobilize the additional funds was left vague. The conferees noted that some agencies would have difficulty making grants directly to the institutes, and \"various mechanisms and arrangements for overcoming these difficulties\" were discussed. The idea of a consultative group or consortium to serve this purpose had not yet crystallized to the point of being referred to in the summary of proceedings.Participants at the Bellagio Conference had reason to feel that they had attended a meeting of more than ordinary significance. In the course of three days, they had progressed from a general consideration of the broad issues of agricultural development to focus on a highly promising avenue for initiatives to deal with the problem of world hunger: development of new production technologies through internationally supported agricultural research. Perhaps the key to the meeting's success was its particular amalgam of scientists and aid administrators.To Wortman, it was the most important event of his professional life. He remarked, \"While those of us who were scientists thought we knew roughly what was needed, we had no idea what might be done to marshal funds and expand the system. It was here that McNamara, Hoffman [of the UNDP], Hannah, Wilson [of the ODM] and others excelled.\"2From the viewpoint of the foundations, the Bellagio Conference was successful in forging agreement on the need for greatly intensified efforts to develop and introduce new technologies. Wortman thought that \"the problem of financing international agricultural activities, particularly the institutes, seems near resolution\" as a result of the prospective participation of bilateral donors and international agencies, including the World Bank and the UNDP. Financing seemed sufficiently probable to allow the conferees to turn their attention to additional centers, stimulated by McNamara's urging that at least one new institute be brought into being before the next Bellagio meeting of agency heads, proposed for one year hence.It was evident to the foundations that the agency heads present at Bellagio looked to them for continuing leadership. They proceeded immediately with various plans to raise funds from potential donors and to develop the new institutes and activities that had very tentatively been identified. Donor organizations, too, acted quickly to follow up on the enthusiasm generated at Bellagio.First off the mark was the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), whose chairman, Edwin M. Martin, had attended Bellagio. As mentioned in the preceding chapter, DAC had over several years been holding informal meetings to consider ways in which OECD members could assist agricultural research in the developing countries, including the work of the international institutes. Another such informal meeting of experts, which had been scheduled before the Bellagio Conference, was convened by DAC on May 7 and 8, 1969 \"to discuss possible support for international agricultural research institutes.\"The meeting, which was jointly sponsored by the Canadian and U.S. delegations to the OECD, was also attended by representatives of the foundations.In preparation for the meeting, the sponsoring delegations had circulated notes on the international agricultural research institutes. One note, prepared by the foundations, described in detail the rationale and purposes of the four existing institutes; their on-going programs, organization, and staffing; and the need for greater financial support. The different forms that contributions to the international centers might take were described. It was expected that major and continuing donors would be invited to participate in shaping the programs of the institutes through representation on their boards of trustees, membership on central committees of the boards, or participation in annual budget and program reviews held by the principal donors (presumably a reference to the annual International Centers Week convened by the two foundations).If donors contributed through a third organization, such as an international or regional bank, or through a consortium, the third organization or consortium might be represented on the board or at annual budget and program reviews.The DAC meeting evoked strong expressions of interest from a number of the country representatives. To follow up on the discussion, Myers was asked to suggest precise forms of assistance to the international institutes.His subsequent note elaborated on the various types of grant aid, contributions of qualified sci-entific staff, or support of training programs that were possible.In response to the question of how continuing contact might be arranged between the institutes and the national assistance agencies, Myers suggested various means of exchanging visits or proposals. The only suggestion with respect to any kind of \"umbrella\" organization was that the secretariat of DAC could serve as an intermediary, at least for arranging the initial contacts. At this time, clearly, the foundations were not thinking of any new international framework that might be interposed between them and the institutes.The UNDP also responded quickly, because it too had been considering for some time how to provide financial assistance to the international institutes.In his opening statement to the Eighth Session of the UNDP Governing Council in June 1969, Paul Hoffman, the head of the agency, referred to the Bellagio Conference and attached a brief summary of the discussion. After describing the importance of the new research, Hoffman went on to say: I firmly believe that the United Nations Development Programme should devote, in 1970, a small fraction of its resources to global and regional projects in basic agricultural research-something, perhaps, on the order of 2% to 3 percent. What the percentage should be in later years and to what extent basic research in other fields should be supported would be a matter for later decision. Such international inputs should not, in my opinion, require national counterpart contributions, at least for the initial projects receiving UNDP support3 These projects would, however, naturally involve co-operation by Governments of developing countries and participation by their citizens. I have no specific projects of basic agricultural research that I would wish to propose, at this session, for UNDP support. However, should the Governing Council agree that there should be limited and experimental support by the UNDP of basic research in areas of critical need, I would expect that recommendations for two or three such projects could be ready for inclusion in the January 1970 programme.Hoffman concluded this part of his statement on a strong note in which enthusiasm ran ahead of syntax: May I add my further conviction that-on the basis of what has already been accomplished by basic research in certain agricultural fields-UNDP participation in expanding such research is almost obligatory for our Programme. We have here an opportunity to contribute significantly to progress in a fundamental area of development. We should not allow this opportunity to go by ungrasped.Hoffman's proposal evoked favorable comment from almost every speaker in the ensuing general debate. A specific proposal for a UNDP grant of $1.6 million to CIMMYT for use over three years to support work on the development of maize types with high nutritive value was quickly prepared and approved by the Governing Council in January 1970. This was the first such grant by the UNDP to an institution that was not a member of the UN family of organizations.4The Food and Agriculture Organization Of the three UN agencies that would eventually become cosponsors of the CGIAR, the FAO was the one most advanced in its support of agricultural research and development related to the new, high-yielding varieties. The FAO was already assisting a number of small, scattered projects in such areas as field testing of new varieties, development of new seeds, and training of research personnel. It was associated with a regional research institute, the Centro Agron6mico Tropical de Investigacibn y Ensefianza (CATIE, the Center for Research and Training in Tropical Agriculture) at Turrialba, Costa Rica, and had taken the lead in carrying forward an initiative to establish a West African Rice Institute (which later joined the CGIAR as the West Africa Rice Development Association). Based on a 1968 staff paper, the FAO had selected high-yielding varieties of food crops as one of five areas for special concentration of effort. Even before the Bellagio Conference, the FAO was considering ways in which it could assist developing countries in increasing food production with the new varieties and proposed to work more closely with other agencies and the two foundations to this end.Furthermore, a policy review within the FAO endorsed this approach. Boerma had asked a consultant (Sir Otto Frankel) to examine the entirety of the FAO'S policy on science and research in agriculture. The consultant's report recommended that the FAO strengthen and expand its support for science and research through a deliberate and well-orchestrated approach. The FAO Conference of November 1969 confirmed the organization's interest and active role in the field of agricultural research.By the mid-1960s, the World Bank, too, was aware of the rapid spread of the Green Revolution in Asia and was considering how to support the financing of agricultural research in the developing world. Agricultural lending by the Bank was still relatively modest, and research projects were not yet part of the agricultural lending portfolio, except as components of projects for other purposes, such as agricultural education. A proposal for the World Bank to establish a separate foundation to fund such research, presumably to be modeled on the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, had been tried out informally on the Bank's Executive Directors, who had shown little enthusiasm for it.A staff working paper written in 1967 debated the Banks role and found opinions sharply divided. Despite suggestions from the foundations, the FAO, and others that the Bank become more active in this field, considerable doubt was expressed within the Bank about whether countries would rush to borrow in support of national agricultural research programs. It seemed more likely that the Banks role would be confined to technical assistance and some imprecisely defined coordinating function with the foundations and bilateral aid agencies in identifying research needs on a regional basis.Robert McNamara, who became president of the Bank in April 1968, had considerable experience with applied research as president of the Ford Motor Company and as U.S. secretary of defense. Moreover, after coming to the Bank he continued to serve as a director of the Ford Foundation and was familiar with its programs. Fired with enthusiasm following his participation in the first Bellagio meeting in April 1969, McNamara launched a campaign to place the Bank in the forefront of organizing the international funding of agricultural research. McNamara promptly informed the Banks senior staff about the Bellagio meeting, and staff work to flesh out a specific proposal began in earnest. An initial meeting was held with the Rockefeller Foundation, and the assistance of Sir John Crawford, vice chancellor of the Australian National University and a consultant to the Bank on agricultural matters, was enlisted. Discussion by the Bank's Board of Executive Directors (or Executive Board) in June 1969 of the problem of stabilizing the prices of primary products provided the opportunity to arrive at a decision that the Bank should be prepared to participate in financing agricultural research, as much as possible in cooperation with other national and internationalorganizations. An occasion for mobilizing international support was afforded by the annual meeting in September 1969 of the Board of Governors of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which was attended by ministers of finance and governors of the central banks of the member countries. After pledging to expand lending to the agriculture sector, McNamara in his opening statement referred to the response of agricultural production to the new technology, while warning that numerous problems would have to be solved \"if the hopes for the Green Revolution are to remain green. \" He then went on to say:The Bank stands ready to offer both technical advice and financial assistance in all these problems. But there is something further I am convinced we ought to do. We should assume a greater role of leadership in promoting the agricultural research of today that will be the foundation of greater agricultural growth tomorrow.The economic efficacy of such research is dramatically apparent in the case of the new \"miracle seeds.\" They are not the result of a miracle. They are the result of a relatively modest investment of funds, and a high degree of dedicated and creative work. The new rice strains, for example, were developed over a period of six years with a total investment of less than $15 million at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.There is an urgent need for a great deal of this innovative research in fields such as the low-cost production of addi-tional protein; the more effective use and control of scarce water supplies; and the elimination of animal and plant diseases which in some areas reduce livestock and crops by as much as a third . . . I hope, then, that the Bank, and organizations particularly experienced in such matters--the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the aid institutions in countries such as Canada, France, Sweden, and the United States, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations-can join together with the developing nations in order to launch a new and sustained effort in applied research in each of these critical areas.5The following month McNamara wrote to the director general of the FAO and the administrator of the LJNDP, inviting them \"to join with the Bank in exploring the possibility of mobilizing longterm financial support from international agencies, governments and private sources to supplement present arrangements for financing existing international agricultural research institutes and, over time, a number of new ones.\" The two agencies accepted in principle. The first formal steps were thus taken leading to the establishment, with the three agencies as cosponsors, of what would eventually be called the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Within the Bank, the idea of a consultative group emerged only gradually. Although it was clear among the three agencies that the Bank would take the lead in raising funds from multilateral and bilateral sources, the mechanism for doing so was still undetermined.A trust fund was considered, as well as a consortium or consultative group. A consortium implied a more formal pledging of funds from donors than was the practice for consultative groups. The Bank had already used both consortia and consultative groups to coordinate assistance to particular recipient countries, although consultative groups were more customary. In both cases, donors meet periodically-usually once a year-with officials of the developing country, viewed and the aid intentions of the donors discussed. The consortium model appeared to gain favor as various papers and prospectuses were drafted by the staff.A series of meetings was held between the Bank and the two foundations in the latter half of 1969 and early 1970. The foundations warmly welcomed the Bank's entry into the international research scene and the authority it could lend to efforts at raising funds. Progress was made on a variety of fronts in a very cooperative spirit. There remained a difference of view, however, on organization. Although neither the Bank nor the other UN agencies contemplated a direct managerial role in the existing or new international institutes that they would be assisting, they envisaged a more formal and active role for a consortium or consultative group than the foundations thought desirable. The latter, as previously noted, preferred to invite major donor organizations, or a consortium of donors, to name a member of the recipient institute's board of trustees. The views of one senior foundation official were put succinctly in his marginal comments on a draft proposal prepared by Bank staff: Fund raising: Yes Management:No Consultative Group: Maybe.Concerned about the lack of progress in finding additional funds to cover the financing gap of the existing centers, a foundation official observed wryly at the end of November 1969 that: \"It was expected from the beginning that the fund-raising would be difficult and time-consuming, and our expectations have been borne out.\" The foundations therefore intensified their unilateral efforts to raise funds from the donors present at Bellagio, and the Ford Foundation prepared a prospectus for this purpose. It envisaged that, even if what was sometimes referred to as \"Mr.McNamara's consortium\" should come into being, some donors might prefer to deal directly with individual centers. The time had obviously not yet arrived for the foundations to feel that they could prudently put all their eggs into the consortium basket.A meeting between staff of the two foundations and the Bank on January 15, 1970 brought the organizational questions to a head, but did not resolve them. The foundations expressed 39 doubts about the consortium approach and about the proposed role of the three UN agencies in some form of cosponsorship. The basic objective of the foundations was to make the institutes independent as soon as possible, although they had no precise timetable for doing so; the UN agencies appeared to the foundations to envisage an organizational structure that would threaten the independence of the institutes and thus the integrity and scientific quality of their work. In lieu of a consortium or consultative group, the Bank might, the foundations suggested, create a group of \"Friends of the Institutes.\" Alternatively, supporters could meet periodically to direct investment \"permissively.\" In an internal memorandum commenting on the January meeting, a Bank staff member noted the lack of progress on this subject in discussions over the previous three months and the prospect of slow progress ahead.The pessimism on the part of the foundations and the Bank proved to be short-lived.Another opportunity to air the issue, this time before a larger audience, was provided in the following month. At the close of the Bellagio Conference in April 1969, it had been agreed that a meeting of \"senior technical personnel dealing with agriculture\" would be held early in the following year to prepare for a second meeting of agency heads at Bellagio in April 1970, one year after the original conference. The meeting, held at the Villa Serbelloni on February 3-6, 1970, was attended by a wider range of development assistance agencies than had participated in Bellagio I.The background paper from which the Banks representative (L. J. C. Evans) spoke to the meeting was thought by the foundations to be \"much more reasonable\" than the earlier consortium proposal. (In fact, positions had moved closer together on both sides.) In addition to providing financial assistance on its own, the Bank proposed that, together with the FAO and the UNDP, it seek to interest governments, regional development banks, and private organizations in ensuring long-term financial support. The Bank envisaged mobilizing resources through \"a loose organizational framework, along the lines of the consultative groups which have been set up to coordinate development assistance.\" The group would meet regularly, probably once a year, to review the institutes' budgets, assess financial assistance needs, commission feasibility studies for new activities, and suggest specific research projects to the institutes.The Bank was prepared to provide a secretariat and to administer a general fund to which some donors might wish to contribute. But the group would not undertake any management or programming role with respect to the institutes; it was important to preserve their autonomous, independent character. Some representation by donors on the boards of trustees of the centers would be appropriate, collectively or in relation to the magnitude of their support.The summary of findings of this group of agriculturalists (as they called themselves), entitled \"Accelerating Agricultural Modernization in Developing Nations,\" extended and developed the analysis of the role of new technologies. On the question of funding, the group pointed in the following way to the need to secure the current and future operational budgets of the four existing international centers:As finance for expanded research beyond the capacity of the Foundations is clearly required, an organization for funding is desirable. It is suggested that tentative proposals by the IBRD [World Bank] involving a consortium or consultative group or groups be examined and resolved, keeping in mind the need: (1) to encourage multilateral and bilateral donors to participate in the necessary funding, and (2) to make decisions arising out of other suggestions in this paper.There was still a small difference of opinion between the foundation officials, who drafted the summary of findings, and the Bank staff, who had proposed wording to the effect that \"proposals by the IBRD involving IBRD leadership of a consultative group should be encouraged and developed,\" rather than \"examined and resolved,\" as more nearly reflecting the majority view. Whichever statement more accurately reflected the consensus of the group, it is fair to say that there were-and have continued to this day to be-misgivings on the part of the other participants about the Banks role.They recognized the need for an organization like the Bank to lead, and were prepared to have it do so, but did not wish it to dominate.The thin line between leadership and domination has not always been an easy one for the Bank to walk to everyone's satisfaction.Based on a very \"impressionistic\" view of the adequacy of existing technical knowledge, the agriculturalists also proposed the establishment of small task forces to determine the feasibility and potential usefulness of new international centers or ac-tivities. The following subjects were suggested, with their priority to be determined by the feasibility studies: Bellagio Conference in April was to be presented with whatever illustrative analyses were available (for example, on water management), with the recommendation that the foundations and other appropriate bodies be invited to establish the necessary task forces.The meeting of agricultural representatives, originally intended only as a preparatory session, has in retrospect been considered of sufficient importance to be labeled Bellagio II. When the heads of agencies convened a second time at the Villa Serbelloni, on April 8-9, 1970, in what is now referred to as Bellagio III, they had the recommendations of Bellagio II as their agenda. The list of agencies and representatives in attendance was much the same as at the original Bellagio Conference.The April 1970 meeting discussed the formation of a consultative group-the idea was again put forward by McNamara-to be concerned with the financial aspects of international agricultural research and training. Support for a consultative group had by now solidified, and the meeting endorsed the approach and urged that the World Bank, subject to the approval of its Executive Board, take such an initiative in consultation with the FAO and the UNDP. Another meeting of the Bellagio group was scheduled to take place in New York in December 1970 to consider funding of the present institutes and other matters, including the formation of additional centers. Five feasibility studies were to be undertaken without delay on subjects recommended by the agriculturalists and reports presented to the December meeting: l Upland crops in Asia. A study was to assess the need for an additional research center in Asia, where the greatest absolute increase in population was projected and where land shortages were most critical. The center would complement the work of existing international centers for wheat, rice, and maize by assisting with research and training in other important but neglected basic food crops, such as sorghum, millet, and food legumes. l Food legumes. To combat protein malnutrition and supplement research then under way on cereal and animal proteins, recommendations were called for on actions to improve the more important legume crops, which were rich, but highly diverse, sources of protein. Experience with CIMMYT and IRRI demonstrated that an international institute with well-defined objectives, sound manage-ment, and adequate funds, equipment, and research facilities could attract outstanding scientists from a number of countries and with a variety of disciplines, whose skills would thus be mutually reinforcing. The international institutes could not only expedite the development and application of new technology directly, but also could encourage and strengthen national research and extension organizations in developing countries in a variety of ways. l Financial requirements of the existing centers exceeded the resources of the two foundations. There was an immediate shortfall in the prospective funding of the core budgets of IRRI and CIMMYT for 1970, and the need for additional funding would grow in the future. l New international institutes would be required to cover other geographical and ecological zones and additional crops (as identified at Bellagio III). Feasibility studies would be required, and large sums would be needed for the capital costs of setting up four new institutes over the next five years and meeting their core operating budgets.McNamara's description of the concept of a consultative group, although couched in tentative language, implied that staff planning was already well advanced: I have been tentatively thinking that something along the lines of the consultative groups which we have organized for the coordination of development assistance might be an appropriate vehicle. Such a group, composed of contributors and potential contributors, would consider which institutes required and deserved international support, review the institutes' budgets, assess the magnitude and priorities of financial assistance required, and examine the relationship of the institutes' programs to the economic development problems of the developing countries and to the investment programs being carried out in those countries by participants in the group. The group, or some members in the group's behalf, might commission feasibility studies and suggest research projects to the appropriate institute. On the basis of their analysis, members of the group would make their contributions, perhaps directly to a particular institute, perhaps to a central fund. I would think that the Bank might appropriately provide secretariat services for such a group, as it does for the aid coordination groups, and that if establishment of a fund appeared a desirable way to handle the finances, the Bank might agree to administer it. All of this remains for exploration.The Bank, the memorandum indicated, should not merely assist in mobilizing support; it should itself make a financial contribution.The preferred mechanism would be to make grants for agricultural research in limited amounts from any funds transferred out of the Bank's net income for the fiscal year to its concessional loan affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA).Informal canvassing of the Executive Directors found a generally favorable response to the memorandum, but with some significant reservations. It was therefore decided to postpone what might prove to be a controversial discussion until after a meeting on the replenishment of IDA, to be held in Vienna in May.In the meantime, and following Bellagio III, :the Bank convened a meeting at UNDP headquarters in New York on May 13, to help work out the details of what was now unambiguously referred to as the \"consultative group\" proposal. Representatives of the three intended cosponsors met privately first, as an \"Executive Committee\"; they were joined in a second session by representatives from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and the Inter-American Development Bank. David Hopper, head of a new Canadian aid instrumentality, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), attended as an observer.The idea that the three UN agencies should constitute an Executive Committee had been introduced by the FAO and supported by the UNDP. The Bank had its misgivings about excluding other donors, particularly the foundations, whose reservations on the subject were well known to it. In fact, the first meeting of the Executive Committee was abbreviated because of the delayed arrival from Washington of the aircraft carrying the Bank staff members. It was also the last; other donors were not prepared to relinquish to the cosponsoring agencies the degree of control implicit in an Executive Committee.The New York meeting focused on several key issues: Progress was made on each of these points, and one foundation official left the meeting satisfied \"that there would be adequate room for maneuver to avoid the consultative group's becoming over-organized and burdensome.\"The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors: Round 2Continuing to press ahead, McNamara again wrote to the Executive Directors, on May 27, 1970, providing what was in the nature of a \"progress report. \"6 He advised them that recent discussions-presumably a reference to Bellagio III-had made it clear that \"an initiative of the kind proposed would be welcomed 6. In describing at greater length the role of the World Bank, it has not been my intention to minimize the importance of the other organizations that were working toward the same objective. No doubt I have been guilty of the familiar author's failing of writing most about the things I know best. It is fair to say, however, that at this stage the Bank was in the key position in bringing the proposal to fruition. Moreover, the Banks Executive Directors are representatives of member governments, and it was through their behind-the-scene contacts with their national representatives on the Banks Executive Board (as well as in the FAO, the LJNDP, the DAC, and other forums) that officials of the aid agencies of the United States, Britain, Canada, and other governments helped to exercise their influence.by the governments and private entities which have thus far been the principal source of finance for international agricultural research institutes, as well as by other governments which are prospective contributors, and that the FAO and the UNDP are prepared to join with the Bank in organizing the undertaking.\"The Bank would act as chairman of the consultative group and would house and provide at least some of the requisite secretariat services. The first meeting of the consultative group was proposed for the second half of October. The meeting would be essentially exploratory and organizational, but it would also: (a) receive progress reports on the four existing institutes and on the status of feasibility studies being made for new institutes, and (b) consider how to meet the expected shortfall in the financial requirements of the existing institutes for 1971, then estimated at about $1 million. Finally, McNamara proposed that a meeting of the Executive Board take place in July to consider the Banks role.Despite these extraordinary efforts to keep them informed, the Executive Directors showed considerable divergence of views in their discussions of the issue on July 23 and July 30, 1970. Although there was widespread support for a greater Bank role in funding agricultural research, several directors held the view that, if a consultative group were to be formed, the FAO and not the Bank should take the lead.' Others questioned whether a consultative group was in fact required. Some expressed preference for greater coordination among regional or national research institutes rather than the creation of new international ones. There was concern about the implications of the proposal for Bank staff requirements.More time and thought were needed before concrete action could be taken.Before the July 23 meeting adjourned, the staff indicated that in discussions with the FAO it had been agreed that the FAO would take the lead on scientific or technical matters (including the nomination or appointment of the chairman of a technical advisory group) and the Bank on financial and administrative matters. (The fact that Boerma and McNamara saw eye-to-eye on the respective roles of their two institutions proved to be a critical element in eventually gaining acceptance for the proposal of a consultative group.)McNamara closed the meeting with two points. He conceded that the organizational proposals under discussion were not the only avenues, or perhaps even the best avenues, to approach the problem. But he stressed that the problem was very serious, Over the next decade the Bank expected to be investing some $4 billion in agricultural projects with a total value of perhaps $10 billion.8 The research base with which to validate this large investment did not exist. Some way had to be found to ensure the developing countries and the donors that these projects would be of the maximum potential benefit.The July 30 meeting covered much the same ground, with additional Executive Directors speaking for or against McNamara's proposal. The highly respected Pieter Lieftinck, dean of the Executive Board, agreed that the Bank should give agricultural research high priority, but doubted whether the loose organization of a consultative group could provide the stability and continuity of policies and finance needed for long-term research. The same kinds of doubts applied to the use of the annual transfer of Bank profits to IDA as the source of funding, because that transfer could not be subject to a long-term commitment.In concluding the discussion, McNamara noted the nearly unanimous view that the Bank should act to stimulate further research in the field of agriculture. Some strong reservations had been expressed, however, and he had decided to defer a decision on to what action, if any, to take. After reading the transcript of the meetings and consulting further with the staff and with the directors who had expressed the strongest views, he would come back with a proposal some time in the future, preferably sooner rather than later.These concluding remarks reflected discouragement at what clearly was a setback. But the discouragement and the setback were of short duration. One week later McNamara sent another memorandum to the Executive Directors, in which he stated that his review of the transcipt had confirmed that there was almost unanimous agreement on the urgent need for greater effort in research to support agriculture in the developing countries and that, with very few exceptions, the Executive Directors believed that the Bank should play a part in supporting such an increased effort. While a substantial majority endorsed his suggestion that a consultative group be organized, with the Bank, the FAO, and the UNDP as cosponsors, divergent views had been expressed by a few Executive Directors. He therefore proposed as a next step to consult with those governments that had expressed reservations to see whether a consensus could be reached. (In the meantime, plans to convene the first meeting of the consultative group in October or November were quietly shelved.)There followed an intensive round of discussions in Washington and several European capitals. Some of the key governments, while not abandoning their opposition or reservations, softened them to the point that McNamara could inform the Executive Directors on October 30, with a \"pleasure\" that no doubt was genuine, that no objection had been interposed to the convening by the Bank, the FAO, and the UNDP of a meeting of interested governments, institutes, and private organizations. There were two important provisos. First, the meeting was to consider the establishment, terms of reference, and organizational arrangements for an International Agricultural Research Consultative Group \"or some comparable mechanism,\" and second, the meeting would be a \"preliminary\" one, with the understanding that opportunity would be provided to all participants to raise any relevant issue for discussion and without prejudice to the question of their ultimate participation in a consultative group, should the meeting result in a decision to create one.McNamara informed the Executive Directors that in the absence of advice by any of them to the contrary by a designated date (a standard formula) he would, in cooperation with the FAO and the LJNDP, issue invitations to a preliminary meeting in early January 1971. No contrary advice was received.This ended the period of active debate by the Bank's Executive Directors on the merits of the consultative group and of the Bank's involvement in it. With the exception of one government (France), which remained a lukewarm participant for the first six or seven years, the governments represented around the board table soon became strong supporters of the fledgling group and have, without exception, so continued to this day.On November 19, McNamara issued invitations to fifteen governments to attend on January 14-15, 1971 what was cautiously described as a meeting \"to organize long-term support for international agricultural research.\" A staff paper prepared by the FAO and the Bank and annexed to the invitation bore the more explicit title, \"The Possible Objectives, Composition, and Orgy-Bellagio IV \"Bellagio\" had by this time become a code word as much as a geographical location, and the fourth Bellagio conference was held on December 3 and 4, 1970 at the headquarters of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations in New York City (one day at each headquarters). The conference had been scheduled at the time of Bellagio Ill in April and was intended as a follow up to it. It took place in the shadow of the forthcoming preliminary meeting of the Consultative Group, and the ranks of the participants-again nominally heads of agencies-were swollen by other senior agency staff and observers.As in the case of Bellagio I and III, the meeting began with an overview of the worldwide agricultural situation, which emphasized that developing countries had not yet achieved the capacity to feed their rapidly rising populations. Despite some progress, per capita food output remained low, and malnutrition was widespread. The developing nations would, therefore, have to continue to direct their efforts toward accelerating agricultural output and improving its distribution to meet food and nutritional needs.The principal items on the agenda were the results of the five feasibility studies that had been commissioned at Bellagio III, four of which had been prepared by the two foundations and one by the IDRC. No final judgments were attempted, in recognition that the forthcoming meeting of the Consultative Group would soon take over responsibility for these matters. Nonetheless, the proposal for a new institute in Asia to deal with the semiarid tropics seemed the most likely to move forward in the near future; most of the other proposals were considered to require more preparatory work of one kind or another.The participants at Bellagio IV also reviewed the financial requirements of the existing institutes.The additional requirements for the four centers by 1975 would be $6 million (the core budgets totaled about $10 million in 1971). Although this sum 9. One of the results of the January 1971 meeting was to reverse the word order of what had until then been referred to in correspondence and internal memoranda as the International Agricultural Research Consultative Group (IARCG) to its present, somewhat more euphonious version.was characterized by one of the participants (McNamara) as \"peanuts\" (which, in a global context, it certainly was), the participants agreed that full funding of the programs of the existing centers should take priority over any expansion of their activities or the establishment of additional centers. The foundations reaffirmed that their financial resources were stretched to the limit by their present commitments to the four institutes (of $3 million a year from each foundation); if the foundations were to participate in the financing of any new institutes, they would have to be relieved of part of their present financial commitments to the existing ones.The Bellagio IV participants considered close involvement by the foundations to be essential to the success of the international institutes.At the participants' urging, the foundations stated their willingness to continue their role in the management of the existing institutes, as well as to assist in the establishment of one or two new institutes should they later be commissioned.in Bellagio in April 1969 to the preliminary meeting to consider the Consultative Group on International AgriculturalResearch in January 1971, about twenty-one months elapsed. The first formal meeting of the Consultative Group in May 1971 took place slightly more than two years after Bellagio 1. To some this may seem a long time, but to those familiar with the ways of international bureaucracies it may well be regarded as its own variety of miracle. For the heads of a large number of international and bilateral aid agencies, or their senior representatives, to meet at such frequent intervals and constitute themselves in effect as a working party to bring a new international organization into being is without precedent. It could not have happened without the sense of urgency that the three heads of the cosponsoring agencies attached to this enterprise and without their willingness to submerge jurisdictional interests to bring about a unique partnership among independent UN agencies. The same spirit was reflected in the efforts of their senior staff, working collaboratively and very effectively with the staff of the foundations, to make the Bellagio and related meetings successful. lo No less important was the continuing and strong support of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and their willingness to share with the international donor community responsibility for the future welfare of the group of international institutes they alone had created and so carefully nurtured. Finally, the coalition formed at Bellagio succeeded in its objective because, in the words of one observer, it \"maintained a careful balance between attention to the substantive target-the he explained in a message read by the Bank's vice president, J. Burke Knapp, who chaired the meeting. His message to the delegates left no doubt of the significance he attached to the occasion: \"In the perpetual struggle of man against hunger, your conclusions could be of decisive importance . . . support for [international agricultural research] will ultimately prove to be the highest yielding investment we can make, in terms of increased production and greater momentum for development generally.\"Paul Hoffman struck a similar theme in his message to the meeting, which he hailed as an opportunity \"to concert our efforts . . . to achieve the new thinking called for by the new dimensions of the age-old problem [of] how better to feed the family of man.\" The FAO contributed a background paper with an urgent view of the world food situation: to keep up with massive population growth and reach satisfactory standards of nutrition, developing countries would have to nearly double their food output in fifteen years-a rate of increase far beyond anything they had achieved in the past.The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, represented by J. George Harrar and David Bell, respectively, described the status, programs, and early achievements of the four international institutes that were in operation or under construction.They referred to the plans for further action that were in progress as a result of the Bellagio meetings. Particularly promising avenues of future research had been identified, although the expanding needs of the existing research programs, together with the requirements of future programs, exceeded the financial limits of the foundations. The foundations had therefore decided to seek public funding, and the Bellagio meetings had led to the proposal to form a cooperative association of donors, which might be called the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.The meeting achieved its purpose. With only the representatives of France and the Federal Republic of Germany opposed to making a decision at that time, the delegates agreed to convene a formal, inaugural meeting of the CGIAR within three or four months. Six delegations (aside from those of the cosponsors) declared that their organizations were ready, without further formalities, both to attend the inaugural meeting and to join the Consultative Group. The six were the Ford Foundation, the International Development Research Centre, the Kellogg Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although the meeting was not a pledging session, these donors were already able to indicate the amount of financing they initially could make available, as were the governments of the Netherlands and Canada, although they were not yet ready for the formal commitment to membership. The United States, for its part, reaffirmed the undertaking it had mentioned at Bellagio to cover 25 percent of the cost of the institutes, provided that the remaining 75 percent would be forthcoming from other members of the Group (a commitment to which it has faithfully adhered to this date).' The other delegations adopted, in varying degrees, a \"wait and see\" attitude, although most were able to indicate that they were favorably disposed toward future participation in the Group.21. The 25 percent commitment was initially limited to a maximum of $7 million, which has subsequently been raised periodically. Each year, USND submits a budget request for the following year to the U.S. Congress, setting a maximum figure based on 25 percent of estimated requirements.2. I shall refer to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, for the sake of variety, as the CGIAR, the Consultative Group, or the In response to a pointed question from one of the delegates, a spokesman for the World Bank said that the Bank would be a contributor (no sum was mentioned), although the precise mechanism for providing the grants was yet to be determined. The Bank also indicated that it had initially considered establishing a common fund for all participants, but had found that most prospective donors preferred to contribute directly to the centers, with some form of central coordination.There were predictable objections at the outset to the establishment of yet another organization.The chairman responded with the observation that what was proposed was not an organization at all, but an arrangement for consultation. The Bank presided over a number of consultative groups for individual countries--to which the proposed consultative group was similar in many respects-but these were not considered to be formal organizations.In the staff summary of proceedings and major conclusions of the meeting, the proposed consultative group was described as \"a fortlm for discussion and coordination\" (emphasis added).The principal business before the meeting was a paper, \"Possible Objectives, Composition, and Organizational Structure of an International Agricultural Research Consullative Group,\" prepared by the World Bank through a lengthy process of consultation.Agreement was reached on a number of points, to be developed and presented to the Group at its next (and first official) meeting. Most attention was devoted to the proposed Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), an idea that had apparently originated with the foundations and that very much engaged the interest of the FAO; here again further work was promised (by the FAO in particular) before the inaugural meeting.The two foundations participated actively in the meeting, and the other delegations looked to them for continuing leadership. They were pleased with its outcome. Their overall assessment, conveyed in a memorandum of information to the four directors of the existing centers, was one of cautious optimism about the new \"forum\":From private conversations and from the tone of the meeting it is our impression that the group will come into being on a rather informal basis; that several members will, over time, make substantial sums of new monies available for agricultural research and training (Canada, United Kingdom, United States, IBRD and others); that these monies will be granted on a bilateral basis, the decisions having been influenced but not dictated by the multilateral forum and technical inputs provided by the group; that a technique for obtaining an adequate voice for the developing nations themselves in this forum has not yet been evolved.In the aftermath of the meeting, the foundations considered that they would have some continuing responsibility for contacting donors and raising funds, albeit in close cooperation with the Group's Secretariat. Plans also went forward for the foundations to hold their third annual International Centers Week in New York in October, at which the centers' programs and budgets would be reviewed before an enlarged audience of donors. By the following year, however, International Centers Week was incorporated into a regular CGIAR meeting.The First CGIAR Meeting, May 19, 1971 When the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research held its first meeting in May, the same number of delegations that had met in January were in attendance. More to the point, seventeen delegations were able to declare that their governments or organizations had formally decided to join the Group.This was an organizational meeting. McNamara had secured from his Board of Executive Directors, with virtually no dissent, approval to indicate that the Bank was prepared to make a grant of up to $3 million. The Bank would act as the \"residual donor,\" meeting any funding requirements (to the $3 million limit) that remained after all other donors had contributed.3 While this was no doubt welcome news in the corridors, the meeting itself was not concerned with raising funds.The statement of objectives, composition, and organizational structure, redrafted following the January discussion, was approved at the meeting. The brief statement has since served, without amendment, as the only constitution, charter, or terms of reference that the CGIAR has had. It is reproduced in the appendix to this chapter.The main objectives of the Consultative Group were fivefold: l to examine the needs of developing countries for special efforts in agricultural research at the international or regional levels on critical subjects unlikely to be adequately covered by existing research facilities and to consider how these needs could be met l to ensure the complementarity of international and regional agricultural research with national activities and to encourage full exchange of information l to consider the financial and other requirements of highpriority international and regional research activities l to review priorities for agricultural research in the developing countries on a continuing basis l to consider ways of assessing the feasibility of specific proposals. The chairman and secretary of the Group were to be provided by the World Bank and its base would be at the Banks headquarters in Washington.The venue of meetings would be decided from time to time by the members.4It had been recognized from the outset that the donors would need to be advised by a small group of scientists-'/men of towering stature\" in the words of the founders. The proposed size of the Technical Advisory Committee had grown from seven originally to twelve (a thirteenth was added in the following year), including the chairman. The need to accommodate a variety of disciplines and regions of the developing world (and to a minor extent the desire of each of the principal donors to have a national on the committee, even though he served in an individual capacity) overcame the desire to keep TAC to a more manageable size.The organizational plan provided that TAC would be composed of distinguished international experts from developed and developing countries, nominated by the cosponsors and appointed by the Group. TAC was given five tasks: l to advise the Consultative Group on the main gaps and priorities in research on agricultural problems, both technical and socioeconomic, of developing countries l to recommend to the Group feasibility studies on how best to organize and conduct agricultural research on urgent problems l to present its views and recommendations to the Group on these and other feasibility studies * to advise the Group on the effectiveness of existing international research programs l to encourage in other ways the creation of an international network of agricultural research institutions.After considerable discussion, the role of the FAO in relation to TAC was resolved in the organizational plan. The plan provided that TAC'S chairman would be appointed by the Consultative Group and its secretary by the FAO.~ Sir John Crawford was selected by the Group as TAC'S first chairman.6 The other members of TAC, who had been nominated by the cosponsors, were also approved by the Group. When TAC reached its full complement in 1972, there were, in addition to the chairman, six members from developing countries and six from industrial ones. The original members of TAC brought expertise in eight fields: agronomy, genetics, plant pathology, irrigation, livestock production, animal health, research management, and economics. Harrar, 5. There have been four executive secretaries of TAC: Peter Oram (1971-76); Philippe Mahler (1976-82); Alexander von der Osten (1982-85); and John Monyo, who took up the post at the end of 1985.6. Sir John stepped down after serving for six years. He was replaced by Ralph W. Cummings, who had been the first director of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), at the beginning of 1977. In his turn, Cummings was succeeded in 1982 by Guy Camus who, in addition to serving as director general of the French Office of Scientific and Technical Research Overseas (ORSTOM, its French acronym), had been a trustee of both UTA and CIMMYT and a former member of TAC. Camus is currently serving a second three-year term.then president of the Rockefeller Foundation, agreed, somewhat reluctantly because of other commitments, to become one of TAC'S initial members. A lengthy and detailed agenda for the first meeting of TAC, including review of the status of the studies commissioned by the Bellagio Group and others, was also approved by the CGIAR at its first meeting.TAC was asked to hold its first meeting as soon as possible and was able to do so by the end of the following month. The meeting was held at FAO headquarters in Rome, a practice that TAC has continued with at least one of its meetings each year. All of the persons invited to serve agreed to do so, a record of individual participation and support that has been sustained in virtually all of the Group's activities since then.The World Bank agreed to finance the services of the executive secretary (later the Secretariat as its numbers grew) of the Group, and the FAO agreed to pay those of the executive secretary of TAC. The three cosponsors had not yet agreed on how the costs of TAC'S operation should be covered. Shortly thereafter they decided to split the costs equally among themselves and, later, to share similarly the costs of the other members of the TAC Secretariat.All those concerned with founding the Consultative Group recognized that its purpose was to serve the interests and needs of developing countries. How best to include these countries in the Group's deliberations and decisionmaking proved, however, to be a vexing problem that has not been fully resolved to this date (see chapter 7). The issue was raised at the preliminary meeting in January, and the Bank was asked to prepare a paper for consideration at the May meeting. When the Bank's Board of Executive Directors met just before the May meeting to consider the Bank's role and financial support, they were sufficiently disturbed about the need for adequate representation to request that their concerns be put before the Group.The paper prepared (by the CGIAR Secretariat) on the subject of participation by developing countries noted that these countries were not likely to be sources of financial assistance to the institutes (a prediction that proved to be somewhat inaccurate) and that they were instead claimants for funds on behalf of particular research programs of interest to them. If all developing countries interested in the Group's activities were to become members, the Group would become unwieldy and ineffective. The most effective way for developing countries to participate in the Group's activities was through membership of their nationals in TAC and through the boards of trustees of the centers (at which they were already well represented). The various studies commissioned by the Group, or by TAC on its behalf, would also provide opportunities for consultation with officials of developing countries.In the Secretariat paper and in the discussion at the January and May meetings, a number of alternative ways to secure the participation of developing countries were brought up and discarded. The Organization of American States or the Organization of African Unity was considered to be too political. The regional development banks (for Africa, Asia, and Latin America) disclaimed competence to represent their individual member countries. The host countries where the centers were located (Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Colombia at the time) were considered likely to be partial.In the end, the May meeting adopted, on a trial basis, a proposal that the FAO seek to obtain from its five regional groupings the designation of one developing country to represent each region for a period of two years. After this period, membership would rotate or a different solution would be sought.In practice, the FAO regions found it difficult, for political reasons, to select only one representative country each, so at the second meeting of the Group in December 1971 the FAO sent forward the names of two countries instead of one for each developing region. The Group was rescued from an embarrassing situation when a delegate from a developing country proposed that each pair should share a single seat, alternating at their own discretion. But, with a few notable exceptions, attendance of the developing country delegates has been sporadic and their participation less than the Group had wished.By the close of the inaugural meeting, the basic organizational structure of the Consultative Group, and of the larger international agricultural research system of which it was a part, was essentially in place: l independent research centers, each with its own board of trustees, composed of international teams of scientists working on specific crops or agroecological regions of the developing world l the Consultative Group itself, an entity without legal personality, voting process, or burden-sharing arrangements, whose members were a highly diverse group of international, regional, national, and private donors, together with countries elected to represent the five regions of the developing world l the Technical Advisory Committee, a group of distinguished scientists from industrial and developing countries, to advise the Group l three cosponsors from the United Nations system, whose membership gave status to an otherwise informal group, but whose collective functions, other than to nominate members of TAC and to fund it, were undefined l officials, consisting of a chairman appointed by the World Bank, also with undefined functions except those of a presiding officer, and two secretaries, one for the Group and appointed by the Bank and the other for TAC and appointed by the FAO.This was a novel approach, which bore only a superficial resemblance to the informal consultative groups for individual aidrecipient countries with which the Bank and its member countries were familiar. Clearly, more would be expected from the Group if it was to mobilize funds on a long-term basis, set priorities for existing research activities, organize and fund new initiatives, and somehow ensure that the finances contributed were soundly administered and effectively used. How, and indeed whether, a group that stressed informality to the point that it was referred to as a \"forum\" rather than an \"organization\" could accomplish these tasks remained to be seen. Those most directly concerned with the affairs of the Group, including the donor representatives, were for the most part novices to the task. But in some major respects, the system was already a going concern: several research institutes were in place and functioning well, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations were able and willing to continue to provide intellectual and professional leadership as well as financial support. So the members of the Group embarked on this new venture with enthusiasm and goodwill, but with only limited awareness of the magnitude of the task they had assumed.At this point I will abandon for the most part the chronological order around which the preceding discussion has been organized. To deal in sequence with each of the Group's meetings would be tedious, and many subjects appeared on the agenda of more than one meeting before they were finally disposed of. Instead, I have divided the period 1971 to 1985 into three chapters: this one covering 1971-76, the period of rapid growth; chapter 4 covering 1977-79, a time of consolidation within the CGIAR system; and chapter 5 covering 1980-85, the period in which the CGIAR came of age. The major issues raised, the problems encountered and solved (or not solved), and the directions in which the Group developed will be the topics for discussion.The early years of the Consultative Group were marked by a rapid, almost explosive, growth in membership, in funds provided, and in the number of institutes and activities carried out under its auspices.When the first formal pledging session of the Group was held, at the time of the second meeting in December 1971, eleven donor members announced their intention to contribute $15 million in 1972. The ranks of donors expanded during the year, as potential contributors who had been sitting on the fence waiting to see how the Group developed came down on the side of membership. By the end of 1972, sixteen donors had contributed close to $21 million.During the years 1972-76, the number of donors continued to expand. The amount of their grants to the centers, and the number of senior staff employed by the centers, grew even faster, as the following figures indicate: The USAID contribmion of 25 percent of the requirements of the system, together with the World Bank's readiness to provide up to 10 percent, gave a solid foundation on which the contributions of others could be built. Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Inter-American Development Bank became major donors. Many of the smaller countries (such as Switzerland, Australia, and some of the Nordic countries) pledged sums that were large in relation to their size. Of the industrial countries, only France held back; its contributions did not rise significantly until the end of the decade. Japan initially was a minor contributor, but as its appreciation of the work of the system and identification with its programs grew, Japan became one of the largest financial supporters.The two pioneer donors-the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations-began in 1975 to reduce their financial participation in the Group, imtially by the amount that they contributed to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) which, as indicated below, they were obliged to set up outside the Group.Fund raising in these early years was not difficult. The amounts involved were small relative to the aid budgets of most donor countries. The central objective of the Group-to reduce hunger by increasing food production in the developing countries-was universally popular and received further impetus from the food crisis that led to the World Food Conference of 1974.Moreover, the programs supported by the CGIAR were very attractive. During a quarter century of official efforts to assist the development of poor countries, donors had often been uneasy about the quality and efficacy of the projects they were helping to finance. Projects of better quality were welcome, and the international agricultural research centers appeared to be outstanding examples. Furthermore, donors were free, not only to determine the overall size of their contributions without any onerous (and invidious) exercise in burden sharing or aid allocation, but also, if they so desired, to select the specific institutions and programs with which they wished to be identified.Finally, the enthusiasm of the early members, the informal spirit of the Group's meetings, the high professional content of the meetings, and the manifest goodwill that pervaded them were infectious qualities to which new donors quickly succumbed. Donors were alerted by TAC, by the chairman and the Secretariats, and by the centers' budget documents that the needs of the international agricultural research system would increase substantially from year to year as new activities were introduced and the existing centers expanded to reach their full potential. Many donors accordingly built regular annual increases into their budget planning.The main business of the Group during the early years was to consider the addition of new institutions or activities. Acting on the advice of TAC, the Group weighed a number of proposals. Some were quickly adopted; others had to follow a more tortuous path, including false starts and mistakes, to reach eventual acceptance; and a few were rejected outright or placed in limbo. By the end of 1976, seven new institutions had joined the system, an impressive expansion from the original four that were in various stages of operation or construction when the Group began five years earlier and that were the fruits of a decade of activity by the two foundations. 7 The studies launched by the Bellagio Group in 1970 played an important part in getting new activities off to a fast start.The seven new institutions and the year in which they were incorporated or, in some cases, the year in which a previously established institute achieved a form acceptable to the Consultative Group were l International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics has the distinction of being the first center established under the aegis of the Consultative Group. The institute was designed with a dual purpose: (a) to develop and demonstrate improved cropping patterns and farming systems that would make the best use of the relatively meager resources of upland areas of the tropics characterized by low rainfall and lack of irrigation and (b) to improve cereals (sorghum and pearl millet) and grain legumes (chickpeas and pigeon peas) grown in semiarid areas of Asia and Africa.Of all the ideas awaiting the Consultative Group's attention, ICRISAT was the most urgent, being concerned with wide areas and large populations in the developing world. TAC quickly en-7. These four centers were once irreverently referred to by Sir John Crawford as the \"BC\" centers.dorsed the idea of ICRISAT, and the Group moved promptly to create the new institute.In so doing, the Group established a sequence of actions and a pattern of organizational arrangements that, for the most part, became the standard for launching other enterprises under its sponsorship.To begin with, ICRISAT had been well studied. In 1970, the Rockefeller Foundation had prepared an extensive study of agriculture in upland areas of low rainfall as part of the Bellagio Group's proposals. At TAC'S first meeting, a mission of experts was commissioned to make field visits to relevant areas and prepare a specific proposal. The mission, headed by Ralph Cummings (formerly of the Rockefeller Foundation and at the time with the Ford Foundation), was able to present its main recommendations to TAC'S second meeting, in October 1971, and to make a written proposal to the meeting of the Consultative Group which followed in December.The Group warmly accepted the proposal, now formally endorsed by TAC, that ICRISAT be established with headquarters in India. Then additional steps were taken: l An executing agency was appointed to act for the Group to carry the proposal forward until such time as ICRISAT had acquired a governing board and sufficient staff to manage its own affairs. The Ford Foundation was appointed by the CGIAR chairman to play this role. l A self-selected \"advisory group\" (which soon was called a subcommittee), consisting of intended donors to ICRISAT, was organized to oversee and approve the preparatory work as it proceeded.l Members of the subcommittee agreed to establish an initial fund to finance the preparatory phase of the project and signed a Memorandum of Understanding formally stating their commitments to this effect (the latter practice was not consistently followed for subsequent institutes). The World Bank agreed to act as fiscal agent to collect, disburse, and account for the initial fund. The executing agency appointed a project development officer to continue the planning and preparation begun by the Rockefeller Foundation mission of 1971. Cummings, the leader of the mission, agreed to undertake this assignment. Cummings and the executing agency were able to move with exceptional speed. He was a long-time veteran of agricultural development programs in India and knew the country and its authorities well. At the first meeting of the subcommittee, held in January 1972, he was able to submit a draft Memorandum of Agreement with the government of India that, in effect, stated all the provisions of the charter under which ICRISAT would operate in India. After approval by the subcommittee, the memorandum was signed by the government of India in March. (With hindsight, it can be questioned whether sufficient attention was given at the time to the question of how ICRISAT could serve the African regions within its mandate. TAC addressed the question, but was unable to resolve it and therefore left it to ICRISAT'S board.)8Only two more meetings of the subcommittee were needed. At its second meeting in April, the subcommittee approved the executing agency's choice of a research and headquarters site offered by the government of India near the large urban complex of Hyderabadisecunderabad.Choosing from an extensive roster of nominees prepared by the executing agency, the subcommittee also selected nine of the eleven elective members of the institute's fifteen-seat board of trustees. (Of the four nonelective members of the board, one was the director general of the institute and three were appointed by the host government.)In July, ICRISAT formally came into existence and its board met for the first time. The chairman of the Consultative Group (acting as authorized agent of the World Bank) and the assistant director general of the FAO for the South Asian region were present to sign on behalf of their organizations, and thereby give effect to, the constitution (charter) of ICRISAT. On October 28, by a notice in the official Gazette, the government of India recognized ICRISAT as an international organization covered by the United Nations Privileges and Immunities Act of 1947. No other CGIAR enterprise ever achieved similar status; the other country-based institutes were incorporated under the national law of their host governments. (This international status was to serve ICRISAT in good stead at a later date, when India's Supreme Court rejected a suit brought by some workers that would have made the center subject to India's labor legislation.) ICRISAT'S governing board chose Cummings to be the director general.9 The board also approved a comprehensive program of activities and a capital budget for the completion of ICRISAT'S physical facilities. In record time, ICRISAT was under way.A new problem for the CGIAR surfaced in 1974, however. The old ICRISAT donors' subcommittee was convened by the CGIAR chairman to consider a worrisome situation: it appeared that the cost of constructing and equipping the center would considerably exceed the amount of funds that the donors were prepared to provide. A sign of danger had been detected by CGIAR Secretariat staff who, when reviewing the plans in 1973, thought that the center had underestimated the extent to which inflation would raise costs. Subsequently, at the Secretariat's request, World Bank architects familiar with conditions in India examined the estimates. They concluded that the estimates not only made insufficient allowance for inflation, but also failed to take other contingencies into account. Bank staff also felt that the designs called for a higher standard of construction than was appropriate or necessary; a report prepared by an expert of USAID was sharply critical of ICRISAT plans on somewhat the same grounds.The total capital costs of ICRISAT, the Secretariat thought, might amount to $19.5 million. This was about $6 million more than the institute's 1972 estimate and would raise planned expenditures for 1974-76 to $5 million more than the Secretariat expected donors to be able to provide.The donors' subcommittee, however, was hesitant to intervene in a way that would reduce the capital plan approved by ICRISAT'S trustees. In the end, donors agreed that in the years 1974-76, ICRISAT should plan its expenditures at a level of $33 million (including $17 million for capital costs), the maximum amount that donors appeared likely to provide.The subcommittee also agreed that capital expenditures deferred beyond this period could be proposed later if funds were available. In the end, the construction period was stretched out by two years. The center was built on the scale and to the standards proposed by ICRISAT, but remained during the years 1974-76 within the three-year ceiling established by the Group's donors. The director general of CIP appeared at four meetings of TAC, over a span of two years, before winning the committee's final endorsement and, in turn, the CGIAR'S. Less than 20 percent of the world's potatoes are grown in developing countries, but TAC accepted the argument that the potato had potential for the tropics and could prove to be a major source of calories, protein, and vitamins. This was to be accomplished by the extension of the geographical coverage of the potato to the lowland tropics, with the aid of introgression from wild species. TAC did, however, have technical questions about the center: its program of activities, and its core research program in particular, did not seem sufficiently well defined. In 1971, the CGIAR voted the center a preliminary \"bridging\" grant to give it time to develop its plans before the next round of financial commitments by the members of the Group.TAC'S further question about CIP was whether it really was an international institution.As the chief grounds for this doubt, TAC noted that the center's governing board was composed only of Peruvian and American nationals. To deal with this question, CIP arranged to amend the Peruvian law creating the center; under the amendment, cm's Board of Trustees was enlarged to include three nominees of the Consultative Group.The idea of nominees designated by the Consultative Group was borrowed from the charter of ICRSAT, itself a carryover from earlier days. When the first international centers were organized in the 196Os, their charters specified that the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations should have membership on their boards. For the foundations, this was an important means of maintaining a degree of control over the centers for which they expected to provide all or a large majority of the funding. It also gave the host governments an earnest of continuing foundation support; when the Ford Foundation attempted to give up its seat on the IITA board in 1973, the Nigerian government insisted that it stay.The Consultative Group found it impractical to specify which particular donors should be represented on the boards of new centers, for there were now too many donors to be accommodated. Nevertheless, the problem had to be solved for CIP. The entire membership of the CGIAR was asked for nominations, and a final choice of three was made by an ad hoc committee of donors to cw.l\" The committee behaved admirably: it looked to the interests of the CGIAR as a whole and kept in mind the desirability of full participation of all members, large and small. Before balloting began, representatives from the three largest donor countries on the committee made statements explaining why nationals of their countries should not be selected. The successful candidates were, in fact, from the three smallest countries: the Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland. CIP then joined the system, having the distinction of being the first center to do so without the backing of one of the foundations.Asian Vegetables and American Soybeans: Centers Out of Bounds TAC'S scientific character could not shield it from political complications in two of its early recommendations.The first, in 1972, was that the Group pay the cost (about $1.4 million) of completing the physical plant of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center-which in the end the Group did not do. There were several awkward things about the AVRDC: first, as TAC recognized, it was somewhat too far north to be typical of vegetable cultivation in tropical Asia; and second, on a CGIAR agenda crowded with high-priority claimants, there was doubt about the relative importance of vegetables. The third difficulty was, for the Group, insurmountable: the center was located on the island 10. With characteristic informality, the Group has used the terms \"committee\" and \"subcommittee\" interchangeably and without differentiation of responsibility or function.of Taiwan, which was under a government that most members of the CGIAR (the United States was an exception) did not recognize.In view of these anomalies, TAC did not propose that the center become a part of the CGIAR system: it proposed, instead, an unspecified \"loose link\" with it. The chairman of the Group made a novel suggestion that the Group accepted: that the AVRDC be considered a kind of \"associate\" member of the CGIAR system. In this capacity it would be encouraged to exchange information with other centers, to engage in cooperative programs with the centers when appropriate, and to join with other centers in making an annual program presentation to the Group.That AVRDC got as far as it did was doubtless a tribute to its director, Robert E Chandler, Jr., who had been the founding director of IRRI. The status accorded AVRDC owed much to the respect and affection that the international agricultural community felt for Chandler.No such redeeming feature was available to save another proposal, likewise judged to be from the wrong place. The proposal, made by the chairman of TAC in 1973, was that a way be found for the CGIAR centers and programs to draw upon the resources of the large soybean research program being carried out by the University of Illinois in the United States, with the cooperation of the University of Puerto Rico and with financing from LJSAID. It was suggested that the program be transformed into an International Soybean Resource Base (INTSOY) and that INTSOY take the lead in strengthening national and regional soybean programs in developing countries through research, training, communications, and technical assistance.The soybean was, indeed, an attractive subject for research. Like other grain legumes, it has a high content of nutritionally valuable protein. But unlike most grain legumes, it also produces rather high yields per unit of cultivated area. Although IITA had a soybean component in its own legumes program, the CGIAR system was not making a major effort to exploit the potential of the soybean.As an approach, however, INTSOY presented problems. Its base in an industrial country put it outside the CGIAR'S normal sphere of operations. It was, moreover, not an autonomous institution; it was administratively a part of the University of Illinois, which in turn was under the control of the state of Illinois.At the behest of TAC, the CGIAR agreed that the TAC and CGIAR Secretariats should confer with the sponsors of INTSOY (the Uni-versity of Illinois and USAID) to see whether a formula could be devised that would make INTSOY acceptable to the Group. A proposal emerged under which INTSOY would have its own director, program, and budget; it would undergo periodic reviews by TAC; and it would not request CGIAR funding for its core research or for work done in developing countries. It was hoped, however, that the Group, besides giving its blessing to the enterprise, would provide a small revolving fund ($300,000 for a start) needed to maintain a pool of experts at INTSOY while they were waiting for their next assignments.Many members of the CGIAR disliked the INTSOY proposal. Several donor countries had research institutions of their own that were doing good work on problems of significance to developing countries. Why should an American program be singled out for special favor? Soybean research did not seem sufficiently important to overcome these objections, and when the INTSOY proposal was brought to the Group, it failed of adoption. A similar fate would later befall another institution located in the United States and funded by USAID-the International Fertilizer Development Center (see chapter 4).ILRAD and ILCA: Nonidentical Twins Animal health and production in tropical Africa was another one of the subjects given highest priority in the Bellagio meetings. Rockefeller Foundation surveys of the scope and nature of the problem and of the research required were completed in October 1971. The surveys looked toward the establishment of two programs: one for a research laboratory on animal diseases and the other for a center on animal production and health.TAC agreed that research should proceed on these two tracks. It felt that rapid progress could be made toward the establishment of a laboratory to carry out immunological studies that would help in the control of, two diseases afflicting cattle in Africa and preventing the use of vast areas of potentially productive range land: these diseases were theileriosis (east coast fever), a tick-borne disease, and trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), carried by the tsetse fly. It was thought that these studies might reach a successful conclusion in seven to ten years (in the event, an overly optimistic judgment).The second effort visualized by TAC was to be devoted to multidisciplinary research aimed at developing and improving live-stock production in tropical Africa, which suffered from a complex combination of ills: among them were a dearth of water and rangeland resources, inadequate animal nutrition and poor health measures, unsuitable social systems and economic policies, and insufficient marketing systems.In TAC'S view, these two projects were related. Successful immunization of African livestock against disease would obviously have profound effects on animal production.The Consultative Group took the view that the two projects were not merely related, but should be carried out as a single effort under a single board of trustees.To guide the further development of the two projects, the chairman of the CGIAR appointed a subcommittee on African livestock, which held more meetings over a longer period of time than any other subcommittee of the Group. It spent many hours discussing the timing and means of unifying the administration of the two programs. For the time being, however, it was thought preferable for the disease laboratory to proceed as rapidly as possible, subject to later integration with the production effort.The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to act as executing agency for the laboratory project, and it named an executive team headed by William R. Pritchard of the University of California at Davis. The team's proposal, completed in May 1972, was accepted by the subcommittee as a basis for conclusive negotiations for the formal establishment of an International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases.An expression of interest in providing a home for the laboratory had already been received from the East African Community, an association of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda for certain common services, of which agricultural research was one. The community had room to spare on land assigned to the East African Veterinary Research Organization (EAVRO), one of the cooperative undertakings that it sponsored, at Muguga, located outside of Nairobi, Kenya. The Group required that ILRAD, like other institutions in the CGIAR network, be autonomous. On a formal level, this raised the question whether an autonomous institution would fit within the legal and administrative framework of the East African Community (somewhat resembling the question in the INTSOY case). On a more pragmatic level, the East African Community had already begun to disintegrate because of tensions among its members. It was credibly reported from Nairobi that Uganda (which felt that Kenya was already getting preferred treatment by the community) was opposed to the es-tablishment of ILRAD as a neighbor of EAVRO. In any case, the final answer of the community, received after five months of waiting, was negative.The subcommittee fortunately had an alternative at hand. In June 1971, President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, in a letter to McNamara, had invited the CGIAR to establish its projected disease laboratory on the precincts of the University of Nairobi's Veterinary Research Organization.An inquiry from McNamara ascertained that the invitation was still open. In April, a CGIAR mission composed of the chairman of the Group and Sterling Wortman of the Rockefeller Foundation reached agreement with the Kenyan government on a Memorandum of Agreement on the establishment of ILRAD, and in June the subcommittee completed its work by selecting a majority of the board of trustees and the director general of the laboratory. With a meeting of its board of trustees in November 1973, ILRAD was under way.Under the continuing strong leadership of the Rockefeller Foundation (one of whose officers, John Pino, was chosen chairman of the ILRAD board), the staffing of the laboratory and the design and construction of its physical facilities were expeditiously completed. Apart from the delay occasioned by the East African Community, ILRAD had been organized almost as quickly as ICRISAT and for much the same reasons: prior study by one of the foundations and an executing agency thoroughly acquainted with the kind of research to be undertaken and with the government and the country setting in which the research was to take p1ace.l'The mysteries of the diseases ILRAD is studying, however, have proved to be deeper than had been hoped or expected. A promising vaccine against east coast fever is being field tested, but effective immunological measures against trypanosomiasis still seem to lie in the future.Between ILRAD and its companion project, which came to be known as the International Livestock Center for Africa (ILCA), the contrast was strong. ILRAD had the benefit of a sharply defined objective, an experienced executive agency, and a developing country interested in providing a home. ILCA'S objectives were literally almost as wide as tropical Africa, its executing 11. Lloyd Evans has observed that TAC appears not to have debated the fact that, as an international center built around one discipline and focused on only one factor affecting production (animal disease), ILRAD was a major departure from the previous pattern of CGIAR-supported centers. agency (the World Bank) had never set up a center, and the government of its host country was overturned by revolution while the establishment of ILCA was still in progress.A survey sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1971, led by Glenn Beck of the University of Kansas, had provided a broad assessment of the problems of animal production in Africa. It proposed that an attack on these problems be mounted from principal research stations in the three major cattle-raising areas of tropical Africa-the Sahel region of western Africa, the humid tropics of western central Africa, and the eastern plateau-one of which would contain the headquarters of the program.In its initial discussions, TAC was not able to develop a consensus in favor of this or any other formulation.It therefore recommended that another mission be dispatched to study the question and provided it with extensive terms of reference. The Consultative Group agreed. A four-man team was recruited, headed by Derek Tribe, professor of animal nutrition at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and assisted by six consultants. The team spent six months (April-September 1972) traveling and writing its report.In the end, the team proposed not a program, but a concept: a \"decentralized\" center that would serve as a focal point for documentation and knowledge concerning animal production in tropical Africa; that would study systems of animal production, and methods of improvement, in its own base area; and that would second staff for cooperative programs to study animal production systems and devise multifaceted programs for their improvement in individual countries of Africa. Since each program would depend on prior analysis of the system involved, the report had no specific research programs to propose. It recommended, instead, that the center take three years to develop techniques of systems analysis, documentation, and training, and that its collaborative programs with individual countries begin toward the end of that time.Systems research, although more concerned with crops than animals, was already being conducted in the CGIAR, notably at CIAT, IITA, IRRI, and ICRISAT; by 1974, farming Systems was to rank second only to cereals as a subject of research. Early in 1973, TAC warmly welcomed the Tribe mission report and strongly supported the idea that systems research should be applied to animal production.This judgment was accepted by the African livestock subcommittee, which (along with TAC) stipulated, nev-ertheless, that ILCA should develop its programs in less than the three years recommended in the Tribe report. The subcommittee also accepted that the specific content of ILCA'S research programs would have to be based on further study and would therefore have to be determined by ILCA'S own governing board. The World Bank was then chosen to be the executing agency to carry forward the establishment of ILCA; it. sought the cooperation of the IDRC, particularly in preparing lists of nominees for the directorship and board and in selecting a site for ILCA. In June 1973, the subcommittee chose a majority of the members of ILCA'S board.The Tribe mission had considered seven possible sites for ILCA's headquarters, of which four appeared to be feasible: Dakar, Senegal; Yaounde, Cameroon; Nairobi, Kenya; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Discussion in the subcommittee exposed the awkwardness of choosing either a French-speaking or an Englishspeaking site; in the light of this and other considerations, IDRC opted for a linguistically neutral site in Ethiopia. In July, a World Bank-IDRC mission, led by L. J. C. Evans, the recently retired director of the Bank's Agriculture Projects Department, visited Ethiopia to inspect potential sites and to discuss with the authorities a draft Memorandum of Agreement that would set out the provisions of the center's charter. The mission left the country feeling that it had reached substantial agreement with its Ethiopian hosts. To the surprise and consternation of the executing agency, however, the Ethiopian authorities, unilaterally and without further consultation, adopted the memorandum, but with crippling amendments and deletions, as the charter of ILCA. As modified, the charter establishing ILCA no longer had provisions affording ILCA and its non-Ethiopian employees tax, customs, immigration, and other privileges appropriate to its international status. ILCA was left to pursue its business on the same basis as any foreign-owned private commercial company operating in Ethiopia.An effort was made to repair the damage at an informal meeting of the designated members of ILCA'S board in London. An Ethiopian member agreed that his government would issue a side letter restoring the lost privileges. This was done early in 1974. The situation, nevertheless, remained obscure and difficult: shipments of equipment and supplies to ILCA, for instance, were persistently obstructed by customs authorities.Meanwhile, the government of Ethiopia was nearing collapse.In September 1974, an army coup deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, who had displayed an interest in ILCA and had received the members of its board in his palace offices. Once the revolutionary regime had settled in place, however, the fortunes of ILCA improved. Formal amendments to the Memorandum of Agreement were drawn up in December and, in May 1975, were ratified by the Council of Ministers. The ratification, in effect, confirmed the existence of ILCA as a legal entity and afforded the center nearly the same rights, immunities, and exemptions as were enjoyed by UN agencies in Ethiopia. The Bank decided in September 1975 that the preparatory phase had been completed. Relations with the host government have remained good, although not always easy or trouble free.ILCA, however, continued to have problems. Although doubts had not surfaced fully in CGIAR discussions, some participants had felt that the proposed systems approach was too broad to focus sufficiently on critical problems. The World Bank staff was sharply divided on the subject; the Rockefeller Foundation, despite its strong interest in livestock research in tropical Africa, made no grant for the center; and the UNDP, having solicited a proposal from ILCA for a cooperative project in Mali, sent the proposal back on the grounds that it was too vague to justify UNDP SUppOrt.Translation of the ILCA concept into a concrete program of activities has proved to be difficult.The first two directors of ILCA, able scientists both, were unable to accomplish it. TAC continued to hold a watching brief on the center and sent a number of special missions in attempts to firm up a program, but progress was slow. The Secretariat did not recommend, and the CGIAR did not approve, the development of the center at the budgetary levels requested by its director and board of trustees until a program that would commmand the respect and support of TAC and the donors was in place and being effectively managed. This began to happen early in the 1980s.The idea of integrating ILCA and ILRAD under a single direction failed the test of time. In successive drafts of the two charters, the idea was watered down until adopting it became optional. The option was never exercised, and even the proposal that each board send representatives to meetings of the other took a while to be put in practice. But cooperation between the two separate centers has improved with time and changes in leadership, and ILCA now has staff resident at the ILRAD campus working on a joint project on trypanotolerance.The continuing development and spread of improved varieties of plants has meant that farmers all over the world have replaced a profusion of traditional varieties of wheat, maize, and other plants with a relatively small number of new ones. At the same time, changes in land use and agricultural practices have been leading to the disappearance of the wild progenitors and weedy relatives of present-day cultivated crops. These traditional and wild plants, now vanishing, take with them a genetic endowment that is potentially of great value in further plant improvement, especially in the ability to grow in difficult soils, in resistance to pests and diseases, and in tolerance of drought and extremes of temperature.The idea of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources originated in a proposal prepared by the FAO at the request of TAC in 1971. The main feature of the proposal was that a mechanism should be established to encourage, coordinate, and support action to conserve genetic resources and make them available for use. IBPGR was thus the first CGIAR-sponsored program that did not take the form of an agricultural research center. IBPGR is not a research but a service organization; its purpose is to promote and assist in the worldwide effort to collect and conserve the plant germ plasm needed for future research and production.The issue that for several years blocked action by the CGIAR was how the coordinating mechanism should be related to the FAO. Two models were presented to TAC at its meeting in October 1971. The FAO proposed that the work of collection and conservation be done at existing centers, in both industrial and developing countries. To invigorate their work, the FAO proposed an emergency, five-year program of gene collection and an addition to the budget of its Crop Ecology and Genetic Resources Unit to enable it to act as a center for liaison among genetic programs.A more ambitious proposal was put forward, at the request of TAC, by the distinguished Indian scientist, M. S. Swaminathan, one of its members. It called for the establishment of new genetic resource centers, as well as the strengthening of existing ones, and envisioned a considerably higher level of activity and expenditure.TAC was unable, in the state of its knowledge and in the brief time at its disposal, to choose between the two models or to fashion one of its own. It therefore arranged for a working group of experts to formulate a program. The working group met in March 1972. It recommended the establishment of regional centers in zones of genetic diversity; the formation of a network of cooperating institutions, both inside and outside the zones of genetic diversity; and a coordinating committee and staff.The working group commented that too little effort was being devoted to plant collection and conservation, largely because of the absence of central, coordinated, and inspired leadership. The FAO, the working group felt, was clearly the appropriate agency to take administrative care of the project and should operate a trust fund provided to cover the costs; however, a central committee and staff should be largely independent in scientific and technical matters. The whole undertaking, the working group observed, would be essential to improved crop production and accelerated plant breeding.In scale, the working group's ideas were larger than any yet advanced. TAC asked Swaminathan to prepare a somewhat reduced proposal, calling for a slower buildup of new centers and a larger role for the international centers of the CGIAR system. Along the way, the question had been raised by the British observer at TAC meetings whether the proposed program could, in fact, be considered a research activity at all and whether it was eligible for consideration by the CGIAR. The chairman of TAC, however, was confident that TAC'S terms of reference were comprehensive enough to embrace the plant genetic resources project, particularly those terms charging the committee with identifying the main gaps in research on agricultural problems of developing countries and with encouraging the creation of an international network of research institutions. The Swaminathan paper, accepted by TAC in August 1972, called for an independent board of experts to design and direct an international genetic resources program, with administrative and technical support provided by the FAO. In the FAO itself, however, a different idea took shape, and the agency lobbied for its view among CGIAR members in Europe. At the next meeting of the CGIAR, in November 1972, a number of delegations spoke in support of the idea that the FAO, rather than an independent committee under the aegis of the CGIAR, should coordinate the genetic resources program as part of its regular activities. The FAO said that it could perform this function provided that it could find the additional funds that would be needed.At an impasse, the CGIAR agreed to its chairman's proposal that the FAO and TAC should consult further on the question of what role the FAO might play in the program. By the time of Interna-tional Centers Week in the summer of 1973, no solution had been reached, because TAC held out against any arrangement that would submerge a small genetic resources program in the massive administration of the FAO. The Group therefore supported its chairman's suggestion that a subcommittee, containing representatives of TAC and the FAO, as well as of potential donors, should be created to wrestle with the problem. At the request of several donors and the FAO, the chairman himself agreed to chair the subcommittee.The subcommittee met at FAO headquarters in Rome. On the first day, the impasse continued. On the second, it disappeared when the question was taken to the director general of the FAO (Addeke Boerma), a seasoned veteran of interagency diplomacy. Boerma quickly agreed that the coordinating mechanism should be an independent board and that the FAO could appropriately play a supporting role. Thus, the organizational obstacles to the IBPGR were resolved. Agreement was reached that the FAO would provide the secretariat of the board, together with required logistic support; that the board would consist of fourteen members (at least four from developing countries), of whom one would be a nonvoting member appointed by the FAO;~~ and that the chairman of the board, who might be from outside the board's membership, would be selected by the board in consultation with the director general of the FAO. In February 1974, the IBPGR, composed of members selected by the subcommittee (and including a member from the Soviet Union) held its inaugural meeting, and Richard H. Demuth, who had recently retired from the chairmanship of the CGIAR, was chosen to be chairman. The director general of the FAO also retired at this time. His successor accepted the IBPGR arrangement with reluctance, and for several years the FAO gave it scant support. In time, however, arrangements improved, although problems remained. In 1983, history seemed to repeat itself: a decision by the FAO Conference to launch an international effort toward the collection and preservation of genetic resources under FAO auspices has reopened the controversy and cast a shadow on IBPGR'S future role (see chapter 5).Since its establishment in 1974, the IBPGR has not created any of the new regional germ plasm centers that had been conceived by the working group and Swaminathan.It has worked with existing institutions, including the IARCS. It is active in promoting and assisting in the collection and conservation of germ plasm for more than fifty crops and has done much to stimulate and widen awareness of a precious natural resource. CATIE, Africa, and WARDA: Regional Experiments When news of the founding of the CGIAR reached developing countries, it seemed to some onlookers that the Group represented a golden opportunity to find funds for strengthening weak and faltering national or regional institutions already in being. At its second meeting, TAC was presented with proposals that had these objectives.A project for research in Latin America was brought forward by a member of TAC, Manuel Elgueta (a Chilean). He presented a paper from the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (called IICA, its Spanish acronym) entitled, \"Integral Project for Research, Training and Technical Assistance for Protein Food Production.\" The objective of the project was to strengthen programs aimed at higher production of vegetable and animal protein by providing added budgetary support for IICA'S Center for Research and Training in Tropical Agriculture (CATIE, its Spanish acronym)-then about two-thirds unused-at Turrialba, Costa Rica.Early discussion in TAC recognized the similarity of CATIE'S research objectives to those of CIAT, in Colombia, and especially to CIAT'S beef program. A subcommittee of TAC, nevertheless, was organized to consider broadly the research needs of tropical America and to outline a possible cooperative structure for the research programs in the area. After visiting programs in progress, the subcommittee was convinced that CIAT should be the focus of any cooperative effort undertaken to increase protein production. CIAT should be provided sufficient resources for this purpose, with the fashioning of the cooperative arrangements left to it. The proposal to support CATIE thus failed to gain TAC'S endorsement.A parallel and contemporaneous proposal for research in Africa was made by L. Sauger, director of the National Agricultural Research Institute of Senegal and a member of TAC. Sauger's proposal called for assistance to research on millet, sorghum, and cowpeas through added funding for an anglophonic net-work of research stations centered on Samaru, in northern Nigeria, and for a francophonic network centered on Sauger's own institute at Bambey, with substations in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.TAC was impressed by the difficulty of trying to operate such a \"loose and diffuse network of national stations\"; moreover, the responsibilities proposed duplicated those already envisaged for cooperative arrangements to be made by ICRISAT for research in West Africa. TAC entrusted further consideration of the matter to a mission headed by Hugh Doggett, a Canadian expert. Doggett's mission swung the whole project back into the orbit of ICRISAT, which already had made contact with some of the West African stations with which it would cooperate. ICRISAT has since considerably extended its activities in West Africa, including the creation of a substation in the Sahel. As in the case of CATIE, the Sauger proposal failed because TAC was unwilling to supplement the resources of existing regional centers whose work overlapped an international center within the CGIAR system. Nonetheless, another proposal to promote regional programs, which came before TAC along with the CATIE and Sauger initiatives, met with some success. This was from the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), a grouping of countries, originally eleven and today sixteen, formed to promote selfsufficiency in rice in a region where the large potential for this crop was for the most part untapped. WARDA had been formed at the same time as the CGIAR itself by a multinational group of donors under the aegis of the FAO. A proposal from WARDA for financial assistance reached TAC'S agenda in August 1972.Several members of TAC raised questions of principle.To what extent would TAC be justified in recommending the financing of a regional undertaking based on strengthening national efforts? To some, the project seemed neither international, on the one hand, nor clearly bilateral, on the other.The chairman replied that both the CGIAR and TAC understood the need to feel their way on such questions. The questions soon arose in TAC'S discussion of the paper on priorities in agricultural research (discussed later in this chapter). Members of TAC were increasingly concerned about the deficiencies of national research; in this context, TAC felt that regional programs with national participation could help build up national capabilities and that they deserved further study.A critical difference, moreover, separated the WARDA project from those of CATIE and Sauger. WARDA was not proposing to occupy ground already mapped out for other programs of the CGIAR system; in fact, it was contemplated that, in a chain of rice research efforts, WARDA would link IRRI at one end and national programs at the other. The concept was that IITA, with backstopping from IRRI and the French Institute for Research on Tropical Agriculture (IRAT, its French acronym), would play a central role in supplying information on advanced rice technology to WARDA, while WARDA in turn would stimulate and assist the national programs in applied research, demonstration work, and field testing of varieties.TAC therefore took the view that WARDA was potentially \"a praiseworthy effort.\" But the association was still vulnerable to the criticism of the Sauger project, of being loose and diffuse. WARDA'S research program had four principal components, one of which-a system of coordinated field trials-was particularly interesting to the Consultative Group. TAC therefore asked the directors of IRRI, IITA, and IRAT to consider how to establish clear connections with WARDA. When the executive secretary of WARDA came back to face further TAC discussion in July 1973, the program of coordinated field trials proposed for CGIAR support had been scaled down to $4.5 million from a projected five-year cost of more than $10 million. The executive secretary of WARDA also expressed willingness to strengthen the direction of the association, either by putting a controller in charge of financial and technical management or by entrusting the same functions to a management committee comprising representatives of WARDA, IRRI, IITA, and IRAT.On this basis, TAC recommended acceptance of the WARDA system of coordinated field trials for support by the CGIAR. At its meeting in November 1973, the Group concurred. But when individual members were asked to indicate specifically their willingness to provide financial support, silence fell. On further consideration, TACS chairman was not satisfied that the research program of WARDA, as it was then conducted, was up to the standard expected of an international center. TAC, he said, would continue to press for adequate scientific direction of the program; if this could not be achieved, TAC might consider withdrawing its support from WARDA.In search of a remedy, the chairman of TAC agreed that the scientific adviser soon to join the CGIAR Secretariat would visit WARDA, accompanied by a member of the TAC Secretariat, to work out ways of meeting TAC'S objectives. The team visited WARDA in September 1974. It recommended streamlining WARDA'S fourpart research program into a single integrated activity, simplifying WARDA'S elaborate committee structure for overseeing research, and appointing for two years an experienced research manager as adviser to WARDA'S director of research. TAC indicated that it would formally endorse this revised WARDA program at its next meeting in February 1975.In the meantime, funds for WARDA began to trickle in, and the suggested reforms began to take place. The informal participation of IRRI and IITA in planning WARDA'S research and training programs was formalized by a written agreement in 1976. Robert Chandler, the former director general of IRRI (and AVRDC), and one of the world's premier managers of rice research, carried out a detailed survey of WARDA'S activities and made recommendations for their improvement and better integration. The CGIAR continued to confine its support to only that part of WARDA'S program dealing with rice field trials.Enough has since been done by WARDA to show that a regional effort can usefully assist national research programs. As in the case of regional grouping in other areas, however, support by WARDA'S own African members is not vigorous (members' subscriptions are chronically in arrears), and persistent financial and administrative problems, as well as questions about its scientific programs, have caused the CGIAR and TAC to give close attention to WARDA over the years. WARDA'S problems again reached a critical stage in 1984-85, as described in chapter 5, and its future once more is clouded. The CGIAR has found no occasion to repeat the WARDA model of regional intergovernmental cooperation elsewhere.A Center in Search of a HomeThe sense of urgency about the world's food supply that had attended the birth of the CGIAR in 1971 was redoubled early in the Group's existence. Widespread famine began to appear in Africa and South Asia, where hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation in 1973-75.It was against this background that the Group considered closing a gap still remaining in its research system. No center had been created for the needs of the geoclimatic zone of North Africa and the Middle East. Filling that gap proved to be perhaps the most formidable task undertaken by the Group-intrinsically complex and further complicated by other factors, especially political instability in the area.The region in question is vast, containing nearly 200 million people and twenty-two countries and stretching from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east. It lies mostly outside the tropical zones that previously had dominated the attention of the CGIAR, and its climate and conditions of cultivation are of a kind largely unknown in the areas for which earlier centers had been established.The research needs of the area had been noted by TAC at its first meeting. It was expected that the FAO would field a mission to survey what needed to be done, but Swedish funding on which the survey depended did not materialize. In April 1972, TAC decided to proceed independently.A TAC Secretariat desk study recommended a major center with a three-part program, including: research on barley and lentils; adaptive work on wheat and some other cereals (such as sorghum, pulses, and rice) on the basis of materials supplied by CIMMYT, ICRISAT, and IRRI; and research on farming systems of dry areas, including both crops and livestock (particularly sheep). This paper virtually settled the question of whether there should be a Middle East center; what remained was the need for a specific proposal.Early in 1973, TAC dispatched a seven-man team, headed by Dunstan Skilbeck of London University, which spent six weeks in the region. The team recommended the establishment of a center whose main function would be to assist, encourage, and stimulate research; it also would conduct research of its own and discharge the customary center functions of training and documentation. Technical solutions to the production problems of the area, the mission felt, already were known (in retrospect, a highly optimistic view); what was needed was leadership. This could be provided, in the mission's view, only by an independent, international center complementing national and regional efforts.The mission had no difficulty in resolving the issue of whether to establish a single, dual, or multiple center. A single center would give economies of scale and would have a desirable psychological effect. A divided center, the mission believed, would be divided both in authority and economy; it would also fail to achieve an effective relay point for the work of other centers. The mission chose Lebanon as the site of the center.At the hands of TAC, the Skilbeck report suffered the same fate as had the Beck report in the earlier case of ILCA. TAC thanked the authors, and then set aside its principal recommendations.As a next step, the chairman of TAC set up a working group comprising three TAC members, Skilbeck, and two other members of the Skilbeck mission to produce a different proposal more consistent with TAC'S own views. On the basis of the resulting report, TAC opted in February 1974 for a larger project than the Skilbeck report originally envisioned, with a research program of larger scale (although concentrated on fewer subjects), a larger staff, and larger facilities, to be administered by a principal center and two or more associate centers. The project, which for several years would be given a variety of names and acronyms, eventually came to be called the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).Laying out the research to be undertaken brought out another issue: duplication of research interests among centers. TAC agreed that one of ICARDA'S chief responsibilities should be the improvement of barley, a principal crop of the region-but CIMMYT already had a small barley program. ICARDA also was expected to have a major interest in durum wheat (an important staple in the area), as well as in the more widely grown, softer bread wheats. CIMMYT, for its part, not only had already established a program of durum wheat research, but had a dozen wheat scientists at work in outreach programs in countries of the Middle East. After discussing various ways of dividing responsibility for wheat and barley research, TAC was unable to resolve the question and concluded that it should be worked out between the boards of the two institutions.The question of where ICARDA should be located, it was remarked in a later elaboration of the project, \"has been the most studied, difficult, and in certain respects vexing issue to be resolved.\" One of the contributions that ICRISAT had made to the methodology of the CGIAR was a listing, in the report of the Cummings mission, of the desirable features for the location of a new agricultural center. These included: proximity to a range of typical ecological conditions; adequate land for campus and offcampus research; ready accessibility to a large international airport; proximity to a center of population with reasonable amenities for center staff and families; availability of trained local technical, administrative, and clerical staff; and a host country willing to accommodate the center and to give it and its expatriate staff reasonable tax and import concessions and gen-era1 freedom of operation. As the experience of earlier centers had shown, it was difficult for any single location to provide all of these features. The usually decisive factor was the availability of amenities-since, if amenities were scarce, it would be difficult to attract the highly qualified staff that was the lifeblood of a center.With ICARDA, TAC was for the first time attempting to choose the location of an international center-a task previously left to subcommittees of the CGIAR-and it proceeded with even more than its customary deliberation.The working group created by the TAC chairman had confirmed the Skilbeck mission's choice of Lebanon as the site of ICARDA'S headquarters station and had designated Syria as the location of one of the center's associate stations. Uncertain whether sufficient land could be made available in Lebanon and aware that agricultural practices there were not fully typical of the region, TAC asked its Secretariat to prepare a position paper on the subject.TAC discussed the Secretariat paper at its meeting in July 1974. In the end, the nontechnical attractions of Lebanon persuaded TAC to ratify the choice of the Bekaa Valley, not far from Beirut, as the headquarters site. The committee understood that enough land was available in the valley to enable the center to study both irrigated and rainfed cultivation, but it left open the possibility that additional land for rainfed crops might have to be found in Syria, within feasible traveling distance of the Bekaa. Associate stations would ultimately have to be established in Algeria or Tunisia, where a true Mediterranean climate prevailed, and in Turkey or Iran, typical of areas characterized by winter snows and high elevation, The location and the precise form of association of these later stations, the committee decided, should be left for the board of the headquarters station to determine.The center, as TAC finally saw it, would deal with improvement of the staple crops of the region (wheat, barley, broad beans, lentils, and possibly oilseeds and cotton), soil and water management and conservation, and sheep farming and fodder crops-all as components of farming systems and intensified land use. A strong training and seminar program would be established.Cooperative relationships would be set up with CIMMYT in maize and with ICRISAT in sorghum, millet, and chickpea research.Turning again to the question of overlapping responsibilities, TAC recommended that work on the breeding and germ plasm of barley should gradually be shifted to the Middle East center, with CIMMYT conducting adaptive research in Latin America. CIMMYT would retain the major responsibility for bread wheat, on which ICARDA would do adaptive work in the Middle East. Durum wheat would remain for the time being with CIMMYT; the possibility of transferring this work to ICARDA could be discussed later between CIMMYT and the new center. (This division of responsibility did not succeed in practice, and in 1982-83 a working compromise between the two centers had to be developed under the auspices of TAC and the Group as a whole.)The CGIAR agreed to these prescriptions in its meeting of August 1974. But a new issue was raised: was it appropriate for the Group to fund a center in a region where some countries had large financial resources of their own from oil revenues? Some members said that they would find it difficult to subscribe to the new program unless support were forthcoming from the region itself. More generally, some members hesitated to embark on a large new enterprise without the help of new donors for the research system as a whole. The chairman of the CGIAR observed that in seeking to enlist new donors from the region, the aim should be to have them support more activities than the Middle East center alone, to avoid having the system split into a series of regional activities commanding only regional support.The Group agreed to follow its usual practice of creating a subcommittee to proceed toward the establishment of the new center. But caution seemed desirable. Some clarification of fundamental questions was needed: in particular, how much financial support for the center could be expected, and accordingly, on what scale should it be planned? It also was felt desirable to take soundings in the region, to avoid confronting the countries with a fait accompli in the establishment of the new program.The chairman therefore took the unusual step of appointing a preparatory group to meet ahead of the subcommittee itself. The group was composed of the three cosponsors of the CGIAR and interested donors and was chaired by David Hopper, president of IDRC. It met in October and made a number of decisions, composing the terms of reference and otherwise defining the scope of work to be done by the subsequent subcommittee.In its next meeting (October 1974), the Consultative Group approved the recommendations of the preparatory group, and twelve members expressed their intention to contribute to the initial work of establishing ICARDA. A subcommittee was estab-lished, and in succeeding months its chairman (Hopper) traveled widely to acquaint governments in the region with the ICARDA proposal and to ascertain their wishes about the kind of research to be conducted. The Lebanese government was willing to make land available in the Bekaa Valley, but Hopper's visit confirmed that more land would be needed; in Syria, he found the authorities receptive and willing to provide land near Alepposubject to the important proviso that the work to be performed in Syria would be comparable in importance to that in Lebanon.The search for new donors to the CGIAR also went ahead. The chairman of the subcommittee and the chairman of the CGIAR visited Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait and invited them to become members of the Group.13It was in an optimistic mood about prospective resources that the ICARDA subcommittee met in June 1975. A draft program and budget prepared by Robert Havener, then director of the Ford Foundation's Arid Lands Agricultural Development Program (ALAD) based in Lebanon, and by Lowell Hardin of the Ford Foundation presented a minimal and an optimal model of operation for ICARDA. The subcommittee accepted the larger model, calling for the operation of three stations in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.14The subcommittee appointed the IDRC to serve as executing agent. Havener was given a leave of absence to serve as project development officer, and the Ford Foundation made arrangements for the ultimate transfer of ALAD equipment and appropriate staff to ICARDA. Omond Solandt took the lead on behalf of the IDRC. Consultants criss-crossed the area to identify specific operational sites in the three host countries. Suitable sites were found in all three countries (although final choices had not been made in all cases), and the authorities expressed willingness to make the land available. for the years 1976-78; and the Arab Fund became a regular donor beginning in 1977. The International Fund for Agricultural Development and the OPEC Special Fund became members of the Group in 1979 and 1980, respectively, and Saudi Arabia again became a donor in 1982.14. At one point Sir John and Hopper proposed that the three stations become independent (but coordinated) centers as an inducement to Iran to become a donor, but this idea did not long survive.The subcommittee itself proceeded with the legal establishment of ICARDA. In October 1975, it chose eight of the eleven elective trustees, composing an effective majority of the center's fifteen-man board (which also included the center director ex officio and one representative of each of the three host governments). In November, representatives of the IDRC and of the three cosponsors signed the charter of ICARDA, officially giving birth to the new center. In June 1976, the IDRC signed the protocol with Syria establishing ICARDA in that country and, in July, signed the protocol with Iran. The subcommittee then turned control of ICARDA over to the board of trustees, which held its first meeting in August 1976 in Tehran.. But ICARDA was not destined to be completed according to any of the various TAC-CGIAR designs. Adverse acts of God and man have not been unknown to the CGIAR system. CIP'S headquarters was once struck by an earthquake; IITA was established during a protracted civil war; and ILCA'S founding was accomplished during a revolution. ICARDA, however, was struck by misfortune not once but twice: by a civil war in one country and a revolution in another.In March 1975, civil disturbances began in Lebanon and grew into a full-scale, lengthy civil war. The Bekaa Valley, intended site of the headquarters of ICARDA, became a battleground.In the absence of a sitting parliament in Beirut, the ICARDA protocol could not be signed, and the establishment of ICARDA in Lebanon did not proceed. Nonetheless, ICARDA maintained a small office in Beirut that served for a time as headquarters, and some research work has been done in the Bekaa.In Iran, suitable land was eventually found near Tabriz, but problems of local procedure forestalled acquisition of the site for ICARDA by the government. They were still to be resolved when, in February 1978, riots broke out in Tabriz, signaling the start of increasingly widespread and violent protests that led to the downfall of the government. The project to establish an ICARDA station in Iran was abandoned and never revived.In 1985, however, ICARDA is alive and well and operating effectively in the region of Aleppo, Syria, where it is carrying out the essential elements of the program once foreseen for the Lebanon-Syria combination of stations. In its present form, it may well be more suitable than the cumbersome and costly three-station arrangements once envisaged, although the high plateau region is still not being adequately served.For the sake of completeness, mention should be made of a proposal by the FAO to establish a computerized service to make available information about current research activites in developing countries. This was the Current Agricultural Resources Information System (CARIS), for which a pilot project had been conducted in West Africa. In 1974, TAC reviewed the proposal to expand the pilot project into a worldwide system and recommended that the Group provide bridging finance until the FAO could pick up the costs in its next budget biennium starting in January 1977. With some reservations about funding the budget of one of the cosponsors, but considering that the amount of money requested was small (about $700,000 for the two years) and the time for which it was needed short, the CGIAR agreed to provide funds to get the system started. CARIS was underwritten by the Group during 1975 and 1976, after which its expenditures were absorbed in the FAO'S budget and CARIS disappeared from the CGIAR system.Considering new research activities and bringing to fruition those that it and the Group favored occupied much of TAC'S crowded agenda during the early years. Each research proposal that came before TAC was given careful attention. TAC was reluctant to foreclose any line of inquiry that held promise, and several suffered a lingering death at its hands: aquaculture (fisheries) was considered eleven times, vegetables nine times, and the water buffalo seven times during the period 1971-76.This was not TAC'S sole preoccupation, however. One of TAC'S principal functions, according to its terms of reference, was to advise the Group on the main gaps and priorities in research on agricultural problems of the developing countries. TAC took to this task promptly, and at its second meeting (October 1971) agreed that its chairman would draft, for its consideration, a paper on priorities in agricultural research. In writing this \"strategy paper,\" as he called it, Sir John enlisted the help of Forrest Hill, at the time chairman of the boards of both IRRI and IITA.The strategy paper, after several rounds of discussion and revision, was accepted by the CGIAR in 1973 and was updated but not radically amended twice thereafter. A fourth review of strategy and priorities was still being considered by the Group at the end of 1985 (see chapter 7). The first TAC paper established cereals (rice, maize, wheat, barley, millet), food legumes (beans, peas, lentils), and starchy crops (potatoes, cassava) as top priorities for the Group's efforts; ruminant livestock (cattle) and rangeland improvement was next. Lower down came aquaculture, fruits, and vegetables, followed by industrial crops, such as cotton and jute. Even lower in priority was forestry. Certain other products of importance (swine and poultry) seemed to TAC to be sufficiently covered by research in industrial countries that they need not concern the Group for the time being.Besides specific crop and livestock production, the paper noted, TAC and the Group needed to consider inputs to production (water, plant nutrients) and to study the socioeconomic setting of agriculture in the developing countries (factors promoting or impeding the adoption of improved technology). TAC felt doubtful, however, that the subject of socioeconomic factors could ever be covered adequately by a single center in a single region, and different aspects might deserve different priorities at different times and in different regions.A revised strategy paper was prepared by TAC, in conjunction with the forthcoming first review of the CGIAR system (see below), for consideration by the Group in the summer of 1976. Although TAC made a thorough reexamination of priorities, its recommendations did not deviate significantly from the original strategy paper. But its new findings clarified and sharpened priorities and took account of the development of the research network in the intervening years.In the second paper, TAC continued to give first priority to research designed to increase the amount and quality of basic staple foods. Within this overall priority, primary emphasis was given to cereals, but TAC also attached great importance to the food legumes (including groundnuts and soybeans), to the starchy roots and tubers, to ruminant livestock, and to aquaculture. At the same time, TAC gave high priority to research on cropping intensification (which it thought could be the major source of growth after improved productivity of the major food staples had been soundly established), to postharvest technology, and to socioeconomic research on farming systems, Nonfood commodities were given second priority, but one of growing significance as a means of providing income to farmers and foreign exchange to countries. In this connection, the sec-ond report noted that for fibers as a group two-thirds of the total value came from processing and postharvest activities within the developing countries where they were produced, whereas the value added after harvesting was much lower for most of the other crops falling within the CGIAR'S ambit.TAC'S second strategy paper also identified a number of important fields of research to which it assigned no specific priority. One was socioeconomic research that would aid in the formulation of national policy. Another was research on factors of production, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and the use of irrigated water. TAC concluded that more factor-oriented research was called for, but that new mechanisms were not likely to be needed for the purpose. Much research was already under way in industrial countries on these factors of production, and application of the results to individual problems at the international centers was also expanding. While leaving the door slightly ajar to consider specific proposals on their merits, TAC felt on the whole that factor-oriented research should go hand in hand with the research on particular commodities being conducted at the IARCS.TAC also addressed the linkages between the applied research conducted by the international centers and, on the one hand, basic and strategic research conducted mostly in the industrial countries and, on the other, adaptive research carried out by national programs in the developing world (for a fuller definition of these terms, see chapter 7). As to the former, TAC felt the need for a more systematic approach and closer communication between the IARCS and the industrial countries to balance basic and applied research. (Although progress in this direction is taking place, no formal steps have been adopted by the Group pursuant to TAC'S suggestions, despite occasional prodding from the CGIAR Secretariat.)On the issue of strengthening national research capacity in the developing countries, the Group had been aware from the beginning that such programs were likely to be the weakest link in the chain through which the technology developed at the international centers (often in collaboration with national programs) was adapted to local circumstances and made available through national extension systems and supporting services to individual farmers. TAC clearly recognized the need to strengthen national research efforts in many developing countries. It saw a role for the centers in collaborating with national research programs, where this collaboration served a research purpose for the center itself. But it did not think the centers should go fur-ther, and it doubted the ability of the CGIAR itself to act effectively in coordinating efforts at the national level. Not finding a solution within the CGIAR, TAC in effect left the problem of strengthening national research programs on the doorstep of the individual donors, to handle in their bilateral relations with developing countries. The members of the Group thought otherwise, however, and a major initiative was shortly to be undertaken by the Group.As the research system supported by the CGIAR grew rapidly in size and complexity, and as the Group took over from the foundations responsibility for ensuring that the IARCS continued to perform as \"centers of excellence,\" the need for a comprehensive system of review was recognized. Donor members had to be able to assure themselves and their authorities that the funds being contributed were used effectively and for programs of high priority.At the second CGIAR meeting, in December 1971, members accepted the chairman's suggestion that the Secretariat (still thought of as one Secretariat comprising Bank and FAO wings) screen requests for financial support to see that they all were justified. This was done in 1972 and 1973 on the basis of a simplified model proposed in a Secretariat discussion paper. A more comprehensive approach was needed, however, and at the CGIAR meeting late in 1973 the chairman appointed a subcommittee to prepare a report on the subject. The subcommittee was chaired by David Bell, who continued to play an active-often key-role in CGIAR affairs until he retired from the Ford Foundation in 1981; the other members were Haldore Hanson (director general of CIMMYT and that year's chairman of the center directors' meetings) and H. C. Pereira, a member of TAC.Details of the Bell subcommittee report (prepared with the help of Lowell Hardin of the Ford Foundation) will be discussed in chapter 6, since the report set the pattern for the comprehensive-some would say elaborate-system of review now in place. The Bell report endorsed the regular annual review of the programs and budgets of the centers by the Secretariats (by then divided into two). TAC was to be informed by a center of any major changes proposed in its program and given an opportunity to comment. (At a later date TAC was given overall responsibil-ity for the annual program and budget reviews.) The Bell report recommended that an annual report (which became known as the integrative report) be prepared by the CGIAR Secretariat to review the research system as a whole and to address the overall financial requirements and availabilities.The Bell report also considered longer range reviews, in which members of the CGIAR had already expressed interest. It concluded that there should be periodic assessments of the overall scientific quality of each center: evaluation should be made of the continuing need for the center's work, to ensure that activities were not carried on longer than necessary and that activities of lower priority gave way to more important ones. The CGIAR, the subcommittee observed, \"looks to the TAC to assure that such periodic external reviews are made; it would seem feasible for the TAC to meet its responsibilities in most cases by (1) assuring itself that the center's own assessment process is adequate, and (2) participating in the center's assessment process by mutual agreement with the center's director.\" Such reviews, the subcommittee thought, should be made no less frequently than every five years.In practice, TAC did not leave the initiative for these long-range scientific reviews in the hands of the centers, as proposed by the Bell subcommittee and agreed to by the Group. After consulting the center directors and winning their agreement and that of the Group, TAC took the lead in scheduling and organizing review teams in which at least one and occasionally two or three TAC members were expected to be the core members,i5 and staff of the two Secretariats participated. The responsibility for advising the Group on the scientific merits of centers' programs thus shifted to TAC, albeit in close consultation and cooperation with the center concerned. The system of quinquennial reviews, as they soon came to be called, began with a visit to IRRI at the end of 1975. CIMMYT received its in-depth review in March-April 1976, and both reviews were discussed by the Group at its autumn meeting in 1976.The IRRI quinquennial review was headed by M. S. Swaminathan, director general of the Indian Council on Agri-15. This practice has not been regularly followed in recent years.cultural Research and one of the original members of TAC (and later, by one of those quirks of fate, to become the director general of IRRI, in which capacity he came before the Group to discuss the findings of the second quinquennial review of the center). The review panel's nine members included specialists in plant breeding, entomology, plant physiology, crop management, plant pathology, economics, soil science, and water management. The director general of IRRI had been invited to submit suggestions for the panel members to be selected and the disciplines to be covered, but Sir John made it clear that, while such suggestions would be taken very seriously, ultimate responsibility for selection rested with TAC.The IRRI review panel members visited IRRI programs in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines; most of the two and a half weeks that they spent in the field, however, were at IRRI headquarters. The last four days were devoted to writing several drafts of the report and discussing issues with the management and staff of IRRI. Such a tightly packed program, ending up with a provisional d raft of the report for discussion with the center, was the prototype for all external reviews carried out subsequently. Thereafter, as more experience was gained, increasing efforts were made to brief review panels before their departure and much greater efforts made to have the center analyze its own programs, prepare written answers to questions sent out in advance, and identify the issues it thought the TAC panel should address.Such preparations were more evident in the case of CIMMYT, but they put heavy demands on the staff of the center. The director general of CIMMYT estimated that something like 10 percent of the time of the international staff during a twelve-month period was spent in preparing for the review team, receiving it, and following up on its recommendations.This estimate was greeted with some skepticism by members of the Group, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the process of making an external review in the pattern established by TAC was very demanding. Like that of IRRI, the CIMMYT panel comprised nine persons; it was headed by Ralph Riley of the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge, England.In both cases, the reports of the panels were given to TAC in draft for comment before being put in final form. The chairman of TAC indicated, however, that the reports were those of the panels and should be submitted as such to the Group. TAC'S comments and further views were to be submitted separately.The recommendations of both the IRRI and CIMMYT review panels covered a wide range of subjects. Both addressed many matters of policy, and the IRRI panel also made specific recommendations about additions to plant and staff and about operating procedures. Each panel, in its own way, covered such things as the appropriateness of the staff and facilities for carrying out the center's program, the multidisciplinary approach to research, the priority to be given to the various aspects of plant breeding, the importance of research on plant diseases and pest control (the IRRI panel made seventeen separate recommendations in this area), work on cropping systems, and economic studies. Both panels emphasized the importance of bringing the findings of the economists' work on the constraints to and consequences of adopting the technologies developed by the centers to bear on improving the centers' research programs. They also addressed research on soil fertility, the use and control of water, and the degree to which the centers should be involved in basic research. Much attention was given to the training programs of the centers and especially to their collaborative programs with national research agencies.The Group considered the IRRI and CIMMYT external reviews separately and at length during its autumn 1976 meeting. In introducing them, the chairman of TAC, attending his last meeting in that capacity, described the reviews as cooperative ventures between TAC and the centers and not in any sense as \"inspections.\"Nor had they produced final judgments, but only recommendations for consideration by the boards of the centers. The director general and board chairman of each center commented on the report, generally welcoming it and indicating readiness to adopt its principal recomendations.Comments from members of the Group ranged from matters of broad policy to minor detail. There was some difference in the way the two reports had presented their recommendations.The IRRI recommendations were many and detailed and, among other things, proposed a substantial increase in the capacity of the center in several of its programs, including the addition of some thirteen senior staff positions.The recommendations of the CIMMYT review, in contrast, concentrated more on specific points of policy. Considering the short time each panel had for its work, their reviews were thought by the Group to be searching and constructive.There were some disappointments, nonetheless. For example, there was some regret that it had not been possible for the re-viewers to learn more about the impact of the centers' work on agricultural production in the developing countries that they served, and some members felt that even more time should have been devoted to assessing the effectiveness of the cooperative programs with national researchers. It was also noted that the reviewers did not go very deeply into questions of research management, and there was some suggestion that this was an area to which the Group would have to turn its attention in due course.On the whole, however, the Group was well satisfied with these first two reviews. That the reviews had found little fault with IRRI and CIMMYT was not surprising, for these were the flagship centers in the system and already had impressive records. The members of the Group felt that high standards had been set in the conduct of such external reviews, that they had been accomplished in a spirit of cooperation, that they had a salutary effect on the thinking of the center scientists with regard to objectives and strategies, and in a more general way had helped to point out the need for clearer attention to priorities and to forward planning. Most important, these external reviews by teams of experts had given the donor members reassurance that their support for the CGIAR was well justified.The Bell subcommittee report had suggested parenthetically (since the matter was outside its terms of reference) that the Group might someday need periodically-perhaps every five years-an overall review of the whole CGIAR system. The assessment, as the subcommittee put it, should consider \"the usefulness, accomplishments, and deficiencies of the system of centers in the context of the worldwide problems to which the centers' work is addressed.\"The need for such a full-dress review of the system as a whole became apparent sooner than the \"someday\" that the subcommittee had envisaged. In 1975, as the CGIAR Secretariat added up the balance sheet of center funding requirements and prospective donor contributions, a significant shortfall appeared for the first time to be in the offing. With the continued rapid expansion of the centers and the addition of ICARDA, a question loomed large: how far could the system continue to grow? The Secretariat's integrative report recommended that a review of the system be undertaken, and a paper presenting a specific proposal, prepared at the Group's suggestion in July, was discussed and endorsed at the October 1975 meeting.The exercise was to be conducted by a special committee (appropiately denominated the review committee) that would make recommendations for decision by the Group. The terms of reference of the review committee were comprehensive: l to review projections of production of major food commodities, compare them with projected nutritional needs, and assess the increase in rates of yield and production that might be feasible over the next ten years as a result of research and its application l to review the objectives and prospects of major research programs to increase production of the principal food crops and animal products l to review, in the light of the above, the need for research that could be undertaken under the auspices of the CGIAR l to suggest boundaries for the international centers in their own research programs, collaborative research with national programs, training, and transfer of technology to beneficiary countries l to suggest boundaries for the activities and responsibilities of the CGIAR itself l to consider whether there should be any changes in the research priorities recommended by TAC l to consider whether there should be a limit on the growth and size of the centers individually or collectively over the following five years l to estimate the funding required during the following five years, ascertain the likely availability of funds and, if a shortfall seemed probable, recommend mechanisms for bringing resources and needs into balance n to consider what measures might be necessary to ensure that staff and money were used efficiently and to suggest any changes needed in the procedures of the CGIAR, TAC, and the centers, individually or in relation to each other.for appointing the members of the review committee was entrusted to the chairman of the Group. (The members of the Group, having been consulted informally, had agreed that the chairman of the Group should also chair the review committee.) Although a smaller committee would have been preferable on grounds of efficiency, fourteen members were appointed in order to provide a broad cross section of the donor members of the Group, TAC, and the centers, even though all review committee members served in their individual capacities.The committee was thus a group of insiders; it was assisted by a full-time study team of four scientists drawn from outside the system and headed by Alex McCalla of the University of California at Davis. After a spring and summer of intensive work by the study team, including travel to all parts of the system and numerous interviews, and three meetings of the review committee, the committee presented an extensive report to the Consultative Group meeting in October 1976. The recommendations, twentytwo in number, were debated closely by the Group. Most of them were accepted with virtual unanimity.The report took as its point of departure an appraisal of world food needs by Nathan M. Koffsky, an agricultural economist who had worked with the original Bellagio group. His paper for the review committee repeated the warning sounded by the FAO study provided to the preliminary meeting of donors in January 1971. \"In many countries of the developing world,\" it observed, \"performance in food production lags seriously, building up food shortfalls which could well prove unmanageable.Thus, there is an urgent need to improve yields in most of the array of food crops as soon as possible.\" In suggesting guidelines for research, the paper endorsed the TAC and CGIAR'S emphasis on cereal crops.The first three recommendations had to do with the continuing need for the CGIAR and with the scope of its activities. The committee recommended that: l The Group should \"proceed on the basis that it should continue to function for the forseeable future.\" l The research activities supported by the Group were appropriately focused on \"food commodities which . . . collectively represent the majority of the food sources of the developing world and no major changes or additions are called for at this time.\" lThe \"next few years should be viewed as a period of consohdation.\" Although TAC should continue to explore the need for new initiatives and changes in existing programs, the CGIAR itself should be cautioned against undertaking initiatives requiring major financial commitments.The second set of recommendations covered issues regarding the research centers. They addressed the scope, balance, and boundaries of center programs. It was recommended that all activities undertaken by a center be regarded as components of a single, integrated program regardless of the source of funds and that the entire program be subject to the Group's review procedures. This recommendation was addressed to the increasing use of \"special projects,\" an issue of continuing and nagging concern that will be discussed in chapter 7. Every center had specially funded activities that were not part of its core program. The committee felt it illogical to exclude these from the center's regular program and budget and from scrutiny under the Group's review procedures.A related and equally troublesome issue had to do with the \"boundaries\" of the work of the centers, particularly in relation to national programs. The committee recognized the value of the centers' programs of cooperation with national research, but cautioned against allowing these activities to become such a substantial part of the centers' work as to compromise or distort their fundamental research mission. The report embodied its views on the boundaries of the centers in a table that classified the range of activities into those that were appropriate, those that were sometimes appropriate, and those that were inappropriate as a basis for cooperative programs with national research institutions.The evaluation of promising new breeding material for adaptation, productivity, and pest tolerance and the testing of key components of farming systems were thought to be clearly appropriate, while managing national research organizations or making recommendations to national governments on agricultural economic policy and related issues were deemed inappropriate.In the middle, as sometimes appropriate, were such things as on-farm trials to demonstrate the applicability of a center's new technology or assistance in the development of a national research institution doing research of direct relevance to the international center. (Further details are given in chapter 7.) Finally, the review committee recommended that all centers develop more effective forward planning, a point that had been made strongly in the external reviews of IRRI and CIMMYT.The review committee then turned its attention to intercenter relationships.It recommended that collaboration between centers working in the same region or on the same commodity be encouraged and, furthermore, that agreements between centers on these matters should be put in writing and recorded with the CGIAR Secretariat. This was another indication of the growing conception of the centers as an integrated system rather than a mere collection of activities with a common source of funds.There followed two recommendations on center management, one sharpening the criteria and procedures for selecting and appointing board members and the other proposing that each board of trustees broaden its membership by including three members selected in conjunction with, and ratified by, the CGIAR.The rest of the recommendations had to do with the Group's policies and procedures for long-term planning, evaluation of programs, allocation of funds, and management of the system. The report recommended that there should be an overall review of the Group every three to five years. It said that quinquennial reviews of each center should be continued, but recommended that TAC give greater emphasis to periodic, cross-center analyses of particular activities in which several or most centers engaged, as was done in subsequent reviews of farming systems research and training.One of the issues addressed by the review commiteee was the expected life of a center. The conclusion was that no center should necessarily be regarded as continuing indefinitely.None was judged due for phasing out in the medium term (that is, in the next five to ten years), but centers should at least be responsible for justifying periodically their continued existence. Another question of the same character was whether there was an optimal size beyond which a center should not be permitted to grow. The study team had been preoccupied with this issue, and it was discussed at length by the review committee and then by the Group. The conclusions were ambiguous. While no one thought that centers should grow indefinitely, there was a great reluctance to adopt any formula for establishing the maximum size of a center. It was generally felt that flexibility should be preserved and that each center should determine its size.There was always some concern on the part of its members that the Group might indulge in too much reviewing of the activities of the centers, thereby overburdening their management and scientific staff. Nevertheless, the members of the Group felt a continuing need to be informed and to satisfy themselves that the centers' work was germane to the objectives of the Group. The review committee in effect endorsed the review policies and procedures already in place and recommended that there should be another review of the system as a whole in five years' time.To facilitate longer-term planning, the review committee recommended a move toward biennial budgets instead of the oneyear budgets commonly used. This was endorsed by the Group, though there was some question as to how effective longer budget periods could be in the absence of longer-term commitments by donors. Nevertheless, the Secretariat was invited to introduce a system of biennial budgeting. (It did so over the course of the next few years, but the new system did not work very well, particularly in its first years, when the centers suffered from higher inflation and rising operating costs while contributions grew more slowly than in the past.)The review committee recognized the increasing possibility of shortfalls in CGIAR funding and made recommendations bearing on this prospect. If a center were seriously underfunded for two or three years (apart from funding provided by the donor of last resort), the future of the center should be reviewed by the CGIAR. The creation of a standby committee should be authorized, to be activated for the purpose of advising on measures to deal with significant shortfalls in funding or on other issues of interest to the Group or its chairman.The standby committee recommendation received a lukewarm endorsement. There had always been within the Group reluctance to give committees or subcommittees authority to act on its behalf. They ran against the spirit of egalitarianism and the consensual decisionmaking that were fundamental to the Group's way of working. So the standby committee was accepted only on the clear understanding that it would not be convened unless it were really necessary; its role would not be to make final decisions, but simply to advise the Group on how to proceed in situations in which TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat working directly with the centers had been unable to arrive at a solution. In the event, although on one occasion members of a standby committee were designated by the chairman and alerted to the possible need to serve, no standby committee was ever convened. TAC and the Secretariat were in each instance able to work out reductions in center programs that the center directors accepted. Perhaps this was a case of the center directors' preferring \"the devil they knew.\" TAC and the Secretariats were at least familiar with the programs of the centers, while the members of a standby committee could hardly become well informed in the short time available to them.A recommendation of the study team that the review committee did not endorse, and which the Group did not press, was that the TAC and CGIAR Secretariats be merged into a single, presumably more efficient, service. Although from the beginning TAC and the Consultative Group itself were each provided with an executive secretary, they and the staffs that they began to acquire were originally thought of as two wings of a single secretariat. But after several years it was apparent that they were distinct entities, each with its own responsibilities and perspectives, and while they increasingly coordinated their separate efforts they continued to be independent. The committee debated this question at some length, but its members were very much aware of the practical problems that stood in the way. If the two Secretariats were merged, it would only make sense that the amalgamated operation be located in either the FAO or the World Bank. Either solution would not have been acceptable to at least one of the cosponsors and to some members of the Group.On a related and perhaps more important subject, there was insistence that the two Secretariats should be independent from the host agencies that housed them and appointed their staffs. This point was raised by the study team and the review committee, and during the discussion at the 1976 meeting representatives of both the FAO and the World Bank formally confirmed that the two services were responsible directly to TAC and the Group, respectively, and did not report to the management of the agency. (This agreement has held up in practice; it has, among other things, had the salutary effect of ensuring a readier approval by the agencies of the budgets of the Secretariats.)On the whole, members of the Group were pleased with the results of their first stock-taking.The report was seen as essentially cautious and conservative, but this fitted the new mood of the Group after a period of almost breathtaking expansion. The basic recommendation to treat the next three years as a period of consolidation was universally accepted, though many pointed out that this should not mean a period of stagnation.Relations among the three cosponsors, although always excellent at the working level, occasionally gave rise to moments of trial. When Edouard Saouma was elected director general of the FAO in 1972, it took some time for him to become familiar and comfortable with this novel activity whose cosponsorship he had inherited. Thus, there was an episode that strained relations in 1976 when the director general summarily fired the executive secretary of TAC, who was highly regarded by the Group, without consulting or giving prior notice to the TAC chairman or the other cosponsors.Another difficulty surfaced when Sir John Crawford was coming to the end of his period of service as chairman of TAC in 1976. According to the CGIAR'S organizational plan, the chairman of TAC was to be nominated by the cosponsors and approved by the Group. But the three cosponsors were unable to agree on a candidate. The FAO considered that, as a matter of principle, the chairman should come from a developing country. Although the FAO nominee was a highly qualified member of TAC, the other cosponsors argued that the nomination should go to the most qualified individual and considered that other candidates were as well if not better qualified. (To complicate the matter further, one of the nominees, David Hopper, who was president of IDRC and also a TAC member, had run against Saouma for the director generalship of the FAO in a contested election.)With the three cosponsors unable to agree, and with the Group lacking any mechanism for formal voting, a solution had to be improvised.Following one of the informal consultations with Group members that were often part of the decisionmaking process, the chairman appointed a nine-man subcommittee broadly representative of the Group's donor membership to choose a nominee. The subcommittee chose Ralph W. Cummings by secret ballot. His nomination was warmly endorsed by the Group members, relieved at their successful passage through a difficult moment. The first five full years of the Consultative Group's activities thus ended on a positive note. (i) on the basis of a review of existing national, regional and international research activities, to examine the needs of developing countries for special effort in agricultural research at the international and regional levels in critical subject sectors unlikely otherwise to be adequately covered by existing research facilities, and to consider how these needs could be met;1 (ii) to attempt to ensure maximum complementarity of international and regional efforts with national efforts in financing and undertaking agricultural research in the future and to encourage full exchange of information among national, regional and international agricultural research centers; (iii) to review the financial and other requirements of those international and regional research activities which the Group considers of high priority, and to consider the provision of finance for those activities,2 taking into account the need to ensure continuity of research over a substantial period; (iv) to undertake a continuing review of priorities and research networks related to the needs of developing countries, to enable the Group to adjust its support policies to changing needs, and to achieve economy of effort; and (v) to suggest feasibility studies of specific proposals to reach mutual agreement on how these studies should be under-1. Research is used in this document in a broad sense to include not only the development and testing of improved production technology, but also training and other activities designed to facilitate and speed effective and widespread use of improved technology.2. Final decisions on funding remain a responsibility of each member in connection with specific proposals.taken and financed, and to exchange information on the results.In all of the deliberations of the Consultative Group and the Technical Advisory Committee, account will be taken not only of technical, but also of ecological, economic and social factors.2. The co-sponsors of the Group are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the United Nations Development Programme (LJNDP). As of June 1, 1971, its membership, in addition to the co-sponsors, consists of the following countries, regional development banks, private foundations and other organizations interested in supporting international agricultural research related to the problems of the developing countries: 4. Arrangements will be made through FAO for the designation, for a period of two years, of not more than five governments, each representing a major region of the developing world, to participate as members of the Group. Other interested parties may be invited to join the Group or to participate as observers, as decided by the members. 5. Membership in the Group involves no commitment to provide funds.6. The Chairman and Secretary of the Group will be provided by the IBRD and its base will be at IBRD headquarters in Washington, but the venue of its meetings will be decided from time to time by its members.Technical Advisory Committee 7. A small Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be created by the Consultative Group, composed of distinguished international experts from developed and developing countries, nominated by the co-sponsors and appointed by the Group. Appointments will be for three years except that in the case of the first appointees (other than the chairman) four, selected by lot, will have one-year appointments and four, similarly selected, will have two-year appointments.The TAC will be supplemented by advisers with special expertise, who may be invited to serve individually or on panels to consider particular problems. TAC will report to the Consultative Group.8. TAC will, acting either upon reference from the Consultative Group or on its own initiative:(i) advise the Consultative Group on the main gaps and priorities in agricultural research related to the problems of the developing countries, both in the technical and socio-economic fields, based on a continuing review of existing national, regional and international research activities;(ii) recommend to the Consultative Group feasibility studies designed to explore in depth how best to organize and conduct agricultural research on priority problems, particularly those calling for international or regional effort; (iii) examine the results of these or other feasibility studies and present its views and recommendations for action for the guidance of the Consultative Group; (iv) advise the Consultative Group on the effectiveness of specific existing international research programs; and (v) in other ways encourage the creation of an international network of research institutions and the effective interchange of information among them.These terms of reference may be amended from time to time by the Consultative Group.9. The Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee will be appointed by the Consultative Group and its Secretary will be provided by FAO. Its meetings will normally be held at FAO headquarters in Rome.10. As a supporting service to the TAC, FAO will endeavor to supply upto-date information on current and proposed research activities related to the problems of the developing countries.11. FAO will consult with TAC concerning the feasibility, method and cost of establishing a comprehensive data bank on agricultural research related to the needs of the developing countries, and the form in which this information can be made readily available to potential users and will prepare a report on this matter for the consideration of the Consultative Group.The Secretariat 12. The Secretariat will be composed initially of the Secretary of the Consultative Group and the Secretary of the Technical Advisory Committee. Arrangements will be worked out to ensure liaison and collaboration between the two wings of the Secretariat.13. IBRD has agreed to pay for the personal services and travel costs of the Secretary of the Consultative Group, and FAO has agreed to pay for the personal services and travel costs of the Secretary of the TAC.14. The expenses of the members of the TAC and of its advisers will be shared equally by the co-sponsors, subject to the necessary budgetary authorizations.15. With respect to feasibility studies referred to under l(v), arrangements for financing will be made by the Consultative Group or by individual members on an ad hoc basis. Washington, D.C. May 31, 1971 TAC'S SECOND REVIEW of priorities, the positive findings of the external reviews of IRRI and CIMMYT, and the first review of the CGIAR all confirmed that the Group, and the system it supported, were moving in the right direction.The decision to view the years 1977 through 1979 as a period of consolidation during which no new activities would be adopted was reassuring to the many donors who were becoming concerned about the rapid growth of the centers and the mounting financial demands. Moreover, the consolidation period provided breathing space to consider other issues that had not been adequately addressed.Impact of the System: How Green the Revolution? One such issue was the impact of the work of the centers on the growth of agricultural production in the developing world and, more particularly, on how the benefits of that growth were shared among farmers and between farmers and other parts of society. Much had already been written about the Green Revolution, at first highly favorable, but later with a more critical tone. No one doubted that large increases in wheat and rice production had been brought about by massive adoption of the new varieties, but some critics asserted that the benefits had flowed more to the relatively well-off than to the poor. The work of the international centers, these critics said, was not consonant with the growing interest of the development community in improving the lot of the poorest of the poor. Within the Group there was 111 also concern about whether the spectacular results in rice and wheat could be matched in the other crops that had come within the Group's mandate or, indeed, whether those results could be achieved in rice and wheat in the more difficult ecological zones that had become subjects of research.The time had come for the Group to make its own assessment of the impact of the work it supported. But its first effort was modest in scope. The Secretariat engaged Grant M. Scobie of North Carolina State University to review the voluminous literature on the subject (in the course of his work he drew up a bibliography of 510 publications, which he described as \"not pretending to be complete\"). The 1978 integrative report included a section on the impact of international agricultural research based on Scobie's paper. The report pointed out that a review of this impact must concentrate on the high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat developed by IRRI and CIMMYT (and the Mexican program that preceded CIMMYT), since only these two international centers were more than ten years old and thus had sufficient time to develop improved varieties and have them adapted and put into production. Nevertheless, since the research orientation and strategies of most other centers were similar to those of IRRI and CIMMYT, some general conclusions might be drawn about the potential of the CGIAR system as a whole. The gist of the report's assessment is given in the rest of this section.The first high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice were introduced in 1965 and 1966. By 1978, over one-third of the area given to these cereals in developing countries was sown to high-yielding varieties. This amounted to 55 million hectares, more than the whole cereal-growing area of Central and South America combined. The highest rate of adoption was in Asia where 72 percent of the wheat area and 30 percent of the rice area were sown to high-yielding varieties. Latin America was second with 31 percent, then the Near East with 17 percent; Africa was far behind with only 7 percent. Moreover, adoption of the new varieties was continuing to expand at about 4.5 million hectares a year. As the area sown to the new varieties increased, SO did production of rice and wheat in the developing countries: rice grew by 2.4 percent annually from the mid-1960s to the mid-197Os, compared with only 0.9 percent annually in the early 1960s; wheat grew by 4 percent, compared with 2.4 percent in the earlier period. Over half the increase in production was estimated to be due to improved yields. In contrast, production of maize, sorghum, millet, and other coarse grains actually fell during the same ten-year period.Because the new technology combined high-yielding varieties with adequate water and other inputs, it was difficult to isolate and compare the performance of the new varieties with that of the traditional ones usually grown under different conditions. Many studies suggested that the new rice technology package typically yielded 40 percent more than the traditional varieties and practices it replaced, while in the case of wheat the increase averaged about 100 percent. Even a modest increase in yield over a wide area results in a very substantial additional amount of grain harvested. If production of rice and wheat increased about half a ton per acre on the total area planted to the higher-yielding varieties-not an unreasonable assumption-incremental production would approach 30 million tons annually with a value of $3 billion to $4 billion, depending on the price assumptions used.The new technology had a significant impact on the lives of people in the farming areas where it was adopted and, presumably, in the urban areas where much of the wheat and rice was consumed. Most important, neither farm size nor land tenure was a serious impediment to adopting the varieties. There was no evidence that the new technology was inherently better suited to larger-scale production.In areas for which the new varieties were ecologically suited, they were taken up by large and small farmers, landowners and tenants.The press had sometimes asserted that the new technology had benefited large farmers more than small ones, even under similar growing conditions. This was a complicated matter, but some generalizations were possible. First, early adopters of a new technology almost invariably gained in the short run because they benefited from selling small additional amounts in a very large market. Because larger farmers had greater access to information and greater ability to bear risks, they were more likely to be the innovators who captured these early gains. Until the smaller farmers caught up, the larger farmers got a windfall, but this was transitory. Second, as long as there was inequality in the ownership of land, large farmers would gain more income than small farmers, thereby widening the difference between income levels. Since the new technology was equally applicable to all sizes of farms, there was no reason to expect that the reIative distribution of income would be significantly altered, but, in the absence of redistribution of land, absolute differences in income would certainly widen. Finally, the feasibility of designing a technology for wheat or rice exclusively for the benefit of small farmers was questionable.As the integrative report ob-served, \"if income distribution between large and small farmers is an objective of international or national policy, there are institutional and policy mechanisms other than research which would be more effective in serving this purpose.\"The new technology may have accentuated differences among regions and income levels, because it worked best where land was good and water and fertilizer were readily available. In some areas, particularly in Asia, small farmers were almost as likely to have good land and water as large farmers, but in others, such as Latin America, the better land was in the hands of large farmers while small or tenant farmers were concentrated in less-favored areas. Introduction of high-yielding varieties had little impact on the less-favored areas and on farmers dependent on dry-land agriculture.The new varieties had a favorable effect on the distribution of income among consumers. Because demand for basic foodstuffs tends to be inelastic, significant increases in output are likely to lower the real price of food. The poor spend a much higher proportion of their total income, and of incremental income, on food. Therefore, any decline in food prices induced by expanded production benefits the poor more than others.The impact on employment and wages was also favorable. There was a modest increase in direct use of labor, averaging between fifteen and thirty additional man-days per hectare. However, because the labor force in most developing countries is growing rapidly and individuals can migrate, wages tended to remain constant. But the principal impact on employment lay beyond the farm and came about through the secondary effects of the additional income generated. Part of the additional income was spent on food, including fruits, vegetables, and meat, whose production is generally more labor-intensive than that of food grains. The rest of the additional income went for products like textiles, footwear, and furniture, all of which gave rise to new jobs.Finally, there was the question of whether the high-yielding varieties had, on balance, affected nutrition favorably or unfavorably. Some had argued that the greater profitability of the high-yielding varieties had caused land previously planted to pulses and other food crops with higher nutritional value to be turned over to wheat and rice. But studies by ICRISAT demonstrated that in India the nutritional impact of the new varieties was favorable; although some of the increase in acreage planted to high-yielding cereals was at the expense of more nu-tritious crops, the additional production more than outweighed this loss. Malnutrition, as it was coming to be understood, derived primarily from inadequacy in the quantity of food consumed.The Scobie report's favorable assessment of international agricultural research had important implications for the CGIAR. To extend the benefits of the Green Revolution, more research was needed on the food crops and farming systems of less favored environments.Not much usable technology for these areas had yet come out of the CGIAR system, but the potential was good. At least 55 to 60 percent of the research funded by the Group was devoted to crops-such as sorghum, millet, cassava, and food legumes-typically grown and consumed by the poor and to farming systems in semiarid and arid conditions typical of smallholder agriculture in many areas. Inasmuch as ICRISAT, ICARDA, IITA, ILCA, and CIAT focused largely or exclusively on research on these crops and systems, and IRRI was allocating more than half its research budget to rainfed, deep-water, and cold-tolerant rice, the CGIAR could be said to be actively engaged in seeking to provide technology for the resource-poor farmers.Another important finding was that the economic returns from investment in research were very high, much higher than from most other investments financed by international and bilateral aid programs. It followed that much more could be invested in research before the rate of return fell to the level of the return on alternative investments.A case could therefore be made-and the Secretariat did not miss the opportunity to make it-that the donors should continue to increase their contributions to the international centers substantially. Justified as this conclusion might have been, however, it came at a time when donors were beginning to feel the combined pinch of inflation and severe budget constraints. was discussed at the autumn meeting of the Group in 1978. The Group had agreed to undertake this study without much enthusiasm. Everyone understood that the CGIAR system was heading for a period during which rationing of resources was virtually inevitable and that basic to any allocation of resources was a judgment of the relative importance of the kinds of research undertaken, No one seriously questioned either that the centers' research should be conducted in a cost-conscious manner or that it should focus on tangible results or benefits. Specifically at issue was the application of the technique of costbenefit analysis to quantify and compare the results of agricultural research. Although it was recognized that such costbenefit analysis was widely used in making investment decisions in other fields, there was doubt that it could be usefully applied to research.Schuh and Tollini's terms of reference asked them to review existing methods suitable for assessing the impact of agricultural research and its cost-effectiveness;to identify the methods that could most usefully be applied to CGIAR programs and to determine the extent to which they were already in use; and to suggest how to provide the Group with useful continuing information for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of individual programs and of the system as a whole. The authors soon concluded that it would be more useful to discuss how to improve the process of making decisions on the amount of funds to be allocated to research, the choice of research problems to be investigated, and the appropriate research strategy to be employed. They pointed to the inherent difficulties of evaluating and analyzing research. One was the importance of serendipity: how long it would take to solve a problem could not be predicted, and chance often played a part. Another was the danger that too much emphasis on programming and on justifying every endeavor in economic terms could stifle the researcher's creativity.There were also conceptual and practical difficulties. One of the most formidable was how to measure the value of the inputs and output of research. The valuation of inputs was the easier task, for research typically involved the use of traditional inputs such as skilled labor, land, buildings, and materials. But one of the principal inputs was knowledge from previous research, on which it was difficult to put a value. The output-new knowledge-was not produced in easily identifiable units for which there was a market. Furthermore, the output of research was more valuable if it gave rise to a technology that could be readily adopted on farms, but evaluating the potential for adoption was hard enough after the research was finished and almost impossible beforehand. The need to look forward rather than backward was a problem in itself, for while the findings of ex post analysis could be used to improve research in the future, ex ante analysis was what was needed to make plans and allocations. As if these problems were not enough, there were also questions about the impact of economic policy, good or bad, on the rate of return on investment in research and about how to value negative results-finding that something will not work-and \"joint outputs\"-the new skills and knowledge acquired by the researchers that may be applied to future research projects.Given these problems and the esoteric character of the subject, the authors produced a commendable report for those who took a serious interest in it. It is not surprising, however, that the findings of the study were received by the members of the Group with hardly more enthusiasm than they had exhibited when deciding to undertake it. Robert Cunningham, the representative of the United Kingdom and a long-time skeptic on the subject, expressed the general feeling when he said that it was good that the CGIAR had taken a look at the subject, for the \"system needed to get it out of its system.\" \"Associate Status\": In or Out?By the time the Group entered the period of consolidation, the number of centers had grown from the original four to eleven. Three other centers regularly made presentations of their programs at International Centers Week. All three received most, if not all, of their funding from donors who were members of the Group, and they had a special relationship with it, but they were not officially sponsored by the Group. With benevolent and useful imprecision, they were referred to as having \"associate status, \" a term without official definition or sanction. The first of the three centers on which associate status was bestowed was, as described in the preceding chapter, the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC). The two others were the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), both of which will be discussed later in this chapter. The common thread in according associate status to these three institutions was that, in each case, some members of the Group were embarrassed to take the institution into the CGIAR system, but the Group as a whole thought it useful to have close links between the institution and the centers they sponsored, and so invited it to participate in a limited way.Of the eleven centers officially sponsored, nine had been inherited or created by the Group and two-err and WARDA-had been adopted. Once the Group was established and its effectiveness in marshalling resources for international agricultural research demonstrated, other international research centers or activities sought adoption, too. If they could not be adopted, they sought associate status to share at least in the prestige of the CGIAR and to improve funding prospects. The Group had no clear-cut policy on granting associate status, and by 1977, in a period of consolidation, the need for one was pressing. The Group, TAC, and even the centers were ambivalent about what the policy should be. No one was eager to grasp the nettle. In the end, the Secretariat set the process in motion in October 1977 by submitting a paper, \"The Concept of 'Associate Status,\"' in which it analyzed the current situation, laid out the basic policy options, and discussed the possible advantages and disadvantages of each. Its recommendations were only procedural: that the issue be aired at the meeting of the Group in the following month but no final decision made; that TAC address the subject at its next meeting; that the Secretariat garner views from the various interested parties and, in consultation with TAC, prepare a definitive paper for the Group's meeting in the following year; and, finally, that meanwhile the Group not expand the number of the centers granted associate status.These recommendations were accepted. During the following year the subject was further discussed at informal meetings of donors, at a meeting of the center directors, and at the June meeting of TAC. These discussions confirmed that there were still wide differences of opinion on what the Group's policy should be. Again, the Secretariat took the initiative in presenting a paper that analyzed the issues and options and made recommendations.The first issue was universality.The CGIAR had been established to support selected programs that furthered its objectives. There was nothing to suggest that it should be the exclusive or even the principal source of funding for international research on all the agricultural problems of the developing world, or that it should exercise influence over research that it did not fund. But, as the Secretariat said, \"as time has gone by and the CGIAR'S prominence has increased, a supposition that the CGIAR'S re-sponsibility for international agricultural research is universal seems to have sprung up. There is some risk that both donors and research institutions are coming to believe that only those research programs sponsored by the CGIAR merit international support. This belief pushes the CGIAR towards monopoly and thereby both increases the claims on its resources and makes it more difficult for worthy research efforts which do not happen to be sponsored by the CGIAR to get funds.\"The second issue was the availability of resources. The extension of the CGIAR \"family\" to include related or associated research might induce donors to increase the amounts devoted to international agricultural research as a whole, but there was also the risk that the resources would not be increased proportionately and thus would be spread more thinly.The third issue was accreditation. Should the Group take responsibility for accrediting, as it were, research that it did not officially sponsor or fund? The Group could hardly give official recognition, thereby implying that it found the activity worthwhile, unless it had a process for assessing the worth of the activity. Such a process of accreditation would obviously add to the work of TAC and the two Secretariats and become an important CGIAR activity in its own right.A final issue was the character of the Group. In discussions in TAC, the point had been made that much of the strength of the CGIAR system lay in its sharp focus. A proliferation of programs coming under the aegis of the Group could diffuse its interests and efforts and thereby weaken it. In addition, introducing a new class of institutions, by enlarging the system and making it more complicated, might increase the weight of procedures needed to administer it, detracting from the informality that had traditionally characterized the Group and was deemed one of its strengths.The Secretariat paper offered three policy options. The first was to expand the scope of the CGIAR and, in addition to sponsoring and fully funding a core network of centers, to give recognition to an outer ring of institutions formally accredited but not funded by it. The second was to stick with the status quo, a policy that differed from the first in that granting special recognition would be done without a thoroughgoing accreditation process. The third was for the CGIAR to concentrate on the particular research that it considered of high enough priority to warrant being fully funded by it. It would be left to the centers in the system (including any that might be added in the future) to build up such links with other research institutions as seemed useful, and to the Group to invite from time to time outside institutions to make presentations during its annual meeting.The Secretariat concluded that \"the CGIAR System of fullyfunded activities has grown rapidly and appears likely to continue to do so through expanding present programs or adding new ones. Option One would significantly expand the Group's range of interests and responsibilities.This may be desirable in itself, but it is questionable whether this further expansion can be handled without increasing the Group's resources and services and somewhat changing its character. Unless the Group is willing to accept these changes, it would be preferable to choose Option Three.\" The Group agreed with this conclusion, and associate status was laid to rest. IFPRI eventually gained admission to the system; IFDC did not. AVRDC and the IFDC continued to appear before the Group to present their programs, but less frequently as time went on.Strengthening National Programs at LastThe research output of the international centers stands, as we have seen, at an intermediate point in the chain linking basic or strategic research-conducted mostly in the industrial countries-with the national agricultural research programs in developing countries.These programs receive varieties from or exchange them with the IARCS, test and adapt the varieties in local conditions, and, in collaboration with the national extension services, make the varieties and other elements of the new technology available to farmers. The Group had been preoccupied from its very beginning with the adequacy of the national programs and with what the international centers should-and should not-do to assist them. Certain relations between the IARCS and national research programs grew up naturally and were essential to the accomplishment of the centers' mission. A network through which to exchange genetic materials with national programs was necessary to test and validate the plant-breeding output of the IARCS under the wide variety of climatic and ecological conditions contained within their regional or global mandates. CIMMYT-with several stations in different locations in Mexico-eventually was exchanging genetic materials with over a hundred developing countries. (The evolution of these networks, in which national programs have assumed increasing responsibility as participating partners, is traced in chapter 7). Training programs for nationals from developing countries were an important activity of all the production-oriented IARCS and helped to build up a cadre of experienced researchers in many national programs. Workshops, symposiums, and publications were other ways of disseminating the findings of the centers to a worldwide audience of national researchers. Relations with national programs in the host countries were particularly close. These programs tended to be among the first to benefit from the internationally sponsored research.These myriad activities, while important, underlined the magnitude of the gap between the international research programs and many of the national efforts. The gap was brought home forcefully to the research staff and managers of the international centers as they saw the wide disparity between the yields achieved in their trial plots and those in farmers' fields-sometimes just a few miles outside the center's gates-although they recognized that many factors other than research contributed to the gap. The centers thus felt strongly pulled to provide greater help to national programs. Various donor members, as part of their bilateral programs of assistance to individual developing countries, also drew the centers into closer ties with national programs, often through special projects outside the centers' core budgets. Although these special projects were becoming important features of the work of some centers and giving useful assistance, they could not provide a full answer to the needs of national programs. By virtue of their specialized mandates, individual centers were not able to provide technical assistance on much of the multifarious crops and other research issues with which a national program was concerned. Even in areas consistent with the centers' mandates the magnitude of the problem far exceeded the capacity of the centers to extend assistance.What was the best way to ensure that national research programs could make use of the technology being developed in collaboration with the international centers? The question had engaged the attention of TAC from its first meeting and appeared on the agenda of virtually every subsequent meeting. Although TAC and the first review committee helped to define the boundaries to the appropriate activities of IARCS in support of national research, they were primarily concerned about preventing the centers from transgressing these boundaries, to the detriment of their essential research functions. This was a legitimate and nec-essary concern, but it did not solve the problems of the weaker national programs; nor did the injunction to the donors to work through their bilateral programs rather than through reliance on the IARCS seem likely to deal adequately with the problem in the near term.This was the situation confronting a group of European donors when they met in the spring of 1976, in preparation for the annual round of CGIAR meetings. The fact that the Rockefeller Foundation had recently established the International Agricultural Development Service (IADS), which stood ready to help developing countries in dealing with their research problems as well as in other ways, heightened interest in giving the CGIAR added capacity of this kind. This interest led to a decision by the European donors to organize a meeting in Munich in April 1977, under the auspices of the German Foundation for International Development. This was an informal meeting of representatives of donor agencies, including most of the more important donors to the CGIAR. Werner Treitz, head of the German delegation to the CGIAR, was chairman of the meeting, and John Pino, who had inherited the mantle of George Harrar and Sterling Wortman as director of agricultural sciences at the Rockefeller Foundation, was the vice chairman.The outcome of the Munich meeting was a formal request by the participants, in the form of a letter to the chairman of the Group from Treitz, that the CGIAR consider, at the earliest opportunity, the establishment of \"an international service (such as the present International Agricultural Development Service) with the task and purpose of strengthening agricultural research in developing countries. We see the service as operating in full cooperation with and supplementary to existing and related programs of the FAO and other organizations.\"The proponents contemplated that the service would cooperate, at the request of developing countries, in planning and implementing national agricultural research programs and would help to create or strengthen national research institutions.The proponents believed that such a service could function most effectively if it were international and autonomous in character, had an international staff, and derived financial support from an international group of governments and organizations. So they urged the Group to consider the establishment of such a service and to \"place this matter on its agenda for one of its meetings in 1977, especially since the Technical Advisory Committee has ex-pressed the judgment that the matter is one of highest priority.\" Meanwhile, Harold Graves, former executive secretary of the CGIAR, was engaged by the Munich participants to write a paper describing in more detail the need for this service and its objectives, structure, program, initial staffing, and budget.The chairman transmitted Treitz's letter and Graves's report to TAC for discussion at its meeting in September, shortly before the meeting of the Group. TAC endorsed the proposal in principle but thought that it needed to be worked out in more detail, and accordingly recommended that a task force be established for this purpose.At its meeting the following week, the Group welcomed the proposal to establish the new service. It agreed with TAC'S recommendation of a task force and asked the chairman of the Group to select the chairman and members of the task force and get it under way as soon as possible. This decision came barely one year after the Group had come out strongly in favor of a threeyear period of consolidation during which no new programs were to be added; however, it had been agreed that during this period further initiatives could be considered. It is an indication of the urgency the members attached to finding a solution to the problem of how to strengthen national research that, largely on their own initiative, they should have brought forward the idea of a new service so early. The intention that it be a modest effort, not calling for much money, was probably also a factor.Richard H. Demuth, who had been the first chairman of the Group and later chairman of the IBPGR, was named chairman of the task force, and Nathan Koffsky, staff director. The task force had fourteen members in addition to the chairman, drawn from national research institutions in both the developing and industrial countries, donor institutions, and the IARCS. It was given until August 1978 to submit its report.The task force reviewed the agricultural research needs of developing countries and the assistance to their national programs being provided by international organizations, bilateral aid programs, and the IARCS. This review confirmed the need for an organization that was autonomous and international in character, flexible and capable of quick response to requests from developing countries, with a staff qualified to provide long-term assistance and persuade sources of external finance to support research systems in the countries served. The task force concluded that an organization of the requisite quality and character should be within the ambit of the CGIAR and that the improvement of national agricultural research systems should be its sole business.The It would normally provide long-term assistance only when the costs were fully funded by a source other than the CGIAR, on terms precluding the possibility of any future claim on the CGIAR for this purpose. This last principle was intended to overcome the fears of some donors that the CGIAR would become responsible for open-ended commitments for assistance, which would be contrary to the concept that had underlain the proposal from the beginningthat the resources to assist individual countries, as distinct from those necessary for the entity itself, should be provided separately by donors under their aid programs.Although ISNAR would be organized and managed like other CGIAR centers, its staffing and the funding of its programs would have a different balance, reflecting the fact that it was a technical assistance service and not a research center. ISNAR would have only a small core program employing about twenty senior or middle-level professionals, plus a third that number of consultants. A larger program of direct services to developing countries would be funded not through the CGIAR but by interested donors. Recognizing that a service of this kind would be a departure for the CGIAR, the task force recommended that it be viewed as an experiment. After five years of operation it should be evaluated and a decision made whether it should continue.The concept of ISNAR, despite its support from an important group of donors, generated considerable controversy. To begin with, there was the question of whether the service should be created by a new entity or whether IADS should be taken over and adapted to the purposes of the Group. Those at the Rockefeller Foundation who had created IADS, and some of those on the IADS board of trustees who had been selected from among prominent donor members of the Group, had hoped initially that IADS would be adopted by the Group and had worked to that end. But the CGIAR system had evolved to the stage where some donors felt uncomfortable about taking on yet another institution created by one of the foundations.There was a lingering sentiment-rightly or wrongly is beside the point-that the Ford Foundation's promotion of ICARDA had been linked to a desire to find a home for its Arid Lands Agricultural Development Program (ALAD). Moreover, there were signs that the foundations intended again to offer IFPRI to the Group. Despite the Group's great respect for the two foundations whose initiatives had established the basis for the CGIAR, it wanted its own identity. At the same time, the European members, Japan, and Australia were anxious to shed the image, acquired in the early days, that the CGIAR was an Anglo-American club. The task force therefore decided not to adopt IADS, a decision endorsed subsequently by the Group.Another controversial issue was whether ISNAR should be responsible for implementing the program for strengthening national research that it worked out with the country it was advising. The FAO and many donor countries had their own programs for helping to strengthen national research, and they were not eager to have ISNAR take over responsibility for activities for which they were already providing staff and money. This was one of the main reasons the task force came out with a clear recommendation that ISNAR should not normally have an implementing function, although it might help to implement important research programs where the government was unwilling or unable to obtain the requisite assistance elsewhere.The biggest controversy, however, was with the FAO, which had objected from the beginning that it thought ISNAR was unnecessary. The FAO was resentful that the international community sought to set up a rival organization-one that was not a research institution, but a service to provide technical assistance of a kind that the FAO felt was its own responsibility. Director General Saouma of the FAO proposed that a Research Development Program be established within the FAO, which he was confident could do the job as well or better if donors would provide it with the funds, or even part of the funds, that would otherwise go to ISNAR. Consequently, the FAO opposed the creation of ISNAR at every step, and a wide breach opened between the task force and the FAO, culminating in a bitter exchange of letters between Demuth and Saouma.Those members of the Group who were also members of the FAO always were uncomfortable when controversy flared between the CGIAR and the FAO, which after all was the lead agency on food and agriculture matters in the United Nations system. When the report of the task force was discussed by the Group in the autumn of 1978, this breach with the FAO was clearly a matter of concern. Because of this concern and other reservations held by some members of the Group, ISNAR'S passage was not entirely smooth. INevertheless, at the end of the debate the chairman of the Group was able to say that he detected that a majority, though not all, of the members were in favor of going ahead with ISNAR. The chairman proposed that reservations could be dealt with in the process of bringing ISNAR into being. Serious thought should be given, for example, to a suggestion made in the course of discussion that the FAO be given a permanent seat on the board of trustees of ISNAR.When this statement of the consensus of the meeting was accepted without demurral, an audible sigh of relief went through the assembly. The CGIAR had successfully negotiated another difficult passage, establishing what promised to be an important new activity while avoiding an open break with one of the coponsors. Relations with the FAO improved markedly from then on and were exemplary when it came to the selection of the next chairman and executive secretary of TAC (see chapter 5).A meeting of the newly designated subcommittee of interested donors took place immediately after the close of the Group's meeting. Within a few weeks, William A. C. Mathieson was appointed chairman of the ISNAR subcommittee and the German Technical Assistance Agency (GTZ, its German acronym) was named executing agency. The latter designation marked the first time that this function was given to a European organization. The Netherlands was selected to be the host country, with the Hague the site of ISNAR'S headquarters.A constitution was drawn up and an agreement negotiated with the Netherlands giving ISNAR privileges and immunities similar to those enjoyed by other international centers. A board of trustees was appointed by the ISNAR subcommittee, contributions of funds were obtained from donors, and the new Service became operational in November 1979, precisely at the close of the three-year period of consolidation.IFPRI: The Second Time AroundAn institute for research on food policy was one of the highest priority activities identified by the Bellagio meetings. Its importance was reconfirmed at a special seminar held at the World Bank in 1973. When TAC took up the subject, it concluded there was need for an institute to keep the global food and agriculture situation under independent review, to select key policy issues for analysis, and to identify research needs that bore on world food production and use. At the summer meeting of the Group in 1974, when TAC'S recommendation was put before the Group, it was evident that the views of members were mixed. Some said that the world would continue to be faced intermittently with serious food deficits in some countries, and it would be of great value to have a source of highly professional analytical advice. Other members were skeptical. They pointed out that many organizations already were working in the field and doubted that an institute of the size proposed (with a staff of twelve professionals) could make a significant contribution.Moreover, it seemed undesirable to make a decision without knowing what might eventuate from the forthcoming World Food Conference. Not voiced at the meeting, but suspected to be in the minds of the relevant donors, was reluctance to expose the agricultural policies of industrial countries-as well as those of the European Economic Community-to critical review and comment by a CGIAR body.At the end of the 1974 discussion, the chairman of the Group concluded that there was support for the idea of establishing an international research institute on world food policy matters but, in light of the diversity of views expressed, he would not ask the Group to endorse any specific proposal at that time. The matter should be deferred to the next meeting; meanwhile, consideration of it within the Group should proceed.Accordingly, it was agreed that a working party of those interested would explore the subject. This was done and the question was reconsidered at the autumn meeting, at which time Sir John Crawford, who had been chairman of the working party, re-ported that IDRC and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations were willing to accept initial responsibility for funding a new institute. The issue outstanding was therefore not one of funding, but of the proposed institute's relationship with the Group. The second discussion failed, however, to develop any clear consensus either on the suitability of establishing a food policy research institute or on the relationship it should have to the Group.The chairman therefore offered the members two alternatives. The first was that the Group take no further action at that time, while understanding that the IDRC and the two foundations might wish to consider how to proceed in light of the outcome of the World Food Conference and that the Group should be kept informed of their thinking.If the IDRC and the foundations should decide to establish the center themselves, the Group would wish to establish an effective communications link with it. Recognizing that it would be a pioneering activity, the Group would be prepared to reconsider the question of adopting it at some future date. The second alternative was that, in addition to the first proposal, the Group would endorse the usefulness of the foundations' establishing such a center. The Group opted for the first alternative, declining to go so far as to support the establishment of a new institute.As it turned out, nothing resulted from the World Food Conference bearing on the question of whether to establish a food policy research institute. The IDRC and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations went ahead to create what was called the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and bore the full cost of its operations in the initial years. In keeping with the idea that the Group should have an effective communications link with it, IFPRI was accorded associate status.The three sponsors of IFPRI continued to believe, however, that it should be a part of the CGIAR system and planned to bring it back to the Group after it had some time to prove its worth. Accordingly, in September 1978 they formally requested that the Group reconsider IFPRI'S application. By then IFPRI had built up a sizable staff and was expected to increase it to about twenty to twenty-five professionals, which called for a budget of around $2.5 million a yea.r. Since IFPRI was already in being, the Group had only to decide whether to adopt it, with whatever changes were needed, and so no elaborate process such as attended the creation and acceptance of ISNAR was called for. Nevertheless, the Group as always looked first to TAC for its advice and recommendation.IFPRI turned out to be less controversial than ISNAR. Not only had it been fully discussed four years earlier, but it was already in operation; it was thus a known quantity. Moreover, IFPRI had gotten off to a good start and was well regarded by a number of developing countries and, most important, by the FAO. Nevertheless, TAC examined it thoroughly early in 1979 and when it came to make its recommendations to the Group at the May meeting raised some issues for discussion.TAC'S general conclusion was that IFPRI would make a significant contribution to the achievement of CGIAR objectives. It therefore recommended that the Group adopt IFPRI, but with some qualifications.The first had to do with its mandate. TAC observed that IFPRI'S mandate as formulated in its constitution was significantly broader than TAC had originally proposed for an institute of this kind. TAC therefore recommended that IFPRI should give its principal emphasis to the problems of developing countries and that its work on trend analysis and international food trade should only be in support of the main emphasis of its research. Second, TAC was concerned that there was a potential conflict between the roles of IFPRI as a research organization and as a provider of services to other institutions such as the World Bank and the CGIAR itself. While TAC did not preclude IFPRI'S entering into contracts to collaborate with, or provide services to, other institutions, especially the international centers, it felt IFPRI should be cautious about committing too much of its limited resources to such work. It should keep its focus fairly sharply on its own research program.The third qualification was more problematic. The special team under the chairmanship of Carl Thomsen, a TAC member, which had examined IFPRI on behalf of TAC, had felt strongly that IFPRI should move from its location in Washington, D.C. to a developing country. It felt that \"such a location would place its research staff in an environment which would be more relevant to the objectives of the Institute. It would also avoid the perception of IFPRI . . . as having a somewhat privileged status in the CGIAR system. It could also protect IFPRI from undue donor influences and demands in its analysis of the world food problems.\" The team feared that IFPRI, if it continued to remain in Washington, might be used by the CGIAR as a kind of policy advisory body for allocating resources among the other centers, a role the team strongly opposed. TAC, agreeing with its examining team, attached these qualifications to its otherwise strongly favorable recommendation that IFPRI be included in the CGIAR system.As in the earlier IFPRI discussion, the views expressed by members of the Group in considering IFPRI'S application were mixed. There was concern about the qualifications raised by TAC, but some members went further and questioned the need to add an institution of this kind to the system. The questioners, however, were in the minority, and there was strong, though not unanimous, support for adopting IFPRI. The meeting agreed that the questions of IFPRI'S mandate and role as a service institution could be dealt with in the course of regular reviews of its program. On the question of location, it was decided that IFPRI should analyze and report back to the Group on the advantages and disadvantages, including the cost, of moving.Thus, IFPRI was adopted subject to some technical amendments to its constitution and bylaws to bring them into line with those of other centers, and it was agreed that beginning in 1980 its program would be funded through the CGIAR. When IFPRI subsequently presented a closely reasoned paper explaining why it should remain in Washington, there was no dissent.The favorable decisions on creating ISNAR and adopting IFPRI marked the end of the period of consolidation.Strong reservations persisted, however, about expanding the system further, as became evident during the Group's deliberations on other matters at the May 1979 meeting.As part of the first review of the CGIAR, TAC had revised its original policy statement on priorities for supporting international agricultural research. As the period of consolidation drew to a close, TAC again addressed the question of priorities. Out of its deliberations came its third priorities paper, presented to the Group in May 1979. It was, in fact, the first item on the agenda and set the stage for consideration of other matters at the meeting, which included the discussion on IFPRI already described. Although this third statement on priorities covered much the same ground and reached much the same conclusions as the previous exercises, it was more comprehensive and better geared to operational decisions. It was a useful guide not only to the Group for making broad policy decisions, but also to TAC itself in carrying out its responsibilities for reviewing the programs of centers and judging the merits of possible new activities. The allocation of increasingly limited resources was very much on everyone's mind, and this new TAC statement, more than the previous ones, provided practical guidance.TAC recommended three broad priorities for the use of the Group's resources. First priority should be given to ensuring the continued support of the international centers and other related activities already sponsored by the Group, but with some internal adjustments and priority shifts. TAC noted, for example, that since ILCA and ILRAD were well established (and livestock research was taking place at some of the other centers), a high proportion of the Group's resources was being allocated to livestock as compared with other commodities.Because the amount spent on livestock research might be disproportionate to its contribution to calorie and protein supply, TAC recommended that no further increase in livestock research be accepted before the existing programs had been thoroughly reassessed. While this was the major recommendation on the allocation of resources among existing CGIAR centers and programs, TAC also felt that within the research effort on roots and tubers probably an undue proportion of the resources was allocated to potatoes.If additional funds were available, TAC recommended as a second priority that they be allocated to certain selected initiatives that filled the most important research gaps. It identified five research areas: in descending order of priority, they were research on tropical vegetables, on water management, on plant pest and disease physiology and ecology, on food policy, and on aquaculture. In introducing this list, the chairman of TAC noted that TAC had already submitted proposals to the Group on two subjects-vegetable research and food policy research-but had not as yet taken up the other three. TAC would, however, be turning its attention to them.TAC also identified other gaps, but felt they were of lower priority. They included research on oilseeds, plantains, agroforestry, water buffalo, cotton, fertilizers, tropical soils, postharvest technology, farm mechanization, and some animal diseases other than those already covered by ILRAD. There were, however, two commodities-soybeans and coconuts-which TAC felt warranted further consideration. The other topics would not be pursued unless some new information convinced TAC to the contrary. The Group accepted these recommendations on priorities as the basis for its consideration of proposals coming before it.The Group did not have to wait long to address the issue of priorities, for on the agenda of the same May meeting were three proposals. One of them was IFPRI, which, as already mentioned, was accepted into the system. Vegetable research, on which TAC had long been working, did not fare as well. TAC recommended that a new vegetable research program be added to the CGIAR system. It had considered various ways of organizing a suitable program and had eventually come down in favor of a new institute to be called the International Vegetable Research Institute for the Tropics (WRIT). Its functions would be to act as the primary repository for genetic material of selected tropical vegetable species, to conduct research to improve production technology, to establish cooperative programs with national research institutions for testing new technology, and to act as a center for maintaining and exchanging information.Its research would be directed at the small vegetable producers, mainly resource-poor farmers and kitchen gardeners in rural areas, though it was recognized that a good part of the technology developed would also apply to market gardens that served urban areas and to commercial enterprises growing vegetables for export. WRIT would not be a large center; a senior staff of sixteen, together with the necessary support staff, would call for an annual budget (at 1978 prices) of about $3 million. Capital requirements to establish the institute were estimated to be around $4 million.Although the Group did not quarrel explicitly with TAC'S recommendation that vegetable research should have first priority among possible additions to the system, it was not disposed toward establishing a new vegetable research center. Questions were raised about the practicality of carrying out research on an international scale on vegetables, many of which were grown only in limited areas. Moreover, there were so many species and varieties of edible vegetables that it was hard to see how a single center could develop a program that could pay adequate attention to many different kinds which, though not important globally, might well be important regionally. There was some objection to funding research on vegetables for export.It was recognized that TAC had wrestled with these same questions and reservations, and even though TAC was not unanimous in putting forward the WRIT recommendation, a majority of its members had concluded that the nutritional importance of vege-tables warranted making a serious attempt to develop improved varieties. Nevertheless, when the time came to bring the discussion to a close, it was obvious that a significant number of the Group's members had serious reservations about the merits of the proposal. In other cases, such as ISNAR and IFPRI, the Group had decided to admit the institution to the CGIAR system and to handle the questions and reservations during the process of implementing the decision, but in the case of IVRIT these seemed too fundamental to be dealt with in this way. The chairman therefore recommended that TAC be asked to bring back a more refined proposal. The members of the Group agreed and the matter reverted to TAC.In retrospect, there were some underlying complications that did not surface clearly during the Group's discussion. One was a feeling of embarrassment over the inability of the Group to accept AVRDC. Another was reluctance to become committed to providing resources for yet another institution, even though a small one, when ISNAR was already on the books and IFPRI, which was the next item on the agenda, might well also be accepted. Indeed, it was evident at the meeting that the sponsors of IFrRi were particularly vocal in suggesting a postponement of action on IVRIT. For whichever reason or combination of reasons, WRIT could not muster enough support to be accepted. Despite the Group's invitation, TAC never put forward another proposal on vegetable research.IFDC:The third of the centers that had enjoyed associate status during the time that it was in vogue was the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). IFDC originated as an offspring of a National Fertilizer Development Center maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at Muscle Shoals in Alabama. As its name implied and as its charter and enabling legislation stipulated, the national center was established to develop technology for the U.S. fertilizer industry.A small special staff worked on international fertilizer development, and in 1974, at the time of the worldwide energy crisis and serious food shortages in the Sahel and other regions, the U.S. government sought to expand the international effort. The idea of a cooperative international fertilizer center was raised by the U.S. delegation to the World Food Conference in 1974, but in the interests of speed the government decided to proceed independently.The TVA'S international program was separated from the national effort and established by legislation as a new institute-the International Fertilizer Development Center-with USAID providing the bulk of the funds to operate it, although some funding was obtained from foreign sources.Because the IFDC had been established outside the processes of the CGIAR, the United States was in a difficult position when it subsequently sought to persuade the CGIAR to adopt the institute. No one questioned the usefulness of IFDC or th.e importance of plant nutrients in increasing agricultural production in developing countries. But the Group was reluctant to incorporate into the system-and assume financial responsibility for-what it regarded as essentially an American effort, and one that had the further disadvantage of being located in the United States rather than a developing country. USAID was willing to fund IFDC'S core program during its early years, and as a gesture to the United States and a recognition of the importance of fertilizer development to the work of the IARCS, TAC recommended that the centers maintain a close working relation with IFDC. So the Group invited IFDC to inform the Group of its program at Centers Week and to make available its annual program and budget statement. The center directors, for their part, invited the director of IFDC to attend their regular meetings.The United States nevertheless persisted in its efforts, and at the Group's meeting in November 1978 formally requested that consideration be given to the adoption of IFDC. The Group thereupon asked TAC to look into the matter.TAC dispatched a team to Muscle Shoals to assess the quality of IFDC'S program, and with this team's report in hand considered the request at its meeting in February 1979. It had two separate questions to answer: was IFDC'S program of high quality, and was it of high enough priority to be included among the programs supported by the CGIAR? TAC concluded that there was no doubt about the quality of the program and its usefulness to developing countries, but it questioned its priority for the CGIAR. It noted that IFDC operated in a field in which the United States was uniquely able to make a significant contribution to international agricultural development. In this respect, IFDC was similar to research institutions maintained by several other aid-giving countries. (The United Kingdom, for example, maintained the Tropical Products Institute and the Center for Overseas Pest Research. The Netherlands operated the Royal Tropical Institute, and France had a number of research institutions working for the benefit of developing countries.) TAC felt it would be illogical for the Group to adopt IFDC but not these other nationally supported institutions.There was an added problem. Fertilizer was but one factor in agricultural production, and TAC and the Group had voiced doubts for some time about supporting institutions for research on single factors of production.TAC also noted that IFDC'S program covered only part of the work needed on fertilizer production and that a major portion of the responsibility for studies on crop responses to fertilizers, and for comparative evaluation of alternative fertilizer products, would devolve on other organizations, such as the international centers and the national programs of the developing countries themselves. Moreover, the strength of IFDC'S work lay in chemical engineering and fertilizer processing technology. The processes and products developed by IFDC would have to be taken up by the fertilizer production industry before they could become available to farmers, which meant that IFDC'S work was far removed from the end product. For all these reasons, TAC did not recommend the inclusion of IFDC in the CGIAR system. Nevertheless, it thought highly of IFDC'S work and recommended that donor members of the CGIAR, if so minded, support it outside the CGIAR framework.In considering IFDC'S application as reviewed by TAC, the Group found itself in an awkward position. It was obvious that most of the donor members were reluctant to shoulder responsibility for an activity that had been organized by the United States, was located in that country, and had been maintained by it for some years, albeit with some international support. But at the same time the members did not wish to rebuff the Group's largest donor, even though they may have thought privately that the United States had made a mistake in pressing for IFDC'S inclusion in the face of the known resistance. Sensing the discomfort, the United States representative suggested that the Group might wish to postpone action. In summarizing the ensuing debate, the chairman said he found a small number of members in favor of admitting IFDC immediately; a larger but still small number in favor of accepting TAC'S recommendation that IFDC'S request be rejected; and a larger group, which he felt made up a majority and expressed the Group's consensus, in favor of postponing IFDC'S application until the Group had considered new studies by TAC on factor-oriented research and the role of plant nutrient research. This last course was accepted, but it was generally understood that the issue of IFDC would not be raised again. IFDC has continued to pursue effectively its mandate to assist developing countries and has established strong collaborative arrangements with a number of the CGIAR centers.As the three-year period of consolidation came to an end, the Group was feeling its way carefully. In picking up ISNAR and IFPRI but putting IVRIT and IFDC aside, it was being cautious about taking on new commitments.The inclusion of ISNAR and IFPRI brought the number of centers in the system to thirteen-where it has remained to this day. With the successful consolidation of its operations, the Group could begin to plan the course it would follow in the years ahead.In its early years, finance was no problem for the CGIAR. The amount contributed each year was ample to cover the growing needs of the centers; in fact, the World Bank, which acted as donor of last resort, often did not have to put up the total amount it stood ready to provide. Requirements rose rapidly as the existing centers expanded their programs and new centers were added, but so did contributions.In 1972, total contributions were about $20 million. A year later the total had risen to about $25 million. In 1974, contributions jumped to about $35 million, and continued to rise rapidly in the following years: to $48 million in 1975, $63 million in 1976, and $77 million in 1977-increases in the range of 23 percent to 38 percent in nominal terms and 13 percent to 24 percent in real terms. Not only did many donors regularly increase their contributions, but there were new donors each year. About half of the annual increase came from larger contributions from donors already in the Group, and the other half from new donors. But in 1978 there was, for the first time, some sign of slowing down. The increase, to $85 million, was only 10 percent. The high rates of increase of the early years were not to be seen again, particularly if allowance is made for the impact of inflation.The slowing trend noticeable in 1978 was largely due to a relatively small increase in new donor members. By then, all the larger potential donors had become members of the Group. The slowdown was accentuated by the withdrawal of Iran and Saudi Arabia as donors, the former following the revolution and the latter because of a change of heart, which fortunately lasted only a few years. Although the rate of increase in contributions had begun to slow, the absolute increase continued to be large, so that in 1979 the total contributed was about $100 million.Attainment of an annual level of contributions of $100 million was a milestone that signaled a change in attitude toward the financing of the CGIAR. Previously, any member's contribution was not large in relation to its total outlay for technical assistance to developing countries, or even in some cases to the amounts it provided for research on their agricultural problems. At $100 million, however, the CGIAR had reached a level of visibility that had both practical and psychological import. It became an important claimant on available resources, in competition with other claimants. At the same time, increased visibility made it possible to bring the CGIAR to the attention of policymakers in the larger donor countries and to seek their endorsement of it as deserving priority.One such opportunity occurred in June 1979, when the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States held their annual economic summit meeting, in Tokyo. Among other things, they focused on the world food problem and the steps needed to increase agricultural output. They stressed the importance of agricultural research. The final communique said, in part:We will place more emphasis on cooperation with developing countries in overcoming hunger and malnutrition.We will urge multilateral organizations to help these countries to develop effective food sector strategies and to build up the storage capacity needed for strong national food reserves. Increased bilateral and multilateral aid for agricultural research will be particularly important.In these and other ways we will step up our efforts to help these countries develop their human resources, through technical cooperation adapted to local conditions.The United States proposed to the summit meeting that contributions to the CGIAR be doubled over the following five years, and this proposal was repeated in a message from President Jimmy Carter that was read by the U.S. representative at International Centers Week in October 1979.The chairman and Secretariat, having played a small part behind the scenes in preparing this subject for the summit, took the opportunity to get the donor members of the Group to commit themselves to increasing the resources of the CGIAR over a period of years in keeping with the long-term nature of agricultural research. To this end, the Secretariat in its 1979 integrative report suggested that a realistic target would be to double (in current dollar terms) the funds provided over the five years 1980 to 1984. This five-year indicative plan was intended to be the first of a series of rolling five-year plans, updated and extended by one year annually. It proposed starting at $124 million in 1980 and providing for growth in real terms of 10 percent annually, which it assumed would imply growth in current terms of about 20 percent. This was no more than had occurred in the past; in fact, it represented a slowdown from the rate of growth that prevailed in early years. To make room for some new activities, the existing centers would be allowed only modest real growth once they reached maturity and full development.The integrative report also suggested that the time had come for another review of the CGIAR and the system supported by it. The proposed five-year plan called for an increase of almost onethird in the number of centers or other entities funded by the Group, and total expansion of the system, including growth in existing centers, of almost one-half. \"By sheer size,\" the Secretariat noted, \"and in the face of competing demands among centers for funds, the governance and management of the system are likely to become the major issues facing the Group over the next few years. The challenge will be to maintain the unique characteristics and strengths of the CGIAR as it becomes a larger, more complex institution. N It suggested that a comprehensive review be undertaken in 1981, with some preparatory work to be done by the Secretariat during 1980.With an expansionist five-year plan and a proposal for a comprehensive review before it, the Group's deliberations at the end of October 1979 included a wide-ranging discussion of its activities and the future direction they might take. It was abundantly clear that the CGIAR was a long-term enterprise with a continuing and increasing claim on the resources of its donors. The Group's members displayed caution about expanding the system indiscriminately, but they identified a number of areas in which they thought the Group should become involved or should do more. These included training, agricultural engineering, soil management, pest management, water management, and some other areas identified earlier by TAC. While recognizing that the Group was entering a new phase, they were reluctant to see any sweeping change in its basic structure. Everyone wished to preserve the Group's special characteristics-informality, de-centralization, and relative lack of bureaucracy-but saw the need for improved planning, both for the system collectively and for individual activities, and for sound and responsive management .Looking back, the October 1979 meeting was, in its hopes and enthusiasm, a high point in the evolution of the CGIAR. The fiveyear plan was accepted. The donor members, in general, favored expansion on the scale proposed, even though some were already feeling the pinch of budget constraints and most indicated that they could only commit funds for a year at a time. The meeting, in short, was a strong reaffirmation of support for the CGIAR.Coming of Age, 1980-85 THE YEARS 1977 to 1979 were a period of self-imposed consolidation for the CGIAR, though real growth continued as well. But the year following acceptance of an expansionist five-year plan in October 1979 brought a turnaround in the Group's circumstances and marked the beginning of a period of constraint. The reason was not so much a matter of policy as a consequence of worldwide economic difficulties.In December 1979, the Secretariat's annual budget instructions to centers for the first time included guidelines indicating a limit for each center on the amount it might expect to receive from its donors in 1981. This innovation was a logical extension of the concept of a five-year plan for the system as a whole, and the guidelines issued were designed to ensure that the total amount requested by the thirteen centers would fit within the amount projected for 1981 in the plan.By July 1980, however, when TAC began its review of the 1981 budget, it was clear that donors' contributions would not reach the target. Proposed budgets had to be reduced to bring them more in line with realistic expectations of funding. This was the first time that any center director had been obliged to cut back his budget request in the face of likely underfunding. Some of the center directors did not believe that such underfunding would take place. Further soundings of donors, however, confirmed that contributions in 1981 would fall short of the amounts projected in the 1979 five-year plan, and when the time came to update and extend the five-year plan to cover the period 1981 to 1985, the rate of growth for 1981 that had been projected only a year earlier had to be lowered significantly.Expressed in 1981 dollars, the amount for 1981 in the original plan would have been $156 million; in the revised plan it was lowered to $149 million, the figure used in reducing the budgets of the centers at the TAC meeting. Even this proved to be too high; pledges made in November 1980 amounted to only $138 million, and actual contributions in 1981 proved to be even less. A further round of hastily improvised budget cutting for the centers ensued, with the result that for several of them there was no real growth at all. Not only 1981 was affected; the growth estimates for all years in the five-year plan as updated and revised for 1981 to 1985 had to be lowered substantially. In current terms, the figure for 1984 was still about $260 million, but because the revised figures incorporated higher rates of inflation than originally assumed, real growth was lower. The plan still contained an item for \"new priority activities under consideration and new areas of interest.\" In fact none of these eventuated.The Secretariat's budget guidelines issued in December 1980 for the preparation of 1982 budgets had to be tougher still than the year before. Procedures that were fairer and more sensitive to differences among centers had to be devised-and revised quickly in the light of experience-to reduce the centers' claims on limited resources. Ironically, these constraints came at a time when the achievements of the centers and of the CGIAR itself were becoming more widely known.As the success of the high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice became recognized, public attention began to focus on the individuals and institutions that had made it possible. Norman Borlaug was the first to be honored, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work on wheat at CIMMYT. In the same year, CIMMYT and IRRI jointly received Unesco's Science Prize. Thereafter, individual scientists, particular programs of the centers, and some of the centers themselves garnered a growing number of prizes and awards. While the centers were becoming increasingly well known, particularly within the scientific and development aid communities, the Consultative Group itself attracted little attention, a situation which in the early years it did little to remedy.In 1980, however, the CGIAR was singled out for an honor, the King Baudouin Foundation International Development Prize. To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of King Baudouin's accession to the throne, the people of Belgium individually contributed to a gift, which he used to establish the King Baudouin Foundation. Part of the foundation's resources were to foster the economic development of the poorer countries, a subject in which the king had a great interest. In 1979, he decided that the income of this part of the foundation would be used to give prizes to honor \"persons or organizations, irrespective of nationality, which had made a significant contribution to the development of the Third World, and also to solidarity and good relations between industrialized and developing countries and between their peoples.\"It was decided that the first prize to be awarded should be shared between an organization and a person. The recipients were the CGIAR and Paul0 Freire, a Brazilian educator who had spent a lifetime developing teaching methods for the elimination of illiteracy. Robert McNamara, president of the World Bank, and who-as we have seen-played a leading role in creating the CGIAR, received the prize on behalf of the Group at a ceremony in Brussels on November 15,198O.The award to the CGIAR was made in recognition of \"its contribution to the qualitative and quantitative improvement of food production in the world.\" The application had noted that the CGIAR would celebrate its tenth anniversary in 1981. In its brief history, it had become a model of effective international collaboration in dealing with the single greatest problem of mankindworld hunger and malnutrition.The application highlighted the scientific breakthroughs and the unique organizational features and innovations of the system.The prize carried with it a sum of $50,000, which the Group decided should be invested. The income would be used to award every second year a prize and a small sum in recognition of outstanding work by one of the centers; the money would be used to publicize that work. The biennial prize, to be awarded on TAC'S recommendation, was called the King Baudouin International AgriculturalResearch Award. IRRI was the first recipient, in recognition of the continuing vitality and progress of its breeding program as illustrated by the development of 1~36, which because of its early maturity and wide resistance to pests and diseases was planted by Asian farmers over more than 10 million hectares. The second award went to CIAT for the development, in collaboration with the national research system of Guatemala, of bean varieties resistant to golden mosaic virus diseases.The King Baudouin Prize was welcome recognition for the Group, although the award did not attract wide press coverage. The press conferences arranged by the Secretariat from time to time invariably showed that there was more interest in the scientific accomplishments of the centers than in the existence or activities of the novel form of international organization that helped make them possible. The CGIAR'S lengthy name and unpronounceable acronym presumably did not add to its popular appeal. In fact, the Group did not seek the limelight. The close attention the Group gave to the press release that was always the final item on the agenda of its business meetings manifested the instinct of government officials to edit the language of any document that came to hand rather than an expectation-which would have been unfounded-that the press release would attract journalistic attention.Nevertheless, it was gradually recognized that greater awareness of the Group among the public at large, and particularly among aid donors, was desirable. A simple brochure was prepared in the Group's early days, mainly about the programs of the few centers in the system at that time rather than about the Group itself. In 1976 a revision was issued that went a little further to present the whole operation as a coordinated effort.There remained a need, however, to provide information more frequently, so in 1981 the Secretariat began to issue a newsletter on a quarterly basis. It was designed to meet not only the information needs of the public but also to circulate within the CGIAR system news both of general interest and about the individual centers. Communication within the system has taken on increasing importance as a way of building a sense of unity and common purpose among its far-flung and loosely coordinated components. The newsletter proved to be a popular initiative. Other programs to improve the flow of information to the public at large, to scientific or other specialized journals, and to the centers have followed, but the Secretariat's efforts at information and communication are still modest.The Second Review of the CGIARThe second review of the CGIAR system was a principal preoccupation of the Group during 1981. This was also a year of further adjustment by the centers, the Secretariat, and TAC to the real-ities of continuing deterioration in the world economy. There were more cuts in public expenditure in donor countries, cuts that were particularly sharp in some countries-such as the United Kingdom-that historically were the staunchest supporters of the CGIAR. Fluctuations in the value of other national currencies against the U.S. dollar reduced the dollar value of some contributions and heightened the degree of uncertainty about funding. For many centers these developments meant virtually no growth in real terms, and for some a real reduction in their programs. This process of adjustment dominated the thinking of all centers, but it reinforced their interest in the outcome of the second systemwide review.Adjustment to budget constraints and competition among centers for the limited resources raised new questions about the roles and functions of the various elements in the system and the relationships among them. What was the responsibility of a center's board of trustees in preparing and implementing a program and budget that had to be kept to a size commensurate with the resources likely to be available? What should be the respective roles of the CGIAR Secretariat and TAC in setting budget guidelines for centers and in reviewing their proposed programs and budgets? Were new mechanisms needed to ensure that the Group's resources were managed efficiently? It is not surprising that in considering the scope and purpose of the review, the Group placed heavy emphasis on matters of governance, resource management, organization, and accountability, even though the terms of reference of the review were written more broadly.The second review was organized in much the same manner as the first. Once again, there was a special review committee from within the CGIAR (though this time somewhat larger) and, as its staff, a study team recruited from outside. Funding was provided by special contributions from donors. Again, an informal canvass of donors showed that most favored the idea that the chairman of the Group should be the chairman of the review committee. There were seventeen members of the committee in addition to the chairman. Although each served in his personal capacity, they were senior officials from donor countries and from developing countries, members of TAC, chairmen or other members of the boards of trustees of centers, and center directors. Because the committee was already large, the representatives of the cosponsors and the chairman of TAC were designated as ex officio observers, but participated fully in the discussions. The executive secretary of the Group and the execu-tive secretary of TAC attended all meetings. The director of the study team was Michael H. Arnold of the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge, England. The other members of the study team were Bryant Kearle, vice chancellor (for academic affairs) of the University of Wisconsin, Martin Pineiro of the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA), and William E. Tossell, dean of research at the University of Guelph in Canada.The review committee met three times. The first meeting settled the scope of the committee's task and the program of the study team; the second concentrated on the issues identified by the team; and the last addressed the draft report and recommendations prepared by the team and instructed the team on the revisions to be made in the final version of what then became the committee's report.The review attracted widespread interest. Many people both within the system and in developing countries were eager to give their views. Members of the study team traveled widely to consult with donors, the directors and staffs of the centers, and TAC. Special efforts were made to obtain the views of senior officials in developing countries concerned with agricultural research. Several donors volunteered to underwrite the cost of meetings or seminars with agricultural research administrators in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Three meetings were organized: one by the government of Kenya in Nairobi, one by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in the Philippines, and one by IICA in Costa Rica.The report of the review committee, published in November 1981 and discussed by the Group at Centers Week later in that month, addressed a wide range of issues. It began with a survey of world food supply in relation to demand, a consideration of the need for international agricultural research, and an assessment of the value and impact of research sponsored by the CGIAR. It then turned to the place of the CGIAR system in the worldwide pattern of related activities. It identified the four main kinds of research-basic research to generate new understanding, strategic research for the solution of specific research problems, applied research to create new technology, and adaptive research to adjust the new technology to a particular set of environmental conditions. It then considered the appropriate role of the CGIAR system in relation to these different kinds of research, taking into account the research undertaken by industrial countries and by developing countries themselves and the work of organizations providing technical assistance to developing countries. Criteria were suggested for the inclusion of activities in the CGIAR SySteIll.The report analyzed and made recommendations on a broad array of questions of organization and management.It suggested ways to improve the participation of developing countries in the affairs of the CGIAR. It analyzed the implications of the ways in which funds were provided for the core and special project activities of the system. Finally, the report offered a strategy for the future and a new five-year indicative financial plan for the period 1983-87.The committee made twenty-four recommendations, all but one of which were accepted by the Group in the course of the protracted discussion that occupied most of Centers Week. The recommendations affirmed that the future work of the system should continue to concentrate on food commodities and that the Group's focus should be on multidisciplinary applied research and on training. They endorsed the trend toward more collaborative networks linking IARCS with national programs. The committee recommended that the centers continue to develop appropriate lines of strategic research, both to support their own programs in applied research and to foster active links with the relevant basic and strategic research of other institutions.Thirteen of the committee's recommendations were addressed to matters of organization and management. Some of these endorsed policies and procedures already in place, such as the review procedures originally prescribed by the Bell subcommittee; others recommended particular studies or assessments; and several proposed new policies or procedures. One of the most important of these called for a periodic management review of each center, commissioned by the CGIAR Secretariat, in addition to the array of other reviews already in place. Another-reflecting a desire on the part of donors to have a greater voice in how senior positions in units serving the Group were filled, including those financed entirely by the Bank-was that, in the future, appointment of the executive secretary of the CGIAR should be preceded by wide consultation among members of the Group, and in making the final selection the chairman should be assisted and advised by a search committee.Three of the recommendations dealt with the boards of trustees of centers. The study team and review committee were concerned with a growing tendency to place on the boards of centers senior officials of donor governments and institutions; if this tendency was not curbed, the objectivity of the boards might be put in question, and there would be mounting pressure to convert them into representative bodies. The report therefore recommended that members of boards-except those representing the host country-should be appointed in their personal capacities. Moreover, care should be taken to ensure that such individuals were not so closely associated with a donor agency or government that they might be seen as representing its particular interests rather than their own professional views. Another recommendation addressed the need to ensure that all board members were well informed of their responsibilities.The third recommendation was on the relationship between boards and the Group. It said:We consider that a board cannot escape the reality that it is ultimately dependent for its funding on the collective will of the CGIAR. It should therefore conduct its affairs as if it were accountable to the Group, even though its legal status makes no provision for such a relationship. To ignore this responsibility would be to force the Group in a direction of greater central authority.Consequently, we recommend that the boards and the Group develop mutually acceptable methods of consultation on important matters of policy, such as the appointment of the Directors General, the term of office of board members, the criteria for board membership, and other matters relating to the structure and functioning of boards in relation to their accountability to the CGIAR.   In this way, the committee attempted to deal with a particularly difficult question of accountability within the system. The thrust of this recommendation was that the boards, while legally autonomous, should recognize the need to share some of their authority with the Group. This kind of fundamental change takes time to work out, but progress has been made in such areas as the appointment of the director general and the terms of office of board members, and the board chairmen have constituted themselves into a working group to address the question of board responsibilities more systematically. (We will return to this subject in chapter 6.)The one recommendation not accepted by the Group was a proposal to establish a budget review committee. It was that a Budget Review Committee be established to be chaired by the Chairman of TAC and consist of six additional members, two of whom would be current members of TAC appointed by its Chairman and four appointed by the Chairman of the Group to serve in their personal capacities. We propose that the Budget Review Committee, supported by the Secretariats of the CGIAR and TAC, would make recommendations on budgetary procedures, the formulation of guidelines, and the allocation of resources.This was too radical a change for the Group. The creation of some kind of a committee whose principal function would be to review the budgets of the centers and allocate resources among them had been the single most contentious matter of debate in the review committee. The study team had exercised its imagination in devising various proposals for the committee to consider, but fault was found with each of them. Some were thought to put too much power into the hands of a small number of donors who might impart too political a color to their decisions; others, mainly review committees composed of technical experts unaffiliated with any donor or any center, were thought to be too far removed from the realities of the CGIAR funding process. The logic of TAC'S argument that its indisputable responsibility for program review had to go hand in hand with that for the review of budgets appealed to many members of the committee.The budget review committee proposal also occupied much of the attention of the Group during the Centers Week discussion. A proposal from the floor to establish a small budget committee with a rotating membership of donors failed of adoption when it became clear that most of the major donors would want a permanent seat if such a committee were established. The history of the proposal to establish a budget review committee provides insight into the relationships among the members of the Group and is considered again in chapter 7. Suffice it to say here that in the end the Group decided to continue with the existing procedures under which program and budget review was essentially a joint responsibility of TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat. Recognizing that its refusal to adopt a committee mechanism meant that the Group wished to continue to act as a \"committee of the whole\" on all important matters, the members agreed to meet thereafter twice a year on a regular basis to transact the growing volume of business.Another problem on the minds of the members of the review committee and the Group was that participation in the deliberations of the Group by developing countries, other than those that were also donor members, was at best uneven and often not very effective. Various reasons were adduced. One was that the developing countries elected at the FAO regional conferences to serve what were at that time two-year terms as members of the Group sent representatives who were inadequately briefed. Another was that they often failed to send anyone at all, presumably for lack of funds to meet the expenses of attendance. To increase the effectiveness of participation by developing countries, the review committee recommended that mechanisms be established to ensure that regional representatives were better informed about the CGIAR system; that efforts be made to increase the continuity of service of these representatives; that the FAO consider providing greater opportunities at regional meetings for discussion of relevant topics; and that the CGIAR ensure that funding was available to enable the representatives to attend its meetings. However, even though the committee correctly identified the principal problems and suggested how they might be overcome, increasing the effectiveness of developing-country participation in CGIAR meetings remains problematic. (We will return to this subject in chapter 7.)The final chapter of the review committee's report addressed the future strategy of the Group and proposed a new five-year financial plan running through 1987. The committee's views were conservative, in keeping with the general attitude prevailing in the Group in 1981 (and continuing thereafter). The tenor can be summed up in a single sentence: \"The future strategy should clearly be to encourage the productive trends already present in the System and to reinforce the value of the work without making demands on the donors that they are either unable or unwilling to meet.\" No growth was assumed in the existing programs of the established centers, and only a small amount was expected for starting new programs and for bringing the newer centers up to an approved level and standard of operation. Except for the latter purpose, the overall provision for growth was about 5 percent, of which 3 percent was for new research entities, none of which has in fact materialized. Only 2 percent remained for real growth in the programs of the thirteen existing centers. This amount was to be used to fund new activities at these centers on a matching basis, with half of the funds required to be provided by the centers through reductions in other activities.The committee's five-year plan-which the Group acceptedrepresented a very real slowdown. In the original five-year plan adopted in 1979, the resources needed for 1984, expressed in 1980 dollars, were projected to be $184 million. Two years later, the review committee's projection for 1984, expressed in 1982 dollars, was $194 million, an increase of hardly more than 5 percent during a period when prices were increasing much more rapidly. Even so, actual contributions from donors in 1983 and 1984 were substantially less than those called for in the plan.Once again a comprehensive review of the CGIAR had been a useful exercise, perhaps more by identifying and consolidating the areas of consensus within the Group than by developing an innovative long-term strategy for the future. The study team had originally set as its theme \"the winds of change,\" but the prevailing mood of the review committee and the Group was that change should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.As the review committee's report put it: \"In all important aspects, the CGIAR system has the framework for doing the right things in the right ways. It is evolving in a manner that allows flexibility in responding to needs and exploiting opportunities; it fosters a highly-efficient and professional approach; it permits increasing participation by individuals in developing countries, not only in its operations but also in the management of its affairs. Moreover, . . . it provides bridges across national boundaries to bring the results of research to bear on the problems of world agriculture and, both directly and indirectly, to harness the resources of industrialized countries in support of research directed to the full needs of the developing countries.\" This assessment may have smacked a little of self-satisfaction, but it also expressed the confidence, genuinely felt, that the CGIAR was on the right path. Such a conviction was all-important in maintaining political and financial support, even in the face of sharp reductions in donor budgets. Thus, despite the shortfalls in funding, the CGIAR has retained its favored position in the aid programs of most of its donor members.In addition to its periodic reviews of the programs of individual centers, TAC undertakes occasional cross-center analyses of program components (such as training, documentation, and cropping systems research) common to several centers. These \"stripe analyses\" were begun on the recommendation of the first review committee; the initial topic was farming systems research at four centers--crAr, ICRISAT, IITA, and mm--which had impor-tant programs on the subject. A three-man team under the leadership of John L. Dillon of the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia was recruited for the purpose. The team's report was discussed by TAC in February 1978 and formed the basis for a workshop on farming systems held under TAC'S auspices in May. Participants in the workshop included staff from all of the international centers except ILRAD, as well as scientists from developing countries. The team's report and the conclusions of the workshop were considered by the Group at its meeting in November.Farming systems research was a good subject for the first stripe analysis. Most of the centers conducted such research, but there were important differences among them in coverage, terminology, and particularly methodology.Farming systems research was becoming more important as the new high-yielding varieties had to be fitted into the cropping systems of farms in many different countries, operating in widely varying circumstances. Indeed, some questioned the usefulness of such research because the systems actually employed by farmers depended so heavily on local circumstances.The review team recommended that research on farming systems be limited to activities likely to yield results that could be generalized and, therefore, that it should focus on principles and methods. They recommended that such research should emphasize the production aspects of farming systems and should not be broadened to include rural development. But the team had no doubt about the value of farming systems research at all the crop-oriented centers. They felt that there was an important role for farming systems research both \"downstream,\" as a link in the research chain taking information gained from the experimental programs of the centers and placing it in the farmer's production system, and \"upstream,\" as a way of bringing into the center's multidisciplinary research an understanding of the problems and constraints found on farms.The Group found the stripe analysis of farming systems a commendable exercise. It brought some definition to an aspect of the research that had become increasingly important to the Group but that had not been well understood.TAC was encouraged to undertake further cross-center studies of this kind.The next topic chosen for a stripe analysis was the so-called off-campus programs of the centers. Such programs were the principal driving force behind the expansion of the centers and hence their need for additional funds. For this study TAC folIowed the same pattern as for the study on farming systems. An external team of three men headed by Robert F. Chandler was recruited. It traveled widely to learn at first hand about the various off-campus programs of a selection of centers, after which its report was discussed at a workshop. The study defined offcampus activities as all activities that were carried out by the centers at locations away from their headquarters, except for activities within the host country that were an integral part of the center's research program. The off-campus activities could be a part of the core program of a center and therefore regularly reviewed by TAC and financed by CGIAR donors, or they could be special projects, which in principle were not closely related to the center's basic mandate and were funded outside the Groupapproved budget.As in the case of farming systems, one contribution of the stripe analysis was to define, classify, and thus better understand the wide variety of activities comprised in the subject. The team found that the centers' off-campus activities could be divided into nine broad categories: This wide diversity of off-campus activities-some of which were an integral part of a center's mandate and some of which were less so-presented a center with almost unlimited opportunities to expand its operations, which no doubt helped to ex-plain why these activities were absorbing an increasing proportion of a center's resources and the time of its management. The team discovered that some centers were using between a quarter and a third of their total budgets for these offcampus activities. Although, the team argued, off-campus activities were a logical development as centers became more mature, the trend should be reversed as the research capability of national systems improved to the point where they could undertake collaborative projects that did not involve staff outposted from the centers. The team and TAC warned that the centers' overall programs would become distorted if more of their resources were devoted to off-campus activities not directly part of their core programs. This became one of the main points in the Group's discussion of the team's report at its meeting in Manila in November 1980. Members of the Group found that the report helped in setting proper boundaries for the activities of the international centers. This perennial subject had caught the attention of the Group from the outset and had figured prominently in the work of the first review committee. The stripe analysis did not lay the matter to rest, however, as will be seen in chapter 7.The stripe analyses of farming systems research and off-campus activities helped to increase the Group's understanding of the work of the centers and the similarities and differences in their various programs. The Group agreed that more should be undertaken, and in 1983 TAC began such a study of training, which is an important activity at most centers. TAC'S report was presented to the Group and discussed at its June 1985 meeting, where it was well received. The substance of the training study is discussed in chapter 8.The same uncertainties about funding that affected the IARCS after 1979 were causing difficulties for other international agricultural research organizations.The International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) was one of those confronted with grave problems in seeking to maintain its program in the economically stringent times.ICIPE developed from ideas propounded in 1967 by Thomas Odhiambo, a distinguished Kenyan entomologist. In an article in Science, he concluded that priorities for African research should be insect biology, human and animal tropical diseases, produc-tivity of grain crops, new sources of energy, soil science, and oceanography. Appreciating that this was a formidable list for a continent with so few trained scientists, he suggested that the best way to proceed would be to establish a few \"centers of excellence\"; each center would concentrate its resources on a few problems to ensure a quick return on the investment. To illustrate this concept, he took as an example an institute devoted to research in insect biology.This suggestion led a year later to a meeting of scientists in Boston, Massachusetts to consider establishing an institute in Africa to work on insect physiology and endocrinology (later changed to ecology). A large planning conference, attended by some eighty scientists, took place the following year, and in 1970 ICIPE was formally established in Kenya with Odhiambo as its head. It was by no means purely Kenyan or even purely African, although the focus of its research was on African problems. The directors of its programs were leading scientists from various countries who came to spend up to a year or two at ICIPE working with a small permanent staff. ICIPE soon established a reputation for high-quality scientific research. Most of its financial support came from the UNDP, but there were other important donors, most of which were also members of the CGIAR.ICIPE was more of a basic research institution than the typical IARC. Its management and board of trustees were proud of its scientific accomplishments and were determined to maintain its independence to pursue research as it saw fit. For this reason, although it would have liked to become associated with the CGIAR, it did not initially seek to become part of the CGIAR system. The question of some relationship with the Group was first raised with TAC in 1975. TAC, however, had questions about the relevance of ICIPE'S work to the IARCS and also about its governance and management, including the system of short-term tours of duty for program leaders. ICIPE was willing to make some changes to meet TAC'S concerns, and in September 1975 TAC sent a mission, composed of the scientific adviser of the CGIAR Secretariat and the deputy executive secretary of the TAC Secretariat, to examine IcIrE.The mission reported very favorably on the scientific quality of ICIPE'S research. It had questions about ICIPE'S plans for developing its facilities, for which the mission suggested more economical solutions. The mission felt that parts of ICIPE'S program could be very important to the work of the IARCS .and might appropriately be funded by direct contributions to ICIPE. TAC was also impressed with the quality of ICIPE'S scientific work, but proposed that ICIPE enter into contractual agreements with individual centers for research on their behalf, the cost to be included in the budget of the center and financed as part of its core program. This would be done for ICIPE'S 1977 program, still more than a year away. The Group took this suggestion under advisement but, since no immediate action was required, postponed any decision. Actually the matter stayed in abeyance for another two years during which ICIPE reshaped its capital program to conform more closely to TAC'S views and TAC reshaped its attitude toward ICIPE.In the autumn of 1977, TAC came forward with further recommendations that the Group give direct support to part of ICIPE'S program, in somewhat the same way as it funded part of WARDA'S program. TAC proposed that the Group provide ICIPE a one-time contribution to cover that portion of its capital program relating to the work it would do in collaboration with the international centers. The Group would also make an annual contribution to ICIPE'S core program. Moreover, in those instances where collaborative programs between ICIPE and centers were being funded outside the system by CGIAR donors, those programs should be counted as part of the core programs of the centers concerned and the funding counted as contributions to the CGIAR. TAC proposed that the part of ICIPE'S program funded under these arrangements be reviewed regularly, just like the programs of other centers.The Group, however, felt otherwise. Then concentrating on consolidation and noting that ICIPE still did not wish to become a full member of the CGIAR system, it concluded that there should be no formal relationship. Contract work carried out at ICIPE for the centers could be funded as part of the centers' core programs like any other contractual research. The Group did, however, agree that the Secretariat could provide services to ICIPE, including assistance in organizing meetings of its donors, to help provide some stability to its funding.This was not the end of the story, however, for ICIPE'S board of trustees had a change of heart. In March 1979 ICIPE applied to become a full member of the CGIAR system. At its October meeting the Group asked TAC to study the application and make its recommendations.TAC organized a full-scale mission under H. David Thurston of Cornell University. The mission, which went to Nairobi in April 1980, reported very favorably; it noted in particular that the scientific capability of ICIPE was up to the accepted standard of the international agricultural research system.The mission's terms of reference did not run to the question of the priority of ICIPE'S research compared with that of the centers already in the system or under consideration.TAC agreed with the finding on the high quality of ICIPE'S research, but nevertheless concluded that it could not recommend that ICIPE be included in the CGIAR system. It said that ICIPE'S program encompassed only a limited part of the basic research needed to support the applied investigations on insect and disease management and control and dealt with only a few of the important agricultural pests in the tropics. Moreover, TAC felt that ICIPE'S research ranked lower than other important fields of factororiented research, such as water management and plant nutrition, and some fields of commodity research, such as aquaculture and tropical vegetables. Furthermore, TAC was still dubious about using CGIAR resources for factor-oriented research. It took the position that separate factor-oriented centers were justified only when the research was of overriding importance to the Group's objectives and could not be handled appropriately by the commodity-oriented centers. TAC'S finding came as a shock to ICIPE and its sponsors within the system, who had assumed that ICIPE would have smooth sailing through TAC even if it faced some difficulties in the Group. When the matter came up for consideration in October 1980 at the Group's meeting in Manila, feelings ran high on both sides and the situation was tense. There was widespread recognition of the importance of ICIPE'S research and unanimous praise for the quality of its work, the distinction of ICIPE's leadership, and the example of competence it set in a continent where national research generally was very weak. Some members of the Group, including some who were important donors to ICIPE, strongly supported its admission. Almost all those who were opposed stressed that they did so with regret. The objections were along the same lines as those set out in TAC'S report. In addition, some members of the Group were concerned about the financial implications of accepting ICIPE into the system at a time when funds were short and existing programs were being scaled down. Considering the long history of TAC'S discussions with ICIPE, and ICIPE'S serious efforts to overcome the weaknesses perceived by TAC, there was genuine regret that when the time came for final decision there remained basic reasons to deny it admission to the system.The ICIPE discussion put the Group's informal decisionmaking processes to its severest test. In search of a consensus, the chairman took the unusual step of asking all of the delegations, some of whom had deliberately remained silent, to express their views. Even then, some declined and others couched their views in ambiguity. The chairman said that, by his informal tally, those delegations that spoke were almost equally divided on the question of admissi0n.l However, the delegations opposed accounted for about two-thirds of the funding of the CGIAR system and were largely the donors from whom increased resources for ICIPE would have to come.In view of the closeness of the tally and the absence of any formal voting procedure, the chairman held a short closed meeting of representative members on both sides to find a workable solution. He then reported to the Group as a whole that, although there was not a strong enough consensus in favor to warrant adopting ICIPE, there was a consensus that something should be done to help. He therefore proposed a compromise. A group of donors should be established outside the CGIAR to meet regularly to secure a more stable financial base for ICIPE. The World Bank would be prepared to provide secretariat services for this group, act as its fiscal agent, and provide other assistance. There should be a thorough review by TAC of the priority to be given by the CGIAR to insect and pest management. This review should include ICIPE'S program and the relevant activities of the IARCS, as well as consideration of possible CGIAR funding of specific programs of ICIPE without its becoming a member of the system. This compromise was accepted. The special group of interested donors was established outside the CGIAR and has continued to function, with the World Bank providing its secretariat.ICIPE'S protracted courtship of the Group was a difficult and unhappy experience for both of them. At first ICIPE sought the benefit of some kind of association without giving up its independence to pursue basic research in accordance with its own aims. By the time that it decided to become a full member of the CGIAR system with the obligations that such membership en-1. The chairman, trying to keep track of the voting as it proceeded and to resolve ambiguities in the comments, stated that one more delegation had spoken in favor of admitting ICIPE than against. When the Secretariat reviewed the verbatim record, it resolved the ambiguities slightly differently; the summary of proceedings therefore stated that those who were opposed to admitting ICIPE were in a majority of one. tailed, the Group had tightened its policies and faced financial problems of its own. The possibility of associate status had been foreclosed. The priority of research directed at increasing food production had been confirmed, as had the reluctance to support research on individual factors of production except as part of the multidisciplinary, mission-oriented research of existing centers. The truth is that ICIPE was never a logical candidate for the CGIAR. However, as a center of excellence and an essentially African institution, as well as a potential collaborator with the international centers in the system, it had a good deal of appeal, which had led TAC and some members of the Group to lean toward some form of official relationship, especially so long as ICIPE did not seek full membership. It is understandable that TAC and many donors wished to find ways for the Group to support ICIPE, but regrettable that this benevolence tended to mask until the final moment the fact that the Group and ICIPE were not very well matched.The conservative attitude evident in the second review was manifested in the Group's decisions on water management. TAC had always given high priority to research on water management, which figured among the original proposals identified by the Bellagio Group before the CGIAR was founded. But it had proved extremely difficult to put together a proposal acceptable either to TAC or to the Group. Research on water management appeared repeatedly on TAC'S agenda, and discussion papers on the subject were commissioned by it or prepared by others and brought to TAC'S attention. Some TAC members pressed for more definitive consideration leading to a proposal that could be recommended to the Group. Others, however, felt that the subject should be dealt with in the programs of existing centers (as was being done at IRRI, for example), that the problems of water management were usually peculiar to specific localities, and that a new center for such research would be contrary to TAC'S general posture that research centers confined to one or two factors of production did not belong in the CGIAR system. It was not so much that proposals were put forward and rejected as that TAC felt torn between the importance of the subject and the difficulties of coming to grips with it in the CGIAR context. The Group apparently felt somewhat the same way. It agreed with TAC that the subject deserved high priority, but it did not press TAC to address it.But this was not the feeling everywhere. The IDRC, particularly, took the view that the losses of irrigation water between the source of supply and the root zone of the plant were so great and the downstream degradation of soil through accumulating salts and waterlogging so damaging that research specifically addressed to water management was clearly warranted. Based on its experience in India, the Ford Foundation also took the view that increasing the efficiency with which irrigation water was used was of prime importance. In February 1978, David Hopper, then president of the IDRC, told TAC that the IDRC was undertaking a study of the problem and would be glad to share its findings. Sir Charles Pereira, a former member of TAC, led the IDRC study. Meanwhile, TAC was again considering general priorities for international agricultural research and in May 1979 presented its third priorities paper to the Group. In the past TAC had noted the importance of research on water management but had not ascribed any specific priority to it. This time it was second on the list of selected initiatives to be undertaken if additional funds were available; it was given priority immediately after research on tropical vegetables, a proposal which, as we have seen, was put aside by the Group at that May meeting.Two months later the IDRC report was presented to TAC at its July meeting. In essence, its conclusions were that there was need for an international center where postgraduates could be taught the basic disciplines and technologies in water management and acquire a capacity for examining and addressing the causes of low efficiency and deterioration in irrigation systems. It recommended that such a center be established in a country with large-scale irrigation based on one of the four great river systems-the Ganges, the Indus, the Nile, or the Euphrates and Tigris-and that as part of the center's program there be three irrigation development teams, one posted in each of the three other river systems. Posting to these teams would offer opportunities for study and training within the reality of operating systems. TAC agreed in general with the IDRC report, but felt that the particular proposal needed clarification and elaboration. It established a subcommittee to study the IDRC recommendations in detail and to produce a proposal that TAC could recommend to the Group. This subcommittee, assisted by advisers drawn from within the CGIAR system and outside consultants, gave its preliminary findings to TAC at its February 1980 meeting and, after taking into account the views and suggestions of TAC members, presented its final report and recommendations to the TAC meeting in July. No one in TAC questioned the high priority of a new initiative for training and research on the management of irrigation systems. The issue in TAC was what sort of institutional mechanism would be most appropriate.After much discussion it was decided to put the subcommittee's proposal to the Group for its \"serious and favorable consideration,\" but to do it tentatively so as to ascertain the reaction of the Group both to the idea of establishing a new center for this purpose and to the kind of institutional structure outlined. If the reaction was favorable in principle, TAC could then work up a definitive proposal taking into account the views expressed.TAC'S tentative recommendation to the Group at the October 1980 meeting was that a new international center be established consisting of a central headquarters and two or more smaller satellite units that collectively would address \"the wide spectrum of irrigation water management problems of the major ecological zones of the world . . . as well as the full range of water supply, delivery, use, and disposal in each.\" The headquarters unit would have a core staff of twenty to twenty-five senior scientists and each satellite half as many. Although the units would not have experiment farms, they would be located where they could use existing irrigation systems as their laboratories. It was estimated that the annual operating cost of the headquarters unit would be about $5 million, and the capital cost of establishing it also about $5 million. The satellites would cost half as much.The Group's discussion of this item on the crowded agenda of the meeting in Manila in October 1980 reached no consensus. There seemed to be general agreement on the priority of water management training and research, but the members disliked the institutional structure proposed by TAC and continued to express concerns that factor research was not appropriate for the Group, that the problems were too location-specific to be treated by a single international center, and that the research problems could just as well be handled by the existing centers. The Group did not reject out of hand the idea of a new center, but it gave the subject back to TAC for reconsideration.TAC was disheartened by the failure of the Group to give a clear lead as to what it wanted to do and was disinclined to attack the problem again without more guidance. It was therefore decided to hold a meeting of interested donors to see how this guidance could be given. The meeting, which took place in July 1981 under the chairmanship of Robert Cunningham of the United Kingdom, assigned the task of giving guidance to four consultants, who were to report to a steering committee of donors chaired by Werner Treitz of the Federal Republic of Germany. The consultants were engaged by TAC. The Treitz committee met twice to review their work and consider their report. The report was then examined by TAC, which put forward to the Group a specific proposal based on the consultants' recommendations.It differed from the previous proposal in that there would be no satellite units. Instead there would be a network of national programs coordinated by a new international center that could assist the national programs by posting staff to them for two to three years at a time. The consultants estimated that once the center and outpostings were fully established the operating costs would be about $4.5 million.Even at this low cost, however, TAC felt obliged to submit the proposal with some financial reservations. Although TAC was convinced a new initiative in irrigation management research was urgently needed, it was unable to recommend any new major undertaking that would be financed at the expense of the activities of the present system, some parts of which were already seriously underfunded.Thus, if the Group agreed with TAC on the need for a new center in the system, the donors would have to find additional money for it.In introducing the subject for discussion at the Group's meeting in Paris in May 1982, the chairman said he thought the question of water management training and research had been studied as thoroughly as possible, and it was now time to decide one way or the other. A long debate ensued in which again no one disagreed with the importance of research on the management of irrigation water. But some still questioned whether such research was appropriate for the CGIAR, both because much of it would have to be specific to particular areas and because, as recommended by the second review committee, caution should be exercised in giving direct support to additional international centers that focused on a single factor of production.The main concern, however, was that funding of this new activity would encroach on the already-constrained budgets of the existing centers. In the end, this consideration proved to be decisive, and the Group reluctantly concluded that it should not take on this new activity. Nevertheless, there was widespread support for research in water management, and it was agreed that no other new activity had higher priority for financing by the Group.A group of donors, with the Ford Foundation in the lead, had decided to meet informally to consider how to keep the initiative alive outside the CGIAR system should this prove necessary. The CGIAR agreed that if the informal group could prove in the future that incremental financing could be found that would not take resources away from ongoing activities, the proposal could be brought forward again for consideration.However, this has not yet happened. The informal group proceeded with the establishment, outside the CGIAR, of the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI), located in Sri Lanka. Ralph Cummings, who had retired as chairman of TAC, was recruited as a consultant to develop the proposal, and was acting director general of IIMI until Thomas Wickham was appointed to the post.Considering the high priority everyone accorded to research on management of irrigation water, there could be no stronger commentary on the stringency of the financing problems facing the CGIAR, and on the conservative attitude of donors in response to them, than the Group's decision to put aside this initiative. Had an acceptable technical proposal come before the Group during its earlier and more bountiful years, it is more than likely that an irrigation water management research institute would now be part of the CGIAR.One of the most effective ways of ensuring the participation of developing countries in the business of the Group has been to bring them in as donor members. While the Group has welcomed additional donors, it saw the need-as an exception to its rule that the size of each donor's contribution was strictly a matter for the donor to decide-to set a minimum figure for new entrants. This figure was introduced in the mid-1970s at the level of $500,000. It was considered necessary in order to forestall an influx of members that would make the Group so large as to be unwieldy while adding little in the way of financial resources.The countries that have served as hosts to individual international centers have been the principal source of developing country donor members, since they generally have been the ones most familiar with the work of the centers and whose national programs have benefited most from a close association with the centers. Nigeria was the first to become a donor; it did so in 1975, at the time of the oil boom, and has continued to be a contributor and an active participant in the Group's affairs despite later reverses in its economic fortunes. About two-thirds of its contribution has been dedicated to IITA, but like subsequent developing country donors-and indeed all donors-it has been encouraged to support the work of a number of centers.Iran became a donor in 1976 at the time that it was being considered as one of the host countries for ICARDA, but its membership lapsed after the revolution.The new government was not interested in providing a high-altitude site for ICARDA'S work, and ICARDA'S facilities were confined to Syria and Lebanon. The Philippines had been closely associated from the outset with the work of IRRI through its national university at Los Banos, and the minister of agriculture during the 197Os, Arturo Tanco, was very active in international agricultural affairs, serving, for example, as head of the World Food Council. The Philippines joined as a donor in 1980. India's association with the international centers went back to its early contacts with IRRI and CIMMYT in the 1960s. It was involved in the work of the Group, not only through its links to ICRISAT but also through the participation of its senior agricultural scientists on TAC and on the boards and staffs of the centers. It became a donor member in 1981, following a direct invitation from World Bank President McNamara to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.With three centers located in Latin America, it was important that this region be more actively represented also. Mexico was the host country of CIMMYT and its association with internationally supported agricultural research went back to 1943; it was therefore a logical choice. So was Brazil, which had a large research program of its own and enjoyed close relations with the IARCS in the region. As in the case of the other developing-country donor members (except Nigeria), several years of contacts and discussion preceded the decisions of Mexico and Brazil to contribute. The decisions were finally taken just as the international debt crisis reached serious proportions, and both countries have experienced difficulties in making good on their pledges.The Group had long hoped that China-the country with the world's largest population and the highest production and consumption of food grains-would become a donor member and add its voice to the Group's deliberations.China had already made notable achievements of its own in research on highyielding varieties. Its ties to IRRI had become very close; a Chi-nese scientist sat on IRRI'S board of trustees, and China had hosted a meeting of the board. There was an active program of scientific collaboration with IRRI, which gradually extended to many of the other centers as well. A World Bank loan to China to build a national rice research institute, for which IRRI provided advice and assistance, further solidified relations. The award of the Third World Prize to IRRI, which was made at a ceremony in Beijing in April 1983, afforded an opportunity for the chairman to repeat at first hand the invitation for China to become a donor member of the Group. It did so at Centers Week in November of that year, making a pledge for 1984.The year 1983 was noteworthy in several other respects. It witnessed the first of the management reviews of a center. One of the recommendations of the second review committee, reflecting the Group's growing desire to ensure that the centers were effectively managed, was that the Secretariat commission \"more penetrating reviews of the administration and management of the [centers].\" Preferably these reviews would be conducted separately from but in conjunction with the external (quinquennial) program reviews commissioned by TAC. The first such review took place in 1983 in conjunction with the second external review of cm. A special review team was recruited, led by Omond Solandt, an experienced Canadian research administrator who served on the boards of several of the international centers. Many of the center directors were nervous about the prospect of being subjected to a management review, but the review of CIP went well and did much to allay their concerns. The management reviews have touched on sensitive subjects, but have generally succeeded in dealing with them in a discreet but clear manner and have become an integral part of the Group's review mechanisms.Many of the recommendations have in fact been accepted, and implementation of them begun, before the reviews came to the Group, obviating the need for Group discussion.Another innovation that took place in 1983 was the decision to establish a stabilization mechanism for better management of the Group's finances. One of the difficulties that had become aggravated during the time of financial stringency was the uncertainty caused by changes in the dollar value of nondollar contributions both from one year to the next and from the time those contributions were pledged to their receipt. This was more than a bookkeeping problem, since a substantial part of a center's expenditure takes place in dollars. Coupled with this uncertainty were fluctuations in the dollar cost of operations arising from unexpected changes in the rate of inflation faced by the centers in the countries where they spent their money. In the past, centers had absorbed the costs resulting from these fluctuations and, if any gains accrued, were able to apply them to their programs. Sometimes technical adjustments to budget levels during the year would take account of these factors, with corresponding adjustments in the contributions from the Group. In one instance a very substantial sum was returned for reallocation to other centers following a sharp devaluation in the currency of the host country, which reduced the dollar cost of the center's program. These uncertainties, whether the end result was favorable or unfavorable, made proper management of resources problematic both for the center and for the system as a whole and underlined the need for some sort of stabilization mechanism.Such a mechanism proved to be difficult in both its conceptual design and practical administration.(It is described at greater length in chapter 7.) It is too soon to make a judgment on its efficacy, the more so since the abatement of worldwide inflation has eased the problem somewhat.Several other issues surfaced or became more prominent at this time. One, among those to be considered more fully in chapter 7, concerned the international status of the centers. The four original centers came into being as a result of an agreement between the Rockefeller or Ford Foundation and the host country, each of which had its special characteristics. Each of the centers subsequently established or adopted by the CGIAR tended to follow its own and somewhat original path toward acquiring a form of international status. As time went on, several of the centers found that some provisions of their charters or agreements were inadequate for their needs. Efforts to have the agreements modified or renegotiated with the host governments encountered snags, however, when the governments found anomalies in the agreements from their own point of view. During 1983-85, a substantial number of the centers were at various stages of discussion with their host countries, in some of which the chairman and Secretariat of the Group and the cosponsors were also involved, to seek clarification or change in some aspect of their international status. It was also in 1983 that the Group decided to launch a study of the impact of the research activities it supported on agriculture in the developing world. The initial studies of the results of the Green Revolution were by then largely out of date, and the CGIAR did not wish to rest on these laurels. Since research is a longterm enterprise requiring a commensurate commitment from its supporters, fresh evidence of what the IARCS had accomplished, and might reasonably expect to accomplish from the work in progress, was seen to be an important means of sustaining that commitment.To carry conviction with the donor agencies, governments, and parliaments that were its ultimate audience, the impact study, as it came to be called, had not only to be objective but also to be seen to be objective. In addition to the customary practice of recruiting an outside study team-in this instance headed by Jock Anderson of the University of New England in Australia-the Group decided to have the team report to an advisory panel of distinguished scientists of international repute and without close connection with the work of the system. Frank Press, president of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, served as chairman of the panel.The design of the impact study proved to be difficult, and several workshops and symposiums were held to obtain advice from natural and social scientists both within and outside the system. The principal findings of the study, which were presented to the Group at Centers Week in 1985, form the main subject of chapter 8.One center whose status has recently been called into question is the IBPGR. The situation of the IBPGR has always been ambivalent. It is financed by the CGIAR and has an independent board of trustees, but it is housed in the FAO, where the Secretariat has the status of an FAO division and its members, including the executive secretary, are FAO employees. The relationship, although uneasy and not free from problems, was workable in the early years, and IBPGR became an important mechanism for encouraging the worldwide collection and preservation of genetic resources.In 1982 and 1983, circumstances began to change. The importance of preserving the world's heritage of plant life in all its variety for the benefit of present and future generations was becoming more widely recognized. Most of the varieties, both cultivated and wild, of scientific value were to be found in the developing countries, yet many of these countries were ill equipped for the complicated and expensive task of establishing and managing reliable, useful collections. There was growing concern that as collections were built up under the control of industrial countries and autonomous institutions (including the IARCS) the interests of the developing countries would suffer. This led to consideration of ways to protect source countries' rights, which in turn raised fears that the free exchange of breeding material would be inhibited, thereby making international scientific collaboration more difficult. The FAO became the center of heated discussions as, encouraged by some of its member governments, it set out to institutionalize and systematize the collection and preservation of plant genetic resources under its own auspices. The outcome was the passage of two resolutions in 1983 by the Conference of the FAO: one adopted an \"International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources\" and the other requested the FAO Council to establish a \"Commission on Plant Genetic Resources.\" Together, these two initiatives sought to institutionalize, through the FAO, a master system of collections of plant genetic resources and to set guidelines for establishing policies and for monitoring the collection and preservation of plants.These proposals appeared to many members of the CGIAR to impinge on the role and work of the IBPGR and of those IARCS that maintained collections, an impression that was reinforced by some of the language of papers and statements presented to or made at the conference. At the November 1983 meeting, the Group adopted a statement to the effect that:The Group expressed its satisfaction with the accomplishments of IBPGR in the field of plant genetic resources. The Group reaffirmed the terms of reference of IBPGR and stated that the Board should continue as an autonomous, independent, international institution under the authority of the CGIAR working in close cooperation with FAO.The director general of the FAO sought subsequently to allay the concerns reflected in this statement, but the issue could not be put to rest.When the time came for the regular external reviews of the program and management of the IBPGR in 1985, this issue was very much in the forefront. Since it was important and sensitive, all parties embarked on the reviews with even more than the usual care. The customary separate reviews-one covering the program and the other management-were combined, a management specialist being added to the review panel commissioned by TAC. The management review of IBPGR focused on three issues: l The role of the board of trustees. Individual members of the board had typically been given advisory or operating tasks that at other IARCS would normally have been performed by members of the staff. The panel recommended that the board be relieved of its operational responsibilities, which should be transferred to the Secretariat. The board should then assume a policymak: ing role, like the boards of trustees of the other IARCS. l The organization of the Secretariat. The panel found that the management burden of the executive secretary was not properly shared, and the staffing of the Secretariat was thin. It recommended the creation of a middle-management layer, the use of a more participatory management style, and a number of specific mechanisms for improving planning and internal communications. l Secretariat relations with the FAO. The most serious concern of the panel was the Secretariat's lack of autonomy within the FAO. It felt that the executive secretary's dual accountability to the board and to the FAO created misunderstanding and tension. The FAO'S administrative rules and procedures, although appropriate to a large organization, constrained IBPGR'S operational effectiveness, as did a chronic lack of office space. In spite of efforts by the FAO management to accommodate the special needs of IBPGR, these limitations had proved intractable. They already hampered IBPGR'S ability to carry out a dynamic and flexible program; they would become more severe as IBPGR'S programs grew and as it attempted to attract the additional 1 talent needed for the expanded research effort recommended by the external review. The panel was under no illusions as to the political sensitivity of the issues it was raising. It sought to achieve two objectives that might not be easily reconciled: a close working relationship with the FAO and greater operational freedom and independence. It therefore presented two options: l IBPGR should be reconstituted as an independent center with a liaison unit at the FAO, if an appropriate outside location for the center could be found and there was little likelihood of a major change in the present arrangements with the FAO. l IBPGR should remain at the FAO, if a suitable location could not be found and if satisfactory changes could be made in the pres-ent arrangements with the FAO, compatible with the conditions required for a research institution within the CGIAR. The panel noted that it was not in a position to indicate a preference for one of those options. It therefore suggested that the CGIAR establish a special task force to resolve the uncertainties and make a final recommendation.IBPGR itself had no difficulty in resolving the dilemma. Past experience of attempts to improve the arrangements with the FAO led it to conclude that the second option was not likely to provide the physical and managerial environment required to implement the changes recommended.In commenting on the panel's report, the IBPGR board strongly endorsed the first option, the more so since it was convinced that a suitable alternative location could be found.TAC, upon receipt of the panel's report, was not prepared to move so quickly or decisively. It felt that it needed more information and study before it could assess the management constraints that reduced the efficiency of IBPGR or explore the issues involved with the FAO. It therefore set up a subcommittee to examine the management issues, as well as one of the scientific issues (concerning the establishment of a research capacity in IBPGR) in cooperation with IBPGR and the FAO.The TAC subcommittee found that, despite the advantages of a functional relationship between IBPGR and the FAO, the rationale for separating the two was much stronger and more persuasive. It reasoned that \"an operational unit headed by a director and controlled by its own board of trustees can hardly, either logically or functionally, be a subordinate part of the line management structure of a different organization.Equally, a board of trustees can hardly share its trusteeship with an entirely separate body, which is, in turn, controlled by its own governing council.\" It felt that the establishment of IBPGR as an autonomous institution could well enhance its ability to reach more effective understandings and working relations both with the FAO management and with the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources.Thus, the TAC subcommittee found compelling reasons of logic to eliminate the \"anomalies\" inherent in the \"dichotomous structure\" of the present IBPGR-FAO organization. It made several recommendations for enhancing cooperation between the FAO and IBPGR through recognition of a special relationship, adding that continuity in the location of IBPGR might avoid misunderstanding of the reasons for the proposed change in structure.Bolstered by the subcommittee report, TAC, after further study and vigorous debate, recommended that \"IBPGR be transformed into a small, autonomous nongovernmental institution within the framework of the CGIAR that would work closely with FAO, and give independent scientific and technical advice to national and international endeavors in plant genetic resource conservation.\" In order to maximize opportunities for collaboration, TAC recommended that the reconstituted institution remain in close proximity to the FAO and that the FAO enjoy a special relationship at the operational level. Further sensitivity to the FAO connection presumably was the reason behind an added proviso: \"In case FAO should decide to provide the technical and scientific advice needed to support international germ plasm efforts, there might not be a strong case for a separate unit within the CGIAR and the situation would have to be reassessed.\"The external review of the IBPGR was extensively discussed at the Group's midyear meeting in Tokyo in 1985. At the close, the chairman appointed a committee, with himself as chairman, to receive the final report of TAC (which was not ready at the time of the meeting) and to make recommendations to the Group at International Centers Week later in the year. The committee met twice. At its first meeting it \"with some reluctance\" accepted TAC'S argument that in order to carry out its responsibilities for the policy and management of its program, IBPGR needed exclusive authority over its staff. The committee could not comprehend the logic of TAC'S proviso referred to in the preceding paragraph and recorded its inability to agree with it. Nonetheless, the committee displayed its own caution in walking through the minefield of relations with the F.40. It requested its chairman to seek a meeting with the director general of the FAO \"to examine with him the whole range of issues raised by the TAC proposal . . . and also to explore FAO'S position on the possible improvement of present arrangements.\" This subsequent meeting aired the difficulties and problems on both sides, but it could not resolve them. The director general requested that the Group's views and proposals be given to him in writing, so that he could consider them and consult with his authorities.At its second meeting, the committee decided to recommend that the Group continue its efforts to convince the FAO to change the arrangements, so as to make it possible for IBPGR to remain within the FAO. The committee also recommended, however, that steps be taken to explore what would be involved in setting up the board as an independent organization. The issues were then debated by the Group at its meeting at the end of October 1985. Dissatisfaction was expressed with the existing situation, which was demoralizing the staff and impeding the work of IBPGR. It was decided that the chairman of the Group, in writing to the director general as the latter had requested, should make clear that changes should be made in the way IBPGR was run. The members of the board should collectively exercise oversight, but not have individual operational responsibilities. The staff should be responsible for carrying out the program and report solely to the board without receiving directions or other responsibilities from the FAO. The staff should not have to conform to the quotas, broad competitive promotion programs, or other requirements for filling positions that apply to the FAO as a whole. The members of the Group, reluctant to cut loose from the FAO, hoped that these changes could be accomplished in a way that would permit the board to remain formally part of the FAO. At the same time, however, they agreed that the possibility of reconstituting the board outside the FAO, but working in close collaboration with it, should be explored. The Group would consider at its midyear meeting in 1986 what action to take in light of the director general's reply. The last chapter of this particular story, therefore, cannot yet be written.Troubled WARDA WARDA has been a perennial source of concern to the Group, which has gone to considerable lengths to preserve and foster this potentially valuable attempt at West African intergovernmental cooperation on research, in the face of mounting difficulties. Whether it will succeed remains to be seen.External scientific and management reviews of WARDA were undertaken in 1983. They concluded that WARDA had contributed substantially to the training of technicians and farmers in the basics of rice cultivation, but that its research activities were weak. Little had been accomplished in adapting technologies to the needs of the region, in part because WARDA had confined its activities to testing technologies imported from Asia rather than generating new technologies with its own applied research. The review panels found that the scientific staff was of a high caliber and able to conduct the required research, if appropriately directed. Improvements in the responsibilities, organization, management, and staffing of WARDA were recommended.In the absence of positive action from WARDA'S management, the Group at its November 1984 meeting took the unusual step of suspending approval of WARDA'S 1985 budget. The Governing Council of WARDA met the following month and decided to implement a number of the review recommendations, on the strength of which the CGIAR chairman recommended that donors approve and fund the 1985 budget.WARDA has made progress on a number of fronts since then. The Scientific and Technical Committee (STC), reconstituted to include scientists from outside the region, has met several times. Although the role of the committee is only advisory, the Governing Council has delegated authority to it. More time is needed to ascertain whether the Governing Council will take the advice of the STC in critical areas where technical rather than political criteria should prevail.WARDA'S management, under a new acting executive secretary, has focused its program on four areas: upland rice, mangrove rice, irrigated and flooded rice, and deep-flooded rice. Establishment of an integrated research program, as recommended, has been handicapped by the fact that many donors restrict their financing to particular activities. This itself is in part a reflection of lack of confidence in WARDA'S capacity to manage an integrated program effectively, but it thereby traps WARDA in a vicious circle. On other fronts, subregional offices have been closed, headquarters staff reduced, and substantial numbers of researchers transferred from headquarters into the field. Planned expenditures for 1985 have been brought into line with likely receipts. A full-time director of research and development, seconded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has strengthened WARDA'S management.Further progress in improving the effectiveness of WARDA'S scientific program is seriously threatened by a financial crisis. In part this is due to the absence of a chief financial officer, despite efforts to recruit one, compounded by the resignation of a key professional staff member at the end of 1984. With its limited financial and accounting staff, WARDA is able to do little more than maintain its accounts, and even these have a substantial backlog. The principal difficulty, however, lies in a critical cash flow problem that is the result of declining support from WARDA'S member states. The severity of this problem is indicated by the fact that at the time of Centers Week in October 1985 WARDA had debts of about $3 million and no credit. Payments to staff were in arrears, and all its suppliers were demanding advance payment.WARDA'S research programs are financed in their entirety by external donors, except for overhead financed through the administrative budget. Contributions from the member states are used to fund WARDA'S administrative budget, which has amounted in the past to about $3 million a year (including some funds for special projects in member states). Only two of the fifteen dues-paying members (Chad is exempt from financial contributions until 1987) were more or less current at the end of 1984. A majority of the members are delinquent in their contributions for at least two years and a considerable number are delinquent up to five years. Of the agreed 1985 contributions of $3 million, only $0.2 million had been received by the end of September.CGIAR donors have taken various steps to shore up WARDA'S finances. They have agreed to include overhead contributions in their payments for special projects. Several donors have made early payments or allowed the World Bank to advance funds against payments due later in the year. The temporary services of a financial controller have been provided. USAID has worked closely with WARDA management to reduce the time required for reimbursement under its procedures. The World Bank has offered to allow member states to use a part of appropriate loans and credits for payment of past and present membership dues, and the Bank has intimated that if member countries were to utilize this offer and clear their arrears it would consider providing a working capital grant to WARDA. To date no member countries have availed themselves of this opportunity.These various measures have kept WARDA afloat, but its future remains clouded. At the 1985 Centers Week, it was clear that donors were becoming seriously disillusioned with the lack of support given to WARDA by its member states. Grave doubts were expressed that WARDA could continue in its present form. It was decided to approve further funding of the association for only the first half of 1986, pending action by its Governing Council to make structural changes that would give WARDA'S management greater independence and action by the member states to meet their obligations. The Group planned to decide at its mid-1986 meeting whether to continue support of WARDA in its present form or to find some other way to support rice research in West Africa.One of the most noticeable changes taking place toward the end of the period under review was that some of those most closely involved in the affairs of the CGIAR for a good many years were retiring from the scene. Ralph Cummings, who had been chairman of TAC for five years, retired from that position early in 1982. Michael Lejeune, who had held office for eight years as the executive secretary of the CGIAR, retired at the end of 1982, at the same time that Philippe Mahler, who had been executive secretary of TAC for five years, left to take another position in the FAO.The way in which these vacant positions were filled says something about the evolution of the Group's procedures. The first chairman of TAC, Sir John Crawford, was designated at the time the CGIAR was established through the same process of informal agreement among the interested parties that applied to other aspects of the Group's initial organization and management. The cosponsors assumed responsibility for choosing his successor, but when they were unable to agree the matter had to be put to the Group for decision (see the discussion in chapter 3). When Cummings retired, the cosponsors agreed among themselves on the procedure they proposed to follow in seeking a replacement and then circulated the proposal to the members of the Group for their comment. In accordance with the agreed procedure, nominations were widely solicited from all parts of the system; from the long list that resulted, the cosponsors culled out a list of five candidates, which was submitted to the members for their comment. On the basis of their assessment of these comments, the cosponsors nominated Guy Camus, director general of the French Office of Scientific and Technical Research Overseas (ORSTOM, its French acronym) to be TAC'S new chairman, and the Group approved. It was agreed among the cosponsors that the TAC chairman would serve for a term of three years, which could be (and was) renewed.The three previous incumbents of the position of executive secretary of the CGIAR had all been World Bank staff members appointed by the president of the Bank without consultation. In line with the recommendations of the second review committee report, the chairman appointed a small search committee from within the system to advise and assist in his selection of a successor. The committee interviewed the most promising of the large number of applicants and gave the chairman a short list of candidates from which he selected Curtis Farrar, who at the time was deputy assistant senior administrator for science and technology, USAID. The director general of the FAO had previously appointed the executive secretary of TAC from within the FAO staff and without prior consultation, even though the other two cosponsors shared in the costs of the TAC Secretariat, but on this occasion he followed a similar procedure to that used for the executive secretary of the CGIAR, with the chairman of TAC serving on the advisory group. Alexander von der Osten, a staff member of ISNAR, was chosen to be the new executive secretary of TAC. A similar procedure was followed when von der Osten left to become the director general of ISNAR in 1985, and John Monyo became his replacement.The first and second chairmen of the Group were World Bank officials designated by the Bank's president, who informed the cosponsors and the membership as a whole of his decision. At the end of 1983, I stepped down as chairman. In announcing my decision to the Group, I observed that there were no rules applying to the chairman's term of service, but I felt that ten years was as long as one individual should serve in such a capacity. My successor, S. Shahid Husain, also a World Bank vice president, was nominated by the president of the Bank after consultation with the other cosponsors, and the members were informed of the president's intention before the appointment was finalized. Through these evolving procedures the Group managed, in its informal way, to combine the need for consultation with the need for the responsible authorities to make decisions. In 1984, two other individuals who had long served the Group, in this case as representatives of the cosponsoring agencies-William T. Mashler of the UNDP and Montague Yudelman of the World Bank-also retired. Dieter Bommer of the FAO, the last of the long-serving triumvirate of cosponsors' representatives, retired a year later.These were not the only changes. Many another old-timer among the donor representatives had reached retirement age or was about to do so. With so many changes entailing the transfer of responsibility into new hands, there was a widespread feeling that one era had come to a close and a new one was beginning. While this occasioned moments of nostalgia, the fact was that the Group had come of age. The small, personalized network of \"old boys\" on whom the Group had heavily depended in its early years had been outgrown. In its stead, the Group had forged the institutions, procedures, and broad base of multilateral and multinational support that would ensure its ability to function effectively in the years ahead.How the System Works THE CGIAR SYSTEM has essentially two components: the international agricultural research centers or institutes; and what might collectively be called the Consultative Group, consisting of the members of the Group itself (donors, cosponsors, and developing country representatives), the Technical Advisory Committee, and the two secretariats that provide services to the Consultative Group and to TAC. The centers are, of course, the heart of the system and its reason for being. The original centers predate the formation of the CGIAR in 1971. IRRI, generally acknowledged to be the first of the IARCS, celebrated its twentyfifth anniversary in 1985. But IRRI should share some of the honor with CIMMYT, since IRRI'S concept drew heavily on the experience of the Rockefeller-Mexico collaborative program of agricultural research, which was the antecedent of CIMMYT. The circumstances resulting in the creation of these two \"flagship\" centers, and the somewhat uneven path leading to the establishment or adoption of the remainder of the thirteen centers now under the aegis of the CGIAR, have been detailed in earlier chapters.The label of \"international agricultural research center\" accurately describes most of the thirteen organizations, but for some it fits loosely, if at all. Although all are international in character, a few do not have research as their primary function, and one or two could probably not meet a strict definition of a center. I shall nevertheless continue, for convenience, the practice followed by the CGIAR of referring to the thirteen as \"institutes\" or \"centers.\"Eight of the thirteen centers (CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IITA, IRRI, and WARDA) are directly concerned with plant breeding to develop higher-yielding varieties of crops and better ways of cultivating them. CIAT, through its work on pastures, and ICARDA are also concerned with livestock. Of the remaining centers, ILCA is concerned solely with livestock and does research on production systems, just as the others study farming systems. ILRAD alone is engaged almost wholly in strategic or basic research, in this case focused on inducing immunity to two important diseases of livestock in Africa. The other three institutes are more in the nature of service organizations. IFPRI does research and analysis on world food problems and policies for the benefit of members of the Group, centers, developing countries, and the world at large, while ISNAR has the mandate of assisting developing countries to plan, organize, and manage their national research programs more effectively.' IBPGR, as its name suggests, is more a \"board\" than a \"center,\" although it has a secretariat staff; it does not carry out research or collect genetic materials itself, but provides stimulus and funding for research and other projects that promote the collection, documentation, evaluation, conservation, and utilization of genetic resources of important species. Unlike the other centers, WARDA is an intergovernmental association (of sixteen West African countries), and as a consequence its organization and management differ markedly from the rest.Although the objectives of the CGIAR, as adopted at the founding meeting in 1971, refer broadly to international and regional agricultural research, they make it clear that special efforts should be directed to \"critical subject sectors unlikely otherwise to be adequately covered by existing research facilities.\"At the very beginning the Group decided to give priority to food pro-duction-or more precisely to increasing the quantity and improving the quality of food supplies in developing countriesand has not deviated from that decision in subsequent years. Not only has the Group declined to engage in research on nonfood agricultural activities (such as cotton growing or forestry), but among the food crops it has chosen to concentrate its research on those both produced and consumed in the developing countries, to the exclusion of crops (such as coconuts or sugar cane) used primarily for export, even though they may also be in need of more and better research.The Group has also, as we have seen, been reluctant to sponsor centers (such as ICIPE and IFDC) that do research only on a factor of production.The Group's policy, as it has evolved pragmatically over the years, is that it supports research on individual factors of production when the research is done at one of the existing international centers as part of a multidisciplinary crop improvement program or a farming systems research program. But it believes that research on individual factors is on the whole being done adequately, often by the industries concerned with manufacturing the product, and need not be pursued separately at the international level under its aegis. It also tends to believe that many of the problems of how to use individual factors of production are specific to limited ecological areas and therefore not amenable to research at the international level. This policy has not been without controversy; there are definitional questions, and some have argued that several of the existing centers are primarily engaged in what might be interpreted as factororiented research. (We will return to this subject in the next chapter.)Through its combination of commodity-based and geographically oriented centers, the system has achieved comprehensive coverage of the basic food crops. Priority has been given to research on cereals, cassava, potatoes, certain pulses, soybeans, and livestock; together these account for about 7.5 percent of the food consumption (as measured by calorie intake) in the developing countries.Cereals are the most important source of food for people in the developing countries. Preeminent among the cereals are rice, wheat, and maize, which together provide a large proportion of the total supply of calories and are major crops within the CGIAR system. In addition, priority is given to research on sorghum and millet, which constitute the almost exclusive source of calories for some of the poorest countries of the semiarid tropics, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and in the Sahel region of Africa. Moreover, there has been much less research on sorghum and millet than on rice, wheat, and maize. Because barley is somewhat more tolerant of drought than wheat, it is not excluded from the system's research, but it is clearly of secondary importance.Important as the cereals are in feeding the large populations of developing countries, there are other crops which, in the humid tropics of Africa and Latin America and the higher and cooler tropical regions, are the staple food. Cassava, yams, potatoes, other roots and tubers, and such crops as bananas and plantains, fall into this group. Much less effort has been put into research on them in the past, in part because they are difficult crops to work with. Most of them are vegetatively propagated and so are more difficult to breed than cereals; also, they often have more persistent pest and disease problems. Moreover, root crops are more bulky and perishable than grains and consequently more difficult to store, to transport, and to market. Because so many people are dependent on cassava as a staple food, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, in establishing CIAT and IITA, gave cassava research high priority in their programs, a decision that the Group has sustained. 2 The Group also supports a strong research effort on the potato through CIP.Because they are important sources of protein and certain essential amino acids that are deficient in cereal grains, pulses (dry beans, cowpeas and chickpeas, pigeon peas, broad beans, and lentils) have been included. Important as they are nutritionally, however, they cannot compare with the cereals in economic significance, and few pulse species are grown over a wide area. These differences have caused TAC some uncertainty about their place in the international research system. If somewhat dubious about pulses, the Group has been distinctly ambivalent about vegetables. TAC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of vegetables in the diets of people in the developing countries. After protracted and difficult consideration of the subject, it recommended that the Group add vegetable research to its program. The Group, however, even more than TAC, has found this a difficult question, clouded in the early days by politics and more recently by a shortage of funds. Members of the Group were also concerned that, although vegetables collectively were important worldwide, many vegetable species and varieties were of only local importance; the Group found it hard to identify what sort of international role a vegetable research center could play. Leguminous oil seeds have fared better. Support is given to a soybean research program at IITA and to groundnuts research at ICRISAT.The priority to be given to research related to animals and animal products has, in the eyes of the Group's donor members, been less clear than the priority to research on food plants. In some countries cattle raising is a principal way of life, and economic development depends upon making it more productive; but in others, where land is scarce and population dense, livestock may compete with humans for available food. While livestock as part of farming systems comes under study at ICARDA and forage improvement on acid soils is an important program at CIAT, it is in Africa that the Group's main effort on animal research is taking place. Not only are cattle of overwhelming importance in many parts of Africa, but they would dominate the economies of many other areas in Africa were it not for the presence of trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), which closes vast, otherwise suitable areas to them.The centers' mandates also cover all of the main geographical and ecological zones of the developing world. This is not obvious from their physical locations, since some of the centers (CIMMYT, CIP, IRRI) have a worldwide mandate for their crops, while others serve only one geographical region (WARDA), and still others (CIAT, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IITA) have regional responsibility for some crops and global responsibility for others. ILCA is concerned with livestock production only in Africa, and ILRAD with two livestock diseases prevalent in Africa although its work has relevance elsewhere.Within the major geographical and ecological zones there are, of course, important differences in agricultural conditions, which affect the amount and kinds of food that can be grown. IRRI initially focused its research on irrigated rice, where the opportunities for substantial increases in production from the combined use of water, improved seeds, and fertilizer were greatest. It has now shifted more of its attention to upland and other rainfed areas, where the research problems are more difficult but where the farmers are poorer. Other centers are also giving more attention to research on the food production problems of resource-poor areas and on the crops grown in these areas. This increasing emphasis on poverty-related research is most clearly evident in the Group's activities in Africa. Not only are four of the thirteen centers located in Africa, but all of the centers are working in that continent and ICRISAT has recently established a subcenter in the Sahel. Nevertheless, more could be done, as I will argue in the next chapter.STATUS.Despite their diversity, most of the IARCS share a number of common features that define their character as international centers. (The exceptions--wARDA and in some respects IBPGR-have already been mentioned and will not be repeated in each instance.) The first of these features is international status. In addition to their global or regional mandates already described, the centers are governed by autonomous boards of trustees drawn from many countries and are served by international staffs. These points will be elaborated upon below. Each of the centers also has a particular legal relationship with its host country. The precise legal status differs from case to case, and a number of the centers have encountered problems in connection with their international status that will be discussed further,in the next chapter. In general, they are incorporated under the laws of their host countries, and by virtue of these laws or by negotiated agreement they enjoy certain privileges and immunities. Typically, these provide that the center itself shall be immune from legal process, its premises and property shall be free from search or confiscation, its archives shall be inviolable, it shall be allowed to move funds in and out of the country without restriction, and it shall be exempt from direct taxes, customs duties, and import or export restrictions. Moreover, the host government normally undertakes to facilitate the expeditious issuance of visas and clearance for entry into the country of board members, staff, trainees, and official visitors to the center and to allow unrestricted movement of genetic materials into and out of the country, subject only to appropriate quarantine regulations to prevent the import or export of harmful diseases or pests. In some instances the right of the center to establish employment policies and conditions for staff on an international basis without discrimination as to nationality or origin or any consideration other than qualification, merit, and experience is specifically guaranteed, but in others it is not. The right of the center to publish internationally the results of its research may be explicitly provided.The trustees and staff of the center also typically enjoy certain privileges and immunities.They are usually exempt from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in the exercise of their official functions, except when the center waives this immunity. Foreigners normally are exempt from paying tax to the host country on their income from the center and are free to import without duty their personal household effects when joining the staff of the center.Thus, the IARCS have many of the attributes of international organizations.They are not, however, international in the sense of being institutions that have been created under international treaty.Whatever their legal status, all the centers have a special relationship with their host countries. In the case of crop or livestock research institutions requiring land for their field experiments and for their laboratories, the host country normally has acquired the land and either granted it to the center or leased it at a nominal rent. In most instances there is a close association between the research institutions of the host country and the international center, and several of the centers were intentionally located adjacent to national universities or national research facilities. While a center may have collaborative programs with many countries, collaboration with the host country is usually particularly close and has remained so through successive changes of government.The relationship is not always an easy one, however. The large disparities between international and national scientists in salaries and living conditions, and often in research facilities, have generated problems, as has on occasion the attribution of credit for scientific findings resulting from collaborative programs. (The latter is one reason why the IARCS no longer give their names to varieties released by them and which enter national programs.)The international character of the center is further safeguarded through an autonomous, largely self-perpetuating board of trustees whose members, drawn from different countries, generally serve in their individual capacities. In this and other respects of their organization and management, the centers have been patterned on the model of autonomous, nonprofit educational, scientific, and charitable organizations traditional in the United States and commonly found in Canada and Great Britain.for management of the center is vested in the board of trustees. Typically, once a board of trustees has been established, about two-thirds of the trustees (or board members) are elected by the board itself and in this sense it is self-perpetuating (although each board, under its bylaws or by custom, limits the service of any individual member to a maximum of two or three consecutive terms, as recommended by the second CGIAR review committee, and thus ensures a regular renewal of its membership).In all cases the director, or director general, of the center is a member of the board ex officio. One or two, and occasionally more, seats are filled by persons designated by the host country. These are usually senior government officials concerned with agriculture or agricultural research (such as the minister or deputy minister of agriculture or the head of the national research organization). Typically, about three other seats are also reserved. The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations were represented ex officio on the boards of the four centers created by them before the CGIAR was established, but these seats have now been relinquished.In virtually all of the centers, three seats are now reserved for persons designated by the Consultative Group. The chairman is selected by the board, generally from among its members. Boards have recognized that it would not be appropriate to have the chairman come from the host country, but it is not uncommon for the vice chairman to be a national of that country.However they may have been appointed, all members of the board, except possibly those representing the host government, serve in principle in their individual capacities, receive no instructions, and are not required to make reports. Donors vary as to whether they seek to have persons from their organizations appointed to the boards of centers in which they have an interest. As a matter of policy, some of the larger donors prohibit members of their organizations from serving on the boards of institutions to which they contribute funds, to avoid any suggestion of a conflict of interest. (They may, however, regularly send observers to attend board meetings.) Other donors allow members of their organizations to serve on boards if invited to do so. By and large, however, not many of the members of the boards of centers are members of the staffs of donor organizations, and the majority of members of each board are individuals unconnected with either the host country or the donors.Taking the boards as a whole, about half of their members come from developing countries. This has been a deliberate policy in most instances, to provide for effective participation of developing countries in the management of the center's affairs. Most of the board members-whether from industrial or developing countries-are scientists or research administrators chosen for their particular competence. Not many of them are likely to have had firsthand knowledge about the CGIAR before joining the board.There is a common selection process for the seats reserved for designation by the Group. It is administered by the Group's Secretariat in conjunction with the board of the center, or its nominating committee if there is one. Candidates for these seats are suggested by both the members of the Group and the board; a short list of candidates acceptable to the board is arrived at through consultation;and candidates selected from this short list by the board are put to the Group for its approval, after which the persons selected are appointed to the board. (The full process, which includes more steps than those summarized above, takes approximately six months.) The individuals selected through this process have had a variety of experience, have come from developing as well as industrial countries, and have had administrative, financial, or scientific backgrounds. The purpose of selecting three members of a board in this way is to help ensure that the board's membership is balanced, widely informed, objective, and of high quality, rather than to provide representation of the Group as such.The board of a center is responsible for establishing its policies and guiding the director general in its management. One of the most important functions of the board is to select and appoint the director. In the early years of the CGIAR this was sometimes an informal process; now procedures are more formal, and the consultation with all interested parties more thorough. Usually the board appoints a search committee of its members, which advertizes the post internationally, solicits suggestions of candidates from persons within and outside the system, reviews credentials, interviews the most promising candidates, and then makes its recommendation to the full board for a decision. Boards meet only occasionally, most only once a year and few more than twice. But committees of the board may meet in between board meetings, and most boards have an executive committee that is empowered to act for the board between meetings. Normally there is a program committee, a budget or finance committee, and possibly an audit committee, as well as certain other standing committees such as a nominating committee for proposing new members of the board.Is AUTONOMY AN ANOMALY?The sense in which the boards of trustees can be said to be autonomous or independent deserves closer scrutiny. The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, in introducing the concept of international centers, clearly intended that the boards of trustees would be independent of host government control so that they would be free to serve all developing countries within their mandate. This has been accomplished. The foundations also intended that the centers be managed as objective, scientific, and apolitical entities, and this too has been accomplished. But it should be recognized that in the early years following their establishment, the four original centers were very much under the influence, if not control, of the foundations. The board chairman was likely to have been selected by the foundations or to be a foundation official. Seats on the board were reserved for representatives of the foundations. The center director and some of the senior staff were also likely to have been selected by the foundations and to be regular staff members or under contract to them. Last but by no means least, the foundations provided most or all of the funds and held a close rein on the purse strings.The close involvement of the foundations in the management of the centers was undoubtedly crucial to their successful launching. Whether the situation would have changed with the passage of time is impossible to say, since the formation of the CGIAR created a new set of circumstances.The Group, for the same reason as the foundations, has prized the autonomy and scientific integrity of the management of the centers. It has recognized and accepted that the centers must be free from interference by donors in the pursuit of their scientific objectives. But as financial resources for the system as a whole have become strained, the Group's concern that the centers manage these resources efficiently and in the collective interest of the system as a whole has mounted. It has given rise both to the panoply of reviews described later and to a tightening of the Group's grip on the purse strings through a more comprehensive process of budgetary allocation and review.In the last analysis, there can be no question that the independence of the boards of trustees is circumscribed by their need to be accountable to the Group which provides their funding. If a center were to lose the confidence of a significant number of its donors, it could not long survive. This point has been madequietly and behind the scenes-by the chairman or executive secretary of the CGIAR on those very infrequent occasions when a problem emerged at a center that appeared to threaten the broader interests of the Group. It has been possible in each instance promptly to work out a satisfactory solution.A few (but by no means all) of the center boards were slow to recognize and accept the need to reconcile autonomy with accountability.Hence the subject was covered at length in the second review of the CGIAR system, which recommended that each board \"should therefore conduct its affairs as if it were accountable to the Group, even though its legal status makes no provision for this relationship.\"Within the inescapable constraints of limited resources and the need for accountability in the use of public funds, the Group in practice exercises its influence lightly. It has prized the spirit of independence and resourcefulness shown by most center managers. In fact, if there is a problem, it is less that of undue CGIAR interference than of a certain parochialism on the part of a few boards and their need for a greater appreciation of their center's role as an integral part of a wider system under the auspices of an international group. That such a problem might exist is not too surprising, in view of the infrequency of board meetings, the initial lack of familiarity of many trustees with the system, and the board chairman's physical remoteness from the day-to-day activities of the center. Reserving seats for members selected by the Group has helped to strengthen the boards. Without sacrificing their independence, the group-appointed board members could be assisted by the Group and its services to foster within the boards a greater awareness of their role within the system. Better briefing of new trustees-whether Group-appointed or not-would also help to this end. A briefing paper on board responsibilities prepared by Lowell Hardin and formally adopted by the Group at its meeting in November 1984 is helping to serve this purpose.Although the center directors have from the beginning met together regularly to discuss common problems, for many years the board chairmen confined themselves to a ritualistic dinner at the time of Centers Week, attended by the cosponsors and heads of the Group's services, that did little more than reestablish acquaintances and make new ones. This situation has improved markedly since the issuance of the report of the second review committee. The board chairmen are meeting together more fre-quently and dealing systematically and constructively with a wide range of common issues.The center director occupies the key position in the management of the center and hence is critical to the effective working of the system as a whole. Although appointed by and responsible to the board of trustees, the director customarily enjoys a high degree of autonomy in managing the center, a task that calls for a rare combination of skills. The center director must be l the manager of a large, far-flung enterprise l the scientific leader of a complex research program l a diplomat adept in dealing with the host country and other developing countries l an entrepreneur in promoting the support of donor countries l an expert in public relations to deal with the media and the public at large. Such paragons are not easy to locate, and the larger centers have found it desirable to complement-or supplement-the director with one or more deputies in charge, for example, of research or administration.Most of the directors come from industrial countries, but in 1985 three came from developing countries (the Gambia, India, and Sudan). As in the case of the board chairman, no center director has been a national of the host (developing) country. On the whole, the Group has been very well served by center directors of high calibre.Basic to the concept of an \"international\" center is that in recruiting its professional staff the center should be able to attract high-quality talent from a large number of countries, providing them with favorable salary and working conditions.This has been the practice in all cases. The larger, \"mature\" centers have some sixty to eighty senior or high-level professional staff working on their core programs. Some sixty nationalities-divided roughly equally between industrial and developing countriesare represented among these staff, which total 600 for the system as a whole and 775 if staff working on special projects are included. Support staff-secretaries, farm workers, maintenance staff, and so forth-are generally recruited locally. Their numbers are harder to come by, but it is estimated that there are about 6,000 of them throughout the system. In host countries with large national research programs (such as India, Mexico, and the Philippines), some of the professional scientists may also be recruited locally. This has some advantages, but the disparities in salary and research facilities between them and their colleagues in the national program can present problems.The original centers were designed by the foundations to be \"centers of excellence.\"This concept was readily adopted by the founders of the CGIAR and closely followed in the establishment and operation of centers under its auspices. Several ingredients of the formula for excellence-international status, independence of management, and international recruitment of the director and senior staff-have already been mentioned. Assured of long-term support from the international aid community, the centers are equipped to modern standards and generally conduct their research at the forefront of the state of the art. Their ability to bring together the basic research coming from academic and other institutions in the more advanced countries with the practical experience of fieldwork in developing countries imparts a synergism that enhances the effectiveness of the centers' research programs.The centers are also designed to have a large \"critical mass\" of scientists and equipment that enables them to carry out research on a larger scale-and hence to achieve results more quicklythan is possible in the national programs of most developing countries. Thus, CIMMYT undertakes 13,000 crosses annually as part of its wheat-breeding program, in comparison with a range of 200 to 500 crosses in typical national programs.Their international character makes it possible for the centers to enlist the cooperation of many developing countries and to establish collaborative programs with them that are an integral part of the process of accelerating the development and transfer of new technology. Scientists at the centers are generally organized into multidisciplinary teams; plant breeders, agronomists, entomologists, soil scientists, plant pathologists, and others work together on mission-oriented research projects aimed at solving problems that have been identified in the countries that the centers are serving. The emphasis throughout is on applied research to develop new technologies that can be adapted to the needs of developing,countries and-through the further and complementary work of the national research and extension programs-adopted by their farmers.Finally, most of the research findings and technology that the centers produce and the services they provide are made available without charge. This is in keeping with their character as institutions providing a public service and receiving their support from governments, international institutions, or charitable foundations. The readiness of the developing countries to draw on the services of the international centers and to collaborate with them is no doubt enhanced by the fact that they can do so at little cost. This arrangement in turn helps to ensure that the resources provided by the members of the CGIAR are put to effective use.This formula for \"centers of excellence\" has underlaid much of the success of the CGIAR, as will be argued in chapter 8. As some of the research gaps have begun to be filled and as national programs in developing countries have been strengthened, the emphasis has shifted somewhat toward \"networking,\" in which the IARCS act as the hub of a collaborative network that radiates out to many developing countries. Networking is discussed more fully in the next chapter.The functions of the majority of centers (those concerned with crop research) can be divided into four categories: research on plant varieties and farming systems; dissemination of information on research findings; training of researchers from developing countries; and collection, conservation, evaluation, and documentation of genetic resources. To carry out these activities, these centers have annual expenditures ranging up to $23 million, of which a relatively small amount ($1 million to $2 million) is typically for new capital items and the remainder for operations, maintenance, and renewal or replacement of plant and equipment. It is not possible to separate the budget into the four categories listed above, but another classification roughly indicates the allocation of resources: 60 percent of a center's budget is for salaries, 24 percent for supplies and maintenance, 6 percent for travel, and 10 percent for other activities. In addition to these core activities basic to their mandates, the centers carry out special projects of research or technical assistance, funded separately by donors, that have already been mentioned and will be discussed more fully in chapter 7.PROGRAMS.First among the activities of the centers, and fundamental to their mission, is the breeding and test-ing of genetic materials. The centers' breeding programs are largely carried out in experimental plots on the centers' campuses. Their goal is to increase or stabilize the yield of plants, and to improve their quality, by raising their resistance to diseases or pests, their insensitivity to day length, their responsiveness to fertilizers, and their nutritive value.The breeding and, to an even greater degree, the testing and validating of experimental materials under the various environmental conditions in which they may eventually be grown also involve the centers in collaborative exchanges with national research programs in many developing countries. Research on agronomic practices and farming systems is also carried out by most of the centers. A few centers, most notably CIP, have contracted parts of their core research program to other institutions, usually universities or other basic research organizations. For most centers, contacts with academic institutions conducting research relevant to their work are less formal. tional research efforts. Furthermore, successful collaboration on research and the eventual transfer of the new technology require that scientists in the developing countries be capable of working closely with their counterparts at the international centers. So from the beginning it was planned that the centers would take in scientists and other research workers from developing countries to learn at first hand the centers' methods and techniques. The training needs of developing country scientists are too large to be met fully in this way, but by careful focus of the training programs and selection of the trainees, the centers can increase the efficacy of the collaborative programs and facilitate the transfer of new technology.Most training courses range in duration from one week to six months (individual courses for scientists and technicians, which are sometimes linked to university degree programs, can take up to several years). In any year, up to 500 people from developing countries are likely to be trained at each of the larger IARCS. Typically at least 10 percent of a center's budget is devoted to training, but this is not the full measure, for it is customary for program leaders and other center scientists to travel widely in the countries with which the center has collaborative programs. These visits afford them useful opportunities to share their ideas and experience with their local counterparts and to encourage local efforts, thus providing a valuable supplement to the formal training programs. The centers also accept a limited number of candidates from both industrial and developing countries for doctoral or postdoctoral work.CONSERVATION.Germ plasm contains the genes that transmit heritable characteristics. It is therefore the basis of all plant breeding. Research on improved varieties depends on having readily at hand the genetic material of many different but related varieties which, by crossing, can be used to develop characteristics better suited to withstanding stress and increasing yield. Each of the centers involved in plant breeding maintains its own stock of the seeds or other genetic material needed for its breeding programs.There is, beyond this, a broader need to preserve from extinction the thousands of varieties, domestic and wild, that might have characteristics useful in developing improved varieties in the future. Not only must the varieties be saved from extinction through disuse or unendurable stress or destruction as a result of land development, but their genetic material must be kept under controlled conditions of moisture and temperature to ensure they will germinate when used years later. Moreover, these thousands of varieties need to be defined and their characteristics catalogued in a way that will make them useful to scientists. The crop research centers have a vital function of collecting, conserving, cataloguing, and evaluating plant varieties as part of the worldwide network of gene banks being established or coordinated by the IBPGR and others. IRRI, for example, has in its gene bank 80,000 of the world's estimated 150,000-200,000 rice varieties and is adding to the collection at the rate of about 5,000 accessions annually.How staff is organized to carry out the four basic functions just described differs from center to center and hardly lends itself to generalization.Basically, two kinds of organization are possible. One is to organize according to function or disciplineplant breeding in one department, plant pathology in another, and agronomy in a third, for example. Economic research and research on farming systems may be separate departments, too. However, most of the research in the centers is multidisciplinary, and most centers have chosen to organize their work in individual, multidisciplinary programs according to the crop or problem being researched, bringing into each program the scientists and support staff necessary for its full development.Certain activities, such as library, information, genetic resources, and laboratory services, are normally centralized.The thirteen centers share common interests and, to a limited extent, common programs. When two or more centers are engaged in research on the same crop, they sometimes have a formal understanding on the division of responsibility.CIMMYT'S and ICARDA'S sharing of responsibility for work on different kinds of wheat is an example. Sometimes a center will carry out research on behalf of another or in close coordination with it. For this kind of cooperation there are various arrangements. ICRISAT has major responsibility for research on chickpeas, but ICARDA has a program on the particular type grown widely in the Middle East. Two ICRISAT staff members are posted to ICARDA for work on this shared program. At the other extreme, a center may do no more than act as host as a convenience for staff members from another center who happen to be working in its geographical area.Problems of coordination and of securing an appropriate division of labor have arisen from time to time, however, when two or more centers have had responsibility for a particular crop (typically one center with a global mandate and one or more with regional mandates, such as CIAT and IITA in the case of cassava). While recognizing that a certain amount of competition may be healthy, the Group has been concerned about possible duplication of facilities and effort. The sharing of responsibility for rice research between IRRI, CIAT, IITA, and WARDA is a case in point. The issue was finally resolved when the four centers involved reached agreement among themselves on what their respective responsibilities would be. Even more contentious proved to be the question of how CIMMYT and ICARDA would divide responsibility for research on durum wheat and barley, a question that TAC and the Group deliberately left unresolved when ICARDA was formed. TAC'S efforts over a period of years to use its good offices to bring about a mutually acceptable compromise did not bear fruit. The Group's impatience mounted, and with the issue raised once more in the quinquennial review of CIMMYT, the two center directors concerned reached an accommodation in 1983 in the form of a detailed agreement on the sharing of responsibility in accordance with each center's comparative advantage.The center directors meet regularly as a body twice a year to discuss matters of common interest (such as staff compensation policy and ways of ensuring equitable sharing of the limited funds available to the CGIAR) or joint projects (such as a study of pension arrangements and a proposal on an interconnected electronic data transfer system). The chairmen of the centers' boards are now meeting more regularly to discuss policy questions affecting all centers. Both groups usually meet during the annual meeting of the CGIAR and use the occasion to talk collectively with the chairman of the Group, the chairman of TAC, and the heads of the Group's and TAC'S Secretariats.Just as the original international agricultural research centers preceded the foundation of the CGIAR, so did the other underlying concept-that of a consultative group. A score of such groups had been formed under the leadership of the World Bank to coor-dinate the aid provided by donors to individual countries. The original two groups were called consortiums and had the task of coordinating annually the development aid provided by many donors to India and Pakistan. The Bank supplied from its staff a chairman of each consortium and, as part of its regular activities, undertook the staff work necessary to provide the basis for the donors to agree on the amount and type of aid to be provided to India or Pakistan over the coming year.Later, the Bank established a series of consultative groups that functioned like the India and Pakistan consortiums, exchanging views within the group and with the country in question, except that they did not make formal commitments as to the amount of aid they would provide. Over the years, however, the distinction between a consortium and a consultative group has faded, inasmuch as the members of a consortium are no longer expected to make firm commitments.Thus, when the CGIAR was being organized, a useful precedent existed for mobilizing and coordinating aid in the form of the consultative group. Two important things were added. First, in a manner more akin to the original consortiums, the CGIAR was designed to be a body in which the members at regular intervals made pledges-or at least statements of intent-with respect to the funds they would provide to meet the requirements of the research institutions.Second, whereas staff work for the original country consortiums and consultative groups was done as part of the Bank's regular program of work, the Group was equipped with its own advisory and staff services. One was a Technical Advisory Committee of scientific experts meeting from time to time, and the other was a full-time Secretariat provided by the World Bank and the FAO (later to become two separate Secretariats). With these added elements, a whole new enterprise, a new international entity was created-flexible, informal, egalitarian, almost amorphous-but nevertheless with a definite objective and some clear and simple underlying concepts and principles.The original objectives of the CGIAR were set out in an annex to the Summary of Proceedings of the first meeting of the Group held in May 1971 (the annex is presented as an appendix to chapter 3). This brief statement has stood the test of time-perhaps because it is brief and inclusive. During the second review of the CGIAR, the study team and review committee made several attempts to revise the statement in order to introduce shifts of emphasis (such as the focus on food and the need to address resource-poor farmers) that had occurred in the intervening years. In the end, however, it was concluded that the Statement of Objectives in its original form still served the Group's interests and that the prudent course of action was to leave well enough alone.The Consultative Group today has four main functions. The first is to establish overall policy with respect to the character, size, and composition of the system that the Group supports. Decisions on research strategy and priorities come under this heading; for example, the emphasis to be given to research on food, or to commodity-oriented as distinct from factor-oriented research, or to farming systems research, or to training. The Group must also keep under review the overall dimensions of the system (as occasionally embodied in five-year plans) and determine how relations with organizations and activities outside the system should be conducted.The second function, closely related to and following from the first, is to decide whether a proposed initiative falls within the ambit of the CGIAR and, if so, to ensure its implementation.Looking back on the history of the CGIAR as traced in the preceding three chapters, it is striking how much of the Group's attention has been devoted to consideration of whether or not to take on a new activity. In those instances-increasingly infrequent-that an affirmative decision was reached, the Group has overseen its implementation through the work of subcommittees and an executing agency (usually selected from among its members).The third function is to review and coordinate the provision of funds in relation to the needs of the system and to deal with certain other regularly recurring matters that lie within the responsibility of the Group. The highlight of International Centers Week has traditionally been the pledging session at which individual donors announce their proposed contributions for the forthcoming year. As funds have become tighter and the need for accurate planning of the centers' resources for the year ahead has become more urgent, the Secretariat has kept abreast of donors' intentions during the year and informed the Group of the probable orders of magnitude. The pledging session has thus become something of a formality-albeit an important one since it places each donor publicly in juxtaposition with all other donors-and attention has shifted to the need to maintain a balance between expected contributions and the aggregated programs and budgets of the centers. The Group also is formally responsible for the appointment or reappointment of the chairman of the Tech-nical Advisory Committee and of the other members of TAC, and for endorsing the appointment or reappointment of those members of a center's board of trustees who are designated by the CGIAR.The fourth principal function is to monitor and review the performance of the centers being supported by the Group and, indeed, to review the performance of the Group itself. This review process takes a number of forms that have already been referred to and will be described more fully later in this chapter. In brief, TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat review the program and budget of each center annually (or in some instances biennially) and organize reviews of the scientific program of each center and of its management at roughly five-year intervals. Their comments and recommendations are given to the Group for its consideration, as are those of special committees established to review the Consultative Group enterprise as a whole.DONORS.Group are of two kinds: donor members (officially described as \"continuing members\") and members selected for fixed terms to represent countries in the five regions of the developing world. The CGIAR is primarily a group of donors, and it is unique among international organizations in the variety of its donor members. A list of the donors as of the end of 1985, with the amount of their individual contributions, is given in table 6-1. The twenty-three countries providing grants through their external assistance programs include virtually all of the major industrial countries (outside of the Soviet bloc) and five developing countries (China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and   No formality attaches to membership as a donor. Any country or organization, public or private, that shares the objectives of the Group and is prepared to contribute regularly to its support can become a member. (As mentioned in chapter 5, the Group established in the mid-1970s a minimum subscription of $500,000 for new members.)Another important feature is the absence of any formula for assessing the amount of individual contributions, sometimes referred to as a \"burden-sharing\" formula. This is consistent with the customary role of a consultative group in aid coordination, but the CGIAR has special characteristics and needs, and its absence must presumably be attributable to the wide diversity of members. Formulas employed by international organizations for sharing the aid burden among governments by determining the size of their contributions or subscriptions usually rely on some economic measure (such as a country's gross national product) or combination of such measures. But what kind of formula would apply appropriately, for example, to the World Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and the Rockefeller Foundation?In practice many governments contribute through more than one channel, a fact that would further complicate any efforts at burden sharing. Thus, a European country might contribute in its own right as well as through its membership in (and subscription to) the Commission of the European Communities, the World Bank, a regional bank, the several United Nations agencies, and IFAD.While each donor is free to determine the amount of its contribution, the fact that pledges are announced publicly and circulated in various CGIAR documents undoubtedly exercises some political or moral suasion. Prospective donors closely scan the list of contributors to find an appropriate basis of comparison. Two of the major donors do, however, have voluntary aid formulas of their own, which impart an important degree of predictability to the funding of the system. The United States has, consistently and from the beginning, provided 25 percent of the estimated contributions to the thirteen centers. During the 1970s the World Bank provided up to 10 percent of the estimated requirements. The percentage has been raised and stands in 1985 at close to 15 percent. Thus, nearly 40 percent of the contributions can be estimated with some degree of reliability. Moreover, other major donors keep the Secretariat informed of their intentions and seldom make abrupt changes between one year and the next.The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations each fixed a ceiling of $3 million for its contribution when the CGIAR was established, and they have not exceeded this level of commitment (though in the first two or three years actual receipts, including carryovers from earlier years, were somewhat higher). As the Group has matured, and new donors entered the scene, the foundations have gradually reduced their contributions, which in recent years have usually been in the $500,000 to $1.0 million range.Each donor is free to determine not only the amount of its contribution but also the way in which the contribution is allocated among centers and even among programs within a center. Donors have their special interests, which become evident in the choice of centers to which they contribute and in the character of their support. Some donors, constitutionally or as a matter of policy, contribute to centers only in certain geographical areas. The Inter-American Development Bank only supports centers with headquarters in Latin America, even though centers headquartered elsewhere, such as IRRI and ISNAR, carry out programs of importance to agricultural development in Latin America. Similarly, the Asian Development Bank has for the most part confined its assistance to special projects with the two centers located in Asia-IRRI and ICRISAT. While the larger donors contribute to most of the centers in the system, smaller donors are more selective. Some show a preference for centers whose programs are directed at farmers in the areas with least resources, such as the semiarid tropics, while others prefer centers working on crops with which their own scientists are familiar or which have relevance for their own agriculture.(Examples would be wheat or rice or potatoes, in preference to cassava or sorghum or millet.) Some donors prefer to contribute to construction projects at the centers, while others require that their funds be used only for research. Donors differ also in the degree of freedom they grant to a center in making use of the funds they provide. Some grant complete freedom within the approved core program and budget of the center. Others restrict their contributions to particular activities within the center's program-to training, for example, or research on the biological fixation of nitrogen-a practice that may be useful to the donor but that, as discussed in chapter 7, tends to reduce the flexible use of the total resources available to the center. Of even greater concern is a growing tendency of some donors to tie part of their aid to use of scientists or equipment from their own country.The advantage of this system of laissez-faire is that, while each donor is free to decide the size and allocation of its contribution, its decisions are made with full knowledge of the financial requirements of the system as a whole and in the certainty that the facts about its contribution will be made available to all members of the Group. The system's disadvantage is the risk that, with no central control of funds, contributions to the various centers might not match their budgeted requirements as approved in principle by the Group. This danger has so far been reducedbut not eliminated-in several ways: the larger donors contribute to most or all of the centers, although not in equal proportions; some donors seek the guidance of the Secretariat in deciding how to allocate their funds; and the World Bank, acting as donor of last resort, distributes its grants so as to even things out and bring all of the centers as close as possible to the Group's collective intention when approving budgets at its Annual Meeting. This means, incidentally, that not even a large donor can influence the ultimate level of funds received by a center that it favors (or disfavors) by making a very large contribution (or withholding all funds); it can do so only by persuading the Group to change its overall budgetary priorities among the centers.COUNTRIES.of the Group is important to the Group's understanding of the circumstances and problems of the countries it exists to help. That is why it was arranged at the beginning that there would be ten developing countries elected as fixed-term members representing the five principal regions of the developing world. The five regions are those established by the FAO in its regional conferences: Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Near East, and Southern and Eastern Europe. Two countries from each region are elected for a term that was originally two years but has been raised recently to four years. A country may be reelected, but in most regions the custom is to rotate membership.In general, this arrangement has not worked well. Sometimes the persons attending Group meetings as representatives of the elected countries have made valuable contributions to the Group's discussions, but more often the elected countries fail to send representatives or send persons who are not well informed or do not take an active part. No effective mechanism has been established whereby the individuals designated to attend can receive information or opinions from the countries in the region that they represent. It is significant that the five developing countries that are donor members and one that has been a donor (Brazil), having made a financial commitment, are better represented than the elected members. Even with the greater participation of these six countries, however, the Group continues to be preoccupied with ensuring that the countries of the developing world, as well as the donors, have a part in shaping its policies. (We will turn to this issue in the next chapter.) cosponsorsThe three cosponsors of the Group-the World Bank, the FAO, and the uNDr--played an active part in establishing the CGIAR and in imparting a legitimacy and an assurance of continuity to the fledgling enterprise, which had (and still has) no legal status of its own. The latter role continues; on occasion one or more of the cosponsors have put their imprimatur on the charter of a new center as a way of authenticating its international character and acceptance by the Group, and they have been involved in varying degrees in helping to clarify or enhance the international status of existing centers (see chapter 7).The three cosponsors also have certain specific responsibilities in the exercise of which they act on behalf of the membership as a whole. Among them they provide the staff and budget for the CGIAR Secretariat and TAC and its Secretariat. The World Bank finances the chairman of the Group and its Secretariat, and the three institutions share the cost of the TAC Secretariat and the emoluments and expenses of the chairman and members of TAC.~ The cosponsors have a collective responsibility to nominate to the Group candidates to be appointed members of TAC (who have always been approved by mail on a \"no objection\" basis) and to designate-in consultation with the members of the Group-the chairman of TAC. The representatives of the cosponsors are senior staff members of their respective agencies. They meet two or three times a year, usually in conjunction with the meetings of the Group or of one of its committees, under the chairmanship of the chairman of the Group.Although their special status among the membership of the CGIAR gives the cosponsors a degree of influence, it does not give them a dominant voice in the deliberations of the CGIAR nor confer upon them the role of an \"executive committee\" in the Group's decisionmaking process. In all that they do, the cosponsors keep a low profile; they are not, and the Group does not expect them to be, a separate layer of management.A particular feature of the CGIAR system is that it is expected to operate coherently without having its authority vested in a single body or person. There is no overall board of directors, no chief executive officer. Authority rests with the individual centers and the individual members of the Group. If the system is to work effectively without any executive structure, the chairman must play a pivotal role. Each chairman has brought his own qualities, strengths, and weaknesses to the position, so it is best described as its terms of reference might be written. As such, the chairman's duties are: l To provide leadership to the Group in defining strategy, reviewing progress, identifying problems and issues, and proposing solutions. In doing so, the chairman does not \"manage\" the Group nor impose a personal point of view-or that of the World Bank-on it.l To preside over the Group's meetings. In this capacity, the chairman must help to shape a consensus while preserving the informality and collegial spirit that characterize the meetings. l To take overall responsibility for fund-raising activities. Regular contacts with donors are maintained by the Secretariat, but the chairman is personally involved in recruiting new members and in occasional visits to the principal donors. The president and other senior officials of the World Bank have sometimes been enlisted in these fund-raising efforts.l To assist in solving problems in any part of the system. Preferably, the chairman works behind the scenes and as unobtrusively as possible.lTo represent the Group before the public and the information media. Characteristically, however, the chairman and other officers of the Group have avoided the limelight, leaving it to the center directors and senior scientists to carry the CGIAR message to the public. In all of these capacities, the chairman must act-and must be perceived as acting-in the interests of the Group as a whole. The three persons designated by the president of the World Bank to serve as chairman of the CGIAR have been senior Bank officials with extensive development experience. They have had other duties in the Bank and have devoted one-fourth to one-third of their time to CGIAR matters. It is important to recognize, however, that the chairman, although a Bank official, does not represent the Bank in the Group. This is done by another official, usually the director of the Agriculture Department.That the Bank is represented in the Group's deliberations by one official and provides another to be its impartial chairman is somewhat anomalous, the more so since within the Bank's hierarchy the director of the Agriculture Department reports to the vice president, Operations Policy-the position held by the present chairman and his predecessor. In practice, however, this arrangement has worked well. The Bank has expressed its views through its representative,and the chairman has stood aside from them. Even when the Bank's views were failing to gain acceptance (as when it strongly urged the Group to add a new center to the system for research on water management), the chairman maintained impartiality in formulating the Group's consensus.TIME, PLACE, AGENDA.The Group now meets twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn. Before the Group was formed, in the years when the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations were the main source of funds for the four original centers, there was a meeting each year at which the directors of the centers described to the two foundations and any other donors their programs, progress made over the past year, plans for the future, and need for funds. This occasion, two or three days in duration, was known as International Centers Week. Enlarged to accommodate all the members of the Group and an increasing number of centers, International Centers Week was continued under the Group's auspices. It took place in the summer, with the focus almost entirely on presentations by the centers. A second meeting was held in the autumn as the annual business session of the Group, two of the main items of business being the approval of the levels of funding for the centers and the announcement of donors' intended contributions for the ensuing year. After several years, the close juxtaposition of the two meetings proved to be inconvenient, particularly for donors who had to travel long distances. The Group therefore decided to combine the two meetings into one, in the autumn, for both presentations by the centers and discussion of the Group's business. But then, beginning in 1982, it was decided to reinstitute a second or \"midterm\" meeting to take place in the spring, usually in May. This came about for two reasons: the increasing workload as the Group and the number of centers in the system grew; and the Group's decision, following its consideration of the report of the second review committee, that it should meet more often rather than delegate some of its decisionmaking responsibilities to a budget committee.In general the autumn meeting is considered to be the annual meeting of the Group and the May meeting an interim one, although many items fall on the agenda of one meeting or the other according to their state of preparation. The spring meeting takes two or three days and is not attended by representatives of the centers unless they figure in business on the agenda (such as the external review of a center). The autumn meeting, usually in late October or early November, still bears the name of International Centers Week. The first two days are normally given over to presentations by the center directors, traditionally introduced by their board chairmen, of the year's scientific accomplishments and any major program and budget issues. There follow questions and discussions from the floor, In some years, different amounts of time have been devoted to individual centers depending on whether they were scheduled to make a \"short\" or a \"long\" presentation in that year (for example, forty-five minutes for the former, seventy-five minutes for the latter, including discussion time). The four sessions (one each morning and one each afternoon) are chaired by the chairman of the Group or the representatives of the three cosponsors. These arrangements are flexible and are modified to fit the needs of a particular meeting. Thus, in 1985 the first two days were devoted to a seminar on the impact study, and there were no center presentations.The business meeting of the Group itself begins on the third day and occupies the remainder of the week. Two matters are customarily reserved to this meeting. One is the Group's formal consideration of the programs and budgets of the individual centers, based on the recommendations of TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat. This cannot take place earlier, given the time required for the completion of reports on the results of the previous fiscal year (which is the calendar year), the preparation of program and budget documents, and their review by TAC and the Secretariat, sometimes at more than one meeting. The other is the pledging session of the Group's donors. The two items take place in the order indicated, but in the (unlikely) event that the pledging session resulted in some unpleasant surprises it would be necessary to qualify the Group's approval of the programs and budgets until further adjustments in them could be made.International Centers Week, originally of two days' duration, is now virtually a fortnight in length. This is because the week of meetings is preceded or followed by meetings of TAC, the cosponsors, the chairmen of center boards, and the center directors. A number of centers use the occasion to hold meetings of their boards or committees. Other international centers not members of the Group (such as ICIPE and the International Irrigation Management Institute) take advantage of the presence of many common donors to hold meetings as well.As the Group has become larger-and up to 200 persons are present during International Centers Week-the need to formalize a policy on the location of its meetings has become more pressing. In 1982 it was decided that normally (but not invariably) International Centers Week would be held at the World Banks headquarters in Washington, D.C., which are well equipped to accommodate a meeting of this size. Conversely, the spring meeting would normally (but not invariably) be held abroad, including in developing countries. Most of these meetings have been held at the World Bank's office in Paris, but the most recent two have been held at FAO headquarters in Rome and as guests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.The Group as a whole has never met more than twice a year, but from time to time it has established special committees that have met on a schedule of their own. Some members of the Group have found it advantageous to hold brief, informal meetings for the exchange of views in between the regular meetings of the Group. This was particularly true during the period when the Group was meeting only once a year. Thus, for several years, the members of the Group in North America, together with some others (such as Mexico and Australia) met informally dur-ing the summer or early autumn. Also, about the time the Commission of the European Communities (EC) joined the Group, the European countries, together with the EC, began to meet in the spring, This was done partly to ensure that the EC understood the independent interests of its various members who were also members of the Group, and partly so that there would be within the Group, which in the early days was perceived by some as an American or at best an \"Anglo-Saxon\" club, a more effective EUropean voice.These smaller, informal gatherings are generally attended by the executive secretary of the CGIAR and the chairman and executive secretary of TAC, and sometimes by the chairman of the Group. They afford an opportunity for more intimate discussion of matters that will subsequently be coming up to the full meeting of the CGIAR; they are not intended to be, nor have they become, occasions for making decisions about policies or actions of the Group. Although the meetings have undoubtedly been useful, as the Group's membership has expanded and become more pluralistic they have become somewhat anachronistic and are being held less often.Decisionmaking in the Consultative Group is characterized by informality.Some decisions, such as approval of appointments to TAC or of the CGIAR designees to the centers' boards of trustees, are made by circulating nominations to the members by mail to obtain their views, usually with the stipulation that no response will be taken to mean no objection. Most matters, however, are reserved for the Group's meetings. Deliberations are facilitated by the preparation of a staff paper that outlines the background and analyzes the issues. If the issues are complex or likely to be controversial, the staff paper will present several options; otherwise it will recommend a single course of action. The staff work is normally carried out by one of the Group's two Secretariats, but occasionally an expert (or a team of experts) or a subcommittee of the Group may be specially commissioned to prepare a study and make recommendations.After as much discussion as the members of the Group feel necessary-and the style that the Group has adopted eschews long speeches or debates-decisions are reached by consensus. There is no agreed formula for voting. To be sure, a weighted voting system could readily be devised on the basis of the size of individual donor contributions, but such a system would be inconsistent with the character of a consultative group and, more important, with the egalitarian spirit in which the CGIAR conducts its affairs. It would also present the problems of whether and how to weight the votes of the developing country representatives and of how to ensure that international organizations (such as the World Bank, the UNDP, or the IFAD) voted in accordance with the views of a majority of their members. Conversely, to adopt a formal unitary voting procedure would disregard the fact that in the last analysis all donors are not equalat least in the size of their contributions:the United States contributes 25 percent of the funds, while a number of donors contribute less than 1 percent. In the face of this dilemma, the Group, without ever bringing the subject up for debate, has relied on the common sense and goodwill of the members to proceed by consensus.In the process of arriving at consensus and giving expression to it, the chairman of the Group perforce plays a central role. It is his function to sum up the discussion, to assess the extent of agreement, and to formulate a consensus for the Group's approval. If it is to work well, this procedure calls for objectivity on the part of the chairman and restraint on the part of the minority among the members whose views may differ significantly from the consensus as expressed.Sometimes when the speakers on one side or the other of an issue seem close to being equally divided, the chairman may have to canvass all the members of the Group informally, as a guide in determining on which side of the issue the weight of opinion may lie. Occasionally, when issues have an important funding aspect, the chairman may implicitly have to take account of differences among the particular donors concerned. But the difficulty or delicacy of this process should not be exaggerated. There is a strong spirit of egalitarianism in the Group; the larger donors refrain from trying to push their own views ahead of those of others; on most issues a few opinion leaders among the members set the tone and the rest of the Group falls in line; and the consensus as formulated by the chairman has seldom-if ever-been challenged by the Group. Just as there is no official voting procedure, so there are no formal minutes of the meetings that would require Group approval. There is instead an informal report of the proceedings prepared by the Secretariat, from a verbatim record, which briefly summarizes the discussion on each issue and sets out the consensus and any action taken. This summary becomes, in conjunction with the agenda for the meeting, the record of the meet-ing. In those cases where a decision may have been made by canvassing the members of the Group by mail, the Secretariat issues a note recording the outcome. Some matters are brought before the Group for information rather than decision. Reports on scientific advances in areas of interest to the CGIAR are an example. Another is reports of current developments in matters germane to the operations of the CGIAR system, such as techniques for estimating the rate of return on agricultural research or on the significance of genetic engineering for plant breeding. Or there might be more mundane reports, such as a compendium of all the off-campus activities of the international centers or a report on the source and application of all contributions through the CGIAR since its inception.It is difficult to convey in writing the spirit that pervades the Group's meetings. In the early days most of those attending the meetings were bound together in a network of old acquaintanceships, many of them stemming from prior associations with the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations or even from university days. As the Group has greatly expanded, it has continued to be a fraternity of professional people, whether specializing in research or in development aid, and the original spirit of all being part of an extended family persists. The atmosphere at Group meetings is singularly congenial. It is very much to the Group's credit that it has been able to maintain this atmosphere even as it has evolved from being, as it were, a protectorate of the two foundations to being a self-sufficient international entity. Meetings of the Group can be stimulating occasions during which the interaction between members of the Group, the senior staff of the centers, members of TAC, and the staff of the Secretariats in the meetings-and, no less important, in the corridors and discussions over mid-morning or mid-afternoon coffee-can engender and maintain high morale in the whole enterprise. More than one veteran meeting-attender has remarked that this is the one international gathering that he or she looks forward to.As in any informal association meeting only twice a year, the efficient conduct of the CGIAR'S business depends to a large degree on its staff services. The Group has two services-the CGIAR Secretariat and the TAC Secretariat-for which provision was made at the first meeting of the Group in May 1971. At that time the CGIAR Secretariat and the TAC Secretariat were conceived of as a single entity. It had earlier been proposed that this Secretariat be located in Washington, with the secretary of TAC seconded from the FAO, but the summary of proceedings of the first meeting provided instead that \"arrangements will be worked out to ensure liaison and collaboration between the two wings of the Secretariat. N It was not long before each of the secretaries acquired several assistants and the two \"wings\" evolved into two separate Secretariats, one at the World Bank in Washington and the other at the FAO in Rome.The CGIAR Secretariat serves as the staff arm of the Group for dealing with all matters except those in the purview of TAC. It is in effect the central, full-time coordinator of the Group's affairs. The loose organization of the CGIAR and its informal way of doing business do not lend themselves to direct management.The Group operates on goodwill and good faith, but its effectiveness depends upon a large measure of common understanding and coordination of effort. The Secretariat, under the broad guidance of the chairman and in close liaison with the chairman and Secretariat of TAC, stands at the middle, facilitating coordination and maintaining communication among all elements of the system. The Secretariat, accordingly, has a wide array of functions, ranging from involvement in long-term planning and policymaking to arranging the administrative details of meetings-their time, place, and facilities.One of the most important functions of the Secretariat is to oversee the financial affairs of the Group. This has several dimensions. For several years, the Secretariat prepared and periodically updated a long-term financial plan for the Group's approval, matching requirements to the likely availability of funds, but such long-term planning was abandoned because of the unpredictability of donor behavior and, more important, the fluctuations in the dollar value of contributions in other currencies. For the nearer term, estimates of the level of funding in the year ahead are made and translated, in consultation with TAC, into guidelines to the centers for the preparation of their annual budget submissions. Review of these submissions is a joint responsibility of TAC and the Secretariat, as described more fully below. The budget submissions of the individual centers need to be reasonably uniform in scope and content to facilitate comparison among them and to enable judgments to be made on the relative priority of their programs. The Secretariat is responsible for designing the appropriate reporting system for this purpose and for obtaining compliance with it-not an easy task given the individualistic tendencies of the centers. These activities bring the Secretariat into frequent contact with both the donors and the centers, and fund raising with the former on behalf of the latter becomes an important activity in its own right.Facilitating the making of policy is another major function of the CGIAR Secretariat. It does not itself make policy, but it is responsible for identifying policy issues, analyzing them, setting out the options for action, and bringing them forward to the Group for its decision. TAC is, of course, responsible for presenting to the Group the policy issues within its mandate, but wherever responsibility may lie the CGIAR Secretariat must see to it that all important policy issues are brought to the Group for decision. It must also arrange for the implementation of the policy decisions made by the Group. To this end it may need to issue instructions on the Group's behalf, or alternatively bring the Group's decision to the attention of those responsible, or it may itself have to take action.An obvious duty of the Secretariat is to provide administrative support for meetings of the Group and of its committees. (Not quite so obvious, but becoming more important, is administrative support for the various meetings that take place on the same occasion as meetings of the Group itself.) For the Group, the Secretariat is responsible for the content of the meetings. In consultation with the chairman it draws up the agenda for the meeting, drafts or commissions the drafting of the documents, attends to their circulation well ahead of the meeting, and makes administrative arrangements for the meeting itself. Following the meeting, it prepares the report of main conclusions reached and decisions made. The Secretariat also acts as staff for the cosponsors and for the chairman of the Group in the exercise of their functions.The Secretariat keeps in close touch with the centers. Members of the Secretariat visit them regularly and attend meetings of their boards. One of the two scientific advisers in the Secretariat normally participates in the periodic external reviews of centers, and the management adviser is closely involved in the organization and conduct of the management reviews. The Secretariat also offers its good offices to help the centers in various ways. Its staff can provide advice in matters within their competence (typically advice on management, budgetary, and financial matters), or the Secretariat may help centers to procure specialized equipment or expert advice (for example, in reorganiz-ing their accounting and management information systems or improving pension plans). It can support the centers, or mediate for them, in their negotiations with host countries on privileges and immunities.Or it can facilitate the coordination of activities common to all centers, such as information services and publication programs. Often it is asked to help in the search for candidates to fill vacant positions.The CGIAR system needs the goodwill and understanding not only of those immediately involved, but of a much wider audience in both industrial and developing countries. As the importance of their work gains more worldwide recognition, the centers have established information programs to meet the needs of this larger audience. In addition to what the centers are doing in the area of public information and communication, there is a need to explain the role of the Consultative Group itself-which is perhaps a more difficult task, but one that is critical to maintaining or increasing the support of those who authorize the expenditure of money on CGIAR programs. It falls to the CGIAR Secretariat to be responsive to the need for better internal communication within the CGIAR system and for public information for those outside who are or should be interested. This is an important function, not yet as fully developed as it should be.For administrative purposes the Secretariat is a department of the World Bank, which appoints its staff and pays all the costs of its operation. Given its unique purpose and character, the Secretariat is subject only to oversight by the chairman of the Group and does not report to the Bank's management. The management has, however, been responsive to the Group's budgetary requests with respect to the size and composition of the staff of the Secretariat and to the need for consultation with others in the CGIAR system on the selection of the executive secretary. Since the executive secretary, like the other members of the Secretariat, is a Bank staff member, the Bank has final responsibility for the appointment.Bank management has also, on request, assisted the chairman and Secretariat in their fund-raising efforts.Staff of the Secretariat are drawn largely from the permanent staff of the World Bank, but some specialists, such as its scientific advisers, may be recruited from outside for initial assignment to the Secretariat. After a tour of duty in the Secretariat, staff serving in it normally go on to other assignments in the Bank.Considering the size and complexity of the CGIAR system, the Secretariat is small. It is headed by the executive secretary, who is one of the senior officials in the system and plays a key role, if not in \"managing\" the system, at least in helping to ensure that it operates effectively. In addition, in 1985 there were nine professional staff, comprising a deputy executive secretary, two scientific advisers, a senior program officer, a management adviser, a senior financial officer, a financial officer, an information officer, and an administrative officer. A concomitant number of staff assistants, secretaries and other support staff, and consultants round out the Secretariat.The existence of two separate and independent Secretariatsone serving the Group and the other serving TAc-is something of an anomaly which, as indicated earlier, the Group did not originally intend. Serving different masters and separated by considerable distance, the two Secretariats have not always found it easy to work together. The study team for the first review committee was struck by the obvious inconvenience of having separate staffs. However, their consolidation into one Secretariat was clearly not a matter on which the three cosponsors, or all of the donors, could be expected to agree, and the review committee decided not to pursue it. The Group did, however, accept the study team and review committee's recommendations with respect to strengthening the staff of the two Secretariats and ensuring their independence from the managements of the World Bank and the FAO. This marked something of a watershed, and in succeeding years the two Secretariats have come to work together closely and effectively. This collaboration has been particularly important-and evident-in their shared responsibilities for the annual review of the programs and budgets of the centers. The need to have a group of scientists of international stature to advise on research programs and priorities was identified early in the deliberations leading to the establishment of the CGIAR. The terms of reference of a Technical Advisory Committee were laid down in an annex to the Summary of Proceedings of the first meeting of the Group. Noting that TAC would be composed of twelve \"distinguished international experts from developed and developing countries,\" the terms of reference went on to say: TAC will, acting either upon reference from the Consultative Group or on its own initiative:(i) advise the Consultative Group on the main gaps and priorities in agricultural research related to the problems of the developing countries, both in the technical and socio-economic fields, based on a continuing review of existing national, regional and international research activities; (ii) recommend to the Consultative Group feasibility studies designed to explore in depth how best to organize and conduct agricultural research on priority problems, particularly those calling for international or regional effort; (iii) examine the results of these or other feasibility studies and present its views and recommendations for action for the guidance of the Consultative Group; (iv) advise the Consultative Group on the effectiveness of specific existing international research programs; and (v) in other ways encourage the creation of an international network of research institutions and the effective interchange of information among them.Since 1971, TAC'S role has evolved as the CGIAR System that it serves has grown and changed. TAC'S main functions today are described in the following paragraphs.First, as envisaged in its terms of reference, TAC is responsible for advising the Consultative Group on priorities in international agricultural research. This activity has engaged TAC'S attention from the outset. It has resulted in the preparation of four major reports to the Group; the fourth, bearing the ambitious title of \"Strategic Considerations,\" was presented to the Group in 1985. TAC has also provided information for the two review committees' consideration of priorities.To perform this task calls for continuing efforts to review national, regional, and international research activities and to keep abreast of scientific developments. It has also led to the commissioning of special studies as the basis for TAC'S deliberations and recommendations to the Group. These range from studies on plant nutrition, farming systems, or the training functions of IARCS to investigations of the need for new research programs (such as the study led by Skilbeck which analyzed the need for research on crops and farming systems of the dry areas of North Africa and the Middle East, or the study led by Tribe which provided the basis for TAC'S recommendation on the priority of research on livestock production in Africa). The suitability of the Group's strategy and priorities is considered further in the next chapter.Closely related to its review of priorities is TAC'S function to recommend to the Group what new areas of research should be brought under its auspices. When the CGIAR was established, this was thought to be TAC'S principal role. TAC was to review existing national, regional, and international research activities, to examine the needs of the developing countries, and to identify gaps in research that could appropriately be filled by institutions and programs supported by the CGIAR. As new institutions have been added to the CGIAR system, most of the major gaps in research on food crops consumed in the developing countries have been filled. In recent years of financial stringency, it has been increasingly difficult to add new activities-or even to consider adding them. Accordingly, TAC'S attention has shifted to monitoring priorities of research already being supported by the Group and reviewing the effectiveness of the system to enhance the impact it can make with existing resources.Another TAC function is to monitor and review, from a technical and scientific point of view, major program changes proposed by a center before they are incorporated into the center's approved program. This requires that TAC be kept well informed by each center of its intentions and the trend of its programs, so that TAC may recommend appropriate action on the proposals to the center and, if necessary, to the Group-a process that is taking time to accomplish.A fourth TAC function derives from the Group's policy that periodic external assessment be made of the relevance, scientific quality, and effectiveness of the programs of each center funded by the Group, and of the continuing need for its activities. Responsibility for the implementation of this policy in the form of quinquennial reviews (now called external program reviews) rests with TAC. As discussed in more detail below, TAC arranges for the reviews-convening for this purpose teams of expertsconsiders the report of each team, and makes its own recommendations to the Group. TAC also undertakes studies of activities common to more than one center (though separately undertaken by them) to help the Group maintain an overview of the work of the system as a whole, to rationalize overlapping activities (as in rice research), and to give the centers an opportunity to compare their programs with those of others.Most recent in time, but close to the top in terms of importance, is TAC'S role in the annual review of the programs and budgets of the centers. This was not originally seen as a TAC function-indeed, the first TAC chairman, Sir John Crawford, was strongly opposed to TAC'S becoming so involved-and in the years of financial abundance the annual commentary on the program and budget of each center was prepared by the CGIAR Secretariat, with occasional inputs from the TAC Secretariat. As financial stringency set in, TAC found that it could not divorce its long-term program interest (the time horizon for which was progressively shortened) from what was happening on the budgetary front. As previously discussed, TAC'S role in the budget review process was the subject of intensive debate at the time of the second review of the system. The Group was reluctant to confide responsibility for annual program and budget review to TAC, correctly surmising that this would divert attention from more strategic issues. But in the end the Group could not deny the logic of the position of TAC'S chairman (Ralph Cummings at the time) that program and budget issues were intimately linked, nor did it find some form of budget committee a preferred solution.In common with others who are responsible for this onerous and thankless task, TAC has found that budgetary review is as much an art as a science (and a primitive art form at that!). At the urging of the centers, it has avoided uniform, across-the-board cuts in the budgets of all the centers as a way of bringing program requests into line with the expected availability of funds. But TAC has not found the task easy, nor has it been able to establish scientific criteria that would remove the need for subjective judgment. How, for example, can one compare the relative merits of hiring an additional training officer in one center or two research assistants for socioeconomic studies at another? Faced with these inherent problems, TAC has done the sensible thing: it has focused on changes at the margin (such as how each center would deal with a 10 percent increase or decrease in funding), relying on the informed judgment of its experienced scientists and recognizing that rough justice is all that can be served. It has sought to devise, together with the CGIAR Secretariat, a budgetary procedure that would guarantee each center a minimum level of funding (at, for example, 90 percent of its past year's program) to avoid the uncertainty that center directors consider to be their chief problem in managing their research programs. The review process has been time-and energy-consuming, however, and even with more frequent and longer TAC meetings it has undoubtedly interfered with the committee's work on other matters.The concept of a technical advisory committee added a new dimension of scientific competence and authority to the rudi-mentary structure of the customary consultative group. Fulfilling, and perhaps even exceeding, the expectations of its founders, TAC has played a central and indispensable role in the activities of the CGIAR. The Group has valued TAC'S advice and relied heavily on its judgments on strategic issues such as what kinds of research to support, as well as on technical matters such as the quality of the scientific programs of the centers. The Group has not felt bound to follow TAC'S recommendations, especially when matters of tactics were involved or when new activities were proposed that would have increased the cost of the system at a time when most donors were hard pressed financially. But the great majority of TAC'S recommendations and assessments have been accepted by the Group.TAC consisted of thirteen members, including its chairman, until mid-1985 when two more members were added. The expansion to fifteen was done to include a specialist in the new biotechnology; the desirability of having more nationals of donor countries serving as TAC members was presumably also a factor.For TAC'S chairman, the Group has been fortunate to have obtained the services of three scientists of long experience and international stature: Sir John Crawford of Australia, Ralph Cummings of the United States, and Guy Camus of France. Each has served with distinction-and imparted a distinctive style to the management of TAC'S affairs. Sir John was designated at the time the CGIAR was formed; Cummings was selected by the Group (on the recommendation of an ad hoc committee appointed by the chairman when the three cosponsors were unable to agree on a single choice); and Camus was selected by the cosponsors following a process of consultation with the members of the Group. The chairman of TAC is not only its presiding officer, but is also the committee's spokesman at the meetings of the Group and has continuing responsibility for TAC'S operations. In the early days the chairman probably spent a quarter of his time on TAC affairs, but today, with the greatly increased number and size of programs supported by the Group and the added responsibilities conferred on TAC, the chairman serves virtually full time and has no other responsibilities.Of the remaining members of TAC, six (now seven) have generally come from developing countries and an equal number from industrial countries. The initial term of service, except for the chairman, is two years. A member may serve a second or sometimes a third term. Terms of members are staggered to preserve continuity. The period of service of the chairman has been more flexible and tailored to his particular situation. The present chairman originally served a three-year term, which was recently renewed for three years.Each year the cosponsors inform the members of the Group of forthcoming retirements from TAC and ask them to suggest persons to fill the prospective vacancies. From among these suggestions, and others that may come to their attention, the cosponsors recommend a single candidate for each vacancy to the Group for its approval, which has been granted as a matter of course. In selecting candidates, the cosponsors seek to ensure that TAC will consist of highly qualified persons in the agricultural and social sciences (agronomists, entomologists, soil scientists, economists, veterinarians, and so forth). Most are expected to be familiar with the problems of agriculture in developing countries and experienced in the management of research. In choosing developing country members, attention has been paid to the need for experience covering all of the principal regions of the developing world. There is no national quota for the TAC members from developed countries and an effort is made to appoint nationals from small as well as large countries; but in choosing among fully qualified candidates for a particular vacancy the cosponsors have sometimes had to be conscious of the desirability of providing nationals from the principal donor countries an opportunity to serve. TAC meets two or three times a year, for a week to ten days each time. Subcommittees are formed to consider specific topics, and outside experts are frequently called upon, notably for external reviews of centers and special studies. Except for the chairman, TAC is only a part-time activity for its members, most of whom hold full-time responsibilities at universities or research institutions. But TAC does, nevertheless, occupy a good deal of their time, in preparing for and attending up to three meetings a year, and often in additional subcommittee assignments. Despite this substantial commitment, it is indicative of the high reputation enjoyed by TAC that most of the persons asked to serve agree to do so. TAC regularly supplies the Group with a detailed record of its deliberations, containing its views and actions taken on all matters coming before it.TAC is served by a full-time Secretariat based at the FAO in Rome. The TAC Secretariat performs staff functions analogous to those of the CGIAR Secretariat, including, for example, identification and analysis of scientific policy issues, recruitment of experts for external review teams and other missions, and documentation and administration of TAC meetings and other TAC activities. The TAC Secretariat also participates in the annual process of reviewing the programs and budgets of centers. A staff member of the TAC Secretariat is normally assigned as the secretary of each external review team. Members of the TAC Secretariat, like members of the CGIAR Secretariat, regularly visit centers and attend center board meetings as observers.The staff of the TAC Secretariat is provided by the FAO. The authorized staff is small, but TAC and the FAO have preferred to keep it that way: four higher-level professional staff (the executive secretary, deputy executive secretary, and two senior agricultural research officers) and three general services staff, all with the status of FAO employees. Its budget is administered by the FAO, but the cost of TAC'S operations, including the cost of the members of the Secretariat and the emoluments of TAC members and other expenses, is shared equally by the three cosponsors. Occasionally an activity of TAC, such as a special workshop organized on a particular subject, may be funded by some other donor. The cost of the external review of a center is charged to the center and thus is funded by the donors to it.The executive secretary of TAC is appointed by the director general of the FAO. When the position had to be filled in 1983, a three-man selection committee (consisting of the assistant director general of the FAO for agriculture, the chairman of TAC, and a center director) was formed to receive nominations from all parts of the CGIAR system, to interview the most promising candidates, and to advise the director general on a selection. A similar procedure was followed when a new executive secretary was appointed at the end of 1985.There is close liaison between TAC (and its Secretariat) and the Group's Secretariat. The chairman and executive secretary of TAC and the executive secretary of the CGIAR are in frequent contact, as are the members of their staffs. Members of the CGIAR Secretariat attend all meetings of TAC, and TAC'S review of the programs and budgets of the centers is done jointly with the cGIAR Secretariat.Research systems everywhere have procedures for periodically reviewing progress and assessing performance.In the CGIAR system such reviews are particularly important, both to keep the donors well informed and to maintain standards in a system in which the institutes carrying out the research are autonomous and the sources of funding diffuse. Donors need to be satisfied that the funds they provide are being used for the purposes intended, that the research programs are effective, and that the institutions are operating efficiently.At the same time, each of the institutes has its own internal review process. Members of the Group have generally recognized that the central review procedures that they employ must not detract from the research institutes' freedom to formulate and execute their programs, within the constraints of available finance, and must not unduly encumber the time of the directors and staffs of the centers. Achieving the right balance is not easy, particularly when there are so many donors, each with its own interests and needs to be satisfied.Although no donor is precluded from making its own review of a center, and a few of the larger ones do so, most members rely upon reviews carried out under procedures established by the Group collectively and, in large part, conducted by its services. There are several different kinds of reviews regularly performed within the CGIAR system, so many in fact that questions are sometimes raised as to whether, taken together, they do not put an undue burden on the management and staff of centers.From time to time, the Group has considered the adequacy and appropriateness of its system of reviews and has made changes in it. The first attempt to establish a policy on reviews was in November 1972 when the Group held a discussion based on a paper, \"Review Procedures,\" prepared by the CGIAR Secretariat. The question was taken up again at International Centers Week in 1973, when it was decided to establish a small committee, or \"subcommittee\" as it came to be known, under the chairmanship of David Bell of the Ford Foundation. The Bell report was approved by the Group in 1974 and became the basis of most of the review procedures still in place. As of 1985, the review function comprises l annual consideration of the program and budget of each center l periodic internal reviews by the centers themselves l periodic external reviews, both scientific and management, mounted by the Group l periodic reviews of the CGIAR system as a whole l ad hoc studies of activities common to more than one center (often referred to as \"stripe\" analyses) l an annual report by the CGIAR Secretariat. For consideration by its board and by the Group, each center prepares annually (or in some cases biennially) a program and budget paper constructed in accordance with guidelines issued by the CGIAR Secretariat in consultation with TAC and designed to reflect the expected availability of funds. The paper gives a general description and justification of each program being carried out by the center; a more detailed description and justification of any new activity the center proposes to undertake; and details of the cost, in both money and staff, of all the center's activities. The program and budget paper in final form constitutes the center's request for funding by donors through the mechanism of the CGIAR. It is mainly concerned with the center's core program, though it also describes those activities lying outside the core program for which special additional funding will be sought. The program and budget paper is initially prepared in draft so that it may subsequently take into account the decisions of the board and the views of TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat.The draft program and budget papers are produced by the centers by the end of March for the fiscal year starting the following January. In the summer, TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat meet to review in detail the program and budget of each center with the participation of the center director concerned. (Some aspects of this budgetary review process have been described earlier.) In the light of the review, TAC and the CGIAR Secretariat formulate their recommendations to the Group on the appropriate level of funding for each center. At its annual meeting in the autumn, the Group has before it both the final version of the center's program and budget paper and a memorandum from the CGIAR Secretariat briefly outlining the center's program, identifying any issues outstanding, and giving the joint recommendation of TAC and the Secretariat on funding and any program matters of importance. The Group will also have the minutes of the TAC meeting at which its review took place, giving its conclusions with respect to each center. One of the items on the agenda of the annual meeting is approval of the budgets of the centers. In practice, the Group's primary interest has been in the overall balance of resources and expenditures, and it has always accepted the TAC-Secretariat recommendations on the program and budget of individual centers.REVIEWS.Centers themselves undertake internal reviews of their programs. Typically, the management and the program directors of a center spend up to a week each year reviewing the results of ongoing programs and discussing plans for the future. Members of the program committee of the board are likely to take part. Some donors send representatives to attend these reviews, and staff of the Secretariats may also attend. Outside experts are sometimes invited to participate, especially when there is an in-depth review of one of the programs. On such an occasion, research leaders from the developing countries in which the center operates may also participate. Sometimes, particularly when field trips to inspect research on site are involved, the internal review may take as much as two weeks. Another, but not typical, procedure is for a center to hold a fulldress planning conference in which its program, or part of its program, is examined and discussed in depth by a number of the best-informed leaders from industrial and developing countries in addition to the center's own staff. Centers also have used the tenth or twentieth anniversary-in IRRI'S case the twenty-fifth also-of their founding as an occasion for taking stock of their accomplishments and planning their programs for the years ahead. Whatever the type of internal review, the findings help to shape the overall program and budget of the center as it is eventually presented to the Group.REVIEWS.The Bell subcommittee thought it probable that the internal review carried out by a center for its own purposes would be adequate also for the purposes of the Group, but the subcommittee also said that TAC, if it thought necessary, could arrange for a separate assessment. In the event, such special assessments have become the way of conducting reviews for the Group. As suggested by the Bell subcommittee, TAC has arranged an in-depth external review of each center every five years. About two of these quinquennial reviews, now called external program reviews, have been done each year so that by 1984 all but the newest centers had been reviewed twice. In the future, the span between external reviews may deviate slightly from the five-year pattern to fit with the timing of the development of the center's long-term plans.Beginning in 1983, as recommended by the second review committee of the CGIAR, a periodic external review of each center's organization and procedures for internal management was also established. These management reviews are the responsibility of the CGIAR Secretariat, but for practical reasons they have been timed, in most instances, to coincide with the external program reviews, so that the two aspects of a center's operations, which may well overlap, could be examined together.The external review of the scientific programs of a center has been a major undertaking.TAC has appointed a team leader, sometimes but not necessarily from its membership, who has been joined by a team comprising from five to ten specialists, including staff from the two Secretariats. Typically the team visits the principal off-campus research sites, including those in other countries, and pays an extended visit to the center's headquarters; in total the team is likely to spend a month in the field, at the end of which time a rough first draft of its report has been prepared and is discussed with the center's management.The team report is reviewed closely by TAC, which may make extensive comments of its own in transmitting the report to the Group. The review is no less a major event for the center, which will have spent many months of staff time in preparing documents for the team's visit.The Group's procedure for discussing the quinquennial reports reflects the importance that it attaches to them. The report is introduced by the team leader of the external program review, and then of the management review if there is one. The chairman of TAC gives TAC'S views on the program review, followed by comments of the executive secretary on the management review. The chairman of the center's board and the center director will then give their views on the reports, indicating areas of agreement or disagreement and the actions that they have taken, or intend to take, on the principal recommendations.The floor is then open for discussion. This is a time-consuming process, taking several hours, a good part of which is devoted to the series of formal presentations, and thought is being given to simplifying the procedure to leave more time for group discussion.In most instances, the external scientific reviews have given the centers a relatively clean bill of health. In fact, there was initially some criticism on the part of donors that the reports were too bland. Scientists on the review teams tended to laud the work of their center colleagues and to recommend an expansion of their programs, while showing reluctance to make criticisms. To an extent this reluctance may be understandable, since critical comments might appear to prejudice a center's prospects for obtaining funding from the Group. Over time, however, the reports have become more rigorous, frank, and, where necessary, faultfinding. In some situations, however, more has been accomplished by behind-the-scenes discussions between the team and center management; the latter has then undertaken the necessary changes on its own initiative and often before the matter formally came to the Group. This has been even more the case with the management reviews, which have tended to raise sensitive issues of personality, management style, and methods of organization sometimes best handled without undue publicity. The management reviews, which have generally been carried out by a team of two to four persons, were controversial in the beginning, but by and large they have been handled diplomatically and are now perceived to serve the interests both of the Group and of the centers.The external review process has been invaluable, but it has also been costly in time and manpower for all parties concerned. Now that the older centers have all been reviewed twice, the question has been raised whether less frequent reviews, or reviews on a more modest scale, would not adequately serve the Group's purposes. Accordingly, the Group has decided to undertake a review of the review process itself.REVIEWS.The other major review procedure stemming from the recommendations of the Bell subcommittee is the periodic review of the CGIAR system as a whole, including the Group itself. Two such reviews have taken place, one after the first five years of the CGIAR'S existence and the second at the end of ten years. (A third, scheduled for 1986, is now on the drawing board.) The procedure in both cases was the same. The Group established a special committee of some fifteen to eighteen members (plus representatives of the cosponsors) drawn from among the donors, beneficiary countries, the centers, and TAC to undertake the review, assisted by a small study team drawn from outside the system. The study team acted as staff for the review committee. It made the necessary investigations, collected data, identified and analyzed issues, and prepared a draft report for consideration by the committee and, after the committee's revisions, for submission to the Group in final form. The chairman of the Group acted as chairman of the review committee.The terms of reference for both reviews, as approved by the Group, were broadly the same. Those for the second review stated that the purpose of the review was to examine the CGIAR system so as to recommend a strategy for the next decade and a plan for the years immediately ahead. The review was also to make recommendations respecting the organization and procedures needed to implement the strategy effectively and to ensure the efficient functioning of the system. It was to develop a plan for the next five years indicating the rate of growth in activities supported and the resources required from donors. The committee was asked to examine relations between the CGIAR system and developing countries and to recommend ways of improving the participation of the latter in the deliberations of the Group. (More details on the terms of reference of the two reviews have been provided in chapters 3 and 5.)For both reviews the study teams went to great lengths to canvass the views of all interested parts of the system. They visited the centers and the donors and met with groups of representatives of the developing countries making use of the centers' services. They met with the cosponsors, TAC, the Secretariats, and the chairman of the Group.These far-reaching reviews have been taken very seriously by the Group. The review committees, and the study teams working for them, devoted much time to considering the various issues and formulating recommendations to the Group. The Group, in turn, on each occasion spent several days out of a week-long meeting discussing the committee's recommendations and, in the case of the second review, devoted part of a second meeting to considering ways to implement the recommendations. The committee reports, together with short summaries of the Group's discussions and decisions, were circulated widely within the CGIAR system. In both instances, but perhaps more forcefully in the second, the Secretariat, on behalf of the Group, kept track of the steps taken by the various elements of the system to implement the Group's decisions and periodically submitted reports to the Group on progress made and problems remaining.The reviews in practice concerned themselves less with strategic issues for the future than the terms of reference called for and than some donors wished, and they tended for the most part to reaffirm the Group's policies and practices. But they did introduce some innovations and orient some activities in new directions. No less important, the fact that they took place, and the seriousness with which they were considered, reinforced the consensus within the Group in the pursuit of its objectives and the confidence of the donors in giving it their support.REVIEWS.Studies of activities common to more than one center have been, as noted, one of the functions of TAC. The report of the first review committee recommended that periodic stripe analyses across centers of certain program components such as training, documentation, or cropping systems research, should be continued. These reviews have helped the Group to maintain an overview of the system as a whole and to rationalize the use of its resources. The stripe analyses have also helped the centers to compare their programs with those of others and, by learning from each other, to make improvements.Eachyearthe CGIAR Secretariat produces a report on the Consultative Group and the international agricultural research it supports. This annual report originated in a recommendation of the Bell subcommittee that the Secretariat should prepare each year, in advance of International Centers Week, an \"integrative paper\" placing in a single framework the existing programs for which the Group had accepted responsibility and any proposed programs that were under consideration, projecting financial costs and availabilities for several years into the future, and identifying program and financial issues that should be addressed by the Group. The Secretariat's integrative reports have closely followed this recommendation, while expanding it in one respect: it became the Secretariat's custom to include in each year's report a section in which a topic of interest or concern to the Group was analyzed in some detail. The section might describe, for example, some scientific development that might eventually have repercussions on the research supported by the Group (such as genetic engineering) or it might highlight a particular issue that the Secretariat thought should be brought before the Group for consideration and possible action (such as the need for forward financial planning for the CGIAR system as a whole). Although the Secretariat's integrative report did not constitute a review in the same sense as those described above, it did attempt to give each year an overview of the system and to put before the Group matters that deserved its attention.In 1985 the integrative report was retitled the annual report and redesigned to address a broader audience, including those outside the system. It did not contain any special topic, but among other things reviewed highlights and accomplishments of the system during the preceding year and summarized the impact study, which was completed in that year.A FEW POLICY ISSUES are hardy perennials, having figured in the deliberations of the Group from the beginning. Some others are of more recent origin. Together they comprise an agenda of issues that promise to command the Group's attention for some time to come. It may therefore be useful to consider them in more detail-how much more depending on how extensively they have already been discussed here. The issues that will be considered are: research priorities; centers, networks, and boundaries; funding the system; participation of developing countries; international status; and management by committees.Establishing priorities for the research conducted by the centers is one of the principal and continuing functions of the CGIAR. To some extent priorities have changed with circumstances, and a central issue for the Group is whether its current priorities are appropriate for the circumstances likely to face it over the next decade or two.The IARCS were created to help fill what was seen at the time as a serious and growing \"food gap\" in the developing countries. Underlying the foundations' planning was the concept that wide-spread inadequate intake of food could be overcome, or at least relieved, by increasing food production, especially through higher yields, in the countries and regions where people were not getting enough to eat. If farmers could be provided with improved technology that would produce more food, people would not go hungry. It was a simple concept; perhaps in retrospect too simple, for later it became more apparent that often people went hungry because they could not afford to buy food even when it was available in the country. Too little weight was given to the importance of increasing the incomes and purchasing power of the poor, as well as the availability of food. Nevertheless, even if oversimple, the concept provided the starting point for endeavors that brought about large increases in production that, even if not fully solving the problem of underconsumption by the poor, have brought much relief (see chapter 8).Certain priorities followed logically from this basic concept:l Overall, research should focus on developing the technology to grow more food of better quality on available land.l Within this focus, research should concentrate on basic food crops and livestock and on farming systems and economics.l Within research on basic food crops, first priority should be given to cereals, roots, and tubers to provide calories and second priority to food legumes, along with livestock, to provide protein for a balanced diet.l Within research on the cereals, first attention should be given to rice to increase food supplies in the humid tropics (especially in the populous countries of Asia) and to wheat and maize. Research on rice grown under irrigation, because it would yield quicker results, should be given priority over research on rainfed rice.A second concept was that the varieties and related technology developed by the international centers should be general in character and capable of adaptation to the particular environments of developing countries in different parts of the world. This led to l breeding new, high yielding varieties with broad adaptability l developing collaborative networks with national research programs for testing the experimental varieties and agronomic practices developed at the centers and reporting the results to plant breeders and other scientists l providing training and information to facilitate the transfer of the new technology to developing countries and to strengthen national research programs l preserving and expanding the supply of germ plasm for use in plant breeding experiments. A third concept was that the research envisaged for the IARCS, in addition to focusing on food crops raised in many parts of the world, should also attack the agricultural production problems of particular agroecological zones. The following resulted: l Some centers were established to investigate not specific crops but geographical areas-for example, the tropics of Latin America and the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa. l At any single center, research embraced a multiplicity of crops and also emphasized the farming systems within which the improved crops could be incorporated. l This broad approach created complexities for the centers in fixing priorities, in avoiding the dissipation of resources on fragmented research efforts, and in effectively administering programs for intercontinental zones, which required work far away from headquarters. When the Group was founded, it inherited these basic concepts and their corollaries. It took them as its own not only in supporting the institutes already established or planned, but as it expanded the scope of the system in the early years to fill perceived research gaps. The adoption of CIP and the creation of IBPGR, ICRISAT, ICARDA, and to a degree ILCA were all consistent with the basic concepts. Later, some of the concepts began to be questioned or revised as attention became more sharply focused on helping the poor and on particular regions and as national research in some developing countries grew stronger.The Role of TAC TAC has been the principal instrument for articulating research priorities for the Group. As mentioned earlier, TAC has given its recommendations on priorities in a series of papers, each one more pointed than the last. Each paper has reflected changes in the climate affecting the Group's operations: the slowing down and eventual halting of the growth in real resources provided by donors; increasing concern within the international aid community that its help be directed mainly toward improving the lot of the poorest segments of the population and that the benefits of investments made with aid funds be equitably distributed; and, as funds became more scarce, an increasing desire on the part of donors to be assured that the funds provided were being used efficiently and effectively. Over the years, TAC'S reports and recommendations on priorities have become more operational, particularly since TAC has begun to function as budget committee for the Group. Its latest recommendations (its 1985 report on priorities and strategic considerations) make specific proposals for the allocation of resources to various categories of programs and activities.Nevertheless, viewed in the broad there has been little significant change in TAC'S formulation of priorities. Agricultural research is a long-term endeavor, and even after fifteen years the changes TAC suggests differ only marginally from its initial recommendations.In recent years, too, there has been little scope for change through new initiatives because funds have not been available. Thus, although the process for arriving at priorities may have become more rigorous, some important issues still have not been addressed conclusively.The 1985 TAC paper on priorities and strategies was considered at International Centers Week in October, but only in a preliminary fashion. Partly under the stimulus of the impact study, which was also on the agenda and received greater attention, the Group decided to consider its strategy in a broader context and longer time frame. These wide-ranging deliberations will undoubtedly take time. One issue that will figure prominently in the deliberations is the potential for the new techniques of genetic engineering (such as molecular genetics, cell biology, and tissue culture) and other tools of biotechnology.These techniques are likely to give the centers the opportunity to do more pioneering work within their own programs and to involve them in closer contact with institutions and laboratories in industrial countries.A principal issue that will remain on the agenda is the proper balance between research aimed at increasing food production by raising farm productivity in areas and on crops of high potential and research aimed at directly increasing the quantity and quality of food produced and consumed by the poor, an issue of efficiency versus equity. Although any increase in productivity benefits the economy in general, not every increase benefits the poor. Over the last dozen years it has become clear that increases in food production, whether from higher productivity or otherwise, do not necessarily mean that the poor will have more to eat and that increases in the amount and quality of protein in the food produced do not necessarily mean that the food eaten by the poor will be more nutritious.At the lowest economic levels family incomes are so meager that people cannot afford to buy as much or as good food as they need (of the two, the quantity of food intake is generally more important). To be sure, the poor as consumers-in both urban and rural areas-receive important benefits to the extent that increased production lowers the price of food, on which a large part of their income is spent. But some poor producers of food may be worse off, if the reduced income from the lower prices they receive is not more than offset by an increase in production.Subsistence farmers who consume all that they produce will only benefit to the extent that they are able to increase their production.Increasing the food consumption of the poor ultimately requires increasing their incomes and purchasing power, and doing so raises issues of national economic and agricultural policy that transcend research. But research can help-and help more-in two ways: by emphasizing those crops produced and consumed primarily by the poor and by emphasizing the agricultural products that increase the income of poor producers, even if they are nonfood or cash crops outside the present mandates of the centers. But there may be a difficult choice to be made, for increased attention to research aimed directly at production by the poor could well be at the expense of increased overall production of food.One change that would give more weight to equity concerns would be to emphasize food production in food-deficit areas where people, including food producers themselves, are not getting enough to eat. Such a strategy means more research on . increasing production in areas of poor soil, difficult terrain, or unfavorable climate and rainfall l increasing production with a minimum of purchased inputs l increasing production of crops grown by farmers in subsistence agriculture. This is not to say that the international centers are not already giving considerable attention to this \"poor-farmer\" agriculture. Crops produced and consumed by the poor-sorghum, millet, beans, and cowpeas, among others-figure prominently in the work of the centers and have from the early days of the system. IRRI'S shift of research emphasis from irrigated to upland rice is an illustration of changing priorities. But, considering the im-portance of alleviating poverty, in my view more of the Group's resources should be devoted to poor-farmer agriculture.Another and more radical change would be to focus research on agricultural production of any kind that will raise the incomes of the poor and increase their purchasing power. This implies supporting research on cash crops that have not been tackled by the CGIAR system, whether food crops or otherwise, and whether grown as a monoculture or as part of a multicrop farming system. It could include research on fiber crops, on cereals or roots and tubers sold for animal feed, and on tree crops, which also play an important role in protecting the soils of high rainfall areas from erosion.Expanding into research on cash crops, particularly nonfood crops, would have to be weighed carefully in each case. Often, especially for plantation crops, adequate research has already been done with the support of the industry itself. The Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia is an example of a center of excellence whose programs and achievements are comparable to those of the IARCS. But not all nonfood crops are well catered to and not all of the research is oriented toward tropical agriculture. Even if there is adequate research for large-scale production, it does not follow that there is enough attention to production of the same crop by small-scale farmers. The question is whether international research on such crops would have the same comparative advantage as that enjoyed by the IARCS working on staple food crops. If the Group were to decide to give higher priority to cash crops of economic importance to small-scale farmers in developing countries, it should take a serious look at research on the following topics: l tropical vegetables, including those grown to supply nearby urban markets l some fibers, such as cotton and possibly jute and kenaf l aquaculture, especially the production of fresh water fish, but also, possibly, seafood produced in seaside lagoons under controlled conditions l tree crops, including coconut and oil palm, and agroforestry l animals, particularly ruminants, in Asia (especially China) and Latin America; more research might be needed in Africa as well l beverage crops-especially cocoa, and possibly tea and coffee.TAC has already drawn attention to many of these possibilities. In its latest report on priorities, TAC recommends once again that the Group support vegetable research and proposes, for the first time, that the Group expand its system to include research on coconuts and aquaculture. It also recommends some increase in research on ruminants, especially cattle, sheep, and goats.It is difficult to be innovative when resources are static. But if the donors to the Group wish to help ensure that the poorest of the poor are better fed, they should direct some of their effortpreferably in the form of augmented resources-toward the support of more research on the subsistence and cash crops that are grown, or could be grown, by the poorest farmers.Another perennial and important issue for the Group is whether to support more research on factors of agricultural production (other than seeds and other genetic materials, which is already its main activity). Studies on how to ensure adequate and timely plant nutrients and water are obvious examples, but there are many others. At an early stage the Group adopted the policy that research on such factors of production, if supported at all, would best be handled as part of the multidisciplinary, applied research on commodities falling within the system's ambit. Some factor-oriented research is taking place at individual centers on this basis, but the Group has eschewed separate research on individual factors of production and has declined to adopt or create institutions for that purpose (except as one might consider that ILRAD'S work on animal diseases and IBPGR'S on germ plasm are factor-oriented), Three have been proposed (IFDC, ICIPE, and a water management institute) and rejected. Research on fertilizer, water management, and certain insect pests was at least considered, but none on soils or the control of plant diseases, pests (other than ICIPE'S program), or weeds ever came before the Group.Has the Group been too doctrinaire in its rejection of research specifically on the principal factors of production? No one has questioned their fundamental importance in increasing production, and although the Group's policy was cited to justify rejecting the three proposals that came to it, there were other contributory reasons. The value of both IFDC'S and ICIPE'S research was recognized, but in both cases it was thought, among other things, that their particular research niches were too narrow to be appropriate for the Group. It is more difficult to understand why the water management institute was rejected. Research on water management had always been very high on POLICY ISSL'ES TAC'S list of priorities, a judgment with which the Group appeared to agree. It seems likely that the rejection was more an accident of timing, for the proposal came before the Group at a point when it was particularly exercised about the shortage of funds. However, while this concern may have been overriding to the Group collectively, it did not deter some of the donor members individually, for they promptly arranged a separate funding group which has successfully launched the institute outside the CGIAR. Moreover, both IFDC and ICIPE continue to attract contributions from some members of the Group, also outside the CGIAR.At the level of applied research that was envisaged for the international centers at the time of their creation, there may not be an appropriate place for research of a universal character on single factors of production.Since those days, however, the concept of strategic research (for solving specific research problems) has evolved, and at that level there is a stronger case. As the individual centers, and the system as a whole, devote more effort to strategic research, the Group could well reconsider giving support to factor-oriented research conducted by a center or through some other mechanism.The impetus for creating the first international agricultural research center was the immensity and urgency of the need to fill the food gap in the populous countries of Asia, combined with the favorable circumstance that a single cereal-rice-was overwhelmingly the main food in most Asian countries. Thus, research sharply focused on rice could have great impact. It was, in a way, fortuitous that research on wheat, which had been going on in Mexico for many years, could also be directed to helping solve the food gap in certain parts of Asia.The problems of tropical Africa are now the most urgent. Neither rice nor wheat is of prime importance in tropical Africa, where people rely on maize, sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams. Research on all these, except maize, got a late start. Moreover, much less effort was put into research on roots and tubers than on cereals. In part, this is because root crops are difficult to work with. Many of them are vegetatively propagated and so are more difficult to breed and multiply than cereals, which grow from seeds. The propagated roots and tubers harbor many pests and diseases, which thus are handed down from generation to generation. The presence of such pests and diseases not only interferes with experimentation but also can lead to restrictions on international shipment, which further inhibits research. But in part these crops were ignored because they are poor-farmer crops, grown under shifting cultivation as part of cropping systems and not entering much into trade and commerce.These difficulties of getting research started have been compounded by tropical Africa's particularly difficult circumstances. In much of it the soils are infertile, hard to work with, and fragile. With a few exceptions-such as the Sudan and part of Egypt-there is very little irrigation.Most farmers have inadequate access to purchased inputs, and, under tribal custom, land tenure is insecure. National research in most countries is weak.The consequence is that the Green Revolution has by-passed Africa, and yet Africa desperately needs improved technology. Over the last two decades, per capita production of cereals, roots, and tubers-the mainstays of life-has declined; in 1983 it was less than 80 percent of the 1961-65 average. Land is becoming degraded.The CGIAR has not neglected research on food crops important in Africa but, except for maize, there was not much experience to build on and, because almost all agriculture in Africa is rainfed, quick results have not been possible. It has been estimated that about 35 percent of the IARCS' senior scientists devote full time to research and other programs specific to Africa, and that overall Africa absorbs about 40 percent of the Group's resources. But of the four IARCS based in Africa, ILRAD is very specialized and WARDA deals only with rice in the West African region. IITA is concerned with a wider range of crops but also has limited ecological coverage. ICRISAT, in contrast, has a large and well-established program, which is tailored to the vast semiarid tropical zone.In addition to the four centers located in Africa, eight others have staff members stationed there as part of outreach programs, while the remaining center-rsNAR---has worked with seven African countries to assess their research needs. Some of these centers, however, are not yet in Africa on a significant scale, although all are giving increasing attention to Africa's problems. Agroforestry is an activity of particular importance to Africa and should be added to the research agenda.Though the number of people living in tropical Africa is not large compared with the populations of Asia, their problems are enormous: extreme poverty, eroding natural resources, lack of new technology, weak institutions, inappropriate policies, and rapidly increasing population.In retrospect, it looks as if the CGIAR has not accorded Africa high enough priority. Now that the world aid community is becoming increasingly aware of Africa's problems, the Group and the IARCS are moving to redress that imbalance.African agriculture is in danger of deteriorating too fast for any great improvement in living standards to be expected in the near future. But even stemming this deterioration commands high priority in human terms. Problems demanding urgent attention are everywhere. Among them are the needs for strengthening national research institutions,for training many more scientists and technicians, and for research on conserving the resource base.The extent to which the Group can shift more of its present resources to Africa without unduly sacrificing the interests of the larger numbers of people still in poverty in other regions such as Asia may be limited. There is thus all the more reason for the Group to consider new approaches and special measures to deal with Africa's urgent problems.China became a donor member of the Group in 1983. Even before then it had begun to work with several of the centers and had particularly close relations with IRRI. Its contacts with the system are expanding. As knowledge of what the system can offer increases and becomes more widespread, China can be expected to become a larger client; the issues for the Group are how much larger and how soon.Since the founding of the People's Republic, China has given high priority to the development of agriculture. As a result, agriculture in China is in some respects more advanced than in most other developing countries, though still a long way from reaching the levels in the richer countries. In its drive for selfsufficiency in food, China has made particularly strong advances in the production of rice and wheat. For example, it released semidwarf improved rice varieties in 1959, seven years before IRRI released 1~8. In the 1970s it was the first country to develop and cultivate hybrid rice on a significant scale. It has successfully developed high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of wheat. Nevertheless, production has barely kept pace with increasing population.If incomes increase as planned, the demand for food, especially meat, fruit, vegetables, and vegetable oils, will rise even more rapidly in the future. Additional production will have to be achieved without an increase in the area devoted to crops, for land reclaimed and brought under new irrigation will be offset by land converted to other uses. Agriculture in China is already intensive. With only 7 percent of the world's arable land, it has to feed 22 percent of the world's population.Irrigation systems serve about half its arable land, but many of them are old and in need of rehabilitation, and water distribution at the field level is often inefficient.To realize the potential of irrigation, large investments will have to be made in the existing irrigation systems, and research will need to be greatly expanded and improved. For years agricultural research suffered from China's isolation from scientific developments in other countries, and during the Cultural Revolution much of the research capacity was dismantled.It has begun to recover only recently. Raising productivity in both the irrigated and rainfed areas to keep up with rising demand for food will put a heavy strain on China's limited research capacity. What does this portend for China's relationship with the CGIAR? How much will China wish to draw on the scientific resources of the system? It has done well without making much use of them, but it is determined to forge ahead more rapidly. In deciding the kinds of research to support and in allocating resources, what priority should the Group give to China?Considering the vast needs and opportunities in China, the initiatives taken so far by the IARCS are, with the exception of IRRI'S programs, little more than tentative and exploratory. Should China decide to exploit the potential of the CGIAR system, there is some risk that activities could expand so rapidly as to absorb an undue proportion of the system's resources and distort the character of its programs. So far these issues have been addressed by the centers individually, but such a fragmented approach may in time become inadequate. The Group needs to consider the implications of the system's growing involvement with China. There are several possible scenarios: l It can accept that, with programs and resources as they are, it can play only a marginal role in China's agricultural development . l It can gear up for a significant effort, making the changes in program and lining up the larger resources this would entail. l It can move ahead positively but selectively, choosing a few initiatives that could have significant impact in particular fields and which, though requiring some increase in the Group's re-sources and change in their use, would not claim so much as to distort the overall program. Relations between the Group and China are at an early stage. The CGIAR system can play a significant role in helping China to meet its goals and at the same time can profit from collaboration with Chinese scientists. The Group needs to give more thought to how much attention should be devoted to China, consistent with the availability of resources and China's desire for assistance.The cornerstone of the CGIAR system is the \"center of excellence.\" The original model, designed by Hill and Harrar for IRRI in 1960, has been followed, with only minor exceptions, for all the crop-oriented centers established under the CGIAR'S auspices. The two principal features of a center of excellence are independence in the pursuit of its scientific mission and an international character. The latter feature has enabled the centers to deal with problems on a regional or global scale; to collaborate and interact with national and regional research programs in industrial and developing countries alike; to draw financial support from a wide range of donors; and to attract first-class managerial and scientific staff from many parts of the world. Staff have been organized into interdisciplinary teams working with modern research facilities. Research effort has been sharply focused on applied research and the development of technology related to the problems of increasing food production in the developing countries. The economies of scale inherent in this approach have enabled the centers to achieve a \"critical mass\" that would have been beyond the reach of any national research program.The center of excellence was clearly the right idea for its time and place. The concentrated effort of highly qualified and wellequipped teams of scientists, and their freedom of scientific exchange, facilitated the early breakthroughs that brought the centers to international attention. Success bred success, as the growing reputation of the centers enabled them to attract the financial support and skilled professionals to continue their pathbreaking efforts. But much has happened to agricultural research, at both the national and international levels, in the intervening years, and further changes are in the offing. Is the concept still valid today? What changes have been, or will be necessary in the light of changing circumstances, and how do they affect the boundary lines separating the IARCS from national research centers in both developing and industrial countries?The first review of the CGIAR looked closely into the organization and functions of the centers five years after the CGIAR came into being. The study team and review committee concluded the following:In summary the centers have already demonstrated their capacity for success and have identified areas in which they are uniquely successful.It is our judgment that this uniqueness applies particularly to commodity or systems oriented centers whose forte is the interdisciplinary team approach. It is less clear that these characteristics could apply to factor or discipline oriented centers that are more comparable to traditional developed country research approaches. Therefore, we conclude that the center approach has much merit and is uniquely fitted to the character of the CGIAR.Five years later, the second review reached a similar conclusion, but added a qualification and proviso:The Study Team found general agreement that this model has been effective in providing excellent facilities for the high quality research that has established the reputation of the System . . . There was wide support for the Centre model as the basic framework for the CGIAR system in the future . . . We conclude that the standard Centre model has been a successful one and provides a firm foundation for future research and training programmes of the System. At the same time we conclude that new centres on the original model should be added only after careful consideration of other possibilities. This is not to say that the basic concept of the Centre is no longer supported, but that variations of the basic concept should be kept in mind when planning new activities . . . We also conclude that the present Centres, with their excellent central facilities, provide a basis for expansion of activities in the System, if the concept of collaborative research networks is developed.It was never thought that the centers would work in isolation, but rather as intermediate links in a chain extending from the basic research activities conducted primarily in industrial countries to the adaptive research characteristic of the national programs of developing countries. This relationship has evolved over time; in particular, networks have developed linking the centers and national research programs in closer and more collaborative efforts.As a way of organizing collaborative research, networks have a long history that predates the formation of the CGIAR. Some of the centers in the CGIAR system are essentially networks (WARDA and, in a sense, IBPGR), and ICARDA grew out of the Ford Foundation's Arid Lands Agricultural Developmentprogram, which was primarily a network for testing germ plasm of cereals and pulses, as well as for improving sheep productivity. The research programs for export crops organized in Africa by Great Britain and France during the colonial era linked stations in several countries working on the same commodity.At one time the network model was viewed by some as a rival to the center of excellence; the preference of the French government for the former approach was a factor in its early resistance to the establishment of the CGIAR. In fact, the CGIAR has shown that the two approaches can be compatible-or rather, starting from the model of the center of excellence, the CGIAR has combined elements of both into a blend that is evolving as national research programs become stronger and thus more equal partners in the research and development effort.In their broadest sense, networks link individuals or institutions with a shared purpose into some form of collaborative effort. The integrative report for 1983, which featured networks as its special topic, identified three kinds of networks. As illustrated in figure 7-1, in the simplest form of network, information and materials flow from the central hub along spokes to the nodes (part A). In part B, the participating nodes are not just recipients but more active partners in planning and implementing the program. Information flows back and forth between the hub and the nodes, as well as along the rim connecting the participants. In some of the more advanced networks, nodes may establish subnetworks to tackle that portion of the task that has been assumed by them (part C).The relationship between the IARCS and national programs has tended to progress from simple to more advanced types of net- At first most of the centers concentrated their research efforts at their headquarters or campuses, but their plant breeding activities soon led them to establish contact with national programs. The technique of plant breeding involves the gathering of germ plasm from diverse regions, recombining it in many different ways, and then testing the resulting crosses for yield, stability, pest and disease tolerance, and so forth over a wide range of contrasting environments, involving many countries. The early networks thus were organized around international nurseries. IRRI, for example, initiated the first international rice nursery in 1963. In 1964, CIMMYT organized an international spring wheat nursery by merging two regional programs that dated from 1960 and 1962.In nursery networks-the simplest form of network-national programs receive and evaluate set groups of genetic materials. The logistical problems of operating a nursery are formidable, and the centers naturally found themselves in the position of leaders or hubs in the networks. With the passage of time and the strengthening of national programs, the relationship has become more collaborative and collegial. Developing countries have played a more active role in designing and implementing the exchange programs, and nationally developed varieties have become an important source of materials for international testing. Thus, rice varieties provided by the national programs in India and Indonesia have been released to farmers in Nepal, Mali, Burma, and the Philippines.The number of networks has grown; CIMMYT, for example, contributes to at least nine international nurseries, and CIP is involved in separate regional research networks for potatoes in the Andean countries, Central Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and South Asia. Furthermore, other types of networks involving the IARCS have developed to deal with more specialized or complex problems, such as the rational use of crop by-products, livestock diseases, cropping and farming systems, regional economics, farm machinery, factor-oriented research, and information outreach. Training courses and information services have also strengthened the growing links between centers and national programs.Networking has a number of attractive features and also some drawbacks. One advantage frequently cited for the network model is its cost-effectiveness. By relying on existing institutions, costly expenditures on new central facilities can be avoided. This point may be valid in some situations, where the need for additional investment can be reduced by making better use of existing facilities and staff. But it can also be misleading; networking requires the existence of strong collaborative institutions, which presumably were the beneficiaries of capital development programs in the past. The key role that the IARCS have played in the networks with which they have been associated would not have been possible had they not been developed as centers of excellence.The second review committee considered the network model at length. It noted several advantages: l Beneficiary countries are fully involved in programme planning and in setting priorities.The network encourages partnership between Centres and developing countries. It is, therefore, a model suited to assisting in the evolution of strong national programmes. When national programmes have reached a position of strength, such as in India and Brazil, the model is admirably suited to a continuing arrangement for collaborative research programmes drawing, through the Centres, on a wider range of scientific knowledge.l The network has a catalytic role in bringing together resources to focus systematically on an important research topic and thus establish a critical mass of scientific activity at relatively low marginal cost. l Flexibility is maintained in the use of resources in that programmes can be increased, reduced or terminated relatively easily.lThe network provides a mechanism to link the research of Centres to that funded by the donors through other channels. It may strengthen the basis of requests from countries for bilateral funding, in that the resources would be used as part of a major integrated international research activity. Problems were also noted:Management is difficult in that the scientists belong to independent organizations.Time and substantial funding are needed for communication and travel. Research progress may not be rapid and may be variable. Consequently, choice of the network approach may lengthen the time needed for meeting research goals, in comparison with a system where all the resources are under the control of one agency. In addition, the level of development of national programmes determines the kinds of activity that can be undertaken in that some activities may impose too heavy a burden on national resources.The history of networking is therefore replete with both successes and failures. The list of conditions for success drawn up by the second review committee is a long one: l The activity must be well-defined and sharply focused. The network should be confined to a specified geographical region to define a topic of common interest and ease problems of communication.  The network leader must be committed to the concept of the network approach and have sufficient experience to develop a partnership relationship with scientists in national programmes. The more extensive review of networking in the 1983 integrative report generally supported these findings. In particular, it stressed the need to focus on a problem that needs solution, to build on the comparative advantage of each of the participants, and to ensure that self-interest-the driving force behind successful networks-is present. Most IARCS are by now heavily involved in networking, and as national research capabilities increase networking is likely to become even more extensive and varied in form. These developments should be viewed, however, not as an invalidation of the \"center\" approach or an alternative to it, but rather as a logical extension that is wholly compatible with it. The role of the centers, and the degree of leadership they exercise, will have to be planned carefully in the light of national goals, capabilities, and sensitivities.In the critical area of germ plasm work, the IARCS are likely to do less breeding of finished varieties; they will concentrate instead on providing evaluated germ plasm and superior parental lines to national programs.' But the cost and logistics of handling and coordinating international nurseries dictate that the IARCS will continue to be heavily involved.By bringing the centers into closer working relationships with the national institutions in collaborative and mutually supporting programs, networking is redefining the boundaries of legitimate center activity. Nonetheless, the need to demarcate these boundaries clearly-and to ensure that they are respected-remains. The centers are under great pressure to provide what amounts to technical assistance to individual national programs-a task distinct from developing and transferring technology for the benefit of a number of developing countries. Some of this pressure comes from the donor members of the Group who see the centers as useful agents to supplement their bilateral efforts in support of particular national programs, but most of it comes from the developing countries, who have sought an everwidening range of services from the international centers as the centers' programs have become better known.The centers have been disposed to respond positively to these requests for a variety of reasons, not the least of them being a recognition that strong national programs are essential if the centers' mandates are to be effectively translated into increased production. But the need for direct support to national programs is potentially so great that centers could be drawn into a virtually bottomless pit. When and how centers should respond to requests to support national programs without dissipating their limited resources or being diverted from their main tasks and responsibilities are difficult questions that have confronted TAC from the very beginning and figured prominently in both the first and second system reviews.The first review committee recognized that cooperation with national programs, sometimes referred to as outreach, was an important and necessary component of the research programs of the centers. It also recognized both the need to define the appropriate boundaries to such cooperation and the difficulty of doing so. Its statement of the problem is unexceptionable:In any analysis of the problem it is obvious that the technolbgy available in international research centers is far ahead of that currently practiced in the developing world and that there is an urgent need to raise the achievement distributions of the small farmers in these countries. The centers are very conscious of this need and are anxious to help in strengthening national programs and in particular to see their technology used. However, the general strengthening of national programs requires major changes in national administrative procedures, to forge effective links between research and training research workers. Many other kinds of research in addition to that engaged in by centers are required to strengthen national programs. Moreover, the dimensions of the problem throughout the developing world far exceed the capacity of the centers to * respond. If they tried to respond they could readily be swamped with a volume of requests that would divert them from their principal and essential mandate.Thus the problem for the centers is not the existence of this need or their obvious desire to help, but the magnitude of the effort required to bridge this gap. In approaching this problem we believe that centers should be receptive and responsive to opportunities to assist with this task, provided funds are available and their boards of trustees approve. At the same time they should be mindful of the areas in which they are adept and in which they have a comparative advantage. The extent of their involvement in cooperative programs should also be determined by the need to avoid distorting their central research thrust, the need to maintain a balanced program, and not to overreach their managerial capacity.The thrust of its conclusion was clear, but the application of that conclusion called for flexibility and nuance.We conclude that cooperation with national programs is a vital component to the research activities of all centers. As a general rule the primary purpose of such cooperation should be research to advance the central mission of the center. However, centers should be alert and responsive to opportunities for additional cooperation with national programs, provided extra-core funds are available, the project is appropriate, it does not distort their central research thrust or place an undue burden on the center's administrative personnel, and the review procedures enunciated [elsewhere] are met. If the project does not conform to these guidelines, the center should question its involvement and suggest that the requests for assistance be channeled to another donor or agency.More substance was given to these observations by a listing of the range of possible activities with national programs, presented here as table 7-l.The Group debated and accepted this formulation. Its desire to insulate the centers against excessive pressures to devote their attention to strengthening national research programs was a principal consideration in the decision to establish ISNAR as a CGIAR-supported activity for this specific (and exclusive) purpose.Between the first and second reviews, the growth of networking placed the issue of the relationship between the centers and national programs in a more collaborative light. The second study team was more disposed than its predecessor to think in systemic terms. It saw the international centers as evolving, together with research institutions in developing and industrial countries, toward a \"coherent\" system of institutions with \"integrated\" aims. In this holistic view, the allocation of functions would follow the socialist principle: \"The stronger institutions, whether national or international, constitute the nodes in a larger network of institutions, each contributing ideas and material to the network according to its ability, and taking from it according to its needs.\"The second report went further in appearing to distance itself from the analysis of the first report.Our approach to the analysis of problems of the scope and boundaries of Centre activities in relation to national programmes in the developing countries, goes beyond that presented in the 1977 Review, which did not discuss the mechanisms for research co-ordination that are already established in most developing countries. Rather than recommending guidelines for restricting collaboration with national programmes, we conclude that it is more profitable to examine the principles for successful co-operation in order to maximize the benefits both for the Centres and for the national programmes.Centres need to co-operate closely with national programmes in order to develop widely applicable technology, to validate their research findings and to foster the synergistic effects of bringing scientists together to work on common problems. Likewise national programmes can derive the greatest benefits from Centre activities by co-operative association with them. Even where national programmes are very weak, both the Centre and the country can benefit from the association. The difference in philosophical approach between the two reports should not be exaggerated. Although the second report emphasized the positive aspects of collaboration between the centers and national programs within an integrated international research system, the study team was not unmindful of the risks. Thus, \"the Centres are at risk of being used by donors, international organizations, technical assistance agencies and even the developing countries themselves, for activities that they are not well qualified to perform, for which they were not originally intended and which may divert them from their central mandate.\" And further: \"It seems probable that the pressures on the Centres to respond to these different needs have led to some diversity in the ways in which they operate. But it is clear that they must not allow themselves to be pulled in too many different directions, otherwise their efforts will become too dispersed for significant achievement. \"The principal instrument through which the centers tend to be pulled in too many different directions is the \"special project\" funded by an individual donor (or donors) outside the core program of the center. The second review went into this problem at some length and drew up its own tabulation of \"acceptable\" and \"not acceptable\" extra-core funded activities (see table 7-2).The second review summarized the issue of special projects (extra-core funding) very well.We consider that extra-core funding can be a valuable means of increasing the ability of Institutions to respond what have become scarce financial resources. These conclu-sions are consistent with those of the 1977 Review Committee. We also endorse its view that for review purposes the programmes of an Institution should be regarded as an integrated whoIe, regardless of the type of funding.Despite the warnings of the two reviews, extra-core funding of special projects continued at the level of just under $30 million a year in the three years 1982-84 and increased substantially in 1985. Special projects, as has been seen, can be useful. Nonetheless, the danger that short-run or parochial interests will prevent the system from operating with full effectiveness remains real. To avoid or minimize that danger calls for discretion and respect for the common interest on the part of individual donors and careful judgment on the part of individual center managers.The impact study team went into the question of relations between the centers and national research programs at even greater length than the review committees. It did not address the \"boundaries\" issue as such, but, as described more fully in the next chapter, it found that the centers had on the whole played a very constructive role in helping to develop and strengthen national research programs in a variety of ways, of which direct technical assistance was a relatively minor one.The upstream boundaries on the appropriate activities of the centers have been much less a matter of controversy; in fact, they have probably received less attention than they deserve. The second review provided the useful taxonomy of types of research activity that has been employed throughout this text. It also gave specific examples of each category: l basic research-that designed to generate new understanding (e.g., how the partitioning of assimilates is influenced by plant height) l strategic research-that designed for the solution of specific research problems (e.g., a technique for directing dwarfing genes in wheat seedlings) l applied research-that designed to create new technology (e.g., breeding new varieties of dwarf wheat that can respond to high levels of nitrogen without lodging) l adaptive research-that designed to adjust technology to the specific needs of a particular set of environmental conditions (e.g., incorporating dwarf wheats into farming sys-terns of the rainfed areas of the Pampean Region of Argentina). It has generally been agreed that the fundamental role of the IARCS is the generation of new technology-that is, applied research. But this requires an adequate supply of the results of strategic research, which in turn draws on the results of basic research. IRRI and CIMMYT were able to take advantage of a large amount of basic and strategic research related to the commodities within their mandates. The same is not true for millet, cassava, and other crops in the mandates of the newer centers. Even with respect to rice and wheat, as center scientists tackle new or more difficult \"second generation\" research problems, they can no longer rely on the existence of a body of relevant knowledge in the industrial countries, the more so since research efforts in the industrial countries have generally been directed toward problems of temperate rather than tropical agriculture. In the long run, new knowledge discovered by basic research will be needed to raise the technical ceiling-the yields theoretically possible under optimal conditions-on all the crops with which the IARCS are concerned.Centers are therefore by necessity becoming more closely involved in strategic and basic research to maintain the flow of new knowledge needed for their applied research functions. They have been doing so in two ways: by building their own capacity for strategic and, to a very limited extent, basic research and by forging closer links with institutions in industrial countries that are primarily engaged in such research. The advantages of the former approach are threefold: greater control of the research program to orient it to the center's specific needs; improved access, in some instances, to the material, sites, and personnel required for a specific task; and greater stimulus to the center's scientific staff that involvement in such pioneering research provides. All of the centers are now engaged to some degree in strategic research; research on the biological fixation of nitrogen, for example, is going on at CIAT, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IITA, IRRI, and WARDA. The impact study found that in 1984 virtually none of the centers' efforts were devoted to basic research \"conducted purely to build up knowledge with no clear idea of how that might be used to increase food production.\"On the other hand, 10 to 15 percent of the time of the senior staff of the productionoriented centers was used for strategic research \"where the purpose is the solution of specific research problems, but the product of which is far from being an immediately applicable technology.\"The IARCS cannot be expected to develop and maintain the scientific competence necessary for a multidisciplinary approach to a wide range of strategic research problems, nor would it be cost-effective for them to do so. This observation is even more true of basic research. But, if basic research is not appropriate for the IARCS, they must be able to rely on other institutions.The problem is how to ensure significant advances in understanding and in the discovery of new knowledge (about such things as how cells resist disease, insects, and salinity) in time to meet the needs of the IARCS ten or twenty years in the future. Scientists engaged in basic research are not attempting to solve today's problems and, though probably mindful of the pressing need to raise living standards in the developing countries, are not necessarily directing their research to this end. So can they be relied upon to keep abreast of the centers' needs?Two questions emerge:l If basic research can be expected to be conducted at an adequate level, are any special measures needed to ersure that the IARCS are aware of everything relevant to their work and that they have prompt access to the results?l If basic research of future importance to the IARCS cannot be expected without some inducement, what inducement can the CGIAR provide?The first is a matter of communication and should be relatively easy to handle. There is already an informal but extensive network of communication between scientists at the centers and basic researchers at the universities, which is probably adequate for near-term needs. This network, however, depends in part on the happenstance of personal acquaintance. As a consequence, the coverage may be thinner than it should be. Some more systematic process would be beneficial. A few industrial countries have for many years had special organizations linked with research institutions in developing countries. The number of such public or quasi-public organizations is growing rapidly, and they now exist in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The potential of this relatively new development remains to be fully exploited.The second question is more difficult to respond to satisfactorily. There first has to be a judgment as to what avenues of research need to be explored to meet the CGIAR system's future needs, and then there has to be a plan or course of action to ensure that exploration is adequate. The plan or course of action might well involve the award of fellowships to individuals, or contracts to institutions, to pursue particular lines of research. Some institutions in developing countries have the scientific capability to carry out basic research of the kind in question.The development of basic knowledge that will be appropriate well into the future in molecular genetics and similar fields and the assured access to such knowledge are fundamental to the long-term success of the system as it moves both into more difficult areas of applied research and upstream to strategic research. To some extent, basic research, by its very nature, is something that cannot be planned-but only fostered. Although the individual centers are promoting closer relations with sources of basic research that interests them, the Group has not yet addressed the issue of how to ensure the adequacy of basic research for the CGIAR system years hence. It should do so soon.To SUM UP, the concept of an IARC and the definition of its role have changed considerably during the relatively brief period that the centers have been in existence. The central focus is and will continue to be on applied research to develop new technology. But the centers can be expected to continue to forge closer and more collaborative links with national research programs in developing countries and to widen the scope of their research activities to embrace more strategic and basic research issues. These developments are salutary, and they are likely to take place gradually as the IARCS seek the best ways to serve the developing countries whose capabilities and needs are also changing over time.As has been suggested throughout the text and will be demonstrated more fully in the next chapter, the work of the international centers has proved useful and effective. The developing countries find it increasingly valuable. Donors to the CGIAR continue to find it worthy. Since returns to investment in agricultural research are high compared with returns to other investments, and there are still many research needs unsatisfied, there is a compelling case for strengthening and expanding the CGIAR program. It is, therefore, ironic that in less than ten years from the formation of the CGIAR, the rate of increase in the annual amount contributed by its donor members slowed significantly. This slowing is seen in the following figures for the nominal and real percentage changes in contributions to core programs: Between 1972 and 1977, contributions rose from about $21 million to about $77 million (see table 7-3), an average increase of just over 30 percent a year, or nearly 19 percent a year in real terms. Between 1977 and1980, when contributions reached almost $120 million, the annual increase was close to 16 percent, but in real terms it had dropped to under 6 percent. Between 1980 and1985, when contributions were $170 million, the yearly increase averaged almost 7.5 percent, but in real terms it dropped to barely over 1 percent; in 1985 contributions for the first time fell in current terms by over 2 percent, or almost 6 percent in real terms. Actually, the decline over the period was sharper than these figures indicate because in 1983 special projects worth $9 million were transferred into the core programs of centers, thereby adding to total contributions in an accounting sense, but not in reality. The inevitable result has been that in the aggregate the programs supported by the Group have ceased to grow and no new major program has been added since the beginning of 1980.This stagnation in funding has become the principal constraint to the operations of the system, and at times its overriding concern. It is due in considerable part to extraneous circumstances. One of the most important of these in recent years has been the strength of the U.S. dollar compared with the other currencies in which some 40 percent of contributions are made. In part, this is only an apparent \"loss,\" arising from the fact that the CGIAR'S accounts are kept in dollars. But some part of these other currencies has to be converted to meet dollar expenses, and to this extent their value to the IARCS has been reduced as the dollar appreciated. The effect of currency variations can be strikingly illustrated by the contribution of France. In terms of French francs, it grew from 3.2 million to 9.6 million between 1979 and 1984, or by about 25 percent annually, as part of a government i. $9 million of the increase in 1983 is attributable to the transfer to the core programs of centers of certain special projects or activities and their funding. These projects continued to be counted as part of core programs in subsequent years.program to increase substantially its support of the CGIAR. In terms of U.S. dollars, however, the increase was only about 5.5 percent a year.Price increases in the countries where the centers operate, if not offset by devaluation of the local currency, increase the operating costs of the centers. This was a significant factor during the latter part of the 197Os, when rapid inflation in a number of the host countries was not matched by devaluation of their currencies; as a result, the purchasing power of the foreign exchange contributed by donors was reduced in terms of local currency. Some of the host countries that are also donor members of the Group have on occasion not increased their (local currency) contributions at a rate equal to their rate of inflation, compounding the financial problems of the centers in those countries.In part, the stagnation of contributions reflects the fact that the centers have by now acquired the plant and staff for their present level of operation (though almost all are confident they could put more to good use). But mainly it is caused by the \"donor fatigue\" affecting all aid programs. Data collected by the impact study indicate that from 1973 to 1981 official development assistance, expressed in nominal terms, increased by about 300 percent and the portion of this aid allocated to agriculture rose by 400 percent. These rates of increase are well above the rate of increase in prices during these years. Over the same period, support for the Group increased by about 425 percent, so it enjoyed some priority within assistance programs. The Group continued to enjoy a degree of priority during the first half of the 1980s: although official development assistance was cut back in many instances, contributions to the CGIAR remained high enough to permit it to continue to operate without serious reduction in its programs, even though there was little room for growth.Despite the preferential status accorded to the CGIAR, the combination of extraneous circumstances and donor fatigue has presented the IARCS with difficult financial problems and raises three issues for the Group. These are how to remove restrictions on the use of funds, how to stabilize funds, and how to mobilize more funds.For their own statutory or policy reasons, some donors restrict the use of their funds to particular programs or parts of programs of a center, whereas other donors allow their funds to be used freely for any activity within a center's authorized budget. In the early years, the trend was for contributions increasingly to be made without restriction, but unfortunately the tide has turned. In 1979, of total contributions for the core programs of the centers, 15 percent was restricted, but by 1984, this proportion had risen to 32 percent. For IRRI, it rose to 43 percent and for ICRISAT, to 54 percent. In consequence, centers have had difficulty in fitting contributions into their authorized programs, and they have been under pressure to alter their priorities to accommodate the wishes of those donors that restrict the use of their funds. Moreover, if the authorized core program has to be cut to accommodate a shortfall in contributions, those parts of it to which some of the contributions are restricted become favored. Some donors reserve a part of their contribution for funding collaboration with their own scientists. If this kind of collaboration does not fit readily into a center's program, the center is faced with the unhappy choice of distorting its program or losing that part of the contribution.Special projects are also a form of restriction, and their financial implications can be significant. Not only are the funds for a special project tied to a particular, often fairly short-term, activity that the center is contractually obligated to carry out, but the project is guaranteed funding and manpower in times of underfunding when other activities that are part of the core program may go short. When funds for special projects are included in total contributions, the restricted proportion increases to 44 percent and, for IRRI and ICRISAT, to 59 and 63 percent, respectively.In addition to their potentially unfavorable effects on the centers' programs, restricted contributions and special projects impose added administrative and accounting burdens on the center director and his administrative staff, thereby distracting them from the center's main tasks. It is hard for a research institution to do its best work beset with the rigidities introduced by restricted funding. It needs flexibility in the use of its resources. There is a pressing need for donors that restrict all or part of their contributions to exercise voluntary restraint and free their contributions to the extent possible under their statutes.A second issue is how to stabilize funding-how to avoid the uncertainty arising from year-to-year fluctuations in the funds actually accruing to a center. The centers' programs are longterm and require continuity in staffing. Moreover, in recruiting senior staff in the international market, the centers are obliged to offer scientists more security than might be necessary in a domestic market. Quick reductions in staff are not practicable. For both scientific and administrative reasons, centers say that assurance of stability of funding is as important, if not more important, than assurance of growth. Instability is difficult to manage and demoralizing.Instability has several sources. One is an unexpected decision by a donor to discontinue or to reduce substantially its level of contribution.Iran, for example, stopped contributing after the revolution. Fortunately, however, such sudden changes have not happened often. So far no major donor has dropped out or reduced its contribution drastically. Another source of instability is the failure of donors to meet their pledges. This, too, is unusual and has happened only when a donor country suffered an unforeseen, severe foreign exchange crisis, as was the case with Brazil. The large number of donors (thirty-four in 1985) affords some buffering; it has often been the case that when one or two large donors have had to reduce, or not to increase, their contributions because of budgetary cutbacks at home, other important donors have been in an expansionary phase and were able to offset the impact. More important, though, is the fact that the United States and the World Bank both contribute in fixed proportions to the total amount contributed.Since between them they put up close to 40 percent of the total, they provide a strong element of stability (except in the unlikely event that contributions in the aggregate are fluctuating widely). Indeed, the 25 percent contributed by the United States is crucial, not only as an element of stability in itself, but as encouragement to other countries to give.Another short-term source of instability is the tendency of donors, for various reasons including the timing of their respective fiscal years, to make their payments late rather than early in the year, whereas the centers must meet their expenses regularly throughout the year. At times, centers have had to engage in extensive short-term borrowing to compensate for delayed contributions.Only the donors themselves can remedy the instability that results from the size, form, or timing of contributions.To a significant extent, however, instability can be due to extraneous circumstances over which neither the centers nor the donors have any control. It becomes particularly acute in times of rapidly rising prices or decreases in the U.S. dollar value of the currencies contributed.To afford the centers some protection during the course of the budget year, there is now a stabilization fund administered by the Secretariat and financed largely by the World Bank. It is a mechanism to protect each center during the course of the year from unfavorable variations in exchange rates and from cost increases higher than estimated. If the currency of a pledge falls in relation to the dollar between the time the pledge is allocated to a center and the time of disbursement, the center may claim the difference from the fund. It may also claim for price increases exceeding the inflation allowance in its budget. Conversely, if price increases are lower than expected or exchange rate changes favorable rather than unfavorable, the fund has a claim on the center. Near the end of the year the net claim for each center is calculated and, if more than 1 percent of its approved budget, the amount is paid out of or into the fund accordingly. The centers whose approved budgets are the more seriously underfunded are excused from paying in, and the fund does not pay out to centers comparatively well funded. The World Bank provides the necessary working capital for the fund from its annual pledge.A total of about $3.2 million was required for 1984 and 1985, the first two years of operation of the fund, which was less than a third of the resources available to the fund. The mechanism worked well in those two years; most currencies fell against the rapidly rising dollar, but inflation was lower than in earlier years. How well it would work during a period of greater financial perturbationhas not yet been tested.A third and most important issue is how to raise more funds for the CGIAR in view of the high priority of the research it supports, the need to add some new programs, and the need to offset reductions in contributions from some donor members who may, in the future, find themselves in financial straits. A theoretical possibility is that through increased efficiency the centers themselves could make more resources available for high-priority programs. Such gains, however, are unlikely on any significant scale. While the original building standards of a few of the older centers may have been overly generous, there is no sign that the centers are today extravagant or wasteful. Agri-cultural research conducted by international centers of excellence is inherently costly. To fulfill their leadership role and to ensure continuity in their research, they need to attract and retain highly qualified people, many of them recruited internationally. They also must have first-class equipment and observe high standards of maintenance, sometimes under difficult operating conditions. To be effective, the centers concerned directly with crop research must be located in the environment they are serving, so they must bear the additional cost of being far from sources of supply. Close collaboration with researchers in many developing countries implies substantial expenditure on travel and communications.Moreover, the international centers, unlike national research programs which are often conducted within universities or government departments, are self-sufficient institutions and must cover all their overheads themselves. Through external program and management reviews the efficiency of the centers is closely scrutinized, and extravagance is promptly brought to the attention of their managements.The evidence suggests that further pressure on the centers to economize would not yield much in the way of savings or real benefits.Another possibility, raised from time to time by individual donors, is to require the centers to charge for some of their services and products. This, too, is a poor prospect. Each of the international centers has some earnings, partly from investing idle funds and partly from selling the products of its experimental farms, but these do not add up to much. A center could increase these earnings by charging more than at present for services such as training, but this might result in the service being provided to those who could afford to pay rather than to those who need it most. Centers could charge for the use of their conference facilities, but the amounts gained would be small.Finally, the centers could sell the results of their research-the technology developed-rather than make it freely available, but this is at odds with the whole purpose of the CGIAR. All the money granted-almost all from public sources-to support the work of the international centers is for the purpose of developing and disseminating the technology needed by the developing countries. The centers go to great effort to spread knowledge of the improved technology more widely and, in collaboration with the recipient countries, to encourage its adoption.A major thrust of their economic research is to alleviate the constraints to adoption. Charging for this technology would run counter to the efforts of the centers and the intent of the donors. Moreover, much of the germ plasm used for experimental purposes comes from the developing countries themselves, and the new varieties and supporting technology are developed in close collaboration with scientists in the national programs of the countries served. As a practical matter, it is virtually impossible to sort out the respective values of the contributions of the partners in this collaboration, and any effort to do so would certainly be counterproductive.It follows ineluctably that the funds needed by the CGIAR must come from the Group's donors. When contributions to the Group were increasing rapidly each year, donor members newly joining the Group were an important source of additional funds. The largest new donors were the multilateral institutions, such as the European Economic Community, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the OPEC Fund. Today, however, most of the major countries and multilateral institutions outside the Eastern Bloc are donor members of the Group. Austria, one of the last holdouts, joined in 1985. Although six developing countries have become donors, and more may join in the future, their financial contributions will be a small part of the total; their undoubted value as members of the Group lies more in the contributions they can make in helping to formulate the Group's policies than in additional funding (see the discussion below).Foundations such as the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, the International Development Research Centre, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Kellogg Foundation have made valuable contributions to the Group's funding. There are, however, few foundations of this kind outside the United States and none with enough resources to commit much money to the CGIAR. Even the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, having fulfilled their pathfinding role, now give less than one-third as much as their contributions in the early years. Better prospects might be found in the large church organizations that have evinced a strong interest in helping economic development in tangible ways, particularly in Africa. It is possible also that some industrial companies, especially those profiting from business in the developing countries, might be persuaded to support the CGIAR. These are all worthwhile possibilities to pursue, and the Secretariat is actively doing so, but it is unlikely that collectively the church organizations, foundations, and industrial companies could add enough to the CGIAR'S resources to take it to a significantly higher level of operation.The conclusion, by no means new, is that the CGIAR must continue to look to the existing donors. All but a few (such as the OPEC Fund and the International Fund for Agricultural Develop-ment, which have severe problems in maintaining their own resources) could, if they wished, increase their level of contribution. The evidence is that the donor community in general is reluctant to increase its contribution to the developing world, except on an emergency basis as in the Sahel. But even within fixed aid budgets, there is a question of the priority to be given to international agricultural research. The resources given to the CGIAR are a small part of what is provided in the aggregate for technical assistance. In 1982, out of total amounts provided for technical assistance by the countries of the OECD and the multilateral aid institutions, just over 2 percent was channeled through the CGIAR. Given the great need for new technology and the likely high return to investment in international agricultural research, there is, in principle, a strong case for the donors to give the CGIAR higher priority and increase their contributions to enable it to do more. Assuming willingness on the part of donors, by how much should the system grow? It has been demonstrated many times that well-designed and well-managed agricultural research has a high payoff, markedly more than can be obtained in most other kinds of investment. Since these returns are substantially higher than the opportunity cost of capital, there is a case on that basis alone to invest more in agricultural research, including international research. The case is strengthened by the increasing demands on the international centers as their collaboration with the developing countries expands and the services they provide become more widely known. Moreover, many research needs are not being met. As already noted, the Group so far has concentrated on research to increase production of the principal foods, but this objective does not go far enough toward helping to ensure that the poor are adequately fed. The system's research needs some reorientation if it is to contribute to this broader objective. The range of research supported needs to be expanded to include research on additional food crops and livestock and on nonfood crops and other agricultural activities that generate income for the poor farmer. There is also a need for more strategic research [and possibly some selected basic research), even if there may be some contraction in applied research.Yet once the Group departs from its present narrow focus, it is difficult to set the logical limits of its activity. Even if money were no constraint, there would be risks of spreading its efforts too thin. International agricultural research in all its dimensions is too vast a field for the Group. A greatly enlarged system, for all the benefits that might result, would imply more structure, for-mality, and central management. Taken too far, this expansion could change the simple and informal character of the Group, traits which underlie its success. But given that a massive increase in contributions is unlikely, this risk is small. It would, in any event, have to be weighed against the benefits that would result if the Group were to revise its priorities and expand its scope to do more to raise the incomes of the poorest of the poor.My conclusion is that the CGIAR system should grow prudently and pragmatically, selectively adding research on cash crops, both food and nonfood, and other research that will help to raise the productivity and incomes of the poorest farmers, stem deterioration in Africa, exploit opportunity in China, and explore some of the new frontiers-such as biotechnology-that may hold out great promise. These are modest objectives, but if they are to be realized the rate of real growth of contributions will have to be raised substantially above the level at which it has been running in recent years. Donors must therefore raise their sights for the CGIAR and give it higher priority among the demands on the resources they devote to technical assistance. Research supported by the CGIAR has been successful. It can be expected to continue to be. Success should be reinforced by the provision of significantly greater resources to the CGIAR system.The CGIAR exists to serve the needs of developing countries. The architects of the CGIAR therefore sought to find a means of ensuring that representatives of the developing countries would figure not only as beneficiaries, but also as active participants in shaping the policies and programs of a consultative group thatby tradition and form of organization-consisted of donor members. Their solution, in addition to stipulating that half of TAC'S members should come from developing countries, was to include as members of the Group ten countries elected through the biennial regional conferences of the FAO. Two countries were elected, originally for a two-year term, from each of the five regions. The countries in turn nominated individuals, either research administrators or senior scientists, to attend meetings as their representatives, with the understanding that only one person from each region would act as spokesman on any particular issue.This precaution has hardly been necessary, for the arrangement has not worked as intended. With rare exceptions in which particular individuals had prior association with the CGIAR system in some other capacity, attendance by the designated representatives has been sporadic at best and their participation in the Group's deliberations negligible.The Group, wishing to avoid the image of being a \"rich man's club,\" has been concerned to remedy the situation. The problem was addressed at length by the second review committee, which attributed it to the lack of briefing and commitment of those attending Centers Week. Recommendations to improve participation developing country representatives included the following: l Appropriate mechanisms should be developed to provide information in advance about the system and the agenda of meetings. lThe mechanism for selecting representatives should be improved, so that those selected would be interested in and knowledgeable about the system. l A mechanism should be developed whereby scientists and administrators in each region could deliberate and provide an informal briefing to their representatives. l The CGIAR should support the cost of the participation of developing country representatives. The Group endorsed these recommendations.A fund has been established to meet the expenses of developing country members attending the Group's meetings, and there has been some increased attendance as a result. Countries are now designated to serve a four-year term so representatives will have the opportunity to gain more experience with the CGIAR. But to make significant progress would call for a more concerted and sustained effort on the part of all those concerned, both within and outside the system. That such effort has not been forthcoming is perhaps due in part to a recognition that in the end it is not likely to be fruitful.The fact is that individuals serving for a limited term and without any personal or institutional link to the system are not likely to feel the sense of commitment necessary to make the effort to inform themselves, to attend the meetings, and to participate actively in them.Support for this somewhat heretical view can be found in the much more effective participation of the representatives of those developing countries that are also donor members. By and large their participation has been as extensive as that of other donors, and the Group has benefited greatly from the perspective that they have provided. An appealing solution might therefore seem to be to expand the number of donors from developing countries.There have been numerous efforts to do so in the past-some of which have borne fruit-and these are continuing, with good prospects that a few more countries may join. Lowering the minimum subscription from the present figure of $500,000 might attract substantially more members. But one of the basic purposes of the Group is to mobilize resources, and if its membership were to become too diIuted without adding significantly to its resources, the Group's effectiveness would be reduced.There are ways in which the Group can secure greater involvement of developing countries in its deliberations without changing its membership structure.One is by the sponsorship of symposiums or workshops through which the views of developing countries can be made known. Another is through the participation of developing country nationals in advisory groups or study teams, such as those that have been concerned with the impact study or with the two reviews of the CGIAR system. The Group has had recourse to both of these methods, but more can be done along these lines.In the various components and services of the Group and system, there is a closer balance in participation between nationals of industrial and developing countries. The first two chairmen of the Group were Americans; the incumbent is Pakistani. All three chairmen of TAC have come from industrial countries, but the membership of TAC is divided equally between industrial and developing countries, and members from the latter have been equal partners in its deliberations. The CGIAR Secretariat now has two professional staff members from developing countries, and the executive secretary of TAC is Tanzanian.It is, of course, at the centers that the research work of benefit to the developing countries takes place, and where the input of knowledge and advice from these countries is particularly important.Contacts with developing countries in symposiums and other forums confirm that their primary interest lies in more effective participation at this level. None of the directors of the early centers came from developing countries, but here again the trend is positive and three of the center directors-including that of IRRI-now do so, and a larger number of developing country scientists are serving in senior management positions. Three of the chairmen of the boards of centers are nationals of developing countries. On the boards of trustees themselves, slightly more than half (about 55 percent) of the seats were filled by individuals from developing countries in 1983; these individuals came from thirty-nine different countries. Perhaps some of these have been \"token\" appointments, but many individuals from developing countries have served with distinction on center boards and played key roles in shaping their policies. More careful selection of trustees from developing countries who have the time to undertake this responsibility, and more thorough briefing of them, would further enhance their effectiveness.For the senior staff, the numbers vary considerably among the institutions.The second review committee estimated that about one-third of the senior staff came from developing countries; in 1983 this proportion was about 45 percent, from forty-seven countries, and it is now closer to 50 percent. Most of the lowerlevel staff come from the host country.It is at the level of program formulation and interaction with national programs that participation of scientists and administrators from developing countries is most important and potentially most useful. Individuals from developing countries contribute in a number of ways to the determination of policies, priorities, and modes of operation through participation in networks and other collaborative research programs, seminars and workshops, and numerous informal discussions. Some centers formalize these relationships through regular developing country participation in program committees of the board or in internal reviews. In its survey of the situation, the second review committee observed that \"a great deal of effort is devoted by the Institutions to initiating and improving this involvement of scientists from developing countries in the determination of research priorities, the formulation of plans, and the implementation of collaborative programs.\"All things considered, participation of developing countries in the CGIAR system is neither as good as it should be nor as bad as critics, including those inside the system, sometimes contend. More can and should be done-and I have made some suggestions to this effect-but progress is being made and participation is most extensive and effective in those activities where it best serves the interests of the developing countries. The second review committee summed it up rather well:We foresee that effective participation by the developing countries in the affairs of the System will continue to evolve along the lines that have already been developed. Owing to the large number of organizations and individuals involved in the work, however, there can be no escape from the continuing need to foster good communications at all levels of organization in the System and among all of the individuals concerned.No two centers followed identical paths in arriving at their status as IARCS, nor do their charters or legal instruments contain identical provisions.Differences reflect the time and method of their establishment, the political situation in the host country, and the characteristics of local legislation. Thus, CIP was established as a nonprofit entity under Peruvian law by means of a covenant with the government of Peru, which refers to an agreement for scientific cooperation between the government and North Carolina State University.CIAT, CIMMYT, IITA, and IRRI were set up by presidential decree at the conclusion of arrangements made between the Ford or Rockefeller Foundation and the host government. IRRI was specifically accorded the status of an international organization, while IITA is a Nigerian organization \"with an international character.\" (CIMMYT and CIAT are discussed further below.) IFPRI was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the District of Columbia and was granted various privileges and immunities under the U.S. Public International Organizations Immunities Act. Other centers were established through more direct participation of the cosponsors and the chairman of the CGIAR. ICRISAT was established by a Memorandum of Understanding between the government of India and the Ford Foundation, followed by a constitution agreed upon by the World Bank and the FAO which was formally accepted by the government of India under the UN Privileges and Immunities Act of 1947. The host-country agreements for ICARDA, ILCA, ILRAD, and ISNAR also involved one or more of the cosponsors and the chairman in varying degrees, typically as signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding through which the center was established.In one way or another, the agreements with the host countries are intended to recognize that the centers are de facto international organizations, with global or regional mandates, governed by international boards of trustees, composed of international staffs, and serving the interests of an international community of nations. Further evidence of their international status is the fact that the centers enter into formal agreements with governments other than that of their host country. Some centers have as many as forty such agreements, involving a variety of institutions in industrial and developing countries, by which joint research programs are undertaken and networking systems are established. A basic purpose of the host-country agreements is to confer upon the centers the privileges, and immunities from the laws applicable to strictly national institutions, necessary for them to carry out their international mandates. These privileges and immunities have generally consisted of l tax exempt status for the center, inviolability of its premises, and immunity of the center from legal process l limited exemption from restrictions on imports needed to equip and operate the center and from restrictions on exports to permit the free flow of scientific materials (subject to appropriate quarantine regulations to prevent the import or export of harmful diseases or pests) l freedom from foreign exchange restrictions on the transfer of capital into or out of the country l expeditious issuance of visas and clearances for entry into the country of board members, staff, trainees, and official visitors to the center. In some instances the right of the center to establish employment policies and conditions for staff on an international basis without discrimination as to nationality or any consideration other than qualification, merit, and experience is specifically guaranteed, but in others it is not. The right of the center to publish internationally the results of its research may be explicitly provided.These immunities and privileges have been identified and defined in varying degrees in the legal instruments that have established the individual centers and governed their relationships with the host countries. Since the centers have generally operated with the active support and goodwill of their host countries, many of the problems that might have arisen because of omissions or imprecisions in the legal documents have in practice been amicably resolved. Despite occasional and usually minor frictions, the centers have generally been able to carry out their international mandates without difficulty. In recent years, however, serious problems that affect their efficient operation have surfaced in connection with two of the oldest centers, CIMMYT and CIAT, both established before the CGIAR came into existence. CIMMYT is incorporated as a civil association under the laws of Mexico and, as such, its only formal immunity is exemption from taxes on its own income. However, a 1966 Presidential Accord encouraged government ministries to facilitate CIMMYT'S operations, and as a result informal arrangements with Mexican agencies sheltered CIMMYT from the full effect of tax legislation, import restrictions and duties, and restrictions on the entry of staff, trainees, and visiting scientists.Beginning in 1982, the combination of a severe economic crisis and a strict anticorruption campaign has forced administrators to stick to the letter of the law, denying CIMMYT the privileges it had enjoyed informally.Three problems have arisen for CIMMYT as a consequence. CIMMYT'S payments of taxes on its purchases and on the salaries of its international staff exceed by a substantial margin the amounts contributed to CIMMYT by the Mexican government. This means that the CGIAR donors are in effect providing a subsidy to the government by virtue of CIMMYT'S presence in the country. Second, the enforcement of quantitative restrictions and duties on CIMMYT'S import of equipment and supplies is prejudicing program activities and adding further to its budgetary requirements. Third, mounting restrictions on travel are affecting the freedom of movement of CIMMYT staff and others visiting on center business.CIAT was established as a nonprofit corporation under Colombian law in 1967. Like CIMMYT, CIAT has enjoyed those de facto privileges of an international organization necessary to facilitate its operations. However, CIAT was pressed into negotiations for a change in its status by a lawsuit, still pending, that raises the issue of whether Colombian staff members with the benefits given to international staff are also subject to Colombian labor legislation. CIAT was also stimulated to seek international status when questions were raised regarding its right to manage international bank accounts under Colombia's monetary regulations.Negotiations between the two centers and their respective host governments reached an impasse, and essentially for the same reasons. Neither the Mexican nor the Colombian government questioned the need for the centers to have the privileges and immunities associated with their international mandates. But neither government felt in a position, for internal political reasons, to confer those privileges and immunities unilaterally on a nominally national entity. The centers therefore turned, with the acquiescence or support of their host governments, to the CGIAR for help.The logical approach would, of course, have been for the CGIAR itself to confirm the international status of the two centers or to confer it explicitly upon them should this prove the preferable course. But here the CGIAR'S lack of juridical personality turned to its disadvantage. Not existing legally, how could it confer legal existence on the centers that it supported? To have the CGIAR membership do so collectively would have been too burdensome and time-consuming, so the responsibility fell to the cosponsors. The members of the Group, apprised of the problem, passed resolutions at their meetings in May and November 1983, for both CIAT and CIMMYT specifically and for all centers and their host governments in general. The resolutions requested the coponsors to find ways of assisting the centers and the host governments to take whatever measures might be necessary to ensure the continued full effectiveness of the international agricultural research centers.The legal complexities facing the cosponsors in carrying out this request have proved greater than appeared at first sight. Discussions, primarily among the legal staff of the three agencies and with legal advisers to the two centers, have extended over several years. The FAO has decided that, for internal constitutional reasons, it could not be party to an agreement establishing an international organization.The World Bank and the UNDP are nevertheless forging ahead under their authority with a plan to reconstitute CIMMYT and CIAT as international centers, and progress is being made. Each center would operate as an integral part of the CGIAR system. It would have full juridical personality and function as a nonprofit autonomous agency, nonpolitical in management, staffing, and operations. Armed with this international status, the newly constituted centers would negotiate headquarters agreements with their host countries. One stumbling block has now been resolved by a provision of the draft charters which clarifies that, as signatories, the LJNDP and the World Bank do not accept any responsibility for debts, liabilities, or obligations incurred by the new centers.There is a great deal at stake in these negotiations. Not only must CIMMYT and CIAT be assured of the capacity to continue to operate effectively, but a precedent is likely to be set for other centers as well. None of the others has the exact legal status of CIMMYT or CIAT, but they may face new circumstances in the future where the ability of the cosponsors to ensure their international status may be important.The danger of overmanagement by a centralized bureaucracy was very much in the minds of those who shaped the original design of the CGIAR. On the one hand, there was concern about establishing yet another international organization to join the proliferating ranks of such organizations. On the other hand, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations stressed that the autonomy of the centers and the independence of their boards of trustees were essential conditions for their scientific excellence. There were already centers in being, and they were performing admirably; the main tasks for the future were seen to be the raising of more funds and the orderly expansion of the system on the basis of priority judgments.While the characterization of the prospective CGIAR as a \"forum\" rather than an \"organization\"(see chapter 2) may have been intended, in part at least, to disarm critics, the fact remains that the Group was envisaged more as a deliberative than a decisionmaking body. The model of the consultative groups already in use under the World Banks chairmanship appealed to the founders because such groups were indeed informal: they had no legal personality, did not raise funds through any burdensharing mechanism, and took no votes. Hence, the CGIAR was launched as an informal entity, without any attention given-at least on the record-to how it should reach decisions. An advisory committee (TAC) was included, and a secretariat to provide staff services; but neither of these had executive functions, nor did the chairman, whose only specific duty was that of presiding officer. Similarly, the role of the cosponsors was undefined, other than to nominate TAC members for the Group's approval.But the analogy to the conventional consultative group was always an imperfect one. The CGIAR'S responsibilities extend well beyond those for fund raising. Moreover, the CGIAR does not only deliberate. It must decide, and ensure that action is taken on its decisions. Some decisions are routine or procedural, such as approval of the recommendations of the cosponsors for TAC members or of the CGIAR Secretariat for the ccriln-designated members of center boards of trustees. Others, such as decisions on the annual programs and budgets of the centers, are far from routine, but the Group has recognized that it cannot collectively come to grips with them and has therefore relied on the advice and recommendations of TAC and the Secretariats. But there remain a large number of issues on which the Group as a whole makes decisions, among them l determining the overall research priorities of the CGIAR l fixing the financial dimensions of the system for a period ahead l deciding whether to take on new activities l defining the appropriate relationships between the CGIAR system and associated activities, including national research programs l reviewing the principal thrusts of the scientific programs of individual centers and ensuring that the centers are properly managed l devising and applying systems of review and reporting to provide accountability l deciding on its own methods of organization and governance.The external scientific and management reviews of the centers and the five-year reviews of the CGIAR system have provided much food for thought and action. Thus, the first and second system reviews made twenty-two and twenty-four recommendations, respectively, each of which called for decision and many for follow-up action. Difficult issues also come before the Group from time to time for decision on an ad hoc basis, such as those prominent on its agenda in 1985: the future of WARDA and the role of the IBPGR in relation to the FAO and the evolving international network of genetic conservation.There are essentially two ways in which the Group can exercise its decisionmaking responsibilities: by delegation to permanent or ad hoc committees, or by acting in effect as a committee of the whole in managing its affairs. So far, the Group has consistently opted in favor of the latter approach. As mentioned in chapter 2, the idea that the cosponsors might act as a (self-appointed) executive committee was shot down before the Group formally got started. A proposed standby committee, to be activated in the event of a budgetary crisis, received only lukewarm support (it subsequently proved not to be needed). The establishment of a budget committee or management committee was widely debated as perhaps the principal (or at least the most controversial) recommendation of the second review; in the end, as described in chapter 5, the Group decided against it. No interest has been expressed in devolving more responsibilities on the cosponsors. Special committees have been designated to deal with particular matters-such as the steps preliminary to the launching of a new center-but they have all by design been short-lived. The grounds for objection to the delegation of management authority to a committee or committees of the Group reflect the egalitarian spirit in which it has operated from the start. A few numbers can illustrate the point. By the end of the second year there were over twenty donor members, and there are now about thirty-five.To work effectively, a management or budget committee should have in the range of five to nine members. Assuming that each committee member served a three-year term, it would be some twelve to twenty-one years before all the present donor members had an opportunity to serve. Moreover, this calculation implies that seats on the committee would rotate; when the issue came up, several of the larger donors made it clear that they would expect to have a permanent seat on a committee that would be deciding on the overall use of their contributions.With membership in the Group-and the size of individual contributions-purely voluntary, and with some of the smaller countries among the relatively most generous and supportive members, this approach was not acceptable.The question still remains, however, whether consensus management by a committee of the whole can be expected to continue to work effectively in the future. Several considerations are germane. The volume of work coming before the Group has more or less stabilized, since no or few new initiatives are likely during the period of constrained resources. Nor is the donor membership of the Group itself likely to expand rapidly. In the past, decisions on whether or not to adopt new initiatives proved to be the most time-consuming and contentious-and the greatest burden on the consensus-making process of the Group. Program and budget matters have now come to the fore in their stead, but decisions on the programs and budgets of individual centers have been delegated to TAC and the Secretariats, except when major issues of principle or policy arise. (The separate issue of the workload of TAC, which no doubt is onerous, is amenable to other solutions.)The CGIAR now meets twice a year for business meetings of up to three days' duration. By and large, it has been able to complete its business in that time without undue pressure. New and problematic issues will no doubt continue to come before it, but neither the volume nor the nature of the work suggests that the present procedures will become unworkable in the foreseeable future.Is decisionmaking by consensus also durable? The need to proceed by consensus adds a dimension of complexity, and more time, to the Group's deliberations but ensures broader support for the decisions that emerge. Other organizations also act largely or wholly by consensus. The World Banks Board of Executive Directors prefers to reach decisions in this manner and does so in the great majority of cases; but always in the background lies an agreed system of weighted voting that allocates the executive directors' votes down to three decimal places. It is probably now too late, and it would be too divisive, to introduce a voting system into the CGIAR, whether weighted or unitary. Nor does experience suggest that it is necessary to do so, so long as the ingredients necessary for effective management by consensus continue to be in place. These are l broad support for the objectives of the Group and confidence that they are being effectively pursued l the demonstrated scientific competence of the centers and sound management by their directors and board of trustees l well-prepared papers by TAC and the Secretariats, focusing clearly on the issues and recommending one or several appropriate courses of action l adequate opportunity for all members to participate in the discussion, but self-restraint on their part not to prolong it unduly l a few opinion-leaders whose well-considered views are likely to gain acceptance by their colleagues l a chairman whose impartiality is undisputed and who can identify and help to shape a consensus l self-restraint on the part of those members who must accept a consensus view that they do not share. This list is long, but much of it can be summed up in one word: goodwill. So long as that remains, the present system of governance, however unstructured, is likely to be workable, and indeed a source of added strength to the Group as a whole. Times and circumstances change, however, as does the cast of characters. No past decision is inviolate, and issues of governance and management will no doubt continue to be raised in the Group's deliberations. The terms of the tradeoff are likely to remain the same: greater efficiency in the decisionmaking process by delegation of authority versus fuller participation by all members of the Group in its affairs. system is complemented by national programs of extension, credit, and input supply. All of these elements play a part in the development of new technology and its transfer from research stations to farmers' fields. National and international policies toward food, agriculture, and economic development influence the rate at which new technology is adopted and the results that it achieves. It is difficult, and in some respects impossible, to separate out the particular impact of the IARCS and the CGIAR within this broader process.Thus, the early achievements at IRRI and CIMMYT would not have been possible without the research undertaken in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere over the previous several decades or more. 1~43, the first of the so-called miracle rices, was the progeny of a cross made at Los Banos between strains coming out of the national programs of Taiwan and Indonesia. When a farmer plants a new variety-usually released by a national program and named by it-he is benefiting from a lengthy and diffuse process of technological innovation and transfer in which many organizations and individuals in different parts of the world have played roles of varying importance.Any effort to single out the role of the IARcs-and some will be made here-is bound to be subjective, qualitative, and to some extent arbitrary.The second point has to do with the time frame for applied and adaptive research in plant breeding. The impact study carried out under the Group's sponsorship in 1984-85, which will be discussed at length later in this chapter, described it as follows:The process of plant improvement is laborious and, inevitably, time-consuming.The initial steps in the development of new crop varieties are to collect and characterize germ plasm-farmers' varieties, wild strains, and related species-and to assess farmers' needs in order to set breeding priorities. From data on the genetic materials and from examination of growing plants, the breeders choose, as parents for crosses, plants that have characteristics that they hope to combine in offspring. After the first cross, the progeny exhibit widely divergent characteristics as a result of genetic segregation. Breeders choose progeny with desirable characteristics and plant their seeds to form the next generation, or they may use selected plants to make additional crosses. By deliberately exposing the plants to high populations of insect pests, to high incidence of disease pathogens, or to other stresses, the breeder can cull inferior plants-the so-called screening process.After five to seven generations (many breeders grow two generations a year), lines that have survived intense environmental stresses and the breeder's unforgiving eye undergo preliminary yield testing. The lines are usually grown at several locations to get data on their reactions to different soils, climatic patterns, and complexes of diseases and insects. The international centers with crop improvement programs may carry out all the above steps, as do some developing countries that have large research capacity. Centers normally enter their most promising materials into international tests, or nurseries, that are distributed to national breeders who request them.These steps are illustrated in figure 8-l.The next stage in the process-adaptation by national programs-is described by the impact study as follows:Additional time is required for national authorities to test and evaluate the suitability of materials for their individual conditions. Normally they evaluate materials in a preliminary way (often as part of an international nursery). Promising materials go on to advanced trials and then to farmers' fields. The process may be cut short somewhat by evaluating earlier in farmers' fields, but only a relatively few lines can be evaluated in farmers' fields because farmers are naturally more interested in growing crops than acting as directors of experiment stations. Testing under farmers' conditions is more expensive than on the experiment station because it involves travel and extra supervision. Three to six years usually elapse between first evaluation and release of a new variety.It is illustrated in figure 8-2.The total elapsed time between the collection of promising breeding materials and release of internationally and nationally tested varieties to farmers can be from nine to twenty years, although it can be somewhat shorter in the case of a strong national program that carries out by itself most of the steps shown in the first diagram. Experience will vary widely with the crop in question, but it is clear that IRRI'S record in producing IRK within four years was exceptional. (The impact study characterized it as \"good luck.\") This sobering time frame should be kept in mind when the actual and potential contributions of individual centers and their programs are discussed below. The centers are mission-oriented, which means that they seek to solve concrete problems and produce practical results. The aid administrators who represent donors to the CGIAR are concerned with justifying to their heads of agency and national legislators that the CGIAR system is having an impact on the objectives it seeks to achieve. The question of impact has therefore appeared periodically on the CGIAR'S agenda. At its meeting in November 1982, the Group decided to conduct a study on the impact that the IARCS have had on agricultural development in the developing world. The outlines of the study were formulated in 1983 through a series of consultations with scientists and other interested parties; the staff work was done in 1984 and the first half of 1985.A novel and important feature of the study was the systematic effort to secure the views of concerned individuals in the national organizations of developing countries with which the centers have collaborated or are expected to collaborate in the future. The twenty-eight countries selected for study were intended to constitute as representative a sample as possible for this purpose. For each country, the person in charge of the study (usually a national citizen) was advised as to the approximate number and type of people from whom to seek opinions about the nature of the relationships with the centers. Typically forty to fifty people were interviewed in each country. Although presented separately in the three-volume impact study, the findings of these case studies are merged with the other study findings in the discussion that follows, which organizes impact under the headings of area, yields, and production; income distribution, nutrition, and social welfare; strengthening national programs; building human capital; and policy support. The potential impact of new varieties and technologies still under investigation at the centers is also assessed, after which some general observations are made.The highlights of the impact study were presented to the Group and discussed by it in a seminar which occupied the first two days of International Centers Week. The seminar was not oriented toward reaching conclusions on the study. In general, however, the study was well received. The Secretariat's summary of \"Main Conclusions Reached and Decisions Taken\" during International Centers Week identified some of the most frequent suggestions and comments as follows: l The implications of the study's findings for the future work of the CGIAR should be drawn out more directly. l TAC should study the documents produced by the study and take them into account in its deliberations on the future of the CGIAR SyStem. The system must consider whether it is currently meeting the research needs of Africa in the optimal way; that consideration holds equally well for other regions, but it is more pressing in Africa where there has been less impact. The CGIAR should consider whether to expand its area of concern beyond strictly food crops and thus shift its emphasis from production to income. lThe study did not explain with complete satisfaction why the convergence of political, scientific, and bureaucratic will that led to the Green Revolution in the 1960s occurred in some places but not in others. The study is likely to be published after it has been revised and edited, in a form that has yet to be determined. All references in this chapter are therefore to the version presented to the Group.' Since its findings are so germane to the purposes of this book, they will be reviewed at some length.The principal measurable impact of center-related genetic materials on food production in the developing world continues to come from the semidwarf varieties of wheat and rice. After their introduction in 1965, the semidwarf varieties of wheat developed by the Mexico-Rockefeller program and subsequently by CIMMYT spread rapidly in a number of Asian countries, reaching nearly 40 percent in India by 1970 (table 8-l). Since then, the semidwarf varieties have spread gradually but steadily throughout the developing world. About half of the total wheat area in developing regions was planted to semidwarf varieties in 1983, and in India and Latin America the share was four-fifths.Over 270 varieties of semidwarf wheat had been named by national authorities in twentynine developing countries by 1984. Contrary to popular percep-tions, the new varieties are grown under rainfed conditions as well as under irrigation.The spread of semidwarf varieties of rice has been equally dramatic. By 1983, about 58 percent of the rice land in the developing world was planted to semidwarf varieties, as shown in table 8-2. The first varieties were released by IRRI in 1965, and by 1972 nineteen IRRI-derived varieties had been named by national authorities. The rice research programs of CIAT, IITA, and WARDA have also produced varieties named by national authorities, mostly in the regions in which they concentrate. By 1984, over 300 rice varieties derived from or produced by the centers in cooperation with national researchers had been introduced into national programs in thirty-nine countries. China discovered the semidwarf varieties of wheat and rice independently.IRRI established close working relations with China in the 197Os, and by 1983 IRRI varieties were being used extensively by Chinese researchers as parents for their newest and highest-yielding hybrid rices. China accounts for 32 million of the 72 million hectares planted with new rice varieties, but only 5 million of the 39 million hectares planted with new wheat varieties. Thus, if China were excluded from the statistics in tables 8-l and 8-2, the proportion of area in the developing world planted to the new varieties would be slightly higher for wheat and substantially lower for rice.The initial semidwarf wheats raised the yield potential under experiment station conditions to almost twice that of traditional varieties: seven to eight tons, compared with four tons, a hectare. The potential has since increased gradually to eight to nine tons a hectare. Few recent comparisons are available of yields under conditions in farmers' fields, but the impact study has conservatively estimated the difference between new and old varieties under field conditions as 500 kilograms a hectare. The yield advantage of the modern varieties of rice varies widely with growing conditions.Studies have shown that the new varieties can outyield the traditional ones by 10 to 100 percent or more. From its review of available studies, the impact study concluded that 600 kilograms a hectare would be a conservative estimate of the average yield advantage of modern rices. Farm yields of rice include the inedible hulls, which account for about one-third of the weight, so the yield advantage converts to 400 kilograms a hectare of additional food.The new varieties do not require higher levels of inputs, but they respond to them more favorably than do traditional varieties. For this reason, most of the irrigated rice and wheat landbut a much smaller proportion of nonirrigated land-is planted to the new varieties, and they typically receive more fertilizer and greater attention to weed control through additional farm labor (when available) or herbicides. Since these additional inputs also contribute to production, the entire increase in output cannot be attributed to the varieties alone. Nonetheless, without the new varieties there would be little reason to use higher levels of inputs.It is therefore possible to draw some conclusions about the increased production made possible by the new varieties. Including China, the new varieties of wheat and rice provide annually about 50 million tons of additional food. This is enough to meet the typical cereal needs of about half a billion people. These are impressive numbers by any standard.Farmers are interested not only in more production but also in more stable-and therefore less risky-production. Some evidence suggests that the new varieties, with their greater response to purchased inputs and greater sensitivity to weather and diseases, may be associated with instability of yields. The evidence is not conclusive, and socioeconomic and other factors are involved, but it underlines the importance of breeding for more stable yields.Most varieties of other crops worked on by the centers are at a much earlier stage of the research and development cycle, but are now beginning to reach farmers in developing countries in significant numbers. Centers launched breeding programs in the late 1960s or early 1970s on field beans, cassava, cowpeas, chickpeas, pigeon peas, tropical sorghum, pearl millet, and tropical forage crops. The research base on which to build was small in most cases, and centers had to start by collecting germ plasm and determining how the existing varieties could be improved. Twelve years after CIAT began its bean program, twenty varieties had been distributed through international varietal testing programs for evaluation by national authorities and had been named by national seed boards. Fifteen years after IITA began its cowpea research, twenty-one varieties had been named by country programs. on maize and wheat in the 194Os, and maize has shared equal billing with wheat in CIMMYT'S global mandate. Some 238 center-related maize varieties have been released by national authorities in forty-one developing countries through 1983, a number comparable to that of bread wheat (264) and rice (302). These new maize varieties are estimated to have spread over 6 million hectares by 1984, a significant amount but still a small fraction of the land sown to modern varieties of the other two crops.The impact study identified four factors contributing to the lesser impact of maize research: l In contrast with irrigated wheat and lowland rice, which are grown in fairly homogenous environments, maize is grown under a great diversity of conditions in the developing world, and any individual variety is adapted to only a narrow range. Many individually adapted varieties must be developed, which can only be done effectively by local researchers. 0 Maize is grown in many developing countries, while rice and wheat cultivation is more concentrated geograpically. Thus, international maize researchers must make more institutional linkages than wheat or rice researchers in order to reach the same proportion of national maize workers. l Research on plant improvement prior to the work of the centers was addressed largely to yellow dent types, which are not as widely consumed in developing countries as white flint types. l Because the improved maize populations from CIMMYT and IITA have no universal physical characteristics such as semidwarf stature, their crosses with local varieties and their adoption by farmers are much less noticeable than in the case of semidwarf wheat and rice. In addition to the centers' work in providing improved germ plasm through plant breeding, other collaborative programs involving the centers have also helped to increase productivity and output by providing improved farming methods and materials. The impact of such programs has been limited, however, and few such technologies have yet achieved widespread use among farmers. The impact study commented that it is more difficult to assess the impact of management technology than of germ plasm technology and the problems of attribution are more complex. It summarized some of the principal achievements: l Programs to improve potato seed are being carried out in a number of err-national research system collaborative programs. The technique of diffused light storage reduces sprout elongation, increases sprout numbers, reduces total storage losses, and allows a longer period of storage. This system is now being used extensively by farmers in Peru, Colombia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.l ICRISAT has developed a package of improved technological options for increasing output on the soils (deep vertisols) in the wetter areas of semiarid India. This system is being used on about 4,000 hectares in on-farm tests by national program researchers and extension workers in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mahrashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. IRRI has helped to introduce the biological nitrogen-fixing system using azolla into the Philippines and has helped in the exchange of azolla germ plasm among countries. One study in the Philippines found that farmers who incorporated azolla into their plots reduced their use of nitrogen fertilizer from 42 to 24 kilograms a hectare, without reducing yields. l The use of short-duration varieties and improved management practices has enabled certain regions to increase the intensity of cropping patterns. The classic case is Bangladesh wheat affecting 0.5 million hectares; the deep vertisol technology is also a crop intensification strategy.l CIAT has assisted Colombians in the development of techniques for drying cassava so that it can be sold as cassava chips for animal feed. By 1983, there were seven plants in operation in Colombia, and twenty more were being established in northeast Brazil, Mexico, and Panama.l Cuban farmers have extensively adopted the system of cassava production used in Colombia, which was adapted from CIAT recommendations. l The benefits of using IRRI threshers range from about $30-80 a year for portable machines in the Philippines and Thailand to $400 a year for large machines in the Philippines. l The major plant protection technology advanced by the centers has been to produce pest-and disease-resistant varieties or to make pest-and disease-resistant germ plasm available to national systems.Income Distribution, Nutrition, and Social Welfare Even critics of the Green Revolution have conceded the dramatic impact on food production of the new varieties of rice and wheat. Their criticisms have been directed, in varying degrees, to the social impact of these varieties on income distribution, employment, nutrition, and the welfare of the poor. These are valid issues to consider in assessing the impact of the CGIAR system. The original terms of reference of the CGIAR note that \"in all of [its] deliberations, account will be taken not only of technical, but also of ecological, economic and social factors,\" and members of the Group have displayed increasing interest in the effect of the centers' work in alleviating poverty. The impact study reviewed the vast scientific literature on this range of topics, which it discussed in terms of the modern varieties' physical features, their distribution among different kinds of farmers, their impact on the demand for labor and land, and their effect on the food consumption and nutrition of the poor.PHYSICAL FEATURES AND THE POOR.Several biological features of the modern varieties make them particularly suitable for poor farmers.* l The time it takes modern varieties to reach maturity does not vary greatly, whereas traditional varieties, being sensitive to daylength, do not flower until some critical number of hours of daylight occurs. Daylength-insensitive varieties permit double cropping, which smooths the flow of food supplies available to the farm family during the year. This can be of particular benefit to poor farmers who have difficulty saving from one harvest to the next or borrowing when a lean harvest occurs. l Some modern varieties resist moisture stress better than traditional varieties. Millets and sorghum are bred for intensive root systems. Wheat producers in Pakistan and Tunisia and rice producers in the Philippines and Bangladesh have often adopted modern varieties mainly because of their resistance to drought. This feature benefits poor farmers, who may have to depend on unreliable irrigation or rainfall. l The poor farmer, who lacks the information and money to combat insect hordes and diseases, has gained from the wide range of genetic resistance to insects and diseases that has been bred into more recent strains of the new varieties. The more robust plants that have been developed have lifted average yields without sacrificing maximum yield potential. Also, the centers have helped national breeders to respond quickly to new or mutant pests, such as the successive brown plant hopper biotypes that emerged in Indonesia. On the other hand, center researchers have perhaps not given sufficient attention to weeds, one of the poor farmer's more serious problems. l Modern varieties can sometimes yield better than traditional varieties even without fertilizer. As newer modern varieties are bred to resist pests and diseases, their advantage over traditional varieties at zero fertilizer use has increased, even under 2. One of the authors of the impact study (Michael Lipton, an economist who has specialized on poverty issues) commented during the International Centers Week discussion that \"the biology of the modern varieties is almost optimally designed for the poor.\" moisture stress. But for the poor farmers, who predominate in areas of unreliable rainfall, the gain may be too small to interest them in adopting the modern varieties, the more so since the favorable results may depend on better agronomic practices than are the rule among poor farmers. These features are undoubtedly of benefit to poor farmers who live in relatively favored ecological regions. But many of the poorest farmers live in semiarid areas, or in rice-growing regions with unreliable rainfall, and modern varieties so far have offered insufficient advantage to them. Significant change in these areas is likely to occur only when modern varieties of millet or sorghum become available or when techniques that raise the efficiency of water use, such as microirrigation, can be used in combination with modern varieties of less drought-tolerant crops such as wheat.One of the more serious criticisms leveled against the modern varieties is that, by reducing the genetic base, they are increasing future vulnerability to widespread crop failure, a particular threat to the poor farmer. Paradoxically, although genetic variation is the basis for plant breeding, the effect of successful breeding programs is to restrict gene pools to highly productive, more uniform varieties. Genetic resources are primarily seen by plant breeders as a source of identifiable characteristics and only seldom as a source of increased overall genetic diversity. The success of modern varieties can mean that other genetic variation is not utilized and may in time be lost. This is a danger of which the centers are aware and which they are addressing in their conservation and breeding programs. The centers are in the process of building up, or have already built up, large, freely accessible germ plasm collections, including wild races, that are used in their breeding programs. IBPGR, working in over 100 countries, is encouraging the worldwide conservation, evaluation, documentation, and utilization of genetic resources. IBPGR has directly or indirectly organized 500 missions in eighty-eight countries, particularly in the tropics and subtropics, resulting in the accession of over 100,000 samples in gene banks. For the major crops, a large amount of the world's genetic diversity has been collected and is being conserved for future use. Initial research on the relationship between farm size and adoption of the new technology showed that large-scale farmers adopted new varieties sooner than small-scale farmers. This led some observers to con-elude, incorrectly, that the new technology favored large-scale farmers and could not be adopted by smaller ones. Smaller farmers sometimes lag in adoption because they wait until their wealthier neighbors have proved the new varieties, or because they cannot get scarce inputs at first. Rut there is substantial evidence to show that where modern varieties are suited to the soil and climatic conditions they ultimately are adopted by roughly the same proportion of farmers in all size groups. Small farmers tend to sow a higher portion of their land to the new varieties and, because they operate with more labor intensity, may in fact get higher yields per hectare than large farmers. Early adopters may benefit, however, by marketing their output before the large expansion pushes prices down, but to some extent this is a reward for their willingness to take risks.There is similarly no correlation between ownership of land and adoption of modern varieties. Tenant farmers are as likely as owner farmers to respond to the perceived advantages of the new technology. There is no evidence that modern varieties, as such, lead to the eviction of tenants. For both tenants and small farmers, however, the necessary inputs, credit, and extension services must be available on a nondiscriminatory basis for adoption rates to be comparable with those of large farmers. This is a matter of government policy, not of research-based technology.The principal differences in rates of adoption are not related to farm size or land ownership, but to regional differences in natural resource endowment. As already mentioned, vast areas that have poor soils and little irrigation have been largely untouched by the agricultural revolution.These areas tend to have large numbers of the poor. Poor farmers may actually be worse off absolutely-as well as relative to those who adopt the new varieties-to the extent that increased production elsewhere lowers the prices that they can realize for their traditional varieties. Significant progress toward alleviating poverty in these regions through research will require that efforts be directed more specifically to the problems of resource-poor farmers. The centers are moving in this direction, in Africa and elsewhere, and coming to recognize that the environments in which new varieties are tested and selected will have to be more representative of resource-poor areas and input conditions than has been the case in some of their experiment station programs.Howhavethemodernvarieties affected the already serious problem of unemployment and underemployment in the developing world? This question has become increasingly important because a large and growing proportion of the poor are landless or nearly landless (cultivating a fraction of a hectare and deriving most of their income from labor):As Lipton has pointed out, small farmers cannot automatically be equated with the poor.The impact of modern varieties on employment has generally been positive. They raise labor demand per hectare, especially around harvest time and when double cropping becomes possible. In most countries and at most times of the year, the supply of labor is ample, mobile, and growing. The result of higher labor demand is therefore increased and more stable employment (or lessened underemployment) rather than any significant increase in real wage rates. The increased employment and income, however, is in itself a major improvement in the welfare of individuals and families who would otherwise often be at or below the subsistence level.To some extent the modern varieties have resulted in labor shortages at peak seasons. These shortages have induced the development and adoption of labor-saving inputs such as threshers, tractors, and weedicides, which may then be used to displace labor during other seasons as well. While the employment effect of the modern varieties is nonetheless positive on balance, the impact study recommends that the centers steer research on modern varieties toward patterns that discourage such results (for example, screening varieties for characteristics that will call for more labor-intensive methods of cultivation and processing). The issue of farm mechanization in the surplus labor conditions of developing countries is a complicated one, however, and a variety of divergent views were expressed during the seminar at International Centers Week, The demand for land is also increased by the new varieties, although less than the demand for labor. But usually the supply of land cannot be increased in response, so that the modern varieties have led to higher rents and land values. One of the most important effects of the centers' output on the welfare of the poor has been through their food consumption.By increasing the supply of basic foodstuffs, their prices have been kept lower than they would otherwise have been, counteracting the ten-dency for food prices to rise as demand grows with increased population and higher incomes. In low-income countries, the poorest 20 percent of the people typically spend 60-75 percent of their income on food, and even then are not able to purchase a sufficient amount. The poor thus benefit most from the ability to purchase cheaper food; in developing countries for which data are available, the same reduction in the price of food leads to twice the relative increase in real incomes for poor households as for rich ones.How much the poor benefit as consumers from the new varieties depends in part on which staple foods figure most prominently in their diets. Modern varieties of rice and wheat have prevented mass starvation in much of Asia. But in Africa and in semiarid Asia, increased production of these varieties has done much less for poor consumers who eat mainly sorghum, millet, maize, and cassava.The urban poor benefit as food consumers from lower prices. The impact on poor farmers producing new wheat and rice varieties is more complex. They may lose to the extent that the combination of increased output and lower prices results in lower total income. These losses, if and when they occur, can be mitigated by shifting to other crops from which returns are higher or by increasing on-farm consumption, of particular importance to farmers at or below the subsistence level. Government policies with respect to the import of food and the pricing of agricultural products can, of course, affect these results.It is now widely recognized that malnutrition is essentially the result of insufficient energy intake (that is, a lack of calories) and not, as previously believed, of protein deficiency. By moderating food prices and thereby increasing food purchasing power, modern varieties have been the main factor improving the nutrition of the poor of the developing world. The impact study comments that such improvement should be the central objective of the research programs of the IARCS and questions the priority of some center research directed at raising the protein content of foods. \"Poor at-risk consumers need preferably cheaper, more food energy, stabler and more easily absorbable-rather than, say, high-lysine maize.\" Similarly, since legumes produce costlier protein, and much costlier calories, per hectare than cereals, legume research has fewer nutritional benefits than is often supposed. Increased legume production can, however, reduce dietary monotony and vulnerability to drought.National research programs in developing countries are both clients for the product of the centers and, increasingly, partners with the centers in creating that product. The relationship is symbiotic: the national and international research efforts are mutually reinforcing, and each benefits from the strength of the other. Without effective national research and extension programs to exchange, test, and validate germ plasm, to adapt varieties developed at the centers to national conditions, and to provide extension and other services to farmers, the activities of the centers would be to little avail. The relationship between the centers and national programs has long been a matter of interest to CGIAR members, as indicated in earlier chapters. A particular concern has been that the growth and prosperity of the centers supported by the Group should not be at the expense of national programs in the developing countries nor be detrimental to them. In this as in most other regards, the findings of the impact study are reassuring.The study divided the centers' impact on national research systems into three categories: impact on aggregate national budgets for research; impact on priorities in the allocation of research resources by commodity, project, and discipline; and impact on the structure, planning and management, and research methods of the national institutions concerned with research and technology transfer and on the linkages among research, education, and extension institutions.The same organization will be followed here. Nationalagriculturalresearch systems have grown rapidly since the early 196Os, a period that coincides with the growth of the international agricultural research system. The national systems have progressed most steadily in Asia, where real expenditure has grown in almost all countries. Increases in expenditure and personnel were accompanied by changes in institutional structure and research priorities. There was an initial period of institutional instability, but most countries in Asia now seem to be developing effective national research systems. Latin American research systems also grew very rapidly, but research expenditures in some countries declined in real terms during the 1970s. There was also a period of reorganization in several countries. Research expenditures in Africa also experienced a high rate of growth although, as in Asia, there was considerable variability by country. Many African research systems were caught up in the larger problems of adjustment following independence. Some countries had fairly radical and disruptive changes in their research systems, while others remained highly dependent onand in some cases in the control of-foreign researchers. From 1959 to 1980, government expenditures on agricultural research increased sixfold in Asia and Latin America and over fourfold in Africa. Government expenditures on research increased not only in absolute terms but relative to the size of the agricultural sector in the national economy.Many factors help to account for this rapid growth. Food crises generated pressures from consumers for a more reliable supply of food. The urban sector needed more abundant food supplies, more food exports, and fewer food imports as a means of promoting industrialization.The publicity surrounding the Green Revolution helped to create the perception that agricultural research was a principal means of increasing food and other agricultural production.Despite the impressive growth, there are still weaknesses in many national agricultural research systems. Even in the larger systems, there is evidence of underinvestment in research. Smaller countries face difficult problems of educating and retaining a sufficient number of scientists and technicians. Some commodities are still neglected, and some national programs are not organized to make effective use of available resources.The international agricultural research centers appear to have had a positive impact on the level of funding of national research. The early successes of the high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice raised the expectations of national leaders about the potential benefits from their own agricultural research. Senior research scientists from CIMMYT and IRRI played key roles in delivering this message to national authorities. Collaboration with the centers raised the productivity of national research and helped to convince governments that there would be high returns in the future. Foreign donors became convinced that agricultural research was a productive investment at both the international and national levels, and the period witnessed substantially increased international assistance to national programs. Instead of displacing international or national funding for national research programs-as sometimes feared-the IARCS in general have both encouraged it and made it more productive.One of the issues papers prepared for the impact study made an effort to quantify, through the use of an econometric model, the influence of the centers on national spending on research and extension. It found that neither the data nor the theoretical concepts were completely adequate for the task; the results were therefore described as \"preliminary,\"and cannot be regarded as definitive. The analysis found that an increase in total spending by the centers on field crop research led to increased spending on both research and extension by national programs. Investing in research by the centers appeared to have a greater enhancing effect on national spending than other forms of aid.The amount by which national spending rose in response to increased effort by the centers was strongly influenced by the size of the country. Countries with large areas of farmland can capture more benefits from the products of the centers simply because there is a greater scale of production to which to apply new technologies. They increased their funding both absolutely and relatively more than small countries. The latter are likely to rely more heavily on support from the centers, and there is some risk that international spending may displace national spending. In the case of host countries, no clear or causal relationship could be established between center and national spending.PRIORITIES.The impact of the centers on research priorities, and in particular on the allocation of resources among commodities, has been dramatic. Before the advent of the IARCS, national research was primarily oriented toward commercial crops for export, and domestic food crops received little attention.The emphasis of the centers on food production undoubtedly influenced priorities at the national level, although both international and national programs found common inspiration in the world food crises.The inducement effect is clearest where no comparable national research program existed before a center started its own. Cassava research is an example. India was the only country with a national cassava program before CIAT was established. In a survey of twenty countries, the impact study found fourteen with national cassava programs, all linked in one way or another to CIAT programs, materials, or trainees. Wheat research programs in the Philippines, Thailand, and Burma have similarly been stimulated by CIMMYT'S tropical wheat research. Collaboration has led to increases in the size of existing programs in many countries. Bangladesh affords a striking example: in the early 196Os, about twice as much research expenditure was devoted to jute as to rice, although jute accounted for only about 10 percent of the value of agricultural production, whereas rice accounted for 50 to 60 percent; by the late 1970s rice research was three to four times that of jute. Several donors supported the emphasis on rice production and provided financing to build up rice research capacity.An analysis of commodity research expenditures for twentyfive developing countries showed that, during the 197Os, there was a strong positive association of national commodity research expenditures with research expenditures on the same commodities by the centers. That is, national research investments increased more rapidly for commodities being researched by the centers than for commodities in which the centers were not involved. Newer national programs responded most strongly to the activities of the centers. As national programs matured, national priorities tended to reassert themselves; Bangladesh, for example, began to develop research capacity in food crops other than rice. Some cases were encountered, particularly in host countries, where centers \"crowded out\" local research efforts. The Philippines, for example, has relied on IRRI to provide virtually all the rice research that it needs. It is not clear that this is disadvantageous, at least so long as IRRI is present. The redirection of research resources toward food crops, which the centers have stimulated, seems generally to have resulted in a more efficient allocation of these resources, especially because food crops were neglected by colonial governments.Perhaps the most important impact of the centers on research priorities has been their orientation of researchers toward solving farmers' problems. This shift of research efforts cannot be quantified, but national research and administrative personnel who have worked with the international system over a long period persistently point to this as one of the principal contributions of the centers. By serving as role models, by their collaborative programs and networks, by the conferences and seminars that they sponsor, and by their training programs, centers and their scientific staffs have helped to reorient national programs toward practical, applied research on farmers' problems. ICARDA'S Nile Valley project, which tests technology to increase yields of fava beans on farmers' plots, is cited as a good example of encouraging national scientists from Egypt and Sudan to work with international scientists on farmers' problems in the field.STRUCTURE.The centers have also contributed to the strengthening of national research through formal and informal activities directed toward improving the organization, management, and research techniques of national institutions; encouraging the provision of germ plasm; and promoting international scientific communication through data base services, international meetings, and publications. The CGIAR centers, for example, have been organizational models for some national institutions.EMBRAPA, the Brazilian national agricultural research organization, established a series of commodity institutes organized in multidisciplinary teams as the basic structure for Brazil's national agricultural research system. Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia have built rice research institutes modeled after IRRI, with technical assistance from IRRI personnel.Other countries have copied parts of the centers' commodity research programs; the Indonesian Genetic Evaluation and UtilizationProgram, for example, took both the name and the organizational structure of a similar IRRI program. Also by their example the centers have promoted on-farm research programs, which are being used by national researchers as an input into the research planning process. The centers' emphasis on farming systems research has encouraged national institutes to establish similar research programs of their own. Many countries have initiated farming systems research programs, partly at the behest of donors and with the \"special project\" assistance of the centers, and partly at their own initiative.A more direct effect has been exerted by Many of the centers have had a hand in enhancing research methods in developing countries. One of the most important new research approaches that centers have developed and popularized is the \"high-volume crossing approach\"-the procedure of making a large number of crosses and exposing them to heavy pressure from relevant pests and diseases. This approach has become the convention for most small grains programs around the world, replacing the standard plant breeding approach featuring a few, carefully chosen crosses that were grown under protected conditions at experiment stations. Most of the IARCS have developed research techniques to screen lines for disease and pest resistance, which have been particularly appreciated by national programs and emulated insofar as practicable.As part of its efforts to preserve germ plasm, IBPGR has been responsible for some important new institutions-the development of new national genetic conservation programs in about fifty countries and of national genetic resource committees in twenty-five countries. It also provides other assistance to national institutions to strengthen their capacity to carry out genetic resource conservation work.One of ILCA'S more important \"products\" has been the analytical services that it provides to national agencies that have large data bases on livestock production but lack the human skills or computers to appraise and use such data. African researchers analyze the data at ILCA headquarters with the assistance of ILcA staff.The centers provide professional interactions and regular services that increase the productivity of national research systems. Conferences sponsored by the centers build communications links among researchers from different countries, help researchers to keep current with developments in their field, and provide occasions for national researchers to gain recognition and prestige.Publications from the centers provide both a source of new information, methods, and ideas and a place for problemoriented scientists to publish their findings. Several of the centers have computer-based information services that provide references, copies of journal articles, and bulletins to national researchers on request.The centers also play an important role in linking national research systems through research networks. As indicated in chapter 7, these networks can take many forms, the most common of which are the genetic materials testing networks.The foregoing observations have been partly based on, and are corroborated by, the findings of case studies completed by the study team in twenty-five of the twenty-eight developing countries selected. In the case studies, the provision of germ plasm of important food crops was most frequently cited, along with training, as the most valuable contribution of the centers. The availability of germ plasm collections and networks has significantly raised the goals of national researchers and facilitated their efforts to get more public funding for their operations. In general, national researchers considered the workshops, conferences, training opportunities, newsletters, and publications from the centers to be more useful than comparable services provided by other (regional or bilateral) sources. Centers' services were rated higher in continuity, consistency, and essentiality. In the early days of the CGIAR system, national researchers sometimes objected to \"high-handed\" attitudes on the part of center staff. These complaints were isolated and largely confined to a few individuals; now that relationships have matured and become more collaborative, national researchers are reported to be very positive about their professional association with colleagues at the centers.One of the most important ways to strengthen national institutions is by building up their staff capacity. TAC commissioned a study of training within the CGIAR system just before the impact study was organized. The impact study used the TAC study as the basis for its own report, which is summarized here.The centers see the staffing of national research programs with trained scientists and technicians as vital to the accomplishment of their own mission. They have therefore taken a direct hand in training personnel from these programs. More than 17,000 people have participated in the various types of training provided by the centers over the past two decades, and approximately 3,000 a year receive training currently. Many of those who have received training are now international and national leaders who have made significant professional contributions to agricultural development in their countries. Each center has training links with many countries (up to eighty in some cases), and each of the countries studied has links with an average of seven centers.More than 13,000 persons from developing countries have participated in formal group training courses. These courses last from one week to several months-often for a crop season to permit participants to take part in the full spectrum of productive tasks. The largest number-almost half-have come from countries in tropical Africa, with Asia accounting for the next largest number. As the demand for such training grows and strains existing capacity, centers are collaborating with national agencies in conducting formal training programs locally. Former trainees often serve as instructors.About 500 candidates for doctoral degrees, and 900 candidates for master's degrees, have done their thesis research under the supervision of center staff members. Usually this work takes two to three years. Most of these degree candidates come from developing countries and find that thesis research at a center is more pertinent to the needs of their home country than research conducted at a university, whether at home or abroad. Postdoctoral training is undertaken at only a few centers.In addition, special training programs have been provided for about 2,300 individuals, again very largely from developing countries. These are scientists or others who come to a center by prearrangement to learn a technique or to study a specially organized series of topics.Developing countries value the training provided by the centers and would welcome more of it, especially at the university level. Their willingness to release scarce personnel for substantial periods of time and to assure them of positions on their return demonstrates the high regard they have for training. Former participants speak not only of gaining knowledge and technical skills but of personal growth in dedication to both physical and intellectual work, in motivation, determination, purpose, and self-confidence.For many individuals who come from educational systems that stress theoretical knowledge and literature study, the opportunity to work with a crop in the field from sowing to post harvest, or to learn a specialized technique in the laboratory, instills practical competence and understanding. Continuing contact with the center afterward offsets isolation and helps participants to feel that they are valued citizens of a professional world.The subsequent careers of participants suggest that their training enables most of them to serve the research and development needs of their countries more effectively, even though many are eventually promoted out of practical research and some move to commodities and disciplines different from those in which they were trained. For all these reasons, training at the centers clearly has strengthened agricultural research and the agricultural education systems in many countries and has played its part in the increases in output that many of them have realized.For the centers, former trainees provide the most important channel of communication between the centers and the national programs with which they cooperate. Former trainees do much to promote the work of the centers through cooperative programs, networks, and research dissemination.They are sought out by visiting scientists from the centers and may be invited back to participate in workshops and help in the training of others. The training programs also help to identify suitable candidates for staff positions at the centers. One center has a formal association of training alumni, and all send their published material to as many former participants as can be reached.Recognition of the need for and importance of research in support of sound agricultural and food policies has grown in step with the work of the centers. By now it is abundantly evident that improved technology and higher production alone cannot solve the problems of low food consumption and malnutrition.In the past two decades, food production worldwide has risen substantially, due in no small part to the combined research efforts of the national and international centers. Even during the years of poor harvests in the early 197Os, the global supply of energy from basic grains alone-without counting the energy derived from oils, sugar, meats, fruits and vegetables, or pulses-exceeded estimated average per capita requirements by more than 20 percent. By 1977, global supplies of grains exceeded global energy requirements by almost 50 percent. Yet, despite this apparent abundance of total supplies, many millions of people remain inadequately fed.Gains in production through the new technology have been unevenly distributed across countries, within different regions of a given country, and over time. Similarly, the rate of growth of food consumption has been much lower and more variable in some countries, and regions, than in others. \"To understand and influence the level of food consumption,\" the impact study points out, \"requires attention to the economic, political and institutional setting as well as the technological circumstances. Research that leads to a better understanding of the nature and role of both domestic and international policies, and helps alleviate the constraints that they impose, is an important element of global agricultural research.\" IFPRI was brought into the CGIAR system in 1980 with the specific purpose of doing research on the complex set of food policy issues. The need for socioeconomic research, however, was foreseen at Bellagio and figured on the agenda of TAC as early as 1973. Today, most of the centers engage in some form of social science research; in fact, over three-quarters of the total social science research in the CGIAR is conducted by centers other than IFPRI. Social scientists are on the staff of eleven of the thirteen centers, ILRAD and IBPGR being the exceptions. At several centers policy research is conducted within the farming systems research group. At others it is carried out within a separate department of economics or social science, but closely linked with farming systems research. At one center it is incorporated into the work of multidisciplinary commodity teams. In all centers this work focuses on the policy environment as it affects the generation and diffusion of new technology (on \"constraints\" to technological adaptation, in IRRI'S terminology), rather than on the broader issues of food and agricultural policy, which are the exclusive province of n3v.I.The impact study observed that for the centers to claim credit for constructive policy changes made by national governments would be not only empirically difficult to demonstrate but also impolitic. However, it commended IFPRI'S research on input policies, food security, crop insurance, and food subsidies, and CIMMYT'S policy seminars, as having contributed to a more informed debate and been in demand from national policymakers. It also credited IFPRI-through its seminars, research publications and abstracts, programs for visiting scientists, and projects in developing countries-with having enhanced national capacity for policy research.The work of the centers has also had less direct and tangible impact on national policies. From the early visits of Borlaug to Asia in the 196Os, senior scientists from the centers have had access to national leaders in developing countries and have undoubtedly exercised a positive influence in orienting food production and distribution policies to reap the benefits of the new technology. By their own emphasis on social science research and policy analysis, the centers have created greater awareness of the importance of this policy work and helped to enhance its status within national programs.Social science policy research has been internally beneficial to the centers as well. Studies of the allocation of research resources within the centers have enhanced the productivity of their research efforts and permitted wider and more effective collaboration with national programs. Support for assigning only secondary priority to breeding for higher protein content came from studies at ICRISAT and elsewhere that showed that better protein nutrition could be achieved more economically by focusing on high-yielding and widely adapted varieties. More generally, policy analysis has relieved the continual pressure on the biological scientists to justify their work and to modify their approaches to achieve a broad array of social goals.We have seen that most of the concrete results that the centers have realized-as measured by increased production-have come from the improved varieties of wheat and rice that originated at CIMMYT and IRRI. Although this is understandable in view of the long lead time for applied research and the absence of a comparable stock of knowledge from basic and strategic research on other crops, it highlights the importance of assessing the potential impact of the research work now under way. What can be expected of the research that should be coming to fruition over the next five, ten, or fifteen years?The impact study cautioned against expectations that the centers will be able to maintain the very exceptional economic rates of return of the past, not only because the centers are focusing more on crops other than rice and wheat, about which less is known, but also because a greater proportion of the output of these crops comes from less favorable environments.The same could be said about future research on rice and wheat as it addresses more difficult problems and concentrates more on nonirrigated areas. Still, the advisory committee was bullish: \"Agricultural science in the 1980s is in a state of rapid transition. Genetic engineering and other tools of biotechnology promise to greatly increase the potential gains from investment in research.\"Each of the centers prepared a statement on the expected future impact of its work. IRRI, for example, assuming that it con-tinues to invest $25 million annually in rice research and that collaboration with national programs is sustained, expects to contribute additional rice in South and Southeast Asia worth $16 billion to $17 billion annually by the year 2000-a staggering figure which the impact study characterized as \"clearly conservative\" since China, East Asia, Africa, and Latin America were not included. ICRISAT estimated the gross value of additional output of sorghum, millet, pigeon peas, chickpeas, and groundnuts in the year 2000-based on current levels of research funding-at $7.6 billion. (These amounts are the gross value of additional output, without allowing for the additional cost of inputs or attempting to isolate the effect of the new varieties as such.)As the impact study emphasized, \"the estimation of future impacts is fraught with pitfalls. Understanding of the processes of generation and international diffusion of technological change is most imperfect.\" Its overall assessment was nonetheless very positive:A review of the broad sweep of expected results from the centers indicates that some impressive gains may be made, particularly in technologies that are applicable to large areas. At almost every center, if just one major project meets expectations, it will generate returns far exceeding the cost of the center. In fact, there are a few undertakings that, if any one is successful, will generate benefits greater than the present costs of the entire CGIAR System. This conclusion was based in part on a detailed analysis of six selected cases: improvement of rice for favored upland areas of Latin America; biological control of cassava pests; tolerance to aluminum in wheat; tolerance to heat in wheat; resistance to downy mildew in maize; and use of true potato seed. The method of analysis was designed to capture the principal characteristics of investment in research, which the impact study defined as follows: l There is a lag between when a project is initiated and when any results are first applied; * Adoption of a new technology takes time, as farmers learn and experiment; l Most biological technologies require continued investment to maintain their productivity; l Expenditures by the centers are only one part of the total investment needed to produce and extend a new technology; and l Future uncertainties make the payoff to investment in research uncertain. The assumptions made were intended to be conservative. Thus, allowances were made for both research lags and adoption lags (the latter generally assumed to be ten years) and for \"maintenance research\" needed after the critical investment period. It was assumed that research expenditures by the centers need be matched by only an equivalent amount of additional expenditure by the national programs of each country. To offset this questionable assumption, only 20 percent of the benefits were attributed to the work of the centers; the remainder was assumed to be due to the effort of national research and extension programs and to national investment in rural infrastructure and in human capital.Table 8-4 summarizes the results for the six cases. The returns in all cases are very satisfactory, and in some very favorable indeed. It should be stressed, however, that these findings can at best be regarded as illustrative.The analytical framework depends on a series of arbitrary assumptions which, although intended to be conservative, are subject to a very wide margin of error. To avoid spurious precision, it would probably be safer to say that the expected returns are likely to be in the range of 10 percent to 60 percent (the impact study says 20 percent to 40 percent), but a sensitivity analysis indicates that alternative assumptions about such variables as the research lag and the net yield per acre result in even wider variations in the estimated returns.Despite the inevitable shortcomings of the analysis, the overall conclusion probably remains valid. Potentially, there are still some very large gains to be made from research work now in the centers' pipelines. Most of the centers' research deals with technologies that can be widely adopted and are relevant to large areas, so that even small increases in productivity can give rise to large increases in output, even after allowance is made for all the additional costs that have to be incurred. In most of the centers, at least one specific research project holds out this promise.Some of the founding fathers of what was to become the CGIAR, meeting for the first time at Bellagio in 1969, were animated by a vision of a world free of the age-old specter of hunger and famine. Realization of this vision still lies well in the future, and it is now apparent that new technology cannot do the job alone. Yet the new varieties in large part developed at the CGIAR-supported international centers and transmitted to developing countries are transforming agriculture in many parts of the world. Mass starvation, particularly in Asia, has been averted by the greater production and consumption resulting from the modern varieties. Famine, when it has occurred, has been due to a particularly unfavorable combination of circumstances and has been localized to parts of Africa.Perhaps the key statistic is that, very roughly, half of the area devoted to wheat and rice in developing countries is now planted to the semidwarf varieties. Including those grown in China, the new varieties provide annually some 50 million tons of additional food, enough to feed half a billion people.Contrary to some beliefs, the new technology is not biased against the small farmer or the poor. Some features of it are in fact favorable to the poor, and in areas suitable for the new technology small farmers have, in time, adopted it at least in the same proportion as larger and more wealthy farmers. The impact on demand for labor, and hence on employment, has also been positive on balance. But perhaps the principal benefit to the poor has come from the increased food consumption made possible by the lower prices resulting from increased production.As a result, nutrition has improved through the greater per capita availability of food energy. While the reduction in genetic variability arising from the new plant breeding techniques might expose the poor, in particular, to the threat of widespread crop losses through unexpected pest or disease problems, genetic potential is in fact being enhanced by the germ plasm conservation and utilization programs stimulated by IBPGR and participated in by all of the crop-oriented centers. Also contrary to some beliefs, the emphasis on international agricultural research has not been at the expense of national research and extension efforts. Spending on international research has in fact stimulated spending on national research programs, which has grown rapidly over the period coinciding with the expansion of the IARCS. The relationship between international and national programs is symbiotic, and the international centers have served to strengthen national research institutions in several important ways: participation in collaborative networks, reorientation of priorities for national research, teaching of better research methods, large-scale training of national personnel, and programs of seminars, symposia and publications. Support for better national policies on food and agriculture has been provided by IFPRI and the socioeconomic research programs of other centers.It is also important to recognize what the CGIAR system has not accomplished. Most of the significant increases in yields, area, and production have come from the semidwarf varieties of rice and wheat pioneered by IRRI and CIMMYT in the 1960s. Research on other crops, generally grown in more hostile environments and not benefiting from the stock of past basic and strategic research available on rice and wheat, has not yet produced new technology adopted by national programs and reaching farmers' fields in substantial amounts (although it is beginning to do so). Even on rice and wheat, most of the increased production has come from irrigated fields or regions of high rainfall where the gains from increased production warrant the use of complementary inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Although the new varieties can, under some circumstances, outproduce traditional ones even without such inputs, in harsh climatic and ecological conditions poor farmers have inadequate incentive to adopt them.Large areas of the developing world, where many of the poorest people live, have therefore been untouched by the spreading agricultural revolution.The position of some of the poor farmers has in fact been worsened because they have received the lower prices for their output that result from increased productivity of modern varieties in other, more favored areas. The centers are increasingly directing their research programs to the less favored crops and regions, but much remains to be done and spectacular results are not likely to be forthcoming.Even with these qualifications and reservations, and however credit for what has been accomplished is shared between the centers\" and the national programs which are their partners, there can be no doubt that the investment of the international community in the CGIAR system has paid handsome dividends. Few international assistance programs have achieved so much in such a short time. And a review of the potential impact of research work now in progress at the centers gives good reason to believe that this investment will continue to be amply justified in the future.Impressive as these results may be, some critical questions remain to be answered. To what extent can the results be attributed to the unique characteristics of the CGIAR system? Would they not have occurred otherwise? In short, what contribution did the centers and the CGIAR make that would not have come about in their absence? Could the CGIAR system be reproduced today, and if so what things-with the advantage of hindsightshould be done differently? Finally, to what extent is the CGIAR a model for collective ventures in other fields? These questions inevitably entail speculation and conjecture, but they should be asked because they address the ultimate value of the CGIAR as an experiment in international cooperation.What Was the Unique Contribution of the Centers?Although the original international centers played a pioneering role in developing the new high-yielding varieties, some re-search on these varieties had taken place, or was taking place concurrently, at institutions in the United States, Japan, and a few other industrial and developing countries. The great potential of these varieties was beginning to become apparent. Had the centers not existed, therefore, it is virtually certain that some other mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, would eventually have been developed to promote the necessary further research and to spread its results in the developing world. As Jock Anderson, director of the impact study team, put it during the seminar at International Centers Week, \"if the system of centers did not exist, then something very much like it would have had to be invented, and supported actively.\"One could speculate at great length (but with little profit) as to what institutions and mechanisms might have been created and how much they might in fact resemble the existing CGIAR system. Presumably donor agencies, both multilateral and bilateral, would have helped to effect the transfer of the new technology by direct assistance to national research programs in developing countries. The interest of the international scientific community would have been engaged,, and collaborative arrangements would have sprung up between research organizations in the industrial countries and their counterparts in the developing world. Some types of regional networks would in time have been established to exchange germ plasm among developing countries, and as the importance of genetic conservation became better understood some international system to promote it would have developed. As the high returns to agricultural research in the tropics became more evident, greater impetus would have been given to these various efforts and new organizations created, if necessary, to carry them out.A plausible case can be made, however, that the CGIAR system had a unique and significant impact. It led to the development of a wider range of techniques, accelerated the process of technology development and transfer, and spread its results more widely than might otherwise have occurred. Indeed, it is perhaps not too presumptuous to suggest that, as a result of the CGIAR, the world is a different and better place.Here again it is useful to distinguish between the activities of the IARCS and those of the CGIAR itself. The principal features of the international centers should be familiar by now and need only be recapitulated briefly here. There are a number of ways in which the IARCS made a unique contribution: l The centers were located in developing countries and focused on tropical agriculture, which had often been ignored by research in industrial countries. They also brought a new focus on food crops, particularly those most prominent in agricultural production and consumption in the developing world.lThe work of the centers was mission-oriented. It sought to address and solve the practical problems facing farmers in developing countries.This orientation was also often missing from the work of research organizations, including those in developing countries. l With a critical mass of scientists, the centers were able to achieve economies of scale. Plant breeding is, as the impact study emphasized, a game of \"numbers roulette.\" The centers could make a large number of crosses and selections efficiently and thus enhance the prospects of success. Few national programs, at least at the time the centers came into being, had this capacity. l With their international mandate, the centers were able to make crosses of wider applicability to different ecological conditions and to exchange, test, and validate germ plasm through collaborative networks with a larger number of developing countries than would have been possible with national programs. Their international status with independent boards of trustees gave the centers a freedom from political influence by their host countries and from a diversion of their activities to meet short-term political considerations. l The centers' use of interdisciplinary teams, by bringing together a variety of specialties, made it possible to deal more effectively with the complex problems of raising and stabilizing the yield of individual crop varieties. This approach was a relatively novel way to organize and manage research when the centers were founded. l The CGIAR'S commitment to the \"international center of excellence\" brought other advantages as well. In particular, it enabled the centers to provide the salaries, living arrangements, and working conditions-including the most modern equipment-necessary to attract and retain international scientists of high caliber. Although most of these activities were beyond the reach of national programs, certainly at the outset, they were not undertaken at the expense of national research efforts. On the con-trary, the work of the IARCS reinforced and strengthened the national programs in several ways that were discussed earlier: by demonstrating the productivity of agricultural research and thereby attracting more government funds to it; by helping to shift priorities in favor of a greater focus on food crops; by introducing an orientation toward commodities in research programs, which hitherto tended to be organized by disciplines, and emphasizing a problem-solving approach; and by strengthening the organization and staffing of individual programs through collaborative networks, staff training, and other forms of technical assistance.What Was the Unique Contribution of the CGIAR?The concept of a consultative group predated the formation of the CGIAR, but the latter introduced enough novel features that it can be considered an innovation in its own right. In its methods of mobilizing funds, setting priorities, administering aid, and ensuring accountability, the CGIAR, it can plausibly be argued, has made a unique contribution to international agricultural research. Indeed, the \"magic\" of the CGIAR has lain in its ability to convert what under other circumstances might have proved to be serious liabilities into sources of cohesion and strength. It has done so in several ways: l As a \"nonorganization\" without legal status or juridical personality, the CGIAR has been able to avoid the bureaucratic pitfalls into which many international organizations have fallen. It has not had to seek universal membership, nor has it been subject to the pressures of nationality quotas, or even pressures to hire particular individuals.With a minimum of organizational structure and no formal procedures, it has been able to conduct its business expeditiously and in a professional environment. There is not even a formal record for which individuals or delegations might be inspired to make speeches. l The absence of a system of burden sharing has probably enabled the Group to raise more, rather than less funds. The CGIAR has fared relatively well in fund raising, compared with other international bodies. It has avoided sterile debates about \"fair sharing\" of the aid burden, while its open pledging sessions have exerted real, if subtle, pressure on donors. The United States has maintained the 25 percent share that has been customary for it in international organizations with for-ma1 subscriptions.Other large bilateral donors have, for the most part, been strong supporters, and many of the smaller donors-Canada and Australia are notable examples-have contributed more than would have been derived from a burden-sharing formula. l The large number of donors, and their diversity-private foundations, multilateral organizations, regional banks, and national governments-have ensured greater stability of funding and shielded the Group from the vagaries of support of individual donors. l The absence of a system for taking votes has prevented any one donor, or small group of donors, from dominating the Group and imposing its point of view. Management by consensus has called for a discipline on the part of members of the Group that they have readily accepted. The egalitarian spirit of the Group has thus become a strong, cohesive bond that has enabled it to weather several difficult episodes. l The three cosponsors have given legitimacy and continuity to the Group, with the World Bank providing a home, an adequate budget, and logistical and staff support. Scientists considering whether to join the system have been able to perceive it as a stable, ongoing venture. l By enlisting eminent scientists from both industrial and developing countries, TAC has provided a professional, objective forum for setting priorities and reviewing programs and budgets. It has helped to maintain the Group's sharp focus on the principal food crops of the developing world. l The two Secretariats have provided staff services to the Group and to TAC and have helped to implement a system of reviews that has provided accountability and assured donors that their money was being carefully administered. Under a different set of circumstances this loose, informal, flexible, collegial system of governance might not have worked as well. The amalgam of the system is goodwill, a goodwill that springs from a common purpose, a shared view that an objective of high priority is being effectively pursued. Had the centers not been seen to be performing well, the CGIAR would have been subject to greater, perhaps intolerable strains. Conversely, the smooth functioning of the CGIAR has given the centers an assurance of stable funding and a freedom to pursue their scientific investigations with a reasonable minimum of oversight to pro-vide accountability.The union of the IARCS and the CGIAR has thus been a happy one, each drawing strength from the presence of the other.Finally, there is the human element. Individuals have undoubtedly made a difference. Throughout its relatively short history, or even the longer history that began in Mexico in 1941, the CGIAR system has been fortunate to have the right people at the right place and time. George Harrar, Norman Borlaug, Sterling Wortman, Frosty Hill, Robert Chandler as the founders of the international centers; Robert McNamara as the godfather of the CGIAR; Sir John Crawford as the first chairman of TAc-it would be invidious to extend the list, since even a long ledger would exclude many dedicated and able persons who were first attracted to, and then excited by, the challenge and the opportunity.Could the CGIAR Be Re-created Today?One way of testing the usefulness of the CGIAR system as a model for other ventures is to ask whether it would be possible to recreate the CGIAR under the conditions prevailing in 1985. This is not a simple question and perhaps not a very enlightening one, since it depends on the assumptions one is prepared to make. To what extent has the new technology already been discovered, developed, and tested? Are IRRI and CIMMYT in existence as international centers or are they yet to be invented? The fact is, however, that the CGIAR benefited from a favorable combination of circumstances, some of which could not easily be reproduced today.Perhaps the key issue is the role of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. The development aid community and the role of the private foundations within it have changed over the past fifteen to twenty years. It is difficult to imagine that the foundations could play the same leadership role today that they did when the original centers and the CGIAR were established. Neither foundation is in fact very active on the international agricultural scene at this time, although their partial withdrawal may largely be a response to the successful accomplishment of their mission. Be that as it may, the foundations are not now in a position to play the prominent role, exercise the entrepreneurial spirit, and provide the professional leadership that they did at critical stages in the evolution of the CGIAR. This change of role would affect how the centers could now be organized and run. One somewhat paradoxical example is international status. The private foundations were readily able to negotiate international status for the original centers-albeit a somewhat cloudy one, as subsequent events have shownwhereas the international organizations that are now shouldering the task-the World Bank and the uNDr-are finding it more difficult to do so (as seen in chapter 7). No doubt a solution will be found, but the formula of an international center as an independent legal entity is not one that the official aid community is likely to have arrived at by itself. The model of an independent, self-perpetuating board of trustees with each member serving in an individual capacity is also not one that would likely be originated by, or appeal to, public aid agencies, and some form of mandatory representation would probably be insisted upon. Scientific management of the centers by the director general and senior staff could more readily be accepted.As to the Consultative Group itself, the particular sharing of responsibilities agreed upon by the heads of the cosponsoring agencies could probably not be replicated. The FAO would plausibly argue that it should be the lead agency, with results that would inevitably be different. Since the consultative group mechanism existed before the establishment of the original CGIAR, any attempt to establish one today would still have a precedent for the informal pledging of contributions without any formula for burden sharing. However, some mechanism for ensuring the participation of developing countries in the management of the Group would probably be insisted upon and could become a bone of contention.Pluralistic membership would make management by consensus more difficult. The idea of TAC, however, as an independent scientific advisory body would probably still be acceptable.All this is admittedly speculative. I would not conclude that something analogous to the CGIAR could not be recreated today; on the contrary, it probably could if circumstances warranted it, but the CGIAR of today would differ in salient respects from the CGIAR that we have known. Whether it would be as effective is open to question. The founders of the CGIAR took over an ongoing enterprise that had already shown its efficacy and achieved impressive results. They found a way to mobilize international support to fund and administer that enterprise on a much larger scale without sacrificing the features that had con-tributed to its success. This was a very significant achievement, the importance of which I would not underestimate.The CGIAR stands today as a strong and viable system that, in close association with the national research programs, is continuing to bring a better life to many in the developing world.But to create such an enterprise de novo would be more difficult. This conclusion should not be startling; it would probably apply equally to many successful activities that benefited from and were able to exploit a favorable set of circumstances not readily duplicated. But it may have implications for the extent to which the CGIAR can serve as a model in other fields.What Should Be Done Differently?Another way of shedding light on the essential features of the CGIAR and their replicability is to ask: if the CGIAR system could be recreated today, what things should be done differently? This brings us back somewhat from the realm of pure speculation, but nonetheless remains subjective, and people equally familiar with the CGIAR might well come up with different answers.THE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES.The boards of the centers play a vital role in ensuring their independent, scientific management, and this independence must be preserved. Still, the organization of the boards might be modified somewhat. The boards of trustees now are self-perpetuating, self-renewing, and formally accountable only to themselves. These anomalous features made the most sense when key board members were appointed by one or both of the foundations, which also kept a close and benevolent eye on the proceedings of the boards and the center management and a firm hand on the purse strings.In practice the boards of trustees have been increasingly mindful of the injunction of the second review committee that they should act as though they were accountable to the Group. This is reflected both in the growing interaction of the board chairmen through their committee and in the appointments of new trustees by the boards. Virtually all centers have adopted the review committee's recommendation on the term of service of board members. But the fact that individual donors have different policies with respect to participation by their officials on center boards can be a disequilibrating factor. With hindsight, I believe it would be preferable to have more of the board members nominated or designated by the CGIAR itself, as is now done for three of the board members of almost all of the centers. The existing boards would still play a very active part in the selection process, as they do for the CGIAR-designated members, and the trustees would still serve in their individual capacities and not receive instructions from the Group. But involving the Secretariat, and through it the members of the Group, more actively in the selection process might help to ensure that the membership of all boards had an appropriate blend of geographic backgrounds, professional disciplines, and relevant experience. This is the procedure followed on a smaller scale for appointment of the members of TAC, and it has worked very well. It could be combined with improved measures to indoctrinate new board members and to brief all board members regularly on CGIAR activities. Having the full board meet more frequently than once a year would also be desirable. We have seen that the process of designating developing country representation on the CGIAR through the FAO regional conferences has not been very effective. Again with the benefit of hindsight, it is evident that the process lacks the necessary ingredients for success.It is not easy, however, to devise an alternative approach that would ensure more effective participation of developing countries in the deliberations of the Group. (As indicated in the preceding chapter, developing countries are well represented at other points in the system.) TAC membership is evenly balanced between industrial and developing countries, but TAC'S role is advisory and its members (other than the chairman) do not regularly attend or participate in the Group's meetings. Encouraging developing countries to become CGIAR donors has in practice proved the best way of providing developing country representatives who are well informed, interested, and active. Considerable efforts have been devoted to enlisting more developing countries as donor members, but no doubt more could be done. As a last resort, consideration might be given to designating a minimum number of developing country donor members (for example, ten) with a suitable geographical distribution and, if necessary, reducing the minimum subscription of $500,000 so that the membership quota could be filled.Priority setting in the CGIAR is a dynamic process, and it is necessary to avoid the temptation to apply the emerging priorities of the mid-1980s, such as the emphasis on biotechnology or on sub-Saharan Africa, to the conditions of the early 1970s. Even in hindsight, the initial focus on basic foods produced and consumed by the large masses of people in the developing countries seems to have been eminently right. There may have been undue emphasis on improving the quality of food, as distinct from increasing its quantity, as a means of improving nutrition.And there was inadequate recognition that increasing the production of food crops consumed by the poor was not a sufficient condition for increasing the consumption of the poor in the absence of measures to increase their purchasing power (including research on commercial crops grown by smallholders). But these matters were less well understood in the early 1970s than they are today. The same might be said about the whole package of policies and institutional measures-price incentives, better extension services, more reliable credit, secure water supplies-necessary to ensure the optimal deployment and use of the new varieties.The last question, asked frequently by those seeking to emulate the CGIAR'S success, is whether its model can be applied in other fields. If it is correct, as I have suggested, that the CGIAR itself could not readily be recreated de novo on today's scene, it might seem to follow automatically that it cannot readily serve as a model in other fields. But that would be far too negative a conclusion.It is fair to say that efforts to emulate the CGIAR model have so far had only partial success. A Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment, launched in the wake of the World Food Conference, bore the title of a consultative group, was cosponsored by the same agencies as the CGIAR, and had a small secretariat located in the World Bank. It had laudable objectives: to encourage the flow of investment resources into food and agriculture and to help in the preparation of national food plans. But it lacked a clear focus or mandate, and as talk did not give way to concrete action the high-level attendance at its meetings waned. After several years the cosponsors agreed to terminate it. Efforts by the UNDP, the World Bank, and the Rockefeller Foundation over a protracted period to cosponsor an organization to conduct research and development on cotton and cotton textiles were well advanced but eventually came to naught when the proposal was caught up in North-South issues of politics and trade. Other attempts to launch consultative groups-in such fields as energy and forestry-never got past the talking stage. A group of donors are supporting a successful program to deal with onchocerciasis (river blindness) in West Africa, but the program is too specialized to provide a useful example. There is, however, another major international research program, patterned in part on the CGIAR, that is a viable enterprise. It is the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). Both its similarities and its differences with the CGIAR are instructive.3The TDR was started by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1974 to deal with six major diseases endemic to many tropical developing countries: malaria, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and leprosy. It did not get under way until 1977-78, however, after three years of negotiations to establish its modus operandi. The UNDP, the World Bank, and the WHO are cosponsors, with the WHO the executing agency. The World Bank agreed to become a cosponsor in 1978, but did not become a donor until 1981 when changes were made that satisfied it that the organization and management were sound. The World Bank also administers a trust fund through which many donors contribute. Voluntary pledges come from a large number of donors, including private pharmaceutical firms and more private foundations than contribute to the CGIAR. There is a Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of eighteen scientists and other experts drawn from various parts of the world; it is the apex of a complex system of working groups and scientific committees described more fully below. A comprehensive system for review and evaluation culminates in a quinquennial (external) review of the performance of the TDR as a whole.The most striking difference between the CGIAR and the TDR lies in the system of research and development. The TDR is the quintessential network. Drawing on the WHO'S extensive experience and contacts with institutions and scientists throughout the world, individual networks have been established using existing facilities and staff. No funds are provided for capital invest-3. The discussion of TDR is based on these World Health Organization publications: Venture for Health, (Geneva, 1984); Tropical Disease Research, Seventh Programme Report, January 2983-December 1984, (Geneva, 1985); and Evaluation of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases: Report of the External Review Committee to Reoiew the First Five Years of the Special Programme's Operations, (Geneva, 1982). ments; the TDR makes available only the additional funds needed to carry out specific research projects. The spectrum of research activity extends from basic laboratory work in such fields as molecular biology and biochemistry, in which the pharmaceutical industry plays a part, to field research on such topics as tools for disease control in villages in tropical countries (although the field activity is still not adequately developed because of a lack of trained staff). The proportion of research project funds going to institutions and staff in developing countries has increased and now exceeds 50 percent. In addition to the research projects, roughly 25 percent of TDR funds are used for long-term programs to strengthen the capability of research institutions and to train staff in the tropical countries in which the diseases are endemic. As of the end of 1984, the TDR had supported over 2,000 projects in 100 WHO member countries. More than 4,000 scientists and health administrators from 125 countries have taken part in the planning, research activities, and program evaluation. Administering a networking system on this scale calls for substantial overheads. Scientific Working Groups (SWGS) were initially established for each of the six diseases and for four areas covering more than one disease. The SWGS have since increased to thirteen. They are charged with identifying priorities and developing strategic plans. Steering committees for each SWG are then responsible for implementing the plans. There are now thirteen steering committees for the six diseases and various program thrusts (such as vector biology and control, epidemiology, and social and economic research). The TDR Secretariat in Geneva, provided by WHO, has a staff of about eighty, two-fifths of whom are professionals and the remainder administrative and secretarial staff.There has been one external program review of the TDR, conducted in 1981. The review committee was headed, interestingly enough, by David E. Bell, now chairman of the Department of Population Sciences in the School of Public Health at Harvard University and who, as executive vice president of the Ford Foundation, played a key role in the establishment and early years of the CGIAR, as we have seen. The committee specifically compared the effectiveness of the networking approach with a center-based approach:The Committee has carefully weighed the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches, and endorses the network approach as an appropriate scientific mechanism for the TDR Programme. The Committee recognizes that the concentrated effort possible in centre-based research may be more efficient than a far-flung network for the resolution of specific problems. On the other hand, the Committee considers that the principal strengths of the network approach are its ability to mobilize worldwide scientific expertise towards a common objective, and its widespread impact on strengthening research capacity in endemic countries. In comparison with a more centre-focussed approach, the network approach has substantially lesser requirements for large capital expenditures, and the nature of its institutional support is such as to facilitate the assumption of responsibility by local authorities. The Committee is aware that a network mechanism is subject to certain weaknesses; special efforts must be made to overcome these weaknesses in order to insure the most effective use of the resources available to the Special Programme. Because of its nature, the network approach is inherently complex to administer, and requires strong central management to avoid the risk of a dispersal of efforts over a broad front with inadequate direction and control. The network approach also runs the risk of a multiplicity of committees and meetings of various sorts, with a large amount of staff time devoted to servicing meetings. . . . Such a large number of meetings necessarily adds considerably to the overall cost of administration of the Programme. . . .As with any network, the high quality of leadership is a crucial ingredient for success, and in this case, the leadership has come not only from the Programme's management staff, but also from the many scientists involved in the network, especially those on the Steering Committees and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee. To ensure the continued high quality of the TDR Programme, it is important that attention be given to selection procedures for the key groups in the network.The TDR differs somewhat from the CGIAR in fund raising. The TDR has no lower limit to the size of individual contributions. Through the end of 1984, there were forty-four donors, some contributing as little as $500, $1,500 or $5,000. Notwithstanding this greater latitude in funding, the TDR has experienced serious problems in mobilizing resources, probably more so than the CGIAR. Contributions peaked in 1980, declined considerably in 1982, and have stayed relatively constant in nominal terms since then at the level of about $25 million.They have therefore dropped substantially in real terms. In addition to donor fatigue and the strength of the dollar-factors also affecting the CGIARthe location of the TDR within the WHO-a UN agency with a regular budget based on multilateral contributions-has made fund raising more difficult.The TDR'S organizational counterpart to the CGIAR itself is the Joint Coordinating Board (JCB), which coordinates the interests and responsibilities of the cooperating parties. It consists of thirty members, the majority of whom are government representatives. Twelve members are selected by the contributors to the TDR and another twelve by WHO regional committees, from among the countries that either are affected by the diseases studied or provide technical or scientific support to the TDR. The three cosponsors also serve on the JCB, as do three additional members selected by it. The JCB meets annually to review and decide on the planning and execution of the TDR'S program. This includes reviewing and approving the work program, the budget and arrangements for its financing, the annual financial statements and progress reports, longer-term plans, and proposals for STAC membership.Since the dimensions of the program are already set (the six prescribed diseases) and individual projects are relatively small (averaging about $50,000), the functions of the Joint Coordinating Board are less comprehensive than those of the CGIAR. Its one meeting a year takes two to three days. The first external review committee recommended that it spend less time on administrative matters and more on substantive aspects, including progress and obstacles in selected program areas.Because the JCB has somewhat shifting composition and meets only once a year, the cosponsors have a substantially greater role in the TDR than in thd CGIAR. They are formally gathered into a standing committee, which serves as an executive group to the JCB. The standing committee is charged with reviewing the TDR work program and budget before its presentation to the JCB, proposing financial arrangements, approving budget reallocations during the financial year, and reviewing other aspects of the TDR program and informing the JCB about them. The first review committee commented that \"because of its continuity, flexibility and easily accessible nature, the Standing Committee has proved to be a valuable, indeed essential, part of the management structure of the TDR Programme.\"The TDR is still a young enterprise, and it would be unreasonable to expect substantial results from it so soon. But its achievements were already noted by the first review committee in 1981, when it concluded that, while scientific results thus far are limited, they are significant and entirely appropriate considering the long-term nature of biomedical research. The Programme has added substantially to the resources devoted to research on the six diseases and now accounts for 25-30 percent of the worldwide effort; it has mobilized important new scientific resources devoted to the six diseases; and it has created through its networks a mechanism that encourages collaboration among scientists around the world. Moreover, the Programme's system for incorporating peer review of research efforts by high-quality scientists from many countries and by an independent scientific review committee has enhanced WHO'S capacity and standing in the international scientific community.The Committee, therefore, judged the Programme to be well launched and of major significance.There has been further progress since 1981, and several products have been brought to, or close to, the stage of field use. World Bank staff were able in 1985 to advise the Banks Board of Executive Directors that the TDR'S scientific output was highly satisfactory. The prospects are now reported to be good for having an effective vaccine against malaria within five to ten years. Such a development would undoubtedly give a major impetus to funding for the TDR. It should be noted, however, that, as measured by financial resources employed, the TDR is only about one-seventh the size of the CGIAR. Whether the present system of organization and management would be viable if the TDR were to be increased several fold is still untested. The differences between the CGIAR and TDR experiences suggest that each activity tends to some extent to shape its own course. Personalities, institutions, and the particular circumstances of the time influence the outcome, and what might be unthinkable in one situationsuch as an executive role for the cosponsors-may be quite workable in another. It is therefore desirable to generalize from the particular characteristics of the CGIAR, drawing on the TDR experience as well, to try to identify the factors that have contributed to success. Anyone contemplating other ventures of this kind can then assess whether the factors apply in other settings. The list is a formidable one: l A high-priority objective. Both the CGIAR and the TDR were created to address serious problems that affect many millions of people. Helping in the conquest of world hunger-or, in the more prosaic language adopted by the CGIAR, increasing the quantity and improving the quality of food production in the developing worldwas seen as the highest priority on the global agenda in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It still ranks close to the top and continues to have great appeal. The manifest importance of its objective enabled the CGIAR from the beginning to command the attention and support of heads of aid agencies, even to the unprecedented extent of their forming a working party to help bring it into being. It continues to be an objective that fires the enthusiasm of those at all levels who participate in this enterprise. l A clearly defined mandate. The Group has resisted the temptation to broaden its mandate to include nonfood agriculture, and even within the food crops it has concentrated on those most important to production and consumption in developing countries. Even if some expansion of its mandate is warranted, the Group's continual attention to priorities helps to ensure that the research effort is not dissipated among too many activities. The TDR, too, has a clear mandate to focus its research on six tropical diseases deemed to be of high priority. l A mission-oriented strategy. The IARCS are positioned at the middle of the research spectrum. Drawing on the results of basic and strategic research largely done elsewhere, their own applied research is closely linked with the research programs of national institutions in developing countries. The centers are organized and directed toward solving practical problems and achieving tangible results. The TDR, which is also oriented toward a specific mission, covers a broader spectrum of research than the CGIAR and has not yet had time to produce tangible results. l A proven (or promising) technology. By the time that the CGIAR was established, plant breeding technology had been successfully applied to rice and wheat crops in many developing countries, and the Green Revolution was well under way. The same technology appeared to hold the promise of producing superior and higher-yielding varieties of other crops. The CGIAR thus did not have to cope with donors' usual reluctance to provide large-scale funding for basic or strategic research, or for the development of new technology, that may hold little prospect of achieving results in the short or medium term. l A viable system of research and development. The \"center of excellence\" model was well suited to generating new varieties, testing them on a broad scale and in different ecological zones, and disseminating the results widely. The centers could be linked with national research programs in a variety of networks, depending on their respective strengths. Other ways of organizing the research and development process, such as networking, may be equally appropriate to deal with other research problems. The choice is likely to depend on the state of existing knowledge, the strength of the institutions charged with developing it, and the functional relationships among them. Close relationships with the client countries through training programs, symposiums, library services, and programs for disseminating research results enhance the effectiveness of the research and development system. l ProfessionaI, scientific management. Other features of the center model-international status and independent boards of trustees appointed for their scientific or administrative competence-help to insulate the management from political interference or bureaucratic control. The appointment of highly qualified directors general, the recruitment of skilled scientific staff on an international basis, and the provision of adequate compensation and favorable working and living conditions have reinforced the professional strength of the institutions. Again, the center model is not necessarily the only or best approach; a different system of management and governance might be more appropriate in a different setting, provided that it ensures high professional standards. The foregoing considerations apply at the level at which the research programs are conducted. The CGIAR itself has contributed to the success of the venture in ways that can be generalized: l Mobilizing funds. The consultative group mechanism has been an effective means of raising funds from a variety of public, quasi-public, and private sources for which a burden-sharing formula would not be appropriate. More formal arrangements might prove necessary if all the funds are provided from national governments or official aid sources. l Setting priorities. The Technical Advisory Committee, comprising independent experts from different scientific disciplines and different industrial and developing countries, has performed an important role in setting priorities on the basis of scientific judgments.TDR has followed a similar, although somewhat more complicated, pattern. The approach can easily be varied as particular circumstances may warrant. l Making policy. The CGIAR has provided a forum in which issues could be discussed, policies debated, and decisions reached. Decisionmaking by consensus has been the rule, and in the long run it is likely to be the preferred approach even in more formal arrangements, if it can be successfully managed. Staff services by a secretariat (or two secretariats in the case of the CGIAR) of competent professionals play a key role in policy formation. l Ensuring accountability. A comprehensive system has been put in place to review the programs and budgets of the centers (and thereby to allocate funds among them), the scientific programs and management of the centers, and the performance and impact of the CGIAR system itself. Experts from both inside and outside the system have been consulted, in varying combinations, for these purposes. Many variations on this review and reporting system are possible, and the TDR has adapted it to its own purposes; but some such system is essential to satisfy donors that their funds are being used efficiently and effectively. l Providing stabilify and legitimacy. In the informal setting of a consultative group, there must be some way of securing the legitimacy of the activity and its long-run stability. Cosponsorship by three agencies of the United Nations system, with one agency taking the lead in administering the program to the extent necessary and in providing an institutional base for secretariat services, has met this need with a minimum of bureaucratic infrastructure. This list appears formidable indeed. But one should not lose sight of the overall picture in the welter of detail. The essential ingredients of success can be extracted from the CGIAR experience. They lie in the pursuit of a high-priority objective through a well-focused effort that is based on a promising technology and research approach and carried out in a professional environment relatively free of political or bureaucratic constraint. These are rigorous criteria, but by no means impossible to satisfy. The ultimate lesson of the CGIAR experience is therefore positive. When people of goodwill-be they scientists, administrators, or government officials-work together toward a worthwhile objective through a research effort that is well conceived and professionally managed, much can be accomplished.This book is the first authoritative history of a unique and remarkably successful venture in international cooperation, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). An outgrowth of the pioneering work of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations in Mexico and the Philippines that sparked the Green Revolution, it was organized in the early 1970s and now supports a global network of thirteen research and development centers that are helping to combat hunger in the developing world. In collaboration with scientists, administrators, and donors, the CGIAR reviews the centers' programs and budgets, provides funding, and sets priorities for future research and action.More than a history, the book describes how this informal organization governs itself, how it operates by common consent, and how it has forged a partnership of scientists and aid administrators from industrial and developing countries. The author assesses the impact of the CGIAR on agricultural development, analyzes the reasons for its successes (and some failures), and considers the potential for replication in other fields.Warren C. Baum is a vice president of the World Bank and was chairman of the CGIAR for ten years. He is the author of The Projecf Cycle and, with Stokes M. Tolbert, Irwesfirrg in Developned: lessons of World Bank Experience.ISBN O-8273-0828-9","tokenCount":"117097"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5585574513.json b/data/part_1/5585574513.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eff5cc78c19afa9589184eb7bbd5b8faca1daee5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5585574513.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8a0bd34fd6fd7547c844f58669e200f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ff9c85b4-8d77-4db5-a3af-a2487f196b84/content","id":"-69931410"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d8ee8e89-4dca-4b6a-b15d-7224ba659633","pagecount":"7","content":"In addition to host plant resistance, biological control, and judicious application of chemical pesticides, a number of low-cost cultural practices and landscape management options can be implemented as part of an effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy against Fall Armyworm (FAW). Such approaches can be particularly relevant to smallholders who lack financial resources to purchase improved seed, pesticides, or other relatively expensive agricultural inputs (Wyckhuys and O'Neil 2010;Stevenson et al. 2012).While there is a range of experience applying cultural and landscape management practices to control other pests in Africa (Martin et al. 2016;, Pumariño et al. 2015;, Stevenson et al. 2012), there is still considerable uncertainty about how effective such approaches will be against FAW, and these knowledge gaps require additional research. Many of the measures recommended in this chapter therefore represent general agroecological best practices for pest control -though where indicated, emerging evidence suggests efficacy against FAW in Africa, particularly for the \"Push-Pull\" intercropping approaches. This chapter will focus on cultural and landscape management practices suitable for maize-based farming systems common in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, with additional reference to agroforestry interventions.Agroecological approaches apply knowledge about the complex interactions between organisms and their environment to suggest management options that reduce the frequency and intensity of pest infestation and minimize the damage inflicted by pests on crops. In the context of FAW control in Africa, such approaches typically focus on farmers' cultural practices or landscape management options that achieve the following:Improve plant health to better withstand pest attack. Increasing plant health, for example through improved soil management and crop nutrition, can ensure that plants develop well before pest damage significantly affects yield-defining components (e.g., leaf area). Healthy plants can also invest more in defense (Chapin 1991), thereby increasing the likelihood of escaping serious damage.Optimize timing of crop planting and rotations to escape pest pressure. Manipulating the timing of host plant development relative to pest presence (e.g., early planting, crop rotations). Such approaches work by creating asynchrony between the pest and critical crop growth stages.Create sustainable local ecosystems that are inhospitable to the pest and attractive to its predators and parasitoids. Intercropping or crop rotations with crops that are not preferred by the pest can help repel FAW. Some intercrops, particularly those producing natural insecticides (e.g., Tephrosia) or repugnant semiochemicals (e.g., Desmodium), repel the adult female moths, reducing the number of eggs laid on host plants. Conversely, creation of sustainable ecosystems (e.g., through surface crop residue retention) that attract and conserve natural enemies of FAW, including generalist predators (e.g., spiders, ants, or birds) and parasitoids, can contribute to enhanced pest predation and parasitism  that controls FAW populations. In particular, increasing habitat diversity at the landscape scale (e.g., through the preservation or cultivation of patches of natural vegetation, tree cover, or hedgerows) can increase the abundance of insectivorous birds and bats. The effect of these voracious and highly mobile pest predators depends on the availability of suitable habitat within the field (e.g., suitable perches or roost sites) and across the broader landscape (Figure 1).The benefits of cultural and landscape management approaches often arise from the interplay of ecological factors across a range of spatial scales -from plot to field to farm to landscape -that disrupt and control the pest at multiple stages throughout its life cycle (Veres et al. 2013;Martin et al. 2016) (Figure 2). For example, cultural practices such as intercropping, companion cropping, conservation agriculture, and agroforestry may simultaneously improve the health of the crop, provide shelter and alternative food sources for natural enemies, and reduce the ability of FAW larvae to move between host plants.Cultural and ecological management options are highly compatible with host plant resistance and biological control approaches. Indeed, laboratory experiments have demonstrated that evolution of insect resistance to pest-control measures can be delayed or prevented in the presence of natural enemies (Liu et al. 2014). However, indiscriminate spraying of toxic pesticides often adversely affects these natural enemies, reducing benefits from biocontrol (Meagher et al. 2016) and potentially increasing the population of secondary pests (Tscharntke et al. 2016).Although agroecological concepts broadly inform any IPM approach to pest management, they can be particularly relevant in the design and implementation of low-cost management approaches for smallholder farmers in particular, because such farmers may not have access or financial capital to purchase pesticides, improved seed, or other relatively costly inputs on which the chemical-control or host-plant-resistance elements of an IPM approach are typically based. Because most of these cultural and landscape management practices rely on labor rather than financial capital, they may be more accessible for smallholders.At the plot, field, and farm scale, cultural interventions are typically implemented by smallholder farmers, ideally with guidance from extensionists, development implementing partners, or other knowledgeable experts. Although individual farmers and practitioners may also implement landscape-level interventions, landscape-scale approaches typically also require involvement of communities, governments, or other organizing bodies to coordinate action across a sufficient scale to achieve impact on pest populations.Based on a review of available evidence, the following low-cost cultural practices and landscape management options are currently recommended for control of FAW. With the exception of the \"Push-Pull\" approach, for which experimental evidence exists to suggest efficacy against FAW in an African context (Section 2.1.1), many of these measures represent generic best crop and landscape management practices for pest control, and have not been specifically validated for FAW in Africa (Section 2.1.2). It is also worth noting that, while these approaches are highlighted due to their low financial cost, in many cases they may require a substantial investment of labor to implement, and are therefore not completely without cost.In the \"Push-Pull\" companion cropping strategy, farmers protect cereal crops from pest damage by intercropping them with pest-repellent (\"push\") plant species (e.g., Desmodium spp.), surrounded by a border pest-attractive trap (\"pull\") plant species [usually grasses such as napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) or Brachiaria spp.] (Table 1). In one recent study conducted across East Africa, farmers who fully implemented the Push-Pull approach reduced FAW infestation and crop damage by up to 86%, with a 2.7-fold increase in yield relative to neighboring fields that did not implement the approach (Midega et al. 2018) (Figure 3). Though implementing Push-Pull requires initial financial costs to establish the companion plants, costs gradually reduce in subsequent seasons. Furthermore, beyond controlling FAW and other stemborer pests, Push-Pull has also been reported to reduce Striga infestation, increase nitrogen and soil humidity, and most importantly, provide a suitable environment for the proliferation of predators and parasitoids of FAW (Khan et al. 2010). However, achieving the benefits of the Push-Pull approach depends heavily on proper establishment and management of the companion plants, and is therefore highly knowledge and labor intensive.Extension materials including videos, radio storylines, brochures, and farmer training materials have been developed in multiple languages to support dissemination of the Push-Pull approach, and are available at www.push-pull.net. In addition to the Push-Pull companion cropping strategy cited above, a number of other cultural and landscape management practices have demonstrated some degree of success in managing insect pest populations in various agricultural systems. Ongoing and future research will be necessary to determine the specific efficacy of these approaches against FAW within the African context, and thus provide clearer guidance regarding the relative benefit of smallholders' investment of money and/or labor to implement these approaches. However, current evidence is adequate to recommend them as general best practices (Table 1).In some cases these approaches may be undertaken directly by individual smallholders, ideally with technical guidance from extensionists, agro-dealers, or other experts. In other cases -particularly for landscape-scale interventions -the approaches suggested here require coordinated action at the village or community level, or even by policymakers, in order to achieve sufficient scale to impact pest populations. Table 1. Recommended cultural and landscape management options for control of FAW in Africa.(continued from page 93)","tokenCount":"1297"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5607889202.json b/data/part_1/5607889202.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..45c31736b6971ac38c36a7f5699309974966fbaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5607889202.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"beaedff15cecd4f5793d708c7e889c9d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1cd23ef9-6765-4295-bc70-808bc3823d83/retrieve","id":"881369634"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a1b85c4e-9f42-491d-8649-92b61a71bbe0","pagecount":"4","content":"In his welcome remarks, Mohammed Moussa, Director of Agriculture and Environment at the IGAD Secretariat pointed out that the drive towards agribusiness in the region is a sign of hope, even though the Horn of Africa ranks among the poorest regions of the world. Exchanging information on these experiences is key to the economic transformation of the region.Pastoral livelihoods are vulnerable to food insecurity, due to the ever-increasing frequency and severity of drought in the region. Climate change is at play, with droughts, that were known to occur in 10-year cycles, becoming annual and permanent, exhausting pastoralists' traditional coping mechanisms. Moussa called for urgent action to save pastoral livelihoods, emphasizing the need for enhanced partnerships to build their resilience. Our ShareFair is all about good practices and how they can be scaled up.A good practice is not only a practice that is good but a ","tokenCount":"145"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5608033141.json b/data/part_1/5608033141.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca215fe628823e56360c7b72c252b4bc4063b2c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5608033141.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28cd7c0a32c99a7f1b9294446afaf1d8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1474cee2-3c5c-4ae6-b478-455a33698bc9/content","id":"-2003009779"},"keywords":["BIC, Bayesian information criteria","CIMMYT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center","DAPC, discriminant analysis of principal components","DArT, diversity array technology","ESWYT, Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial","F ST , fixation index","GBS, genotype-by-sequencing","GWAS, genome wide association studies","MAF, minor allele frequency","ME, mega-environments","PC, principal component","QTL, quantitative trait loci","SAWYT, Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trial","SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism Mondaini, A., Rosyara, U., Sehgal, D., & Dreisigacker, S. (2022). Selection signatures in the CIMMYT International Elite Spring and Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trials. Plant Genome,"],"sieverID":"1547698d-ca99-42cb-a797-2d704e05da28","pagecount":"14","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) annually distributes advanced wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines to collaborators worldwide through the International Wheat Improvement Network. Lines are disseminated through international nurseries, including the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial (ESWYT) targeted to optimal (irrigated and high production) wheat production areas and the Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) targeted to low rainfall environments. A total of 2,184 wheat lines that formed the ESWYT and SAWYT since 1979 and 1992, respectively, were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing to explore trends of genetic diversity and selection footprints associated with continuous crop improvement and adaptation. Due to a small population size of each trial, adjacent year trials were pooled into subpopulations. Population structure was evaluated using discriminant analysis of principal components and fixation index. High levels of admixture within and across the ESWYT and SAWYT subpopulations were revealed, indicating that the entire genetic diversity in the overall CIMMYT germplasm pool is harnessed to target core traits to individual mega-environments.Genome wide scans of deviations of minor allele frequencies at each marker identified large linkage blocks in several chromosomes. The scans also revealed that 9.8 and 2.0% of the SNP markers could be associated to selection signatures over time and to environmental adaptation (significant deviations between ESWYT and SAWYT), respectively. Several known genes and previously identified haplotypes associated with grain yield in more recent CIMMYT elite germplasm did fall into genomic regions with directional selection.Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely grown food crop in the world and the third most important in terms of global production after maize (Zea mays L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). Wheat is of fundamental importance in the human diet by accounting for about 20% energy and protein intake globally (FAO, 2016). Wheat is also a global commodity, being the most exported crop, countries/regions with the largest wheat production do not always correspond with those that have the highest wheat consumption (FAO, 2016). While the rate of world population growth is in general slowing down, it will still reach 8.6 billion people in 2030 and 9.8 billion by 2050 (van Bavel, 2013). Thus, meeting the global demand for wheat will require a substantial increase of grain yield production per unit area, which is currently around 3.3 t ha -1 (FAO, 2017). Achieving this goal will be challenging as changing climate constraints pose risks not only to the harvested product directly but also hinder wheat growing area expansion.The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) annually distributes specific nurseries and yield trials as part of a system known as the International Wheat Improvement Network. Nurseries and trials are grown under local conditions across the developing world and the best candidates are selected for direct cultivar release or as parents for new locally made crosses (Baum et al., 2015;Reynolds et al., 2017). The data gathered by collaborators are catalogued, analyzed, and made available to the global wheat research community. Internationally recorded performance data are also crucial to select new parents for subsequent crosses and breeding. Among the annually distributed yield trials, the two most requested are the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial (ESWYT) for optimal (irrigated and high production) and the Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) for low rainfall environments. Both trials target 45 million ha of wheat production area globally. The ESWYT started in 1979 and the SAWYT in 1992, thus having almost three decades of shared history.Although studies on the phenotypic performance on the CIMMYT yield trials have been significant (Byth et al., 1976;L. A. Crespo-Herrera et al., 2018;Leonardo A. Crespo-Herrera et al., 2017;Crossa et al., 2007;DeLacy et al., 1993;Mondal et al., 2020), only a few genomic studies have been performed on these trials to date (Crossa et al., 2007;Dawson et al., 2013;Susanne Dreisigacker et al., 2012).Signatures of selection are reflected by loci or regions in the genome that undergo changes through reduction and an increase or elimination of genetic variation due to natural or artificial selection. Such regions are changed due to their direct functional relevance or indirectly through their association with causative variants. These regions can shed light on evolutionary adaptation or breeding practices, by identi-• Genomic changes may be tracked across internationally distributed CIMMYT wheat lines. fying changes of allele frequencies over a period that most likely involved relevant genes related to important adaptive and commercial traits (Afzal et al., 2019;Appels et al., 2018;Browning & Browning, 2016;Cavanagh et al., 2013;Laland et al., 2010;Neale & Kremer, 2011). Till date signatures of selection have not been studied in the CIMMYT wheat breeding germplasm. The objectives of this study were therefore to (a) unravel the genetic structures of the lines in the ESWYT and SAWYT yield trials genotyped with genotypingby-sequencing (GBS) and (b) identify regions under selection on a genome-wide basis.We considered spring bread wheat lines included in the two historical international yield trials, ESWYT and SAWYT. In total, 2,184 lines were analyzed; 1,229 lines from ESWYT and 955 lines from SAWYT (Table 1, Supplementary Table S1).A total of 514 lines were replicated over time, with 28 common lines between the two trials. Each individual trial consisted of about 30-50 lines. The ESWYT was first distributed in 1979 and has been continued ever since, while the SAWYT started in year 1992. Hence, since 1992 both ESWYT and SAWYT are being disseminated in parallel but are targeted to two distinct mega-environments (ME) of which 12 were previously defined by CIMMYT (Braun et al., 1996). The ESWYT lines are targeted to ME1 defined as optimal (irrigated and high production) environments. The ME1 falls into winter temperate climatic areas with 36 million ha of low rainfall in Asia, Africa, and Mexico and has late summer heat stress. These areas are optimally irrigated and may suffer from specific diseases like rust and kernel bunt (Tilletia indica). The SAWYT lines are targeted to ME4, low rainfall environments. The ME4 are nonirrigated low rainfall areas that and regions that crop growth is highly dependent on soilstored moisture after monsoon rains (e.g., Dharwad, India) (Rajaram, 2002).All 2,184 lines were genotyped using GBS (Elshire et al., 2011;Poland et al., 2012) to capture genome wide markers.Genotyping was performed on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 (Illumina Inc.) with each lane pooling 190 samples. Read length consisted initially of 100 bp, but after trimming for barcode removal, 64 bp sequence tags were derived. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were called using TASSEL 5 GBSv2 pipeline (Glaubitz et al., 2014)  As each individual yield trial was small with only 30-50 individuals, we pooled adjacent year trials into overall six subpopulations (Figure 1). Population structure analysis was performed with R package 'adegenet' v.2.1.1 (Jombart & Ahmed, 2011), using discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC). Discriminant analysis of principal components requires prior groups/populations to be defined, thus we implemented two approaches to look for these groups/populations: (a) clustering by unsupervised learning k-means algorithm (Hartigan & Wong, 1979) and (b) supervised learning with predefined six subpopulations described in the previous section. When estimating clusters by k-means, the maximum number of discoverable clusters was set to k = 40, with the number of randomly chosen initial centroids in each run set to n = 25 to better provide algorithmic convergence. The result of all sequential k clusters was then compared with the Bayesian information criteria (BIC) (Supplementary Figure S1), which should be When visually comparing plots generated by both approaches, labeling populations a priori yielded better results of population differentiation, hence our preferred method. Discriminant analysis of principal components, as with principal component analysis, is a method of dimensionality reduction but in contrast focuses on optimizing the between group variance, whereas principal component analysis looks at the global variance often overlooking differences between groups. It accomplishes that by seeking discriminant functions (synthetic variables) that are linear combinations of the original variables (alleles). Discriminant analysis of principal components first converts the raw genotypic data into a standard principal component (PC) matrix, requests a prior number of principal components to be retained, and then creates the discriminant functions on the retained PCs. However, a trade-off must be taken when choosing the number of PCs to be retained. While too few PCs would cause a reduction on the statistical power of discrimination between groups, too many can cause over-fitting. Thus, we computed an alphascore optimization statistic that represents the proportion of successful reassignments of observed discriminant functions to values obtained by randomizing groups, in this manner we could determine the best number of PCs to be retained which was set 216.To further explore population differentiation, we defined the fixation index (F ST ) for the two yield trials. F ST is one of the most widely used descriptive statistics in population and evolutionary genetics (Holsinger & Weir, 2009). It provides a measure of genetic differentiation and is directly related to the variance of allele frequency among populations and, conversely, to the amount of similarity among individuals within populations. F ST values were calculated accord-ing to (Nei, 1988) using the R package 'hierfstat' v.0.04-22 (Goudet, 2005).For the F ST comparisons, we further divided the ESWYT and SAWYT subpopulations into 3-to-4-yr groups from its primary until its most recent trials (e.g., etc.). This was done to observe environmental and temporal trends within the subpopulations under study. We analyzed F ST values in three ways:1. by calculating F ST relative to the primary four-year group (ES1-4) to obtain genetic differentiation over time (e.g., between ES1-4 and ES5-7, ES1-4 and ES8-10, ES1-4 and ES11-13, etc.); 2. by calculating F ST between temporally consecutive groups to derive potential genetic shifts over a shorter time period (e.g., between ES1-4 and ES5-7, ES5-7 and ES8-10, SA1-3 and SA4-6, etc.); and 3. by calculating F ST between parallel groups of ESWYT and SAWYT trials to explore the trends of genetic differentiation between the two yield trials (e.g., SA1-3 and ES14-16).Minor allele frequency was computed for each SNP marker in the six subpopulations using the R package 'hierfstat' v.0.04-22 (Goudet, 2005). The MAF values were plotted against physical marker position for each chromosome using R package lattice v.0.20-38 (Sarkar, 2008). Allelic frequency changes in temporal dimension were calculated as deviations of MAF from the primary subpopulation (ES1-7) to all others. A SNP marker was declared undergoing significant directional selection by applying a threshold of 1% quantile from both tails of the distribution of MAF deviation values. Markers under selection derived by environmental adaptation (SNP markers selected in different directions in The Plant Genome the ESWYT and SAWYT) were explored by the deviation of MAF of each SNP from the two most recent subpopulations of each different yield trial (ES26-38; SA13-25) and applying the same percent quantile threshold. To further explore our results, we plotted several genes known to have historical relevance in CIMMYT germplasm into the genome-wide scans and exploited the shifts in allele frequency of recently identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) consistently associated with grain yield (Sehgal et al., 2020). The QTL were detected based on a large haplotype-based genome wide association study (GWAS) that included more than 6,000 CIMMYT advanced lines, evaluated in elite yield trials across five environments, in the last 7 years. The gene positions of the known genes were based on highest probability sequence alignment (BLASTn) of functional or closely linked gene-based markers to the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium reference sequence (RefSeq vs 1.0) performed in Ensembl Plants (https://plants.ensembl.org/Triticum_aestivum/Info/Index). Estimation of the frequency changes of the recently discovered QTL was possible because the same genotyping platform was used in both studies. The favorable allele of the first SNP of each haplotype was used to examine the allele frequency change over time in each yield trial, separately.All data processing and statistical analyses, otherwise specified in above, were implemented in R v.3.5.1 (R Development Core Team, 2018).A final number of 40,530 SNP markers remained after data filtering and imputation, which were spread across all 21 chromosomes (Supplementary Table S3). The largest number of SNPs were physically positioned in genome B and the lowest in genome D. Only 1.3% of the SNP markers could not be assigned to any chromosome. Chromosomes 2B, 6B, and 7A were the three most densely covered chromosomes with on average one marker per 0.23 Mbp, while chromosomes 4D, 5D, and 2D were the least densely covered chromosomes averaging one marker per 1.00 Mbp.We superimposed the k-means grouping structure by colorcoding every entry by its respective predefined subpopulation. The superimposition was done due to the unclear number of clusters to be chosen when analyzing the optimal number of k against the BIC (Supplementary Figure S1). The alpha-score optimization statistic had its optimum at 216 PC (Supplementary Figure S2). All subpopulations showed admixture in the unsupervised DAPC (Figure 2a). However, the lines assigned to the first two subpopulations ES1-7 and ES8-13 tended to concentrate in the second quadrant of the DAPC plot and subpopulation ES26-38 tended to concentrate toward the third quadrant. The lines in subpopulation SA13-25 tended to group opposite to the previous subpopulations between the first and the fourth quadrant. Lines in the two subpopulations, SA1-12 and ES14-25, showed a random scatter in the plot without any tendency of grouping. Supervised DAPC showed that summarizing the data with predefined subpopulations provided an overall U-shaped structure (Figure 2b). Like the unsupervised DAPC, the first two ESWYT subpopulations, ES1-7 and ES8-13, grouped closely together, next to subpopulation ES14-25. The ESWYT subpopulations formed the first half of the U-shaped structure.The two SAWYT subpopulations formed the second half of the U-shaped structure, while the subpopulation SA14-25 was related more closely to all ESWYT populations than the population SA1-12.The F ST values between 3-and 4-yr groups were overall low.The F ST values comparing each group to the initial group of four yield trials (ES1-4) increased over time for each yield trial (Figure 3a). While up to 2000 (SA7-9 and ES20-22), the F ST values relative to the initial group were always higher for the ESWYT than for the SAWYT, this relationship reversed after 2000.The F ST values of consecutive groups were very similar in the ESWYT and SAWYT and ranged from 0.004 to 0.033. Comparisons between parallel groups of the two different yield trials from 1992 until 2016 showed increasing F ST values up to year 2006 (SA13-15 and ES26-28), which then declined (Figure 3b).We plotted all SNP markers based on MAF deviations to visualize patterns along the chromosomes (Supplementary Figure S3 and S4). Overall, we observed regions that showed large linkage blocks, specially flanking the centromere (on chromosomes 2A, 2B, 3D, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, and 7A). However, some large linkage blocks were also outside the centromeric region (e.g., on chromosome 1D). Such regions showed constant MAF values for each of the six subpopulations under study. Conversely, regions around the telomere showed a noisy pattern, most likely due to high rates of recombination. Density distribution plots of MAF deviations with their respective quantile boundary thresholds were devised for the different signatures of selection under study (Supplementary Figure S3). MAF deviations in temporal dimension had a rather smooth distribution that concentrated toward zero with the upper-and lower-boundaries of one percent quantiles beginning around 0.25 and −0.25 (Supplementary Figure S3a). The MAF deviations in environmental dimension (among the two yield trials) showed a peak shifted toward negative values, with the upper and lower boundaries beginning around 0.2 and −0.2 (Supplementary Figure S3a). From the total number of markers, 9.8% could be determined to be under selection over time following our threshold (Table 2). When considering the largest time span of MAF deviations (i.e., ES1-7 to ES26-38; SA14-25), they accounted for almost all the temporal differences (8.2%) leaving only 1.6% to other subpopulations. Environmental differences accounted for 2.0% using the deviation from the two most recent subpopulations of each yield trial (ES26-38 and SA13-25). Most selection signatures derived from the MAF deviations of the first (ES1-7) to the two most recent populations (SA14-25; ES26-38), with 1,871 markers identified between ES1-7 and SA14-25 and 1,473 between ES1-7 to ES26-38, accounting together for 84% of the overall markers under selection. Chromosomes 6A, 6B, 4A, 4B, and 4D showed clear shifts of MAF deviation into one direction, while other chromosomes (e.g., 3A, 1B, 5A) showed allele frequency shifts into both directions. Allele frequencies shifts spanned substantial physical distances representing large linkage blocks, often (but not always) around the centromere (Figure 4). When considering MAF deviations of environmental adaptation, we detected 797 markers under selection. Chromosomes 3B, 1B, 5B, 2A, and 5A in descending order had the higher concentration of markers with a range of 48 to 159 (Figure 5). Chromosomes 2A, 2B, and 6B showed a larger number of markers concentrated in big linkage blocks.We integrated several known genes and recently identified grain yield QTL in our genome-wide scans to test if any of the genes fall into signatures of selection. On chromosome 1, the Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1 genes were flanked by only few Of the 28 grain yield QTL considered, 14 QTL showed an overall increase of the favorable allele over time for both yield trials (see Figure 6). In the ESWYT, the favorable allele of 19 (67%) QTL were increasing, while for nine (33%) QTL the favorable allele frequency decreased. In the SAWYT, the favorable allele of 16 (57%) QTL were increasing, while for 12 (43%) QTL the favorable allele frequency decreased over F I G U R E 4 Temporal minor allele frequency (MAF) deviations, shaded areas are centromeric physical regions time. Some QTL were clearly selected; for example, QTL 'S5D_550192169' progressed from a frequency of 0.6 for the favorable allele to 0.9 in both most recent subpopulations. Other QTL were clearly selected in the opposite direction; for example, 'S5B_47584429', which departed from 0.45 frequencies in the most ancient population to 0.25 in the most recent.The CIMMYT Global Wheat Program aims to develop better adapted wheat cultivars for farmers in the developing world. The International Wheat Improvement Network is thereby crucial in disseminating CIMMYT wheat lines carrying core traits of high and stable grain yield, disease resistance, and quality to national partners, thus representing a unique delivery pathway for new potential cultivars (Reynolds et al., 2017). The yield trials utilized in this study are disseminated to two out of 12 defined MEs, ME1 and ME4, which cover a large wheat production area globally (Rajaram, 2002). We genotyped the lines included in ESWYT and SAWYT since their initial distribution and investigated their genetic structure as well as signatures of selection within and among the trials.Genotyping-by-sequencing is a simple highly multiplexed system for constructing reduced library representations (Elshire et al., 2011). It provides large numbers of SNPs for use in genotyping (Beissinger et al., 2013) while keeping the costs low, reducing sample handling, and providing efficient barcoding without reference sequence limits. With GBS, marker discovery and genotyping occur simultaneously, resulting in minimum ascertainment bias. Therefore, we had an extensive coverage of the wheat genome compared with previous studies that used different marker types and significantly less markers (Balfourier et al., 2007;S. Dreisigacker et al., 2004;White et al., 2008).Population stratification is often driven by pedigree and individuals are rarely drawn from panmictic populations. We observed considerable admixture across the lines included in the ESWYT and SAWYT. This result supports previous findings on population stratification analysis in CIMMYT wheat germplasm. For instance, Dreisigacker et al. (2012) looked at the ESWYT and found instability using diversity array tech-nology (DArT) markers and the software STRUCTURE on determining that the optimal number of K subpopulations also suggested strong relatedness of ESWYT germplasm. Another study using the same DArT marker technology and software determined the population stratification within individual ESWYT trials and found an overall pattern of unstructured populations (Crossa et al., 2007)  (Ayalew et al., 2020). The CIMMYT is known for the consistent use of diverse parents and substantial genetic resources (e.g., landraces and synthetic hexaploid wheat) that have been vital to meet the requirements of global adaptation and enable the adoption of newly developed lines by cooperating wheat research programs globally (Dreisigacker et al., 2004;Rosyara et al., 2019). Hence, our results of substantial admixture in subpopulations were expected. However, some trends were also visible in our DAPC plot. Wheat lines from the later ESWYT and SAWYT tended to group apart from the first subpopulation including the initial 13 years of ESWYT only (from 1979 to 1992). In addition, lines specific to the later ESWYT and SAWYT concentrated in larger parts in different clusters.Admixture of subpopulations in the ESWYT and SAWYT trials were also reflected by the overall low F ST values (0.01 < F ST < 0.05). The F ST can be thought of as a measure of the correlation of genes between populations.Low F ST values indicate gene flow between populations, which is expected in breeding materials as parent and subsequently their offspring are re-cycled with every breeding cycle. Higher F ST values may arise by genetic drift or artificial selection (Suzuki, 2010). The increasing F ST values relative to the initial 4-yr group suggests continued line improvement over time through artificial selection (Figure 5). Allele frequency shifts for both ESWYT and SAWYT on trends of genetic gains have been investigated in earlier studies by phenotypic data analysis. Crespo-Herrera et al. (2018) estimated grain yield gains over eight years of ESWYT, 2006-2007(ES27) to 2014-2015 (ES34) relative to the widely grown cultivar 'Attila' (GID14337) and found 1.67% improvement over time. Crespo-Herrera et al. (2018) looked at grain yield improvement in SAWYT germplasm grown during 2002-2003 (SA11) (SA11) to 2012-2013 (SA23) relative to four droughttolerant wheat lines used as constant checks and found an overall rate of increase of 1.8% in low yield environments The Plant Genome and 1.4% in medium yield environments. The lower frequency shifts in the SAWYT from its initiating year in 1992 to 2000 together with the rather random scatter of the same lines in the DAPC plot, probably reflects the time that was required to establish the core traits and distribute the germplasm to ME4 (Trethowan et al., 2002). Among trials, F ST values increased until 2006 (ES26-28; SA13-15) and decreased from 2007 until 2016. During this period, established, large-scale, and simultaneous testing pipelines for grain yield potential under several environmental conditions, including both, drought stress, and fully irrigated, were routinely performed. Substantial spillover was identified, for example, advanced lines targeted to ME1 were recognized as suitable parents to be used in ME4. Consequently, advanced lines are currently extracted from one larger diverse gene pool with specific emphasis on good performance across trial and management conditions, to maintain yield stability, a key feature of CIMMYT wheat germplasm and specifically important to cope with interannual variability in the yield driven by climate change (Morton, 2007).Loci under directional selection are expected to have higher interpopulation variability than intrapopulation variability when compared with neutral loci. Applied to our study, loci showing larger amounts of differentiation between subpopulations may reveal genomic regions that have been subject to diversifying selection. This differentiation can be assessed by patterns of variance in allele frequency or by examining F ST values between populations (Kirk & Freeland, 2011;Konijnendijk et al., 2015) Several genes and QTL were observed as having physical proximity to the loci we have identified being under selection over time and through environmental adaptation. Physical proximity relevance on chromosome 1 can be attributed to gene Lr46 which is known to confer slow-rusting resistance and was first described by (Singh et al., 1998) in cultivar 'Pavon 76'. On chromosome 2, the photoperiod sensitivity gene Ppd-A1 had closer proximity to a cluster of markers that were both present in our temporal selection signatures. Photoperiod insensitivity is being targeted by CIMMYT since N. E. Borlaug implemented the shuttle breeding concept (Rajaram, 2002). Almost all CIMMYT elite lines are photoperiod insensitive (showing high frequency of Ppd-D1a allele), due to selection in two photoperiod contrasting environments during the shuttle. The 2NS translocation introgressed from Ae. ventricum and carrying at least three disease resistance genes (Lr37, Yr17, Sr28) were flanking several markers also on chromosome 2. Cultivars with the CIMMYT line 'Milan' in their pedigree are known to contain the 2NS translocation, which recently also showed high levels of resistance to wheat blast under field conditions (Cruz et al., 2016;Juliana et al., 2018). Interestingly the same genomic region was also identified as selection sweeps in the studies by (Ayalew et al., 2020;Dadshani et al., 2021). On chromosome 4, the waxy gene Wx-B1 was physically located close to markers under temporal selection. Also, dwarfing genes Rht1 and Rht2 were under temporal selection. All CIMMYT lines today are semi-dwarf and carry, in comparison with the early green revolution lines mainly the dwarfing allele at Rht1, some the dwarfing allele at Rht2. On chromosome 5B, all three homologous vernalization genes were under temporal selection and Vrn-B1 was also under environmental selection. These results were in line with CIMMYT internal trait-based marker data related to various phenology genes, which showed an overtime increasing frequency of the spring alleles at Vrn-B1 and Vrn-D1 and of the winter allele at Vrn-A1, specifically in the SAWYT. On chromosome 7, the slow-rusting resistance gene Lr34 and the adult-plant resistance gene Lr68 were in proximity of markers selected in temporal dimension, emphasizing CIMMYT efforts on providing durable rust resistance.A logical next step would be to relate the selection signatures to several key phenotypic traits. However, phenotypic data (especially from the initial years) have shown to be highly unbalanced. Therefore, we plotted allele frequency changes of recent GWAS results for grain yield derived from an extensive data set of CIMMYT advanced lines (Sehgal et al., 2020). In both yield trials, for more than half of the QTL (57% and 67% for the SAWYT and ESWYT, respectively) the favorable allele increased in frequency over time. This tendency corroborates the trait relevance of the identified QTL. Most importantly, an important genomic region on chromosome 5D was identified, which was under strong selection. This genomic region that showed an increase in frequency over time in trials was also identified by Sehgal et al. (2020) using haplotypebased GWAS. Monitoring and additional pyramiding of these QTL offer breeders new opportunities for further improvement facilitating marker-assisted or genomic selection.","tokenCount":"4339"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5612035335.json b/data/part_1/5612035335.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e94062652b4ecce1ab40b6501575282681510677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5612035335.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e55837f5f7855ec9300a54b1312dbe65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1530162d-5e82-43e7-9aa3-f51ca3213af0/retrieve","id":"-1373119792"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a40f9ff-3e29-4aec-8009-1a8305b18f5e","pagecount":"58","content":"The study was conducted in Mieso district of Oromia Regional State, located 300 km east of Addis Ababa and at about 200 km east of Adama. The objectives of the study were to characterize the traditional milk production and marketing system, as well as identify constraints and opportunities for further development. Five rural kebeles, Dire Kalu, Gena, Huse Mendera, Hunde Misoma and Welda Jejeba, that have milk production potential were selected using purposive sampling. Farmers/agro-pastoralists from each rural kebele were selected using Proportional Probability to Size (PPS) approach and a total of 120 farmers/agro-pastoralists were selected using systematic random sampling method. Group discussion was conducted with key informants such as elders and experts in the Office of Pastoral and Rural Development to have an overview of the overall milk production and marketing system. The information generated in participatory rural appraisal phases was used for the preparation and development of a questionnaire for the formal survey. The questionnaire was pre-tested and modified as necessary. The formal survey was conducted by trained enumerators in 2005/06 using 120 farmers. To capture gender effects in the overall production system, the sample household on each rural kebele was stratified into female-and male-headed households. For the market study, from the three existing market sites, Mieso and Asebot markets were purposively selected.It is therefore apparent that there is a need to study dairy production and marketing systems in the lowlands using a systems approach for research and development as the most appropriate tool for gaining knowledge of the factors that influence the production system (Ibrahim 1998). Moreover, these approaches are also important to furnish essential information and experiences for future dairy development efforts in the lowland areas.Therefore, this study was undertaken with the following objectives: (1) to characterize the milk production and marketing system, (2) to identify major constraints for the development of market-oriented dairy production, (3) to formulate recommendations for further interventions, and (4) to provide baseline information for scaling up similar development activities in other similar agro-ecologies and production systems.Milk marketing was monitored during the rainy and the dry seasons. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the amount of milk delivered, price and number of individuals who sell milk. During the monitoring phase, a diagnostic survey was undertaken to identify households that have lactating cows and/or camels in the selected five rural kebeles. Lactating cows were stratified into early (1-2 months), mid (3-4 months), and late (5-6 months) lactation stages while camels were stratified into early(1-3 months), mid (4-6 months) and late (7-9 months) lactation stage, depending on their lactation length in order to see the production potential at different stages. About 10% of the total lactating cows and camels in each lactation stage from each rural kebele were used. Daily cow milk yield (morning and evening) was measured using a calibrated plastic jog for a period of one week. For camels, daily milk yield was measured three times a day (morning, mid-day and evening).Cattle, camels and goats are used for milk production in the district. All milk animals in the study area are indigenous breeds. All the respondents indicated that cattle, camel and goats are principally fed on natural pasture on non-arable lands maintained under rainfed conditions. Crop residues, mainly sorghum and maize thinnings (locally known as chinki), sorghum and maize stover (locally known as kera), and household waste all serve as important feed resources for livestock. As an additional feed, mineral soil salt (locally known as haya) is used by about 40% of the respondents during the wet and the dry seasons. Average cow milk yield/head per day in the wet and the dry season was estimated at 3.26 ± 0.07 litres and 1.63 ± 0.04 litres, respectively. Similarly, camel milk yield/head per day in the wet and dry season was 7.12 ± 0.33 litres and 3.85 ± 0.203 litres, respectively. The estimated average cow milk produced per household per day during the wet and the dry season was 4.80 ± 0.22 litres and 2.37 ± 0.11 litres, respectively. Similarly, the estimated average camel milk produced per household per day was higher during the wet (13.19 ± 0.95 litres) than the dry season (7.63 ± 0.82 litres).Milk and milk product sale (96%) and crop sale (95%) are the major sources of income for the farmers/agro-pastoralists, indicating that both commodities are equally important.The majority of the households sell whole milk (78%) and butter (67%). Only 4.2% of the respondents sell whey. About 72% of the respondents indicated that cow milk is sold both during the wet and dry seasons. Some 8.3% of the respondents sell milk only during the wet season. Twenty-nine per cent of the households indicated that only one-fourth of the total household milk production is delivered to the market, and mostly the morning milk is sold while the evening milk is often used for home consumption. During the dry season, the amount of cow and camel milk supplied to the market decreases by 39 and 28%, respectively. The amount of cow and camel milk sold per day was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher in Mieso (496.6 ± 19.12 litres) than in Asebot market (187.89 ± 19.12 litres). Milk sold per day during the wet season was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher than during the dry season for both cow and camel milk. There were generally two types of milk outlets identified in the district. These are traditional milk associations or groups and individual sellers. The traditional milk producer association group is locally called Faraqa Annanni. From a total of 94 households that sold milk during the study, only 22 households (23%) were involved in the milk seller groups. The average amount of milk contributed by an individual in group marketing was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher (3.94 ± 0.17 litres/person) than individual sales (1.64 ± 0.06 litres/person). The total amount of milk sold (litre/person per day) at the two market sites differed significantly, being higher in Mieso (3.27 ± 0.17 litres/person) than in Asebot (1.91 ± 0.06 litres/person) market.Distance of the household from the market was an important variable which significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected decision on cow milk marketing. Availability of Faraqa Annanni in the area also had a significantly (P ≤ 0.1) positive relationship with participation in cow milk marketing. Availability of Faraqa Annanni in the vicinity increased the opportunity of the household to market cow milk by 14%. Most of the respondents indicated that milk sale was highly affected by low milk quantity (73%) followed by distance to market (38%).Cultural taboo on milk marketing was limited and was identified by only 7.6% of the respondents, indicating that this issue is not a serious problem in the area. Feed scarcity, water shortage, security problem and limited access to veterinary services were identifiedx as the major problems to dairy production by 41, 30, 14.5 and 8% of the respondents, respectively. Mortality due to diseases was identified as a major cause of loss in cattle (65% of respondents) and camels (67% of respondents).In conclusion, this study has shown that there is a good potential for market-oriented dairy development in the woreda. However, there is need for intervention to develop infrastructure, enhance input supply system, and undertake capacity development and training to enhance the skills of farmers and pastoralists in dairy production, processing and marketing. Attention should also be given to effective conflict management and resolution including the application of customary systems, improved access to veterinary services including training of paravets, improved feed production and conservation systems, feeding strategies and systems, improved milk handling, processing and marketing system and introduction of improved dairy breeds in some areas where feasible.1 Background  2003). Total annual milk production increased at a rate of 1.2% for indigenous stock and 3.5% for improved stock (Tsehay 2002). Per capita milk consumption in the country is about 16 kg/year, which is much lower than African and world per capita averages of 27 kg/year and 100 kg/year, respectively (Saxena et al. 1997). Hence, about 6 million tonnes of additional milk are required per annum to feed the population as per the world standard (Saxena et al. 1997). This indicates the existence of a wide gap between the potential demand of the growing population of Ethiopia and supply of milk and milk products. In order to meet the growing demand in Ethiopia, milk production has to grow at least at a rate of 4% per annum (Azage 2003). Given the considerable potential for smallholder income and employment generation from high-value dairy products (Staal and Shapiro 1996), the development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia can contribute significantly to household income, poverty alleviation and nutrition in the country.Overall milk production system in Ethiopia could be broadly classified as pastoral and agro-pastoral, mixed crop-livestock and peri-urban and urban dairy production systems.The highland comprises 40% of the country's land area, holds 88% of the human population and 74% of the tropical livestock units (TLU). The main activity is a mixed crop-livestock farming system dominated by crop production and accounts for more than 90% of the country's economic activity (CSA 2008). In contrast, the lowland has 78 million hectares land area (60% of total) and 12.2% of the total human population.Ecologically it has arid (64%), semi-arid (21%) and subhumid (15%) areas dominated by pastoralist population whose economy is entirely dependent on livestock production (Solomon 1999). Pastoral areas extend from the northeast Afar lowlands to the western lowlands of Benishangul Gumuz including the southeast (Somali Region), southern (Borana) and southwest (Southern Omo). Cattle, camel and goats are the main livestock species that supply milk. Cow milk production is the major activity as source of food and income. Cattle dominate the livestock population (55.4% of the TLU) followed by camels (15.3%), goats (13.7%) and sheep (6.4%) (Coppock 1993). Milk from small ruminants and camels is also important in the diets of the pastoralists. In the lowlands, about 65.7% of the goats and 67.9% of the sheep are female flocks and are used for milk production and reproduction. The lowland in general accounts for 27% of the total milk production in Ethiopia (Getachew 2003). Because of the erratic rainfall pattern and related reasons resulting in shortage of feed, milk production per unit is low and highly seasonal. More milk is produced in the wet season where pastoralists would mostly conserve and convert the surplus milk into butter and trade with the highlanders for grain in peripheral markets.The livestock subsector in Ethiopia is less productive in general, and compared to its potential, the direct contribution to the national economy is limited. The poor genetic potential for productive traits, in combination with the substandard feeding, health care and management practices that animals are exposed to are the main contributors to the low productivity (Zegeye 2003). Low rainfall, high temperature and low forage production, common plant association, livestock and human carrying capacity, incidence of important livestock diseases and parasites, mainly define the lowlands. In the past, most of the interventions to develop the dairy sector focused more on increasing production, specially in the so-called high potential areas and with less attention to input supply and marketing systems and government engagements focused on input supplyoriented services aimed at tackling problems restricting increases in milk production, with little attention to the development of appropriate milk marketing and processing systems. In general, the development of improved marketing system is pivotal to increase production (Tsehay 2002).2 Materials and methodsThe study was conducted in Mieso district of Oromia Regional State, located 300 km east of Addis Ababa and at about 200 km east of Adama town (Figure 1). It is located west of Somali region and is one of the woredas in Oromia where pastoralist farming system is practised. The woreda has a total number of 37 rural kebeles and four town dwellers' associations. The total human population of the woreda is estimated at 145,775, and is composed of 22,012 agricultural rural households and 6785 urban households. The total rural population is 115,568, out of which 58,612 (51%) are male. Of the total rural households, 17,495 (80%) are male-headed households.The woreda has a total area of 2573.44 km 2 (about 196,026 ha) and is situated between 40º9\"30' E and 40º56\"44' E; and 8º48\"12' N and 9º19\"52' N. The district's altitude ranges between 900-1600 masl. The mean annual temperature varies between 24ºC-28ºC. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 900 mm, with an average of about 790 mm (IPMS 2006). Agro-ecologically, the woreda is classified as lowland (Kolla).The area receives a bimodal rainfall where the small rains are between March and April while the main rains are between July and September. During the small rains, farmers plant long seasoned sorghum, which lasts for about eight months (April to November).However, during the main rains, maize, teff and sesame are planted. Haricot bean is also planted intercropped with maize in almost all places. Rainfall during the main rains is unpredictable and erratic, and as a result, crops fail in most years due to lack of even distribution of rainfall. Recurrent drought is a major problem, and is making relief aid a regular source of livelihood for many rural families. A total land area of 22,487 ha (about 12% of the woreda) is considered suitable for crop production (Table 1), indicating that the woreda is much of a rangeland where livestock rearing is a major activity.   Preliminary survey was conducted in the rural kebeles in order to obtain the total number of households that have dairy animals (cattle and/or camels). Five peasant associations that have potential for dairy production, i.e. Dire Kalu, Gena, Huse Mendera, Hunde Misoma and Welda Jejeba were selected using purposive sampling procedure. The number of farmers from each rural kebele was determined using Proportional Probability to Size (PPS) approach. To capture gender effects, the sample households in each rural kebele were stratified into female and male-headed households, and this served to determine the number of households. From each rural kebele, individual households were selected using systematic random sampling method and a total of 120 farmers were selected based on the number of households in each kebele.During the PRA phases, group discussion was made with key informants such as elders and experts in the Office of Pastoralists and Rural Development to have an overview about the milk production and marketing system. The information generated during the PRA phases was used for the preparation and development of a questionnaire for a formal survey. The questionnaire was pre-tested and modified as necessary. Finally, the formal survey was conducted by trained enumerators under close supervision and participation of the researchers. During the formal survey, all the required data were collected for the period 2005/06 using 120 respondents.Before the start of milk yield monitoring under field conditions, diagnostic field work was undertaken to identify households that have lactating cows and/or camels in the selected five rural kebeles. Based on these data, lactating cows were stratified into early(1-2 months), mid (3-4 months), and late (5-6 months) stages of lactation, while camels were stratified into early (1-3 months), mid (4-6 months) and late (7-9 months) stages of lactation. For the monitoring study, about 10% of the total lactating cows and camels in each stage of lactation from each rural kebele were used. Daily cow milk yield (morning and evening) was measured using calibrated plastic jog for a period of one week. For camels, daily milk yield was measured three times a day (morning, mid-day and evening).For the market study, from the three existing markets, two (Mieso and Asebot markets)were purposively selected due to their relative importance and ease of accessibility. Milk marketing was monitored both in the rainy and dry seasons by assigning enumerators at each marketing gates/routes. At the market sites, farmers and agro-pastoralists were briefed about the objective of the study before monitoring in order to ensure their cooperation. Elders who are familiar with the community were used as facilitators.The study covered 28 days, one week from each market per season. To asses the milk marketing system, information on location of farmers, amount of milk delivered to the market, prices and number of individuals who sell milk was collected using a questionnaire. Results from the survey indicated that the majority (47%) of household heads had cropland, which was in the range of 1-1.5 ha (Table 2). Only about 13% of the households owned cropland in the range of 3 to 4 ha. This indicates that land is a scarce commodity and this might be due to increasing population pressure in the district. In addition, the rural kebeles included in this study are relatively more peaceful than other rural kebeles in the district and this has resulted in the migration of more people to these rural kebeles due to tribal conflict. This has created serious shortage of cropland as well as grazing land. Mean (± SE) cropland holding was 1.76 ± 0.06 ha (Table 3). There was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference among the five rural kebeles in cropland holding. Dire Kalu rural kebele had more farm size (2.46 ± 0.13 ha) than the rest of the rural kebeles, while farmers at Gena rural kebele had the smallest area of cropland (1.48 ± 0.73 ha). Positive correlation (P < 0.05) was detected between the number of oxen holding and family size with cropland holdings. The equation on the relationship between number of oxen and family size with cropland holdings is as follows:Cropland size (ha) = 1.136 + 0.26 (number of oxen) + 0.159 (family size)Out of the total respondents only 33% of the households had pastureland, and of these 75.5 and 24.3% had temporary and permanent grazing land, respectively. Temporary land is used by either making enclosure during the rainy season on the cropland or on the communal lands. Permanent grazing land is a marginal land or land not used for cultivation and is used for grazing animals communally.As indicated in Table 4, the size of pastureland owned per household ranged from 0.25 to 0.75 ha for the majority (74%) of the households. This implies that grazing land in the study area is scarce. This may be due to population pressure leading to conversion of more pastureland to cropland and due to the conflicts between different tribes, which does not allow the proper use of the existing pastureland. The average pastureland size of the sampled households was 1.32 ha, with a range of 0.25-10 ha. There was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) variation among different rural kebeles in pastureland holdings (Table 5). Dire Kalu had significantly large size (6.8 ± 1.71 ha)of pastureland per household than other sampled rural kebeles. Households in the Dire Kalu rural kebele allocate their land largely (6.8 ± 1.71 ha) for grazing rather than for cultivation (2.46 ± 0.13 ha). This is because their livelihood is dependent more on animal rearing than crop cultivation. Cattle, goats and camels are important dairy animals in the district (Figure 4). As indicated in Table 6, the average livestock holdings per household in Mieso district was 5.69 ± 0.35 cattle, 6.03 ± 0.30 goats and 1.83 ± 0.92 camels. There were more goats (44%) than cattle (42%) and camels (14%) in the study area. In Somali Regional State, however, the proportion of livestock species owned by a household consists of large number of cattle (58.1%) followed by goats (53.2%), sheep (45.3%) and camels 33.1%( IPS 2000).  The higher proportion of goats in the study area may be an adaptation strategy that households made for risk aversion to control bush encroachment effectively. This is in line with IPS (2000) report, which indicated that the species and herd composition of ruminant livestock in the lowlands depend on the agro-ecological condition of a particular area. Moreover, the variability and proximity of watering points as well as the proportion of browse to grasses are the determining factors. According to the respondents, the camel population has been decreasing over time due to tribal conflict and theft of animals.Sales of milk and milk products and crops were the major sources of income for 96% and 95% of respondents, respectively. The majority (93%) of respondents indicated that sorghum and maize were the major cash crops in the area. As indicated in Table 7, the majority (95%) of respondents in Gena rural kebele were involved in crop sales as a major source of income. However, respondents in Gena rural kebele were least involved in off-farm activities (2%). This may be explained by the farming behaviour of the households who live near market sites. Most of the households who live around the market centre engage in milk and crop production. As a result, they are less dependent on off-farm activities as a source of income. The close proximity of households to market centres encourages them to sell available resources than searching for other off-farm activities such as daily labour, employment in kebele administration, sale of fire wood and charcoal and rural shop keeping.In general, income from sale of animals was important for 60-74% of the respondents.Most of the households in all the rural kebeles, with the exception of Dire Kalu, generate substantial incomes from sale of milk and milk products. This may be due to the relative short distance to the market (3.9 km to the Asebot and 5.05 km to Mieso market).However, off-farm activities were equally important for all rural kebeles, except those in Gena kebele. Overall, 30% of the respondents indicated that engagement in off-farm activity was an important source of income, and included sale of charcoal, firewood, employment in community leadership and rural shop keeping. 3.4 Animal managementAll the respondents in the studied area indicated that cattle, camels and goats were fed principally on natural pasture or pasture on non-arable land maintained under rain-fed conditions. Kurtu (2003), on the other hand, indicated that only 72% of the rural livestock keepers in Harar area make use of natural pasture. Agricultural by-products such as crop residues, mainly obtained from sorghum and maize stover, and house waste are also used as feed sources. Feeding systems included communal or private natural grazing and browsing, and cut-and-carry system and stall feeding. The different types of feeds used in the study area are presented in Table 8. There were some improved forages (Sesbania and Leuceana) introduced into the croplivestock production system, but there was no practice of supplementary feeding to animals using these forages. Similarly, as indicated by Beruk (2000), the use of improved forage and supplementary feed by pastoralists in Afar Region is insignificant; rather, the primary feed sources of livestock in the region were the rangelands composed of indigenous species of grasses, shrubs and fodder trees.As indicated in Table 8, all the households use residues of sorghum and maize. Similarly, in the Harar milkshed, sorghum and maize are the major crops used in various forms for livestock feed (Kurtu 2003). However, sorghum stover is preferred to maize stover for dairy animals in the study area. The herders believe that feeding maize stover increases body weight rather than milk production. As a result, maize stover is used for fattening animals (mainly oxen), while sorghum stover is used as a major feed for dairy animals.Traditionally, farmers in the study area grow sorghum and maize as fodder for livestock. Fodder from sorghum and maize is produced by intentionally oversowing above the recommended seeding rate as a strategy to produce fodder to feed their livestock through gradual thinning. The thinnings are locally called 'chinki' . Eighty-three per cent of the respondents use chinki as a secondary feed resource followed by crop residues. Field observations and interview indicated that feeding of chinki for animals in a cut-and-carry system was the major task of female members of the household. In addition, farmers grow sweet sorghum exclusively for use as animal feed.Soil salt, locally known as haya, is used by 40% of the respondents during the wet as well as the dry seasons. However, the respondents indicated that haya is used more frequently during the dry season to compensate for feed shortage. If water is available in the area, provision of haya in the dry season is preferable. Haya is fed by either trekking the animals to the salt area or by taking the salt to the homestead. All the respondents believed that the animals that lick salt get stronger during the dry season and lactating cows produce more milk. This is in agreement with the report of Abule et al. ( 2004) who indicated that in the middle Awash Valley, mineral salt feeding to cows is perceived to increase milk production. Only 3.3% of the respondents indicated that they use industrial by-products when milk production decreases or when animals become weak or sick. Some 15% of the farmers also provide boiled sorghum grain mixed with salt as supplementary feed to sick animals, milking animals, during the dry season, as well as to early postpartum cows. The awareness on the use of this type of additional feed source could be used to introduce other supplementary feeding strategies in the locality. In the crop-livestock mixed system, stall feeding is practised during the cropping season as all the farm land is covered by crops.Oxen and calves and sometimes milking and pregnant animals are tethered and fed around the household as other animals are moved to other areas for grazing.The respondents also indicated that they practice feed conservation for dry season feeding.Feed is conserved in the form of what is locally known as Kusa (Figure 5), which is made by storing crop residue on the farm field (from sorghum only) in triangular form in an open system without any cover. This type of feeding is practised from crop-harvesting to end of the dry season. This storage system exposes the feed to moisture causing wastage through fermentation and insect pests. Due to the poor storage system, farmers often fail to get adequate conserved feed to take them up to the end of the dry season. Young animals are managed in a traditional way. Nursing calves are kept separate from their dams, except when calves are used to stimulate milk letdown. Traditionally, calves are allowed to suckle two-quarters on the left side, while the other two-quarters are hand milked by women. This practice is believed to stimulate milk letdown. If the calf dies, the hide is stuffed with cereal straw or grass with four legs made of sticks. Salt is added to the hide of the stuffed calf and the dam is allowed to lick it in order to simulate the presence of the calf and stimulate milk letdown. Young children and females in general do most of the tending of small ruminants and calves near encampments. Management by female members of the family includes gathering cut-and-carry forages and hauling water for relatively immobile calves, which are kept in or near the family hut. Herders are well aware of colostrum feeding for the new born animals and understand the beneficial effect on health of the young.The overall average weaning age of cattle and camel calves is 7.30 ± 0.17 and 10.60 ± 0.46 months, respectively (Table 9). However, weaning age is often determined by the season of birth of calves, the health status of the dam and the need for milk by the family. Complete weaning is practised when the dam ceases to lactate or becomes pregnant. This result agrees with the report of Coppock (1994)   Calves are provided with soil salt licks before they start feeding on forages. This is practised because it is generally believed that direct exposure of calves to forage immediately after cessation of milk feeding causes diarrhoea. On average around the first months (36 ± 2.12 days for cattle and 46 ± 6.02 for camel calves) of life, the calf diet consists of milk and a combination of cut-and-carry forage and calves are allowed to graze around the encampment. The amount of milk that a calf receives varies with season and the human demand for the milk.Traditional hand milking is the only type of milking practised in the whole district.Washing of teats before milking is not practised and the producers believe that during calf suckling for milk letdown, the teats get washed by the saliva of calf and therefore it is not as such important to wash the teats before milking. Labour division for milking was, however, dependent on the species of the animal milked. Milking of cows and goats is mainly done by women, while milking of camels is commonly done by men.Traditionally calves are allowed to suckle their dams before (to initiate milk letdown) and after milking (to drain whatever is left in the udder).As indicated in Table 10, cows are milked once or twice a day whereas camels are milked between one and six times a day depending on the season. If a calf seems weak or becomes ill, its dam will be milked less frequently and the amount of milk taken on each occasion will be reduced. Almost all of the households indicated that in case of cow milking, twice milking is a common practice in the wet season. However, milking frequency decreases to once a day in the evening during the dry season (Table 10).Milking frequency in the area also depends on feed availability. Evening milking in the dry season is practised because cows are kept far from the homestead for grazing during the daytime. Milk produced in the evening is kept in properly washed and smoked utensils and marketed in the next morning. Out of the total camel owners, 72% of the respondents in study area indicated that camels are milked up to thrice a day during the wet and the dry seasons (Table 10). However, the average milking frequency in the dry season is twice a day while thrice is common during the wet season. This result is similar to the report of Tezera and Bruckner (2000) who indicated that milking frequency of camels in Somali Region is thrice per day and twice per day during the wet and the dry season, respectively. Some camel holders practice six times a day, milking depending on the season, stage of lactation and the household needs for milk. This was practised during the wet season and /or during the early stage of lactation.3.5 Productive and reproductive performanceAs indicated in  The average lactation milk yield per cow was estimated to be 271.4 litres over an average lactation period 7.29 ± 0.17 months (Table 11). Higher average milk yield of 488 litres over a lactation period of 249 days for local cows found in Somali Region was reported (IPS 2000). Mukasa-Mugerwa et al. (1989) noted that Zebu cattle under traditional management in general yielded about 524 litres over a 239-days lactation. The low lactation milk yield found in the current study may be due to poor genetic make up of the animals for milk production, shortage of feed, shorter lactation length and/or poor management conditions.Table 12 shows the estimated average daily milk yield for camels during the first (2.4 ± 0.07 litres), second (3.11 ± 0.08 litres) and third (1.36 ± 0.03 litres) stages of lactation.The overall estimated average camel milk yield per head per day was 2.4 ± 0.06 litres.Estimated average lactation yield was 797 litres over an average lactation length of eleven month. This result is similar to the report of Tefera and Gebreab (2001) who recorded an average daily milk yield of camels in eastern Ethiopia to be 2.5 litres per day over a lactation period of one year. However, the current results are lower than the values reported by Baloch (2002) who found an average milk yield and lactation length of 1894.9 litres and 445.6 days, respectively, for camels in Pakistan. The shorter lactation period and lower lactation milk yield found in this study may be due to feed shortage in the area or due to breed differences. Indigenous breed of cows, although are generally considered as low milk producers, they are the major source of milk in the study area. The lactation length of animals in the study area depended mostly on the management objective of the herder; the herder may prolong the lactation length for the sake of continuous milk supply to the household or dry off the cow at early stage of lactation for breeding purpose. As indicated in Table 13, the average lactation length for cows was 7.29 + 0.17 months. This agrees with the report of CSA (1996) who indicated that an average lactation length of cows in private holdings ranged from 5-7 months. However, the current result is lower than the 9.5 months reported by Lemma et al. (2005) for local cows in the East Showa Zone of Oromia Region in Ethiopia.The average lactation length of cows agrees with the 212 days reported for local cows by Kurtu (2003) in the Harar milkshed. However, the result obtained contradicts with the result reported by Semenye (1987) who reported an average lactation length of 12 months for cows in Maasai pastoral area. This shorter lactation length in the current study may be due to the purposive early drying-off of cow that the herders practised.Table 13 shows that the mean (± SE) lactation length for camels was 11.25 ± 3.18 months and there were no differences among the rural kebeles. Tefera and Gebreab (2001) reported that the average lactation period of camels in eastern Ethiopia in general was one year. Tezera and Bruckner (2000) also reported that lactation length of camels in Jijiga and Shinile zones in Ethiopia was 15 and 13 months, respectively. Similarly, Baloch (2002) reported an average lactation length of 445.6 days for camels in Pakistan. The present result is also within the range of 8 months to 2 years reported for East African camels by Schwartz and Dioli (1992). As indicated in Table 14, the overall percentage of pre-weaning mortality for goats, cattle and camels was 41.7 ± 8.00, 61.7 ± 5.20 and 66.7 ± 14.70, respectively. The differences in mortality rates between the species were largely a reflection of management techniques used by the herders and the ability of each species to resist/tolerate diseases and stressful conditions. However, the percentage post-weaning mortality was lower than the pre-weaning mortality. The respective percentages of post-weaning mortality were 27.6 ± 6.60, 32.6 ± 4.40 and 23.50 ± 0.83 for goats, cattle and camels, respectively.The lower post-weaning mortality could be due to improved management provided to young animals kept in and around the homestead for up to one year of age. During this period, calves rely exclusively on wet leaves or grasses that are provided mostly by the female members of the household. The current result is also in agreement with the reports of Gebre-egziabiher et al. (1991) who indicated that with an increase in age, mortality decreased probably because of improved adaptation of animals to both climatic and nutritional factors. The overall mortality for the cattle herd was 43.7 ± 5.20. Wagenaar et al. (1986) reported that in Fulani cattle herds, pre-weaning calf mortality up to one year age was 43%, and decreased to 7.5% during the post weaning period. These high losses have invariably been attributed to poor young management practices and/or poor veterinary services. As indicated in Table 15, mortality due to diseases was the major (65%) cause of loss in all the species of animals followed by drought (15%), abortion (7%) and predators (7%). The least cause of animal death was poisoning (5%). The major cattle, goats and camel killer diseases reported by herders in the study area were anthrax, FMD, diarrhoea, blackleg, pasteurollosis, respiratory tract infections and internal and external parasites.Similarly, as a report from the Maasai pastoralist indicated, the major cause of death for young (76%) and adult (54%) goats was diseases followed by predator (11%) and physical injury (4%) (Grandin et al. 1991).  Division of labour in the household for feed collection depends on the availability of feed around the homestead. According to 89.2% of the respondents, if feed is not available in the area, it is evident that feed collection is the sole responsibility of the male members of the households. However, 10.8% of the households indicated that if there are young animals around the homestead, the task of feed collection is shared with women. In this case, women take all the responsibility to cut and carry thinnings of sorghum and maize (chinki) and to collect stover from the field to feed calves that stay around the homestead and also for other animals to feed at night when they return from grazing. This agrees with the findings of Coppock (1993) who reported that in Borana, responsibilities of women includes gathering cut-and-carry forage and hauling water for relatively immobile calves.Milk marketing is a specialized activity for female members of the household. This is similar to the reports from the Borana plateau that milk processing and marketing is under the control of women (Coppock 1994). Out of 97.5% of the households who sell milk, 58% indicated that milk and milk product marketing starts when young girls reach the age of 10 years. Regarding marketing of live animals, about 58.3% of the households indicated that it is the responsibility of both men and women, while 33.3% of the households indicated that only male members of the family are responsible for this task.The primary objective of keeping cows, camels and goats in the study area was for milk production. Fresh milk, fermented milk, whey, and butter were among the common milk products produced and consumed. However, local cheese (ayib) was not produced among the surveyed households. Culturally fermented milk is not sold; rather cow fresh whole milk, butter, camel milk and rarely goat milk are sold in the market.  As presented in Table 17, about 83% of the respondents indicated that priority is given for cow milk consumption rather than selling it in the market. This may be due to the importance of the by-products (butter and fermented milk) one gets from the processed cow milk.As presented in Table 18, the majority of the households sell whole milk (78%) and butter (67%). Some 4.2% of the respondents also reported that they sell whey. There were variations among the rural kebeles in the sale of fresh milk, butter and whey, but there was no difference in sales of products between male and female-headed households.About 22% of the households indicated that cow milk is produced and used for home consumption only. However, 78% of the respondents indicated that milk is produced for home consumption as well as for marketing. About 72% of the respondents indicated that cow milk is sold both during the dry and wet seasons. However, 8.3% of the respondents sell milk during the wet season only.Participation of the majority of the households in milk marketing shows that dairying is an important source of household income. The proportion of households that participate in milk marketing during both the dry and wet seasons was higher (P ≤ 0.05) in Hunde Misoma (93%) and Gena (86%) rural kebeles than the other rural kebeles. This may be due to the close proximity of these rural kebeles to the Asebot and Mieso markets. This result is similar with the report of Coppock (1994) in the Borena plateau who reported that only households close to markets were able to sell milk more frequently.As shown in Table 19, overall 29% and 63% of the households market only one-fourth of the milk during the wet and dry season, respectively, while the respective values for marketing 50% of the produce were 71% and 5%. A high percentage of respondents (78%) indicated that the amount of milk sale increases during the wet season. This increase in milk yield and supply to the market is mainly due to more cows calving in the wet season and increased feed availability. However, milk price decreases during the wet season due to increases in supply. According to the response of the producers, the average cow milk yield/head per day in the wet and dry season was 3.26 ± 0.07 and 1.63 ± 0.04 litres, respectively. This variation is mainly due to differences in feed supply. There is a clear indication that whenever there is excess milk in the household, farmers in the area are able to participate in milk marketing. However, respondents indicated that mostly the morning milk marketed and the evening milk is often used for home consumption. This result is contrary to the report of Coppock (1994) in Borena who indicated that out of the total milk yield, 66% is consumed at the household and 24% is sold or given to other households.As shown in Table 20, there were variations among rural kebeles in cow milk yield/ head per day in the wet season, and values ranged from 2.60 + 0.21 litres in Dire Kalu to 3.68 + 0.12 litres in Huse Mendera. The overall average cow milk production/ household per day in the wet and the dry seasons was 4.80 ± 0.22 and 2.37 ± 0.11 litres, respectively. In the wet season, significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher cow milk yield per head was estimated in Huse Mendera (3.68 ± 0.12 litres) than in Dire Kalu rural kebele(2.60 ± 0.21 litres). Cow milk yield per household in the wet season in the Welda Jejeba (6.2 ± 0.69) and Dire Kalu (5.80 ± 0.75) kebeles were higher than the other three rural kebeles.In the dry season, cow milk production per household was the lowest in Dire Kalu (1.43 ± 0.15) than in the other rural kebeles. This may be due to the relatively higher amount  Camel milk yield/head per day during the wet (7.10 ± 0.33 litres) was higher than during the dry (3.80 ± 0.20 litre) season. The average camel milk produced per household per day in the wet (13.19 ± 0.95 litres) and the dry (7.62 ± 0.82 litres) seasons also differed among the rural kebeles. The lowest camel milk produced per household was observed in Gena rural kebele. This may be due to the few number of observations or the limited pasture availability in the area. The higher milk production per household in Welda Jejeba may be due to the higher number of holdings of lactating camels. Nevertheless, there were no variations among rural kebeles in the amount of camel milk sold per household in the wet (3.61 ± 0.45 litres) and the dry seasons (2.58 ± 0.37 litres).There were seasonal differences between the amounts of cow and camel milk produced and sold. The average cow and camel milk sold per household per day in the wet season was 3.55 ± 0.28 and 3.61 ± 0.45 litres, respectively. Huse Mendera rural kebele had the highest supply of cow milk to the market in both the wet as well as the dry season than the other rural kebeles. However, there was no significant (P>0.05) seasonal variation in milk sale between male and female headed households. In the dry season, this volume decreased by 39% to 2.15 ± 0.22 and by 28% to 2.58 ± 0.37 litres, respectively. This indicates that sale of camel milk decreases at a relatively lower rate than cow milk sale during the dry season. In agreement with an earlier report of Zeleke (1998), this may be due to the fact that camels can survive and still continue to produce some milk during the dry season and have relatively longer lactation length than cows. In the study area contrary to other pastoral areas, as cow milk production per household increased, there was also an increase in milk sales. In the lowlands of Borana, whenever there was a seasonal increase in milk production in the household, there was a tendency to increase household consumption rather than milk marketing (Coppock 1994).As indicated Table 21, the amount of cow milk sold per day in Mieso was higher than in Asebot market for cow (496.57 ± 19.12 litres vs. 343.34 ± 19.22 litres), while it did not differ for camel milk (187.89 ± 19.12 litres vs. 193.28 ± 19.22 litres). This is probably due to the fact that Mieso market is more central for more rural kebeles. In addition, Mieso town is the district's capital, where there is more demand for cow milk. Personal observations and interviews with producers, farmers and pastoralists found out that cow milk is also supplied to Mieso market by pastoralists from the adjacent district of Mullu of the Somali Region. The prices of cow and camel milk did not differ between the two marketsMarketing of milk in the Mieso district was mainly a traditional type. There were two different milk outlets identified; namely traditional milk associations or groups and the producer themselves (individual seller). The traditional milk producer associations or group are locally called Faraqa Annanni. These are self-organized groups, which involve women who have milking cows and/or camels. The number of women that participate in Faraqa Annanni ranges from 2 to 10 per group. Members are organized on the basis of selling whole fresh cow and/or camel milk.From the total (n = 94) households who sell milk, only 22 (23%) were involved in the milk seller groups. This indicates that the majority of the households' sell milk on individual basis. As a result, cash income from milk sales is used to cover daily expenses.In the Faraqa Annanni (milk marketing group), members contribute an agreed amount of milk on a weekly basis and this is allocated to an individual woman on a shift basis.The woman sells the milk and the daily income belongs to her. The cycle continues until every member gets her share of the milk income. This system has several advantages.It saves time and labour (as they go to market once or twice a week depending on the group size) and it also helps the women to save money since they generate income on a weekly or monthly basis. Producers reported that the disadvantages of Faraqa Annanni is the reduction in the number of membership when cows dry up, adulteration of milk by adding of water, no risk sharing among the members if milk was not sold on a particular day, and cheating among group members by selling milk without their turn (due to absence of proper recording). Price of milk is also determined more by the consumers than the producers. Consumers influence price depending on the season. Consumers communicate amongst themselves when they come to the market before purchasing milk and dictate prices. Seasonal price fluctuations and consumer interference in price setting are the two major problems in milk marketing in the district. These problems associated with traditionally managed milk groups should be studied and solutions need to be sought to make them more efficient and effective.There were variations among the rural kebeles for not participating in milk marketing groups (Table 22). The major reason for lack of group marketing for 44%, 32% and 25% of the respondents in Hunde Misoma, Huse Mendera and Gena rural kebeles, respectively, was the small quantity of milk produced per household. For 35% of female-headed households, the relatively small quantity of milk produced hinders their participation in group marketing. The absence of organized milk marketing group was raised as a problem by all and 75% of the respondents in Dire Kalu and Welda Jejeba rural kebeles, respectively. The need for daily income from sale of milk was also identified as a reason for not participating in Faraqa Annanni by 50 and 37% of the respondents in Gena and Huse Mendera rural kebeles, respectively. About 24% of the womenheaded households also indicated that the cash need on a daily basis to cover household expenses was a major reason for not participating in group marketing. In general, 39%and 32% of the households indicated that the absence of Faraqa Annanni and the small quantity of milk produced, respectively, were the major reasons for not being involved in milk marketing group. Participation of households around the market centre is more influenced by the availability of Faraqa Annanni in their village. 1. Indicate women involved in other business and go to market every day, HH sex = Household head sex, HH = Household, (No.) = Total number of respondents, No. = Sample respondents.The average amount of milk sold by an individual (1.64 ± 0.06 litres/person per day) was lower (P<0.05) than those in a group (3.93 ± 0.18 litres/person per day). The total amount of milk sold per person per day at Mieso (3.27 ± 0.17 litres) was higher (P<0.05) than at Asebot market (1.91 ± 0.06 litres). The number of individuals who participate in a Faraqa Annanni per day did not differ between Asebot (2.94 ± 0.13) and Mieso (3.05 ± 0.22) markets. However, there was more number of marketing groups in Mieso than in Asebot.This may be due to the involvement of milk marketing groups from adjacent district of Somali Region who are predominantly pastoralists.The major constraints in milk marketing identified by the producers are insufficient amount of milk production (73%), long distance to market (38%), spoilage (19%), high cost of transport (12%) and cultural limitation (8%). As shown in Table 23, the mean (± SE) distance women travel to sell milk was 5.89 ± 0.19 km, and ranged from 1 to 12 km.The long distance to market in Dire Kalu rural kebele has reduced participation in milk marketing. Cultural taboo in milk marketing was found to be a minor problem in the district, indicating the existence of an opportunity for market-oriented dairy development in the area. In East Showa Zone of Oromia Region, Lemma et al. (2005) reported that insufficient amount of milk production per household and cultural restrictions were the most important factors that hindered milk marketing. Similarly, Alganesh ( 2002) reported that about 21% and 19% of women in eastern Wollega do not sell fresh milk due to scarcity of milk at the household and cultural restriction, respectively. Constraints in milk marketing faced by producers among rural kebeles were different.Small milk quantity was equally important in Gena, Huse Mendera, and Hunde Misoma rural kebeles, while this was less important for respondents in Dire Kalu, probably due to higher number of animal holdings per household than the other rural kebeles. Distance to market (80%), cultural restriction (20%), high transport cost (7%) and spoilage (13%)were the major constraints in Dire Kalu than in other rural kebeles.The major limiting factors for market participation can be alleviated by providing appropriate technologies for enhancing utilization of available feed resources, development of feed resources and range management system and improved animal health and reproductive management to ensure increased milk production throughout the year. Distance to the market can be dealt with by using animals or by introducing animal drawn carts for milk collection and transport from remote areas. But all these need interventions to develop infrastructure for input supply, enhanced use of animal power, capacity development and training to enhance the skills of farmers in dairy production, processing and marketing.According to the respondents, there were different challenges in dairy production in the district. These include shortage of forage and pastureland, shortage of water, security problem, access to transport, inadequate access to veterinary drugs and services, lack of improved dairy animals, unavailability of credit services, inadequate extension service and lack of knowledge and skills (Table 24). Among these problems, feed scarcity, water shortage, security problem, and limited access to veterinary services were the major problems identified by 41%, 30%, 14.5% and 8% of the household, respectively.Shortages of forages and pasture and water were equally important to 32% of the respondents in the study area. About 30% of the respondents indicated that veterinary service is a serious problem in all the rural kebeles. This is due to irregular visit by the veterinarians, shortage of experts and lack of transport. Similarly, Jabbar et al. (1997) indicated that shortage of feed and water are major problems in all traditional livestock production systems that are characterized by low input, feeding and management requirements and the use of indigenous genotypes.Security problem in the area is the most unregulated factor that has forced herders to lead  Feed shortage during the dry season is becoming a serious problem as mobility is restricted due to conflict. According to the herders, the conflict does not only limit the use of available feed resources, but is changing the production system leading to crop production by migrating to more suitable areas for crop production. In addition, camel holding is decreasing due to shrinking browsing areas and animal theft. Some of the suggestions forwarded by the farmers and pastoralists to improve animal production in the area include effective conflict resolution (100% of respondents), improving access to veterinary services (74%), training on feed conservation methods (67%), improving market infrastructure (62%), and introducing improved dairy breeds (29%).With regards to change in land use, about 82% of the respondents indicated that grazing lands have been continuously lost to crop production (Table 25). This has resulted due to the continuously increasing human population. This has resulted in overgrazing of natural pastures and land degradation. For these reasons, feed shortage has become a serious problem for animal herders. Feed shortage is critical between May and June as well as between December and February.As shown in Table 25, the major reasons for feed shortage as indicated by the respondents were lack of rainfall (100%), security problems in accessing rangelands (90%), expansion of croplands (82%) and poor feed conservation practices (43%). Lack of forage seeds (3%) was rated least by the respondents. The major feed resources are natural pasture and crop residues and these are of poor quality affecting milk production and fertility of cows.Ranjhan (1999) also reported that feeding systems in smallholder dairying are primarily based on grazing of native pasture of low productivity. This also agrees with the report of Leng (1999) who indicated that feed resources from crop residues (straw and stover)and pastures (both green and mature) are of low digestibility; and on these feed resources alone the overall productivity of animals is reduced with delayed age at puberty (often five years), extended calving intervals (often two years), low calving rates (less than 45% of the cows) resulting in a few number of dairy animals being milked at a given time, and low milk yield and short lactation length. Almost all the households in the district face seasonal shortage of feed. Sorghum and maize stover is by far the most important fodder. However, feeding patterns are partly determined by the farming system, the types of crops grown, seasonal availability of feed in the area and opportunities to purchase additional feed and feeding management.During feed shortage, dry season grazing may be replaced by the use of crop residues.For example, about 12% of the respondents purchase stover (kera), 82% use kera from their own stock and 44% use Burana (roots of grasses) (Table 26). Respondents indicated that they use own stover up to the middle of the dry season and then purchase additional feed as required. However, the last measure taken to cope up with feed shortage is either mobility or sale of animals. There has been very little effort to improve utilization of available feed resources in the district.The availability of crop residues in the dry season is closely related to the stocking system, and /or the type of crop produced (maize or sorghum). Since stover is kept as stalks open in the field (Kusa), farmers are not able to make efficient use of the resource for a longer period. The stocked feed is wasted due to weathering effect and fermentation.Based on visual assessment in the study area, most of the conserved crop residue was left unfed as it had fermented. Since maize stover could not be kept for long, it is used immediately after harvest. Sorghum stover is preferred as it could be stored for up to six months. For most households, the crop residue (stover) is likely to be finished by the middle of the dry season, and households are forced to either purchase additional feed or move with their animals in search of feed and water. The two main systems of grazing on communal land in the study area are herding around settlements and herding over long distance. During the dry season, households move with their animals on average 7 km (range from 0.5 to 40 km) in search of feed and water (Table 27). Under these circumstances, conflicts may arise among the Afar, Oromo and Somali ethnic groups due to competition for resources. There was significant (P<0.05) difference among the rural kebeles in the distance herders cover in search of feed and water. The longest distance was recorded for households in Hunde Mendera rural kebele (9.3 ± 1.27 km) and the shortest distance was observed in Gena rural kebele (4.0 ± 0.33 km). The short distance covered in Gena rural kebele may be due to the fewer number of livestock holdings per household (6.3 ± 0.53). According to the herders in Gena rural kebele, the relatively small number of animal holdings and the tribal conflict restrict their mobility and are often forced to make use of purchased feed (29%) or crop residues from their own farm (71%). The other option these farmers have during the dry season is the use of haya (mineral soil), and farmers believe that it 'replaces' the feed requirement of the animals by providing minerals and water. On the other hand, households with relatively large number of animals may have no other option rather than mobility. Similarly, Ahmed et al. (2004) reported that in Afder Zone of Somali Region, camels cover on average 8-10 km away from the homestead in search of feed and water particularly during the dry season depending on the size of the herd. There was no significant difference between female-and male-headed households in the distance herders cover in search of feed and water.Respondents indicated that they use different strategies to overcome feed shortage.Households use different feed resources depending on the season in order to make use of the available feed efficiently. The quantity and quality of feed vary over season and with the type of feeding management. Almost all the households indicated that feeding of pasture on communal land around their encampment is practised at all times. In the dry season, however, they are forced to move to other areas covering up to 40 km. During this period of critical feed shortage, animals may die due to starvation. In livestock specialized systems such as the pastoral systems in southern Ethiopia and Afar Regions, the crop enterprise is not part of the household production unit. The livestock herders are dependent on natural pasture and grazing area and to some extent on grazing crop residues in crop production systems after harvest (Ahmed et al. 2003).As presented in Table 28, about 98% of respondents indicated that the bulk of sorghum stover is available from November to January. For the period from June to August, 48% of respondents indicated that short growing season maize is available. A relatively smaller proportion of farmers (23.3%) indicated that crop residue is available between February and May. However, seasonal availability and use of crop residue for animal feed in different season differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) among rural kebeles. About 24% of the respondents in Gena rural kebele make use of crop residues all year round, which was higher than in the other rural kebeles. This may be due to the fact that these respondents purchase crop residues in addition to using feed from own sources. Burana is root of grasses taken out from the ground during land preparation or cultivation. It needs a lot of energy to pull out the long branched root from the ground. This type of feed is mostly stall fed to oxen during the cultivation period. However, only 6% of the respondents make use of this type of feed during the long dry season (Table 29). During the dry season, burana is also fed to cows and respondents believed that it increases milk yield as its water content is higher than crop residues. Chinki (thinnings of maize and/or sorghum) feeding is a major source of feed for livestock. About 74% of the respondents use chinki during the short rains season and 93% consider it as one of the most important feed resource during the long rains season (Table 30). This type of feed is used by cut-and-carry system and is primarily fed to early lactating cows and calves. However, maize and sorghum chinki is also provided to all classes of livestock in the field, depending up on availability of volume. No. = Sample respondents.There are different sources of water for livestock in the district (Table 31). According to the respondents, water sources include rivers (78% of the respondents), springs (65%), ponds (36%), shallow wells (18%), lake (7.5%), and pipe water (5%). However, the availability of these water resources depends on the season and distance from the household. Ruminants require water to maintain their body water content and for metabolism. Availability of water also affects voluntary feed intake (Coppock 1994). Mostof the water sources, except pipeline, are found about 1 to 30 km from the households depending on the season. As a result, the seasonal availability and distance of the water sources have implications on the watering frequency of different classes of livestock in the different rural kebeles. Almost all of the households indicated that watering frequency of cattle were reduced from 'every day' watering in the wet season to 'once in two days' for 79% of the households in the dry season (Table 32). In the case of camels, about 27% and 18%of the respondents water their camels once a month or not at all in the wet season, respectively. This is due to availability of adequate amount of water in the field during the wet season. However, during the dry season, about 30% of the respondents water their camels once a week and 21% once in three days. Coppock (1994) reported thatin Borana there is high degree of water restriction of cattle during the dry seasons and animals may be watered once every three or four days.The majority (92%) of respondents indicated that there is no regular visit by veterinarians followed by long distance to the veterinary clinics (65%). Tafesse (2001) reported that the poor performance of veterinary service in the lowlands is the outcome of the government-monopolized service (Table 35). Government veterinary staffs are few in number and cannot cover such a vast area to adequately address the veterinary needs of the livestock keepers. Besides, government staffs do not have adequate transport facilities, and currently the government does not have the capacity to provide veterinary service to all the households (Tafesse 2001). Therefore, training community-based paravets from the community, particularly women, could be an important intervention to ease the animal health problems. According to the respondents, mastitis (45.8%), anthrax (20.8%), pasturolosis (15%), diarrhoea (9%), Blackleg (7.5%), and FMD (5%) were the major diseases that affect cattle (Table 36). A high incidence of clinical mastitis in milking cows was observed during the course of the study. Although not determined by this study, there may as well be a high incidence of subclinical mastitis cases. This disease has received little attention so far. This disease is an economically critical disease in milking cows as it causes financial loss as a result of decreased milk yield (Morse et al. 1988). Due to limited veterinary service in the study area, the only means of treating mastitic animals were use of different traditional treatment methods such as branding, adding of salt after cutting the infected part, herbs like harmel (nods or root), wato (leaves), harinio (leaves), Buri (red root), and kenkelcha (leaves).   The IPMS project has provided training and consultation support on milk collection and marketing system through establishing marketing cooperatives, especially with the existing women milk marketing group (Faraqa Annanni). During the interviews, some producers mentioned bad previous experience with producer cooperatives during the Dergue regime that they do not have full trust in cooperative establishment.Therefore, there is need to break down the complexity of the existing situation so that the community could start to establish milk marketing cooperatives to benefit from collective marketing, input supply and other service provision.","tokenCount":"10666"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5613894225.json b/data/part_1/5613894225.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..862ea6744fbedc9004074239adc5962da5e6f002
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5613894225.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"93477f71856586905e7b13f0a39bc40f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7e3eec63-b663-49ff-bc86-3c1d50082d9a/retrieve","id":"678081007"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2d0e0a74-bbbc-45eb-bac2-9405c421ee5f","pagecount":"4","content":"ILRI's objectives ILRI will support improved control of livestock disease across sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia by providing policymakers and animal health professionals with new evidence, tools and technology that enable them to successfully address the growing and shifting burden of livestock disease under climate change. Outcomes include:• Decision makers prioritize diseases and develop and deploy effective disease control strategies based on new evidence on climate change impacts on livestock and human disease. • Tools and technical support available to countries to improve their disease surveillance and response systems in order to detect changes in disease in a timely way, thus dramatically reducing the cost of response. • No regret adaptation responses for key climate sensitive diseases in target geographies, reducing morbidity and mortality for livestock and humans. • New vaccines and diagnostics for climate sensitive diseases in the pipeline, with some ready for deployment and commercialization in 2-10 years.Animal and public health care systems in developing countries are poorly equipped to handle the increased disease burden driven by climate change. Already 20% of ruminants and more than 50% of poultry die prematurely each year, causing a loss of USD300 billion per year (Dinesh et al. 2015)  (Dinesh et al. 2015).The majority of the animal diseases most important to poor livestock keepers are climate sensitive. Changes in temperature, precipitation and humidity will vary geographical ranges of most of these diseases, cause major shifts in the distribution and prevalence of vectors, and increase the incidence and intensity of infectious disease epidemics (Heffernan 2018;Grace et al. 2015). Temperature changes will drive major shifts in tsetse distribution throughout Africa; in some geographies it will decline, in others increase (Grace et al. 2015). Increased frequency of extreme events such as El Niño will drive disease incidence; in eastern Africa, the warm phase of El Niño is associated with outbreaks of many mosquito-borne diseases including RVF (Anyamba et al. 2009).Around 60 percent of all infectious diseases are zoonotic through either contact with or the consumption of animal products and byproducts (Grace et al. 2012). Food and water-borne zoonoses can be highly climate sensitive, putting livestock keepers and other populations at increased risk (Grace et al. 2015).To prioritize, plan and implement against changes in disease burden, new analyses are needed to forecast more reliable estimates under different climate change scenarios. The effect of different futures on livestock diseases, especially on non-vector borne diseases, have received little attention. Advances in multi-variate modeling approaches, understanding of current disease distribution, regional climate projections, agricultural land cover maps, improved population maps and projections, and foresight analysis enable more systematic analysis of the dynamics of disease distribution. Key risks to assess include:  Investing in no-regret animal health adaptation responses is a win-win for livestock keepers, communities, countries and regions. Trypanosomosis, RVF and ECF are three of the most serious and most climate sensitive animal pests. There are proven disease control methods that are highly cost-effective but require investments to roll out. Investing in community-based vector control for the trypanosomosis vector, risk maps and decision-support frameworks for RVF (Oyas et al. 2018;Munyua et al. 2016) and continued roll out for the infection and treatment 'vaccination' for ECF (Perry 2016) will have benefits many times the cost. Risk maps and decision-support frameworks can also be adapted for other climate sensitive diseases.Long-term investments in new technology development, especially for multivariate and thermostable vaccines that can address multiple disease burden and remain effective in the face of rising temperatures, are needed for climate sensitive diseases important to poor livestock keepers.Utilize historical data sets, new in-field and research-station surveys and studies, and forecast modeling to conduct research in the following areas:1. Ground-truth the list of climate sensitive diseases to help policymakers, researchers and donors prioritize.2. Determine the effect of climate change on multiple climate sensitive vectors and pathogens to obtain more reliable estimates of disease burden. 2. Update recommendations and manuals on tick control based on projections of changes in prevalence and tailor them to environments and production systems.3. Update recommendations and manuals on judicious use of trypanocides to control trypanosomosis based on projections of changes in prevalence and tailor them to particular environments and production systems.. Support the roll out of community-based vector control for the trypanosomosis vector through assessments of the incentives and economic impacts of different approaches.Solution 4: Develop new disease control technologies for climate sensitive diseases, including vaccines and diagnostics tests, and strategies for their deployment.1. Develop vaccines for climate sensitive diseases important to the poor.• Continue development of the new RVF vaccine that will work for both humans and animals, opening up unique delivery pathways. • Continue development of the ECF sub-unit vaccine, currently in proof-of-concept stage with approximately five years to deployment, which will be more sustainable than the currently available technology because it is thermostable and less expensive. • Develop new multivalent vaccines that can confer immunity to multiple diseases. • Develop thermo-tolerant vaccines that do not require cold-chain.2. Develop diagnostics for climate sensitive diseases important to the poor including a rapid test kit for RVF, a diagnostic kit for cysticercosis and multiplex diagnostics for bundles of climate sensitive diseases.3. Develop use manuals for the new technologies, including how to deploy in specific production systems and within a population of animals, community of producers and countries/regions. The RVF risk maps and decision support framework have been successfully deployed in Kenya (Oyas et al. 2018;Munyua et al. 2016)  ILRI thanks all donors that globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund early warning in compliance with the WHO international health regulations; 2. Setting up long-term disease prevention and control programs in livestock such as vaccination and public education; 3. Initiating mitigating actions in response to a forecasted epidemic; and 4. Raising the suspicion index and setting up appropriate diagnostics in human health facilities to look for cases during epidemic and inter-epidemic periods (Consultative group for RVF decision support 2010).In addition to further rolling out the RVF tools, ILRI will work in partnership with national, regional and international players to adapt these tools for other climate sensitive diseases. Developed and deployed the ECF infect and treat method, with extensive and positive benefits for livestock farmers. In addition, ILRI is engaged in ongoing work on new vaccines for ECF and RVF as well as other subunit vaccines and on several disease diagnostic tools.","tokenCount":"1055"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5645165808.json b/data/part_1/5645165808.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..41ec8cd1e1eda571fd8ec27ed0516794071b38ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5645165808.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c47982f2d789f078a5b5d31a5e11d977","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a7ee558a-04f3-4de6-94a7-393e4446ba92/retrieve","id":"660639279"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af75c0cd-0a26-433a-8ad6-fafc6e3c0910","pagecount":"1","content":"• Feeding interventions could increase milk production from dairy cattle in Tanzania.• Why is adoption of these interventions so low? Seasonal variations in quantity and quality of animal feeds is a common problem in Tanzania. In most cases animals are poorly fed, hence their production potentials are not realized.A number of practical feeding interventions have been tested in different parts of the country, some showing positive results but adoption is low.To review some of the past feeding interventions and adoption status for teasing out the possible lessons learnt and strategies to be taken for improved uptake of dairy production technologies and innovationsInformation on past dairy feeding interventions were obtained from published articles in local and international journals, proceedings, grey literature including PhD thesis, MSc dissertations, research, consultancy and agricultural reports backing up with personal experience.There is not only a need to change approaches or the method of dissemination of some proven technologies to farmers, but also location-specific socio-economic conditions need to be investigated.Use of innovation platforms is being advocated for in Tanzania. ","tokenCount":"172"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5683192806.json b/data/part_1/5683192806.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a39feb2e54c8255d36e8c90fcebca3036537e18b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5683192806.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a0727ea540cf847080db3b0394467a65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cfe8bba4-ba9d-4940-ae19-ec4c1991b7aa/retrieve","id":"-1151018647"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22227537-36d1-4368-aafa-ca8af6fd1577","pagecount":"13","content":"Population growth and climate change challenge our food and farming systems and provide arguments for an increased intensification of agriculture. Organic farming has been seen as a promising option due to its eco-friendly approaches during production. However, weeds are regarded as the major hindrance to effective crop production which varies depending on the type of crop and spacing. Their presence leads to reduced yield, increase in harvest cost and lower the qualities of some produce. Thus, weed management is a key priority for successful crop production. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis from published studies to quantify possible differences on weed density, diversity and evenness in organic and conventional farming systems and best intervention for weed management in organic farming system. Data included were obtained from 32 studies where 31 studies with 410 observations were obtained for weed density, 15 studies with 168 observations for diversity, and 5 studies with 104 observations for evenness. Standard deviation of mean was obtained from the studies, log transformed using natural logarithms and the effect size pooled using standardized mean difference (SMD). Publication bias was determined through funnel plot. Results showed that organic farming has significant higher weed density (P < 0.01), diversity (P = 0.01), and evenness (P < 0.05) compared to conventional farming. Despite so, diversified crop rotation has been proved to reduce weed density in organic farming by up to 49 % while maize-bean intercropping decrease densities of Amaranthus ssp, Cyperus ssp and Cammelina ssp compared with monocropping. Use of mulch after one hand weeding was found to control up to 98 % of weeds and use of cover crop between 24 % and 85 % depending on the type of the cover crop. The study results show that organic farming encourages high weed density, diversity and evenness but use of the integrated approaches can help to maintain weed density at a manageable level.Unlike most agricultural pests, weeds are present all year around in agricultural field and require some degree of management for optimum crop yields and profitability [1,2]. Weeds not only compete for nutrients, light, and water but acts as an alternative host for crop pests and diseases (nematodes, insects, pathogens) [3]. Their impact results in reduced crop yields, quality and increase in harvest costs [3][4][5]. The magnitude of loss varies by crop, weed species, location, and farming system [6,7].Weed management remains a key priority to produce health crop and high yields [8]. Herbicides are central to the conventional approach in weed management, and this has allowed growers to reduce management priority, time, effort, and cost of managing weeds [1]. Their use has at times come with a price such as herbicide-resistant weeds, environmental damage, reduced water quality, and loss of genetic diversity [9]. Since 1960s, there have been a raise in environmental awareness on the side effect of synthetic herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer as well as consumers concern on food consumption with unacceptable levels of pesticide and herbicide [10]. As a result of this, demand for organic food to safeguard consumer health and the environment has risen [11].Despite the high demand for organic products, conversion to organic farming is associated with challenges of weeds, pests, and disease management with no use of chemicals [12,13]. Weed management is a major barrier for conversion to organic farming by many farmers [14,15]. Organic farmers struggle to get the most effective, economic, and non-chemical weed control methods that they can embrace when dealing with weed management [16]. The management practice used should not compromise the standard requirements for organic produce [11].Although growers use a combination of management practices to control weeds, differences between practices used in conventional farming compared to organic farming often vary widely in their implementation and relative importance [1]. Approaches to weed management within an organic system revolve around implementing a range of techniques, often consecutively over the course of the cropping season [17]. These management practices contribute to the variation of weed seeds in the soil which determines composition and density of the weeds [18]. Apart from the management practices, weed seed can get to the agricultural land by either wind, importation from other farms during ploughing or harrowing, use of irrigation water carrying weed seeds or use of animal manure containing weed seeds [16,19,20] (Fig. 1).Composition of the weeds is highly influenced by the farming practices and activities carried out in the farm [21]. Unlike conventional farming systems that mostly rely on use of herbicide to control weed, organic farming systems rely on tillage, crop rotation, mulching, flaming and biological or mechanical weeding in weed management [13,22]. Organic farmers use animal manure, crop residues and organic fertilizers as their main fertility inputs [23,24]. Although organic fertilizer application aims at boosting crop growth, weeds also benefit from this application [25].Reliance on non-chemical weed control methods in organic farming systems make it difficult to fully manage weeds [26]. It is always assumed that fields under organic farming systems have high weed density compared to those under conventional farming systems where there is use of herbicide that can almost clear any type of weed [27,28]. Even so, examining this in a wider geographical region can be more insightful with a review of the source of weeds into organic farming system explored. In this study, a meta-analysis to evaluate the proposition that organic farming generally results in an increase in weed density, diversity and evenness compared to conventional farming system will be used and the result linked to review on the management practices influencing weeds in organic farming systems.A meta-analysis helps to analyze and synthesize the results of several independent studies in order to examine the question of concern [29][30][31][32]. The statistical procedure allows quantitative analyses of treatment effects, and accounts for the fact that all studies Fig. 1. A conceptual approach for the management practices and biotic and abiotic factors influencing weed seeds in organic farming system. Source (Author).O. Mwangi et al. are not equally reliable. The objective of the study was to. i) Determine how organic farming practices influence weed density compared to conventional farming systems? ii) understand how organic farming practices influence weed diversity compared to conventional farming systems? iii) Find out how weed species evenness differ in organic and conventional farming system? In this case we hypothesized that organic farming systems have high weed density, weed diversity and evenness compared to conventional farming systems. From the meta-analysis we discussed practices that influence weeds in organic farming system.The meta-analysis focused on assessment of weed density, diversity and evenness in organic farming systems compared to conventional farming systems and the effective weed management practices that can be embraced by organic growers. Data compiled for the study had to show a comparison of weeds in organic and conventional farming systems. For organic farming, only those literatures where author defined as a farming system with no use of inorganic fertilizers, inorganic herbicides and pesticides were considered. Most of the articles used were those that showed more than 3 years' comparison of the two farming systems.A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies. There was no restriction on the year of publication nor the geographical region for the literature. This was due to scarce literature on this type of comparison. To obtain the required literature information, the following search string was used in the web of science and google scholar: \"(((((ALL=(organic farming)) OR ALL=(inorganic fertilizer, crop rotation, hand weeding, inter cropping, mulching, slashing, burning)) AND ALL=(conventional farming)) OR ALL= (synthetic fertilizer, mono cropping, mechanical weeding, herbicide)) AND ALL=(weeds)) OR ALL=(weed seedbank, density, diversity, composition)\". The majority of publications retrieved from Google Scholar were consistent with those obtained from Web of Science, with the majority of publications originating from Web of Science.The research was refined to the subject area's \"agriculture\", \"plant sciences\", \"biodiversity conservation\" and \"environmental sciences & ecology\". The document type was defined as \"article\". Search in the Web of Science resulted in 561 publications which were O. Mwangi et al. reduced to 212 based on their titles and abstract relevance. Finally, the full papers were reviewed. The papers included in this study were selected based on the following criteria: i) the paper compared organic and conventional farming systems and provides a quantitative result at least in one of the following: weed density, weed diversity or evenness, ii) reported sample size and error iii) weed sampling done at the end of the cropping season and, iv) paper published in English. In the end, 32 publications comparing organic farming system verses conventional farming were obtained (Fig. 2).The sample size (n > 1) was also tabulated from the information provided. These data were extracted directly from figures, tables or where values were reported within the text of the study. Data extracted as SE were converted into SDs using the following formulae SE = SD / ̅̅̅ n √ .This review adheres to the PRISMA guidelines.There was no limitation on the geographical scope of the studies. Majority of the studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were drawn from European nations, majorly from Germany, Poland and Finland with the list studies being carried out in Africa (Fig. 3). This agrees with [33]who also through a comparative meta-analysis for the biodiversity in organic farming verses conventional farming found that 80 % of the research work was done in Germany, 7 % in Asia, 6 % in North America, 5 % in Latin America and only less than 1 % in sub-Saharan Africa. This results from the high demand for organic produce in European nations, where one-quarter of the world's organic farmland is concentrated, and Germany stands as the largest market for organic produce [34].From the 32 studies, the effect size of weed density, weed diversity and evenness were obtained. The difference between organic and conventional weed density, diversity and evenness was analyzed using RStudio where organic farming system was used as the main treatment and conventional farming system as a control. Before the analysis, the data were first standardized through natural log transformation.To examine the publication bias, the funnel plot was generated using the package meta and function funnel. meta. Funnel plot assumes that studies with smaller sample size are more likely to be skewed, because they have lower statistical power. Studies in the top part of the plot (those with low standard errors), should lie closely together, and not far away from the pooled effect size. In the lower part of the plot, with increasing standard errors, the funnel \"opens up,\" and effect sizes are expected to scatter more heavily to the left and right of the pooled effect.Cochran's Q [35] and Higgins' I 2 were used to measure heterogeneity of the studies. Higgins' I 2 quantifies the percentage of heterogeneity [36] giving it a better interpretation. The significance of the Q statistics is based on the p-value of 0.1. If Q is significant, in between studies effect sizes is heterogeneous and differed among the included studies. Uncertainty in the study was quantified using 95 % confidence intervals (CI).From the \"meta\" package, the function \"metacont\" which uses inverse variance method weighting on pooling effect size was used. The summary measure used to pool the effect size was standardized mean difference (SMD) [37,38]. Standardized mean difference and the standard deviation (SD) were used to measure the weight of the effect size. Restricted maximum-likelihood estimation (REML) method was used to estimate effects between study variance τ 2 (tau). This is represented by the variance of the distribution of the true study effects under assumption that the true effect size is normally distributed. The effect size of the sub-groups i.e., weed density, weed diversity and evenness was pooled separately.In the forest plot, the central line signifies the null effect. A point on the negative side denotes a statistically significant negative Fig. 3. Distribution of publications by Countries where comparative study on weed in organic and conventional farming systems has been carried out between 1992 and 2019.effect, while a point on the positive side signifies a statistically significant positive effect. The dotted line corresponds to the mean of the combined effect, with a bullet marking the overall effect size. The grey box illustrates each study's contribution to the pooled effect size; a larger box indicates a greater contribution. Within each study, the horizontal line represents the 95 % confidence interval, with each end denoting the interval boundaries.The overall analysis of weed density had 31 studies and 410 observations. In all the observations, organic farming system indicated a significant high weed density compared to conventional farming system (SMD = 0.208, 95 % CI 0.100-0.315, P = 0.0004) (Fig. 4). Test of heterogeneity in between study was not significant (Q = 8.29, I 2 = 0.0 %, P = 1.0). The studies used to pool the effect size of weed density showed no publication bias from the funnel plot (Fig. 5).The effect size on weed diversity was obtained from 15 studies and 168 observations. The pooled effect size indicated a significant high weed diversity in organic farming system compared to conventional farming system (SMD = 0.2688, 95 % CI 0.126-0.411, P = 0.0015) (Fig. 6). Heterogeneity between studies was not significant as the Cochran's Q P-value was more than 0.1 (Q = 1.91, I 2 = 0.0 %, P = 0.9995). From the funnel plot, there was no publication bias for the studies used to pool the effect size of weed diversity in organic and conventional farming (Fig. 7).Composition of weeds within the organic and conventional farming systems did not only differ in density and diversity, but also showed a significant difference P ≤ 0.05 in their evenness. Out of 5 studies and 104 observations made, organic farming system showed significantly higher weed species evenness compared to conventional farming system (SMD = 0.164, 95 % CI 0.003-0.325, P ≤ 0.05) (Fig. 8). Between study Heterogeneity was not significant (Q = 0.35, I 2 = 0.0 %, P = 0.986). From the funnel plot there was no publication bias within the studies (Fig. 9).From the meta-analysis, it's clear that organic farming systems lead to significant high weed density, diversity and evenness compared to conventional farming systems. This comes as a result of the management practices that differ within the two farming systems. Some of these management practices include the use/no-use of herbicides, the use/no-use of chemical fertilizer, and the use/ Fig. 4. Forest plot of the weed density in organic farming system verses conventional farming system.O. Mwangi et al. no-use of long varied crop rotation. Low weed density, diversity and evenness in conventional farming system has been highly contributed by the intensive use of herbicide that aims at complete eradication of weeds, while non-use has favored high weed density, diversity and evenness in organic farming. These results agreed with a meta-analysis done by Ref. [39] where they indicated that plant density was significantly higher on organic farms than conventional farms [40]. also indicated that species richness on organic farms is on average 34 % higher than conventional farms. Similar results were also observed by Ref. [41]who observed that organic farming methods have higher species richness and density compared with conventional farming methods.Weed management remains one of the most challenging, frustrating, expensive, and time-consuming aspects in crop production faced by organic growers [42]. This challenge becomes more intense without the use of herbicide [43]. Weed management in organic farming entails a combination of management practices which includes, mechanical, biological, cultural, and preventive, these influences weed density, diversity and evenness [1,4]. Integration of this management practices, i.e., use of cultural control methods that relay on preventing weed build up through planned crop rotation, which incorporate weed management measures (e.g., cover crop, or high seed rate and intercropping) then backed up by direct means (usually mechanic or thermal), aims at weed control rather than weed eradication [13].  Although such an integrated approach provides other additional benefits, organic farmers require an understanding of crop-weed ecology for a practical application and effective weed management [44]. For effective weed management, a thorough understanding of the biology and growth habit of the target weed species is very important [45]. Moreover, because organic weed management involves interaction of biological process with soil types and climate, a single approach is not feasible [46]. Rather, growers have to be guided on a set of approaches that are specifically suited to his/her cropping system, scale of production, existing weed composition, soil and climate in a way that is flexible enough to adapt to often severely fluctuating weather conditions [47]. Any management practice that will lead to maintenance of low densities of weeds, by enhancing the competitive advantage of the crop, increasing weed seed mortality or manipulation of the soil environment to reduce the probability of weed establishment should be encouraged [11].   Compost manure from animal and plant residues are the major source of soil nutrient used by organic farmers [48]. Preparations of compost manure require skills and understanding to prevent it serving as a source for weed seeds [49]. Many growers' lack this skill thus, end up using immature compost and fresh animal manure which leading to additional weeds seeds into their farm [16,50,51]. For example, raw cattle manure may contain viable weed seeds and may spread an otherwise isolated weed infestation more broadly across the farm or, if the manure is imported from outside the farm, introduce a weed problem that previously did not exist, leading to increased weed density under this farming system [52]. For organic farmers to use compost manure they require skills on how to prepare and handle it. This helps to eliminate weed seeds and other diseases and pathogenic vectors as a result of heat generated by microbial respirations and exposure to a range of biochemical [53].Organic farmers often use crop rotation to enhance soil fertility and economic diversity as well as a tool in weed management [54]. Despite crop rotation being used as a tool in weed management, it also results to increase in weed diversity over time [55]. Crop rotation entails use of different crops at different times on the same field [56]. Through long-term variations of crop species and planting times, rotation creates a changing environment that disrupts the regeneration niche of different weed species and prevents dominance of a particular weed species [53]. When a crop with a dense, closed canopy, such as potatoes, is grown prior to growing a crop that is less competitive with weeds, the dense crop reduces the development of weeds [57]. Research done on effectiveness of crop rotation has shown that weed density at the end of the research is always lower than that in the beginning of the rotation practice [8,58,59]. For example [60], reported that Bromus tectorum (L.) density remained relatively stable when winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was rotated with oilseed rapes (Brassica napus L.), whereas the density of the weed increased rapidly when wheat was grown continuously. A meta-analysis by Ref. [56] showed that diverse crop rotations can lead to weed density decrease without decrease in weed diversity, compared to the fields where there is continuous cropping.For better implementation, knowledge is required in order to target the most sensitive stage on weed life cycle and disrupt it [11]. A well-designed crop rotation, and mostly the sequence in which they have to follow, is of great importance for successful weed management [61]. Having crops with different life cycles during the rotational practices can help in disrupting weed associated with certain agricultural conditions [62]. Use of diversified crop species helps in controlling certain weeds from dominating crop field particularly weeds that are associated with certain crops species [63]. Moreover, evaluation of crop rotation should be done regularly to determine if problematic weeds are surviving crop rotation schemes and to determine what adjustments need to be made for more effective management [64].Intercropping entails having more than two crops growing in the same piece of land at the same time where the growth of one crop does not interfere with the growth of the other [65]. Intercropping helps to increase diversity in the cropping system and enhance the utilization of resources such as light, heat and water and reduced chances of uncovered space in the farm that give room to emerging weeds [66]. This has been used as a weed management tool in organic farming system [67]. [68] noted that use of intercrop encourages high weed diversity and evenness. For better weed control in intercropping, the following factors have to be considered, plants composition, varieties, and density [69]. For example [70], found that a grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.)/fodder cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) contained lower weed densities and less weed dry matter compared with sole-cropped sorghum. Also, intercropping maize and bean has been noted to reduce soil weed seedbank of some weed species such as Amaranthus ssp, Cyperus ssp and Cammelina ssp while favoring weed species such as bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and Datura stramonium when compared with monocropping [71].Covering or mulching the soil surface can reduce weed problems by preventing weed seed germination or by suppressing the growth of emerging seedlings [72,73]. [74] recorded that application of mulching under organic farming led to an apparent reduction in both the number of weed species and weed density when compared to the use of herbicides within a conventional farming system. Mulching smothers weeds by excluding light and providing a physical barrier to impede their emergence and through allelopathic effect [75]. There are different types of mulching materials majorly from organic matter and inorganic matter; the choice of the material depends on the cost and the availability of the mulching materials [76,77]. Plastic mulches have been developed that filter out photo synthetically active radiation but let through infrared light to warm the soil [78]. These infrared transmitting mulches have been shown to be effective at controlling weeds [79]. Use of black or white polyethylene sheets as a mulch after one hand weeding was found to control 98 % of weeds [80]. Crop residues create micro-environments that provide cover for animals that feed on the weed seeds [81]. Rye mulch effectively controlled weeds owing to its allelopathic characteristics while some of the organic mulching materials released phytotoxic chemicals which prevent weed seeds from germinating [82].Organic farmers used cover crops for several benefits which includes, soil protection against erosion, improved soil structure, soil fertility enhancement, and weed suppression [83,84]. Cover crops are vigorous growing crops that are able to establish and cover the soil surface before the weeds emerge [85]. Their effectiveness mostly depends on the species of the cover crop used, its management and the targeted weed composition [86]. A cover crop helps to control weed through, prevention of weed seed emergency by hindering them from direct sunlight, out competing weeds in nutrient uptake, soil moisture and partly through allelopathic effects [66,87]. This results to a significant reduction of weeds density without reduction of diversity and evenness [88]. Prior to use of a cover crop as a tool in weed management strategies, a better understanding on the interaction effect among the cover crop features (species and growth pattern) and their management (timing and method of killing and incorporation in soil, position in the cropping sequence) in different soil, climate and weed flora conditions is important [89].Research by Ref. [87] found that rye and red clover cover crops prior to soybean and corn, respectively, suppressed weeds by an average of 24 % relative to the no crop cover system [90]. found that residues of Brassica napus incorporated into field prior to planting potatoes resulted to reduced weed density and biomass [91]. reported that soil incorporation of Brassica napus residues also reduced weed density and biomass to the crop following incorporation compared to the field that had no cover crop before. Cover crops of wheat, barley, oats, rye, grain sorghum and Sudan grass do have allelopathic effect on weeds, thus can be used effectively to suppress broad leaf weeds species [82,92]. For this reason, organic farmers who have this knowledge opts to do a continuous cropping of rye for several seasons if weeds have presented a persistent problem in the past. However, highest allelopathic effects has been recorded on cover crops such as Raphanus sativus, Fagopyrum esculentum and Avena strigosa with the best target weed species being Stellaria media which is the most sensitive weed against allelopathic effects induced by all cover crops [93].Thermal weed control is a weed control mechanism that involves the use of thermal flames to burn weeds in farms [94]. The main fuel used is liquidified petroleum gas (LPG), usually propane [95]. Weeds are killed when they come into contact with the intense wave of the heat. Fire causes the cell sap of plants to expand, rupturing the cell walls; this process occurs in most plant tissues at about 130 • F [78]. Weeds must have less than two true leaves for greatest efficiency of the burner [96]. This type of weed control method is usually cheaper compared to hand weeding, but the initial cost of the machine is very high [97]. Flame weeders can be used when the soil is too moist for mechanical weeding [98]. Before selection of thermal weeding knowledge on the type of crop is needed as they are not suitable with crops with shallow or sensitive root systems [99]. Despite flaming being an effective weed control method used by organic growers, it may also lead to increase in some weed species that their seed dormancy can be broken by the heat while as grasses may be harder to kill by flaming because their growing point is below the ground [100].Hand and mechanical weeding are also used to control weed by organic farmers. This is one of the most effective weed control methods [101]. In many parts of the world, majority of smallholders use hand hoe to control weed [102]. Despite being effective, it is also labor intensive and time consuming [103]. This has led to innovations on weeding mechanization using harrowing, torsion finger weeder and compressed air weeding in some European countries [104]. Tillage methods involves burring weeds into the soil, uprooting, and tearing them into pieces thus reducing density and destroying weeds seedbank [105].Tillage is one of the most common weed management practices done by organic farmers. Use of different tillage equipment influences soil weed seedbank size and composition [106] due to different depth distribution within the soil profile [107]. This affects weed emergency at different seasons and their population within the field [108]. [109] noted that weed emergency was greatest for seeds buried at 1 cm and decreased for seeds buried at 3 cm [110]. found that seedling emergence of common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus L.) was greatest from depths of 0 and 1 cm and no seedlings emerged from 5 to 10 cm depths. Tillage may increase germination of some seeds by mechanisms such as exposure of buried seed to light, aeration of soil, increased soil temperature, soil-seed contact and removal of plant canopy and release of soil-bound volatile inhibitors [111,112].Despite weeds challenges in organic farming systems, this approach offers a multitude of benefits compared to organic farming system to the ecosystem. The main aim of organic production to ensure health food production without compromise to the biodiversity [113]. Organic farming helps to reduce environmental pollution emanating from agrochemical thus, safeguarding ecosystems and human health, while also fostering greater biodiversity, resulting to a healthy ecosystem [114,115]. Organic farming practices further enhance soil health through techniques like crop rotation and organic matter utilization, making soils more resilient to weed pressure [116]. Organic systems exhibit resilience to climate change due to improved soil health and biodiversity and promote local adaptation using regionally suited crop varieties and traditional practices [117,118].From the meta-analysis it is clear that organic farming leads to an increase in weed density, diversity, and evenness. This is the major hindrance to slow adoption of organic farming by many farmers. Despite so, some organic farming practices may lead to reduction of weed density without necessary influencing diversity and evenness. But lack of proper skills and knowledge on the effective weed management tools to use by farmers has resulted in weeds being ever-present in organic farms. To achieve an effective weed management practice, the farmer must be well knowledgeable on the management practice he/she has to embrace. For this to be achieved, a combine effort from advisors and farmers is needed to come up with individual farm analyses to design site-specific solution may it be in crop rotation, intercropping, use of cover crop and other management practices that will lead to weed reduction. If the farmers can establish the best suite management practices based on knowledge of weed species characteristic and interception point this can help to reduce weed to a manageable level.","tokenCount":"4770"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5686388349.json b/data/part_1/5686388349.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fffae202fa8dc28b90543bae92123cda2a119b8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5686388349.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d45b1510769be45cf78077eb8afed74","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a5be7f43-6728-440f-9cf8-706d4831c467/retrieve","id":"340488364"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f813f219-31f7-4116-b594-2f106eee886c","pagecount":"10","content":"Incomes for the Rural Poor Summary CRP 2 focuses on a number of highly relevant topics related to the CGIAR's systemlevel objectives of food security and poverty reduction. These include global policies; investment strategies; strategic foresight and futures scenarios; system-wide priority setting; macroeconomic and international trade; institutional innovations to improve market performance, governance, and social protection policies. Many of these complement the other CRPs by being cross-country, multi-commodity, cross-sectoral, or cross-ecosystem. The proposal presents a comprehensive program around three major themes: (1) policies and investments for pro-poor growth, (2) enabling institutions and governance for the poor and (3) value chains linking smallholders to markets. The three themes each have several sub-themes, and the sub-themes together include over 60 proposed research activities. The CRP is a very ambitious and wideranging proposal in terms of scope of inquiry. Much valuable work central to the CGIAR's core business will be carried out under this CRP, and, as such, it constitutes a critical component of the CGIAR program portfolio.While some of CRP 2's themes and sub-themes are coherent, innovative and well specified, a clear focus on the major problems and opportunities to be addressed is lacking. 1 Indeed, the overall content of this CRP may have been much more sharply focused had the proponents started by identifying major problems and opportunities within the framework provided by the SRF. The relative importance of poor policies, neglected investments, inadequate institutions, and inefficient markets in constraining the achievement of the CGIAR's goals in a diverse array of developing countries, and the potential of the CGIAR through this CRP to successfully address those constraints, should be the overarching framework for the proposal.Although some elements of a strategic framework exist within the proposal, it is not coherently presented. A better articulated strategic framework would clearly lay out, within the context of the key problems and opportunities for research, the comparative advantage of the CGIAR and the most important International Public Goods (IPGs) related to policies and institutions. Hardly any mention is made of alternative suppliers in a field where there are many high quality suppliers and yet this is essential in deciding where and how much to invest. What does the R&D landscape look like in this broad area and where are the gaps? For example, does the CGIAR have any comparative advantages in research on technologies for renewable energy use (a new activity in Theme 1), or in the financial services area (Theme 3)?The question then is whether the restructured CGIAR approach to policy-oriented research as proposed in this CRP is an improvement on the past, and is indeed the best way to further the system-level objectives? The research program does not indicate how it will draw on the complementary roles and intellectual assets of IFPRI and the crop-and resources-based Centers-a central pillar of the SRF document. The way that Centers will partner in this proposal needs to be made more explicit, in order to see the potential value added from the new CRP. In addition, the roles of the ARIs and NARS research partners are often not well articulated.The proposal does have many elements of a solid program. Its themes and sub-themes are comprehensive and most seem to be appropriate. Gender perspectives are strong throughout the proposal and well developed. A number of the sub-themes, and a number of activities proposed in other sub-themes are innovative, especially in Theme 3 on linking smallholders to markets. However, the overall impression is one of ‗business-as-usual'. It is the view of the ISPC that the program as presented is too large, insufficiently focused and includes a number of activities that could be eliminated. Greater focus would also enable the CRP to present a more coherent and compelling program.Only scant information is given in the sub-themes and research activities about outcomes and impact pathways. While new knowledge is sometimes the main constraint to more effective policies and institutions, it is frequently more about incentives, politics and vested interest, among other things. The proposal seems to assume key clients are ready and waiting for the CRP's outputs-that is, strong demand characterizes this marketplace. In fact, one of the biggest challenges in achieving uptake of the outputs of policy research is to first ensure (or cultivate) a demand for and realization of the usefulness and value of such outputs to policy makers and their advisors. The inclusion of a sub-theme on policy processes is a welcome addition to better understanding impact pathways in this challenging area.In terms of scientific quality, the proposal rests on the well established reputation of the main proponent, IFPRI, as strong selling point. Yet, it pays insufficient attention to scientific underpinnings of some sub-themes and activities (especially for challenging new activities), and does not discuss any mechanisms to ensure scientific quality. Its innovation strategy focuses on methods and data sources that are fairly standard in social science research. Importantly, there is no -data strategy‖ that would leverage economies of scale and scope across its research activities and thereby contribute to high payoff IPGs.The ISPC recommends that CRP2 be resubmitted after substantial revisions, taking into account the detailed commentary, but focusing in particular on:  Identification and elaboration of key problems and opportunities for research on specific agricultural and rural development policies, investments, institutions and markets that offer greatest scope for measurable progress towards CGIAR goals;  Further development of a strategic framework that encompasses, inter alia, clearer articulation of priorities and rationale for them-across and within sub-themes, an assessment of alternative research providers and CGIAR comparative advantage, and a clear focus on production of well-defined and high priority IPGs;  Application of the strategic framework to develop a more focused and coherent research program around major constraints and opportunities;  More specific elaboration of the key outcomes and impacts being targeted by subthemes or activities, and the impact pathway narratives for those; Further elaboration of the specific roles and synergies of IFPRI and other CGIAR and non-CGIAR partners working together (over existing arrangements).Three These questions argue for more attention to priority setting. There is no reference to any systematic priority setting process, and there are only weakly justified references to priorities within each sub-theme. Priorities are indicated in a general manner (by placing the highest priority sub-themes and activities in front) but the rationale and logic are not explicit. An analysis of regional priorities is missing for the overall proposal, although for some specific sub-themes and research activities, there is an indication of regional targeting.Although the preface suggests that business as usual is not an option, the overall structure closely mirrors that of IFPRI's programs and this conveys the impression that the proponents were unable to get beyond current activities of the CGIAR. Indeed, the overall content of this CRP may have been much more sharply focused with many elements eliminated had the proponents started by identifying major problems and opportunities within the framework provided by the SRF (limited as it is). Based on the SRF one might have structured CRP 2 around a major problem set defined by food security and poverty reduction (MDG1). Although many of the core elements are in the proposal, the overall strategic framework is weakly articulated, and the sub-themes within each of the three themes are often not logically connected to the theme. For example, social protection is under Theme 1, and policy processes now in Theme 1 would fit better in Theme 2 on governance.Admittedly, the CRP is initially constrained by the current work program and special project funding. However, at a minimum the CRP should lay out a vision of where it wishes to be in five years' time. Glimpses of this vision of new and exciting work are apparent in places but too infrequently to change the perception of business as usual.The most innovative activities address key unresolved questions, such as social protection (necessary to reach many of the rural poor that cannot be helped via agriculture); policy processes (necessary to achieve policy and institutional impact of research); institutions to strengthen the assets of the poor; and impact evaluation methods for coordination within value chains (an important virgin field).Above all, the proposal needs more focus: 62 -research activities‖ in total are described, each with a paragraph or two devoted to them. Indeed, several issues seem to be repeated across themes-decentralization, extension, input supply, and regulatory services, for example. Theme 1 suffers from having to mop up everything that does not fit elsewhere and this is evident in the all-embracing and rather contorted objective corresponding to this theme:-Improved forecasting, public resource allocation, and policy options for research and investment and to build capacity for priority setting, sequencing, targeting, implementation, and decision making focused on increasing agricultural productivity and enhancing rural incomes‖ (p. 3) With respect to thematic choice and focus, Theme 1 is an essential area in which IFPRI has a record of achievement, but includes a wide variety of seemingly disconnected sub-themes, which buries some highly relevant new proposals. Theme 2 is more convincing and generally consistent with CGIAR comparative advantage and most activities would not fit well in other CRPs. Theme 3 which emphasizes the demand side of agricultural growth (so often neglected in the CGIAR) has a number of interesting researchable topics but contains a huge portfolio-many projects beg the question of comparative advantage of the CGIAR.Some explicit attention is given to the IPG nature of research in various sub-themes and research activities, but in many cases this is not obvious. More explicit attention to the types of research products that will produce IPGs is needed.Finally, there is no analysis in the proposal of alternative suppliers of research. Indeed, considering what the alternative research providers are doing would have led to a much tighter set of research activities, and especially sub-activities. This lacuna is especially apparent in sub-theme 1.2 on macro-economic, international trade and nonagricultural policies affecting agriculture and rural development, where many topics are being capably pursued by other global and regional organizations and institutions.It is not possible to determine from the proposal whether the planned outputs are feasible and appropriate relative to the resources and timeframe. The proposal is quite variable with respect to providing adequate narratives, sound justifications and explicit delivery foci across the sub-themes and research activities, and in many cases they are not convincing. Much of the proposal reads as a series of studies without identifying the main users and pathways to reach those users, or even the products that are likely to have the major IPG elements.The proposal rightly recognizes that high quality research outputs alone are not enough to achieve impact; they must be taken up and used (p. 80). More attention, therefore, should be given to this dimension when describing the sub-themes and how the results of research enter the policy making process. Indeed, a fuller treatment and discussion of the way research feeds into policy, which has been the subject of much debate and thoughtful analysis, would be very pertinent to this CRP. 2Table 10.2 provides a sample of outputs, outcomes and impacts (only initial propositions) from CRP 2 and is a good first step in developing an impact assessment framework. It will be critical to elaborate in more detail the ways and means of moving from outputs (which have a relatively higher probability of success) to outcomes (a much lower probability of success), and ultimately to impacts (even lower probability of success). What are the challenges therein, who are the key players and what strategies will the CRP adopt? The question remains: how to ensure effective demand for CRP 2 products and a high likelihood of uptake? In most cases it would be useful to conceptualize this by starting with the desired outcome, e.g., improved extension systems in target countries (sub-theme 1.3) and working backwards to describe the critical research outputs from one or more activities and the factors that need to be in place in order to realize that outcome.The proposal recognizes the key role of partnerships in delivering along the pathway. Three ‗impact pathways' (Fig. 10.1) are described (informing policy researchers, influencing international development community, and influencing government policy), but in fact most CRP 2's outputs target a broad clientele rather than providing a full output-outcome-impact pathway. The issue is whether there will be genuine buy-in from those who need to take on board the research-derived information to turn them into outcomes. It is essential that the proposal spells out clearly the impact pathways-linkages between outputs, outcomes, and impacts-not only at the program level but especially at the sub-theme level. The best treatment of these subjects is in the description of sub-theme 2.2 on collective action and property rights, which presents a more detailed narrative on the research strategy, the multiple pathways through which outcomes and impacts are pursued, and the types and scale of expected outcomes. Most other sub-themes list outputs, outcomes, and partners, but few articulate strategies for ensuring that outputs will be used or -theories of change‖ indicating how use of outputs is expected to achieve outcomes and impacts.2 In her classic article on the many meanings of research utilization, Weiss (1979) drew attention to the complexity of the impact pathway, and conceptualized research use in the context of the policy making process. Alternative routes of influence were identified ranging from direct application of research results taken up by policy-makers (-knowledge-driven‖ and -problem-solving‖ models) to more partial and indirect influence (-interactive‖, -political‖ and -tactical‖ models) to cases where research generates findings that may even run counter to prevailing opinion (the -enlightenment‖ model). The problem-solving model is probably the prevailing imagery of research utilization but it is not unreasonable to assume that this model of research describes a relatively small number of cases. The political and enlightenment models are often the most common routes of influence, when they occur.The Country Strategic Support Programs (CSSPs) mentioned in Table 4.1 are a promising vehicle for lifting the CRP profile at the country level, staying close to the issues and facilitating the research and delivery of results in the developing world. More might have been said about the extent to which these have helped improve the uptake of IFPRI policy recommendations to date. 3 At the global level, the CGIAR needs to strive to get their voice heard in places like Davos, G20 meetings, and other global fora and this is the CRP that should lead that effort.Gender perspectives are strong throughout the proposal and well-articulated. The capacity development strategy, emphasizing collaborative research partnerships to enhance relevance and uptake, is sound.Based on the limited descriptions and citations in the proposal, it is hard to assess the quality of the science proposed. It is rarely addressed, except by some reference to specific methodologies and types of data to be used. Some of these have been listed in the proposal and include advanced econometric methods, model-based simulation analyses, strategic foresight assessments, social network analysis, value-chain analysis, qualitative analyses, participatory action research, experimental approaches and randomized controlled approaches, and gender and intra-household analysis. For the most part, they appear to be appropriate. Innovative elements are most apparent in Theme 3 on value chains. For some new topics, e.g., addressing constraints to policy changes and political economy of agrarian change and relations (Theme 1), insufficient attention is paid to the basic theoretical framework that will be needed to make progress in this challenging area.In terms of the quality of the research teams and leadership, IFPRI's reputation is well known and highly regarded and they continue to publish and plan to publish in respected economic and development journals. There is some capacity for policyrelated research at a number of other CGIAR Centers, and the ARI partners have particular strengths and expertise as well.The absence of a clear data strategy has long been a problem for the CGIAR in general, and for IFPRI in particular. The new CRP is an opportunity for the CGIAR to articulate and implement a data strategy that will support the emergence of datasets that are IPGs, and realize economies of scale and scope for CRP2 and for the CGIAR in the longer run. Some good examples exist in the program such as the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators that could be highlighted. Sub-theme 2.3 on institutions to strengthen assets for the poor is an example of a research agenda that would benefit from continuous panel data collection to analyze the consequences for managing food security, risk and vulnerability.Subthemes 1.1 (Strategic foresight) treats big picture issues that are well suited to a global approach and of broad interest within the CG and beyond. Much of the work will be valuable for formulating future CGIAR SRF and priorities and should be a high priority for the CGIAR. Still, one would like to see a stronger effort to reach out to crop scientists, and to other sectors such as energy and forests that are increasingly connected to agriculture.Sub-theme 1.3 on production and technology policies with 13 diffuse topics needs a much sharper focus on the key research questions and a stronger justification for its relatively large budget ($13.2 m). Concerns are: a) the research targets are very diffuse and poorly defined, such as the work on germplasm exchange; b) the rationale for a focus on policies to promote greater attention for new and underutilized species (p. 20) is not strong given that such work tends to be location-specific and difficult to scale up with very few success stories; c) the key policy questions to be addressed in projects relating to renewable energy and energy efficient agriculture are not articulated; d) the rationale for including work on sustainable natural resources management and carbon sequestration in this CRP is not provided; e) no attention is given to seed systems, a major constraint on productivity growth in many poor countries; f) the use of nano-technology to improve agriculture in low-income developing countries seems like a long-shot. What specific examples of success do we have for use of nano-technology for agriculture in highly developed countries?While Sub-theme 1.4 (social protection policies) is a topic of the highest importance, there are numerous other academic, think-tank and R&D organizations deeply involved in this broad area of development. To gain from CGIAR's comparative advantage, this sub-theme should focus more on links to agriculture.Sub-theme 1.6 (policy processes) should be given high priority, as it is very relevant in terms of enhancing the rate of success in moving from outputs to outcomes. It should be made clear how the CRP will engage partners to bring new skills and thinking in this important area. The budgets for this sub-theme and sub-theme 1.5 (which are new) do seem high given the risks involved.Sub-theme 2.3 on ‗institutions to strengthen the assets of the poor' lays out a highly interesting and very important development agenda, but its link to agriculture development is more tenuous. It remains to be seen to what extent and where the CGIAR with a budget of only $6.7m should enter an already crowded field.Theme 3 (markets), even though a traditional area of IFPRI research, provides good descriptions and rationale for importance and value of this research in introduction, methods, research questions, partnerships, and impact pathway sections. This theme is well articulated, and hence convincing even if overly ambitious. Research under this theme will need to be designed within the context of highly diverse and increasingly differentiated value chains (low value vs high value commodities, for example)The discussion of partnerships (p. 67-69) is thoughtful, well-conceived and rightly emphasizes the fundamental importance of partnerships, both strategic and boundary:-the selection of partners will receive particular attention in CRP 2 because achieving the most impact with our work will require us to get this right from the very beginning‖ (p. 69). The ISPC endorses that perspective and believes it will be essential that IFPRI and other CGIAR Centers develop an explicit strategy for identifying and engaging the right partners in the most appropriate way, with codecision making responsibilities and adequate funding. Real ownership by partners requires their upfront involvement and since the proposal is still in a formative stage (considering various ‗candidates' for partners), it must rapidly transform this from a currently IFPRI-oriented program to a truly joint program with other Centers, ARIs, NARS. It does appear that some of the core partners were engaged in the strategic and research planning but the mechanisms that will be used to allocate funds to partners are not discussed in the proposal, nor are their financial and in-kind contributions.Linkages between the CRPs in the policy area are complex, but these are described for six of the CRPs where the intersection with CRP 2 is expected to be significant (nicely summarized in Table 7.1), and the proposed iterative approach via learning by doing is a sensible way to go. In due course, the rationales for demarcation between CRPs and ways in which synergies can be achieved should be spelled out.One of the main challenges for the CRP will be to develop good working relationships, incentives, and commitment on the part of diverse partners whose organizations have different goals, priorities, and cultures, and who are likely to be operating under severe resource constraints.Within this program, Theme 3 is likely to be the most challenging in this regard, because there are more, and more diverse, partners from the CGIAR and outside, and the individuals involved represent a greater diversity of interests and organizational cultures. This is also an area in which a natural leadership role for the CGIAR is not clear. Bringing these activities together into a coherent program will be challenging but offers considerable potential benefits, in terms of synergy, knowledge sharing, learning, and the production of IPGs.The proposal rightly emphasizes the critical importance of effective communications (p. 74-76), internal and external, in diverse channels for realizing success/impact, particularly important for policy related outputs.Given its mission and the fact that approximately 80 percent of the budget for CRP2 derives from IFPRI, it makes sense for IFPRI to be the lead Center. As such, it will provide a range of financial and management services to the CRP, provide accountability to the Consortium, and serve as -home‖ for the Director and the program's management unit.The proposal is rightly cautious about creating a management structure that is any larger or more bureaucratic than it considers acceptable, but goes on to acknowledge that initial assumptions about relying on the capacity of participating Centers to implement certain proposal activities as cross-Center teams may need to be revisited.The management structure begs the questions of the incentives for the Centers to relinquish authority in the interests of creating alignment and efficiencies in the management of critical CRP-level functions. There is little evidence to support the hopeful scenario that Centers will collaborate in promoting the accomplishments and resource requirements of the CRP. Further, the management plan does not give any indication how other Centers will be involved with program management. Will they have representation on the Management Team? Can scientists from other Centers, NARS, or ARIs be a Research Theme Leader?While it seems logical that IFPRI would host the program and be accountable to the CGIAR Consortium Board for its execution, its prominent role in establishing and implementing management policies and in conflict resolution may undermine the incentives of other potential partners and their commitment to the program, on the grounds that -it is dominated by IFPRI.‖ The heavy concentration of management within the lead Centre has been recognized by the Consortium Board and the ISPC is pleased to note that a more inclusive management structure is expected to be presented to the Fund Council (submission letter of CB Chair 3 March 2011).A monitoring plan will be developed under each sub-theme, which will include milestones for activities, outputs and networking to facilitate the uptake of project outcomes. The milestones will provide the basis for evaluations of the use of project outputs and their influence.This CRP has a Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) similar to that of CRP7. Because the SAP is appointed by the lead Center's Board of Directors, the question of independence remains. Assuming that issue can be resolved, the SAP provides a reasonable approach for building into the CRP an independent body to advise the program, review and approve priorities and requests for funding, and act as a first line reviewer of the program's effectiveness in terms of strategy and results. This is particularly true given the overwhelming level of investment that IFPRI will have in the program compared to other CG Centers and its role as lead Center. However, the proposal is not clear about where the authority to commission independent or external evaluations resides. It is one thing for IFPRI to be legal fiduciary; it is another for it to play an immediate oversight role in the face of potential for conflicts of interest.Very little information is provided to evaluate whether the budget is appropriate, and expenditures for subthemes 3.1 and 3.2 are missing from Table 13.2. It also unclear why expenditures by CRP partners have large differences among CG Centers with comparable mandates (e.g., ICARDA versus ICRISAT or CIAT). Likewise, IRRI, CIFOR and Africa Rice do not appear in any budget although their policy related research needs to be linked to CRP2.","tokenCount":"4188"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5691335779.json b/data/part_1/5691335779.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f0780fd391d41ac98d187bfbeaea912d3b554d0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5691335779.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec570200ef987959e1895692dc827e89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9cf581c2-4f4c-489b-a004-d393c9c0e31f/retrieve","id":"1064920694"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7526cee4-e474-4b82-945f-3d7bfb804f32","pagecount":"7","content":"THE TRADITIONAL ox-drawn Ethiopian plough (maresha) has been modified by ILCA for use in the construction of terraces for soil conservation and for making raised broadbeds and furrows to facilitate surface drainage on heavy clay soils. The two resulting implements are described in this paper. The preliminary results from their on-station and on-farm testing are also reported.The terracing plough has slightly lower power requirements than the maresha, while the broadbed maker requires about 50% more power than the traditional plough. The modified implements can be drawn by a pair of light (250 kg) zebu oxen. The costs of the modifications are approximately US$ 5 for the terracing plough and US$ 25 for the broadbed maker. Both implements can be made and maintained by village craftsmen.Three cultivation passes with the terracing plough are needed to establish 4-m-wide, level terraces on land with 8% slope. Raised broadbeds (20 cm high and 120 cm apart) and furrows can be made at a rate of 0.4 to 1.2 ha/ox-pair working 7 hours a day, depending on the required uniformity of the beds and the moisture status of the soil. The broadbed and furrow (BBF) technology facilitates weed control and enhances surface drainage on heavy clay soils, which in turn results in better crop growth. The yields of traditional lines of bread wheat and teff grown on drained farmers' fields were about 80% and 25% higher respectively than those obtained on traditionally cultivated, fiat land. Results from on-farm trials indicated that making BBFs with the ox-drawn broad-bed maker requires considerably less human labour (16 hours/ha) than the traditional method of making BBFs by hand (60 hourslha).In the Ethiopian highlands, cultivated almost exclusively using animal power. The traditional wooden plough (maresha; Figure 1) has a pointed metal tine fitted to a handle and held by a metal hook suspended from the beam of the plough on an adjustable leather strap. The hook supports two flat, wooden wings, one on each side of the implement, and both wings are attached to the beam with a steel pin. The maresha disturbs the soil, lifts it and turns it equally on each side of the plough, leaving a narrow furrow and two small ridges behind.Most highland farmers own a maresha, but only about one-third of them own two oxen (Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, unpublished data). The majority enter into one or more of the traditional renting and exchange agreements for draught oxen in order to be able to cultivate their land. To help relieve this draught-power constraint, ILCA developed a yoke and harness and a modified version of the traditional plough that can be drawn by a single ox. The modified maresha has been described by Gryseels et al (1984) and its on-farm performance reported by Gryseels and Jutzi (1986). This paper reports on two further modifications to the maresha, which allow controlled soil movement. The first, the terracing plough, shifts soil to one side only when ploughing. The second, the broadbed maker, shapes the topsoil into broadbeds and furrows, thereby improving the drainage of surface water on heavy clay soils. Both implements have been developed by ILCA's Highlands Programme which is based at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.A detailed description of both the terracing plough and the broadbed maker is given below. Their potential use and impact on soil and water conservation, crop yields and farm-level labour economy are discussed on the basis of on-station and on-farm verification trials carried out in 1985 and 1986.The terracing plough (Figure 2) is made by replacing the two flat wings of the maresha with one wooden, mouldboard-shaped wing which can be shifted from one side of the beam to the other without detaching it from the implement (reversible wing). The light tip of the wing is reinforced with a flat steel sheet and there are two metal rings passing through it, which attach the wing loosely to the handle of the plough. The rings are made of iron rods. The mouldboard wing is fixed to the beam with the same metal pin used in the traditional maresha.The wing can be moved from one side of the beam to the other by pulling out the metal pin, swinging the wing underneath the beam to the other side and fixing it again with the pin. Thus the plough does not need any further modification to function as a reversible plough. The reversible wing can be fitted to the traditional plough in about 3 minutes.The materials used to modify the maresha into a terracing plough include a 40 x 5 cm metal sheet of about 4 mm thickness, two 7-cm bolts, an 80-cm-long iron rod (10 mm in diameter) with two welding points, and about 3 kg of hardwood, preferably of acacia, for the mouldboard wing. The total cost of the materials is about US$ 5. The terracing plough is operated in the same way as the traditional plough, with only one exception: the wing must be reversed at the end of each pass in order to shift the soil to one side only. The reversal of the wing takes about 20 seconds.The animal power needed to pull the implement was determined using the method described by Abiye Astatke et al (1986). The force developed by each pair of oxen was measured with a portable battery-powered dynamometer 1 consisting of a load cell inserted between the yoke and drawbar of the plough and a digital indicator connected to the load cell by a cable. The minimum and maximum force (kN) over 20 m and the time taken to travel the distance were recorded for a series of passes. The working heights of both the yoke and the implement hitch and the length of the draught chain were measured, and the force parallel to the ground was calculated. Power consumption was established by multiplying the actual force developed (kN) by speed (m/sec).1 Supplied by Novatech Measurements Ltd, UK.Average power consumption for the third pass with the traditional maresha is 660 ± 112 W (Abiye Astatke and Matthews, 1982). The power needed to make the third pass with the terracing plough is 534 ± 110 W (Jutzi, unpublished data), which is about 80% of the power requirement of the traditional plough. The terracing plough has a lower power requirement than the traditional plough because it penetrates less deeply when shifting loose soil to one side.An average of 3.3 passes were sufficient to establish 4-m-wide, level terraces on a clay-loam field with 8% slope. The borders of the terraces (about 30 cm high) were stabilised with rows of Sesbania sesban. In a 7-hour work-day, one ox-pair prepared 1911 ± 298 m 2 of finished terraces on this slope. Monitoring work on 22 terraces (420 m long), it was found that one oxpair can cover about 1 ha in 5 days, which is comparable to the time spent in cultivating the same amount of land with the traditional plough. The terraces reduce soil loss and conserve water by slowing and reducing runoff. More stable crop yields can be expected immediately due to increased water availability, and in the longer term also due to soil and fertility conservation, especially when leguminous browse species are used to stabilise terrace borders.Plant growth on deep black clay soils (Vertisols, black cotton soils) is reduced by waterlogging (Kanwar et al, 1982;Ryan and von Oppen, 1983;Haque and Jutzi, 1984), which is especially serious in areas with high annual rainfall. To overcome this constraint, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) carried out experiments with different systems of surface soil drainage and developed an effective but expensive animal-drawn toolbar with various attachments (ICRISAT, 1985;1986). Low-cost devices are, however, essential for the successful adoption of improved land management practices in the subsistence farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa, where Vertisols account for 97 million ha of land. ILCA therefore developed a broadbed maker based on the traditional maresha, using cheap and widely available materials for the modifications.The broadbed maker is made from two local ploughs whose main beams are shortened to about 90 cm and fitted in a simple wooden frame (Figure 3). The flat wings of the traditional ploughs are replaced by four mouldboard-shaped wooden wings, comprising two large centre wings throwing earth inwards to create the broadbed and two smaller wings pushing earth to the outside. To facilitate operation, the two handles are joined with a wooden beam. The total weight of the broadbed maker is about 30 kg, depending on the type of wood used for the connecting beams and the wings. In contrast, the traditional maresha weighs approximately 20 kg. The cost of the modifications on the broadbed maker is about US$ 25 for 8 bolts, an 8-m long wooden pole and 8 kg of hardwood for the four wings.Power requirements for the broadbed maker are higher than those for the maresha (O' Neill and Howell, 1986). The power needed for both implements was determined in a comparative study by measuring the force in the draught chain (using a standard Novatech load cell), the angle of pull (using a Ferranti potentiometric clinometer) and the forward speed (using a Dickey-John radar velocity sensor). In a well-worked field, the average power consumption of the maresha was 398 ± 61 W (17 observations), while the broadbed maker consumed 634 ± 81 W (13 observations). The power requirement of the broadbed maker was considerably less than the power (about 800 W) that can be developed by a pair of light (250 kg LW) local zebu oxen hitched to the implement by a rigid neck yoke.A pair of oxen drawing the broadbed maker can prepare between 0.4 and 1.2 ha of BBFs per day, depending on the number of passes made and the moisture and tilth status of the topsoil. Normally two passes are required in order to provide a uniform shape to both the broadbed and the furrow. A chain attached to the two centre wings acts as a simple harrow and provides uniformity in surface tilth.The better drainage due to the BBF technology increases crop growth. This was demonstrated in a series of on-farm verification trials conducted with bread wheat (8 participating farmers) and teff (15 participating farmers) at Debre Zeit, central Ethiopian highlands, in 1985. In these trials, the grain and straw yields of bread wheat grown on raised broadbeds were 78% and 56% higher respectively than those obtained on traditionally cultivated plots. Teff (Eragrostis teff) which is an important Vertisol crop relatively tolerant of waterlogging, produced 25% and 23% higher yields of grain and straw respectively when planted on drained plots. The potential impact of this low-input technology on food production in Ethiopia, which has 8 million ha of Vertisols in the high-rainfall highland areas, is considerable.The broadbed maker is currently being tested in extended on farm verification trials on the Inewari plateau in northern Shewa and in other Vertisol areas in Ethiopia. At Inewari, broadbeds and furrows are traditionally made by hand, with a labour input of about 60 hours/ha. When the broadbed maker was used (operated by a single operator), the human labour input for making BBFs was reduced to 16 hours/ ha. Under the traditional system, total labour inputs for land preparation, seeding and surface drainage are about 120 hours/ ha, compared with 75 hours/ha for the broadbed maker. This represents a 40% increase in labour productivity, assuming that crop yields are the same for both systems. Early indications in mid-1986 were that plots cultivated with the broadbed maker would outyield the traditionally cultivated plots, because of the greater uniformity of the BBFs.The broadbed maker can also be used as a toolbar. Two prototypes of attachments to the broadbed maker are currently under testing:A blade harrow consisting of a metal blade mounted between the tines and supported with an extended bolt at the center-rear of the frame. This implement cuts the soil uniformly some 5 to 10 cm below the surface, thus disturbing and killing most weeds. In addition to reducing substantially the power and time inputs needed for Vertisol cultivation, the blade harrow will enable permanent BBFs to be created, with only surface cultivation needed each year to control weed regrowth. The cost of the blade attachment is about US$ 7.The second attachment is a row planter mounted on the rear section of the broadbed maker. It has a rotary seed agitator driven by a star-wheel which runs on one side of the broadbed maker on the adjacent broadbed. The prototype has two hoppers, one for seed (compartmented for simultaneous planting of intercrops) and one for fertilizer. The planter can plant 1 to 6 rows on a broadbed with 70 cm top width. Metering discs under the rotary agitator allow planting of conventional crop seed at desired rates. A chain attached to the two inside wings of the broadbed maker covers the seed in the planting rows. The rows are opened by vertically mounted, metal row-makers fixed in front of the rear section of the broadbed maker. The cost of the planter is expected to be about US$ 40.","tokenCount":"2170"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5702466358.json b/data/part_1/5702466358.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..070c5087e2b712d0d699ce23895381c4bcd824a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5702466358.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6bd04a4f8e053aec93f968047d94c6c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/GLADS_Guidance-Notes-FR.pdf","id":"1802813767"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"60485178-ad58-4441-9f98-cc24ea163866","pagecount":"19","content":"Ce travail a été soutenu par l'Union européenne dans le cadre du projet « Gouvernance des paysages multifonctionnels en Afrique subsaharienne » (Governing Multifunctional Landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa ou GML), mis en oeuvre par le Centre de recherche forestière internationale (CIFOR) et ses partenaires. Les auteurs tiennent à exprimer leur gratitude à tous ceux et celles qui ont contribué aux ateliers des parties prenantes et aux processus de consultation de suivi.Le contenu de cette publication relève de la seule responsabilité des auteurs et ne peut en aucun cas être considéré comme reflétant le point de vue de l'Union européenne.L'orientation pour une approche paysagère dans les situations de déplacement (Guidance for a Landscape Approach in Displacement Settings ou GLADS) sont une initiative financée par l'Union européenne et menée par le Centre de recherche forestière internationale et le Centre international pour la recherche en agroforesterie (CIFOR-ICRAF) en partenariat avec les principales parties prenantes. Ces notes d'orientation ont vocation à aider les acteurs humanitaires, gouvernementaux et du développement, ainsi que les parties prenantes locales, à appliquer une approche paysagère dans l'élaboration et la mise en oeuvre d'initiatives dans des situations de déplacement. Bien qu'il existe plusieurs exemples d'application de certains aspects des approches paysagères intégrées dans les paysages d'accueil des réfugiés, il existe un besoin d'orientation sur la façon de les développer. Le CIFOR-ICRAF et ses partenaires ont collaboré à l'élaboration de principes et de notes d'orientation sur la mise en oeuvre d'une approche paysagère intégrée dans des situations de déplacement. Sur la base d'une analyse structurée de la littérature, un cadre conceptuel a été développé présentant les principes clés d'une approche intégrée du paysage dans les situations de déplacement, adapté des travaux de Freeman et al. 2015. Les résultats des processus de co-conception ont été synthétisés dans les notes d'orientation pour une approche intégrée du paysage dans les situations de déplacement présenté dans ce document d'orientation et sont librement accessibles en ligne à toutes les parties prenantes à l'adresse suivante : cifor-icraf.org/glads. Les notes d'orientation offrent des conseils généraux à l'ensemble des parties prenantes dans les situations de déplacement pour travailler à l'échelle du paysage via des collaborations et de la planification intersectorielle afin de contribuer à la résilience des écosystèmes et des moyens de subsistance des réfugiés et des communautés d'accueil. Les notes d'orientation sont accompagnées d'exemples tirés du terrain ainsi que par des liens hypertextes redirigeant vers des outils pertinents.Au Cameroun, la ville frontalière de Garoua-Boulaï et le camp de réfugiés de Gado-Badzéré, ainsi que les arrondissements voisins, notamment ceux de Ngoura, Bétaré-Oya et Mandjou, constituent d'importantes zones pour l'accueil des réfugiés venant de République centrafricaine depuis 2012. L'augmentation rapide de la population dans ce paysage a entraîné une fragmentation de la forêt, qui pose un problème majeur dans les zones de transition forêt-savane du Cameroun.Au Kenya, les deux sites du camp de réfugiés de Kakuma et du camp intégré de Kalobeyei dans le comté de Turkana (nord-ouest), accueillent depuis 1992 des réfugiés de plus de dix nationalités, principalement des Sud-Soudanais et des Éthiopiens. La pression accrue sur les ressources naturelles a entraîné des conflits avec les communautés Turkana, essentiellement pastorales.En Ouganda, le camp de réfugiés de Rhino, qui s'étend sur les districts de Madi-Okollo et de Terego dans le nord-ouest du pays, a été créé en 1980 et accueille des réfugiés provenant principalement du Sud-Soudan. Les pénuries de bois de chauffe résultant de la déforestation, de la dégradation paysagère et de l'épuisement des ressources arboricoles constituent un défi majeur pour les réfugiés et les communautés d'accueil dans ce paysage.   • Évaluer les dispositions institutionnelles, les politiques et les législations pour soutenir le développement et la mise en oeuvre du paysage intégré.• Évaluer les structures de gouvernance à plusieurs niveaux et les mécanismes socioculturels dans les situations de déplacement aux niveaux local, régional, infranational, national et international.• Identifier les mécanismes existants en matière de régime foncier et de ressources, de partage des bénéfices et de résolution des conflits.Photo: Axel Fassio • Les résultats économiques sont ciblés après l'analyse des systèmes de production, des mécanismes de crédit, des systèmes de marché et des chaînes de valeur.• Planifier et promouvoir les entreprises basées la nature.Bogor, Indonesia; Nairobi: CIFOR-ICRAF.Photo: Axel Fassio 16 17 • Cibler les résultats sociaux privilégiés via un processus de co-conception et d'approches participatives inclusives, en donnant la priorité aux besoins et priorités de base identifiés par l'évaluation des besoins.• Envisager la durabilité et la résilience environnementale au niveau du paysage, à la suite d'évaluations cartographiques des ressources des écosystèmes, des risques environnementaux et de la planification de l'utilisation des terres.• Aborder les résultats économiques pour promouvoir l'autonomie et les moyens de subsistance durables, à la suite d'analyses des activités économiques, de la disponibilité des mécanismes de crédit, des systèmes de marché et des chaînes de valeur. Guide pratique de la gestion intégrée du paysage et Guide des outils de la gestion intégrée du paysage. Washington DC : EcoAgriculture Partners pour le compte de l'initiative « 1 000 paysages pour 1 milliard de personnes » L'initiative « 1 000 paysages pour 1 milliard de personnes » fournit un guide pratique et un guide d'outils sur la gestion intégrée du paysage (GIP), avec un processus conceptuel générique, adaptable localement, et des conseils pratiques pour réaliser la GIP. Lignes directrices sur la gestion des forêts et des zones boisées naturelles et plantées dans les situations de déplacements (FAO et HCR 2018) Cet outil est utilisé pour la planification, la mise en oeuvre et le suivi de la gestion des forêts et des zones boisées dans les situations de déplacement.Il fournit des conseils sur l'évaluation de la demande et de l'offre en bois de chauffe ainsi que sur l'adéquation des terres, le régime foncier, la sélection des espèces d'arbres, la gestion des plantations forestières pour différents usages, et le suivi, l'évaluation et l'établissement de rapports. Établir un outil de suivi de l'évaluation des paysages• Pendant la phase de planification, déterminer les objectifs, les normes de performance, les indicateurs et les protocoles de suivi.• Établir une base de référence sur les conditions socio-économiques et environnementales du paysage des réfugiés.• Allouer des ressources suffisantes (financières et humaines) au suivi.Établir un mécanisme institutionnel pour coordonner la collecte de données • Réaliser une analyse de l'égalité hommesfemmes et de l'inclusion sociale (inclure les normes et les traits culturels qui désavantagent les femmes, les filles et les minorités).• Faire participer les femmes, les filles, les jeunes, les minorités et les personnes vivant avec un handicap dans les paysages de réfugiés pour obtenir des moyens de subsistance durables.Assurer la participation inclusive et l'engagement des femmes, des filles, des jeunes et des minorités ","tokenCount":"1103"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5719184455.json b/data/part_1/5719184455.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1847aea2a5e0e68cef82e643bb2bbb25849ce47f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5719184455.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"31a0667c232002fa5697b5ee7e5d8fd0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3f0fdc37-2057-45b9-af24-f3026bd030e9/retrieve","id":"1242305994"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aaa10fd1-2191-4a62-977a-9d7f3deb6546","pagecount":"28","content":"A new paradigm for increasing animal productionMajor forthcoming changes 13 2014 has been designated the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) and the African Year of Agriculture and Food Security. For CTA, the year has a special significance as the Centre celebrates its 30 th Anniversary. These occasions provide a unique opportunity to raise the profile of smallholder agriculture as a vehicle for addressing food and nutritional security challenges and achieving sustainable economic growth in many of the world's low-income countries.We should also use the occasion to ask ourselves whether the renewed attention on agriculture by governments, donor agencies and the private sector has been translated into concrete action on the ground -action which makes a difference for smallholders.In July 2003, African leaders signed the Maputo Declaration. In doing so, they pledged to allocate 10% of their national budgets to agriculture and achieve 6% annual growth in the sector. In 2009, G8 donors pledged US$22 billion to agriculture and food security in Africa.A report produced by the advocacy organisation, ONE, looked at 19 African countries with national agriculture investment plans and assessed their progress in poverty reduction, agricultural investment and inclusiveness. The report also reviewed the performance of eight donors and evaluated the quantity and quality of agriculture assistance. The results are mixed. Where political will, domestic investment, donor support and effective plans have been combined, the agriculture sector has delivered growth and poverty reduction. However, only a few countries have met the 10% target and donors have disbursed only half of their commitments, leaving national agriculture plans about 50% funded.The African Year of Agriculture and Food Security should encourage leaders to renew their commitments and meet their pledges, while the IYFF will provide the platform for sharing lessons to advance sustainable smallholder agriculture.SPore n° 168 -FebruAry-MArCh 2014 SummARy I n 2003, leaders of the African Union met in Maputo, Mozambique in a time of crisis. Harvests were failing across Central and Eastern Africa; famine haunted Ethiopia; and agricultural sectors stagnated in many countries. The resulting Maputo Declaration set a new course for a wholly African programme to tackle the problems of food security at national, regional and continental levels.Led by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), CAADP cut through the tangle of issues with two simple targets: members would commit at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture, and thereby achieve growth in the sector of 6% per year. Such growth would be built on four 'pillars': sustainable land management and water control; rural infrastructure and market access; greater food supply to reduce hunger; and agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption.Ten years later, CAADP continues to grow in membership and influence although it is notable that 4 years passed before Rwanda signed the first country compact in 2007, and this remained the only one in effect until 2009. However, progress has since accelerated: there are now 34 country compacts (in September 2013, Lesotho became the latest compact signatory), 29 countries have created investment plans, and the majority of African countries are now actively using CAADP as the framework for their agricultural development.Of the two targets declared by CAADP, one gives reason to celebrate. Many members have in fact met or exceeded the target of 6% annual growth in the agricultural sector in one or more recent years, and a handful have sustained this average over the last 5 years, according to World Bank data. However, rather interestingly, in most cases this growth has occurred without national governments meeting the 10% budget allocation to agriculture -the investment that was supposed to drive growth. A study of 19 countries from ONE, an advocacy organisation, found that only four had achieved this, and \"seven countries are seriously off track [and] have actually lowered their agriculture expenditure.\"Since its adoption of CAADP, Rwanda's budgets have also fallen short of the target but it has served as a role model for others and its stronger coordination and focus on agriculture have had evident impacts. A previous strategic plan to increase food production in the country was not detailed enough to drive policy. A revised CAADP-supported plan was based on analysis of best-bet technologies and incentives to adopt these. The key crops identified in the LeSSonS FroM CAADPTen years into the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Africa owned and led initiative to boost agricultural productivity, what is working? There's no doubt that it's been a period of rapid growth in economies and in agriculture but is Africa doing development differently?COVER STORy revised plan have expanded widely, albeit mostly on new land brought into cultivation. Average maize and wheat yields more than doubled between 2006 and 2009 as new varieties and technologies were taken up.Ghana is a more recent CAADP adopter becoming a signatory in 2009. CAADP was closely involved in creating a multi-stakeholder Country Team and drawing up a mediumterm investment plan of nearly US$800 million over 5 years, with a strong focus on irrigation and commercialisation. Agricultural growth has been spectacular, averaging over 17% between 2008 and 2011. The exact role of CAADP is hard to determine, and Ghana too has fallen far short of its 10% budget target. Nevertheless, the target is important in coordinating spending across ministries, says Lena Otoo of Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture. \"We assess progress towards the 10% goal to determine the level of participation by sector ministries and agencies, and to orient the others on their roles.\"CAADP's sticking points are all about money -and dishearteningly familiar. While ministries struggle with budgets, private investment continues to be constrained by poor infrastructure, institutions and information services. For individual farmers, finance remains out of reach: in Ghana, only 6% of commercial lending is to agriculture, with nominal interest rates of 25-40%.Another longstanding issue is that CAADP set out to tackle the continent-wide need for capacity building, which began with the appointment of four lead institutions to support policy development and backstop technical efforts. Unfortunately, according to a 2010 NEPAD report, \"most of the institutions lacked the financial and management resources to make a major impression on national and regional policies. The exception was the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) which has helped to strengthen agricultural research institutions and develop stronger links between research and the delivery of technology.\"According to CAADP head, Martin Bwalya, \"we can't talk about optimal solutions at national level without embracing regional advancement.\" However, at this level progress has been much slower. The exception is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had already been developing a common regional policy for West Africa at the time of the Maputo Declaration. In 2009, ECOWAS launched a regional compact as well as providing support to its member states in creating their own compacts. As such, ECOWAS has established a commanding development role in West Africa -making the lack of action by other regional bodies all the more puzzling.CAADP is a vision of participation by the entire agricultural sector, with stakeholders aligning under the two targets and four pillars of the programme. The push for growth, and in many countries the reality of growth, does seem to be aligning efforts, at least between governments and the private sector. In Ghana, for example, private sector representatives on the Country Team contribute to the preparation of the agricultural budget and targeting of priority policy issues. Whether or not this cooperation will carry countries towards their goals, it represents a new experiment in African development. The unspoken assumption that all private investment will contribute to growth, food security and nutrition, will be tested.Meanwhile, the most uneven presence is that of small farmers, women and civil society. Studies by development organisations such as APRODEV and ActionAid have found that gender considerations remain symbolic, and the invitation extended to smaller non-state actors has not noticeably changed outcomes. Indeed, NEPAD's 2010 report found \"only limited evidence that stakeholder participation in CAADP implementation is generating the required representativeness and the desired substantive contributions to policy design and implementation.\"In CAADP's second decade, these voices may need to lead a reconsideration of the programme's central targets: from reaching 6% growth in agriculture, to ensuring that the transformation of agricultural economies is leading to equitable and sustainable systems; and from committing 10% of public budgets, to seeing that all money spent is truly invested in a food-secure future.At CTA's Brussels Briefing on key drivers of success for agricultural transformation in Africa, held in October 2013, Bwalya concluded, \"agriculture is back on the agenda -the issue is, how do we keep it there?\" To date, 70 owners have agreed to hand over their land -of between 1 and more than 5 ha -to 164 women, generally their wives, sisters, daughters or daughters-in-law, who will soon receive their land titles. \"It was really not easy to help women become landowners just like men. I can even say that nobody really believed it at first,\" admits Pierre Aimé Ouédraogo, GRAF's executive secretary.■ Mango farmers in eastern Kenya are using traps made from low-cost plastic bottles to fight fruit flies, leading to a significant drop in insect-infected fruit and a reduction in pesticide use. The trap is made by punching small holes in the side of a plastic bottle containing a cotton or cloth ball soaked in female fruit fly hormones, sticky sugar or vinegar. Costing around KSh90 (€0.80) the trap is capable of catching over 50,000 flies in 2 weeks. Female fruit flies lay eggs in ripening fruit, releasing maggots which cause the fruit to rot and fall to the ground. More than four-fifths of Kenyan mango harvests are lost to the pest each year. The Africa Alternative Pest Control Group (AAPCG) is training farmers on how to use this biological pest control technology. \"If farmers can hit these flies before their numbers increase, they are in a safer position than waiting for the fruit to near ripening, because by then nothing can stop the fertile egg-laying females,\" says AAPCG's Lucas Wanderi.For more information see: http://tinyurl.com/oa3hqs8 heALThGreen tea and fermented papaya have the potential to prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, the leading causes of death in Mauritius. Clinical studies carried out by researchers of the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation show that these two products reduce sugar content and raise antioxidant levels in the blood. According to Professor Theeshan Bahorun who supervised the study, fermented papaya also lowers blood pressure and helps to reduce the bacteria that multiply because of high blood sugar levels and affect oral microflora.gooD PrACTiCeIn Burkina Faso, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Self-Sufficiency launched the 'maize around the shack' project during the 2012 farming season. The project encourages farmers to grow improved varieties of early and very early maturing maize around their shacks by using soil and water conservation, and soil defence and restoration techniques. Farmers are also encouraged to collect water runoff to provide supplementary irrigation during droughts. This has increased yields by 45%, bringing them up to 3 t/ha. The Ministry wants to ensure widespread uptake of the techniques and construction of water collection ponds.urbAn AgriCuLTurewith more than 40,000 residents of rwanda's capital already involved in urban farming, farming has recently been added to the city's master plan, which will guide activities for the next 50 years. The new plan envisages spaces where each residential plot allocates at least 20% of the area to farming activities. horticulture is currently the dominant farming activity.Alternatives to bagasse bagasse, a by-product of sugarcane, is the main substrate used for mushroom production but is increasingly being used to generate power. To respond to the increasing scarcity of this raw material, alternatives have been found which are showing promising results: elephant grass, guatemala grass and agricultural waste, such as coir, rice straw and banana leaves.woMen AnD LAnD ACCeSSFatimata Zio now owns 2 ha of land, handed over by her husband ■ Researchers in West Africa have raised the alarm over the increasing spread of banana bunchy top virus. \"If not checked, the virus will devastate banana farms, and jeopardise the livelihoods of millions of farmers,\" explains Dr Lava Kumar, a virologist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. The disease has been recognised in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, representing a combined banana production area of 2.28 million ha, which contributes 19.75 million t of fruit per year.In the Caribbean, Black Sigatoka (leaf spot disease) is threatening Caribbean banana and plantain crops, causing some farmers to abandon production. In response, FAO has given training on effective use of fungicides to control and eliminate the disease. The disease affects the leaves of plants, reducing their ability to produce high quality fruit and causing premature ripening. According to a report from The St Lucia Mirror, since the disease was detected in the region in 1991, the value of banana exports from St Vincent and the Grenadines has been reduced by 90%.bAnAnAThe re-launch of banana cultivation in Cabo Verde in 2013 has substantially increased the availability of quality and reasonably priced bananas. One kg of bananas can be purchased for about 100 escudos (less than €1). The high number of women selling banana in the streets is an indicator that this is one of the Cabo Verdean's main staples. Once one of the archipelago's main exports, banana production declined due to prolonged droughts and pests that destroyed many plantations. This project, subsidised by the EU with €600,000 and by the Government of Cabo Verde with €100,000, has also enabled the introduction of new species of fruit trees such as mango and pineapple plants.Weeds are one of the main constraints to rice production in Africa causing losses estimated at more than €1 billion. Improving knowledge about weeds, through identification and documentation, will help farmers control them better. The French research centre, CIRAD, and AfricaRice -supported by the EU and the ACP Science and Technology Programme -have developed a collaborative platform that lists almost 200 different lowland weed species in Eastern and West Africa. The knowledge base is available online (www. afroweeds.org), on CD-Rom, and via smartphone and tablet applications.The Kayié agricultural cooperative (CooPAK), in southeastern gabon, intends to mobilise farmers in the area and encourage them to grow local, organic, sustainable and quality products. no fertiliser will be used for the main crops. Land for coffee, cocoa and cassava cultivation will be enriched with compost made from leaves, and cuttings will be planted immediately after ploughing, which is a traditional and organic farming technique.weST AFriCAwest Africa is working hard to improve seed quality. in Mali, improved varieties of cereals, legumes and tubers have been introduced. in Senegal, more than 200 millet and groundnut varieties are in an advanced test stage, including a cross between the sanio (Pennisetum glaucum) and the souna variety of pearl millet. in Côte d'ivoire, research is focusing on hybrid cocoa plants resistant to 'swollen shoot' disease.■ Farmer Field Schools (FFS), known as Escola na Machamba do Camponês in Mozambique, have been adopted by civil society organisations to improve agricultural extension. Technology and know-how are disseminated through practical exercises on a farming plot (machamba) belonging to the entire community, and later applied on each farmer's land, backed up by extension techniques. In the Mele community, Meconta district (Nampula province), it is generally the women who attend FFS.Training focuses on conservation agriculture, fighting uncontrolled slashand-burn clearance and water conservation. Conservation agriculture was first introduced 3 years ago and consists of the application of mulch (compost), crop rotation and intercropping, minimum soil disturbance and the control of slash-and-burn, \"with a view to improving the physical, chemical and biological structure of the soil,\" explains Anastácia António, one of the farmers. \"As a result of this practice, my production has significantly increased. On my 1 ha plot, I produce 300 kg of groundnuts compared to 100 kg before, 750 kg of beans against 60 kg prior to that, and over 200 kg of cassava compared with 50 kg before.\"A modified fish trap that allows small fish to escape is boosting fishermen's profits and improving the sustainability of fishing in Kenya's coral reefs. A 40 week study revealed that fish caught were 31% longer and 55% heavier than fish caught with traditional traps, and incomes were increased by 55%. \"Reducing the catch of juveniles can increase long-term sustainability by allowing fish to grow and reproduce before they are caught,\" says Emmanual Mbaru from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute. \"The presence of escape gaps has no significant effect on the number of high-value species caught, thus profitability is maintained.\"Tibila omar rouamba, an inventor from burkina Faso, has designed a versatile mill that turns all kinds of agricultural by-products, such as vegetation or cereal haulms, into cattle feed. The innovation adds value to by-products as well as generating income. Made up of a frame with a vertical hopper, a motor and a generator, the mill is able to convert up to 5 t of cattle feed per day, consuming 5 litres of diesel.Improving production for export environmental programmes to improve the quality of local skins through improved husbandry and treatment against parasites of ethiopian hair sheep are helping to improve leather exports and increasing meat production. Leather exports amounted to uS$123 million in 2012 and the government is aiming to increase this to uS$500 million by the end of 2015.In Warrap State, South Sudan, over 12,000 fishermen are catching on average 588 kg per fisherman per month during the peak fishing season, after receiving training on better fishing practices, boosting their incomes and food supply. Prior to 2011 when the training commenced, fishermen used spears to catch fish from rivers and lakes, which resulted in very small catches. They also fished using baskets, which destroyed young fingerlings. World Concern has provided twine, hooks and training in fishing net construction. Fishing associations have benefited from refrigeration equipment, and have also been taught how to smoke and sun-dry the fish.■ A new Pastoral Code in Cameroon has given the Mbororos, and other livestock herding communities, rights to land that they have been using for close to a century. In 2010, the government began consultations to revise the 1974 land tenure ordinance in which all unregistered land was classified as national land, including farm and communal land held under customary law. The legislation also contained lengthy, complicated and expensive procedures for obtaining title deeds.New procedures to enable livestock farmers to obtain title deeds will support the demarcation of boundaries between farm and grazing land, helping to put an end to conflict between farmers and cattle herders. \"The code has mapped out corridors for cattle,\" explains Dr Taiga, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry. \"Transhumance corridors have been traced and water sources where animals may go have been identified.\" The code also outlines procedures for the establishment and management of community pastures.■ In Trinidad and Tobago, livestock researchers have employed microchip technology to monitor and track agouti (large native rodents) production. Using the technology, researchers from the University of the West Indies are able record and communicate important data, such as genealogy, size and growth rate, which will support their research activities. The researchers are seeking to produce scientific information which will inform agouti farmers on 'best practices' to increase production in captivity, thereby increasing farmers' profits and conserving wild populations.The researchers have established an agouti production system similar to that used for rabbit production. The aim is to build a value chain for the meat, which is in high demand throughout the region. Caribbean Community and Common Market countries are now promoting the development of production units for animals sought after as 'wild meat' as a means of achieving food security. St Lucia has recently requested training in agouti production from the University, to strengthen its production systems. Cameroon's Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) has designed a manual hydraulic press to make briquettes out of ground rice husks. The briquettes are energy efficient and can be used in simple, locally made stoves, supplying valuable energy from husks and reducing pollution caused by uncontrolled burning. IRAD has also designed a complementary, energy efficient, stainless steel vessel to parboil rice, to prevent the grains from breaking before processing. Ash from burnt husks has also been found to be a good supplement in cement making and tests are currently being carried out to determine its suitability.■ Conservation efforts are underway to halt deforestation in a 1 million ha wildlife corridor in Kariba, northern Zimbabwe. Drivers of deforestation in the corridor include forest fires and shifting agriculture, practised by around 200,000 people in the area.To encourage locals to buy into conservation, Carbon Green Africa is supplying locals with farm inputs and training them on better agronomic techniques. \"By offering alternative farming methods as well as supplying inputs, this will allow people to see the conservation benefits for themselves, increase yields and sell excess maize and sorghum for cash,\" says Steve Wentzel, the director of Carbon Green Africa.Local people are also given free bee hives, which has heightened their vigilance to stop forest fires. So far 60 people have been employed by the REDD+ initiative and €440,000 spent on inputs, bursaries, school repairs and medical supplies, provided to local clinics since 2011. Rural councils are also appreciating the benefits and are conducting awareness drives, urging communities not to destroy surrounding forests.reDD+■ Crop pests are moving towards the North and South Poles at an average rate of 3 km a year, due to global warming. This finding comes from a study of the distribution of 612 crop pests over the last 50 year, by researchers from the University of Exeter and University of Oxford. The study reveals that pests are becoming established in areas that were previously too cold for them to survive. \"If crop pests continue to march polewards as the Earth warms, the combined effects of a growing world population and the increased loss of crops to pests will pose a serious threat to global food security,\" explains Dr Dan Bebber from the University of Exeter.The researchers believe that the global trade in crops is primarily responsible for the spread of pests and warming temperatures are allowing pests and diseases to become established in previously unsuitable regions. \"Renewed efforts are required to monitor the spread of crop pests and to control their movement from region to region if we are to halt the relentless destruction of crops across the world in the face of climate change,\" adds University of Exeter Professor Sarah Gurr.A solar power facility, installed in the fishing village of Monte Trigo on the island of Santo Antão (Cabo Verde), has saved 12,000 litres of diesel and avoided 30 t of CO 2 emissions in 18 months. Monte Trigo, with a population of 300, is the first location in the country to be supplied with renewable energy 24 hours a day; before they had a diesel generator that worked 5 hours a day. The facility has a capacity of 200 kWh during sunlight hours for a 100 kWh demand. Surplus energy is used in ice production for fish preservation. The project was financed by the EU-ACP Energy Facility, which aims to reduce poverty by bringing electricity to isolated areas.wATer MAnAgeMenTThe Agri-hub network in benin identifies water management innovations and disseminates them widely among farmers, particularly through videos. These are simple technologies such as tube and artesian wells, large-diameter wells with motor pump set, surface irrigation and solar water suction systems.Alternatives to firewood in Madagascar, more than 80% of households use firewood or charcoal to cook. it is therefore important to control the fuel value chain. wood consumption has been cut by 15% over the last 5 years thanks to cookers that use less charcoal, tripod stoves made of clay, restructuring of the wood-fuel sector, training of charcoal-burners and reafforestation.The French research centre, CirAD, and its partner ecom Agroindustrial have developed a fast and cutting-edge propagation method for Arabica coffee: 'cell suspension' enables the large-scale production of in vitro plantlets true-to-type in relation to the mother plant. with 800,000 in vitro plantlets tested, this method shows that 99% of the regenerated coffee plants are true-to-type. The technique may also be used to propagate other plants species.environMenTThe ZACOZA Bénin-Productions group has developed a stove for cooking and heating rooms using renewable energy. Named Atinga do zosi (the tree saved from the fire), this stove is energy efficient (using one-fifth less energy than traditional stoves) and works with renewable fuel: coal made from palm nut shells. With its automatic blower system running on an electric or solar rechargeable battery, the stove turns on automatically, without matches, thanks to an incandescent filament.Swiss researchers have revealed that while most smallholder farmers in Kenya own a radio and rely on it to access information, agricultural broadcasting is not useful enough. The study found that farmers were getting technical 'how to' information from radio programmes, but would have preferred information on market prices, disease prevention and income opportunities. Farmers trusted word of mouth from fellow farmers, family and government extension workers more than any other source of knowledge on farming. And even with over 60% owning mobile phones, less than 10% used their phone to access agricultural information.© ZACOZA Bénin-Productions new vArieTieSEffective and sustainable pest management no more postharvest losses due to rice weevils (Sitophilus oryzae) and pyralid moths is a possibility. Studies conducted by Africarice showed that it takes only 90 days to destroy these pests by using the essential oil of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) diluted in alcohol. The procedure consists of storing the rice in a jute bag impregnated with a mixture of 75 ml of alcohol and 3.9 ml of oil.Domingas Lucia Felipe sells sweet potato varieties that were introduced through the Seeds of Life programme ■ In Ndop, northwestern Cameroon, farmers are selling better quality rice thanks to an improved parboiling technique developed by the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD). This technique reduces the amount of impurities and broken rice produced when using traditional ovens. The new oven is composed of a burning chamber, a cooking tube and a stack. \"Using briquettes, wood or coal helps to save fuel thanks to an even distribution of the steam in the tube, unlike the traditional oven which burns a lot of wood and wastes fuel,\" explains Sali Atanga Ndindeng, an IRAD postharvest technology specialist. A survey by the Institute revealed that consumers would pay 5% more for rice produced with this parboiling technique. Also, 63% of the people that tested this parboiled rice mistook it for imported rice, valued for its quality.■ The East Timor Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Seeds of Life programme is marketing new high yielding varieties of bean and sweet potato to farmers by taste. \"Farmers like to plant, sell and consume products with a good flavour and high income yield,\" explains programme researcher, Felisberto Soares. Eight varieties of tropical green winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and sweet potato are being tasted at research centres in Loes (Liquiça) and Betano (Manufahi), which have sought to improve native varieties and adapt foreign varieties to Timor soils.The tropical green winged bean is nutritional with the advantage that \"all of it is edible, including the flowers, tubers, bean pods and the seeds,\" says researcher Marcos Vidal. \"It improves soil fertility, eliminates weeds and boosts the level of nitrogen in the soils.\"The Hohrae 1 variety of sweet potato, which is now available to farmers, produces over 13 t/ha and can be harvested after 4 months instead of the typical 6-8 months.A farmers' group from Pomeroon, in Guyana's coconut growing region on the west coast, has developed a lucrative trade from coconut water. The farmers, whose farms average 20 ha in size and who were originally growing nuts for the oil market, now harvest and process coconuts to extract the water, which is bottled, frozen and shipped to Trinidad and Tobago. Here it is labelled and sold as a highvalue, no-added-sugar, preservative-free product in leading supermarket chains. The farmers group is also exploring the production of extra virgin coconut oil and ways of using coconut by-products as fertiliser and organic mulch.The Earth Market in Maputo, Mozambique, the first in Africa and held for the fourth time, has enjoyed the participation of 15 small organic producers and the attendance of hundreds of people who bought vegetables, peanut butter, fresh fish, rice and natural fruit juices. Each event has earned farmers, on average, 20,000 Mozambican meticais (almost €500). Earth Markets, an initiative of Italian NGOs, Gruppo di Volontariato Civile (GVC) and Slow Food, are run by farmers. Products must be \"natural, obtained by traditional processes and respect the environment. These quality criteria are set out in self-certified documents that the producers sign,\" says GVC's Erica Beuzer.Farmer Arona Palamo has become the first Samoan to harvest a batch of locally grown onions and is currently trialling 34 different varieties to determine which ones to commercialise. \"i want Samoans to eat the best quality onions and stop importing poor quality onions for the same price that high quality onions are sold in America,\" he says. his target is to sustainably produce 900 t per year to satisfy Samoa's demand.A joint effort by pineapple producers and the Cameroon government has increased production from 12,000 t per season on 150 ha of land in 2010 to 26,000 t on 325 ha of land in 2013. with a modern processing plant, pineapple is being treated, packaged with the trade mark Ananas du Cameroun, and exported within Africa and beyond. About 150 youths in Awae, central Cameroon, have gained employment.■ Following a survey in 2002, which highlighted problems within Jamaica's pig industry, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) was approached for assistance. As a result, the Pork Association of Jamaica was formed, the Newport Genetics company was provided with 30 acres of land for a breeding and artificial insemination facility, and new breeds were sourced to strengthen the swine population.The introduction of new ICT systems enabled the company to better manage its large breeding herd, by tracking the genetic status and breeding potential of each animal. Caribbean Broilers, the parent company of Newport Genetics, also upgraded its processing plants, introduced a range of valueadded products, and introduced a quality assurance department to ensure compliance with international standards. Over the last 10 years, farms using Newport Genetic animals have seen litter sizes increase from 9 to 12 piglets, pre-weaning mortality drop from 20% to 8%, finishing times decrease from 8 to 5 months and finishing weights rise from 50-55 kg to 109-118 kg. With the increase in productivity and production, Jamaica is not only self-sufficient in fresh/frozen pork but will begin exporting pork products to Caribbean markets in 2014. beTTer breeDingTrAining For woMenWhat is A4AI's main objective? What do you mean by 'affordable internet'?Our goal is to support and advance internet policies and regulations worldwide so that the internet will be affordable for all. Did you know that two-thirds of the world's people are not connected to the internet? This figure is especially worrying since many of those without internet access are the poorest in the world and live in areas without infrastructure -a situation that does not bode well for a quick change. The 'accessibility' concept varies between global regions and countries. From the outset, we set a benchmark (not an end in itself) whereby the price of internet access would not exceed 5% of the average per-capita monthly income.Does affordable internet access have a special meaning for rural and agricultural communities in developing countries? Why?Certainly. Most rural dwellers in developing countries live below the poverty line in isolated areas. We feel that the internet offers a useful platform for economic activities, while also being a source of information and services. Rural and often marginalised people who have internet access may benefit from services but they can also voice their opinions like full citizens. Accessibility is not simply a matter of cables and networks, it is a combination of factors, requiring electricity, network maintenance and content. All stakeholders -not only governments -should be mobilised, including civil society, NGOs and local contractors.According to the GSM Association*, the telecom market is currently growing at a rate of 30% a year in Africa. How can equipment suppliers be persuaded to focus on rural areas and not just urban centres?Policymakers should implement incentive mechanisms to reduce costs, for instance tax cuts, especially to companies providing services in rural areas, or subsidies for infrastructure development in rural areas so as to offset the higher investment costs. They should also promote and support the development of public-private partnerships for infrastructure investments geared towards open access, thus broadening the range of services and giving smaller and recent operators greater scope for covering remote rural areas.Could you outline some 'good practices' identified by A4AI?Two specific areas were identified: first, a liberalised market with an open competitive environment -whereby healthy market competition is fostered, regulations are drawn up by an efficient independent agency, and sound policies and regulatory processes with substantial citizen participation are promoted. Secondly, policies and practices designed to reduce the industry's structural costs. In these areas, it is also necessary to comply with principles that may seem obvious but still warrant mention, such as the protection of internet freedom and fundamental online rights of expression, assembly and association.What are the main conclusions of the 2013 Affordability Report you've just published? First, competition is not a panacea. The introduction of new stakeholders on the market is not sufficient to lower prices and improve accessibility. The lack of infrastructure is also still an obstacle that must be given priority to boost internet access. Investment is currently not sufficient to connect rural and peri-urban areas. States have a key role to play in ensuring benefits to those who invest in infrastructure for isolated areas. They could lower taxes in the telecommunications sector. Finally, national leadership is essential to maximise the positive impact of broadband on employment, productivity, growth and innovation. Many countries have taken positive steps by implementing broadband policies, but these are not sufficient to enhance accessibility. * Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.The 2013 Affordability Report is available at: http://tinyurl.com/pdl6a4t.Sonia Jorge is executive director of A4AI, a project that aims to promote policy and regulation reforms in developing countries to allow as many people as possible to have access to the internet. Rural areas are primarily concerned.Founded in 2012, the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), is a coalition of diverse members, such as USAID, Google and the Grameen Foundation, with a common objective -to provide internet access to the poor. This is a major challenge, especially for rural areas in ACP countries. Population growth and the steadily increasing demand for protein that comes with the enhanced standard of living of communities in developing countries has triggered the need to develop livestock production. This is a challenge for many ACP countries. Genetic livestock improvement is an essential but incomplete solution.Valentine yapi-Gnaoré: farmer involvement in livestock breedingThe farmer's winning bet aa DOSSIER L ivestock production is of major socio-economic importance in ACP countries, contributing significantly to peoples' livelihoods while playing a key role in food security and rural development, often with a critical socio-cultural dimension.Global demand for animal protein will double by 2040 under the combined effect of population growth, urbanisation and changing consumption patterns, according to the FAO report The State of Food and Agriculture 2009. Within 30 years, developing countries will account for more than 50% of the growth in the demand for milk, meat and eggs. Average per capita meat consumption in China has increased by more than four-fold in 30 years, a trend that is expected to carry over to Africa, with FAO predicting a doubling of per capita meat consumption on this continent by 2050.There is no doubt that the countries concerned will have to greatly increase their livestock production. Africa already has abundant fodder resources and a large livestock population but, apart from hides and skins, it is still a net importer of animal products. However, as noted by FAO, Africa's per capita meat consumption remains low because it has the highest population growth rate in the world, and indigenous breeds are also not very productive, epizootic disease outbreaks are frequent, livestock feed is hard to come by and sectoral policies are weak. Moreover, these are poor countries. Significant progress has nevertheless been made in countries like Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa.Could genetic improvement help increase livestock production in ACP countries? This concerns many livestock species, including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry and fish, reared in a broad range of different livestock production systems: extensive, intensive, pastoral, agro-pastoral and peri-urban. The genetic improvement projects under way also differ, but two major trends involving different methods emerge: conservation and genetic improvement of local breeds through selection, and altering the gene pool of animals by introducing external genes via crossbreeding or using recent advanced tools.\"There is no point in having livestock with a high genetic potential if the rearing conditions are such that this potential cannot be tapped,\" says Professor Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, honorary director of the Interstate School of Veterinary Science and Medicine of Dakar and president of the African Academy of Sciences. For years, the focus has been on genetic improvement achieved through crossbreeding and importing and adapting highly productive breeds from temperate regions, but the results have often been mixed because the success of genetic improvement closely depends on the conditions and methods of livestock production. Introducing a productive breed is not sufficient: it is also essential to enhance the animals' diet and veterinary and other care in order to curb epidemics, and livestock pens must be tailored to local climatic conditions. \"Local cows produce 1-3 litres/day of milk in the southern Sahel, whereas 12-15 litres/day could be expected from a local breed crossbred with an improved breed. Moreover, 20-22 litres/day could be produced by a cow bred by embryo transfer from a dairy purebred. However, such animals have different needs -they have to be overfed,\" says José Baechler, president of Brune Génétique Services, France. Prior to the introduction of the Brune cattle breed, mainly through artificial insemination (AI) of local cattle breeds in Burkina Faso and Niger, livestock farmers had to be instructed on how to produce fodder and other essential products. This requires training as well as a change in lifestyle -farmers have to settle down and cease their transhumance activities. \"This is a crucial and very demanding choice which farmers do not always readily understand,\" says Baechler. Farmers also have to separate male and female animals in their herds to avoid the risk of mating, which would quash the genetic benefit. This requires a major change in attitude.There has been considerable growth in milk production due to the increase in crossbreeding. This trend now prevails in Africa, driven by enhanced feeding conditions, the market and sophisticated technology.In Kenya, milk production doubled in 10 years (5.2Women farmers from Kolda, in Senegal, receiving more productive crossbred chickens billion litres in 2012) through dairy breed improvement via AI, the creation of areas devoted to fodder crops, and structuring of the sector, especially by setting up dairy producers' cooperatives. The country is now selfsufficient in milk and 80% is produced on small-scale livestock farms. The supply policy was also favourable for production -import duties on powdered milk were hiked up by 60% in 2005.In Madagascar, the Armor de Fifamanor dairy farm has been disseminating the Pie Rouge Norvégienne cattle breed since 1972, first through mating stations, and then by AI performed on livestock farms in the Vakinankaratra region. Some 3,500 purebred cows and 10,000 halfbreeds were produced, which significantly boosted milk production and productivity. But this centre is still experiencing difficulties at several levels: malnourished animals, AI costs are too high for livestock farmers, some embryonic mortality or abortion-inducing diseases. In addition, milk collection and prices in Vakinankaratra are unsatisfactory for livestock farmers, which has led to a decrease in milk production in recent years as farmers are less inclined to use AI or purebred bulls. However, the genetic model is not under question, it is the deterioration of the economic situation of the country which has negatively impacted on the sector.\"In the suburbs of Dakar, government officials and investors create model farms with stable-kept livestock, intensive production and importation of exotic bovine semen. Pure breeding is an important investment and certain conditions have to be fulfilled, such as producing fodder and having access to a market to sell dairy products,\" says Ndiaye. Supplying financially-sound high-demand urban markets is not just for peri-urban dairies. Intensive semi-industrial poultry production systems that use improved breeds for egg and meat production are increasing in the vicinity of urban centres.Conventional poultry farming systems prevail in rural areas, with local poultry breeds mainly being reared. But projects are under way in areas such as in the Senegal River Valley to improve the performance of these family poultry farms through the introduction of sire roosters, which are crossed with local poultry breeds. This system is combined with habitat improvement, sanitary prophylaxis and feed manufacturing using local products. Significant genetic improvement can be achieved if epizootic diseases, such as the deadly Newcastle disease in Africa, are controlled. Success also depends on an animal's nutrition conditions and possibilities for marketing livestock products.In ACP countries, as elsewhere, livestock genetic resources are broad ranging and tailored to local  conditions as they have adapted and become resistant to a number of disease and climatic constraints through mutation and natural selection.The Regional Project on Sustainable Management of Endemic Ruminant Livestock in West Africa (PROGEBE) is one of the few major genetic improvement programmes for local livestock breeds. It aims to preserve local livestock -N'Dama cattle, Djallonké sheep and trypano-tolerant West African Dwarf goats -inhabiting subhumid and humid areas of Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal, where tsetse flies (vectors of animal trypanosomosis diseases) are rampant.\"Preserving doesn't simply mean leaving as it is. Instead, it involves enhancing the value and competitiveness of livestock while facilitating market access,\" says Mamadou Diop, national coordinator of PROGEBE-Senegal. This consists of preserving the animal's environment and improving its productivity through better access to animal health services, pasture, water and improved sires. In late 2009, in partnership with ISRA, the Senegalese agricultural research institute, and in collaboration with CRZ-K, the animal research institute at Kolda, an N'Dama cattle breeding programme was launched with livestock farmers actively participating in the breeding process. Currently 14 improved stock have been disseminated to livestock farms, and this should be increased to 20 in 2014.The low production level is generally attributed to the poor productivity of local breeds. However, as is the case for exotic breeds or crossbreeds, the productivity ofCameroon is counting on imports of improved pigs to re-launch its swine production sector. \"This is a technological option. Like the poultry or dairy production sectors, we cannot overlook technological advances,\" states Dr Bourdanne, livestock sector specialist for the Agricultural Competitiveness Project in Cameroon. In November 2013, 66 landrace sows and seven Large White males arrived by plane from the Choice Genetics company, France. Highly productive sows can be obtained by crossing imported pigs with local breeds. According to Bourdanne, the average daily growth gain of local pigs barely exceeds 400 g/day (generally between 150 and 350 g), whereas it ranges from 500 to 800 g/day, or even more for these improved animals. Besides, local breeds have to be reared for 10-12 months to produce 100 kg pigs, but imported breeds can grow to this live weight within 6 months.\"The swine production sector needs new blood,\" says Bourdanne. The local pig population, currently consisting mainly of local and exotic breeds, is undergoing genetic degeneration due to substantial inbreeding. These sows will be disseminated to producers who promote breeding-certified livestock production farms at Kounden, with the swine production unit in Noun currently being rehabilitated. High quality feed essential for these pigs will be produced at this station, which will also help avoid health problems. \"They are more susceptible in our conditions, which is why the Kounden station was chosen, as this area is free from major swine diseases,\" says Bourdanne, while adding that the prophylaxis programme and general biosecurity measures have to be respected. \"According to the 2007 FAO Livestock Report, little is known about roughly 40% of domestic livestock breeds, 30% of which are considered to be endangered. It is thus essential to effectively inventory, preserve and characterise local breeds to ensure their improvement. We now have the tools required to more thoroughly characterise these populations by examining their genomes in order to pinpoint what determines their adaptation and production traits,\" says Michel Naves, animal genetics engineering specialist at the Animal Research Unit of the INRA French West Indies and Guyana Research Centre. Such genotyping initiatives are carried out to address the major challenge of breeding hardier and more productive animals. Detecting adaptation traits in local breeds is crucial in the development of production systems. This especially concerns adaptation to changing climatic conditions through, for instance, the identification of heat tolerant genes, particularly in pigs. \"Local breeds, especially tropical ones, which are subjected to very substantial seasonal variations, are often able to mobilise their reserves when resources are scarce and to replenish them when fodder is more abundant, while also making use of a diverse range of food resources.These traits could be of interest in the context of climate change, where spells of severe drought are followed by heavy rainfall periods, leading to marked quantitative and qualitative variability in food supplies,\" says Naves. New genotyping tools and, even more importantly, high throughput sequencing will enable major genetic resource selection progress to be achieved over the next 5-10 years. \"This will concern genetic characterisation of populations (mapping their genomes), screening for 'selection signatures' (traces left in the genome by natural selection processes), searches for genetic markers associated with biological adaptation, or production processes and genetic improvement via the breeding of more productive animals, crossing tests and inbreeding management,\" confirms Naves. Developing countries do not yet have access to advanced technology, but this situation is rapidly changing. \"Five to 10 years ago, it took several months to map a cow's complete genomic sequence at a price of tens of thousands of Euros. Nowadays, the results take 15-30 days and costs €3,000,\" says Naves.With genomics progress, genetic improvement choices should not just be limited to selecting a local breed (safer but much slower) or introducing an exotic breed (faster, but more risky and fragile). Certain traits of local breeds can now be 'borrowed' and inserted in a more productive breed so that it will be better adapted to local constraints, otherwise traits could be sought in local breeds and subsequently exploited to boost the productivity of these animals without upsetting their adaptation features. Tapping the potential of local breeds also helps preserve genetic diversity, which is currently threatened.Dr C. Valentine Yapi-Gnaoré, director of the Centre International de Recherche Développement sur l'Elevage en Zone Subhumide (CIRDES), a research centre on livestock and animal diseases in Burkina Faso, is an expert in quantitative genetics and domestic livestock improvement.How is genetic livestock improvement able to help fulfil the current and future protein needs of African people?In general, livestock productivity is lower in Africa than in Europe or elsewhere, whereas herd numbers are high. Genetic improvement can be geared towards increasing the amount of protein produced per livestock head, thus increasing the protein supply available to meet peoples' needs. Several projects on this issue have been carried out but unfortunately not followed up.Yes, genetic improvement initiatives should come from livestock farmers themselves under guidance from experts. Most of the programmes are run by governments and donors but they end when funding dries up. If, however, farmers are proactive, if they are more aware and participate effectively, I think it could improve the productivity of their herd. But unfortunately, the feeling still prevails that the larger the herd the richer and more social status one has. This thinking must change. Genetic improvement implies that, for instance, livestock farmers should not have unproductive male or female animals in their herds, but this is a bitter pill to swallow. Farmers' herd management habits, whereby male and female animals are generally grouped together, further complicate the situation. Moreover, are there enough qualified people to manage genetic improvement in Africa?Our job is to first identify important local livestock breeds. Their potential is measured in terms of tolerance to certain diseases, walking ability and cultural value. We are developing a gene bank and collecting semen from males of these breeds, which is stored in controlled conditions. Two years ago we also set up a farm to preserve live animals of these breeds. This farm showcases native livestock breeds from West and Central Africa. CIRDES has a genotyping platform for molecular biology research, which enables us to characterise livestock breeds. The laboratory is certified under ISO/IEC 17025:2005, so CIRDES is a West African Economic and Monetary Union centre of excellence in animal biotechnology.Meeting with an animal genetics specialist changed Pape Seck's life. In 1997, he took up dairy breed selection in Senegal. Despite the difficulties he encountered, his small experimental farm is today home to a high-quality herd which continues to grow. P ape Seck's passion for dairy breeds came from his meeting with Professor Pape Alassane Diop, a specialist in animal genetics and a pioneer in artificial insemination (AI) in Senegal. The professor found his calling in Touba, Mbella, Mbellakadiao and Kaolack, in the heart of the groundnut basin where his first tests took place.Seck mainly owes his becoming a farmer to his father, who was passionate about agriculture and animal farming. When he was very young, living in Sine-Saloum (in the groundnut basin) where his father managed a trading house, he was introduced to small-scale agriculture. Seck worked at an office that specialised in accounting, but never forget his desire to be a farmer. He retired to Bargny, 30 km south of Dakar, to land he had inherited from his parents.The farmer's winning bet There, he began to raise sheep and then started to raise cattle. He began with Maure zebu. However, due to lack of experience and training, his first attempts were not successful. But Seck was not discouraged. Over the years, with plenty of advice from farming services and from Professor Diop, he learned and soon saw results. Today Seck is in his element, proud of his herd comprising Holstein mixes, a beautiful Brown Swiss and her many offspring, as well as recently arrived Ndama bulls. \"We have a mix of breeds as the government chooses the ones that seem the best adapted to the climate in Senegal,\" he explains. AI products, imported by the government, have become more accessible since President Abdoulaye Wade launched the 'Great Agricultural Offensive for Food and Abundance' (GOANA -Grande offensive agricole pour la nourriture et l'abondance) in 2008. AI products are sold by the private sector for 50,000 CFA francs (€76) with a guarantee to repeat the insemination if it is unsuccessful.Although he prefers the Holstein breed, Seck has a herd of around 40 heads of cattle of various breeds. Crossbreeding the local species, the Gobra zebu, with the Brown Swiss or Holstein works well. These mixedbreed cows produce, under optimal conditions, on average 12 litres of milk per day, whereas a local breed would produce a maximum of 5 litres, or more commonly only 1-3 litres.In the herd, a brown calf with a small hump stands out. This one is the product of a Gujarat zebu. \"I introduced this breed for the quality of its meat and its ability to grow faster than the others,\" says Seck, who wants to diversify his income. Today, Holstein or Gujarat mixed-breed bulls or cows sell for over 800,000 CFA francs (€1,220) at the Dakar livestock market, while a local breed will barely manage 250,000 CFA francs (€382).Ticks, dermatitis, fevers... Success does not mean that Seck does not encounter any difficulties. One problem is the lower semen quality following the entry of new arrivals in the market, alongside the State, \"When I started, the two Holstein-Gobra mixed-breed cows, obtained by crossbreeding, each produced over 14 litres of milk per day. Today, this 'Holstein', which is only a 25% mix, produces over 10 litres per day,\" says Seck.Another problem is vulnerability to diseases. \"This morning, my main Brown Swiss bull is in a bad way, with the beginnings of foot-and-mouth disease. For the herd to produce more calves, other than via artificial insemination, it needs this sire,\" says the concerned farmer. Moreover, his small, six-month-old calf has contracted lumpy-skin disease. It should recover if treated with antibiotics; however this is relatively expensive, estimated to cost around 19,000 CFA francs (€29) for treatment.That said, along with the better known and betterequipped farms in the Niayes region of north-west Senegal, in the area around Wayembam and Niakoul Rab, Seck says he is happy to be one of those which can adapt. This new system of animal farming allows him, under optimal conditions, to produce over 40 litres of milk per day with only three or four lactating cows. This would be impossible with local breeds.© M A Konte DOSSIER A s an alternative to poaching, timberfelling and charcoal burning by many of Kenya's poorest rural communities, Honey Care Africa has sought to improve the productivity and viability of honey production for domestic markets. Established in 2000 by three Kenyan entrepreneurs, the social enterprise company creates partnerships between local communities, development agencies and the private sector. Farmers, including women and young people, are supported with microloans to purchase Langstroth beehives and are then given intensive training in apiculture. Collecting the honey on-site, Honey Care Africa buys it at an agreed price, and the honey is then processed, packaged, marketed and sold to urban consumers through supermarket chains and other outlets.To date, over 15,000 Kenyans have benefited, of which almost half are women. Their involvement is particularly beneficial, as women do not generally take part in traditional beekeeping, with indigenous hives located high up in the trees. Honey Care Africa -Tanzania, launched in 2005, is now the largest single honey producer and exporter in the country, and Honey Care Africa is also involved in projects in Malawi and South Sudan. Founder and director, Farouk Jiwa says, \"If you want something sustainable and viable, you need to bring different actors in the value chain together and facilitate, not become a player yourself. This is a big problem with development strategies today. With Honey Care Africa, building this platform and taking our model to scale was very exciting.\"* To improve productivity and quality in honey for domestic and export markets, Beza Mar Agro-Industry, an Ethiopian honey trader, has been working with local farmers since 2003. By 2008, the company was one of the first African companies to export honey to the European market; it is now developing mixed flavour and speciality products to provide greater income for farmers and traders involved in the honey value chain.But farmers' adoption of modern technologies and practices has been slower than expected, says director Hailegiorgis Demissie, and the ability of local producers to sustainably supply increased volumes of export quality honey requires substantial investment in improved production and postharvest practices. \"In local markets, we know each other and can trust the product, and each other as buyers and sellers,\" he says. \"The international honey market is very competitive and the process is very different.\" However, with increased exports from 30 t in 2009 to over 150 t of honey and 40 t of beeswax by 2012, the greater earnings have enabled beekeepers to buy more livestock and send their children to school.To protect the rights of producers of a rare honey that is exported from the protected Kilum Ijim mountain forest in North West Cameroon, Oku Honey was one of three African products in 2013 to be awarded Protected Geographic Indications (PGI) by the African Intellectual Property Organization. While most African honey is dark red, Oku Honey is valued for its delicate creamy texture and white colour. PGI certification protects consumers (and producers) from imitation products and encourages biodiversity, with Oku production linked to conservation and sustainable community forest management.Whilst certification, including organic and fair-trade, enables beekeeper associations and cooperatives in Africa and across other ACP regions to produce high value niche products for export, demand in domestic urban markets continues to grow. However, as successes have shown, there is an increasing need for better structured value chains across ACP regions, benefiting from high quality equipment, professional services, quality control, technology and more robust consumer markets.* Meet a Sustainable Entrepreneur: Farouk Jiwa, Honey Care Africa http://tinyurl.com/qju78h9. The FAO has defined climatesmart agriculture as consisting of three main pillars: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity; building resilience to climate change; and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Around the world, there are numerous projects that are testing or promoting such principles; few, however, have had widespread uptake.This ■ Smallholder farmers are frequently advised to bulk their crops to achieve a better bargaining position, and better prices. But is it always the right strategy? Crop production and postharvest handling to reach the standard required for group marketing may be more costly, and there are transport costs, plus potential delays in getting payment. Only if buyers are prepared to pay a significantly higher price for the bulked crop will the expense and effort incurred by the farmer prove worthwhile, and that depends on building strong, trusting relationships with buyers who value the difference in quality from crops bought through traditional marketing systems.Such lessons make this review of AGRA's market access programme an essential read for those working to improve smallholder marketing. With case studies from across Eastern, West and Southern Africa, examining a wide range of issues, the authors continually ask 'What should we be doing differently?' -reflecting AGRA's creditable determination to learn and improve in its work on behalf of African farmers.Value chain development (VCD) is central to many efforts to tackle poverty. Careful analysis of the business context, the main actors and the relationships between those actors is essential in designing appropriate VCD interventions, and numerous guides on how to conduct such analysis have been published in recent years. But theory and practice in this field are evolving, in a context where no universally accepted definition of a value chain exists, and there is limited evidence about the impact of VCD to inform design of new interventions.This publication reviews the strengths and weaknesses of 11 guides to VCD, and finds that most lack sufficient discussion on the conditions necessary for VCD to advance development objectives. Many also do not adequately recognise the importance of a specific context in determining intervention design. It recommends that more critical reflection and debate is needed on ways to address the needs of the poor in value chains, on tools to analyse the context in which chains operate, and on systems for mutual learning in designing VCD interventions.The 'Making the Connection' conference, held in Addis Ababa in November 2012, raised a number of key points on how to build inclusive value chains for the benefit of smallholder farmers. This report provides a summary, collating points raised by presenters and other delegates in main and parallel sessions during the 4-day event. It opens, by setting out a number of areas deserving of policy attention, including the need for governments to support higher education in delivering training on agribusiness and value chain topics, and a call to liberalise the telecommunications sector in countries where this has not been done, to facilitate greater use of ICTs.In a chapter on how to create the right environment for growth, governments are called on to reduce corruption and bureaucracy, and boost rural infrastructure and health care. Other areas of focus include the power of information technologies, the growing prominence of domestic and regional trade, and the need for farmers' organisations to be more business-oriented and provide their members with better training.Producing more with less PuBlICATIONS PuBlICATIONS ■ Food and politics have been entwined ever since hunter-gatherers became cultivators, new settlements required governance, and agricultural products offered the basis for taxation to pay for the emerging administrators and military. Little has changed in some 10,000 years except for the increasing complexity, as international organisations join governments to optimise production and distribution of food. The author addresses pivotal topics, including food aid and agricultural development assistance, the green revolution controversy, the politics of obesity, and who governs the world food system. This second edition of Food Politics has been revised and expanded, with a new chapter examining the politics of meat production and consumption, and updated information on farming, water and climate change. The evolution of 'precision systems' to reduce environmental damage are also examined. This is a book that offers answers to many questions often clouded or confused by partisan actors. A book worth reading as a follow-up to the 2010 first edition.■ The significant contribution of the global livestock sector to greenhouse gas emissions is well known, representing close to 15% of human induced emissions. Nearly half (45%) of this comes from production and processing of feed, with production of methane by ruminants contributing around 39% of the total. Yet, as this report from FAO makes clear, most interventions to reduce emissions focus on technologies and practices that actually improve production efficiency.Such measures include the use of better quality feed, and achieving a better balance of feed, in order to reduce gas and manure emissions. Improved breeding and animal health can reduce the number of unproductive animals in a herd, and their related emissions. Manure management practices that ensure the recovery and recycling of nutrients and energy are another valuable strategy. Importantly, significant mitigation can be achieved by adopting improved practices within existing systems, and the greatest potential lies in the world's low productivity ruminant systems, such as in Africa and the Caribbean.This report aims to provide an up-todate assessment of the emerging issues and challenges facing smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa. Written in two major sections, the first focuses on 13 key areas in African agriculture. These include: challenges and promising solutions for the improvement of soil health; development of effective seed systems; and creation of an enabling policy environment. The second section collates statistics and key agricultural data for 16 countries. The intention is to expand this coverage in future reports. As temperatures warm, many of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people will be at increasing risk from drought, flooding and heat waves. The impoverishing impact of such disasters is huge, potentially wiping out gains made in poverty reduction. By identifying the places where numbers of poor people and disaster risks are most concentrated -including eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa -the authors aim to show how disaster risk management must be at the heart of poverty reduction efforts. uncertain futureThis report draws on four different climate models to assess the likely impacts of climate change in Southern Africa until 2050. Those models, however, make fairly divergent predictions about, for instance, changes in rainfall quantity across the region during that period. Faced with such uncertainty, the authors recommend the need for flexibility in adaptation plans, while also calling on governments to allocate significant budgets to adaptation, including smallholder irrigation and heat tolerant crop varieties. For many years, whether in EU or ACP countries, young people have not considered agriculture to be 'sexy' enough for a career. But CTA is convinced that youth are able to make a difference in agriculture and turn it into a profitable business. CTA decided to support young people to make it work.When we started to work on our youth in agriculture strategy, the question that came to mind was \"Do the youth want to be involved in agriculture?\" So we turned to social media and asked 208 users aged between 27 and 45 from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East working in various fields, ranging from ICTs to foreign affairs, \"What would it take for you to work in agriculture?\" The responses from African and European users were of particular interest; while Europeans commonly responded that it would take a \"good job opportunity\" or a \"good salary\", Africans almost always answered either \"nothing\" or \"access to land\".These answers reflect the disparity in the knowledge of what opportunities are available in agriculture. The limited statistics on youth in ACP regions show that 51% of the population in Africa is aged between 18 and 24 years old. In the Caribbean, however, the proportion of youth has declined from 59% in 1975 to around 42% in 2011. These demonstrate that, beyond demographic implications, the youth are a population group with increasing needs for basic necessities, jobs and participation in decision-making.Other statistics related to agriculture show that due to a rapidly growing population the demand for food will triple. Agriculture is also more risky than it was 25 years ago -due in part to the threat of climate change and resources such as land and water getting scarcer. These pressing issues call for new agricultural technologies and innovative resources and tools.At CTA, we believe that agriculture is able to provide opportunities for the youth to meet their career needs and that youth can bring a source of labour, energy, dynamism and innovation that agriculture needs. This was the interpretation that CTA chose to adopt when deciding to develop its youth strategy 2013-2018. Hence, the strategy identifies four main priority objectives for CTA: 1) to promote evidence-based multi-sectoral policies on youth in agriculture and rural development; 2) to encourage youth engagement in policy dialogues; 3) to facilitate youth engagement in value chains and; 4) to promote increased use of ICTs and continue supporting young professionals in agricultural sciences and innovation. A common factor underlying these four priority areas is the recognition of the capacity building needs of young people who must be capable of exploiting all the opportunities that agriculture offers.The youth strategy will allow CTA to clearly define priority areas of concern, and focus its activities accordingly. Our work will also send a strong message to partners in ACP and EU countries, as well as to the international community, on the need for coordinated action in enhanced efforts to support young people.José (Ze to his colleagues) Filipe Fonseca was primarily in charge of CTA partnerships. His approach was to put the partners and CTA on an equal footing and in this way create a trusting relationship. \"A partnership is a state of mind, a receptiveness,\" he says. Achieving great success, this vision allowed the creation of several networks, such as the Caribbean Farmers Network and the Pacific Agricultural and Forestry Policy Network. Ze also encouraged the sharing of experience between the Pacific and Caribbean regions. For example, in the Pacific, agritourism is not well developed. This is not the case in the Caribbean. As such, he acted as an intermediary between the institutions in these two regions.Ze will now return to his homeland, Guinea-Bissau, where he will devote himself to agricultural extension and history. \"I have learned a great deal at CTA and I will now take my knowledge back to the country where I was born,\" he says. He will work with a non-governmental organisation to spread agriculture extension services via new communication tools. A passionate devotee of history, he will also dedicate a portion of his time to a slavery and human trafficking memorial. \"If everyone does their part, we will heal,\" he says.At CTA, Ze worked for a long time in tandem with Hildreth Ann John-Charles, who dedicated almost 23 years of her life to the organisation. She was involved in innovative experiments at the Centre, such as the programme for acquiring databases on CD-ROM for various institutions, launched in 1987. Her work at CTA taught her \"to increase and improve her skills.\" She has also decided to return to her homeland, Dominica. \"I love agriculture and hope to continue being involved by becoming a small-scale farmer. In my country, we have a saying: 'produce what you eat, eat what you produce'.\" She plans to sell any surplus from her harvests to the local market. A mother and grandmother, she will also devote herself to her family. Two wonderful projects, for which we wish them every success.Yusuf Hassan-Maiwa, assistant director at the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kebbi State (Nigeria), responded to an article on fonio published in Spore 166 (page 7): \"Interesting as the piece of information is, no cereal yields 800 t/ha to date.\" The article incorrectly refers to production in t per ha, the correct data is 800 kg per ha.","tokenCount":"11431"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5727214992.json b/data/part_1/5727214992.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..56d968a527f7ac56d97460b63d9dabbaff740e4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5727214992.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6f1e59375ad2209a8e2ecbe1937c7c3d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/98307245-0978-4c38-8cef-f349ec33e49c/content","id":"-222219456"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"01df5228-c6d6-44b3-87c2-c8e21aa2a3ae","pagecount":"12","content":"Establishing balanced nutrient requirements for maize (Zea mays L.) in the Northern Nigerian Savanna is paramount to develop site-specific fertilizer recommendations to increase maize yield, profits of farmers and avoid negative environmental impacts of fertilizer use. The model QUEFTS (QUantitative Evaluation of Fertility of Tropical Soils) was used to estimate balanced nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) requirements for maize production in the Northern Nigerian Savanna. Data from on-farm nutrient omission trials conducted in 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons in two agro-ecological zones in the Northern Nigerian Savanna (i.e. Northern Guinea Savanna \"NGS\" and Sudan Savanna \"SS\") were used to parameterize and validate the QUEFTS model. The relations between indigenous soil N, P, and K supply and soil properties were not well described with the QUEFTS default equations and consequently new and better fitting equations were derived. The parameters of maximum accumulation (a) and dilution (d) in kg grain per kg nutrient for the QUEFTS model obtained were respectively 35 and 79 for N, 200 and 527 for P and 25 and 117 for K in the NGS zone; 32 and 79 for N, 164 and 528 for P and 24 and 136 for K in the SS zone; and 35 and 79 for N, 199 and 528 for P and 24 and 124 for K when the data of the two zones were combined. There was a close agreement between observed and parameterized QUEFTS predicted yields in each of the agro-ecological zone (R 2 = 0.69 for the NGS and 0.75 for the SS). Although with a slight reduction in the prediction power, a good fit between the observed and model predicted grain yield was also detected when the data for the two agro-ecological zones were combined (R 2 = 0.67). Therefore, across the two agro-ecological zones, the model predicted a linear relationship between grain yield and above-ground nutrient uptake until yield reached about 50 to 60% of the yield potential. When the yield target reached 60% of the potential yield (i.e. 6.0 t ha −1 ), the model showed above-ground balanced nutrient uptake of 20.7, 3.4 and 27.1 kg N, P, and K, respectively, per one tonne of maize grain. These results suggest an average NPK ratio in the plant dry matter of about 6.1:1:7.9. We concluded that the QUEFTS model can be widely used for balanced nutrient requirement estimations and development of site-specific fertilizer recommendations for maize intensification in the Northern Nigerian Savanna.The average number of individuals facing food insecurity in Nigeria has increased from 40.7 million between 201440.7 million between and 201640.7 million between to 46.1 million between 201540.7 million between and 201740.7 million between (FAOSTAT, 2018a)). Maize (Zea mays L.), the most widely grown arable crop (Adesoji et al., 2016) and valuable cereal in Nigeria (FAO, 2016), can play a vital role in achieving food security in the country providing that the current meagre yield of the crop is increased drastically. Grain yield of maize in Nigeria over the last several decades has been hovering at 2 tonnes per hectare (t ha −1 ) (FAOSTAT, 2018b), which is far less than the yield of about 7 t ha −1 observed in well-managed field experiments (Fakorede and Akinyemiyu, 2003;Sileshi et al., 2010). One of the plausible reasons for the huge maize yield gap in Nigeria, as in other many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, is poor soil fertility, the result of inherently low soil nutrient reserves as well as continuous cropping with inadequate nutrient replenishment (Manu et al., 1991;Ekeleme et al., 2014).The Northern Nigerian Savanna (especially the Northern Guinea Savanna agroecology) is the most suitable zone for maize production in Nigeria due to high incident solar radiation, adequate rainfall, moderate incidences of biotic stresses and natural dryness at the time of harvest. However, soils in the Northern Nigerian Savanna are the major limitation for intensification of maize production. They are predominantly sandy Lixisols, Acrisols, and Cambisols with low activity clays (like kaolinite), small organic matter contents and small nutrient reserves, and prone to water and wind erosion (FDALR, 1999;FFD, 2012;Jones and Wild, 1975). Use of Fertilizer in maize production is necessary in this environment to replenish nutrients removed through the harvested product and exported crop residues (a common practice by most farmers in the area). Fertilizer use for maize production in the Northern Nigerian Savanna as the case in other agroecological zones of Nigeria, has been conventionally promoted through blanket recommendations regardless of wide variability in soil, climate and management regimes. The use of blanket fertilizer recommendations, however, is bound to create imbalanced crop nutrition since maize is cultivated in highly heterogeneous fields (Kihara et al., 2016;Shehu et al., 2018). Such imbalances lead to increased nutrient losses and low fertilizer use efficiency (Cassman et al., 2002), which can impede productivity, profitability and sustainability of a farm (Ezui et al., 2016). To reduce the persistent maize yield gaps in the Northern Nigerian Savanna, appropriate fertilizer recommendations need to be developed based on establishing balanced nutrient requirements, for specific yield targets and tailored to account for a specific field and/or soil condition.A balanced requirement of a given nutrient refers to an amount of the nutrient required to meet a plant's needs while maximizing the use efficiency of the nutrient (Ezui et al., 2016). When more than one nutrient is needed, for example, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), balanced requirements refer to optimization of use efficiency of these three nutrients and simultaneously resulting in the largest response to their supplies (Ezui et al., 2016). The QUantitative Evaluation of the Fertility of Tropical Soils (QUEFTS) is a practical model that can be used to estimate balanced nutrient requirements for a location and for a target yield level while accounting for the interactions among macronutrients (particularly N, P and K) that affect plant's physiological efficiencies (Janssen et al., 1990). The original QUEFTS model was developed for maize using data from Suriname and Kenya (Janssen et al., 1990) and it was later improved by Smaling and Janssen (1993) and Sattari et al. (2014). The QUEFTS model has been successfully tested for other crops like rice, wheat, cassava and sweet potato in different regions (Witt et al., 1999;Pathak et al., 2003;Ezui et al., 2016;Lam et al., 2016). Four major steps are involved in QUEFTS modelling (Sattari et al., 2014); (i) potential supply of the available nutrients (N, P and K) is calculated depending on the indigenous soil supply of the nutrient, plus average fertilizer recovery fraction multiplied by the amount of nutrient input. The indigenous soil nutrient supply is estimated by applying relations between soil chemical properties of the 0-20 cm soil layer and dry matter uptake of the nutrient in plots where this very nutrient is omitted; (ii) actual uptake of each nutrient is calculated based on the potential supply of that nutrient, considering the potential supply of the other two nutrients; (iii) the establishment of yield ranges as a function of uptake of the nutrients for maximum dilution and accumulation of that nutrient, respectively; and (iv) the yield ranges are combined into pairs, and yield estimated for pairs are averaged to obtain an ultimate yield estimate considering the maximum potential yield of the crop.The most fickle part of QUEFTS model is the relations between soil chemical characteristics and the supply of available nutrients described in step 1 (i) above, as many local environmental factors may interfere (Sattari et al., 2014). In the original version of QUEFTS model the soil supply of available nutrients is calculated from soil chemical characteristics using regression equations primarily requiring datasets of soil organic carbon, available P, exchangeable K and pH (Janssen et al., 1990). The applicability and effectiveness of these default QUEFTS indigenous soil nutrient supply equations in different environments other than those which the model was developed is uncertain. Tabi et al. (2008) applied the QUEFTS model in maize to quantify potential supply of soil N and P, utilization efficiency and fertilizer recovery fractions in Northern Nigeria. This study was based on experiments conducted in only 27 farmers' fields in two villages, limiting their representativeness for the entire maize producing area in the Northern Nigerian Savanna. It follows that it remains necessary to parameterize and validate the QUEFTS model to obtain balanced nutrient requirements for maize production at scale in the Northern Nigerian Savanna to enable effective implementation of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) practices. The objectives of this study were to: (1) assess the relation between indigenous soil nutrient supply and soil chemical characteristics in the Northern Nigerian Savanna, (2) parametrize standard coefficients of QUEFTS model to determine balanced nutrient requirements for maize in the Northern Nigerian Savanna, and (3) validate the performance of the QUEFTS model in predicting maize grain yield in the Northern Nigerian Savanna.To generate datasets for this study, on-farm nutrient omission experiments were conducted over two rainy seasons (2015 and 2016) across fourteen study sites in three administrative States of the Northern Nigerian Savanna (Shehu et al., 2018). The three administrative States included Kaduna (with experimental fields in Lere, Kauru, Soba, Ikara, Makarfi, and Giwa local government areas), Katsina (with experimental fields in Funtua, Dandume, Faskari and Bakori local government areas) and Kano (with experimental fields in Tofa, Bunkure, Tudun Wada and Doguwa local government areas) (Fig. 1). The study sites were chosen to cover a broad range of maize growing conditions across the high production potential areas in the Northern Nigerian Savanna and to involve areas where research for development can support extension support programmes engaged in maize value chain initiatives. Overall the study sites fell within two agro-ecological zones i.e. the Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS) and Sudan Savanna (SS) (Fig. 1). The weather conditions of the two agro-ecological zones during the two years of experimentation are summarized in Fig. 2. The total annual rainfall in NGS was 1128 mm in 2015 and 1130 mm in 2016; total annual rainfall in SS was 717 mm in 2015 and 771 mm in 2016. Experimental fields were selected by generating one or two 10 km × 10 km grid(s) in each study site (depending on the size of the study site) using ArcGIS software (Environmental System Research Institute, Redlands, CA, USA). Within each of these 10 km × 10 km grid (s), five 1 km × 1 km sub-grids were delineated evenly. In each of the 1 km × 1 km sub-grids, a field for experimentation was randomly selected, considering the willingness of a farmer and availability of land for the trial setup. A total of ninety-five (95) and one hundred and three (103) experimental fields were selected in the 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons, respectively (Fig. 1). At each experimental field, two sets of trials were established side by side; one with hybrid maize (hybrid) and the other one with open-pollinated maize (OPV).The nutrient omission experiments were composed of six nutrient application treatments: (i) control without nutrients applied (control),  (ii) N omitted with P and K applied (-N), (iii) P omitted with N and K applied (-P), (iv) K omitted with N and P applied (-K), (v) treatment with all the three nutrients applied (NPK), and (vi) a treatment where secondary macronutrients (S, Ca and Mg) and micronutrients (Zn and B) were applied in addition to the NPK (NPK+). Primary macronutrients were applied at 140 kg N ha −1 , 50 kg P ha −1 and 50 kg K ha −1 at each site in the NGS; and at 120 kg N ha −1 , 40 kg P ha −1 and 40 kg K ha −1 at each site in the SS. The secondary macro-and micronutrients were applied at 24 kg S ha −1 , 10 kg Ca ha −1 , 10 kg Mg ha −1 ,5 kg Zn ha −1 and 5 kg B ha −1 at each site across the agro-ecological zones. Nitrogen (N) was applied in three equal splits, i.e. at planting (basal application), at 21 and 42 days after emergence (DAE), while all other nutrients were applied at planting. The open-pollinated maize varieties used were IWD C2 SYN F2 (with 105-110 days to maturity) and EVDT W STR (with 90-95 days to maturity) in the NGS and the SS study sites, respectively. The hybrid maize varieties used were OBA SUPER-9 (with 105-110 days to maturity) and OBA SUPER-1 (with 105-118 days to maturity) in all the study sites for 2015 and 2016 seasons, respectively. Treatment plot size was 5 m × 6 m (30 m 2 ) with a plant spacing of 0.75 m (inter-row) and 0.25 m (intra-row). Detailed information about the nutrient omission trials is provided by Shehu et al. (2018).Four auger soil samples were collected from 0 to 20 cm depths from each experimental field during trial establishment before application of fertilizer treatments using a zig-zag random sampling pattern. The four collected samples were thoroughly mixed to have one disturbed composite sample per experimental field and passed through a 2 mm sieve for laboratory analysis. Total soil organic carbon (OC tot ) was assessed using a modified Walkley & Black chromic acid wet chemical oxidation and spectrophotometric method (Heanes, 1984). Total nitrogen (N tot ), was determined using a micro-Kjeldahl digestion method (Bremner, 1996). Soil pH in water (soil/water ratio of 1:1) was measured using a glass electrode pH meter and the particle size distribution with the hydrometer method (Gee and Or, 2002). Available phosphorus (P av ), available sulphur (S av ), exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B) were analysed based on the Mehlich-3 extraction procedure (Mehlich, 1984) preceding inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES, Optima 800, Winlab 5.5, PerkinElmer Inc.,Waltham, MA, USA). Exchangeable acidity (H + Al) was determined by extracting soil with 1 N KCl and titration of the supernatant with 0.5 M NaOH (Anderson and Ingram, 1993). Effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) was calculated as the sum of exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and exchangeable acidity (H + Al).The crop was harvested at physiological maturity in a net plot of 9 m 2 (i.e. comprising four middle rows of 3 m length of the experimental plot). Plants in the net plot were harvested, and total fresh weights of cobs and stover were recorded. Ten cobs and five stalks of stover were randomly selected as subsamples for nutrient analysis and to account for grain shelling percentage and moisture content after airdrying. The random selection was carried out by first counting the number of cobs or stalks in the net plot and then randomly arranging them in line; the sub samples were then taken at every interval calculated as the total number of cobs or stalks in the net plot over the number of sub samples to be taken. Finally, grain yield was expressed on a dry weight basis at 15.0% moisture content and the stover yield was expressed on an oven dried basis (dried at 60 °C). The concentration of total nitrogen in the grain and stover was determined using a micro-Kjeldahl digestion method (Bremner, 1996), while P and K were analysed by digestion with nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and concentrations measured with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES, Optima 800, Winlab 5.5, PerkinElmer Inc.,Waltham, MA, USA).The screening of the data was necessitated because some data points were inconsistent and observed to have either soil or plant nutrient concentrations extremely above and below literature range. To address this, multivariate outliers (n = 219) from the experimental data were discarded first at **P < 0.05 using Mahalanobis distance in JMP version 13.0 statistical software (SAS Institute Inc., 2017). Then to understands the characteristics of the screened experimental data (n = 1371), analysis of variance was computed using the same JMP 13.0 statistical software. Nutrient application (NA), agro-ecological zone (AEZ) and variety group (VG) were used as main factors. Season was excluded in the ANOVA because different fields were used between the two seasons of the field experimentation. Mean values with significant differences were compared using Tukey's HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) test. Finally, the screened experimental data was randomly divided into 80% independent fields for parameterization (n = 1090) and the remaining 20% (n = 281) for validation of the QUEFTS model.Step 1 (assessment of the supply of available nutrients): the supply of available nutrients (S) in the QUEFTS model is given as a function of indigenous soil nutrient supply plus the nutrient input supply. The nutrient input supply is a function of the quantity of nutrient input added multiplied by the average fertilizer recovery efficiency. The indigenous nutrient supply was developed using a multiple regression between soil properties (OC tot , N total , pH, P av and K) and uptake of the nutrient in the omitted plots using best subset-selection procedure. The best regression model was chosen based on the highest coefficient of determination value (R 2 ) and minimum Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) among five distribution systems (linear, polynomial, logarithmic, exponential and Cauchy). The fertilizer recovery efficiency (R i ) is then calculated as:Where U i = ith nutrient in the above ground biomass (kg ha −1 ) in the NPK plot, U i 0 = ith nutrient in the above ground biomass (kg ha −1 ) in the omission plot, F i = amount of ith nutrient applied (kg ha −1 ).Step 2 (relation between the supply of available nutrients and actual uptake): The relations between supply of nutrients and actual uptake were calculated using the following conditions and functions (Janssen et al., 1990;Sattari et al., 2014):, ; U i (j) = refers to uptake of ith nutrient in relation to j, if i= N, j may be P or K; S i = supply of available ith nutrient obtained from step 1; a i = physiological efficiency (PhE) or internal efficiency (IE) at maximum accumulation of nutrient i (kg grain kg −1 nutrient i); d i = physiological efficiency (PhE) or internal efficiency (IE) at maximum dilution of nutrient i (kg grain kg −1 nutrient i); r i = minimum nutrient i uptake to produce any grain (kg nutrient i ha −1 ).The physiological efficiency (PhE) was calculated as follows (Sattari et al., 2014):(3)Where GHI = grain harvest index, X gi = mass fraction (g kg −1 ) of the nutrient i in the grain, X si = mass fraction (g kg −1 ) of the nutrient i in the stover. The GHI < 0.40 values were considered as anomalies in the dataset as the crop might have suffered biotic and abiotic stresses other than nutrients (Hay, 1995); to guarantee accuracy they were excluded from this analysis.The minimum uptake of the ith nutrient to produce any grain (r i ) was obtained from the minimum uptake of the ith nutrient in the above ground biomass mass (kg ha −1 ) in the control plots after discarding all control plots with zero grain yield.Step 3 (relation between actual uptake and yield ranges): The principles used in QUEFTS at this stage are that the yield ranges are calculated between yield Y ( ) i a at maximum accumulation (a) and yield Y ( )maximum dilution (d), as functions of the actual uptake U ( ) i and the minimum uptake to produce any grain r ( ) i :(5)Step 4 (combining yield ranges to ultimate yield estimates): in this final step yield ranges are combined for pairs of nutrients, and then the yields estimated for pairs of nutrients are averaged to obtain an ultimate yield estimate. The following equation was used to calculate yield Y ( ) ij for the pair of nutrients i and j (Sattari et al., 2014):, , , , , ; Ymax = maximum potential yield (where 10,000 kg ha −1 was used in the study area).The final and ultimate yield estimate Y ( ) U is calculated as the mean of the yield estimate of the pairs of nutrients:The performance of the QUEFTS model was evaluated using four statistical tests i.e. root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R 2 ), index of agreement and percent bias (PBIAS) (Eqs. 8-11 below). The RMSE is an error index where the lower the value indicates better model performance (Moriasi et al., 2007). The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) estimates the combined dispersion against the single dispersion of the observed and predicted series (Krause and Boyle, 2005); it ranges between 0 and 1, where a value of 0 means no correlation at all and value of 1 means the dispersion of prediction is equal to that of observation. The index of agreement (d) represents the ratio of mean square error and the potential error. The d is interpreted like R 2 and it has the capability to overcome the low sensitivity of R 2 to the differences between the observed and predicted means and variances (Legates and McCabe, 1999). The optimal value of PBIAS is 0.00, with low-magnitude values indicating accurate model simulation. Positive values indicate model underestimation bias, and negative values indicate model overestimation bias (Gupta et al., 1999).The sensitivity analysis was carried out to test the impact of individual parameters and coefficients on model output for each agroecological zone and when the data for the two agro-ecological zones were combined to widen the applicability of the model.Where Y i obs = i th grain yield observed, Y ¯obs = mean of the observed grain yield, Y i pre = i th grain yield predicted by the QUEFTS model, Y ¯pre =mean of the predicted grain yield and n = number of observations.There was a strong variability in most soil characteristics among the experimental fields across the two agro-ecological zones (NGS and SS) as indicated by wide range and high coefficient of variability (CV) values (Table 1). However, most of the studied parameters were significantly different between the two agro-ecological zones. Total organic carbon (OC tot ), total nitrogen (N tot ), Mg, Cu and available sulphur (S av) were larger in the NGS than in the SS. In contrast, pH, available phosphorus (P av ), Mn and Fe were larger in the SS than in the NGS. In both agro-ecological zones, soils have a large sand content and are classified as loam in the NGS and sandy loam in the SS. The average soil pH is classified as moderately acidic (5.6-6.0) in the NGS and slightly acidic (6.1-6.5) in the SS. The average contents of OC tot (< 10 g kg −1 ), N tot (< 0.10 g kg −1 ), B (< 0.79 mg kg −1 ) and ECEC (< 6.0 cmol c kg −1 ) in both agro-ecological zones fell within a low soil fertility condition according to the ratings of the Nigerian \"National Special Programme on Food Security\" NSPFS (2005) and of the ESU (1991) fertility classification of Nigerian Savanna soils. However, soil average P av (7-20 mg kg -1 ), K (0.15-0.30 cmol c kg −1 ), Ca (2-5 cmol c kg −1 ), Mg (0.3-1.0 cmol c kg −1 ), Cu (0.21-2.0 mg kg -1 ) and S av (5.1-20.0 mg kg -1 ) were of 'moderate' soil fertility status in both agro-ecological zones. High levels of Zn (> 2.0 mg kg -1 ), Mn (> 5.0 mg kg -1 ) and Fe (> 5.0 mg kg -1 ) were observed in the two agro-ecological zones.Nutrient application (NA) significantly affected all measured grain yield and nutrient uptake characteristics (Table 2). Maize grain yield, total dry matter, N and P uptake were consistently larger in the NPK+, NPK and -K nutrient application treatments than in the -P, -N and control, across the two agro-ecological zones (Fig. 3). Similar trend was observed for grain harvest index (GHI), K uptake and nutrient harvest indices (NHI, PHI, and KHI) except in the SS where the values of these variables for -P treatment were comparable with the values for NPK+, NPK and -K, respectively (Fig. 3). With an exception of plant P uptake (kg ha −1 ) and P harvest index (PHI), all the studied parameters for grain yield and nutrient uptake were significantly different between the agro-ecological zones (AEZ) (Table 2). Grain yield and total dry matter were on average largest in NGS (3.8 and 8.6 t ha −1 ) and smallest in SS (3.0 and 6.5 t ha −1 ) (Fig. 3). Nitrogen (N) and K uptake were equally larger in the NGS (69.2 and 77.7 kg ha −1 ) than in the SS (52.1 and 60.1 kg ha −1 ) (Fig. 3). In contrast, GHI, nitrogen harvest index (NHI) and potassium harvest index (KHI) were larger in the SS than in the NGS. There were few differences between the two variety groups (OPV and hybrid) (Table 2), with only GHI, NHI and PHI being larger in the OPV than in the hybrid variety group (Fig. 4). However, significant interaction among variety group and agro-ecological zone on GHI and N, P and K harvest indices were also observed (Table 2). The GHI was comparable between the two variety groups in the NGS, while in the SS an OPV had larger GHI (0.49) than the hybrid variety (0.41) (Fig. 4). Largest N, P and K harvest indices (NHI, PHI and KHI) were observed in OPV in the SS zone. Because of a few statistical differences between variables of the two variety groups, the datasets from the two groups were used in the parameterization of the QUEFTS model.The relations between indigenous soil N, P, and K supply (calculated as the uptake of the given nutrient in the respective omission plots) and soil properties were not effectively described with the QUEFTS' default equations (Table 3) in each agro-ecological zone and when the data for the two zones were combined as could be derived from the relatively small R 2 values. Consequently, new and better fitting equations of indigenous soil N, P and K supply were derived for the NGS, SS and the combined zones (Table 3). Total organic carbon (OC tot ) together with N tot contributed positively as the explaining soil properties for indigenous N soil supply to maize in the NGS. While in the SS and the data of the combined zones only N tot positively explained the indigenous N soil supply. The indigenous soil supply of P in each agroecological zone and their combined data were positively explained by pH and P av . The exchangeable potassium (K) was the only soil property positively describing the K indigenous soil supply potential to maize in each agroecological zone and across, except in the SS where pH contributed negatively in addition to exchangeable K. The results revealed that unlike in the default QUEFTS model OC tot did not significantly explained the indigenous potential supply of the three macronutrients except N in the NGS.Both the newly parameterized and default QUEFTS average fertilizer recovery efficiencies are shown in Table 4. The fertilizer recovery fractions of N, P and K were substantially larger in the NGS than in the SS (Table 4). In each agro-ecological zone recovery efficiencies of N were smaller than the QUEFTS default value of 0.50. The average P and K recovery efficiencies were larger than the QUEFTS default efficiency values of 0.10 and 0.50, respectively in the NGS and when the data of the two agro-ecological zones were combined. On the contrary, the average P and K recovery efficiencies were smaller than the QUEFTS default values in the SS (Table 4).The relations between grain yield and nutrient uptake showing boundary lines of physiological efficiency (PhE) of nutrients at maximum accumulation (a) and maximum dilution (d) are presented in Fig. 5. Across the two agro-ecological zones, the coefficients a for N, P and K were overall close to the QUEFTS default values (Table 4). The sole exception was in the SS where coefficient a for P was lower than the QUEFTS standard value. The d coefficients for N between the NGS, SS and their combined data were comparable but larger than the QUEFTS default value. In contrast, the d coefficients for P between the two agro-ecological zones and their combined data were comparable  but lower than the QUEFTS default value. The d coefficient for K in the NGS and for the data of the combined zones was close to the QUEFTS default value, but these values were lower than the value observed in the SS. The values for the minimum nutrient uptake coefficient (r) of N, P and K were 4.0, 0.5 and 4.5 kg ha −1 for the NGS and when the data of the two zones were combined; and 6.1, 0.8 and 7.3 kg ha -1 for the SS, respectively (Table 4). Across the two agro-ecological zones, the r coefficient values for all the three nutrients (N, P, and K) were larger than the QUEFTS default values, except r coefficient for the N in the NGS, which was slightly smaller than the QUEFTS default coefficient. However, the r coefficient values of the three nutrients were smaller in the NGS than in the SS.The QUEFTS model predicts a linear relationship between grain yield and above-ground nutrient uptake until yield reaches about 50-60% of the yield potential fixed at 10 t ha −1 for the NGS and the SS, respectively (Fig. 5). As the target yield gets closer to the potential yield, PhE decreases significantly. The parametrized QUEFTS model estimated a balanced uptake of 21.2 kg N, 3.3 kg P and 23.7 kg K in the above-ground parts per tonne of maize grain yield when the grain yield reached 60% (6 t ha −1 ) of the maize potential yield in the NGS (Table 5). The corresponding PhE was 52.6 kg grain kg −1 N, 337.5 kg grain kg −1 P and 45.8 kg grain kg −1 K. In the SS an uptake of 16.3 kg N, 7.7 kg P and 30.4 kg K was required per tonne of grain yield at 60% of the potential yield (Table 5); the corresponding PhE was 61.5 kg grain kg −1 N, 142.4 kg grain kg −1 P and 33.0 kg grain kg −1 K. Likewise, when the data of the two agro-ecological zones were combined an uptake of 20.7 kg N, 3.4 kg P and 27.1 kg K are required to produce 1 t maize grain when at 60% of the potential yield; this corresponds to PhE of 48.4 kg grain kg −1 N, 290.8 kg grain kg −1 P and 36.9 kg grain kg −1 K. It follows that the optimal N, P & K ratios in the above-ground dry matter at 60% of the maize potential yield are 6.4:1:7.2 for the NGS, 2.1:1:3.9 for the SS and 6.1:1:7.9 when the data of two zones were combined. These results show that the QUEFTS model predicts larger P and K uptake requirements for a balanced nutrition at 60% of the potential yield in the SS than in the NGS, while an opposite trend was observed for N requirements between the two agro-ecological zones.Fig. 6 shows the comparison between observed and parameterized QUEFTS predicted maize grain yields for the NGS, SS and for the combined data of the two agro-ecological zones. There was a satisfactory agreement between grain yields predicted by the parameterized QUEFTS model and those observed from the field experiment in each agro-ecological zone (owing to reasonably high R 2 and d values and relatively small RMSE) (Fig. 6a and b). However, the model showed a small overestimation bias in the NGS (PBIAS = -8.5%) and a small underestimation bias in the SS (PBIAS = 12.9%).The sensitivity analysis shows the performance of the model to be slightly reduced when the data of two agro-eclogical zones were combined (indicated by 2% and 8% reduction in R 2 value over NGS and SS alone, respectively). However, the parameterized model for the data of the combined agro-ecological zones similarly displayed small overestimation bias of 7.6% (Fig. 6c).The larger OC tot , N tot and S av in NGS is associated with larger soil clay content as well as longer rainy season which resulted in greater vegetative biomass and litterfall than in SS. In contrast, relatively less rainfall in the SS resulted in higher average pH values compared to the NGS. High rainfall increases the potential for leaching of cations (especially Ca and Mg) and poor soil aeration, which often decreases soil pH. The higher OC tot , N tot and S av , and lower pH in the NGS than in the SS has also been observed by Daudu et al. (2018). Northern OC tot : total organic carbon (g kg −1 ); N tot : total nitrogen (g kg −1 ); Pav: available phosphorus (mg kg −1 ); K: exchangeable potassium (cmol c kg −1 ); pH: soil pH in water (1:1); S N , S P and S K are soil indigenous supplies in kg ha -1 of maize crop-available N, P, and K, respectively.Default and newly parameterized values of average fertilizer recovery efficiency (R i ); physiological efficiency at maximum accumulation of nutrient (a i ) and maximum dilution of nutrient (d i ); and minimum uptake required (r i ) to produce any grain of N, P and K in the above-ground dry matter of maize in the Northern Guinea (NGS), Sudan Savanna (SS) and all (combined data of the two agro-ecological zones). Nigerian Savanna soils are developed from aeolian materials and pre-Cambrian basement complex rocks (such as granite, schist and sandstone) (Bennett, 1980) and this resulted in a large sand fraction in the surface soils of both the NGS and the SS. Moreover, Malgwi et al. (2000) and Voncir et al. (2008) have reported that sorting of soil material due to clay eluviation and wind erosion as additional factors leading to large sand content of the surface soils of the Northern Nigerian Savanna. The overall low levels of OC tot , N tot , B and ECEC in both agroecological zones have been related to two principal factors: (i) the type of parent material and intensive weathering of the soils with small mineral reserve necessary for inherent nutrient recharge; and (ii) intensive cultivation of the soils with inadequate (unbalanced and insufficient external inputs) nutrient management including burning or complete removal of crop residues (Jones and Wild, 1975;Manu et al., 1991;Smaling et al., 1991;Kwari et al., 2011). Although past studies like Ekeleme et al. (2014); Kamara et al. (2014) and Shehu et al. (2015) have reported low average P av in some parts of the study area, the moderate average P av content observed in the two agro-ecological zones in this study can be explained by residual effects of previous P applications. Some fractions of P applied through fertilizer not taken up by the current crop due to temporary fixation in the soil can be released gradually to the succeeding crop (Janssen et al., 1987). The moderate to high levels of exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg and K) are not surprising as most soils are developed from basement complex rocks which contains large content of these cations. Møberg and Esu (1991) also reported an appreciable presence of K-bearing feldspar minerals in sand and silt particles of Savanna soils of Nigeria. Similarly, deficiency of the studied micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) is unlikely to occur in the study fields due to relatively acidic reaction of the soils. Only at pH above 7.5 does the availability of these micronutrients becomes significantly limited owing to the formation of oxides, hydroxides and carbonates (Sillanpää, 1982).The minimal response of grain yield, total dry matter, GHI and N, P and K uptake in control, -N and -P relative to the NPK+, NPK and -K treatments across the two agro-ecological zones indicates N and P as the major nutrients limiting growth and yield response of maize. Nitrogen deficiency has been recognized as the most limiting factor for cereal production in vast areas of SSA including in the Nigerian Savanna Fig. 5. The balanced maize N, P and K uptake requirements (YN, YP and YK) for maximum yield potentials set at 10 t ha −1 simulated by the parameterized-QUEFTS model for Northern Guinea Savanna (a-c), Sudan Savanna (d-f) and all i.e. combined data of the two agro-ecological zones (g-i). The upper and lower lines indicate yields with maximum dilution and maximum nutrient accumulation, respectively.Maize reciprocal physiological efficiency (RPhE) of N, P, and K simulated by the QUFETS model to achieve yield targets with maximum yield potential set at 10 t ha −1 for the Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS), Sudan Savanna (SS) and all (combined data of the two agro-ecological zones).  (Vanlauwe et al., 2011). Soil N can be depleted rapidly by maize, especially when yields are high and stover is exported (Kamara, 2017).The widespread N deficiency in the study area can be attributed to small soil organic matter contents (indicated by small OC tot ) resulting from inherent poor soil fertility and continuous cropping with inadequate and imbalanced N fertilizer or manure applications. Adediran and Banjoko (1995) reported P as among the most maize yield limiting nutrients in the Nigerian Savanna. Nigerian soils, particularly the highly weathered ones, have small indigenous P contents and often a large P sorption capacity (Osemwotai et al., 2005). Combined application of balanced fertilizers with manure and rotation of cereal crops with legumes through integrated soil fertility management principles (ISFM) (Vanlauwe et al., 2010) can assist farmers in the study area to improve soil N and P status. The lack of a significant increase in grain yield due the addition of secondary macronutrients (S, Ca and Mg) and micronutrients (Zn and B) suggest that these nutrients are not significantly limiting maize yield in the studied area. A significant extra yield increases due to the addition of the secondary macronutrients and micronutrients (SMMs) was observed in only 7 fields (Shehu et al., 2018). The lack of large yield response to the addition of the SMMs did not support the findings of Wendt and Rijpma (1997) who reported large improvement in maize yield in some parts of East Africa due to the addition of the SMMs and recommended inclusion of the SMMs in NPK fertilizer blends. The larger grain yield and total dry matter in the NGS compared with the SS could be explained by the amount of rainfall, as the larger relative rainfall amount and duration in the NGS favoured more maize biomass production than in the SS.The newly developed supply functions for indigenous soil N, P and K in both agroecological zones explained a minimum of 50% variation in soil characteristics among the studied fields. The unexplained variation can be attributed to the differences in rate of mineralization, in leaching losses and in soil moisture availability, etc. (Barber, 1995). These remain complex factors to integrate into a simple empirical indigenous nutrient supply equation (Tabi et al., 2008). Going beyond the default QUEFTS model, total nitrogen (N tot ) represents a more apt explanatory variable for the indigenous soil supply of nitrogen (S N ) rather than the conventional OC tot . Nitrogen mineralization in soil is indeed directly related to microbial activity and organic matter inputs, which are influenced by a combination of several physical, biological and chemical factors in the soil system (He, 2014). Hence, it is no surprise that OC tot does not consistently provide the best proxy for N-availability in the soil. Comparable to this study, Samaké (2003) also reported OC tot did not statistically influence indigenous supply of N, P and K to pearl millet in the similar soil conditions in Mali. The effect of pH on indigenous soil supply of P (S P ) across the agro-ecologies corroborates findings of Janssen et al. (1990). Most of the studied fields have acidic pH values, at this condition a unit decrease in pH level increases the potential of conversion of available phosphorus into a less soluble form through reacting with Al and Fe.Favourable combinations of adequate rainfall and low night temperatures makes the NGS more suitable for maize production than the SS (Badu-Apraku et al., 2015), this translates into the larger N, P and K fertilizer recovery efficiencies observed in the NGS. Despite in overall N and P recovery efficiency (R N and R P ) fell below the default QUEFTS values across the two agro-ecologies, but the values in the NGS are close to the result obtained by Saı ̈dou et al. ( 2003) of 0.40 and 0.14 for N and P, respectively in the Southern Benin. In the same way, the recovery efficiency of K (R K ) in the SS is in agreement with 0.40 reported in the Southern Benin by the same Saı ̈dou et al. (2003). However, the R P of both NGS and SS is smaller than the value of 0.24 observed by Tabi et al. (2008) in some part of the Northern Nigeria. This suggest that effective results which optimize fertilizer recovery efficiency figures can be obtained exclusively if site-specific nutrient recommendations using balanced nutrient requirements are complemented with the right source, time and placement of fertilizer application, and subject to appropriate agronomic practices.The boundary line coefficients a and d for physiological nutrient efficiency of this study across the two agro-ecological zones are larger than in the analysis of Saı ̈dou et al. (2003) in the Southern Benin (20 and 40 kg grain kg −1 N, 110 and 270 kg grain kg −1 P, 25 and 90 kg grain kg −1 K) except a coefficients for K that are comparable. Equally, Tabi et al. (2008) observed smaller a and d boundary line physiological efficiency for N and P in some part of Northern Nigeria (21 and 71 kg grain kg −1 N, 97 and 600 kg grain kg −1 P) except d coefficient for P that is larger compared with the values of this study. Saı ̈dou et al. (2003) and Tabi et al. (2008) have attributed the smaller physiological efficiencies in their studies to smaller grain harvest indices. Therefore, the larger values of physiological efficiencies in this study proved to be the result of large grain harvest indices. As explained earlier under subsection 2.4.1, grain harvest indices less than 0.40 were considered as anomalies in the dataset as the crop might have suffered biotic and abiotic stresses other than nutrients (Hay, 1995); to guarantee precision were excluded as similarly performed by Liu et al. (2006), Xu et al. (2013), among others.The significant difference between the minimum uptake requirement to produce any grain (r) observed in this study and the QUEFTS default values emphasizes the importance for recalibration of this Fig. 6. Relation between the observed and parameterized QUEFTS simulated maize grain yield for (a) Northern Guinea Savanna \"NGS\", (b) Sudan Savanna \"SS\" and (c) for the all (combined data of the two agro-ecological zones). R 2 : coefficient of determination; d = index of agreement; RMSE: root mean square error (t ha −1 ); PBIAS: percent bias (%). parameter which has not been considered in most previous QUEFTS parameterization and calibration studies.Balanced nutrient plant uptake requirement can provide guidance for amount of fertilizer to be applied to achieve a desirable yield and for an efficient maintenance of soil fertility, as at least the nutrients removed or harvested in the above ground plant dry matter must be returned to the soil. The balanced nutrient uptake requirements predicted by QUEFTS in this study with exception of K in the SS are comparable to values of 20.0 kg N, 4.5 kg P, 18.0 kg K reported for a tonne of maize grain in similar environmental and soil conditions in Zimbabwe (Piha, 1993). However, the higher balanced K uptake ratio in the aboveground matter relative to N as predicted by the parameterized QUEFTS in this study across the two agro-ecologies does not support the findings of most previous studies which have reported higher N uptake ratio compared to K. This trend was not surprising as most of the study fields have moderate to high K content in addition to the amount K fertilizer applied of 40-50 kg K ha −1 . This led to luxury uptake of K especially in the maize stover evidenced by a small K harvest index (KHI). The moderate to high K content of the soils could be linked to an appreciable amount of K-bearing feldspar minerals in the sand and silt particles in the study area (Møberg and Esu, 1991) and the residual effect of previous K fertilizer applications. The supply of available K in soil is strongly dependent upon the type and amount of K-bearing minerals. In the K-feldspars, K is structurally bound in the crystal lattice (structural K) and is only released into the soil solution through weathering (Øgaard and Krogstad, 2005). The larger P uptake requirements in SS relative to the NGS can be attributed to higher soil P content in the SS as confirmed by the low maize yield response to P application observed in the nutrient omission trials.The close agreement between the parametrized QUEFTS simulated and observed yields shows that the parameterized QUEFTS model can be used to calculate balanced nutrient requirements and site-or areaspecific fertilizer recommendations to optimize maize yield in the Northern Nigerian Savanna. The QUEFTS model, however, assumes that other biophysical factors apart from nutrients such as moisture, temperature, pests, diseases and management are non-limiting. As these factors are complex to optimize in on-farm field experiments, this may account for the under-and over-estimation bias obtained with the parameterized QUEFTS model in the SS and the NGS, respectively. To guarantee precision, the under-and over-estimation percent bias in the SS and NGS, respectively should be considered and adjusted at the final and ultimate yield estimate Y ( ) U stage in the parameterized QUEFTS model. The good performance of the model when data for the two agroecological zones were combined suggests that the parametrized nutrient supply functions and other calibrated parameters can be widely adopted for a larger scale application.The present study resulted in the parameterization and validation of the QUEFTS model to arrive at balanced nutrient requirements and sitespecific fertilizer recommendations for maize in the Northern Nigerian Savanna. This was based on data from on-farm nutrient omission trials conducted across potential maize production sites covering two agroecological zones i.e. the Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS) and the Sudan Savanna (SS). There were considerable differences in soil and nutrient uptake characteristics between the NGS and the SS. The relations between indigenous soil N, P, and K supply and soil properties were not adequately described with the QUEFTS default equations across the agro-ecological zones, consequently new and better fitting equations were derived. The coefficients a and d of N, P, and K for the QUEFTS model were 35 and 79, 200 and 527, and 25 and 117 kg grain kg −1 nutrient for the NGS; 32 and 79, 164 and 528, and 24 and 136 kg grain kg −1 nutrient for the SS zone; and 35 and 79, 199 and 528, and 24 and 124 kg grain kg −1 nutrient when the data of the two agro-ecological zones were combined. The minimum nutrient uptake coefficients (r) of N, P and K were 4.0, 0.5 and 4.5 kg ha -1 for the NGS zone and the combined data of the two agro-ecological zones; and 6.1, 0.8 and 7.3 kg ha −1 for the SS zone. The parameterized QUEFTS model predicted a linear increase in above-ground dry matter uptake of N, P and K until the grain yield reached about 50-60% of the potential yield. At 60% of the potential yield (6 t ha −1 ) a balanced uptake in the above-ground part of 21.2 kg N, 3.3 kg P and 23.7 kg K is required to produce a tonne of maize grain in the NGS; 16.3 kg N, 7.7 kg P and 30.4 kg K to produce a tonne of maize grain in the SS zone; and 20.7 kg N, 3.4 kg P and 27.1 kg K to produce a tonne of maize grain when the data of the two agro-ecological zones were combined. Validation results indicated a good correlation between the parameterized QUEFTS estimated and observed grain yields in both agro-ecological zones. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the calibration parameters obtained across the two agro-ecological zones did not substantially reduce the precision of the model when compared with those obtained from the data of the individual agro-ecological zone. This imply that the parametrized QUEFTS model can be a springboard for development of simple and cost-effective decision support tools for nutrient management and fertilizer recommendations in the Northern Nigerian Savanna and in similar environments of West and Central Africa. To ensure a greater impact, site-specific fertilizer recommendations developed from the model must be complemented with appropriate agronomic management practices including use of right source, precise time and right placement of the fertilizer.","tokenCount":"8116"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5737179083.json b/data/part_1/5737179083.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d8eb38ecaecd0e19e2db18e31e3e7bbd4ba62b7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5737179083.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3661975d29322794b7f1371d11bb9450","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e144fb59-5b19-4484-b79e-494963573781/retrieve","id":"1768189287"},"keywords":["Scaling Readiness","innovations","scaling","assessment","evaluation","pig market arrangement","Uganda"],"sieverID":"20681918-d103-4d07-a7d7-fac40d7f9b67","pagecount":"64","content":"Australian animal scientist and Nobel Prize laureate Peter Doherty seves as ILRI's patron. Organizations that fund ILRI throughtheir contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund make ILRI's work possible. Organizations that partner with ILRI in its mission make livestock research for development a reality.The Scaling Readiness assessment of Uganda's pig market arrangement framework shows that it consists of eight novel components critical for its successful implementation. It also shows that improving the maturity of the pig market arrangement framework requires seven other innovations to impact the formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda at scale. It indicates that the maturity and Use Levels of the novel components and the complementary innovations differ significantly. It presents that complementary models to the market arrangement framework are relatively more advanced while principle (only one) and practice types of complementary innovations are less advanced.An April 2021 Scaling Readiness assessment of the novel components of the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets indicates that the Average Scaling Readiness Level of the framework components is about 15, and the Scaling Readiness Score is 0 (Figure 1).The big gap between the two measures is the open data principle, which is not part of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project. Suppose the project starts using the principle and improves its Readiness and use. In that case, the Average Scaling Readiness Level will approach 20, which is an approximate milestone for completing the design phases of the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda.Most pig value chain framework components are clustered at the Readiness Level of 5 (proven application model) and 6 (unproven application). These are the two levels in which non-experimental research plays a significant role. In these levels, data across the value chains are generated, synthesized, and used to develop the first versions of the applied solutions that fit the needs of Uganda for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in the pig value chain. Since ILRI's significant capabilities and comparative advantage lie in these two domains, the Scaling Readiness assessment showed that the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project efforts on the pig market arrangement framework are suitable to needs on the ground.The Scaling Readiness assessment showed that a commercial value chain model is well established in pig value chains in Uganda. Although some of the interviews emphasized a lack of commercial understanding among pig farmers and aggregators, available evidence showed pig farmers and aggregators who are neither involved in research and development projects nor supported by incentives and subsidies have a commercial mindset of their own. They use pigs as short term investment assets that can finance the considerable expenditures of the family, such as school fees and marriages. This indicates a gap among some of the knowledge partners involved in the pig value chain about alternative commercial approaches used by the small-scale pig producers and aggregators.The Scaling Readiness assessment could not identify the use of an open market data approach in the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Project market arrangement component. Investments in the generation of market information and sharing them open access is a niche that can be addressed by support service providers of the pig value chain, including international organizations such as ILRI (if not already done). Since open access market data requires digital technologies, organizations working on digitalization might be interested in this niche.Based on the findings, the Scaling Readiness assessment team recommends that interventions aiming to improve the pig market arrangement framework need to prioritize the following: conduct desktop research on successful implementations of openly sharing market-related information in livestock value chains in East Africaconduct desktop research on existing transportation bestpractices in pig value chains and design a blueprint of how they can be implemented in Uganda validate existing evidencebased logistical arrangement approaches in pig value chains and tailor them for use in Uganda at scale validate how existing pig health, weight, and other price and quality-related inspection practices can perform in Ugandan pig value chains and co-design an application that combines the effective practices validate existing effective hands-on-brokerage techniques in pig value chains and tailor them for implementing them at scale in Uganda plan how the Livestock CRP and other initiatives can support stakeholders in the Ugandan pig value chain to produce, access, and use reliable and affordable market information at scale and design a model for a market information system for the Ugandan pig value chain UTILIZATION ACTIVITIES plan on how the Livestock CRP and other initiatives can address pig transportation and use available pig transportation best practices in their design plan how logistical data and conditions can guide designing and determining the strategies and research and development efforts in the pig value chain and design a model for the use of logistical data convince the Livestock CRP aggregator partners about the benefits of using pig purchase inspection practices, and train them on using the practices in their work sensitize and convince Livestock CRP partners about the benefits of implementing hands-onbrokerage techniques to enhance the market transactions in the pig value chain in UgandaMeasures in Scaling Readiness are calculated using evidence. Specific claims of Readiness and use measures are assessed through a hierarchy of sources of verification. High-quality science articles and other peer-reviewed documents are the first sources. In their absence, technical documents or other publicly scrutinized documents are used to back up specific evidence claims. Where there is a lack of documents, experts' opinions proven to have sufficient competencies are triangulated to identify the measures.The combination of the innovations a project aims to scale and other innovations necessary to scale them. Innovation packages usually consist of technologies and other products, services, organizational and institutional arrangements, and systems required to improve awareness of accessibility, affordability, and other characteristics of an innovation that influence the maturity and usability at scale. An innovation package is the fundamental unit of analysis for scaling innovations in Scaling Readiness. Research for development interventions can influence the design and delivery of innovation packages, but they cannot control it. Many innovations in the innovation packages are beyond the control and influence zone of interventions; therefore, partnerships are vital in improving the overall Readiness of innovation packages.A tool, concept, practice, technology, etc., that constitutes a part of innovations. They can be standalone innovations for other contexts and goals, but for the specific goals and contexts, an intervention operates, they are classified as components. Innovation has a very high number of components. Some of the components are novel and play a critical role in the maturity and use of the innovation. In Scaling Readiness, these novel components of innovations are characterized and diagnosed. Research for development interventions can control the design, development, and delivery of innovation components.A novel product, service, arrangements, or their purposeful combinations with economic, environmental, health, industrial, etc., benefits. Innovations are different from inventions since they have explicit implementations. A product, service, arrangement, or combinations need to have clear use objectives to be considered innovation. Innovations can be technical or social. They can be tangible and intangible. In Scaling Readiness, innovations are characterized, diagnosed, and strategized. Research for development interventions can control or strongly influence design, development, and delivery innovations and catalyze or support their use at scale. Scaling Readiness is a decision support system to support international research for development projects and programs implemented by CGIAR in designing, developing, disseminating, delivering, and improving the use of innovations at scale. Scaling Readiness concepts and indicators used in this study are explained in the Scaling Readiness glossary. More general information about Scaling Readiness can be accessed via www.scalingReadiness.org. For the science dimensions of Scaling Readiness, a recent research paper (Sartas et al., 2020a) and implementation of the Scaling Readiness Guide (Sartas et al., 2020b) can be helpful.It is a number indicating the level of the use of innovations at scale. It can be considered systematic answers to the combined questions of \"who uses an innovation and in which order of magnitude.\" It can be between 0, which indicates that the innovation is not being used in the context a project aims to increase to the use of the innovation, and 9, which suggests that the innovation is being commonly used among the users who are not involved in any innovation design, development or dissemination processes. Research and development projects increase existing innovation Use Levels by disseminating the innovations and expanding the use of innovations by other innovation professionals who are not involved in the same projects and users who are not involved in any innovation processes.Characterization is the first step of the Scaling Readiness cycle. It includes the activities to document and classify three critical units, i.e., interventions, innovations, and stakeholders. Two of these three critical units, intervention or the component and innovation, the program, are characterized in this study using a customized version of Scaling Readiness step 1.Diagnosis is the second step of the Scaling Readiness cycle. It includes assessments of the characteristics of the interventions, innovations, and stakeholders generated in the first step and the implications of these characteristics in achieving impact at scale. Diagnosis of the intervention and innovation is made in this study using a customized version of Scaling Readiness step 2.Strategizing is the third step of the Scaling Readiness cycle. It includes strategies for addressing the diagnosis and improving the impact performance. Strategizing is done partially in this study by using a customized version of Scaling Readiness step 3.A number indicating how mature or practical an innovation achieves its use objectives. It can be considered as a systematic answer to the question 'how good an innovation works.' It can be between 0, which indicates that the innovation is just an idea in the mind of its potential designers and developers, and 9, suggesting that the innovation is a validated application with clear evidence of its value measured in terms of livelihood impact profit, etc. Research and development projects increase innovation Readiness Levels by improving the design of the innovations, developing and validating the improved designs in uncontrolled and controlled conditions.It is a single number combining the Readiness and Use Level of all the innovations in the innovation package. It can be considered as a single answer to the question of 'what is the likelihood that an innovation package will achieve impact at scale.' There are different ways of calculating Scaling Readiness Levels based on the management system's preferences. It can be an average level, a minimal level, or a weighted Average level. In this study, two Scaling Readiness Levels are documented; the Average Scaling Readiness Level and Scaling Readiness Score. Scaling Readiness Level is the multiplication of the averages of the individual Innovation Readiness and Use Levels of components or innovations. The Scaling Readiness Score is the multiplication of the Readiness and uses Scores of the minimum level component or the innovation in the package. The Scaling Readiness Score is a more strict version focusing on the minimum. It aims to help the designers of the interventions prioritize the bottleneck components or innovations that hinder the high impact at scale.The Scaling Readiness Assessment provides detailed information about Uganda's pig market arrangement framework and complementary innovations necessary to achieve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets.Specifically, it presents the following:the essential characteristics of a pig market arrangement framework relevant for its performance at scale the diagnosis of these essential characteristics from an innovation and scaling perspectiveReadiness and Use Levels of the novel components of the pig market arrangement framework innovations that are necessary to achieve a positive impact from using the pig market arrangement framework at scale the diagnosis of the innovations from an innovation and scaling perspective Readiness and Use Levels of the innovations in the pig market arrangement framework innovation packageThe Scaling Readiness Assessment is at the implementation level. It aims to provide a deeper understanding of innovation-related information relevant to achieving impact at scale by implementing a pig market arrangement framework.The Assessment is designed to be a stand-alone document for:The procedures for identifying the Scaling Readiness measures and the evidence sources are not articulated in this part. The pig market arrangement framework is used by small-scale pig producers and pig aggregators in Uganda, but other value chain actors including disadvantaged groups such as women and youth groups.Most of the activities relevant to the pig market arrangement framework are financed by international organizations, including CGIAR donors.The current user profile of the framework does not include some of the key actors in the pig value chain in Uganda. However, since the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project includes multiple other components, focuses on the pork market arrangement framework, and collaborates with other projects, most of these stakeholders not included in the market arrangement components do not constitute a significant gap. That said, the Scaling Readiness team could not identify the involvement of influential decision-makers of the pig markets, i.e., the owners and financiers of abattoirs. The Scaling Readiness team recommends identifying the other projects, the owners and financiers of the abattoirs, i.e., the pig farmers union and pig farmers and traders association, and linking up the pig market arrangement framework. If there is no such project, it is vital to establish collaborations with them.Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project aims at formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets. Since pigs are both a consumption product and an asset for small-scale pig rearers in Rural Uganda, it contributes to a broad set of Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 1.2 (reducing poverty), 2.3 (increasing small scale food producer income in particular women), 4.1 (increasing the proportion of children attending school), 4.3 (increasing equal access to vocational education) and 8.2 (achieving higher economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation) in Uganda. This diverse set can make the pig market arrangement framework interesting for Ugandans and international organizations investing in Ugandan agriculture.Compared to its conventional alternatives, the pig market arrangement framework reduces business time and transportation costs, enables long-term planning and efficiency gains, and develops business infrastructure. These advantages are significant for the Ugandan pig value chain and can raise interest and demand from multiple stakeholder groups in the Ugandan pig value chain. However, the framework is knowledge-intensive and requires coordination at scale. Knowledge intensity and large-scale coordination are challenging to achieve in low-income contexts in a short-term horizon and take at least a few years. Since the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project builds on long-standing ILRI and its partners' efforts, it is possible to achieve considerable scale coordination that would not be possible in many contexts.The pig market arrangement framework has two components. Except for models, all the components are different types. There is an approach, a method, a technique, a principle, software, service, and two models. This indicates that the framework has a complex design. In addition, most of the components of the pig market arrangement framework are about know-how. This confirms that the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project operates in the knowledge domain of the pig value chain.The Scaling Readiness of innovation is the first metric used to assess the impact potential of the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda at scale. It focuses on the components of the framework and provides a holistic picture of Readiness and Use. Readiness measures how well the components of an innovation perform to achieve its desired objective. At the same time, Use is a measure that presents the type of people using the system and their numbers. More information about the Readiness and Use measures can be found in the Scaling Readiness Evidence Review (Part B).The Scaling Readiness Assessment team has prepared a Scaling Readiness assessment for the pig market arrangement framework using the published evidence provided in the Evidence Review and the bibliography. The Scaling Readiness assessment of the novel components of the pig market arrangement framework in April 2021 in Uganda for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets indicates that the Average Scaling Readiness Level of the pig market arrangement framework components is about 15, and the Scaling Readiness Score is 0 (Figure A1). The big gap between the two measures is due to the open data principle being not part of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project. Suppose the project starts using the principle and improves its Readiness and use. In that case, the Average Scaling Readiness Level will approach 20, which is an approximate milestone for completing the design phases of the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda.Most of the pig value chain framework components are clustered at the Readiness Level of 5 (proven application model) and 6 (unproven application). These are the two levels in which non-experimental research plays a significant role. In these levels, data across the value chains are generated, synthesized, and used to develop the first versions of the applied solutions that fit the needs of Uganda for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in the pig value chain. Since ILRI's significant capabilities and comparative advantage lie in these two domains, the Scaling Readiness assessment showed that the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project efforts on pig market arrangement framework are suitable to needs on the ground.The Scaling Readiness assessment showed that a commercial value chain model is well established in pig value chains in Uganda. Although some of the interviews emphasized a lack of commercial understanding among pig farmers and aggregators, available evidence showed pig farmers and aggregators who are neither involved in research and development projects and nor supported by incentives and subsidies use pigs as short term investment assets that can finance the significant expenditures of a family such as school fees and marriages. This indicates a gap among some of the knowledge partners involved in the pig value chain about alternative commercial approaches used by the small-scale pig producers and aggregators.Our study could not identify the use of an open market data approach in the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Project Market Arrangement Component. Investments in the generation and sharing of market information and open access is a niche that can be addressed by the pig value chain's support service providers, including international organizations such as ILRI. Since open access market data will require digital technologies, organizations working on digitalization might be interested in this niche.Scaling Readiness innovation package profile is a tool to describe other innovations necessary to use innovation at scale. Innovations can not be used at scale without other innovations complementing their use (Sartas et al., 2020a). For instance, a machine can not achieve use at scale without complementary energy infrastructure, the best practices for using it, etc. Scaling Readiness innovation package profile aims to improve the performance of intervention through i) helping to identify other innovations systematically and ii) developing a shared understanding between the project managers, designer, developer, disseminators, and use partners about their complementary roles. An innovation package profile identifies other innovations necessary to use the \"pig market arrangement framework\" at scale in this document. In this section, the following items are provided: The majority of the small-scale producers and aggregators have a strong awareness of the commercial pig production, multi-stakeholder feedback methods implemented by the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Project Market Arrangement Components, and other aspects of the pig market arrangements that concern them directly. Once the open data principles, evidence-based logistics approach, hands-on business brokerage techniques, and commercial capacity building activities are validated by applied research and developed as applications, it will be necessary to design awareness-raising activities. But for now, there are no major awareness innovations necessary to complement the pig market arrangement framework.The research done for this document showed that most of the pig market arrangement framework stakeholders were not convinced that it would benefit them. The interviews and several communication products indicated that most aggregators and middle traders see formalization of market transactions through the market arrangement as a reason for further red tape without clear benefits and resistance. Providing incentives such as tax and fee exemptions for newly formalized enterprises via national and local legislation has a significant potential to overcome the resistance of some stakeholders and convince the aggregators and traders.The locations the current pig market arrangement framework is implemented are limited to the areas where ILRI and other international organizations provide services and support. To increase the availability of the framework in Uganda at scale, it is necessary to identify the best locations that pig collection hubs, slaughterhouses, and other markets providing pig value chain products and services. Mathematical models can identify transport routes and schedules that use data on the location of market hubs and other variables that optimizes the total cost of logistics and markets. This also improves the accessibility of the framework automatically since the accessibility dimensions can easily be included in the models.This section provides information about the diagnosis of the innovations presented in the innovation package sheet.Scaling Readiness Assessment showed that existing market arrangements in the pig value chain are functional but far from optimal. Many aspects can be improved to increase the effectiveness of the pig market arrangement framework.The first complementary innovation that can increase the impact of the pig market arrangement framework includes pig purchase inspection practices. They are used at the farm gate to quickly identify several problems decreasing the price of the pig at a slaughterhouse, such as a drug burden or disease. Although aggregators and abattoirs use some practices to purchase the pigs, they are not standardized and fully informed by the best practices of production, health, and safety. Consolidating and improving some of the pig purchase inspection practices can improve the performance of the pig market arrangement at scale.The second complementary innovation is the standardized pig weight estimation procedure. The literature on the pig value chain in Uganda and the interviews with the key stakeholders show that weight estimation varies significantly and is a continuous source of mistrust between small-scale producers,The scaling Readiness of an innovation package is the final metric used to assess the impact at scale potential of the pig market arrangement framework. The scope of the Scaling Readiness of the innovation package goes beyond the pig market arrangement framework components, which were analyzed previously and include all the innovations included in the Innovation package sheet and following diagnosis sections.The Scaling Readiness Assessment team has prepared an assessment for the pig market arrangement framework package using the published evidence provided in the evidence appendix and bibliography. The assessment results are specific for Uganda in April 2021 for the contribution of the pig market arrangement framework to the formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda. It can differ for other countries, for other periods, and in achieving other goals.Scaling Readiness assessment of the pig market arrangement framework innovation package in April 2021 in Uganda for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets indicates that the Average Scaling Readiness Level of the pig market arrangement framework components is about 11.4 and the Scaling Readiness Score is 0. The big gap between the two measures is two innovations, pig transportation practices and standardized pig weight estimation procedures, being not part of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project. If the project co-develops practices and procedures and supports their use, the gap will be reduced significantly.The Average Readiness Level of the innovation package (5.86) is much higher than the Average Use Level (1.89). This indicates that previous pig market arrangement innovation packages focused more on the research and development side than the utilization side. Considering that the framework has not aggregators, and final consumers. Consolidating and agreeing on standardized ratios and formulas for estimating the weight of pork obtained from a live pig with multiple stakeholder representatives have immense potential to improve the performance of the pig.The third complementary innovation is the rapid pig health check software. It is a smartphone/tabletbased software that uses image recognition to identify several diseases in a pig. Literature showed a few studies in China (Qin et al., 2018) that used artificial intelligence and image recognition models to identify different pig diseases from photos. Combining the software elements that detect different diseases and adapting them for Uganda can dramatically improve the pricing estimates of pigs and help increase the pig market arrangement framework's effectiveness.A fourth complementary innovation for the pig market arrangement framework is disease monitoring software. African Swine Fever (ASF), porcine cysticercosis, and other diseases have disrupted the pig value chains. They are considered a risk to consumer health in repeating outbreaks for more than two decades. The literature documented a few cases in which the pig price collapsed due to the expectation of ASF, although actual incidence rates were low. Therefore, a digital tool that shows the disease incidence and risk at specific coordinates in real-time would help reduce the incidence rates and prevent panic sales that significantly disrupt the pig markets. This would increase the impact of the pig market arrangement framework.The fifth complementary innovation that increases the pig market arrangement framework effectiveness is pig transportation best practices. Interviews conducted Scaling Readiness Assessment showed that damage and death of pigs during the long transportation from the farm to slaughterhouse are common in Uganda. Work on the practices can reduce the risk of lowering the quality of pigs, even their death during the multiple transportation steps from farm to the slaughterhouses and make a significant positive contribution to the impact of the pig market arrangement framework. completed its design yet, (see the previous section), this focus is justified. However, as the framework reaches the completion milestone for the design phase in the near future, the weight of the utilization activities needs to increase to achieve a higher impact at scale.The pig market arrangement innovation package consists of an incentive, a set of models, a procedure, two software, and two sets of practices (Figure A2). Most of these innovations are new and were not used outside of support interventions. Only pig logistics and trade models went beyond the designers and developers. They were used by some of the delivery and use support stakeholders. The Readiness of the innovations in the package varied from three to eight.Practices were less ready and less used in comparison to other innovation types. This indicates that there is a big gap in implementation and action research and innovative practice designs in pig markets. The Evidence Review is targeted at the following:The basic information about the novel components of the pig market arrangement framework and the descriptions of the pig market arrangement framework innovation package innovations are not presented in detail in the Evidence Review. This information is available in the Scaling Readiness Assessment (Part A). The Evidence Review also does not articulate the implications of the findings for designing and implementing Scaling projects, programs, and policies. A synthesis of the findings and recommendations are provided in the Scaling Readiness Guidelines (Part C) The core innovation of this document is the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda. It consists of the following eight novel components:• evidence-based logistics approach• commercial pig production model Open dataThese novel components were identified by assessing the available evidence base about Uganda's agriculture and rural sector and the key informant interviews with the experts working in various research and development organizations in Uganda. The components might change over time depending on the changes in Uganda or reorientation of the objective from formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets to another objective.The components of the pig market arrangement framework have different Readiness and Use Levels (Figure B1).In this section, we articulate the basis for their Readiness and Use Levels.The evidence-based logistics approach refers to the principle of using data and evidence on the supply chain and other logistical facts in designing, implementing, and regulating market arrangements. The contribution of the evidence-based logistics to the market arrangement was proposed as a conceptual model (Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016), an application model designed and published (Dione et al., 2016;Ouma et al., 2017), and finally, an application was designed and being tested (Atherstone et al., 2019). Therefore, it has a Readiness Level of 6. However, there is no evidence that the application successfully improved market transactions in the Uganda pig value chain. The Scaling Readiness team could not find any reference to the use of the evidencebased logistics approach in the market arrangement efforts of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project market arrangement component and/or related projects. Therefore, a Use Level of 0.The commercial pig production model uses commercial pig business models to design, implement, and regulate market arrangement activities. Nabikyu and Kugonza (Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016) published a conceptual model. Several application model components for the commercial pig production model was published (Carter et al., 2018;Chenais et al., 2017;Ouma et al., 2017Ouma et al., , 2018)), and lately, some evidence on the use of the commercial pig production model was presented (Asindu et al., 2020). These publications made the commercial pig production model the highest Readiness component of the pig market arrangement framework. It has a Readiness Level of 8. The use of the commercial pig production model was documented in several publications. It was shown that commercial pig production models were used by designers and developers of market interventions not related to the intervention developing commercial components (Asindu et al., 2020;Chenais et al., 2017;Ouma et al., 2017Ouma et al., , 2018) ) as well as some end-users who were neither involved in any projects nor receiving support (Okello et al., 2020;Thompson, 2021). Therefore, the Use Level of the commercial pig production model is 8.The commercial capacity building model refers to selecting the capacity development targets of the intervention based on the commercial viability of their products in the short and medium-term. An application model for using a commercial approach to training in the pig value chain in Uganda was proposed (Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016), and such a curriculum was developed (ILRI, 2014). However, there is no clear evidence of Multi-stakeholder feedback methods refer to multi-stakeholder consultation and engagement methods to design and implement market arrangement activities and periodically update them based on the feedback from various value chain actors. The use of multi-stakeholder methods was proposed conceptually in 2013 (Ouma et al., 2013), and an application model was published (Ouma et al., 2017). However, the Scaling Readiness team could not identify any systematic evidence on the benefits driven from the implementation of the multi-stakeholder feedback methods. Therefore, multi-stakeholder feedback methods have a Readiness Level of 5. Multi-stakeholder feedback methods were implemented in market arrangement projects with the participation of project partners (Ouma et al., 2017), and it was shown that they were used by other projects (Ouma et al., 2013); corresponding to a Use Level of 4.Multi-stakeholder feedback methods to improve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda, April 2021 onwards how the application of the commercial capacity development model benefited the transactions. Therefore, the commercial capacity-building model has a Readiness Level of 6. The curriculum was also implemented within the research for development projects (ILRI, 2014). Since there is no evidence about the participation of people who were not supported by a project in capacity-building events using the commercial capacitybuilding model, the Use Level is 2.A digital business matching tool refers to multi-platform software that matches pig real-time buyers and sellers in different locations. Conceptual models of how digital business matching tools can contribute to market arrangements in pig value chains were discussed (Atherstone et al., 2019;Lichoti et al., 2017;Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016;Ouma et al., 2013), and an application model was shown to contribute to market arrangements (Bowman, 2019;Dione et al., 2016), This corresponds to a Readiness Level of 5. Bowman (2019) also showed that some project partners used them commonly, corresponding to a Use Level of 3.Training on the basics of business management refers to providing a practical course on the basics of business management, such as accounting and contracting. A conceptual model of the business management training was validated (Dione et al., 2014), followed by application model testing (Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016). There is no further evidence about the benefit of the training application; the Readiness Level is 5. It was shown that the training was provided to project partners (Dione et al., 2014;Ouma et al., 2017), corresponding to a Use Level of 4. Open data principle to improve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda,Hands-on business brokerage techniques refer to using customized best business brokerage techniques that fit the project sites' location to facilitate and improve the market arrangements. A basic model for the brokerage was published (Ouma et al., 2017), and an application of the hands-on business brokerage techniques was tested (Ouma et al., 2020). This implies that the technique has a Readiness Level of 6. The use of hands-on brokerage techniques was very well documented (Ouma et al., 2017(Ouma et al., , 2020)). However, there is no evidence that the technique was used outside of the projects it was developed. This implies a Use Level of 1.formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda, April 2021 onwardsThe pig market arrangement framework alone is not enough to achieve impact at scale. It needs to be complemented by other compatible innovations that fit the conditions of Uganda to realize its full potential in improving formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda and achieve use at scale. The innovation package is a set of innovations including the pig market arrangement framework and other innovations needed to convince the framework's stakeholders about its benefits, ensuring that the pig market arrangement framework is available and effective.The pig market arrangement framework innovation package has seven additional innovations:The Readiness and Use Levels of these seven innovations differ. Among them, practice types of innovations have lower Readiness and Use Levels, indicating that the practice domain in the pig market arrangement framework is less advanced than other domains (Figure B2). In the rest of the section, specific Levels of the innovations in the pig market arrangement framework package and the evidence sources that support these Levels are presented in detail. Pig logistics and trade models refer to mathematical models for transport routes and schedules, location of market hubs, and other variables that optimize the total cost of logistics and markets. Several basic logistic and trade models were proposed for pig markets (Lichoti et al., 2017;Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016;Odongo et al., 2018).Applications of them were shown to improve the pig market arrangements in controlled conditions (Atherstone et al., 2019;Atuhaire et al., 2013), and experimental studies were made to understand the use of logistics and trader models in uncontrolled conditions (Atherstone et al., 2019;Ouma et al., 2017). Therefore, pig logistics and trade models have a Readiness Level of 8. The literature has shown that the models were used by several delivery and use support stakeholders who were not part of research and development projects (Dione et al., 2016;Ouma et al., 2017), corresponding to a Use Level of 6.Pig purchase inspection practices refer to a set of practices used at the farm gate to quickly identify several problems decreasing the price of the pig at a slaughter house (such as drug burden, disease). Basic models of pig purchase inspection practices were proposed and conceptually validated (Lichoti et al., 2017;Nabikyu & Kugonza, 2016), several applied models were reviewed (Lichoti et al., 2016(Lichoti et al., , 2017)). This corresponds to a Readiness Level of 5. Existing evidence on the use (Lichoti et al., 2017) showed the use of the practices only in a project setup. Therefore, the Use Level was 1. Formal business support incentives refer to tax and fee exemptions for newly formalized enterprises included in the local and national legislation. An application model containing similar business support incentives was proposed (Lichoti et al., 2017;Ouma et al., 2018) and shown to have benefits (Ouma et al., 2017). Therefore, It has a Readiness Level of 6. It was also shown that several projects worked on developing the incentives (Lichoti et al., 2017;Oluka & Basheka, 2014). Since no use of such incentives was documented beyond projects, the Use Level of formal business support incentives is 1.Formal business support incentives to improve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda, April 2021 onwards A standardized pig weight estimation procedure refers to the standardized use of ratios and a formula for estimating the weight obtained from the live feed (Walugembe et al., 2014). There was clear evidence on the standardized estimation procedure in Chinese and other East Asian pig value chains (Buayai et al., 2019;Kongsro, 2014;Liu et al., 2011), corresponding to a Readiness Level of 6. Since there was no evidence of it in Uganda, the Use Level is 0.Standardized pig weight estimation procedure to improve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets in Uganda, April 2021 onwardsPig transportation best practices refer to practices that reduce the risk of damage and death of pigs during the multiple transportation steps from farm to slaughterhouses. A basic model for improving transportation practices was discussed (Dione et al., 2016;Lichoti et al., 2016); however, there was no application model. Therefore, It has a Readiness Level of 3. Since the Scaling Readiness team could not find any evidence of the use, the Use Level is 0.Disease monitoring software refers to a digital tool showing the disease incidence and risk at specific coordinates in real-time. Several studies were reviewing the contribution of disease monitoring software conceptually (Dione et al., 2016;Lichoti et al., 2017;Muwonge et al., 2012) validating the conceptual model (Muwonge et al., 2012), presenting the validation of the applied model (Chenais et al., 2017;Muhanguzi et al., 2012) and showing the experimental evidence on the benefits of a specific disease monitoring software to pig market arrangements (MacMillan et al., 2011). Therefore, it has a Readiness Level of 7. There was also evidence that the disease monitoring software tools were commonly used by the partners of a project in Uganda. (Lichoti et al., 2014). This corresponds to a Use Level of 3.Rapid pig health check software refers to a smartphone/tablet-based software that uses image recognition to identify several diseases in the pig. Literature proposed application models of health check software the market arrangements (Atherstone et al., 2019;Bowman, 2019;Chenais et al., 2019;Lichoti et al., 2017;Lumu et al., 2013;Muhangi et al., 2015) and validated different software tools (Feng et al., 2018;Gao et al., 2018;Hein, 2019;Kongsro, 2014;Matsumoto et al., 2020;Nantima et al., 2015). Therefore, rapid pig health check software has a Readiness Level of 6. Hein (2019) showed that there are projects using pig health check software corresponding to a Use Level of 1. The scaling guidelines bridge the results of the Scaling Readiness diagnosis and assessments with the four major management questions vital for an intervention aiming to enhance the impact of the pig market arrangement framework at scale. Specifically, we reflect on the following:The scaling guidelines are positioned at the strategic level. They aim to be a first reference document for designing or adapting strategies and can be followed by a detailed action plan that can be integrated into the design and planning of the interventions to contribute to the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda. The guidelines are targeted at:The Scaling Readiness measures and the evidence sources are presented but not articulated in this part.More information about the measures can be accessed from the Scaling Readiness Assessment (Part A). Detailed explanations about the measures and the evidence sources used to do the assessment can be accessed from the The pig market arrangement framework combines many different concepts, products, tools and other components. Among them, some are novel in Uganda. These novel components differentiate the pig market arrangement framework from other conventional agricultural systems in Uganda and make the pig market arrangement framework an innovation.In other words, the pig market arrangement framework's innovation type is a framework since it is a model used to build or decide strategies and activities in Uganda. The pig market arrangement framework's novel components for Uganda might not be novel for other countries, and the system might not be considered an innovation in other countries.Specifically, the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda has the following eight novel components:What is meant by the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda?A DIGITAL BUSINESS MATCHING TOOLIn brief, when an intervention mentions improving the use of the pig market arrangement framework at scale, it refers not only to increasing the use of an evidence-based logistics approach or commercial pig production model but the use of all the components listed above in an integrated way.The pig market arrangement framework components have different Readiness and Use Levels to achieve formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets. The Scaling Readiness assessment of the pig market arrangement framework showed that while some novel components are at the design stage, others are already tested and validated in Uganda. While some of the components are not known by small scale pig producers, pig aggregators, others implemented them without support from the government, civil society organizations and international organizations.Activities necessary to address the bottlenecks belong to two categories. The first category is the research and development (R&D) activities. R&D activities include all research, design, development activities that increase the Innovation Readiness of components. The second category is utilization activities. Utilization activities include all adoption, practice and implementation activities that increase the Innovation Use of the components. We recommend the following activities to address the bottlenecks that hinder the pig market arrangement framework's impact at scale.The Scaling Readiness Assessment showed that open data principle, evidence-based logistics approach, hands-on business brokerage techniques are the components that have the lowest maturity and use among all the novel components. In other words, they are the bottlenecks for achieving impact from using the pig market arrangement framework in Uganda to increase the formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets.The Ideation, especially in collaboration with some key stakeholders, will be the first step to better utilize pig transportation best practices in Uganda at scale as a complementary innovation to the pig market arrangement package.Pig purchase inspection practices refer to a set of practices used at the farm gate to quickly identify several problems decreasing the price of the pig at the slaughterhouse (such as drug burden, disease). It is one of the least mature components of the pig market arrangement framework. The Scaling Readiness team has identified literature resources presenting applied evidence on the use of pig purchase inspection practices together with pig market arrangement frameworks. However, the evidence is not based on experiments. To improve the maturity of pig purchase inspection practices, the Scaling Readiness team recommends designing an experimental research setup and validate the role of pig purchase inspection practices in improving the use. Experimental evidence will pave the way for more effective pig purchase inspection practices and enable major performance gains for the pig market arrangement framework.Pig transportation best practices refer to a set of practices that reduces the risk of damage and death of pigs during the multiple transportation steps from farms to the slaughterhouses. It is one of the least mature components of the pig market arrangement framework. There are studies presenting models of how pig transportation best practices function in market arrangements. However, they are broad and do not explain how pig transportation best practices can be an effective part of the pig market arrangement framework package. To improve the maturity of pig transportation best practices, we recommend comparing and contrasting existing conceptual models on pig transportation best practices and synthesizing a model applicable in Uganda. The synthesis will enable the design of an application model in which pig transportation best practices is an integral part of the pig market arrangement framework package for achieving formalized and sustainable transactions in pig markets.Pig purchase inspection practices are one of the least used innovations in the innovation package. The Scaling Readiness team could not identify any use of pig purchase inspection practices in Uganda outside of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project core team members. Improving the maturity of pig purchase inspection practices necessitates organizing awareness-raising events with the intervention partners, developing a shared understanding with them, and implementing customized engagement options that can convince them to use or apply pig purchase inspection practices. Increased awareness, shared understanding and convinced intervention partners will minimize the loss of the messages of the Livestock CRP Uganda Priority Country Project about pig purchase inspection practices. ","tokenCount":"7364"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5742293308.json b/data/part_1/5742293308.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..55dbf30a5bebf1503fcb0a82bb3897b18d77a10b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5742293308.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34b19f91d650e980ef5c5147b9935b60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4e651d57-e23d-4b21-8c98-728a398248cf/retrieve","id":"597695338"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af53bd91-d5ee-473a-87ae-b9b3c64b85c1","pagecount":"12","content":"m 2009 celebrámos 25 anos de dedicação à melhoria da produtividade agrícola e das condições de vida rural nos países ACP.No último quarto de século a agricultura sofreu as consequências de financiamento insuficiente das organizações internacionais, uma situação que ainda hoje persiste. Isto é em parte devido ao facto de os governos frequentemente analisarem apenas as estatísticas oficiais da produção agrícola: de acordo com estas, a agricultura contribui apenas com 4 a 6% do PIB. Contudo, quando se toma em consideração toda a cadeia de valor, o contributo da agricultura aumenta significativamente para 25% ou mais.A consciencialização e sensibilização dos governos e do público em geral para o valor da agricultura são tarefas vitais e os media têm um papel muito importante a desempenhar nesse sentido. Foi por este motivo que dedicámos o nosso Seminário Anual de 2009 ao Papel dos Media no Desenvolvimento Agrícola e Rural nos países ACP.Este ano também finalizámos o nosso processo de reestruturação interna, reduzindo o número de departamentos operacionais de quatro para três e recrutando novos especialistas em Marketing, Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação, Publicações e Media.Até à data examinámos o impacto dos nossos produtos e serviços em 13 países ACP, para melhor compreendermos a opinião dos seus utilizadores. Isto permitiu-nos melhorar a qualidade dos nossos produtos e serviços e redefinir as prioridades orçamentais em função da procura. Através destas missões nos países ACP identificámos as parcerias mais estratégicas para o CTA, o que por sua vez nos possibilitou visar melhor a nossa informação e os nossos produtos e serviços de divulgação de conhecimentos.A introdução de uma abordagem mais orientada para o mercado permitiu-nos alargar o alcance do nosso trabalho. Isto foi conseguido através de uma maior tiragem de publicações como Esporo e criando um importante programa de donativos de livros para equipar bibliotecas, centros de informação e serviços de extensão, com as últimas publicações de leitura essencial no domínio da agricultura.Estou imensamente satisfeito com a renovação introduzida no CTA através dos seus programas de Estágios de Formação e de Jovens Profissionais e com os resultados conseguidos.É com optimismo que espero que as nossas realizações e a nossa maior eficiência convençam as autoridades de tutela a aumentarem o seu apoio e a fazerem com que o CTA responda ao aumento constante da procura de produtos de informação e de comunicação.Gostaria de agradecer a todos o interesse que têm mostrado pelo trabalho do CTA e desejo a todos os maiores sucessos em 2010.O CTA edita e co-edita livros e guias práticos em inglês, francês e português, além de produtos multimédia e das revistas bimensais Esporo e ICT Update. Os websites como Agritrade, Knowledge for Development e Brussels Development Briefings fornecem infor-mação temática aos leitores. As publicações, bibliografias e bases de dados são distribuídas gratuitamente às organizações ACP pelos serviços de distribuição do CTA e mediante programas especiais de donativos de livros.De que modo o CTA facilita a partilha de conhecimentos?O CTA organiza, isoladamente ou em cooperação, seminários, reuniões e visitas de estudo ligados a temas prioritários e possibilita a participação de especialistas dos países ACP em conferências internacionais.O CTA dá formação em gestão da informação, práticas de comunicação e tecnologias da informação e da comunicação (TICs). Ele apoia a formulação de estratégias de gestão da informação e da comunicação (GIC) e o desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de informação agrícola nos países ACP.\"A principal contribuição do CSD para o trabalho do CTA é assegurar que, uma vez identificadas as estratégias de comunicação relevantes, se disponibilizem as ferramentas mais apropriadas para os nossos beneficiários. Em primeiro lugar é necessário escutá-los e compreender as suas necessidades de informação, antes de fornecermos a informação e as ferramentas de comunicação. Em seguida concentramo-nos no reforço da capacidade, para que as pessoas possam usar estas ferramentas para melhorar o seu meio de vida. \"\"Em 2009 o CTA reconheceu a necessidade de exposição aos media para ajudar a agricultura a ter uma posição de maior destaque na agenda dos decisores. Com efeito, o Seminário Anual do CTA incidiu sobre o Papel dos Media no Desenvolvimento Agrícola e Rural na região ACP. Esta foi uma realização muito importante do nosso departamento. \"\"A reestruturação do CTA constituiu um grande desafio para nós este ano. É necessário tempo e empenhamento para criar e desenvolver novas equipas, mas o resultado final demonstra que o esforço valeu a pena, pois agora estamos melhor equipados para cumprir a nossa missão. \"  Apesar disto, as estatísticas agrícolas recolhidas em países da SADC incidem sobre a produção primária de culturas e gado e portanto não abrangem as ligações a montante e a jusante entre a agricultura e os outros sectores. Se tivermos em conta essas ligações, torna-se óbvio que um sector agrícola forte representa um forte impulso para o desenvolvimento económico e social.No seu diálogo anual sobre políticas regionais realizado no Maputo, Moçambique, de 31 de Agosto a 4 de Setembro, o parceiro do CTA, a Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network -FANRPAN (Rede para a Análise de Políticas Alimentares,O valor acrescentado criado pela produção de pequena escala de biocombustíveis e de outros produtos é frequentemente mais rentável para as comunidades do que a simples exportação de produtos agrícolas em bruto. Contudo, a produção de biocombustíveis não deve ameaçar a segurança alimentar na região. O CTA estabeleceu uma parceria com a South Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission -SOPAC (Comissão de Geociências Aplicadas das Ilhas do Pacífico Sul) para apoiar uma iniciativa de investigação da transformação de óleo de coco em biocombustíveis e outros produtos, com base na comunidade. Isto implicou consultas feitas à comunidade, actividades piloto e iniciativas de formação em Nacamaki, Fiji.Agrícolas e de Recursos Naturais) lançou um processo, inspirado no estudo do IICA, que visou o desenvolvimento de provas empíricas das funções económicas e sociais da agricultura. Isto sustentará a defesa de um melhoramento radical do apoio público à agricultura na região. As etapas seguintes da avaliação incluem formação em metodologia de matrizes de contabilidade social. Num futuro próximo organizar-se-ão outros diálogos sobre políticas.Briefings em 2009participantes em duas visitas de estudo sobre produção agrícola na África Oriental e Ocidental É necessário tomar em conta mesmo as contribuições mais pequenasO CTA lança uma nova iniciativa de apoio às bibliotecas de universidades, institutos, centros de investigação e formação e estruturas de extensão agrícola. No âmbito da iniciativa, que opera actualmente em 32 países, cada instituição recebe uma colecção das publicações do CTA, com um valor aproximado de € 5.000.No Quénia, a indústria de lacticínios emprega 1,8 milhões de pequenos agricultores e uma rede de 40.000 recolhedores. Emprega 350.000 pessoas a tempo inteiro e exporta os seus produtos para a África do Norte e o Médio Oriente. O CTA convida os profissionais da indústria de sete países ACP a participarem numa visita de estudo que dá aos participantes uma oportunidade única de aprenderem as melhores práticas.Exploração agrícola e extensão  Foi lançado o novo website corporativo (www.cta.int) do CTA. Mais interactivo e mais dinâmico, o website oferece agora um maior leque de serviços, como as Notícias do CTA, um mapa interactivo dos parceiros do CTA, relatórios e vídeos online, assim como um motor de busca que permite aos visitantes procurar projectos em função da região.Uma semana, dois eventos... A dedicação do CTA ao seu Plano Estratégico ficou demonstrada ao dar as boas vindas a três novos funcionários responsáveis por publicações, Stéphane Gambier (França), actividades dos meios de comunicação social, Samuel Mikenga (Uganda), e marketing, Therese Burke (Irlanda). Ken Lohento (Benim, 2º a contar da esquerda), juntou-se à equipa em Novembro, para trabalhar na área das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação para o desenvolvimento.A aquisição de terra foi um \"tema quente\" em 2009. A necessidade de proteger as condições de vida dos pequenos agricultores está a ser gradualmente reconhecida, tendo em conta a rápida expansão da agricultura mecanizada de grande escala.A disponibilidade de terras para produção agrícola está sujeita à pressão constante resultante do rápido crescimento demográfico e urbanização, bem como da recente crise económica e alimentar. No decorrer dos últimos anos os investidores privados e os governos demonstraram um interesse crescente na aquisição ou arrendamento a longo prazo de grandes áreas de terras aráveis, principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento. A terra mais cobiçada é a que tem melhor acesso a recursos hídricos, o que permite a instalação de irrigação de baixo custo, e junto a mercados dos quais os produtos podem ser facilmente exportados. Embora o investimento agrícola possa ser bem recebido, a aquisição de terra levanta sérios desafios para os países em desenvolvimento. A transição para a agricultura mecanizada de grande escala e para as monocul-  A adopção de um código de conduta internacional para a aquisição de terra que seja transparente e que inclua processos de negociação participativa, assim como a monitorização independente da futura implementação, está a ser presentemente discutida por organizações multilaterais e bilaterais. Esse código ajudaria a assegurar que os investimentos beneficiem a população do país anfitrião, incluindo os grupos mais vulneráveis.A produção de biocombustível a grande escala também constitui uma ameaça para os pequenos agricultores O s mercados internacionais estão a tornar-se cada vez mais competitivos e segmentados. Se os países ACP quiserem manter ou aumentar a sua quota de mercado, precisam de repensar as suas estratégias de comércio agrícola, diferenciar os seus produtos e fazer a transição do comércio para o marketing. Uma maneira de resolver isto é por meio da utilização de \"indicações geográficas\" que são usadas em vários países desenvolvidos (principalmente os da União Europeia) e em alguns países em desenvolvimento (como a Colômbia). Uma indicação geográfica dá aos consumidores informação sobre a região de origem de um produto, onde a qualidade ou a reputação está essencialmente ligada à origem geográfica do produto.Os desafios relacionados com o uso de indicações geográficas pelos países ACP constituíram o Outras actividades tiveram como objectivo racionalizar a presença on-line do CTA e melhorar a sua visibilidade por meio da optimização de motores de busca, publicações on-line, através de artigos semanais publicados no portal Web2forDev, e discussões facilitadas em listas electrónicas de DGroups. Os métodos tradicionais não foram esquecidos, como se demonstrou pela popularidade contínua de publicações periódicas como ICT Update.A publicação de vídeos de curta-metragem, que documentam o feedback dos beneficiários das iniciativas de TICs do CTA, passou a ser uma actividade de rotina. De igual modo, o CTA também produz regularmente documentários curtos sobre as lições aprendidas com a criação de capacidade de TIC/Web 2.0 em clientes com diferentes níveis de conhecimentos de informática.As TICs ajudam a ligar entre si as comunidades ","tokenCount":"1751"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5790979663.json b/data/part_1/5790979663.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c7dd32e0c8194912de1f248fe52c3900861b45e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5790979663.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91a41476ee6f3c491fccbf4422df2f24","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7a72e066-d8b0-42e4-b737-d5c9268af9c9/retrieve","id":"-598866304"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"daa8a871-40a9-4591-80a5-4f9c6f48aefd","pagecount":"48","content":". Variety attribute performance as stated by farmers for popular varieties compared to Uyole96 NB ........ Table 4. Selected characteristics of the sample by adoption status ...................................................................... Table 5: Plot characteristics and crop management systems by adoption status ................................................. Table 6. Descriptive statistics of bean production inputs,prices and yield ............................................................ Table 7. Determinants of improved variety adoption ............................................................................................ Table 8: The Impact of improved variety adoption on bean productivity .............................................................. Table 9: Effect of improved variety adoption on income from beans .................................................................... Table 10: Factors affecting bean yield variation in Southern Tanzania ................................................................. Table 11: Effect of improved seed adoption on bean marketed surplus in southern Highlands of Tanzania ........ Table 12. Determinants of bean marketed surplus in Southern Highlands of Tanzania ........................................  Crop improvement is an important route to improving agricultural productivity in developing countries and the heart of bean research in sub-Saharan Africa where high disease pressure and climatic variations are severe. For decades, the National Bean Research programs in sub-Saharan Africa and international Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have been promoting improved bean varieties in the region under the umbrella of the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliances (PABRA). Common bean is an important food security crop and a source of income in Tanzania with a growing importance as an export earner. Thus, higher productivity and disease resilience advantage of improved varieties relative to the traditional one can increase food security, marketable surplus and lower per unit average cost of production, which raises the incomes of producers that adopt.In 2007, the National Bean Research Organization and CIAT intensified the efforts to improve bean productivity under the auspices of the Tropical legumes project (TL II &III) project led by ICRISAT and financially supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Consistent with the national objective of poverty reduction, the goal of TL II & III project was to increase the productivity of legumes in Sub-Saharan African and East Asia via development and delivery of high-quality seed of higher yielding cultivars with superior tolerance to diseases. Based on monitoring reports, the project achieved high performance in terms of varietal releases and seed production. For example, the breeding program recorded 15 varietal releases, the highest ever, during the period of the project and disseminated them to farmers via integrated seed systems also supported under the project. This report assesses the farm level utilization of improved bean seed (i.e. improved varieties) and its impacts on bean yield, incomes and marketed bean surplus. To examine the farm level utilization of varieties promoted under the Tropical legumes project, adoption data were disaggregated by varieties differentiated by year of release and measured in terms of household and area planted. Then, adoption was defined as a multivalued treatment variable to account for partial adoption while separating varieties promoted under the project from old improved varieties when comparing with landraces. Then, an inverse probability weighted regression (IPWRA) approach was used to estimate impacts of improved bean adoption while modelling the outcome and the treatment to correct for potential selection bias.The data used came from the Southern Highland zone of Tanzania. This zone was selected because the Bean research Program, Uyole Agriculture Center, for the zone had registered the highest number of varietal releases under the project and because the budget limitations prohibited us from implementing a national-wide study. The SHZ covers the Southern and Western agro-ecological zones of Tanzania, located between 1,200-1,500m and 1,400-2,300m altitudes above sea level. The zone contains the most fertile land in Tanzania and a unimodal type of rainfall that starts from the month of October and goes on up to April, on an average of 100-200mm per month. The data were collected through a survey of 750 bean growing households that were selected based a three stage stratified and proportionate sampling method and implemented in 2012/2013 and again in 2016 by the socioeconomic team at Uyole in collaboration with CIAT. Trained enumerators collected the data using a pre-tested structured household and community questionnaires.Results show solid performance fueled by investment in seed systems and outstanding properties of the varieties. According to farmers, new varieties released in 2003-2011, outperform old ones and local varieties in terms of yield, marketability and consumption traits. These properties together, with increased access to seed have driven the adoption of new improved varieties from 32% in 2013 to 42% of growing households in 2016, which is equivalent to 3.3% annual growth in adoption rate. In terms of area share, adoption of new varieties increased from 21% in 2013 to 25% in 2016. Adopting and non-adopting households are similar in terms of demographic characteristics such as age, household size, gender, and education but differ in endowments and physical environment. Adopters were wealthier, farming better fertile soils with optimal soil pH and were more likely to be located closer to Uyole research center compared with non-adopters. Some farmers still hold on to their landraces because these perform better on low fertile soils than new varieties. These differences in resource endowments and microenvironments may pose significant challenges that block the road to accelerated varietal turnover.The study findings indicate that the bean improvement under the Tropical Legumes project has been successful in increasing productivity, which was the main goal of research investment. Adopters of new improved varieties produced 32% more beans for the same unit of land, compared to if they had planted landraces. However, the estimated average yield increment if adopters of old improved varieties were to move to new improved varieties was modest-perhaps explaining why some of these farmers continued to plant old improved varieties. Adopters gained productivity via: 1) the higher yielding advantage of new improved varieties, 2) upward adjustment in seeding rates even though improved seed costs more than landraces. After accounting for additional costs in production, adopters obtain additional profits, putting extra income in their pockets in line with the national objective of poverty reduction. Thus, the yield advantage offsets the higher price of improved seed and upward adjustment in seeding rate. These results demonstrate that the project did not only increase access to quality seed but also enhanced the farmers' managerial abilities.Because of greater yield, adopters marketed surplus increased by 38%, which is remarkable and confirms that bean improvement has contributed to smallholder integration into the market. However, as new varieties gain area share, the resulting greater yields and integration in output markets is accompanied by a growing masculinization of the value chains, which could potentially discourage women from investing in bean technologies. In light of these results, there is need for follow up research to understand from women's perspectives the effect of the shift in control of marketed surplus in favour of men and the intervention to address it if negative.This report documents the results from a study conducted to assess the impact of the Tropical Legumes (TL) project in Tanzania. From its inception in 2007, the goal of TL project was to increase the productivity of common bean via development and delivery of high-quality seed of higher yielding cultivars with superior tolerance to diseases. This goal is in line with the national objective of reducing poverty as reflected in the country development plan of 2016-2021(Ministry of Finance and Planning, 2016). Higher productivity and disease resilience advantage of improved varieties relative to the traditional one can increase marketable surplus and lower per unit average cost of production, which raises the incomes of producers that adopt. Besides being important sources of food security, common bean in Tanzania and in several other East African countries is traded in domestic and export markets-generating revenue for growers. Thus, it is possible that increased bean productivity may stimulate demand for inputs such as labour, fertilisers, seed--etc; which also contributes to rural poverty reduction through multiplier effects (Becerril & Abdulai, 2010;de Janvry & Sadoulet, 2001;Minten & Barrett,2007).The study focuses on micro-level impacts of bean improvement on selected multiple causal linkages along the impact pathway; farm level utilization of improved seed (i.e. improved varieties), change in bean yield, and marketed bean surplus using cross sectional survey data; collected from the same households that were interviewed in 2013--thereby enabling us to estimate the changes in variety adoption. First, the study examines the farm level utilization of improved bean varieties differentiated by the year of release and measure the extent to which, varieties promoted under the project have been adopted in terms of households and area share.Secondly, the study analyses the impact of improved bean varieties adoption on yield gains based on a multivalued treatment effects framework to account for partial adoption measured at plot level. The study applies an inverse probability weighted regression (IPWRA) approach to estimate impacts of improved bean adoption while controlling for selection bias by modelling the outcome and the treatment equations (Wooldridge, 2010 962-963). The estimated yield gain is, then compared with the additional cost of production attributed to the new variety growing to get a picture of the project success in raising crop profitability and household income gains.After estimating the effect of improved variety adoption on yield, the study examines causal relationship between improved bean variety adoption and crop commercialization, measured by marketed surplus, based on the similar analytical framework as alluded to the previous paragraph. While some evidence on the impacts of bean research on household welfare has been documented in previous studies (Larochelle et al., 2015, Katungi et al., 2018), no study, we know of, has documented the impacts of bean improvement on marketed surplus and its implications for gender equality. In our analysis, we seek to answer questions like; to what extent did the adoption of improved technologies contribute to marketed surplus and did it affect men and women differently? Our hypothesis is that as bean productivity increases, the marketed surplus increases,-but women lose control over the crop to men.The study also contributes to the emerging literature on impact studies that have used doubly robust IPWRA approach in a multivalued framework to account for different adoption intensity of a technology or components of a technological package. For instance, Smale et al. (2018) used a multivalued treatment effects to distinguish the impacts of open pollinated and hybrid sorghum in Mali. Manda (2016) used the same to distinguish hybrid and open pollinated maize when estimating the impact of improved maize on food security in Eastern Zambia. Our study applies the IPWRA to distinguish varieties based on year of release (as old vs new) while accounting for plot level partial adoption. Previous studies conducted on improved bean varieties have either treated all improved varieties as the same (Kalyebara et al., 2008) or combined landraces and old varieties when assessing the impact (Letaa et al., 2015;Larochelle et al., 2015;Katungi et al., 2019). Over the years, there has been improvement in the bean varietal development processes of CIAT and her NARS partners that aim to generate new variety releases that are superior to old ones in terms of yields and/or market attributes (Mukankusi et al., 2018). This means that aggregating new & old improved varieties and/or old improved with landraces as was done in previous studies (e.g. Kalyebara et al., 2008;Asfaw et al., 2012, Letaa et al., 2015and Musimu, 2018) would underestimate the impacts of new releases under the project. The superior yields of new releases is mirrored in trial data (PABRA database, 2016), but there has been no empirical evidence that adopters of new releases do indeed experience higher yields than those who grow old releases for beans. Yet, it is important to know how effective improved bean varieties from the project interventions are--relative to local ones and, once we know that, we can evaluate the benefits of replacing old varieties with new ones. To differentiate new varieties from old ones as well as account for plot level partial adoption, the adoption of improved varieties was measured at plot level as a multinomial categorical treatment variable (identified as 1=only new varieties, 2=only old varieties, 3=only local varieties and 4=mixture varieties).In the next sections, the report presents a summary of the bean production context, highlighting key features and milestones in the bean research of Tanzania. In section three, is a discussion on the study area, describes with some detail the methodological approach followed and the fieldwork carried out to collect data used in the analyses. After explaining how we implement the survey, we describe patterns of the adoption of the improved beans and its diffusion in section four. Then, an overview of the estimation strategy follows in section five while results appear in section six sequentially laid out to align with the study objectives. The report concluded with an extended summary and recommendations.The Tanzanian economy relies heavily on agriculture, which contributes about 30 % of the GDP and employs nearly 80% of the labour force (AFDB, 2011). Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important food security crop grown in the country; it accounts for about 80% of total legumes produced (Rapsomanikis, 2014) and ranks third after maize 1 and cassava in terms of area cultivated. About 1,134,394 hectares of beans are cultivated per year (FAO 2014) across the country, grown mainly by smallholder farmers for home consumption and for sale. Approximately 48 percent of bean production is sold and the bean exports from Tanzania, flowing mainly to her neighbouring countries (such as Zambia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Kenya) has been growing at an average rate of 12% per year since 2005 (FAO, 2018).Recognizing the contribution of beans as a source of food and income for the poor, the government of Tanzania has been pursuing the goal of improving its productivity. Bean research in Tanzania began in 1965 with a focus on export varieties and was expanded to subsistent varieties as well as formally institutionalized in 1977 (Hillocks et al., 2006). The primary goal of this research is to increase bean productivity through breeding and promotion of integrated crop management practices (ICM). Research is conducted in collaboration with international institutions especially the Centro International de Agricultural Tropical (CIAT) under the umbrella of the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliances (PABRA) and Southern Africa Regional Bean Research Network (SABRN). In 2007, the National Bean Research Organization and CIAT intensified the efforts to improve bean productivity with financial support from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation via the TL project led by ICRISAT.The collaborative bean improvement research has resulted in about 43 varieties released since 1979, with an average of 1.1 variety releases per year (Table 1). The highest rate of variety release occurred between 2011 and 2017, an indication that the breeding program has been more productive during the last 10 years under the support of the Tropical legumes project. In terms of targeting, emphasis has been on increasing yielding potential and adapting beans in the traditional growing areas. Most of the releases are suitable for the agroecosystems of the medium and high altitude zones with rainfall above 500 mm per year and medium to high temperatures. The temporal varietal pattern indicate a growing interest in varieties with tolerance to abiotic stresses and nutritional quality. For example, two of the recently released varieties are purposely targeting drought conditions while two are for nutrition enhancement (PABRA 2016). The contribution from CIAT to the bean improvement research in Tanzania over the last four decades is substantial. Although we did not carry out a full pedigree analysis due to data limitations, the available information shows that direct introductions from CIAT accounts for about 28% of the varieties released in the last 4 decades (PABRA database 2016). The average number of direct introductions has remained almost uniform at an average rate of four across decades perhaps because of slow maturity of the local breeding program in Tanzania. The National Bean Breeding programs of Tanzania has been conducting local crosses and occasionally selecting and releasing superior landraces. Between 1979 and 2000, two landraces and 3 local crosses were released while 5 local crosses were releases in the last two decades.In the context of self-pollinated crops such as common bean, the private sector investment in seed business remains thin due to uncertain demand --requiring publically funded intervention to support adoption. Accordingly, CIAT and the National Bean Research Programs of Tanzania have been conducting action research aiming at developing integrated seed systems as an essential component of the bean improvement program. In 2003, CIAT introduced the \"wider impact model\" in Ethiopia (Rubyogo et al., 2010) that was later scaled out to other countries including Tanzania following its remarkable transformation of bean seed systems in Ethiopia. The model requires cultivating partnerships with major actors along the value chains, identifying partner roles in order to integrate formal and informal seed systems.The contribution of the intensive bean improvement efforts is reflected in bean production trends. Yields reported in FAO data (2018) show an average growth rate in bean yield of about 1.3% since 1961. During 2007-2016, the period that corresponds to the intensive engagement under the TL project, bean yield grew at an average rate of 2.7%. Although still modest, this is a notable improvement especially when compared with previous bean yield growth rates of 0.8% realized between 1980 & 2006 and the yield growth rate of 1.5% experienced in the same country for maize during 2007-2016 (Figure 1).In Tanzania, bean production mainly occurs in association with maize across different agro-ecological zones that experience climatic variability and disease pressure. Common bean is very sensitive to fluctuations in climatic conditions and highly susceptible to a range of diseases (Kweka et al., 2014). Yet, the crop production is mainly with family labour under minimal use of purchased inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Earlier breeding efforts endeavored to address this challenge by including enhancement of resistance of bean to diseases as a subcomponent of the breeding goal but variety released could only address one or two constraints at a time--and farmers tended to favour local varieties that were preferred on the market (Kweka et al., 2014). Since 2000, the national programs and CIAT breeding team have pursued development of varieties with resistance to multiple constraints. In addition, farmer participatory variety selection (PVS) method based on multi-locational trials managed and monitored by farmers became a step in the breeding processes to ensure that varieties developed have traits that are important for farmers and acceptable on the market. In summary, most of the varieties released after 2000 are an improvement over old releases in terms of yield, adaptability and represent user preferences (PABRA, 2016). The National Bean Research of Tanzania occurs at three agricultural research centers, each serving the needs of specific agrological conditions. They include: 1) Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) focusing on the Northern zone, 2) Uyole Agricultural Research center that focuses on Southern Highland zone (SHZ) and 3) Ari-Maruku Agricultural Research Institute for parts of the Western zone and Kagera region. All the three centers participated in the TL project. However, due to limited budgets, it was not possible to conduct the impact study at national level. As such, we selected a zone that had recorded significant number of variety releases under the project, which was the Southern Highland zone (SHZ). In SHZ, the project supported development of nine varieties and their dissemination to farmers together with other five varieties, notably: Bilfa Uyole, wanja, Urafiki, Uyole03 and Uyole04 2 . Project interventions covered 18 districts, which make up 70 percent of the districts in the SHZ.The SHZ covers the Southern and Western agro-ecological zones of Tanzania, located between 1,200-1,500m and 1,400-2,300m altitudes above sea level and made of highlands with undulating plains separated by hills and mountains (URT 2006in Luhunga, 2017). The zone contains the most fertile land in Tanzania and a unimodal type of rainfall that starts from the month 2 The five varieties were on the shelf at the time of project initiation in 2007 of October and goes on up to April, on an average of 100-200mm per month (Luhunga, 2017).Administratively, four regions (Mbeya, Rukwa, Iringa and Ruvuma) that form the grain basket for Tanzania and account for 24.3 percent of the total national bean area, equivalent to 194,021 ha of beans make up the zone (NBS 2013). These regions are composed of five sub agro-ecological zones that support a wide range of crops and livestock production. Bean production occurs in all the five agro ecological zones (FAO calendar:http://www.fao.org/agriculture/seed/cropcalendar); mainly planted in the months of February and March after maize has been planted in December-January.The study uses two main data sets collected through a survey of bean growing households implemented by the socioeconomics team of the Southern Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Centre at Uyole in collaboration with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The first data collection took place in 2012/2013 through a survey that covered all the four administrative regions. At the time the sampling in 2012, the project was under way in the regions, which rendered it unnecessary to stratify the study area into treated and control geographical areas before the actual survey.The first survey used a three stage stratified and proportionate sampling method to select the households for the survey. First, a list of 20 districts that are important for bean production used as a sampling frame after removing urban districts from the 2012 National agricultural census of Tanzania report. According to the National agricultural census of Tanzania conducted in 2012, the 20 districts selected for the study consisted of approximately 2466 villages allocated in the four administrative region. Based on village population and bean area, we computed probability weights and used them to select 75 villages for the survey.The final step was the selection of actual villages and households for the interviews. A list of wards and villages obtained from the district extension office in the selected districts formed the sampling frame for villages using random numbers. To select the households, we used a systematic random sampling procedure. The village register obtained from the local leaders served as the sampling frame and households on the list were numbered sequentially. The first household was selected at random from this list, and the remaining 9 households were chosen at fixed intervals x = N/10 (where N = number of households on the village list) until the target number of bean farmers was reached. In total, the first survey in 2012/2013 covered 750 households in 75 villages.In the follow up survey conducted in 2016, 661 households were re-interviewed. Other households were unavailable for different random reasons.The data were collected using a pre-tested structured household and community questionnaires. The household questionnaire elicited information on household and plot level data; mainly on socio-demographic characteristics, food consumption, social capital and networking, household characteristics and assets, sources of income as well as access to institutional services, credit and agricultural inputs and bean marketing. The plot level data was on bean production, adoption of varieties, cropping systems, plot characteristics, inputs used, other modern technologies and bean harvests. Direct interviews of household heads or spouse conducted by trained and experienced enumerators were the methods used to collect the data.The second survey implemented between August and December 2016, on the same households surveyed in 2012/2013, used computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technique. Numerous quality checks were included during questionnaire programming to identify inconsistencies and prevented enumerators from moving forward with the survey before rectifying the errors. Before actual interviews with households, the survey tool was pre-tested, and adjustments made to reduce errors, interview duration, and address ambiguities.In the two rounds of the survey, focus group discussions with key informants gathered data on community level variables that could explain varietal adoption patterns. Specifically on: availability of infrastructural services (e.g. farmer cooperatives, agricultural input distribution centers, and agriculture credit services), productive resources such as seeds and credit through extension agents, agro-input dealers and Non-Governmental Organizations, agricultural wage rates, prices of staple crops. Additional information was on village characteristics including exposure to production shocks such as drought or hailstone.In the context of informal seed systems, as is the case of beans in Tanzania, measuring variety adoption presents different challenges. Common bean varieties differ by their genetic structure that determine their yielding potential and acceptability. Broadly speaking, landraces and improved are grown in Tanzania. Among the improved, some were released two decades ago (i.e. 1980s/1990s) and their performance in form of resistance might have been broken down due to changes in the production constraints. Moreover, new varieties released in 2002, and afterwards, are generally resistant to multiple constraints and developed in the era of participatory variety selection. In recognition of the improvements in the profile of varieties through research that was also alluded to in section 2.0, we first differentiate varieties by type (improved vs landrace) and further distinguish improved varieties into two groups based on the year of release as old (those released before 2001 and new (those released after 2000). Based on this categorization, adoption is as a multivalued categorical variable measured in an ordered manner. In reality however, crop variety adoption at farm level is often partial at either plot or household level or both.The issue of partial adoption at household level was addressed by measuring adoption at plot level but cases of partial adoption that correspond to mixed varieties within the same plot remained. The survey data used in the study show significant number of plots that were planted with a mixture of local cultivars and improved varieties; some of the latter varieties classified as new or old-thus being partial adopters. Literature suggests different explanations for partial adoption behavior as either risk management strategy, experimentation with new technology to reduce uncertainty about the performance of new varieties (Smale et al, 1991) or gain skills (Leathers and Smale, 1991). In other context, partial adoption portray behaviours driven by the need to match varieties with microenvironments such as soil attributes (Bellon an Taylor, 1993 3 ).Thus ignoring this category will miss out important information in the analysis. Thus, plots planted with mixed varieties were differentiated as a distinct level of adoption now defined as a multivalued nominal variable that can potentially be observed at four levels: 1) for plots planted with new improved varieties, 2= of varieties are old releases, 3= improved and local mixed and 0= for local varieties only.In this section, we provide an overview of variety diffusion across farms and compare attributes of varieties that have diffused faster with those they are replacing to begin to identify variety traits that may be driving adoption. Then we describe farm-level adoption patterns that informed our choice of adoption measure for multivariate analysis of adoption.This section examines the extent of variety diffusion in terms of the percentage share of growers and land share planted in 2013 and 2016. Before embarking on describing varieties that have diffused faster, it is better to provide an overview of improved variety adoption and spatial diffusion patterns.Half of the bean growing households have adopted improved varieties cultivated by 50% in 2016; 42% of the household are growing improved varieties released after 2001 and 18% of the households grow improved varieties released before 2001 (old releases). The adoption rate for new varieties raised from 32% in 2013 to 42% in 2016, which is equivalent to 3.3% annual growth in adoption rate (Table 2). Table 2 also shows that the adoption rate of the same varieties in terms of area share increased from 21% in 2013 to 25% in 2016. This is evident that farmers are shifting from old to new varieties.   The adoption rates for improved varieties released after 2001 is higher in districts that are located in the borders with countries that import beans from Tanzania (Figure 2.d). More specifically, these are the districts (Namtumbo, Songea & Mbozi) that border with Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. This perhaps reflects the high demand of these varieties in the export markets and information flow facilitated by the power of weak ties that provide micro-macro bridges (Granovatter, 1973).Overall, farmers reported 17 improved varieties that were cultivated on 38% of the bean area in 2016. Four of the improved varieties (i.e Njano Uyole, Wanja and Uyole 03 and Kabanima) occupied 28% of the total bean area and account for 70% of the area under improved varieties, -thus being the most popular improved varieties grown 4 . The four popular improved varieties have spread to nearly all districts but they vary in patterns of districts where they are concentrated.Wanja was concentrated in Chunya 60-79% of the households cultivate it and fairly diffused in three districts of Iringa rural, Mlindi and Ludewa. On the other hand, Njano-Uyole variety is concentrated in five districts of Nkasi, Songea rural, Kilolo, Mbozi, Mpanda and Nkasi. In Songea rural, Njano Uyole has dislodged Uyole96 that was popular and traded across borders to Mozambique. While the adoption of Kabanima variety is highest in Sambawanga rural, where 20-39% of the households cultivate it, geographical adoption patterns for this variety are not as clustered as for the Wanja and Njano-Uyole (Figure 3d). The varietal clustering may suggest presence of contextual factors linked to agro ecological systems or socioeconomic factors that influence users' preferences. The seed dissemination strategies used to promote the varieties could also biased the adoption into selected districts resulting in adoption clusters. With the exception of Kabanima released four decades ago, the three popular varieties were released between 2001 and 2009-thus diffusing rapidly. The fast diffusion of new varieties may reflect an improvement in the trait levels of that makes them more attractive to farmers or possible biases in seed marketing toward the varieties 5 . During the survey, each farmer was asked to rate each variety performance on a five point scale; where 1=very poor, 5 excellent and the score of 3 depicts an average rating. Then using an equality score test, each of the four popular varieties (i.e. Njano Uyole, Wanja, Uyole 03 and Kabanima) was compared with Uyole 1996 in terms of attribute rating. The average score ratings for each attribute is shown in table 3 and reveal that Njano-Uyole, the most popular improved variety, performs statistically better than Uyole1996 in most attributes. It was scored higher than Uyole96 in terms of market demand, price of grain, short cooking time, colour (yellow), taste of grain/leaves, storability and enhanced resilience to drought.Farmers also perceive the three popular varieties to perform better than Uyole96 under low fertilizer treatment, thus more suitable for their farming conditions that are characteristics by low use of purchased inputs. Adopting and non-adopting households are similar in terms of demographic characteristics such as age, household size, gender, and education but differ in livestock endowments, social networks and farm location with respect to elevation and soil pH. A typical household consists of 5.1 people, with each active member (15-64 years of age) working for 1.5 consumers in the household 6 . On average, households are headed by individuals aged about 50 years, with an average of 7 years of schooling and 83% of them are males (Table 4). For livestock ownership, adopters of old variety releases fare better. This group of households tend to have more livestock units and live at higher elevation than households that grow local or new improved varieties (0 & 1). Adopters and nonadopters have similar amount of land allocated to bean cultivation and land holding, which is about 4 Ha per households.Access to a technology such as seed of improved varieties is a precondition for adoption.The survey, included questions on sources of seed and means of access, i.e. whether purchased, exchanged or free. As indicated in figure 4, majority of the farmers rely on their own saved seed, seed obtained from other farmers within the village or on seed purchased from the nearby rural grain market.  operated on a small geographical scale (15%) of the sampled villages. Overall, villages that received direct seed distribution tended to be closer (about 171km) to Mbeya town, where the Uyole Agriculture Research Center is located, than those that were excluded from seed distribution (about 279km from the same town) 8 . This suggests that the interventions by public institutes to create awareness about the new technology may not have been random, which perhaps explains higher adoption rates in communities closer to the research station (Table 4).Farmers in villages without seed distribution program can possibly obtain improved seed from inputs market centers or seed distribution centers, which are respectively available within in a distance of 12 km from the villages and approximately 85 minutes walking time (Table 4). Long distance to seed sources can potentially constrain adoption of improved bean varieties in early stages of technology diffusion as has been reported in case of fertilizers in Ethiopia (Minten et al., 2013).Plot level analysis reveals more complex adoption patterns. It is evident that partial adoption of improved bean varieties is common in Southern highlands of Tanzania. Out of the 776 bean plots in the data, 153 were cultivated with only improved varieties released after 2001 and 63 plots were solely under old releases, whereas 444 plots were solely planted with local varieties-suggesting that farmers tend to hold on to their local varieties. The remaining plots were cultivated with a mixture of local and improved varieties. From bivariate analysis, we see that plots cultivated with variety mixtures contain, on average, 2.6 varieties. Households who mix improved varieties with local ones also tend to allocate smaller area to bean production (0.49Ha). On average, households cultivate 0.6 ha of beans, which constitutes 23-27 percent of the total land owned. Bean area is significantly smaller among growers of mixed varieties and larger for household that grow old improved varieties (Table 5).Farmers tend to adopt improved varieties on plots that are of relatively higher soil pH and are located at the bottom or valley of the gradient, whereas local varieties are cultivated on plots whose soils tend to be of lower pH and on steep slopes (Table 5). Majority of the farmers cultivate new improved varieties within their existing plots, by either displacing an old improved variety, local variety or another crop-which in most cases is maize 9 .  The higher yielding properties of improved bean seed is evident. The average yield on plots that were cultivated with bean varieties released after 2001 in 2016 season was 890kg/ha, which is about 220kg/ha higher than the yield from local varieties. Bivariate analysis also suggest that new releases perform better than old releases (890kg/ha vs 816kg/ha). On the other hand, plots cultivated with variety mixtures (i.e. local + improved) tend to have low yields but slightly perform better than local varieties.Table 6 also shows that the adopters fare better than non-adopters in terms of the total bean sales. By comparison, adopters sell a bigger proportion of their production (52%) than nonadopters (41%), thus implying that use of improved bean varieties may increase marketed surplus.On the other hand, households that mix improved and local in the same plot tend to market a small proportion of their production (38%) than full adopters, which implies that partial adoption is motivated by the food security objectives. Adopters and non-adopters do not systematically differ by the price of bean grain prevailing in the community to suspect that differences in market incentives could have motivated by adopters to sale more of their production.The impacts of Tropical Legumes project on the economic wellbeing of smallholder bean growing households in Southern highlands of Tanzania is estimated in two stage process. In the first stage, we estimate the adoption of improved bean promoted under the project and derive the latent propensity to adopt. We measure adoption as a choice of a bean variety to plant in a plot pre allocated to bean production and conceptualize it within an agriculture household model (Singh et al., 1986), in which a household's production and consumption decisions are non-separable. In this framework, farming families maximise utility they derived from an agricultural good, leisure and purchased good given a set of constraints. Common constraints faced by bean growers in Tanzania include those on the budget, access to information, credit and the availability of improved seed and other inputs. In view of these constraints, farmers can choose to adopt fully by replacing local or old variety with a new variety. Alternatively, the farmers have the option of growing new variety alongside old variety, in which case the new varieties would compete for limited land with existing bean varieties. If adopted, improved variety should provide increment on the total harvested bean per unit area, but the level of yield gain would depend on the newness of the variety. Therefore, it is important to understand how variety age influences yield in order to draw lessons and inform decisions on resource allocation. The study uses a multinomial logit model since plot level variety use is a categorical multivalued variable defined as 1= only improved seed promoted under the project, 2= improved seed developed and disseminated before the project, 3= a mixture of local and improved varieties & 4= local varieties only. On-farm trial data provide evidence that improved varieties promoted under the TL project, i.e. released after 2001, are higher yielding and can tolerate multiple constraints-thus an improvement on the varieties released earlier ((i.e. before 2000). Moreover, older improved varieties have been re used several times, which could have reduced their efficacy. While there are three categories of varieties that portray an ordered improvement, some plots combine the three categories--thus creating partial adoption as alternative treatment level.In the second stage of our analysis, we identify the causal effects of improved bean variety adoption on outcome variables: yield, crop income and bean sales. The fundamental challenge, however is that we only observe outcomes of beneficiaries, but we do not observe the outcomes of the same beneficiaries if they did not adopt the variety-thus, we face a problem of missing data (Imbens and Angrist 1997;heckman, Ichimura and Todd, 1997). Randomised experimental designs are the \"gold standard\" for addressing this challenge given that individuals in treated and those in the control groups are selected randomly to be identical except that one of them receives the treatment. In the context of this study, (i.e.Tropical Legumes), randomized experiment approach was less likely to succeed given that the interest of the project implementers was to reach a wide population, which they pursued via multiple public-private partnerships. In the absence of randomization, which is common with cross sectional survey data used in this study, matching techniques restore randomness by mimicking experiment ex-post. According to Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983), conditioning on the propensity score -the probability of receiving the treatment given the covariates, rather than on the full set of covariates, is sufficient to balance treatment and comparison groups. This literature was extended to multivalued treatment by Imbens (2000).As in the binary case, multivalued treatment effects are conditional on observable characteristics. We apply inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) method developed by Robins and Rotnitzky (1995) and van der Laan & Robins (2003). IPWRA combines Propensity score matching and regression adjustment technique to ensure consistent estimates of the treatment effects parameters.(1)Treatment model:Where T is the indicator for adoption status, measured as a multivalued treatment in which, each subject could receive one of the several different treatments or else not receive treatment at all. ijk Y is the potential outcome k of a household i that receives treatment level j , i.e. adopter category j. Then X is a vector of covariates that influence the outcome ik Y , whereas Z is a vector of covariates that explain treatment assignment, T ; Vectors X and Z may overlap. Vectors   , consist of random components of respective equations and are assumed to be correlated.k i Y 0 denote the potential outcome of a household i that did not receive any treatment (i.e. grew local varieties). In the context of a multivalued treatment, the individual plot/household treatment effects can be expressed as:. Then the average treatment on the treated is estimated as:According to Woodridge (2010), IPWRA can achieve some robustness to misspecification in the parametric models (i.e. propensity score or regression adjustment model) as long as one of them is correctly specified. Because of this property, IPWRA is called is a double robust estimator. The IPWRA technique has been applied in estimating impacts of variety adoption by Smale et al., 2018;Bonilla et al., 2018). IPWRA is implemented as a three steps estimation procedure. In the first step, the probability that the individual is treated (i.e. belong to adoption level j) is estimated and the propensity scores predicted. The inverse of the probability that each observation is in the treatment or control group is used to re-weight the sample in the second step. This creates a sample in which the distribution of covariates is independent of the treatment-thereby ensuring that the requirement of weak confoundedness is satisfied. In the third step, the expected outcome is estimated for each observation using a weighted outcome model that includes some of the observable characteristics used to estimate the treatment model and additional information. In our case, we use linear outcome functions and estimate using inverse probability weighted least squares.The IPWRA, however can only address self-selection that is based on observables, but does not control for biases that may stem from unobservable heterogeneity between the treated (adopters) and untreated individual (non-adopters). For example, if farmers who choose to adopt are systematically different from those who do not in a way that is unobserved to the research, our estimates from IPWRA will be biased. In order to ensure the robustness of our results, we include in the treatment model, variables that control for intrinsic unobservable factors related with plot characteristics and plot management. A similar strategy was used by Smale et al., 2018 in their estimation of sorghum variety adoption impacts on household welfare in Sudan. The application of the inverse propensity scores also requires that the propensity score is non-zero and less than one for all observations (i.e. this is a condition for common support). To assess for this property in our data, propensity scores for treated and control observations were plotted on graphs to examine the overlap of the distributions. Figure 5.4 shows that these distributions do, in fact, overlap.While producing improved bean varieties is expected to yield greater output per unit area, its adoption may be accompanied by changes in input usage that engender greater production costs.Thus, the effect of improved bean variety adoption on crop income obtained by the adopting household depends on the change in private profits. Following Larochelle et al., 2015, the change in the private profitability of shifting from local to improved bean is estimated as the difference between observed and counterfactual profits:Where, ( ). The counterfactual input usage depends on observed input level and average percentage changes in input use intensity resulting from adoption of improved varieties plus the cost of technology (i.e. seed). Comparisons of means of quantities used on hectare basis across adoption status 11 based on ANOVA show that adoption of improved bean results in upward adjustment in quantity of seed, while the usage of labour, herbicides and fertilizer is not affected by adoption of new varieties (Table 6). Therefore, the change in production cost is expressed as a function of input k for which adjustment occurs and the cost of technology.Where ijk x 1 represents the observed use intensity of input k in plot j cultivated by household i . To estimate the cost of improved seed, each farmer was asked his/her source of seed that was planted in 2016 cropping season, the quantity planted and its cost by variety. For farmers that planted seed from their previous harvest or farmer-to-farmer seed exchange, an imputed value was attached on the assumption that they bought seed during the season when adoption occurred. As the data shows, the unit value of seed varies by seed type (i.e. local vs improved) at each source (i.e. grain market, farmer seed producers and agro dealers) 12 . For farmers who planted own saved improved seed in 2016.Smallholder bean producers participate in the market as sellers or buyers. In this study, we focus on the participation in market as sellers, measured as the quantity of bean sold. There are households who decided to sell part or all their bean harvest and a few who did not sell any part of their harvest. If we assume that the amount of bean sold is a linear function of the bean variety type cultivated and other explanatory factors, then a bean marketed surplus model can be expressed as:Where * i M is the latent unobserved variable denoting the total volume of bean farmer i supplies to the market. The variable M is the observed amount of bean sales and equal to the latent variable when the household decides to sell and observed as zero for non-market participation. Then, H is a vector of variables that explain the variations in the amount of observed bean sales. The variable ij T denotes the adoption decisions expressed as a function of explanatory factors in vectors i Z & i  (eq.2), some of which also influence market participation.To account for potential censoring bias, a selection model characterizing the decision on whether or not to sell beans in equation 4 is estimated first using a probit modelThe variable \"dsale\" is a qualitative indicator of whether a household sold any beans in the study season, s is a vector of variables that explain the decision on whether or not a household sells bean, i  is a vector of parameters to be estimated. The mills ratio ( )13 and included in the main model of market participation intensity alongside other potential explanatory variables in vector (H) of the quantity of bean sold (M) in order to correct for selection bias.  Equation 8 is then estimated with Inverse weighted probability regression to account for potential endogeneity of adoption in market participation intensity as specified in equation 2.In this section, we present results from econometric estimation, beginning with the determinants of bean variety choice.Results from the multinomial logit (MNL) estimated in the first stage of IPWRA reveal the determinants of the variety choice (i.e. adoption of improved bean variety outcome). Taking local varieties as the baseline adoption, results in table 7 reports the coefficients as well as the marginal effects from MNL. The likelihood ratio test statistic from MNL as shown by the chi-square value (157.7) was highly significant (p < 0.001), which suggests that the model adequately explains the variation in the adoption data. The results interpreted are the marginal effects and appear in column of table 7. The results indicate that the adoption of improved varieties is influenced by the access to the technology, characteristics of the physical production environment and market conditions.Being located in a district with a higher percentage of adopters in 2013 significantly and positively increased the likelihood of cultivating new varieties while negatively associated with planting old improved varieties. More specifically, a one unit increase in the district level percentage of new bean variety adopters above the average of 27% in 2013 (three years prior to the survey) was found to increase the probability of growing new varieties in 2016 by 0.03% and by 0.02% for mixed varieties while that of old varieties reduced by 0.02% (Table 7). However, the magnitude of the coefficients are smaller, which could probably be attributed to the fact that different supplementary channels of seed delivery were pursued under the project over the last 10 years-thereby reducing the partial influence of each in the adoption process. Since, district level adoption rates of 2013 was included as instruments to control for possible endogeneity of new improved variety adoption in yield function, these results lend credence to the validity of our instruments. Distance from the village in hours walking to the nearest paved road (Asphalt) has significant negative influence on the probability that a bean field is planted with new improved varieties. Controlling for the two proxies for technology supply, we see that regional variations in the new variety adoption remains.Compared with Mbeya region, the probability of growing new improved bean varieties or old releases is respectively lower in Iringa, Rukwa and Ruvuma by 16.4%, 11.2% and 25.1% (Table 7). On the contrary, the adoption rate for old variety releases is higher in Rukwa than in Mbeya.Overall, the regional variation in the adoption of improved bean types suggests that the dissemination of new varieties to support adoption has been relatively more intense in Mbeya region that is in close proximity of research station-culminating in spatial diffusion bias against other regions.The demand side factors linked to information access re-enforce the technology access constraints. The education level of the household head and distance from cooperative, included as proxy for access to information have the expected signs but only education is statistically significant. The education of the household has a positive effect on the likelihood of allocating land to new improved varieties. The size of landholding, that is well recognized in the agricultural development literature as important determinant of new agricultural technology adoption (Feder et al., 1985), does not seem to influence the adoption of new improved bean varieties but was negatively correlated with cultivation of old improved varieties. We interpret this result as a reflection of the declining performance of old varieties. With regard to the importance of plot level specific characteristics in determining adoption, results show that farmers are less likely to plant new varieties on plots they perceive as of low soil fertility. Instead, farmers tend to allocate mixtures of local and improved varieties to plots of low fertility, which means that farmers match varieties with soil quality and are likely to select fertile plots for new improved varieties, which could easily bias yield estimates if not controlled for it.The attributes of physical environment represented by soil pH and elevation influence variety choice. Results reveal that the probability of planting improved bean varieties is slightly higher in areas where soil PH is within 6 to 7 range, i.e, the optimal pH for bean production, and lower below pH of 6. On the other hand, soil PH does not seem to matter much when it comes to decisions related to mixing varieties in a plot, probably because variety diversity enables farmers to minimize expected yield loses emanating from unfavourable soil conditions. Also important in variety choice is elevation, although the effect was significant only for old improved variety choice decisions. A one-percent increase in average village level elevation measured in meters above sea level is associated with 17% increase in the probability that old improved varieties are chosen over local ones(Table 7).The estimates from IPWRA, which show the average effect of improved variety adoption on yield are reported in table 8. Before we embark on discussing the findings, we show that there was no density distribution of the estimated probabilities around zero or one, which confirms that overlap assumption for the validity of IPWRA was upheld (figure 3). The results of the falsification test provide evidence that the instrumental variable, i.e., district level percentage of adopters in 2013, meets exclusion restriction as it has no statistical significant power in the yield function for local varieties (p-value=560). This is an equivalent of about 223 kg of additional bean harvested per hectare from plots planted with new improved varieties (Table 8). The average yield on farms that plant old varieties is also higher by 27% than it would have been had these farmers grown local varieties. The yield gained by the adopters of new and old improved varieties is significant at 1% and 5% levels respectively.It is good that we decided to separate the two categories of varieties, i.e. new and old releases, as combining them would have resulted in under estimation of yield gains from new varieties, leading to inaccurate conclusions on the impact of the project. While new improved beans are, on average, higher yielding than local beans, adopters tend to spend more on seed than non-adopters through two mechanisms that re-enforce each other. The first mechanism relates to difference in seeding rates between adopters and non-adopters. From the comparisons of improved and the local varieties, we can see that adopters of new improved varieties (i.e. those released after 2000) planted 12.8 kg/ha more seed than growers of local varieties (Table 9). Table 9 also shows that the amount of seed planted by growers of varieties released in 1990s or earlier (i.e. therefore classified as old improved) was 14.05kg/Ha higher than the quantity planted for local varieties. The difference in seeding rates between adopters and nonadopters might be due to heightened capacity of farmers in crop management through training scarce supply 14 . When we compare the average price of improved varieties with that of local varieties averaged across seed sources, we see that seed of an improved variety costs an additional TSh. 100 per kg, which means that adopters of improved varieties spent an extra Tsh7000 per hectare (or $11 in PPP) on improved seed due to price differences. Overall, the total additional cost of seed that results from adoption of new improved varieties is about $34.5 in PPP per hectare and $36.8 in PPP per hectare for growers of old improved varieties (Table 9) 15 .Net profits obtained from adoption of new improved varieties per hectare calculated by subtracting additional expenditure on seed from the value of additional output is $320.4(PP) per agricultural season. Actual earnings from improved varieties depend on the crop acreage under production. By multiplying the computed per hectare profit increments by plot size and aggregate across plots, we see that a household earns additional income from bean production of about $202 in PPP from adoption from new varieties. These results are generally in line with the bean research goal, which is to increase bean productivity and contribute to household incomes. The higher yields of improved seed compensates for upward adjustment in seed expenditure, though contribution to poverty reduction is still modest due to smaller area allocated to beans in general.Additionally, our analysis shows that variation in bean yield in Southern Highlands of Tanzania is partly due to differences in the seeding rate and labour input intensity among farmers.On average, an increase in the seeding rate from its average by 10% would grow yield of local varieties by 1.6% and that of new improved varieties by 2.2% (Table 10); whereas yield on plots cultivated with variety mixture would grow by 3.4%. One way to interpret these findings is that since most farmers are using seeding rates that are below the optimal, marginal returns to seeding rates are significant and the same goes for labour input intensity. A ten percent increase in labour input intensity is associated with a 2.0% increment in bean yield of local varieties and that from a mixture of improved & local varieties (Table 10). Lack of statistically significant association between yield and labour in case of improved varieties could perhaps mean that farmers tend to supply adequate labour in plots allocated to improved varieties-causing low variation in the data.In case of fertilizer use however, there is no correlation with type of variety planted as majority of 14 Price data of improved seed and local seed was gathered from each source (agro-dealers shops, grain market and farmer producers) where farmers obtain seed. 15 Exchange rate of power purchasing parity in 2015 $ 654.8 at PPP accessed from World data atlasThe bean yield also varies with elevation, which indicates the importance of physical environmental constraints. This was particularly important in the productivity of local varieties and those that are new improved. Results suggest that these varieties perform better at higher elevation, with a 0.4-0.7% increase in productivity for a 1% increase in village level elevation, being higher for variety mixtures and lower for purely local varieties. The productivity of new varieties is negatively associated with distance from residence, which affects the efficiency of inputs use since farmers are still learning about the new varieties. Household characteristics such as the age and sex of the plot manager exert a significant but weak influence on bean yield depending on management system. We found that male managers are likely to generate higher yields from old improved varieties compared with their female counterparts, but the two groups obtain same average yield for new improved varieties. This perhaps reflects the emphasis put on integrating women in dissemination of new varieties and the associated capacity building of farmers during the project.Compared to Mbeya region the productivity of local varieties and that of old improved varieties seems to be lower in Iringa and Rukwa while that of new varieties is higher in Ruvuma region (Table 10).In this section, we look at the contribution of improved bean variety adoption on bean commercialization, measured as the quantity of marketed surplus. Before we discuss the effects of adopting improved varieties on market participation intensity, it is important to highlight the status of bean commercialization in the study area. Approximately 65% of the households sell part of their bean production, and among those who participate, the marketed surplus is about 67% of the harvest, which is equivalent to 305 kg of bean per household per cropping season. From the average of 305kg sold per household, men transacted 254 kg while women transacted 35kg equivalent to 11% (Table 11) of the total marketed surplus. Women tend to grow beans for food and their participation in the market is often unplanned at the planting time while men grow bean for sale. Consistent with this point, plots managed by men were, on average, significantly larger (0.45Ha) than those managed by women (0.35Ha).Since market participation is measured at household level, we collapsed the multinomial valued adoption into a binary treatment variable by focusing on adoption of new improved seed and comparing with only local seed. Plots that were planted with old improved varieties and variety mixture were excluded as the interest was to estimate the effect of a move from local to new improved seed on marketed surplus. The exploratory analysis with switch-probit full information maximum estimation 16 did not suggest that the decision to adopt new varieties and that of market participation were interdependent or made simultaneously. This result is not surprising given that bean is in transition from being pure subsistence to semi-subsistence and some households might decide to sell after production exceeds their consumption demand or in case of an emergence for cash needs. In situations where market participation is unplanned and unintentional, production decisions do affect market participation. Conditional on adoption of new varieties, the probability that a household will sell part of the harvest was 69.3% and predicted to be 66.8% for non-adopters. This means that adoption of new improved bean varieties increased the probability of bean commercialization by 2.5%.When estimating the impact of improved seed adoption on the quantity of bean sold, marketed surplus, we account for possible interdependence of the decisions on the quantity and participation in the market as sellers of beans--although the results from likelihood ratio test did not suggest that this would be a concern 17 . Results from the Inverse weighted Probability Regression adjustment (IPWRA) of the marketed surplus on a subsample of those who participate in bean market are reported in table 11. The coefficients on the mills ratio (IMR) in both outcome equations (i.e. marketed surplus for local and improved seed) were not significant, which is consistent with the earlier results from diagnostic test after the Heckman two-step estimation. Thisshows that estimation of the improved bean variety on a subsample of those who participate in the market is appropriate. Results reported in Table 11 show that varietal improvement has contributed to commercialization of bean production in southern highlands of Tanzania in a substantial way. The quantity of bean sold rose by 38% among producers that shifted their bean area from local to new improved bean varieties and this effect is significant at 1%. This means that the marketed surplus among adopters would be 38% lower, or 57 kg less if they had not planted improved seed. If all households were to shift to such improved variety seed, the average effect of this adoption would be 29% increment in bean marketed surplus, equivalent of 44kg per household. Although the overall unconditional effect is positive and remarkable, results implies that the adoption of improved new varieties is likely to generate heterogeneous effects on bean commercialization with some households benefiting more than others. Overall, the results reflect largely the success of the bean improvement research in the region and underscores the importance of bean productivity growth in its commercialization drive. Majority of the net selling households reported having used revenue from bean to purchase non-food household items (e.g. clothing, school fees, appliances, kitchenware, furniture and radios). This reaffirms that the project has had important indirect benefits, as reflected in crop income gains. Now we examine the implications of the increased commercialization on the share of marketed surplus by women. Using the bean sales data disaggregated by the sex of key principal decision makers within households, we compute the share of marketed surplus transacted by men and the share transacted by women. Then we regress this variable on the same explanatory varieties in the main model using IPWRA approach form men and women separately. Resultsshow that within households that adopt new varieties, the share of marketed surplus transacted by men increased by 13.6% while that controlled by women decreased by 17.5%--implying that commercialization of bean tend to shift the control of bean from women to men. and those located in remote area are less likely to adopt them. This implies that access to information that would enable farmers reduce the uncertainty about the performance of these varieties is still limited for some farmers.The study findings support the conclusion that the bean improvement has been successful in increasing productivity, which was the main goal for investment. Results provide evidence that replacement of local varieties with improved bean varieties increase bean productivity in Southern Highlands of Tanzania with other inputs held equal, thus improved varieties have a larger yield advantage over landraces. However, we also observed that the estimated average yield increment if adopters of old improved were to move to new improved varieties would be modest and not statistically significant. The finding that there is small increment in yield between new varieties and old varieties is important for accelerating varietal turnover. Thus, it is important that during variety design, target trait levels be defined and prioritized aiming to make observable distinction between new varieties and those they are supposed to replace. For now, this understanding can inform the design seed marketing strategies that contribute to better target dissemination of varieties and facilitate adoption of new varieties in an efficient way.Conditional on having adopted new varieties, we found that planting new varieties is more profitable than local varieties. This is so, even when adoption of new varieties lead to a slight increase in seed expenditure, since the yield advantage offsets the higher price of improved seed and upward adjustment in seeding rate. However, due to smaller area allocated to bean by adopters of new varieties and the fact that bean in Southern highlands is produced in one season per year, we concluded that poverty reduction effects of improved variety adoption are positive but modest.On the impact of improved variety adoption on marketed surplus, results showed a positive and remarkable increase in the volumes sold. Thus, it is necessary to increase the intensity of improved variety adoption to generate an increase in yield as the excess output above the consumption level of the households will generate marketable surplus, which encourages farmers to participate in the output market. In light of these results, increasing the variables that lead to adoption of improved varieties and market participation intensity should be the focus for bean research that seeks to enhance welfare. Specifically, we recommend promotion of farmer membership in cooperatives should be encouraged. Access to seed and road infrastructure are also essential in order to increase the intensity of its adoption.Finally, the study findings support the conclusion that crop improvement contributes to household income via two complementary pathways, i.e. profit effect and market participation","tokenCount":"10650"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5803063237.json b/data/part_1/5803063237.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8f760b185ffe83bf22285a78659c2108079998e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5803063237.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9328cada7502db33f5118e513c5f54d4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b8036100-1b7c-4ba1-be7d-2342b6db094d/retrieve","id":"1061000464"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cdcc2861-1492-468b-8a7c-5b67c257a623","pagecount":"1","content":"P1608 -A Climate Services Menu for SEA (CliSM): tackling scaling with a diversity of end users in the climate services value chains Description: Climate services will be integrated in the planning and implementation of all activities, estimated to benefit 200000 households. Ha Tinh Farmer's Union is running the Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP).• The Socialist Republic of Viet NamOutcome Impact Case Report:• 3854 -Climate-informed agriculture and participatory scenario planning (PSP) cascades to provincial plans and GCF-proposal for five provinces in Vietnam (https://tinyurl.com/y3xljhq4)• Additional development organizations, including one additional CCAFS region, adapt climate service and insurance implementation strategy and resources to increase women's participation in decision-making.• 29 -Enhanced adaptive capacity to climate risks (More sustainably managed agro-ecosystems) ","tokenCount":"115"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5805243705.json b/data/part_1/5805243705.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f19d1771a51ba79e72a81cb7167e99bd42c9f6c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5805243705.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b03f7328db6452f6b55d24a3b0c822b7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e78e40a5-863f-4c8c-b585-c297f8e30d07/retrieve","id":"664521519"},"keywords":["Climate-smart agriculture","scaling","institutions","transformation Private sector","regulatory bodies"],"sieverID":"8b8c8557-d8c9-4f47-b7fc-69eed0021388","pagecount":"110","content":"The purpose of this working paper is to provide insight into how we can use novel approaches to scale up research findings on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to meaningfully address the challenges of poverty and climate change. The approaches described include those based on value chains and private sector involvement, policy engagement, and information and communication technologies and agro-advisory services. The paper draws on 11 case studies to exemplify these new approaches to scaling up. These are synthesised using a simple conceptual framework that draws on a review of the most important challenges to scaling up. This provides the material for a discussion around how particular scaling up approaches can help to address some of the challenges of scaling up. The analysis offers insights into scaling approaches, challenges and some opportunities for scaling CSA practices and technologies.We conclude that multi-stakeholder platforms and policy making networks are key to effective upscaling, especially if paired with capacity enhancement, learning, and innovative approaches to support decision making of farmers. Projects that aim to intervene upstream at higher leverage points can be highly efficient and probably offer cost-effective dissemination strategies that reach across scales and include new and more diverse partnerships. However, these novel approaches still face challenges of promoting uptake, which remain contextualized and thus require a certain level of local engagement, while continuously paying attention to farmer's needs and their own situations.All over the world research on and dissemination of agricultural technologies and practices is pursued as an intervention to raise agricultural production, improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty for smallholder farmers (Kilima et al, 2010). Agricultural research in improved crop varieties, better farming methods, participatory policy analysis and new knowledge generation has contributed substantially to development impacts (World Bank, 2011). For CGIAR, for example, Raitzer and Kelley (2008) estimated that the system-wide benefits ranged from nearly $14 billion to over $120 billion in net present value, depending on the method used to select case studies. Even by the most conservative criterion, overall benefits attributable to CGIAR research to 2008 were approximately double the total costs of investment.However, many technologies and practices are still not achieving their full potential impact because of low levels of adoption by farmers in developing countries. There are many plausible reasons for this, including our collective limited understanding of local contexts beyond the obvious constraints related to natural systems, such as how farmers make decisions, and how the institutional environment may enable or inhibit uptake of new technology. Projects, programmes and policies are often limited in scale, short-lived, and without lasting impact (Hartman and Linn, 2008). Despite successful pilot projects, uptake of new and innovative agricultural technologies and practices has often been poor and we have still not been able to resolve problems of food insecurity and rural poverty. About 805 million of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2012-2014(FAO, 2014)), almost all of whom were living in developing countries. This is not to say that there has been no progress: on the contrary, the developing regions overall saw a 42 per cent reduction in the prevalence of undernourished people between 1990-92 and 2012-14 (FAO, 2014)). But there are large regional differences: progress against poverty and hunger has been limited in South Asia, for example, and has actually gone backwards in sub-Saharan Africa since 1990-1992(FAO, 2014)). Clearly, much remains to be done.The history of research for development (R4D) shows that only a small proportion of the results of agricultural research has been adopted by next-and end-users 1 . Climate change adds considerable urgency to the situation, and there is no good 'new' news on the climate change front: Hansen et al. (2015) demonstrate that even the 2°C target constitutes highly dangerous climate change, and our current 'business as usual' trajectory will take us way beyond even this target by the end of the current century. We are starting to run out of time, and particularly for the poor and malnourished of the developing world, the agricultural R4D community needs to find new ways of ensuring that their research outputs contribute to development outcomes much more quickly than has occurred in the past. The theme of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) offers one approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural systems to support food security in the face of climate change, by focusing on the potential synergies and trade-offs between agricultural productivity and food security, adaptive capacity, and mitigation benefits (Campbell et al., 2014). Climate change may massively disrupt food markets, posing population-wide risks to food supply, a threat that can be reduced by increasing the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers as well as increasing resource use efficiency in agricultural systems (Lipper et al., 2014). For CSA to be effective, coordinated actions by farmers, researchers, private sector, civil society and policymakers are needed in four major areas: (1) building evidence;(2) increasing local institutional effectiveness; (3) fostering coherence between climate and agricultural policies; and (4) linking climate and agricultural financing (Lipper et al., 2014).Inherent in the notion of CSA is the need for hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers to adopt climate smart practices and technologies, which will inevitably involve new and innovative ways of moving to scale. A gap between researchers, policymakers and practitioners continues to exist and despite huge efforts to disseminate, apply and scale up the results of research, these efforts are often insufficient or inadequate (Hartman and Linn, 2008). Research organisations are increasingly being held accountable by governments, donors, civil society and farmers themselves to show more than research results and dissemination strategies: rather, to contribute to development outcomes and lasting impacts on the lives of the rural poor. The emphasis on the effectiveness of R4D to produce adoptable technological options is increasing as well as a demand for agricultural research to achieve and demonstrate greater impacts and thus its value (Pachico and Fujisaka, 2004). The question for agricultural research is why agricultural, and in this case CSA, practices and technologies have not been more widely disseminated and adopted if they raise productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce emissions.However this question is answered, a key component is likely to lie in adaptive management and learning-based approaches to reflect on whether we are doing things right, whether we are doing the right things, and how we know what is right. Social learning conceptualised as triple-loop learning may offer one approach to help understand whether and how meaningful and lasting engagement with stakeholders is contributing towards the scaling of research results to achieve development outcomes (Kristjanson et al., 2014).Incremental change is no longer considered enough to bring about the societal changes needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change and enhance food security (Biermann et al., 2012). It is this need to show real impact beyond the plot or site level to impacts on more people over wider areas, and on institutions and policies that drives the interest in scaling up (Pachico and Fujisaka, 2004). The key issue is, how to scale up promising pilot initiatives so that they can have a substantive impact on poverty (Wolfensohn, 2005). It is not necessarily that researchers themselves have to bring things to scalebut it is about explicit strategies enabling next users through partnerships, engagement, capacity development and learning to apply research results in non-research processes, and helping to inform next users as to what makes enabling environments conducive to scaling up and out.The overall purpose of this working paper is to provide insight into what researchers and their nonresearch partners can do to get CSA research products to key next users so that they change their practices and behaviour and put mechanisms in place that allow farmers, as the end users of research outputs, to change their farming practices. How can CSA approaches be multiplied and scaled up? What do next users need, and what do conducive enabling environments look like? What can we learn about scaling up from the portfolio of projects in the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)? These questions are inspired by the desire to deliver development outcomes through R4D.Our purpose here is to provide insight into how we can use novel approaches to scale up research findings to meaningfully address the challenges of poverty and climate change. The approaches described include those based on value chains and private sector involvement, policy engagement, and information and communication technologies (ICT) and advisory services. The paper draws on 11 case studies that were selected from a portfolio of CCAFS CSA projects and which exemplify these new approaches to scaling up. The cases are synthesised and analysed using a simple conceptual framework that draws on a review of the most important challenges to scaling up. This provides the material for a discussion around how particular scaling up approaches can help to address some of the generic challenges of scaling up.For simplicity we use the term 'scaling up' to capture a number of processes, whereas some authors uses both terms scaling up and scaling out. Other terms often used to describe the processes of scaling up and out include diffusion of technologies, dissemination of knowledge, technology transfer and mainstreaming or uptake of practices. One overarching definition is that scaling up brings more quality benefits to more people over a wider geographical area, more quickly, more equitably, and more lastingly (IIRR, 2000, in Franzel et al., 2001). Thus, scale refers to the benefits brought about through the intervention not only in terms of the number of people and the geographical area but also in terms of time and equity scales (Pachico and Fujisaka, 2004).Scaling up rarely occurs in one dimension only: \"As programs scale up quantitatively [larger number] and functionally [more complexity], they typically need to scale up politically and organizationally\" (Hartmann and Linn, 2008: 8-9). Scaling up is thus largely a management issue. It is (or should be) about how to manage projects to ensure that positive impact is maximised (Pachico and Fujisaka, 2004), while acknowledging that multiple actors and scales need to be considered (Buizer et al., 2011).The scaling up of CSA technologies and practices, in particular, brings its own issues, given considerable uncertainty, incomplete or contradictory knowledge, and massive stakes for billions of people. The complexity of the climate change challenge in general, but particularly in terms of its cross-level dynamics, requires a multi-dimensional approach to scaling up CSA responses.It has been a challenge to agricultural scientists and government authorities to reach large numbers of farmers with new technologies and practices. In the past, agricultural research institutions generally adopted a technology-focused or supply-led ('push') approach. Scientists developed and tested technologies that they considered relevant to farmers and then disseminated them, often through national agricultural extension services. Farmers' participation in these efforts was usually not systematic, nor were farmers genuinely involved in decision-making concerning research priorities or activities. In this approach, increasing impact is assumed to be through producing dissemination materials, and making sure such materials reach as many people as possible (Pachico and Fujisaka, 2004). The theory of change is that diffusion of and capacity building in new technologies and practices to a sample of farmers will lead to uptake by many. A significant amount of research was done on technology adoption and diffusion with the goal of improving the extension and dissemination processes (Ibid). However, national extension systems have often had limited success due to under-funding, limited infrastructure and logistics, declining number of extension personnel, and limited capacity (Noordin et al., 2001;Snapp and Heong, 2003). At the same time, extension services often have a top-down approach to information and knowledge dissemination based on a transfer-of-technology 'push' approach -extension services offering blue print solutions, rather than context specific ones. A key problem with such approaches is that new practices and technologies often do not reach the poor (Snapp and Heong, 2003), and may not be suitable in the first place (for example, if some level of investment is needed to adopt particular practices).To overcome the problems related to top-down and technology-focused approaches, where recommendations are frequently not understood by farmers or are not disseminated in a way that facilitate farmers' own experimentation (Kanyama-Phiri et al., 2000), participatory, client-driven research and technology development ('pull') approaches have been introduced to support local experimentation and decision making (e.g. local agricultural research committees) (Ashby et al., 2000;Braun et al., 2000 in Snapp andHeong, 2003). Many researchers have recognised that a sound understanding of how farmers learn, innovate and make decisions is critical if widespread adoption is to occur (Scoones and Thompson, 1994;Cary et al., 2002;Pannell et al., 2006 in Millar andConnell, 2010).In the following subsections we explore some of the key challenges identified above for scaling up CSA technologies and practices: transactions costs, farmers' attitudes and objectives, and issues surrounding the enabling institutional environment.Extension approaches, especially participatory ones, often have high transactions costs and struggle to work over large areas beyond the pilot villages (Braun et al., 2000). Transactions costs are high due to the need to reach individual farmers and/or to create structures to reach groups of farmers.While scaling up via agricultural extension services and different participatory approaches can work in certain circumstances and to some extent, we need other methods for getting research outputs taken up by next users at scale to contribute to outcomes. To overcome the challenges inherent in conventional approaches to scaling up, it is necessary to introduce CSA into existing structuresit may not be necessary to invest in scale but rather to partner with actors who already have achieved scale, and in this way add value to what others are doing. This can imply intervening upstream at higher leverage points in the system. We need to find the most effective points where science-based interventions can leverage the greatest amount of change that benefits the largest number of people. This is not going to happen if we intervene farm by farm. Scale is best achieved through actors that set and enforce rules (i.e., powerful actors in the system) and not only by engaging with actors who are on the receiving end of these rules and have limited capacity to change the overall system dynamic (i.e., farmers). Because of this, some of the best scaling interventions that most benefit smallholder farmers take place far away from the farm. This kind of off-farm (and sometimes out-of-country) thinking is challenging for many R4D organisations. Working with farmers is still needed but achieving scale through supply-led strategies (such as seed distribution or sustainable farming systems) that are not aligned or coordinated with demand-led strategies that build on existing power dynamics and incentives have limited chance of achieving scale despite excellent results at the household level (Mark Lundy, personal communication).There are various ways in which transaction costs can be reduced through using upstream leverage points and existing procedures: for example, through commercial organisations, input supply businesses, and government programmes. There may also be opportunities to reduce transactions costs through designing R4D activities that revolve around processes that can be scaled, rather than the technologies themselves.Supply-driven ('push') approaches will often need huge efforts to encourage farmers to adopt new technologies, compared with demand-driven approaches where technologies are innovated with farmers or adapted to their needs (Bohringer, 2001;Anderson, 2008;Schot and Geels, 2008).Insufficient understanding of farmers' priorities is important not only for scaling up processes but also for small-scale uptake of new practices. However, pilot projects often have more time and resources to engage stakeholders to define needs and opportunities, as well as demonstrating benefits. The challenge for scaling up processes is to reduce the transactions costs involved in making technologies and practices more context specific. CSA technologies and practices may take a long time to reap the benefits: for example, improving organic matter and water holding capacity in soils, planting trees and managing landscapes. Many farmers are reluctant or unable to invest substantial time and resources in new crop varieties, inputs, technologies or practices that, to them, provide uncertain results in a longterm risky future (Hartmann and Linn, 2008;Franzel et al., 2001). Many smallholders are interested in avoiding risk, as far as is possible, and in maximum return to minimal inputs (Rohrbach and Okwach, 1999). The conventional wisdom is that farmers with sufficient land, livestock and other assets are more likely to innovate or take up new technologies, while poorer households are less able to take risks and will often wait to see the benefits of new practices before adopting.An important question relates to whether CSA is more context-specific than other agricultural practices. One assumption could be that given the explicit focus on climate change and the goal to produce triple wins in mitigation, adaptation and food security, CSA may be more context-specific because climate change impacts and vulnerabilities vary considerably spatially. The context specificity may limit its potential for scaling up or slow down its uptake, or at least the farmer may need to make modifications for the technology to succeed (Binswanger and Aiyar, 2003). Successful scale-ups may create sophisticated, context-specific procedures constantly adapted in the light of new experiences and highly dynamic circumstancesin such cases, there may be no blueprint for CSA practices (Kaczan et al., 2013).In some situations, options will be needed to cover up-front costs (cost of conversion, loss of productivity during transition, increased labour demand), perhaps through well-targeted input subsidies or combining CSA technologies and practices with rapidly yielding crops or livestock. For example, forages may provide an entry point or 'spark of interest' which enables farmers to see that gains can be quickly made from livestock production with little effort (Millar and Connell, 2010). Integrated approaches are needed to build adaptive capacity and mitigate environmental and socioeconomic risks, for example by diversifying incomes or providing insurance schemes that unlock a productive opportunity that was previously unattractive because of risk (Franzel et al. 2001;Greatrex et al., 2014).Although access to markets, land, credit, and political stability and other governance issues do influence the rate of scaling up, the absence of these factors does not necessarily preclude farmers benefiting from suitable technologies and practice changes, particularly if the resulting livelihood impacts are significant (Millar and Connell, 2010). Farmers' concerns need to take centre-stage, and if technologies are genuinely appropriate, then scaling up is more likely to occur.The enabling environment is critical for scaling up. Any programme working on issues of scaling should take into account existing institutions and their capacities as well as the policy and regulatory framework, and the opportunities and constraints they provide. However, programmes or projects may choose another approach that more directly targets institutional capacity building or policy change to facilitate scaling up processes. Scaling up can become very much about institutionalising or mainstreaming policy change (Jonasova and Cooke, 2012).At the institutional level, there is a need for effective development and deployment of institutions and mechanisms that can carry forward the scaling up process. It is important to recognise that many institutions are involved and need to cooperate, and thus need to be coordinated: from line ministries to local policymakers, both traditional and governmental, in villages, districts and provinces, as well as international development and donor communities who influence investment as well as frame discourses within which decision making takes place (Linn, 2012;Franzel et al., 2001). Progress can often only be made by working at multiple levels, and dealing with cross-level relationships and impacts (Sayer and Campbell, 2004). Ideally, scaling up processes should be clear from the outset about the institutional choice to be made and the capacity building needed for the chosen scaling up pathway (Linn, 2012).The policy and regulatory framework and its enforcement are likewise critical for effective scaling up (this may include land ownership, extension services, taxes or subsidies on agricultural inputs, credit and insurance schemes) because they provide the rules and incentives (or disincentives) for adoption of innovation. Engagement and learning are critical, to create a space with key constituencies and actors to avoid political obstacles to the scaling processes (Linn, 2012).Having described the major challenges for conventional scaling up approaches, eleven case studies (CS) were selected, representing a range of recent and on-going research activities on the part of several CGIAR centres and their partners within CCAFS. Cases were selected based on their novel approach and ambition to deliver widespread impact and peer appraisal that this was being achieved or was likely. After an initial analysis of the cases these were divided into three major approaches to scaling up: Case studies based on value chain and private sector approaches 1 Scaling CSA practices through climate smart value chains: coffee and cocoa (CIAT and IITA in Ghana, Nicaragua and Peru).2 Inclusive and sustainable dairy development in Kenya (ICRAF).3 Integrating private businesses in scaling CSA (CIMMYT in Kenya).4 Building agricultural resilience in Nigeria through index insurance and scaling out of CSA (CIMMYT).5 Scaling up climate smart information services to guiding climate risk management by farmers in Senegal (ICRISAT).6 Towards a Climate Smart Agriculture in Colombia (CIAT).7 Shamba Shape Up: an example of the use of edutainment for scaling out CSA practices (CIMMYT, CIP, ICRISAT, ICRAF and ILRI in Kenya). Case studies revolving around policy engagement 8 Scenario-guided policy formulation: Cambodia's climate change priorities action plan (CCAFS). 9 Scaling up Climate Smart Villages in South Asia (IFPRI and CIMMYT in India).10 Policy engagement: a strategy to make science a game changer in the Central American political arena (CCAFS in Honduras).11 Doing it right: Upscaling alternate wetting and drying technology in Vietnam (IRRI). Short write-ups for all eleven case studies are included in Annex 1. To illustrate, three of the case studies are shown in highly condensed form in Boxes 2 (CS1), 3 (CS5) and 4 (CS8).The following section reviews the different approaches in more detail, before describing the analytical framework of the paper.What is remarkable about the selected case studies is that none of them can be characterised as approaching scaling up through the conventional model of extension services. Almost all cases do employ elements of participatory approaches, but not combined with engaging extension services. Three approaches can be distinguished and are described below.Value chains have two characteristics that make them suitable for reaching a large number of farmers. First, they provide a mechanism for linking multiple actors around a common objective by creating space for dialog, knowledge exchange and capacity building, and strengthening negotiation capacities. Value chains can act as a delivery mechanism for government and private extension services, credit, and subsidy programmes. Second, they provide market-driven demand (currently, often towards green and more organic products) that may provide a demand-led strategy for adaptation of CSA technologies and practices. Scaling up already climate smart value chains or introducing CSA practices and technologies into existing ones may thus be an efficient way to reach large numbers of farmers with reduced transaction costs. However, approaches based on value chains may not be appropriate for the informal sector or for agricultural production for household consumption. And without taking account of these explicitly, value chain approaches may not be well suited to addressing equity and gender concerns in developing countries. 2) covering coffee, cacao, dairy, maize and rice, and partnering with large multinationals to small input suppliers, investment agencies and the insurance sector. An illustration of one of these is given in Box 1.Box 1. Case study 1 (CS1): Scaling CSA practices through climate smart value chains: coffee and cocoa This project is implemented by CIAT and IITA in Ghana, Nicaragua and Peru, in collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance, Root Capital and the Sustainable Food Lab. It develops appropriate CSA practices with farmers and other value chain actors, incorporating cash and food crops to increase resilience. The project leverages existing smallholder value chain interventions to translate climate science into actionable strategies for farmers and supporting actors across a number of geographies. This novel combination adds value to existing work with the goal of achieving adoption at scale for locally relevant CSA practices, while engaging multiple actors to understand site-specific projections of climate impacts and develop suitable responses.Climate change exposure of coffee and cocoa systems is assessed at a sub-national scale, while appropriate CSA practices are codified in site-specific adaptation guidelines. These guidelines will be mainstreamed through existing certification training curricula and used to develop innovative impact investment products. Results will be promoted with voluntary certification agencies and impact investors to achieve scale. The long-term objective is to enable key public, private and civil society actors to interpret projected exposure to climate change by cropping system and region into site-specific CSA practices and to incorporate these practices into their work with hundreds of thousands of farmers through extension services or tailored financing.The challenges to scaling up are (1) climate change information is too general from a private sector perspective, (2) benefits, timing and incentives for multiple actors need to be aligned, and (3) information and financial support need to be coordinated. To drive uptake and investment in CSA, the project develops approaches that are tailored to the needs of farmers and other value chain actors. It moves beyond mapping exposure to engage with key actors to develop a relevant set of customised CSA practices that are both effective in delivering resilience as well as feasible financially and socially. By partnering with existing voluntary certification networks that cover 30% of global cocoa producers and 15% of global coffee producers, as well as with impact investing firms that provide approximately USD 500m of investments into producer organisations annually, this project will be able to build site specific CSA practices into existing certification, training and extension networks with multiple public, NGO and private service providers.The use of existing value chain interventions with global presence is useful for scaling up CSA. Both voluntary certification and impact investing have a long track record and a strong rate of growth in the coffee and cocoa sectors. Given their existing levels of coverage, embedding site-specific CSA practices into them is a faster and cheaper way to get these practices to scale than other potential entry points in the public or private spheres. Moreover, both the voluntary certification and impact investment communities are aware of the need to better integrate climate science into their activities and a clear demand exists. Finally, the existing level of inclusion and acceptance of voluntary certification and impact investing in coffee and cocoa value chains facilitates conversations with private sector actors who are already comfortable with these vehicles.The challenge around making climate change and CSA practices actionable is a clear example of trade-offs across geographies. To drive investment in CSA, we need to develop approaches that are tailored to the needs of farmers and other value chain actors under specific climatic conditions. Blanket recommendations are not useful. Second, identification of costs and benefits of diverse CSA practices by value chain actor links to risk minimization strategies and timeframes of farmers and other actors. To move beyond 'nice to have' to 'must do', CSA practices have to show a clear return on investment. Finally, by building on existing structures already embedded in value chains and intervening upstream with key actors, the project will reduce the transaction costs needed to drive CSA uptake.In order to reach more farmers and overcome the high transactions costs incurred by face-to-face interaction associated with conventional extension services, the use of ICT and associated agroadvisory services is becoming increasingly important. ICTs are effective delivery mechanics and knowledge sharing methods that can contribute to improving access to information and awareness about climate change and CSA practices and technologies. ICTs can provide a wealth of different types of information: market prices, transportation options, weather information (Box 2), commodity and stock market prices, information and analysis, meteorological data collection, advisory services to farmers for agricultural extension, early warning systems for disaster prevention and control, financial services, traceability of agricultural products, and agricultural statistical data gathering, to name several. ICTs encompass a full range of technologies, from traditional, widely used devices such as radios (Box 2), telephones or TV, to more sophisticated tools like computers, mobile phones, the Internet or social media (FAO, 2013). Smallholder farmers will play a critical role in increasing food production for our future food security. Yet they are often constrained in their access to markets, knowledge, new technologies and skills, agricultural inputs, emerging value chains and other opportunities. The revolution in ICT and information management systems is radically opening up access to external knowledge among even the poorest (Pretty et al., 2011). Smallholder farmers, particularly women, have a huge advantage when the right ICT is brought into the agricultural system (Sylvester, 2013). There are potential constraints in that if women, the poor and other vulnerable groups are to benefit, these groups need to be considered and targeted specifically. There are also governance issues associated with ICT, particularly related to empowerment and elite capture.Experiences from researchers and practitioners suggest that ICTs in combination with agro-advisory services are playing an increasing role as enablers of change. ICTs are being recognised as part of strategies to adapt to, mitigate, and monitor climate change within agricultural innovation systems. The rate of growth of mobile phone technology is particularly striking. Mobile phones are helping farmers link to one another and also to obtain early information from markets. In 2009, mobile cellular penetration in all developing countries exceeded 50 per cent, reaching 57 per 100 inhabitants, up from 23 per cent in 2005 (Pretty et al., 2011). Together with the spread of Internet access, this means agricultural and price information can be increasingly sourced from distant locations (Pretty et al., 2011).Several of the case studies (CS5-CS7; Table 2) explore the role of mass media and ICT to create awareness of CSA technologies and to improve access to information and agro-advisory in addressing climate change issues in agriculture and whether this is sufficient to encourage adoption. Similarly, the case studies address the related question of how ICT can enable stakeholder engagement and allow groups to participate that would otherwise be excluded.This project is implemented by ICRISAT in Senegal, in collaboration with the national meteorological agency (ANACIM), the association of rural radios (URACS) and a number of local stakeholders, including farmers. Within the context of more frequent and extreme weather events and climate shocks, enhanced early warning systems provide a key opportunity to curb erosion of development progress in rural sectors. Allowing farmers to base farm management decision-making on tailored and salient climate information along the cropping cycle may help them reduce climatic risk and avoid regular food insecurity. Through this project, downscaled seasonal rainfall and long-term weather forecasts are reaching around seven million people in Senegal, helping smallholder farmers to make better-informed decisions about agricultural management in a changing climate. By doing so, the services allowed farmers to improve their adaptive capacity and increase farm productivity. In addition, institutional behavioural change has been achieved by the Senegalese Ministry of Agriculture, which now considers climate information services as an input for their annual agriculture action plan.The project has developed downscaled seasonal rainfall forecasts, and raised the capacity of partners to do longerterm analysis and provide more actionable information for farmers. The information is conveyed as agrometeorological advisory packages that are tailored to meet the local needs expressed by farmers. The approach was piloted in Kaffrine since 2011, and has been scaled through a partnership with the association of rural radio stations. Following a training of 82 radio journalists on the jargon of climate and on understanding the seasonal forecast, climate information services across the rainy season are now transmitted in local language as special radio programs in the 14 administrative regions. The interactive nature of the radio program allows listeners to revert with their feedback including additional information, views, and requests of clarification.The challenges to scaling up are (1) gaps in long-term series of climate data for all sub-national administrative zones, (2) insufficient coverage of the country with local multidisciplinary working groups that can translate climate information into agro-advisories and disseminate, and (3) lack of financial resources to operationalise training plans, capacity building and communication among actors. ENACTS, a model aimed at enhancing national climate services through high-resolution satellite data, is complementing available historical data and producing context-specific climate information for agricultural decision making. 'Meteo-farmers' provide weather information and rainfall data through mobile phones. Local multidisciplinary working groups, led by local leaders, are key to creating and disseminating timely agro-advisories and providing platforms for effective communications, and for media and private sector to participate. Finally, enabling decision-makers operating at local to sub-national levels to benefit from early warning information requires investment in training and communication, which need to be resourced financially.A key challenge to scaling up is not only the production of accurate climate information, but also building confidence in early warning systems and thus triggering regular financial investment into early warning as an element of annual planning. Context specific partnerships through local multidisciplinary working groups, with public and private sector participants offer potential for scaling up and long-term sustainability of information provision embedded in local processes, especially in terms of financial viability.It is not a new observation that policies and political engagement are important for scaling up CSA technologies and practices. In order to implement and scale up CSA it is essential to support countries in putting in place the necessary policy, institutional, technical and financial means to mainstream climate change considerations into agricultural sectors and provide a basis for operationalising sustainable agricultural and food systems under changing conditions. Innovative financing mechanisms that link and blend climate and agricultural finance from public and private sectors are a key means for implementation, as are the integration and coordination of relevant policy instruments and institutional arrangements. At the same time, there are competing interests in policymaking, necessitating the identification of windows of opportunity for meaningful engagement (recognising that engagement outside these windows may on occasion be futile). The scaling up of CSA practices will require appropriate institutional and governance mechanisms to co-generate information, ensure broad participation and harmonise policies. It may not be possible to achieve all the CSA objectives at once. Context-specific priorities need to be determined, and benefits and tradeoffs evaluated (FAO 2013). If scaling up is very much about policy change (Jonasova and Cooke, 2012), the challenge is to move beyond informing policy change to informing the enactment of new policieshow policy is implemented will determine its potential for impact. Linn (2012) identifies two interlinked approaches to policy engagement: creating a political space and a policy space. Creating a political space, through advocacy and outreach, is to have the eyes and ears of major political actors and key constituencies who may facilitate or provide political obstacles to large-scale developmental processes. A policy space, on the other hand, is an opportunity to influence policy making and strategies through the provision of technical input to the formulation and implementation of policies that are robust in the light of uncertainty.CS8-CS11 involve engagement in policy processes (Table 2). Some have focused on the processes of engagement (e.g. through a scenario approach, Box 3), others on generic climate change policies, and others on particular policies (scaling up climate smart villages; scaling up alternate wetting and drying in rice).Box 3. Case study 8 (CS8): Scenario-guided policy formulation: Cambodia's climate change priorities action plan This project is implemented by CCAFS; globally in collaboration with the University of Oxford, and in Cambodia also with FAO, UNEP, and over one hundred national experts and representatives of donor organisations. The project develops 'what if' narratives of the future that are then used to explore interactions between multiple drivers of change. CCAFS has developed regional scenarios on climate impacts, food security, environments and socio-economic development for six global regions: East and West Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Andes and Central America. The innovation is the use of the regional scenarios for policy formulation in national and regional case studies. This allows for multi-dimensional contextual analyses combined with concrete and focused policy applications. In Cambodia, Southeast Asia regional scenarios were used for the formulation of the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)'s Climate Change Priorities Action Plan.By using climate/socio-economic scenarios to test and develop national policies and investments, the project aims to create enabling environments for building resilience to climate change and sustainably improving agricultural productivity and incomes. In Cambodia, the main purpose of the policy is to enhance the resilience of the agricultural sector and farmers' livelihoods. When policies are tested against multiple scenarios that have stakeholder ownership and legitimacy as well as scientific credibility and appropriate scope, there is a high likelihood that each scenario offers relevant challenges and opportunities which a policy needs to deal with to be feasible in that future. Testing policies against a range of scenarios increases the likelihood that these policies will achieve their aims under uncertain climate and socio-economic conditions. Scenario-guided policy processes also allow for social inclusion and the contribution of a diversity of relevant perspectives from different governance levels, enhancing their ability to help vulnerable groups as well as their social acceptability.In terms of scaling up, a number of points are important in this process: the creation of as single set of regional scenarios, to be adapted and used in multiple policy guidance processes, means that it is easy to scale out the process to all countries in the region; the involvement of global partners means that there is added potential for scaling up; building internal strategic planning capacity in the ministry is a form of scaling upmoving skills from the research organization to government, where it can be applied into the future; helping to find complementary funds and roles for non-state partners is a out-scaling element; support for sub-national scenario-guided development of implementation plans represents down -and out-scaling, increasing the involvement of less powerful actors and the likelihood that the plan will benefit Cambodia's population.The main challenges are (1) leveraging the potential of scenario-guided policy formulation as an up-scaling mechanism for other research; (2) developing capacity in scenario-guided planning with governments and partner organisations is time-sensitive; (3) maintaining continuity in processes when mobility of government/partner personnel is high; and challenges revolving around time-intensive processes with frequent collaboration limits the number of processes the team can engage with; engaging sub-national stakeholders is more time/resource intensive; expert facilitation means it is difficult to do these processes virtually. Systems approaches to move beyond policy silos, capacity building and on-going mentoring, intense collaboration and relationships with several key policy makers, and flexibility to responding to emerging opportunities are key.Scenario methods are very adoptable to the issues at handincluding different levels, or cross-level processes, different topics and short-or long-term policy processes. The combination of these methods with other research processes highlights that scenarios are themselves an up-scaling mechanism. In terms of the general challenges, scenarios can help ensure policies are more realistic and concrete and create enabling conditions that make it easier for farmers to implement CSA, but a gap between implementation planning and reaching farmers remains.Based on the constraints to scaling identified through a review of the literature and on some of the characteristics of the new approaches to scaling that are being adopted, ten variables were identified with which to characterise the case studies, so that they could be contrasted and compared:1. Demand-led or supply-led: how was the project operatingin marketing terms, taking the product to the customer (supply-led), or motivating the customer to seek out the product (demand-led)? 2. To what extent did the project pay attention to farmer's objectives and attitudes; 3. Cost: what were the direct costs of the project to date; 4. Type and innovative nature of the delivery mechanisms that the project used, and its reach; 5. Ways in which the project addressed policy, institutional and economic barriers; 6. Ways in which the project directly addressed the context specificity of CSA in relation to targeting; 7. Partnerships and alliances that were put in place; 8. Capacity development activities that were undertaken; 9. Type of cross-level methodologies that were used; and 10. Nature and degree of learning in the project.Two major hypotheses drove the development of this simple analytical framework. The first was that different methods of scaling up have characteristics that can help (or hinder) the effectiveness of scaling-up processes. This is illustrated in Table 1 for different approaches of scaling up and a range of different characteristics and variables. For example, agricultural extension often deals in broad recommendations, and thus does not address different farmers' objectives or contexts. While it may reach a reasonable number of farmers, it can be costly and is usually not seeking to address overcoming the barriers to adoption or the trade-offs that adoption of new technologies and practices may give rise to. ICTs, on the other hand, can be cheap and can have a huge impact, but they may have very limited effect on other key constraints. Table 1 illustrate the hypotheses regarding the effects of key variables on the methods of scaling up (for the three new approaches, as well as for methods based on more traditional extension with and without explicit farmer participation) and should be interpreted with considerable caution, as there is substantial uncertainty associated with almost all of thembut the table does illustrate the widely disparate nature of different approaches to scaling up. + the method may have a positive effect on the variable (the more +'s, the more positive) -the method may have a negative effect on the variable (the more -'s, the more negative) = the method may have little effect on the variable ? highly uncertain or context specificA second hypothesis of this synthesis study is that process and learning are critical to overcoming some of the constraints to scaling up. To examine learning in more depth, several qualitative indicators from an existing monitoring and evaluation framework were used for evaluating looped (or social) learning within each case study (van Epp and Garside, 2014) (see the table in Annex 1). Each case study was evaluated for its degree of learning exhibited by considering each indicator in turn and combining into one indicator.Information on each case study was collected through a template filled in by the leaders of the case study projects. One-on-one follow up was conducted where incomplete information had been submitted or where clarification was needed. Short write-ups for all eleven case studies are included in Annex 2. The full characterisation matrix is included as Annex 3.Table 2 provides a comparison of the different approaches across all the case studies (referred to below by the code in column 1 of the table) of the key characteristics or constraints that each project exhibits or attempts to address. = no or little effect on the variable Supply-led or demand-led?In terms of whether the projects are primarily supply-led or demand-led, most of the case studies are demand-led. Of the four case studies based on value chain and private sector approaches (CS1-CS4), three are working to implement some kind of vision regarding CSA practices and technologies that has been developed with farmers, mostly to do with the provision of customised recommendations that can help to deliver resilience to smallholders in ways that are economically and socially viable. CS4, on index-based insurance in Nigeria, has more of a supply-led approach, though project participants recognise that scaling up requires meaningful engagement with communities; the project is thus partnering with other organisations that are already interacting with communities.Of the three ICT /agro-advisory case studies, two (CS5, information services via radio in Senegal and CS7, the farm-makeover TV programme in Kenya) are essentially supply-led approaches: information is provided via broadcasting to whoever receives it. Nevertheless, both these case studies do in fact allow for some feedback from listeners and viewers, and that information is used to target subsequent shows. The case study CS6 on agro-climatic advisories in Colombia is somewhat more user-driven, in that the project is responding to the identified needs of a wide range of partners in dealing with climate variability, through national farmers' organisations.For the four policy engagement case studies (CS8-11), the two that involve scenarios work (CS8 in Cambodia and CS10 in Honduras) can be classified as demand-led approaches, given that both projects are working with national partners on specific national plans. In both cases, however, there may be some gap between plan implementation and reaching individual farmers, or at least the influence (e.g., by helping to create enabling conditions that make it easier for farmers to adopt CSA practice) may be neither direct nor rapid. In the case of climate-smart villages (CS9), there are elements of both supply-led and demand-led approaches: while two state governments in India are implementing the CSV approach in hundreds of villages, CSA interventions are being tailored to local conditions and are often being designed and evaluated with farmers using participatory techniques.The case study on upscaling AWD technology in Vietnam (CS11) makes use of a supply-led approach, but the project has a clear strategy for farmer engagement.The question as to whether the case studies are addressing farmers' objectives explicitly (the second characteristic in Table 2) is reasonably closely allied to the demand-led or supply-led characteristic.The case studies that are not focussed on farmers' objectives are either those that have a demandsupply-led approach (CS4) or the two scenario-based policy engagement case studies (CS8 and CS10). In the latter two cases, these projects still have a demand-led focus, but the demand does not come from farmers but from policy makers. For all other case studies, the demand-led focus is allied with a moderate (CS1, CS2, CS6, CS7, CS11) or strong (CS3, CS5, CS9) focus on farmers' objectives.For the case studies based on value chains and the private sector, the indication in Table 2, that most have a demand-led approach along with an explicit focus on farmers' objectives, is what might be expected from a consideration of their market orientation. Perhaps more surprising is that Table 2 indicates that the ICT/agro-advisory and policy engagement case studies (excepting the two scenariobased case studies) are also able to address farmers' objectives to some degree. There appear to be two overlapping reasons for this: case studies either have a strong element of farmer-participatory design and selection of the CSA practices and technologies to be scaled up, and/or they have a welldesigned farmer engagement strategy in place (one case study with neither at present is CS4, indexbased insurance in Nigeria).The information on project cost is not presented in Table 2. (Several of the case studies do present some information on costs in the write-ups included in Annex 2.) Because of the range of case studies presented, it is difficult to present robust estimates of cost on a standardised basis. It is also challenging to estimate costs that can be meaningfully compared across a range of projects; the cost of information provision to farmers is one element, but there may be other costs associated with implementing particular decisions at the farm level that are not included, for example, as well as the (often unknown) costs incurred by next users in taking technologies and practices to scale. In addition, other partners provided inputs and funds to many of the case studies, and some were able to leverage relatively large amounts of money. It might be expected that these three approaches to scaling up would have some (possibly considerable) potential for cost effectiveness. To evaluate this, more detailed studies on the costs of the different approaches are clearly warranted.Regarding reach, all case studies had delivery mechanisms and reach strategies to convey information to large (sometimes very large) numbers of people. Table 2 shows little consistent difference in reach between the three approaches. There is a suggestion in Table 2 that the case studies with the most reach (CS1, CS4, CS5, CS7, CS8) in general may not address farmers' objectives the most consistently, though this observation is not strong. This is no surprise, given that the trade-off between reach and context specificity constitutes one of the fundamental challenges of scaling up.In terms of addressing the policy, institutional and economic barriers that can inhibit farmers adopting CSA technologies and practices, the ICT / agro-advisory case studies (CS5-7) appear to have limited if any effect (Table 2). Two of the value chain / private sector case studies have some effect on specific barriersindex-based insurance in Nigeria (CS4) in relation to institutional barriers, and the dairy development study in Kenya (CS2) in relation to both policy and institutional barriers. As expected, the policy engagement case studies have real strengths here: the two scenario case studies address policy, institutional and economic barriers explicitly, and the CSVs in India case study (CS9) involves the mainstreaming of climate smart approaches into existing local development and poverty alleviation policies and plans, thus potentially overcoming many barriers to adoption. Similarly, the AWD in Vietnam case study (CS11) seeks to integrate mitigation objectives into national and subnational agricultural modernisation and rehabilitation programmes. These results are consistent with what might be expected (Table 2).Concerning the case studies and their effectiveness in addressing the context specificity of CSA, there were substantial differences between the three groups of case studies. For the value chain / private sector cases, this presents something of a challenge, with the possible exception of the dairy development in Kenya case study (CS2), which is working through a wider range of different institutions (cooperatives, companies and regulatory agencies) that are able to articulate the needs of diverse stakeholder throughout the value chain. For the other case studies, the appropriateness of different technologies and practices in specific contexts may depend heavily on the knowledge of local input dealers and insurers. For the ICT / agro-advisory case studies, there are various strategies: working with national grower associations (CS6), with other providers and sources of climatic data (CS5), and with broad baskets of different options for different agro-ecological zones (CS7). For the policy engagement approach, the scenario-based case studies (CS8, CS10) operate at the national level and so do not address sub-national targeting or trade-off analyses, though it is possible to downscale the scenarios to provide such information. For CSVs (CS9), there are no fixed packages of intervention, but rather they differ in content depending on the region, its agro-ecological characteristics, level of development, and the capacity and interest of farmers and local government.A large part of the research work is associated with understanding which interventions work where, why and under what conditions. For CS11, AWD is a technology that can be effective using current irrigation infrastructure, and it is being targeted to areas where it will work with improved irrigation infrastructure.Almost all the case studies described strong partnerships and alliances, in many cases involving nontraditional (for CGIAR) research partners such as the private sector and international NGOs. This is particularly noticeable with the value chain / private sector case studies, to a somewhat lesser extent with the policy engagement case studies, and perhaps least of all with the ICT/agro-advisory case studies. Shamba Shape-Up (CS7) is an interesting example, though, in that the making of the different episodes can involve a wide range of researchers, but these tend not to amount to lasting relationships. In general, all case studies revolve around a broad set of interactions with many different types of partners.There was an interesting spread in capacity development activities among the case studies, though Table 2 does not give a very clear indication of substantive differences between types of approach, although capacity development for the policy engagement case studies does appear as a key activity. Some case studies, such as climate-smart coffee and cocoa (CS1), are developing site-specific adaptation guidelines for mainstreaming into existing certification training curricula. The case study on scenarios in Cambodia (CS8) mentioned capacity development with partners and governments as a key mechanism for upscaling, and noted the importance of time and resources for training and mentoring processes.The case studies presented a range of approaches to the inclusion of cross-level methods. The case study on index-based insurance in Nigeria (CS4) works with different levels at the spatial and knowledge scales as it is using satellite imagery to help make on-farm decisions. Radio-based information services in Senegal (CS5) is also working at different spatial scales, from the farm to the national level. The scenario-based case studies (CS8, CS10) are based on integrating elements about household-and community-level adaptation with drivers of regional and global change. In general, however, while some of the case studies operate across spatial scales, there is only limited cross-level activity. The integration of different types of knowledge at multiple scales, for example, clearly presents a considerable challenge.A range of approaches to learning is also demonstrated by the case studies in Table 2; the number of +'s in the right-most column is broadly indicative of the degree of learning exhibited. Almost all case studies are engaged in at least double-loop learning (see footnote in the table in Annex 1). One case study, radio-based information services in Senegal (CS5), is bringing together a broad mix of partners for engagement and integrating different knowledge and perspectives; capacity is being built at different levels, farmers are being trained as local game changers, and the project is facilitating learning and allowing for new ideasthese are the essential elements of triple-loop learning. Shamba Shape-Up (CS7) presents a different type of learning altogether: there is engagement of viewers, better informed stakeholders, and a new type of social network via viewer identification with the farmers featured on the show, who can act as champions or mobilisers of change. Currently, there are only limited feedback loops in place, beyond farmers being able to request information sheets on the practices featured, and thus informing the content of future episodes as demand for information is analysed. The case study on index-based insurance in Nigeria (CS4) is also interesting; although partnerships exist, they revolve around national-level institutions. The challenges being addressed are largely technical (to do with data and index design), and at this stage in the process, there appears to be little learning and reflection happening with stakeholders, although this will presumably change over time.The results in Table 2 are summarised by the scaling-up approach in Table 3, by taking the number of pluses for each case study, dividing by the number of case studies of that type, and then rounding to the nearest integer. Table 3 summarises what the case studies are telling us, while Table 1 summaries what we initially hypothesised about these approaches. The agreement between the two tables is good, and three points might be made. First, the case studies underline the fact that different approaches to scaling up do indeed have different characteristics, and there may well be trade-offs to consider when choosing an approach. Second, the ability of the case studies to address farmers' objectives is somewhat better in the case studies than might have been anticipated. This is possibly because several case studies had well-established processes for engaging meaningfully with farmers. Third, approaches based on ICT and agro-advisory services tended to perform rather better than might have been anticipated in relation to context specificity and partnerships. For at least two of the three case studies of this type, this reflects the fact that the work was grounded in strong national platforms with the engagement and involvement of a wide variety of different stakeholders. + the approach has a positive effect on the variable (the more +'s, the more positive) = the method has little effect on the variable ? insufficient informationThe eleven case studies describe a wide range of activities at different stages of completion and located at different places on their respective impact pathways. Even so, these three approaches overall do appear promising in terms of their ability to scale up climate-smart technologies and practices. Several points can be made in conclusion.First, the case studies highlight the need for strong grounding in existing local (e.g. CS9, CSVs) or national multi-stakeholder platforms (e.g., CS5, radio information in Senegal) to help address the issue of context specificity and to facilitate strong partner and stakeholder engagement.Second, the case studies with the most reach may not address farmers' objectives most clearly: there may be an unavoidable trade-off between reach and context specificity in scaling up. The impacts of the trade-off can be ameliorated via effective engagement and capacity development strategies. On the other hand, decades of research for development activities have shown that context matters and that farmers are more likely to take up new technologies if they are involved with the process. Scaling up often needs to have some element of local engagement ('scaling down', in effect), and while this may be a trade-off we have to live with, the approaches used in the case studies here can help to address this.Third, all the case studies revolve around a broad set of interactions with many different types of partner. These interactions are often involving different types of partner that go well beyond the traditional partnerships of CGIAR. Several of the case studies also highlight the need for leaders or champions who can help to foster change. The expanded range of partnership brings some challenges, however, particularly in the area of integrating the different types of knowledge that different partners may have. None of the three approaches to scaling up that are being implemented in the case studies appear to have addressed this issue as yet.Fourth, most of the case studies were engaging in at least double-looped learning. The case studies do not provide evidence to suggest that the more looped the learning, the more effective the scaling up, but this is a reasonable working hypothesis that can be tested through time.Fifth, several of the case studies illustrate the importance of formulating and addressing critical assumptions, which may make or break the scaling-up process. These 'killer' assumptions may be to do with continuing high-level political support after national government change (CS4, insurance in Nigeria and CS8 and CSA10 on Scenario Guided Policy Formulation) or the availability of continuing funding for irrigation infrastructure development and maintenance in the case of CS11, AWD in Vietnam, for example.What can be concluded about the new approaches being tried in the case studies with respect to the challenges discussed in section 2.3 above? Regarding transactions costs, the case studies unfortunately provided little robust information. Estimating the costs of the different approaches poses considerable challenges, but cost comparisons would be of considerable interest with regard to the economic efficiency of scaling up. While it may be envisaged that approaches to scaling up based on value chains, ICT / agro-advisory services and policy engagement would be cost effective, more rigorous information is needed, and this warrants further work. With respect to the tension between scaling up and the importance of local context, these three approaches appear to have some ability to resolve this, particularly when grounded in existing multi-stakeholder learning platforms. With regard to the political, institutional and economic barriers that can inhibit an enabling environment for widespread adoption of CSA technologies and practices, scaling up approaches based on policy engagement and (to a lesser extent) value chains and the private sector hold considerable promise for addressing such barriers. Case studies based on ICT / agro-advisory approaches may need to consider adoption barriers more explicitly, perhaps through hybrid scaling up approaches that can combine elements from policy engagement and/or value chain approaches. Regarding cross-level approaches, the case studies discussed here had different abilities to address these, seemingly not primarily related to the type of approach being used. The most effective at this (CS9, CSVs in India) works at different spatial levels and across spatial and institutional scales via a wide range of partnerships and alliances and considerable investment in engagement processes, including at the political level.In summary, CCAFS, through 11 case studies, has been exploring novel scaling approaches for CSA.The case studies revolved around value chains and the private sector, information and communication technology, and policy engagement. The analysis offers interesting insights into scaling approaches, the main challenges and some opportunities for scaling CSA practices and technologies. We conclude that multi-stakeholder platforms and policy making networks are key to effective upscaling, especially if paired with capacity enhancement, learning and innovative approaches to support decision making of farmers (either directly or indirectly). Projects that aim to intervene upstream at higher leverage points can be highly efficient and probably offer cost-effective dissemination strategies that reach across scales and include new and more diverse partnerships and alliances. However, these novel approaches still face challenges of promoting uptake and adaptation, which remain contextualized and thus require a certain level of local engagement, while continuously paying attention to farmer's needs and their own situations.  ). This new buzz term already includes many of the tried and true measures that form the backbone of sustainable agriculturebuilding soil fertility, protecting watersheds, increasing access to knowledge, inputs and markets for more profitable and food secure livelihoods. In addition, and apart from aiming to reduce GHG emissions from farming, the concept of CSA also introduces a new angle in that it helps farmers, government, companies and NGOs better understand and manage the risks posed by climate change and thus become more resilient. In order to make such efforts meaningful for a large number of stakeholders, scaling climate smart agriculture necessitates engaging multiple actors to understand site-specific projections of climate impacts and develop suitable responses accordingly.To confront this challenge, our project leverages existing smallholder value chain interventions to translate climate science into actionable strategies for farmers and supporting actors, including agricultural businesses, voluntary certification schemes, and investors, across a number of geographies using smallholder coffee and cocoa systems in Africa and Latin America as model cases.This novel combination adds value to existing work with the goal of achieving adoption at scale for locally relevant CSA practicesWe assess the climate change exposure of coffee and cocoa systems at a sub-national scale, develop appropriate CSA practices with farmers and value chain actors that incorporate cash crops and food crops to increase the resilience of these systems, and codify these practices in site specific adaptation guidelines. These guidelines will be mainstreamed through existing certification training curricula and used to develop innovative impact investment products. Results will be promoted with multiple voluntary certification agencies and impact investors to achieve scale. Outcomes will influence government, private sector and civil society actors towards a common adaptation agenda applicable to other smallholder crops. The project brings together preeminent actors in agricultural climate science (the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA), voluntary certification (Rainforest Alliance), impact investing (Root Capital) and sustainable agriculture systems (the Sustainable Food Lab) to achieve the expected outcomes.The long-term objective of this work is to enable key public, private and civil society actors to interpret projected exposure to climate change by cropping system and region into site-specific CSA practices and to incorporate these practices into their work with hundreds of thousands of farmers through extension services or tailored financing, as needed. Success is defined as adoption of recommended CSA practices by 15% of global cocoa producers and 7% of global coffee producers, as well as the provision of USD 350m of tailored financial products to producer organizations, traders, exporters, and other key value chain actors by 2019.Challenges to scaling out and up and strategies to address them Climate change information too general from a private sector perspectiveMost of the climate project tools currently generated such as exposure gradient maps are effective at calling attention to the issue but too general to be useful to design specific CSA interventions. To overcome this limitation we are attempting to go beyond exposure maps to identify, codify and analyse the cost benefit of specific CSA practices relevant to diverse levels of climate risk. This process requires the engagement of key value chain actors from the farm to global buyers to identify, prioritize and analyse recommended practice as well as design mechanisms that will inform value chain actors about what needs to be done and unlock funding. Through the provision of both information and financial services the project seeks to move climate change from scary maps to actionable interventions.The rational for investing in CSA is often not clear and different value chain actors have different agendas and timeframes. Most value chain actors recognize the need to develop tools to improve the uptake of CSA practices to ensure a resilient and sustained supply of agricultural goods and services going forward but often the incentives and time frames do not line up. For example, farmers and the rural poor may have short-term needs that reduce their capacity to invest in CSA practices that pay off in the mid-term. Likewise, private actors may be unwilling to invest without some security that they will be able to recoup their investments through increased or stable supply of agricultural goods. Finally, many CSA practices also generate positive environmental externalities such as improve water management that extend beyond the farm and the value chain. How should public goods generated by CSA practices be accounted for and funded when benefits cannot be captured by any one actor?The project seeks to address these issues through the application of robust processes of cost-benefit analysis of prioritized CSA practices along the exposure gradient with value chain actors. This approach will allow us to understand the costs over time of a given practice, who bears the cost, what benefits are expected, over what time frame and to whom will the benefits accrue. By clarifying the costs and benefits of CSA practices with direct participants, the project will be able to facilitate discussions about how to better align costs, benefits and incentives to achieve CSA uptake in ways that are clear to all. Out hope is to be able to assign different cost elements to those most likely to benefit to ensure greater clarity around why a given actor might want to invest in CSA.To achieve uptake of CSA practices in a commercial The use of existing value chain interventions with a strong track record and global presence is useful for scaling up CSA for the following reasons. First, both voluntary certification and impact investing are approaches that have a long track record and a strong rate of growth in the coffee and cocoa sector. Given their existing levels of coverage, embedding site-specific CSA practices into them is a faster and cheaper way to get these practices to scale than other potential entry points in either the public or private policy spheres. Second, both the voluntary certification and impact investment communities are aware of the need to better integrate climate science into their existing activities. A clear demand exists as both communities seek to contribute to sustainable rural livelihoods over the long-term. In this sense the project is pushing on a half-open door. Finally, the existing level of inclusion and acceptance of voluntary certification and impact investing in coffee and cocoa value chains facilitates conversations with private sector actors who are already comfortable with these vehicles. Promoting a novel, stand-alone approach to CSA would require significantly more efforts to generate private sector buy-in that is the case with impact investing and voluntary certification.Despite these benefits, this approach has clear limits. First, to be effective this intervention requires the existence of either voluntary certification or impact investing in a given value chain. While coverage of both vehicles is growing, they still tend to cluster around higher value export value chains rather than domestic food security crops. We hope to address this by including food crops in the existing coffee and cocoa systems in the analysis but this is a current limitation to the approach. Second, producers who are able to access voluntary certification or impact investments are by definition organized in some form. Producer organization remains the exception rather than the rule in much of the developing world so this approach faces limits in that regard as well. Finally, many of the most at risk farmers and rural inhabitants live in areas where there is a clear need to transition from a traditional cash crop into a different set of crops and livelihood strategies. While impact investment does have potential to assist in these transition zones, there is also a key need for public investment that will most likely not be channelled through this type of vehicle. The project is engaging with this topic through the use of multi-stakeholder platforms by level of exposure to climate change but more work is needed here.The scaling challenges identified above relate to the general framework of the paper in the following ways. First, the challenges around making climate change and CSA practices relevant and actionable is a clear example of trade-offs across geographies and poor targeting. To drive uptake and investment in CSA, we need to develop approaches that are tailored to the needs of farmers and other value chain actors in a specific set of climatic conditions. Blanket recommendations are not useful. This requires moving beyond simply mapping exposure to engage with key actors to develop a relevant set of customized CSA practices that are both effective in delivering resilience as well as feasible financially and socially. Second, the clear identification of the costs and benefits of diverse CSA practices by value chain actor links to risk minimization strategies and timeframes both of farmers and other actors. Few commercial actors, including farmers, are willing to make investments where they are not clear on the size and timing of the return of those investments. Currently CSA practices remain too general with limited site-specific cost-benefit analysis to really be attractive investments. To move beyond 'nice to have' to 'must do' CSA practices have to show a clear return on investment broken out by different potential investors. This will assist in making a stronger case for investment at farm level, producer organization and broader public good benefits from CSA. Currently this is lacking.Finally, by piggy backing on existing structures already embedded in value chains, the project will reduce the transaction costs needed to drive CSA uptake. Strategically this decision should allow the project to intervene upstream with key actors in the voluntary certification and impact investing communities to develop pre-competitive interventions that mainstream the approaches developed by this project across large numbers of farmers already covered by these interventions.A. Wilkes 3 , S. van Dijk 4 , T. Tennigkeit 5Milk in Kenya is produced by 1.8 million farm households, of which 70% are smallholder farmers, mostly women and youth (Makoni et al., 2014). Population growth, urbanization and increasing prosperity will increase the demand for dairy products (Robinson and Pozzi, 2011). Significant growth potential for the dairy sector in Kenya exists, but low-productivity, weak extension systems and a fragmented value chain hinder stable and high quality milk supply to consumers, constraining farmer incomes and resulting in high emissions per litre of milk and other environmental impacts.As productivity (milk yield per cow) is strongly related to GHG emission intensity, this project focuses on the mitigation benefits of productivity increases as an entry point to leverage climate finance to promote sustainable development of the sector. This project will develop a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) for Kenya's dairy sector. The NAMA will aim to improve dairy feeding regimes and husbandry practices and achieve a sustainable increase in milk production by smallholders, and thus improve the livelihoods of 600,000 smallholder farmers, enhance resilience to climate change while reducing the emission intensity of dairy production.The project aims to develop a NAMA to promote sustainable development of Kenya's dairy sector. The NAMA will propose interventions at three levels: On-farm productivity increases: interventions to address barriers at farm level for adoption of productivity-increasing technologies and management practices will be identified;  Supporting institutions: effective approaches to provision of support for adoption of on-farm practices (e.g. private sector supported extension services, cooperative marketing and input supply arrangements) will be identified;  Policies and finance: Policies and financial mechanisms to enable up-scaled provision of support for on-farm adoption of productivity increasing practices will be developed.Kenya's dairy sector is both diverse and in a process of dynamic change. The sector has a large informal value chain (80% of milk is sold raw), as well as a rapidly growing commercial value chain. Competition from the informal sector is a constraint on development of the commercial sector.Although government policy envisages growth of the commercial sector, the informal sector is expected to continue to play a major role for some time to come.There The resulting NAMA will aim to reach at least 600,000 farmers across 28 key dairy production counties in Kenya. Costs of scaling up are still unknown at this stage.Kenya's dairy sector is large, with diverse actors facing numerous challenges, and with different experiences of what works and what doesn't. Some initiatives are ready to scale up, others require further investigation, innovation and assessments. In this context, the project will work with diverse stakeholders to identify policies and practices that work at the farm, supporting institution and policy levels. A multi-stakeholder platform initiated by the project will provide a forum for sharing knowledge and perspectives, and deliberating on good practices and effective mechanisms for upscaling their adoption. The project will also enhance knowledge generation by supporting learning from existing initiatives. In a dynamic sector, where the existing evidence base is often limited, bestjudgment and collective deliberation by stakeholders will enable the project to make use of the best available knowledge to identify good practices. The project will make particular efforts to involve organizations working with large numbers of farmers, so that practices and supportive policies are identified that can be applied on a large scale. The end goal is that the NAMA can include a set of policy and financial instruments that can support approaches to increasing productivity across the dairy sector.Different institutions have different strengths and potentials in aggregation: Cooperatives can bring together farmers within a geographical area; lead enterprises work with many cooperatives and large numbers of farmers; regulatory agencies work across the sector and throughout the value chain. The project will work with these existing aggregators to identify how to strengthen their competitiveness and ability to support larger numbers of farmers to adopt productivity increasing management practices.On-farm practices and approaches by supporting institutions (e.g. extension services, credit providers) will be assessed to identify effective practices at each level. These practices will include those that address farmers' ability to manage risk (e.g. credit provision, insurance) and farmers' urgent needs vs. long-term viewpoint (e.g. extension support on farming as a business, cash-flow calculations)Among the aggregating organizations, they face different challenges and opportunities for addressing political, institutional and economic barriers. The project will work with stakeholders on a number of strategic issues affecting incentives in the value chain (e.g. quality based payment systems, hygiene licensing for informal traders), supporting stakeholders to draw lessons from practice for policy.Smallholder farmers supply both the formal and informal sector; some farmers supply both, or shift between them depending on procurement prices and the litres of milk to be sold. Lead enterprises can aggregate within their supply chains, often working with multiple cooperatives and numerous farmers, but targeting support to commercial value chains risks undermining the competitiveness of informal value chains, which at present supply the majority of milk to Kenyan consumers. There may, therefore, be both winners and losers from the policies supported by the NAMA, and the NAMA development process needs to consider these trade-offs.Scaling is becoming increasingly privatized as technologies become more proprietary and as farmers become more market-oriented (e.g. Kahan 2009). The agricultural landscape is changing rapidly, comprising more complex and formalized input supply and output marketing systems. The role of private businesses is expanding, from mere dealership in inputs to increasingly procuring and selling farm produce together with advice and information. The cost of staying in business is therefore increasingly complex, that also includes technical advisory to client farmers, and feedback provision to their suppliers. To fulfil this more complex role, input dealers require technical and business development competencies and skills to ensure that their business provide quality and timely provision of inputs and materials together with agronomic and marketing advice and information on recommendations for their application and use. Agrodealers require support in business management, marketing and contracts together with knowledge on safety issues amongst others (Kahan 2009). In short, private sector agrodealers cannot stand on their own. The public sector extension services, along with NGOs, CBOs, farmers and research play unique roles supporting them.Public extension systems are critical, yet often strapped for operational budgets and prone to bureaucratic decision making processes. Very few have unallocated program funds available for use by field-level staff, to respond to new farmer demands and increasing farming populations (Swanson 2008). The challenge is how different information and technical advice sources/ channels can be efficiently and sustainably integrated into regulated programs designed to serve these demands and needs. This requires strong public-private-NGO collaboration that builds on the comparative advantage of the various actors involved in research and extension.By reaching a farming population of up to 3 million with ready to use information, the CIMMYT-AGMARK partnership targets to increase efficiency of use of agricultural inputs through access to CSA information.Access to CSA advice is a key requirement for efficient use of inputs. Availing CSA information could for instance reduce losses resulting from poor use of fertilizer under erratic rainfall conditions and the inclusion of storage information will help stem about 30% (Abassa et al., 2014) climaterelated post-harvest grain losses.Mutual interests among smallholders and agrodealers are sustained when the former receive timely and affordable quality inputs with both parties benefiting from increased profits. Farmers are looking for advantageous prices when selling their produce, and highly in need of customized information. Such information includes the use of new technologies, field agronomy, as well as knowledge on input use, business management and marketing. Agribusinesses often require information, advice and engagement skills on/ for key informants, useful resource people, potential customers, suppliers and collaborators.In Kenya, a good example of collaboration is where the private sector relies on the Ministry of Agriculture to shape the required enabling environment for farm supply business. Public extension plays a critical role of creating awareness of new productshybrids, fertilizers, herbicidesas well as improved agronomic technologies and practices. Public sector extension organizes field days, farm visits, trainings, radio programs and other nation-wide events that attract private dealers to demonstrate, promote or sell their products.The AGMARK-CIMMYT process ensures that information from input suppliers is demand driven, while the interactions between farmers and extension workers is often supply-led. In the former case, farmers articulate their demands and the private sector responds to manifested opportunities. Since this information is provided by companies that are buying produce from farmers, their confidence leveland hence information uptakeis higher than with other delivery channels. Companies see information delivery as a business necessity in order to build a reliable supply base. Increasingly the private sector is providing a wide variety of information services to their farmer clientele (Hansra and Vijayaragavan 2003). In fact, market information of a specialized nature is appreciated by marketoriented farmers and is more likely to be purchased as a private good (Kahan, 2009).Emerging lessons show business-led information supply is based on unregulated programs, and is flexibly guided by seasonal feedback from farmers. There are no guidelines, recommendations or standards used among business to acquire or pass on information. Farmers receive information from input traders and agro-processors, who in turn respond to consumer demands. Regular input clients shape business-farmer feedback discourse. CIMMYT's niche; is to gather evidence/ lessons to guide extension and agrodealers about recommended practices e.g. use of herbicides and new germplasm, and engage them to understand and shape feedback to ensure more effective input delivery. Private businesses are directly accountable to their clients, and their delivery systems are therefore well suited to ensure that advice is demand driven. The main constraint is they are only active where there is a favourable market for their services and they are absent in many of the more remote rural areas where market infrastructure in unavailable.This paper reports and analyses a strategy to scale-out CSA information through farm supply dealers in Kenya. The objective is to analyse lessons on private sector integration in scaling of CSA content, based on the experience of AGMARK-led work through a network of agro-dealers in Kenya.The overall vision of the Agmark program is to develop a network of small-scale, entrepreneurial agro-dealers who would transform the currently fragmented input distribution system in Kenya into an efficient, commercially viable input infrastructure, which would in turn enable farmers to have greater access to productivity enhancing inputs and technologies. This vision is inspired by the fact that lack of access to basic farm supplies has made it quite challenging for poor rural farmers to increase their yield or income, reinforcing widespread poverty.The AGMARK led scaling work is based on existing evidence that shows agrodealers are key sources of information and advice among smallholders (also see Lwoga et al., 2011;Mwalukasa 2013;Adomi et al., 2003). It is also based on the premise that data exists and is readily available to guide scaling. Two bundles of CSA have been developed based on CIMMYT's research on: i) storage of grain and ii) based on CA principles. In June 2015 three trainings were conducted among AGMARK appointed mobilisers, to explain the project, CSA concepts and the information bundles. These mobilisers are distributing the CSA materials through 1,500 agrodealers. Each agro-dealer has physical access to a mobiliser at least once, and later through telephone for any clarifications or further information requested by clientele farmers. These mobilisers keep records of sampled farmers (gender, contacts) to verify the process. Each mobiliser will integrate these with other planned scaling activities; exhibitions, field days, etc. organized by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), and the National Cereals and Produce Board. Each of these AGMARK partners has a set of unique latent and manifest incentives. For instance, MoA's goal of contributing to \"Vision 2030\" national policy framework is not necessarily its staffs' every day driving motivation.The key reason agro-dealers are not charging a fee to disseminate CSA materials is the potential of this process to increase their appeal among farmers. They're being sensitized on CSA, a theme with current interest among their clientele farmers. In fact, advice constitutes a key smallholder incentive for repeated visits to agribusiness outlets.Findings from this process are expected to be communicated widely, and especially to influence bilateral projects. For instance, the SIMLESA Program (simlesa.cimmyt.org) has a wider scope, which encompasses setting up and strengthening Agricultural Innovation Platforms. There is therefore possibility for this work to incorporate farmer extension groups with new resources. Going forward, simple briefs to explain the process will be critical to influence policy. Each dollar spent, for instance, will create awareness on CSA portfolios among at least 10 farmers. With a more integrated process (involving regular extension, research, business, ICT), this process can be made more interactive to aid learning; a common difficulty in most scaling programs. The overarching principle to be embraced for scaling therefore must be \"reaching more people, faster with lasting impact. This is what is guiding the extent of scaling in this work.This scaling initiative is involving 1500 agribusinesses in 9 Kenyan counties. These counties have highly negative interactions among dense populations, poverty and climate change risks. These counties have over 15 million residents whose more than 75% of livelihoods have over 95% direct dependency on rain-fed agriculture. Over 75% of the residents are smallholders, 60% of whom according to AGMARK's experience get farming information from agro-businesses (also see Tumsifu and Silayo 2013). Past initiatives at AGMARK show each agro-dealer serves on average 50 households daily during peak months. This project can reach 3million farmers by September. However, there are two risks against efficient progress. One, there were delays in organizing the agreement between CIMMYT and AGMARK due to funding cuts. Second, costs of printing and organizing materials are prohibitive, especially after the cuts.To reach one member of the target households, we need 3 million (double sided, office/standard black-and-white) A4 size leaflets. This requires US$214,000; each leaflet costs KSh7 (US$0.07 cents). To print 3 million sets of recommended colour materials with illustrations on five higher quality A4 pages, we require over US$1m. This is not relatively expensive given the huge potential for success. Such success is also easier to evaluate given we're soliciting agrodealer client contacts.In spite of this high potential, there are further emerging challenges that have to be overcome.Emerging challenges include the difficulty to gain an insight in the nature and content of feedback, interaction, or the lack of it among agribusiness and smallholders. More challenging is how to influence these interactions and enrich the feedback process. Usual (agrodealer-farmer) interactions are \"unregulated\" or spontaneous. CSA is a highly knowledge intensive bundle of technologies.Agrodealers therefore need more time to interact with research. Maintaining constant partnerships with research is often perceived as a burden for small business enterprises and gender targets are often of little interest to them. The agrodealer is interested in buyers, whether male or female. The challenge is for research to demonstrate in a clear-cut way that targeting women with valuable CSA knowledge is good for business in the long run. Research also needs to ensure that promising germplasm are available for agro-dealers in a timely and effective manner. Agrodealers for instance do need to have DTM varieties from CIMMYT along with the CSA bundles of technologies.Solutions to these challenges include applying anthropological tools to gain insights or even tap into the dynamic agrodealer-farmer interactions. Agrodealers need to become aware of the benefits that can be gained from targeting women in promoting CSA, and how this can eventually improve their business. This introduces a secondary challenge; research will need to unearth evidence in economic terms, about lost profits when gender is not central in agribusiness strategies.To address cost constraints, there needs to be \"project pooling\", for instance to share costs of developing materials. In the long term, an integrated scaling framework must be developed, to have business-based scaling embedded in extension programs. These programs need guides, with enough clarity on CSA practice.Business incentives based on business modelling approaches are critical to ensure procurement of inputs, the adoption and spread of technologies. The approach aims at spreading the costs of scaling whilst sustaining knowledge sharing. Smallholders are incentivized to travel to the agro dealers in order to get valuable information embedded as part of the commercial transaction. Travel and information collection cost money. Often, public extension workers have limited financial means to travel to meet individual farmers. Relying on a business-led approach is sustainable, especially when smallholders act collectively to pay. Going forward, farmer organizations or innovation platforms and aggregated demand for products could incentivize the agro-dealer to visit farmers in the rural area. If an agrodealer has the potential to make money it would be within his or her interest to generate more demand and this can be done by providing additional advisory services. In this alternative scenario of farmer organization the costs to the dealer are likely to be reduced.Most agrodealer outlets in target sites are in close proximity to the smallholder, which means partnerships with public extension can be a win-win situation. With clear CSA messages, extension services in collaboration with agrodealers have the potential to multiply outreach considerably. In the case of collective action, farmer cooperatives/ CBOs need to be effectively managed to operate along business and commercial lines to enjoy economies of scale and reduce transaction costs.A menu of CSA practices has been developed by CIMMYT for sharing. However, communicating the CSA technologies is not a simple process carried out in a way. CSA requires for adoption immediate returns possibly based on business-led scaling approaches, which should enable farmers and agrodealers to sustain their investments to realize the longer-term CSA benefits.There is lack of clear mandate on whose responsibility it is to organize farmers. This is not the role or mandate of public extension and NGOs have insufficient capacity to do this to scale. Kenyan policy is vague as to how different institutions ought to be organized to come together to reduce land fragmentation amongst farmers in the agriculture sector. AGMARK has been engaging with the Kenya Government for policy dialogue. Emerging evidence in this project is critical for strengthening the role of business in scaling.The symbiotic relationship between the agrodealer, and the smallholder is hard to replicate with large suppliers; employing several attendants, selling to distant buyers or selling wholesale with no intensive relationship with the end-user. The agrodealer enables a transition, from this business-only relationship to customized interactive process for clients and suppliers.CS4. Building agricultural resilience in Nigeria through index insurance and scaling out of climate smart agriculture J. Hansen 9 , J. Hellin 10 , D. Araba 11Well-designed and agricultural insurance can contribute directly to climate resilience. It can also mitigate risk that often acts as a barrier to farmer adoption of climate-smart technologies. The Nigerian government recognizes climate-related risk as a major challenge to the success of its policythe Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA)to transform its agricultural sector, which accounts for more than 40% of its GDP and 70% of its workforce. In 2012, torrential rains in Southwestern Nigeria caused rice farmers to lose crops to floods. In 2013, maize farmers in the north were hit by drought that halved their expected yields. These climate-related shocks can undermine development gains by destroying rural infrastructure and eroding farmers' productive assets. Even in climaticallyfavourable years, climate risk is one of the main reasons why farmers do not invest in their farms, have limited access to credit, and remain trapped in low income and low productivity farming.In 2012, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) developed a National Agricultural Resilience Framework (NARF) to ensure that Nigeria's agricultural sector is able to cope with the shocks and stresses of a changing climate (Adegoke et al., 2014). NARF calls for resilience, low carbon development, low environmental impact, blue and green growthall three pillars of CSA -to be mainstreamed into Nigeria's agricultural transformation process. At Climate Week in New York (September 2014) FMARD announced ambitious plans for covering all of its 14.5 million smallholder farmers with an inclusive and diverse agricultural insurance system. The insurance would build on the existing Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) platform for distributing subsidized inputs (fertilizers, seed) to farmers. FMARD's future plans focus on index-based insurance, in which pay-outs are based on an objectively measured index that is correlated with a target loss rather than the farmers' actual loss. Index-based insurance can overcome some of the obstacles to insuring smallholder farmers at a significant scale: high transaction costs of verifying loss claims, and related problems of adverse selection and moral hazard.The driving force behind the effort is the Federal Government, which invited CCAFS to develop a roadmap for achieving its ambitious insurance goals; and to work with a core set of partners on an 51 initial pilot implementation phase. The theory of change in Nigeria is based on the nature of this partnership, and depends on several assumptions: CCAFS role in drafting a roadmap for scaling up insurance will provide a sound strategy that addresses the key requirements for index-based agricultural insurance to be effective and economically viable at scale.  Linking scaling of insurance with scaling-out of climate-adapted maize and rice germplasm will strengthen uptake of both.  The credibility of CCAFS as an independent global research organization will foster adoption, by the new administration, of an insurance goal and strategy initiated under a previous Minister prior to the national election early in 2015.  CCAFS and partners can mobilize financial resources and partnerships for successful implementation of a first-year pilot that will provide sufficient evidence and guidance for the next phase of expansion.  CCAFS-supported analysis and pilot implementation will find solutions for technical requirements, identify viable business models, and provide sufficient insights and evidence to support continued development of agricultural insurance towards FMARD's goal.At the request of FMARD, CCAFS is leading the development of a roadmap for scaling up insurance, and providing technical support to strengthen the initial implementation of index-based insurance. The relationship between FMARD and CCAFS began with CCAFS' contribution to NARF. Subsequent informal interactions during and after Climate Week in New York in September 2014 led to knowledge-sharing workshops in London (January 2015) and subsequently in Zurich (May 2015). CCAFS organized the workshops (see below). CCAFS is taking the lead in developing a roadmap for expanding index insurance in Nigeria. The roadmap will be used a brief for the new Minister of Agriculture and also will form a chapter in a revised NARF.CCAFS has also been instrumental in connecting the index insurance plans to climate-smart technologies such as improved stress-tolerant seed. CCAFS has brought in three key agricultural research organizations. Building on their on-going Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa project (DTMA), CIMMYT and IITA will provide technical guidance to FMARD and the seed sector on supplying the most appropriate drought-tolerant maize varieties, as well as providing technical support for analysing and mapping risks to maize production. Meanwhile AfricaRice will contribute through its RiceAdvice site-specific management advisory tool, the new rice varieties NERICA and ARICA, and technical support for analysing drought risks in rice-growing environments.FMARD has ambitious plans to cover all of its 14.5 million smallholder farmers with an inclusive, innovative and diverse agricultural insurance system. FMARD together with CCAFS and other partners worked together from January to July 2015 on initial plans to scale out index insurance bundled with climate-adapted maize and rice germplasm. A proposed 18-month pilot is seen as the beginning of a phased expansion of index insurance. A costed concept note has been developed for an 18-month pilot, followed by further scaling out. 2015-2016 dry season: two Local Government Administrations offering an area-yield index and weather index-based insurance to 10,000 farmers each with a focus on maize and/or rice  2016 main season: five states, target 350,000 farmers overall; with a possible broader focus of crops  The targets FMARD and CCAFS envision for scaling up insurance in subsequent years are:  2017: 800,000 farmers across 10 states, introduction of additional priority crops  2018: 3 million farmers, including nationwide coverage of maize and rice;  2019: full nationwide coverage of 14.5 million farmers participating in the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) (see below).The cost of the 18-month pilot is USD 1.8 million. This covers only the pilot phase (18 months' duration). The proposed budget for the pilot phase is based on experiences in implementing index insurance pilots in East Africa. The full cost of extending index insurance to the 14.5 million farmers linked to GES is uncertain but FMARD and CCAFS are developing business models for expanding the coverage of index insurance.Challenge 1 -establishing a robust partnership of public-and private-sector actors  The writing of a two-page policy brief on the index insurance initiative for the incoming minister and an index insurance roadmap that will be included in the next version of the NARF;  The development a concept note for implementing an index insurance pilot starting in the dry season late 2015 (if feasible), covering maize and rice value chains in two states. The pilot will take advantage of the infrastructure provided through the GES.Challenge 2 -Access to high quality credible and unbiased weather dataThe relationship between crop yields and weather observations weakens, and therefore basis risk increases, with increasing distance. Early pilots only offered index insurance to farmers within a given distance from a long-term weather station. There is, hence, a need to strengthen weather-observing infrastructure to enable scaling up weather index insurance. CCAFS is drawing on satellite-based estimates of rainfall and other weather data that offers a potential alternative to sparse ground-based observations.Satellite rainfall estimates, which now go back over 30 years, offer complete coverage in time and space. An effort by the IRI in partnership with CCAFS, WMO, USAID, UNDP, University of Reading and others, known as ENACTS (Enhancing National Climate Services), works with African national meteorological services (NMS) to produce reliable climate data and information products.Combining data from the national observation network, with satellite (or reanalysis in the case of temperature) data, produces spatially and temporally complete historic time series at a high spatial and temporal resolution.There are many different approaches to designing and implementing index insurance not least whether it is a weather-based index or one based on area yield. Nigeria can learn from past and existing index insurance schemes worldwide that CCAFS has analysed and documented (Greatrex et al. 2015).FMARD and CCAFS are drawing on the expertise of PulaAdvisors, a consultancy company whose staff were intricately involved in the design and implementation of one of the most successful index insurance initiatives to date: the Climate Risk Enterprise (ACRE) (formerly known as Kilimo Salama that has reached 200,000 farmers in Kenya and Rwanda. The pilot scheme proposes to test both weather-based and area yield index insurance and will also draw on CCAFS' experience of working with farmers so that they understand how index insurance works especially basis risk. Furthermore, during the pilot stage, viable business models for scaling out index insurance will be explored taking into account the possible end to premium subsidies.One of the keys to success in Nigeria has been both FMARD and CCAFS recognizing the unique opportunity that exists for scaling out climate smart agriculture. This facilitated the establishment of a robust partnership of public-and private sector actors (Challenge 1). Agricultural insurance was introduced to Nigeria in 1987 through the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS). The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) was established in 1993 as a public-sector corporation to administer NAIS. Plans to expand agricultural insurance in Nigeria are linked to several new initiatives under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and the agricultural insurance initiative is one of the pillars of the NARF (Adegoke et al., 2014).CCAFS has considerable experience of the opportunities and challenges of implementing index insurance. It has been able to draw on this experience to map out how to overcome, amongst others, the data challenges (Challenge 2) and the most appropriate business model to pursue (Challenge 3) along with which crops to bundle with the crop insurance. With more than 5.56 million ha of land planted to maize in 2013 (or about 16% of all of Africa's maize area combined), The national program in Nigeria, in close collaboration with DTMA, has released a total of 22 drought tolerant maize varieties between 2007 and 2013. CCAFS is particularly interested in the role insurance plays play in improving accessibility of climate-smart production technologies, especially drought-tolerant maize varieties.The example of index insurance in Nigeria was made possible by the fortuitous coming together of the policy priorities of the Nigerian Government and the objectives of CCAFS. The Nigerian example epitomizes the link between research and policy promoted by the DFID-supported Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) Programme at the Overseas Development Institute (Court et al., 2005).Transaction costs -Institutions already exist in Nigeria to reduce transaction costs, not least the GES. The GES was launched in 2012 to revamp the Federal and state fertilizer and seed subsidy, transferring what was largely a paper process to a mobile enabled platform. The result is a mobile platform (the e-wallet) that in 2014 allowed 14.5 million farmers to access seeds and fertilizers in a transparent and efficient way. The demographic reach of the GES is unique, as it has managed to target young farmers. The GES also squarely targets those at the bottom of the pyramid, with 50% of GES applicants having only completed primary or no formal education at all.The Nigerian Government plans to develop and deploy index insurance, via the e-wallet, to all farmers that are entitled to subsidized input under the GES scheme. This system will facilitate insurance providers' access to all farmers on the GES platform, and encourage competition for clients. It will also allow insurance companies to target specific points along the value chain, specific crops, and offer cover for specific risks. In addition, suitable climate-adapted maize and rice varieties have been developed for different agro-ecological zones in Nigeria and there is a dynamic private seed sector that is in a position to produce sufficient quantities of these varieties.Farmers' risk management strategies -Index insurance differs from traditional indemnity insurance (such as the current GES scheme) where pay-outs are based on measured loss for a specific client. High transaction costs of verifying loss claims, and related problems of adverse selection and moral hazard, have made traditional loss-based insurance difficult to implement at scale. Instead, in index insurance, farmers purchase coverage based on an index that is correlated with crop losses. Indices include the amount of rain during a certain window of time (weather based indices) or average yield losses over a larger region (area yield indices). Pay-outs are then triggered when this index falls above or below a pre-specified threshold. Index-based insurance can overcome some of the obstacles to insuring smallholder farmers at a significant scale. Index insurance is a tool that enables smallholder farmers to better manage climate risk and to invest in farm inputs knowing that the insurance will pay out in the event of a climate shock. Furthermore, the use of the e-wallet means that pay-outs can be made more rapidly. If farmers have insurance cover, credit providers are more disposed to lend to farmers, and farmers are more inclined to take out credit and invest it in farm productivity.Political, institutional and economic barriersthese barriers had been largely overcome by the explicit commitment of the Nigerian Federal Government to scaling out index insurance in Nigeria. FMARD is leading the implementation of the aforementioned pilot schemes and has proposed a steering committee of the following key actors: CCAFS and its partners (including CIMMYT, IITA, AfricaRice, IRI), supporting understanding and analysis of agro-climatic risks, identification of appropriate seeds and input packages, understanding of interactions of insurance and adoption of improved technologies, and contributing to evaluation;R. Zougmoré 12 , O. Ndiaye 13Senegal, with 90% rain-fed agriculture, is subject to rainfall variability, especially in the northern region where crops are particularly prone to the effects of erratic rainfall and long drought (Khouma et al., 2013). These are becoming more frequent with climate change, therefore may lead to frequent crops failures during the only short rainy season per year. Indeed, extreme climate events can undermine agriculture and rural development. Even in years when extreme events do not occur, the uncertainty that results from climate-related risk is an impediment to sustainable intensification of agriculture and adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) production practices. In an era of more frequent and more extreme weather events and climate shocks, enhanced early warning systems provide a key opportunity to curb erosion of development progress in rural sectors. Allowing farmers to base farm management decision-making through tailored and salient climate information along the cropping cycle may help them reduce climatic risk and avoid regular food insecurity. With CCAFS support, vital downscaled seasonal rainfall and long term weather forecasts are reaching around three million people across Senegal, helping smallholder farmers to make better-informed decisions about agricultural management in a changing climate. By doing so, the provided climate information services (CIS) allowed farmers to improve their adaptive capacity and increase farm productivity. In addition, an institutional behavioural change has been operated by the Senegalese Ministry of agriculture who now consider CIS as an agricultural input for their yearly agriculture action plan development and implementation.CCAFS scientists worked with the national meteorological agency, Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie (ANACIM), to develop downscaled seasonal rainfall forecasts, and to raise capacity of partners to do longer-term analysis and provide more actionable information for farmers. The forecast information includes the total rainfall, the onset and end of the rainy season, plus a 10-day forecast across the rainy season. The information is conveyed to farmers as agrometeorological advisories package that are tailored to meet the local needs expressed by farmers themselves through discussion groups. While this approach has been piloted in the Kaffrine region since 2011, the geographical scope has now been widened through a partnership with the Union des Radios Associatives et Communautaires du Sénégal (URACS), an association of 82 community-based radio stations promoting economic development through communication and local information exchange (http://uracsenegal.org/). The union spans across all of Senegalese 14 administrative regions and operates in all local languages, giving it significant adoption potential by local farmers to transform their lives through reliable information. Following a training of the 82 radio journalists on the jargon of climate and on the understanding of the seasonal forecast, climate information services across the rainy season are now transmitted as special radio programs in the 14 administrative regions of Senegal. The interactive nature of the radio program allows listeners to revert with their feedback including additional information, views, and requests of clarification. This scaling up of CIS has been possible thanks to the partnership between CCAFS, ANACIM and URACS with each stakeholder playing a specific enabling and complementary role. The following three challenges are considered as of major consideration for a successful scaling up of CIS and thus need to be addressed:Gaps in long-term series of climate data for all sub-national level administrative zones to allow ANACIM design the downscaled seasonal rainfall forecast information.This coupled with the limited skill and performance of climate models simulation from one place to another: the number and quality of weather stations in many African countries has been declining and has contributed to challenges in accessing relevant climate data. The available stations are often unevenly distributed with most of the stations located along major roads or big agglomeration or cities. This imposes severe limitations to the availability of climate information and services to rural communities where these services are often needed the most. Where observations are taken, they suffer from gaps and poor quality and are often unavailable beyond the respective national meteorological services (Ali et al., 2014).In order to facing the issue of lack of data, CCAFS is supporting the development through ENACTS model (Enhancing National Climate Services), of satellite high-resolution gridded data in West Africa. Implementing the ENACTS model or any similar approach could help complement the existing historical climate database of ANACIM. The ENACTS model for instance opens a lot of possibilities for developing historical and seasonal forecast products that are relevant to agricultural decision-making, with complete spatial coverage. As an example, in West Africa, AGRHYMET in collaboration with IRI developed a Climate Forecast Map Room that translates the PRESAO seasonal forecasts to different values that can easily be understood by users. It presents the forecasts in the context of historical rainfall data and ENSO events. This information can be analyzed and extracted at national or sub-national levels. Extracting and presenting information at any administrative level enables focusing on specific areas of interest.A key inhibiting factor is the lack of sufficient expertise within ANACIM to take up this database development and its use to generating CIS products. It is therefore of foremost importance that human expertise of ANACIM be substantially increased and trained to make effective use of generated climate dataset. With the pilot of Kaffrine on the communication of CIS to farmers, a new generation of \"meteo-farmers\" is now born as these sorts of lead farmers are recognized by their communities as providers of weather information through mobile phones. The \"meteo-farmers\" are also able to communicate the rainfall data from their region to ANACIM, therefore contributing to improve the historical rainfall database. This growing awareness of rural communities about the usefulness of CIS and the aggressive request for the seasonal forecast information before the onset of the rainy season, it is likely that community-based organizations can now bring the need for accurate climate data and thus, of automated met equipment for instance, to the political level; therefore could change the game that will lead to improved climate databases that allow generating more reliable downscaled seasonal forecast information for their respective regions.Insufficient coverage of the country with local multidisciplinary working groups (GTPs), which constitute the institutional bodies translating the climate information into agro-advisories for farmers and disseminating the information through various channels.Well-structured and operational farmers organizations that are able to take over the role played by the GTPs could be an alternative solution. For instance, the fact that URAPD (L'Union Régionale des Associations Paysannes de Diourbel) was the far dominating farmers' entity in Bambey with leaders well-identified and well-connected down to families was conducive to the successful scaling up implementation in this region. This explains the need for diversified types of relays for CIS dissemination, including private sector, which, with capacity strengthening, could be motivated to engage in the translation of the climate information into agro-advisories that are tailored to their specific needs. Given the central role played by the local GTPs and their pluri-disciplinary nature, their leaders, notably the prefect or the mayor, are key to emulating and fostering timely effective holding of the regular decadal meetings for the development and dissemination of the agro-advisories.The leaders should make sure that all development sectors are represented in the local GTP (Weather, Food Security, Hydrology, Agriculture, Disaster risk, CSOs, media, farmer organizations, etc.). The active involvement of the local media (press, radio) and the private sector are particularly instrumental to the widespread right away dissemination of the context-specific agro-advisories for each zone.Linked to that is the need for operational research and extension services across the country that are working with farmers to developing and/or identifying CSA technologies and practices that are applicable to the decision made from the received CIS.This also poses the need for an efficient communication between ANACIM and the local GTPs and rural radios to ensure timely updates on CIS and their understanding by the information relay entities (e.g. nowcasting). Users of EWS will lose faith in the information provided if uncertainty is not effectively communicated. For information at a long lead-time, e.g., near the start of the growing season, uncertainty of early warning information should be factored into communication, in probabilistic terms. Also, developing additional information products such as the start of the growing season, rainfall intensity and frequency, drought index, maps of drought risks, maps of flood risks, plant water requirements, pasture conditions, climate and health Map Rooms, etc. are very crucial to engaging the diversity of users.Lack of financial resources to operationalize training plans, capacity building of GTPs and URACS journalists, communication among actors, etc.Providing information at longer lead times would expand the range of decisions that early warning systems could inform. However, enabling decision-makers operating at local to sub-national levels, to benefit from early warning information requires investment in training and communication, in addition to implications to system design. ANACIM organizes training sessions for all local relay bodies to understand the climate jargon and the rainfall seasonal forecast information. This requires financial resources that more often the government is not able to plan or allocate for. The need of funding becomes even more urgent given the short time between the seasonal forecast design (in May) and the commencement of the rainy season (June), rendering these training sessions more intensive in order to be able to cover the whole country. Now that the CIS is considered by the government as an agricultural input that must be factored into the yearly agricultural action plan, one may expect that consequent public funds be formally planned to cover some of the costs for capacity building. This could be also made possible through the national science-policy dialogue platform on climate change, agriculture and food security facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment. The platform allows regular dialogues and knowledge exchange among key national players on climate change, therefore constitutes a powerful sensitization instrument to accelerate informed decision making, including national budget planning for rural development. One additional effective way to scale up is certainly through the major agricultural development programs where a better enabling environment for the scaling up is available. This has been for instance the case with the PAFA program, a value chain project funded through IFAD and covering 4 administrative regions.The most important challenge along the scaling up process is the production of enough accurate climate information. Confidence in early warning systems (EWS) is influenced by the quality of data.Quality is often compromised because EWS is based on multiple streams of information. Investments in quality and streamlining help increase confidence. In the case of meteorological data, the ENACTS product helps create high spatial and temporal resolution rainfall and temperature data through blending of observations and satellite data. This complements and fills the gaps in the ground historical climate database as with ENACTS: (1) climate data are available for each 10km by 10km grid in West Africa, (2) Data are available online and any user can therefore access them at any time,(3) Usage of data and products from ENACTS is easy provided weather services and users are trained.The local GTPs are in principle setup in each district through ANACIM. However, the latter doesn't have the required funds to cover their operational costs (meetings, transport, etc.) rendering it difficult to cover the whole country with such an important entity in the scaling up process. Using contextspecific partnerships to play the role of GTPs appears relevant as this was demonstrated in the case of Bambey district by the existence of a powerful farmers' organization. In these kinds of public-private partnerships, the added value is that the private sector, because of its interest in the produced CIS, will also support the scaling up process. And as members of the local GTPs where they contribute to the development of the agro-advisories, the vast network of rural radios can easily understand the messages to be largely disseminated through their radio broadcast programs.Our proposed approach of public-private partnership to develop more local GTPs across the country will allow rationalization of the financial resources needed to capacitate all actors involved in the scaling up process including ANACIM, the local GTPs, and the 82 rural radios of URACS. In Louga for instance where a bank (Crédit Mutuel du Sénégal) which was part of the scaling up process led by ANACIM, strongly expressed the willingness to base its loans on the forecast. The bank was therefore ready to support (financially) the development of the CIS and during 2014, the bank already sponsored the development of the CIS bulletin by the national GTP. This, in addition to the government support through major rural development projects and through dedicated allocation of public funds to strengthen the capacity of key actors (ANACIM, Extension services, URACS, etc.), will sustainably operationalize the scaling up process.D. Jimenez 14 , O.Bonilla 15 , A.Jarvis 16 , A.M.Loboguerrero 17 , J.Tapasco 18When growers are asked why they chose to plant a particular variety or technology in a given season, the majority answer either that it worked well for them the season before, or that a neighbour planted it and it did well for them. In the context of a stable and predictable climate, this is a very robust means of making decisions, with low probability of failure. Unfortunately, climate is not stable or highly predictable, and farmers are faced with a reality that the next cropping season is more likely to be different than the past one. In addition, rural populations are being left behind in the information revolution. New approaches are required to both support farmers' decision making processes and adapt to climate change and ensure that crops maintain high and stable yields despite an increasingly variable climate from year-to-year. Since 2012, a range of national growers associations, and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) signed an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) of Colombia to strengthen the capacity of Colombia's agricultural sector to adapt to climate variability. The project includes varietal evaluation within context of both climate variability and change, seasonal agro-climatic forecasting, and climate sitespecific management systems as a tool to determine the most limiting factors associated with variation in productivity, and therefore to increase productivity. Scientists are responsible for calibrating a range of varieties, generate seasonal agro-climatic forecast, and analyse historical records. Federations are empowered with the tools used by scientists, and at the end of the project they are capable of: (a) selecting, multiplying and spreading the most adapted varieties according to the regions, (b) generating and interpreting seasonal forecasts not only to know the best management options (what, and where to grow) according to biophysical conditions but also the potential yield of the most adapted varieties under specific conditions, and (c) analysing their own information to determine the most limiting factors in the production of their crops in specific regions. implemented in Colombia has the potential in the mid-term of having about 700 000 farmers implementing CSP thanks to the successful program in Colombia which in its second phase involves other national growers associations and therefore thousands of new growers.Currently the project reaches about 500 000 growers through a platform for information management and knowledge called Agronet http://www.agronet.gov.co/. The strategy to reach farmers across Colombia also includes the release of agro-climatic newsletters by MADR. The newsletter has been created under the premise of providing greater information producers recommendations to mitigate effects of climate events and report data on the evolution of the same. Both, Agronet and the newsletter are unique efforts in Colombia, that as far as the author of this case study knows, join not only MADR, CCAFS and a wide range of national growers associations, but also the National Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) which is the national meteorology office, and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) such as the Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (CORPOICA). The newsletter is released in a monthly basis. Approximately the costs of scaling up such initiative is about 5 000 000 USD/year/5 federations.To gain credibility with national farmers' organizations: Lack of understanding of the tools proposed.Other issues to be considered in terms of the particular context of this case study include: The general approach will succeed as long as in the country exists well organized crop sectors and therefore growers understand the benefits of being part of an association. As far as funding is concerned, as it has been a project funded by the Colombian government for periods no longer than 2 years, it leads to two major problems: (i) the difficulty to accomplish 100 % of outcomes and impacts expected, and (ii) the pressure on scientists to obtain results rapidly, that often compromise the academic results and high science quality. In the particular context of the case study discussed here a compromise between rapid results and high quality science should be found. Another issue that needs to be taking into consideration is that each farmer association and each region is different to others, thus strategies should be thought as context-specific.Two thousand farmers are currently implementing CSP in Colombia, and 500 000 have been reached through Agronet and agro-climatic newsletter, both strategies from de MADR in Colombia working together with a range of other institutions and meant to provide farmers with relevant information including strategies of adaptation to climate change. Partnership between government, grower's organizations, and research institutions has been a key factor to succeed with the project. Tics have a huge potential not only as tools to reach unprecedented number of farmers, but also as a mechanisms to collect information and monitor the impacts of the project. Agro-climatic newsletter seems to be a promising channel to provide producers with information on how to mitigate effects of climate variability and report data on the evolution of climate. Several challenges have been identified: (a) to gain credibility with national farmers' organizations, (b) national farmers' organizations do not necessarily know the different situations that take place in all the producing regions and with the total of farmers, (c) the language used in agro-climatic newsletters and the limited access to internet seem to be the relevant to reach more farmers. The agreement with the MADR has demonstrated that strategies and results are context-specific and each region and association needs to be treated differently. The bet in this case study lies in working closely with government and farmer associations to facilitate the influence on policies. However, the fact of producing results relevant to such stakeholders does not ensure that they will be taken as input for national policies, there is a still a long way to go to fulfil such task. A strategy is required to better communicate the benefits of the research to decision makers and have better access to policy makers.P. Dorward 19 , G. Clarkson 20Aimed at the region's rapidly growing rural audience, Shamba Shape-Up (SSU) is an edutainment TV series, which aims to give smallholder farmers tools and information to improve productivity and income on their farms. The core of the series tackles issues surrounding livestock, poultry, crops, soil fertility and the home using experts from each sector. It covers a wide range of existing innovations and technologies. The show includes a range of ecological zones and has mainly focused on Kenya with some activity in Tanzania and Uganda. SSU illustrates the techniques for each location and crop/livestock type so that the audience can easily understand and adopt the practice. CCAFS in the past has supported SSU in explicitly focusing on information and tools related to climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies.SSU has a broader remit than CSA and includes a wide range of practices. Within these it has focused on several CSA practices including agroforestry, better livestock management, water harvesting, soil conservation, terracing, efficient use of fertilizers and manure, introduction of crop-and livestock breeding for more productive varieties, and pest-and disease management.SSU uses a form of reality TV (the makeover) with smallholder farmers in Kenya, coined as edutainment. It is a departure from conventional approaches using TV. Instead SSU incorporates key ideas from mass media theory, good practice in extension and advisory services and innovation systems frameworks. Rather than broadcasting of information seeking simply to educate or share knowledge (sometimes accompanied by interactive 'phone in' format that is now common in farm radio), it focuses on individual farmers and brings specialists (e.g. research experts) to a farm household. The audience then watches the 'reality' of the interaction as the expert engages with the farmer and seeks to help address the issues raised. The program is designed and presented in a way to lead viewers to identify and empathize strongly with the 'host' farmers and want to see how they will find a positive outcome. The emotions of the viewer are engaged and as with all good edutainment it affects not just individual viewers but stimulates interest and discussion between them.Beyond the TV show itself, viewers can engage with SSU in other wayse.g. via sms or Facebook, where viewers can ask for and will receive additional information about the technologies and practices presented in a specific episode. This information is in the form of leaflets.Scale is achieved through the TV program being broadcast weekly in two different languages, English and Kiswahili (on the Citizen Channel in Kenya). The series has interactive support services to increase the uptake of information -viewers can SMS to be sent a free information leaflet or link up with experts, and follow updates and video clips online and on mobiles. Mediae has recently pilot launched a call centre and subscription SMS service to cater for the more mobile savvy viewers.SSU has an estimated audience of 5 million in its first season, rising to over 10 million people (18+) by the end of the fifth series in East Africa (approximately 5 million in Kenya watch SSU at least once a month). As per SSU's estimate, if even just 10% of viewers of series one adopt new practices as a result of watching the show, that's 1 million farmers who's livelihoods have become more informed and productive. In Kenya, SSU is watched by an estimated 12.6% of households (including those without TV). Series 4 received nearly 32,000 sms from March to November.Report for AECF led by the University of Reading estimated that over 428,000 households (14.7%) in rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya targeted by SSU had benefited (those households specifically reporting that they had made changes to their maize or dairy practices as a result of SSU OR who reported that they had benefited from SSU through increased profit or improved household food situation). Households reported making changes in their farming as a result of SSU are estimated at over 218,000 for maize and over 65,000 for dairyfrom these two enterprises the statistically estimated net economic impact in 25 Kenyan counties was over 24 million USD, mostly from dairy.TV series production: each segment/story costs app. 10,000 USD; each episode consists of around 5 segments/stories, making the total cost: 50,000 USD/episode. Series 4, for example had 26 Episodes in total: 50,000 x 26 = 1,300,000 USD.There are a wide range of agricultural innovations from different sources (including government research) that are commonly known but which have had limited uptake by smallholder farmers. Government extension faces resource constraints, which limits operation, coverage, and the proportion of farmers reached directly is small. Resource constraints also affect staff training and capacity. NGOs have limited reach and will often work through already stretched government services.Strategy to overcome these challenges: Use of television and ICT to reach large numbers of farmers and related stakeholders. SSU raises awareness of and provides 'training' in selected key innovations / practices that have been proven to work. The novel use of edutainment engages viewers with the host farmers i.e. they can strongly identify with hosts and their situations and want to see what happens when innovations are tried (reality TV format). Innovations are demonstrated in ways that show that they are achievable and beneficial. SSU deliberately seeks to stimulate conversation and discussion about farming and the innovations covered amongst and between farmers and other stakeholders (e.g. extension providers, input suppliers).Limited willingness and ability by farmers and others to invest in smallholder agriculture. Farming is not widely seen as career or as a lucrative business. People who have resources are not inclined to invest in agriculture and a large proportion of small scale farmers lack access to funds Strategy to overcome these challenges: Edutainment engages with viewers and enables them to see the potential of agriculture and view it in a positive light. Some innovations / practices are relatively low cost and relatively easy to implement.Key inhibiting factors for scaling up: Access to TV and to electricity. Cost of airing the program at peak viewing times (evenings are when farming families will be at home and are the most expensive slots). Access to resources and funding remain a constraint in rural areas and particularly for the poorest; thus actual changes in farmers practices will depend on other factors beyond SSUpossibly the poorest are not reached through this program, more targeted towards small-scale farmers who have resources to play with and can make a certain level of investments in their shamba.Key enabling factors for scaling up: Shamba Shape Up has been widely watched in urban areas where it has engaged the interest of a range of people including those with relatives farming in rural areas, people who still own and farm land remotely (i.e. work in towns and send back instructions and funds to farm workers), individuals looking for business opportunities. These urban viewers regularly share ideas from the program and send funds for implementation to farms in rural areas. Mobile phones facilitate this.Key game changers: People feel motivated and interested in agriculture and the innovationssufficiently to act to invest and to take up the innovations. Agriculture becomes more appealing and a subject of conversation in homes, work places and social settings.SSU was not developed for CSA specifically but there are very useful lessons that can be drawn regarding scaling up and out in general. Technologies and practices covered in SSU can be presented in a way to highlight their climate smart aspects and encourage people to think about climate change and the implications for their farming. SSU would thus be an excellent vehicle to promote CSA further, IF the short-term economic value can be demonstrated since that is what people are interested in. The practices are geared towards specific agro-ecological zones and contexts.What is more difficult to integrate are aspects of CSA that do not specifically link to household farms e.g., collective action, institutional barriers, etc.J. Vervoort 21 , R. Peou 22 , M. Veeger 23There is an urgent need for policies and investment strategies for agriculture and socio-economic development in the world's vulnerable regions to engage more effectively with climate change as it interacts with socio-economic drivers to impact poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation (Vermeulen). Integrated plans are needed that are robust and flexible enough to be feasible under a wide range of challenging future conditions.Future scenarios -'what if' narratives about the future, told through words, numbers, visuals and other means-can be used to explore the interactions between multiple drivers of change (Kok, 2007). But scenarios offer only contextsto be effective, they should be used to test and develop plans and strategies. CCAFS has developed regional scenarios on climate impacts, food security, environments and socio-economic development for six global regions: East and West Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Andes and Central America. The main focus, and innovation, of the CCAFS scenarios project is the use of the regional scenarios for policy formulation in a wide range of national and regional case studies. This allows for a combination of regional scenarios which offer multidimensional contextual analyses on the one hand, and multiple, concrete and focused policy applications on the other (Vervoort et al. 2014). To understand the potential and challenges for upscaling involved in this approach, we present one such case studythe development of scenarios for Southeast Asia and the subsequent use of these scenarios for the formulation of the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)'s Climate Change Priorities Action Plan (CCPAP, US$147 million).By using climate/socio-economic scenarios to test and develop national and regional policies and investments, the project aims to create enabling policy environments for building resilience to climate change and sustainably improving agricultural productivity and incomes. Whether the focus is more on development, resilience or mitigation depends on the nature of the policy for which the scenarios are usedin the Cambodia case, the main purpose of the policy is to enhance the resilience of the agricultural sector and farmers' livelihoods. Because of a focus on national policy, this type of process has the potential to benefit the entire population in the countries where it is usedover 15 million people in Cambodia, of which over 12 million live in rural areas (WorldBank 2015).21 Scenarios Officer, Environmental Change Institute -Oxford University, joost.vervoort@eci.ox.ac.uk 22 Southeast Asia Regional Scenarios Coordinator, International Rice Research Instittute (IRRI), rathana.pvdh@gmail.com, 23 Regional Scenarios Coordinator Latin America, Univerity for International Cooperation (UCI), mveeger@uci.ac.crThe theory of change informing the CCAFS scenario-guided policy formulation work is as follows:When policies and plans are tested and developed against multiple scenarios that have stakeholder ownership and legitimacy as well as scientific credibility and an appropriate scope, there is a high likelihood that each scenario offers relevant challenges and opportunities which a plan or policy needs to deal with to be feasible in that future. Testing and developing policies against a range of scenarios increases the likelihood that these policies will achieve their aims under uncertain climate and socioeconomic conditions. This is especially true when the scenarios are used to ask challenging questions about policy implementation; and when the scenario-guided policy development process is guided from initiation to policy finalization, and beyond, for instance into the formulation of sub-national implementation plans. Scenario-guided policy processes also allow for social inclusion and the contribution of a diversity of relevant perspectives from different governance levels, enhancing their ability to help vulnerable groups as well as their social acceptability.Socio-economic and climate scenarios were created for a Southeast Asia region encompassing Cambodia, Viet Nam and Lao PDR, together with a range of regional stakeholders, based on an analysis of interacting drivers. The process was co-led by two global partners: the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Environment Program's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. This regional scenario development process formed a starting point for conversations with policy makers about policy processes that would benefit from scenario-guided analysis and development. These scenarios were quantified using two agricultural economic models, IMPACT (Rosegrant andteam, 2012 andGLOBIOM (Valin et al. 2013) and linked to the IPCC's new scenario sets (O'Neill et al. 2014).Cambodia's MAFF was involved in this scenario process and invited the CCAFS scenario project to 1) help them use the scenarios to develop their CCPAP and 2) integrate scenario-guided planning into MAFF processes. The CCAFS regional scenarios coordinator was invited to join the CCPAP development team, which included UNDP (one of the key donors for the plan)'s national climate point. She organized several internal trainings where the scenarios were used to identify priorities for the CCPAP, and the familiarity of the policy writing team with scenario methods was enhanced. As a result, the draft of the CCPAP included recommendations from the scenarios, key concepts such as Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and food systems, but also a section on 'integrative activities' that includes scenario-guided planning and land use mapping methods. This draft as well as CCAFS scenarios and modelling outputs and methods, plus CCAFS CSA tools and research were subsequently presented and approved at a dialogue session with 100 national experts and representatives of donor organizations, shortly after which the final version of the CCPAP was signed.Next, CCAFS was involved in discussions around implementing the training in scenario planning and other integrative activities, as well as general issues of implementation. CCAFS has supported the MAFF in further fundraising related to the CCPAP. Furthermore, in a meeting co-led by CCAFS and UNEP WCMC, the CCPAP was reviewed by potential non-state partners to suggest how they could support the implementation of the plan.In terms of scaling out and up, a number of points are important in this process: The creation of as single set of regional scenarios, to be adapted and used in multiple policy guidance processes, means that it is easy to scale out the process to all countries in the region. And although the CCPAP case was the first be engaged with in Southeast Asia, other cases followed, like CSA investment planning with FAO in Viet Nam, a review of Viet Nam's agricultural development police, and an evaluation of the socio-economic development plan in LAO PDR.  The involvement of global partners FAO and UNEP WCMC means that there is added potential for scaling up. In fact, the UNEP WCMC project coordinator went on to integrate scenario planning as a tool into UNEP's central strategic plan. An important part of the upscaling strategy of the scenarios project is to support the mainstreaming of scenario methods in global partners.  The process can also build on success related to one policy or plan to engage with other policies in the same countryanother form of scaling out.  Building internal strategic planning capacity in the MAFF, both in the CCPAP's development and as an integral part in the plan's agenda, is a form of scaling upmoving skills from the research organization to government, where it can be applied into the future.  Helping to find complementary funds and roles for non-state partners is a further out-scaling element.  Support for sub-national scenario-guided development of implementation plans represents down -and out-scalingtaking the plan from central government to the targeted regions, increasing the involvement of less powerful actors and the likelihood that the plan will benefit Cambodia's population.  Importantly, the scenario-guided policy process is itself a mechanism for scaling up other CCAFS research, as evidenced by the opportunities to include CSA approaches in policy.  The costs of the basic process for the research organization were around 100K USD for personnel and some co-funding of the primary workshop. Partners provided significant additional process funding; and the up-scaling and sub-national down/out-scaling of scenario methods is budgeted at 8 million USD in the CCPAP. This means that the majority of funds needed for the process is leveraged with partners.The three main challenges for scaling up and out scenario-guided policy formulation have been identified as follows:Challenge 1: Leveraging the potential of scenario-guided policy formulation as an upscaling mechanism for other research.While scenario-guided policy formulation has proven effective as a standalone method for policy guidance, there is potential for increasing its use in the linking of research, and research planning, conducted at lower levels into policy. The CCPAP already demonstrates this -CCAFS research was presented and linked to the CCPAP in its development. But further integration could be possible. An example is a process conducted by the scenarios project in Burkina Faso where the CGIAR research agenda for the country is developed together, theme by theme, with the National Plan for the development of the Rural Sector, and reviewed together using tailored scenarios. The main inhibiting factor is that the timing of research results and planning/agenda setting does not always coincide with policy cycles. Game-changers are individuals in governments as well as in research organizations who are willing to combine planning efforts.Challenge 2: Developing capacity in scenario-guided planning with governments and partner organizations is time-intensiveThe basic concept of using multiple scenarios for planning is simple, and the approach, though often representing an unfamiliar way of thinking, can be highly accessible to participants when facilitated well. However, training individuals in partner organizations and in governments to run high-quality scenario processes is more difficult and requires a number of skills, including critical systems thinking (Midgley, 2000), multi-dimensional knowledge of the subject matter, specific facilitation skills and the ability to convene the appropriate groups of stakeholders and take them through an intense scenario development and use process.In addition, scenario planning, with its focus on engaging with uncertainty and complexity, goes against forecasting-style approaches that seek to limit or partly ignore/discount uncertainty (Ramírez and Selin 2014). Because it offers a systems approach, it also attempts to move beyond policy and research silos. These approaches are often still dominant among governments and some partners and substantial shifts in thinking are required.This means that training individuals in partner organizations and governments is time-intensive; a well-rounded set of scenario skills usually comes only by having gone through and co-facilitated a number of such processes.To tackle this challenge, training programs in the scenarios project aim to recreate true process conditions as faithfully as possible. This includes learning methods by immediately having to facilitate them and role-playing difficult characters that have to be managed. Another approach is that in each scenario process, those who are seeking training in scenario facilitation are immediately involved in facilitation with strong guidance from more experienced process leaders. On-going mentoring schemes with staff in governments and partner organizations can also be part of the upscaling approach. Game-changers are individuals in governments or partner organizations who have or discover a particular aptitude to scenarios and systems thinking and are able to communicate the principles and practice well to others.Challenge 3: Maintaining continuity in processes when mobility of government/partner personnel is high.Scenario-guided policy formulation is a highly experiential process built on intense collaboration and relationships with policy makers, and this is especially the case when a strong focus is placed on enhancing strategic planning capacity. Because scenario-guided planning is a new way of approaching policies for most members of government, by far the best way to understand it is by going through such a process. However, individuals in governments are highly mobile, and often move away to other sectors or other government departments.To deal with this challenge, the research team has to stay in close contact with multiple members of a ministry or department, be aware of personnel changes, and quickly introduce new individuals into the approach and the results generated with their predecessors. This is particularly important when personnel changes happen in the middle of a policy formulation cycle. A complementary strategy is to capture the process in as much detail and as experientially engaging as possible, notably through video and visualizations. Nonetheless, the fact that these new individuals cannot fully revisit the preceding process will be a limiting factor. Game changers can be those in the research organization tasked with maintaining partner relationships who quickly identify personnel changes; and potentially relationships with those involved in attracting new individuals to a given position, to try to ensure that systems thinking and scenario skills are considered in the hiring process.Additional challenges are: Scenario-guided policy formulation processes are time-intensive, requiring frequent collaboration with policy makers over the entire policy development, and beyond, by scenario experts with strong regional networksthis limits the number of such processes that can be engaged with unless more personnel is involved.  Policy formulation processes that are strongly built on bottom-up inputs from large groups of community and sub-national representatives are time -and resource-intensive compared to processes that mainly engage national stakeholders or a small set of stakeholders from different levels.  Large-scale on-line engagement with scenarios is challenging, because these processes depend on expert facilitation and the benefits of live interaction with others. Scenario-based games offer a potential solution.The use of scenarios for planning is particularly useful from a scale-sensitive perspective, because scenario methods are scale-independent and can be developed from community to global levels. Scenarios can also connect subject matter and strategies across different levels, integrating scenario elements about household-level adaptation with drivers of global change (Zurek and Henrichs 2007). Scenario methods are also applicable to a wide range of different topic areas, and provide an opportunity for integrative analysis of challenges and strategies. In terms of CSA, they highlight interactions between climate change and other drivers. They allow decision-makers to engage with climate and other uncertainties while empowering them through an explicit focus on what can be done under these different futures.Scenario-guided policy formulation is mainly useful for policy processes that aim at the middle to longer term, typically from around 4-5 years and beyondthough scenarios are used to set a longerterm context for shorter-term policies.Concerning the three highlighted challenges: The combination of scenario methods with other types of research content and processes highlights the fact that scenarios are themselves an up-scaling mechanism. Scenario processes are also strengthened by a combination with other types of research results and methods.  Capacity development with partners and governments is a key mechanism for (further) upscalingthis requires a significant allocation of resources to training and mentoring processes because of the steep learning curve for scenario process organizers and facilitators.  The involved nature of scenario processes makes translation of their benefits to those not involved in the processes a challengenew forms of on-line engagement and participatory game design can be valuable to overcome barrier.High transaction costs involved in reaching individual farmers or creating structures to reach groups of farmers with new CSA technologies or practicesThe challenge here is primarily related to the long process from policy formulation to effective implementation, and therefore mostly related to challenges 2 and 3 (building capacity and maintaining continuity). Scenario processes can be helpful both by ensuring policies are more realistic and concrete; and by guiding national and sub-national implementation plans. Nevertheless, the gap between implementation planning and reaching individual farmers remains.Farmers risk minimization strategies and urgent needs versus high transaction costs and long term impact of implementing CSA practicesThe benefit of engaging directly with policy formulation is that enabling conditions can be created that make it easier for farmers to engage in implementing CSA practices. This relates to scaling challenge 1research and tools for CSA practices can support scenario-guided policy.Political, institutional and economic barriers (getting institutional arrangements, policies, economic incentives right)This is the key challenge that scenario-guided policy formulation seeks to address, and it relates most to challenges 2 and 3 (building capacity and maintaining continuity) in the case. Scenarios can be used to engage with specific policies, but strong internal strategic planning capacity in governments and other organizations is needed to help create change in a wide range of policy and institutional arrangements.Trade  1). The model also put emphasis on the involvement of existing community groups consisting of farmers, village officials, civil society organizations, local government officials, community based organizations (e.g. water user groups, forest user groups, and micro-finance institutions), private sector and researchers from the national agricultural research systems (NARS) in design, implementation and monitoring of CSVs.There is no fixed package of interventions or a onesize-fits-all approach -they differ in content based on the region, its agro-ecological characteristics, level of development, capacity and interest of the farmers and the local governments. CCAFS does a lot of research in terms of understanding through farmer typologies which intervention works where and why. CSVs are currently being piloted in several countries in South Asia, East and West Africa, South-east Asia and Latin America. In South Asia, CSVs are being piloted in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.  To scale-out and up we are following two pronged approach-building evidence for CSA in a participatory manner and developing policies and institutions around these evidences. Since large scale implementation of CSA necessitates involvement of government agencies, we have made a deliberate attempt to understand the decision making process of the policy makers. Policy makers in any country deal with policy and developmental issues typically around administrative units such as states, district and villages and not ecological units such as landscapes. For scaling out with policy makers, we have adopted five pronged strategy: (1) sensitizing senior bureaucracy and political leadership about CSVs, (2) converging various existing government programs those contribute in overcoming risk of climate change, increasing farm incomes, and reducing GHG emission, and packaging to brand CSVs for upscaling, (3) developing new programs on CSVs at sub-national levels (e.g., using National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture in India) for allocating financial resources for upscaling, (4) developing course modules on Climate Smart Agriculture for master trainers, and (5) exploring financing opportunities (other than government) for upscaling CSVs such as through Farmer Producer Organizations, contract farming and cooperatives.High transaction cost: size of landholding is too low in India and Nepal; 85% in India and >90% in Nepal are smallholders (<2 ha land). Their transaction cost in accessing technologies, services, finance and insurance is very high due to small and fragmented land holdings. Transaction costs of financing and insurance institutions are also too high to deal with tiny holdings, credit, and insurance.A.M. Loboguerrero 29 , D.M. Barón 30Assuming that better informed policies in Central American countries that include a CSA approach will contribute to the improvement of smallholder farmers' livelihoods, CCAFS began to interact with relevant regional and national institutions adopting a policy engagement strategy. This strategy was focused on enabling the environment in order to incentivize policy formulators and decision makers to use scientific outputs as inputs when defining governmental actions to alleviate smallholder farmers' needs in the face of climate change and variability.Cases in Honduras and Guatemala will evidence how CCAFS policy engagement strategy has already contributed to make changes within Central American policy formulators who are focused mainly on food security and adaptation, although understanding the consequences of various agricultural activities in terms of greenhouse gas emissions has also been relevant. The strategy started by connecting key institutions in order to identify potential synergies. During this process, the engagement with partners became stronger and credibility of CCAFS potential and strategic capacity was acknowledged each time more among key stakeholders in the region.The policy engagement strategy had two key components: co-creation and leverage. The State of the Art on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security documents made possible to have a strong link with the Ministries because of the involvement and co-creation between them and CCAFS. This scheme was also applied to specific collaborations that were requested by the same Ministries. In these collaborations, the leadership of the processes was taken by them and CCAFS role was to be their technical support. In order to achieve appropriation and ownership, CCAFS made special emphasis on identifying leverage points that were useful for specific tasks of Ministries technical teams, as well as to include topics that were prioritized in the national agenda.In Honduras the engagement began with the elaboration of the State of the Art document which made possible for the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG) to identify national priorities regarding climate change, agriculture and food security, focusing on climate risks management. The identification of priorities was key to articulate not only national institutions but also the international cooperation. Given that Honduran government evidenced CCAFS as a key collaborator, they were interested in taking advantage of its capacity and proposed a collaboration in order to strengthen the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Agricultural Sector. The collaboration with Honduran government went beyond the formulation of the Strategy and continued by helping the government to seek coherence among local policies and the National Strategy through the downscaling of CCAFS Socioeconomic Scenarios.The State of the Art document was also made jointly in Guatemala with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAGA) and, as in the case of Honduras, it made possible to strengthen trust among CCAFS and the Guatemalan government. Since drought events are a priority for MAGA, CCAFS worked jointly with Bioversity and other key partners to support the government to adopt a participatory simulation as an approach for climate disaster preparedness. This approach allowed the government to design a response plan with efficiency and few resources. The adoption of this approach was the result of a significant policy engagement process with high-level staff showing them scientific evidence of damages in relation to climate-induced food security crises and benefits of developing an approach of participatory simulations.The number of potential farmers that could be reached by this policy engagement strategy is around 4.89 million (3.95 million assuming that the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Agricultural Sector in Honduras will affect the total rural population of this country and 0.9 million farmers assuming that the response plan implemented in Guatemala will have a positive impact on all farmers affected by severe draughts in this country).The total resources invested in this policy engagement process were close to US$0.68 million.Continuous changes of government staff in Honduras.The co-elaboration between CCAFS and SAG of the State of the Art document was key to overcome this challenge. The document was elaborated jointly with José Luis Moncada, who was the Climate Change Unit Coordinator in SAG in 2013 and early 2014. Given that SAG recognized this document as theirs and it was used to identify priority topics within SAG's national agenda, the incoming staff led by Ivette Velazquez since mid-2014, took over the portfolio of activities and decided to continue working with CCAFS as one of its' key partners.Even though the new staff had different points of view compared to the previous one, CCAFS' constant engagement with SAG supported by the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC) Executive Secretary made possible the adjustment of the agenda in order to guarantee the continuation of ongoing actions but also the incorporation of activities that responded to SAG's new working plan.Overcoming this challenge was also enabled by the fact that Honduras was classified as the most vulnerable country to climate risks events for the past 20 years according to the Germanwatch 2014 report (Kreft & Eckstein, 2013). Also, the Climate Change Committee in Honduras, which is an interinstitutional platform where climate change related topics are discussed and articulated across the government, was key in overcoming this challenge. The Committee was aware of SAG's on-going agenda and informed the new staff of its previous advances. Since the National Adaptation Strategy was elaborated before the change in staff, it was easy for the Committee to keep track and move forward the process with the new staff in order to include the local perspective into the strategy using CCAFS socioeconomic scenarios. However, difference of perceptions and ways to work were inhibiting factors that made difficult overcoming the challenge as the staff was changing.In Moving from a workshop to actual policy influence in Honduras.Through constant interaction between CCAFS and SAG several CCAFS tools were shared. The socioeconomic scenarios methodology generated special interest since SAG was in the process of formulating its National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Agricultural Sector. Therefore, given the trust and knowledge of CCAFS capacities, SAG asked CCAFS to support them by using the socioeconomic scenarios to evaluate their climate change strategy and include the local perspective to make it stronger.The big question was how to move from a workshop where socioeconomic scenarios were created to really influencing policy in Honduras. The strategy was to take advantage of the positive environment in the political arena with respect to climate change and agriculture in the country, to use the successful experience of the previous work on the State of the Art document and to adapt the scenarios methodology to respond to SAG needs in terms of adjusting their National Strategy to a local scale keeping the participatory emphasis which was one of the key aspects that captured SAG's attention in the first place. SAG understood this new methodology as a way to receive feedback from the local perspective but also as a way to get the local representatives involved in the formulation of the National Strategy and make them feel part of the process. The latter helped SAG to apply its Strategy at a local scale avoiding what is very common in this type of processes: having a document elaborated at the national level with deep obstacles to be implemented.The key inhibiting factor throughout this process was the rigidity of some government staff with respect to the way of doing things. The usual mechanism to formulate policies at the national level is within the national institutions without taking into account regions or local levels. It was challenging to make SAG take an alternative path (different to the business as usual model) regarding policy formulation. However, once the workshop was done, the participants understood the importance of involving local actors in the process and continuing asking CCAFS for more support in this matter.This challenge was possible to overcome also due to the quality of the leaders that were involved in SAG within these topics: starting with José Luis Moncada and then Ivette Velazquez who led the process of positioning the topic and CCAFS strategic partnership into the agenda and then Ricardo Peña who, given his position as Planning Director of SAG, led the elaboration of an Agreement to formalize the alliance between CCAFS and SAG.Making Guatemalan politicians believe in science.Drought is one of the extreme climate events that is affecting each time more Central America, particularly the Dry Corridor. However this has not been relevant enough to capture the attention of politicians in order to address those needs using as an input scientific outputs. This was the challenge for CCAFS and its partners including Bioversity and ACF (Action against Hunger).Given that MAGA had already developed protocols to address drought events, the strategy to address this challenge was to engage with policy makers in two directions. First, by framing the scientific evidence attractive enough to capture MAGA's attention. The idea was to develop strong enough arguments in order to convince MAGA that they needed to use the protocols already established and that through a simulation, they could understand the impact of adopting a preventive behavior for the upcoming drought events. The arguments included presenting the reduction of resources invested because of the early response, and the information to design an efficient recovery portfolio of measures after the event. The second part of the strategy was to approach the key staff in the Ministry in order to get the attention of high level key persons, such as the Vice-Minister and by these means, make the simulation an official strategy to respond to drought events in the country. Therefore, there was an important work in terms of generating the information for the key people including topics such as: what is the total population affected in the country by draughts; how MAGA, by allocating few resources, could alleviate the negative impacts for a significant number of people; and which crops could be more affected by the drought. At the end, MAGA devoted some resources to do the simulation and the Minister declared that drought simulations should be done regularly in the Dry Corridor of Guatemala.The need of engaging into lobby in order to get the Vice Minister's attention and getting involved in the country's bureaucracy was a factor that made the achievement of the outcome a challenge, however the skills of the researcher leading the project, Vesalio Mora from Bioversity made that factor an advantage. The dramatic situation generated by the extremely dry period occurred in 2014 in the Dry Corridor made easier to capture the Ministry staff attention because this was a priority for the country.It is very important to keep in mind that the strategy used to overcome this challenge does not necessarily work exactly the same way in all cases.In general, it needs a lot of dedication and time in order to generate trust among the parties. The latter is relevant given that the emphasis is on making the Ministry a leader of the process and results. It is also important to consider the internal structure of the Ministry, how it works and what is its' perspective to approach the topics of interest. This approach works better where there are supranational institutions that enable the environment and support the creation of discussion spaces to deal with specific priorities for agriculture and climate change issues. This is the case of CAC, which was the door to enter into the Ministries of the region and was a fundamental body to help strengthened the relationship between CCAFS and the Ministries each time that there was a change in staff. Finally, it is important to take into account two things: first, it is key to make sure that Ministries truly understand the value added that CCAFS collaboration generates for the institution and the professional evolution of the staff and second, it is essential to consider that, for example in Latin American countries, working teams within the Ministries are very small, and this means a big burden on the time that staff can devote to working together with research programs such as CCAFS.Moving from a workshop to actual policy influence in Honduras. This approach works when the government body in charge of formulating a policy is willing to listen to other bodies at different scales in order to strengthen its policies; when the government is ready to get involved in participatory methods and to make a change in the way the policy formulation is usually done. Therefore, a proactive change behaviour within Ministry staff is needed in order to rethink processes already done and improved them with inputs from other institutions at different scales.It is key to be aware of opportunities in each of the countries by keeping permanent communication with national contacts within the Ministries and relevant institutions. In the case of Guatemala, MAGA needed immediate information to face an upcoming drought event and since CCAFS knew that, it was able to provide an alternative tool to respond to this type of emergencies. It is key to take advantage of opportunities like this, a context where the Ministry has a problem to resolve and CCAFS can provide a solution or can be part of it.All three challenges discussed can be categorized within Political, institutional and economic barriers generic challenge, due to the fact that there are often political barriers that determine the way to work with government institutions, such as Ministries of Agriculture. For example, institutions are highly affected by the constant staff changes in Honduras in order to achieve goals and implement even short-term actions. Also, changing the business as usual way to formulate policies requires an important effort in terms of overcoming political barriers persuading key government staff through scientific evidence. Finally, high levels of bureaucracy often challenge scientists in order to make their science useful in the political arena. This is the case of Guatemala, where getting closer to the Vice-Minister implicated several attempts but convincing him of the importance of implementing periodic simulations for drought events was also difficult. Strong bonds with supranational and national institutions interested in climate change and agriculture discussions are key to overcome these challenges but also building up the trust in terms of positioning CCAFS as capable to provide useful inputs for their decision making process.Addressing Trade-off across scales and poor targeting has been a challenge, not only because of the different scales of implementation but also because of the disconnected communication within national and local government institutions. However adapting CCAFS methodologies, such as the socioeconomic scenarios, and bringing to the discussions stakeholders from different scales, has been a useful strategy to address the challenge. The methodologies are used to informed national decision making processes but they are validated at a local level to ensure that they are context grounded and possible to implement. CCAFS role has focused on facilitating processes by gathering key people from different disciplines, institutions and sectors that can contribute and need to be involved in the discussions on climate change and agriculture. The AWD in rice was developed as a water saving technology in the late 1990s and has since been promoted in many areas in Southeast Asia. Lately, AWD has also been found to be effective in reducing up to 40% of methane emissions compared to continuously flooded irrigated rice systems (Wassmann et al. 2010)   The theory of change is that augmenting knowledge and testing practice in the areas of 1) emissions reductions for diverse settings, (2) best practices and policy priorities, (3) incentives for farmers, and (4) enabling conditions for farmer innovation, done together with agricultural development stakeholders will catalyse investments and actions by stakeholders at the country and multilateral levels. The projects' theory of change is composed of three pillars: (1) stakeholder engagement, (2) knowledge sharing and innovation, and (3) catalysing policy and investment for implementation. The project's strategies includes the following 1) Engage farmers in participatory mitigation selection (PMS), allowing them to decide freely on low-emission crop management options that are suitable to their locale-assessing the co-benefits of mitigation techniques alone and when combined with other techniques. 2) Identify where AWD as a mitigation measure is effective under current irrigation infrastructure and where it will work with improved irrigation infrastructure; 3) Improve information support up-scaling and link policy partners with policy makers. Link CCAFS FP4 project with CCAC project to ensure that well-established network with policy maker is taken advantaged. 4) Strengthen capacity (through trainings, workshops, field visits) of local extension services to enable local policy makers to implement successful mitigation strategies. 5) Integrate mitigation objectives into agriculture modernization plans and rehabilitation programs of the government and development organizations, e.g. for irrigation infrastructure. 6) Undertake an analysis of national climate change actions plans, and the development of a \"rice component\" that will be integrated into the NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions). The target area for the application of AWD as a mitigation measure by 2019 is 500,000 hectares in Vietnam and the development of a low emission plan integrating AWD that will have significant mitigation potential by 2025. The two projects will invest about USD2.5 million in the next 4 years.The key challenges in up-scaling AWD are following: 1) Identifying areas where AWD as a mitigation option will work and can be up-scaled; 2) Making farmers recognize the benefits of AWD viz-a-viz perceived added cost and risk; and 3) Developing effective collaboration among various stakeholders involved in irrigation and on-farm water management. Here we consider the three challenges in detail.Identifying areas where AWD as a mitigation option will work and can be up-scaled. Currently, there are constraints in irrigation systems' infrastructure that limits the widespread application of AWD in Vietnam. The lack of distribution and drainage canals, and pumping station in many places allows for application of AWD in one season only (e.g. during winter spring rice season). This can be overcome by the development of more distribution (tertiary) and drainage canals from the main/secondary canals, and pumping station to reach inner and elevated fields. This is not easy, however, because of lack of funds. Government investments are focused on constructing main and secondary canals only with the irrigation company taking care of the distribution canal development. Furthermore, there are areas where AWD will not result in substantial methane emission reduction or where draining is not recommended (e.g. actual acid sulfate soils). Under this condition, developing a suitability map that considers the available irrigation infrastructure and biophysical characteristics (i.e. soil, rainfall, evapotranspiration, seepage, and percolation) of the irrigated areas in Vietnam will be important. Furthermore, there is also a need for more confidence in estimated GHG reductions for both methane and nitrous oxide across a range of rice systems, agro-ecosystem zones, and farmer conditions.Making farmers recognize the benefits of AWD viz-a-viz perceived added cost and risk (declines in yields from pest infestations, drought). Many farmers still practice the traditional water management of keeping the paddy field flooded most of the time. The usual land preparation also does not make the field well levelled (uneven drying). To address this, farmers should be engaged in participatory mitigation selection (PMS) for their locality. This will allow testing of AWD and related practices (AWD+) in more sites under varied conditions, and the effects (co-benefits) of added efficiency in water, fertilizer use, and harvest index can be quantified to identify incentives for farmers (as a no regret option) in addition to yields and GHG emission. Farmers' participation in the \"small farmerlarge field or large-scale rice field program\" will also encourage the farmers to appreciate the benefit of AWD. In this program, farmers, extension workers, input providers, irrigation management & hydraulic exploitation company and rice traders work together in applying \"1 must do, 6 reductions\" which include AWD. More investment will be needed under this program to increase farmers' knowledge about technical options and support farmer innovation in AWD+.These groups often have conflict of interest providing no incentive for applying AWD. Hence, improvement of enabling conditions such as secure water sources and water pricing will be essential in engaging these sectors in up-scaling AWD. At the district level, developing policies/regulations for water access and use of irrigation water that encourages and rewards water saving will be desirable. Water user groups (WUG) at the commune or village will have to be organized or strengthened also to better manage irrigation water distribution. The government programs such as \"small farmer-large field program\" also encourage multi-stakeholder collaboration and promote practices that include AWD.Addressing the above key challenge is very important for the following reasons:Identifying areas where AWD as a mitigation option will work and can be up-scaled. Identifying the suitable areas is essential for proper implementation of AWD and in attaining successful scalingup considering that not all areas are suitable for AWD application as a mitigation option. This will give local extension staff working with farmers more confidence and credibility in recommending AWD to farmers. Successful AWD implementation in suitable areas will help pass on knowledge about AWD in the target areas as well as to motivate other farmers (\"farmer-to-farmer diffusion\") to try the new technology in their field. Proper identification of suitable areas will improve understanding of where AWD can be introduced or improved to support investment and planning for up-scaling AWD.Making farmers recognize the benefits of AWD viz-a-viz perceived added cost and risk. Farmers usually adopt technology options or practices that they see will benefit their farming. AWD has multiple benefits (water saving, time & cost reduction for water pumping and irrigation, no yield difference from practice of continuous flooding, fewer insect pests and diseases, large methane reduction), however, farmers have been constrained from adopting it because their perceptions/experiences that AWD: 1) increase their labour & cost (for herbicide/weeding and rodent management); and 3) increase their risk (more rat, lower yield). Involving farmers in selecting their mitigation options (PMS) and packaging AWD with other complementing technology options and practices (AWD+) coupled with enhanced extension programs (1 must do, 6 reductions) will help them overcome their the perceived added cost and risk.Developing effective (synchronization and cohesive) collaboration among various stakeholders involved in irrigation and on-farm water management. Wide scale implementation of AWD requires good synchronization and coordination of efforts among various stakeholders involved in irrigation and on-farm water management (farmers, pump service providers, local and national government agencies). Good collaboration will reduce conflicting interests, maximize benefits from AWD, and provide incentives to adopting AWD. This will also allow adoption of regulations and policies that will support implementation of AWD in large scale (i.e. irrigation schedules designed for wide scale AWD implementation in command areas of irrigation systems) and adaption of dissemination approaches to local irrigation system conditions.The three challenges above relates to the following generic categories of challenge in varying degree as shown in the table below: 1) High transaction costs involved in reaching individual farmers or creating structures to reach groups of farmers with new CSA technologies or practices; 2) Farmers risk minimization strategies and urgent needs versus high transaction costs and long term impact of implementing CSA practices; 3) Political, institutional and economic barriers; and 4) Trade-off across scales and poor targeting.Key Challenges to AWD Up-scaling Generic Categories of Upscaling Challenges 1 2 3 4Identifying areas where AWD as a mitigation option will work and can be up-scaled.x x x XMaking farmers recognize the benefits of AWD viz-a-viz perceived added cost and risk.x X x xDeveloping effective collaboration among various stakeholders involved in irrigation and on-farm water management.x x X x X-main , x-contributing ","tokenCount":"28213"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5820078998.json b/data/part_1/5820078998.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a8900ece830b9b900abcf4af004e3fd09f3cb865
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5820078998.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee33a6b167039d185010dc7c05c741b2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d24f5de1-e3c0-41bc-b835-3e9c1926c83e/retrieve","id":"-847593110"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a0f79801-c971-4050-8f75-38fec5e1cc21","pagecount":"19","content":"Les guides de recherche de I'lita informent et guident les scientifiques et techniciens engages dans des activites de recherche essentielles pour Ie developpement agricole _ Les guides de recherche peuvent etre utilises dans la recherche etla formation. lis sont periodiquement mis II jour afin de refleter I'evolution de la connaissance scientifique .L'lita autorise la reproduction de ce document a des fins non klcralives. Pour louIe reproduction de nature commerciale , contacter Ie Service des publications de I'lita.Kehinde Jaiyeoba Nancy Jadu Mise en page Traduction de I'anglais Coordination Caroll Moudachirou Rainer Zachmann Couper, D.C. 1992. Operations agricoles dans les fermes experimentales. Guide de recherche del'l~a No. 18. Programme dela format.,n, Inst~ut internat ional d'agricu~ure tropicale (Ina), Ibadan, Nigeria. 17 p.Objectif. Ce guide a pour objectif de vous pennettre de:• saisir !'importance des donnees relevees en plein champ, • identifier les blocs agricoles, • preparer les operations sur Ie terrain, • anouer au mieux les parcelles.• Echantillons de donnees relevees en plein champ.• Cartes de fermes.• Formulaires de requete pour les operations, fiches d'operations journali~res, camet des taches quoti• diennes.Travaux pratiques• Examiner et preparer des echantillons de donnees de champ.   ","tokenCount":"188"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5822766001.json b/data/part_1/5822766001.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d10b33cfe63320afec575b99919e4efcffe13117
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5822766001.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c9ceebb78c933021a246317a4d23949e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d68d3eef-4b50-49c6-9e13-c79a28834875/retrieve","id":"2087980558"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1894fdaf-b16a-452b-a34f-be5b70ab56e5","pagecount":"31","content":"La serie 'Documentos de trabajo CCAFS' tienen el propósito de difundir investigación en curso y prácticas en cambio climático, agricultura y seguridad alimentaria, así como estimular la retroalimentación de la comunidad científica.El Programa de Investigación de CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) es una alianza estratégica entre el Consorcio CGIAR y Future Earth, liderado por el Centro de Investigación en Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). El programa es apoyado por Donantes del Fondo CGIAR, Australia (ACIAR), Irlanda (Irish Aid), Holanda (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores), Nueva Zelanda (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Comercio), Suiza (SDC), Tailandia, Gobierno de Reino Unido (UK Aid), Estados Unidos (USAID) y La Unión Europea (EU). El programa es llevado a cabo con soporte técnico del Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agrícola (IFAD).La anticipación de los posibles impactos del cambio climático se ha convertido en un enfoque global clave. Se usan escenarios y otros métodos y herramientas para imaginar futuros climáticos y para desarrollar estrategias que anticipen nuevos futuros mientras se gobierna el cambio climático. Por la proliferación de estos procesos en contextos asociados a la investigación y planeación, cada vez es más importante analizar el impacto que tienen sobre la toma de decisiones. ¿Cómo se pueden entender mejor los beneficios y retos de estos procesos de anticipación como intervenciones de gobernanza? La investigación sobre los procesos de gobernanza anticipatoria en relación al clima sigue estando muy limitada en el Sur Global, a pesar de que estas regiones son las más vulnerables al cambio climático. Este informe examina los procesos de anticipación empleados para gobernar el cambio climático en diversos contextos de Centroamérica. La pregunta que responde esta investigación es: \"¿Cuáles enfoques se aplican en los procesos de anticipación para gobernar el cambio climático en los diversos contextos de Centroamérica?\" Para responder a esta pregunta, primero examinamos qué métodos y herramientas se usan para anticipar los futuros climáticos, y el papel que éstas juegan en la formulación de políticas y la toma de decisiones sobre el clima. Hacemos un análisis profundo de tres estudios de caso para entender sus enfoques en relación a la gobernanza anticipatoria.Además, presentamos los resultados de dos reuniones regionales con actores de la región, en que se vieron los retos que enfrentan en cada país ante la práctica de gobernanza anticipatoria en relación al clima, así como las oportunidades para fortalecer las capacidades en esta área. Finalmente, presentamos recomendaciones para fortalecer los procesos de gobernanza anticipatoria en la región.Prospectiva; escenarios; gobernanza anticipatoria; políticas; cambio climático; futuros; transformaciones de sostenibilidad.Marieke Veeger es investigadora de escenarios y políticas del Programa de Investigación CGIAR sobre Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) con sede en la Universidad de Cooperación Internacional (UCI) en San José, Costa Rica.Karlijn Muiderman es investigadora de doctorado sobre gobernanza anticipatoria en el Grupo de Gobernanza Ambiental del Instituto Copernicus de Desarrollo Sostenible de la Universidad de Utrecht.Joost Vervoort es investigador del Programa de Investigación CGIAR sobre Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) y Profesor Asociado de Prospectiva y Gobernanza Anticipativa en el Grupo de Gobernanza Ambiental en el Instituto Copernicus de Desarrollo Sostenible de la Universidad de Utrecht, Investigador Asociado Honorario en el Instituto de Cambio Ambiental de la Universidad de Oxford y miembro invitado del Instituto de Investigación para la Humanidad y la Naturaleza en Kioto.Este trabajo fue financiado por el Llamado a la Acción por el Clima (Climate Action Call) de la Anticipar los posibles impactos del cambio climático se ha convertido en un enfoque global importante. El Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC) ha elaborado un conjunto de escenarios influyentes climáticos y socioeconómicos. Muchos gobiernos, investigadores y profesionales están desarrollando escenarios a nivel regional y nacional para imaginar y experimentar con posibles futuros climáticos globales. Se están utilizando juegos para crear la experiencia de futuros alternativos. Los futuros que se imaginan en estos procesos dan forma a las acciones en el presente. Pero, ¿cómo se pueden entender mejor los beneficios y desafíos de estos procesos de anticipación como intervenciones de gobernanza, particularmente en las regiones vulnerables al cambio climático?El proyecto RE-IMAGINE está codirigido por el Dr. Joost Vervoort (UU) y la Prof. Aarti Gupta (WUR). El proyecto investiga cómo se relaciona la anticipación de futuros climáticos diversos con la realización de modos eficaces de gobernanza climática en las regiones más vulnerables del mundo. El proyecto analiza varios procesos influyentes de anticipación en diversos contextos de sostenibilidad en todo el mundo para lograr una gobernanza climática más reflexiva e inclusiva. Al hacerlo, RE-IMAGINE une la investigación sobre los procesos de prospectiva que visualizan el futuro del clima con la investigación sobre la gobernanza climática. RE-IMAGINE construye sobre la pericia prospectiva sobre el clima del Proyecto de Escenarios de CGIAR en el marco del Programa de Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS), la experiencia en política climática global y gobernanza de la Universidad e Investigación de Wageningen y la Universidad de Oxford, y la experiencia en previsión y gobernanza climática de la Universidad de Utrecht. También trabaja con organizaciones gubernamentales regionales en cuatro regiones globales que son altamente vulnerables al cambio climático: América Central, África Occidental, Asia Meridional y Asia Sudoriental. En estas regiones, RE-IMAGINE colabora estrechamente con la red CCAFS y los socios regionales UCI, ICRISAT, GIZ e ICCCAD. Además, un Comité Asesor Científico formado por investigadores líderes en prospectiva y gobernanza proporciona asesoramiento durante todo el proyecto. RE-IMAGINE ha sido posible gracias al Llamado a la Acción Climática de la Fundación BNP Paribas, que tiene como objetivo fortalecer la anticipación de los procesos de cambio climático y avanzar nuestra comprensión de sus impactos sobre nuestro medio ambiente y las poblaciones locales de todo el mundo. El proyecto comenzó en octubre de 2018 y se extenderá hasta diciembre de 2022.En la actualidad, se utilizan muchos métodos y herramientas para imaginar los futuros climáticos y desarrollar estrategias para realizar nuevos futuros. Estos incluyen, por ejemplo, herramientas de prospectiva más formales como el análisis participativo de escenarios (Kok et al., 2007;Vervoort et al., 2014) y la modelización (Mason-D 'Croz et al., 2016;Sampson et al., 2016 ), además también visionarios y retrospectiva (backcasting) (Quist et al., 2011;Robinson et al., 2011) análisis de costo-beneficio (Atkinson, 2015), métodos experienciales (Candy & Dunagan, 2017;Candy & Potter, 2019), juegos (Baena, 2017;Vervoort, 2019) y los métodos de investigación críticos (Hajer & Versteeg, 2019;Späth & Rohracher, 2012), todos los cuales pueden ser utilizados con una orientación al futuro. Con la proliferación de estos procesos en contextos de planificación e investigación relacionados con la sostenibilidad, es cada vez más importante indagar sobre su impacto en la toma de decisiones (Vervoort y Gupta, 2018).Un cuerpo creciente de académicos en ciencias sociales y ciencias de la sostenibilidad ha utilizado la noción de gobernanza anticipatoria para examinar estos procesos de anticipación, incluso en gobernanza ambiental, planificación pública, investigación e innovación responsable, estudios de ciencia y tecnología y gestión de la transición. Entendemos el concepto de manera más amplia como que gobierna los futuros inciertos en el presente (Vervoort & Gupta, 2018). La investigación sobre los procesos de gobernanza anticipatoria en relación al clima sigue estando muy limitada en el Sur Global, a pesar de que estas regiones son las más vulnerables al cambio climático. Por lo tanto, este informe examina los procesos de anticipación en una de las regiones vulnerables al clima del Sur Global.La pregunta que responde esta investigación es: \"¿Cuáles enfoques de los diversos procesos de anticipación se aplican para gobernar el cambio climático en los diversos contextos de Centroamérica?\"Para responder a esta pregunta, nuestro cuestionamiento sigue varios pasos. Primero examinamos qué métodos y herramientas se usan para anticipar los futuros climáticos, y el rol que tienen en la construcción de políticas relativas al clima. Entonces examinamos minuciosamente tres estudios de caso para entender su abordaje en relación a la gobernanza anticipatoria. Y presentamos los resultados de dos reuniones regionales con partes interesadas, en que se examinaron los retos que enfrentan en cada país ante la práctica de gobernanza anticipatoria en relación al clima, así como las oportunidades para fortalecer las capacidades en esta área. Finalmente, presentamos recomendaciones para fortalecer los procesos de gobernanza anticipatoria sobre el clima en la región.Para examinar los enfoques a través de los cuales los futuros tienen impacto sobre el presente, nos basamos en un marco analítico sobre gobernanza anticipatoria desarrollado recientemente por Muiderman, Gupta, Vervoort & Biermann (Muiderman et al, 2020, ver Figura 1). Este marco identifica cuatro enfoques distintos para la gobernanza anticipatoria en la literatura de ciencias sociales y ciencias de la sostenibilidad interdisciplinarias antes mencionadas. Estos cuatro enfoques son distintos en términos de (a) cómo se conceptualiza el futuro, (b) el impacto de la acción que se tomará en el presente, y (c) con qué objetivo último comprometerse con la gobernanza anticipatoria. La siguiente figura presenta el marco y mapea los cuatro enfoques (en los recuadros) en un espectro de concepciones del futuro (el eje horizontal) y acciones en el presente (el eje vertical). Este informe presenta la investigación RE-IMAGINE en una de sus cuatro regiones: Centroamérica. La sección 2 describe nuestro enfoque metodológico. La sección 3 examina los métodos y herramientas de anticipación y sus vínculos con la toma de decisiones. La sección 4 analiza las concepciones del futuro, las implicaciones para el presente, y los fines últimos de tres procesos basados en el marco analítico. La sección 5 examina las perspectivas sobre las oportunidades y desafíos para la gobernanza anticipatoria en la práctica.Esta sección describe cómo seleccionamos (Sección 2.1.) y analizamos (Sección 2.2.) nuestras unidades de análisis.Nuestra unidad de análisis consiste en diversos procesos prospectivos y sus abordajes para la toma de decisiones informada sobre asuntos del clima. Nuestra selección de casos contempló varios pasos. Primero, establecimos el alcance en cinco países vulnerables y seleccionamos cinco de siete países de la región centroamericana, a saber, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua y Belice. Seleccionamos estos países porque tienen los ingresos más bajos de la región (cuatro países de ingresos bajos y Belice, un país de ingresos medianos bajos). Por el contrario, Costa Rica y Panamá son países de ingresos altos y, por lo tanto, fueron excluidos.Luego, buscamos documentos de políticas, literatura e informes de procesos (literatura gris) de procesos anticipatorios y políticas climáticas en estos cinco países. La búsqueda se inició en Google usando las siguientes palabras clave en español: [país], política, desarrollo, cambio climático, a excepción de los casos de Belice, para el que se usó las palabras clave en inglés [country], development, policy, climate change. Buscamos literatura en Scopus usando las palabras clave [country] AND development AND policy AND climate AND change AND future. La traducción al español de las palabras clave en Scopus no dio como resultado ningún estudio útil, mientras que el inglés dio 1 resultado para Guatemala, 0 para El Salvador, 5 para Honduras, 1 para Nicaragua y 1 para Belice. De estos, se incluyó en el estudio un caso de Honduras; los otros eran previos a septiembre del 2010 o no eran relevantes. Por lo tanto, pasamos a una técnica de bola de nieve y consultamos a expertos en gobernanza climática con el fin de ayudar a identificar los procesos y políticas más relevantes.Se identificaron y revisaron un total de 46 documentos. Leímos cada documento e incluimos solo aquellos que mencionaban dos de las siguientes palabras clave orientadas al futuro: futuro, adaptación, esperado, anticipación, escenario, prospectiva. Entonces, leímos minuciosamente los documentos para comprender la aplicación de la anticipación en la orientación de las políticas y la toma de decisiones.En segundo lugar, establecemos el alcance en cinco casos (es decir, vínculos) por país. Entonces, de estos procesos de anticipación y políticas climáticas, elegimos aquellos que se habían iniciado después del 2010 para enfocarnos en lo más reciente. Además, buscamos incluir casos que mostraran diversidad en términos de: a) actores que iniciaron el proceso -gobiernos nacionales y regionales, organizaciones multinivel, sector privado y ONGs; b) el tipo de práctica anticipatoria utilizada. Nos enfocamos en seleccionar al menos dos políticas clave y dos prácticas de anticipación por país. Después de descubrir que muchos procesos y políticas de anticipación tenían un abordaje regional, por ejemplo, América Latina, el Caribe o América Central, decidimos incluir en nuestro análisis también 4 casos regionales. Excluimos varios procesos y políticas a nivel municipal, subnacional o de cuenca para evitar complicar la comparación entre casos. Sin embargo, hicimos una excepción en el caso de Belice, cuyas prácticas de anticipación se centran en la Ciudad de Belice. Debido a que la mayoría de los habitantes del país viven dentro de los límites de la ciudad pensamos que se puede considerar como una estrategia nacional. Finalmente, con base en estos criterios, se seleccionaron 25 de los procesos anticipatorios y políticas climáticas más relevantes: 7 de Guatemala, 3 de El Salvador, 4 de Honduras, 3 de Nicaragua, 4 de Belice y 4 casos regionales de Centroamérica.Como siguiente paso, seleccionamos tres ejemplos para un análisis más detallado de los enfoques de la gobernanza anticipatoria. Se incluyeron ejemplos que son diversos en los métodos y herramientas utilizados. Buscamos informes adicionales sobre los procesos de anticipación (por ejemplo, informes de talleres) y también mantuvimos entrevistas semiestructuradas con las partes interesadas en ambos lados de la interfaz de anticipación-política. Entrevistamos al menos a tres actores clave involucrados en cada proceso: un informante que participó en la facilitación de la práctica; un informante intermediario que relacionó la práctica de anticipación con la formulación de políticas; y un informante del lado de las políticas.Como paso final, organizamos a nivel regional dos sesiones de grupos de opinión con diversos actores para discutir nuestros hallazgos y comprender mejor por qué el dominio de ciertos enfoques sobre otros.El análisis de nuestro estudio de caso se basó en métodos de investigación cualitativa para comprender, analizar y describir los enfoques a través de los cuales la anticipación provee información para la toma de decisiones. En primer lugar, se analizó la literatura y la literatura gris sobre procesos de anticipación, sobre los tipos de métodos y herramientas, y cualquier indicación de su influencia sobre las acciones en el presente. En segundo lugar, se hizo una evaluación de las políticas climáticas de acuerdo a la declaración de métodos y herramientas de anticipación que guiaron la formulación de políticas. Analizamos los procesos y las políticas de forma independiente para comparar las formas en las que se afirma que la anticipación entregó información para la toma de decisiones. Luego, se examinaron los tres casos de gobernanza anticipatoria con la ayuda del marco analítico de Muiderman et al. ( 2020) con base en documentos de política, informes de proceso y entrevistas. Esta triangulación de datos ayudó a verificar y contrastar los hallazgos.Finalmente, y para responder a nuestra pregunta de investigación final, organizamos dos talleres para discutir los hallazgos y las posibles oportunidades y desafíos que fortalecen las capacidades de gobernanza climática anticipatoria. En El Salvador participaron 25 actores, y 18 en Guatemala. En ambos casos los participantes provenían del sector público y privado, academia y organizaciones no gubernamentales. En los talleres se discutió sobre los procesos de anticipación utilizados, los desafíos que existen en cada país para practicar la gobernanza climática anticipatoria y las oportunidades para fortalecer capacidades en este campo.En esta sección se revisan primero los documentos de políticas, los informes de procesos y la literatura académica sobre los tipos de métodos y herramientas utilizados para anticipar el cambio climático y su papel en la toma de decisiones climáticas.La siguiente tabla (Tabla 1) ilustra los procesos de anticipación incluidos en este estudio y quién los inició y financió. Los métodos de anticipación generalmente exploran los impactos actuales y futuros del cambio climático en el desarrollo y la economía o, más específicamente, en factores ambientales como la biodiversidad y la disponibilidad de agua, la agricultura y el turismo. El marco de tiempo utilizado en la mayoría de las prácticas de anticipación fue de mediano a largo plazo, desde 2030 hasta 2100. La revisión de la literatura y la literatura gris ilustra que los procesos de anticipación incluyeron principalmente modelos climáticos cuantitativos (11 de 13 casos), a menudo combinados con vulnerabilidad cualitativa y evaluaciones de riesgos (9 de 13). Además, en dos casos se utilizaron métodos cualitativos participativos, como el desarrollo de escenarios y un estudio de escenarios de uso comparativo de la tierra, para tomar decisiones sólidas sobre el agua, las inundaciones y otros problemas relacionados con el clima. Los dos últimos estudios utilizaron modelos exclusivamente cuantitativos (escenarios climáticos futuros, uso de la tierra, rendimiento de los cultivos, idoneidad de los cultivos) sin combinarlos con otros métodos y herramientas.La mitad de los procesos de anticipación analizados fueron parte de cuatro programas de investigación a gran escala sobre los posibles impactos del cambio climático. Estos fueron iniciados por cuatro organizaciones diferentes. La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) publicó una serie sobre la economía del cambio climático en varios países de América Latina.El programa de investigación del CGIAR sobre Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) publicó una serie de estudios sobre agricultura climáticamente inteligente en países vulnerables de América Latina. El Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) publicó una serie de estudios de impacto del cambio climático sobre diferentes cultivos comerciales y de subsistencia. Finalmente, el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) publicó una serie sobre la transversalización del cambio climático en países de Centroamérica.La mayoría de los procesos de anticipación se iniciaron como un proceso independiente con la intención de orientar las políticas y la toma de decisiones sobre el cambio climático. De los 13 casos, 4 se desarrollaron para orientar una política, un plan o una estrategia específicos. Otros 9 se desarrollaron de forma independiente, de los cuales 6 afirman que tienen como objetivo orientar la formulación de políticas en general. Al orientar las políticas, la mayoría se centró en explorar los riesgos climáticos clave, mientras que otros adoptaron un enfoque más prescriptivo y pretendían guiar los propósitos de la planificación estratégica.Al mismo tiempo, es difícil encontrar testimonios sobre su influencia real en el desarrollo de políticas. Esto rara vez se declara explícitamente. Solo cuatro procesos de anticipación indicaron que fueron desarrollados específicamente para orientar el desarrollo de políticas, por ejemplo, el estudio sobre el cambio climático y el medio ambiente elaborado por el Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA, una organización de las Naciones Unidas) es para orientar su programa interno, de un quinquenio, sobre oportunidades estratégicas para los países (llamado COSOP).Por otro lado, los escenarios de desarrollo urbano para la ciudad de Belice sí demostraron un vínculo claro al apoyar el Plan Maestro de Desarrollo y el Plan Maestro de Turismo y priorizar inversiones para el desarrollo de la ciudad.Además, se puede encontrar un compromiso político más indirecto en el hecho de que los responsables de la formulación de políticas a menudo participan en procesos de anticipación. La mayoría de los estudios citados nacieron de la colaboración entre una institución gubernamental nacional o regional, una ONG u organización multilateral con una sólida formación en investigación (como la CEPAL) o una institución académica o de investigación (como el CIAT o el CATIE).Además de estos procesos descritos anteriormente, también analizamos diversos documentos de políticas y examinamos lo que se dijo sobre el tipo de método y herramientas que se utilizaron y cómo se consideró que esto informaba el desarrollo de políticas (Tabla 2). Todas las políticas incluidas en este estudio utilizaron métodos y herramientas para anticipar el cambio climático y definir metas, estrategias y acciones en el presente.Al observar de cerca las prácticas utilizadas, la mayoría incluye escenarios climáticos basados en modelos, así como evaluaciones de riesgos de impacto climático y vulnerabilidad. Los escenarios climáticos, así como otros trabajos de modelos cuantitativos (como el modelaje de cultivos) son la referencia más común utilizada por los encargados de formular políticas para comprender los posibles impactos del cambio climático; 11 de las 12 políticas se refirieron a estos métodos. Los escenarios cuantitativos, en nueve de cada 12 casos, fueron complementados con evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad y riesgo. Las otras tres políticas solo utilizaron escenarios climáticos para justificar sus objetivos. Tres de las 12 políticas utilizaron métodos de prospectiva participativa y cualitativa como los métodos Delphi y el desarrollo de escenarios participativos, pero siempre en combinación con escenarios climáticos cuantitativos y evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad.La mayoría de los gobiernos se basaron en procesos que habían sido diseñados como procesos independientes (no al servicio de la formulación de políticas). En cuatro casos, estos procesos independientes se complementaron con ejercicios de prospectiva (principalmente escenarios) que habían sido diseñados específicamente para la formulación de políticas. Al mismo tiempo, no todas las políticas describen claramente el método, ni cómo sus resultados ejercieron influencia sobre la acción en el presente. Se necesita prestarle más atención a eso para reportar de manera transparente al respecto.Por lo tanto, al examinar estos documentos se identificaron lagunas en los informes sobre cómo las anticipaciones del futuro han provisto información para la acción en el presente. Esto es problemático, ya que han guiado la toma de decisiones, pero no se puede rastrear cómo.Esta sección describe los hallazgos del estudio en profundidad de tres procesos. El proceso de formulación de políticas ocurrió en varias reuniones donde el comité definió la visión, objetivos, líneas estratégicas, resultados esperados, indicadores e de responsables para su cumplimiento. Se contrataron siete consultores para facilitar las diferentes etapas del proceso y brindar soporte técnico. El proyecto CliFor de la Unión Europea, la organización de desarrollo alemana (GIZ) proporcionó fondos y CCAFS brindó asistencia técnica (SCASA / SAG / MTCC. 2014).Múltiples tipos de anticipación informaron el proceso. Se utilizaron los escenarios climáticos del IPCC, los escenarios nacionales de cambio climático,y varias evaluaciones ambientales y análisis de vulnerabilidad de los posibles impactos futuros del cambio climático en los medios de vida agroalimentarios, los ecosistemas, la agricultura y la seguridad alimentaria (USAID 2014, Argeñal 2010).Además, se organizaron tres talleres, de los cuales CCAFS facilitó el que tenía una orientación explícita hacia el futuro (CCAFS 2014b). Participó un grupo diverso, que incluyó a formuladores de políticas, funcionarios regionales del SAG que trabajan con agricultores, representantes de asociaciones de agricultores, representantes de ONG, profesores y estudiantes de una universidad local especializada en agricultura. Revisaron una versión preliminar de la política y sugirieron recomendaciones de mejora. Además, se utilizaron cuatro escenarios regionales de posibles impactos socioeconómicos y climáticos en el futuro de la agricultura, la seguridad alimentaria, los medios de vida y el medio ambiente. Estos fueron creados el año anterior por un grupo diverso de expertos de la región (CCAFS, 2014a) que luego se adecuaron al contexto de Honduras. Los escenarios socioeconómicos fueron presentados como narrativas e imágenes, sus impactos fueron cuantificados y presentados como resultados de modelos.La acción a la que se aspiraba en el presente era utilizar los escenarios para contrastar la eficacia de los objetivos, las estrategias y los resultados esperados de la política. Las partes interesadas hicieron recomendaciones para hacer que la política sea robusta ante diversos cambios futuros plausibles. Las recomendaciones se presentaron al comité técnico poco después del taller que llevó a la adición de un nuevo eje estratégico sobre medidas de adaptación climática y varios cambios a la política.El ejercicio de escenarios coincidió con tres objetivos del comité. La razón más importante fue que la metodología era participativa: querían comentarios críticos de las partes interesadas regionales para asegurarse de que la política, redactada por expertos, también fuera útil para los agricultores. Al mismo tiempo, tomando conciencia de la magnitud de los impactos climáticos, el comité esperaba alentar a los agricultores a cambiar sus estrategias, cultivos o medios de vida, estableciendo coherencia entre la agenda institucional y las propuestas generadas desde los agricultores y el entorno territorial. Finalmente, la mayoría de las medidas de adaptación (como el mejoramiento genético de semillas) se basaron en las necesidades y circunstancias actuales (por ejemplo, la disminución del rendimiento de los cultivos), mientras que estas podrían cambiar en el futuro. El ejercicio de escenarios podría ayudar a que sus afirmaciones sobre el futuro sean más sólidas y a planificar respuestas.En el 2010, el gobierno de Belice comenzó a desarrollar un Plan Maestro Nacional de Turismo Sostenible con el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) para aumentar el turismo. Es solo recientemente que la amenaza del cambio climático ha sido reconocida a nivel institucional. En el 2009, se estableció el Comité Nacional de Cambio Climático de Belice (BNCCC), y en el 2012 se creó la Oficina Nacional de Cambio Climático (NCCO) como parte del Ministerio de Silvicultura, Pesca y Desarrollo Sostenible para coordinar la respuesta nacional, regional e internacional del país al cambio climático. Pero no fue hasta el 2014 que el gobierno desarrolló una política nacional formal y global para la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático, la Estrategia y Plan de Acción Nacional sobre Cambio Climático (CCCCC, 2014). Al hacerse más conscientes de la necesidad de preparación y resiliencia, el gobierno de Belice se dio cuenta de que el aumento del nivel del mar y los riesgos de inundaciones eran una amenaza para toda la economía, no sólo para el turismo. Junto al Plan Maestro de Turismo Sostenible, también se desarrolló un Plan Maestro de la Ciudad de Belice para aumentar la habitabilidad tanto de los lugareños como de los visitantes, fomentar el desarrollo económico y proteger la ciudad a través de un enfoque integrado de adaptación basado en el ecosistema.En apoyo de ambos planes, se aplicaron varios procesos de anticipación. El BID colaboró con la consultora japonesa PADECO. A su vez, PADECO trabajó con la empresa de desarrollo urbano International Environments (IE) con sede en Belice para coordinar el proyecto de anticipación. El objetivo general al apoyarse en la anticipación era comprender qué oportunidades ofrecía la ciudad y a qué riesgos se enfrentaba, en qué tipo de ciudad querían vivir los ciudadanos durante los próximos 20 a 30 años, fortalecer la planificación del desarrollo de la ciudad, priorizar las inversiones de acuerdo a ello, y manejar los posibles riesgos futuros (Ayuntamiento de Belice, 2018). Se llegó a la conclusión de que las políticas que consideraban los riesgos futuros tenían la mayor rentabilidad sobre las inversiones.Se inició con un análisis participativo de las fortalezas, debilidades, oportunidades y amenazas de las ciudades (FODA), mostrando que la ciudad no solo enfrentaba problemas estéticos y de infraestructura para el turismo (principalmente atascos de tráfico) sino también riesgos de inundaciones por el delta del río donde fue construida la ciudad, el aumento del nivel del mar y los huracanes que llegan a la ciudad frente al mar.A partir de entonces, se realizó una evaluación ambiental estratégica que ayudó a identificar relaciones complejas y posibles impulsores futuros del cambio. Para ello, se realizaron entrevistas con diferentes actores del sector público, privado y de la sociedad civil. Finalmente, se creó un conjunto de seis posibles escenarios sobre el uso de la tierra hasta el 2030 que fueron plasmados en mapas. Algunos mostraron desarrollos futuros positivos, y otros, negativos. Se desarrolló una combinación de los dos escenarios más deseables (en términos de desarrollo económico y sustentabilidad ambiental) y viables (en términos de inversiones gubernamentales y del BID) en una visión futura de la ciudad. Esta visión se centró en todas las actividades económicas, en las personas asentadas en los límites de la ciudad, y en el fomento de desarrollos urbanos e infraestructurales sostenibles (BID 2012), y diseñó guías para las políticas, leyes y prioridades de inversión para alcanzar esta visión del futuro.El gobierno nacional usó el análisis FODA, la evaluación ambiental y los escenarios sobre el uso de la tierra para desarrollar el Plan Nacional de Turismo Sostenible, y el ayuntamiento lo aplicó para desarrollar el Plan Maestro de la Ciudad de Belice. El Plan Maestro de la Ciudad de Belice incluyó un plan de inversión con estrategias e instrumentos específicos para el desarrollo urbano, la estabilidad social, el desarrollo económico, el medio ambiente y para la implementación y financiamiento del desarrollo de la ciudad. También estableció una base de datos del patrimonio de la infraestructura histórica y recomendó la implementación de un conjunto de leyes para respaldar un fondo fiduciario del patrimonio cultural establecido por el BID (PADECO, 2018). Para el Ministerio de Turismo, los escenarios y las evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad que los acompañan fueron cruciales para comprender que los principales problemas que enfrentaba la ciudad eran sistémicos, no solo sociales y económicos, sino también ambientales. Los mismos sirvieron para la planificación de políticas estratégicas del Plan Maestro de Belice y para establecer prioridades sobre inversiones. También ayudaron a las instituciones locales a comprender mejor el impacto que el cambio climático podría tener en el desarrollo futuro de la ciudad. Si la ciudad de Belice iba a crecer en el futuro, se debía desarrollar un área geográfica más extensa. El proyecto provocó un cambio de paradigma; hizo que los legisladores y los ciudadanos entendieran que la ciudad tenía que vivir en armonía con el agua. Los servicios ecosistémicos del corredor biológico ampliado ayudan a la ciudad a responder a inundaciones y otros problemas relacionados con el clima. Como resultado del plan maestro, el BID aprobó un préstamo de $10 millones para un programa de infraestructura de mitigación de inundaciones en la ciudad de Belice, junto con otras inversiones para mejorar las condiciones de vida y los espacios urbanos como áreas verdes, aceras y ciclovías (BID, 2011).Luego de una revisión estratégica en 2007 de los retos que enfrentan los países del Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA), la Sede Subregional en México de la Comisión Económica de las Naciones Unidas para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) decidió iniciar una agenda de trabajo en la economía del cambio climático. Se acercó a la Comisión Centroamericano de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD) de los Ministerios de Ambiente de SICA y se diseñó conjuntamente la iniciativa \"La economía del cambio climático en Centroamérica\" que duró hasta 2019. En los primeros años contó con asesoría del equipo que elaboró el Reporte Stern, el referente global en la temática (Stern 2006). La iniciativa fue financiada por el Gobierno Británico, y posteriormente con contribuciones de DANIDA, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), y el Fondo Nórdico de Desarrollo (NDF). Entre 2010 y 2019 se publicaron 24 estudios cubriendo 6 países con análisis de escenarios climáticos para la región y los impactos potenciales del cambio climático en la agricultura, la seguridad alimentaria, el turismo, la salud, la biodiversidad y ecosistemas, el agua, la generación hidroeléctrica y la economía en general. El objetivo final fue fortalecer la comprensión de los posibles impactos climáticos y fomentar el desarrollo de políticas públicas de respuesta, especialmente en los Ministerios de Hacienda y de sectores vulnerables, por medio de procesos de discusión de los resultados y capacitación.Más de la mitad de las investigaciones son evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad o del impacto potencial de cambio climático en la economía regional y en sectores o subsectores, como café y producción de granos básicos. A solicitud de algunos países se prepararon compendios nacionales de los resultados.Casi todas las publicaciones terminan con recomendaciones sobre cómo reducir los riesgos climáticos y tomar medidas de adaptación y mitigación. Un tema central que la la iniciativa propuso a partir delas discusiones de resultados, es una priorización en la adaptación sostenible e incluyente, considerando la reducción de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero asociado a una transición a economías sostenibles.Los estudios anticipatorios de la CEPAL siguen varios principios similares. Las propuestas de programas de trabajo, incluyendo las investigaciones, las capacitaciones y acciones de diálogo se determinaron conjuntamente con personas funcionarias gubernamentales designadas a mecanismos de gobernanza de los ministerios de Finanzas, Agricultura, Ambiente y Salud. Posteriormente, expertos nacionales y regionales en cambio climático incluyendo de la CEPAL, desarrollaron los análisis, consultando datos, estadística y otros insumos de las instituciones nacionales. Los posibles impactos se estiman para diversos escenarios, y las metodologías de análisis están documentadas así como orientaciones sobre las incertidumbres y limitaciones asociadas a estos escenarios. Una vez que los resultados preliminares están listos, se presentan, se discuten y se refinan con personas funcionarias designadas y otros expertos. Una vez finalizados los resultados, se discuten las posibles implicaciones y opciones de política para cada sector para llegar a un consenso y se publican en copublicaciones entre las instituciones socias.Este enfoque participativo tiene una historia relativamente larga y se origina en la relación diplomática entre el programa de las Naciones Unidas y sus países miembros. Tanto la CEPAL como el Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC) afirman que la participación de los formuladores de políticas asegura que los análisis sean relevantes para las políticas. Otra razón importante para trabajar juntos de principio a fin es el fortalecimiento de capacidades técnicas, sobre temas complejos como el uso de escenarios y modelos climáticos y la incertidumbre de los datos. La coproducción de conocimiento ha ayudado a encontrar soluciones y crear capacidades institucionales para comprender el cambio climático en las realidades nacionales.La mayoría de los estudios han sido ampliamente referenciados en documentos de políticas e investigaciones sobre el cambio climático en América Central y del Sur, asi como también en los últimos reportes del IPCC. Los entrevistados que habían estado involucrados en procesos de políticas indicaron que se utilizaron varios estudios para desarrollar la Política Agrícola Regional para la región del SICA (2018-2030), la Estrategia de Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima para la región del SICA (EASAC, 2018(EASAC, -2030)), y la Ley de Cambio Climático de Guatemala (2013). Sin embargo, los documentos de política no siempre hacen referencia explícita a estos estudios.En Guatemala y El Salvador, se organizaron reuniones de dialogo para analizar las oportunidades y desafíos que presenta la aplicación de la anticipación para la determinación de acciones en el presente. Primero la conversación se centró en los procesos con los que estaban familiarizados los participantes, a saber, evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad y riesgo de problemas socioeconómicos, productivos, y ambientales. Las evaluaciones se concentraron en indicadores de pobreza y desarrollo o vulnerabilidad al cambio climático. Luego, una segunda categoría fue el modelaje cuantitativo de los impactos del cambio climático en la agricultura y otros medios de vida. Y tercero, se consideraron escenarios cuantitativos de cambio climático por organismos nacionales e internacionales, como el IPCC y el Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología de Guatemala (INSIVUMEH).Estos procesos persiguen principalmente acciones en el presente que se enfocan en la planificación estratégica y priorización de temáticas centrales, objetivos y enfoques de los proyectos de desarrollo. Una segunda forma de acción fue influir en las instituciones gubernamentales y los tomadores de decisiones (trabajo de cabildeo y incidencia) para que tomen medidas para aumentar la preparación para el cambio climático e incentivar planes y políticas gubernamentales sostenibles y justas.Los participantes consideraron que la falta de una cultura de prevención y de un enfoque sistémico de la planificación constituye un desafío importante para desarrollar procesos anticipatorios, como la escasez de datos, la dificultad de acceso a datos en instituciones públicas y privadas, y la dispersión de los datos, en vez de estar centralizados en un lugar accesible para todos. Las instituciones que utilizan la anticipación indicaron que necesitan aumentar sus conocimientos y habilidades para manejar mejor la incertidumbre científica. Por lo tanto, la atención se centra en gran medida en (desarrollar capacidades para) tipos lineales y probabilísticos de reducción del riesgo futuro, que parecen ser un requisito previo para lograr futuros más transformadores en algún momento más adelante en el futuro.Los formuladores de políticas en Honduras indicaron que las actuales dificultades institucionales, políticas y socioeconómicas como la alta pobreza, la desigualdad y la corrupción desafían el uso de procesos de gobernanza climática anticipatoria: \"¿Cómo abordar el futuro si aún no hemos resuelto las cosas en el presente?\" (Entrevista con un responsable de la formulación de políticas del equipo SAG, 24 de julio de 2019).Los principales desafíos encontrados para utilizar la anticipación para las acciones en el presente incluyen la falta de habilidades, conciencia y formación, así como la falta de habilidades de comunicación efectiva y coordinación entre instituciones para difundir y utilizar los hallazgos para la toma de decisiones climáticas. Por último, en ocasiones se consideró que la falta de financiación era un desafío clave.Por otro lado, también se compartieron oportunidades que podrían ayudar a desarrollar y usar procesos de anticipación. Una oportunidad interesante es que ambos países cuentan con instituciones públicas y privadas dedicadas a la investigación en cambio climático con experiencia en métodos de prospectiva y predicción. En Guatemala existen el Instituto Privado de Investigación sobre Cambio Climático y la Universidad de San Carlos. También en Guatemala, el Instituto de Agricultura, Recursos Naturales y Ambiente de la Universidad Rafael Landívar (IARNA) cuenta con un instituto especializado en investigación y pronóstico. Las universidades tienen la oportunidad de enseñar técnicas de anticipación a nuevas generaciones de profesionales. Personas académicas y estudiantes pueden realizar investigaciones (aplicadas) sobre una gran variedad de temas y desempeñar un papel vital en la recopilación y análisis de datos en múltiples sectores.Otra oportunidad que se percibió como una contribución positiva a la gobernanza anticipatoria es el enfoque en la participación. Los estudios anticipatorios desarrollados de manera colaborativa (incluidos institutos de investigación, universidades y departamentos gubernamentales) tenían más probabilidades de ser difundidos y utilizados para la formulación de políticas y la toma de decisiones. El Ministerio de Agricultura de Guatemala indicó que recibe bastantes estudios y solo aprueba aquellos que se formulan de manera participativa. Esto incluye la participación de los departamentos gubernamentales en la fase inicial, ya que esto aumenta la aceptación de las recomendaciones.Aquí proporcionamos una lista de prioridades basadas en nuestro análisis para apoyar a los profesionales y tomadores de decisiones que desean ser más conscientes de las formas en que el trabajo de prospectiva puede tener impacto sobre las acciones para futuros más sostenibles en la región.1. Ser más transparentes respecto al modo en que se utiliza la anticipación para guiar las acciones en el presente: quién estuvo involucrado, la metodología, el contenido, los supuestos y las limitaciones. 2. La co-creación de futuros debe comenzar temprano en la fase de diseño: desde la concepción de ideas hasta la implementación de los resultados provenientes de la anticipación de futuros. 3. Informar a los tomadores de decisiones, académicos, profesionales y estudiantes sobre los diferentes enfoques para la gobernanza climática anticipatoria. 4. Construir puentes entre la academia, las ONG, los gobiernos y las organizaciones de investigación para discutir y criticar colectivamente futuros imaginados.ANEXO 2. Lista de participantes del Diálogo Regional EL SALVADOR ","tokenCount":"6381"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5876418241.json b/data/part_1/5876418241.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e29f25aeb78974961ae38c51da1af0049596e540
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5876418241.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"47632504295aa2339a8b6efca4c0f006","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a6a4f54f-a9b7-4401-a476-54259712cefa/retrieve","id":"1023586518"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"26150c41-b974-482e-96b6-b180e7515fb4","pagecount":"54","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.The impacts of relative deprivation, and the economic and status anxieties that accompany it (Melita, Willis and Rodriguez-Bailon, 2021), on support for gender equality in patriarchal societies are theoretically ambiguous and empirically not well understood. For instance, a woman who feels economically worried may not feel that she is able to advocate for women's decision-making authority. Women may revert to traditional views of gender roles in marriage and society, fearful of their husband's and/or societal backlash if they do not defer to men on key decisions and reserve limited economic and leadership opportunities for men. They may seek to ease men's economic stress through increased domestic work and yield space for men's economic advancement and influence. For example, married women in China who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic were often pushed back into traditional family roles rather than pursuing other economic opportunities (Yueping et al., 2021). Unmarried women facing economic insecurity may similarly accept traditional gender roles, seeing marriage-a financial safety net-as more probable if they adhere to traditional gender roles. Yet a lack of economic opportunity may instead make women more supportive of gender equality, particularly opportunities for women's economic participation, with a motive of increasing economic resources for their households to alleviate economic anxieties (Kosec et al., 2021). Similarly, it is unclear whether experiencing economic anxiety increases demand for and perceived benefits from women's leadership and political participation (e.g., vulnerable women are especially keen to have their interests represented) or reduces demand for it (e.g., due to stereotypes that men are better at resolving crises (Rudman et al., 2012)).Understanding the microfoundations of gender equality is economically, socially, and politically important. When spouses have equal access to assets and productive resources, their household is more productive and enjoys higher income (e.g., Deere and Doss, 2006;Goldstein and Udry, 2008;Doss, 2013;Seymour, 2017;Dillon and Voena, 2018). Furthermore, promoting gender equality in political representation increases public expenditures on goods and services women prefer, including childcare (Bratton and Ray, 2002), education (Svaleryd, 2009;Beaman et al., 2012), public health (Clayton and Zetterberg, 2018), and drinking water (Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2004). Gender equality also helps women develop an identity beyond that of wife and mother, which increases their mobility and political participation (Chhibber, 2002).We conducted an original survey experiment in Nepal from February to April 2019 (here-after referred to as the 2019 Nepal Household Survey) to examine whether being subtly primed to feel relatively deprived affects the gender attitudes of 2,011 individuals (1,046 women and 965 men). To generate exogenous variation in individuals' perceptions of their relative economic status, we employed a relative deprivation priming experiment. Half of respondents were randomly assigned to receive a prime designed to cause them to feel relatively economically worse off and half were not, permitting causal interpretations. We exploit this variation to assess how feeling economically insecure, or that one's household is not doing well compared to other households, alters their attitudes toward their role within and outside the household. Our outcomes comprise five gender inequality indices capturing three facets of gender attitudeseconomic, social, and political-obtained from a factor analysis of our pre-registered outcome measures. The first index, \"gendered economic decisions within the household,\" is an economic gender attitudes measure and includes questions on the extent to which women should have control over household income, share household chores, and be able to work outside the home.The second index, \"economic scarcity,\" is also an economic gender attitudes measure and captures attitudes regarding whether men or women should be prioritized for jobs and education opportunities during times of economic scarcity. The third index, \"gendered norms in society,\" is a social gender attitudes measure and includes questions about the perceived value of women obeying their husband, supporting his opinions, and following traditions. The fourth index, \"ideal age for marriage,\" is also a social gender attitudes measure and captures individuals' perceptions of whether a woman should get married at a younger age compared to a man.The last index, \"women in leadership and politics,\" is a political gender attitudes measure and includes questions on whether there should be more women in leadership positions and elected office.We further cross-randomized whether or not respondents were exposed to a brief message read aloud that conveys the need to address gender inequality and the value of egalitarian gender norms-aimed at engendering support for women's empowerment. This second experiment was designed to examine the extent to which a light-touch empowerment narrative might offset or amplify any observable effects of the relative deprivation prime. If we observe that economic status anxiety stemming from subtle shifts in perceptions of relative deprivation negatively influences gender attitudes, might equally subtle messaging in support of gender equality counteract this effect? There is mixed evidence on the potential to boost support for women's empowerment by exposing individuals to egalitarian attitudes and perspectives. For example, Dhar, Jain and Jayachandran (2022) find that engaging adolescent girls and boys in classroom discussions about gender equality in India increased their support for gender equality. But another study in India found that an intervention to empower women and encourage households to have women work outside the home was ineffectual in building support for expanding economic opportunities for women (McKelway, 2021). It remains an empirical question if women's empowerment messaging can counteract any negative effects of experiencing relative deprivation.We find that feeling relatively deprived (i.e., receipt of the relative poverty prime) has a regressive effect on gender attitudes of both women and men. Feeling relatively deprived makes women significantly less likely to support egalitarian economic decision-making within the household. However, we do not observe robust changes in their social or political gender attitudes. These effects are concentrated among married women, suggesting the importance of marital dynamics when considering beliefs and views on gender. They are also driven by women engaged in paid work, which-as Kandiyoti (1988) argues-may be working women's attempt to compensate for violating a gender norm (that men but not women work outside the home). Our women's empowerment message does little to alter women's beliefs regarding traditional gender roles or to attenuate the negative effects of the relative deprivation prime on support for egalitarian economic decision-making within the household. Among men, the relative deprivation prime reduces men's support for providing more jobs and education opportunities for women over men in times of economic insecurity. However, women's empowerment message offsets these effects among men. Light-touch intervention such as messaging can help counteract the deleterious effects of economic inequality on men's support for women's empowerment, but more intensive, institutional arrangements are necessary to reduce (both real and perceived) risks women face in times of economic uncertainty.We use \"relative deprivation\" and \"relative poverty\" interchangeably to reference an individual's perception that their economic standing is lower than that of others in their community (Kosec and Mo, 2023). Theories pertaining to relative deprivation show that comparison to oth-ers affects individuals' perceptions of their income and achievements (Crosby, 1976;Walker and Smith, 2002). Perceptions of relative deprivation influence risk tolerance, political engagement, and attitudes towards government performance (Fair et al., 2018;Healy, Kosec and Mo, 2017;Mo, 2018). Our study builds on this literature by considering as outcomes an expansive set of gender equality attitudes, with critical implications for women's voice and influence at all levels.Among women in patriarchal societies, there are several possible affective responses to perceived relative deprivation. Women may believe that feeling relatively deprived could trigger a status threat to men in their household (Inglehart and Flanagan, 1987;Andersen and Fetner, 2008;Morgan and Buice, 2013), and that this may increase men's competitiveness, frustration, or violence. In response, women may revert to traditional views of gender roles out of fear of backlash from male members of their household. For example, women may feel that increasing their domestic work load can help keep the peace, by easing men's stress and yielding space for men to generate income. This evokes the \"patriarchal bargain\" described by (Kandiyoti, 1988)-the strategies women employ to gain security and autonomy in a patriarchal system.Additionally, women may value women's access to opportunities less when opportunities are scarcer because this triggers the salience of men losing out to women. Women can also be more susceptible to self-doubt (Vaughn, Taasoobshirazi and Johnson, 2020); this could lead them, in times of economic anxiety and thus higher stakes, to prefer traditional gender roles whereby their husbands specialize in income generation and decision-making. Such behaviors are costly, as household welfare improves when deferring to the most knowledgeable person to make a decision, rather than allowing gender norms to dictate the decision-maker (Bernard et al., 2020).Men in patriarchal systems may experience a status threat in response to relative deprivation, which may translate into more regressive gender attitudes. This affective response is rooted in discomfort from perceived loss of control or prestige. It could lead them to exploit existing power asymmetries (e.g., their greater physical strength or social capital) to combat gender equality and reserve limited economic opportunities for men. Because of this, some scholars argue that women risk domestic violence when they participate economically in a context of limited opportunities, or assert their autonomy in a socially conservative context (Koenig et al., 2003;Krishnan et al., 2010).At the same time, a lack of economic opportunity may simultaneously make both women and men in patriarchal systems more inclined to support women's equal economic participationone facet of gender equality-in order to increase economic resources and alleviate economic anxieties (Kosec et al., 2021). Household income increases when women add to it.How women respond in times of relative deprivation may depend upon whether they have experience earning income. Iversen, Rosenbluth and Rosenbluth (2010) note that being more educated and living in an area with higher demand for female labor make a woman better able to pass housework onto her husband. Blaydes and Linzer (2008), studying drivers of support for fundamental Islam, similarly underscore how providing women with access to economic opportunities allows women to have financial security outside marriage, thus making women less likely to embrace conservative values (embracing them usually improves marriage prospects).There is similarly theoretical ambiguity about the effects of experiencing relative economic deprivation on support for women's participation in leadership and politics. On the one hand, it may increase the perceived benefits for women, for whom economic anxiety raises the stakes and increases the desire to have their interests represented. On the other hand, economic anxiety might reduce demand for female leadership if it triggers preferences for male leadership amid stereotypes favoring male leaders (e.g., perceptions that men are stronger leaders and betterversed in the economy and finances) (Huddy and Terkildsen, 1993). This ambiguity motivates our experimental design and analysis.Economic, social, and political gender inequalities are deeply rooted in Nepal's laws, and in the norms and practices of Nepali society. Nepal's 2015 Constitution guarantees gender equality in all spheres of life, including in education, work, and wages. Quotas guarantee female political representation at various levels of government (Asian Development Bank, 2020). Yet a number of formal policies pose significant obstacles to gender equality. For instance, the Constitution only allows men to pass citizenship on to their children or foreign-born spouses (Grossman-Thompson and Dennis, 2017, 802). Nepali laws also discriminate against women in terms of inheritance rights, property ownership, and legal claims-making (Kunreuther, 2009). By some accounts, this situation is worsening over time (Grossman-Thompson, 2019).Beyond formal laws, Nepal is a patriarchal society with pervasive economic, social, and political gender inequality and discriminatory norms. Women are discouraged from engaging in wage-earning activities, and urged to focus their attention on child-rearing and household chores (Asian Development Bank, 2020). They are perceived to be temporary members of their families of origin, joining their husband's family upon marriage (Bennett, 1983). In contrast, sons are considered permanent family members-often making them the targets of family investments (Grossman-Thompson and Dennis, 2017, 800). Menstruation is deeply stigmatized, and in some parts of the country, menstruating women are (illegally) sequestered in an isolated shed (Adhikari, 2020).Viewed comparatively, Nepal ranks low in the 2020 Global Gender Gap Index rankings (101st out of 153 countries) (World Economic Forum, 2020). They have worse health (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 157), literacy (while 10% of men are illiterate, 33% of women are) (Asian Development Bank, 2020, 9), and employment outcomes (for every 100 employed men, there are only 59 employed women, and the average monthly income for a woman is about 30% lower than that of a man) (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 76). Gender-based violence is also a serious problem in Nepal. Indeed, 48% of Nepali women report having experienced violence, and 27% report having experienced physical violence (Khatri Chhetri, 2020). These are likely underestimates given stigmatization of reporting abuse (Asian Development Bank, 2020).Men and women also hold regressive expectations about women's submission to authority and modesty, with only about 27% of people harboring gender egalitarian standards in this regard (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 137-139).In the home, women in Nepal participate less in decision-making than men, have limited control over resources, and experience limits to their freedom of movement (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 142;Asian Development Bank, 2020, 7). Alarmingly, women's decisionmaking power in these realms appears to have decreased from 2011 to 2016 (International Organisation for Migration, 2019, 107). In line with these findings, the NSIS (Nepal Social Inclusion Survey) found a decline in women's participation in economic decision-making, such as women who can decide on disposal of self-earned income (76% in 2012 versus 60% in 2018) and women who can decide on selling their own land and other assets (25% in 2012 and 11% in 2018) (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, xxii).By some measures, Nepalis hold relatively gender egalitarian views about economic roles.Over 70% of men and women disagree with the following three statements: women should not pursue outside employment if the household economic conditions are better; when women work (outside the home for cash), they are taking jobs away from men; and it is shameful if a wife earns more than her husband (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 137). Further, Nepal has a gender parity index, the ratio of the number of female students enrolled in school to the number of male students, of 0.95 for school and college attendance (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, 136).Women are also more involved in local organizations than men (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020)  (Shah, 2004;Pradhan, 2011). Women have also became more likely to be: consulted on (or decide on) their marriage (61% in 2012; 75% in 2018); consulted on the number of children to have (53% in 2012; 86% in 2018); allowed to go to the local market without permission (64% in 2012; 87% in 2018); allowed to go to their parents' home without permission (47% in 2012; 79% in 2018); and allowed to attend formal meetings without permission (37% in 2012; 67% in 2018) (Gurung, Pradhan and Shakya, 2020, xxi). Amid this picture of major strides in gender attitudes despite large gaps in women's empowerment, Nepal is a prime location in which to explore how gender attitudes in patriarchal systems may be altered in response to growing feelings of relative economic deprivation.We conducted a household survey in Nepal between February 9, 2019 and April 1, 2019;  To assess the effects of relative deprivation, we leverage a relative poverty prime that Mo (2018) employed to study the effects of perceived relative deprivation on political and economic attitudes and behavior. This prime has also been studied in Pakistan (Healy, Kosec and Mo, 2017;Fair et al., 2018) and Papua New Guinea (Kosec et al., 2021). Half of respondents were randomly assigned to receive a question priming them to feel relatively poor-hereafter, the \"relative poverty prime\" group. 3 The remainder received an alternative priming question, designed to frame their household's income comparatively neutrally or positively-hereafter, the \"no poverty prime\" group. Specifically, we asked all respondents the following question:\"Income is the amount of cash income you earn from all agricultural and non-agricultural activities, the cash value of any crops you produced, and money you receive from governmental or non-governmental programs. How much income did your family earn last month?\" We then randomly assigned respondents to receive one of two sets of response options (see Table 2).The logic of this prime derives from previous research showing that response options cue respondents about what are expected, or typical responses (e.g. Courneya et al., 2003;Menon, Raghubir and Schwarz, 1997;Rockwood, Sangster and Dillman, 1997;Schwarz et al., 1985). In this case, respondents would generally assume that the five response options were purposely created so that the middle option (i.e., response option 3) is most typical. Thus, receipt of the relative poverty prime should induce respondents to feel as if their income is relatively low, and those assigned to the no poverty prime condition to feel it is typical or higher. For instance, someone whose family makes NRs 7,000 per month would choose response option 1 if assigned to the relative poverty prime condition, but response option 3 if not, affecting how they perceive their relative income status. 4Additionally, we conducted a cross-randomized messaging experiment where respondents were randomly assigned to one of four message conditions. A control group was not read any message. A \"pure treatment group\" was read a statement that both describes the disadvantages women face and underscores that many people want to bring about gender equality. Two additional groups received the same message as the pure treatment group, in addition to one more sentence. For the \"less threatening treatment condition group,\" the additional sentence was designed to make respondents feel that women's advancement can also benefit men. For the \"more threatening treatment condition group,\" the additional sentence noted that many people support employers in Nepal using policies and programs to remove barriers to women's employment and \"leveling the playing field.\" This message was designed to make gender equality more threatening to men by evoking competition. Table 3 shares these narratives. 4 The prime worked as intended from the perspective of income bin choice. In our sample of 2,011 respondents, 1,047 (52.1%) were assigned to the relative poverty prime group. Among individuals assigned to the no poverty prime group, 9.02% selected response option 1, 14.21% selected option 2, 5.60% selected option 3, 14.94% selected option 4, 53.63% selected option 5, and 2.59% did not respond. Among individuals assigned to the relative poverty prime group, 60.55% selected option 1, 27.41% selected option 2, 6.97% selected option 3, 1.62% selected option 4, 1.24% selected option 5, and 2.19% did not respond. \"We are now going to discuss some questions regarding your world view. Note that there are no right or wrong answers, and we value your perspective. Some people say that women are often treated as inferior to men in Nepal, both within the home and by their community. Women are taught to defer to men. They are also taught to put their needs and wishes behind those of others at home and in the workplace, which reduces their self-worth and limits their ability to progress in life. Some people say this standard of behavior should change and women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. They say that women should belong in all places where decisions are being made, and that their involvement will benefit society. They say that girls should grow up being told that they are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity given to men. This is important for a society to advance.\" Less Threatening Treatment Condition Text in the \"pure treatment condition\" narrative + \"They also say that gender equality is good for both men and women in Nepal, as it can ease the economic burden felt by men to support their families, can bring more money and prosperity to the household and community, and removes gender stereotypes that rob men of opportunities to participate in family life.\" More Threatening Treatment Condition Text in the \"pure treatment condition\" narrative + \"They also say that employers in Nepal should level the playing field, and initiate policies and programs that better support women, remove barriers for women, and encourage women to apply for employment.\" Source: 2019 Nepal Household SurveyOur main outcome measures capture economic, social, and political gender equality. They comprise five indices constructed using principal components factor analyses. First, we conducted a principal components factor analysis using five questions capturing gender attitudes on the economic dimension; this resulted in two factors with eigenvalues higher than 1 (a common threshold (Kaiser, 1960)). We then conducted a principal components factor analysis using nine questions capturing non-economic dimensions of gender attitudes (social and political); this resulted in three factors with eigenvalues higher than 1. 5As noted, questions related to the economic domain yielded two factors. We refer to the first as a measure of \"gendered economic decisions within the household;\" three measures load most heavily on it, including whether women should be able to work outside the home (factor loading = 0.707), have equal control over income that her household earns (factor loading = 0.717), and share household chores equally with men (factor loading = 0.706). 6 We refer to the second factor as a measure of \"economic scarcity,\" as it measures gender attitudes in times of economic scarcity. Two measures load most heavily on it: beliefs that men should be prioritized over women when jobs are scarce (factor loading = 0.852) and beliefs that boys should have more education than girls when money is scarce (factor loading = 0.855). 7Questions related to the non-economic domain yielded three factors. For the first of these, hereafter referred to as a measure of \"gendered norms in society,\" the measures that load most heavily include perceptions regarding whether unfair treatment of women is a problem in Nepal (factor loading = 0.253); whether a woman should support her husband's opinions (factor loading = 0.424), follow tradition (factor loading = 0.735), and do what he asks even if she disagrees with him (factor loading = 0.715); whether young women need to follow tradition and behave like their mothers' generation (factor loading = 0.524); and the ideal number of children (factor loading = 0.389). 8 The second of these, hereafter referred to as \"ideal age for 6 Exact question wordings of the measures that load most highly on this factor are: (1) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Women should be able to work outside the home if they want to. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; (2) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Women and men should have equal control over income their household earns. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; and (3) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Men and women should share household chores. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree].7 Exact question wordings of the measures that load most heavily on this factor are: (4) In your opinion, if jobs are scarce, to what extent should they be reserved for men rather than women? (1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4= A little, 5=Not at all); (5) In your opinion, when money is scarce, to what extent should boys have more education than girls? (1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4= A little, 5=Not at all).8 Exact question wordings of the measures that load most heavily on this factor are: ( 6) To what extent is unfair treatment of women a problem in Nepal? (1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4= A little, 5=Not at all);(7) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A good woman always supports her husband's opinions. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; (8) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Every individual should follow tradition, especially women. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; ( 9) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is important for a woman to do what her husband asks, even if she disagrees with marriage,\" has only one measure that loads heavily: individuals' perceptions on the extent to which women should marry at a younger age compared to men (factor loading = 0.771). 9 For the last factor, referred to as \"women in leadership and politics,\" two measures load heavily: whether there should be more women in leadership (factor loading = 0.794) and elected office (factor loading = 0.822) to represent women's interests. 10   Our primary outcomes are these five indices rather than the 14 individual measures, as this mitigates against false positives and nets out measurement error (Ansolabehere, Rodden and Snyder, 2008). However, we also show results using the individual measures. All outcome variables are recoded such that higher values represent more gender egalitarian viewpoints and responses range between 0 and 1, for ease of interpretation. We used these recoded outcomes when conducting factor analysis, and again recoded the factors to range between 0 and 1. 11 Table 4 summarizes outcomes for men and women separately. Men report slightly more gender egalitarian attitudes than women with respect to gendered norms in society (p = 0.050).Women report more gender egalitarian attitudes for outcomes regarding economic decisions within the household (p = 0.000). Women also report more gender egalitarian responses for outcomes related to support for women in leadership positions and politics (p = 0.000).Table 5 summarizes demographic characteristics for our sample. Individuals are, on average, 36 years old, their household earns 26,092 NPR per month, and their household spends him. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; (10) In your opinion, to what extent is it important for young women to abide by traditions, and behave like their mothers' generation? (1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4= A little, 5=Not at all); and ( 11 9 This measure is the difference between the values of the following question when asked for women vs. for men:In your opinion, what is the ideal age of marriage for a woman (man)? [1=15 and under, 2=16 to 17, 3=18 to 20, 4=21 to 24, 5=25 and over].10 Exact question wordings of the measures that load most heavily on this factor are: (13) \"There should be more women with leadership positions to represent women's interests. [1=Strongly agree, 2=Moderately agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Slightly disagree, 5=Strongly disagree]; and ( 14) \"There should be more women in elected office in government to represent the women of Nepal.\" [1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4=A little, 5=Not at all]. To assess whether the treatments had their intended effects, we developed a set of manipulation check questions; summary statistics for these questions appear in Table 4. For the relative poverty prime, this was straightforward: we expected that those who received the relative poverty prime would feel poorer compared to those who did not. To capture whether we achieved this aim, we asked all respondents: \"In your opinion, compared to others in your community, how poor or rich is your household?\" [1=Much poorer, 2=Moderately poorer, 3=Slightly poorer, 4=Neither poorer nor richer, 5=Slightly richer, 6=Moderately richer, 7=Much richer].For the gender egalitarian message treatment, this was more complicated. On the one hand, all messages start by describing Nepal as a country where women do not have the same economic and social opportunities as men (e.g., \"Women are often treated as inferior to men in Nepal, both within the home and by their community\"). On the other hand, the latter parts of the messages, aimed at arousing support for women's empowerment within and beyond the home, suggest that there are gender champions and feminists in Nepal, offering a positive outlook (e.g., \"Some people say this standard of behavior should change\"). While overall, we would expect the messages-if they have any significant impacts on gender attitudes-to increase support for women's empowerment, it is less clear how they would influence perceptions of the status quo for women's empowerment in Nepal. We pre-specified that we expected that respondents would emerge from the narratives feeling that women do not have the same economic and social opportunities as men. Specifically, we proposed to analyze the question: \"To what extent do women in Nepal have the same economic and social opportunities as men?\" [1=A great deal, 2=A lot, 3=Moderately, 4=A little, 5=Not at all]-where we re-coded responses to range from 0 to 1. However, we realized after registering our pre-analysis plan that it is very hard to identify a \"manipulation check\" for a treatment whose singular purpose is to shift gender attitudes, and which likely has an ambiguous impact on perceptions of prevailing gender norms. Thus, while it makes sense to check for effects of receiving the women's empowerment narrative on gender attitudes, it is unclear what other impacts it should have. We accordingly analyze effects of the women's empowerment narrative on our pre-registered manipulation check question, but underscore the theoretical ambiguity regarding how it might be affected.We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to estimate the effect of being exposed to a narrative espousing gender egalitarian views, the effect of the relative poverty prime, and their interactive effects. When testing for treatment effects, we tested the following fully-saturated, \"long\" model (Muralidharan, Romero and Wüthrich, 2023):where i indexes individuals, k index the Village Development Committee (hereafter VDC), and j indexes the enumerator. P ijk is an indicator for respondent i receiving the poverty prime and M ijk is an indicator for respondent i receiving a gender egalitarian message. 12 X ijk is a vector of individual-level controls to improve the precision of estimates. 13 E j are enumerator fixed effects for enumerator j, V k are VDC fixed effects, and ϵ ijk is the error term. We consider specifications with and without controls (X ijk , E j , and V k ). The outcome, A ijk , is as described the sub-section on Outcome Measures. Given the possibility that women and men will respond differently to our treatments, we estimate specifications for the full population and for men and women separately.Balance Tests and Manipulation Checks Two tests reveal that our relative deprivation treatment worked as intended. First, the relative deprivation prime caused individuals to choose a lower income bracket to describe their household income (brackets range from 1 through 5, and are increasing with income). Whether we omit or include our control set (see columns 1 and 3 of Table 6, respectively), the relative deprivation prime translates into the respondent being over two brackets (β = 2.40) lower-a result that is statistically significant at the 0.01 level in both cases. We find no evidence that the prime affects women differently than men, whether controls are excluded (β = 0.005; p = the \"more threatening\"gender egalitarian message. We registered in the pre-analysis plan that we will pool the conditions if there is no evidence of each of the messages having differential effects-which was the case.13 These are specified in our pre-analysis plan: age, education, ethnicity, religious identification (Hindu and Buddhist), number of children, household income, access to food, and household expenditures.0.959; see column 2 of Table 6) or included (β = -0.114; p = 0.219; see column 4 of Table 6). Second, the relative deprivation prime depressed individuals' subjective sense of their relative economic status in their community (see Table 7). Specifically, we observe a 0.153 unit (about a 0.098 standard deviation (S.D.)) decline in our measure of subjective economic status when we do not include controls (p = 0.029; see column 1) and a 0.162 (or 0.104 S.D.) decline when we do (p = 0.014; see column 3). Moreover, with or without controls, we cannot reject the null hypothesis that the prime had the same impact on women and men (in columns 2 and 4, p-values on the interaction between the prime and gender are 0.276 and 0.407, respectively).None of the messages led to thinking that women currently have worse economic and social opportunities than men (see bottom panel of Table A.4 in Appendix B); similar findings hold when we pool the three messaging treatment conditions together (see top panel). If anything, we find evidence-driven primarily by women respondents-that the messages actually led people to be more likely to believe that women in Nepal have the same economic and social opportunities as men. This suggests that, at least for women, the more salient aspects of the empowerment narratives were the positive comments in the latter half, indicating that there exist many people who want to overturn the poor existing conditions of women and give them equal rights and opportunities. This finding contextualizes the empowerment narrative as not only a text aimed at reducing regressive gender norms (which we test later in this session), but one which, at least for women, evokes perceptions that conditions for women are better.We begin by assessing the effect of feelings of relative deprivation on economic gender equality. Analyzing our gendered economic decisions within the household index, we observe a 3.5-4.5 percentage point (p = 0.004 − 0.029) decline among women who received the relative deprivation prime (see the second panel of columns ( 1)-(2) of Table 8). This effect reflects a 0.270-0.346 S.D. 15 decline in the degree to which women's attitudes with respect to women's economic empowerment within the household are egalitarian. We see no such pattern among men (β P rime = −0.003 − 0.013, p = 0.448 − 0.863; see the bottom panel of columns ( 1)-( 2) of Table 8). 16 In other words, while women revert to more traditional views of gender roles in the 15 Specifically, 0.035 (0.045) is 27% (34.6%) of 0.129, the standard deviation (S.D.) of the index on gendered economic decisions for our sample of women respondents. All of the effect sizes in S.D. presented in this section are calculated by dividing the coefficient by the S.D. of the sample considered in each respective regression model.household in response to the relative deprivation prime, men's attitudes do not shift.The effect of women's empowerment messaging on those who have not been poverty primed has no effects on gendered views related to economic decision-making within the household for either women (β M essage = −0.004 − 0.001, p = 0.672 − 0.928; see the second panel of columns(1)-( 2) of Table 8) or men (β M essage = −0.003 − 0.023, p = 0.136 − 0.840; see the bottom panel, columns (1)-( 2) of Table 8). Further, receipt of the message neither attenuates nor buttresses the negative effect of the relative deprivation prime on women (β P rimeXM essage = 0.008 − 0.016, p = 0.374 − 0.686; see the second panel of columns ( 1)-( 2) of Table 8) and on men (β P rimeXM essage = −0.011 − 0.016, p = 0.452 − 0.603; see the bottom panel of columns ( 1)-( 2)of Table 8).Considering the economic scarcity index, we observe that the relative deprivation prime has no effect on this measure among women who did not receive the empowerment message. 17In other words, the prime does not affect all aspects of gendered economic attitudes for women; their views on whether labor and education opportunities should prioritize men and boys are not affected by the prime (β P rime = −0.020 − 0.002, p = 0.423 − 0.918; see the second panel of columns ( 3)-( 4) of Table 8), and nor are the effects of the prime moderated by the women's empowerment messaging. 18In contrast, the relative poverty prime affects men's views on our economic scarcity measure, and these effects also vary with whether or not men are read the empowerment message. The relative deprivation prime has a regressive effect on the economic scarcity index among men.We observe a 4.5 -5.8 percentage point shift (p = 0.019 − 0.064; see the bottom panel of columns ( 3)-(4) of Table 8). While feelings of relative deprivation cause women to revert to traditional views of gender with regards to how decisions should be made within the household, feelings of relative deprivation cause men to revert to traditional views of gender with regards to how scarce economic opportunities should be allocated. For men, receipt of a message absent receipt of the deprivation prime translates to null effects on the economic scarcity index  8). However, receipt of a message emphasizing the importance of gender equality attenuates the negative effect stemming from the relative deprivation on the economic scarcity index (β P rimeXM essage = 0.051 − 0.053, p = 0.074; see the bottom panel of columns ( 3)-( 4) of Table 8). In other words, we observe no shift in attitudes regarding economic scarcity among men who received both the relative deprivation prime and a gender egalitarian message; whereas, we observe a negative shift among men who received only the relative deprivation prime.For both men and women, the relative deprivation prime and the message have null effects on our gendered norms in society index (Table 9, columns (1)-( 2)) and on our ideal age for marriage index (Table 9, columns (3)-( 4)). Here, we observe null effects of the prime and the message, as well as their interaction. Thus, impacts we observe in the economic domain do not appear to extend to the social domain. 19   Finally, when we look at impacts on our women in leadership and politics index, among women, we observe no substantive or statistically significant shift in their support due to receiving the relative deprivation prime (p = 0.825 − 0.946; see columns ( 5)-( 6) of the second panel of Table 9). 20 We similarly see a negligible shift stemming from the message (p = 0.659 − 0.775; see columns ( 5)-( 6) of the second panel of Table 9); in short, for women, neither the prime, nor the message, nor their interaction matter for their views of women in leadership and politics.Among men, however, we observe a different pattern. We see a 2.8 -3.3 percentage point decline in support for women in leadership and politics due to the relative deprivation prime (p = 0.094 − 0.165; see columns ( 5)-( 6) of the bottom panel of Table 9). As observed with our economic scarcity measure, while receipt of our gender egalitarian message has no effect in the absence of the relative deprivation prime (p = 0.456 − 0.785; see columns ( 5)-( 6) of the second panel of Table 9), the message does attenuate the negative effect of the relative deprivation prime (p = 0.078 − 0.104; see columns ( 5)-( 6) of the bottom panel of Table 9). While these noted effects are statistically meaningful only when we include covariates, as the inclusion of covariates adjust for treatment imbalance and helps with statistical precision, the observed patterns remain noteworthy.19 For results with individual component measures of the gendered norms in society index and ideal age for marriage index, see Tables A.8 and A.9, respectively.20 For results with individual component measures of the women in leadership and politics index, see Table A.10. Given the observed treatment effects of the relative deprivation prime on measures pertaining to economic decisions within the household, economic scarcity, and support for women in leadership and politics, we focus on these three measures in our assessment of whether there may be heterogeneous treatment effects. We consider whether treatment effects on these measures differ by marital status, engagement in paid work, and age. 21 We find that the main effects that we documented above are more pronounced among married individuals and those engaged paid work. With regards to age, the effects we documented above among women are stronger among younger women, and the effects we documented above among men are stronger among older men.We observed that the deprivation prime had a regressive effect on women's views on decision-making within the household. The decision-making autonomy of married women (80.31% of our female sample) may differ from that of unmarried women given the very different relationships between women and men that marriage brings on. We observe that-even when we control for age and a number of demographic characteristics-married women are more sensitive to the relative deprivation prime than are unmarried women (see columns ( 1)-( 2) of Table 10). Married women experience statistically significant negative impacts of the prime on the degree to which they express egalitarian views of women's roles in decision-making within the household (β = −0.038; p = 0.044; see top panel column 1 of Table 10); in contrast, these effects are statistically insignificant, positive, and near zero for unmarried women (β = −0.008; p = 0.853; see top panel column 2 of Table 10). 22 When assessing the effect of the relative poverty prime among married men (75.85% of our male sample), as opposed to unmarried men, we observe no heterogeneity (see column ( 1) and (2) in the bottom panel of Table 10).Next, we examine whether there is heterogeneity in the effect of the deprivation prime on the economic decisions within the household index by work status. In our sample, 64.72%21 While we pre-registered our intent to look at heterogeneous treatment effects by age, we did not pre-register that we will examine heterogeneous treatment effects by marital status or work status. However, we include these results, as they are theoretically relevant and can inform future research.22 The difference in the treatment effect of the deprivation prime for married and unmarried women is not statistically significant (β = −0.046; p = 0.257; see column 1 of Table A.11 in Appendix D). While we are powered to detect overall treatment effects, we are not statistically powered to detect heterogeneous treatment effects.  10). In contrast, we find that the effects are null among women who are not earning income (β = −0.011, p = 0.715; see top panel column (4) of Table 10)-indicating that, if anything, working women are driving the observed results. These results provide some suggestive evidence that rather than making nonworking women become more deferential to men with respect to economic decisions within the household, the deprivation prime is making women who are already violating a gendered norm (by working outside of the home for pay) feel the need to cede economic power in the household. This is theoretically consistent with Kandiyoti (1988, p.283)'s argument that working women in patriarchal settings will be more likely to adopt intense traditional modesty markers, such as veiling, to signal that they are worthy of protection. With that said, we fail to reject the null that the relative deprivation prime has the same effect on women who are working and not working. 23 The relative deprivation prime does not have statistically meaningful effects on either working or non-working men's views regarding gendered economic decisions within the household (see bottom panel columns ( 3)-( 4) in Table 10).  10). We see no such effect among older men (see bottom panel column (5) of Table 10). However, as we observed with women, this difference is not statistically meaningful (p = 0.336; see column (7) of Table A.12 in Appendix D). Now, we turn to the second economic measure: views on how to allocate education and labor opportunities when those opportunities are scarce (Table 11). We observe that the effect of the relative deprivation prime and the attenuating effect of the message we observed with the full male sample is more robust in our married male sample (β prime,marriedmen = −0.059, p = 0.023; β primexmessage,marriedmen = 0.076, p = 0.017; β prime,unmarriedmen = −0.048, p = 0.454; β primexmessage,unmarriedmen = 0.024, p = 0.744; see bottom panel columns ( 1)-( 2) of Table 11). However, the differences in the effects of the prime and the interaction were not statistically significant across the two sub-populations (p prime = 0.845 and p primeXmessage = 0.472; see column (2) of Table A.12 in Appendix D). We observe a similar pattern when we compare men engaged in paid work with men who are not. The effect of the deprivation prime and the attenuating effect of the message we observed with the full male sample are more robust among men engaging in paid work (β prime,workingmen = −0.046, p = 0.088;β primexmessage,workingmen = 0.047, p = 0.138; β prime,non−workingmen = −0.002, p = 0.985;β primexmessage,non−workingmen = 0.018, p = 0.874; see columns (3)-( 4) in the bottom panel of Table 11). However, the differences between the two samples are, again, not statistically meaningful (p prime = 0.594 and p primeXmessage = 0.762; see column (5) of Table A.12 in Appendix D).When we consider men by age group, we do not observe any differences in the effect of the deprivation prime by age; however, the attenuating effect of the message (β primeXmessage = 0.071, p = 0.069; see column (5) of Table 11) is more pronounced among older men than among younger men (though the difference is not statistically meaningful).Lastly, we examine whether there are any heterogeneous treatment effects by marital status, working status, and age group in regards to attitudes toward women in leadership and politics.Results are presented in Table 12. We highlight a few findings. Among men, we find that the negative effect of the deprivation prime on support for women in leadership and politics we observed among men in the full sample is driven by men who are engaged in paid work. These men reduce their support for women in leadership by 4.7 percentage points upon receipt of the prime (p = 0.025; see bottom panel column (3) of Table 12). The difference in effect between working men and non-working men is statistically meaningful (p = 0.053; see column (6) of Table A.12 in Appendix D). Importantly, we also find that women's empowerment messaging counteracts this effect among men engaged in paid work (β = 0.066; p = 0.011; see bottom panel column (3) of Table 12). We also see that the attenuating effect of the message is more pronounced among married men and older men (see columns (1) and ( 5) of Table 12).This study contributes novel experimental evidence from 2,011 adults in Nepal on how perceptions of one's relative economic status influence economic, social, and political aspects of gender attitudes. It leverages a priming experiment intended to subtly lead half of respondents to feel that their household's income is relatively low, which we refer to as priming relative deprivation, while others are left feeling their income is relatively typical or above-average.We find that increased feelings of relative deprivation make women significantly less likely to support gender egalitarian attitudes with respect to economic decisions within the household.Women decrease their support for women making decisions over household expenditures, hav-ing equal control over household income, sharing household chores, and women working outside the home. However, there are no meaningful changes in views regarding prioritizing economic opportunities for girls and women, societal gender norms, or support for greater leadership and political representation of women-indicating that feelings of relative deprivation do not necessarily shift attitudes with regards to gender equality in all domains. Randomized statements read to respondents and aiming to increase support for women's empowerment (i.e., women's empowerment messaging) does not attenuate these negative effects on women's support for women's involvement in economic decision-making. Men primed to feel relatively deprived are unmoved when it comes to economic decisions within the household, but become more protective of securing jobs for men and prioritizing education for boys over girls and less supportive of women in positions of leadership. However, for men, women's empowerment messaging nullifies these effects, signifying that messages can help deter the negative effects of the salience of inequality among men.Our findings are particularly important because feelings of relative deprivation are not rare events. For example, Krishna (2007) highlights how absolute measures of the share of the population living in poverty mask the dynamism of poverty, whereby at any given time, large numbers of people are escaping from poverty and falling into it simultaneously. With such income volatility and the fact that one need not be impoverished to feel relatively deprived, changes in perceptions of relative income like those our priming experiment elicits are likely to be common. Our results provide suggestive evidence that among populations feeling relatively deprived, regressive gender norms may take hold; light-touch efforts to spur support for women's empowerment may counter these attitudes among men, while women may require more intensive interventions (e.g., potentially trainings focused on increasing women's aspirations beyond the home, or directly improving their economic opportunities or education levels, along with safeguards against violence and other forms of backlash that may arise against women when they are seen as violating existing norms).That the shifts in gender attitudes of women are confined to women's roles pertaining to economic decisions within the home suggests that these results stem from what women suspect will be the effect of relative deprivation on their husbands or other men in their household.Concerns around efficiency gains-thoughts on how best to save money-might be driving women to revert to traditional views of household division of labor. Affective considerationswomen's willingness to take on more in the home in order to reduce the stress levels of men in their household tied to economic insecurity-may also be driving such reversions. Regardless of the possible mechanisms driving this backsliding, we find strong evidence showing that women appear to be willing to cede more economic decision-making power to men in their household in times of economic stress. Furthermore, we find that these effects are primarily driven by married women and women engaging in the labor force. A possible implication of this is that rising inequality, and subsequent feelings of relative deprivation, may cause a further setback in women's economic empowerment.Interestingly, men's gender norms in multiple domains (i.e., not only economic, but also political) may be affected by feelings of relative deprivation. However, it is very interesting that the creep of regressive gender norms among men is so responsive to a light-touch intervention aimed at bringing about support for gender equaltion (i.e., the women's empowerment messages). This suggests that women's attitudes, as opposed to men's attitudes may be hardest to influence positively amid economic setbacks which result in feelings of relative deprivation.However, one cannot rule out the possibility that men may be more prone to social desirability bias after hearing messages of women's empowerment. As such, further research is needed to assess whether the attenuating effect of the messages is real.Our results provide a valuable contribution to the extensive literature on the drivers of women's equality and advancement and the drivers of greater gender inequality. Positive drivers include, for example, providing women with useful information and resources (Roy et al., 2015;Valdivia, 2015), creating new educational opportunities for girls (Geddes and Lueck, 2002;Spohr, 2003), raising women's aspirations (Kosec et al., 2022), and enacting legal reforms that strengthen women's inheritance rights and reserve political seats for them (Beaman et al., 2012;Bhalotra, Brulé and Roy, 2020;Bose and Das, 2017). Family coaching (Ismayilova et al., 2018) and couples' training (Gupta et al., 2013; O'Sullivan, Jones and Ambler, 2019) programs focused on gender equality have also proven effective at shifting harmful gender norms. Our results reveal that beyond programs and policies, feelings of relative deprivation can lead women to cede power over economic decisions within the household, thereby undoing some of the progress due to programmatic and policy investments. And they can further lead men to wish to be less supportive of women in politics and public life.  Below we describe the two measures we pre-registered that are excluded from the main text. Our rationale for excluding these measures is the fact that \"should\" was translated to \"do.\" As such, while we were attempting to measure attitudes regarding how women and men should behave, the questions that were asked were about how women and men actually behave.1. Perceptions of gender equity and norms pertaining to women's decision-making authority:  Notes: Standard errors are in parentheses. We control for a wide-range of individual-level characteristics (see footnote 13 for a list of all covariates). Interactions refer to the interaction between experimental conditions (i.e., deprivation prime, message, or the combination of the two) with the moderators of interest, including a dummy indicating whether one is married (columns 1-3), a dummy indicating whether one is engaged in paid work (columns 4-6), and a dummy indicating whether one is at least 36 years old (columns 7-9). These interactions show whether the effect of each experimental condition varies by these three moderators. Notes: Standard errors are in parentheses. We control for a wide-range of individual-level characteristics (see footnote 13 for a list of all covariates). Interactions refer to the interaction between experimental conditions (i.e., deprivation prime, message, or the combination of the two) with the moderators of interest, including a dummy indicating whether one is married (columns 1-3), a dummy indicating whether one is engaged in paid work (columns 4-6), and a dummy indicating whether one is at least 36 years old (columns 7-9). These interactions show whether the effect of each experimental condition varies by these three moderators. ","tokenCount":"8926"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5902816296.json b/data/part_1/5902816296.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9b2b8c4862b74283a85c366fe4dcf0474f99ca85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5902816296.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e8a3a9fb06f17139a4a52bf56d08a533","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c39fed0f-907d-40d7-bd4f-b408695a1e23/retrieve","id":"-789874888"},"keywords":["maize","drought stress","heterosis","heterotic group","heterotic pattern","genetic distance"],"sieverID":"d2bd54bd-28bb-4604-945d-a5fd2d523215","pagecount":"15","content":"Understanding the heterosis in multiple environments between different heterotic groups is of fundamental importance in successful maize breeding. A total of 737 hybrids derived from 41 maize inbreds were evaluated over two years, with the aim of assessing the genetic diversity and their performance between heterotic groups under drought-stressed (DS) and well-watered (WW) treatments. A total of 38 737 SNPs were employed to assess the genetic diversity. The genetic distance (GD) between the parents ranged from 0.05 to 0.74, and the 41 inbreds were classified into five heterotic groups. According to the hybrid performance (high yield and early maturity between heterotic groups), the heterosis and heterotic patterns of Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS)×Non-Stiff Stalk (NSS), NSS×Sipingtou (SPT) and BSSS×SPT were identified to be useful options in China's maize breeding. The relative importance of general and specific combining abilities (GCA and SCA) suggests the importance of the additive genetic effects for grain yield traits under the WW treatment, but the non-additive effects under the DS treatment. At least one of the parental lines with drought tolerance and a high GCA effect would be required to achieve the ideal hybrid performance under drought conditions. GD showed a positive correlation with yield and yield heterosis in within-group hybrids over a certain range of GD. The present investigation suggests that the heterosis is due to the combined accumulation of superior genes/alleles in parents and the optimal genetic distance between parents, and that yield heterosis under DS treatment was mainly determined by the non-additive effects.Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the oldest domesticated crop species in the world, and it is also an important feedstock and industrial raw material (Makumbi et al. 2018;Yang et al. 2021). As the demand for maize continues to increase, expanding its production is an urgent challenge. Since 2007, maize planting area and total grain output have ranked first in China (FAO 2019). Chinese maize germplasms have been introduced from different regions and countries, and breeding projects in China have always integrated local varieties and exotic germplasm to broaden the germplasm resources. However, there is no complete record of the entire selection process (Zhang et al. 2016(Zhang et al. , 2017)). Based on these considerations, an in-depth understanding of maize germplasm in China, including the genetic relationships and heterotic patterns, is very important (Choukan et al. 2006;Zhang et al. 2018), particularly through highthroughput SNP genotyping.Drought has always been one of the major stresses that affect plant growth and reduce crop production (Toker et al. 2007;Hu and Xiong 2014), and it is most recalcitrant to breeding. Even in the areas with sufficient rainfall for maize production, intermittent drought is almost certain to occur during one or more plant growth stages, especially during the most sensitive flowering and grain filling phase (Menkir and Akintunde 2001;Oyekunle et al. 2015). While drought limits the crop growth and ultimate performance at any stage, it can decrease grain yields by up to 17% and reduce the average yield by more than 90% when severe stress coincides with the flowering and grain-filling stages (NeSmith and Ritchie 1992). Located in the center of Eurasia, Xinjiang is a typical arid and semi-arid farming region in China, with an average annual precipitation of about 150 mm. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for breeding maize with enhanced tolerance to drought and improved yield in water-deficient environments.Generally, maize germplasm in China can be assigned to eight heterotic groups: Lancaster, Reid, Iowa Experiment Station Reid Yellow Dent (Iodent), Lvda Red Cob (LRC), Sipintou (SPT), group A germplasm derived from modern US hybrids (PA), group B germplasm derived from modern US hybrids (PB), and Tropical (Xie et al. 2007;Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016Zhang et al. , 2018;;Xu et al. 2017). The Reid group primarily originated from the US southern dent type, while the Lancaster group originated from the US northern flint type. This difference in geographical origin laid the foundation for the heterosis observed between these two groups (Troyer and Palmer 2006). Aiming at early maturity and yield traits, Iodent was successfully selected from the openpollinated varieties of Reid Yellow Dent lines by ear-to-row selection (Smith et al. 2004). With the development of the commercial breeding process, the heterotic groups in US have undergone great changes. The Reid group was gradually replaced by the Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS) germplasm, thus establishing a female parent bank with BSSS as the main germplasm. On the contrary, the other germplasm was merged into Non-Stiff Stalk (NSS) as a paternal group (Mikel et al. 2008(Mikel et al. , 2011)). The SPT group was bred from Tangshan Sipingtou Chinese landrace, which initiated a large-scale cultivation of compact maize in China. The PB group was derived from modern US hybrids, including 78599, 78641, 78698, and 87001, containing tropical and subtropical genetic germplasm, and has the advantages of good greenness, mature living culm, strong culm, resistance to leaf spot and stem rot, etc.The exploitation of heterotic patterns provides a vital source of information for hybrid breeding (Laude et al. 2015). Although the genetic gain of maize inbred lines is the primary focus, breeders often want to produce superior performance of hybrids when one line is crossed with another from a different group (Ertiro et al. 2017). However, this does not necessarily imply that all hybrids produced between parents of different heterotic groups would always obtain high yield or heterosis, but only parental crosses between certain specific groups actually do (Wang et al. 2015). As a result, maize heterosis models are difficult to predict and are not consistent with the test materials and evaluation environments, and thus their application is limited. Therefore, it is essential for breeders to understand the genetic relationship between groups, because it guides the direction of germplasm resource improvement and the choices for hybridization. When data on the hybrid performance of different heterotic groups become available (Zhao et al. 2015), we can identify the most promising heterotic pattern based on existing breeding information.Previous studies have mainly focused on the classification of heterotic groups of Chinese germplasm, with no attention given to the performance of the hybrids from different heterotic groups with contrasting responses to drought stress and non-stress conditions. Thus, the major objectives of this study were to: (i) analyze the combining ability and heterosis using 41 representative maize inbred lines and their hybrids across well-watered and drought-stressed conditions; (ii) determine the genetic relationships and heterotic patterns in a broad and diverse set of maize inbreds; and (iii) assess the relationships between hybrid performance, heterosis, and SNP-based genetic distance (GD) under distinct water treatments.A total of 41 maize inbred lines were selected from a diverse panel of 593 maize inbreds (Appendix A), representing temperate and tropical maize germplasm from the current breeding programs in different locations in China. These inbred lines show normal maturity in Shihezi, Xinjiang, China and their germplasm information was described in detail elsewhere (Wang et al. 2017;Yu et al. 2020). Among the 28 temperate lines, B73, Mo17, Dan340, Ye478, HZ4, and Qi319 have been used as common testers for six Chinese heterotic groups. The remaining nine Chinese temperate inbreds are key donors for developing both inbreds and hybrids across maize regions in China. The 23 tropical lines have been playing a very important role as the parents across worldwide breeding programs in China and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), three of which (Jiao51, Chuan29 female, and 18-599) are from China. The parents were selected based on three criteria: (1) representativeness of the original population structure of the subgroups, (2) possessing a maximum allelic variation and (3) their wide cultivation in temperate regions with normal fertility and maturity. The parents comprised 13 conventional inbred lines (C), nine droughttolerant lines (D) and 19 drought susceptible lines (S) (Appendix B) (Derera et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015). The conventional lines were selected for high general combining ability (GCA) for yield potential with GCA>6.5 in multi-environment trials (Shunyi, Beijing during 2013-2015and Shehizi during 2017-2018). Drought tolerant and susceptible lines were selected, respectively, with drought tolerance index (DTI)≤20 and DTI>20 under managed drought-stressed condition at Shehezi (2017)(2018)(2019)(2020). DTI was calculated as a percentage of grain weight per plant (GWPP) under drought stress compared to that under full irrigation, using the following equation: DTI (%)=[(Yield under well-watered treatment-Yield under drought)/Yield under well-watered treatment]×100 (Derera et al. 2008).The 41 parents were crossed in an incomplete diallel to develop a multiple-hybrid population with 737 F 1 hybrids in Sanya, Hainan Province, China in Winter 2016 (Kempthorne and Curnow 1961). Partial tropicaltropical crosses were not included, because they cannot mature normally in Xinjiang. Five hybrids were excluded because their flowering was too late. The multiple-hybrid population can be divided into two subsets, 378 temperate hybrids derived in Griffing IV using 28 temperate parental lines, and 359 North Carolina Design II (NC II) hybrids generated between 28 temperate and 13 tropical parental lines (Appendix C). The breeding lines were genotyped with the Maize 55K SNP chip in a previous study (Wang et al. 2017;Xu et al. 2017). Compared with the widelyused Illumina MaizeSNP 50 BeadChip, the 55K array has lower missing and heterozygous rates and more SNPs with lower minor allele frequency (MAF) in tropical maize, facilitating the in-depth dissection of rare but possibly valuable variations in tropical germplasm resources. Initially, 50 812 SNPs evenly distributed on the maize chromosomes were genotyped for each line. Next, SNPs with missing data >20%, heterozygosity >20%, and minor allele frequency <0.05 were excluded, leaving a total of 38 737 SNPs that were used in the final data analysis.The 737 hybrids were planted in a 10×80 alpha lattice design, while the 41 parents were planted in a randomized complete block design, each with two replications, in 2017 and 2018 under two water treatments in Shihezi, Xinjiang (44°27´N, 85°94´E), with average annual precipitation 160 mm. Xianyu 335 was used as a control to evaluate the consistency of the environmental treatments. The rainfall data for the two years are included in Appendix D. The trials of each treatment were implemented in tworow, 3-m long plots each with 26 plants. The irrigation regimes were created using drip irrigation starting at the seeding period. To initiate drought stress, average days to anthesis (DTA) were predicted based on previous data of hybrids under well-watered conditions (Wang et al. 2017). In the well-watered (WW) regime, sufficient water (12 cm) was supplied in each 10-day interval after June 10 (45 days after planting). In the drought-stressed (DS) regime, the hybrids were classified into three sets (≤60, 60-70, and ≥70 d) based on the DTA with a 5-m isolation zone, and irrigation was given until the 15 days before the expected anthesis date in each set. The DS condition was maintained until 20 days after 90% of the hybrids flowered, and then irrigation was provided in 10-day intervals with one-third of the water amount as the WW regime.Hybrids and their parents were characterized for eight traits under both treatments. DTA and days to silking (DTS) were recorded when at least 50% of the plants reached anthesis and silking, respectively. The anthesissilking interval (ASI) was measured for each plot as the difference between DTS and DTA (i.e., ASI=DTS-DTA). After female flowering, plant height (PH) was recorded as the distance between the ground and the tassel tip, and ear height (EH) was recorded as the distance between the ground surface and the stem knot of representative ears. PH and EH values were recorded and averaged from five plants in the middle of the plot. Grain weight per plant (GWPP) was evaluated from an average of 10 plants.Row number (RN) and kernel number per row (KPR) were measured and averaged for each plot from 10 ears.The analyses of population structure and relationships among the 41 target inbred lines were conducted using admixture (Alexander et al. 2009) and MEGA version 7.0.26 (Kumar et al. 2016). The genetic divergence between each pair of 41 parents was measured as Nei's (1972) GD using MEGA version 7.0.26. A dendrogram was constructed using the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree method based on the shared allele genetic distance matrix of all individuals using MEGA.Genetic variation among parental lines was statistically tested by analysis of variance for each trait under both treatments using the linear model: y ikl =u+g i +l k +(gl) ik +r lk +e ikl where y ikl is the observed value of ith genotype (parental line i) in the lth replication in the kth year, u is the grand mean, g i is the effect of the ith genotype, l k is the effect of the kth year, (gl) ik is an interaction effect between ith genotype with kth year, r lk is the effect of the lth replication within the kth year, and e ikl is the random residual error (Makumbi et al. 2018). The genotypic effect was considered a fixed effect, while the others were considered random effects. The model was fit to the data using the R \"lmer\" and \"lmerTest\" packages (R Core Team 2013; Bates et al. 2015;Kuznetsova et al. 2017).The total variance of hybrids was divided into the variances due to GCA effects of parental lines and specific combining ability (SCA) effects of crosses and their interactions. The variance components for hybrids were estimated using the mixed effect model:) ijk +r lk +b mlk +e ijklm where y ijklm is the phenotypic performance of the ijth cross in the mth incomplete block of the lth replication in the kth year, l k is the effect of the kth year, g i and g j are the GCA effect of the ith and jth parental lines, respectively, s ij is the SCA effect of crosses between lines i and j, (g i l) ik and (g j l) jk are GCA×year effects of the lines, (s ij l) ijk is the SCA×year interaction effects, r lk is the replication effect, b mlk is the effect of the incomplete blocks in the lth replication nested in the kth year, and e ijklm is the residual error. The variance components of GCA and SCA were estimated using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS ( 2008) following partial diallel cross analysis (Kempthorne and Curnow 1961). The relative importance of GCA and SCA (GCA-SCA ratio) was calculated as the ratio (Makumbi et al. 2011GCA +δ 2 SCA ) where δ 2 GCA and δ 2 SCA are the variances for GCA and SCA, respectively.The GCA and SCA effects were estimated following Griffing's (1956) method 2 model I using the R program (R Core Team 2013):-g i -g j wherey i. is the average of the hybrids among the ith line crossed with a series of parents,y .. is the overall mean, g i and g j are the GCA effects for the ith and jth lines, respectively, s ij is the SCA effect for the ijth hybrid, and y ij is the trait value of the ijth hybrid.The mid-parent heterosis (MPH) for each hybrid was calculated as MPH=100×(F 1 -MP)/MP, where F 1 is the hybrid mean performance, MP is mid-parent value and MP=(P 1 +P 2 )/2, and P 1 and P 2 represent the mean performances of Parent 1 and Parent 2, respectively. Better parent heterosis (BPH) was calculated as BPH=100×(F 1 -BP)/BP, where BP represents the betterperforming parental line. The Pearson correlation of GWPP with parental GD, MP values, and hybrid performance were calculated using the R \"Hmisc\" package (Harrell and Dupont 2016).An admixture model-based clustering was performed using the genotypes of 38 737 SNPs from the Maize 55K chip with improved genome coverage by the Admixture Software to infer the population structure with a fixed number of groups k that varied from 1 to 10. For k=5, the CV error was relatively low (Appendix E). When only the lines from Chinese maize breeding projects were considered, k=5 resulted in the optimal partition, which is highly consistent with the known heterotic groups established in maize breeding programs in China.The GD values for the 41 inbred lines ranged from 0.05 (NK764 vs. PHG83) to 0.74 (FAPW vs. HZ4) with an average GD of 0.56. The results of the cluster analysis using an NJ phylogenetic tree based on GD revealed a distinct separation of the lines into five groups. Besides the tropical subgroup, other temperate inbred lines could be clustered into NSS, BSSS, PB, and SPT, represented by the inbred lines Mo17, B73, Qi319, and HZ4, respectively (Fig. 1). The NSS group could be subdivided into the Lancaster and Iodent groups, while the BSSS group could be subdivided into the Reid and PA groups. Among the five subgroups, PB had the least allelic variation, with an average GD of 0.36, and Tropical had the highest GD value (Table 1). Among the intergroups, the least allelic variation was found between Tropical and PB with an average GD of 0.53, while GD values were relatively higher between BSSS and SPT, SPT and NSS, and BSSS and NSS. The average GDs between inter-group parents were significantly higher than those between intra-group parents.Results of the analysis of variance for the inbreds under WW and DS treatments showed significant genotype effects for grain yield and all other measured traits (Appendix F). GWPP values of the inbred lines ranged from 22.3 g/plant for CML206 to 123.2 g/plant for Tie7922 under the WW treatment, and from 18.3 g/plant for TR0403 to 91.2 g/plant for PH6WC under the DS treatment (Appendix B). While 18-599 had the highest drought tolerance, H21 had the lowest drought tolerance. PH6WC, Tie7922, Zheng58, and PHN47 had the four highest GWPP values under drought, and their ASI values were 5.8, 2.8, 3.5, and 2.0 days.Significant phenotypic differences were observed among the hybrids under both the WW and DS conditions five were from within-group crosses. Meanwhile, out of the 15 top-yielding hybrids under the DS treatment, one hybrid was from C×D cross, six were from C×C crosses, three were from S×C crosses, and three were from S×D crosses. In contrast, out of the 10 worst single-cross hybrids under the DS treatment, four were from S×S crosses. The best single-cross hybrid (Dan340×PH6WC) was from a C×C and NSS×BSSS cross, generating yields higher than the control Xianyu 335 by 19% under DS but by -0.02% under the WW treatment.With the highest yield hybrid model, PB×BSSS produced an average yield of 173.2 g/plant with 143.6%, 89.6% and 2.6 g/plant of MPH, BPH, and SCA under the WW treatment, and it produced 112.9 g/plant with 102.2%, 68.6% and -1.6 g/plant of MPH, BPH, and SCA under the DS treatment (Table 1; Fig. 3; Appendix H). The lowest yield hybrids were from the crossing patterns of PB×PB under WW treatments and SPT×SPT under DS treatments. The earliest hybrids were from the crossing patterns of SPT×NSS, SPT×Tropic, NSS×NSS, BSSS×NSS and SPT×BSSS under both treatments, and the lowest PH hybrids were from SPT×BSSS, SPT×NSS, SPT×Tropic, BSSS×NSS, BSSS×BSSS and NSS×NSS.(Appendix G). GCA and SCA effects were significant for all traits under both WW and DS treatments. Further results showed that the GCA×year effects were significant for all traits, and the SCA×year effects were significant for all traits except KPR under WW treatment. The ratio of variance components revealed that GCA effects were much higher than SCA effects for all traits except the KPR and GWPP under DS treatment, ranging from 0.58 for KPR to 0.90 for EH under WW treatment and ranging from 0.46 for GWPP to 0.95 for RN under DS treatment. Thus, the relative contribution of the GCA effect is much higher.Hybrid performance was strongly affected by genotype under both DS and WW treatments (Fig. 2). Under the DS treatment, GWPP ranged from 52.92 to 165.13 g/plant (Table 2), whereas under the WW treatment, it ranged from 72.39 to 236.23 g/plant. The mean GWPP (106.14 g/ plant) under DS was 34.76% less than that under the WW treatment (Table 2). Among the 15 top-yielding singlecross combinations under the DS treatment, two were from within-group crosses, while the others were from between-group crosses (Table 2). In contrast, out of the 10 worst single-cross hybrids under the DS treatment, The level of MPH varied widely among the tested traits. MPH was positive for GWPP, RN, KPR, and PH, but negative for DTA and DTS under both the WW and DS treatments (Table 3). The average MPH values for KPR and GWPP were much higher than other traits under both treatment conditions. The MPH values for GWPP, KPR, RN, and PH were higher under the WW treatment than those under the DS treatment. The hybrids from BSSS×Tropic, Tropic×NSS, Tropic×PB, and SPT×Tropic had relatively higher MPH values for GWPP under the WW and DS conditions, while other hybrids involving tropical parents performed poorly, indicating a poor yielding potential of tropical parents (Fig. 3).The GCA effects of the 41 inbred lines for each trait under the WW and DS treatments were shown in Appendix I. The top five positive GCA effects for GWPP under the WW treatment were from inbred lines H21, Qi205, PH6WC, DAN340, and Tie7922. Under the DS treatment, the highest and most significant GCA effects for GWPP were from inbred lines PH6WC, Zheng58, Tie7922, Dan598, Qi205, and F42. The SCA effect for GWPP ranged from -70.93 g/plant (F42×FAPW) to 74.12 g/plant (TR0423×HZ4) under the WW treatment, and it ranged from -2.85 g/plant (F42×B73) to 59.01 g/plant (LH132×Qi319) under the DS treatment. The hybrids from PB×BSSS and NSS×PB had high SCA effects for GWPP (>2.00 g/plant) under the WW treatments, while NSS×PB had high SCA effects for GWPP (>2.00 g/plant) under the DS treatment (Appendix H). The SCA effects were negative for the within-heterotic group hybrids and greater for between-heterotic group hybrids than withinheterotic group hybrids (Appendix H).GWPP in F 1 hybrids was significantly positively correlated with PH, EH, RN, KPR, BPH, SCA, and MPH under  1) GWPP, grain weight per plant; DTS, days to silking; ASI, the anthesis-silking interval; PH, plant height; KPR, kernel number per row.2) The parents in each hybrid were classified as drought-tolerant (D), high general combining ability (GCA) (C) and drought-sensitive (S). The GD estimates were highly correlated between the pairwise parental lines and the hybrid performance for SCA, MPH, BPH, PH, and GWPP. Regression analysis revealed that the GD between the parental lines within heterotic groups was significantly correlated with hybrid grain yield under WW and DS treatments (Fig. 5-A; Appendix J), and hybrid yield increased with the increase of genetic distance, but no relationship between GD and hybrid grain yield was found between heterotic groups (Table 4). We found that under the WW and DS treatments, the degree of GD was significantly positively correlated with MPH within heterotic groups, but not between heterotic groups (Appendix K), suggesting that a medium level of GD may contribute the maximum increasing effect on the heterosis of grain yield. To test this hypothesis, we classified the hybrids into groups based on their levels of GD: ≤0.40, 0.41-0.45, 0.46-0.50, 0.51-0.55, 0.56-0.60, 0.61-0.65, and ≥0.66. Hybrids with 0.55-0.60 GD had the highest MPH of grain yield under both water treatments (Fig. 5-C), and the MPH under the WW condition was consistently higher than that under the DS condition. In addition, because SCA is an indicator of non-additive effects, the relationship between SCA and GD under both water treatments was investigated. We found that SCA for grain yield was correlated positively with GD under both water treatments. With the further increase of GD, however, the rate of increase of SCA decreased gradually (Fig. 5-B and C).The SCA for grain yield under the DS condition was higher than under the WW condition. It is interesting that when the GD between parents was relatively small, the hybrid had a higher SCA.The significant variations among inbred lines and hybrids in GWPP and other traits indicate that substantial genetic variation exists among the maize parents and their hybrids. The significant genotype×environment interactions for grain yield and other traits reveal that the expression of these traits would not be consistent across the test environments. Similar findings have been reported in other studies (Oyekunle et al. 2015;Makumbi et al. 2018), suggesting the need to evaluate inbreds and hybrids in various environments to identify droughttolerant genotypes with consistent favorable responses to unpredictable growing environments. Decreased PH, EH, GWPP, and ear traits and increased ASI under drought were also reported in several earlier studies (Bolaños and Edmeades 1993;Adebayo et al. 2017). Here, we monitored the stress level imposed on experimental hybrids under drought stress for two consecutive seasons in order to obtain sufficient stress intensity to evaluate the differential responses of hybrids. The average GWPP recorded for hybrids under DS decreased by 35.76% compared to the WW treatment. A yield decrease in the range of 20-30% has been considered as severe drought stress (Bolaños and Edmeades 1996;Campos et al.  ). The significant variation in GWPP under drought observed in this study is an indicator for distinguishing tolerance from drought in maize hybrids.In this study, a larger contribution of the GCA sum of squares was found for most traits compared to that from the SCA sum of squares (Appendix G). This result suggests that additive gene action was predominant over non-additive gene action for most of the observed  Fig. 4 Correlation among genetic distance (GD), mid-parent heterosis for grain yield (MPH, %), better parent heterosis for grain yield (BPH, %), grain yield, and other agronomic traits under drought-stressed (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. DTA (d), days to anthesis; DTS (d), days to silking; ASI (d), anthesis-silking interval; PH (cm), plant height; EH (cm), ear height; RN, row number; KPR, kernel number per row; GWPP (g/plant), grain weight per plant; SCA (g/plant), specific combining ability for grain yield; MP (g/plant), mid-parent for grain yield. Blank, not significant at P<0.01.traits under both conditions, which is contradictory with several studies (Bolaños et al. 1993;Njeri et al. 2017), but consistent with others (Amiruzzaman et al. 2010;Ahmad et al. 2016;Dermail et al. 2020). The difference between this study and the others could be largely attributed to the differences in the germplasm used, as our study included a large number of tropical maize inbreds with a higher level of genetic diversity. The GCA-SCA ratio for KPR and GWPP under the WW treatment was higher than that under the DS treatment, suggesting that additive effects play a major role for yield traits under the WW treatment.On the contrary, non-additive effects appeared to play an important role in grain yield under the DS treatment (Appendix G; Fig. 5-C), and non-additive effects were Previous reports suggested that tropical germplasm had higher diversity and larger GD than temperate germplasm (Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016). Because the tropical germplasm was mainly introduced from CIMMYT with distinct genetic diversity, a systematic comparison of GD and heterosis was performed and higher GD was confirmed in the tropical germplasm, indicating that modern temperate maize inbred lines have experienced a long period of intense breeding selection. Only favorable alleles for target agronomic traits were selected and maintained during the breeding process, resulting in a decrease in genetic diversity. In this study, all the hybrids containing tropical parents had higher MPH and BPH for GWPP than the other hybridization models under the DS treatment (Table 1; Fig. 3). High percentages of heterosis recorded for grain yield, particularly in the high-yielding hybrids between tropical and temperate germplasms under DS treatment, suggests that tropical and temperate maize inbreds possess the complementary genes/alleles. The diversity hosted by the temperate and tropical lines surveyed in this study can be exploited for developing maize hybrids with enhanced heterosis under DS treatment, and promising lines could be derived by crossing the temperate group with tropical lines to enhance their levels of drought tolerance.The parents selected for this study were from elite inbreds currently used in the temperate regions. They are widely used as hybrid parents or excellent donors in breeding programs across maize-growing regions. They can generally represent the production level and genetic diversity of the existing elite maize germplasm in China. The dendrogram from the NJ tree method based on SNP markers identified five distinct groups, which is consistent with previous studies (Teng et al. 2004;Xie et al. 2007;Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016). A slight difference in our study was that the LRC group was merged into Lancaster, which included the Chinese landraces from Chinese maize breeding programs, including Dan340. Chuan29Female as a Tropic line was grouped into PB. The drought resistance of the hybrids under the drought stress condition could explain the drought tolerance observed in this group of germplasms. In commercial maize breeding in China, the BSSS group is considered as a female group, while other groups are regarded as paternal. In this study, the BSSS group showed better GCA effects for GWPP, KPR, and other traits under stress when compared with the paternal group (Appendix I). Therefore, yield stability under multiple environmental stresses is an important criterion during the breeding of female inbred lines.Extensive information in divergent pools can be generated from the diallel mating design (Reif et al. 2005), providing useful information for understanding the genetic relationships among genotypes, and thus a more strategic breeding plan could be developed to improve specific traits. Based on our field data (Table 1), the PB group manifested high GWPP, late maturity, and high PH. The SPT, BSSS, and NSS groups showed high GWPP, early maturity, and low PH, which was consistent with the research in northern China (Zhang et al. 2004;Meng et al. 2010). The most explored heterotic pattern is the crosses between BSSS and NSS (Mikel 2008(Mikel , 2011)). In the early and middle 1990s, the major heterotic pattern was domestic inbreds×SPT in the North Spring Maize Region, while in the Huang-Huai-Hai Summer Maize Region the major pattern was domestic inbreds×Pioneer hybrids in China. The major heterotic patterns then became Reid×Tem-tropic I, Reid×Zi330, Reid×SPT, Zi330×Temtropic I and Lancaster×SPT in the early 21st century (Wang et al. 1997;Teng et al. 2004). With the increase of mechanized planting, the combination of early maturity with high yield gained more popularity. In this study, we studied the heterotic patterns of BSSS×NSS, NSS×SPT, and BSSS×SPT, which are the most popular in China's maize breeding with some important hybrids. During 2005-2019, the two most commercialized hybrids were Zhengdan 958 and Xianyu 335. The parents of Xianyu 335, PH6WC and PH4CV, belong to the BSSS×NSS pattern, while the parents of Zhengdan 958, Zheng58 and Chang7-2, are in the SPT×BSSS pattern.A superior grain yield was observed in the hybrids involving drought-tolerant inbred lines or conventional inbred lines compared to those involving tolerant×conventional lines, conventional×conventional lines, tolerant×sensitive lines or conventional×sensitive lines, indicating additive gene effects and the significance of dosage effects of drought-tolerant genes in the parental lines. This result is consistent with the previous studies (Kirkham et al. 1984;Derera et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015), where hybrids with at least one drought-tolerant parental line have higher yields than hybrids with two susceptible parental lines. It can be concluded that at least one parent should be either drought-tolerant or a good GCA line to produce single-cross hybrids with drought tolerance, and that parents should be selected from different heterotic groups so that the hybrids can be formed with complementary inbred lines. In our study, drought-tolerant hybrids showed more KPR, higher PH and shorter ASI than susceptible hybrids (Table 2; Fig. 4). Therefore, these three traits can be used as selection criteria for droughttolerant maize breeding. PH6WC and Tie7922 are two outstanding inbreds because when crossed with other lines their hybrids performed well under both WW and DS treatments. These inbred lines can be used as superior donors in the development of elite inbred lines in Chinese and worldwide breeding programs.The genetic distance between parental lines has been used to improve the identification of heterotic hybrids in several crops (Betrán et al. 2003). Previous studies have reported that the correlation between parental GD and hybrid performance was significant for grain yield and other traits under DS and WW conditions (Badu-Apraku et al. 2013;Suwarno et al. 2014;Laude and Carena 2015), which is contrary to several other reports (Balestre et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015;Su et al. 2017). Within a certain range, greater genetic distance is associated with greater heterosis. On the other hand, a GD that is too large is harmful owing to genetic incompatibility (Wei et al. 2018). In this study, more markers and a larger population were used to estimate the GDs among the 41 parental lines. Positive correlations of parental GD with GWPP, MPH and BPH were observed under both treatments (P<0.01 and 0.2<r<0.4) (Fig. 4). Based on the parents' heterotic groups, the hybrids could be classified into within-group and between-group categories. The GD between parents was relatively small for withingroup hybrids, and MPH for grain yield increased with GD. With the increase of GD, however, the level of MPH for grain yield between heterotic groups remained largely unchanged (Fig. 5-C). Therefore, the optimal genetic distance should be studied further for breeding super hybrids.This study shows that the inbreds were clustered into five groups, and the heterosis patterns of BSSS×NSS, NSS×SPT and BSSS×SPT with early maturity and high yield were determined to be useful in Chinese maize breeding. A larger contribution of the GCA sum of squares to genetic variation was found for most traits under both WW and DS conditions, suggesting that additive gene action was predominant, but GWPP and KPR under DS treatment are mainly controlled by nonadditive effects, suggesting that SCA would be a good selection criterion for future drought resistance breeding. Tropical and temperate inbreds possess complementary genes/alleles, and thus promising inbred lines could be derived by crossing these two groups to enhance drought tolerance. This study reveals that at least one of the parental lines with drought tolerance and high GCA effect would be required to achieve the ideal hybrid performance under drought stress. GD had a significant positive correlation with yield and yield heterosis in withingroup hybrids across a certain range of GD. There are a large number of genes governing the heterosis, and highyielding hybrids should have more superior genes (Huang et al. 2015). The present investigation suggests that the heterosis is due to the accumulation of superior genes/ alleles between parents and the optimal genetic distance between parental lines. In maize drought resistance breeding, superior genes/alleles should be aggregated into parents based on their heterotic groups, and super hybrids could be produced by crossing different heterotic groups.","tokenCount":"5722"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5905118108.json b/data/part_1/5905118108.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a0009186ce65d6715c5ed562a6cd1fe9d61db375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5905118108.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12c51646e158b24a1d88a48a989c9ded","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81f5918a-5949-4f59-9491-a0a617670683/retrieve","id":"805756656"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4502cfee-a61f-4b6f-a5e2-3412c5229482","pagecount":"16","content":"In addition to contributing to the full day of programming in the Food Systems Pavilion on 6 December, members of the initiative participated in at least 14 events throughout COP28 and indirectly contributed to many more. See Annex 1 for a list of the events the initiative's delegation contributed to. A summary of the event is here.     Initiative team members held bilateral meetings with potential partners and attended dinners and receptions to further their networking engagements. These included the Inter-AmericanInitiated by a merger of panels, the partnership proved fruitful and included a meeting with RedFlag (IICA's publicity) and Protein Pact, where future partnerships were discussed.  Some of the lessons that came out from the initiative's engagements at COP28 include:The emphasis on food systems was striking and it is essential for us to build on this momentum. The CGIAR communications team played an effective coordination role from which the Initiative could benefit.However, there was an underrepresentation of Resilient Agri-Food Systems publicity compared to what was happening under Systems Transformation. The Initiative could be better prepared to optimize benefits from the CGIAR communications team.An end-of-day debrief can help share feedback received throughout the day and should be formalized rather than left to chance. One example of adaptive messaging from COP28 was Fiona sharing feedback from a partner on ILRI's messaging around livestock and emissions, which helped team members adapt their messaging in events in subsequent days.Going forward, the Initiative will follow up on connections made with potential partners and explore possibilities for resource mobilization and joint work.Annex 1:List of events to which Livestock and Climate Initiative scientists contributed to. ","tokenCount":"267"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5920774238.json b/data/part_1/5920774238.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..86784a78708431106f9ae749cfbeea2916935252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5920774238.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cd4f8209e83f1d088d8122c1705ea6fd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c47cc001-cdcd-4635-9eef-77ecc417394a/retrieve","id":"67499959"},"keywords":["Impact assessment","Rainfed rice production","Endogenous switching regression JEL codes: O1","O3","Q0","Q1"],"sieverID":"d8babe79-4309-404f-bc65-e0808521dfae","pagecount":"23","content":"In Mozambique, smallholder farmers commonly grow rice under rainfed systems with limited fertilizer application; thus, productivity remains very low. Moreover, the adoption rate of improved rice varieties is as low as 3 per cent, partly because these varieties usually require an irrigated environment with the use of fertilizer. Green super rice ( GSR ) varieties are expected to sustain high yield potential under severe stress conditions. This article used farm-level survey data collected in Mozambique to assess the benefits of the adoption of a GSR variety ( Simão ) on the yield and cost efficiency of smallholder rice producers. The econometric approach involves propensity score matching and a simultaneous equation model with endogenous switching regression to account for observable and unobservable factors that affect adoption and outcome variables. The results indicate positive and significant benefits from adopting GSR on rice yield and cost efficiency for adopters. These benefits are observed not only in irrigated environments where fertilizer is applied together with some more advanced farming practices ( i.e. Gaza province ) , but also in Nampula and Sofala provinces where farmers grow rice under rainfed conditions with no fertilizer application. Our findings suggest that GSR varieties have the potential to bring some positive changes in the development of rice production in Mozambique.In Mozambique, about 98 per cent of the rice cultivation area is operated in unirrigated conditions ( Kajisa and Payongyong 2011 ) , with an average productivity of 0.8-1.2 t/ha ( Ministry of Agriculture 2009 ) . The average irrigated yield remains 1.6-2.0 t/ha ( Larson et al . 2020 ) because of limited chemical application. According to ACI ( 2005 ) , only 2.5 and 5.2 per cent of farmers use fertilizer and pesticide, respectively. Lack of irrigation and the absence of fertilizer use are the main constraints to rice production ( Kajisa 2016 ) , along with the increasing variability of climate stresses ( Balasubramanian et al . 2007 ) .Given the above constraints and challenges, one solution resides in promoting new rice varieties that can sustain high and stable yields under limited chemical inputs and rainfed systems. Examples of such varieties include green super rice ( GSR ) varieties. GSR varieties have been disseminated in several provinces of Mozambique since 2012. In this study, we aim to assess the benefits of adopting the GSR varieties and discuss their potential role in enhancing Mozambique's rice production.The existing evidence on the performance of GSR in Africa is limited to the yield advantage revealed by experimental agronomic trials ( Dessie et al . 2020 ;Yu et al . 2020 ) . The impact evaluation of GSR varieties on the African continent, in general, and Mozambique has not been explored using household-level data. To our knowledge, no existing impact assessment studies use rigorous econometric techniques to assess the impact of GSR varieties on farm performance in Africa. This study therefore fills part of this large research gap by examining the effects of the adoption of GSR varieties on rice yield and the cost efficiency of smallholder Mozambique farmers. We use cross-sectional data from a survey conducted in three provinces of Mozambique. The study uses the propensity score matching ( PSM ) technique combined with the endogenous switching regression ( ESR ) method to control for observable and unobservable factors that might affect the adoption of GSR varieties and the resulting outcomes. The study finds that smallholders who adopted GSR ( Simão ) increased their rice yield by about 10.0 per cent on average. In the case of non-adopters, rice productivity would have increased by 9.8 per cent if they had adopted GSR. The GSR growers improved their cost efficiency by 26.4 per cent by adopting Simão . Non-adopters would have improved their cost efficiency by 45.7 per cent had they adopted Simão . Additionally, we find regional heterogeneity of the impact of GSR adoption on rice productivity and cost efficiency.The rest of the article is structured as follows.The following section provides background information on the country's situation regarding production, consumption, import of rice and the adoption of improved rice varieties including GSR. The econometric method used for assessing the benefit of GSR on yield and cost efficiency is presented next, followed by data description. After presenting our results and discussion with some recommendations for future studies, the article ends with some conclusions.A recent report by Nigatu et al . ( 2017 ) shows that consumer preferences and consumption patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa ( SSA ) are changing from traditional foods to rice because of economic growth and urbanization. According to the authors, SSA's total rice consumption is projected to reach 36 million tons by 2026, and the region is likely to become the leader in global rice imports ( Nigatu et al . 2017 ) . In Mozambique, rice consumption increased rapidly from 86,000 tons in 1990 to 884,000 tons in 2021 ( USDA 2021 ) . However, local rice production reportedly provides only one-third of the consumption requirement, indicating that national rice production has not been able to keep up with consumer demand ( Kajisa 2016 ) . Figure 1 shows the increasing trend in rice consumption and imports in Mozambique from 1990 to 2021. Despite efforts to raise productivity and increase local production, the self-sufficiency ratio remains around 30 per cent ( USDA 2021 ) .With increasing rice prices in the world market and the threat of climate change to production, rice consumers-particularly those dependent on imported rice-may face increasingly limited accessibility to rice, and this could adversely affect food security ( cf. Balasubramanian et al . 2007 ) .The adoption rate of improved rice varieties in Mozambique is low, about 3 per cent ( USAID 2017 ) . Most farmers use either traditional rice varieties or improved varieties developed in the 1970s or earlier ( ACI 2005 ) . The low adoption rate has its roots in the agronomic conditions for rice production. In Mozambique, most farming lands are located in lowland areas and rely on rainwater. The lack of irrigation systems forces farmers to stick to traditional varieties adapted to rainfed conditions. Only 3 per cent of the potential agricultural land in Mozambique is irrigated ( FAO 2019 ) , and only 2.3 per cent of the total rice area is estimated to be under irrigation ( Kajisa and Payongyong 2011 ) . Therefore, rice farmers face uncertainties on weather shocks such as drought ( FAO 2019 ) . As traditional varieties are more robust to climate stress in general, adopting new improved varieties involves risks for rainfed lowland and upland farmers.Mozambique has the potential to increase rice area to 900,000 ha, accounting for 35 per cent of the total cultivated area. Most of the rice production is concentrated in five provinces: Gaza ( south Mozambique ) , Zambezia and Sofala ( central Mozambique ) , and Nampula and Cabo Delgado ( north Mozambique ) . Rice farmers face several problems in rice production, including the lack of technology, improved seeds and fertilizer, irrigation facilities, extension services, and government support. Gaza remains the only exception, with irrigation facilities established across the province. Most farmers in other parts of the country follow traditional cultivation practices ( i.e. no chemical application ) under rainfed lowland or upland ecosystems. The low fertilizer use is due to households' inadequate financial resources ( FAO 2019 ) and market failure factors ( such as lack of access to credit, banks, output markets, and market integration ) . 1 The poorly organized seed system also represents a major constraint to farmers in having access to improved seeds. In Mozambique, most farmers use leftover seeds from the previous harvest or buy seeds from a local informal supplier ( FAO 2019 ) . Currently, the private sector produces and commercializes only improved seeds for irrigated ecosystems ( USAID 2017 ) . Therefore, improved varieties that sustain higher yields under rainfed conditions and that can be multiplied by farm households are needed.GSR varieties were developed by integrating genomic resources, molecular biology technologies, and breeding processes while targeting desirable traits Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/qopen/article/2/1/qoac006/6550049 by International Rice Research Institute user on 15 December 2022 ( Zhang 2007 ;Yu et al . 2020 ) . These varieties have numerous properties such as high efficiency of fertilizer use, drought tolerance, submergence tolerance, biotic stress resistance ( to pests and diseases ) , good grain quality, and increased yield potential ( Li and Ali 2017 ) . These properties are expected to enable farmers to bring about sustainable production in economic terms appropriate for rice cultivation in rainfed and/or limited-input conditions ( Yu et al . 2020 ) . The rainfed lowland ecosystem, which accounts for about 33 per cent of the global rice-growing area ( GRiSP 2013 ) , is where GSR varieties can positively impact rice production and farmer income. Rainfed lowland rice production is often exposed to multiple abiotic and biotic stresses, conditions in which modern rice varieties designed for irrigated ecosystems-typically with tolerance for only one abiotic stress such as drought-have a limited advantage in productivity. Moreover, modern rice varieties require fertilizer and chemical inputs for higher and more stable production, which smallholder farmers in rainfed ecosystems usually cannot afford ( Li and Ali 2017 ) .The relative advantage of GSR varieties compared with other released varieties in the same ecosystem ( i.e. irrigated and rainfed conditions ) has been evaluated in experimental trials. For instance, Dessie et al . ( 2020 ) showed that GSR variety Yungeng 31 ( Selam ) , whose characteristics include high yield, cold tolerance, and disease resistance, outperformed the best available varieties by 1.2 t/ha in Ethiopia in a rainfed ecosystem. Likewise, other GSR varieties, such as Okile in Uganda and Buryohe in Rwanda, outperformed the best available varieties by more than 1 t/ha in an irrigated environment ( Yu et al . 2020 ) .The development of GSR varieties in Mozambique involved the screening of elite lines. After evaluating 88 promising GSR cultivars using adaptation trials, two varieties, Simão and Hua564 , were officially released. 2 These two varieties are tolerant of drought and low input, have pest and disease resistance, and are suitable for rainfed ecosystems. Their growth duration is 133 and 127 days, respectively. They are medium-and long-grain varieties with lodging resistance, milling recovery of 74 per cent, good threshing ability, and yield potential of 10 t/ha ( in irrigated environments ) and 4-5 t/ha ( in rainfed environments ) . More GSR materials were subsequently developed and underwent multi-environment trials ( Yu et al . 2020 ) in the major rice ecosystems. From 2013 to 2018, 138 tons of Simão and Hua564 seeds were produced and distributed in Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, and Zambezia to ensure seed availability for farmers. In 2019, seed production for these two varieties was further expanded to include the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula.Seed dissemination was complemented by information campaigns about GSR technologies ( i.e. production techniques, fertilizer use, and weeding methods ) . Note that these campaigns did not involve any provision of chemical fertilizer or pesticide. The information campaigns included workshops for farmer groups and extension agents in Gaza province, extension agent training sessions, and demonstration plots in 68 farmer association fields and 15 research stations. These efforts reached more than 330 extension agents and about 2,500 farmers. Moreover, mass media outlets ( i.e. radio and television ) broadcast information about GSR varieties to farmers in target ecosystems throughout the country. Several GSR cultivars are disseminated in several regions of Mozambique, including the areas where farmers used to cultivate only traditional varieties under traditional farming practices, and Gaza province, where rice farming is mainly conducted with irrigation facilities and fertilizer applications. In 2019, the estimated area under GSR varieties was about 84,000 hectares, thus accounting for about 20 per cent of the rice-growing area ( USDA 2021 ) .To investigate the effects of GSR adoption on yield and cost efficiency, we combined two econometric approaches for impact assessment: PSM and ESR. Farm households that grow GSR varieties are the treatment group, whereas the control group consists of farm households that use non-GSR varieties ( other improved and traditional varieties ) .Farm households that grow GSR varieties were exposed to the dissemination program and may have self-selected into the treatment group. Their socioeconomic and farm characteristics are likely to have a sample selection bias ( Heckman 1979 ) . Thus, the treatment is endogenous. Although the PSM approach accounts for selection bias due to observed characteristics, ESR has the advantage of accounting for selection bias due to both observed and unobserved characteristics ( Mishra et al . 2017 ) . However, ESR imposes relatively strong assumptions on the covariance matrix for identification and is sensitive to outliers ( Greene 2012 ) . We alleviate such concerns by excluding outliers in the PSM framework and referring to the statistical tests. This justifies the choice of combining the two econometric approaches in this article.PSM has been frequently employed to assess the impact of technology adoption ( e.g. Hossain et al . 2006 ;Crost et al . 2007 ;Yorobe et al . 2016 ) . The PSM technique can only alleviate selection biases arising from observable factors ( selection on observables ) but cannot mitigate biases caused by unobservable factors ( selection on unobservables ) . As Cameron and Trivedi ( 2005 ) discussed, PSM compares 'similar' individuals among the treatment and control groups based on observed characteristics. A probit model is first estimated using observed socioeconomic and farm characteristics as determinants of GSR adoption in the PSM approach. Second, the control and treatment groups are matched using the estimated probability from the probit model. We consider the nearest neighbor ( NN ) matching with replacement outlined in Caliendo and Kopeinig ( 2008 ) . 3 , 4 Compared with other matching techniques, NN matching nearly always estimates the average treatment effects ( ATEs ) on the treated, ATT, which is a critical estimate in our ESR estimation ( Stuart 2010 ) . The NN matching with replacement increases the matching quality and minimizes bias by only using samples with the most similar characteristics ( Smith and Todd 2005 ) . After removing the observations that fall outside the range of common support, the remaining sub-sample ( GSR adopters and GSR non-adopters ) is then used in the ESR estimation. We use farm and household characteristics as controls in the PSM.The ESR framework follows a procedure that involves a joint estimation of a selection equation and an outcome equation ( cf. Fuglie and Bosch 1995 ;Di Falco et al . 2011 ;Mishra et al . 2017 ) . In the ESR model, the expected utility of growing a GSR variety, A * i, T , is compared with the expected utility of non-adoption, A * i, C . Farmers grow GSR varieties if A * i, T > A * iC and do not adopt if otherwise. Let Z i be a set of factors that affect their choice of adoption ( expected utility of adoption ) , γ a parameter to be estimated, and ε i an error term with mean zero and variance σ 2 . A binary choice selection equation is then defined aswith A * i being a latent variable that determines farmers' adoption and A i as( 2 )Although ordinary least squares estimates of equation ( 1) will be biased because A i is a binary choice variable, a limited dependent variable model such as a probit model can consistently estimate the equation ( Maddala 1986 ) .In the outcome equation, a two-regime equation is estimated, where Regime 1 explains the outcome variables of interest ( i.e. logarithm of yield and cost efficiency ) for adopters and Regime 2 estimates the same for non-adopters. Let Y i be the outcome variable, X i a set of factors that affect the outcome, and β the parameters to be estimated. The error terms u 1 i and u 2 i are assumed to be normally distributed with zero mean and constant variances,. 5 The two regime equations are defined as Regime 1 : A covariance matrix of u 1 i , u 2 i , and ε i is given asWe cannot identify the covariance between u 1 and u 2 because Regimes 1 and 2 are not observed simultaneously ( Greene 2012 ) . The covariances between u 1 i and ε i and between u 2 i and ε i ( σ 1 ε and σ 2 ε ) are non-zero, which represent fundamental assumptions for ESR models ( Maddala 1986 ) . The variable Z i is allowed to overlap with X i , but at least a unique variable should be included, which would work as an instrument ( Cameron and Trivedi 2005 ) . As instruments, we use two distance variables-walking distance from the seed source and from the extension office-that are not used in the PSM. We conducted a falsification test by Di Falco et al . ( 2011 ) to confirm the instruments' validity. Given the above-described assumptions, the ESR model includes inverse Mills ratios ( IMRs ) in the two-regime equations. The IMRs evaluated at Z i γ are used to control selection bias. The IMRs in Regimes 1 and 2, λ 1 and λ 2 , respectively, are given aswhere φ and are the probability density and cumulative distribution function, respectively. The maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the parameters ( Greene 2012 ) . The expectation of outcomes with and without adoption, conditioned on actual adoption and non-adoption, is formulated as ( i ) GSR farmers with adoption ( observed )where ρ 1 and ρ 2 are the correlation coefficients between u 1 i and ε i and between u 2 i and ε i , respectively ( Lokshin and Sajaia 2004 ) . With these equations, the ATE on the treated, ATT) , and on the untreated, ATU) , can be consistently estimated.The data used in this study comes from a farm survey conducted in Mozambique from June to November 2018. The survey covered three rice-producing provinces ( Gaza, Sofala, and Nampula ) , where GSR varieties have been disseminated ( Fig. 2 ) . The three provinces were selected based on their potential for rice production as indicated by the National Agricultural Survey and GSR variety dissemination coverage. A multi-stage sampling technique was then used to select the districts, the administrative posts ( APs ) , and the respondent farmers for the survey. In Gaza province, which has 13 districts, only Chokwe and Xai-Xai have rice producers who received GSR varieties, whereas in Sofala province, which has 12 districts, Dondo and Buzi districts have significant rice production, but GSR varieties were disseminated only in Buzi. Nampula province has 20 districts, and only Mogovolas, Angoche, and Moma have significant rice production, but GSR varieties were disseminated only in Mogovolas and Angoche. The districts with GSR dissemination were all selected ( Chokwe, Xai-Xai, Buzi, Mogovolas, and Angoche ) . In each of these districts, we purposely selected the APs with the help of extension agents. 6 In each of the selected APs, smallholder rice farmers were randomly selected using the list of rice farmers. The sample size for each AP was determined based on the percentage of rice farmers. The study's total sample is 378 randomly selected farm households, of which 61 are from Chokwe, 38 from Xai-Xai, 129 from Buzi, 63 from Mogovolas, and 87 from Angoche. Interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire, including household socioeconomic information, landholding and land profile, land use pattern and rice varieties grown, inputs-outputs in rice production, knowledge and perceptions on GSR varieties, and seed exchange and income sources.Table 1 presents some information on the study sites: climate, annual rainfall range, and some constraints to rice production. The sites are characterized mainly by dry and subhumid climates. Gaza and Sofala have the lowest average annual precipitation. Low soil fertility is a typical constraint to rice production at all the study sites. Pests and diseases also cause significant damage in Sofala and Nampula. Damage caused by birds is prominent in Gaza, and this is a common stress in rice production in SSA ( De Mey et al. 2011 ) .The survey results revealed that Simão is the only GSR variety grown at the study sites. We therefore refer to Simão as the GSR variety in the rest of the article. Gaza province is known for growing only improved rice varieties ( including Simão ) . In Nampula, Simão is the only improved variety grown in addition to traditional varieties, whereas in Sofala, Simão , other improved varieties and traditional ones are present. Online Appendix Table A1 shows the list of improved and traditional varieties grown at the study sites and their characteristics.Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics for all provinces combined and individually. Although several similarities can be noticed among the three provinces, some sharp differences are also revealed. The higher overall rice yield performance in Gaza could be attributed to the progressive nature of agriculture ( i.e. openness to improved varieties, technologies, and agronomic processes; irrigated conditions and fertilizer use ) . In Gaza, only improved rice varieties ( including Simão ) are grown with enhanced access to irrigation and fertilizer application for rice production. Our survey indicates that 73.7 per cent of the farmers in Gaza plant rice in irrigated lowland conditions. In contrast, most farmers in the other two provinces produce rice in rainfed lowlands with minor to no fertilizer application. 7 Rice farmers in Gaza province grow improved varieties under better conditions, and, in particular, 44 per cent of the sample in that province grows Simão . Rainfed farmers tend to choose Simão, but irrigated farmers grow conventionally improved varieties. This trend is consistent with the properties of Simão ( Li and Ali 2017 ) .In contrast, a lack of irrigation facilities in Nampula drives farmers to stick with the robust low-yielding traditional varieties. Perhaps the conventional improved varieties are not suitable for the growing environment of Nampula. Some farmers in that province use Simão because of its stress tolerance. With the severe stress conditions prevailing in Sofala province, 17.8 per cent of the farmers plant improved varieties, and Simão stands out as the most commonly adopted variety ( 62 per cent ) . The variety adoption presented here refers to those varieties grown in the largest plot. Still, most farmers in our sample usually planted the same variety in their other plots when they had multiple plots. Online Appendix Table A2 provides more insight into the pattern of varietal choice by farmers in their plots. 8  Notes : Asterisks ( *, **, and *** ) denote significance at 10, 5, and 1 per cent levels, respectively. Standard errors of estimated coefficients are in parentheses. 'Irrigated lowland' and 'loam soil' are used as references. In Gaza, 'clay soil' is also a reference because only one 'loam soil' farmer was observed in our data. Estimated coefficients for district dummies are not shown.In Gaza, landholdings are larger than in other provinces, and more area is used for rice production. On average, the total cultivated area was 2.29 ha ( Gaza ) , 1.34 ha ( Nampula ) , and 1.42 ha ( Sofala ) . During the 2018 wet season, 78.3 ( Gaza ) , 71.8 ( Nampula ) , and 97.0 per cent ( Sofala ) of the area were used for rice production. Our survey indicates that more seed inputs are used in Nampula than in Gaza and Sofala. The traditional beliefs may drive farmers to think that overusing seeds allows maximizing output. Farmers in Gaza and Sofala spend twice as much on hired labor as their counterparts in Nampula. Transplanted rice as the crop establishment method is more common among Nampula farmers than among Gaza and Sofala farmers. In all three provinces, clay-type soil is dominant in rice fields, with a noticeably higher proportion in Gaza. The households surveyed for this study are relatively large ( 7-10 members ) and headed mainly by a male with 3-5 years of education. These households live relatively far from their source of seeds ( 42-70 min ) and the extension office ( 78-89 min ) , which may constrain adopting new varieties.A probit model was estimated to examine the drivers of Simão adoption. The estimated coefficients are presented in Table 3 . In Gaza province, rainfed and upland farmers are more likely to adopt Simão than irrigated farmers. This reflects the fact that conventional improved varieties usually require an irrigation system to maintain a high yield. In addition, farmers who practice direct seeding are more likely to adopt Simão , which may decrease farmers' labor input for transplanting. This significant effect of direct seeding is also seen in Sofala province. Female household heads have a higher probability of adopting Simão in Nampula. According to Table 4 , 52 per cent of Nampula farmers never heard about GSR varieties. Although we did not use the perception about a GSR variety as an explanatory variable in the probit regression because of its endogeneity, it should be seen as a major determinant of adoption. Other variables, such as household size, also appear as significant determinants of adoption in Gaza and Sofala. Given that the GSR variety ( Simão ) requires less hired labor input for irrigation maintenance and transplanting ( see Online Appendix Table A3 ) , its adoption remains beneficial for households with a small size by decreasing hired labor costs. In Sofala, however, where a reverse trend is observed, with limited irrigation facilities, households with large size can use family labor for other activities such as crop establishment and weeding. Therefore, adopting Simão is perhaps beneficial .Table 5 A shows the results of t -tests on means between adopters and non-adopters of Simão in the original sample before PSM. In all three provinces, significant differences are noticed in the mean comparison between adopters and non-adopters of Simão for farm and household characteristics. This indicates the likely presence of selection bias. Therefore, the mean comparison of outcomes ( yield and cost efficiency ) between adopters and non-adopters is biased. Thus, this justifies our choice of PSM to account for selection bias due to observable farm and household characteristics. A PSM was conducted for the three provinces to obtain a balanced sample of adopters and non-adopters of Simão. NN matching was considered using propensity scores from the probit model presented in Table 3 . The propensity score distribution balance test confirms the good quality of the matching. 9 Figure 3 shows the distribution before and after the matching when all provinces are combined. These results remained robust under alternative matching techniques. After the matching, the balanced samples of adopters and non-adopters are as follows: 64 farmers in Gaza, 84 in Nampula, and 98 in Sofala.Results of t -tests on means between adopters and non-adopters of Simão after the matching are presented for each province individually in Table 5 B. Unlike the results shown in Table 5 A, there are no significant differences in farm and household characteristics between adopters and non-adopters after PSM. Still, in Gaza, a few differences persist ( seed, fertilizer, and hired labor inputs ) . In Gaza province, adopters apply significantly larger amounts of seed and fertilizer than non-adopters even after PSM. The optimal fertilizer application rate in this area is about 50 kg/ha ( Kajisa and Payongyong 2011 )   ,780.504 12,745.992 -1965.488 15,782.735 25,143.234 -9360.499  a significant advantage over the other varieties. Adopters incur some savings in hired labor costs related to crop establishment and irrigation maintenance, harvesting, threshing, and bird control ( Online Appendix Table A3 ) .Given that significant differences still exist in input use ( seed, fertilizer, and hired labor ) between adopters and non-adopters, even after the matching, some remaining selection bias is likely to exist because of unobservable characteristics related to farmers' input management. This reinforces the choice of an econometric approach, such as ESR, to address those remaining selection bias issues.The following section presents the econometric results of the effects of Simão adoption on yield and cost efficiency based on ESR estimations.The results of ESR estimations for the effects of GSR adoption on yield and cost efficiency are shown in Tables 6 and 7 . We examined the GSR variety's impact for all the provinces combined and for each province individually to obtain more specific insights. In each of these estimations, the sub-sample of adopters and non-adopters of Simão , obtained after applying PSM, is used to estimate the ESR.The estimated selection equation shows the significant impacts of distance variables on Simão adoption ( Table 6 A ) . The falsification test confirms the exclusion restriction and relevance conditions of these variables ( Online Appendix Table A4 ) . As we expect, farmers with better access to an extension office have a higher probability of adoption. Interestingly, adopters live farther away from a seed source than non-adopters. Perhaps this relates to the fact that, unlike other improved varieties ( i.e. non-GSR ) , Simão can be multiplied by farmers. The results show that other factors related to Simão adoption are fertilizer, seed, and hired labor inputs. Our results confirm that fertilizer use is positively associated with growing Simão . Cultivation practices for traditional rice varieties do not usually involve the use of fertilizer in Mozambique ( Kajisa and Payongayong 2013 ) . The province-specific selection equations are presented in Online Appendix Table A5. 10The estimated two-regime equation ( Table 6 A ) shows that the null hypothesis that all estimated coefficients are equal to zero is rejected given the Wald test's significance. More importantly, the IMR coefficients came out positive and significant, confirming that the estimates would be biased if the correction were not performed. The likelihood ratio ( LR ) test with χ 2 ( 1 ) is significant, rejecting the null hypothesis of independence of outcome equations.  Notes : Asterisks ( *, **, and *** ) denote significance at 10, 5, and 1 per cent levels, respectively. Standard errors of estimated coefficients are in parentheses. 'Irrigated lowland' and 'loam soil' are used as references. District dummies were not used in the ESR framework because farmers' input decisions are highly correlated with their locations ( i.e. district and province ) .The estimated coefficients in Table 6 A show some interesting findings. The coefficient of fertilizer inputs was positive for both GSR and non-GSR growers ( significant only for the GSR regime ) , denoting the importance of fertilizer inputs for rice productivity. One per cent increase in fertilizer input increases yield by 0.085 per cent for GSR growers and by 0.074 per cent for non-GSR growers. The effects of hired labor are also positive but significant only for GSR adopters. Based on the estimations, planting non-GSR rice varieties under rainfed upland conditions is disadvantageous for rice yield. This may be related to the difficulty in growing rice in rainfed upland conditions in general. However, our estimates show that, for GSR growers, upland conditions do not constrain productivity. Table 6 B summarizes the expected yield for adopters with adoption ( observed ) , adopters without adoption ( counterfactual ) , non-adopters with adoption ( counterfactual ) , and non-adopters without adoption ( observed ) . The table presents the ATE on both the treated ( ATT ) and untreated ( ATU ) groups. If we refer to the percentile change, the smallholder Notes : Asterisks ( *, **, and *** ) denote significance at 10, 5, and 1 per cent levels, respectively. Based on the coefficients estimated from the ESR model, the predicted yields are shown in log form. Because the dependent variables in the model are the log of yields ( kg/ha ) , the predicted yields are also given in the log form. Converting the mean back to kilogram would lead to inaccuracies due to the inequality of arithmetic and geometric means.rice farmers who adopted GSR ( Simão ) increased yield by about 10.0 per cent on average. This result indicates the steady and positive effects on yield brought about by the adoption of Simão . For the non-adopters, the estimation shows that they would have increased productivity by 9.8 per cent if they had adopted GSR. These results confirm the overall benefits of GSR adoption on yield.To obtain further insights into these results, we also estimated the ESR for each province individually. The estimated parameters are presented in Online Appendix Table A5. Although sample sizes are smaller when ESR is estimated for individual provinces, the results are similar to those obtained for the combined estimation. The ATE on the treated ( ATT ) and untreated ( ATU ) groups presented in Table 6 B shows that adopters as well as nonadopters benefit from adopting the GSR variety. The change in productivity associated with adoption ( for the adopters ) is much higher in Gaza ( 14.5 per cent ) , followed by Sofala ( 11.0 per cent ) and Nampula ( 4.0 per cent ) . For the non-adopters, the productivity increase associated with adoption is much higher in Sofala ( 14.4 per cent ) , followed by Gaza ( 11.3 per cent ) and Nampula ( 10.4 per cent ) .Table 7 A presents ESR estimation results on the cost efficiency ( MZN/kg ) effects of GSR adoption over other varieties. As in the estimation for the yield effect, the Wald test is significant, indicating that the null hypothesis that all estimated coefficients are equal to zero is rejected. Similarly, the positive and significant coefficients in the IMRs confirm that the estimated coefficients would have been biased without the correction. The LR test is significant, and therefore, the null hypothesis of independence of outcome equations is rejected. The estimated correlation between the error term of the Regime 1 equation and the selection equation is positive and significant. This suggests that, if the non-GSR farmers plant Simão , they will be more cost efficient than the adopters, controlling for all other variables in the regime equations. Some interesting findings are also obtained with the two-regime estimation. First, seed input and hired labor use appear as significant drivers of cost efficiency. A one per cent decrease in seed input results in 0.52-0.60 per cent improvement in cost efficiency for GSR and non-GSR farmers. Second, the production environment ( irrigated, rainfed lowland, and upland ) does not significantly affect cost efficiency. For instance, although farmers in the irrigated environment tend to have a higher yield, part of the advantage is offset by the expenses they have to incur in maintaining irrigation facilities. 11  Table 7 B presents the ATE on the treated ( ATT ) and untreated ( ATU ) groups for GSR ( Simão ) and non-GSR growers. The GSR growers improved their cost efficiency by 26.4 per Notes : Asterisks ( *, **, and *** ) denote significance at 10, 5, and 1 per cent levels, respectively. Based on the coefficients estimated from the ESR model, the predicted yields are shown in log form. Because the dependent variables in the model are the log of yields ( kg/ha ) , the predicted yields are also given in the log form. Converting the mean back to kilogram would lead to inaccuracies due to the inequality of arithmetic and geometric means.cent by adopting Simão . Those who did not adopt would have improved their cost efficiency by 45.7 per cent had they adopted Simão . The province-specific results also suggest that a positive effect of GSR adoption is observed for cost efficiency. For adopters, the highest improvement in cost efficiency is observed in Gaza ( 30.8 per cent ) , followed by Sofala ( 27.7 per cent ) and Nampula ( 19.0 per cent ) . For non-adopters, had they switched to the GSR variety, the improvement in cost efficiency would have been higher in Nampula ( 83.1 per cent ) , followed by Sofala ( 63.3 per cent ) and Gaza ( 51.8 per cent ) . Overall, these results demonstrate the cost-efficiency benefit associated with the adoption of the GSR variety.The results confirm the positive effects of adopting the GSR variety on yield and cost efficiency, not only in irrigated environments where fertilizer is applied together with some more advanced farming practices ( i.e. Gaza province ) , but also in Nampula and Sofala provinces where farmers grow rice under rainfed conditions without fertilizer application. Our estimations suggest that the GSR variety outperforms the existing improved varieties and also the traditional varieties grown under traditional farming practices. The evidence provided in this study confirms the expected benefit of GSR varieties, which is to enable farmers to bring about sustainable production in economic terms appropriate for rice cultivation in rainfed and/or limited-input conditions ( see Yu et al . 2020 ) .Table 8 shows farmers' perceptions of the varieties they cultivated: GSR, improved non-GSR, and traditional varieties. First, it is interesting to see that many GSR adopters like Simão for its taste/aroma. Second, 40 per cent of the adopters in Gaza are satisfied with its grain yield, whereas 34 per cent of the adopters in Nampula and 65 per cent in Sofala Notes : Asterisks ( *, **, and *** ) denote significance at 10, 5, and 1 per cent levels, respectively. Based on the coefficients estimated from the ESR model, the predicted yields are shown in log form. Because the dependent variables in the model are the log of yields ( kg/ha ) , the predicted yields are also given in the log form. Converting the mean back to kilogram would lead to inaccuracies due to the inequality of arithmetic and geometric means.prefer its tillering ability. The higher tillering ability is generally associated with a higher grain yield, but it is unclear whether farmers expect this correlation. Third, GSR adopters in Nampula appreciate its submergence tolerance vis-à-vis those who cultivate traditional varieties. 12 Finally, some GSR adopters do not believe the variety is tolerant enough of drought and resistant enough to biotic stresses ( pest infestations and diseases ) , although non-GSR adopters also suffer from such stresses. In this study, we do not assess the stress tolerances of Simão in comparison with those of conventional varieties because of the lack of sufficient data, but this point needs further investigation. Fundamentally, farmers in most regions in Mozambique face unfavorable rice production conditions ( such as drought and biotic stresses ) with limited access to irrigation and chemical fertilizer. These conditions make improved varieties less profitable and attractive for adoption under traditional farming practices. This concern is what Mozambique and other Sub-Saharan African countries have been struggling with for decades ( Evenson and Gollin 2003 ;Balasubramanian et al . 2007 ;Kajisa and Payongayong 2011 ) . Recognizing the needs of locally suitable improved varieties in SSA ( Evenson and Gollin 2003 ) , GSR varieties are expected to adapt to local environments and benefit farmers by sustaining higher yields ( cf. Yu et al . 2020 ) . Our results revealed the yield and cost efficiency advantages of GSR adoption over the existing conventional improved varieties in both favorable and unfavorable environments.Although our study revealed some positive and interesting benefits of GSR variety adoption, which established good potential for GSR varieties in Mozambique, we would like to highlight some limitations that should be taken into account by future studies. First, Simão is the only GSR variety grown at our study sites, and therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to all GSR varieties. The benefits of other GSR varieties disseminated in the country ( for example, Hua564 ) should also be examined. Second, from an econometric perspective, the instruments used in the ESR estimation could possibly be weak. Therefore, new instruments should be explored in future studies, such as a random treatment that induces GSR adoption. Third, given the potential reverse causality between adoption of GSR varieties and yield and cost efficiency, the estimates from our regression could be interpreted only as associations rather than causalities. Fourth, we used a cross-sectional dataset, and thus the results do not suggest any insights into the long-term impacts of GSR adoption. Recurrent surveys will allow examining the impacts of the intensity ( duration ) of GSR adoption over time in a panel data context. Also, besides yield and cost efficiency, the impact of GSR varieties could further be examined on outcomes such as productivity enhancement, income, etc. Finally, our study is also limited by the lack of data: ( i ) farmers' risk preferences, locus of control, and societal norms are important determinants of farmers' technology adoption ( Abay et al . 2017 ) ; and ( ii ) quality differentials in seed, labor, and land may have contributed to the heterogeneity observed in yields. But, unfortunately, these detailed data are not available in our survey. These points need to be addressed in future surveys and studies.Several abiotic and biotic stresses characterize rainfed rice areas in Mozambique. Resourcepoor smallholder rice farmers in ecosystems across SSA cannot buy the expensive inputs needed to sustain stable yields and income. However, GSR varieties are expected to produce high and stable yields with fewer inputs and could increase yields at a lower production cost in such rice ecosystems. This article aimed to assess the impact of GSR adoption on rice yield and the cost efficiency of smallholder farmers in Mozambique. We used a farm-level survey and a combination of PSM and ESR methods to address selection bias due to observable and unobservable characteristics.This study found that GSR adoption brings about some positive and significant benefits in rice yield and cost efficiency. These benefits are observed not only in irrigated environments where fertilizer is applied together with some more advanced farming practices ( i.e. Gaza province ) , but also in Nampula and Sofala provinces where farmers grow rice under rainfed conditions with no fertilizer application. The GSR variety is beneficial for farmers who have it already and also for those who would consider switching from the improved and traditional varieties they are currently growing. The benefits were shown in the overall sample ( all provinces combined ) and also for individual provinces. Our findings suggest that GSR varieties have the potential to bring about some positive changes in the development of rice production in Mozambique, although we recognize that our study has some limitations and future studies may be needed for further investigation.","tokenCount":"7094"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5934062768.json b/data/part_1/5934062768.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3ab09a399d29b3577bcd02030b359d62721858b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5934062768.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c00a46c9dffd625a8022861ab40bcfcf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e4c379fc-3d0b-496b-8e82-0642476a26fe/retrieve","id":"1344134309"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e3cc2101-fb8c-41f8-ad3b-a8c3c6cfae15","pagecount":"4","content":"An El Niño event is declared when a sustained increase in sea surface temperatures (SST) is observed over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, as a result of weakening in trade winds from the west, allowing the accumulation of anomalously warm waters (see Box 1).Seasonal forecasts from dynamical climate models are now available with higher reliability, since the \"spring predictability barrier\" of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been overcome (Jin et al., 2008).Monthly predictions of sea surface temperature anomalies indicate that El Niño conditions will most likely reach a maximum during October to December 2023.In spite of near normal values, a dipole of positive (to the north) and negative (to the south) rainfall anomalies is expected to characterize rainfall in August. Monthly rainfall could transition to nearnormal conditions and then to generalized negative anomalies in the summer months (Figure 1). This period covers part of the dry season, so that the forecast anomalies are generally low. However, it is important to continue monitoring the seasonal predictions as they become available in the following months, while taking preventative to measures to protect maize yields and conserve water sources.The experience of previous El Niño years in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment suggests that in 2024, low rainfall, higher evaporative demand and higher temperatures could lead to drought and a negative impact on crop yields in the catchment.However, not all El Niño years have produced these conditions: variations in sea surface temperatures and other seasonal phenomena could impact crop growing conditions in 2024.Near normal but increasing temperature anomalies are predicted for the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment from August 2023 to January 2024 Predicted near-normal rainfall anomalies turn negative as summer 2023/34 approaches in the catchment A reduction in rainfall, higher than normal temperatures and evaporative demand, along with drought conditions induced by the 2023 El Niño event can be expected for the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment from January to March 2024 and likely until the next wet season. The maps show that El Niño causes rainfall and temperature anomalies that imply unfavorable conditions for crops and water resources. The combination of low rainfall and high temperatures should lead to drought conditions over the region, which is captured by the SPEI drought index. Consequently, higher thermal and water stress and a reduction in crop yields should be expected.Evapotranspiration anomalies (Figure 2c) suggest higher atmospheric water demand and water consumption by plants, which could increase the negative water balance throughout the growing season.The impact could be compounded by the negative values of SPEI (Figure 2d), which are associated with lower rainfall amounts and higher air dryness, and consequently with reductions in maize yields (Lobell et al., 2013).Experience shows that the water deficit stress during the flowering and grain filling stages significantly reduces maize yields in non-drought tolerant cultivars (Sah et al., 2020).Potential conditions of water scarcity and environmental stress for crops such as maize in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment should raise concerns in the region.Decisions must be taken to try to maintain yields using maize cultivars tolerant to water and thermal stress, or promoting management practices to retain soil moisture, increasing water use efficiency.Similarly, anomalies of number of warm days (days with a maximum temperature above 35 º C) and dry spells (consecutive days with rainfall < 1 mm), presented in Figure 3, show a significant increase during El Niño years in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment, especially over eastern areas, which can result in environmental stress conditions for crops.  Figure 4 shows that not all El Niño events are associated with a lower rainfall amounts and an increase in temperatures, evapotranspiration and drought conditions, as summarized in Figure 2.These \"discrepancies\" might be explained by differences in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, timing and other seasonal phenomena such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), which can affect maize seasonal climate anomalies in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment, especially during El Niño years (Pohl et al., 2007).As MJO consists of two main parts, the \"wet\" and the \"dry\" phases lasting between 30 and 60 days, the intensity of these phases could determine seasonal anomalies for the summer of 2023/24 in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment. El Niño results from higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The region 5N-5S, 170W-120W (white rectangles below) is looked at to monitor and predict global ENSO conditions. The maps below show predictions of SST anomalies from August 2023 to January 2024.The El Niño 3.4 index is calculated by taking the mean three-month SST anomalies over the 5N-5S, 170W-120W region. A global El Niño or La Niña event is declared when the index shows anomalies exceeding +/-0.5 º C that persist for three consecutive months.This publication has been prepared as an output of CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation, which researches pathways to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems by generating research-based evidence and innovative digital solutions. This publication has not been independently peer-reviewed. Any opinions expressed here belong to the author(s) and are not necessarily representative of or endorsed by CGIAR. In line with principles defined in CGIAR's Open and FAIR Data Assets Policy, this publication is available under a CC BY 4.0 license. © The copyright of this publication is held by IFPRI, in which the Initiative lead resides. We thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to CGIAR Trust Fund.2023-2024 projected rainfall and temperature anomalies 6-months (August 2023 -December 2024) seasonal forecasts were obtained from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) multi-system (released in August 2023) (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/). Eight General Circulation Models (GCMs) were used, which have a variable number of ensemble members, which were averaged to obtain one forecast per model. Finally, the multi-model ensemble was used to generate the forecasts of this document.Anomalies of sea surface temperature, total rainfall, and mean temperature from the following models were used:Obtained from the Copernicus Climate Data Store (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/home).Research-based evidence and solutions for digital innovations to accelerate transformation of agrifood systems, with an emphasis on inclusivity and sustainability.More information: on.cgiar.org/digital Brief prepared by: Carlo Montes (The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center).Management of river flows in an El Nino event.Declining rainfall will result in reduced river discharge (flow), resulting in negative impacts for users of the water for livelihoods, and placing stress on the river ecosystem. The e-flow directions produced by IWMI for the neighbouring Limpopo River (see Volume 7 https:// limpopo-eflows.iwmi.org/) provide tables of flow that are required to protect the ecosystem as well as the beneficiaries of a functional ecosystem. Note that the eflows in the Inkomati-Usuthu are different but follow the same principles.The recommended e-flows are lower during dry years such as due to El Nino, mimicking natural processes and helping build resilience of the ecosystem without compromising its quality. The Digital Innovation Initiative of the CGIAR is working to assist with implementation of e-flows and is providing digital tools that will enable water resource managers to manage river flows to ensure a sustainable river and use of the water.The occurrence of an El Niño event in 2023/24 is certain. The historical record is also clear regarding the average anomalies that El Niño induces in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment and its potential to impact seasonal climate during the growing season of the main crops.It is important to keep tracking seasonal anomaly forecasts in the following months, and also to continue the transfer of information to farmers from meteorological and agricultural extension services, and to take timely decisions regarding possible options to mitigate the potential impact of seasonal rainfall deficits and other factors.As the maize growing season approaches, it is important to monitor the status of the MJO, which could be decisive in terms of the magnitude of the influence of El Niño in the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment.","tokenCount":"1276"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5936605473.json b/data/part_1/5936605473.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ac4b457e50a797ee745761bf75bc2da0232a9073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5936605473.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a92013715312b63006046ab4e757f15","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6b4068f9-89d1-466b-a640-4718f400216b/retrieve","id":"-500220720"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"038c2a1a-0d22-430b-8cbb-f922b8e4a891","pagecount":"2","content":"Working with over 40 implementing partners in the northern, central, and southern regions of Malawi by strengthening their capacities to develop and scale technologies. This objective was accomplished through the generous support of Irish Aid, USAID, DFID, GIZ, EU, DFID, GIZ, ADB, and UKRI through the James Hutton Institute Coordinating the collaboration of eight CGIAR Centers in Malawi in two integrated research and development programs that are aligned to the government priorities for agricultural development.• The EU-funded (and GIZ-supported) KULIMA project seeks to improve the lives of over 400,000 households through capacity building on integrated technologies and seed systems;• The EU-funded DeSIRA project brought together eight CGIAR centers to develop and evaluate new technologies to increase agricultural productivity in the context of climate change.The impact of these two initiatives has been significant:• More than 245,000 households have been directly impacted with improved seed for cereals, legumes, and sweetpotato and other technologies;• 21 integrated technology options have been disseminated through Farmer Field School extension programs that trained over 380,000 households;• 277 master trainers were introduced to a wide range of climate smart technologies;  heat tolerance and high nutritional content. Further CIP and DARS are evaluating introduced heat tolerant and nutrient dense potato varieties. These pipeline varieties will help expand potato production into the nontraditional growing areas of Malawi.Strengthening the seed systems of potato and sweetpotato by establishing tissue culture and screenhouse facilities for early generation seed production. Working with DARS, CIP's expertise in propagation of planting material has helped create a system for decentralized seed multiplication in farming communities, which will ensure better harvests in the future.Decentralized seed multiplication provides easier access to quality seed by farmers. Approximately 441 sweetpotato vine and 107 seed potato multipliers (as individuals, groups, associations, and cooperatives) are now active in Malawi.Supporting good agronomic practices for nutrition and resilience through the dissemination of relevant technologies, innovations, and practices that have potential to improve farmers' incomes, and food and nutrition security. Different approaches have been undertaken for information and knowledge dissemination including field days, agricultural fairs, onfarm demonstrations, and scientist-farmer participatory technology development and dissemination.Promoting diet diversity and creating awareness of the nutritional benefits of our crops through existing nutritional structures at national, district and community levels including care groups. Promotions include field days, cooking demonstrations, and use of print and electronic media. Focus is on enhancing utilization of different food crops available at household level for improved nutrition.Facilitating market development, agro-processing, and value addition for potato and sweetpotato crops by promoting the growth and development of inclusive agricultural value chains to ensure competitive and fair pricing of agricultural commodities, equitable value addition, and enhanced agro-processing investments.CIP is a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato and Andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative sciencebased solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.","tokenCount":"505"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/5956174660.json b/data/part_1/5956174660.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d9023b152072542e56027a900a134952022081bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/5956174660.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1e962ef4a612d2d40450d63f033855d8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5857e552-efe9-4a6c-9cdf-bf32a259cb89/content","id":"-323043452"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a09d3f4f-8b23-4ca7-bb23-0a969ae3ce3f","pagecount":"141","content":"Kahverengi pas ba §akta dane say1s1n1, hektolitre ag1rl1g1n1 ve dane kalitesini dli §lirerek onemli verim kaybina neden olur. * Metopoliphium dirhodum * Sitobion avenae * Diuraphis noxia olup Arpa Sari CUceligi virUsUnUn de vektorUdUr.Onemi: Afitler onemli zararlilardir.Mantarlar1n diger bitkilerden fark-lar1 klorofilsiz olmalar1 ve bu nedenle fotosentez yapamamalar1d1r.Besin maddelerini kendileri Uretmek yerine diger bir canl1 yada olli ko-nuk9u dokusundan elde ederler. Mantarlar tohum yada topraktan bula §abildikleri gibi rlizgar, su, bocek, hayvan veya insanlar yoluyla da ya-y1labilir. Mantari patojenler yoluyla infeksiyon diger 9evre §artlar1 yan1nda birka9 faktore olduk9a s1k1 bag1ml1d1r. Bunlar hassas konuk9u bitki, konuk9u bitki ylizeyinde (genel olarak) serbest su, inokulum yogunlugu, uygun s1cakl1k. Baz1 mantarlar yaln1z bir yada birka9 konuk9u bitki tlirline sald1r1rken baz1lar1' bir9ok konuk9uya sald1rabilmektedir. Belirtiler ve hastal1k geli §mesi ko-nuk9u-parazi t ili §kisinin bir sonucudur. Mantara bagl1 olarak belirtiler benzer veya farkl1 olabilir o nedenle mantarlar1n te §hisi morfolojilerine gore yap1lmal1d1r. Herhangi bir a91klama yap1lmad1g1nda, bu kilavuzda bulunan hastal1klar1n hepsi ekmeklik ve makarnal1k bugdaylarla tritikaleye aittir.Puccinia recondita I Belirtileri: Yuvarlaga yakin §ekilli kahverenkli lirediospor klimelerinden olu §an plisgliller yaprak ayasi ve kininin list ylizUnde (1), list bogum arasi ve kil91klarda bulunabilir.Hastal1g1n Geli §mesi: ilk infeksiyonlar rlizgar yardimiyla uzaklardan da gelebilen lirediosporlarca meydana getirilir. Serbest rutubet ve 20°c ye yakin sicaklikta hastalik hizla geli §ir ve her 10-14 gUnde yeni bir lirediospor nesli olu §ur. Bitkiler olgula §tigi yada gevre §artlari olumsuz hale geldiginde siyah renkli teliospor klimeleri olu §ur (2).Konuk~ular/Yayg1nl1k: Kahverengi pas bugday, tritikale ve bunlara akraba birgok otu hastalandirabilmektedir. Hastalik, serin iklim tah1llar1n1n yeti §tirildigi her yerde gorlilmektedir. Ara konukgular Thalictrum, Isopyrum, Anemonella ve Anchusa tlirleridir.Puccinia graminis f.sp.tritici Belirtileri: Koyu kirm1z1-kahverenkli ptis9tiller yaprag1n iki ytiztinde, sapta ve ba §akta olu §abilir (3). Hafif infeksiyonlarda, dag1n1k yerlerde olu §an ptis9tiller ag1r infeksiyonlarda birle §ebilirler.Ptis9tilleri meydana getiren tirediospor ktimeleri epidermisi y1rt1p 91kt1g1nda bitki ytizeyi ptirtizlU ve y1rt1k bir gortinli § al1r.Hastaligin Geli §lllesi: RUzgarla ta §inarak gelen Urediosporlar1n neden oldugu infeksiyonlar ba §lang19ta hao fiftir. Serbest rutubet ve 20 C'ye yak1n s1cakl1kta hastal1k h1zla geli §ir ve her 10-15 gtinde bir Urediospor nesli meydana gelir. Bitkiler olgunla §t1g1nda siyah teliospor kU-, meleri olu §abilir. Konukcular/Yayginlik: Kara pas bugday, arpa, tritikale ve bunlara akraba bir9ok diger otu hastaland1rabilir. Ara konuk9ular1 Berberis ve Jlahonia tUrleridir.Onemi: Kara pas karde §lenmeyi azal-t1r, dane ag1rl1g1 ve kalitesini dU- §lirUr. Hastal1ga uygun §artlar tam olu §tugunda blittin Urtin kaybedilebilir.Belirtileri: Yapraklar Uzerinde sari ile portakal renginin degi §ik tonlarina sahip Urediosporlarin meydana getirdigi dar §eritler halinde gorUlen pUs9Uller, yaprak kini,Ust bogum arasi ve kavuzlarda da bulunabilir (4,5).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: ilk infeksiyonlar uzak mesafelerden rUzgarla ta §inarak gelebilen Urediosporlarca meydana getirilir. Serbest rutubetle \\ yagmur veya 9ig) birlikte sicaklik 0 -10-20 C arasinda oldugunda hastalik 0 hizla geli §ebilir. Sicaklik 25 C'den yUksek oldugunda, Urediospor meydana gelmesi azalir veya yava §lar ve siyah renkli teliosporlar meydana gelmeye ba §lar ( 6) • 'Konuk~ular/Yayginlik: Sari pas, bugday, tritikale ve bunlara akraba bir 9ok diger otu hastalandirabilir. Bu hastalik bugday Uretilen yUksek rakimli ve/veya iliman iklime sahip her yerde bulunmu §tur. Ara konuk9usu bilinmemektedir.Onemi: 9iddetli infeksiyonlar ba §akta dane say1s1n1, hektolitre ag1rl1-g1n1 ve dane kalitesini dU §Urerek verim kayiplarina neden olur.Adi ve Cilce Silrme Tilletia caries, T.foetida, T.controversa Belirtileri:Bu U9 tUr, \"silrme\" topu\" olarak isimlendirilen, daneye benzer yap1da, fakat tamamen siyah teliosporlarla dolu mantari yap1lar meydana getirirler. T.caries ve T.foetida taraf1ndan meydana getirilen adi sUrme toplar1 bugday danesi ile a §ag1-yukar1 ay1n bUyUklUk ve §ekildedir ( 7), T.controversa taraf1ndan meydana getirilen cUce sUrme toplar1 ise daha kUrevaridir (8). SUrme toplar1 ezildiginde kotU ve genellikle bal1k-s1 bir koku a91ga 91kar. Ba §aklar koyu ye §il-mavi bir renk al1r ve kavuzlar hafif9e a91l1r. SUrme toplar1 yumu §ak olumdan sonra gorUlmeye ba §lar (9, 10, sayfa 11). Bitkilerde adi sUrme hafif, cUce sUrme ise be-' lirgin bir boy kisalmas1 yapar.( Onemi: Kismi slirmenin neden olabilecegi verim kayb1 azdir fakat karantina listesinde oldugundan tahil ticaretini etkilemektedir.Belirtileri: Ba §ak ekseni hari9 blitlin 9i9ek organlarinin yerini siyah renkli teliosporlar alir (12). Buteliosporlar, bitkide 9iplak bir ba §ak ekseni ile bazi 9i9ek organ artiklari birakarak, rlizgarla u9up giderler (13).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: Rlizgarla ta §inarak bugday 9i9eklerine konan teliospor lar 9imlenir ve danenin geli §mekte olan embriyosunu infekte edebilir. Rastik miseli, dane 9imlenmeye ba §layana kadar embriyo iginde dormant olarak kalir. Daha sonra bitkinin bliylime noktasi ile birlikte ilerler ve 9i9eklenme zamaninda ba §agin 9i9ek organlarinin yerini <Siyah spor klimeleri ile doldurur. Qi9eklenme sliresince sliren serin ve nemli §artlar infeksiyon ve hastalik geli §mesi igin uygun §artlardir.Konuk~ular/Yayginlik: Hastalik bugday yeti §tirilen her yerde meydana gelebilir.Onemi: Verim kaybi, hastaliga yakalanmi § ba §ak sayisina bagli olarak degi §ir. Genellikle ylizde bir'den azdir. Nadiren ylizde otuzu ge9er.12 13Belirtileri: Yaprak ve bazen sapin epidermis dokusu altinda ince §eritler halinde siyah renkli teliospor kUmeleri olu §ur. Hasta bitkiler bodurla §ir, karde § sayisi artar ve ba- §aklanmayabilir. Yapraklar kivrilarak sogan yapragina benzeyebilir.01gunla §an hasta bitkilerin epidermisleri yirtilip teliosporlar serbest kalabilir (14).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: Geng 9im veya fidecik tohumda yada toprakta 9imlenen sporlarca infekte edilir. Hastalik sistemik olarak geli §ir. Nemi ve sicakligi dU §Uk toprak, hastaligin geli §mesine en uygun ortamdir. Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Bu hastalik et~ meninin en onemli konuk9usu ekmeklik bugdaydir. Hastaligin makarnalik bugday ve tritikalede de gorUldUgU bildirilmi §tir.Onemi: Bu hastaligin ekonomik onemi pek yoktur fakat hassas ge §it yeti §tirilen yerlerde verim kaybi gorUlebilir.Erysiphe graminis f.sp.tritici Belirtileri: Yapraklar1n ilst yilzilnde (15) bazende ba §aklarda gri -beyaz renkte tilylil veya tozlu gorilntillil misel kilmeleri ile sporlar meydana gelir. Parmakla kolayca kaz1nabilen bu mantari materyal zamanla sar1ms1gri '~e doner (16). $iddetli infeksiyonlarda yapraklar olebilir. Misellerin iginde siyah renkli, kilre §ekilli Uretken yap1lar olu §ur.Hastal1g1n Geli3mesi: % 75-100 nisbi 0 nemli 15-22 C s1cakl1ktaki serin ve bulutlu hava §artlar1 killlemenin geli §mesi igin elveri §lidir. Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Hastal1g1n etmeni konukgu segiciligi gosterir. Bugday, arpa, yulaf ve gavdara infekte eden izolatlarda bu daha belirgindir. Killleme bugday1n yeti §tirildigi serin, nemli ve yar1 kurak her yerde gorillilr.Onemi: Erken donemde olu §an ve ba- §aklanma oncesi yilksek derecelere ula §an infeksiyonlar bilyilk ilriln ka-y1plar1na neden olabilir. Onemi: Qevre §artlari uygun oldugu ve hassas 9e §it yeti §tirildiginde bUyUk verim kayiplari meydana gelebilir.Calonectria nivalis (Fusarium nivale) Belirtileri: Sapa kalkman1n sonu ile kin devresinin ba §inda yaprak ayas1nda oval §ekilli, grimsi-ye §il benekli alanlar (25) olarak ba §layan bereler h1zla geli §ir ve merkezleri beyaz yada a9lk ye §il lekeler haline gelir. Yapraklar bu k1s1mlardan y1r-t1labilir (26). Hastal1k etmeni fide yan1kl1g1, dip 9UrUklUgU, ba §ak ya-n1kl1g1 (27) ve k1 §l1k tah1llarda pembe kar kUfUne de neden olmaktad1r.Hastal1g1n Geli §mesi: Bitki art1kla-r1ndaki sporlar rUzgar veya sagnak yagmur la yapraklcra ta §1n1r. Ser in ve nemli hava §artlar1 hastal1g1n geli §mesine uygundur.Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Hastal1k'makar-nal1k bugday ve tritikaleye daha fazla etkilidir. Yulaf ve arpaya etkisi yoktur.Onemi: giddetli oldugunda yaprak do-kUlmesine sonu9ta zay1f dane olu §ma-s1na (28) neden olur. Belirtileri: Hastalanan 9i9ek organlari (ozellikle di § kavuzlar) hafif-9e koyula §ir ve yagl1ms1 bir gorUntU alir (29). Meydana gelen sporlar nedeniyle ba §aklar parlak pembe bir renk gosterirler (30).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: infeksiyon 10o 28 C arasindaki s1cakl1klarda olabilir, fakat ba §aklanma s1ras1nda ve sonrasinda havanin nemli ve 1l1k olmasi daha uygundur. Di §i organ tozlanmadan once infekte edilir ve hastalik misellerin 9i9ekten-9i9ege ge9mesi yoluyla yay1l1r.Konuk~ular/Yayginlik: BUtUn kU9Uk daneli tahillar bu hastaliktan etkilenebilir. Fusarium tUrleri hemen he-' men her toprakta ve bitki art1g1nda bulunabilir.Onemi: Hastalik §iddetli oldugunda %50'den fazla verim kaybi ile bir-~ikte dane kalitesinde belirgin bir dil §me gorUlebilir. Hastal1kl1 ba §aklarin daneleri 9ogunlukla kiri §ik olur. iginde %5'ten fazla hastal1kl1 dane bulunan Urtin insan ve hayvana zararli olabilecek seviyede zehirle bula §ik demektir.Belirtileri: Kavuzlarda, infekte olmu § 9i9eklerin 91kard1g1 sarimsi,ya-Pl §kan, tatli bir sivi gorUlUr. Ba- §aklar olgunla §tiginda danelerin yerinde uzunluklari 20mm'ye eri §ebilen (32), kahverengi, morumsu-siyah mantari yapilar meydana gelir (31).Hastal1g1n Geli3mesi: Ilk infeksiyonlar, bir onceki yildan kalml § ergotlarda olu §an sporlar tarafindan meydana getirilir. infekte edilmi § 9i-9eklerden 91kan yapi §kan siviya gelen bocekler, sivida bulunan sporlari saglikli 9i9eklere bula §tirirlar. infekte edilmi § her 9i9ekte bir ergot meydana gelir. Cimlenmek igin soguklanmaya gerek duyan mahmuz •, toprakta birkag yil canl1l1g1n1 koruyabilir.Konukcular/Yayg1nl1k: Cavdar mahmuzu bUtUn kU9Uk daneli tahillarda meydana gelir. Serin ve nemli yerlerde daha yaygindir.Onemi: Fazla verim kaybi meydana getirmez, fakat dane kalitesini belirgin ol9Ude dU §UrUr.Alternaria, Helminthosporiwa ve Fusariwa spp.Belirtileri: Danelerin embriyo tarafindaki kabugu koyu kahverengi-siyah bir renk alir (33) (Saglikli daneler 34). Hastalik Alternaria ttirlerince meydana getirilirse, sadece tohum kabugu etkilenir. Helminthosporium veya Fusariwa ttirlerince meydana getirilirse, embriyo zarar gortir.Hastaligin Geli~mesi: Hastaligin etmenleri bugday danelerini yumu §ak olum devresinde infekte eder. Hasat oncesi meydana gelen yagi §li hava ko- §ullari hemen her 9e §itte bu hastaligin 91kmasina neden olabilmektedir.Konukc;ular/Yayginlik: Esas konuk9u bugdaydir. Bunun yani sira tritikale ve buna akraba birka9 ot bu hastaliktan etkilenir.Onemi: Rengi bozuk daneler fiatini dli §Urtir. Hastalik UrUnUn Fusarium yada Helminthosporiwa ttirlerince meydana getirildiginde tohumlarin canliligi aza'labilmektedir.Belirtileri: Hastalikli bitkiler a- §iri derecede karde §lenir, ~aplar kisa, dik, bozuk §ekilli yada egri yapili ve sarimsi-ye §il renkte olur. Yapraklar kalin, dik ve 9ogunlukla kivriktir (35). Karde §ler olgunla §madan once ollir yada ba §aklanmaz, eger olu §ursa, ba §aklar dallanir{36).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: Hastalik su ile doymu § veya a §iri sulanmi § tarlalarda yeti §tirilen tahillarda meydana 0 gelir. 10-15 C'lerde geli §mesi artan bu hastalik, toprakta veya konukgu otlarda bulunan etmenlerce ba §latilir. infeksiyon olmasi igin suyun bulunmasi §arttir. Hastalik karde §lenme/sapa kalkma devresinde 'daha belirgin hale gelir.Konuk~ular/Yayginlik: Hastaligi yapan mantarin konuk9ular1 arasinda kU9Uk daneli tahillar, misir, sorgum ve birgok ot bulunmaktadir. Hastalik a §iri islak veya drenaji zayif topraklarin bulundugu her yerde gorlilebilmektedir.Onemi: gartlar elveri §li oldugunda kU9Uk, sinirli salginlar meydana getirilebilir.~erten Gaeumannomyces graminis f.sp.tritici Sin. Ophiobolus graminis Belirtileri: Bu hastal1k etmeni kokler ve saplar1n alt kis1mlar1nda 9U-rUklUklere neden olur. Alt bogum a-ras1, yaprak kin1 ve kokler parlak siyah bir renk al1r (37). BUyUte9le bak1ld1g1nda ilk yaprak kin1n1n al-t1ndaki bogum aras1 Uzerinde koyu renkli \"hif\"ler gorUlebilir. Kokler Uzerinde ise, siyah renkli, kal1n, i §leyici (yUrUyUcU) hifler belirgin bir §ekilde meydana gelir. Ag1r infeksiyon bitkileri bodurla §t1r1r,sap ve ba §aklar1 beyazla §t1r1r (38, sayfa 43). Hastal1k bitkilerin gen9 devrelerinde olu §ursa say1s1 azal1r ve ba §aklar 9ogunlukla steril olur.  Hastaligin Geli §mesi: Bitkiler olgunla §tiginda yada olgunluga yakin devrede havanin nemli veya yagi §li gegmesi, bitkilerin agir afit saldirisina ugramasi veya olgunla §madan olmesi sonucu siyah kUf etmenleri bu bitkilere bula §ir. Bu etmenler, sap:-ofit tabiatli oldugu ve yalnizca ol-mU § veya olmekte olan bitki dokularina bula §tiklari igin siyah kUfler teknik olarak hastalik sayilmazlar.Konuk9ular/Yayginlik: Siyah kUfler, dUnya gapinda yaygin olup her tUrlU olU yada olmekte olan bitki dokusunu etkiler.Onemi: Fazla ekonomik onemi yoktur. Nemli veya yagi §li yerlerde olgun danede renk degi §mesi, kara benek veya lekeler meydana getirir.Bakteriyel bitki hastalik etmenleri Arpa Sari Cliceligi Belirtileri: Hastal1g1n belirtileri 9e §ide, infeksiyon s1ras1nda bitkinin 9ag1na, virlislin soyuna ve 9evre §artlarina bagli olarak degi §ir. Hastalanmi § bitkilerde bodurla §ma, yapraklarda sararma (54) veya kizarma (yulafta ve bazi bugdaylarda),olu §ur ve duru §lari dikle §ir (55). Kok geli §mesi azalir, ba §aklanma gecikir (veya olmaz) ve verim dU §er. Ba §aklar dik olarak kalir ve olgunla §ma s1ras1nda saprofit mantarlarin yerle §mesi ile siyahla §ir. 0 Hastal1g1n Geli §mesi: 20 C civarindaki s1cakl1klar hastal1g1n geli §mesine uygundur. Belirtiler infeksiyon olduktan yakla §ik 14 glin sonra ortaya 91kar.Vektorler/Konuk~ular/Yayg1nl1k: 20 den fazla afit tlirU vektor gorevi yapabilir. Arpa Sari CUceligi,muhtemelen tah1llar1n dlinyadaki en yaygin virlis hastal1g1d1r. Bugdayin yani sira arpa, tritikale, yulaf ve bir9ok diger ot tUrUne de etkilidir.Onemi: Erken infeksiyonlar %20'nin Ustlinde verim kay1plar1na neden olur. gok daha bliyUk kayiplarda gorUlmU §tlir.Bugday ve tritikaleye 9ok fazla sayida bocek saldirmakta olmasina kar-91l1k, bunlarin i9inde geni9 alanlarda bUyUk zararlara yol a9an bir-ka9 tanesi onemlidir. Bir9ok tUr sadece ara-sira zarar verir ve yaygin degildir. Bir9ok tUrUn zararli olma durumlari iyi bir §ekilde belirlen-memi9tir.Te!f)>is Anahtar1 Belirtileri: Bugday sinegi istilas1 bitkilerde bodurla9ma, yatma, tarlada seyrelme ve verimde azalma meydana getirir. Esas zarar1 bitki oz suyunu emen larvalar yapar (70). istila sapa kalkma devresinde olursa, saplar olgunla9ma oncesi k1r1l1r.Bugday sinegi 3-4 mm uzunlukta olup ba9 ve kar1n k1sm1 siyah, abdomeni pembemsi veya sar1d1r.Hayat Cemberi: K191 sap veya an1z art1klar1nda ge9iren puplardan ilkbaharda erginler 91kar. Yapraklar1n Ust yUzUne s1ralar halinde b1rak1lan minik, k1rm1z1 yumurtalar bir haftada olgunla91r ve beyaz, ayaks1z larvalar 91kar ve yaprak k1n1n1n arkas1na yerle9ip bitki oz suyunu emmeye ba9larlar. Geli9tiklerinde, yar1 saydam, u9uk ye9il renkli, kabuksuz sU-mUklU bocege benzer bir hale gelirler.Konuk~ular/Yayg1nl1k: Esas olarak bug-day1n zararl1s1 olmakla birlikte arpa, 9avdar ve diger otlara da sald1-r1r.Onemi: Tah1llara en zararl1 lerden biridir.Belirtileri: Sonbahar veya erken ilkbaharda sald1r1ya ugrayan bitkilerde karde9ler 9ogunlukla olUr. Daha ge9 devrede sald1r1ya ugram19 bitkilerde beyaz ba9aklar meydana gelir (71).Ergin sinekler 6 mm uzunlukta, soluk ye9il-sar1 renktedir ve koyu 9izgileri vardir.Hayat <;;emberi: Larvalar k19-1 tahillar veya otlar i9inde ge9irir (72). Di9iler sap ba91na bir tane beyaz yumurtayi bayrak yaprak k1n1 yak1n1na b1rak1r. Larvalar sapi delip i9ine girer ve orada beslenerek sapin list k1sm1n1 ve ba9ag1 oldUrUrler. Sap kurdu biri ilkbaharda, biri yazin digeri de sonbaharin ba91nda olmak Uzere yilda U9 nesil verir.Konuk~ular/Yayg1nl1k: Bugdayin yan1-s1ra 9avdar, arpa ve diger otlara sald1r1r. Bu boceginkine benzer zarar yapan ba9ka sineklerde bulunmaktadir.Onemi: Bula91k tarlalardaki bitkilerin %10-15'i zarar gorUr. Geni § alanlarda bUyUk zararlar ara-sira gorUlebilmektedir.Belirtileri: Sapkesenin zararlar1 arasinda ba9aklarin olgunla9madan sararmasi ve danelerin kiri9masida var>-dir. Larvalar sapi ku9ak gibi kemirir (73) ve daha sonralari saplar bu kisimlardan yatar.Hayat Cemberi: Yilda bir nesil meydana getirir. Larvalar saplarin i9inde ki9lar (74) ve baharda pup haline ge9er. Erginler kU9Uk, sinek benzeri arilar olup ilkbahar sonu ile yaz ortasinda gorUlUrler. Di9iler beyaz yumurtalarini list bogumun i9ine birakir lar. Olgunla9an yumurtalardan ayaksiz beyaz larvalar 9ikar. Sapin i9inde tUnel a9arak a9agi dogru ilerleyen larvalar sapin ozUnU yiterek beslenirler. Beslenmelerini tamamlayinca sapin tabanini 9epe9evre kemirirler.Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Bugday tercih edilmekle beraber bUtUn tahillar ve otlar konuk9udur. Ki9lik tahillar daha 9ok saldiriya ugrar. Sert dokulu sapa sahip 9e9itler daha az etkilenir.Onemi: Bazi yillar, belirgin zararlara neden olmaktadir.Belirtileri: Beyaz kurtlar konuk9u bitkilerin koklerini kismen yada tamamen keser, par9alar. Bu nedenle kok 9UrUklUgU zarar1 ile kar19t1r1labilen solmu § yada olmU9 bitki a-lanlar1 gorUlUr. incelenirse bu alan-lar1n 9evresinde larvalar bulunabilir (75). Birka9 santimetre uzunlukta ve bir santimetreye yak1n kal1n-l1ga ula9abilen larvalar1n U9 9ift bacag1 vardir (76).llayat Cemberi: Beyaz kurtlar May1s veya Haziran boceklerinin larvalar1-d1r. Yumurtalar topraga b1rak1l1r, bunlardan 91kan larvalar kokler Uzerinde beslenir.Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Bugday ve bir-, 9ok diger bitki tUrUne sald1ran 9ok say1da tieyaz kurt tUrU vard1r. Ag1r derecede bula91k yerlere ekilen tahillarda belirgin zararlar meydana gelir.Onemi: Kokleri tamamen zarar gormeyen .bi tkiler ya9ayabilir fakat bodur-la9ir ve ba9ak veremez.Belirtileri: Tel kurtlari zarari, toprakta ya9ayan diger 9igneyici boceklerin zararina benzer. Kesin te9his i9in zarar gormli § fidelerde tel kurdu bulmak gerekebilir (77). Sert, parlak, pUrUzsUz bir tele benzeyen, boylar1 2-3cm olan larvalar1n U9 9ift ayag1 (78) ve kremden-kahverengine kadar degi9en renkleri vard1r.Larvalar, ekilir ekilmez bugdaya sal-d1r1r, endospermi yer, kabugu b1ra-k1r. Tel kurtlar1n1n en al191lm19 belirtisi kU9Uk alanlar yada siralar halinde bitkilerin solmas1 veya olmesidir. Fidelerin saplar1 tohumun tam ~stUnden 9ignenir.(Devam1 var)Hayat Cemberi: Tel kurtlar1 §aklayan boceklerin larvalar1d1r ve bir9ok tUrU vard1r. Ergin bocekler (79) genellikle ilkbaharda yumurtalar1n1 topraga b1rak1rlar, larvan1n pupa devresine ge9mesi tUrUne gore birka9 y1l alabilir. Nesiller i9-i9e girdiginden, toprakta ayn1 zamanda farkl1 safha ve bUyUklUkte larvalar bulunabilir.Konuk9ular/Yayg1nl1k: Aralarinda bugdayinda bulundugu 9ok say1da bitki tUrUne sald1ran bir9ok tel kurdu var-d1r.Onemi: Tel kurtlar1 toprak kurtlar1 i9inde en zararl1 olanlardan biridir. Nadastan sonra veya birka9 y1l otlu kalan tarlaya ekilen bugdaylarda ag1r zararlar yaparlar. Onemi: Ekonomik derecede zarar vermesi enderdir.Belirtileri: Bula §ik bitkilerin kokleri a §1r1 dallan1r (87) ve Uzerlerinde kistler olu §ur. Nematodun var-l1g1 fide devresinde daha kolay anla §1l1r. Ba §lang19ta beyaz olan kistler zamanla koyu kahverengiye doner. Nematodun zay1flatt1g1 fidelere ozellikle kok ve kok tac1 9Urliklliklerine neden olan hastal1k etmenleri sald1r1r.Hastaligin Geli3mesi: Islak topraktaki larvalar bliyilme noktas1n1n ya-n1ndan koklere girer ve burada ergin hale gelirler. Nematodlar1n olgunla §mas1yla birlikte, hlicrelerde bliylime, koklerde §i §me ve dallanma olur. Nematodlar yumurta yapacak. olgunluga gelirken kistler olu §ur. Konukcular/Yayginlik: Kist nematodu tah1llar ve onlara akraba olan tlirlerin 9ogunu etkiler. Ozellikle, daha once 9ay1rl1k olan tar1ma yeni a-91lm1 § alanlarda 9ok gorlililr.Onemi: Nematod say1s1 9ok fazla oldugunda onemli verim kayb1 meydana gelir.Jleloidogyne spp.Belirtileri: Kok u9lar1na yakin yerlerde kil9Uk dilgilmler veya urlar meydana gelir. Bazen koklerde a §iri dallanma olu §abilir (88).Hastaligin Geli §mesi: Bu nematodlar bitkilere ilkbahar yada yaz ba §inda girerler. Her bir dilgilmde, govdesinde, 9ok sayida yumurta olu §turan en az bir di §i bulunur. Yaz ortasinda bu yumurtalar 91kar1l1r ve nematodlar ki §i yumurta halinde ge9irir. Genellikle yilda bir nesil meydana gelir.Konukcular/Yayginlik: Kok dilgilm nematodlari fazla sayida konuk9uya sahiptir. Jleloidogyne naasi ozellikle tahillari tercih eder.Onemi: Bu nematodlarin zarari topraktaki yumurta sayisina baglidir. A- §iri bir saldirida fideler olebilir. Besin maddesi eksikligi, zayif drenaj ve topraktan bula §an hastaliklar nematod zararini saklayabilir.Bitki geli §mesinde, fizyolojik veya genetik bozukluklar, besin maddesi eksiklikleri, 9evre §artlar1n1n olumsuz etkileri ve 9e §itli zararlilar nedeniyle anormallikler olabilir. Yapraklardaki fizyolojik benekler, lekeler ve sararmalar bir9ok nedenle olu §abilir. Bazi sari 9izgiler, beneklenme ve sararmalar genetiktir ve kromozom dengesizligi yada uyu §mazlik nedeniyle meydana gelir. Qe §itlerin genotipik yap1s1,meydana gelecek beneklenme ve benegin gorUntUsU Uzerinde etkili olabilmektedir.Belirtileri: Yaprak beneklenmesi (89) nedeni olarak herhangi bir hastalik etmeni bulunamami §sa; beneklenme fizyolojik bozukluk veya besin maddesi (or:Mn) eksikliginden olabilir.Hastal1g1n Geli~mesi: Ki §lik ekmeklik ve makarnalik bugdaylardaki benekler ba §aklanma s1ras1nda gorUlmeye ba §lar. Say1s1 ve bUyUklUkleri bitkinin Ust tarafina dogru arti § gosterir. Serin, bulutlu, islak hava §artlar1n1 sicak, gUne §li havalar izlediginde yada s1cakl1kta bUyUk ini § ~iki §lar gorUldUgUnde de yaprak benekleri meydana gelebilir.Konuk~ular/Yayg1nl1k: Fizyolojik beneklenmenin olmasi ~e §it ile ~evre §artlari ili §kisine bagl1d1r.Onemi: Genellikle onemli bir sorun say1lmamaktad1r.Belirtileri: Belirtileri: Tuz oraninin bir tarlanin degi §ik yerlerinde ayni olmasi enderdir. Tuzlulugu gosteren ilk belirti bitkilerin bilyilmesinde meydana gelen farklilikt1r; ayr1ca tarlada 91plak alanlar1n gorillmeside olagan-d1r (101). Tuzdan zarar goren bitkiler bodurla §1r ve mavi-ye §il bir renk al1r. Yaprak u9lar1 ve kenarlar1 kavrulur.Konukgular/Yayginlik: Biltiln kilgilk daneli tah1llar zarar gorilr, fakat arpa digerlerine gore daha yilksek tuz oranlar1na tolerans gosterir.Onemi: Baz1 yerlerde, ozellikle dre-naj1 zay1f, sulan1r alanlarda tuz birikmesi olmakta, buda verimi s1n1r~ lay1c1 etki yapmaktad1r.Belirtileri: Bitkinin erken geli §me devrelerinde meydana gelen nem az-l1g1 bodurla §maya ve karde §lenme ile kok geli §mesinde azalmaya sebep olur.Oglen saatlerinde, yapraklarda meydana gelen k1vr1lma ve bUkUlmelerde rutubet azl1g1n1n i §aretleridir(l02). Ba §agin geli §mesi s1ras1nda nem eksikligi olursa ba §akcik ve gigek sa-y1s1nda azalma gorUlUr, eger nem az-l1g1 gok fazla ise daneler k1r1 §1k olur. Ba §agin kindan 91kmas1na yakin ve dollenme s1ras1nda gorUlen a §1r1 eksiklikler tamamen veya kismen k1-s1r la §maya sebep olabilmektedir.Yayginlik: Yag1 §1 s1n1rl1 alanlarda her yil belirli bir derecede gorUlmektedir.Onemi: Cogu zaman agik bir belirti gorUlmeksizin verimde azalma meydana getirir.Belirtileri: YUksek s1cakl1k ve nem oran1 dU §UklUgU genellikle birlikte oldugundan bunlar1n belirtilerini a-y1rdetmek olduk9a zordur (103). Normalin Uzerindeki s1cakl1klar ba §ak-c1k ve 9i9ek say1s1nda azalmaya, dane doldurmada zay1flamaya ve buna bagl1 olarak verimde dU §meye yol a-9arken 9ok yUksek s1cakl1klar proteinlerin yap1s1n1 degi §tirerek bitkilerin olUmUne neden olur. Kin devresinin sonlar1 ile tozlanma devresinde bitkiler olduk9a zay1ft1r ve bir-9ok yerde yUksek s1cakl1klar bu s1ralarda gorUlmektedir.Onemi: Verime onemli etki yapabilir.Ozellikle kuru esen rUzgarlarla bir 7 likte oldugunda bUyUk kay1plara neden olabilmektedir.Belirtileri: Yanli § uygulanan blitUn kimyasal ila9lar zararlidir. Hormon yapili bir ila9 olan 2,4-D bitkiler 9ok kli9Ukken uygulanirsa yapraklarda kivrilma, ba §aklarda ise §ekil bozuklugu meydana getirir (104). Bu ila9 9i9eklenmeye yakin uygulanirsa kisirla §maya neden olmaktadir. Bir onceki UrUne uygulanan triazine (or.atrazine) artiklari bugdayin geli §mesine 9ok zarar verebilmektedir (105). Belirtisi, yapraklarin once akla §masi sonra kurumasidir (106).Meydana Geli §i: Fazla miktarda ve yalni § bir devrede veya yalni § bir bitkiye uygulanan ila9 zarar vericidir.Onemi: Serin iklim tahillarinda zarar sinirli olmaktadir. $ekil bozukluklarida nadiren belirgin bir zarar verir. ","tokenCount":"3203"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6003724093.json b/data/part_1/6003724093.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b2b5d688ef7d0bea01f24a082ba37a139a7777f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6003724093.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6b8f13742c8c1e85056fd53f928c33ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9706cee8-44a2-431c-8f26-4b97725769e8/retrieve","id":"-433165095"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"07d0a955-ba1b-41ed-9413-299d61285065","pagecount":"25","content":"A joint field vist for the Africa RISING project and the INVC Bridging Activity was organized to projects intervention sites in Dedza, Machinga and Mangochi districts between 15-17 February 2017. The field tour involved visits to:• Linthipe and Golomoti Extension Planning Areas (EPA) in Dedza district,• Ntubwi, Nsanama and Nyambi EPAs in Machinga district, andAfrica RISING partners from the Malawi Government, District Agricultural Offices, Catholic Relief Services and Chancellor College participated. Most of the field discussions centered on sustainable intensification in nutrients and water limited environments. Farmers were excited about the introduction of water management practices alongside practices that increase soil fertility. Despite 2016/2017 having above normal rainfall by the time of the tour, farmers indicated that responsive water management was still vital as seasons such as the current one are now very rare. Graduate students took advantage of the interactions with farmers and extension services to refine their research questions.The team visited a total of nine Africa RISING mother trials in Dedza, Machinga and Mangochi districts under different SI technologies. Farmers who have interacted with Africa RISING during Phase I could easily articulate practices that result in increased productivity. All farmers cited closer ridge spacing as what could easily be implemented with some training. Also, the farmers demonstrated deep knowledge on the recommended plant spacing for all the different crops planted in the trial plots i.e. maize, groundnuts, pigeon peas, soyabean and cowpeas. It was also clear that mother and baby farmers viewed themselves as new centers of knowledge in their communities.On nutrient cycling through legumes, the message that residues were supposed to be recycled (in situ or through livestock) was emphasized by both extension personnel and researchers. Emphasis was also made on the importance of the legumes for nutritional and financial status improvement.Africa RISING research team in the field viewing some of the treatments in a sustainable intensification mother trial in Linthipe.Three mother trials under the water and nutrient management theme were visited in Golomoti, Ntubwi and Ntiya EPAs. Similar to the mother trials in the SI technologies, the trial plots had to have their ridges aligned at distances of 75cm apart. In his explanation about the trial, one of the host farmers, Edda Boison, identified co-learning as one of the major strengths of using the mother-baby trial approach.An important highlight was also made on the tied ridges being promoted in the water and nutrient management trial plots. Farmers recognized tied-ridges as part of the solution to poor harvests linked to erratic rainfall. With tied-ridges, soil erosion is minimized while the extra water stored mitigates the negative impacts of dry spells. An important discussion point was related to the need for simultaneous management of water and nutrients -water management alone doesn't substantially increase yield but that yield improvement is achieved as a result of a combination of good management and optimal nutrient management. The mother trials were designed to adequately quantify the water effect, the nutrient effect, as well as the nutrient x water effects. This is part of a PhD thesis study.When asked about the reason why tied ridging is not practiced by most farmers, one of the mother trials host farmers stated that some farmers don't just have interest to follow improved technologies. However he continued to say that he was confident that more farmers would begin practicing tied ridges once the farmers observe a difference in yield between their harvests and the Africa RISING participating farmers and also when the research results of trials are disseminated to the other farmers. As Africa RISING, we are therefore being challenged to champion a research to impact pathway for these communities.With tied-ridges, soil erosion is minimized while the extra water stored mitigates the negative impacts of dry spells.The team also visited mother trials that are focusing on residue management in Ntubwi, Nsanama and Nyambi EPAs. Three farmers (Agnes Tiyesi, Harry Milanzi and YakumalaYusufu) hosting the residue management trials were visited in Ntubwi, Nsanama and Nyambi. In their description of the trials, the farmers reiterated what other farmers said about ridge realignment and adherence to recommended planting spacing of the crops on the trial field.One of our objectives is to assess how management of residues of different quality and in different quantities (with and without tied ridges/water management) affects immediate crop productivity and residual effects over a 3-year cycle. Burning of crop residues as part of land preparation is one of the challenges that were highlighted by farmers. It is therefore critical to demonstrate that the benefits associated with retention of residues in the field offset the additional labour burden associated with land preparation without burning.A mother farmer explaining activities at his mother trial in Nsanama EPA.Africa RISING is working with over 300 households that are producing groundnut and soyabean seed on 0.1 ha. Farmers were trained on basic seed production procedures and were provided with foundation seed. We anticipate that each of the beneficiary farmers will produce enough seed for at least 10 new farmers to produce the grain legumes on 0.1 ha during the next cropping season.Seed producing farmers were visited in Linthipe, Mtubwi, Msanama, Nyambi and Ntiya EPAs. Each of the seed producers received 10 kg of foundation seed for Makwacha soybean or CG7/JL24 groundnut varieties. During discussions, farmers mentioned inoculant use, double-row planting of legumes, and closer ridges that ensure that soil is quickly covered by the crops. Muhammad Grant's 0.1 ha groundnut seed production field in Nsanama EPA. Productivity is estimated to be at least 1.5 t/ha.During the field tour, the team visited 2 sites of the project in Linthipe and Ntiya EPAs where soybean production is being carried out. In Linthipe, Chitowo Cooperative farmers were visited. The cooperative has a total of 1476 farmer membership, 799 female and 677 male farmers. The INVC Bridging Activity farmers also received 10 kg of Makwacha soybean seed. Farmers in the cooperative have gained new knowledge on inoculant use in soybean production, double rows planting and closer ridge spacing. The farmers collaborate with Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ACE) to identify reliable buyers of their produce. Farmers are expected to keep part of the produce for consumption.In Ntiya, the team visited Tujulunda club where farmers are producing soybean to be sold collectively as a group. Unlike farmers in Linthipe who prefer Makwacha variety, the farmers in Ntiya opted for Tikolore soybean variety. Mr Yusufu George, one of the farmers visited, explained that he chose Tikolore because the grains are heavy. Farmers clearly explained that during the next cropping season, they would plant maize in sequence with the soyabean so as to benefit from soil fertility inputs by the legumes. In the visit to another field of one of the members of the cooperative, it was note worthy to realize that farmers are now beginning to realize the importance of ridge alignment because according to him, even though. On the additional labor associated with closer ridges (more ridges will be made per area), farmers explained that that this additional labour would be compensated for by higher crop yields.A field day was held in Nyambi EPA in Chapola and Sale II villages where a mother trial and seed production fields were visited. About 40 farmers from Msanama and Mtubwi EPAs travelled to Nyambi EPAas part of farmer exchange activities to benefit from cross site learning. Traditional leaders from the surrounding communities also attended the field day.Farmers were taken on a tour of a mother trial and soyabean seed producing site. Much of the discussions happened in the field as enthusiastic farmers wanted to learn more from researchers about varieties and inoculant use. Later, farmers employed drama, song and poetry to communicate important messages on crop production practices, post harvest management of crops, household consumption and nutrition benefits as well as income benefits associated with intensified farming.Challenges identified from the discussions centered on crop-livestock interactionspigeonpea intensification curtailed by severe damage from goats. In his speech, the District Agricultural Development Officer (DADO) for Machinga indicated that the Machinga district council was in the process of formulating bye laws to tackle the livestock problem so as to enhance increased adoption of pigeonpea production in the district. This field day was attended by 210, with 65% female participants.A cross-section of participants who attended the field day in Nyambi EPA viewing a residue management mother trial field.The DADO further commended Africa RISING for bringing the project to the area as the project is feeding into the strategies for addressing food insecurity in the district. The DADO particularly highlighted four strategies that are used to address food insecurity and these were:• growing improved varieties,• crop diversification, good soil management, and • legume production. He commended Africa RISING for encouraging farmers to practice all the four strategies, especially legume production, which will contribute to soil fertility restoration in the area.Dr. Hoeschle-Zeledon, the Africa RISING Project Manager for ESA, explained the Africa RISING approach -working with stakeholders for change. The expectation is for crop production intensification to continue beyond Africa RISING's active engagement phase with farmers.The questions that farmers had asked were much appreciated and would become an input as Africa RISING refines its strategy to increased research to impact. Finally, the Group Village Headman, Mr. Sale, thanked Africa RISING for the field day activity as well as for bringing the project to his area. He also thanked the extension officers and Africa RISING team for working hard in extending knowledge of different improved technologies that will improve the lives of the people in the communities.","tokenCount":"1577"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6020763832.json b/data/part_1/6020763832.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..af066277eb9f5cff09291c2068c5fac4ca6eef48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6020763832.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fa20978d0f831c4a3670074d3c4f878d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/321e4020-d32a-493e-a26a-d925791f3c3f/content","id":"-1461383587"},"keywords":["Agriculture technology","conservation agriculture","decision-making dartboard","Eastern Gangetic Plains","poverty trap"],"sieverID":"a42714dc-d858-4aee-915a-e74598241846","pagecount":"10","content":"Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) is gaining prominence as an agricultural pathway to poverty reduction and enhancement of sustainable food systems among government and development actors in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia. Despite substantial investment in research and extension programs and a growing understanding of the agronomic, economic and labor-saving benefits of CASI, uptake remains limited. This study explores farmer experiences and perspectives to establish why farmers choose not to implement CASI systems despite a strong body of recent scientific evidence establishing the benefits of them doing so. Through thematic coding of semi-structured interviews, key constraints are identified, which establishes a narrative that current households' resources are insufficient to enable practice change, alongside limited supporting structures for resource supplementation. Such issues create a dependency on subsidies and outside support, a situation that is likely to impact any farming system change given the low-risk profiles of farmers and their limited resource base. This paper hence sets out broad implications for creating change in smallholder farming systems in order to promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in resource-poor smallholder contexts, especially with regard to breaking the profound poverty cycles that smallholder farmers find themselves in and which are unlikely to be broken by the current set of technologies promoted to them.The Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia are populated mostly by resource-poor small-scale farmers who heavily rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. These agricultural systems tend to be limited by the dominant traditional management practices which are labor intensive and uneconomical with limited productivity, high vulnerability to shocks such as climate variations, and limited household and communal resources (especially for water, energy and human labor) (Gathala et al., 2020a(Gathala et al., , 2020b)). Rural production systems are primarily rice-based, with 'double-rice' systems (both monsoon and winter) dominant in rainfed systems, while winter crops such as maize, lentils and wheat are more abundant where irrigation facilities are available (Islam et al., 2019).More recently, a significant amount of research has demonstrated the advantages of sustainable intensification practices like conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) in the EGP, in terms of cost savings, yield gains, decreased irrigation requirements, increased profit and significant savings (Alam et al., 2018;Bell et al., 2019;Brown et al., 2021a). CASI, commonly known by its main component as zero tillage (ZT) in South Asia, has been defined by FAO (n.d.) via three broad principles-minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent soil organic cover and species diversification. Globally, CASI has been shown to not only maintain the health of soil that is already productive, but also regenerate soils that have degraded in quality over time due to intensive tillage (Derpsch et al., 2010). CASI has been promoted in the rural districts of Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia for more than a decade via various research and development initiatives (Gathala et al., 2021). The majority of this work has indicated positive outcomes for rural farmers willing to transition their production system to CASI (Erenstein et al., 2012;Chaudhary et al., 2022). There are now evidences that these benefits should enable sustained CASI uptake by smallholder farmers across the region (Lalani et al., 2016).The uptake of CASI has been rapidly expanding in the comparatively prosperous Western Indo-Gangetic plains, supported by adequate irrigation facilities and abundant machinery, as well as comparatively large land holdings (approximately average of 3-4 ha). Additionally, the green revolution and farm mechanization have been concentrated in this region (Hasan, 2014), with influences on Bangladesh and Eastern India at a much later stage. For instance, in Eastern India, only one of the states has supplied metered electricity for ground water use for irrigation (Sidhu et al., 2020). Mechanization pathways and policies in Nepal Terai have been historically informed by mechanization in India and Bangladesh (Karki et al., 2021). Therefore, emerging research highlights a lack of CASI uptake in the EGP, characterized by both low rates of adoption and comparatively high rates of dis-use for early users of CASI production systems. Brown et al. (2021a) found that only 16% of the population used the ZT seed drill, while 25% had negatively evaluated the drill in the 14 districts of the Terai region in Nepal. Moreover, one-third of individuals who had ever used the drill had dis-adopted. This highlights that despite the heavy literature focus on the benefits of CASI in the region, adoption has remained limited. Low or limited CASI adoption in the EGP is often linked to smaller farm sizes, thus complicating agricultural mechanization initiatives (Friedrich et al., 2012). Agricultural investment costs ranging from herbicide purchase, labor for weed control with limited perceived benefits of CASI and its implications to their livelihoods hinder adoption (Ngoma, 2018;Senyolo et al., 2018;Brown et al., 2020). In addition to the above, trade-offs associated with CASI use including limited access to machinery, competing uses for crop residues and a lack of skilled manpower further limit adoption (Hellin et al., 2013;Bhan and Behera, 2014;Rodenburg et al., 2020;Brown et al., 2021aBrown et al., , 2021bBrown et al., , 2021c)).While there is an expanding body of literature that explores the negative evaluation of CASI globally with a focus on Africa (Brown et al., 2017a(Brown et al., , 2018;;Ngoma, 2018), literature exploring the reasons for limited uptake in the EGP remains scarce. In the EGP, literature related to CASI is dominated by agronomic and economic analysis that tend to focus on production system rather than farmer experience and perspectives. The majority of these studies apply quantitative approaches to analyze profitability and yield benefits (Gathala et al., 2015;Islam et al., 2019), and evaluate project farmers or trial farms, given the limited time for autonomous adoption to occur (Gathala et al., 2021). Previous research has shown that agricultural technology can reduce poverty through both direct and indirect effects, where direct effects are gains for the adopters, while indirect effects are gains resulting from adoption by others, which reduce food prices, create jobs and have growth-linking effects (de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2002). Furthermore, results from past research in Bangladesh indicate that small-and medium-scale farmers stand to gain more from agricultural technology than those who are nearly landless (Mendola, 2007). The commonality in the research body is that it largely ignored farmers lived experiences, while relying on economic analysis of technical performance and corresponding household characteristics.More recently, studies have attempted to explore farmer decision-making through qualitative methods. This has origins in the work undertaken across the African continent to understand low CASI uptake from various farmer and actor perspectives, such as from current users (Brown et al., 2017b) and negative evaluators (Brown et al., 2017a). Such work has recently been expanded to understand the context of the EGP in terms of service provision by CASI service providers (Brown et al., 2021a), and farmers who currently use CASI (Chaudhary et al., 2022). However, these techniques are yet to be applied to understand decision-making associated with negative evaluation of CASI in the EGP.This study contributes to this growing body of research that applies structured qualitative research to better understand farmer decision-making within population subsets. This study particularly focuses on the experiences of farmers in communities where adoption of CASI has occurred, yet they choose to negatively evaluate it through either pre-use non-interest to post-use dis-use. The aim of this study is to explore their evaluation processes and why their experiences differ from both farmers in the same communities positively who positively evaluate CASI, and broadly the most positive literature body related to CASI in the region. Hence, this study is farmer-centric, emphasizing on experiences and opinions rather than measurable agronomic or economic performances, thus giving novel insights into the factors that limit sustainable intensification in the EGP.While respondents in this paper tend to identify ZT in their responses, it is important to note that the practices they are referring to occur as part of a wider CASI system. Indeed, multiple studies highlight the nature of ZT and the need for it to be packaged with additional elements to be successful (e.g., Guto et al., 2011;Erenstein et al., 2012). We specifically target the Rabi (winter) season as it provides the easiest entry point into CASI (as compared to Kharif where there are additional complications and considerations-see Brown et al., 2021b). Farmers in Bangladesh apply ZT through a two-wheel attached planter box, while farmers in India and Nepal apply ZT using a four-wheel attached multi-crop planter. The unifying concept behind both machinery types is the reduction in tillage cycles before planting crops, as well as the associated benefits that accrue to farmers by doing this (Gathala et al., 2015;Islam et al., 2019).This study was carried out in six different locations in South Asia's EGP. Locations were selected in 2013 based on a thorough pre-screening process to ensure appropriate agro-ecological and climatic conditions for CASI, as well as representative characteristics to enable comparable results and later wider scaling of CASI across the region. A comprehensive agronomic analysis of chosen areas is provided in Gathala et al. (2021). Following this and since 2014, there has been a significant amount of research and extension activity in all investigated areas, which has been supported by both international and local actors.The selection of communities to be investigated was undertaken purposively within each of the six locations to capture a diverse range of ZT equipment user typologies during the 2019 Rabi season. In each of the six locations of interest, three communities were chosen: one with a high adoption rate, one with a low adoption rate and one with recent adoption (Fig. 1). This was done in order to collect a variety of respondent typologies across the farmer adoption pathway. The typologies explored and the number of respondents for each typology in brackets were as follows: experimenters (44), interested non-users (38), implementing farmers (57), the negative evaluators were divided into the disinterested non-users (19) and the dis-users (54), service providers who provided machinery services again categorized into unsupported (14) and supported (15) (see Fig. 2: Chaudhary et al., 2022). In addition, there was a dataset of spouses (47) which came from the households either implementing or had experimented with CASI.This work builds on the same methodology as presented in Chaudhary et al. (2022) which outlines a total dataset of 288 semi-structured interviews. While that study focused on a subset of 57 implementing farmers, this work focusses on 73 'negative evaluators' (see Fig. 2). The various typologies of this methodological framing are based on the 'Stepwise Process of Mechanization framework' (Brown et al., 2021a, p. 263) with the broader study attempted to capture the various farmer typologies along the adoption process ('PAUF': Brown et al., 2017b, p. 15). This approach was chosen to ensure that the experiences and limitations of various phases of an adoption process were recorded in order to inform future CASI scaling initiatives. It should be noted that the methodology is not designed to be representative of the communities investigated; rather, it is meant to represent a spectrum of experiences that have occurred in the communities researched.To capture these various farmer typologies, a snowball sampling approach was used. Brown et al. (2017a) conducted a regionally comparative study using a similar approach to investigate the experiences of CASI negative evaluators in Eastern and Southern Africa. The snowball sampling frame begins with a local promotional officer who is requested to identify the initial interview respondents but is not present throughout the interview procedure in effort to reduce bias in the responses provided. Respondents had to be the decision-making members of the household except for the 'Spousal set', who were interviewed as female spouses in men-headed households (Fig. 2). Initial respondents were asked to identify others in the community who fit within other typology types, with this manuscript focusing on those identified as negative evaluators. The objective was to sample each typology sufficiently, which resulted in 15-20 respondents per community (at least two of each typology). In total, 288 interviews were recorded, with a total interview time of 171 h and 34 min (an average of 35 min per interview). In each of the six locations, the intention was to conduct 50-60 interviews.The 'Decision-making Dartboard' (DmD) framework (Brown et al., 2021a, p. 257) was used as the basic schedule preparation and analysis approach in this study. The DmD divides critical decision-making processes into six stages spanning four asset categories, which are then merged to analyze the various components that respondents considered before arriving at their final typology conclusion. This DmD is based on the 'Livelihood Platforms Approach' (LPA) (Brown et al., 2018, p. 333).The DmD framework was used as the basis for both questionnaire development and thematic coding. While module 1 used Kobo Collect software to gather pre-screening and demographic data to classify the respondent typology, the DmD framework informed the subsequent six modules, which were digitally recorded for subsequent transcription. Modules were designed to be adaptive to the respondent typology, with the overarching goal of determining why they were the typology they were and what might be done to move them toward 100% ZT usage. Module 2 explored their agriculture narrative identity and aspiration, while module 3 evaluated how they learn about new technology and how ZT could be taught about. Module 4 focused on their livelihood constraints, whereas module 5 examined how they chose to analyze and respond to ZT. Module 6 explored the context for ZT adoption in the community, whereas module 7 focused at the effects and implications of ZT adoption, as well as what else was needed to ensure success. Each module was structured in a way to elicit the key resource categories and levels that influence decision-making processes. This methodology has been applied widely in both Africa (e.g., with the precursor LPA framework; Brown et al., 2018, p. 333) and Asia (e.g., Brown et al., 2021c;Chaudhary et al., 2022).Five enumerators received comprehensive training in qualitative semi-structured data gathering before being assigned to different areas based on their language ability. All received the same training and were guided by a lead enumerator who provided guidance and help as needed during the data collection procedure to maintain the study's consistency. To decrease recall bias, implementation took place from August 2019 to December 2019, following Rabi planting but before Rabi harvest. All interviews were conducted entirely in native languages, with no English being used.The focus of this article is on the experiences of farmers who were either not interested in CASI without ever using the technology or dis-users who discontinued using CASI (i.e., the 'negative evaluators' subset in Fig. 2). As a result, people who have discontinued using ZT on their own farms since the 2019 Rabi season (disusers) or have no interest to use ZT in their own farms without ever using ZT (not interested) are eligible to participate in this sub-study. There were 73 responders who fit with this typology (54 dis-users and 19 disinterested): nine from Cooch Behar, nine from Rangpur, six from Malda, 26 from Bihar, 12 from Rajshahi and 11 from Sunsari. The subset consists of 44 h and 26 min of recorded interview (an average of 36 min per interview).Microsoft Excel was used to summarize the pre-screening data. All cleaned English transcripts were analyzed in Dedoose qualitative software (Dedoose.com) and thematically coded using the DmD framework. The coding themes included the DmD's 24 codes (6 levels by 4 resource kinds), as well as an additional 20 child-themes relating to frequently raised themes (e.g., communal human resources and issues of gender, social structure and caste, communal informational resources, business strategies and weed management). In total, 4324 extracts were categorized into the 44 themes listed above. These themes were then analyzed in accordance with the DmD to get the findings shown. Using the locations presented in Figure 1, the presentation of results includes a unique identity to correlate the quotation with the location and gender (e.g., S1 refers to Sunsari interview one). In addition, interviews with respondents falling under disinterested typology are denoted by [d] following the transcript ID. Summary demographic information is given in Table 1.The perception of the performance of CASI by both negative evaluating typologies was often mixed, identifying various cost benefits whilst questioning yield implications. For example, farmers identified reduced input requirements (e.g., 'Everything from labour and water cost reduced up to half. We also reduced our costs associated to ploughing' B7), yet yield was often estimated to be lower (e.g., 'The crop looked good but did not yield well with ZT' B41) with associated financial implications (e.g., 'I didn't get a good return the first time I used it, so I don't see why I should lose my land income. The following time, I didn't use it' B33). ZT's unsatisfactory performance was typically seen to be caused by two major technological problems. First, weed management and growth patterns were adapted from traditional methods (e.g., 'I determined the weeds were to blame for the loss…less money will be profited from the crops in ZT. There will also be less produce.' J28). Second, issues were perceived with the machinery reliability in terms of seed drop (e.g., 'Deeply buried seed decomposed, and the seed that remained above the ground was picked up and consumed by birds. The result is a lower yield because the seed did not germinate well.' B36 [d]). Additionally, some farmers identified that the initial adoption was sometimes associated with incentives and not necessarily technological performance, complicating their evaluations (e.g., 'The benefit of this technology is that it lowers cultivation costs because the agriculture department gives farmers some things for free. Whatever is harvested is entirely their income' B36[d]).Is negative evaluation of CASI a response to limited household resources?Respondents identified mostly physical and financial constraints as key resource limitations specific to ZT that influenced their decision to negatively evaluate CASI, and many of these appeared to be the primary determinants of dis-use (Table 2).Apart from constraints related to the technology, there were often household-level resource constraints that limited the adoption of CASI. These spanned all four resource types of the DmD framework.Financial resources. Overall, regardless of production systems, respondents tended to experience limited financial viability from farming (e.g., 'I am involved in farming, but I do not earn much from agriculture. In agriculture, we get an income every six months and reinvest the same amount in the next crop without substantial profits' B19). Multiple respondents also identified a hesitancy in changing to a production system that would require any input intensification (e.g., 'Farmers are disappointed in farming because the price of crops are lower in the market … We need to spend more on seeds and fertilizers, but this will increase our expenses' R38).Physical resources. Farmers were mostly small landowners (e.g., 'We have a very small piece of land. Our family cannot manage with just 2 bighas 1 of land for income, but we must do it anyway as it's our own land' J23). This was often associated with difficulties in accepting a new technique that differed from prevalent current practices (e.g., 'The biggest challenge is that farmers don't want to accept anything new easily. We are accustomed to whatever we have been practicing for a long time' R33).Labor resources. Respondents tended to be engaged in off farm opportunities alongside farm work, given their financial limitations (e.g., 'I weave fishnets for a living, earning between 700 and 800 taka each day. These are all temporary jobs that I undertake from my home.' 2 J30), and some farmers also projected that they would be unable to continue farming in the future and desired to focus their efforts on more lucrative sources of income (e.g., 'I barely manage to run the mill with my time … I don't have time and don't intend to farm anymore. I will only plant crops in small area to fulfill personal needs' R31).Informational resources. To ensure that they could implement the new production systems required for ZT adoption, respondents emphasized the need for more hands-on trainings as opposed to theoretical lessons (e.g., 'There are many trainings being conducted but those are not very practical. We need trainings for learning the measurements of fertilizers used in different methods of cultivation' J9). This was particularly evident for sowing and weed management, which contradicted with existing knowledge (e.g., 'If the land is prepared well before sowing, then it gives a good yield' B12[d]), which often again conflicted with existing knowledge (e.g., 'When the soil is dry and not tilled, the plants in the field die. I must therefore till the fields.' S28[d]).Is negative evaluation of CASI a response to an inability to supplement required resources?Several constraints were raised by respondents that highlight a breadth of issues in accessing supplementary resources.Further adding additional complexity related to land resources were situations where land was leased for cultivation (e.g., 'We don't have land but cultivate in a leased land' M12). In such situations, payment for leased land was based often on yield, and poor yield through changed practices may lead to landowners ceasing leasing arrangements if ZT yielded poorly (e.g., 'I will not grow crops using ZT … if the yield is not good, there will be loss then the landowner will take away the land and I have to sit idle without any work' C27). This further reduced the risk profile for respondents who leased land and were considering CASI implementation. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems Limited machinery access Given financial implications and limited machinery ownership in the region, all respondents would need to access CASI practices through machinery service providers. While machinery was recognized as necessary, it was often also perceived as inaccessible (e.g., 'If everyone must switch, ZT machinery is required. Why would anyone perform physical labour if ZT machinery is available?…Everyone will engage in ZT if they have access to the machine.' R31). This was often linked to overall limited machinery access in communities (e.g., 'When I used ZT, there was only one machinery available in the village, and was not available to us on time' B10). Even when machinery was available, reliability problems frequently occurred, which made respondents' desire to use CASI even more challenging (e.g., 'Every time, they had to call the mechanic, who took time to fix the ZT machinery. People in such circumstances didn't want to wait and lose sowing time. The village had access to no other ZT machinery, so we left and carried out farming using other machinery.' B19).Even if machinery was available, finding skilled operators seemed to present additional challenges (e.g., 'If the tractor driver drives quickly, crop stalks will stick to the machinery and the seed will not sow evenly. The seed then fails to fall evenly.' B16). Attribution of such issues was often directed at the operators of machinery (e.g., 'The crop was sown unevenly, in my opinion, which was the operator's fault. The fact that the seed was sown in some places but not others indicates that a mistake was made and that he neglected to correct it.' B33), which inhibited technological success and ultimately led to negative evaluation.Overall, farmers had limited exposure and information sources for agriculture (e.g., 'If we get agriculture information, we do it and reap the benefits. Otherwise, we wouldn't know and would just keep farming based on what we already knew.' B36 [d]). Moreover, farmer-to-farmer information networks for respondents were ineffective and limited within smaller groups (e.g., 'There is no system in place for small or large farmers to exchange agricultural knowledge. They only contact the 5-7 people connected to the group.' S12). Farmers also expressed a lack of continuous technical backstopping during CASI implementation (e.g., 'The agricultural officers didn't come here, and they didn't help us to do ZT. If we need information, we must manage it amongst ourselves' R38). Trainings were deemed to be useful in many cases, but they also felt that it was time consuming, and that not every farmer could attend because of their busy schedule (e.g., 'There were more people initially, then everyone noticed that spending time in trainings and meetings was affecting their farm work. Naturally, we'll go where we can make money rather than where we can lose it.' J29). Even when the trainings were accessible, often they were perceived to be less useful for farmers (e.g., 'Training only has a theoretical component. I seek clarification, but they offer no demonstration. The theory and its application differ significantly. We don't adhere to their teachings because we are aware of the same things on a practical level.' S35 [d]). This was sometimes also related to the skills of trainers (e.g., 'The operator came from Rajshahi. One person here had been taught how to do it, but he was unable to do it properly… In the end, nobody was able to use this machinery, so no one could perform ZT.' J23).Accessing non-roadside land The use of CASI in cultivation on land that was not immediately adjacent to a road was a major concern brought up by respondents (e.g., 'The road exists, but it doesn't lead directly to my farm. Other farmers will allow a tractor to pass through their land if it is fallow, but if they have already sown their crop, they won't let a tractor through their lands.' B27). This was particularly prevalent among those who identified as poorer farmers which has implications for the economic position and associated social norms within communities (e.g., 'If a poor person has land away from the road, and the rich farmer has land near to the road. The wealthy farmer has everything; he will cultivate earlier. Alternative uses of crop residues 'Although Agriculture Officers suggested that it would be better if we keep taller stover residues, I kept it a little shorter as it is the stover residues we use to feed the cows'Crop preferences 'If we do paddy instead, it will help provide for our own family as well and also as cattle feed as we have cattle in the house'Upfront investment 'ZT requires more investment. The price of a maize seed packet is expensive. After that, farmer also need fertilizers and irrigation. For a minimum of 1 bigha land, the cost of cultivation of the maize crop is high'Finances and hiring labor 'We are poor people. If we can save some money by any means, we'll try to do that. The rental cost of ZT machinery is Rs. 300 per bigha, but if all of us at home can labour in farming then that money gets saved.That's why we often do farming ourselves without using machinery'Suitable land size 'I told the ones who have a big land that they have a lot of land and can use ZT, but mine is small so if my yield is not there then what will we eat so we did not believe in ZT'Suitable land type 'Land leveling is another major issue in this area. Because of that, we are facing difficulties in using the ZT machinery'Limited information 'They just said that ZT cultivation can be done, so I thought there is no harm in doing so… but to do CASI it has to be learnt because I have never seen it done before' R31 6 A. Chaudhary et al.However, the poor farmer won't be able to use ZT machinery in the field because of the lack of facilities, which will cause him to be late with cultivation.' B16). As a result, such farmers found CASI adoption challenging, particularly because it required a collective decision to use ZT machinery (e.g., 'To use ZT, you need everyone's cooperation or support one another. ZT machinery is not available for individual use. Everyone must do it together' R33).Many respondents relied on project support to implement CASI, but when the support ended, their adoption ceased. This was evident in two ways. First, there were issues with machinery access that were likely to lead the farmers to negative evaluation (e.g., 'There will be a problem when project ends. We can't do ZT without the machine' J19). Many respondents were introduced to the machine via demonstrations and had no ongoing access to the ZT machinery from the ZT service providers and hence they had no long-term adoption potential (e.g., 'If someone buys the ZT machine and keeps it here, then, people will be able to continue using it. If the machine is used for demonstration and is taken from one village to the other for the same, it will not be accessible to anyone for continuous use' B40). Financial support was also expected by many respondents and was the determining factor for their decision to adopt CASI (e.g., 'We didn't have to pay for anything before for the ZT machinery use. If we are required to pay for this later then we will not use this method' J27). Moreover, resource-poor farmers could only continue using the new technology with continuous financial and physical support (e.g., 'Previously, we were provided with seeds and the facilities required for doing ZT, and they taught us the technology, so we did it. We are poor people; if they provide us with such incentives, we will start using ZT again' M5).Is negative evaluation of CASI related to ineffective policy support?Farmers primarily expected the government to provide assistance through machinery subsidies for CASI (e.g., 'The availability of ZT machinery is the most important concern since it is owned by the Government, and not by any of us. If the Government distributes some at reduced prices to the people, many farmers will benefit' J29), which also highlighted the perception of technology ownership as being owned by the government rather than the community. Due to their financial circumstance, most respondents had no desire to purchase machinery even with a subsidy (e.g., 'I will not purchase ZT machinery at this time due to a lack of funds. Yes, there is a subsidy, but we must pay the entire amount upfront before applying for the subsidy.' B10). Because small farmers were disproportionately affected by such challenges, it frequently resulted in negative perceptions of government assistance programs (e.g., 'There is no benefit to small farmers. The wealthy farmers receive all the benefits, although they do not work on farms. They get benefits such as diesel and subsidies. They buy agriculture machinery at agricultural fairs and resell it to others at a higher price' B7).Farmers frequently expressed a desire for more government intervention in their agricultural activities, and a lack of programs and interventions was sometimes associated with a negative evaluation of CASI. Sometimes these expectations were far reaching (e.g., 'If the government provides seed, fertilizer, electricity, and irrigation facilities, farmers will not face any problems in farming' B17 [d]), also often, however, it was focused on issues like current market fluctuations in both the input markets (e.g., 'Fertilizer and insecticides are necessary, and the farmers do not have access to good quality inputs. The government needs to take appropriate action in this regard' R36 [d]) and output markets (e.g., 'We do not have any marketing or storage facilities. If any farmer harvest crops, there is no place to store it' B17[d]). Where programs had been accessed but discontinued, dis-use was common (e.g., 'I am not getting the seed now from the Agriculture Development office. Every year, they rotate the seed distribution initiative among different farmers… thus, I could not do ZT' C24). Some farmers also identified the government's role in reducing the risk of practice change (e.g., 'If the farmer has lost due to the use of the CASI technology, then the government should pay compensation to the farmer, so that the farmer's family is not affected. If the government does not do this, it will be difficult to adopt ZT machinery.' B17[d]).While respondents generally agreed that ZT would reduce production costs, several other constraints appeared to be driving their negative evaluation of CASI. Primarily among them were perceived technological issues such as competitive uses for stover, limited access to machinery, inconsistent seed drop and physical resource requirements (especially land availability with access to irrigation). Such challenges are also mentioned by current ZT users in the same areas in a study by Chaudhary et al. (2022), who argue that current ZT users are inventive in the ways in which these problems could be resolved. However, the respondents in this study appeared to be less able to seek adaptation and instead negatively evaluate the technology. For instance, while stover prioritization for livestock is a common issue with CASI globally (Kassie et al., 2015;Brown et al., 2017a;Brown et al., 2018), Chaudhary et al. (2022) suggest that some farmers were willing to trade off stover for improved soils while others were not. Likewise, machinery access remains a challenge for all ZT users in the EGP (Karki et al., 2021;Brown et al., 2021c), and a shortfall of skilled operators is widespread throughout the EGP. This often results in poor technological performance, which impedes technological success (Brown et al., 2021c) and ultimately results in negative evaluation for dis-users. On the other hand, the disinterested farmers had concerning perceptions regarding the technology's profitability and showed less willingness to adopt due to their risk profiles, pre-assuming they couldn't take responsibility if the season ended in failure. Overall, respondents here did not appear to be as capable of seeking solutions to resolve these issues, which may be influenced by their lack of access to more reliable sources of information. Furthermore, a lack of access to resources and agricultural inputs, a lack of information and support, and pressure to make trade-offs and decisions all contribute to the poverty trap for small farmers as also suggested by Jumare et al. (2019, Ch. 8).Our findings also show that, while farmers demanded and valued trainings, they were often perceived to be time consuming, with a low perceived usefulness compared to allocating time to more profitable alternative livelihood activities. Although local information networks were proven to be helpful in building trust in communities and stakeholders in Brown et al. (2021a); respondents here perceived that farmer-to-farmer information networks were inefficient which contradicts the findings of Chaudhary et al. (2022) in the same communities. The divergence between Chaudhary et al. (2022) and this study may be explained in the resource status of households in this study. Respondents in this study appeared to stress their weak financial position and limited risk profile unlike implementers who overcame similar socioeconomic constraints. Similar to our findings, Kurkalova et al. (2006) illustrated that the benefit anticipated by dis-users does not fully compensate them for the increased risk they may face, as well as the possibility of irreversible loss of earnings associated with traditional tillage techniques. This meant that they had limited tolerance for crop failure and were more hesitant to embrace and consider change. Therefore, it is crucial that the decisionmakers, policymakers and other development-oriented organizations design agricultural interventions such that farm households in the implementation areas have access to credit as also mentioned by Challa and Tilahun (2014), and farmers should also be trained to understand the advantages of implementing new technologies.With respect to constraints limiting continued use of CASI, early plantation in adjacent fields has resulted in obstructed land, which adds to the already existing financial limitations for investment in agricultural inputs, leading to CASI dis-use. This has strong implications for not only ZT interventions, but more broadly implementation of any such technology across the EGP in general; particularly given the generic constraints raised by respondents are an indication that ZT (and practices like ZT that imply input intensification and changed practices) is unlikely to enable resource-poor smallholder farmers to exit their agriculture-based poverty trap.Due to these limited resource contexts, respondents were often found to be deeply reliant on project assistance. The adoption of CASI was perceived to be profitable only when agricultural inputs were subsidized, but not when they had to invest their own resources. The findings also revealed a lack of community ownership of technology as a result of such challenges which deterred further adoption. As Banks and Marsden (2000) point out, maximizing the broader rural development impacts of agricultural conservation schemes is a critical component in the EGP, especially in areas where many farmer businesses are likely to be heavily reliant on subsidies. A sustainable farmer business and desirable rural development can be achieved with properly planned and embedded regional policies, lowering reliance on aid-based subsidies and boosting sustainability based on such farmer enterprises. Given that some of the respondents in this study initially received financial assistance to experiment with ZT but ultimately stopped, it is clear that the current subsidy support is insufficient to help farmers with limited resources escape poverty. In addition, small and marginal farmers remain vulnerable as they rely mostly on non-formal credit sources and lack timely and adequate access to institutional sources of finance (Yadav and Sharma, 2015). Furthermore, we also know that procurement subsidies usually are not effective, given most subsidies are targeted at machinery owners (Rehfuess et al., 2014) and are more likely to benefit larger farmers (Keil et al., 2016), emphasizing the need to target and support smallholder farmers rather than machinery owners as suggested by Brown et al. (2021a).It is evident from our findings that decisions related to technology adoption made by small-scale farmers consider the deeply rooted poverty trap that they are bound in. This poverty trap, as highlighted for African smallholder farmers in Rodriguez et al. (2009), proposes that resource-poor smallholder farmers can become trapped in a cycle of low input, low output production systems which are perceived to require input intensification and are not able to break that cycle. This is particularly so when subsidy and support mechanisms do not directly catalyze financial resources in a meaningful way to enable reinvestment. This is also consistent with Mendola's (2007) study in Bangladesh, which argues that while technology adoption appears to raise the income of poorer near-landless farmers in rural regions, it does not assist them transcend poverty, unless further equity-enhancing policy measures are implemented. Similarly, through their research, Osabohien et al. (2019) concluded that effective policies should be formulated in agricultural development plans that prioritize sustainable land and water management, access to markets and food security in order to reduce poverty rates and ultimately to increase government revenue in the long run. In addition, previous studies also illustrate that policies such as insurance payouts have been proven to alleviate poverty and have welfare-enhancing effects by pushing policyholders to adjust their investment and risk-management decisions or by dampening weather-related shocks through payouts (Noritomo and Takahashi, 2020). Radosavljevic et al. (2021) have also explored fractal poverty traps in similar agro-ecological systems and stress that cross-level interactions, farmer behavioral changes and the effectiveness of development interventions are crucial in alleviating poverty traps. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the findings from such studies that directly focus on farmers experiences for evidencebased program planning and designing, meanwhile also recognizing, and utilizing the already available local resources. However, it is equally important that the basic facilities required for agriculture are in place for better adoption of agricultural technology like CASI. Policies aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency, on the other hand, tend to undervalue non-traded items, particularly land and labor resources, warranting appropriate policy reform, both at the macro and sectoral levels (Pingali, 2012). This also has strong implications for inclusiveness of current promotional strategies and technologies, as well as changes required to current programmatic and governmental subsidy and promotional support activities. One of the most critical aspects is the need for a change in mindset, not just of farmers, but also of policy and programmatic actors. While most policies and programs condemn farmers for failures to take up and scale new technologies, there is a need for a shift in perspective among policymakers and practitioners, with an eye on how policies and interventions can help farmers escape the cycle of poverty.This work aimed to identify why farmers negatively evaluate CASI, a common government and development priority in the region. Findings suggest that while CASI has some technologyspecific issues, overarching issues with the financial viability of farming are more likely to drive negative evaluation of CASI. More importantly, these are likely to constrain any attempts to sustainably intensify agricultural systems in the region more generally. This means that the recent intensification of production in the comparatively wealthy Western Gangetic Plains is unlikely to work in the EGP and a tailored region-specific programming design will be required.The findings demonstrate that, despite CASI's established benefits in terms of cost savings through reduced tillage and labor needs, farmers were unwilling to experiment owing to several other constraints, demonstrating that many variables influence the decision-making process. However, based on the experiences of farmers who have used CASI at some point, we can conclude that poor finances, machinery unavailability, expectations of sustained assistance from information sources and extension services and a lack of a strong farmer network lead to premature dis-use. As a result, it is critical to create an enabling environment to assist farmers in adopting CASI and enabling continued use. Adoption of agricultural technology such as CASI is directly affected by its ability to provide a relative advantage (particularly financially) and its applicability within the farmers capacity. Furthermore, expanding agricultural programs is difficult in regions where there are smallholder farmers with limited resources, and they are likely to rely substantially on subsidies. This manuscript also highlights that a transformation in mindset is needed, not just among farmers, but also among policymakers and program stakeholders. Therefore, policies for smallholder farmers must be appropriately designed, localized and regionally integrated to achieve sustainable technological adoption and expansion. This study demonstrates why farmers choose not to embrace sustainable agricultural technology such as CASI, and future research should build on these findings to gain a deeper knowledge of tiers of constraints that lead to community dis-use for more effective future interventions.","tokenCount":"6933"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6035303771.json b/data/part_1/6035303771.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..157517c6fa5b58b0d39700ebb58bbf483b25532c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6035303771.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"76109ecfb1d9e09b9fe4c5c5bb48ebb0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4d04ff19-bad7-4ac6-a6fb-552d2192b4d6/content","id":"1515386024"},"keywords":["Drought tolerance","Improved varieties","Adoption","Exposure","Seed access","Seed price"],"sieverID":"f86e5776-960e-44d1-ad13-1f774cfe760b","pagecount":"23","content":"Frequent droughts in sub-Saharan Africa imply water stress for rainfed agriculture and, ultimately, food insecurity, underlining the region's vulnerability to climate change. Yet, in the maize-growing areas, farmers have been given new droughtcoping options following the release and availability of drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs). These varieties are being disseminated through the National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems in collaboration with seed companies; however, their adoption still appears somewhat modest, and empirical studies on their adoption potential and associated drivers are scarce. We use empirical data from Uganda to estimate the actual and potential adoption rates and the adoption determinants of DTMVs under information and seed access constraints. Adoption rates for DTMVs could have been up to 22% in 2015 instead of the observed sample adoption rate of 14% if the whole population had been exposed to them. The adoption rate could increase to 30% if seed were availed to the farming population and to 47% if seed were sold at a more affordable price to farmers. The observed adoption rate of 14% implies gaps in the potential adoption rates of 8%, 16%, and 33% because of a lack of awareness, a lack of seed access, and high seed prices, respectively. The findings underscore the role of both market and non-market-based approaches and the potential to further scale the cultivation of DTMVs in Uganda.Agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa is weather sensitive and vulnerable to climate change (Mendelsohn 2008), with frequent droughts and floods contributing to food insecurity, water scarcity, and famine (Ngingi 2009). African maize farmers are adapting to this weather variability in multiple ways (Fisher et al., 2015), including the use of drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs). These varieties have been bred using modern conventional methods, without genetic modification, following efforts by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the National Agricultural Research Institutions in different African countries. In addition to drought tolerance, the varieties often have other attractive traits, such as resistance to major biotic stresses, responsiveness to inputs and good nitrogen use efficiency (Fisher et al. 2015).The DTMVs underwent extensive multi-location on-farm testing using participatory variety selection approaches with farmers across Eastern and Southern Africa, with DTMVs out-yielding popular commercial checks (Fisher et al. 2015;Setimela et al. 2017). In addition, there is evidence that DTMVs adoption positively impacts productivity, risk exposure, and welfare of smallholder farming households in Africa (Wossen et al. 2017;Awotide et al. 2016;Kostandini et al. 2013). By early 2016, over 200 DTMVs had been released in 13 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The seed dissemination and delivery has been the responsibility of the national agricultural research and extension systems and public and private seed companies. Yet the DTMV adoption rates remain somewhat modest, and the drivers of adoption are not fully understood.Earlier literature on technology adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa had a farmer orientation. Adoption was affected by risk and uncertainty, farmer learning processes, the rationing of complementary inputs such as fertilizer or water and farm characteristics, such as farm size (Minot et al. 2007). Some explanations invoked the more complex decision-making environment of semi-commercialized farmers. The household framework emerged as an analytical paradigm for predicting adoption, highlighting the importance of incomplete markets and transaction costs (Benjamin, 1992;Vakis et al. 2004). This framework emphasizes that when markets are imperfect, household consumption decisions cannot be separated from farm production decisions. Hence, household characteristics, as well as farm physical characteristics and relative prices, determine whether households will choose to grow a variety or not (Minot et al. 2007). Adoption scholars have also acknowledged the role of intra-household decision-making processes and the role of gender in variety choice (Doss and Morris 2000;Doss 2013;Colfer et al. 2015;Anderson et al. 2017). Finally, a thread that runs throughout the literature is the importance of farmer perceptions (Adesina and Forson 1995), variety traits, and farm household preferences for both agronomic and consumption-related traits (Wale and Yalew 2007;Asrat et al. 2010).A more recent strand of literature (Diagne 2006(Diagne , 2010;;Diagne and Demont 2007;Simtowe et al. 2016;Kabunga et al. 2012) has emphasized the role of heterogeneous information exposure on technology adoption. Such studies show how estimating adoption rates for a new technology not well known to the population can yield inconsistent and biased estimates. However, as pointed out by Diagne (2010), the potential adoption rate based on awareness alone, and by extension, knowledge (Kabunga et al. 2012), still underestimates the true potential adoption rate of a new technology, because being aware and having knowledge of the technology is not enough for adoption. Indeed, as expressed by Donstop et al. (2013), one may be aware but have no access to the innovation, as may be the case with seed access of new DTMVs. Seed access of a new variety thereby potentially becomes an important factor for its adoption. Donstop et al. (2013) and Dibba et al. (2015) thereby extend the estimation of potential adoption rates by considering both the lack of awareness and technology access as constraints to adoption. In this paper, we further extend the estimation and provide a microperspective of DTMV adoption rates and their determinants in Uganda under heterogeneous seed price affordability, seed availability/access, and information exposure. We apply the average treatment effect (ATE) framework proposed by Diagne and Demont (2007) but go a step further to also consider the availability and price affordability of seed. Our extension from these studies is premised on the fact that beyond the awareness of the new variety and physical availability/accessibility of seed, the affordability of that seed is a critical factor affecting the adoption of improved varieties. We thus consider households' exposure to DTMVs, access to seed, and access to seed at an affordable price to be heterogeneous. Indeed, households for whom the seed is not affordable are unlikely to adopt the variety of their choice even if they know it and the seed may be physically available in their locality.An analysis of the adoption rates under seed access constraints is critical for understanding the current bottlenecks in maize value chains and for expediting DTMV scaling through more concerted private and public sector efforts. The study is expected to contribute to understanding the potential demand for DTMV seed and the seed sector support needed to scale DTMVs in Uganda. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 discusses analytical methods while data sources and descriptive statistics are presented in Section 3. The results and discussions of adoption rates and determinants are presented in Section 4, and Section 5 concludes.In analyzing DTMV adoption decisions, we need to address whether a potential adopter is informed about its existence and has physical access to seed and at a price that is affordable. Once the DTMVs are released, information about their existence is disseminated through multiple channels that include (i) on-farm trials, (ii) demonstration plots controlled by agricultural extension agents, (iii) field days for farmers, (iv) agricultural shows to which farmers are invited and farmer-to-farmer exchange of information occurs, and (v) varietal promotion. The seed is usually produced by private seed companies and can be distributed by government, public sector agencies, cooperatives, and the private sector-agro-dealers or, as is often the case, by a combination of all of these.As the DTMVs are new and the target population is not universally exposed to them, observed sample adoption rates do not consistently represent the true population adoption parameters, even when based on a randomly selected sample. The reason is that researchers and extension workers have a tendency to target progressive farmers first, while farmers self-select into exposure (Diagne 2006). To account for selection bias, Diagne and Demont (2007) use the counterfactual average treatment effect (ATE) framework, which allows for both nonparametric and parametric methods to derive consistent estimates. The ATE parameter measures the effect, or impact, of a \"treatment\" on a person randomly selected in the population (Rubin, 1974;Wooldridge 2002). But as expressed by Donstop et al. (2013), apart from a lack of awareness, there are is another constraint, which is the lack of access to seed. The farmer can be aware of DTMV but cannot become an adopter if (s)he does not have access to them. DTMV awareness and seed access are, therefore, both necessary conditions for adoption. Donstop et al. (2013) also show that while it is possible to observe farmers can be aware of improved varieties without getting access to their seed, it is not possible to observe the seed access status among farmers that are not aware of the existence of DTMVs (Fig. 1). By extension, the farmers can be aware of DTMVs without having access to their seed at an affordable price, but we do not know the status in terms of accessibility to affordable DTMV seed among farmers that are unaware of the existence of DTMVs and among those that have no physical access to seed. As in the case of Donstop et al. (2013), in this paper, we use the term \"access\" to imply physical availability of the seed in the farmer's environment and not the acquisition availability (affordability). Our extension in this study is that we also explore how the acquisition (price) affordability of DTMV seed affects adoption rates.To obtain the access and affordability variables, we collected information on all possible reasons for not adopting the DTMVs through individual interviews among households that were aware of DTMVs but did not adopt them (Fig. 1). At the first stage, all farmers were asked whether they knew specific DTMVs. At the second stage, for those who reported having knowledge (denoted by w) of DTMVs (w = 1), the following specific question was asked: \"Did you grow any of the DTMVs in the 2015 planting season?\" When a farmer responded that (s)he did not grow any DTMV, (s)he was asked to provide reasons for not growing them. A wide range of responses were recorded; however, of interest were responses related to seed accessibility and seed affordability. We denote s to stand for the (physical) access to seed status of a farmer, with s = 1 for farmers who had access to seed and s = 0 for farmers who had no access to seed. For farmers who did not know about DTMV (that is w = 0), they were not asked about seed access. As expressed by Donstop et al. (2013), this implies that we do not have information on seed access status of the farmers who were not aware of DTMVs. Indeed, some of the farmers who are not aware of DTMVs may actually have access to DTMV seed even though they are not aware of its existence. As expressed by Donstop et al. (2013), this could be the case, for example, when the variety is present in the village, but the farmer is not aware of the variety. We denote p to stand for the seed acquisition affordability status of a farmer, with p = 1 for farmers that had access to seed at an affordable price and p = 0 for farmers who had no access to affordable seed. For farmers who did not know about DTMV (that is w = 0), they were not asked about seed affordability. As in the case of seed availability, this implies that we do not have information on access to the \"affordable\" seed status of the farmers who were not aware of DTMVs. Indeed, some of the farmers who are not aware of DTMVs may actually be able to afford DTMV seed.Based on the earlier explanation, the physical seed access status variable is either 0 or 1 and it is only observed among individuals that are aware of DTMVs. Hence, the awareness and the physical access-unrestricted potential adoption rate is always greater than or equal to the awareness-unrestricted one. Similarly, the awareness-, physical access-, and acquisition affordability-unrestricted potential adoption rate is always greater than or equal to awareness-and physical access-unrestricted potential adoption rate.In what follows, we extend the ATE adoption framework proposed by Diagne and Demont (2007) to estimate three types of potential adoption rates; (i) the awareness-unrestricted; (ii) the awareness-access-unrestricted; and (iii) the awareness-access-affordability-unrestricted DTMV potential adoption rates and the associated adoption gaps in Uganda, as well as the determinants of DTMV awareness, access , affordability, and adoption.We adopted the potential outcome framework of Rubin (1974), in which every farmer in the population has theoretically eight potential adoption outcomes:(i) An outcome with awareness and access to seed at an affordable price, say y 111 (that is, y 111 is the outcome when w = 1, and s = 1 and p = 1 ) (ii) An outcome when is aware and has access to seed but when seed is sold at a price farmers cannot afford, say y 110 (that is, y 110 is the outcome when w = 1, s = 1 and p = 0 ) (iii)An outcome with awareness, with affordable seed price, but farmers do not have access to seed, say y 101 (that is, y 101 is the outcome when w = 1, s = 0, and p = 1 ) (iv) An outcome with awareness of DTMV, but one does not have access to seed and the seed price is not affordable, say y 100 (that is, y 100 is the outcome when w = 1, s = 0, and p = 0 ) (v) An outcome without awareness of DTMV, but having access to seed and at a price that is affordable, say y 011 (that is, y 011 is the outcome when w = 0, s = 1, and p = 1 ) (vi) An outcome without awareness of DTMV and with access to seed but the seed price is not affordable, say y 010 (that is, y 010 is the outcome when w = 0, s = 1, and p = 0 ) (vii)An outcome without awareness of DTMV and with no access to seed but the seed price is affordable say y 001 (that is, y 001 is the outcome when w = 0, s = 0, and p = 1 ) (viii) An outcome without awareness of DTMV and without access to seed and when the seed price is not affordable say y 000 (that is, y 000 is the outcome when w = 0, s = 0, and p = 0 ).Hence, the observed adoption outcome y can be expressed relative to the eight potential adoption outcomes as:Since awareness, physical seed access, and seed price affordability are necessary conditions for adoption in that order, we have y 101 = y 100 = y 001 = y 010 = y 001 = y 011 = y 000 = 0.Hence, Eq. ( 1) is reduced to:The potential outcome is always 0 when the farmer is not aware, and/or does not have access to seed and/or not have access at an affordable price. It follows that y 111 , which is the potential outcome, is also the treatment effect of a given farmer when the farmer is aware and has physical seed access and seed access at an affordable price. The average treatment effect of awareness and physical access to seed at an affordable price is expressed as the expected value E(y 111 ).If we consider awareness as a treatment, the awareness-unrestricted potential adoption outcome can be derived from Eq. ( 2) by setting w = 1 and expressed as follows:Similarly, by setting s = 1, the physical seed access-unrestricted potential adoption outcome y Ãà 1 is defined as:After setting p = 1, the seed acquisition affordability-unrestricted potential adoption outcome can also be expressed as:Similarly, the awareness and physical seed access-unrestricted potential adoption outcome is by setting (w, s) = (1, 1) expressed as:The awareness and acquisition affordability-unrestricted potential adoption outcome is by setting (w, p ) = (1, 1) expressed as:The physical seed access and acquisition affordability-unrestricted potential adoption outcome is by setting (s, p) = (1, 1) expressed as:The average treatment effect (ATE) of awareness, physical seed access, and acquisition affordability as measured by the expected value E(y 111 ) is the potential adoption rate when the full population is aware of DTMVs and has physical access to the seed for DTMVs at a price affordable by the full population. This is different from the potential adoption rate when the full population is only aware of DTMVs Eðy à 1 Þ, and it is also different from the potential adoption rate when the full population only has physical access to DTMV seed Eðy Ãà 1 Þ. It is also different from the population potential adoption rate when the full population has access to seed at an affordable price (with some not necessarily being aware), which is measured by the parameter Eðy ÃÃà 1 Þ. Three more joint bivariate potential adoption rates (Eqs. 6-8) correspond to awareness and physical access to seed (y à 11 Þ;awareness and acquisition affordability of seed (y Ãà 11 Þ, and physical seed access and acquisition affordability of seed (y ÃÃà 11 Þ: To distinguish the seven population potential adoption rates, we call parameter E(y 111 ) the awareness-physical seed access at affordable prices unconstrained potential adoption rate (ATE wsp ), whereas Eðy à 1 Þ , Eðy Ãà 1 Þ and Eðy ÃÃà 1 Þ are called awareness unconstrained (ATE w ), access unconstrained (ATE s ), and affordability-unconstrained (ATE p ) population potential adoption rates, respectively. Eðy à 11 ), Eðy Ãà 11 ), and Eðy ÃÃà 11 ) are called the joint bivariate potential adoption rates corresponding to awareness and physical seed access (ATE ws ), awareness and seed affordability (ATE wp ), and physical seed access and seed affordability ATE sp ), respectively.Among the seven population potential adoption rates defined above, we restrict our empirical estimation to only three:). The exclusion of the two marginal potential adoption rates (related to physical seed access (ATE s ) and acquisition affordability (ATE p )) from the empirical analysis is justified by the fact that the two variables (i.e., s and p) are observed only for the aware subsample (i.e., for w = 1) which makes it difficult to estimate them without further assumptions. The same is true for the excluded joint bivariate potential adoption rate related to physical seed access and acquisition affordability ( ATE sp ¼ Eðy ÃÃà 11 Þ ). The exclusion of the joint bivariate potential adoption rate related to awareness and acquisition affordability (ATE wp ¼ Eðy ÃÃà 11 ÞÞ from the empirical analysis is justified by the fact that it measures the same quantity as the potential adoption rate under unrestricted joint awareness-physical access-acquisition affordability (ATE wsp = E(y 111 )) since it is measured only for those with physical access to seed (s = 1). The choice of three potential adoption rates ATE w =E(y à 1 Þ; ATE ws =E(y à 11 Þ; and ATE wsp =E( y 111 ) for the empirical analysis is justified by their policy relevance in two ways. First, understanding the marginal adoption changes resulting from awareness creation should inform policy on the level of investment required for improving the adoption of DTMVs through activities that enhance the awareness about DTMVs among the farming population. Second, understanding the marginal increase in adoption rates resulting from increased seed availability and affordability should be useful to seed suppliers in forecasting the potential demand for DTMV seed at given market prices and should also inform public policy regarding the magnitude of price support required to enhance farmer's adoption of DTMVs.The major contribution of this paper is that this is the first attempt to estimate the joint average treatment effect of joint awareness, physical seed access, and acquisition affordability measured by the expected value E( y 111 ). This differs from the marginal adoption rate corresponding to awareness E(y à 1 Þ; defined in Diagne and Demont (2007) and also differs from the joint bivariate potential adoption rate corresponding to awareness and physical access E(y à 11 Þ defined by Dontsop et al. (2013).In this paper, the observed population adoption rate parameter (which is consistently estimated by the sample adoption rate computed from a random sample) is a measure of the population joint awareness-physical access-acquisition affordability and adoption rate which is the same as the population joint awareness, seed access, at affordable prices, and adoption rate as E(y) = E(wspy 111 ) and not a measure of the population joint awareness and adoption E(wy 11 ) rate as argued in Diagne and Demont (2007). Hence, in what follows, we use the notation JEAAA (joint awareness-access-affordability and adoption) for the observed population parameters (E(y)). It is also clear from the above thats, and p are binary), meaning that the awareness-unconstrained and awarenessphysical access-unconstrained, potential adoption rates are both greater than the observed actual adoption rate but always lower than the awareness-physical seed accessacquisition affordability unconstrained potential adoption rate.We can then define three adoption gaps with one attributable to lack of seed access at affordable prices (Eq. 9), lack of physical seed access (Eq. 10), and lack of awareness (Eq. 11) as follows:where ATE wsp is the average treatment effect parameter when joint awareness, physical seed access, and seed at affordable prices are the treatment variables. ATE ws is the average treatment effect parameter when awareness and seed access, jointly, is the treatment variable and ATE w is the average treatment effect parameter when awareness is the treatment variable.According to the ATE framework, the awareness-unrestricted (ATE w ), the joint awareness-physical access-unrestricted (ATE ws ), and the joint awareness-physical access-affordability-unrestricted (ATE wsp ) potential adoption rates can be defined for various subpopulations by the values x in the support of some random variable X as the average treatment effects conditional on x, E ðy à 1 jX ¼ xÞ , E ðy à 11 jX ¼ xÞ; and E (y 111 | X = x); E respectively (the conditional ATE parameters). It follows that the potential adoption rates in the subpopulation aware of DTMVs, in the subpopulation aware and with physical seed access, and in the subpopulation aware and with physical seed access at affordable prices, correspond to the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) parameters and expressed as follows:The potential adoption rates in the untreated subpopulations are given by the respective ATE on the untreated (ATU) as follows:Furthermore, as in Diagne (2006Diagne ( , 2010) ) and Diagne and Demont (2007), we will define the awareness, awareness-physical seed access, and awareness-physical accessacquisition affordability population selection bias (PSB) parameters that measure the extent to which the three treatment status variables are not randomly distributed in the population, respectively, as:The empirical estimation involves the application of the ATE framework to provide consistent estimates of Eðy à 1 Þ; Eðy à 11 Þ; and Eðy 111 Þ: In fact, the parameters for y à 1 are identified and estimated exactly the same way as in Diagne and Demont (2007) using the w (awareness) variable while for the case of y à 11 and y 111 , we use the ws and wsp variables, respectively. As shown in Fig. 1, all three variables are only observed for the farmers that are aware of DTMVs (that is, for farmers with w = 1) but the products ws and wsp are known for all farmers, as also shown above. It is assumed that the conditional independence assumption holds in all cases. As expressed in Donstop et al. (2013), it is assumed that the distributions of the treatment status variables w, ws, and wsp, are independent of the distribution of the potential outcomes y à 1 , y à 11 , and y 111 , conditional on a vector of covariates x. That is, using the standard notation for conditional independence (A1): w ⊥ y 1 | x, w, s ⊥ y 11 | x, and w, s, p ⊥ y 111 | x. By the propriety of conditional independence, assumption (A1) also implies that w⊥y à 1 j x (Donstop et al. 2013). Therefore, we can use the same identification results and estimation procedures as in Diagne and Demont (2007) and Diagne (2012) to identify and estimate parameters related to the three treatments. The Additional file 1 elaborates on the parametric estimation of ATE.The data draws from a survey of households conducted by CIMMYT in collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda from four regions in Uganda (East, West, Central, and North) in October 2015. A multistage, random sampling technique was employed in the selection of households for the survey. The first stage involved the selection of regions under the Feed the Future (FtF) zones of influence and where maize is largely grown. The second stage involved the selection of major maize-growing districts from the four regions which led to the selection of 14 districts. From each district, 42 village were selected using a sampling design that makes explicit use of the population measure, \"the probability proportional to size\" sample design. Finally, 20 farming households were randomly selected from each of the selected villages leading to the selection of 1000 households for the survey 1 . More households were sampled in the Eastern and Northern regions, because they are the largest maize-producing regions in Uganda (Abate 2013). From each of the selected households, detailed information was collected that included household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, crop production, awareness, adoption dis-adoption of improved maize varieties including DTMVs, production conditions and utilization of maize, social capital risk attitudes, food security, and housing conditions.We define adopters as households that reported planting at least one DTMV. In our sample, 14% of the households reported having planted at least one DTMV in one of their maize plots. There are several drivers to adoption, but clearly, in seed-related technologies, as is the case in this study, two key variables are of consideration. First, a household cannot adopt DTMVs if they are not exposed or aware of their existence. Hence, the decision on whether to adopt DTMVs is only relevant to a non-random subsample of households that are aware of the existence of DTMVs. We assessed the awareness of DTMVs by asking respondents whether they had heard of at least one of the DTMVs listed in the questionnaire. We measured the awareness of at least one DTMV as a dummy variable, taking the value of one if the respondent acknowledged being aware of DTMV and zero otherwise. A follow-up question to this was a question of whether the household planted the DTMV in the 2015 growing season. Other important variables in the adoption of seed-related technologies relate to the availability and affordability of the seed itself. We constructed a dummy variable for seed availability by asking respondents that were aware of the existence of DTMVs but did not adopt them to give reasons for no adoption. Based on this question, we were able to identify two extra categories of households: (i) households that were aware of DTMVs and that had physical seed access if they wanted to purchase and (ii) households that were aware of the existence of DTMVs and had affordable access to seed. The difference between the two groups is that the former focuses on the supply side of seed, thus making seed available to the farmer while the latter is confounded by both the supply and demand side, as farmers may fail to purchase seed even when it is availed to them at a price higher than they can afford. Out of 864 farmers in the sample, 57% were aware of DTMVs, 40% had seed access (regardless of affordability), while 25% had seed access at a price they could afford.Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for some of the explanatory variables used in the analysis disaggregated by the adoption status of the households. About 86% of the households were male-headed, and there was no difference in the proportion of male-headed households between adopters and non-adopters. The average household size was 6.4 persons per household, with adopting households reporting significantly (at 5% level) larger households (6.9 persons) than the non-adopters (6.3 persons). The average land holding size was 1.8 ha and adopting households had significantly larger landholdings (2.2 ha) than the non-adopters (1.7 ha). Land allocated to maize (0.88 ha) accounted for 50% of the total land with adopting households allocating a larger size of land (1.2 ha) compared to non-adopters (0.83 ha). This observation is suggestive of the fact that adopters of DTMVs also tend to be better endowed and produce more maize by allocating a larger portion of their land to maize cultivation.To capture access to information, farmers were asked whether they received information about new varieties. Following this, farmers were asked to mention their main sources of such information. About 39% of the sampled households reported receiving information about new maize varieties in 2015. A significantly higher proportion of adopters (54%) reported receiving information about new maize varieties than the non-adopters (36%), suggesting that the access to information on new maize varieties affected the likelihood of cultivating at least one DTMV. This also suggests differences in access to extension services between the two groups, with adopters having higher access than non-adopters. Other farmers, electronic media, and government extension were the most widely reported sources of information about new varieties. Underscoring the significance of government extension services in promoting DTMV adoption, more adopters (12%) than non-adopters (2%) reported receiving variety information from the government. The findings suggest that non-adopters are more information-constrained than adopters. Membership in social groupings such as cooperatives, farmer groups, and in faith-based organizations can have a significant impact on adoption (Bandiera and Rasul 2006). In our survey, membership in farmer groups was quite prevalent and reported by 77% of the respondents, but there was no difference in membership rates between adopters and non-adopters.The government of Uganda has been implementing an input subsidy program for some time. Only 3% of the sampled household reported receiving free seed with a significantly higher proportion of adopters (12%) than non-adopters (2%) receiving free seed.Respondents were asked to provide information on the household levels of income. About 10% expressed that their income levels allowed them to make enough savings. A higher proportion of DTMV adopters (17%) than non-adopters (9%) reported belonging to a higher income category.Drought-tolerant maize diffusion and adoption: a descriptive analysisWe use the concept \"diffusion\" to imply awareness or knowledge of the DTMVs by the farmers. In the adoption literature, however, the terms \"diffusion\" and \"adoption\" are mostly used interchangeably (Rogers 1976;Sunding and Zilberman 2001). Feder et al. (1985) describes technology adoption as a multistage process the decision-maker undergoes from the time they get exposed to the technology through to the time they decide to start using the DTMVs. Central to the adoption decisions is the role of information about the technology. A lesser discussed issue in adoption literature is the role of the physical seed availability and accessibility at affordable prices and how they affect adoption. As depicted in Fig. 2, the adoption process starts with the potential adopter becoming aware of the existence of DTMVs. The second stage involves information acquisition, through which the potential adopter gets to know DTMV attributes and builds perceptions (Adesina and Forson 1995). While this phase determines whether the producer has heard about the DTMVs, it is also a learning phase during which the potential adopter gets to further understand the attributes of a technology. Consistent with this notion, Klotz et al. (1995) posit that a producer's optimal information level is the solution to an underlying utility-maximization problem characterized by an income-leisure trade-off and that conditional upon the producer being aware of a new technology, the decision of whether to adopt the new technology is made. Most adoption literature (Diagne and Demont 2007;Simtowe et al. 2016;Kabunga et al. 2012) assumes that conditional on awareness, seed should be available and accessible; hence, farmers are expected to immediately move in to the trial and experimentation stage. However, experimentation and trial only occur on two conditions:(1) that seed is physically available; thus, seed is produced by the seed supplier and locally available and (2) that seed is affordable to the farmer, thus availed at prices commensurate with farmer's incomes. Thus, we include in between the third and fourth stages an assumption of seed availability and accessibility. The fourth stage then involves trial or experimentation by the potential adopter on a small portion of land before adoption. The individual then goes through the fifth stage, which involves the actual DTMV adoption, which is again conditioned on the availability of and accessibility to the seed. After adoption, a farmer may decide to continue or discontinue using it depending on the experience and benefits. We follow the definition of Feder et al. (1985) of adoption as the decision to use an innovation in long-run equilibrium given full information about its potential. We thus confine the definition of adoption to the growing of one or more of the drought-tolerant maize varieties by a farmer. Table 2 depicts results of DTMV diffusion and adoption 2 . About 57% of the respondents expressed awareness of at least one DTMV. Knowledge of DTMVs was more prevalent in the Northern (82%) and Eastern regions (67%). However, only 18% expressed ever growing one of the DTMVs and only 14% grew one of the DTMVs in 2015.These sample adoption rates are likely to be biased downwards because they include farmers who were not yet exposed to the varieties as well as those who had no access to seed, and therefore, they cannot adopt unless exposed and given access to seed. There are significant differences in adoption rates for DTMVs between the sample adoption rate and the adoption rate within the exposed subsample and the subsample with access to seed. The overall adoption rate among the subsample of exposed farmers in 2015 season was 24% compared to a lower adoption rate of 14% for the whole sample, while the adoption rates among those with access to seed was about 54%. However, the adoption rates among the subsamples that are exposed and those that have access to seed are likely to significantly overestimate the population adoption rate due to the positive selection bias by which the population most likely to adopt gets exposed first and gets access to seed. Diagne (2006) points out that the positive selection bias arises from two sources. The first source is the farmer's self-selection into exposure. The second source of selection bias is the fact that researchers and extension workers target their technologies at farmers who are more likely to adopt. For this study, a third source of selection bias in the context of access to seed is that by which seed traders and distributors sell seed in regions where they expect higher profits due to a combined effect of lower transaction costs, better prices, and higher volumes to be sold, making seed availability a non-random variable. Determinants of exposure to DTMV and of access to DTMV seed About 40% of the farmers reported that DTMV seed was available to them, while 25% reported having access to seed at prices that they could afford. Based on this categorization, we estimate three probit regressions (Table 3) of factors that affect the propensity of exposure to DTMVs (model 1), the propensity of seed availability in addition to awareness (model 2), and the propensity of access to affordable seed in addition to awareness and seed availability (model 3). The results across the three models show that several variables show statistically significant coefficients. For the exposure model (model 1, column 2), the size of the household returned a positive and significant coefficient (at 10%), suggesting that larger households have a higher propensity to come across information that exposes them to DTMV. This finding suggests that the demographics of a household have implications for the information search behavior of a household related to the costs and effort. It is not surprising that most of the proxy variables for access to information and extension services were highly significant (at 1%) and returned the expected positive coefficient, underscoring the importance of farmers' extension systems in the diffusion of information about new technologies. All income status variables returned insignificant coefficients, suggesting that income did not affect the farmer's awareness of DTMVs since most information is usually disseminated for free by government, fellow farmers, and through other farmer gatherings.Model 2 (column 3) presents marginal effects of the probability of households reporting seed availability in addition to being aware of DTMVs without considering the seed price.The results show that reliance on government, field days, agro-dealers, other farmers, and electronic media for information on new varieties increased the likelihood of reporting that seed was available to the household. However, the magnitude of the effect of these variables is much lower than in the exposure model (model 1), suggesting that seed availability is also influenced by other factors such as free seed distribution by government, which also returned a positive and significant coefficient which underscores the potential role of public interventions in increasing seed accessibility by farmers.Model 3 (column 4) presents results of the likelihood of having access to DTMV seed at an affordable price in addition to being aware of DTMV. During the study year, the most cultivated DTMV (Longe 10H) was selling between UgS 4000 and 6000 per kilogram of seed 3 depending on the location. However, farmers were willing to pay an average price of UgS 2150 per kilogram, which is almost half of the market price. A key observation is that farmers in Uganda are used to purchasing open pollinated maize varieties at a lower price of about US$ 0.7-0.8 per kilogram. Hybrid varieties were introduced at a higher price of about US$1.3-2 per kilogram depending on the variety and company, and farmers have not come to terms with price differences between the OPV and hybrid. Such misunderstanding can be cleared with intensified promotion of the hybrids, including DTMVs and the reasons for price differences between hybrids and OPVs. The results in Table 3 show that more years of education enhances the probability of having access to DTMV seed at an affordable price. The coefficient for household size was positive and significant (at 10%), suggesting that a percentage increase in the size of the household increases the probability of accessing seed at affordable prices by 12%.Moreover, relying on government as a source of information also increased the probability of accessing affordable seed by 28%. Two of the wealth-related variables returned positive and significant coefficients. Households with incomes large enough to build savings and those whose incomes were just enough to allow them to make some savings were more likely to report access to affordable seed than low-income households. Furthermore, being a recipient of free seed from the government increased the probability of accessing DTMV seed at affordable prices by about 39%. In general, the findings on awareness underscore the need for intensified efforts to create awareness about the existence of DTMVs among farmers the need for interventions that enhance the availability and affordability of DTMV seed to farmers.The results of the predicted adoption rates with and without ATE correction for different DTMV population awareness, seed availability and seed affordability, population selection biases, and adoption gaps are presented in Table 4. The sample awareness of DTMVs in the study area in Uganda was estimated to be 57.4%, whereas the estimated seed access and seed access at affordable prices was 40.4% and 25.3%, respectively, in 2015. These results indicate that not all maize farmers in Uganda knew about the existence of DTMVs and that only a quarter had seed access at affordable prices. The observed sample adoption rate for DTMVs was 14%. This is much lower than what is reported in Fisher et al. (2015) for Uganda, apparently due to differences in the classification of DTMVs 4 . The joint treatment and adoption rates 5 for all of the three ATE-corrected models are also around 14%. Diagne and Demont (2007) show why the observed sample adoption rates are expected to be the same as the ATE-corrected joint treatment and adoption rates. Indeed, in the absence of universal diffusion and access to DTMV seed among the maize farming population, the observed adoption rate estimates significantly understate the potential adoption rate (i.e., the adoption rate that would be obtained if the whole Correcting for heterogeneity in the joint awareness and physical seed availability, the predicted adoption rate for the full population (ATE ws ) was 30%. This means that if, in addition to being aware, all farmers had DTMV seed physically availed to them, the effective demand of DTMV seed would have been 30%. The corresponding estimate of the adoption gap of 16% resulting from non-availability of seed can therefore be interpreted as the seed access gap, which is the potential demand loss due to non-access to seed (Donstop et al. 2013), which also suggests that there is scope for scaling the cultivation of DTMVs in Uganda if seed companies can increase the supply of seed to the farming community.The cost of seed can prevent potential adopters from adopting DTMVs. This is apparently the case in Uganda, where correcting for heterogeneity in joint awarenessseed availability-accessibility to affordable seed increases the predicted DTMV adoption rate for the full population (ATE wsp ) to 47%. The corresponding estimate of the adoption gap resulting from the joint lack of awareness, seed access, and seed at an affordable price is 32% and significant at 1% level. These adoption gap estimates imply that there is still potential for increasing DTMVs adoption rates significantly once awareness, and seed accessibility constraints are addressed. It should be emphasized that these estimated adoption gaps are solely due to the lack of awareness of the existence of DTMVs, lack of seed, and a lack of access to affordable seed. However, the magnitude of the adoption gaps depends on the same factors that determine the probability of treatment participation and population adoption rates. Hence, by appropriately changing the values of these determinants through some policy instruments, one can increase actual adoption through a simultaneous narrowing of the adoption gap and an increase in the population adoption rate (Diagne 2010).The results suggest that scaling DTMVs in Uganda will not only rely on the dissemination of information about DTMVs, nor the increased supply of seed, but that it will also depend on the extent to which the set price of seed is commensurate with the purchasing power of farmers. In other words, awareness creation ought to be done simultaneously with seed supply. Moreover, the fact that making seed affordable could scale the cultivation of DTMV to almost half of the farmers should be of interest to the government of Uganda, which has been running an input subsidy program for more than a decade.The predicted adoption rate among the subpopulations that were exposed to DTMVs ( ATT w ) was 24%, which is slightly higher than that of a full population (ATE w ) of 22% indicating a positive population selection bias (PSB). Similarly, the predicted adoption rates among subpopulations aware of DTMV and with physical accessibility to seed (ATT ws ) were higher (34%) than those of the full population (ATE ws ) estimated at 29.5%. The population selection biases were positive and were estimated to be 2%, 5%, and 8% for exposure, joint exposure and seed availability, and seed affordability, respectively. The positive PSBs imply that the probability of adoption for a farmer with exposure to DTMVs and with access to seed is significantly higher than the propensity of adoption for any other farmer randomly selected in the general population, which suggests an association with successful targeting of the DTMV scaling efforts in Uganda.The results show that the estimated adoption rate within the awareness unconstrained subpopulation (ATT w ) of 24% was smaller than the adoption rate of 34.2% among the subpopulation with awareness-access-unconstrained (ATT ws ). As expressed by Donstop et al. (2013), the gap of 10% between the two adoption rates can be explained by the fact that the subpopulation of farmers who were aware and had access to seed was included in the subpopulation of farmers who were aware of the variety. For the same reason, the estimated adoption rate within the awareness unconstrained subpopulation (ATT w ) and that among the subpopulation with awareness-access-unconstrained(ATT ws ) are both smaller than the adoption rate with a subpopulation with awareness-access-affordability unconstrained (ATT wsp ) of 54.2%. The potential adoption rates among the subpopulations of farmers who were not exposed (ATU w ), who were not exposed and had no access to seed (ATU ws ), and who were not exposed, had no physical access to seed and at affordable prices (ATU wsp ) were 19%, 26%, and 44%, respectively.Results on the determinants of DTMVs of the ATE probit model are presented in Table 5. The results are presented in the form of marginal effects and are presented based on three models. Results in model 1 (column 2) present determinants of adoption conditional on exposure to the DTMVs. The reliance on fellow farmers as a source of information lowers the propensity to adopt DTMVs by 9%. Belonging to a higher income group of households that have enough savings increases the propensity to adopt DTMVs by 37% compared to households with low income and that require borrowing to participate in economic activities. Receiving free maize seed from government also increases the propensity to grow DTMVs maize by 62%, suggesting that there is scope for scaling out the cultivation of DTMVs through the scaling of input subsidy programs that enable low-income households to access seed which they would otherwise not access under prevailing market prices.The results in model 2 (column 3) are consistent with those in model 1, with the wealthrelated variable turning out as crucial determinants of adoption. However, in model 3, conditional on having access to affordable seed, the effect of wealth-related categories, though positive, fizzles out while access to free seed from government increases the propensity to adopt DTMVs by 47%. The findings largely underscore the significance of addressing both the supply side and demand side constraints in promoting the adoption of DTMVs.We have provided estimates of actual and potential adoption rates and the determinants of adoption for DTMVs under three scenarios: (1) conditional on exposure, (ii) conditional on (physical) seed availability in addition to awareness, and (iii) conditional on seed affordability in addition to awareness and (physical) availability. We find that the DTMV adoption in Uganda could have been up to 22% in 2015 instead of the observed sample adoption rate of 14% if the whole population was exposed to them, suggesting that there is potential for increasing the adoption rate of DTMVs by 8 % if its knowledge can be extended to the masses. Conditional on awareness and seed availability, the adoption rate could increase to 30%, and if in addition to awareness and seed availability, the seed were also made available at an affordable price, the adoption rate could increase to 47%. The findings suggest that unlocking the DTMV adoption puzzle will partially depend on relaxing the information constraint and making seed widely accessible and at affordable prices to farmers.Exposure to DTMVs is largely influenced by the extent to which the household has access to information on new varieties through the extension support services, while seed accessibility is largely a function of wealth-related factors. Conditional on We only present results of the ATE-corrected adoption models for exposure, seed availability and access to seed at affordable prices *p < 0.10, **p < 0.5, ***p < 0.01 awareness of the DTMV, household relying on neighbors as sources of information have a lower propensity to adopt than those relying on other formal sources of information. Conditional on accessing seed, wealthier households and those with access to free seed provided by the government are more likely to grow DTMVs than those that do not have access to free seed. The findings underscore the need for deploying both market and non-market-based approaches in DTMV scaling in Uganda. Marketbased approaches could support in-country partnerships that enhance seed supply by seed companies and linking farmers to finance institutions to access credit for seed and fertilizer, while non-market-based approaches could further extend and target the seed subsidy program.The results further show that universal adoption of DTMVs is unlikely even after addressing both information and seed access constraints, which suggest that there are other constraints to DTMV adoption. Such constraints may include, but are not limited to, other (e.g., more humid) maize agro-ecologies, the existence of other competing (non-DTMV) maize varieties (e.g. other hybrid maize varieties available on the market), and variety attributes currently not present in the DTMV portfolio. Some of these constraints can be addressed through further breeding efforts that embed preferred traits into the DTMVs without compromising on their performance under drought conditions.Endnotes 1 The analysis is based on households that grew maize in the major growing season of 2015, hence the sample of 864.2 A full description of the actual varieties adopted is presented in the Appendix 3 One US dollar is equivalent to 3700 Uganda shillings 4 In this study, we excluded some varieties from the DTMV list because after discussions with breeders, they were found to be non-drought tolerant. The variety called Longe5, for example, is widely cultivated and was classified as drought tolerant, but after discussions it has been agreed that it is non-tolerant to drought, hence excluded from our list of DTMVs.and which holds under the conditional independence (CI) assumption (see Diagne and Demont 2007):where d is the treatment status and y î is a generic variable that stands for the potential adoption outcomes (y à 1 ; y à 11 ; or y 111 ). Awareness is the treatment variable d = w while when joint awareness and physical access to seeds is the treatment d = ws. Joint awareness-physical access to seed-acquisition affordability is the treatment variable, d = wsp (Eq. 21). It follows that ðd; y î Þ= ðw; y à 1 Þ; ðws; y à 11 Þ; and (wsp, y 111 ). The parametric estimation proceeds by first specifying a parametric model for the conditional expectation in the right-hand side of the second equality of Eq. ( 21), which involves the observed variables y, x, and d:Where g is a known (possibly nonlinear) function of the vector of covariates x and the unknown parameter vector β which is to be estimated using standard least squares (LS) or maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) procedures using the observations (y i , x i ) from the subsample of exposed farmers, only with y as the dependent variable and x the vector of explanatory variables. With an estimated parameter β, the predicted values gðx i ; βÞ are computed for all the observations i in the sample (including the observations in the nontreated subsample) and ATE, ATET and ATU are estimated by taking the average of the predicted gðx i ; βÞ i = 1,..,n across the full sample (for ATE) and respective subsamples (for ATT and ATU) (Diagne and Demont 2007):As also expressed by Diagne and Demont (2007), the effects of the determinants of adoption as measured by the K marginal effects of the K-dimensional vector of covariates x at a given point x are estimated as:where x k is the kth component of x. The estimation is conducted in two stages, with the first stage explaining the determinants of being treated (w, ws, wsp ), before estimating the adoption model in the second stage.","tokenCount":"8556"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6040847781.json b/data/part_1/6040847781.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9e43a794689804451bf56cd56c447ed2dd6a7ee4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6040847781.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d873c4c70336e87bb7a77fe3d76c3889","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb825739-40e3-460f-b5e8-d497b08a435e/retrieve","id":"1610147172"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f216d0b3-d4e2-4ebb-aeb5-f5389c526b5c","pagecount":"2","content":"MonHorear permanentemente el cultivo para detectar presencia de plantas con moko. Sembrar colinos que tengan licencia litosanitaria del ICA. Desinfestar henramientas, botas y vehículos y srtios de parqueo, con hipoclorito 2.6%. No sembrar plátano a menos de 10m de quebradas. Capacrtar y conservar trabajadores .Trampeo y control de picudos.No cunivar tomate ni ahuyama, en zonas de cultivo de plátano.Desin testar con hipoclorito de sodio 2.6%, es una práctica muy importante.. Producción de lixiviado de compost de raquis de ptátano para tratamiento de tocos..--'='---------fElizabetn Alvarez, Germán Uano, John LOke, Luz Adriana Meza, Víctor TriviñoEn el Eje Cafetero de Colombia se presentan grandes pérdidas económicas por el moko del plátano, razón por la cual se ha preparado esta gula para que los productores prevengan, manejen y/o erradiquen esta enfermedad.1. Reconocer plantas de plátano afectadas por moko, causado por la bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum, capacilando a los trabajadores en el reconocimiento de los principales s i~tomas de la enfemnedad.Necrosis de haces vasculares en el cormo.Foco con plantas afectadas erradicadas, encerrado con hilo.Eliminación de lodas las planlas en la lona roja, usando glilosato.Esta zona corresponde al foco afectado y las planlii.s sanas a su alrrr'\"dnr ~ec omendaciones:hilorm,,: omediatamente al agregado, al propretaric ' ,' >' ICA, lo a¡;arrc ión ce plantas presumiblemente a:ect\"Gos por moko I Y todas las sanas a su alrededor en un radio de 5 m, se inyectan en tres sitios del seudotallo con 50 ce de glifosato al 20% por planta adulta y 5 cc para colinos. Empacar los racimos afectados en bolsas plásticas e incinerar. 6, Cuando se sequen las plantas, arrancar y picar en el sitio, las cepas y tallos, usando un palin, desinfectando permanentemente.Evitar el ingreso al foco, de perros, gallinas, hormigas, etc. Desinfectar las botas y herramientas de trabajo con hipoclorito a2,6%.No sembrar nada. Mantener la zona roja sin malezas, usando herbicida y no azadón. 10. La entrada a esta zona y el manejo debe ser realizado por una sola persona, con ropa exclusiva para ef foco. 11 . Aplicar roca fosfórica (5-10 Kg/m2)af suefo y af material vegetal picado. ~~:í!1 12. Preparar un extracté Je flor de muerto (T agetes patula) en agua (1 Kg/m2), una vez empiece a florecer. Al dla siguiente, aplicar con regadera, a la planta erradicada y elsuelo. .;plicar al suelo y al material vegelal picado, fi;;iviado de la descomposición de raquis de plátano (20 L por planta afeclada, puro). 14. No hacer zanjas de drenaje cerca alfoco. 15. Aplicar al suelo y a la planta picada, Microorganismos ,.C!,;,\"\";' \" Eficientes (0,5 Uplanta) y T richoderma spp (12,5 g/ 20 L de agua). 16. No usar formol., --'\" Esta zona corresponde a 1 O ~Iantas alrededor de la zona roja...\"..-.... Recomendaciones: Encerrar el area afectada y las plantas sanas a 5 m alrededor de la planta enferma. con cinta plástica, hilo \":-~:ill! de polipropileno o alambre.Marcar la zona con eslacas de guadua Evitar el ingreso de personas, perros, homnigas y vehiculos. Entrar al foco por un mismo sitio. donde se coloca una bandeja con hipoclorito de sodro al 2.6% (mItad de Limpido y mitad de agua), para desinfectar los zapatos. ~ ... ~c.,;:Embolsar hemnéticamente los [acimos. Desinfectar las herramienlas con 2,6% de hipocloril0 planta por planta,.","tokenCount":"534"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6041011725.json b/data/part_1/6041011725.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8c46ebae031c65d173ccf5e8ea0c22695e3e55e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6041011725.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6833dc93a165a106572ed3120dfb4bca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H018587.pdf","id":"-2115363467"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0533420f-f8bc-4734-bce8-d7b2fa63168d","pagecount":"17","content":"~~~ -e.~4e>t> \\ ~~ e \\ tdw(. .sc~\"'\" c; t1f~ cL.JoA--'\\\"\"\"'-< ~IJ\\.U \\ ~OV\\U ~M \\ \\-v~\"'\" \"r<.-O(7V'( it '3.33.',Q s..,..~1~,y.,V>[uc..This paper examines a participatory and \"market oriented\" conservation effort in the upper Nilwala watershed. In this effort the International Irrigation Management Institute, IIMI, cataly~ed a process of mobilising resource users in the Bovitiya Dola sub watershed to collaborate with: a) the Matara Integrated Rural Development Project (MIRDP), b) Integrated Technology Development Group (IIDG), a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) and c) Government agencies including the divisional and provincial secretariats to develop a micro hydro-electric power plant and to establish a participatory conservation program in the catchment. This joint venture was initiated by the Shared Control of Natural Resources, SCOR Project. SCOR is being implemented by IIMI and financed by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID.SCOR is a participatory action-research project aimed at developing and testing a holistic interdisciplinary approach to integrate environmental and conservation concerns with production goals. The conservation strategy being tested in SCOR is different from traditional approaches, SCOR hypothesizes that a package of measuressuch as type of vegetation/crops, appropriate land and water saving and conservation practices, user rights to earn economic and other benefits from the (participatory) conservation of natural resources --are more effective in protecting environmentally fragile lands in water basins and watersheds. The \"package\" should be selected in consultation with (or jointly with) the users and both conservation and production or other profitable uses of natural resources should be incorporated into the package. This means that the package provides adequate incentives --such as profits, desired cash flow as well as non-monetory benefits --to the user to motivate her/him to protect natural resources. Unless the \"actors\" are informed by the knowledge of potential impact and unless the profitable alternatives exist, environmentally inappropriate decisions will continue to be made.The focus on watersheds as the basic planning, coordinating and implementation unit is an important feature of SCOR The term watershed is defined as the area of land surface that drains water into a common point along a stream or rive~. The rationale for using the watershed as the basic unit for integrated planning of (land and water) resources utilization is clear. The watershed is a physical entity geographically defined by an important natural resource, water; the ways in which the water in the upper parts of the watershed are used affect the ways in which it can be used downstream, and they affect the associated land resource.Moreover, various parts of the watershed are physically and operationally linked in important ways, and the potential benefits from integrated use can be large.In addition, the people in the different components of the watershed having access to different aspects of the natural resources base may be engaged in different economic activities, and may be of different social and/or cultural backgrounds. For example, people in the upper catchment areas may have very different environmental, economic and social conditions from those in associated irrigated commands and those in downstream areas of the irrigated areas. Thus, the personal and economic interests in the different areas do not necessarily coincide, introducing problems for planning and implementation. This implies that socioeconomic and institutional factors too influence the linkages between \"upstream and downstream.\" Thus, any conservation or environment management approach should consider those physical, socioeconomic, and institutional linkages that exist between upstream and downstream of a river basin/watershed, and between systems within watersheds (such as the variations within and between micro watersheds). It should also consider the role of users both in \"production and conservation 4 .\" In other words, sustainable agricultural development in the broad context ofrural development in these areas requires a watershed-based integrated approach which not only optimizes the production, but also ensures the protection ofthe natural resources or production base with active participation of the users concerned.SCOR Project emphasizes an integrated participatory approach, and makes a substantial effort in linkage and coordination. Experience in the major irrigated commands in many countries has shown that the combination of the use of catalysts, sharing of information, and reasonable administrative and political support can bring divergent groups into successful cooperative activity. While the process will be more difficult in the context of the full watershed, there is a reasonable probability ofsuccess, and the potential for major benefits.-----THE PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF MICRO HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER PROJECT Illukpitiya villagers are the primary beneficiaries of the Micro Hydro-electric Power Project (MHPP). The village is located in the Bovitiya Dola sub watershed of the Nilwala Watershedlbasin (Figure 1), The village consist of about 100 families. In January 1994, SCaR facilitated a participatory appraisal of natural resource use in the Bovitiya Dola Sub Watershed (BSW). This exercise, in addition to the preparation ofland use maps, established a data base indicating the pre-project situation in regard to production, conservation (including apparent degree of soil erosion, slope categories etc and vegetation cover) incomes and profits, leadership/organizations and other socio-economic indicators. Table 1 shows the pre-project land use pattern in the sub watershed. Subsequently a participatory planning exercise was conducted and a resource management plan was formulated for the sub watershed. This was aimed at changing land and water use pattern to a more diversified resource use combining production (include, hydroelectric power generation) and conservation using appropriate technologies; novel shared control arrangements, This means that the villagers have \"action-plans\" that guide them along a path to the planned future from the current status of resource use. For example, planned change of land use indicated the following: During the planning sessions, villagers expressed deep concern for harnessing the Bovitiya Dola waterfall for generating electricity for both domestic consumption and small industries. Moreover, the need for protecting the catchment to ensure the sustainability of the hydroelectric power plant has been emphasized. It was noted that the village is located 2.5 km away from the main grid transmission and the estimated cost of supply is about Rs.3-4 million. Even the future possibility of grid connection remains bleak. An average family spends about RS.145.00 per month for energy use; the main sources being kerosene and car batteries.Because of the remote location and difficulties in accessibility villagers had less contacts with government departments and projects. Even though the villagers were aware of micro hydro electric power generation, they did not know how to obtain technical know-how, financial resources etc. There was no government agency directly responsible for micro hydro electric power generation.As decided during planning sessions, the villagers were organized into a cohesive group to develop and use the water fallJstream as the source of electricity without having hostile effects on existing minor irrigation deliveries. The IIMI catalyst facilitated this process. The organization, among other things, decided and designed action-plans for the following:1. take collective measures to conserve and maintain the catchment; 11.construct the hydro-electric power plant and supply electricity directly to 48 families; 111. establish a \"battery charging centre\" and supply electricity indirectly to another 22 families;5 IV.invite the ITDG to provide mainly the technical assistance; v.share a considerable portion of capital costs of construction in the form of (limited) capital and voluntary and organized labour;Vl.plan for an take over the responsibility for post-construction operation and maintenance of hydro electric power plant;Vl.undertake necessary post-project rehabilitation.Roles and responsibilities of office bearers of the organizations have been defined and a nine-member committee was established as a day-to-day decision making body to expedite the construction process. Each member in this committee represented a small group of farmers.Anticipated power supply is limited to 5 KW and consumption will be confined to 5 pm to 7 am during week days and 2 pm to 7 pm over the weekends and holidays. The battery re-charging will be done by using the electricity generated during day time.expedite the construction process. Each member in this committee represented a small group of farmers.Paddy farmers whose fields are located further downstream had two irrigation lines installed at the point where the weir is constructed. They feared that the construction of weir and the diversion of part of the Bovitiya Dola through the fore bay tank would reduce the flow of irrigation water to their fields. As a compromise, the members of the micro hydro electric power group, in a negotiation process, agreed to assign priority for irrigation and fixed two irrigation lines three inches below the level of the inflow to the turbine. After this arrangement was made in early 1994, no complaint has been made by the paddy farmers downstream concerning irrigation water indicating that the project has not given rise to negative externalities (implying zero external costs).,In order to maintain equity and also to optimize the limited power generated, the organization decided to limit the supply to 100 W per household.Members were requested to contribute RS.1S00 each in cash and supply construction material and labour equitably for construction. The organization borrowed Rs.11,OOO at 2% annual interest rate from their apex farmer organization 6 . This organization expects to re cover the loan within two years after the construction of the power plant.The proposal for hydro electric power development was submitted to Watershed Resources Management Team, WRMT7. The forest department official (who had participated in the design of catchment development efforts) commended that the users are motivated to conserve the forest. The representative of Agrarian Services Department cleared the project because it was clear that irrigation water rights have been protected. WRMT discussed the possibility of linking the proposal with the Matara Integrated Rural Development Project mainly to obtain funding for electro mechanical equipment. This proposal was well within the scope ofMIRDP and the Director of that program, who is also a member of WRMT agreed to provide this balance funding.In addition to the consultancy services, ITDG volunteered to supply a battery charger free of charge.expedite the construction process. Each member in this committee represented a small group of farmers.Paddy farmers whose fields are located further downstream had two irrigation lines installed at the point where the weir is constructed. They feared that the construction of weir and the diversion of part of the Bovitiya Dola through the fore bay tank would reduce the flow of irrigation water to their fields. As a compromise, the members of the micro hydro electric power group, in a negotiation process, agreed to assign priority for irrigation and fIxed two irrigation lines three inches below the level of the inflow to the turbine. After this arrangement was made in early 1994, no complaint has been made by the paddy farmers downstream concerning irrigation water indicating that the project has not given rise to negative externalities (implying zero external costs).,In order to maintain equity and also to optimize the limited power generated, the organization decided to limit the supply to 100 W per household.Members were requested to contribute Rs.1500 each in cash and supply construction material and labour equitably for construction. The organization borrowed Rs.ll,OOO at 2% annual interest rate from their apex farmer organization 6 . This organization expects to re cover the loan within two years after the construction of the power plant.The proposal for hydro electric power development was submitted to Watershed Resources Management Team, WRMT7. The forest department official (who had participated in the design of catchment development efforts) commended that the users are motivated to conserve the forest. The representative of Agrarian Services Department cleared the project because it was clear that irrigation water rights have been protected. WRMT discussed the possibility of linking the proposal with the Matara Integrated Rural Development Project mainly to obtain funding for electro mechanical equipment. This proposal was well within the scope ofMIRDP and the Director of that program, who is also a member of WRMT agreed to provide this balance funding.In addition to the consultancy services, ITDG volunteered to supply a battery charger free of charge.Hydrological Considerations and the Design of Power Plant IIMI watershed management co-ordinator, being an engineer, joined ITDG in providing technical assistance. He assisted the organization in the hydrological analysis.The flow of the stream was computed measuring the stream flow during dry months of the year and studying the variations in the rest of the months. The \"design flow\" of the stream is 35 lit/sec. The older generation in the area reported that they had experienced a continuous flow (implying the perennial nature of the stream) before the destruction of forest in the catchment.The location of diversion weir, inlet canals, forebay tank, penstock and power house were decided collectively by the users, ITDG and IIMI Watershed Management Co ordinator. A low level spillway incorporated with a regulating device was also provided in the diversion weir close to left bank respecting users' opinion to protect the collapsing of right banks from. The team decided to provide silt exclusion devices at the diversion weir and forebay tank to protect turbine vanes from impacts of silt particles. Complying with the requirement laid down by the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka and the Forest Department, user organization decided to build a stone terraced leader drain to discharge outflow of the turbine back to same stream to minimize damages to environment.The main components of the design are shown in Figure 2.A preliminary analysis has been conducted to find out the worth of the project both from financial and economic view points.Costs can be broadly divided into Direct and Indirect costs. Direct costs of the project include investment and operation and maintenance costs. a.Cost of material for civil works: cost of material for civil work such as the construction of the weir, forebay tank and the power house; b.Cost of electro mechanical equipment and connected services: the turbine and associated equipment which are installed at the power house;c.Cost of internal (house) wiring and connection from main line incurred by the beneficiaries; e.Cost oflabour: while for financial analysis ofthe project the labour payments in relation to voluntary group work were taken as zero, a shadow price has been assigned for the economic analysis. For house wiring, almost all the users had used paid skilled labour at the , rate ofRs.60-70 per point. The aggregate amount was directly included in the analysis. fContingencies and miscellaneous.Table 2 provides a summary of these investment costs. Operation and Maintenance Costs a.Cost ofdesilting channel bed: It is assumed that the desilting will be done once in every two years by the organization through voluntary group work.It is estimated that 96 person days are required per operation. While for financial analysis, labour payments for desilting remain zero, for economic analysis, using the opportunity cost, the total labour per operation was estimated to be Rs.9,600 worth.b.Cost ofoperation: A part time operator has been already appointed at a cost ofRs.500 per month. This person plucks tea also on a part time basis and uses his leisure time for power operations. Hence, the opportunity cost is considered as zero (for economic analysis).c.Assuming that the life of a bulb is 1000 hours, cost of a bulb is Rs.2S/-and the potential illuminating time is 1500 hours per year, the annual replacement cost would be Rs.7,200.Maintenance cost: This is estimated at RsAOOO per year.Table 3 indicates the annual operation and maintenance costs. * For economic analysis the respective value is Rs.9,600 in every two years.It should be noted that the time spent by ITDG, 11M1 and MIRDP etc were not included in the analysis.Cost of battery charges and the building: The market value of the charger (which was provided free of charge by the ITDG) is around Rs.15,000. The cost of construction of housing for the charger is Rs.I0,000. Moreover, it is estimated that labour services worth Rs.5,000/would be required for construction and installation purposes. The annual O&M cost is Rs.l,200.Externalaties on irrigation: As explained earlier, priority is assigned to irrigation. Thus, it is assumed that the project has not given rise to negative externalities.These can be divided into two broad categories: Direct and Indirect.Direct benefits a.Direct Benefits from Conservation: Pre-project land use pattern indicated the degree of degradation of catchment. Only 10% of the sub watershed was covered by high forest. Users were convinced that the sustainability ofthe MHPP would depend on the conservation of natural resources. In the participatory planning exercise they emphasized on the need for improving forest cover mainly to maintain stream flow at desired levels especially during the dry season and to reduce siltation. Since heavy soil erosion rate ofthe hydro-catchment necessitates frequent de-silting at the inlet structure and because higher sediment concentration in water reduces the life-span of the turbine, electricity consumers were motivated to take adequate action to reduce soil erosion, particularly in the tea lands. Beneficiaries decided to take action to prevent illicit felling of forest as well as to enrich the catchment in collaboration with the forest department.The MHPP was inaugurated in mid December 1995, and by this time the organization had already completed re-forestation! enrichment in 1.5 ha in the hydro-catchment. Table 4 indicates the plants established in different areas of the catchment and the current price ofthese species. Price is indicated only for timber species, other species such as Durian, Rambutan, Mango, Kitul, etc. can be even more valuable* * .* * Even though the organization has a plan to plant more to cover the entire area, these benefits are not included in the present analysis. A detailed analysis of (expected) benefits from conservation effort, including major indirect benefits, is in progress. Cost Savings on Batteries: Twenty families in the village are using automobile batteries to operate televisions, cassette recorders, radios and sometimes for lighting neon bulbs (5 watts each). On the average, they re-charge batteries once in 3.5 weeks at a cost of RS.34 per battery. However, after receiving hydroelectric power they may use batteries only during day time and therefore, the recharging frequency will be reduced to once in 7 weeks. The lifetime of such a battery may also changed from a present value of 2 years to about 3 years. While these direct cost savings will be used for financial analysis, the economic analysis will take into account potential cost savings in addition to actual cost savings. Costs of battery re-charging and replacement as well as savings, under different assumptions, are given in Table 5. * assuming battery lif~ of 2 yrs and that half ofthe batteries will be replaced each year. ** assuming battery life of3 yrs and that 113 of the batteries will be replaced each year.The Micro Hydroelectric Power Project generates only a limited amount of power. Also, the radius of electricity supply, without a costly transformer/converter, is also limited. Hence, only about 48 families will benefit directly from the MHPP while another 22 can use MHPP for re-charging batteries. A battery charging center has been established for this purpose. The center will charge only RS.20 per battery for recharging, yielding a 14 rupee saving. Such savings are also included in the analysis.In addition, field survey indicated that 28 families use torch batteries (dry cells) for radios and cassette recorders. Assuming that this consumption will be reduced by half after the project and at a price ofRs.18 per battery (and using the present monthly consumption level of 138 batteries), cost savings on torch batteries would be Rs.14,904.Production Incentives: Electricity is an \"incentive consumption good\" which provides the potential consumers with incentives to increase production as it enables the consumer to utilize a wide range of durable electric goods such as televisions, cassette recorders, refrigerators, cookers, lamps, etc. Hence, MHPP will \"induces\" beneficiaries to increase production/incomes enabling them to purchase durable consumption goods. Economic analyses have been conducted at two levels: a) constant incomes and b) with 10% increase. The present opportunity cost of labour is considered as Rs.l 00 per day.Another form of \"production incentive\" arising out ofMWPP is the influence of electricity on children's education --an investment on human capitaL Although identified correctly, this influence cannot be measured accurately. Hence this is not included in the analysis.c.Reduce conflicts/complaints: Informal sources indicate that the forest offences (or illegal logging) recorded in the forest range covering the sub watershed have declined. These will be monitored continuously. However, such benefits including the reduction in illegal logging activity, improved social harmony due to the formation ofuser organization for MHPP etc. are not included in the analysis.Financial analysis, which considered only the direct costs and benefits of the MHPP used a discount rate of 6% as the opportunity cost of capital. This is the rate used by the National Planning Department for public investment activities. Financial analysis was conducted separately for two assumptions ...all potential battery users will have the opportunity of charging batteries (those who benefit from MHPP directly -48 families -will use batteries during day time)II. direct beneficiaries of MHPP will not use batteries.Table 6 summarizes the results of financial analysis. Economic analysis included direct and secondary costs and benefits (except conservation benefits). It is assumed throughout the economic analysis that all the beneficiaries had used automobile batteries before the project. Taking into account the fact that electricity is an \"incentive consumer good\", the analysis is also carried out assuming a 10% increase in income. The analysis was conducted separately for the following assumptions: I.all potential users will benefit from the battery re-charging as well; II.all potential users will refrain from battery use after receiving electricity; III.assumption I + 10% increase in income; IV.assumption II + 10% increase in income.The results of analysis are summarized in Table 7. The economic analysis of the project indicates that it is very attractive, even without the conservation benefits. Ifthese benefits or the impact of this \"market oriented conservation\" on the natural resources of the Bovitiya Dola watershed and the social benefits are included, the MHPP would have indicated a much higher return. ).  ","tokenCount":"3602"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6077873485.json b/data/part_1/6077873485.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..885087ca20a12b0d8162f3170199f4799cdad18e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6077873485.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06d385bbb4dbdd641c0dcb18c0038011","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/881ea757-89b5-4b63-95a5-f28340fa3e69/retrieve","id":"1442051993"},"keywords":["Success story","Maize revolution","Productivity gains","Food security","Input use","African agriculture"],"sieverID":"671897d7-27a9-4b1c-be44-d85409c3a75b","pagecount":"17","content":"Maize became increasingly important in the food security of Ethiopia following the major drought and famine that occurred in 1984. More than 9 million smallholder households, more than for any other crop in the country, grow maize in Ethiopia at present. Ethiopia has doubled its maize productivity and production in less than two decades. The yield, currently estimated at >3 metric tons/ha, is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, after South Africa; yield gains for Ethiopia grew at an annual rate of 68 kg/ha between 1990 and 2013, only second to South Africa and greater than Mexico, China, or India. The maize area covered by improved varieties in Ethiopia grew from 14 % in 2004 to 40 % in 2013, and the application rate of mineral fertilizers from 16 to 34 kg/ ha during the same period. Ethiopia's extension worker to farmer ratio is 1:476, compared to 1:1000 for Kenya, 1:1603 for Malawi and 1:2500 for Tanzania. Increased use of improved maize varieties and mineral fertilizers, coupled with increased extension services and the absence of devastating droughts are the key factors promoting the accelerated growth in maize productivity in Ethiopia. Ethiopia took a homegrown solutions approach to the research and development of its maize and other commodities. The lesson from Ethiopia's experience with maize is that sustained investment in agricultural research and development and policy support by the national government are crucial for continued growth of agriculture.Food security in Ethiopia, and elsewhere in Africa, is a major socio-political issue. Its economic wellbeing is also dependent on the success of its agriculture. Ethiopia has long suffered from food shortages and economic underdevelopment even though it is endowed with a wide range of crop and agroecological diversity. Maize, teff (Eragrostis tef), sorghum, wheat, and barley among cereals and enset (Ensete ventricosum) (Bfalse banana^) among Broots and tubers^provide the main calorie requirements in the Ethiopian diet. Crop productivity and production remained low and variable in the 90s for the most part but there have been clear signs of change over the past decade.Maize has expanded rapidly and transformed production systems in Africa as a popular and widely cultivated food crop since its introduction to the continent around 1500 A.D. (McCann 2005). Maize arrived in Ethiopia slightly later, around the late 17th century (Huffnagel 1961), and was mainly grown as a subsistence crop in the mid-altitudes (1500-2000 m above sea level) in southern, south-central, and southwestern parts of the country. The production system in the 1960s and for the first quarter of 1970s was truly subsistence, the yields barely exceeding 1 metric ton (MT)/ha. The rate of growth for area declined following the great drought of 1974, and while there was expansion in the 1980s, the average annual yield was volatile and rarely exceeded 1.5 MT/ha. Maize production and its status in determining food security in the country received a major focus in the mid-1980s, particularly spurred by the 1984 devastating drought and the famine that followed. The wide adaptability of the crop and the potential to produce more calories and food per area of land cultivated than all major cereals grown in Ethiopia were important factors in considering maize as part of the national food security strategy, including its inclusion under the government-led intensive agricultural extension program.With increased production driving market prices down, maize became more affordable (e.g., relative to other staples such as teff and wheat) to rural and urban consumers. It is now increasingly used both separately as well as in mixed flour with other more expensive cereals in traditional Ethiopian diets. Maize is the most important staple in terms of calorie intake in rural Ethiopia. The 2004/5 national survey of consumption expenditure indicated that maize accounted for 16.7 % of the national calorie intake followed by sorghum (14.1 %) and wheat (12.6 %) among the major cereals (Berhane et al. 2011). Compared to the 1960s the share of maize consumption among cereals more than doubled to nearly 30% in the 2000s, whereas the share of teff, a cereal that occupies the largest area of all crops in Ethiopia, declined from more than 30% to about 18% during the same period (Demeke 2012). 1  The popularity of maize in Ethiopia is partly because of its high value as a food crop as well as the growing demand for the stover as animal fodder and source of fuel for rural families. Approximately 88 % of maize produced in Ethiopia is consumed as food, both as green and dry grain. Maize for industrial use has also supported growing demand. Very little maize is currently used as feed but this too is changing in order to support a rapidly growing urbanization and poultry industry. Unlike its neighbor, Kenya, which imports a significant share for its consumption needs, Ethiopia has increasingly attained self-sufficiency in maize production since early this decade and even exports some quantities to neighboring countries (e.g., Sudan and Djibouti) in years of surplus production. If production can be significantly expanded, the potential for maize export to all the neighboring countries including Kenya is very high although the national demand is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.The emerging maize green revolution for Africa that Byerlee and Eicher (1997); Byerlee and Heisey (1997); Byerlee and Jewell (1997); and Eicher and Kupfuma (1997) envisioned in the 1990s has remained elusive so far but is showing strong signs of becoming a reality now in Ethiopia and perhaps in other countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is evidence that the increased productivity and production of maize is also having a significant positive impact on poverty reduction (Dercon et al. 2009;Zeng et al. 2013). In this article, we bring together our collective knowledge and experience to bear on Ethiopian agriculture and beyond. We analyze the drivers behind this rapid increase in production and productivity of maize and attempt to draw lessons. These lessons and insights are drawn from a review of recent literature, analysis of existing data and from our own long-standing field experience in observing the process of change and productivity growth in Ethiopian agriculture.The major source of production and agricultural input data was the time series publications of the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) (www.csa.gov.et); organized and comprehensive data on inputs are available starting 2004, even though records on production have been going on for a much longer period. We also used unpublished data from the Agricultural Inputs Marketing Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). References in this study have also been made to published sources (e.g., MOA 1984;Tolossa and Ransom 1993;Nigussie et al. 2002;Worku et al. 2012;FAOSTAT 2015) and secondary sources to describe the development of maize that could have significant implications for the future direction of agricultural research and development in Africa.Furthermore, meteorological data for sites, including Gonder (1973 m asl 2 ; 1099 mm rainfall), Finote Selam (1980 m asl; 1300 mm), Bako (1700 m asl; 1316 mm), Jimma (1750 m asl; 1564 mm), Wolaita-Sodo (1854 m asl; 1275 mm), Hawassa (1980 m asl; 941 mm), Chiro [formerly Asebe-Teferi] (1792 m asl; 767 mm), and Haramaya (1900 m asl; 748 mm), which represent the major maize production zones in Ethiopia were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency (www.ethiomet.gov.et).The various data sets mentioned above were used to calculate percent area covered by improved maize varieties as well as areas that received inorganic and organic fertilizers in the various administrative regions. As CSA provides mineral fertilizers as di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea in kilograms, we converted these data sets into actual nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrients for standardized comparisons. Information on agro-ecological zones was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA 2005). Comprehensive long term yield data were sourced from FAOSTAT (http://faostat. 1 The contributions of all other cereals have either declined or showed little change; the only exception was wheat, with about 21 % in the 2000s compared to about 18 % in the 1960s (Demeke 2012).2 asl=above sea level fao.org/site/567/default.aspx#ancor), whereas yield data for 2004 to 2013 were obtained from CSA (www.csa.gov.et).To calculate the rate of yield gains over the years, the FAO data were regressed on years. The resulting regression coefficient was taken as an annual rate of yield gain. Additionally, regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between maize grain yield and N and P applications for the major maize growing administrative regions and at the national level, using the CSA data for 2004 to 2013. We also calculated the annual rates of growth using log estimates. The GLM procedure in Statistical Analysis System (SAS 2007) was used to generate Least Square Means of the total annual rainfall recorded from 1990 to 2012.Maize is the second most widely cultivated crop in Ethiopia and is grown under diverse agro-ecologies and socioeconomic conditions typically under rain-fed production. The maize agro-ecologies in Ethiopia can be broadly divided into six major categories (MOA 2005), including Moist and Semi-moist mid-altitudes (1700-2000 m above sea level; 1000-1200 mm rainfall), Moist upper mid-altitudes (2000-2400 m; >1200 mm), Dry mid-altitudes (1000-1600 m; 650-900 mm), Moist lower mid-altitudes (900-1500 m; 900-1200 mm), Moist lowlands (<900 m, 900-1200 mm), and Dry lowlands (<1000 m, <700 mm)). As presented in Table 1, the moist and semi-moist mid-altitude zones comprise the bulk of the national maize area in Ethiopia. These are mostly located in the SW and W Oromia, W and NW Amhara, parts of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), and Ben Shangul-Gumuz (BSG). Taken together, the Semi-moist and Moist ecologies cover about 75 % of the national maize production area whereas the dry ecologies cover the remaining 25 %.Smallholder farms account for more than 95 % of the total maize area and production in Ethiopia. The farmers use animal traction for land preparation and cultivation; almost all production is rainfed, irrigated areas accounting for only about 1 % of the total.Smallholders across all 70 administrative units of Ethiopia, which include 59 zones and 11 special weredas 3 grow maize (Fig. 1). The top five maize producing zones of Ethiopia, according to the 2011 CSA data, are West Gojjam, Jimma, East Welega, West Welega and East Gojjam. Most of these fall into the mid-altitude (1500-2000 m asl) range.More than 9 million households, more than for any other crop, grow maize in Ethiopia (CSA, 2011-13 data). The annual rate of growth for the number of households cultivating maize grew at 3.5 % each year between 2004 and 2013, compared to 3.0 % for sorghum, 3.1 % for teff, 2.1 % for wheat, and 1.8 % for barley. At present, as a sub-Saharan country, Ethiopia has the fifth largest area devoted to maize but is second, only to South Africa, in yield and third, after South Africa and Nigeria, in production.Maize currently occupies about 2 million ha with an average yield of upwards of 3 MT/ha (Fig. 2). National maize yields have doubled from about 1.50 MT/ha during the early 1990s to 3.23 MT/ha in 2013. Analysis of FAO data revealed that a highly significant (p<0.0001) annual yield gain of 68 kg/ha was recorded for maize in Ethiopia for the period 1990 to 2013. Only South Africa exceeded this figure (119 kg/ ha/yr) in SSA whereas some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya registered negative growth. Ethiopia's figure is superior to Mexico (55 kg/ha/yr), China (55 kg/ha), and India (47 kg/ha/yr). Yield gains grew even faster (120 kg/ha/yr) between 2000 and 2013.Despite the pockets of change across Africa, such change at the national level is a significant transformation in a region where a green revolution seemed largely unattainable (Howard and Mungoma 1997;De Groote et al. 2002;Smale et al. 2011;Smale and Olwande 2014). On average, maize area and productivity increased by 4.0 and 6.3 % pr annum, respectively, during the 10 years between 2004 and 2013. Similarly, the annual rate of growth for production during the same period was 10.5 %.It is interesting to see that the increases in maize production in Ethiopia resulted more from increases in productivity rather than area expansion -i.e., the yield grew faster than the area (Fig. 2). The current performance of maize in Ethiopia compares favorably with the main maize producing countries in SSA (Fig. 3). Ethiopia is the only country in SSA outside South Africa that has attained >3 MT/ha yield; only Zambia and Uganda have achieved >2.5 MT/ha, followed by Malawi, with >2 MT/ha. The SSA average is about 1.8 MT/ha.Largely because of the increasing demand (Rosegrant et al. 2001) driven by population growth and competitiveness of the crop, maize area in Ethiopia also doubled during the past two decades from 1 to 2 million ha. This increase in area came mainly from two sources. First, the traditionally sorghum-growing smallholder farmers in the rift valley shifted to maize because of the weaver bird (Quelea quelea) invasion that resulted in the total destruction of sorghum in the early 1980s. The second driver of maize area increase was the adoption of maize by the traditional teff-growing farmers in north-central Ethiopiaparticularly in West Gojjam, North Gondar, and other surrounding agro-ecologiesbecause of its high productivity achieved through new hybrids (starting with the hybrid BH140) and diversity in end-uses of maize. Unlike in the central rift valley, farmers here did not necessarily shift from teff to maize but rather expanded the area of the latter.In general, the growth in the proportion of maize area was higher than all other major cereals over the last three decades (Fig. 4). For example, maize occupied roughly 16 % of the total cereals area in 1981-83 compared to 30 % for teff, 20 % for sorghum, 14 % for wheat, and 19 % for barley; the area occupied by maize, teff, sorghum, wheat and barley in 2001-03 was 24, 31, 17, 15, and 13 %, respectively. Currently teff, maize, sorghum, wheat and barley occupy 30, 22, 20, 17, and The expansion and productivity change in maize production in Ethiopia is attributable to multiple factors. These include a) increased availability of modern varieties, b) increased commitment to enhance farmer access to and use of modern inputs through better research-extension linkages, c) wider adaptability of the crop and modern varieties, d) better production conditions and low production risks and e) growing consumption demand and market access for producers to support marketbased production to absorb surplus supply. We discuss some of these factors and draw lessons on the key drivers of change in the following section to show the relevance of similar processes of transformation in African agriculture.Maize research and development in Ethiopia has gone through a number of changes over the last several decades, which marked critical periods in terms of driving the current change in production and productivity. We summarize the major ones in Table 2 below. Some of the key events that warrant specific mention include the 1984 major drought and famine that helped to increase the profile of maize in attaining national food security; the introduction of nationally developed hybrids adapted to the local production conditions in the late 1980s and early 1990s; the launching in 1993 of the government campaign, NEIP (National Extension Intervention Program) in partnership with Sasakawa Global 2000 (or SG2000) to increase food security; the introduction of a maize grain floor price in the early 2000s; the introduction of an integrated systems approach for research and development by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in the early 2000s (Abate 2006(Abate , 2007)); and inclusion of maize in the commodity exchange in recent years. Earlier attempts made to introduce hybrids from Kenya were unsuccessful due to poor adaptation to the prevalent production systems and high seed price. Further details can be found in Table 2.Undoubtedly, the maize story in Ethiopia is largely homegrown and improved maize germplasm has played a key part in catalyzing change in production practices by replacing traditional varieties with input-responsive, stable and high yielding MVs. The Ethiopian NARS has released a total of 61 maize varieties between 1973 and 2013. The first locally developed hybrid (BH140, in the early-to intermediate-maturity group) was released in 1988, followed by a late-maturing hybrid (BH660) in 1993, and BH540 and the Pioneer Hi-bred Seed Ethiopia hybrid PHB3253 (marketed as Jabi) in 1995.There was a total of 16 hybrids and 4 Open Pollinated Varieties (OPVs) under production in 2013 (Table 3). Hybrids accounted for 97 % while OPVs represented only 3 % of the total seed market. Furthermore, the Ethiopian seed market has been dominated by BH660 and BH540; the average age of 80 % of the currently grown varieties is more than 20 years. There are also hybrids that came into production between 2005 and 2008, but their amounts remain limited, with the exception of the Pioneer hybrids Shone and Agar (Table 3).BH661, promoted under the auspices of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, is of particular significance because of its drought tolerance, resistance to major diseases, higher yield potential and wide adaptability. This variety is expected to replace both BH660 and BH540. The demand for foundation seed by seed companies of this new hybrid is rapidly growing. In 2012 Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE) produced 6 MT of certified seed; by 2014 five companies, including Amhara Seed Enterprise (ASE), Avallo, ESE, Oromia Seed Enterprise (OSE), and Southern Seed Enterprise (SSE) produced nearly 2,900 MT.Only four OPVs are at all common but their use is limited to the more drought-prone areas such as the central rift valley. The OPVs Melkassa2 and Melkassa4 have been used extensively in the last several years; two new ones (Melkassa6 and Gibe2) were recently introduced into the market and their use is expected to expand before getting replaced by higher yielding hybrids that are in the process of development.Maize inputs in Ethiopia include mainly improved seed and fertilizers. The use of pesticides (including fungicides,  In order to see the patterns of diffusion across the country, we conducted an analysis of CSA data 4 on use patterns of improved seed across major maize growing administrative regions of Ethiopiaviz. Amhara, BSG, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray. Owing to the size of maize area, Oromia, followed by Amhara and SNNP, have the largest amount of improved seed usage. 5 The share of total MVs used in Oromia region during 2010-12 was 49 % of the total; Amhara and SNNP accounted for 33 and 18 %, respectively, with BSG and Tigray both receiving <1 % each. 6  Table 4 depicts the percent area coverage by MVs in Ethiopia between 2004 and 2013. The area covered by MVs varied according to regions and years. The Amhara Region has shown consistently higher percentages of coverage through the 10 year period. For example, the area under MVs was 24 % in 2004, compared to 55 % 10 years later. This was followed by SNNP and Oromia, in that order. The national average also followed consistent upward trends, especially over the last 5 years. The national average maize area under MVs in 2013 was 40 %, compared to 16 % in 2004. This is a far cry from reports in the distant and recent past (MOA 1984;Langyintuo et al. 2011;Spielman et al. 2013). Most recent studies and adoption monitoring surveys of DTMA suggest that the total maize area covered by MVs is more than 65 % (CIMMYT 2014) but these have mostly sampled only limited households in the central rift valley and cannot reflect the national picture.The federal government-owned company ESE has been the largest supplier of foundation and certified seed in the country until recently. Regional government-owned companies, including the ASE, OSE, and SSE have also entered the seed market in recent years.The role of the private sector has been limited in the past and private seed companies have been affected by limited technical capacity, lack of land and capital, inadequate access to breeder seed of publicly-bred varieties, less competitive seed pricing, and lack of clarity on freely marketing their materials (Alemu 2010;Alemu et al. 2010;Spielman et al. 2013).Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed (Ethiopia) 7 has been an important supplier of hybrid seed since the mid-1990s; its annual average market share between 2004 and 2013 was 21.1 %. National small seed companies and community-based organizations (CBOs) such as Meki-Batu Union (MBU) have also entered the maize seed market in recent years. The combined seed market share of parastatals (ESE, ASE, OSE, and SSE) in 2014 was 63 %, compared to 31 % for Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed (Ethiopia), 4 % for CBOs, and 2 % for all national small seed companies combined. MBU is the only CBO marketing maize seed in Ethiopia. Small national seed companies marketing improved maize are represented by Avallo, Ano Agro-Industry, Gadisa Gobena Farm, Hadia, and Ethio VegFru. The southern Africa-based regional seed company, SeedCo, has recently started marketing the maize variety Duma (SC 403) through its local representation by Alemayehu Makonnen Farm. Two new seed companies from India -Advanta Seeds and CP Seeds registered new maize varieties in 2013 but have not started marketing them.Historically, Ethiopian farmers have used organic fertilizers (such as farmyard manure, compost, crop residue, and household refuse) for agricultural production. Today, commercial fertilizer use is the dominant input that goes with modern varieties. All of Ethiopia's mineral fertilizer is imported. Based on CSA data for 2004 to 2013, we estimated that about 23 % of the total mineral fertilizer in Ethiopia is applied to maize. Mineral fertilizers in Ethiopia are marketed as DAP (di-ammonium-phosphate) and urea. Potassium fertilizers are not considered to be important in Ethiopian agriculture, as there is a perception that Ethiopian soils are not deficient in this element. Historical data show that, on average, DAP accounts for about 64 % of the total volume of fertilizer used, with urea accounting for the remaining 36 %. We converted the two products into N and P equivalents and report here the total N and P consumption, the area fertilized and application rates.Figure 5 shows the overall N and P consumption by maize in Ethiopia between 2004 and 2013. The total nutrient  consumption on maize in 2013 was 68,000 MT compared to 20,000 MT in 2004a more than 3-fold increase. In other words, fertilizer consumption increased at an annual rate of about 12 % over the 10 years. Overall, N and P accounted for approximately 67 and 33 % of this, respectively. Oromia and Amhara accounted for 43 % each of the total nutrient consumption, with SNNP, Tigray and BSG receiving about 11, 2 and 1 %, respectively, of the total fertilizer in 2013.Table 5 depicts the average maize area covered by mineral fertilizers in different regions of the country between 2004 and 2013. An average of 69 % of all maize grown in 2013 in Ethiopia received some amount of mineral fertilizer application, compared to 56 % in 2004. There were appreciable differences in the maize area receiving fertilizer application among the regions. For example, about 92 % of the area planted to maize in Tigray and 85 % in Amhara received fertilizer in 2013 whereas Oromia, SNNP, and BSG showed lesser area coverage of 67, 61, and 41 %, respectively. In other words, the fastest growth in the area covered by mineral fertilizers was in Oromia (with an annual growth rate of 3.0 %), followed by SNNP (2.6 %) and Tigray (1.3 %); annual growth rates in the maize area covered by fertilizer for Amhara (0.7 %), and BSG (0.1 %) were less appreciable. The overall annual growth rate for Ethiopia was 2.3 %. The relatively lesser growth rate in area coverage for Amhara is because it was already high even in 2004 (Table 5).Application rates showed appreciable differences across regions and years both for the overall national average as well as for those who do apply fertilizers (Table 6). The overall application rates more than doubled for all administrative regions and the country as a whole between 2004 and 2013; application rates for those who do apply fertilizers changed little over the course of the 10 years, perhaps with the exceptions of Amhara and SNNP. These two regions showed the fastest annual rates of growth of application rates both for the national average (and those who do use fertilizers) of 8.7 % (4.5 %) and 9.7 % (4.2 %), respectively.The national average for all growers is 34 kg/ha of N and P nutrients. This falls short of the NEPAD recommendation of 2006 (also known as Abuja Declaration) that suggested 50 kg/ ha (Wanzala 2011). Obviously, the national application rate of 68 kg/ha in 2013 by those who use fertilizers (and throughout the 10 years' period) is higher than the NEPAD recommendation. However, both of these still fall short of the national recommendation of about 110-130 kg/ha of N and P nutrients (or the equivalent of 150-200 kg/ha of urea and 100-150 kg/ ha of DAP), depending on the variety (higher rates are recommended for hybrids). This suggests that, most often, farmers do not always implement the whole package of technologies.The implication of this is that priority for policy makers must be expanding fertilizer use to areas that have not been covered previously, which at present account for more than 30 % of the total maize area in Ethiopia.We also observed appreciable variation among the regions in the use of organic fertilizers on maize. Application rates were extremely lowaveraging about 45 kg/ha -and showing little change over the 10 years (not shown in the table). However, there was a persistent decline in the percent area covered by organic fertilizers across the regions and years (Table 7). The national average declined from 27 % in 2004 to 18 % in 2013, an average annual negative growth rate of 2.9 %. This has been the case for all regions but some were more seriously affected than others. For example, the annual growth rates for SNNP, Amhara, BSG, and Oromia declined by 6.2, 4.9, 3.8, and 1.3 %, respectively. Tigray maintained its highest percentage of area under organic fertilizers over the years but the 2013 level was much lower than that in 2004 (Table 7).The declines in the area covered by organic fertilizers may be attributed to one or both of two things. First, there has been a general decline in the unit area of land available for animal grazing, particularly in the highlands, over the last several decades and therefore associated declines in the number of animals (cattle in particular) kept per family. Second, cow dung is widely used as fuel by farmers or sold as an important source of immediate income. It is also possible that the availability of mineral fertilizers at affordable prices might have also contributed to the decline in the use of organic fertilizer.To quantify the contribution of the various factors to increases in maize productivity in Ethiopia, we ran regression analyses using grain yield as a dependent variable and each factor as an independent variable (Table 8). We observed significant correlations between maize yield with percent area under MVs, percent area under N and P fertilizers, N and P application rates for all maize growers, and percent area under organic fertilizer. Correlations between yield and application rate by those using fertilizers were non-significant for Ethiopia and all regions.There were obvious regional differences for many of the variables tested. For example, area under MVs was significant at P<0.001 probability level for Ethiopia, Amhara and SNNP whereas it was significant at P<0.01 for Oromia and BSG and non-significant for Tigray. Area under N and P fertilizer was highly significant (P<0.01) for Ethiopia and SNNP, significant (P<0.05) for Oromia and Amhara and non-significant both for Tigray and BSG. The overall N and P application rate was highly significant for Ethiopia (P<0.001) and Amhara (P < 0.01); significant for Oromia, SNNP and BSG (P<0.05), and non-significant for Tigray (Table 8).There was a highly significant negative correlation between yield and area under organic fertilizer for Amhara (P<0.001), and SNNP and BSG (P<0.01), and significant correlation at the national level (P<0.05). Correlations for Tigray were non-significant (Table 8). Declines in the area covered by organic fertilizers may be a consequence of increases in the availability and use of inorganic fertilizer.It is perhaps safe to conclude that the major driver of the rapid growth in the production and productivity of maize in Ethiopia is the increased use of MVs, coupled with area covered by N and P fertilizer and increased application rate. However, as discussed above, it is also fair to say that there were several other contributing factors to this success. Several of these came together for maize research and development in Ethiopia. In terms of scalability of the process to reach new areas, it is important to identify and draw on those lessons and insights that made this dramatic change in Ethiopia possible. Here we provide highlights of those important enabling conditions.First, Ethiopia has a well-organized, nationally coordinated agricultural research and development (AR&D) system with clearly defined vision and responsibilities. Moreover, Ethiopia's AR&D system is not dependent on external funding. Government support for research has been consistent throughout the years. Ethiopia's spending on AR&D grew by 10.9 and 16.5 % per year between1991 and 96 and 1996 and 2001, respectively; similarly, the number of researchers also grew at 8.7 and 10.3 % during the same period (Beintema 2011). Ethiopia spent 16.5 % of its total expenditure in agriculture in 2005 (Fan and Saurkar, undated). The research system introduced hybrid maize for the first time in the early 1990s. The introduction of hybrid maize came at a very opportune moment when the government was about to launch its program on improved food security and ending extreme poverty. These efforts demonstrated the importance of locally-led innovations and appropriate technologies in igniting the process of a green revolution in Ethiopia. Second, the Government support and commitment for agricultural extension in Ethiopia. These created farmer awareness 8 of available technologies and enhanced knowhow in many major growing regions, especially on major and priority staple crops such as maize, wheat, teff, and legumes, which has led to improvement of food security across the country. Whereas public extension systems across SSA have declined significantly over the years, Ethiopia has trained nearly 63,000 young men and women as agricultural extension agents throughout the country starting in the first half of 2000 (Davis et al. 2009). Ethiopia's extension agent to farmer ratio is estimated at 1:476, compared to 1:1000 for Kenya, 1:1603 for Malawi, and 1:2500 for Tanzania (Kassie et al. 2015). This has had a significant effect in creating awareness of the new technologies by smallholder farmers and enhanced adoption, thereby contributing to poverty reduction (Dercon et al. 2009;Dorosh and Thurlow 2013;Spielman et al. 2013;Zeng et al. 2013). Working with 15 villages in Ethiopia, Dercon et al. (2009) reported that receiving at least one extension visit reduces poverty by nearly 10 % and increases consumption by more than 7 %.Third, whereas farmers historically received seasonal input credit for seed and fertilizer through cooperatives and development banks, this has changed significantly over time. Following the structural adjustment and liberalization policies implemented since the early 1990s, there has been no direct input or credit subsidy provided by the government. Given the high input costs for smallholder farmers to benefit from integrated input packages, seasonal credit is important for the relaxation of liquidity constraints. Most of the credit for fertilizer, improved seed and agrochemicals comes from farmer cooperatives, the offices of agriculture and rural development, and the private sector. In 2009, the cooperatives provided about 60, 38 and 12.5 % of the credit for fertilizer, improved seed and agrochemicals, respectively (Gebremedhin et al. 2009). The role of development banks as sources of direct credit to farmers has declined significantly.Fourth, EIAR introduced a paradigm shift in AR&D in the early 2000s towards an innovation systems approach that is based on active participation of farmers in technology development and diffusion and involvement of partnerships with several actors along the value chain (Abate et al. 2011); agricultural technology scaling was championed by the top leadership and started to show results in terms of enhancing the relevance of research itself and approaches for linking research with smallholders.Fifth, through proper targeting of the technology, maize varieties were adopted by farmers in north-central and northwest Ethiopia where the crop had not been grown traditionally on such a large scale; today these areas are among the most highly productive and largest producers of maize in the country. As new adopters, the farmers in these areas have the advantage of adopting the most modern methods of productionplanting in rows, increased use of MVs and fertilizer, and good crop management. Sixth, increased liberalization and investment in marketing systems, including farmer cooperatives and infrastructure development in rural areas has created opportunities to remedy traditional market failures as farmer coops, agro-dealers, traders and other service providers increasingly connected the remote producing regions into the national economy. A hard lesson was learned at early stages about the importance of market development and commercialization when maize prices collapsed in 2001/02 following a bumper harvest the previous year. In the absence of storage and processing facilities, farmers were forced to sell maize at throwaway prices. This made it abundantly clear that productivity change cannot be sustained without commensurate interventions to improve the marketing systems. The increased liberalization and participation of both the private sector and farmers' cooperatives in grain marketing has reduced the market risks for farmers and fueled the uptake of modern technologies (Bernard and Spielman 2009;Gebremedhin et al. 2009). More recently, maize has also been included along with other crops under the commodity exchange (ECX) system, further reducing the problem of asymmetric information and transaction costs through adoption of harmonized standards and warehouse receipt systems. The overall impact of this on cereal marketing in Ethiopia is yet to be evaluated.Finally, the human effort has benefited from adequate rainfall and absence of extended drought over the last two decades (Fig. 6) 9 affecting large production regions similar to those of the mid-1970s and early 1980s. As shown in Fig. 6, the national average annual precipitation varied from 829 to 1352 mm for 23 years, with differences among years being not statically significant. This has helped the continued growth of maize production and productivity. How this will play out in the future under climate variability and change is uncertain. Farmers will need to adopt sustainable intensification options along with modern inputs to cushion themselves from such shocks (Shiferaw et al. 2014b).The lessons for policy makers in Ethiopia are obviousmaize has demonstrated that productivity change is achievable: indigenous innovation and investment in agriculture are paying dividends and they need to be expanded to large areas which have not yet benefited from these game-changing research products. This requires further strengthening of the research, extension and input supply systems through increased investment in generating new products, enhancing the use of home-grown research results, giving recognition to outstanding researchers, retaining experienced researchers and increasing competitiveness in the delivery of quality seed, complementary inputs and services to farmers. The maize story has clearly shown that technology alone will not lead to transformation; farmers will need access to credit, extension and market services to drive and benefit from sustained productivity growth. The lesson for other African countries is the fact that there are no shortcuts to increasing agricultural production and productivity; long-term and sustained investment is the key to achieving that goal, as seen here for maize, and for other crops such as legumes (Abate et al. 2011) and wheat (Shiferaw et al. 2014a;Zeng et al. 2013).This study has shown that maize area and yields in Ethiopia have doubled since the early 1990s, making it feasible for national yields to reach more than 3 MT/ha which is significantly higher than the average for SSA. This change and transformation were fueled through indigenous innovation processes ranging from development of widely adapted and profitable varieties and hybrids, increased investment in public extension systems, seed and fertilizer supply and improved access to markets for smallholder producers in the outlying areas. This has clearly shown that maize can be a model for scaling agricultural innovations to achieve locally driven transformation to greatly improved productivity.Despite the significant changes, there are unexploited opportunities for further increasing maize productivity and production in Ethiopia. Most importantly, a significant portion of the maize area is yet to be reached with modern innovations and several new hybrids are yet to be integrated into the seed production and extension systems. Exploiting these potentials will require replacing the old varieties such as BH140, BH660 and BH540, which are still dominating the seed system; increased participation of private seed companies in the production and marketing of both foundation and certified seed; expanding the use of improved varieties; and increasing both the application rate and the share of area under mineral fertilizers. These will require addressing some of the remaining handicaps that reduce farmer access to modern varieties, inputs and services. Some of the institutional and policy issues raised by several authors, especially around the seed system (e.g., Alemu 2010;Alemu et al. 2010;Dorosh and Rashid 2013;Rashid et al. 2013;Spielman et al. 2013), have been changing, albeit slowly, through partnerships with the national program and regional initiatives such as DTMA, Program for Africa's Seed Systems (PASS), and other bilateral programs. We highlight below some of the key issues, including the need for variety replacement, addressing issues related to seed systems, raising the level of input use, and maintaining a critical mass of researchers.The first issue is increased transformation and modernization of the extension system. The public sector extension programs currently coordinate the provision of credit and the supply of inputs, including seed, fertilizer and credit. Part of this service needs to be privatized (including farmers' co-ops) so that extension workers can focus on farmer education and innovation. The conventional top-down and supply-driven approaches for extension still remain across the country and this needs to quickly give way to provision of efficient services in terms of information, knowledge, and skills, and facilitation of linkages with other institutional support services of input supply, credit service, and output marketing (Gebremedhin et al. 2009). In a competitive environment, farmers' cooperatives can play a greater role in enhancing farmer access to local public goods (extension, market information) and services (credit and rural finance), especially when there are no alternative providers (e.g., remote villages).The Ethiopian farmer cannot rely on varieties that are, or close to, 20 years old, mainly BH660 and BH540, which accounted for nearly 73 % of seed produced of all varieties in the country in 2013. There are reports that these hybrids are deteriorating in their reaction to diseases and their yield performance. BH140 was released more than 25 years ago and was still in use in 2013. Proven technologies with high adaptability and productivity potential need to reach farmers both to enhance competitiveness and build resilience in the face of climatic and market-induced shocks.There are a good number of new hybrids and a couple of OPVs released within the last 5 years (Table 2) and entering the seed system, but their seed production and use needs to be accelerated. Emphasis should be put on the promotion and inclusion of high-yielding and low-risk varieties that have been released more recently (e.g., BH661, MH130, MH138Q, MH140, BH546, BH547, and Gibe-2).Initiatives are being undertaken by MOA to implement the Bdirect seed marketing^1 0i.e., private seed companies can sell their seed to farmers directly even beyond their immediate vicinities but there is a strong need for a more inclusive approach; the role of the private sector is crucial to making this approach more effective. Increased access to modern inputs through improved seed systems and better access to credit and markets will reduce seed recycling and encourage farmers to invest in fresh and high quality seed. Recycling of seed (including maize hybrids) is a common problem, partly because of credit and capital constraints, and partly due to inadequate supply of modern varieties.One major factor limiting increased production and use of improved seed in Ethiopia is the inadequate quantity and quality of foundation seed (FS). Currently, the public sector, more specifically, the research centers at Bako and Melkassa and ESE are responsible for FS production. Mechanisms need to be established to help expand FS production by the private sector. The private sector should be encouraged and supported to include FS production into their seed business portfolio.As stated earlier, the overall fertilizer application on maize in Ethiopia has shown significant growth over the last decade. The consumption rate grew at more than 12 % per annum between 2004 and 2013, in comparison to the SSA average of 3.8 % (between 2004 and 2012). Ethiopia has one of the fastest growth rates of fertilizer usage in SSA. However, the country needs to make every effort towards achieving the Abuja Declaration of 50 kg/ha fertilizer usefrom its current figure of about 34 kg/ha. The declining trend of organic fertilizer application on maize should be of concern to researchers and policy makers alike; there is urgent need to find mechanisms to reverse the current condition (e.g., through rotations and intercropping with legumes and manure application).Finally, although it has taken substantial time and more needs to be done yet, the recent trends in maize productivity and diffusion of modern inputs clearly indicate that Ethiopia is now on track to consummate the full potential for productivity change and green revolution. As popular as it is, maize certainly offers these possibilities for dramatic improvement in food security and can become an example for other crops to emulate. The homegrown research, institutional support and sustained commitment to agricultural research and development are the key drivers of this change. Hence, it is essential to progressively improve access to and effectiveness of extension and marketing services and continue to increase the critical mass of researchers and retain highly skilled and qualified scientists by providing appropriate incentives if further advances are going to be made in improving the productivity of maize and other crops in a sustainable manner.The rapid growth in population and urbanization will increase the demand for more food as well as for industrial and other uses of maize in Ethiopia. Consequently, maize will remain a strategic crop to meet this demand in the foreseeable future. The rapid emergence of new indigenous seed companies, coupled with the continued generation of a large number of productive hybrids adapted to the diverse production systems and socio-economic circumstances will enhance competitiveness of the seed system, which in turn will further contribute to sustained maize productivity gains in Ethiopia.","tokenCount":"7063"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6078199917.json b/data/part_1/6078199917.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..013192fbbdb6a020d9269ba8abdc5afd7c0e195a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6078199917.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce245284f3809c2f9780199de8c7ff17","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f5c82934-c290-4871-80ef-a1676310108b/retrieve","id":"1000135902"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"80f596c7-03c6-40e0-9738-f9ed8057a32c","pagecount":"2","content":"Using African climate vulnerability and poverty maps to inform national, regional and global R&D priorities and efforts aimed at sustainable poverty reduction: ILRI outcome story 2008 Submitted to the CGIAR Performance Measurement System, March 2009 National, regional and international organizations and assessments have used results from ILRI's research on climate change and its potential impacts on the poor and vulnerable across Africa to: i) design strategies for improving climate scenarios and impact assessment capacity in Africa; ii) set regional research priorities regarding climate and povertyrelated work; iii) provide empirical evidence within international high-profile environmental and agricultural assessments that can influence policies, programs and initiatives aimed at sustainably reducing poverty throughout the world.The research output describing the end product, a book entitled 'Mapping Climate Vulnerability and Poverty in Africa' is described in ILRI's MTP 2006-2008 as 'Climate change-land use interactions and its implications for vulnerability and poverty analysed and documented in East Africa'. Thus this output surpasses its original objective, as it encompasses all of Africa and is now being used to plan research and development agendas by multiple agencies.This ILRI research output includes information that relates project climate change with vulnerability data. The researchers downscaled outputs from several state of the art climate models to estimate possible changes in length of the growing period for Africa to 2050. Areas that appear to be particularly prone to climate change impacts were identified. This was couple with an analysis that characterised SSA in terms of vulnerability. The research also involved a study of the potential uses of information concerning climate variability and climate change for effective decision-making.At the national level, one of the outcomes achieved has been the use by DFID of this information in its strategy for improved climate scenarios and impact assessment capacity in Africa (see Wilby, 2007, available at: www.ukcds.org.uk). It has been used by the UK government in setting priorities regarding climate change and poverty work (see citation in the UK government's 2006 White Paper on International Development 'Making governance work for the poor', http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/whitepaper2006). At the regional level, this information has also influenced FARA's strategic plan 2007-2016 (available at www.faraafrica.org/StrategicPlanCompanion.pdf).At the global level, this research output has been cited in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (http://www.occ.gov.uk/activities/stern.htm, pg. 120), a very high profile and influential global assessment.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment cites this book (www. http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm, pg. 466), and the Africa chapter uses some of the maps produced by, and in the, ILRI document (Chpt. 9, pg 447).It has influenced the IAASTD report, with citations in at least two chapters (Chapter 4, \"Outlook on agricultural changes and its drivers\", pp 255-305; Chapter 5,\" Looking into the future for agriculture and AKST\", pp 307-376).IDRC has used the results of this research as a core resource in helping them target Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) projects (see www.idrc.ca/ccaa/). This book has been upheld by the World Bank as an example of 'best practice' in vulnerability mapping.","tokenCount":"494"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6096107137.json b/data/part_1/6096107137.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7d4cc9419377b8c930f3f21999e4f496eaf2f383
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6096107137.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef0edb033889a930d3ab19cb587f741a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/02173ab7-5a69-4f8b-889b-8747a3f2eb5c/retrieve","id":"1497205989"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6b8ea8fc-7d36-40a5-b972-360178bdc1e9","pagecount":"2","content":"P771 -Shaping equitable climate change policies for resilient food systems across Central America and the Caribbean Description: The plan, developed with Resca bilateral project of CCAFS, defines strategic actions for adaptation to climate change in the municipality of Cabanas in the department of Copan (Honduras).• HondurasOutcome Impact Case Report:• 3148 -Institutional capacity in Honduras is strengthened to address climate change and variability challenges by using CCAFS-CIAT science. (https://tinyurl.com/y24y5774)• I1164 -Methodology for local climate vulnerability assessment and prioritization of climate change adaptation measures in order to elaborate municipal climate change adaptation plan (https://tinyurl.com/2dwg659t)• National/state level planners are trained in designing and monitoring climate smart food and nutrition security portfolios that meet the criteria for climate finance, CSA and sustainable development; guidelines developed for climate smart institutions and enabling policy environments that can effectively support responses to climate change• 29 -Enhanced adaptive capacity to climate risks (More sustainably managed agro-ecosystems)• 42 -Conducive environment for managing shocks and vulnerability, as evidenced in rapid response mechanisms• 41 -Conducive agricultural policy environment","tokenCount":"167"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6118871896.json b/data/part_1/6118871896.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..874476f871e7c534577f8223c9c22161f6a436e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6118871896.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6895622c3ca1dd0d912ff30e59d3edd7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ef69ec30-2684-493e-8810-8efc42f17577/retrieve","id":"-1779894281"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87262974-0bb0-48bb-8774-5e4776ed47f4","pagecount":"2","content":"Partcipating scientists in the forum that was held at Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi on September 25th, 2018.We thank the AgriFoSe2030 programme and the Swedish International Development Agency for the financial support provided.The scientists are recent PhD graduates drawn from local Kenyan universities and research institutes. They have been trained on broad areas of policy processes and analyses through a series of technical workshops and mentorship by experienced policy analysts and practitioners. In the process of mentorship, they have been developing policy briefs drawn from their research. Following this initiative, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation in collaboration with the Kenya Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), organized policy dialogue and dissemination forum for scientists to engage with policy makers and share their policy messages.  The overall objective of the forum was to provide the young scientists an opportunity to engage with policy makers and disseminate their research findings to inform policy making in Kenya. Specifically, the meeting aimed at: providing an opportunity for policy makers to receive policy messages arising from research undertaken by the scientists; giving an opportunity for the scientists to receive insights on policy areas requiring further research; and facilitate a link between the analysts and policy makers for future engagement in three main areas: Food security, natural resource management and livestock and Fisheries disease and pest management.The forum took place at a time when Kenya is in the process of revising its national agricultural investment plan to more adequately align it with % the CAADP Malabo Declaration on accelerating agricultural growth and transformation. Evidencebased development, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the plan will require that both state and non-state actors have the requisite capacity to inform and guide these processes. This forum therefore provided an opportunity for the researchers to potentially contribute to this process.During the opening session, the guest of honour indicated that the Ministry is pleased with and supportive of the idea of engagement with research community in providing evidence to support policy formulation. The presentations were organized into two parallel session.Evidence on food security was synthesized and presented through the following policy briefs: (i) In the \"big four\", food security looms tall-but not without irrigated wheat (ii) Urban agriculture: the neglected gem for food security in Kenya (iii) The true cost of eating unsafe traditional vegetables and (iv) Low cost investments that sustain camel milk quality, guarantee safety and increases income among pastoralists in Kenya.Evidence on natural resource management was synthesized and presented through the following policy briefs: (i) Prickly pear cactus invasion: a major threat to food security and biodiversity in the drylands of Kenya (ii) A new dawn in pastoralism: Producing fodder for enhanced resilience and economic growth (iii) Replenish millions of Kenyan household's granaries; restore forest resources (iv) Tracking the spread of tick diseases of livestock: a strategy for enhancing diseases control and (v) Tilapia lake virus: A wake up call for Kenyan tilapia production.The young scientists had opportunity to present their findings in the parallel sessions and receive comments from the participants on areas of improvements. They received insights on areas requiring further research and had an opportunity to establish links with key policy makers. Going forward, the participants agreed to establish productive collaboration networks that will help scale up the researchers' recommendations to influence policy making in the country.","tokenCount":"563"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6129510760.json b/data/part_1/6129510760.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..57feb0a4d933737e987dd174edd476dfc03bab37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6129510760.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"673a5b6010201a1d460ccf70442fc69b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/585b1caa-2972-4a29-9641-650265fb3fd6/retrieve","id":"-1177719932"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"471806ac-42bc-45ff-bcd6-e1205eb11d6e","pagecount":"2","content":"The business model involves the use of treated wastewater to grow fish feed or raise fish directly. In doing so, the model generates profits to sustain treatment plant operation or even recover its capital costs, as well as providing the local population with treated wastewater.The business can be set up by a PPP or a private-private partnership. One entity provides wastewater and infrastructure for wastewater treatment and disposal, and the other offers treatment and fish farming expertise, invests in additional fish ponds and/or fish fingerlings, and assures the O&M costs of the overall treatment system. The model can function in two ways: (i) fish feed, such as duckweed, is grown on wastewater and harvested as a high-quality protein source which is used to feed fish; or (ii) the fish receives food directly within the treatment system, where it is cultivated in the last maturation pond of a multiple treatment pond set-up. In both cases, fish and water quality are monitored for safety standards. The treated water is released safely into the environment or reused, e.g., for crop irrigation. The business can alsoenlist the help of an expert partner in order to carry out locally applied research in fish or duckweed farming to optimize production.The 'Agriquatics' business was set up in Mirzapur, Bangladesh, in order to locally treat wastewater for fish production and crop cultivation. The project was set up in 1993 and generated over 20 years of net profits and improvements in environmental quality. This occurred until about 2015, when the treatment system was decommissioned for replacement.This business was set up through a collaboration between a local not-for-profit family trust, Kumudini Welfare Trust, and the Bangladeshi nongovernmental organization (NGO), PRISM. The system received raw sewage and grey water from the local Kumudini Hospital Market risks: Where the source of fish on the market is known, the business could be affected by negative consumer perceptions of the product. Also, not all types of fish thrive in wastewater. Competition risks: Fish produced in wastewater competes directly with local freshwater fish and indirectly with frozen products from overseas markets. Technological risks: Although duckweed production is straightforward, fish farming requires significant expert knowledge as well as quality monitoring. Social equity-related risks: The model is considered to have more advantages for male entrepreneurs, because women have comparatively less access to land, education or capital, which are crucial for entering aquaculture, than men in many regions. Safety, environmental and health risks: Health concerns for workers harvesting the duckweed from the wastewater. Where fish is grown with reclaimed water, the risks extend also to the fish and thus the consumer, which makes related monitoring mandatory.The business model scores highly on profitability -with a strong revenue stream where there is a market for fish -and socio-environmental impact -with reduced water pollution and protection of human health and food security. It scores low on scalability and replicability due to its relatively high land requirements.Complex (KHC) in Mirzapur -water which would otherwise flow untreated to a nearby river. No fees were charged for the treatment, no subsidies received from the government, and no water sold, but fish was reared on the harvested duckweed in adjacent tanks fed by groundwater and topped up with treated wastewater. Perennial crops such as papaya and bananas were also grown along the pond perimeter providing additional income. The fish and crops produced were sold on-site and the income received not only covered O&M cost of the combined system, but also recovered the original capital investments. ","tokenCount":"580"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6131688747.json b/data/part_1/6131688747.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e173db0b1c3d40a11d1bf6d9dcb72242a55126ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6131688747.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c2238350da9fbf38edc48c6db070be3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6952b6a5-4b03-47dc-b7c3-81612d0134a5/retrieve","id":"869220335"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"000ee021-f480-4acd-a278-c7d876a01485","pagecount":"22","content":"The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs), and require planning to address tradeoffs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. The priorities of different countries and stakeholders are reflected to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems that address challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes. While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks [2]. Mainstreaming CSA requires critical stocktaking of ongoing and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSA adoption. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA at scale.• Agriculture in Cabo Verde contributes about 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product with 18 percent of the population engaged in primary production agriculture. The agricultural sector however, remains vulnerable to climate change and variability and suffers many challenges such as limited land availability, soil erosion, soil fertility loss, insufficient financial investments etc.• At present, Cabo Verde does not have any specific funding allocated for CSA per se. However, various projects funded within the purview of agriculture, environmental sustainability and climate change have contributed to delivering CSA goals. These funding have come from national sources, FAO, World Bank and GEF with support of UNDP. Greater effort needs to be placed on accessing international climate finance instruments while at the same time, ensuring availability of local level public and private financing instruments for investments in the agriculture sector. In terms of access to basic needs, 86 percent of the population have access to improved water resources while 92.6 percent have access to electricity. Rural populations have comparable access to basic needs like those in urban areas.Agricultural land in Cabo Verde is about 79 000 hectares representing 19.6 percent of total land area. The percentage distribution of land use systems is as follows: arable land (12.90 percent), permanent crop (0.99 percent), permanent meadows and pastures (6.20 percent); forest area (22.07 percent) and other land uses (57.84 percent). Santiago (991 square kilometer), the largest of the ten islands of Cabo Verde is the most important region for agriculture. Three agroecological zones can be distinguished in Cabo Verde: arid, semi-arid and subhumid (annex 1).In Santiago where agricultural activities are predominant, the climate is predominantly arid tropical with two seasons: a moderate season (december-june, with an average seawater temperature of 22 °C-23 °C) and a warm season (26 °C-27 °C). Precipitation is meagre and erratic -indeed Cabo Verde can be seen as an island extension of the arid, sahel zone. The mean precipitation is around 225 mm/year and has been decreasing since the 1960s, with negative impacts on agriculture and water supplies. Soils in Cabo Verde are mainly of volcanic origin, medium to coarse textured, steep, low in organic matter and generally shallow. The vegetation of the Cabo Verde Islands is sparse and consists of various shrubs, aloes, and other drought-resistant species. About 84 000 hectares of Cabo Verde is forested. Between 1990 and 2000, Cabo Verde gained an average of 2 400 hectares of forest per year. The amounts to an average annual reforestation rate of 4.14 percent. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change decreased by 88.2 percent to 0.49 percent per annum. In total, between 1990 and 2005, Cabo Verde gained 44.8 percent of its forest cover, or around 26 000 hectares.Agriculture in Cabo Verde is predominantly based on subsistence family production. Agricultural production systems can be categorized into rainfed and irrigated systems. Major crops produced in Cabo Verde include maize, pulses (e.g. beans, groundnut), vegetables (e.g. carrot, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes etc.), coconut, sugar cane, coffee and fruits (e.g. banana, citrus, apple etc.). Sugar cane, pineapple, coffee and banana are the main cash crops. Maize is the only cereal presently grown in Cabo Verde normally in association with beans. Maize covers about 44.2 percent of the total crop harvested area with average yield between 2013 and 2017 estimated as 1 677 kg/ha which varies among the different agroecologies. The main livestock produced in Cabo Verde are ruminants (cattle, goat sheep), pig and poultry (chicken, turkey and ducks). Fisheries represent a significant source of foreign exchange. Fishery products (fish and crustaceans) are also the population's main source of animal protein. Some 50 000 -60 000 tonnes of fish are exported every year.The infographic shows a selection of agriculture production systems key for Cabo Verde's food security. The importance is based on the system's contribution to economic, productivity and nutrition quality indicators. For more information on the methodology for the production system selection, consult annex 2.In terms of agricultural inputs, Cabo Verde has an irrigation potential of 3 109 hectares. Drip irrigation has expanded fast, with investments made in water mobilization and gravity irrigation schemes. Between 2004 and 2015, the number of farms that use irrigation increased from 7 023 to 8 580. In 2015, 19 percent of the farms used irrigation and 14 percent of all plots were irrigated, up from 11 percent in 2004 [5]. Meanwhile, pesticide use is very minimal (0.08 kg/ha) while on average, aggregated fertilizer application rate is about 55.63 kg/ha.Agricultural production systemsSource: [3] Climate-Smart Agriculture Country Profile Cereals (maize, rice and wheat) continue to constitute the major parts of Cabo Verdean diet although diets are now more diversified with more protein-and micronutrient-rich foods (meat, fish, dairy products, fruit and vegetables).As a feature of the nutrition transition, fat-and sugar-rich foods have also become more common in the diet, which may cause significant public health problems rapidly. With limited arable land and increased rainfall variability, the country is highly dependent on imports, especially for basic food products. Around 85 percent of the domestic cereal demand (mostly rice and wheat for human consumption) is covered by imports, averaging 80 000 tonnes per year. However, the cereal import requirements for 2018 are forecast at 92 600 tonnes, 24 percent higher than 2017 and about 15 percent above the average of the previous five years, to offset the decline in domestic maize production [6].The country's progress in the areas of health and living conditions, efforts in nutritional education and improvement in young child feeding practices have entailed a significant decline in chronic and acute malnutrition, which are currently at low levels. On average, the prevalence of people undernourished between 2012 and 2017 stands at 13.1 percent of the total population. Adolescent fertility rate is about 76.7 percent. Cabo Verde also has some of the lowest prevalence of HIV. Adult HIV prevalence is about 0.7 percent for women and 0.5 percent for men [6].Production systems key for food security in Cabo VerdeSource: [3]Source: [3] 5Cabo VerdeSource: [3,4,7] Source: [3,4,7] As a small island development state (SIDS), Cabo Verde has one of the lowest GHG emissions per capita. Total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in Cabo Verde is estimated at about 0.48 Mt CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e) with an emission intensity of 260 tCO 2 eq/ million $ GDP [8]. Most GHGs emissions come from the energy sector followed by GHG emissions from agriculture (22.9 percent). Emissions from land use change was least (-0.17 Mt CO2). As result, total GHG emissions (0.48 Mt CO 2 ) is lower than GHG emissions from energy (0.5 Mt CO 2 ) in 2014. Regarding emissions from agriculture, the livestock sub-sector contributes 99.6 percent mainly from enteric fermentation (40.5 percent) and emissions from manure left on pastures (35.8 percent) [3].In the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submitted to the UNFCCC, Cabo Verde outlined an unconditional commitment to reduce emissions particularly from the energy sector. With international support, Cabo Verde seeks to increase the renewable energy uptake in electricity to 100 percent by 2025, with best efforts to achieve this goal already by 2020, in accordance with the following indicative trajectory: 35 percent renewable penetration rate in 2016-2018; 50 percent renewable energy penetration rate in 2018-2020; and 100 percent renewable energy penetration rate in 2020-2025.Climate-Smart Agriculture Country ProfileChallenges for the agricultural sector Agriculture in Cabo Verde is confronted with several challenges. Some of these include:• Growth in population and food demand -human population in Cabo Verde is projected to increase by 129 percent by 2050. This will have serious implications on food security. At present, food consumption per capita is about 2 716 kcal/day each for crop and livestock products. Rising populations will call for increased production to meet the demand for food in sustainable way. Failure to meet food security needs will increase malnutrition and the presently unacceptable levels of poverty and child mortality. As a country devoid of large arable land and natural resources, Cabo Verde rising food demands will influence rising imports of cereals such as rice, maize and wheat which constitute the bulk of Cabo Verdean diets. • Limited marketing opportunities of agricultural commodities has long been a challenge in Cabo Verde. The agriculture sector is mainly subsistence-based except for sugar cane, pineapple, coffee and banana with a larger majority of smallholder farmers lacking knowledge and skills on aligning agricultural value chains to marketing and commercialisation. Thinking of a value chain as a business and understanding how to minimize costs, improve efficiencies, differentiate products, and overcome challenges to achieve profitability is critical to achieving sustainable livelihoods.• Climate change and variability -Cabo Verde is an insular country, located in the sahel zone, and has an arid climate. The mean precipitation is around 225 mm/year and has been decreasing since the 1960s, with negative impacts on agriculture and water supplies. Around 20 percent of precipitation is lost to the sea, 13 percent infiltrates in the soil and 67 percent evaporates. The characteristics of Cabo Verde as a small island developing state (SIDS), with its dry and unpredictable climate, limitation and access to water and geomorphology of the islands represent significant risks for the primary sector, especially for agriculture. Agriculture in Cabo Verde is highly dependent on rainfall to recharge of groundwater, rainfed production, and irrigation systems making it extremely vulnerable to the impact of climatic changes that could present significant risks to food security. Existing systems of production and livestock exploitation tend to be fragile and use inadequate or inappropriate techniques that have deleterious impacts on the environment and result in low production and productivity, and soil degradation.Source: [3, 8]• Food waste -the low level of conservation and processing of the main agricultural products generally results in relatively high post-harvest losses. The major problems identified in this area are inadequate technology for the processing and conservation of perishable foodstuffs and the high cost of existing technologies and energy uses.Climatic models ran during 2008-2012 have shown that the country´s natural vulnerabilities, along with their social and economic implications, are very likely to be exacerbated by climate-related disruptions in the next decades. These include more frequent extreme events like storms, floods and droughts, as well as shorter rainy seasons, with immediate impacts on livelihoods, infrastructure, sanitary conditions, recharge of reservoirs, and crop productivity.In addition, the country´s coastal lines are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and erosion. Around percent of its population is currently living in these coastal areas. Cabo Verde is affected by acute water scarcity (both surface and underground). Mean annual precipitation levels are erratic and have decreased considerably since 1970. Rainfall projections to 2020 reveal values below the historical pattern.As result, the country has implemented and regularly maintains around highly costly and energy intensive water desalination units. Daily water needs of population centers, tourism and agriculture is predicted to increase fourfold, from around 50 000 m 3 to 160 000 m 3 by 2030 and thus the potential of various sustainable water supply and mobilization solutions will need to be better explored going forward.Changes in annual mean temperature (°C)Changes in total precipitation (%)Average precipitation (%) Average temperature (°C)Source: [9,10,11] CSA technologies and practices present opportunities for addressing climate change challenges, as well as for economic growth and development of the agriculture sector. For this profile, practices are considered CSA if they enhance food security as well as at least one of the other objectives of CSA (adaptation and/or mitigation). Hundreds of technologies and approaches around the world fall under the heading of CSA. In Cabo Verde several CSA practices are adopted for improved food production, adaptation, and mitigation to climate change and variability. Some of these include:• Integrated pest and disease management (IPM) -this is a strategy that promotes a safer and more sustainable management of pesticides. IPM strategies are evolving because of new emerging pests and climate change.With climate change, the distribution and aggressiveness of some pests and diseases have changed considerably.In Cabo Verde integrated pest management systems (IPM) involves the use of natural enemies of plants and approved pesticides. IPM has been successfully used to reduce seasonal infestations of fall army worms and reducing crop yield losses.• Drip irrigation -it is widely used in the country. At present, one can estimate that 45 percent of the total irrigated land has drip irrigation system installed. Drip irrigation is used in the production of high-value vegetables (cabbage, sweet pepper, onion etc.) and sweet potatoes. Farmers report about 70-105 percent benefits in income generation when drip irrigation is used in vegetable production. Drip irrigation compared with traditional irrigation systems improves water availability and utilization efficiency.• Anti-erosion practices -common practices include terraces, contour ridges and vegetation barriers (using pigeon pea). These practices have shown tremendous impact on reducing soil loss and improving soil productivity. For instance agronomic trials of pigeonpea runoff barriers resulted in positive ecological impact such as 28 percent reduction in area with annual rates of erosion >10 tonnes/ha and >20 percent increase in both water availability and ground water recharge [12]. • Soil and water conservation (SWC) techniques -SWC measures implemented in Cabo Verde promote the sustainable land management aimed at reversing and preventing land degradation. Some of the SWC practices include mulching, planting of cover crops and application of organic amendments. These practices markedly improve soil organic matter and fertility, soil water retention and soil structure. By encouraging soil fertility enhancement with organic amendments, the use of synthetic fertilizers will decline thereby reducing GHGs emissions.• Shelterbelts -the association of trees to minimize effect of wind and heavy rains on seedlings, where they benefit from the shade of trees to grow at the early stages of development. The technology has also shown to be productive during periods of long dry spells.• Improved seeds/breeds -with increased temperatures and higher intensity of rain, many farmers have adopted the use of varieties of crops and improved breeds of animals (livestock and poultry) that are resistant to extreme weather conditions. Some of these are locally saved but many are imported and tested at the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute.The Practices in the graphics have been selected for each production system key for food security identified in the study. A detailed explanation of the methodology and a more comprehensive list of practices analyzed for Cabo Verde can be found in annexes 3 and 4, respectively.Since 2007, Cabo Verde has graduated from the list of least developed countries and is now on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, climate change can potentially reverse these development gains. In fact, rising temperatures and persistent rainfall deficit are severely affecting the country's water sector. The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) considers climate risks to freshwater resources as the most significant constraint on Cabo Verde's development.Climate change modelling suggests that rainfall could further decrease by up to 20 percent by the end of this century.Even in the more immediate planning horizon, climatic changes over the next 10-20 years are expected to bring seasonal water shortages at a number of economically important sites and year-round shortages elsewhere. Overall, these changes are expected to have a significant negative impact on water resource availability and agricultural productivity on the islands, especially for vulnerable farmers.In response to concerns about water security, the Government of Cabo Verde, with financial support (USD 3 million) from the Global Environmental Facility's Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), partnered with UNDP to address the three adaptation priorities outlined in the NAPA related to these conditions -integrated water resources management, modernization and diversification of agricultural production for food security, and integrated protection and management of coastal zones. From 2009 to 2013, the LDCF project achieved tangible results; however, additional efforts were needed to address the challenge of food security, as one of the major manifestations of changing water availability. In 2013, the Government of Canada agreed to provide additional funding under the new Canada-UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Facility (CCAF) to build on and scale up the results of the LDCF project with a co-financing total of USD 13.57 million. The new phase focuses on the most vulnerable populations, identified through a comprehensive baseline study undertaken in 2013. The CCAF project aims to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on food security in these communities, and ensure that water availability, supply and quality is maintained in the face of changing climatic conditions.Key achievements under the LDCF project have been scaled up under the CCAF project as demonstrated below:• a site-level food security, climate change vulnerability, and gender assessment and mapping exercise has been completed, to both build capacity of technical staff on food security and agricultural statistics related to climate change, and establish a database of information on climate change vulnerability and food security;• a series of community-led demonstration projects have been identified in the most vulnerable communities and designed through a participatory rural assessment and planning process;• technical sessions have been held for community and rural extension workers on issues, such as public health in the reuse of treated waste water for agriculture, and an exchange visit to the Canary Islands organized to learn best practices on this issue;•    There are several institutions that aims to foster the development and adoption of technologies that enhance agriculture productivity and advance CSA practices in Cabo Verde. At the government level, the institution responsible for the country's climate change plans and policies is the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries which also serves as the country's UNFCCC focal point and Nationally Designated Authority (NDA) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF). As the head of the agrarian sector, the Ministry of Agriculture plays a large role in the implementation of actions on the ground linked to climate-smart agriculture.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) play instrumental roles in the promotion of sustainable agriculture and environmental sustainability. Specifically, FAO's assistance in Cabo Verde is centered on five medium-term priority areas: improving food availability at the national level, with an emphasis on increased productivity and diversification of agricultural production, strengthened agricultural support services and capacity building in the area of natural resource policy and management; enhancing access to food through the development of agricultural markets, trade and agro-processing; stabilizing food supply through improved disaster risk management; supporting food security programmes to enhance household food and nutritional security; providing regulatory, political and institutional support to the public and private sectors. The University of Cabo Verde, specifically the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences also conducts various types of CSA-related agricultural research including research on improved practices for annual crops (rice, maize, roots and tubers, etc.), livestock and fisheries.The following graphic highlights key institutions whose main activities relate to one, two or three CSA pillars (adaptation, productivity and mitigation). More information on the methodology and results from interviews, surveys and expert consultations is available in annex 5.In terms of policies, there is no specific policy on CSA in Cabo Verde. The approach is rather embedded in the  • Strategy for agro-silvopastoral and environmental development in the Maio Island -this strategy, consisting of twelve sections, elaborates a planning strategy for the agro-silvopastoral system and the environmental sector on the island of Maio, in a participatory manner, based on its specificity, its endogenous potentialities and comparative advantages, aiming at its economic and social development. Its gneral objective is to establish a short-, medium-and long-term strategy to create the capacity needed to produce inclusive socioeconomic data to increase the income and well-being of the population of the island of Maio. The objectives of this strategy are consistent with the adaptation and productivity goals of CSA.The graphic shows a selection of policies, strategies and programs that relate to agriculture and climate change topics and are considered key enablers of CSA in the counrty.Financing CSA The policy cycle classification aims to show gaps and opportunities in policy-making, referring to the three main stages: policy formulation (referring to a policy that is in an initial formulation stage/consultation process), policy formalization (to indicate the presence of mechanisms for the policy to process at national level) and policy in active implementation (to indicate visible progress/outcomes toward achieving larger policy goals, through concrete strategies and action plans). For more information on the methodology and results from interviews, surveys and expert consultations, see annex 6.For further information and online versions of the annexes ","tokenCount":"3568"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6133166456.json b/data/part_1/6133166456.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72396a01a9bad9395b9bfbb3a8f56486a50c7803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6133166456.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2e2d0e2f1f518f591cc1ed2d9cf5e42e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/730d814e-0b8f-4409-a92e-4d700d05a2c9/content","id":"-1350273470"},"keywords":["Zea mays L.","2","4-D","Dicamba","histología Zea mays L.","2","4-D","Dicamba","histology"],"sieverID":"bf63e5eb-ac3e-4d88-aad7-eb4b3373196c","pagecount":"11","content":"El maíz (Zea mays L.) se destina principalmente a la alimentación animal (maíces amarillos) y en menor proporción a la humana (blancos). Los maíces blancos subtropicales son importantes para los humanos. Sin embargo existen problemas de regeneración, vía embriogénesis somática, que limitan su transformación genética. Por tanto, el objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la embriogénesis somática en nueve líneas de maíces blancos subtropicales. En la inducción de embriogénesis somática se evaluaron 1, 2 y 5 mg L − − − − −1 de 2,4-D y Dicamba. Las líneas 78, 395 y 444 produjeron 70.1 a 87.2% de callos embriogénicos, similar a los testigos (67.2 a 74.7%). Las líneas 442 y 332 presentaron una tasa media de inducción de callos de 48.4 a 60.6%, mientras que las 330, 202, 204 y 331 mostraron los menores porcentajes (3.9 a 26.2%). Las líneas 330, 331 y el testigo 216×72 presentaron los mayores porcentajes con Dicamba, mientras que la línea 442 tuvo mayor porcentaje con 2,4-D. La inducción de las líneas varió entre dosis. La línea 395 regeneró 1.11 plantas por callo, similar a los tres testigos (0.74-0.95 plantas), mientras que las 442, 78 y 332 regeneraron 0.67, 0.37 y 0.33. Se obtuvieron plántulas enraizadas (92-99%) y aclimatación (95-100%) en las líneas 395, 442, 78 y 332. El número de plantas fértiles regeneradas fue 228, 187, 108 y 79 en las líneas 395, 442, 78 y 332. Se identificaron cuatro líneas embriogénicas de maíz blanco subtropical (395, 442, 78 y 332) con capacidad de regeneración de plantas fértiles en 17 semanas y con potencial para ser sometidas a transformación genética.M aize (Zea mays L.) is a crop used mainly for animal feed (yellow maizes); less than 10% of the total world production (white) is used for human consumption. This crop has been improved by conventional and biotechnological means. The genetic transformation of white maize will depend mainly on the morphogenic response of the genotypes to be transformed and of the embriogenic crops that are used for their easy in vitro management and regeneration to fertile plants. White maize also generates y por medios biotecnológicos. La transformación genética del maíz blanco dependerá principalmente de la respuesta morfogénica de los genotipos a transformar y de los cultivos embriogénicos que se usen por su fácil manejo in vitro y regeneración a plantas fértiles. Asimismo por generar menos quimeras que otros cultivos debido a su origen unicelular, lo cual puede ser importante para propagación clonal, multiplicación de híbridos F1 y, especialmente, en ingeniería genética en maíz (Jähne et al., 1995).Un aspecto importante que influye en la respuesta del maíz durante la inducción de embriogénesis somática es el genotipo utilizado como explante (Duncan et al., 1985). Segmentos de cromosomas están relacionados con la capacidad de formación del callo embriogénico (Armstrong et al., 1992).Se han identificado maíces embriogénicos amarillos de climas templados para la alimentación animal. Sin embargo en algunas regiones del mundo el cultivo de maíces blancos es importante para el consumo humano. Los genes insertados por transformación genética en maíces amarillos de climas templados se pueden transferir a maíces blancos subtropicales mediante mejoramiento convencional, pero el tiempo y los costos se incrementan en la generación de líneas transgénicas. Además, es difícil obtener progenies con el transgen y los caracteres agronómicos deseables en maíces blancos, porque hay grupos heteróticos incompatibles y con poca habilidad combinatoria (O'Kennedy et al., 2001).El Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética del CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo) y el Instituto de Investigación Agrícola de Kenia (KARI) desarrollan líneas transgénicas de maíz blanco subtropical para consumo humano mediante la transformación de maíces amarillos subtropicales y se transfieren los transgenes a maíces blancos elites por mejoramiento convencional, aunque con varias limitaciones (Bohorova et al., 2001). Debido a que es importante determinar la totipotencialidad embriogénica de los maíces blancos, el objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la regeneración vía embriogénesis somática de nueve maíces blancos elites adaptados a las regiones subtropicales de África.Se caracterizaron nueve líneas del CIMMYT adaptadas a los climas subtropicales de África, veranos cálidos y elevada humedad ambiental: 78, 202, 204, 330, 331, 332, 395, 442 y 444. Como testigos se usaron los genotipos de maíz embriogénico amarillo 216, 216×72 y 72×216 (Borohova et al., 1995). El cultivo del material vegetativo se hizo en invernaderos del CIMMYT (25 °C), ubicados en el Batán, Texcoco, México. fewer chimeras than other crops due to its unicellular origin, which can be important for clonal propagation, multiplication of F1 hybrids, and especially in genetic engineering in maize (Jähne et al., 1995).One important aspect that influences the response of maize during the induction of somatic embryogenesis is the genotype used as explant (Duncan et al., 1985). Segments of chromosomes are related to the formation capacity of the embryogenic callus (Armstrong et al., 1992).Yellow embryogenic maizes for animal feed from temperate climates have been identified. However, in some regions of the world the cultivation of white maize is important for human consumption. The genes inserted through genetic transformation in yellow maizes in temperate climates can be transferred to subtropical white maizes by means of conventional breeding, but the time and costs are increased in the generation of transgenic lines. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain progeny with the transgene and the agronomic traits that are desirable in white maizes, because there are heterotics groups that are incompatible and with little combinatory ability.The Genetic Engineering Laboratory of CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) develop transgenic lines of subtropical white maize for human consumption through the transformation of subtropical yellow maizes, and the trans genes are transferred to elite white maizes by means of conventional plant breeding, although with various limitations (Bohorova et al., 2001). Because it is important to determine the embryogenic totipotentiality of the white maizes, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the regeneration via somatic embryogenesis of nine elite white maizes adapted to the subtropical regions of Africa.Nine lines of CIMMYT maize were characterized, that were adapted to the subtropical climates of Africa, hot summers and high environmental humidity: 78, 202, 204, 330, 331, 332, 395, 442 and 444. As controls, the following yellow embryogenic maize genotypes were used: 216, 216×72 and 72×216 (Borohova et al., 1995). The cultivation of the vegetative material was made in greenhouses of CIMMYT (25 °C), located in el Batán, Texcoco, México.The maize ears were harvested 16 d after anthesis and were disinfected for 30 min with commercial sodium hypochlorite (Cloralex®, 1.8%) and 10 drops of Tween 80®. They were rinsed in sterile water and the immature embryos (1-1.5 mm) were extractedLas mazorcas de maíz se cosecharon 16 d después de la antesis y se desinfectaron 30 min con hipoclorito de sodio comercial (Cloralex®, 1.8%) y 10 gotas de Tween 80®. Se enjuagaron en agua estéril y se extrajeron los embriones inmaduros (1-1.5 mm) con una espátula y un corte con bisturí de la parte superior del grano, los cuales fueron utilizados como explantes.Para inducir la embriogénesis somática de las líneas de maíz mencionadas, se probaron 1, 2 y 5 mg L −1 de las auxinas: ácido 2,4diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D; Sigma-Aldrich, USA) y ácido 3,6dicloro-o-anisico (Dicamba; Sigma-Aldrich, USA). Como testigo se usó un medio sin auxinas. El medio de cultivo fue el N6 (Chu et al., 1975) enriquecido con L-Prolina (2.3 g L −1 ), caseína hidrolizada (0.2 g L −1 ), sacarosa (30 g L −1 ) y agar (Bacto®, 8.6 g L −1 ). El medio de cultivo se ajustó a pH 5.7 antes de ser esterilizado por 20 min en autoclave (Consolidated Stills and Sterilizers, MA., USA) a 120 °C y 1.05 kg cm −2 de presión, y se colocaron 25 mL en cajas Petri de 100×15 mm.Los embriones cigóticos se sembraron con el eje embrionario en contacto con el medio de cultivo y se incubaron 28 d en oscuridad a 27±1 °C. Al terminar la inducción se midió el porcentaje de callos embriogénicos (PCE) con al menos una estructura embriogénica y el porcentaje de callos tipo I y II (CTI y CTII). El diseño estadístico fue completamente al azar con un arreglo factorial (12 genotipos×2 auxinas×3 dosis). Cada tratamiento estuvo conformado por 20 embriones colocados en cada caja Petri y cuatro repeticiones. El análisis de varianza de los datos transformados (χ −2 ; Steel y Torrie, 1997) se hizo con el procedimiento GLM de SAS (2000). La separación de medias se realizó con la prueba de Tukey (p≤0.05).Para la germinación de los embriones somáticos, los callos inducidos se mantuvieron 21 d en el medio de cultivo MS (Murashige y Skoog, 1962) adicionado con tiamina-HCl (40 mg L −1 ), L-asparagina (150 mg L −1 ), sacarosa (20 g L −1 ), ácido indolacético (0.5 mg L −1 , AIA), bencilaminopurina (1 mg L −1 , BAP) y agar (Bacto®, 8.6 g L −1 ), ajustado a un pH de 5.7 antes de esterelizarse en autoclave. Después se agregó zeatina (5 mg L −1 , ZEA) esterilizada por filtración en frío usando un filtro Millipore® y se vertieron 25 mL en cajas Petri.Los callos con embriones somáticos germinados se subcultivaron durante 21 d en frascos de 150 mL con 35 mL del mismo medio pero sin zeatina. En las plántulas provenientes de los embriones germinados se cortó la región radicular y se transfirieron para un mejor enraizamiento a cajas magenta de 250 mL con 50 mL del medio MS con sacarosa (20 g L −1 ), ácido 1-naftalenacético (1.5 mg L −1 , ANA) y Fitagel (Sigma®, 5 g L −1 ), ajustado a un pH de 5.7, y se incubaron a 27±1 °C y 16:8 h de luz:oscuridad proporcionada por lámparas de luz blanca fría fluorescente de 75 W (200 J m −2 h −1 ).with a spatula and cut with a scalpel in the upper part of the grain, to be used as explants.To introduce the somatic embryogenesis of the aforementioned maize lines, 1, 2 and 5 mg L −1 of the auxins were tested: 2,4dichlorophenoxiacetic acid (2,4-D; Sigma-Aldrich, USA) and 3,6dichloro-o-anisic acid (Dicamba; Sigma-Aldrich, USA). A medium without auxins was used as control. The culture medium was N6 (Chu et al., 1975) enriched with L-Proline (2.3 g L −1 ), hydrolyzed casein (0.2 g L −1 ), saccharose (30 g L −1 ) and agar (Bacto®, 8.6 g L −1 ).The culture medium was adjusted to pH 5.7 prior to being sterilized for 20 min in autoclave (Consolidated Stills and Sterilizers, MA., USA) at 120 °C and 1.05 kg cm −2 pressure, and 25 mL were placed in Petri dishes of 100×15 mm.The zygotic embryos were sown with the embryonic axis in contact with the culture medium and were incubated for 28 d in darkness at 27±1 ºC. When induction was finished, the percentage of embryogenic calluses (PEC) was measured with at least one embryogenic structure and the percentage of type I and II calluses (CTI and CTII). The statistic design was completely randomized with a factorial arrangement (12 genotypes×2 auxins×3 doses).Each treatment was comprised of 20 embryos placed in each Petri dish and four replicates. The analysis of variance of the transformed data (χ −2 ; Steel and Torrie, 1997) was made with the GLM procedure of SAS (2000). The separation of means was made with the Tukey test (p≤0.05).For the germination of the somatic embryos, the induced calluses were maintained for 21 d in the culture medium MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) added with thiamine-HCl (40 mg L −1 ), L-asparagin (150 mg L −1 ), saccharose (20 g L −1 ), indolacetic acid (0.5 mg L −1 , AIA), bencylaminopurine (1 mg L −1 , BAP) and agar (Bacto®, 8.6 g L −1 ), adjusted to a pH of 5.7 prior to being sterilized in autoclave. Then, zeatine was added (5 mg L −1 , ZEA), sterilized by cold filtration using a Millipore® filter, and 25 mL were poured into Petri dishes.The calluses with germinated somatic embryos were subcultivated during 21 d in flask of 150 mL with 35 mL of the same medium but without zeatin. The radicular region was cut from the plantlets from the germinated embryos, and were transferred for better rooting to magenta dishes of 250 mL, with 50 mL of the MS medium with saccharose (20 g L −1 ), 1-naphtalene acetic acid (1.5 mg L −1 , NAA) and Phytagel (Sigma®, 5 g L −1 ), adjusted to a pH of 5.7, and were incubated at 27±1 ºC and 16:8 h of light:darkness provided by lamps of cold fluorescent white light of 75 W (200 J m −2 h −1 ).At 21 d the percentage of calluses with germinated somatic embryos (PGC) was determined, with at least one plantlet of 1cm, and at 42 d the number of plantlets per embryogenic callus (PEC).In these variables the same treatments of the induction of somatic embryogenesis were evaluated, where each treatment had six replicates (Petri dish with 10 calluses). The data of PGC were transformed A 21 d se determinó el porcentaje de callos con embriones somáticos germinados (PCG), con al menos una plántula de 1 cm, y a los 42 d el número de plántulas por callo embriogénico (PCE). En estas variables se evaluaron los mismos tratamientos de la inducción de embriogénesis somática, donde cada tratamiento tuvo seis repeticiones (caja Petri con 10 callos). Los datos de PCG se transformaron (X −2 ) antes del análisis de varianza. El diseño estadístico, el análisis de varianza y la separación de medias fueron los mismos que en las variables de la inducción de embriogénesis somática.A 63 d se evaluó el porcentaje de plántulas que formaron raíces (PPR). El diseño estadístico fue completamente al azar. Cada tratamiento (línea) tuvo ocho repeticiones (una caja magenta con cuatro plántulas). El análisis de varianza de los datos transformados (χ −2 ) se hizo con el procedimiento GLM de SAS (2000) y la separación de medias con la prueba de Tukey (p≤0.05).Las plántulas enraizadas se transfirieron a macetas de 500 mL con peatmoss y se mantuvieron en una cámara de crecimiento a 27±1 °C, 90% de humedad relativa y 16:8 h luz:oscuridad (200 J m −2 h −1 ). A 28 d de aclimatación se determinó el porcentaje de supervivencia de 20 plantas por cada línea (PSP). Después se cultivaron cinco plantas aclimatadas y escogidas al azar por cada línea para observar cambios morfológicos.Callos embriogénicos de 7, 14, 21 y 28 d de las líneas 78, 332 y 395 se fijaron en FAA (alcohol etílico absoluto, ácido acético glacial, formaldehído, y agua destilada, en proporción 50:5:10:35 v/v), deshidratados en alcohol etílico (50, 70, 96 y 100%) e incluidos en Paraplast (Sigma®). Los cortes de 8 a 10 µm se hicieron con un micrótomo rotatorio (Spencer 820), se colocaron en baño de flotación (agua y grenetina) a 60 °C, se adhirieron a portaobjetos y se tiñeron con safranina-verde rápido (Iracheta-Donjuan et al., 2003).Finalmente se montaron en resina sintética y se observaron y fotografiaron en un Fotomicroscopio III Carl Zeiss con una cámara digital Pixera Professional integrada.A los 7 d de inducción se observó callo en el escutelo de los embriones cigóticos en todas las líneas y dosis de reguladores hormonales de crecimiento (RHC), excepto en los colocados en medio sin RHC que presentaron crecimiento de la radícula y del meristemo apical. Después de 14 d, las líneas 78, 332, 395, 442 y 444, y los testigos 216, 216×72 y 72×216 mostraron callos embriogénicos color crema (Figura 3 A-B), mientras que las líneas 202, 204, 330 y 331 mostraron callos de color café, pequeños, friables y con pocas estructuras (X −2 ) prior to the analysis of variance. The statistical design, the analysis of variance and the separation of means were the same as in the variables of the induction of somatic embryogenesis.At 63 d an evaluation was made of the percentage of plantlets that formed roots (PPR). The statistical design was completely randomized. Each treatment (line) had eight replicates (a magenta dish with four shoots). The analysis of variance of the transformed data (χ −2 ) was made with the GLM procedure of SAS (2000) and the separation of means with the Tukey test (p≤0.05).The rooted plantlets were transferred to pots of 500 mL with peatmoss and were maintained in a growth chamber at 27±1 °C, 90% relative humidity and 16:8 h light:darkness (200 J m −2 h −1 ). At 28 d of acclimation, the percentage of survival of 20 plants per line was determined (PSP). Then five acclimated plants were cultivated, randomly chosen for each line to observe morphological changes.Embryogenic calluses of 7, 14, 21 and 28 d of the lines 78, 332 and 395 were fixed in FAA (absolute ethylic alcohol, glacial acetic acid, formaldehyde, and distilled water, in a ratio of 50:5:10:35 v/v), dehydrated in ethylic alcohol (50, 70, 96 and 100%) and included in Paraplast (Sigma®). The cuts of 8 to 10 µm were made with a rotating microtome (Spencer 820), they were placed in a flotation bath (water and grenetin) at 60 ºC, were fixed to slides and stained with saphranine-rapid green (Iracheta-Donjuan et al., 2003). Finally, they were mounted in synthetic resin and observed and photographed in a Carl Zeiss Photomicroscope III with an integrated Pixera Professional digital camera.At 7 d of induction, callus was observed in the scutelum of the zygotic embryos in all of the lines and doses of hormonal growth regulators (HGR), except in those placed in the middle without HGR that presented growth of the radicle and the apical meristem. After 14 d, lines 78, 332, 395, 442 and 444, and controls 216, 216×72 and 72×216 presented cream colored embryogenic calluses (Figure 3 A-B), whereas lines 202, 204, 330 and 331 had brown colored calluses that were small, friable and with few embryogenic structures, similar to the non-embryogenic calluses reported by Bronsema et al. (2001).The analysis of variance of the percentage of embryogenic callus (PEC) showed significant differences (p≤0.001) among lines and among doses of auxins; among the auxins 2, 4-D and Dicamba significant differences were detected (p≤0.05). The embriogénicas, similares a los callos no embriogénicos reportados por Bronsema et al. (2001).El análisis de varianza del porcentaje de callo embriogénico (PCE) mostró diferencias significativas (p≤0.001) entre líneas y entre dosis de auxinas; entre las auxinas 2,4-D y Dicamba se detectaron diferencias significativas (p≤0.05). Las interacciones líneas × auxinas, líneas × dosis, y auxinas × dosis también fueron significativas (p≤0.001). La interacción líneas x auxinas x dosis no fue significativa (p>0.05).En promedio, las líneas 78, 395 y 444 produjeron 70.1-87.2% de callos embriogénicos, similar (p>0.05) al de los tres testigos (67.2-74.7%). Las líneas 442 y 332 presentaron una tasa media de inducción de callos (48.4-60.6%) y las líneas 330, 202, 204 y 331 mostraron porcentajes bajos (3.9-26.2%). Las líneas variaron en su respuesta al tipo de auxinas; las líneas 330, 331 y el testigo 216×72 presentaron mayores porcentajes con Dicamba, mientras que la línea 442 logró mayor porcentaje con 2,4-D (Figura 1).La respuesta de las líneas a la inducción de embriogénesis somática varió entre las tres dosis de auxinas. La línea 332 y los tres testigos tuvieron la mayor inducción con 1 y 2 mg L −1 en promedio de las dos auxinas evaluadas (Cuadro 1). En promedio de líneas, la dosis de 5 mg L −1 de 2,4-D produjo menores   interactions lines × auxins, lines × doses, and auxins × doses were also significant (p≤0.001). The interaction lines × auxins × doses was not significant (p>0.05).On the average, lines 78, 395 and 444 produced 70.1-87.2% of the embryogenic calluses, similar (p>0.05) to that of the three controls (67.2-74.7%). Lines 442 and 332 presented a mean induction rate of calluses (48.4-60.6%) and lines 330, 202, 204 and 331 showed low percentages (3.9-26.2%). The lines varied in their response to the type of auxins; lines 330, 331 and the control 216×72 presented higher percentages with Dicamba, while line 442 achieved a higher percentage with 2, 4-D (Figure 1).The response of the lines to the induction of somatic embryogenesis varied among the three doses of auxins. Line 332 and the three controls had the highest induction with 1 and 2 mg L −1 average of the two auxins evaluated (Table 1). In the average of lines, the dose of 5 mg L −1 of 2, 4-D produced lower percentages of embryogenesis (35.6%) than the doses of 1 and 2 mg L −1 , while with Dicamba the three doses produced the same results (49.5-54.0%). Bronsema et al. (2001) reported that doses higher than 2 mg L −1 of 2, 4-D decrease the number of embryogenic calluses in the maize lines A188 and A632 of temperate climate.According to Slater et al. (2003), all of the plant cells can be regenerated under the correct conditions of culture and stimuli, given that they conserve the genetic potential known as totipotency, although the AGROCIENCIA, 1 de octubre -15 de noviembre, 2007 porcentajes de embriogénesis (35.6%) que las dosis de 1 y 2 mg L −1 , mientras que con Dicamba las tres dosis produjeron los mismos resultados (49.5-54.0%). Bronsema et al. (2001) reportaron que dosis mayores de 2 mg L −1 de 2,4-D disminuyen el número de callos embriogénicos en los maíces A188 y A632 de clima templado.Según Slater et al. (2003), todas las células vegetales pueden ser regeneradas en las condiciones de cultivo y estímulos correctos, ya que conservan el potencial genético llamado totipotencia, aunque las condiciones y estímulos varían entre genotipos. En maíz se ha observado un grupo de genes nucleares expresados en la región abaxial del escutelo de los embriones cigóticos, que controlan la inducción de callo embriogénico y regeneración (Bohorova et al., 1995;Phillips, 2004).En el presente estudio se observaron brotes y raicillas provenientes posiblemente de la germinación precoz de estructuras embriogénicas inducidas con la dosis de 1 mg L −1 de 2,4-D o de Dicamba. La germinación precoz durante la inducción de callos embriogénicos pudo deberse a que esta dosis no es suficiente para mantener el tejido indiferenciado, como lo señalan Suprasanna et al. (1991), quienes registraron que con dosis menores de 2 mg L −1 de 2,4-D se favorece la organogénesis en glumas de los maíces DHM 103 y DHM 101. También Bronsema et al. (1996) señalaron que en periodos de cultivos mayores a 14 d, la mayor parte del 2,4-D es metabolizado por el callo, lo que permite su diferenciación.Los callos embriogénicos de maíz se clasificaron en dos tipos: I) estructuras compactas con embriones somáticos morfológicamente complejos y capacidad regenerativa corta y II) friables con embriones somáticos definidos y capacidad regenerativa prolongada (Armstrong y Green, 1985). En la formación de callos tipo I se detectaron diferencias significativas (p≤0.001) entre las líneas, donde más de 62.5% de los callos formados en las líneas 444, 395, 332, 442, 330 y 202 fueron del tipo I (Figuras 2 y 3A). Pero las líneas 78 y 204 formaron 60.6 y 68.0% de callos tipo II (Figura 3B). Las interacciones genotipo × auxinas, genotipo × dosis y auxinas × dosis no fueron significativas (p>0.05).Una ventaja de los callos embriogénicos tipo I es que pueden ser inducidos y regenerados hasta plantas fértiles en más genotipos de maíz (Carvalho et al., 1997), como también se observó en esta investigación. Este tipo de callo embriogénico se ha usado en la transformación genética de maíces blancos (O' Kennedy et al., 2001). Por lo anterior, se infiere que las líneas embriogénicas aquí identificadas tienen potencial para ser usadas en transformación genética. conditions and stimuli vary among genotypes. In maize, a group of nuclear genes has been observed expressed in the abaxial region of the scutelum of the zygotic embryos that control the induction of embryogenic callus and regeneration (Bohorova et al., 1995;Phillips, 2004).In the present study shoots and rootlets were observed, possibly from the precocious germination of embryogenic structures induced with the dose of 1 mg L −1 of 2,4-D or of Dicamba. The precocious germination during the induction of embryogenic calluses could have been due to the fact that this dose is not sufficient to maintain the undifferentiated tissue, as is pointed out by Suprasanna et al. (1991), who registered that with doses lower than 2 mg L-1 of 2, 4-D, organogenesis is favored in glumes of the maizes DHM 103 and DHM 101. Bronsema et al. (1996) also pointed out that in culture periods longer than 14 d, most of the 2, 4-D is metabolized by the callus, which permits its differentiation.The embriogenic calluses of maize were classified into two types: I) compact structures with somatic embryos that are morphologically complex and short regenerative capacity and II) friable with defined somatic embryos and prolonged regenerative capacity (Armstrong and Green, 1985). In type I callus formation, significant differences were detected (p≤0.001) among the lines, where over 62.5% of the calluses formed in lines 444,395, 332, 442, 330 and 202 were of type I (Figures 2 and 3A). But hand, lines 78 and 204 formed 60.6 and 68.0% of type II callusesLos embriones somáticos de los callos embriogénicos inducidos con ambas auxinas fueron germinados en presencia de luz. Después de 7 d en el medio MS de germinación, los coleóptilos generados por los embriones somáticos de las líneas 78, 202, 332, 395, 442 y de los tres testigos, se tornaron verde y formaron plántulas (Figura 3C). Los callos de las líneas 204, 330, 331 y 444 color café y formaron raíces, característica típica de los callos no embriogénicos (Bronsema et al., 1997). No obstante, Carvalho et al. (1997) y El-itriby et al. (2003) señalan que los callos clasificados como embriogénicos no necesariamente permiten la regeneración de plántulas.A los 21 d, en el porcentaje de callos germinados (PCG) con al menos un brote de 1 cm se observaron diferencias significativas (p≤0.001) entre líneas. La línea 78 mostró 83.9% de callos germinados, valor similar (p>0.05) al de los testigos (85.5-97.2%); las líneas 395 y 442 produjeron 69.8-71.9% de callos germinados y las líneas 332 y 444 tuvieron 36.4 y 0.0% de callos embriogénicos germinados. (Figure 3B). The interactions genotype × auxins, genotype × doses and auxins × doses were not significant (p>0.05).One advantage of the type I embryogenic calluses is that they can be induced and regenerated to fertile plants in more maize genotypes (Carvalho et al., 1997), as was also observed in this investigation. This type of embryogenic callus has been used in the genetic transformation of white maizes (O'Kennedy et al., 2001). Therefore, it is inferred that the embryogenic lines identified here have potential for being used in genetic transformation.The somatic embryos of the embryogenic calluses induced with both auxins were germinated in the presence of light. After 7 d in the MS germination medium, the coleoptiles generated by the somatic embryos of lines 78, 202, 332, 395, 442 and of the three controls, turned green and formed plantlets (Figure 3C). The calluses of lines 204, 330, 331 and 444 turned brown and formed roots, a characteristic typical of non-embryogenic calluses (Bronsema et al., 1997). La interacción líneas × tipo de auxinas fue significativa (p≤0.001) en la inducción de embriogénesis somática. Así, la auxina Dicamba dio menor cantidad de callos germinados en la línea 442 (Figura 4). Al respecto, Dicamba se considera una auxina fuerte que afecta en forma diferente a los genotipos de maíz durante la inducción de embriogénesis somática y regeneración (Duncan et al., 1985).También se registraron diferencias significativas (p≤0.001) en el número de plántulas regeneradas por callo embriogénico (PCE), entre líneas. La línea 395 regeneró 1.11 plantas por callo, capacidad similar (p>0.05) a la de los testigos (0.74-0.95 plantas); las líneas 442, 78 y 332 tuvieron menores valores de regeneración: 0.67, 0.37 y 0.33 plantas por callo. En esta variable no hubo diferencias significativas (p>0.05) entre las dos auxinas, las tres dosis, ni en las interacciones genotipo × auxinas, genotipo × dosis y auxina × dosis.En las plántulas de 3 cm o más provenientes de embriones somáticos germinados se cortó la zona radical original y se transfirieron al medio de enraizamiento MS contenido en cajas magenta. A los 7 d de cultivo se observaron pequeñas raíces en los nudos de las plántulas y a los 21 d un sistema radical extenso (Figura 3G). En los porcentajes de However, Carvalho et al. (1997) and Elitriby et al. (2003) point out that the calluses classified as embryogenic do not necessarily allow the regeneration of plantlets. At 21 d, in the percentage of germinated calluses (PGC) with at least on shoot of 1 cm, significant differences (p≤0.001) were observed among lines. Line 78 showed 83.9% of the germinated calluses, a value similar (p>0.05) to that of the controls (85.5-97.2%); lines 395 and 442 produced 69.8-71.9% of germinated calluses and lines 332 and 444 had 36.4 and 0.0% of germinated embryogenic calluses.The interaction lines × type of auxins was significant (p≤0.001) in the induction of somatic embryogenesis. Thus, the auxin Dicamba gave a lower amount of germinated calluses in line 442 (Figure 4). To this respect, Dicamba is considered a strong auxin that affects the maize genotypes differently during the induction of somatic embryogenesis and regeneration (Duncan et al., 1985).Significant differences (p≤0.001) were also registered in the number of plantlets regenerated by embryogenic callus (PEC), among lines. Line 395 regenerated 1.11 plants per callus, a capacity similar (p>0.05) to that of the controls (0.74-0.95 plants); lines 442, 78 and 332 had lower regeneration values: 0.67, 0.37 and 0.33 plants per callus. In this variable there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the two auxins, the three doses, nor in the interactions genotype × auxins, genotype × dose and auxin × dose.The original radicular region was cut in the shoots of 3 cm or more from germinated somatic embryos, and they were transferred to the MS rooting medium contained in magenta dishes. At 7 d of culture, small roots were observed in the nodes of the plantlets, and at 21 d an extensive radical system was observed (Figure 3G). In the percentages of plantlets that formed roots in vitro (PPR), significant differences were not observed among the lines identified as embryogenic (395, 442, 78 and 332), which showed in vitro rooting from 95 to 98%, values similar to those of the control genotypes (92-99%).In all, the regeneration of 228, 187, 108 and 79 plants was achieved in lines 395, 442, 78 and 332; in the controls 216, 72×216 and 216×72, there was regeneration in 229, 213 and 113 plants. With respect to the acclimatization of 20 regeneration plants of each line, 100% survival was achieved in the embryonic lines 78, 332, 395 and 442, possibly due to the extensive radical system that was induced in vitro.plántulas que formaron raíces in vitro (PPR), no se observaron diferencias significativas entre las líneas identificadas como embriogénicas (395, 442, 78 y 332), las cuales mostraron enraizamiento in vitro de 95 a 98%, valores similares a los de los genotipos testigos (92-99%).En total se logró la regeneración de 228, 187, 108 y 79 plantas en las líneas 395, 442, 78 y 332; en los testigos 216, 72×216 y 216×72 se regeneraron 229, 213 y 113 plantas. En cuanto a la aclimatación de 20 plantas regeneradas de cada línea, se logró 100% de supervivencia en las líneas embriogénicas 78, 332, 395 y 442, posiblemente debido al extenso sistema radical que se indujo in vitro.Al crecer en invernadero cinco de las plantas aclimatadas por cada línea embriogénica, todas produjeron inflorescencias y mazorcas con granos normales similares a las líneas progenitoras (Figura 3H). Sin embargo se presentaron variaciones morfológicas como presencia de pelos estigmáticos y granos pequeños en las inflorescencias masculinas (Figura 3I) en aproximadamente 20% de las plantas, las cuales no causaron esterilidad.Estas variaciones morfológicas se deben a la alteración de la cromatina durante la mitosis de los callos embriogénicos, así como al origen organogénico que también se presenta en los callos tipo I de maíz (De Aguiar-Perecin et al., 2000), tipo de callo predominante en las líneas estudiadas (Figura 3A). En plantaciones comerciales de maíces se ha caracterizado mutantes similares a los observados en el presente trabajo; así, Neuffer et al. (1997) describieron plantas fértiles con pelos estigmáticos y granos pequeños en las inflorescencias masculinas, cuyas mutaciones fueron en el gen dominante ts5 del cromosoma 4S.En cortes histológicos de los callos embriogénicos de 7 d en las líneas 78, 332 y 395, así como de los tres testigos se observó actividad mitótica en las células próximas al sistema vascular, así como en las cercanas a la subepidermis del escutelo de los embriones cigóticos usados como explantes (Figura 3D). En los callos de 14 d se observaron centros proembriogénicos constituidos por células pequeñas teñidas diferencialmente y con núcleos prominentes. Dichos centros se localizaron cerca de la epidermis de la superficie adaxial del callo y de los haces vasculares con elementos de vaso en los callos tipo I de las líneas 395 y 332 y los testigos (Figura 3E).When five of the acclimated plants per each embryogenic line were grown in the greenhouse, all of them produced inflorescence and ears with normal grains similar to the parent lines (Figure 3H). However, morphological variations appeared such as the presence of stigmatic hairs and small grains in the male inflorescences (Figure 3I) in approximately 20% of the plants, which did not cause sterility.These morphological variations are due to the alteration of the chromatin during the mitosis of the embryogenic calluses, as well as the organogenic origin that also appears in type I maize calluses (De Aguiar-Perecin et al., 2000), the type of callus predominating in the lines under study (Figure 3A). In commercial maize plantations, mutants have been characterized that are similar to those observed in the present study; thus, Neuffer et al. (1997) described fertile plants with stigmatic hairs and small grains in the male inflorescences, whose mutations were in the dominant gene ts5 of the chromosome 4S.In histological cuts of the embryogenic calluses of 7 d in lines 78, 332 and 395, as well as of the three controls, mitotic activity was observed in the cells next to the vascular system, and in those close to the subepidermis of the scutellum of the zygotic embryos used as explants (Figure 3D). In the calluses of 14 d, proembryogenic centers were observed comprised of small differentially stained cells and with prominent nuclei. These centers were located near the epidermis of the adaxial surface of the callus and of the vascular fascia with elements of vessel in the type I calluses of lines 395 and 332 and the controls (Figure 3E). Vasil et al. (1985) and Fransz and Schel (1994) mentioned that the location of the proembryogenic centers in these regions is due to the fact that their cells are undifferentiated and in the embryogenic phase; therefore, they are easily stimulated by the auxins. They also pointed out that the presence of proembryogenic centers close to the procambium of the explant may be related to the high levels of phytohormones and nutrient flow in these sites. Finally, in type I and II embryogenic calluses, of 21 and 28 d of the lines studied and of the controls, somatic embryos were observed with the organs typical of the zygotic embryos of the monocotyledoneas (Figure 3F).Four embryogenic lines were identified of subtropical white maize (CML332, CML78, CML395 and CML442), with regenerative capacity of fertile Vasil et al. (1985) y Fransz y Schel (1994) mencionaron que la localización de los centros proembriogénicos en estas regiones se debe a que sus células se encuentran indiferenciadas y en fase embriogénica; por tanto, son fácilmente estimuladas por las auxinas. También señalaron que la presencia de centros proembriogénicos cercanos al procambium del explante puede estar relacionado con los altos niveles de fitohormonas y flujo de nutrientes en estos sitios. Finalmente, en callos embriogénicos tipo I y II, de 21 y 28 d de las líneas estudiadas y de los testigos se observaron embriones somáticos con los órganos típicos de los embriones cigóticos de las monocotiledóneas (Figura 3F).Se identificaron cuatro líneas embriogénicas de maíces blancos subtropicales (CML332, CML78, CML395 y CML442), con capacidad regenerativa de plantas fértiles y potenciales para ser sometidas a transformación genética. Se observó una respuesta diferencial de los genotipos a las tres dosis y a las auxinas 2,4-D y Dicamba durante la inducción de embriogénesis somática. Se obtuvieron embriones somáticos con los órganos típicos de las monocotiledóneas, cuyo origen estuvo en las células cercanas a la subepidermis y al sistema vascular de los embriones cigóticos cultivados como explantes. Theor. and Appl. Genet. 103: 817-826. Bronsema, F. B. F., P. Redig, W. J. F. Van Oostveen, H. A. Van Onckelen, and A. A. M. Van Lammeren. 1996. Uptake and plants and potential for being subjected to genetic transformation. A differential response was observed of the genotypes to the three doses and auxins 2, 4-D and Dicamba during the induction of somatic embryogenesis. Somatic embryos were obtained with the organs typical of the monocotyledoneas, whose origin was in the cells near the subepidermis and the vascular system of the zygotic embryos cultivated as explants.","tokenCount":"6171"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6146178566.json b/data/part_1/6146178566.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..be1209fee5903ee3c2ec17868bba39931541c9b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6146178566.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea74d01622789e748bf2e63e5f30537c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bf7e3f98-be95-4985-923f-ee29126513f6/retrieve","id":"2121363787"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"16dace64-8eac-4142-84b0-441728d8133e","pagecount":"5","content":"About 14% of the world's cattle and 21% of its sheep and goats are found in Africa on a land base that comprises 25% of the world's total area of rangelands. Most of these rangelands are or have in the past been managed under traditional systems of communal tenure. Regrettably, the wide variety of institutional arrangements, structures of governance and incentives that characterise these common property regimes have not been well understood or been the subject of much analysis. This paper attempts to fill part of this knowledge gap by providing a framework for the analysis of common property rangeland regimes on the basis of some selected examples in Africa.The case of Lesotho Lesotho's extensive grasslands are utilised under two resource management regimes: the maboella regime which governs the use of village common lands in the lowlands and foothills of the country, and the cattlepost regime which governs the use of mountain grazing areas.Maboella was instituted in the mid1800s by Lesotho's first Paramount Chief to protect communal lands for special uses during particular times of the year. Maboella rules were enforced at village and local levels by the Paramount Chief's designates who received some compensation for enforcing the rules.With the advent of colonialism, a number of policy organisations emerged which attempted to 'reform' the customary institutions that formerly legitimised maboella. Legislation passed in 1946 prohibited chiefs and wardens from receiving financial rewards for enforcing maboella rules. External and internal processes of this sort weakened the basis for enforcing maboella, but a few cases of successful lowland village grazing regimes that have built upon the customary institution can still be observed.The cattlepost regime was established in the 1920s and evolved as a seasonal transhumance system whereby lowland livestock moved to mountain rangelandcattlepost-areas during the summer months. The regime aimed at coordinating the activities of the increasing number of livestock grazed on mountain pastures and at protecting mountain rangelands from overexploitation. As with maboella, the cattlepost regime was enforced by the paramount and principal chiefs who granted permission to individual livestock owners to use specific cattleposts.The cattlepost regime performed the coordination function more effectively than the regulation function resulting in a dramatic reduction of the carrying capacity of mountain pastures. Strict rules adopted since the 1970s to arrest the deterioration of cattlepost areas and restrict livestock numbers on mountain rangelands appear not to have been very successful. Some limited success has, however, been achieved by the USAID (United States Agency for International Development)supported Sehlabathebe Grazing Association through 'controlled' communal grazing.Eastern Senegal is the site of one of the World Bank's most successful projects in collective management of rangelands. Covering an area of approximately 14,000 km 2 , the project area is populated by about 70,000 people, largely consisting of agropastoralists.Nationalisation of land in 1964 undermined the traditional authority system that governed access to and use of land based on lineage and caste. With the influx of transhumant pastoralists following the drought in northern Senegal and Mauritania, overgrazing and landuse conflicts were intensified, which led to the transformation of the former common property regime into an open access situation.The World Bank project was launched to address these problems. In its first phase , the project established 53 pastoral units comprising 8 to 10 small agropastoral villages each. These villages collaborated with the project in the delivery of supplemental feed and veterinary supplies and served as collective credit guarantors. In the second phase of the project , the pastoral units took on commonproperty rangeland management (i.e. administration of grazing rotations) as a secondary activity and were accorded legally defensible communal rights to grazing lands and watering points.The three rangeland regimes reviewed represent some of the variety of rangeland regimes that prevail across Africa. While all of the regimes meet the definition of common property regimes, all have different political and institutional structures.In all three regimes, the effectiveness of the customary regime depended upon the strength of the authority structure on which it was based, be this of chieftaincy (Lesotho) or lineage and caste (Senegal). In all cases, the customary authority structures weakened with the advent of colonialism and increased commercialisation, resulting in less effective implementation of customary institutions.A few instances of effective common property management remained in these regimes which owed their success to a combination of customary authority, new organisations and decentralised actions of individual livestock owners. The successes reported in Lesotho and Senegal depended in large part upon the actions, strengths and leadership of customary chiefs, the willingness of village residents to comply and enforce grazing regulations, and the provision of a legal and technical framework providing support to the customary institutions.As illustrated with the case studies, African rangeland regimes consist of diverse institutional arrangements. These arrangements translate into grazing and water use rights, rules enforced by customary authorities, selfenforcing social institutions or conventions, and externally or internally enforced contracts.Fundamental to the operations of these common property regimes is the authority systems that sanction right, enforce rules and define the contexts in which conventions and contracts are negotiated. Authority systems are concerned with governance, which is the process of deciding what a collective will do and how it will do it. The process of governance defines institutions and to understand them, it is necessary to consider the nature of the authority system, the process of governance and the implications of those processes for the implementation of institutions.Besides institutional diversity, rangeland regimes also exhibit considerable customary governmental diversity. Many agropastoral groups in eastern and southern Africa have or had centralised governments with hierarchical political structures in which chiefs perform executive, legislative and judicial functions. In contrast, most pastoral groups in eastern and western Africa have diffused customary governments with relatively egalitarian elders' councils holding legislative and judicial authority, or minimal (non existent) customary governments with neither chiefs nor elders' councils with authority to enforce rules. The structure of government under which a common property regime operates determines the type of institutions (including rights) that can be implemented to govern relations among members and between members and nonmembers. To implement group rights, a body performing these functions must be able to interpret the aims of the larger society and of groups, to judge between the rights and duties of competing groups, and to enforce sanctions on individuals, groups and collectives of groups. Evidence suggests that national governments are better suited to the enforcement of group rights, especially in terms of defining boundaries between group resources and enforcing sanctions on those who violate these boundaries.Since they are not rights, conventions and internally enforced contracts can be enforced without central government units and govern relations between and within groups of resource users. A minimum condition for the effectiveness of internallyenforced contracts both within and at the boundaries of regimes is, however, the existence of some social authority that enforces rights or rules regulating the entry of new individuals and groups, the mobility of individuals between groups, and the mobility of groups between sovereign polities.The structure of governance determines the necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for the successful implementation of institutions in property regimes. Implementation of these institutions requires action on the part of particular individuals (e.g. those responsible for enforcing rights and rules) who respond to their own expectations and incentives. The incentives of these individuals depend partly on their relationships with the external political and legal system and their local constituents, and partly on the benefits and costs they derive from enforcing rules.The users of the collective rangeland resources themselves have incentives to demand resource use rules and, at the same time, incentives to deviate from such rules. The incentive to deviate depends upon the external gains from deviation, the probability that others resource users will comply or deviate, the probability of being caught and punished, the likely severity of the punishment and changes in group size. Although certain internal rules tend not to be selfenforcing because of individual incentives to deviate from them, the literature on internallyenforced contracts suggests other mechanisms by which internal agreements on resource allocation can be maintained without external enforcement.Common property rangeland regimes in Africa are systems that are evolving and responding to exogenous political, economic and ecological shocks. African rangelands are currently under pressure from different factors including: increasing competition for livestock, land and water resources between pastoralists, cultivators, conservationists and external investors; greatly reduced economic and political power of customary authorities; appropriation of communal rangelands by governments; and declining importance of livestock and agriculture for creating employment and generating income. These factors are serving to undermine the efficacy of customary common property institutions in Africa.To address the problems of African livestock development effectively, feasible policy objectives must be formulated and appropriate policy instruments designed. Effective implementation of group property rights requires a central authority that can arbitrate between the interests of broad groups and enforce boundaries and agreements between groups in clear and unambiguous terms.Effective group rights will only lead to efficient resource allocation if there are effective mechanisms for internal governance. The effectiveness of a formal structure of internal governance will depend upon the incentives of individuals whose roles are to enforce rules (e.g. village chiefs) and resource users who are expected to comply with the rules. Internally enforced contracts are mechanisms for internal governance that can be effective with little or no internal authority system. External agencies can facilitate internal contracts through various support mechanisms.Overall, policy makers in Africa need to search for ways to facilitate institutional change that will make common property regimes more resilient and better able to allocate resources to the mutual benefit of those who share their access. Priority should be given to group rights and the internal institutionbuilding capacity of local groups and communities.","tokenCount":"1613"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6148589849.json b/data/part_1/6148589849.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fc4e1c8341079ced0edcbe414e9d95909fae4483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6148589849.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"239859022ee7b074cf559ea3398bf1c1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/97ff0a7e-81a9-4cd2-bda8-62a65b85209f/retrieve","id":"-69246295"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ef9690d-2059-43a7-bcd6-5433ccad23df","pagecount":"1","content":"• Urgent need for concerted WEP conservation efforts in Turkana County • Community-driven approach aligns with established conservation models while introducing Turkana-specific elements • Potential model for sustainable WEP management in similar arid environments Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) play a crucial diets in Turkana:• provide 12-30% of dietary intake• average of 76% of micronutrients to consumers' diets.WEPs face multifaceted threats endangering their availability and sustainability. Study aimed to:• Investigate stakeholders' perceptions of WEP tree status, trends, threats and conservation challenges. • Co-develop a community led strategy of Turkana's WEPs.Mixed-sequential qualitative study approach:• Nine two-day participatory community workshops.• Eight in-depth validation interviews with local experts.• Deductive thematic analysis of data","tokenCount":"109"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6149742976.json b/data/part_1/6149742976.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7d5912db2859d6b02c02c3e468a1d4707d520e4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6149742976.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"32fce9b8693bc4139b8a4c5328e5f643","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d5e19d44-0763-4608-ac71-98d21853ff8b/content","id":"-2078488593"},"keywords":["Ertiro, B.T.","Das, B.","Kosgei, T.","Tesfaye, A.T.","Labuschagne, M.T.","Worku, M.R.","Olsen, M.S.","Chaikam, V.","Gowda, M. Relationship NUE","grain yield","protein content","oil content","starch content","correlation","kernel weight","low N"],"sieverID":"6817c36c-bd7a-4f4b-ae0e-a09d92d8abcd","pagecount":"15","content":"Breeding for nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is important to deal with food insecurity and its effect on grain quality, particularly protein. A total of 1679 hybrids were evaluated in 16 different trials for grain yield (GY), grain quality traits (protein, starch and oil content) and kernel weight (KW) under optimum and managed low soil nitrogen fields in Kiboko, Kenya, from 2011 to 2014. The objectives of our study were to understand (i) the effect of low soil N stress on GY and quality traits, (ii) the relationship between GY and quality traits under each soil management condition and (iii) the relationship of traits with low-N versus optimum conditions. From the results, we observed the negative effects of low N on GY, KW and the percentage of protein content, and a positive effect on the percentage of starch content. The correlation between GY and all quality traits was very weak under both soil N conditions. GY had a strong relationship with KW under both optimum and low soil N conditions. Protein and starch content was significantly negative under both optimum and low-N conditions. There was no clear relationship among quality traits under optimum and low N, except for oil content. Therefore, it seems feasible to simultaneously improve GY along with quality traits under both optimum and low-N conditions, except for oil content. However, the negative trend observed between GY (starch) and protein content suggests the need for the regular monitoring of protein and starch content to identify varieties that combine both high GY and acceptable quality. Finally, we recommend further research with a few tropical maize genotypes contrasting for NUE to understand the relationship between the change in grain quality and NUE under low-N conditions.Maize is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where it is the primary source of daily calorie and protein intake for more than 80 percent of the population [1]. In SSA, a total of more than 43 million hectares (ha) of arable land was devoted to maize production, from which only 90 million metric tons (t) of grain was harvested in 2020 [2]. The average productivity of the crop (2 t/ha) in the region, is far below the world average (6 t/ha), partly due to the limited use of production inputs (e.g., N fertilizers) by small-scale farmers who cannot afford them [3,4]. Average fertilizer application in the world is 137 kg per ha, whereas in SSA, it is estimated to be less than 8 kg per ha, the lowest of any region in the world [4,5]. Among all nutrients, N is considered to be the most limiting in crop production [6]. Although Africa accounts for almost 20% of global land area under maize cultivation, it accounts only for less than 4% of N fertilizer application [2].Due to the high cost of fertilizers, the trend in the current use of chemical fertilizers by resource-poor farmers in SSA is less likely to show significant change in the short term. Improved agronomic practices and the development of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) varieties, which are efficient in capturing and utilizing the limited quantities of the applied fertilizers, may play a vital role in improving the productivity of maize-based cropping systems in the region. The existing genetic variation in various crops for different types of stresses, including low soil nitrogen [7][8][9][10][11], can be exploited to address poor soil fertilityrelated stresses in SSA. However, there is a concern regarding the possibility of losing the nutritional quality of maize while breeding maize germplasm for NUE.The effect of N fertilization on grain yield and kernel quality traits had long been studied. Tsai et al. [6] observed a significant effect of N fertilizer on grain yield, kernel texture and protein concentration in eight maize varieties evaluated under different N fertilizer levels. By comparing 36 widely grown US commercial hybrids that were released in different eras, Duvick [12] observed a higher percentage of starch content and a lower percentage of grain protein content in newer varieties as compared to older ones under stress environments. These changes are possibly due to the focus only on grain yield under different biotic and abiotic stresses, including low-N tolerance. Likewise, an F 2:3 mapping population evaluated under optimum and low soil nitrogen levels showed a reduction in grain protein content and an increase in grain starch content under low soil N levels [13]. Worku et al. [8] evaluated three quality protein maize (QPM) and 13 non-QPM varieties differing in grain yield under different N levels, and reported the increasing effect of applied N on protein quantity in both QPM and non-QPM varieties. In a few cases where oil was studied [12,14], it seemed to be unaffected by soil N levels. Different authors have suggested different reasons for the change in grain quality, particularly for its starch and protein content [8,12,15,16].The physiological mechanism behind the changes in quality traits could be due to the variation among genotypes in post-anthesis nutrient uptake, and the redistribution of N from vegetative parts to the grain sink [4,17]. Borrás et al. [18] linked differences in kernel composition to changes in the post-flowering source-sink ratio. As the number of sinks per plant increased, it resulted in a change in each kernel component, i.e., a decrease in the source-sink ratio beyond a specific threshold promoted a decrease in the relative protein content and an increase in the relative starch content, but had no effect on oil content. Duarte et al. [19] reported a much greater influence of genotypes rather than N rate on grain quality, though nitrogen fertilizers had an increasing effect on both grain yield and grain nitrogen content. They emphasized the greater importance of genotype selection over N application and other production practices for increasing maize grain quality. Previously, Tsai et al. [6] reported differences among hybrids for N requirements for maximum yield and protein concentration. Despite different physiological reasons for the change in maize kernel composition, most authors agreed on the availability of genotypic differences for grain yield and kernel composition for maize genotypes grown under different soil N conditions [6,16].However, most of the aforementioned studies were conducted with a limited number of commercial varieties (tropical or temperate) with a soil that had a different cropping history and different applied N levels, except for Worku et al. [9], who used stress-tolerant varieties developed by the global maize program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and tested them under optimum and managed N stress fields. CIMMYT has since developed and evaluated large-set NUE germplasm under optimum and managed low-N stress environments. In addition to grain yield and other agronomic traits, information has been collected on the grain protein content, oil content and starch content of the genotypes in all optimum and low-N trials conducted in Kiboko, Kenya, since 2011. We assume that breeding maize for nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) would not affect genetic potential for grain quality traits, but genotypes might tend to have a higher percentage of starch content and a lower percentage of protein content in response to N stress [12]. Using data from yield trials conducted over four years under optimum and managed low-N stress (severe and moderate stresses) conditions, which is reflective of smallholder farming conditions in SSA, we will try to understand the effect of low soil N on the grain quality of maize. Therefore, the objective of our study was to understand: (1) the effect of low N content in soil on grain yield and quality traits; (2) the relationship between grain yield and each quality trait under optimum and low-N conditions.The experimental materials, consisting of 1679 genotypes, including hybrids (test crosses, single crosses, three ways crosses) and synthetics, were tested in 16 different trials (Table 1, Supplementary Table S1). Four common commercial checks were included in each trial. The parental lines of the experimental hybrids have been derived from source populations with known tolerance to low soil N stress. Each trial was composed of unique genotypes, except for checks, which were repeated across trials.All trials were grown at the Kiboko experimental station, Kenya, between 2010 and 2014. Kiboko lies within longitudes 37.7235 • E and latitudes 2.2172 • S, at an elevation of 975 m above sea level. The station receives between 545 and 629 mm of rainfall split across two seasons. The long rain season is between October and January, while the short rain season is between March and September. Kiboko lies in a hot, semi-arid region with a mean annual temperature of 22.6 • C, a mean annual maximum of 28.6 • C and a mean annual minimum of 16.5 • C. The average minimum and maximum temperatures, relative humidity and rainfall for each trial is given in Table 1. The soils are well drained, very deep, darkreddish brown to dark red, friable sandy clay to clay (Acri-Rhodic Ferralsols), developed from undifferentiated basement system rocks, predominantly banded gneisses [20]. All trials were grown under optimum and low-N conditions. The low-N block had been previously depleted of N by growing sorghum at high density with no N fertilizer sources added for four cropping cycles. The depletion crop was uprooted at near maturity and removed from the low-N field to prevent the incorporation of crop residues into the soil. Soil N analyses revealed 0.10-0.12 ppm in soil N stress experimental sites, whereas in the optimum sites, it varied from 0.21 to 0.26 ppm.Trials under both optimum and low-N management were designed as alpha lattices [21], apart from trials number 5, 6 and 15 (Table 1), for which a randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used. The number of replications for each trial and rows per plot is indicated in Table 1. All trials were hand-planted with 2 seeds per hill at 0.75 m between rows and 0.2 m between plant stations. The planting dates of all trials are indicated in Supplementary Table S1. The plots in all trials were thinned to one seed per hill three weeks after germination to achieve a final plant density of 53,000 plants per hectare. At planting, only phosphorous fertilizer triple phosphate (46% P 2 O 5 ) was applied to the low-N trials at the rate of 50 kg P 2 O 5 /ha. In optimum trials, N was applied at the rate of 192 kg N per ha in two splits. At planting, diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer was used at the rate of 54 kg N per hectare.All trials under both optimum and low N were irrigated throughout the growing period as required to avoid any moisture stress. Trials under both conditions were kept weed-free throughout the growing season, and other recommended agronomic management techniques were followed to prevent trials from other stresses. At harvest, two edge plants from either end of each harvested row were removed from all low-N trials to avoid the border effect. Phenotypic data were collected for grain yield, grain quality (protein content, oil content and starch contents) and kernel weight. Grain yield was measured in kilograms (kg) and converted to tons per hectare and reported at 12.5% moisture. Grain quality parameters were measured using the FOSS Infratec TM 1241 from 500 g samples of grain taken from each plot, and are reported as a percentage of whole grain. The FOSS Infratec is a non-destructive whole-grain analyzer that uses near-infrared reflectance (NIR) to estimate quality parameters. Five 100 g subsamples were assayed, and the mean reading for each parameter was reported per plot. This resulted in a higher level of accuracy for each quality parameter. Kernel weight was measured in kilograms from 1000 random kernels selected from shelled grain.The data for both optimum and low-N stress sites were analyzed separately for each trial using the PROX Mixed procedure of SAS [22]. Low-N trials were further divided into two sets, namely, moderately stressed (MS) and severely stressed (SS), based on the percentage of yield loss in comparison to yield under optimum condition (Table 1). Genotypes were used as fixed effects and incomplete blocks as random effects. Only those traits that showed significant genotypic effects were used for the phenotypic correlation analysis. Correlation analysis between traits and scatter plots were generated using MINITAB 14.2 software (State College, PA, USA) [23] and R [24] separately for moderately and severely stressed trials. The broad-sense heritability of traits (repeatability of the trials) was estimated from each entry for the mean squares generated in the ANOVA.The genotypic effect was highly significant for grain yield in most of the trials under both optimum and low-N conditions (Table 2). As expected, GY under optimum conditions was higher than low N in all trials and years. Low-N stress resulted in variable yield reduction, ranging from 26 to 65%. The mean performance of genotypes for grain yield across all optimum trials averaged at 9.12 t ha −1 , ranging from 6.30 to 12.10 t ha −1 . Under low-N conditions, the trials on average yielded 4.35 t ha −1 , ranging from 2.11 to 7.07 t ha −1 (Table 2). Considering the average of all trials, high NUE varieties (high yielding under both optimum and low-N soil conditions) had a 40% and 46% yield advantage over commercial checks, and 73 and 96% over poor NUE varieties (low yielding under both optimum and low-N conditions) under optimum and low-N conditions, respectively (data not shown). In this study, we measured three grain quality traits, viz., protein content, starch content and oil content. The genotypes differed significantly for all the three quality parameters in almost all trials (Table 2). Pair-wise t-tests between protein content, starch content and oil content for optimum and low-N conditions showed highly significant differences (p < 0.01) for quality traits between contrasting N conditions. However, the effect of low-N stress was different on each quality parameter (Table 2, Figure 1). The percentage of protein content in grain was generally higher under optimum conditions, whereas genotypes tended to accumulate a relatively higher percentage of starch content under low N compared to optimum (Table 2). On average, the percentage of protein was reduced by 29%, ranging from 23 to 38% in all trials, while the percentage of starch content increased by 3%, ranging from 2 to 5% in all trials. Low-N stress reduced the percentage of oil by 2 to 9% in most trials, but increased it by 1 to 4%, or left it unchanged, in three trials. The mean performance of genotypes for protein content percentage ranged from 10.06 to 11.74% with an average of 10.65% under optimum conditions, and from 7.05 to 7.92 with an average of 7.49% under low N. The percentage of starch content varied between 68.22% and 70.44% with a mean of 69.04% under optimum conditions, and from 69.98% to 73.13% with a mean of 71.24% under low-N stress. The percentage of oil content was between 4.53% and 6.24% with an average of 5.50% under optimum conditions, and 4.57% and 6.02% with an average of 5.28% under low N. The heritability of various traits was good in most of trials, indicating that the effects were largely attributable to genotype. The heritability of grain yield was generally higher under optimum management (mean of all trials = 0.72) than under low N (mean of all trial = 0.54), as expected. Starch content and protein content had a heritability of greater than 0.60 under both management conditions, while oil content had consistently higher heritability under both management conditions (Table 2).The association between grain yield and grain quality traits was assessed under both optimum and low-N conditions. A positive and significant correlation was observed be- The heritability of various traits was good in most of trials, indicating that the effects were largely attributable to genotype. The heritability of grain yield was generally higher under optimum management (mean of all trials = 0.72) than under low N (mean of all trial = 0.54), as expected. Starch content and protein content had a heritability of greater than 0.60 under both management conditions, while oil content had consistently higher heritability under both management conditions (Table 2).The association between grain yield and grain quality traits was assessed under both optimum and low-N conditions. A positive and significant correlation was observed between grain yield and oil content, protein content or starch content (Table 3) in a small number of trials under both optimum and low-N conditions. However, most correlations were weak (r < 0.5) under both management conditions (Table 3). The average correlation of grain yield was negligible with oil content (r = 0.07 for optimum and r = 0.03 for low N) and starch content (r = −0.02 for optimum and r = −0.09 for low N) under both optimum and low-N conditions. The relation between grain yield and protein content was very weak under optimum (r = −0.23), but it was negligible under low-N (r = −0.08). An assessment of the relations between protein content and starch content was negative under both optimum and low-N conditions (Figure 2), and so the relation between starch content and oil content. On the other hand, grain yield was positively correlated with kernel weight under both optimum (mean r = 0.46) and low-N (r = 0.30) conditions (Table 3). Generally, the mean correlation between grain yield was very low with all grain quality traits, but the relationship between gain yield and kernel weight tended to be relatively high (Table 3).  The estimate of a phenotypic correlation between optimum and low-N management for each trait is presented in Figure 3A-E. For each trait, graphs are plotted separately for trials evaluated under moderate and severe stresses. The grouping of stress into moderate and severe is merely based on the percentage of yield reduction under low N relative to the respective grain yield of the optimally managed trials. Accordingly, the grain yields under the two conditions were positively related between optimum and moderate stress, albeit at a low magnitude (average r = 0.33). However, as the severity of stress increased, the relation for grain yield between optimum and low N tended to be negligible (p > 0.05 in more than 50% of the trials, Figure 3A,B). In the same manner, the relationship between the percentages of protein content, as well as the percentages of starch content, under optimum and low-N stress conditions were weak in both moderate and severe N stresses. The average correlation for the percentages of protein was 0.44, ranging from 0.14 to 0.65, and 0.37, ranging from −0.06 to 0.75, under moderate and severe N stress conditions, respectively. The percentages of starch content tended to be strongly related in most trials under both moderate (average r = 0.43) and severe stress (0.37) conditions, more so than both protein content and grain yield (Figure 3D,E). The percentages of oil content and kernel weight, on the other hand, had a high positive association between optimum and low-N conditions, regardless of the N stress level (Figure 3C,D,I,J). Highly significant mean squares for grain yield, grain composition and kernel weight under both high and low soil N conditions in all years were an indication of the presence of huge genotypic variability among the CIMMYT's current maize germplasm. Some genotypes in all trials were both N-responsive (give a high yield under high N) and N-efficient (give a better yield under low N) as they resulted in a high yield under both optimum and low soil N, while others gave a higher yield only under either of the conditions [8]. Worku et al. [8] observed a consistent association between high grain yield under low N and NUE (post-anthesis N uptake).The higher heritability of grain yield under optimum conditions implied greater genetic variance under optimum conditions compared to low N, suggesting the effectiveness of selection for grain yield under optimum condition [25]. Consistent with our result, Banziger et al. [26] reported 29% less heritability under low-N conditions than optimum, which agrees with our result (30% less under low N). In addition to grain yield, a large variation was observed for grain composition (oil content, starch content and protein content) and kernel weight under both soil N levels. The broad-sense heritability of oil content, protein content and starch content under optimum conditions were 6, 14 and 20% higher than low-N conditions, respectively. The genetic component of variance tended to be higher under optimum conditions than low N for both protein content and starch content (Table 2). The variance was comparable for oil content under both soil N levels, suggesting the effectiveness of selection for oil under both soil N levels [17,27,28]. This indicates that genetic diversity among genotypes was more or less intact under both soil conditions, particularly for oil content. It is encouraging because the genetic variance in maize germplasm under different soil-N conditions can be exploited through breeding. The percentage of protein content, starch content and oil content recorded for low-N trials was in agreement with results from a wide range of maize germplasm reported by Eckhoff and Paulsen [29], who found approximately 67.8-74% (mean 73%) starch content, 8-11.5% (mean 10%) protein content and 3.9-5.8% (mean 5%) oil content in maize kernels.The decreased percentage of grain protein content and the corresponding increase in starch content under low N was previously reported by Duvick, [12] and Duvic and Cassman [30]. These changes were observed in new varieties, which they attributed to the increased stress tolerance of the new varieties, including for low N. A similar change was observed in our study in the percentage of protein content and starch content under low N relative to the high-N condition, but it was the same for all genotypes in all trials, regardless of their yield potential under either optimum or low soil N stress conditions. Highly responsive NUE genotypes had shown yield advantage over both commercial checks and poor NUE responsive genotypes in respective trials but, generally, we observed little change in quality traits between these group of genotypes. Genotypes that are adapted to stress are known to minimize protein accumulation in order to maximize grain production with the little nitrogen available in the soil [11,31]. This is because the amount of N fertilizer required to maximize grain yield is known to be lower than the amount needed to produce maximum grain protein content [31]. The remobilization and transport of N from vegetative parts and post-anthesis uptake from the soil constitute the primary sources of grain N [14,31], which are highly related with NUE in tropical germplasm [8].The decrease in N fertilizer in the soil or inefficiency in N use results in decreased N sink capacity (zein), which causes less sucrose transport to kernels, resulting in less kernel weight and grain yield [32]. Therefore, genotypes that are low yielding under stress and poor in NUE usually attain the yield threshold on little N, and use the remaining N for protein synthesis, because of which such varieties usually have a higher proportion of protein than high-yielding and NUE genotypes [6]. The lack of a clear pattern between increased stress tolerance (NUE varieties) and change in kernel composition [12] could be due to the use of genotypes derived from inbred/source germplasm selected for NUE, i.e., favorable genes for NUE have been accumulated at some stage. Most of the commercial checks included in our trials were also derived from the CIMMYT germplasm screened for multiple stresses, including NUE, over the years. Further, the experimental materials in our trials were obtained from few years of breeding efforts contrary to the genotypes [12], which were from breeding efforts in different eras. To understand the association between change in starch content and protein content with low-N stress tolerance [12,30], we recommend further research with varieties contrasting for NUE. The establishment of a clear relationship between stress tolerance (high yield under low-N stress) and change in grain composition (starch content and protein content) would enable breeders to use starch content and protein content percentages as additional secondary traits for selecting low-N-tolerant genotypes. In the meantime, monitoring the amount of grain protein and starch content in trials conducted under low-N conditions is needed because there are genotypic differences for starch content and protein content. Further reduction in protein content beyond a certain threshold level is not tolerable [12], as seed protein is crucial for seed germination and seedling growth [33].Oil is an important element for seed germination [12]. The percentage of reduction for oil content in our study was smaller (2 to 9%) than reported by Liu et al. [13], which was a 16% reduction in low-N conditions relative to optimum management. The difference in germplasm (an F 2:3 mapping population in their case) and the method of pollination (selfpollinated kernels were used in their case) might have also contributed to the difference. On the other hand, Duvick [12] observed no change in oil percentage between optimum and low-N management conditions, which could be because the low N rate used (92 kg N/ha) was much higher than that in our managed low-N fields. Generally, it seems that the effect of N fertilization has little effect on changing the size of the embryos where oil is stored [18,34].In the current large set of tropical germplasm, we observed a negative association between starch content and protein content under both optimum and low-N soil fertility levels (Figure 2), but not between grain yield and protein content. Within vitro-grown kernels, Singletary and Below (1989) demonstrated that the addition of N fertilizer beyond an optimum level of starch content in kernels leads to a reduction in starch content and the subsequent increase in protein content. The analysis of change in yield potential over a period of time revealed changes in the composition of grain regardless of the species, while an increase in yield leads to a decrease in the protein/starch content and oil content ratio [35]. In maize, for example, the increase in the yield potential after 1967 was accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of protein content and an increase in that of starch content [12,30]. The negative relationship between grain protein content and grain yield could partly be associated with the higher glucose use for the synthesis of protein over that of carbohydrate [31].Despite an increase in the percentage of starch content under low N, the relationship between grain yield and starch content was either neutral (most of the trials) or weak. The starch in cereal endosperm is synthesized to enhance plant survival for the next generation [36,37], and any stress signal could lead plants to store the available starch in the reproductive organs to ensure the succession of the next generation. Generally, we did not observe a strong relationship between grain yield and any of the quality traits under both soil management conditions. This indicates the feasibility for the simultaneous improvement of grain yield and quality traits under both management conditions [13,16]. Therefore, with the regular monitoring of protein content at harvest, it is feasible to develop NUE maize varieties with acceptable quality.The association between quantitative characters measured in different environments is a function of the degree to which the same genes influence genetic variation in both environments [10]. The low correlation coefficient between grain yield under optimum and moderate low-N stress observed in our study indicates that only a few genes might be held in common for controlling grain yield under optimum and low soil N conditions. It was also evident from the high genotype-by-management interaction and the inconsistent rank of genotypes for grain yield under two environments (data not shown). Similar to our study, Worku et al. [10] also reported a low correlation for grain yield between optimum and low soil N conditions. As the average yield reduction under low N was increased from 40 to 60% relative to optimum grain yield, the correlation between grain yields under optimum and severely low N had deteriorated quickly, making it difficult to predict the grain yield under one soil N condition based on the performance of genotypes from contrasting environments [8][9][10]. The lack of a strong association between grain yield from high-and low-N environments under this and similar studies confirm the need to evaluate genotypes under optimum and low-N conditions to develop varieties that can perform in a wide range of soil N levels.Like grain yield, the prediction for protein content and starch content in one management condition based on results from another environment contrasting in N levels seems unfeasible, particularly as the stress level increases. This again could be due to the expression of different genes/QTLs under different management conditions. A strong association was observed for oil content between optimum and low-N management, indicating the presence of genes that are expressed under both management conditions. The performance of the genotypes for oil under one management condition can be fairly predicted based on the performance of other management conditions. Contrary to this result, Liu et al. [13] detected two different QTLs for oil content specifically expressed under different N conditions. The use of a mapping population derived from parents not contrasting for oil content might have affected the result.Breeding for tolerance to Low-N stress is very important to address the challenges faced by small-scale farmers in developing countries and to overcome environmental challenges due to nitrate leaching. NUE genotypes offer an environmentally friendly solution for low-N stress by giving a reasonable yield under a low range of N levels. However, grain quality traits should not be compromised while improving yield under low-N conditions. The increased percentage of starch content and the corresponding decrease in protein content under low soil N conditions could be an indication for increased stress tolerance, but there was no difference for grain composition between genotypes contrasting for NUE under both optimum and low-N conditions. Therefore, genetic variance for grain quality traits was not affected through breeding for NUE, as the values were within the range reported for diverse maize germplasm. However, it is crucial to monitor the protein content of germplasm under both optimum and managed low soil N conditions, as the correlations for protein content and starch content were minimal as the severity of low-N stress increased. Finally, we recommend the testing of a small set of germplasm contrasting for NUE to understand the relationship between low-N stress tolerance and changes in grain composition, particularly for protein content and starch content.The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy12020438/s1, Table S1. Planting and harvesting dates of each trial planted under low-N and optimum conditions in Kiboko, Kenya from 2011 to 2014. ","tokenCount":"5048"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6193358724.json b/data/part_1/6193358724.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3677406f44e3b11744281c8d12e6f7573aaab5b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6193358724.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"51159eafe9d0e18a7b9b427acf064d70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d4e22a6f-97a6-452c-9d19-973b6d751618/content","id":"781746574"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"03bbff7a-3ac6-43d8-8f76-9b929f6f1913","pagecount":"4","content":"Seeking a rugged resilience Genebanks ensure that plant breeders and agricultural researchers have ready access to the diverse genetic resources needed to improve crops as global environmental conditions and our dietary needs change. Crop wild relatives (CWR) are an especially important component of genebank collections because they are valuable sources of resistance to pests and diseases and tolerance to abiotic stresses in addition to yield-related traits. Compared with the cosseted products of modern plant breeding, crop wild relatives retain a rugged resilience that we can draw upon to cope with some of today's emerging challenges.Goat grass (Aegilops tauschii) is the wild progenitor of bread wheat and a source of numerous useful traits in wheat, including several genes that confer resistance to stem rust, karnal bunt, tan spot and hessian fly. In the process of evolution, goatReaching into the past to tackle new challenges:Improving wheat by conserving wild 'goat grass' grass crossed naturally in situ with an ancestor of durum wheat (emmer). The result was hexaploid wheat, which we know today as bread wheat. Scientists succeeded in replicating this cross and named it synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW). SHW serves as a bridge to transfer desirable traits from both goat grass and durum wheat into elite lines. Researchers consider it to be the ideal germplasm for raising both yield potential and diversity of several traits simultaneously. The fact that lines derived from SHW have exhibited traits that are not expressed in either of the parents confirms that this germplasm can create novel genetic variation.While there is mounting research interest in using crop wild relatives as a source of important traits for adaptation to environmental and social change, there is scant information regarding their contribution to varieties that have been introduced to farmers. This study addresses that gap by Together, CIMMYT and ICARDA genebanks hold 50% of the wheat collection reported in Genesys. Conserving more than 150,000 wheat accessions, CIMMYT is the largest genebank for a single crop. The ICARDA genebank has high proportions of landraces and wild relatives, where they represent 56% and 13% of the wheat collection, respectively. These two genebanks are complementary; the CIMMYT collection is rich in breeding lines and pre-bred germplasm whereas ICARDA holds rare landraces and CWR. The germplasm conserved at CIMMYT and ICARDA is available for distribution through the multilateral system under the terms of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.The genebanks play a vital role in crop improvement because they conserve, maintain and make available both raw and pre-bred germplasm for the development of wheat varieties containing BOX 1 The CIMMYT and ICARDA genebanks economically valuable traits that are needed to confront emerging challenges such as climate variability and micronutrient deficiency.• The availability of synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) widens the genetic base for bread wheat improvement.• ICARDA and CIMMYT hold 1,570 accessions of goat grass (Aegilops tauschii). More than 600 accessions were used to develop 1,577 SHW since 1986.• Over 10,000 samples of SHW were distributed to 110 institutions in 39 countries since 2000, representing 21% of the total germplasm distributed externally by CIMMYT genebank.• Survey findings indicate that wheat varieties derived from SHW are currently grown on 10% and 34% of the wheat area in India and southwest China, respectively.tracing the use of goat grass accessions conserved in the genebank through the stages of wheat improvement to varieties grown in the fields of farmers.Temporal patterns in the distribution of SHW by the CIMMYT genebank were also analysed as an indication of the demand for this intermediate germplasm.We searched the available evidence in order to trace goat grass (Aegilops tauschii) from accessions conserved in the genebank through the components of the wheat improvement process to farmers' fields.We began by analysing the pedigree of primary SHW to identify parents.Once the goat grass accessions were identified in the genebank, passport data enabled us to assess their origins as well as the frequency of their use in SHW development. Promising pre-bred germplasm is incorporated into breeding lines for further selection and evaluation. The elite lines derived from SHW are then included in the international nurseries where nearly finished varieties are assembled for evaluation and selection under different environmental conditions by wheat breeders around the world. We examined the incorporation of SHW-derived lines into seven nurseries over time between 1996 and 2018 using records provided by CIMMYT.Next, we identified the list of varieties released with SHW parentage from online databases (http://www.wheatpedigree.net/, http://wheatatlas.org/), literature review and wheat survey data collected by CIMMYT. In the last stage, we explored the potential for impact on farm production by conducting a survey of users and breeders. The countries included in our survey were China, India, Argentina, Pakistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Bolivia. Respondents generated estimates of the share of wheat area planted to varieties with SHW parentage and reported the economically important traits associated with their use.The development of primary synthetics mobilized more than 600 Aegilops tauschii accessions from genebanks in numerous countries around the world, leading to the creation of some 1577 SHW (Figure 1). These primary synthetics represented an accessible reservoir of genetic diversity that could be explored by plant breeders in their continual search for economically important traits. We observe this in a high demand for SHW germplasm. Around 10,167 samples of SHW were distributed to 110 institutions in 39 countries since the year 2000 (Figure 2).   Turning to use in breeding, we found that the incorporation of SHW in elite germplasm had its impact on the composition of the international nurseries. Since 1996, 853 lines derived from crosses with Aegilops tauschii were evaluated in the seven nurseries included in this study (Figure 3). Synthetic hexaploids were extensively screened for resistance to Septoria, stem rust, and fusarium head blight. The number of SHW-derived lines included in these nurseries over the years reflects their significance. In the last nine years, 30% of SHW-derived lines were screened for Septoria resistance.These findings corroborate the results of an analysis showing that genetic diversity conferred though parentage (Coefficient of Parentage) rose as more SHW-derived parents were included in pedigrees of CIMMYT germplasm distributed in nurseries. This finding is made more meaningful when we consider that nurseries are a gateway for wheat germplasm selection by national agricultural research services (NARS)-representing a lower bound on the genetic diversity available for introduction to farmers.Eighty-five wheat varieties with SHW in their genetic background have been released to farmers in 21 countries.Our survey revealed that 57% of these varieties reached NARS through the international nurseries. Most of them are released in China (18), India ( 10)BOX 2 The Genebank Impacts FellowshipThroughout the Genebank Impacts Fellowship, I had a unique chance to visit several genebanks and learned about different ways in managing germplasm collections. In addition to the scientific knowledge gained, I could see the strength of working in a multidisciplinary team. Our impact study involved genebank managers, pre-breeders, breeders, agricultural economists, and scientists from other disciplines. These different backgrounds allowed me to analyze many aspects of genebank management from conservation to evaluation in the farmers' field.This experience expanded my perspective on genetic resources conservation. I could see how the focus is now shifting towards the use with different strategies in each institution. In CIMMYT, for example, pre-breeding is a key activity linked to the incorporation of traits from CWR in adapted background. Having this prebred germplasm in the genebank allow for its characterization, evaluation and therefore make it easier for the users. ICARDA is exploiting germplasm passport data, especially for landraces, to develop algorithms allowing to make trait by origin association. This approach is called FIGS (Focused Identification for Germplasm Strategy) and it is successful in finding several traits in landraces.and Pakistan (9). Survey respondents estimated that SHW-derived cultivars are currently grown on over 2 million hectares in southwest China (34% of total wheat area) and on 10% of the wheat area in India. Reported yield potential of these varieties ranges from 2.7 to 9 tonnes/ha depending on the environment and growing conditions. The variety Chuanmai 42 reached a record yield of 10.7 t/ha in 2010 -30% higher than the previous provincial record for a wheat variety (Li, Wan, and Yang 2014). Pre-breeding links the conservation of crop wild relatives to the incorporation by plant breeders of economically valuable traits that are needed to confront emerging challenges, such as climate variability and micronutrient deficiency.The genebank plays a vital role in crop improvement because it conserves, maintains, and makes readily available both raw and pre-bred germplasm. The story of goat grass (Aegilops tauschii) and synthetic hexaploid wheat illustrates this process. Goat grass, one of the wild ancestors of modern bread wheat, has been re-incorporated into new varieties via intermediate germplasm. These new varieties supply crucial traits, including tolerance to drought and heat and pest resistance, that are much needed by farmers around the world. They are especially important to farmers in developing countries who often have little means other than the seed they plant to protect their crop.We found that the complexity of the overall crop improvement process including pre-breeding makes it difficult to trace back to the origin of advanced lines and released cultivars. A more integrated data management system is needed to better accomplish this aim in future studies. For example, DOIs could enhance our ability to directly link genetic resources conserved in genebanks with the germplasm devel-The Wheat Genetic Resources Center at Kansas State University is using the genotypic data to reduce the physical number of wild seed accessions for use, but at the same time increasing the use of wheat diversity in pre-breeding.Hafid in the ICARDA Morocco active genebank.","tokenCount":"1596"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6205963524.json b/data/part_1/6205963524.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eadbc56677ff938380a33887a4bb6a55be168e70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6205963524.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f43e9d295d081dec5c7b51adda8ab8de","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9ff2d00a-29c9-4764-a87a-5feea6743c1f/content","id":"823937858"},"keywords":["Seed system","seed security","maize","wheat","mountain","Nepal"],"sieverID":"0bbda687-8ae1-4ec2-b421-ac364cd428fb","pagecount":"45","content":"The designations employed in the presentation of materials in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CIMMYT or its contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of CIMMYT or our partners. CIMMYT encourages fair use of this material. Proper citation is requested.The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is a non-profit international agricultural research and training organization that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works for a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYT's research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture. CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.With the increasing global population and the growing demand for healthy and culturally appropriate food, it is important to reassess the prevalent global agri-food systems. Redesigned and a renewed commitment to resilience and inclusion is needed, in the face of climatic risk and epidemics, including human health risks and plant disease outbreaks. Food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty, and social and gender injustice have worsened the situation further, highlighting the need to redouble our efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.The Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) Program at CIMMYT generates social and agricultural innovations, cutting-edge agricultural technologies and has an abiding commitment to sustainable, inclusive approaches to agricultural research for development. The prevailing biases faced by youth and women in agriculture, along with minorities and aging agricultural populations, are bottlenecks to resilient and equitable development. CIMMYT strives to bring together other CGIAR scientists, academics, public, private sectors, and civil society to tackle the wicked problems of food and nutrition insecurity and climatic risks.A foundation for SAS is equitable access to quality seeds that addresses the needs and preferences of farming communities. This includes women, youths, and marginalized farmers, who seek means to increase productivity, adapt to climate change, for equitable and inclusive development that reduces the number of people under destitution through increasing access to ample and nutritious food. Access to quality seed is highly gendered, as is household and community seed security. This paper importantly insights into how to improve seed security equitably in Nepal and contribute to #BreakTheBias in agriculture, within and beyond families, and thus towards gender equality in agriculture and rural development.Director, Sustainable Agrifood Systems Program (SAS) International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)Women are normally engaged in informal and subsistence types of seed security systems and have limited access to quality seed and lack mobility. Also, they hold limited decision-making in the family and participate little in formal seed systems (Adam et al. 2019;Galiè et al. 2017; Kandiwa et al. 2018), which results in low farm productivity and income. In contrast, a gender-responsive household seed security system could foster the recognition of women's preferences and interests. Access to quality seed, for example, enhances farm productivity and helps in women's empowerment through achieving higher crop productivity and recognizing their diverse varietal preferences. For example, women look for shorter maize varieties for cultivation than taller varieties.Agricultural income is pivotal to livelihoods and poverty alleviation in agriculture-based developing countries such as Nepal. Women in rural areas of Nepal spend most of their time in farming, mainly seed production, whereas men majorly make decisions (Bajracharya et al. 2016). Though the government of Nepal has launched various policies, strategies, plans and programs aimed at mainstreaming gender-awareness in agriculture (FAO, 2019), the situation of women has hardly changed. Women play a crucial role in saving seeds and maintaining seed security but often have limited access to certified seed (Bawa et al. 2014; Madin, 2020) and their poor economic condition is another major constraint (Bawa et al. 2014). Together with rice, maize and wheat are the world's major cereals and are the second-and third-most cultivated staples in Nepal (Awika, 2011), anchoring many farming systems and contributing significantly to food security and livelihoods. In Nepal, maize is grown on over 0.9 million ha with an annual production of about 2.7 million t (MOAD, 2018), while wheat is grown on over 0.7 million ha with a yearly production of about 2.0 million t (MoALD, 2020).More than 80% of Nepal's maize is grown in the hills and mountains (MOAD, 2018) with yields far below the national average (1.19 t/ha). Wheat farming is widespread in the lowland, Terai region of Nepal and wheat thrives in the Terai's warm climate, but it is also an important crop for smallholder farmers in the mountain environments, despite there being less favorable for cereal production. Inadequate supplies and inferior seed quality further hinders maize and wheat production. The remoteness of mountain regions limits the access to improved and suitable varieties, adequate seed storage systems, or government support (Gauchan, 2017;Wyss et al. 2018) and insect pests further reduce the quality and quantity of smallholder farmers' crops (Munyaka et al. 2015), affecting households' food security and seed security.A relatively new concept, household seed security denotes timely access to enough of the right type of quality seed for crop production to support household food security, livelihoods, and resilience in the face of extreme or erratic weather and disasters in general (Sperling, 2006;Sperling and McGuire, 2012). Seeds and food security are linked in that quality seed is a must for increased yields (Bellon et al. 2003), but seed-secure households may be food insecure and food-secure households may be seed insecure. Seed stocks and food stocks are different and affected differently by lower production and other shocks. A production shortfall might induce food insecurity but not always result in a lack of seed to sow; for most crops, a tiny proportion of the harvest is enough for the seed stock (McGuire and Sperling, 2011) and seed can be accessed readily from informal channels such as neighbors, friends, or relatives through borrowing or bartering grain and goods. Seed access channels also include community seed banks, agro dealers, local markets and sometimes government sources or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Even though the literature on seed security is not as mature as that on food security, a growing number of regional and country-level studies on seed security are available (Amir 2020; Husenov et al. 2021; Khan and Shrestha, 2020; Shrestha and Gauchan, 2020). Seed security is an aspect of seed systems that can go beyond seeds and households, whereas seed systems capture broader concepts of the process to achieve seed security.The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has listed three seed security pillars: availability, accessibility, and quality (Sperling et al., 2006). FAO's seed security assessment framework has provided 5 broader pillars of seed security: seed access, seed availability, seed suitability, seed quality, and resilience (FAO, 2016). Seed systems connote the process and the enabling environment that support households to become seed secure. Moreover, the seed system resilience is a socio-ecological system (McGuire and Sperling, 2013; Kansiime and Mastenbroek, 2016) and goes beyond the household level to include seed accessibility, availability, suitability, quality, and resilience (seed flow channels and networks).Seed security contributes significantly to the food security and livelihoods of mountain communities, given that food production, improved crop yields, and the availability of preferred food varieties depend on the availability of quality seed (Setimela et al. 2004;Pelmer, 2005). Farming households may interact with multiple seed systems to become seed secure; an integrated seed system that involves both the formal and informal seed sectors is ideal to achieve seed security (Wekunda, 2012). Farming households are seed secure only if the seed systems are well recognized and fully established to deliver the seed and crop traits needed for increased production, nutritional gains, and farming system resilience (McGuire and Sperling, 2016). We posit that maize and wheat seed systems in the mountain region have a significant bias in gender and social inclusion and observed biases are in the household decision-making and participation in seed related training.The maize and wheat seed systems in the mountain would benefit from the greater involvement of women, but development initiatives have seldom considered gender issues. Women face difficulties in seed accessibility and the most vital are the insufficient capital and land (Bawa et al. 2014). This study seeks to answer questions like: What roles do women play in maize and wheat seed systems in the mountains of Nepal? What are the major constraints for women to partake in seed systems, and how do the existing gender and social norms play a role? We need such information to better understand households' seed security status and their resiliency for future risks.There is a high demand for improved seed but a wide gap exists between supply and demand in South Asian countries (Shrestha and Gauchan, 2020), including Nepal. Nepal enacted Seed Act 1988 (amendment 2008) and seed production guidelines 1998 as the initial legal framework for seed production and its supply chain management (Gairhe et al. 2021). The country has a National Seed Policy 1999, Community Seed Bank Guidelines 2009, Seed Regulation 2013 in place, and at present, the National Seed Vision 2013-2025, intended to streamline national seed sector development (Gairhe et al. 2021). The legal documents initially focused more on seed production and supply chain management, through the active engagement of the public sector in the seed system. However, after the 2000s, the government emphasized private sector and community-based organizations in seed system development, albeit with limited geographies and commodities and despite the fact that 90% of the national seed requirement of farmers (Adhikari, 2014) is met by informal, local seed systems (home saving, exchange, sharing, purchase from local markets) and the seed replacement rate, an indicator of the field use of improved, good quality seed, is minimal (<10%), especially in the hills and mountains (Gauchan, 2019). A recent study, however, stated that the formal seed sector (government and private companies) provides up to 20% of Nepal's cereal crops seed requirements (Devkota and Shrestha, 2020).The informal seed sector is the primary source of crop varieties and also of knowledge for many smallholder farmers (Otieno et al. 2016;Hussain et al., 2017). Informal seed sources are not only the seed providers but also an exchange of traditional knowledge on farming for improved production (Kiwanuka and Kintu, 2004). Loss of local varieties leads to the erosion of genetic diversity, affecting seed and food security. Some scholars (Jamieson et al. 2016;Devkota et al. 2014) have recommended storing seeds in homes and acknowledged the role of seed exchange to conserve local crop biodiversity. When farmers cannot afford the seeds from the formal seed system, they instead seek to access seeds from the farmer's seed system (Kiwanuka and Kintu, 2004). In Nepal, prior studies (Gairhe et al. 2021, Timsina et al. 2016) stated a domination of the formal seed systems for maize seed, especially in the terai and hills. In contrast, KC et al. (2015) stated <10% contribution of the formal seed systems (Agrovets) to the total households' cereal crop seeds requirement. However, with wheat, most farmers store seeds at home. Sulaiman and Andini (2013) stated that households used 85% of the total wheat seeds and the remaining 15% either stored for the next season, consumed, or exchanged.Seed quality is the very first prerequisite for healthy crops, good yields and food security (Khan and Shrestha, 2020). Using improved quality seeds alone can cause 20-30% increase in yields (Devkota and Shrestha, 2020). Purchase of a low-quality seed is risky for marginalized farmers, because it compromises harvests, leading to food and income insecurity (Templer and Kariuki, 2016). Farmers in remote villages and those owning small marginal lands have limited access to the formal seed sector (Fredenburg, 2015). Prior studies suggest proper seed testing and certification to support farmers to avoid the use of inferior seeds (Manggoel et al. 2021). However, lack of a quality check in the seeds sector in developing countries (Kugbei et al. 2005; Sperling and Katungi, 2011) including Nepal, is a major issue.Government policies limit the participation of private seed companies in breeder and foundation seed production; companies are more involved in producing 'certified' and 'labelled' vegetable seed and hybrid crop varieties, mainly for urban and peri-urban markets. Nevertheless, the private sector plays a significant role in maize and wheat seed supply in Nepal ---approximately 85% and 67%, respectively (Shrestha, 2012;Gauchan, 2017). Hybrid seed of maize are majorly imported (Adhikari, 2014). The quality of imported seed is not always satisfactory and, at the same time, households' access to it is minimal. The lack of timely access to affordable, quality seed is severe in mountain and other remote areas because of challenging geography, the dominance of the informal seed systems, and very low seed replacement rates.In addition to the issues outlined above, given increasing male out-migration and the resulting \"feminization\" of Nepali agriculture, wherein women often assume the leadership of farm activities, it is important to explore gendered prejudices and constraints that affect their access to seed (Gartaula et al. 2010;Kelkar, 2010). This study thus aims to document gender issues in maize and wheat seed systems in the mountains of Nepal and specifically to (1) assess the availability, accessibility, suitability, and quality of the maize and wheat seed; (2) assess households' maize and wheat seed security; and (3) document social norms and gender-disaggregated constraints to maize and wheat seed security.Particularly in developing countries, women's contribution to agriculture and the rural economy is important. Women make up a large percentage of the agricultural labor force and their involvement has increased in recent decades, as they have shouldered responsibility for household survival and responding to economic opportunities through farming (Lastarria-Cornhiel, 2008). Approximately 60% of the global women make up the agricultural workforce, yet, six out of ten women live with food insecurity (Furey, 2021), and in Nepal agriculture employs more than 80% of women (FAO, 2019). Women employment in the agricultural sector is much more essential for their empowerment than men (FAO, 2011). However, women's contribution to the economy, agriculture labor, and overall rural development has not been recognized in prior research and development programs. Many scholars and development programs still wrongly perceive activities of women. For example, varietal seed selection, producing agriculture crops, following specific farming systems, tending animals, working for wages in agriculture, carrying the agriculture produce to the market and other rural enterprises as not \"economically active\" employment. Hence, this thought eventually led to gendered policies development projects. Ultimately, gendered policy favored new technologies, innovations, recommendations, and faulty and unscientific seed supply systems, all leading to gender-unfriendly conclusions. For nearly 15 years, Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) and Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) developed technologies and innovative practices for maize and wheat farming in Nepal. We are in the Anthropocene epoch, frequent arrival of climate-induced disasters is common, and poor and marginalized people, including women, are supposed to be the most affected. We designed this study with a focus on the FAO's household seed security assessment framework (FAO 2016): seed availability, seed accessibility, seed suitability, seed quality and resilience (Figure 1); where we included the women's agency because women are more of a concern in terms of household seed security and excluding them from the analysis could insecure households from the crop seeds. For example, the probability of adoption of improved wheat varieties decreases by 11% for male dominated households as compared to female household heads (Subedi et al. 2019). We have chosen villages from Mandan Deupur Municipality (MDM) and Panchpokhari Thangpal Rural Municipality (PTRM) of Kavrepalanchowk and Sindhupalchowk districts, respectively (Table 1). Although these areas are near Kathmandu, Panchpokhari has yet to connect year-round motorable roads and thus we can find notable differences in agricultural intensification and markets, and thus possibly seeds, especially for vegetables and cereal crops. * Through consultation with the municipality and discussions with villagers.This study considered maize and wheat seed systems. Within a seed system, households are subcategorized by caste/ethnicity, comprising Dalits, Janajati, and Brahmin/Chettri (BC). Janajati are indigenous ethnic groups, Dalits are a disadvantaged group, and BC are the so-called 'elite' castes. Intra-household relationships of women differ notably by caste and ethnicity, which often defines gender roles. Prior studies stated that intra-household relationships partly explain women's access to resources and their freedom and wellbeing. We assumed such differences could influence maize and wheat seed availability, accessibility, preferences, and quality in the study area.In 2021, we visited the area to identify maize and wheat production villages. The criteria used were the number of households cultivating each of the two crops. We then selected villages where most households had cultivated maize and wheat crops last season. We categorized those households by caste/ethnicity. The list became our \"sampling frame\" for household randomization for the survey. A proportionate random sampling method was used to draw a sample of 250 households from the study area. As there were limited Dalit households in our sampling frame, we sampled at least 10 Dalit households for the survey. Household survey, focus group discussions (FGD), and key informant interviews (KII) were the data collection tools for this study. For the survey, we prepared a questionnaire following FAO guidelines for household surveys. Likewise, we used a well-constructed checklist to conduct FGDs and KIIs. KoboCollect, an Android-based tool, was used for data collection in household surveys. The draft survey questionnaire was first tested and refined through application in nearby households. Likewise, we revised the checklist for FGDs and KIIs.Based on the theoretical framework (Figure 1), we selected a few context-specific indicators for the four seed security pillars and women's agency (Table 2). Each seed security pillar has been assessed separately; each value was a summation, but the sum value of the seed suitability pillar was divided by 2 because it contained 10 indicators, compared to 5 for the other pillars. The four pillar index values were averaged to calculate household seed security status. Likewise, women's agency was assessed through a \"gender roles index\" that describes men and women's involvement in household chores, decision-making, and seed specific activities, among others.This is the average of all indices ---availability, accessibility, preference and quality ---nearly synonymous with the \"resilience\" of the FAO seed security assessment guidelines. The score is one way of assessing household strength/resilience when faced by a major shock or stress. The higher the score, higher the households' capacity to bounce back from any kind of stress and disaster because of their higher seed security status.All indicators used in estimating household seed security were measured as dummy values. We assigned 1, if the response (typically, \"yes\") indicates an outcome that enhances household seed security; and 0 otherwise. For example, if a respondent answered \"yes\" to the question, \"did you get the maize (or wheat) seed at the planting time last season?\", we coded 1. Seed security index values ranged from 1 to 5 but, for ease of understanding, we multiplied them by 100 in data tabulation. Based on the seed security index, households fell into four groups: none/minimal (below 25), below average (25 to 49), average (50 to 74), and above average (75 and above). Responses for some indicators required further explanation, because we transformed them into 0 or 1 after a series of initial calculations. Those are seed rates, household asset, and seed germination rates.(i) Seed used per unit area. This was first calculated by dividing crop cultivated land area by the respective quantity of seed used during the last season (maize and wheat separately). If the seed rates were higher than the recommended values of 1.5 kg (maize) or 3.5 kg (wheat) per Ropani (1 Ropani = 508 m 2 ), it was coded 1, because higher seed rates indicate adequate seed availability.(ii) Household asset index. We calculated a summative index for household assets, comprising 16: air conditioner, computer, generator, large wooden furniture, LPG gas, motorcycle, power tiller, refrigerator, smartphone, solar water heater, table fan, television, thresher, tractor, traditional phone, and washing machine. The median value for the asset index was 4, which separated the higher half of households from the lower half of the households. We coded 1 for those households who had an asset index value greater than 4 (median value), thinking that a higher number of assets indicates relative prosperity and, thus, an enhanced capacity to access maize and wheat seed.(iii) Seed germination percentage of farms. Respondents estimated the average seed germination percentage on their farm for the most recent maize or wheat crop. If the stated value was above 85% (the recommended value), we coded 1, as it reflects better availability of and accessibility to quality seed.We used a five-point Likert scale to measure men and women's participation in various activities, grouped into four categories: (i) daily chores (within the household); (ii) beyond the household; (iii) decision-making; and (iv) seed specific. We developed indices, using several questions asked as indicators (Table 2). Respondents were asked to choose from a continuum of 1 to 5, being 1 \"always men\", 2 \"usually men\", 3 \"both men and women\", 4 \"usually women\", or 5 \"always women\" (Figure 3). We estimated an average index for each category of activities and finally averaged those indices to calculate the overall 'gender role index'. The index values ranged from 1 to 5, 1 showing men always performing all activities, while 5 showing women always performing all activities; and 3 for about equal participation of men and women (Figure 3). Finally, the \"gender role index\" values were used to categorize households for the gendered division of labor: (i) \"men working\" (index value <2.90); (ii) \"men and women working\" (index values in between 2.90 to 3.10), and (iii) \"women working\" (index value >3.10).  The study presents disaggregated data by municipality, seed system, and caste/ethnicity. In most cases, means and frequencies of the indicators are tabulated. We compared the means of the households' seed security index among the three household types, through a rank-based nonparametric test, the Kruskal-Wallis H, at the 5% level of significance.The study interviewed 250 households, 120 from Mandan Deupur municipality and 130 from Panchpokhari rural municipality. Approximately one-third of the respondents were males, at an average age of 46 years old, and their education level was poor (Table 3). Females headed a small number of households (17%). Our sample had relatively more nuclear (husband, wife and children) families than joint families (husband, wife, children, grandparents). All households depended on agriculture for their livelihoods (Table 4). Farm animals and animal product sales were equally vital for their survival. One-third of households relied on daily-wage labor earnings. Households at Panchpokhari were more dependent on daily wages and remittances and had greater access to off-farm income, including salary-based services and self-employed small businesses like petty shops and carpet sales. Average agricultural landholdings were highest for BC (0.534 ha) followed by Janajati (0.457 ha) and Dalits (0.254 ha). Maize was cultivated on similar land areas between BC (0.24 ha) and Janajati (0.23 ha) and was low (0.15 ha) in Dalit households (  Overall, 62% of the households interviewed had insufficient food production for a year (Table 6). This figure was much higher for Dalit (85%) and Janajati (70%) households. Households in Mandan Deupur (43%) are more food secure from their own agricultural production than those in Panchpokhari (34%). Information on maize and wheat seed sources was collected through focus group discussions in both municipalities and categorized by caste/ ethnicity (Figure 4; see also Appendix 1 for notable findings of FGDs). Households obtain maize and wheat seed from both the formal and informal sectors. Most households in Mandan Deupur purchased maize seed from formal markets, whereas, in Panchpokhari, households managed from informal sources. BC households mainly relied on local and distant markets for maize and wheat seed, whereas most Dalit and Janajati households got seed from informal sources. Key informal sources were neighbors, relatives, and saved seed (Table 7). Half the Janajati households saved their own seed. In Mandan Deupur, households relied largely on neighbors, recycling seed from harvests of hybrid varieties of the BC group, resulting in crops of inferior quality. Households relied on multiple seed sources for maize and wheat seeds; however, majorly depended on a single source, either the markets or other sources of informal seed system, mostly the home saved seeds.  Most households (over 80% in every group) reported timely access to maize and wheat seed, particularly during planting season. From 10 to 12% of Janajati and Dalit households had concern about the timely availability of seeds, especially in Mandan Deupur (Table 8). Approximately 10% of the households complained about inadequate supply of maize and wheat seeds of their choice, and most of them depend on nearby agrovets for a regular supply. Finally, seeding rates, a proxy for household seed availability at sufficient quantity, were nearly similar among castes/ethnicity, except for Janajati in Panchpokhari, nearly 63% of whom used lower than recommended seeding rates. Table 9 shows the seed availability index estimated by summing 5 indicators. Overall, the timely availability of adequate amounts of maize and wheat seeds was no major concern in the study area, with the exception of Dalit households, and the difference was high in Mandan Deupur for both maize and wheat seed. The frequency tabulation of the indicators shows that BC households in Panchpokhari had (i) lower sole dependency on agriculture and higher access to off-farm income sources, (ii) better household assets, (iii) lower seed accessibility problems during prior disasters, (iv) were better known to people who could provide seed during a crisis, and (v) felt less of an economic burden due to high seed prices (Table 10). Between municipalities, Dalit households in Mandan Deupur had (i) higher sole dependency on agriculture and lower access to off-farm income sources, (ii) lower household assets, (iii) higher seed accessibility problem during prior disasters, (iv) were less known to people who could provide seeds in the crisis, and (v) felt a higher economic burden due to high seed prices. Households' seed accessibility indexes show that maize growing BC households in Mandan Deupur were less able to acquire seed than other groups (Table 11) and that households in Panchpokhari were better able to acquire wheat and maize seed than households in Mandan Deupur. We measured varietal suitability through 10 indicators (Table 12), especially accounting for varietal qualities and their problems, households' satisfaction with current varieties, and varietal replacement possibilities. Among the 10 indicators, at both the locations, and for all ethnic groups, with only slight variation, grain yield was the most highly-valued trait. An interesting finding was that households' varietal preferences did not necessarily respond to market demand. Over 80% of the respondents in all castes/ethnic groups stated that there was low market demand for their maize and wheat grain. A small portion of farmers wished to change crop varieties, if yields of the new ones were better, while 30-50% of households from each group reported a frequent change in variety in recent years. Nonetheless, most households expressed satisfaction with existing varieties. The varietal suitability index (presented in Table 13) was higher for Janajati households than for households from the other groups, for both crops and locations. Overall, the calculated varietal suitability index was greater for Dalits than for the BC group in Mandan Deupur and was similar in Panchpokhari.  Seed quality was assessed through five indicators (Table 14). Perceptions of seed cleanliness ranged from 70 to 95.6%, with the lowest and highest in the Janajati ethnic group in Mandan Deupur and Panchpokhari, respectively. Most households (>85%) did not note that seed of a particular variety had been adulterated with that of other varieties. However, 10 to 27 percent of households reported the presence of diseased seeds in the maize and wheat seed they had sown the previous season. Similarly, broken seeds were reported by 10 to 30% of households. Overall, we found that maize and wheat seed used by farmers was neither pure nor free from dirt and other contaminants, which perhaps explains why 16 to 55% of households reported low germination rates (<85%) in their maize and wheat crop stands, and particularly in Panchpokhari. The household seed quality index (Table 15) shows that maize seed quality is better than that of wheat seed. Dalit households, especially in Panchpokhari, used the lowest quality of wheat seed (index value 2.7), however, they acquired comparable quality maize seed. Most households (67%) stated \"average\" seed security, with the remaining 27% scoring their seed security as \"above average\" (Table 16). Households in Panchpokhari felt they had better seed security, with nearly 39% qualifying it as \"above average\", than those in Mandan Deupur (only 14.2%). Likewise, by caste/ethnicity, 12.5% of Dalit households responded that their seed security was \"below average\". Within the municipalities, however, we observed notable differences. A similar percentage of BC households in Panchpokhari responded \"below average\" and \"above average\" regarding seed security; however, in Mandan Deupur, only 3.3% of BC households said their seed security was \"above average\". Overall, we conclude that (i) most households in the study area feel they are \"seed insecure,\" (ii) households in Mandan Deupur felt they were even less seed secure, (iii) BC households in Mandan Deupur responded as feeling less seed secure than other groups, and (iv) 1 in 10 Dalit households see themselves as being severely seed insecure. Household gender roles on the four broad activities was measured through 'gender role index', that ranged from 1 to 5, 1 showing men always performing all activities, while 5 showing women always performing all activities (see Figure 3). Overall, the gender roles index for households was 3.2 (slightly towards women performing activities), however it varied from 1.9 (mainly men performing activities) to 4.8 (mainly women performing activities), which shows that there was variation across households in participation in household work between men and women (Table 17). On average, women were mainly involved in household daily chores (index value 3.9) and seed related activities (index value 3.8), whereas men mainly took part in activities that are performed outside the household (index value 2.4), with an equal level of involvement of men and women in decisionmaking (index value 2.9). By ethnicity/caste, BC women tended more to perform mostly daily household chores (index value 4.0) than women in the other two groups.By municipality (Table 18), BC men in Mandan Deupur usually took part more in the community work (index value 1.9) compared to the BC men in Panchpokhari (index value 2.7). Overall, we found that women are confined to household daily chores and they are heavily involved in the management of crop seeds. A notable observation is that women are involved in household-level decision-making but their participation in activities beyond household is minimal.  We finally compared the household seed security index with gender roles. For this, we prepared a gendered \"households x labor\" division: \"men working\", \"men and women working\" and \"women working\". A Kruskal-Wallis H test showed that household seed security differs significantly between the different household groups,  2 (2) =7.852, p = 0.020, with a mean rank seed security score of 100.86 for \"men working\" households, 113.88 for \"men and women working\" households, and 135.25 for household \"women working\" households. Table 19 shows that seed security between \"men\" versus \"women\" households and \"men and women\" versus \"women\" households was statistically different (significant at 5%). We found a clear effect of gender roles on household seed security. Although we found limited maize and wheat varietal diversity in the study areas, farmers accessed seed for those crops from both formal (local Agrovets and distant markets) and informal (traditional local providers) seed systems (Table 7). Both BC and Janajati households relied on multiple sources for maize and wheat seeds. However, Dalits had limited seed sources and vital for them were informal sources, especially for the wheat seeds in which they had no access at all to commercial seeds from agrovets. Dalit households in both locations do not visit agrovets for wheat seeds, informal seed sources have fulfilled all of their wheat seed requirements to date. Figure 4 illustrates that seed systems vary by caste/ethnicity and municipalities, as well as seed systems. Farmers in Panchpokhari majorly relied on local seed sources (villagers, home, relatives, and \"aicho-paicho\"). However, the local seed system was \"broken\" in Mandan Deupur -where agrovets (formal seed suppliers) provide maize seeds to most farmers. A local \"kind to kind\" exchange system, \"aichopaicho\", for example, exists in Panchpokhari for both maize and wheat seeds. However, it was not observed in Mandan Deupur for maize seed exchange. Likewise, another \"labor to cash/kind/labor\" exchange system, \"arma-perma\", only exists for wheat seeds in Panchpokhari.We argue that the formal seed system has superseded the farmer's seed system that once existed in Mandan Deupur and foresee a similar outcome soon in Panchpokhari, especially for maize seed. Agrovets are the only formal seed sources at local levels at present. As private entities, they are motivated by profit and, furthermore, monitored less because of a weak governance system. Farmers' access to quality seed is only possible by developing the formal seed systems (Omolehin et al. 2008; Khan and Asim, 2020), that is by strengthening agrovets, and is vital for quality seed availability and higher yields. We thus suggest harnessing the strengths of both formal and informal seed systems and linking them more effectively in the mountains of Nepal.We stated that timely availability of adequate amounts of maize and wheat seeds was not a major issue in the study area under normal conditions, yet Dalit households had higher difficulties with seed availability, especially in Mandan Deupur (Table 8 and 9). However, it was a serious issue for all of them during extreme climatic shocks and disasters; for example, the Gorkha earthquake and the COVID-19 lockdown. The effects differed according to the degree of household dependency on formal vs informal seed systems. For example, BC households in Mandan Deupur were unable to access adequate supplies of maize seed immediately after the earthquake, probably because of their higher dependency on agrovets for maize seed. However, that was not the case in Panchpokhari. Nonetheless, during times of crisis and shocks, farmers access most of the seed they require through local, informal channels (Sperling et al. 2004); and we observed broken local seed channels for maize in Mandan Deupur, whereas in Panchpokhari those channels were still functioning. We did not observe seed availability problems in recent planting seasons in the municipalities studied, but the formal seed system collapsed in the aftermath of the Gorkha earthquake and during COVID-19 lockdown, especially in Mandan Deupur, as noted during focus group discussions, so the informal seed system supported farmers at that time.We found that BC households in Mandan Deupur were less able to acquire maize seed than Janajati and Dalit households (Table 10 and Table 11). Limited access to off-farm income sources (less money for purchase) and sole dependency on agrovets (more disconnect from the informal seed system) could be the reasons. Another notable finding was that the accessibility of maize and wheat seeds was relatively better in Panchpokhari than Mandan Deupur, probably because of a wellfunctioning farmers' seed system in Panchpokhari. Households' access to quality seed is vital for higher crop yields and food security, and a viable seed supply system is a key support for this (Omolehin et  Furthermore, sowing of seeds without prior testing can cause crop failure and lead to seed insecurity (Sulaiman and Andini, 2013). In Panchpokhari, farmers seldom sowed newly introduced hybrid maize varieties on a large scale. Instead, they often cultivated hybrid maize on small land with home-stocked seeds for initial self-evaluation.We stated that grain yield was the preferred characteristic for both maize and wheat seeds (Table 13), and farmers were satisfied overall with the performance of existing maize and wheat varieties. Nonetheless, farmers reported high incidence of insect pests, especially on hybrid maize, and only a few expressed a wish to change from existing varieties to new, higher-yielding ones (Table 12). Hybrid maize is largely used to feed farm animals and sold to markets whereas, for its superior flavor and texture, local maize is used mostly in preferred household foods (e.g., dhindo, satu, roasted green cobs, chyang). Likewise, households occasionally consume wheat food products (e.g., dhindo, roti, pan roti, gahuko bhat, alum, and chyang) but use wheat mostly as feed for farm animals in products such as khole and sell any surplus on markets. The seasonal popularity of roasted green cobs led to a few households in Mandan Deupur, especially at lower elevations (beyond our study areas, but within the municipality), to seek seed of a tastier hybrid maize variety (\"Shrestha\") at the local market, without success.Varietal preferences may differ from individual to individual (men/women, for example), household to household, and according to diverse factors, including availability (local, community, market). Studies reported that varietal preference largely depended on grain yield and insect pest resistance (Mulesa et al. 2021;Jamieson et al. 2016), along with seed prices (Jamieson et al. 2016), economic returns (Omolehin et al., 2008), and farmers' concerns about the loss of local varieties and erosion of genetic materials (Jamieson et al. 2016). In our case, almost all farmers in Mandan Deupur preferred hybrid maize, but such was not the case in Panchpokhari, where people preferred improved (\"Rampur Composite\") and local varieties. The most widely grown wheat varieties are \"Gautam\" and \"RR21\". In Panchpokhari, the third most common wheat variety \"Pasanglamu\" was used for making a local alcoholic beverage, \"Chyang'', especially in the Janajati households. Adoption of \"Gautam\" has been reported in the mountains of Nepal to maintain seed self-sufficiency (Chaudhary et al. 2018).In conclusion, yield potential and local food culture have largely determined varietal choices. However, due to the diminishing yields of hybrid maize in recent years, especially in Mandan Deupur, some farmers are worried. In a focus group discussion, a Dalit woman raised questions about maize hybrid CP808: \"Farmers do not know where this maize seed comes from; we would like to know if we can produce the maize seed that suits our locality, soil and climate; and want to develop our own seed system. Currently, we buy seeds by reviewing the performance in neighboring fields, without knowing its authenticity and suitability\". Likewise, a Janajati man in another group said, \"It is usually men who buy the seed, but both genders know nothing about the varietal suitability and quality\". We thus argue that, although most of the farmers stated overall satisfaction with the existing maize and wheat varieties, they enjoy limited varietal choices, lack knowledge about varietal suitability, particularly for hybrids, and wanted to replace existing hybrid maize because of its declining yield performance and seed quality concerns. Locally unsuitable crop varieties increase farmers' vulnerability, wasting resources such as land, labor, and water that might have been used to more productive ends (Sperling, 2020).Maize and wheat seeds used in recent seasons were neither pure nor free from dirt and other contaminants, thus compromising healthy germination (Table 14 and Table 15). This problem was more severe in Panchpokhari, probably because of their higher dependency on the local seed systems. Maize seed was of higher quality than wheat seed because it was easily available in markets or agrovets, whereas wheat seed was mostly home saved. We also observed the lowest quality of wheat seeds in the Dalit households, especially in Panchpokhari. Dalits neither visited agrovets for quality wheat seed nor saved seed from their harvests (see Figure 4), due to their limited land to grow food and general poverty. They generally consumed all what they harvested and later reached out to villagers to buy seed and \"arma-perma\" (exchange of seed for labor). Dalit households ---especially in Panchpokhari ---had limited access to quality seed of wheat.Many households in our study obtained seed from informal channels and continuous use of untested seed and varieties led to a decline in seed quality (Tonapi et al. 2012). Almost all farmers trusted agrovets for quality seed. We believe the formal seed system guarantees greater quality of seeds (Fredenburg, 2015), but no authority oversees the quality of the formal seed system at local levels \"No matter how expensive the seed is, we need to buy it. Otherwise, we will have no grains in our stock for the next season\", a Dalit male participant in a focus group speaks about seed prices, his willingness to purchase seed of improved varieties, and its importance for food security. Overall, this study found that households are \"seed insecure\" for maize and wheat (Table 16). Seed insecurity is most severe in BC households in Mandan Deupur and Dalit households in Panchpokhari. This corroborates the findings of previous studies that document chronic seed insecurity among the marginalized populations (Sperling et al., 2006). Households in our study are more insecure for wheat seed than maize. Although most farmers did not report seed availability as a major issue for the last season, their heavy dependency on a single source for seed is worrisome. For those households, timely availability of seeds is not ensured, especially during shocks, in part because hybrid maize seed is mostly imported from abroad (Adhikari, 2014).We found the informal seed system broken for maize in both locations and farmers dependency on agrovets is gradually increasing even for the wheat seeds, which has already started in Mandan Deupur and is yet to happen in Panchpokhari Thangpal. This study found that farmers who rely on informal channels have better access to seed than those who depend solely on agrovets. Varietal preference are inclined towards higher production and lower crop loss, but the authenticity of varieties available is not trusted by many, as the varietal selection and replacement is done by looking at other farmers' experiences and suggestion of agrovets. Hence, farmers are at risk of crop loss due to seed unsuitability. Farmers dependent on agrovets have seeds of relatively greater quality than those getting seeds from other informal channels, which is also found by previous studies elsewhere (Fredenburg, 2015;Shrestha and Gauchan, 2020). Farmers in the study area are not fully seed secure until formal seed channels are made more accessible and the suitability and quality of seed is assured, while the informal seed channels can be equally prioritized as communitybased seed production systems which have been found to be vital for smallholders' seed and food security (Mazvimavi et al., 2017;Amir, 2020).We finally compared the household seed security status among households categorized as \"men working\", \"men and women working\" and \"women working\" through gender related indices (Table 17  and 18). The Kruskal-Wallis H test showed a higher mean rank for \"women working\" (135.25) compared to \"men working\" (100.86) households. It shows that household seed security is not gender neutral and skewed towards women's roles (Table 19). Prior studies highlighted the crucial role of women in conserving local seeds and maintaining household seed security (Sperling and Katungi, 2009), despite their facing difficulties in access to quality seed because of male land ownership and capital (Sperling, 2004  (Bushell, 2008), women have practically earned the traditional wisdom of seed management over many generations as a part of homemaking.In the informal seed system, women are key actors in seed selection, sorting, grading and storage. However, their critical role is seldom acknowledged in policy formulation and program implementation. Moreover, their overall contribution in agriculture is overlooked while making decisions within and beyond households and women remain in a position to bargain with men in order for their voices to be heard (Gram et al. 2018;Pradhan et al. 2019). For example, men are the ones who take part in most of the training and meetings related to agriculture and rural development (Mulesa et al. 2021), and most times women have to hear from their husbands before making household level decisions even when they are not at home (Halbrendt et al. 2014;Pandey, 2019). At the same time, out-migration of working-age inhabitants in search of earnings to sustain livelihoods is clear and gendered in Nepal (Gartaula et al. 2010); mostly men migrate, leading to the so-called \"feminization of agriculture,\" whereby women (Kelkar, 2010) assume the labor of agriculture (Kim et al., 2019), if not the decision-making (Sperling and Katungi, 2011;Pandey, 2019) or managerial roles (Pandey, 2019). Under these circumstances, varietal preferences and quality standards may differ according to female-valued traits, but access to seed and decisions regarding seed use may follow patriarchal social norms.Literature (Maharjan et al. 2013;Saharawat, 2016) suggests community-based seed enterprises foster women's involvement in seed preservation and selection, using their traditional wisdom to maintain seed quality, increasing women's agency by enabling them to take part in a critical activity beyond household chores. Hence, inclusive community-based seed systems would be the best way to harness female wisdom for improved seed security outcomes.Women performed the selection and storage of seed in the informal seed system; their involvement in decision-making and empowerment-based activities would also improve household seed security. Farmers agreed that men and women have different roles in household seed security. For example, a Dalit male participant in FGD stated that \"The seed quality of own stock is better in female-headed households, because they clean, sort, grade, dry, and store the seeds better than men\".Macro level policies help determine seed system development for cereals such as maize and wheat (Erenstein and Kassie, 2017). Particularly in developing countries like Nepal, a strategy of fostering a pluralistic seed system including both formal and informal seed channels could be the best way to ensure seed security (Mulesa et al. 2021). Prioritizing the informal seed system would help ensure seed security, on the one hand, and practices such as seed exchanges help conserve the agrobiodiversity and indigenous seeds (Kiwanuka and Kintu, 2004). Inasmuch as farmers' purchasing power, location, and access to transportation can limit household access to seed from the formal sector, policies should also prioritize community seed supply chains (Sugri et al. 2013; Khan and Asim, 2020). While farmers in Mandan Deupur and Panchpokhari Thangpal are looking to start community-based seed production to reduce their vulnerability, we suggest including this winwin approach in the agenda for discourse and research in support of seed systems.In summary, this study showed that households in the mountains of Nepal are seed insecure for maize and wheat and that the informal seed system plays a vital role in maize and wheat seed supplies. Promotion of formal seed systems, a priority of the Nepal government, while ignoring or working to the detriment of informal supply chains, would be missing an opportunity to offer farmers the best of both. Agrovets, which serve as formal seed suppliers in the remote parts of Nepal, need support for quality assurance. Caste/ethnicity and local geographies notably determine household seed security and household seed security is gendered. Women are key to maintaining informal seed channels and household seed security in the mountains. We recommend the promotion of women-focused community-based seed production, including seed banks and skill-based training and knowledge on crop varieties, and formal and open recognition of women's knowledge in maintaining maize and wheat seed systems.The ","tokenCount":"7836"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6211075323.json b/data/part_1/6211075323.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7e0b6a44cb2617008fdeaf82fb875c09218d6055
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6211075323.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c77ad6b923b6d037851bdcb0d72fa0ca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c3b8795c-aac8-4c03-9174-e9f04aa9c203/retrieve","id":"826760204"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"67c537a9-29c5-412f-9dca-46e014ee6eb9","pagecount":"10","content":"Investigaciones realizadas en el marco del Proyecto Oportunidades Rurales (POR) en la región Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras, evidenciaron que los hombres se perciben como los principales encargados de la producción y procesamiento de marañón y lácteos; mientras que las mujeres, aunque tienen una alta participación en las actividades de estas cadenas de valor, se consideran ellas mismas \"ayudantes\" de sus parejas, generándose así la invisibilización de su trabajo. Nuestro proyecto Ayudantes, Empleadas o Propietarias (HEO, por sus siglas en inglés) busca explorar el empoderamiento de las mujeres en las cadenas de valor de marañón y lácteos en la región Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras, así como las oportunidades y limitaciones que ellas tienen para involucrarse en dichas cadenas, ya sea como gerentes o ayudantes. Para lograr dicho objetivo, utilizamos el Índice Abreviado de Empoderamiento de la Mujer en la Agricultura (A-WEAI, por sus siglas en inglés) y metodologías cualitativas (entrevistas semiestructuradas y grupos focales) para profundizar el entendimiento de las dinámicas sociales y de las cadenas de valor.Esta Infonota presenta los principales resultados de nuestros análisis y está organizada en tres secciones. En la primera, expondremos la participación de las mujeres en las cadenas de valor de marañón y lácteos, y cómo ellas se están beneficiando o no de dicha participación dentro de las dinámicas de estas cadenas. En la segunda sección, analizaremos los niveles de empoderamiento y su relación con la participación de las mujeres. Por último, presentaremos algunas acciones que pueden realizarse para mejorar no solo la participación y el beneficio de las mujeres sino también su empoderamiento.La cadena de valor de marañón se caracteriza por sus eslabones estrechamente vinculados en donde prevalecen relaciones típicamente informales, rendimientos e ingresos bajos, condiciones laborales inestables y poca asociatividad (Muriel et al., 2020a). Nuestros análisis sugieren que esta cadena está influenciada significativamente por preconceptos y estereotipos de género, en los cuales la mujer es principalmente reconocida como ama de casa, responsable por el cuidado del hogar y las actividades reproductivas. Mientras que el hombre es identificado como el proveedor, jefe de familia y responsable de la toma de decisiones.Estas preconcepciones se trasladan a los dos eslabones de la cadena, donde se evidencia una participación más activa de la mujer en el eslabón de procesamiento, pues al ser consideradas cultural y socialmente como quienes tienen mejores destrezas manuales, mayor cuidado al detalle y delicadeza la convierten en el tipo de persona idónea para procesar nuez de marañón y por tanto le dan más oportunidad de empleabilidad en este nodo. El eslabón de producción, por otra parte, tiene la participación de algunas mujeres en las labores agrícolas, e incluso un autorreconocimiento como dueñas del cultivo; sin embargo, su actividad es considerada por ellas mismas como secundaria dentro de la dinámica económica de la familia, y clasificada como una labor de \"apoyo\" al jefe de hogar, esto quizás ligado a que el cultivo de marañón no es la actividad que genera mayor ingreso en el hogar.Las posibilidades que las mujeres tienen para acceder a posiciones de mayor poder aún se ven limitadas por factores como la subordinación a sus esposos frente a la participación o no en grupos, la falta de autorreconocimiento de sus capacidades de liderazgo y dirección, y la poca capacitación sobre los procesos productivos del cultivo y el contexto comercial del marañón.La cadena de valor de lácteos se caracteriza por una mayor demanda con un crecimiento en el mercado local y nacional de productos lácteos por un mayor consumo per cápita y mayores exportaciones entre los países centroamericanos (Muriel et al., 2020b). Al igual que la cadena de marañón, también tiene una fuerte influencia del contexto cultural y las preconcepciones de género. En este caso, las mujeres suelen tener más oportunidades para tener posiciones de poder en el nodo de procesamiento, pero menos oportunidades para emplearse o ser ayudantes. Por ejemplo, encontramos mujeres gerentes o dueñas de plantas procesadoras, pero quienes trabajan en la parte de producción de la planta son principalmente hombres. Esto ligado a las concepciones de que el trabajo en una planta procesadora de lácteos demanda fuerza física atribuida estereotipadamente solo a los hombres.Nuestros análisis sugieren que las mujeres dueñas/gerentes de plantas procesadoras de lácteos tienen conocimiento y experticia frente a su negocio tanto en el área de producción de la planta, como en la comercialización del producto relacionándose con proveedores, e identificando ampliamente las limitaciones y oportunidades de su negocio. Sin embargo, sus jornadas de trabajo largas entre las labores productivas y del hogar limitan su tiempo de participación en otras actividades de crecimiento y ocio, ideas reflejadas en aspiraciones personales como lo revela el siguiente testimonio:Sí, (alguien) que me administre, y yo pueda salir a pasear, darme unas vacaciones y dejar un encargado de la planta. Así (en la actualidad) uno no tiene salidas, bueno, sale del día, pero no puede irse a estar dos o tres días a otro lado porque tiene la responsabilidad de estar pendiente de la producción. Como familia uno quisiera salir, darse unas vacaciones. Uno se las merece porque sí trabaja, pero entonces algún día se nos va a cumplir.Las mujeres tienen un alto grado de poder en la toma de decisiones dentro de sus hogares respecto a lo producido y sus ingresos. Los hombres y las mujeres consideran que la toma de decisiones es una actividad conjunta, no obstante, el grado de participación varía entre mujeres. Pudimos identificar tres tipos de categorías:Tomando como base los factores considerados por el A-WEAI: toma de decisiones sobre producción, propiedad de activos, acceso y decisiones sobre crédito, pertenencia a grupos y carga de trabajo, evidenciamos lo siguiente:Las mujeres tienen dificultades para acceder a fuentes de financiamiento formales o informales, y en caso de acceder no se benefician ya que no tiene poder de decisiones sobre el uso de dichos créditos en sus hogares. Adicionalmente, hay una expectativa generalizada de que sea el hombre quién accede a los créditos, limitando aún más las posibilidades de acceso de las mujeres.La participación en grupos por parte de las mujeres es relativamente baja y aquellas que están participando lo hacen en grupos que no están relacionados con la agricultura. Así, los beneficios que podrían recibir las mujeres al participar de grupos agrícolas, como son acceso a información, establecimiento de redes, oportunidad de aprender y/o fortalecer nuevas habilidades son limitados.Las mujeres tienen largas jornadas, muchas de ellas se levantan a las 4 de la mañana y se acuestan a las 11 de la noche, porque esta es la única forma que tienen para lograr realizar sus labores productivas y del hogar. Estas cargas de trabajo limitan el tiempo que ellas tienen disponible para realizar otras actividades que les resulten beneficiosas y les ayuden a desarrollar su autonomía para tomar (o participar en) decisiones.Las mujeres tienen la propiedad de algunos activos, la mayoría de forma conjunta con sus parejas. Muchas veces las mujeres son dueñas de bienes pequeños como utensilios de cocina o gallinas, mientras que los hombres poseen ganado o tierra agrícola. En ocasiones, cuando las mujeres tienen posesión de bienes de gran valor, es principalmente debido a herencias. Los testimonios de mujeres a continuación resaltan la importancia de tener un bien de alto valor como lo es la tierra agrícola y el uso que se le puede dar como una oportunidad económica.Gerente: mujer que toma decisiones, en gran medida, sobre las actividades relacionadas al eslabón.Ayudante: mujer que a pesar de no tomar decisiones en gran medida está participando (trabajando) en más de la mitad de las actividades productivas relacionadas al nodo.No involucrada: mujer que no toma decisiones y que tampoco participa en las actividades del eslabón.En síntesis, al dar una mirada transversal entre las cadenas de marañón y lácteos en sus nodos de producción y procesamiento encontramos que las altas cargas de trabajo por su trabajo productivo y del hogar, y dificultades en el acceso a grupos y créditos son características comunes para las mujeres que participan. Comparativamente nuestros análisis indican que las mujeres que participan en el eslabón productivo del marañón tienen una carga de trabajo levemente menor a los demás nodos. Esto puede ser explicado por la facilidad en la alternancia entre las responsabilidades domésticas de las mujeres y el trabajo productivo en el cultivo del marañón debido a distintos factores como la cercanía a la parcela. Por otro lado, las mujeres procesadoras a pesar de tener mayores conocimientos se ven más afectadas por sus altas cargas de trabajo que las restringen a la hora de participar en un grupo o de acceder a información de créditos.|Las dinámicas y particularidades al interior de cada cadena se traducen en general, en que las mujeres tienen menores niveles de empoderamiento que los hombres (Figura 1). En particular, los indicadores de carga de trabajo, participación en grupos y acceso y decisiones sobre créditos son los que más afectan los niveles de empoderamiento de las mujeres.Tengo propiedades herencia que me dejó mi papá y compré de parte de la herencia de mis padres a mis hermanos, en esas tierras tengo potreros para el ganado para el consumo de leche y lácteos.(Productora de marañón, septiembre 2018)\"En realidad, toda mi vida me crecí produciendo marañón. Dentro de mi familia, desde que nosotros éramos muy pequeños, mi papá ya trabajaba con productos de marañón. Una vez que nos crecimos, él nos donó 2 manzanas de tierra a cada uno de los hijos, y nosotros la pusimos a producir marañón para seguir con el negocio de la familia.\"(Mujer productora de marañón, mayo 2021).Figura 1. Porcentaje de empoderamiento según indicador del A-WEAI por cadena y eslabón. El análisis evidencia que los hogares agrícolas en nuestra zona de estudio no se dedican exclusivamente a un cultivo, especialmente cuando se trata de cultivos estacionales como es el caso del marañón, conduciendo a que las mujeres busquen alternativas económicas para el sostenimiento de sus hogares. Por ejemplo:El problema es que el negocio (Restaurante) se puede mantener por todo el año, y el marañón es una temporada, estamos hablando de medio año que se trabaja de febrero a mayo, dependiendo cómo esté la lluvia.Tengo una pulpería porque casualmente ahorita las ventas se fueron abajo. Apenas llovió se fueron abajo los precios y las ventas. Casi no se están vendiendo los productos lácteos. Entonces la pulpería me ayuda, mientras las ventas de lácteos están malas.Al analizar cómo se relaciona la participación de las mujeres en las cadenas de valor, en términos de sus roles/papeles, con los indicadores en donde las mujeres tienen bajos niveles de empoderamiento (Figura 2). Observamos que, en los indicadores de participación en grupos y acceso y decisiones sobre crédito, hay una relación positiva entre el rol que desarrollan las mujeres y el porcentaje de estas que se consideran empoderadas para ambos indicadores, en ambos casos del total de mujeres gerentes un gran número de ellas se encuentran empoderadas.Por otro lado, con el indicador de carga de trabajo tuvimos un resultado inesperado, ya que teóricamente se esperaría que una mujer que está tomando decisiones sobre la que es considerada su principal actividad económica no tiene por qué tener altas cargas de trabajo. Pero como anteriormente presentábamos, las situaciones económicas que afrontan las mujeres y sus responsabilidades del hogar, las obligan a cumplir al día con muchas actividades. Independientemente de la categorización realizada, los resultados indican que el eslabón de producción de la cadena de valor de marañón tiene los mayores niveles de empoderamiento para las mujeres. La producción de marañón en la región tiene la ventaja de ser una actividad que puede realizarse en el hogar, de modo que la mujer no se enfrenta a fuertes normas de género como los estigmas de las sociedades acerca de lo que debe o no hacer una mujer, además de que gracias a los proyectos con escuelas de campo se potenció su participación y su empoderamiento en estos nodos. En palabras de una productora de marañón la situación es percibida así, Oportunidades y barreras para la participación y empoderamiento de las mujeres en las cadenas de marañón y lácteos | Ollivier Girard / CIFOR El trabajo del marañón no es un trabajo tan pesado como para que lo pueda hacer solo un hombre, porque lo que es la cuestión de podas, chapia, y todo eso, ya uno contrata varones cuando la plantación es vieja. Pero ya en cuestión de recolección, abonos, y fertilización de la finca ya es uno que lo hace.(Mujer productora de marañón, mayo 2021)No es que es fácil, sino que la mujer tiene que tener más capacidades, salir para buscar clientela. Yo creo que casi sale siendo igual, pero uno que tiene su hogar, que tiene hijos, no tiene el tiempo de andar como el varón. No puede decir: voy a ir a tal lado a buscar clientes, o a vender. Entonces se le hace un poco más difícil a la mujer.(Mujer procesadora de lácteos, mayo 2021)Por otro lado, la mujer procesadora de lácteos tiende a verse más restringida por las normas sociales a no poder salir y realizar su actividad económica.Por lo general, las mujeres que están empoderadas en el procesamiento de lácteos tienen que contar con un fuerte apoyo de sus esposos para trabajar en ello. Las escuelas de campo jugaron un papel importante en el empoderamiento de las productoras de marañón dándoles un mayor control dentro de sus hogares. A continuación, la experiencia de uno de los técnicos de la región:|En las escuelas de campo y de todos los proyectos que yo he visto es uno de los mejores proyectos que hay porque las escuelas de campo no ponen barreras o límites, esto es abierto a toda la familia. Y se aprende haciendo y se puede proyectar a la familia que la planta de marañón genera ingresos cuando no hay ingresos. Porque si no a las familias les toca ir a trabajar a la ciudad o a las cañeras y solo duermen dos horas y sacrifican a la familia.(Técnico proyecto Oportunidades Rurales, septiembre 2018)Este proyecto de investigación indagó sobre la vinculación de las mujeres agrícolas a cadenas de valor agrícola y la relación que esto tiene sobre el empoderamiento. Como se mencionó anteriormente se evidenciaron problemas relacionados a las altas carga de trabajo, la participación en grupos y la toma de decisiones sobre los créditos. Identificamos que el nodo de producción de marañón tiene los niveles más altos de empoderamiento en comparación a los demás eslabones presentados en este estudio, independientemente de si las mujeres se clasifican como gerentes o ayudantes. Dicho hallazgo puede estar relacionado con menores cargas de trabajo en la producción de marañón, lo cual permite una mayor libertad para las mujeres de participar en grupos, acceder a información y desarrollar una autonomía mayor.Teniendo en cuenta los limitantes que las mujeres enfrentan para participar y/o beneficiarse de estas cadenas de valor, se recomendaron algunas acciones que están siendo implementadas en terreno para contribuir a la sostenibilidad de las cadenas de valor inclusivas y a la transformación de normas sociales de género que tienden a limitar el empoderamiento de las mujeres. Algunas de estas recomendaciones son:Fortalecimiento de las capacidades de liderazgo de las mujeres. En el caso de la cadena de marañón, se recomendó la profesionalización de las labores que comúnmente realizan las mujeres y también los incentivos para conformar agrupaciones de mujeres, de forma que ellas puedan tener mayores oportunidades para acceder a servicios e ingresos que las lleven a posicionarse dentro de la cadena de valor y tener mayor poder de negociación a la hora de ofrecer productos o buscar empleos. En la cadena de lácteos se planteó el fortalecimiento de las agrupaciones de mujeres, pero también la visibilidad de los grupos en la región y la posibilidad de incluir perspectiva de género dentro de dichos grupos.Reconocimiento del trabajo de las mujeres. En ambas cadenas, es importante trabajar en la capacitación, el asesoramiento y la sensibilización, así como en estrategias que mitiguen las restricciones impuestas por la movilidad. Por ejemplo, establecer cuotas de mujeres en eventos desarrollados por los proyectos, realizar ejercicios grupales que comparen las labores que realizan hombres y mujeres, vincular mujeres que lideren las capacitaciones, cofinanciar medios de transporte que reduzcan el tiempo dedicado a desplazamientos, realizar las actividades en lugares de fácil acceso para las mujeres de forma que las restricciones impuestas por la movilidad sean mitigadas.","tokenCount":"2710"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6212746800.json b/data/part_1/6212746800.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..80c96f24ee3a54f7073b60a9e5ad482f82ceab13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6212746800.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4e7d213786ac3b0a8d08f176fe25570e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/80b6a9f8-a62a-482b-8c01-9237bb238b17/retrieve","id":"-23373033"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0dfb0fe0-dc37-4ce3-b139-59782fedfb1b","pagecount":"1","content":"La quinua en Colombia en el año 2020 -Hacer de la cadena de la quinua en Colombia una prioridad y un relacionamiento en el que cada eslabón salga beneficiado equitativamente fue la principal motivación para formular, de manera participativa en 2015, entre los actores principales de la cadena, esta visión compartida: \"Colombia tendrá sembradas 10.000 hectáreas de quinua orgánica y convencional con una producción estimada de 15.000 a 20.000 toneladas, que involucrarán de 10.000 a 20.000 familias en sistemas de producción diversificados y sostenibles. Esta producción será destinada al mercado internacional y nacional, estará basada en principios de comercio justo e incluyente, y asociada con políticas gubernamentales que promuevan y masifiquen el consumo en zonas urbanas y rurales; con lo que aportará a la reducción de la pobreza y el mejoramiento de la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición de la población colombiana vulnerable.\" -Foto: CIAT/Neil Palmer Foto: CIAT/Sylvia Pineda","tokenCount":"149"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6246908732.json b/data/part_1/6246908732.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b2d26ff60c87e30403dda64816f37844f89cae87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6246908732.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d5776fdce6ebce917e4c523cf14d9946","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7ea9f37b-5ddd-4ad7-a676-69dcced33690/retrieve","id":"-1786141161"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bfbd6cea-5a8c-4542-9608-c6b4c51b0412","pagecount":"3","content":"The native potato is an ancestral product historically rooted in the worldview of Ecuadorian Andean communities living above 3,000 meters. Used as an offering during ancient ceremonies, rites, and feasts, as medicine, as food or for barter, native potatoes contribute significantly to food security for the inhabitants of these communities. Paradoxically, from a commercial perspective, the native potato is considered as a new product, unknown outside its production areas. It was once thought that the bright colors of these potatoes were not natural, but rather due to damage or defects. Only 17 of the 350 known native potato varieties have had a marginal presence in the markets, placing them on the verge of extinction. This case describes the process towards achieving technological, organizational and commercial innovations leading to the recovery of the native potato of Ecuador.Technological innovations have been achieved with the support of the projects Andean Potato and InnovAndes, the International Potato Center (CIP, for its name in Spanish) and with partial funding from FONTAGRO. The Autonomous National Institute for Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIAP, for its name in Spanish), through participatory genetic enhancement, has improved the native potato varieties making them suitable for meeting market demands. The process began with a characterization of the different varieties found in the Ecuadorian hillsides, where groups of farmers from 19 communities provided samples of their native potatoes. These potatoes were grouped according to their morphological and agronomical characteristics, and their industrial, gastronomic and other uses. Agribusiness universities, chefs, gastronomy schools, supermarkets and other buyers participated in this process. The 11 varieties with the best organoleptic characteristics were selected. Through nutritional and functional characterization, it was demonstrated that these native potatoes are an excellent source of proteins, fiber, minerals, carotenes and polyphenols (natural antioxidants), compared with the improved variety marketed in the country. Organizational innovations have highlighted a public-private system for seed multiplication and sales. This innovation was fueled by previous processes such as the project on Strengthening of Potato Seed Research and Production (FORTIPAPA), under which four local platforms were developed at the provincial level based on potato value chains, and the creation of the Consortium of Potato Producers (CONPAPA). By 2006, CONPAPA could not satisfy the steady demand for seeds with their own production, and therefore entered into arrangements with their producer partners who would undertake some of the production. A system was established between the CONPAPA and INIAP to provide the partners with quality seed, in the required quantities and at the right time. The best farmers were trained to become seed producers, and became knowledgeable on the required phytosanitary and quality standards. Under this arrangement, CONPAPA obtains the seeds from INIAP and distributes them on credit to these seed growers, and also provides them with technical advice and follow-up during production. At harvest, CONPAPA recovers all the seed produced, and then it subtracts the price of the seeds provided. CONPAPA then stores the seeds, and in accordance with a marketing plan, these seeds are sent to the partners for further crop production. This closes the market-seed-potato-market cycle.With respect to trade innovations, there is currently a partnership between CONPAPA and the Processed Food Industry (INALPROCES), a small, new and innovative processing company mainly dedicated to the Gourmet Snack market. Its main product is a Vegetable Mix made from an assortment of tubers. Through this partnership, CONPAPA brings together all the requests for assistance throughout the chain, ranging from sowing of the seeds, seed procurement, to production and compliance with trade agreements. As a result of the partnership, INALPROCES introduced a native potato flakes mix which expanded the market for the small farmers. Moreover, INALPROCES has invested in promoting the product internationally, as well as improved packaging and labeling to better suit the standards of these markets. INALPROCES has also received certification from HACCP, GMP, KOSHER, Non-GMO and CFS Gluten -Free Product.At the end of 2010, INALPROCES and CONPAPA signed a marketing contract with social responsibility. This outlined the conditions for selling fresh native potatoes to INALPROCES, which subsequently processes and markets them as potato flakes under the KIWA brand.The growth in the volume of sales of native potatoes was increased by 540% between 2011 and 2012. The sale price remained stable throughout the year and was 42% higher than the production cost. Native potato flakes have been exported to about 10 countries. This initiative has received four national and international awards, including the \"Taste 11 Award for Top Innovations of Anuga-2011\", competing with 6,500 participants in the largest international food fair, thereby enabling its entry into the new markets of Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Denmark.These innovations have helped to place the native potato in a recognized position in international markets as a quality gourmet product.","tokenCount":"786"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6256558310.json b/data/part_1/6256558310.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..442d89250fd6b3fbb54062307fabcf1c531c0a19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6256558310.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39ce663b5f16a6e49e37e0aca7ef2533","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Factsheet/MSP-Infosheet05.pdf","id":"-25335606"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b42a2fcc-eefc-41d0-b58a-de647af4d9a5","pagecount":"4","content":"Designing meaningful, inclusive spaces for transformative change How to: expand your MSP's influence over time Structured reflection on MSP outcomes can contribute to their improved management, and to longer-term durability and impact (Sarmiento Barletti, 2022). This requires grappling with the complex interplay between the MSP's characteristics and its surrounding context in producing specific outcomes: MSPs done well seek both to 'fit within' the local governance context and 'purposefully disrupt' inequitable and unsustainable patterns of stakeholder interaction (Hewlett et al., 2021). Adaptive learning processes should aim to integrate the perspectives of diverse stakeholders such as Indigenous resource users, private sector associations, and government bodies at state or local levels (Ratner et al., 2022).Monitor both the processes and results of MSP implementation: Monitoring results, including reviewing the big picture and wider context, is critical to developing, realigning, and strengthening the impact of an MSP. Monitoring processes also gives critical insight into the likelihood of meeting longer-term goals, as it drills down into stakeholders' perceptions on the inclusiveness and legitimacy of the work (Ratner et al., 2022).A key component of any MSP process is the development of a 'theory of change', or explicit 'pathways to change' strategy, which can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of the work -and which itself should be revisited and adapted over time, as strategies and scopes shift or need adjustment.The 'How are we doing?' tool (Sarmiento Barletti et al., 2020a), can help you to reflect on your MSP's process, priorities, and progress in a participatory way, and build in cycles of learning and adaptation or adjustment. It is designed to be used by MSP participants, and goes beyond a simple assessment of indicators, rather inviting those involved to discuss and reflect on their answers. The tool encourages participants to learn from the past, How to: expand your MSP's influence over time consider progress and obstacles to further progress, and collectively plan how to achieve the MSP's goals in the future (ibid.).Adapt the scope and stakeholders to help the MSP evolve toward transformational change: As collective understanding builds about the causes of the challenges being discussed within an MSP, it often makes sense to expand the scope of the work to address these more comprehensively and durably. This often means expanding membership in response to emerging priorities, which in turn can make the MSP more influential -though there will ultimately be limits to what is practicable in terms of scope and membership (Ratner et al., 2022).Case study in Gujarat, India: expanding influence over timeIn Gujarat State in western India, a local NGO -the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)convened an MSP around a watershed and hill range that's characterized by degraded forest resources, remote villages with poor access to infrastructure and services, high incidence of poverty and out-migration, and a high level of distrust in government. Its aim was to strengthen networks among rural communities, improve livelihoods, and support block-level, integrated resource and development planning.Village federations come together annually to discuss outcomes, gather lessons, and improve the platform in the coming year. Now, FES is refining its indicators to track various levels of achievement, encourage more regular reflection, and enable different MSPs to share their experiences. The MSP was initially conceived as a platform for information exchange and awareness building on ecology and livelihood issues, but it evolved to target block-level development planning and lasting improvements in local democratic governance more broadly. In doing so, additional issues such as health and education -which were high priorities among local actors -were incorporated into the MSP. The scope expansion also meant that the practices of participatory governance became more institutionalized.The case shows the value of an organization that provides long-term support to local MSPs, at the same time as investing in building relationships to influence state and national policies. As the MSP's negotiation and influencing capacity increased, village federations were able to bring relevant government officials to the table; for government participants, in turn, it made \"communication with villages in border areas and interior regions easy\" (Ratner et al., 2022).Case study in the Finger Lakes National Forest, United States: limits of a single-issue focusIn 1997, the United States Forest Service implemented a participatory process to engage with citizens as local stakeholders in the management of the Finger Lakes National Forest in central New York State. The MSP aimed to include input from 'communities of interest' into a revision of Land and Resource Management Plans. As local people participated, they gained forest management capacity, leading to greater involvement in planning -for example, collaborating with the Forest Service to plan trails and wildlife areas, develop management options for potential old-growth forests, and decide on best uses for recently-acquired lands.But the MSP was limited by its single-issue orientation, with little exchange in regard to other issues. This resulted in frustration for those who wanted to raise other concerns as they felt they were drowned out. Participating in discussions also required extensive time commitments, so not all participants took part in all sessions (Twarkins et al., 2001).","tokenCount":"835"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6262757930.json b/data/part_1/6262757930.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ff3ed10908095f14a58f1e32ceea0151d939e443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6262757930.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f1eb75adf56ed59a6e6df98d538ed90","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b207b038-67ba-42d7-996a-a72a9570433f/retrieve","id":"41839939"},"keywords":["www","climatesecurity","cgiar","org Africa Climate Crisis Security Observatory www","climatesecurity","cgiar","org Climate Security Observatory Series"],"sieverID":"bf6ab343-b77a-4b50-9b6c-ca09ce5c3528","pagecount":"17","content":"This factsheet gives answers on how climate exacerbates root causes of livestock-related conflict in Kenya, using an impact pathway analysis. Three main impact pathways are identified:This publication is part of a factsheet series reporting on the findings of the CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security Observatory work in Africa (Kenya,1. Resource Access and Availability: Climate variability and extreme events are degrading natural resources and diminishing the availability of water and pasture, especially in the ASALs. Movement toward areas where there is relatively more availability of water than in the dry grasslands is leading to resource competition and conflict among pastoralist groups and between pastoralists and farmers.The most prevalent form of conflict, particularly in the north of Kenya, is the violent theft of cattle, also known as cattle rustling. Although cattle rustling has historically served as a culturally embedded practice for wealth redistribution and as a rite of passage, the level of violence has increased due to the scarcity of natural resources induced by the effects of climate change.The combination of climate change and conflict places severe pressure on the livelihood and food security of pastoralists, overburdening their adaptive capacities.The necessary and inherent mobility of transhumance is altered by the intensity of violence induced by conflict over resources, leading pastoralists to remain in place or choose longer distances for their migratory routes.Niklas Sax, Leonardo Medina Santa Cruz, Bia Carneiro, Theresa Liebig, Peter Läderach and Grazia PacilloThe most prevalent form of conflict, particularly in the north of Kenya, is the violent theft of cattle, also known as cattle rustling. Although cattle rustling has historically served as a culturally embedded practice for wealth redistribution and as a rite of passage, the level of violence has increased due to the scarcity of natural resources induced by the effects of climate change that, in turn, significantly impact the well-being of pastoralist communities, leading to a loss of life, culture, property and access to land. These more profound forms of violence are compounded by the proliferation of small arms, commercialization of raiding and the dynamics of retaliation that perpetuate vicious cycles of conflict between pastoralists.The combination of climate change and conflict places severe pressure on the livelihood and food security of pastoralists, overburdening their adaptive capacities. The necessary and inherent mobility of transhumance is altered by the intensity of violence induced by conflict over resources, leading pastoralists to remain in place or choose longer distances for their migratory routes. It also leads to an increase in the presence of internally displaced people within territories impacted by violence. Vulnerabilities within patriarchal pastoral communities vary along lines of gender, exposing women to violence and unequal access to resources. An increasing number of pastoralists are transitioning to other forms of livelihood but limited options lead to maladaptive alternatives with negative feedback consequences in the form of environmental degradation, vulnerability and violence.The Greater Horn of Africa is one of the most climate vulnerable regions of the world, due to rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and rising sea levels. It is also associated with conflict and political instability, poverty and low investment in climate adaptation and mitigation action (IGAD 2022a). Most of its landmass comprises vast arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) where the effects of climate change lead to frequent occurrences of dry spells, seasonal and multi-year droughts (IGAD 2022a). Kenya is part of the Greater Horn of Africa and has a diverse topography with a range of different climates. Its northern and northeastern regions are typically dry and extremely hot (annual mean temperature 28 °C), while the central highlands enjoy a cooler tropical climate, which becomes increasingly arid towards the country´s interior (World Bank Group 2021).In Kenya, increasing temperatures and rainfall variability are leading to more intense, frequent and prolonged droughts as well as unpredictable and destructive floods (World Bank Group 2021).According to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Index, Kenya ranks the 39th most vulnerable country and the 154th country most ready to improve resilience out of 182 ranked countries (ND-GAIN 2020). Since 1960, average temperatures have risen by approximately 1 °C and are projected to rise up to 1.7 °C by 2050 (UNFCCC 2015). Precipitation is highly variable and uncertain and projected to remain that way (UNFCCC 2015). When rain arrives it often pours erratically over a short time, causing flooding which leads to fatalities of people and livestock, destroys infrastructure, increases the emergence of vector diseases and causes extensive erosion (Boruru 2011). The frequency of major as well as moderate droughts has increased especially in the ASALs, with significant socioeconomic impact (World Bank Group 2021). The drought from 1998 to 2000, for example, had an estimated cost of $2.8 billion, due to crop and livestock losses, as well as forest fires, damage to fisheries, reduced hydropower generation, industrial production and water supplies (UNFCCC 2015). During the last decade, the ASAL regions of Kenya have endured three severe droughts (2010 to 2011, 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2022) of which the current episode has been the longest and most severe, with 4.2 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity (ASAL Humanitarian Network 2022). The below average performance of the 2022 March to May long rains led to all-time low pasture productivity and significantly deteriorated livestock body conditions (IPC 2022).The arid and semi-arid lands of the Greater Horn of Africa are home to one of the largest populations of pastoralists in the world, people who have sustained their way of life by adapting to the dry conditions (Ameso et al 2018;Blackwell 2010). The Karamoja cluster refers to a cross-border area shared by four countries: southwestern Ethiopia, northwestern Kenya, southeastern South Sudan and northeastern Uganda (IGAD 2022b). It is home to at least 13 pastoral and agro-pastoral groups, including the Bokora, Dessenech, Didinga, Dodoth, Jie, Matheniko, Nyangatom, Thur, Pian, Pokot, Tepeth, Topotha, and Turkana -all of whom cross these borders as part of their habitual migration patterns (IGAD 2022b).Generalized livelihood zones for pastoralism and agro-pastoralism make up about two-thirds of Kenya´s total land area and stretch over the entire northern part of the country, as well as on the eastern and southern heartlands (FEWS 2010). In Kenya, pastoralists are found among the Nilotic ethnic groups . that include the Luo, Maasai, Turkana, Samburu and Kalenjin (Kurian 1992). The Luo people used to be pastoralist but after disease decimated their livestock, most became settled as farmers or fishermen.'Kalenjin' is a collective term for a diverse group of indigenous people, including the Kipsigis, Endorois, Tugen, Pokot and Sabaot who, together, encompass the largest ethnic grouping in Kenya engaged in pastoralism (Minority Rights Groups 2018). The Maasai are concentrated in southern areas bordering Tanzania, an area that includes the most visited game parks in the country. The Turkana live in the arid lands of northern Kenya and have a reputation as fierce warriors. The adjacent Samburu are nomadic people migrating between pastures in semi-arid lands. The related Maasai, Turkana and Samburu commonly practice cattle rustling as a form of cultural heritage, which is also the case for Kalenjin communities (Kurian 1992). Finally, Somali-speaking pastoralists inhabit the northeastern regions of Kenya, bordering southern Somalia (Minority Rights Groups 2018).Nomadic pastoralism has served as an efficient adaptation mechanism under a changing climate. In a non-equilibrium system, where forage production is unpredictable and variable, pastoralists are welladapted to navigate this uncertainty (Boles et al 2019). By diversifying their livestock among five types (camels, cattle, goat, sheep, donkeys), each with different fertility rates, are subject to different diseases, and vary in food production, feeding patterns, diet, water consumption and labour requirements, pastoralists retain flexibility and resilience when faced with exogeneous shocks (Blackwell 2010).Keeping mixed herds of browsers and grazers is also a good risk management strategy, enabling use of different resources (grass, shrubs, etc.), and ways through which the animals cope with drought (Orindi et al 2007). The social and economic life of the pastoralist is, with all its aspects, ordered by livestock and the environment in which they live, with cattle constituting the central value in their society and the basis of social, political and religious institutions (Mkutu 2001). Even though owning cattle is the most prestigious form of livelihood, a combination of drought, disease and raiding have led many pastoralists in the Kenyan arid and semi-arid lands to rely increasingly on smaller livestock, donkeys and camels (Blackwell 2010). Although having evolved comprehensive adaptation mechanisms, pastoralists in Kenya are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change and are currently overwhelmed by significant losses due to their high dependency on natural resources and lack of alternative sources of income (Omolo and Mafongoya 2019;OCHA 2022).Pastoral livelihoods have been shown to work in harmony with the environment and the bimodal precipitation patterns experienced in Kenya´s ASAL regions. As an adaptation to the ASAL ecosystem, pastoral mobility enhances the productivity of areas that have spatially and temporally uneven resource distribution, with livestock populations that are limited by drought and diseases, which makes overgrazing less likely (Boles et al 2019). Pastoral activity has been shown to enhance soil fertility, seed redistribution, and the presence of wildlife (Boles et al 2019). These advantages are, however, not well recognized in land management policies, which typically deny access to traditional grazing routes, usually by arguing that pastoralism leads to overgrazing and resource misuse (Boles et al 2019). This stems partly from a perception that has historically seen, and to an extent still sees, pastoralism as an inefficient livelihood strategy, one that exploits commonly held land (Campbell et al 2000). The notion of its poor productivity have shaped land management policies from the time of colonial eastern Africa to current political regimes and, even today, still affects pastoral livelihoods that rely on access to natural resources (Boles et al 2019;Mkutu 2001).Pastoralism in reality contributes about 13 percent of GDP in Kenya, a figure that considers livestock and livestock products but still ignores non-marketable elements, such as the value of smallholder subsistence livestock production and the socio-cultural benefits that are also core components of pastoralism (Nyariki 2019). With traditional pastoralism faced with the challenge posed by a changing climate, several activities including marginal agriculture and fishing, and honey, gum resin and firewood harvesting, as well as tourism, are increasingly being pursued in order to secure the pastoral way of life. Taking all these traditional and non-traditional pastoral products together, the total economic value of pastoralism in Kenya amounts to an estimated $1.13 billion (Nyariki 2019).The increasing climatic impact on natural resources, particularly in the ASALs, threatens the sustainability of livelihoods practiced by Kenyan pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. Climate variability is compounded by inter-and intra-communal violence as well as socioeconomic hardship. In the following sections, three different pathways are identified that draw links between climate change and conflict: (i) Resource Access and Availability; (ii) Cattle Rustling and Raiding; and (iii) Livelihood and Food Security.The Climate Security pathways presented here, identified through a systematic literature review, are complemented with results from fieldwork research conducted with community members in Kenya between September and October 2022, which applied participatory appraisal methods to understand local perspectives on the links between climate change and insecurity.Climate variability and extreme events are degrading natural resources and diminishing the availability of water and pasture, especially in the ASALs. Movement toward areas where there is relatively more availability of water than in the dry grasslands is leading to resource competition and conflict among pastoralist groups and between pastoralists and farmers. Factors that restrict access to land, pasture and water, such as development projects investing in new infrastructure or irrigated agriculture, privatization of land, designation of game reserves or forests as protected areas, all place pressure on important communal resources, increase uncertainties around land tenure, and exacerbate intercommunity conflicts.Changing climatic conditions together with natural and anthropogenic environmental changes like deforestation, overgrazing and occurrence of invasive species reduce access to water and pasture, thereby imposing significant pressures on pastoral livelihoods (Mouk et al 2021). Rainfall variability in semi-arid and arid rangelands is likely to increase over time, which will further impact rangeland productivity and impose significant negative effects on herd dynamics, stocking density and productivity of pastoral systems (Herrero et al 2016). More frequent and intense droughts are now a constant stressor on the availability of water resources and the productivity of pasture lands in Kenya's ASALs (Orindi et al. 2007). The scarcity of these resources is leading to increased competition among different pastoralist groups as well as between farmers and herders (Ong´eta Mose 2021; Campbell et al 2000). As increased competition over shrinking pasture and water sources escalates, incidents of livestock raiding, violent disputes over water sources, highway banditry, abductions and killing among pastoralists will likely rise (Rutoh et al 2019;Blackwell 2010).Water scarcity is high and the few water points available are shared by livestock, people and wildlife, amplifying the spread of waterborne diseases for both livestock and humans (Boruru 2011). To adapt to increasingly frequent dry spells and inadequate water and pasture, pastoralists are forced to adopt long alternative routes for transhumance or dig deep wells on the dry river beds (Waila et al 2018).Trekking distances during the current drought went up by 150 percent, with most pastoralists walking 20 to 35 kilometers daily to bring their livestock to water sources and return home (OCHA 2022). In the ASALs, conflicts often arise in areas where there is higher water availability compared to the surrounding dry grasslands, as the search for grazing and water forces migration from the lowlands to highlands, which increases competition over natural resources and brings into conflict different land use patterns between pastoralism, agriculture and wildlife within a limited space (Rutoh et al 2019;Campbell et al. 2000). Grazing routes often belong to specific clans and can cause conflict if this is not respected by other groups or they are in an insecure and contested area (Blackwell 2010). Limited seasonal migration for fodder and water further exacerbates poverty (Blackwell 2010). This means that pastoralists have to opt for longer migratory routes, such as in northeastern Kenya along the Turkwel and Kerio rivers, where high levels of insecurity forced 78 percent of pastoralists to migrate with their livestock to water sources in neighbouring Karamoja, Uganda (Schilling et al. 2012). As the bordering Karamoja region is also suffering from increasing effects of drought, new concentrations of people and livestock are over-exploiting available resources, with the potential to spark new sources of conflict.Watering points often become a source of conflict, especially in the dry season, as in the town of Lokiriama where the Turkana and Pokot are fighting over access to a borehole (Schilling et al. 2012).Grazing corridors between pastoral and agricultural sectors that are too narrow, causing animals to graze on the crops on either side, also have the potential to aggravate conflicts between farmers and herders (Orindi et al 2007). Due to the severity of the current drought, 80 to 90 percent of all livestock species across the pastoral counties of Kenya migrated to dry season grazing areas and are expected to remain there, which will further increase conflict and insecurity given the large concentration of livestock now exerting pressure on already limited resources (IPC 2022). The long drought is also inducing the occurrence of resource-based conflicts in grazing areas where different herders and communities congregate, as well as sparking inter-communal conflicts due to migration of livestock herders into private ranches and farms (OCHA 2022).Intertwined with competition over natural resources are land use and resource management policies that regulate access to available resources. This can have detrimental effects, especially for pastoralists who rely on communal ownership and the ability to move freely in their search for water and pasture at different times of the year (Akall 2021;Orindi et al. 2007). Mobility is often limited by the establishment of farming settlements and the privatization of land, reducing communal lands and common pooled resources (Akall 2021;Orindi et al. 2007). For the Maasai of Kajiado County, vulnerability to drought is exacerbated by a shift of land ownership towards commercial purposes, pushing pastoralists into drier areas (Orindi et al. 2007). These changes in land ownership and land use practices undermine access to streams and wetlands, dry season pasture and migration corridors (Orindi et al. 2007). In the Nanyee area of Turkana, the promotion of irrigated agriculture for former residents of famine relief camps has reduced much of the common grazing land traditionally used by local herders, causing conflict when farmers deny pastoralists access to dry season grazing and water points (Akall 2021).The Community Land Act 2016 has strengthened indigenous peoples' rights by recognizing local populations as capable and legitimate managers of land, but its implementation has been slow and awareness about it remains low among pastoralists, the intended primary beneficiaries (Mouk et alFor the conservation of diminishing natural resources, sound environmental governance policies are crucial. They have, however, been associated with increasing competition for political positions at the county level and between different interest groups concerning the recognition of land and resource rights (Mouk et al 2021). Projects for the development of new infrastructure and irrigated agriculture, as well as conservation of forests and game reserves, further diminish access to grazing areas and communal systems (Schilling et al 2015). Local politicians may also play a role in the exclusion of certain groups by constructing water points on private land or denying access to land for a specific ethnic group, such as for Somali and Orda pastoralists in Endau, or Samburu pastoralists in grazing lands around the Mukogodo forest (Mouk et al 2021; Owour et al 2011). In fact, pastoral livelihoods often contain practices that use natural resources sustainably, such as 'ekawar', a traditional system that protects pasture for dry season grazing, or 'aminit', referring to the peak of a hill that is left for its flora and fauna, both of which ensure preservation of environmental goods (Yongo et al. 2010).In an effort to conserve biodiversity from threats of population growth and climate change, Kenya has implemented community conservancies, such as the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT). These recruit armed rangers as National Police Reservists (NPR) from among local communities to enforce access rights, include pastoralists in developing the conservancies and to strengthen security structures (Mouk et al 2021). Pastoralists, however, considered the community conservancies with their rapid response teams to be part of the problem rather than the solution to increasing violence, due to the further proliferation of guns and exacerbation of tensions and ethnic violence arising over the necessary renegotiation of access to and control over land (Mouk et al 2021).The occurrence of conflict further threatens access and availability of important natural resources.In conflict-prone rangelands that are insecure because of intense raiding or conflict between communities, the loss of access to pasture and water points is a common phenomenon (Schilling et al. 2012). At the same time, pastoralists tend to move together in bigger groups due to insecurity, which is straining the capacities and thereby availability of the resources along their migratory routes (Orindi et al 2007).Laikipia County, located in northern Kenya, is predominantly a plateau bounded by the Great Rift Valley to the west and the Aberdare uplands and Mount Kenya to the South (Mkuto 2001).The case of Laikipia displays the various ecological, social and institutional layers contributing to natural resource conflicts (Bond 2014). It is a relatively small, semi-arid area prone to drought with a mixed livelihood zone of pastoralism in the lower-lying drier areas and farming in the higher, wetter areas (Bond 2014). Variable rainfall patterns in the district are affecting the availability of water and pasture, with the highest incidence of violence occurring around Mukogodo and Rumuruti, which also experience the most unpredictable and lowest annual rainfall (Mkuto 2001).After Kenya´s independence, changes in the agricultural system led to the grabbing of land for ranching, unclear land rights and increased competition over water between small-scale farmers, pastoralists and wildlife (Bond 2014). Nomadic pastoralists migrate to Laikipia in the dry season, and with grass becoming scarce in times of drought, livestock enter private ranches or farms leading to conflict with agro-pastoralists (Mkuto 2001; Bond 2014). The incentives for these conflicts are often based on a perceived entitlement to a resource. Pastoralists claim they are entitled to grass regardless of whose land it is on, while farmers believe they can exclude pastoralists from public dams because the livestock dirty the water (Bond 2014). Traditional institutions which would be consulted in times of drought, epidemics and during raids have been weakened and are no longer effective in solving such conflicts (Mkuto 2001). The Laikipia case indicates that while environmental degradation does occur, its narrative is often used to legitimize the exclusion of certain groups from accessing resources.Mukogodo forest is a government protected reserve and one of the few remaining examples of dry forest of any significant size in Kenya. It serves as a natural habitat for over 45 species of mammals, 200 birds and 100 butterfly species, many of which are endangered. It is also a migratory corridor for both pastoralists and wildlife, including the largest population of elephants outside protected areas in Kenya. A community forest association led by representatives from the Yaaku community, an indigenous peoples group who have inhabited the forest for over a century, works in partnership with the Kenya Forest Service in the management of the reserve.While retaining ownership of the forest land through KFS, Kenya´s government acknowledges that Mukogodo is Yaaku ancestral land and guarantees the community rights to access and use the forest. However, the Yaaku are severely limited in the ways through which they can rely on the forest for their livelihood. Under the current conditions of drought, Yaaku pastoralists have lost the majority of their cattle, forcing them to rely mostly on goat herding, charcoal burning and the production of cultural beaded jewellery to be sold in urban markets. Although ecotourism activities do take place within the forest, which benefit the Yaaku, community members report that their preference would be to create a community-managed conservation reserve.More intense and frequent droughts, rapid population growth, and intense competition over water and pasture have increasingly driven surrounding pastoral communities into the forest, effectively displacing the Yaaku from their gazetted lands and increasing inter-communal conflict.Mostly Samburu herders have entered Mukogodo from the north in search of pasture, a pattern that since 2017 has led to an ethnically charged conflict with the Yaaku. Although the forest management plan allows for designated grazing areas during drought periods, the mechanisms have failed to reconcile the supply of required fodder with the need for sustainable forest use. Furthermore, pressure from surrounding conservancies, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and unclear zoning has also pushed pastoralists and private ranchers into the reserve, frequently overwhelming the forest association's capacity to control deforestation. Community members live in constant fear of being displaced from their land due to conflicting forest conservation interests from the side of the Kenyan government.Pastoral communities in Kenya have a long history of conflict. The predominant form, particularly in the northern regions of the country, revolves around livestock and the related need for water, land and pasture (Schilling et al 2012). The articulation of these conflicts is mostly the violent theft of livestock -referred to as cattle raiding or rustling. Raids can be distinguished at different scales, from highly organized mass attacks with hundreds or even thousand of raiders targeting a neighbouring community, through smaller 'adakar' raids with several dozen up to few hundred raiders coming together to attack one village or kraal, to raids of less than 15 individuals who target small unprotected kraals or groups of migrating herds (Schilling et al. 2012). The term \"raiding\" may therefore encompass very different levels of violence, with varying drivers and motives, and so it is important to diversify its different forms.Traditionally, sacred beliefs and cultural practices shape the relationship between different pastoral groups and their cattle through heroism, dowry payments, initiation rites and social status as a warrior (Medina et al 2022). Resource-based conflicts are often referred to as cattle rustling and involve smallscale violence to replace or restock animals in times of drought or disease (Medina et al 2022;Schilling et al 2012). It has been recognized that this redistributive form of rustling was in fact a livelihoodenhancer to recover herd population, carried out according to strict rules governing the preparation, engagement, disengagement and onset of conflict. The presence and enforcement of these rules successfully avoided extreme violence, especially against women or children (Hendrickson et al. 1996).In more recent times, these cultural practices have become much more violent, amplified through the proliferation of small arms, commercialization of livestock raiding, disputes over land tenure rights, banditry and predation, as well as climate-induced resource scarcity (Schilling et al 2012;Mkutu 2001).In this modern version, cattle raids are fueled by the attempts to sustain dwindling livestock with limited water and pasture due to the impact of climate extremes and variability, which exacerbates community-based conflicts around entitlements and attachment to cattle under conditions of scarcity (Waila et al 2018;Medina et al 2022). Livestock raiding is most profound in northern Kenya, where state institutions are weak and resource availability is declining (Schilling et al 2012). Raiding tends to fluctuate seasonally connected to weather conditions, with the highest occurrence during the rainy season when communities are seeking to restock their herds and livestock are able to move long distances (Ong´eta Mose 2021; Schilling et al 2012). Turkana and Pokot pastoralists, for example, seek peace during times of drought because fighting then is deemed suicidal and it is preferred to share what little pasture and water remains, rather than fighting a well-armed opponent with nothing to lose (Eaton 2008). However, when the rains arrive after long periods of droughts, raiding becomes more vicious as the need to restock increases (Ong´eta Mose 2021).The seasonal nature of cattle rustling, however, is highly contingent on local circumstances. Agroclimatic and ecological regions that represent transitional zones from arid to semi-arid lands, or to more humid regions like the Aberdares and Mount Kenya, are frequently used as migratory routes by livestock herders searching for water and pasture during dry seasons. The drying of waterholes under conditions of drought can potentially increase the willingness of pastoralists to partake in rustling as a livestock replenishment strategy or to secure access to resources (Detges 2014). On the other hand, more sedentary herders and populations with little access to transitional zones may be less likely to engage in conflict with other pastoral communities during dry periods. Rather, it is the presence of rain and the replenishment of water points which may exacerbate inter-community contact and conflict (Ong´eta Mose 2021; Schilling et al 2012).Factors that are not directly connected to climate also need to be considered to understand current forms of raiding. The commercialization of raiding has professionalized pastoralist in raiding, who, along with new non-pastoralist actors, steal cattle in a highly organized manner, loading them onto trucks to be quickly sold at market or slaughtered, even transported across the border to Tanzania or Uganda, before the theft can be tracked (Bond 2014;Eaton 2008). Furthermore, the relationships between different pastoral groups are very complex. The dynamics of conflict between the Pokot, Pian and Matheniko is a good example: an alliance between the former two meant the Matheniko were highly vulnerable to raids, in response they sent thieves to sow mistrust and effectively break up the peace between the two (Eaton 2008). As retaliation is a decisive factor within the dynamics of raiding, provoking one group can easily spark new violence often directed at unconnected third actors (Eaton 2008). This creates circles of violence which are difficult to break. Some raiders or thieves favour the chaos of conflict as it increases their opportunity to steal without being caught (Eaton 2008).Since 2005, the Endorois indigenous people have been subjected to violent attacks from neighbouring Pokot communities living to the north of their ancestral lands, around Lake Bogoria National Reserve, in Baringo County. The onset of the conflict coincided with ethnically-charged territorial conflicts across Kenya, driven mostly by electoral-based violence, and has continued to revolve around political boundaries, access to land and the interests of political and economic elites in securing highly-valued natural resources. Endorois pastoralist communities at the northern edge of their territory have suffered extremely intense forms of cattle rustling for several years. The effects of this conflict on their wellbeing have been catastrophic, to the extent that Endorois people today reject the term \"cattle rustling\" and refer to banditry or terrorism. Several thousand displaced people dwell within Endorois territory, many hundreds have been killed, and over 10,000 livestock head stolen or killed. Hospitals, water tanks, roads and other infrastructure have also been destroyed. The Endorois mostly understand the conflict as fuelled by political and economic interests in the value of their land. They also recognize that the vulnerability, poverty and marginalization of Pokot populations, mainly young men, makes them more susceptible to recruitment, and this vulnerability is thought to be enhanced through the effects of climate change, particularly recurring droughts during the last decade. Additionally, the conflict has increased the vulnerability of Endorois populations to climate threats. The impact of drought and lower agricultural productivity, they report, is today a lot higher due to the widespread presence of displaced people across the territory and the loss of life and livelihoods due to the violence.Climatic changes and extreme events have changed conditions for Kenyans due to rising food insecurity, water scarcity, altered disease patterns and displacement of communities (Waila et al 2018). Climate change has been shown to affect livestock through the diminished quantity and quality of feeds and water resources, degrading biodiversity, increasing heat stress and livestock diseases (Thornton et al 2009). Natural resource scarcity, the occurrence of flooding, and more widespread diseases, all impacts related to the effects of climate change, increase the death rate of livestock and gravely threaten the ability of pastoralist populations to secure a stable income (OCHA 2022). As of 2022, people in Kenya´s ASAL regions have experienced a fourth consecutive below-average rainy season (IPC 2022). This drought is the longest reported in the country for over 40 years, and has left 4.2 million people experiencing acute food insecurity (ASAL Humanitarian Network 2022). The number of people without access to water has increased by 50 percent in the last year alone, and pastoral communities have suffered significant loss of livestock, with more than 1.5 million cattle having died as a result of drought (OCHA 2022). This not only forces herder populations to move farther afield in search of pasture and water but threatens their traditional lifestyles and livelihoods under conditions that offer few alternatives for income. These impacts, together with the level of violence through livestock raiding, banditry and intercommunal conflict, have a long-term detrimental effect on the livelihood of pastoralists and the strategies they are able to use to sustain a stable income.Pastoralists have evolved several strategies to cope with drought, for example, by practicing mixed herding and leaving some of their animals with relatives, risks from disease, droughts or raids can be spread and insurance kept as a means to restock more quickly. Their ability to move towards more productive and resource-rich areas makes herders more resilient while also alleviating stress on less productive lands. Furthermore, pastoralists often maintain good ties with agricultural counterparts in their region, mainly through the exchange of livestock products for grain, fodder and supplements for animal diet. But all of these forms of adaptation are increasingly being overwhelmed by the combination of more frequent droughts, population growth, unfavorable resource governance and conflict (Orindi et al 2007). Reoccurring droughts in Turkana have overburdened the coping capacities of many pastoralists who now need to rely on food aid to survive (Blackwell 2010). Humanitarian assistance and famine relief strategies in the region have partly led to the sedentarisation of pastoralists, which though facilitating provision of assistance does little to address poverty or alleviate pressures on natural resources in the long term (Blackwell 2010). When conflict or episodes of livestock raiding erupt many communities flee leaving their assets behind, while the intensity of violence may also interrupt the ability of pastoral groups to move their herds towards needed resources, mobility which is crucial in the ASALs (Rutoh et al 2019;Kaimba et al. 2011). Alternative strategies to adapt to water and pasture scarcity, such as the picking of wild berries, are undermined because the women are afraid to engage in this activity during times of conflict (Schilling et al. 2012). Raiding and migration across borders can also increase the spread of diseases, such as in 2006 when the Peste de Petits Ruminants (PPR) viral livestock disease entered from Uganda into Turkana, killing more than 350 000 sheep and goats (Blackwell 2010).It is important to consider that vulnerabilities among pastoralists are different for men and women (Omolo and Mafongoya 2019;Bond 2014). Gender inequalities are deeply embedded in most pastoral cultures, which are highly patriarchal. Cultural norms are slow to change, and women are often excluded from resource access and decision-making processes (Mouk et al 2021). Men own the herds and have full control and decision-making power over livestock activities as the main source of family income, as well as in negotiating access to pasture and water (Ameso et al 2018). The important role that women play in pastoral production systems by engaging in cultural activities, socio-economic conservation and management of natural resources, being responsible for the household, food supply and healthcare is often overlooked (Omolo and Mafongoya 2019;Ameso et al 2018). Development interventions have been working to extinguish inequalities along lines of gender, education level and socioeconomic-status by addressing unequal access to opportunities, acquisition of land and being able to invest (Akall 2021).Linkages between climate and insecurity emerge also at an intra-community and household level. The loss of agricultural-based livelihoods due to the compounding effects of climate and conflict, has led to decreasing employment rates and income. In a context where men are expected to provide for security and household income, this has rendered many young men with a sense of indignity and low capabilities. The task of finding alternative incomes has fallen to a large extent on women, who mostly adopt the practice of bead-making or the non-sustainable extraction of resources, like charcoal burning. Despite what is often reported in the literature, an increasing economic role of women in the household has not, in women´s perception, contributed to gender parity. Women felt excessively overburdened by work and the lack of income, while their influence over decision-making processes at the household and community levels, had not changed significantly. At the same time, the frustration felt by men exposed women to higher risk of household violence, as men resort to abuse as the only way of reasserting their authority.School dropouts, early pregnancies, substance abuse, crime and prostitution were all readily correlated to the effects of drought and loss of livelihood by the research participants.In Kenya, pastoral livelihoods have become increasingly hard to sustain. A study on pastoral livelihood pathways indicates a great transition is occurring from pastoralism towards other modes of livelihood, which is mainly due to drought (Kirui 2022). Scarce employment opportunities with limited labour skills available, along with poor access to infrastructure, basic services and social protection are exacerbating food and livelihood insecurity and limiting available options (Medina et al 2022). While alternatives may include a transition to other forms of agriculture, agro-pastoralism or fishing, many still have no choice other than to turn to more high-risk alternative livelihood strategies, such as burning charcoal or brewing beer (Akall 2021). Selling charcoal may meet short term needs as a source of income but the resulting deforestation has a long term impact, the environmental degradation contributing to increased food insecurity, loss of ecosystem services and increased vulnerability of the population (Waila et al 2018). The growing practice of illicit brewing as a source of income is viewed with despair by community leaders, with excessive alcohol consumption leading to local fights and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (Waila et al 2018). Rising poverty and marginalization is seen as one of the most important drivers of conflict, being factors in a community or individual's decision to engage in violence as an alternative source of income (Medina et al 2022). In a vicious circle, conflict and climate vulnerability work to diminish the livelihood strategies available for pastoralists, with the coping mechanisms adopted tending to be maladaptive in nature and having negative feedback effects by increasing violence and environmental degradation.Around the Lake Turkana area, fishing has become an important alternative livelihood strategy for many pastoralists who, due to repeated drought and cattle raiding, have lost the majority of their livestock (Yongo et al. 2010). The skills to fish have in part been taught as part of several different development programmes, most aiming to provide famine relief by making use of aquatic resources (Yongo et al. 2010;Carr 2017a). As a result, most communities in northern Turkana have gradually moved from the uplands to areas closer to the lake where they engage in fishing or in mixed pastoral-fishing activities (Carr 2017a). From the Ethiopian side, where the Omo river flows into Lake Turkana, the Dasanech pastoralist groups have gone through a very similar livelihood transition from pastoralism to fishing, though in their case they have an intermediate opportunity to engage in flood-recession agriculture (Carr 2017b). With a large influx of pastoralists transitioning their livelihood to fishing in the same area, violent conflicts between the Turkana and the Dasanech have erupted, with the two groups competing over the limited fish stocks (Carr 2017a). Given that the two groups are reliant on resources spread across the Kenya-Ethiopia border, this conflict is not restricted to national territories. Tensions typically intensify during dry periods, as evidenced by the current drought (WPS 2022). The most intense forms of conflict are concentrated on the northernmost portion of the lake, where killings, massacres and regular thefts of fishing gear are common occurrences. These expressions of violence bear the threat of single-occurrences evolving into a widespread regional conflict (WPS 2022;Carr 2017b).","tokenCount":"6312"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6273502086.json b/data/part_1/6273502086.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6ecfca7889c1a3d584707b9a91edce1679c064fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6273502086.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e1aa8a0761735f7f53f63f313db5d830","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6339a45b-7103-4844-bc8f-9e72e546e6c2/retrieve","id":"1525811979"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe124632-b9f2-46d0-92af-6116df6e8516","pagecount":"12","content":"familias campesinas de las zonas altas (puna y altiplano) y de los valles, contribuye al empleo y se constituye en una importante fuente de alimento de la población tanto rural como urbana.La mayoría de las comunidades agrícolas rurales de Bolivia que se dedican al cultivo de la papa continúan utilizando fuentes tradicionales o no formales de semilla de papa. Se estima que más del 95% de la semilla de papa proviene de los sistemas no formales de semilla de papa.Se consideran adecuados para la producción de semilla de papa terrenos ubicados a altitudes mayores a 3600 msnm, donde existe aún disponibilidad de terrenos localmente llamados \"phuruma\" (vírgenes) o parcelas \"idiasu\" con mínimamente 3 años de descanso o mejor más de cinco años de descanso. Alternativamente se pueden utilizar terrenos que hayan pasado por rotación de cultivos durante al menos 4 años.Se recomienda que las parcelas semilleras estén separadas de otras parcelas por lo menos con 5 m de distancia, y que en ese espacio se siembre cebada, tarwi u otro cultivo.Los terrenos deben ser identificados en una ficha de registro con la siguiente información:• Nombre de la comunidad, municipio y departamento • Nombre del propietario del terreno • Nombre del grupo de agricultores semilleristas al que pertenece (si aplica)• La superficie del terreno destinada a la producción de semilla • La pendiente del terreno (estimada)• La historia de la parcela sobre los cultivos anteriores • Otras notas relevantes sobre plagas y enfermedades que se observaron en años anteriores (si aplica)Suelos \"phuruma\" a más de 3800 m de altitud para producción de semilla de papaDos meses antes de la siembra es recomendable realizar un diagnóstico de la presencia de nematodos en el suelo mediante bioensayos, especialmente en terrenos \"idiasu\" que han descansado menos de cinco años. No es necesario realizar los bioensayos en terrenos \"phuruma\", siempre y cuando no hayan existido parcelas de producción de papa en sus proximidades que hayan comprometido la sanidad del suelo.El bioensayo consiste en los siguientes pasos:Muestreo del suelo en zig-zag, donde cada punto está a 20 pasos de distancia. Desechar los primeros 5 cm del suelo, extraer en cada punto la muestra de 20 cm de profundidad, obteniéndose en total unos 5 kg/ha. Mezclar la muestra hasta que quede homogénea. Tomar 3 sub-muestras de unos 400 g (una taza grande y media) en una bolsa de plástico transparente.Regar cada bolsa para proporcionar humedad uniforme al suelo. Sembrar un tubérculo y aumentar más tierra (200 g o una taza no muy llena), volver a regar y luego cerrar las bolsas haciendo un doblez en la parte superior, engrapar.• Incubar las bolsas en un lugar caliente (aprox. 25°C) oscuro por 30 días. Para proporcionar calor, se puede usar cajas de cartón revestidas con papel periódico de forma que se evite la penetración de luz.Práctica del \"k'olachado\" en suelos \"phuruma\"• Observar el desarrollo de las raíces al cabo de un mes, se debe evaluar la presencia de nematodos, ya sean nódulos en las raíces causados por Nacobbus aberrans o quistes de Globodera spp.• De no ser evidentes los síntomas causados por los nematodos, incubar otros 10 días.• Si después de 10 días no se observan síntomas, vaciar la bolsa y revisar las raíces. De no presentarse síntomas, el terreno puede considerarse no infestado y apto para la producción de semilla.Para que el terreno esté bien preparado, se recomienda hacer cuatro pasos:• En suelos \"phuruma\" realizar el volteo de la primera capa de tierra que tiene pajonales, poner en montones para que se sequen, una vez secos realizar el \"k'olachado\" o combustión apagada (quema lenta) y esparcir los montones de tierra con paja quemada a toda la superficie de la parcela. Luego proceder con la preparación (arada, rastreada, cruzada y nivelada).• En suelos \"idiasu\" empezar desde la arada, para volcar la tierra.• Rastrear, para destruir los terrones y mezclar el rastrojo, y así tener un terreno más suelto.• Hacer la cruzada, para hacer la tierra más fina y blanda.• Nivelar, para aprovechar mejor el agua de lluvia.El material base para la producción y multiplicación de semilla debe ser de la más alta calidad fitosanitaria posible, los tubérculos deben ser de tamaño pequeño, con ojos abiertos (\"p'ancha ñawis\"), brotes cortos, uniformes y robustos.Es recomendable iniciar el proceso de producción y multiplicación con semilla prebásica (la más alta calidad fitosanitaria), la cual es libre de virus, nematodos ySemilla pre-básica de la variedad Candelero para iniciar multiplicación y producción de semilla de alta calidad hongos. Si no fuera este tipo de semilla, se recomienda al menos iniciar con semilla de calidad básica, que tiene todavía excelente calidad sanitaria. En caso de no conseguir semilla pre-básica o básica, se debe tener mucho cuidado en la adquisición de la semilla del agricultor, seleccionar bien para garantizar su calidad (tubérculos sanos, sin enfermedades, ni daños, no deben ser deformes, sin ojos o inmaduros-pelones) y deben provenir de zonas altas y reconocidas como áreas de producción de semilla.La papa saca mucho alimento del suelo, por eso las parcelas elegidas son en terrenos \"phuruma\" o \"idiasu\" que tienen fertilización natural, pero para garantizar una buena producción, se recomienda dar una fertilización adicional a la parcela semillera. Para esto, el uso de guano (vaca, gallinaza, oveja, cabra o llama) debe estar descompuesto, así la planta aprovechará mejor los nutrientes, se evita el riesgo de quemar los brotes de la semilla, y se elimina adicionalmente las semillas de malezas o posibles insectos plaga que estén adheridos al guano. Se recomienda utilizar un cubo (1 m 3 ) de guano (6 bolsas cargueras) por 100 kg de semilla, o bien 4 bolsas de gallinaza mezcladas con 2 bolsas de guano de vaca u oveja. Si el terreno es \"phuruma\" se puede utilizar sólo 4 bolsas de guano.Cómo realizar la siembra:• Se preparan los surcos en el terreno preparado, de 10 a 15 cm de profundidad, y 70 a 80 cm (un paso de distancia) entre surcos. La dirección de los surcos debe asegurar la eliminación de exceso de agua de lluvia para evitar encharcamientos.• En zonas de ladera la siembra debe iniciarse en la parte inferior de la pendiente para evitar en lo posible deslizamientos del suelo de la parcela.• En los surcos abiertos, se coloca el guano y después la semilla a una distancia de 30 cm (un pie) entre semillas. Luego se cubre con tierra.Para hacer un buen manejo de la parcela semillera se recomienda:• Hacer un buen control de malezas antes de que las plantas alcancen 10 cm de altura o cuando las malezas aún no sean competencia del cultivo.• Realizar depuraciones (selección negativa), es decir quitar las plantas que son diferentes a las características propias de la variedad que se ha sembrado (las que son amarillentas, deformes, enanas, débiles o atacadas por plagas y enfermedades, las plantas voluntarias o \"k'ipas\").• Hacer un buen control de plagas y enfermedades, particularmente el tizón tardío o \"t'ojtu\". El aumento de la temperatura combinado con las lluvias y la neblina favorecen la aparición del t'octu (tizón), que puede causar grandes pérdidas en la producción de semilla.Aporque alto para favorecer la formación de tubérculos• Para el control del tizón se puede usar una estrategia combinada entre productos sintéticos (fungicidas sistémicos o curativos) y productos de preparación casera o eco-fungicida (caldo sulfocálcico + aceite mineral + extracto de ajo y cola de caballo) que puede sustituir a los fungicidas de contacto o preventivos. La aplicación del eco-fungicida en la parcela se realiza utilizando medio litro del preparado casero por una mochila fumigadora de 20 litros. En zonas tizoneras se debe iniciar el control del \"t'ojtu\" aplicando un fungicida sistémico (de acuerdo a las dosis que indica su etiqueta) que tiene un periodo de protección de 14 a 21 días y después aplicar el eco fungicida que tiene una acción de protección de 7 días. Realizar aplicaciones intercaladas y no aplicar más de 3 veces el fungicida sistémico para no generar resistencia, así se reduce el daño al medio ambiente, al suelo y a la salud del productor.• Realizar aporques altos a tiempo para ayudar a la planta a una mayor formación de tubérculos.• Aplicar otra fertilización foliar con fertilizante natural -biol o fertilizante foliar químico, durante el desarrollo de la planta (al menos en dos oportunidades antes y después de la floración).Selección negativa -Identificación y eliminación de plantas enanas, débiles o enfermasEn una parcela semillera, el momento oportuno para la cosecha depende del tamaño de los tubérculos, para eso se debe realizar un muestreo, que consiste en sacar plantas de diferentes lugares de la parcela para evaluar el tamaño y grado de madurez de los tubérculos.Muestreo de la producción de semilla para evaluar tamaño y maduración del tubérculo antes de la cosecha Semilla de papa recién cosechadaCuando la mayoría de las papas han alcanzado el tamaño semilla y están maduras (la cáscara no se pela con facilidad), entonces es momento de cosechar. Pero si los tubérculos están creciendo demasiado hacia un tamaño comercial y no están aún maduros, entonces se recomienda cortar el follaje, y luego de un par de semanas proceder con la cosecha.Después de la cosecha se debe seleccionar la semilla, primero en la misma parcela quitando el exceso de tierra adherida a los tubérculos, separando los dañados, con síntomas de plagas o enfermedades, deformes, podridos, inmaduros, etc. Después se continúa con la selección en el silo y al mismo tiempo se deben clasificar por tamaños, separando los tubérculos en bolsas bien identificadas.El almacenamiento de la semilla de papa bien clasificada y ordenada, debe realizarse bajo condiciones diferentes a la papa consumo, es decir en ambientes aireados y con luz difusa (la papa consumo no debe recibir luz para evitar la brotación).Durante el almacenamiento también se debe cuidar que no haya ataque de plagas y enfermedades que pongan en riesgo la calidad de la semilla producida. Para esto se deben utilizar hierbas repelentes como ramas de muña, eucalipto y ceniza.Silo mejorado para semilla de papa• Tener un buen conocimiento y práctica del manejo y del cultivo de la papa.• Tener conocimiento en la selección de buena semilla.• Contar con terrenos sanos y bien cuidados en las alturas (más de 3600 m).• Cumplir adecuadamente con la rotación de cultivos y el tiempo de descanso de los terrenos. • Manejar la parcela semillera con responsabilidad y dedicación para tener una producción de calidad. • Ser responsable, honesto y sincero con todas las actividades relacionadas a la producción de semilla de papa.Fundación PROINPA Centro El Paso: Av. Meneces s/n Km 4 Teléfono: (591 -4)4319595 • Fax: (591 -4) 4319600","tokenCount":"1756"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6287326721.json b/data/part_1/6287326721.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..35419705e8206f113320beafe31dfbdaf3cea8d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6287326721.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"689b703cc8eb2d5361da5f49448f44f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eca136ed-9eaa-4fbd-bc38-d3d853d3a60d/retrieve","id":"-244935276"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"be7c4553-0084-4520-bedc-66025b2e3fa2","pagecount":"132","content":"CAPITULO V DISCUSIÓN 5.1 Infestación larval de moscas minadora 5.2 Variación estacional de la infestación larval y el parasitoidismo 5.3 Parasitoides de moscas minadoras 5.4 Diversidad de parasitoides entre los sistemas de producción de papa 5.5 Zona de refugio 5.6 RendimientosLa presente investigación se realizó para poder conocer y entender las interacciones entre Liriomyza huidobrensis y sus parasitoides en los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional de papa. El objetivo fue determinar la ocurrencia estacional de infestación y parasitoidismo de la mosca minadora y sus parasitoides en estos dos sistemas, así como conocer el efecto de la zona de refugio establecido en los bordes del cultivo y comparar el rendimiento en la cosecha con estos dos tipos de sistemas agronómicos. El ensayo se estableció en el fundo Santa Elena, localidad de Quilmaná, Cañete. Cada campo fue dividido en 4 parcelas, de las cuales dos recibieron aplicación de insecticidas permitidos y dos quedaron libres de insecticidas. Adicionalmente se incorporó en los bordes derecho e izquierdo del cultivo, una zona de refugio comprendido por dos hileras de fríjol y maíz. Para la evaluación se procedió con la colecta de hojas cada 15 días, las que fueron llevadas al laboratorio para la recuperación de los adultos de mosca minadora y sus parasitoides para su posterior identificación. Los resultados mostraron que la infestación larval fue mayor en el sistema orgánico que en el convencional. Los niveles de parasitoidismo fueron similares en ambos sistemas. El sistema orgánico presentó mayor abundancia y numero de especies de parasitoides, pero el sistema convencional fue el más diverso según el índice de Shannon. La zona de refugio fue una fuente de diversidad de parasitoides, sin embargo, no disminuyó la población de moscas minadoras en ambos sistemas. El sistema convencional registró 27.7% más de rendimiento que el orgánico. Figura 2 Croquis de campo de la siembra de papa en el lote orgánico y convencional.Figura 3 Secuencia de evaluaciones en el campo de papa. Fases de desarrollo de la planta de papa: O -siembra, I -emergencia, II -desarrollo vegetativo, III -tuberización y IV -madurez -senescencia. C: cosecha.Figura 4 Secuencia de evaluaciones en los surcos de fríjol. Fases de desarrollo de la planta: siembra (S), hoja cotiledonal (HC), primera hoja trifoliada (PT), tercera hoja trifoliada (TT), prefloración (PF), floración (F), formación de vainas (FV), vainas llenas (VLL) y maduración (M).Figura 5 Secuencia de evaluaciones en los surcos de maíz.Figura 6 Variación de la infestación de la mosca minadora en los dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 7 Variación estacional del parasitoidismo de la mosca minadora en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 8 Variación estacional de la infestación y el parasitoidismo de la mosca minadora en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 9 Variación estacional del parasitoidismo por especie de parasitoide en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 10 Contribución de cada familia taxonómica al parasitoidismo total en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 11 Fluctuación de la diversidad de parasitoides de moscas minadoras en dos sistemas de producción en el valle de Cañete 2006.Figura 12 Fluctuación de la infestación larval de moscas minadoras en franjas de refugio en dos sistemas de producción en el valle de Cañete 2006.Figura 13 Fluctuación del parasitoidismo en franjas de refugio en dos sistemas de producción en el valle de Cañete 2006.Figura 14 Comparación del parasitoidismo en el cultivo de papa y las franjas de refugio de las especies más importantes de parasitoides en dos sistemas de producción agrícola, Cañete 2006.Figura 15 Variación estacional del parasitoidismo por especie de parasitoide en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 16 Rendimiento de papa por parcela en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Figura 17 Variación estacional del parasitoidismo por especie de parasitoide en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.Anexo 1 Algunos Insumos y Agentes para el manejo de la plaga y enfermedades permitidos en la agricultura orgánica.Anexo 2 Resumes de labores agronómicas en el campo orgánico y el campo convencional.Anexo 3 Análisis estadísticos.Anexo 4 Variación estacional del parasitoidismo por especie de parasitoide en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.La agricultura es una actividad basada en procesos biológicos que dependen de una serie de organismos que interactúan continuamente entre sí y con las condiciones físicas del ambiente. En este contexto, la biodiversidad comprende todas las especies de organismos presentes en el agro ecosistema y que cumplen un rol fundamental en el proceso de producción sustentable (Fibl DOSSIER, 2000). Un sistema que se halla en equilibrio se caracteriza por mantener la densidad poblacional de estos organismos dentro de ciertos límites, más o menos fluctuantes, en un período de tiempo. Esta fluctuación poblacional se debe a factores reguladores tanto bióticos (enemigos naturales de las plagas) como abióticos (De Bach 1985, Van Driesche y Bellows, 1996). Sin embargo, en la producción agropecuaria moderna, caracterizada por una simplificación de los agroecosistemas, los mecanismos de regulación natural pueden resultar menos efectivos (Lethmayer et al., 1997).La aplicación de prácticas de manejo agrícola tales como el uso intensivo de pesticidas y fertilizantes, así como el cultivo de muy pocas especies, con tendencia al monocultivo, han dado como consecuencia una importante disminución en la diversidad de los agro-ecosistemas (Altieri y Letourneau, 1982). Además, los distintos niveles de disturbios generados por las intervenciones constantes del hombre a través de la alta frecuencia e intensidad de aplicación de las prácticas de manejo, han provocado una disminución de los organismos benéficos en detrimento de la regulación natural de las plagas (Landis et al., 2000). De esta manera, los sistemas se convierten en muy \"poco estables\" (Altieri 1992) y muchas plagas potenciales pasan a ser consideradas plagas emergentes o principales a causa de la disminución de su regulación natural (Metcalf y Luckman, 1990).En el marco de un sistema de producción orgánica, se promueve el aumento de la diversidad vegetal, tendiente a la conservación e incremento de especies biológicamente activas en la regulación de los herbívoros plaga (Andow 1991, Altieri y Letourneau, 1982). De esta forma, el agro-ecosistema y su paisaje pueden ser manejados con el objetivo de brindar óptimas condiciones a los agentes controladores aumentando su actividad, densidad y diversidad (Landis et al., 2000;Carmona y Landis, 1999).La mayoría de investigadores han concluido que el uso excesivo de insecticidas en el cultivo de papa a llevado al incremento de la población de la mosca minadora Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard (Diptera:Agromyzidae), una plaga clave en el cultivo de papa en la costa central del Perú, debido a que sus enemigos naturales se han visto afectados negativamente (Herrera, 1963;Cisneros, 1986;Yabar, 1988;Ewell et al., 1990;Mujica y Cisneros, 1997). Debido a los grandes riesgos que implica el uso de insecticidas, se plantea el uso de alternativas diferentes, donde se realicen manejos que mantengan el equilibrio ecológico de las zonas agrícolas. Entre estas alternativas se encuentra la agricultura orgánica, que busca la conservación del suelo y los cultivos, mediante el uso de prácticas de reciclaje, rotación de cultivo, laboreo del suelo, entre otras prácticas donde no se realice la utilización de productos provenientes de síntesis química.Para nuestras condiciones no se tiene información sobre la dinámica de la mosca minadora y sus hymenópteros parasitoides en un sistema de producción orgánica de papa. En este contexto se plantea la siguiente investigación con el fin de conocer y entender las interacciones entre estos organismos comparando los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional, con el fin de tomar decisiones acertadas en el manejo de los mismos.El sistema de producción orgánica de papa incrementa la abundancia y diversidad específica de los hymenópteros parasitoides de la mosca minadora Liriomyza huidobrensis y permite un control natural de la plaga.Determinar la ocurrencia estacional de la mosca minadora Liriomyza huidobrensis y sus hymenópteros parasitoides en los sistemas de producción orgánica y convencional de papa-Comparar los niveles de infestación larval de la mosca minadora en los dos sistemas de producción, -Comparar los niveles de parasitoidismo ejercido por los hymenópteros parasitoides sobre la mosca minadora en los dos sistemas de producción, -Comparar la abundancia y diversidad de los hymenópteros parasitoides de la mosca minadora en los sistemas orgánico y convencional,-Evaluar el efecto de la siembra de franjas de fríjol y maíz adyacentes al campo de papa, en la infestación larval y el parasitoidismo de la mosca minadora en el cultivo de papa en los dos sistemas de producción,-Comparar el rendimiento a la cosecha entre los dos sistemas de producción CAPITULO IILa papa (Solanum tuberosum L.) es uno de los principales cultivos del país, dada su importancia económica y social. Según los resultados del III Censo Nacional Agropecuario 1994 (MINAG, 2007), 33.8% de los productores agropecuarios se dedican a la producción de papa, generando cada año aproximadamente 110,000 puestos de trabajo permanentes (30 millones de jornales) además de ser la base de la alimentación de la población altoandina.En el ámbito nacional, existen condiciones de producción muy heterogéneas, lo cual se va a reflejar tanto en los resultados productivos como de rentabilidad del cultivo por zonas productoras. En la sierra del país se concentra el 96% de la superficie cultivada de papa, obteniéndose niveles de rendimiento por hectárea inferiores con respecto a las zonas productoras de costa. En los departamentos de la costa central (Lima e Ica) se obtienen los mayores rendimientos, seguidos por los departamentos de sierra central (Junín, Huánuco, Ayacucho, Pasco y Huancavelica) y luego los departamentos de la sierra norte y sur. En promedio los departamentos de costa (5) obtienen un promedio de 17 TM./Ha y los departamentos de sierra ( 14) obtienen un promedio de 12 TM/Ha. Los rendimientos dependen del nivel de tecnología usada, principalmente por el empleo de semilla certificada, variedades mejoradas, fertilizantes, nivel de mecanización, adecuadas practicas agronómicas, riego tecnificado, ocurrencia de factores abióticos y el control efectivo de plagas y enfermedades.El valle de Cañete se ubica a 140 Km, al sur de Lima, en la provincia de Cañete, departamento de Lima. Se trata de un oasis irrigado en medio del desierto costeño con cerca de 25,000 ha cultivables. La papa se cultiva de otoño a primavera con rendimientos relativamente altos (25 a 35 t/Ha). Toda la producción se comercializa inmediatamente después de la cosecha (Ewell et al., 1990).El 70% de los agricultores utiliza pesticidas indiscriminadamente para controlar plagas y enfermedades, generando problemas de plagas resistentes y la aparición de \"nuevas plagas\". Entre los problemas generados están las plagas mas serias que atacan a la papa, aunque no exclusivamente a este cultivo. La plaga predominante es mosca minadora, L. huidobrensis. Le sigue en importancia, la mosquilla de los brotes, Prodiplosis longifila, y, ocasionalmente, la mosca blanca, Bemisia tabaci.. En el valle se comercializan y aplican insecticidas sin restricciones (Mujica y Cisneros, 1997).La mosca minadora (L. huidobrensis) es una de las principales plagas en el cultivo de papa en la costa del Perú. Es una típica plaga secundaria que ha llegado a convertirse en una plaga primaria como consecuencia del abuso indiscriminado de insecticidas para controlar a otras plagas como por ejemplo Tuta absoluta, en el caso de Perú (Wille, 1952). En la década de 1940 se registró a L. huidobrensis en el valle de Cañete, considerada en ese entonces una plaga de menor importancia.En 1951 adquiere gran importancia este minador de hojas debido a que el insecticida DDT es reemplazado y comienza a usarse los insecticidas fosforados. En 1954 en la costa central, en aquellos campos en que se distanció en uso de los insecticidas, la mosca logró producir hasta la muerte de las plantas e inclusive en experimentos, se constató la ausencia de las avispas Chalcidoidea parasitoides de la misma (Herrera, 1963;Arellano, 1965).El rápido desarrollo de resistencia y tolerancia de la plaga, ocurrida naturalmente hacia varios químicos parece ser una característica generalizada de L. huidobrensis. En la mayoría de los lugares la mosca minadora ha desarrollado niveles significativos de resistencia hacia todos los carbamatos, órganofosforados, insecticidas piretroides, comúnmente utilizados, por estas razones, esta especie es considerada como la mosca minadora más difícil de matar (Parrella, 1984;MacDonald, 1991).Los agricultores en su mayoría tratan de controlar esta plaga mediante aplicaciones de 8 a 13 veces por campaña, en forma calendarizada, siendo los insecticidas el costo más elevado, seguido por otros insumos donde las plagas reducen comúnmente en un 50% la producción (Ewell et al,. 1990;Mujica y Cisneros, 1997)  (Spencer, 1990). La larga lista incluye papa (Solanum tuberosum L.), fríjoles (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), arveja (Pisum sativum L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) y casi todos los vegetales (tomate, apio, lechuga, pimientos, espinacas y otros) que crecen en Cañete y en otros valles de la Costa peruana (Korytkowski, 1982). Esto tiene consecuencias cuando no se considera la rotación de cultivos.Adicionalmente, la mosca minadora infesta muchas especies de malas hierbas. Las malezas asociadas al cultivo como hospedantes alternos para la plaga pueden ser más apetecibles que el cultivo, por lo que podrían funcionar como un reservorio tanto de la plaga como de sus enemigos naturales. Esto implica la necesidad de dar un mejor uso a las malezas desde el punto de vista del manejo integrado de plagas (Genung, 1981).En la costa central de Perú el ciclo biológico de L. huidobrensis durante el invierno (14.6 ± 0.8° C y 88.4 ± 2.9% HR) se completa en 40 días; el periodo de incubación de huevo fue 6 días, la larva desarrollo en 13 días y la pupa en 21 días. Durante la primavera (17.3 ± 0.7° C y 88 ± 3.3% HR), el periodo de incubación dura entre 2-9 días, la larva desarrolla en 11 días aproximadamente al igual que la pupa, completando el ciclo biológico en 25 días. A principios de verano (20.4 ± 0.9° C y 82.1 ± 4% HR) se aprecia un ciclo biológico de menor duración equivalente a 19 días, con una incubación del huevo de 3 días, desarrollo larval en 9 días y la pupa en 7 días (Lizárraga, 1990).De las pupas salen los adultos, que son mosquitas de 2 mm de longitud, de color negro con manchas o líneas amarillas en el cuerpo.Emergen en las primeras horas de la mañana. La hembra es de mayor tamaño y más robusta que el macho y posee un órgano llamado \"ovipositor\", con el cual realiza las \"picaduras\" de alimentación y las perforaciones para introducir los huevos. La relación de sexos es de 1.25:1.0 para hembras y para machos respectivamente, el periodo de preoviposición es de 2.8, 3.5, 5.0, 3.0 días en verano, otoño, invierno y primavera, respectivamente (Lizárraga, 1990).Cuando las moscas se criaron en los esquejes de papa, las hembras tuvieron una longevidad entre 18 y 23 días, mientras que los machos entre 4 y 7 días para las condiciones de invierno y primavera (Romero et al., 1991). En la localidad de Cañete se estima un promedio de 13 generaciones por año (Herrera, 1963;Neder y Arce 1984;Roque et al., 1988).El daño más importante es de las larvas, debido a sus hábitos minadores. La larva se alimenta del interior de las hojas formando \"minas\" o túneles, cuyo diámetro aumenta con el desarrollo de la larva. Las hojas pierden su capacidad de producir y transportar alimento para la formación de la cosecha, finalmente las hojas se secan. Mujica y Cisneros (1995), determinaron el porcentaje de pérdida de rendimiento en siete variedades de papa (Tomasa Tito Condemayta, Cica, Canchan, Revolución, Amarilis, Yungay y Perricholi) debido al daño de la mosca minadora. Los resultados mostraron una disminución de rendimiento de 46% en Cica; 53% en Revolución; 54.5% en Amarilis; 50% en Canchan; 62.3% en Yungay;19.7% en Perricholi y 45% en Tomasa.Existe una clara variación estacional en la densidad poblacional de la mosca en el valle de Cañete cuando se dan las siembras tempranas de la papa que empiezan en marzo (finales del verano) y se dan las cosechas de las siembras tardías que ocurren en diciembre (finales de primavera). La densidad poblacional más alta ocurre durante los meses de invierno: junio, julio, agosto y septiembre. La población de las moscas es muy baja durante los meses cálidos (noviembre -marzo). Dentro de un campo determinado, existe también la tendencia en la población de la mosca asociada con la fenología de la planta de papa. Se ha observado que existe un incremento relativamente lento durante el crecimiento vegetativo y un rápido incremento sostenible durante el período de floración, seguido de un declive a medida que las plantas entran en senescencia. Esta tendencia es más notoria en el caso de la población larval (Sánchez y Redolfi, 1988;Mujica y Cisneros, 1997).Los parasitoides son insectos cuyas larvas se alimentan de otros insectos (raramente de otros artrópodos), a los que causan la muerte para completar su desarrollo. Este grupo de organismos posee una gran importancia económica ya que actúan como reguladores poblacionales de sus hospedadores, por lo que representan herramientas útiles para el manejo de insectos plagas (Cisneros, 1986).Parasitoides y parásitos no significa lo mismo, la diferencia principal radica en que el desarrollo individual de los primeros destruye totalmente al hospedador, lo que generalmente no ocurre con los segundos. El hospedador pertenece generalmente a la misma clase taxonómica del parasitoide (Insecta) y la dinámica poblacional de las interacciones que se establece entre ambos se asemeja mas a las interacciones predator-presa que a las relaciones entre hospedadores y parásitos verdaderos (Godfray, 1994).Dependiendo de diversas características de comportamiento y biología, las especies parasíticas han sido clasificadas de diversas maneras. Según el número de parasitoides que se desarrollan a expensas de un individuo hospedador se puede discriminar parasitoides solitarios, en los cuales se encuentra sólo un individuo parasitoide por hospedador; y parasitoides gregarios o superparasitoides, cuando varios individuos de una misma especie explotan un mismo hospedador. Según la ubicación del parasitoide con respecto al hospedador, pueden ser clasificados en dos grupos: los endoparasitoides que son aquellas especies que se desarrollan dentro del cuerpo de su hospedador, mientras que los ectoparasitoides viven externamente con su aparato bucal introducido en el cuerpo del insecto que los hospeda (Askew, 1971;Godfray, 1994).El estado del hospedador elegido para la oviposición también es utilizado para categorizar a los parasitoides. Cuando el estado del hospedador en el que se colocan los huevos es el mismo del que emergen los parasitoides adultos, las especies se denominan parasitoides de huevo, parasitoides larvales, parasitoides pupales o parasitoides de adultos, según corresponda. Cuando los parasitoides emergen de un estado del hospedador diferente de aquel en que se colocaron los huevos, se los designa anteponiendo el estado del hospedador en que son depositados los huevos del que emergen las avispas adultas, por ejemplo parasitoides de huevo-larva, larva-pupa (o larvopupales) (Spencer, 1973).Diferentes características físicas y químicas de las plantas que sirven de alimento a los huéspedes, pueden afectar el comportamiento de búsqueda y ataque de los parasitoides, a veces, independientemente de la densidad del huésped (Letourneau y Altieri 1983;Sato y Ohsaki, 1987;Cortesero et al., 2000). En algunos casos, plantas dañadas por el huésped proveen estímulos capaces de incrementar la búsqueda por parte de ciertos parasitoides (Vinson, 1976). Por otro lado, algunos parasitoides exhiben respuestas diferentes hacia los mismos huéspedes alimentados en diferentes especies de plantas, debido a compuestos químicos que pueden afectar negativamente la supervivencia y el desarrollo preimaginal del parasitoide (Barbosa y Benrey, 1998). De esta forma, las plantas no sólo aumentan la eficiencia del parasitoide al facilitarle claves para ubicar al huésped y/o hacerlo accesible al ataque, sino que además le proveen alimento suplementario y refugio (Cortesero et al., 2000). Olivera and Bordat (1997)   1992,1993). Da Piaxao et al. (2002) evaluaron la influencia ejercida por franjas de fríjol en el índice de parasitoidismo por Opius en la mosca minadora L. huidobrensis en el cultivo de papa, logrando un incremento del parasitoidismo en las parcelas de papa que tuvieron franjas de fríjol en comparación con las que no las presentaron.Las larvas y pupas de las \"moscas minadoras\" de la familia Agromyzidae son afectadas por un gran número de parasitoides, que ejercen un alto grado de control. Se han registrado diversas especies de Hymenoptera parasitoides de las superfamilias Chalcidoidea e Ichneumonoidea. Las familias Eulophidae y Braconidae, los cuales atacan pupas y principalmente estados larvales de los dípteros minadores, dominan las comunidades de parasitoides (Schuster et al., 1991;Shepard et al. 1998;Salvo y Valladares, 1996y Onillon, 1999). Si las aplicaciones de insecticidas son suspendidas, la información global de ecosistemas agrícolas sugiere que los parasitoides son a menudo responsables por un nivel significativo de mortalidad (Johnson, 1987;Weintraub y Horowitz, 1998y Mujica et al, 2003).En el Perú, los valles de Rímac, Cañete e Ica, se registró un total de 6 especies de parasitoides en cultivos comerciales de papa, señalándose solo 5 especies (Halticoptera arduine, Chrysocharis phytomyzae, Chrysocharis sp, Diglyphus webtseri, y Ganaspidium sp.) para los campos experimentales de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, La Molina (Redolfi et al., 1985). Posteriormente Sánchez y Redolfi (1988) determinan 10 especies de parasitoides en el cultivo de papa para la localidad de La Molina y Mujica et al. (2003) mencionan 8 especies de parasitoides pertenecientes a las familias Pteromalidae (1), Eulophidae(5), Cynipidae (1) y Braconidae (1). En todos los casos Halticoptera arduine (Pteromalidae) fue el parasitoide dominante sobre la mosca minadora en el cultivo de papa (Galantini y Redolfi, 1992;Sánchez y Redolfi, 1988;Redolfi et al., 1985;Mujica et al., 2004). El porcentaje de parasitoidismo varió de 27% en el mes de Agosto a 86% en el mes de Octubre.El sistema convencional se refiere a la producción agropecuaria fundada partir de los principios de la revolución verde, una agricultura de alto rendimiento basada en el uso intensivo de capital (tractores y maquinarias de alta productividad) e insumos externos (semillas de alto potencial genético, fertilizantes y plaguicidas sintéticos); también se le conoce como la agricultura que brinda altos rendimientos, altos insumos externos o agricultura moderna (Pretty, 2005). Con la aplicación de este tipo de sistema, los seres humanos han simplificado la estructura del ambiente sobre vastas áreas, remplazando la diversidad de la naturaleza con un pequeño numero de plantas cultivadas y animales domésticos. Este proceso de simplificación alcanza una forma extrema en el monocultivo. El objetivo de esta simplificación es el de aumentar la proporción de energía solar fijada por las comunidades de plantas que esta directamente disponible para los seres humanos (Altieri, 1997). En los agroecosistemas convencionales los procesos físicos, químicos y biológicos son manipulados por el hombre con el fin de aumentar su productividad (Stinner & Stinner, 1989).La agricultura ecológica, u orgánica, es un sistema para cultivar una explotación agrícola autónoma basada en la utilización óptima de los recursos naturales, sin emplear productos químicos de síntesis, u organismos genéticamente modificados (OGMs), ni para abono ni para combatir las plagas, logrando de esta forma obtener alimentos orgánicos a la vez que se conserva la fertilidad de la tierra y se respeta el medio ambiente. Todo ello de manera sostenible y equilibrada. Diversos autores han utilizado para definir la agricultura orgánica términos variados como los de: agricultura alternativa, biológica, ecológica, natural, biodinámica, etc., en general se caracteriza por no utilizar productos químicos. La producción orgánica se basa en la aplicación de un conjunto de técnicas dirigidas a mantener o aumentar la fertilidad del suelo y la diversidad biológica, que permitan proteger a los cultivos de las plagas, malezas y enfermedades, bajo un nivel tal que no provoquen daños económicos y en la salud (IFOAM, 2005).Para favorecer los procesos biológicos y el cuidado integral del ambiente, en las practicas de manejo orgánicos no se permite el agregado de sustancias químicas sintéticas (Letourneau y Glodstein, 2001;Ostman et al., 2001) y es por eso que desde una perspectiva ecológica, las practicas de manejo orgánicas se asemejan en cierta medida a los ecosistemas naturales (Stinner & Stinner, 1989). En los últimos años ha ocurrido tanto una diversificación en el número de especies cultivadas, como un crecimiento exponencial en el número de hectáreas dedicadas a este tipo de producción, siendo aun insuficiente para satisfacer las crecientes demandas externas (Baumann Fonay, 2003).Dentro de la agricultura orgánica, el control de plagas y enfermedades debe estar basado en métodos preventivos, potenciando el buen desarrollo de las plantas y por tanto su resistencia natural a plagas y enfermedades. Debe potenciarse al máximo, la prevención mediante unas adecuadas prácticas culturales que aseguren el buen desarrollo de las plantas y por tanto, que estas sean más resistentes. Las especies autóctonas y un abonado adecuado hacen las plantas más resistentes. Además de utilizar de manera conjunta los productos de origen orgánico (Altieri, 1997).Algunos insumos y agentes permitidos en la agricultura orgánica para el manejo de la plagas y enfermedades, son dados por los fabricantes entre otros (anexo 1).Diversos estudios han encontrado una mayor (Moreby et al., 1994;Berry et al., 1996) o similar (Basedow, 1998;Letourneau y Goldstein, 2001) densidad de artrópodos en cultivos manejados orgánicamente comparados con cultivos convencionales. Por ejemplo, Letourneau y Goldstein (2001), compararon las densidades de enemigos naturales y plagas, así como el daño en frutos entre campos de tomate manejados en forma orgánica y convencional en California.Estos autores encontraron una elevada densidad de predadores en campos orgánicos, coincidente con lo encontrado por Koss et al. (2005) en campos de papa. Sin embargo, en el sistema de tomate, tanto la densidad como los niveles de daño de las plagas no tuvieron diferencias significativas entre los sistemas de manejo orgánico y convencional. Asimismo, Drinkwater et al. (1995), observaron que las comunidades de enemigos naturales, parasitoides y predatores de la plaga fueron más abundantes en el sistema de producción orgánico de tomate en California (USA), lo cual aseguró el control de la plaga. Lo mismo fue comprobado por Lockeretz et al. (1984), con respecto a un cultivo orgánico de maíz.Por otro lado, Pearsall y Walde (1995), al estudiar la diversidad de coleópteros predadores en campos de maíz orgánico y convencional en Canadá, verificaron que no hubo diferencias en cuanto al número de especies capturadas en función al sistema de cultivo. Botelho et al. (1993), compararon la entomofauna en agroecosistemas orgánicos y convencionales de especies hortícola y registraron que el área orgánica presentó menor abundancia y riqueza de herbívoros, predadores y parasitoides en comparación con el área de cultivo convencional. En un estudio comparativo de 8 pares de campos orgánicos y convencionales en Inglaterra, Feber et al. (1997), encontraron mayor abundancia de lepidópteros considerados plaga (Pieris brassicae y Pieris rapae)en los sistemas convencionales de cultivo, a pesar de no haber diferencias significativas. Por otro lado, los lepidópteros, no considerados plaga, fueron significativamente mayores en el sistema orgánico que en el convencional.A pesar de que existe evidencia que las prácticas de manejo del cultivo orgánico aumentan la diversidad de diversos grupos de artrópodos, esto no siempre se cumple. En la ciudad de Goteingen ubicada al norte de Alemania, Roschewitz et al. (2005) observaron que la abundancia de áfidos (Sitobion avenae F., Metopolophium dirhodum Walk., and Rhopalosiphum padi L.) en cereales fue más alta en campos orgánicos que en convencionales. Asimismo, el parasitoidismo fue más alto en campos convencionales que en campos orgánicos. Debido a las diferencias entre cultivos y al desarrollo de éste en una región determinada, albergan diferentes plagas, es difícil determinar porqué algunos sistemas de producción orgánica presentan un control biológico eficiente para el control de las plagas, mientras que otras plagas son más severas en campos bajo manejo convencional.Un factor que necesita ser investigado es la experiencia del agricultor en el manejo orgánico del cultivo. El sistema de producción orgánico de tomate descrito por Letourneau y Goldstein (2001) en California, lleva un proceso de más de 15 años de experiencia. En cambio el sistema de producción de papa orgánica en los EEUU (Washington) lleva un promedio de 5 años de manejo, lo cual no permite al agricultor tener la suficiente habilidad en el control de plagas orgánicamente (Koss, 2005).En la mayoría de estudios entomológicos que comparten sistemas agrícolas orgánicos y convencionales sugieren que en ambientes orgánicos aumenta la abundancia de enemigos naturales, tanto de predadores como parasitoides, y que los niveles de daño causados por los insectos fitófagos son similares a los observados en sistemas convencionales (Speight et al. , 1999;Bonmarco y Ekbom, 2000;Paoletti y Cantarino, 2000). Algunos trabajos muestran una similitud en el número de especies presentes en ambos tipos de agroecosistemas e incluso una mayor diversidad en ambientes sometidos a prácticas convencionales (Weibull et al., 2000;Kleijn et al., 2001).Investigaciones realizadas por Zalazar y Salvo ( 2007), en la entomofauna asociada a los cultivos hortícolas orgánicos y convencionales en Córdova (Argentina), señalaron que en los campos orgánicos se presentó un número significativamente mayor de especies que los convencionales. La ausencia de químicos nocivos y el laboreo menos agresivos del suelo seria la causa de estas tendencias, coincidentes en términos generales con lo observado por otros autores (Feber et al., 1997;Kross y Schaefer, 1998;Doles, 2001;Letourneau y Goldstein, 2001y Melnychuk et al., 2003).En la literatura científica se registran muy pocos ejemplos de comparación de poblaciones de Agromyzidae minadores en cultivos orgánicos y convencionales. Carbone (2003), al comparar la ocurrencia de insectos en cultivos de fríjol producido bajo los sistemas orgánico y convencional, observó la presencia de minas en el follaje de fríjol provocado por Liriomyza sp. y concluyó que los niveles de daño no diferían significativamente entre los dos sistemas de cultivo. Por el contrario Bettiol et al. (2004), observaron que la ocurrencia de Liriomyza sp. fue más alta en el sistema convencional en todas las evaluaciones, resultando en un más alto porcentaje de hojas con perforaciones, minas y una severidad de ataque más alto. La baja incidencia de Liriomyza sp. en el sistema orgánico es el posible resultado de la mayor frecuencia de Chrysoperla sp. la cual pudo haber mantenido el balance entre las poblaciones.Con respecto a los rendimientos, Bettiol et al. (2004), encontraron que en promedio, el rendimiento de tomate en un sistema orgánico representó el 36.5% del rendimiento en el sistema convencional; mientras que el fruto comercial fue del 36%. El virus de la marchites del tomate (Tomato spotted wilt-TSWV) fue la enfermedad más importante en el sistema de producción orgánica, dando como resultado un menor desarrollo de las plantas, flores y rendimiento. En el sistema convencional, la enfermedad pudo ser mantenida bajo control y la población de trips (vector del virus) ocurrió en niveles más bajos que en el sistema orgánico.Estudios realizados por Mader et al. (2002), en campos de trigo de Europa indican que el trigo orgánico y otros cereales de grano rindieron en promedio de 30 a 50% menos que la producción de los cereales de grano convencional. Los bajos rendimientos del sistema orgánico en estos experimentos comparados con el sistema convencional parecen ser causado por el menor aporte de nutrientes nitrogenados en el sistema orgánico. En Nueva Zelanda, rendimientos de trigo en campos orgánicos registraron un 38% menos que aquellos en el sistema convencional (Brumfield et al., 2000).Rendimientos menores en sistemas de producción orgánica con respecto al sistema convencional también fueron obtenidos en otros trabajos (Lockeretz et al., 1984;Gliessman et al., 1990). Sin embargo, Stanhill (1990) y Drinkwater et al. (1995), después de una detallada investigación de las características que adoptaron ambos sistemas de producción, concluyó que este no es siempre el caso y que otros factores tienen un efecto mayor sobre los rendimientos que las técnicas que establecen las diferencias entre sistema orgánico y convencional, tales como el tipo de suelo, la fertilidad, disponibilidad de agua, cultivar y clima. Quilmaná es uno de los 16 distritos de la Provincia de Cañete, se encuentra ubicada en la parte central mediterránea del territorio Provincial de Cañete, Departamento de Lima, a 17 Km. al norte del distrito de San Vicente.El clima en esta localidad es del tipo muy seco y semicálido, por lo que la temperatura media mensual varía entre 23ºC y 16ºC para los meses de Febrero y Agosto respectivamente. Las temperaturas promedio registradas por la Estación meteorológica de la Asociación de Agricultores de Cañete para el año 2006 se presentan en la Figura 1. La humedad relativa tiene una variación de 78 % en verano a 81% en invierno en promedio y una precipitación máxima en 24 horas que varia entre 0.0 y 1.5 mm. y el total promedio anual 26.6 mm. La dirección predominante de los vientos es Sur-Oeste con una velocidad de 7 a 12 km/h con brisas ligeras en verano, invierno y primavera y de 2 a 6 km/h. con viento débil en otoño. La evaporación es de 5 mm a 150 mm. De Noviembre a Abril, 48 mm, a 92 mm de Mayo a Octubre, el total anual promedio es 1,232 mm.Presenta una topografía relativamente plana con ligera pendiente de Norte a Sur, con cotas comprendidas entre 150 m.s.n.m en la zona de ingreso y 165 m.s.n.m cercanos al cerro. El tipo de suelo de acuerdo al estudio de suelo realizado en 1996, determinó que la zona se encuentra formada por un variado conjunto de rocas, sedimentarias metamórficas e ígneas. Se utilizaron los siguientes materiales:Semilla de papa cv. Única El Fundo Santa Elena es propiedad del agricultor Ing. Jorge Bustamante con un área de 50 Ha, de las cuales el 60% cuenta con certificación orgánica y 40% del área es manejada en forma convencional. En el área orgánica se cultiva algodón, espárrago y mandarinas y en el área convencional se cultiva camote, papa y espárragos.Para el desarrollo del ensayo se seleccionaron dos áreas dentro del fundo (un lote orgánico y un lote convencional), separados entre sí por una distancia de 200 m sembrada con una plantación de mandarina. Cada lote fue dividido en cuatro parcelas de igual tamaño, como se muestra en la Figura 2. En cada sistema de producción de papa se compararon parcelas con aplicación de insecticidas y sin aplicación de insecticidas, según los insumos permitidos para cada sistema.Los factores en estudio se resumen en lo siguiente:Factor 1: Sistema de manejo del cultivo Cosecha. En ambos sistemas se tomaron muestras para la evaluación de rendimiento, las que se cosecharon en forma manual con la ayuda de rastrillo y lampa. El resto del campo fue cosechado con tractor provisto de implementos de cosecha. 12 hojas de la planta (Figura 5). En cada parcela se evaluaron 20 plantas al azar (10 del lado derecho y 10 del lado izquierdo). Se colectó una hoja minada por planta. La zona de refugio fue evaluada en tres momentos del desarrollo del cultivo de papa. Las hojas de cada cultivo se colocaron en bolsas de papel kraft, anotándose en la parte externa de la bolsa los datos de la parcela, campo y fecha de muestreo.Figura 5. Secuencia de evaluaciones en los surcos de maíz.Las hojas colectadas en cada evaluación se trasladaron al laboratorio donde se acondicionaron en vasos de plástico de un litro de capacidad, conteniendo papel toalla en la base más unas gotas de agua para evitar el desecamiento de las hojas. El orificio de entrada de los vasos fue cubierto con una tela de organza y sujetado con una banda elástica. En la superficie exterior del vaso se anotó el cultivo, parcela, sistema de cultivo y fecha de evaluación. Los vasos fueron revisados cada 3 días (en 3 oportunidades consecutivas), para colectar las pupas de moscas ya formadas, las cuales se acondicionaron separadamente en placas de plástico. El follaje fue retornado a los vasos y permaneció por espacio de 20 días adicionales para la recuperación de parasitoides larvales. En total el material vegetal fue monitoreado por espacio de 30 días, luego de este tiempo se procedió a eliminar el follaje de los vasos.Se esperó a la emergencia y muerte de los adultos de moscas y parasitoides para la evaluación y conteo de los individuos. Los especimenes colectados fueron colocados en pequeños tubos para su posterior montaje en punta con los datos de cultivo, lugar, fecha de colección y colector, y luego acondicionados en cajas entomológicas con la finalidad de que sean utilizados como colección de referencia.Los especimenes recuperados se identificaron a nivel de familias, géneros y especies por medio de claves taxonómicas y por comparación con materiales ya determinados por especialistas. Los datos obtenidos en cada fecha de muestreo fueron ordenados en una planilla de evaluación y procesados con el fin de obtener la siguiente información por tratamiento, cultivo, sistema de cultivo y fecha de evaluación:número de moscas adultas, -número de parasitoides adultos emergidos de puparios de mosca (endoparasitoides), -número de parasitoides adultos recuperados de foliolos (ectoparasitoides), -número de puparios sin abrir.Con los datos obtenidos se determinó las siguientes variables: g) Indice de diversidad.de Shannon (H') Expresa la uniformidad de los valores de importancia a través de todas las especies de la muestra.Mide el grado promedio de incertidumbre en predecir a que especie pertenecerá un individuo escogido al azar de una colección (Magurran, 1988;Peet, 1974;Baev y Penev, 1995) (1) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra minúscula, en la misma columna, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.(2) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra mayúscula, en la misma fila, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.Por otro lado, se registraron diferencias altamente significativas (p<0.001) entre los sistemas de producción, en el promedio de adultos de mosca minadora, parasitoides y puparios sin abrir, con valores de 2.0 y 0.71 moscas / hoja, 7.15 y 1.29 parasitoides / hoja y 4.86 y 0.56 puparios sin abrir /hoja para los sistemas orgánico y convencional respectivamente.Variación estacional de la infestación larval La variación de la infestación larval en el cultivo de papa presentó diferencias altamente significativas (p<0.001) entre las fechas de evaluación y en la interacción entre los sistemas de producción y las fechas de evaluación (Cuadro 5, Anexo 3). Por otro lado, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en la interacción de fechas de evaluación con los tratamientos (con aplicación y sin aplicación de insecticidas) dentro de un mismo sistema de producción.En las parcelas con aplicación de insecticida del sistema convencional, se registró en la primera evaluación 3.85 larvas / hoja alcanzando una mayor infestación en la segunda evaluación con 5 larvas / hoja; se obtuvo en la tercera, cuarta, quinta y ultima evaluación valores La infestación promedio del sistema orgánico en el inicio fue de 5.04 larvas/hoja, incrementándose significativamente en la segunda evaluación a 20.53 larvas/hoja. La alta infestación larval se mantuvo en las dos siguientes evaluaciones con promedios de 19.04 larvas / hoja en la cuarta evaluación y un pico de 28.01 larvas/hoja en la quinta evaluación. En la etapa de madurez del cultivo la población larval descendió significativamente a 8.04 larvas/hoja y culmina con un promedio de 3.35 larvas/10 hoja en el periodo de senescencia. La disminución larval en esta última etapa estaría asociada a la senescencia del follaje próximo a la cosecha del cultivo (Cuadro 5)Al comparar la variación estacional de la infestación larval en ambos sistemas de producción, se observo que el sistema de producción orgánico registraba poblaciones significativamente más altas que el sistema de producción convencional durante todo el desarrollo del cultivo, a excepción de la primera fecha donde los promedios de infestación fueron estadísticamente similares.No se observaron diferencias significativas en los porcentajes de parasitoidismo entre los sistemas de producción (P<0.4976), entre tratamientos (P<0.5370) y entre la interacción de ambos (P<0.5722) (1) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra minúscula, en la misma columna, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.Variación estacional del parasitoidismo La variación del porcentaje de parasitoidismo del cultivo de papa presentó diferencias altamente significativas (p<0.001) entre las fechas de evaluación y en la interacción entre los sistemas de producción y las fechas de evaluación (Cuadro 5). Por otro lado, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en la interacción de fechas de evaluación con los tratamientos (con aplicación y sin aplicación de insecticidas) dentro de un mismo sistema de producción.En las parcelas con aplicación de insecticida del sistema convencional el porcentaje de parasitoidismo fue de 50.0 % en la primera evaluación, 48.5 % en la segunda, 44.6 % en la tercera, 33.3 % en la cuarta, presentando el máximo porcentaje con el 100 % en la quinta evaluación y el 78.8 % en la ultima evaluación. En las parcelas sin aplicación de insecticida el porcentaje de parasitoidismo resultó el siguiente: 49.6 % en la primera evaluación, 47.1% en la segunda, 64.3% en la tercera, 42.9 % en la cuarta, 72.0 % en la quinta y alcanzando el máximo porcentaje con el 80.0 % en la ultima evaluación (Figura 7).En el sistema de producción convencional, el porcentaje de parasitoidismo promedio no presentó mayores diferencias en los tres primeros muestreos, la primera evaluación fue 49.82 %, la segunda 47.46 %, la tercera 46.96 %. El nivel de parasitoidismo disminuyó en la cuarta evaluación a 41.18 %, para luego incrementarse significativamente en la etapa final de madurez y senescencia del cultivo con valores de 72.55 % y 79.31 % para la quinta y sexta evaluación respectivamente (Cuadro 5).En las parcelas con aplicación del sistema orgánico el porcentaje de parasitoidismo en la primera evaluación resultó 23. Figura 8. Variación estacional de la infestación y el parasitoidismo de la mosca minadora en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006El complejo de parasitoides de la mosca minadora estuvo compuesto de 16 especies de parasitoides, pertenecientes a 4 familias de Hymenóptera. En los sistemas de producción, el campo orgánico presentó mayor riqueza de especies (14 especies) en comparación con el campo convencional (9 especies). Asimismo, el campo orgánico registró la mayor abundancia con 3424 individuos (84.7%) en comparación con el campo convencional con 620 individuos (15.3%) (Cuadro 7).Eulophidae fue la familia con mayor riqueza de especies en ambos sistemas de producción, con 10 especies en el campo orgánico y 4 especies en el campo convencional. Por el contrario, en términos de abundancia, Pteromalidae fue la familia mejor representada con valores de 84.1 y 74.3% de los parasitoides colectados en los campos orgánico y convencional respectivamente. Eulophidae fue la segunda familia más abundante (Cuadro 7).Las estrategias de los parasitoides estuvieron representadas por igual número de especies de parasitoides larvopupales y larvales en el campo orgánico (7 especies c/u), pero los primeros fueron numéricamente dominantes al representar el 96.6% de los parasitoides colectados. En el sistema convencional los parasitoides larvopupales fueron superiores en riqueza (7 especies) y abundancia (90.5% parasitoides colectados). Halticoptera arduine fue la especie que dominó el complejo de parasitoides de L. huidobrensis, constituyendo el 84.0 y 73.9 % de los parasitoides colectados en los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional respectivamente. Seguidos en orden de importancia se encontraron a Chrysocharis caribea y Diglyphus websteri con valores de 10.0 y 2.9% para el campo orgánico y de 9.8 y 9.0% para el campo convencional. Estas 3 especies de parasitoides constituyeron el 97.1%(campo orgánico) y 92.9% (campo convencional) de los parasitoides encontrados (Cuadro 7).H. arduine fue la especie parasítica que contribuyó con el mayor porcentaje de parasitoidismo promedio en los sistemas de producción orgánica (43.3%) y convencional (37.3%) (Figura 8), lo cual explica el elevado parasitoidismo de la familia Pteromalidae (42.4% campo orgánico y 37.4% campo convencional) y de la estrategia larvo-pupal (45.7% campo orgánico y 49.8% campo convencional) en el parasitoidismo promedio de cada sistema de producción.El parasitoidismo ejercido por cada una de las especies de parasitoides fue muy variable según el sistema de producción y la fecha de evaluación. En el sistema de producción convencional, H. arduine fue la especie con el mayor porcentaje de parasitoidismo en las tres primeras evaluaciones, con valores de 30.5, 40.  Los parasitoides larvopupales ejercieron un mayor parasitoidismo que los parasitoides larvales, en 5 de los 6 muestreos, en el sistema convencional y en todo el periodo de evaluación en el campo orgánico.En el sistema de producción convencional se obtuvieron mayores valores de diversidad de parasitoides que en el sistema de producción orgánico de acuerdo a los valores registrados por el índice de Shannon.Asimismo, los valores de uniformidad (E) fueron superiores en el sistema convencional. El sistema de producción convencional registró una mayor diversidad de parasitoides que el sistema de producción orgánica, con valores de 0.941 y 0.631 respectivamente. La Equidad (E) alcanzó su máximo valor en el sistema convencional indicando que en este sistema se alcanzó la mayor uniformidad en la abundancia relativa de las especies de parasitoides(Cuadro 10).En cuanto a la fluctuación de la diversidad, en el cultivo orgánico se observaron niveles bajos de diversidad de parasitoides inferiores a los registrados en el cultivo convencional en las dos primeras fases de desarrollo del cultivo (4 primeras evaluaciones) (Cuadro 11, Figura Nº 10).En las etapas de desarrollo de tuberización y madurez del cultivo el sistema orgánico supera en valores de diversidad al campo convencional.Los valores de equidad (E) fueron superiores en el campo convencional durante todo el desarrollo del cultivo.Cuadro 10. Diversidad de parasitoides de moscas minadoras en dos sistemas de producción de papa, Cañete 2006. (1) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra minúscula, en la misma columna, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.(2) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra mayúscula, en la misma fila, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.En las franjas de fríjol, la infestación promedio de L. huidobrensis fue de 2.23 y 7.94 larvas / hoja para el campo convencional y orgánico respectivamente, siendo esta diferencia altamente significativa (P<0.001). La infestación por L. graminivora en las franjas de maíz resultó ser significativamente mayor en el sistema orgánico que en el sistema convencional (P<0.001), con promedios de 8.95 y 1.22 larvas / hoja respectivamente.Las franjas de fríjol sembradas en el sistema de producción convencional, presentó una infestación inicial de 5.5 larvas / hojas, representando el valor más alto de muestreo y ubicándose el 71.3% de esta población en las hojas cotiledonales. En las dos subsiguientes evaluaciones, la población larval disminuye significativamente con valores de 0.7 y 0.5 larvas / hoja para la segunda y tercera evaluación respectivamente. Estas poblaciones corresponden a evaluaciones en hojas verdaderas. En el sistema de producción orgánico se observó una población larval significativamente mayor a la registrada en el campo convencional, registrándose una infestación inicial de 15.2 larvas / hoja, correspondiendo a las hojas cotiledonales el 84.3% de esta población. En la segunda y tercera evaluación se observa una disminución significativa de la infestación con valores de 8.0 y 0.6 larvas / hoja respectivamente. En las franjas de maíz del campo convencional, se registró una baja infestación por L. graminivora con valores promedio de 2.2, 0.8 y 0.7 larvas / hoja, para la primera, segunda y tercera evaluación respectivamente. Por el contrario, en el campo orgánico las poblaciones larvales fueron mayores, registrando una infestación inicial de 9.1 larvas / hoja. El pico de infestación se logra en la segunda evaluación (52 d.d.s.), con un promedio de 15.2 larvas/hoja, para luego descender en la última evaluación (59 d.d.s.) con un promedio de 2.6 larvas / hoja.En los surcos de maíz y en los del fríjol no se encontraron diferencias significativas en el porcentaje de parasitoidismo entre los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional. Así, para las franjas de fríjol, el parasitoidismo promedio fue de 39. (1) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra minúscula, en la misma columna, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos multiples de Duncan.En las franjas de fríjol, los niveles de parasitoidismo siguieron una tendencia inversa que la infestación larval, en ambos sistemas de producción.En el sistema convencional, el parasitoidismo inicial fue de 32.5% para luego incrementarse considerablemente a 70.9 y 73.0% en las dos siguientes evaluaciones. Del mismo modo, en el sistema orgánico se registró un parasitodismo de 36.1% en la primera evaluación, el cual aumentó considerablemente a 53.1 y 54.6% en la segunda y tercera evaluación.En las franjas de maíz del sistema convencional los valores de parasitoidismo fueron elevados con promedios de 77.1, 65.0 y 87.9% para las 3 fechas consecutivas. En el sistema orgánico, el parasitoidismo mostró una tendencia ascendente con valores de 54.3, 77.7 y 81.0% para la primera, segunda y tercera evaluación respectivamente. Figura 13. Fluctuación del parasitoidismo en franjas de refugio en dos sistemas de producción en el valle de Cañete 2006.El complejo parasítico de L. huidobrensis en las franjas de fríjol, estuvo compuesto de 14 especies de parasitoides, pertenecientes a 4 familias de Himenóptera. En los sistemas de producción, el campo orgánico presentó mayor riqueza de especies (14 especies) en comparación con el campo convencional (12 especies). Asimismo, el campo orgánico registró la mayor abundancia con 2418 individuos (79.2%) en comparación con el campo convencional con 634 individuos (20.8%) (Cuadro 14).Eulophidae fue la familia con mayor riqueza de especies en ambos sistemas de producción, con 7 especies en el campo orgánico y 8 especies en el campo convencional. En términos de abundancia, Pteromalidae fue la familia más numerosa constituyendo el 68.6 y 46.4% de los parasitoides colectados en los campos orgánico y convencional respectivamente. En los sistemas de producción orgánica y convencional, los parasitoides larvopupales fueron superiores en riqueza (9 especies en cada sistema) y abundancia (92.5% en el campo orgánico y 83.5% en el campo convencional) (Cuadro 14).H. arduine fue la especie que dominó el complejo parasítico de L.huidobrensis, constituyendo el 68.3 y 45.4 % de los parasitoides colectados en los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional respectivamente.Seguidos en orden de importancia se encontró a Chrysocharis caribea y Diglyphus websteri con valores de 12.9 y 7.3% para el campo orgánico y de 21.2 y 12.5% para el campo convencional. Estas 3 especies de parasitoides constituyeron el 88.5% (campo orgánico) y 78.8% (campo convencional) de los parasitoides encontrados (Cuadro 14).Se identificaron en total 12 especies de parasitoides, pertenecientes a 4 familias de Hymenoptera. En el campo orgánico se registró mayor número de especies de parasitoides (12 especies) en comparación con el campo convencional (10 especies). Asimismo, el campo orgánico registró la mayor abundancia con 1608 individuos (88.2%) en comparación con el campo convencional con 216 individuos (11.8%) (Cuadro 14).Eulophidae fue la familia mejor representada en ambos sistemas de producción en riqueza de especies y abundancia, constituyendo el 87 y 95.2% de los individuos recuperados en los sistemas de producción convencional y orgánica respectivamente. En ambos sistemas de producción, el número de especies de parasitoides larvopupales fue superior al de los parasitoides larvales. Sin embargo estos últimos fueron más abundantes, correspondiendo el 58.3 y 66.7% de los individuos recuperados en los sistemas de producción convencional y orgánica respectivamente (Cuadro 14).Cuadro 14. Himenópteros parasitoides recuperados de L. huidobrensis (fríjol) y L. graminivora (maíz) en los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional, Cañete 2006.Fríjol (L. huidobrensis) Maíz (L. graminivora) Franjas de fríjol.-En cuanto a la variación del parasitoidismo por especie de parasitoide, en el sistema de producción convencional, H. arduine fue el parasitoide dominante en la primera fecha de evaluación (18.8% parasitoidismo), para luego mostrar una tendencia descendente en la segunda (15.2%) y tercera (11.9%) evaluación. Por el contrario, D. websteri exhibió una tendencia ascendente, siendo dominante en la segunda (21.8%) y tercera (30.5%) evaluación. En el sistema de producción orgánica, H. arduine ejerció un mayor parasitoidismo en la primera y segunda evaluación con valores de 26.2 y 36.1% respectivamente. En la última evaluación, el mayor parasitoismo fue causado por D. websteri con un promedio de 27.3%(Figura 14).Franjas de maíz.-El parasitoidismo ejercido por cada una de las especies de parasitoides fue muy variable según el sistema de producción y la fecha de evaluación. En el sistema de producción convencional, el parasitoide más importante C. cinctipennis mostró una tendencia decreciente con valores de 48.6, 20.0 y 5.2% de parasitoidismo de la primera la tercera fecha de colecta. De otro lado las especies Chrysocharis caribea y C.brethesi registraron una tendencia ascendente según la fecha de evaluación, y la primera especie fue el parasitoide dominante en la segunda y tercera evaluación. D. websteri se presentó en porcentajes bajos durante todo el periodo de muestreo. En el sistema de producción orgánica, D. websteri fue el parasitoide dominante en las 3 fechas de evaluación con valores ascendentes de 31.5, 44.9 y 47% de parasitoidismo respectivamente.Chrysocharis brethesi y Closterocerus cinctipenenis exhibieron una tendencia ascendente con valores máximos en la última fecha de valuación de 12.4% cada uno. C. caribea mantuvo valores bajos en las 3 evaluaciones. En ambos sistemas de producción H. arduine fue una especie de poca importancia (Figura 14). Los valores del índice de Shannon, registrados en la zona de refugio, nos indican que las franjas de maíz presentaron mayor diversidad que las franjas de fríjol y que el sistema convencional fue más diverso para ambas especies de plantas. Por otro lado, en ambos sistemas de producción, las franjas de refugio presentaron mayores índices de diversidad que el cultivo de papa.Cuadro 15. Diversidad de parasitoides de moscas minadoras en dos sistemas de producción de papa, Cañete 2006. (3) Promedios seguidos por la misma letra mayúscula, en la misma fila, no son significativamente diferentes (P = 0.05), prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan. Figura 16. Rendimiento de papa por parcela en dos sistemas de producción de papa en el valle de Cañete, 2006.En el sistema de manejo convencional, el tratamiento de inmersión de los tubérculos semilla con Imidacloprid, permitió la protección de la planta, luego fue reforzado con aplicaciones de Azufre en polvo. Estas aplicaciones influyeron no solo en el control de la mosquilla de los brotes sino en la baja infestación de mosca minadora en las parcelas testigo, por esta razón no se dieron diferencias en el nivel de daño entre las parcelas con aplicación y sin aplicación de insecticidas en el sistema convencional. Adicionalmente las aplicaciones foliares de Abamectina en las parcelas con aplicación de insecticidas permitieron una mejor protección del follaje contra el ataque de la mosca minadora en este sistema de producción.Por el contrario, la única aplicación foliar de Azadirachtin a las parcelas orgánicas y las aplicaciones de Azufre, no consiguieron mantener las poblaciones larvales por debajo del nivel de daño económico, por lo tanto fueron susceptibles al ataque de la mosca minadora, lo que se evidenció un similar nivel de infestación promedio en las parcelas con aplicación y sin aplicación de insecticidas.Al comparar los niveles de infestación entre ambos sistemas de producción observamos, que el sistema orgánico registró poblaciones larvales significativamente más altas que en el sistema de producción convencional. Estos resultados coinciden con los observados por Koss et al.  semillas y las aplicaciones de Azufre al cultivo, estarían ejerciendo un control en la infestación.En el sistema de producción orgánica, las mayores infestaciones se dieron en las etapas de floración y tuberización, para luego descender en la etapa de senescencia del cultivo; la Azadarachtina no llegó a controlar la infestación larval posiblemente porque no fue suficiente el número de aplicaciones realizadas. La infestación presenta una tendencia similar con la fenología de la planta de papa, como lo señala Rauf et al. 2000, Cisneros y Mujica 1999, quienes mencionan que existe un incremento relativamente lento durante el crecimiento vegetativo y rápido durante el periodo de floración, seguido de un declive a medida que las plantas entra en senescencia.En el sistema orgánico se puede observar que la variación estacional de la infestación es mas marcada que en el sistema convencional. Cisneros (1986)   (1993), quienes registraron un parasitoidismo de 86% en la etapa de senescencia del cultivo de papa en la localidad de Chorrillos.El número de especies recuperados en el sistema convencional se encuentra en el rango de especies recuperadas de L. huidobrensis en campos comerciales de papa en la costa central del Perú, que son entre 5 y 9 especies señalados por Redolfi et al., 1985; Sánchez y Redolfi, 1988 y   Mujica, 2007.El mayor número de especies de parasitoides encontrados en el sistema orgánico, estaría mostrando que el complejo de parasitoides de L.huidobrensis en sistemas de manejo menos perturbados puede ser mucho mayor. El aumento significativo en la riqueza y abundancia observado para el orden Hymenoptera en el sistema de producción orgánica coincide con lo propuesto por La Salle & Gaul (1993), Kevan (1999) y Paoletti (1999), quienes sostienen que la presencia de este grupo es un bioindicador de condiciones de escaso disturbio. Las especies de parasitoides Halticoptera arduine, Chrysocharis caribea y Diglyphus websteri fueron los parasitoides más predominantes tanto en el cultivo de papa como en las franjas de fríjol, en los sistemas de producción orgánico y convencional, siendo las mismas especies registrados en los valles costeros del Rímac y Cañete señalado por Redolfi et al. (1985), Sánchez y Redolfi (1988) y Mujica et al. (2003), lo cual confirma la permanencia y dominancia de estas especies en el agroecosistema de papa del valle de Cañete. De éstos, Halticoptera arduine fue el parasitoide predominante, coincidiendo con lo encontrado por Redolfi et al. (1985), Sánchez & Redolfi (1988), Galantini & Redolfi (1992) y Mujica et al., (2003)   en la costa central del Perú.La diversidad de parasitoides del sistema orgánico fue menor que el sistema convencional, debido a que algunas especies presentaban una maíz sin aplicación de insecticidas (entre 13-14 especies de parasitoides), pero superior a lo recuperado en campos comerciales de maíz con tratamientos de insecticidas (7 especies de parasitoides) realizados por Mujica y Kroschel (2007).En la presente investigación, la presencia de franjas de refugio fríjolmaíz no significó una menor población de la mosca minadora L. huidobrensis en los sistemas de producción. El propósito inicial de la zona de refugio, fue que pudiera actuar como una fuente de parasitoides de moscas minadoras y migraran hacia el cultivo de papa, para ejercer un control de las poblaciones del minador, sin embargo esta fue una fuente, pero ambos sistemas presentaron infestaciones larvales elevadas en algunas etapas. Similares resultados fueron obtenidos por Johnson y Mau (1986) quienes sembraron fríjol adyacente al cultivo de cebolla con la intención de aumentar los parasitoides de L. huidobrensis en el cultivo principal, pero la presencia de franjas de refugio, no incrementó el número de parasitoides, ni disminuyó la población de la mosca minadora en el campo de cebolla. Por otro lado, registraron un menor número de parasitoides en el cultivo de cebolla infestado comparado con el número de parasitoides encontrado en fríjol.Los diversos factores que pueden afectar directamente el nivel de parasitoidismo, como la especie de insecto hospedero, el tipo de cultivo en que ocurre, la presencia de una o más especies de hospederos y el estado de desarrollo en que se encuentra el cultivo, entre otros. Estos factores explicarían en parte las diferencias de parasitoidismo encontradas entre el cultivo de papa y las franjas de refugio (maíz-fríjol) en el sistema convencional y orgánico. Como lo señala Takabashasi et al. (1994) quien menciona que la interacción huésped-parasitoides, las plantas juegan una función compleja y dinámica ya que distintos factores influyen en las señales. Letourneau y Altieri (1983), Sato y Ohsaki (1987) y Cortesero et al. (2000), señalan que las plantas muestran ciertas características físicas y químicas que pueden afectar el comportamiento de búsqueda y ataque de los parasitoides. Aunque algunas señales emitidas pueden resultar mas atractivas para los parasitoides que otras, observándose esto en la presencia y abundancia de algunos de ellos en ambos sistemas.A pesar de que los surcos de maíz y fríjol fueron sembrados en la misma fecha de la siembra de papa, éstos no pudieron desarrollarse satisfactoriamente debido a que las aves desenterraban las semillas y se alimentaban de ellas o en caso contrario se alimentaban de las plántulas recién emergidas. Esto motivó la resiembra del fríjol y maíz existiendo un desfase de 7 días entre la siembra de papa y la siembra de las franjas de refugio. Siendo mas tardío el suministro de parasitoides a los sistemas.Adicionalmente a lo antes mencionado, un elemento importante es la sincronización de la máxima producción de parasitoides de la zona de refugio con el inicio de la infestación de la mosca minadora en el cultivo principal, para que pueda realizar el control de la población larval en ambos sistemas de manera oportuna, además se tendría que tomar en cuenta la fenología de las plantas de la zona de refugio, en este caso el maíz y fríjol, para sincronizarlas con el cultivo, sembrando con anticipación aquellas que presentan un desarrollo más corto, para que puedan estar presente los parasitoides en el momento de la infestación.Como lo señalado por Platt (1999), quien sugiere el uso de siembras tempranas o adelantadas de franjas de refugio, que permitan la colonización por enemigos naturales, para luego estas puedan ser disturbadas, facilitando el movimiento hacia el cultivo. Asimismo este autor plantea no tener un suministro constante de plantas en floración en el hábitat, sino tener una zona de refugio en floración previamente sembrada, que provea de recursos a predadores y parasitoides antes de que las plagas claves se incrementen.La manipulación de las franjas de refugio por medio del corte de las plantas o la destrucción de las mismas puede forzar a los enemigos naturales a migrar hacia el campo de cultivo, ya que si estos parasitoides se encuentra en un medio con las condiciones adecuadas no migraran a otras zonas, sólo si estas condiciones del medio cambian, como lo registrado por Platt (1999) y et al. (2000) quienes observaron un incremento en la densidad de predadores y parasitoides en los surcos adyacentes a un cultivo vecino, cuando fue cortado el trigo sembrado como área de refugio.Los cultivos de fríjol y maíz han probado ser una fuente importante de parasitoides tanto en riqueza de especies como en abundancia, sin embargo su uso es útil únicamente si estos parasitoides pueden migrar hacia el cultivo principal.En promedio el rendimiento de papa en el sistema orgánico fue 27.7% menos que en el sistema convencional. A pesar que los gastos fueron mayores en el sistema convencional, lo que influyó fue la mayor producción que se obtuvo en este sistema. Similares resultados han sido obtenidos en diferentes trabajos que comparan sistemas de producción orgánica y convencional Lockeretz et al., 1984; Gliessman et al., 1990; Creamer et al.,   1996). Por ejemplo, Carbone (2003) observó que los cultivos de fríjol orgánico en Brasil, resultaron ser menos productivos que el fríjol convencional. Sin embargo, Stanhill (1990) y Drinkwater et al. (1995), después de una detallada revisión de las características adoptadas por cada sistema de producción concluyeron que este no era siempre el caso, y que otros factores tales como el tipo de suelo y la fertilidad, la disponibilidad de agua, el cultivar y el clima; tendrían un mayor efecto sobre el rendimiento que las técnicas de manejo de plagas entre los sistemas convencional y orgánico.El menor rendimiento en el sistema orgánico podría deberse a que no se hicieron tanto la desinfección inicial de semillas, como el menor numero de aplicaciones del insecticida orgánico (Neemix). A la vez que los fertilizantes de fondo fueron de distinta ley.-La infestación larval de Liriomyza huidobrensis en el cultivo de papa es mayor en el sistema de producción orgánico que en el convencional.-Los niveles de parasitoidismo son similares en ambos sistemas de producción de papa.-La mayor abundancia y riqueza de especies de parasitoides se registra en el sistema de producción orgánico que en el convencional.-La familia Eulophidae registra la mayor riqueza de especies y la familia Pteromalidae la mayor abundancia de especies de parasitoides en ambos sistemas de producción de papa.-Los parasitoides larvopupales son la estrategia parasítica numéricamente dominante en ambos sistemas de producción de papa.-Halticoptera arduine es la especie de parasitoide dominante del complejo de parasitoides de L. huidobrensis y la que contribuye con el mayor porcentaje de parasitoidismo en ambos sistemas de producción de papa.-Según el índice de Shannon, la diversidad es mayor en el sistema de producción convencional que en el orgánico.-Las franjas de refugio de maíz y fríjol no incrementan el número de parasitoides ni disminuye la población larval de la mosca minadora en el cultivo de papa en ambos sistemas de producción.-El rendimiento en el sistema de producción orgánico fue menor debido al manejo realizado en este.-La siembra de la zona de refugio debe de realizarse con anticipación, al menos 30 días antes de la siembra del cultivo de papa, para contar con poblaciones de parasitoides en el momento y la cantidad necesaria, que permitan controlar las poblaciones de L. huidobrensis.-Luego de la emergencia de los parasitoides se recomienda cortar o destruir las plantas de la zona de refugio, para facilitar el movimiento de los parasitoides hacia el cultivo de papa.-Realizar en el sistema orgánico el mismo manejo que un convencional, como desinfección de semillas con productos orgánicos, mayor número de aplicaciones y aplicación de abonos naturales con la misma ley un fertilizante químico.-Finalmente, sugerimos realizar estudios complementarios sobre nuevas estrategias de siembra y manejo de las franjas refugio para proveer de una fuente adecuada de parasitoides o \"crianza abierta\" en campo. ","tokenCount":"10744"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6290201264.json b/data/part_1/6290201264.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..00366887aee5e0f40f92e105524c95f3dfe526df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6290201264.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91516726fc3835820d06f1dcb2772513","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/322620bd-0ebf-49c9-bc86-0ffccd313460/retrieve","id":"-197739380"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"162ec901-a49a-4c00-8b13-b92aa251d532","pagecount":"2","content":"Moko is one of the main diseases affecting banana and plantain in Colombia. Here, we report the genome sequence of the causal agent, the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) strain CIAT-078, collected in 2004 from affected plantains in central-west Colombia. The assembled genome was obtained using Oxford Nanopore Technology.R alstonia solanacearum (Smith) belongs to a species complex of soilborne phytopathogenic bacteria that colonize the xylem tissue of hundreds of plant species worldwide (1). It is classified using molecular and biological methods into three species, four phylotypes, and several races; isolates belonging to phylotype II and race 2 cause Moko disease in banana and plantains (2,3). Moko has been observed in Colombia since 1954 (4); the oldest leaves of affected plants show yellowing and wilting, become necrotic, and eventually collapse. Most importantly, the fruit pulp becomes discolored, causing major commercial losses (5,6).For genome sequencing, we selected CIAT-078, a pathogenic strain collected in 2004 from Moko-affected fields (Quindio, Colombia) that was previously characterized at the pathogenicity and biochemical level (7,8) and used in routine screening for resistance assays (6). CIAT-078 was reactivated in semiselective medium South Africa (SMSA) (9) for 4 days and then in nutrient agar (Difco, USA) for 48 hours at 28°C. The bacteria were grown in LB medium prior to DNA extraction (Puregene Yeast/Bact. kit; Qiagen), and pathogenicity was confirmed by infecting 'Dominico Harton' plantains (6). Libraries were prepared from 1 g of DNA using ligation sequencing kit 1D (catalog number SQK-LSK109) and sequenced using R9.4 chemistry (FLO-MIN106D) (10). Default settings were used for all software unless specified. Raw signals were base called using Guppy v3.4.3, and a total of 291,746 raw reads (N 50 , 4.27 kb) were generated. An assembly of quality-controlled reads (fastq pass) was done with Minimap2 (11) and Racon v1.4.7 (12) using strain UW163 as the reference (GenBank accession numbers NZ_CP012939 and NZ_CP012940). UW163 was selected due to the quality of its assembly, taxonomic classification (phylotype II), and host plant (plantain) (13). A second assembly was carried out using the UW163-based assembly as a reference. Assembly metrics were calculated with Qualimap v2.2 (14), and the genome was annotated using the Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (15).The circular chromosome of CIAT-078 consists of 3,481,951 base pairs (bp) (GϩC content of 66.6%; 70ϫ coverage). It contains 3,238 protein-coding sequences, 50 tRNA genes, 7 rRNA genes, 2 clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) loci, 5 riboswitches, 3 noncoding RNAs, 1 transfer-messenger RNA gene, and 4 AL1L pseudoknots. The circular megaplasmid consists of 1,907,373 bp (GϩC content of 66.8%; 59ϫ coverage) and contains 1,543 protein-coding sequences, 1 tRNA gene, and 2 riboswitches. The genes rplB, mutS, and egl, used to classify the bacteria at the phylotype and sequevar levels (2,3), were located at positions 1381053 (rpl) and 2635266 (mutS) of the chromosome and position 1808381 (egl) of the megaplasmid. A maximum likelihood phylogeny of these genes grouped CIAT-078 within phylotype IIB sequevar 4 isolates, a subgroup representative of central-west Colombia (16). DUF3313, a recently identified sequence for diagnostics (6), was located at position 3277102 of the chromosome. The complete genome sequence of CIAT-078 will contribute to comparative genome and functional studies.","tokenCount":"522"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6297566811.json b/data/part_1/6297566811.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b0459f88b8e2b0fd21961a644371db5f2f1f50b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6297566811.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7bd00ff0cddeda71e158b6161f8098e7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7f302f80-5a59-4097-ba3a-c049a0435440/retrieve","id":"-1988854321"},"keywords":["apomixis","seed development","flowering plants","regulation of gene expression","H2020-MSCA-RISE-2020"],"sieverID":"0960f869-a330-4275-866e-23bc4f06c12c","pagecount":"17","content":"These proceedings contain the abstracts for the presentations given at the 7th biennial Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research, held virtually on 2-3 and 9 December 2020. The first day hosted the kick-off meeting of the EU-funded Mechanisms of Apomictic Development (MAD) project, while the remaining days were dedicated to oral presentations and in-depth exchanges on the latest progress in the field of apomixis and plant reproductive biology research.A staggering increase in food production will be needed to feed a population of nearly 10 billion people in the near future. The growing consensus is that global food demand will double during the next 50 years, representing twice as much as the total amount produced since the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago [1]. The need for robust, high-yielding crops adapted to diverse and changing environments is a cornerstone of sustainable development that strongly rely on new agriculture practices and molecular technologies [2,3]. To achieve this, plant reproductive biology represents a challenging research area. Understanding the intricate networks controlling germline development, double fertilization, and seed formation is crucial for delivering innovative approaches to breeders and farmers [4,5]. In this context, the harnessing of apomixis, a natural phenomenon allowing the formation of maternal embryos within seeds [6,7], is among the most promising approaches [8]. Breeding processes typically consist of large-scale designs aimed at exploring the phenotypic value of thousands of genetically fixed (i.e., reproducible) allelic assortments. However, the biology of crop species, including sexual reproduction, renders the implementation of these operations complex, time-consuming, and usually expensive (e.g., [9]). In contrast, any apomictic genotype breeds true, including that of F1 hybrids perpetuating hybrid vigor (or heterosis) over generations [10]. The fixation of heterosis through apomixis would greatly facilitate the deployment of hybrid seed technologies in autogamous crops such as wheat or rice and reduce costs of hybrid seed production in allogamous crops such as maize [11][12][13]. In addition, installing apomixis in major crops could also accelerate breeding cycles and increase variety turn-over, expand genetic diversity by overcoming meiotic sterility resulting from wide crosses and inter-or high ploidy crosses. Apomixis encompasses numerous developmental paths that fall into adventitious embryony where sexually derived seeds harbor a typical sexual embryo together with maternal embryos directly formed from maternal tissues and gametophytic apomixis, where seeds derive from non-reduced female gametophytes carrying parthenogenetic embryos (Figure 1) [6,14]. Apomixis is usually inherited in a dominant manner through a limited number of loci, but the suppression of recombination in the region bearing these loci suggests a more complex genetic control [6,7,[14][15][16]. Nevertheless, numerous works indicate the intimacy of these pathways with the factors controlling female germline specification and development, and embryo formation within ovules of sexual plants [17,18]. Unfortunately, despite decades of research, neither transfer attempts from wild apomictic relatives into maize [19] or pearl millet [20] nor the engineering of apomictic reproduction in a sexual crop [13] have yielded the expected results and the establishment of functional apomixis in major crops remains eagerly awaited.dominant manner through a limited number of loci, but the suppression of recombination in the region bearing these loci suggests a more complex genetic control [6,7,[14][15][16]. Nevertheless, numerous works indicate the intimacy of these pathways with the factors controlling female germline specification and development, and embryo formation within ovules of sexual plants [17,18]. Unfortunately, despite decades of research, neither transfer attempts from wild apomictic relatives into maize [19] or pearl millet [20] nor the engineering of apomictic reproduction in a sexual crop [13] have yielded the expected results and the establishment of functional apomixis in major crops remains eagerly awaited. In sexuality (top), a single cell of the ovule enters the germline differentiation program, the so-called megaspore mother cell (MMC). The MMC undergoes meiosis, hence forming a reduced (haploid) functional spore (megaspore), that differentiates into a reduced gametophyte harboring the female gamete (egg). After fertilization of the egg by a sperm cell, a sexual seed is formed. In apomictic pathways, functional unreduced female gametophytes are formed (apomeiosis), and unreduced eggs develop into maternal embryos in the absence of fertilization (parthenogenesis), resulting in seeds containing clones of the mother plant. In diplospory (middle), meiosis in the MMC fails. The unreduced female gametophyte then arises from an unreduced megaspore. In apospory (bottom), one or more somatic ovule cells differentiate into aposporous initials (AIs), the precursor cells of unreduced female gametophytes.To gain a deeper understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of gametophytic apomixis from natural systems, an international research network was initiated by Argentinian scientists in 2008 at the Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca, Argentina). Since then, a series of biennial Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research, has been held To gain a deeper understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of gametophytic apomixis from natural systems, an international research network was initiated by Argentinian scientists in 2008 at the Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca, Argentina).Since then, a series of biennial Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research, has been held in Argentina, under rotating chairing by scientists from CERZOS, the Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR CONICET-Universidad de Nacional de Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina) and the Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (IBONE CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Corrientes, Corrientes, Argentina). This network has gathered momentum, size, and strength owing to support from the European Union's Horizon H2020 research and innovation programme through two Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreements: Harnessing Plant Reproduction for Crop Improvement (PROCROP, 2014-2018, n • 645674) and Mechanisms of Apomictic Development (MAD, 2020-2024, n • 872417) which kick-off meeting was organized as a one-day session of the 7th Series of Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research. These proceedings contain a brief report of the MAD kick-off meeting and the abstracts of the presentations given at the 7th Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research, chaired by Prof. Viviana Echenique from CERZOS-CCT.Leblanc O DIADE, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier France The Mechanisms of Apomictic Development (MAD) project that brings together young and experienced scientists from 12 laboratories from Europe, the Americas, and Australia (Table S1), was launched 1 December 2020. This 48-month project consists of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCA RISE) Action funded by the European Union's H2020 Programme and aimed at supporting international and intersectoral collaboration through the exchange of research and innovation staff. The kick-off meeting was held on 2 December 2020, in conjunction with the 7th Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research, with a two-session agenda dedicated to partners/work packages presentations and to management issues. Here, a report for the first session is provided, including the summary of the project, an overview of the proposed work packages, and the list of participating institutions and contacts. More information is available from the EU CORDIS portal (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/872417 (accessed on 3 February 2021)), and a dedicated website will be set up online in the forthcoming weeks.Apomixis in plants allows the formation of seeds carrying maternal embryos. While absent in major food crops, it occurs in many plants, including wild relatives of cereals and species of economic interest such as forage grasses and fruit trees. This unique reproductive mode can be achieved through many paths, all involving alterations in the orchestration of the developmental programs underlying sexual reproduction (Figure 1). Since it allows the use of a natural carrier, the seed, for propagating the best genotypes regardless of their constitution, apomixis represents a revolutionary tool for plant breeding programs and for reducing the costs of improved variety seeds. Despite wide-cross breeding programs to introduce the trait in cereals and decades of research using both sexual plant models and apomictic species, apomixis remains an enigma for plant biologists and a long-awaited tool by breeders and farmers. Functional analyses in Arabidopsis and maize have provided valuable molecular information to understand sexual reproduction and, occasionally, to explore alterations yielding phenotypes reminiscent of apomixis. On the other hand, the recent advances in « omics » tools and biotechnologies have opened the route for investigating apomictic species at unprecedented, cellular, and molecular levels. The MAD (Mechanisms of Apomictic Development) project will establish an international, research and training network aiming at contributing significantly to our understanding of key mechanisms involved in redirecting sexuality in plants towards apomixis. It bridges critical knowledge and biological resources recently generated by collaborative efforts in the field of apomixis biology, and novel expertise in plant reproductive biology, biotechnology, and breeding by aggregating new partners. Synergies are expected from three types of complementarities, including the following: biological systems and resources prone to fuel comparative and translational research (Table 1); a wide range of approaches (e.g., genetics and genomics, 3D quantitative imaging, growth modeling) to better integrate knowledge on reproductive development and apomixis; and a spectrum of scientific questions covering all aspects. Through research, training, and dissemination actions, the project will clarify the genetic architecture of apomixis and support the deployment of innovative strategies in crop improvement. The project proposes an interconnected portfolio of six work packages (WP) to ensure transparent and effective governance, compliance with scientific and education objectives, and wide visibility of objectives and achievements. WPs 1 and 2 are dedicated to Management & Coordination and to Communication & Dissemination, while each of the four remaining WPs addresses a unique scientific question using comparative and translational approaches. Any progress in a given WP is prone to fuel advances in the other ones.In the first scientific WP (WP3), we will investigate the functional role of the heterochromatic genomic regions specific to apomicts genomes. To address this, we will decipher the structural and functional features of the locus controlling apomictic reproduction (Apomixis Controlling Locus, ACL) in natural apomictic grasses belonging to the Eragrostis and Paspalum genera (Figure 1A,B) and provide a general view of how apomictic genomes work as a whole. The proposed tasks will intend to unveil the gene content of the ACLs in several species under study and to compare its conservation, to identify regions prone to contain genes controlling key components of apomictic reproduction, and to propose hypotheses for the evolution of apomictic genomes.The following WP (WP4) aims at characterizing genes regulatory mechanisms involved in apomixis control. Are the transcriptional patterns promoting apomixis shaped transcriptionally or post-transcriptionally? To address this question, WP4 is designed to typify the function of selected candidate genes for apomixis control, that belong to either transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulatory pathways, and to analyze the occurrence of changes in the epigenome of the respective mutants/transformants.Next, in WP5, we will address the regulatory role of phytohormones, in particular, how do phytohormones interact to establish and control the reproductive cell fate during plant reproduction. To address this, we will two main questions: (a) how do auxin and cytokinin signaling coordinate MMC cell fate and female gametophyte development in sexual vs. apomictic Paspalum notatum, and (b) which of the differentially expressed relevant genes identified in the course of WP4 has a hormonal-related role in the specification of sexual vs. apomictic germline precursors cell fate?Finally, in WP6, we will ask whether ovule architecture also contributes to the control of apomixis and, notably, to female germline fate. To answer this question, this work package will build on preliminary results in Arabidopsis suggesting that altering ovule architecture changes the plasticity of reproductive cells fate in the ovule. By combining imaging and functional approaches, this WP focuses on the cellular parameters of the early ovule associated with, and predicting, the plasticity of the differentiation of the germline precursor cells, in sexual and apomictic plants. Presentations focused on various issues pertaining to the biology of apomixis and apomictic forage grass breeding and were assembled into three sessions. The first one, Ovule development and reproductive fate, contains works investigating the control of female germline fate and how regulatory mechanisms are coordinated in both the sexual Arabidopsis model plant and apomictic grasses. The following section, Genomics and epigenomics of apomixis, addresses comparative genomics and epigenomics using different apomictic biological systems, to investigate the role of hybridity and polyploidy and examine the origin and nature of allelic variation at candidate loci. The last session, Agronomic traits and breeding approaches in apomictic forage grasses, focuses on aspects of germplasm enhancement and breeding in subtropical grass forages.Pasten MC *, Bellido A *, Garbus I and Echenique V Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET) and Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina. * These authors contributed equally to this work: mcpasten@cerzos-conicet.gob.ar, andresbellido@gmail.com.Eragrostis curvula is a perennial forage grass naturalized in semiarid regions of Argentina, with genotypes that can be either sexual diploids or polyploids (4×-8×) reproducing by diplosporous apomixis. Using different approaches, our research group obtained a list of candidate genes related to this reproductive mode that remain to be functionally characterized. The aim of this work is to optimize the construction of vectors for the introduction of these Eragrostis candidate genes into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in order to analyze their effects during reproductive development. Two strategies were used, Gateway and GoldenBraid, and vectors with single and multiple genes were introduced in A. thaliana plants using Agrobacterium and the floral dip method. In relation to GoldenBraid, focusing on the current knowledge about the complex dynamics that regulate germline specification in the ovule of A. thaliana, different promoters were selected, related to these key pathways, which will guide ectopic expression into the regions surrounding the MMC. Currently, using these promoters in the GoldenBraid system, constructs for each gene were generated, and vectors containing different combinations of genes were successfully created, using kanamycin or hygromycin for the selection of the transgenic plants. The phenotypic effects of these genes will be analyzed in the near future, using whole mount clearing and DIC microscopy. In flowering sexual plants, the female germline precursor differentiates as a single spore mother cell, so-called Megaspore Mother Cell (MMC). MMC formation is contemporary to early ovule primordium growth. Here, we explored how organ growth contributes to MMC differentiation. In the model plant Arabidopsis, by quantitative analysis of 3D images at cellular resolution, cell cycle markers, and tissue growth models, we identified spatio-temporal patterns of cell growth and divisions in the early ovule primordium. Our analysis revealed that MMC characteristics first arise in more than one cell, but MMC fate becomes progressively restricted to a single cell during organ growth. Altered primordium growth patterns in katanin mutants-affected in microtubules dynamics-coincided with a delay in the MMC fate restriction process. We propose a model of gradual canalization of reproductive cell fate coupled to ovule primordium growth in Arabidopsis. Further studies should determine if this model is conserved in ovules of grasses; either sexual such as in maize, or following an aposporous reproductive mode, such as in Paspalum. The female gametophyte formation starts from the differentiation of a single cell in the pre-meiotic ovule, named megaspore mother cell (MMC). Formerly, it was reported that mutants in RNA-dependent DNA methylation-RdDM pathway showed more than one MMC-like cell. We have recently shown that the DRM methyltransferase double mutant drm1drm2 also presents supernumerary MMC-like cells, consistent with RdDM mutants' phenotype. We have also demonstrated that SPOROCYTELESS/NOZZLE (SPL/NZZ) a transcription factor required for MMC specification is ectopically expressed in ago9 and drm1drm2 mutants suggesting that the multiple MMC-like phenotype might be due to its ectopic expression. Interestingly we show that the ovule identity gene SEEDSTICK, directly regulates the two RdDM players AGO9 and RDR6 expression in the ovule and, therefore, indirectly SPL/NZZ. Based on our and previous results, we have so proposed a model describing the network required to restrict SPL/NZZ expression to specify a single MMC. In the future, our focus will be to uncover in more detail the mechanisms controlling MMC specification and, in particular, SPL/NZZ expression. In flowering plants, apomixis refers to asexual reproduction through seeds. Recently, we identified a plant ortholog of yeast trimethylguanosine synthase1 (TGS1), whose expression is positively correlated with the rate of sexuality in reproductive tissues of facultative apomictic Paspalum notatum genotypes. In yeast, mammals and insects, TGS1 is encoded by a single gene and performs multiples activities. It catalyzes 5 cap trimethylation of noncoding RNAs, plays a role in the biogenesis of sn(o)RNAs, rRNA processing, and telomerase function. Moreover, it acts as a transcriptional co-activator associated with PRIP. The structure and function of TGS1 orthologs in plants remain poorly characterized. Plants contain a specific copy with a WW interaction domain at the N-terminal. To explore TGS1 possible association with apomixis, we determined its expression patterns in Arabidopsis and studied its loss of function in two T-DNA insertion lines. RT-PCR revealed preferential expression of TGS1 in reproductive tissues. Transgenic plants carrying synthetic reporter constructs (pTGS1:TGS1: GUS/GFP) showed it is expressed throughout female gametogenesis and embryogenesis, but not in the nucellus. Mutant plants showed reduced fertility, and mutant allele transmission suggested gametophytic effects, with stronger bias when maternally transmitted. Cytoembryological analyses showed apomixis-like phenotypes, including multiple megaspore mother cells and embryo sacs, and extra embryos. Cell-identity markers revealed cell-fate alterations during both female gametogenesis and early seed development. Moreover, germination rate and seedling defects were observed. The knowledge gained indicates an essential role for TGS1 during sexual female gametogenesis and embryo patterning in plants. Paspalum notatum is one of the main apomixis grass models. Previous transcriptome analysis further validated by mRNA in situ hybridization revealed that the gene TGS1 (encoding the RNA methyltransferase TRIMETILGUANOSINE SYNTHASE 1) is repressed in ovules of apomictic P. notatum plants. In animals and/or yeasts, TGS1 promotes the processing several RNA types and also acts as a transcriptional co-activator. Recently, we reported that silencing of TGS1 causes the emergence of foliar trichomes and supernumerary aposporous-like embryo sacs in P. notatum, which led to its classification as a developmental repressor. Our objective here was to analyze whether TGS1 influences RNA processing in this species. Three-hundred and sixteen (316) RNA transcripts differentially expressed in flowers of apomictic and sexual plants were selected to examine the existence of putative splice variants. Using qRT-PCR analysis, we confirmed that an unprocessed splicing variant of one of them (CHLOROPHYLL A-B BINDING PROTEIN 1B-21, renamed CHLORO) is less represented in apomictic plants at a statistically significant level. The same unprocessed splicing variant also diminished in antisense tgs1 sexual lines. Moreover, since we identified seven miRNAs upregulated in floral sRNA libraries of sexual P. notatum plants, we are testing their representations in the same tgs1 antisense lines. Our conclusion is that TGS1 influences the splicing of CHLORO, a component of the photosynthesis lightharvesting the photosynthesis antenna, which might relate with the role of this gene as leaf trichomes formation repressor. The function of TGS1 in miRNA regulation remains unclear. In Paspalum notatum apomixis is governed by a single dominant 36 Mpb-long superlocus (ACL), showing strong restriction of recombination and association with a highly methylated heterochromatic knob. Genomic sequencing revealed the presence of repetitive segments and single-copy genes, while synteny studies indicated its location into a 'hybrid' genomic region carrying markers from rice chromosomes 2 and 12. Particularly, the RFLP marker C932 (rice Chr. 2), which encodes for a FKBP-type peptidyl-prolyl isomerase (PPI_FKBP; Os02g0760300), strictly cosegregates with apomixis. Our objective here was to start characterizing the expression of the ACL-derived PPI_FKBP, to enable further reproductive functional analysis. Eight (8) transcripts showing homology to C932 were retrieved from reference reproductive transcriptomes of the species. Five (5) of them, all derived from the same gene (isogroup) and encoding functional proteins, were detected in sexual genotypes. Other 3, originated from different genes (isogroups) and displaying dissimilar structures, were detected in apomictic transcriptomes. One of the apomictic sequences encodes for a functional protein, another one derives from a pseudogene, and the last one is a chimeric transcript, with homology to PPI_FKBP and DNAJ (the adjacent gene in the rice genome) (PPIQUIM). In experimental mapping, only PPIQUIM resulted genetically linked to the ACL. However, genomic sequencing indicated that PPI_FKBPand DNAJ-derived exons are separated by a long intergenic region. Moreover, PPIQUIM was exclusively amplified from floral RNA of apomictic plants. Our results indicate that PPIQUIM is specifically expressed from the ACL and would be a product of intersplicing. Its functional role remains to be determined.Garbus I 1 , Podio M 2 , Echenique V 1 , Pessino SC 2, * 1 Centro de Recursos Naturales de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET-UNS), Bahía Blanca Argentina; 2 Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR-CONICET-UNR), Zavalla, Argentina. * pessino@iicar-conicet.gob.ar Gametophytic apomixis forms seeds with clonal embryos identical to the mother plant through two different mechanisms, namely apospory and diplospory, both of them involving the formation of non-reduced megagametophytes within the ovule. These nonreduced embryo sacs are originated from companion nucellar cells (apospory) or the megaspore mother cell, after absence/failure of meiosis (diplospory). In both paths the non-reduced egg cells produce embryos through parthenogenesis. Our hypothesis here was that, at least for some candidate genes, apomeiosis and parthenogenesis associate, respectively, with contrasting or identical representation patterns in aposporous vs. diplosporous differential mRNA expression comparisons. The rationale supporting this proposition is that in aposporous and diplosporous plants apomeiosis might involve some common genes under an opposite spatio-temporal regulation pattern (OE transcripts), while parthenogenesis should be identically activated in both reproductive types (IE candidates). We compared two sets of Roche/454 sequences differentially expressed in reproductive organs of sexual vs. apomictic plants of Paspalum notatum (aposporous) and Eragrostis curvula (diplosporous) from pre-meiosis to anthesis, to identify OE and IE transcripts. Then, the selected sequences were investigated in TruSeq/Hiseq Illumina RNA floral libraries constructed at different reproductive stages. We found 89 opposite expression transcripts exclusively represented at pre-meiosis and 66 equal expression transcripts occurring at anthesis only. These candidate genes were used to produce String interaction networks with others previously related with apomeiosis and parthenogenesis, and their location is being mapped within the Paspalum and Eragrostis genomic ACL (apomixis controlling loci). Functional analysis of selected sequences is at work.Selva JP *, Zappacosta D, Carballo J, Rodrigo JM, Bellido A, Gallo CA, Gallardo J, Echenique V Centro de Recursos Naturales de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET-UNS), Bahía Blanca Argentina. * jpselva@cerzos-conicet.gob.ar Previous reports in Eragrostis curvula, a diplosporous apomictic forage grass, showed that facultative apomictic genotypes reduce the proportion of apomictic embryo sacs under stressful conditions like in vitro culture and drought. Here, we report the cytoembryological and transcriptomic analysis of inflorescences of facultative apomictic plants under control and drought stress treatment in order to identify the mechanisms regulating the switch from sexual to asexual reproduction. Embryo sacs from control and stressed plants (161 and 172, respectively) were analyzed, and RNA-Seq Illumina libraries with three biological replicates from inflorescences of control and stressed plants were sequenced. The percentage of sexual embryo sacs increased from 4 to 24% and 501 out of 201,011 transcripts were differentially expressed (DE) between control and stressed plants (151 upregulated and 350 downregulated in stressed plants). Out of these, 380 were annotated and analyzed using BLAST2GO and KEGG. DE transcripts were compared with previous transcriptomes where apomictic and sexual genotypes were contrasted. The results point as candidates to transcripts related to methylation, ubiquitination, hormone and signal transduction pathways, transcription regulation, and cell wall biosynthesis, some acting as a general response to stress, and some that are specific to the reproductive mode. We suggest that a DNA glycosylase EcROS1-like could be demethylating, thus de-repressing a gene or genes involved in the sexual pathway. Many of the other DE transcripts could be part of a complex mechanism that regulates apomixis and sexuality in this grass, the ones in the intersection between control/stress and apo/sex being the strongest candidates.Wagner AW 1, *, Ortiz JPA 2 , Espinoza F 1 1 Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (IBONE), CONICET, FCA UNNE, Corrientes, Argentina; 2 Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR-CONICET-UNR), Zavalla, Argentina. * werfilwagner@gmail.comIn the Paspalum, apomixis (asexual reproduction via seeds) is controlled by a singledominant complex locus (ACL). The Plicatula group includes species either with diploid sexual (2n = 2x = 20) and apomictic tetraploid (2n = 4x = 40) cytotypes, and with exclusively polyploid (mostly tetraploid) races. While genetic linkage maps in P. notatum and P. simplex revealed non-recombinant ACLs, initial AFLP mapping in P. guenoarum (Plicatula) revealed a recombinant ACL. This work aims at building a dense genetic linkage map of tetraploid Plicatula spp. through genotyping by sequencing (GBS), localizing the ACL and facilitating both identification and positional cloning of the genes governing apomixis. The mapping population (n = 82; 52 sexual and 32 apomict F 1 plants) derives from a cross between P. plicatulum 4-PT (a 4× colchicine-induced sexual plant) × P. guenoarum GR19 (a 4× natural apomict individual). Genomic DNA was digested with ApeKI and used for preparing Illumina NextSeq 550 libraries. A total of 366 million reads (75 bp single-end; 4.35 million reads/sample on average) were obtained. Initially, the STACKS and TASSEL_UNEAK softwares were used for de novo SNP discovery, but failed to identify relevant markers. Then, the TASSEL5GBSV2 pipeline was used with Setaria viridis, Zea mays, and P. notatum (draft) genomes as references and produced, respectively, 9,264; 2,365, and; 10,711 singledose markers. Genotypes related with the ACL (Aaaa and aaaa for apomictic and sexual plants, assuming a dominant simplex control) were assigned to each F1 in the GBS data matrix. Linkage analyses are ongoing using JoinMap 4.0 and a pseudo-test cross model.Leblanc O 1, *, Pupilli F 2 , Albertini E 3 , Espinoza F 4 , Pessino, SC 5 , Ortiz JPA Paspalum notatum is a forage grass from South American subtropical regions. Diploid individuals (2n = 20) are sexual plants, while polyploid individuals reproduce through aposporous apomixis. In grasses, apomixis is genetically controlled by a single nonrecombinant heterochromatic genomic region, the Apomixis Controlling Region (ACR) which nature and function remain elusive. Our objective is to generate genomic sequences of sexual and apomictic P. notatum individuals to understand ACR emergence and evolution; to identify genes governing important agronomical traits, including apomixis; and to improve genomic selection in breeding programs. To achieve this, we selected one diploid genotype (R1) and two tetraploid genotypes reproducing through obligate (Q4188) and facultative (Q3664) apomixis. Genomic DNA was sequenced using Illumina (R1) and Oxford Nanopore (R1, 32 Gb; Q4188, 22 Gb; Q3664, 21 Gb) technologies. K-mer analyses using short reads confirmed flow cytometrical analyses for R1 genome size (~600 Mbp) and high heterogozigosity. Here we report on the quality metrics of R1 genomic assemblies generated by combining the output of several long-read assemblers (wtdbg2, Shasta, Flye, miniasm, and smartdenovo) and Bionano optical maps: size, N50, contiguity, BUSCO completeness, coverage distribution. The best hybrid scaffolding using a 2300-contig smartdenovo assembly rendered 53 scaffolds (795.27 Mbp, N50 33.54 Mbp, >95% BUSCO completeness). However, a partial representation of heterozygous regions and numerous, dispersed gaps still hinder structural variation analyses. We anticipate that a new set of ONT sequences and the use of tools for detecting and purging haplotypes will allow in a short time the completion of the assembly of R1 genome haplotypes.Carballo J 1, *, Gallardo J 1, *, Gallo CA 1 , Selva JP 1 , Garbus I 1 , Zappacosta D 1 , Albertini E 2 , Caccamo M 3 , Echenique V 1  1 Centro de Recursos Naturales de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET-UNS), Bahía Blanca Argentina; 2 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy; 3 NIAB, Cambridge, Reino Unido. * These authors contributed equally to this work: jcarballo@cerzos-conicet.gob.ar, jgallardo@cerzosconicet.gob.arEragrostis curvula is a forage grass with n = 10 and ploidy levels ranging from 2× to 8×. This grass has become a model for the study of diplosporous apomixis, an asexual reproduction by seeds in which the progeny is genetically identical to the mother plant. To identify the genomic regions and the genes involved in apomixis, the genome of the diploid sexual cultivar Victoria was sequenced using a combination of approaches (PacBio, Chicago and Hi-C) and contrasted against the region identified by high density mapping. The final assembly render an N50 of ~43 Mb and 1143 contigs being completely assembled the seven longest full chromosomes according to the synteny analyses. The annotation identified 56,469 genes and 28.7% of repetitive elements. On the other hand, a high saturated linkage map at tetraploid level was constructed using both traditional (AFLP and SSR) and high-throughput molecular markers (GBS-SNP) and a locus controlling diplospory and putative regulatory regions affecting the expressivity of the trait were identified. The four markers linked to apomixis in the E. curvula linkage map were aligned to Victoria, identifying a 10 Mb region. Furthermore, using a transcriptomic approach, genes up and downregulated in the apomictic genotypes were identified, including genes that could be repressing sexuality or promoting apomixis. The identification of the region linked to apomixis, its expression and regulation could allow to better understand some features of this interesting trait and it paves the way to sequence and assemble the complete region in the more complex polyploid genotypes.Podio M *, Colono C *, Siena L, Ortiz JPA, Pessino SC Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR-CONICET-UNR), Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Campo Experimental Villarino, Zavalla, Santa Fe, Argentina. * These authors contributed equally to this work: podio@iicar-conicet.gob.ar, colono@iicar-conicet.gob.arThe selection of apomixis genes to be used as breeding/research tools requires detailed characterization of the expression landscape across multiple developmental stages. Our group established Roche 454/FLX+ reference floral transcriptomes from sexual and apomictic Paspalum notatum biotypes and used these solid frames to assist the assembly of 24 extensive TruSeq ® /Hiseq Illumina libraries, covering in triplicate four reproductive steps (pre-meiosis, meiosis, post-meiosis, anthesis). Moreover, de novo assemblies were constructed with Trinity to complete an integrative global transcriptome. For differential expression analysis, RNA-seq reads were analyzed with the Kallisto v.0.44.0 software to determine transcript counts and abundances. These analysis allowed us to: (1) identify sequences differentially expressed in apomictic and sexual biotypes, which were consistently differential on the course of development or otherwise stage-specific; (2) characterize some differentially expressed transcript clusters (particularly transcription factors of the AP2, ARF, MYB, and WRKY groups, as well as hormone-pathways controllers of the auxin, jasmonate, and cytokinin families); (3) detect a number of antisense sequences differentially modulated between reproductive modes; and (4) gain knowledge on the expression of a group of transcripts that had been previously associated with apomixis. Currently, we are using the Illumina libraries to identify transcripts expressed from the apomixis controlling locus (ACL), whose sequence is partially available through the Paspalum genome sequencing initiative.1 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, (Italy); 2 Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR-CONICET-UNR), Zavalla, Argentina; 3 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Zavalla (Argentina); 4 Centro de Recursos Naturales de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET-UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina. * emidio.albertini@unipg.it Several lines of evidence suggest that transitions during reproduction and early seed development are epigenetically regulated by dynamic changes in chromatin state. Moreover, deregulation of key developmental steps in sexual processes are thought to cause apomixis, and supporters of this hypothesis justify it based on the coexistence of sex and apomixis in the same individual. For example, some authors found that DNA methylation deregulation in reproductive cells induce apomeiosis-like phenotypes suggesting that specialization of a DNA methylation pathway acts upon germline or germline associated cells. With this aim in mind, we decided to investigate DNA methylation differences between apomictic and sexual genotypes of two species, Paspalum rufum and Eragrostis curvula. High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies have enabled the measurement of cytosine methylation on a genome-wide scale. Many technologies have been developed over the past decade to measure DNA methylation. MCSeEd (Methylation Content Sensitive Enzyme ddRAD) is a reduced-representation, reference-free, cost-effective approach for characterizing whole genome methylation patterns across different methylation contexts (CG, CHG, CHH, 6 mA) that we have recently developed at the University of Perugia. DNA from triplicate panicle samples of contrasting reproductive mode materials were digested with enzymes sensitive to DNA methylation (AciI, PstI, EcoT22I, and DpnII, for the CG, CHG, CHH and 6 mA contexts, respectively), and libraries were generated and sequenced in Illumina platform. Several differentially methylated genomic regions were found and associated to annotated genes that were classified with the BLAST2GO software. Several genes already linked to apomixis (i.e., SERK, APOSTART) were found to be both differentially methylated and differentially expressed.1 Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR-CONICET-UNR), Zavalla, Argentina; 2 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. * luciana.delgado@conicet.gov.arApomixis is an asexual reproduction pathway through seeds that generates clonal progenies. It was proposed to derive from the deregulation of genes involved in sexuality by genetic/epigenetic mechanisms. Paspalum rufum grass forms a multiploid complex with self-sterile sexual diploid and self-fertile apomictic tetraploid cytotypes but some diploid genotypes produce aposporous embryo sacs and clonal seeds. Moreover, variation in apospory expressivity was detected within experimentally obtained diploid families. Here we compare the relative methylation levels between floral libraries of full-sib diploid P. rufum genotypes exhibiting low and high apospory expressivity. Methylation Content Sensitive Enzyme ddRAD (or MCSeEd) strategy, without reference genome, was applied in two developmental stages, pre-meiosis/meiosis and post-meiosis and at three different contexts (CG, CHG and CHH). Heatmaps and principal component analysis of the relative methylation changes clearly discriminated between reproductive behavior at both developmental stages and for almost all the methylation contexts. P. notatum floral transcriptome was queried by differential methylated contigs (DMCs), revealing 14% of homology, almost half of which were differentially expressed between apomictic and sexual samples of P. notatum. BLAST searches over public databases allowed the identifications of DMCs homologous to genes involved in flower growth, development and also to many genes and genomic regions previously associated to apomictic development. In silico mapping on Setaria italica genome showed a high proportion of DMCs aligning on genomic regions previously associated with apomixis. This work provides evidence of the presence of differential methylation levels associated with variation in apospory expressivity in a diploid grass species.Zappacosta DC 1,2, *, Garbus I 1,3, *, Selva JP 1 , Carballo J 1,2 , Pasten MC 1 , Gallardo JA 1,2 , Bellido AM 1 , Marconi G 1,4 , Albertini E 1,4 , Echenique V 1,31 Centro de Recursos Naturales de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS-CONICET-UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina; 2 Depto. Agronomía-UNS Bahía Blanca, Argentina; 3 Depto. Ciencias de la Salud-UNS Bahía Blanca, Argentina; 4 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Perugia, Italy. * These authors contributed equally to this work: dczappa@criba.edu.ar, igarbus@criba.edu.ar Weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) is a forage grass with a particular diplosporous apomixis where meiosis is absent and sexual and apomictic seeds have equal embryo:endosperm ploidy ratio. Several lines of evidence show that epigenetic regulation is involved in the expressiveness of the trait, accounting for the variable expression between plants and for the increase of the frequency of sexual pistils in facultative genotypes triggered by biotic and abiotic stresses. The aim of this study was to associate differences in the reproductive mode to epigenetic mechanisms given by DNA methylation and miRNAs regulation of gene expression. Firstly, the Methylation Content Sensitive Enzyme ddRAD (MCSeEd) was used to detect hypermethylated and hypomethylated positions and further associate them with apomictic (full and facultative) and sexual genotypes. The distribution of differentially methylated positions across genes at CG and 6mA shows a peak around the transcript start and transcript termination sites, hence regulating gene expression mainly through the incorporation of methyl groups on these positions. Gene ontology analysis reveals terms associated to auxins, clathrins, and kinases previously observed in apomictic species. Moreover, some genes differentially expressed related to the reproductive pathway, could be linked to the methylation status in the present work. Regarding miRNAs, a target analysis allowed the identification of a MADS-box transcription factor and a transposon repressed in the sexual genotype through specific miRNA-mRNA interactions. Additional miRNA-mRNA pairs specific for sexual or apomictic genotypes were identified in a degradome-based analysis conducted using Oryza sativa database, reinforcing the concept of apomixis resulting from sexual pathway deregulation. Paspalum plicatulum is an experimental sexual autotetraploid plant (4 × S) obtained by colchicine doubling chromosomes from a wild 2× plant. 4 × S had already produced interspecific hybrids in crossing with tetraploid apomictic species (4 × A) of the Plicatula group. However, the 4 × S plant blooms in early summer and there are some 4 × A species in this group which bloom in late April, preventing crossbreeding. The objective of this study was to delay the flowering of 4 × S by controlling the photoperiod and temperature and to hybridize with 4 × A species of the Plicatula group that flower in April. The experiments were carried out in a chamber with controlled light (14 h) and temperature (25 • C ± 2 • ) and were repeated twice. We used 16 4 × S clones in a 4-treatment design: (1) control (in greenhouse, natural light), (2) light intensity of 170 µmol m −2 s −1 of; (3) light intensity of 350 µmol m −2 s −1 ; and (4) light intensity of170 µmol m −2 s −1 + 25 µg GA 3 en 10 µL of ethanol 95% (v/v). The control did not flower, while all the chamber treatments started flowering at 90 days. Using these plants as pistillate, hybrids were obtained after crossing with cv. Cambá and line U44 of P. atratum and with cv. Chané of P. guenoarum. Thus, the delay in flowering of the 4 × S plant allowed obtaining new interspecific hybrids to be achieved within the Plicatula group of Paspalum. This will permit expanding the use of germplasm from other apomictic species in the genetic improvement program for native forages. Paspalum notatum Flüggé is one of the main components of the South American grasslands. At present, hybridization is the most popular breeding technique in the species, and its goal is to obtain superior apomictic hybrids. Occurrence of heterosis in tetraploid P. notatum hybrid progenies in relationship with the genetic distance among parents was determined. Secondly, recurrent selection based on combining ability (RSCA) and recurrent phenotypic selection (RPS) were evaluated in a sexual synthetic tetraploid population (SSTP). Genetic distances among parents with different origins were determined using molecular markers. Group of crosses among parents with low, intermediate and high genetic distances were identified. The progeny obtained was evaluated for a series of agronomic and morphological traits. There was a significant relationship between genetic distances among parents and heterosis mainly for forage yield. For this reason, molecular markers could be used as a tool to predict the occurrence of heterosis for this trait. On the other hand, two new sexual populations were created by RSCA and RPS. Sexual genotypes obtained by both methods were crossed with superior apomictic genotypes. Both methods allowed us to obtain hybrid progenies that were evaluated for summer, fall, and spring growth. RPS progenies exhibited greater summer growth and heterosis than RSCA progenies, although for fall and spring growth were similar. RPS was equal or more efficient than RSCA since it allowed obtaining equal or more genetic progress and heterosis. The breeding techniques used in this work allow exploiting the heterosis in tetraploid P. notatum.Acuña CA *, Zilli AL, Brugnoli EA, Marcón F Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNNE, Corrientes, Argentina. * caalac77@gmail.com There is a need for developing forage cultivars for subtropical areas, which combine warm summers with cold winters, and marked variation in photoperiod. Paspalum notatum is an apomictic grass adapted to these transitional climate zones. The objective was to describe the advances of the Paspalum notatum breeding program in Argentina. Crosses were made between a few sexual clones and several apomictic ecotypes collected throughout the New World. Segregation for mode of reproduction varied between 1:1 to 1:7.4 between apomictic and sexual within families, with a mean of 1:3.2. A high variation was observed for apomixis expressivity within the apomictic progeny, with most hybrids exhibiting very low (less than 10% of the ovules bearing aposporous embryo sacs) or high expressivity (more than 70%). Only the highly apomictic hybrids were evaluated in the field as spaced plants for two years and sward plots for three years, especially considering frost tolerance, and growth during the cool season. Currently, five selected hybrids are being evaluated in three locations in northeastern, and one in central Argentina. A grazing trial is also being conducted to determine the grazing tolerance of these 5 hybrids. The genetic stability across cropping cycles will also be determine using molecular markers. A superior highly apomictic genotype is expected to be selected in two years. The forages breeding program at CIAT has a 45-year history, and it aims to improve the livelihoods of poor crop-livestock producers in the tropics, by intensifying production while reducing the environmental footprint. Furthermore, adaptation of forages to droughts and waterlogging related to global climate change is a priority to secure animal nutrition. The forage breeding program of CIAT aims to tackle this by developing hybrids with desired traits that are targeted for different environments. To date, our program works on three breeding pipelines: Urochloa interspecific, Urochloa humidicola and Megathyrsus maximus (formerly known as Brachiaria interspecific, Brachiaria humidicola\" and Panicum maximus). The U. interspecific breeding pipeline has developed interspecific hybrids for subhumid tropics that are adapted to extreme biotic stress (e.g., spittlebug insects) and abiotic conditions (e.g., acid soils), with improved quality and maximum biomass production. This pipeline released in 2001, the first apomictic hybrid in the field of tropical forages and exhibits the most successful hybrid in the market currently: Mulato II. To date, six apomictic hybrids are available in the market. In addition, we are preparing products for the humid tropics (U. humidicola) and another for highly intensified livestock systems (M. maximus). We presented an overview of the genotyping tools (e.g., marker-assisted selection for apomixis), phenotyping tools (e.g., spittlebug screening), as well as the integration of these approaches into a recurrent selection scheme, enabling the permanent release of high-performing hybrids with constant genetic gain. Field evaluation of the apomictic accessions in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil, led to the selection of 25 which were evaluated in seven regions. The best ones were evaluated under grazing and released as cv. Tanzânia. Mombaça and Massai in 1990, 1993, and 2001, respectively. Nowadays, they occupy around 20 million hectares in Brazil and respond for about 96% of the commercialized seeds of the species. Recently, other three cultivars were released. BRS Zuri is a tall wide-leaved high yielding high-quality cultivar, which resulted in 13% higher animal gain/area than Tanzânia and Mombaça in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. BRS Tamani is a short, narrow-leaved plant which resulted in 10-16% higher gain/animal than Massai due to 6-20% higher crude protein and digestibility. BRS Quênia is medium-sized, mediumleaved, high yielding high-quality cultivar which resulted in 9% higher animal gains/area than Tanzânia in the Amazon biome and 17% higher than Mombaça in the Cerrado biome. Advances in genetic information were obtained from the evaluation of over 8000 hybrids from crosses between 10 divergent sexual plants and 10 divergent apomictic accessions on two levels of soil fertility. Advances in the program include high-resolution linkage map and genomic selection with allele dosage, large-scale phenotyping, and obtention of core collections. Paspalum notatum cv. Boyero-UNNE is an apomictic-hybrid cultivar developed at FCA-UNNE, Argentina. Here we evaluated seed development and phenotypic/reproductive stability through successive generations of Boyero-UNNE in the argentine temperate region (pampas). Plots were established at the FCA-UNR, Zavalla, Argentina. The development of seeds was examined by collecting 20 inflorescences every 3 days during the flowering period (21 days in total) and observing ≥50 spikelets/plant with a binocular microscope. Proportions of small fertilized ovaries (SFO), immature caryopses (IC), filled caryopses (FC), necrotic ovaries (NO), and empty spikelets (ES) were scored. The stability of vegetative and reproductive traits was evaluated in three F 1 families (seeds collected in 2016, 2017, 2018) by measuring plant height (PH), tiller number (TN), stem length (SL), bunch length (BL) and percentages of ovules carrying aposporous sacs (% OAES), meiotic sacs (% OMES) and aposporous + meiotic sacs (% OMIX). The vegetative traits were also examined in the progeny of each F 1 family. Seed development studies showed 18% SFO, 18% IC, 38% FC, 24% NO, and 2% ES. Non-significant differences were observed in vegetative traits across families and generations. The reproductive characterization showed, on average, 54.7% OAES, 15.4% OMES and 29.9% OMIX (total apomixis capacity: % OAES +% OMIX = 84.6%). Our results indicated that cv. Boyero-UNNE can form caryopses in up to 74% of the spikelets (18% SFO, 18% IC, and 38% FC). Moreover, considering that original Boyero-UNNE reports notify a total apomictic capacity of 86-93%, both vegetative and reproductive traits can be considered stable across generations.Despite the online format imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the Series of Seminars on Advances in Apomixis Research was a great success in strengthening the growing network of scientists involved in apomixis and supported by the European Union H2020 Programme and in providing an opportunity for students and young and senior researchers to share their experience and work.Biological features of apomicts (e.g., high heterozygosity, polyploidy, resistance to genetic transformation [21]) have long prevented the use of the new \"omics\" and imaging technologies during their early stages and, most recent advances in the genetics and the molecular control of apomixis have arisen from sexual model species, such as Arabidopsis, maize, and rice. Among the best examples are the epigenetic control acting throughout reproductive development [22] and the role of key transcription factors in the acquisition of parthenogenetic competences (i.e., BABY BOOM [23,24]). However, as illustrated by the abstracts reported here, increasing accessibility to modern analytical tools for genome-wide structural and expression studies and to state-of-the-art confocal microscopy is changing profoundly the field by expanding our knowledge about the structure and the functioning of natural apomicts genomes, and by providing novel candidate functions and pathways for apomixis. Results are expected to fuel our understanding of the reproductive biology of apomicts and, therefore, they could contribute efficiently to fine-tune synthetic paths or to improve plant breeding procedures. The main perspective of the MAD project is to resolve candidate mechanisms involved in the regulation of the developmental shift driving sexual reproduction into apomixis through effective sharing of biological resources, expertise, and knowledge gathered from 12 laboratories internationally recognized for their contribution to apomixis research.","tokenCount":"7710"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6297626062.json b/data/part_1/6297626062.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..70af6ca21a54568eb9df7746f05ed5d327bc4d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6297626062.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e8c6e15d36cd97bc7b38feb5f7648d22","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0970502e-d3ed-4f36-9b45-038723021c02/content","id":"-430781337"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c8cc8c4f-34d1-48fc-a565-6c170d8d8cfc","pagecount":"50","content":"We acknowledge the financial support of AMEXCID (Mexican agency for International cooperation for development) and CRP MAIZE.We also thank the support of the Mexican Embassy in Kenya, key player on the transference of nixtamalization to Africa.Maize is the major food staple in Africa and Central America with high per capita consumption (103 kg/year), and contributes 31% of calories and 28% of protein supply. Maize was introduced in Africa by the Portuguese sailors in the 16th century. Due to its wide adaptation to diverse environments, low rate of damage by birds unlike sorghums and millets, and its relative ease of growing, storing and processing, white kernel maize rapidly replaced the indigenous cereals in the fields and in diets. This pattern of use of maize in Kenya and other east African countries mirrors that of Mexico where maize originated. Paradoxically, Mexico exported maize seed to Africa but not the technologies for its utilization. Whereas Mexicans have in excess of 600 products from the maize plant, African countries can hardly count more than 10 uses of maize. Maize in African countries in general is prepared for consumption as kernels either whole or decorticated. Whole kernels are prepared for consumption by boiling in admixture with beans and then stewed with potatoes or green vegetables. This mixture is referred to as Githeri by communities in Central Kenya who are its main consumers. In some communities, the mix is boiled with soda ash or ash infusions, which make the kernels turn yellow -they are said to be tastier than those boiled with plain water. The decortication is carried out by three methods: 1) Wet decortication by light pounding in a mortar with pestle and winnowing off the detached pericarp (mostly by communities in Eastern Kenya especially the Kambas), 2) Machine decortication by using mechanical abrasion (industrial decortication for commercial purposes) and 3) Boiling in alkaline infusions from ashes obtained from maize cobs, bean trash etc. practiced by the Kalenjin community). In urban areas, maize is also milled into meal of different extraction rates ranging from about 70 -100%, and used for preparation of principally ugali or sadza and sometimes porridge. Whole grain green maize is often roasted or boiled on cob for consumption. Maize meal consumed in the rural areas is supplied from milling on small scale (usually contractual milling between the miller and the domestic consumer) using small village hammer mills, otherwise commonly referred to as posho mills. These mills are widespread in the rural villages and normally produce whole maize meal.Mexico as the origin of maize has longer experience with maize and has therefore developed diversified food products, mainly derived from lime-cooking process, called nixtamalization. It is a process that involves cooking and steeping maize kernels in calcium hydroxide (lime). More than 300 food products commonly consumed in Mexico alone are derived from nixtamalized maize.Nixtamalization provides nutritional benefits, including: 1) Reduction in pellagra disease risk, due to the improved niacin bioavailability, 2) Increasing calcium intake due to its absorption by the kernels during the steeping process with caustic alkali, 3) supply of dietary fiber by increasing resistant starch content in the food products, and 4) Significantly reducing mycotoxin levels in kernels. Nixtamalization provides these nutritional and health benefits especially where maize is the dietary staple and the risk of aflatoxins is high.The limited food uses of maize African countries in turn limits per capita consumption and leads to reduced demand, reduced markets for farmers produce. Limited processing reduces the maize value chain and denies African countries the opportunity to industrialize as its industries are largely agriculture driven.Thus in addition to the nutritional benefits of nixtamalization, commercialization of nixtamalized products is benefit for the extended shelve life of the food products, generating income and market opportunities for the communities.The thermo alkaline process (cooking) is governed by the amount and quality of the lime, cooking temperature and amount of water (that determines the lime solubility). Usually, this process is done under over saturate conditions. The reported values for the calcium hydroxide (cal, lime) are between 0.5 to 3%. This process is carried out in open vats that do not have any thermal skin to reduce the loss of heat, the mixture of the nixtamal is manually, and the end of the cooking time is determined by the manual removing of the pericarp or by the moisture content.Figure 2 shows the block diagram of traditional nixtamalization process used to obtain dough (masa) and tortilla. This process uses maize, water, and lime as raw material.   Reduction in pellagra disease risk, due to the imrpoved niacin bioavailability.  Increasing calciumm intake due to its absorption by the kernels during the steeping process.  Serving as a source of dietary fibre by increasing resistant starch content in the food products.  Slightly decrease the levels of phytic acid, an inibithor ori ron and zinc absorption.  Increases the calcium/phosphorous ratio which makes the tortilla nutritionally similar to milk.  Significantly reduce mycotoxins in kernels.In principle, any type of maize can be nixtamalized. However, the efficiency (time and cost wise) and the quality of the final food products will be affected by the physico-chemical characteristics of the maize. In general semi-hard to hard kernels and intermediate size are the preferred ones. Depending on consumer preferences, grain color is also consider an important quality trait considered. In the grain quality section, a detailed description of the kernel quality traits and methods to determine them is presented.Water is the solvent used for Ca(OH) 2 and plays an important role during the cooking, steeping, and milling steps of the nixtamalization process. During the cooking process water allows the lime solubilizaton, and causes swelling of starch grains during cooking and steeping processes due to simultaneous water absorption and diffusion in the kernel. Usually for cooking process 1:3 maize to water ratio is used. Kernels absorb about 28-30 % water during the cooking process and 5-8 % more during the steeping (McDonough et al. 2001, Rooney andSuhendro 2001). That allows the milling process to obtain masa when pericarp. Germ and endosperm are integrated. On the other hand, it has been calculated that due to the sweeling of corn grains their sizes increases about 1.5 times their original size. Water uptake is a kinetic process which is governed by physical changes in kernel components. These changes depend on lime concentration, pericarp thickness and endosperm type (Laria et al. 2005). Nixtamal moisture of 50 % has been reported to give masa that has acceptable plasticity and machinability (Gomez et al. 1989).The use of calcium hydroxide in the nixtamalization process increases the pH value of the cooking liquor from 7 to 12. The increases in the pH allows the partial pericarp removal and the most important aspect in term of the diet is that increases the calcium content (Fernández-Muñoz et al. 2004). Normally between 1 to 3% of Ca(OH) 2 is used.Lime is the result of a process where calcite is extracted and calcinated to produce CaO and then Ca(OH)2, which is a dry powder obtained by adding water to CaO thereby transforming the oxides into hydroxides. Raw materials could have chemical impurities. Due to the calcination by fossil fuels and with the addition of water during hydration, certain contaminants could be introduced.Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, and with phosphorous are the main elements forming the bone. Calcium is a fundamental nutrient implicated in a good number of metabolic processes which provide rigidity to the bones and teeth. It is well known that certain diseases including bone fragility, hypertension, and colon cancer, may be caused by chronically low dietary calcium intake. According to Flynn (2003) point out that increasing of calcium intake higher than the averages consume may have benefits for the development and fortification of bones, and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in later life.The incorporation of calcium hydroxide in food such as nixtamalized products have been the most important source of calcium in the daily diet of Mesoamerican people and recently in other countries such as Unites States of America, China, United Kingdom.According to the Mexican norm NOM-187-SSA1/SCF1 2002, calcium hydroxide must fulfill the following specifications:  The traditional nixtamalization process is carried out using between 0.5 to 3 % of lime. Usually the water is heated until boiling point or little below (85-92 ºC), and then the maize kernels are added (beginning of the cooking process). The moisture content is sensed by direct inspection of the pericarp removal. Heat is removed and kernels are steep in the cooking liquor for around 12-16 h.After the cooking time the corn grains are steeping in the cooking liquor for 5 to 16h, and according to Gutierrez et al. (2007) the most important changes in the physicochemical properties occurs.In this stage, the heating is suspended and the grain is allowed to stand in the cooking liquid (nejayote) for a period of time that varies from 5 to 16 hours until the mixture is cooled (figure 3). The viscosity and color of nejayote varies due to the loss of dry matter formed by the solids leaching of corn kernels (Rojas-Molina et al., 2009). In industrial processes corn grain reaches a humidity range of 46-54% at the end of the steeping stage. At the end of the steeping stage, the nejayote reaches a pH value of 12.5 approximately, and then it is drained. The hydrated corn is washed twice with water and removing the pericarp by rubbing the kernels.At this point it is important to denote that the calcium and water diffusion into the corn kernels is a temperature-dependent process that is governed by the physicochemical changes of its anatomical structures mainly in pericarp. During the steeping stage the starch of endosperm gelatinizes partially, trialiglycerides and free fatty acids of germ and endosperm are saponified (Bello et al., 2002;Fernández-Muñoz et al., 2002González et al., 2004;Gutiérrez-Cortez et al., 2007). Additionally, during the steeping stage a significant dry matter loss of the kernels take place; this material is constituted by fractions of pericarp, endosperm and germ (Ortega et al 1986;Almeida-Dominguez et al 1998;Sahai et al 2000;Rojas-Molina et al 2009). After cooking and steeping maize grains are cooled and still remain in the liquid called nejayote (figure 4), the grains are drained off and in order to remove small pieces of pericarp, germ, and endosperm as well as a water-lime liquid grains are washed at least twice. Other important aspect of the washing is the whiteness of the masa and tortilla. Nixtamal grinding is done with volcanic stone disk mills (Fumasa, M100, Qto.) (figure 5) in an open system with an impact and/or rubbing effect (McCabe, 1981). The stone disks are maintained with an opening of 3 mm between them and with a constant feed rate provided by the screw feeder integrated into the mill (Gutiérrez-Cortez et al., 2010).This step is also critical for the quality of the dough, being heat and moisture the two main factors (figure 6).  The wet granules obtained by grinding are hydrated to reach a humidity of 58-60%. Then, the material is molded and homogenized, this mixture is known as dough or masa. Once the dough is obtained portions of 28-35 g are separated to make flat dough disc (tortillas) (figure 7). The tortillas are cooked by using a flat iron pan at 280 °C ± 5 °C. Cooking time is 17 seconds for a thin tortilla and a thick tortilla requires 55 seconds approximately (figure 8).  Maize grain quality is affected by maize genetics and by the environmental conditions under which the grain is produced, its agronomic management (sowing date, fertilization, water availability, plant density, pest and disease control, etc.) and grain management during storage; these aspects play an important role in grain quality characteristics. These variations and the genetic diversity in Mexico require selection that is based on adequate grain classification according to its physical and chemical properties. In addition, the experience of maize researchers and processors has shown that grain hardness and size, as well as its color, are the primary selection variables for the nixtamalization process (Miranda et al., 2013).Classifying maize quality by type and grade is fundamental and critical for global grain commercialization and mobility (Serna, 1996). Knowing the quality grade of a maize grain lot leads to better and fairer marketing between buyers and sellers and allows mixing grain lots of the same grade or quality.Important when monitoring grain quality is the type of sampling that is done, which depends on the objective of the study and on the tests to be performed. In general, the recommendation is to take samples at random and make up composite samples to ensure that the test material is representative.To ensure that maize grain is available in the amounts and the quality required norms have been established to help ensure the raw material is safe to consume, to reduce losses during maize storage and processing, and to ensure the production of better quality tortillas. Mexican norm NMX-FF-034/1-SCFI-2002 includes the following specifications regarding the extrinsic characteristics of maize grain (Table 3):Table 3. Maize grain damage observed upon reception.Source: NMX-FF-034/1-SCFI-2002.Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Broken grain (maximum %) 3.0 3.5 4.0 Impurities (maximum %) 2.0 2.5 3.0 Heat damage (maximum %) 1.5 2.5 3.5 Total damage (maximum %) 5.0 7.0 10.0Impurities are any foreign materials that are neither maize grain nor grain particles and that can go through a sieve with round holes measuring 0.238 cm (6/64 of an inch), as well as particles that remain on top of a sieve with round holes measuring 4.76 mm (12/64 of an inch) and that are not maize grains (cobs, branches, leaves, etc.)Classified as broken grain are all materials that pass through a sieve with round holes measuring 0.476 cm (12/64 of an inch) and that remain on top of a sieve with round holes measuring 0.238 cm (6/64 of an inch), in addition to maize pieces that do not pass through a sieve measuring 0.476 cm in diameter, even though their size is 50% smaller than the size of grain.The procedure consists of separating and quantifying the broken grains (grains with a part missing) and impurities (any foreign body or material different from maize grain, including cobs and other plant parts, that pass through a sieve with round holes 4.76 mm in diameter), as well as all materials that did not pass through the sieve but that are different from the grain. Measuring these materials requires a balance with a sensitivity of 0.1 g, sieves with round holes 0.476 and 0.238 cm in diameter and a tray at the bottom, plus a Boerner grain homogenizer. A kilogram of maize grain previously divided using the Boerner homogenizer is placed on the pile of sieves; shake the sieves for about one minute using circular movements to separate the impurities or weeds, weed seed, soil, glass, metal, wood, stones, pests and excretions.Manually remove all materials that did not pass through the 0.476-cm sieve and that are different from the grain and put them in the tray at the bottom. Check the tray at the bottom for the presence of insects and excretions; separate, quantify and report them (Figure 10).Weigh the contents of the tray at the bottom and determine the impurities according to Equation 1.% impurities = weight of the impurities (g) 1000 gx 100 Eq. ( 1)Take the grain particles that remain on the 0.238 mm sieve, as well as the maize pieces that did not pass through the 0.476 mm sieve but whose size is smaller than 50% of grain size. Quantify them according to Equation 2.% broken grains = weight of broken grains (g) 1000 gx 100 Eq. ( 2) Damaged grains are whole grains whose parts have undergone physical or chemical alteration (whether external or internal) as a result of fungi, heat, insects, rodents or weather conditions (Figure 11). Fungi and other microorganisms may develop on the surface (pericarp) of the grain, in the germ or embryo, and/or on the rest of the grain (endosperm), and the effect may be total or partial. These microorganisms can occur in the field or in storage; they are characterized by a bluish, blackish, greenish, orangish or yellowish color and may appear slimy or cottony.Overheating the grain during drying will make the whole grain or sometimes only the germ or embryo (center of the grain) turn dark brown or black.Insect-damaged grains generally present holes or tunnels made by insects in the field and/or in storage. Grains that have been attacked by rodents show their toothmarks or bites, while grains damaged by weather conditions such as rain, hail or drought, are shrunken, germinated, stained or rotten, among other things (NMX-FF-034/1-SCFI-2002).Dissecting forceps and an analytical balance are required to determine the percentage of damaged grains. To do this, weigh 100 g of clean grain that is free of impurities; then manually separate the grains that show insect, heat, fungal or other types of damage from the rest. Using the balance, calculate, according to Equation 3, the percentage of grains that were identified as damaged.% damaged grains = weight of damaged grains (g) 100 gx 100 Eq. ( 3) NOTE: Repeat this procedure for each type of damage observed and report them separately. Aflatoxins and fumonisins are among the mycotoxins found on maize grain. Fumonisins are produced by the fungus Fusarium. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The main fumonisins to test for are B1, B2, G1 and G2; the name of each fumonisin begins with the first letter of the color (either blue or green) of the flourescence it emits.It is important to detect these mycotoxins because they are toxic and carcinogenic substances found mainly on cereals such as maize, as well as peanuts, cotton seeds and nuts. Some of these cereals are staple food crops: for example, maize is one of the main food sources in Mexico, where it is eaten in the form of different food products, such as tortillas. Thus in Mexico, aflatoxin-contaminated maize is a potential health risk for the population. According to Official Mexican Norm NOM-188-SSA1-2002, maize grain should contain a total of no more than 20 µg kg-1 of aflatoxins.To quantify aflatoxins, mix the samples with a methanol extraction solution; then dilute the extract and filter it. Add the extract to the immunoaffinity columns which will retain the aflatoxin-specific antibodies. Rinse the column with water to remove any impurities; then elute with HPLC grade methanol (because aflatoxins are soluble in it) and with the aid of a bromine solution (used as a developer), the aflatoxins can be detected using a fluorometer.Aflatoxins can also be detected (but not quantified) using fluorescence under ultraviolet light (figure 12), but keeping in mind that greater fluorescence does not indicate higher aflatoxin concentration. The fluorescence of contaminated samples is not stable and may disappear if the samples have been continually exposed to visible radiation; however, toxin concentration in the sample will remain (Forno et al., 2005). It is important to evaluate the moisture in maize grain to determine grain quality and for commercialization purposes. In general, the cost of maize is determined taking 14% moisture content as a reference. Handling grains with higher moisture content is more costly because the grain must be air-or oven-dried; otherwise, it will deteriorate rapidly. It will also contain fewer solids and therefore yield less dough and fewer tortillas.The tests most widely used to determine the moisture content of maize grain are carried out using electronic testers that measure the grain's capacity to conduct electricity, or using a nearinfrared device (Infratec). The quickest, safest and most economical approach used by collection and research centers is carried out with Steinlite or Motomco meters following the 44-11 method of AACC ( 2000). The test is run in a matter of seconds on whole grain without destroying the sample; it is based on the principle that bound water and free water within the grain conduct electricity differently.A sample's moisture content is indicated by the weight it loses when exposed to heat, expressed as a percentage of the sample's original weight. The moisture in maize grain is extracted as vapor by applying heat under controlled conditions. The recommended methods were developed to reduce the oxidation, decomposition or loss of other volatile substances, while ensuring that as much water as possible is removed.This procedure is based on method 44-15 of the AACC ( 2000), but with a modification: the grain is cut. The method requires using a stove or oven that can reach a constant temperature of 130°C, plus aluminum boxes that hold 2 grams of maize, an analytic balance and a dryer (Figure 13). To determine grain moisture, weigh 2 ± 0.02 g of kernels that have been cut crosswise and place in an aluminum box adjusted to a constant weight. Once the temperature of the oven has stabilized (130 °C), the box containing the sample is placed inside. The sample is exposed to 130 °C for 60 min; the box is then removed from the oven and placed in the dryer to cool, which takes about 10 min.  The devices most frequently used by maize storage and processing companies for determining grain moisture are electronic moisture meters. They measure moisture based on electric conductivity (the capacity of maize grain moisture to pass an electric current). The most popular devices are the Motomco and Steinlite meters (Figure 14), but other types of meters can be found on the market. The Motomco and Steinlite meters determine grain moisture on whole kernels in a matter of seconds, without destroying the sample, and they are very easy to operate.A moisture meter of the Steinlite type must be used with a grain scale. Before measuring grain moisture, the meter is calibrated following the instructions in the users' manual. Weigh 250 g of grain and place in the hopper of the device. Press the button so the sample will be lowered into the reading compartment. After a few seconds, the percent moisture will appear on the meter's screen.Figure 14. Determining grain moisture with a Steinlite meter using the dielectric method.Mature maize grain is the result of an ovule being properly fertilized and receiving the supply of nutrients it needs to grow. Both fertilization and the nutrient supply can be affected by agronomic management (sowing date, fertilization, type of seed used, etc.), biotic factors (pests and diseases) and abiotic factors (temperature, water availability, soil type). However, all maize grains are made up of four essential structures: pericarp or bran (5-6%), endosperm (82-83%), germ or embryo (10-11%) and the tip cap or pedicel (0.8-1.0%) (Singh, Singh and Shevkani, 2011) (Figure 15).The pericarp is the outermost structure of the grain; it is a thin layer usually about 60-80 µm thick that consists of dense and malleable tissue whose composition is about 77.7% fiber, 9.1% protein, 7.3% starch, 1% fat and 4.4% other substances. All parts of the pericarp are made up of tube-shaped dead cells (Bartolo-Pérez et al., 1999). The pedicel is the cell structure that joins the grain to the cob. It is made up of vascular bundles that end at the base of the pericarp; it has an outer abscission layer that seals off the end of the mature grain. Next to this layer, a series of star-shaped parenchymal cells come together at the end to form a fragile and porous structure that is connected to the layer of cross cells in the pericarp. Liquids are absorbed from the pedicel into the pericarp through this structure (Jackson and Shandera, 1995).The maize germ has high fat (15-30%), protein (10-18%) and mineral salt contents; it stores nutrients and hormones that are mobilized by enzymes synthetized during the initial germination stage (Jackson and Shandera, 1995).The endosperm is made up of elongated cells that have thin walls of cellulosic material and are packed with starch granules (5-30 µm) in a protein matrix (starch-protein). The structural integrity and bond between the protein and the starch granules contribute to grain hardness. The endosperm consists of two fractions: one floury and one horny. The floury endosperm fraction is characterized by large, nearly round starch granules that are loosely packed together within a thin protein matrix, with many air spaces between them (Mu-forster and Wasserman, 1998). The proportion of these endosperm fractions determines grain hardness; the greater the proportion of floury endosperm, the softer the grain, and vice versa (Watson, 2003). This is also related to the grain's water absorbing capacity, that is, soft maize absorbs more water during the nixtamalization process than hard maize. Flint endosperm has small cells with small starch granules that acquire a polygonal structure and are strongly bound by a protein matrix without air spaces between the granules (INTA, 2006).The uses of maize are determined mainly by grain structure and composition. The endosperm consists of a floury portion and a flint portion. Grain structure and composition vary depending on the cultivar, as well as on management practices, climate, soil, and harvest and postharvest methods. The maize that is normally used in the nixtamalization process is dent maize.The structure of the maize grain that is processed by the nixtamalized flour industry is important because it affects the nixtamalization process and the shelf life of maize flour. The nixtamalized flour industry prefers maize grain having pedicel and pericarp percentages below 2.0 and 5.5%, respectively, because this means the pedicel and pericarp will come off more easily during the nixtamalization process, and will produce flour that is lighter in color (less yellow). The grain's germ percentage should be 12% or less, given that higher amounts increase the oil content, which can clog the hammers during milling; higher amounts of germ will also cause the flour to become rancid after a short time in storage (Vázquez et al., 2003). Proportions of hard endosperm 48% or higher ensure adequate grain hydration, easy milling and facilitate drying of dough particles (Salinas et al., 2012).The proportion of these structures does not matter to traditional dough and tortilla mills, which use all grain components because they all contribute to the commercial and nutritional quality of tortillas. Traditional millers prefer nixtamalized maize that retains most of its pericarp, because its gum helps produce dough that is cohesive and has good texture (Almeida and Rooney, 1996). However, today it is also common practice to add some nixtamalized flour in order to give the dough better texture.Maize grain with a high proportion of germ and, therefore, more oil, produces tortillas that have a soft texture, even after they have been reheated (Vázquez et al., 2014). Nixtamalizing maize grain with less than 40% hard endosperm (medium hardness) requires less fuel to hydrate the grain adequately and produces dough and tortilla yields that are slightly higher compared to hard maize grain.Percentages of the four main grain structures need to be quantified by a highly skilled worker. Quantification also requires a convection oven that reaches 130 °C, an analytic balance, a dental drill with star-shaped bits 1.2 and 3.0 mm in length, an electric grill, a scalpel, a beaker and aluminum boxes.The quantification procedure consists of randomly selecting 25 grains, weighing them (a) and soaking them for 5 minutes in water at 70 °C. With the help of a scalpel, separate each grain component (pedicel, pericarp, germ and endosperm) and place them in the aluminum boxes at a constant weight. Record the dry weight of each component (j, k, L). Take 5 of the 25 endosperms, weigh them, and record the weight (b). Quantify the moisture of the remaining 20 endosperms; heat them at 130 °C for one hour. Remove from the oven and cool them in a dryer. Once they are cool, weigh them and calculate the moisture (Equation 4).Remove the floury portion of the five endosperms with a drill (Figure 16). If you do not have a drill, use a scalpel. This part of the process requires a highly skilled worker to remove only the floury portion. Record the total wet weight of the hard portion that was left whole (c); determine and record grain moisture (H2) following the procedure described above. These calculations are described in Equations 5-10.  Maize grains have different shapes and sizes, depending on their position on the cob, the genetics of the plant they come from, and the environmental conditions where they developed.Grains at the base of the cob are usually big and round, the ones on the top end are small and round, while the ones in the predominant middle part may be flat. The nixtamalization industry prefers medium-sized dent grains (Figure 18) because they can be hydrated in a reasonably short period of time.Grain size is important for the nixtamalization process because if grains of different sizes are processed, you run the risk of producing dough that does not roll out adequately, resulting in poor tortilla texture. Today, maize processing companies have better quality control and use gravity tables to classify and separate healthy grain from damaged grain, and remove impurities as well as malformed, immature or broken kernels. Gravity tables are also used to separate large grains from small grains, and hard grains from soft grains. All this is possible thanks to an air system driven by fans located on the lower inside part of the machine and to the oscillation in the upper part (cover) of the machine. This procedure produces uniform raw material ideal for optimum processing. At the experimental level, metal sieves with round holes are manually or mechanically shaken to separate impurities, foreign matter, broken kernels, etc. Lots made up of grains of uniform size are retained on the different sieves. Grain homogeneity is determined by quantifying the percentages of grain remaining on No. 3 and 4 sieves with holes 0.686 and 0.477 in diameter.A grain scale with 0.5 precision and a set of sieves with metal screens with round holes are needed to determine grain size (Figure 19).The procedure consists of putting the sieves in order by placing the one with the largest holes (0.95 cm) on top, followed (downward) by the one with medium-sized holes (0.793 cm) and then the one with the smallest holes (0.635 cm). Finally, a sieve with a closed bottom (called a tray) is placed at the bottom of the pile.Take a 1-kg sample from the clean sample with 12-14% moisture content. Pass the sample through the sieves by shaking for one minute. Weigh the grain remaining in each sieve. Record the weight, divide it by 10 and note down the percentage of grain retained in each sieve.Figure 19. Classifying maize grain size using sieves.A vernier scale is an instrument for taking direct measurements that produces precise measurements, starting from 0.001 inches or 0.02 mm, depending on the metric system used to calibrate it (Krar et al., 2003). A vernier scale is easy to find and using it does not require specific skills. It is recommended for classifying grain into different sizes, because it measures length, width and thickness (figure 20). Measurement precision depends on correctly taking a random sample of 10 grains on which to take the three measurements. At the end, calculate the average and standard deviation, and estimate which sieve will retain them. The lower the standard deviation, the more homogeneous the grain. Doing this type of analysis is recommended when the amount of available grain is limited or when other devices or meters for performing this classification are lacking.Figure 20. Measuring the length, width and thickness of each grain.One thousand-grain weight is an indirect measurement of grain size (Billeb and Bressani, 2001). This test is important because grain size is related mainly to dough and tortilla yields. The dough-tortilla and nixtamalized flour industries prefer grains of uniform size for uniform cooking. This test is simple, practical and quick.To do the test, select 100 clean whole grains at random. For convenience, select them from the sieve that retained the highest percentage of grain after performing the grain size homogenization (2.3) test. Note down the weight and multiply by 10. Do the test twice. The only requirement is a scale with two decimal precision. Classify the grain size according to the classification in Table 4. Small Source: Salinas and Vázquez (2006).Test weight is the criterion most frequently used to determine the bulk density of maize grain. It is quantified by weighing a sample (1 liter of grain) representative of the grain lot. It is generally expressed in kg hL-1 (100 liters). Test weight is associated with the grain's actual bulk density and, therefore, with the texture (hardness) of the endosperm and its health. Grains that have been damaged by insects have lower test weight values than healthy grains, while grains with hard endosperm have higher bulk density. Grain lots with higher kernel moisture have lower test weight (Serna, 1996).Seed shape and size are important when determining test weight because they influence the way the grains settle in the test container. Another important factor is the intrinsic density, which depends on the grain's physical structure and chemical composition, in addition to its moisture (Pomeranz et al., 1986).Two scales are needed to do the test, one to weigh the grain (maximum capacity: 1 kilogram) and a test weight scale, which consists of a fixed support with a hopper and an integrated scale, a metal 1-L container and a weighted and balanced metal handle, a small wooden ruler with rounded edges and a tray with a funnel at the end (Figure 21). This methodology (method 84-10) was described and validated by AACC (2000). It can be used on the original sample (with impurities, high grain moisture, damaged grains, etc.) or on a clean sample of known grain moisture. We suggest using the kilo of maize grain that was previously separated in the sieves to quantify the impurities (Section 1.1).The first step is to adjust the scale to zero by taking the tare weight with an empty 1-L container. Then place under the bin and verify that the bin's trap door valve is closed. Add the maize grain to the bin and open the trap door making sure the grain falls freely into the middle of the container until it is filled to overflowing. Remove the grain overflow by scraping with a ruler using three zig-zag motions starting at the edge of the container, without pressing down on the sample. Weigh the container with the grain on the integrated scale and note down the weight per unit volume expressed in kg hL-1. According to Mexican norm NMX-FF-034/1-SCFI-2002, white maize grain that will be used to make tortillas should have a test weight equal to or higher than 74 kg hL-1. According to Salinas and Aguilar (2010), this value indicates medium hardness (Table 4). If you do not have a test weight scale, we suggest doing this in a similar way, but using a scale, a round 1-L container 10 ± 0.5 cm high and an inner diameter of 11 ± 0.5 cm, with a flat bottom and a support where a funnel-shaped hopper can be screwed on; around the neck of the funnel is a release key which when open allows the grain to fall from the same height during all the tests. A 30-cm school ruler can be used to remove excess grain from the container. Under this scheme, the result obtained is the weight in grams (g) of a liter of maize grain. To convert this into the value given by the scale, divide by 10; the values should be the same.A strong association or significant correlation (R2 = 0.94) between the two procedures was observed when comparing the value obtained using the test weight scale and the weight of a liter of the same maize kernels.Maize grain hardness is defined as the force needed to break the grain; it helps give the grain mechanical resistance, which is desirable for maintaining the grain whole during harvest and postharvest operations. However, this parameter also determines the grain's capacity to absorb and retain water during the different stages of the cooking process, especially during nixtamalization and steeping process. So-called soft maize hydrates more rapidly than hard maize and also absorbs more water because it's easier for the water to reach its starch granules (Watson, 2003;Salinas and Aguilar, 2010).Maize endosperm hardness is perhaps the most important characteristic, not only for dry milling, but also for wet milling. It is also crucial for the grain's durability during storage and transport, as well as for its commercialization.Different methods for determining grain hardness have been developed to help the maize industry improve maize processing efficiency and inform farmers of the quality specifications that consumers demand (Blandino et al., 2010). Two important factors that contribute to greater exactness and precision when determining grain hardness are grain moisture (given that the higher the moisture, the softer the endosperm) and the homogeneity of the sample (the greater its heterogeneity, the lower the precision).Methods for measuring grain hardness include measuring its grinding resistance, abrasion, grits production and starch gelatinization properties, milling followed by sieving and determining the number of particles that pass through the mesh of the sieves. Near-infrared reflectance and transmittance have also been used. The units and intervals used for soft and hard grains vary depending on the method used (Fox and Manley, 2009). However, there are significant correlations between results obtained by some of these methods; for this reason, the specific method used depends on the availability of the equipment, the speed with which the result has to be produced and the data's end-use (breeding, industrial, research).   The nixtamalized flour industry uses hard or very hard grain as a raw material in order to produce fractions of adequate size for the different applications. The tortilla industry needs to know this parameter in order to cook the maize for the correct time during nixtamalization and prefers medium-hard and hard grains (Robutti et al. 2000;Salinas and Aguilar, 2010).The flotation index is based on the number of grains that float in a reference solution; this depends on the density of the grain vs the density of the sodium nitrate or sugar solution; thus the harder the grain, the lower its flotation index value. Since the percent moisture of a sample greatly influences the result, the recommendation is that the test samples should all have the same percent moisture (about 12%) (Salinas and Vázquez, 2006).An analytic balance, a pycnometer, a stove with controlled temperature, a sieve and several glass 500-mL beakers are needed to measure the flotation index.To prepare a sodium nitrate solution with a density of 1.2500 g mL-1, add 41 g of sodium nitrate per 100 mL of distilled water to a beaker. After shaking vigorously, measure the density (which may vary depending on the purity of the reagent) with the help of a hydrometer (a pycnometer for liquids). The hydrometer should be kept at a constant weight and handled with gloves to avoid adding oil from the hands.Weigh the hydrometer using an analytic balance and record it as P1. Fill the hydrometer with distilled water and weigh (P2). Rinse the hydrometer and dry with a paper towel. Fill the hydrometer with the nitrate solution and weigh (P3). Calculate the density following equation 11.Density = P 3 − P 1 P 2 − P 1 Eq. ( 11)If the density is higher than 1.2500 gmL-1, add a few drops of water and repeat the previous steps to calculate the density again. If the density is lower than 1.2500 gmL-1, add a few grams of sodium nitrate. Repeat the same operation until the required density is reached with a ±0.0005 margin of error.Determining the flotation index requires randomly selecting and counting 100 whole and healthy maize grains. Place them in 500 mL of the sodium nitrate solution and mix them with a glass stirring rod or a spatula. Wait one minute until they stabilize (Figure 25). Count the grains that rise to the surface or float and record the reading as a percentage. Besides sodium nitrate, other more easily available solvents have been tried that fulfill the methodology's objective of distinguishing maize grains based on their density.One of the objectives is that this type of methodology should be easily used by the different actors in the maize chain. Different inexpensive and easily available solvents, such as sugar, salt and lime, have been evaluated recently as replacements for sodium nitrate. Of the three, the sugar solution was the one that worked best, for it showed a 0.99 correlation with sodium nitrate; it is also water soluble, easy to obtain and reaches the density required for this test.a) Refined sugar as a solventSugar is commonly eaten and thus readily available. Using sugar as a solvent requires very few instruments if the suggested materials are used, the recommendations are followed (Table 6) and the procedure described is performed. Results are 99% reliable and comparable to the results obtained with sodium nitrate. To perform this test, you need a balance with 1-g precision, 2 transparent glass or plastic 1-L beakers on which volumes of 580 mL and 1 L are indicated, a clean container with no cracks for weighing, paper towels, two plastic spoons and a sieve. To prepare a 67% sugar solution, weigh 670 g of refined sugar and add it into the 1.5 L bottle with the mark of 1 L the water, add the water slowly until fill de water to the 1 L mark, mix constantly. Avoid spilling or splashing water. Once the sugar is dissolved, the total volume of the resulting solution should be exactly 1 L.To determine the flotation index (FI) (that is, the number of floating grains), select 100 whole and healthy grains (take them from the sieve that retained the highest number of kernels after quantifying impurities) and record their weight (100-grain weight). Add 500 mL of the sugar solution to a 1-L transparent glass beaker. Add the 100 grains to the solution and stir three times to the right and three times to the left with a spoon. Let rest for 30 seconds so the grains will float or sink to the bottom. Remove the floating grains with a spoon, put them in a sieve and quantify. Do at least two evaluations per sample. Classify hardness according to Table 7. The color of maize grain varies depending on where it comes from, its germplasm source, management, etc. It definitely influences the preferences of industry and consumers. It is also considered a quality control measure of the final products. Determining color using instruments is simple, objective, precise and quick.Color is important because it usually determines consumer preferences. People in Mexico, in particular, usually prefer white maize above all other types, which tends to increase its price.The nixtamalized flour industry uses an Agtron colorimeter (Figure 26) to measure the color of the maize it processes and the flours it produces. It is a monochromatic light colorimeter that measures in relative units the amount of light that is reflected in the red, green, blue or yellow regions following the 14-30 method (AACC, 2000), which indicates that the color of cereals should be measured on wet flour (35% moisture) to accent and intensify its color; the device should operate in green mode (546 nm) because that is the best color for comparing the products' apparent color.To obtain comparable values, the colorimeter must be calibrated according to the product to be evaluated. The sample is placed in the container of the colorimeter and the readings are made. The recommendation is to fill the capsule with grain, nixtamal or dough, and scrape to level. The color of tortillas is measured by cutting out a tortilla round of the same size as the capsule's diameter. The results are expressed as percent reflectance. The colorimeters most often used to measure color are the Hunter Lab spectrophotometer and the Agtron colorimeter. The Hunter Lab device is a spectrophotometer that can measure true colors in a manner similar to how they are perceived by the human eye. It registers the intensity of the light that is absorbed by the color black or reflected by the color white, as well as the light that decomposes into the primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and mixtures thereof: purple, green and orange. Color values are read directly using three scales: L*, a* and b*. This is the CIELab scale; the first three letters are the French acronym for the International Illumination Commission (Commission Internationale de L 'Eclairage); the last three letters are the Hunter Lab scales.The Hunter Lab spectrophotometer consists of a three-dimensional coordinate system. The \"L\" scale measures luminosity (reflected luminosity or light-reflecting capacity) and ranges from 0 (for black) to 100 (for perfect white). The \"a\" scale measures the color red on the positive side (+a) and the color green on the negative side (-a). The \"b\" scale measures the color yellow on the positive side (+b) and blue on the negative side (-b). Both scales (a and b) detect the color gray when the reading is 0.Before using the Hunter Lab colorimeter, select the scale you will use. In this case, adjust it using the CIELab scale according to the L*, a*, b* values of the white and black mosaics included in the colorimeter. The readings are done in the Daylight mode with a D65/10° color angle.Place the sample in the container of the colorimeter; push the read button and the L*, a* and b* values will appear. These values can be transformed and expressed in quantitatively definable dimensions such as \"hue\" and \"chrome\" or \"color purity\", in addition to luminosity. The first variables are calculated using Equations ( 12) and ( 13). Is nixtamalization an alternative to reduce mycotoxin consumption from maize-derived food?Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that contaminate 25% of agricultural crops worldwide, also their derivate and threaten human health (Smith et al., 1994). Contamination of food supplies by these and other naturally occurring toxins is of particular concern in rural communities of developing countries (Bhat et al., 1997).The most common mycotxin found in maize are aflatoxins produced by Aspergillius flavus y Aspergillius parasíticus; and fumonisins produced by Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum (Torres et al., 2008). Food processing could contribute to reduce the levels of mycotoxins. Selection of raw material, washing, milling, cleaning, dehulling, toasting, baking, frying, limecooking could contribute to their reduction.De-hulling can reduce up to 92% of the aflatoxin content (Siwela et a., 2005). Fumonisins are highly tolerant to heat, but they are degraded by baking, extrusion, roasting and lime-cooking (Dall'Asta et al., 2008). Lime-cooking can reduce in 50 to 80% the fumonisins by hydrolysis of Fumonisin B. Higher concentration of lime leads to lower content of fumonisins in nixtamalized dough and tortillas (De la Campa, Miller & Hendricks, 2004). Most of the fumosins are found in the cooking liquor (nejayote).Aflatoxins have high decomposition temperatures in a range of 237 °C (AFG2) to 320 °C (AFP1). AFB1 in crystals is very stable to dry heat up to 267 °C. The domestic boiling temperatures reach around 150 °C, so AFB1 and AFG1 are not destroyed. Nevertheless, the reduction of these toxins will depend on the initial level of contamination, temperature and heating time as well as the type of AF and the food (Rustom, 1997).In alkaline solutions the hydrolysis becomes slow in the lactone ring of the AFs. This hydrolysis is reversible, with the formation of the environmental acid ring (Price and Jorgensen, 1985;Moctezuma et al., 2015).The role that pH plays in the AF inactivation happens at temperatures higher than 100 C. The effects of pH (5, 8 and 10.2), with temperatures (121, 130 and 140 °C) and heating times (from 5 to 20 seconds and 15 minutes) over the mutagenic activity of peanut beverages artificially contaminated with AFB1 were reported (Rustom, 1993). The treatment with pH 8.0, had no effect on AFB1 mutagenicity, but additional treatments from pH 10.2 to 130 °C, for 20 seconds, and from pH 10.2 to 121 °C, for 15 minutes reduce AF up to 78 and 88% respectively. The lactone ring hydrolyzed by the NaOH added to adjust the pH. The treatments done from pH 5 to 130 °C, for 20 seconds, diminished the mutagenicity in 76 % and with pH 5 at 121 °C for 15 min diminished in 73 %. The reduction of the mutagenic effect was attributed to the partial lactone ring hydration in the presence of HCl added to adjust the pH. AFB1 is transformed to AFB2a that is 1000 times less mutagenic. Moctezuma et al., (2015) recently showed that the alkalinity of the lime treatment (pH 12.0) and the acidity of gastric fluid (pH 1.2) inhibited AFB1 mutagenicity. However, the neutral pH of saliva (pH 7.0) increased mutagenicity, and of pancreatic fluid returned the mutagenicity to untreated levels. The mixture of saliva with gastric and pancreatic fluids (pH 5.8) that is the situation present in the colon also rendered the AFB1 mutagenic (Moctezuma et al., 2015).As can be appreciated the points of fusion of AFs are very high so they resist boiling temperatures of foods, milk pasteurization, ultrapasteurization and alcoholic fermentation of beers without breaking. Lime treatment (\"nixtamalización\") only disguise them, it doesn´t eliminate them. Further detailed studies will be necessary to elucidate the controversy.However, what is clear until now is that the maize is not highly contaminated with aflatoxins, lime-cooking will contribute to a decrease of them by the elimination of the pericarp, as it does the de-hulling.","tokenCount":"8215"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6301511752.json b/data/part_1/6301511752.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d2523b5500864b4bf4a9ef5f0ef04ba78a30a72b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6301511752.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"950ae7c034e44db3f0d4c4edf4d6dace","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d245737d-1e79-49eb-9f30-82553dc54f91/retrieve","id":"-384417570"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a632197-92bb-4cce-98b5-e6eb9b527b2f","pagecount":"32","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants and dryland systems; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.The Program thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR systemThis report documents the discussions and outputs of a stakeholder workshop on environmental management opportunities for smallholder dairy production in Tanzania, that was conducted by the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), together with their partners, who are jointly working on environmental management opportunities for dairy in Tanzania. The Maziwa Zaidi II program under the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock aims at driving adoption of dairy technology packages through institutional approaches using inclusive agribusiness models for improved livelihoods of smallholders and environmental sustainability in Tanzania.The stakeholder workshop was organized in Arusha on 16 th December 2020 to set the scene for a series of multi-stakeholder learning events around environmental management on dairy production throughout 2021. Research has provided evidence that synergies between improving dairy productivity and natural resource management in Tanzania is possible. Thus, we need joint priorities and concerted action by stakeholders in capacity building, policies and investments to scale the existing opportunities.The specific objectives of the workshop were to:1. Increase awareness and buy-in on the importance of environmental issues and management opportunities in smallholder dairy production among stakeholders in Tanzania.2. Share knowledge, learnings, key insights and messages from research on livestock and environmental impacts in Tanzania.3. Complement mapping of stakeholders in the area of dairy and environment in Tanzania.4. Identify and prioritize key intervention, policy and capacity building opportunities for scaling environmental management in the dairy sector.The workshop took place on 16 th of December 2020, and gathered around 30 participants with interest, technical expertise and experience in environmental issues around dairy production from various stakeholders in Arusha, Tanzania. Dr. Birthe Paul (Alliance/CIAT), and Dr. Todd Crane and Dr. Amos Omore (both ILRI) were online participants.Workshop ground rules The workshop session started with welcome remarks from Mr. Lazaro Tango the Administrator at CIAT office Arusha by introducing himself and welcome all delegates from different area who gathered for the workshop and then he introduced the facilitator Dr. Aichi Kitalyi to take over. The welcome remark was followed by introductions and setting of ground rules. The ground rules were recorded and displayed as an agreement between the facilitator and the participants to ensure effective participation and presence in the room (Box 1).To break the ice, participants were asked to discuss main challenges in dairy production in Tanzania at their tables. This was aimed at analyzing the participants existing knowledge of the subject which was going to be discussed in the workshop. The main challenges mentioned by participants in the dairy-environment nexus include:» Water• Handling of waste products (e.g, cow manure) The facilitator Dr. Aichi further explained to the participants the main objectives of the workshop and what the participants will gain/learn. She presented the major contents to be covered during the workshop, and quickly took the participants through the agenda (Annex 2).Dr. Aichi then welcomed Dr. Amos Omore, the ILRI country representative and lead of the Maziwa Zaidi project in Tanzania, who participated virtually to give an opening presentation. Dr. Omore then began by explaining to the participants the essence of the Maziwa Zaidi project and how it arrived at this second phase citing some of the achievements from the previous phase and linking them to the objectives and theory of change of Maziwa Zaidi phase two. In his presentation, Dr. Omore also reiterated the reasons as to why environmental management is important in smallholder dairy production for Tanzania and further emphasized that amongst other things, Maziwa Zaidi is dedicated to:• Improve quality and safety of milk while maintaining the environment Dr. Omore concluded his presentation by welcoming the participants to share their views on the topic as it was important towards environmental and dairy sustainability and as well in improving dairy production and productivity in Tanzania.Engineer Enock Mandusa from the Vice President's Office presented the official opening address. Engineer Enock acknowledged the organizers of this workshop. He went on explaining that Tanzania's economic growth and sustainability depends on climate sensitive economic sectors and as such, environmental sustainability and economic growth are closely linked. He then continued by addressing the importance of the livestock industry by emphasizing that livestock contributes about 7% of the national GDP. Despite ongoing transformation of the Tanzania's economy, smallholder dairy farming remains one of the important livestock sub-sector and is critical to rural income, employment, nutrition and food security, and involving more than 2.3 million people. Milk production in Tanzania is predominantly managed by traditional farmers producing about 70 percent of the milk in the country. Given the dependence of the country on natural resources, the dairy sector is highly vulnerable to climate change. While climate change is a global phenomenon, dairy farming is amongst the climate-sensitive economic sectors, drought being the most serious impact which affects feed and water availability, animal health and in turn milk production. The current productivity of dairy animals in general is low and highly variable mainly because of dependence on poor and limited feed availability, and prevalence of vector borne disease and poor management. Typically, a dry season decline in milk production of over 40% due to feed scarcity is a common phenomenon. The challenge of vulnerability and adaptation of smallholder dairy production to climate change have begun to occupy the development agenda for the future course of development of the sub-sector. Thus, promotion of appropriate adaptation solutions is needed to cope with the ever-changing climate. It is worth noting that a healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand, and we need both for our survival and prosperity a healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand, and we need both for our survival and prosperity. Increased demand and production of milk translates to increased demand for both water and land resources. Consequently, smallholder diary production depends substantially on environmental resources which are vulnerable to climate change and other related factors. Sustainability of the environmental resources is of utmost priority to dairy production.In response, the Government has undertaken several initiatives including instituting national policies, strategies and plans.• The Vice President's Office is currently coordinating the review of the first National Environment Policy of 1997 (NEP 1997). However, in the course of implementation of the Policy, the identified six challenges continue to persist and new challenges with significant impacts to the prosperity of the country have emerged calling for attention. These challenges include: proliferation of invasive alien species; accumulation of electrical and electronic equipment wastes (e-wastes); introduction and production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs); pollution resulting from oil and gas exploration and production; chemicals management; and impacts of climate change. The reasons for persistence of these challenges include lack of comprehensive policy guidance, inadequate awareness, advancement of science and technology and population growth.• Further, the Government is coordinating the review of the The science briefing was conducted virtually by Dr. Birthe Paul, environmental scientist at the Alliance/CIAT, and Dr. Todd Crane, senior scientist at ILRI.Dr. Paul explained the importance of dairy farming in terms of major benefits realized. It helps in increasing the output of the rural income, create more jobs in rural areas and stimulate the rural economy without forgetting the improvement of household nutrition. However, livestock production has also become known for its contribution to climate change, and overconsumption of animal source foods are linked to adverse effects on human health. Poor feeding, husbandry, breeds and health often cause high greenhouse gas emission intensities, while at the same time limiting milk productivity, calling for sustainable livestock intensification pathways (Figure 3). She further explained that there is a diversity of integrated crop-livestock dairy systems, where manure, residues, forages link crop and livestock components. Dairy development interventions can lead to trade-offs and synergies between various livelihood and environmental quality, including climate, soils, biodiversity and water -to tackle these, we need applied, multi-disciplinary, agri-food systems research.Dr. Paul presented results from a recent literature review. Research on livestock and the environment in Africa still remains scarce, linked to under-investment in the area. While publications on livestock have increased until the 1990s, they have since then decreased again. The number of publications on livestock per country is not linked to the importance of livestock in the country's economy, showing a crucial disconnect. She further explained that data from an expert survey revealed that experts rate the importance of environmental problems related to livestock differently per continent. While in Europe and Australia, contribution to climate change is seen as the most important environmental impact, in Africa the most severe environmental impacts are linked to soil and land degradation, and pressure on water resources. Solutions exist, and many of them refer to feeding improvements such as improved pastures and planted forages.Research that has been conducted in various areas, including planted tropical forages and their multiple roles in cropping systems, but their uptake remains relatively low. More strategies are needed to be to promote adoption by farmers for improved dairy production. Research has shown that tropical forages can deliver multiple benefits, from improving livestock productivity to co-benefits in terms of climate change mitigation and soil protection (Figure 4).  Another question was asked to Dr. Crane \"What are the farmers' based incentive interventions for promoting low emission for dairy development in Tanzania?\" and this was the answer from Dr. Crane: \"It has been revealed that greening livestock production e.g. via promoting local fodder production/cultivation it is not the only environmentally friendly but also makes dairy profitable at household level. Also, there exists international initiatives such as Green Climate Fund (GCF) under COP21, 2015 Paris Agreement which can be explored at country level.\"Given the general importance of stakeholders' engagement in tackling environmental issues, participants were requested to identify the actors at the nexus of livestock and environment, taking into account national and local policy, donors and banks, NGOs, research, private sector, and farmer associations. This offered an opportunity to classify many important environment and livestock stakeholders who are interested and working in environmental management or dairy production and that they are not known, or they are works are not known but they are very important stakeholders to be included in the mapping.The participants were divided into groups of five to six participants each with a mix of participants from public to private entities. Using the rotating flip chart method, participants were asked to generate a list of key stakeholders in the dairy value chain nodes. They then discussed the important stakeholders from their areas of work and ranked them according to the power and interest of the stakeholder. After the discussions for mapping stakeholders which ended by each group having the list of relevant stakeholders listed on flip charts and each of them ranked based on their power and interest, participants were given a slot to present their findings in a gallery walk and explain shortly the reasons for ranking the stakeholders as they did. During these discussions, it was apparent as one of the participants contended that, one of the reasons why people say a particular stakeholder is more powerful than the other, depends on how that stakeholder is able to influence policy decisions and actions on the ground and this is more often dictated by the amount of resources commanded by the respective stakeholder.Each group of workshop participants were given a different stakeholder category to discuss and rank. The categories were divided into five groups: (i) Non-state actors, (ii) Private sector, (iii) Value chain nodes, (iv) Central government actors and (v) Local government level actors. Those stakeholders that were perceived to have more power in influencing environmental policy decisions and actions on the ground were ranked between 1 -10 and those who are perceived It has been revealed that greening livestock production e.g. via promoting local fodder production/cultivation it is not the only environmentally friendly but also makes dairy profitable at household level. -Todd Crane 14 to be the weakest in such regards, were given a ranking score of 11 and above (Table 1). In a plenary discussion of the results it was noted that assigning the stakeholders to the quadrats of Power and Interest in stakeholder mapping requires much more time. The list of stakeholders in the different groups is listed in Table 1. In the following session, the participants were given room to substantiate which policy opportunities and entry points exist for research on livestock and environment to inform decisions and initiatives, taking into account local and national government policies/strategies/action plans but also other upcoming funding programs, projects, and/or platforms. This session was opened by Boniface Shija from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) and Engineer Enoch Mandusa from the Vice President's office who presented and gave their inputs on what the government is doing on issues related to the environment-livestock nexus.Boniface Shija from MoLF explained how the Livestock Policy of 2006 covers the issues of environment management while maintaining the functioning of the dairy sector. Collaboration with other ministries such as Ministry of Water and Ministry of Lands at the livestock-environment nexus are key. Two issues have priority in the current Livestock Policy. Firstly, environmental management which mainly refers to the use of water resources where all the users are supposed to build troughs and use spillways to fill these troughs and they should be 60 meters away from the water sources. Secondly, the ministry has a section which deals with grazing management programs, especially animal feed and availability of grazing lands. All of these have the purpose of saving the environment. They also have breeding programs where they emphasize on the use of AI whose mandate is handled by the National Artificial Insemination Center (NAIC).There are also projects like participatory rangeland management project which operates in Arusha and Manyara regions. This works with livestock keepers and help them to conserve the rangelands and the environment as well.Engineer Manudsa from the Vice President's office also presented in this session. He mainly focused on the National Development Strategy of 2012 which puts more emphasis on the effective adaptation of the global effects of climate change to achieve the global targets by 2025, where dairy production has implications. He also talked about the intervention at national level which includes management of land degradation, land conflict, building livestock infrastructure and proving service. Private sector engagement in the provision of services e.g., Access to technologyIn this session, participants were required to discuss in groups and then propose the initiatives that exist at the nexus of livestock/dairy and development and further suggest what should be the priority in this area for Maziwa Zaidi in 2021.The input presentations on capacity building initiatives were provided by David Ngunga from the Alliance/CIAT and Frank Ngalamgosi. These presentations were succeeded by a detailed participants' discussion that proposed capacity building areas/initiatives that were grouped into six categories as follows:A. Genetics 3. More farmer-centered research and education is needed on livestock feed and forages, including how to alleviate dry season shortages, improve natural vegetation of the grazing lands and introduction of improved pasture, formalize and strengthen fodder value chain, and improve the tradition grazing system.4. Promote and raise more awareness on the relationship between environment and dairy production, including increasing climate change resilience through forage conservation, rainwater harvesting; promote land use planning and environmental measures to protect the environment sustainably; encourage more improvement of the Land Policy; strengthening water and soil conservation in dairy production, reducing GHG emission due to dairy production, improving dairy genetics to select breeds with lower emissions from enteric fermentation and promotion of climate resilient cross-bred cattle like the Mpwapwa breed, promotion of proper handling of manure including its application on forages, and the use of biogas as an alternative source of energy.Promote capacity building at all levels in value chain at the livestock and environment nexus, including policy harmonization at national levels on cross cutting issues, facilitation of enforcement of policies and regulations eg. land use, awareness campaigns to dairy farmers, policy makers and other key actors, and support to the review of the related policies, capacitate pastoralists on land use planning and rotational grazing, manure composting and managementThe Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) would like to thank all the participants for their high level and quality of participation, as well as the International Livestock Research Institutes (ILRI), CIAT office team in Arusha for their dedicated and outstanding administrative support before, during and after the workshop. Also, the participants from Nairobi office who joined the meeting virtually (Todd Crane and Birthe Paul) gave a word of thanks to all the participants.The workshop was officially closed by the Theodata Salema from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF). In her closing remarks, she appreciated the effort of The Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and ILRI under Maziwa Zaidi II programme in organizing a very useful and much needed workshop. She was of the view that this workshop has presented many examples of how the negative impacts of dairy production to the environment can be address and find a good management practices that can reduce and minimize risks to that that is brought by dairy production. She added that many of the concepts presented in this workshop were very important. The question is why that information is not more widely applied and what should be done to strengthen and combine the agendas of dairy environmental experts with disaster risk reduction to the surrounding. This workshop presented numerous examples of progress and illuminates potential opportunities for collaboration, but barriers must still be overcome to spread the implementation of these lessons more widely. She reiterated her full support on behalf of the Ministry to incorporate the environmental concerns at policy level in Tanzania.This workshop has presented many examples of how the negative impacts of dairy production to the environment can be address and find a good management practices that can reduce and minimize risks to that that is brought by dairy production. -Theodata Salema 21    ","tokenCount":"3151"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6317645456.json b/data/part_1/6317645456.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..183dce4a217603afc3fad2051a622675952d1524
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6317645456.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce67d51fdbb4ffa2ac29a3d8b28435ba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d19cb2f0-ec81-49e8-843c-8fdf8bbaab1e/content","id":"-1090055115"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b459976d-b502-46e8-8681-84194b892f62","pagecount":"58","content":",• PstS14, containing only a single race, 2,3,6,7,8,9,17,25,32,Sp,AvS, dominated in Morocco, where it made up 100% of samples investigated. PstS14 was detected in Europe at low frequency and in 2017 also in South America for the first time.• PstS1/PstS2* was detected at multiple locations in CWANA, the most frequent race carrying virulence to Yr27. 2,3,6,7,8,9,10,25,27,AvS, and also in West Asia• In Uzbekistan, PstS9 is by far the most prevalent group (most common virulence phenotype: 1,2,3,4,-,6,-,-,9,-,-,17,-,25,27,32,-,AvS,Amb), which was also the case in 2016-2017.• Warrior race PstS7 quite widely prevalent in Europe• A novel genotype was detected in Egypt, some relationship with PstS1/PstS2, PstS13 and PstS14, but additional analyses and live samples are required to make a firm conclusion about origin and epidemic potential. It would be valuable to follow up, taking into account the yellow rust outbreaks observed in Egypt in 2018.• In South America, PstS13 was widespread in Argentina and Chile, where unusual severe and widespread epidemics of yellow rust affected wheat crops in many areas both in 2017 and 2018. (virulence phenotype: -,2,-,-,-,6,7,8,9,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,AvS,-). PstS13 has been detected in most European countries causing severe epidemics on Triticale and durum wheat severely.Stem rust Ug99: a global threat?• >80% of wheat varieties grown world wide found susceptible when tested in Kenya• Migrated from Uganda to 13 different countries (S. Africa -Middle East-Iran)• Highly aggressive -broad virulence spectrum > 50% SR genes rendered ineffective including Sr31• Continuously evolving 14 races in identified in the Ug99 lineage  Race TKTTF (Digalu race)  T. aestivum Sr5,6,7a,7b,8a,8b,9a,9b,9f,9h,10,15,16,18,19,20,23,28,29,30,41,42,48 49,54,55,56,57,58  4,6,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,20,21,22,23,25,27,29,31,32,33,34,39,41,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,51,52,53,54,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,66,67,69,71,73,74,76 T. turgidum Yr7,26,30,55,56,64,65 T. dicoccoides Yr35,36 Triticum intermedium Yr50T.spelta Yr5Ae. tauschii Yr24, 28Triticum comosum Yr8T. ventricosum Yr17Secale cereale Yr9 Ae.geniculata Yr37Ae. neglecta Yr38 Aegilops searsii Yr40 Aegilops triuncialis Yr42Stripe (yellow) rust ( 83   Notable sources of durable resistance to SR include \"Hope\" (Sr2,Sr7b,Sr9d,Sr17) and \"Thatcher\"(Sr5,Sr9g,Sr12,Sr16) LR \"Americano 25\", \"Americano 44D\", \"Surpreza\" ( Lr13; Lr34; Lr3,Lr20),\"Frontana (Lr1,Lr13,Lr15; Lr10,Lr20,Lr28,Lr34)\", and \"Fronteira\" YR \"Wilhelmina\", \"Capelle Deprez\" (Yr16), \"Manella\" (Yr2, Yr14), \"Juliana\" (Yr14, Yr18) and \"Carstens VI\" (Yr12).• Lr34 [ Syn.=Yr18=Sr57=Pm38=Sb1=Bdv1=Fhb?=Ltn1],• Lr46 [ Syn.=Yr29=Sr58=Pm39=Ts?=Ltn2],• • Near-immunity (trace to 5% severity) achieved by combining (4-5 genes)  ","tokenCount":"343"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6319663606.json b/data/part_1/6319663606.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..71893f81ed16913a5c554a485b98630f5f0c4a73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6319663606.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2f972522f41aa79eb041567e431fd69c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3fea0a65-9321-4367-a619-541b3b87adc4/retrieve","id":"-882647292"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2fc57cf0-bcea-45e7-9aa9-0ddf05c4cda8","pagecount":"58","content":"Cotton (Revised) (E) 1985 Cowpea (E, P) 1983 Cultivated potato * (E) 1977 Date palm (F) 2005 Durian (E) 2007 Echinochloa millet * (E) 1983 Eggplant (E/F)ii Cherimoya Bioversity International is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well-being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. Bioversity has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Commodities for Livelihoods.The international status of Bioversity is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2008, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria,Cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) is one of the many edible fruit species in the Annona genus (Annonaceae family). In Latin America, the fruit is known as 'chirimoya', a name allegedly derived from the Quechua 'chirimuya', meaning 'cold seed', referring to the relatively colder Andean areas where it thrives, compared to other Annona species.The centre of origin of cherimoya is still under discussion. Many authors agree that the mountainous area between southern Ecuador and northern Peru is a hotspot for cherimoya diversity and that the species consequently originated in this area. Others, however, claim that cherimoya originated in Mexico and was brought to southern Ecuador/northern Peru by pre-Inca traders, where it further diversified.Currently, cherimoya occurs in natural stands or semi-domesticated homegardens in the Andean valleys of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Nevertheless, with a cultivation area of around 3000 ha, Spain is the world's largest cherimoya producer. Other important production countries are Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico and the USA. Commercially, however, cherimoya is a minor crop in these countries compared to other fruit species. Furthermore, in Andean countries, where cherimoya is considered an underutilized species, the agronomic and commercial use of its germplasm diversity is limited.Cherimoya grows best in subtropical areas where the average annual rainfall oscillates between 600 and 1700 mm, where seasonal and interannual temperature fluctuations are low and mean annual temperatures vary between 17° and 22 °C. Soil texture preferences are variable, but cherimoya generally prefers well-drained sandy to sandy loamy soils, with a pH between 6.5 and 7.6 and 1.7 to 2.7 % organic matter content.Cherimoya is a good source of vitamins B ¹ , B ² and B ³ as well as iron, calcium and phosphorous. Its fruit is considered among the finest in the world. It is mostly consumed fresh. Exposure of the pulp to air produces enzymatic oxidation, affecting both its colour and delicate aroma. The fruit is also used for making ice cream, milk shakes or sorbets and is processed into yoghurt, flans, fruit juice and wine. Small quantities of cherimoya pulp are frozen in Latin American fruit processing companies and exported to the USA and the European Union for use in confectionery. Crushed cherimoya seeds can be used as a bio-insecticide and acetogenins from its seeds possess a number of pharmacological properties.In Andean countries, the economic potential of cherimoya diversity is underestimated due to the fruit's short shelf life (around 14 days), high yield losses due to pest susceptibility, high sensitivity to bruising and production in poorly accessible areas characterized by poor road, irrigation and storage infrastructure.Within the EU-funded CHERLA project 'Promotion of Sustainable Cherimoya Production Systems in Latin America through the Characterisation, Conservation and Use of Local Germplasm Diversity', European and Andean experts have joined efforts to further explore cherimoya diversity as a tool for boosting its commercial use and enhancing the conservation of its genetic resources.In working with genetic resources, the word 'descriptor' is used to define a characteristic or attribute which is observed in accessions of a germplasm collection. Descriptors are coded in so-called 'descriptor states'.Bioversity uses the following definitions in genetic resources documentation:Passport descriptors: These provide the basic information used for the general management of the accession (including registration at the genebank and other identification information) and describe parameters that should be observed when the accession is originally collected.Management descriptors: These provide the basis for the management of accessions in the genebank and assist with their multiplication and regeneration.Environment and site descriptors: These describe the environmental and site-specific parameters that are important when characterization and evaluation trials are held. They can be important for the interpretation of the results of those trials. Site descriptors for germplasm collecting are also included here.These enable an easy and quick discrimination between phenotypes. They are generally highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are equally expressed in all environments. In addition, these may include a limited number of additional traits thought desirable by a consensus of users of the particular crop.The expression of many of the descriptors in this category will depend on the environment and, consequently, special experimental designs and techniques are needed to assess them. Their assessment may also require complex biochemical or molecular characterization methods. These types of descriptors include characters such as yield, agronomic performance, stress susceptibilities and biochemical and cytological traits. They are generally the most interesting traits in crop improvement.Characterization and evaluation will normally be the responsibility of genebank curators, while evaluation will typically be carried out elsewhere (possibly by a multidisciplinary team of scientists). The evaluation data should be fed back to the genebank, which will maintain a data file.Highly discriminating descriptors are highlighted in the text.The following internationally accepted norms for the scoring, coding and recording of descriptor states should be followed: (b) the units to be applied are given in square brackets following the descriptor name;(c) standard colour charts, e.g. Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (RHS 1966(RHS , 1986(RHS , 1995)), Methuen Handbook of Colour (Kornerup and Wanscher, 1984) is the expression of a character. The authors of this list have sometimes described only a selection of the states, e.g. 3, 5 and 7 for such descriptors. Where this has occurred, the full range of codes is available for use by extension of the codes given or by interpolation between them, e.g. in Section 10 (Biotic stress susceptibility), 1 = very low susceptibility and 9 = very high susceptibility;(f) when a descriptor is scored using a 1-9 scale, such as in (e), '0' would be scored when (i) the character is not expressed; or (ii) when a descriptor is not applicable. In the following example, '0' will be recorded if an accession does not have a central leaf lobe: (i) for accessions that are not generally uniform for a descriptor (e.g. mixed collection, genetic segregation), the mean and standard deviation could be reported where the descriptor is continuous. Where the descriptor is discontinuous, several codes in the order of frequency could be recorded; or other publicized methods can be utilized, such as Rana et al. (1991) or van Hintum (1993), that clearly state a method for scoring heterogeneous accessions;(j) dates should be expressed numerically in the format YYYYMMDD, where: YYYY -4 digits to represent the year MM -2 digits to represent the month DD -2 digits to represent the day.All descriptors listed under Passport, belonging to the multi-crop passport descriptors category, are indicated in the text as [MCPD].. Accession descriptors .[MCPD] Code of the institute where the accession is maintained. The codes consist of the three-letter ISO 3166 code of the country where the institute is located, plus a number. The current set of institute codes is available from the FAO Web site (http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/ institute_query.htm?i_l=EN).Name of the institute where the accession is maintained.This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions within a genebank collection, and is assigned when a sample is entered into the genebank collection. Once assigned, this number should never be reassigned to another accession in the collection. Even if an accession is lost, its assigned number should never be reused. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g., CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the U.S. system).This identifies a single plant within a population having the same accession number.It might be any combination of plot identity, row number or tree position within a row..Code for the donor institute (see instructions under 1.1 Institute code).Name of the institution or individual responsible for donating the germplasm...other identification number(s) associated with the accession [MCPD] Any other identification (numbers) known to exist in other collections for this accession. Use the following system: INSTCODE:ACCENUMB;INSTCODE:ACCENUMB;… INSTCODE and ACCENUMB follow the standard described above and are separated by a colon. Pairs of INSTCODE and ACCENUMB are separated by a semicolon without space. When the institute is not known, the number should be preceded by a colon..[MCPD] Code of the institute that has bred the material. If the holding institute has bred the material, the breeding institute code should be the same as the holding institute code. It follows the Institute code standard..7 scientific name.7.Genus name for taxon. Initial uppercase letter required..Specific epithet portion of the scientific name in lowercase letters. The abbreviation 'sp.' is used if the species is unknown..Provide the authority for the species name..Subtaxa can be used to store any additional taxonomic identifier..7..The rank of the subtaxon name. The following abbreviations are allowed: 'subsp.' (for subspecies); 'convar.' (for convariety); 'var.' (for botanical variety); 'f.' (for form).The infraspecific epithet of the scientific name (i.e the epithet following the indication of the infraspecific rank in the name string; e.g. 'occidentalis').Provide the subtaxon authority at the most detailed taxonomic level..[MCPD] Name of the crop in colloquial language, preferably in English..9[MCPD] Information about pedigree or other description of ancestral nature (e.g. parent cultivar in case of mutant or selection)..0 Accession .0.Either a registered or other formal designation given to the accession. First letter in uppercase. Multiple names are separated by a semicolon without space..0. synonymsInclude here any previous identification other than the current name..[MCPD] Date on which the accession entered the collection, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day. Missing data (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required. . Remarks This field is used to add notes or to elaborate on descriptors with value '99' (= Other).. Collecting descriptors . Collecting institute(s) Name and address of institute(s) and/or persons that collected the original sample..[MCPD] Code of the institute collecting the sample. If the holding institute has collected the material, the collecting institute code should be the same as the holding institute code (see instructions under 1.1 Institute code).Passport 7.Original number assigned by the collector(s) of the sample, normally composed of the name or initials of the collector(s) followed by a number. This item is essential for identifying duplicates held in different collections. It should be unique and always accompany subsamples wherever they are sent..[MCPD] Collecting date of the sample, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day. Missing data (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required..[MCPD] Code of the country in which the sample was originally collected. Use the three-letter ISO abbreviations for countries (e.g. BOL, PER, ECU). The ISO 3166-1 Code List can be found at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49alpha.htm. Country or area numerical codes added or changed are available on-line at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/ m49/m49chang.htm.. Department/Province/state Name of the primary administrative subdivision of the country (Department/Province/ State) in which the sample was collected [e.g. La Paz (in Bolivia), Puno (in Peru) or Pará (in Brazil)]..7District/Municipality Name of the secondary administrative subdivision of the country (within a Province/State) in which the sample was collected..8Location of collection site [MCPD] Location information below the country level that describes where the accession was collected. This might include the direction and distance in kilometres from the nearest town, village or map grid reference point (e.g. 7 km south of Chucuito in the Puno department)..Name of the nearest place to the collection site. This also refers to places that may not have proper names (e.g. road junctions)..Distance from the nearest named place to the collection site..8.Direction of the site from the nearest named place in degrees relative to north..9Latitude of collecting site¹ [MCPD] Degrees (2 digits), minutes (2 digits), and seconds (2 digits) followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 103020S). Missing data (minutes and/or seconds) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 10----S; 011530N; 4531--S)..0 Longitude of collecting site¹[MCPD] Degrees (3 digits), minutes (2 digits), and seconds (2 digits) followed by W (West) or E (East) (e.g. 0762510W). Missing data (minutes and/or seconds) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 076----W)..[MCPD] The elevation (or altitude) of the collecting site is expressed in meters above sea level.[MCPD] The suggested code system can be used at two distinct levels of detail: by means of general codes, like 10, 20, etc., or using a more detailed codification system such as 11, 12, 13, etc.10 .Planting site in the field Specify block, strip and/or row/plot numbers as applicable, plants per plot and replication....8 environmental characteristics of site Use descriptors from 6.1.1 to 6.1.21 in section 6..9Fertilizers Specify type, doses, frequency of each and method of application..0 Plant protection Specify pesticides and/or herbicides used, doses, frequency of each and method of application.. Remarks Any additional site-specific information may be specified here.. Collecting and/or characterization/evaluation site environment descriptors The landform refers to the shape of the land surface in the area in which the collecting site is located (adapted from FAO 1990 Estimated slope of the site.The direction that the slope on which the accession was collected faces. Describe the direction with symbols N, S, E, W (e.g., a slope that faces a south-western direction has an aspect of SW)..  ..Should be assessed as close to the site as possible..Provide either the monthly or the annual mean. Annual average (state number of recorded years).. Remarks Any additional site-specific information may be specified here.Preferably characterize (i) at two years after establishment in the field (sapling, only at tree, leaf and, if possible, flower level), (ii) at five years (adult plant, at plant, leaf, flower and, if possible, fruit level), and (iii) at eight years (fully mature plant, at full fructification stage). The use of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart codes is recommended, if available, for all colour descriptors. Observations should be recorded only on well developed trees that have not been pruned. Only in trees that have not been pruned. Measure the radius in two perpendicular directions and add up values to obtain the diameter.Measure from ground level to tree top.   Average of five branches, 15 days after beginning of flowering.   Recorded from ground level to the tree top. Reaction to low temperature Score in natural conditions in the cold season.Reaction to high temperature Score in natural conditions in the warm season.Reaction to drought Score in natural conditions at daytime, over at least 4 weeks.Reaction to high soil moisture 9.Reaction to soil alkalinity 9.Reaction to soil salinity 9.7 Reaction to constant winds 9.8 Remarks Specify any additional information concerning abiotic stress susceptibility.","tokenCount":"2536"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6320483786.json b/data/part_1/6320483786.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f6939dc289900fd9eafdf42ea6b6939bfdcfe28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6320483786.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df4dd39e83586a2efa796a3e29c8dfce","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b23f336d-9085-4a83-ba19-76a4b2111575/retrieve","id":"206279133"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b3ccd8b-5968-4b9b-bffc-69331ea556ce","pagecount":"1","content":"or see website http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/africa/seeds.htm Why research has to be involved in disaster R&D L. Sperling (CIAT), T. Remington (CRS), H.D. Cooper (CBD), S. McGuire (ODG), J.M. Haugen (CARE), S. Nagoda (Caritas), Teshale A. (EIAR), J. C. Rubyogo (CIAT) Key roles of research in improving disaster response Understanding how disasters affect seed systems and farmer vulnerability Developing strategic tools Guiding implementation : what works, what doesn't, what harms Assessing Seed SecurityScientific findings need to be packaged as practical advice, geared for change These seed aid practice briefs have been downloaded by over 25,000 users: in English French and Portuguese.In addition USAID/OFDA, the world's major emergency aid donor, has posted this practice brief link on its government website, right next to the grants section.Forthcoming (May 2008): When Disaster Strikes: Guide for Assessing Seed Security. [L. Sperling: Rome, Italy: CIAT] Policies have to enable better practice in concrete ways -and need to keep match stateof the art knowledge . Our analyses promoted revised international guidelines for seed aid within the UN system. Adopted 2004, new guidelines advise that (inter alia) : the type of aid given should be tailored to the context (drought, war, flood) , that aid should built on understanding of seed systems farmers routinely use (informal as well as formal) ; and that farmers have the right to choose, even during an emergency. Seed relief activities should aim to both (i) be effective with the immediate objective of facilitating access to appropriate planting material; and (ii) to contribute to the restoration, rehabilitation, or improvement of agricultural systems in the longer term.Ideally, considerations of seed system sustainability should be built into seed interventions from the beginning. As a minimum, seed aid should do no harm to farming systems. Thus, emergency relief activities should support local seed system development, ideally by integrating long-term needs in the design of the project.Seed relief activities should be built upon a solid understanding of all the seed systems farmers use and the role they have in supporting livelihoods. The local system is usually more important in farmers' seed security and has been shown to be quite resilient. Depending on the context, the focus in an emergency should normally be on keeping the local seed system operational. One systems are often not sufficiently understood, especially in emergency situations. Henpractical problem is that seed ce, there is a need for more emphasis on understanding seed systems and their role in supporting livelihoods, and on needs assessment. Monitoring and evaluation should be built into all seed relief interventions, to facilitate learning by doing and thereby to improve interventions.An information system should be put in place to improve institutional learning and as a repository of information gained from cumulative experience. Such information systems should be institutionalized at national levels, to the greatest extent possible.A strategy to move from the acute emergency response to a capacity building or development phase should be included in the design of the intervention.  The incidence of disasters is rising (ongoing?) in many of our core countries During drought, flood, short war and long-term civil strife, research shows that local seed systems are generally remarkably resilient . Some seed comes from home stocks, and local seed grain markets fill in for the rest.In fact, even when seed aid is given, farmers often prefer to sow from local sources (including markets) as they know the varieties and trust the sellers This was true of even in extreme cases, such as post the Rwanda civil war and genocide in 1994, and in Afghanistan, 2002-03.There are increasingly compelling reasons for direct public sector research input: Availability Sufficient quantity of seed can potentially be obtained within reasonable proximity (spatial availability) and in time for critical sowing periods (temporal availability).People have adequate cash or other resources (for example, financial credit or friends and relatives willing to help out) to buy appropriate seed or barter for it.Seed is of acceptable quality: it is healthy and useable, and its varietal attributes (genetic traits like size, shape and taste of grain) are acceptable to the farmer.For farmers to be seed secure, three conditions must be met seed has to be available; farmers need to be able to access it; and the quality has to be sufficiently to promote healthy seed system functioning.Source: Sperling, 2008Remington et al, 2002 Humanitarian practitioners fall into particular 'camps' around the aid approaches they favor. Direct Seed Distribution (DSD) proponents praise its ability to access 'good quality' seed and its simple logistics of procurement and delivery. Cash or voucher supporters cite enhanced farmer choice and greater circulation of project money within local economies.However, the view from farmers is a much more nuanced one. No one approach a priori is better than another. They seek aid which : has little room for manipulation; gives a product they want; and which especially allows them to strategize.Studies clearly show how farmers' strategize with emergency assistance. They may: choose their priority crops and mix modern and farmers varieties, obtain seed for the following season, wait to obtain the correct varieties based on last-minute observation of rainfall patterns, explore new crops/varieties, or obtain specific adapted crop types no longer available locally.What research highlights especially is the degree to which farmers want and can be engaged as active agents, rather than as 'victims' in stress periods. Stress (i.e. different kinds of disaster) rarely undermines all three conditions simultaneously. By far, the most common post-disaster seed-related problem farmers face is reduced access. This happens as market prices go up, or because farmers no longer exchange seed, or because farmers suddenly have a long list of rather urgent needs (e.g. crucial medical assistance), just when their assets have gone down.An actual scarcity of seed, a problem of availability, is rare. It may happen when farming systems are wiped out en masse, such as with major floods. Quality concerns usually emerge only with large-scale outbreaks of pests or diseases, such as Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) in East Africa. In this case, the varieties routinely planted by farmers may no longer be suited to local biological conditions. The immediate challenge is to link specific seed security problems with targeted action. Misplaced responses have had various consequences: e.g. making farmers even more vulnerable, undermining local and formal markets, creating dependencies.Germplasm restoration Food Aid Disaster","tokenCount":"1043"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6328105696.json b/data/part_1/6328105696.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..550ed5e5f816806a04bb81e26c322e27349e6e88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6328105696.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea6c0fa85dfd60bf53189ea2433b9782","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/41a92190-9627-4ead-ac1d-0697fe8a1faa/retrieve","id":"-1550952426"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"768b986e-4200-4fa2-94c3-e75039035263","pagecount":"32","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Background Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an important disease threat to animal and human health in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is caused by the mosquito-borne RVF virus and is associated with major debilitating epidemics that occur every 5 to 15 years following periods of above-normal and persistent rainfall. Endemic RVF virus transmissions have also been observed in riverine or irrigated areas and forested habitats. Its geographical range has slowly expanded from sub-Saharan Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar and Mayotte, and recent risk analyses suggest there is potential for the disease to spread to temperate regions.Whereas progress has been made on the development of new RVF control technologies such as vaccines, there is lack of knowledge on how these tools should be used at the community level. In East Africa, for instance, vaccines are usually administered as part of the emergency response measures following warnings of heightened risk of the disease. These emergency vaccination campaigns often fall short of achieving critical levels of coverage that are required to establish protective immunity partly because (i) rainfall-driven risk of RVF evolves rapidly and, therefore, there is usually not enough time to plan and execute vaccination campaigns and (ii) RVFendemic areas get inundated during these periods, limiting their accessibility and hence the distribution of vaccines and other humanitarian interventions.To address some of these challenges, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is implementing a project titled Developing vaccination strategies for Rift Valley fever in East Africa. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. A two-day regional workshop was held on 4-5 October 2017 at the Lake Naivasha Country Club in Naivasha, Kenya to introduce the project to the stakeholders and design a framework for RVF vaccination in East Africa.The purpose of the workshop was to design a framework for RVF vaccination and identify institutions, policies and capacities that could be used to support the implementation of the proposed strategies. The expected outputs of the workshop were:• Project stakeholders sensitized on the RVF risk status in the region and country-level preparedness reviewed.• RVF vaccination strategies designed and their implementation processes outlined.• Institutions, capacities and networks required to implement the vaccination strategies identified.A total of 27 participants attended the workshop, drawn from the animal and human health sectors in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania; the Food and Agriculture Three sets of presentations were given on the first day. The first set of presentations gave an overview of the project and research activities to investigate immunity dynamics in vaccinated animals, gender and RVF vaccination, cost-benefit analyses of alternative vaccination strategies and development of an online platform for administering the RVF decision support framework. The second set of presentations reviewed the RVF risk status and levels of preparedness in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, while the third set covered research on development and validation of new RVF vaccines.The workshop identified the need for a regional RVF vaccination framework realising that:• RVF is a transboundary animal disease that can easily spread between countries and its epidemics evolve rapidly within a short time.• All the East African countries have favourable environments for the disease and often get affected at the same time.• RVF outbreaks in one country have severe consequences on trade and public health in the entire region and beyond.• There are opportunities to vaccinate more livestock if vaccination is done at the regional level.• The existence of similar production systems across the region makes it possible to disseminate messages to all stakeholders.• There are opportunities to share local facilities and capacities such as research facilities, vaccine production laboratories, standards and guidelines.• A regional approach would make it more feasible to stockpile vaccines and develop a vaccine bank.• This would facilitate the establishment of cross-regional collaborations to prevent the recurrence of outbreaks and boost regional herd immunity.• This would provide incentives for the development of a regional risk map for RVF to identify areas of high, medium and low risk.• A regional approach would strengthen the capacity of stakeholders and veterinary services to prevent and control RVF and other priority transboundary animal diseases in the region.The following strategies were identified for consideration in formulating an effective RVF vaccination framework in East Africa:• Routine vaccination in high-risk areas: This should be based on an RVF risk map. However, Uganda, unlike the other countries, has not developed an RVF risk map. A harmonized risk map for the region will be required to design this strategy. Initial vaccinations should target animals of all ages, after which animals not previously vaccinated should be targeted. This, therefore, requires an efficient system of animal identification.• Vaccination ahead of predicted outbreak: This is a common strategy used in many countries but issues that need to be considered to make it more effective include procurement and deployment of vaccines and timing of vaccination based on early warning or climate-based predictions. However, the sensitivity and accuracy of climate-based predictions in the region is low. It is important to identify the required resources and determine how to mobilize them at short notice.• Intermittent multi-year vaccination: This could be done once every three years in high-risk areas, given that immunity in vaccinated or naturally infected herds declines with time due to population turnover. Vaccination can also be targeted at yearlings to maintain about 40% herd immunity and minimize costs.Key assumptions made while determining the alternative RVF vaccination strategies specified above are:• Natural infection provides immunity.• Immunity is life-long but because of animal population dynamics, it is possible that after three years, herd immunity reduces substantially especially for sheep and goats.• Only a small proportion of cattle will be naïve three years after 100% vaccination coverage in cattle.• Sheep are the most susceptible and pose great risk during epidemics by amplifying transmission of the RVF virus.• Cattle move more often and farther away compared to sheep and goats.• There is need to combine vaccination with livestock identification.The workshop also reviewed institutions, policies and networks that would be required to successfully implement the proposed RVF vaccination framework in East Africa.• At the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) level: IGAD supports the control of trade-sensitive diseases in the region, considers RVF to be a priority animal disease and supports regional animal health networks. There is, however, a need for a sub-network for RVF formed alongside existing networks, promotion of a regional One Health approach and establishment of a strategy to control transboundary animal diseases.• At the East African Community (EAC) level: The EAC recognizes RVF as a priority disease. Policies at EAC level exist but their implementation needs to be strengthened. Disease control coordination instruments are also in place. These instruments deal with transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses. There is a need to establish a zoonotic disease/One Health office and sub-network for RVF.• Requisite policies and legal frameworks: There is a need to establish appropriate policies to guide the use of vaccines across borders, disease reporting and notification, and standardization. In addition, there is a need for appropriate legal frameworks for disease control and vaccination in each country, a preparedness and response plan and a memorandum of understanding among member countries.There is a need for harmonized disease control policies, legal frameworks and strategies in the East Africa region, based on a review of member countries' existing policies and legal frameworks relevant to RVF and other transboundary animal diseases.• Policy and legal issues that need to be addressed: The existence of an Animal Disease Act is a useful overarching document for each country; harmonized policies for registration of vaccines such as Smithburn® and Clone 13 that are already available; a policy for the use of drones to deliver vaccines, taking into consideration cost-effectiveness, cold chain and availability of technical staff to implement the vaccination after delivery; a policy to address animal identification and traceability; formulation and enforcement of relevant laws pertaining to One Health; and policy and legal frameworks related to animal movement, and their implications.• Other issues that need to be addressed to establish an enabling environment include shortage of veterinary services in pastoralist communities; records of where vaccination has already been undertaken (because some countries do not have disease control policies); identification of regions at risk and development of a regional risk map; and contingency plans for RVF control and enhanced funding within countries.Regarding the support needed to implement an efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa, suggestions were made on the incentives needed to promote participation by the public and private sectors, the required institutions and institutional arrangements, the key stakeholders and their requisite capacity needs. • develop more effective RVF vaccination strategies;• assess decay rates of RVF-neutralizing antibodies in vaccinated livestock;• determine socio-economic and other factors that affect uptake of RVF vaccines; and• build capacity among selected livestock value chain actors, including producers and traders.The project convened a two-day workshop in Naivasha, Kenya on 4-5 October 2017 to introduce its activities to various stakeholders and design RVF vaccination strategies. The strategies identified were analysed further to identify the optimal option.The purpose of the workshop was to formulate an appropriate regional RVF vaccination framework and identify the institutions, policies and capacities needed to implement the framework. The expected outputs of the workshop were:• Project stakeholders sensitized on the RVF risk status in the region and country-level preparedness reviewed.• RVF vaccination strategies designed and their implementation processes outlined.• Institutions, capacities and networks required to implement an effective and efficient regional RVF vaccination framework identified.The workshop also provided an excellent opportunity to establish networks among the stakeholders and projects undertaking RVF-related activities in the region. A total of 27 participants were in attendance, drawn from the animal and human health sectors in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); the Zoonotic Disease Unit, Kenya; Wellcome Trust, Kilifi; Washington State University, Kenya Program and ILRI. The list of participants is in Annex 1.The workshop was designed as a hands-on activity with a logical combination of plenary presentations and discussions, group discussions and feedback sessions. Each group discussion had predetermined terms of reference and the groups presented their reports in plenary feedback sessions. This participatory process facilitated consensus building and agreement on the issues under discussion. Antony M. Kilewe of Topridas Consultancy Services facilitated the workshop, assisted by Violet O. Kirigua. The workshop deliberations were guided by the program shown in Annex 2.Welcome remarksThe facilitator began by leading the participants on self-introduction before inviting Bernard Bett from ILRI to give his introductory remarks. Dr Bett welcomed the participants and thanked them for making time to attend the workshop to discuss the RVF project being led by ILRI. He then outlined the workshop's purpose and expected outputs, after which he delivered the welcome remarks by Iain Wright, ILRI's Deputy Director General-Research, who had sent apologies for not being able to attend the workshop.In highlighting the objectives of the workshop, he noted that the participants were drawn from all the countries in East Africa targeted by the project. ILRI's previous projects on RVF, such as those that have developed RVF risk maps and decision support frameworks, have been implemented in the entire East Africa region, given that RVFendemic sites traverse international borders. He noted that the participants represented a range of disciplines required to develop sustainable One Health programs and institutions to manage and control zoonotic diseases in the region. He noted this was a very important workshop aimed at addressing key challenges associated with control of RVF in the region. He thanked all for attending the workshop and said he looked forward to receiving the report of the proceedings.He welcomed the workshop participants to Naivasha, noting that RVF was not a new disease, having been reported in the Rift Valley. It was thus appropriate that discussions on RVF were being held in Naivasha, which is on the floor of the Rift Valley. He said Kenya has experienced RVF outbreaks since the 1990s during which time he worked in the laboratory handling infected animals and even once got infected with RVF. The 2006-07 outbreak affected Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Outbreaks can initially be explosive and are usually associated with unusual weather patterns and the dynamic environment in which livestock-keepers raise their animals.During the 2006-07 outbreak, two main regions in Kenya (Western and Nyanza) were not affected, the reasons for which are not yet understood; research on this will improve our understanding of the mitigating factors. In Kenya, the 2006-07 outbreak resulted in 700 human cases and 158 deaths and the economic cost to the country was 2.1 billion Kenya shillings (KES). This calls for adequate planning and preparedness to manage outbreaks and requires commitment from all relevant institutions. The DVS and the Ministry of Health, through the Zoonotic Disease Unit's technical working group, set out to meet international health regulation obligations of 2005 to protect local communities from the adverse effects of disease outbreaks. In 2010, the group developed the country's preparedness and contingency plan and adopted the One Health approach in the management of RVF. The implementation of the plan has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of RVF management.Vaccination has been the main intervention in response to RVF outbreaks. The main vaccine that has been successfully used is the Smithburn® vaccine, despite its shortcomings. Other vaccines such as Clone 13 are still under development. Vaccination is usually done during periods of heavy rainfall but access to animals is normally hampered by poor road conditions and exacerbated by limited quantities of the vaccines. Kenya has had to call on development partners for assistance, but the desired coverage has not been attained. The DVS is glad to be associated with the project and is committed to supporting its implementation which will provide useful insights in the management of RVF. Dr Njagi thanked the development partners that had assisted in the management of RVF in the past and the participants for finding time to attend the workshop and wished them fruitful deliberations. He then declared the workshop open.This session featured presentations on the project activities and implementation arrangements followed by plenary discussions. All the presentations from the session can be accessed from the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wkg3wfrgmdiy2tq/AABkzq68x-QzGoHYEE7xmhyua?dl=0.The project is two-year activity that was expected to start in February 2017. However, due to the election process in Kenya, there was a delay in implementation and the project only begun in October. The aim of the project is to determine how RVF vaccines can be used more effectively.In East Africa, RVF outbreaks often occur following periods of heavy and persistent rainfall lasting 2-3 months. It is often difficult to plan effectively for such events, given that the risk evolves rapidly over a short time.Published research suggests that livestock vaccination is a major intervention that can be used for both preventive and control purposes. However, there are no guidelines on how to use these vaccines at the community level. Given that vaccination provides long-term immunity, it might be practical to vaccinate animals when they are still young to build a solid herd immunity over time as is done for East Coast fever. However, for RVF, there is a huge economic implication of vaccinating livestock over the inter-epidemic period when there is no risk. These are some of the issues the project aims to analyse.Humans often act as sentinels for RVF, given that surveillance systems for the disease are generally unreliable.In this case, official responses are often implemented when human cases have been reported in hospitals. The lack of response during peace-time periods is partly due to lack of data that can be used to quantify the economic benefits of routine vaccination. Although major RVF vaccination campaigns are often implemented as a publicly-funded service, private ranches in endemic areas are slowly getting engaged through their own vaccination campaigns. However, willingness to pay and acceptable levels of vaccination have not been assessed and it is not clear whether such efforts can lead to the required vaccination coverage. There are also no structures and guidelines on how this should be undertaken to avoid patchy distribution of the vaccine. The project objectives that aim at addressing some of these issues include:• Using mathematical modelling to identify the optimal vaccination strategy for the region.• Refining the decision support framework to guide RVF vaccination.• Studying immunity dynamics in livestock in endemic areas to understand how livestock offtake affects the longevity of herd immunity.• Building capacity in livestock identification and vaccination at the community level.• Carrying out studies on gender and socio-economics to identify factors that affect uptake of vaccination.Immune response studies (field and laboratory)This presentation outlined the objectives of the first study on immunity dynamics of RVF in vaccinated animals. The study will assess the longevity of RVF immunity in vaccinated animals based on the levels of neutralizing RVF virus antibodies in circulation. It will use a longitudinal design involving cattle, sheep and goats vaccinated with the Smithburn® vaccine. The laboratory component will investigate the decay rates of neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and virus neutralization tests.This presentation covered gender and socio-economic factors that influence the use of RVF vaccines in livestock. Very few studies have been carried out to identify socio-economic factors that affect the delivery of livestock vaccines. Livestock production is often a shared household responsibility, with men more focused on disease management and women engaged in care of sick animals. Gender and socio-economic differentials are based on access to and control and management of livestock products. In many areas, the government implements RVF vaccination campaigns with minimal involvement of livestock producers who play a more critical role in bringing their animals for vaccination.The specific objectives of the study were to:• assess how household decision-making patterns affect access to, control and use of, and responsibility for animal health interventions including RVF vaccines;• examine how information on vaccination is disseminated and how motivation for engagement in vaccination is achieved, by gender and other socio-economic characteristics;• establish perceptions on preventive versus curative services among men and women; and• assess how vaccine delivery systems affect community-level uptake of RVF vaccines.It was suggested that the study sites be grouped into two: RVF-endemic sites with frequent vaccination (Baringo, Kenya) and RVF-endemic sites with no history of vaccination (Kabale, Uganda). It will be a qualitative study that will include 20 focus group discussions, half of which will be for men only and the other half for women only. Each group will consist of 8-12 participants. Key informant interviews will be conducted with veterinary and medical officials and prominent community members to triangulate information. The themes to be explored include key livelihood activities in the village, livestock species kept, livestock diseases and their impacts, investments in disease control and decision-making at the household level, livestock vaccination campaigns on RVF, proportion of animals covered in the recent campaigns (proportional piling), factors that affect uptake, and household decision-making on RVF control/vaccination.Application of cost-benefit analysis to assess the economic viability of transboundary animal disease control strategiesThe economic feasibility of a livestock disease control strategy is a major consideration for a public institution that must justify the use of public resources, a funding agency that seeks to support a disease control program or a private company/individual farmer faced with a decision on whether to invest in a disease control strategy or to comply with government regulations. Cost-benefit analysis is one of the methods used to estimate the economic feasibility of an investment when both the benefits (positive economic impacts) and costs (negative economic impacts) are estimated in monetary terms. An economically viable initiative is one in which the benefits are at least equal to or greater than the costs.Costs and benefits of transboundary animal disease prevention and control interventions were classified as those within or beyond the livestock sector. Benefits within the sector include increased asset and output value, reduced prevention and treatment costs and reduced cost of outbreak control. Costs within the sector are related to prevention and preparedness, outbreak control and changes to management or production systems. Benefits beyond the livestock sector include human lives saved or quality-life years increased and reduced cost of public health treatment. Costs beyond the livestock sector include public health investments, higher food prices for consumers and costs to tourism and wildlife. The most obvious benefits from controlling a transboundary animal disease result from reduced disease incidence in a system, allowing livestock owners to consume and/or sell more in new markets. It was suggested that this framework be used to evaluate the costs and benefits of the alternative RVF vaccination strategies proposed in the workshop.This presentation provided an insight into ongoing work on the development of an online portal to administer the RVF decision support framework. This will enable dynamically generated real-time RVF risk maps that are linked to the decision support framework showing RVF risk estimate at region, country, county or division levels for localized decision-making. The system will use rainfall and flood dynamics to estimate RVF risk over time. The tool will be accessible from a public website and preferably hosted on a government website. Significant progress has been made to improve the tool. The next steps include developing a program to automatically fetch rainfall forecasts, refining the RVF model, dynamically linking risk to the decision support framework and exploring the possibility of linking the risk maps for cost-benefit analysis.In this session, presentations were made on the status of RVF and the control measures used in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The presentations also covered challenges and opportunities associated with RVF control, and experiences and lessons learnt in the management of RVF in the region. The presentations were followed by plenary discussions. All the presentations made during this session can be accessed from https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wkg3wfrgmdiy2tq/AABkzq68x-QzGoHYEE7xmhyua?dl=0History of RVF in KenyaThe first case of RVF was reported in Kenya's Rift Valley in 1912 and subsequent outbreaks have occurred at intervals of 5 to 15 years. The last major outbreak in Kenya occurred in 2006-07 during which 158 people died and the country experienced losses amounting to KES 4 billion. The outbreak impacted heavily on local, regional and international trade in livestock and livestock products.Kenya has developed an RVF control strategy contained in the country's RVF contingency plan. The objectives of the plan are to (i) serve as a national reference tool for RVF outbreak preparedness and response, (ii) provide information on risk and disease hotspots in the country, (iii) provide information on actions to be taken during the different phases of the outbreak response, (iv) define the coordination structures, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and other agencies and (v) identify needs and facilitate the mobilization of resources for response.Regarding RVF surveillance in Kenya, two approaches have been adopted:• The use of sentinel surveillance in Machakos, Bachuma, Naivasha and Trans Nzoia where flocks of naïve sheep and goats are tested during high-risk periods. The sentinel herd is sampled before the onset of the rains and thereafter every four weeks during the rainy season until the end of the rains.• Syndromic surveillance conducted during high-risk periods. Livestock owners are recruited to report on syndromes encountered as well as weather conditions. The Kenya Livestock Wildlife Syndromic Surveillance System has been developed as an offshoot.Control measures adopted include awareness creation, vaccination during alert periods, movement control (quarantine), market closures and vector control. In addition, routine annual vaccination is conducted in highrisk districts. In other instances, vaccination is done ahead of predicted outbreaks and in low-risk areas during localized outbreaks. Animals for export are vaccinated 21 days before export. As a policy, vaccination is not allowed in areas or flocks confirmed to be affected during an RVF outbreak. Fausta Mosha Tanzania reported its first outbreak of RVF in livestock in 1930. Thereafter, outbreak waves of varying magnitude and in different locations have been reported, with an average inter-epidemic period of 7.9 years (range 3-17 years). The country's first documented outbreak of RVF in humans was in 1977. Major outbreaks also occurred in 1997-98 during the El Niño floods. The second major outbreak occurred in 2006-07 after the heavy El Niñoassociated rains; this epidemic represented the largest ever reported outbreak of RVF in Tanzania: 309 suspected cases, 186 (60%) RVF-positive and 144 deaths (case fatality ratio 47%).Among the actions taken to contain the disease were active intensification of surveillance, training workshops in all affected regions, health education campaigns and vaccination of livestock. Tanzania also formed a multisector RVF task force to oversee the outbreak. Medical and laboratory supplies were distributed to the affected areas and laboratory capacity strengthened. The presentation also outlined the distribution of RVF in Tanzania, strategies for mitigation and lessons learnt in the management of RVF.Tanzania has developed a national RVF emergency preparedness and response plan which has the following six intervention areas:• Improving institutional capacity for early detection and reporting A One Health approach and multi-sectoral engagement involved the national and county governments and partners from the animal and public health sectors. FAO was involved in the review, update and dissemination of the RVF contingency plan and decision support framework, and supported the development of Standard Operating Procedures. The outcomes of the joint RVF risk assessment included better preparedness in terms of training and better awareness creation than during the 2006-07 outbreak.The outcomes of a collaborative project include strengthened capacity of target countries for risk-based disease surveillance; production and dissemination of a disease investigation and laboratory manual; improved diagnostic capacity of central veterinary laboratories in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and enhanced capacity of field veterinarians to prepare for and respond to animal disease emergencies.National and sub-national veterinary staff have been trained on syndromic surveillance and outbreak investigations to support surveillance for RVF and other priority zoonotic diseases. In Kenya, support has been provided for livestock sentinel surveillance for RVF sentinel herds in Machakos, Naivasha, Bachuma and Japata.In Ethiopia, there is a risk-based surveillance plan for RVF within the national contingency plan and strengthened surveillance through two systems that include RVF as a reportable disease. In Uganda and Tanzania, RVF surveillance has been strengthened through an Event Mobile Application system with RVF as a priority disease. Other activities include strengthening of laboratory systems; development of biosecurity and biosafety and workforce; training on good emergency management practice; and enhancing preparedness, detection, response and recovery.Kariuki Njenga RVF is endemic in eastern Africa and all countries in the region have experienced outbreaks mainly in north Sudan, western and southern Somalia, northern Tanzania, and eastern and southern Kenya. There are five key recommended control options: livestock vaccination, public education, slaughtering ban, livestock quarantine and vector control. The most effective control measures are livestock vaccination, public education and slaughtering ban. Vector control, though recommended, is largely ineffective and most countries shy away from the cost of implementing it.There are two main vaccines used to control RVF. The most common is the Smithburn® vaccine that is currently licensed in Kenya and Tanzania and produced at the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI). The other, which is more recent and licensed in South Africa and Namibia, is the RVF Clone 13. The Smithburn® vaccine has been reported to have some side effects such as abortions and thus many livestock farmers in the ranches tend to avoid using it. Trials carried out in Kapiti and Kiboko have shown that Clone 13 has fewer side effects. Some of the strategies that have been adopted in control of RVF are (i) yearly vaccination, an excellent policy but the cost is prohibitive and achieving coverage is a challenge; (ii) intermittent multi-year vaccination which is done periodically and is more cost effective and (iii) use of a multivalent or combination vaccine consisting of an RVF antigen and an antigen of a vaccine which is likely to be used regularly and is cost effective.Vaccines are unstable and, therefore, produced in low quantities for immediate use at a specific time. Setting up a regional vaccine bank would make the vaccine available following disease outbreaks. Most experts agree that an effective livestock vaccination program can significantly mitigate or even prevent any RVF outbreak.Unfortunately, no country in the greater Horn of Africa has an RVF livestock vaccination policy, partly because of the long inter-epizootic periods of up to 10 years.The presentation was based on the co-development of a human and animal vaccine using the ChAdOx1 RVF vaccine which can be used in all species affected by RVF. RVF is a multi-species virus that affects cattle, sheep goats, camels and humans. The current research is looking for a vaccine that can target all vulnerable species. The current licensed inactivated and live RVF virus vaccines are only suitable for use in livestock, and there are no licensed vaccines for humans. The project is in the process of conducting a non-inferiority trial in target animals in the field. This will be validated in four animal species for vaccine-induced immune response.Madeleine also presented the vaccine development plan. The ChAdOx1 vector was selected due to its inherent stable and safe characteristics (It has been used successfully in several animal and human vaccine candidates). Product development has been initiated in collaboration with Oxford University that has an excellent facility for the development of viral vectors. The project has received funding for livestock field trials in sheep, goats, cattle and camels in Kenya and human phase 1 clinical trials in healthy adults in the United Kingdom and Uganda.Question: Reference is made to Uganda's presentation and the slide on anti-RVF virus IgG detection results. Was this from the same animals? Answer: Yes, it was.Studies have shown that RVF is caused by different strains and epicentres. Do the available vaccines protect against all the strains and animals? Are these variables expected to affect vaccination strategies? A: Previous work by CDC on gene sequencing showed the differences in RVF virus are at the level of amino acid sequences and not profound to affect the effectiveness of vaccines. We, therefore, believe one vaccine should be able to control all the strains. Any vaccines developed should be able to contain the disease across the region.Reference is made to the point that vaccination should not be done among infected animals. But if you provide only 100,000 doses in the event of an outbreak, will you vaccinate healthy animals or those already showing signs of infection? We always advise officers that they should try to contain an outbreak. We understand the justification for not vaccinating infected animals but when inadequate doses of vaccines are provided, how can vaccines be distributed effectively on the ground? A: Based on the presentation from Uganda on flooding and stagnant water, we probably need to reconsider the approach we use for risk mapping. We have been focusing on rainfall intensity and, therefore, might have missed some of the high-risk areas. We need to consider how to capture floods and their duration of persistence. This will probably require better approaches such as topography and surface run-off, but we haven't done that yet.Q: Studies on Clone 13 have not conclusively stated the duration of immunity in vaccinated animals. For how long does the vaccine provide protection? How long should the interval of vaccinations be, especially for small stock? Waiting for alerts is not the best approach.A: We did the study for up to one year and animals tested at the end of the period still had protective antibodies. This shows that these animals were immunized over the study period. The animals were, however, not exposed to the virus during the period of the trial.The design of RVF vaccination strategies and their implementation processes was carried out in three discussion groups. While carrying out their respective assignments, the groups were expected to refer to the plenary presentations and discussions, any other relevant documents as well as their collective knowledge and experience. The following questions guided the group discussions:• What are the compelling purpose and objectives of a regional approach to RVF vaccination in East Africa?• Given the overall purpose and objectives of a regional approach to RVF vaccination in East Africa, identify and design at least three alternative RVF vaccination strategies in livestock. (Some of the issues to consider in the design of vaccination strategies are the timing of vaccination, targeted areas, and species or ages of animals to vaccinate).• Given the designed RVF vaccination strategies in livestock, outline the appropriate processes required for their effective implementation.• What are the major elements or aspects that should be considered in the formulation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?• What are the anticipated challenges and opportunities in the design, adoption and implementation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?After the deliberations, reports from the three groups were presented and discussed in plenary. Since the three groups responded to the same guiding questions, their reports were then harmonized and summarized into one report that incorporates the plenary feedback outlined below.Purpose and objectives of a regional approach to RVF vaccinationThe following were indicated as the rationale for a regional approach to RVF vaccination in East Africa:• Transboundary nature of the disease: Being a transboundary animal disease, RVF poses significant economic, trade and/or food security challenges in several countries and can easily spread from one country to another and evolve rapidly into major epidemics. Therefore, the control and management of the disease, including exclusion, requires cooperation between neighbouring countries.• Common conducive environmental conditions for outbreaks and similar ecosystem: RVF outbreaks have been associated with periods of widespread and above-normal rainfall over several months. All countries in East Africa can experience these conditions at the same time.• Consequences of the outbreak affect trade partners and public health in the region: RVF leads to trade bans on the infected country, causing significant economic losses. The zoonotic nature of RVF leads to serious public health problems.• Greater impact as compared to individual countries: Greater numbers of livestock would be vaccinated if vaccination were done at regional level.• Similar production systems: The existence of similar production systems across the region makes it possible to pass messages to all stakeholders.• Facilitation of sharing of local facilities within the region: A regional approach would make it possible for countries to share and effectively utilize local laboratories, vaccine laboratories, standards and guidelines, among other facilities.• Stockpiling and storage of vaccines: A regional approach would make it viable to have a vaccine bank in the region. Vaccines stored in one country should not go to waste and should be made available in another country in the event of an outbreak there.• Establishment of cross-regional collaborations: A regional approach will facilitate the establishment of cross-regional collaborations to prevent the recurrence of outbreaks and boost regional herd immunity.• Facilitation of the development of one regional risk map: A regional approach will facilitate the development of one regional risk map for RVF to identify areas of high, medium and low risk. Currently, only Kenya has developed a risk map.In view of the above considerations, the overall purpose of a regional approach to RVF vaccination in East Africa should, therefore, be to:• facilitate the establishment of cross-regional collaborations to prevent the recurrence of outbreaks and boost regional herd immunity;• strengthen the capacity of stakeholders and veterinary services to prevent and control RVF and other priority transboundary animal diseases in the region; and• improve the management, prevention and control of RVF and other priority transboundary animal diseases in the region.Given the overall purpose, the objectives of a regional approach to RVF vaccination in East Africa are to:• take advantage of economies of scale and enhance impact through sharing of facilities for vaccine production, vaccination, research, laboratories and technical expertise;• minimize the regional impact of RVF by reinforcing veterinary services in the region;• harmonize and ensure effective coordination of RVF vaccination activities among countries in the region;• improve the quality and efficiency of RVF vaccination through a structured and scientific approach;• sustain RVF control measures to ensure accessibility to external livestock and livestock product markets; and• improve the overall health of livestock in the region by reducing the impact of RVF and other priority animal diseases.The following were identified as some of the general vaccination issues to consider:• Period of immunity in animals after vaccination, assuming lifelong protection: the lifespan of cattle is 4-5 years, sheep and goats 1-2 years and camels 15-25 years.• The main variant is at herd level; newborns and new recruits will be susceptible.• The cost of vaccine delivery is higher than that of the vaccine itself. For example, the Smithburn® vaccine costs KES 12 per dose.• Deliver the vaccine when it is logistically convenient.• Identification of animals is an issue to consider.• During peace time, vaccine stocks should be available.• There is need to identify a regional coordination body, funded by all countries involved, to drive RVF activities.The following alternative RVF vaccination strategies in livestock were identified for consideration in the formulation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa (see summary in Table 1):• Routine vaccination in high-risk areas (yearly): This should be based on an RVF risk map. However, only Kenya and Tanzania have risk maps; the other countries need to develop theirs. Routine vaccination should target all animals of all ages (without maternal antibodies). Subsequent vaccination should target animals that were not vaccinated (yearlings); consider animal identification.• Vaccination ahead of a predicted outbreak (during alert/emergency): Issues to consider include deployment, procurement of vaccines and timing between climate predictions. However, the sensitivity and accuracy of climate predictions in the region are low. It is important to know where resources are and how to mobilize them at short notice.• Intermittent multi-year vaccination: This should be carried out once every three years in high-risk areas because immunity is approximately three years. Only yearlings should be vaccinated and a herd immunity of 40% maintained because vaccination is a very costly exercise.Aspects to consider in the process of implementation of a sustainable RVF vaccination framework• Setting up of a regional coordination body to drive the implementation of the RVF vaccination framework.• East African Community (EAC) ministries, in close collaboration with the relevant livestock and human health ministries, could be lobbied to source for funding for the coordination body and ensure the purpose and objectives of the regional approach to the control of RVF are achieved.• Strengthening of country and regional weather forecasts, climate studies and information sharing.• Lobbying and advocacy for the formulation of appropriate policies and legal frameworks to support the implementation and sustainability of the RVF vaccination framework.• Lobbying and advocacy for registration of at least one RVF vaccine in each of the countries at risk.• Advocacy and sensitization for buy-in from all livestock value chain actors, including policymakers, using communication strategies that take into consideration gender and socio-cultural and economic factors.• Assessment and development of capacities at all levels.• Supporting and facilitating the development of appropriate vaccination plans and effective monitoring and evaluation systems.• Assessment of the available infrastructure and establishment of appropriate sharing mechanisms.• Establishment of appropriate mechanisms to ensure sustainability, including reducing costs, exploring the possibility of recombinant vaccines, sharing the cost of vaccine delivery between the government and producers, and public-private partnerships.Aspects to consider in the formulation of an effective and efficient regional RVF vaccination framework• Coordination within countries (including the relevant sectors such as finance, education, security and disaster preparedness) and between countries.• Vaccine availability, sourcing, delivery and affordability, including the possibility of establishing a regional vaccine bank.• Targeted research to understand the disease epidemiology and to develop appropriate vaccines, including multivalent or combination vaccines.• Information gathering, dissemination and sharing to inform decision-making processes.• Consideration of risks in different regions and development of regional risk maps.• Existence of different policies and legal frameworks in each of the countries and consideration of possible harmonization.• Socio-economic and gender considerations and understanding of the impact of RVF within and across countries.• Ensuring political goodwill to avoid conflict and political instability.• Publicity and awareness creation.• Capacities of the national and regional veterinary services in terms of financial and human resources and infrastructural facilities.• Individual and joint country mobilization of resources to implement the RVF vaccination framework.• In-country and regional monitoring, evaluation and sharing of lessons and experiences.Challenges and opportunities in the design, adoption and implementation of an effective and efficient regional RVF vaccination framework• Inadequate financial and human resources due to competing priorities.• Inadequate stocks of RVF vaccine, side effects of the vaccine and low uptake, which call for the development of a multivalent vaccine.• Limited lead time to prepare and mobilize resources after an alert is issued.• Insufficient data to support modelling of, for example, protection level and minimum number of animals to vaccinate to ensure herd immunity.• Inadequate core infrastructure such as storage facilities, equipment, roads, telephone network and electricity, and insecurity in high-risk areas.• Poor livestock identification and traceability systems and lack of a 'Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals' strategy.• Overlooking of the gender, socio-cultural and economic dynamics of communities in major decisionmaking.• Weak animal health services sector and inaccurate prediction of outbreaks.• Weak inter-government collaboration and cross-border monitoring of animal movement and vaccine uptake.• Low sensitivity and accuracy of climate predictions in the region.• Availability of multi-disciplinary expertise to develop a combination vaccine and other novel, safer vaccines.• Existence of veterinary systems, an animal health desk at the EAC and availability of technical and support experts in governments.• Possibility to carry out RVF vaccination during routine vaccination for other diseases.• Existence of regional health networks such as the East African Health Network (human disease surveillance) and the Veterinary Epidemiology Network, including proximity to the Pan-African Veterinary Vaccine Centre (PANVAC) and Africa CDC.• Existence of political goodwill and regional economic communities such as the EAC, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.• Presence of and close liaison with international technical organizations and institutes such as the African Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), CDC, FAO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and WHO.• Existence of established institutions of research and higher learning.• Established reference laboratories such as the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the Uganda Virus Research Institute.• Recognition of RVF as a priority zoonotic disease in the region and availability of vaccines, including Clone 13.• Possibility of adapting the contingency plans available in some countries for use in other countries that are yet to develop and implement theirs.• What is the opportunity for delivery of vaccines using mobile phones, particularly in remote areas? Some scientists are interested in using drones for delivery of vaccines and these are new opportunities. Community animal health services were used successfully in the management of rinderpest, showing how veterinary services can be effective particularly over large areas. There is a need to scan the innovations around animal health. The current global push to eradicate peste des petits ruminants (sheep and goat plague) is receiving a lot of funding and could be an opportunity for more funding for RVF prevention and control.• Interconnectivity of livestock markets is important. For instance, if there is an outbreak in Tanzania, would Kenya continue to export its livestock? This is a compelling reason to have a regional RVF framework or strategy, especially because of the porous borders. It would be in the common interest of the countries to address the disease jointly.• Intermittent vaccination can be carried out every three years for cattle and camels. A recombinant vaccine could increase uptake of the vaccines although it may not fully solve the problem of low uptake.• There is need for clear objectives to enable us to move forward with defined activities.• The strategy of intermittent vaccination requires discussion to identify suitable options for implementation.• Integration of the risk map with infection phases is good as it recognizes the need to conserve resources without compromising on effectiveness.• Camels as target species in the vaccination strategies were only mentioned by one group. Probably this is because no data currently exists on vaccination of camels. It is important that they are factored in, although no suggestions were made on whether this should be adopted.• Gender-related challenges need to be mapped out to identify entry points for follow up as well as incentives and effects.Question: How practical is animal identification, considering that outbreaks happen in remote regions? Answer: The suggestion is that simple approaches be used, for example, notching as is done for rinderpest. However, the challenge is whether communities will accept to have their animals notched as this may affect the value of the animals.Discussions on the establishment of an enabling environment, institutional arrangements and requisite capacities for the implementation of a regional RVF vaccination framework were carried out in the same groups used to discuss the design of RVF vaccination strategies. The following questions guided the group discussions:• What are the policies and legal frameworks needed to establish an enabling environment for implementing an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?• What incentives are needed to promote participation by the public and private sectors in the implementation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?• What institutions and institutional arrangements are needed to implement an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?• What are the key stakeholder categories and their requisite capacity needs for implementing an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa?After the deliberations, reports from the three groups were presented and discussed in plenary. Since the three groups responded to the same guiding questions, their reports were then harmonized and summarized into one report that incorporates the plenary feedback as outlined below.The following were identified as the policy and legal frameworks needed to establish an enabling environment for implementing an effective RVF vaccination framework in East Africa:• At the IGAD level: IGAD supports the control of trade-sensitive diseases in the region, recognizes RVF as a priority animal disease and supports regional animal health networks such as the Eastern Africa Regional Laboratory Network and the Eastern Africa Regional Epidemiology Network. IGAD, however, needs to set up a sub-network for RVF alongside existing networks, promote a regional One Health approach and put in place a strategy for control of transboundary animal diseases.• At the EAC level: EAC recognizes RVF as a priority disease. Policies at EAC level exist but their implementation needs to be strengthened. Disease control coordination instruments are also in place; these instruments refer to transboundary animal diseases, zoonoses and a contingency plan. There is, however, need to implement the existing policies, establish a regional zoonotic disease/One Health office and establish a sub-network for RVF.• Required policies and legal frameworks: There is a need to establish appropriate policies to guide the use of vaccines across borders, disease reporting and notification, and standardization. In addition, there is a need for appropriate legal frameworks for disease control and vaccination in each country, a preparedness and response plan and a memorandum of understanding among member countries. Currently, there are memoranda of understanding for transboundary animal diseases. There is a need to harmonize disease control policies, legal frameworks and strategies in the region; initially, this will require a review of existing policies and legal frameworks in the member countries. Incentives to promote public and private sector participation RVF control is more of a public than a private good. Benefits are realized when livelihoods are improved through better markets for livestock, leading to better incomes. The following were identified as the incentives needed to promote public and private sector participation in the implementation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa:• Offering tax reliefs for companies such as beef exporters that contribute to vaccination • Compensating farmers for losses accruing from the use of vaccines • Coordinated joint regional vaccination campaigns through RVF sub-networks • Establishment of disease-free zones • Facilitated market access (local, cross-country and regional) for vaccinated livestock by regional economic communities, governments and partners• Strengthening of public education and extension servicesThe following were identified as the institutions that have a role to play in the implementation of an effective and efficient RVF vaccination framework in East Africa:• Ministries of livestock The following were identified as the required institutional arrangements:• Establishment of a coordination committee: identify the strengths of each institution and linkages among them; identify what the institutions do and group those with similar activities• Cross-institutional arrangements linking research, diagnostics and dissemination personnel, including training of field personnel and financial allocation to manage the cross-institutional arrangements  Closing remarksHe said that he had enjoyed facilitating the workshop and hoped that it had delivered on the expected outputs and that the facilitators' performance met both the participants' and the organizers' expectations. He thanked the ILRI management for the opportunity to facilitate the workshop; Bernard Bett for his valuable guidance, advice and encouragement in preparing and conducting the workshop; the participants for their dedication and commitment which made the facilitation task easy and enjoyable; Sarah Ndung'u of ILRI and the rest of the organizing team for the excellent handling of the logistics before and during the workshop; and the management of Lake Naivasha Country Club for providing excellent facilities and services. He concluded his remarks by wishing everybody a safe journey to their respective destinations and said he looked forward to continued cooperation and collaboration in similar future activities. He then invited Bernard Bett to proceed with the remaining part of the workshop closing protocol.He thanked the participants for their dedication and commitment during the workshop. He also thanked Dr Murithi, a private citizen, who found time to attend the workshop. He said the workshop report would be shared and the presentations made available via an online link. He was grateful for the good discussions on economic analysis that provided insights into viable options and said that follow-up discussions would be held on the ideas generated during the workshop and individual countries would be consulted to identify activities that can be undertaken. He also thanked the Director of Veterinary Services for finding time to join the workshop for the closing session. He then invited Rosemary Sang, Samuel Amwayi and Harry Oyas to make some remarks about the workshop and requested Harry Oyas to conclude his remarks by inviting the Director of Veterinary Services to make the final closing remarks.She thanked Bernard Bett and the ILRI management for the invitation to the workshop and said that it was a good learning opportunity and she had learnt a lot. She said that despite the efforts being made in control of RVF, the issue of vector control seems to be neglected and hoped that it would be given greater emphasis in future. She concluded by thanking all participants and said she hoped they would meet again.He thanked all for sparing time to attend the workshop. He said he was the only representative from the Ministry of Health and was impressed with the efforts that the DVS had put into this initiative. He recalled the One Health initiative after the 2007 RVF outbreak where there was impressive input from the ministry. This effort, he said, had waned over the years and there is a need to revive it so that the ministry can benefit from such exchanges of information. He said sharing of information is critical among partners as it enhances understanding of the problem and enables parties to prepare to mitigate appropriately. Such initiatives are beneficial because, at the end of the day, it is to the advantage of the human population. He assured the participants of the ministry's support, thanked them and wished them a safe journey.He thanked all and said he was pleased with the achievements of the workshop, having participated in the initiative and as part of the DVS. He said his presentation covered the strategies Kenya had adopted and which the government has been implementing for a long time. This workshop had, however, presented a more scientific approach to vaccination that is workable and agreeable to the three countries. He assured ILRI of the support of the DVS in the implementation of the project. He then invited the Director of Veterinary Services, Obadiah Njagi, to give the final workshop closing remarks.He thanked the participants for their commitment to the workshop and said he was grateful to be back to make the closing remarks. He said the DVS was keen to work on this initiative among others and assured the project of","tokenCount":"8739"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6328421897.json b/data/part_1/6328421897.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c88e61dd7f91176c6b49253741b53011f6022a1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6328421897.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2209933801da80c8e6f66eaf7c4bf4ee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a095ad83-f4f1-4501-939b-8eecd03e4409/retrieve","id":"346752670"},"keywords":["Applied statistics, Geostatistics, Agriculture, Forestry, Applied Development Microeconomics, Main areas of expertise: Gender Responsive Agricultural Research","Institutional and Individual Capacity Building","Organizational Management","Strategic Planning","Project Management Forest restoration, GIS, R-programing, species suitability modeling, inter-and intra-specific diversity analysis, ethnobotany, ecology, international biodiversity negotiations, political advisor FP4.2 leader"],"sieverID":"1fd17f99-e7bc-47c4-b856-dd10d763c474","pagecount":"200","content":"We differentiate two levels of partnerships: Partners without whom FTA cannot achieve its mission constitute FTA's strategic or managing partners (Table 1), and all other types of partners are defined as contributing partners.Managing partners have been closely involved in the design, management and governance through being part of FTA's management team. They co-invest in shared impact pathways, working together at discovery, proof-of-concept and scaling levels. They will be continuously involved in strategic and operational decision-making during FTA II. FTA's managing partners are CIFOR, ICRAF, Bioversity, CATIE, CIRAD, Tropenbos International (TBI) and INBAR. The inclusion criteria for managing partners were a) interest in partnering; b) relevance and criticality to achieving FTA mission; c) degree of alignment of partner's mandate, vision and mission with FTA agenda; d) complementarity of expertise and geographical coverage; e) potential for joint and/or aligned bilateral resources mobilization; and f) potential for sustaining the partnership.Contributing partnerships have more specific but important roles. They may be limited to a single geography or a single research cluster. FTA's contributing partners participate in implementation and management of their own activities/roles but not in the overall management or governance of FTA. They are involved in the design and implementation of various CoAs under various flagships. Examples include: CCAFS, WLE, DCL, PIM CRPs, partners that are specific to certain projects in flagships or flagships alone, but not to the whole of the program, for example, Ministries of Environment and Climate may be central partners to the Forests and Climate Change FP, and Ministries of Economics may be relevant to FP 3, but not to the other FPs. These partnerships will be continuously reviewed as we progress from design to implementation of FTA II. Contributing partners could be from research, practice or the private sector.The nature and purposes of various partnerships also vary as do the roles and relationships between FTA and its partners. A typology with the roles of various partnerships is presented in Table 1.Partnerships are critical to achieving research outputs and outcomes at scale for FTA. Co-designing, implementing and delivering FTA research together with strategic partners enhances FTA's internal capacity to generate demand-driven and relevant research results. Participating in creating salient, credible and reliable research results further strengthens the outreach partner's capacity to deliver research findings and approaches in their outreach and influence spheres. In addition, through our strategic partnerships, we develop capacities of relevant actors in FTA geographies at various scales to benefit from and apply FTA-generated research results.The FTA research portfolio is based on several types and two levels of partnerships: managing/or strategic, contributing and scaling up/out (Figure 1). We distinguish between partners and service providers. Partners are strategic and long term 'allies'; e.g. organizations that share the FTA vision and mission and are willing to contribute their own resources to achieving the mission. Partners bring complimentary research and development skills and/or outreach opportunities that may otherwise be lacking within the FTA team. Based on their strengths and interests, partners have defined roles to play that contribute to achieving FTA's intended outcomes. Partners have mutual accountability to each other and to the mission of FTA. Thus, collectively, the strategic FTA partners are able to influence thinking, practice and attitudes of decision-makers at various levels. Service providers are project/grant-specific organizations or individuals (i.e. consultants) that are subcontracted for a limited duration to perform one or more defined tasks; there is no guarantee that the relationship will last beyond that specific duration articulated in the contract. Service providers can be engaged and disengaged based on FTA's changing needs and opportunities in the external environment. Accountability is upward only in the sense that service providers are accountable to FTA management for delivering specific outputs and limited to the scope of the assignments/tasks entrusted to them.The aim of various partnerships may include one or more elements of achieving excellence in research and scientific capacity development (discovery), testing and adaptation of concepts, tools, Consultative Inclusion Process for new managing/strategic partners:The managing CGIAR and non-CGIAR partners of FTA consult widely and frequently through FTA's management and steering arrangements on issues of strategic importance to FTA. The regulatory mechanisms for such consultations include FTA's monthly management team (MT) meetings, as well as special MTM and ISC meetings on partnership issues. For example, during a one-day dialogue organized at the end of December 2015 between FTA Phase I strategic partners with institutions interested in becoming FTA strategic partners, deliberations resulted in expanding the strategic partnership of FTA to include INBAR and TBI considering their strengths related to FTA's mission, geographical complementarity, national and regional focus, and its ability to mobilize additional financial resources. Other institutions that were considered for inclusion, but were not considered well suited for strategic partnerships at the CRP level, included IUCN, SEI, and IIASA because they did not meet all of the criteria outlined above for becoming strategic partners in FTA. Though IUCN, SEI and IIASA did not qualify as managing partners of FTA, they did qualify as strategic contributing partners for various flagships based on shared interest and complementarity of mandates. These MT recommendations were subsequently approved by FTA's Independent Steering Committee in February 2016. We intend to continue with a similar approach to the expansion of strategic partnerships, as and when needed.As far as possible, FTA aims to include partners at all stages of the research cycle and impact pathway. This will entail similar modalities regardless of whether partners are research or development partners. Proven mechanisms from FTA I that will be continued are: Co-leadership of initiatives FTA partners are among the founders of the emerging \"Landscape Academy\" and \"African Plant Breeding Academy\"  Co-hosting staff e.g. with FTA full or part-time staff placements at CATIE, ZEF and Wageningen  Developing joint research agendas and questions e.g. with NARS such as EMBRAPA in Brazil, FORDA in Indonesia, IRDC in Cameroon, NORAD  Joint policy agendas e.g. Advising UNFCC COPs on the international climate regime (emerging REDD+ mechanisms, NAMAs), advising CBD on the sustainable use of biodiversity; advising IUCN on landscape restoration; COMIFAC; engaging sub-national and national governments and international intergovernmental platforms to inform policy decision-making processes on key issues currently under discussion. For example, in Riau and Kalimantan in Indonesia and Para in Brazil we will build on our contribution to ongoing debates on how to reduce the impacts of palm oil and beef.  Supporting policy: At the national level, engaging key government actors, including the Ministries of Forestry, Environment, Agriculture, and Economics, and key state agencies in Indonesia and Brazil and other countries in Latin American and the Congo Basin to support policy-making for improving policy incentives  Shared methodology development and application e.g. Simulistics (software SME) co-developing a proprietary modeling environment  Direct support to partners' needs e.g. responding to calls from donors for assistance with sustainable intensification options, REDD+, and continuous field-based learning, helping to develop business models and sustainable practices needed for private sector sustainability initiatives to achieve their goals, e.g. World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP), the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC), and timber producers/traders organizations in the Congo Basin and Latin America  Shared strategy, planning and review e.g. via bi-annual FTA science conferences  Data sharing agreements e.g. FTA maintains several important online resources, databases and web mapping tools available through various portals (FTA website, Landscape portal, Dataverse, Terra)  Shared studentships and degree courses e.g. a set of PhD studentships with partner universities in the north and south; Climate Change research with ZEF-Bonn; co-organizing Landscape Academy with Wageningen University; African Plant Breeding Academy with University of California at Davis  Monitoring and evaluation of the quality of partnerships during annual f2f MTM meetings, with uplift budget scenario development of outcome challenge and progress markersOngoing engagement, dialogue and review: FTA's ToC and impact pathways require that FTA engages well with various policy processes at the national, regional and global levels to facilitate and interrogate the enabling environment. The ISPC also noted that FTA has built a comprehensive and relevant range of strategic partnerships for key functions (research, capacity development, knowledge sharing, action on practices, policy and institutional change, and management and governance), but that regular review will be essential to improving influence on enabling environment. FTA's flagships intend to undertake such engagements effectively on issues of importance to their research and development.FTA partners had been selected during Phase 1 and the Extension Phase through iterative processes of stakeholder analysis and dialogues, from global, regional and national levels, and pilot work together.The most effective of these partnerships are intended to carry forward into Phase 2, with inclusion of TBI and removal of CIAT from the managing partnership.FTA regularly reflects on partnerships through internal learning. For example, at the country level, FTA has reviewed its role in two key areas of partnership for policy influence, within national and subnational levels and decided to take on board TBI and INBAR. In 2016, FTA has realigned the portfolio management to replace legacy project inclusion. The new rules of engagement require any new bilateral project inclusion based on a recommendation from MTM and subsequent approval by the FTA Director. FTA's strategic partners have been consulted and directly contributed to the pre-proposal and full proposals.Regional initiatives: FTA's research agenda has evolved through continuous engagement in priority geographies during Phase I with relevant research and development partners for its relevance to national, regional and global demands. Inclusion of TBI as a managing partner further strengthens our capacity to manage the relevance of our research agenda to national needs and priorities in at least 10 countries of priority for FTA in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Besides, FTA's bi-annual science conferences will ensure continuous feedback on research agendas and design from national and regional perspectives. That feedback is considered, assessed, and wherever possible, integrated into FTA. In addition, we will continue to engage with regional organizations relevant to FT&A issues (such as ANAFE, AFF, SENAFE, EMBRAPA, AWARD) on issues of mutual interest at the FP level. Under an uplift budget scenario, we intend to meaningfully engage with forestry and agroforestry-related bodies of COMESA and ECOWAS.The most important factors that FTA envisages to sustain and contribute to the success of partnerships are described as partnership modalities above. These include co-hosted staff, co-leadership of initiatives, joint research agendas and methodologies, and joint agendas for policies and outcomes.One of the underlying principles of FTA's partnership strategy is that common agendas need to entail effective and full participation of partners into FTA's initiatives and goals. Hence in building Phase 2 FTA has not only invited partners to co-define outcome targets and impact pathways, but also the FPs have held their own f2f as well as virtual co-writing events, where strategic FP level partners have contributed effectively. FTA's managing partners discussed and responded to FTA's evaluation in MTM, and prepared the revised CRP responding to the feedback from SPPC and ISPCs. FTA also strengthens and sustains partnerships with NARS through working together on multiple projects that link across Flagships, for example with EMBRAPA, FORDA, KEFRI and KARI.Clear lines of communication and responsibility are also critical to sustaining partnerships. FTA maintains lead contact persons in FTA and in partner organizations. Since the extension of Phase 1, the FTA Director has convened monthly MTM meetings to discuss developments and substantive issues affecting FTA. The agendas for these meetings are co-developed by MTM members and nothing is excluded that partners wish to discuss. FTA intends to continue this arrangement into Phase II. In addition, we are proposing a biannual science seminar to present, discuss and revise, if needed, the science agenda. FTA strives to provide transparent sub-contracts and reporting procedures for partners that receive budget from the program, and memoranda of understanding or other assurances on a flexible basis when required by partners.FTA equates strength of partnership to strength of investments in the financial and staffing capacity for partnership. In Phase 2, FTA will make partnering capacity more explicit through a crosscutting support platform termed Partnerships for Scaling and Impact. Five Flagship Program leaders and three cluster leaders of the support platform -all senior staff with substantial experience and specialized in partnerships -will devote 10 to 20 percent of their time to this platform closely linked to FTA and CGIAR research.FTA will use multiple mechanisms to maintain and enhance partnership capacity and quality. First, the CRP will act on the advice of partners given at monthly management meetings. At a more operational level, FTA intends to ensure participation of partners in all key strategy, planning and review events. Partnership administration will entail capacity in -and improvement of processes for -partner subcontracting, process management and reporting. Finally, FTA will provide technical and financial support to networks, platforms and events that are shared with partners.Under the optimist scenario of an uplift budget ($1.3 billion W1+W2), FTA will use outcome mapping as a monitoring and management tool for contributing and scaling partners. It will be done through developing outcome challenge statements in order to define what we would like to see partners doing in the future to translate FTA outputs to outcomes. Progress markers will be used to monitor whether partners are moving in the direction of accomplishing the outcome challenge.Some examples of strategic partnerships and modalities are highlighted in Table 2.Convener TBIFTA-TBI partnership aims to achieve the sustainable management of tropical forest lands for the benefit of people, conservation and sustainable development. This partnership will ensure that knowledge is used effectively in the formulation of appropriate policies and in the management of forests for conservation and sustainable development. The partnership links policy with FTA knowledge, policy makers with corporate and community practitioners, and northern with southern actors and agendas.The overall aim of FTA's capacity development efforts is to continue to fill critical capacity gaps among research and development actors and their networks to attain a balance of agricultural development with sustainability objectives, as illustrated during FTA Phase I and acknowledged by ISPC 1 . FTA's ToC considers capacity development and high-impact strategic partnerships with development actors and global initiatives instrumental in moving its research results along impact pathways of various FPs. FTA operationalizes Capacity Development (CapDev) as a non-linear complex change process that occurs in and between individuals, organizations, institutions and their networks to strengthen linkages and the (collective) capabilities for innovation in the FTA science of discovery and delivery at various scales, and enables partner research and development organizations to innovate and achieve impacts. FTA as a research for/in development program will strive to create and strengthen capacities of its critical research and development partners, globally, nationally, sub-nationally, and locally. However, FTA's CapDev interventions form only a small part of the change processes in the complex innovation system that requires constant adaptation to internal and external contextual changes and hence a continuous change in capacities.For FTA's impact pathways, capacity development acts as an enabler at each stage of research towards achievement of outcomes. At the discovery stage, capacity to frame right research questions, choose appropriate methodologies, and collect and analyze data is required, which is achieved through developing individual capacities in partner research organizations through developing future research leaders. At the same time, FTA's research in development and co-learning with development partner paradigms require capacity to frame credible and relevant science from which development partners' knowledge needs are met. This is achieved through engaging development partners at global, national and sub-national scales from the beginning in an action research mode. For the proof of concept stage, FTA delivers innovative learning materials and delivery approaches. For scaling up and out, FTA develops capacity to innovate, strengthens relevant innovation/multi-stakeholder platforms and communities of practice.FTA's first target is the global and regional multi-stakeholder innovation platforms and business fora through knowledge provision on thematic issues that FTA research addresses (FP 1, 3, 5). FTA's second target will be enabling national and sub-national governments, and partnering INGOs to collaborate in the generation and use of research results and piloting of solutions, as well as co-developing tools and materials for outscaling (FP 1, 2, 3). Third, FTA will target local level NGOs and CBOs to experiment with research-based solutions, learn from experiences and refine approaches for testing at larger scales of landscapes (FP4). The strategic actions to operationalize CapDev as an enabler along the impact pathway emphasize four elements: strengthening partner capacity to design and deliver scientific solutions through development of future research leaders, innovative learning materials and approaches, and institutional strengthening.The individual flagships provide the mechanisms whereby increasing abilities to demand, undertake and utilize research lead to incremental improvements in capacity to manage FTA resources sustainably. FTA intends to work at individual, organizational and institutional levels of capacity development, and with both researchers and research users, including organizations and networks. FTA is committed to improving its monitoring and evaluation of capacity development outcomes and impacts during Phase 2, by integrating it into its overall MEL system. The major target audience of FTA encompass academic and applied research institutions (FP 1,2,3,5) to communities of practice (FP2, 4), multi-stakeholder platforms working on innovative value chains for FTA products, functions and services for smallholders (FP1,2,3) global processes, frameworks and networks on global climate and FT&A policies. Table 2 provides an overview of the intensity of CapDev actions within various FTA flagships.which align with FTA's overall ME&L framework. FTA proposes to assess progress by using a combination of output, process and outcome indicators. The proposed CapDev indicators that FTA intends to track are: a) CapDev Element 1: number of CRP managing partners adapting and using methodologies and approaches b) CapDev Element 2: Number of targeted users and organizations include learning materials and approaches into their CapDev processes; number of frameworks/models approaches adopted/adapted by targeted organizations c) CapDev Element 4: Number of ISI publications co-authored by students and young scientists; number of funded research proposals involving fellows, post-docs and alumnae of FTA d) CapDev Element 5: Proportion of women among students and post-docs involved in FTA research at partner organizations; gender-sensitive sustainability standards proposed by FTA used/adapted/included in monitoring tools accepted and used by respective organizations e) CapDev Element 6: Number of networks that institutionalize their standards based on FTA recommendations; and proportion of communities of Practice/Multi-stakeholder platforms inspiring innovation in FTA research, practice and policies f) CapDev Element 10: Impact resulting from adoption of innovation: Indicators to be picked up in broader CRP impact assessmentThe progress along these indicators will be tracked through FTA's MELIA system and/or as well as appropriate ex-post impact assessments, where feasible.On an overall basis, FTA intends to spend at least 10 percent of its resources on CapDev, though the levels of investments may vary across various FPs (see Section 1.10). With the current budget planning, CapDev represent 13 percent of the whole CRP budget (excluding management costs).The first phase of the CGIAR Research Program Forests, Trees and Agroforestry had a robust institutional architecture in place very early for gender mainstreaming. The CRP Gender Strategy produced in 2013 was one of the first to be approved by the ISPC and the Consortium office. Subsequently, a Gender Integration Team (GIT) representing the four participating Centers was created to ensure the implementation of the strategy and lead gender integration efforts across component flagships.Gender research led by FTA focal points in Phase I generated substantive gender-relevant knowledge, research outputs and insights that enhanced understandings of key institutional, cultural and attitudinal elements that influence gender inequality and hinder sustainable management of forest and tree resources. FTA focal points at the same time provided sustained, tailored support to flagship science collaborators and partners across participating centers in the research program.In 2013, four cross-country 1,2,3,4 , comparative studies set baselines for research in three major flagship areas (climate mitigation/REDD+, NTFP value chains, and forest use and management). The studies illustrated how gender disparities in information, credit and institutional design (e.g. elections as mechanisms for selecting forest committee members) constrain women's participation in decision-making as well as in benefits capture. The findings and learning from these studies inform the gender research questions developed in Flagships 3 and 5.Analysis of data by Coleman and Mwangi (2013) across 10 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America shows that a history of women's participation, especially when women are seated on forest councils or attain leadership positions, is highly correlated with less disruptive conflict. The study substantiates earlier research on forest user groups in South Asia. Building on these findings, research in Phase II will study different approaches to forest management, the institutional arrangements that promote meaningful participation of both men and women, and their impact on smallholder livelihoods at the forest margin.Ethnographic research in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa by gender scientists in FTA also documented the highly uneven effects of agribusiness expansion on women's and men's relative capabilities, access to land and capital, and employment prospects in Indonesia 5 . This, among other findings, supported the creation of a broad research theme within Flagship 5 that focuses on socially inclusive and gender responsive business model development. Other research in South Asia has explored how migration influences forest governance and decision actors, shedding light on the implications of migration and multi-local livelihoods on women and men in forested landscapes 6 . Moving forward in Phase II, these insights will guide and shape directions for further research on migration and gendered livelihoods in forested landscapes in this region.As part of the cross-CRP global comparative study 'Gennovate' 7 , an FTA-led case study on gender norms and agency shaping forest and tree management processes in Kyrgyzstan showed that barriers to informal sharing of knowledge across and within gender groups, coupled with men's overreliance on a poorly functioning formal extension system, critically inhibit the dissemination of innovation in natural resource management. Results from the study contrasted with those arising from two similar case studies in Vietnam, another post-socialist context, where highly dynamic informal knowledge-sharing systems were observed. These findings are prompting renewed attention to strengthening informal and formal systems for knowledge sharing in Phase II. Other research that focused on community forestry in Mesoamerica threw light on the potential risk for forest user associations whose members are aging and that lack a succession plan as part of community planning processes. Similar research in Kyrgyzstan revealed the important role age plays in shaping access to 'rented' forest lands -given the shortage of land available to newly married couples. Phase II research will build on these findings to further explore how young women and men can be supported to pursue sustainable livelihoods and participate in joint forest management.Innovative gender research approaches and participatory methods developed and tested in Phase I brought into sharp focus the highly differentiated nature of knowledge, management and preferences for forest genetic resources across different sex and age groups. One example is the application of agent-based models and role-playing games in the study of gendered behavior in landuse decisions and analysis of gendered dynamics that shape the multi-functionality of landscapes. Flagship 4 will deepen the understanding of these dynamics in CoA 4.4 using participatory land use planning methods that support effective and inclusive negotiations in multifunctional landscapes, thus ensuring representation of women and young people.Innovative participatory methods were also used to enrich a quantitative impact evaluation of Nepalese home gardens with in-depth qualitative analysis comprising detailed contextual analyses, focus group discussions and life histories of women and men from marginalized communities.Mixing methods brought into relief the specific experiences of different gender, age, ethnic or socioeconomic groups and the unexpected outcomes as well as processes of empowerment that were achieved. The approach will influence impact assessments in FTA Phase II research.In Uganda and Nicaragua, FTA researchers employed a participatory research tool, Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM) 8 , to work with local communities to jointly identify and address barriers to gender inclusive participation in decision-making. The approach helped to generate new spaces for women to participate and build understanding between women and men from different socioeconomic backgrounds about the benefits of inclusiveness in forest management. The project has also increased women's confidence, while improving men's attitudes toward women's leadership. As a consequence, women have benefitted from greater opportunities to plant their preferred trees (including taboo ones) on farms that they now have secure tenure over. This approach will be adapted for future work on joint forest management in Phase II.A FTA-supported gender research fellowship program facilitated the design and testing of a harmonized participatory research approach for studying social inclusion across multiple countries.In five countries, working in groups segregated by gender, age and in some cases ethnicity created an opportunity to share knowledge across groups, promote inter-group understanding and respect, confidence among women and marginalized groups, and research quality. This approach will be scaled out in the second phase of the CRP.Efforts to develop gender analytical capacities in relevant forestry and agroforestry research programs and projects during the last four years of CRP implementation yielded substantive results: at least 180 scientists and partners were trained in gender concepts and research methods, and more than 20 toolkits and guidelines for gender sensitive research have been developed.In addition, robust communication products developed by the gender team contributed significantly to communicating FTA gender research in language and formats accessible to a wide range of stakeholders at various levels. One example was a CIFOR-led collaboration with thirteen different organizations, including UN bodies and international non-governmental organizations, for the compilation and dissemination of a series of briefing notes showcasing FTA collective contributions to promoting gender equality in climate change during COP2015 in Paris.The second phase of the CRP will build on the capacities developed and lessons learned through the gender mainstreaming process, and will broaden its focus to areas that had not been developed in Phase I. This will include: moving forward from the traditional understanding of gender issues, incorporating the latest thinking on gender and development in capacity-building efforts, creating learning and knowledge-sharing platforms, and supporting the integration of gender dimensions in monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Related activities and expected results are referred to in the gender research strategy section of the proposal (see Annex 3.15 for more information about the Support Platform and its work with gender).The results, experiences and capacities built from engagement in these early research and knowledge generation activities in Phase I have crucially informed research priority setting and the thrust of the gender research strategy for Phase II, setting critical baselines for strategic research that will directly contribute to the gender IDO and sub-IDOs.The gender strategy for FTA includes a strand to support gender integration and strategic research across component flagships, and a complementary strand that will continue to focus on gender mainstreaming and coordination efforts across the flagships. The operationalization of gender dimensions within each flagship narrative is summarized below and described in greater detail within each flagship narrative.Flagship 1 -Genetic Resources for Production and Resilience: Gender aspects of tree germplasm production and delivery will be addressed by exploring the preferences of men, women and other social groups with respect to tree species and traits for conservation, domestication and utilization as well as inclusive and gender responsive delivery systems.Flagship 2 -Enhancing trees and forest contribution to smallholder livelihoods: Research will identify gender-specific contexts underpinning decisions and choices over trees, crops, livestock and other livelihood components at the household and community levels. Approaches will be tested to lift barriers impeding the participation of women and marginalized groups in community forestry so as to promote more inclusive joint forest management.Flagship 3 -Sustainable Global Value Chains and Investments: Gender research will be operationalized in Phase II through assessments of the gendered implications of cash-crop expansion and various private commitments, such as zero-deforestation and product certification schemes.Research will also focus on analysis of appropriate tools and methodologies that promote inclusive and equitable business models and value chains, highlighting benefit-sharing mechanisms relevant to gender, age and ethnicity aspects, and their use for ensuring sustainable forest development.Flagship 4 -Landscape Dynamics, Productivity and Resilience: Research will explore gender-specific decisions and influences over changes in land-use patterns; and the heuristics that men and women use in regards to their livelihoods, and how these relate to their expectations of landscape functions.Research in this Flagship will deepen understanding of contexts underpinning men's and women's choices in relation to external drivers/actors shaping decisions over land use and landscape management.Research in the new Cluster of Activities on forests and energy will address gender aspects of producing, transporting and dealing with wood energy, and will investigate the differential impacts of emissions reduction in schemes that prioritize the role of men and women, and indigenous and marginalized communities in forest management. There will also be a continued focus on developing recommendations for gender sensitive Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and policy making on REDD+. Strong collaboration with CCAFS is envisaged to identify trends in men's and women's use of forests and trees to support gender-sensitive climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices.Monitoring will be done on two levels, (i) gender integration in research and action across flagship portfolios, and (ii) contribution of strategic gender research to transformative outcomes on equity and inclusion in particular flagships.In (i), the Gender Equality in Research Scale (GEIRS) will be used to monitor and track gender integration in relevant flagship projects. GEIRS is based on a set of minimum standards for gender integration that should be applied in all projects assessed as relevant from a gender perspective. Application of the tool will facilitate systematic assessment of the application of gender analyses and collection of sex-disaggregated data, and will also identify projects that will require support from the GIT.In (ii), the GIT will work closely with the Monitoring and Impact Assessment team to conduct impact studies on selected projects. Selected studies will examine gender-differentiated impacts and gender relations in forests and agroforestry landscapes. The focus of the studies will be twofold: i) to identify which specific types of interventions support or foster greater equality between men and women of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds in forests and agroforestry landscapes; and ii) to monitor progress and contributions toward sub-IDOs 1 and 3.Gender research and capacity development efforts are integrally connected to research work in and across component flagships. Thus, target beneficiary populations for gender research and capacity development will be the men, women and other social groups in the selected geographies in which flagship research clusters of activities will be conducted. These particular geographies are well aligned with the site integration strategy developed by the CGIAR consortium.On an overall basis, FTA intends to spend at least 10 percent of its resources on Gender, though the levels of investments may vary across various FPs (see FP budget narratives). With the current budget planning, Gender represents 12 percent of the whole CRP budget (excluding management costs)Landscapes, including forested and tree-based landscapes, serve as the superstructure on which the world's population -nine billion people by 2050 -depends to meet the full range of human needs 1 . FT&A systems have an important role in solving many of today's global change problems while creating sustainable livelihoods and greener growth. But the world's youth (young men and women between 15-35 years of age), especially in developing regions, have only recently been recognized as a critical human asset base that needs to be mobilized to drive greener rural economies and social transformations and as potential beneficiaries of better FT&A resources' management to enhance their livelihoods and opportunities. Evidence suggests that many youth are choosing not to pursue livelihoods as farmers. This has implications for national and international efforts to drive economic growth through investments in agriculture. An understanding of the aspirations of rural youth and the links between aspirations and career decisions will be critical if agricultural policies are to achieve their intended outcomes 2 .A wide range of demographic projections converge on the determination that the number of young people, the majority of who are domiciled in developing regions, would increase by 1.3 billion by 2050 3,4 . This places them squarely at the heart of today's strategic opportunities to secure sustainable futures through agri-food systems rooted in strong stewardship of the natural resource base and propelled by inclusive value chain opportunities. Figure 1 shows a snapshot of demographic trends across three of the developing regions of the world: sub-Sahara Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.Capitalizing on this demographic dividend requires youth-responsive programs and policies that strengthen capacities of young men and women to engage in remunerative activities in the agriculture and natural resource sector, including forest management. Research e.g. on cocoa production in Ghana demonstrates the importance of taking into account restrictions on youth's increased engagement for questions of sustainability and intensification 5 . Consistent with the \"do no harm\" principle, robust research on youth engagement in FT&A landscapes is a critical element in this effort to inform evidence-based policy and responsive interventions. Although studies indicate that young men and women are moving to cities in significant numbers 4 , many are staying in rural areas to become rural agro-and forest-based entrepreneurs mixing farm and non-farm based options. Recent reports show that youths share a growing concern about the environment and are increasingly attracted towards green business models. Many are also involved in increasing awareness about sustainable landscape management in the communities they live, and are becoming more interested in research for development in sectors related to forestry, landscape management and climate change 6 . Formal education coupled with new ICTs that are gaining in popularity among youth can make them a key group for promoting the development, adoption and adaptation of innovations. What has been lacking so far is a clearly laid out strategy informed by robust evidence on how the vast majority of the youthful human capital could be mobilized and capacitated to drive sustainable development and green growth. The GDP in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, would rise by 12-19 percent if young people were employed in productive work 4 .Consistent with the CGIAR SRF goal to \"focus explicitly on the role of the youth in agri-food systems to embrace the dynamism of agriculture and innovation to create growth, income and jobs, particularly in rural areas\", FTA research on youth will identify entry points for deeper and more sustained engagement of youths in remunerative activities across agriculture and natural resource sectors. This strategic focus is rationalized on the grounds that agriculture, including production at the forest margins, is the major preoccupation of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and is up to four times more effective than other sectors in reducing poverty. Importantly, while this role has been recognized, the nexus between rural youth and agriculture in developing regions has not been sufficiently developed and translated into public policies at all levels. This missed opportunity needs to be urgently tapped through robust research to identify policy options and interventions that can optimize the youth dividend across these sectors and make sure FT&A systems continue playing a role in enhancing well-being of future generations.The FTA strategy for engaging youths aims at identifying and analyzing the structural and sociopsychological obstacles that hinder the effective engagement of young men and women in FT&A value chains for sustainable livelihoods. This includes 1) identifying and facilitating a better understanding of the roles of young people in productive landscapes, illuminating their aspirations and identifying the factors that inhibit or motivate youth engagement; 2) identifying and testing models for developing capacities of rural youth in developing regions, recognizing that they are not a homogenous entity. Youth differ by gender with socially differentiated roles, geography and stage in the life cycle. These unique differences and social locations will be analytically examined as important intersecting dimensions. The FTA research on youth addresses the CGIAR crosscutting issue gender and youth and contributes to the sub-IDO equity and inclusion achieved (see Annex 3.15 on the Support Platform for more on how youth will be addressed).A strand of research will address structural and institutional factors across the following thematic areas: Analyzing the effects of different sector policies in creating constraining or enabling environments for young men and women's access to and control over forests, trees and other productive resources. Policies are an integral part of the contextual conditions that enable or hinder the capacity of different actors to participate and capture benefits from the management of forests and tree-based production landscapes. Identifying and analyzing social, economic and cultural barriers to the participation of youth (young women and men between 15-35 years old) in tree and forest product value chains. What types of products and markets are most suitable, and what interventions are most likely to optimize the engagement of youth in forest and tree product value chains in different geographies? How can access to and control over productive assets by the youth be improved? How do social and cultural norms constrain or enable youth access to assets and productive resources, including land? Identifying the factors that influence youth access to financial services and their participation in small-and medium-scale enterprises. Identifying options for reducing market barriers that limit young men's and women's participation in tree and forest product value chains including innovative business models. A related thrust will be the assessment and development of options for innovative financing and robust strategies that support entry and sustainability of young men and women in the forests and agroforest value chains. Assessing and strengthening national partner incentives and mechanisms for stimulating youth engagement in rural non-farm entrepreneurial activities and investments. Identifying businesses models for young men and women in the establishment of tree nurseries, and analyzing factors that facilitate or constrain their access to logistical services including rural advisory services. Identifying and analyzing the types of policies, institutional arrangements and interventions that foster enabling environments for young women and men to benefit from migration and multilocal livelihoods in forested landscapes.A second strand focusing on socio-psychological and individual aspects will: \"Unpack\" youth as a category and researching on how social differences within youth influence their aspirations, knowledge, access/rights/entitlements  Facilitate understanding of the aspirations and interests of young men and women in tree and forests management value chains and how to better engage them -including through ICT based innovations, in tree-based livelihood activities.  Identify technical skills and knowledge required to improve youth participation in forests and agroforest value chains; developing youth-responsive tools, methods to raise awareness, build capacities to engage in decision-making processes in NRM; and to improve investments and decisions by youth on forest and agroforest landscapes.  Identify and test models and innovations for developing skills and capacities of largely rural youth in developing regions. In collaboration with national partners, assess training models that integrate knowledge and skills on sustainable landscape management, agribusiness models and forest product value-chains for the training of young men and women in technical and vocational schools.Since youth-related research questions are embedded in flagships, work will be undertaken in the selected geographies in which flagship research activities will be conducted. These geographies are well aligned with the site integration strategy developed by the CGIAR consortium and directly contribute to the IDO 'equity and inclusion achieved'.FTA will actively seek partnerships with organizations that have identified youth as a particular focus. Findings from FTA research will be used by these partners to address the constraints that youth in all their diversities face in accessing opportunities in the natural resource sectors including forests and agroforestry landscapes. Studies under this theme will take place in geographies where partnerships with research and boundary partners can be leveraged to achieve scale though the adoption of practices and influencing youth responsive policy. The FTA youth strategy is complementary to the WLE and PIM strategies. In implementing youth responsive research, FTA scientists will collaborate with these two programs thus consolidating efforts in similar geographies to amplify outcomes and impacts.The FTA Gender Integration Team (GIT) GIT recognizes the critical need for robust research to generate knowledge and insights on the role of youth in forests and tree-based productive landscapes. While the theme sits well within the gender cross-cutting platform, the team currently lacks the in-house expertise, experience and capacity to lead and manage a youth responsive research strategy. We expect to invest about USD$17.4 million (4 percent of the whole CRP budget excluding management costs) to support the implementation of our youth strategy.FTA developed an integrated Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Impact Assessment (MELIA) system in 2015. The system will be refined to address changes in CRP Phase 2. Being a cluster of activity in the Support Platform on Delivering Impact and Inclusion, the MELIA supports the FTA Director and the Independent Steering Committee in managing the CRP, and conducts research to assist FTA in achieving impact at scale (see Annex 3.15 for more on the Support Platform). In addition, the evaluation and assessment results inform the planning of future FTA projects, closing the feedback loop from learning to planning.The MELIA system is designed to: Encourage an 'impact culture' within FTA in which research, engagement and capacity development activities are explicitly defined, designed and implemented to contribute to transformative change  Ensure that FTA's work remains relevant and useful in rapidly changing and complex circumstances, by ensuring that ex-ante and ex-post evaluations and impact assessments are incorporated in future project design The FTA MELIA system has the following components:• The CRP-level theory of change (Section 1.3) that explains the main pathways and mechanisms from FTA research to IDOs• Flagship Project theories of change that illustrate and explain more detailed hypotheses about key impact pathways, specifying main intermediate and end-of-program outcomes• Specific theories of change at the activity levels• An overall approach and step-by-step guide to planning, monitoring, and learning at activity FP and Program scales, described below• A detailed and harmonized project information database (ICT platform) that explicitly records data on partnerships, engagement, expected outcomes and associated impacts allowing for a proactive management of the portfolioIn addition to the FTA and FP ToCs described in this proposal, all FTA activities are encouraged to develop an explicit theory of change that articulates the cause-and-effect relationships between research, capacity building and engagement activities and their outputs and intended outcomes. The theory of change must also provide a clear rationale for the activity focus and approach. These ToCs model specific knowledge production and knowledge translation contributions at the activity level, complementing the higher-level FPlevel ToCs. ToC development at this scale supports planning, improving problem definition, identifying and engaging key partners, clarifying the current/starting state and specifying intermediate and end-of-program outcomes. This in turn supports activity-scale monitoring and adaptive management, and facilitates regular, incremental testing of our theory of change and is fundamental to our learning approach.Intended outcomes and indicators of those outcomes are identified within ToCs and monitored. All activities larger than USD$500,000 are required to have an M&E framework. Wherever relevant, M&E frameworks and tools will include explicit attention to potential gender differences in interests, participation and benefits.In Phase 1, FTA developed a set of qualitative monitoring tools that are light, user friendly and efficient, such as an influence log, event feedback tool, and outcome stories. These data collection tools are designed to be applied by research teams on an ongoing basis throughout the life of an activity. These tools facilitate systematic collection of data about engagement with stakeholders, knowledge generation and co-generation, uptake and use, and progress toward higher-level outcomes and impacts. Collectively, such data facilitate project reporting and provide a robust evidence base to test theories of change and to demonstrate progress. These data are also integrated with the FTA Project Database (discussed below).In addition to monitoring along the theory of change as described above, FTA will contribute to continuous collection and analysis of data at the sub-IDO level organized through the MEL CoP.The definition of indicators to assess these above elements will be conducted using a twopronged approach. First, the CRP will seek already-existing indicators that are credible, wellrecognized, accessible and monitored by national statistics or other better-positioned organizations (e.g., FAO, WB). Second, in cases where there are no suitable indicators, the CRP will develop new indicators with an efficient monitoring system in close collaboration with flagship teams. Furthermore, the CRP will support and seek to use, where possible, standardized indicators established by the MEL CoP and other communities of practice.A tentative set of indicators for sub-IDOs to which the CRP will be contributing is proposed in the below table. These indicators, as well as indicators for other sub-IDOs or at other levels, will be developed and finalized during the operational phase after proposal submission, through the MEL CoP. In addition to the targets identified for SLOs, the CRP will identify targets to indicators, to the extent possible and where appropriate, drawing from existing baselines, studies, and thematic and regional context expertise. The methodology used to identify the targets and to measure progress, as well as key assumptions, will be detailed to ensure transparency.ICT Platform: The FTA Project Database (https://sharepoint.foreststreesagroforestry.org/#/)The Project Database provides an overview the FTA project portfolio, allowing results based management to be implemented. The database stores data such as: (i) project budgetary information, including a breakdown of cross cutting activities; (ii) geographic and site locations; (iii) keywords; (iv) partners, along with classifying what type of partner they are (research, knowledge sharing, policy and practice partners); (v) the intended outcomes and impacts, as well as a means to record progress in achieving them; (vi) data collection methods and data management plans; (vii) scientific outputs; (viii) capacity development information, including events, students and partner interaction.The database provides detailed information on individual activities and a summary view. The database also treats W1/2-funded activities as discrete activities, providing a holistic view of the CRP. The web-based application has advanced search capabilities combined with visual representations of the data in to help identify patterns and trends.Other highlights of the system include: (i) full integration into the FTA Operational Plan, which reduces manual data entry and facilitates easier reporting to the CGIAR and other interested parties; (ii) a web-based mechanism for scientists and FTA flagship leaders to record knowledge uptake via the influence log. Additionally scientists can record achievements via recording outcome stories; (iii) as a way to facilitate better collaboration between scientists, the project database automatically identifies other projects that share the same keywords, partners, donors or locations.In 2016 and 2017, the database will be enhanced to allow: (i) capturing of baseline project knowledge uptake data as well as capturing mid-point and final project knowledge uptake, so that clear impact pathways can be identified and measured; (ii) incorporating the gender survey tool developed by the FTA Gender Integration Team to measure a project's gender relevance; (iii) Integration with DSpace installation for storing FTA publications and other research outputs as well as automatically capturing and displaying publication statistics, such as downloads and citations.The database is designed to be interoperable with other CRPs. In 2016, a schema will be developed so that structured data can be sent to the consortium office. FTA will also collaborate with other CRPs to provide shared reference data services.Evaluation, Impact Assessment and Learning FTA's contributions can be assessed on two levels: outcomes and impact. Outcome is defined as a change in knowledge, attitudes and skills, manifest as changes in discourse, institutions, policy, and practice that result in part or in whole from FTA research and associated activities (i.e. behavior change). Impact is defined as a change in flow or state resulting in whole or in part from a chain of events to which research has contributed, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. These effects can be economic, socio-cultural, institutional, environmental, or technological.FTA undertakes ex ante impact assessments on selected topics to estimate the potential impacts on development goals that FTA research contributes to. Such assessments will inform priority setting and contribute to overall CRP-level impact estimates.As discussed above, impact at this level takes a long time to materialize, and (likely) involves multiple actors and contributing factors. Ex ante impact assessments will use the best available theory and data to estimate impacts at scale.It should be noted that the term ex ante refers to the fact that the assessment is predictive in nature. It is ex ante relative to the impact, not necessarily relative to a particular project or research activity.Currently, in collaboration with CRP PIM, CRP RTB (Impact at Scale CoA) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), FTA is developing an ex ante impact assessment model that integrates the development impacts that it is contributing to.Trade-offs will also be built into the model, allowing a simulation of the winners and losers in a particular policy innovation or practice adoption.Ex post outcome assessments and impact assessments assess the achievements of completed activities, Clusters of Activity and, at some point, Flagship Projects. The theory of change and impact pathway will be the main point of reference for ex post assessments. Although all ex post assessments will have the same guiding principles, the scope and depth of an assessment will depend on scale and scope of the activity or project being assessed.Ex post assessments have four interrelated purposes:• To assess FTA's effectiveness in achieving intended outcomes, and eventually impacts. In addition to answering the question of \"did it work\", the assessment should also address the \"why\" question, document the context in which the outcomes or impacts occurred or did not occur.• To develop and test assessment methods applicable for policy research, in order to achieve the above purpose.• To ensure learning takes place by using the lessons learned from the assessments to design new projects such that the potential to achieve outcomes and impacts is improved.• To document FTA's achievements.Where it is feasible to quantitatively identify a counterfactual comparator -for example in cases where the scale is limited and impact pathway reasonably direct -it is possible to use experimental or quasi-experimental impact assessment approaches to quantify the benefits of the innovation, which can then be compared with the costs. Such impact assessment information can then be used to argue for and inform a process of scaling up and out, and the data can be used in ex ante assessments of the impact of large-scale adoption. In the past three years, FTA has conducted quasi-experimental impact assessments on the issue of sustainable forest management, forest co-management, agroforestry fertilizer trees, and forest conversion moratorium.The bulk of FTA's work aims to contribute to and support change in policy and practice. Knowledge produced, co-produced and shared, and capacity building achieved through FTA's work contributes through longer and more complex impact pathways. For this kind of work, we need to assess outcomes and evaluate achievements within clearly and explicitly articulated theories of change. As discussed above, every project should have a clear plan for what they are aiming for, what it will look like if they succeed (outcomes), and how it will contribute to the IDOs and SLOs (impacts). Outcome assessments will evaluate whether or not intended outcomes have been realized. As the work progresses, we will build on these outcome and impact assessments and activity level ToC testing to test FP-level theories of change.There are four guiding principles for an ex post assessment at FTA: (i) objective and rigorous;(ii) determine causality; (iii) understand context; (iv) partnership with scientists.Under the CGIAR Policy for Independent External Evaluation, several types of evaluations have been identified to support the system, including IEA commissioned External Evaluation, CRP-Commissioned External Evaluations (CCEEs), and impact assessments. The CCEEs and impact assessments will also serve as data points for IEA, as they are considered the building blocks to the external evaluations conducted by the Independent Evaluation Arrangement.The CCEEs will most likely be at the Flagship level but could also include other programming elements to evaluation. The conduct of these CCEEs will be spread over the cycle to minimize the burden on management and researchers. The CCEEs will cover at least half of the budgeted activities of a Flagship in a cycle in line with the CGIAR Independent Evaluation Arrangement's Guidance for CRP-Commissioned External Evaluations (January 2015). Joint CCEEs will be sought to leverage the resources of multiple CRPs and to assess performance within a geographic focus (likely in line with the site integration plans) or thematic area (e.g., seed systems, nutrition, and gender). They will be conducted in line with the CGIAR Evaluation Standards.The CRP will operationalize a three-year rolling evaluation plan, with annual updated, to build credible evaluative evidence to support decision-making and lessons for improved and more cost-effective programming. This rolling plan will include CCEEs, impact assessments and other studies identified by CRP management.Ex-post evaluation and impact assessments require significant time and financial resources. It will not be possible to cover all projects/programs. Proposed selection criteria are: The importance of the assessment for FTA, or in other words whether the activity is in a high priority research area or geographic region for FTA. The existence of preliminary evidence of achievements or potential for outcomes or impacts. The timing between the end of projects and the assessment, whether there is ample time for the projects to generate outcomes and impacts. The feasibility of rigorously assessing FTA contribution to the outcomes or impacts. The potential for the assessment to showcase the outcomes and impacts of policyoriented research, or to develop new assessment methods. The potential for the results of the assessment to help FTA to mobilize additional resources. The potential for the results of the assessment to be applicable to other FTA projects. The cost of the assessment relative to the cost of the activity to be assessed. The capacity within FTA to undertake the assessment.The selection criteria will be revisited periodically and revised as required.For 2017-2022, the following tentative list of CRP-Commissioned External Evaluations have been identified, with a budget of up to USD$300,000 each: Gender integration in FTA: asking how is it being done, how we can be more effective. Sentinel Landscapes: assessing the approach and implementation to guide future development. This evaluation will also examine the Landscape Flagship of FTA Phase 1. FTA Science quality/research environment: conceptualizing the meaning of science quality in a policy-relevant research for development organization and assessing whether and how support, incentives and rewards could be improved. This research will contribute strongly to testing, refining and advancing the FTA impact pathways and theories of change and to improved research effectiveness within the program.Properly implementing MELIA requires significant time and financial resources. At FTA, MELIA has relied on a combination of W1/2 budget (currently 2 percent of W1/2) and also bilateral/W3 budget, for example from UKAID and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.In the current funding environment, it is not possible to solely rely on W1/2 funds to cover all MELIA activities. The 2 percent W1/2 allocation will be maintained, mainly to fund CCEEs and staff time. In addition, the MELIA team will continue efforts to raise bilateral funds.Annex 3.7 Linkages with other CRPs and site integration.We are providing the two requested tables and also specific narrative for CCAFS and DCL. Climate change research in CCAFS and FTA addresses both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change in a coherent approach. CCAFS focuses on the 40 percent of tropical land-based emissions that come from agriculture. FTA focuses on emissions from deforestation, forest degradation and land-clearing fires, which account for 60 percent.However, the two programs have developed distinct characteristics in Phase II, differing from and complementing each other (Figure 1, Table 1). While the emphasis in CCAFS is on climate-smart agriculture, enhanced food security and improved nutrition under climate change has been increased, the emphasis in FTA is providing an integrated approach to joint bio-production and environmental services provisions through FT&A resource management at the landscape scale. In particular, FTA-FP5 focuses on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change using FT&A resources in landscapes, mainly through policies and measures that link climate mitigation and adaptation to development (e.g. rural income generation), and is expanding its work in FTA-FP3 on governance arrangements for sustainable supply that avoids deforestation. CCAFS addresses mitigation through low emissions agricultural development in CCAFS-FP3, and FTA addresses adaptation of peoples and forests to climate change in FTA-CoA 5.2.FTA has added a new activity (FTA-CoA 5.3) on bioenergy to support adaptation and mitigation goals as well as rural income goals, by integrating bioenergy production in FT&A production cycles. The rationale is that renewable bioenergy reduces fossil fuel emissions and provides income to the rural poor. FTA has further developed its focus on performance assessment (providing hard data of how climate aspirations translate into achievements) that is expected to provide services to CGIAR as a whole (FTA-CoA 5.4).Both programs work on low-emission development strategies LED(S): CCAFS addresses LED as a broad strategy to encompass its mitigation work in CCAFS-FP3; FTA addresses LEDS as a specific area where FT&A resources will be managed (FTA-CoA 5.1). Through its FTA-FP3 work on sustainable global value chains and investments, FTA aims to contribute to LEDS by supporting public-private governance arrangements that ensure sustainable commodity supply, thus avoiding deforestation and reducing GHG emissions, while also increasing social inclusion, and leveraging the role of finance for stimulating greater adoption of environmental, social and governance frameworks. Both programs will coordinate their LEDS research.CCAFS and FTA will undertake complementary research activities on sustainable supply chain governance by linking CCAFS-Flagship 3 \"Low emissions development\", particularly CoA 3.3 \"Identifying priorities and options for low-emissions development\" (under 3.3.2 \"Responsible finance and standards for supply chain governance\") with FTA Flagship 3 \"Sustainable global value chains and investments\", specifically CoA 3.1 \"Enabling sustainable commodity supply chains\". The outputs to be achieved collaboratively are: (i) impact assessment of regulations and sustainability initiatives on hectares of avoided deforestation, GHG emissions and associated social effects; (ii) options on instruments and guidelines for improving sustainable commodity supply from public, private and hybrid governance arrangements; and (iii) options of financing mechanisms to supporting scaling up of innovative institutional arrangements and business models. CCAFS-FP3 will emphasize private sector and market governance in supply chains related to beef production, mainly beef production in the Amazon, while FTA-FP3 will accentuate supply chains related to high-value trees and forest products, mainly palm oil production in Indonesia.Regarding adaptation, FTA is focusing on ecosystem-based adaptation (FTA-CoA 5.2), and CCAFS on climatesmart agricultural practices (CCAFS-FP2) and climate information systems and climate-informed safety nets (CCAFS-FP3). Both programs promote the use of climate information systems in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) in complementary ways, with CCAFS focusing on seasonal forecasts for agricultural decision-making and food system safety nets, and FTA focusing on decadal scale variability for risk management, and national NAP policy architecture and implementation. Both programs also analyze synergies between mitigation and adaptation and climate finance but from different angles (in CCAFS-FP1 and CCAFS-FP3 always in relation to the triple objectives of productivity, adaptation, and mitigation related to as climate-smart agriculture, whereas in FTA-FP5 this is focused on adaptation using forests, or when trees outside forests are concerned, it converges with climate-smart agriculture). CCAFS contributes to a co-investment platform shared by FTA and RTB on tree-crop commodities (FTA-CoA 2.3) that integrates climate mitigation and adaptation with sustainable intensification of cocoa, coffee, rubber and oil palm. There are already joint bilateral projects and PhD students including the Danida-funded Climcocoa project (2016-2020) 1 on climate adaptation of cocoa production systems in Ghana led by the University of Ghana, Legon, and involving both ICRAF (FTA) and IITA (CCAFS), as well as joint outputs including an innovative decision support tool for recommending shade trees for coffee based on local knowledge.CCAFS and FTA will closely coordinate their work at the national and international levels (e.g. to provide coherent national policy advice and CGIAR output on climate mitigation and adaptation to the UNFCCC).They have been cooperating over the past years on joint issues such as reference levels, emission hot spots, and climate mitigation aspirations in the land sector, and there will be future cooperation for joint outputs.CCAFS has a Learning Platform on 'Policy engagement on CSA' that includes engagement with UNFCCC processes and is specifically collaborating with FTA on the Global Landscapes Forum at the UNFCCC. CCAFS and FTA will also engage private sector platforms aimed at supporting sustainable supply by harnessing the potential of standards to support adoption of sustainability practices, as well as private commitments to build deforestation-free supply chains.Co-location of work happens in several regions covered by both CCAFS and FTA (East Africa, West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America); FTA additionally works in Southern Africa and Central America. CCAFS emphasizes interventions mostly at the national level, where it sees a major impact pathway in national planning processes and food system policies; FTA is also more strongly now focusing on the national level, and there will be heightened efforts to coordinate FTA-CCAFS work at the national level (e.g. previous joint work in Burkina Faso on common impact pathways and multi-stakeholder scenario development demonstrates our commitment to working together).CCAFS and FTA together represent a winning team for the CGIAR because they complement each other in unique ways, building on the comparative strengths in each of the teams. Regarding mitigation, CCAFS brings its strong agricultural and food security perspective into the equation, addressing the 40 percent of tropical emissions from agriculture, and FTA brings in a strong global coverage of mitigation (emission reduction) policies addressing the 60 percent of tropical emissions from deforestation/forest degradation (38 percent) and land-clearing fires (22 percent). CCAFS and FTA particularly cooperate in the Twinned Flagship on 'Supply chain governance to avoid deforestation' (see above), with CCAFS focusing on the agricultural dimensions and FTA on the forest dimensions, but with co-investment on common issues and common sites. Regarding adaptation, both programs have clear complementarity in addressing the issue in the context of LED(S), adaptation finance, the use of bioenergy to raise rural energy and income security. Both CCAFS and FTA stand for a strong performance assessment approach in both mitigation and adaptation, which is now being expanded to include private sector commitments and LEDS.The mechanisms to coordinate the collaboration between FTA and CCAFS consist of one joint annual planning meeting, jointly funded projects and workgroups, jointly defined impact pathways at the national level to be developed, and one major joint dissemination and outreach event per year (e.g. collaboration on the annual Global Landscape Forum). The period 2017 and beyond will see increased collaboration between FTA and CCAFS via jointly funded projects regarding mitigation and low-carbon economy of global value chains (palm oil, beef, soya bean) and GHG accounting at landscape scale  Trees are essential components in dryland agriculture and are a pre-requisite for sustainable intensification and reducing land degradation in these sensitive environments. FTA covers different agro-ecological zones with 40 percent of the resources invested in dryland areas, whereas the geographic focus being shared between FTA and DCL-AFS includes East Africa, the Sahel and Central America. From Phase I there is established collaboration between FTA and Dryland systems within the frame of bilateral projects that will be further develop between DCL-AFS, FTA and Livestock. Tree-based options developed in FTA can be further tested in DCL-AFS in conjunction with other agronomic interventions while germplasm development of key dryland cereals and legumes suitable for use in agroforestry contexts will be developed in DCL-AFS and evaluated in agroforestry contexts within FTA. There are three principal links through co-investment with joint investments in a bilateral portfolio: DCL-AFS Flagship 1 priority setting and enabling environments, where the options by context approach co-developed by FTA and Dryland Systems in phase 1 is being taken forward with a link to the systems  DCL-AFS Flagship 5 has 'Improved Rural Livelihood Systems', whereas modeling impacts of options on livelihood outcomes and implications for scaling across landscapes are jointly developed with the systems analysis, synthesis and scaling CoA in the FTA FP2 livelihood systems. (Co-invested bilateral projects: AfricaRising, Trees4FoodSecurity).The template below summarizes the state of our participation in site integration at the time of writing. It will be updated and completed as information continues to come in. challenges, on improving the management and use of natural forests and woodlands in view of reducing D&D and increasing national abatement potential, on promoting plantation forests to meet wood demands at household and national levels, and to significantly increase the socioeconomic contribution of the sector to the national economy and to the GDP. Our research will continue to support the plan through expanding research to cover major forest types of the country, assessing the links between forestry and other sectors, exploring options to improve the management and use of forests and handling and marketing of forest products for better economic and environmental outcomes. Evidence so generated will be shared with key stakeholders to inform policy and practice as the country attempts to increase national tree and forest cover so that communities managing forests will have incentives to responsibly manage and sustainably use forests and woodlands. NGOs-private sector agencies and associations, 4) international organizations and donors, and 5) CGIAR staff.Stakeholders agreed on an eco-regional framework to facilitate in-country collaboration and site integration. The target regions are: 1) Northwest, 2) Northeast, 3) Red river delta, 4) North central coast, 5)Central highlands-south central coast and southeast, and 6) Mekong river delta. In addition, integrating CRPs with national and local development plans was considered a key dimension of country collaboration. For each region, the stakeholders identified: 1) development priorities as set by government policymakers/decision-makers, 2) key research gaps which are recommended for the CGIAR to address, and 3) potential partners for specific research and development initiatives.Between December 2015 and March 2016, CRPs/Centers also engaged in bilateral discussions on specific collaboration needs and opportunities. Several CRPs also organized their respective country/regional planning and consultation events.A follow-up meeting by the CGIAR Vietnam team was held on 7 March, with eight CRPs and seven Centers represented. The eight participating CRPs re-confirmed that Vietnam is a target country for CRP2 proposals. As a next step, it was also agreed that subnational targeting will be undertaken for higherresolution site integration plans, i.e. within each agro-ecoregion. A draft agenda for the 10-element site integration report was prepared. The proposed action items are to be shared with CRPs, for them to indicate their suggested priorities as well as intent for co-financing/cost-sharing.The country collaboration/site integration efforts in Vietnam are coordinated through: 1) a core team with representatives from CRPs/Centers having physical (office) The participants were divided in three groups and the examined the following themes:1. Challenges and opportunities for collaboration 2. Sustainable intensification crops and After reports were presented by each group, it was decided the site integration steering committee will look at three important themes when the report of the meeting is circulated and a roadmap to elaborate the site integration plan will be developed. The FTA team represents more than 160 scientists for about 146 full-time equivalents (FTE). The gender ratio is now at 40 percent female, which is slightly lower than FTA I. Our target, like for FTA I, is to reach -as soon as possible -a 50 percent female / 50 percent male balance.The tables below present the most important and already identified members of the team, including the Supporting Platform members, FP leaders, CoA heads and crosscutting theme coordinators. A series of CVs are provided for the most senior people or ones with management roles in the program. Introduction FTA has drawn lessons on its governance and management from Phase I and, in keeping with the recommendations of the IEA and CO, has changed both the composition and the responsibilities of its Independent Steering Committee (ISC). This is to ensure that FTA ISC has a majority of voting members who are independent so FTA can benefit from the advice and views of individuals with no institutional bias and with FTA's best interests as their overall objective.Size: 8 members (7 full, 1 ex-officio)  3 participating partners (1 Lead Center, 1 CGIAR center, 1 non-CGIAR partner)  4 independent members  Ex-officio (non-voting): FTA Director Independent members are:  selected in their individual capacity and do not have a conflict of interest in being a ISC member (i.e. they do not represent or work for any of the institutions involved in the FTA partnership)  short-listed by the FTA director following nominations from current ISC members  short list is discussed by the ISC and selected members proposed by the current ISC members to the Lead Center Board of Trustees (BoT)  appointed by the Lead Center BoT for a fixed term (2 years), with a single option for renewal.Independent members are individuals known internationally and respected for their professional expertise in fields relevant to FTA. The overall ISC should show, to the extent possible, a balance in gender, discipline and geographic representation.The Chair is chosen among the independent members, nominated by the ISC and appointed by the Lead Center BoT for a two-year fixed term, renewable once.The ISC welcomes observers and can call upon resource persons from within or outside CGIAR for specific questions. represent the whole range of respective strategic partners (CGIAR and non-CGIAR) and not their own institutional interests  must request inputs from other partners ahead of ISC meetings based on the proposed agenda  representative actually sitting in ISC meetings is chosen by his/her constituencies (CGIAR Centers, non-CGIAR partners) for a period of two years.The Chair of the ISC reports to the BoT of the Lead Center, CIFOR. Minutes of ISC meetings are prepared by the FTA Director and approved by the ISC members via email and are publicly available, once approved.Strategic planning, oversight and monitoring  Review the set of participating partners and make recommendations about possible changes to the Lead Center Board based upon performance criteria set by FTA. Review and comment upon the strategic directions proposed by the FTA Director. Actively oversee the overall FTA portfolio to ensure overall coherence with these strategic directions, including by supporting (or not) proposals to include bilateral funds as well as Windows 1 and 2 (W1/W2) projects in the FTA portfolio based on analyses provided by the Management Team (MT).  Approve the annual Program of Work and Budget prepared by the MT based on inputs provided by the flagships and crosscutting themes. Once agreement is reached, the ISC proposes its approval to the Lead Center BoT.  Commission and approve FTA's management response to external reviews (CCER, IEA) upon proposition from the MT or the Lead Center BoT.  Provide guidance to the MT in developing and updating the FTA research strategy including programmatic priorities.  Ensure that advice and direction from the Consortium Board, Fund Council and ISPC are considered in FTA planning and implementation.  Work with the DG of the Lead Center to design and implement a transparent recruitment process for the FTA Director that is in the best interests of the CRP. Assess FTA performance based on traffic light and annual reports, and conduct other reviews against work plans, making corresponding recommendations to the Lead Center BoT.  Review the performance of FTA participating centers and recommend changes to the Lead Center BoT when justified.  Assess the performance of the FTA director on an annual basis in close coordination with the DG of the lead Center who is the direct supervisor of the FTA director and report accordingly to the CIFOR BoT. Propose the yearly allocation of W1/W2 funding across FTA participating centers to the Lead Center BoT based on recommendation by the MT and its assessment of partners' performance.  Facilitate agreement among FTA partners on equitable mechanisms, processes and decision criteria for funding allocations among FTA participating centers.The ISC operates by consensus. When consensus cannot be reached, the Chair of the ISC will provide a balanced report of the differing views to the Lead Center BoT, because of its overall fiduciary responsibility for the program. The BoT will then make a decision. In the event that the Lead Center is against the consensus of the ISC, CIFOR's BoT will report this to the Consortium Board/Board of the CGIAR System for a decision to be made at that level.The Management Team (MT) is composed of a maximum of 10 members:  Flagship leaders  Strategic partners (Tier 1) not leading a Flagship.The MT meets monthly via video conference, and meets in person at least twice a year in parallel with the Independent Steering Committee (ISC) meetings and/or science meetings. The MT interacts with the ISC at the regular meetings of the ISC. The agenda will be managed by the MT, but the FTA Director and SC can request the inclusion of specific topics.The MT can invite observers and or resource persons as and when required.The MT operates by consensus.The MT reports to the FTA Director, who is the chairperson.When consensus cannot be reached, the ultimate decisions remain with the Lead Center because of its overall fiduciary responsibility for the program or, if the Lead Center is against the consensus, with the ISC.The MT dispute resolution process consists of inviting an independent facilitator to help Participating Centers work through the specific 'sticking point' issue(s).  Facilitate integration across flagships and in sentinel landscapes as well in as cross-CRP partnerships  Monitor internal progress (how the program is doing in its activities, outputs, outcomes and impact)  Manage alignment of the flagships and the crosscutting themes; ensure that the latter are considered at the beginning of research projects rather than in the middle or at the end  Ensure coherence and equity in decision-making within and across flagships and crosscutting themes  Organize and maintain foresight on prospective or emerging issues  Coordinate and organize FTA processes or events whenever needed, e.g. information sharing, access to documents, annual science meeting, etc.The Flagship Leader will serve as an active member of the FTA Management Team (MT) and report to the FTA Director for the proportion of time spent on component coordination. (This could be understood as a 'dotted line' relationship, with the FTA Director providing input to a performance evaluation conducted by the line manager at the host Center). The cost of coordination, including administrative support within reason, will be covered by the FTA management budget following approval by the ISC.In close collaboration with the Flagship team, the other Flagship leaders and the FTA Director, the Flagship Leader facilitates, coordinates and/or leads the following functions:Research animation, coordination, planning and reporting  Provides scientific, conceptual and methodological leadership/coordination, balancing two windows of research that go beyond a narrowly defined Results-Based Management (RBM) approach across all participating centers.  Acts as focal point of communication between the MSU and the scientific team contributing to the Flagship.  Facilitates and welcomes contributions to the planning and execution of the Flagship research agenda and impact pathways from across Participating Centers and partners.  Organizes scientific retreats, workshops, etc., whenever deemed appropriate.  Monitors progress on impact pathways in consultation with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment team.  Provides consolidated reports as and when requested by the CRP Director.  Contributes to CRP-level coordination and integration. Provides inputs to the FTA Director for annual budget development and the allocation of Windows 1 & 2 (W1/W2) funds.  Develops criteria for the evaluation of bilateral projects to qualify for 'bridging' W1/W2 funds.  Informs the FTA director about the development of new bilateral projects and prepares the elements for evaluation by the MSU of the relevance of these new projects for FTA.  Provides inputs to the FTA Director and the Centers' management teams for the continuous monitoring of funding levels and the assessment of funding needs.  Facilitating communication on proposal development and fundraising opportunities and encouraging partnering among centers. Recognized competence in relevant scientific disciplines and familiarity with policy arenas and practitioner communities relevant for impact  Excellent interpersonal skills with a proven track record of facilitating participation in collaborative endeavors  Good research management record.The Flagship leader will be appointed for an initial period of two years.At the end of the appointment period (or upon request of one of the parties as necessary and appropriate), a performance evaluation will take place involving inputs from the host center, the Flagship team members, the Management Team and the Steering Committee as a basis for extension or reassignment of the appointment. Profile: Although management duties are occupying more and more of my time, I never stopped being involved in active research. I am especially interested in issues related to management of integrated natural resources and how it relates to sustainable forest management in the tropics. My main disciplines are ecology, botany, biometrics, tropical forest management and silviculture. I regularly supervise MSc and PhD students on the above topics. This implementation plan is to support the free flow of information and contribute to the sharing and verification of research findings. It is intended to increase the visibility of FTA and facilitate the dissemination and recognition of its research and outputs as widely as possible.Open access and open data is vitally important to increasing the visibility, accessibility and impact of FTA research. The FAIR principles will guide the implementation activities on open access and open data through FTA. It will act as a guide to data publishers and stewardship. CIFOR as FTA leader will actively promote FAIR and Data Stewardship principles within FTA members, partners and collaborators by:  Ensuring data quality and reinforcing the preservation of FTA outputs by supporting governance and best practices for managing research outputs  Accommodating knowledge discovery by encouraging the development of technology and infrastructure for FAIR Data Stewardship  Increasing the visibility of FTA outputs by leveraging the use and reuse of the outputs Research output covering the implementation plan applies to publications, data and databases, codes of methodology algorithms, digitizing research material, pictures, and audio and video as outputs of FTA research activity. Unless subject to the terms of contractual obligations, output generated by FTA centers is the property of the FTA centers and subject to the IP policies of those centers. Where the FTA center is involved in a joint research project, an agreement should be reached in writing with the collaborating organizations detailing issues to do with authorship and intellectual property, confidentiality and copyright, responsibility for ethics and safety clearances, dissemination of results and reporting to appropriate agencies.Whenever possible, outputs will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license that allows others to reuse, re-distribute, translate, and adapt the work subject to the outputs being fully attributed. This license is chosen due to the nature of its 'right to offer', which ensures maximum dissemination.When research outputs could not be made openly accessible because they are subject to confidentiality or are of a highly sensitive nature, two kinds of restricted access can be given:1. Through an access agreement: Allows the data owners to specify the terms of access 2. Researcher-mediated access: Access allowed after approval from researchers, ensuring that the data is used correctly through the provision of further context.To prevent misuse of data, the following precautions will be applied: A specific citation for all data will be provided  A permission statement will be providedFTA research outputs will be retained by FTA centers in a durable, indexed and retrievable form. Centers will manage the repositories and ensure its accessibility. Centers will provide the necessary resources, including through advice and training, for research data management consistent with the CGIAR OADM policies and guideline.FTA publication and/or data repositories -as listed in Table 2 -comply with Open Archives Initiative metadata harvesting protocol (OAI-PMH) standards and Dublin Core and have the ability to transform into CGIAR Core Metadata. A crosswalk to the CG Core Metadata Elements will be developed by each Center. An Application Profile will list and describe the use of the various metadata elements based on both the Dataverse Metadata and CG Core.CIFOR as FTA leader has developed a good collaboration with the Google Scholar Technical Team to ensure publications are indexed and monitored through Google Scholar. This collaboration has helped CIFOR monitor its citation performance and helped other Centers to improve their availability and accessibility. This has been proven by assisting the CGSpace team in fixing a bug in the CGSpace repository.Agrovoc and CAB Thesaurus are used to describe the content of the output. The two different thesaurus used by FTA Centers are not considered a compatibility problem. A conversion table used in AGRICOLA can be used to reconcile descriptors from the two thesaurus.All information within FTA will be assigned a unique 'owner' who will be the guardian of the information on behalf of the FTA and will be responsible for ensuring that the information is managed in accordance with CGIAR and partner policies. In general, the preservation strategies within FTA centers will be as follows:1. Selecting appropriate preservation media to cover at least 10 years 2. Open standards file formats are preferable to proprietary ones 3. The capacity of the media and the physical size of the archival storage should be appropriate for the quantity of data to be stored 4. The maintenance of archival storage for deposited content should be within reasonable limits of difficulty and expense. 5. The digital object should be accompanied by descriptive metadata about the object connected to it.Two methods of backup are applied for all outputs, on campus backup and off campus backup, using a third-party service provider.As FTA lead center, CIFOR will draw key output information from all partner centers from the beginning of the project through its project management systems. At project closure, outputs will be linked to the supporting platform so that all bibliographic data and research outputs can be accessed. In FTA II we will concentrate on ensuring that all participating centers are improving the open access open data implementation plan. With the Data Management Task force and Open Access working group already in place, the respective center members will lead in the operationalization of OA-OD implementation plans, which will enable the centers to better plan for their OA-OD needs. To ensure readiness, each center will conduct a baseline survey on the current position on open access and open data in order to identify areas to improve and streamline workflows.To better manage the implementation of open access and open data, a group with representation from the FTA Management Services, Communications, IT, Fundraising and Project Management Office, Legal assistance, Data Expert and Research to Impact team will work together to ensure compliance.As a subject specialist, the data expert is responsible for ensuring overall data integrity and conformity of information gathered by their portfolio. The Library Team is responsible for managing repositories, maintaining procedures and providing training and support. The Information Technology Unit is responsible for developing and maintaining a centrally supported institutional repository for the provision of open and/or controlled access to secure storage of research data. Researchers work with the Project Management Office and Legal Assistance to ensure that -where projects span several institutions -an agreement is developed at the outset covering the ownership and storage of research data and primary materials within each institution in accordance with CGIAR policies and guidelines.Annually, FTA centers spend almost USD$2 million per year on OA/OD implementation (see Table 3), with approximately USD$250,000 from the w1-2 of the cross-cutting platform (see Table 4). The rest is funded via research support costs and bilateral funding (of which USD$90,000 will likely be secured via the Gates Foundation contribution to OA). The right infrastructure, applications and technologies are needed to encourage the cultural and operational changes required to effectively manage and share data specifically for the transition period, in which the current repository -Dataverse -needs to be enhanced to be able to answer all the demands of data management processes. Relevance of IA management to FTA (issues to address in FTA implementation and anticipated challenges)The adoption of CGIAR IA Principles establishes a common standard with respect to all IAs produced or acquired by the Consortium and CGIAR Centers. CIFOR is committed and in compliance with the CGIAR IA Principles through the adoption of the CIFOR IA Management Policy to facilitate and assist in implementation of best practices in managing IAs.The CGIAR IA Principles are part of the Common Operational Framework, which applies to all funding and implementation aspects of the Strategy and Results Framework, including FTA, regardless of funding source or implementing entity.Challenges may appear particularly when dealing with the non-CGIAR partners, as they are not governed by the IA Principles rule. Thus, it is important to ensure that the IAs they produce are for global access.FTA project outputs shall be managed consistent with the CGIAR IA Principles and CIFOR IA Management Policy. At contract level, IAs are managed through IA/IP provisions stipulated in collaboration agreements that CIFOR and its strategic partners sign. To ensure that the IA provisions are to maximize global access of FTA research results, the agreements shall be reviewed systematically for approval before being signed by the authorized representatives of both parties.CIFOR recognizes that it is important to connect more with the partner centers to ensure that IPR are managed correctly across FTA and hence, the following mechanisms will help to assure compliance with CGIAR IA Principles and CIFOR IA Management Policy: a) CIFOR will obtain the agreement templates used by non-CGIAR partners, namely CIRAD and CATIE, ensuring global access for all FTA-related outputs; b) CIFOR will monitor that the outputs are compliant with the IP clauses in the signed agreements by having partner centers report to CIFOR for their compliance with the IP clause for global access.To better manage IAs, CIFOR has initiated the tracking of background IP to feature the background IP information through the Project Management (PM) System so that in the future, background IP will be recorded prior to commencement of project activities.CIFOR's resulting IP have been recorded in two different management systems, i.e. PM System managed by the Team Leader of the Program Management and Coordination (PMC) unit, and Data and Information Service managed by Data and Information Service Manager. To better track and manage CIFOR's resulting IA/IP, a plan to link the resulting IAs/IPs in CIFOR's PM System and OA has been initiated and is currently under development.To share and leverage knowledge on IA/IP and OA, trainings/workshops will be planned together with the Data and Information Services Manager for capacity development ensuring compliance of IA Principles across FTA.To achieve global access, FTA research results are disseminated through means of Open Access with prompt dissemination in compliance with Art. 6.1 of the CGIAR IA Principles. Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) that may impede publication for global access shall be avoided as much as possible. CIFOR does not enter into Limited Exclusivity Agreements (LEA) nor Restricted Use Agreements (RUA) as its research results are not for commercialization purpose, and it does not incorporate third party IAs.CIFOR has a Monitoring Evaluating and Impact Assessment (MEIA) unit to monitor, evaluate and assess the research results of FTA to achieve outcomes and impacts, either directly or through intermediaries. To strengthen the dissemination pathways and to maximize global accessibility, CIFOR shall ensure that its MEIA unit is guided carefully by the IP unit to ensure that the IAs managed allow dissemination to target beneficiaries. There may be cases where authorships and licensing with certain conditions and restrictions apply. In this regard, CIFOR complies with the rules binding it as CIFOR recognizes the importance of a balance between maintaining the value of global accessibility of research outputs on one hand, and proactively achieving targeted impacts by making use of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and licensing to better ensure that the outcomes of research reach those who need them most.CIFOR invests in its Center capacity to implement the policies indicated in item 5 below through human, financial and hardware and software resources. In terms of ownership, all IPR derived from resulting IAs from partnership collaborations are mostly jointly owned or CIFOR owned. If the ownership of IP Rights is owned by one party, the party will grant to the other party a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to use and sublicense the resulting Intellectual Assets to the other Party. The party introducing background IP grants the other party a license to use and sublicense the background IP for the purpose of the research project.Consultants hired through Human Resources (HR) under the FTA grant of CIFOR shall enter into consultancy agreements that contain standard IA management provisions. Ownership of IPR in resulting IAs is vested in CIFOR, and the consultant is granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to use and sublicense the resulting IAs for the purposes of research and education.FTA outputs are recorded and maintained in the FTA Project Database system managed by the FTA Management Support Unit (MSU). The system has been specifically designed for FTA so that accountability for outputs is transparent. Progress in meeting the outputs specified in the Plan of Work and Budget (POWB) can be measured via the traffic light report that is run at least twice per calendar year. Key measures put in place to ensure accountability are: Outputs that are included in the POWB are not able to be modified.  Outputs that are overdue but are in progress are rolled over into the following year's POWB.  Outputs must be linked to bilateral projects or W1/2 funded activities.The system is accessible to CIFOR and CGIAR partners, including the non-CGIAR partners to the FTA.Subject to IA Principles, publications will be open access. FTA is currently developing an open data platform based on big data principles that will allow the public to visualize, analyze and collaborate using available FTA data. More information is available in the Open Access section below.Each year, CIFOR provides an IA report to the Consortium, reporting its application and compliance of CGIAR IA Principles, particularly that the requirements of provisions of Article 5 and 6 have been met for the reported time of year. A Statement of Assurances is also to be submitted to the Consortium annually by CIFOR's Board of Trustees assuring compliance with CGIAR IA Principles.CIFOR adopts and ensures that the coordination of IA management in FTA is subject to the following policies:In pursuing the CGIAR Vision, the CGIAR IA Principles and their Implementation Guidelines have been adopted since 7 March 2012 as part of the Common Operational Framework. The IA Principles and Guidelines govern the management of IAs across FTA with its strategic partners, consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its objectives, including the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Furthermore, the IA Principles and their Guidelines are also consistent with fundamental human rights as stated in particular in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other relevant international treaties.Enforced since 23 December 2013, CIFOR endorses and complies with the CGIAR IA Principles and their Implementation Guidelines through CIFOR IA Management Policy in order to facilitate and assist in the implementation of best practices in CIFOR's management of the IAs it generates.To achieve global access for maximum impact, CIFOR is subject to the CGIAR Open Access Policy to enhance the visibility, accessibility and impact of its research and development activities.Open Access improves the speed, efficiency and efficacy of research. It enables interdisciplinary research, assists novel computation of the research literature, and allows the global public to benefit from CGIAR research.CIFOR is committed to disseminating its research results as widely as possible through Open Access and hence, this Policy has been developed consistent with CGIAR IA Policy and CGIAR OA Policy, to support the free flow of information and increase the diffusion of research results and outputs.In This policy provides guidance and procedure in managing the business processes of all institutional agreements internally at CIFOR through the Project Management System that involves systematic processes of clearances of the terms and conditions and overall legality of agreements to ensure compliances to the policies listed in this section and standard practices; approval process by all levels of CIFOR authorized representatives upon clearances; and signing process by CIFOR-authorized representatives prior to commencement of activities and research projects.CIFOR implemented its Project Management Guidelines and Procedures on 10 May 2013 to effectively manage and guide the submission of a grant application for funding in response to a funding opportunity, including mapping of project contributions to FTA where all projects included in FTA are expected to contribute to FTA's high-level result (Intermediate Development Outcomes) through defined impact pathways. The FTA Management Support Unit has developed a set of project information fields that -once populated by FTA projects -will allow all FTA staff to better plan, monitor and learn from their activities. These information fields have been incorporated into the PM System in order to better facilitate data collection by integrating the PM System and the FTA's information systems.To ensure that research data generated by CIFOR and its FTA strategic partners are stored, retained, and made accessible for use and reuse, according to legal, statutory, and ethical requirements, including those of funding bodies and formal research agreements, CIFOR has adopted its Research Data Management Policy enforced since 1 July 2013. This policy also helps ensure data from FTA research projects become and remain an asset for both CIFOR and the broader research community, consistent with CGIAR's commitment to open access.The Data Management Guidelines and Procedures follows the principles outlined in the Research Data Management Policy, explaining the implementation of research data management (RDM) practices.The procedure of IA management in terms of its decision-making involves a robust and systematic review and clearance process through chain of approvals from all levels through the Project Management System in accordance with the policies listed above. Managing the delivery of all deliverables and outputs committed in agreements is considered very important by CIFOR, particularly in assuring compliance with CGIAR IA Principles.IA and IP issues are managed by two CIFOR staff. It is the delegated responsibility of the Team Leader of the Program Management and Coordination (PMC) unit who is also the IP focal point, and she is advised by an in house Legal Officer. Implementation is supported by the Data and Information Services Manager.For capacity development, training shall be planned to leverage knowledge and ensure effective and consistent IA management across FTA. This can be conducted by working together with the CIFOR Data and Information Services Manager who manages open access.The amount of funding needed to fulfill the FTA requirements in terms of IA management is estimated at USD 350,000 annually. In this annex we set out our vision of the aspirational impacts of FTA. However, given the nature of the problems and complexity of processes, we must first provide a word of caution: the following estimates can only present indicative impact values and provide chains of causality to explain why we believe FTA will result in impact.The FTA contribution to the SRF aspirational targets for 2022 is summarized in Table 1, and the bases for calculations are detailed below. Recent global assessments suggest that there is 10 percent or more tree cover on over 43 percent of agricultural land (about a billion ha) that is home to 900 million people 1 , and that up to 28 percent of household income is derived from forest resources for smallholders living at forest margins 2 . FAO 3 estimates that grasslands are by far the largest agricultural use of land (26 percent of all land globally and >70 percent of agricultural land) and contribute to the livelihoods of 800 million people. Tree crops produce important globally traded commodities including cocoa, coffee, coconut, rubber and oil palm that form the basis of smallholder livelihoods. Cocoa and coffee alone cover 20 million ha and are the mainstay of over 30 million smallholder households. Coconut contributes a critical source of income and nutrientrich food for 50 million people. A large part of the world's oil palm is cultivated by smallholders representing millions of smallholder growers. Trees in pastures are ubiquitous in the Sahel and much of Latin America and provide fodder and shade for animals as well as sustaining soil fertility and contributing to biodiversity conservation. The world is covered by approximately four billion hectares of forests, of which 95 percent is natural forest and 5 percent plantations 4 . Work under FTA is taking place in countries that together represent approximately 46 percent of global forest cover, including approximately 1.3 billion ha of closed forests among which 400 million ha are designated for logging and 500 million ha open and fragmented forests. 41 million more farm households have adopted improved varieties, breeds or trees, and/or improved management practices FTA research influences the design and adoption of standards and criteria for sustainable forest management, either indirectly through trade and investment (Flagship 3) or directly through forest management (Flagships 3, 4) that will, if adopted, reduce degradation of FT&A resources. Forest certification schemes -among the most significant non-state market-driven processes in place as an important platform for standard setting and governance -have had an adoption rate of 23 percent after 15 years 5 . Assuming that research conducted within FTA will contribute to informing stakeholders such as participants in commodity roundtables and enterprises, as well as forest managers and policymakers, and will successfully influence the decision-making process at a similar rate of success (20 percent), our research may contribute to the adoption of ecologically and socially sustainable production and management practices in about 30 million hectares of managed forests occupied by about three to four million people in targeted closed forest regions.FTA research shows that trees (fertilizer trees, tree fodder, fruit trees) can play a significant role in agricultural systems by increasing production, closing yield gaps and maintaining soil fertility. Using our option by context approach to scaling up improved management practices and use of appropriate genetic material, we estimate that FTA has the potential to provide benefits to approximately 100 million people (intersection of the smallholder population on agricultural land with FTA targeted agro-ecosystems, treecrop commodity smallholders and people at forest margins). 22 million people, of which 50 percent are women, helped to exit poverty FTA work in dry Africa parklands shows that the average value of harvested tree products per household is between USD$135 to $250/yr -1 . In Kenya, households earn more money selling fruit than from selling maize. Our work on tree crops and developing diversified production systems combined with improved livelihood opportunities involving timber, fruit and NTFPs will contribute to a 25 percent increase in income for over five million smallholder households (about 25 million people representing 25 percent of our target population for adoption). Improve the rate of yield increase by an additional 0.18% / yearAlthough we don't work directly with the major food staples, we showed that the presence of appropriate trees in fields accounts for 15 to 30 percent of cereal yields and is crucial to closing yield gaps in several agricultural systems. The development of diversified and more sustainable tree crop systems using proper genetic material will also translate into increased production. By adding appropriate fodder trees into pasture to complement grass feed, we also increase the productivity of the system. Through sustainable forest management practices (e.g. reduced impact logging), we will maintain timber production with less damage to the forest. For all these production systems, we have estimated reasonable and conservative but significant targets looking for an increase in (1) cereal production through the use of appropriate trees in agricultural systems over 10 million ha; (2) tree crop system productivity by 75 percent over 450,000 ha and by 50 percent over 1.25 million ha; (3) livestock productivity by 25 percent for two million smallholder farmers; and (4) sustainable forest management practices adopted over at least 30 million ha. 19 million more people, of which 50 percent are women, meeting minimum dietary energy requirementsIn Phase 1, using DHS surveys and remote sensing, we demonstrated the clear relationship between tree cover and food security and diet diversity 6 . We demonstrated the importance of wild and cultivated biodiversity to the dietary requirements of smallholders and forest dwellers 7 . We also showed a link between the availability of bushmeat, the hunting pressure and the level of stunting in the Congo Basin 8 . Thanks to the work in several flagships related to maintaining and sustainably managing wild resources and developing diversified agricultural production systems sustained by trees, we consider conservatively that we can reduce by 20 percent the number of food insecure months and meet minimum dietary requirement for a target population of about 19 million people. 0.225 percent increase in either water or nutrient use efficiency is achieved Flagship 2's work on better management of trees on farms will lead to improvements in water use efficiency 9 . In addition, trees that root more deeply than crops capture nutrients leached below the crop rooting zone and return them to the soil surface via litter, improving nutrient use efficiency 10 . In the 15 countries that Flagship 2 works in, a 5 percent average increase in use efficiency will be achieved over 12.23 million hectares by 2022. These improvements make up 0.225 percent of the 5 percent SRF target. Reduce agricultural-related greenhouse gas emissions by 0.2 -0.6 Gt CO2-e yr -1 (5 percent) compared with business-as-usual scenario in 2022FTA contribution in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions can be reasonably set at 0.3 Gt CO2 yr -1 and comes (i) from better managed FT&A systems (increased certification, adoption of sustainable management practices on at least 30 million ha) for about 0.02 Gt CO2 yr -1 of averted emissions 11 ; (ii) from the restoration of 30 million ha of forests to 10 percent of their standing stocks for about 0.47 Gt CO2 sequestered; (iii) from avoided deforestation for about 0.2-0.4 Gt CO2 yr -1 .We consider that our participation in the Global Partnership for Forest Landscape Restoration and various restoration initiatives under the Bonn Challenge (59.58 million ha in commitments in July 2015) 12 will allow us to contribute, in partnership with WLE, to the restoration of 30 million ha of degraded forests (including at least one million ha of peat swamp forests and one million ha of mangroves) by 2022. This will result in an additional provision of ecosystem services lost when forests were degraded. The latest estimate 13 of the value of ecosystem services stemming from tropical forests is 5,300 ha -1 yr -1 , from mangroves USD$193,800 ha -1 yr -1 and from peat swamps USD$25,500 ha -1 yr -1 . Restoring these forests to 25 percent of their initial value would represent a gain in restored ecosystem service values of USD$92 billion ha -1 yr -1 . 2.0 -2.5 million ha of forest saved from deforestation FTA research is intended to directly influence policy and processes that lead to reduced deforestation (Flagship 5) and improved management practices (Flagship 3). The current annual tropical deforestation rate is estimated at about 13 million hectares 14 . Given that our target countries account for about 55 percent of global tropical forest cover (about one billion ha) and assuming conservatively that our research can contribute to reducing the annual deforestation rate by 10-30 percent, an estimated 0.5-1.6 million hectares of forest can be saved annually from deforestation resulting 15 in reduced emissions of about 0.2-0.6 Gt CO2 yr -1 (5-15 percent of current emissions from land use change) and an ecosystem service value of USD$15.9 billion yr -1 .As set out in Annex 1 to the Final Guidance for the 2 nd Call for Full Proposals, the collective portfolio submitted by the Centers/partners in response to this call for full proposals must be accompanied by a summary of how the 23 caveats raised in that annex by the respective stakeholders have been addressed. This annex sets out those caveats, grouped by the body putting forward the topic for added attention in the full proposals. Centers' summary of how the matters has been adequately addressed to FTA I, avoiding major disruption and ensuring consistencies with the internal organization of the main FTA partners but also incorporating major changes. These changes are 1) the creation of a crosscutting support platform to improve prioritization, impact at scale and social inclusion; 2) the creation of a Flagship on tree genetic resources; 3) the positioning of a significant part of the tenure work in PIM; 4) a reassessment of the Flagship on Forest Management and Restoration and the merging of its two clusters into other Flagships and 5) a greater emphasis on the production side of FT&A systems looking at forest and tree products from different entry points: smallholder livelihood systems using multiple products; global value chains and high-value tree crops (oil palm, cocoa, rubber); forest management, timber and biodiversity. We have completely reworked our hypotheses and targets at the CRP level (cf. Sections 1.1, 1.2 and related annexes) and we have provided testable hypotheses at the Flagship and Cluster of Activities levels. The overall ToC and the FP level ToCs have been homogenized and special care has been given in highlighting the possible pathways between outputs and end of program outcomes. We have specified assumptions underlying the CRP-level ToC in the last table of the narrative in Section 1.3. These are the key conditions that we assume are important for a lower-level result to translate into a higher-level one, and a significant part of the M&E efforts will focus on monitoring whether these assumptions are holding.We put great attention to specifying, explicitly in different sections (e.g. in the FP rationales, challenges, backgrounds and in the narrative of the different CoAs) our research on the different factors that shape the enabling environment and may influence the achievement of outcomes. We made explicit reference to policy frameworks and regulations or processes impacting the sub-optimal management of Forests, Trees and Agroforestry resources, and we are explicitly addressing the political economy of managing forests for climate change mitigation in FP5 (cf. Figure 1 in FP5). These different processes are informing our Theories of Change, so to identify what are the opportunities in the policy and institutional environmental that could contribute to making progress towards the achievement of FTA expected end of program outcomes.The Sentinel Landscapes (SL) characterized in FTA I represent a five percent sample of the tropics in terms of area and people, with a fair balance (and quantified bias) across ecological zones (Figure 1 in FP4) and forest transition stages. All FP's can now benefit from the theory of place that is derived from the portfolio of SL. The SL quantify the context in which FP2 seeks to enhance options for livelihoods and jointly with FP1 understand (GxE)xM interactions between germplasm, environment and management. They also form a background for the value chains FP3 aims to understand, while the FP will add areas where specific commodities have prima donna status. The integrated response options to climate change in FP5 will benefit from the interactions with all other FP's through the SL. Ultimately, however, the success of SL as interesting frame will depend on opportunities for bilateral funding beyond predetermined geographic focus of donors/investors. We expect that the relationship between observatory SL and more easily adaptable learning landscapes will help to further increase coherence in FTA II.Key elements of FP4 have been merged into other flagships, and the modifications of FP2 and FP5 (formerly, FP5 and FP7 in the pre-proposal numbering system) are explained in the relevant sections hereinafter.FP1 (SP1 in the pre-proposal), our supporting platform, is not considered a Flagship anymore because of the instructions given following the Rome meetings in 2015. However we still consider this crosscutting work of the utmost importance (like the ISPC \"The opportunities to leverage additional funds may be limited for this key component program, and in those respects, the budget for this FP may be too small and it also probably merits priority for W1/2 funds going to FTA.\"). We have therefore proposed a higher percentage (39 percent) of w1-2 allocation compared to other FPs and have also managed to secure more than USD$3.5 million in bilateral funds.The case of FP4 \"Management and restoration of forests\" has been examined by our Independent Steering Committee and a recommendation made to and agreed by the CIFOR Board of Trustees to discontinue the pursuit of this FP for the full proposal. We immediately consulted with WLE for the restoration part but unfortunately the WLE management was not ready to accept the shifting of our restoration work into WLE for budgetary reasons. As we considered Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) an important and politically supported issue we decided to recalibrate and redistribute the FLR work as follows: 1) production of improved germplasm for FLR into our FP1 Tree Genetic Resources; 2) FLR methods and governance related issues into our (new) FP4 Landscapes. The other part of FP4 \"Management and restoration of forests\" about sustainable forest management and the production of wood and timber has been incorporated in our (new) FP3 Sustainable Value Chains. FLR also continues to be addressed in the climate change policy context of FP5. Thanks to this new redistribution the salient part of the FLR agenda of the former FP4 has been preserved.Note: Areas highlighted as requiring more work during ISPC pre-proposal review are given below in bold italics, each followed by a summary of our response to the issue. Numbering is following the one of the full proposal.The flagship was rated A. Some strong points were identified and some suggestions made for improvement. The main comments are reproduced below together with an explanation of how we have addressed themThere is no impact pathway diagram for the FP or CoAs and some impact claims are debatable.We have developed an impact pathway diagram for the flagship, using a common format adopted by other FTA Phase II flagship proposals, and inserted it into the proposal as part of the theory of change (see also below on linkages). A separate wider schematic description of the flagship was also developed but not integrated into the proposal itself.For each of the three CoAs, we now explicitly list the underlying assumptions and hypotheses that relate to the given research questions.Linkages between FP1 and other flagships within the FTA Phase II portfolio are indicated with regard to specific areas of collaborative research (see Table 3 in FP1). In addition, Table 3 in FP1 describes reciprocal linkages with other CRPs and platforms. We have also illustrated nested linkages beginning at the CoA level and extending to other CRPs and platforms in a schematic that we have not integrated into the proposal but is available below for reviewers. This diagram helps to explain interactions that support the flagship's impact. To elaborate in more detail than is possible in the proposal on the interactions between FP1 and other FTA Phase II flagships and Supporting Platform 1 (Table 3  We have expanded the problem statement of the flagship in the 'rationale and scope' section of the proposal. In the same section, we have explicitly described five developments that provide an enabling environment for the flagship.We now give attention to IP and ABS issues in all CoA, with regard to possible constraints of such arrangements on impact, and in the development of arrangements that are supportive of smallholders and rural communities. We have added an extra research question to CoA 1.2 (domestication) on the appropriate measures to support wider participation of smallholders and local communities in developing new and unique 'cultivars' of a wide range of tree species, of which the protection of intellectual property is one aspect. Reference to how these issues will be addressed along with the Genebank platform is given in Table 3 in FP1. The section of the proposal on 'intellectual assets and open access management' provides further information. Work on tree commodity crops such as cacao and coconut provide models for newly domesticated trees and lesser-used species, indicating advantages and disadvantages of particular ABS arrangements.Working up the pre-proposal into the full proposal involved a meeting of a selection of flagship members between 18 and 22 January 2016 at ICRAF HQ in Nairobi.In the full proposal there are nine rather than seven research questions as in the pre-proposal, three under each CoA. One extra question has been added each to CoA 1.1 (safeguarding) and CoA 1.2 (domestication). Under CoA 1.1, the extra question regards stakeholder engagement, an issue that participants determined required specific attention. Under CoA 1.2, the extra question concerns smallholder and local community participation in domestication (this addition already discussed above).With the removal from the full FTA Phase II proposal of the pre-proposal flagship on restoration, some important aspects of work on restoration that are related to TGR are now incorporated in Flagship 1. This is most clearly evident in CoA 1.3 covering the development of appropriate tree planting material delivery pathways for restoration projects.The flagship was rated A. Some strong points were identified and some suggestions made for improvement. The main comments are reproduced below together with an explanation of how we have addressed them.We note this and have sought to retain this clarity.We note this and have retained the articulation of the concept but moved it from the ToC section to the rationale. We have now articulated the ToC separately see below.We have completely revised the ToC section (2.3), replacing the RinD diagram with a more conventional ToC formulation following an agreed format for FTA as a whole (Figure 2 in FP2) as well as adding an impact pathway diagram (Figure 3 in FP2) and accompanying table that anatomizes risks and assumptions. The narrative sets out clearly why and how research can effect change and what is required to get from the research to desired impact. We have added hypotheses for each CoA in Section 2.6.We have added a six-point risk management strategy for partner engagement and delivery in Section 2.3 and tabulated risks with respect to the impact pathways shown in Figure 3 in FP2.By adding CoA hypotheses we clarify the novelty in approach now being taken in these two CoAs that leads to innovation not previously achieved. Much of this is achieved by addressing the research questions through an 'options by context' lens. We have shown traction in respect of making impact in both CoAs through research in Phase 1. For example, research on sustainability of smallholder timber in the Peruvian Amazon (CoA 2.2) leading to legislative reform legalizing the sale of timber from managed fallows, raising smallholder income. In CoA2.3, pioneering research on farmer preferences for companion trees in cocoa led to a new national strategy for cocoa agroforestry in Cote d'Ivoire that previously focused on full sun systems. Recent predictions that climate change will impact cocoa in West Africa through higher temperatures, that management of shade can buffer (cited in the proposal), gives new impetus to these research lines.We have articulated the connections with FP1 in the first paragraph of Section 2.5, and included reference to this in Figure 3 in FP2 (the impact pathway diagram in Section 2.3). We made specific reference to collaboration in CoA 2.2 (timber and fruit) in Section 2.6 as well as on climate proofing (Section 2.8).We have included examples and references to specifics of research on enabling environments (Section 2.5) including reference to relevant details in published phase 1 research. We make specific reference to analysis of gender roles in NRM and efficacy of NRM in relation to gender and connect this to agency, including citation of published phase 1 research that frames this (Section 2.9). We refer explicitly to increasing the control that women have over production and income from trees and forests in Section 2.2 including resource allocation to gender outcomes. We refer to gender specifically in research questions (CoA 2.1) and lessons learned (Section 2.5) as well as in framing the ToC and impact pathways (Section 2.3).We have tabulated capacity development needs in Section 2.3 and explain how we address them in Section 2.10.We have consolidated the project portfolio amongst the different centers and managing partners across the flagship (ICRAF, CIFOR, CATIE, INBAR, TROPENBOS) and more accurately allocated budget in relation to the five outcomes that now range in size from 15-25 percent of total budget. Allocations are explained in Section 2.2.The flagship was rated B. Some strong points were identified and some suggestions made for improvement. The main comments are reproduced below together with an explanation of how we have addressed them.We have provided very specific and quantifiable outcomes that will be produced by Flagship 3 (see Section 2.2 on objectives and targets), and made a detailed explanation about the way in which these different outcomes contribute to the achievement of five IDOs and seven sub-IDOs. We consider that conducting work on sustainable value chains, business models and responsible finance can contribute in significant ways to achieve these sub-IDOs, given the type of outputs to be produced under three CoAs.While we consider that there are interesting opportunities for linking with current FP2 on livelihood and production systems, we have specified the different ways in which our work links with other Flagships in FTA and other CRPs (see Section 2.6, final paragraph, and also Figure 3). We made explicit links with all other FTA Flagships, specifically with: (1) FP1 (Tree Genetic Resources) by exploring opportunities from improved tree-planting material in some value chains; (2) FP2 (Livelihood Systems), through assessing the performance of smallholder production systems that embrace high-value trees (i.e. cocoa, coconut, coffee, oil palm) under different business models; (3) FP4 by exploring the impacts of global value chains in environmental services at the landscape level, and initiatives to deal with them such as certification, and; (4) FP5 by providing analysis of the effectiveness of governance arrangements in supporting the transition to more sustainable supply chains, and thus on reduced GHG emissions.We appreciate this comment since the pre-proposal did not articulate in a strong way a Theory of Change. Thus, the current version provides a much more elaborated Theory of Change, which acknowledges several economic, social, political and institutional barriers for achieving impacts, yet it also recognizes that there are opportunities that can be leveraged to trigger some transformative change. In this light, FP3 builds on identified processes on which there is opportunity to make a difference, and that can have multiplier effects on the political and economic systems, at different levels. The first is taking advantage of the possibility to build bridges between public policy, voluntary standard systems and corporate selfregulations. The second is taking advantage of the emergence of business and private sector-related platforms that are demanding for research to enhance their decision-making in order to improve their environmental performance. The third, is supporting ongoing processes in the finance sector to contribute to ESG integration as well as emerging financing schemes to support smallholders and SMEs. We will link our work in finance to an initiative that is being developed at CIFOR through The Landscape Fund as a way to scale up responsible finance and investments.We are engaging partners with strong expertise in quantitative analysis and modeling, and finance. As mentioned above, CIFOR is linking the work to be conducted under The Landscape Fund to Flagship 3. This will bring different key partners to our work on finance such as the European Investment Bank, Innpact and UNEP-FI. This latter area of research will be strengthened by CIFOR hiring one finance expert. In addition, we are partnering with PROFUNDO, a consultancy group with experience in finance, and with SNV, which is developing pilot projects for innovative financing of smallholders. In addition, economic analysis will be conducted with other partners of FP3 with strong economic modeling expertise such as IIASA, SEI and the Copernicus Institute.There is more explicit attention in the current version of the FP3 proposal on the need to conduct financial and economic feasibility studies across different types of business models in order to identify their financial and economic feasibility, as well as their opportunities to deliver improved social and environmental outcomes. Specific questions and outputs about this analysis have been built as part of CoA 3.2 on business models.In the current version, we don't take for granted that we will be able to find business models able to achieve sustainability and social inclusion outcomes, but also consider that other contextual factors such as enabling policy and the governance of value chains have to be improved to make that possible. We also recognize, based on lessons from the first phase, that there are some risks associated with supporting greater integration of smallholders and SMEs in global value chains (see Section 2.5 Lessons learned and unintended consequences). As a consequence, we suggest that targeted interventions are required to better manage the social and environmental trade-offs that arise from the adoption of alternative business models. More effective interventions are those combining actions at the company level with others to build social business capabilities.We have provided a very detailed explanation of the partners that will be part of Flagship 3 implementation. Each of the clusters of activity will engage specific partners not only for conducting research, but also knowledge sharing and policy engagement, and those for supporting capacity development actions (See Section 2.7 on Partnerships). In addition, we have also specified the links to be established with CCAFS FP3 (low emissions development), specifically under CoA 3.3 for conducting research on options to enhance supply chain governance to avoid deforestation, with emphasis on beef production in the Amazon and palm oil in Indonesia. Also, we have specified the links with PIM FP3 (inclusive and efficient value chains), specially under CoA 3.3, with the primary focus on assessing business models for participation of smallholders in forest and tree crop products, and financial schemes, with potential for scaling up.We appreciate this comment. We now have specified in different sections (e.g. in the rationale, challenges, background, and theory of change, as well as in the narrative of the different CoAs) the different factors that shape the enabling environment and that may influence the achievement of outcomes. We have made explicit reference to policy frameworks and regulations, business processes linked to the formulation and implementation of voluntary standard systems, private sector commitments to zero deforestation, social demands for greater smallholder integration in the value chain, and civil society organization efforts to improve social and environmental outcomes from investments in forests, agricultural and tree-crop sectors. These different processes are informing our Theory of Change, so to identify what are the opportunities in the policy and institutional environmental that could contribute to making progress toward the achievement of FP3 ambitioned outcomes.The flagship was rated A. Some strong points were identified and some suggestions made for improvement. The main comments are reproduced below together with an explanation of how we have addressed them (while renumbering the comments to FP's in full proposal.As there is no separate \"restoration\" FP in the full FTA proposal and current interest in and political commitment to restoration is substantial, we have integrated most of the research questions and associated bilateral projects in the Landscapes FP. A network of \"learning landscapes\" (CoA4) will connect work on the ground, including INBAR as a new partner for this FP, while integration with this FP can lead to stronger focus on the drivers of degradation that need to be addressed in effective restoration, and clarity on the ecosystem service functions that motivate the efforts.FTA is fully committed to open access data management (with appropriate protection of individuals in socio-economic data). As soon as the data of the first round of SL characterization are cleaned and cured, they will be made available to the wider community.We have elaborated on the ToC and now provide hypotheses and research questions for each CoA. We have added a paragraph on \"unintended consequences\" and what can be done to manage the associated risks.We have engaged in further dialogue with PIM, WLE and A4NH to make sure that the interfaces are cleargenerally with FTA providing contextualized work on the ground and the integrative CRP's conceptualizations and methods that are relevant for a wider set of resource management issues.The flagship was rated B. The ISPC comments helped us identify some points that we could improve, and raised some others that helped us frame our objectives in clearer ways. The ISPCs comments on the flagship are reproduced below together with explanations of how we have addressed them.We appreciate the recognition of the importance of this work in the context of the FTA, and the CRPs as a whole. We have further interacted with CCAFS in the meantime and updated/revised the description of the complementarity between the two programs (see Section 8 in the FP description, and Annex 3.7 in the full FTA proposal).We take note of this concern, and we are aware of the broadened scope. But, the integration of these topics makes even more sense now in light of the Paris Agreement, which calls for Parties to integrate mitigation with adaptation, and both with development objectives and equity considerations. And we are confident that our multidisciplinary approach, developed and matured over Phase 1, is preparing the FP5 team well for this task. Climate change policy always needed to be multi-sectoral (drivers of deforestation are outside of forestry and need to be addressed in the sectors where they occur), and our emerging particular focus on multi-level governance and on multi-stakeholder partnerships is addressing these points already. We will also continue to analyze the work of the Parties (i.e. countries, particularly their elaboration on and implementation of NDCs), the climate convention, the Green Climate Fund, and other international players to provide knowledge that is useful to them, with our outputs tailored to their needs. We expect to produce IPGs valuable at all these levels due to our comparative approach.We appreciate this remark and have revised the list of key research activities (research questions) in all CoAs, and also in CoA1. We believe that together with the list of deliverables and means of their verification (not in FP5 but part of the overall FTA proposal), they provide a clear indication of what can be expected from CoA1 in terms of IPGs. As the Paris Agreement is just out, it remains to be seen how the development landscape evolves, and we are trying to retain a certain flexibility by staying more generic in our descriptions (e.g. flagging 'mitigation' outcomes instead of specifically homing in on, say, REDD+ alone). We hope this approach provides enough firmness in the overall objectives while allowing for enough flexibility to address policy objective changes when they occur so that FP5 outputs will remain relevant (we also make remarks in FP5 Section 3 on the high dynamics of climate change politics in developing countries which require an additional degree of flexibility). Nevertheless, we believe the outcomes (and hence, IPGs) are clearly enough described at the level the templates permit that the FP can be held accountable against them.In CoA 5.2, the hypotheses being tested are not apparent, and FTA will need to make a better case for why \"case studies\" are the best way to understand adaptation. In particular, how will these lead to IPGs.We are thankful for this remark. We have reformulated the hypotheses for all CoAs in clearer ways in the beginning of Section 6. Deriving general lessons from the comparative analysis of commonalities and discrepancies between individual cases has worked well in our mitigation work (e.g. Global Comparative Study on REDD+) in Phase 1, and represents a compelling way to establish a comparative work program for adaptation. Adaptation is always very location-specific and hence case studies will be essential for understanding the risks, vulnerabilities and test interventions under varying local conditions. Higher-level summaries will then allow drawing common conclusions as IPGs.In CoA 5.3, that aims to analyse \"the climate benefits of growing tree-based bioenergy, and of national and international policies governing tree-/biomass-based energy policies\", it is not apparent why these activities are placed in FP7 and not FP3 or even FP2.We explain in the FP5 text that bioenergy will have to play an important role if the Paris goals (2.0/1.5°C goal) are to be reached. It is important to provide a coherent framework for the research on policies of tree-based bioenergy (i.e., woodfuel and charcoal) in the context of the analysis of country-level climate change policies (e.g. NDCs), and hence this topic is best placed with its center of gravity in the climate change flagship, while we intend to reach out across FP boundaries to FP2 and 3 where needed.We beg to differ and think this assessment is not entirely correct, as we build our entire Theory of Change on the enabling policy environment, with our political economy work at its center (cf. Figure 1 in FP5 for a generic rendition of the approach, and CoA1 for details on mitigation policy). We see enabling conditions as crucial to move climate change policy making forward.The question raised (as an example) about incentives for smallholders to engage in mitigation activities are at the center of our studies of benefit sharing mechanisms in the Global Comparative Study on REDD+. The flagship templates unfortunately don't allow to go down to discuss central questions at this level of granularity, but this is clearly contained in our work plans.The question concerning the international climate agreement is now answered by the political reality of the Paris Agreement, to which we will adapt our work, but as this is just emerging, it is too early to lock us into too specific detail at this stage. We believe, however, that the Paris Agreement and the SDGs are opening the floor for a whole new world of potentially very impactful climate change research in support of what countries need to do in order to implement their low-emission development pathways, report and implement them as NDCs, and of what the international community will need in order to adjust to the post-Paris reality of implementation. We hope to have provided a clearer description of this new work in the proposal, as compared to the pre-proposal, e.g. by emphasizing INDC/NDC analysis and how it supports country level work while informing the global arena.We have improved out descriptions of work on gender and youth, particularly giving specific examples of how this informs our work on mitigation and adaptation, e.g. the gender-disaggregated analysis of risks and livelihoods, and working with youth on innovative solutions to climate change problems. It is part of our current work already, and hence we do see the outcomes as realistic.Reporting method. In addition, the team has implemented quasi-experimental assessment methods in relevant contexts, such as on the impact of sustainable forest management on timber harvests in Cameroon, the impact of fruit trees in Central Asia and on an agriculture and food security in Malawi.In addition to the above achievements, the most significant impact the MELIA team had during FTA I was changing the paradigm of scientific research. In less than four years, the team cultivated a more outcome-and impact-orientated focus among scientists. Currently, all research projects must identify the end-of-program outcomes and impacts, impact pathways and strategies to achieve them. Finally, the MELIA team began developing a project database system in August 2014. The database allows FTA management to view the outputs, outcomes, geographical coverage and other information from the project level up to the portfolio -and ultimately CRP -level in real time.The main lesson learned from FTA I is that credible, salient and legitimate research on capacity development, gender and social inclusion, evaluation and impact assessments forms a necessary condition for FTA to achieve better results. Therefore in FTA II significant research capacity will be added to activities that were traditionally playing a supporting role.The research results will feed directly into other FTA flagships and become a significant contributor to FTA's ability to achieve impact at scale. In addition, the research results from this platform will contribute to international public goods, and achieve outcomes and impacts in their own right.Cluster lead: Brian Belcher (CIFOR)Budget 2017: $500,000 (W1/2); $1,042,000 (Bilateral)This CoA contributes to planning, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes and impacts of the whole CRP. To do so, the CoA will conduct three research activities: (i) foresight analysis, (ii) impact assessment, and (iii) policy analysis. The CoA will collaborate closely with all other parts of FTA to identify research topics and in the implementation of its activities.Foresight analysis will be undertaken to: (i) examine the emerging trends in forests, trees and agroforestry, especially to predict their potential impact on the SLOs; and (ii) estimate the potential impact of FTA outputs on the IDOs and SLOs. The results of the foresight analysis will also be used to identify important research areas for FTA to address. The analysis will combine both quantitative methods, such as general or partial equilibrium models, and qualitative methods, such as participatory future scenario building. Trade-offs will be built into the analysis, allowing a simulation of the winners and losers in a particular situation, policy innovation or practice adoption.In addition to foresight, the CoA will engage in ex post outcome and impact assessments to assess the achievements to date of FTA outputs, either individually or grouped by theme, geographical region or time period. These assessments will: contribute to internal learning; improve project design and implementation; support the development, testing and evidencing of innovations, as part of influencing policy and practice and scaling up and out what works; and provide evidence of FTA contributions to outcomes and impacts (IDOs and SLOs) demanded by donors and partners. The theory of change and impact pathway will be the main point of reference for ex post assessments.Finally, the CoA will engage in research on policy change processes, giving special attention to understanding how research contributes to decision making and policies in both public and private sectors, in different contexts and faced with different constraints. The research results will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of FTA outputs to achieve impact at scale through better planning, more relevant research topics, and targeted engagement.The CoA also continues to provide an important support function, encouraging an 'impact culture' within FTA in which research, engagement and capacity development activities are explicitly defined, designed and implemented to contribute to transformative change. Currently, all projects are required to follow a set of planning guidelines that will ensure that the above is achieved. The CoA will also organize regular training events and facilitate project planning workshops. The FTA project database will also continue to be improved, adding more features that will support active portfolio management.More detailed information is available in Annex 3.6.  The partnerships sub-cluster will help identify models and collaborative mechanisms for partnerships with high impact on sub-IDOs and other elements of the Strategy and Results Framework (SRF). The models include research partners for developing research outputs and outcomes, knowledge-sharing partners who will transmit FTA knowledge further, and development partners who will help translate these into development outcomes and impacts. Findings from this research will help to devise, operationalize and implement partnership guidelines for FTA-level strategic partnerships interested in the FT&A policy arena.At the operational level, high-impact models will be identified through analysis of collaborative mechanisms employed by various flagships and FTA partnering centers -for example, the seedling delivery systems in Flagship 1 (Tree Genetic Resources), business models and partnerships in Flagship 3 (Value Chains), and the multi-stakeholder platforms in Flagship 4 (Landscapes). At the strategic level, this CoA will assist in structurally and systematically engaging partnerships at the CRP level for outcomes at various policy scales. It will also document the learning process, including the assessment of the effectiveness of various partnership models being deployed by FTA research and development (R&D) projects in order to gain insight into which kinds of partnerships work where, why and how. This function will also align FTA's research agenda to the needs and aspirations in priority countries for FTA through an annual partnership event held back-to-back with FTA's science meeting. During this event, innovative, high-impact partnership models and mechanisms will be presented and rewarded, and the needs and aspirations of partners will be revisited and communicated to flagships for realignment. The function will also map influence of FTA's research efforts through partnerships by using social network analysis tools to take stock of FTA's journey towards achieving SLOs.More detailed information is in Sections 1.8 and 1.10, and Annexes 3.2 and 3.3.Cluster lead: Anja Gassner (ICRAF)Budget 2017: $250,000 (W1/2)As highlighted in the SRF, insights from the study of large integrated datasets have been shown to contribute to increasing the resilience of food systems. FTA aims to contribute to this by delivering high-value datasets of global relevance that provide the evidence needed for poor people to use the benefits of forests, trees and agroforestry systems to increase their agricultural productivity. High-value datasets contribute to the SLOs not only by measuring progress, but also by driving it, by supporting a more consensual definition of the problems, reducing uncertainty, informing political positions, and ultimately strengthening the effectiveness of investments towards the Sustainable Development Goals.In FTA I, together with partners we have generated a rich trove of multi-location, multidisciplinary, and long-term data and associated information, which we make accessible for sharing, interrogation or repurposing through our data-sharing platforms. The Landscape Portal, our online GIS platform, provides users with a platform for visualizing and sharing spatial data and maps, as well as map stories. Our center-based open data repositories FTA, CIFOR and ICRAF, using the Dataverse platform, have published more than 300 datasets. CIFOR archives spatial data at the Forest Spatial Information Catalog (FSIC) portal. The Tropical managed Forests Observatory network, which has 23 partner institutions in 15 countries representing data from 490 permanent sample plots in the three major rainforest basins where forest dynamics have been monitored for several decades, informs forest management to sustain production and environmental services. In addition we launched tropiTree, an interactive open-access database that provides detailed information on more than 5000 genetic markers for 24 tree species important to smallholders, nine of African origin, five from Asia or Oceania, and nine from Latin America, as well as one of multicontinental distribution.From the experience of the sentinel landscape network, we learned that while it is generally agreed that integrated datasets at a scale relevant to farmers' decision making are important to drive progress on sustainable development goals, donors are reluctant to provide long-term investments for data-intensive methods. We therefore treat the collation, integration and publishing of high-value datasets as one of the key outputs from FTA II.Examples of high-value datasets produced during FTA I are the baseline data of the sentinel landscapes, the Poverty Environment Network, and genomic data.The 'Data for impact' CoA will ensure that all projects carried out under FTA will contribute to knowledge on how change comes about, by:  embracing research methodologies that allow analysis of complexity and research at scale  publishing datasets that are of high global value to FT&A  articulating our understanding of change and acknowledging uncertainties about outcomes.Through a community of practice, drawing on FTA research staff with a strong technical understanding of research methodologies and long-standing field experience from both participating centers and key partners, this CoA will implement a research quality system to provide research method support along the entire project cycle, from design to implementation to evaluation. Strategic investments in online training materials and regional workshops will facilitate reciprocal learning on appropriate methodologies to ensure that FTA is able to: design projects that interrogate the assumptions underlying research in development  use prospective and (quasi-)experimental approaches, whenever applicable, for increasing the internal validity of results  understand and articulate the domain boundaries of our work  design and test interventions that are tailored to the specific environmental, social and institutional contexts of the target community  address relevant heterogeneity at all scales (e.g. from the farm and family to the global level) when planning and reporting research and when communicating the results derived from it  be aware and implement, if appropriate, tried, tested, and validated measurement instruments and protocols  use standard approaches across projects, sites and regions to allow for comparative analysis.In line with the Consortium Open Access and Data Management Policy, this CoA will provide state-of-the-art data management tools and foster a spirit of data sharing.Also see Section 1.13 and Annex 3.9.Cluster lead: Margaret Kroma (ICRAF)Budget 2017: $1,027,000 (W1/2); $424,000 (Bilateral)Coordinating gender research, mainstreaming, partnerships and outreach under one theme in the new phase of CRP research would facilitate a more systematic and effective monitoring and evaluation of the contributions of theme activities towards gender equality and women's empowerment. In the long run, the aim is to become a knowledge house for mobilizing policy and enhanced capacities for gender action in forests and agroforests.In addition to supporting the integration of gender dimensions across flagships (see Annex 3.4), the Gender Integration Team will build on the substantive experience and knowledge generated since the implementation of the FTA gender strategy in FTA I in order to substantially increase the focus on transformative gender research, which is fundamental to the achievement of equitable and sustainable development outcomes, including human well-being and environmental conservation.The focus will be two-pronged: strategic research and gender mainstreaming. See Section 1.4 for further details.In addition to gender, FTA Phase 2 will also start a research area on youth. Overall, the strategy develops two strands of research. One strand will generate evidence and propose options to address the structural and institutional factors that constrain youth participation in tree and forest product value chains and non-farm entrepreneurial activities. It will also look at limits to youth access to productive resources, including land, financial services and information. The other strand will focus on aspects related to the aspirations, interests, skills and knowledge of young men and women in tree-based livelihood activities. This includes addressing the most appropriate tools and approaches to motivate youth and develop their capacities to participate in decision-making processes in natural resources management, agribusiness models, forest product value-chains and business opportunities in delivery systems.See Section 1.5 and Annex 3.5 for further details.Cluster lead: Imogen Badgery-Parker (CIFOR)Budget 2017: $300,000 (W1/2); $883,000 (Bilateral)For knowledge to be translated into outcomes and eventual impacts, it must be easy to find and access, and it must be appropriately packaged, shared and disseminated according to the needs of target audiences.Knowledge management, communications and outreach therefore play a critical intermediary and interpretive role in supplying and communicating results to change agents and other targeted groups.The goal of this CoA, therefore, is to amplify the reach and hone the effectiveness of research outputs from all FTA flagships by: ensuring that data and information are readily available and accessible to a wide audience  sharing knowledge on FTA research and activities through appropriately selected and tailored formats and channels, including across centers and flagships  interpreting, synthesizing and repackaging research to generate FTA-focused knowledge products and toolkits designed to support evidence-based engagement  leveraging and strengthening existing networks within FTA and externally, for knowledge exchange, learning about audience's information needs, and to reach change agents and other target audiences  building a global knowledge-sharing community across FTA researchers, partners, donors and beyond to promote dialogue and interaction  building the capacity of researchers and partners in sharing knowledge  regularly monitoring and evaluating outreach tools and channels for continuous improvement Data and feedback on the performance of all communications tools will be gathered regularly, analyzed and applied to the communications plan to continuously hone targeting and the effectiveness of tools and channels. Data will include online and social media statistics, downloads, contact lists, anecdotal feedback, surveys and independent event evaluations, among others. This CoA will work with CoA SP.1 on these analyses.All centers in FTA have an established knowledge management and knowledge-sharing infrastructure and processes. This CoA will connect these systems and data, forming a strong network for knowledge management and exchange. Individual centers will feed information about research, knowledge-management systems and stakeholder needs to the central point, the FTA Communications and Knowledge Management (CKM) Officer. Based on that information, the FTA CKM Officer will: (i) leverage FTA platforms to direct interested audiences to relevant libraries, repositories, databases and platforms; (ii) share knowledge through FTA-focused channels; (iii) generate and disseminate additional, tailored knowledge products that cut across centers and flagships; (iv) feed repackaged knowledge back to centers' communications officers and researchers to share with their networks and support engagement; (v) facilitate or promote relevant initiatives for dialogue, engagement and communications capacity-building, including events, workshops and training.This model serves to build a worldwide web of knowledge and engagement around FTA: Open-access knowledge generated under FTA and stored by centers in virtual libraries, databases and repositories is managed and accessible through a single, central portal  Cross-center research findings in all flagships are synthesized as new, tailored knowledge products, which all centers can share and disseminate  The CoA casts a wide net for audiences through the networks of all centers, building a knowledge-sharing community to support dialogue and interaction  Knowledge products generated by individual centers and flagships receive an additional channel to amplify their reach, potentially spreading to new audiences coming from other centers  The CoA creates and strengthens links between flagships and centers, so that all FTA scientists learn about each other's work; this can inform their own work, create opportunities for partnerships and synergies, and make all feel part of the bigger project and shared missionThe CoA will use information supplied by all centers and flagships to generate a variety of communications tools and materials, designed with consideration of target audience needs, key policy processes and contribution to sub-IDOs, IDOs and SLOs. This includes an FTAdedicated website, blogs, video and audio, social media, e-newsletter, media and events. The CoA will also continue to develop the contact list for FTA, in collaboration with all flagships, to identify and reach out to boundary partners, intermediaries and others; this list will be used to create a knowledge-sharing community of staff, partners, donors and stakeholders.See Section 1.14 and Annex 3.11 for more information.The platform partners with other CRPs in collaborative research, as well as sharing and learning from successes and failures. CoA SP.1 collaborates with PIM on foresight analyses and research on policy processes. There will be a CapDev sharing mechanism between FTA, WLE and DCL, providing opportunities for sharing and learning across these three CRPs. The Gender Integration Team coordinates with CCAFS Flagships 3 and 4 to strengthen efforts to influence policymaking on gender and mitigation/REDD+. Some collaborations around the youth questions are currently discussed with WLE. ","tokenCount":"24307"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6329330823.json b/data/part_1/6329330823.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..106e8e5a91c6d56e13e0c6de75bc60e5cbd0bcdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6329330823.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"502601cb03a28fbfeab2cd955261a4e0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6bbfcd1a-8f4d-40d9-b0da-cd4e93cd8a5e/retrieve","id":"-694475888"},"keywords":["Biodiversity","Coconut palm","Conservation","Islands","Germplasm bank"],"sieverID":"c9449f66-c96d-4242-b9f3-db41b1aa00d9","pagecount":"20","content":"The Polymotu concept (poly=many, motu=island) is to use the geographical isolation of special sites for conservation and reproduction of individual varieties of plants, trees and even animals. This concept is mainly derived from previous initiatives in conservation of coconut palms by ancient Polynesians and some contemporary Thais. A quite similar concept has also been used by New Zealanders for conservation of endangered bird species. For instance, when a small island is planted with only one variety of coconut palms, breeding occurs only within this variety and certified seednuts are naturally produced. Conservation is secured by both the geographical isolation of the islands and the availability of certified seednuts. In 2009, the Polymotu concept was included in the global coconut conservation strategy developed by the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. It moves this global strategy towards the involvement of more countries, sites and stakeholders. The Polymotu concept was enriched in 2010 during a visit in Samoa, in order for farmers to diversify their genetic resources and increase their incomes. We are presently launching initiatives to develop Polymotu in various regions: the Kepulauan Seribu National Park at the north of Jakarta, Indonesia; the Fakarava biosphere reserve and the Tetiaroa atoll in French Polynesia, Fiji and Samoa. Factors influencing the acceptance of Polymotu by the various stakeholders are discussed, together with collaborative research to be conducted during implementation of the projects. This paper discusses the origins and precursors of the Polymotu concept; presents the firsts initiatives to launch research actions linked to the Polymotu project, and discusses the need for further research to fully implementation this concept.The Polymotu concept (poly=many, motu=island) is to use the geographical isolation of dedicated sites for conservation and reproduction of individual varieties of plants, trees and even animals. This concept is derived from previous initiatives in conservation of coconut palms by ancient Polynesians and contemporary Thais. A quite similar concept has also been used by New Zealanders for conservation of endangered bird species. For instance, when a small island is planted with only one variety of coconut palms, breeding occurs only within this variety and certified seednuts are naturally produced 1 . In this case, both the geographical isolation of the islands and the availability of certified seednuts secure conservation.The Polymotu conservation concept fits into a multifunctional land management policy. Many different locations can be used for conservation of genetic resources and even seed production as far as they meet the specific criteria required for biological and reproductive isolation 2 . These dedicated sites can be small islands owned by communities or private individuals, public gardens, university campuses, golf courses, the backyards of resorts or research centers, or the bottom of small valleys. Even an entire village may well serve as a place for conservation of genetic resources and seed production of coconut, if people agree to cultivate only a well-defined set of cultivars. This kind of multifunctional land management strengthens the links between people, landscape and biodiversity. It gives a special cachet to the sites, generates incomes and promotes ecotourism activities.In this paper we will first discuss the origins and precursors of the Polymotu concept; then we will present the firsts initiatives to launch research actions linked to the Polymotu project. Research needed for the full implementation of the concept is also discussed.The geographical remoteness of small islands and other isolated sites can be used as a great advantage in the strategies for conservation of biodiversity. This section shows that this idea was already applied long time ago, in an empirical manner, by the ancient Polynesians. Then two modern examples of use of conservation, using geographical isolation will be discussed.The oldest description of coconut varieties in French Polynesia can be found in the book \"Ancient Tahiti\" by Teuira Henry, published in 1928 from data collected by her grandfather in 1840. Teuira Henry reports that the Tahitians knew of the existence of particularly enormous coconuts growing the island of Niu-Fou (now known as Niuafo'ou). Niuafo'ou Island means \"New coconut\". It is a remote and tiny island in the Tonga group, with an area of 52 sq. km. It is located at 200km from the nearest island and at 2800 Km from Tahiti. Niuafo'ou is a very active volcano that slopes steeply down to the sea floor 3 . There is no safe anchorage for boats. The repeated eruptions of volcano 4 caused the destruction of many plantations and villages.Another example of traditional conservatoire also comes from Tonga. In the 2000's, we visited numerous Pacific island in the framework of surveys organized by Bioversity International (formerly IPGRI). L. M. Fili and T.H. Hoponoa, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Tonga, tell us about the traditional coconut variety called niu utongau. This variety belongs to rare forms of coconut, highly threatened, and known as « Sweet husk » 5 . In most coconut, this husk is harsh and not edible. But sometimes, the whole husk of the young fruit is sweet and can be chewed like sugar cane. Its taste resembles that of coconut heart. Once the fruits are ripe, the husk fibres are white and thin. There exist various names and various types, in which husk characteristics are more or less accentuated. Those varieties have yet to be scientifically described. The niu 'utongau coconut variety can be found in quantity only on the small coral islet of Onoiki in the Ha'apai group. Tongans are still sometimes taking seedlings from that islet, which is so small that it does not appear on most maps.Another isolated place famous for its coconuts is Rennell, a high volcanic island located in the Solomon archipelago, with an area of 660 sq. km. Its two main features are its volcanic lake, now registered as a world heritage, and its Polynesian population, when other Solomon Islands are mainly populated with Melanesians. Except the small island of Bellona, also populated with Polynesians, the distance from Rennell to the nearest island is 170 km. The fruits of the variety known as Rennell Island Tall (RIT) are among the biggest coconuts in the world 6 . RIT is now involved worldwide as parental material in many coconut breeding programmes 7 .The role of the Rennell Island as traditional conservatoire is not proven, as we did not record the information that other islanders use this place for exporting coconut seednuts. Anyway, the Rennell Lake is an example of a remote location conserving a unique coconut variety 8 .In Thailand, two islands were recently devoted to conservation and production of palms varieties. The opportunity to create a Makapuno Island in Thailand was seized 25 years ago, when the Thai government built the huge Srinakharin dam at Kanchanaburi, near the Burmese border at about 200 km North-West from Bangkok. The hills were submerged and their peaks turned into islands.Makapuno is an economically important coconut variety. Instead of coconut water, this coconut contains a soft, white jelly-like mass which is considered a delicacy. Makapuno is preserved in heavy sugar syrup and bottled for local consumption and export. One of the islands was then planted with Makapuno embryos rescued by using in vitro culture. All the other coconut trees removed. No stray coconut pollen can reach the island of the because of the distance across the water barrier.Another island on the same lake was designed for producing oil-palm seeds. As this island is completely isolated from any other pollen source, there is no need to bag the inflorescences for producing seedlings. This generates subsequent economy of manpower. During our 2010 visit, we made the remark that, according to the Polymotu concept, producing Makapuno coconut and oilpalm seeds could well be conducted on the same island. Furthermore, Makapuno Island is a great success story: it is a profitable business, its conservation and ecotourism values are huge; and last but not least, it could also lead to a major improvement of the Makapuno coconut variety 9 .We discussed Polymotu concept with Dr Jean-Dominique Lebreton, the director of the Centre for Functional and Evolutional Ecology at Montpellier, France. Then Dr Lebreton made a very interesting connection between Polymotu and what is achieved in New Zealand in the field of conservation of endangered birds. Translocations involve moving populations of threatened species into areas of suitable habitat currently unused by the species. There are several reasons for doing this; the creation of secondary populations that act as an insurance against disaster, or in many cases threats faced by the original population in its current location.One famous translocation was of the Kakapo bird (Strigops habroptilus) from New Zealand. The kakapo is an endemic, large, flightless, nocturnal parrot. Once abundant throughout New Zealand, the whole population in the wild was reduced to approximately 50 individuals. In situ conservation of natural populations has proved impracticable. These large flightless parrots were unable to cope with introduced predators, such as rats and cats in their remaining habitat on Stewart Island. Between 1974 and 1992, kakapo birds were translocated to four of New Zealand's offshore islands (Maud, Little Barrier, Codfish, and Mana). Few, if any, kakapo now remain within their former range.In 2009, the Polymotu concept was included in the global coconut conservation strategy developed by the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. In classical coconut genebanks, coconut cultivars are conserved as accessions, generally planted close together in the same fields. Each accession generally counts 75 to 100 coconut palms from the same cultivar. For reproducing these accessions, the technique of controlled pollination with bagging of the inflorescence is used (Konan & al., 2008). In the case of coconut, this technique is very costly. It requires a well-equipped laboratory, well-trained technicians able to climb the palms and a huge amount of manpower. Not all the gene banks can afford it.The lifespan of such accessions is only 25 to 30 years. After this period, most coconut varieties excepting dwarfs reach 15 m high or more. At this stage, it becomes difficult to make the requested controlled pollinations. It is therefore necessary to rejuvenate the accessions before the inflorescences become inaccessible. In the Côte d'Ivoire African genebank, workers use costly triple ladders that can reach a height of only 14 metres. In some other places, like India or Indonesia, palms are climbed mainly manually, which is risky. Rejuvenation programmes require climbing roughly 75 palms each about 15-20 times. Basically, for rejuvenating an accession, the controlled pollinations are implemented over a 6-month period; the mature seednuts are harvested one year later, also over a 6-month period; then the old accession is removed from the field and replaced by a new one. Production of the 200 seednuts requested for the duplication of an accession will demand one and half year's preparation; and it will cost more than 2000 USD. Only scientists with healthy research budgets can afford to order varieties from classical coconut genebanks. Most of farmers cannot afford this.Alternatively, the coconut palms could be planted in geographical and reproductive isolation, according to the Polymotu concept. In this way, the constraints linked to the heights and ages of the palms are removed. Instead of climbing the palms for making controlled pollination, people only have to wait for the coconut to fall naturally to the ground. Open-pollination will provide true-to-type and cheap seednuts. Thus, the same accession can be kept as long as a sufficient number of palms remain alive in the field. In most cases, the duration of a coconut accession will then be extended to 75 to 100 years. Even if some of the palms die, there is no need to remove the remainder, as is done in a classical genebank. Dead palms can be replaced by new ones, without removing the old palms remaining alive. Extending the lifespan of a coconut accession from 25-30 years to 75-100 years represents a huge saving of time, manpower and money. Seednuts will be more affordable for farmers.The Polymotu concept moves the Global Coconut Conservation Strategy towards the involvement of more countries, sites and stakeholders. By combining ancestral Polynesian practices with the recent progresses made in biological and social sciences, a rational strategy for the conservation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge can be implemented. We are presently hoping to launch Polymotu projects in the following countries and places:-in French Polynesia, Tetiaroa Atoll and Fakarava reserve biosphere; -in Samoa and Fiji Islands; -in Indonesia, Kepulauan Seribu National Park, North of Jakarta Tetiaroa is an atoll in the Windward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The atoll is located 33 miles (53 km) north of Tahiti. The atoll stretches on a total surface of 2.3 square miles (6 square km); approximately 1,445 acres (585 hectares) of sand are divided in 13 motu (islets) with varying surface areas. Tetiaroa is under a long term lease by the family of the late actor Marlon Brando. We obtained the agreement of the Brando family and Beachcomber SA, a company which is building a new eco-friendly resort on Tetiaroa, to integrate 5 locations (4 motu and a small peninsula) for conservation of coconut varieties using the Polymotu concept. Figure 2 gives an illustration of the proposed landscape design. We proposed to remove about 1500-2000 coconut palms in order to favor endemic vegetation and bird nesting; and to replant about 500 coconut palms from 5 traditional varieties. In 2010, we began to replant one of islands of the Tetiaroa atoll with a very rare form of horned coconut, as shown in Figure 3. We visited Fiji and Samoa in 2010. In Fiji, we have fruitful contacts with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community 10 , the University of South Pacific and the tourism industry. Resort owners were interested to be involved in conservation and ecotourism programs 11 . We especially met Ms. Elenoa Nimacere, the manager of the South Sea Island. This small motu is located in the Mamanuca Group. The island is now rented by South Sea Cruises and is used to host daily about 100 cruisers. Ms. Elenoa Nimacere said the coconut tree planting project could help prevent the sand from being blown to different parts of the island. Elenoa invited the research team (Dr Tevita Kete and Dr Roland Bourdeix) to visit the island where her business is located, as shown in Figure 4. She was very keen to plant traditional coconut varieties for ecotourism, conservation and fighting against marine erosion.10 Valerie Saena Tuia from SPC is author of this paper.11 Two public lectures about coconut palm conservation were conducted in Fiji. The second lecture was held at a Regional Workshop held from 15th to 19th March 2010 at Novotel, Nadi. This last meeting was attended by 20 participants from 8 SPC member countries. We also invited stakeholders of the tourism industry to attend our lecture, and we were very happy that they came ! Thanks for coming to Mr. Viilame Ratugolea (Waya Lailai Resort), Mr. Jerry And Alumita Sovatabua (Botaira Beach Resort), and Ms Elenoa Nimacere, Hospitality Manager (South Sea Island). In Samoa, we refined the Polymotu concept in the case of the coconut palm. Linking tourism industry and conservation of biodiversity has many advantages 12 . For instance, the prestigious Sinalei resort organizes regular visits to the small motu Nuusafee (Figure 5.). It is expected that more tourists and visitors would be attracted if the island is planted with the traditional niu afa; this variety, created long time ago in Samoa, produces the longest coconuts in the world. The uniqueness of this variety in the world combined with aspects of the Polymotu concept will sure be an attraction worldwide. Specific ecotourism activities could be developed in this island which will provide seednuts for farmers.We also explored the possibilities of planting more than one coconut variety per location. For instance, the same location can be planted with 3 coconut varieties: 2 red dwarfs and a green tall. Distinction within the progenies could then be made by using phenotypic markers such as the colours of the sprouts when the seedlings germinate, as shown in figure 5. This allows to produces certified seedlings of both the 3 varieties and hybrids (natural crosses between varieties) in a single site.Respect for tradition can foster economic competitiveness. The Samoan niu afa variety, which was until recently in danger of extinction, could generate a lucrative «niche» market. Samoan communities in Australia and elsewhere will prefer to buy products made from this variety. Making better use of their heritage varieties, Samoan farmers and small producers of virgin coconut oil could increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods.  An Indonesian version of the Polymotu project was submitted to a call from the Canadian International Development Research Centre. This project gathered research teams from Bioversity international (Italy), Cefe/Cnrs and Cirad (France), the Centre for World Trade Studies in Gadjah Mada University and the University of Pembangunan Nasional \"Veteran\" (Indonesia). In Indonesian Kepulauan Seribu (literally: thousand islands) is a string of 110 islands with the closest only a few kilometers off mainland Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1998, more than 16,000 people lived there; the most inhabited island is Kelapa (coconut) island. In many of these islands, people are presently cutting down the coconut palms. They believe that the palms absorb the mineral water from the ground, thus decreasing the quantity of available drinkable water. Huge imported trees (Casuarina) are often replanted, although the same problem of water consumption occurs.Coconut palms tolerate salinity. They can be planted in selected locations, and especially along coral coasts where the water is saline. When used for beach landscaping, they tolerate flooding better than Casuarina and also serve as a buffer against marine erosion. Dwarf coconut varieties can sustain themselves with household wastewater without affecting strongly the water table; they provide shading and a sweet nutritious drink. High-valued varieties such as Makapuno/Kopyor (soft kernel, valued 10 times a normal coconut) and production of seednuts can generate income for islanders and especially for women; this will decrease the pressure on marine resources. Taking in account the 505 cottages existing in K.Seribu for tourist accommodation (Zainal, 2004), the role of coconut palms in ecotourism also needs to be greatly strengthened. Although the first proposal for this project was not endorsed, other versions will be submitted in the near future.The research packages needed for implementing Polymotu projects will depend upon the geographical zones and the species to which the concept will apply. Presently, the Polymotu initiatives are more orientated towards tropical islands. The model species is presently the coconut palm, although other species, such as Red Sandal Wood, Kofai and even Coconut Crab 13 , could sometimes be conserved in the same sites. Polymotu projects combine multidisciplinary scientific research with immediate and participative applications that can be measured by quantitative indicators. These projects require scientific studies in numerous research fields: conservation policies, anthropology, territorial management studies, geographical information systems, ecology, socioeconomy, water management, genetics, reproductive biology and post-harvest technology.In the field on conservation policies, we started to develop the concept of a networked collection, also called a virtual collection, in the framework of the Global Coconut Conservation Strategy (Bourdeix et al. 2009). A networked collection is located at more than one geographical/institutional site, spans the genetic diversity of a given species (genepool) and gathers stakeholders having a mutual interest in rationally conserving and exchanging germplasm. In the extreme application of this concept, several accessions could be conserved, each at a distinct site.A global coconut conservation strategy (GCCS) was developed by the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. This strategy is mainly based on ex situ conservation in five large regional field genebanks. The implementation of a networked collection could allow this system to involve more countries, sites and stakeholders. A challenge being faced is that of gathering (in the same legal frame, network and database) accessions held in international genebanks, as well as accessions conserved on islets owned by municipalities, islanders' families or tourism enterprises. Being an Annex 1 crop of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), coconut germplasm can be accessed by countries which have ratified the International Treaty and which have declared these collections in the public domain.Anthropological issues arise in two distinct areas. Although there is abundant anthropological literature on insularity, no study has focused specifically on what we call \"insularity within insularity\". What is an islet for an islander? It is a matter of studying the perceptions, representations, practices and right of access of islanders with regard to islets, which are generally uninhabited and satellites of a larger inhabited island, along with anthropological factors affecting decisions relative to the management of those islets. The second anthropological issue involves seednut networks. Many studies conducted in tropical countries on food crop seed exchanges highlight that more than 80% of seeds come from the informal network. But the typology used in distinguishing between \"formal\" and \"informal\" generally neglects the fact that the \"informal\" network is itself structured by social organization. One hypothesis is that the structuring of genetic diversity and its distribution depends not only on the type of plant reproduction and selective practices, but also on associated social distinctions.In the fields of territorial management studies and geographical information systems, the focus will be to identify the numerous conservation sites requested for implementing Polymotu projects. In Polynesia, the conservatoire is to be integrated into a complex system of joint possession that varies depending on the island groups, which has been in place since the beginning of the 19th century. That system of joint possession, which backs up an effective social organization, is not acknowledged by official law. To that is added the regulation of land leases (introduced in 1984 in French Polynesia) which has considerably slowed down land rentals.Socio-economics studies will estimate the value of biodiversity and ecosystems services provided by the conservation sites, including agriculture and ecotourism. As underlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity, ecotourism is increasingly viewed as an important tool for promoting sustainable livelihoods, cultural preservation, and biodiversity conservation. Post-harvest technologies and market studies will assess how traditional coconut varieties and other conserved species could be used to diversify products and create niche markets.As partial replanting will be conducted on the conservation sites, their ecology will need to be studied. The biodiversity available on these sites will be assessed. Research questions would include: How could this biodiversity be increased using the Polymotu concept? and which other species could be conserved in the same locations than the coconut palms for an economy of scale?. In the Indonesian islands Kepulauan Seribu, a key point will be to document the links between plantation of trees and water management in small coral islands: influence of trees on the water table and drinkable water, assessment and management of coastal erosion using trees and especially the coconut palm, in link to climate change mitigation.Genetic surveys will have to be conducted to identify the coconut varieties and other species to be conserved in the Polymotu sites. These participative surveys will include interactions with local stakeholders in order to select and to obtain the germplasm to be conserved. In Indonesia, a research package will be specifically dedicated to the creation of islands to be planted with makapuno/kopior coconut variety; analysing the available diversity for kopyor coconut germplasm in Indonesia, collecting kopyor seednuts and develop them through in vitro culture of embryos.Implementing the Polymotu concept will strengthen the links between people, landscape and biodiversity. We expect 50 to 100 islands and other sites to be partially replanted as conservatoire during the next 15 years. A significant outcome will be the safe conservation of the representative biodiversity of coconuts (Cocos nucifera), and the availability of certified coconut seednuts for mainland farmers. Beneficiaries will be all those stakeholders who rely on coconuts for their livelihoods. A main impact will be enhanced livelihood for islanders.Historically and culturally, Japan has a strong influence in the Pacific Region. It will be a great opportunity for Japanese research to invest more for conservation of biodiversity in the Pacific Islands, and more specifically for conservation of the coconut palm. Indeed, coconut remains one of the crops most neglected by scientists, in regards of its economic value and cultural importance. Despite the enormous potential of the crop, coconut farmers often scrap a living below the poverty line. About 96% of the farmers, who collectively grow coconuts on 12 million hectares worldwide, are smallholders tending less than four hectares (Frison, 2006). Coconut farmers were marginalized. Many do not own the land they work, lack the resources to invest in technologies that would improve production, and are considered nonbankable by the formal banking sector. Many traditional varieties of coconut palms are presently disappearing and there is a huge and urgent need to safeguard the remaining. From this point of view, projects based on the Polymotu concept could be implemented in collaboration between Japan and the few International and French institutions that are already involved in this research field.  Roland: In fact, most of the coconut palms are now planted by men. I know very few coconuts growing naturally. Because the ecology of the islands change and when the coconuts arrive on the beach most of the time the rats come and eat them.Long: So floating is not really a danger.No. It's not. Most of the islands, the people visit, they rest when they fish or they would spend the weekend, there are always people coming to the island. So, if there's a coconut growing by the sea, you just remove it.Ohmae: So, your main concern is to have a gene bank of coconuts?No. I'm involved in conservation of coconut genetic resources but the Polymotu concept is not only about coconut. It can be used otherwise. I showed an example of birds in New Zealand which is mostly the same concept. The idea is to in fact, strengthen the link between people, biodiversity and small islands. If people know that this small island is producing this kind of special legume or fruit or special coconut or whatever, the people will… It's like what we call in French for the wine, Effet terroir … For example, Bordeaux wine.We have special place, special people and special wine. So we can have that on many small islands.Long: So a kind of a branding?Roland: Yes, branding.Ohmae: So if Mother Nature goes without your help, will you see any problems?The problem is that. This is about 200 years of coconut history in three minutes. At the beginning it was like that. Only a few coconut palms are moved, most coconut palms are moved by people not by nature, and you bring one coconut at a go, so because of the genetic drift, here you have a special population, here you have a special population, here also. Because only a few coconuts, you have distance between populations so no pollination was possible. After 1830-1850, coconuts became a big business. It was gold. And under colonization they began to plant coconuts absolutely everywhere. All the traditional variety they had was mixed because they were only interested in copra. Before Polynesians had plenty varieties for plenty of different uses. Now most of these varieties are mixed in the coconut groves. Sometimes you see one coconut with big fruit here, one coconut with sweet husk here and the middle of a coconut plantation made only for producing copra. Recently the number of coconut palm was reduced. And I will say that at least half of the traditional coconut varieties are definitely lost, because all was mixed by colonial and industrial cultivation. In the framework of the Polymotu project, what I would like to do is re-create populations maintained in geographical and reproductive isolation.Ohmae: So your initiative is not just to use all the small islands as gene banks.Roland: Not all the small islands, for example in French Polynesia you must have something like 700-800 small islands, I would use maybe 25-30. In Olkeriil's presentation, I saw an island full of rocks and a coconut on the top. So people bring it there, it's not possible for the coconut to move itself.Kazuo: Actually, it is one coconut on top of the second tallest mountain and it's the only coconut sticking there. Did people bring it there? Yes, absolutely.Matsuda: In the famous text book of island biogeography, the species diversity of small islands is balanced between introduction and local extinction. I'm not sure of the exact rate of such species introduction… Roland: This must have been studied... For a long time we have said that traditional coconut varieties are endangered. So the coconut which are on most of the small islands, first of all there are too many coconuts, second there are no more harvested so the coconut often fall and are eaten by rats, there are plenty of rats. Rats make holes in the coconut, water gets in and mosquito's breeds on that. So in some of the islands, relative to coconut palm, I will fully agree with completely keeping the existing coconut palm and to replace with traditional variety. Not covering the whole island but maybe, for conserving one coconut variety with 100 coconuts, 0.7ha is enough. This is a reserve action, I don't want to just study but I want to act.","tokenCount":"4867"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6336568893.json b/data/part_1/6336568893.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6880a7ba9c2d150f76545bcc9794918ea1cf874c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6336568893.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4737c7e7144c5d0af99d3a9e341cba8a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/32921297-6a3d-4b49-8a8b-e939e096e746/retrieve","id":"109585006"},"keywords":["OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report Contributing CRPs/Platforms:","PIM -Policies, Institutions, and Markets","A4NH -Agriculture for Nutrition and Health"],"sieverID":"e2fba0d8-76f4-4806-aedf-03898b59d104","pagecount":"4","content":"In 2021, A4NH commissioned an external evaluation to get a sense of awareness and use of two tools -the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) and the Reach, Benefit, Empower, Transform (RBET) framework -among a target population of potential users. The evaluation found that even though the tools are still relatively new, the influence has been significant. At least 48 projects were known to be using pro-WEAI in evaluations, leveraging US$2.4 billion and reaching 10.5 million people.Contributing Flagships:• F4: Supporting Policies, Programs, and Enabling Action through Research (SPEAR) Contributing Regional programs: <Not Defined> Contributing external partners:• BMGF -Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • USAID -U.S. Agency for International Development CGIAR innovation(s) or findings that have resulted in this outcome or impact:The pro-WEAI is a survey-based index that builds on the Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI). It measures women's empowerment reported at project level, with an enhanced livestock module and an add-on module specific to nutrition and health projects. It is made up of 12 indicators that measure three types of agency: intrinsic agency, instrumental agency, and collective agency. It was developed as part of Phase 2 of the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project.The RBET framework (formerly known as the Reach Benefit Empower framework) helps to clarify the objectives of research, policymaking, or programs -differentiating the approaches -with an eye toward appropriately using indicators, determining goals, and measuring impact.• 634 -Pro-WEAI (project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index) (https://tinyurl.com/2gke5y7f)• 589 -\"Reach, Benefit, Empower\" framework of indicators for monitoring programs and policies (https://tinyurl.com/2q5vb6la)Increasing numbers of development agencies recognize the importance of women's empowerment in helping to meet their objectives and there is a growing body of conceptual and empirical work on how to define and measure empowerment. What is missing is an evidence base on how and how much agricultural development projects can contribute to empowerment. Two key outputs of A4NH that are filling that gap are the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) and the Reach, Benefit, Empower, Transform (RBET) framework.The pro-WEAI is a validated measure of women's empowerment that agricultural development projects can use to diagnose key areas of women's (and men's) disempowerment. It measures women's empowerment reported at project level, with an enhanced livestock module and an add-on module specific to nutrition and health projects. The RBET framework helps to clarify the objectives of research, policymaking, or programs -differentiating the approaches -with an eye toward appropriately using indicators, determining goals, and measuring impact.In 2021, A4NH commissioned an external evaluation to get a sense of awareness and use of the tools among a target population of potential users [1]. An e-survey was used to get a sense of awareness and use of the pro-WEAI and the RBET framework among a target population of potential users (A4NH program stakeholders). More than 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand how tools were used at different stages of the project cycle, from influencing objectives and outcomes to project design to impact evaluation.The evaluation found that even though pro-WEAI and RBET are still in early stages of dissemination and most examples of influence are closely connected to the work of the project team, the team has made considerable effort to spread the word on the tools, through webinars, training, and an online resource center and short animations, as well as willingly shared the tools before they were finalized. As a result, influence has been significant. For example, a project database compiled for the evaluation included 26 projects using pro-WEAI, leveraging US$82.2 million and reaching at least 576,000 people [1]. Combined with previous estimates (and accounting for duplicate projects), there are currently 48 projects known to be using pro-WEAI in evaluations, leveraging US$2.4 billion and reaching 10.5 million people [1]. (These are under-estimates since the evaluator was only able to obtain data on budgets for about three-quarters of the projects, and on beneficiaries for half the projects.) Gender, Youth, Capacity Development and Climate Change: Gender relevance: 2 -Principal Main achievements with specific Gender relevance: Increasing numbers of development agencies recognize the importance of women's empowerment in helping to meet their objectives and there is a growing body of conceptual and empirical work on how to define and measure empowerment. What is missing is an evidence base on how and how much agricultural development projects can contribute to empowerment. Two key outputs of A4NH that are filling that gap are the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) and the Reach, Benefit, Empower, Transform (RBET) framework. Youth relevance: 0 -Not Targeted CapDev relevance: 0 -Not Targeted Climate Change relevance: 0 -Not TargetedOther cross-cutting dimensions description: Gender is only one aspect of inequality and inequity. Inequitable health and nutrition outcomes can also exist between groups in other social categories such as caste, ethnicity, race, age, and religion, among others. The RBET framework can also be applied to help us understand the approaches that projects and programs use to address other marginalized groups. Reach means including marginalized groups in program activities. Benefit means increasing the well-being of marginalized groups-like improving their income, diets, health outcomes. Empower means strengthening the ability of marginalized groups to make strategic life choices and put those choices into action. Transform means changing attitudes towards marginalized groups at the community level.Hazel Malapit, Senior Research Coordinator, IFPRI, h.malapit@cgiar.org","tokenCount":"876"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6357611317.json b/data/part_1/6357611317.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c848dc87a8f8e28115fbfda2a9dc3fe76691a761
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6357611317.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d762b44645e6617134f820d3d9815b7a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93353c81-c6fb-4224-8313-c2a716db5551/retrieve","id":"-1717904830"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a7e54ef5-f57a-4724-bef9-8edaf05180ec","pagecount":"4","content":"L'information contenue dans ce guide peut être librement reproduite à condition de mentionner la source. Pour toute reproduction à des fi ns commerciales, l'autorisation préalable du CTA est nécessaire.Les différents niveaux d'infestation parasitaire montrent des tableaux cliniques différents. En règle générale, les signes mentionnés ci-après peuvent être indicatifs d'une infestation clinique liée aux parasites :Affaiblissement. Les moutons peuvent être infestés par différents types de parasites. Néanmoins, le tableau I présente certains des parasites les plus fréquents dans la région de l'Afrique de l'Est, ainsi que les symptômes qu'ils occasionnent. M. James Mwangi est originaire de Mathira, un village situé dans le district de Nyeri, au sein d'une région de hautes terres subhumides de la province centrale du Kenya. Il possède 2,5 acres de terres et fait partie des fermiers de cette communauté qui ont participé à une expérimentation mise en oeuvre entre 1993 et 1996 par l'Institut kényan de recherche agricole (KARI) et le Centre national de recherche vétérinaire (NVRC), dont l'objectif consistait à évaluer les causes, la répartition et le contrôle des vers parasites et à tester les stratégies d'intervention. Avant de lancer cette expérimentation, M. Mwangi possédait 7 moutons indigènes croisés avec des moutons Dorper, élevés dans le cadre d'un système d'attache et de pâturage le long des routes. Il n'avait pas de stratégie spécifi que pour contrôler les parasites, ce qui entraînait une forte mortalité parmi ses agneaux. M. Mwangi traitait uniquement ses moutons adultes à l'aide d'un vermifuge quelconque qu'il avait sous la main. Il ne se préoccupait pas des jeunes moutons car il pensait que les agneaux ne pouvaient être infestés qu'après l'âge de six mois.Suivant les conseils prodigués par les scientifi ques du NVRC, il a commencé à mettre en oeuvre un traitement des moutons adultes avant la saillie, des brebis avant l'agnelage et des agneaux au moment du sevrage. Il a également traité tous les moutons avant le début de la saison des pluies. Vivant dans une région où l'infestation par la grande douve du foie est courante, il a décidé d'appliquer des traitements prophylactique et curatif, associés à une supplémentation alimentaire.Dix ans après avoir mis en place cette stratégie effi cace de contrôle des parasites, M. Mwangi a réussi à constituer un troupeau de 50 moutons élevés dans le cadre d'un système de pâturage semi-zéro. Il a amélioré son élevage à partir du croisement de races locales pour fi nalement obtenir des moutons Dorper pure race. Il élève par ailleurs des chèvres laitières. Il vend ses moutons et ses agneaux à des groupes de fermiers de la région. Un agneau de six mois lui rapporte au moins 65 dollars us. Un mouton mâle reproducteur ou une chèvre lui procurent un gain d'environ 230 dollars us.","tokenCount":"453"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6357659240.json b/data/part_1/6357659240.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a35d86236074c0f312db308c5bf352341aff1b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6357659240.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"74c78b7cc57e14c986c202fe1ea9db80","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Papers/WFC2022-Kadir.pdf","id":"-1660673431"},"keywords":["natural rubber","climate change mitigation","carbon stocks","degraded land"],"sieverID":"e57de071-9952-4e45-a86e-a7501dc12d02","pagecount":"10","content":"The potential of natural rubber to contribute to climate change mitigation is often overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize available research, mainly from the results of a recent workshop organised by IRSG in collaboration with CIFOR/FTA, IRRDB and CIRAD. Studies have been conducted on the potential contribution of rubber plantations to climate change mitigation in diverse situations, generally focusing on carbon stocked in tree biomass above and below ground.They show that rubber plantations constitute carbon stocks that can be compared to some agroforestry or forestry systems. However, the global GHG emissions balance needs to take into account the effects of conversion to rubber plantation, which is strictly dependent on the previous land use. Conversion of forests or swidden agriculture can lead to substantial carbon emissions especially if swidden agriculture displaced by rubber in turn translates to an area where it converts natural forest. Such studies show the importance of promoting the renewal of existing plantations and to increase productivity, in rubber and associated crops, to reduce the need for additional land. Rubber plantations can also be an effective mitigation measure on degraded lands. There is a considerable potential in use of rubber wood, largely untapped, that would reduce the need for additional wood collection in forests and for timber plantations. Finally, natural rubber and rubber wood can substitute other products highly dependent of fossil energies and are themselves carbon sinks.Land-use based activities, including forestry and agriculture have a key role to play in the achievement of the goals of the Paris agreement. Tree commodity plantations, at the interface of agriculture and forestry, are expanding quickly, with significant consequences on land use and associated carbon sinks. Hevea brasiliensis (Pará or rubber tree) is cultivated across the world to extract latex and produce natural rubber (NR), a strategic raw material. About 13 million smallholder families (40 million people) depend on its cultivation.The IRSG, the IRRDB, the FTA research program led by CIFOR and the CIRAD organized an open digital workshop on natural rubber systems and climate change on 23-25 June 2020, to review recent research on impacts of climate change on natural rubber production, potential means of adaptation and contribution to mitigation of climate change. This paper synthesizes knowledge on GHG emissions related to natural rubber systems, including carbon sinks and potential impacts of land use change, in order to show the potential of natural rubber systems to mitigate climate change through improved management, increased used of rubber wood and of natural rubber in substitution to non-renewable materials.The life cycle of a rubber plantation is divided in two phases: the immature phase -from planting to latex harvesting (after 5 to 7 years) -and the mature phase, which starts with latex harvesting through tapping, cutting the bark and letting the latex flow into a container. When latex production declines, old trees are logged and new trees planted. Rotation lengths can vary from 30 to 35 years.There are several studies on rubber trees carbon stocks. For instance, a study measured total vegetation carbon stocks in Hevea plantations of different ages (from 5 to 40 years) and found a maximum of 105.73 Mg C ha -1 in plantations of 30-40 years (Brahma et al. 2016). Carbon stocks in plantations of 10-20 years were comparable to those of 10-year cocoa based agroforestry (Oke and Olatiilu 2011), while 20-30-year plantations carbon stocks were higher than those of semi-arid, subhumid, humid and temperate agroforestry systems (Montagnini and Nair 2004). Carbon stocks for >30-year-old plantations fall within the range of tropical forests of NE India (97-149 Mg C ha -1 ) (Upadhaya et al. 2015) and mango agroforestry systems of Indonesia (121 Mg C ha -1 ) (Kirsfianti et al. 2002). Another study in plantations (age 6 to 35 years) in Xishuangbanna, China, reported the maximum carbon stock in old rubber plantations at 148 Mg C ha -1 at elevations below 800 m (Yang et al. 2017 and2019). Kiyono et al. (2014) estimated that the average carbon stock in rubber trees (50.0 Mg C ha -1 ) 1 was greater than the average carbon stock in a 5-year fallow period slash-and-burn agricultural system (18.6 Mg C ha -1 ). An overview of carbon stocks estimates in rubber plantations made in earlier studies can be found in Blagodatsky et al. (2016).Rotation length affects the C stocks of both trees and soils (Blagodatsky et al., 2016). A study modelled the effect of rotation length (25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years) on the C stocks in rubber plantations in Xishuangbanna, China. The total C stocks (Mg C ha -1 ) increased with the rotation length, with the maximum (173.60 Mg C ha -1 ) for the rotation length of 45 years and the lowest (89.86 Mg C ha -1 ) for the 25-year rotation length (Nizami et al. 2014). As the landscape includes plantations of different ages, the time averaged C stock (mean C stock over the whole rotation time from rubber planting to clear-cut) is a useful variable to estimate regional-scale C stocks in rubber plantations (Blagodatsky et al., 2016;Yang et al., 2016). For rotation lengths of 30 years, Blagodatsky et al. (2016) reported time averaged C stocks in above-and below-ground biomass ranging from 38.2 to 46.2 Mg C ha -1 depending on the growing conditions. For a given growing condition, the time averaged C stocks increase with rotation lengths.Large-scale land cover changes are occurring throughout tropical areas driven by the increasing global demand for materials, raising concerns on their impacts on deforestation and associated emissions.Over the last three decades the area planted to rubber increased by a factor of 1.8 and reached 14.1 million ha (IRSG 2020). Between 2008 and 2018 it increased by 24%. This growth has been most apparent in the Mekong region and Côte d'Ivoire. Expansion is expected to continue, although at lower rates, with projections suggesting a 2.4% per annum increase in the next decade (IRSG 2019), depending on rubber prices (e.g. Grogan et al., 2019), and other factors (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic which may impact the demand in rubber in different sectors).The shift from tropical forests and swidden agriculture to rubber monoculture has greatly improved the livelihood of many smallholder farmers (Grass et al., 2020;Blagodatsky et al. 2021). Concerns have been raised about the impacts of such changes on biodiversity, soil quality, water availability, ecosystem services and livelihoods of local populations (Fox and Castella 2013;Warren-Thomas et al. 2015).Conversion from different land uses to rubber plantation has a significant effect on carbon emissions, which depends on initial land use (Blagodatsky et al., 2016). Conversion from forests or swidden agriculture can lead to substantial carbon emissions from above and below ground carbon pools. However, the losses vary (Gitz et al. 2020). For instance, a study in Northern Laos (Kiyono et al. 2014) compares carbon stocks generated by rubber plantations to those generated in the swidden system practiced in the area -where the length of fallow has decreased from about 20 to 5 years in the last decades. The study estimated that a rubber plantation standing for 30 years stocks more carbon than a swidden system with a 5-year fallow period. This finding holds even when accounting for emissions generated from soil preparation before rubber planting. However, this benefit is lost if the swidden agriculture displaced by rubber itself moves and replaces natural forests.• Impact is generally negative when it replaces primary or secondary forests • Impact is positive when it is planted in severely degraded land • Impact can be neutral or slightly positive when it replaces swidden systems, depending mainly on the length of the fallow period of the system replaced • Impact is negative when it displaces swidden systems that encroach into forests.• Systems that are diversified (e.g. jungle rubber) can be as efficient to store carbon as secondary forests • Improving rubber yields should reduce deforestation by reducing the need for additional land. It is possible to reduce land-use change and deforestation through more intensive systems (Warren-Thomas et al., 2015) by increasing the yield of latex with improved genetic material, managing organic residues, improving tapping practices (Singh 2020) and by diversifying production systems (Gitz et al. 2020).The genetic material is important to achieve higher and stable yields. Plant breeders are trying to produce vigorous clones, high-yielding in both latex and timber, resistant to the major diseases, and with a shorter immaturity period (Gitz et al. 2020;Makita et al. 2021).Soil quality is also important to maintain and increase yields. After conversion from arable land or renewal of the plantation, soil quality may decrease during the immature phase (Thoumazeau et al. 2019). It improves during the maturity phase, getting closer to the soil quality of local forests, as shown in plantations in Thailand (Gay et al. 2021), where soil organic matter losses occurred mainly during renewal of the plantation. In Thailand, as in most rubber-producing countries, part or all of the tree biomass of the old plantation is exported before setting up a new one. In some countries, trunks and bigger branches are used as timber, but in others residues are simply burnt. The preliminary results from a project in Côte d'Ivoire have shown that leaving part of or the entire tree biomass in the inter-rows has a positive effect on soil quality and tree growth only 18 months after the logging of the old plantation (Gay et al. 2021). Such improved practices that increase soil organic matter also rise carbon stocks in the soil, contributing to mitigation.Soil erosion driven by rain events is common in rubber plantations, resulting in decrease of soil organic carbon. A study in Southwest China showed that mid-age rubber plantations had the highest erosion rate (3.5 and 5 times higher than young and old plantations, respectively) (Blagodatsky et al. 2021). The Land Use Change Impact Assessment (LUCIA) model was applied to scale plot-level results up to watershed level to study the impact of weed management on soil erosion. It was concluded that weeding once a year and no-weeding minimized soil loss during a 20-year rotation. Onceweeding was suggested as the best practice, as it controlled overgrowth of understory vegetation by keeping weed cover below 50% (Liu et al. 2019). Other studies have shown that retaining natural flora in rubber plantations reduced soil acidity and improved soil health, carbons stocks and soil nutrient status (Abraham and Joseph 2015;Jessy 2021).Trees grow rapidly during the immature phase, with a high demand for nutrients and a positive response to fertilization or soil fertility (Vrignon-Brenas et al. 2019;Perron et al. 2021). During the mature phase, growth of the trees and nutrient requirements are low (Chotiphan et al. 2019). Rubber trees do not require high quantities of fertilizers during the mature phase and almost no pesticides (Penot et al. 2021), comparing favourably with GHG emission balances of many other crops.Judicious crop mixing in rubber plantations (also applicable in large scale plantations) can increase carbon stocks and either improve or not reduce growth and yield of rubber, sustain, or improve soil fertility status and reduce costs of cultivation (Jessy 2021). Low light availability within the plantation after canopy closure limits the choice of crops during the mature phase to shade-tolerant crops like coffee, cocoa, vanilla and certain medicinal and ornamental plants (Jessy et al. 2015  Natural rubber systems can contribute to overall emissions reduction when the wood from plantations is used as a substitute for fossil fuel (Nouvellon et al. 2021) as in the case of coke replaced with charcoal from Eucalyptus in the steel industry (Fallot et al. 2009) or using rubber biomass for power plants in Thailand (Waewsak et al. 2020). The government of Thailand also promotes the production of rubber wood pellets both for domestic use and export (Gitz et al. 2020).The nationally determined contribution of Indonesia promotes the use of rubber wood for energy production.There is also scope for using more rubber wood in furniture production. Rubber wood is the main material for the furniture industry in Malaysia, where it is also used in medium density fibreboard and other panel products (Gitz et al. 2020). In Malaysia the rubber wood has replaced the dwindling supply from natural forests (Ratnasingam et al. 2015) and its use has been possible thanks to the partnership between public and private actors.Increasing the use of rubber wood would also reduce the need for additional wood collection in forests and for timber plantations and reduce accordingly pressure on natural forests. These positive effects of the use of rubber wood should be factored in any global analysis of rubber production in relation to climate change.Natural rubber has diverse applications in the tyre, anti-vibration, anti-seismic and medical equipment industries (Gohet 2021). It is a greener substitute to petroleum derived elastomers, representing about 47% of the global elastomer market in 2020. Natural rubber has many attributes that makes it ideal for plastic substitution in textiles, footwear and construction (Pinizzotto et al. 2021).Research is underway to improve NR attributes related to damping, oil resistance, gas permeability, wet grip and rolling resistance. Other product applications have been explored in pre-commercial settings, including foam and adhesives. A specialty latex foam shows excellent sound-absorbing and vibration-damping properties, and a water-based adhesive gives an alternative for non-toxic, environmentally-friendly and less odorous adhesive (Fatimah Rubaizah et al. 2021).Considerable progress is also being made in reuse and recycling, particularly for tires that can be recycled for roads and buildings creating long term carbon sinks.Natural rubber production has a considerable potential for climate action and sustainable development, which needs to be recognised by national and international mechanisms and plans. (Gitz and Meybeck 2021;Brady 2021;Omokhafe 2021;Rodrigo and Munasinghe 2021;Meybeck and Gitz 2021). With the Paris agreement and the Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) there is better recognition of synergies and trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation as well as of synergies with sustainable development, opening up additional ways to better integrate land use, and in particular rubber production.Most countries have integrated in their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) objectives and measures related to land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) including reduced deforestation, afforestation and sustainable forest management. Some of them also have targets regarding development of bioenergy. For instance, Indonesia explicitly aims to increase the use of rubber wood for bioenergy. The implementation of broad LULUCF objectives can include measures related to rubber, including for instance renewal of plantations. Moreover, the periodic revision of the NDCs offer opportunities to explicitly integrate rubber related objectives.The implementation of NDCs in consuming countries could include measures promoting the use of natural rubber to substitute non-renewable products or increasing the lifespan of carbon stocked in rubber products -for instance blending ground tyre rubber with asphalt to produce longer lasting road surfaces.At international level there also opportunities for the potential of natural rubber for mitigation to be better recognised and valued, for instance to extend to rubber and bamboo products the accounting of carbon in harvested products as is the case for harvested wood products (HWP).Natural rubber systems have a considerable potential to increase their contribution to mitigation of climate change. It includes Hevea trees themselves as carbon sinks, better management of land use and land use change and improved management practices to increase soil carbon and yield, as well as increased use of rubber wood and of natural rubber in substitution to non-renewable materials. The realization of this potential requires research and development, coordinated action in landscapes and along the value chain, enabling policies as well as appropriate recognition and support at international level.The Paris Agreement has profoundly changed the way climate action is determined, putting the focus on the NDCs, on national actions, priorities and specificities. This gives additional opportunities for sectors that are important nationally to have a broader influence in the determination, implementation and revision of the NDCs. It is obviously the case for rubber within the set of producing countries, in traditional and non-traditional areas. In addition, recent years have seen a growing emphasis on the role of the private sector in climate action, with more importance given to initiatives of actors other than governments. This creates new opportunities to increase the visibility and integration of rubber in international negotiations and financial mechanisms. The sector can mobilize for action its well-organized mechanisms of collaboration between countries and with the private sector through the IRSG and between research organizations through the IRRDB.","tokenCount":"2710"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6362335900.json b/data/part_1/6362335900.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e6bfe793d9c71f8ab861f424f705735b1b9e929f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6362335900.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"81548cd99807917e22d0fe9585628feb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/511d36f5-c29a-4bd9-b8a0-9cdcd6e8915c/retrieve","id":"99892163"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"42beace9-754a-499b-9c10-6eb4bab78d38","pagecount":"1","content":"Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector worldwide. However, intensive aquaculture can experience high disease burden, with the risk of increased antimicrobial use (and misuse).There is poor knowledge of antimicrobial use and AMR in aquaculture, a research gap that WorldFish and partners are working to fill. Read this global review: tiny.cc/AMUinaquacultureAquaculture may be a key site for the emergence, persistence and transmission of AMR.Among the main potential drivers of resistance are poor fish farming practices, insufficiently labelled medicines, use of animal droppings as fertilizer and water transfer.Our partners at Cefas and the University of Exeter are using genomics and bioinformatics.These will increase our understanding of complex microbial assemblages of the pond and host and how they relate to disease conditions. These tools are also being used to improve sustainable use of antibiotics by identifying the greatest AMR gene burden present in farming systems.To reduce resistance risk, solutions will likely be adaptive, for example, sharing knowledge about disease and best farming practices through improved farmer clustering and better and more available seed. Read more in this Nature article: tiny.cc/AMRproblem Fish farmers paying back credit on a regular basis typically harvest and restock their ponds often, a practice that increases the risk of disease transmission and potentially also antimicrobial use.We are helping to implement an epidemiology and health economics survey in Bangladesh, Egypt and Zambia.This will identify risk factors for disease emergence and the main hotspots of antimicrobial use, leading to better disease management interventions and reducing reliance on chemicals and antimicrobials.To better understand the social, economic and biological drivers of resistance, WorldFish is working with farmers, policy makers and other stakeholders.One Health recognizes this interconnectedness as well as the need to apply a collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach to achieve optimal health outcomes for people, animals, plants and their shared environment. AMR is of particular concern in low-to middle-income countries, which face the greatest demand for increased food production but also tend to have poorer knowledge of and regulations regarding antimicrobial use.But the real impact of antimicrobial use in aquaculture is unclear.Antimicrobial use in aquaculture differs from livestock farming due to, for example, aquaculture's greater diversity of species.The way antimicrobials are administered in aquaculture systems also presents occupational hazards. Find out more in this assessment: tiny.cc/occupationalhazardsThe understanding of pathogenesis has evolved.The 'pathobiome' breaks down the previous paradigm of 'one pathogen = one disease' that does not explain many disease scenarios and highlights the complex interactions of microbial agents (eukaryote, prokaryote, viral) with a host (and with each other) that may lead to disease or reduction in fitness of the host.The interconnected nature of agri-food systems means that AMR can spread, posing a major threat to public and animal health as well as the structure and sustainability of food production.","tokenCount":"459"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6362859234.json b/data/part_1/6362859234.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72db22c47695157b2ecc72c783fa120c3865f292
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6362859234.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eb4baff7aedbc8402f0bbce3374541c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/727b40c5-050e-4227-b15c-cc0b5a9b69ac/content","id":"-822860755"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e7c79745-db7c-41e6-9349-767fe12d02ac","pagecount":"35","content":"En los últimos 20 años se han logrado avances significativos en el mejoramiento del triticale en el CIMMYT y otros lugares; el cultivo es muy prometedor en ambientes de producción difíciles.Las investigaciones relacionadas con el triticale (X. Triticosecale Wittmack), el producto de un cruzamiento entre el trigo y el centeno, en realidad comenzaron en el C1MMYT un año antes de que se estableciera íormalmente el Centro en 1966. El objetivo original del programa era producir un tipo de cereal que complementara o superara a los otros, un reto formidable en vista de los problemas que tuvo el triticale en sus inicios. Por lo general las plantas eran altas y de madurez tardía, sensibles al fotoperíodo y parcialmente estériles, con una tendencia a producir semillas arrugadas. Estos problemas determinaron los primeros proyectos para mejorar el triticale.En los años transcurridos desde que otros científicos y los del CIMMYT iniciaron esos proyectos, se han logrado adelantos significativos. Se han resuelto en gran medida problemas relacionados con el acame, la ferti Iidad floral. la calidad deficiente del grano y la madurez tardía, y ahora el triticale se cultiva en más de un millón de hectáreas en 32 países de todo el mundo (cuadro 1, p. 21). El triticale aún tiene varias características desventajosas (incluyendo la germinación en la espiga y peso hectolítrico baJO en ambientes de producción menos favorables); no obstante, ha manifestado cada vez más su potencial en condiciones especiales de cultivo, tales como ambientes semiáridos, suelos áCidos (por ejemplo, oxisoles y ultisoles) y tierras altas tropicales de más de 1,500 m de altura, que se caracterizan por suelos volcánicos que son casi siempre ácidos y que tienen gran capacidad de fijar fósforo.El CIMMYT dedica cada vez más atención a ambientes como éstos, en los que la producción de cereales puede ser una actividad difícil o marginal. Si bien el programa de triticale sigue buscando los medios de elevar el rendimiento y mejorar la adaptación amplia, la calidad de la semilla y la calidad industrial, en la actualidad dedica mayor atención a mejorar variedades que prosperen en ambientes difíciles y sean resistentes a las enfermedades. El trasfondo de cada faceta de la labor fitogenética es un proyecto general para ampliar la variabilidad genética del triticate. Más adelante se detalla este proyecto, una de las mayores prioridades del programa del triticale (véase la página 15). Estos objetivos reflejan una confianza en el potencial del triticale que antes no existía. Si bien desde su primera aparición en el decenio de 1870 el triticale despertó la curiosidad de los fitogenetistas como una rareza botánica, no estimuló de inmediato su imaginación como un cultivo comercial. La transformación del triticale en cultivo comercial se logró gracias a los esfuerzos de muchas personas que creían que valía la pena explotar sus características poco comunes. En esta obra se reseñan algunos detalles de esa transformación, incluidos los logros del CIMMYT en cuanto al mejoramiento del triticale durante los últimos 20 años, y además se examinan las metas aduales y futuras del programa.En 1875, Wilson informó a la Sociedad Botánica de Edimburgo que había obtenido una planta estéril a partir de un cruzamiento trigo x centeno. Si bien Rimpau produjo el primer triticale fértil en 1888, este cultivo continuó teniendo relativamente poca trascendencia hasta ya avanzados los primeros decenios del siglo XX. En ese momento, científicos de la Unión Soviética y Europa, en particular Müntzing de Suecia, comenzaron a explorar su potencial como cultivo comercial. Sus esfuerzos se vieron frustrados por la persistente infertilidad del hrbrido, su tendencia a producir semillas arrugadas y la imposibilidad de obtener grandes cantidades de nuevos híbridos trigo x centeno fértiles (a los que se llama triticales primarios, en contraste con los triticales secundarios, que son la progenie mejorada de los primarios).El primer adelanto en la producción de triticales fértiles se alcanzó en 1937 con el descubrimiento de la colquicina, un alcaloide venenoso derivado de los bulbos o de las semillas del azafrán de otoño (Co/chícum autumna/e). El tratamiento con colquicina puede inducir la duplicación del número de cromosomas de las plantas y, de ese modo, se superan las barreras de la fertilidad (figura 1). Esto hizo posible la creación artificial de triticales primarios fértiles, y ya no fue necesaria la búsqueda laboriosa para detedar su aparición espontánea, poco frecuente en la naturaleza.La segunda contribución importante a la producción de triticale se produjo en el decenio de 1940, cuando se desarrollaron las técnicas del cultivo de embriones. Se retiraban los embriones de sus endospermas anormales antes de que abortaran y se transplantaban a un medio de cultivo con nutriente. Esta técnica tiene especial importancia en la producción de triticales hexaploides (42 cromosomas) a partir de cruzamientos de trigo duro (Trítícum  turgídum varo durum) x centeno (Seca/e cerea/e). Dado el alto grado de incompatibilidad de cruzamiento, los embriones obtenidos en esos cruzamientos deben pasar inevitablemente por el cultivo de embriones y después las plántulas reciben un tratamiento con colquicina. En contraste, las semillas haploides F1 de los cruzamientos de trigo harinero (Trítícum aestívum) x centeno los cruzamientos entre el trigo duro (arriba a la izquierda) y el centeno (arriba a la derecha) producen triticales primarios (al centro), cuyas progenies mejoradas se denominan triticales secundarios (abajo).por lo general se pueden sembrar diredamente, sin efeduar el rescate de embriones, y luego se les administra el tratamiento con colquicina. En ambos casos, se necesitan numerosos cruzamientos para producir triticales primarios diploides viables, ya que, comúnmente, la producción inicial de semillas es escasa (2 a 3 semillas haploides por espiga).A menudo la germinación de estos hfbridos F1 intergenéricos de triticale es escasa, y también es reducida la recuperación de las plántulas derivadas de embriones de duro x centeno. El tratamiento con colquicina no siempre duplica los cromosomas y con frecuencia mata las plántulas. Después de este tratamiento, la recuperación de plántulas duplicadas es comunmente inferior al 40%. Entre 1972 y 1985, se llevaron a cabo en el C1MMYT alrededor de 2,400 y 1,700 cruzamientos para producir triticales primarios hexaploides (6X) y odoploides (8X), respedivamente. Sólo se recuperaron 700 triticales hexaploides y 400 odoploides, y se obtuvieron menos del 30% de las combinaciones deseadas de trigo y centeno. Estas cifras ilustran el costo elevado y la prolongada duración del proceso de producción de nuevos triticales. Progreso alcanzado con los lrilicales helCaploides El perfeccionamiento de las técnicas del rescate de embriones y de la colquicina fueron de gran utilidad para las investigaciones sobre el triticale, y por primera vez fue posible producir triticales en cantidades adecuadas. En 1954, la Universidad de Manitoba, Canadá, reunió una gran colección de triticales primarios producidos por investigadores e instituciones de todo el mundo, y comenzó a realizar cruzamientos secundarios.Ese trabajo, junto con el de Sánchez-Monge en España y de Kiss en Hungrfa, confirmó que los triticales hexaploides (híbridos del trigo duro tetraploide x centeno diploide, 42 cromosomas) tenfan cualidades genéticas superiores a las de los odaploides (trigo harinero hexaploide x centeno, 56 cromosomas) Desde 1913, diversos fitogenetistas habfan trabajado con hexaploides, pero los primeros hexaploides ofrecfan una deficiente producción de semilla y los fitogenetistas se mostraban reacios a continuar dedicando esfuerzos a materiales tan poco prometedores. Sin embargo, los investigadores canadienses, húngaros y españoles creían que se podfan obtener mejores triticales hexaploides y lograron un significativo progreso en convertir en realidad el potencial de los hexaploides. En 1969, en Canadá se autorizó para ser lanzado Rosner, un triticale hexaploide, en España se lanzó Cachurulu, otro hexaploide, y en Hungría se cultivaron 15,000 ha con dos variedades hexaploides para forraje.Las bases del programa del triticale del C1MMYT, como las de su programa de mejoramiento de trigo, existfan antes de que se fundara el Centro en 1966. En 1965, la Fundación Rockefeller otorgó un subsidio especial al Dr. N.E. Borlaug y su grupo en México, en forma conjunta con la Universidad de Manitoba, para realizar investigaciones sobre el triticale. Se pensaba que el progreso serfa más rápido si se realizaban las investigaciones en un lugar en el que fuera posible contar con dos ciclos de cultivo en vez de uno, y en el que los fitogenetistas tuvieran acceso a diversos materiales de programas de desarrollo de germoplasma de trigos duro y harinero, como los de México. Después de la fundación del C1MMYT, estas investigaciones conjuntas continuaron bajo la dirección del Dr. F.J. Zillinsky (Canadá proporcionó fondos adicionales por medio del Centro de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo Internacional y de la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional). El programa utilizó sitios en tres zonas climáticas diferentes para cultivar y seleccionar poblaciones. En invierno, se sembró el ensayo de triticale en el Centro de Investigaciones Agrfcolas del Noroeste (CIANOl, estado de Sonora, que se encuentra a 27.5° de latitud N ya 39 metros de altura sobre el nivel del mar. Los ensayos de verano se sembraron en el valle de Toluca, a 19.2° de latitud N y 2,640 metros de altura, y en Winnipeg, Manitoba, a 50° de latitud N y 230 metros de altura. Se duplicó asf el número de generaciones cultivadas al año y se triplicó el número de ambientes.El programa comenzó su labor con materiales que no sólo posefan desventajas inherentes, como su esterilidad y altura, sino que también carecfan de la adaptación amplia que permitirfa su cultivo en diferentes condiciones en todo el mundo. Los triticales para pafses en desarrollo que se encuentren entre los 30° de latitud N y los 30° de latitud S deben ser insensibles al fotoperfodo, como los trigos del CIMMYT; por consiguiente, uno de los primeros objetivos del programa fue lograr esta caracterfstica. Alternando generaciones entre diversas estaciones con diferentes regfmenes de luz y condiciones agroclimáticas, los fitogenetistas pudieron seleccionar cepas que eran insensibles al fotoperfodo (figura 2). Ya que las enfermedades endémicas son muy distintas de un sitio a otro, mejoraron las posibilidades de aumentar la estabilidad de la resistencia a las enfermedades.Poco después de iniciar su programa, los investigadores dedicados al mejoramiento del triticale en el C1MMYT se beneficiaron con un En el ClANO, el Dr. F.l. Zillinsky (derecha), jefe del programa de triticale del CIMMYT de 1966 a 1982, consulta con el Dr. G. Varughese, el director actual del programa. suceso imprevisto: un cruzamiento espontáneo del triticale con un trigo harinero semienano mexicano desconocido, entre la progenie F3 del cruzamiento X30B. Más tarde se descubrió que en Armadillo (como se le llamó) el cromosoma 2D del trigo harinero sustituyó al cromosoma 2R del centeno. Los triticales en los que cromosomas D del trigo harinero han sustituido a cromosomas R se llaman sustituidos, y los triticales que tienen los siete cromosomas R se denominan de tipo completo.Las buenas características agronómicas que se obtuvieron mediante este cruzamiento fortuito resultaron altamente heredables, y el grupo que trabajaba con e[ triticale en el CIMMYT aprovechó su buena suerte; de hecho, para 1970 la mayoría de los tríticales del C1MMYT incluían Armadillo en sus genealogías. Los materiales Armadillo se distribuyeron entre los fitogenetistas de todo el mundo, quienes las utilizaron para dotar a los triticales menos prometedores de gran fertilidad, mejores pesos hectolítricos y rendimiento de grano, insensibilidad al fotoperfodo, enanismo, madurez precoz y buena calidad nutricional.En 1969, el programa del triticale inició pruebas internacionales para evaluar y difundir sus selecciones de Armadillo y otro germoplasma prometedor. El desarrollo de germoplasma de amplia adaptación y con alto rendimiento requiere sin duda la cooperación de muchos científicos de todo el mundo. El programa internacional de ensayos del triticale comprende el intercambio de materiales y datos relacionados con el mejoramiento entre investigadores universitarios e instituciones públicas de fitogenética. En la actualidad, los viveros internacionales del CIMMYT se siembran en 115 sitios de 71 países. La mayor variedad de ambientes en que se ponen a prueba los triticales, combinada con la expansión del complejo genético, ha dado como resultado una considerable mejora de la adaptación, como lo manifiestan los resultados del 14 o ITYN en los lugares de prueba en todo el mundo (figuras 3 y 4). Como en otros cereales, el principal aminoácido limitante en el triticale es la lisina. No obstante, el triticale tiene un contenido de lisina generalmente superior al del trigo y un mejor balance de aminoácidos esenciales. Se hicieron experimentos con ratas para evaluar la digestibilidad de las proteínas del grano de triticale y se encontró que era similar a la del trigo y superior a la del centeno. Además, el contenido de fósforo del triticale es más alto que el de cualquiera de sus especies progenitoras (4.5 g/kg de materia seca, en comparación con 3.8 g/kg del trigo y 4.1 g/kg del centeno) y esto lo convierte en un elemento conveniente en la alimentación de cerdos y gallinas, animales cuyas necesidades de fósforo son considerables.Numerosos estudios alimentarios han informado que el triticale iguala o a veces supera al trigo cuando se utiliza como componente del alimento animal; por otra parte, el grano es muy prometedor como sustituto del trigo, maíz, sorgo, cebada y centeno.Cuando se utiliza como cultivo forrajero, se ha encontrado que el triticale tiene un potencial de forraje y contenido proteínico superiores a los de la avena, y rendimientos de ensilaje y forraje más altos que los del trigo, centeno, avena y cebada. Se ha informado que la pastura de triticale dura más que la del centeno; pruebas de pastoreo con novillos añales señalaron aumentos diarios medios en peso equivalentes a 0.72 kg en animales alimentados con triticale, en comparación con 0.69 kg en los que comfan trigo y 0.59 kg en los alimentados con centeno.En algunos estudios alimentarios en los que el triticale fue el cereal básico en la dieta animal, se ha informado que el grano no produjo respuestas congruentes con su contribución de nutrientes. Estos resultados indican la presencia de factores antinutritivos, presumiblemente heredados de los centenos progenitores, e implican además que es necesario proceder con cautela cuando se usa el triticale en raciones forrajeras. Sin embargo, muchas de las discrepancias en los resultados pueden atribuirse a la gran variación genética de las muestras que se utilizaron. No obstante, las calidades nutritivas del triticale son tales que, combinadas con sus diversos usos y capacidad de desarrollarse en ambientes difíciles, hacen de este cereal una atractiva opción para los productores de todo el mundo.Los 10 mejores selecciones de Armadillo tuvieron un rendimiento medio equivalente al 83% del rendimiento medio del trigo.Una forma empleada por los fitogenetistas del CIMMYT para aumentar el rendimiento del triticale consistió en disminuir la altura de la planta y aumentar la fortaleza de la paja, lo que permite una aplicación más intensa de fertilizante de nitrógeno sin inducir el acame. Los primeros intentos de reducir la altura del triticale incorporando genes del enanismo mediante el empleo de UM940, una línea canadiense baja y robusta, y triticales enanos de Hungría se vieron frustrados por la imposibilidad de mantener la fertilidad entre las selecciones enanas. Otra estrategia, que incluía el cruzamiento de cepas de Armadillo con triticales de paja rígida, produjo sólo un incremento moderado de la resistencia al acame. La tercer estrategia consistió en efectuar cruzamientos con un centeno enano llamado Snoopy, que al principio aportó también características agronómicas deficientes. Si bien la progenie de centenos enanos como Snoopy finalmente figuró en la genealogía de los triticales enanos, esto ocurrió sólo después del éxito logrado con el método utilizado por el C1MMYT para disminuir la altura del triticale, que se describe a continuación.Dicho método consistió en obtener hexaploides enanos mediante cruzamientos de triticale hexaploide x trigo harinero semienano y triticale octoploide (basado en trigos harineros mexicanos enanos de alto rendimiento) x triticale hexaploide. Anteriormente se había cruzado la variedad INIA 66 de trigo harinero con dos diferentes centenos de primavera y de esos cruzamientos se seleccionaron dos importantes líneas de triticale octoploide llamadas Maya 1 y Maya 2. Estas dos líneas desempeñaron un papel fundamental en reducir la altura del triticale, así como en aumentar el rendimiento, la adaptación y el peso hectolítrico. Por ejemplo, en todo el mundo se han lanzado más de 15 variedades de triticale provenientes del cruzamiento de Maya 2 x Armadillo. Es probable que la línea Mapache o Cananea sea la mejor de esta serie. En 1975, los triticales más prometedores ya tenían buena resistencia al acame y la altura media del cultivo se había reducido notablemente. Los ensayos de rendimiento demostraron que el triticale podía tolerar cantidades mayores de nitrógeno sin que se produjera el acame.Las cepas del Maya 2 x Armadillo (M2A), con genes adicionales de enanismo, aparecieron por primera vez en ensayos repetidos en 1972-73. Mientras que el rendimiento del mejor trigo testigo se mantenía estable en 8,000 a 9,000 kg/ha, las mejores cepas de triticale habían aumentado su productividad aproximadamente un 15% y llegaban a 8,000 kg/ha; el mejor tri ti cale produjo 8,352 kg/ha. Por primera vez se había superado la diferencia en rendimiento entre los mejores trigos y triticales en México. En la figura 3 se muestra el aumento continuo del rendimiento del triticale, en comparación con el de las variedades de trigo harinero incluidas en el ITYN. Para 1984-85, los resultados del 16° ITYN señalaron que algunos triticales daban resultados comparables a los de los trigos en todos los ambientes y eran evidentemente superiores en ciertas condiciones adversas.Selección para obtener una adaptación amplia Paralelamente a los esfuerzos del programa del triticale por aumentar el rendimiento, se intentó lograr una adaptación más amplia y, de este modo, obtener triticales con buen desempeño en diferentes condiciones agroclimáticas. Si bien en teoría la constitución genómica del triticale proporciona un potencial intrrnseco de adaptación a una gama más amplia de condiciones que la correspondiente al trigo, la falta de variabilidad genética de los primeros triticales, incluidas las Ifneas Armadillo, les confirió a estos triticales una capacidad de adaptación muy limitada en comparación con la de los trigos semi enanos mexicanos. Con la expansión de la base de germoplasma y el empleo de trigos semienanos como elementos básicos, los triticales muestran una adaptabilidad mayor y un potencial de rendimiento elevado y estable. La estrategia de mejoramiento para generar materiales adecuados para zonas tropicales altas y suelos ácidos comienza con la selección de progenitores con adaptación a suelos ácidos y escasa actividad de la alfa-ami lasa o resistencia a la germinación en la espiga. Esas Irneas progenitoras, como Hare 212, Stier y Tatu (todas con escasa actividad de la alfaami lasa), se utilizan para efectuar cruzamientos.Estas generaciones se alternan entre Toluca y el CIANO, y también se evalúan durante una o más generaciones en un ambiente con suelo ácido para eliminar los materiales no adaptados. Antes de someterlo a los ensayos internacionales, el material de la generación más avanzada se selecciona una vez más en Brasil y luego se vuelve a evaluar en condiciones de suelo ácido en México.Ambientes de tierras áridas. Una preocupación fundamental al crear germoplasma para regiones afectadas por la sequfa es mantener un rendimiento y peso hectolrtrico aceptables. Muchas Ifneas avanzadas, como Rhino y CarmanlYogui, en el presente muestran excelentes pesos hectolrtricos y potencial de rendimiento en condiciones de sequfa en México. El reto ahora consiste en continuar mejorando estas caracterfsticas, al mismo tiempo que se amplra la diversidad genética de las Irneas tolerantes a la sequfa.Se cruzan entre sf variedades y Irneas con un probado potencial de tolerancia a la sequía para incrementar esta caracterfstica. Las poblaciones segregantes que resu Itan se someten a selección en ambientes adversos por lo menos durante tres generaciones. En cada etapa, se eliminan las poblaciones no adaptadas de acuerdo con su rendimiento y peso hectolftrico. A continuación, las poblaciones que sobreviven se siembran en ambientes con condiciones óptimas para identificar las plantas que tienen mayor potencial genético de rendimiento.Un cambio de énfasis. El desempeño del triticale en ambientes de producción diffciles impulsó al programa a modificar gradualmente su enfoque y, en lugar de continuar con la creación de triticales para zonas trigueras muy productivas, ahora hace hincapié en el mejoramiento de triticales para ambientes adversos donde este último cultivo complementa la producción de trigo. No obstante, el programa del triticale dedica algunos de sus recursos a mejorar el cultivo para ambientes de producción óptimos en los que pueden ser necesarias alternativas para el trigo duro o harinero.Resistencia a las enfermedades Al comienzo no parecfa que las enfermedades limitaran mucho el rendimiento del triticale, probablemente porque la cantidad de triticales cultivada no era suficiente para ocasionar epifitias graves. A medida que se extiende la superficie cultivada con triticale, la situación cambia. Desde 1971, el CIMMYT ha vigilado las enfermedades que afectan al triticale en México y en el mundo entero.Al parecer, la roya de la hoja (Puecinia recondita) es la enfermedad más frecuente y variable del triticale en México y en todo el mundo. Periódicamente surgen nuevas cepas patógenas que infectan algunas Ifneas y variedades del tritiea/e.La roya del tallo (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritio) no representaba un problema para el triticale hasta hace poco, cuando en Australia el patógeno mutó lo suficiente como para atacar al triticale. Los cientrficos australianos han avanzado significativamente hacia la superación del problema mediante la identificación de varios genes adicionales que confieren la resistencia y que en el presente son aprovechados por diversos programas de mejoramiento, incluidos los del CIMMYT.La roya lineal (Puccinia striiformis) causó inicialmente infecciones graves en algunos de los primeros triticales, pero desde entonces se ha logrado obtener altos grados de resistencia. Sin embargo, en las zonas altas de Africa oriental la roya lineal al parecer provocará una situación semejante a la creada por la roya del tallo en Australia. El C1MMYT conffa en que sus colaboradores proporcionarán información y evaluarán e/ germoplasma para seleccionar resistencia a enfermedades que, como la roya lineal en triticale, no existen en México.Mediante la creación de epifitias artificiales en cada ciclo de mejoramiento, a partir de las razas de roya que existen en México, los fitogenetistas pueden producir un flujo continuo de germoplasma resistente a la roya en un esfuerzo por adelantarse a la evolución de los agentes patógenos. Las Ifneas y variedades que los colaboradores señalan como resistentes a agentes patógenos y cepas que no existen en México se incluyen en el programa de cruzamientos con el fin de generar germoplasma que en potencia también es resistente a estas cepas.La importancia de la roya del tallo (foto) y otras enfermedades que afectan al triticale incrementa a medida que la superficie sembrada con este cultivo aumenta.Se ha avanzado mucho en mejorar la calidad de la semilla del triticale. la cubierta arrugada, hendidura profunda y falta de brillo de los primeros triticales (derecha) obstaculizaron su aceptación; sin embargo, desde entonces algunas líneas mejoradas con semilla llena de peso hectolltrico elevado (izquierda) han sido identificadas.El ergo! (Claviceps purpurea), una enfermedad grave de los primeros triticales estériles, ya no constituye un problema porque se ha mejorado la fertilidad de las florecillas. Los grados de infección son parecidos a los que se observan en el trigo harinero. El triticale muestra resistencia al carbón parcial (Til/etia indica), una enfermedad menor transmitida por la semilla que afecta a los trigos harineros en México, asf como a otros carbones. Sin embargo, los triticales aún carecen de resistencia adecuada a ciertas enfermedades importantes, incluidas la roña y el moho blanco (causados por especies de Fusarium), el tizÓn foliar (Helminthosporium sativum), el rayado bacteriano (Xanthomonas translucens) y algunas pudriciones de la rafz y tizones de las plántulas. El mejoramiento para obtener resistencia a estas enfermedades, en especial la roña y el tizón foliar, es parte fundamental del programa de triticale del CIMMYT. Se incorporan nuevas fuentes de resistencia a las enfermedades mediante cruzamientos interespecfficos con el trigo harinero y la producción de nuevos triticales primarios. Por ejemplo, se cruzan triticales con trigos harineros resistentes a la roña provenientes de China, entre los que se encuentran las líneas Shanghai, Suzhoe y Wuhan, que se utilizan también para producir nuevos triticales octoploides primarios.Tipo de semilla y peso hectolítrico Uno de los problemas más importantes que aún no se resuelven en la labor con el triticale es la formación anormal del endosperma. En contraste con la tfpica semilla lisa y llena del trigo, la semilla madura del triticale a menudo tiene una cubierta rugosa, un pliegue profundo y carece de brillo. Esta semilla malformada constituye un medio inadecuado para el embrión y provoca una baja tasa de germinación. Como resultado, el grano de triticale es poco atractivo para muchos agricultores y consumidores.Las semillas arrugadas se traducen en pesos hectolftricos bajos (peso por volumen unitario). Los mejores trigos harineros tienen pesos hectolftricos superiores a los 80 kg/hl, pero los pesos hectolftricos de los primeros triticales fluctuaban entre 58 y 71 kg/h!. Las cepas de Armadillo contribuyeron a aumentar el peso heetolftrico y en el programa de mejoramiento se utilizaron ampliamente selecciones del cruzamiento INIA 66/Armadillo (X1648), llamado Carne!. Camel y Panda, un cruzamiento de Camel, se convirtieron en las fuentes principales para mejorar el peso hectolftrico del germoplasma de triticale del CIMMYT. El progreso fue lento pero continuo y, en la actualidad, los pesos hectolrtricos superiores a 78 hg/hl son más frecuentes que antes en condiciones de producción favorables (figura 6). Las Ifneas Yogui, Zebra, Rhino, Dingo y las derivadas de estas líneas como CarmanlYogui, son buenos ejemplos de triticales con semillas llenas de alto peso hectol ftrico.Si bien el peso hectolrtrico tiende a disminuir en condiciones adversas, algunas líneas prometedoras de triticale (por ejemplo, Rhino y Buffalo) tienen pesos hectolftricos aceptables en los suelos ácidos de las zonas tropicales altas y en ambientes afectados por la sequía. Estas líneas también mantienen excelentes pesos hectolítricos en ambientes óptimos de producción. No obstante, se continúa la selección rigurosa para mejorar el peso hectolítrico, en particular en triticales que se cultivan en condiciones desfavorables.La semilla del triticale a menudo contiene concentraciones elevadas de alfa-ami lasa, que se relacionan con la germinación prematura en la espiga. A medida que aumenta la germinación, es mayor la actividad de la alfaami lasa; de igual forma, cuando es reducida la germinación, la actividad de la alfa-ami lasa es escasa. La germinación prematura, sumada a la incapacidad del cultivo de mantener semillas lisas y de buena calidad después de ser expuestas a la lluvia, reduce la producción de semillas y la calidad de molienda y panificación del grano. Este problema es particularmente persistente en las zonas tropicales altas, donde el triticale suele madurar durante períodos de precipitación intensa.Los científicos del CIMMYT han utilizado dos métodos para obtener resistencia a la germinación prematura y un buen tipo de semilla. En el primero, se siembran en Toluca cepas de triticale y poblaciones segregantes en enero para que la maduración coincida con la precipitación máxima en junio y julio. Este procedimiento facilita la selección natural y permite detectar resistencia a la germinación y la capacidad de produciJ semillas lisas. Se convertirá en un método habitual del programa de mejoramiento, usado para obtener materiales para zonas tropicales altas y suelos ácidos. Con el segundo método, se llevan a cabo pruebas de laboratorio para determinar el grado de actividad de la alfa-amilasa. Estos datos se usan para eliminar las líneas con elevada actividad de la alfa-ami lasa que, por lo tanto, tienen una resistencia inadecuada a la germinación. En la actualidad, líneas como la Otter, Anoas y L1ama/F3 Spy/Bgl muestran escasa actividad de la alfa-ami lasa.Ampliación de la base de germoplasma E! complejo germoplásmico de triticale del C1MMYT contiene muchos ger,es para cada uno de los objetivos del mejoramiento antes descritos: rendimiento alto y estable, adaptación amplia, resistencia a las enfermedades, buen tipo de semilla y escasa  16 actividad de la alfa-amilasa. Sin embargo, estos genes convenientes proceden de relativamente pocas fuentes y la variabilidad genética general para obtener una característica determinada es un tanto limitada. Por esta razón, la primera prioridad del programa consiste en aumentar la variabilidad genética del germoplasma del triticale (figura 7).En vista de que el triticale no ha pasado por la selección natural, es necesario y ventajoso crear poblaciones genéticamente tan diversas como sea posible. Debido a que sólo unos cuantos progenitores poseían las características que contribuyeron a solucionar los problemas básicos que limitaban la producción de triticale, se usaron ampliamente y esto tendió a restringir la base genética del triticale. Por ejemplo, en 1984, alrededor del 70% de las líneas utilizadas en el mejoramiento en el CIMMYT, ya denominadas, incluían a Armadillo en sus genealogías.La principal forma de aumentar la diversidad genética del triticale es obtener nuevos triticales primarios. En 1984, el programa del CIMMYT inició un proyecto especial para intensificar y mejorar la producción y el mantenimiento de triticales primarios. El objetivo de este trabajo es la creación de triticales primarios a partir de progenitores que tengan características especiales para adaptarse a condiciones especfficas ylo resistencia a las enfermedades. Se generan nuevos métodos para producir triticales primarios perfeccionando procedimientos como el tratamiento con colquicina, e intentando producir células de embriones individuales mediante el cultivo de tejidos con el fin de generar mayores cantidades de plántulas haploides en cada cruzamiento.Al mismo tiempo, el C1MMYT reúne germoplasma de centeno de primavera proveniente de todo el mundo para ampliar la influencia de este progenitor del triticale, al que los fitogenetistas no dedicaron mucha atención en el pasado. Se ha iniciado un pequeño programa de mejoramiento del centeno de primavera para apoyar los esfuerzos de mejoramiento del triticale.Se han utilizado diversos métodos para aumentar la variación genética de los materiales secundarios de mejoramiento del CIMMYT. Se han realizado miles de cruzamientos entre triticales adaptados con diferentes genealogías. También se han producido muchos híbridos interespecfficos de triticales y trigos harineros. Finalmente, los triticales del C1MMYT, todos de primavera, se cruzan con triticales de invierno. Las investigaciones conjuntas y el intercambio de germoplasma con fitogenetistas especializados en triticale de invierno de Polonia, Canadá, (continúa en la p. 18)Como el triticale se parece más al trigo que al centeno en cuanto a tamaño, forma y composición qulmica del grano, sus caracterrsticas de calidad alimenticia se comparan más a menudo con las del trigo. El programa de triticale del C1MMYT se ha concentrado en desarrollar el cultivo como alimento para el hombre; el laboratorio de calidad de granos del Centro efectúa investigaciones sobre productos alimenticios obtenidos a partir del triticale y sobre la calidad industrial del grano.Cuando los laboratorios de calidad comenzaron a evaluar el grano del triticale, resultó evidente que la harina de triticale difiere de la de trigo en cuanto a sus caracterlsticas de panificación. Los triticales son adecuados para fabricar productos en los que se utiliza trigo suave, incluidas galletas, pasteles, panqueques, fideos y tortillas de harina. En la actualidad, muchas lineas de triticale tienen gluten débil y, por lo tanto, no son apropiadas para elaborar pan leudado, a menos que la harina de triticale se mezcle en una proporción no mayor del 30% con una buena harina de trigo para panificación. Además el triticale se puede utilizar para hacer pan integral semejante al que se consume en muchas zonas rurales del mundo en desarrollo.Como sucede con los trigos harineros, cuyo potencial genético de calidad varia, se han encontrado en el triticale diferencias genéticas respecto a las caracterrsticas de calidad. Algunas lIneas de triticale son mejores que otras para preparar ciertos productos y, a medida que se han obtenido nuevas líneas, han cambiado las caracterlsticas de molienda y panificación de los triticales del C1MMYT. Los triticales que se produjeron a comienzos del decenio de 1970 tenran propiedades de molienda y panificación algo deficientes aEn Polonia, donde está muy difundido el uso del centeno como forraje y para elaborar pan, se cultiva centeno de invierno en alrededor de cinco millones de hectáreas con suelos ácidos y arenosos. Sin embargo, el grano de centeno En Szelejewo, Polonia, el Dr. T. Wolski (izq.>, Director Científico de los Fitogenetistas de Poznan, examina los ensayos en los campos con el Dr. G. Varughese. la variedad polaca lasko, lanzada en 1982, es el triticale que más se cultiva en el mundo hoy día.contiene elementos antinutritivos y no se puede usar como componente principal en las mezclas de cereales forrajeros. la industria panificadora no puede utilizar el centeno combinado en altas proporciones con el trigo sin reducir la calidad. El triticale puede utilizarse como componente del forraje y se combina mejor con el trigo en la elaboración de pan. Estas características, aunadas a la capacidad de adaptación del triticale a los suelos ácidos y arenosos, convierten a este cereal en una excelente alternativa para el centeno en Polonia.A mediados del decenio de 1960, los Fitogenetistas de Poznan, dirigidos por el Dr. R. Wolski, comenzaron un programa intensivo de mejoramiento del triticale. Sus esfuerzos dieron por resultado el registro de la primera variedad polaca del triticale de invierno, llamada \"lasko\", en 1982, y el posterior lanzamiento de muchas otras variedades (véanse los apéndices 1 y 2, variedades de triticale que han sido lanzadas). El Instituto de Fitogenética y Aclimatación (IHAR) también participa activamente en las investigaciones sobre el triticale. En la actualidad, Polonia cultiva cerca de 250,000 ha de triticale y para 1990 proyecta contar con más de un millón de hectáreas dedicadas a ese cultivo. Los triticales polacos se siembran hoy en muchos países europeos y en otras regiones donde se siembran cultivos de invierno.Estados Unidos, Suecia, Francia, Gran Bretaña, Alemania, Hungría y otros pafses, proporcionan nuevas fuentes de diversidad genética. los cruzamientos entre triticales de invierno y de primavera hacen posible incorporar el germoplasma de centenos de invierno mejorados.Situación mundial y futuro del triticale El desarrollo del triticale como cultivo comercial es un gran logro de la fitogenética, en especial cuando se considera el período relativamente breve que se ha dedicado al mejoramiento del cultivo (apéndice 3). Este logro se ha obtenido gracias a la aplicación concentrada de las investigaciones y a la cooperación de los fitogenetistas de todo el mundo. Se ha superado el problema de los malos rendimientos. El rendimiento del triticale se aproxima ahora a los del trigo y el centeno en zonas donde son tradicionales estos últimos cultivos, y supera el rendimiento del trigo en zonas de producción marginales. El perfeccionamiento de técnicas básicas y los recientes adelantos de la biotecnologfa ofrecen nuevas oportunidades de explotar aún más las especies progenitoras en el mejoramiento del triticale.En la actualidad, el triticale se siembra en más de un millón de hectáreas en todo el mundo (figura 8) y se espera que esa superficie cultivada aumente significativamente en el próximo decenio, a medida que se conozca la utilidad del cultivo y se expandan los mercados.Los incrementos futuros en la producción de alimentos dependerán en gran medida de la capacidad de los agricultores de producir cultivos en ambientes marginales y/o adversos. El excelente desempeño del triticale ofrece la posibilidad de mejorar la productividad de los recursos asignados a la producción de alimentos en lugares donde estos aumentos pueden ser vitales. El cultivo que una vez fue una rareza botánica es ahora una realidad comercial, y puede convertirse en un factor cada vez más importante en mejorar el bienestar rural en los ambientes de producción agrícola más diffciles del mundo. 10,000 160,000 1,000 5,000 5,000 10,000 6,500 5,000 25,000 30,000 60,000 300,000 5,000 500 15,000 400 8,000 1,000 100,000 7,000 16,000 30,000 15,000 5,000 400 5,000 250,000 1,075,800 W. Rimpau logra obtener el primer hrbrido fértil de trigo x centeno.Aparecen miles de hlbridos trigo x centeno en la estación de investigaciones de Saratov. Las plantas Fl producen semillas de las que se obtienen hlbridos estables, relativamente fértiles e intermedios en cuanto al fenotipo.Aparece el nombre de \"triticale\"--<le Triticum (trigo) y Secale (centenol-en la literatura cientrfica.A. Müntzing emprende una investigación intensiva sobre el triticale.P. Givaudon establece la técnica de la colquicina para duplicar los cromosomas de los hrbridos estériles, lo que permite producir grandes cantidades de triticales fértiles.Se crea la técnica de cultivo de embriones para rescatar embriones hrbridos de semillas con endospema malformado.La Universidad de Manitoba, Canadá, inicia el primer esfuerzo en América del Norte para desarrollar el triticale como cultivo comercial.L.H. Shebeski, B.e. Jenkins, L. Evans y otros reúnen una colección mundial de triticales primarios.El ClMMYT es una organización internacional sin fines de lucro que está dedicada a la investigación cienlffica y al adiestramiento. El ClMMYT, con sede central en México, está comprometido en un programa de investigación a nivel mundial para maíz, trigo y triticale con énfasis en producción alimentaria en países en desarrollo. Este es uno de los 13 centros internacionales sin propósitos de lucro que están involucrados en la investigación agrícola y adiestramiento, patrocinada por el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GClAI). El GClAI está apoyado por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y Agricultura (FAO), el Banco Internacional para la Reconstrucción y el Desarrollo (Banco Mundial), y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). El CGIAI cuenta con 40 países donadores, organizaciones internacionales y regionales y fundaciones privadas.El Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (ClMMYT) recibe apoyo de varias fuentes incluyendo las instituciones de ayuda internacional de Australia, Austria, Brasil, Canadá, China, la Comisión Económica Europea, Dinamarca, España, EUA, Filipinas, Francia, India, Irlanda, Italia, Japón, México, Noruega, los Países Bajos, Reino Unido, República Federal de Alemania, Suiza y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el Banco Internacional para la Reconstrucción y Desarrollo, el Centro Internacional para el Desarrollo de la Investigación, la Fundación Ford, la Fundación OPEP para el Desarrollo de la Investigación, la Fundación Rockefeller y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo. La responsabilidad de esta publicación es solamente del ClMMYT. ISBN 968-6127-13-5","tokenCount":"6238"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6376071730.json b/data/part_1/6376071730.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eaf76ceecae7ae5a3db22f02085945cac0f3f5c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6376071730.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12b0e671126ebd571abd33172febd6a7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/342d83ed-a5ff-404c-96b2-d3b3f796e230/retrieve","id":"-482849392"},"keywords":["Ullucus tuberosus","Andean tuber","genetic diversity","ISSR","molecular markers","morphological markers Andean tubers","ISSR","molecular markers","morphological markers","genetic diversity","Peru","assignment test"],"sieverID":"093b36d8-76f0-465d-ba68-04acf06a636d","pagecount":"197","content":"Aux termes de la loi belge du 30 juin 1994, sur le droit d'auteur et les droits voisins, seul l'auteur a le droit de reproduire partiellement ou complètement cet ouvrage de quelque façon et forme que ce soit ou d'en autoriser la reproduction partielle ou complète de quelque manière et sous quelque forme que ce soit. Toute photocopie ou reproduction sous autre forme est donc faite en violation de la dite loi et de des modifications ultérieures. Summary i Malice Marie (2009). Genetic diversity and structure of three Andean tubers: Oxalis tuberosa Molina, Ullucus tuberosus Caldas and Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz & Pav. (Ph.D. Thesis).ce contexte, notre étude s'est basée sur des échantillons de oca, ulluco et mashua, maintenus dans des système de conservation in situ et ex situ au Pérou et en Bolivie, dans l'objectif de contribuer à la conservation efficace (in situ et ex situ) de ces espèces négligées. Cette étude a combiné les connaissances autochtones andines, ainsi que des données agronomiques, morphologiques et moléculaires. Nous avons montré que l'agriculture andine conserve une grande diversité au niveau inter-spécifique, mais aussi au niveau intra-spécifique, en terme de nombre de variétés locales. Nous avons également mis en évidence de la présence de variétés hétérogènes, la congruence entre les données moléculaires et morphologiques, et une structure génétique influencée par la provenance géographique. Enfin, nous avons compilé l'ensemble de nos résultats dans un modèle récapitulatif. Nous avons montré l'importance des caractéristiques intrinsèques de l'espèce (mode de reproduction), ainsi que les spécificités du système agricole andin (socioculturels, économiques et environnementales). Cette étude a contribué de manière significative à la compréhension de la diversité génétique et de la structure des tubercules andins. Resumen: Los tubérculos andinos oca (Oxalis tuberosa Molina), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus Caldas) y mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz & Pav.) son especies tuberosas cultivadas originarias de las regiones altas de los andes, donde revisten una importancia particular a niveles alimentario, agronómico, cultural y agronómico. La diversidad genética de estas especies es muy grande, pero está amenazada por la erosión genética. En este contexto y con el objetivo de contribuir a la conservación eficaz (in situ y ex situ) de estas especies olvidadas, nuestro estudio está basado en muestras de oca, ulluco y mashua, mantenidas bajo los sistemas de conservación in situ y ex situ en el Perú y en Bolivia. Este estudio ha combinado los conocimientos autóctonos de los Andes, así como con datos agronómicos, morfológicos y moleculares. Hemos mostrado que la agricultura andina conserva una gran diversidad a nivel inter-específico, pero también a nivel intra-específico, en términos de número de variedades locales. De la misma manera, hemos puesto en evidencia la presencia de variedades heterogéneas, la congruencia entre los datos moleculares y morfológicos, y una estructura genética influenciada por la precedencia geográfica. Finalmente, hemos compilado el conjunto de nuestros resultados en un modelo recapitulativo. Hemos mostrado la importancia de las características intrínsecas de la especie (tipo de reproducción), así como las especificidades del sistema agrícola andino (socioculturales, económicas y medio ambientales). Este estudio contribuye de manera significativa a la comprensión de la diversidad genética y de la estructura de los tubérculos andinos. vNombreux sont ceux que je voudrais remercier, pour m'avoir aidée, soutenue ou encouragée durant la réalisation de cette thèse. Leur soutien a pris des formes très diverses … Merci… Je tiens tout particulièrement à remercier le Professeur Jean-Pierre Baudoin, qui fut mon promoteur. Ses qualités scientifiques et humaines ont largement contribué à l'aboutissement de cette thèse. Merci également pour votre aide plus que précieuse dans la collecte des échantillons et la recherche des données les caractérisant … Je souhaite inclure dans mes remerciements les partenaires sud-américains associés à l'étude des tubercules andins, et sans qui ce travail n'aurait pas pu être mené à bien.Merci au directeur et à tout le personnel de la Fondation PROINPA (Promoción y Investigación de Productos andinos, Cochabamba, Bolivie). Je remercie Jorge Rojas, pour m'avoir accueillie lors de mon séjour à Cochabamba.Merci à l'ensemble de l'équipe du CIP (Centre International de la pomme de terre, Lima, Pérou). Merci à Carlos Arbizu pour son aide précieuse.Merci aux professeurs et étudiants des Universités de Lima, de Huanuco et de Cusco (Pérou). Je remercie tout particulièrement Raul Blas, pour son aide précieuse dans la réalisation des deux derniers chapitres de résultats de la thèse. Merci pour ta disponibilité, ta sympathie, et pour tout le temps que tu as pris pour m'aider. Je remercie également tous ceux qui m'ont aidée pratiquement dans la réalisation de cette thèse, via les travaux qu'ils ont réalisés sur les tubercules andins à Gembloux, au Pérou ou en Bolivie, et qui ont largement participé aux publications reprises dans cette thèse. Dans l'ordre d'apparition, merci à Nicolas Martin, Carmen Villarroel, Mélanie Beaud, Caroline Valembois.Un clin d'oeil particulier à Carmen, en qui j'ai découvert une réelle amitié. En espérant te revoir un jour, ici ou là-bas.Merci également à Gaëtan Rochez, pour m'avoir initiée aux techniques de la biologie moléculaire, pour tout le travail réalisé au labo et pour les longues discussions durant les incubations.Je tiens également à remercier toutes les personnes que j'ai appris à connaître et à apprécier au cours de ces années passées dans l'Unité de Phytotechnie tropicale et Horticulture. Merci pour la bonne ambiance et les échanges, scientifiques et autres. Plus particulièrement, mes remerciements s'adressent à Valérie, Bénédicte, Didier L. (merci pour le café partagé chaque matin, où j'ai peut-être trouvé une partie de l'inspiration pour rédiger cette thèse), Claude, Luc, Christian, Didier D., Colette, Martine, Isabelle … et à tous les étudiants, doctorants, stagiaires, de notre groupe ou d'autres groupes, croisés au labo ou dans les bureaux.Je n'oublie pas ma famille pour leur présence et leur soutient constant au cours de toutes ces années d'études… Un merci et un bisou à Leslie et au bébé à venir, pour tout le courage que vous avez su me donner pour finaliser cette thèse dans les meilleurs délais!! Enfin, un merci particulier à Arnaud, pour toute la confiance que tu as toujours su mettre en moi.The Andean region is one of the most important areas of domestication and diversification of crop plants, acting for a high percentage of crop genetic resources in the world (40% according to Castillo, 1995). Many crop species were domesticated and are still cultivated in the Andean region, ranging from grains, tubers, fruits, and industrial crops to medicinal and ornamental plants (Castillo, 1995). Some have been transferred all over the world and have become widely cropped, while most of the Andean species are still scarcely known outside the Andes (Cárdenas, 1989;Arbizu et al., 1997;Cadima Fuentes, 2006). Among these are found three species of Andean tuber crop (Figures 1, 2 and 3), adapted to the agroecological conditions of the Andean highlands: oca (Oxalis tuberosa Molina), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus Caldas) and mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz & Pav.).  Andean tubers (oca, ulluco and mashua) are crops from the Andean highlands areas, where they were cultivated for thousands of years (Rousi et al. 1989;Trognitz et al., 2000;Grau et al., 2003). Pottery vestiges are evidence of their early domestication, cultivation and use in different Andean communities (Sperling & King, 1990).They are cultivated at high altitude (2800-4100m), primarily in small plots by traditionalAndean farmers, and associated with several tuber-bearing Solanum species. They are nearly exclusively propagated via vegetative reproduction through tubers, and there is no evidence of seed propagation under cultural conditions (Trognitz et al., 1998). With other indigenous crops, these three Andean tubers are the basis of agricultural production systems of the Andes, essential for the survival of small rural Andean communities. They supply a secondary staple food in communities depending primarily on the potato and provide economic income to the majority of Andean farmers (Sperling & King, 1990). They are present in many cultural rituals and customs (León, 1964;Cárdenas, 1989).The three Andean tubers (oca, ulluco and mashua) have been during long time marginalized, their consumption and production remain limited to rural communities, in the framework of subsistence agriculture. They are considered as secondary crops, little known in the world and therefore not valued. Marginalization of these species originates from numerous factors as difficulties in the product marketing, low social prestige (they constitute the staple food of poor populations), laborious cooking processes and low economic return in a marginal agriculture (Hernández Bermejo & León, 1992).Marginalization plays a crucial role in genetic erosion and biodiversity loss observed within the Andean tuber crop species (Altieri & Merrick 1987;Tapia & Estrella, 2001). In addition, according to Iriondo et al. (2008), small farmers maintaining significant amounts of crop genetic diversity through local cultivars face several growing pressures, such as increased population, poverty, land degradation, environmental change, introduction of modern crop varieties and integration into national market economies. As a consequence of these pressures, an alarming loss of genetic variability of the three Andean tubers is observed.During generations, farmers in Andean communities have developed complex farming systems. Traditionally, they maintained a remarkable amount of native and introduced crops adapted to the microclimates of the highlands, providing a various diet for the local population. Moreover, they used diverse agricultural practices and planting procedures to cultivate crop populations in environments that are heterogeneous in space and often unpredictable in time. Reason to plant several crops is to lower the risk of crop failure and increase food security.Although high genetic erosion continues, many of these local practices have persisted through generations. A relatively high degree of genetic diversity created by the early Andean people and by nature (Castillo, 1995) is still maintained by peasant cultivators (Ortega, 1997;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Terrazas et al., 2007). Farmers continue to maintain pools of Andean tubers varieties; and oca, ulluco and mashua still show a high phenotypic diversity, especially in their tubers (Popenoe, 1989;Cadima Fuentes, 2006). However, as in many areas of the world, a large part of the diversity of the Andes, as well as the associated indigenous knowledge, are being lost. With a growing importance, economic decisions constraint farmers to grow only a few crop varieties, and not to invest in the conservation of the varieties that are less favoured by the market.On the other hand, an erosion of the Andean tubers' variability could endanger their adaptation to the environmental fluctuating conditions that characterize the Andes. Longerterm adaptation to a fluctuating and heterogeneous environment, or to a rich cultural context, may thus be compromised (Brush, 2000).In order to conserve genetic resources of oca, ulluco and mashua, germplasm is currently maintained in situ (in farmers' fields) and ex situ (mainly in field genebanks). These three Andean tuber species have a promising economic potential (National Research Council, 1989) because of their agro-industrial and medicinal properties, and their adaptability to difficult environmental conditions (Castillo, 1995). Therefore, conservation of plant genetic resources (in situ and ex situ) and indirect studies of the genetic diversity of these species are now of paramount importance.High genetic diversity is one of the features of Andean agriculture, but this raises numerous questions. Why is there so much intraspecific diversity, and why is this concentrated in certain regions (biodiversity microcentres)? What are the contribution of natural, farming and human dynamics to the creation and the conservation of this diversity? What is the most suitable approach to describe this diversity? What are factors that could affect and reduce this diversity? What are the most appropriate actions to maintain this diversity? …The three Andean tuber species (oca, ulluco and mashua) could constitute a relevant model to answer these questions, with the emphasis on neglected vegetatively propagated crop species.Why the three Andean tubers species oca, ulluco and mashua have been chosen to be studied during this thesis?Genetic diversity and structure of these crops have not been investigated on a very large scale until now, contrary to the potato species. Implications of such a study could be important in two further issues.Firstly, at a fundamental level, these species can constitute a potential genetic model for traditional crop species vegetatively reproduced, whose evolution were mainly guided by selection processes imposed by farmers and farming environment. Indeed, unlike potato species, Andean tubers oca, ulluco and mashua were largely neglected by researchers, extension works, and politics. They were not subjected to plant breeding programs and deep genetic studies.In addition, at a more applied level, studying genetic diversity and structure is indispensable for the exploitation of the genetic potential of these species and for the establishment of appropriate strategies of genetic resources conservation and improvement.In this context, the objective of the present thesis is to study genetic diversity and structure of Andean tuber crop species oca, ulluco and mashua; through cultural, morphological and molecular (ISSR marker system) approaches.Various study levels were considered to achieve the main objective of the thesis. Genetic diversity and structure were considered at the species, morphotype and variety levels.Moreover, genetic diversity maintained in situ and ex situ were compared.A variety can be defined as a set of tubers identified by a vernacular name related to agromorphological features and traditional uses, while an accession is a plant sample held in an ex situ setting for conservation and use. A morphotype has been defined as a set of accessions with identical morphological characters.Morphological descriptors have been published for oca and ulluco (IPGRI/CIP, 2001;2003), and are under elaboration for mashua. They are the results of collaborations between Andean countries, with support from national and international institutes.Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) technique (Zietkiewics et al., 1994), based on the PCR method, amplifies DNA segments present at an amplifiable distance between two identical microsatellite regions oriented in opposite direction. Inter-microsatellite fragments of different sizes are amplified simultaneously in a single PCR reaction. Primers, of 16-25 bp long, are constituted of microsatellites sequences, and are usually anchored at 3'-or 5'-end with 1 to 4 degenerate bases. ISSR technique is highly reproducible, because of the long primers used, leading to higher annealing temperatures and higher stringency (Bornet & Branchard, 2001). The technique also reveals a high degree of polymorphism (Wolfe & Liston, 1998;Pradeep Reddy et al., 2002). ISSRs segregate as dominant markers.Passport data concern the documentation of crop diversity collections. Each accession's passport data may include basic information on what was collected, where and when; and may supply data on other information like local names and uses, geographic range, agroecological parameters (including altitude, slope, aspect, etc.), and agronomic information. All of this data must be easily accessible, and ideally stored on computer databases and incorporated into genebank management systems. This is particularly important for planning future collecting missions and determining duplications in collections, as well as to establish species distribution maps.After this general introduction (Chapter I), the second chapter of this thesis (Chapter II) is constituted of a bibliographic review, accepted for publication in the revue BASE as: Malice M. & Baudoin J.P. Genetic diversity and germplasm conservation of three minor Andean tuber crop species.The purpose of this bibliographic introduction is to present the three neglected Andean tuber species (oca, ulluco and mashua), to document their genetic diversity and to present the possibilities to conserve their resources in in situ and ex situ conditions. A case study is presented at the end of this review, i.e. the in situ conservation of Andean tubers in the microcentre of Candelaria (Bolivia). This emphasizes on the role of Andean farmers, and of their actions, in the maintenance and the creation of Andean tubers genetic variability in traditional Andean agroecosystems.Chapters III to VI present results and discussions and rely on the analysis of samples of oca, ulluco and mashua, maintained in in situ and ex situ conservation systems, in Peru and Bolivia (Figure 4).In chapter III, we were interested in studying the influence of conservation mode (in situ / ex situ) on the diversity of oca, at both inter-and intra-varietal levels.Achieving this goal required the comparison of varieties kept both in situ and ex situ, and the warranty to have different varieties clearly identified to understand the inter-and intra-varietal levels. To do this, 20 tuber lots, corresponding to 6 oca varieties conserved in situ in Candelaria and ex situ in Toralapa (sites managed by the foundation PROINPA -Promoción y Investigación de Productos andinos-, Cochabamba, Bolivia) were analyzed using the ISSR Results were also presented as oral communications in international congresses:-Malice M., In chapter V, we used 15 varieties of oca, 15 varieties of ulluco and 26 varieties of mashua maintained in situ in the diversity microcenter of Huanuco (Peru), in order to estimate the intervarietal diversity and to compare the varieties when identified by folk taxonomy and by molecular ways. We showed a high degree of correspondence between varieties described by the molecular markers and varieties as described by the Andean farmers. Assignment technique divided both oca and ulluco samples into genepools that may be linked to the folk naming system. ISSR molecular markers enlightened intra-varietal genetic variability for most varieties, suggesting an underestimation of the in situ genetic variability.A publication of these results is in preparation and will be submitted to Crop Science as:Malice M., Bizoux J.P., Blas Sevillano R.H., Baudoin J.P. Evaluation of genetic diversity of neglected Andean tuber crop species (oca, ulluco, mashua) in the in situ microcentre of diversity of Huanuco (Peru) using ISSR markers.Chapter VI allowed a better understanding of genetic and structure diversity of oca analyzed with the morphological markers. In this purpose, 101 oca varieties maintained in the diversity microcenter of Cusco (Peru) were characterized morphologically. Also a field experiment has been conducted in three rural communities of this microcentre and the oca production system was analyzed. Results highlighted the existence of a very important intra-varietal diversity that can be explained by the selection carried out by farmers. number of clonal varieties that can be distinguished by tuber color and shape (Rousi et al., 1986;Grau et al., 2003;Emshwiller, 2006). However an alarming loss of variability is currently observed (Altieri & Merrick, 1987;Tapia & Estrella, 2001), and both ex situ and in situ conservation methods are developed.The purpose of this paper is to document genetic diversity of these three neglected Andean tuber species and to present possibilities of in situ and ex situ conservation. The example of in situ conservation of Andean tubers in the microcentre of Candelaria (Bolivia) will be presented as a case study.Oca, ulluco and mashua belong, together with potato, to the group of edible tuber crops indigenous to the Andean mountains, where they are a food staple in rural communities.Because of its worldwide importance, potato is the most widely studied Andean tuber species.Little information was available on other Andean tubers until just a decade ago. Through research and field projects, knowledge has been generated in different topics from conservation, genetic diversity, production systems and alternative uses of these tubers.Oca, ulluco and mashua are cultivated for their edible tubers in small areas under traditional agricultural systems and marginal conditions, in all Andean countries, mainly in Peru,Ecuador and Bolivia, and at high altitudes (2800 to 4100 meters). They share the same Andean ecological niches as cultivated potatoes. According to Arbizu et al. (1997), they are grown under short-day conditions of the Andes (11-12 hours), with rainfalls ranging from about 400 to 700 mm across the growing season (an average of 7 months). Andean tubers are exclusively propagated through tubers and there is no evidence of seed propagation by farmers. Oca, ulluco and mashua have remained strictly Andean crops, because their conservation and use are associated with socio-cultural aspects of the Andean people and their traditional production systems (León, 1964). Nevertheless, they are essential to ensure food diversification and livelihood of numerous Andean populations. The production of tubers is mostly devoted to farmer's family food supply. Small volumes are also sent to the market, but demand is limited and temporary (Tapia Vargas, 1994).The name oca is derived from the Quechua words okka, oqa or uqa. Other names are oca in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, cuiba or quiba in Venezuela, huasisai or ibi in Colombia, truffette acide in French, or papa extranjera in Mexico (Arbizu et al., 1997, Cadima Fuentes, 2006).Oxalis tuberosa belongs to the Oxalidaceae family that includes eight genera. The genus Oxalis includes more than 800 species. Some of them set small tubers, but only O. tuberosa is cultivated for its edible tubers. Literature denies the existence of wild oca or related tuber bearing species, though wild populations of Oxalis bearing small tubers have been found in Bolivia (Emshwiller & Doyle, 1998). Cultivated oca is octoploid (2n = 8x = 64).After potato, oca is the second more common tuber species in the Andean region. Its cultivated surface does not exceed 10 000 ha (Tapia Vargas, 1994). Reported yields for oca in Ecuador do not exceed 2 t/ha, even if in experimental trials it can reach 15-28 t/ha (Tapia et al., 2004). In Peru, oca has a mean production of 5 t/ha and in Bolivia 3-5 t/ha (Tapia Vargas, 1994;Cadima Fuentes, 2006). Oca is consumed water cooked or baked, always after that tubers have been exposed for several days to the sun in order to acquire sugar taste. They can also be consumed dehydrated, as chuño (Cárdenas, 1989).Oca is an annual herbaceous plant that is erect in the first stages of its development, then prostrate towards maturity. Stems vary in color from yellow-green to grey. The color of the tuber surface is an important discriminant character. In the standard descriptors (IPGRI/CIP, 2001) up to 12 variations of colors are mentioned. The tubers can also show secondary colors distributed either in or around the eyes (i.e. the axillary buds), or unevenly distributed as bands. Both the tubers as the stems have a tendency to fasciation. Leaves are trifoliate; leaflets are green in the upper face and purple or green on the underside. Tuber shape is ovoid, claviforme or cylindrical (Popenoe, 1989). The tuber eyes vary from horizontal, slightly curved, short or long, close or away to each other, and superficial or deep. Bracts covering eyes can be wide and short, or almost nonexistent (Cárdenas, 1989;Cadima Fuentes, 2006).Most oca accessions flower regularly under field conditions. Inflorescences are made of 4-5 hermaphrodite flowers. However, spontaneous seed set is rare and is only observed when both several genotypes are grown together and natural pollinators (the solitary bumblebees Bombus funebris Smith) are present (Trognitz & Hermann, 2001). The oca species possesses a trimorphic system of genetic incompatibility (Gibbs, 1976), associated with the presence of three floral morphs. Each clonal accession presents one of the three flower morphs: long (long-styled, with mid-and short-level stamens/anthers), mid (mid-styled, with long-and short-level stamens/anthers) and short (short-styled, with long-and mid-level stamens/anthers). Legitimate pollinations occur when stigma gets pollen of the corresponding morph; illegitimate pollinations occur when stigma gets pollen of a different morph.Legitimate pollinations usually produce the highest seed set. This fits well with the observations of Emshwiller (1998), showing that cultivated oca is an outbreeder. Trognitz et al. (2000) studied three factors responsible for the poor seed formation in oca (size and fertility of pollen, and pollen tube growth), in order to analyse the relationship between these characters and stylar incompatibility. The reduced number of seeds produced seems to be linked to the oca's stylar incompatibility that may affect the growth of pollen tube (Trognitz et al., 2000). The fruit is a dehiscent capsule with five locules, and 1-3 or more seeds are produced per locule (Cárdenas, 1989).The name ulluco is derived from the Quechua word ulluku (ullu means male organ). Ullucus tuberosus is also known as chugua, ulluma, iliaco and chiga in Colombia; melloco, hubas, chuga, and ulluco in Ecuador; olluco, olloco, ullush, ullucu or lisas in Peru; and papalisa, illoco, ulluma and lisa in Bolivia (Arbizu et al., 1997, Cadima Fuentes, 2006).The genus Ullucus of the family Basellaceae is monospecific. Ullucus tuberosus comprises two sub-species: aborigineus and tuberosus. Cultivated ulluco belongs to the sub-species tuberosus, and is cultivated for its edible tubers. Within the sub-species aborigineus are found the wild forms of ulluco, which form small tubers of 1-1.5 cm diameter, pink, red, brown or sometimes white (Cadima Fuentes, 2006). The basic number of chromosomes of ulluco is x = 12. According to Arbizu (2004), wild ullucos (subsp. aborigineus) are all triploid (2n = 3x = 36), while around 96% of the cultivated ullucos (subsp. tuberosus) are diploid (2n = 2x = 24), 3% are triploid (2n = 3x = 36) and 1% are tetraploid (2n = 4x = 48). According to Pietilä (1995), who tested the effect of cross-pollination versus self-pollination on seed set, ulluco is an outbreeder. To our knowledge, mechanisms that promote allogamy in ulluco remain unknown.In Ecuador, ulluco is the second tuber crop species after potato. In Peru and Bolivia, ulluco has a smaller importance, and is the third species after potato and oca. In Ecuador, Tapia et al.(2004) reported a mean yield of 3.5 t / ha. In Peru, the mean yield is 4-5 t / ha (Cadima Fuentes, 2006). In Bolivia, ulluco is cropped on around 3000 ha, giving a yield of 3-5 t / ha (Tapia Vargas, 1994); it is mainly cultivated in the Departments of Cochabamba and Chuquisaca, with yields of 3 t / ha (Cadima Fuentes, 2006).Ulluco is an erect, compact and mucilaginous annual plant. Stems are succulent, angular and 30-60 cm height. Stem color varies from clear yellow-green to red-grey. Leaves are simple and can present four shapes. Tuber can be round, cylindrical, elongated or twisted. Tuber eyes (axillary buds) are superficial and without bracts (Popenoe, 1989). The tuber color shows a wide variation, with 12 states ranging from white to red (IPGRI/CIP, 2003). Besides this predominant tuber color, it is also common to find a secondary tuber color. Inflorescences are axillary and abundant with numerous small flowers, magenta (red-purple), green-yellow alone or with red-purple (Cárdenas, 1989;Arbizu, 2004). Fruit formation is rare and seems to depend on the genotype (Pietilä & Jokela, 1990). However ulluco has been shown to set seeds, though the number of seeds produced is low. The fruit is dry and indehiscent and contains one seed, morphologically normal (Rousi et al., 1989) and capable of germination (Lempiäinen, 1989). According to Pietilä & Jokela (1994), morphological abnormalities in the ovules and embryo sacs are responsible for the low seed number. These authors suggested that vegetative way of propagation favoured the accumulation of a genetic load: somatic mutations (especially those affecting sexual reproduction) may have appeared and be maintained during hundreds generations of vegetative reproduction, explaining why ulluco could have partly lost its capacity for female sexual reproduction.The name mashua is derived from the Quechua names maswa or mashwa. Many names are given for mashua: mashwa, mashua in Peru and Ecuador; isaño, añu in Bolivia; and cubio in Colombia (Arbizu et al., 1997, Cadima Fuentes, 2006).Tropaeolum is the largest genus of the Tropaeolaceae family that includes 86 species distributed in all South America (Grau et al., 2003). These authors recognise two sub-species: the cultivated T. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum and the wild T. tuberosum ssp. silvestre. The latter does not set tubers. Both wild and cultivated forms extend from Venezuela to northwest Argentina (Cadima Fuentes, 2006). Most cultivated mashua are tetraploid, with a basic chromosome number of x = 13 (2n = 4x = 52). However, cytological studies show conflicting results and other ploidy levels and chromosome numbers have been observed (Cadima Fuentes, 2006;Grau et al., 2003).Mashua is the Andean tuber covering the smallest crop area in the region and has therefore received the lowest attention. Its culture has been maintained because of its frost tolerance, its resistance to diseases and pests and its stable yields in low-fertile soils of the Andean region (Grau et al., 2003). Mashua is cultivated on small plots around the farms, or close to the fields of more important cultures like potato and oca. According to Grau et al. (2003), mashua is mainly cultivated in Peru (more than 7000 ha). The cultivated surface of mashua is estimated at about only 100 ha in Bolivia and 50 ha in Ecuador. Yield data in farmer's fields vary from 30 to 60 t/ha, which demonstrates the high production potential of mashua (Cadima Fuentes, 2006).Mashua is an annual herbaceous plant 20-80 cm high. Stems are cylindrical, 3-4 mm thick, branching, and can vary in color from green to purple-grey with varying degrees of pigmentation. Foliage color varies from yellow-green to dark green. Leaves are 5-6 cm width, tri or pentalobate. In the same plant, tri and pentalobate leaves can be observed. Tubers are less variable in shape than those of oca and ulluco (Popenoe, 1989). Tuber color is variable, ranging from yellow-white to purple-grey and black. Tuber eyes (axillary buds) are always deep, wide and narrow, without bracts (Cárdenas, 1989). Unlike oca and ulluco, mashua flowers profusely and sets many viable seeds with high germination rates (Cárdenas, 1989).According to Grau et al. (2003) mashua is self-fertile. Flowers are solitary and zygomorph.Five sepals of intense red color are united at the base; the three higher forming a spur of 1-1.5 cm length. Seeds can be desiccated to low moisture levels at the ambient conditions of the Andean highlands and will germinate after several months of storage. So far, sexual seeds are currently not used for mashua conservation, which relies on clonal maintenance in fields (Grau et al., 2003).Farmers' actions are without any doubt essential for the creation and the maintenance of Andean tubers diversity (Quiros et al., 1992). Marginalization of these species originates from numerous factors: difficulties in the product marketing, low social prestige (they constitute the staple foods of poor populations), laborious cooking processes, low economic return in a marginal agriculture (Hernández Bermejo & León, 1992). In addition, according to Iriondo et al. (2008), small farmers maintaining significant amounts of crop genetic diversity through local cultivars face several growing pressures, such as increased population, poverty, land degradation, environmental change, introduction of modern crop varieties and integration into national market economies. These factors contribute to the genetic erosion of Andean tubers.On the basis of field (passport data, morphological descriptors, socio-economical questionnaires) and laboratory (molecular analysis) studies, Tapia & Estrella (2001) showed that genetic erosion in the three Andean tuber species varies from 25% to 46,5% in Ecuador.Nevertheless, the extent of genetic erosion of Andean tubers remains controversial. In fact, even if large genetic variability is exposed to erosion problems, many of the rare genotypes are still used and subsist thanks to indigenous population, who adopt strategies to cope with biotic and abiotic risks through a wide range of traditional farming techniques (Brush, 1995).The conservation of crop diversity against genetic erosion is now recognized as a worldwide challenge. In this context, two fundamental approaches exist for the conservation of plant genetic resources: (i) ex situ conservation, in which genetic variation is maintained away from its original location, and (ii) in situ conservation, in which genetic variation is maintained at the location where it is encountered, either in the wild or in traditional farming systems (Brush, 2000;Iriondo et al., 2008). Compared with ex situ conservation approach, in situ has an important advantage in that it maintains natural genetic interactions between crops, their wild relatives and the local environment; while ex situ techniques freeze adaptive evolutionary development, especially in the context of pest and disease resistance (Hawkes et al., 2000;Maxted et al., 1997).First actions to conserve diversity were the creation of ex situ genebanks around the world (Sperling & King, 1990). Most recently, in situ conservation has been developed as a complementary method to ex situ conservation (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Tapia et al., 2004). Complementarity between in situ and ex situ is commonly presented as essential to secure a sustainable conservation of plant genetic resources. Adopting complementary strategies for resources conservation is useful to overcome the advantages and impediments of both techniques (Hawkes et al., 2000;Maxted et al., 1997). Numerous accessions maintained, in situ as ex situ, are not well characterized and evaluated, leading to an underutilization and an insufficient exploitation of collections. In situ and ex situ constraint is the presence of a high number of redundant accessions, highlighting the need to characterize accessions and to define core collections.As Andean tubers are vegetatively propagated species, the most appropriate method for ex situ conservation remains the establishment of genebanks in the field. Management of field collections and conservation costs are important in the case of vegetatively propagated species, mainly because of the need to regenerate varieties in the field and to maintain them as tubers. Alternative conservation of oca as botanical seed was experienced by Trognitz et al. (1998). They showed that botanical seed production is possible under controlled pollination conditions, and that the tristylus system of incompatibility seems to control the amount of seed produced. Cross-pollinations allowed the production of a higher seed quantity, which implicates that a botanical seed maintained in a genebank does not conserve genes of a unique oca accession, but genes of at least two different accessions. Moreover, it is known that oca rarely sets seeds in natural conditions, and that sterile clones have been reported (Trognitz et al., 2000). Therefore, accessions should be tested prior to their use for botanical seed production, in order to detect the possibility of sterility. So far, oca's germplasm conservation as seed is currently not applied.On-farm conservation of plant genetic resources can be defined as the continued cultivation and management of a diverse set of crop populations by farmers in the agroecosystems where a crop has evolved (Jarvis et al., 2000). This dynamic method aims at maintaining the evolutionary processes that shape the diversity. In this context, the role of the farmers is essential for two reasons: (1) crop diversity is not only the result of natural factors, such as mutation and natural selection, but also and particularly, of human selection and management; and (2) in the last instance, farmer's decisions define whether these populations are maintained or will disappear. The maintenance of crop intra-specific diversity by farmers requires a better understanding of what, how and when they do it (Brush, 1991;Castillo, 1995). In situ conservation by farmers is not only related to the set of varieties they keep, but also to the management processes of these varieties and the knowledge guiding these processes, i.e. \"farmers' management of diversity\" (Castillo, 1995).Farmers' management of diversity refers to the cultivation of a diverse set of crop populations that are named and recognized as farmers' varieties. The set of varieties is formed through a constant process of experimentation, evaluation and selection of old and more recent varieties.There are two levels of selection: (a) the choice of the varieties to maintain; and then (b) for each one, the choice of the seed stock that will be planted the next season. This selection process is dynamic and is influenced by the supply of varieties from other farmers, villages, regions or even countries. Four components of farmers' management of diversity can be identified: (1) seed exchanges between farmers, (2) variety selection, (3) variety adaptation, and (4) seed selection and storage (Bellon, 1997). Sites for on-farm in situ conservation of Andean tubers have been identified and are under study in many Andean countries, e.g. in Peru (Huánuco, Cusco, Cuyo Cuyo, Huancavelica;Tapia, 2000), Bolivia (Candelaria; Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998) and Ecuador (Las Huaconas; Tapia et al., 2004).The area of Candelaria, located in the Department of Cochabamba (Bolivia), is known for its traditional farming system of Andean tubers. It presents a high concentration of native oca, ulluco and mashua varieties and has been recognized as a microcentre of diversity for Andean tubers conservation (Terrazas & Garcia, 2003). This site of on-farm in situ conservation is currently managed by the PROINPA Foundation (Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos, Cochabamba, Bolivia -www.proinpa.org), whose main goal is to maintain and promote Andean crops genetic diversity. The microcentre of Candelaria is located 63 km northeast of the city of Cochabamba (17°20' S 65°50' W). Mean annual temperature is 8-10°C, relative humidity ranges form 70-90% and annual rainfall is 900-1000 mm (Gonzáles et al., 2003). The mean cultivated surface for a family is 18 ares for oca, 14 ares for ulluco and 1 are for mashua. Mean tuber yields are 15-20 t/ha for the three Andean tuber species (Terrazas & Garcia, 2003).In 2002, the total diversity identified in the microcentre of Candelaria included 32 varieties for oca, 16 for mashua and 8 for ulluco (Terrazas et al., 2003). Each variety is characterized by agromorphological traits, such as tuber's color and shape, food value, culinary uses and medicinal properties, all used by farmers to identify them (Cadima et al., 2003b).Unfortunately, this valuable germplasm seems to be under threat of genetic erosion. In fact, Terrazas et al. (2003) pointed out a decrease in the average number of cultivars used by a family in Candelaria. This reduction in cultivar number is mainly observed for oca.Cropping system in the microcentre is influenced by ecological and topographic conditions.Soil heterogeneity, altitudinal gradient, humidity and temperature determine crop management system according to altitude. Farmers distinguish three altitude levels within the microcentre (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998): (i) the lower stage or pampa (3000 -3350 m); (ii) the hillside or ladera (3350 -3650) and (iii) the step hillock or punta (> 3600 m). To each level correspond particular climatic, biotic and soil conditions requiring judicious choice of species and varieties and agricultural techniques (Terrazas et al., 2003). The way germplasm is handled by the farmers in Candelaria constitutes a model based on time and space. Varieties are distributed in a wide range of environmental (soil and climate heterogeneity, altitude levels), geographical (localisation of the family in the microcentre) and social (migration, market pressure) conditions. In such a system, species and varieties are dispersed in the germplasm of several families, on numerous plots localised across the three altitude levels (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). Mosaic system is all but static and is continually modified through time by several mechanisms generating a 'dynamic mosaic system' (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Terrazas & Garcia, 2003) where tubers of each variety are frequently transported from place to place. Farmers generally own plots of land located at different altitude levels. When seed is impoverished (due to viral accumulation and vegetative reproduction) and does not thrive in a plot, farmers move them to a plot located at another altitude level to revitalize their production. Varieties are consequently subjected to different environmental conditions and pressure selections, with the consequence to stop viral accumulation (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998).Diversity in Candelaria consists of the familial germplasm, i.e. a lot of tubers from several species and varieties of Andean tubers usually inherited from parents (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). Composition and structure of these familial lots is not static: quantity and quality of tuber-seed vary in time. Biotic and abiotic conditions (i.e. diseases, climatic, or other damages leading to the loss of the harvest or the disappearance of the variety) and exchanges between farmers (within or between communities) influence germplasm composition of each family.These processes create dynamic intra-and inter-communities tuber flow (Terrazas & Garcia, 2003). In addition, markets and biodiversity fairs are important sources of new germplasm, gathering tubers from different families, farmers or communities (Espinoza, 2001). These practices are known to be very good sources of genetic diversity in the case of vegetatively reproduced crop species, like Andean tubers. In addition, Terrazas & Garcia (2007) analyzed the main factors that influence the farmers' decisions for Andean tubers diversity management in Candelaria. Favouring the direct training of farmers is an effective way to promote in situ conservation of Andean tubers in farmers' fields. However, it is necessary to expand research on the influence of other factors of socio-economic and ecological importance. Terrazas & Garcia (2007) showed that access to \"Field Schools\" and other direct training methods implemented in Candelaria, positively impacted on the conservation of a greater number of varieties per family. By contrast, other socio-economic factors, such as land area and animals owned by the family, exert a weak or no influence on the conservation of varieties in farmers' family.To ensure the conservation of native varieties maintained in the in situ microcentre of Candelaria, tubers have also been maintained in an ex situ conservation centre located in Toralapa (Department of Cochabamba), at 3430 meters altitude (Cadima et al., 2003a). This germplasm, recognized as the national germplasm bank for roots and tubers in Bolivia, consists of about 500 accessions of oca, 200 accessions of ulluco and 80 accessions of mashua from the whole country. This ex situ collection is also managed by the PROINPA Foundation in a complementary way to in situ conservation in Candelaria.Andean tubers are neglected tuber-bearing crop species, native to the Andean highlands. They have been cultivated for thousand of years for their edible tubers, through which they are propagated. For many centuries, they have continuously contributed to the food security of the Andean populations and are part of their culture and social expression. Phenotypic diversity of Andean tubers is very high. Biotic and abiotic pressures of the Andes, coupled with anthropic selection for food purpose and crop husbandry, have resulted in a large morphological variation. Andean tubers are exclusively vegetatively propagated and consequently have formed clonal varieties, with particular phenotypic characters and vernacular names given by the local people. But nowadays this valuable germplasm is subject to genetic erosion and the number of cultivated varieties is decreasing. Both in situ and ex situ conservation programs are developed. For a better conservation of Andean tuber genetic diversity under both systems, it would be extremely important to obtain additional information on the \"farmers' management processes\". Among the numerous data still needed to better understand the evolution of clonal crops in traditional agricultural systems, the following factors can be pointed out: the role of the cultural, economic and ecological environment; the impact of tubers' exchanges via markets, barters, biodiversity fairs; the influence of sexual reproduction in successive generations; the levels of diversity maintained by in situ and ex situ conservation methods. Serie: Conservación y uso de la biodiversidad de raíces y tubérculos andinos: Una década de investigación para el desarrollo (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) Oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol.) is one of the eight neglected species found in marginal Andean farming systems, whose starchy tubers constitute a basic component of the staple food for millions of people in rural communities. Morphological variation within this species is large (Cardenas 1989). Oca could represent an interesting model species for the study of genetic diversity of neglected and vegetatively propagated plants. Its genetic diversity is in fact mainly determined by its breeding system, the prevalence of traditional varieties in subsistence agricultural systems and the lack of improved cultural practices. Schemes for in situ or ex situ conservation of oca have already been proposed, to cope with genetic erosion and to conserve valuable resources of this species. In Bolivia, the Foundation PROINPA maintains accessions of oca ex situ at the Centre of Toralapa whereas varieties of the same species are preserved in situ in microcentres of diversity, such as Candelaria. The area of Candelaria is known for its traditional Andean tuber production and its high concentration of native varieties (Terrazas and Valdivia 1998). The inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) technique, developed by Zietkiewicz et al. (1994), has been successfully used to reveal molecular polymorphism in oca (Pissard et al. 2006). The present survey was initiated to produce preliminary data in order to establish conservation strategies of oca. The sampling procedure was designed to provide a preliminary molecular characterization of the Bolivian oca materials maintained in situ in Candelaria and ex situ in Toralapa, in comparison to the currently agromorphological description of varieties.The oca accessions sampled in Toralapa are originating from Candelaria and were introduced in the genebank in 1995. For the present study, plant materials have been collected in 2003 on several varieties, in order to study the diversity between them. A variety was defined as a set of tubers identified by a vernacular name related to agromorphological features and traditional uses. The entity sampled in the field was called a tuber lot; if varieties were cultivated in situ by different farmers or ex situ as distinct accessions, they were sampled as different lots to verify their genetic integrity. Individual samples, basic units for molecular analysis, were randomly taken on three plants of each tuber lot, to verify the presence of heterogeneous lots (i.e., composed of several genotypes) and to have a look at the diversity within varieties. As listed in Table 1, 20 lots of oca corresponding to six varieties were investigated and ISSR analysis was conducted on 51 oca samples.DNA was extracted from fresh young leaves. ISSR reactions were performed with four primers selected by Pissard et al. (2006) (primers 3, 8, 11 and 12) with a slight modification in MgCl2 concentration (2 mM). After electrophoresis in a 2.5% agarose gel in a 1• TAE buffer stained with ethidium bromide, ISSR fragments were scored for presence or absence. Binary matrix was subjected to analysis of molecular variance (Amova) (Schneider et al. 2000), cluster analysis (Van de Peer and de Wachter 1994) and principal component analysis (PCA) (SAS 8e for windows). Total 20 tuber lots = 8 conserved in situ + 12 conserved ex situ Samples are identified by origin (C = Candelaria, T = Toralapa), collection number (1-20) of tuber lot, an index (a, b and c; corresponding to one of three samples collected by tuber lot) and vernacular name. For accessions maintained ex situ, initial number is specified (BOL xxxx)Results reflect the ability of ISSRs in revealing genetic variability within a limited sample of Bolivian oca germplasm. Analysis performed with four primers revealed 25 fragments, of which 17 were polymorphic. To estimate the variance components, three different Amova's were performed. A first 2-levels Amova applied to the total 20 tuber lots studied showed, at very highly significance level, a higher genetic variation among tuber lots (82.93%) than within tuber lots (17.07%, P < 0.001), which is in agreement with the vegetative reproduction of oca. To assess the influence of the conservation system, we conducted Amova for the materials conserved in situ and ex situ. Variation was higher within tuber lots conserved in situ (24.19%, P < 0.001) compared to those conserved ex situ (15.04%, P < 0.001). In an UPGMA dendrogram (Fig. 1) most of the 51 tested samples were grouped according to varietal names, into two major groups (A and B), regrouping respectively clusters a-e and fh. Genetic distances of Dice ranges from 0 to 0.51. This cluster analysis also confirmed that genetic differentiation is higher among than within tuber lots. ISSR data allowed to discriminate all lots of oca, even some identified by the same vernacular name. When 2 or 3 samples were available for a tuber lot, heterogeneity was noticed within varieties. By comparing the two conservation strategies (in situ and ex situ), we observed that four clusters (c, e, g and h) were formed by tuber lots having the same vernacular name and conserved in Candelaria and Toralapa. Molecular study also showed divergence among many varieties conserved in situ and ex situ. This is well illustrated by Kellu kayara, for which lots T12, T13 and C3 were grouped in cluster e while the lot T11 and C2 were found respectively in cluster a and d.  Efforts are needed to characterize and conserve genetic diversity of oca, an essential component of Andean farmers' communities. Genetic diversity data using molecular markers were until now relatively scarce. In this preliminary study, genetic diversity of Bolivian oca maintained in situ and ex situ was assessed. ISSR technique gave additional information that contributes to explore genetic resources of oca and to develop long-term conservation strategies. ISSR markers showed a great genetic differentiation among tuber lots of oca as well as a tendency for a higher similarity among varieties having the same vernacular name.A major part of the variation was observed between lots, supporting data from the present way of classification based on agromorphological description of varieties. Original considerations can be pointed out with ISSRs. Our results revealed intravarietal diversity for some tuber lots, which are heterogeneous even if collected from a single farmer or accession.However, more individual samples by tuber lot are needed to conclude about intravarietal diversity for genetics and conservation purposes. As a strict vegetative propagation is observed in the oca species, due to a stylar incompatibility, such intravarietal variability could be ascribed to mutations or to confusion of genetically distinct but morphologically similar individuals, as observed by Elias et al. (2001) on cassava. Until now, efforts made by the PROINPA Foundation for a better complementarity of the two conservation systems focus on the in situ and ex situ preservation of varieties identified by a vernacular name and morphological features. However, molecular data illustrated divergences among some varieties maintained in both conservation systems. Moreover, intravarietal diversity seems to be higher in situ. At present time, due to the relatively short ex situ conservation history of oca in Toralapa, explanation can only be credited by different way of tubers' management in the two systems and their specific characteristics. In ex situ system on the one hand, the use of a restricted number of tubers for the establishment of the collection and for its annual regeneration could lead to a bottleneck effect. In the in situ system, on the other hand, larger populations of oca in farmers' fields are subjected to various cultural practices, including rotations, mixed cropping, planting at different altitudes, as well as to gene flow in agrobiodiversity fairs (exchange of tubers, barter), which allows a diversification of oca varieties. These particular characteristics could lead to a divergence between oca materials maintained in the two systems, as reported by Del Rio et al. (1997) in potato, in common bean by Gomez et al. (2005) or in oca, ulluco and isaño in Equator by Tapia et al. (2004).Complementarity between the two conservation strategies (in situ/ex situ) needs therefore to be adapted accordingly. In order to preserve genetic resources of oca in situ and ex situ, we need to redefine biological unit of conservation.Serie: Conservación y uso de la biodiversidad de raíces y tubérculos andinos: Una década de investigación para el desarrollo (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) Assignment tests applied to data of the publication Malice et al., 2007 After publication of the previous results, binary matrix was reused to analyze the genetic structure of the sample studied. The software Structure 2.2 (Pritchard et al., 2000) was used to perform assignment tests and to assign individual accessions to gene pools or genetic clusters (K). We followed the method described in Chapter V of the thesis.Based on Figure 5, we chose k=3 as the most likely number of distinct genetic clusters in this sample of oca. The highest value of ∆K at k=3 was 43.9.Results of assignment tests (Figure 6) confirm the results presented in Malice et al. (2007).Our study addressed the pattern of genetic diversity of oca varieties at small scale. We have shown great diversity and demonstrated the dynamism of this diversity in relation to both space and time, at the scale of a single microcentre.   Clusters presented in the dendrogram (Chapter III, Fig. 1) have been reported in Figure 6. F ST calculations conducted on the clusters defined by Structure analysis (for k = 3) showed that genetic differentiation between clusters was very highly significant (F ST = 0.22, P<0.001).The AMOVA analysis revealed that the total variation was mainly due to variability within clusters (77.7%, P<0.001) rather than among clusters (22.3%, P<0.001).The results of the assignment test and the definition of 3 genetic clusters could be related to the \"uses categories\", as defined by Emshwiller (2006) on oca or Zimmerer (1991) on potato.During her research, Emshwiller (2006) showed that oca, like potato (Zimmerer, 1991), is classified into \"uses categories\" and that the molecular data (AFLP) agree with the classification of oca by Quechua farmers in Pisac District into two use categories: (1) sweet varieties, called wayk'u (boiled) oca, exposed to sunlight for a few fays to sweeten them and(2) the varieties preserved by processing into dried oca tubers called kaya, prepared by exposing tubers to several alternating days of hot sun and nights of frost until they are completely dry, similarly to the process of making chuño from Andean potatoes.It is known that farmer's practices and preferences influence genetic diversity and structure of their crops. Concerning oca, our results suggest the interesting hypothesis that these use categories may have different evolutionary histories, revealed by the distinct genetic clusters we found. Anyway, these presumptions should be confirmed by other data.Scientifically neglected and vegetatively propagated crop species are cultivated all around the world in traditional subsistence farming systems, where they are of great importance for feeding millions of people in small communities. They are characterised by their ability to produce genetically identical but independent ramets, which form genets or clones (Klimeš et al. 1997)  1992). Nowadays, ulluco is cultivated between 3 000 and 4 000 m a.s.l., within an area extending from northern Argentina to Colombia and Venezuela, between 23°S and 9°N. It is used by local people as a valuable food crop, comparable to potato. Ulluco is cultivated for its edible tubers through which it is propagated (Rousi et al. 1986). Regeneration from seed is rare (Lempiäinen 1989, Pietilä & Jokela 1990). According to Pietilä (1995), ulluco is an outbreeder. Varieties of ulluco are characterised by considerable morphological variation (Rousi et al. 1986, Rousi et al. 1989) and can be visually distinguished through characters of aerial parts of the plant and tubers (Arbizu 2004). In Andean farming systems, ulluco varieties are cultivated under a dynamic way of management and are frequently submitted to tuber flow in traditional rural fairs, where exchange, barter, or purchase of tubers are important sources of variation within the species (Terrazas & Valdivia 1998)  (Pissard et al. 2006, Malice et al. 2007).In the present study we used ISSR in concert with morphological descriptions to screen a large number of ulluco accessions maintained in an ex situ collection. Considering the need to study genetic diversity of ulluco, and to define conservation strategies for this neglected crop species threatened with erosion (Tapia & Estrella 2001), this work is aimed at examining the molecular and morphological diversity of ulluco, and testing the correlation between both markers and the geographical origin of accessions.The samples consisted of 187 accessions of ulluco (Table 1), obtained from the Andean root and tuber crops (ARTC) collection maintained ex situ by the International Potato Centre (CIP, Lima, Peru). Accessions were collected in representative regions of ARTC germplasm collection and follow a longitudinal and latitudinal gradient from North Peru to North Bolivia (Table 2; Fig. 1).   The ulluco field collection is maintained by the CIP in the rural community of La Liberdad(3 700 m a.s.l.), Junin, Peru. Morphological data were recorded from 2000 to 2005 using standard descriptor lists (IPGRI/CIP 2003). A set of 21 qualitative variables, scored as categorical characters, was used to describe the 187 accessions morphologically. The descriptors, with the number of descriptor states within parentheses, are: predominant tuber surface colour (12), secondary tuber surface colour (4), distribution of secondary tuber surface colour (4), tendency to show chimeras (2), tuber shape (4), cortex colour (8), central cylinder colour (5), plant habit (2), stem elongation (4), stem colour (4), stem wing pigmentation (2), leaf shape (4), foliage colour (3), abaxial leaf colour (3), petiole colour (4), flowering habit (4), shape of the inflorescence axis (2), colour of the inflorescence axis (3), sepals colour (3), tepals colour (4) and flower tendency to show more than five petals (2). Characterisation allowed the definition of morphotypes, which are defined as groups of accessions originally collected from different geographical areas, sharing identical morphological characters but not necessarily the same genetic structure.Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and calculation of Gower's distance between accessions were performed using SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc.). The correlation between morphological and geographical Euclidean distance matrices was assessed with the Mantel test using passage ver. 1.1 (Rosenberg 2001).Genomic DNA was isolated (Dellaporta et al. 1983) from fresh leaf material collected in 2003. Sixteen primers, taken from the literature (Prevost & Wilkinson 1999, Joshi et al. 2000, McGregor et al. 2000), were tested for PCR amplification. Annealing temperature was optimised for each primer using the gradient temperature option of the thermal cycler. Ten of the 16 tested primers, which gave clear polymorphisms and reproducible banding patterns, were selected to assess genetic variability of the accessions (Table 3). ISSR amplifications were performed in 25 µL containing 5 ng DNA, 1× buffer (New England BioLabs), 2.5 mM MgCl 2 , 400 µM dNTPs, 0.25 µM primer, 0.2 µg µL -1 BSA, and 1.4 U Taq polymerase. The thermal cycler (PTC-200, MJ Research Inc.) was programmed for an initial denaturation step of 1 min at 94°C followed by 35 cycles of 1 min at 94°C, 1 min at optimised annealing temperature (Table 3) and 4 min at 72°C, and a final extension step of 7 min at 72°C. Amplification products were separated on 1.8% TAE agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide and visualised under UV light. Sixty accessions (30% of all) were reamplified with each of the selected primers to test reproducibility of the entire banding pattern.  Clear, unambiguous and reproducible ISSR markers were scored (1 for presence, 0 for absence). Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using SAS ver. 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc.). Jaccard's distances between accessions were calculated using treecon (Van de Peer & de Wachter 1994). Spatial genetic structure was analysed with autocorrelation analysis using SPAGeDI ver. 1.2 (Hardy & Vekemans 2002). To calculate kinship coefficients between accessions, inbreeding was estimated using hickory ver. 1.0 (Holsinger & Lewis 2003). The correlation between molecular and geographical Euclidean distance matrices was assessed with the Mantel test using passage ver 1.1 (Rosenberg 2001).A Mantel test was performed to analyse the correlation between molecular and morphological distance matrices, calculated from Euclidean distance between the 187 accessions, using passage ver. 1.1 (Rosenberg 2001).The majority of morphotypes are represented in ARTC collection by one to three accessions (Table 1), which complicates the analysis of congruence between morphological and molecular data and the identification of intra-morphotype variability. In order to infer robust relationships between morphotypes and genotypes in ulluco, a cluster analysis was performed on morphotypes represented by four or more accessions. Cluster analysis was performed using the UPGMA algorithm (unweighted pair-group method) and Jaccard's distance using treecon (Van de Peer & de Wachter 1994).Analysis of morphological data divided the 187 accessions into 108 morphotypes (42.2% redundancy; Table 1). As described in the literature (Rousi et al. 1986, Rousi et al. 1989), our results confirmed the large spectrum of tuber colours and shades found in Ullucus tuberosus and the high degree of phenotypic diversity (Table 4). With the exception of plant habit and abaxial leaf colour, morphological characters showed variation between morphotypes. Morphological distance within morphotype was evidently 0, as all accessions belonging to a morphotype showed identical morphological characters. The average morphological distance between morphotypes was 0.294 ± 0.102, with distance ranging from 0.004 to 0.724. ISSR analysis performed with 10 primers revealed 94 reproducible fragments (Table 3). From these, 44 were polymorphic, which corresponds to a mean polymorphism of 46.8%.Molecular markers detected 184 genotypes out of 187 accessions (1.6% redundancy). The average genetic distance between accessions was 0.192 ± 0.048, with a range from 0 to 0.333.Accessions are projected in an MCA plot (Fig. 2), with PC1 and PC2 accounting for 10.15% and 7.99% of total variance, respectively. This analysis failed to identify clear groups and underlined the continuous distribution of morphological variability. The Mantel test indicated a low but significant correlation between morphological and geographic data (r = 0.153, P < 0.001). Principal component analysis (PCA) of ISSR data (Fig. 3) supported the morphological analysis. The position of accessions was defined by the first two principal coordinates PC1 and PC2 which explained 13.44% and 7.96% of the total variation, respectively. From the PCA analysis, neither discontinuity nor clear clustering appeared between locations of collections.  The congruence between morphological and molecular descriptions of accessions was analysed using the Mantel test. We found a significant positive relationship between morphological and genetic distance matrices (r = 0.293, P < 0.001).The UPGMA cluster analysis using Jaccard's genetic distance (Fig. 5) took into account 57 accessions (nine morphotypes, each represented by four or more accessions). Accessions are identified by their initial number (CIP201xxx), country of origin (PER), department where they were collected, and morphotype (Mxx). ISSR markers indicated intra-morphotype variability. Accessions belonging to the same morphotype showed higher similarity and usually clustered close to each other, compared to accessions belonging to different morphotypes. All morphotypes but two (M27 and M79) showed one or two accessions that clustered independently from the others. The mean genetic distance between accessions was 0.171 ± 0.063, with a range from 0 to 0.289. The average morphological distance between the nine morphotypes was 0.373 ± 0.097 with distance ranging from 0.167 to 0.523, while the average genetic distance within morphotypes was 0.115 ± 0.026, with distance ranging from 0.061 (morphotype M4) to 0.150 (morphotype M79).Ulluco diversity has been studied before, using morphological data, but never extensively for large germplasm collection fingerprinting. Studies using molecular techniques are relatively scarce. In this work we aimed at performing a genetic diversity analysis of 187 accessions maintained ex situ in the ARTC collection, using ISSR molecular markers in concert with morphological and passport data.Mean distances, taken as indicators of diversity, appear quite low (0.294 and 0.192 for morphological and molecular markers, respectively). This observation is probably linked to the vegetative propagation system of ulluco. Similar values of mean genetic distance have been found, for instance, by Pissard et al. (2006) in oca. In contrast, our results confirm the high morphological variation of the ulluco crop, and reveal a high clonal diversity based on ISSRs (high number of genotypes). These findings are rather astonishing, since in a vegetatively propagating plant species, genetic diversity is not increased by sexual reproduction and a decrease of genetic diversity within populations is expected over time, as a result of drift or selection (Auge et al. 2001). Despite its long history of asexual propagation it is possible that ulluco has maintained variation from past sexual processes (Pietilä & Jokela 1990). Although sexual reproduction is uncommon in ulluco today, it may have been the dominating breeding system in the past. Diversity detected nowadays would then be largely relictual.Andean farmers recognise all their varieties on the basis of morphological characters and vernacular names. They maintain genetic diversity, replanting their varieties from year to year. In addition to centuries of clonal propagation, somatic mutations may have occurred periodically and have increased diversity. New forms, selected by farmers, were fixed by vegetative propagation. In addition to somatic mutations and past sexual events, at least four features of Andean agricultural system can be considered as key elements in creating and conserving diversity in vegetatively propagated crop species.Firstly, diversity in ulluco can be explained by the large ecological and geographic distribution of the varieties in the Andes, which requires adaptation of plant material to specific climatic and edaphic conditions. Additionally, Andean history and the farmers themselves could also have played an important role in generating diversity now encountered in ulluco. Because of the wide array of climatic and edaphic conditions found in the Andes, farmers selected and conserved the highest number of varieties possible. All of these, each with its particular traits, are cultivated in a large number of microenvironments, in small plots located at different altitudes. This type of farming, with vertical control of ecological zones, represents for the farmers an insurance against crop failure.Secondly, seeds of ulluco are viable: they can germinate in the laboratory but also probably in the field (Lempiäinen 1989). Concomitantly with the conservation of existing varieties through the traditional vegetative multiplication, new forms originating from seedlings can be conserved, unconsciously or not, by Andean farmers. This situation, i.e. the introduction of plants originating from seeds in vegetatively propagated varieties, has been noticed in crops such as cassava (Elias et al. 2001) and potato (Brush et al. 1981, Quiros et al. 1992). This unmanaged sexual reproduction contributes to an increased diversity. Ortega (1997) showed that, in potato, vegetative propagation and outcrossing provide stability and variability, respectively, and lead to an increase in genetic diversity after very long periods of time. For ulluco, the importance of seedlings in field conditions is not well known, but the species has been shown to produce viable seeds (Lempiäinen 1989). The hypothesis that incorporation of seed-derived tubers could act as a source of genetic variation in ulluco cannot be completely eliminated but should be confirmed by field studies.Thirdly, cultivation of several varieties of ulluco in a single field is a normal practice in the Andes. Planting heterogeneous plant material in the same field, including different varieties and species, is a traditional crop husbandry that increases the chance to harvest at least some plants in case of biotic or abiotic constraints.Finally, tuber flow is a form of germplasm migration and an important mechanism through which diversity appears in Andean agricultural systems. Each year, farmers decide on which varieties and what amounts they want to cultivate. In addition to the selected and stored tubers of their own cropping system, they obtain new tubers from other farmers and from markets (Espinoza 2001). The agrobiodiversity fairs favour the exchange of varieties between the participating farmers (of a particular community or of various communities), making the dispersion of a high genetic diversity possible. Tuber transportation to markets gathers varieties from different regions.Comparative analyses showed a congruence between molecular and morphological variation, but also pointed out variability within morphotypes. Such variability has also been observed in another Andean tuber crop, oca (Malice et al. 2007), and has been attributed to mutations or to confusion between morphologically similar but genetically distinct individuals. Mixed cropping and tuber flow represent situations that favour intra-morphotype variability.Multivariate analyses (MCA and PCA) showed no clear separation between accessions collected from different locations. In fact, in Andean agrosystems, ulluco is a staple food and is cultivated by the great majority of farmers from 3 000 to 4 000 m a.s.l. Hence, it is probable that farmers have selected similar varieties, based on morphological and agronomical traits, as well as culinary, medicinal and commercial properties. However, our results revealed a geographical influence on the diversity pattern. Generally, accessions geographically closer are more genetically similar. A similar correlation, though higher, was also observed in oca (Pissard et al. 2006). For ulluco, the geographical distribution of varieties is not yet known, but different geographical groups of accessions have been recorded for chromosome numbers (Cardenas & Hawkes 1948), morphological characters (Rousi et al. 1989) and seed set (Pietilä & Jokela 1990). In the Andean highlands, where ulluco is commonly cultivated, the social status of a farmer is notably determined by the number of varieties he owns and grows in his fields (Ortega 1997). The diversity found at a small scale (in a farmer's field, a community or a department) is thus expected to be high. In the Andean area, farmers of different zones exchange genetic material and acquire tubers sometimes from distant places (Espinoza 2001).Combined with the high number of varieties owned by each farmer, these practices could explain our results indicating higher and lower genetic differentiation at small and large scales, respectively.From a conservation viewpoint, our findings raise important questions about genetic resources management of vegetatively propagated crops like ulluco. Genetic diversity of ulluco maintained in situ is expressed as the number of varieties, identified by morphological and agronomic characters. In ex situ conservation systems, diversity is usually represented by the number of accessions or the number of morphotypes. The main goal of ex situ collections is to maintain the genetic diversity of the crop during a very long time, without modifications and with minimal redundancies. However, many germplasm collections contain redundant accessions, which are usually identified through passport data and morphological characterisation. As PCR-based techniques are becoming more available, molecular markers are increasingly used to identify redundant material (Dean et al. 1999, van Treuren et al. 2004). In our experiment, we found 41.7% and 1.6% redundancy for morphological and molecular data, respectively. However, considering an accession as redundant is often all but easy, and the question raised by curators is not to ascertain identity between two accessions but rather to establish whether they are sufficiently different to be considered as distinct (Le Clerc et al. 2005). More in-depth investigations to check duplicates should be encouraged in ulluco. Moreover, as intra-morphotype variability has been shown for most of them, more knowledge is needed of the congruence between morphological and molecular data. If it does not allow a reduction in germplasm collection size, at least it could help to improve management procedures.In summary, our results showed that diversity in ulluco is rather found at small scales. Genetic structure of ulluco can be explained by the characteristics of Ullucus tuberosus and the Andean agricultural system: (1) high clonal diversity is potentially due to past sexual reproduction and has been maintained for centuries by Andean farmers; (2) in the Andes, at altitudes between 3 000 and 4 000 m a.s.l., ulluco is a staple food cultivated by the majority of farmers who selected similar varieties; (3) diversity originated from geographical differentiation (presence of indigenous germplasm), (4) diversity has later been modified by cultural practices, at small scale (centres of diversity) but also at larger scale (biodiversity fairs). In conclusion, these findings are essential to improve genetic resources conservation of ulluco, as well as other vegetatively propagated crop species. Assignment tests applied to data of the publication Malice et al., 2009 As for the chapter III, we completed the data analysis of chapter IV with the analysis of the genetic structure with the software Structure 2.2 (Pritchard et al., 2000) and assigned ulluco accessions to genetic clusters (K). We followed the method described in Chapter V of the thesis.Based on Figure 7, we chose k=2 as the number of distinct genetic clusters in this sample of ulluco. Results of the assignment test (Figure 8) were congruent with those presented in). F ST calculations conducted on the clusters defined by Structure analysis (for k = 2) showed that genetic differentiation between clusters was very highly significant (F ST = 0.35, P<0.001). The AMOVA analysis revealed that the total variation was mainly due to variability within clusters (65.4%, P<0.001) rather than among clusters (34.6%, P<0.001).  The Structure-assigned individual accessions were plotted on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) graph. Figure 9 shows the position of the 187 ulluco accessions, defined by the first two principal coordinates PC1 and PC2. Globally, the PCA confirmed our previous analyses. This PCA plot clearly shows that PC1 separates accessions according to theirStructure assignment [from left to right: accessions of the first genetic cluster (q mean > 80%) ; : accessions intermediary between first and second clusters (q mean < 80%) ; accessions of the second genetic clusters (q mean > 80%)].The same method was followed to build a collection map (Figure 10), with regard to the genetic cluster the accessions belong to. Interestingly, Figure 10 shows that accessions representative of the second genetic cluster originate from North Peru, while accessions representative of the first genetic cluster originate from South Peru and North Bolivia.Accessions intermediary between first and second clusters are distributed all along the North-South gradient.Many studies have indicated that the organisation of ulluco diversity is linked to geographic classifications (Cardenas & Hawkes, 1948;Rousi et al., 1989;Pietilä & Jokela, 1990). Our results also reflect such geographical structure. accessions of the first and second genetic clusters -q mean > 80% / : accessions intermediary between first and second clusters -q mean < 80%) A probable explanation of our results (Figures 8 to 10) could be that ulluco may have developed from two main genepools, predominantly found in North Peru and the region encompassing South Peru and North Bolivia. According to Arbizu (2004), the area of the Lake Titicaca (South Peru -North Bolivia) is the origin centre of the ulluco.The hypothesis that ulluco has evolved from two regions in the Andes (North Peru and the region of the Lake Titicaca), and radiated along the Andean axis, is suggested by patterns of genetic structuration we found, and is certainly linked to traditional farming practices and tubers' exchanges via markets, barters, biodiversity fairs… CHAPTER V: Evaluation of genetic diversity of Andean tuber crop species (oca, ulluco, mashua) in the in situ microcentre of diversity of Huanuco (Peru) using ISSR markersIn preparation to be submitted to Crop ScienceOca (Oxalis tuberosa Molina), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus Caldas) and mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz & Pav.) are tuber-bearing crop species endemic in the Andes. They are sporadically cultivated in marginal farming systems of high altitudes, from 2500 to 4100 meters (Cárdenas, 1964;Cadima Fuentes, 2006) in all Andean countries, with the highest concentration of diversity in the central Andes (southern Peru and northern Bolivia, Arbizu et al., 1997). They are cultivated for their edible tubers and constitute, together with the potato species (Solanum sp.), Andean farmers' staple crops (Hernández Bermejo & León, 1992).Even if they flower in farming conditions, fruit and seed production are marginal for oca and ulluco, respectively due to a trimorphic system of genetic incompatibility (Gibbs, 1976;Trognitz et al., 1998), and to morphological abnormalities in the ovules and embryo sacs combined with genetic loads (Pietilä & Jokela, 1994). In contrast, mashua flowers profusely and sets many viable seeds with high germination rates (Grau et al., 2003). In farming conditions, propagation of these three species is exclusively realized through tubers, and botanical seed propagation by farmers has never been observed (Hernández Bermejo & León, 1992). Nonetheless, Andean tubers still display high levels of phenotypic diversity, especially in their tubers (Arbizu et al., 1997). Unfortunately, Andean tubers diversity tends to decrease because of genetic erosion (Altieri & Merrick, 1987;Tapia & Estrella, 2001;Iriondo et al., 2008), leading to the urgent need to establish appropriate conservation strategies. The first step to define genetic resources conservation programs for on farm in situ conservation consists in the evaluation of genetic diversity and structure of the species. Former studies of Andean tubers genetic diversity described variation between cultivars reflected by morphological traits (Rousi et al., 1989;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Grau et al., 2003). More recently, molecular markers have been used to study this diversity and the ISSR technique has been successfully applied to evaluate genetic diversity in cultivated accessions of the three Andean tubers species (Malice et al., 2007;Pissard et al., 2008a-b;Malice et al., under press).Main results brought by this approach have shown the presence of heterogeneous varieties, the congruence between molecular and morphological data, and a genetic structure influenced by the geographical provenance. All these findings were explained by the ways of tubers management and by the characteristics of the species and of the Andean agricultural system.Also, vernacular names assign by farmers to identify cultivars are numerous and reflect the high diversity of the crops (Arbizu et al., 1997;Cadima Fuentes, 2006;Emshwiller, 2006). It is known that varieties are identified according to a set of traits related to tuber and sometimes plant characteristics (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). Previous results on oca (Malice et al., 2007) showed that varieties structure is overall based upon vernacular names, supporting peasant classification.In the present study, ISSR markers were used to assess the genetic variability of Andean tubers accessions in an in situ germplasm collection located in the microcentre of Huanuco (Peru). The diversity organization obtained by the molecular markers were compared with the classification of the Andean tuber varieties by folk taxonomy.This work was carried out in the microcentre of diversity of Huanuco (Fig. 1), located in Peru, in the district of Kichki, province of Huanuco (09°54'06'' latitude South, 76°26'28'' longitude East). This area, that covers a surface of approximately 160 km², is located at an altitude ranging from 2500 to 4176 meters. Mean temperature is 10 °C with an annual rainfall of 1100 mm/year and a relative humidity of 83%. Soils are sandy and shallow with organic matter content lower than 2%. Sampling strategy was designed to study the inter-and intra-varietal diversities conserved in the peasant communities of the microcentre. Passport data and varieties names were obtained from farmers during the collecting missions. The samples consisted in 15 varieties of oca (Table 1A), 15 of ulluco (Table 1B) and 26 of mashua (Table 1C) collected within the conservation garden in year 2006. Hereafter we have considered a `variety' as a set of tubers originating from various locations and grown by various farmers, identified by a single varietal name using folk taxonomy (Malice et al., 2007). For each variety, 1 to 3 individual plants, identified by an ID number, were collected from one or several farmers maintaining this variety (Table 1). DNA extraction of oca, ulluco and mashua accessions was performed on fresh leaves, using the protocol described by Blas (2005).DNA amplifications of oca samples were performed in 25 µl containing 5 ng DNA, 1x buffer (New England BioLabs), 3 mM MgCl 2 , 0.08 mM dNTPs, 0.40 µM primers (Malice et al., 2007;Pissard et al., 2008c), and 2 U Taq polymerase. The thermal cycler (PTC-200 MJ Research Inc.) was programmed for an initial denaturation step of 10 min at 95°C followed by 35 cycles of 30 sec at 95°C, 45 sec at optimized annealing temperature (Table 2) and 2 min at was programmed for an initial denaturation step of 1 min at 94°C followed by 35 cycles of 1 min at 94°C, 1 min at specific annealing temperature (Table 2) and 4 min at 72°C, and a final extension step of 7 min at 72°C.DNA amplifications of mashua samples were performed in 25 µl volumes containing 5 ng DNA, 1x buffer, 2 mM MgCl 2 , 400 µM dNTPs, 0.40 µM primers (Pissard et al, 2008a), 0.2 µg/µl BSA, and 1 U Taq polymerase. The thermal cycler  was programmed for an initial denaturation step of 1 min at 94°C followed by 40 cycles of 1 min at 95°C, 1 min at specific annealing temperature (Table 2) and 2 min at 72°C, and a final extension step of 5 min at 72°C. Amplification products were separated on 1.8% TAE agarose gels, stained with SybrSafe and visualized under UV light.  Reproducible ISSR markers were scored for the presence (1) or absence (0) of each band.Binary matrices were, independently for each of the 3 species, subjected to data analysis. A polymorphic index (PIC) was calculated as PIC2 ), where F p(i) is the presence frequency of the i th band and F a(i) is the absence frequency of the i th band. PIC values were then calculated to evaluate primers effectiveness to differentiate accessions by adding the PIC values of all the bands amplified by the same primer.Genetic distances between accessions were calculated with Jaccard's coefficient, using the TreeCon software (Van de Peer & de Wachter, 1994). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed using SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc.).We also used the Bayesian model-based clustering method of Pritchard et al. (2000), softwareStructure 2.2., to perform assignment tests and to assign individual accessions to gene pools or genetic clusters (K). We used the basic admixture model, with the assumed number of populations (K) varying from 1 to 5, 5 replicate runs per K value, a burning period length of 5x10 4 , and a post-burning simulation length of 10 5 . No a priori population information was used. Log likelihood of data [L(K)] and ∆ K statistic (rate of change between successive K values) were calculated to infer the optimal number of clusters (K) in the data set. For each individual accession, mean percentage of membership (q mean ) was assessed to each of the K genetic clusters. The degree of genetic differentiation among genetic clusters defined by Structure analysis was further tested, considering the individual accessions with a cluster membership probability (q mean ) higher than 80% (23 oca accessions and 31 ulluco accessions analyzed). F ST estimates and AMOVA analysis were performed using the Arlequin 2.0 software (Schneider et al., 2000).In order to assess genetic diversity, the number of amplified fragments, the number of polymorphic fragments and polymorphic information content (PIC values) were calculated for each primer (Table 2). Overall, our results demonstrate the ability of the ISSR technique to assess genetic diversity of Andean tubers oca, ulluco and mashua. DNA amplifications using 7, 7 and 5 primers respectively for oca, ulluco and mashua, generated a total of respectively 55, 58 and 28 reproducible bands, from which 48 (87%), 39 (67%) and 24 (85%) were polymorphic. High percentages of polymorphism are commonly observed with ISSR markers.Mean PIC values per ISSR primer ranged from 0.15 for primer Ulluco-6 to 0.40 for primers Oca-5 and Mashua-1 (Table 2). In the present work, 11 of the 22 primers showed high capacity to reveal polymorphism within the studied accessions, as their PIC values were relatively high (≥ 0.25). These primers distinguished almost all accessions from each other (with the exception of 4 accessions for oca and 2 for ulluco).Concerning oca, the mean genetic distance between individuals was 0.41 ± 0.16, with a range from 0 (between MTPA-023 and MTPA-081, and between MTPA-109 and MTPA-121) to 0.77 (between MTPA-008 and MTPA-104). Ulluco individuals displayed a mean genetic distance of 0.24 ± 0.09, with a range from 0 (between MTBM-209 and MTBM-234) to 0.42 (between MTBM-237 and MTBM-255). Finally, the mean genetic distance between individuals of mashua was 0.50 ± 0.18 with a range from 0.07 (between MTHP-190 and MTHP-239) to 0.82 (between MTHP-082 and MTHP-219).Concerning intravarietal variability, the genetic distance varied from 0 (Cera oga and Garwash pillao) to 0.74 (Jilguero) in oca, from 0 (Tarmeña olluco) to 0.22 (Shactay olluco and Tarmeñita) in ulluco and from 0.07 (Yana ñawi) to 0.20 (Shulash mashua) in mashua.This analysis showed that individual plants from the same variety tended to share identical or similar genotypes (mean genetic distances within varieties were overall slight). However individual plants from some others varieties presented very different genotypes, and intravarieties genetic distances varied widely for these varieties, reflecting heterogeneity within them.As shown on Figures 2A and 2B based on Structure outputs, the highest value of ∆K (oca: 71.28 -ulluco: 51.09) was observed at K=2 for both species. The rate of change in the likelihood L(K) was maximum at K=2 for ulluco (-672.9) and at K=3 for oca (-780.8). So we chose K=2 as the most likely number of distinct genetic clusters in both samples of oca and ulluco. Conversely, the assignment test performed on mashua revealed that the mashua sample we studied most probably belong to a single genetic cluster. Results of assignment tests and pattern of genetic structure for oca (Figure 3A) and ulluco (Figure 3B) indicate that the individual accessions of the same variety did not group unambiguously by name, but there was a tendency for them to do so. Accessions of a given variety were gathered together in the same genetic cluster, except for 2 oca varieties (Mio mio, Yana pillao) and 3 ulluco varieties (Rosado manca ñawi, Garwash pikllush, Juyto sarampión), in which individual accessions clustered in two different groups.F ST calculations conducted on the clusters defined by Structure analysis (for K = 2), on both oca and ulluco data sets, showed that genetic differentiation between clusters was very highly significant (oca: F ST = 0.40 -ulluco: F ST = 0.25, P<0.001). Results of the AMOVA analysis showed that all variance components were also very highly significant (P<0.001) and that the total variation was mainly due to variability within clusters (oca: 59.3% -ulluco: 73.6%) rather than among clusters (oca: 40.7% -ulluco: 26.4%).Next step to judge the inferred number of genetic clusters consisted in plotting the Structureassigned individual accessions on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) plot. Figure 4 shows the position of the 32 oca (A), 36 ulluco (B) and 28 mashua accessions (C), defined by the first two principal coordinates PC1 and PC2 (these axes accounted for 9.83% and 6.59%, 5.82% and 4.86%, 3.84% and 3.50% of the total variation, respectively for oca, ulluco and mashua). Globally, the PCA confirmed our previous analyses. The first component (PC1 axis)clearly divides the accessions according to the Structure-defined genetic clusters they belong to. From the mashua PCA analysis (Figure 3C), neither discontinuity nor clear clustering appears. Same observation has already been done in other Andean tubers diversity studies (Malice et al., 2007;Malice et al., under press). Anyway, Pissard et al. (2008a) showed 3 very distinct genetic clusters in mashua, which were defined according to geographical provenance of accessions across Peru.Figure 3. Structure of the genetic diversity of the 32 oca (A) and the 36 ulluco accessions (B) as assigned into 2 genetic clusters (K) detected using the model-based clustering method of Pritchard et al. (2000). Accessions are indicated by their identification number and their variety name (Table 1  PC1 (9.83%) PC2 (6.59%)This work demonstrated that the ISSR technique is a reproducible and polymorphic tool to study genetic diversity of Andean tuber crop species. These molecular markers allowed a successful identification of genetic variation in the three species of Andean tubers (oca, ulluco and mashua), maintained in a conservation garden localized in the Peruvian diversity microcentre of Huanuco.The mean values of genetic distance (oca: 0.41 -ulluco: 0.24 -mashua: 0.50) taken as indicators of diversity are high; this high diversity is also reflected by the great number of folk varietal names given to these three species. These observations are probably related to the balanced action of both (i) conservation method of the germplasm (conservation garden in traditional farming system) and (ii) evolution forces acting on Andean tubers genetic diversity during generations of farmers in traditional Andean agroecosystems (Brush et al., 1981).There is no doubt that traditional cultivation practices do not just maintain genetic diversity but can also act as an important source of diversity (Terrazas & Garcia 2003;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Quiros et al., 1992;Espinoza, 2001). Our samples have been cultivated by farmers of the microcentre of Huanuco, and have been put into the conservation garden one year before our sample recollection. This period of time being relatively short, we can assume that genetic diversity and structure now encountered in the conservation garden faithfully represents the situation in farmers' fields. In an in situ conservation system, populations in farmers' fields are influenced by farming practices characterizing Andean farming system (mixed cropping, planting at different altitudes), as well as by Andean practices like the participation to agrobiodiversity fairs or the exchange of tubers, and this may result in an enhancement of genetic diversity (Ramirez, 2002;Ortega, 1997). Mashua presents a higher genetic diversity than the 2 other Andean tuber species. This observation can be linked to its relatively high capacity to set seed in traditional farming conditions and to perform both alloand autogamy (Grau et al., 2003), favouring genetic exchanges between varieties.ISSR analysis revealed the presence of heterogeneous varieties. Similar observations have also been reported in other studies, for Andean tubers (Malice et al., 2007;Pissard et al., 2008c, Emshwiller, 2006) or in other vegetatively reproduced crops (Quiros et al., 1990;Zimmerer, 1991;Elias et al., 2001a,b). This type of incongruity between folk naming and ISSR genotyping systems (i.e. varietal heterogeneity) indicates that genetic variability is generally underestimated in the fields. If we had only built our study on the varietal names to describe a \"variety\", the conclusion would have been that number of conservation units are 15 in oca, 15 in ulluco, and 26 in mashua. But, using ISSR molecular markers, we found a larger genetic diversity within each of these three species (oca: 30 -ulluco: 35 -mashua: 28).However, by comparing varieties that are named by farmers and genotypes that are distinguished by the ISSR molecular markers, we noticed a general congruence between these two modes of classification. In fact, all individual accessions with the same name present similar ISSR data (with the exception of 2 oca and 3 ulluco varieties). Quiros et al. (1990) on potato and Emshwiller (2006) on oca also observed this consistency between folk taxonomy and isozyme and AFLP variation, respectively.Our assignment of individual accessions into genetic clusters, with the Structure program, revealed the presence of one genetic cluster for mashua, while both oca and ulluco can be divided in two major groups. The AMOVA analysis and F st values both revealed a high level of population differentiation in oca and ulluco. In addition, the PCA analysis supported all these observations. Different seed set rates (oca and ulluco versus mashua) and traditional farming practices in the Andes may contribute to the genetic diversity patterns observed in these three species. Andean tubers are exclusively vegetatively reproduced by tubers and it seems very unlikely that farmers use seeds. Furthermore, seed production in oca and ulluco remains limited due to different factors inhibiting this process (Gibbs, 1976;Trognitz et al. 1998;Pietilä & Jokela, 1994). Concerning mashua, Grau et al. (2003) described both allo-and autogamy and a great botanical seed production has been reported (Popenoe et al., 1998).Nevertheless, in traditional Andean agriculture, mashua is also exclusively propagated through tubers. This situation may be explained by different factors: true-to-type breeding, reduced crop period and prevalence of vegetative propagated crops in Andean agriculture (Grau et al., 2003). Nevertheless, we suggest that despite vegetative reproduction of these Andean species, by tubers, specific mechanisms for seed production influence the pattern of genetic diversity and structure found (oca and ulluco versus mashua). Oca and ulluco samples were both divided into two genepools. In the particular case of mashua, a possible large seed production, the introduction of spontaneous seedlings coming from sexual reproduction and their integration into the germplasm used for vegetative propagation could explain why different genepools could not be differentiated in our sample. Another factor explaining the absence of genepool definition in the mashua sample from the microcentre of Huanuco is inter-varieties gene flow due to allogamy.In addition to the reproduction system, traditional Andean farming practices, agromorphological selection by the Andean farmers and spatial arrangement of the fields also affect the structure of Andean tubers. Two features are significant in the management of tubers diversity: Andean farmers cultivate many varieties of each of the three Andean tuber species (oca, ulluco and mashua) and these varieties are sown simultaneously in each field.Such mixed planting could influence the genetic structure and diversity of these crops, particularly those that are still able to reproduced sexually. For these species, and particularly for mashua, it is not excluded that farmers maintain genotypes from sexual reproduction and use them for vegetative propagation, like in cassava (Elias et al., 2001a) or Andean potatoes (Quiros et al., 1992). As a result, new genotypes and phenotypes may be produced and selected by farmers according to interesting agromorphological characteristics of the varieties.Another key element of Andean agricultural systems that influences genetic diversity and structure of Andean tubers is the exchange of tubers between farmers and communities. In fact, farmers can give or receive seeds at small scale (within a diversity microcentre) but also at larger scale (biodiversity fairs and markets). Such exchanges have also been reported for Andean tubers (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998).In summary, our results revealed a high genetic diversity at the range of a single microcentre, confirming the high genetic diversity within the three Andean neglected species oca, ulluco and mashua, and the presence of heterogeneous varieties within these species. Understanding these complex processes of creation and maintenance of genetic diversity in Andean tuber crop species is essential to improve collection management and genetic resources conservation of neglected Andean tuber crop species threatened by genetic erosion. 2 Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Crop Husbandry Department, Ap. 456, Lima 12, Peru.Until recently, genetic diversity studies focused on food crops of worldwide importance.Nevertheless, numerous neglected crops could play an important role concerning the improvement of nutrition and welfare of millions of people in the world (Padulosi et al., 2002). Although considered as minor on a global level, these crops have often a significant local importance for the subsistence of many agricultural communities (Tapia, 2000). Adaptedto marginal environments and preserved in their origin areas by socio-cultural preferences, traditional agricultural and use practices, neglected crops harbour a large genetic diversity that has to be preserved. These crops are often threatened with extinction by multiple agronomic, genetic, economic, social and cultural factors (Tapia & Estrella, 2001;Iriondo et al., 2008).Nine neglected species are found in the Andean farming systems: Oxalis tuberosa Molina Andean farmers' subsistence (León, 1964;Tapia Vargas, 1994). Among these, oca (Oxalis tuberosa) is the most important Andean tuber crop after potato (Hernandez Bermejo & León, 1992;Arbizu et al., 1997). Oca is endemic in the high Andes, growing at high altitudes (from 2800 to 4100 m). Oca is vegetatively propagated exclusively through tubers. Under agricultural conditions, the species flowers abundantly but set seeds only exceptionally (Trognitz & Hermann, 1998). Oca has been identified as allo-octoploid (2n=8x=64 chromosomes - Emshwiller & Doyle, 2002).Even if molecular markers have recently been developed (Malice et al., 2007;Pissard et al., 2008), the descriptions of oca's diversity remain commonly based on morphological traits.Despite its vegetative mode of propagation, oca maintains large phenotypic diversity (Arbizu et al., 1997;Cadima Fuentes, 2006). This is illustrated by the tuber pigmentation, varying from nearly white to nearly black, with ranges of pink, red, purple, yellow, and orange (IPGRI/CIP, 2001;Emshwiller, 2006). The numerous vernacular names reflect also the high diversity of cultivars (Emshwiller, 2006).The genetic model of oca is linked to its breeding system, the prevalence of traditional varieties in subsistence agricultural system and the lack of improved cultural practices.Studying genetic diversity of oca is essential to improve conservation of these valuable resources. We examined the morphological diversity of oca's varieties, collected in three rural communities of the diversity microcentre of Cusco. In the present study, the farmer's concept of a variety is considered. We defined the variety as the set of tubers that share the same name and are considered by farmers as the same entity. To better explain this concept, we attempted to describe the correspondence between the name given to a variety and its morphological characteristics.Three farming communities of the diversity microcentre of Cusco were included in this work:   The number of oca varieties maintained by farmers' families in each community of the microcentre of Cusco is listed in Table 3A.Most farmers (50%) maintain a relatively reduced number of oca varieties (1 to 3), while a few farmers (10 out of 41) maintain a high number of varieties (7 to 10). Only 7 out of the 91 varieties studied are found in all of the 3 communities; each community maintaining \"unique\" varieties (i.e. found only in this community): 7 in Amaru, 11 in Paru Paru and 11 in Viacha.Such a dispersion of the varieties within the communities is consistent with Quiros et al. (1990) in the case of potato or with Terrazas & Valdivia (1998) in their study on the diversity microcentre of Candelaria (Bolivia). These latter observed an average of 3 oca varieties cultivated by farmer, and a great majority of the varieties (39/60) being cultivated by less than 10% of the farmers of Candelaria.According to Table 3B, 75% of the farmers received their oca varieties from their parents (heritage) and 25% purchased all their varieties. However, the quantity and quality of tubers of a farmer's family varying over the time, the structure of these oca varieties is not static (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). In fact, farmers are continuously looking for tubers of better quality and new varieties. In this context, the market or the local biodiversity fairs are frequent sources of supply. These tubers exchanges play an important role both within and between communities, by maintaining on-farm diversity (Espinoza, 2001;Terrazas & Garcia, 2003).In the case of the Cusco microcentre, less than 25% of the farmers participate in the biodiversity fairs (Table 3C). These farmers are exclusively distributed in the communities of Paru Paru and Viacha, and go to the fairs with the objective to sell their varieties (respectively 33% and 40%) or to buy new varieties (44% and 40%).A particular use of a variety is also a key factor for conserving this variety. As an example, the oca variety called Pusqo produces a bitter tuber, which is commonly consumed as \"kaya\", similar to the \"chuño\" made from potato. This type of transformation allows long tuber conservation, ensuring food security to the farmer and its family. This Pusqo variety was cultivated by the majority of the farmers in our 3 communities, and even by all the farmers from Viacha community. The main objective of the farmers in the Cusco microcentre is to produce tubers for their own consumption. However, almost 40% of them also produce oca to sell it, especially during the periods of high productivity; and only 3% produce oca to sell or exchange a part of their production against maize (Table 3D).Agriculture represents the principal financial resource for the farmers of the microcentre and their families. Currently, the interest of young people for farming activities seems to decline.Several factors are likely to contribute to this situation: severe climatic conditions impairing stable and high yields on one hand, and attractiveness of cities on the other hand, prompting young people to leave their communities. In addition other activities, such as ecotourism, decrease the time devoted to agriculture in the 3 visited communities, forcing farmers to reduce activities in their exploitation.In the microcentre of Cusco, as in the whole Andean region, microclimatic conditions vary according to the altitude and hillside slope. Farmers exploit their knowledge of these conditions to avoid crop failure. They distinguish three areas of altitude (3200 to 3800 m, 3800 to 4200 m and 4200 to 4800 m). Each level displays particular environmental characteristics, cropping and cultural practices (Vargas Escalante et al., 2007). These conditions are very similar to those found in the microcentre of Candelaria, Bolivia (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Terrazas & Garcia, 2003) or in other Andean systems (Ortega, 1997). In this kind of system, species and varieties are dispersed in the germplasm of several families, on numerous plots localised across the altitude levels (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). Varieties and species are distributed in a wide range of environmental (soil and climate heterogeneity, altitude levels), geographical (localisation of the family in the microcentre) and social (migration, market pressure) conditions, in a mosaic system. Mosaic system is all but static and is continually modified through time by several mechanisms generating a 'dynamic mosaic system' (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Terrazas & Garcia, 2003) where tubers of each variety are frequently transported from place to place and across altitudinal levels. In the fluctuating environmental conditions of the Andes, such farming practices is essential to reduce the risk of crops and varieties loss, because of frost, hail, drought or other climatic and biotic stresses.The mean morphological distance between the 260 accessions was 0.53 ± 0.18, with a range from 0 to 0.92. The average morphological distance within the varieties composed of 2 or more accessions was 0.25 ± 0.19, with distance ranging from 0 to 0.67 (Table 1). These results confirmed the high morphological diversity found within the oca species, but also highlighted a high intravarietal variability.According to Brush et al. (1981) and Zimmerer (1991), farmers classify their potatoes varieties according to 4 taxonomic levels: (i) the generic level (potatoes are distinguished from the other Andean tubers like oca, ulluco and mashua), (ii) the species (according to criteria of cultivation, edibility, processing and frost resistance), (iii) the locally named varieties (mainly based on tuber characteristics) and (iv) the sub-variety (based on secondary characteristics, principally variations in tuber color). In the ethnotaxonomy of oca Emshwiller (2006) also observed a subdivision made by farmers between varieties on the basis of their use. The local varieties are mainly distinguished by their primary tuber shapes and colors.Within some varieties, variability is also observed in secondary tuber characteristics (mainly \"yana\" and \"yuraq\" respectively means red, yellow, black and white. These observations confirm the importance of tuber color in the subvarietal characterisation.The subvarieties Pusqo, Yuraq pusqo and Qello pusqo are identical for the 18 observed characters. These accessions, although displaying identical phenotype, were identified by the farmers with different vernacular names. The subvariety Puka pusqo is characterized by greyish red stems (C1=3), and yellowish (C12=2) and cylindrical (C18=4) tubers. One should mention that the accession VI532 called Pusqo is morphologically similar to the accession VI328 called Puka pusqo. This probably reflects an error in the denomination of the accession VI532. The subvariety Yana pusqo is characterized by a dark greyish tuber (C12=12) and by the presence of a dark secondary tuber flesh color (C16=8).Similar observation can be made for the varieties Panti, Misitu and Ushpacha (data not shown) and reflect the perception of a variety, defined by the farmers on the basis of three morphological characters: tuber color, tuber shape and stem color.Endemic in the high Andes, oca is poorly known and used outside its area of origin.Cultivated by the Andean rural populations, this species is of particular importance to ensure the livelihood of the poorest Andean farmers and represents also a part of their traditions.The field study we conducted enlightened different factors of the production system that could influence the varietal diversity of the oca in the microcentre of Cusco. First, the tuber flow linked to the participation to biodiversity fairs and exchange of tubers between farmers allow the farmers to keep a diversified lot of oca. In addition, the participation of the farmers into ecotourism activities may reduce the importance of agriculture in these areas, leading to a lack of varieties. In this context, it is of particular importance to associate different methods for germplasm conservation (in situ / ex situ).Morphological characterization showing high values of Gower's distance confirms the high morphological diversity found within the oca species (IPGRI/CIP, 2001;Emshwiller, 2006;Cadima Fuentes, 2006). Three features of the Andean farming system can be considered as key elements in the creation and the maintenance of diversity in the case of vegetatively reproduced crop species, particularly in the case of the oca in the microcentre of Cusco. (i)Firstly, this diversity can be linked to the ecological and geographical distribution of varieties across the Andean region, explaining their adaptation to different climatic and soil conditions (Castillo, 1995). Vegetative reproduction of these species in a wide range of microenvironments, has conducted to the development of morphologically distinct clones.Andean farmers have undeniably contributed to the generation of this diversity (Quiros et al., 1992;Iriondo et al., 2008). Indeed, with the obligation to respond to very diverse edaphic and climatic conditions encountered in the Andes, farmers have selected and preserved as most varieties as possible, with a vertical control of ecological zones ensuring, as a result, food security to their families (Ortega, 1997;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). (ii) Secondly, the possible presence of viable botanical seeds from oca could also be involved in the creation and maintenance of new varieties. In addition to the conservation of existing varieties through vegetative propagation, new forms from sexual reproduction could be selected and maintained by the Andean farmers, intentionally or not. This has already been noted in other species such as cassava (Elias et al., 2001) and potato (Brush et al., 1981;Quiros et al., 1992); and could be investigated for the oca. (iii) Thirdly, the flow of tubers represents a form of germplasm migration and a significant mechanism in the emergence of diversity in the Andean agricultural systems. In addition to the tubers selected from their own fields, farmers obtain new tubers from other farmers or local markets (Espinoza, 2001). The biodiversity fairs promote exchanges of varieties between participants (farmers of the same or different communities) and facilitate the widespread dispersal of a significant genetic diversity (Espinoza, 2001).Another key element in farmers' management processes of Andean tubers diversity is the system used by the farmers to name their varieties, linked to their morphological characters.Andean farmers employ a range of morphological characters (mainly based on tuber shape and color) to identify their varieties using their own varietal name (Cadima et al., 2003). As also observed for other crops like potato (Brush et al., 1981;Jackson et al., 1980;Zimmerer, 1991), cassava (Salick et al., 1997;Elias et al., 2000Elias et al., -2001) ) or maize (Louette & Smale, 2000), Andean farmers establish a unit (set of tuber plants) that they select, exchange, and maintain. In most studies the genetic diversity managed in traditional farming systems is estimated by the number of different varietal names, but these do not always coincide (Wood & Lenne, 1997). The related hypothesis that number of varietal names corresponds to the actual diversity should necessarily be tested because the expertise of farmers to name and manage their varieties may have important consequences in terms of Andean tubers diversity management and conservation. Previous studies based on molecular characterisation of oca showed that varieties are heterogeneous and present intravarietal diversity (Malice et al., 2007;Pissard et al., 2008;Emshwiller, 2006). We also observed an intravarietal, even if only morphological descriptors were used to characterize oca varieties. This unexpected result enlightens the underestimation of genetic diversity found in farmers' fields. Anyway, when characters used by farmers to describe their varieties are considered, description of the varieties is consistent with their varietal names. So, based on the farmer's concept, a variety of oca corresponds to a distinct phenotypic entity. These names reflect the phenotypic characteristics and are quite reliable indications of genetic diversity. On the contrary, about one third of the studied varieties presented variability in the phenotypic characters used by farmers to identify them. It seems that, even for key traits, farmers do not maintain strict purity in their varieties.In summary, high morphological diversity between the oca accessions studied on-farm in the diversity microcentre of Cusco has been shown. In addition, the existence of morphological intravarietal diversity has been highlighted. System used to assign vernacular name to the oca varieties is linked to the morphological characters used by the farmers to identify their varieties. Our results provide additional criteria for variety identification and also raise important questions about the most effective way to conserve diversity.and structure of Andean tuber crop species: a tentative unifying model diversity is the genetic variation present in a population or species. Genetic diversity can be evaluated either at physiological, biochemical, morphological or molecular levels (Jarvis et al., 2000). In this work, we focused on the two latter to study genetic diversity and population structure of Andean tuber crops.We showed that Andean agriculture preserves high diversity, at the inter-specific level but also at the intra-specific one, in terms of number of local varieties. Andean tubers are not only presenting a high diversity, but this diversity is reflected by numerous parameters such adapted traditional farming practices, ethnobotanical data, typical dishes… To understand genetic diversity and structure of these cultivated species, a mandatory step is to appreciate the interrelationship between men (farmers and their families), their crops and the environment. To reach this goal, we analysed morphological, molecular, geographical, environmental and cultural information.In this thesis, we focused on the diversity and structure of oca, ulluco and mashua varieties in farmer's fields (in situ -see chapters III, V and VI) and in genebanks (ex situ -see chapters III and IV), in Peru and Bolivia.Concerning in situ studies, we considered a variety as a group of plants identified by farmers under a single name and considered by farmers as a part of the same unit (see chapters III, V and VI). Similar definition of the variety has been used by diverse authors (e.g. maize, Louette et al., 1997-sorghum, Alvarez et al., 2005-cassava, Elias et al., 2001a).The ISSR markers have revealed considerable genetic variation both within and between oca and mashua varieties (see chapters III and VI, and chapter VI, respectively). Variation was slightly higher for the mashua.Using both molecular and morphological marker systems, many heterogeneous varieties were found for the oca, ulluco and mashua species collected from different locations and conservation strategies (in situ or ex situ). Anyway, these varieties show a wide range of intravarietal variation, as some of them were found monomorphic and others presented a high intra-varietal variability (see chapters III, V and VI).Diversity maintained in situ and ex situ has been compared in the case of oca varieties (see chapter III), and appeared quite lower in ex situ compared to in situ collections.In ex situ conservation, samples are conserved in the field genebanks as accessions regrouped into morphotypes. These latter were defined as a set of accessions with identical morphological characters. ISSR markers revealed a genetic variability within the morphotypes identified in ulluco (see chapter IV).Furthermore, we enlightened the fact that genetic structure of ulluco is influenced by the geographical distances (generally, the closer the accessions are geographically, the more genetically similar they are; see chapter IV). These findings reveal the importance of geography on the diversity pattern.Following these results, we conceived a model encompassing the evolutionary processes that shape genetic diversity and structure of Andean tubers. We also tried to enlighten the importance of intrinsic characteristics of the species (reproductive characteristics) as well as specificities of the Andean agricultural system (summarized in figure 11 as sociocultural, economic and environmental factors). In this context, we think that farmers influence the genetic variability of their crops through a range of actions. Indeed, crops are not only the result of natural factors, such as mutation and natural selection, but also and particularly, of human selection and management.These observations share several similarities with other vegetatively reproduced species in traditional agrosystems, like potato (Brush et al., 1981), cassava (Elias et al., 2001a,b) or yam (Scarcelli et al., 2006); and even sexually reproduced crops like maize (Pressoir & Berthaud, 2004).oToday, sexual reproduction is uncommon and setting seed is limited in oca and ulluco. In contrast, mashua flowers profusely and sets many viable seeds with high germination rates (see Chapter II). However, in farming conditions, propagation of these three species is exclusively realized through tubers, and botanical seed propagation by farmers has never been scientifically described in the literature.Despite a long history of asexual propagation, it is probable that oca and ulluco maintained variation attributable to past sexual processes. Diversity now encountered is thus very likely relictual. In order to conserve and maintain existing genetic diversity, the Andean farmer has simply carried out clonal tuber propagation of existing cultivars, a process reinforced by the following factors: true-to-type breeding, the necessity to reduce the crop duration and prevalence of vegetatively propagated crops in Andean agriculture (Grau et al., 2003).Clonality of varieties is expected under strict vegetative propagation. The high proportion of polyclonal varieties observed in this work (see chapters III, V and VI) suggests a possible use of seedlings from putative sexual reproduction in Andean tuber species. For domesticated plants vegetatively propagated by man, the impact of sexual reproduction and recombination on genetic diversity is largely unknown. However, examples of management by farmers of individuals resulting from sexual reproduction have been reported, e.g. potato (Solanum spp., Johns & Keen, 1986;Quiros et al., 1992), cassava (Boster, 1985;Salick et al., 1997;Emperaire et al., 1998;Elias et al., 2001a,b).  Jackson et al. (1980) give an interesting example of the impact of seedling from sexual reproduction on genetic diversity and structure of the potato species, as well as mixture of species and varieties of Andean tubers (oca, ulluco and masshua) in farmers' fields due to the presence of volunteers from the previous years. According to these authors, potatoes' tubers from seedlings are usually small and, due to this small size, are preferentially used for planting the following year rather than being eaten. A similar supposition could be made for oca, ulluco or mashua.In conclusion, the extent of incorporation of seed-derived tubers can not be completely excluded in Andean tubers species but should be confirmed by field studies. The way farming practices encourage or eliminate these sexually produced plants found in fields, and thereby influence genetic diversity and structure of their crops, needs to be investigated.oTraditional agroecosystems are characterized by the interaction between the environment and the farmers. A significant element of these systems is their level of plant diversity in time and space, and the traditional planting procedures used to maintain crop genetic diversity (Jackson et al., 1980;Brush et al., 1981).Local knowledge about farming practices is especially rich in the case of native crops because of the farmers' experience accumulated over centuries. In this context, heterogeneous fields, with associations of different varieties and species, are particularly fitted in marginal and fluctuating environments (diverse altitudes and microclimates). This strategy is thought to support diversity of diet (flavours, textures, shapes and colours mixture), income source, yield stability, risk reduction, limited insect and disease incidence.In addition to the cultural practices, Andean farmers have a wide local knowledge of their local cultivars' properties. Farmers recognize advantages and disadvantages of their local cultivars for production, food, culinary uses and medicinal properties. Farmers applying this knowledge are able to obtain the best productivity, adaptability and resistance from their cultivars (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998).Thus, farmers produce, consume and trade Andean tubers according to their production system characteristics and consumption preferences. Currently, the reduction of genetic diversity pattern is also associated with the loss of traditional knowledge, especially about traditional uses of the plant products or the tubers (Altierri & Merrick, 1987;Quiros et al., 1992;Bianco & Sachs, 1998;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Tapia, 2001).oAndean tubers (oca, ulluco and mashua) are of particular importance in traditional rural communities. They are cultivated for their edible tubers in small areas under traditional agricultural systems and marginal conditions, in all Andean countries (mainly in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) and at high altitudes (2800 to 4100 meters). These tubers constitute, together with the potato species (Solanum sp.), Andean farmers' staple crops and the main source of income (Hernández Bermejo & León, 1992).As shown in chapter VI in the case of oca, destination that families give to the production of Andean tubers is multiple (self-consumption, commercialisation, planting material, barter with other products like maize…) (Bianco & Sachs, 1998;Villarroel, 2001). Ulluco is principally cropped to be commercialized (Gonzales et al., 2003) and mashua is destined to self-consumption and livestock feed (Grau et al., 2003).Also, biodiversity fairs are of particular importance for the dynamics of Andean tuber species and the exchange of varieties between participating farmers (from a particular community or from various ones). These fairs allow the dispersion of a great genetic richness, but especially of a limited number of varieties that are preferred on the market (Espinoza, 2001). As a consequence, varieties that do not have market demand are cultivated on a limited scale by Andean farmers and are threatened of disappearance in farmers' fields.Terrazas & Valdivia (1998) observed in Candelaria (Bolivia) that the number of varieties tended to decrease, and attribute their observation to market orientation. In fact, three or four cultivars are commercialized and are the most common crops among the microcentre of Candelaria. A similar observation was made by Tapia (2001), where mashua is disappearing since it is confined to a few elderly farm families for self-consumption, without current economic projections in the market.In conclusion, the influence of the market threatens agrobiodiversity and eliminates the less utilized Andean crops, reducing genetic diversity maintained in situ.oThe Andean region presents remarkable geographical contrasts, creating countless microclimates (Castillo, 1995). These numerous local environmental conditions have acted as selecting forces during centuries; Andean farmers exploit natural plant adaptations and the result is the creation of a wide range of cultivars presenting differential characteristics (tolerance to soil type, moisture, temperature, reproductive mechanism, …).Microclimatic conditions vary mainly with the altitude (Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998). To cope with these numerous microclimates, farmers establish their fields at different elevations, according to a vertically farming system. This has been largely developed in the case of Candelaria (see chapter II) but has also been reported at many other locations (Brush, 1991;Castillo, 1995;Villarroel, 2001). Moreover, farmers develop and maintain adapted cultivars and farming strategies in accordance to these microclimates.In conclusion in a diversified ecological context (covering numerous microclimates), Andean farmers have built a complicated farming system, in accordance to their subsistence strategy and to environmental conditions.Crops are not only influenced by natural factors, such as mutations and natural selection, but also by human management and selection. In fact, farmers' decisions have a great impact on local crop diversity (Jarvis et al., 2000).Fields may be large or small, close to each other or widely separated. Depending on the reproductive biology of the crop (oca and ulluco vs. mashua in our case -see chapter II) this spatial organization influence genetic diversity and structure of the crops (see discussion chapter VI).Another important factor is the association of different Andean tuber species and varieties in the same field to mediate potential environmental stresses. Indeed, varieties show different tuber yields and adaptations to climatic conditions or to pests. Moreover, farmers regularly apply an appropriate system of spatial and temporal tuber seed management of Andean tubers' germplasm (see chapter II). Farmers move their varieties vertically among fields situated at different altitude levels. Crop diversity and vertically farming systems allow to reduce the risk of varieties and production loss, assuring the survival and harvest of at least a few plants in case of damage (Biancho & Sachs, 1998;Terrazas & Valdivia, 1998;Flores et al., 2003).The great diversity of these fields is handled by farmers, who identify and select existing varieties using numerous variety names. Recognizing these names is important because the \"farmer-named variety\" is the unit that farmers manage and select over time. All farming processes (management of biodiversity and selection practices) are based on the notion of variety. Variety names are defined on the basis of a few morphological characteristics of the tuber and the other plant organs (see chapter VI), but may also be related to various other features like the original source of the material, agronomic performance, use of the material (such as rapid cooking time, taste, use for straw or other parts of the plant), role in a religious ceremony, …. Therefore, it is not surprising that we observed a great number of variety names (see chapters III, V and VI) but also a large inconsistency in the variety names (see chapter VI).As a consequence, a variety defined by a farmer, even if supposed clonal in the case of vegetatively reproduced crop species like Andean tubers, may be complex and consists of diverse genetic components. In fact, we found that varieties are not uniform units, neither from the morphological (see chapter VI) nor from the molecular characterization (see chapters III and V).Some of the agromorphological traits are preferred, or valued, by the farmer; the farmer chooses to plant a particular variety because some of its distinguishing characteristics are desirable. The traits farmers value in their varieties may relate to agronomy (e.g. yield, drought resistance), use (e.g. cooking or fodder quality), aesthetics (e.g. colour, shape) and market demand. Farmers select among the plants in the crop population to maintain these desirable characteristics and to increase the prevalence of other valued traits in the population over time.In conclusion farmers modify the amount and structuration of genetic variability of their Andean tuber crops, directly by selecting preferred varieties, and indirectly by managing the the cropping system (including planting, protecting, weeding and harvesting the plants as well as processing the tubers or the harvested products).Our results show a good correlation between morphological and molecular (ISSR) markers (see chapter IV). Moreover, the consistency of the results found using these two marker systems corroborates the reliability of the methods used throughout this thesis work.Morphological descriptors and molecular (ISSR) technique may be considered as complementary and, when possible, have to be combined for an increased resolving power of genetic diversity analysis.Molecular markers seem to be better appropriate for deeper evaluation of genetic diversity and structure of the species. In fact, the ISSR technique, even if dominant markers, proved to be a very useful tool in this investigation (good reproducibility, low cost and good ability to detect polymorphism).The use of morphological data is of great value in crop diversity studies but presents some limitations; the most widely recognized being the influence of environmental conditions.Their application leads to the definition of morphotypes in the case of ex situ conservation in genebanks, and of varieties in the case of in situ farmers' fields conservation. Morphological descriptors (published for oca and ulluco (IPGGRI/CIP, 2001, 2003) and in preparation for publication for mashua) are suitable for the usual management of field genebanks and the definition of morphotypes (see chapter IV). But, for their application in farmers' fields, they should be adapted in accordance with the view of the farmers (see chapter VI). Indeed, large variability remain within varieties in the fields and several morphological characters appear most important than others for the farmers to define a variety, e.g. tuber variables (see chapter VI). Tuber characteristics are those that present the lowest level of variability within varieties, as they do for other crops like cassava (Elias et al., 2001a). Other variables, not represented in the published descriptors, are undoubtedly used by farmers to recognize their varieties and should be informative to study the factors influencing varieties conservation in the field (e.g. agronomic data, market demand, culinary and cultural uses; Cadima et al., 2004).There are two fundamental approaches for the conservation of genetic diversity: the ex situ and in situ conservation. While the objective of ex situ conservation is mainly to preserveIn contrast, in Candelaria (where the germplasm is maintained in situ), farmers use positive selection to improve quality of their tubers, by identifying the best plants on the basis of a range of interesting properties; they use tubers of these selected plants for the next generation.Year after year, the genetic structure of the oca population could be modified by the selection for agromorphological characteristics. Moreover, as varieties present genetic variability (see chapters III, V and VI), the observed deviation between in situ and ex situ conservation could also be explained by a sampling bias. Indeed, when varieties are compared only on the basis of their variety names, the danger is to compare accessions with the same name but which are of different varieties (see chapters III, IV and VI).Our results suggest that in the future, sampling in the fields needs special attention, mainly on the importance to sample all the diversity found in these fields (intra-and inter-varietal diversity). Levels of genetic diversity between samples maintained ex situ and varieties found in situ have to be assessed and compared at the moment of the sampling, and subsequently have to be periodically controlled in order to highlight a possible evolution of one these two complementary samples.At small scale, our results confirmed the high genetic diversity at the range of the microcentre (see chapters III, V and IV). Collecting in fields in the same microcentre seem to be of particular interest in the case of oca and ulluco, since the diversity of these species appears to be divided into separated genepools (see chapter VI). For mashua, due to its reproduction mode (see chapter II and discussion chapter VI), collecting in neighbouring fields may be less important since it would probably lead to the sampling of similar genotypes, i.e. belonging to the same genepool (see chapter VI). Gene flow homogenizes population structure and counteracts the effects of drift and diversifying selection.In addition, in the range of the microcentre, genetic structure and diversity should not be influenced by altitude, because of the vertically farming system developed by farmers, in which fields are disposed at different elevations with movements of varieties among altitude levels through time (see chapter II).The amount of diversity found at a small scale (in farmer's field, community) is expected to be high, but we also highlighted an \"isolation by distance\" phenomenon in the case of ulluco.At a larger scale, samples could be then taken in various regions, and even countries, in order to enlarge the genetic variability found (see chapter IV).Scientists try to understand how species evolve and which mechanisms are in cause (genetic, biological, habitat, climatic modifications …). They also seek to highlight how biodiversity is structured and maintained, as well as what are past and present causes of genetic erosion.During our investigation, we analyzed the genetic diversity and structure of the three neglected Andean tuber species (oca, ulluco and mashua), using both morphological and molecular (ISSR) markers. Our objective was here to present and compare the contributions of both in situ and ex situ conservation, in order to explore the complementarity of these two methods of germplasm preservation in the particular case of three Andean tuber species (oca, ulluco and mashua).Our results have been discussed according to the reproductive biology of the species and the Andean agricultural system, as summarized in figure 11. This unifying model of the genetic diversity and structure of traditional neglected vegetatively propagated crop species allows a better understanding of the complex processes governing the creation and the maintenance of genetic diversity in Andean tuber crop species. These findings are essential to improve collection management and genetic resources conservation of neglected Andean tuber crop species threatened by genetic erosion. In fact, genetic erosion is commonly observed in situ, due to the most profitable choice made by farmers to crop only some varieties, and not to invest in conservation of the varieties that are less favoured by the market. One of the causes of farmers' decisions to 'disinvest' in biodiversity lie in the lack of incentives offered by current markets and other institutions. The solution could be to develop mechanisms that provide a different set of incentives. One mechanism could be the valorisation of the favoured varieties for alternative uses, nutritional value, agronomic characteristics within potential markets. New uses for these tuber crops include starches, baby food or sweetener for diabetics, showing their high potential for short term development. Moreover, their usefulness in highland areas where food production is limited by frost and the high cost of fertiliser and seed should also be assessed.Our research has undoubtedly provided new scientific elements to the subject. The originality of this work lies in the overall investigation of diversity in three species of Andean tubers.Analyses were conducted at different scales, from the field to the region. Different aspects are discussed simultaneously (in situ and ex situ conservations -diversity within and between varieties -socio-economic, agronomic, cultural data -inconsistency of vernacular namesgeographical distribution of diversity -molecular and morphological variation). We tested the contribution of agricultural practices in the creation and preservation of the diversity of vegetatively reproduced crop species, at inter-and intra-specific levels. We compared the complementarity of in situ and ex situ conservation strategies in the case of the oca species, which showed the necessity to develop strategies for the management of diversity in the fields. All these aspects where resumed in a theoretical model of evolutionary processes that shape the genetic diversity of vegetatively propagated crops.Anyway, additional investigations about genetic resources evaluation and conservation of Andean tubers, and in general of minor crops, need to be performed.First, as molecular markers have shown their usefulness to improve the comprehension of the ex situ collections and the in situ conservation, their use should be promoted. The choice of the marker usually depends on the purpose for which the marker system has to be used. Codominant markers could be developed for the oca, ulluco and mashua species. Co-dominant markers are in general reliable and highly reproducible, and have a wide range of applications in population genetic studies. However, the development of co-dominant markers can be a time consuming, laborious and expensive process. Dominant markers, like the ISSR markers used in the present study, are comparatively less laborious, faster and cheaper to develop and use. These characteristics make them attractive for species where no other co-dominant markers or DNA sequence data are available.Moreover, several aspects like the impact of sexual reproduction, the clarification of naming system of the varieties, a better comprehension of traditional knowledge, the analysis of germplasm evolution with time under in situ and ex situ conservation, the constitution of core collection, … deserve deeper studies to determine their influence on genetic diversity and structure of Andean tuber species.All societies depend, directly or indirectly, on biodiversity and biological resources. In particular in the Andes, diversity of tubers species and varieties is fundamental for the existence of communities living in marginal areas and for food security of million of peasants' families. As a common strategy to minimize the risks due to harvest failure, farmers often grow many different crops and varieties, so that in extreme weather some fields are likely to produce harvestable crops. Now that problems of genetic erosion emerges more severely, new questions arise including what would be the consequences of declining diversity in the functioning of ecological and farming systems.Indigenous peoples universally use biodiversity as a buffer against variation and disaster. This is especially important among indigenous societies living on margins of fragile and changing ecological, economic, and political systems. Biodiversity itself is threatened by climatic change and genetic erosion. Nonetheless, as climate change threatens biodiversity, the major protection that indigenous people have against variation and change is simultaneously decreasing. Their primary tool for adaptation is at risk.In this context, it appears crucial to see biodiversity not only as a scientific concern, but as a concern for all the society: how to find a balance between economic constraints, climate change, durable development and nature protection?However, even if scientists claim the urgent need to protect nature, the real solutions are not in their hands but strongly related with political decisions. Biodiversity has a low priority in government decisions, which is at least partially due to the difficult evaluation of what biodiversity provides to the society, either in the form of natural resources or ecotourism, of molecules for pharmaceutical and industrial uses, or genes. The identification of genes and their functions is more easily achieved and new mechanisms and technologies allow us to understand the molecular base, at the genome level. Some neglected crops or wild species could gain economic value by the simple fact that they contain genes that could potentially be used to change the genetic background of cultivated plants.The value of biodiversity is not simply to describe and quantify. Moreover, many parts of the ecosystem are not traded and therefore do not have a market price. In Andean agrosystems, traditional knowledge and relationships between human culture and conservation of biodiversity is a cultural heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation, and of which we now know the intrinsic value. It is important to recognize that local knowledge supports the survival of cultural and biological diversity.This reflection is important for the Andean countries that are among the regions harbouring the greatest wealth in natural resources and biodiversity. However in these countries where malnutrition and unemployment are important problems, a low priority is usually assigned to environment and natural resources (versus economic development). The poorest farmers in the world are ironically those who are richest in biodiversity.The future will necessarily depend on how society and scientists will organize themselves to influence policy.","tokenCount":"21731"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6378218610.json b/data/part_1/6378218610.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0817d8c56055cf1103003154db81851a7e698a4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6378218610.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"882654eaf6ea603d3da40c392ef789c8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/096552f0-bfaf-4fc7-a0be-987103d58633/retrieve","id":"1909244154"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2fe0876b-6d65-4458-96fa-ab09222a0cec","pagecount":"8","content":"At the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in Bamako, Mali, in April 2005, governments declared that 'the development of agriculture remains an essential component of economic development … Agriculture shall remain the backbone of strategies aimed at improving rural wellbeing provided its own long-term sustainability is addressed by adopting sustainable natural resource management practices'.Insecurity of tenure remains a critical obstacle to improving agricultural productivity, investment and the sustainable use of resources. To improve rural livelihoods and natural resources management, it is essential that the traditional land rights of farmers and pastoralists, whether to individual farms or communal property, are recognized. Accurate land registration systems need to be established to provide them, as well as informal se lers and squa ers, with formal documents guaranteeing their rights to the land they occupy.This issue of ICT Update looks at projects employing new technologies to improve management of land and natural resources. International projects such as Galileo, Europe's global navigation satellite system, will have many applications for agriculture and could foster ACP-EU collaboration. Another is the African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF), with its network of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) stations. As Richard Wonnaco explains, AFREF will provide uniform geospatial data and maps that could contribute to resource management, as well as to cadastre and land registration systems. Ann Myles describes the Land Management Programme, introduced by the government of Belize to clarify the land tenure rights of landholders. The programme faces several obstacles, however, including the lack of skilled technicians and an inadequate computer system. As Paul van der Molen notes in the Q&A, unless adequate policies and institutional arrangements are in place, technology alone will not reduce insecurity or improve resource management.Inadequate human resources, organizational barriers or inadequate interventions also hamper project implementation at the community level. Louis Liebenberg, the Director of CyberTracker, suggests that, for technology to be used eff ectively by a community, socio-economic issues also need to be addressed. Finally, Sabine Homann and Barbara Rischkowsky describe how they used GPS/GIS tools, combined with participatory methods, to study and map changes in land use in Ethiopia. Pastoralists now have evidence, in the form of digital photos that they can use to advocate for be er land management policies.Projects such as Galileo and AFREF are important for strengthening cooperation and the transfer of technology and expertise. But the applications derived from such projects need to diff use widely and contribute to project implementation at the local level. Before ICTs can be used to their full potential, for the benefi t of both people and governments, major changes are needed at the institutional and policy level in order to address the root causes of socioeconomic inequalities.Galileo is a global satellite navigation system with a network of 30 satellites and ground stations under civilian control. Galileo, an initiative of the EU and the European Space Agency, is intended to complement the existing Global Positioning System (GPS, USA) and GLONASS (Russia). Unlike its predecessors, Galileo has been designed and developed as a non-military application. Although based on the same technology as GPS, it will off er a more reliable and precise service. In addition, unlike GPS, it will be possible to receive Galileo signals in extreme latitudes. The fi rst four satellites will be launched in 2008 and the remaining 26 are expected to be in orbit by 2010. Making Galileo's services available to ACP countries would fall under the areas for regional cooperation, particularly in relation to transport and communication, specifi ed in the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and ACP countries.Galileo will have many applications, of which navigation and positioning for the transport sector are perhaps the best known. But it will also be of benefi t in other fi elds, including natural resource management and agricultural development. For example, with Galileo receivers, farmers could monitor crop yields, and map high-and low-yield areas to identify target areas for improvement. Galileo could replace the traditional but imprecise and expensive measuring techniques, and the data integrated directly into GIS maps that could contribute to the management of natural resources. Galileo could also be used to track livestock, and to monitor fi shing vessels.As the EU makes progress in completing the development phase of Galileo, African countries have been working together since 2003 to establish the African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF; see page 3). With its network of permanent GPS stations, AFREF will become the backbone for the planning and implementation of development projects throughout the region, ranging from infrastructure building to the mapping of water and forest resources. In view of the many other problems facing African countries, however, AFREF is not a priority -and it is certainly an endeavour with many demands. It requires expensive technological equipment that most countries cannot aff ord, and highly skilled human resources that are scarce. The EU should therefore ensure that suffi cient funds, technical assistance and expertise are channelled to support AFREF, so that African countries can make full use of the potential of Galileo when it becomes operational.So far, the EU has started negotiations with just one African country, Morocco. Morocco's participation in the project will contribute to the establishment of the Galileo system in the western Mediterranean and West Africa. Discussions are now also under way with countries in other regions, including Australia, Malaysia and Mexico.The African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) project Any meaningful natural resource management programme requires maps and other geographic information for eff ective planning and effi cient implementation. Just as one does not build a house without fi rm foundations, any project, application, service or product that is reliant on some form of geo-referencing must have a uniform and reliable coordinate reference frame.Many of the 50 or so countries in Africa have their own coordinate reference systems and frames that are used for national surveying, mapping, remote sensing, GIS and development programmes. However, the current state of these systems and the extent of their applications vary considerably. The African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) project has been set up to create a unifi ed reference frame. AFREF will be the basis for national and regional threedimensional reference networks that will be consistent and homogeneous with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). When fully implemented, it will consist of a network of continuous, permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations such that users anywhere in Africa will have free access to positioning data and would be, at most, 1000 km from such a station.AFREF will support the goals and initiatives of NEPAD. In particular, NEPAD has included in its science and technology action plan the objective to 'promote cross-border cooperation and connectivity', and actions to 'establish regional cooperation on product standards, development and dissemination, and on geographic information systems'. Geographic information is fundamental to all infrastructure, planning and development projects required to achieve NEPAD's long-term objectives of poverty eradication and sustainable growth across Africa.A number of projects have already recognized the importance of a modern uniform geodetic reference frame, including the FAO's Africover project. The purpose of Africover is to 'gather -to a consistent standard -basic geographical information comprising data for future programmes on natural resources in Africa.' Africover has also recognized the importance of using a single geodetic reference frame as a critical success factor in achieving a consistent standard for the mapping of natural resources, planning of agricultural projects and the development of supporting infrastructure such as dams and roads, as well as cadastral systems.One of the major goals of AFREF is the transfer of skills and to assist in establishing in-country expertise for the implementation, operation, processing and analysis of modern geodetic techniques, primarily GNSS. In this regard, it is essential that experts in appropriate disciplines be engaged to assist with the training of personnel from national mapping organizations that will be responsible for implementing all phases of the project from the installation and operation of GPS base stations through to the fi nal conversion to ITRF of the national reference frames. Once the conversion is complete, historical data based on previous systems will still also have to be converted where necessary. This is particularly important in the case of cadastral records, both for taxation purposes and to ensure the continuity of security of ownership.Apart from the benefi ts for geodesy, surveying and mapping, AFREF and the network of permanent GPS base stations, will also be used for atmospheric and geophysical research and monitoring, disaster mitigation and for real-time navigation applications. Of particular interest to agriculturalists, GNSS data could be used to supplement terrestrial and costly upper air meteorological observations for weather forecasting and climate monitoring, water and forest resources management, as well as for monitoring crop and vegetation distribution and animal migration pa erns.AFREF will require technical assistance, expertise and advice from the international geodetic community, primarily through the International Association of Geodesy and its service organizations such as the International GNSS Service and the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. The project is also supported by numerous other organizations such as the UN Commi ee for Development Information (UNCODI), the Offi ce for Outer Space Aff airs, and the International Federation of Surveyors. An AFREF steering commi ee has been established within the UNCODI structures. This commi ee has issued a 'call for participation' in which organizations are encouraged to participate in the project or to assist and support it by contributing appropriate equipment, funds or expertise. An AFREF website has been established and is hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa.The AFREF project will support and satisfy many of NEPAD's objectives. It will provide users across Africa with free and reliable fundamental coordinate reference data for natural resource management and development projects. The transfer of the skills to Africa necessary to undertake a project of this nature and to create a large pool of geodesists, surveyors, IT specialists and related skills is of paramount importance for the future success of similar continental, regional, national or local projects.Richard Wonnacott (rwonnacott@sli.wcape. gov.za) is director of the Chief Directorate: Surveys and Mapping, Department of Land Affairs, South Africa. For further information, visit http://w3sli.wcape.gov.za/.Further reading NEPAD (2001): www.nepad.org/en.html IAG: www.iag-aig.org IGS: http:// igscb.jpl.nasa.gov UNECA AFREF: http://geoinfo.uneca.org/afref/ UNECA CODI: www.uneca.org/codi/ Richard Wonnacott highlights the importance of a uniform coordinate reference frame for sustainable regional development.feature Ethiopia: Analyzing the patterns of herd mobility Sabine Homann and Barbara Rischkowsky explain how studying past and present herd mobility patterns can improve land management in the Borana lowlands.The Borana lowlands in southern Ethiopia have traditionally been managed as a common property resource by a number of pastoralist groups. In this variable and fragile environment, mobility was until recently the key strategy to make use of sca ered rangeland resources. Communal tenure regimes were developed to coordinate and enforce decisions over access to shared resources. The pastoralists' knowledge of the area, and their social organization, provided the basis for rangeland management strategies to deal with the erratic rainfall, in particular to match the needs of their herds with the available forage and water resources throughout the year.Over the last 30 years, however, various government and other external interventions have disrupted the traditional way of life, particularly the land use system. The construction of year-round watering ponds a racted uncontrolled se lements and overgrazing of seasonal pastures, and administrative changes led to restrictions on the movements of herds. Rapid population growth and droughts added further pressure, and by the early 1990s more than 40% of the rangelands were considered degraded. The challenge for the future is to develop more appropriate strategies for managing the resources of the Borana lowlands. First, groups of elders and herders were brought together to discuss land use and herd movements, past and present, and to identify the most important grazing areas and water resources, and their seasonal use for ca le, goats and camels. The informants were also shown satellite photographs of the area and were asked to add information, such as the directions of herd movements in the dry and rainy seasons, and the locations of year-round and temporary grazing areas, wells and forested areas.The areas of existing encampments and land use categories, such as cultivated areas and fodder banks, and rainy and dry season grazing areas, were then measured using global positioning system (GPS) equipment with the assistance of local range scouts. The GPS data points were used to calculate the areas allocated to the diff erent land use categories in the two locations. In-depth interviews with 60 heads of households were also conducted to gather information on herd mobility at the household level.The participatory approach of mapping the traditional land use system and comparing it with the current situation served to encourage discussion about the drivers of environmental and socio-economic change. This research showed that pastoralists are increasingly abandoning their traditional practices.In the past, the central area of Borana lowlands with permanent water sources was reserved for permanent encampments and for lactating cows and their calves, with separate camps for the more mobile herds. This is no longer the case. Permanent grazing has expanded in all areas and long-distance herd movements have become less frequent.The functional distinction between year-round grazing areas and temporary rainy-season pastures is gradually being eroded, so that rangeland classifi cation no longer seems relevant. With the expanding human population, grazing pressure, especially for the herds of lactating cows, is increasing. The analysis of current land use showed that new, diff erent forms of land use are emerging in the two locations. Access to land is becoming more restricted, as cropland and fenced-off forage banks expand into formerly communal grazing areas, and herd movements are being limited. At Dida Hara the formerly integrated land use system, with high levels of herd mobility, has generally broken down. As a result of these changes, many households in Borana now depend on additional sources of income and can no longer survive from pastoralism alone.By combining GPS/GIS technology with participatory methods it has been possible to draw a spatial picture of changes in the lives of pastoralists in the Borana lowlands. The pastoralists can now refer to digital images that show how their situation has changed over the last 30 years. The focus on illustrating changes in mobility -the key strategy for survival in dryland regions -provides a basis for the analysis of preconditions for sustainable land use. Moreover, this approach can contribute to discussions with diff erent stakeholders in the region on future land management strategies, as well as to the integration of pastoralists into the design and implementation of appropriate land use policies. At Lone Tree, a village in the Kalahari desert in Botswana, CyberTracker is working with traditional hunters and expert trackers to help them gather information about local wildlife populations. Once downloaded onto a solar-powered PC, the collected data can be displayed on screen in the form of maps, tables and graphs, and can be used to establish an index of abundance for each species hunted by the community, so that they can monitor population changes over time.At present, the Wildlife Department allocates hunting quotas to the community on a yearly basis. However, the quotas are fairly arbitrary since there is no reliable data on how many animals there are. Traditional trackers have a good idea of how plentiful or scarce animals are, even if they cannot quantify their numbers precisely. Using a personal digital assistant (PDA) with CyberTracker so ware and an integrated GPS receiver, trackers who cannot read or write can use the icon-based user interface to record their observations. CyberTracker version 3 also includes an 'index of abundance' feature that can help to quantify their observations. The so ware can be customized by users with no programming skills and requires minimal technical support.Lone Tree is perhaps one of CyberTracker's most challenging projects. Even though it has the backing of the village headman and executive commi ee, at this stage it is far from being a sustainable community-based project. While supervising the process of gathering data and paying the trackers a daily fee for their work, it became apparent that there are still fundamental socio-economic issues that need to be resolved.An unforeseen problem emerged, for example, when one of the individuals involved in the project came up with a novel way to make some extra money. He started charging other community members for using the solar panels to recharge their cell phones (a practice that was soon stopped). The fact that just one member of the community controlled access to the solar panels and then asked other villagers to pay to use them caused resentment and confl ict. This incident emphasized the importance of ensuring total community participation in even a small pilot project.The cost and availability of hardware remains a major diffi culty. As long as equipment is expensive, it cannot be shared equitably among community members, and the resulting competition for access can result in confl ict. The so ware must also be easy to use and suffi ciently robust. CyberTracker 3 is much easier to customize than the earlier versions, and users are increasingly indicating their satisfaction with it. The so ware has now been downloaded more than 13,000 times by users in over 50 countries.On the other hand, PDA units have more and be er features, but they have become more expensive. However, once smart phones, currently the fastest growing area in the cell phone market, become mainstream, the cost per unit is likely to decrease to the point where communities in developing countries will be able to aff ord them. In the next fi ve to ten years, smart phones will provide an aff ordable platform for geo-referenced data gathering. Smart phones also have the inherent advantage that they are a useful means of communication so that communities will readily adopt the technology.The largest CyberTracker project to date has been the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where many lessons have been learned. The PDA units were used by 120 park rangers to record their observations, as well as by scientists to gather more specialised data, resulting in more than a million records. Even though the Kruger Park had full-time GIS experts and a large scientifi c services department, it took seven years to get CyberTracker up and running. Adopting new technology involves a cultural process that requires eff ort to change old habits and learn new ones, and most people are reluctant to change. To make CyberTracker work in the Kruger Park, changes were implemented at various levels within the park authorities, from the fi eld rangers and the section rangers who manage them, to middle and top management, as well as in organizational policy.In the Lone Tree project, if the community can gather enough data to establish the abundance of animals, then they may be in a position to negotiate with the relevant authorities an increase in the hunting quotas for some species. Alternatively, if the data shows a decline in a particular species, it would be in the community's interest to hunt fewer of them so that the population can recover. They would also be able to advocate for a halt on the issue of permits to outside hunters. Ultimately, if the community can see the direct benefi ts of data gathering, I hope that the project will become self-sustaining.Nevertheless, we must accept that this is a 'work in progress', and that both technological as well as socio-economic problems need to be addressed. This should not, however, stop us from working towards our goal.Louis Liebenberg (louis@cybertracker.co.za) is Director of CyberTracker Software (Pty) Ltd. For more information, visit www.cybertracker.co.za feature Belize: Land tenure clarifi cation using GPS Ann Myles gives insight into the complex process of creating a computerized land registration system.In Belize, as in many developing countries, the lack of clarity about land tenure is a major obstacle to the effi cient use of agricultural land. In 2003 the government of Belize launched the Land Management Programme (LMP) in order to improve the conditions for agricultural development through enhanced land security.Few small landholders in Belize have formal rights to the land they farm, and squa ers are common. Several factors have contributed to this situation, including complicated procedures for obtaining leases or ownership of land, and a costly mandatory land survey.Under the LMP, a team of experts has begun surveying three districts of Belize on a parcel by parcel basis, and clarifying the occupants' tenure rights in each case. The aim is to establish a parcel-based title registration system, based on adjudicated rights to parcels in accordance with a new Land Adjudication Act. Each parcel is surveyed using GPS equipment, and the data is used to create digital maps using GIS tools. The team is expected to survey and map a total of 15,000 land parcels in the north of Belize by August 2006.Data from the surveyed parcels is recorded in the current coordinate system to produce accurate index maps and a GIS map database using ArcCadastre, a so ware tool for creating digital cadastral maps. ArcCadastre includes a number of special features such as a 'snapping' function, which is used to connect adjacent old survey plans. Control points are geo-referenced using diff erential GPS, which involves the use of a stationary receiver and a mobile receiver, to take position measurements accurate to within 0.3 m.Each claim a landholder makes to a parcel and the relevant tenure information are recorded in an Access database and, once the whole process is completed, each parcel is given an identifi cation number. This ID is entered into both the GIS map database and the Access database, so that textual information can be linked to the parcels on maps. Such maps, including the names of approved claimants, are presented to the community at public displays, where even untrained map readers can fi nd their parcel and confi rm the accuracy of the information.Reactions to the project have been mainly positive. Landholders have turned out in large numbers to claim their rights to the land they occupy. Those occupying previously unsurveyed land have welcomed the free cadastral surveys off ered by the LMP. Squa ers have shown most interest in the process, as they see it as an opportunity to obtain a lease without having to deal with bureaucratic procedures.Surveyors have had to get used to the maps resulting from the GPS surveys based on actual occupation. While the use of GPS makes surveying easy, the cadastral map now looks very disorderly, with parcels of all shapes and sizes. Most surveyors have welcomed the change to digital mapping, although there is a shortage of skilled map technicians.Some local politicians are not entirely happy with the programme, however. Under the current system they are able to infl uence who gets land, and where. Now, the survey team is able to deal directly with landholders. If politicians object to a claimant being allocated a particular parcel, they are simply requested to make a formal complaint at the public display, just like everyone else.If the number of squa ers is to decrease in the future, as the government wishes, the process of land distribution should be simplifi ed, and less infl uenced by party politics. Otherwise, land insecurity will continue to hinder the effi cient management of land resources. Funds are also needed to train a new generation of surveyors who will embrace new technologies.In Belize the process of tenure data collection started before a computerized system for land registration was set up and institutional reforms were made. To prepare adjudication records, the team is storing the information in temporary databases, and the documents produced are processed manually by the Land Registry. What is missing is a computerized land register that could record adjudicated rights and produce certifi cates automatically as soon as the data is downloaded. Instead, an enormous amount of information is building up waiting to be recaptured. System development was delayed for various reasons, but plans for in-house developments are now taking shape.Concerning the implementation of the land management programme in general, a new (or rather old) strategy is needed -investigate the problems with the present system, set the objectives for a be er one, decide on the information and the system demands, design and construct the system, and then start the data collection! resources This section lists key resources in the fi eld of land tenure and access to natural resources. Additional information is available from the web magazine at http://ictupdate.cta.intTechTip: Smart cards could streamline land tenure registration A smart card is a wallet-sized plastic card with a small embedded chip that can either process information (microprocessor chip) or store data (memory chip). The data stored on the chip can be read and decoded by a smart card reader. In addition to commercial applications, smart cards are now used for security purposes, such as access control, personal identifi cation (biometric data such as fi ngerprints, retinal scans, etc.), as well as for storing digital documents, vehicle registration, medical records, wireless subscriber authentication, and many other applications.Land tenure registration and cadastral systems could also benefi t from the use of smart cards. Landholders could be issued with cards holding details of their certifi cate of title or lease, and containing a digital signature or fi ngerprint. With a smart card reader attached to a PC or laptop, or even a compact fl ash connection to a PDA, smart card holders could have secure access to their land records, without having to visit the land registry offi ce in person. Filling out and archiving printed forms would also no longer be necessary, since all the relevant information would be stored on the card.Smart cards have many advantages. For example, the embedded chip is tamperresistant, i.e. it is diffi cult to modify or subvert the information stored in it, even for someone who has physical access to the system, providing secure user identifi cation. In addition, the information stored on the card can be PIN protected and/or read-write protected.For more on the latest developments in smart card technology, visit the Smart Cards Group website, www.smartcard.co.ukProfessor Paul van der Molen explains that unless adequate policies and institutions are in place, computerization will not necessarily reduce land tenure insecurity or improve the management of land resources. Professor der Molen, you have considerable experience in supporting the process of computerizing land registration systems in developing countries. In Africa, the African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) will become the backbone for the planning and implementation of projects throughout the continent. How will AFREF benefi t those countries that are currently struggling to set up digital land registration systems?Countries that are investing in a digital land registration system obviously aim to benefi t in several ways, including through improved land tenure security, land markets and other government activities. Although equally valid for analogue systems, digital land registers make no sense unless in each case the rightful claimant, his or her land rights and the exact location of the land itself are all clearly identifi ed in one way or another.Using a national coordinate system as a reference for the identifi cation of each land object is a prerequisite, as has been observed everywhere. If the national coordinate system is part of a wider system, even be er, because this will allow cross-boundary exchanges of cadastral information in the future.It is o en the case that in the process of establishing a computerized land registration system, data collection starts before the system is fully operational. As a result, large amounts of information become outdated and the project gets out of hand. Is this a common problem, and if so, what can be done to avoid it?Outdated land records and cadastral maps are a problem in many countries. Over time, as the information becomes less relevant, people lose trust in the system, and this leads to the development of informal land markets. In fact, creating a land registration system is cheap in comparison with the ongoing costs of maintaining it. Governments do not realize that.Therefore, the best approach is to establish an institutional framework that comprises both land adjudication and system maintenance, in such a way that the project can be fi nanced. Governments tend to make land registry systems too complex and create something that is hardly manageable.But governments develop these systems with the advice of land surveyors and experts who help them make choices both about the technology to be applied and the implementation of the programme. Why is there a mismatch between the tasks governments set themselves, and what they can actually achieve with the resources at their disposal?On the one hand, computerization of something that is not clear, like land occupation and land rights, has always been problematic. Land registrars and surveyors need to do their utmost to create effi cient systems and organizations. The creation of work processes with good IT support should focus on assisting clients to choose the most suitable ICT applications for their particular context. Consultants should be more innovative in their thinking about what is the critical minimum that needs to be computerized. On the other hand, the poor implementation of a land tenure adjudication and registration programme could be the result of bad legal advice. Of course, there are also examples of governments that are reluctant to implement good advice on institutional and legal reforms. The best remedy is for governments to develop their own land policy that justifi es a certain level of investment in system development and technology, on the one hand, and responds to the needs of the people in terms of type of land tenure regime, on the other. Governments, therefore, have to cooperate not only with land surveyors and lawyers, but also with economists and social scientists.Computerization as such does not change the contents of the system. If the existing analogue system does not recognize and include common property or customary land rights, computerization will not make the situation any be er. However, if these rights are recognized and included in the system, computerization might help to improve access to the data and result in be er descriptions of common boundaries, and thus might help to avoid confl icts that can sometimes occur among community members and between communities and outsiders.Professor Paul van der Molen (paul.vandermolen@kadaster.nl) is director of Kadaster International, the Netherlands.","tokenCount":"5039"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6383219139.json b/data/part_1/6383219139.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6829e3d95eafc976ba70aa0e9309fed25dea45a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6383219139.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df9a6d32448639edf9350049c295e8ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00ec0043-d059-4ee4-aacc-29ac4e941833/retrieve","id":"-721700554"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"24744a51-89e6-46bb-bba0-b2d7c178e0b2","pagecount":"1","content":"Since the middle of the last century road development has been a key proximate cause of deforestation in the Central Peruvian Amazon. Less clear are the underlying causes of deforestation and how they vary over time and across the landscape. This study reconstructed the development of the road network in the Aguaytia watershed and nearby Ucayali River floodplain since 1950. The study uses remote sensing imagery, censuses and other secondary data to reveal the proximate and underlying causes of deforestation. Road development, shifting cultivation, cattle ranching, migration, population growth and government policies all feature prominently in deforestation dynamics in the region. The study showed that the proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation vary substantially across the landscape and over the last 60 years. This case study links the spatial and temporal pattern of deforestation to the development of the road network and the underlying causes of deforestation in the region.Road development 1. Long trajectories connecting to rivers: the most important road connection in the region is the Federico Basadre road connecting the Ucayali port town of Pucallpa to the Andes and to Lima. In the 1960s, the government built connector roads between this main road and the Aguaytia River to the north and the Ucayali to the South. Govenrment initiatives developed more recent connections between the Federico Basadre highway and the Aguaytia River to the North in the 1970s.2. Incremental extension over decades: several roads extending perpendicular to the Federico Basdre highway have developed in an incremental manner over the decades.3. Logging roads in remote areas: many remote areas are marked by roads developed solely for the extraction of timber. Land clearing advanced at a steady pace perpendicular to the road. Because both settlement and land clearing advanced within a similar time frame, the resulting deforestation pattern resembles a triangle or pyramid.Represented dynamically, the deforestation pattern is similar to a boat's bow wave.As settlement extends away from cities or towns deforestation advances perpendicular to roads. Our research shows substantial differences in demographic characteristics, living standards, livelihood activities and other characteristics depending on where a village or household is situated along the spatial and temporal land-use continuum.The photographs on the left shows some typical road landscapes in the central Peruvian Amazon. Even the main road connecting Lima to Pucallpa has substantial sections that have not yet been paved. Most of the roads in the region are gravel or improved dirt. Many of the roads end at the site of activities such as timber extraction.The table above lists the proximate and underlying driving forces of deforestation in the Central Peruvian Amazon. Road construction is clearly the dominant proximate driving force. Timber extraction, shifting cultivation and pasture expansion also predominate.Other key proximate forces are coca and oil palm production. The key underlying factors in deforestation of this region are related to population. Migrants from the Andes, who may have been pushed out by the lack of land there, have arrived to the Amazon in the hopes of taking advantage of abundant natural resources. This region of the Amazon also has one of the highest fertility rates in all of Peru. Other underlying forces include changes in national agricultural and forestry development policies.","tokenCount":"529"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6414993438.json b/data/part_1/6414993438.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..75e893c6cf6b96c21d3f0998bb8108747cb44c43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6414993438.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7dc0520634735bdcb666118f39f33a46","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d349ba19-510a-4ce2-abbf-a2c8cf05b2a6/retrieve","id":"-1667799449"},"keywords":["Indigenous people","forestry","documentation","research"],"sieverID":"c3121b4c-9736-4321-ac1e-10e05e3c2fbc","pagecount":"5","content":"resources: the Village Leader's committee that communicates with the government; the women's association; a committee for supporting the youth and promoting youth issues; a religious organisation concerned with social development, and a forest and land committee. In cases of conflict, these committees cooperate with each other to reach mutually acceptable decisions. But despite their knowledge, experience and organisation, the inhabitants of Myay Latt have, in recent times, found it increasingly difficult to maintain their livelihood practices. Traditional forestry management and the customary forest tenure of indigenous people are not recognised in Myanmar's policies and laws. The Myanmar constitution enacted in 2008 considers that the state is the ultimate owner of all lands and of the natural resources above and below the ground, as well as above and below the water and in the atmosphere. At the same time, the government's forest Master Plan indicates that forests would constitute 30% of the country's land area and that the protected area would be around 10%. The Farm Land Law (2012) and the Vacant Fallow Land Law (2012) have also severely restricted the rights of indigenous people. In 2016, the government's Community Forest Instructions specified complex bureaucratic procedures for applying for forest management support, and this has further weakened the capacity T he village of Myay Latt is found in the Minbu District of western Myanmar, not far from the villages of Nyaung Pin Kone, Sat Si, Bone Baw, Gote Gyi and Sar Pauk. On all sides of the village there is a forest reserve managed by the national government, where villagers collect the forest products they need. There is also a community forest area and a common church forest area. In the past, shifting cultivation was the main mode of production. However, with the disruption caused by the coming of the Min Bu-Arn road in 1993, villagers began to farm individual orchards, and today coffee, oranges, tea and bananas are among the most important sources of income and livelihoods. For many years, the village lacked schools and educational services and many young people still travel two to three miles to other villages for their primary and secondary education. As a result, many in the village lack formal education and are ill informed about their rights as indigenous people. This lack of knowledge restricts their ability to interact with the authorities and gain access to decision-making processes.The indigenous population continues to follow traditional governance mechanisms and the oldest person in the village is the Village Leader. The inhabitants of the seven clans who live in the village are either animists or Christians. There are five organisations that manage the natural and humanThe Promotion of Indigenous Nature Together (POINT) is a local non-profit organisation and a member of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). To deal with the problems caused by the progressive loss of indigenous knowledge, POINT decided to study the traditional forest management practices of the indigenous people living in Myay Latt. This is a village in western Myanmar where, despite their knowledge, experience and organisation, villagers have found it difficult to maintain their livelihood practices. The information from the study was meant to help Myay Latt and other communities strengthen their traditional forestry practices, stimulate the conservation and management of natural resources, and lobby for indigenous rights in laws and policies.Cover Sal tree within the watershed protected area the traditional forest management practices of those indigenous people living in Myay Latt. This information could then be used to help other local communities strengthen their traditional forestry practices, stimulate the conservation and management of natural resources, and lobby for indigenous rights in laws and policies. POINT's study would also provide documentary evidence to show policy makers and government officials -who were unaware of the indigenous and traditional forest management practices of the Asho-Chin people -how indigenous communities were successfully managing their forests.In 2016, POINT began its work in Myay Latt by conducting a baseline survey designed to collect data on the village and village livelihoods, their current forest management system, how water resources were being managed and how non-timber forest products and traditional medicines were being used. POINT wanted to support the village so that it would get its forest area recognised by the government and, if possible, to implement a REDD+ (Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project there.After collecting this basic data POINT organised awareness and capacity building workshops on REDD+ for local people, as well as on the use of GPS (Global Positioning System). Information was also provided on the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the importance of a process that leads to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) on environmental conservation, land rights and the implications of climate change. POINT then selected a few of the most active men and women and of indigenous communities to manage and protect their forest areas. In addition, the government is able to approve land concessions, large-scale development projects and various forms of public investment without the free, prior and informed consent of villagers, even if these interventions might have a negative effect on traditional occupations, livelihoods and the social roles of indigenous people.Even when a village has been granted community forest rights, there are policies like those relating to energy that can override these rights. A recent example of this has been the construction of a gas pipeline that crossed the Myay Latt's community forest area: there was no question of compensation for the livelihood problems this caused. This lack of legal protection has created considerable insecurity and several households have moved from Myay Latt to other villages.The Promotion of Indigenous Nature Together (POINT) is a local non-profit organisation, member of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). POINT's objective is to ensure the recognition of indigenous people rights. It is also concerned with making national, regional and international organisations aware of the role indigenous communities can play in promoting the sustainable development of the natural environment in indigenous territories. To further its objectives POINT is working to establish a national indigenous people's network.To deal with the problems caused by the progressive loss of indigenous knowledge, POINT decided to study POINT's data shows that generations of indigenous people have been well aware of how their livelihoods depend on the forests and on forest products. facilitated their participation in national and international workshops to further develop their capacities to work for local rightsUntil the late 1990's, shifting cultivation was the main model for agricultural production. However, the development of road networks and the national government's ban on rotational agriculture led to drastic changes, and the development of orchards in an agroforestry mode that produce bananas, coffee, limes, lemons, damsons, guavas, oranges, mangos, jackfruit, Tanyin (a hardwood tree bearing a pungent smelling edible fruit) and cashews.POINT identified the practices that indigenous people had developed to support their shifting cultivation activities and which had contributed to sustainable livelihoods and environmental conservation for centuries. These included, for example, that • forests alongside streams and mountain ridges should not be cleared;• forested space should be kept between consecutive plots to help protect crops from fire and enabled the demarcation of plot boundaries so conflicts could be avoided;• when timber was cut on a plot, tree trunks should be left in the ground so there could be new growth and a source of firewood;• all villagers had the right to log timber from the forest for domestic use except from the community forest and the protected forest areas that surround villages;• traditional and sustainable methods should be used in collecting non-timber forest products such as honey, orchids and bamboo;• dry firewood from under in the forest can be collected because there is no electricity in the village but villagers must not cut down green trees; or that• no one was allowed to cut large trees in forests, watershed areas or in forests surrounding villages and cultivated areas.Good practices also extend to the collection of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP). For example, most village women collect bamboo but they should not take all the bamboo in one go. They should only take one third of the bamboo shoot so it will be able to grow again next year. When orchids are taken from the forest and transplanted at home for income, the collectors should not cut down the trees where the orchids have been growing. Instead, they must climb the tree and then take the orchids home. As a result of these conservation practices, there are still dense forests around Myat Latt and neighbouring villages.After the baseline study had been completed, some of those involved in the community training sessions were asked to provide additional information on NTFP collection systems, forest management and governance and on traditional farming practices. During this documentation process, particular attention was given to how GPS and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) could be used to define boundaries. Subsequently, those involved in the training sessions were able to map the areas covered by community forestry, traditional forests, their villages as well as the location of water resources, orchards and what little remained of shifting cultivation.The objectives of POINT's project in Myay Latt had been to document practices that could further promote the sustainable development of the natural environment in indigenous territories. It was also concerned with the problems associated with ensuring the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights.In this mountain area there were ten villages. POINT's documentation process showed that Myay Latt's community forest area provided the best example of conservation. This evidence inspired a neighbouring village to apply for a community forest area and adopt similar practices. If this request is accepted by the government, the community forest area near Myay Latt will cover some 1,000 acres.POINT's data shows that generations of indigenous people have been well aware of how their livelihoods depend on the forests and on forest products. Forests are an important source of food, traditional medicines, firewood and housing and agricultural materials. They are also important in maintaining water resources and preventing landslides. This awareness led to the development of the good practices now being documented by the POINT project.Above An eleven year old regenerated forestMyay Latt has a unique form of traditional land, forest and water resource management which has important implications for all conservation initiatives. However, they continue to face challenges generated by external development projects and government policies. An example that has already been referred to was their inability to prevent the gas pipeline company from laying pipes through their community forest, despite the fact that the village had been granted legal and secure tenure. The government's failure to implement legislation and the lack of recognition of traditional forest and land management practices continues to be a challenge to promoting the livelihoods of indigenous communities and the maintenance of good forest conservation practices.Information collected from the people of Myay Latt made it clear that village people were actively involved in passing on their experiences to the next generation. They saw it as important that future generations recognise their identity as indigenous people and appreciate the importance of the natural resources in their daily lives and how these resources could be maintained in a sustainable way. It also became clear that more village women were taking up tree planting and making firebreaks, and that they were now able to take part in training and workshop sessions at local and national level.POINT was particularly concerned with ensuring that local communities are able to confront the government when proposed external development projects threaten their livelihoods. Enabling villagers to attend national workshops, conferences and meetings, as well as introducing them to how the higher levels of government work, was a process designed to help them understand the procedures to follow in situations where national policies or government-supported activities would have a clearly negative effect on their way of life.POINT was also able to document and consolidate the work of NGOs who had worked with local communities in this part of Myanmar, helping them with guidelines and procedures, and providing courses focusing on the best way to protect their land and resources. It also noted that there was a growing awareness amongst villagers of how the media and other stakeholders could help in making the government take account of their issues and concerns.The positive effect of this work can be seen in the following example. A few years ago, illegal loggers were cutting down the forests around Myay Latt, something they were able to do because there was a lack of forest law enforcement. The conflict between the illegal loggers and villagers grew until -with help of an NGO -villages were able to apply for community forestry rights, which meant that the government would now be responsible for controlling all logging activities. POINT noted that as a result of this intervention the community is now able to protect its forests, and the number of illegal loggers in the community forest areas has declined.","tokenCount":"2159"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6428529004.json b/data/part_1/6428529004.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6128f509ce51a96dde2edfe7cf59743558f3f33c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6428529004.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"793dd3d7715bb511cdb0ba1dd554213e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d316cb0a-4378-4b52-9ad4-0f48aab00974/retrieve","id":"912811610"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4fdb9063-0dab-4acb-8fb4-bf4217855006","pagecount":"26","content":"Experience at CIAT leads our training group to place emphasis, in beef cattle production training, on management, the soil-plant-animal complex, and cornmunication skills. It is in these are as of major importance, in increasing livestock production, that recent university graduates are least competent. This is especially true of veterinarians in Latin America who make up the majority of those responsible and available for work in improving livestock production.In support of this conclusion is the categorization by Mullenax and Norman (1968)  of the various los ses from 200 Colombian ranches and 30.000 animal s over a 2-year periodoThey state that 75% of these problems could be solved with existing knowledge and, that by applying this knowledge at a -2cost of Col.$90 per cow per year, the calf-crop could be improved by 62%, death losses reduced by 400% and the number of poor-doing (thin) cows reduced by 100% to 230% in one year. This adds up to a 400% increase in income with a 444% return on investment 2 •We could divide these returns in half and still have strong reasons to strive for stronger, more concentrated efforts in training programs designed to move knowledge of and skills in existing technology form the minds of a few to the multitudes that need it so desperately.A vast amount of animal production technology exists and is not being adapted and used in the developing countries. A few of the practices (technology) that are known to contribute to production increases would include :l. The use of hormones and enzymes as implants or as feed additives to increase growth rate and feed efficiency.( Considered to be one of the greatest advances in livestock feeding of this century).2. Crossbreeding for hybrid vigor (natives and exotics).3. Seasonal breeding to increase reproduction rate, to facilitate management, and to reduce calf loss.4. Use of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) to increase the utilization of cellulose during the dry season, or in intensive fattening programs.~erd to increase conception rateo 6. Vaccines and drugs to control contagious diseases, parasites and infections.7. Artificial insemination -heat detection and estrus synchronization to contribute to genetic improvement.(This probábly has contributed more to the improvement of the dairy industry).B. Proper equipment and facilities for .handling li ve stock to increase efficiency and reduce losses. 9. Improved varieties\"'of grasses and legumes to increase production per land area.10. Forage preservation to reduce waste in the wet season and to prevent weight loss in the dry season.The forming of this technology into a package of production practices is difficult because there is no ideal ranchero There is no standard soils and clímate, or plant and animal population, or standard socio-economíc system. Therefore we must train people who will have nesessary competence to analyze the \" \" , '.. , '.'. \"-5-3. Because little is being done at the national level, somebody must establish the credibi1ity of production training and get it incorporated into nationa1 programs.Sorne of the advantages of production training programs at the international centers are as fo11ows:l. Highly qua1ified and mu1ti-discip1inary staff.2. Apo1ítical There are however, certain disadvantages in doing production courses at international centers, sorne of which are as fo11ows:1. In some cases, it is more costly than a nationa1 program because of travel, stipend, family relocation, etc.2. The course wi11, by nature, be held outside of the trainees socio-economic and ecological environment.  The time gained by reducing the animal health input was replaced by additional concentration on pasture production, animal nutrition, weed control, and training and cornmunication skills.The eight-month field phase put more emphasis on analyzing the ranch as a business or production unit and identifying those problems most limiting productivity. These factors almost always relate to poor management and a lack of year-around feed supply.Other variables were'added that year in that the course became international (1 to 3 trainees from 7 countriesl and trainees were admitted froro three professional backgrounds, i.e.:veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, and agronomy. Cultural, professional and academic backgrounds were more varied. This resulted in sorne problems and unrest within the group as well as for the imstructors.The third course was similar to the second, but with further reduction in the animal health input and giving more time to agronomic, economic and social factors involved in livestock production. Agronomists were admitted, and again conflicts arose within the group. Some instructors had difficulty in planning their presentations so that the entire group would understand and benefit.During the three-month basic phase, this group conducted several\"experiments related to animal management and/or feeding. The experience gained justified the exercise, but trainee enthusiasm was low as the short experimental period    The success that we have had to date in establishing production training programs within national institutions has not met our hopes, but probably our realistic expectations. There are some iñdications of success, at least a beginning.Two Colombian universities have adapted variations of the CIAT program into their required syllabis. This has come about after each had a staff member complete a ClAT program, and also important, continual interaction between the institution and elATo One university requires a student to spend 3 weeks in the field for each \"species\"production course he takes, i.e. Training people to meet the immediate needs to in crease production on a short terro basis is more critical and perhaps should be approached differently. Here we are talking about the extension type worker who needs to be brought up-to-date in technology. However, it is difficult to take him away froID his job for an extended period of time.A'solution might be to first identify, if possible, the most limiting factor within a zone, country or region and hold short courses of up to one month dealing with that one subject and then insure that these people are properly equipped and supported to solve the problem. If they cannot be supported adequately in the field, the course should not be given • The long terro training, or the training of future production specialists, must eventually find its home in the educational institutions. This meana convincing collage adminiatrators that their product (the recent graduate) ia not qualified to do the job for which he ia trained and that curriculums muat change to fit client needa. lf someone can accomplish this near impossible task, then we must help prepare professors to teach the animal production-oriented couraes.1 would not be so preaumptuoua as to think that universities could turn out accredited production specialists, but 1 do think that a student graduating with a good background in applied animal production would get to be an animal production specialist much faster than one who is graduated in a specific discipline.It has been suggested that the least painful way to introduce livestock production training may be by starting it in a new institution where traditional agricultural and veterinary medicine courses have not been established. lWhile there can be no substitute for actual experience in learning how to produce agricultural products, we can use certain tools to speed up the learning process and at the sarne time broa den the capabilities of the student.In the more developed countries many of the basic concepts and fundamental s are no longer communicated to the student by an instructor. These material s are recorded as bulletins, books, slides/cassettes, video tapes and, in sorne cases, films.Students first get the subject matter in this forro, repeating , • -nthe exposure as frequently as need dictates and time permits.Thus the student-professor contact time that follows is used for discussion aimed at clarification and application of the material.At CIAT, we find that many of our trainees coming out of national programs (in all subjects) have not be en adequately prepared in the basic sciences to grasp material being presented in the training programs; Thus the scientist must spend valuable time (both his and the training programs) teaching background information. This at first does not sound like much, but if he has to repeat this for each course, and sometimes, on a consultation basis with each trainee, the time mounts at an alarming rateo We hope to develop a unit at CIAT that, in collaboration with tlle scientist, will be able to package those material s considered fundamental to the discipline into self-instruotion units. Pre and post-examinations may be used to determine when and if the student needs to study these materials. AIso, \"how to do, package s will be produced for the trainee to review before he actually does the operation\". This system will be useful in pulling the disciplines together to give the trainee a commodity conceptual approach at some time during his training programo While this may partially solve our problem at CIAT, it does not eliminate the problem at the source. The quality and content of instruction at the university level will have to be improved. Well prepared instructíonal aids on animal production in the tropics .-• will have a place in enhancing the learning process in universities.-22 -This year our livestock production trainees will receive some six sets of slides with written or recorded scripts from the various disciplines involved in tropical animal production.Little of this type of material exists for the tropics and that produced for temperate zone agriculture has limited applicability.  ","tokenCount":"1524"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6433640995.json b/data/part_1/6433640995.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1164fa9ac852385741cd67cc4824301840886ada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6433640995.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5c5e58b0401892573a37743667fd975","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f7af9711-959f-4eb3-a0f0-6cc9dd572c97/retrieve","id":"304249655"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6a47a20b-0f7a-412d-a43c-e5f6f6df441a","pagecount":"12","content":"-The global context of veterinary science is a world where in our current time period , the FAO states that 805 million people are chronically undernourished. 1 -Livestock in developing countries contribute up to 80 percent of agricultural GDP -A recent FAO report 2 states that 98% of farming holdings are 'family farms' (smallholdings), of which there are more than 500 million.Throughout the developing world, livestock are means for hundreds of millions of people to escape absolute poverty.; 600 million rural poor people rely on livestock for their livelihoods.  Improving the informed consent process with superior communication toolsThere are inherent complexities in cross-cultural research. Language, literacy and cultural barriers mean that a rigorous informed consent process relies in great part, on an effective communication approach. There can also be a power disparity between researcher and participant, which needs to be addressed, to avoid undue influence.Informed consentProviding feedback & talking through any misunderstandings","tokenCount":"152"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6499780303.json b/data/part_1/6499780303.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e4d46c3ec73438383ac8ab8fbc7608fea9ff95ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6499780303.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"90b34fe231810785dca9ff4bdfb0451b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8b90e582-7724-4f10-813c-6318511ab33b/retrieve","id":"366856990"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"345a9382-5734-4b5a-a4cf-6ed42b76153e","pagecount":"8","content":"During the first phase (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) of the Nippon Foundation project on \"Improving the Sustainability of Cassava-based Cropping Systems\", two pilot sites were selected, namely Soeng Saang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, and Wang Sombuun district, Sra Kaew province. FPR trials on methods to reduce soil erosion were conducted for three consecutive years. After narrowing down the number of suitable options, farmers in both sites finally selected and adopted the contour strip cropping of cassava with vetiver grass hedgerows. They also requested further support to extend the vetiver grass hedgerows on a larger scale to their cassava fields. In Soeng Saang district, farmers in Sappongphoot village got together to set up a Soil Conservation group. They agreed to plant vetiver grass hedgerows with a total length of 17 kilometers in the first year of 1998. Similarly, farmers in Wang Sombuun district planted vetiver grass hedgerows with a total length of about 10 kilometers. During the final year of the first phase, DOAE had extended the project to two other sites in Kalasin and Chachoengsao provinces.In the second phase of the project (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003), a total of 24 villages in 17 districts, in 8 provinces are participating in the project. To be able to scale out to so many new sites, the project used and developed several Farmer Participatory Extension (FPE) methodologies, such as crossvisits, farmer evaluation of demonstration plots, FPR trials, training courses and field days. In addition, DOAE helped farmers in 11 sites to set up \"Cassava Development Villages\", i.e. community-based self-help groups that help each other to develop better cassava production practices and protect the natural resources in the community. The final result is that farmers in all villages adopted vetiver grass hedgerows as the most suitable system to reduce erosion. At present, there are 865 farmers participating in the project and the total length of the vetiver grass hedgerows has grown to 130 kilometers, covering 940 ha of cassava fields. In addition, farmers also adopted new cassava varieties, such as Rayong 5, Rayong 72 and Kasetsart 50, and they are using more chemical fertilizers as well as animal manures. Recently, farmers have shown a new interest in trying out the use of green manures in their FPR trials; as a result of these trials they have now adopted the planting of Canavalia ensiformis as a green manure between cassava rows.Cassava can grow well even in low fertility soils and under relatively dry conditions. However, the rate of soil erosion in cassava fields is quite high, particularly in sloping fields with sandy soils and low organic matter content. This is due to the wide spacing of cassava planting and the slow growth rate for the first three months (Putthacharoen, 1992). The joint research of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), and Kasetsart University (KU) revealed that planting methods or planting system adjustment could reduce soil erosion (Howeler, 1987;1994). Altogether, 24 methods (treatments) were included in the experiment; for instance, intercropping with some field crops, e.g. maize, groundnut, mungbean, pumpkin, water melon; the use of chemical fertilizer, manure or green manure to stimulate fast early growth; or contour strip cropping with some grasses, e.g. vetiver, ruzie grass, elephant grass and lemon grass. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some methods give extra income, but some need more management or high investment. The problem still exists on whether or not the farmers would adopt any of these methods. In 1993, CIAT, in cooperation with DOAE and DOA, established a Cassavabased Cropping System Management Project and started the farm trials using a Farmer Participatory Research (FPR) approach (Vongkasem, 1998). This methodology will enhance the farmers' awareness of soil erosion and its consequences. It also encouraged the farmers to decide which method of soil erosion prevention was most suitable and practical for their own communities. The farmers, however, did the trials by themselves under the supervision of DOAE and DOA staff. Eventually, the farmers were the ones who selected the soil conservation method that was most suitable and efficient for them.During the first phase , two pilot project sites were selected, namely, Soeng Saang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, and Wang Sombuun district, Sra Kaew province. FPR trials on soil erosion control methods were conducted continuously for three years. Finally, farmers in both sites selected and adopted contour strip cropping with vetiver grass. They also requested further support to extend these vetiver hedgerows to their larger cassava fields. In Soeng Saang district, the farmers organized a group for Soil and Environmental Conservation. They agreed to plant 17 km of vetiver grass hedgerows in 1998. Similarly, farmers in Wang Sombuun district planted about 10 kilometers of vetiver grass hedgerows.In the final year of Phase I, DOAE extended the project sites to Kalasin and Chachoengsao provinces. In Phase II (1999-present), 18 villages, in 14 districts in 8 provinces have participated in the Project. In order to extend the knowledge and understanding of soil and water conservation to more and more farmers and to achieve widespread adoption of soil erosion control practices, the project started to combine FPR trials with various Farmer Participatory Extension (FPE) activities.1. To show cassava growers the importance of soil conservation and the need to reduce soil erosion. The emphasis is placed on farmer participation in decision making and method selection. 2. To develop simple soil erosion control practices that are suitable for particular regions by conducting FPR erosion control trials with farmers. 3. To encourage and help farmers to adopt the selected practices in their cassava fields. 4. To scale-up the selected erosion control practices to more farmers and achieve widespread adoption. This process consists of the following steps: 1. Select pilot sites by conducting Rapid Rural Appraisals (RRAs) 2. Plant and manage demonstration plots 3. Hold farmers' meetings and organize cross-site visits 4. Conduct various types of FPR trials to increase cassava yields and/or income, such as varieties, fertilization, intercropping and erosion control 5. Training of staff 6. Extension of selected practices from farmer-to-farmer 7. Organize field days 8. Write articles in news papers; radio and TV programs 9. Print pamphlets, booklets etc.The main criteria for selection of project sites are: -Cassava is the main crop in the area and is grown on slopes with serious problems of soil erosion.-Farmers and extensionists must be eager to work together to solve various problems.After the pilot sites (villages) were selected, a Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) was conducted with the farmers to learn about the agro-and socio-economic conditions. The problems farmers encountered in cassava production were also studied.Every year demonstration plots were laid out, usually at the TTDI Research and Training Center in Huai Bong, Nakhon Ratchasima. These demonstrations had many different treatments about ways to increase yields or reduce erosion. Farmers from new sites would visit these plots, observe the treatments and discuss and select the most suitable treatments for their own conditions. In many cases they selected vetiver grass contour hedgerows as the most suitable practice to control erosion.Farmers' meetings were held in the selected villages to discuss the objectives, principles and procedures of the project. The beneficial effects of using green manures or chemical fertilizers were also discussed. The farmers then discussed and decided for themselves whether or not they wanted to participate in the project. In case farmers were not interested, the project would look for other sites.Farmers who wanted to participate in the project were invited to join the study tour to observe the demonstration plots on soil erosion control methods. In addition, farmers from a new site would visit an \"older\" site. In these older sites farmers had already adopted vetiver grass hedgerows to control erosion. This was an opportunity to exchange experiences between the visitors and the hosts. The concepts of establishing a village credit fund and the administration of this fund were also discussed.At the end of the study tour, farmers were asked whether they were interested in either conducting their own FPR trials on some selected treatments of soil erosion control, or to adopt any of the observed soil erosion control practices right away. In most cases, farmers preferred to adopt the planting of vetiver hedgerows, because they had already observed the efficiency of these hedgerows for soil erosion control under farming conditions similar to their own.In case farmers wanted to conduct their own FPR trails, they were provided with the necessary inputs, such as seeds of intercrops, seeds or tillers of hedgerow species, plastic sheets to cover the sediment collection ditches, and they were reimbursed for the cost of digging the sediment collection ditches. Officials from DOA and DOAE helped farmers lay out the field trials. Alternatively, if farmers wanted to adopt the planting of vetiver grass hedgerows, they would receive the necessary vetiver tillers and help from LDD in setting out contour lines.Usually, DOAE staff would suggest farmers to conduct additional trials on new cassava varieties, chemical and organic fertilizers, and green manures. These trials provided farmers with information on how to increase cassava production efficiency and helped to attract their interest in participating in the project.Training workshops were organized by CIAT to train the collaborating project staff of the three departments, namely DOA, DOAE, and LDD. Officials in both the central and regional offices were trained in the use of farmer participatory methodologies. Furthermore, CIAT provided additional training for the principal collaborators by sending them overseas to learn more about farmer participatory approaches and techniques.In order to transfer technologies with farmers' participation, a budget was allocated to support 4-6 farmers' meetings annually. The topics included discussion on project implementation and the possible solutions for both project management and crop production. Local extension agents acted as coordinators of these discussions and could invite experts or lecturers from outside according to the farmers' needs or problems.The project organized three levels of farmer field days:7.1 Village level. This field day was held at the time of harvesting the FPR trials. After the trial plots were harvested, all data were recorded and the results were presented and discussed with the farmers. In this way, the farmers learned and obtained information to make decisions about which technologies might be suitable for their village conditions. They then discussed and planned for action in the following year.7.2 District level. The objective of this type of field day was to disseminate technologies to nearby villages and sub-districts. On the field day, the farmers who had already conducted FPR trials shared their knowledge with other farmers. Officials from DOA, DOAE, and LDD also discussed how to increase cassava production efficiency, improving soil fertility by planting green manures, and to control erosion in various ways, including the growing of vetiver hedgerows. These field days took place in the project sites so that farmers would be able to study the real situation. This technique was quite effective as the visiting farmers were often interested in trying out the practices of soil erosion control in their own areas.7.3 Provincial level. At this level, approximately 1,000-1,500 farmers and officials from nearby provinces were invited to visit the field day. Reporters from newspapers and television stations were also invited in order to report the project activities through the wider mass media.In order to promote the project and provide information and its implementation to a wider audience, a video was made showing how to operate development work through farmers' participation. The video was distributed to many provincial offices and agencies. The Office of the Royal Development Projects Board also supported the Project by providing a booklet series, \"The Factual Tips about Vetiver\", for distribution to the farmers who participated in the project.The following additional activities were performed:The training course was aimed at offering a choice to generate income from vetiver leaves. So far, the farmers from three villages: Sapphongphoot village in Soeng Saang district, Kut Dook village in Daan Khun Thot district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, and Huai Suea Ten village in Sahatsakhan district of Kalasin province received training in the making of various handicrafts from vetiver grass. The trainers of the course were provided by the Department of Industrial Promotion. 9.2 Cassava Development Village: Since the year 2000, DOAE has adjusted the project implementation by setting up the so-called 'Cassava Development Villages'. Farmers in the target villages received training to have more knowledge and develop a clear understanding about the need to conserve soil resources in order to obtain higher yields. The construction of vetiver hedgerows across the slope and the use of green manures to increase soil fertility were demonstrated. DOAE provided the farmers with planting material of good varieties of cassava, chemical fertilizer, and vetiver plantlets on condition that they return the value of these materials to the village revolving fund after the cassava harvest. A low interest rate was agreed upon by the villagers. Futhermore, the members voted to elect the 'Fund Administration Committee', which comprised a chairman, a vicechairman, a treasurer, and a secretary as the minimum number. Rules and regulations were discussed and voted on by the members' resolution.The implementation of the Project, \"Enhancing the Adoption of Soil Erosion Control Practices in Cassava Fields\" for the past eight years in an ever increasing number of sites has had a great impact on the farmers' awareness of the importance of soil erosion prevention. After testing various options to reduce soil loss, practically all farmers selected the planting of vetiver grass hedgerows across the slopes as the most suitable and effective erosion control practice. Presently, this practice has been adopted in 21 villages located in eight provinces (Table 1). Altogether, 865 farmers participated in the planting of vetiver hedgerows which now has a total length of 130 km in their cassava fields, planting a total of 1.3 million vetiver slips. Furthermore, farmers in a few villages adopted the planting of Canavalia ensiformis (sword bean) as a green manure. In addition, 21 'Cassava Development Villages' were established. At present, members of these farmers' groups have access to a revolving fund, which range in size from baht 40,000 to 380,000 per group, with a total of baht 1,475,868, to be used for the development of these communities (Table 1). The establishment of these groups is a way to strengthen rural communities to face new challenges in the future. Besides, DOAE tries to make use of the project sites for field visits of the farmers from nearby villages, sub-districts, districts and provinces in order to encourage further scaling-up of the project results. -data not available 2) 1 ha = 6.25 raiThe following lessons have been learned from the Project:1. The implementation of a project that has as its objective to enhance the conservation of soil, water and the environment, must involve the people of the whole community, or at least, it must start with some parts of the community that participate in the Project. The villagers must be aware of the seriousness of the problems that need to be solved by sharing their opinions and by making decisions together.2. The technologies offered to the farmers must have a direct positive effect on yield and must be adapted to their way of life. For example, the adoption of vetiver grass hedgerow planting and intercropping with sword bean as a green manure is likely to improve soil fertility, which in turn may result in increased cassava yields.3. The duration of a project is also another significant factor for its success, because the soil erosion problem does not have an immediate impact on the daily life of the farmers. Thus, farmers need some time to become aware of the problem, to test several possible solutions and to confirm the results before they decide to adopt soil conservation practices. In this case, the project should continue for at least ten years.4. Agricultural extensionists need to change their role, from recommending certain practices to being a facilitator, to encourage members of the community to participate in analyzing their problems and search together for solutions. In many cases, they can act as the coordinator to seek help and knowledge from outside. Nevertheless, the needs must be identified by the community.5. Various incentives or subsidies of some production inputs are necessary, particularly for the conducting of field trials, to provide vetiver slips and to help set out contour lines after farmers have decided to adopt the planting of vetiver grass contour hedgerows.6. Farmers should be given freedom to select and modify the soil erosion prevention treatments to be tried on their own field. For example, they can test the use of other grasses or other crops as contour hedgerows, such as sugarcane or upland rice.7. The forming of farmers' self-help groups will provide opportunities for members of the community to express their opinions and find the best ways for future development. Support from outsiders in terms of supplying planting materials, fertilizer, seeds, etc., with the condition that the users of the inputs return these to start the village revolving funds, may be a way of strengthening the development of the community and empower its members to solve their own problems.","tokenCount":"2833"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6507249555.json b/data/part_1/6507249555.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c090d345255602c57020e0af1100dbf21af0bc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6507249555.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aceed60196a6dc86bb3651ff8933b69b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7cda3f7a-545d-4729-b9b1-c0ea9d068cba/retrieve","id":"-1162217089"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2cc2d357-c9e3-4279-8ead-7fbf5007ce60","pagecount":"24","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI and EVA would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa. As such, livestock are extremely important for the country's economic development, food and nutrition security, and poverty reduction. Technical, institutional, infrastructural, environmental and policy challenges in the veterinary sector are key constraints for livestock development.The European Union supported project, Health of Ethiopian Animals for Rural Development (HEARD), has been initiated to address the challenges in the country's veterinary service delivery system. The HEARD project builds on the experiences and lessons gained from the implementation of the completed 10th EDF LVC-PPD project (2010( -2015, EUR10 million), EUR10 million); the ongoing EC SHARE-funded FAO project (FED/2014/316-779); Pursuing Pastoralist Resilience (PPR) project (2014-2019, EUR9.2 million); and a wider consultation of all concerned stakeholders in the livestock sector. The HEARD program is organized into three result components:Result 1: The quality of public and private veterinary services is strengthened, and delivery optimized through the creation of an enabling and rationalizing environment. This component of the program is implemented through three grants in Somali, Amhara and Oromia regional states. It is led by Somali Livestock Resources and Pastoral Development Bureau, Amhara Livestock Development Agency and Oromia Livestock and Fisheries Resource Development Bureau with the support of the Ministry for Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoA).Result 2: Technical competencies (knowledge, skills and attitude) and incentives for veterinary service providers is improved to enable them to deliver better and rationalized services. This component is jointly implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Ethiopian Veterinary Association (EVA) and provides guidance on setting up public-private partnerships and capacity development for veterinary professionals at different levels.Result 3: Food safety of primary products of animal origin is improved, and better control of zoonotic diseases achieved. This component is led by MoA and support for improving internal and export livestock value chain through strengthening the Livestock Identification and Traceability System (LlTS), regular testing of products of animal origin, and creating a meat inspection course at the National Veterinary University that will graduate 60 meat inspectors a year.The overall implementation of the HEARD program is coordinated by the Livestock State Minister of MoA. Implementing partners are:• Ministry of Agriculture -MoA (Result 1 and 3) • The International Livestock Research Institute and the Ethiopian Veterinary Association (Result 2) • Oromia National Regional State, Bureau of Livestock and Fisheries Resources Development (Result 1) • Amhara National Regional State, Livestock Resources Development Promotion Agency (Result 1)• The Somali National Regional state, Somali Livestock and Pastoral Development Bureau (Result 1)The HEARD project inception workshop aimed at bringing together all stakeholders in the Ethiopian veterinary service system to introduce the objectives and planned activities of the project and elicit their expectations. Approximately 56 representatives of various institutions attended the one-day workshop. These included the EU, ATA, MoA, regional bureaus of agriculture, FAO, NVI, Universities, non-governmental organizations involved in veterinary service delivery, professional associations, and the private sector (list of participants is annexed).The workshop participants and dignitaries were welcomed by Dr. Azage Tegegn, Deputy to DG of ILRI Representative, Ethiopia. This was followed by opening remarks of HE Dr. Gebregziabher Gebreyohannes, Ethiopia State Minister for Livestock in MoA, and Dominique Davoux, representative from the European Union Delegation (EUD). Berhanu Taye of EUD presented the contribution of EU to the livestock sector of Ethiopia and introduced the framework of the HEARD project.A series of presentations were made on the objectives and activities of the project components by the MoA, ILRI/EVA, and the Somali, Amhara and Oromia coordinators. Each presentation was followed by a brief question and answers session. The FAO representative presented activities and achievements of the EC SHARE-funded PPR FAO project and identified areas that are of relevance for HEARD, which was followed by a brief question and answer session. The expectations of the private sector were presented by Eshetu Mengistu, chairman of the Abyssinia Association of Veterinary Drug Wholesale and Importers. Finally, in group works, each HEARD project component elicited the expectations of the stakeholders (workshop agenda is annexed).The workshop was facilitated by Barbara Wieland and Tsehay Gashaw from ILRI.In his welcoming address, Dr Tegegn welcomed the composition of the HEARD consortium and existing links to other national and international institutions. He emphasized on the importance of animal health and its links to country's trading opportunity. Dr Tegegn appreciated the project's focus on Public Private Partnership (PPP) for animal health service and also stressed the importance of addressing different production systems. He also encouraged the actors in the livestock sector to first thoroughly test new approaches at smaller scales before trying to do everything at national scale.The state minister reminded participants about 60 million poultry and 5-6 million cattle are lost every year due to poor animal health. He stated that the significant young stock mortality rate has become a trade barrier which is affecting the economy. Deterioration in quality of livestock products which leads to low price of meat for export compared to other countries is also related to animal health. Furthermore, hei stated that Ethiopia has now 15 universities providing veterinary education which helps to strengthen the control of animal disease. In addition, it will be launching a national animal health road map, to improve the animal health. Dr Gebreyohannes said that he sees a lot of potential for the HEARD project to contribute in capacity building for the student veterinarians. And stressed the importance of harmonization within the HEARD project that is needed for all the work to be successful. He said that the Government of Ethiopia has high expectations from the HEARD project to improve the animal health sector.Mr Davoux further emphasized the role of disease and links to food safety in HEARD. He pointed out that the private sector needs to be integrated more to improving the animal health. He also mentioned the knowledge of communities on food safety and zoonoses need to be improved. Mr Davoux shared his expectation of the HEARD project to contribute to improving Ethiopia's livestock export which is a strong focus of the GTP II.EU support to the livestock sector in Ethiopia (presentation of Berhanu Taye, EUD) https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/eu-heard Presentations of the 5 HEARD grantees [double click on the link to find the presentations]The 5 grantees each presented the objectives and provided an overview of planned activities.Below the presentations are included and key questions with some answers provided for each of the HEARD components. During group work, expectations of the participants were elicited and are presented below for each HEARD grant.1. Ministry of Agriculture (main project implementer and lead for result area 3) https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/heard-melaku Questions and Answers 1. For result 1, the geological coverage is not clear. Do you mean the project in relation to this result will be implemented in only the 3 regions?-The main target areas for result 1 are the three regions (Oromia, Amhara, and Somali), which have their own HEARD grant, but some selected activities in result 1 which needs national coverage, are incorporated in MoA-HEARD grant, which is mainly focused on result 3.2. The data for the places is missing and unclear. How can we say the targets are visible and tangible? -Among others: 55 municipal abattoirs will be standardized, 180 meat inspectors will be trained and certified, 116 abattoirs will practice animal welfare standard, one zoonotic disease control will be started, are the project's planned targets among others.3. How do you reach the project beneficiaries especially the private sector?-The private sector will be targeted in regions and ILRI/EVA grants. Targeting will be done in line with the government's priority; for example, by encouraging youth, women and unemployed to engage in such activities.4. Where is the coordination among the three result areas?-Since we all are working on Veterinary Services, strong coordination among HEARD EUgrantees is mandatory. The coordination will be led by MoA and a Steering Committee, which will be established with higher officials of the implementers, EUD, MoFEC, MoA and ATA. It will be supported by the HEARD technical assistance (TA) team to be deployed in the MoA.5. How universities engage in the project is not clear. Would you clarify this? -In Result 3 which is food safety, we plan to work with one University/College in meat inspection training. Veterinary colleges in general will participate mainly in result 2 in CPD and the like.6. How can the project integrate animal feed and breed improvement to support project beneficiaries in improving the subsector? − Within our external coordination plan we will work with stakeholders, who are working in livestock sector through the existing platform in MoA, RED & FS. We will coordinate our resources for better achievements/results.7. The GTP2 is going to go by 2012 Ethiopian calendar but the critical transformation agenda activities are part of the HEARD project. Is it possible to prioritize critical factor TAB activities in this project so that they will be implemented by 2019/2020 (2012EC)? − We will try to accommodate such activities as much as possible. It will be better, if you could discuss this with MoA HEARD project coordination office and other HEARD projects. 8. Do you have any information why there is shortage of poultry vaccines since you are supporting? − Sorry, I don't have this information right now and we don't have this specific activity in the project 9. Why are farmers, the main stakeholders, are not included in this event? Do you plan to involve them in the future? − Thanks for this comment and indeed we need to make sure farmers are actively involved. Farmers are not our (MoA HEARD) direct target group, they will be invited for the regional inception workshop and for some activities in the ILRI/EVA HEARD project. They will have wide participation there. 10. Targets are not clear and SMART. It doesn't seem to be monitorable. Can you explain why?− As tried to explain in question number 2, we have clear and smart targets which were not presented in the workshop due to time shortage. We will try to share this information by any means available at least through your email in near future. 11. How is this project being different from the previous projects?− This project differs from the previous LVC-PPD project in many things such as: the modality of the previous LVC-PPD project was program estimate while HEARD is a grant; LVC-PPD was a national project while HEARD is both national and regional; the results, activities and targets of each projects are also different although both are working in animal health − Three things make HEARD unique: − it's a grant (whereas modality of the previous LVC-PPD project was program estimate), − it is a national and regional project (LVC-PPD was a national project) − the results, activities and targets of each project, although both are working on animal health, is different. 12. How can you strengthen the quality of veterinary education? − This activity belongs to result 2 (ILRI/EVA), where detail activities to improve quality of veterinary education are planned 13. MoA does not work with universities. Do you have plans to support universities with this project?-Refer to answers to questions no 5 and 12 above.14. Food safety indicated is not clear. Is it for whole food safety issues or some abattoirs and zoonotic disease only?-The Moa HEARD project aims to work on food safety of animal and animal products, which include; food testing, LITS, Animal welfare, meat and other product inspection, capacitate food testing laboratories, abattoirs, quarantines and training of personnel working in these areas.Expectations from stakeholders and recommendations 1. Results are also important to Southern Nations Nationalities Peoples Region. 2. Privatization road map endorsed and implementation started. 8. The number and quality of private and public services deliveries improved. 9. Veterinarians and para veterinarians harmonized. 10. All relevant veterinary services stakeholders integrated for better out come in all areas of the country (like pastoral area). 11. NVI avails vaccine at any point in time. 12. Veterinary services infrastructures like NVI, NAHDIC, clinics, regional laboratories and abattoirs improved. 13. Veterinary service delivery improved. 14. Vertical coordination and commanding system improved. 15. Specific outputs for each activity by contribution to the GTP2 figures developed. 16. Quarantine facilities and capacity of staff strengthened.https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103211Questions and answers 1. How can you be sure that this project would be successful, given previous attempts to improve delivery of services have failed? -The project approach is not just to introduce a particular service delivery approach. Rather, the project plans to identify different potential schemes/models through stakeholder consultations and from experiences from other countries/OIE experiences. These will then be tested and evaluated in pilots, with a focus to document evidence on impact of successful schemes and make them available as guideline packages for wider introduction.2. What is the integration of this project's activities (health service) with other sectors of livestock production such as feed?-Feeds is not a priority area of HEARD, but it's clearly something that cannot be ignored when looking at animal health. There is a dedicated activity to this end, one dealing with HEARD health interventions. We plan to review successful and feasible HEARD health interventions (which integrates health and other animal production inputs such as feeds) with the aim to improve productivity and cost-benefit of livestock production. Successful interventions will feed into the development of extension materials. 3. How are you going to establish linkage between the 5 grantees? -The lead organization is MoA and we aim to closely work together with them and the TA of the project. Also, we are committed to closely work with the regional grants to make sure that our activities are complementary to their plans. We think we do all our activities in close collaboration and integration with the regions.1. The stakeholders suggested to pilot/test different modalities for health service delivery. One scheme suggested was to test the feasibility that a private service delivery scheme be organized in a pilot woreda/kebele, with the government/public health service withdrawing. 2. A service delivery system suggested: test/pilot a scheme where the roles and responsibilities of the private and the public sector be defined, with the public sector providing public goods and regulatory services and the private sector providing private goods/services. 3. It is expected that the project provides manuals, modules and training (practical skills). 4. The training (manuals) should also include handling and operating biological materials and equipment 5. It is important that the project addresses an important limitation in service delivery, namely efficient linkage between wholesalers of drugs and pharmaceuticals/biologicals and retailers (drug shops, clinics, paravets, …) 6. The capacity building component of the project should also address the capacity of farmers and Para veterinarians (it seems to focus on professionals). 7. There is an attitude by some farmers and professionals/extension staff towards the private sector that they over charge. Awareness creation needs to be part of the capacity building component of the project. 8. It is recommended that interventions (particularly service delivery) needs to be tested by the ILRI/EVA component and then scaled up/out by the other grants. 9. Recommended that intervention woredas need to be where the success rate is high and where the interventions are more relevant to increase success rate. 10. The meat inspection curriculum planned to be led by the MoA need to be supported by the ILRI/EVA component. 11. More focus on CPD, that is a priority deliverable for GTPII which is ending soon. 12. Training in Biomedical engineering is suggested (veterinary equipment and facilities operation and maintenance is a challenge). 13. The project needs to address the need to upgrade the qualities of new vet graduates (especially skills). 14. CPD should help in turning out specialized veterinarians, such as specialists in poultry medicine, ruminant medicine.https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/heard-somaliQuestion and answers 1. The project looks very ambitious. Are there professionals to support it?-Yes there are enough vet professionals in the region, but most of the vets are concentrated in Jigjiga , as we know, a number, of veterinarians are graduating every year from different vet colleges and universities and we are planning to cascade in to zones and woredas for future.2. The Somali community is mostly mobile. Will the project activities only target the Somali pastoral community?-Most activities of the project are aligned and specifically to pastoral communities and more activities are aimed at strengthening the animal service delivery system of the target areas such as:− Capacity building of animal health workers − Risk based vaccination activity 3. Has training been done on PVS evaluation and gap analysis? Does the region have OIE recommendations? -Trained animal health professionals who carried out ToT PVS evaluation at regional level will perform PVS evaluation based on national gap analysis. They will be using the PVS tools of OIE. 4. Considering the mobility of the community, will the project be able to carry out its activities? -The project activities are designed based on the pastoral policy and strategies of veterinary service delivery at pastoral communities. Therefore, the project will be able to perform its activities.5. Do the results match the actual context of the region? Are the results mentioned priorities of the region?-Most of project results/ activities are prioritized based on the context of the region, but some activities are priorities of donors. For instance, activity: 'Pilot innovative and gender sensitive animal health approaches' is a priority area for the donor which is expected to increase production and productivity.-The woredas administrations are responsible to monitor but not evaluate all project activities in target woredas. They are responsible for mobilizing beneficiary communities and woreda/district vet staffs to ensure effective implementation of the project interventions. They do this by creating awareness on the benefits of project initiatives. Moreover, they will be responsible for the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the project implementation in their respective woredas/districts.1. Disease reporting systems improved 2. Safety and health of export animals ensured 3. Strong border sero-surveillance put in place 4. Disease controlling systems (Quarantine, Regional laboratories) improved 5. Export abattoirs and cold chains improved 6. Risk mitigation plans in place 7. Scheduled vaccination doses planned for the year and reported to NVI to reduce shortage and enough drug delivery for the region 8. Animal history of vaccination and drug use reported while delivering for export 9. Disease notification system improved. (Suggestions include using smart phones and developing private business) 10. Fhuman resources and capacity developed by engaging fresh graduates 11. Veterinarians dispatched to zones and woredas 12. Selected community on veterinary service delivery trained to serve the mobile community 13. Transboundary disease control added to the priority results − Yes, we have been trained by OIE expert. We will also be partnering with MoA to do OIE-PVS assessment. 3. What is financial viability of veterinary clinic? What is their business model? − It will be discussed with stakeholds and designed. 4. What will be the coordination to supply the lab materials? Is there any central /standardized purchasing system? − I think this initiative should be taken by MoA. But the coordination role should be better, and the Regions should think over it. 5. How will you maintain the sustainability of laboratory capacity at different levels to provide better diagnosis services? − We have prepared trainings with institutes on various themes and on new technologies. 6. Is there a reason why you focused in sheep and goat vaccination?− This is aligned to the program of eradication of PPR from the country. However, the vaccination of TADs will be considered 7. How do you manage overlaps between project and government interventions?− The project's objective is to achieve the objectives set out by the government. Therefore, there will no overlap rather harmony. 8. Will you be hiring staff for this specific project or use the exiting human resources? − At list 3 project staff will be hired Expectation and recommendations 1. Good coordination along the veterinary service offices 2. Good public engagements 3. Improved diseases detection and prevention 4. Improved lab capacity 5. Well organized and timely purchasing of lab consumables and equipment 6. Improved vaccine delivery through better cold chain management 7. All districts are not fit for privatization. Therefore, target districts should be selected strategically. 8. Regional lab should be upgraded to the level they can do CFT or ElISA-up from fecal egg count and milk cell count 9. Help to produce healthy, adequate and safe animal for export abattoirs 10. Upgrade vet clinics at district and village levels 11. Comparative evaluation between highland and lowland districts 12. Linkage between component of animal health service and feed created at some parts of the project.https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/heard-amhara Question and answers 1. Who is responsible for coordination among implementing partners of overall project? (Like harmonization of the project activities, reporting formats, guidelines, M & E)? − Coordination of implementing partners is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. 2. Have you really defined the engagement of stakeholders in the project or simply listed them?To give specific examples, RESET project is working in Wagemehra zone (sekota area) to strengthen the animal health service delivery. How do you plan to communicate with them to work together or not to overlap the project activities? − The project selected areas that are not enrolled in other projectssuch as the AGP.As mentioned by the participants, the project objective is not to immediately realize food security, rather to build capacity and improve the animal health service which will contribute to economic growthin the region. The areas enrolled in other projects are most likely potential for livestock development and market oriented. It would be good to invest in similar areas. 3. Is there a reason for displaying the organogram of the regional government structure? The project should have its own organogram. The project should review the commitment/objective of the Amhara livestock agency and align it activities with it?− Yes, the organogram shows the Livestock Agency organogram. This is because the project will be implemented by using the structure (from the region to kebele (smallholder farmers association) of the Amhara Livestock Agency. This means that the project does not have its own technical experts and every technical activity will be performed by the Livestock Agency experts. Of course, stakeholders of the project will have their own role on the implementation of the project, but as they are many, showing them on the organogram is very difficult. Please refer stakeholders list at the end of my presentation. 4. Although the budget allocated looks big, it will not be enough if you plan on carrying out all the planned activities. You planned to cover many districts. The improvement of sheep and goat skin production by itself is huge project. Therefore, it is recommended to further determine the priority intervention areas from the listed activities and focus. − This is valid comment and we will consider it. 5. How do you plan to make the animal health service gender sensitive?− For instance, we will include women when working with private vet practitioners. − We will train women on basic livestock treatments and husbandry of their own animals and animals of their neighbors. 6. Given that the plan of the government is to cover the entire region with government funded revolving fund, how are you going to promote private veterinary practices? − The government funded revolving fund allocation doesn't mean that public veterinary service is subsidized. Livestock owners in the Amhara region have been on \"partial cost recovery system\", for every veterinary service for the past 10 years. They also pay for 15% increases on drugs. Therefore, the cost is almost similar in private and public veterinary Services. We also understand that livestock owners of the region are looking for quality and accessibility of the service. 7. Why is the participation of universities on the project not clearly indicated? − It is difficult to show clearly, every stakeholder's participation in the project document. The Universities, as other stakeholders, will be communicated and will participate on trainings, development of manuals, development of SOPs and other skill related issues of the project activities.Expectation and recommendations 1. Areas or districts selected for project implementation should be market oriented where farmers or livestock owners have the capacity to pay for animal health related services and use inputs relatively. Therefore, will be easy for testing the project modality for private sector engagement. 2. Performance indicators of the project clearly defined, and deliverables put in figures from the very beginning to achieve the goals and ease the ME process. 3. Focus to strengthen the quarantine systems and surveillance along the border to reduce risk of diseases (Metema and Gonder)illegal livestock market areas at the cross borders. 4. To keep the cold chain of the vaccines, it would be good to have ;temperature monitoring cards which work like litmus and will be kept with the vaccine during storage and Cold chain truck (+4 to -20 degree Celsius) with minimal capacity at the regional level 5. The two regional animal health laboratories strengthened with training and inputs to give quality and sustainable diagnostic services. Diagnostic kit supply should be coordinated.6. Technical assistance will be in place for laboratory personnel's regarding calibrations, maintenance etc… 7. Focus on risk-based vaccinations. 8. Resource/budget used efficiently. 9. Unemployed professional (veterinarians) and youth recruited in the project. 10. Animal health professionals should get incentives from the project to work with interest and full capacity. 11. Good environment for fair competition between the private sector service and public service: private practitioners increase in number and quality of the animal health service improved 12. Focus on market driven commodity like meat export (see the value chain approach including production, marketing and slaughterto fully utilize the abattoir capacity) 13. Women will get improved knowledge on animal disease prevention and are actively involved.https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/fao-eu-heardAt the end of the workshop, participants were asked for Aha moments (sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension of the workshop), these are shown in figure below and summarized/listed below:The following key points raised during the Aha moment will be discussed in the coming steering committee meeting.✓ Workshop was good. However, I am concerned about whether the project will be able to manage coordination among regions. I hope to see a stronger inter-regional collaboration. ✓ The project is complex in terms of technicality and there will insufficient time to accomplish the planned activities. ✓ Addressing the root causes for poor animal health situation is more important than trying to respond to their effects. The project should focus on the root causes. ✓ Create a comprehensive learning and sharing agenda and strategy to properly capture process-oriented knowledge and generate lessons and inform future projects. ✓ It should have a space to support the disease prevention activities through supporting NVI. ✓ Very important but needs to be well coordinated with the various efforts on going by different actors. Sustainability of the results should be focused. ✓ Big project with big resources however weak coordination component.✓ I hope the project will be feasible, possible if there is strong collaboration and commitment. I am satisfied with the mode of event organization. ✓ It was participative in that expectations and questions from all participants was captured very well. ✓ This project has not specifically addressed PPR in any of the results. ✓ The workshop was very important event with nice coordination and participation. ✓ Great partnership and engagement. ✓ HEARD may be an instrumental tool that will help Ethiopia increase production and productivity ✓ This project is important to contribute so much on the livelihood of Ethiopian farmers. ✓ Addressing the root causes for poor animals' health is very important than trying to respond to their effects. The project should focus on the root causes. ✓ Thank you and kindly share the HEARD project document. ✓ Well managed workshop. We learned a lot of things. ✓ If implemented correctly and efficiently, the project will improve the livestock health of the country so keep it up. ✓ Create a comprehensive learning and sharing agenda and strategy to properly capture process-oriented knowledge and generate lessons and inform future projects. ✓ Workshop was good. However, I am concerned about whether the project will be able to manage coordination among regions. I hope to see a stronger inter-regional collaboration.✓ The project is very important in strengthening the PVP that is already indicated by different actors. We need to think the coordination through TA or other means. ✓ The preparation of the inception workshop is very good. I hope we will coordinate all our works and meet the project targets. ✓ It is very important workshop to strengthen the veterinary services of the country. ✓ It should have a space to support the disease prevention activities through supporting NVI. ✓ It was an excellent workshop where we exchanged very good views and ideas. ✓ Very important but needs to be well coordinated with the different efforts on going by different actors. Sustainability of the results should be focused. ✓ It was participatory, very good to share experience and showed room of collaboration work. ✓ Very important and significant for animal health issues and provoking rural development.Increasing Ethiopia's export market should be done in a commited manner. ✓ Giving opportunity to participants was very crucial for the implementation of the project but there's a need to give enough time for Q&A and discussion. ✓ PPR FAO project has delivered lessons/experience that could definitely help implementation of HEARD. ✓ The bus stop approach was interesting. ✓ Different stakeholders focusing on one issue i.e. Animal Health. ✓ Big project with big resources however weak coordination component. ✓ Direct grants from MoA/NoA to regions. ✓ The alignment and shared understanding among the different partners were a success.","tokenCount":"4951"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6521847765.json b/data/part_1/6521847765.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c9691a40dd62c1abea3ac274e1336357556664ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6521847765.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e5138d0f30529f36042c3dff27a556d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0a2ce856-bedb-456e-99cc-2f5039b61430/retrieve","id":"-1172818479"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fa720eca-c41d-4649-b9cb-5aea3f5bd62c","pagecount":"50","content":"The CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate is designed to address the challenges that climate change poses to livestock production, providing livestock-keeping communities with the support they need without accelerating greenhouse gas emissions or degrading land, water, and biodiversity. It forms part of CGIAR's new Research Portfolio, delivering science and innovation to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.To realize this potential, a better understanding of how improved systems can contribute to reducing emissions is needed. Based on that, climate incentives must be put in place to overcome existing barriers and promote the dissemination of improved livestock projects. Since Brazil is pivotal in shaping the livestock sector's impact on climate, land, and livelihoods in the region, we used it as an example to investigate both a pathway for a transition to low-emissions beef production, and the role of voluntary carbon markets to support financing this transition.Our analysis shows that adopting improved agricultural practices in beef cattle farms can deliver animal products with much lower emissions and land-use intensity. This generally involves sustainably intensifying production systems. In Brazil, improved (semi-intensive and intensive) livestock systems, compared to extensive systems, on average: Increase herd productivity (kg of carcass weight produced per animal unit) by 61-116%; Increase productivity per unit area (kg of carcass weight produced per hectare of cattle-ranching system) by 220-640%, and Reduce emissions intensity (kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) per kg of carcass weight produced) by 57-75%. Considering Brazil's current average emissions intensity of approximately 41 tCO 2 e per ton of carcass produced, the scaling of improved systems could result in a 43% reduction in emissions intensity, reaching 55% when including changes in soil carbon stocks. Furthermore, since methane emissions are strongly reduced, the additional warming effect of such emissions over the next 20 years under a global warming potential star (GWP*) accounting system would be virtually zero with the adoption of an improved system. Furthermore, total emissions intensity under GWP* would drop by more than 80%, even with increases in emissions of other greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide due to increased pasture fertilization. Notably, the realization of these results should be accompanied by reducing cattle herd size -a trend seen in regions with more intensive beef-cattle production.These results illustrate the key importance of promoting large-scale implementation of pasture-based intensification with adequate production practices to create the conditions to reduce emissions while meeting growing global food demand.A major barrier to the scaling of improved systems is, however, the size of the investment required, which can reach US$ 1,900 per ha in fixed assets (pasture improvements and ranch infrastructure), and up to US$ 4,000 per ha in working capital (cattle acquisition and production costs). Another related barrier is the risk-return relationship, as extensive cattle ranching is usually characterized as a low-risk, low return activity, while intensive systems are riskier due to higher input costs.In this context, carbon-market incentives might be a game-changer for tackling those barriers. We applied a new methodology currently under development in the voluntary carbon market which uses output-based accounting to estimate the potential carbon revenues from a beef-cattle-intensification project in Brazil. We found that these carbon revenues in 10 years might represent from 42% (pessimistic scenario) to 126% (optimistic scenario) of the project's amount of investment in fixed assets -a very significant incentive to commit these investments. This indicates that voluntary carbon markets could be crucial for rapidly scaling cattle ranching intensification projects in Brazil. here is now a consensus that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food systems and especially from beef-cattle production need to be tackled. It is also widely acknowledged that in regions where low-productivity systems are still prevalent, the improvement of production practices could achieve very significant emissions reductions along with other positive environmental (e.g., biodiversity) and economic outcomes (Roe et al., 2021;Gerber et al., 2021;Strassburg et al., 2014).Still, many questions remain as to how that can be achieved. This is due first to the complexity of the beef industry's emissions profile, which includes emissions from livestock, feed, fertilizer, fuel and energy inputs, as well as emissions and/or removals from soil carbon stock changes and deforestation/ reforestation. Moreover, some concerns have been raised regarding potential negative impacts of production intensification: Could intensification strategies lead to an increase in absolute emissions, despite the reduction in emissions intensity? Could the adoption of more profitable livestock systems create perverse incentives for the expansion of production and pasture areas instead of the intended reduction? Should we focus on reducing meat consumption (by promoting a plant-based diet), instead of trying to improve beef production?In this context, the objective of this paper includes evaluating the importance of reducing emissions from pasture-based beef production through improved production practices in Brazil -a country recognized as one of the top five priority investment countries with potential to influence the livestock sector's impact on climate, land, and livelihoods across 132 low-and middle-income countries (Bonilla-Cedrez et al., 2023). It also discusses the potential role of carbon markets, along with other potential climate-change management finance mechanisms, to stimulate the necessary changes in the beef sector. Since no compliance carbon market is yet established in Brazil, we focus on analyzing the voluntary carbon market. Furthermore, this analysis could provide important insights for similar large-scale, pasture-based production systems in other Latin American countries.For that, we begin by reviewing existing literature on the role of sustainable livestock intensification in Brazil for global climate goals. Then, we examine GHG emissions quantification and assess the mitigation pontential of low-carbon cattle-grazing practices. Lastly, we explore a practical approach in the voluntary carbon market to support the shift towards low-emission, deforestation-free beef production in the region The Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels can only be achieved with significant contributions from natural climate solutions -especially in food systems, including supply-side and demand-side measures, while strengthening food security and safety (IPCC, 2022; Roe et al., 2021;Clark et al., 2020, Conservation International, 2022).Today, global food systems emit approximately 20.0 GtCO 2 e/y or one-third of global GHG emissions (Costa Jr et al., 2022a;Tubielo et al., 2022;Crippa et al., 2021). Four food value-chains (beef, milk, rice, and maize) are responsible for nearly 65% of these emissions. The beef value-chain alone accounts for 34% of total food-system emissions (~7.0 GtCO 2 e), being the most GHG emission-intensive across the food value-chain.Beef production is projected to increase by about 40% by 2050 compared to today's levels (FAO, 2018;OECD-FAO, 2022). So, meeting the projected demand under current average production practices would increase emissions from the beef value-chain to about 11.0 GtCO 2 e/y (Costa Jr et al., 2022a;FAO, 2022). This will also augment negative impacts on other environmental components (e.g., biodiversity and water) -a scenario that would put at risk global climate and environmental goals (IPCC, 2022;CBD, 2022).On the other hand, although it is the most emission-intensive food value-chain, beef production also has the largest mitigation potential across food systems. Recent estimates show that by improving the efficiency of beef production with the adoption of existing technologies, emissions could be reduced by 70% compared to today's average values -from approximately 7.3 to 2.5 GtCO 2 e/y while meeting 2050 food demands (Costa Jr et al., 2022).Livestock management practices that promote mitigation of GHG emissions and enhance beef productivity include pasture management (i.e., recovery of degraded land and use of improved forage varieties, and rotational grazing), animal management (i.e., supplementary feeding and improved genetics and breeding techniques), and introduction of silvopastoral and agroforestry systems (Wang et al., 2019;Kell, 2011;Rao et al., 2001;Fisher et al., 2007;Li et al., 2022;Feliciano et al., 2018).These practices can enhance pasture net primary production and quality, and lead to greater soil carbon storage to the point it can exceed the level found in degraded pastures and even in native vegetation (Fisher et al., 1996(Fisher et al., , 2007;;Maia et al., 2009;Carvalho et al., 2009;Paulino et al., 2016). These practices also tend to optimize feed quantity and quality, increasing feed conversion and system resilience. Furthermore, they have an especially marked effect on CH 4 emissions -the major GHG emitted by livestock systems, which is a short-lived climate pollutantand thus could deliver a substantial shortterm mitigation for beef-production climate impacts. A sustained ~0.35% annual decline in CH 4 emissions would be sufficient to avoid additional warming from the CH 4 emitted, which is analogous to an impact of net-zero CO 2 emissions (Costa Jr et al., 2021).  LAPIG, 2022). By adopting more efficient pasture-and animal-management practices in Brazil, beef productivity could exceed 200 kg of beef per ha per year, which is more than three times the current production rate (Cardoso et al., 2016;Barbero et al., 2021). With that, the industry could spare land for other uses -especially for Brazil's projected 9 Mha soybean expansion by 2030 (MAPA, 2021).Therefore, making cattle ranching more productive is central to meeting future agricultural productivity demands and climate commitments, especially by focusing on expanding use of existing low-emission livestock practices and recovering degraded pastures (Garcia et al., 2017;Strassburg et al., 2014;Goldenberg et al., 2014;BRASIL, 2015).Adopting improved beef-production practices generally implies intensifying the production systems. Although there are substantial GHG emissions reductions attainable through this process (Roe et al., 2021;Cusack et al., 2021), it has been debatable whether:improving pasture conditions may rather increase the overall cattle herd and related GHG emissions instead of the intended reduction; higher economic returns from intensified systems could stimulate producers to expand land and eventually promote deforestation and even more emissions, thereby counteracting the mitigation benefits of improved production systems; the greater beef production needed to meet growing demand might outweigh the mitigation potential of improved production systems (Cusack et al., 2021;Roe et al., 2019;2021;Clark et al., 2020;Springmann et al., 2018;Latawiec et al., 2014;Tilman, et al., 2014).However, these arguments might not adequately consider the factors at play in the interactions between supply and demand, nor the criticality of the challenges related to beef production in the global food system.First, the dependencies between supply and demand, and cost and price, need consideration. If pasture conditions and overall cattle ranching practices improve at scale, the projected demand for beef might be met using a much smaller area of land, and a significantly reduced cattle herd than current levels. However, if practices improve and the area and herd remain the same or even increase, total production would significantly exceed projected growth -but to meet what demand? The hypothesis that more production would imply more demand could only be true if prices were to fall -but for that to be possible, production costs or producers' profits would need to fall substantially. None of these two scenarios seems realistic, since improved production does not significantly affect production costs per unit of output, and historically livestock production is a low profit-margin activity. The US provides an example of increasing beef outputs while reducing total herd population: in the last four decades, beef production grew by 26%, from 10.2 to 12.2 Mt cw, while the total beef cattle herd reduced by 21%, from 104.5 to 82.5 M heads (USDA, 2022). The US produces more beef than Brazil with less than half the cattle herd.Moreover, if cattle farmers could be properly rewarded for the environmental benefits derived from sustainable intensification, this may create a strong economic incentive to transition away from the extensive and environmentally costly traditional systems' that still predominate in the tropics -thus overcoming supposed perverse incentives for deforestation (Latawiec et al., 2014). This would add to the fact that deforestation in the region is largely illegal, and more capital-intensive activities typically go along with higher aversion to legal risks and higher compliance with legal requirements, including in terms of conserving legal reserves and restoring degraded riparian forests, in addition to maintaining employees' health and safety and other rights.Finally, livestock production is central to the critical, combined challenge of the global food system to substantially increase production while halting or slowing expansion of agricultural land, and strongly reducing GHG emissions. This is due to its relatively high projected growth of 13% in the 2020s (USDA, 2022) and 40% by 2050 (FAO, 2018). No single solution will likely overcome this challenge -on the contrary, a combination of solutions addressing the different dimensions of the challenge is necessary (FAO, 2019;Searchinger et al., 2018;Springmann et al., 2018;Fischer, 2018).For example, dietary changes aimed at reducing meat consumption in rich countries, and substituting animal-based proteins by plant-or lab-based proteins might contribute to addressing the challenge, but they would have to be extremely drastic to compensate or reverse the trend of increases in demand in low-and middle-income countries. On the other hand, if accompanied by implementing low emission practices, reducing consumption of livestock-based protein by 10%-25%, for example, could promote significant emission reductions of 0.5-2.5 GtCO 2 e/y by 2050 (Costa Jr et al., 2022). In any case, no strategy could be a substitute for the shortterm necessity of implementing significant changes in beef-cattle production, to be able to meet the growing beef demand with lower emissions and using less land.The magnitude of these emissions depends on several factors, including climate, soil fertility and texture, in addition to the level of soil degradation and grazing management strategy, animal type, feed quality, and the use external inputs to sustain productivity (IPCC, 2006;Figueiredo et al., 2016;Carvalho et al., 2014;Cardoso et al., 2016;Fisher et al., 1996;Maia et al., 2009;Cerri et al., 2007). In this context, understanding GHG emissions in beef-cattle production systems, and how such emissions are quantified and can be reduced is fundamental to planning implementation of mitigation options in the sector Adopting improved beefproduction practices generally implies intensifying the production systems.  Enteric fermentation occurs when anaerobic microorganisms decompose and ferment carbohydrates, especially those in cellulose-based material, in the animal's digestive tract. It is a natural process that enables ruminants to eat plant materials that otherwise would not be digestible. The primary factors affecting enteric fermentation are the microbe population and the activity level in the rumen, which are largely affected by dietary composition.The higher the feed quality, the lower the CH 4 production from enteric fermentation per unit of dry matter intake. Estimations for CH 4 emissions from enteric fermentation are based on gross energy intake and a CH 4 conversion factor, and depend essentially on animal weight, which determines dry-matter intake, and diet digestibility.Cattle dung and urine decomposition under anaerobic conditions produces CH 4 . This process occurs most intensively when cattle are confined in feedlots, and where manure is disposed of in liquid form. CH 4 emissions from manure management are estimated based on volatile solid excretion and a CH 4 emission factor and depend essentially on animal weight, diet digestibility, and the manure management system.The The application of N-fertilizers (synthetic or organic forms) to soils emits N 2 O. These emissions, as for manure management, occur through the nitrification and denitrification of nitrogen contained in fertilizers, through direct and indirect processes. Calculations for direct and indirect N 2 O emissions from N-fertilizer application are based on the amount of synthetic or organic N-fertilizer applied and emission factors for direct and indirect N 2 O emissions. The emission factors and the fractions volatilized and leached depend on the type of N input (synthetic or organic) and on the climate (wet or dry).The manufacture/ processing and transport of lime and of synthetic fertilizer inputs produce GHG emissions, included here as embedded emissions, which are calculated based on the amount of each product used and a country-or region-specific emission factor (typically, from a Life Cycle Assessment database).As carbonate limes added to soil dissolve, bicarbonate is released and then evolves into CO 2 and water. Similarly, urea applied to soils is converted into ammonium, hydroxyl and bicarbonate ions, which evolve into CO 2 and water. Calculations for CO 2 emissions from lime and urea applications are based on the amount of limestone or dolomite or urea applied and an emission factor.Crop residues from pasture renewal include above-ground residues, corresponding to the non-harvested portion of the pasture biomass, and below-ground residues, corresponding to the root system. They include nitrogen which is mineralized and produces N 2 O emissions. Additionally, a fraction of those N inputs is subject to leaching and runoff, thus producing indirect N 2 O emissions. Calculations for direct N 2 O emissions from crop residues are based on an estimate of the amount of N in above-and below-ground crop residues, and a direct emission factor. Indirect emissions consider the fraction leached of these N inputs and an indirect emission factor. For pastures, direct and indirect emissions depend mostly on grass productivity, frequency of pasture renewal, and climate.Eventual pasture burning releases both CO 2 and non-CO 2 GHGs. CO 2 is not accounted for since it is considered that an equivalent amount will be removed as the grass regrows after the fire. As for non-CO 2 GHG, calculations for CH 4 and N 2 O are based on the area burnt, the above-ground biomass available, a combustion factor and an emission factor for each gas. They depend essentially on the proportion of the area burned and on grass productivity.Cattle-feed input emissions encompass primarily emissions related to crop production, which are similar to those of pasture management. Additionally, they also include emissions from transporting and processing feed ingredients. Typically, country-or region-specific emission factors (i.e., emissions per kg of feed ingredient consumed) are used in the calculation.As for pasture management emissions, feed input emissions are not relevant in extensive systems, where cattle are fed very small amounts of supplements. However, such emissions can become significant in intensified systems aimed at maximizing cattle weight gain.Cattle-ranching operations consume fossil fuels (manly diesel oil) for pasture management, and for animal feeding and manure management in more intensive systems. They also consume electricity for lighting facilities and employee housing, as well as powering agro-industrial operations, pumping water, among other uses. Fuel and energy consumption generate GHG emissions which are calculated based on the amount and type of fuel consumed and the amount and source of electricity consumed, considering country-specific emissions factors.Creating farm infrastructure made of concrete or metal, such as fences, hangars, and feed and water troughs, or of plastics such as water pipes, as well as equipment, and vehicles such as tractors and implements, wagons, cars, among others, also produces GHG emissions. These embedded emissions are calculated considering a country-specific emission factor per square meter of such constructions and per item of equipment used, considering their typical lifetime. The emissions from fuel and energy and from farm infrastructure and equipment are typically not significant when compared to livestock or other sources or sinks.Carbon is the main element of soil organic matter (~55%), usually referred to as soil carbon or soil organic carbon (SOC), which is responsible for most soil functions, especially providing nutrients and structure for plant development. The SOC level is regulated by the deposition of plant biomass and dung, and its consumption by soil microorganisms. Thus, it can be affected by the type of land use and management adopted. Under degradation, this balance is usually disrupted, and carbon input to SOC is lower than its consumption, resulting in losses as CO 2 emissions.By improving pasture systems, inputs of organic matter are newly balanced. This re-establishes and increases SOC levels through higher removal of CO 2 (carbon sequestration) from the atmosphere via plant photosynthesis and storage in the soil. Soil C is measured as a stock (SOC content per hectare in a given soil layer), and the related emissions or removals correspond to the variation of that stock.Changes in woody biomass stocks caused by deforestation or by forest regeneration or reforestation are not directly part of cattle-ranching operations but might be linked to cattle ranching when deforestation is followed by pasture planting, or when former pastures give way to new forests.Carbon is the main element of above-and below-ground woody biomass (~50%) and the amount of CO 2 emitted by deforestation or sequestered by forest growth might be very significant when compared to cattle-ranching emissions. It is beyond the purpose of this paper t>o quantify such emissions or removals, but it is notable that improved beef-cattle production systems require far less land than extensive ones, and therefore such systems can contribute decisively to reducing deforestation pressure and/or to allowing conservation and reforestation, at both farm-and landscape-level.At this point we quantify how GHG emissions sources and sinks vary in different pasture-based beef-production systems.For that, we used a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to estimate livestock output and GHG emissions of five different beef-cattle production-systems representing the main variations existing in Brazil, from the most extensive to the most intensive system (Table 1). Our estimates encompassed all the sources and sinks presented in the previous section.   The reduction in livestock emissions intensity that accompanies the improvement of beef-cattle systems is strongly linked with the increase in herd productivity. Herd productivity is measured as the (carcass) weight of cattle produced, divided by the average number of animal units in the herd. The size of the cattle herd necessary to produce a determined output amount reduces as cattle-herd productivity increases. In an extensive system, herd productivity is 64 kg cw / animal unit (AU) /y and an average herd of 23 heads is necessary to produce 1 t cw per year. Herd productivity reaches 103-108 kg cw / AU / y in a semi-intensive system and 134-138 kg cw / AU / y in an intensive system, while the herd to produce 1 t cw / y reduces to 13-14 heads and 10 heads, respectively (Table 3). These figures demonstrate the herd reduction effect linked to cattle ranching intensification.  (Ayarza et al., 2022).In this analysis, we consider i) a soil-C loss of 0.25 tC/ha/y in the extensive system on degraded pastures; ii) a constant soil-C stock in the semi-intensive systems, and iii) a conservative 0.5 tC/ha/y soil-C accumulation in the intensive systems, which we considered to be recovered from degraded pastures, in the 20 years following recovery. Based on these assumptions, in an extensive system, total emissions including soil-C losses, reach 72 kg CO 2 e/ kg cw. On the other hand, the accumulation of soil C in an improved system with well-managed pastures can further reduce emissions intensity, leading to total emissions as low as 18-19 kg CO 2 e/kg cw in intensive systems. This represents a 73-75% reduction compared to the most extensive system (Table 2).CH 4 emissions represent most of cattle ranching GHG emissions across all production systems. However, the share of CH 4 in the total emissions tends to decrease as production becomes more intensive. This is because CH 4 emissions intensity is much higher -more than 3x -in extensive systems compared with intensive systems (Table 4). Our analysis shows that the improved digestibility of diet in intensive systems allows for a reduction in daily CH 4 emissions of 15% in the calving phase, 18% in the rearing phase and 25% in the fattening phase -or up to 50% in feedlot finishing -and such emissions occur over a much shorter period.N 2 O emissions intensity does not vary substantially between the different systems analyzed (Table 4). That is because the increase in N 2 O emissions from N-fertilization in more intensive systems is compensated for by the reduction in N 2 O emissions from manure per kg of output, also due to the improved diet digestibility and shorter time to slaughter.CO 2 emissions are almost insignificant in extensive systems but increase as production becomes more intensive (Table 4). These emissions represent essentially embedded CO 2 emissions in fertilizer, lime and feed inputs. Farm facilities (including direct energy use and fuel consumption) do not contribute significantly to beef-cattle ranching emissions, even in intensive systems. The variation in land-use intensity between the different systems is even more drastic than in emissions intensity. The total agricultural land required to produce 1 t cw per year -including the area for cattle grazing as well as the areas for silage and crops production for cattle feed -is 19 ha for the extensive system but decreases to 5.8-6.3 ha for the semi-extensive systems and to 3.2-3.4 ha for the intensive systems, an 82-83% reduction (Table 5). This very significant land-sparing effect also contributes indirectly to reducing emissions from deforestation -and/or increasing removals from reforestation -since it frees up land for agricultural expansion, forestry, conservation, and restoration without the need of further deforestation.Notably, the Calving phase has the highest emissions and land-use intensity compared to the Rearing and Fattening phases, due to a relatively lower annual output per animal unit. As a result, Calving represents more than 50% of total cattle ranching emissions across all systems (varying from 53 to 61%). Similarly, the Calving phase also has the highest land-use intensity among the different phases of the beef-cattle ranching cycle, and it occupies 57-72% of the total area used for cattle ranching (Table 6). When forests are cleared to expand cattle-ranching areas, the associated GHG emissions have an order of magnitude many times greater than the emissions of beef-cattle production. For example, the average emissions per hectare deforested and converted to pastures in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes amount to 342 tCO 2 / ha, according to Brazil's 4th National GHG Inventory (Brasil, 2020). That is equivalent to 92 years of emissions of an extensive beef cattle-ranching system (of 3.7 tCO 2 e/ ha/y), 65 years of a semi-intensive system (of 5.2 tCO 2 e/ha/y), or 51 years of an intensive system (of 6.7 tCO 2 e/ha/y) (Table 2).Conversely, with forest growth or restoration in cattle farms, the associated GHG removals can also be very significant, though lower and much slower than the emissions from deforestation. These removals can contribute to compensating for cattle-ranching emissions. According to Brazil's 4th National GHG Inventory (Brasil, 2020), natural regeneration in areas previously occupied by pastures in the Amazon or Cerrado biomes typically remove 10.5-11.1 tCO 2 per hectare per year from the atmosphere. This can compensate for the emissions of 2.8 ha of an extensive beef cattle-ranching system, 2.0 ha of a semi-intensive system, or 1.6 ha of an intensive system.For reforestation, growing homogeneous planted forests of eucalyptus typically remove 42 tCO 2 per hectare per year -though not all this stock is permanent (Brasil,2020). This growth can offset emissions from 11.3 ha of an extensive beef-cattle-ranching system, 8.1 ha of a semi-intensive system, or 6.3 ha of an intensive system.the associated GHG emissions have an order of magnitude many times greater than the emissions of beef-cattle production.This section considers the broader context of beef-cattle production and associated emissions, and the understanding and quantification of the different processes generating GHG emissions and removals in beef-cattle systems. Here, we indicate some key strategies to significantly reduce those emissions.These strategies are: i) controlling deforestation in the supply chain; ii) increasing productivity with a focus on improved pastures and animal weight gain; iii) implementing the use of CH 4 inhibitors; and iv) including trees in the production system.The order of magnitude of emissions from deforestation compared to emissions from cattle production itself implies that seeking to reduce emissions from production only makes sense (at the ranch level) if fully eliminating emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the supply chain.The other reason why curbing deforestation and degradation should go along with reducing cattle-ranching emissions is that both require increasing cattle-ranching productivity (see below).Cattle-ranching operations willing to eliminate deforestation and degradation from their supply chain must implement rigorous zero-deforestation strategies, using a sufficiently distant cut-off date (i.e., 10 years or more) and encompassing both their own activities and those of their suppliers -for cattle and feed ingredients:For their own activities and areas, ranching operations should actively promote conserving forest remnants, implementing strategies to prevent risks of degradation from fire as well as promoting recovery of degraded forests.For cattle sourcing, ranching operations should implement purchasing policies that: i) source cattle only from suppliers who have produced the animals themselves, and ii) check each supplier for recent deforestation prior to any purchase. They should keep records of this monitoring, which in large operations should be third-party verified.For feed ingredients, ranching operations can either: i) purchase directly from producing farms, which allows them to verify that they are free from recent deforestation, or ii) purchase from industries that have adopted environmentally-compliant policies, or that are subject to zerodeforestation requirements (e.g., the soy moratorium in Brazil).Additionally, broader environmental compliance should accompany the control of deforestation in the supply chain, especially as regards restoring degraded riparian forests and legal reserves, as required by the Brazilian legislation.As demonstrated above, sustainably-intensified beef-cattle systems have a much lower GHG footprint than extensive ones. Thus, the adoption and/or diffusion of production practices that increase productivity should be the central strategy to decrease emissions in the industry. In Brazil, the national agricultural research agency (Embrapa) has developed a framework of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for Beef-Cattle Ranching (Embrapa, 2022) which provides useful beef-production GAP guidelines. However, although intensification strategies tend to go together, as they require increased investments and improved management capabilities, not all of them have the same impacts on emissions. Here we identify key changes in production systems that can most substantially curb emissions intensity:In the calving phase, the major factor influencing emissions intensity is the weaning rate (ratio of calves weaned annually per mature cows in the herd). Improved breeding practices can substantially increase pregnancy rates and reduce calving interval, which is key to increase weaning rates. Such practices include adopting a breeding season and, subsequently, fixed-time artificial insemination, associated with monitoring cow pregnancies and enhancing cow-culling management. Improving pasture management and cow nutrition prior to the breeding season and during lactation also contributes to increasing pregnancy rates, and calf survival and weight. Subsequently, supplementary feeding for calves (creep-feeding) can further enhance the system's overall efficiency.In the rearing phase, emissions reductions depend mostly on adequate pasture management and supplementary nutrition. Thus, reforming degraded pastures and implementing rotated grazingmanagement is crucial, along with the necessary infrastructure and machinery for distributing supplements (feed troughs, hangar for feed storage, wagon for feed distribution) and water (central reservoir and network of water pipes and troughs).In Integrating improved livestock systems with crops and/or forestry is a promising approach in terms of land-use dynamics in the context of the rapidly-evolving land use in Brazil. In this context, soybean and other crops and, in some cases, planted forests, have been substituting pasture areas at an accelerating rate. With integrated systems, it is possible to convert part of the pasture area to other uses, and intensify the remaining cattle-ranching areas, which reduces the expansion of cattle ranching to other potentially new areas. Besides that, integrated systems can compensate for part or all of the cattle-ranching emissions through the accumulation of C in soil and trees (Souza et al., 2019).To calculate the potential of the forestry component of an integrated system to offset cattle-ranching emissions, we consider the sequestration potential of a typical eucalyptus forest of 42 tCO 2 /ha/y. The permanent portion of this C-sequestration includes: i) the average long-term stock of forest carbon, which represents half of the total carbon stored over a production cycle -considering here 10 years for eucalyptus for lumber; and ii) the portion of the harvested timber in each production cycle to be stored in long-lived wood products (or substitute fossil energy) -assuming here a lumber yield of 50% of the harvested timber, itself representing 90% of the above-ground biomass produced during each cycle.Given these assumptions, we calculate that a forestry component occupying only 22% of the total area of a livestock-forestry system with semi-intensive cattle production would fully offset cattle-ranching emissions (Table 7). This could be, for example, a system with double-rows of eucalyptus with 3m spacing between trees, and 30m between rows. The share of the area occupied by the forestry component would need to reach 27% to fully offset cattle-ranching emissions in an intensivepasture-based system. These estimates consider the SOC sequestration of each cattle-ranching system, not including potential additional SOC benefits of croplivestock-forest integration. Similar results can be expected from planting native species, in addition to the several other benefits such as biodiversity conservation, increased resilience, and potentially higher income (Soares et al., 2021). Further research on native species such as that carried out by the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forest, and Agriculture is fundamental to provide more confidence in adopting native species in integrated systems. Note: 1 kg of live weight gain (lwg) is equivalent to 0.5 kg cw gain.In the Orinoquia region in Colombia, implementing a natural silvopastoral system in cow-calf systems, has produced calves with emissions of -17 kg CO2e / kg lwg*, a reduction of almost 200% compared to breeding farms in the region. This system includes regenerating woody species (\"chaparro\") along with livestock management that uses improved forages with deep rooting varieties, rotational grazing and breeding selection.In  2022), conversion from heads to animal units (AU) using the average of system 1-5 (Table 1) of 0.728 ; and (iv) beef production and projection from USDA (2022): 5.0, 8.3, 9.5, and 9.5 Mt of carcass in 1990, 2005, 2007, and 2021 -with a projection to increase 27.6% to meet domestic and international beef demands to 12.12 Mt of carcass by 2030; (v) 2030 scenarios emissions based on Table 2 . In 2021, Brazil produced 9.5 Mt carcass (USDA, 2022), resulting in an emission intensity (not considering SOC variation) of 41.1 tCO 2 e / t cw. Our estimates show that improved systems may have an emission intensity of 23.4 tCO 2 e / t cw (considering the average of systems 4 and 5, Table 2), 43% lower than the country's current average. Where SOC sequestration is realized, this value may reach 18.4 tCO 2 e / t cw, a 55% reduction (Table 8). Furthermore, considering that CH 4 emissions are reduced by more than 50%, the additional warming effect of CH 4 emissions over 20 years under a GWP* accounting system (Costa Jr et al., 2021) would be virtually zero. Thus, under GWP*, total emissions intensity could drop by 90%, to 4.0 tCO 2 /e per ton of carcass produced (Table 8).Although Brazilian beef productivity has increased over the last three decades at an average rate of 1.8% per year, this pace of intensification, if maintained, will not be enough to curb emissions with the magnitude required to reach global climate goals by 2030. Scaling improved systems by that date could reduce total emissions from beef-cattle production by 27% to 87% compared to 2021 levels -while increasing beef production by 28% (Table 8).Notably, not all the pasture areas are suitable for intensification -but on the other hand, intensification reduces dramatically the total area necessary, so that the availability of suitable areas should not be a limitation. Meanwhile, the total agricultural land and herd size necessary for beef-cattle ranching could be significantly reduced by disseminating improved systems, since they use only a fraction of the area of agricultural land required by more extensive systems (Table 5) and also have a much higher herd productivity (Table 3). We estimate Brazil's agricultural land area for beef production and cattle herd size could be retracted by more than 100 million ha and 70 million AU (~100 million heads), respectively, with the widespread adoption of improved systems, while meeting beef-production projections in 2030. These results show the importance of swiftly scaling the sustainable intensification of beef-production systems to create the conditions for reducing emissions while meeting food demands and sparing land for other uses Carbon markets refer to markets where carbon credits are generated and traded according to defined regulations and/or standards. Regulated markets represent roughly 95% of total value transacted today, and voluntary carbon markets the remaining 5% (Gerber et al., 2021).Regulated carbon markets, also known as Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS), are markets where governments determine intended levels (or caps) of emissions for targeted industries, and the players who emit below their cap can trade carbon credits with those who emit above their cap. In most existing ETS, the agriculture sector is not subject to caps, but in some cases, players in the sector might be allowed to sell carbon credits if they perform better than a determined level of reference for their activity -e.g. in Australia's Emissions Reduction Fund (Australia, 2023), as well as in Alberta, Canada (Alberta, 2023).In jurisdictions or activities not encompassed by an ETS, businesses can use Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) to trade emissions. In VCMs, businesses (or governments) who voluntarily commit to reducing or neutralizing their GHG emissions can do so through purchasing credits from projects or programs that can demonstrate emissions reductions or removals that are additional (i.e., that are not compulsory and would not have occurred in the absence of the carbon project) and verified under a recognized standard.* * There are currently four major standards certifying credits in the Voluntary Carbon Market: Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), managed by Verra; Gold Standard; Climate Action Reserve; and American Carbon Registry.Brazil currently does not have an ETS in place -although it has projects aiming to have one in the future (Brazil law project, 2022). When that happens, it will most probably not impose an emissions cap on the agricultural sector. In the shortterm, therefore, the sector should consider possibilities in the VCM (ICC, 2021).Further potential developments, such as the possibility of beef-cattle projects to provide offsets to other sectors in a future ETS, as is the case in the Australian ETS, or the possibility of specific gas-gas offsetting, are not addressed in this paper and should be explored in further research.As discussed above, several strategies might be used to reduce beef-cattle emissions. Here we focus on projects that reduce emissions through improved pasture management, supplementary nutrition and breeding techniques. We also consider the option of adding a forestry component to the system. We estimate the typical investment level for such projects to be approximately US$ 5,900 per hectare. This includes US$ 1,900 in fixed assets (pasture reform, infrastructure, and machinery) and US$ 4,000 in working capital (cattle herd adjustment and associated production costs for one production cycle) (Table 9). Adding a forestry component occupying part of the area would increase total costs by approximately US$ 150 and US$ 450 per hectare for 10% and 30% of the area covered, respectively. This estimate is based on parameters for a 1,000-hectare area provided by Caaporã Agrosilvipastoril, a Brazilian low-carbon protein company whose team has developed and implemented such projects in various regions in Brazil. * Note: (i) Typical values per ha for the rehabilitation and intensification of a 1,000-ha degraded beef-cattle ranch . (ii) The cost of pasture renovation might be lower depending on the pasture degradation level. In some cases, part of the ranch pastures can be recovered. (iii) Economies of scale apply to the machinery and ranch infrastructure items. (iv) Working capital needs are additional investments compared to the previous situation and consider a complete cycle system. Backgrounding-fattening systems might be different. (v) Costs as of Nov 2022 considering 1 USD = 5.5 BRL.In general, carbon projects in the voluntary market need to demonstrate additionality -which means they should demonstrate that the project scenario (i.e., reducing emissions and/or increasing carbon capture) would not occur in the absence of the incentive from the carbon credits. In this case, the question is whether cattle-ranching intensification would happen by itself anyway, or if carbon projects are needed to make it happen or to accelerate the process.The first aspect to be considered here is current trends. On the one hand, the productivity of cattle ranching in Brazil has been clearly improving over time. For example, according to USDA (2022), Brazil's average beef-cattle-ranching productivity increased by 13% (from 53.0 to 59.8 kg cw / ha / yr) between 2011 and 2021. At the same time, average bull slaughter-weight has increased by 12% (from 264 to 295 kg cw) and the share of animals finished in feedlots has increased from 10% to 17%. On the other hand, average productivity level is still very low compared to the potential of intensive systems (300+ kg cw / ha / yr), and the adoption of intensive systems is still very limited. In most ranches, the business-as-usual scenario is of a continuity or very gradual improvement, while a swift change is needed.The size of investment required compared to the producers' limited access to finance is a major barrier to accelerating production intensification. In our example, for a middle-size ranch of 1,000 ha, a total amount of US$ 5.9m is required. A typical ranch owner neither has the resources, nor access to third-party financing for this size of investment. As a result, investments are deferred or carried out partially, in a piecemeal fashion and over a long period. Another related barrier is the risk-return relationship. Extensive cattle ranching is usually characterized as a low-risk, low-return activity, where profits eventually occur through the long-term valuation of the assets, more than from the activity itself. When the level of investment increases, so does the risk, and the return remains largely dependent on commodity prices, which impacts the investment's attractiveness for risk-averse players. From this follows that a carbon incentive might be a game-changer for cattle-ranching intensification initiatives in Brazil.A few methodologies related to grassland management and livestock production already exist in the VCM standards. However, most of these methodologies account for emission reductions through an area-based approach, which penalizes projects that increase productivity as they typically increase emissions on a per-area basis. Two methodologies account for emission reductions through an output-based approach, thus considering the benefits of efficiency improvementshowever, they do not apply in the Brazilian context: one is applicable only to smallholder dairy production, whereas the other is applicable only to the finishing phase in Alberta, Canada. One methodology considers emissions reductions related to reduced enteric CH 4 emissions, but it focuses only on the effects of feed additives.Recently, Microsoft, the giant tech company, engaged with a livestock farm in Australia to buy US$ 500.000 of carbon credits from SOC stocks increase, opening the door for this type of transaction in the livestock sector. However, identifying scalable livestock production systems and technologies in other producing locations to match with the increasing interest of investors and companies in carbon credits has been challenging. Unsurprisingly, up to this moment there are still no livestock carbon projects registered in the Latin-American VCM (VERRA, 2022), despite the increasing number of farms monitoring their GHG emissions using tools such as the GHG Protocol in Brazil (FGV, 2022).Considering this gap, the development of a new methodology was proposed in 2021 by Imaflora, a Brazilian NGO, to incentivize emissions reductions from productivity improvements in pasture-based beef production, with land-sparing as a co-benefit. The methodology concept note was approved in mid-2022 and the full methodology is currently under development. Its pilot project is being implemented in the Amazon region of Brazil by Caaporã, through an investment from Vale Fund.The new methodology will reward projects for the difference between their performance, calculated in terms of emissions intensity, and a crediting baseline to be based on a regional performance benchmark (i.e., the average of the project region's emissions intensity, informed by a regional survey).To assess the potential impact of a carbon project using an output-based accounting on a low-carbon beef-cattle investment, we estimated potential carbon revenues over 10 years in different carbon-price scenarios. Considering Brazil's average as a baseline and the most intensive system in our modeling as the project, the project has a potential to generate approximately 80 Verified Carbon Units (VCU) per hectare (1 VCU corresponds to 1t CO 2 e) over a 10year period (Table 10). This figure includes the emissions reductions potential in the cattle-ranching system itself as well as the increase in soil-carbon stocks. If the project includes a forestry component, the corresponding removals could generate a significant amount of additional VCUs. As for carbon prices in the voluntary market, they are currently around US$ 15 / t for a high-quality Nature Climate Solutions (NCS) project (OPIS, 2022). Future prices for this type of project will depend on overall carbon market trends -for which there are very positive prospects (TSVCM, 2021) as well as on the market's receptiveness for the new methodology and on the quality of each project. We simulated three price scenarios: US$ 10 (pessimistic), US$ 15 (conservative) and US$ 30 (optimistic). We compared the potential carbon revenues generated in each scenario with the amount of investment in pasture reform and ranch infrastructure, considering that the remaining investments (machinery, cattle and production costs) are more likely to be financed through existing financing sources.In the pessimistic carbon price scenario, carbon revenues represent 42% of the total amount of investment in pasture reform and ranch infrastructure; in the conservative scenario, 84% and in the optimistic scenario, 126% (Table 11). In any case, the potential revenues represent a very significant incentive, and might indicate a novel financing solution for cattle-ranching intensification projects in Brazil.    ","tokenCount":"7470"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6527213416.json b/data/part_1/6527213416.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7b181b71bb6ab762ca3497678cad2032321ad2ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6527213416.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8cfda5f9496335651d6ff547de3994e0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2d306f4b-3095-4744-9804-152740774fd0/content","id":"-1398790504"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ded1cac9-dc59-4fa7-b328-9644c94035d1","pagecount":"35","content":"Agro-dealers Seed users• Multiply seed• Maintain seed quality• Market seed• Sell seed• Provide technical assistance to farmers on seed selection• Purchase appropriate seeds based on economic and agroclimatic conditions• Agro-dealers / traders• Public agencies, NGOs and relief programs• Upstream: seed producing businesses and wholesalers• Downstream: Seed consumers• Agro-dealers• Direct distribution from public agencies, NGOs and relief programs• Weak and unreliable network for seed distribution;• Market distortions (e.g. fake seed, free seed provided to farmers)• Delayed payments of agro-dealers • Slow varietal turnover• Challenges with social inclusion (adoption by women, remote farmers,…)• Limited understanding of options for value creation and generating consumer demandThe transition towards seed value chains is a necessary step to reach the 2 nd generation of development objectives.Plans for AG2MW and beyond  The point of purchase presents an opportunity to convince the end users of your product. Further options should be explored to actively engage.Posters","tokenCount":"147"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6558281775.json b/data/part_1/6558281775.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..499aaaa22c838cc928ec20c81d4c6a2d4ee20930
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6558281775.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a6f42eb830723881538f73b332e24729","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/355d37cb-fe54-44d2-ad26-5f8b84deda04/retrieve","id":"-1443783351"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"be403b8f-fcc8-4ca8-97cc-56cd48d86e4d","pagecount":"4","content":"El cambio climático global impactará fuertemente en la diversidad intraespecífica, provocando cambios en la distribución de variantes genéticas en el espacio y el tiempo, en los niveles de plasticidad fenotípica y en las adaptaciones evolutivas, lo que a su vez podría reducir la diversidad genética en las poblaciones naturales y contribuir a una reducción de su viabilidad y, en última instancia, a su extinción. Para las especies cultivadas, dos grandes preocupaciones son la disminución de la productividad y el aumento de las pérdidas postcosecha; desafortunadamente, los escenarios climáticos futuros prevén un aumento de la temperatura y la variabilidad de las precipitaciones, lo que tendría grandes consecuencias para la producción de alimentos a nivel mundial.Los frijoles (Phaseolus sp.) son originarios de América; este es un grupo económica, social, biológica y culturalmente importante en este continente, así como en otras regiones del mundo. El género Phaseolus comprende más de 70 especies, de las cuales cinco han sido domesticadas, representando estas, en conjunto, la legumbre de grano más importante en la dieta del hombre a nivel mundial. Una de las especies domesticadas de frijol es P. lunatus L., la cual recibe diferentes nombres, como: frijol Lima, fréjol torta, pallar y feijao-fava. Después del frijol común (P. vulgaris L.), el frijol Lima es la segunda especie más importante del género; en las últimas décadas, esta especie ha adquirido mayor relevancia como resultado de una preocupación cada vez mayor por tener una seguridad alimentaria ante la generación de problemas de producción de grano de frijol derivados del cambio climático y también por qué el frijol Lima posee un rango mayor de adaptaciones ecológicas que el observado en el frijol común, lo que sugiere la existencia de una base genética más amplia de la cual se puede hacer uso en programas de fitomejoramiento.Aún con el gran potencial productivo del frijol Lima y de que Ecuador es parte de su centro de domesticación Andino y un área importante de diversidad genética de la especie, su cultivo en este país está muy poco desarrollado y la investigación científica en torno a esta especie es muy escasa. Hoy en día, en Ecuador no existe información actualizada sobre el estado de conservación de sus variedades criollas y de sus poblaciones silvestres; además, las accesiones de frijol Lima colectadas en este país usadas en los estudios sobre esta especie son muy pocas, aspecto que no permite determinar la importancia real de este germoplasma. Ante esta problemática, es importante llevar a cabo eventos internacionales sobre el frijol Lima que detonen el interés de los grupos de investigación ecuatorianos por esta especie, los cuales puedan colaborar con expertos internacionales y así generar conocimiento científico y tecnológico en beneficio de la seguridad alimentaria del Ecuador y de Latinoamérica en general.Hoy, investigadores de diversos países e instituciones internacionales que están llevando a cabo esfuerzos importantes para el estudio, conservación, manejo y caracterización de la diversidad genética del frijol Lima se reúnen en este II Simposio Internacional sobre el Frijol Lima: Retos y Perspectivas ante Escenarios de Cambio Climático, con el fin de compartir sus experiencias y generar sinergias de trabajo en beneficio de la seguridad alimentaria de América y otras regiones del planeta en donde también se cultiva el frijol Lima.El Comité Organizador del Simposio, integrado por el Dr. Juan Cadena V., la M. Sc. Andrea León C. y la Lic. Irina L. Puente M., del Instituto en Investigaciones en Etnociencias de la Universidad Central del Ecuador (UCE); así como por el Dr. Jaime Martínez C., profesor-investigador de la Unidad de Recursos Naturales del Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A. C. (CICY), les damos la más cordial bienvenida, esperando disfruten y obtengan el mejor beneficio académico de este Simposio.écologique et territoriale. La réponse à plusieurs questions pendantes demande maintenant plus de travail de terrain en Amérique du Sud.Alianza Bioversity y CIAT La colección mundial de Phaseolus spp. que custodia el banco de germoplasma de la Alianza de Bioversity International y el CIAT en Colombia, conserva 37.934 accesiones pertenecientes a 47 especies y 13 híbridos interespecíficos procedentes de 112 países. La colección de frijol lima (Phaseolus lunatus), que es la segunda especie más representativa dentro del género, comprende 3.301 accesiones procedentes principalmente de las Américas, África y Asia. A pesar de que se tienen vacíos en cuanto a cobertura, esta colección contiene una gran diversidad de materiales que los mejoradores pueden seleccionar para enfrentar el cambio climático, dado que cubre un rango más amplio de temperatura, altitud y humedad en comparación con la colección de Phaseolus vulgaris: desde las accesiones mesoamericanas silvestres y regresivas entre 3 y 1800 metros sobre el nivel del mar (msnm) hasta las accesiones andinas (320 -2400 msnm) y otras accesiones de zonas desérticas y húmedas. El mejoramiento genético del frijol lima, hasta la fecha, ha sido limitado, a pesar de su potencial para contribuir a la adaptación al clima. Históricamente, se han distribuido un total de 14.274 muestras de frijol lima a organizaciones de 63 países. Esto representa el 10% del total de muestras de Phaseolus spp. enviadas fuera de la Alianza. Curiosamente, sólo 920 muestras han sido solicitadas con fines de mejoramiento, predominantemente por organizaciones de Bélgica, Perú y Estados Unidos. Las 13.354 muestras restantes se utilizaron para otros fines, como investigación básica y experimentos agronómicos. También cabe destacar que la colección de Phaseolus de la Alianza incluye 65 accesiones de ocho especies pertenecientes a la sección Paniculati (Freytag), que podrían cruzarse con el frijol lima para introducir rasgos favorables, las cuales pueden solicitarse al banco de germoplasma para este tipo de fines. Estamos en proceso de trasladar la colección de Phaseolus al nuevo banco de germoplasma llamado Semilla del Futuro (https://alliancebioversityciat.org/future-seeds), una plataforma que apoyará las innovaciones en genómica y big data con el fin de impulsar el uso de las colecciones de germoplasma para la adaptación al clima y la mejora en la nutrición.Palabras clave: Recursos genéticos, colección de frijol, diversidad, conservación, Semillas del futuroThe world collection of Phaseolus spp. held by the Colombia genebank of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT conserves 37,934 accessions belonging to 47 species and 13 interspecific hybrids originating from 112 countries. The lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) collection, which is the second most representative species within the genus, comprises 3,301 accessions mainly from the Americas, Africa and Asia. Notwithstanding some gaps in coverage, the collection contains a great diversity of materials that breeders can select to confront climate change, given that the collection covers a broader range of temperature, altitude and humidity compared to the Phaseolus vulgaris collection: from the wild and weedy Mesoamerican accessions between 3 and 1800 meters above sea level (masl) to the Andean accessions (320 -2400 masl) and other accessions from desert and humid areas. Genetic improvement of lima bean, to this date, has been limited, despite its potential to contribute to climate adaptation. Historically, a total of 14,274 lima bean samples have been distributed to organizations in 63 countries. This represents 10% of the total samples of Phaseolus spp. shipped outside the Alliance. Interestingly, only 920 samples have been requested for breeding purposes, predominantly by organizations in Belgium, Peru and USA. The remaining 13,354 samples were used for other purposes such as a basic research and agronomic experiments. It is also worth noting that the Alliance's Phaseolus collection includes 65 accessions of eight species belonging to the Paniculati (Freytag) section, which could be crossed with lima bean to introgress favorable traits and can be requested from the genebank for this aim. We are in the process of moving the Phaseolus collection to the new Future Seeds genebank (https://alliancebioversityciat.org/future-seeds), a platform that will build on innovations in genomics and big data to boost the use of germplasm collections for climate adaptation and improving nutrition.Key words: Genetic resources, bean collection, diversity, conservation, Future Seeds.Angel Murillo 1 *, A. Monteros 2 1 Programa de Leguminosas y Granos Andinos (EESC-INIAP), 2 Departamento Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (EESC-INIAP), Quito, Ecuador. *angel.murillo@iniap.gob.ecEl INIAP a través del Programa de Leguminosas y Granos Andinos (PRONALEG-GA) con sede en la Estación Experimental Santa Catalina (EESC), realiza investigación para ofrecer alternativas tecnológicas para mejorar la productividad y consumo de leguminosas de grano: fréjol (Phaseolus vulgaris), haba (Vicia faba), arveja (Pisum sativum), chocho (Lupinus mutabilis) y lenteja (Lens culinaris). En el periodo comprendido entre 1990 a 2015 ha liberado 23 variedades de fréjol (arbustivo y volubles), 6 de arveja, 2 de chocho y 2 de haba. El banco de germoplasma del género Phaseolus del INIAP está conformado por 2844 accesiones, de las cuales 2465 son de P. vulgaris, 176 P. coccineus y 142 accesiones de P. lunatus principalmente. Las primeras 94 colectas de P. lunatus fueron realizadas entre 1989 y 1990, mayormente en las provincias de Imbabura, Azuay, Pichincha y Loja (D. Debouck). Posteriomente entre 2006 y 2007, 48 accesiones fueron colectados en la provincia de Imbabura (Karina García y Luís Lima). Adicionalmente, en 2019 se realizó 23 colectas de P. lunatus y P. Coccineus) en las provincias de Cañar y Azuay. En este mismo año, se realizó el incremento de semilla de 10 accesiones de P. Lunatus del banco de germoplasma del INIAP. Los retos y perspectivas para el futuro es el refrescamiento e incremento de semilla de la colección del banco de germoplasma de P. lunatus del INIAP y caracterización agronómicamente, morfológicamente y genéticamente de la colección; y búsqueda de fuentes de resistencia a gorgojos (A. obtectus), para incorporar en materiales comerciales de fréjol (P. vulgaris).Palabras claves: leguminosas, germoplasma, diversidad genética, P. lunatus.","tokenCount":"1578"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6571831622.json b/data/part_1/6571831622.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..028974b129dc90276bbc1237471b231e9ee27dc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6571831622.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cc8f7555ebc4c4ab4a83246a10c1f0ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/56be7d14-c88d-4a93-91b8-cefabdd1f6f2/retrieve","id":"813732779"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"508fb37d-b5dd-4f93-a320-fda22b1a56d8","pagecount":"13","content":"Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a staple crop for millions of people in the tropics and subtropics. Its genetic improvement through breeding is being challenged by pre-zygotic and post-zygotic crosscompatibility barriers within and among species. Studies dissecting hybridization barriers on yam for improving the crossability rates are limited. This study aimed to assess the cross-compatibility, which yielded fruit set, viable seeds and progeny plants in an extensive intraspecific and interspecific crossing combinations in a yam genetic improvement effort to understand the internal and exogenous factors influencing pollination success. Cross-compatability was analyzed at the individual genotype or family level using historical data from crossing blocks and seedling nurseries from 2010 to 2020 at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The average crossability rate (ACR) was lower in interspecific crossing combinations (6.1%) than intraspecific ones (27.6%). The seed production efficiency (SPE) values were 1.1 and 9.3% for interspecific and intraspecific crosses, respectively. Weather conditions and pollinator's skills are the main contributors to the low success rate in the intraspecific cross combinations in yam breeding. At the same time, genetic distance and heterozygosity played little role. Interspecific cross barriers were both pre-zygotic and postzygotic, resulting from the evolutionary divergence among the yam species. Dioscorea rotundata had higher interspecific cross-compatibility indices than D. alata. Distant parents produced intraspecific crossbred seeds with higher germination rates compared to closest parents (r = 0.21, p = 0.033). This work provided important insights into interspecific and intraspecific cross-compatibility in yam and suggested actions for improving hybridization practices in yam breeding programs.Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a crucial crop for food security and poverty alleviation in the tropics and subtropics 1 . Of the ~ 600 yam species, eleven are majorly produced for food and income 2 . Yam globally ranks fourth among the root and tuber crops and second after cassava in Africa 2,3 . In West Africa, where yam is extensively grown (> 90% global production), the per capita consumption can be as high as 40 kg per year for some ethnic groups 4 . In this region, the yam crop is an integral part of the socio-cultural and religious belief systems. Despite its importance as a staple food crop, source of income 5 , and socio-cultural connection to the society which depends on it, yam productivity has not increased much as compared to other root and tuber crops or cereal and grain crops 2,6 . Yam cultivation is challenged by many factors, of which an under-developed seed system is primary. In response to this significant challenge, there are breeding and seed system initiatives to improve the quality and availability of improved varieties and their seeds.Yam breeding is instrumental in developing improved varieties, packaged in the form of seed, possessing superior yield and food quality attributes for different market segments and production environments. Breeding objectives are diverse and include high and stable tuber yield, outstanding nutritional and processing qualities, pest and disease resistance, and ecological adaptation traits 2 . To achieve these objectives, crop breeding relies on identifying desirable genes in source germplasm: landrace, breeding line, wild relatives, and their successful transfer to the agronomically and nutritionally preferred background. Success in this effort primarily depends on flowering, pollination, fruit and seed set, and seed germination 7,8 . However, yam breeding has been slow due to the alterations in reproductive ability that followed its domestication 9 . For instance, the domesticated yam species primarily propagate vegetatively via tubers or bulbils than the botanical seeds.Consequently, flowering in most popular yam varieties became sparse, irregular, or absent. Besides, there are ploidy variations, asynchronous flowering between male and female individuals, high flower and ovule abortion rates, and low seed viability 7,[9][10][11][12] . Cultivated yam is mainly dioecious, making many genotypes an obligate out-crosser. Natural cross-pollination is exclusively entomophilous, the sticky nature of pollen grains being unfavorable to wind pollen dispersal 7 . These factors result in low cross-pollination success causing low fruit and seed set from supervised and unsupervised crosses.Broadening the existing yam breeding populations' genetic base is crucial for improving tuber yield, pest resistance, quality, and adaptation traits among cultivated yams. Landraces, secondary/tertiary gene pools, and wild relatives (primary gene pool) are unique sources of genes for these traits and thus should be exploited for yam breeding progress [13][14][15][16] . To date, intraspecific crosses have mainly been utilized to develop improved commercial yam varieties 2 . An attempt with an interspecific cross to introgress desired genetic variants among yam species has been reported 16 . However, such effort is often challenged by pre-zygotic and post-zygotic crosscompatibility barriers in most crops [17][18][19] , including the yams 20,21 . Although some yam species cross naturally in controlled and wild environments 22 , efforts are necessary to understand the nature of crossing barriers and devise means that facilitate gene flow among yam species to achieve cross-breeding goals. Most reports associated the low cross-compatibility among yam species with differences in ploidy status 7,16,20,21 . However, the causes and extent of interspecific barriers in yam have been poorly investigated and documented.The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) with the global mandate for yam research. In partnership with its national and international partners, IITA maintains, develops, and releases yam varieties to meet farmers' and other end-users needs and demands. However, past experiences in yam breeding revealed consistently low intra-and interspecific cross-compatibility rates throughout the years and stations. For instance, Darkwa et al. 2 estimated the average crossability (ACR) and seed production efficiency (SPE) rates at 20.3 and 10.5%, respectively, for D. rotundata and 28.0 and 9.3%, respectively, for D. alata at the IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. Although several reports referred superficially to the pollination success, cross-compatibility, and seed viability among and within yam species, very few studies entirely focused on these aspects. A retrospective analysis of the past pollination practices and information is crucial for a better understanding of factors linked to the reported low cross-compatibility rates in yam breeding and to suggest future directions. This study, therefore, explored the yam pollination information at the IITA for the period of 2010-2020 to specifically assess: (1) the cross-compatibility rates among and within yam species; (2) the germination rate of crossbred seeds, and (3) internal and external factors associated with yam cross-compatibility rates.Weather conditions at IITA breeding sites. At the Ibadan station, the temperature was stable across years while the rainfall was erratic and significantly fluctuated from year to year (Fig. S1a). The year 2010 had the highest rainfall (1926.3 mm) while 2020 had the lowest (1074.0 mm). June (246 mm, 15.5 days) and September (245 mm, 17.5 days) were the wettest months of the year. During the yam flowering window, August (130 mm, 13.9 days) and November (31.9 mm, 3.3 days) were the driest months. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures were 22.4 and 31.6 °C, respectively. Ibadan received a mean annual rainfall of 1546.9 mm from 116 rainy days, mean sunshine of 5.8 h, and mean maximum and minimum relative humidity of 92.8 and 50.25%, respectively (Fig. S1b). As for Ibadan, Abuja station had stable temperatures across years (min. 21.12 -21.77 °C, max. 32.21 -33.48 °C) while there was high inter-annual rainfall variability (945 mm in 2015 -2105.88 mm in 2019) (Fig. S1c). At Abuja, the flowering window had well distributed monthly rainfall amounts (217 mm, 20 rainy days from June-October) with moderate temperatures (21.92 °C min, 29.93 °C max). August was the wettest month (276 mm, 25 rainy days), while November was the driest (11 mm, 5 days) within the yam flowering window. Abuja minimum and maximum relative humidity values were 48.84 and 90.97%, respectively. This station experienced a wind speed of 1.89 km h −1 and solar radiation of 14.94 MJ m −2 day −1 (Fig. S1d). The two stations were significantly different for maximum temperatures (t = − 4.62, p = 0.006), minimum temperatures (t = 6.54, p = 0.001), and wind speed (t = 7.90, p < 0.001). All other parameters showed no differences between the two stations.Between 2010 and 2020, the IITA yam breeding program made ~ 332,500 and 176,645 hand pollinations in D. rotundata and D. alata crossing blocks, respectively (Table 1). Other yam species were seldom used in intra-specific hybridizations. The average cross-compatibility rates (ACR) among D. rotundata and D. alata genotypes were 23.4 and 31.7%, respectively. Dioscorea rotundata (9.2%) and D. alata (9.3%) had comparable seed production efficiency (SPE) values. The highest interspecific ACR were recorded on D. rotundata when crossed with its wild relatives, D. burkiliana (29.2%) and D. hirtiflora (27.3%). Interspecific crosses involving D. alata had consistently lower ACR (Table 2). The highest interspecific SPE was recorded on D. rotundata × D. burkiliana (9.7%).Exogenous and genetic factors on yam cross-pollination success. Exogenous factors. Year, location, and pollinator effects significantly influenced the supervised cross-pollination success in yam (Tables 3, 4, 5, Table S5). The cross-pollination success indices such as the ACR and SPE were consistently higher at the Ibadan site than the Abuja on both D. rotundata and D. alata crossing blocks (Table 4). The highest ACR values, 27.7% on D. rotundata and 69.4% on D. alata crossing blocks were recorded in 2019. The lowest 10.7% on D. rotundata and 12.3% on D. alata crossing blocks were in 2017 and 2020, respectively (Table 5).The annual weather data did not fully explain the inter-annual variability in yam cross success. Instead, weekly variability in rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, sunshine, and the number of rainy days within the yam flowering window (July to November) significantly influenced the pollination outcomes in either the D. Table 2. Interspecific cross-compatibility indices among yam species (Dioscorea spp.) The first species in the pedigree served as the female parent in the interspecific cross while the second species provided the male parents, ACR = average cross-compatibility/crossability rate, SPE = seed production efficiency. Dioscorea bulbifera wild refers to individuals of the species from the forest/wild environments. SD = standard deviation. ACR and SPE are presented by means ± standard deviation.Females  S6). In August, a lower success rate was recorded in the D. rotundata crossing block, while this happened in the D. alata crossing block in November. Crosses made after 14 November had no fruit setting regardless of the cross-combinations in D. alata (Fig. 3). Technicians involved in yam hand pollination also played a significant role in the cross-pollination success rates (Table S5). Some technicians achieved up to 5 times more pollination success rates than others. When assessed on the same sets of parents and cross-combinations, the pollinator's efficiency ranged from 6.2-30.3% and 27.9-67.4% in D. alata and D. rotundata pollination blocks, respectively. Genetic relatedness and cross-pollination success. Genetic distance among D. alata parental clones ranged from 0.02 to 0.84 (Fig. 4a, Supplementary data 1). There were no significant correlations between the parental genetic distance and the ACR (r = 0.046, p = 0.52) and between the parental genetic distance and the SPE (r = 0.007, p = 0.92)(Fig. 4b and 4c).The D. rotundata clones used in crosses had a genetic distance of 0.01-0.96 (Fig. 5a, Supplementary data 2). No relationship was established between parental genetic distances and the ACR (r = 0.09, p = 0.2) or the parental genetic distance and the SPE (r = 0.052, p = 0.46) for D. rotundata cross-combinations (Fig. 5b and 5c).Heterozygosity and cross-compatibility. The heterozygosity level of the parents had no significant effect on the ACR of the D. rotundata (r = 0.014, p = 0.89, Fig. 6a) and D. alata genotypes ( r = 0.214, p = 0.11, Fig. 6b).  The same trend was observed for the genotype's percentage high crossability (PHC) irrespective of the species (r = 0.024, p = 0.81 for D. rotundata and r = 0.155, p = 0.25 for D. alata).Although no significant effect of genetic relatedness and heterozygosity of crossed parents was established on cross-compatility indices, there was an influence (p < 0.001) of parent combinations on ACR and SPE for both major yam species (Table 3). Seed germination rates of major yam species. Germination rates significantly varied among years (p = 0.0003) for D. alata and D. rotundata crossbred seeds. The highest seed germination rate was recorded in 2020 (54%), while the lowest rate, 37%, was in 2015. The seed germination rate was significantly different among the supervised interspecific and intraspecific crossbred seeds and the unsupervised open-pollinated intraspecific crosses (p < 0.001) (Table S7). The open-pollinated seeds of D. rotundata germinated most (61%), while that of D. alata were least viable (43%). However, intraspecific D. alata cross-bred seeds (55%) outperformed the D. rotundata intraspecific cross-bred seeds (49%). We noticed a positive correlation (r = 0.21, p = 0.033) between the seed germination rates and the parents' genetic distance (Fig. 7). Seed germination rates of major D. alata and D. rotundata intraspecific cross-combinations are presented in Table S8.   This study used 11-year historical data to investigate intra-and interspecific cross-compatibility and seed germination rates in yam. We ascertained the generally low cross-compatibility rates among and within yam species reported by several studies 2,7,12,16,23-26 . Our retrospective analysis in yam crossing blocks at the IITA breeding program indicated that climatic factors and technician pollination skill are the main exogenous factors contributing to low cross-pollination success rates in D. alata and D. rotundata. Among the climatic factors, weekly differences in rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, number of rainy days, and sunshine during the pollination window were the main contributors to success rates. Our results revealed that making crosses in August for D. rotundata and November for D. alata could result in low pollination success due to the suboptimal weather conditions. This suggests the need for supplemental irrigation in yam crossing blocks to reduce the water deficit's adverse effects on yam reproductive phases during these months. Our results supported those of Abraham and Nair 27 , which linked successful pollination in yam with high relative humidity and moderate atmospheric temperatures.Examining technicians' performance on the same cross-combinations simultaneously, we found highly significant differences among technicians in making successful pollination (p < 0.001). The anther removal from the male flower and its transfer to the female stigma is delicate. It requires special skills that might be lacking in many short-term pollinator staff involved in yam hand pollination operations. Pollinator's skill and weather conditions partly explained the significantly lower pollination success recorded at the IITA Abuja site than at Ibadan. Abuja site was characterized by lower relative humidity and higher temperatures compared to Ibadan. Hence, selecting conducive crossing sites and enhancing technicians' skills are highly relevant to improve the cross-pollination success rates in yam breeding programs.Genotype genetic relatedness had no significant effect on pollination success rates in both D. rotundata and D. alata intraspecific crosses. The high or low success rates were recorded in crosses irrespective of the genetic distance between parents. This wide genetic compatibility range implies that breeding programs could exploit desirable genetic variant gene transfer within closely related and distant parents within the yam species. Although admitting that inbreeding depression could occur with low genetic distances, Willi and Van Buskirk 28 found no single peak of optimal genetic outbreeding in outcrossing plants. Since the genetic distance had no significant effect on yam cross-compatibility rates, it might be wise to cross genetically distant parents to exploit heterosis in yam breeding. Past studies supported that tuber yield is positively correlated with heterozygosity in yam 16,20,21 . It is, however, noteworthy that outbreeding over more considerable genetic distances could lead to a decline in the clonal component of fitness, as warned by Willi and Van Buskirk 28 .Although no significant effect of genetic relatedness and heterozygosity of crossed parents was established on cross-compatility indices, there was an influence of parent combinations on ACR and SPE for both major yam species. Using the same D. alata plant materials as in this study, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) showed that ACR could be controlled by loci on chromosomes 1, 6 and 17 12 . That study, therefore, opened an avenue for developing genomic tools for predicting hybridization success in yam breeding programs.As previously suggested by Mondo et al. 7 , several other internal and exogenous factors seem to influence yam pollination successes and should be given attention in future studies. Factors such as the optimum pollination time, floral morphology, and biology, especially for anthesis detection, pollen parent viability, etc., should also be investigated to identify additional causes of low intraspecific pollination success in yam at IITA. To complement this study conclusions, we recommend a more refined experiment on ploidy status among and within species to elucidate its effects on intra and interspecific cross-pollination success.Pre-breeding involving interspecific hybridizations is valuable for broadening the cultivated yam species' genetic base by introducing desirable genes. Past efforts of broadening the genetic bases of white (D.  sources of genes for yam mosaic virus (D. praehensilis), bulbil formation ability as alternative planting materials (D. bulbifera), source of carotenoids (D. cayenensis), tolerance to nematodes (D. dumetorum) or as bridge between incompatible species (burkilliana and D. hirtiflora) (Table S9). Although some natural/spontaneous interspecific hybridizations between D. rotundata and its wild relatives has been reported in West Africa 22,29 , yam is only propaged using tubers by farmers and botanical seed is only used for breeding purposes. Spontaneous crosses would require parental reconstruction to identify the pollen parent before advancing progenies. Developing bi-parental crosses through hand pollination is thus more precise. Average crossability rates, through hand pollination, were highest when crossing D. rotundata with its wild relatives (D. burkilliana and D. hirtiflora). The same trend was observed on SPE as the highest values were on D. rotundata × D. burkilliana cross-combinations. This relatively higher cross-compatibility rate could be attributed to high genetic relatedness among these species, as reported by previous studies 22,25,[29][30][31] . However, interspecific crosses involving D. rotundata with D. cayenensis had generally low success rates due to expected differences in ploidy level. Diocorea cayenensis is mostly triploid with male sex flowers, while diploid plants dominate D. rotundata with dioecious flowering patterns 32,33 . It is noteworthy that successful interspecific crosses were dependent on the cross direction such that reciprocals seldom ensured satisfactory results. This demonstrated the presence of unilateral incompatibility in yam species translated by rejection, in one crossing direction, of pollen from one species by pistils of a related species 19,34 . Therefore, when designing an interspecific hybridization program, male and female parents should be selected carefully to optimize the pollination success rates.Our results showed that yam species experience both pre-zygotic and post-zygotic compatibility barriers. The pre-zygotic barriers prevented successful fertilization even when viable pollen and receptive stigmatic parents were used. The pre-zygotic barriers seemed much stronger among yam species as the crossability rate (translated by fruit set) was rare in interspecific crosses. Luque et al. 19 associated such barriers to the degree of domestication. Besides, that pre-zygotic barrier, also referred to as pre-fertilization barrier, could be a result of the halfway arrest of the elongation of the pollen tube in the stylar canals 18 . On the other hand, post-zygotic barriers prevented embryo development and seed formation even though the fertilization was successful. Such post-zygotic barriers could be mainly attributed to differences in ploidy levels 19 or by degradation of hybrid embryos and/or endosperm in incongruous crossings 18 . For successful interspecific yam hybridizations, both barriers need to be overcome. Direct in vitro pollination is among the techniques for overcoming the pre-zygotic incompatibility barriers in yams 7 . Besides, hybrid genotypes acting as a bridge between related incompatible yam species could be developed 19 or to experiment the cut-style pollination technique which had been successful in other crops 18 . The post-zygotic barriers resulting in seedless fruits can be controlled by biotechnology techniques such as the embryo rescue to prevent post-zygotic abortions 17 . Such techniques have been fully developed and implemented by CIRAD-Guadeloupe, France, and could be transferred to other programs to exploit interspecific and interploidy crosses in yam breeding 20,21 . We have suggested a scheme illustrating how a successful interspecific hybridization can be designed in yam breeding programs (Fig. 8).Dioscorea rotundata had higher seed germination under unsupervised open pollination than controlled hand pollination. Pollen donors of higher quality might have been involved in open pollination than those used in hand pollination 35 This study showed also distant parents produced highly viable crossbred seeds than closely related ones. This could be associated with the hybrid vigor of distant parents' progenies. Fischer et al. 35 argued that low genetic distance among crossed individuals reduces cross-compatibility and offspring fitness in species with a self-incompatibility system. This reduced offspring fitness could have translated into low seed germination and poor seedling vigor due to inbreeding depression. We also found seed germination rate improvement across years as a result of growth medium optimization at IITA since 2014. Most seedling nurseries have been using carbonized rice husk under proper management in screenhouse conditions 36 . Therefore, the seed germination rate is not only under genetic control but also influenced by growing media and conditions.This study ascertained the generally-reported low crossability and seed setting rates among and within yam species. Low success rates in yam crossing blocks were mainly attributed to the suboptimal weather conditions and technicians' skill rather than the genetic relatedness and parents' heterozygosity levels, as previously assumed. However, the seed germination rate was highest for crossbred seeds from genetically distant parents. Many other factors seem to influence the yam pollination success and should be investigated in future studies.Plant materials and weather conditions. In this study, 11-year (2010-2020) historical data generated from the IITA Yam Breeding Unit's crossing blocks and seedling nurseries were explored. Information on intra-and interspecific cross-compatibility and seed germination rates was gathered irrespective of the breeding objectives. Eight yam species, sourced from IITA core collection, were used for inter-and intraspecific crosscombinations. These species are from different sections of the genus Dioscorea. Dioscorea alata L., D. rotundata Poir., D. cayenensis Lam., D. burkilliana J. Miège, and D. praehensilis Benth. belong to the Enantiophyllum section. Dioscorea dumetorum (Kunth) Pax belongs to section Lasiophyton, while D. bulbifera L. and D. hirtiflora Benth are from the sections Opsophyton and Asterotricha, respectively. It is noteworthy that much of the yam breeding in IITA focused on the two most important cultivated species, D. rotundata and D. alata, with ~ 500,000 crosses recorded from 2010-2020. The list of most popular male and female D. rotundata and D. alata genotypes, their ploidy level, the type, the trait of interest, and average cross-compatibility rate information are provided in Table S1-4. The IITA yam crossing blocks were established at Ibadan (7°29′ N and 3°54′ E) and Abuja (9°10′ N and 7°21′ E) stations in Nigeria. Daily weather data of 2010-2020 were obtained from the IITA Geographic Information System Unit and summarized using a cross-tabulation function. At both IITA stations, yam fields were established in April. The flowering window extended from the end of June to early October for D. rotundata and the end of September to November for D. alata. Annual and monthly weather data are summarized in Fig. S1.Cross-compatibility analysis. Historical data on the number of flowers pollinated, and the corresponding fruit and seed sets for the different cross-combinations conducted in IITA yam crossing blocks from 2010 to 2020 were used to calculate the cross-compatibility indices: ACR, PHC, and SPE. The cross-compatibility rate of a cross was calculated using the following formula:The ACR for a parent was calculated as the sum of cross-compatibility rates in specific crosses divided by the number of cross-combinations involving that particular parent: ","tokenCount":"3907"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6573426090.json b/data/part_1/6573426090.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3ed6379ea2096a52f5d5648055888425c73b7baf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6573426090.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"97e1ad3c30b4bf5f92aa40983688b861","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ac59efc-a7dc-4f3a-a5f2-234ff14fc6b7/retrieve","id":"-1503194248"},"keywords":["Abundance","distribution","dominant species","white grub"],"sieverID":"05ee4b95-1c20-435f-a341-66da82fa0eda","pagecount":"7","content":"A survey was conducted to study the abundance and distribution of white grubs in three districts representing different ecological domines in the country during June-July 2010. Two light traps were installed for two nights in two locations each of Makawanpur, Tanahu and Chitwan districts, and a season long light trap was installed at Mangalpur of Chitwan district from April to September 2010 for assessing scarab beetles flight activity. The 'simple matching coefficient' revealed high similarity >70% between two sites in each of the districts, while a similarity of 29-50% was observed between sites of different districts. The Jaccard coefficient revealed the same trend. However, coefficients were much lower, above 40% when comparing sites within a district, and below 20% when compared sites among the districts. The dominant species in Chitwan were Anomala dimidiata Hope (24%) followed by Maladera affinis Blanchard (23.75%), Anomala varicolor (Gyllenhal) Rutelinae (23%), Heteronychus lioderus Redtenbacher (14%) and Holotrichia sp (7%). The flight activity and species composition of scarab beetles in the three districts appeared to be different.White grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are the soil-living and root feeding immature stages of scarab beetles, of which both adult and larval stages are destructive in nature. The white grub family is the second largest omnipresent family, which includes over 30,000 species (Mittal, 2000). The larvae of these beetles are associated with numbers of crops and sometimes cause economic losses (GC et al., 2009). The damage caused by scarab larvae is estimated to reduce the crop yield by about 40-80% (Prasad and Thakur, 1959;Raodeo, 1974), and in a more recent study by about 12-60% (Pokhrel, 2004). Until recently, three main genera, i.e. Phylophaga sp., Holotricha sp. and Anomala sp. were reported to be major pests in Nepal (Joshi, 1994;Neupane, 1995). Several species of white grubs, including Phyllophaga crinita Burmeister, Phyllophaga congrua (LeConte), Phyllophaga crassissima (Blanchard), and Cyclocephala lurida (Bland), are root-feeding pests of turfgrass, forage grass, corn, small grains, sugarcane, strawberry, potato tubers, and young nursery trees (Crocker et al., 1996). The grubs feed on roots of almost all the crops, like potato, maize, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, groundnut, sesame, sunflower, chilies, cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, brinjal, cucurbit, and lady's finger including turf, meadows, lawns and forest trees (Oya, 1995;Fujiie andYokoyama, 1996: Arita et al., 1993;Potter et al., 1992). The larvae prefer corn, groundnut, potatoes and strawberries but dislike legumes (Matheson, 1985), sweet clover (Metcalf and Flint, 1975) and lucerne (Keller et al., 2000). Therefore, monitoring of the white grub in three agro-climatic domains Makawanpur, Tananhu and Chitwan districts of Nepal were done for their distribution and identification and effective management.The objective of this study was to identify the different species of white grubs and their densities present in three ecological domains represented by two locations in each of the Makawanpur, Tananhu and Chitwan districts.White grubs and their adults were collected from two locations in each of the districts using light traps to assess their prevalence in field crops.ADULT MONITORING Adults monitoring was done to determine the species occurrence and relative densities during June-July, 2010. For collection of adults scarab beetles, two light traps were installed for 2 nights in two different locations of each district; Daman (27°60'555 N, 85°09'095 E and 2303±10m altitude amsl) and Lamatar (27°50'101 N, 85°06'859 E and 2260±6m altitude amsl) of Makawanpur district representing high altitude, Ghasikuwa (27°96'792 N, 84°41'011 E and 542±8m altidute amsl) and Bhanu (28°08'195 N, 84°41'041 E and 486±6m altitude amsl) of Tanahu district representing middle altitude and Bachuli (27°58'126 N, 84°51'336 E and 184±7m altitude amsl) and Patiyani (27°57'880 N, 84°35'040 E and 180±5m altitude amsl) of Chitwan district representing lower altitude. During monitoring activities of scarab beetles, light trap with 18 watt CFL electric bulb was operated in farmer's field. Insects attracted to the light traps were collected into a nylon mess through a funnel trap fitted just beneath the electric light. Trapped insects were separated into scarab beetles and others; scarab beetles only were counted and preserved for taxonomical identification. Scarab beetles were kept in a vial of 15 cm height x 7 cm diameter size. A cotton swab with ethyl acetate moistened placed inside the vial was used as a killing agent. Collected beetles were pinned properly, stored in an insect collection box and brought to the Entomology Division (NARC) in Khumaltar and Plant Protection Directorate in Harihar Bhawan for identification based on reference insects maintained there.Long-season monitoring of white grub adults using light traps was conducted from 24 April to 5 September, 2010 at Mangalpur VDC of Chitwan district. The light trap was installed in farmer's field. The trap was AC-powered, had a 125 watt tungsten bulb, and was operated each alternate night over the study period. A nylon mesh was fixed for the collection of the trapped insects. Light trapped insects in the nylon mesh were collected each alternate day (i.e. in 2-days intervals), pinned in the insect collection box and then transported to Entomology Division of NARC. Identification was confirmed through Plant Protection Directorate. Simple matching coefficient and Jaccard coefficient were used to analyze similarities between the sites and Chi-Square distance for dissimilarities of scarab beetles.The highest numbers of scarab beetles were caught in Daman (32 adults), followed by Lamatar (21 adults) VDCs of Makawanpur district and the lowest numbers were caught in Bachuli (6 adults) VDC of Chitwan district. The highest numbers of beetle genera (6) were attracted in light trap I of Makawanpur and light trap II of Tanahu, while the lowest (4) were trapped in light trap II of Makawanpur and light trap I of Chitwan district. Anomala dimidiata Hope, A. varicolor (Gyllenhal) Rutellenhal, and Heteronychus lioderus Redtenbacher were the dominant species in high hills, mid-hill and terai, respectively. The beetle species and their numbers trapped in each location are presented in Table 1. A total number of 13 species were collected from the light traps in 3 districts. The Jaccard coefficient revealed the same trend, however, coefficients were much lower, i.e. above 40% when comparing sites of the same district and between 0-20% only when sites of different districts were compared (Table 3). This indicated that the insect species prevailing in the study sites, especially in the different agro-ecological zones (districts) were quite variable. Relative high 'simple matching' coefficient for sites from different districts of about 40% were mainly due to the absences of white grub species in both sites; however, presence of the same species between sites from different agro-ecologies (districts) was limited. Nevertheless, some species appeared in all three ecological zones i.e. Mimela inscripta (Nonfried).   sites observed by comparing the frequencies of white grubs showed highly significant difference between Makawanpur I and Chitwan II. The Chi-square distance when comparing these sites with others the dung beetles were removed from the analysis. Then Chitwan II showed almost similar distances (differences) when comparing with other sites (Table 4).The species Anomala dimidiata Hope were caught more or less throughout the experiment period while the highest numbers with peak activity were observed from early June to late July (Fig. 1). The dominant species in Mangalpur, Chitwan were Anomala dimidiata Hope All total thirteen species of scarab beetle were collected using two light traps in each district at two spots during two nights consecutively (Annex 1). This might be due to the short study period capturing time of two nights only. However, this period is considered the peak time for adult scarab beetles activity. This study showed that Anomala dimidiata Hope and A. varicolor (Gyllenhal) were found to be the dominant species in high-hill and mid-hill of Nepal. Similar species were found dominant by GC et.al, (2009)  The highest number (32 adults) of beetles was observed at Daman of Makawanpur district, and the lowest number (6 adults) at Bachuli. The result showed that A. dimidiata Hope and A. varicolor (Gyllenhal) were found to be the dominant species in high-hill and mid-hill of Nepal. Season long monitoring light trap installed at Mangalpur of Chitwan district showed that the dominant species there was A. dimidiata followed by Maladera affinis, A. varicolor, Heteronychus lioderus and Holotrichia sp in order. This study attempted to explore the species present in three districts of Nepal. However, a comprehensive study covering the entire country still remains to be completed. The study reveals that several species of white grubs prevail in Nepalese agro-ecological domain requiring effective management approaches. Black, body compact, convex or a little depressed, abdomen very short, femora very thick, the elytra are very strongly sulcate.","tokenCount":"1405"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6582232856.json b/data/part_1/6582232856.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..870a6f468a658995871cbb64f0bf294a7d83a118
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6582232856.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea909f13835f65848e91bc4fbf4d1c70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/01596c81-20fd-4712-a623-208b8b310ba3/content","id":"-2130412782"},"keywords":["-","-","-","-","-","-------","-","l'.llQP.IC. . ..llf._~-","-","-","Iii~ Qf.JfAl!.lllco.Bl'L"],"sieverID":"0e553aa5-cbb7-47f0-b8f7-122cb49668e1","pagecount":"146","content":"The Fifth International Spring Wheat Yield Nursery ( ISWYN) was composed of 50 spring wheat varieties representative of the major spring wheat types. Data, received from 63 locations throughout the spring wheat regions of the world, included yield, agronomic traits and disease reactions. Statistical analyses and location summaries are presented for all traits mea• sured at each reporting location.Over all reporting locations Penjamo 62, Lerma Rojo 64 -Norin 1 Q. Brevor x Andes ( 3), Pitic 62, Siete Cerros and Sonora 64-Klein Rendidor were the top yielding varieties in that order. Tohari 66 and Huelquen gave the best performance under all three rusts over all locations, hut ranked 12 and 16 for yield, respectively. Some of the varieties had been included in previous international nurseries ( 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) and others were chosen from submissions because they exhibited some outstanding trait in specific regions. An attempt was made to balance previous entries and new entries to keep the nursery current and meaningful.The varieties entered for testing in the Fifth ISWYN were 1 : ARGENTINA *Gaboto: Bage 2018 x H 44-Sinvalocho MAG/Bage 1971/37 -One of the most important soft grained varieties in the northern part• of the Argentina wheat belt. It is considered resistant to Septoria sp., Fusarium and rusts. *Sonora 64-Klein Rendidor: A line of promising yield potential and broad adaptation. It is of intermediate maturity, semi-dwarf and has good disease resistance. It has some cold tolerance and has shown tolerance to Septoria in some parts of the world, especially North Africa and the Middle East. *Sonora 64 x SKE-Lerma Ro;o 64A: A promising semi-dwarf line selected under Argentine conditions.*Sonora 64 x Tezanos Pintos Precoz-Nainari 60 (A): Sister line of Jaral 66 and the Third ISWYN entrv Jaral \"'S\". This line was selected in Argentina and shows promise of a high yield potential, good resistance to stem and stripe rust, strong gluten and early maturity. One defect is low grain test weight. AUSTRALIA *Gaba: Bobin 2 -Gaza -An Australian variety of very wide adaptation. It is very susceptible to stripe rust. Mengavi: Gabo 6 -Mentana/Gabo 2 x Eureka-CI 12632 -This variety has good resistance to stem rust, but is susceptible to leaf rust and flag smut. *Triple Dirk: A version of Dirk with additional genes for stem rust resistance. It has been grown commercially in Pakistan and India. It may be the only Australian variety with resistance to stripe rust. It was an entry in the Third ISWYN. BRAZIL *Carazinho: Colonista-Frontana -A soft red commercial variety reported to be able to produce relatively good yield on acid soils. It has good stripe rust resistance under most conditions. ' Pedigree notations are: \"S\" = sib; E = dwarf and superscript numerals = number of backcrosses. * An asterisk preceeding a variety or cross indicates entry in a previous ISWYN.-4 -CANADA *Selkirk: McMurachy-Exchange x Redman 3 -Until recently, the most extensively grown variety in the moist parts of the northern hard red spring wheat areas. It is stem rust resistant. Manitou: Thatcher 7 -Frontana x Thatcher 6 -Kenya Farmer/Thatcher 6 -PI 170925 -A tall variety with good resistance to stem rust. It is susceptible to leaf rust. CHILE *Huelquen: The most widely grown commercial variety in Chile. It has shown good resistance to all three rusts and high yield potential. It is normal in height. Nariiio ( S ) 2 -Penjamo ( S): An experimental semi-dwarf line with soft grain. COLOMBIA *Bonza 55: Yanqui 50-Kentana 48 II-2254-2P-111B-4B-1B -An important commercial variety in Colombia and Ecuador which has maintained an effective level of resistance to both stripe and stem rust for 15 years. This is unique with the explosive stripe rust race 5ituation in Colombia. *Crespo 63: [Frocor (Newthatch/Mentana 2 -Kenya x Bagellx Gabo II-11263-3T-1B-2T-1B-1T -A commercial variety released jointly by Ecuador and Colombia, having a good level of field resistance to stripe rust. *Napo 63: Frocor-Frontana/Yaqui 48 x Narifio \"S\" U-9314-22T-1B-1 T -An important variety in both Colombia and Ecuador showing very good resistance to stem and stripe rusts. EGYPT Giza 155: A white grained variety of high test weight. GERMANY Kloka WM 1353: A tall, late maturing variety of unknown adaptability. INDIA *C-306: [(Regent 1974 x Chz 3) C.591 2 ] x CP19 x C281) -This medium tall variety of average straw strength was bred for the central districts of Punjab. It is full bearded with pubescent chaff. It is considerered tolerant to the rusts, but is susceptible to loose smut.*C-591: Punjab Type SB-Punjab Type 9 -Another pre-partition variety released in 1934 and still used in some areas. This high yielding strain has hard, bold, lustrous, amber grains. The glumes are a little less pubescent and the straw is weaker than C-518. It is noted for susceptibility to loose smut, stem and leaf rusts.NP-832: No descriptive information available.NP-852: An old, tall, weak strained Indian variety with large, white seed. It has limited yield potential, but is resistant to Alternaria sp. under Indian conditions. It is susceptible to the rusts.The commitment to test internationally promising spring wheat varieties and lines has proven a worthwhile investment. The cooperation received from our collaborators around the world has• been the major reason for their success. From these studies it has been possible to identify current varieties and lines which are widely adapted or well suited for production areas where there is interest in increasing yields. In addition, wheat breed• ers have found this information useful in planning crosses to obtain better varieties.Another aspect of this project was the systematic assessment of this data for insight into the reasons for good (or bad) performance of varieties across locations and years. This data file is now being prepared for a six-year summary report to the cooperators. We are hopeful that the true potential of this effort will soon be realized.This report presents the results of the Fifth ISWYN using the same format as the Third and Fourth ISWYN's.Seed for the Fifth ISWYN was produced in increase plots at the Centro de lnvestigaciones Agrkolas del Noroeste (CIANO) at Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, during the 1967-68 growing season. The seed was treated with a Vitavax (registered trademark for 5, 6-dihydro-2-methyl-1, 4-oxathiin-3-carboxanilide ) disinfectant prior to packeting. The plots con• sisted of six, 2.5 meter rows with three replications. Instructions concerning seeding, nursery management and note-taking, as well as data sheets, were in• eluded with each set of seed.The fifty varieties ( T riticum aestivum) in the nursery represent the principle varietal types of spring wheat grown in many areas of the world. bushels per acre, 1,000 kg/ha is approximately 15 bushels per acre for wheat.Both test weights and 1,000 grain weights were requested because some cooperators do not have test weight equipment. The weights are reported in kilograms per hectoliter ( kg/hl) and 1,000 grain weights are reported in grams. For readers more accustomed to test weights expressed in pounds per bushel, 75 kg/hl is roughly equivalent to 60 pounds per bushel.Disease 1 notes were requested from cooperators when differential reactions were observed. Rust reactions were most commonly recorded with the international rust scale noting the percentage leaf area infected and reaction type (i.e. lesion size). For statistical analyses these rust notes were converted to a coefficient of infection as used by Dr. W. Q. Loegering (U.S.D.A. International Spring Wheat Rust Nursery 1959). This coefficient is calculated by multiplying the• percentage of infection by a \"response value\" assigned to each infection type. Thus, the coefficient combines both the amount of infection and the reaction type. The response values are given in the following As examples, 20 MS is expressed as ( 20 x 0.8) = 16.0 and 10 MR is expressed as ( 10 x 0.4) = 4.0. Ranges of reaction are averaged, such that 5R-15S becomes 6.0 ( 5 + 15 = 10 and 0.2 + 1.0 = 0.6) with 6.0 the pro• duct of 10 x 0.6. 2 2When cooperators reported only percentage of rust, the value was used directly. The occurrence of 0 values, plus the fact that the coefficients do not usually fit a normal distribution, requires that the coefficients be transformed to V coefficient + 1.0. The addition of one unit to the coefficient eliminates all zero values and past experience has shown that the square root determination helps to improve the normality of the distributions.The transformed coefficients can be analyzed statistically as well as correlated with other traits (e.g. yield). However, for tabular presentation in this report, the standard rust scale notes from the first replication at each location are presented since the coefficients are more difficult to use in visualizing the response of a particular variety. The mean rust reaction by location is presented with its related s ta tis tics as an index of the amount of rust at that location. Relatively low mean rust values indicate low incidence and/or virulence of the pathogen. Higher means are indicative of a higher incidence and/or virulence. Thus, these means provide a relative location comparison and a reflection of the extent of that pathogen in that nursery under the environmental conditions that existed.Other indices of varietal performance were analyzed whenever possible and are presented in the tables. Most of these values were percentages. Several indices could be transformed to percent. In those instances where the scale used by the cooperator could not be converted to percent, the scale values are given. The percentage values were not transformed to V % + 1, as had been done previously. While some may consider transformation necessary, comprehension of the mean of a transformation is difficult. It was felt that it would be better to present values which were more readily comparable to the field scores used by collaborators.The grand mean of each trait was calculated and are presented with pertinent statistics in the Tables. Previously, error estimates were calculated indirectly as residuals. Since incomplete data sets are often reported, indirect estimations of the error variance can give biased or even negative values. Therefore, estimated error variances were computed directly for all traits reported. This value was then used to calculate a standard error ratio of the grand mean, a coefficient of variation (the ratio of the standard deviation to the grand mean expressed as a percentage) and the least significant difference (LSD) at the 5% level. The coefficient of variation is useful as a unit basis comparison of variation between locations. The LSDor. can be used to compare two variety means at the same locations.Considerable insight into factors influencing yield can sometimes be gained by correlation studies. Correlations were performed on all possible pairs of factors by location using the mean value for each trait reported. Correlations were computed on the replication means rather than the raw values because some types of data were frequently reported for only one replication. The population size is fairly small for this type of analysis and some spurious correlations may be en\\ountered. Discretion is advised in interpretation of these values. Many workers find correlation analyses interesting and useful and they are presented as part of the summary table for each location with an awareness of their limitations.The overall location means were computed for each variable and are presented herein when the number of observations justified inclusion. With the exception of the rust data the reported units are those used throughout this report. For arithmetic purposes the mean rust reactions were computed on the transformed values ( v' X + 1 ) where 1.0 would be no rust and 10. + is complete susceptibility. Relative comparisons are suggested for selecting potentially useful rust resistant varieties. Average values of less than 2.0 can be considered as quite resistant, while varieties with values greater than 2.5 must be considered as susceptible.Many problems have been encountered in the analyses and summary of these unique data. It has been our attempt to provide the reader with maximum amount of usable information and yet not confuse the picture with a great deal of computation detail.Sixty-three trials were returned for the Fifth ISWYN. Figure 1 presents the reporting location with the corresponding table numbers. The test sites were as varied as previous ISWYN's as indicated by Figure 2.Inspection of individual locations (Tables 1-63) may offer readers more insight into the suitability of varieties to match specific conditions. The table format selected for the Third ISWYN was used again to assist individuals in variety evaluation at specific locations, and to help identify potentially useful varieties for direct use or as parents in a breeding program.Table 64 presents the overall mean values of each variety for those variables recorded with sufficient frequency to 'justify reporting. This table is ranked in descending order for mean yield.Only two of the new entries in this nursery were ranked in the top 10 for overall yield. These selections, Lerma Rojo 64-NlOB x AN ( 3) and PV 18 Indus ranked second ap.d eighth, respectively. Of the eight previously tested submissions all were in the top ten of the Fourth ISWYN except Lerma_ Rojo 64A, which ranked 14th for overall yield. All of the top ten of this experiment which were included in the Third were also in the top ten of that report.This similarity in results of common varieties points out the stability of broad adaptability and invites the question of how best to characterize and capitalize on this trait in an active breeding program.We at CI MM YT are now investigating the implications of these results and look forward to being able to offer suggestions in the near future. As mentioned previously, a report will be forthcoming dealing with this aspect of the project.1. Borlaug, N. E., Ortega, J., Garcia                                             ","tokenCount":"2265"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6609770972.json b/data/part_1/6609770972.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..26a56969dfddc3e4e437d33936d2721a64ee2972
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6609770972.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"026d1c8e4abe2eda111f99c197ad8cfe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b94e5b6d-7eba-42f5-8b10-b2986db4ab5e/content","id":"978096603"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b6357a01-5bff-4af7-8c7d-dbf550b07229","pagecount":"20","content":"The number of sampled respondents by region and district and the demographic composition of the sampled households are presented in Table 2. A total of 517 (51%) households were interviewed from the Amhara region and 500 (49%) from the Oromia region. The largest number of households interviewed was from the Basoliben district (n=76) of Amhara, and the Gedeb Assosa, Dodola, Agarfa, and Ginir districts (n=75) of Oromia (Table 2). On average, a sampled household was most likely to be headed by a male with an average of 3.1 years of schooling and was composed of more than six members, of which at least nearly three family members were engaged in agriculture (Table 2). The average number of years of schooling of the heads and spouses in the Oromia region was higher than in the Amhara region (Table 2). In our econometric estimation procedure, we included years of schooling of both head and spouse in estimating their opinions on rust and the early warning system, to examine the impacts of these on the decision-making process.Information on social capital and access to basic infrastructure is presented in Table 3. It shows that in the Amhara region, more than 53% of the sampled households were members of a savings and credit association, 52% were members of a farmers' input supplier group and at least 5% of the sampled households were members of a community-based NGO. In contrast, less than 8% of the sampled households from the Oromia region were members of a farmers' input supplier group, and less than 5% of them were members of a saving and credit association. Table 3 shows that more than 65% of the sampled respondents in the Amhara region and 72% in the Oromia region accessed the major infrastructural facilities in one hour or less. These included the walking distance, one-way, from home to the village market, main market, seed dealers, fertilizer dealers, herbicides and pesticides dealers, agricultural extension office, health center, and the source of drinking water (Table 3). We used these variables as independent variables in our econometric estimation process to examine their influence on the decision-making process. *Major facilities include the one-way walking distance from residence to the village market, nearest main market, seed dealer, fertilizer dealer, herbicides and pesticides dealer, agricultural extension office, health center, source of drinking water.On average, nearly 59% of the sampled households in the survey districts produced wheat for home consumption, and the yearly total expenditure on food per person was nearly US$ 98 (Table 4). The yearly average total cereal consumption per capita was 196.5 kg and the yearly total expenditure per capita was US$ 117, of which nearly 60% was spent on food (Table 4).Considering this fact, we included district dummies in our econometric estimation procedure to capture the influence of the district-specific unobserved factors in the decision-making processes of the sampled households. The information on land cultivation by season is presented in Table 5. On average, in 2020 a household in the sampled districts of Ethiopia cultivated 0.29 ha of land in the belg season and 1.76 ha in the meher season. Belg season crops were detected in Oromia, and the average wheat land size in Oromia (1.51-1.53 ha) was much larger than in the Amhara region (0.58 ha). According to our survey, nearly 74% of sampled households in the Amhara region and 38% in the Oromia region reported cultivating an improved wheat variety (Table 6). However, based on previous DNA fingerprinting studies (Hodson et al., 2020), the reliability of the reports by the farmers on improved and local varieties is questionable, as many farmers could not tell the actual variety name or type. The actual cultivation of improved varieties is almost certainly much higher in both regions. Nearly 50% of households in the Amhara region and about 57% in the Oromia region reported that they had collected wheat seeds from government sources. The reported wheat seed price in the sampled regions was US$ 0.59/kg (Table 6). The information on wheat production costs is presented in Table 7. It shows that the average wheat production cost per ha was US$ 304 for the Oromia region and US$ 291 for the Amhara region.Seed cost is the largest wheat production cost in the sampled regions. The cost of the seed was 27% of the total wheat cultivation cost in Oromia and 35% in Amhara (Table 7). The reported wheat yield was higher in the Oromia region (2.6 t/ha) than in the Amhara region (1.4 t/ha) and the wheat farmers in Oromia were more market-oriented than those in Amhara (Table 7). In the Amhara region, 27% of the total wheat produced was sold in the market, and nearly 46% of the sampled farm households said that they sold wheat. In contrast, in the Oromia region, nearly 56% of the total wheat produced was sold in the market and 92% of the sampled farm households said that they sold wheat. The results show that wheat farming in the Oromia region is more marketoriented, whereas wheat farmed in the Amhara region is more likely to be for home consumption. The major biotic and abiotic stresses on wheat in the sampled regions of Ethiopia are reported in Table 8. In the Amhara region, more than 79% of sampled households reported yellow rust and more than 81% reported rodents as major biotic stresses on wheat. In contrast, in the Oromia region, more than 99% of sampled households reported yellow rust, and 97% of the farmers said that stem rust was the main biotic stress on wheat production (Table 8). This indicates that while yellow rust is a major stress on wheat production in the Amhara region, both stem rust and yellow rust are major wheat yield-reducing factors in the Oromia region. In Table 9, the sampled households were asked to inform us about yellow rust and stem rust exclusively. The table shows that 71% of the sampled households in the Amhara region and nearly 99% in the Oromia region reported that yellow rust and/or stem rust were major problems for wheat production. In addition, the table indicates that the rust infestations may have increased over the years. For example, in 2015 only 44% of sampled households reported the presence of wheat rust (yellow rust and/or stem rust), whereas in 2020 more than 78% of sampled households reported the incidence of rust (Table 9). This indicates that according to farmer recall, incidences of wheat rust have been increasing over the five years. This is supported by rust survey data over the same period that show increasing incidence, especially for yellow rust (Meyer et al., 2021) Source: Authors, based on CIMMYT household survey, November-December 2020.Table 10 presents the sampled farmers' opinions on yellow/stem rust-related loss in wheat production. It shows that in the Amhara region, yellow rust is the main biotic stress, whereas in the Oromia region both yellow rust and stem rust are major stresses. In Amhara 57% of the farmers reported some yield loss due to rust, whereas in Oromia nearly 100% of the farmers reported rustrelated yield loss (Table 10). The table shows that 37% of the sampled farmers in Amhara and 6.1% of the sampled farmers in Oromia reported a loss of nearly 50% of the estimated wheat yield due to rust. Interestingly, more than 72% of sampled farmers in Amhara said that their awareness of wheat rust has increased, and 66% said that they were better able to control wheat rust (Table 10). In contrast, more than 98% of sampled farmers in the Oromia region said that their awareness of wheat rust has increased, and 100% reported being better able to control wheat rust (Table 10). The details on perceived yield loss due to yellow rust and stem rust compared to rust-free years by district and region are presented in Table 11. It shows that yellow rust is the main problem in the Amhara region, where over 35% of sampled households reported a perceived yield loss of more than 50% due to yellow rust. In the same region, less than 10% of sampled households reported a perceived yield loss of more than 50% due to stem rust. In contrast, both stem rust and yellow rust are major yield-impacting factors in the Oromia region, but only 10% of the farmers reported a perceived wheat yield loss of more than 50% due to stem and/or yellow rust. This indicates that the severity of the impact of rust on wheat yield is more pronounced in the Amhara region than in the Oromia region and/or that farmers in the Oromia region practice better control of rusts. The early warning messages (EWM) were distributed through partner networks for widespread distribution but were not targeted at any specific farmers included in the surveys as these were selected randomly. About 65% of the households in the Amhara region and nearly 80% of those in the Oromia region reported that they had received EWM in the 2020 meher season (Table 12).The table shows that since 2015, the number of EWM recipients in both Amhara and Oromia regions has progressively increased. In Amhara the percentage of farmers receiving the messages rose from 31% in 2015 to 65% in 2020. The corresponding rise in Oromia was from 52% in 2015 to 80% in 2020. Fifty percent (50%) of the households in both regions said that they had received the EWM through the agricultural extension agents (Table 12). The behavioral changes in the form of the farmers' actions that were potentially prompted by the EWM are presented in Tables 13 and 14. In the 2020 meher season, around 31% of the sampled households (319) reportedly did not receive the EWM, compared with 67% (698) that reportedly received them. The proportion of households that applied fungicide was much higher in Oromia than in Amhara. On average, the households that received the EWM about a possible outbreak of rust were more likely to purchase or collect a spray machine and apply fungicides in both Amhara and Oromia regions than the households that reportedly did not receive the EWM (Table 13). In both regions, fungicide use was seen to have increased over time. Interestingly, in Oromia, nearly 100% of the sampled households that had received the EWM purchased or collected a spray machine and applied fungicides to control rust. In contrast, in 2015 only 38% of the sampled households in Oromia that did not receive the EWM applied fungicides. However, in 2020, around 100% of the sampled households in the Oromia region purchased or collected a spray machine and applied fungicides irrespective of whether or not they had received the EWM. There are two plausible explanations for this behavior on the part of the farmers: firstly, a spillover effect in which non-recipient farmers just imitated farmers that had received a message. Secondly, as indicated in Table 10, the sampled households said that they were more aware of rust and that their ability to control rust had increased over the years. Table 13 probably reflects the increased awareness and capability of the sampled households.   Table 14 presents the behavioral change related to fungicide expenditure by the sampled farmers based on whether or not they had received the EWM. It shows that in general, the sampled wheat farmers in the Oromia region spent more on fungicides than those in the Amhara region due to higher usage. However, in Oromia, the sampled farmers that received the EWM about possible outbreaks of wheat rust spent considerably more on fungicides than their counterparts. This most likely indicates that this group of farmers made multiple fungicide applications, although the possibility that they had purchased more expensive products with improved efficacy cannot be ruled out. The fungicide expenditure of the sampled households in Oromia that did not access the EWM was much lower than that of the farmers that received the early warning messages, but increased over time from US$ 22/ha in 2015 to US$ 83/ha in 2020 (Table 14) presumably due to an increasing use of fungicides. Source: Authors, based on CIMMYT household survey, November-December 2020.In Table 15, we have presented selected factors by region and the status of receiving the EWM in 2019. The average years of schooling of the households in the Amhara region are 2.4 years and 4.6 years for the Oromia region, respectively (Table 1). On average 62% of the households in the Amhara region and more than 81% of the households in the Oromia region received the EWM in 2019. It shows that, among the households that received the EWM in 2019, the average years of schooling of the household heads of the Amhara region were 2.51 years and it was 5.24 years for the Oromia region (Table 15). In contrast, the average years of schooling of the household heads that did not receive the EWM in 2019, was 2.1 years for the Amhara region and 2.06 years for the Oromia region (Table 15). Our simple t-test reveals that for both Amhara and Oromia regions, the difference of the average years of schooling of the household heads is statistically significant between the households who received and who did not the EWM in 2019. It indicates that the access to the early warning message in both Amhara and Oromia regions is skewed to relatively educated farm households. Interestingly, although the average years of schooling of the household heads that received EWM in 2019 were statistically significantly higher in the Oromia region (5.24 years) than Amhara region (2.51), the difference is statistically insignificant for the households that did not receive EWM in 2019 (Table 15). Similarly, the total wheat area (ha) in 2019 was analyzed by region and by status of whether or not sampled households received the EWM. Table 15 shows that the average wheat area for households that received the EWM in 2019 was 0.69 ha in the Amhara region and 2.09 ha in the Oromia region. In contrast, the average wheat area for households that did not receive the EWM in 2019 was 0.71 ha in the Amhara region and 1.62 ha in the Oromia region. On average, the difference in wheat area for the Amhara region based on whether or not the household received the EWM in 2019 is statistically insignificant. In contrast, the wheat area of the households that did not receive the EWM in 2019 in Oromia is statistically significantly smaller by 0.48 ha (p<0.00) than the wheat area of the households that received the EWM. We conclude that it is more likely in the Oromia region that relatively less-educated households that operated relatively smaller plots were not accessing the EWAS (Table 15).We also examined the fungicide expenditure behavior (US$/ha) of the sampled households in 2019 by region and by whether or not they received the EWM. Table 15 shows that in 2019 the households that received the EWM spent nearly 20 US$/ha on fungicides in the Amhara region and 143 US$/ha in the Oromia region. In contrast, the households in the sample group that did not receive the EWM spent 11 US$/ ha on average on fungicides in Amhara and 73.5 US$/ha in Oromia. Table 15 also shows that in Amhara in 2019, households that received the EWM spent on average nearly 9 USD/ha more on fungicides than households that did not receive the EWM. The difference is statistically highly significant (p<0.00). Similarly, in the Oromia region in 2019, households that received the EWM spent on average nearly US$ 83/ha more on fungicides than households that did not receive the messages and the difference is highly statistically significant. It indicates that in the Oromia region, irrespective of access to EWM, households generally spent more on fungicides to control wheat rust than households in the Amhara region (Table 15), and households that received the EWM spent more on fungicides to control wheat rust than those that did not. However, the gap between the groups in the Oromia region has become narrower over time. For example, in 2015, households that received the EWM spent around 100 US$/ha on fungicides to control wheat rust, whereas in the same year households that did not receive the EWM spent only 38 US$/ha on fungicides. However, in 2019 a household in Oromia that received the EWM spent on average 100 US$/ha on fungicides to control wheat rusts, and other households spent 84 US$/ha (Table 14). Table 15, shows that in both regions, farmers that had access to the EWM spent more on fungicides than farmers who did not have access to the messages.We also examined wheat yield/ha in 2019 by region and by whether or not the sampled households accessed the EWM. Table 15 shows that in 2019 the average wheat yield in Oromia was significantly higher than in Amhara, irrespective of whether or not the household accessed the EWM. Surprisingly, in 2019 the average wheat yield of households that accessed the EWM was lower in both Amhara and Oromia regions than the wheat yield of the households that did not access the EWM. (Table 15). The average wheat yield in 2019 for households in the Amhara region that received the EWM was 1,333 kg/ha, compared with 1,530 kg/ha for households that did not access the EWM. The yield difference (197 kg/ha) between these two groups in the Amhara region is highly statistically significant (p<0.00). The per ha wheat yield (kg) in 2019 in the Oromia region for households that did not receive the EWM was higher by 735 kg than the yield of the households that did receive the EWM, and the difference is highly statistically significant (Table 15). The exact reasons behind the reported yield differences between the two groups of households are currently unknown and need further investigation. Other, unrecorded management factors (e.g., use of fertilizers, weed control, etc.) and biophysical/climatic conditions other than rust control may have had an influence. In Oromia, a very high proportion of farmers (irrespective of receiving the EWM or not) reported the use of fungicides, and that may have contributed to the observed results.The estimated economic benefits, based on farmers' perceived gains associated with the EWAS are calculated following Eqs. ( 1) and ( 2) and presented in Table 16. The vast majority of farmers who received the early warning messages regarded the EAWS positively, with 73% of farmers surveyed in Amhara and 100% of farmers surveyed in Oromia considering it beneficial. In the Amhara region, the perceived per ha average yield gain associated with the EWM was estimated at 505 kg/ha with a monetary value of US$ 290/ha (Table 16). In Oromia, the equivalent perceived yield gain associated with the EWM was 860 kg/ha with a monetary value of US$ 364/ha. Both yellow rust and stem rust are major stresses on wheat production in the Oromia region. In addition, the average wheat yield in Oromia is statistically significantly higher than in the Amhara region.The average higher yield in the Oromia region resulted in a higher estimated perceived gain from the EWAS than the gain perceived by the farmers in the Amhara region. However, it must be noted that the actual reported yield data did not match these farmer perceptions. The reasons behind these differences need further investigation. To examine the business viability of the early warning service, we asked the sampled respondents about their willingness to pay for the service. More than 95% of the sampled respondents from the Amhara region and nearly 100% from the Oromia region said that they would like to receive early warning messages about yellow rust (Table 17). However, in the case of the stem rust early warning service, although more than 96% of sampled respondents from Oromia expressed interest in receiving early warning messages about stem rust, only 38% of sampled respondents from Amhara expressed interest in the stem rust early warning service. This finding again confirms that while both yellow rust and stem rust are major stresses on wheat yield in Oromia, stem rust is a relatively minor issue in Amhara compared to yellow rust. Furthermore, 66% of respondents from Amhara and 72% of those from Oromia expressed willingness to receive early warning messages about weather conditions (Table 17).","tokenCount":"3350"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6612354875.json b/data/part_1/6612354875.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..31086994747d3446bc842ea8231f972e69e997fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6612354875.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2da771cb7608d4941b234e28cbf540a1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a7d7bf6e-eec5-4b9a-8669-4a591193c73c/retrieve","id":"1860083473"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ed66b717-b752-4630-9180-8886ec237dd7","pagecount":"162","content":"The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well-being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 Future Harvest Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. IPGRI has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Improving Livelihoods in Commodity-based Systems.The international status of IPGRI is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2005, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria,These proceedings are dedicated to Dr. Alfredo Riesco de la Vega, National Project Coordinator of the Peru Country Component, and national focal point for economic aspects of the global project, \"Strengthening the Scientific Basis of In Situ Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity\" and whose enthusiastic support helped to achieve the results presented here.Estos resúmenes están dedicados al Dr. Alfredo Riesco de la Vega, Coordinador Nacional del Proyecto en Perú, y punto focal nacional para los aspectos económicos del proyecto global \"Fortalecimiento de las Bases Científicas para la Conservación In Situ de la Biodiversidad Agrícola\", y cuyo apoyo entusiasta ha permitido obtener los resultados aquí presentados.Seed systems and the maintenance of diversity on-farm: Introductory remarks Toby Hodgkin and Devra Jarvis Session I. Diagnostics and descriptions of seed systemsA hybrid concept for understanding the functionality of seed systems in smallholder societies of the Peruvian Amazonia Miguel Pinedo -Vasquez, Robin Sears, Italo Cardama and Mario Pinedo Panduro On-farm seed systems and crop genetic diversity Didier Balma, T. Jérémy Ouedraogo and Mahamadou Sawadogo Multilevel seed movement across producers, consumers and key market actors -seed marketing, exchange and seed regulatory framework in Hungary Istvan Már, Á. Gyovai, Gy. Bela and L. Holly Session III. Genetic diversity consequences of seed systemsThe seed system and genetic diversitySeed systems and genetic diversity in home gardens: a Cuban approach Z. Fundora-Mayor, L. Castiñeiras, T. Shagarodsky, V. Moreno, M. García, C. Giraudy, O. Barrios, L. Fernández-Granda, R. Cristóbal, V. Fuentes, A. Valiente and F. Hernández Banana and plantain seed systems in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: a case for a clonal seed system E.B. Karamura, D.A. Karamura and C.A. Eledu Seed exchange and supply systems and on-farm maintenance of crop genetic diversity: a case study of faba bean in Morocco Mohammed Sadiki, Mustapha Arbaoui, Lamia Ghaouti and Devra Jarvis Consortium for Sustainable Development of Ucayali (CODESU), Lima, Peru IPGRI organized the workshop \"Seed Systems and Crop Genetic Diversity On-farm\", under the framework of the Global Project Strengthening the scientific basis of in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity on-farm. The meeting was held in Pucallpa, Peru, a city of 300 000 inhabitants located in the lowlands of the Amazon Basin east of the Andes. Pucallpa is a fast-growing city and is the endpoint of the road that runs from Lima, located at the Pacific Ocean, through the Andes to the Amazon rain forest. Within the region, most of the transportation, communications and trade are made by navigable rivers. The selection of Pucallpa for hosting the meeting has a special social, economic and cultural significance for seed systems and in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity, because of the following:The Peruvian Central Amazon is one of the regions where biodiversity is most threatened by fast population and market growth; There are 240 indigenous communities in this region, which belong to 12 Amazonian ethnic groups, with different patterns of consumption and different systems of production; Pucallpa has been declared a \"focal point\" in the Peruvian strategy for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity by the National Council on Environment (CONAM); A very active inter-institutional working relationship is concerned with management and conservation of natural resources, with participation of members of the CGIAR. IPGRI has been working in Pucallpa since 1999, with CODESU, an organization comprised of 17 institutions in the region, and the National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA). IPGRI's activities in the region have been devoted mainly to the In situ Conservation Project, with strong efforts devoted to understanding farming decision-making processes that influence in situ conservation; strengthening national and local institutions for planning and implementation of conservation programmes for agricultural biodiversity, and broadening the use of biodiversity by farming communities.The workshop was attended by participants from 19 countries and 5 continents. Following presentations and discussion sessions, one day was devoted to a field visit to Nuevo Paraiso, a representative Shipibo¹ community 3 hours upstream from Pucallpa on the Ucayali River. Nuevo Paraiso is one of the 60 communities participating in the In situ Conservation Project -Peru Component.The workshop papers presented in this volume are focused on four areas: Diagnostics and descriptions of seed systems (Session I); Factors affecting seed systems (Session II); Genetic diversity consequences of seed systems (Session III), and Interventions and scaling up (Session IV). This volume also reports a summary of the discussion sessions and concludes with proposed future directions for seed systems in relation to on-farm conservation of genetic diversity.This international workshop was brought about by the creativity and efforts of IPGRI staff, coordinated by Devra Jarvis, with the collaboration of local institutions like CODESU and INIA. The many users of this volume will also, I am sure, appreciate very much the work done by the authors of the papers and by the editors. The various processes involved in seed provision, selection and storage can be considered as constituting a system (McGuire 2001). In fact, the concept of a seed system is usually taken to include not only the processes but also the components themselves and descriptions, analyses and interventions often focus as much on the actors (farmers and institutions) and the components (different types of planting material) as on the processes. In this introductory paper we discuss some of the different descriptions or definitions of seed systems, the ways in which seed systems can be investigated and analyzed, their operation, and their importance in the maintenance of traditional crop varieties in production.Discussions of seed systems commonly treat \"seed\" as shorthand for any form of planting material including vegetative materials such as tubers, offsets or bulbs as well as seeds. In fact, most of the published information on seed systems deals with major cereal or legume crops, although Second and Iglesias (2001) provide interesting information on supply of cassava planting materials in Brazil, and Valdivia and colleagues report on Andean roots and tubers in Session I of this book. In developing countries provision of seed is nearly always through informal supply systems. Local farmers maintain and exchange seed or obtain them from neighbouring communities or markets. The system is largely independent of government institutions and the materials seldom come from formal sector institutions and private breeding companies or seed houses.Much of the work on seed systems has come from those interested in provision of seed aid following drought, war, floods or other disasters. In these situations it is generally supposed that traditional seed systems are likely to break down and farmers will be unable to obtain the seeds they need. Seed aid, often in large amounts, using varieties developed for different environments, is frequently supplied to deal with the presumed seed deficit. This has caused concern in that it is felt that the wrong varieties are supplied, which may require high inputs, and do not meet the needs of resource-poor farmers seeking to deal with post-disaster production problems (e.g. Richards and Ruivenkamp 1997;Sperling 1997).Descriptions or definitions of seed systems are usually concerned with their dynamic properties rather than with the elements themselves. Thus, as noted above, McGuire (2001) talks in terms of the processes involved in seed provision and ICRISAT (2002) describes seed systems as \"the ways in which farmers produce, select, save and acquire seeds.\" Similarly, Almekinders and colleagues (1994) discuss seed systems in terms of the flows of seed and other planting materials through the production system and the roles of both formal and informal sector institutions and farmers in these flows.These descriptions probably reflect, to a large extent, the concerns of those working on the question of whether the local or national seed systems are functioning sufficiently well to allow farmers to obtain the seeds they want. Those concerned with on-farm maintenance of diversity will have a much stronger concern with what materials (especially what local traditional varieties) are present in the seed system and in what amounts. We would also want to include in any description of a seed system some discussion of who maintains the different materials and the processes of 6 SEED SYSTEMS AND CROP GENETIC DIVERSITY ON-FARM exchange, and would seek to relate this, in some way, to the different varieties present in the system, their characteristics and roles in production.Given that we are likely to be as interested in the components of a seed system as in the processes, a preliminary checklist of major concerns might include:What materials are present in the seed system and in what amounts? Where do they come from? How are they maintained and by whom? How are they made available to farmers in the community? Weltzien and vom Brocke (2001) provided a useful framework for investigating seed systems by focusing on the function of a seed system. They suggested that seed systems have to fulfil a series of functions so that healthy, viable seed of the preferred variety is available to farmers, at the right time, under reasonable conditions and in ways that ensure that land and labour resources can be used optimally. This leads them to provide an analysis framework that is concerned with:The germplasm base -the varieties in the system, their characteristics, the selection processes involved in their maintenance, the extent of their cultivation, and the processes involved in introducing new materials; Seed production and quality -the production and maintenance of good-quality seed, seed production practices, storage procedures, and preparation for sowing; Seed availability and distribution -ways of accessing seed, the extent to which farmers save, exchange or purchase seed, market systems and government involvement;The knowledge and information available -the ways in which knowledge of materials and practices is maintained and made available, obtaining and disseminating new knowledge of new materials.It is important to spend some time thinking about what analysis frameworks or approaches are going to be most relevant from the diversity maintenance perspective. Seed systems are extremely diverse in respect of almost all the elements noted above. Some depend almost entirely on continual flows of known varieties from a single external source of supply (e.g. cassava in Brazil). Others are largely self-sustaining with most seed maintained by farmers themselves and rather little exchange (e.g. Phaseolus lunatus in Cuban home gardens, Session III) Still others are open dynamic systems with constant exchange and opportunities for introduction of new materials and traits as in the case of maize in México (Louette et al. 1997;Session III, this volume).In many cases, the processes of maintenance and distribution and the people involved will not only be crop specific, they may well be variety specific, depending on the importance of the variety, and its characteristics and function within production systems. There may even be differences in the ways that different communities maintain and distribute the same variety.As in all work on maintenance of diversity in farming systems it is important that, whatever framework of analysis is used, there is a strongly multidisciplinary approach and a commitment to participatory practices. Information is needed not only on the social and cultural practices and procedures and the mechanical aspects of identities and amounts, it is also needed on agronomic practices and agroecological aspects. The genetic data need to be able to confirm variety identity and differences between varieties, to provide estimates of numbers of types, evenness and difference (see Brown, Session III), and to allow some exploration of within-variety and between-variety geneflow. The papers in the rest of this volume provide some preliminary descriptions in many of these areas and show how information from different disciplines and areas of study can be combined.Farmers in many developing countries are often unable to obtain healthy viable seed of preferred varieties at the time and under the conditions that are best for them. In this sense, many seed systems are often functioning imperfectly and McGuire (2001) described this in terms of the health of the seedsystem and whether particular systems are under stress. McGuire was using a ecological approach and drawing parallels with healthy ecosystems and those that are under stress. He identified two kinds of stress: acute, following major disasters such as floods or war, and chronic, where farmers (particularly the poorest) can access the varieties or amounts of seed that they want. This latter, it has been suggested, is common in many parts of the developing world.Continuing the parallel with ecosystem health, it is possible to identify properties that would be characteristic of a healthy seed system. These might include:Stability -acceptable production and yields over a range of different circumstances and situations;Resilience -the ability to return to a pre-existing level of function after acute disruption; Diversity -the presence of a wide enough range of different varieties;Efficiency -an acceptable level of production in relation to inputs by producers; Equity -access to the necessary inputs by farmers in the system. The analogy is attractive but further investigations are needed of seed system function to identify the most important factors that contribute to effective function, and to determine how they relate to the ecosystem characteristics noted above.During an international meeting in Uganda in 2000 (Sperling 2001) the ideas of health and stress in seed systems were used to develop a series of indicators of stress which are likely to be generally useful in the context of on-farm maintenance of diversity. These included:Changes in patterns of access to seed materials by farmers; Changes in variety and quality of seed in the area; Increased use of sub-optimal varieties; Lack of stored seed where it is normally maintained; Increases in seed prices in local markets; Lack of labour leading to unplanted and untilled fields. Any of these are likely to indicate changes in the identity and amounts of the varieties being grown in an area and therefore are important indicators of changes in patterns of on-farm maintenance. We may want to explore both the general idea of developing indicators of this type for on-farm conservation and the specifics of what such indicators might be.Clearly, understanding the nature and operation of seed systems is central to effective support for maintenance of diversity on-farm. Analysis of the seed system can provide essential information on population sizes of varieties, on local management and exchange practices, on the relative importance of individual farmer maintenance as against seed flow and market factors, as well as many other aspects. The following issues have been the focus of the papers presented and resulting discussions of this meeting:How can we relate knowledge of processes and flows to information on extent and distribution of genetic diversity, amount of geneflow, population size and the other genetic characteristics that we need to understand to support conservation decisions? Seed systems are essentially dynamic processes while much of the work to date has necessarily been concerned with descriptions of situations at a single point in time. How can we relate best studies of process to descriptions of state? Is the seed system health approach useful in the context of on-farm diversity management and how can we best adopt and develop it? What characteristics of seed systems work to support maintenance of diversity and what features tend to limit diversity maintenance? How can seed system function be supported in ways that optimize the maintenance of diversity within the seed systems? What might be beneficial interventions and what might limit diversity maintenance and use?The rural production unit in México is the campesino family; the most common production systems are the home gardens, the milpa and usually there are other production systems which can be agricultural but recently they have become more influenced by and dependent upon urban centres (Figure 1). Of the three subsystems that form the management strategy of rural communities, the home garden is the most intensively utilized one, yet it is the least understood.The home garden is an area of the natural environment transformed by the inhabitants to establish their living quarters. It can be large or small, depending on the socioeconomic level of the family in the community. The home garden is rich in wild and domesticated plant species, and its structure, defined mainly by perennial species, can be varied and appear to be \"disorganized\". It also keeps domestic animals (poultry, pigs, goats, sheep) and wild animals (deer, wild boar and several fowls) in interrelation with the plant species. Home gardens have been a part of the integrated management of natural resources of Mayan communities in the Yucatan Peninsula for millennia.The home garden is where the family spends most of the time, and it is the space where other activities are integrated (use of firewood from the vegetation, preparation of dyes and handicrafts, storage and utilization of crops from the milpa, investment or utilization of the wages from outside SESSION 1. DIAGNOSTICS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SEED SYSTEMS jobs, etc.). There is direct influence of the home garden on the species diversity, management practices, and other factors on the milpa and vegetation, and there may be indirect influence on the processes of the other systems as well, such as nutrient cycling, dynamics of succession, etc. Therefore, the home garden is considered as a biological and socioeconomic buffer for the campesino production system. The integration of the home garden with the other systems can be seen in many examples, and therefore it cannot be studied in isolation. Since it is also the one that has the most human control and input, it may be the most productive (few studies have been done on the productivity and efficiency of home gardens).Research being conducted by PROTROPICO-FMVZ-UADY has an objective to generate management options to improve the quality of life of rural communities in the Peninsula, based on the woody species characteristic of the Peninsula home gardens, which could provide resilience to the system and be important elements in the design of sustainable agroecosystems.All publications available on Mayan home gardens were analyzed, with special emphasis on floristic richness. A comparison of tree species reported was made, and according to their frequency (number of home gardens in which a species occurred/total number of home gardens), core species were proposed.In order to obtain information about production relationships that connect land-use activities to biodiversity, the management relative prices (MRP) proposed by Montgomery et al. (1999) were estimated for twelve of the structural species in the community of Sahcabá, Yucatan. Determination of MRP helps us to know what species obtain high marginal returns for conservation efforts, which is necessary to prioritize these species.The types of information and assumptions required to construct management prices viability functions for each species, diversity indices that measure the contribution of each species to the benefits associated with biodiversity, and the relative value of biodiversity for society were adapted to this case study. The species replacement index was utilized; additionally, the importance value of species was considered, as well as the index of direct use for the model proposed by Montogomery et al. (1999). Biodiversity value for society was based on product prices of each species and the price given to the ecosystem functions such as biological control and pollination of the species.Many descriptive studies of the Mayan home gardens show the enormous diversity of their flora (Table 1). There is sufficient archaeological and botanic evidence to suggest that floral diversity in home gardens dates back to pre-Hispanic times. There is no common pattern of increase or decrease of diversity in space and time of the home gardens. They contain a large diversity of animal and plant species that can satisfy the needs of the family. The difference in floristic richness of the home gardens also demonstrates the variances of the studies conducted in the region, e.g. one study depicted only 15 species while another study identified 387 plants, which happens to represent one-sixth of the total flora reported for the entire Peninsula. The differences among the studies vary not only in the number of plant species but also in the type of plants identified within the same community; that is, although the studies were conducted within the same community the numbers for the identified plants differed greatly. Such contrasts reflect the duration and season of the study. While some studies only recorded what was present in the home garden at that specific time (Barrera et al. 1977;Stuart 1993), others were conducted throughout the year (Herrera 1992;Ortega 1993).In the study conducted by Ruenes et al. (1999) it was found that 55% of the plants identified in their survey were tree species. Analysis of all available data revealed that 22 plant species are usually found in the home gardens, with water availability being the limiting factor. These plants are proposed as the founding species that give a characteristic structure to the home gardens (Table 2). Most of these species have multiple uses, yet they appear to be most important for human All cultivars of S. purpurea described in the 1920s are still present in the home gardens, though their relative importance has decreased and some of these can be considered rare. Hurricane Isidore impacted seriously the home gardens of several communities; we have estimated that 70-80% of home gardens were destroyed, and farmers now demand off-community seed. It will be important to study how campesinos start their home gardens again, where and how they obtain their seeds and plants and what main features they look for. This represents an opportunity to study the resilience capability of the system.During the past five decades, agricultural development policies have been \"market oriented,\" dependent on external inputs to promote specialization of agricultural production and associated with the decline of mixed farming. Some challenges for sustainable agriculture will be: to incorporate natural processes into agricultural production; to reduce dependence on external and non-renewable resources; to increase self-reliance among farmers, and to protect and if possible to promote agricultural diversity.The future of biodiversity conservation is strongly linked to the development of better, more efficient and sustainable agroecosystems. In the search for responsible ecosystem construction and management activities that permit a balance between use and conservation in the tropics, the Mayan home gardens should be considered.Results indicated that selected indices for diversity measurements did not help the pricing of marginal returns of middle, low or null market values. However, the factors that affect the marginal product of population size are: the slope of the viability function and the diversity measure. The species B. alicastrum, Musa × paradisiaca, C. mexicana and S. purpurea show higher marginal returns to conservation effort and therefore these are the species that would be more sorely missed. This ranking is supported when population size of each species decreases over three productive cycles but the management relative price for 92% of the species decreases. Only one species (A. squamosa) increases MRP when its abundance decreases in each productive cycle, which suggests that a reduction in its population may generate spaces for substitute species to increase its probability of survival.As can be seen in Figure 2 the conservation effort is lower for those species whose abundance is either low or high, while species that are in the middle such as B. alicastrum, M. paradisiaca, C. mexicana and S. purpurea represent the highest conservation efforts. Furthermore, as these species have the highest commercial value, according to the management relative prices they should be considered in development programmes.Only A. squamosa increases its MRP when abundace decreases through time. This suggests that space could be available to plant other species. On the other hand, E. tinifolia, C. dodecandra, A. paniculata and M. sapota have a low commercial value. It is necessary to search for indicators that consider other characteristics of these species in addition to the direct use values, taking into account the ecosystem benefits they may provide.  Yucatán,México. 1. E. tinifolia,2. C. aurantium,3. C. dodecandra,4. B. alicastrum,5. M. bijugatu,6. C. mexicana,7. A. squamosa,8. T. olivaeiformis,9. A. paniculata,10. M. sapota,11. S. purpurea,12. Musa × paradisiaca. The Yucatan Peninsula is undergoing a rapid process of transformation as a result of development and globalization. In spite of these processes the home gardens are sites where agricultural diversity has been and continues to be maintained. There are 22 core species, all of them having at least one use and according to the management relative prices only A. squamosa can be replaced. Mayan home gardens are in a process of change. It has been suggested that there exists a trend toward a change in the structure and function of the home garden in response to development (Rico-Gray et al. 1990). This trend also refers to the loss of the genetic pool of native species (Caballero 1992).Little is known about tree seed systems and a long-term study can be started in the communities impacted by the hurricane not only to understand how the home garden seed system functions but even more important, to develop a network for in situ conservation of germplasm and promote new policy initiatives that could help support seed systems that maintain or increase crop diversity.The continuation of the present trend of development will not lead to a desirable future of land-use options. The importance of home gardens must be recognized because of their desirable characteristics such as diversity, self-sufficiency and local control. It is necessary to develop, promote and provide incentives to encourage long-term investments for in situ conservation of agricultural diversity.In México the composition of crop diversity conserved in communities that practise traditional agriculture is strongly influenced by farmers' management, conservation and provisioning of seed stocks, both where farmers maintain their own networks of seed exchange at the family level and among agricultural producers, and where formal seed supply systems play a substantial role. In the Yucatan region of México, Mayan farmers conserve and utilize an impressive diversity of maize, bean and squash varieties within traditional slash-and-burn agricultural plots known as milpa (or kool in Yucatec Maya). In order to understand how Mayan communities maintain the diversity of their traditional crops, it is necessary to study how seeds are exchanged, selected and stored, as well as the attributes of new varieties introduced from outside. The present work was begun with the objective of understanding seed flows and the seed supply system for maize in the community of Yaxcaba, with a specific focus on documenting traditional seed management by local farmers and its implications for in situ conservation.The community of Yaxcaba is located in central Yucatan state, 108 km to the east of the capital city of Merida at approximately 20°32'N latitude and 88°56'W longitude at an average altitude of 30 m above sea level. The region has a seasonally dry warm subtropical climate, with a mean annual temperature of 25.9°C and mean annual precipitation of 1118.3 mm. Regional soils are young, permeable and extremely stony, with the majority comparable in composition to cambiosols (Duch 1988).From early 1999 to mid-2001, we conducted a socio-economic survey of local farmers designed to provide baseline information on seed flows across two annual agricultural cycles. The survey documented crop genetic diversity managed by farmers, predominant channels for acquiring seeds, and the origin and movement of crop germplasm present in Yaxcaba. From mid-2001 to mid-2002, we concentrated our efforts on documenting the formal seed supply system and quantifying local storage technologies.In the survey and subsequent work, we conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers in the locations where they stored their seeds -either in their homes, home gardens or milpas, depending on the preference of the farmer. In order to deepen our understanding of the practices used by farmers for managing their diversity, we also participated in planting, harvest activities and seed selection, and we took samples of seeds under storage conditions. Interviews were carried out in both Maya and Spanish, depending on the language preference of the farmer. To understand the dynamics of the formal seed system, we also interviewed representatives of government programmes and research institutions that have participated in the introduction of improved planting materials.The sampling unit for the surveys was defined according to previous studies by Pérez (1980) and Dzib (1987), who identified the farm household as the basic production unit and the foundation of social organization in Yaxcaba, where maize farming remains the most important economic activity. Making milpa is generally considered to be the purview of male heads of household, although in a few cases women heads of household (such as widows) may assume this responsibility. The sample included 62 farmer heads of household, approximately 10% of the total farmer households in Yaxcaba.Yaxcaba farmers have acquired their maize germplasm over time in a variety of different ways: through purchase; as gifts; through exchanges where one acquires new seeds from another farmer and provides an equivalent quantity of seed from one's own harvest; as a loan of seed to be repaid in kind; or as \"expropriated\" seed obtained when passing by a field of another farmer and taken without that farmer's permission (Table 1). The principal means of obtaining new seeds clearly consist of gifts and purchases (42.7% and 38.8% respectively), while loans of seed are the least important channel (1.12%). Louette (2000) and Aguirre (1999) concur in finding that farmers have diverse forms of acquiring seeds of their principal crops, with gifts, purchases and exchanges being particularly important. Several recent studies have described how farmers maintain a constant interchange of seeds, allowing them to conserve their preferred planting materials and assure their availability, suggesting that crop diversity is generated not only at the local level, but also results from the participation of other communities (Louette 2000). In Yaxcaba, however, the majority of seed stocks moving through informal channels appear to come from within the community (90.4%) and in much lesser proportion from nearby communities (5.8%) and more distant ones (3.5%). In other words, seed flows are greatest at the community level (Yaxcaba) with relatively limited regional influences both from nearby localities within the municipality (Cacalchen, Chimay, Kancabdzonot, Libre Unión, Santa María, Xan-la, Tahdzibichen, Tiholop, Tixcacal tuyup, Xpujuy and Yodzonot) and those more distant within Yucatan state (Figure 1). The informal system is the primary mechanism that Yaxcaba farmers turn to for recovering planting materials when they are lost in unfavourable years (principally due to drought or hurricanes). In Yaxcaba seed flows can be grouped into three broad categories (Table 2): materials transferred (as gifts, purchases, exchange, etc.) among related family members (38.8%), materials transferred between unrelated farmers (43.8%), and materials obtained from formal seed suppliers (17.4%). Seed flows are dominated by local landrace materials, principally those of long-cycle maizes such as 'xnuk-nal' and the more precocious 'xmejen-nal' varieties, all of which are primarily restricted to informal channels. Of the seeds that flow primarily through formal channels, demand is greatest for short-cycle white maize, most of which is the variety V-528, known generically by farmers as 'mejorado' or 'hibrido' even though it is actually an open-pollinated variety. The formal seed supply system plays a measurable role in Yaxcaba, accounting for nearly onefifth of the seed stocks that enter the community, by way of government programmes (41.8%), projects sponsored by research centres and other institutions of higher learning (46.3%), and from farmers' own visits to agricultural supply stores in urban centres (11.9%). Formal-system seed flows are dominated by improved materials, although on some occasions projects and programmes have distributed local materials (collected from the same or nearby communities) to Yaxcaba farmers as a gift, for purchase, or by a reciprocal agreement where farmers agree to return the donation of seed from their subsequent harvest. For instance, in 2000, some 2400 kg of maize seed from 3 improved varieties (v-528, v-532 and vs-236) was distributed to 45 Yaxcaba households by a government programme known as \"Kilo for Kilo\". We surveyed 20 of these households during the 2000-2001 season and found they received a total of 811 kg of improved maize seed, and they used about one-third of this total to plant 12.64 ha of fields. Yet this was only 14% of their total milpa acreage of 88.1 ha; they planted the remaining 75.5 ha (86%) to seed obtained locally through informal channels, demonstrating the enduring preference of Yaxcaba farmers for planting local landraces. The remainder of the seed distributed by the government programme was put to other uses, including for home consumption and feed for chickens, pigs and other domestic animals.The seed selection practised by farmers in Yaxcaba involves a two-step process, beginning with a pre-selection made during the maize harvest. The pre-selection, which is undertaken by virtually all farmers, consists of separating out the best ears from those that are undersized, infested or damaged. The principal criteria for selection are the size of the ear and the quality of its husk coverage, with health of the ear and grain size also playing a role. Most farmers store all their preselected maize together, from which they periodically take ears for household consumption and other domestic activities. The final selection process involves two differing strategies using the same criteria of ear size and health, and husk coverage. A minority of farmers (7%) select and store separately the ears they plan to use as seed shortly after the harvest concludes in January or February, while the majority (93%) wait to select their seed ears until a few days prior to the start of the new planting cycle in May. However this arrangement may be altered when harvests are affected by natural disasters such as drought or hurricanes. During 2001, for example, when a persistent regional drought greatly reduced harvests, many farmers selected their seed ears shortly after harvest and stored them in the most secure places, thereby making sure they were not inadvertently consumed and were protected against pest infestation. In Yaxcaba, fully 100% of farmers select and store seed from their maize harvest every year except in cases of crop failure. Among the predominant storage practices, about 87% of farmers store their seed ears with the husk, while the remaining 13% remove the husks or else store their maize seed as grain in nylon sacks. These latter approaches are predominantly employed with improved maize seed because it is not usually stored for extended periods. Studies of small-scale seed storage worldwide have reported that farmers utilize a variety of traditional methods and technologies for storing their seed stocks. These methods are effective in conserving seeds for short-term periods, and are economical because they make extensive use of locally available resources, such as wood, thatch, plastic bottles, cotton bags, nylon sacks and clay pots (Baniya et al. 1999;CONSERVE 2001). To store their maize seed, Yaxcaba farmers primarily utilize corncribs known as trojes or kumche', constructed by 84% of farmers. Trojes may be round, square or rectangular, with the floor and sides made from wood poles extracted when felling forest for new fields or harvested from the forest margins surrounding milpas. The roof of a troje is most commonly thatched with Sabal palm leaves, readily available in Yaxcaba's forest areas and in home gardens. Only a minority of farmers use laminated cardboard sheets or other roofing materials because of the added cost involved.Farmers locate their trojes according to criteria and requirements based on their own personal experience. The majority of farmers (62.1%) prefer to construct their trojes in their milpa because (1) their milpas are located far from their homes and they find it easier to store their harvest there and carry it back to the house gradually as consumption rates dictate, and (2) by storing their harvest in the milpa it remains protected from possible depredation by pigs, chickens and other domestic animals. Other farmers prefer to construct their trojes in their home garden compounds in order to protect their harvest from wild animal depredation or from theft. In the case of a minimal harvest, farmers may even elect not to make a troje and instead store their maize seed in the kitchen or main room of their house (Table 3). The informal seed system in Yaxcaba supplies more than 80% of the maize seed required by local farmers in an average year, and is complemented by the formal seed sector whose primary contribution has been the introduction of improved maize varieties. The effectiveness and success of the informal seed system has been demonstrated over time, even in the face of adversities such as hurricanes and drought. The adaptability of local seed storage methods and technologies has played an important role in enabling farmers to maintain local maize varieties that continue to be highly appreciated and accepted, while introduced improved varieties are more closely associated with official mechanisms and programmes of distribution.The objective of agricultural development is to provide well-being to the producers and a high availability of food. The production and distribution of improved seeds have been one of the elements utilized for increasing production and productivity. This process, for a particular crop, starts by characterizing a genetic base and then selecting the best genotypes, applying the different techniques of crop improvement, spreading and distributing them as varieties or stable and homogeneous hybrids. In traditional agriculture, formal production and distribution of seeds many times have not been continuous and the producers have maintained their own strategies to reproduce their cropping systems every year.Traditional agriculture depends mainly on its own resources and it is developed in a diversity of climatic and ecological conditions. The various conditions that Andean families face drive them to analyze how many of their different traditional strategies serve or can be revitalized to face the future. Under the current conditions, the agricultural sector does not seem to have an encouraging perspective.The present study on the use of 'varieties mixture' is presented as a defense mechanism against variable conditions. The conformation of a 'mixture' begins with how the production is used and how the seed of the rural families is distributed. The experience of the conservation microcentre in Yunguyo (Puno, Peru) is used.When a new variety is developed and distributed, it is proven that the conditions in the different links of the chain of value are affected. It is positive while higher volume of production is available and the production is standardized. However, this tendency of incrementing the production affects the supply curve and the farmer's income conditions. An example offered by the University of Oviedo (Spain) on wheat mentions that when increasing the quantity of produced wheat (because of the introduction of an improved hybrid), farmers are willing to offer more wheat at any given price. In other words, the supply curve moves toward the right (up), while the demand curve does not vary because the introduction of a new hybrid does not affect the quantity purchased by consumers of wheat products and the prices go down because of a higher supply. As a consequence of the process, at the end, the producers have fewer revenues since the commercial agents offer lower prices when there is a higher supply of the product. The analysis in the example continues, if the development of a new wheat hybrid worsens the well-being of the farmers, why do they adopt it? The answer to this question takes us to the bottom of the problem; how the competitive markets work. As each farmer represents a small part of the wheat market, he sets the price of this product. This way, the reasoning seemed to point out that starting from any given price of wheat it would be better to use the new hybrid and sell more wheat individually. However, when all the farmers adopt this new hybrid, the wheat supply increases, thus lowering the price which in turn worsens the farmer's economy.This relationship in agricultural development (by increasing productivity), can be verified with what happened in the United States. In 1948, around 24 million people (17% of the population) made a living from agriculture. By 1993 only 5 million (2% of the population) made a living from agriculture. This change coincided with an enormous increase in the agricultural productivity. In spite of an 80% decrease in the number of farmers, American agriculture produced more than double the harvested crops and livestock in 1993 than in 1948. The increase of food supply caused a decrease in agricultural revenues, and this encouraged people to abandon agriculture. In the case of Andean agriculture, there were also successes in increasing the productivity levels of certain crops; but mostly, the pattern of reproduction of seeds in a traditional manner was maintained. This happened because Andean producers have no better resources than their own technology, seed and labour.A pathetic case that is happening in Puno, Peru is the one related to quinoa. There have been great efforts in improving the production of the quinoa grain by implementing technical support programmes. An important item here was the distribution of uniform and good-quality seeds. After several years of work, the local market is requesting not a uniform grain, nor one of first quality, but a clean grain of second-class quality, even if it is mixed. The food-processing companies use this product for different processes before it arrives at the final consumer.Producers of traditional agriculture, as in Andean agriculture, continually face the dilemma of \"maintain traditional varieties for different objectives and/or replace them with genotypes with more capacity and production potential.\" Furthermore, they also face a high risk because of the climatic variability and the reduced access to the market, given the conditions that their products offer. From Table 1 it is possible to appreciate the effect that a year of drought  or a year of flood (1986) can have, and the number of times that each one of these events took place in the last century; this probably will not change in the future.Under the described variable climatic pattern it is considered that, for this type of traditional agriculture, obtaining high yields is not the high-priority goal, but is still important. Steady production in time and space, as well as crops adapted to the characteristics of the Andean space, seem to be elements of greater weight. In this perspective, yield is very much linked with culinary quality, with the acceptance in the consumption and the possibility for good transformation. As it can not be obtained in a single genotype, a mechanical combination of different genotypes of 'varieties mixture' is adopted. Other crops ‡ 22 000 -10 000 -Recorded events in: 1815, 1912, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1956, 1962, 1982, 1988, 1992, 1996, ? 1921, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1954, 1963, 1964, 1984, 1986, 2002, ? Source: INIA, PISA 1992; UNEP 1996 † Including potato, oca, olluco and mashua. ‡ Including natural grasses.In the dynamics of the family system in the Peruvian highlands, after the harvest a diverse process of use and destination of the production begins (Figure 1). For the next planting, families use their own seed and they also purchase it, exchange or plant with a partner. This dynamic is completed with the flow of varieties in two periods: April-August (consumption) and September-November (seed). The movement of varieties begins when the family decides to sell small volumes in the nearer fairs (K'atos). In these places intermediaries buy them to take to fairs in more developed cities. In both the consumption and sale periods the commercialization is in reduced amounts and with a diversity of varieties. In consequence, when one acquires seed in the market (September-November), this is already \"mixed\" and is incorporated into the stock that the family owns.In the dynamics above described, fairs play an important role. For the case of the microcentre of Yunguyo, in Puno (Peru), besides of existing very local fairs, three weekly fairs of great importance are developed. The fair of Yunguyo (Thursday and Sundays), concentrates the production of 72 rural communities and distributes them toward bigger cities in the highlands and in the coast of Peru. These fairs also have a high relationship with the fairs of the peninsula of Copacabana (Bolivia). The fair of Chaca Chaca (Thursday) is of a local nature. Varieties that are offered are the same as those in the Yunguyo fair. Especially at planting time, families acquire small seed stocks in this fair. Another fair of great importance is located in Desaguadero, where besides concentrating the production of the area, it also receives some of the production of oca from Oruro and La Paz (Bolivia). In the period of consumption, they are almost the same varieties as in Yunguyo, but in the time of planting, these are increased in number and volume.For the highland of Peru, at present there is no official programme of production and distribution of seeds. Strategies and traditions of the rural families are developed; these families look to complement the acquisition of their seeds. In other words, according to the conditions of the year, they can use their own seed or look for seed in local, regional or extra-regional markets. In all cases, at planting time they have a group of varieties that are planted in the same parcel. A study on oca planting and harvest (Valdivia et al. 2001) showed that different structures of 'seed mixtures' of oca show different behaviour in time and space. Figure 2 is a schematic of the relationship that four types of oca mixture present with stability and productive adaptability. From this figure arises the question: what do the mixtures represent in the distribution and use of seeds? To answer this question, an analysis is presented below the figure caption.In consequence, a production and seed-distribution programme for the Andes or in areas of traditional agriculture should be considered for the traditional management of their varieties. Improving the relationships of response to the time and the environment is important. However if only a few varieties are favoured, there is the risk of supply-demand problems as presented in the first part of this study. A study is needed to determine what is the biological response to the different microenvironments in an area of traditional agriculture, or if there is \"complementarity of environments\". In the highlands, in any year, a town can have severe climatic restrictions that reduce the productivity of the area drastically. Yet, a few kilometers away, the conditions are different and the productivity is not as severely impacted. Then the producers appeal to these latter areas or to more distant places to get seeds and to restart their productive cycle.The traditional producers maintain genetic variability in their fields and their harvests are a product of it. However, consumers are guided to acquire homogeneous products that are easily prepared. What should farmers grow to better meet the market demands? The added value generated after the harvest is decisive, indicating that the dynamics of conservation of resources do not finish with the crop.The diverse uses of the material that the rural families have should also be revalued or located in the current circumstances. An example is the use of the different natural colours of oca to produce oca marmalade of different colours. The added value generated from genetic diversity tends also to face a problem of competitiveness of the rural area against the industrial development in urban centres. As is shown, there is a high relationship between the different hierarchical levels involved from when a rural family decides to plant a crop, harvest it and commercialize it until it arrives at the final consumers. M1 mixture: its structure is based on one or two varieties. They are the ones with better behaviour when the combination space-time is good. In other words, they are \"good\" in \"good\" environments. They are the most diffused ones and accepted by the producers. It includes 100% of Very Frequent varieties. (The study makes reference to varieties \"Very frequent\", \"Frequent\", \"rare\" and \"very rare\", according to their presence or absence in the planting or harvest in families' fields or in microcentre fairs in Yunguyo.) The families remember the varieties Jancc'o Luk'e, Waca lik'e and Kellasunte, used for at least 50 years. M2 mixture: It is composed of 7 Very Frequent varieties (70%) and 8 Frequent (30%), selected randomly by the families themselves. It represents high stability, as the genotypes that compose it generate an excellent combination of genes that express a biological potential in production through the climatic changes. This group of genes offers a good strategy against variable climate among years. Therefore this is the more interesting 'mixture' to work with in the event of intervention and distribution of seed. M3 mixture: Structured with 50% of Very Frequent varieties, 40% of Frequent and 10% of rare. While expressing high adaptability, the genotypes confer a good combination for the spatial changes. In other words it is better adapted to specific places, even registering the best average yields for the six studied regions (25 t/ha average; with ranges of 7 to 48 t/ha). It is in this mixture that the rare varieties begin to appear (those that are recorded occasionally in the parcels of the families, in their warehouses and in the fairs). It seems that these varieties may be concentrated in certain communities, and to these places we should appeal for their propagation in the vision of conservation of agrobiodiversity. M4 mixture: With more than 12 varieties, it is adapted to different places but it is less stable in years and has the smallest yield compared with the other mixtures. 1.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5Finally, when the agricultural technology or the agricultural policies are analyzed, it is important to have in mind that what is good for the farmers is not necessarily good for the society altogether. The improvement of agricultural technology can be adverse for the farmers, but it is good for the consumers who pay less for their food. Also, a policy dedicated to reducing the supply of agricultural products can increase the revenues of the farmers, but the consumers will pay the burden. This paper introduces the session on factors affecting seed systems. This is a revision of concepts and experiences that are expected to contribute to building a research agenda to enhance seed systems as a main tool for in situ conservation of crop genetic diversity. The analysis of the nature of seed systems is important to determine appropriate interventions for scaling up seed systems and supporting conservation in more efficient ways.In order to identify the factors affecting seed systems and to estimate the magnitude of the effects, it is necessary to understand the value of the seed, the production processes and the actors involved.Seed is an input for agricultural production systems. Seed provides two joint benefits to the agricultural producers and to society: it is a consumable input and it is a source of genetic material. As a consumable input, it enters directly into the production function to obtain a product with an expected set of attributes; although seed quality can not be completely seen until harvest and, in some cases, until consumption. As a source of genetic material, seed the potential to improve quality, yield and resistance, which might be realized in the future, after research and development efforts.The importance of seed comes from the preference and willingness of consumers to pay for final goods. According to economic theory, consumers try to maximize a utility function that depends on goods consumed, given a set of household characteristics, constrained by time, income and prices. As a result of this attitude, a demand function for final goods is identified and this demand may act as an incentive, through prices and marketing margins to orientate production decisions at several levels of the commercial chain. The demand for seed is derived from the demand for final goods.On the production side, agricultural producers are assumed to act rationally: they will select a portfolio of crops and varieties to maximize the expected utility coming from net income, given their socioeconomic characteristics related to ability to decide, including access and capacity to process information. In making these decisions they confront a set of constraints including family labour, different types of soil, capital and production technology. Net income, in the objective function, depends directly on price of products and cost of inputs.The selection of crops, varieties and production technology is the result of this maximization process. Therefore, the producer demand for quality and quantity of seed is also a result of this decision process. The decision may have different levels of risk, since there is no guarantee of yield and other attributes to be obtained. Within the community, however, farmers might know where the seed is coming from and have past experiences about its performance.The demand for seed might be, in turn, an incentive for a set of activities related to seed production: breeding, management, replacement, certification and distribution. For example, the presence of pests and diseases stimulates demand for disease-free seed from the formal system. In some geographical conditions, the production of disease-free seed might be developed informally, as in the case of potato in the Andes, where seed free from bacterial wilt is produced at altitudes higher than 2800 m, and is sold to the lower parts of the valleys (Thiele 1999).In the formal seed systems, these activities are conducted by commercial organizations independently of the agricultural producers of final goods. The decisions about what type of seed, volumes, technology, strategies for distribution and communication, and plant varietal protection, are the result of a profit-maximizing process of the commercial firms.There is an information flow that comes down from the consumer, to the farmers and then to the seed producer, according to price and marketing incentives. The flow of information depends on market integration (access to the market), profitability of different actors in the chain, infrastructure, organization of farmers and governmental support. Very often formal seed systems have no appropriate answers to the demand from most farmers. It has been argued that formal systems may supply genetic material that is inappropriate for small farmers because it requires high levels of fertilizers and pesticides.In the informal seed systems, breeding, management, replacement and distribution are done by the communities themselves as part of the overall production decision. Hence, information from those who consume the final goods to those that provide the appropriate seed required by the production process are close, direct and accurate in these systems. As we all have found in the global in situ conservation project, very often rural families and their communities produce local crops and varieties for their own consumption, varieties that are practically unknown outside the communities. In this context, they need to produce the required seed.In order to understand the factors affecting seed systems, we must consider that these are interrelated directly with production of final goods and with agricultural households. They also depend indirectly on consumption, preferences and marketing margins for final goods.Some factors are related to the marketing of final goods. The size of the market is crucial for the development of seed systems of landraces. When a market is thin, information about the distinctive attributes of landraces is not readily available to the urban consumers, although they might be willing to pay a premium for some of those attributes.Seed systems depend on size of local and national consumption for final products; migration from the countryside to the city, which creates market niches for final products, and possibilities for exports. Some landraces have \"strong\" attributes (superior traits) that compete with well-known substitutes. Market development and seed systems for these varieties are likely to be profitable, and would contribute to on-farm conservation very efficiently (Gauchan et al. 2003). But many other local varieties are expected to have a poor performance in the market.Seed systems are also dependent on market integration. Very often, information about attributes of landraces for production and consumption is not fluid. The formal seed system has problems reaching scattered small producers, because of high marketing and other transaction costs. In contrast, the informal seed systems are closely connected with agricultural households that produce and consume final goods from landraces. Most often these agricultural households produce their own seed.Distance and infrastructure are key factors for market integration. Depending on the distance to the market, Amazonian communities dedicate efforts and area to exotic crops and varieties, increasing the demand for seed of modern varieties and reducing the demand for seed of local varieties. This is the case of landraces of maize and beans in Central Amazonia in Perú (Collado et al. 2001). The same has been found in maize, beans and squash varieties grown by farmers in México (Van Dusen 2000), wheat landraces in Turkey (Meng 1997), and maize in Ethiopia (Benin et al. 2003).In the semi-subsistence or semi-commercial indigenous communities of Peruvian Central Amazonia, families plant some areas of improved varieties mainly for the market. These varieties have been produced originally in the formal system, but have been propagated through informal channels. Families also plant commercial local varieties mainly for the regional urban markets (Pucallpa and Iquitos in the Amazonia), but also for market niches outside the region (Lima, the capital, at the west side of the Andes). They also plant non-commercial local varieties for consumption within the rural communities in the region. The importance and diversity of local varieties for the families depend on the distance to the market and the ethnic group (Collado et al. 2001).Some factors are related to the type of seed. A crucial issue for the performance of seed systems is the additional attributes of the seed as food for the household. Some seed involves two joint products: seed and food. This is the case of maize, peanuts or beans, different from cassava, chillies or cotton. Joint products give the seed a special additional value. When, under certain circumstances, a rural family has critical liquidity or food needs, they might sacrifice the seed and use it as food. This additional value might be a reason why, for the Amazonian communities, it is easier to give cassava, chillies or cotton seed as a present to neighbours, rather than seed of maize, peanuts or beans (Collado et al. 2003).Another aspect related to the type of seed is bulkiness. There is a higher cost for handling cassava seed than for maize or beans. In order to plant 1 ha of beans or maize, between 20 and 25 kg of seed are needed. While 7000 stems are necessary to plant 1 ha of cassava, this material weighs about 680 kg. In terms of transportation and management, cassava seed is about 27 times more expensive than beans or maize. In this way, cassava seed flows are less aggressive than beans and maize.Some factors are related to efficiency in the use of resources. Experience, management ability, education and leadership are human capital variables that will affect the performance of information flow, breeding, management and distribution.Also, in relation to efficiency, a minimum size of operation is needed in the formal sector to continue in business. Commercial organizations will not produce seed of local crops and varieties unless the specific market has been developed to a profitable size. In the case of informal seed systems, multiproduct and multivariety farms are already in place as a result of production-consumption decisions of the household. Marginal efforts required to select seed are low enough and cannot be put aside because of the family food security during the next season. In the same context, the farmer's attitude toward risk and uncertainty is also an important variable affecting informal seed systems. It is not clear yet if the Amazonian communities are risk-averse people, nor is the magnitude of risk aversion known, but we know in theory that this attitude is directly related to poverty.Another set of factors affecting seed systems has to do with external intervention coming from development projects and private companies wishing to create business in the region. Usually these companies introduce exotic seed according to final market demand, often for exports. Farmers multiply the seed and distribute it further as long as the market exists. This is the case of Vigna sp., Phaseolus vulgaris var. Caraota and some varieties of cotton in Central Amazonia. Another exogenous factor is government intervention through the normative frame. Norms may limit the flow of seed from one region to another or from one country to another. Seed certification is also regulated by government.There is a concern about keeping diversity in the long run, through maintenance of seed systems. Market integration and development will not solve the whole problem of in situ conservation. In the case of local varieties with \"strong\" attributes, information and marketing might be an important factor for sustainability and development of a seed system for them. In the case of local varieties with \"weak\" consumption attributes, with the development and integration of the market, competition for land and labour with other crops and varieties will tend to contribute to genetic erosion. This tendency might be overcome if the communities internalize the potential benefits of keeping diversity for yield improvement, resistance to pests and diseases and other quality parameters. Such a process requires strengthening farmers' capacity for participatory plant breeding with a long-term perspective in mind (Hurvio and Sidibé 2003). But, will all the costs be borne by poor communities?Market for seed is a market derived from the product market. Incentives for seed production and management come from agricultural producers. Therefore, quality of seed has to do with consumption attributes of final products as well as with agronomic attributes;Information gaps, transaction cost and profitability of the commercial chain affect the development of seed sytems. Informal seed systems are most appropiate when markets are thin or underdeveloped, and when formal seed supply does not satisfy farmers' needs and expectations; Decisions about seed production and management are risky. Therefore research is needed to understand the expectations and attitudes toward risk of families and communities under study; Bulkiness of seed in crops like cassava affects their management and distribution. Transaction costs might be more than 20 times those of grains; Building capacities at the rural community level will help them to internalize the benefits of conserving genetic resources for improving yield and quality of products, even with those varieties that have \"weak\" attributes to compete in the market.The purpose of this paper is to list some of the factors affecting seed supply systems and provide the experiences, contributions and findings from the global project: \"Strengthening the scientific basis of in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity on-farm\" from Nepal.Seed is the genetic material, which is the first link in the food chain, the source of life, future plants and even culture (Shiva et al. 1995). Louette (2000) defined \"seed lot\" as the kernels (grains) of a specific type of maize (crop) selected by one farmer and sown during one cropping season to reproduce that particular maize (crop) type. She further defined \"variety\" or \"cultivar\" as the set of farmers' seed lots that bear the same name and are considered to form a homogeneous set. A seed lot, therefore, refers to a physical unit of kernels (grains) associated with the farmer, who sows it; a variety is associated with a name (Louette 2000). Baniya et al. (2000) raised the question that in dealing with seed, a clear distinction between seed and variety is needed. In most cases, they are used synonymously and many people have difficulty in distinguishing seed and variety. However, in dealing with the seed supply system in this paper, generally we use seed and variety interchangeably.Individual farmers value diversity within and between their crops because of heterogeneous soils and production conditions, risk factors, market demand, consumption and uses of different products from an individual crop species (Bellon 1996). Bellon (1996) outlines a framework that assumes that the farmers have several concerns, including adverse climate, soils, labour or fertilizer shortage, poor yield or storage life, lack of appeal for home use or lack of marketability. He hypothesized that the farmer retains the variety that best meets each concern. The concerns themselves are dynamic, changing with new market structures, technology and government policies (Brown 2000).Farmers manage rather than conserve on-farm crop diversity. Farmers do not usually view the onfarm crop in a static way, but rather as a dynamic part of their farming system that can be manipulated as part of their constant struggle to achieve sustainable livelihoods (Cromwell and Oosterhout 2000). Seed is used as the main management unit in seed supply systems. With the quantum jump in science and technology, scientists have developed modern crop varieties that have mostly broad adaptation, resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, high efficiency for use of inputs and are higher yielders than most of the landraces in high-input conditions. So, a few modern varieties have already replaced the landraces in the developed countries and the rate of replacement of landraces is very high in developing countries. However, some farmers are growing landraces because of factorssocial, technological, cultural, biological, religious, political, economical, climatical, adaptiveness of varieties, available land type, etc.-which are directing them to maintain agrobiodiversity at a high level. The dynamics of seed systems enhance the continuing crop evolution processes (Brown 2000). The combination of different sets of the above-mentioned variables determines the seed supply system. On-farm conservation and seed system are closely linked where continuous human involvement is occurring in both processes. Brown (2000) has analyzed the reasons for conservation of landraces. Farmers grow diverse landraces in often small patches amid modern cultivars. The question is why farmers grow these landraces without external supports? Brown (2000) has listed some of the reasons for continuous growing of landraces, as follows:Improved varieties may not be available or affordable; Improved varieties may not represent an improvement for a particular farmer or meet the farmer's needs reliably; To understand the dynamics of local crop diversity in farming systems, we need to relate farmers' decision-making to the pool of varieties available for planting. The systematic force for allele frequency change is farmer selection, both deliberate and inadvertent, mixing and hybridization. Landrace seed selection by farmers for quality, flavor, size, appearance, market appeal, etc. comes into play (Brown 2000). The formal system functions on the commercial scale and it is oriented to profit. Most of the formal seed system is under the control of national and/or international and multinational seed companies. The formal seed system is well established, is based on scientific principles and is committed to providing quality seeds to the farmers. The success of the formal system depends on competition by providing quality seeds. In Nepal, some seed companies, government agriculture stations and private groups are the formal seed-supplying organizations, and they have fairly sound seed networks for seed replacement of cereal and vegetable crops. They usually follow all the modern seed production and distribution practices. However, the seed replacement rates of old seeds by the certified seed of rice, maize and wheat were only 0.2%, 0.7% and 2.5% respectively in 1997/98 (Baniya et al. 2000).In an informal seed system, the farmers produce, purify, store and use the seed locally. In Nepal's context, a large portion of the seed requirement of the major crops is met by the informal seed system. The informal seed system fundamentally occurs through a social network where a set of persons is connected through flow of information, goods or implementation of joint activities or other social bonds of one kind or another (Subedi et al. 1999). Most of the processes are under the control of the farmers and very little is known about the informal seed system. This system is predominant in Nepal. The culture of the informal seed system is fundamentally different from the culture ofthe formal seed system. Within the culture of indigenous peoples, we find viable alternatives to the current ethnic and environmental crises (Gonzales 2000). Research and development of agriculture are advanced in developed countries and thus formal seed system is very strong there, however both agriculture research and development are weak in developing countries and thus the informal seed system is predominant. Research and development are extremely weak in the least developed countries, and mostly the formal seed system does not exist there. But developing and leastdeveloping countries are rich in genetic resources and their seed system is not well understood. So, the status of the country also affects the seed ssystem.The formal system focuses more on the interests of the seed company, and has more access to biotechnology and plant breeding techniques, so this seed system generally neglects the indigenous people. The market is dominated by a few suppliers with potentially serious implications for technology choice and price fixing. In Nepal, the majority of farmers fulfil their seed requirements through the informal system, which is met by retention, farmer-to-farmer exchange and local sales (Joshi 1995). Each year farmers decide how much seed to plant and where that seed comes from. The informal seed supply system is closely related with conservation of agrobiodiversity on-farm. In this system, farmers make decisions in the process of planting, managing, selecting, rogueing, harvesting and processing that affect the genetic diversity of the crop population (Baniya et al. 2003). These processes influence the geneflow and change the genetic constituent of a given crop. In the informal seed supply system, retention of the farmers' own seed and exchange with neighbours are prominent practices. About 67-97% of rice area is planted with farmers' own saved seed in the case of landraces (Baniya et al. 2000(Baniya et al. , 2003)). Identifying strengths and weakness of farmer's seed systems and providing incentives to strengthen informal seed supply systems needs priority attention, as it could serve to promote conservation of local landraces and to meet the farmers' seed demand.The types of farmers also affect the seed systems. Louette (2000) classified farmers in three groups:(1) mostly uses seed of own production and keeps more varieties, sows same varieties regularly and supplies seed of landraces to others; (2) uses own seed lots acquired in the community or seed introduced from other regions; the proportion of seed varies from season to season; suppliers of introduced seed are known as innovative farmers in the community and are aware of seed matters;(3) always uses seed from others owing to insufficient production; had less land; does not grow crop regularly and depends on others for seed; uses fewer number of varieties. Subedi et al. (2003) identified 'nodal farmers' who are in the rich category, maintain more variety diversity, search for new varieties, are more knowledgeable farmers in the seed system, have larger landholdings, are \"diversity minded\" and have a higher education (Rana et al. 1999). Nodal farmers play an important role in the seed flows through social networks and provide seeds to others. They also bring in materials from other farmers within and outside the community and provide seed to poorer farmers. Nodal farmers play an important role in dissemination of knowledge-based information as well. Nodal farmers more frequently participate in the local market (Subedi et al. 2003). Thus, the farmers of different groups affect the informal seed supply system in farming communities.In the social network, different institutions and individuals play a significant role in the flow of genetic materials and associated knowledge. Among these local institutions, certain individual farmers in the community maintain a relatively larger diversity than other members. Farmers' network is also a kind of social network where farmers have a network of affiliations and have been found to play a significant role in the flow of genetic material and the associated knowledge (Subedi et al. 2003). In this process, both material and non-material information-on morphological traits, management practices and the performance of the genotype in different conditions and their use values-also flows.The socioeconomic conditions of the farmers also influence the seed supply system. Generally the rich farmers have more access to resources and information, have larger landholdings, are more educated, have land-use rights and have funds to manage the crops, and therefore they can exert a greater influence on the seed system. The rich farmers bring improved varieties from their relatives and other formal channels (Baniya et al. 2000). The landlords, persons with a high local position of authority, who have more contact with research and development organizations also play an important role in this system. Farmers with small landholdings produce less, even for their own consumption, and so generally depend on others for seeds.Most farmers are not concerned about the seed source, but some have a special preference for seed source and try to manage the seed from that particular source. Some farmers think that they must change seed lot of a variety for a particular land regularly to maintain or increase the productivity of the variety and they change seed lots accordingly. The frequency of seed renewal varies from one season to more than three growing seasons, depending on the nature of crops and location. For example, in Nepal 23% of farmers change seed lots every year in remote areas, but most change seed lots after one year in accessible areas, although in finger millet and taro the duration of seed change is more than three seasons (Baniya et al. 2003).Farmers conserve the agrobiodiversity for different uses and/or manage their seed accordingly. Conservation of agricultural biodiversity on-farm can be assured only if they hold specific values either in socio-cultural, economic, ecological terms or preference of characteristics (Jarvis and Hodgkin 1997). The landraces can be conserved through value addition by breeding or nonbreeding mechanism so that the farmers can obtain more economic benefits, which will promote the production and consequently the demand for seed of the particular landrace. Generally, the farmers perceive the genetic biodiversity as varietal biodiversity and, unlike in other developing countries, Nepalese farmers maintain a wide range of varieties for different purposes.Landraces are mainly grown for food purposes and sometime also for economic, socio-cultural, religious and medicinal values. The crops are used to prepare different foods, and some landraces are used for a special purpose only. 'Basmati', 'Kariya Kamod', 'Brambabusa' and 'Bhasa' are used for different purposes. Some 'Japonica' type rice varieties in Nepal are used for beaten rice and alcohol preparation. Some rice varieties are used to prepare different special foods, e.g. the local rice variety 'Anadi' has a high protein content and is used exclusively as a medicinal by women who have recently given birth. 'Sokan', 'Sotwa' and 'Anadi' are used for medicinal purposes. 'Anadi' is a glutinous rice variety also used to prepare other foods. Another rice variety (Sathi) has religious value: it is offered to the goddess (Chathi maiya) on the special festival (Gauchan 1999;Rana et al. 1999) and is used for preparing sweets and dishes during the festival. 'Khera', 'Sathi', 'Lajhi', etc. are used for religious purposes. The local communities need these landraces and so the farmers grow them and manage the seed accordingly. 'Basmati' rice is a fine, aromatic and better eating-quality variety, so it has special value for the higher social and economic status groups. Aromatic and high-quality rice landraces such as 'Jetho Budho', 'Bayarni' and 'Pahele' are grown for commercial purposes and sell for a good price.White grain maize and white finger millet varieties are also considered high-status landraces because they look like rice recipes and are offered to higher-status people for food. Here the value of the variety is in colour, which is associated with high social status.A farmer selects seed from the particular population of a variety and identifies some different populations, and the breeders also use their landraces in formal breeding programme. So, most of the landraces have one or more favourable traits and farmers grow them for those specific qualities.Similarly, in the case of other crops like taro and sponge gourd, the diversities are maintained for their adaptive traits and specific use values. The extent and distribution of these taro landraces are based on their multiple use values and the preference for local cuisine based on the plant parts (Rijal et al. 2000).Crops and varieties have specific adaptation and can be grown in particular environmental and soil conditions. Landrace populations of crops have survived centuries of selection for reliable production in subsistence agriculture, yielding a definite, known but probably limited benefit to the farmers that grow them (Frankel et al. 1995). If the landraces come from marginal environments, they are known to equal or exceed the performance of imported advanced cultivars in those marginal environments (Weltzgien and Fischbeck 1990). The special adaptation of landraces in harsh and heterogeneous environments is the prime factors for farmers' maintenance of landrace diversity (Gauchan 1999). Farmers have different land parcels with different agroecological environments for which different varieties adapted to these environments are required. Thus, farmers maintain more than one variety based on the domain-specific characteristics of the varieties. Farmers also maintain the diversity of varieties, be they modern or landraces, to mitigate the risk of losing the crop owing to some unpredictable change in environment. Environmental Box 1. Value addition through non-breeding approach.NARC, LI-BIRD and IPGRI have been implementing the in situ conservation and utilization of agrobiodiversity onfarm project since 1997. This project has been instrumental in identifying the opportunities linking the farmers' cooperatives (e.g. Pratigya cooperative) with markets to sell their local crop products. conditions are considered here at the narrowly based on-farm level only. Some examples from rice are as follows: specific agroecological factors such as marginal uplands, infertile soils, waterlogged lowland, rain-fed area, etc. influence farmers' selection of particular landraces, cultivation decisions and management of the seed. Some landraces are suited only to unbunded upland areas with no irrigation, but most rice landraces are cultivated only in bunded lowland areas with the possibility of irrigation. For example 'Mutmur' and 'Nakhisaro' landraces are suitable in upland and poor soils with less use of chemical fertilizers, whereas 'Bhathi' and 'Silhat' rice landraces are grown in swampy land because of their unique adaptation to submergence situations, where other landraces are not adapted (Gauchan 1999). Again the fine and aromatic rice 'Basmati' is adaptive in lower wetlands and needs less fertile soils. Similarly, some landraces are suitable in cold and hot conditions, some are generally grown in the specific seasons and some can be grown in a wide range of agroecological conditions and soil fertility.Seed production is the main factor influencing the seed system in informal and formal systems.In the formal seed system, the seed production techniques and quality control system are well established and controlled by the authorities. But, in the informal seed system, farmers follow procedures developed by them, which differ from place to place and for the same crop, and different procedures are followed for different crops. Generally farmers establish strong seed-production systems for the premier crop of their area. For rice, rogueing and seed selection with set criteria are the two special operations followed by farmers in seed-production procedures. Both operations are oriented to purifying their landraces to make them true to type and in some cases even to develop new genotypes. However, the selection criteria and time of plant or ear selection differ from place to place. Most farmers follow select seed before and after harvesting the crop. Some farmers designate a certain patch of land for seed production and use that area as a seed-production plot. Field and plant selections are based on a fixed set of criteria, which vary from place to place, crop to crop and farmer to farmer (Baniya et al. 2003). Some farmers provide more inputs to the seed-production plot and even maintain short isolation distances for maintaining seed quality (Baniya et al. 2003). Roles, responsibilities and decision-making of women farmers in rice seed production, seed selection, management and use are higher in the hilly region than in the lowland plains of Nepal. The direct involvement and decision-making of women farmers in variety/landrace choice, allocation of land parcels to variety/landrace, seed selection, storage, maintenance and further management indicate that women farmers have access to and control over genetic resources and are important stakeholders in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources on-farm (Subedi et al. 1999).Community-based seed production and marketing of the seed are effective measures to improve the local seed-production systems.Informal and formal systems are the main sources of seed. A large percentage of cultivated area is planted with farmers' own seed saved from the informal seed supply system, ranging from 32 to 79%; use of seeds from neighbours is high and from relatives is low (Baniya et al. 2003). The most common way of managing seed is by exchanging seed for seed or food grain, and gifts as well as purchases from different sources also are significant in rice crops of Nepal (Baniya et al. 2003).Farmers usually rely on diversity of other farms and communities to provide new seed when crops fail or seed is lost, or to renew seed that no longer meets the farmers' criteria for good seed (Louette et al. 1997). Louette (2000) found that about 53% of seed lots were from farmers' own harvest, about 36% of the seed lots were obtained from another farmer from the same area, and 11% were introduced from other regions. So, seed exchange within a community or among the communities is very important in the seed system. If a variety is grown in one locality only, the farmers must rely on their own stocks, and if there is no seed production, the variety/seed is lost forever.Exchange, gift, purchase and free (from development organizations) are some of the processes of seed flow at household level. Seeds of modern varieties are exchanged more frequently than those of landraces (Louette 2000). Farmers have a well-established seed supply system, and they often operate in networks.Safe storage of seed to use for the next season is one of the main challenges for farmers. Seed that is not exchanged or sold should be saved/stored for a more appropriate planting season. Improving storage units will help to preserve diversity more effectively thereby complementing the more formal ex situ system, which will also provide a back-up system for in situ field plots, in case of crop failure (Worede et al. 2000). The community gene/seed banks serve to maintain local germplasm for crop improvement and are a seed reserve system for emerging use. Mostly farmers keep seed in containers, materials and structures made from locally available materials. Farmers are very careful to store seed in safe places to maintain high seed quality. Types of storage structures vary with the amount of seed to be stored, its unique value and the local ethnic culture (Baniya et al. 2003). For seed security, farmers usually employ containers such as clay pots or rock hewn mortars that are sealed and buried in an inverted position in a secure place on the farm and in underground pits (Worede et al. 2000). When there is an emergency situation due to droughts, floods, landslides (natural calamity) or war, seed stored in a secure place is useful.The availability of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, water, plant protection chemicals and, more importantly, seed to plant for the next season also affects a seed supply system. In the informal seed system adequate amounts of required inputs may not be available, which can halt the seed system. Seed security in terms of access to sufficient seed and access to seed of desired crop varieties is an important variable that encourages farmers to maintain a large number of crops and crop varieties on-farm (Cromwell and Oosterhout 2000). Many households reported that they could not grow some preferred landraces ('Mutmur' and 'Nakhisaro') because of the unavailability of seeds during the planting season (Gauchan 1999). So, there is a need to take measures to multiply the seed of desired varieties in sufficient amounts locally and distribute it to farmers. Efforts should be made to encourage different groups of a community to participate in seed production, storage and exchange locally. The generation of funds to support seed production, processing, packaging and distribution facilities locally and to make seed available to the farmers also is an effective way of strengthening seed systems. Construction of a few community seed banks will enhance the availability of seed of desired varieties locally.Access to information on the source of seed, local knowledge, practices and use values are fundamentally not systematic, which may prove to be one of the factors affecting the farmer's decision on choice of variety and ultimately the on-farm conservation. A Community Biodiversity Register (CBR), which is an inventory of this information, will aid in increasing the accessibility of local knowledge to the farming community as well as others. Project-based seed-production programmes in Nepal demonstrate the positive impacts on local seed production and distribution systems.Agrobiodiversity is an important source for food security and livelihood in Nepal. Seed policy and regulations affect the seed systems of any crop variety. International agreements, national policies, and regulations in the seed sector can play an important role not only in directing on-farm diversity conservation but also in guiding the best use of the available genetic resources in sustainable way. Nepal has a National Seed Policy (2000), Seed Act (1988) and Seed Regulations (1997) in place. The seed policy has several liberal policy statements that permit the seed industry to strengthen the private seed sector. However, a seed act and regulations are not sufficient to implement the seed policy properly. So, the present seed act and regulations are in the process of being amended by the concerned authorities. In Nepal, diffusion of technology and seed-promotion mechanisms, such as extension agencies, training, agricultural fairs and market promotion, by government and many non-government agencies, are mainly biased toward modern crop varieties, as are the policy act and regulations. It is not possible to produce the seed of landraces and sell it commercially. Neither extension advice nor inputs for the promotion of landraces and their seed are available. Thus, there are no legislation and support systems (certification and quality control) for seed multiplication of landraces in Nepal.Nepal is a signatory of Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), is going to be a member of WTO/TRIPS very soon and has signed the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2001). But, as we have no Plant Variety Protection or Breeders' Rights and Farmers' Rights yet, our seed system is very weak and not well controlled. There may be some problems in implementing farmers' rights effectively.Market value of a variety also influences the production system of that particular variety and consequently the seed supply system. Economic factors such as higher market demand and higher price also influence farmers' decisions to maintain cultivars such as 'Basmati' (Gauchan 1999). Among various landraces, 'Basmati', 'Mutmur', 'Nakhisaro', 'Sathi', 'Bhathi', 'Jhinuwa', 'Jethobudho', etc. are most valued by the local community for their better cooking and aromatic qualities. Although they have market value, most landraces except 'Basmati' have low market demand and lower market price, and consequently are traded in limited volumes. The major reasons cited by the traders are inadequate availability of landrace products, small-scale production, less appealing colour and heterogeneity of grains (Gauchan 1999). 'Basmati' is a fine and aromatic rice with good cooking quality and high status and has high market demand, so it is being cultivated by many farmers despite pressures for adoption of modern varieties and commercialization. Coarse-grain landraces fetch a low price, so their market demand is low. Most consumers are not aware of the good qualities of the landraces, so they are not sold at good price. Lack of market incentives for rice landraces is a major problem for their continued cultivation on-farm. Marketing of landrace seed on a large scale does not exist in Nepal and the seed system of rice landraces is not strong.From time immemorial farmers have been observing and selecting crops and crop varieties, saving and managing seeds for the next season. The long history of an informal seed system is being replaced by a well-established formal seed system; consequently the agrobiodiversity is eroding rapidly and the knowledge related to genetic resources also is disappearing. Informal seed supply systems have been developed through generations of experiences by farming communities to suit their environment and to meet their need for seeds for a variety of crops in a secure and sustainable manner (Shrestha 1998). The traditional seed supply systems have a great influence on the existing crop diversity. However, it is not possible to sustain the informal seed system as it is and there is a need for a new or modified seed supply system, which conserves high levels of agrobiodiversity and manages the local seed supply system effectively to provide quality seeds. All the factors affecting the seed supply systems must be understood and modified systems established based on the requirements of a given locality. Establishment of community-based seed-production and distribution programmes, community seed/genebanks at village level, more involvement of women in seed production and decision-making processes, balancing of breeders' rights with farmers'/ communities' rights, etc. in the informal seed supply system can be the way to conserve genetic resources and improve the informal seed supply system. Increasing the capability of local people and mobilization of community-based organizations (CBOs) and groups to handle seed-related operations also are equally important to strengthen seed systems. Project-based programmes can be the most effective strategy to understand, modify and strengthen the seed supply systems.A hybrid concept for understanding the functionality of seed systems in smallholder societies of the Peruvian Amazonia One day in late August of 1998, a discoloured elongated green bean attracted our attention while we were walking in the mixed planted fields of Manuela Tapullima, a farmer from the Peruvian Amazon. Since we were documenting agrodiversity and agrobiodiversity, we asked her the name of the beans; she told us that it was called chiclayo verdura japones (Japanese green beans). With a bit of humor and curiosity we asked her if the beans were provided by Alberto Fujimori, at that time president of Peru who originated from Japan. To our surprise, she told us that the beans indeed came from Japan but not by way of el Chino (as most farmers call Fujimori). She explained that she obtained the beans from a comerciante de semillas (seed seller) who lives in the city of Iquitos.When we spoke with the seed seller he told us that his daughter worked on a farm on the island of Okinawa and she sent the seeds to him in 1994. He explained to us that since Manuela Tapullima was a very good semillera, a certified breeder², he gave her the seeds to test. She would determine if the seeds could grow and produce beans and if they were tastier and easier to cook than the local green beans. The seed seller explained that Manuela Tapullima experimented with that variety for two years and her results showed that the beans could be produced and consumed in the region.Since 1997 the seed seller included the chiclayo verdura japones among the many varieties of beans he sells to farmers. When asked if he gets his supply of this variety of bean from Japan he reported that he actually buys the seed each year from Manuela Tapullima and two other very good and reliable semilleros. He told us that he had met the semilleros when he worked for the programa de semilla certificada (certified seed programme) of the Ministry of Agriculture from 1982 to 1985.The narrative above serves to introduce the two classes of actors and their roles in production, breeding and supply in the seed trade business in the Peruvian Amazon: the comerciantes de semillas and semilleros. These entrepreneurial seed sellers and certified breeders are key players in the process of building and maintaining seed systems³ in a rural agricultural region of the Amazon where there has been little success with agricultural extension programmes.Researchers have reported that in most developing countries governments have had limited success in building formal seed systems in rural areas (Tripp 1995;Thiele 1999). Nor have NGOs been able to fill the role in helping rural farmers maintain functional seed systems because their programmes are based on limited financial resources and are short term (Brush 1992;de Boef et al. 1995;Wiggins and Cromwell 1995). While both the state and NGO programmes have shown limited success in this area, we suggest that they have had significant indirect influence on the shaping of local seed systems. We have found that both information and technological resources from these programmes have been surreptitiously incorporated by farmers and entrepreneurs into local seed breeding and management systems resulting in what we call hybrid seed systems.² We use the term certified breeders to refer to farmers who are recognized by seed sellers as the ones who engage in experimentation and innovation in the processes of producing high-quality seeds. The concept is based on the generic category of expert farmers used in the PLEC programme (Pinedo-Vasquez et al. 2002). ³ The term seed system refers to an interrelated set of process components including breeding, management, replacement and distribution of seeds (Thiele 1999).Rather than condemning the behaviour of Manuela Tapullima and the seed seller, we use their case to examine how farmers are selectively adopting (and adapting) the technologies, tools and regulations that are brought to the region by extension agents of public and private organizations whose objectives were to build formal seed systems in the region.We focus on the more subtle influence, rather than on the success or failure, of those public and private seed programmes on local systems to analyze the enhanced functionality and composition of local seed systems in the Peruvian Amazonia. The three focal questions we address in this paper are: How are seed systems built? Who are the main players? and How are seeds and seeds technologies exchanged?In the rural areas near the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos in the northeast section of the country, certified breeders and seed sellers participate in loose networks that are used by farmers to procure seeds within and outside the communities (particularly from the Iquitos markets). Both actors adapt existing knowledge to build and maintain seed systems in which traditional and modern technologies, tools and regulations are integrated for breeding, management, replacement and distribution of seeds. The actors incorporate some of the technologies and knowledge that are promoted by the hundreds of seed programmes run by NGOs and government agencies in the region since the 1960s. These hybrid systems are neither modern nor traditional, formal nor informal, and as such escape the formal categorization, and notice, of the conventional agricultural research and extension programmes.The concept of hybrid seed systems not only draws attention to the knowledge and technology often overlooked by agricultural scholars and technicians, but also necessitates them to re-evaluate the role of seed sellers who are often thought of simply as middlemen and are often blamed and condemned by experts for proportedly introducing seed to rural regions that is contaminated by pathogens or of low genetic quality. We further argue that future seed programmes originating from the NGO and government agencies should carefully examine social, cultural and biological dynamics of the existing local systems before introducing new technologies and seed stock.In this analysis we have used data collected on the multiple functions of seed sellers and certified breeders to demonstrate how the hybrid concept can describe the dynamic nature of local seed systems in rural agricultural areas. We incorporate a broad range of market and on-farm observational data that show how semilleros integrate both modern and traditional knowledge, rules and strategies into viable systems for producing, selecting and exchanging seeds. This case study should provide a new conceptual and analytical framework that can inform the design of seed policy for rural smallholder farmers in other areas of Amazonia and other regions of the world.The data reported in this article were collected as part of the activities of the global programme on People, Land Management and Environmental Change (PLEC) of the United Nations University. In Peru, data collection began in 1997 and is ongoing. The study area comprises 6 small villages in the Muyuy sector situated 10 to 20 km upriver from the city of Iquitos, the largest urban center of the Peruvian Amazon. The villages lie on the banks of the Amazon River on the forested seasonal floodplain, or várzea, where fields and forests alike are inundated annually by the flooding whitewater river. This component of the PLEC research programme on the agrodiversity and agrobiodiversity of the region was specifically designed to understand the origin and function of local systems for breeding, storage and dissemination of agricultural seed.Farmers, certified breeders and seed sellers participated in all phases of data collection following a research method described by Franzel (2000) and Biggs (1999). Since 1998, owners from 5 of the 18 shops found to be marketing crop seed have participated in the study and provide reports of their activities, the number of crops and crop varieties of seeds that they market, and the origin of the seeds that are brought to them. With the assistance of two students from the university in Iquitos, our team recorded technical information on how these seed sellers control for quality and viability of the seeds, and we tested these methods.On-farm participant observation methods were used to collect information on techniques and strategies used by semilleros, the certified breeders, to produce, select, store and exchange seeds. While all households in the 6 villages were surveyed for some information, 23 families have been participating in a more intensive manner. Among these, 12 semilleros have been providing continuous data since 1998 on the amount and quality of seeds per species and variety that they produce, store and sell to the seed sellers or other farmers. In addition, the semilleros have provided information on the mechanisms and strategies they use to exchange and procure seeds. Data collected from each semillero were cross-checked during group discussions and dialogues with the most knowledgeable members of each household and community.Information on governmental and non-governmental seed programmes and incentives from 1970 to 2000 was accessed from the archives held in the municipal office of the agriculture ministry in Iquitos. A series of interviews with agronomists and other technical experts who had participated or are participating in formal seed breeding and dissemination programmes were also conducted using the actor and processes model (Cromwell et al. 2001). Results presented and discussed in this paper are part of the preliminary analysis of the data collected thus far.Two seed systems are recognized by local people in the study region: the mujo (seed lots) and pedido (requested seeds) systems, referred to here by their Spanish names.In this system all processes-breeding, management, replacement and storage-are conducted in the villages by families to supply their own needs for planting. Farmers using the mujo system save out small portions of seed, ranging from 0.5 to about 5 kg, from the harvest for planting from one season to the next (Table 1). These seeds are selected based on their size and colour. The two most common receptacles for storing seeds are glass bottles and plastic sacks, and sometimes maize is stored on the cob. An important method for seed preservation identified in this study is the use of burnt motor oil. The technique consists of applying the used oil extracted from the engine of the peque-peque (a local outboard motor) to the outside of the storage receptacle. In the case of maize stored on the cob, the tassel end of the cop is dipped in oil, and in the use of plastic bags, the entire bag is given a thin coating before storage (Table 1). This practice is in line with what Bellon (1998) reports: most seed selection methods include several techniques and strategies that are part of the on-farm conservation practices of poor farmers.Although most villagers reported that the mujo system was widely practised in Amazonia for managing their seeds lots, it is evidently being employed less and less in Muyuy sector. In 1998, only 37 of the 265 resident families (14%) of six villages surveyed were managing their seed lots using the mujo system (Table 2). This number dropped to 28, or 10%, in 2002.In the mujo system women play a central role in breeding, selecting and storing seeds. In 19 of 23 participating families using the mujo system, women were the seed managers and were in charge of classifying, supervising and storing seeds to assure that the supply was not contaminated by pathogens or infested by insects. Residents reported that the reason for this is that women have the curiosidad (curiosity) and dedicación (dedication) required in the processes of testing, producing and storing seeds for planting that most men in the villages do not possess or express. Farmers also mentioned that women are more capable than men of producing seeds of high quality for planting. We observed that women are more careful to collect the seeds at the appropriate time during the harvest, which is an important factor in the village certification schemes that control seed quality. Thus, women play an important role in providing the family with planting stock and in maintaining the neighbourhood certification scheme of producing quality seed.While the seed lots managed by women in this system are relatively small and mainly directed to supply seeds to the family, farmers do exchange seed with other families for products, favours and in a few cases for money. All 23 families have exchanged their seeds for favours such as working in their fields and helping with house construction. Five used their seeds to exchange for products such as fish, sugar and kerosene. Only two sold their seeds to other farmers for cash.Several reasons explain why the majority of farmers in these villages are not managing their seeds using the mujo system. One of the main reasons described by farmers is that most women migrate to the city as adolescents and do not have the opportunity to be trained by their mothers in these techniques and strategies. Farmers mentioned that there are no longer as many women in the villages who are capable of managing the seeds as there were in the past. Farmers also explained that the mujo system is not as critical to the family as it was in the past since it is easier to obtain seed from the city today by making a pedido to the comerciantes de semillas. .6 kg † An average of 11 espigas of Blanco yields 1 kg of seed, 8 espigas of Inti yields 1 kg of seed. ‡ An average of six ears of Shishaco maize yields 1 kg of seed, 4 ears of Duro yields 1 kg of seed. § An average of 33 vainas of Ojo negro is equal to 1 kg of seed, 37 vainas of Garbanzo is equal to 1 kg of seed, 23 vainas of Regional beans is equal to 1 kg of seed, 64 vainas of Blanco peanuts is equal to 1 kg of seed. The pedido systemThe actorsThe pedido system is a hybrid system of selection, breeding, management, replacement, storing and supplying of seeds to rural farmers. The system engages two types of actors involved in three main stages. The actors are (1) certified breeders (semilleros) and (2) seed sellers (comerciantes de semillas).The semilleros are expert rural farmers who practise crop breeding and seed storage on their own. They have been identified by the seed sellers as experts and are widely recognized as such by other farmers. The comerciantes de semillas tend to be entrepreneurial individuals residing in urban areas, perhaps originally from a village, who buy and sell seed stock to farmers. Their role, however, is much more complex than that of a simple trader or middleman. The background of the seed sellers, the comerciantes de semillas, is an important part of this story and is described next. The many government and NGO seed programmes implemented in the Peruvian Amazon since the 1960s employed many local people, mainly as part of the service staff. The members of the technical staff of these seed programmes were mainly urban people trained in agricultural schools. Because of the sometimes rigid conceptual and logistical framework from which they operated, the technicians often failed to establish trusting relationships with the rural farmers. Driving boats, preparing plots for planting, and interviewing farmers who would be benefactors of credit and seed programmes, the service employees-who were sometimes recent migrants from rural villages-informally learned techniques and strategies for seed production, selection, storage and dissemination to farmers. They identified the expert farmers in the villages and established and maintained good relationship with them as well as the technical staff.Often, when their employment terminated, these individuals began to engage in producing and trading certified seeds on their own accord using the knowledge and technologies learned from their involvement in the programmes. Some have gone on to build the hybrid seed systems we are describing here. All of the 18 seed sellers interviewed in Iquitos had participated in some capacity in the formal seed programmes: 12 were formerly employed in government seed certification programmes, 3 were former employees of the agrarian bank that managed a credit programme for promotion of certified seeds, and 2 formerly worked in a development programme run by CARE that provided seeds to farmers.The three stages of the pedido system begin with acquisition of new varieties of seed by the comerciantes de semillas and negotiation with breeders to work with it; second, on-farm testing by breeders of the viability, growth and yield in the local environment, on-farm breeding and certification; and third, delivery of the certified seed back to the seed seller. The beneficiaries of the pedido system are the rural farmers who purchase certified seed from the comerciantes de semillas at the start of the planting season. The seed seller also plays an important role in safely storing the seed stock between harvest and planting. The pedido system is schematically portrayed in Figure 1.Step 1. Acquisition of new seed stock. The first step involves seed sellers investigating the possibilities for obtaining new crop varieties or seed sources. Once the source of an interesting variety is identified, the seed seller makes a request, the pedido that gives the system its name, to obtain a small amount of the seed from their associate at the source. For some type of exchange negotiated, the associate delivers or sends a small amount of the seed (less than 2 kg for maize) to the seed seller.Our data show that seed sellers provided an average of six new varieties of annual crops per year to breeders to test in their fields. Most of the varieties of annual crops supplied to semilleros by seed sellers come from relatively distant regions in Peru and neighbouring countries (Table 3). They also provided hybrid seeds of maize, beans, watermelon, melon, peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables that are produced and sold in the USA, Europe and Brazil. The seed sellers have built a network of seed suppliers that allows them to obtain seeds (including programme-certified seeds) from many sources, including from Japan as in the case of the green bean featured in the opening narration of this paper. Because of the interaction of seed sellers with people in many sectors of society, the sources of knowledge, technology and seeds are varied: travelers, rural teachers, relatives working overseas, individuals working in development and conservation programmes, farmers and other agents.Seed sellers continue to expand their networks for getting seeds of annual crops from neighbouring countries, particularly from Brazil. Semilleros reported that the seeds of maize, rice and beans from Brazil are much better than the ones from other regions of Peru, particularly those from the coast of Peru. They reported that it takes only two generations to produce fertile seeds of the Duro hybrid variety of maize that comes from Brazil while it takes five for the Costeño hybrid variety.Step 2. Seed testing, breeding and certification. In the pedido system, genetic diversity and seed quality are the main trade characteristics used by semilleros and comerciantes de semillas for selection. In all the villages of Muyuy sector the seed sellers have developed certification schemes for the seeds produced, selected and sold by semilleros. This process is locally called neighbour certification and involves semilleros testing the growth and yield of plants from the new seeds (basic seeds 4 ) in local conditions. The seed sellers recognize this system and complement it with additional concepts, rules and standards for seed certification they learned from the formal seed programmes with which they may once have worked. In the agreement negotiated in the pedido system, it is expected that the breeder will follow the rules and uphold the standards established by the seed seller.In the beginning of this second phase the seed seller provides a portion of the seeds to a few certified breeders (the semillero) and makes a request (another type of pedido) of them to test, breed and produce a certain quantity of certified seed. Both parties agree on the quantity of certified seed to be returned to the seed seller and then how much he or she will purchase over and above that quantity. The seed seller provides information to the semilleros on the basic characteristics of the environment where the seed originated (e.g. locale, elevation, soil humidity). As reported elsewhere, we found that the semilleros strongly consider the relationship of the environment to the crop varieties in the process of breeding new varieties (Gaur et al. 1980;Hühn et al. 1993). The semillero breeds the new varieties using a suite of techniques that include some learned from extension agents of seed programmes or others suggested by the seed sellers. They commonly use interbreeding schemes or plant seed plots within or separated from their fields.If the seeds are viable through breeding for at least two generations the semilleros produce semilla resistente 5 , or seeds optimized to local site conditions (soil, humidity, etc.), of the new variety. If the semilla resistente produced by the semilleros is suited to local environmental conditions and resistant to local pests and disease then the certified seeds are sold to the seed seller for market distribution. Both parties negotiate throughout the process and agree on the conditions of sharing the benefits in the event that the breeding experiment yields good results. They will provide the basic information on the growth characteristics and requirements that the seller will then pass along to buyers.We have observed that semilleros also have experimented with varieties of commercial seeds of different crops available in markets of the USA, Europe and Japan. All certified breeders that participated in this study reported low yields from most commercial seed and that these produce fertile seeds for only one generation. In the case of commercial maize seed brought from temperate regions most plants do not produce fruit, probably for physiological reasons related to daylength.Semilleros also indicated a familiarity with the limitations of planting hybrid seeds and have experimented with several methods of adapting and changing the agronomic characteristics of the commercial hybrid seeds. The most common method used is interplanting the hybrid seed with local varieties. The interbred seeds are given a name that reflects its origin as in the case of the chiclayo verdura japones described at the beginning of this paper. Both semilleros and comerciantes de semillas then use that name.A similar process of testing and certification by resident expert breeders is followed for new seed management technologies. Seed sellers or farmers themselves may have learned about or seen an intriguing technique while visiting another village or talking with associates in the city and they wished to try it. An example of this is the technique of using burnt motor oil to protect seeds from predators. In this case, two farmers from the village of Muyuy were told by a farmer from the Napo region that burnt oil is very good for controlling insect infestation of maize seeds stored for planting. This technique was first tested by semilleros who then demonstrated the results to other farmers. In another case, the semilleros tested a technique for protecting seeds of beans, peanuts and rice. They modified the burnt oil technique by using plastic bags to store the seed, coating them with the oil. They found that this technique for seed storage greatly increases the time for keeping seeds before planting. Maize, beans and peanuts can be stored for more than a year when burnt oil is employed compared with a similar method using an extract of hot chillies pepper (Table 4). Step 3. Buying and selling certified seed. The third step in the pedido system involves strategies for buying and selling seeds produced by the certified breeders. Seed sellers maintain the quality of their seed by buying only from the certified breeders, the semilleros. They employ several strategies for selling and buying seeds from other farmers. In most cases when a semillero produces viable seed, the seller advertises in communities that they have a new variety for sale for planting during next season. Seed sellers always tell farmers that they have a limited amount of seed and that the seeds are only available upon request (again, the pedido, this time by a farmer to the seller). When farmers make a request they tend to negotiate separate prices for the portion of seed for planting and another price for seed they will produce and in turn sell back to the comerciante. Such dynamic relationships among seed sellers, certified breeders and farmers make the pedido system the best channel for moving seeds in and out of the communities.The pedido seed system has distinct advantages over the mujo system. There is great advantage in the capacity for individuals of the two local groups, the semilleros and comerciantes de semillas, to learn, integrate and innovate the knowledge and technological resources brought from different places such as the NGO and state seed programmes or neighbours. Although there is always the risk of introducing new pathogens and contaminating the local seed resources, local people have demonstrated that they are capable of developing alternative methods to avoid these problems.Another advantage of the pedido seed system is in the capacity of the two actors to supply the increasing demand for seed by rural farmers in both quantity and crop diversity. The seed stocks of all crop varieties offered by seed sellers were tested and produced by certified breeders in the pedido seed system. Seed sellers recognize the need to always maintain the diversity of seeds. Data collected from the interview of the 18 seed sellers show that they store and sell a great diversity of crops and varieties to farmers (Table 5).The pedido system also provides more security for seed storage from harvest to the planting season in a system that yields viable and high-quality seeds. These and other factors are the main reason why most farmers procure seeds in the pedido system more than in the mujo system. The number of families that obtained maize seed through the pedido system in 1998, 2000 and 2002 was more than 10 times that of those obtaining seed through the mujo system (Table 6). Where the lack of continuity and instability of seed programmes in the Peruvian Amazon has resulted in limited success in the establishment of formal seed systems, we found that local actors, through their complex and dynamic relationships, moved to fill the need for the rising demand for quality seed. Knowledge and technologies introduced by the many short-term seed programmes of government agencies and NGOs were integrated into a traditional seed system, the mujo system, through complex networks and relationships among farmers, traders, travelers, rural teachers, urban entrepreneurs and agricultural technicians. In this region we found that the process of testing new seed varieties and technologies has neither entirely eliminated the traditional mujo system nor resulted in the development and adoption of a formal seed system. Rather the blending of techniques, knowledge, concepts and rules by farmers and entrepreneurs has led to the development of the hybrid pedido system where elements of the traditional and modern, the formal and informal are integrated by local actors who possess specialized knowledge in breeding and business.The innovative and dynamic nature of this hybrid system stems from factors such as the continual exchange of seed supply and introduction of different varieties, and the enterprising farmers who engage different sets of knowledge, rules and techniques in the process of selecting, saving and exchanging seeds that incorporate people and resources from inside as well as outside the communities. The respective roles of the local actors, and their relationships based on trust and respect, allow for continual renovation of quality and diversity of seed.Our analysis of the seed systems in smallholder societies of the Peruvian Amazon suggests a complex pattern that makes it difficult to clearly differentiate the formal from the informal categories of seed systems so commonly cited in the agricultural literature. Such links between the formal seed programmes and local seed breeding systems have facilitated access to seeds and seed technologies by rural farmers and a mechanism of control of seed quality (including standards for seed certification) used by formal seed industries. The level of specialization and expertise required for the control of quality, diversity and quantity of seeds supplied to rural farmers to plant from one season to the next is provided by these two highly specialized and experienced groups of local people.This study shows that by examining the subtle influence of programmes external to the village, rather than by focusing on the limitations of formal seed programmes (Van de Fliert 1998; Waage 2001), researchers can better understand local processes and recognize where the value lies in formal programmes.Nowadays a dual system of seed supply is leading agricultural activities in developing countries, with a formal system of organized seed production and an informal system based on small scale farmers' retention of seed from previous harvest, storage, gifts and exchange of this seed within and between communities. That is why we have to avoid debates on this kind of duality and focus on what we, as genetic diversity people, are concerned with when we are talking about on-farm seed systems. As Douglas (1980) stated, formal seed supply systems, characterized by vertically organized production and distribution of tested seed and approved varieties, using strict quality control, are similar throughout the world and have been well documented. We must be most concerned with seed supply source characterized by local seed reproduction by small-scale farmers themselves, using local seed selection, production and conditioning practices that constitute the main bottleneck of traditional farming. Farmers' seed supply is a complex and dynamic system of interrelated activities and components that can be compared to the principal components of the formal seed system: breeding, seed production and distribution (Almekinders et al. 1994).This paper analyzes traditional seed supply systems of food crops through a review of the in situ project implemented in Burkina Faso in 1997 with the initiative of IPGRI. The constraints arising from combining elements of the traditional and formal seed systems in the integrated seed systems are discussed.Six crops were selected for the following reasons: sorghum, pearl millet, groundnut and cowpea are the four most important crops in Burkina Faso; okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is considered to be a women's crop in the country, and Frafra potato (Solenostemon sp.), is considered to be the most endangered tuber crop in Burkina Faso.The three sites were chosen taking into account low rainfall and high fluctuation of rainfall, which can have a high impact on crop diversity resulting from genetic erosion in the area. Every village tested had at least five to six crop species and three or more varieties per crop, as well as the presence of NGOs and farmers' organizations. These farmers had to be permanent and full-time farmers having knowledge of the wild relatives of crops.On one hand we studied three farmers in every test village who had organized themselves as a single group to cultivate one community field for producing seed based on the best varieties of the whole village, and on the other hand we considered community field schools for participatory varietal selection to produce seed subsequently.Community fields for seed production were established taking into account the cultivable land availability in every test village and applying field plot isolation techniques for open-pollinated species (for example pearl millet in our case). To avoid any pollen grain flow, techniques using intercalary fields sown with different species or moving forward the dates of sowing were applied.Two sessions for weeding out to preserve seed purity and cleanness were held for each individual farmer or community field: the first session took place just before the flowering stage and the second one after harvesting pearl millet and sorghum and during hulling for cowpea, okra and groundnut.An evaluation of seed purity and cleanness following by phytosanitary observation was made using a 30 square yield sampling method (10 lines x 10 steps).A field study and survey from 1997 to 2002 in 3 sites of the in situ project in Burkina Faso involved 54 households totalling 907 household members. The aim was to investigate social factors affecting farmers' variety selection and utilization in traditional seed systems. Key information discussions were based on a participatory approach, focus group interviews based on semi-structured questionnaire, and open questions about farmers' seed system production and supply systems. Data analysis wa based on GIS (ARC-VIEW, Flora map, Diva), Shannon Weaver Index (SWI) diversity.Much of the information obtained indicated that traditional seed systems are extremely heterogeneous (Figure 1) according to socio-cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic values but highly dynamic and slightly similar according to seed-production techniques for improved crops and landraces. The majority of farmers made seed selection directly from the field during harvest. Generally farmers were reported to prefer traditional varieties because of their better adaptability in local agroecosystems, such as pest and disease resistance.Most farmers used their own seeds, and seeds of new varieties were mostly obtained from local sources (local seed-exchange mechanisms, local market, NGOs, extension agencies, etc.).In evaluating the seed quantity conserved by households from 1997 to 2002 (Figure 2 and 3) we realized that 20% -48% of farmers increased (doubled or trebled) their seed quantity to guarantee two or three sowings in case of a bad beginning of the rainy season. The threshold for increased seed quantity was reached in 2000-01. It appears that the farmers cannot produce more maybe because of the restrictions of the conservation tools, which are not yet improved; maybe because of the lack of seed prospects and markets. Some farmers (40-46%) have not yet increased the seed quantity they conserve. A few farmers (around 5-10%), who are very traditional, have remained far behind their colleagues who are increasing their seed quantity.In most cases the storage bottleneck comes from seed-borne diseases and insect damage. Observations made from 1999 to 2002 reveal that the farmers' saved seed is of poor health status every year and the quantity of seed that failed to meet the minimum for seed certification or direct use for sowing is quite high despite the decrease of seed lost during the same period (Figure 4). This decrease of seed lost is due to the in situ project's influence on farmers, and that is the proof that improving seed production and seed supply systems on-farm calls for educating the farmers about There are several sources from which a small-scale farmer can obtain seed: his or her own harvest, farmer-to-farmer, the local market, formal sector, NGOs and recently local seed banks. The farmer's own seed has the advantage of known quality and well known by the farmer. When the farmer did not save seed because of disaster like a drought season, degenerated seed, wars, farmer's overconsumption, plant diseases and pests or when he wants to plant a new variety, he or she has to look for other sources. For that the best source is the local one because local seeds have the advantage that the variety or plant populations are usually known to be adapted to the agroecological and socioeconomic conditions of a given area. Farmer-to-farmer seed exchange mechanisms are mostly based on traditional social networks and family relations and can be very effective in the diffusion of new varieties (Franco and Schmidt 1985;Maurya et al. 1988;Almekinders et al. 1994).Reports on local production and selection practices demonstrate the presence of capable farmersbreeders in the farming community. Burkina Faso pearl millet and maize farmers harvest seed from the centre of the field to maintain \"purity\". They harvest millet spikes and sorghum panicles from a range of plant parent types, taking into account the uniformity of grain colour and spikelet dehiscence. Seed renewal was practised more often in the case of improved varieties than in the case of traditional ones. This means that the repeated local renewal of the seed by farmers is a key process in the functioning of local seed systems (Almekinders et al. 1994). Farmers' agrobiodiversity allows the cultivars to continously interact with each other, and with their agroecological, socioeconomic and socio-cultural environments. The duality between men-farmers' and women-farmers' criteria of selection is one of the main factors affecting the process through variety choice, seed production and selection practices. We refer to the different members of a farming household who influence the utilization of varieties and the seed selection. Farmers' variety selection and utilization purposes deal with a variable environment and have multiple production objectives which all affect his or her choice of crop and selection of genotypes. That is why any breeding programme can not be achieved without taking into account the preferential choice of men-farmers and the preferential choice of the women-farmers and socio-cultural factors. In the formal breeding programmes the most important objective is, by far, high yield and stability, adaptation to new production techniques and conditions, market demand, various technologies and consumption purposes, while yield stability is a particularly important objective for farmers producing at the subsistence level. Landraces were grown more often than improved varieties because of their culinary qualities and their adaptability to local technology. In the drought-prone areas, some traditional varieties are important because they combine good yields with earliness. The improved varieties were grown only because of their high yields, earliness and market security. As emphasized by Almekinders et al. (1994), however, they combine a high degree of yield stability with a relatively low yield potential. Increasing pressures on land through population growth, and the subsequent pressure of city life and agricultural business, have caused rapid shifts in agricultural production conditions toward use of modern technologies. Positively speaking, traditional seed systems have been shown to be dynamic, and have a high level of flexibility and courtesy in meeting the local demands and capacity of farmers. However traditional seed systems do have limitations. Also, traditional methods of seed production and storage conditions can be improved, especially where storage conditions are unfavourable with regard to farmers' capacity to store a large quantity of seed.In the Sahelian areas like Burkina Faso, availability of local seed can be severely affected by drought or other natural disasters which reduce yield and quality levels. When large areas are affected by poor yield the local seed market and social structures may fail to operate. Seed-exchange systems may be narrow and, as emphasized by Sperling and Loevinsohn (1993), farmers generally do not exchange seed of a new variety until it has been multiplied and tested for several seasons. But in a severe disaster situation they may fail to do that. There is a need to create a training guide for integrated formal and informal seed systems which enhances farmers' capacity-building.In the Sahelian areas of Burkina Faso, which are characterized by a high frequency of drought seasons, conserving a high diversity of crops can be an alternative for survival. The management of this diversity means the farmer has a certain mastery over seed supply and production. This is the only way to guarantee food security for poor farmers from year to year. The frequency of drought seasons determines the level and the nature of seed supply. A significant quantity of seed is maintained by farmers, moreso since the in situ project was implemented. As we have seen, the seed supply system on-farm is a diverse and complex topic (community-based quality seed production, community-based seed fairs, participatory varietal selection based on farmers' criteria, mass training of farmers, farmers' seed certification, collection of genetic material, local genebank and seed bank management, setting up of seed flow mechanisms and markets, capacity-building), and as a result no training guide can cover every detail of the discipline involved.The small-scale farming system has an established tradition in Hungary, and neither the socialist regime nor the agricultural crises that followed succeeded in reducing its function. The average size of small farms is 4.8 ha; 12.71% of cooperatives and 94.81% of private holdings have less than 10 ha area.According to the census of farmers ( 2000) most of the households (697 336) have home gardens, and the total of 41 193.66 ha implies an average garden size of 591 m². The primary goal of these gardens is to add additional income to the families' budget. As the result of the burst of plant breeding activity the landraces were displaced from large-and middle-scale farming systems and continued to be cultivated mainly on small-scale, traditional farms in marginal areas. Beyond the important role that home gardens and small plots play in supplying healthy foodstuffs for families, and also additional income, they are the most significant space for crop biodiversity conservation in Hungary.From the overall activities done within the framework of the Hungarian on-farm research project, one is targeted at revealing the mechanisms acting for or against the seed system, primarily those with high impact on biodiversity conservation.In 2001, the Institute for Agrobotany in joint partnership with IPGRI initiated research focused on the economics of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. During 2002, a pre-defined questionnaire was used to collect information from more than 300 households located in three regions targeted by the project (Dévaványa, Örség and Tiszahát) to reveal the actual social and economic status of households with potential roles in conservation. Selection of study sites for the economic research, and through this the informal seed system research, was done by taking into account several criteria. The first was to set up a link between the on-farm conservation research and National Agri-Environmental Programme (NAEP). Hungarian Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) are areas with low agricultural productivity but high environmental value. In the context of the NAEP, the main goal of the ESA system is to protect natural areas, such as those inhabited by endangered plant and animal species, through supporting extensive production methods. In the three research sites, the ESA system provides opportunities for: (1) application of extensive production methods oriented toward environmental protection (Szatmár-Bereg region), (2) habitat development for endangered species (Dévaványa region), and (3) 'mosaic' farming with small plots (Örség-Vend region). The farmers who have fields located within the ESA boundaries are eligible for support and payments according to the package of farm management rules tailored to the ecological potential and protection needs of each region. However, no support system as yet exists for conservation of landraces and agricultural biodiversity found in home gardens and on small farms. Biological and economics research on this project is therefore designed to investigate, document and analyze the ecological, social and economic importance of this diversity for those involved in policy formulation.The settlements chosen are located within the pilot sites of the NAEP and also are located in areas where collecting missions had been conducted and a number of traditional varieties had been identified. The sites differ by major contrasts in terms of agroecology and market infrastructure, associated with differences in farming system and land-use intensity. All of these sites belongs to the high-sensitivity category and are included as primarily important regions in the National Agri-Environmental Program. Other information taken into account to characterize the informal seed system was recorded during the collecting missions organized in the period 1997-2002. By revisiting the targeted regions we have obtained useful information, mainly on management practices (seed storage, seed selection, land management, trends in landownership, etc.).Dévaványa region is located in the centre of the Hungarian Great Plain. The area is flat and the natural conditions (climate, soil) are generally suitable for intensive crop production. There the landscape is a mosaic of cultivated lands and grasslands where the soil conditions are less suitable for cultivation. These different soil conditions justify a combination of both intensive agriculture and extensive grazing at the same site. In Dévaványa region the goal of NAEP is the protection of the rich wildlife.This region is the most urbanized among the sites selected. With one exception, each of the five settlements included in the site represents a town with an area of 12 387 up to 30 398 ha. The population size of the settlements ranges from 5334 to 15 874 inhabitants. Here migration is not an important factor, but the number of inhabitants is stagnating. The infrastructure is well developed.Szatmár-Bereg is in the northeast of Hungary, on the Ukrainian border. The characteristics of the area are similar to the Dévaványa region. The landscape is a mosaic of grasslands, forests, arable lands and moors. Aside from the beautiful landscape, the region has several important natural endowments. There are plans for the future establishment of a national park. Today the NAEP promotes nature conservation in this ESA.In Szatmár-Bereg, villages are relatively small, both in area (1600-2819 ha), and population (488-939 inhabitants). All of the six villages face the problem of an aging population. The explanation for this pattern is straightforward. The region is a less-favoured area for agricultural production and is located far from the economic centre of the country. There have been few investments in infrastructure or employment-generation, and the unemployment rate is high (15-30%). A particular disadvantage for economic development of the region is its low road density.Örség-Vend region is located in the southeast of Hungary, on the Slovenian border. This region differs from the other two sites in many ways. The agricultural landscape is heterogeneous, including knolls, valleys, forests, grasslands and arable lands. Poor soil conditions render intensive agricultural production methods impossible. Here, NAEP supports extensive production methods to preserve the landscape for future generations.In this study site the 11 villages are extremely small (520-3356 ha), and the smallest villages have only 58 to 267 inhabitants. The problem of a declining and aging population is even greater in these communities than in Szatmár-Bereg. Moreover, the unique forms of settlement in this region-'szer' and 'szórvány'-make it difficult to design the public utilities necessary to support villages. Most villages are far from towns, and road density is very low.The first step in selecting households was to determine a sampling frame. Village authorities were unwilling to provide a list of households in the settlements because of concerns for personal privacy. Existing databases from the Ministry of the Interior were too costly to obtain. The list was therefore compiled by combining information from detailed maps drawn by the NAEP and the database of Hungarian Central Statistical Office TSTAR. Since little was known about the characteristics of the households in the survey sites and the extent of their involvement in agricultural production and home gardens, a brief screening questionnaire was designed in order to better target the sample in a second stage. Since a minimum final sample of 100 per site was thought necessary for data analysis, and the response rate to a mail survey was expected to be low, the team decided to include 600 households per site (1800) in the first stage. All administrative units within the sites were sorted based on population sizes and the initial sample was distributed proportionally.These two information sources (household interviews and field interviews) provided data and information (Table 1) to assess the links within the formal and informal seed systems. In the project sites during the field interviews 22 villages were visited and at the end of the field mission we had responses from a total of 332 households. The data in Table 2 show the diversity of species and varieties kept by the households, and also the differences in diversity between home gardens and arable fields. From the perspective of an agricultural management system the Dévaványa region belongs to the most intensively managed agricultural regions of the country. In the other two regions, in contrast, the farmers manage their fields in a much more extensive matter (low-input system). The data recorded in the field show the same pattern, namely the average ratio of diversity on arable fields vs. home gardens was 41% (the highest in Dévaványa 60%, the lowest in Tiszahát 23%). Also, in the number of varieties on arable lands vs. home gardens we have found significant differences: 21% in Dévaványa, 17% in Őrség and only 8% in Tiszahát region.In each region the cultivation of beans is very common. Most farmers used to grow beans to cover their own annual consumption and to get some additional revenue for the family. In winter, beans are one of the most important, and the cheapest, vegetal protein sources. As beans are a labour-intensive crop, they are grown mainly in home gardens; in Dévaványa 74%, in Örség 91% and in Tiszahát 89% of the respondents used to grow beans. Only a small amount is produced on arable lands, generally high-yielding varieties (HYV) adapted to intensive conditions. On average 46% of cultivated varieties are traditional varieties. For these farmers the primary seed source is the local market and seed exchange among relatives, and/or relatives and neighbours. In Dévaványa 26% of farmers cover 42% of their needs from the local informal seed exchange network. This ratio is 60% (72% of needs) in Örség and 72% (81% of needs) in Tiszahát. Seeds procured from the formal sector are in a ratio of 47% (43% of farmers) in Dévaványa, 19% (18% of farmers) in Őrség and 14% (14% of farmers) in Tiszahát (Table 3). A relatively high number of farmers (on average 18%) have not defined their seed sources by varieties and by time. The cultivation of maize varieties, and especially of local traditional varieties, is completely different from the cultivation of bean. Because of several seed regulations the local maize varieties cannot be used on large fields. The hybridization programmes had a crucial role in the spread of HYVs, adopted first by large-scale farmers and cooperatives and later by smaller-scale farmers. Today all farmers have access to registered seeds and the network of shops and traders is well developed so that there are no distribution problems. In parallel with the expansion of the formal seed trade in local farming communities, the informal system weakened. Access to local seeds and knowledge about specific production practices are difficult and are realized through personal contacts. Seed sales in local markets are exclusively controlled by the National Institute for Agricultural Quality Control, so that the functioning of a local-informal seed system is not legalized. Usually, in the local markets the seeds of traditional varieties are sold as foodstuff for food or feed.In such conditions in Dévaványa the seeds provided by the informal seed network represent 15%, in Örség 27% and in Tiszahát 26%. Most of the farmers, on average 64%, procure their maize seeds only from the formal sector (Table 4). The seed replacement strategy plays an essential role in long-term cultivation and conservation of locally adapted plant varieties. The seed replacement strategy differs by crop and region. In the case of bean 74% (Dévaványa), 83% (Örség) and 89% (Tiszahát) of farmers replaced seed less than six times or had practised no seed replacement for their varieties during the last two decades. In the case of maize the figures are slightly higher: 92% in Dévaványa, 94% in Őrség, 84% in Tiszahát (Table 5). Both formal and local-informal seed systems have a tradition in Hungary. Economic transformation, social structure and cultural change have affected both systems and their institutional setting. In the last 15 years, the seed system changed considerably because seed companies were gradually privatised and the agricultural sector was liberalized. In the near future, the European Union will require other minor changes in the Hungarian institutional structure and legislation.The market for seeds is an open market, and anyone is entitled to trade in seeds, provided that a seed has been certified by the Hungarian Agricultural Quality Control Authority. At present there are 936 companies in the formal seed sector, quite a number of which trade in seeds. The size and functioning of seed systems differs for the study crops (maize and beans). The maize seed industry is vertically integrated and concentrated, with a few multinational companies sharing total sales. The bean seed industry is not so concentrated and is relatively small. In 2001 the harvested area of maize was 1 258 120 ha, of which 29 017 ha was for seed propagation. After quality control and certification, a major share of the planting material (seed) (59%-32 471 t) was exported, mainly to western European countries. The propagation area for bean (including green bean) was just 97 ha in 2001, and the total harvested production is not enough to satisfy domestic demand, so that bean imports are required. In such a way the production of local traditional varieties is targeted to cover mainly farmers' own consumption and only a relatively small quantity is sold on the market. For maize this amount is 100% for own consumption, for bean the average is 92% for own consumption and 8% for market (Table 6). Fierce competition on the seed market after liberalization took place in the local-informal seed system. In the case of certain species (e.g. bean) the local informal seed exchange and trade is more extensive than in the tightly controlled commercial species (maize, wheat, sunflower, etc.). Since trading of local varieties is forbidden, there are no precise market data about the frequency of their use. The farm household survey completed in 2002 in the above-mentioned regions gives only an overview on the main seed sources, the frequency of seed replacement and the use categories of varieties grown by the farmers.The Hungarian seed market is small. Investment in breeding for the specific conditions of a certain production niche is uneconomic, and the few Hungarian research institutions involved in this kind of work are not financially viable. Only very few registered seeds traded in Hungary are bred from local varieties. The use of high-yielding varieties produced by multinational companies and registered by the authorities is the norm.One possible prospect for the future is that the local informal seed system might be legalized and supported by government, to encourage the establishment of a well-integrated seed sector.To consider the interactions between genetic diversity and the seed system we might first ask: What properties do farmers want their seeds to possess? With so much depending on seed quality, farmers are likely to look for seeds that are:Viable, undamaged, ripened, cleaned, with high germination capacity; Healthy, free of disease and weed contaminants; Economical, since seed is an outlay to yield a livelihood; Productive, locally adapted to their conditions and their purposes; New or improved, ideally with new characters to meet old problems; \"Pure\", i.e. true-to-type or types. This is already a long list and its length raises the question of when genetic diversity within a variety per se, or genetic divergence between varieties, might rank as additional criteria in a farmer's choice of seed. Some possible answers as to when genetically diverse seed may be the farmer's preference are: (1) to match a diversity of uses; (2) to meet the demands of a very heterogeneous or marginal environment; (3) to keep alive any varieties inherited as family heirlooms; or ( 4) to keep open contingencies to provide for future options.In this discussion of the seed system, we focus on the nature and the sources of \"seed\" (true seed and vegetative propagules). Several sources typically comprise the farmers' seed, ranging from their own saved lots, to those obtained locally from family, neighbours, village sources, local and distant markets and from the formal seed sector. Measures of the proportions of these different inputs and their genetic relationships to one another form a basic description of the \"seed flow\" in the system. The outstanding and challenging features of this complex system are that it is hierarchical in space, it is likely to be variable or stochastic or fluctuating in time, and is dynamic in being subject to systematic trends (arising, for example, from innovation, changing agricultural systems, rural development, climatic change, etc.)The measurement of genetic diversity itself is no less challenging. The concepts of diversity to be included are:Richness-i.e. how many different kinds are present in a population? This is the basic measure of diversity despite the difficulty of standardizing it to comparable sample sizes; Evenness-or similarity in frequency of variants, i.e. how likely are two items (individuals, fields, landraces, etc.) to differ? In the seed systems, this is an important indicator of how accessible variants are to any one farmer. Also another interpretation of unevenness of frequencies is dominance of the most common type. High dominance implies large areas of genetic similarity and hence higher genetic vulnerability; Divergence-i.e. how related are populations? This is usually based on measuring phenotypic or genetic resemblance. Increasingly in the future DNA sequence comparisons could give us more precise estimates of historical relationships (Hey and Machado 2003); Adaptedness-how ecologically diverse are the environments in which the population or landrace can grow? One problem with this measure is that it is biased toward generalists, whereas specialists are clearly as important to consider. The features of the seed system that are likely to affect the survival of genetic diversity in the short term are as follows:The system comprises a complex of processes that range in scale from the highly localized to the very widespread; The system is labile in time, subject to cultural, political, economic and environmental change; It is highly stochastic from both (a) fluctuations in time and space, and (b) catastrophes and calamities; Farmers can be the agents of strong selection both between and within varieties (farmers' managed units), particularly when much seed is sourced from a relatively few key farmers, or when diverging gender perspectives on seed selection promote diversity; The kind and mode of producing of propagating material-whether clonal, sexual (autogamous, or open-pollinated)-affects the organization of diversity; The mode of introducing new diversity-whether by mixing, blending, or replacement of older populations with new varieties; The size of the seed production system and whether the source populations represent the diversity in the crop; The proportions of the two components from the formal and informal sectors, and extent to which their roles diverge or overlap.The first step in analyzing the genetic diversity consequences of the seed system is a quantitative estimate of the population structure of a landrace, namely the network of partially or variably isolated subpopulations, their sizes and their connectivity, that make up the plantings of that landrace in a region. The linkages among components of the network arise from the seed supply system, or \"seed flows\". Ideally we would also like to know the genetic relationship among these members, and in particular the degree of relationship between the name of a landrace and its genetic make-up. However it is unlikely that such precise genetic information is critical to analyzing diversity trends in the system; analyses are possible based on farmer names, varietal characters and seed flow rates. Names are the farmers' management label, although imperfectly related to genes. Unrecognized divergence between seed lots with the same name, or undetected geneflow between named landraces, may merely alter the apportioning of diversity, increasing that within seed lots and lowering the diversity between such units.Knowledge of the breeding system of plant populations is crucial to any understanding of their genetics. The breeding system forms the ways in which genes are transmitted to the next generation of seeds. Furthermore, the breeding system is fundamental in producing the raw material of the seed system. Different breeding systems have very different effects on the genetic structure of the species; and on the operation of evolutionary forces. The principal kinds of breeding system are vegetative (clonal) or sexual, and if sexual then either self-or open-pollinated. In open-pollinated species, the breeding system includes the nature of pollination (wind-blown, insect-borne, etc.) and the paternity of fruits (i.e. whether the pollen is from a single or multiple sources). Although spoken in categorical terms, it is important to realize that the breeding system is itself flexible and may vary between and within plants, populations and environments. In many domesticated species, it is open to human manipulation (e.g. maize, date palm). It is therefore both a tool for, and a limitation on, how farmers can manage diversity in seed systems.In forming the link between one generation and the next, the seed system itself can set in train the operation of evolutionary forces (that maintain or change the genetic make-up of plant populations). These forces are:Finite population size, genetic drift and bottlenecks -arise from a limited number and limited size of the populations that are sources of seed; Migration -seed exchange (and pollen flow); Recombination -subsequent to actual hybridization between populations, or introgression; Mutation -new changes in the DNA sequence, or in the genome;Selection -or differential reproduction of genotypes arising from deliberate or inadvertent choices by humans, or from differential responses of plants or populations to the environment. We now briefly consider each of these in connection with the seed system.The likely extent of genetic drift in allele frequencies and loss of alleles from the population are measured by the \"effective population size\". This is an abstract standardizing parameter and is defined as the size of an idealized hypothetical population that would give rise to the same increase of inbreeding (or loss of heterozygosity, or variance in allele frequency) that is happening in the actual population under study. At the molecular level, the effective population size plays an underlying role in limiting genetic diversity. Molecular diversity arises continually through mutation, and is ultimately lost due to the finite size of the population. At equilibrium, larger populations on average are thus expected to have more molecular diversity than smaller ones.Two general points can be made about the effect of finite population size on genetic diversity. First, genetic drift and bottlenecks in population size have a more immediate impact on allelic richness than they have on diversity evenness. Rare variants get lost first. Second, effective population sizes have to be very \"small\" over a period if they are to be the sole agent of substantial genetic erosion. However, when combined with selection, small sizes can seriously erode the unselected diversity. Population sizes of just a few plants are uncommon in field crops, but are prevalent for many species grown in home gardens for special uses.Finite size in seed systems can have effects at two levels. First, it is usual to analyze the sampling effect of finite size upon the genetic variation within a landrace and ask whether the number and size of seed sources for that landrace are so low as to lead to serious loss of diversity through genetic • Box 1. Statistic for diversity comparisons-\"Effective number of landraces\" in an area.Suppose in a farm or village a survey reveals that six landraces and the observed frequencies {p i } are {0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05, 0.05, 0.05}The concept of the effective number of entities (landraces, origins, etc.) in an area is the number (n e ) of entities with identical frequency (= 1/n e ) that would give the same probability of identical ancestry as when any two random genes are compared for their origin n e = 1 / [ ∑p i 2 ]For the above vector of frequencies, actual number of landraces here is 6; the effective number is 3.03.Example: Landrace composition of farmers' own seed of faba bean in nine villages of Ortzagh site, Morocco (data of Sadiki et al., these proceedings). 1 These averages exclude two villages that planted only purchased seed. 2 In the two villages where no local landraces were planted, the effective number was defined as zero.In the poor year, farmers had less of their own seed to plant, with a lower richness of landraces, and lower evenness of frequencies.SESSION 3. GENETIC DIVERSITY CONSEQUENCES OF SEED SYSTEMS 65 drift. In addition, however, finite size and sampling issues are involved at a second level, namely \"between-populations\". At this level, we are concerned about the number of distinct landraces in an area. In this vein, it will be important to know whether the seed system is such as to provide farmers with a diminishing number of choices of variety. The richness and evenness in frequency of the number of landraces will be important to follow; and an estimate of \"the effective number of landraces\" (see box), as well as the actual number, will be useful for summarizing trends.Migration is the movement of seeds or pollen among populations or subpopulations that differ in their gene frequencies. Again, it is necessary to think of migration happening on two levels, because we need to distinguish migration between fields of the same landrace from migration between different landraces. In genetic theory, migration is a powerful homogenizing force. It spreads diversity about and, if unchecked by selection, counters genetic divergence. The fact that landraces, for example of maize, maintain their distinctiveness in the face of geneflow and while possibly sharing some of the genes, is testimony to the effectiveness of farmer selection.In informal seed systems, migration takes place at different spatial scales: local, regional, national and beyond. The theory of migration among (diverging) subpopulations in model systems stresses that uneven migration rates reduce the effective population size of the system. Thus it is important to gather estimates of seed flows and how they vary in time with different seasons, and how they vary among the components of a seed network. The effect of migration on diversity also depends on whether the migrants completely displace the local population, or whether they merely mix with the local varieties, or whether they actually hybridize and fuse with the local population.With hybridization among different populations comes the opportunity for recombination and the generation of new genotypes. The species breeding system in relation to farmers' management of possible hybrid seed determines whether recombination proceeds. The example of farmer maintenance of distinctiveness between open-pollinated maize landraces growing together has already been mentioned. Inbreeders are also subject to recombination, and their low rates of outcrossing can have an impact much larger than one might expect. In contrast to maize, farmers may be less aware of rare outcrossed progeny in inbreeding populations and they may escape detection.The low rates of occurrence appear to rule out mutation as a major agent of genetic change in the short term. However, mutation may be involved in loss of viability of seed in medium to long-term storage. Mutation is also of concern in the in vitro propagation of clonal species. But perhaps of more potential importance is the evidence of the labile nature of plant genomes owing to the activity of transposable elements. In addition, in many species humans may have deliberately selected mutable systems because they generate new distinctive colour patterns on seeds, stalks and flowers that act to mark their varieties. Mutable systems not only act on the genes affecting colour, but presumably on other genes in the whole genome. Hence it is important to keep mutation as a plausible if relatively unimportant cause of genetic changes in the seed system.Despite the potential roles of other evolutionary forces in affecting diversity in seed systems, it is clear that selection is the key force with an overwhelming effect on diversity. The farmers' deliberate and unconscious selection that is integral to the seed system is the main force determining the use and survival of diversity. IPGRI's in situ project provides a methodology for investigating particular cases, and a catalogue of examples that test, illustrate and reinforce this claim (see the accompanying reports). This leads to the question: What is to be our process to greater understanding of the seed system's impact on genetic diversity? Clearly the first essential phase is descriptive. In describing the system we need to include:The crop species biology (e.g. mating system, plant longevity, seed storage dynamics, etc.); Its population genetic structure in an area (the number of varieties, diversity within and between them); Its identified seed sources, nodes and measured seed flow rates (means and variances in space and variation in time); Both farmer and natural selection regimes: by whom, for what purpose, how intense, how effective?The second phase is to synthesize and integrate these elements to yield overall statements and predictions about genetic diversity in the system. One approach is to invoke the most plausible of available models (e.g. \"island-mainland\", \"stepping stone\", \"isolation-by-distance\", \"metapopulation\") and compare the data with the key parameters of such models (e.g. migration rates). A second approach is to build a computer model of the system and simulate its behaviour in time, introducing fluctuations (as suggested by the observed variability in processes) and periodic major disruptions. This kind of modeling has been helpful in estimating the survival probabilities of endangered wild plant populations. In this way we can aim to appraise the current trends, and the resilience of the seed system, and determine the critical parameters for survival of diversity.  Conservation of traditional cultivars, that constitute an important genetic patrimony-on farms or at the community level through their use within the households or because of their usefulness at the markets (Iwanaga l995; Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga l996)-is an approach that is becoming very important. This conservation requires an informal seed system where the farmers can have control over their own seeds (Fernández 1994). A seed-production system, in agreement with a sustainable agricultural system, would be based on traditional practices and greater intervention by farmers.A seed system at the farm level varies according to the species, the ecological conditions of the region under study, and the socio-cultural features of the \"curators\" or \"custodians\" of this precious treasure (Kashyap and Duhan 1994), and refers to the different ways that farmers access seeds (Jarvis et al. 2000).One of the essential characteristics of this system is that during seed production, the varietal type is not an exact replica of the previous one, but there always exists certain selection, which does not necessarily result in the maintenance of its type (Mushita 1993). In other cases, there is no selection, and the development of certain heterogenicity in the cultivars is permitted, which will vary in accordance with the mode of reproduction in the species (Martin and Adams 1987;Williams 1996). Climatic events and cultural and ethnic factors present during seed production can also affect the maintained diversity (Tuxill 2002). Understanding the form of seed production used by the farmers, mainly with their traditional varieties, is essential for establishing a strategy for in situ conservation of crop species, having farmers as protagonists (Jarvis 2002). This knowledge is important because it will permit a deeper understanding of the sustainability of these agricultural systems.In Cuba, farmers' organizations take several forms, from co-operativization of the production to complete autonomy over the working tools and crops (Castiñeiras et al. l999;Fundora et al. 2000). Some urban and suburban alternatives have been developed as well, such as organoponics and seed farms in the Municipalities (Companioni et al. 1996). Nevertheless, there is not much known about seed production within the traditional systems in the Cuban countryside.In this article, the characteristics of seed production in home garden systems and farms are described, and the factors that are involved in the whole process are discussed as they relate to the genetic diversity preserved.A sample of 39 home gardens (conucos) and farms was studied, covering three areas in Cuba: Guantánamo, in Yateras and Guantánamo Municipalities ( 14), Pinar del Río (13), and Cienfuegos, in Cumanayagua and Cienfuegos Municipalities (12).The following data were registered by species: cultivar source (cultivar flow); selection patterns used by the farmers during seed production; container type and place where seed is stored; durability of the reproductive material in storage, and cultivar status. Data were collected by means of a general semi-structured interview, during the periodic visits to the home gardens between 1998 and 2000, following the procedures established by Castiñeiras et al. (1999Castiñeiras et al. ( , 2000)), and also using the aspects discussed in exchange and capacitating workshops performed with the farmers (Shagarodsky et al. 2001).Data were coded on a nominal scale, varying according to the whole spectrum for each variable; frequency analyses were performed, estimated as percentages from the total of species in the gardens.Seed systems in Cuban home gardens and farms Between 54 and 80% of the cultivars in the majority of the species within the studied home gardens were reported as traditionals, which have belonged to the garden's owners and their family for a long time (more than 20 years) (Figure 1). The proportion of traditional cultivars is higher in home gardens from Pinar del Río, followed by those from Guantánamo and, lastly, Cienfuegos; the remainder were the species reported as wild, whose seeds are not managed, or those that are \"tolerated\" within home gardens. Nevertheless, in some cases these species are in a way managed, like the living fences (Gliricidia sepium, Eritrina sp. and Bromelia pinguin); some spices (Eryngium foetideum and Plechtranthus amboinicus); medicinals (Ocimum sp., Vetiveria sizanoides, Pluchea carolinensis, etc.), and some potential fruit trees like Coccoloba uvifera.For the infraspecific variability, Pinar del Río presented the greatest richness (Figure 2), with traditional cultivars ranging between 23 and 100% of the total, in the 14 species with infraspecific variability that were common to all areas. Species with the greater richness in traditional cultivars were Phaseolus lunatus (100%); Psidium guajava, Cucurbita sp., Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Phaseolus vulgaris and Zea mays, among others.  Cultivar statusNo. of cultivars SESSION 3. GENETIC DIVERSITY CONSEQUENCES OF SEED SYSTEMS 69It is important to point out that, despite the proportion of advanced cultivars not being generally high, there are a few cultivars of species in certain some home gardens, and all came from breeding programmes in the formal sector (nurseries and from the Seed Production Enterprise of the Ministry of Agriculture), so those species have a very narrow genetic base. This suggests a strong displacement of traditional cultivars, as a consequence of the adoption of those cultivars, and a high genetic vulnerability of those systems. This fact could be appreciated in one of the selected home gardens in Cienfuegos, where the owners had progressively replaced all traditional cultivars (from their fathers) with modern ones, registering almost 100% erosion. Nevertheless, the coexistence of advanced and traditional cultivars within the conucos is an undeniable necessity for farmers' subsistence, because they are continually introducing new materials to obtain better production or simply to have greater variability.Origin of the genetic material in the home gardens and farms: genetic flow Differences in cultivar flow were observed between Pinar del Río and Cienfuegos, and were less marked between Pinar del Río and Guantánamo (Figure 3).Almost half of cultivars reported by the farmers have been in the conucos since their establishment, either by inheritance or by the splitting of the original farm for a growing family, and were transmitted from one generation to the other; species taken from the woods are present in the same proportion. The latter include most of the fruit crops and other perennial species, and primitive cultivars of Dioscorea sp. and Xanthosoma sagittifolium; wild spice species like Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme and E. foetidum; wild medicinal plants like Solanum americanum and Solanum torvum, and living fences like G. sepium, Jatropha curcas and Erythrina berteroana, among others.Also observed was considerable exchange among relatives (generally parents, uncles, grandparents, etc.), or between near or relatively far away neighbours. In most cases the exchange with neighbours was limited to nearby areas in the same region, and in extreme cases, from neighbouring provinces and municipalities within the limits of the sampled area. In Pinar del Río province, the references with regard to the cultivars' flow among neighbours were neither frequent nor specific; they always referred to \"neighbours of the area\", \"the town\" or \"from La Habana\". The places cited in each region were always very near to each other and the conucos and farms. Conucos and farm sIn Cienfuegos only three species were brought from very far away places, like garlic (Allium sativum), from the neighbouring Sancti Spiritus province, probably from the formal sector, since this it is a typical area for extension work with this crop; wild cotton (Gossypium arboreum) from Villa Clara province, and cocoa (Theobroma cacao) from the easternmost part of Cuba.It is interesting to note that in the home gardens from Guantánamo region, several farmers, mainly the most isolated ones, related that certain species came from places as far away as Haití or China. This is the case of Allium chinense and yams (Dioscorea sp.), said to being brought from Haití, and other Allium species from China.From 4 -19% of the cultivars come from state nurseries or farms, or from shops established by the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) for the sale of seeds from advanced cultivars; in some cases they come from areas of self-consumption of sugar cane and cattle forages. This flow may be direct, or through exchange with neighbours, in the event of the loss of their own reproductive material or for the purpose of trying new genotypes. Sometimes the advanced material has been on the farm for some time, but originally was brought from the formal sector. This happens with those cultivars that are for sale, like sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and banana and plantains (Musa sp.). Finally, for some species, cultivars come directly from the markets (Pisum sativum, Carica papaya and Brassica oleracea var. capitata).In those species, in general, several cultivars are managed, and among them are both traditional and advanced ones, bought by neighbours and passed over to the particular home garden, or bought directly by the owner.The data reveal an appreciable diversity of selection patterns used in Cuban home gardens, suggesting a certain interest of farmers in experimentation and improvement of cultivars in their conucos and farms. This was especially so in the Guantánamo area, which had the biggest diversity-between 7 and 12 different patterns-suggesting a greater level of concern about the species that they cultivate following a traditional pattern of behaviour.Regarding the types of selection of the reproductive material used (Figure 4), these were markedly different in all the evaluated areas. There was an outstanding percentage of species which did not undergo any selection during seed production, coincident with the species very little managed (they are wild or traditional cultivars). Among them are medicinals like Plantago major, Costus spicatus and Pavonia typhalea; spices like L. esculentum var. cerasiforme, Bixa orellana and certain fruit species, like Citrus sp. and Pouteria sapota. For traditional cultivars, farmers only separate seed to be used in sowing future crops; for advanced cultivars they select what they cannot produce themselves in Cuban conditions, e.g. Brassica oleracea.The selection patterns most frequently used during seed-production management are simple in the three areas under study, involving selection (1) only in the field, before or after the harvest, or (2) only in the warehouse or house, after the harvest. In a reduced proportion of species, more complex selection patterns are used that involve two selection stages: in the field and in the warehouse. Criteria for selection are for different plant parts (whole plant, fruit, seed, etc.), and for different purposes (vigour and health of the plants, high yields, better-formed fruits that conform to the 1=No selection; 2=Field x fruit; 3=Field x plant; 4=Field x seed; 5=Warehouse x fruit; 6=Field x fruit and seed; 7=warehouse x seed; 8=Field and warehouse x seed and fruit; 9=Warehouse x fruit and seed; 10=Field and warehouse x seed; 11=Warehouse and field x fruit: 12=Warehouse and field x plant and fruit; 13=Field x plant and fruit; 14=Field and warehouse x plant; 15=Field x fruit and warehouse x fruit and seed; 16=Field x seed and plant; 17=Field and warehouse x fruit and seed; 18=No information. Percentage of species desired type, and well-developed seeds, among others). Examples of species where simple selection patterns are practised are some grains: Phaseolus vulgaris and P. lunatus, where in general the criteria used refer to the vigour and health of plant, fruit and seed, and seed form, type and colour; roots and tubers: Colocasia esculenta, Xanthosoma sagittifolium and Ipomoea batatas, where the criteria refer to the health and vigour of corms and stalks respectively, as well as the degree of development and vigour of buds and insect resistance. In this last case, selection is carried out in the fields. More complex patterns were observed in species reproduced by sexual seeds; the selection starts in the field, for plant and fruit characteristics, and is completed in the house/warehouse, addressed preferably to the type, status of formation and seed health. This is the case of Zea mays, whose selection is strongly influenced by womens' decisions; the youths and children also participate in the home gardens. Selection of reproductive material and its conservation were always independent of selection for material dedicated to consumption, or for sowing in the next season.In some cases (as for that of Cucurbita moschata in Guantánamo), farmers do not make any selection, instead maintaining a mixture of seeds, suggesting the possible existence of great intrapopulation diversity in some of the recorded samples. This, on one hand, assures the stability of the production, and the readiness of a rich source material for any empiric selection that farmers want to make; on the other, the production of fruits is quite variable in quality, size and forms, due to the allogamous nature of this species. However, in Cienfuegos, the different accessions are maintained separately.From 2 -60% of the present species in the studied home gardens are not subjected to conservation (Figure 5); this proportion includes the species that are not managed at all, and are considered as wild, or those very little management, whose reproduction happens in a natural and spontaneous   way around the adult plants, e.g. Coffea arabica and Pouteria sapota. Also in this group are those that are sown successively during the year and therefore do not need any storage practices or conservation. It may be that this is a consequence of the loss of viability of the reproductive material, due to mishandling. Nevertheless, a considerable number of species are subjected to conservation processes, using various forms according to the necessities and available materials, and depending on the type of reproduction.There is considerable variety in containers used for the storage of reproductive material at the home gardens, with almost any available container being used and numerous and varied forms of placing it. The most used containers are glass bottles of any type, mainly for grain storage (Phaseolus sp., Cajanus cajan, Zea mays and Oryza sativa), which are placed under the most diverse conditions: room or cold temperatures, depending on the circumstances of each family. Glass bottles are frequently used to store vegetable seeds like Lycopersicon esculentum and Capsicum sp., and for some spice plants. Also very frequently used are transparent or opaque polyethylene bags. In the case of the grains, cans or sealed tanks are also used, or the seeds are mixed with oil or petroleum to avoid the attack of insects.Corms and cormels from roots and tubers, like Dioscorea sp. and Xanthosoma sagittifolium, are stored on the floor, or in barbacoas (a high place, generally near the roof, that is used to store different products), where humidity does not exist. The bulbs of Allium sativum, are stored in aired places, at room temperature. The seeds of some fruit crops are stored for short periods in dry places.Another common storage form is the conservation of the seeds on the plant, as for P. vulgaris and G. max, and in Z. mays, where kernels are stored with the bracts, hung in an aired place; sometimes seeds are stored in their own infrutescens, as in Eryngium foetidum, Petroselinum crispum, Sorghum bicolor or Nicotiana tabacum.In general, longevities of the reproductive material greater than 1 or 2 years were not reported in storage, and mainly in grains and vegetables in any type of containers, especially in glass bottles.Factors that converge during the production of the reproductive material and their influence on the maintenance of diversity Among the observed factors in Cuban home gardens that can affect the composition and genetic diversity, especially during the process of production of the reproductive material, are: the coexistence of traditional cultivars with the introduced advanced varieties; the genetic flow observed among home gardens and farms within an area, among the areas and between them and the environment; the selection patterns used by the farmers; the form of conservation of the reproductive material; State plans for development and the climatic factors that converge in the area where the conuco is located. Ortega (2002) has mentioned some of these factors causing genetic erosion in Chalco region, México. Many reports about the diverse factors that affect genetic diversity have been published in México (Collado et al. 2002;Tuxill 2002;Yupit Moo et al. 2002).In Cuba, the coexistence of traditional and advanced cultivars does not seem to have serious effects on the genetic diversity in self-pollinated and clonal species; the genetic exchange among them, as far as it has been able to be proven, is null or almost null. However, in the case of facultative self-pollinated plants, which have a high cross-pollination percentage, or in species totally crosspollinated, it has been possible to check, from the morphoagronomic point of view, that numerous intermediate forms exist among the cultivated and traditional types, and between both and the wild ones. Such it is the case of Capsicum spp., where a complex of species is present in Cuba, since there are no isolation practices for their management in the gardens. In a preliminary way, this has been observed using molecular variants of the studied material (Barrios, pers. comm.). Handling practices and selection of the reproductive material favour on occasion the appearance of intermediate types, so cultivars suffer genetic drift by selection toward the permanency of those types. This drift is reinforced by the cultivation of few plants of each cultivar, which produces a bottleneck effect. In this case, although change in the genetic material exists, a favourable microevolutive process to the accumulation of adaptation genes occurs.Another example is maize (Fernández, pers. comm.) where, in spite of the existence in those conucos and farms of highly heterogeneous populations, because of the natural heterozygosis of the cultivars of this species, and also of the sowing and handling practices, varietal types have stayed unchanged for generations. Hodgkin (2001) has cited the instability that involves such conservation using reduced populations, but at the same time, he pointed out that, in a certain way, farmers have been able to conserve those particular types. Finally, in pumpkin, the observed practice of maintaining mixed seeds from several types or cultivars as the reproductive material and selecting at the field the best fruits with the desired attributes, and in the following cycle mixing the obtained seed again after sowing, asures they yield stability, but slowly the original cultivars may drift toward a new form.On the other hand, since most of the species/cultivars in Cuban conucos and farms do not undergo conservation processes, and they are reproduced with short intervals during the same year, selection events multiply, and they favour the changes in the genetic material, which is reinforced with the frequent introduction of new cultivars (Hodgkin 2002). Bennet-Lartey et al. (2002) reported genetic types coming from the local markets that are traditional cultivars originating in another area; so, this way they enrich the genetic diversity of these orchards.When sowing material comes from conservation, frequently it has lost its viability and vigour, and as a consequence it is lost as a genetic combination, and is replaced. This substitution frequently happens within the same area as the orchard, and with much less frequency from distant areas inside the subregion or from other subregions of the country. It rarely happens from other countries (Fundora et al. 2000). This suggests that the type of exchange observed produces a genetic pool of cultivars with relatively uniform variety patterns in each area, from which it would be important to identify which would be the important unique types for conserving as genetic entities; this way population size would not be a limitation for conservation, because they would be considered bigger units than a single orchard or garden. This has been reported in other countries of the continent (Gómez 2002), and it is considered a real possibility in this conservation type (Hodgkin 2002). The participation of modern cultivars in this flow could carry serious consequences if they contribute genes that may alter considerably the genetic composition of the population in wild species (Zizumbo et al. 2002).In Cuba, the limited understanding by the authorities of the formal sector about the importance of traditional agrobiodiversity could cause farmers to be more concerned about the fulfilment of plans linked to the commercialization of the crops, dedicating most of their efforts to that end. For this reason it is important to develop more initiatives in some of the studied areas, for the awareness of both government officials and private farmers, about the importance of the maintenance of this diversity in their production systems.Finally, Cuba is located in an area of natural disasters, where tropical storms frequently occur, which seriously affects, among others, the agricultural sector of the country. Storms have eroded severely the diversity, just as the extended droughts have done. National restoration plans for these systems in all cases are limited to cultivars formally registered in the country by the Ministry of Agriculture (almost all advanced cultivars), but unfortunetly they do not include the restoration of the affected traditional diversity. Thus, there is an urgency to structure initiatives that consider ensuring the permanency of this diversity for future generations. Tuxill (2002) mentioned extended droughts as an important factor that affects the genetic diversity in Yucatan milpas, and Collado et al. (2002), in Perú, mention the soil type and the irrigation as decisive causes of a bigger or a smaller diversity. Other climatic situatios, like heavy mists in some of the areas, can contribute to the development of fruiting in certain species, conditioning the erosion of them, and modifying the composition of the diversity.Bananas remain the single most important starchy staple in the Great Lakes countries of East Africa, with 10-30% of all arable land under the crop. Per capita consumption of the staple is estimated at 400-600 kg, the highest in the world. Over 30 million people in the region depend on the crop for food security and income. In this region, the crop is grown as a perennial system and gardens as old as 150 years are very common in Uganda and the Kagera region of Tanzania. This perennial system thus creates a \"tropical forest\" system over large expanses of land and helps to conserve the soil systems on which it is growing. Moreover the crop readily lends itself to intercropping (with pulses and tree crops) and to mixed farming with livestock, all of which facilitate efficient nutrient recycling while at the same time helping to balance what is otherwise a largely carbohydrate diet (Karamura et al. 1998).At the household level, banana plays a lead role in sustaining the livelihoods of the communities of the region (Table 1). In Uganda, for example, it is increasingly replacing coffee as a cash crop, given the price fluctuation and the coffee wilt problems that are quickly rampaging the region. In some areas farmers report that they are progressively replanting their coffee gardens with bananas. Despite their importance, banana-based cropping systems have experienced a steady decline over the last several decades. Yields have dropped from 10 t/ha in 1970 to 4-5 t/ha by 1990 (Karamura et al. 1998). Over the same period the region experienced serious pest and disease outbreaks that seem to have taken a toll on the crop. Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis morelet), the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus Germar.) and a host of soil-borne nematode species combined to reduce yield, and production levels were only maintained by increasing acreage. Moreover, without the capacity to use off-farm inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, pest/disease control measures remained limited to cultural practices that are usually labour-intensive and unreliable, even though environment-friendly.Given the important roles played by bananas in the livelihoods of the communities and the threats that are besieging the production system, it is necessary to understand the seed system of the crop, as a basis for developing management strategies that will ensure its sustainability and improve the livelihoods of communities.All naturally occurring cultivated banana and plantains are seed sterile, the majority being triploids. This makes a fundamental difference between this clonally propagated crop and the other grain seed systems, which have definable cycles. In the case of bananas, the \"seed\" is a clonal bud off the underground stem (=corm) which farmers detach and plant in new fields. Consequently banana seed has extremely limited variability and buds (also called suckers) tend to be exact duplicates of the mother mat or clone. This, however, has implications for the sustainability of the system because while everything else around the plant (soil texture, nutrients, water, temperature and other microclimatic factors) has been changing over centuries, the banana genetic make-up may not have changed as much. In planning the long-term development of banana-based economies, it is important to take into account the limitations posed by this limited variability in the case of a clonal system.In general two banana seed pathways are recognizable: the traditional and non-traditional seed systems, although at the farm level, the two pathways usually merge into one another.By far this is the most widespread and age-old system whereby farmers deliberately select and collect seeds from friends, neighbours or relatives far and near and plant them in their own gardens. The selection of seed follows well-defined criteria across the region (Table 2). In the two of the three countries involved in the study, the first four most important criteria-bunch size, palatability or taste, period taken to maturity and resistance to pests and diseases-were the same across the sites. In general the criteria reflect the communities' food security, income-generation and socio-cultural objectives which are the pillars of the livelihood structure. Traditional pathways are characterized by high cultivar diversity per farm and the stand may have as many as 20-30 different cultivars grown in complex mixtures. Once a cultivar is selected and introduced, it is normally grown near the main house or kitchen from where the mat is observed for several ratoon crops with respect to bunch size, food quality, response to pests and diseases, etc. before it is transplanted to an appropriate site in the garden for production and conservation.Another characteristic of the system is its low-input / low output behaviour. In general, sucker seeds collected from neighbours, relatives and friends are not cleaned and consequently carry along to the next farm a lot of soil-borne pests and diseases. The system appears to have survived as a kind of \"barter trade\" whereby planting materials are exchanged without cash money involved. Thus any attempt to improve it would need to take into account that farmers traditionally do not buy banana planting material.As is illustrated in Figure 1, the distinction between traditional and non-traditional is not distinct because at the farm level, the non-traditional merges into the traditional. However non-traditional banana seed systems are characterized by high-input/high-output culture. The investment in terms of cash to purchase seed, establish weaning sheds, and put up irrigation schemes can only be afforded by a few. Therefore this system is driven by market objectives, cash returns and commercial focus. However, it is characterized by low genetic diversity as it tends toward monocultivar farming and genetic erosion is an unfortunate outcome. Appropriate policy guidelines need to be put in place to ensure that commercialization of the seed system does not lead to enhanced genetic erosion of the crop.In order to understand the dynamics of any seed system, it is important to identify the key playersthe stakeholders of the system and their roles. Apart from roles, it is also important to identify their objectives for growing and conserving banana diversity. Such information will form the basis for developing relevant and community-owned strategies for strengthening the conservation of genetic diversity. In the Great Lakes Region, the key players are the farming communities and their grassroot platforms, the civil society organizations, the public sector institutions, the upcoming private sector and the policy-makers at various levels.Banana cultivation in this region has become intertwined within the socio-cultural fabric of the communities. Some cultivars are used to pay bride price, or celebrate the birth of children; others are used to mourn death of a relative; yet others are used as stimulants, medicine and as perfumes.Until recently banana leaf bases were used as thatch for houses, and banana fibre is variously used in a host of handicraft and household decorations. This is not to mention the pivotal food security and income-generation roles that bananas play in the region. Given the foregoing, communities have a critical role in ensuring that all their needs for bananas can be met. The communities have to select and breed cultivars and ensure that their members' needs are met. They therefore institute seed selection, seed maintenance and sharing mechanisms which in totality enable the communities to respond to the needs and challenges they meet. In the Great Lakes region, communities have established community genebanks whereby new introductions are given to different farmers who multiply them and give to others in that community. Such materials (seed) may be introduced to the community by the research system, NGOs or from other benchmark sites, following PRA studies. Once in the community the introductions normally follow traditional seed pathways.Included here are religious organizations, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and farmer associations whose focus is not strictly profit-making. These organizations support and facilitate capacity-building and information through the organization of diversity seed fairs and agricultural shows. They also support and strengthen community infrastructure and help the communities to access new technologies from the national and international research systems. When the CSOs do their job properly they strategically win the trust of communities and this trust can be exploited positively to strengthen seedflow systems. In the Great Lakes Region, where banana is the dominant crop, all the CSOs in one way or another are involved in banana-related projects. The CSOs provide a lynchpin between farming communities on one hand and public sector organizations and policy-makers on the other. It is very important therefore that any development plan should exploit the CSOs key position as this may assist to bridge the gap between grassroot platforms and policy-makers.These include the national agricultural research systems, including research institutes, universities and extension services. They access, evaluate and disseminate new technologies to the communities and with CSOs they facilitate capacity-building and information dissemination. It is this group of stakeholders who are responsible for variety release, registration and certification. In addition they are responsible for overseeing the phytosanitary and quarantine issues. Through the execution of these responsibilities, they collect vital information for the initiation of policy processes. In the majority of cases changes in the seed system are usually initiated by the public sector organizations which makes it imperative for them to participate in any seed system development plans.Within the region, the private sector has not played the same role as in Latin America and the Caribbean. A few private companies have set up tissue culture laboratories to produce clean seed at a cost. They target the upcoming commercial growers whose impact is still limited. Nevertheless it is important that the private sector be aware of the importance of clean seed as well as the need to conserve crop diversity. If well informed, the private sector would make critical decisions with regard to investment in new technologies, infrastructure and associated dissemination of technologies.Globally the banana/plantain seed system is little studied, let alone in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. There is a need to clearly articulate the descriptors of the seed system, particularly because it is clonal seed of the perennial crop, without clear supportive policies. There is also a need to clearly characterize threats and opportunities as a basis for developing strategic research objectives. Such studies can help elucidate the factors that propel the clonal seed system, identify information and technology gaps and answer questions on the long-term sustainability of the crop system.Nevertheless, as it is, the system appears to be internally resilient. It has strong roots in the tradition; does not depend on financial capacity or organized/intricate formal market structures and still maintains high levels of diversity, propelled by the diversity of utilization needs. However the inability to sufficiently ward off genetic erosion factors-selective pest/disease pressures and declining soil fertilities-plus the failure to exploit diversity to increase household livelihoods may pose a formidable challenge. Ultimately it will be critical to balance the system by carefully integrating traditional and non-traditional systems where non-traditional systems respond to the diversity needs of communities while at the same time incorporating diversity into a market economy.In any country, seed systems comprise the formal and informal seed sectors. The importance of each of these components depends on the crop and production systems. The informal seed system prevails in agroecosystems with subsistence economics, providing most of the seed used for crop production. Seed systems in the informal sector are mainly in the hands of farmers and rural communities and are maintained to satisfy their own seed demand.In this sector, farmers select and store part of their harvest for future planting, exchange seed with relatives and other farmers, and trade seed in the local marketplace. It is a major dynamic factor that promotes crop evolution, influences genetic diversity and provides an important potential way for maintaining genetic diversity. Local seed exchanges are built upon seed requirements and needs of farmers, particularly small-scale farmers and the resource-poor. These local seed exchanges play an important role in the distribution of local genetic diversity and the shaping of its structure. The farmers need a number of different varieties of seed for different crops, usually in small amounts, at the right time and at an affordable cost. Varieties or landraces maintained in local seed systems are often best fitted to the local specific agroecological conditions (drought, access of water, tolerance to pests and diseases, etc.).While the informal seed system has a powerful local character it is not necessarily limited to a small geographical area. Indeed, informal local seed systems are large networks of local networks operating at different geographic scales (villages, communities, provinces, etc.), which are interconnected and allow circulation of plant material in different geographic units. The number of landraces and farmers' varieties grown at a given locality, their genetic similarity, and the areas they occupy over time and space are influenced by seed exchange and supply sources. These networks are an important mechanism of geneflow by which new genetic material is introduced into populations. Seed exchange networks, including seed production and supply systems, vary owing to diversity of climate, crops, farming systems, culture and economics. In the informal sector the seed or products of landraces or traditional varieties may not be traded much on markets and may be exchanged outside of official channels. The timing of seed exchange is particularly seasonal (just before planting), and may occur in limited geographical areas (a few farmers, a few villages).Finally, very little secondary data are variety-specific, and even when they are, a basic tenet of work is that information on named varieties is likely to be inconclusive with respect to farmermanaged units of diversity. Our understanding of the ways in which the seed exchange mechanisms work, how they affect the level of crop genetic diversity on-farm, and how local seed systems are organized and promoted is still limited and vague. From previous farm household data there is an understanding of how individual farmers exchange seed and products, but few conclusions can be drawn at either the community level or higher levels of aggregation. There is a need to understand how seed systems affect the agricultural biodiversity of communities and regions. A basic underlying hypothesis is that reasons for maintaining local genetic diversity through continuous cropping and management of local varieties on-farm are both structural (soil, technical, economic, sociological) and circumstantial (drought, biotic stresses) (Arbaoui 2003;Ghaouti 2003). The objectives of the present paper are to:Identify and quantify the seed flows in local networks; Determine the relation between the seed system and the spatial and temporal distribution of genetic diversity of the faba bean crop on-farm;Evaluate the potential of seed systems to support in situ conservation of genetic diversity on-farm and to formulate options.The characterization of the local seed exchange, supply and distribution system for faba bean crop has been conducted in two communities-Ourtzagh and Ghafsai-located in the province of Taounate, in the centre-northern part of Morocco. This province extends over 5585 km² with 425 000 ha arable area of which 77 500 ha are planted to grain legumes, including more than 60% faba bean. The province is located in the largest area of traditional faba bean production of the country. Production systems vary according to farms but cereal/faba bean rotation is the most frequent system. The annual rainfall, generally concentrated between October and April, averages 560 mm, in the south of the province and 800 mm in the northern part. The study concentrated on nine villages in Ourtzagh and seven in Ghafsai, representing one-fourth of the total villages in the two communities.A survey was conceived by a multidisciplinary team based on previous work regarding the estimation of the amount, distribution and on-farm management of local genetic diversity of faba bean crop in this area. A team composed of scientists, development and extension agents and students conducted the survey. The survey was two-fold: farm and market. In each village, the survey addressed individual farmers based on a questionnaire structured into aspects related to socioeconomic data of the farm, production systems practised, management and use of seeds, seed flows in the local networks (particularly quantification of seed produced on-farm, seed going off the farm, and that entering the farm from different sources), and relation with the market. The market survey concerned the seed transactions, seed supply sources and storage.Individual farmer surveys were performed on 97 farmers in 15 villages (66 farmers in 9 villages of Ourtzagh community and 31 farmers in 6 villages of Ghafsai). A market survey was conducted simultaneously at three local markets visited by the farmers of the two communities (Sidi Lmakhfi, Galaz and Ourtzagh).Drought has been identified as one of the most important environmental constraints influencing on-farm management of crop diversity in this area and therefore of seed management. The information was collected for three types of seasons defined on the basis of rainfall: a good year (high and good-quality production), medium year (average yields), and bad year (low yields and weak production quality).Previous research investigations within the on-farm project provided basic information for this study; in particular, those data dealing with the amount and distribution of genetic diversity were used in this study (Sadiki et al. 2001;Sadiki 2002;Belqadi 2003).The number of different local varieties found in an area or a field is an important parameter for the survey of the structure and the genetic diversity of the local varieties (Brown 2000).Table 1 shows that the majority of farmers (70%) of Ourtzagh community use at least two varieties in the same cropping season. Among these, 31% produce two varieties, 26% have three varieties and 11% cultivate four varieties. The distribution of the number of varieties on-farm is different in Ghafsai community, where around 63% of the farmers use a single variety, 23% exploit two varieties, 10% plant two varieties and only 3% of the farmers of this community get their faba bean production from four different varieties in the same season.The determination of nature of varieties planted by farmers each season allows an enhanced understanding of diversity structure and distribution. Table 2 shows the main characteristics of the seven varieties found and planted by farmers of the two communities. These are farmer-named varieties, consistently recognized throughout the region. Farmers described and identified them during the survey. These 7 varieties are included in the 14 varieties described in the northern region • of Morocco (Belqadi 2003). None of the farmers interviewed planted certified seed of improved selected modern varieties.Local varieties 3, 4, 5 and 7 are the most frequently used by farmers in the region. Hence, 62.4%, 41%, 38% and 25,8% of the farms plant varieties 4, 5, 7 and 3, respectively. On the other hand, farmers using varieties 1 and 2 do not exceed 6%.Variety 4 is planted on nearly half of the area devoted to faba bean in this region. Although variety 7 is less frequent than variety 5, it covers a larger area (32.5% compared with variety 5 with 17.5%).Farmers surveyed in different villages of the two communities depend on various supply sources to acquire faba bean seeds (Table 3). All faba bean cultivars used in the region are local farmer-named varieties. Among the surveyed farms, 88% produce their own seed. Nevertheless, not all farmers produce all their seed needs. Indeed, among these farmers, only 17% depend solely on this source. The rest use more than one seed supply source for each season. About 69% of farmers buy their seeds at local market (souks) from other producers, and 13% from dealers. The seed sold by the suppliers generally originates from the region; however, seed also can be introduced from outside the region. These data indicate only a relative independence of farmers in respect of the market for seed supply.More than 62% of the farmers get seeds from two origins. Among these, 74% utilize both their own produced seeds and seeds from the market. Only 23% of farmers plant seeds from a single origin. Among them 61% (corresponding to 15% of the farmers interviewed) use only their own seeds and 13% get the seed exclusively from the market or exclusively from neighbours and relatives. Finally, 13% of the farmers depend on three sources of seeds.The relative importance of each seed supply source depends heavily on the yearly fluctuations of the amount and quality of production.  The seed flow was described for each village of the two communities in terms of proportion of contribution of each seed supply source. The composition of the seed flow was analyzed in terms of proportion of each local variety in the seed originating from each source at the village level following a good production season, a medium season and bad season respectively. Following a good production year, villages produce 94% (95% in Ourtzagh and and 93% in Ghafsai) of their seed need. Their own seed contains both newly produced and stored seed from previous years. Many farmers store seeds for 2-5 years (depending on farmers and villages) as part of their strategy to cope with environmental stresses-particularly drought-leading to low and weak production. The rest of the seed is bought at the local market. Only 4 villages out of the 16 produce less than 92% of the seed they plant following a good year. Tisemlal village in Ghafsai and Zdharouf in Ourdzagh produce the lowest proportion of their seed requirement. After a medium production year, 86% of the faba bean seed planted comes from seed produced on-farm. This is 8% less than following a good year. After a bad year, only 35% of the seed comes from the on-farm production, essentially from the storage of previous years or from farmers with a clear strategy of seed production who can secure their need even when the season is not favourable. Four villages (Khons, Zdharouf, Boudahil and Lhwanet) acquire the seed totally from the market after a dry year. Most farmers (75%), purchase part of their seed needs from the market when the previous season conditions prevent seed production. These data show clearly the significance of the effect of drought on the seed source. Consequently, drought has an important impact on the diversity, by influencing seed composition over time.Nevertheless, drought does not affect the spectrum of varieties cultivated in each village. A comparison of variety profiles following different seasons shows that the same varieties are grown in each village. However, the frequency of each variety in the flows (proportion of seed of each variety in the total amount of seed used in a village) changes according to type of season as well as the source of seed supply. Consequently, this might influence structure of population and intrinsic genetic diversity within population of the same landrace. Additionally, the frequency of varieties changes in terms of area planted.Nevertheless, depending on villages, a number of farmers change seed after a number of years as part of their seed strategy for different reasons. The seed renewal frequency varies highly depending on farmers. Table 4 shows that 42% of farmers do not change seed as a rule. This proportion is higher in Ourzagh community (56%). In the two communities, 68% farmers regularly change the seed according to seven deadlines. Among these farmers, only 13% change seeds every year while only 1% change it every 7 years. Thus, farmers change seed lots according to fixed deadlines to maintain consistent production on their field. However, most farmers keep producing the same varieties, yet the proportion of each variety might change, particularly following drought periods.Drought is an important factor influencing seed renewal frequency overall. Indeed, farmers who are accustomed to producing their own seeds on-farm are constrained to buy seed from the market or purchase it from neighbours when the previous year's production is not satisfactory. Therefore, seed introduction to the village increases particularly in dry seasons when the local production is low and the seed quality weak. Such conditions oblige the farmers to renew their seed. Farmers' varieties (landraces) are well adapted to different specific physical and biological environments. There is empirical evidence that they are tolerant of certain biotic and abiotic stresses. They are sources of different desirable quality traits for modern scientific research as well.Conversely, farmers' varieties (FVs) do not respond to high-input agriculture (HIA), which limits their value to subsistence farmers and marginal production areas.In Ethiopia over 90% of the food crops grown and sold are FVs. Most farmers producing FVs sell their produce to consumers and traders in the local market. Disposal of products in a local market normally includes substantial farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Commercial marketing organizations and grain traders at all market levels do not make a distinction between FVs and improved varieties. There is, however, a general feeling by farmers that FVs have a higher nutritional value than improved varieties.Crop diversity provides a tremendous array of benefits to humanity. It is the source of food, fuel, fibre and medicines, which also provides the raw material for industrial products. It contributes to the maintenance of ecological systems. Crop diversity primarily benefits the local communities living closest to the habitats. However, vast indirect benefits also accrue to urban populations, national economies and the global community at large (Mugabe et al. 1997).Crop evolution involves two fundamental processes: the creation of genetic diversity and selection (natural and artificial or conscious). These evolutionary processes must continue in order for agriculture to remain viable. Even though agricultural science, notably plant breeding has altered and enhanced these processes it has not changed its fundamental nature. Ever since humans started domesticating plant species, crop improvement has relied on the available genetic variation on which both natural and artificial selections act. It was the rediscovery of Mendelian genetic laws in the 1900s that gave plant breeding a scientific basis and led to the release of genetically uniform improved varieties. At the time only a few scientists realized that FVs were being lost from agricultural fields and with them genes of immense value to subsequent generations. This became clearer when the spectacular synergistic effects of high-yielding varieties (HYVs), particularly of wheat and rice, and cheaper nitrogen sources led to the so-called Green Revolution. The action taken to curb this irreversible loss of crop genetic resources was to store landraces in genebanks, i.e. ex situ conservation.Discussions were held with elders (men and women) to assess the changes that have occurred over the last three decades and the implication of these changes on FVs seed conservation. At Harbu, both men and women groups indicated that there have been significant changes in climatic conditions in the area. Rainfall amount and distribution have reduced. In 1984/85 a drought occurred in the region and a number of localized droughts have occurred since then. Consequently, production of some of the preferred FVs of sorghum has declined. Farmers introduced some drought-tolerant types of sorghum FVs and their production expanded. Thus, the composition of FVs grown over the last two to three decades decreased. At Ejere, the area covered by wheat FVs has declined over the last 10 to 20 years and area under improved wheat varieties has expanded. This is also true for maize FVs in Decha. At this location, production of hybrid maize has expanded over the last 5 years, although there was a setback in the 2001/02 production season due to high input price and collapses in maize seed price. This signals the threat to FVs and the need to conserve them.Over the past three decades the human population has tremendously increased and this has resulted in great pressure on grazing land and on deforestation for crop production. Moreover, farm sizes have been reduced and this entails the need for greater productivity from a given unit of land to meet food and cash needs of the household. A substantial proportion of conservator and non-conservator farmers at Harbu, Ejere and Decha realized that areal coverage of FVs has been declining. Farmers stressed that some FVs have either been lost or are on the verge of extinction.Farmers have developed systems of ensuring a sustained supply of seeds. The basic seed source for FVs is their own seeds saved from a previous harvest and this source is more common at Decha and Harbu than at Ejere. Seeds are also obtained through exchange, gift from relatives or friends and through purchase from markets. Recently crop conservation associations (CCAs) actively engaged in providing seeds from community gene banks (CGBs) on credit to members (Figures 1 and 2). NGOs operating in the area also provide seeds to farmers. For example in Kalu Woreda, CONCERN Ethiopia, a NGO, procures and distributes FV seeds to farmers. In Ejere, seeds of improved varieties are made available through the service cooperatives and extension package programme. The amount of improved seeds distributed is much lower in Harbu and Decha than in Ejere. At these two sites farmers depend more on informal (traditional methods) seed production and maintenance to ensure a supply of seeds.To ensure adequate seed supply by each community genebank, some 136 942 kg of 64 farmer varieties multiplied in each district/woreda or purchased from conservator farmers of the respective sites were made available additionally in this system (see Table 1).Farmers were given seed on a loan basis for conserving/multiplying materials that were likely to disappear or be abandoned but might have potential value, and for multiplying such seed for distribution to local farmers in the region. This was determined based on the additional inputs (labour and various costs) incurred in such a task. Their activities have been guided and closely supervised by the IBCR scientific and field staff, including local agricultural extension agents collaborating with the institute.More than 3883 farmers shared seeds developed in this way, and multiplied these materials for further distribution for the following planting season. Many of the crop plants that are locally  adapted were jointly selected with farmers and did relatively well, all with no external inputs like commercial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc. They were expanded into vicinities close to the project areas of the above regions where frequent crop failures have occurred due to prevailing droughts, thus filling major gaps in the availability of locally adapted seed for planting under such stressful conditions.Seed lenders charge exorbitant interest rates and exploit farmers who have lost their seeds owing to various factors and are unable to maintain their seeds. The prices of planting seeds become very expensive at planting time. For example at places like Harbu, South Wello, the price of sorghum seed is more than twice the price of grain for consumption and the ratio between grain and seed prices could be as high as 1:10 during planting time. Loans of planting seed from the community genebanks protected the farmers at the conservation sites from seed lenders and the exploitation of other suppliers. Seed markets offer a strong incentive for in situ conservation of farmer varieties. FVs sold for seed purposes, as compared with grain price, fetche premium prices depending on the season and the locality. Community genebanks play an important role in the FV seed supply system and in stabilizing the FV seed market, as well as in keeping farmers attracted to the in situ on-farm conservation programme. A distinct market for FVs at the national (as opposed to the local) level has not been developed. Producing FVs as organic products is relatively easy since most smallholders growing landraces (>90%) do not use fertilizers and other inorganic inputs on their annual FVs such as sorghum or durum wheat. This experience was extended to farmers at East Shewa site to organically produce durum wheat for supply to the nearby milling industries. This shows that there is considerable potential for organic production of a variety of other crops including oilseeds and pulses. Furthermore, the project has managed to develop links between Ejere and Cheffe-Donsa (Adaa) farmers growing durum wheat varieties with the flour-milling companies serving the confectionery industries. The milling companies used to import the durum wheat variety but are now contracting farmers to supply the grain, with an estimated annual demand of 10 000 quintals (1000 t).The project enhanced the involvement of women in in situ on-farm conservation and in household decision-making. It was possible to increase women's participation from no participation to 20% depending on specific local and cultural condition of the in situ site. In the male-headed household, women have participated in a number of farm activities including seed selection and decisionmaking on which FVs to grow. Considering their influence on the conservation activities, more attention was given to housewives in training and decision-making concerning the type of FV to be conserved.Women farmers have rich indigenous knowledge about FVs. They use their own criteria in selecting and classifying FVs and comparing them with improved varieties. Some of the important traits/criteria that women farmers consider in valuing FVs include yield potential, baking quality, taste, grain colour, market value, feed quality and other qualitative characteristics.Ethiopian farmers play a key role in creating, maintaining and promoting crop genetic diversity through identifying and promoting varieties obtained through exchange; promoting the intercrossing of cultivated crops with wild or weedy relatives, which results in new characteristics; identifying and propagating new, mutant types which occur in their fields, or hybridization between wild and/ or cultivated types, or cultivars obtained through exchange; making available their knowledge and skills in identifying, collecting/rescuing and utilizing plants which they have helped develop and maintain for generations.In situ (on-farm) crop conservation of FVs/landraces on peasant farms provides, therefore, a valuable option for maintaining a local seed system. More importantly, it helps to sustain the evolutionary systems that are responsible for generation of genetic variability. This is especially significant in regions of the country subject to drought and other stresses, because it is under such environmental extremes that variations useful for stress-resistance breeding are generated. In the case of diseases or pests, this allows continuing host-parasite co-evolution. In addition, under these conditions, access to a wide range of local seed systems provides the only reliable source of planting material. In situ conservation enhances the continued diversity-based agriculture as opposed to monoculture by ensuring intraspecific and interspecific diversity of crops.Farmers themselves perceived an advantage in continuing to grow diverse traditional crops and their participation in conservation of a traditional seed system proved to be self-sustaining (sustainable). Nationally and internationally, the potential uses of diversity include, among others:Ecologically the on-farm conservation of the traditional seed system with its associated traditional knowledge is sound practice since it allows the evolutionary process of the crop conserved to take place in association with biotic and abiotic stresses that a crop plant can encounter;The farming communities have a continued source of genetic material produced by a dynamic evolutionary system; Farmers in the target regions and elsewhere have a more secure source of locally adapted traditional seeds that otherwise might be eliminated by genetic erosion; National and international breeders can develop new crop varieties that have a greater range of genetic material from these diverse and potentially useful basic crops; National and international crop scientists have a unique living laboratory to understand the biology and ecology of crop genetic resources and the seed system.Seed is the basic input in agricultural production system. Lack of locally adapted seed, particularly in drought-prone and food-insecure communities, is crucial especially as production is only subsistence. The seed supply system developed by the Crop Conservation Associations has provided the opportunity for farmers to take seed loans from the community genebank with minimum interest rates (10-25%) depending on local conditions every year. Some 4000 farmers can get seed by loan every year for planting purposes. Lack of seed has been alleviated because of the current system. This, in addition to a being constant source of locally adapted seed supply, has been able to generate resources that help them improve their livelihoods for all their family members. These situations assisted the farmers from in displacement to other areas where they could have a better life.During the initial period of the project, the farmers were hesitant and strongly argued to start the programme in their field. However, later on after some consecutive harvests of the landrace/FVs, they established confidence because of the following observed advantages of landraces (farmers' varieties) over the improved varieties: Resistance to stress condition and pest outbreaks; No loan and no credit for purchase of fertilizer and different inorganic inputs while planting landraces; Free 'produce of seeds' without absorption effect of fertilizer nutrients and pesticides; Encouragement for organic farming and indigenous farming practices; Better productivity advantages under low-input production condition in marginal areas; High productivity advantages were obvious while using crop rotation and other organic farming techniques; Better local price advantage, especially for planting seed; Constant interaction among farmers and good exchange of ideas among each other; Good maintenance of alternative seed supply system through the CGBs; With respect to qualitative characteristics, the farmers' opinions were summarized as follows, although some of these advantages need scientific confirmation;The flour of local seed produces many enjeras compared with the same amount of flour of the improved varieties;The landrace cultivars have good taste for both human diet and animal feed. The farmers observed some poisoning effect of some straw of improved varieties on their cattle; Better diet satisfaction of the farmers' varieties; Medicinal value of their varieties; More tillers per plant and seeds per spikes; During the project period, the farmers said that they were in a position to reintroduce their landrace varieties, which had been lost before the onset of the in situ project.The ability of landraces to survive under stresses is promoted by their inherent broad genetic base. This is often not the case with the uniform, new or improved cultivars that, despite their high yield potential, are less stable and not as reliable as sources of seed under the adverse growing conditions generally present in many of the drought-prone regions of Ethiopia.Programmes for evaluation and enhancement of FVs are needed to promote more extensive utilization of crop genetic resources that are already adapted to these regions. In addition, under such extreme environments, locally adapted seeds provide suitable base materials for national crop improvement programmes. There is, therefore, an outstanding need to maintain landraces growing under these conditions in their dynamic state, and the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research best achieved this through on-farm or community-based conservation programmes.At the conservation sites, the project has reduced the rate of genetic erosion and restored local seeds or landraces in regions where they were wiped out by severe drought or otherwise consumed by farmers during the famine years or replaced by new, exotic or improved (high input) varieties. The other aspect of the project was the enhancement of the yields and other desirable characteristics of landraces, and their utilization for food, to ensure a sustainable, more secure and reliable seed supply.IBCR scientists and farmers have already identified a few elite seeds (e.g. white and purple seeded durum wheat) with the potential for use in the food industry (especially for pasta and pastries), which at present largely depends on imported food grain, and farmers are multiplying those for local/urban consumption. To support a sustained, more elaborate landrace enhancement activity some 175 durum wheat farmers' varieties were evaluated/characterized. Through this process additional entries were identified for the durum wheat landrace on-farm selection activities, as well as the enhancement work undertaken collaboratively with Debre Zeit Research Centre, along with the older durum wheat composites at Ejere. Similarly, in South Wello Region, 66 sorghum farmers' varieties and other pulse crops that are locally adapted types with potential for high yield and other desirable characteristics were identified and distributed to the local farmers.The seed loan system developed has strengthened the more sustainable revolving seed system schemes, which have to a large extent provided incentives to farmers. This system provides farmers with a fallback mechanism and has enabled them to be more seed secure.The growing demand for farmer varieties seed in the local markets, their multiple benefits including low inputs, better adaptation to marginal conditions and superior culinary, nutritional and straw qualities have all contributed positively to sustainability in the project areas.A key component of the seed system is the creation of links to the markets in the private sector. To this end, it is worth mentioning that the project has managed to develop links between Ejere and Cheffe-Donsa (Adaa) farmers growing durum wheat varieties with the flour-milling companies serving the confectionery industries. This commendable initiative needs to be enhanced through further diversification of markets and replication in the other project sites and regions.The participation of local communities and awareness created makes the seed system initiative more sustainable in a social context. The local farmers are keen to produce farmers' varieties because of their merits including performance in marginal areas with little or no requirement for chemical fertilizer inputs.The seed system is based on a revolving seed supply with an inbuilt interest-generation mechanism on seed loans. Moreover, market and non-market incentives are being developed for better pricing devices for farmers' varieties grown in a chemical-free environment. Looking for the right market niches for organic products is one of the ways forward.More agroecological zones of the country have to be covered for effective local seed supply systems, especially in drought-prone areas The research and enhancement aspects of farmer varieties seeds have to be strengthened to effectively utilize the existing farmer varieties in crop improvement programmes and in local seed supply systems. Some policy issues that disregard the use of farmer varieties in the extension packages have to be revised because of their importance in less food-secure and drought-prone areas. Community genebanks with seed loan schemes secure the local seed supply system. Therefore, this effort has to be expanded in more agroecological regions of the country.The farmer varieties across the country have to be identified and enhanced in order to promote these local varieties to add value because of socioeconomic, nutritional and ecological advantages. The availability of locally adapted planting seed is a security for farmers; the identified and enhanced farmer varieties of crops in each region have to be purchased in each locality and made available both as planting seed and as grain, especially in drought-prone and food-insecure regions of the country.This paper discusses the basic assumptions of most genetic resources conservation projects: that a local variety is well defined in space, as the result of local management, and that varieties are genetically defined units, as there is concern about geneflow or contamination by other varieties. This study examines, in a traditional agroecosystem in México, the structure of diversity in maize and analyzes the effect of farmers' seed management strategies on this structure. Its objective is to specify the mechanisms responsible for the structure and dynamics of diversity. Analyses of phenotypic and phenological characteristics, combined with data on seed sources, demonstrate the effect of introduced varieties on the diversity of maize cultivated in a traditional community. The amount of seeds used to reproduce the variety, and the management of those seeds in space and time, call into question the genetic definition of a landrace. This work shows that local varieties exist as part of an agricultural system which extends beyond a single place and that the dynamic nature of these systems precludes \"freezing\" local varieties into a static system.This work was implemented in the indigenous community of Cuzalapa in the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve (SMBR), on the West Coast of México (Figure 1) which is most likely one of the zones where the genus Zea originated (Benz and Iltis 1992). The Cuzalapa watershed covers mountainous land of irregular topography. The agricultural zone is characterized by a hot subhumid climate, with a mean annual temperature of 22ºC and mean annual precipitation of 1500 mm, concentrated from June to October. Fields are generally located near rivers on alluvial soils of moderate fertility.Each year, about 1000 ha are sown in Cuzalapa, 600 ha of which are irrigated (Martínez and Sandoval 1993). Maize is the dominant crop in the valley. Nearly half of the survey farmers cultivate maize in association with squash on an average of 2 ha per farmer during the rainy season. Maize is also planted under irrigation in the dry season, intercropped with beans for the majority of the survey farmers, on an average of 2-3 ha per farmer. With relatively traditional cultural practices, compared with those found outside the Sierra de Manantlán, mean maize yields reach 2.8 t/ha (unshelled) during the rainy season and 2.1 t/ha (unshelled) under irrigation. Cuzalapa is representative of many indigenous, poor and isolated rural areas in México.The terms and concepts used in this work are based on farmers' own practices and concepts. In this context, the term \"seed lot\" refers to the set of kernels of a specific type of maize selected by one farmer and sown during one cropping season to reproduce that particular maize type. A \"variety\" or \"cultivar\" is defined as the set of farmers' seed lots that bear the same name and are considered to form a homogeneous set. A seed lot, therefore, refers to a physical unit of kernels associated with the farmer who sows it; a variety is associated with a name.A maize variety is defined as \"local\" when seed from that variety has been planted in the region for at least one farmer generation (that is, for more than 30 years, or if farmers state that \"my father used to sow it\"). By contrast, an \"exotic\" variety is characterized either by the recent introduction of its seed lots or by episodic planting in the valley. Exotic varieties may include landraces (farmers' varieties which have not been improved by a formal breeding programme) from other regions and commercial improved varieties recently or repeatedly reproduced by farmers using traditional methods.The structure of phenotypic diversity was studied both within a variety (among seed lots of a variety) and across varieties (among sets of seed lots bearing different names). Fourteen of the 26 cultivars identified by farmers (all six local varieties and eight exotic varieties) were selected for analysis based on their origin and seed availability. The number of seed lots per cultivar (one to six) varied according to the importance of the cultivar in terms of planted area.Morphological descriptors were measured in a controlled experiment of maize grown in pure stand in three complete blocks. Seed for each plot was taken from 100 ears (two grains per ear) selected by the owner, to obtain a sample representative of the diversity of each seed lot. Descriptors were measured using a sample of 20 plants and 15 ears per elementary plot, and refer to characteristics of the vegetative parts, tassel and ear.Factorial Discriminant Analysis (FDA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) (STATITCF program) were used to analyze diversity among the seed lots within varieties and among varieties.By detailing the geographic origin of each farmer's seed lots, for each variety, in each planting cycle, one can determine and characterize the frequency of seed exchange among farmers and the pattern of variety diffusion. Thirty-nine farmers (one-fifth of Cuzalapa farmers) were surveyed during six cropping seasons spanning three calendar years. For each farmer and cropping season, data were collected on varieties cultivated and seed source. Each variety was registered with the name given by the farmer. When the seed introduced from another region shared the same name as a local variety but was not considered, by the farmer growing it, to be the local variety, a second label was noted in brackets (e.g. Negro [Exotic]).The seed source was classified in three ways: (1) as own seed (seed selected by the farmer from his own harvest), (2) as seed acquired in Cuzalapa (seed obtained in the valley of Cuzalapa from another farmer), and (3) as an introduction (seed acquired outside of the Cuzalapa watershed). The origin of a seed lot is defined independently of the origin of the previous generation of seed. A seed lot is considered \"own seed\" if the ears from which the kernels were selected were harvested by the farmer in his field in Cuzalapa, even though the seed that produced those ears (i.e. the previous generation of seed) may have originated in another region. The data, therefore, are representative of the extent of seed exchange, but they understate the importance of exotic genes in Cuzalapa.To evaluate the level of geneflow between different varieties, the sowing pattern of seed lots in space (localization of the different seed lots) and in time (sowing date and flowering date) was studied over three seasons, on a 10-ha area. This area corresponded to seven fields separated from each other by less than 200 m. Since this is the minimum distance for reproductive isolation in maize breeding, geneflow can take place between all seed lots planted on this area.Replanting each variety from small samples of seeds theoretically leads to a loss of alleles (Maruyama and Fuerst 1985;Ollitrault 1987). For an open-pollinated plant, the theoretical work of Crossa (1989) and Crossa and Vencovsky (1994) has shown that a seed lot formed from less than 40 ears (1) does not permit the conservation of alleles whose frequency in the population is less than 3% (rare alleles), and ( 2) is conducive to the loss of heterozygosis superior to 1% when there are less than three alleles per locus. Thus, the use of reduced and variable quantity of seeds leads to the fluctuation of diversity with loss of alleles (Maruyama and Fuerst 1985;Ollitrault 1987).To determine the effective population size of the seed lots planted in Cuzalapa, the volume of seed of each seed lot was obtained for the 39 farmers participating in the survey during six cultivation seasons. This was converted to the number of shelled ears for each seed lot, based on the weight of 1 L of grains and of 100 grains, for each variety, and considering an average of 250 grains used for seed per ear.During the 6 seasons included in the survey, survey farmers grew a total of 26 varieties (Table 1). Each farmer grew, on average, more than two varieties per season (1-7). Most of these cultivars are white-grained dents and are primarily used for making tortillas, the starchy staple of the Mexican diet. Three flinty popcorn varieties (Guino Rosquero, Negro [Guino] and Guino Gordo) were also identified, as well as three purple-grained varieties (Negro, Negro [Exotic], Negro [Guino]) and three yellow-grained varieties (Amarillo Ancho, Amarillo, Amarillo [Tequesquitlán]). The purple varieties are generally consumed roasted at the milky stage, while yellow varieties are used essentially as feed for poultry and horses.From the 26 varieties identified, only the cultivars Blanco, Amarillo Ancho, Negro, Tabloncillo, Perla and Chianquiahuitl are local and all related to the Tabloncillo race. Four of the six local varieties are cultivated by a large percentage of farmers. Since two of these varieties have white grains (Blanco and Chianquiahuitl), one has yellow grains (Amarillo Ancho), and the fourth has purple grains (Negro), all four varieties provide for the different household uses of maize in Cuzalapa. Although reduced in number, the local varieties cover more than 80% of the area.The remaining 20 of the 26 varieties that Cuzalapa farmers grew during the survey period are classified as exotic. Each exotic variety covered less than 5% of the maize area planted in each season, and most were cultivated by only a few farmers at a time. The composition of this group of varieties changed from season to season. Only three of these varieties (Argentino, Enano and Amarillo) had been regularly cultivated over the preceding 4 or 5 years by a significant percentage of farmers (10-12%). The group of exotic varieties is morphologically diverse, including white-, yellow-and purple-grained materials, and representatives of different races. Minor varieties Híbrido -Tuxpeño -Amarillo (de Teq.) -Híbrido -Enano Gigante -Guino Gordo -Guino rosquero -Negro (externo) -Blanco (de Teq.) -Guino USA -HT47 -Cosmeño -Tampiqueño -Canelo -Ahumado -Negro Gordo -Tosqueño <3/var. <4/var. Most whiteWith the exception of the Bl lot of the Blanco variety, the HCA analysis of seed lots for five of the more widely grown varieties (four locals and one exotic) demonstrates that seed lots bearing the same name cluster together based on their morphological characteristics. The use of colour would have perfectly differentiated AA (yellow) and N (purple). The results support the hypothesis that a farmer's concept of a variety corresponds closely to that of a phenotype. A farmer variety is a set of seed lots having the same name; these seed lots produce maize with similar plant, tassel and ear characteristics. The implication of these findings is that a seed lot that resembles seed of a \"local\" landrace can be classified as such by the farmer, even though its origin may be exotic or unknown. As a consequence, some seed lots of \"local\" landraces are in fact introduced from other regions.The phenotypic characteristics of the six local varieties and eight exotic cultivars (including the three most widely cultivated) were studied. The first axis is essentially defined by row number (-ROW), grain width (+WGR), ear height (-HEA) and plant height (-HPL). It is related to length of growing cycle: a long-duration variety is characteristically a taller plant that has more leaves and smaller grains arranged in more rows. The second axis is determined by ear development, including the weight and diameter of the cob (+WCO, +DCO) and weight and diameter of the ear (+WEA, +DEA).Local and exotic varieties appear different by length of growing cycle (1 st axis) and by origin or race. Local varieties and Amarillo [Tequesquitlán] are related to the Tabloncillo race, which originated on the Pacific Coast of México (Wellhausen et al. 1952) while exotic varieties included in the trial (except Amarillo [Tequesquitlán]) are from other races.In Cuzalapa, therefore, local and exotic varieties appear to be complementary from a morphophenological point of view. Introductions of new material add diversity. The longer growing cycles of exotic varieties may reflect the fact that maize cultivation during the rainy season began on a large scale only recently or that few early maturing improved varieties have been developed for the lowland tropical zones (CIMMYT 1993). It may also reflect the fact that no introduced seed lot that is morphologically similar to a local variety would be distinguished, so no exotic variety with characteristics similar to those of local varieties would be recognized as a distinct cultivar.During the study period, the survey farmers sowed 484 seed lots for the total 26 varieties they cultivated, on 442 ha. Many of these seed lots came from other farmers or regions (Table 2). On average, for all cropping seasons, survey farmers selected slightly over half (53%) of their seed lots from their own harvest. About 36% of the seed lots were obtained from another farmer in Cuzalapa, and 11% were introduced from other regions. Calculated in terms of area planted, seed from farmers' own harvests represented 45% of the maize area in the study zone, whereas 40% was planted to seed from other Cuzalapa farmers and 15% was planted to exotic introductions. Seed exchange-whether between farmers inside the valley or with farmers outside the valley-is clearly very important, contrary to the general perception of traditional rural societies in relation to cultivated varieties. The data indicate that maize cultivation in Cuzalapa depends notably on local materials but also on a changing and diverse group of exotic varieties introduced through farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Both local and exotic varieties were planted from farmers' own seed lots, from seed lots acquired in Cuzalapa, and from introduced seed lots, but in different proportions (Table 2). Seed of the most widely grown varieties, noted in the text as \"major varieties\"-including the local varieties and the three most important exotic varieties-is less likely to have been obtained from farmers outside of Cuzalapa than seed of the more minor exotic cultivars (7.9% of local varieties and 5.3% of important exotic varieties seed lots were introduced, compared with 36% of minor exotic varieties seed lots).Important and minor exotic varieties can be distinguished by their pattern of diffusion. Farmers in the valley exchange seed of the important exotic varieties (52.6%) much more frequently than seed of the minor exotic varieties (24.2%). This is explained by the fact that important exotic varieties were introduced some 10 years ago, and, since they have demonstrated characteristics of value, their seed is redistributed to other farmers in Cuzalapa.Flow of genetic material is probably constant between communities over large geographic areas. Farmers appeared to be very curious and open-minded about testing new cultivars. The composition of the group of varieties sown, as well as the composition of the group of seed lots that comprise a variety, is variable in time. What is important to note is that seed lots introduced from outside the valley can be considered as part of the local varieties. A \"local\" variety is therefore not constituted by seed lots of local origin only.The survey and the observation of the sowing pattern on an area of 10 ha during three cultivation seasons indicate that traditional management of seed lots does not aim to prevent the sowing in contiguous areas of different varieties (Figure 2). A farmer sows an average 2.5 varieties per cycle in the same field, independently of those sown on the contiguous fields. There is no physical isolation between local and exotic varieties and between locally reproduced seed lots and seed lots planted in other areas.  The planting date does not, however, lead to a sufficient difference of flowering date to permit reproductive isolation, in default of spacing isolation. The work of Basseti and Westgate (1993) has shown that geneflow is more probable between two maize varieties when the difference between the male flowering date of a variety and the female flowering date of the other variety is less than 5 days. Over the three seasons observed in Cuzalapa, the differences of flowering dates between seed lots averaged less than five days in 38% of the cases (Figure 3).Farmers are not concerned by reproductive isolation in space and time between different varieties, between local and foreign varieties or between lots reproduced locally or outside the valley. Thus, the genetic structure of local varieties is linked to the diversity of the varieties sown in the area and can be particularly influenced by exotic varieties.The study of the quantity of seed from which seed lots are reproduced provides evidence that confirms the genetic instability of local and exotic varieties and shows why geneflow between seed lots is so important in this system.In Cuzalapa, as the field area is limited and various varieties are sown in the same field, the size of the seed lots planted per variety is small. More than 30% of seed lots sown during the six cultivation seasons covered by the survey were constituted from less than 40 ears. This phenomenon is important above all for varieties cultivated in small areas, such as the introduced varieties (37.7% of seed lots) and the purple and yellow varieties (54.7%). For the main varieties, the phenomenon is less important, although 16.4% of the seed lots of the Blanco variety were constituted from less than 40 ears.In conclusion, a significant proportion of seed lots is submitted to a regular reduction of their effective population size, leading to the fluctuation of their diversity with loss of rare alleles. If farmers managed seed lots in isolation from each other from a reproductive point of view, the diversity of some seed lots would probably decrease and consanguinity would probably increase, leading to a loss of production potential. In Cuzalapa, however, this is not the case. Consider, for example, that the genetic diversity of the Negro variety, reproduced from seed lots of which 70% originate from less than 40 ears, is extremely similar to the diversity of varieties like Blanco, reproduced from significantly larger seed lots (Table 3). Geneflow could be both responsible and necessary for the restoration of the genetic diversity of seed lots submitted to genetic drift. A farmer variety is, therefore, mutable in terms of the number, origin and genetic composition of the seed lots of which it is composed. Contrary to the modern concept of variety, local varieties constitute systems that are genetically open. A landrace is far from a stable, distinct and uniform unit. Seed exchange and the morphological structure of diversity contradict the assumption that traditional systems are closed and isolated with respect to the flow of genetic material. It is questionable whether any particular geographic scale can include all of the factors affecting \"local\" varieties. It is not only the set of cultivars but also the set of seed lots that constitute the cultivars which vary in time. Finally, the magnitude of seed exchange among farmers and the fluctuation of the diversity of seed lots, caused by the amount of seed used and by the regular geneflow between seed lots, raise questions about the concept of a variety.The structure and processes described for maize cultivation in Cuzalapa can be compared to a metapopulation structure, defined as a group of subpopulations (seed lots) interconnected by geneflow and submitted to local colonization and extinction (Olivieri and Gouyon 1992;Slatkin and Wade 1978). Varieties evolve within the entire set of genetic material planted, including introduced material.Conservation strategies and methods will depend on conservation objectives. To preserve the genetic diversity actually present in the watershed or to conserve specific alleles, ex situ conservation would be a more appropriate option, provided that appropriate methods are used to collect samples.If the objective is the conservation of the phenotypic characteristics, it would be sufficient to sow the varieties on areas of adequate size to reduce genetic drift and to ask farmers to select the seed. This material can alternately be sown in farmers' fields and conserved in an official or community genebank.If the objective is to conserve the characteristics related to environmental adaptation of this material, diverse varieties could succeed one another if cultivated long enough in the zone to be locally adapted, acquiring these characteristics by geneflow or environmental selection.Perhaps what is more important than the preservation of the varieties is the maintenance of a high level of phenotypic and genetic diversity. In this way, we turn the discussion from on-farm conservation of varieties to on-farm conservation of diversity.The Central Amazon of Peru is part of an important centre of diversity and domestication of peanuts, hot pepper, cassava and other crops (Salick 1989). Both native Indian and mestizo inhabitants preserve such crop diversity in fields and home gardens through a dynamic flow of genetic material and traditional seed management. Community seed supply is complex depending on social relations within and among communities. The most common forms of seed supply are: (1) self-supply, where a farmer multiplies his or her own seed; (2) purchase, or an exchange system based on cash; (3) loan, which usually entails returning an amount of seed 25-100% greater than was originally borrowed, and (4) gift, a system of community support based on kinship relations. This paper attempts to describe the seed supply systems and postharvest management of cassava, maize, bean, peanuts, chillies pepper and cotton used by the Shipibo-Conibo, Ashaninkas and Mestizo ethnic groups of the Peruvian Central Amazon.This study covered the Central Amazon region of the Departments of Ucayali, Huanuco and Pasco, Peru. The target region was subdivided into three subregions: (1) the Aguaytia Valley, an agroecosystem composed by terra firma and the Aguaytia and San Alejandro rivers inhabited by Shipibos-Conibo and mestizo ethnic groups (as they describe themselves); (2) the Alto Ucayali Valley, an area inhabited by Shipibo-Conibo rivereños (i.e. river people) along the Ucayali River, whose fields are covered by water for 3 to 4 months (floodplain) and who therefore take advantage of river beaches and the fertile soils left by floods; (3) the Pichis-Pachitea Valley, terra firma agroecosystems and crop fields near the Pichis river dominated by the Ashaninkas. Precipitation varies yearly from 1000 to 3000 mm.In order to study seed supply and postharvest management of cassava, maize, bean, peanuts, chillies pepper and cotton, 37 communities were visited from October 2002 to March 2003: 19 Shipibo-Conibo, 13 Ashaninkas and 5 mestizo, with an average of 48 households per community and a range of 8 (one Ashaninka community) to 300 households (one Shipibo-Conibo community). Sample size per community consisted of at least 25% of households. The data collection instrument consisted of a structured questionnaire with open-ended and closed questions, which was applied to both men and women heads of households. Descriptive analyses were performed using SPSS.Seed movement among and within communities Seed exchange was estimated to be higher within a community (>80% of farmers) than among communities (Figure 1). The major form of seed exchange for indigenous farmers is based on social ties (neighbours, relatives or friends). Seed exchange to other communities is less common owing to the long distance and difficult access (only by river or several hours of walking). However, some farmers stated that they may seek seed outside the village in the case of natural disasters such as floods, damage caused by change in the river courses or heavy losses due to predation (by birds and monkeys).Amazonian farmers generally do not use cash to obtain seed. When a farmer needs seeds or cassava stakes, he or she usually can obtain them through a loan (promising to return a greater amount by the next harvest time) and by gift mechanisms. In the Shipibo-Conibo and mestizos communities, >50% of surveyed families said that their principal way to obtain seed is by loan or gift, while for the Ashaninkas self-supply predominated. This seems to be related to the vulnerability of crop fields to floods, a consequence of the topographic location (flat lands and lower) of the Shipibo and mestizo communities visited, suggesting that such constraints favour or strengthen intracommunity exchange. In contrast, for Ashaninkas, among whom self-supply was found to be most common, seed production is more predictable, as they inhabitat the terra firma regions where floods are not a constant menace (Table 1). Forms of transaction vary among crops and ethnic groups. In chillies pepper and cotton, self-supply prevailed; in cassava, the gift; and in beans, maize and peanuts, the loan (only Ashaninka households). Other differences among ethnic groups were that Shipibo families use all of the transaction mechanisms while Ashaninkas presented less variation and the mestizo even less. Mestizo families use purchase and loan in maize and peanuts, and they do not use loans for maize, bean, peanuts and cotton (Table 1). This may be related to the fact that mestizos have migrated from diverse regions of Peru (data not presented), suggesting the possibility of relatively low intracommunity integration.The families interviewed usually store their seed in traditional ways and containers made of different materials (Table 2). Some of the traditional systems of seed storage include: tama-chinchan (container made of leaves of Generium sagittatum woven with flexible stems of different plants); mishe (a bag made of leaves of Calathea lutea); tazá (a basket made of fibers of Carludovica spp. and big oval leaves of any plants); pachaka (wild fruits of bottle shape); shequi-toshcan (a system of hanging cobs in the kitchen over the fire so they can receive smoke); and chomu (a pottery container) (Figure 2). Each system maintains seed at different qualities and for different periods of time, according to farmers. However, storage time is never more than 2-3 years.The most frequently used form of storage consists of any container for liquids made of plastic, glass, brass or clay, including the bottles of carbonated beverages or water, with the requirement that it can be closed hermetically. What farmers aim for is to avoid any attack by pests. The system may vary between crops, with maize, beans and peanuts commonly stored in plastic bottles or containers while peanut pods and maize cobs are stored in polyethylene bags.The vegetative propagation of cassava by stakes means that quite different storage patterns are followed in comparison with seed crops. Cassava stakes are usually 1 to 1.5 m long, and farmers store them by placing groups of them perpendicular to the soil and just touching the surface (to avoid drying), in the shade of trees or near the house, covering the basal part with soil. This allows storage of the stakes from one crop cycle to the next. There may be some loss in such a system due to rainfall, especially when the stakes remain in the soil for more than 3 months.The situation for chillies pepper and cotton is quite different from that of maize, peanuts and cassava, as these are often cultivated in low numbers and continuous regeneration is not carried out, the crops being treated as perennials. In the survey, few people mentioned specific storage systems for these species. Farmers frequently mentioned being worried about finding a safe and suitable place or container suitable for seed storage because they find severe damages in their grains during postharvest management. People surveyed were asked to estimate the percentage of seed loss during storage for the last five years. The highest loss percentage was recorded in maize, with 29.2, 38 and 17.6%, of the total of Shipibo, Ashaninka and mestizo households, respectively, reporting a loss of from 75 to 100% of their seed (the highest percentage in at least 1 of the recent 5 years). Causes included weevils (Sitophilus spp.) and moths (Sitotroga cerealella), which mainly affected maize landraces with semi-hard grain (some hybrids between Cuban Yellow and Piricinco races), and some with softfloury grains (such as Piricinco race). Less damaged were landraces with hard grains. Beans also presented significant loss. For example, 41.2, 19.9 and 16% of the total of Ashaninka, Shipibo and mestizo households, respectively, estimated a loss of more than 75% of the stored seed (the highest percentage in at least 1 of the recent 5 years). The same pests slightly affected peanut seed (3% of households). Every community faced significant losses during seed storage. Therefore, seed storage is a fragile point in the community seed supply system and postharvest management. Sitophilus sp. and Sitotroga cerealella damage varied across communities and villages. In the Shipibo communities, located close to the rivers, major damage was identified (60% of hoseholds) in maize seed, while for the Ashaninka terra firma area, damage was less (42%). In bean and peanuts, the pattern of damage was the other way around, higher in the Ashaninkas than in the Shipibo communities; 41.9 and 9%, and 31.9 and 3%, respectively. Farmers often seek alternatives to diminish this type of damage in order to increase their seed quality. Some of these will be explained below.Seed selection. 39.5, 58.5 and 54.5% of surveyed household heads in the Shipibo, Ashaninkas and mestizos communities, respectively, indicated that they select their maize seed after harvest, using for next year's sowing only healthy ears and seed from the central part of the cob. Another selection criterion was uniform ears with heavy or bigger grains; between 18.4 and 33.3% of households (variation among socio-cultural groups) use this practice, less with the Shipibo group than with mestizos. Most Shipibo households make seed selections of maize in the field (21.1%), choosing tall plants and bigger cobs and also only using as seed the central part of the ear. For bean, seed selection by Shipibo and mestizo families is done at cleaning time, using bigger, well-developed and healthy seeds. However, for Ashaninka families, it seems that there is not a particular preference for a seed selection practice as they can do it directly at harvest time, during seed cleaning and in the fields. The seed selection practice apparently depends on time available and opportunity. In peanuts, more than 80% of surveyed households remarked that they do the seed selection during the harvest by choosing big pods, with well-developed, healthy seed. For cassava, all households choose their stakes during harvesting, selecting stems of not too great a thickness but healthy, and from the central part of the plant. The communities surveyed usually use traditional treatments, though recently they have incorporated pesticides (mainly communities closer to markets). Because of the problems previously mentioned, maize, bean and peanuts receive special attention. A common practice over all of the communities in the study area is exposing seed to the sun for drying (to achieve seed moisture content of 10 to 20%), then setting them aside in the shade to cool down, followed by storage in some sort of container. This can be repeated every month, which implies a continuous monitoring of the seed. Survey information indicated that between 10.5 and 26.5% of households of different ethnic group use pesticides for seed treatment, 1.4 to 2.3% use ash, and a few use the smoke treatment in the kitchen.The families surveyed mentioned that they frequently use their own landraces from 1 to 9 years continuously (76-90% of households over all socio-cultural groups and crops), which shows that despite low exchange among communities, exchange within family, and among friends and neighbours is much more dynamic. Ashankinka families indicated that they keep in continuous use their cassava and maize landraces between 20 and 25 years (Table 3). Time of continuous use can be influenced by the agroecosystem (risk of floods), storage problems, food security (eating the whole seed lot is necessary in some years), and the availability of new landraces or improved varieties (for example from government programmes) for substitution. The more dynamic crops in terms of seed renovation were maize, bean and peanuts, while cassava landraces are the most stable.In the central Amazon of Peru, seed exchange among communities was less than within communities, which is, in part, influenced by the difficulties of access and communication. Most of the informants do not use money in seed exchange, rather relying on loans or gifts. The community seed system presents a certain fragility during seed storage because all informants noted significant losses to pests. Seed management varied from crop to crop and among ethnic groups in the time when seed selection is done (before harvest, at harvest or at seed cleaning) and selection criteria. Pesticide use is a recent practice for seed treatment, most households using traditional practices such as ash, smoke or exposure to the sun. Low periods of continuous use, from 1 to 9 years, of the maize, bean and peanut landraces confirm that there exists a high seed flow into communities, with the exception of cassava among the Ashaninkas. The policy development processIn order to be effective, laws and regulations need to be closely matched to the physical and socioeconomic and cultural conditions of a particular site. The knowledge needed to establish such laws and regulations is that which is most in touch with this environment, i.e. local knowledge. In addition, commitment to the law is related to its perceived legitimacy and this corresponds to its relevance to the local situation where it applies. A policy approach based on field data that considers the community's socioeconomic, cultural, scientific, technical and institutional situations and is based on the involvement of all stakeholders at the grassroots level has been coined a \"ground-up\" approach. A truly ground-up approach presupposes an understanding of the local management and decision-making processes and the factors affecting those processes. This information is often lacking or, if it exists, there is no precedent for its integration into policy-making at the national level.The difficulty of integrating this information into policy formulation is exacerbated because the conservation or erosion of genetic diversity in farmers' fields is shaped by a complex range of factors over time. The multifaceted nature of the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity presents challenges to policy analysis and formulation in support of on-farm maintenance of diversity.Policy development is a multi-step process with inter-relationships among the steps and the need for feedback on impact and effectiveness (Figure 1). The first step in policy development is to identify the goal the policy is designed to achieve or the problem it is intended to address. Next, the scientific, technical, socioeconomic, policy, legal and institutional situation needs to be explored in order to provide a meaningful foundation to formulate policy recommendations. The next step is to assess the current and potential impact of the identified scientific, technical, socioeconomic, policy, legal and institutional factors on the ultimate objective of the policy. To develop policy recommendations, opportunities and constraints in the categories explored in the situation analysis must be explored. Possible future needs in terms of supporting the policy's goal should be anticipated. Gaps in information should be identified and means to obtain it (or to compensate as far as possible for its lack) put in place. Criteria by which policy options will be assessed should be established. Monitoring and evaluation of policies and laws developed requires establishing indicators to assess actual impact at the formulation phase. Developing legal and institutional mechanisms follows the same steps. In the cases where there is current policy relevant to the identified objectives, the development and reform of policy, laws and institutions can happen in quick succession as part of one process.Perhaps the best place to start in undertaking the national component is to look to those written sources that exist-legislative enactments, executive directives, judicial decisions, published regulations and the like. Administrative agencies and institutions are a fertile source of law and policy and an analysis must make use where possible of understandings about administrative practice. Legislatures will often give broad guidance, whereas administrative agencies and institutions implement the policies outlined, sometimes in quite a different form or with quite different effects from those intended. This step is related to but distinct from the institutional situation analysis which identifies the institutions and agencies that implement the relevant laws and policies. Clearly, it can be helpful to have identified these actors before looking to them for the scope of their responsibilities, but in many cases their roles will become apparent only after exploring legislative enactments to determine the range and subject matter of the power granted to them. Consequently, any matrix developed for the policy, legal or institutional analysis will need to provide flexibility for different national situations. Tables or matrixes should be seen as providing a framework for analysis that allows comparison across countries and a minimum common foundation and not as an exclusive list that may inadvertently miss a policy, law or institution of relevance. In addition, there should be a feedback mechanism between the policy/legal and institutional analysis so, for example, policies or laws uncovered in the institutional analysis but perhaps missed in the legal/policy analysis can be included.Another source of information on policies and laws is the farmers themselves. The farmers are in the best position to know which laws or regulations are having an impact on their management of agrobiodiversity on-farm.  Like the policy and legal analysis, the institutional analysis will need to evaluate institutional actors at the international, national and local levels. Table 1 outlines some of the categories of institutions at each level.As noted in Table 1, part of the analysis will need to include how institutions charged with implementation interact with one another. Does the statute or regulation enable them to work harmoniously or set them up to work at cross-purposes? Does one institution take precedence over another, either in its funding or its organizational position? Are there coordination mechanisms?Identifying the agencies and institutions charged with implementing a law or policy, however, is not enough. Many institutions exercise broad discretion under a grant of power from an executive authority. Others carry out quite specific functions in carefully prescribed ways. Even where an agency has no formal law-making functions of its own, such as issuing regulations or adjudicating disputes, its implementation of a given law or policy could deviate from what a cursory reading of its guiding statute might lead one to suppose. Consequently, simply compiling the laws and policies that describe what an agency or institution should be doing does not necessarily paint an accurate picture of what it is actually doing. To get a more complete picture, it is necessary to ask the agencies themselves what they do and to ask the farmers and others who feel the effects of the policies and laws as applied for their assessment of the institutional presence and impact.One means to gather this information is to conduct in-person surveys or interviews with responsible institutions and officials based on agreed questions. Generally speaking, this stage should occur after analysts believe they have a workable compilation of policies and laws and a good grasp of what the governing authority intends to accomplish with those policies. Without such a compilation, the surveys and interviews will have no particular object and will result in less useful data. The surveys should examine not just what agencies prohibit or require by way of regulation or policy-making, but also what taxes they impose, what subsidies they provide, what educative or extension functions they undertake, what goods or services they provide by way of infrastructure, capital or other resources and which agricultural products they purchase directly for their own use or for distribution elsewhere.Intergovernmental for a:- Effective policy and legal development is based on sound field data and consideration of the needs and capabilities of relevant stakeholders. Its relevance is further ensured when policy and laws are developed in a participatory way. Furthermore, sound policy and legal development requires an understanding of (1) the current policy and legal environment and (2) the role of relevant institutions. The challenge of step four of Figure 1 is to establish a process by which these components are assessed and integrated into policy and legal recommendations.The on-farm project has already identified some policy and legal factors that have an impact on on-farm maintenance of diversity. For example, information gathered in the project thus far illustrates how the seed supply system can be affected by policy and law. This example also illustrates why the integration of the many facets of the situational analysis is necessary for policy development to be meaningful and why building monitoring and evaluation into the process is also critical. Each year farmers decide how much seed to plant and where that seed comes from. In addition to the seed selected and stored from their own crop, farmers may obtain new seed from markets or other farmers. Many factors influence the seed supply system, such as the relative importance of the informal and formal seed supply systems, access to each, wealth, environmental factors, etc. Simply advocating for improvement of the seed supply system without greater understanding of these factors and also a means by which the impact of the policies promoting this strengthening over time is not useful. Improvement of the seed supply system, for example, could increase farmers' access to genetically diverse crop varieties at the same time that it decreases genetic diversity by decreasing differentiation among populations. Similarly, the structure, organization and performance of formal seed systems is controlled by various rules and regulations (e.g. seed certification, seed distribution regulations) that influence the type and quantity of seed that is supplied through formal channels. The impact of these rules and regulations, the relation to the informal seed system in place, on in situ conservation on-farm needs to be understood with the effect of possible reforms monitored for impact.Policy options must also be assessed in accordance with agreed criteria. For example, because poverty alleviation is a primary concern of most developing countries there are often calls for legal and policy mechanisms aimed at adding economic value to on-farm conservation as a means to improve the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers. The impact of such measures may be positive in some aspects and negative in others. For instance, the measures might have a negative effect on diversity over time by valuing some local varieties over others. If the maintenance of diversity over time is a national (or international) objective, means to bear the cost of such a choice will need also to be considered. If an option to add value to an on-farm crop population is proposed, it will be important to design a mechanism for monitoring its progress and impact.Illustrative criteria for analyzing policy options are contained in Table 2. Monitoring for impact is also important as impact may be different from what a desk-top analysis might predict. For example, at first glance, a national policy subsidizing the use of modern varieties and related fertilizers might be seen to reduce the planting of landraces. It could, however, be the case in some instances that the increased income from marketing of the improved varieties actually facilitated those farmers in continuing to maintain preferred varieties on a smaller land area. Policy and legal responses must be monitored over time for their genetic, ecological and economic impacts on farming systems to see if they do indeed fulfil the goal of maintaining high levels of diversity onfarm, as well as achieving the benefits of supporting agroecosystem health and improving farmers' livelihoods in different contexts.The process of agricultural modernization in Zimbabwe has marginalized the majority of farmers, increasing social and economic inequalities. The dissemination of the green revolution technologies has brought about genetic erosion and disappearance of ecogeographically adapted crop cultivars, which provided a basket of choices for farmers. Farmers, in the process of adopting improved crop cultivars, lost some of their inheritable and accumulated knowledge, innovations and technologies of seed selection, treatment and storage.Given the high cost of hybrid seed and the associated inputs, recurrent droughts experienced at least once in every 5 years punctuated with a pronounced one every 10 years, and the general harsh climatic and economic environment associated with the semi-arid areas, the majority of the farmers have been left wanting. This scenario immensely contributed to the farmers' desire for their reputable traditional varieties. However, the limited supply of good-quality seed for local varieties can be an obstacle to farmers' continued maintenance of genetic diversity. In Zimbabwe, one potential intervention for overcoming this limitation was the establishment of community genebanks or community seed banks. In the Zimbabwean situation currently, the terms Community genebanks and Community seed banks (CSBs) are often used interchangeably and this is because the two are usually found in the same structure. The same room used to store germplasm ex situ is also used to retrieve the required seeds for multiplication and distribution to the needy farmers. These two terms are, however, used separately in other parts of the world, particularly West Africa. CSBs are small-scale institutions, serving individual communities or several communities in a locality, which store local seed on a short-term basis. These genebanks are inexpensive, usually employing simple storage technologies. In Africa, Zimbabwe has spearheaded the community genebank concept, and has had success stories in its implementation by communities (Zinhanga, pers. comm.).Seed insecurity, or the lack of availability, of affordable and suitable planting material in a timely manner, is caused by a poor previous harvest because of climate-related problems or socioeconomic factors, or by poor seed selection or storage. It results in reduced production due to the absence of preferred varieties, as well as a lower area cropped due to absolute seed shortages, leading in turn to hunger and malnutrition, genetic erosion and dependence on external sources. Seed security can be expressed within individual households, or across an entire community.The methodology in using Community Seed Banks (CSBs) is a step-wise approach involving the following process.A community diagnostic or needs analysis is first implemented to ascertain the need for a CSB, and for proper management procedures, including inventory, monitoring, regeneration strategy, and multiplication protocols. Participatory diagnostics of plant genetic resources-based livelihood strategies are preferred in order to determine appropriate interventions. A CSB was therefore an appropriate intervention, through which an understanding could be achieved of how management of plant genetic resources could be improved for better overall crop yields and stability of production. The most favourable factor for a CSB construction is chronic seed insecurity.According to farmers, a CSB is treated as a facility to store seed, at the community level, for a period of one season or more in order to avoid problems of seed insecurity. It can include the conservation of small quantities of a diverse range of varieties (as in a genebank) as well as larger quantities, sufficient for distribution, of a smaller number of preferred varieties. Construction of such a facility follows a design suggested by farmers but then forwarded to the Department of Agricultural Engineering for reworking into a proper design. Farmers' suggestions are very crucial for sustaining the structure, as most of the materials to be used will be locally based.Structures can be of various forms: with separate large and small rooms, or large and small and large pots within a single room, or racks to store panicles.Community farmers inaugurate a meeting at which they elect their leadership, which is mostly five people to oversee the running of the CSB. The process of elections involves casting of votes for particular contested positions, which include: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Vice-Secretary and Treasurer. In some cases committee members are elected. These farmers then highlight the roles and responsibilities to be vested upon this management committee. A multi-stakeholder linkage approach is needed that involves public institutions, in particular genebank staff and extensionists for technical backstopping, NGOs for financial support and some technical backstopping and the farmers themselves who should form the engine to drive the effective implementation of this intervention. The Zimbabwean scenario saw the effective synergy of this linkage network with the result that positive impacts and benefits have accrued to the communal farmers. To avoid networking problems, clear roles should be identified for each stakeholder involved.Availability of good-quality seed, higher seed security and increased production; Improved knowledge and capacity for seed storage; Reduced genetic erosion; Stimulated community cooperation and networking with national genebank and other institutions; Option to market seed of traditional varieties; Self-sufficiency in seed supply.Drought mitigation and management strategy at community level-safety of germplasm against human consumption. Agrobiodiversity conservation by communities, unlike by individuals, is associated with some rules and regulations governing the use of germplasm. The rules andregulations are spelled out in the form of a constitution and are said to deter people when enforced by a Management Committee, whereas individuals are easily tempted to consume the germplasm in times of drought. Economic benefits to communities. Communal people no longer have to spend a lot of money travelling to distant places in search of desired germplasm; A centre for exchange of valuable information on agrobiodiversity conservation. The genebank has increasingly become a meeting place and subsequently a centre of excellence for sharing of local knowledge and adoption of additional knowledge through farmer/extension worker/ researcher interactions; Accessibility to farmers as storage units and sources of new and local seed. These genebanks give farmers the ability to store small amounts of seed in a secure environment over the short term, in order to test new varieties or to help negotiate environmental risks. In addition, farmers can access the genebank to identify new seed stocks to incorporate into their fields. Some community genebanks invite local farmers to evaluate landraces when germplasm is grown out; A way for farmers to store valuable landrace germplasm in a community-based ex situ setting. Part of the Community Seed Bank becomes a reservoir of germplasm for future use. This approach may further enhance benefits when integrated with a seed-exchange network, helping to improve farmers' control over their genetic material; Contributes germplasm nationally. The community genebank can also be linked to the national genebank, where duplicates can be deposited and serve as back-up systems from which lost and endangered materials can be recuperated.The way to upscale this plant genetic resources (PGR) initiative is to integrate it into a permanent system.The following points that link farmers with the formal institutional systems, as factored in SEARICE 2003, need to be considered before upscaling of PGR initiatives, and these include:Genebank staff looking for possible collaborating organizations; Breeders need to consider the involvement of grassroot organizations or extensionists to facilitate participatory breeding activities; Collaboration with organizations that can take charge of the seed distribution and diffusion; Space for diversity in development (i.e. space for genetic diversity, cultural diversity and diversity in approaches). When this approach is institutionalized, the picture of the PGR system should be dynamic, requiring flexibility to respond to changing situations and needs. In this system the farmer and the formal systems integrated with multiple linkages between them (Figure 1) need to evolve with the changing environment, contributing professionals who are well trained and open-minded. In such a system farmers play a role in conservation, breeding and seed supply. Technical backstopping will then be provided to the local farmers to improve the germplasm management, seed storage and processing.For upscaling to realize success, players in this system should take cognizance of the existing constraints and some verifiable indicators (Table 1) and follow ways that seek to address them.An integrated way of instutionalizing community genebanks, though complex in nature, seems the only better way to safeguard sustainability and upscaling. A national competent authority or a public institute dealing with genetic resources activities and farmers should be the key elements to this integration, through which all other relevant linkage networks are identified and subsequently incorporated and the network.Naranjilla (Solanum quitoense Lamarck) is a Solanaceous fruit popular in Ecuador and Colombia (NRC 1989). The fruit is ideal for markets of exotic products (Heiser 1985;NRC 1989). Naranjilla is also grown less extensively in Venezuela and Peru and has recently been introduced in Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala (NRC 1989;Heiser and Anderson 1999). Domestication of naranjilla appears have taken place in Ecuador and Colombian after the arrival of the Spanish. There is no evidence of naranjilla cultivation in pre-Columbian times. Although little variation is reported in naranjilla (Heiser and Anderson 1999), two horticultural varieties (S. quitoense var. quitoense and S. quitoense var. septentrionale) have been identified (NRC 1989).In Ecuador, naranjilla is cultivated in plots of up to 2 ha erratically distributed along both the eastern and western sides of the Andean mountains (Ochoa et al. 2001a). Naranjilla area reaches 9460 ha and is cultivated by 7125 families (MAG 2002). Owing to a high internal demand, naranjilla is a high-input crop grown mainly in monoculture in primary and secondary forests. Intercropping of naranjilla with cassava and plantain is less frequent (Ochoa et al. 2001a).During the 1970s, naranjilla became very scarce in Ecuador (Heiser 1985;NRC 1989). In the early 1980s a small and seedless type of naranjilla appeared in the market. This sterile hybrid derives from an interspecific cross between naranjilla and a wild cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) (Heiser 1993). The cross was apparently made by the farmer Raul Viteri (Torres and Camacho 1981). This hybrid is now called hibrido Puyo. Fruit size of hybrid Puyo is regularly increased in commercial production with low doses of the herbicide 2-4-D. This effect with 2-4-D was also accidentally discovered by another farmer (Heiser 1993). A new hybrid made from a cross between naranjilla and a cultivated cocona was obtained in Indiana by C. Heiser (1993) and released by the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) in 1994 (Fiallos 2000). Hybrids Puyo and Palora are grown in 95% of the naranjilla area while the domesticated naranjilla-presently called \"common naranjilla\"-is grown in the remaining 5% of the naranjilla area.Farmers have generally abandoned production of \"common naranjilla\" in many areas mainly because of uncontrollable epidemics of a vascular wilt disease, which was first noted in the early 1970s. The disease is referred to as naranjilla vascular wilt (NVW) (Ochoa et al. 2001b), and is currently the major constraint to the production of \"common naranjilla\" in Ecuador (Ochoa et al. 2001a). The disease is consistently observed in the few \"common naranjilla\" commercial plantings and in the few \"common naranjilla\" plants growing nearby or within the Puyo and Palora hybrids. Hybrids Puyo and Palora are resistant to the pathogen. The disease reaches up to 30% of incidence in the hybrid Puyo while in the hybrid Palora the disease is very sporadic.Diseased plants are readily distinguished by their flaccid and chlorotic appearance. Flaccidity and chlorosis start in the lower part of the plant and progressively move upwards, causing wilt of the entire plant. Discolouration of the vascular system is also a characteristic symptom (Ochoa et al. 2001b). NVW is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f sp. quitoense (Ochoa et al. 2001b), which is very specific to naranjilla (Ochoa et al. 2004).The rapid spread of NVW within established production areas and into new production areas suggest that F. o. f. sp. quitoense could be transmitted by seed. Details of seed transmission and its consequences are discussed in this article.Seed transmission of F. o. f. sp. quitoense was studied in seeds sampled in the Pastasa Valley, traditionally one of the most important naranjilla production areas. The Pastaza Valley is located along both sides and lower valleys of the Pastaza River near the Amazon basin. Seed transmission experiments were conducted at the Santa Catalina Experimental Station of the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), Ecuador.Branches with attached fruits from plants with typical symptoms of NVW and from asymptomatic plants were collected in a commercial \"common naranjilla\" planting with a severe epidemic of NVW. Branches with attached fruits of hybrids Puyo and Palora with symptoms of NVW were also collected from a location where the disease is endemic. Symptomatic plants of Puyo hybrid are characterized by a slow development of foliar wilt with vascular discolouration. On the other hand symptomatic plants of hybrid Palora show only slight vascular discolouration. Fruits of \"common naranjilla\" as well as of Puyo and Palora hybrids from apparently healthy commercial plantings were included as controls. Ten branches bearing fruits were selected in each case. In order to verify vascular colonization by F. o. f. sp quitoense, isolations were made from symptomatic (discoloured) as well as asymptomatic vascular tissue. Tissue sections (0.125 cm 3 ) from each branch were surfacedisinfected by soaking for 3 minutes in a 1% solution of sodium hypochlorite, then rinsed three times in sterile water. These tissue sections were then placed on Petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 20ºC for 5 days.Seeds were removed from mature fruits collected from the same branches used for pathogen isolation. Seeds were dried on a greenhouse bench and then stored in the laboratory at room temperature prior to use. Part of the seeds was subject to germination for 6 days in a petri dish containing humidified sterile paper. Pregerminated and dry seeds were surface-disinfected as described above and then placed on PDA. Petri dishes were incubated at 26ºC for 2 weeks. Each treatment consisted of 10 Petri dishes containing 10 seeds each.In a second experiment, \"common naranjilla\" seeds from symptomatic and asymptomatic plants were germinated in Petri dishes containing sterilized sand. Seeds from asymptomatic plants came from the apparently healthy commercial planting. Petri dishes were incubated at 26ºC for up to 3 weeks. Seed germination and symptoms on seedlings were monitored in detail. The apparently healthy seedlings were transplanted to pots containing 300 g of sterilized soil composed of 2 parts of organic soil, 2 parts of compost and 1 part of vermiculite. Symptoms of NVW were also carefully monitored on the transplanted plants. Time in days to the wilting stage was evaluated in transplanted plants. The wilting stage was considered flaccidity and/or chlorosis reaching the upper part of the plant. Pathogen isolation as previously described was conducted on non-germinated seeds, on seedlings with root and hypocotile necrosis and on plants showing vascular discolouration.Fusarium oxysporum f sp. quitoense was isolated from all tissue sections from branches coming only from symptomatic plants. Taxonomical identification of the fungus was based on morphology of conidiophores, macroconodia and microconidia as well as on colony appearance on PDA (Nelson et al. 1983). Koch's postulates were completed with an isolate recovered from these branches as previously described by Ochoa et al. (2001b).Fusarium oxysporum f sp. quitoense was recovered only from pregerminated seeds in \"common naranjilla\" as well as hybrids Puyo and Palora as soon as 4 days after isolation. In \"common naranjilla\", the pathogen was recovered in 90% of seeds from symptomatic plants and in 60% of seeds of asymptomatic plants from the commercial planting severely affected by NVW. The pathogen was also isolated from seeds of symptomatic plants of hybrids Puyo and Palora in 70% and 80% of the seeds respectively. Fusarium oxysporum f sp. quitoense was not recovered from asymptomatic plants coming from apparently healthy plantings of \"common naranjilla\" as well as of hybrids Puyo and Palora. Koch's postulates were also completed with an isolate recovered from seed.Germination and plant development were significantly affected by pathogen colonization in common naranjilla. Thirty-eight percent of seeds did not germinate; 11% of seeds developed seedlings with root and hypocotyle necrosis and did not progress further and 20% of seeds developed plants showing the wilting stage within 94 days after transplanting. The remaining non-symptomatic plants may have been colonized by the fungus; however, symptoms were not apparent. Germination in control plants coming from a commercial planting with healthy appearance reached 95% and signs of fungus colonization were not observed either in seedlings or during plant development.Seed colonization of F. o. f. sp. quitoense appears as a common and efficient mean of pathogen transmission in naranjilla. Pathogen isolation only on pre-germinated seeds suggests the pathogen is located inside the seed and is activated during seed germination. In \"common naranjilla\" presence of the pathogen in fruits coming from asymptomatic plants suggests that seed colonization takes place during the early pathogen colonization stage, when the plant does not show symptoms yet. Although most of the seeds are unviable in hybrids Puyo and Palora, the pathogen efficiently colonizes them. Resistance operating in both Puyo and Palora appears to be associated with restriction of pathogen colonization in the vascular system; however, seeds are readily colonized. Rapid colonization of seeds is most likely due to an efficient movement of microconidia into the seeds even before symptoms are evident.In these experiments seed transmission in \"common naranjilla\" caused loss of seed viability, root and hypocotyl necrosis on seedlings and vascular colonization during plant development. These epidemiological consequences are also observed regularly in the field. Farmers frequently complain about seed germination which appears associated with loss of viability and seedling colonization by the pathogen. In the field, vascular wilt symptoms regularly appear during the early fructification stage which seems to be associated with vascular colonization. Vascular colonization then allows the pathogen to abundantly sporulate in the entire plant. From this sporulation, secondary infections successively takes place, building up a rapid epidemic. Diseased plants then sporulate abundantly. Sporulation consist primarily of macroconidia that become chlamydospores (resting spores) when incorporated into the soil. Chlamydospores can survive in the soil for a fairly long time and in this way the pathogen also becomes soil-borne.Seed-and soil-borne epidemics of NVW were experimentally observed in \"common naranjilla\" in the field (Shiki et al. 2003). In these experiments NVW symptoms appeared 266 days after transplanting when the pathogen was seed-borne while disease symptoms appeared 114 days after transplanting when the pathogen was soil-borne. The seed-borne epidemic allowed only one harvest of around 2000 kg/ha while the soil-borne epidemic did not even allow the plant to reach the flowering stage. Both seed-borne and soil-borne epidemics appear to have been experienced successively by farmers in the past. Farmers at present are looking for primary or secondary forest where soil-borne inoculum is less likely to occur owing to the high specialization of the pathogen (Ochoa et al. 2004). At present, epidemics of F. o. f. sp. quitoense in \"common naranjilla\" appear primarily to be seed-borne in nature.Naranjilla appears as a highly susceptible species to F. o. f. sp. quitoense. On the other hand, close relatives of naranjilla within the Lasiocarpa section are fairly resistant (Baez 2003). Resistance of hybrids Puyo and Palora comes from S. sessiliflorum (Heiser 1993). Stability of Puyo and Palora hybrids in traditional naranjilla areas appears to be mainly associated with their resistance to F. o. f. sp. quitoense.Rapid distribution of F. o. f. sp. quitoense in naranjilla in Ecuador is mainly explained by seed transmission. Simultaneously, a high degree of susceptibility of most \"common naranjilla\" varieties should have forced farmers to abandon \"common naranjilla\" cultivation during the 1970s. Decrease of \"common naranjilla\" cultivation and introduction to cultivation of Puyo and Palora hybrids might also explain the low variability reported in naranjilla (NRC 1989;Heiser 1993).In Ecuador, naranjilla seed is informally produced. Farmers regularly select ripe fruits and obtain seeds from them. Plants are produced in improvised seed beds near the naranjilla plots. This informal seed system appears to have contributed to the fast establishment of NVW. At present there is no programme for production of disease-free naranjilla seed in Ecuador. The production and use of disease-free seed should aid in preventing the introduction of the pathogen in new production areas. Seed disinfection is necessary as a complementary approach to manage NVW.Potatoes grown by Andean farmers can be divided into three groups: commercial improved varieties, commercial native varieties and non-commercial native varieties. The first two groups consist of a few well-known varieties typically grown in monoculture in larger areas. The third is much more diverse and therefore of primary interest for in situ conservation. The multiple landraces that constitute this group are maintained and exchanged through informal seed systems that are decentralized, dynamic and changeable over time. Informal potato seed systems connect diversity patterning in time and consist of various subsystems. A biophysical system of production, storage, replacement and exchange of seed is supported by a knowledge system of rationales and practices and a cultural system of preferences and meaning; these in turn are embedded within a socioeconomic system of entitlements and obligations. In this article we are particularly concerned with landrace seed systems which can be conceived as an overlay of agrobiodiversity that connects one point in time with the next point in time.Diverse potato landraces are multiplied through vegetative propagation. Sexual crosses and the use of botanical seed, though apparently practised in the past (Quiros et al. 1992), are not common practice. Introgression from wild species into cultivated stocks is possible, but cultural practices tend to restrict introgression (Brush 1995). Positive and negative selection prior to harvest for such characteristics as phenotype and vigour are rarely practised. Selection for seed normally takes place shortly after harvest, when healthy medium-size tubers for next season's plantings are stored separately. Sometimes this is done in two phases, a first and rapid discrimination during harvest and a second, more careful, selection shortly after harvest. At this stage farmers tend to carefully monitor which landraces in their stock are abundant, which are scarce and decide which to replace. Seed lots with mixed landraces are commonly stored separate from stocks for home consumption or trade. A final selection just before sowing is common, by discarding tubers damaged by pests, disease or rot. Women play an especially important role in the identification and selection of seed.Indigenous storage systems for landraces include straw cylinders (taqe), straw-bed piles, elevated bins (troje) and net bags. Often seed is kept in the house itself or in a separate facility close to the house. Historically some farmers allowed light to reach stored tubers; this produces shorter, more vigorous sprouts. Development projects have incorporated this principle in rustic diffused-light seed stores (Rhoades et al. 1991). Fieldside storage pits for potatoes, once common in southern Peru and Bolivia, are nowadays rarely used.A common mechanism for maintaining diversity from one season to the next is through seed exchange. Seed is acquired through trade, barter or trueque, gifts, wages in kind and ritualized \"stealing\". Zimmerer (1991a) found that farmers in Paucartambo (Cusco, Peru) sought new, diseasefree seed from potato specialists in nearby uplands. Planters in Paucartambo typically acquire seed from contacts among upland cultivators at intervals of 5 to 10 years (Zimmerer 1996). In areas below 3000 m where seed degenerates faster, farmers replace seed more frequently (Scheidegger et al. 1989). Complex seed flows commonly start at high altitude and are important for the replacement of so-called \"tired seeds\" with healthy seeds. Most of these seed flows are over distances of 5-15 km (Thiele 1999). Extended family ties, social networks and rural markets facilitate these seed flows.Management at all stages, from cultivation to storage and exchange, is crucial for seed quality and consequently for the maintenance of diverse landraces. Some landraces, like the early ripening chaucha or chawcha varieties (Solanum phureja), are particularly management -and labour-demanding because of short maturation and lack of seed dormancy. Varieties of this species have to be cropped two to three times annually and their yearly scheduling and subsequent labour demands are compressed (Zimmerer 1991b). Chaucha landraces have been particularly prone to landrace loss. Landraces of bitter potatoes (Solanum juzepczukii, S. curtilobum) generally tend to be less management-demanding because of significant pest resistance, tuber dormancy and cultivation in rain-fed cropping systems. Andean farmers apply many management practices in order to obtain clean and healthy seed, including crop rotations, the use of ash or chalk for the control of Andean weevil (Premnotrypes spp.), \"cold-therapy\" at high altitude in order to improve seed quality, protecting seed against potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella, Symmetrischema tangolias) with aromatic sprigs of pest-repelling species such as muña (Minthostachys tomentosa) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus). Farmers rarely manage separate fields exclusively for seed production. However, farmers who manage 5 to 20 plots do differentiate those that are likely to produce high-quality seed. Potato landrace diversity, informal seed systems and conservation are highly interlinked and integrated.One view is that informal potato seed systems lead to yield losses through the use of poor-quality seed. An opposed view maintains that resource management of indigenous peasants is intrinsically sound. Thiele (1999) unravels both views for the informal potato seed systems in the Andes and highlights the middle ground. The informal system has many qualities and some major deficiencies. The informal seed systems of potato landraces are part of higher-scale systems. They have emergent properties and consequently change at any level affects the whole; these processes of change and adaptation vary in different regions. Informal seed systems are dynamic and not necessarily sustainable in every context.One example is offered by the influence of demographic pressure on informal seeds systems. In the Yauyos province, department of Lima, permanent migration has substantially reduced the population size and increased the mean age of inhabitants. Local rural markets have largely disappeared and reciprocity relationships of labour exchange for potato landraces are in decline. As social networks of landrace exchange disintegrate, so does the informal quality certification that normally accompanies these mechanisms. Another result of migration is an increase in irrigated land per family. The production of healthy seed of floury potato landraces in the rain-dependent sectorial fallowing system, at the upper altitudinal levels, has declined, as farmers prefer to prioritize their labour inputs for cropping in the less risky irrigated production zones. As a consequence of these changes the availability of healthy potato seed of diverse landraces has diminished. Typical landraces from Yauyos, such as bauchi, collota and several chaucha varieties, are less commonly grown as regional seed availability and exchange has decreased. Farmers now travel more frequently to cities such as Huancayo and Cañete to purchase seed of commercial native varieties such as huayro and peruanita. These seeds are of doubtful quality, especially those purchased in coastal Cañete where virus infection is much more important.Quite a different scenario can be found in the central Huancavelica department, where Quechua communities are confronted with population growth and hence with a shortage of land. Several communities decided to give up part or all of the communal sectorial fallowing system and allot areas to young families. As a consequence of shortening rotations and increased monocropping of potatoes, farmers are now confronted with decreased seed quality. Plant nutrition factors, increased incidence of pests such as the Andean weevil (Premnotrypes spp.) and soil-borne diseases such as Rhizoctonia (Rhizoctonia solani) have become threats for landrace seed quality.Some of the problems faced by informal seed systems are extrinsic, a result of the external socioeconomic context which they face; others are more intrinsic, although even these cannot be addressed in isolation from the context in which they occur. Both types of problems are dynamic and variable according to the specific regional socioeconomic context. Specific bottlenecks and problems that affect informal seed systems of diverse landraces in the Andes include:Limited seed availability as exchange mechanisms and social networks lose viability. This is especially notable where migration has affected population density; Increased incidence of certain field pests, especially Andean weevil in areas where rotation design has changed and potato cropping intensified; Increased incidence of certain field diseases, especially late blight (Phytophthora infestans); Increased incidences at higher altitudes are possibly the result of climate change, evolution of specific late blight strains and reduced barriers to pathogen movement due to monocropping; Seed degeneration as a consequence of viruses and other pathogens, especially where \"coldtherapy\" of potato seed is not practised; Incidence of storage pests, especially tuber moths in storage facilities below 3600 m.Relatively little is known about the relationships between informal seed systems and farmerdriven in situ conservation of many potato landraces. Detailed characterization of such links and the identification of bottlenecks should be a first step, including seed-selection procedures, storage systems and mechanisms of seed exchange. Local realities in the Peruvian Andes are diverse; hence efforts should preferably be regional and initially concentrated in those areas where high levels of intraspecific diversity exist. A next step might concentrate on resolving bottlenecks through participatory and developmentoriented capacity development. Specific intervention might focus on reintroduction of lost landraces, selection procedures, appropriate storage systems, seed exchange, and disease and pest control, yet it is important that farmers perceive these interventions as a priority. Landrace conservation by itself is not an objective for Andean farmers; it is a means to assure their livelihoods.Sustainability is an important factor to take into account for seed systems interventions. There needs to be a socioeconomic as well as an ecological demand for diversity (Prain and Hagmann 2000). Agricultural biodiversity in the Andes is strongly embedded in a variety of culturally determined food systems. Local food systems demand diverse landraces and their enhancement is important for sustainable conservation. On the other hand, special market niches for exotic, high-quality and ecological produce can possibly offer a new demand for landraces. Landraces can be promoted for use in restaurants, processing of naturally pigmented chips or as ecological fresh produce. Linking landrace diversity to new markets is a challenge, yet does not necessarily guarantee conservation. Markets generally demand uniformity in variety, size, quality, etc. Consequently market demand for a few landraces might actually trigger landrace loss and reduce the total diversity within landrace pools. Nevertheless, the enhancement of local food systems and the incorporation of landraces in urban food systems are challenges that need consideration.Increased integration between formal and informal seed systems might also be considered. However, decisions within formal systems about what varieties to promote will have substantial implications for diversity. In Peru the formal seed system is centralized and concentrates on few varieties; diverse landraces are not part of the formal system. In Ecuador the formal seed system purposively disregards landraces. In Bolivia, cleaning and reintroduction of lost landraces, participatory breeding and selection, transfer of appropriate technology and capacity-strengthening have provided building blocks for linkage but interventions have been difficult to sustain outside of specific and limited project funding.Critical policy areas where change could help potato seed systems include seed legislation, coordination of seed policies, adapting public plant breeding programmes, seed technology research for the informal sector and attention to improved institutional linkages. Landraces are typically produced by lower-income farmers in higher areas with limited access to certified seed. Much current seed legislation works against these farmers and landraces because it fails to recognize the possibility of producing quality seed within the informal seed system. Seed legislation and certification could be adapted in favour of landraces through increased flexibility of rules and standards. Policy formulation will be aided by opportunities for dialogue with diverse and representative stakeholders; this will make policies more relevant and sustainable. Since 1998 CIP's ex situ genebank has provided clean seed of diverse potato landraces to farmer communities. Village authorities or local institutions request seed to replace \"lost\" local landraces. This so-called repatriation of landraces to communities is a pilot example of complementarity between different conservation approaches and linkage of formal and informal systems. CIP stimulates the installation of Community Seed Banks (CSB) so that seed is available for the whole community after local multiplication. Andean farmers are able to multiply small amounts of seed relatively quickly (Scheidegger and Prain 2000) and after a few years the CSB can evolve into family-managed landrace stocks. Although implemented on a modest scale, the repatriation of landraces proves successful in most cases. CSBs work well if there is a local committee that is directly responsible; this committee should preferably consist of farmers interested in conservation and be supervised by village authorities. CSBs have failed to dynamize local seed systems where local organizations are weak.Cleaning and return of landraces to farmer communities is also practised by Programa de Investigacion en Papa (PROINPA) in Bolivia. Conserved diversity, superior yields and increased awareness of the importance of good-quality seed are reported as positive results (Iriarte et al. 2000). Looking for ways to supply seeds from formal seed systems to highland potato production systems, PROINPA began research to adapt rustic nurseries for potato seed production. The rustic seedbed is a small hothouse (big box) made of local materials. Both native and commercial varieties were multiplied in these seedbeds. Its theoretical advantages are: protection against frost and hail, better control of pests and diseases, low construction and production costs, optimization of local resources (water, soil, labour) and high multiplication rates. Aguirre et al. (1999) found high production and multiplication rates compared with seed production in open fields. Average multiplication rates reported were 1:15 in seedbeds compared with 1:7 in the field. Considering the construction costs and the potato production costs, the cost of the seed obtained in the seedbeds was found to be similar to seed from the formal system. Constraints identified by PROINPA included fertility of the substrate, control of soil pests and diseases, access to healthy seed to plant seedbeds, and marketing of seed originated from the seedbeds after field multiplication.The amount of Biodiversity Seed Fairs (BSF) in Peru has grown exponentially since they were first organized in the late 1980s as a strategy for in situ conservation, cultural reaffirmation, knowledge and seed exchange. Nowadays, from May until August, multiple actors organize an estimated 300 yearly BSF. Competitions are very much part of Andean culture and the organization of BSF, where farmers display their varieties and those with the most landraces and knowledge win prizes, have special appeal (Scurrah et al. 1999). Most fairs stimulate seed exchange between farmers from different communities and regions (Tapia and Rosas 1993). Generally it is considered that the fairs complement local seed systems if culturally appropriate incentives are provided. Farmers and local authorities should have a role in the organization of the fairs in order to make them sustainable. BSF can stimulate local seed systems, but can also work adversely, especially if incentives are too large and the element of competition impedes exchange of seed.Applying the principle that light inhibits sprout elongation, diffused light storage (DLS) systems have been improved, promoted and implemented by CIP, FAO, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias (INIA) and a large number of development organizations in Peru. Compared with traditional dark storage, sprout length was reduced from 20 cm to 2 cm, and yield increased about 15% in multi-locational on-station trials. On-farm trials led to similar results: significant shorter, more vigorous sprouts and a yield advantage of about 10% (Fuglie and Walker 2002). Storage designs that are appropriate for Andean conditions have been developed; these designs use local materials and are cheap to implement. However, blueprint designs that cannot be adopted to specific and diverse farmer's requirements can impede adoption. DLS systems have been adopted by thousands of farmers in the Peruvian Andes, yet non-adoption by farmers in remote areas has been grouped in three categories: lack of knowledge, economics and socio-cultural factors (Rhoades et al. 1991). The first is a consequence of distance, inaccessibility and lack of development resources in certain parts of the Andes. The second is a direct consequence of the very limited monetary income of small-scale farmers dedicated to potato cropping. The last has to do with farmer's caution against possibly maladapted technologies.Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of field and storage pests can have a positive impact on the overall quality of potato seed produced by Andean farmers. The control of Andean weevil (Premnotrypes spp.) and potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella, Symmetrischema tangolias) is especially important for the seed quality of diverse landraces. Alcázar et al. (1992) found a damage reduction of 17% one year after IPM of Andean weevil was initiated in an Andean community in Cusco. Cisneros (2003) found considerable reductions in both damage and pesticide use three years after IPM of Andean weevil was implemented in two communities in central Peru. Not all individual IPM strategies are socioeconomically or culturally viable for resource-poor farmers in the Andes. Methodologies and materials of adult education such as used in Farmer Field Schools (FFS) help to generate increased local knowledge about pests and viable control strategies, but may not reach farmers in remote and biodiversity rich areas of the Andes. The FFS are relatively expensive and require special skills from the facilitators.Emphasis on the existing successes of farmers and institutions and how to enhance and widen impact is important (Zimmerer 1996). Yet, few attempts have been made to increase the impact of local activities to benefit a greater number of communities. Upscaling support for on-farm conservation through seed system interventions is only in its infancy.Since the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) the number of actors involved in externally driven in situ conservation in the Peruvian Andes has steadily increased. They include international and national agricultural research institutions, donor organizations, universities, farmer movements, municipalities, a large number of NGOs and even private enterprises. The actors involved in in situ conservation of potato landraces are not only remarkably diverse (research to development orientated), they also have widely different ideological backgrounds that are directly reflected in the strategies proposed. Often planning of in situ conservation processes occurs behind closed doors. Debates about intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge have added to limited information sharing.A precondition for upscaling is documentation, monitoring, systematization and social learning; this is not necessarily common practice in most institutions. For future efforts it is extremely important that experiences are systematized, lessons are drawn and information made available. This should preferably occur in a participatory manner with active farmer involvement. Impact and sustainability are key considerations and upscaling can only take place if lessons are drawn first. The fact that in situ conservation is still an evolving area of rural R&D makes the need for social learning especially important.Upscaling can be facilitated by enhanced networking, collaboration and information exchange between farmers' organizations, research institutes, NGOs, formal and informal seed systems. Farmer-to-farmer training and visits, exchanges of experiences between different actors, development of tools and methods for adult education, and the use of media such as popular radio can all have a valuable role. However, upscaling will be effective only if these activities are set up and undertaken from a perspective that attempts to offer options (a basket of opportunities) rather than to impose solutions (Visser and Jarvis 2000).A large group of non-commercial potato landraces are maintained and exchanged through informal seed systems managed by small-scale farmers. These seed systems are decentralized and dynamic and consist of biophysical, knowledge, cultural and socioeconomic subsystems. Potato landrace diversity, informal seed systems and conservation are highly interlinked and integrated. Landrace seed systems can be conceived as an overlay of agrobiodiversity, which determines temporal patterning.The informal seed system of potato landraces has many qualities and some major deficiencies. Many of these deficiencies are the result of changes in farmers´ livelihood systems. Even problems, which appear as strictly seed related, cannot be treated in isolation from the livelihood context in which they occur. The kinds of changes which have occurred in livelihood systems and hence the problems which have emerged in the embedded seed systems vary considerably with the regional or local socioeconomic context. Hence understanding the changing context of farmer livelihoods is a precondition for appropriate interventions in seed systems.Links between informal seed systems and the conservation of diverse potato landraces have been scarcely studied and little is known about intrinsic relationships. The detailed characterization and documentation of these relationships and the identification of bottlenecks is a priority. Participatory and development-oriented research could help resolve the major bottlenecks. Local capacity-building as a solution for problems identified and prioritized by farmers will add to the sustainability of interventions. There are options for increased linkage between formal and informal seed systems, but changes in seed legislation and certification are needed for this to be effective.There are valuable lessons to be learned from previous interventions in potato seed systems. A precondition for upscaling is documentation, monitoring, systematization and social learning. A major limitation is the closed institutional environment that is characteristic of national in situ conservation projects and programmes in the Andean region. Whereas mechanisms for scaling up are well known they have not been critically evaluated, and lessons from previous interventions should be drawn and made available. The increased collaboration, networking and information exchange required to put into practice the suggestions made here pose a challenge.The seed system is an important factor in plant genetic diversity distribution in a country. Seed is the basic vector of the diversity. In Morocco two types of seed systems coexist: the formal seed sector and the informal seed sector. Each system is a chain of components, with interactions between the two systems at different levels. The importance of each system depends on crop species and type of agroecosystem.In the informal sector, the main seed supply resources are: the farm (farmers using their own seeds), the exchange between farmers (of the same village or of neighbouring villages) and the traditional markets (souks). In certain cases, the seed supply can be cooperatives, markets in cities or seed companies. In the formal sector, the seed supply is authorized seed companies for certified seeds, produced locally or imported. Table 1 shows the use rate of certified seeds for the main crops in Morocco. Because of the co-existence of the two seed systems, a clear knowledge of the formal seed system in a country is very important when establishing a strategy for the conservation of the agrobiodiversity.In Morocco, a country known for high local diversity for many species, the main factors that can have potential impact on the conservation of the genetic diversity are:The scope of the breeder's rights is that protection concerns the propagating material of: The protected variety; Any variety not clearly distinguishable from the protected variety; Any variety essentially derived from the protected variety; Any variety for which production requires the repeat use of the protected variety (e.g. hybrids).The acts for which the authorization of the breeder are required are: Production or reproduction (multiplication); Conditioning;Offering for sale (selling or other marketing); Exporting or importing; Stockpiling for any of the objectives mentioned above.If the breeder was not able to exercise his rights on the propagating material, he can exercise this right on the harvested material or on the derived product.There are exceptions to the breeder's rights, e.g. the breeder's rights are not extended to the acts done privately for non-commercial purposes or for experimental purposes, nor for breeding other varieties, with the conditions that the new variety is not essentially derived from the protected variety, and does not require repeated use of the protected variety. Nor to the acts accomplished by farmers for reproduction or multiplication purposes, on their own holdings, of the product of harvest which they have obtained by planting, on their own holdings, the protected variety except for trees, floral and ornamental species. This is deemed to be a farmer's privilege.And finally, the duration of protection for Breeder's Rights is deemed to be 20 years for annual species, 25 years for trees and grapevines, and 30 years for date palms.The seed supply is characterized by the coexistence of two sectors:Informal sector: where the farmers are using their own seeds, or obtain them through exchange between farmers, purchases from traditional markets (souks), or purchases from seed sellers and cooperatives. The seeds are either of improved registered varieties or of traditional varieties, but with no guaranty of the quality of the seeds. Formal sector: source of certified seeds commercialized by authorized companies. These seeds belong to varieties registered in the catalogue, and are controlled and tested by official services.The use rate of certified seeds is very variable depending on the species (Table 1). It varies from less than 1% (barley) to 100% (sugar beet). However, for the majority of species the use rate is very low. In general, the farmers are satisfying their needs through the informal sector. However for some other species, 100% of their needs are imported (sugar beet, hybrid varieties of vegetables, corn and sunflower).The production of certified seeds concerns mainly cereals (95% of total certified seeds production). For these species, the actual demand (75 to 8000 t annually) is satisfied with certified seeds produced locally. Seed production is by farmers fulfilling requirements depending on technical capacities and know-how. The fields designated to seed production are controlled by official services in charge of certification, according to technical regulations. These regulations conform to the OECD seed certification schemes. Morocco has been a member of the OECD seed certification system since 1989. Morocco also has had the European Union (EU) seed certification scheme equivalence since 1991.After harvesting and processing, the seed lots are sampled and analyzed in the National Laboratory of Seed Analysis, according to ISTA methods and rules. Morocco has been a member of this association since 1964.The introduction and production of transgenic varieties are not allowed. A law on the use, dissemination and trade of GMO has been drafted and submitted for approval. In 1998, a National Committee for Biosafety was created, chaired by the Prime Minister. Its main duty is to advise the Government on issues related to GMOs. Moreover, a training and capacity-building programme was started mainly in the field GMO control and identification.In May 2000, Morocco signed the Carthagena protocol on biosafety. The procedure is on the way to being ratified. The Carthagena protocol on biosafety is part of the Convention on Biodiversity signed and ratified by Morocco.Morocco, because of his climatic and geomorphologic diversity, is host to a large and richebiological diversity adapted to different zones (humid, semi dry, dry, pre-Saharan and Saharan).Concerning the conservation of the agricultural biodiversity, several actions have been taken on landscape and ecosystems management, particularly those containing the major part of the plant genetic resources and mainly wild species that are parents of cultivated species. Moreover, important progress has been made in inventorying and characterizing genetic resources, species and ecosystems dynamics. The local populations of major cultivated species (cereals, food legumes, forage crops and fruit trees) have been collected, characterized and preserved in order to be used in breeding programmes.At the international level, Morocco has signed the International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. For the ratification of the Treaty, a draft law has been submitted to Parliament. Morocco is also a member of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and signed the agreement that created the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) in 1994.Morocco has been a member of ISTA since 1964. Therefore, the National Laboratory for Seed Analysis is allowed to deliver the international certificates necessary for international trade of seeds.Morocco has had the equivalence to seed scheme certification of OECD since 1989 and the EU since 1991. This equivalence allows Morocco to control and certify seeds traded within EU countries or at an international level.Morocco has participated in the UPOV activities, as an observing member, since 1978. All the DUS tests are conducted according to UPOV methods. The actual law on plant variety protection was examined by the UPOV council in 1997, and it was declared as conforming to the 1991 UPOV convention. This allows Morocco to become a member of UPOV.Morocco is also a member of the International Seed Federation (ISF). At the regional level, Morocco is a member of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) seed network, created in 1992, and the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA).Morocco is an important source of genetic diversity for many species. The conservation of this diversity is very important for the development of agriculture in the present but also for the coming generations. It has to be a national priority. However, the strategy for the conservation of this genetic diversity has to take into consideration many aspects, mainly the status and future development of the formal seed sector in harmony with the general strategy of Moroccan agriculture, the requirements of international treaties and the need for international trade.Mozambique is a climatically diverse country in southern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean on its eastern side. The long coastline stretching from just 12° south of the equator all the way south to 28° has exposed the country to Muslim and European traders for more than 1000 years. This border represents a big potential for the country's development.Over 70% of the 15 million people depend on agriculture for their livelihood, but crop production is especially precarious in the southern third of the country which is semi-arid with an average annual rainfall of less than 600 mm, the majority of which falls from October to April. The northern third of the country has a more tropical environment with an average rainfall ranging from 800 to 1500 mm distributed over a somewhat longer period but still with a very distinct dry season. Several large rivers bisect the country from west to east and the floodplains with their rich alluvial soil are agriculturally productive. However flooding is an ever-present risk as occurred in February 2000 when world attention was focused on the country. Torrential rains caused by cyclones Eline and Gloria, and the opening of dam floodgates upstream, resulted in several hundred deaths from drowning and the submerging of more than 100 000 ha that had been planted by smallholder farmers.In A History of Mozambique, Newitt (1995) chronicles how social development and political control have often been associated with drought and ecological disasters. To live in such an environment the population had and still has many ways of coping with drought. One response has been to plant both lowland and upland plots with assorted crops planted after each small rain. This type of production has been facilitated by the traditional land tenure system that facilitates access to land and is accepted in the current law (Land law: Art.12 line A 1996). Other economic alternatives largely practised by men have included intensified hunting and increased labour migration to the cities and neighbouring countries, especially Republic of South Africa. More recently women have started to be involved in trading, especially of crop surpluses to obtain cash. These diverse livelihood strategies are still very much in evidence today, with large numbers of men migrating to work and sending back remittances to help support household members in the rural areas.A more recent threat to livelihoods is the effect of HIV/AIDS. The full impact of HIV/AIDS is still to be felt as prevalence rates continue to rise dramatically but already 12.2% of the national population was infected by 2000 (Della-Vedova 2003). Prevalence is considerably higher in areas where there are high levels of migration to and from neighbouring countries, particularly in the central and southern regions of the country where from 16 to 20% of the population may be infected. HIV/AIDS itself has a strong gender dimension and indeed gender inequality. For socioeconomic, cultural and political as well as physiological reasons, women in southern Africa are more vulnerable than men to HIV/AIDS infection and its impact. In Mozambique this is partially reflected in the fact that 57% of people living with HIV/AIDS are women. In the 20-24 age group women outnumber men by 4:1, while the infection rate among girls in the 15-19 years age group is 16% compared with 9% for boys (UNFPA 2002). There are already clear indications that this epidemic will have a severe negative impact on household food security.In much of southern Africa agriculture is divided into two distinct sectors-the smallholder sector and the large-scale sector-although the balance between the two varies significantly from country to country. In Mozambique the smallholder sector predominates, accounting for around 90% of the country's planted area. Food security is underpinned by the ability of women and men farmers to make decisions about what crops to grow and which inputs to use. By tradition, women are responsible for the family's food security and therefore the primary production is to meet the household's subsistence needs. A key factor in food security at household and community levels has been local knowledge on seeds and seed management that resides mainly with women. Their knowledge of how to multiply, conserve and utilize different crops and varieties of seeds is a crucial component of food security. Equally important are the dynamics utilized by farmers to obtain seeds in both normal times and during crises such as the frequent droughts and floods that are endemic. These dynamics are just as diverse as the different environments in which these farmers live and work. Apart from land and labour, farm-saved seed supplemented by grain from markets and small amounts of commercial seed is the main input used for food production (Dominguez 2001).Although smallholder agriculture predominates in Mozambique, there is a small but growing commercial sector that is heavily influenced by neighbouring Republic of South Africa and Zimbabwe, where commercial farming is well developed. In recent years the government has even welcomed commercial farmers from both countries, but especially Zimbabwe where the government is pursuing a policy of land re-distribution. Commercial farmers tend to rely more on certified seed procured from commercial seed companies. There are presently two commercial seed companies operating in the country, and much of the seed marketed is actually imported from neighbouring countries.Frequent droughts and floods have affected agricultural production in many parts of the country. One response by government and humanitarian agencies has been to provide affected households with free seeds, and from 1992 until 2001 hardly a season passed without free seeds being distributed somewhere in the country (Rohrbach et al. 2001). In the early 1990s most of the seed supplied was sourced from outside the country as SEMOC, the only seed company operating in the country at that time, did not have the capacity to meet the massive demand for seed from relief and development agencies. This demand was to supply the hundreds of thousands of returning refugees who had fled the country during the 15 years of civil war that ended in 1992. By the mid-1990s, SEMOC was able to meet some of the local demand from relief and development agencies, but the company made only limited investments to develop a distribution and retail network for commercial seed sales. In 1996, the Mozambique Government sold its controlling interest in SEMOC to the Seed Company of Zimbabwe (Seed Co), and since then the company has focused largely on the sale of hybrid maize seed supplied by Seed Co from outside Mozambique. In mid-2000, the South African Seed Company PANNAR started operating in Mozambique.By the mid-1990s, there was increasing concern from government and other agencies that such initiatives were creating a dependency syndrome among farmers, and undermining any incentive for the private sector to invest in the development of a commercial seed sector. Throughout Mozambique the informal seed sector (farmer-managed seed) plays an important role in meeting the seed needs of farmers. An analysis of local seed systems in Mozambique found that village seed systems are active and reasonably efficient in meeting the annual seed requirements for most small-scale farmers, and that seed losses associated with war, drought and floods have probably been overestimated (Rohrbach and Kiala 2000). However, the same study pointed out that there is substantial scope for improving the capacity of village seed systems to meet both annual needs for quality seed, and periodic emergency seed requirements. An important recommendation from the study was the need to link local seed systems with the larger national seed market, to ensure the delivery of new higher-yielding varieties.In 2002 the Mozambique Government adopted the Input Trade Fairs (ITF) methodology as the preferred way of addressing seed insecurity in times of crises. Rather than providing free seed directly, farmers are supplied with seed vouchers that can be exchanged for seed. To facilitate the process and ensure that vouchers are used for the purpose intended, an ITF is organized at a designated location on a set day to which seed (and other inputs such us tools and fertilizers) vendors are invited. The recipients of vouchers can then purchase seed of the crops and varieties they need and from whom they choose. Seed vendors can be local farmers with surplus seed to sell, commercial seed companies or any combination of the above as determined by the organizers. More than 100 ITFs have been organized, and many of the seed sellers at these events have been women traders marketing locally procured seed.Most of the seed presently used by Mozambican farmers today is sourced through informal channels, often referred to as the local seed system. This system encompasses all activities from production through to utilization including seed exchange that is not controlled by formal institutions, either public or private. Its main characteristic is that production, selection and storage are carried out by local farmers primarily for their own use but also for exchange amongst neighbours through well-defined local dynamics. Another important characteristic is that, with few exceptions, seed production is an integral part of crop production whether for food or other uses. This is one of the reasons for the higher adaptability of local varieties to specific growing conditions compared with introduced varieties, and the resilience of the system.As women have the primary responsibility for ensuring the household's food security, they have the main responsibility for selecting and saving seeds from the crop harvest. Men provide containers or construct storage facilities for both grain and seed, and sometimes bring seed of new varieties from elsewhere for testing in the farms.The following is a diagnosis and description of methods used by farmers for seed production in Mozambique.Cropping, and hence seed production, is carried out on relatively small pieces of land known as machamba. In very dry areas women plant small pieces of land after each rain to spread out the risk of crop failure, and to better ensure household food and seed security. In some circumstances \"small gardens\" situated in lowland areas with a high water table throughout the year are planted to ensure a continuous supply of food and to regenerate seed stocks that can be used in the following season (Dominguez and Chidiamassamba 1997). With vegetatively propagated crops such as cassava and sweet potato, the custom is to leave some plants unharvested or to bury planting sticks/cuttings in freshly cultivated places to carry these over until the appropriate planting time. Planting the same crops and varieties in both upland (vulnerable to drought but relatively safe from flooding) and lowland areas (susceptible to floods) is also used as a food and seed security strategy (ICRISAT 2002b).Production practices during the vegetative period Women, who are primarily responsible for crop production activities, do not normally differentiate between plants that will be harvested for seeds and those for grain in the period between planting and harvesting. This agrees with the findings of Tripp et al. (1998) who reported that only 3% of farmers in Ghana select maize plants and 4% select bean plants for seed production. Rohrbach and Kiala (2000) found that selection ofplants during the vegetative period reached 20% in Tete province and 30% in Zambezia province but recognized that this practice is rare in Sofala and Nampula provinces, in the centre and north of Mozambique, respectively. In cases where plant selection is carried out before harvesting, normally the men carry out this selection. However, women are in charge of collecting the plants and selecting the seeds from the harvested plants (Dominguez and Chidiamassamba 1997). This selection is based on physical attributes such as size of the plant itself, size of the fruit structure, physiological characteristics such as pod maturity (beans), panicle maturity (rice), or total plant maturity (peanuts). Choosing an area at harvest that has developed better than the rest of the plot, from which plants can be selected for seed, is done in some places.Smallholder farmers value diversity both in terms of the number of crops grown and the range of maturity periods within crops. One of the main difficulties faced by the formal system in providing seeds is to meet these requirements as formal systems are more geared toward providing large volumes of a few crops. Depending on the region, farmers may prefer crops with early maturity period (peanuts), crops with late maturity period (sorghum), or crops with variable harvest time (rice and maize). The choice based on the maturity period is mainly influenced by the availability of family labour and on availability of storage facilities.Women separate the best fruit structures, grain or plant parts to be used as seed from the rest at harvest. If the harvest is poor the seed is mixed with sand or dung to prevent consumption during hard times and the amount of seed set aside is often less than would be set aside after a good harvest (Dominguez and Chidiamassamba 1997). In cases where plants are selected before harvest for seed, priority is given to harvesting these plants and the seeds are stored separately; otherwise the total harvest is stored together, and women select seed in the process of taking grain for family consumption. The size and physical condition of the seed are the main criteria used for selection. These criteria are applied repeatedly in future selections, especially at planting time. Finally, if seeds are not selected before the new planting season, women carry out seed selection from what remains of the stored grain, applying the same criteria. The process of repeated selection year after year favours selection of materials that will be better adapted to climatic and cultural conditions (Longley and Richards 1998).As there is genetic diversity in crop maturity, seed selection at harvest is not done at a single time. Diversity in plant maturity is an important characteristic for smallholder farmers as it favours the distribution of family labour, especially crucial at harvest. Crops and varieties with uneven maturity periods adapt better to subsistence agriculture than very uniform materials.The great diversity of methods for food and seed storage cannot be described adequately. Detailed observations have found that farmers use whatever is in their reach to store and protect seed until the next sowing. The most common means of storage are containers made of clay, straw, cork, wood, leather, glass or metal. Maize, rice, all type of beans, peanuts, sorghum and vegetable seeds are stored in these containers. These containers are kept in special silos and sometimes they are even buried.Often seeds are not removed from the fruit structures but are stored on the cob (maize), in panicles (rice and sorghum) or in pods (beans and peanuts). These structures can be tied together, and hung from trees near the house (maize) or over the stove (beans, rice, maize, etc.). Straw containers used for storing peanuts or cowpea seeds are also hung from trees.Farmers hang their seeds from trees for several reasons: to keep them cool, out of the reach of rodents, and to discourage consumption as food. Seeds are placed over stoves as the smoke discourages possible insect attack. In the drier areas of southern Mozambique, maize cobs for seed and consumption are stored in open silos with no roof. In some cases a portable roof can be put on quickly if it rains. Whatever system is used, the storage facilities aim to keep the product clean and protected from insects, rodents and theft.Both women and men handle seeds during storage, but with different roles. Men are more involved in building storage structures and containers while women prepare the seeds to be stored and safeguard the seed as the grain is consumed, thus ensuring that seeds are available for the next season.The methods used to clean and condition seed are simple. They eliminate impurities and prevent pest attack. Wind is the most common element used for this purpose, as well as manual winnowing. There is not a generalized use of mechanical equipment to assist seed or grain cleaning. The amount of seed required to supply the family needs is so small that the use of special equipment is simply not justified.A great diversity of local products is available that can be used by farmers to prevent insect attacks, although this is not a widespread practice. The efficiency of local products for seed treatment deserves greater research. The first and most common treatment is the sun. Seeds are dried in open areas near the home in the belief that the heat will keep insects away (FAO 1998). In thatched silos with a removable roof the roof is removed when the sun is out so that the sunshine will penetrate the grain.When seeds are stored in containers as described above, it is common to find them treated with ash, cow dung or sand. Crushed eucalyptus or tobacco leaves or crushed hot peppers are also used in some areas. Smoke treatment in rural areas of Mozambique is a widespread practice for basically all seeds. Chemical treatment is rare, but there is strong interest from farmers who feel that insect attack is the greatest threat to the carryover of local seed (Dominguez and Chidiamassamba 1997).This seems to be the period most frequently used by women and men to select seeds for sowing. Selection criteria are rigorously applied, especially by women, who are responsible for this activity. Women describe good seed as having a good \"appearance\", free of stains and insect marks. Here again, subjective empirical criteria are used, but owing to the years of experience, appropriate selection is done. Stained and damaged seeds are discarded, eliminating possible contamination and poor health in the fields and \"breeding\" a diversity of varieties that are tolerant to pathogenic and insect problems by means of different components. While individual farmers tend to reduce genetic diversity, this diversity is ample within and among regions.Certainly the quantity of seeds needed by the subsistence family is quite small, and this is one of the reasons why many of the practices described above can be carried out. Subsistence farmers work small areas (less than 1 ha), cultivating a variety of crops (intercropping) at relatively lower density than what is recommended for monocultures. FAO (1998) estimates that a farming family in Zambia or Burundi only needs 10 kg of maize and 15 kg of beans for each season. In Malawi, the estimated quantities are 5 kg of maize, 14 of peanuts and 6 of beans (Cromwell and Zambezi 1993). Longley and Richards (1998) estimated that only 5-7% of rice and 2-3% of sorghum stored by the family is used as seed. These amounts roughly estimate the requirements for Mozambican farmers.Very low levels of improved inputs are used for crop production in Mozambique. Seeds are the most important input and often the only input used. Women and men farmers are conscious that seed is an essential input for food security and use a wide range of local varieties or landraces that have specific names in each region. The extent of genetic diversity between these local landraces in different regions is not fully understood. According to Ferguson, varieties with the same name often have widely different morphological and genetic characteristics and little homogeneity. They might actually be different (ICRISAT 2002a).Women and men farmers commonly exchange seed with their neighbours or with farmers from nearby villages. Seed may be provided as a gift, as a loan to be repaid at harvest, or exchanged for labour or other products. In many villages, some women and men farmers are recognized as \"seed providers\". Seed donations are more common among relatives but seed exchange is always practised if seed is available.The grain market is an important source of seed. Women and men farmers buy grain for use as seed, but are careful in selecting the right variety. Even though traders bring grain from distant areas, farmers are aware that not all varieties are suitable to the local conditions and recognize the adapted ones.Small-scale farmers rarely use commercial seed, except for vegetable crops. There are several reasons for this, the main one being the limited number of retail outlets in villages and the high cost of seed compared with grain. Instead, farmers use a combination of seed sources to obtain planting seed. Under normal conditions, the main source is their own seed (72%) supplemented with grain purchased from the markets and/or gifts or loans from relatives and friends (16%). Few farmers (12%) rely solely on purchased seed (data from Ferguson study). Surprisingly, it is the poorest farmers who most rely on purchased seed-possibly a day-to-day survival strategy for families with very low incomes.During emergencies (droughts and floods) farmers travel to other villages/regions with similar environmental conditions to exchange or buy seed. The local market is an important source of seed, especially during emergencies, but often the poorest farmers cannot afford to buy seed. Not all villages have markets and farmers in remote areas that are far from markets have been found to be more vulnerable to seed insecurity (ICRISAT 2002a).The study done by Ferguson two years after the big floods affecting the Chokwe district (ICRISAT 2002a) reports than the main seed sources following a flood emergency were a combination of seed relief and market purchases (45%), followed by a combination of seed relief and gifts/loans from other farmers (17%). Only 14% of the farmers interviewed used seed relief exclusively. Relief seed is not necessarily assimilated into the farming system. Out of 38 farmers who received cowpea seed under relief programmes, only 8 farmers were still growing the variety after two and a half years.In contrast, most of the smallholder farmers who received the maize variety Matuba (developed by INIA) are still using it. Farmers like the variety's characteristics, which are similar to local types, and therefore save the seed for future use. Further studies should be undertaken to examine the effect of seed relief on genetic diversity in the farming system.Floods may be more severe than drought on genetic erosion, but in the long run, droughts also affect seed security as farmers exhaust their seed and food reserves. According to Ferguson's study (ICRISAT 2002a), cowpea varietal diversity was higher in areas not affected by floods compared with the affected areas (0.55 versus 0.47), suggesting that some recovery had taken place but the impact on diversity was still evident.Seed and tool distribution has been widely used to assist the poorest families to re-initiate farming after an emergency. These programmes have suffered from several problems. Because Mozambique's seed industry is weak, emergency requirements cannot be met from existing seed stocks, and therefore non-adapted varieties have been introduced to affected areas. Farmers rarely retain these varieties in subsequent seasons, although small quantities may be found in fields, mixed with local varieties. Few if any studies have been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the seed and tools approach in restoring crop diversity to a disaster-affected area.As a result of climate and topography, parts of Mozambique are prone to floods and droughts. Most farmers use their own seeds supplemented by grain purchased from the market and gifts/loans from relatives and neighbours for food production. During emergency situations, seed has been distributed through relief programmes. Farmers may plant this seed but rarely retain seed of relief varieties in subsequent seasons, and therefore the informal or local system continues to be the main source of seed. Because of this lack of knowledge seed relief is less effective than it potentially could be and there is a need for better information on how local seed systems operate and their strengths and weaknesses. This understanding can help farmers protect their genetic diversity, and where appropriate, new varieties can be introduced in a more informed way. The central statement of this workshop has been that seed systems are a fundamental component of on-farm diversity maintenance. The properties of seed systems that maintain or change the genetic make-up of plant populations include seed source, seed flow, seed production, farmer selection and seed storage. These properties impact the extent and distribution of genetic diversity in traditional farming systems through their effects on the evolutionary forces of population size and bottlenecks and their effect on genetic drift; migration (which includes both seed exchange and pollen flow), mutation and recombination (which create new genes or gene combinations). and selection as a result of environmental forces or human actions.Discussions were centered on characteristics of seed systems that support or limit diversity maintenance. The size and connectiveness of seed populations can affect patterns of genetic diversity over time, with \"non-connectiveness\" resulting in divergence of populations. Social barriers can influence the methods and processes that move seeds from source to destination. Storage conditions and seed selection practices can affect the quality of seed and the resulting population planted. The mixing, blending and replacement of seed lots are other elements shown to affect the nature of the diversity maintained as environmental and economic conditions change.Extensive debate occurred on selecting and upscaling interventions that have been shown to support seed system functions in ways that optimize the maintenance of diversity within the seed systems. Most highly promoted were interventions that (1) include local crop varieties in organic farming initiatives; (2) improve access to low-cost, good-quality seeds through supporting local seed networks, diversity fairs, and seed banks at local or regional institutions and communities;(3) support communities to produce low-cost quality seeds through improved seed cleaning and multiplication techniques; (4) stimulate local agro-industry and link products to markets, and (5) create awareness through media and farmer exchange visits.Upscaling of such interventions is constrained in many of the partner countries as nongovernmental organizations, who are often responsible for the intervention, are not usually integrated into the main national development programme or in state agricultural extension systems. Moreover, in many countries political priorities are often focused on short-term gains and are not suitable to marginal or fragile environments, and this is coupled by an unwillingness to share the costs of the service proved by genetic diversity.Looked toward the future, interventions and the scaling up of interventions can be better supported by focusing new research on (1) translating seed flow measurements into genetic diversity statements; (2) identifying which of all the possible factors affecting seed systems are the critical ones; (3) understanding the affect of seed flows and seed-transmitted pests and diseases on genetic diversity; (4) assessing how drought, flooding and other environmental events affect seed flows and the genetic structure of seed populations; (5) analyzing the effect of changes in social networks on genetic diversity in seed systems; (6) quantify the economic value of genetic diversity in seed systems, and (7) developing a process for monitoring the impact of seed system interventions on the amount and structure of genetic diversity maintained on-farm.","tokenCount":"56186"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6635117433.json b/data/part_1/6635117433.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b5082c96c4ad91f46590a990a9278a592d81c210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6635117433.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"18df99b8f9339d455d4fbb4778425a00","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/636e3c50-7ecb-4d71-ab59-0912937326fb/retrieve","id":"852950896"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2f583ada-0e83-42bb-91fc-62b783467647","pagecount":"85","content":"As member of the examining board of the final MSc. open defense we certify that we have read and evaluated the thesis prepared by Zemeda G/Michael and examined the candidate, we recommend that it be accepted for the degree of masters of sciences in agribusiness and value chain management.The objective of the research is to invest get the gender role at the dairy value chain in the study area and to access the decision role of both gender on the income of dairy farming and to identify the perception of both gender on the dairy farm activities.The research tried to answer some problems; the first one is to solve the information gap of the study area as there was no related study done on the gender role at dairy farm activity in the study area and the second one is to compare the result of this research finding with the finding of other researchers studied at different areas.The sample design of the research is constructed from both rural and urban dairy farmers, dairy product sellers and buyers, and dairy product consumers, from these the sample size totally 220 and from these 180 from rural and urban dairy farmers and 40 from dairy product traders' i.e. hotels and cafes the buy and sell milk. This research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods and the data was collected primary and secondary. The primary data were collected using four methods namely survey, key information interview, focus group discussion and method of observation. Both structured and open ended questionnaires, interview checklists and focus group discussion guides were used.The result of the research finding female and male participate at different chain activities. At the input side, purchasing of dairy cows dominated by males as 69.4% and 30.6% females participated; cleaning of dairy shade female participates 61.7%and 55% at rural and urban respectively, males 38.3% and 45% rural and urban participates respectively. Caring of dairy cow and calves also female 51% and male 49% participate; dairy animal feed collection dominated by males 58.8% and 41.2%are males; watering of dairy animal also dominated by female as56.7% and 55% at rural and urban respectively and males 43.3% and 45% rural and urban respectively. The production or breeding of dairy animal dominated by males at both study areas i.e. males 71.6% and female 28.4% were participated. At the process side or milk container cleaning, milk storage and preparation, milking and milk churning dominated by females. The transporting and selling of milk were dominated by male 55% and female 45% specifically boys and girls at rural but at urban area 55% females participate at selling of milk; butter selling dominated by females by 93.2%.The thesis also looks at how the society perceives in controlling and benefit from the dairy income and the result is women's have a culture and belief to control and benefit from the income. Research showed that there are some men who do not do certain activities because of the influence of culture. The thesis also looks at how gender perceives on the role of division on dairy value chain activity proves the previous perception means women engaged in lower level of dairy value chain than males.The research concluded that there is still gender participation difference in activities; women's are confined at lower level dairy value chain activity which is routine and daily and needs more time and in considerable activities and females dominant at input side value chain and males at production side and both genders' perception supports this role differences. On the other hand both husband and wife equally decide on how to use and share the income of the dairy farm and women's are more benefit able from the income..  In Tigray, as in other regions of high lands, row milk, ergo, cottage, cheese, when, butter and ghee are major marketable milk products. The majority of milk products deliver their milk directly to the end consumer, while some also sell to retailers, hotels and cafes. Pri-urban and urban production in and near urban areas is primarily by small holders, many of whom have improved of cows (LMD, 2013) .The role of men and women in agricultural production and house hold decision making in resource allocation, technology adoption, marketing and consumption vary in Africa (International Livestock Research Institute, 2011).The government of Ethiopia is committed to achieving gender equity and gives this objective specific attention in its constitution and policy initiatives. Men and women are involved in livestock sector, but in different ways and they face different constraints. Women have important role in managing dairy cattle, poultry and other small ruminants'. They are often involved in feeding, watering, milking, animals reared close to home. Women's are most typically primarily in roles that revolve around the home, differing matters of sale and marketing, other than in nearby location, to men (LMD, 2013) .The purpose of this research was to examine gender roles in a dairy value chain in the central zone of Tigray which is Adwa and Laelaymaychew woredas and from urban areas are Adwa and Axum towns.The central zone of Tigray was categorized as semi-highland which is suitable for dairy production. Gender issues shape the totality of production, distribution and consumption within an economy but have often been overlooked in a value chain development. From production, processing and marketing, gendered patterns of behavior condition women's and men's jobs and tasks, distribution of resources and benefits derived from income generating activities in the chain. Gender role in dairy value chain both in rural and urban with dairy value chain have more consideration in this research.Studies such as (Brhanu K.2012), (Brhanu et.al 2006a), and (Immaculate N, 2O14), indicate that women participate in low level of dairy value chain i.e. feeding, bran cleaning, calf caring which is not visible where as men participate in high level of the value chain so the research has tried to assess whether or not these problems exist in the study area. In addition, the gender roles in the dairy value chain is not clearly investigated; in these woredas that the researcher has conducted a research. Thus, the research at hand aimed at investigating the gender roles in the dairy value chain; and there by recommends policy issues that enhance gender equity and gender equality.The main research question of the study is \"What is the gender role in the dairy value chain in central zone of Tigray of the selected woredas? In addition, this study also has the following five sub questions.1. What is the gender division and roles in the dairy value chain in the study areas;either gender role difference between rural and urban places?2. Who makes decisions in regard to sharing benefits accrued in a dairy value chain?3. What is the perception of men and women regarding activities in the dairy value chain?4. Whose role (both males and females) is perceived to be more profitable by the community and what do the actual results tell us in this regard?The general objective of the study is: \"To explore the emerging shifts in gender roles in the various levels/stages of a dairy value chain, in the farmer having local dairy cow, cross bred and pri-urban and urban exotic small holder dairy production value chain in Laelay-may chew and Adwa woredas.The study also has the following five specific objectives.1. Investigate the gender division and roles in the dairy value chain in the study areas and compared gender role difference between rural and urban places.2. Identify the roles played by both males and females in deciding and sharing benefits accrued in a dairy value chain.3. Identify the perception of men and women regarding activities in the dairy value chain.4. Document on how the roles (of both the males and females) are perceived to be more profitable by the community and then identify what the actual results tell us in this regard.This study was conducted in the central zone of Tigray which have 12 wordas but the study focus only at four Woredas and eight kebelles of Adwa rural and urban, Axum town and Laelay-Mmaychew woredas which is 33.3% share and focused only on cattle dairy farmers of family member of the male headed house hold in both rural and urban but the research not included all farmers like female headed and male headed house hold. In addition, the study focused only on gender roles in a dairy value chain in rural and urban areas not included the overall opportunity and challenges of the sub-sector, so these gap needs further study that are opened to other researchers . Value chain means all the sequence of production and marketing steps of a product ranging from primary production, processing, and distribution up to the retail sale till it reaches the final consumer  Gender is a socially and culturally constructed identity as male or female. Gender is conceptualized as the socially constructed difference between women and men (Kabeer, 1999). Dairy farming is a class of agricultural husbandry that deals with milk production from cows, goats and sheep. The study will focus on dairy farming in cows. High level of the dairy value chainthis is the stage along the dairy value chain where benefits are seen or accrue, for example sale of the milk. Low levels of the dairy value chainthese are stages along the value chain that mostly deal with inputs rather than the outputs, e.g., weeding fields, feeding and watering of cows cleaning sheds. Gender roles are the social and behavioral norms that are generally considered appropriate for either a man or a woman in society. Gender needs are needs that are specific to women as a result of their triple role and subordination in society. Gender is about how society gives meaning to differences in femininity and masculinity, and the power relations and dynamics that come about as a result of this (Laven et. al., 2009). It is a concept that;Allows one to understand men and women, not as elements that are independent of society, but rather form an integral part of it.Separates biological issues from cultural ones, while it characterizes the discrimination of women as a problem rooted in power.Deals with the unequal power relationships that exist between men and women, both at a personal level and at the level of society as a whole (Roxana Dulon G, 2009)The promotion of value chains in agribusiness aims to improve the competitiveness of Agriculture in national and international markets and to generate greater value added with in the country. The key criterion in this context is broad impact, i.e. growth that benefits the rural poor to the greatest possible extent or, at least, does not worsen their position relative to other demographic groups (GTZ, 2006). The need to connect producers to markets has led to an understanding that it is necessary to verify and analyze markets before engaging in upgrading activities with value chain operators. Thus, the value chain approach starts from an understanding of the consumer demand and works its way back through distribution channels to the different stages of production, processing and marketing (GTZ, 2006).Globally livestock ownership currently supports or sustains the livelihoods of an estimated 700 million rural poor, approximately 70% of the world's rural poor population (PPLPI, 2001).The dairy cow is one of the most important investments a farmer can make to improve their standing because of their inherent value, the nutritional valuable milk produced, the work they can perform, and the way it can help diversify farming activities.The formal dairy chain involves seven distinct value adding activities from production of the milk through reaching to the final consumer in the market. These activities include input supply, milk production; Raw milk transportation, bulking and cooling, processing and packing, transporting processed milk and milk products and retailing gathering (bulking); processing; transportation; and retail trading .Input supply includes the supply of all inputs that are required by smallholder milk producers and dairy commercial farms. Different dairy value chain actors are engaged in supplying feed, artificial insemination, veterinary services, equipments and machinery, and packaging materials (Land O'Lakes, 2010).The informal dairy value chain involves direct delivery of fresh milk by producers to consumer in the immediate neighborhood and sale to itinerant traders or individuals in nearby towns. In the informal market, milk may pass from producers to consumers directly or it may pass through two or more market agents to local consumers and neighboring countries (Somaliland and Kenya) consumers (Land O'Lakes, 2010).In the first half of the 20th century, dairying in Ethiopia was mostly traditional system, (1991-present. These three phases, the country followed a distinct political path and development policies that directly and indirectly influenced the dairy sector (Ahmed et al. 2003). Overall, policy changes during these periods were successful in reinvigorating a dairy sector that had been gravely affected by the socialist regime, (Dawit W, 2010).Livestock production systems are considered as subset of the farming systems,(Sere and Steinfield ,1995), including cases in which livestock contribute more than 10% to total farm output in value terms or where intermediate contributions such as animal traction or manure represent more than 10% of the total value of purchased inputs. There are different classification criteria for livestock production systems in general and dairy production systems in particular. For example, based on criteria such as integration with crops, relation to land, agro-ecological zones, intensity of production and type of product, the world livestock production systems are classified into 11 systems (Sere and Steinfield, 1995). Of these livestock production systems, mixed farm rain fed temperate and tropical highlands (MRT system) is by far the largest. Globally, it represents 41% of the arable land, 21% of the cattle population, and 37% of dairy cattle (Sere and Steinfield 1995).Dairying is practiced almost all over Ethiopia involving a vast number of small or medium or large-sized, subsistence or market-oriented farms. Based on climate, land holdings and integration with crop production as criterion, dairy production systems are recognized in Ethiopia; namely the rural dairy system which is part of the subsistence farming system and includes pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, and mixed crop-livestock producers; the pre-urban;and urban dairy systems (Azage and Alemu 1998; Ketema 2000; Tsehay2001; Dereje et al.). The first system (pastoralist, agro pastoralist and highland mixed smallholder production system) contributes to 98%, while the peri-urban and urban dairy farms produce only 2% of the total milk production of the country (Ketema 2000).The rural system is non-market oriented and most of the milk produced in this system is retained for home consumption. The level of milk surplus is determined by the demand for milk by the household and its neighbors, the potential to produce milk in terms of herd size and production season, and access to a nearby market. The surplus is mainly processed using traditional technologies and the processed milk products such as butter, ghee, ayib and sour milk are usually marketed through the informal market after the households satisfy their needs (Tsehay 2001).Feed availability is key to productivity of dairy animals. Feed resources can be grouped into four main categories, namely, natural grasslands, established pastures, crop residues, and agricultural by-products. Napier and Rhodes grass are the major cultivated forages with the former being more widely grown. Crop residues, particularly maize stovers, are the major feed during the dry seasons. The stovers are usually high in roughage, but low in nutritive value (Immaculate N, 2014).For their nutrition, most of the livestock of the country depend almost entirely on the herbage that grows on non-arable, natural lands. Other resources include grazing of fallow land between crop fields and crop residues from cropping activities. The density and type of natural vegetation is affected by the amount and distribution of rainfall. Even though natural-pasture grazing-lands are the principal source of nutrition for livestock, most of these pastures, in the present state of management, do not provide adequate nutrition and would rarely support milk-yields of over 3 to 4 kg per cow per day. Seventy three percent of the feed is provided from natural grazing; 14% from crop residues and only 0.2% improved forages. There is still 7% deficit in the amount of dry-matter required by the livestock. This existing condition stimulates private investment in the feed resources sector to enhance the development and production of high quality feed to increase milk production per cow per day (SNV, 2008).Farmers used feeds such as natural pasture (in front of and backyard of the house), reserved pasture, crop residues (mainly maize) and improved feeds (elephant grasses, vetch and dasho on terraces) (Brhanu k, 2012).The rural system is non-market oriented and most of the milk produced in this system is retained for home consumption. The level of milk surplus is determined by the demand for milk by the household and its neighbors, the potential to produce milk in terms of herd size and production season, and access to a nearby market. The surplus is mainly processed using traditional technologies and the processed milk products such as butter, ghee, ayib and sour milk are usually marketed through the informal market after the households satisfy their needs (Tsehay, 2001). Pastoralists raise about 30% of the indigenous livestock population which serve as the major milk production system for an estimated 10% of the country's human population living in the lowland areas. Milk production in this system is characterized by low yield and seasonal availability (Zegeye2003). The informal market involves direct delivery of fresh milk by producers to consumer in the immediate neighborhood or sale to itinerant traders or individuals in nearby towns. In the informal market, milk may pass from producers to consumers directly or through two or more market agents. The informal system is characterized by no licensing requirement to operate, low cost of operations, high producer price compared to formal market and no regulation of operations,(SNV,2008).In Ethiopia, 95% of the national milk is marketed through informal channels and is unprocessed. The traditional processing and marketing of dairy products, especially traditional soured butter, dominate the Ethiopian dairy sector. Only 5% of the milk produced is marketed as liquid milk due to underdevelopment of infrastructures in rural areas. Hence, the informal (traditional) market has remained dominant in Ethiopia. Production is nonmarket oriented and most of the milk produced is retained for home consumption.Formal milk markets are particularly limited to peri-urban areas and Addis Ababa. The formal market appears to be expanding during the last decade with the private sector entering the dairy processing industry in Addis Ababa, (SNV,2008).The activities performed in the dairy enterprise are numerous. Most of these are performed daily, implying that dairy farming is a labor intensive enterprise. The availability of labor, capital and land (in terms of quality and quantity) in a given situation determines to a large extent which cattle management system is the most appropriate e.g., zero-grazing (intensive system), tethering, and pad docking, and herding (extensive system).Different systems require different land, labor and capital input, and they vary in quantities of milk produced. Special attention should be paid to the role of women in this respect. As part of their domestic, agricultural and community duties, women often perfume important tasks relate to dairy husbandry, including looking after the animals, feeding and watering them, cleaning sheds, milking and processing (Immaculate N,2O14).Due to these constraints notable changes are being seen in the division of labor meaning that both genders are actively participating in all activities.Women are more disadvantaged than men in the context of value chain operations (Lone R, et al, 2010).Women and men are likely to be involved at different stages of the chain as producers and entrepreneurs, in marketing and as consumers. Those areas where women are involved are often less visible and may be overlooked in both analysis and development.Large parts of the value chain, which are essential to upgrading, are often ignored, The key characteristic of labor in Africa is that it is highly gendered and that women work much longer hours than men do. Both men and women work on oriented activities while most of the domestic work is left to women. Because of this arrangement, women in general work longer hours than men do (Charity K, 1999).Generally, it is assumed that women tend to contribute highest labor to tasks that are performed daily while for men it is mainly in tasks performed weekly or seasonally. For example, planting of forage is carried out during the wet season while spraying is on weekly basis and is mostly done by men while milking is carried out daily, a chore that is mostly performed by women.Milk production implies a basic and compulsory daily routine of milking, feeding, watering and taking care of the animals. Other major activities related to milk production are the production, harvesting and cutting of fodder crops and the processing, marketing and transport of inputs and outputs. Seasonal differences in feeding, watering and milking have to be taken into account as well as seasonal changes in the labor input of different household members and their relationship to other farm and non-farm activities, (Charity K, 1999).Apart from the farm level activities mentioned above in dairy farming there are also other activities like health management where animals are dewormed, sprayed to control ticks, vaccinated against diseases and treatment for diseases, procurement of animal supplementary feeds, drugs used in disease and pest control, veterinary services and research and development where the farmer needs to find information on the best breeds to keep, and improve on breeding practices, general animal care for high productivity.In many smallholder cattle-raising enterprises the role of women, which varies according to The accessibility of major resources such as land, water, livestock and capital determines to what extent (categories of) people can participate in dairy development activities.Participation not only means taking part in the work, but also being in the position to take management decisions concerning the allocation of resources and the production process itself.Women and the rural poor are less likely to have control over resources. Constraints must be identified and special strategies to overcome these should be developed. Land, water and capital are major resources and the rights to them are intricately interwoven with the social structure of the community. The ownership of cattle and/or its use is another realm with a variety of arrangements (Immaculate N, 2O14).In many countries, women make up a larger percentage of the agricultural labor and has significant share of households in all regions are headed by women, yet their access to productive resources and services are limited (Ephrem A list of chores along the dairy value chain was listed and from the list men and women were asked to choose the tasks they perform. These chores were preparation of land for fodder planting, planting of fodder, weeding of the fodder, harvesting feeds, buying of supplementary feeds, feeding of the animals, watering of the dairy cows, shed cleaning, parasite disease control(spraying and vaccinations), milking and selling of milk. They were also asked to indicate the time taken to perform the tasks and frequency at which they perform the tasks (Immaculate N, 2O14).There is an increasing awareness of important and traditional role of female in dairy production. Dairy production provides female with a regular daily income, vital to household food security and family well being. In past, development interventions targeted male and changes introduced frequently resulted in higher labor input by female while their control over production and output diminished. Gender differences are now more often taken into account at all stages of development planning and management (Almaz, 2000). Each member of a household performs various roles related to dairy production and management; Female particularly are engaged in cleaning, feeding, milking a cow, processing milk and marketing dairy products (Berhanu et al., 2006a).However, the benefits obtained from dairy are mainly controlled by household head (men) and the decision making and access to milk products are rarely controlled by female. Girls between ages of 7 and 15 are mostly responsible for managing calves, chickens and small ruminants,  While male and older boys are responsible for treating sick animals, ruminants (Brhanu k, 2012).Example, the study done by Brhanu kuma in the southern Ethiopia indicates that, women have higher contribution in the dairy value chain. That is, barn cleaning 66.5%,cleaning milk container 90 women and%10 by girls, milking cow 93%women and 7% by girl, milk processing by women is 76% by girl 19.7% and boy 4.3%,milk and butter marketing 70% by women, dairy animal care 54.7%and 31.7by men, caring for calves 62.7%by women, buying dairy animal 62.6% dominated by men and20.6%women,feeding dairy cow women 40.8%and men 33.2% the rest is done by boys and girls.More men at 86.7 per cent are involved in selling milk compared to the women at 56.7 per cent.According to the milk collectors, they receive milk from men more often than women and men are the ones who check and confirm delivery reports from and at the factories (Immaculate N, 2O14).On weeding animal feed, a number of men at 50 per cent felt it is a light duty that should be performed by women while a hundred per cent of women felt it was a duty that they can do without any problems. This perception was mostly influenced by the nature of work and had no cultural influence (Immaculate N, 2O14). The women's labor and responsibilities in animal production remain under recognized and underappreciated by those designing and implementing livestock policies and plans (IFAD 2004).Milking is seen as a woman's task .This statement was also supported by majority of the participants who said their culture does not support men milking cows. Those who said both men and milk do milk were at 53.3% and this came from those whose culture does not prohibit them from milking and others felt that milking is work like any other and is just a means to an end which is getting money and milk for family use(Immaculate N,2O14).Women have close engagement in the production and marketing of milk and milk products.They perform most of the production activities such as feeding, watering, animal hygiene, day to day management, milking and processing.( IPMS, n.d.)Milk production and sales are one sector where women are involved, but it is important to note that gender biases remain prevalent in the dairy sector (The World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Development, 2008).To determine who makes decision when it comes to sharing of profits accrued along the dairy value chain, men and women were asked to list other stages apart from sale of milk along the dairy value chain where revenue is accrued and who collects proceeds and how the proceeds are shared. They also responded to the question of property ownership which does influence decision making process .joint ownership of property is more common and this fact plays an important role in decision making (Immaculate N, 2O14).Women in rural areas sell and control income from butter, while women in peri-urban and urban areas sell and control income from milk.( IPMS, n.d.)In  This research employed both qualitative and quantitative data. The data was both primary and secondary. The primary data were collected using four methods namely survey, key informant interview, focus group discussion and method of observation. Both structured and open ended questionnaires, interview checklists and focus group discussion guides were used throughout the data collection process. Be it quantitative or qualitative, data was analyzed using appropriate statistical analysis methods. As parts of descriptive statistics different graphs, charts and tables were constructed. The overall data management process was handled using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS Ver. 18).The researcher has taken the respondents from both rural and urban area collect the primary and secondary data. The priymary data collect from dairy farm owners/farmers/ both from rural and urban, traders and concumers was the main respondent.  The sample size for this study was two hundred twenty (220) individuals from both woredas i.e., 110 respondents from Adwa woreda and 110 respondents from Laelay Maichew wereda; which include 60 from rural areas and 50 from urban centers each. The unit of analysis (respondents) include the value chain starting from input side up to consumption that is rural and urban dairy farmers which participated in producing, processing, marketing and consumption and the urban trader (hotels, restaurants and cafes that buy and sale dairy products) and finally consumers).In all of the study areas both the spouses (husband and wife) were included as respondents in the different methods of data collection. As part of the ethical clearance, the willingness of both the husband and the wife were secured in the form of a oral or written consent. It was also being clearly communicated to the respondents that they can withdraw from the interview at any stage of the data collection process.Thus, as part of the sampling procedure, the respondents were stratified by rural urban and then Tabias (two from rural and two from urban) areas were purposely selected using the number of dairy holders. From each Tabia, a proportional sample size of respondents was selected using simple random sampling (by giving an equal chance of being actually included to the study to each member of the population). Thus, the chance of giving an equal opportunity for anyone to be included in the study makes the research generalize-able.Generally speaking, the study used both primary and secondary sources of data. Each of the methods and their specific techniques are elaborated as follows.This study used four types of primary methods of data collection. These are survey method, key informant interviews, focus group discussion, and method of observation. The details are discussed below.A survey questionnaire was administered to individuals from the sampled households. The set of questionnaires were both open ended and closed questions focusing on the value chain system under the study.These interviews were carried out on six Tabias/Kebelle/and the members included development agents, women and youth affair office experts of the respective Woredas, representatives of women and youth associations, experts of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) of the respective urban areas. These respondents were expected to give insights on the gender roles among the dairy value chain. Their response was also used to triangulate the information received from the individual respondents at household level.FGDs were carried out to verify some information given by the individual respondents. The FGDs were used to the social interaction and spontaneous thought process that inform decision making. The FGDs were held in groups of 6 -8 participants. The focus groups discussions were expected to give more information on the division of work for men and women /gender roles / regarding the activities along the value chain. Elders, community leaders, religious leaders and some prominent individuals were included as members of the discussion to be held in groups.The researcher employed direct observation method just to see the degree of participation of both sexes in the overall value chain process. This was included the input side, processing side, marketing aspect and the utilization of the outputs.Books, journals, newsletters and some other sources which are either published or unpublished were used as secondary sources of data. To be specific, secondary data was be gathered using the aforementioned methods from office of Agriculture and Rural Development, Women Affairs Office, Youth and Sport Affairs Office and MSE offices of the respective Woredas.The data management process was handled using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS Ver. 18) and the data analysis was done using both descriptive. As parts of the descriptive analysis different graphs were drawn, charts were constructed and tables were tabulated. In addition to these pictorial representations, descriptive measures such as percentages, deviation and coefficient of variation were calculated.The purpose of the study is to determine gender roles in a dairy value chain. In this chapter, the researcher presents the research findings revealed after data analysis. The information is also interpreted and presented in form of graphs, tables. The respondents in this research were rural and urban dairy farmers, urban hotel and cafeteria owners, key informants and focus group discussions. The respondents are 180 from rural and urban dairy farmers, 40 from hotels and cafes owners, 6 key informants; from development agents, urban agriculture experts and 4 focus group discussions.To determine the questionnaire return rate, there were 220 questionnaires administered to the farmers and hotels and cafes and all of them were returned. The entire person's who were supported to participate in the in-depth interview and FGD also fully participated.The sex composition of the respondent is very important in productivity and equal participation in dairy farming. Table 1.indicates 52.7% males and 47.3% female from three sample unites means from rural dairy farm holder respondent 52.5%male,47.5% females; from urban Woredas dairy farm holder 55%male and 45% females and from hotels and cafes holder both male and female were equal 50% participated in this research. The educational level of the respondent is indicates in table below/ the table 3. / there is difference between study areas of the rural, urban and hotels and cafes, which is 23.3% from rural dairy farm owner and 8.3% from urban and no from the hotel and cafes respondents were illiterates/never educated and 31.7% from rural,13.3% from urban and no from hotels and cafes respondents were at the education level of 1-4 grade; and 29.2% from rural and 36.7% from urban and 10% from hotels and cafes respondent were at education level of 5-8 grade; 8.3%,from rural, 31.7%,urban and 40% from hotels and cafes respondents respectively were at the education level of 9-10 grade and 27.5% diploma and 10% degree holders was from hotel and cafes. This result indicates that 84.2% from rural respondent and 58.3% were from urban dairy farm holders and only 10% from hotels and cafes were below the education level of 8 grades which indicates that rural dairy farmers were at lower level of education than of urban and hotel and cafe respondent units.According to table3 from the total 220 respondents 27.7% from 5-8 grade, 20.9% from 1-4 grade, 20.4% from 9-10 grade and 15% are illiterate from rural respondent, 9% diploma and 1.8% first degree holders these are from hotels and cafes. This indicates that the sub sector is stile the work of lower level of educated persons.Dairy value chain is the process of activities starting from input, production, processing, transporting, marketing and consumption of dairy products.The input side includes preparation of dairy animal shade, dairy cow, dairy cow feed, water, animal health service, dairy cow breeding /AI /service, dairy product containers, Production of milk, processing of dairy products, transport and selling of milk and butter and finally consuming of dairy products.Types or genetic of dairy cow determines milk productivity. In the study area the respondent holds three type's dairy cows; local cow, cross breed, exotic and some respondents have two and more types of dairy cow. More of rural respondents use local cows and urban dairy producers own more cross breed and exotic dairy cows as indicated at Table4. 30.5% of the respondent holds local cow from this 41.7% are rural farmers and 4% urban farmers; the 21.7% are cross breed holders from this 32% are urban holders and17.5%from rural respondent; the 30.6% respondents exotic cow from this 51.7% are urban and 20% are rural respondents. According the respondents these dairy cow get from different places like Sheraro, Humera and from local market. This dairy animal bought by themselves from local market 47.2% and 11.7% says respondents provides by government and other sources. The purpose of these dairy cows 58.3% is for milk only; 24.4% is for milk and traction and 15.6% is for milk and meat.Dairy feed is the main determinant for dairy value chain activities. The respondents use different types of dairy food; 48.8% use grazing grass and crop residues; 48.8% of the respondent use all types of dairy crop like grazing natural grasses, crop residues, and different growing grasses/alpha alpha, elephant grasses /and 2.4% different grasses .The source of dairy feed is from their own production and purchasing from market.According the respondents they get the dairy feed 58.3% from their own and by purchasing from local market and directly from farmers, 25% by purchase only especially the urban farmers/producers/and 16.7% of the respondents from their own crop production. This finding is related with the finding of (Immaculate N, 2014), (SNV, 2OO8), (Brhanu K,2012);the researchers state that the common dairy cow foods are natural grazing ,crop residues, difference grasses/elephant grass, alpha alpha /.The animal health service is very important services for dairy production activity and for productivity of milk and milk productivities. The animal health service 62.6% providing by the government only and 38.4% of the respondent gets from both governments and privet service givers. The AI/Artificial Insemination/service 100% provide by government only.This the service farmers not satisfied on its timing and access and the respondent take as one of the main problem of dairy value chain farming.The rural system is non-market oriented and most of the milk produced in this system is retained for home consumption. The level of milk surplus is determined by the demand for milk by the household and its neighbors, the potential to produce milk in terms of herd size and production season, and access to a nearby market. The surplus is mainly processed using traditional technologies and the processed milk products such as butter, ghee, ayib and sour milk are usually marketed through the informal market after the households satisfy their needs Milk production is the focal point on dairy farming.According the respondent 38.9% use milk for sale and 16.7 % for family consumption as well as 44.4% use the milk for consumption and sale. The respondent use different types of milk containers, 80% or the respondent use plastic container; 12.6%uses clay pot and 3.8%are aluminum container.Milk can uses directly and after processing or changing to milk products like butter, cheese, ghee, sour milk and other products. Milk processing is modern and cultural system mean the modern system is changing milk to pasteurized packed milk, table butter, and cheese.According the respondent 75.5% are culturally processed milk to milk products and 25.5%are not processed they directly sale to consumer and milk sellers.In the study area milk is marketed in informal market which sales directly from producer to consumer through home to home contract system especially urban producers and hotel and cafes, there is no formal milk shop. According the respondents 50.5% sales directly to consumers; 21% sales directly to hotels and cafes and the 23.2% sales for both consumer and cafes. Milk is transported to market using different systems, 78% of the respondent transport milk by personal caring especially rural producers and 22% of the respondent milk transported using bicycle and car mostly the urban producer.The milk was produced for family consumption and for sale. From the respondent 54% of the respondent produce milk for sale and 46% of them said that milk use only for family consumption especially the rural respondent. The research indicates that more amount of milk consume without advanced value addition processes. This finding is related with the finding of (Tsehaye, 2001), (SNV,2008), they states that the milk market of Ethiopian dominated by informal market and milk sell as fresh without processing more of the produced for family consumption.The researcher consider also the hotels and cafes which sales milk in their business and take 40 respondents to see the milk market chain. According these respondents they buy milk from urban milk producers and 30% from milk producer cooperatives and 4% is from farmers and this indicates rural producers use milk for family consumption. The hotels and cafes buy milk at average price of 13.5 birr per a litter of milk and sale to consumer at average price of 24.3 birr.According the hotels and cafes milk consumption culture of the society improve from time to time and 50% of their consumers are from all types' society and 15% and 35 % are government and NGO employers.According the hotels and cafes /respondent/ 80% consumers are males and 20% are females and these respondents try to separate the milk consumers based on age of consumers' and the 60% of the respondent said that milk consumer are at age range of 18-30 years and 30% of the respondent are from 31-50 year and 5% less than 15 year and 2% are at all types of age ranges. This finding indicates that milk consumption is dominated by males and youths.The participation of gender in dairy value chain activities like cleaning shade, caring dairy cows and calves, dairy food collection, watering , dairy animal health care, cow breeding, milking, milk container cleaning, milk store and preparation, milk churning, milk transportation, milk selling, butter selling, dairy cow purchase and dairy cow sell are the common activities.According respondents all members of the family participates in cleaning dairy shad but the degree of participation is different between father and mother, girls and boys generally between males and females and the same between rural and urban dairy producers. Table 5 indicates females 61.7% in rural and 55% in urban participated.Males are 38.3% in rural and 45% in urban participated in cleaning shade. This result indicates female in rural and male in urban participates more. Generally, 59.5% females and 40.5%males are participating in cleaning dairy cow shade.In both study area females are more participated in cleaning dairy shades and this finding is similar with the finding of (Immaculate.N,2014),(Charity.k,1999), (Brhanu et al,2006a),and Brhanu k,2012, which says 66% of woman's participate in cleaning of dairy shade and the finding of the researcher is 59.5% , it is so related. Fathers were moderately involved in feeding, health follow up, breeding and selling of dairy cows and Mother was highly involved in feeding, cleaning, milking, processing and selling of dairy products/ Dawit W,2010/. According the respondents all member of the family was participating in caring of dairy cows and calves but mother and father takes the highest part. (Table 6) Indicates the participation of family member in caring dairy cow and calves health; 51% of males and 49% of females are participated in this activity. According the respondent the participation of family member in collection of dairy cow food is stated at (Table 7.) which indicates that 58.8% of males and 41.2% females are participated. Based on the respondent the family member participates in the watering of dairy animals but their participation is different. Breeding of dairy cow can be by cultural and modern system mean by animal and artificial insemination /AI/ service. According the respondent which indicated at (Table 9.) this activity is dominated by males, 72.5% and70% in rural and urban respectively participates. Females also 27.5% and 30% rural and urban respectively are participated in this activity.Table 9.Gender role in breeding dairy cow Generally, from the total respondent 71.6%males and 28.4%females are participated in breeding dairy animals and this indicates that males are more responsible than of women at both study areas.  According the respondent women is more dominant than of men in milk storage and preparation as indicated at    The above table indicates that 77.3% males and 22.7% women respondents are participate in selling dairy cows. When we compare between rural and urban respondent, 75% rural male and 65%urban male and 25% rural women and 35%urban women are participating in selling dairy cow and this is dominated by males at both study area. The power to decide how to use and control over the dairy income is different between genders. As (table 17) Indicates from the respondent who answers to the question says who decides to sell and buy dairy cow is 64.2% says mother and father are equally decide,16% mother only and 16%men only decides on selling and buying dairy cows. In rural and urban there is no more difference in this finding, means these respondents which says both mother and father equally decides are 62.5%from rural and 18.6 % urban and mother/women is 20% from rural and 18.6% urban and men 17.5% and13.5% rural and urban respectively.Table 16.Gender decision making power on deciding selling and buy dairy animalsBased on the respondent 63.3%says both mother and father decides equally on how to use the income of dairy farm and 27.5% mother and 10%father only decides and girls and boys has less power of deciding. The response of the respondent on who control and benefit from the income of dairy farm is, 47.7% says both female and men are equally benefited and 46% female and male are benefited.Table 18.The perception of gender on role division in dairy activityThe above table indicates that perception of gender in cleaning of dairy shade 60% of the respondent perceives that the role of female and 40% accept as the role of male. This perception results in practical work division which states those 59.5% females and 40.5% male participating in cleaning dairy shade as indicated at table 5. From the respondent 71.7 %are perceive/assume/ that caring dairy cow and calves is the role of female and 28.3% is says the role of male.In food collection of dairy cow 67.2 %of the respondent says the role of male and 32.8% perceives the role of female and watering of dairy cows 56.7%of the respondent accepts that it is the role of female and 43.3% is the role of males. The health of cow and calves caring perceives 54% is the role of female and 46% is the role of males. Breeding of dairy cows is accepted by 68.8% of the respondent as the role of male and 31.2% is the role of females.The activities of milking, milk container cleaning, milk storing and preparation, milk quality control, milk churning, butter selling are perceive by dominant respondent as a role of female and the practical work division indicates this conclusion and dairy cow purchasing and selling is accepted as the job of male as indicated at table 12 above, 70% of the respondent accepts the dairy cow purchase as the role of male and 30% says the role of male and selling of dairy cow is perceive that 66.7% is the role of male and 33.3% is the role of female and this result also related with the result of respondent practical division of work.   To process the milk and milk product the researcher suggest that milk cooperatives and MSEs should be cooperate and empower them to participate in collecting milk, milk distributing and process the milk. To achieve total equity in gender roles in any value chain, the researcher suggests that more education opportunities should be availed to women to learn and understand their rights within the society how to reduce daily work load. Awareness creation activity in the society and these gender should be done to change the work division culture and perception difference between male and females to participate all at all types of work equally especially at low level activity women are more participated. In this research result dairy income shares equally between men and women but women were not participated at buying and selling of dairy cows so the society should be encouraged to shun retrogressive culture that denies women rights to own property and make decisions. The farmers should be encourages to embrace new technology that makes work easy and more interesting for both men and women that can be used to ease work for all including those with low levels of education  Gender sensitization campaigns should be held to enlighten the society on gender equity.  ","tokenCount":"7872"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6650330718.json b/data/part_1/6650330718.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a82e94dd3a9c52831a268f001d84ec8126f53ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6650330718.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd35244ea5de60255dc720b2a3b2a7f5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11052c62-610a-41dd-9e43-6a93034e2f56/retrieve","id":"1645867289"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6502d070-22e1-4ba9-86ec-c0ec32d98957","pagecount":"115","content":"Volume 1. Forest genetic resources conservation and management: Overview, concepts and some systematic approaches Volume 2. Forest genetic resources conservation and management: In managed natural forests and protected areas (in situ) Volume 3. Forest genetic resources conservation and management: In plantations and genebanks (ex situ)The document has been prepared as a common effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Danida Forest Tree Seed Centre (DFSC) and International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), and draws on inputs of a great number of national, regional and international partner institutions throughout the world.On 1 January 2004, Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC) became part of the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, KVL. The new centre, to be known as Forest & Landscape Denmark (FLD), is an independent centre for research, education, advice and information concerning forest, landscape and planning at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL). The development objective of FLD international activities is to contribute to the increased welfare of present and coming generations, with particular emphasis on poor people, through improved planning, sustainable management and utilization of trees, forests, landscapes and other natural resources. The international activities are in part financed by Danish International Development Assistance. Contact: Forest & Landscape,Forests are the single most important repositories of terrestrial biological diversity. They provide a wide range of products and services to people throughout the world. Forest trees and other woody plants help support many other organisms, and have developed complex mechanisms to maintain high levels of genetic diversity. This genetic variation, both interand intraspecific, serves a number of fundamentally important purposes. It allows trees and shrubs to react to changes in the environment, including those brought about by pests, diseases and climatic change. It provides the building blocks for future evolution, selection and human use in breeding for a wide range of sites and uses. And, at different levels, it supports the aesthetic, ethical and spiritual values of humans.Forest management for productive and protective purposes can and should be rendered compatible with conservation through sound planning and coordination of activities at national, local and ecoregional levels. Conservation of forest biological diversity, which includes forest genetic resources, is essential for sustaining the productive value of forests, and for maintaining the health and vitality of forest ecosystems and thereby maintaining their protective, environmental and cultural roles.A major threat to forest ecosystems is the conversion of forest land to other uses. Increasing pressure from human populations who aspire to higher standards of living, without balancing the sustainability of resource utilization underpinning such developments, raises concerns in this regard. It is inevitable that changes of land use will occur in the future, but such changes should be planned to help ensure that the complementary goals of conservation and development are achieved. This can be done by including concerns for conservation as a major component in land-use planning and resource management strategies.Currently, the main problem in achieving conservation goals is the lack of adequate institutional and political frameworks that make it possible to consider choices about landuse and operational management that are fair to all stakeholders and can be efficiently implemented, monitored and regularly adjusted to meet new and emerging needs. Decisions on the conservation of forest genetic resources should be made not in isolation but as an integral component of national development plans and national conservation programmes.The key to success therefore lies in the development of programmes that harmonize conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity and forest genetic resources within a mosaic of land-use options. Sustainability of action over time will be based on genuine efforts to meet the needs and aspirations of all interested parties. It will require close and continuing collaboration, dialogue and involvement of stakeholders in the planning and execution of related programmes.In principle, there are no fundamental technical obstacles to meeting conservation objectives that cannot be overcome. In recent years, a number of activities have been initiated to further conservation and the sustainable use of genetic resources. However, practical experience of these activities has been insufficiently documented, and the lessons learned have received little attention and have rarely been applied on a larger scale. The evidence of experience is that prudent and timely measures and programmes based on the best available knowledge can make a vital contribution to the conservation of forest genetic v resources. It is therefore considered of utmost importance that this experience, coupled with current knowledge of conservation theory, is made widely available in the form of generalized guidelines and procedures to serve as inspiration for others engaged in such conservation activities. This is the first volume of a series of three that deal with the conservation of forest genetic resources (comprising trees and shrubs). This volume gives an overview of concepts and systematic approaches to conservation and management of forest genetic resources. It outlines the need to conserve these resources and focuses on some of the strategies that may be employed in doing this. In addition, the volume focuses on planning national conservation of forest genetic resources, identification of research needs in forest resources, people's participation in the conservation of forest genetic diversity, and regional and international approaches to the conservation of forest genetic resources.Forest genetic resources-the genetic diversity present in thousands of forest tree species on Earth-constitute an intergenerational resource of vast social, economic and environmental importance. Conservation of forest genetic resources is regarded here as the actions and policies that assure the continued existence, evolution and availability of these resources for present and future generations. Both the genetic resources themselves and the practice of their conservation are essentially dynamic. Accordingly, the conservation of these resources should be seen as an attempt to preserve particular groups of genotypes or populations, and their various combinations of genes. Therefore, the aim of genetic resource management is to maintain conditions in which the genetic makeup of a species can continue to evolve in response to changes in its environment. At the same time, management for conservation aims at reducing the rates of genetic erosion.In these guidelines, we use a definition (see, for example, FAO 1989) of forest genetic resource as 'genetic variation in trees of potential or present benefit to humans'.• Forest denotes a stand, population or landscape of trees, and typically other associated woody plants.• Genetic refers to variation of genetic (DNA) origin, and variation of genes at different levels: (1) variation between species, (2) variation between populations within species and (3) variation between individual trees within populations. The largest variation is between species, and loss of whole species is therefore also the most dramatic loss of future options. • Resources refers to the use of genetic variation-in the broad sense stated above-considered to be of potential value for humans at present or in the future.Different conservation strategies and practices have been developed. In situ ('in place') conservation implies the continuing maintenance of a population within the environment where it originally evolved, and to which we assume it is adapted (Frankel 1976). This type of conservation is most frequently applied to wild populations regenerated naturally in protected areas or managed forests, but can include artificial regeneration whenever planting or sowing is carried out, without directional selection, in the same area where the seed was collected.Immediate conservation actions can take the form of various ex situ ('out of place') conservation measures, and serve to capture and maintain genetic variation in planted gene or seed banks.Considerable information is available on various theoretical aspects of conservation, as well as empirical experiences of conservation for a few species, but this information is oftenIn situ reserve stand of Abies grandis, on Vancouver Island, BritishColumbia, now under special management prescriptions. (D. Pigott, Yellowpoint Propagation Ltd, 2003) inaccessible and of limited practical value to the local forestry officials who might be routinely involved in the management of forest and natural resources. Furthermore, conservation programmes require a substantial knowledge base in order to be undertaken efficiently, but the financial and human resources and institutional support available for related research are typically limited, especially in developing countries.In many countries the threats to forest genetic resources are major, immediate and continual. In many cases it is unwise to delay taking conservation action just because not all the relevant information is available. Prudent and timely conservation measures and programmes, based on the best available information and general conservation principles, can make a vital contribution to the conservation of forest genetic resources. Also, immediate conservation actions can allow an interval during which additional research can be undertaken to improve the efficiency of the conservation activities.The aim of this guide, and the two other volumes in the series, is to provide decisionmakers and practitioners, especially those involved in managing forests, with general guidelines on conservation of forest genetic resources.Almost everywhere, there are threats to the integrity of forest genetic resources from a myriad of causes. Major threats include deforestation and changes in land use, inappropriate forest use and management practices, pollution and climate change, as well as undocumented and uncontrolled movement of germplasm.Forest tree species are typically long-lived, highly heterozygous organisms, which have developed natural mechanisms to maintain high levels of intraspecific variation, such as high rates of outcrossing and the dispersal of pollen and seeds over wide areas. These mechanisms, combined with native environments that are often variable, in both time and space, have contributed to the evolution of forest tree species into some of the most genetically variable organisms in existence (Libby 1987).The high levels of genetic variation that are present within many tree species can be beneficially developed and used by foresters and tree growers. Whereas agricultural crop breeders and farmers often substantially modify the growing environment to suit a specific crop species or variety, tree growers commonly identify species and provenances which can provide some improved levels of the goods and services required even without intensive selection and improvement, or intense management requirements, or major modification of the external environment. Such diverse tree genetic materials are, moreover, intrinsically well buffered against variations in soil and microclimates when deployed locally. Accordingly, forestry and agroforestry production systems depend considerably on the continued availability of these diverse genetic resources at both the species and provenance (population) levels. Intraspecific genetic variation is needed to ensure the future adaptability of the species, as well as allowing for artificial selection and breeding programmes. Accordingly, benefits from forests and trees will only be sustained if forest genetic resources remain available. In many countries, the prospects for sustainable development in rural areas will be greatly influenced by the availability of genetic diversity in both indigenous and exotic tree species.One of the objectives of this guide is to encourage forest and land managers, planners and others whose activities have an impact on forest genetic resources, to routinely consider gene conservation in their planning and management processes, taking into account different levels of threats, patterns of land use, forest management practices and future selection and breeding programmes (see Table 1.1).In general, the design and implementation of forest conservation programmes are based on attributes of ecosystems, and thus little attention is given to diversity at the species and gene levels. This is particularly true in tropical rainforest ecosystems, where the high biological diversity and its complexity pose several challenges to scientists and policymakers. They, and other interested groups, are constantly setting priorities that, in most cases, do not take into account information at the species and gene levels.In a world where sufficient funds and resources for research and conservation are often not available, working at the species and gene levels requires an efficient use of funds, the setting of priorities, the use of new tools such as geographic information systems (GIS), modelling and molecular markers, and usually intense field work (see Chap. 2). However, concerns have been raised about the applicability and/or the usefulness of the use of genetic information and its associated costs and benefits for forest management and conservation programmes, particularly in developing countries where baseline information is either missing or scattered. This is why a careful inventory of research needs is necessary (see Chap. 4).Although the goal of conserving forest genetic resources can be simply stated, its implementation can be very complex and expensive. With thousands of tree species distributed among several local populations (interbreeding groups of individuals), each with thousands of variable genetic loci, priorities should be set first at the species level; only then can we assign priorities among populations. It is important that data on species that are of significance to conserve, and the levels of threat to them, be collated with in situ and ex situ management approaches in mind (Namkoong 1998). In practical terms, national programmes need ways of establishing priorities for conservation that take into account the large potential number of species for which they may be responsible. Sometimes the focus may be on species, because of their charismatic appeal. Alternatively, the focus may have to be on perceived threats resulting from economic values or ecological traits: for example, species that have low population densities, highly specialized pollination patterns or particular seed germination mechanisms. Baseline information on the status of genetic diversity, a rating of species potential value, an evaluation of the threats and the potential for conservation management are some of the necessary steps for priority-setting. The outcome can be a ranking of priorities for management or a classification of species into priority groups.In general, an effective species conservation programme needs to take into account the whole range of geographic distribution of a species, as well as the species metapopulation structure. Without this information, one cannot claim that the genetic diversity of the target species is conserved overall. Most national conservation programmes for forest genetic resources must therefore deal with the conservation of locally adapted populations.Given the goal of conserving gene resources, tree species could be classified into three main groups:• species for which no measures that might be undertaken would help conservation • species that will survive even without management • species that will survive if suitably managed (as far as resources allow).It is important that this last category of species be identified, and resources allocated to them as a priority (Vane-Wright 1996).In an ideal case, the geographic distribution of a species would be listed and mapped, the type and extent of threats to particular populations would be known, and methods of conservation and management would be well established. It would then be possible to evaluate the impacts of different threats, the costs and the effectiveness of different management options in minimizing the associated impacts. Priorities could then be established, based on the evaluation of those resources for economic or ecological payoffs. However, we rarely have such complete or detailed knowledge.Many tree species that are known to be under threat of extinction are not included in conservation programmes (National Academy of Sciences 1991;Boyle and Boontawee 1995). In some instances, the genetic resources may be well conserved within protected areas, but these might represent just a small fraction of the overall genetic variation of the species. Patterns of genetic variation may often be cryptic and reductions may portend demographic collapse as either a causal or an associated agent. Therefore, demographic data, if available, is not sufficient, nor are listings of species in parks sufficient for planning conservation. However, collating such data and testing for genetic patterns of variation can provide at least initial indicators of the state of the genetic resource.Targeting species and regions for more detailed genetic surveys can then provide information on priority species for conservation as mentioned by Koshy et al. (2002). These authors also suggest two levels of targeting; one for research and risk assessments, and the second for management of specific risks. Large-scale data, such as are available from geographic information systems (GIS) analyses, can provide some indications of demographic threats, and hence multiple sources of data to be collated and analysed simultaneously. In the first targeting efforts of the former IBPGR (International Board of Plant Genetic Resources, currently International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, IPGRI), the priority lists of crop species that guided collection efforts were created largely on the basis of likelihoods of demographic extinction and thus on risks of genetic erosion, made possible by a broad global sharing of common objectives and information from crop species in agricultural systems. Unfortunately, there is no such consensus for forest trees and hence more explicit statements of models and factors are needed at an international level, as well as for any country trying to establish its own priorities.In most conservation programmes, people must make decisions about management actions, even with limited access to research data to support their decisions. In these cases, they must also decide which characteristics of the organisms involved are least known but, if studied, are most likely to make a difference in how the organisms are managed. In this sense, we are interested not so much in descriptive biology as in the biology of genetically and ecologically critical functions (Purvis and Hector 2000), such as adaptation to changing environments and potential for evolution and artificial selection. These aspects are covered in Section 2.3.2.Efforts to conserve forest genetic resources are typically driven by awareness of threats. These threats can vary in magnitude from total removal of forest cover to degradation of populations beyond biologically acceptable levels. The cause-effect relationship varies from case to case, and an understanding of the underlying problems is essential in order to develop an efficient strategy.Forests can be lost either because forest resources and trees are not regarded as being of economic importance, or because of a policy framework that makes it possible to replace forests with other land uses (for instance agriculture, pasture, mining, infrastructure development or urbanization) (see Box 2.1). Often this is based on short-term maximization of economic returns and lack of supportive forest policies based on good understanding of the potential of forests as sources of income and products for local and regional markets and their associated services for other sectors of the economy. When tree species are regarded as valuable, unsustainable patterns of utilization are another threat to genetic resources. The problem is typically related to the frequency and intensity with which trees are harvested, for either timber or non-timber production, and how the forests respond at species and ecosystem levels after the logging activities.Degradation of the genetic resources may not involve removal of all trees; it may take the form of selective logging, leaving only trees with lower fitness for future reproductive cycles and thus affecting future seed harvests and natural regeneration, and therefore economic benefits, in the long run (see Box 2.2).Teak (Tectona grandis) is one of the most important plantation species in the world. It grows naturally in the northern part of Thailand in mixed deciduous forest at an elevation of 100-900 m (Mahapol 1954). The total area covered by natural teak forest in Thailand fell from 65 000 km 2 in 1960 to 21 000 km 2 in 1990. The present deforestation rate may be as high as 2 000 km 2 per year (CCB 1995). Large areas of teak forest still exist, but in many parts of the remaining forests, outside protected areas, logging takes place to such a degree that in a few years almost no straight trees will be left. Obviously, the conservation status of the species is gradually deteriorating. This has led to the development of a plan for conservation of the genetic resources of teak in Thailand (Graudal et al. 1999).Further threats to forest genetic resources such as teak could also originate from increased plantings of imported or less adapted sources of germplasm. This could eventually lead to the spread of foreign alleles into the remnant local populations. Also, if all planted trees originate from a few, easily accessible and abundant fruiting mother trees, this could lead to another problem associated with small effective population sizes in future generations, and thus reducing potential selection programmes and productivity.(Provided by L. Graudal)Girdling of teak tree (Tectona grandis) one year before felling.(H. Keiding/DFSC, 1959) 2.3 Objectives, priorities and approachesThe first step in genetic conservation is to specify the objectives of the conservation programme. This is of the utmost importance, since it is possible to conserve ecosystem properties and still lose species entities. It is also possible to conserve a species and still lose genetically distinct populations, and therefore, genes that may be of value in disease and pest resistance, and in future adaptation. They could also be important in species deployment through breeding programmes, if that becomes a need or necessity. Many forest genera and species around the world provide goods and services, such as timber, wood, food, fodder, environmental stabilization, shade, shelter, and cultural and spiritual values. However, fewer than 1 000 tree species have been systematically tested for their present-day utility, and less than 100 are the subject of intensive genetic research programmes. Evidently, therefore, many different forest species are being used in situ to provide important goods and services, without any active genetic management.Worldwide, the conservation of forest genetic resources has as its overall objective the maintenance of genetic diversity in the thousands of tree species of known or potential socioeconomic and environmental importance. Moreover, the levels and distribution of genetic variation in any given species are expected to be in a process of constant natural change resulting from the main forces of evolution. Therefore, the central concern of conservation should be the evolutionary processes which promote and maintain genetic diversity, and not the endeavour to preserve the present distribution of variation as an end in itself (Namkoong et al. 1997;Namkoong 2001).Within any given country or local area there may be divergent opinions on priorities among tree species. Forestry departments are likely to have a somewhat different emphasis and priorities from those of local forest dwellers and users, which can be different again from those of farmers and various other users of trees. It is apparent that in situ conservation programmes will be more successful if they target species of direct interest, use or concern to the land management authority and/or landowner(s): this will have major implications for the planning of in situ conservation programmes. A participatory rural appraisal approach (see Chap. 5) can be useful for helping local communities whose land is communally owned to better identify their priority tree genetic resources and to develop appropriate in situ conservation responses.It is also important to consider the case for species and provenances which are of major economic importance when planted as exotics, but currently of much less significance in their native range and habitats; an example is Pinus radiata from the south-western USA and Mexico. In such cases it is not unreasonable to expect that the likely beneficiaries of in situ conservation should contribute, financially or otherwise, to conservation.Given that there will be limited financial resources available for specific conservation programmes for forest genetic resources, it is necessary to consider which of the priority species are also in most need of, or warrant, conservation interventions and actions. This can be conveniently undertaken for different species by comparing the extent of the resource (level of genetic diversity or intraspecific variation) with the vulnerability or threats to the populations and/or ecosystems of which they are a part.As an example, in Table 2.1, Koshy et al. (2002) present a decision-making approach for setting priorities for conservation of tree species in different sites in tropical semi-deciduous forests in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The decision tree approach is based on the use, ecological and threat values, scored by a spectrum of stakeholders including scientists and researchers, farmers, local peasants and business people. The species with the final highest scores are those which should be given priority for conservation.In general, conservation strategies of genetic resources have been grouped into in situ and ex situ categories. The establishment of national systems of protected areas (mainly for in situ conservation purposes) and the creation of public and private reserves are conservation practices that are becoming adopted worldwide. More recently, private land and agriculture areas (such as on-farm conservation) are also being considered as integral elements of conservation strategies, using a landscape and an integrated approach of protected areas within agricultural landscapes.In the case of non-domesticated species, in situ conservation is probably the most important strategy and sometimes the only viable approach. In the tropics, where extinction rates of species are high because of land-use changes, setting conservation priorities is critical. This is particularly evident in developing countries, where resources allocated for conservation are scarce and baseline information on species distribution and richness data are lacking. In a world of scarce resources, one approach to priority-setting is through networking activities, with initiatives involving multiple countries and stakeholders (James 1999).In situ conservation is usually the preferred conservation strategy for most wild plant species, including some of the wild relatives of crop species, because, as mentioned previously, it allows the populations of interest to continue to be exposed to evolutionary processes. Alternatively, for many domesticated species (crop and livestock), on-farm conservation of traditional varieties is now widely supported as an important practice for conservation of genetic diversity (Hodgkin 1996;Jarvis et al. 2000).Molecular genetic studies, carried out on many forest tree species around the world, are contributing to a better understanding of patterns of variation to support the development of improved management practices, and to monitor changes of species turnover in time and in space (Hamrick 2001). In some situations, these priorities could be refined by the use of new tools, such as molecular markers and modelling simulations. Integrating GIS tools with molecular research will improve our knowledge of landscape patterns of genetic diversity of species distribution, and help develop resource management plans. For example, in the Western Ghats, India, these two approaches are being used in combination to detect areas with high diversity (intra-and interspecific) and to set priorities for conservation (Boffa 2000). Molecular markers can thus assist in the conservation of tree species and may allow national programmes to reflect biodiversity patterns in their own management plans. Molecular methods can also help to identify differences between local and non-local provenances and genotypes, identify where diversity is being lost, and facilitate the introduction of new diversity for integrated conservation and breeding programmes. This can also provide for a better management of intraspecific genetic variation (Brown and Kresovich 1996;Karp 2000).Ex situ conservation is considered to be the foundation that ultimately allows the use of genetic diversity in plant breeding and conservation. The essential elements of ex situ conservation are related to the need to identify, then conserve and manage the range of variability within the species, primarily through the development and management of regeneration, in various forms, in the field. Molecular genetic techniques, primarily with genetic markers, can also help in some of the management tasks for ex situ populations, by confirming the identity of accessions and monitoring genetic changes in collections. However, the allocation of resources in genetic conservation should be need-driven rather than technology-driven (Withers 1993).Biotechnology can also make contributions to the management of germplasm banks by providing better tools to assess levels of genetic diversity, and providing new alternatives to maintain genetic stocks. New molecular techniques avoid redundancy and duplication within collections through fingerprinting analysis and genetic diversity studies (Brown and Kresovich 1996;Karp 2000). Another widely used biotechnology tool, cryopreservation, aids the longterm storage of several plant accessions (Withers and Engelmann 1998). Molecular tools such as those now being used in genomic studies can assist in the identification of potentially useful genes in genebank accessions. Examples of marker applications are given in Table 2.2.The focus on whether or not to maintain genetic processes as part of the conservation strategy is important when deciding the choices of options for conservation. Genetic processes typically deal with changes of gene frequencies and genotypic distributions.Examples of circumstances leading to such changes are: a. Random losses of alleles, random changes in gene frequencies and/or increased levels of inbreeding that may occur if the populations are small, or seed is collected from relatively few trees. All activities that reduce population size will generally increase the rate of inbreeding. b. Management and/or use of natural populations that (1) influence the behaviour of pollinators and seed dispersers that can lead to changes in the amounts of inbreeding and/or change fertility, or (2) alter microclimate and/or species composition, thus inducing new competitors. c. Intended or unintended selection due to the use and/or management of natural stands, or during propagation and management of plantings-both can favour or disfavour certain alleles and thereby change allelic frequencies. d. Continued natural selection to the prevailing environment that affects allele frequencies (as well as natural selection against inbred offspring in species with a mixed mating system, i.e. species that under natural conditions produce a mixture of selfed and outcrossed progenies). Processes (a) and (b) are typically considered to be undesirable in all conservation strategies, because they lead to random loss of genetic diversity, and/or decrease the fitness of the populations. However, to some extent, processes (c) and (d) reflect a genetic response in favour of continued adaptation to the given environment. It is therefore important in the planning process to consider to what extent these processes are unacceptable, acceptable or even desirable. This will of course depend on the objective of conservation.Roughly speaking, conservation strategies can also be separated into three categories in terms of the evolutionary process (following Guldager 1975):• Static conservation strategies, where genetic processes are typically not considered important. The aim is to keep gene frequencies or genotypic distributions as unchanged as possible. One can say that the objective is preservation of the current set of genotypes in the collection or sample. • Strict evolutionary conservation strategies, where protection of genetic processes is considered as important as the conservation of the actual gene frequencies in the population, or more so. One can say that the objective of evolutionary conservation is to protect populations that can maintain fitness through long-term adaptation (for example the development of landraces), so there is the expectation that gene frequencies should change. Here processes associated with (c) and (d) above are seen as being elements of the conservation, and these processes are therefore protected or even supported. • Evolutionary conservation for utilized populations, where the objective is to conserve genetically diverse, viable populations, growing under conditions that reflect the managed and used forests or plantings.Static conservation activities are characterized by the fact that genotypes are the targets for conservation. Therefore, vegetative propagation is in general preferred to propagation by seed.Vegetatively propagated clones can be planted and protected in clonal archives. The grafted or rooted trees will often be able to grow to a considerable age if the grafting has been a success. Of course, at some future date, the trees have to be re-grafted on new rootstock. It is important to maintain the archives carefully in the early years in order to avoid shoots or sprouts of the rootstock taking over the grafted scion material. Constant weeding and tending is required, and good labelling and maps are essential. Static conservation thus requires continual, fairly intense, human management. Static conservation is also applied to conserve seed lots in seed banks, where seed is kept in cold storage, or under otherwise favourable conditions. Seed banks can only be used for conservation of species with storable seed. A large number of tropical tree species have so-called recalcitrant seed, which dies within a few years of storage. The vast majority of species have seed that can only maintain a high germination rate for relatively few years compared to the lifetime of the living tree, and the seed lots therefore need to be regenerated from time to time. This will include germinating the seed, producing the seedlings, growing the trees until they start flowering, and collecting new seed for storage. These 'rejuvenation' activities allow for new genetic recombinations and new selection pressures during propagation and growth.For most species, seed banks should probably be seen as a short-term conservation activity. Seeds from endangered populations can be collected and stored in the seed bank for an interim period until they can be sown, seedlings grown and gene conservation plantings (the so-called ex situ conservation stands) established. The role of such ex situ gene conservation plantings in an overall conservation strategy is discussed further below; a comprehensive account of the technical details is given in Vol. 3, Chap. 5, and technical details of seed banking itself are given in Vol. 3, Chap. 6.For many species, particularly those from the moist and semi-moist forests in many partsof Africa, seed banks cannot be used even for short-term conservation because the seed cannot be stored for more than a few months. In vitro conservation, including cryopreservation, has been tried for such species, but this is also a static conservation approach. Depending on species and technique, some genetic changes (such as mutations) may take place during in vitro growth and storage, sometimes observed as so-called somaclonal variation (Fourré et al. 1997). However, the major disadvantages of the in vitro approach are the associated costs, the requirement for a stable supply of electricity, andmost important-the fact that a limited number of genotypes can be conserved. In vitro conservation techniques are, therefore, probably of little general use in efforts to conserve forest genetic resources, whereas seed banks can be important for short-term storage of some species as an interim phase until more suitable techniques can be applied.Many species (such as several Acacia species with hard-coated seed, or most Pinaceae species) can maintain a high germination rate for many years during storage. For these species, seed banks can serve more than a short-term storage function. Genebanks for such species are a static strategy, because gene frequencies and genotypic distributions will remain largely the same as long as all seed germinates. Once the germination rate starts to drop, selective effects may take place during storage, but in general may not be related to fitness and utility of the genotypes or seedlots in the long term.Static conservation can be an interesting option in connection with an intensive breeding programme, where identified and tested genotypes (clones) are grafted and kept in clonal archives, or used in seed orchards or clonal production hedges. One can say that in such a programme static conservation is used to conserve well-known genotypes, but evolutionary aspects are developed and managed in the breeding and testing programme over generations. In a way, then, static and evolutionary approaches can be considered complementary and used in combination.Evolutionary conservation activities are characterized by programmes where the trees produce progeny in successive generations: genes are generally 'conserved', but genotypes are not. Natural selection takes place among trees with new allelic combinations that either favour or disfavour different genotypes. This process ensures that gene frequencies will change in the population: alleles with positive influence on fitness will increase, and alleles associated with low fitness will decrease. If the population size is sufficient, neutral genes should, in general, be maintained, but some genes will inevitably be lost by genetic drift; new genetic variation will arise by mutation after several generations. Human interventions (if any) are designed to facilitate moderate genetic processes rather than to avoid them. Genetic variation between populations is generally maintained when they are growing in different environments, and is even expected to increase over time (Eriksson et al. 1993).A typical example of a conservation population capable of evolutionary processes is a protected area in a natural forest. In a protected area, the species occupies its natural habitat (it is said to be in situ conserved), typically with a wide range of other species. Natural selection for general fitness is therefore largely related to competition among species, as well as to adaptation within species to current and future environmental conditions. However, evolutionary conservation can also take place in a planted stand, if natural selection is allowed to work, and if the planted trees are regenerated from seed, rather than by vegetative techniques, for the next generation. In such programmes, plantations will preferably be established and managed in ways that mimic the natural processes that will support natural selection. Of course, in most situations the mixture of species (if any) is largely artificial, and the selective forces may therefore favour different genes than would be the case in true in situ conservation. However, this reflects the fact that selection and fitness always depend on the degree of human influence in any ecosystem. Directional selection in favour of commercial traits-including characters such as good stem form or ease of establishment in plantations-is typically avoided in strict evolutionary conservation programmes, but of course this again depends upon the local objectives of the programme.In summary, various factors will influence the success and relative suitability of an in situ conservation approach (see Table 2.3). As already mentioned, a key characteristic of in situ conservation is its dynamic nature and provision for continued evolution in target species. However, in situ conservation also implies the avoidance of rapid rates of genetic erosion and of strong directional change of the genetic composition of populations (FAO 1993).Effective and efficient in situ conservation requires a substantial knowledge base (see Chap. 4). In particular, information is needed on factors such as:• genetic variation in species, and how this is spatially and temporally organized within and among populations • species dynamics in natural ecosystems, such as reproductive and regeneration capacities of the species of interest, possible interspecific competition, or other processes involved in producing and maintaining variation. However, in the vast majority of cases, given present technologies and available resources, it is not feasible to directly monitor genetic variation in a particular tree species in a particular area. For the foreseeable future, monitoring of in situ conservation of forest genetic resources will need to be focused on basic demographic population studies, for example to determine that adequate population sizes are being maintained through regeneration, as well as some key processes, such as pollination and seed dispersal.an endangered eucalypt species from eastern AustraliaThis case study illustrates the complementary nature of in situ and ex situ conservation approaches and a strategy for rebuilding the genetic resources of a population that has become fragmented and depleted in numbers.Eucalyptus benthamii is a tall tree (30-45 m in height) of restricted distribution on fertile river flats in New South Wales, Australia. The species has performed very well in field trials in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa and Australia (Mendoza 1983;Lehane 1994;Darrow 1995). It grows rapidly and has displayed an ability to grow on diverse sites, including those subject to frost and drought stress. There is considerable interest in South Africa and parts of South America in developing pulpwood plantations of the species.The original habitat for E. benthamii was to the south-west of Sydney on the flats of the Nepean river and its tributaries. The species naturally regenerates in areas of disturbed soil following major flooding episodes. Since the arrival of Europeans, most of this habitat has been cleared for agriculture or submerged beneath the waters of the Warragamba Dam (Benson 1985). The species is now found only in two areas in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River catchment.The larger stand of some 2 000 trees is located in the Kedumba Valley, partly within the Blue Mountains National Park. This area forms part of Sydney's water catchment, and increased future water demands and associated possibility of inundation pose a major threat to the population.The smaller stand occurs as scattered remnant trees along the Nepean river, including about 100 individuals protected in the Bent Basin State Recreation Reserve. Elsewhere, mature specimens are gradually being lost due to flooding, senescence, continued continued urban encroachment and agricultural development. The long-term viability of these stands is threatened by lack of regeneration associated with poor and erratic seed production and environmental modification, especially increased soil nutrient levels and associated proliferation of introduced weeds.The Australian Tree Seed Centre, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products has been active in conserving and evaluating the genetic resources of E. benthamii. The conservation strategy is based on both ex situ and in situ approaches.The ex situ conservation and evaluation activities include:• Seed collections from some 100 trees from throughout the natural range of the species, with seed samples placed in long-term (freezer) storage. Evolutionary conservation attempts to maintain genetic processes, so it is relevant to discuss what kind of evolutionary results the selective processes are intended to accomplish. An objective could be to support continued natural adaptations to environmental changes, whether they be through utilization or reflect future conditions for growth. This is possible, and has taken place, for example, during in situ conservation of species in the very important managed parklands in West Africa (see Boffa 2000). An extension of this selection pressure by both human and natural forces is where there is an increase in selection on important traits related both to utilization and to a more domesticated plantation system. This then becomes, essentially, an ex situ genetic conservation programme as part of a well-designed tree improvement programme (see Vol. 3, Chap. 4).As stated above, conservation of a genetic resource can be set within the context of its possible use and perceived value. A key question, of course, is to what extent utilization and conservation support each other, or work in opposite directions (Kjaer and Nathan 2000). In very general terms, one can distinguish three options depending on the degree of integration of conservation and use (see Table 2.4). The three basic strategies are further discussed below. The hands off strategy is based on the idea that human influence should be as limited as possible. However, from a practical point of view this strategy is often difficult to implement for at least two reasons (Kjaer and Nathan 2000):• First, existing networks of conserved areas rarely sample the genetic diversity of tree species in a systematic or a genetically representative manner. An example is the in situ conservation of forest genetic resources in protected areas in Thailand (see Vol. 2, Box 4.2). • Second, the hands off strategy works best only in areas where conservation status is already high, generally in places with low population density and where there are no strong economic interests at stake. Establishment of strictly protected areas in areas with high human population pressure is often very difficult.An alternative to establishment of strictly protected areas is to allow use of a given conservation area, but reduce the utilization to a level where the genetic resource is not degraded. In this sense, the idea of sustainable use comes from the fact that the genetic resource is conserved in situ, but with levels of use that still maintain the genetic integrity of the population. It may be acceptable, for instance, to collect fruit from the trees in the conservation area, but not to an extent where no seed is left for natural regeneration. It may be acceptable to cut down trees, but not to an extent where all straight trees are removed, and so forth. The sustainable use strategy can apply to the use of target species (priority species in the conservation effort), or associated species. In both cases the impact on the conservation status must be carefully considered (see discussion below). The model of sustainable use of target species can be illustrated by an example from Burkina Faso (see Box 2.4).The main advantage of the sustainable use model is that reducing the pressure on a particular area or species by limited use can result in long-term recovery of the natural resource, which improves options for future use. In this way, the process can become a self- The plan is based on an assessment of conservation requirements based on the distribution and conservation status of the many populations of the species throughout Burkina Faso (Nikiema et al. 1997).A number of stands have been identified as potential conservation objects. The management of these stands will be undertaken under a 'joint forest management' scheme, where the stands are managed by local villagers and CNSF to serve local uses (cf. Section 2.2) as well as conservation purposes. Obligations and sharing of benefits among the villages and CNSF are laid down in written agreements following a modality developed by the project, taking local variations in land tenure and user right systems into consideration (Lund 1999). So far, the Burkina experience has shown that the local communities are very interested in this type of collaboration, where there is a clear benefit to them in the short term as well as the longer term (Tapsoba and Ky 1999). The prospects for conservation of genetic resources following this approach are therefore considered to be very promising.Natural stand of Acacia senegal at Tamasgo, near Kaya, in Burkina Faso.(Lars Graudal/DFSC) Harvest of gum arabic, near Jebel Dali, Sudan. (Lars Graudal/DFSC, 1986) reinforcing one, as increased availability of a particular resource makes sustainable harvest easier. Further, this strategy has the advantage that it does not deprive local people of access to important natural resources. A conservation plan may actually provide additional benefits to local people, for instance in terms of legalizing their utilization of a particular resource. Such a strategy can thus be based on true partnership with the local population.For example, as the discussion in Box 5.2 shows, there is good evidence to assume that resin can easily be tapped from Pinus merkusii in a non-destructive way in the Kong Chiam conservation area in northern Thailand. The local users of that area would naturally be Box 2.5 Prunus africana in Africa interested in legalization of tapping activities and in maintaining the trees, because this is a prerequisite for maintaining their income from harvesting resin from the trees.From a genetic point of view, it will be a challenge to find utilization patterns that do not erode the genetic resource. Human interventions can affect genetic resources and processes in many ways, and possible implications for conservation of the genetic resources at these levels must therefore also be considered (see for example Namkoong et al. 1997). There are complex ecosystems where tree species depend on specific animals for pollination, or depend on very specific ecological conditions (see for example Bawa 1994;Lillesø 1996). These relationships are often not well known, and human intervention can therefore have serious and unpredictable effects on the long-term viability of the population. In such cases, finding a sustainable level of use will be complicated.Conservation through a sustainable use strategy is straightforward in a social environment where tenure systems and user rights are well defined, although even in these situations a range of technical and social problems will have to be carefully addressed. A 'conservation expert' will often find it easier to recommend a hands off strategy than a sustainable use strategy. However, a combined use and conservation approach may yield far better conservation results than a hands off approach.Tree species often become rare and endangered because they are in high demand. This is because they provide valuable products such as high-value timber or non-wood products. In such cases, this third strategy could be considered, which involves increasing the degree of human intervention for endangered, ecological or commercial tree species rather than limiting it.Increased use of genetic resources in terms of plantings in forest areas, watersheds and degraded areas, and on farms, can be a very efficient way of protecting valuable genetic resources. The idea is that cultivation of a valuable but endangered tree species can result in multiplication and distribution of its germplasm. Moreover, when low-density species become common as a result of planting, and their products can be harvested, the pressure on natural populations might decrease. This strategy also has the benefit that cultivation of threatened high-value species actually provides benefit to meet local people's needs for tree products and services, or for cash incomes from sale of tree products (see Box. 2.5).There is a vast number of tree species that are valuable but are not planted at present. More than 200 important species have been identified in Vietnam alone (FSIV 1996), most of continued Prunus africana is a tree species native to the African highlands. A medicament used for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia is extracted from its bark. The bark is usually harvested by felling trees in natural stands, which has lead to overexploitation of the species. The species is listed in CITES appendix II regulating trade with endangered species, and all international trade must therefore be under licence. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre has listed the species as vulnerable at the species level, but genetic diversity within the species is probably being adversely affected as well.The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has analysed options for conservation of the genetic resources of Prunus africana (see for example Dawson and Were 1999). They find that the species is fairly easy to cultivate on-farm and that the bark from the planted trees can be extracted in a non-destructive way. Cultivating P. africana offers the potential of generating income for farmers (the value of the global trade of P. africana is approximately US$220 million/year, Dawson and Were 1999). At the same time, onfarm cultivation of this species will be an effective way of protecting its genetic diversity, as well as releasing the pressure on the few remaining natural populations.which are not currently planted. However, many of the constraints limiting their use are technical in nature, and overcoming them can therefore be a key to the sustainable use and conservation of these species.Sometimes valuable trees are not planted because of lack of access to germplasm, or problems with seed collection and handling. As mentioned earlier, many tropical species have recalcitrant seed, which means that the seed must be handled with care, and is very difficult to store. Often germination capacity is lost within days (Schmidt 2000). An example of a project that has attempted to overcome these kinds of problems is the Indochina Tree Seed Programme (ITSP) supported by Danida (see Box 2.6).Prunus africana seed production stand, at Muguga, Kenya. The increased use model can also be effective for tree species that have less valuable products, but are suitable for use in planting programmes connected to land rehabilitation or watershed management programmes. Local species may be suitable for such purposes, because they are adapted to local conditions and may therefore be at less risk from damaging local biotic or abiotic events, provided they are properly planted, tended and managed. Moreover, they will often be suitable for mixed-species plantings where future management may be minimal.Increased use through domestication involves a series of processes that can have several implications for genetic diversity. First, random as well as intentional selection occurs during seed collection, seed production, nursery culture, planting, tending and harvesting (El-Kassaby and Namkoong 1995). Second, seed and trees can be moved around between ecologically different zones, with increased risks of lack of adaptation and genetic pollution of native resources. This issue, which is not usually considered in plantation programmes, does not guarantee the protection of the genetic resources, unless sound genetic principles are in place and followed. However, if genetic considerations are taken into account, genetic diversity can be effectively protected within domesticated plantings (cf. Namkoong 1984a).As soon as rural people become involved in planting programmes, a number of additional issues (largely non-genetic in nature) need to be considered:• First and foremost, rural people must be given the opportunity to identify their own needs, and the planting programmes must respond to these needs. This is important for both the conservation and the 'development-for-people' objectives.species is estimated to reach 400 m 3 /ha over a 50-year rotation cycle, with a sound silvicultural treatment. The wood is extremely valuable, and the value produced per hectare far exceeds the value produced by, for example, the fast-growing eucalypts or Acacia mangium. Planting D. cochinchinensis as alternative to the often-planted Eucalyptus may provide higher incomes, and protect the genetic resource of the species. In order to provide access to the germplasm, ITSP supports identification of good seed sources, and provides support to genetically broad seed collections from natural populations in collaboration with the provincial authorities. Part of the seed is planned to be used for plantings, which can serve as seed sources for commercial seed procurement later on (Thomsen 2000). Such plantings may form the basis for future domestication of the species in large parts of Laos, and it is therefore very important that at this initial stage seeds are not collected from only a few trees. Moreover, it is important to raise the general awareness that currently endangered species such as D. cochinchinensis can often produce much higher values than presently planted species. Annual value production of US$5 000-7 000/ha is often realistic, about 5-20 times as much as for pines or eucalypts grown at similar sites (Graudal and Kjaer 2000).A 16-year-old stand of Dalbergia cochinchinensis in Laos, never thinned and probably not going to reach potential production. (Ida Theilade/DFSC)• The introduction of new crops should not result in rural people running economic risks that would put their livelihood at stake. Experiments with domestication may be costly, and not all species turn out to be suitable for plantings; the market may be uncertain for new types of products; and it may take 25-30 years before valuable timber or non-wood forest products can be harvested. • The programme must be organized to ensure that rural people get access to highquality plant material of threatened species adapted to their localities. A comprehensive discussion on the role of local people and institutional aspects is presented in Chaps. 3 and 5.Development of a case-by-case conservation strategy is usually required. The strategy must address the relevant problems, take into account the available information, identify potential options for actions, and be operationally feasible. It must form the basis for the field activities that can lead to long-term sustainable solutions. However, at the same time, it must be flexible enough to adapt to continuously changing conditions. Nevertheless, a few general considerations may be applicable:• Clearly defining the objectives, analysing the problem, assessing the importance (priority) and the biology of the species considered (see Section 2.3). • Evolutionary conservation is usually to be preferred to static conservation (see Section 2.4). • In vitro conservation is seldom useful or economically viable for conservation of forest genetic resources. In unique cases, however, it may be relevant for conservation of species with seed storage problems. • Seed banks are in general only useful for short-term conservation of forest genetic resources, but can play an important role in this respect. • Combining conservation with some level of use is often a valuable option:-In areas of low population pressure, where the threats are due to logging, it is important to identify 'non-logged' or 'low impact logged' areas while sampling the ecological variation across the species' range. In some cases, better management practices may be sufficient. Where the problem is primarily related to heavy population pressure, empowering local communities and awareness programmes and partnerships are extremely important in relation to in situ conservation (see Box 2.4).-Ex situ conservation can be of particular value, if it supports both increased and improved utilization of germplasm with limited access (see Section 2.5 and Vol. 3).-Land rehabilitation and the establishment of buffer zones may provide good opportunities to link in situ with ex situ programmes, and for domestication.Developing a national strategy for the conservation of forest genetic resources is an important way of defining and securing appropriate institutional mechanisms for its implementation. The national strategy should also provide general guidelines for planning and implementation of conservation measures and conservation options (in situ and ex situ over space and time) to achieve the objectives of the programme.Planning for conservation of forest genetic resources involves the following logical sequence of activities:• Setting of overall priorities by identifying genetic resources that have priority, usually first at the species level. This should be based on the present or potential socioeconomic value of the species, and their conservation status at important levels in the ecosystem. • Determination or inference of the general genetic structure of the priority species: for instance, whether they are ecotypic or clinal. • Assessment of the current level of protection of the target species and their populations. • Identification of specific conservation requirements or priorities, typically at the population level for single species and at the ecosystem level for groups of species: this involves identifying geographical distribution and number of populations to be conserved. • Choice of conservation strategies or identification of conservation measuresbiological and economic options. • Organization and planning of specific conservation activities.• Provision and development of management guidelines.The setting of priorities deals with the overall objectives of why and for whom genetic resources should be conserved. An important tool in setting priorities is the decision-making framework. Many priority-setting methodologies have been developed and used (see Palmberg-Lerche 2000), and are elaborated upon in Section 3.3 below, but it is critical that the criteria used are important and reflect local conditions.It is also important to realize that the process of formulating a strategy is iterative and that the strategy itself should be flexible. The scale and complexity of the data needed to meet national conservation and utilization objectives are such that coordination and formulation by a national focal point are required. This is necessary in order to facilitate the collection and processing of relevant data to assist in the planning and implementation of conservation programmes for forest genetic resources by different partners at local, regional, national and international levels. Different combinations of priorities, beneficiaries and relevant partners may require different modalities for planning and implementation. The strategy should identify such different combinations and suggest appropriate implementation arrangements accordingly.Section 3.2 provides some overall strategic considerations related to the identification of appropriate institutions or groups who should be involved in national gene resource conservation programmes. Sections 3.3-3.9 provide some further elaborations on many of the points listed above. The concluding section of the chapter (3.10) provides a summary of recommendations and overall guidelines related to the development of national gene conservation programmes. A more detailed description of these steps can be found in Graudal et al. (1997).at the national level: strategic considerationsThe benefits deriving from the use of appropriate genetic material in forestry touch upon many parts of society. Areas where genetic resources of common interest occur may be owned and used by different individuals, communities or public organizations. Interests involved in forest genetic resources are generally many, and the organization of conservation initiatives may therefore be complex. Furthermore, the distribution of species and ecosystems does not respect national boundaries, and landraces may have developed through utilization and domestication outside the natural distribution area of a species. Conservation of genetic resources in one country may often be of benefit to other countries where the species are presently grown or may have future potential. Therefore, international conservation networks are desirable and the efficiency of national programmes may, in general, be considerably improved through such international collaboration. Nevertheless, from a practical point of view it is necessary initially to develop a national approach, as a basis for international collaboration. This is further discussed in Chap. 6.An important question to consider in planning genetic resource conservation is the national organizations that are available to carry out the necessary work. First, different public agencies, units and administrative bodies with vested interests in resource management and research may already exist-for example a tree seed centre, a forest service, a forest research institute, a national parks service, an agricultural extension service-and they will likely have the most important stewardship role to play. Second, private sector interests, whether commercial, subsistence or non-profit, may also be present, particularly where other conservation, reforestation or afforestation programmes already operate. These types of existing organizational structures will usually have important roles to play.Planning should consider the distribution of tasks among existing units, and identify the need for possible new units or structures when necessary. It is also important to consider the economic capacity of the different stakeholders to participate. Participatory aspects are dealt with in detail in Chap. 5, but some overall considerations concerning beneficiaries and implementation are described below.The direct beneficiaries of the conservation of forest genetic resources are, of course, the public at large, but more directly and immediately the groups and individuals involved in using the forest. Government authorities, state enterprises, private companies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individual farmers are all stakeholders who may often represent different types of interest:• Government agencies and authorities-usually the Ministry of Environment and/or Agriculture and Forest Services-typically represent the long-term interests in conserving the genetic resources and biological diversity, and in maintaining the vegetative cover for purposes of environmental protection. • State enterprises and private companies typically have a direct commercial interest in improved wood production, which is also of national economic interest (through a reduction of import requirements or the generation of jobs in the forestry sector, for example). • NGOs may have similar interests, but in addition often represent more idealistic objectives of nature conservation by focusing more on intrinsic values. • The interests of farmers may be commercial or for subsistence, whether in terms of wood fuel, small timber, fodder, food, shelter or environmental protection.Conservation of genetic resources generally calls for specialized structures. The specific requirements, in terms of infrastructure and staff, depend on the types and amounts of genetic resources to be handled, and the allocation of tasks among collaborating partners.When considering the organizational structure, it is important to realize that the core activities of genetic resource conservation are to be found in (1) the interface between research and practical application;(2) national long-term conservation interest and commitment; and (3) more immediate commercial and/or subsistence interests.Vesting the responsibility for conservation within government departments will, in principle, assure independence from commercial interests. It is, however, important to establish close links with seed procurement and storage organizations, whether in the private or the public sector. Likewise, it is important to maintain close links and integration with relevant research (breeding) institutions, whether private or public.The organizational requirements for the handling of reproductive material differ for different species. In general, representative collections of important species should be vested within an independent national authority. This does not, however, prevent other organizations from contributing to the conservation of genetic resources. The integration of conservation and utilization is important for any programme wishing to exist beyond the short term. The concept of integrating conservation, improvement and seed procurement is the basis of a number of national tree seed and breeding programmes.The structure of such programmes varies considerably among states and countries, so it is not possible to suggest just one model. Major points to consider in relation to the areas identified for conservation are ownership and associated options, and costs of administration and management. Ownership may influence both the options and the costs of conservation. On private land, for instance, the opportunity costs of in situ conservation may be prohibitive if alternative land use is profitable. In some cases the conservation of genetic resources may be considered free of additional cost, if the resources are already protected for other purposes.The main criterion for including species in genetic resource conservation programmes is their present and possible future value. The identification of genetic resources of priority is thus, in principle, a cost-benefit consideration. Ideally, cost-benefit analyses require quantification of the values associated with a given species or population and the risks attached to the results of different management options. Very often such quantification is not possible, particularly when considering potential value.Considering the thousands of forest tree species and their distribution in an even larger number of populations, the critical issues in gene conservation planning are (1) how best to identify species to be included and then (2) how to select the populations to be conserved. There are different but complementary criteria that can be considered in setting priorities:• Current local importance, even if the species currently contribute only little to the economy (perhaps because they are rare). • Economic value, such as in species that may be of major importance for the subsistence of local populations in rural areas. • Ecological and geographic considerations, such as status in typical stands (whether common or rare), geographic range (in one or more countries), and capacity for natural regeneration, to mention a few. • The current conservation status of species and their populations (see Section 3.5) may be used as an indicator for prioritization. For example, the current level of protection in protected areas (in situ), and in breeding or research programmes, should be part of the priority-setting process. If the conservation status is good, there may be little need for further action.Several more thorough priority-setting approaches have been developed and described (see for example Franzel et al. 1996;Yanchuk and Lester 1996;Koshy et al. 2002), but any particular suite of criteria that is ultimately chosen to rank species for conservation activities needs to consider local conditions and factors. Priority-setting processes can of course consider factors as equally important, or differentiate them by weighting the criteria. The net results of the priority analysis and weighting system ultimately used must make logical sense.In gene resource conservation, after species-level decisions are made, it is the population level that we are really interested in conserving. In practice, as the term 'gene conservation' implies, genes are the resource we want to conserve, as we consider all genes to be potentially useful. However, it is ultimately genetic variation and the processes that contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation that we hope to conserve, and only by conserving targeted populations can we accomplish this. Reliable information on the distribution of genetic variation-within and between geographic regions-is important in order to establish an effective network of conservation populations. Genetic variation can be assessed by different techniques. It is possible to study morphological and metric characters in field trials, or with biochemical and molecular markers using laboratory techniques. However, both field trials and laboratory studies are expensive and time consuming. Without genetic data and information, the conservation officer is almost always forced to assume that the patterns of genetic variation in the species will follow some if not all of the patterns of ecogeographic variation. This is not always true, but it is a safe and conservative assumption in most cases. The role of research, and the kind of genetic studies that are likely to contribute important information and thereby assist in improving conservation efforts, are discussed in more detail in Chap. 4.As mentioned above, when little genetic information on population structure is available, we must rely on an assessment of the ecogeographic variation in the distribution area of interest. The approach typically considered can be referred to as genecological zonation. A genecological zone can be defined as an area with sufficiently uniform ecological conditions to assume similar phenotypic or genetic characters within a species. Such zonation also assumes there are some limits to extensive gene flow, which could offset local Patterns of genetic variation are well known for only a few species in British Columbia, so some stratification of the province was required to accommodate the large ecological variation for many other species that have not been investigated for genecological variation. Initially, ecoregions were used to stratify the province as they represented broad ecologically similar areas, and met most of the concerns relating to large differences in latitude and longitude (Yanchuk and Lester 1996). To accommodate expected genetic variation due to climatic differences caused by elevation and prevailing climate affected by mountain ranges, a further ecological stratification was imposed. Biogeoclimatic (BEC) zones were therefore overlaid on the ecoregions to address elevational differences. BEC zones could have been used alone, but, judging from our experience of patterns of genetic variation in other species, some of the larger zones spanned too many degrees of latitude (and longitude). Species ranges were overlaid on this stratification strategy, and choices were then made as to which of the ecoregion/BEC combinations would be critical to cover expected genetic variations in 23 of the conifer species being studied. Further criteria were used to determine how adequate in situ conservation may be in each of the ecoregion/BEC overlays, after evaluating the relevance, number and quality of the protected areas (Yanchuk and Lester 1996). This stratification approach was one of many ways in which ecological zonation could be developed to help cover genetic variations that may be present without having a detailed knowledge of genetic variation in the species under conservation. A more advanced approach is now being developed that will accommodate the evolving and dynamic nature of in situ reserves, new genetic information and changes in climate. The use of geographic information systems (GIS), the use of zonations that are based on details of genetic variation, and conservation and breeding units are now being developed (Hamann et al. 2004). The use of more modern computer and mapping technology will allow for a more dynamic management system, which may be able to accommodate changes in conservation objectives. These objectives may change as we obtain more information on patterns of genetic variation in individual species and as climatic, social and economic goals (such as the collection and management of breeding or ex situ management) also change. These principles of ecological stratification, combined with newer GIS capabilities, can be a powerful means for planning for gene conservation or breeding units, in all types of species. adaptations to local environmental and ecological selection pressures. Factors typically considered for zonation are natural vegetation, topography, climate and soil, as well as barriers to the dispersal of pollen and seed.Conservation status refers to the present state of the genetic resources and immediate risks to them. Questions to examine may be:• Are potentially important populations at high risk?As a result of logging and clearing of land for agriculture and frequent fires, Zambezi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga) forests are threatened throughout most of their range. In order to conserve the genetic resource of the species, a sufficient number of populations must be protected. The aim of this particular study was to identify a number of populations from different parts of the distribution of teak in Zambia to be protected and managed in order to conserve the genetic variation within the species. The method of ecological zonation was considered to be a simple, fast and relatively cheap tool for determining conservation measures, as it was largely based on information that was already available. For instance, some of the remaining Baikiaea forests are within existing national parks and are thus assured some level of protection. Although no genetic studies have been carried out on Zambezi teak, we have some knowledge of its ecogeographic variation. The occurrence of Zambezi teak is closely linked to the Kalahari sands throughout its whole distribution, and there are no other distinct topographic features that could act as barriers to gene flow. Therefore, the main ecological zonation is based on patterns of rainfall, the existing agroecological zone and the distance between separated Zambezi teak forests.Based on the three agroecological regions and the nine agroecological zones where B. plurijuga is found, a genecological zonation was drafted. From this, seven genecological zones were proposed, which differed from the agroecological zones primarily in terms of the proximity of stands to each other. Boundaries were drawn up so that separation of continuous forest areas was avoided. For each of the seven sites, a description of site or 'reserve' history, area of the site, current conservation status, assessment of threats and recommendations for conservation have been developed. See Vol. 2, Box 4.5 for more on teak in Zambia.Source: • How well protected are remaining populations?• Do protected remaining populations adequately cover geographic, ecological or genetic variants where the species occurs? • What are the future trends or risks (harvesting, climate change, etc.)?These questions have to be addressed using the best available information on: • past and present geographical distribution • prevailing utilization patterns in terms of direct use in the form of harvesting, planting and breeding of the species (including introduction of intercrossing species/ provenances) or indirectly through changing land-use patterns • likely occurrence in currently protected areas.By comparing the genecological zones and the distribution of the species of interest, it is in principle possible to identify the number of areas and populations that should be protected or sampled for conservation. It would be desirable to conserve all major variations in the gene pool, but the number of conservation stands needed must be set at a manageable level.In practice, the comparison of genecological distribution and conservation status consists of several steps:1 Overlay genecological zones with:• the natural (past) and present geographical distribution of the species • the occurrence of the species in ongoing planting programmes (ex situ status) and protected areas (in situ status) • location of provenances that are known to be valuable.2 Consider other factors that may affect the maintenance or structure of genetic variation, conservation status, and the conservation investment requirements, for example:• variation in the forest types across the distribution (for example natural successional variation, regeneration rates, densities in different forest types) • reproductive biology and dispersal capabilities (as they may affect inbreeding levels or gene flow through seed and pollen) • size and geographical location of past and ongoing planting programmes, and origin of the planting material used • safety and management requirements of various in situ and ex situ investments • land tenure and associated options and costs.3 Decide on appropriate geographical or genecological representation, the number of areas per zone, and the number of populations or stands to be conserved or sampled in each area:• For species with particularly scattered distributions, the size, frequency and proximity of identified groups of trees needs to be considered, to attain an adequate level of sampling (see Vol. 3, Chap. 3). • A programme where many species are targeted at the same time offers the possibility of taking ecosystem dependencies among species into consideration,as well as rationalizing areas sampled in order to save costs. More detailed information on identifying in situ conservation stands is presented in Vol. 2.In the early 1990s a systematic strategy for conservation of the genetic resources of trees and shrubs was developed for Denmark (Graudal et al. 1995). The strategy covers 75 species of actual or potential use for planting in Denmark. Its objective is to conserve genetic variation in each species so as to ensure their adaptability to environmental change and maintain opportunities for tree improvement. The plan is for the genetic resources to be conserved in evolutionary conservation stands, both in situ and ex situ. The identification, monitoring and management of the network of gene conservation stands will be carried out by the Tree Improvement Station of the National Forest and Nature Agency.We have only a limited detailed knowledge of the genetic structure of most species in Denmark. A survey based on ecological data and genetic information from biochemical marker studies and field trials currently provides the best basis for the selection of populations for conservation. This approach has been used for better-studied species such as Quercus robur, Q. petrea, and Fagus sylvatica. For most species the selection of conservation stands was based on an assumed genecological variability. The estimated number and distribution of conservation stands was determined using the following information:• natural distribution of the species • biology of the particular species, especially mode of reproduction and origin • a preliminary genecological zonation for Denmark. For each species, between 2 and 15 conservation stands were considered adequate to conserve the species' genetic variation in Denmark. For the 75 species, a total of 600 stands is required, 500 of them in situ, totalling 1 800 ha, excluding isolation zones. This corresponds to 0.4% of the total forest area in Denmark, but 5% of the remaining area of natural forest.Quercus petraea. When specific populations have been identified for conservation, the next step is to decide which conservation measures to apply. The types of questions that must be answered are:• Should a given population be physically demarcated and guarded in the field?• Should reproductive material be collected and stored in some ex situ vehicle?• Should a population be strictly protected, or can we combine its conservation with some form of use, such as harvesting bark, seed or wood?As mentioned in Chap. 2, it is generally preferable to conserve forest genetic resources by maintaining the potential for evolutionary processes to continue in designated conservation populations, in the form of living stands, preferably in situ. Ex situ conservation with some evolutionary potential can also be considered. For economic reasons and when evaluating security, ex situ conservation or some combination of in situ and ex situ methods will usually be considered. In situ and ex situ conservation are dealt with in more detail in Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, respectively.As mentioned in Sections 3.1 and 3.2, when planning a genetic resource conservation programme it is important to consider:• who is providing the ownership and stewardship of the programme at the national and international levels • what may happen in practice.Administrative and research units working in the public sector need to ascertain that all interests are considered. When populations and conservation measures have been identified, a number of field activities will follow:• field survey to verify the selection of conservation stands • demarcation, guarding, tending and monitoring of in situ conservation stands • collection, extraction, storage and multiplication of reproductive material for ex situ conservation.Once again, these activities are described in more detail in Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 for in situ and ex situ conservation respectively.For successful management and documentation, conservation measures need to be described and monitored through the use of specific technical guidelines. From a management point of view it is useful to distinguish between two major groups of conservation methods: conservation stands (either in situ or ex situ) and genebanks (ex situ).The need for management and the specific management interventions will vary with species-and site-specific characteristics of each stand. A conservation stand can be either a pure stand consisting of one species or a mixed stand of several species. In a mixed stand, one or several species may be targeted for gene conservation. • Mixed stands where the objective is to conserve the genetic variation of one or more species will in general have to be larger than pure single species stands. • A very conservative 'rule of thumb' estimate for an in situ stand, for a wind-pollinated species, should initially contain at least 150 and preferably more than 500 interbreeding individuals of each of the targeted species. • In terms of conservation of quantitative genetic variation, about 150 individuals will capture approximately 99.7% of the variation present in the initial population. Several hundred individuals are typically considered necessary to capture more of the lowerfrequency genes (Yanchuk 2001). • For populations expected to receive little or no management, larger numbers of individuals should be considered, because of random events and demographic factors which are affected by differences and natural variations in the basic biology of the species. • The actual numbers of individuals targeted for conservation within a population should be determined by examining the costs of maintaining more individuals, in relation to the benefits of capturing more genetic variation. This topic is dealt with in more detail in Vol. 2, Section 2.3, and in Vol. 3, Chap. 3.• For in situ populations, the conservation stands should be regenerated with genetic material originating from the same or adjacent stands, with as little genetic influence as possible from outside (in the form of contamination by pollen from external sources). • In practice this requires some type of isolation. This will depend greatly on the reproductive biology of the species, but isolation belts of 300-500 m are generally considered adequate for most wind-pollinated species.• The need for tending depends on species and site conditions. When it is required, it should favour regeneration and stability of trees and stands. • For some populations it may be necessary to consider special management systems, which may include cutting of competitive (invasive) species, or-for certain bushescontrolled animal grazing or fire. • Thinning is generally considered the most important tending intervention, in particular where it stimulates regeneration. In pure stands systematic thinning is usually recommended in order to maintain the current genetic constitution of the stand (in other words, high-grading is not allowed).• In some cases, the conservation effort can be combined with different forms of forest utilization, if the use does not change the genetic constitution of the stands, as mentioned above.• For both in situ and ex situ conservation in the field, site conditions and quality are of course an important consideration. Site selection and management for ex situ stand conservation is dealt with in more detail in Vol. 3, Chap. 5; however, site quality and many other factors also need to be considered during the selection of in situ stands.The long-term conservation status of both in situ and ex situ stands also needs to be taken into consideration (for instance, the life expectancy of a healthy proportion of trees in the population).Ex situ conservation of forest genetic resources in genebanks is a potentially important complementary measure to the use of conservation stands in the field.The term 'genebank' may imply a need for expensive and modern technology, but this is not necessarily the case. Fairly simple storage facilities, which are quite widely available, can be used for ex situ conservation of many species. More specialized structures may be required in some cases and may only be available at the international level. Documentation requirements and methodology are in principle the same, with more detail provided in Vol. 3, Chap. 6.Recommendations relating to the development of a national forest genetic resources programme can be summarized as follows:• Countries with significant forest resources need to consider developing a national strategy for the conservation of forest genetic resources. • The national strategy needs to be elaborated in accordance with perceived and known international and national needs, as well as institutional and financial capabilities.The elements of the strategy should include:• objectives • list of target species • agencies and organizations (partners) to be involved • mechanisms for facilitating collaboration between partners • distribution of tasks among partners• provision of general management guidelines • identification of relevant international collaboration.The strategy should be followed by species specific action planning:• assessment of genetic/genecological variation • assessment of conservation status of the target species and their populations • identification of conservation requirements and priorities at population and ecosystem levels • identification of appropriate conservation measures • identification of implementing partners and preparation of agreements for implementation • provision of specific guidelines for management and monitoring.For most tree species, especially for many important tropical species, we have only a limited knowledge even of basic biology. Considering that there are thousands of tree species with current and future economic potential, it seems impossible for us to make anything more than qualified guesses about their basic biology and genetic structure. Our dilemma is that we recognize an urgent need for conservation without really knowing what to conserve!The importance of research in order to fill this enormous information gap is often stressed, but it may not be the best use of the limited resources available. In fact, research is expensive, time consuming, and often limited to relatively few species and their populations. The key question associated with the initiation of field conservation activities is, therefore, what kinds of genetic studies are likely to contribute important information, and thereby assist in improving conservation efforts. We need to set priorities and identify strategic actions that will have a high impact.There are a number of problems that must be addressed in most conservation plans, once priorities have been set. Research activities have the potential to support the decisionmaking process, especially in relation to the following questions:• Where are the remaining trees/populations of the target species located, and what is their conservation status? • How many gene conservation populations are required (one, a few or several)? • Which populations (locations) should be conserved (or form the basis for seed collection to be ex situ conserved)? • How large should conservation units be? • How should the conserved areas be managed? • How can the trees be propagated for ex situ conservation? • How are the species used at present and how can use and conservation be combined?Studies that can increase the likelihood of making 'right decisions'-the design and implementation of successful conservation programmes-should be considered as a part of the overall activities. Although there are many basic biological and genetic processes that it would be valuable to understand in more detail, these questions are generally best left to research programmes with longer-term funding that can address more basic biological research.In order to have practical impact on a specific gene conservation effort:• The study should be economically and technically feasible in a practical context. There are too many poorly investigated tree species, and only limited resources available for overall conservation efforts, so resources must be wisely used.• The results must become available in good time. Often there is an urgent need for action, and many of the initial decisions often have to be taken within a few years. • Any new information must be expected to have an impact on the way that conservation activities will be planned and implemented; in other words, it must increase the likelihood of the conservation programme's success.Below we discuss what kinds of research programmes can shed light on key questions and at the same time fulfil the requirements of being relevant, economical and quickly done. In the longer run, the knowledge gained can be utilized in several ways to build a more complex understanding and description of genetic variations in a species. Still, in a specific situation the decision often has to be made to allocate limited funds either for a number of interesting applied research programmes or for field conservation activities. Collection of information and initiation of research and development activities are, therefore, considered below in the light of the limited resources available for specific conservation programmes. A more comprehensive discussion of the role of research in gene conservation programmes can be found in FAO (2002).is the conservation status of the targeted species?On the basis of our knowledge of dramatic loss of habitat, thousands of tropical tree species are listed as endangered in the 'red list' of threatened species (IUCN 2003), accompanied by notes on distribution and threats. When it comes to elaborating on conservation plans for particular species, however, our knowledge of their occurrence, frequency, ecology and status is often insufficient. In most cases it is necessary to undertake at least some basic surveys to locate the remaining populations, estimate population numbers, study population dynamics and monitor threats. If the aim is conservation of species and representative ecosystems for the species, surveys provide baseline information against which changes can be monitored. Before new surveys are designed, available records from forest departments, herbaria trade records or specialist groups should be retrieved. Specialist groups could be foresters with field experience in a particular area, botanists or contractors using the resource. Very often indigenous or local people have detailed local knowledge of the distribution and abundance of a given tree species.Once the basic information has been gathered, a standardized sampling methodology for the research activities can be developed. A number of different sampling techniques are available, and it is important to use suitable methods to make the effort that goes into the data collection worthwhile. The method chosen will depend on the habit of the species. Does it grow scattered or in clumps? Is it a dominant species forming uniform stands or a habitat specialist? In some situations, particularly in the tropics, trees of the same species are scattered far apart, and this has to be reflected in the sampling technique. For further information on inventory techniques, the comprehensive literature, such as that provided in Hyppa et al. (1998), should be consulted.Demographic surveys are the basis of any conservation programme on threatened tree species. Recording habitat information will probably advance our knowledge of the habitat preference of species where this information is lacking or poorly understood, as the case is for many rare tropical trees. Observations on the general ecology of a species are often of great importance to efforts to conserve it. For example, a species might be protected, but if key associates such as pollinators or animals that disperse seeds are lost, the conservation efforts are likely to fail.Once information from the field surveys is collected, it is still not easy to 'convert' these data to a known conservation status. There are many factors that influence conservation status (see Chap. 3), but any system that is used to weight these factors, and finally end up with some priority list for conservation, will also probably need to address the question of how much is known about the reproductive biology and the genetic structure of the species. For species of high to middling importance, a 'gap analysis' of what is known would be the first activity to carry out in order to decide what research activities should be considered.Ironic as it may seem, genetic information as such may not be absolutely required to meet most of these objectives. Even without genetic studies, which generally provide information on genetic variation within and among populations, we can be reasonably sure that there is some genetic variation and it will be partitioned at some level as variation either within or among populations. If we are interested in conserving what is there, then the amount itself does not matter much to our conservation objective. So we must always attempt to sample at the population level and with good representation of individuals within the chosen populations.Also, gene conservation is largely a problem of conserving lower-frequency alleles, and ensuring the presence of evolutionary processes that create and maintain these genetic variations. However, we can never really monitor these closely, and are obliged to estimate their presence by theoretical means. For example, although a well-designed molecular genetic marker study could greatly elucidate the distribution of neutral alleles (providing estimates on within-and among-population genetic variation, outcrossing rates, heterozygosity and gene flow, for example), the magnitudes of these population genetic parameters may have only a relatively small effect on the final decisions a conservation officer may be forced to make in the field. Therefore, although such detailed studies have great confirmation value, and may even optimize sampling approaches (see Vol. 3, Box 3.3), they may not be the most effective use of research capacity or funding.For most species, genetic variation among populations is rarely known before gene conservation efforts are initiated. Most of the targeted species often grow under variable ecological conditions, and/or cover a large distribution area. This suggests that it may be desirable to conserve a large number of populations representing different parts of the distribution area. However, there normally is a limit on how many populations can be handled efficiently. The question is, therefore, do populations actually differ, by how much, and in which attributes? The smaller the population differences, the fewer populations need to be included in an effective conservation programme.In general it is advisable to assume, particularly for forest tree species which have been exposed to different selective forces (such as drought or cold tolerance) over long periods of time, that populations may have developed genetic differences due to natural selection. Also, genetic differences can be generated between small populations that have been genetically isolated from each other for a long time, and different histories of introduction and migration can also lead to populations that are genetically different (by genetic drift, for instance). A number (a 'network') of different populations should then be conserved, rather than just a single larger population. Still, not all populations can be conserved, and the question is then how many populations need to be conserved, and-once the size of the network is determined-which populations should be conserved?Provenance trials are still the most common and informative technique for studying genetic patterns, using quantitative traits such as survival, height, diameter, stem form and fruiting/flowering. More recently, a number of studies based on DNA genetic markers have emerged and developed rapidly, and now allow fast surveys of genetic variation within and between populations (see Box 4.1) (also see for example Gillet 1999).   These results show that careful consideration must be given to the type of trait being measured (genetic markers which are expected to be neutral versus quantitative traits which may be under selective forces), before the conservation officer or forest geneticist makes decisions on how to allocate resources among and within populations for conservation. Although neutral genetic markers such as isozymes can be used to outline patterns of variation that may be linked to important adaptive characteristics, their value is generally greatest for looking at historic patterns of migration, genetic distances and gene flow which may have other attributes that are important in the design of a conservation programme. However, it is important to note that, for a given tree species, different traits can exhibit quite different genetic differentiation patterns. This has been shown, for example, for Pinus contorta (Yang et al. 1996) (see Box 4.2) and Pinus sylvestris (Karku et al. 1996).As indicated in the above example for P. contorta, observed genetic patterns of variation are the outcome of interactions between evolutionary forces: small population sizes (genetic drift), mutation, migration and natural selection. In particular, natural selection has different impacts on different traits: some are strongly selected because they relate to the fitness of the individuals, whereas others may be much more weakly selected, may be correlated to other traits, or may have no selective or correlated responses at all. In very general terms one can distinguish the following:• Quantitative traits subject to strong natural selection: genetic variation for quantitative traits such as survival, growth (height, diameter or volume) or phenology (flushing date or date for termination of growth) is expected to be highly influenced by natural selection. Adaptation to different ecological conditions can therefore be expected to be responsible for important differentiation between populations for species that grow naturally in a large area with varying climatic conditions. This is in accordance with many provenance trials for a large number of tree species, which have revealed important variation between populations in growth and survival. • Neutral traits: the variation pattern for selectively neutral markers (allozymes or DNA markers) is believed to be a result of genetic drift and migration only, as they are neutral with respect to natural selection. In trees, most studies of genetic variation in neutral markers have shown limited differentiation between populations (Hamrick and Godt 1990;Hamrick 1994).In summary, it is important to note that because genetic markers and common garden experiments assess different types of genes, the outcome in terms of estimates of genetic differentiation will also be different. For practical purposes, the first priority for research is to examine variation in fitness-related traits rather than results from genetic marker studies such as allozymes, or DNA markers (for examples, see Chap. 2, Table 2.2). However, genetic marker studies are typically cheaper and simpler to do, can provide good basic background information on population structure (see Vol. 3, Box 3.3) and can affect decisions on sampling approaches.Studies on performance under controlled conditions, such as drought stress in nurseries, may be an important supplement to classical long-term provenance testing in the field. However, provenance trials (and most quantitative genetic studies) have some drawbacks:• Results will not become available for a number of years. Trials are normally evaluated long before the trees are mature, and thus exclude information on variation that appears fairly late in the life cycle. However, early test information in well-designed field trials can yield important information on growth potential among populations (phenology or growth rhythm, for example). • Results from a given set of trials basically reflect growth under the given conditions.Other trial sites may yield other results, so it is usually wise to include 2-4 test sites per experiment, with contrasting climatic or edaphic conditions.To conclude, studies based on genetic markers should be used with care unless they are combined with observations on quantitative traits such as growth and survival. Genetic marker studies offer potential information on relations between populations that have been generated by restricted gene flow between small populations, or as a result of different migration routes. Such information can be considered as useful background when interpreting the results from field trials. Also, general levels of inbreeding and genetic diversity can be estimated from molecular marker data. However, such data generally do not reveal differentiation in the fitness-related traits, which is a serious drawback, because it is these traits that are normally the most important when it comes to designing gene conservation programmes.Much attention has been paid to genetic processes associated with small population sizes. It is well known that conservation units should not be too small, as this will cause continuous loss of genetic diversity by the effects of genetic drift and increases in inbreeding. Considering various aspects of these processes has led to a number of recommendations for the required effective number of trees that should be included in a conservation population.The actual population sizes that are required for specific conservation objectives are dealt with in more detail in Vol. 2 for in situ conservation and Vol. 3 for ex situ conservation. Briefly, however, much of the literature on the topic suggests that population sizes could vary from 50 to as large as 5 000, of course depending upon the actual conservation objectives. As mentioned earlier, at the lower end of this range (50+) the target tends to be quantitative genetic variation (ex situ objectives), and trying to conserve the most basic levels of genetic variation at our disposal. At the higher end of the range (in the thousands) the target tends to be lowerfrequency genes, as well as the maintenance of quantitative genetic variation accounting for a balance between drift and mutation mostly in natural populations (in situ objectives).From a practical point of view, having a target of 5 000 rather than 50 trees can create a substantially different conservation approach. Can research assist in deciding the required number more accurately? Different genetic approaches can be applied to guide the decision on the required population size, and research can shed some light on the biological objectives for each approach. Concern for inbreeding depression has, for example, led to the recommendation of an effective population number of about 50 (see for example Frankel and Soulé 1981), but if it is established that the species suffers severely from inbreeding, the requirement may be for a much higher number. Maintenance of genetic diversity 'in the long run' through a balance between genetic drift and polygenic mutation rates (see for example Franklin 1980;Lande and Barrowclough 1987) has led to recommendations of 500-5 000, but these numbers are highly dependent on the expected polygenic mutation rate. In principle, therefore, genetic studies such as selfing rates, number and effects of rare alleles, inbreeding depression, polygenic mutation rates or natural selective forces could aid the decision on target population sizes. However, it is difficult, expensive and time consuming to estimate such genetic parameters accurately, and they are therefore rarely available in most conservation programmes. Furthermore, the required population sizes (50-5 000) are actually 'effective population' (Ne) numbers that cannot be directly used as guidelines. The effective number will only equal the actual number of trees under a set of so-called ideal conditions (Frankel and Soulé 1981); for instance, all trees are mature, all trees flower equally, all trees mate randomly with each other, and all trees produce the same amount of seed. This is highly unlikely, so the effective population number is typically smaller than the actual number of individuals in real populations, and may be as little as half the census number (Nc) (Lynch 1996). A key question is therefore the relationship between actual number of individuals (Nc) and the effective population number (Ne). This is particularly important when it is difficult and costly to include additional trees in the conservation population.The relationship between Ne and Nc can only be established by studying factors such as variation in fruiting, the presence of family structure, assortative mating and overlapping generations. Of these factors, variation between trees in seed set is usually the easiest to assess, because this can be done by relatively simple observation or collections. Also, variation in seed set and reproductive success in the stand are probably among the most important reasons for reduced effective population size. This may be especially true for species where a complicated interaction with pollinators is disturbed by human influence. In such cases observations on seed or fruit setting may be very valuable, and scattered or missing fruit set would indicate that management has to be modified.In practice, the number of trees must be estimated from the estimated size of the protected area. This requires some data on approximate number of mature trees per hectare, which can differ largely between species, and populations within species. The Ban Cham Pui teak forest (see figure) carries more than 50 mature trees per hectare (DBH >30 cm), whereas other Thai teak conservation stands are found to contain less than 15 such trees per hectare (Graudal et al. 1999). In species-diverse forests, the densities may be very low. Hubbell and Foster (1990), for example, report a large number of tree species being present with only 1 tree per 50 hectares in an old-growth forest in Panama.In fact, when it comes to ensuring the long-term survival of a given population, demographic and environmental factors may easily be as important as genetic processes (Shaffer 1981;Lande 1988). Environmental modifications that influence the abundance of pollinating vectors (see for example Bawa and Hadley 1990;Owens 1994), or changes in the microclimate necessary for successful natural regeneration (Graudal et al. 1995), are examples of such factors that are likely to be very important for maintaining populations of tree species over several generations. These factors are often more or less directly related to area, because suitable environments-and any of the required interactions with other species-often require conservation units of hundreds of hectares. For relatively densely distributed species, such a large area will probably contain many more trees than are required from a purely genetic point of view. Regular monitoring of the seed and fruit setting, and/or occurrence of natural regeneration, is thus important.Human activities in conserved forests can have genetic implications and be in conflict with the objectives of conservation. Obviously the key question to be addressed by research is what kind of use can be accepted, or what kind of management will be required.Logging and other use of forests can influence their conservation value, as discussed in Vol. 2. Alteration of species composition and microclimatic conditions associated with logging may reduce the reproductive capacity of such tree species by decreasing the population size of their pollinators (Owens 1994). Logging of specific low-density tree species can also increase the average distance between two trees of the same species, to an extent where the chance of cross-pollination is reduced. Reduced outcrossing can be quite serious for many species, leading to inbreeding depression or reduced fertility (Bawa 1994). Changes in outcrossing rates after logging can be studied by using genetic markers (Ghazoul and McLeish 2001) as well as estimating outcrossing rates over time (Ritland and Jain 1981). However, the best way to monitor the overall fertility success in the field is to make regular observations on seed or fruit setting and natural regeneration rates. It is quite common for tree species only to flower at irregular time intervals, and the results of such monitoring must therefore be evaluated over a certain time frame. Occurrence of natural regeneration is a general indicator of fertility, but this should also be evaluated keeping the very dynamic nature of most forests in mind.A natural line of reasoning based on observations over a period of monitoring could, for example, be:• Is natural regeneration absent?• > If yes: is fruit set poor?• > If yes: is flowering poor?Poor flowering over a long period of time could be caused by a dramatic change in microclimate, because initiation of flowering is often triggered by climatic factors. Low seed production, in the presence of good flowering, may be caused by low density of pollinators (see for example Dreistadt et al. 1990, Ghazoul andMcLeish 2001), or environmental factors such as water stress. When seed production is adequate, an absence of seedlings on the forest floor may be caused by grazing, fires or conditions unsuitable for germination and growth. Results from research that monitors regeneration could lead to interventions that might improve the conservation status of species in the conserved areas. Such monitoring cannot, of course, be done for all species; however, it is likely to be less expensive than genetic marker studies, so a fair number of species could be included. Species might be selected for study because of their high priority (see Section 3.3), and/or because they represent different ecological life strategies.Selective logging of straight trees may cause directional genetic selection towards trees of low economic value and poor stem form. The possible effects of selective logging depend on the heritability of the trait being selected (see for example Falconer 1989), and on how the selection is performed. In natural populations with mixed species and ages, heritability is probably low for traits such as growth, but somewhat higher for stem form. The genetic response following moderate selection is, therefore, expected to be generally low, whereas more severe degradation of forests will cause more rapid and important genetic changes and reduced commercial value in future generations (Ledig 1992;Savolainen and Kärkäinen 1992).The heritability for selected species and traits can be estimated in field trials, where the progeny from selected trees are grown and compared (see for example Lynch and Walsh 1998;Falconer 1989) (also see Vol. 3,Chap. 4). This is usually only applicable for species that are typically grown in plantations, and-as they require time and resources-such studies are possible only for high-priority species already subject to some form of breeding or pre-breeding. For most specific conservation programmes, information on the heritability of selected traits would be desirable, but not crucial.Strong negative selection (the logging of high-value trees) should, of course, not take place in conservation areas. However, when conservation and use are combined in larger areas (see Box 4.3 for an example), these kinds of studies (i.e. provenance or heritability studies) can be quite important. Before starting field trials, it is important to remember that results may not be available for several years, or even longer.Grazing and fire may disturb natural regeneration, introduce new selective forces and influence the competition between species. Severe fires may result in total destruction of the prevailing ecosystem and thereby initiate substantial migration involving pioneer species. Many forest ecosystems are adapted to occasional fires, but a higher than normal frequency can cause problems for regeneration of some species. For example, repeated fires have been identified as major obstacles to natural regeneration in natural Pinus merkusii stands in parts of Thailand (Theilade et al. 2000) and in natural Baikiaea plurijuga forests in Zambia (Theilade et al. 2001). Land use that includes burning and cattle grazing may influence the genetic resources much more severely than selective logging. Again, such processes are Before 1979, almost all production forests were under the Malayan Uniform System (MUS); currently the system of management is either MUS or a selective management system (SMS). Under the MUS all trees over a specified diameter were felled, and under the SMS the diameter limit is set on the basis of stocking expectations in the future. However, both systems selectively remove the biggest trees and strong genetic erosion (or dysgenic selection) is expected to occur.Gene resource areas (GRAs) have been proposed in many countries, for many conservation projects over the years. Management practices for GRAs can vary, but they tend to have one common objective: to maintain viable populations and genetic diversity of the original population. One such (GRAs) has been proposed within the Ulu Sedili Forest Reserve in Malaysia. This is made up of 30 compartments, 19 of which have been logged while 11 are not logged but scheduled for the future. Initially eight target species have been identified for conservation measures. Although individual species require individual management considerations, after the initial inventory was carried out in one of the compartments, it was decided that at least 50% of the trees over 30 cm DBH should be left. Two of the eight species had a complete restriction on cutting, and others had larger minimum DBH limits.It was proposed that the GRA project will continue for 10 years (until approximately 2005), and monitored regularly (every 5 years) after logging. Broader applications of these principles and methods will hopefully benefit Malaysian forestry by ensuring socioeconomic returns from the forests, sustaining irreplaceable genetic diversity and maintaining environmental protection for years to come.Box 4.3 An example of combined use and conservation in gene resource management units in Malaysia best monitored by observing development over time in the distribution of species and size classes, including the presence of regeneration. Regular monitoring is therefore valuable, to make it possible to intervene if the situation is seen to be in conflict with the conservation objectives.Although it is often important to combine use and conservation of trees, the domestic use of trees may have many genetic implications. Seed used for propagation of trees grown on farms is often collected from a few nearby trees, and this can have quite strong genetic implications, especially for outcrossing species. Understanding the historic distribution of germplasm at the landscape level is therefore important in evaluating the potential genetic implications of collecting and subsequent domestication activities. Surveys of the present channels for procurement of seeds, including interviews with farmers, are one way to shed light on where germplasm has originated and how it is distributed. This understanding can be an important starting point when designing strategies for sustainable management of genetic resources of planted trees. Important selective processes may also be involved in the propagation and cultivation phase. From a conservation point of view, it is also interesting to know to what extent different traits are genetically correlated; that is, whether selection for one character results in unintended change in another. Estimation of such correlations requires progeny trials, but this information is normally expected to be available only for species of high present use and value (see Vol. 3, Chap. 4).Many species are not planted at present, although they may have a large potential for planting. Putting such species into use, as part of an integrated use and conservation plan, may require research on cultivation of the species. Such studies can focus on problems related to seed procurement, plant production, establishment, cultivation and/or use of the end product (Hansen and Kjaer 1999). Initial screening of a larger number of trees may be an important way to identify species with potential for use (Butterfield 1995).Demographic surveys of target species are often an important part of a conservation programme. Such a survey should reflect ecological status and development (such as occurrence of trees of target species and successful regeneration), as well as human impact and potential threats.Although it is important for decisions about forest genetic conservation to be based on a genetic understanding of the species of interest, it is important to note that this is not necessarily a prerequisite for action. In most cases, the conservation of forest genetic resources requires representative populations from ecologically representative or distinct areas, and an overview of the conservation status of different populations. Of course, genetic research per se is important to improve our general understanding of genetic processes, and thereby improve the general concepts and selection of specific populations and management activities for conservation. Forest genetic research is also highly useful in capacity-building and training of geneticists who can understand, promote and carry out the necessary field work. Careful consideration should be given to the role, specific conservation objective and likely impact of any genetic research studies that may be undertaken.Millions of people, representing a great variety of cultures and land-use practices, live in or on the edges of forests. In tropical environments, many of these people are shifting cultivators who have for generations lived in and used the forest according to their particular fallow system.Although they live in or near forested areas and are dependent to varying degrees on natural forest products, a large number of these people have experienced increasing difficulties in gaining access to local forests and their products. These difficulties may arise due to deforestation, logging, population pressure or increasing government regulations including declaration of state forests, national parks or wildlife reserves.In many countries, plans to protect forest ecosystems in forest reserves and protected areas have failed to consider the needs and knowledge of local people (Anan Ganjanapan 1996; Wily 1997; Tuxill and Nabhan 1998;Kumar 2000). It is becoming increasingly accepted that the participation of local people is essential for effective conservation of protected forest areas. However, their participation and efforts in the conservation of specific target tree species are less well documented.Participation in forest conservation is often associated with the concept of community forestry. Community forestry basically means that a forest is managed or co-managed by people who live close to it. Legal, political and cultural settings within which community forestry is practised vary considerably, and accordingly, the term can include a range of different experiences and practices. Community forestry is often associated with South and South-east Asia, but community-based forestry is also found elsewhere and is being developed in other regions (Wily 1997).Indeed, it can be argued that community forestry has almost always existed. Before the advent of modern forestry regulations and centralized administration, local people managed most forested areas. Even so, traditional ownership and management in the past should not be equated with community forestry practised today. Within the confines of modern nation states, characterized by comparatively higher pressure on forests resulting from increased local and global demand and by easy forest and market access resulting from infrastructure development, community forestry must still largely participate at state, national and international levels.Local participation is important in almost all forest conservation, but there are situations where it is absolutely necessary, for instance in areas characterized by high population pressure and conflicts of resource use; in areas under communal ownership; and in smaller protected areas because of the vulnerability to surrounding human activities (see Roche and Dourojeanni 1984). In these cases conservation in the absence of local participation will almost certainly fail. At the same time, it will be argued in this chapter that participation in itself provides no guarantee of success. This is because the outcome of participatory processes often depends on additional factors such as the institutional and legal backing provided by the state, or on the education and interests of local people and other stakeholders. As the case studies presented in this chapter show, governments and their agencies play significant roles in participatory processes by providing-or not providingthe 'enabling environment' for these processes to develop fully. Indeed, many studies suggest that the optimum formula for conservation is joint control and management by the government and local people (see for example Singh 1996;Hirsch et al. 1999).Engaging in participatory processes, and creating an appropriate legal and administrative environment for them to proceed, are vital and complementary aspects of the conservation of forest genetic resources. In order to stress this, the present chapter deals both with the different perspectives of participatory processes and with key elements of enabling environments-that is, appropriate institutional and regulatory frameworks provided or affirmed by the state, secure land tenure, and various forms of capacity-building. The chapter is not meant to provide a thorough academic analysis of the complex political and cultural issues related to forest conservation and people's participation. Rather, the intention is to offer an overview of important aspects of the political and cultural context within which participatory processes inevitably take place. Accordingly, some practical suggestions as to how these processes can be improved are presented.It should be noted that participatory methods such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques are not discussed in this chapter as there is already a comprehensive and readily available literature on this subject (for example Chambers 1992;Wilde and Vainio-Mattila 1995a,b,c;Davis-Case 1989, 1990).This chapter directs attention to a number of concrete participatory conservation processes currently under way in different parts of the world. None of these case studies is ideal in the sense that conflicting interests, social conflicts, or technical difficulties are absent. Even so, the case studies presented here are far more positive than most examples found in the world today. It is, indeed, a deliberate choice not to repeat well-known cases of participatory processes gone awry but, instead, to focus on how, through a combination of cooperation and political struggle, people have managed to deal with inevitable problems and conflicts in a constructive and innovative way.The concept of participation originally grew out of a radical criticism of the mainstream development projects of the 1960s and 1970s. Critics asked why development projects often did not lead to the expected results, and came to the conclusion that lack of people's participation was the problem. Too many projects, it was argued, were designed and implemented without debate and cooperation with people whose lives were to be changed by the projects.Since then, unfortunately, the term 'participation' has been overused and it has become part of development jargon. It seems ever-present in project descriptions and plans, often because donor organizations, largely for political reasons, demand that projects use a 'participatory approach'. Unfortunately, project planners and implementers frequently talk of 'participation' while continuing their traditional style of management without any real involvement of others (Wily 1997). Nonetheless, real participation remains a goal worth striving for.Developers and conservation planners often mean very different things by the term 'participation'. Adnan (1992) defined three basic meanings of the term that are often encountered:• A process in which information about a planned project is made available to the public. This type of participation often involves only community leaders. These people are listened to, but the decision-making power rests with the outside planners and project implementers. • Project-related activities, rather than mere information flow. This might involve labour from the community, or a longer-term commitment by local groups to maintain services or facilities or even to plan for their future use. Again, the initiative has come from outside. People are involved, but not in control.• A project that is the direct outcome of people's own initiatives. A well-known example of this form of participation is the Chipko movement which began in the Himalayas in the 1970s, when women mobilized themselves to protect the trees that were vital to their economy (Shiva 1988).There are many intermediate forms between the three categories. Some people have therefore claimed that because it can have so many different meanings the term 'participation' has become meaningless, too often serving to disguise a continuation of top-down planning (Rahnema 1992). Others have argued that it is not reasonable to describe a process as participatory if local people are merely asked to supply information or labour to a project already designed and decided by planners (Gardner and Lewis 1996). In line with these arguments, we consider it real participation when people are involved in the planning, organization and decision-making of a project from the very beginning in order that the project fits their needs and capabilities.People's participation is essential in development projects as well as in conservation of natural resources including forest genetic resources. If effective participation in conservation means involving people throughout the organization and decision-making processes, the question of how to create this kind of participation then arises. To begin with, it is helpful to think of participation as a process of communicating and working together with different people and groups in order to achieve a common goal. Participation is learning from each other's knowledge and mistakes; it is not something that can happen only once. It is a timeconsuming process made up of different steps or phases, each of which presents new insights and challenges. Participation is sometimes difficult, but the rewards of truly participatory processes are often impressive, as more effective forest conservation is achieved (World Bank 1996;Wily 1997).Conservation of forest resources requires that stakeholders trust one another and commit themselves to the task of sustainable forest use. In order to build up relations of trust, legal or administrative procedures may have to be changed or power redistributed. Often, mutual trust needs time to develop, especially if stakeholders have no previous experience of sharing decision-making powers and management responsibilities. Individual planners and other stakeholders can do much to strengthen relations of trust by listening carefully to ideas or complaints brought forward by others and by acting in a considerate and genuinely respectful manner towards all involved. Above all, it is worthwhile noting that it is the concrete actions of stakeholders in relation to each other, rather than their words or promises, which ultimately determine whether trust evolves or not.It is important to consider how a conservation process in itself may or may not help Encouraged by this success, the Indian Government expanded the programme during the 1990s. Today, nearly 4 000 km 2 of degraded forest is managed by more than 3 500 forest protection committees and includes 5.5% of the forest cover in India (Saxena 1999).Under JFM the legal ownership of land remains with the government forest departments; village committees are co-managers of the forest and are entitled to shares in forest products. Forest protection committees control access to the forests and manage them. These local community institutions are proving more effective than state forest departments in protecting the forest. Regenerating forests now provide more medicinal, fibre, fodder, fuel and food products for rural people, whose livelihoods are thereby improved.The JFM strategy has required a change of attitude from both forest departments and rural communities. Rural communities have had to organize themselves in new ways, overcome village and inter-village conflicts, and work together with forestry officials. Foresters have had to communicate with local people and share decisionmaking power. To enable this process of participation the Indian Government has provided legal and institutional backing, including land reforms, social forestry programmes, sharing of user rights with the people, and education of foresters to deal with participatory processes.It has been argued that JFM in India is a concept describing divergent experiences ranging from real participation in decision-making to mere execution of government officials' orders (Kumar 2000). Often, forestry officials lay down the rules for forest protection committees, and the partnership between forest departments and village communities is generally unequal as most power rests with the former (Tewari 1996).A major lesson learnt from the JFM experience in India is that involving local communities in management of forests has led to more effective forest protection. Another major lesson is that sustainable conservation depends on the cooperative attitudes of local people and forestry officials and, significantly, on the legal and institutional backing of the state. Initially, major conservation activities consisted of mapping and demarcating the area; establishing access/inspection roads and firebreaks; relocating illegal settlements; and prohibiting agricultural activities, resin tapping, charcoal burning and firewood gathering. Early on, the GCF functioned successfully thanks to local Thai Royal Forest Department (RFD) staff who cultivated good relationships with local people. Awareness of local people about conservation issues and the purpose of the GCF was raised through an informal public education campaign.In the late 1980s, the surrounding villages experienced a considerable increase in population as immigrants arrived from neighbouring provinces. This led to increasing pressure on land and resources. Through the 1990s, the capacity and will of local forestry staff to enforce GCF regulations declined. By 1997, several illegal dwellings had appeared within the GCF and agricultural activities had begun. Almost all mature P. merkusii trees were being used for fire-stick production. Pine regeneration was sparse as a result of limited production of viable seed and an unfavourable regeneration environment. Illegal logging and charcoal production were threatening other important tree species within the GCF. By 1998, it was evident that the conservation approach based on protective and prohibitive regulations by forestry staff, limited by insufficient budgets and support from other agencies, was unsuccessful (Granhof 1998). An inspection in 1999 revealed that nearly all pine trees were severely damaged by firestick cutting and at high risk of dying.In response to these experiences, the RFD and the Forest Genetic Resources Conservation and Management Programme (FORGENMAP) has now included the Khong Chiam GCF in a new network of pilot in situ conservation areas known as 'Partnerships in Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources'. A participatory approach will be used, based on the community forestry approaches developed by the Regional Box 5.2 Conservation of FGR in Thailand continued catalyse relations of trust and commitment among stakeholders. An ambitious timetable for a given conservation activity may, for example, make it difficult to ensure the trust and commitment of all stakeholders. Often, such projects are envisaged to last just a few years before the 'outsiders' leave an area again. If project personnel depart before the positive effects of conservation activities become visible for local stakeholders, then the latter are less likely to remain committed to the conservation process. Donors' preferences for large-scale rather than small-scale projects can also inadvertently lead to barriers to trust and commitment. This is especially true if project managers (be they local people or 'outsiders') want other stakeholders to commit themselves on a level beyond their capacities and aspirations. Such an approach, sometimes proposed with the best of intentions for people's participation, can make other stakeholders insecure and end up leading to no commitment or involvement at all. In order to avoid such situations, conservation activities need to be organized so that stakeholders-particularly those with no previous experience in participation-can commit themselves gradually, task by task, and progressively build up relations of trust. All key stakeholders should, therefore, be involved in conservation activities from the very beginning of the planning process, including collection of baseline data, to the actual implementation of forest co-management.As mentioned previously, no two participatory processes will ever be exactly identical because people, forests and other circumstances vary from place to place and from time to time. Even so, most participatory processes will involve a number of different phases or steps for conservation of forest genetic resources. Step 1: identification of the species and areas to be protected It is debatable whether this activity can-or should-always be participatory in the real sense of the word, since conservation objectives tend to be defined initially by government officials or scientists. There are, however, cases such as the Chipko movement and the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme (see Vol. 2, Box 4.7), where people define their own conservation goals, which are then brought to the attention of the government.A model for a participatory process in conservation of forest genetic resources (DFSC). If interest-holder analysis reveals too severe problems such as pressure on resources or land disputes, select alternative site STEP 8.Whether the initial formulation of conservation objectives comes from government conservation planners or from local groups, in a truly participatory process, it is vital that these objectives remain open for discussion and reformulation once other stakeholders have become involved in the planning process. In Fig. 5.3 this is illustrated in step 5, which states that all stakeholders should participate in the re-evaluation of conservation goals.Step 2: identification of suitable sites Among suitable areas one or more will be selected; again, it is likely that this phase might not always require full participation. If sites are initially selected by, for example, government planners and scientists, it is crucial that other stakeholders are able to challenge or change this decision later on in the process. At a minimum, local stakeholders should be able to provide local information on individual stand characteristics that might be considered important in the scientific assessment period.Step 3: stakeholder analysis In this phase several questions need to be clarified (see Grimble et al. 1995;Danida 1996):• Who will be affected by conservation activities?• What are their interests?• Who has a right to participate?• How do different stakeholders affect the conservation area?During this phase it is important to consider that people's interests in a particular species or forest area cover more than simple economics. Trees and forests may have religious, spiritual, recreational or aesthetic value for people, and these can be as important as economic interests. Depending on how they feel about conservation activities, different stakeholders may want to participate in different ways. If a group of people or a local community is defined as one stakeholder, it should be remembered that all members of this group, or a multitude of groups, may not have the same interest in, knowledge of, access to, and rights over the forest and its resources. This can also be true with government, or nongovernmental agencies, as in many countries different government agencies and departments can be involved in land and forest management. See Table 5.1 for an example of a stakeholder analysis.Step 4: collection of baseline data At least three different types of data are necessary:• government policies and plans regarding the sites proposed for conservation of forest genetic resources • data about and from local communities • data on the forest and its resources.Ideally, a team of professionals and stakeholders, including the local communities, should work together to collect the baseline data.As mentioned above, different government agencies may hold authority in a particular area, and sometimes their plans for that area are not compatible. It is crucial for planners to know whether existing government plans may inadvertently conflict with the objective of conservation. If this is the case, alternative conservation sites must be considered unless the government department is prepared to change its plans.It is likewise vital to obtain information about local communities. Much of this can be collected together by the people themselves and supplemented from official information sources. How do people organize land and forest use? What is the local land-use history? Do people hold user rights over the forest? Will they benefit from the conservation of forest genetic resources? What are the trends in population pressure? What are people's needs in terms of subsistence? Clearly, conservation measures in which benefits outweigh costs for local people stand a better chance of success. Using people's needs and forest management practices as the starting point will make conservation more likely to succeed in the long run.Baseline data on a forest and its resources are obviously necessary for conservation planning. Forest surveys and inventories should be undertaken. Historical trends in resources should be established. Have particular tree species disappeared or become rarer? Is regeneration sufficient? In some cases such information can be obtained by involving local people in land-use and resource mapping (see Box 5.3).Step 5: re-evaluation of objectives Having identified all stakeholders and collected baseline data needed for further planning, stakeholders need to meet and re-evaluate the objectives of conservation activities. During this phase, specific conservation activities, timetables and resources required need to be defined as well. There may be cases where conservation objectives have been identified and sites have been selected by government officials or other conservation planners alone. In such cases it is crucial that hitherto non-involved stakeholders become real participants at this stage of the conservation process. Some stakeholders might identify goals and activities considered by them to be vital for sustainable forest conservation-for example, acquisition of tenure or forest user rights, formal government recognition of customary forest rules, or training of stakeholders. Such social and political goals may be as important to these stakeholders as specifically forest technical objectives are to others.Step 6: identifying the institution to be responsible for conservation activities In some cases appropriate institutions may already exist and be in a position to take up responsibilities for implementing and monitoring conservation activities. In other cases a forest management committee may need to be established. It will be important to consider, for example, how different stakeholders are to participate. Is the committee to be locally constituted or should outside agencies be included? How should communication be organized? How should activities be monitored, and by whom?Steps 7 and 8: implementation and monitoring During these phases a conservation project will find its own form as various activities progress. Implementation of activities or monitoring of target species and, not forgetting the social or political aspects of the conservation process itself, will automatically lead back to previous steps in the participatory process. As illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 5.1, it might be necessary to make a new stakeholder analysis because additional stakeholders have appeared or because the involved parties acquire new interests or, indeed, lose particular interests in a species or geographical area. Likewise, at any time during a participatory process, stakeholders may realize that available baseline data need to be revised or supplemented by additional forms of information, for example because the very process itself has led to social or economic changes for the involved parties. Projects need to be designed with a high degree of flexibility to accommodate such changes. Implementation and monitoring should also be participatory.interests of other groups within the community are neglected. Failure to consider the views of all community members is a common source of conflict.• Local communities live according to stable traditional values. The idea that rural communities do not change or acquire new knowledge, habits and interests is wrong. Social and cultural traditions change as people get new options, ideas, and technology. • Local communities depend on forest products for their livelihood and, therefore, have an interest in protecting the forest. It is true that many people living in or on the edges of tropical forests are highly dependent on forest resources. However, in many countries infrastructure development and access to urban labour markets have made rural people much less dependent on forest products than they were in the past. In other words, it cannot be automatically assumed that rural communities feel that they need to conserve the forest. • Local people like the forest and therefore want to protect it. In fact, cultural perceptions of the forest vary from group to group and country to country. Indeed, social groups often have different ways of thinking about and acting towards the forest, which to outside observers might seem unintelligible or paradoxical. For example, while people may 'like' and treasure the forest in the sense that it provides them with fuel wood, food, medicine, and timber, the forest might at the same time be associated with negative meanings. In South-east Asia, for example, the forest has traditionally been perceived as the sphere of uncivilized and immoral beings including spirits, wild animals and ethnic minority groups. As such, the forest is linked to notions of backwardness and danger and carries a negative meaning for many people in these countries (Davis 1984;Stott 1991;Isager 2001). They may be keen to clear it and expand agricultural production, which in their view is more civilized and desirable. • Local people destroy the forest because they do not care about it. This assumption is possibly as common as the previous one. Both ideas rest on the underlying incorrect notion that people's perceptions and feelings about forests are straightforward and unambiguous and make them act in well-defined, standardized ways. In reality, people's knowledge (of the forest, for example) and the relationship between their knowledge and concrete actions are highly complex matters, and oversimplification should be avoided (see Barth 1993;Bourdieu 1990). • Local people have in-depth knowledge of their environment. This assumption is as common as the opposite assumption that local people's knowledge about forests and biodiversity is irrelevant for conservation planners. In fact, forest-dwelling people have considerable knowledge of forest resources and ecology, and government planners or 'external advisors' too often underestimate this knowledge. At the same time, however, it should not be assumed that all people, by virtue of being labelled local or indigenous, have an in-depth knowledge of their natural environment. Different members of a local community know different things in different ways, and in any case people's knowledge is only one consideration determining how they act towards the forest. • Local people practise superior forms of landscape management. Some groups have developed remarkably fine-tuned landscape management systems, and recent studies of indigenous forest-management systems have shown that they often retain 50-80% of the biodiversity found in neighbouring natural forest ecosystems (Lawrence, Peart andLeighton 1998, cited in Poffenberger 2000). Nevertheless, it should be noted that traditional management systems have often been sustainable in the past because of low population pressure, geographical isolation, and lack of modern technology and machinery (such as chainsaws or logging trucks) rather than for ecological considerations (see Ellen 1986;Milton 1996). In other words, local or indigenous people's knowledge should not be idealized and it should not be assumed that it is their knowledge or culture alone that has made their management systems sustainable in the past. Rather, it should be discussed with local people which aspects of their traditional management systems can be most effectively incorporated into conservation planning.Diverging interests and disputes among stakeholders sometimes grow into major conflicts. As observed by Ayling and Kelly (1997), there are no more 'resource frontiers' in the world and virtually every change of land use or expansion of resource use tends to involve conflict-be it between nations, regions, districts, or individuals. Within villages, divisions along family, gender or clan lines or long-standing personal enmities between individuals can be fuelled by land-use conflicts. Between villages there might be competition over resources. By promoting the interests of one village, or one group of stakeholders, conservation activities risk causing resentment among others. For example, external agents such as private companies or NGOs holding interests in an area will often not appreciate the local population mobilizing for purposes that go against their interests and ideas.Conflicts are a natural part of social dynamics. Whether they are perceived as negative or positive depends on social position or political standpoint. Having said that, it is obvious that conflicts can cause problems for conservation activities if they are not resolved in a constructive way. If conservation activities affect specific groups negatively, this is likely to cause conflict. The risk of conflict will, therefore, be minimized if all stakeholders are involved throughout conservation planning and decision-making. However, even the most careful planning will not prevent conflicts from arising. Sometimes conflict may already be present. In this case the conservation managers have to decide whether it is too serious to resolve and whether the site should be abandoned for another.We should distinguish between conflicts that need government intervention in order to be solved, and conflicts that can be dealt with by stakeholders themselves. The former category of conflicts is exemplified in Box 5.2 about forest genetic resource conservation in Thailand, where immigration from neighbouring provinces and forest encroachment led to conflicts with resident communities.In some situations stakeholders can deal with conflicts without government intervention, according to local traditions of conflict management. Otherwise, the following guidelines for conflict management are helpful. They have been formulated specifically for conservation planners by the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (Tapisuwe et al. 1998), an organization working with participation in conservation in Vanuatu (see also FAO 1994;Buckles 1999):• All complaints should be taken seriously by planners. Listen to the concerns of both sides, and to fully understand the concerns, repeat them in your own words after listening. Think about the best time and place to discuss complaints. Remember that in many societies women are not expected to speak up in public hearings and other groups, such as poor or non-land owning individuals, may well, for their own reasons, remain silent during hearings. • Planners should not try to solve the conflicts on their own. Discuss the matter with all stakeholders. Discuss why the complaint is being made. What are the underlying issues? What is needed to solve the conflict? • If there are many problems or underlying issues that need to be dealt with, it is a good idea to prioritize them in terms of (a) magnitude (the amount of people, land, trees affected by a problem), and (b) importance (the impact a problem may have on different stakeholders). • Encourage all stakeholders to look for positive solutions to any conflict they meet.Think about how to compensate those who are affected by a problem. • Discuss and modify the options until everyone can accept the solution.It should be noted that these guidelines depend on the voluntary participation of all relevant stakeholders. Cultural conditions, including people's willingness to publicly acknowledge a conflict, will make the guidelines more or less useful in different parts of the world. If the conflict-mediating process suggests that only certain stakeholders are brought together, while the real causes of conflict remain beyond the mediator's control, the process might in fact be counterproductive because people are likely to experience it as futile.One of the lessons learned from joint forest management in India (see Box 5.1) and conservation of forest genetic resources in Thailand (see Box 5.2) was that higher levels of local participation could lead to more effective forest protection. However, without government support, in the forms of law enforcement and cooperation between different government agencies, such improvements in local forest management are unlikely to be sustained (Tyler 1999). Therefore, attention must be paid to the crucial role of government action for the outcome of participatory conservation processes.A government can help provide an enabling environment for participatory forest conservation particularly through• decentralization of political, fiscal and administrative power • provision of land-tenure security and user rights for involved stakeholders • education and other forms of capacity-building.These three aspects are discussed below.National Park. (Lene Topp/WWF Denmark)The conclusion from reviews of conservation experience in most countries is that centralized, top-down management is seldom effective, except where large budgets are available for enforcement and the society concerned is willing or forced to accept an undemocratic conservation process (World Bank 1996). It has therefore been suggested that the impact of public conservation efforts can be improved by enhancing the role of local governments and communities in decision-making. Such decentralization can be accomplished through the transfer of political, fiscal, administrative and legislative power from central governments to local institutions.One form of decentralization or transfer of power occurs when specific groups of stakeholders rather than government officials have the right to collect revenue and decide how it will be spent. This autonomy is the key to the strength of the JFM areas in India, where local communities can retain all or part of the revenue from forest products. In Nepal, the government has granted rights of utilization and management responsibility to numerous local forest user groups. This decentralization of power has shown promising results in terms both of forest protection and of local people's willingness to participate in communal forest management and develop their management capacities (Tumbahanphe 1998).The experience in countries where new rights and responsibilities relating to conservation have been given to local government units and NGOs suggests that both opportunities and potential problems exist (World Bank 1996). Poorly planned and implemented decentralization can give powers to local societies that lack the skills and accountability to use powers 'properly'. It should be kept in mind that the right to define what is 'proper' or 'improper' use of resources is in itself one of the most important forms of power in a particular social setting (Bourdieu 1991). Decentralization might also inadvertently lead to a situation where the costs of biodiversity conservation are borne locally whereas its benefits may accrue to regional, national and global levels of society.In most cases local groups will need support from ecologists or foresters if they are to develop management plans and monitor conservation areas or populations. One such example of a decentralization process is the Kayan Mentarang National Park in Indonesia (Box 5.3).Local Dayak communities and WWF Indonesia have worked together for some years to make forest management plans for Kayan Mentarang National Park in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The aim of this work was to produce a plan for community-based management of the national park. The plan has been recommended to the Indonesian Government with the hope it will be endorsed and implemented in the near future.In 1992, the Dayak people of Kayan Mentarang began mapping their communities on an experimental basis, aided by WWF Indonesia. This was a continuous learning process for all involved. Accordingly, planning sometimes needed to be adjusted and objectives reconsidered. Then, in 1996, the Indonesian Government agreed to change the status of the Kayan Mentarang area from a Strict Nature Reserve to a National Park. The status of the Dayaks thereby changed from illegal settlers to communities that could legally beLack of secure land tenure or forest user rights is a major reason why local people do not commit themselves to participatory forest conservation. As is to be expected, people without such rights experience a lack of a predictable future and a diminished willingness to invest labour and care in the forest. Once local people gain land or user rights, however, they often take an active interest in forest conservation. For the Dayak communities in Kayan Mentarang (see Box 5.3), the government's decision to change their status from illegal settlers to legal participants in forest management was a turning point. This provided the spark for increased community and resource mapping and conservation efforts. In Africa, according to a comprehensive literature survey by Shepherd (1992), effective in situ conservation is almost solely on lands under legally acknowledged ownership. In Melanesia, undisputed ownership to forest resources is seen as a prerequisite for replacing exploitative logging practices (Kuata et al. 1996).involved in the management of the area, by their own initiative and with support from WWF.Encouraged by the government decision and the support of WWF Indonesia as well as the Indonesian Agency for Nature Conservation, in 1997-1998 the Dayaks conducted an extensive mapping of their communities and natural resources. They drew detailed maps of the flora and fauna in their area, showing where they collect plants or make use of trees, which areas they have cultivated over the years and where their traditional hunting grounds are. Other maps showed Dayak community boundaries.Using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques, WWF personnel helped the Dayak communities document information about their land-use systems, historical trends in resources, traditional forest regulations, and knowledge about forest resources. All this information was used in the development of a management plan for the national park.Kayan Mentarang provides a good example of participation as an ongoing process where each party had to be flexible and accept new ideas. The government accepted changes to create an enabling environment. Thus the boundaries of the national park are to be redefined to accommodate the villages and their rice fields outside the park, and it is hoped that the Dayak traditional rules of forest management will become officially recognized. During the whole process WWF Indonesia Kayan Mentarang Project has been a main player and important facilitator.The future management plan for Kayan Mentarang needs to secure the rights of the local communities to use forest resources and, at the same time, protect the biological diversity and genetic resources of the National Park. In the coming phases of conservation activities, there are plans to link the results of community mapping with the activities of the conservation biology programme of the Kayan Mentarang project. Thereby, the information on forest resources can be cross-checked from a biological point of view and the claims that traditional, community-based management practices are sustainable can be given scientific support. This approach may also raise the local people's awareness of the significance of integrating conservation and sustainable development more effectively. Another major task ahead for local people and the WWF personnel is to design community-based monitoring systems that include the use of community land-use maps and resource maps as well as other PRA techniques.In many countries, local groups have their own customary forest rules and regulations. By formally recognizing such rules, governments can greatly motivate local people to participate in conservation efforts. Official recognition of customary law can, however, be a complex issue. The legislation of some nations, for example, might not permit formalization of communal land ownership and customary laws of indigenous people. Considering the economic value of forests and the often fierce competition over access to forest resources, the question of granting tenure or forest user rights to local people is a highly controversial matter in many countries. This is partly because user rights in themselves provide no guarantee that 'new' private or communal land owners will manage forest resources in ways that are more sustainable and socially accountable than the previous government practices.There are some discouraging cases from states in north-east India, where most forests are legally owned by tribal people. These states have experienced the highest deforestation rates in India over the past few years. Analysis has led to the conclusion that joint control and management by the government and local people is possibly the optimum formula for conservation (Singh 1996). This conclusion is similar to that of Hirsch et al. (1999), whose study from Nam Ngum in Laos demonstrates that a community alone cannot implement or enforce sustainable natural resource management without the legitimate sanction of the government. Clearly, each country will need to develop its own appropriate response to these sensitive issues. The experience from Tanzania (see Box 5.4) might serve as a positive example. According to the drafted Forest Act 2000, no forest in Tanzania is considered too large, too small, too valuable or too degraded to come under community-based management and, in certain cases, ownership. This approach differs from that of most other countries, where local people are only allowed to manage degraded forests but not the more precious national parks and forest reserves. Today the boundaries are intact, incursion limited, flora and fauna recovering, and both forests protected by a total of more than 200 young village forest guards-at no cost to the government. These developments have occurred under the Regional Forestry Programme and the Land Management Programme. Under these programmes the Duru-Haitemba, an area of nearly 9 000 ha, is now under the full ownership and active management of eight communities, and Mgori, a larger woodland of 40 000 ha, is currently owned and managed by villagers as five village forest reserves with the district council as technical adviser. The communities may begin timber harvesting within the next few years. This will create an income not only for the villagers but also for the district council in the form of a sales tax levied.Neither Duru-Haitemba nor Mgori forest was at any time a state-owned and gazetted forest reserve. By the 1980s, they were intended as forest reserves and to this end had been fully surveyed and demarcated, and all but the publication of reservation was complete. It was clear, however, that local people did not support the withdrawal of what they regarded as 'their' forest into the hands of the state. Indeed, since the posting of forest guards to the area some years previously as part of the process, local people had more or less adopted a deliberate policy of 'getting what they could' out of the forest before their anticipated exclusion from the area. This led to both local concern and the ultimate decision to find a more acceptable system of management.With informal support from the local authorities and the Swedish International Development Agency, the local forestry officer began to explore whether local villages could conserve and manage the forests themselves. At that time villagers had never encountered the possibility that they might be allowed by government to actually manage the forest themselves. The government itself had not envisaged the level of 'participation' put forward, but although dubious, they agreed to suspend the imposition of reservation status pending demonstration by the villagers to halt the degradation of the forest. Now, advisors and interested village leaders began a process to draw up simple but effective management plans including 'rules' for using the forest. Interestingly, before knowing that they might control the forest themselves, villagers cited virtually all uses from timber to grazing as 'indispensable'. Once it was known that the forest was 'ours', the same leaders and ordinary villagers argued for discontinuation of any use that they considered damaging. Charcoal burning, tree felling and even grazing in some parts were immediately banned, and other uses were to be controlled.Once villagers began actively managing their forests, it became clear that they needed not just the administrative support from the local district office but legal backing as well. Accordingly, each village was assisted to rephrase their management plans and rules as village by-laws. In 1995, the district council formally approved these plans under the District Authorities Act. Since then, each village has by law been the legal authority and continued manager of that part of the Duru-Haitemba forest that is adjacent to its own settlement and specified as falling under its jurisdiction. In the words of a villager \"It never occurred to us that the government might give us back our forest. But when it was suggested, we couldn't get the idea out of our minds and since then we have not looked back.\"The situation in Mgori forest is slightly different. Five adjacent communities now successfully own and manage it, but first the areas had to be surveyed as legal entities for villagers to be registered as owners. In Mgori there is also need for a more active collaboration between villagers and local government, because the respective village woodlands are extremely large; two of the villages manage thicket and woodlands of more than 100 km 2 . Mgori is therefore still vulnerable to a range of incursions by outsiders. This includes illegal commercial timber extraction, wildlife hunting, and the appeal the vast and remote area holds for migrating shifting cultivators. Also, Mgori has market potential for timber extraction and could generate revenue from game viewing and some hunting. Local government was ready to concede ownership of the resource but at the same time wanted to secure agreements whereby revenue from the forest in the future is shared with the wider district community through taxation.These Tanzanian cases serve as examples that the greatest incentive for local people to look after the forest is the sense that the forest belongs to them, either as recognized managers, or better still, as recognized owners. Throughout this chapter the key message has been that conservation of forest genetic resources is likely to be impossible without the participation of local people although, clearly, participation is not always required for sustainable forest use. Apart from appropriate institutional and regulatory frameworks provided by the state, and secure land tenure and resource utilization rights for stakeholders, education and other forms of capacity-building for stakeholders can be crucial if participatory processes for forest genetic resource conservation are to succeed.The case studies presented in this chapter all show that participatory forest conservation poses considerable challenges to forestry officials, policy-makers, NGOs and scientists as well as local communities. In India, for example, the JFM strategy has confronted rural communities with the need to overcome village and inter-village conflicts and work together with forestry officials (see Box 5.1). Officials have been challenged to delegate part of their decision-making power to local people and adjust themselves to a new and more equal management partnership with these people. In north-east Thailand, rural groups have had to alter their agricultural practices and organize themselves in new ways to prevent forestdamaging activities such as charcoal burning and forest fires (see Box 5.2). They have also engaged in mapping and demarcation of their communities as a means of improving forest management. Meanwhile, Thai forestry officials need to adapt themselves to new political and administrative conditions and put more emphasis on working with people, rather than on mere technical aspects of forestry. Furthermore, they must learn to coordinate their own planning and administration with that of other government agencies.Although they live in widely different parts of the world, Dayak communities in Kayan Mentarang in Indonesia (see Box 5.3) and people from Mgori and Duru-Haitemba in Tanzania (see Box 5.4) share the same experience of learning to make forest-management plans in collaboration with NGO workers or other external advisors. Policy-makers in both countries share the experience of being forced to modify land-use and land-right legislation, thereby helping to create the 'enabling environment' so necessary for participatory forest management to succeed.In other words, each case in its own way demonstrates that participation entails changing social relationships, redistribution of power and new responsibilities for all parties involved. Often, these changes bring about a need for new skills, new ways of thinking and new ways of organizing. As the case studies show, different stakeholders meet different kinds of challenges during the participatory process. Some common challenges that typically face communities and government agencies are discussed below.Communities often need to strengthen their organizational capacity in order to reclaim responsibilities in management and conservation of forest genetic resources. This may include development of competence such as practical skills in keeping records and minutes of meetings, or obtaining training in certain technical aspects of forestry and conservation. For some communities, training in mapping their own land areas and demarcating their forest boundaries can be of vital importance, not least as a starting point for future monitoring of resources (see Box 5.3). Communities that gain user rights over forest resources and start income-generating activities will furthermore have to acquire skills for financial accountability and sharing proceeds.For many communities training in conflict management and resolution (see Section 5.4.2), to supplement traditional conflict resolution practices, might also be helpful. This is not only because participatory forest conservation management typically involves a number of communities that may not be used to cooperating, but also to develop ways of ensuring that the natural resources under their management are not taken over by more powerful and better-organized outside interest groups. Communities must therefore be strengthened in their ability to scrutinize the intentions of outside investors and developers, including NGOs, and turn away outside interests if these are not beneficial to the community.Although many communities have experienced challenges such as those mentioned above, the needs of communities in regard to forest conservation cannot be generalized. Community needs may range from basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic to training in mapping, conservation planning, or use of geographical information systems (GIS). Likewise, it is not possible to give a universal definition of how various capacitybuilding activities are best organized among stakeholders. In some countries, the main responsibility for this rests with the government. In other countries, NGOs and universities play important roles in mobilization and training of local communities (see Box 5.5), partly because government agencies tend to lack the funding and experience or willingness to train local communities in administrative matters. Where government officials resist the prospect of sharing forest management power with local communities, this resistance is often also expressed in an unwillingness to share knowledge and information. In such cases, the assistance of NGOs and academics can be crucial for the local communities' chances of gaining the insights and skills necessary for qualified co-management.Most developing countries have small government forestry and environment departments with limited personnel and budgets. Usually, the resident staffs in rural areas deal directly with people on behalf of the forestry department. Often, these staff members are less educated than their urban counterparts within the departments. They typically possess less power in terms of decision and policy-making than their urban colleagues, who usually have higher positions in the department hierarchy. This state of affairs means that the following two challenges are particularly critical for forestry departments in many countries to deal with:• Ensuring that all staff members are well trained and informed in the more technical areas of conservation, management and utilization of forest genetic resources. Moreover, a development towards greater participation in forestry and conservation will require knowledge of participatory approaches and ways to implement them. It is thus crucial that staff members who deal with local communities are trained in these matters. • Attempting to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder problem solution and communication, not only between staff members and local communities, but also between different levels of staff. The success of JFM in India (see Box 5.1) is largely attributed to progressive officials who were allowed by the government administration to institute necessary and fairly radical change (Kumar 2000).Therefore, whenever possible, forest department personnel should be encouraged to participate in workshops and training courses on participatory methods and to make use of these skills to make a real change. In Hoshangabad, India, printed copies of the government resolution on JFM were distributed to every staff member and training courses were conducted to ensure that all staff understood that JFM was the priority of the forestry department. In Sam Mun, Thailand, university lecturers from a number of academic disciplines were recruited to train government staff and members of different local communities together (see Box 5.5).As forest areas increasingly come under the management of local people, the policing duties of forest department staff will be reduced so they can focus on providing highquality technical advice. As a key stakeholder in forest conservation, the forest department will always need staff qualified to monitor the continuous outcome of participatory conservation of forest genetic resources. Basic components of this procedure include training in forest inventory, yield studies, regeneration surveys, harvest assessments and systems to adjust harvest in case of over-exploitation or destructive harvest methods. But training need not exclude other stakeholders. In Kayan Mentarang (see Box 5.3), for example, a monitoring system based on community resource maps and community-based management systems linked with the findings of the conservation biology team is being developed. Hence, the monitoring programme will combine scientific methods and local knowledge and involve both forest department staff and local communities. A general principle in Sam Mun has been that information is equally shared and accessible to all parties. This principle often requires a simplified form of information, which has been accomplished by visualizing information as much as possible. For example, three-dimensional models of watersheds have been used to assist members of communities in communicating their ideas across cultural and bureaucratic boundaries. Scientific language has been avoided, and local names and meanings preferred. Furthermore, mapping and GIS have been used to monitor the watersheds.In Sam Mun, ethnic communities have become watershed co-managers along with different government agencies and units. They have gradually improved the conditions of the watersheds, thus rendering strict enforcement of regulations or community resettlement unnecessary. By incorporating some land-use practices of local ethnic groups, the project has also allowed many groups to maintain their system of land rotation within protected areas. In some sub-districts, the proposals of the local watershed network committee have been consolidated into the sub-district's development plan. Throughout, capacity-building for and with government agencies and local groups alike has been a key to establishing the mutual understanding and collaboration between stakeholders that has enabled the conservation achievements. Source: Uraiwan (2000)Natural resource management is increasingly becoming the object of social and political power struggles between different groups claiming interests in specific resources. Today, conservation of forest genetic resources is impossible unless technical expertise is combined with an understanding and consideration of the political and cultural processes within which conservation inevitably takes place. In this chapter, key aspects of these processes have been discussed. It has been argued that successful conservation of forest genetic resources requires the participation of local people and that governments play crucial roles by providing-or, indeed, by not providing-the appropriate institutional and regulatory framework for participatory processes to fully develop. Many studies show that the optimum formula for forest conservation is joint control and management by governments and local people. Table 5.2 summarizes some of the responsibilities of governments and local communities respectively in regard to participatory conservation processes.The notion of power-sharing between people and governments is a delicate and highly complex issue with no easy or universally applicable solution. This chapter has sought to provide some insight into these complexities and illustrate how people in different countries have worked together in order to deal with inevitable problems and conflicts.A notable feature in many cases is that NGOs have played significant roles as mediators between governments and other stakeholders in forest conservation processes. NGOs differ widely in terms of ideology, political and economic power, and organizational capacity. Like the local communities andThe greatest incentive for local people to look after the forest is the sense that the forest belongs to them.Community Foresters in Tanzania. (Liz Wily) states they operate in, NGOs are not homogeneous groups and their interests might diverge.It is therefore not possible to evaluate the role of NGOs en bloc, but the fact remains that they often play a critical role in successful negotiation and co-management between people and governments. The presence of capable and environmentally concerned NGOs in itself proves that changes are taking place in many countries as a response to the increasing struggles over natural resources. Since the 1990s, and particularly since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, several policy-level international and regional initiatives have been launched and a number of framework instruments established to promote the conservation of biological diversity (including genetic diversity) and the protection and management of forests worldwide. International commitments made by participating countries are progressively being translated at the national level, and policy and principles gradually developed into operational programmes. Policies and programmes relating to forest genetic resources are often closely linked to or strongly influenced by wider perspectives derived from the agricultural, forestry or environmental sectors. This chapter briefly describes the global and regional frameworks that shape forest genetic resources development, and the actions taken at the international level in support of their practical conservation and management.The preamble of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted in 1992, affirms that states have sovereign rights over their biological and genetic resources, and that they are responsible for conserving their biological diversity and for using their biological resources in a sustainable manner. Many national initiatives covering a wide range of activities, such as inventories, assessments and conservation measures to protect rare and endangered species and populations, regulations governing seed collection and transfer, and comprehensive approaches to the management of landscapes and the restoration of native ecosystems including forests, have an impact on forest genetic resources. Considerations related to forest genetic resources can and have been integrated in a number of countries within wider sectoral or thematic frameworks, such as national forest programmes and biodiversity action plans. The variety of types and ownerships of repositories of genetic resources (for instance protected areas, in situ conservation stands, managed forests, clone banks, breeding populations, seed banks), and the need to ensure that they are complementary, constitutes a major organizational, institutional, legal and technical challenge. One frequently identified obstacle to the development or implementation of genetic conservation plans is the undervaluation of the non-monetary value and ecological importance of forests and trees.Although national-level programmes, when they are in place, provide the basic framework for action in the conservation and management of forest genetic resources, they have a number of technical limitations. For example, the natural distribution of many forest tree species crosses political borders; and some tree species or populations that are of little current importance in their countries of origin have become socially or economically important outside their natural ranges. Such situations raise questions regarding responsibilities for conservation, especially in situ conservation. In addition, a number of forest tree introductions, frequently of undocumented origin, have evolved into landraces which are well adapted to environmental conditions in the species' new habitat. These landraces can also be important in genetic conservation activities, and collaboration between two or more countries is therefore necessary to ensure a comprehensiveness and complementarity of in situ and ex situ activities. In addition, introduction of new germplasm brings a number of biological risks. Hence, there is increasing awareness of the need for consistency in the international regulatory frameworks. Increasingly, national activities are guided or supported by commitments made at the international level and frequently rely on international or private funds. This creates a challenge for public and private agencies, as well as for the national and international organizations, which need to work together to solve policy, social and technical issues. These include intellectual property rights relating to genetic resources, the sharing of benefits from the use of these resources, the management of biological risks associated with seed movement and the introduction of new biotechnologies, the impact of climate change on forest genetic resources, and many others.conservation and managementThe global instruments of direct relevance to forest genetic resources fall under environmental, agricultural or forestry frameworks.The legally binding Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (http://www.biodiv.org), which by June 2004 had been signed by 168 countries, adopted an expanded work programme on forest biological diversity at the Sixth Conference of the Parties in 2002. This broader programme makes specific reference to forest genetic resources and integration of related concerns both in the conservation of biological diversity and in sustainable forest management (see Box 6.1), making it the most comprehensive legally binding international instrument to cover technical, regulatory and property-related aspects of forest genetic resources. An analysis of links between the CBD programme on forest biological diversity and other international forest-related instruments and activities is found in FAO (2003).The formal inclusion of forest genetic diversity in the work programme of the CBD, including the documentation and management requirements, provides an important vehicle for countries to further justify and strengthen work programmes specifically related to the conservation and management of forest genetic resources.The legally binding International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITGRFA) came into force in June 2004 (http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/ itpgr.htm). Central to this Treaty are \"the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security.\" One of the components of the treaty is the establishment of a multilateral system to facilitate access to plant genetic resources and share benefits in a fair and equitable way. In its present form, the treaty covers the major crop and forage species, listed in an annex to the treaty; the only species of direct relevance to forestry in the multilateral system are members of the genus Prosopis (mesquite). However, it potentially covers all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and thus, according to FAO terminology, also forest genetic resources.There is no forestry equivalent to the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which focuses on agricultural crop species. The plan, adopted by the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig, Germany in June 1996, makes reference to wild relatives of cultivated plants, often found in forest ecosystems, and to domesticated tree crops such as fruit trees and rubber, but explicitly excludes forest tree genetic resources (FAO 1996a). However, a number Objective 1 Promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits resulting from the utilization of forest genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.Based on the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization (as adopted by the Conference of continued of regional initiatives have been initiated to help remedy the situation (see Section 6.4.2 below).The high-level international forest policy dialogue initiated after UNCED, and now continued through the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), has generated more than 270 proposals for action towards sustainable forest management, which are considered collectively as the IPF/IFF Proposals for Action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), from 1995 to 1997, and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) from 1997 to 2000, were the main intergovernmental forums for international forest policy development. Although the IPF/IFF proposals for action are not legally binding, participants in these processes are under a political obligation to implement the agreed proposals for action. Thus, each country is expected to conduct a systematic national assessment of the IPF/IFF proposals for action and to plan for their implementation. A few references are made to forest genetic resources, mainly on intellectual property issues. Although the CBD acknowledges that countries have sovereignty over their biological resources as a general principle, a number of regulations have been developed to address concerns over biosafety issues related to the movement of reproductive materials. More specifically, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, under the CBD, deals with the movement across boundaries of living modified organisms. To date, the protocol makes no particular reference to forest tree reproductive material or product.  (Turok and Geburek 2000).A number of other regional, sub-regional and ecoregional collaborative programmes or projects have been established in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Oceania, the Near East and Central America and Mexico (see Box 6.4). They generally aim at addressing the whole issue of forest genetic conservation and sustainable use from a holistic, inter-sectoral approach. In recent years, regional approaches have been complemented by ecoregional approaches and by action focused on common priority species or groups of species (see examples in Box 6.5).In addition to these voluntary regional initiatives promoting the conservation and management of the genetic diversity of forest trees, at the technical level there are few comprehensive regional regulations, such as the European Union Directive 1999/105/EC on the marketing and labelling of forest reproductive materials, influencing at least 27 countries (Ackzell 2002).  From Patiño (2004) 6.4.2 Regional forest genetic resources status and action plans Following the Leipzig Conference (see Section 6.3.1), a number of workshops on forest genetic resources have been convened with the support of FAO, IPGRI, the Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC) and other organizations. These regional and sub-regional workshops have supported the development of status reports and action plans for the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources within a regional framework (see Table 6.1). During the preparation of these workshops, a number of methodologies for assessing the state of the genetic diversity of forest trees and shrubs at country level were developed by local experts. In most regions covered, country-based status reports have been prepared, synthesized in regional action plans, as deemed useful by participants. Workshops have been held for North American Temperate Species (1995), Boreal Forests (1995), Sahelian Africa (1998), the South Pacific (1999), Southern and Eastern Africa (2000), South-east Asia (2001), Central America, Cuba and Mexico (2002), Asia (2003) and Central Africa (2003) (Patiño, 2004). Updated information on species and institutions has been compiled in the FAO Worldwide Information System on Forest Genetic Resources (REFORGEN) (see Section 6.3.2 and Box 6.3).International priorities in forest genetic resources have changed from an early focus on support to countries for genecological studies and seed collection underpinning species and provenance research of a few major timber species in the 1960s and early 1970s, to the wider management of genetic resources of a range of trees and shrubs for a great number of purposes and end uses, in a variety of national and local contexts. Such a shift, due largely to changes in the perception of the place and role of forests and trees in national development, has been accompanied by increased attention in all countries to native species. At the policy level, national and international agendas are increasingly dealing with issues relating to intellectual property rights and patenting of genetic applications, access and benefit sharing in the use of genetic materials, and regulations over biotechnology products and processes, such as genetic engineering (Lewontin and Santos 1997). These developments are often led by, and under the umbrella of, agreements in other sectors, including trade and economics, agriculture, and the environment, rather than being integral parts of forestry-led initiatives.Furthermore, the number of instruments related to forests, forestry and forest genetic resources have recently greatly increased at both national and international level in response to increased environmental awareness and related national and international agreements and programmes. There is a need to ensure close collaboration between such instruments, including cross-sectoral links. As institutions and expertise in developing countries have gradually become stronger, international action has over the past decade increasingly stressed institutional networking rather than direct support, and FAO, IPGRI and other international and bilateral institutions have shifted their attention to building technical partnerships with national institutions in developed and developing countries. The European IPGRI/EUFORGEN programme provides an excellent example and a possible model for other regions in collaborative decision-making and implementation of national action plans carried out under a regional umbrella.Globally, increased movement of people, goods, services, information and know-how contributes to a constant change in demands on forests, wood and non-wood products and environmental services, and to shifts in the boundaries in, and priorities of, the forest genetic resources sector. The availability of up-to-date information, as stressed in the CBD and in the ITPGRFA, is essential for the decision-maker, the manager and the scientist. What type of forest resource or function will be used, for which purpose, by which customer, in which region, over which period, are important parameters that will condition the perception of forest genetic resources as well as the degree of attention given to this issue. planting out in the clone bank. It is common for there to be multiple copies (ramets) of each clone and these are usually planted adjacent to each other within the clone bank.The actions and policies that assure its continued availability and existence.The management of human use of genetic resources so that they may yield the greatest sustainable benefit to present generations, while maintaining their potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations.CRYOPRESERVATION The preservation or storage in very cold temperatures; usually in liquid nitrogen. It is a form of conservation for some seeds and tissues.DNA MARKER A distinctive, readily identifiable segment of DNA.DYSGENIC Detrimental to the genetic qualities of future generations. The term applies especially to human-induced deterioration such as may occur through removal of the best phenotypes.A dynamic complex of plants, animal and micro-organisms communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.ECOTYPIC Related to the adaptation of a population or a strain of an organism to a particular habitat.The number of individuals in an ideal population which has the same level of genetic drift and inbreeding as the population from which it is drawn.EX SITU (CONSERVATION) the conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats.Method of identification that compares fragments DNA It is sometimes called DNA typing.FIREBREAKS A natural or artificial barrier usually created by removing vegetation to prevent or retard the spread of fire.A plan for regulating all forestry activities for a set period of time through the application of prescriptions that specify targets, action and control arrangements.The process of transforming large continuous forest patches into one or more smaller patches creating areas of geographical discontinuity. GENE In the genome of an organism, a sequence of nucleotides (DNA sequence) to which a specific function can be assigned.A facility where germplasm is stored in the form of seeds, pollen or in vitro culture, or in the case of a field genebanks, as plants growing in the field.GENE FLOW Exchange of genes between populations owing to the dispersal of gametes or zygotes.The total sum of genetic material of an interbreeding population.All actions aimed at ensuring the continued existence, evolution and availability of genetic resources.The sum total of genetic differences between species and within species.Change in allele frequency from one generation to another within a population, due to the sampling of finite numbers of genes that is inevitable in all finite-sized populations. The smaller the population, the greater is the genetic drift, with the result that same alleles are lost, and genetic diversity is reduced.The first species or community to colonize or re-colonize a barren or disturbed area, thereby initiating a new ecological succession (used synonymously with colonising species).POLLINATOR A living organism transferring pollen, e.g. insect, bird or bat.A group of individuals of the same species occupying a defined area and genetically isolated to some degree from other similar groups.POPULATION DYNAMICS Changes taking place during a population's life.PROVENANCE The geographical and/or genetic origin of an individual.A polymerase chain reaction-based genotyping technique, in which an RNA or a single-stranded DNA molecule is amplified with single, short, randomly chosen primers.RECALCITRANT SEED Seed which is desiccation-sensitive, with a short hydrated life-span in storage typically ranging from a few days to several months. Recalcitrant seed behaviour is most prevalent in tree species from tropical, humid zones with larger seeds (>3-5 g).A class of genetic marker base on the detection of variation in the length of restriction fragments generated when DNA is treated with enzymes that cut DNA after recognizing a specific sequence. Differences in fragment lengths arise due to genetic variation with respect to the presence or absence of specific recognition site(s).To pollinate with pollen from the same flower or plant. SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS A genetic marker resulting from variation in sequence at a particular position within a DNA sequence. This type of marker is commonly the result of single base substitutions and deletions. Such variation is extensive throughout all genomes, and offers the particular advantage of being detectable without the need for gel electrophoresis.A segment of DNA characterized by a variable number of copies (typically 5-50) of a sequence of around 5 or fewer bases (called repeat units). At any one locus (genomic site), there are usually several different \"alleles\" in a population, each allele identifiable according to the number of repeat units. This existence of multiple alleles (high level of polymorphism) has enabled microsatellites to be developed as powerful markers in many different species. They are detected by the polymerase chain reaction.SEQUENCE TAGGED SITE Short unique DNA sequence that can be amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and thus tagged to the site on the chromosome from which it was amplified. SOMACLONAL VARIATION Epigenetic or genetic changes induced during the callus phase of a plant cell cultured in vitro. Sometimes visible as changed phenotype in plants generated from culture.THINNING Gradual removal of trees crowding or shading the preferred species or individuals. This guide is the first volume in a series of three booklets that deals with the conservation of forest (tree and shrub) genetic resources. This volume gives an overview of concepts and systematic approaches to conservation and management of forest genetic resources. It outlines the need to conserve these resources and focuses on some of the strategies that may be employed in doing this. In addition, the volume focuses on planning national conservation of forest genetic resources, identification of research needs in forest resources, people's participation in the conservation of forest genetic diversity, and regional and international approaches to the conservation of forest genetic resources.","tokenCount":"30404"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6712962071.json b/data/part_1/6712962071.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1e703f8626fd8d51b60adf25b02c5aaae1e59633
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6712962071.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d22a44bd96c3c08e124e9c7d1d3136ff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6d8902ad-bbad-40ca-b840-ad13b517437e/retrieve","id":"781828347"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f0cf126-0b5c-462e-a374-76c7b1072a5d","pagecount":"4","content":"La macropropagation (MP), qui consiste à générer des plantules à partir de souches de bananier, offre une option moins coûteuse pour générer un grand nombre de plantules saines.Les unités de MP standard, composées de feuilles de plastique transparent, de planches de bois, de clous et de sciure de bois comme substrat (Figure 1), ont été moins adoptées, car les agriculteurs aux ressources limitées les trouvent encore coûteuses (± 300 USD pour une unité de 1 x 4 m pouvant produire 480 à 1 200 plantules).     Scarifiez (destruction des méristèmes apicaux) toutes les premières plantules émergentes afin d'obtenir de nombreuses plantules secondaires. Pour les semis suivants, ne scarifiez que les grosses plantules, tandis que les petites doivent être récoltées et plantées dans des sacs de rempotage remplis de terreau.Récoltez les plantules ayant plus de 2 à 3 feuilles et plantez-les dans des pots contenant de la terre fertile pour développer des racines, à l'ombre (Figure 7). Les plantules sont prêtes à être transplantées après trois à six semaines.Les plantules peuvent être récoltées sur les souches jusqu'à cinq mois après leur plantation , en fonction de leur variété et de leur taille. ","tokenCount":"190"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6722448887.json b/data/part_1/6722448887.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0596da4d903b2409146b6895614228c398e6d8d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6722448887.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d8d67f1fa5c20d9887a03e0b1acde810","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0f543c79-0fe3-47a3-8c83-8b3931afe7c1/retrieve","id":"1123729434"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fd5dcb9c-ec8b-4ad7-ba4d-a56eedc626e8","pagecount":"1","content":"China has many underutilized grain crops such as barley, buckwheat, foxtail millet, common millet, oat, sorghum, etc. which are important for nutrition and food security and livelihoods for millions of people in China. Currently about 80 thousand accessions belonging to 27 species for these crops were collected and conserved in the National Genebank of China. Morphological variation are observed in plant types, flower colours, panicle shapes, seed colours, seed shape and seed size in accessions.Genetic diversity of collections of underutilized grain crops were assessed with molecular markers such as AFLP and SSR. These analyses revealed the scope of the diversity, structure of population, relationships between accessions and between species, and origin and evolution of relevant crop in ChinaUnderutilized grain crops are characterized by short growing period and strong adaptability to the poor ecological environments. Millets and oats could grow in very dry conditions, while buckwheat and common millet can be harvested in a very short period of growing season. Resistance to drought, saline and alkali are another important characteristics associated with the adaptability to climate change.Underutilized grains contain high level of protein, fat, and various microelements that contribute to nutrition and dietary diversity of local farmers, particularly the women and children. In China, the annul cultivation area for those crops reach over 1 million ha., which greatly contribute to the diversified food supply for people in remote areas with vulnerable agroecological environments. ","tokenCount":"232"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6730085243.json b/data/part_1/6730085243.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..28134008b5ffa6dd092e8cab98257fb1fecff688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6730085243.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"752e2a0d78dc63ef2ad4acc57f84b90f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/PDF/H041892.pdf","id":"-1071056612"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7c3adaed-e4e3-44b8-b514-ec28b46da0c3","pagecount":"17","content":"Often as a frantic response to problems of water scarcity and consequent hardships faced by communities in urban areas as well as country-side, India had invested many billions in rainwater harvesting. The analysis presented in this paper shows that in water-scarce regions of India, runoff harvesting does not offer any potential for groundwater recharge or improving water supplies at the basin level. The issues can be summarized as follows. 1. Water harvesting in \"closed\" basins have negative hydrological impacts on the downstream areas. 2. Due to high inter-annual variability in rainfall and subsequent runoff WHSs become highly unreliable during drought years, whereas attempt to capture runoff would remarkably increase the unit cost of harvesting water. 3. In closed basins, intensive water harvesting will lead to negative welfare outcomes due to high negative externalities at higher degrees of basin development. 4. Even at the local level, physical efficiency of WH is likely to be poor, mainly due to groundwater-surface water interactions; and poor storage capacity of hard rock aquifers underlying most of the water-scarce regions. Artificial recharge systems in natural water-scarce areas in India are economically unviable.India has a long tradition of water harvesting (Agarwal and Narain, 1997). But, the past two decades in the country's water sector history are characterized by a boom in water harvesting. They are markedly different from the traditional ones in 2 ways; first from the context; and second from the purpose. As regards the context, they are able to use recent advancements in soil, geosciences and hydro-sciences; and modern day techniques and technologies in survey and investigation, earth moving and construction; and management tools such as hydrological and hydraulic modeling (Kumar et al., 2006). While the traditional ones represented the best engineering feat of those times, in terms of water technology used for water harnessing and distribution (Agarwal and Narain, 1997); and the volume of water handled, the modern water harvesting systems are at best miniatures of the large water resource systems that use advances in civil engineering and hydrology. As regards purpose, they are employed as resource management solution, and not as resource development solutions (Kumar et al., 2006).The limited Indian research on runoff harvesting (RWH)/artificial recharge so far had focused on engineering performance of individual structures (see Muralidharan and Athawale, 1998;Patel, 2002). While a lot of anecdotal evidences on the social and economic gains exist, there is little understanding based on empirical work to study: 1] the impacts of water harvesting activities on local hydrological regime in terms of net water gain; 2] basin level impacts on the water balance of the overall basin; and 3] economic imperatives from a long term perspective (Kumar et al., 2006). Analysis of performance of runoff harvesting systems also misses the influence of \"scale factor\", with the exception of the work by Ray and Bijarnia (2006). Of late, researchers have raised questions about the reliability of water supplies from these systems in water-scarce regions, its possible unintended impacts (see Bachelor et al., 2002;Kumar et al., 2006;Ray and Bijarnia, 2006), its economics (see Kumar, 2004;Kumar et al., 2006), and its role in improving the overall basin water economy (Kumar et al., 2006).The purpose of this paper is to: 1] assess the effectiveness of runoff harvesting in improving both local hydrological regimes, and basin water balance in water-scarce regions of India; 2] discuss the various considerations needed to analyze economics of runoff harvesting; 3] discuss the imperatives of runoff harvesting for determining the optimum level of water harvesting in water-scarce basins. In order to do this, we analyze and synthesize macro level hydrological and geo-hydrological data for the country, including data on annual rainfalls, rainfall variability, no. of rainy days, soil infiltration, potential evaporation (PE); data on rainfall, runoff and reference evapo-transpiration (ET 0 ) for selected basins viz., Narmada, Cauvery, Pennar, Krishna and Sabarmati; and data on effects of water harvesting on stream flows and groundwater levels for Ghelo river basin in Saurashtra, Gujarat.In order to understand the issue of negative downstream impacts of intensive water harvesting, we must first define \"natural water-scarce regions\", and \"closed and open basins\".From an anthropogenic perspective, water-scarce regions are those where the demand for water for various human uses far exceeds the total water available from the natural system, or the technology to access it is economically unviable. This includes the surface water, water stored in the aquifers, and that held in the soil profile. Water scarcity can also be felt when the resources are available in plenty in the natural system in a particular region, but adequate financial resources to access it are not available with the populations living there. In this article we are concerned with regions facing physical scarcity of water. Physical scarcity of water occurs in regions which experiences low to medium rainfalls and high evaporation rates. Most parts of western, northwestern, central and peninsular India fall under this category. They have low to medium rainfalls (see Map 1 3 ), and high potential evaporation rates (see Map 2). The mean annual rainfall ranges from less than 300mm to 1000mm, where as the PE ranges from less than 1500 in some pockets in the north east to more than 3500 in some pockets in Gujarat and Maharashtra.In the subsequent section, we will explain the processes that determine supply and demand for water, which in turn induces water scarcity in those regions. The natural water supply and runoff 4 available from precipitation and groundwater recharge per unit area of land is low. This is because of high evaporation rates, which depletes the soil moisture which infiltrates rain water. This leaves little chance for water to runoff (see Kumar et al., 2006 for detailed discussion).Crop evapo-transpiration mainly determines the demand of water for agriculture. Agriculture is the largest source of water demand for human uses in all major river basins in India.Table 1 gives the reference evapotranspiration against the effective renewable water resources from surface runoff and replenishable groundwater 5 . It shows that for all the 5 basins, annual reference evapo-transpiration is many times more than effective renewable water resources. But, what is available for crop production includes the soil moisture storage as well. But since the soil moisture storage is a small fraction of the rainfall even in very high rainfall regimes, the potential evapotranspiration (PET) for the entire year would be much higher than the sum of soil moisture storage, (which is a fraction of the rainfall) and effective renewable water resources.The imbalance between effective water availability and water demand for agricultural uses is very high for all the five basins. In addition to agricultural water, there are demands for water from domestic and industrial sectors as well. However, for the time being, we can ignore the other sectors. This gap between demand and renewable supplies can be reduced if we have very little arable land, and very large amount of land serving as natural catchments for supplying runoff water. Unfortunately, the remaining virgin catchment in water-scarce regions of India is very small. It varies from 58.6% in case of the Pennar basin to 28% in case of the Sabarmati basin.The increasing intensity of crop production in the rich upper catchments of river basins and watersheds has two major negative impacts on available renewable water resources. First: it captures a share of the runoff generated from the area, and therefore reduces the available surface water supplies. Second: increase in cultivated land increases the water requirement for irrigation. This way, large regions in India are facing shortage of water to meet the existing demands. The recent report on groundwater resource assessment and irrigation potential in India shows that the regions facing problems of groundwater over-exploitation are mostly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka, which are the naturally water-scarce regions (GoI, 2005).\"Closed\" basins are those where no extra renewable water resources are available for diversions to meet consumptive water demands, or \"closed\" basins are those where new diversions would reduce the availability of water for uses at some other points within the basin. This means in such basins, it is not possible to increase the beneficial evapo-transpiration, as wastage of water through non-beneficial evaporation or flows into the natural sink such as saline aquifers or seawater do not take place. \"Open basins\" are those where wastage of water through non-beneficial evaporation or flow into natural sinks take place, and where it is possible to increase utilizable water resources and increase beneficial evapo-transpiration. In the subsequent section, we will show which basins in India are considered \"closed\".The states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra took up intensive water harvesting during the past 20 years. The first decentralized modern water harvesting intervention in India was dug well recharging, and started in Saurashtra region after 3 years of consecutive droughts during 1985-87. This involved diverting field runoff and runoff in the local streams and nallas into open wells, which have the characteristics  (GoI, 1999: Table 3.6) and the dynamic groundwater resources from natural recharge in these basins (GoI, 1999: Table 3.9) and dividing by the geographical area of the basin. 2 The effective renewable water resources were estimated by dividing the average renewable water resources for the basin by the fraction of total cultivated land to the total basin drainage area. The basin-wise total cultivated land considered was for the year 1993-94 (GoI, 1999).  (Kumar, 2000). Grass root level NGOs, spiritual and religious institutions, private agencies and social activists participated in this programme, which later on came to be known as Saurashtra dug-well recharge movement (Kumar, 2000).The argument was that the 7 lac open wells in the region could be recharged using monsoon runoff, which was flowing waste into the sea. The people behind this movement, did not consider that approximately 110 medium and a few large reservoirs located downstream were not getting sufficient flows for irrigation and drinking even in normal rainfall years. The dependable runoff of the entire Saurashtra peninsula, generated from 91 small river basins, is 3613 MCM. Whereas all the major and medium reservoirs in the region have sufficient storage capacity to capture up to 5458 MCM water annually. This clearly shows that dug well recharging if carried out in the upper catchments of these basins, would only help reduce inflows into these reservoirs (Kumar, 2000).The government of Gujarat launched the Sardar Patel Participatory Water Conservation programme in Saurashtra and north Gujarat in 1999 and built nearly 54,000 check dams in local streams, and nallas with the involvement of local communities (GoI, 2007). As Prof. Saul Arlosoroff, an Israeli water expert opined, this indiscriminate water harvesting activity has the potential to spell doom for the ecology of Saurashtra region.But, the general belief is that because these structures are too small they are benign (Batchelor et al., 2002) though present in large numbers in most cases. The primary reason for such an outlook is that the agencies concerned with small water harvesting (in the upper catchment) and those concerned with major head-works are different and they do not act in coordination at the basin level. Building small water harvesting systems such as tanks and check dams is often the responsibility of the minor irrigation department or district arms of the rural development departments of the states concerned. This ad hoc approach to planning often leads to over-appropriation of the basin water, with negative consequences for large reservoir schemes downstream (Kumar et al., 2000). The quality of implementation of the programme came under severe attack from Public Accounts Committee, which found that the quality of construction was poor and funds were misappropriated. While the Panchayats were supposed to carry out the work, all construction work was awarded to a few big contractors.Data collected from Ghelo river basin shows that the inflows into Ghelo-Somnath reservoir reduced significantly after intensive water harvesting work was undertaken in the upper catchment. The total number of structures in the upper catchment area of 59.57 km 2 is around 100. Figure 1 shows the catchment rainfall and runoff in Ghelo-Somnath. After 1995, the year which saw intensive water harvesting work, the reservoir overflowed only in 2005 when the rainfall recorded was 789 mm. Regressions of rainfall and runoff, carried out for 2 time periods i.e., 1969-95 and 1995-05, clearly show that the relationship between rainfall and runoff had changed after water harvesting interventions (see Figure 2). The amount of rainfall required for filling the reservoir had now increased from 320 mm to 800 mm. Though the curves intersect at higher rainfall magnitudes, this does not occur frequently as such high rainfall does not occur in the basin. Many large and important river basins in India, which are also facing water scarcity, are now \"closed\" or do not have uncommitted flows that are utilizable through conventional engineering interventions. Some of them are Pennar, Cauvery and Vaigai in the South (based on GoI, 1999), and Sabarmati, Banas in the west. In addition to these, all the west-flowing rivers in Saurashtra and Kachchh in Gujarat are also \"closed\" (Kumar, 2002). While Krishna basin is on the verge of closure, one basin which is still \"open\" is Godhavari in the east (based on GoI, 1999).In nutshell, water harvesting interventions in the \"closed basins\" located in the naturally water-scarce regions would have adverse impacts on stream-flow availability for downstream uses. One could always argue that in wet years, the runoff would be sufficient to completely fill up downstream reservoirs, it would mean huge investments for the structures. The aquifers in hard rock areas lack the storage capacity to absorb the runoff diverted into the system. This is dealt with separately in Section 3.2. On the other hand, in low rainfall years, the downstream impact of intensive water harvesting systems in the upper catchments would be severe. This is also evident from Figure 2 where the difference in runoffs between pre and post water harvesting scenarios is quite high for low rainfall regimes.The effectiveness of groundwater recharging in any area depends on three factors: i] technical efficiency of recharging; ii] storage potential of aquifers, which are being recharged; and, iii] dynamics of interaction between groundwater and surface water. We also discuss hydrological variability and its implications for reliability of supplies and cost of water harvesting.From a technical perspective, there are 3 major problems facing artificial recharge efforts in waterscarce regions of India. First: most water-scarce regions are underlain by hard rock formations (see Map 3). These hard rock formations consist of Deccan basalt, crystalline rocks and sedimentary sandstone and limestone aquifers.Most of South Indian peninsula has crystalline rocks and basalts, whereas Central India has basalt formations, crystalline rocks and sedimentary aquifers. The soils in the hard rock regions, mostly loamy clay, have very poor infiltration capacity (Muralidharan and Athavale, 1998). After the first few minutes, the rate of infiltration comes down to zero. The performance of water harvesting structures such as tanks, ponds and check dams, which depend on infiltration, is poor. Second: in water-scarce regions, the evaporation rates are very high. Tanks and ponds are the common water harvesting systems found in south Indian peninsula. These structures have very high surface area in relation to the total amount of water they impound. Therefore, evaporation losses from these structures are bound to be high. Third: hard rock geology induces significant constraints in recharge efforts through percolation tanks. The high depth to water table below and around the recharge structure due to occurrence of recharge mount and shallow bed rocks and low infiltration capacity of the thin soils overlaying the hard rock formations prevent percolation of water (Muralidharan, 1990 as cited in Muralidharan and Athawale, 1998).Over the past couple of decades, \"dug well recharging\" had attracted a lot of attention from government agencies in other states facing water shortages. This is also known as Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) method of recharging. This was considered as a simple method for conservation of rain water, involving a meager expense of Rs.150 (US $ 4 approximately). According to the proponents, 300,000 wells were recharged in Saurashtra alone using this method. The proponents argued that a single well could recharge as much as 4,000m 3 of water, based on the assumption that each well will have a storage capacity of 800m 3 on an average, and could receive 5 fillings.These success stories from Saurashtra motivated the government planning new artificial recharge schemes in hard rock district of south India. But, planning such a project did not consider the availability of uncommitted flows in the particular river basins/regions, for which such schemes are proposed. The government of India report on groundwater management and ownership (GoI, 2007) cited a figure of 214 BCM as the uncommitted runoff in India for recharging, and 35 BCM as the total annual recharge technically feasible. However, the calculation does not consider that in regions where ground water is over-exploited, there are no uncommitted flows. Instead, it only looks at the aggregate figures at the country level and the storage space in the aquifers. Further, from the point of view of technical efficiency, no thought has gone into working out the amount of catchment needed to harvest runoff as high as 4000m 3 per well, nor the storage efficiency of the dug wells in hard rock areas.The catchment area required in four different basins in South India, estimated on the basis of the average runoff in these basins, are given in Table 2 below. In all these basins, the hilly and forested upper catchments are rich in terms of runoff generation potential. The runoff generation potential of the moderately plain agricultural lands in the basin would be much lower due to the lower rainfall, higher aridity (as Table 1 indicates), milder slopes, and presence of field bunds and standing crops. Hence, the actual catchment required would be much higher. Again, we have ignored flows that are committed for downstream tanks, ponds and reservoirs.Even if we assume that such a large volume of water can be recharged effectively into the aquifers through dug wells at the farmer level, the availability of sufficient amount of private land to be used as catchments is open to question. In the most optimistic situation, only some of the large farmers would be able to manage such a large amount of field runoff.  As regards the storage efficiency, for each well to harness 4000-5000 m 3 of water, the well would have to receive 15-20 fillings during the monsoon. The hydraulic diffusivity is very poor in hard rock areas. Hence, the recharge mount created from a filling is unlikely to disappear before the wells starts getting the next inflow. An empirical study carried out back in 1997 in Saurashtra region of Gujarat showed very limited impact of this method of recharging groundwater with a total recharge to the tune of 320 m 3 .With two third of the country's geographical area underlain by hard rock formations, storage capacity of aquifers poses a major challenge for artificial recharge from local runoff. Most parts of water-scarce states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are underlain by hard rocks ranging from basalt, crystalline granite, hill aquifers and sandstone. A small areas in of the Narmada valley ad Cambay Basin in Gujarat has extensive alluvium (see Map 3). Hard rock aquifers have no primary porosity and have only secondary porosity. Due to low specific yield (0.01-0.03), sharp rise in water levels is observed in aquifers during monsoon, leaving little space for infiltration from structures. Harnessing water for recharge is extremely important during normal and wet years when the natural recharge in hard rock formation is high (based on regression equations shown in Figure 7 in Athawale, 2003), further reducing the scope for artificial recharge.Significant recharge efforts were made in Saurashtra. But, the biggest constraint in storing water underground during high rainfall years is the poor storage capacity or specific yield of the basalt formations. During good rainfall years, the aquifers get saturated with natural recharge immediately after the rains, leaving no space for entry of water from the recharge systems (Kumar, 2000).The groundwater level fluctuation data obtained from Ghelo river basin in Saurashtra illustrate this. The basin had experienced intensive water-harvesting since 1995. The data were collected periodically from open wells located inside the basin during and after the monsoon rains. The wells located close to the water harvesting structures and those away from the structures were demarcated. The water level fluctuation in the wells in relation to the rainfall events were analyzed and are presented in Figure 3. The time series data shows that the wells close to water harvesting structures get replenished faster than those located away from the structures. But, these wells start overflowing after the first major wet spell, while the second category of wells showed similar trends after the second wet spell. There is a steep rise in water levels in the order of 35 -40 ft in wells located both close to and away from the water harvesting structures soon after the first wet spell. The steep rise in water levels shows the poor specific yield of the aquifer in the area, as the magnitude of cumulative rainfall that had caused this fluctuation is only 200 mm.This leads to the conclusion that in hard rock areas, the aquifers get fully replenished during good rainfall years even without water harvesting systems. Therefore, the only way to store the runoff would be through surface storage. This would have serious negative implications for the cost of the system. This issue is dealt with in detail in section 3.4.In many river basins, the surface water systems and groundwater systems are often inter-connected. Any alterations made in one of them could change the availability of water in the other (Sohiquilo, 1985;Llamas, 2000). In many river basins, which do not get snow melt but have perennial flows, part of the monsoon recharge in the upper catchment areas outflows into the surface streams as base flow. This is the water which is available as non-monsoon flows in these river basins. Examples are basins in central India such as Narmada, Mahi and Tapi, and those in Peninsular India such as Krishna, Pennar and Cauvery. Such outflows occur due to negative hydraulic gradients between groundwater levels and stream water levels. A recent analysis showed that increased groundwater withdrawals in the upper catchments led to a reduction in stream-flows in the Narmada basin (Kumar et al., 2006).In such cases, water harvesting interventions to store water underground may not make much sense as it would get rejected and appear as surface flows (Mayya, 2005). On the other hand, in regions with deep water table conditions like in north Gujarat, the runoff directly moves into the groundwater systems of the plains through the sandy river bed as dewatering of the upper aquifers increases the rate and cumulative percolation (Kumar, 2002b).Regions with semi arid and arid climate experience extreme hydrological events (Hurd et al., 1999). As seen from Map 1, 2 and 4, regions with high variability in rainfall in India coincide with low magnitudes of rainfall and high PE, which also has high dryness ratio. In such areas, a slight variation in precipitation or PE can substantially magnify the water stress on biological systems as compared to humid regions (Hurd et al., 1999). Rainfall variability induces higher degree of variability in runoff. We take the example of the catchments of Banas basin in North Gujarat to illustrate this.In Palanpur area of Banaskantha district in north Gujarat, which has semi arid to arid climatic conditions, the rainfall records show a variation from a lowest of 56mm in 1987 to 1584mm in 1907. The runoff estimated on the basis of regression equation developed for a sub-basin, named, Hathmati of Sabarmati basin in north Gujarat, which is physiographically quite similar to Palanpur area of Banaskantha, shows that the runoff can vary from a lowest of 0.6mm to 541mm (Figure 4). The lowest runoff is close to 1/1000 th of the highest runoff. This means, in drought years, when the actual water demand for irrigation increases, the amount of runoff that can be captured is almost negligible. Hence, the water harvesting systems become unreliable. What can occurs at the sub-basin level may not be representative of that in small upper catchments, the difference will not be drastic.When there is a high inter-annual variability in the runoff a catchment generates, a major planning question which arises is \"for what capacity the water harvesting system should be designed\". When scarcity is acute, highest consideration is given to capturing all the water that is available. If all the runoff which occurs in a high rainfall year is to be captured, then the cost of building the storage system would be many hundred times more than what is required to capture the one which occurs during the lowest rainfall. But, the system would receive water to fill only a small fraction of its storage capacity in the rest of the years. This will make it costineffective. The issue of variability is applicable to the design of large head works as well. But, in large systems, the water in excess of the storage capacity could be diverted for irrigation and other uses to areas which face water shortages during the same season, thereby increasing effective storage.In order to illustrate this point, we use data generated from Ghelo river basin in Saurashtra. The basin has a total catchment area of 59. 20 km 2 . It had a medium irrigation reservoir with a storage capacity of 5.68 MCM, which has been functional since 1966. Inflow data of the reservoir for the period 1969-95 showed that the total runoff generated in the basin varied from zero in the year corresponding to a rainfall of 39 mm to a maximum of 17.78 MCM in the year corresponding to a rainfall of 1270 mm. Today, the total capacity of water harvesting systems built in the upstream of Ghelo reservoir is 0.15 MCM. During the period from 1969 to 2005, the reservoir showed overflow for 13 years with a total quantum of 60.936 MCM. If one million cubic metres of runoff had to be captured in addition to the 5.89 MCM that would be captured by the medium irrigation reservoir, it would cost around 0.09 X/m 3 of water, while capturing 3 MCM would cost 0.11 X/m 3 of water. If the maximum runoff observed in the basin, i.e., 17.785 MCM has to be captured, the total volume of water captured would be only 60.91 MCM, in which case the unit cost of water harvesting would be around 0.21 X/ m 3 of water (Figure 5). Here, \"X\" is the cost of storage structures for creating an effective storage space of one MCM. Here, again, we are not considering the incremental financial cost of the special structures for capturing high magnitudes of runoff, which cause flash flood.In the planning of large water resource systems, cost and economics are important considerations in evaluating different options. But unfortunately, the same does not seem to be applicable in the case of small systems, though concerns about economics of recharge systems in certain situations were raised by authors such as Phadtare (1988) and Kumar (2004).Part of the reason for lack of emphasis on \"cost\" is the lack of scientific understanding of the hydrological aspects of small scale interventions, such as the amount of stream flows that are available at the point of impoundment, its pattern, the amount that could be impounded or recharged and the influence area of the recharge system. Even though simulation models are available for analyzing catchment hydrology, there are great difficulties in generating micro lavel data on daily rainfall, soil infiltration rates, catchment slopes, land cover and PET which determine the potential inflows; and evaporation rates that determine potential outflows. Further for small water harvesting projects, implemented by local agencies and NGOs with small budgets, cost of hydrological investigations and planning is hard to justify. Often, provision for such items is not made in small water harvesting projects.The amount of runoff a water harvesting structure can capture depends on not only the total quantum of runoff, but also how it occurs. A total annual runoff of 20 cm occurring over a catchment of one sq. km. can generate a surface flow of 0.20 MCM. The amount that can be captured depends on the pattern. The low rainfall, semi arid and arid regions of India, which experience extreme hydrological events, have annual rains occurring in a fewer number of days as compared to sub-humid and humid regions with high rainfalls regions (Map 5). As a result, as Garg (1987) points out, in these regions, high intensity rainfalls of short duration are quite common (source: Garg, 1987 as cited in Athawale, 2003: Figure 24). This runoff generates flash floods 1 . If the entire runoff occurs in a major rainfall event, the effective runoff collection would reduce with reducing capacity of the structures built. If large structures are built to capture high intensity runoff thereby increasing the runoff collection efficiency, that would mean inflating cost per unit volume of water captured. In fact, authors such as Oweis, Hachum and Kijne (1999) have argued that runoff harvesting should be encouraged in arid area only if the harvested water is directly diverted for crop use.Given the data on inflows and runoff collection efficiencies, predicting the impacts on local hydrological regime is also extremely complex, requiring accurate data on geological and geo-hydrological profiles, and variables. In lieu of the above described difficulties in assessing the effective storage, unit costs are worked out on the basis of the design storage capacity of the structures and thumb rules on number of fillings (see for instance Raju, 1995). The recent book by Dr. R. N. Athawale on rainwater harvesting in India had covered a gamut of technical aspects of water harvesting in different regions of India, does not deal with economics issues (see for instance Athawale, 2003). However, proponents project them as low cost technology and underestimate the costs and inflate the recharge benefits. The best example is the government of India report on groundwater management and ownership (GoI, 2007), and recently-sanctioned government of India scheme for recharging aquifers in hard rock districts of south India, with an investment of 1,800 crore rupees.The government of India report (GoI, 2007) bases its arguments for rainwater harvesting on the pilot experiments conducted by CGWB in different parts of India using five different types of structures (see GoI, 2007: ). While the estimated costs per cubic metre of water were one-time costs (see Column 6 of Table 3), the report assumes that the structures would have a uniform life of 25 years. Two things in these figures are very striking. First: the costs widely vary from location to location and from system to system, and the range is wide, which the report duly acknowledges. Second: even for a life of 25 years, the upper values would be extremely high, touching Rs.7.7/m 3 of water for percolation tank and Rs. 18.2/m 3 for sub-surface dyke. But, such a long life for recharge system is highly unrealistic 7 . Considering an active life of 10 years for a percolation tank, 5 years for check dam and sub-surface dyke, and 3 years for recharge shaft, we have worked out the unit cost of recharging using these systems.The results are provided in Column 7 of Table 3. It shows that the costs are prohibitively high for subsurface dyke and check dam, and very high for percolation tanks. Added to the cost of recharging, would be the cost of pumping out the water from wells. The size of returns from crop production should justify such high investments. A recent study in nine agro-climatic locations in Narmada river basin showed that the gross return ranged from Rs. 2.94/m 3 to Rs.13.49/m 3 for various crops in Hoshangabad; Rs. 1.9/m 3 to Rs. 10.93/m 3 for various crops in Jabalpur; Rs. 2.59/m 3 to Rs. 12.58/m 3 for crops in Narsingpur; Rs. 1.33/m 3 to Rs. 17/m 3 for crops in Dhar; and Rs. 3.01/m 3 to Rs. 17.91/m 3 for crops in Raisen (Kumar and Singh, 2006). The lower values of gross return per cubic metre of water were found for cereals, and high values were for low water consuming pulses, and cotton. This means that the net returns would be negative if recharged water is used for irrigating such crops. Contrary to this, the report argues that the costs are comparable with that of surface irrigation schemes (GoI, 2007: pp 13). Such an inference has essentially come from over-estimation of productive life of the structures.A close look at the dug well recharging method reveals that this method of in situ water conservation suffers from many problems. First: the open wells used for irrigation are always located at the highest elevation in the farms, which makes it easy for farmers to take the pumped water to the fields by gravity. This means that farmers have to cut deep channels to convey the runoff water from the farthest points in the field to the wells for recharging, which may run into hundreds of metres. This can cost significant amount of money. The filter box alone could cost around Rs. 5000 per farmer. As seen in Section 3.1, the benefits, which are likely to accrue against these investments, are quite low. Scale considerations are extremely important in evaluating the cost and economics of water harvesting/ groundwater recharge structures because of the hydrological integration of catchments at the watershed and river basin level. The economics of water harvesting systems for individual systems in isolation do not make sense when the amount of surplus water available in a basin is limited (Kumar, 2000a) and interventions in the upper catchments reduce the potential hydrological benefits from systems in the lower catchment (Kumar et al., 2006;Ray and Bijarnia, 2006). In case of the Arwari basin, while the irrigated area in the upper catchment villages increased (where structures were built), it reduces significantly in the lower catchment villages (Ray and Bijarnia, 2006). It is therefore important to look at the incremental hydrological benefit due to the introduction of a new structure.In any basin, the marginal benefit from a new water harvesting structure would be smaller for basins with higher degrees of development, while the marginal cost would be higher (see Figure 6). The reason being: 1] higher the degree of basin development, lower would be the chances for getting socially and economically viable sites for building water impounding structures, increasing the economic and financial cost of harvesting every unit of water; and 2] with higher degree of development, the social and environmental costs of harvesting every unit of water increases (Frederick, 1993), reducing the net economic value of benefits. Therefore, the cost and economic evaluation should move from watershed to basin level. As Figure 6 indicates, the level at which basin development can be carried out depends on whether we consider the flows in a wet year or dry year or a normal year. There is a stage of development (marked by O in the chart) beyond which, the social, economic and environmental benefits start becoming negative. Here, O is the optimum level of water resource development.But, it is important to keep in mind that the negative social and environmental effects of over-appropriation of basin's water resources may be borne by a community living in one part of the basin, while the benefits are accrued to a community living in another part. Ideally, water development projects in a basin should meet the needs and interests of all stakeholders. Therefore, optimum level of water development should not aim at maximizing the net basin level benefits, but rather optimizing the net hydrological and socio-economic benefits for different stakeholders and communities across the basin.The potential impacts of the artificial recharge projects of the government have to be seen from this perspective. Even if recharging of millions of wells and tanks and ponds in the region is achieved successfully, it is unlikely to create equivalent additional economic benefits from agriculture production. As per official estimates, the total storage capacity created in the river basins of South and Central India, viz., Cauvery, Pennar, Krishna, Narmada, east flowing rivers between Pennar and Cauvery, and east flowing rivers south of Cauvery is 57.11 BCM, against utilizable water resources of 100.32 BCM (GoI, 1999, Table 3.5 and 3.6). Now, the actual volume of water being effectively diverted by the reservoirs/diversion systems in these basins would be much higher due to diversion during the monsoon, and additional water stored in the dead storage. This apart, the traditional minor irrigation schemes such as tanks are also likely to receive inflows during monsoon. It is estimated that the south Indian Peninsula had nearly 135000 tanks, which cater to various human needs including irrigation. Thus, the existing storage and diversion capacities in the region would be close to the utilizable flows. Hence, the livelihoods of farmers, who do not have access to groundwater, will be at stake at least in normal rainfall years and drought year.To improve the economics of RWH, it is critical to divert the new water to high-valued uses. Phadtare (1988) pointed out that recharge projects would be economically viable in alluvial north Gujarat if the water is diverted for irrigation, as structures are expensive. Yield losses due to moisture stress are extremely high in arid and semi-arid regions and providing a few protective irrigations could enhance yield and water productivity of rain-fed crops remarkably, especially during drought years (Rockström et al., 2003). The available extra water harvested from monsoon rains should therefore be diverted to supplement irrigation in drought years. There are regions where drinking water for human and cattle become high priority demands. North western Rajasthan, which is arid and dominated by pastoral communities, named Gujjars, is one such example. The social and economic value realized from the use of water for human drinking and livestock use, respectively, would be much more than the economic value realized from its use in irrigating crops.In most instances, the regions facing problems of water shortage in India do so due to natural water scarcity. In these regions, demands for water exceeds the utilizable water resources. This is one reason why these regions are facing over-draft of groundwater. These regions are characterized by low and erratic annual rainfalls, high inter-annual variability in rainfall, high aridity due to excessively high evaporation rates including that during monsoon and low and highly variable runoffs. These regions are mostly underlain by hard rock formations, which have poor water holding capacity. These regions have also experienced high degree of water resources development in the past many decades. The basins here are either \"closed\" or on the verge of \"closure\". Modern water harvesting initiatives are concentrated in these regions.Analysis of data available from pilot projects of CGWB shows that artificial recharging using methods such as percolation tank, check dam, sub-surface dyke and recharge shaft is prohibitively expensive. Also, the cost of using a cubic metre of recharge water for irrigation is much higher than the expected gross returns per cubic metre of the water, making irrigated crop production with it unviable.As evidences suggest, in these regions, it is impossible to carry out local water harvesting and groundwater recharge activities in an economically efficient way and without causing negative downstream impacts. The reasons are many: highly variability in runoff means high unit cost of capturing water; low infiltration rates for soils overlaying hard rock areas reduce technical efficiency of recharging through percolation tanks and check dams; hard rock aquifers offer very little storage space to absorb the high runoff in good rainfall years; due to high aridity, evaporation from surface storage is very high during monsoon; and the degree of water development is already very high in most water-scarce basins with small traditional water harvesting systems and large reservoirs/diversion systems. This is leading to colossal waste of scarce resources, apart from causing several negative social and environmental consequences. In spite of all this, the recent government of India plans to undertake artificial recharge of groundwater in over-exploited areas of India. This raises fundamental questions about the method used for analyzing the hydrological and economic impacts of these interventions.Further intensive runoff harvesting in basins with high degree of water development can lead to several negative externalities on the ecosystem health, and the socio-economic production functions, and an overall negative welfare impacts, and therefore has to be discouraged even at private costs.In sum, there are no \"quick fix solutions\" to the complex water problems facing India. There has to be a better application of natural and social sciences, the socio-economic and institutional and policy context while designing water management programmes and policies. In this particular case, it is important to generate better understanding of the catchment and basin hydrology, the groundwater storage potential, the stage of water development in the basin, and climatic and socio-economic factors that determine water demands. The experiences from different parts of India show that piecemeal solutions, which do not take cognizance of these, would do more harm than mitigating the problems.","tokenCount":"6855"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6733621188.json b/data/part_1/6733621188.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd29414f7543b806599196c02b64edde51c672c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6733621188.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"40f485f40a001e7ea2c160b1bb2fe8ff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/555b3abc-166b-4a2d-be64-4a1c352784fc/retrieve","id":"949098551"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"95fe08d3-d526-45cd-b4b3-83c047a52f29","pagecount":"13","content":"Access to sufficient and clean freshwater is essential for all life. Water is also essential for food system functioning: as a key input into food production, but also in processing and preparation, and as a food itself. Water scarcity and pollution are growing, affecting poorer populations, particularly food producers. Malnutrition levels are also on the rise, and this is closely linked to water scarcity. Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) and Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) are co-dependent. Solutions to jointly improve food systems and water security outcomes that the United Nations Food Security Summit (UNFSS) should consider include: 1) Strengthening efforts to retain water-based ecosystems and their functions; 2) Improving agricultural water management for better diets for all; 3) Reducing water and food losses beyond the farmgate; 4) Coordinating water with nutrition and health interventions; 5) Increasing the environmental sustainability of food systems; 6) Explicitly addressing social inequities in water-nutrition linkages; and 7) Improving data quality and monitoring for water-food system linkages, drawing on innovations in information and communications technology (ICT).Water is essential for all life and is integral to the function and productivity of the Earth's ecosystems, which depend on a complex cycle of continuous movement of water between the Earth and the atmosphere. Water is integral to food systems and improved food systems are essential to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation. As described by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) 1 and illustrated in Figure 1, the key dimensions of water that are of importance for humanity are its availability, access, stability, and quality. These have multiple, close linkages and feedback loops with food systems -which can be defined as the activities involved in the production, processing, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food within a wider socioeconomic, political, and environmental context 2 . For example, waste streams from food processing often re-enter water bodies, affecting other components of food systems, such as drinking water supply (water is itself essential for all bodily functions and processes, and is an important source of nutrients) 3 , as well as water-based and water-related ecosystems.More than 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals are currently used for agriculture, and about 85 percent of withdrawn resources are consumed in irrigated agricultural production. With these resources, irrigated crop areas generate 40 percent of global food production on less than a third of global harvested area 4 . Another key water-food system linkage is water supply for WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), which is important for human health, can support nutrition outcomes, particularly if combined with other interventions 5 , and is a basic human right; as is the right to food. Water is also essential for agricultural processing and for food preparation.Climate change and other environmental and societal changes (e.g. land use changes, biodiversity loss, urbanization, and changing lifestyles and diets) are impacting the dynamics of natural water cycles and water resource availability with impacts on food systems. More than half of all natural wetland areas have been lost due to human activity since 1900 and forest degradation affects streamflow regulation 6 . At the same time, the growing frequency and severity of floods and droughts in many regions of the world 7 increase competition over water resources. This calls for changes in water management, including increased water productivity, integrated storage solutions, accelerated land restoration as well as smarter water distribution to support food systems, while also reducing impacts on the domestic, industrial, energy, and environmental water use sectors.Freshwater-related ecosystems include wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and lakes sustaining biodiversity and life 8 . Although they cover less than 1 percent of the Earth's surface, these habitats host approximately one third of vertebrate species and 10 percent of all species 9 , including mammals, birds 10 , and fish 11 . Water-related ecosystems are also vital for the function of all terrestrial ecosystems, providing regulating, provisioning, and cultural services 12 . Furthermore, water is essential for energy productionaccounting for 85 percent of global renewable electricity generation in 2015 13 , and is also key for commerce and industry 14 . Notably, de-carbonizing the energy system can also impact the water system, particularly in the case of increasing hydropower and biofuel. Progress on achieving the water and sanitation targets of SDG 6 has been unsatisfactory and uneven (see Appendix 1 for SDG 6 targets). More than 2 billion people live in places with high water stress 15,16 ; by 2050, every second person, half the world's grain production, and close to half the globe's Gross Domestic Product might well be at risk from water stress 17 . In 2017, approximately 2.2 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water, and 4.2 billion people lacked access to safely managed sanitation services. One in 10 people lacked basic services, including the 144 million people who drank untreated surface water, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa 18 . Poor women and girls, who are responsible for more than 70 percent of all water collection, spend about 200 million hours a day on this task, reducing their learning opportunities and undermining their health and livelihood opportunities 19,20 .Farmers across the world, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, continue to rely heavily on rainfall for food production. More than 62 million hectares of crop and pastureland experience high to very high water stress and drought, affecting about 300 million farm households 21 . With climate change, temperatures and crop evaporation levels are increasing and there is growing uncertainty about the timing, duration and quantity of rainfall, increasing the risks of producing food and undermining the livelihood security of the majority of rural people 22 . With respect to the other SDG 6 targets, such as water quality, water use efficiency, water dependent ecosystems, and integrated water management, progress has been slow and is often not well understood due to the lack of effective monitoring mechanisms and insufficient data. New, integrated approaches and reinforced efforts are urgently needed 23 .While water availability differs dramatically around the globe, differences in access are more often due to politics, public policy, and flawed water management strategies as well as exclusions due to geography (i.e. remote rural areas), gender, ethnicity, caste, race, and class. In many cases, water does flow uphill to power and money 24 . Furthermore, increasing urbanization and changing diets are changing the demand and supply of water resources for food systems and aggravating water stress in many parts of the world, particularly in water-scarce areas of low/middle income countries where coping capacity is often insufficient.An estimated 690 million people or 8.9 percent of the global population were undernourished in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; this number has certainly gone up since 25 . Moreover, 144 million children below the age of five were stunted, 48 million were wasted, and another 38 million were overweight 26,27 . Climate change, associated conflict, and lack of sufficient water for food production, including irrigation for fruits and vegetable production, are key contributors to unaffordable diets and overall levels of undernutrition. At the same time, overweight continues to dramatically increase around the globe, including in children. Latin America, in particular, suffers from the associated public health burden. Overall, rural areas currently experience the most rapid rate of increase 28 . Given these trends, neither the 2025 World Health Assembly nutrition targets nor the 2030 SDG nutrition targets will be met. As with inequities in access to water, inequities in access to food and nutrition are highest in rural areas 29 .Ending hunger and malnutrition requires access to safe drinking water (SDG 6.1) as well as equitable sanitation and hygiene (SDG 6.2). The underlying productivity (SDG 2.3) and sustainability (SDG 2.4) of agricultural systems are also dependent on adequate availability (SDG 6.4 and 6.6) of good quality (SDG 6.3) water. Moreover, water and related ecosystems (e.g. wetlands in SDG 6.6), which are embedded in sustainable landscapes, are important contributors to sustainable agriculture (SDG 2.4) 30 .A key contributor to poor nutritional outcomes in subsistence farming households in low-income countries is the seasonality of production, leading to seasonality of diets, which can affect pregnancy outcomes and child growth 31,32 . Well-managed irrigation systems can buffer seasonal gaps in diets -contributing to improved food security and nutritional outcomes, for example, through homestead gardening 33,34 .It is equally important to stress the importance of changes in food systems for meeting SDG 6 targets: through reducing food loss and waste in food value chains (SDG 12.3), lowering pollution from slaughterhouses, food processing, and food preparation, and considering environmental sustainability in food-based dietary guidelines. All these actions will be essential to meet SDG 6 targets (Appendix 1) 35 .Based on the above assessment as well as on recent water-food system reviews 36 , the following actions are proposed for uptake by governments, the private sector, and civil society.The ecological processes underlying the movement, storage, and transformation of water are under severe threat from deforestation, erosion, and pollution, with impacts on local, regional, and global water cycles 37 . In addition to a direct halt to deforestation and destruction of water-based ecosystem, nature-based solutions that use or mimic natural processes to enhance water availability (e.g., groundwater recharge), improve water quality (e.g. riparian buffer strips), and reduce risks associated with waterrelated disasters and climate change (e.g. floodplain restoration) should be strengthened 38 . Setting limits to water consumption, particularly in waterstressed regions, will be necessary to stay within sustainable water use limits 39 .Around 3 billion people on this planet cannot afford a healthy diet, particularly dairy, fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich foods 40 . Both rainfed and irrigated systems play essential roles in lowering the prices of nutrient-dense foods, growing incomes to afford these foods, and strengthening diversity of foods available in local markets 41 .Rainfed systems produce the bulk of food, fodder, and fiber; and most animal feed is produced under rainfed conditions 42 . These systems are under severe and growing stress from climate change, including extreme weather 43 . This can be addressed, to some extent, through structural measures (e.g. terracing, soil bunds), investment in breeding, improved agronomic practices, better incentives (e.g. payments for watershed conservation), and strong institutions (e.g. watershed committees) 44,45 .As irrigation accounts for the largest share of freshwater withdrawals by humans, the potential for water conservation is also largest in this sector. Irrigation development needs to take place keeping environmental limits -which are increasingly affected by climate change -in mind; this includes reining in groundwater depletion. The potential for increasing water and nutrition productivity in irrigation remains large. It includes crop breeding for transpiration efficiency, climate resilience and micronutrients, integrated storage solutions-such as joint use of grey and green infrastructureadvanced irrigation technology, and automated irrigation systems 46 . There are clear tradeoffs between nutrient density of foods and irrigation water use. Fruits and vegetable yields depend on frequent water applications in many parts of the world (but the water content of the end product also tends to be high); and tend to receive high pesticide applications that pollute water resources 47 . Many livestock products are highly water-intensive due to animal feeds. Awareness raising and social learning interventions can help internalize the water externality of water-intensive diets. Improved coordination of water with other agricultural inputs can also enhance yield per drop of water. This requires access to technology packages as well as to better agricultural information 48 , which is increasingly supported by ICTs 49 . Moreover, subsidies for water-intensive crops, such as rice, milk, and sugar should be removed. For water-scarce countries, importing virtual water via food and other commodities will remain essential 50 .Globally, 80 percent of municipal sewage and industrial wastewater with heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, pharma-ceuticals, and other waste, are directly discharged into water bodies, affecting the safety of food, particularly vegetable production, and also, directly, human health 51 . Agriculture also directly pollutes aquatic ecosystems and risks food production with pesticides, organic matter, fertilizers, sediments, pathogens, and saline drainage 52 . Key measures to address agricultural and overall water pollution include breeding crops with higher crop nutrient use efficiency, better agronomic practices, the expansion of nature-based solutions for pollution management, lowcost pollution monitoring systems, improved incentive structures for pollution abatement, and continued investment and innovation in wastewater treatment, including approaches such as the 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) of the circular economy across the entire food system 53 .Irrigated agriculture is often focused on high-value crops with a higher share of marketed surplus compared to rainfed agriculture 54 . At the same time, many irrigated crops, such as fruits and vegetables, are time-sensitive perishable products that require efficient market linkages to consumption centers. Strengthening market linkages includes investment in physical infrastructure that supports on-farm production (irrigation, energy, transportation, pre-and postharvest storage), efficient trading and exchange (telecommunications, covered markets), value addition (agro-processing and packaging facilities), and improved transportation and bulk storage 55 . Investments are also needed in ICTs that facilitate farmers' access to localized and tailored information about weather, water consumption, diseases, yield, and input and output prices 56 .Governance and management of water for various uses and functions, as shown in Figure 1 Nutrition and health experts need to join forces with water managers at the farm household level, at the community level, and at the government level to strengthen positive transmission pathways between both rainfed and irrigated agriculture, and food and nutrition security. A recent guidance 58 describes eight actions to increase the nutrition sensitivity of water resources management and irrigation as well as indicators for monitoring progress.The water footprint of diets varies dramatically between rich and poor countries, but also by socioeconomic group within countries 59 . More work is urgently needed on the impact of current dietary trends on environmental resources, including water. Food-based dietary guidelines should consider the environmental footprint of proposed diets; government regulations and consumer awareness should be strengthened to reduce over-consumption of food, and further efforts are needed to reduce postharvest waste and losses 60 .Vulnerable groups need to be proactively included in the development of water services, including incorporating their needs and constraints into initial infrastructure design. For rural smallholders who most lack water and food security, irrigation design should consider multiple uses of water, such as drinking, irrigation, and livestock watering to meet women's and men's needs. While women make up a large part of the agricultural workforce, they often lack recognition and formal rights, and farmers are often considered to be 'male' in many parts of the world. Women's productive roles should be promoted, and they should be trained in irrigation and water management. It is also important to ensure that women and disadvantaged social groups (e.g. lower castes, stigmatized social groups) have equal access to credit, irrigable land, labor, and markets to buy agricultural inputs and sell their produce 61 .for water-food system linkages, drawing on innovations in ICT Better data are needed to truly understand the water footprint of diets, and devise policies that co-maximize water and food security and nutrition goals. Challenges include poor water and poor food intake data and a lack of indicators connecting the two; but improvements are emerging. 62 Better and more data will support better water management and food systems and increase transparency in decision making. This requires sustained investments in monitoring of a wide range of hydrological and food-related parameters worldwide. Modern Earth observation methods can support largerscale assessment 63 , but need to be complemented by dedicated field measurements.Food Systems Summit Briefs are prepared by researchers of Partners of the Scientific Group for the United Nations Food Systems Summit. They are made available under the responsibility of the authors. The views presented may not be attributed to the Scientific Group or to the partner organisations with which the authors are affiliated.","tokenCount":"2632"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6737449260.json b/data/part_1/6737449260.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..edc6a91360f06f123815a0dc413f648a14fb17b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6737449260.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0c475023d57ce43c8c503f2668c3f965","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c31576c-42ff-4aab-91c8-4089477c35b3/retrieve","id":"-1568797596"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"283543f5-485c-4c27-9ef0-e5362d40b428","pagecount":"9","content":"• Goats and engagement in goat value chains offer a strategic opportunity to strengthen women's empowerment, climate resilience, and improved nutrition: Research Questions Results: Women's Empowerment (WE)Goat Management: Primarily women's responsibility; men are engaged in other livelihood activities and larger ruminants • \"Usually, women have no decision on sheep and cattle. However, they are the ones who mainly manage the goats. They meet most of their needs and those of their children thanks to these goats\" [FGD, Men]. • \"Women do not always have access to fertile land to be able to fully develop their agricultural activities.Therefore, we can only fall back on goat breeding to fill the gap\" [FGD, Women].Processing Products: Women's roles differ by geography; many women process goat milk into different products; lack of training and capacity building opportunities or reliable access to electricity and/or cold chain support limit upgrading • \"We want to process goat's milk but unfortunately, we do not have the required skills. We have not received any training for this\" [FGD, Women] • \"We also have a concern about preserving our products, especially milk. In the whole village, there are only four fridges and it's really minimal\" [FGD, Women] Marketing and Sales: Given social norms, men manage all goat sales but these incomes are managed by women• \"Goats generally belong to women, but men are responsible for selling them. However, the income from this sales activity belongs entirely to [women]\" [FGD, Women] #AdaptFutures23Results: Climate Resilience • Reduced pasture/grazing lands: \"The rains have become more and more irregular, and temperatures are increasing day by day. This has a negative impact on our goats because pasture is becoming rarer and even the small trees that served them as aerial grazing are starting to disappear, we hardly see them anymore. So, we are forced to feed them on our own\" [FGD, Women] • Additional investments required to supplement goat feed: \"Last year, due to a bad rainy season, we did not have enough grass to feed our goats and we recorded many deaths among them. So, we had to buy livestock feed to feed them, and it was so expensive\" [FGD, Women] #AdaptFutures23Preferences to consume goat milk from household herd, but preferences vary • \"We even had the tradition of first giving goats milk to our newborns before mother's milk because it is considered that the goat has a high degree of intelligence\" [FGD, Women].• \"I personally don't like goat milk. By consuming it, I can spend a whole day scratching my skin, it makes me really uncomfortable. This may be because I'm not used to pasteurizing it\" [FGD, Women].• \"We are really not used to eating goat meat without any ceremony. Instead, we prefer to sell the goat and use the money to pay for our needs\" [FGD, Women].Preferences to sell goats for income, but purchase meat from the market • \"Generally, the meat we eat is bought at the market. Indeed, our goats constitute our portfolio, they allow us to obtain income and meet our family needs. So, we cannot afford to consume them constantly\" [FGD, Men].  ","tokenCount":"513"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6750608379.json b/data/part_1/6750608379.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..514368200b1ec413cf833adc3b9b3d758227edb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6750608379.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"deb938cab5634db3f87624bb9f67c134","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/36d36e18-2498-4bb4-8912-0136aef6c335/content","id":"1005185040"},"keywords":["Electrophoretic","gluten strength","proteins","sedimentation","Triticum durum Mots Clés : Eléctrophorétique","résistance du gluten","protéines","sedimentation","Triticum durum"],"sieverID":"db88ba84-7e8f-41d7-944a-385fed3e1e0b","pagecount":"6","content":"Eleven cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum durum L. var. durum Desf.) were evaluated across five environments in Ethiopia for grain yield, 1000 kernel weight, protein concentration, gluten strength, mixing time, mixing height, colour and yellow berry to identify desirable traits for breeding purposes. Gluten strength was measured by the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sedimentation test. An electrophoretic study of gliadin and glutenin proteins was undertaken to investigate possible associations between these proteins and gluten strength. Significant genotypic differences were observed for grain yield, 1000 kernel weight, protein content, SDS-sedimentation volume, yellowness and yellow berry. Six high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits patterns were identified with the combination of null and 20 being the most common. For Glu-B1, the alleles producing protein subunits of 20 and 7+8 were the most common. Alleles producing protein subunits of 6+8 were less frequently observed. Three cultivars had pattern LMW-1 while the remaining eight cultivars had pattern LMW-2. The strongest gluten strength corresponded to the mixed subunits 7+8/6+8 and 7+8/20, followed by subunits 6+8 and 7+8. Subunit 20 was associated with the lowest gluten strength. Pattern LMW-2 was strongly associated with higher gluten strength compared to LMW-1. The effects of low molecular weight (LMW) and HMW glutenin subunits were additive. In order to develop high quality durum wheats, it would be useful to discard lines with LMW-1 and HMW glutenin subunit 20 and to combine electrophoretic analysis with the SDS-sedimentation test.Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum Desf.) is widely known to be the best type of wheat for pasta products because of its kernel size, hardiness, and golden amber color. Pasta is the general term for foods such as macaroni, spaghetti and noodles. Cooked pasta made from durum wheat semolina retains good firmness and elasticity and is resistant to surface disintegration and stickiness. These characteristics depend more or less on the cultivars that are processed (Dexter and Matsuo, 1977;Autran et al., 1986;Feillet et al., 1989). Autran and Galterio (1989) pointed out the essential element of cooking quality to be the ability of durum wheat protein components to interact during pasta processing, to give insoluble aggregates and viscoelastic complexes able to entrap starch granules, and to limit the surface disintegration of pasta upon cooking. Gliadin and glutenin proteins interact in the presence of water to form glutenin, the protein complex responsible for the viscoelastic properties that make durum wheat important for pasta making (Peña et al., 1994).Durum pasta cooking quality, however, is a varietal characteristic (Dexter and Matsuo, 1977;Autran et al., 1986;Feillet et al., 1989). Viscoelasticity of cooked pasta correlates with protein content and type (Damidaux et al., 1980;Kosmolak et al., 1980;Du Cros, 1987). Adequate quantity of wheat protein is necessary if the final products are to have good tolerance to overcooking, low cooking loss, desirable organoleptic features and acceptable nutritional value. Researchers (Galterio et al., 1993;Mariani et al., 1995) have indicated that durum wheats with 13% protein could provide excellent products whereas wheats with protein contents below 11% give products of inferior quality. Nevertheless, the large differences in the rheological and cooking properties of gluten existing among varieties of similar protein content has posed the problem of gluten quality. Gluten composition is the main factor that determines the quality characteristics of durum wheat cultivars (Vazquez et al., 1996). Glutenins are subdivided into high (HMW) and low (LMW) molecular weight subunits. The HMW subunits are encoded by genes on the long arm of group 1 homologous chromosomes (Glu-A1, Glu-B1, Glu-D1) whereas the genes encoding the LMW subunits are clustered on the short arm (Glu-A3, Glu-B3 and Glu-D3) of the same chromosomes, tightly linked to the Gli-B1 complex loci which encode for -gliadin 42 and g-gliadin 45 (Payne et al., 1984;Shewry et al., 1986;Payne, 1987;D'Ovidio et al., 1992;).Two LMW glutenin subunit patterns, LMW-1 and LMW-2, explained a large part of the quality differences between some durum wheat genotypes. It is the presence of LMW-2 glutenin subunits, in fact, which confers superior quality with respect to cultivars possessing LMW-1 (Vazquez et al., 1996;D'Ovidio, 1993). Ruiz and Carillo, (1995) generalised that, lines with the pattern LMW-2 had significantly greater SDS sedimentation value and better mixograms than those with patterns LMW-1. The g-gliadin components 42 and 45 are only genetic markers, without any direct involvement in dough quality. However, LMW glutenins are the direct causal agents of glutenin viscoelasticity and firmness (Pogna et al., 1988;Feillet et al., 1989;Pogna et al., 1990;D'ovidio et al., 1992). Autran and Galterio (1989) pointed out that genotypes belonging to the LMW-1 type tended to have higher tillering and black rust (Puccinia graminis) resistance and lower brown rust (Puccinia recondita) resistance, while the opposite is true with LMW-2 genotypes. In their study on the relationship between gluten strength and glutenin properties, Carillo et al. (1990) found that HMW subunits 6+8 and 7+8 were the most common and subunit 20 was less frequent. Results concerning the effect of HMW glutenin subunits on durum wheat quality are, however, conflicting. Some studies indicated that HMW glutenins were poor indicators of viscoelastic properties (Du Cros, 1987;Carrillo et al., 1990). Autran and Feillet (1987) reported no significant differences between SDS means of cultivars with subunit 6+8 or 7+8. Cultivars with subunit 20, however, seemed to have less gluten strength since their SDS was different from that of the other cultivars. Peña et al. (1995) pointed out that subunits 6+8 and 7+8 showed significantly better quality effects than subunit 20. According to them, the subunit pair 6+8 was associated with higher SDS values when combined with LMW-2, than with LMW-1. Pogna et al. (1990) indicated that gluten subunit 7+8 gave larger SDS sedimentation volume and higher elastic recoveries than subunits 6+8 and 20. The positive effects of LMW-2 gluten subunits and HMW subunit 7+8 were additive. These results were also corroborated by Ruiz and Carillo (1995) and Boggini et al. (1997).A deep, clear, yellow color in semolina and in the finished spaghetti or macaroni products are desirable characteristics of durum wheat. Durum is unique among wheats in that it contains adequate amounts of xanthophylls (yellow pigment) and low amount of the enzyme lipoxidase which destroys the yellow pigment during processing. Joppa and Walsh (1974), indicated that varieties differ from each other in quantity and quality of xanthophylls and lipoxidase.Ethiopia is the largest producer of durum wheat in sub-Saharan Africa. It is, in fact considered to be the center of genetic diversity for this type of wheat (Vavilov, 1951). However, very little emphasis has been placed on improving the nutritive quality of durum wheat although it is a major source of nutrition in the country.In this study, eleven durum wheat cultivars released in Ethiopia between 1966 and 1996 were evaluated in different environments to assess their agronomic and quality characteristics for possible utilisation for breeding purposes. The paper also recommends appropriate breeding method(s) for quality screening.Plant material. Eleven durum wheat cultivars officially released in Ethiopia between 1966 and 1996 were included in the study (Table 1).Separate check cultivars representative of each location were also included for comparison purposes. The materials were planted in five diverse and typical durum wheat growing environments (Debre Zeit, Akaki, Chefe Donsa, Bichena and Alem Tena) across the country during 1995/96 and 1996/97. Debre Zeit and Akaki are mid-altitude areas (1900-2300 metres above sea level (m.a.s.l) characterised by moderate yearly rainfall (700 to 900 mm) and well drained black vertisols. Chefe Donsa and Bichena are highland areas (>2300 m.a.s.l) characterised by high annual rainfall (>1000 mm) and black vertisols with poor drainage. Alem Tena is a lowland area (< 1900 m.a.s.l) located in the Rift Valley and with well-drained sandy soils. The yearly average rainfall at this location is 500 mm and is quite erratic.A randomised complete block design with three replicates was used. Plot sizes were 6 m x 2 m. Fertiliser was applied at the rate of 100 kg ha -1 diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 100 kg ha -1 urea. The DAP fertiliser was all applied at planting time whereas urea was splitapplied especially at the high rainfall sites. Other agronomic practices were based on local recommendations. Electrophoretic analysis. Total grain protein extracts were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), using 10% polyacrylamide gels. High and low-molecular weight glutenin subunits were designated according to the numbering system of Payne and Lawrence (1983) and Payne et al. (1984).Quality evaluation. Whole meal samples were generated with a \"Udy Cyclone\" mill (Udy CO., Colorado, USA), fitted with a 0.5 mm screen, while flour samples were produced with a Brabender Jr. (Brabender OHG, Duisburg, Germany), fitted with 9XX mesh sieve. Gluten strength was estimated by the SDS-sedimentation test on 1-g meal of flour samples as described by Peña et al. (1990). This test is used in many laboratories as an indicator of gluten firmness and elastic recovery because of its simplicity, small sample size requirement, rapidity and high degree of precision (Dexter and Matsuo, 1980;Dick and Quick, 1983;Autran et al., 1986). Grain and flour protein were determined by NIR analysis using an Infralyzer 350 (Technicon Instruments Corp., Tarrytown, New York, USA) equipment, calibrated for protein (N X 5.7) as determined by the Kjeldahl procedure of the AACC (1983). Grain and flour yellowness was determined with Minolta (Minolta CO., N. Jersey, USA) color meter (\"b\" value), following manufacturer's instructions. Dough mixing time and mixogram peak height (recording paper size), were determined on 10-g flour samples with a Mixograph (National Mfg, Co. Chicago, Ill., USA) following method 54-40A of the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC, 1983). Yellow berry percentage was determined visually in 20-g grain samples.Statistical analysis. Data were analysed using the SAS statistical program (SAS Institute, 1985). Fisher's Protected Least Significant Difference (LSD) was used for mean separation where the F-test was found significant for genotypes. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to determine relationships between the various parameters. Correlation was calculated based on the means of the eleven cultivars common to all locations. For flour quality only second year (1996/97) data of testing was presented. Samples from the three field replicate were combined to generate flour quality data. Hence, no statistical analysis were carried out on flour quality data. Homogeneity of error variance was tested before combining data across locations.The list of varieties included in the study with their year of release, origin, pedigree, 1000 kernel weight and yellow berry are given in Table 1. Yield levels were lower than normal and this was probably because of the low amount of rainfall received during the 1995/96 growing season across locations. At every location, a check was grown separate from the trial for observation. The local check at Akaki and Chefe Donsa (DZ04-118) gave better yields than the improved varieties because of its adaptation to microenvironment area. Among the improved varieties, Kilinto and Cocorit 71 gave the highest yield. The highest amount of yellow berry arose from these two varieties. This might be due to the negative association between protein concentration and yield. High yielding cultivars tend to have lower protein, than the latter which causes yellow berry.Quality parameters. Summaries of the quality parameters are given in Tables 2 and 3. On a wholemeal basis (Table 2), there were significant (P<0.05) differences between cultivars for protein concentration, SDS sedimentation volume and yellowness. For the released cultivars, grain protein ranged from 10 to 12.3%. Two of the local checks gave 13.4 and 14.2% protein, respectively, at Debre Zeit and Alem Tena. Cultivars Gerardo, Foka and Fetan gave grain protein concentration of 12% or higher. Cultivar Cocorit 71 gave a significantly (P<0.05) higher SDS sedimentation volume than the rest of the cultivars based on whole meal data. Foka, Yilma, and Kilinto also gave relatively high SDS values. Cultivars Quamy, Ld 357 and Fetan had the lowest SDS values. From the quality analysis of the flour carried out on bulked sample across replicates during 1996/97, flour protein concentration, though lower in values, correlated positively with whole meal protein (Table 3). Flour SDS values were higher but in general all follow a similar pattern. Cultivars Yilma, Foka and Cocorit 71 gave the highest flour SDS values. The longest mixing time was also observed in Cocorit 71 and Yilma. Cultivar Yilma, again, with Foka and Boohai gave the highest mixing height. Cultivars Ld 357, Bichena, Boohai, Fetan and Yilma exhibited the highest whole meal yellowness (Table 2) and flour color (Table 3). Pasta from these cultivars, therefore, should have good bright yellow color. Joppa and Walsh (1974) indicated that semolina and spaghetti colours are generally closely related, except when high lipoxidase levels destroy the pigment during processing.High molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) glutenin subunits. Six different patterns were identified for HMW glutenins with the combination of null and 20 being the most common. For Glu-B1, the alleles producing protein bands 20 and 7+8 were the most common. Alleles producing bands of 6+8 were less frequent. Cultivars Yilma and the check from Bichena had the combination of bands 20/7+8 and Cocorit 71 had subunit combinations 7+8/6+8. With regard to LMW glutenin subunits, the cultivars studied could be classified into two groups: (i) Gerardo, Ld 357, and Quamy having pattern LMW-1 and (ii) the remaining eight cultivars had pattern LMW-2. All the check cultivars also had LMW-2 (Table 2) The relationship between HMW and LMW glutenin subunits and durum wheat quality is given in Table 4. Significant differences were observed among the six HMW subunits for whole meal protein, whole meal SDS, yellow berry, and yellowness. The most gluten strength was imparted by the subunit pair 7+8/6+8 (Cocorit 71), followed by 7+8/20 (Yilma) and 6+8(Kilinto), while subunit 20 was associated with the lowest gluten strength (Quamy and Fetan) (Table 2). Autran and Feillet (1987) and Kovacs et al. (1993) also reported that subunit 20 was negatively associated with gluten quality.Cultivars with LMW-2 had significantly higher gluten strength than those with LMW-1 as indicated by their SDS sedimentation volumes (Table 4). Various researchers (D'Ovidio, 1993;Ruiz and Carillo, 1995;Porceddu et al., 1998) have also reported that band LMW-2 is responsible for endowing semolina with better properties. The effects of the LMW and HMW glutenins on gluten quality appear to be additive because cultivars showing glutenin patterns LMW-2 in association with HMW glutenin subunits 6+8 and 7+8 were among those identified by the best gluten quality (Cocorit 71 and Kilinto) (Table 2 and Table 4). This type of additive response was also reported by Boggini et al. (1997).Correlation. Pearson's Correlation Coefficients for some of the quality and agronomic characteristics of the study materials are presented in Table 5. Grain yield and 1000-kernel weight were positively correlated. A negative correlation of moderate magnitude was found between yield and protein concentration, whereas grain yield and SDS sedimentation volume were positively correlated. Boggini et al. (1997) also reported similar results.Protein concentration and SDS sedimentation volume were positively but weakly correlated (r= 0.11, P < 0.05). Fowler and De La Roche (1975); Autran and Galterio (1989); Novaro et al. (1997); Porceddu et al. (1998) and Galterio et al. (1993), all reported positive correlation between protein concentration and SDS sedimentation volume. A negative correlation of moderate magnitude was, however, reported by Autran et al. (1986) and Boggini et al. (1997). Some researchers, on the other hand, concluded that protein and gluten quality are independent traits with no association between them (Grzybowski and Donnelly, 1979;Lukach, 1979;Quick and Donnelly, 1980). The highest positive correlation (r = 0.67, P < 0.01) was observed between protein concentration and color (yellowness). Dexter and Matsuo (1977), also reported high positive correlation (r = 0.93) between semolina protein concentration and semolina pigment content.A weak negative correlation was observed in this study between SDS sedimentation volume and yellowness. Autran et al. (1986) reported similar results. Stenvart (1973) associated high gluten content with poor spaghetti color. He concluded that the desirable firm, chewy character of spaghetti can only be obtained at the expense of color. However, Mungarro (1988) argued that SDS microsedimentation value and pigment content are two genetically independent characteristics and that pigment content could be selected without relying on the electrophoretic banding pattern. As expected, the association between kernel weight and protein content was negative and highly significant (r = -0.58, P<0.01). The result also showed significant, negative correlations between yellow berry and protein concentration, and yellow berry and SDS sedimentation volume. The results of Novaro et al. (1997) and Dexter (1988) corroborated this observation.Although high protein (> 13%) is not essential in pasta processing, products made from durum wheats require adequate level of protein for proper processing characteristics, nutritional value and overall quality. Most lines evaluated in this study had adequate levels of protein. In spite of the fact that qualitative traits such as protein content and gluten strength neither conferred any adaptive advantage nor underwent a human selection pressure in Ethiopia, a large genetic variation for SDS sedimentation volume was also found in the materials studied (2.6 -6.9 ml). In general, cultivars with glutenin subunit patterns LMW-2 show superior gluten strength to cultivars possessing LMW-1.Cultivars Cocorit 71, Foka, Kilinto and Yilma had the highest gluten strength as determined by the whole meal SDS sedimentation test. Flour SDS sedimentation data also showed similar results. Overall, cultivar Foka gave superior performance across most quality parameters. On the other hand, Gerardo, Ld 357 and Quamy, with their low molecular subunit 1 (LMW-1) glutenin gave poor gluten strength.This study has shown that in a breeding programme of durum wheat quality, it is safer to use low molecular weight glutenin patterns (LMWG), the real casual proteins, because the same high molecular weight glutenins (HMWG) can be associated with two different patterns of LMWG as has been demonstrated in this study. In a breeding programme for quality, it would be useful to discard lines with LMW-1 and HMW glutenin subunit 20, and to combine electrophoretic analysis with SDS sedimentation test to develop cultivars of durum wheat with good viscoelasticity and firmness of cooked pasta. The SDS test and the mixogram are effective in detecting the genetic variance related to gluten properties.During breeding, it is advantageous to select for SDS in early generations because lines chosen for high SDS values maintain good characteristics when grown in different locations and years. Protein content, on the other hand, is highly influenced by the environment. Genetic expression of a trait such as protein content must, therefore, be measured with reference to a set of environmental conditions. In a breeding programme, selection for protein content must be done during the later generations when seeds are sufficient for growing the","tokenCount":"3072"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6758254004.json b/data/part_1/6758254004.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..367e7598f5cb76f8576a72fd221dd61e35d03b80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6758254004.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"77fe21449864e65a47630e5585a86aa6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b37f69de-52c1-46fa-bab2-564e40d39217/retrieve","id":"950042204"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"61f34640-7a37-45e0-8fa8-99503a07104e","pagecount":"3","content":"PART 1: Description and all information of the outcome/impact reported OUTCOME STORY/IMPACT STATEMENT The Alliance continues to support the Bicol region in the Philippines in scaling out the use of the Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal (ACAP) by linking the platform via Application Programming Interface (API) to the Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service (RCMAS), a digital tool used by the Department of Agriculture to provide rice farmers with specific crop and nutrient management recommendations, bundled with climate services reaching at least 140,000 farmers using short message service (SMS). YEAR 2023This innovation has a combined reach of at least 140,000 farmers using SMS. This is based on the RCMAS-registered farmers with a household member who uses mobile phones and agreed to receive text messages advisories through the RCMAS SMS function [2,3].In 2023, a CGIAR ClimBeR Initiative solution succeeded in linking the Alliance co-produced Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal (ACAP) [1] to the Philippines' Department of Agriculture's (DA) Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service (RCMAS) [2] (both managed by the DA via Application Programming Interface (API)). This upgrade/integration will allow DA to formulate tailored agro-advisories containing climate-adjusted nutrient and crop recommendations addressing dynamic weather conditions and potential climate-related cropping-season risks targeted to rice farmers in the Bicol region [3].The Alliance continues to support the Bicol region in the Philippines in scaling out the use of the Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal (ACAP) by linking the platform via Application Programming Interface (API) to the Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service (RCMAS). ACAP is a digital platform for Climate Information Service (CIS), which was developed in a partnership between the University of the Philippines Los Banos Foundation Incorporated (UPLBFI) and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), who provided technical backstopping to the Department of Agriculture -Regional Field Office 5 (DA-RFO 5), which functions as a 'one-stop-hub' for the creation and dissemination of agro-climatic advisories [1]. RCMAS is a digital extension tool developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Philippines Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) being used by the DA to provide rice farmers with field-specific nutrient and crop management recommendations [2]. Both platforms are currently being managed separately by the DA, both with limitations in addressing the DA's needs in providing climate information and tailored crop recommendations to Filipino farmers. In 2023, an upgraded solution was designed under the CGIAR ClimBeR Initiative by linking ACAP and RCMAS using API technology through a collaboration between the Alliance and IRRI. This is the first time in the Philippines that two DA-managed platforms are linked together to provide a more enhanced solution to the farmers' needs. Through the ACAP-RCMAS linkage, auto-generated climate and weather information and its implications for rice farming practices are directly sent to RCMAS-registered farmers via short message service (SMS ) to their mobile phones. ","tokenCount":"462"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6763155353.json b/data/part_1/6763155353.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4a8ab478df8e06114c41198520d919903210adfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6763155353.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"adacb639b104827a4198fe1b01d98762","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bdbf9c27-baec-4e3d-bcca-3da0dd95968e/retrieve","id":"-1545943298"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fdbcdf98-22e5-4c00-9e02-5e9d8115adbf","pagecount":"10","content":"• Bamboo treadle pumps are usually made of steel and have two barrels. The pumping mechanism is constructed of bamboo and the pump is operated by alternately depressing the bamboo pedals with ones feet.• Bamboo treadle pumps can pump water from depths of up to 7-8 metres. They can pump from boreholes and open bodies of water but they cannot produce a pressurised flow and so cannot individually be used to raise water higher than the body of the pump. This can be achieved by locating pumps in vertical series.• Bamboo treadle pumps can be produced by anyone with standard metalworking skills and simple metalworking tools such as welding equipment and a barrel roller.Why are treadle pumps better than other pumping devices?• Treadle pumps are cheap and affordable. In India they sell for less than US $10 each.• They are easy to operate, require no fuel, and can be used by any ablebodied person.• They are light and portable. The pump weighs only 7 -9 kg and can be carried around on a bicycle.• They are easy to install. A basic level of practical engineering skill and a little common sense are all that are required.• They are sturdy and durable. Their construction is simple and they are easy to repair. In areas of saline water steel pumps deteriorate rapidly, and concrete pumps are available. Above: Plunger rod assembly Some salient facts• Treadle pumps are usually used to irrigate selected fields of higher value crops such as vegetables.• In practice, farmers pay more attention to the fields they are irrigating with treadle pumps. They become more market aware and are able to manage their holdings more effectively.• In India and Bangladesh incomes of farmers using treadle pumps have at least doubled as a result of their use.• The cost of investing in a treadle pump can usually be recouped after one cropping season.• The initial adopters of the technology are the better-off farmers who can afford to take a risk with the pumps. The poorest farmers usually adopt them one or two years later, when the benefits of the technology have become evident within the community. ","tokenCount":"356"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6763273803.json b/data/part_1/6763273803.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a19c12d687e494a099e086df0908a11ff6f7ff4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6763273803.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4735903e8ca69ca4edd34fc8f8dc8cdb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/02cad05f-14a1-4621-b6bd-81f616e31baa/content","id":"-1448642237"},"keywords":["Zea mays","varieties","germplasm","genetic resources","agronomic characters","innovation adoption","crop management","Mexico AGRIS category codes: E14 Dewey decimal classification: 338.14 parviglumis Iltis, Doebley","Zea diploperennis Iltis, Doebley, Guzmán","and Zea perennis (Hitchc.) Reeves, Mangelsd. Mexico","CUZALAPA CUZALAPA CUZALAPA Biosphere Reserve"],"sieverID":"e89e387f-1c3e-455a-8b63-5079371ec258","pagecount":"29","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center is engaged in a research program for maize, wheat, and triticale, with emphasis on improving the productivity of agricultural resources in developing countries. It is one of several nonprofit international agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The CGIAR consists of some 40 donor countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations.CIMMYT receives core support through the CGIAR from a number of sources, including the international aid agencies of Australia,A major preoccupation of those concerned today with the conservation of plant genetic resources is that in many regions of the world, farmers have economic incentives to replace the varieties that evolve within their own agrosystem with improved, introduced varieties. To forestall the disappearance of locally evolved varieties in farmers' fields, some have proposed in situ conservation as a complementary strategy to ex situ conservation of genetic resources in gene banks. As originally defined, in situ conservation means preserving, in their original agrosystem, varieties cultivated by farmers using their own selection methods and criteria (Bommer 1991, FAO 1989, Keystone Center 1991).One model of in situ conservation, described by Iltis (1974), is that of a reserve in which neither changes in cultural practices nor the introduction of foreign genetic material are permitted. In essence, in situ conditions would reproduce the conditions found in ex situ conservation, by fixing genetic structures and growing environment. The reserve model has been criticized widely on the grounds that it is not feasible for socioeconomic reasons. The model has also raised numerous questions about how policies aimed at fostering economic development relate to those designed to conserve plant genetic resources and whether conservation can coexist with the integration of communities into commercial markets (Cohen et al. 1991, Cooper et al. 1992, Montecinos and Altieri 1991). More specifically, should the objective of in situ conservation be to fix the genetic diversity of the landraces cultivated in traditional farming systems? Is this view of in situ conservation consistent with the way traditional farming systems function? Does it respect the mechanisms that explain the diversity found in farmers' fields for an openpollinated, cultivated plant such as maize ?Answering these questions requires two fundamental pieces of information which have been largely missing from the debate over conservation strategies. The first is a clear definition of conservation objectives in terms that are meaningful for scientists, policy makers, and those who inform policy makers.The second is specific knowledge about the origin and dynamics of the diversity that can be observed on traditional farms. To be able to define precisely the objectives, limits, and means for implementing in situ conservation, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the structure of polymorphism within farmers' varieties, how it evolves with farmers' practices, and the methods and mechanisms for managing this source of diversity (FAO 1989, Brush 1992). Without this information, neither a constructive debate nor an adequate methodology for in situ conservation can be established.The larger study from which the arguments and data presented here are drawn (Louette 1994) examines the structure of genetic diversity in maize and analyzes the effect of farmers' seed management strategies on this structure in Cuzalapa, an indigenous community of western Mexico. Two specific questions are examined in this paper. The first is to what extent the genetic diversity that can be observed in the maize varieties of Cuzalapa results from the management of materials of strictly local origin. The second question is to what extent the introduction of foreign material is associated with a loss of genetic diversity. Data on sources of seed illustrate the important role played by seed acquired from other farmers in and outside the region relative to seed that local farmers obtain from their own harvests. Analyses of phenotypic and phenological characteristics, combined with data on origin of seeds, demonstrate the effect of introduced varieties on the diversity of maize cultivated in the Cuzalapa community.The next section of this paper summarizes essential features of the farming system in Cuzalapa. Subsequent sections include a description of the methods used in the study, results of the analysis of data on genetic diversity and seed flows, a discussion of results, and the implications of our findings for the questions posed above.The indigenous community of Cuzalapa is located in a valley in the southern section of the buffer zone of the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve (SMBR), in the municipality of Cuautitlán on the Pacific Coast of Mexico (Figure 1). The Biosphere Reserve's interest in conserving in situ the genetic resources of the genus Zea (Jardel 1992) is explained by its location on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, which may be one of the zones where maize originated (Benz and Iltis 1992). In the reserve and nearby, various species of Teosinte (a wild relative of maize) are found, 1 growing alongside primitive races of maize such as Tabloncillo and Reventador (Wellhausen 1951, Benz 1988and forthcoming, Benz et al. 1990).The regional importance of Cuzalapa has declined since the beginning of the colonial period in the 16th century, when it became the principal community of the Provincia de Amula de Occidente. The valley of Cuzalapa has approximately the same number of inhabitants today (1,500) as it did in 1540 (Laitner and Benz 1994). Although it is one of the largest communities of the Biosphere Reserve, Cuzalapa is also located in one of the most marginalized municipalities of the region, based on quality of housing and level of education. The population is distributed among the main village of Cuzalapa and 23 other localities. At the time of this study , season (under irrigation). Pumpkin is the primary associated crop for more than half of the survey farmers during the rainy season. In the dry season, the majority of survey farmers intercrop beans with maize. Irrigation and intercropping are not new practices in the area: they were reported to be a feature of agriculture in Cuzalapa in pre-colonial times (Laitner and Benz 1994). Until commercial opportunities disappeared in the 1970s, flooded rice was also cultivated during the rainy season. Extensive cattle raising is now emerging as a commercial activity.Each year, about 1,000 ha may be sown in Cuzalapa; of this area, 600 ha are irrigated (Martínez and Sandoval 1993). The average area planted to maize per farmer is about 2 ha in the rainy season and more than 2 ha in the dry season (Table 1). The dry season is the most important cropping season because it involves fewer climatic risks than the rainy season; for example, violent winds in the rainy season can cause major crop losses due to lodging. During the dry season, irrigated maize, beans (Phaseolus vulgaris var. bayo and bayo berrendo), and small quantities of green tomato (tomatillo, or Physalis philadelphicum, which grows spontaneously) can be harvested on the same field.Cultural practices have evolved in Cuzalapa but continue to be relatively traditional when compared to those found outside the Sierra de Manantlán (Table 1). Farmers generally till the soil with horse-drawn plows in the rainy season. Tractors are used more frequently during the dry season because the economic returns to maize production in that season are greater and more reliable, and the irrigable these localities were all relatively isolated from major roads and urban areas.Because of its largely indigenous population, the valley of Cuzalapa was officially recognized as a comunidad indígena (indigenous community) under the Agrarian Reform of 1950. Theoretically, land in the valley is held in common and political structures are based on traditional institutions such as the consejo de ancianos (council of elders). The community nevertheless functions like an ejido 2 in the sense that land is partitioned among the comuneros and its use is governed by an elected assembly.A great proportion of the inhabitants are in fact mestizos (of combined European and indigenous ancestry).The Cuzalapa watershed covers nearly 24,000 ha (most of which lies within the boundary of the Biosphere Reserve) of mountainous land of extremely irregular topography, ranging from an elevation of 550 m to 2,660 m. The agricultural zone is located at an elevation of 600 m and has a hot subhumid climate, with a mean annual temperature of 22°C and mean annual precipitation of 1,500 mm, concentrated from June to October (Martínez et al. 1991).Fields used for cropping are generally located near rivers on alluvial soils 3 of moderate fertility (Martínez and Sandoval 1993). Cuzalapa is one of the many traditional communities which are being drawn slowly into commercial marketing systems while maintaining features of indigenous society.\"Seed lot\" and \"variety\" definedA \"seed lot\" consists of all kernels of a specific type of maize selected by a farmer and sown during a cropping season to reproduce that particular maize type. The definition of \"variety\" or \"cultivar\" used in this study was also developed from farmers' own practices and concepts. A \"variety\" is defined as all seed lots held by farmers that bear the same name and are considered by them to form a homogeneous set. A seed lot therefore refers to a physical unit of kernels associated with the farmer who sows it, whereas a variety is associated with a name. A maize variety is defined as \"local\" when seed from that variety has been planted in the region for at least one farmer generation (that is, for more then 30 years or if a farmer maintains that \"my father used to sow it\"). This definition implies that a local variety has been cultivated continuously among survey farmers in Cuzalapa for many years. By contrast, a \"foreign\" variety is characterized either by the recent introduction of its seed lots or by episodic sowing in the valley. Landraces are farmers' varieties which have not been improved by a formal breeding program. Foreign varieties may include landraces from other regions and commercial improved varieties recently or repeatedly reproduced by farmers using traditional methods.To document which maize varieties are cultivated and to record the exchange of seeds and varieties in the community and between the valley of Cuzalapa and other regions, 39 farmers were surveyed during six cropping seasons covering three calendar years (the 1989, 1990, and 1991 rainy and dry seasons). For each farmer and cropping season, data were collected on varieties cultivated and seed source. Cultivars included those grown on the farmer's own fields, those grown on rented fields, and those grown on fields in association with other farmers. Each variety was registered with the name given by the farmer. When seed was introduced from another region and bore the same name as a local variety, farmers were consulted about whether or not the seed should be differentiated from the local material. When the seed shared the same name as a local variety but was not considered by the farmer growing it to be the local variety, a second label was noted in brackets -for example, \"Negro [Foreign].\"The seed source was classified in three ways:(1) as own seed (seed selected by the farmer from his own harvest); (2) as seed acquired in Cuzalapa (seed obtained in the valley of Cuzalapa from another farmer); and (3) as an introduction (seed acquired outside of the Cuzalapa watershed). The origin of a seed lot is defined independently of the origin of the previous generation of seed. A seed lot is considered \"own seed\" if the ears from which the kernels were selected were harvested by the farmer in his field in Cuzalapa, even though the seed that produced those ears (i.e., the previous generation of seed) may have originated in another region. The data therefore represent well the extent of seed exchange, but they understate the importance in Cuzalapa of seed with foreign origin.The structure of phenotypic diversity was studied both within a variety (among seed lots of a variety) and among varieties (among sets of seed lots bearing different names). Fourteen of the twenty-six cultivars identified by farmers were selected for analysis based on their origin (all six local varieties and eight foreign varieties) and seed availability. The number of seed lots per cultivar (one to six) varied according to the importance of the cultivar in terms of planted area.Morphological descriptors were measured in a controlled experiment of maize grown in pure stand in three complete blocks. The experiment was established in a farmer's field during the 1991 dry season. Each elementary plot (one seed lot) contained six rows, 5 m in length and separated by 0.75 m, which conforms to the spacing most commonly used by farmers in the study region. Seed for each plot was taken from 100 ears (2 grains per ear) selected by the owner. Descriptors were measured using a sample of 20 plants and 15 ears per elementary plot, and refer to characteristics of the vegetative parts, tassel, and ear (see Table 2). 4Factorial Discriminant Analysis (FDA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) (STATITCF program) were used to analyze diversity among the seed lots within varieties and among varieties. Factorial Discriminant Analysis distinguishes seed lots (or varieties) based on the variables for which the ratio of the sum of squared differences within a lot (or a variety) to the sum of squared differences among lots (or among varieties) is greatest. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis ranks lots (or varieties) based on the mean of the weighted Euclidean distances among their center of gravity coordinates on the first five axes identified by the results of the FDA analysis.All variables were used in the FDA-HCA analyses except flowering date, grain color, and 1-grain weight obtained at the sample level (not at the plant level).As noted earlier, during the six seasons covered by the survey, survey farmers grew a total of 26 varieties (Table 3). Each farmer grew between one and seven maize varieties during each season and, on average, more than two varieties per season (Table 1). Most of these cultivars are white-grained dents with a floury texture and are used primarily for making tortillas, the starchy staple of the Mexican diet. Three flinty popcorn varieties (Guino Rosquero, Negro [Guino], and Guino Gordo) were also identified, as well as three purple-grained varieties (Negro, Negro [Foreign], Negro Guino) and three yellowgrained varieties (Amarillo Ancho, Amarillo, Amarillo [Tequesquitlán]). The purple varieties are considered sweeter and are generally consumed roasted at the milky stage, while the yellow varieties are used essentially as feed for poultry and horses. 5 4 The flowering dates of the different seed lots were also determined by computing regularly the number of plants in the male flowering (MF) or female flowering (FF) stage. The flowering dates, grain color, and weight per 100 grains were recorded at the plot level, whereas the other descriptors were measured on each plant and ear of the sample. 5 Farmers associate yellow grain color with richness of oil, a characteristic that interests them for animal feed. The yellow varieties are not often used as human food because tortillas made from yellow maize are yellowish -as if they had been made with white maize, but using too much lime.Some varieties have particular agronomic characteristics. For example, the variety Blanco matures early and can be harvested early to free the field for the next cropping cycle.Varieties with a short growing cycle are grown primarily in the dry season because of water shortages toward the end of the season (81% of the Blanco area was planted in the dry season).Varieties having a longer growing cycle, such as Chianquiahuitl, are generally planted in the rainy season as they are more productive during this season than varieties with a short growing cycle (72% of Chianquiahuitl area was planted in the rainy season). The Amarillo Ancho variety is considered more productive than Blanco on piedmont soils. Enano and Enano Gigante are considered suitable for rainy season production because their thick stalks enable them to resist the strong August winds.Of the 26 varieties grown by farmers, only six can be considered local based on the definition used in this study, and all of these are related to the Tabloncillo race (Table 3). In other words, only the cultivars Blanco, Chianquiahuitl, Tabloncillo, Perla, Amarillo Ancho, and Negro had been grown continuously for at least one farmer generation in the valley of Cuzalapa. Chianquiahuitl appears to have been introduced 40 years ago, but the date of introduction for the other cultivars is unknown.  Four of the six local varieties are cultivated by a large percentage of farmers. Since two of these varieties have white grain (Blanco, Chianquiahuitl), one has yellow grain (Amarillo Ancho), and the fourth has purple grain (Negro), all four varieties provide for the different household uses of maize in Cuzalapa. Although they are few in number, they dominate the maize area (80%) in the study zone. The two principal white varieties alone occupy an estimated 63% of the area planted to maize. Because of the ways in which the Negro and Amarillo Ancho varieties are used, they are cultivated by a fairly high percentage of farmers (23% and 34%, respectively) in comparison with the percentage of area they occupy (8% and 3%).The remaining 20 of the 26 varieties that Cuzalapa farmers grew during the survey period are classified as foreign. The composition of this group of varieties changed from season to season. Each foreign variety covered less than 5% of the maize area planted in each season, and most were cultivated by only a few farmers at a time. Only three of these varieties (Argentino, Enano, and Amarillo) had been regularly cultivated over the preceding four or five years by a significant percentage of farmers (10-12%). Most had been used for the first time recently or during the survey period and had been planted again once or twice. Among these, three varieties of the Reventador race are well known and have been introduced episodically in the valley. Over the period of the study, only one cultivar was abandoned by the group of farmers interviewed.The origin of the foreign varieties is often difficult to ascertain. Farmers are able to indicate in which community they acquired a variety but not its true source. Based on the information collected, foreign varieties can be classified into three groups: farmers' varieties (landraces) (15); farmers' advanced generations of improved varieties (4); and recent generations of improved varieties (1) (Table 3). The group of foreign varieties is morphologically diverse, including white-, yellow-, and purple-grained materials and representatives of different races. Most cultivars were introduced from communities of southwestern Jalisco, less then 100 km from Cuzalapa, although the Guino [USA] variety cultivated by one farmer originated in the United States. The origin of the improved cultivars in the group of foreign varieties is even more difficult to identify, especially if they were not directly obtained through credit or they have been replanted for numerous cycles in Cuzalapa (as, for example, the Enano variety). Information about the source of the variety and even its original name can often disappear or take on a different meaning when farmers exchange seed: survey farmers believed that the Argentino variety came from Argentina, based on its name only.In general, the data indicate that although the varieties defined as \"local\" occupy most of the cultivated area, maize cultivation in Cuzalapa depends not only on local materials but also on a changing and diverse group of foreign varieties introduced through farmer-to-farmer exchanges. The next section explains how, in addition to exchanging the varieties themselves, farmers exchange particular lots of seed.By detailing the geographical origin of each farmer's seed lots, for each variety, in each planting cycle, the frequency of seed exchange among farmers can be identified and the pattern of varietal diffusion can be characterized. During the study period, the survey farmers sowed maize in six cropping cycles on 442 ha. For the total of 26 varieties they cultivated, survey farmers planted 484 seed lots (Table 4, Figure 2).Many of these seed lots came from other farmers or regions. On average, for all cropping seasons, survey farmers selected slightly over half (53%) of their seed lots from their own harvest. About 36% of the seed lots were obtained from another farmer in Cuzalapa, and 11% were introduced from other regions. Calculated in terms of area planted, seed from farmers' own harvests represented 45% of the maize area in the study zone, whereas 40% was planted to seed from other Cuzalapa farmers and 15% was planted to foreign introductions. Seed exchange -whether between farmers inside the valley or with farmers outside the valley -is clearly very important.Both local and foreign varieties were planted from farmers' own seed lots, seed lots acquired in Cuzalapa, and introduced seed lots, but in different proportions. Significant differences in origin were associated with the dominance of the variety in terms of planted area. Seed of the most widely grown varieties -including the local varieties and the three most important foreign varieties -is less likely to have been obtained from farmers outside Cuzalapa than seed of the more minor foreign cultivars (7.9% of local and 5.3% of important foreign seed lots were introduced, compared to 36% of minor foreign seed lots) (Figure 2).Seed of local varieties is essentially reproduced by each farmer. Among local varieties, seed for Chianquiahuitl and Negro is managed more conservatively; more than 70% of the seed for these varieties is selected from farmers' own maize harvests (Table 4). In fact, farmers plant such a small area to the variety Negro that, on average, seed equivalent to only 27 ears is required per farmer (Louette 1994). This amount of seed, in good condition, is carried over easily from one cycle to the next, and farmers do not need to seek out seed from another farmer. Chianquiahuitl is a variety of unknown origin that is no longer believed to be widely cultivated outside the study zone, so of necessity farmers in the Cuzalapa Valley must rely on their own stocks. Although the percentage of seed brought from other regions is small for the most widely grown foreign varieties, farmers in the valley exchange seed of these varieties quite frequently (Figure 2). These varieties were introduced some years ago, and because they have demonstrated characteristics of value, their seed is redistributed to other farmers in Cuzalapa. For example, increasing interest in the variety Argentino was observed during the study period, and farmers acquired 65% of the seed for this variety from other farmers in the study zone (Table 4).The situation is less clear for foreign varieties that are minor in terms of cultivated area.Each variety appears to be a special case defined by the time of its introduction and the number of farmers planting it. For some of the varieties introduced late in the survey period, all seed lots were introduced. On the other hand, because farmers test foreign varieties over several seasons, reproducing them locally, 39.4% of the seed of introduced varieties was selected from farmers' own harvests. Relative to the major foreign varieties, the proportion of seed of minor foreign varieties that was obtained from other farmers in Cuzalapa is small. Presumably, survey farmers who did not plant these varieties during the study period are not yet convinced of their advantages.In summary, there is a moderate level of diffusion of local varieties inside the watershed and little infusion from other regions. Recently introduced foreign varieties are infused from outside the valley. Older foreign varieties that have attained a moderate level of acceptance are also diffused inside the watershed. The pattern of diffusion of the varieties is therefore linked essentially to the local acceptance of the variety, the time it has been sown in the region, and the availability of seed inside and outside the region.The general patterns of maize seed exchange that we have just described nevertheless conceal major differences among survey farmers. At one extreme are the farmers who use seed selected from their own maize harvests almost exclusively from one season to the next (Figure 3). At the other end of the spectrum are farmers who have never used their own seed lots.  Other farmers use their own seed lots as well as seed acquired in the community or introduced from other regions, and the proportions of each type of seed vary from season to season depending on each farmer's objectives and constraints. These farmers are generally regarded as suppliers of introduced seed, and some are known in the community for their curiosity about new varieties.The farmers who used almost no seed from their own maize harvests had recourse throughout the study period to seed acquired within and outside the Cuzalapa community. This group of farmers includes those who do not have rights to land and cannot plant maize each season and those who farm small areas on which they cannot harvest enough maize for both family consumption and seed. Farmers in this group are obliged to look for seed from other farmers when they want to plant maize.A relation exists between the number of varieties (different seed lots) sown by each farmer in each cycle and farmer type. The correlation coefficient between the number of varieties per cycle and the proportion of the farmer's seed stocks originating from his own harvest is 0.5. In general, farmers who have more recourse to seed produced by other farmers appear to plant fewer varieties per cycle. The group of farmers who sowed more than 90% of their crop with seed from their own harvests planted an average of 2.6 varieties per cycle, while those who used no seed from their own harvests planted an average of only 1.3 varieties per cycle. This finding may reflect either a greater reliance on diverse maize types by more conservative farmers, or it may reflect the fact that searching for seed from other farmers requires more effort and is therefore associated with fewer varieties sown.Several factors induce farmers to exchange seed. The first is the traditional method of seed storage. Maize (for seed and for food) is stored in bulk in a room of the house. Ears are often attacked by weevils and other insects when the grain is stored for longer than six months (from one dry season to another dry season, for example). If a farmer sows a particular variety in only one season per year and has not sown that variety in the previous year, or if the cropping calendar obliges him to plant before harvest, he will search for seed from ears that have been harvested more recently by other farmers. The dry season is better for providing seed because more area is cultivated. Either as a percentage of area planted or as a percentage of total seed stocks, the interchange of seed is more evident at the end of the rainy season. For example, farmers' own maize harvests provide 32% and 57% of the seed for Blanco and Chianquiahuitl grown in the dry season and 69% and 81% of the seed for these varieties during the rainy season.A second important factor affecting the importance of farmers' seed sources in planting decisions is the socioeconomic status of the household, as represented by farm size, land use rights, and access to the market for renting land. As noted above, many farmers do not cultivate an area large enough to meet their annual food consumption needs, whereas others own no land and must rent a field to cultivate maize. These farm households often consume all of one season's production before planting and are obliged to search for seed each season.Another factor influencing the seed sources used by farmers is the custom in the Cuzalapa region of producing maize under sharecropping arrangements. Under these arrangements, the partner (or mediero) generally supplies labor while the field owner (or patrón) supplies the inputs -in particular, maize seed. Generally the mediero does not choose which varieties to plant, and at harvest time acquires seed from the patrón, who is recorded in this study as \"another farmer of the region.\" Seed is also loaned, under the proviso that double the quantity of seed loaned must be returned at harvest. In either case, the farmer obtains maize seed of a variety that another farmer has chosen to grow and that is derived from another farmer's harvest.Another finding from the survey is that few farmers expressed any particular preference for or allegiance to their own maize as a source of seed. Seed of a given variety selected from their own maize harvest or acquired from other farmers was considered equivalent. In other words, another farmer's method of seed management was not a cause for concern. Furthermore, if a farmer does not grow a particular variety for several successive seasons, this does not signal that the farmer has ceased cultivating it altogether, as long as the seed for that cultivar can still be obtained from other farmers if necessary. Farmers also generally consider that they must change seed regularly to maintain the productivity of the variety (\"sow the same maize type but from new seed\"). The frequency of seed renewal varies from several cycles to several years. It appears unlikely that any farmer in Cuzalapa sows seed derived from a stock bequeathed directly from his parents.Finally, farmers appeared to be very curious and open-minded, in general, about testing new cultivars. After visiting a relative or friend, or after harvesting a maize field as a laborer, a farmer often returns with maize ears so that he can test a variety whose ear characteristics he admires. The introduced seed lots acquired from other farmers are almost never bought as seed. They are gifts from friends or family members living outside the zone or are selected from maize cobs bought for consumption.The patterns of maize production and seed management described above are characterized by continual introductions of varieties and, within varieties, considerable exchange of seed among farmers. These findings raise questions about the structure of maize diversity in the Cuzalapa watershed. For example, how can an introduced seed lot be integrated into a local variety? Do foreign varieties compete with local varieties or are they complementary? Analyses of the phenotypic diversity of maize grown in Cuzalapa provide a way to examine some of these questions.With the exception of the B1 lot of the Blanco variety, the HCA analysis of seed lots for the five most important varieties (four locals and one foreign) demonstrates that seed lots bearing the same name cluster together based on their morphological characteristics (Figure 4). 6 The results support the hypothesis that farmers' concept of a variety corresponds closely to that of a phenotype. A farmer variety is a set of seed lots having the same name; these seed lots Amarillo Ancho (AA), Negro (N), and Blanco 1 (B1) produce maize with similar plant, tassel, and ear characteristics.The implication of these findings is that when farmers in Cuzalapa classify seed as that of a given variety they use morphological and phenological criteria rather than criteria such as geographic origin, adaptation to some limiting factor, or ritual function. A seed lot that resembles seed of a \"local\" landrace is classified as such by the farmer, even though its origin may be foreign or unknown. As a consequence, some seed lots of \"local\" landraces are in fact introduced from other regions. Furthermore, the composition of the group of seed lots that constitute a variety is mutable over time.The phenotypic characteristics of six local varieties and eight foreign cultivars (including the three most widely cultivated) were studied with the methods described above (Table 5).The data reveal a large amount of phenotypic diversity with respect to several characters. For example, the sum of degree days from sowing to tasseling varied from 1,130°C for the earliest maturing variety, Blanco, to 1,550°C for the latest maturing variety, Argentino (Blanco required 77 days to reach maturity during the 1991 dry season and Argentino required 96 days). Mean height of the ear varied from 129 cm to 195 cm, the number of rows of grain varied from 8.7 to 12.7, the grain width from 0.85 cm to 1.13 cm, the cob diameter from 1.8 cm to 2.7 cm, and the ear weight from 104 g to 181 g.In the varieties studied, 78% of the variability in phenotypic characteristics was explained by the first two axes of the FDA (Figure 5). The first axis is essentially defined by row number (-ROW), grain width (+WGR), plant height (-HPL), and ear height (-HEA). The second axis is determined by ear development, including the weight and diameter of the cob (+WCO, +DCO) and weight Note: Local varieties in large characters; key to descriptors and varieties in Tables 2 and 5.Other races and diameter of the ear (+WEA, +DEA). A test comparing farmers' methods for identifying varieties and these two axes indicated that the statistical analysis and farmers classify maize varieties in a similar way (Louette 1994).The descriptors listed above facilitated the differentiation of varieties in two ways: by duration (length of growing cycle) and by origin or race. These characteristics were not included as variables in the analysis because they characterize each seed lot but not each plant or ear, but they were closely related to some descriptors that define the first two axes of the FDA. Duration is highly correlated with descriptors for the first axis (r>0.80 between male flowering date and HEA, NLE, WGR, ROW). A long-duration variety is characteristically a taller plant that has more leaves and smaller grains arranged in more rows. 7   The origin of a variety (local or foreign) also relates to differences in phenotypic characteristics. The only exception to this general rule is the variety Amarillo [Tequesquitlán] (AT), which is associated with the local varieties even though it was introduced from a community located some 20 km from Cuzalapa. The local  varieties are characterized by narrower, lighter ears and less vegetative development than the foreign varieties (Table 4). They and Amarillo [Tequesquitlán] are related to the Tabloncillo race, which originated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico (Wellhausen et al. 1952). The foreign varieties included in the trial (excepting AT) are linked to other races. Origin is therefore related to variation in race.Origin and duration are also interrelated. In the Cuzalapa region, farmers cultivate a large number of varieties that are diverse with respect to vegetative characteristics, ear characteristics, and length of growing cycle. Phenotypic diversity seems to be an adaptation to the opportunity in Cuzalapa of producing maize during two seasons each year, each with distinct pedoclimatic conditions. It also reflects the diverse uses of maize and multiple objectives of farm households in the region.The observations reported here confirm the widespread image of great diversity and multiple production strategies in traditional cultural systems (Merrick 1990, Toledo 1990).The assumption that traditional systems are closed and isolated with respect to the flow of genetic material is clearly contradicted, however, by the results of this study. The group of maize varieties cultivated by farmers in the traditional community of Cuzalapa changes in composition over time. A small group of local landraces is continuously cultivated, while varieties with diverse origins that are morphologically diverse among themselves and distinct from the local landraces succeed each other over time. These foreign varieties are introduced for testing by farmers, but they may also be integrated into the group of local landraces.Rather than displacing local cultivars, foreign varieties occupy a small proportion of the area planted to maize, and local landraces continue to dominate maize area in Cuzalapa. Similar results have been reported by researchers investigating the use of rice (Dennis 1987), maize (Ortega 1973), and potato varieties (Brush et al. 1981) in their regions of origin.Introduced varieties more often have uses and modes of management that are complementary, rather than substitutable for, those of the dominant cultivars (Berard et al. 1991). In Cuzalapa the morphophenological characteristics of the local and foreign varieties seem complementary, and the two groups rarely compete with respect to growing cycle, vegetative characteristics, or ear attributes.Introductions do not necessarily lead to a large shift away from local cultivars. This finding suggests that a variety is more easily adopted by farmers if it satisfies a need that is not currently met by local varieties or if it occupies a place in the morphological continuum thathas not yet been exploited (Boster 1985). In Cuzalapa, survey farmers clearly sought new or different genetic materials from among foreign varieties.At the level of introduction observed in Cuzalapa, foreign varieties are more a source of phenotypic diversity than a cause of genetic erosion. As indicated by Brush (1992), genetic erosion seems to be a phenomenon that is too complex to be captured in the equality \"introduction of varieties = loss of genetic diversity.\" The geographical point of reference for the term \"local variety\" is revealed to be larger than the community itself. The genetic diversity of a variety is traceable to more than the community itself, because seed lots of external origin are regularly added to those of local landraces that are then locally reproduced. This practice may be a means for adding diversity to locally adapted cultivars.The characterization of the maize farming system in the Cuzalapa watershed as open with respect to genetic material is in contrast with the original model for conserving crop genetic resources in situ. This model was based on the belief that the best means for in situ preservation of the diversity found in genetic material was to isolate it in space and time by maintaining intact the technical, social, and cultural context in which it occurs (Iltis 1974, Benz 1988). According to this point of view, it is necessary to \"freeze\" the genetic landscape by fixing its environment in parks or reserves where the cultivation of local varieties would be encouraged and where the introduction of foreign cultivars and of new techniques would be prohibited (Iltis 1974). From this point of view, the evolution of a cultivar is considered to be determined exclusively by the region in which it is cultivated and by the traditions of a rural community (Hernández X. 1988, Benz 1988). Conserving the diversity found in local cultivars therefore requires maintenance of the cultural techniques used by farmers and of the broader social context. Development is therefore counterposed with conservation. The dimensions of the farming system in a region are not perceived as affected by exchange with other communities, nor is a variety perceived as the product of genetic exchange with materials that may or may not be replanted locally.Instead, this case study shows that over three years alone, in a traditional farming system located in what some regard as the geographical center of origin for maize, introduced materials represent a substantial proportion of the maize seed planted. The study further shows that local varieties are not generally the product of exclusively local seed selection and management, because farmers exchange seed of local varieties with other farmers within and outside the region.The findings raise important questions about the best way to conserve the diversity in crop genetic resources. The appropriate geographic scale over which we can define a variety as \"local\" becomes a concern. The mechanisms that explain the phenotypic diversity of maize in Cuzalapa suggest that a certain influx of genetic material rather than isolation is occurring. Foreign varieties, as well as introduced seed lots that are then integrated into local varieties, are probably a source of phenotypic and genetic diversity. The Blanco cultivar is not only the result of local seed selection by local farmers but also of selection by farmers and natural selection in other regions (in particular Chacala). It is questionable whether any particular geographic scale would necessarily include all of the factors affecting the variety. The strategy of isolating a region on grounds that introduced seed will displace local varieties or even lead to alterations in their genetic structure seems inconsistent with the mechanisms that generate the diversity we observe in the fields of farmers who cultivate in traditional systems.Some conservationists may argue that if the community under study reveals these characteristics, it is not traditional, because traditional systems are autarkic. In fact, the characterization of a society or community is normative and relative: a community is traditional only with respect to what is perceived as modern and with respect to other contemporary human groups. In any case, the system of seed exchange that has been described by farmers and observed in Cuzalapa appears \"traditional\" in the sense that it is customary and long-lived. It is likely that the major findings reported can be generalized to other rural areas of Mexico, because the factors that explain the seed exchange system in Cuzalapa appear neither new nor specific to this region. To be convinced of this point it is enough to observe the extent to which world agriculture in general is the fruit of an ancient and continuous evolution that includes the diffusion of plants from their centers of domestication, the adoption and abandonment of cultivars or of cultivated plants, the differentiation of races and varieties within species, and the adaptation of cultivars to various agrosystems and techniques of cultivation (Haudricourt and Hedin 1987;Harlan 1992).","tokenCount":"6854"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6777679537.json b/data/part_1/6777679537.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..154bb86a117d4c5580954e6cd2620ee64239b12f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6777679537.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"52b6148f156eecf006ed35b84bd61bdf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/91d4aef1-6bd3-4f47-b450-36a249037adf/retrieve","id":"905208147"},"keywords":["Fernando Fernández O.","In9. Agr. Comunicaciones","CIAT relratefpllnmdes C&rotlf'lOlds --V'famll1 A' )(antt'lophytls Naphlh","lenes","NaphthoquJnones AnlhraQuloonss","Ett: rnKytgI~rvts"],"sieverID":"432ad282-cb8b-4311-a3b1-d939b0cd6d15","pagecount":"356","content":"Departamento de e i ene ¡as Entomo J óg í caso Un ivé'r-:iTda'd' d¡(,:ea i, ¡ for-n fa eerkeJey l i *PROLOGO la yuca (Manihot esculenta) es una de las principales fuentes energéticas de millones de personas que viven en el trópico. Se cultiva en 1as regiones tropicales y subtropicales del mundo, en donde un ampl io rango de artrópodos causan daños de consideración. En la última decada. algunas organizacfones internacionales y nacionales han real izado considerables esfuerzos investigativos sobre este complejo. Durante este período El Programa de Entomología de Yuca del CIAr ha dedicado una gran parte de sus esfuerzos al estudio de las plagas que afectan a la yuca con el fin de diseñar un programa de control integrado que reduzca los daRos que eie1;camente causan en los cultivos.Un alto porcentaje de la producción de yuca tradicionalmente se debe a pequeños agrícultores con muy 1 imitado poder económico; el uso de ¡osumos en la producción, tales como pesticidas para el control de las plagas es muy restringido y de difícil adquisición por 105 agricultores. Para el control de las plagas los agricultores han preferido la resistencia existente en el cultivo, los agentes benEficos que regulan las plagas de la yuca y las prácticas culturales dirigidas a mantener sus poblaciones a niveles economicamente tolerables. En el CIAT, las investigaciones sobre el control de las plagas en la yuca se han hecho tomando en cuenta las anteriores consideraciones} dirigiendo consecuentemente nuestras investigaciones principalmente hacia la resistencia varietal y el control biológ¡co~ Este trabajo requiere de un esfuerzo continuo; los avances y la información cientffica recopilada son considerables, pero aún es mucho 10 que se necesita hacer. Sinembargo, 10 investigado hasta ahora nos permite recomendar un programa de control integrado de las plagas de la yuca, viable para los agricultores tradicionales. Los artícu10s fncluídos en éste manual no dan las respuestas completas para lograr el programa ideal, pero puede suministrar una buena base para continuar Con futuras investigaciones básicas y pr~cticas que ayuden al control de las pestes del cultivo.~NTHONY C. BELLOTTI Entomólogo Programa de Yuca, CIAT La importancfa que ha tomado la yuca en los pafses trópicales ha favorecido el incremento del área sembrada; este incremento del cultivo puede fnducir un desbalanee biológico de consecuencias adversas imprevisibles, Respecto a Jos Insectos nocivos. se deben desarrollar técnicas integrales de manejo de plagas, indispensables para conservar el equil jbrio biológico que existe en los cultivos tradicionales de los diferentes ecosistemas. Este equílibrio biológico se manifiesta por la rara presencia de endemias debido al balance entre las plagas del cultivo y sus enemigos naturales.Desde sus Inicios, el Programa de Entomolog1a de Yuca del CIAT h. dirigido sus investigaciones a la busqueda de información relacfonada con la regulacfón de las poblaciones de las plagas del cultivo. Esta ¡nfor a meción es actualmente abundante, sobretodo en 10 relacionado con resistencia varietal, control biológico y prácticas culturales. La información ha estado dispersa, parte de ella aparece publicada en el libro IlYuca: Investigación, Producción y Util ización\". Con la publicación de este texto, se intenta por primera vez compilar una serie de artlculos con el objetivo principal de que sirvan de referencia a 105 cursos de capacitación sobre el control integrado de plagas en yuca que regularmente ofrece el CIAT t y de apoyo a los investigadores que permanecen por algún periodo en el programa de Entomologfa de yuca del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical. Se pretende, igualmente, con esta obra ayudar a los investigadores y técnicos de los programas Nacionales e Internacionales de yuca en las proyecciones de programas de control integrado.El texto contiene siete capítulos: en el primero se incluyen las bases fundamentales para un control integrado; éstas le permiten al lector conocer los principios en que se basa el manejo de las poblaciones de las plagas* En el capítulo I l. se describen los diferentes artrópodos que atacan al cultivo y las pérdidas que pueden ocasionar sus ataques; en el capítulo llf se presentan estudios detallados sobre tres de los insectos que pueden llegar a causar da~os severos al cultivo. En el capítulo lV, se describen los criterios para el establecimiento de un programa de control por resistencia varieta, las técnicas a seguir en la evaluación del germoplasma y los avances eQ la busqueda de variedades resistentes a insectos y acaros. la parte de control biológico es tratada ampl ¡amente en el capítulo V, en donde se describen varios de los agentes benéficos, la forma de su correcta utiJ izaci6n, los estudios poblacionales y el reconocímíento y manejo de hiperparasitos. En el capítulo VI se integran conceptos que han sido tratados en varios de los artículos de esta obra y se dan recomendaciones para el control de las plagas más importantes de éste cultivo, basados en resistencia varietal, control biológico, prácticas culturales y uso de insecticidas biológicos.IX En el último capítulo, se incluyen las técnicas de cría masal que facil itan las investigaciones y los métodos para ta recolección, el manipuleo y el establecimiento de agentes benéficos.A pesar de que el mayor esfuerzo en investigación e implementación de nuevas tecnologías de producción de al ¡mentos en las áreas tropicales del mundo ha sido dedicado a los cereales. una proporción muy alta de la energía consumida directamente por los habitantes de esta región provienen de Qtros cultivos considerados aparentemente menos importantes por los planificadores y administradores de programas nacionales e internacionales. El caso de la yuca (Manlhot esculenta Crantz) sirve para Ilustrar la asevera-ci6n anterior. En los pafses tropicales, la yuca ocupa el cuarto puesto después del arroz, el ma1z y la caña de azúcar en la cántídad de calorías produCidas y utíl izadas directamente para el consumo humano. Sin embargo, el esfuerzo económico en la investigación no guarda relación con su importante ubicación en la dieta al imenticia tropical. Por ejemplo en 1975 los gastos de fnvestigación en porcentaje del valor total de la producción en el Asia fueron de 0.12% para arroz, 0.8% para sorgo, 0.23% para frfjol, 0.12% para maíz y solo 0.03% para las raíces y tuberculos.Hechos recientes ta1es como la disponibil ¡dad de tecnologTas de alta producción y la posibi'idad de util izar excedentes de producción en la atimenta~ión animal y otros usos industriales han llamado la atención de muchos países para incluir la yuca dentro de sus planes de producción, )0 que hace preveer en el futuro una mayor expansión de ésta importante fuente energética.La yuca ha sido por mucho tiempo una fuente básica de al imento energético. sfn embargo existen pocas pruebas disponibles sobre cuando empezó su cultivo. El botánico Candolie propuso que la yuca evolucionó y se cultivó primeramente en el Noroeste del Brasil. Sin embargo la yuca podria ubicarse en la categoría de cultivos lino céntricos\" y su origen podrfa atribuirse a las zonas más húmedas de la América Tropical que corresponden * Agrónomo, Asociado de Capacitación Científica, Programa de Yuca, CIAT a las cuencas del rio Amazonas y Orinoco. Existen evidencias directas del uso del cultivo hace 2.500 años y se ha sugerido que gran parte de las áreas húmedas tropicales, actualmente en bosque, fueron alguna vez sembradas con yuca y maíz.La yuca fué introducida al Congo Africano por los Portugueses en el siglo 16 y dos siglos más tarde a Madagascar y la costa del Sureste Africano, por donde se disemin6 hacía el interior y se establecíó r~pidamente hasta llegar a ser también una importante fuente al imenticia.La introducción al Asia no llegó primero a Fil ipinas desde cultivada en Indonesia en 1740. Tropical y Oceanía. está bien documentada pero se cree que Acapulco, México en el sfglo 17 y ya era En el siglo 19 se diseminó en el Asia En el siglo 20 el cultivo de la yuca ha continuado su proceso de expansión en ¡as zonas bajas tropicales especialmente en los suelos de menor cal ¡dad. Su habíl ¡dad para desarrollarse y producir en suelos pobres, su tolerancia al ataque de enfermedades y plagas y su bajo costo de producción han favorecido la expansión del cultivo. Por ejemplo en el sur de la India yen la isla de Java donde la población se ha incrementado muy rápidamente, la yuca se ha cultivado más intensamente en aquellas áreas que no son aptas para el cultivo del arroz. En los años 70, el área sembrada en Taílandia aumentó cinco veces especialmente en las zonas de sueios pobres en inexplotados del noroeste Taílandes.Durante la decada del 70 varios países de América Latina como México, Brasil y Cuba han establecido programas de investigación y extensión que empiezan a dar resultados positivos de implementación y uso del cultivo de la yuca.La yuca es una planta dicotiledonea, monoica de ramificación simpodial y porte arbustivo que pertenece a la famil ia Euphorbiacea. La especie Kanihot e.culenta (Crantz) tiene 36 cromosomas (2M:36) y eS la única planta cultivada comercialmente dentro del genero manihot. El alto grado de heterocigocidad favorecido por la hibridación intraespe,rfica natural de la especie ha dado como resultado un número considerable de cultivares con diferencias en sus características morfológicas ,en su adaptación a las condiciones agroclimatfcas y en su resistencia a las plagas y enfermedades; sin embargo al no existir en la actual ¡dad plantas silvestres, la acción del hombre ha sido muy importante en la conservación de los cultivares de esta especie.El tallo maduro está formado por nudos y entrenudos; tiene de 2 a 6 cm de diámetro y es de coior gris. morado o café según la variedad. En el nudo se insertan el pecíolo de 1a hoja, una yema axilar y 2 estipulas laterales. Los entrenudos varían de tamaño de acuerdo a la variedad, a condiciones el imáticas ya otros factores tales como un fuerte ataque de insectos. las yemas laterales dan origen a las ramificaciones que conforman la arquitectura arbustiva de la planta, pero también producen nuevas plantas cuando se siembran pedazos de tallo, forma comunmente usada de multiplicaci6n de la especie.Las hojas son simples, formadas por una lámina fol iar palmeada y lobulada y un pec1olo cilíndrico y recto que se inserta en la base del nudo.No todas las variedades de yuca florecen y entre las que lo hacen hay marcadas diferencias en cuanto a la época y a la pral iferación de flores. la inflorescencia es una panícula compuesta y tas flores femeninas están localizadas en la base de la inflorescencia. Después de ia poI inizacíón, el ovario se desarrolla y forma el fruto, cápsula dehiscente y trilocular de forma ovoide~ el cual toma entre tres y cinco meses para madurar.La semilla, de incalculable valor en el mejoramiento genético de la especie es de forma ovoide-el ipsoídal de color café oscuro moteada y mide 10 mm de largo, 6 mm de ancho y 4 mm de espesor.Las rafees de la planta de yuca tienen la característica de almacenar almidones y por lo tanto es e1 órgano más importante de la planta desde el punto de vista económico. El sistema radical tiene una baja densidad pero las raíces pueden penetrar hasta 2.5 m., o más favoreciendo su adaptabil i~ dad a condiciones de extrema sequía. Las raíces fibrosas se forman en la base inferior cicatrizada de la estaca a partir de las yemas que están bajo tierra. Estas rafees cumplen su función al imentadora de la planta, la cual dismInuye considerablemente cuando la raíz fibrosa almacena almidones y se convierte en raíz tuberosa. Aparentemente todas las raíces pueden Cambiar de fibrosas a tuberosas, pero por un mecanismo todavfa no conocido solo unas pocas (al rededor de 10) cambian su polaridad de crecimiento de 10ngitudinaJ a radial e inician la acumulaci6n de almidones. la raíz tuberosa puede ser cilíndrica o cónica cubierta por un periderma corchoso que varía de color blanco crema a café oscuro según 1a variedad y una capa cortical de 1 a 2 mm de espesor y coloración blanca o crema rosada. Debajo de estos 2 tej idos está la pulpa, sitio en donde se almacena en mayor cantidad gránulos redondos de almidón. En el centro de la raíz hay filas de vasos cuya dureza~ longitud y anchura son caracterfs• ticas varietaies ¡nfluenc¡ad~s por las condiciones c1 ímáticas y los trastornos que haya sufrido la planta durante su desarrollo.Comúnmente se habla de variedades dulces y amargas y esto se debe a que la yuca contiene linamarina, que al hidro} izarse produce cantidades variables de acido cianídrico cuya mayor concentración se encuentra en la corteza de la raíz. En términos generales la5 variedades con concentraciones mayores de 50 ppm de Acido Cianhidrico son consideradas como amargas y y no pueden ser usadas en forma fresca para la al imentación tanto humana como animal.La mayoria de los cultivos de yuca se encuentran entre 30 0 N y 30° S de lantítud, en áreas donde la precipitación anual excede los 750 mm y la temperatura es superior a 18°-20 o e. En su mayoría es producida por pequeños agricultores que no dependen de insumos y tecnologías asociadas con la agricultura moderna; Cock y Lynam (1980) estiman que un 40% de las siembras se hacen en asociación con otros cultivos.El rendimiento promedio anual de aproximadamente 9 ton/ha está muy lejos de los máximos rendimientos experimentales de 80 ton/ha; sin embargo dadas las condiciones en que se cultiva la yuca en el mundo, éstos rendimientos se comparan favorablemente con otros cultivos como los cereales que bajo condiciones poco favorables no pueden sembrarse o producen rendimientos de 1 ó 2 ton/ha por año.Aproximadamente el 65% de la producción de yuca en el período 75-77 fué consumida directamente como al imento humano, 18% se usó para al imentación animal y un 6% para producción de almidón y otros usos industriales, (Tabla 1).TABLA l. PRODUCCION ESTIMADA (1980) Y UTILIZACION DE LA YUCA PRODUCIDA (1975)(1976)(1977)  Sclence 218: 758,1982 Aproximadamente la mitad de la yuca consumida directamente por el hombre se hace en forma fresca después de cocer las rafees y la otra mitad se procesa para producir una gran variedad de harinas y tortas. De 10$ datos que presenta la FAO, Cock (1982) estimó que alrededor de 500 millones de personas de 26 parses tropicales consumen aproximadamente 300 kllocalo-r1as por dfa provenientes de raíces de yuca~ los consumos más altos fueron de 500 kilocalorlas para SO millones de africanos y de 700 kllocalorra. por dI. para 25 millones de habitantes del sur de 1. India.Aún aceptando que la yuca tiene bajo valor nutrrcional es, al menos en su forma seca, una de las fuentes disponibles más baratas de calorías~ Aqut es donde reside el valor y la importancia de éste cultivo, ya que se estima para 1985 que 1.5 billones de personas estarán sufriendo por malnutrición correlacionadas con una deficiencia calórica, la cual puede en parte ser remedtada con la intensificación del cultivo de la yuca en zonas donde otros cultrvos no pueden prosperar.Oado el hecho de que la yuca es un cultivo de \"ciclo vegetatfvo H largo y que los pequefios agricultores de escasos recursos son principalmente los productores, fa tecno1ogía requerida para optImizar los rendimfentos debe ser senci11a t barata y de fácil apl icación~ S i a esto se agrega que el potencial de producción se encuentra en zonas de sue10s de baja fertil ¡dad y lluvias err¡ticas, las variedades y la tecnología que se desarrolle para producir yuca debe ser apl ¡cable bajo estas condiciones de estress.Con este criterio, dos centros internacionales, el CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cal i, Colombia) y el lITA (Internatlonal Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan; Nigeria) han venido trabajando desde principros de la década del 70 en el desarrollo de tecnologras de altos rendimiento para el cu1tivo de la yuca. la accIón de los centros internacionales a través de la capacitación cinetífica de profesionales de los programas nacionales de investigación ha dado como resultado un esfuerzo conjunto en muchos países para generar y adaptar la tecnología a situaciones concretas de prOducción en los países interesados. Gracfas a este esfuerzo conjunto hoy se cuenta en algunos países con programas fuertes de investigación que están demostrando la bondad del cultivo. La tecnología está basada principalmente en variedades y prácticas agronómicas que serán resumidas a continuación.Dadas las condiciones descritas anteriormente en cuanto al sistema de producción de la yuca en el mundo, el mejoramiento de la planta a través de combinaciones genéticas puede ser una acción muy apropiada y altamente rentable. El banco de germopJasma del CIAT cuenta con aproximadamente 3~OOO variedades provenientes de 15 países tropicales del mundo y son la fuente básica de la diversidad genética para producir nuevas variedades resistentes o tolerantes a los principales problemas que restringen la expreSlon máxima del potencial de rendimiento de la especie. El programa de mejoramiento genético del CIAT ha seleccionado 6 zonas edafocl irnáticas básicas hacia los cuáles ha enfocado su programa de mejoramiento (Tabla 2) y que representan las regiones productoras de yuca en el mundo. Cinco de estas zonaS están representadas por sit ¡os en Colombia donde el programa evalua. selecciona progenies y 1 leva a cabo ensayos de observación y rendimiento que dan origen a las nuevas variedades. Con este IIflujo de germoplasma ll {Fig.1), se espera producir variedades de alto rendimiento adaptadas a condiciones específicas de cada zona que podrían entreoarse para su uso directo por los agricultores después de haber sido probada~ bajo condiciones locales. Sin embargo, también podrian ser usadas como padres en programas nacionales donde se tengan requerimientos específicos locales que quieran añadirse. Adicionalmente se espera que a medida que las agencfas nacionales produzcan nuevos clones podrían ser intercambiados. Por ejemplo una línea Brasileña fué probada y mult¡pl ¡cada en Cuba y es ahora muy importante en la producción de yuca de éste país. Se prevee por lo tanto que en el futuro una red de programas a nivel nacIonal e internacional pOdrían intercambiar líneas promisorias, lo cual es ahora más factible a través de la técnica de cultivo de meristemas.Este sistema representa una gran seguridad desde el punto de vista cuarentenario, comparado con el intercambio de material vegetativo.Generalmente el material inicíal de siembra que se obtiene de una nueva variedad es poco y si a esto se agrega que la tasa de multipl icación tradicional es muy baja {1 :10), la diseminación de una buena variedad tOMaría mucho tiempo. Para solucionar este problema se han desarrollado dos sistemas que aceleran la tasa de multipl ¡cación y que podrían ser implementados por los programas nacionales. El método de \"propagación por estacas de 2 yemasll, permite obtener hasta 24.000 estacas de tamaño comercial en un año partiendo de una planta adulta. El sistema de \"propagación por esquejes l l puede producir hasta 300.000 estacas de tamaño comercial en un año y medio, partiendo de una planta de 4-5 meses de edad. Estas tecnologías sencillas y baratas complementan los esfuerzos que se hacen para identificar y producír buenas variedades que aumentan rápidamente los rendimientos de yuca.Experimentos recientes real izados por el programa de yuca del C1AT sugieren que los productores que están bajo condiciones agronómicas y socioeconómicas muy desfavorables en la Costa Norte de Colombia~ podrían incrementar sus rendimientos hasta en un 70% usando práctrcas agronómicas que requieren cantidades muy bajas de insumos. Igualmente los promedios de rendimiento en los suelos ácidos e ¡nfértiles del sur de la India est~n entre tos más altos del Asía, debido probablemente a la apl icación de buenas prácticas agronómicas desarrolladas durante muchos anoS de investigación en el Instituto Central de Investigación de Tubérculos en Trivandrum.El programa de yuca tiene disponible tecnologías sencil las en la selección y tratamiento de material de siembra, poblaci6n de plantas 1 control de malezas, uso de fertil izantes, asociación de cultivos y cosecha. Trópico de tierras bajas con precipita• ción moderada a alta; vegetación de sabana en suelos ácidos e ¡nfértiles; estación seca moderada a prolongada.Trópico de tierras bajas sin estaciones secas pronunciadas; alta precipitación; humedad relativa alta.El lector rnteresado en profundizar en estas tecnologías debe referirse al libro \"Yuca: Investigación. Producción y Utilización ll , en donde encontrara una descripci6n detallada de estas tecnologías. Debe tenerse en cuenta que aunque ciertos principios agronómicos básicos pueden ser apl ¡cados en cualquier parte corno una buena práctica agronómica, los detalles específicos y los ajustes de la tecnología tienen que hacerse a nivel local. De aquí se desprende la necesidad de que ~sta tecnología sea comprobada y ajustada por los programas nacionales. Ejemplos de ~sta interacción tecnológica han sido probados con buenos resultados en países como México, Cuba, Repúbl ica Dominicana, Colombia etc., donde los programas nacionales de Investigación han val ¡dado y transferido a los agricultores la tecnología que han encontrado más apropiada para sus condiciones locales. En un esquema general de aplicación de la tecnología se podría esperar que los rendimientos de yuca aumenten en un 50% con la apl ¡cación de prácticas culturales apropiadas en las variedades locales o tradicionales y otro 50% cuando se hace una selección de las mejores variedades locales y se aplican las prácticas culturales apropiadas. Si se introducen nuevas líneas de alto potencia) de rendimiento y se usa la tecnología agronómica requerida, los rendimientos podrían aumentarse aún más.Los ataques de enfermedades e insectos 1 tmítan tos rendimientos potenciales del cultivo y reducen la cal ¡dad y cantidad del material de siembra requerido para la plantación siguiente. A través de la resistencia varietal es posible encontrar la solución de algunos problemas fitosanitarios del cultivo. Sin embargo, cuando ésta no es posible se han desarrollado prácticas culturales y de manejo que reduzcan el efecto detrimental de las enfermedades y las plagas. Por eJempro una cuidadosa selección del material de siembra y su tratamiento con insecticidas y fungícidas pueden favorecer la germinacíón y reducir los niveles iniciales de infección. Una vez que la plantación se ha establecido, muchos patógenos e insectos pueden atacar el cultivo y causar severas pérdidas. La reacción más frecuente de los agricultores es la de aplicar fuertes dosis de insecticidas y fungicidas que a su vez destruyen los insectos benéficos, dando como resultado ataques aún más severos. Para muchos casos el programa de ínvestigación del CIAT ha desarrollado sistemas de control biológico que son tratados extensamente en este Ji bro. Ot ra prolet lca senci 11 a de manejo es 1 a siembra en caballones especialmente en regiones de suelos pesados y alta precipita-cí6n, con 10 cual se reduce drásticamente la frecuente pudrición de raíces causada por bacter ias~ La asociaci6n de yuca con otros cultivos también es una practica de manejo a través de la cual se reduce la incidencia de plagas y enfermedades. El crecimiento lento de la yuca durante las primeras etapas permite ajustar la distribuci6n de plantas en el campo de tal manera que otros cultivos de ciclo vegetativo corto, como fríjol o cowpea. puedan ser Intercalados. Aún que los rendimientos de yuca se reducen un poco, el total de producción de al ¡mentos por nectárea es mayor en el cultivo intercalado, contribuyendo con el control de enfermedades e insectos y proporcionando ;:,tra fuente de trabajo e ingresos para el agricultor.Oada la alta pericibilidad de las raíces, la yuca presenta problemas de manejo después de la cosecha. La interacción de una deterioración inicialmente fisiológica y posteriormente bacteria1 puede pender totalmente el producto. 1 a 7 días después de la cosecha. La deterioración fisiológica puede prevenirse podando las plantas antes de la cosecha o almacenando las raíces en bolsas de polletileno; si además, las raíces se tratan con fungicidas, se controla la deterioración microbial. Sin embargo, pueden presentarse cambios en la cal idad del producto almacenado O persistir algunos efectos tóxicos por residuos de pesticidas.Estos sistemas pueden favorecer el consumo de yuca fresca especialmente en las zonas urbanas.La alternativa para obviar el problema del deterioro y almacenamiento de las rafces es secarlas y producir harinas que pueden tener diferentes usos, En efecto el consumo humano de harinas de yuca (p.e. FarinhaL tiene la tendencia a aumentar especialmente en aquel los estratos de menores ingresos de la población. También se sabe que es tecnicamente posible la mezcla de hasta 20% de harina de yuca en la industria de la panificación. 10 cual es especialmente atractivo para aquellos países (la mayoría de 105 tropicales), en donde la producción de trigo es insuficiente.Otra línea, quizás de mayores perspectivas es el USQ de harina de yuca en la industria de al ¡mentos balanceados para al imentación animal como una fuente de energía, uso que ya es muy corriente en los países Europeos. Estudios recientes en Ecuador y Colombia sugieren que si los rendimientos promedios fueran de 15 ton/ha, esta sería altamente competitiva con los granos en la al imentacfón animal. En años recientes 1 México ha tenido un creciente déficit de producción de granos. Con miras a reducir las importacione.s se ha implementado un programa para producir yuca en áreas que normalmente se consideran improductivas para la agricultura. Esta estrategia podr1a ser aplicable en otros países tropicales que tiene déficits de producci6n de 9ranos y además poseen grandes extenSiones de tierra improductiva. E) programa de yuca del CIAT ha venido trabajando en el desarrollo de tecnologías sencillas para el secamiento y procesamiento de la yuca. los resultados se han probado con muy buenos resultados a nivel de una planta piloto en la Costa Norte de Colombia en cooperación con el programa ORI (Desarrollo Rural Integrado)gracias al apoyo financiero de AtDI (Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional). La multiplicación de esta planta piloto en 6 sitios diferentes de la Costa Atlántica Colombiana es la mejor prueba del éxito de esta tecnología.Igualmente el programa cuenta con la información necesaria para el uso de la yuca en al imentación porcina y adelanta los estudios necesarios para la inclusión de yuca en raciones para aves.La yuca, por ser un cultivo muy eficiente en la producción de carbohidratos puede también ser una materia prima importante en al producción de Etanol. Brasil se ha const~turdo en el líder para ésta importante tecnología que ya ~a avanzado a nfveles de prOducción comercial. Aunque la eficiencia del sistema desde el punto de vista energético es bajo, es factible de mejorar a trav~s de nuevos sistemas de destilación del alcohol que están siendo investigados, 10 cual podría mejorar sustancialmente el potencial de l? yuca en la produccíón de energía.La yuca es uno de los cultivos con mayor potencial de producción energética, bajo condiciones agronómicas y 50cioeconómicas 1 imitadas. En efecto es el cuarto cultivo tropical en la cantidad de calorias producidas y util izadas para el consumo humano; la producción de yuca está en una alta proporción en manos de pequeños agricultores de escasos recursos económicos. El promedio de producción mundial (8.7 ton/ha) está muy por debajo del potencial experimental del cultivo (80 ton/ha) pero se compara favorablemente con el promedio de producción de granos especialmente en áreas marginales para la agricultura con periodos secos prolongados.Los programas nacionales e internacionales de investígaclón en yuca están empeñados en la producción y adopción de tecnologías sencillas de bajo costo y fácil apl icación; la producción de hlbridos de alto rendimiento y adaptab11 ¡dad a las zonas de producción, constituye el pilar central para incrementar la producción. Las nuevas variedades acompañadas de tecnologías mejoradas podrían tripl icar los actuales rendimientos promedios mundiales.La yuca ofrece muchas posibil ¡darles de uso como fuente energética. Sin embargo el uso de ia yuca seca en forma de harina en )a al imentación anima) ofrece las mejores perspectivas, especialmente para aquellos países deficientes en la producción de granos y con grandes extensiones de tierras La importancia del control integrado de plagas ha ido aumentando gradualmente durante las dos últimas décadas como procedímíento práctico y razonable para tratar los problemas de plagas. Se hán desarrollado (o se están desarrol lando) muchos programas satisfactorios para cultivos de campo, incluyendo frutas y hortal ízas; cultivos de invernadero; piantas forestales, de sombra y ornamentales: insectos que tiene importancia en medícina (Cuadro 1). El ¡nter~s por el método de control integrado de plagas ha sido estimulado principalmente por fracasos y desastres nacidos de haber confiado casi exclusivamente en los plaguicidas a base de productos químicos orgánicos sintéticos al tratar los problemas. de plagas. El empleo intenso de estos plaguícidas qufmicos sin tener en cuenta las complejidades del ecosistema, sobre todo los aspectos fundamentales de la dinámíca de la población de las especies de plagas, ha sido el inconveniente fundamental de este modo de atacar el problema.El control integrado de plagas es un método ecoJógicamente orientado. que util iza diversas técnicas de control. combinadas armónicamente en un sistema de manejo de plagas. Para que alcance la máxima eficacia deben establecerse los niveles económicos de daño para determinar en qué momento deben iniciarse las acciones de control. Al mismo tiempo, se hace todo lo posible para proteger y preservar agentes de roortal ¡dad bióticos existentes en estado natural, tales como parásitos, predatores, y patógenos. Cuando se necesitan procedimientos de control artificial (por ejemplo, aplicaciones de plaguicidas químicos, 1 iberación de parásitos, aspersión de un virus de insectos) se emplean del modo más selectivo que sea posible, y únicaMente cuando su emp1eo está justificado desde el punto de vista económico yecológico. El objetivo final del control integrado de plagas es producir los máximos beneficios (cosecha. confort, recreación) con costo mfnlmo, ten ten-~ en cuenta las restricciones ecológicas y sociológicas existentes en cada ecosistema y la conservación a largo plazo del medio ambiente La necesidad del control integrado de plagas.El uso intensivo e ¡ndiscriminado de los plaguicidas qU¡m¡C05 para combatir las plagas de insectos ha dado lugar a varios problemas. Existe actualmente el fenómeno bi.n documentado de resistencia de los insectos con más de 228 especies en el mundo de las que se sabe que resisten a 105 plaguicidas químicos (FAO, 1970). Entre el las eitán vades plagas del algodonero, tales como el gusano rosado del algodonero, Pectinophora gossypiella, el gusano a~ric~no de la bellota J Hel iothis armigera, el gusano de la bellota, H. zea, el gusano cogollero (de los brotes), H. vírescens t el gusano de-la~ja del algodonero, Spodoptera littoraiis t el gusano mítítar de la remolacha, S. exigua, y el falso medidor t Trichop1us;a ni. No so1amente ha aparecido resistencia en especies de plagas contra las cuales se apl ¡caron plaguicidas, sino también en las especies que no eran objeto del tratamiento. Por ejemplo, el intenso empleo de plaguicidas para combatir las plagas del algodonero en América Central ha conducido a selección de resistencia y resistencia cruzada por mosquito transmisor del paludismo, An9jheJes albimanus, que habita en muchos tipos de vegetaci6n entre los que se encuentra el algodonero (Georghiou, 1972) .El resurgimiento o reavivación dé la plaga objetivo después de la apl ¡cación de un plaguicida recomendado. Esto ha dado como resultado la necesidad de apt ¡caciones repetidas del plsguicida para rebajar la poblacrón de la plaga cada vez que resurge.' Par ejemplo~ en el algodonero de Cal ¡fornia. el gusano de la bellota, 'Me' iothis zea. resurge después de haber apl ¡cado el insecticida auímico, 4imetilfosfeto de 3-hidroxi-N-metiJ-cis crotonamida (Azodrin ) (van ~ Bosen ~:!.!.. 1911). la 1 ¡beración de especies contra 18~ cuajes no Sf!. dirigen las apl icaciones químicas, al ser destruidos sus enemigos naturales que, de otro modo~ mantienen a raya a sus pobJacjones~ Las especies liberadas pueden convertirse en plagas secundarias y exigrr medida! de contro •• En California, el falso medidor, Trichoplusia nf •• y el gusano mil rt.r de la remolacha, Spodoptera exigua, se mantl~n a raya mediante vatias especies de insectos predadores {Ehler, 1972.;tveleens, 1972J. Aplicaciones hechas para combatir ia chinche 1 igus, ~ nA~erus, sobre algodonero destruyen las especies predadoras liberando a61~1 81so medidor yel giJsano militar de la remolacha que aumenta su poblach$H y dañan al algodOhero (Falcan :!.!.., J 968; 1971).Existe también el problema de llJ{\"\"ál~.raci6n ambienta' f1iera del área tratada con plaguicida. De aquí puede 1'~'sultar el incremento de los pro\" blemas de las palgas en cultivos adyac~tes Q la creación de un problema de plagas donde antes no existra. Esto h~ suced¡do con una especie de cigarrita o saltahojas, Dalbulus maíd~5, yel raquit;smo del maíz (micoplasma) en el área plana del Pacífico en Centroamédca. Por ejemplo, en Nicaragua, la producción de algodón ea~escala comercial empe.tó en 1949. El vector, O. maidus, y el organismo di, la enfermedad estábah presentes en todas las zonas de cultivo del n\\p1\".'dentro y f~era de las zonas de cultivo del algodonero. Sin embargo,' 1$ enfermedad fnfluyó de modo marcado sobre la producción de maíz a partir de '955 únícamentt en las zonas de cultivo algodonera en las que se habían empleado fnsecticldas (Saenz, 1971).El empleo de plaguicidas ha creado pe1 ígros para la salud humana. Un ejemplo notable es el de más de 3.000 envenenamientos y más de 400 muertes cada año durante un decenio  para obreros de algodonales en Nicaragua. Una cuota semejante ha habido que pagar en otros países de Centroamérica en que se cultiva algodonero en escala comercial {Adams, 1972) • Otro riesgo para la salud es la presencía de resfduos de plagu1cidas químicos sobre los cultivos al imenticios. Durante 1972~ en Cal ffornia, por ejemplo, más de 30.000 toneladas de heno de alfaifa destinadas para el consumo por vacas lecheras o vacuno de carne fueron confiscadas por contener una cantidad excesiva de residuos de plaguicidas. Durante 1966 y 1967, el Gobierno de los EE.UU. rechazó más de 300.000 1 ¡bra. de carne de vacuno enviadas desde Nicaragua porque la carne estaba contaminada más al Já de los límites permisibles, con residuos de OOT. Un reconocimiento real izado recientemente en Guatemala ha puesto de manifiesto que) probablemente. niños de siete años, durante su vida, consumen de siete a 200 veces más de la cantidad de OOT de la que se considera admisible por las normas actuales (Adams, 1972).Hay que añadir, además, el probtema de la acumulación de resíduos de plaguícidas nocivos en especies de la fauna silvestre t inconveniente grave que ha conducido a prohibir el empleo de DOT en 105 Estados Unidos yen otros varios países. Muchos de los problemas arriba enumerados tienen repercusiones de orden social, político y económico. Entre los casos que están bien documentados figura el caso, de consecuenc[as casi desastrosas, de las industrias algodoneras en Perú, El Salvador y Nicaragua (Smith, 1969;falcon, 1971a), y la total destrucción de la industria al90donera en las áreas de Matamoros-Reynosa y Tampico-Mante en México (Adkisson, 1972).Establecimiento del sistema de control integrado.El desarrollo ordenado y adecuado de los programas de control integrado exige un buen fundamento científico y el desarrollo de la información en los aspectos siguientes: la biología general, comportamiento, fenología y distribución de las principales plagas; niveles de población de plagas que puedan ser toleradas sin pérdidas importantes; los principales factores de mortalidad natural que regulan la abundancia y dinámica de la población de las plagas; tiempo y lugar de ocurrencia y la significación de los principales predatores, parásitosy patógenos; yel impacto de los procedimientos de control sobre las plagas. asf como sobre los factores de mortalidad natural y el ecosistema en general. la aplicación satisfactoria del control integrado de plagas exige personal convenientemente capacitado a todos los niveJes. En ia fase de desarrollo, se necesitan especial istas que conozcan bien la biología y la ecología, y que sean receptivos a los nuevos métodos de control integrado de plagas. Han de ser capaces de realizar las investigaciones básicas, que se necesitan para crear la información requerida que se ha descrito arriba.Para que 105 programas de control integrado se apliquen con ~xito, la información preparada por los investigadores ha de transmitirse de modo eficaz al personal de extensión y supervisión que. a su vez. puede aplicar la información localmente y dar consejos especificos a especialistas de control de plagas y cultivadores. También se necesita personal directivo para mantener las plagas bajo vigilancia y supervisar los procedimientos de control. Una administración consciente del valor que representa el control integrado de plagas puede ayudar mediante coordinaci6n de las actividades generales, pidiendo medidas de cuarentena para prevenir o demorar la introducción de plagas t y creando la apropiada legislación para reglamentar procedimientos y materiales de control.En conclusión, hay que recalcar que los programas de control integrado de plagas se desarrollan con lentitud, generalmente a base de un proceso escalonado, y la complejIdad del programa surge lentamente. En muchos casos t una simple innovación basada en una buena observación puede producir resultados espectaculares.El hombre ha sido un elemento dinámico en su medio ambiente desde que llegó a su actual nicho evolutivo~ lo mismo q~e sucede con otras especies abundantes. Sus actividades de cazador, su empleo del fuego, sus prácticas agrícolas (especialmente riego y pastoreo excesivo); su tala de bosques, así como actos no intencionales, han modificado el paisaje, algunas veces de un modo espectacular+ El hombre ha ejercido una tal influencia en su medio que es difícil encontrar pruebas de sitios que no estén alterados. A través de sus actividades, particularmente sus actividades agrícolas, ha reducido la complej¡dad de su medio ambiente local y ha modificado dicho medio de otros modos diversos. Teniendo en cuenta la gran participación de 1a agricultura en esta alteración por el hombre del medio ambiente, se considera apropiado' visual izar y discutir este nuevo ecosistema modificado por el hombre como un agroecosistema.El agroecosistema puede definirse como una unidad compuesta del complejo total de organismos en una zona de cultivo, juntamente con todo el medio ambiente condicionante y además, modificado por las diversas actividades de índole agrícola, industrial, recreacional y social del hombre. Téngase en cuenta que e} concepto de H p I a9all no es una pa rte esencial de la definfc¡6n de agroecosistema. En el análisis práctico del agroecosistema desde el punto de vista del manejo de plagas, hay que centrar la atención en el número de especies de plagas. sus competidores, organismos predadores, proveedores princfpales y alternativos de al ¡mento, yen la forma en que los modifican los otros elementos del medio. La determinación de las cantidades de insectos está influida, en líneas\" gene• rales, por el Bgroecosistema, y el conocimiento de cómo actúa esta influencia es esencial para el manejo integrado de la población de la plaga. También se necesita conocer a fondo el agroecosistema para armonizar las prácticas de control pata diferentes plagas, de tal modo que puedan prevenirse efectos disruptivos inaceptables. Del mismo modo~ el conocer el agroecosistema permite apreciar 105 factores de mortal ¡dad que actúan sobre una plaga o población de una plaga potencial y sugerirán la manipulación subs\\g~rente para reforzar o mejorar su acción.El concepto del agroecosistema se apl ¡ca a la agricultura de subs¡stencia, lo mismo que a los tipos de agricultura científica de máximo perfeccionamiento. La cuestión es que ambas son situaciones ecológicas V, para controlar o manejar cualquier situaci6n ecológIca, hay que uti¡ Izar principios eco16gicos. En nuestro concepto del agroecosistema para control integradQ de plagas, suele ser importante que consideremos las especies de plagas y sus enemigos naturales según se presentan fuera del área de cultivo específica, por ejemplo, sobre hospedantes alternados y en áreas sin cultivar. los agroecosistemas varfan mucho en cuanto a su estabiJ ¡dad. complejidad, y tamaño. Es también importante percatarse de que están en un proceso continuado de evolución. las cambios en los sistemas de cultivo, las variedades de plantas cultivadas , o los procedimientos de control de plagas pueden modificar considerablemente un agroecosistema. Frecuente-mente~ suele ser difícil definir con precisión los límites, sobre todo cuando se trata de medios comp! ¡cadas y cuando intervienen plagas que migran mucho. Chapman consideraba que los organismos tenían características biológicas innatas las cuales podían ser resumidas bajo el termino potencial biótico, que se definía como la propiedad inherente de un organismo para reproducirse y para sobrevivir: Se consideró que el potencial biótico era la suma de: el potencial reproductivo del animal, influenciado por el número de crías producidas, la tasa de sexos y el número de generaciones en un período determinado y el potencial de supervivencia basado en su habil ¡dad para obtener al ¡mento adecuado y protección. En contraposición con este potencial biótico de una especie esta la resistencia ambiental que comprende los factores físicos tales como el tiempo y el cl ima y los factores biológicos tales como competencia por al imento, competencia por espacio, competencia por abrigo adecuado, y predadores y parásitos.Con respecto a los factores que afectan a una población animal, no ha habido divergencia importante de la opinión de Chapman, pero si ha habido ciertos puntos de divergencia con respecto a la importancia de tales factores. Esta divergencia de la que podría considerarse como un punto de vista clásico fue engendrado por la adición de un nuevo concepto al estudio de las poblaciones animales, y que fue independientemente concebido por un entomólogo austral lana, A.J. Nicholson, y el profesor Harry S. Smith de la Universidad de Cal ifornia.LA CAPACIDAD DEL AMBIENTE Smith (1947) había destacado que la suerte de una especie de insecto introducida en su nuevo ambiente depende en la capacidad del último para esta especie particular. Las áreas de citrus de California tenían una gran capacidad para la escama algodonosa de los citros (Icerya purchasi), porque esta especie era completamente distinta taxonomicamente de los otros homopteros habitantes de sus citros. y por consiguiente la nueva escama no fué atacada por la fauna entom6foga nativa. Los arboles de citros pronto quedaron agobiados con las masas blancas de huevos de esta especie, y los citrocultores, con razón, pronosticaron la carda de la naciente industria citrícola de Cal ¡fornla. Afortunadamente, el ambiente de California tuvo tambien una gran capacidad para un predador introducido desde Austral ia para combatir la escama algodonosa de los citros y éste fué el famoso Rodolia cardinal ¡s. Rodolia como un enemigo de la escama, ocupó un nicho que no había sido ocupado previamente; en otra. palabra., el ambiente de California tenra una gran capacIdad para Rodal l •• Cuando el parSslto dIptero Cryptochactum Iceryae, fue Introducido posteriormente desde Australia para predar en la escama, el resultado fue solamente una reducci6n de la poblacl6n de Rodol la, porque 1. capacidad del nuevo habitante para enemigos de la escama era 1 Imitada; .610 podla soportarse un número 1 Imitado de 'nsectos enemigos de esta especfe, sea que fueran una o ~s espeefes.A menudo se ha Introducido Insectos entom6fagos en un pars en el cual ya existfan especies afrnes con una habilidad rntrTnseca similar para combatir un Insecto hospedero dado. El resultado de tales introducciones ha sido meramente reducir la pobJacf6n de la es~ecrcs entomófsg8 afrn, sin ventaja desde el punto de vista del efecto combinado contra el insecto hospedero. Sin embargo, la especie Introducida tiene cualidades intrrnsecas que la hacen superior a otros enemfgos de la especies hospedera en cuestión, ella no solo tender~ G eliminar a las otras especies, sIno que se establacer § en núme~s mas grandes que la población, combinada previa de enemIgos del Insecto hospedero. Si el poder de búsqueda del nuevo insecto entomófago no es reducido por los par~s¡tos natIvos, el puede practrcamente eliminar las especies natrvas y su ~xito en contra del insecto hospedero puede ser espectacular~ Se notará que el exito de una especie de 'nsecto introducido depende prime~ de la naturaleza de 105 factores biótrcos antes que ffsicos de su nuevo ambiente, presumiendo por supuesto, que el cl fma del ambiente nuevo es favorable. Se mostrará ahora que esto se debe al hecho de que los factores biótlcos, especialmente los enemigos naturales, incrementan en la intensidad de su efecto a medida que incrementa la densidad de poblaci6n de la nueva especie.Manera como ellos afectan las Poblacrones de Insectos Howard y Flske (1949) distiguieron dos catergorfas de caus.s naturales de mortalidad entre 105 insectos. En una categorfa estan los factores que causan un porcentaje constante de mortal ¡dad sin importar la abundancia de los insectos; se le ha denominado factores catastr6ficos. En la otra categorfa estaban factores que causan porcentaje creciente de mortal ¡dad a medIda que el número de hospederos incrementaba; estos se denominaron factores facultativos. Sm1th (1935) llamé estos factores. como factores de mortalidad IndependIentes de la densidad y dependientes de 1. densidad, respectivamente. Puede entenderse facilmente que los factores ffsicos (clima y tiempo) que ofrecen resistencia ambiental son independientes de la densidad, eso es que ellos varían independientemente de las variaciones en la poblacfón de Insectos, y que los factores biológicos (competencia por alimento, competencia por espacio, competencia por abr.go, los predadores y los par~sltos) son dependientes de la densidad, eso es, que ellos son afectados por el alza y carda en la poblaci5n del ínsecto hospedero.El entomóJogo agrrcola está interesado en los factores de mortal ¡dad que pueden determinar la densidad de población promedial o la posíci6n equilibrio de una especie. Si tales factores tienen éxito en mantener una posición de equfl ihrio bajo el lIcero economlco\", entonces son importantes de otra manera ellos no lo son. Smith (193S) ha mostrado que los factores de mortalidad dependientes de la densrdad pueden determinar la posíción equilibrio de la población de una especie, y que los factores independientes de la densIdad no pueden hacerlo nunca sr operan solos. En el caso de un insecto hospedero bajo control bfológico el porcentaje de mortal ¡dad causado por factores b r6t i cos, part icularmente insectos entorof3gos, íncre'\" menta con relacMn al f%) cuando la densidad de) hospedero tiende a Incrementar, y por el contrario decrece cuando la densidad del hospedero tiende a decrecer. Los factores dependientes de la densidad son los unicos que son realmente reguladores.El tiempo (como el clIma) puede fluctuar y puede causar fluctuacl6n en nameres del insecto hu~sped y puede ser~ de esta manera, de importancia económica. Se debe hacer una distinción, sin embar90, entre estas fluctuaciones y las densrdades de población promedias controladas por factores bi6tlcos.A menudo han sfdo trasladados accfdentalmente fnsectos perjudiciales desde un pá1s donde la densIdad promedio de poblaci~n ha sfdo satlsfacto~ riamente baja , desde un punto de vIsta económica, hasta otro pafs donde la densidad promedio de población rncrementó rápidamente hasta una extensIón alarmante. Este Incremento no fue causado por un clima más favorable, pues efectrvamente. el clima fue algunas veces menos favorable. El incremento rué causado por la ausencra de los factores dependientes de la densidad que operaban en el ambiente anterior; pero no en el nuevo, En vísta de que tales factores dependfentes de la densidad (competencia por alimento. por espacio, etc) supuestamente operarfan en el mfsmo grando en el nuevo ambiente asf como el vlejo1 los roo que no fueron alcanzados (o ejecutados) autom&tfcamente en el nuevo ambIente, princtpalmente predadores y parásftos. podrran logi\"camente ser considerados como el l1eslab6n pérdido!! en la comb'naci~n de factores que provisionaron un control exitoso de la peste en el ambiente anterfor~ Los insectos entomófagos son la consideración más importante en el control biológico a causa de que el los son el factor biótíco que puede ser transportado y controlado por el hombre. Por consiguiente se tratará de hacer una ligera consideración de los factores que determinan su éxíto y valor económico.El Dr. Chapman en su Ecologra Animal anticipó una reVlslon de los conceptos ecológicos (en la forma que él los presento) a medida que la infor F meción nueva era expuesta~ pero él apenas pudo vislumbrar' la utíl ¡dad completa de ciertas caracterrstlcas del potencial biotico en el nuevo punto de vista iniciado por Nicholson y Smíth, Smith (1939) afIrma que no existe correlación positiva entre la tasa posible de reproducción máxima de una especie y su pOblaci5n promedio. Se sigue que la capacidad reproductiva pue• de logicamente div1dfrse en dos tjPOSj potencial y efectiva aunque esta diferenciación no ha tomado parte en el pensamiento de muchos biologos.La especie que puede reproducirse más rápidamente no es necesariamente la más abundante en número de Individuos, un punto que fué enfatizado por Oarwing en su 110rlgen por las Especies ll • Fue destacado por Srnrth que la capacidad de un parásito de poner huevos vá más allá de 10 que se necesita para efectuar control de su hospedero. Se sigue que el efecto de tal parásito en la población hospedera no parece estar I imitado por su capacidad de reproducci6n; un parásIto tiene un efecto en la velocidad de cambio de la poblaci6n del hospedero, la cual es determinada por la diferencia entre la tasa efectiva de incremento del parasito y aquel la del hospedero.Smith (1939) puso mucho énfasis en la habilidad de los insectos ento-m6fagos de búsqueda del hospedero. Se consíderó ser la propiedad más importante de un insecto entom6fago, afectando la densidad de la población del insecto hospedero. Si el parásito va a ser el factor biótico que va a traer equil ¡brío en la población de Su hospedero, en donde la tasa de crecimientos y la tasa de mortalidad alcanzan la igualdad, tal parásito debe encontrar y destrufr aquella porción de la progenie, la cual si no es destrurda, resultarra en el incremento de la población del hospedero. Sin embargo, es importante llevar en la mente que esta condici6n de equilibrio podrra mantenerse a cualquier densidad. y serTa conveniente saber cuál serfa esta densidad en el control bio16gico. Esto a su vez esta determinado por la capaddád del insecto entomófago de descubrfr al hospedero, en relación a la densidad de la población del hospedero.Si un insecto flt6fago es introducido en un pars, él eventualmente al~ canza una condición de equilibrio en la cual, la resfstencta ambiental posiblemente inclúyendo algunos Insectos nativos entomófagos, esta destruyendo tantos cuantos indlvldúos estan siendo producidos. Sín embargo, esta posición equilibrio de la pOblación puede esceder del licero econÓthico lt • Es entonces esencfal; para efectuar control biológico, introducir otra especie o grupo de especies de Insectos entom6fagos las cuales, cuando sumados a los otros factores, frslcos y biologicos que comprenden la resistencia ambiental resultará en la destrucción de tantos cuantos individuos son producidos, pero a un nivel de población que esta bajo e1 licero económfco ll • Bajo tales condiciones el Insecto hospedero estará distribuido más separadamente. y la especie Introducida, para que sea efectIva, debe tener una habilidad adecuada de búsqueda. Aqur, de nuevo Smlth dedujo algo más interesante. Un par'sfto efectivo, uno que es capaz de encontrar y destruir el exceso de progenIe de un hospedero a densidad de población baja, puede destruir un porcentaje no más grande del hospedero que un parSsito inefectivo que permite al huésped mantenerse a una densidad mucho m&. alta. El porcentaje de paraSitismo no mide la efectividad relativa de dos par&sitos. la habilidad de búsqueda e. la consideración más importante. la capacidad de bugqueda de un parásito depende de un número de cualidades entre las cuales las mas rmportantes son su poder de locomoe¡6n, Su poder de percepcf6n de sus hospederos, su poder de supervivencia, su agresividad y perslstencia, su poder para usar su ovoposrtor, su poder de ovo~ posición, su poder de producir hembras en vez de machos, su poder de desarrollarse mas rápidamente que el hospedero y su poder de ocupar areas habitadas por el hospedero. E1 parásito de la escama negra Metaphycus nelvolus, es deficiente principalmente por la lentitud con la que él ovoposfta. Cuando las hormigas son abundantes? la hembra no puede ovopositar, por cuanto es fácil que una hormiga encuentre el parásíto antes que él haya tenminado de ovopositar.Sin embargo, otros parásitos de la escama negra (Saissetia oJeae) sin poseer esta debil idad tienen otras más serias, El único atributo de un parásito que no puede ser determinado en el laboratorio en su habil idad de ocupar áreas habitadas de hospederos.Especies diferentes de parásitos tienen habilidades diferentes en encontrar el hospedero. De Back y Smlth determinaron la diferencia en la habilidad de encontrar al hospedero de dos pteromál idos Mormonlella vitripennis y MU5cídífurax raptor, el los usaron pupas de mosca domestica, distribuidasal azar en un recipiente lleno de cebada como hospederos. En la Figura 1. se muestra la diferencía en la tasa de íncremento de dos parásitos, a medida que la densidad de población del hospedero Sé Incrementa. En la suposición de que cada hospedero descubierto es ovopositado y produce un parásito. Las curvas mostradas en la Figura 1 pueden también ser consideradas como una medida de la habilidad de busqueda. Se notará que ambas especies en~ontraron sus hospederos a una tasa de incrementó con el incremento de la densidad del nospedero, pero hubo un retardo marcado en la tasa en la cual Mormonie'la encontro su hospedero a medida que la densidad de población deTa-••ultima increrrentd. En vista de que Mormoniella gasta tanto como 6 u 8 horas en cada hospedero que e1 descubre, el porcentaje del tiempo gastado en actividades no relacionada con busqueda incrementó con el incremento en la densidad de población del hospedero y esta fue considerada la causa del retardo en la tasa de incremento aún a densidades de población del hospedero bajas.Las curvas mostradas en la Figura 1 concuerdan con la formula traba~ jada por Gause en su \"Lucha por la Existencia\" para expresar la relación entre incremento de la población de predadores con el incremento del hospedero es e~presada matemáticamente como sigue:en donde y = incremento de1 parásito en térmInos de número de hospederos descubiertos, a = 1 rmite alcanzado asimptoticamente. e base de logar¡t mos naturales, k = una constante que determina la tasa en la cual el cambio de y con la densidad el hospedero disminuyó, y x = densidad del hospedero.La naturaleza de la distribución de las especies de insectos hospederos es importante para un control biológico t por la misma razon que es importante la habil ídad de búsqueda del parásfto, esto es, que ella afecta la densidad de pOblación en el punto de equiitbrio. Dos especies hospederas con la misma densldad promedia de población por ~rea dada puede tener un tipo de distribución completamente diferente dentro de esa área. Algunas especies están estrechamente agrupadas en colonias aún cuando estas colonias pueden estar muy distribuidas. Otras especies están distribuidas más uniformemente a través del área infestada. la distancia que un insecto entom6fago debe viajar para alcanzar su presa es mucho menor cuando los insectos hospederos tienen un tipo de distribución colonia1 que cuando el Jos estan uniformemente separados.Se sigue que dos especies entomófogas de igual capacidad buscadora, la que ataca al hospedero con tipo de distrlbuc¡ón colonial será más efectiva en controlar su presa en un nivel de \"cero económico\" que una que ataca un insecto hospedero que está distribuido separadamente, Se puede ver que 1a eficiencia de un insecto entomófago depende de la naturaleza de la distribución de su hospedero, así como tambíen de su propio poder de descub r i m ¡ ento.Un ejefl1)lo de la influencia de la distribución del hospedero en la eficiencia de una especfe entomófoga está dado por la efectividad relativa de dos especies de predadores coccine! idos introducidos en California hace muchos años. El primero en introducirse fue el escarabajo vedalia. Rodal ra cardina1 ¡5, para conttolar la escama algoooneta de los cittos {lcerLa purchasi), un insecto con un tipo colonial de distribución. Rodo1ia fue altamente efectivo en mantener bajo control la escama algodonera y de hecho su éxito fué tan espectacular que llego a ser uno de Tos ejemplos clásicos de control biológico perfecto. Otro ptedador, Rhizobius ventralis, fué introducido para atacar la escama negra, Saissetia oleae. El parecra tener casi la misma habilidad Intrrnseca que Rodal la ca~lis y se espero un éxito sfmiJar en control de la escama negra, Se sabe ahora bien que R. ventra1is falló de actuar como se esperaba. La gran diferencia en el éXito de estos dos predadores no se encuentra en ninguna diferencia de potencial biótico~ sfno en la naturaleza de la distribución espacial del hospedero. La larva vedalia se al ¡menta dentro del saco gtande de huevos de su hospedero y tiene a'imento suficiente sin tomar en cuenta la escasez de su hospedero. La larva Rhizobius debe alimentarse en ninfas de eScama negra que han viajado alguna drstancia a pattir de la escama madre y puede sucumbir cuando la población del hospedero es baja.La escama fue finalmente controlada no por un predador sino por un parásito himenoptero. Methaphycus heivolus. Los parásitos son comunmente más efectivos contra insecto hospedero que tienen un tipo de distribucT6n uniformemente repartida porque ellos vuelan en la etapa de búsqueda de hospedero. los predadores deben buscar el hospedero tanto en estado larval como en el estado adulto~ yen vista de que el los no tienen alas en el estado larval, tienen poderes de locomoci6n relativamente bajos y una habilidad de bu §queda baja. Son comunmente efectivos solo contra insectos hospe• deros con un tipo de distrlbucidn colonial t tal como la escama algodonosa de los citros, 105 chinches harinosos y los áfidos.La mayor efectividad de ciertos parásitos himenopteros importados contra los chinches harinosos, comparada con el predador ya establecido ~Iaemusl fue pronosticado por Sm!th y tompere, en base de su habilidad de busqueda. Para mencionar la oplnl5n de Smíth y Compere; El chinche harinoso de los citros normalmente llega a ser comparativamente escaso en las huertas durante el período desde Julio en adelante. Durante esta estación los chinches harinosos asoman como individuos aislados repartidos en el árbol y muchos de estos son capaces de escapar de la destrucción por un predador tal como Crypto1aemus. Estos chinches harinosos no son suficientemente abundantes para hacer ningún daño, pero ellos oríginan una generación abundante de primavera la cual es más propicia para ocasionar daños. Se peosó que un parásito himenoptero activo, que podría ser mas efectivo durante esta porción de la estac¡ón~ sería mejor adaptado para destruir estos individuos aislados que un predador tal como Cryptolaemus; y que si un parásito efectivo de esta clase podría encontrarse y establecerse, el podría servir para reducir grandemente los números de chfnches hatinosos que producen explosíón de primavera.Entre las cuatro especies de chinches harinosos encontrados comunmente en los cftros~ el chinche de Baker~ Pseudococus maritimus, es controlado menos satisfactorfamente por CryptoJaemus~ que f.. citri y 1:. .. ganan!. Entre los factores responsables para esto es el hecho de que P. maritimus deja sus huevos en masas pequenas en todo el árbol en vez de concentrarlas en masas más grandes pero más pocas, coro 10 hace !:. citrF y!.. gahaoi. El chinche harinoso de 8aker es de esta manera menos susceptible a un control exitosos por insectos enemigos que tengan capacidad de búsqueda 1 imitada, que 10 son los chinches menos repartidos en su dlstribucidn. Por la misma razón, el chinche harinoso de cola larga t P. adonidum, no es controlado tan efectivamente por Cryptolaemus. como lo es-!.. cítri y f: gahani_, por cuanto la hembra no coloca huevos sino inmaduros activos, los cuales no permanecen concentrados en drstribución. como los huevos en las masas de huevos de las especies últimas.Otro factor responsable para una mayor efectividad de los parásitos es el hecho de que ellos pueden completar su desarrollo en un insecto hospedero en tanto que los predadores necesitan más de un hospedero, y comunmente muchos. la expl icaerón de esta aparente paradoja es que Jos paráSitos, al ser mejores buscadores y necesitando menos atTmento. son capaces de completar su desarrollo cuando la población del hospedero es muy baja, y ellos son por consiguiente efectivos en d~nsrdade$ bajas del hospedero. Desde un punto de vista económico, la especie entomófoga más valiosa es aquel la que puede mantener la plaga a una densidad más baja.El poder de los parásitos himenópteros de producfr hembras en vez de machos incrementa, dentro de 1fm1tes, a medida que ia densidad de hospederos decrece, y como consecuencia el poder relatívo de búsqueda se incrementa. Flander J 1947 hizo notar que los parásitos nimenópteros son buscadores tan efectivos que es una fortuna para ellos, que sus esfuerzos no sean coordinados. o ellos exterminarfan su presa y sucumbrrían.Como .notó Nlcholson (1933), la acción de cada parásito es independ ¡ente t y a ~d I da que los par,ss ¡tos liegan a ser rMS nume rosos sus áreas de búsqueda se sobreponen. Los chances de que un parásito busque en ~reas ya buscadas por otro incrementan y la eficiencia de la búsqueda disminuye.Esto da oportunIdad para sobrevivfr a las poblaciones de hospederos, que de otra forma serran exterminados. Además la fecundidad de un parásIto himenóptero puede decrecer con la creciente densidad de población del pa-r~sito a causa del hecho de que un fndrvíduo par~sito se niega a ovopositar sobre hospederos sobre los cuales otros par8sitos de su especie ya han ovopositado o caminado.El alza y baja ritmicos en las densidades de la poblaci6n de animales resulta en oscilaciones caracterrsticas de la especie en un ambiente dado. En las regiones de la tierra que exhrben variaciones el ímátfcas estacionales, las oscilaciones por supuesto están afectadas por las variaciones estacionales en temperatura, humedad y duracion de la luz del día, las cuates en sr mismas causan fluctuación considerable en la población. Entre las plagas subtroplcales, el thrlp de invernadero Hel íothrips haemorrhoidales, que ataca aguacates y naranjas al arre libre en CaHfornla del sur~ es un buen material para el estudío de la fluctuacion estadonal de ta población por cuanto la vital ¡dad del arbol no es en general seriamente afectada por las poblaciones dejadas desarrollar por aAos sin tratamientos de control de plagas. Puede haber hasta 6 Ó 7 generaciones de thrips por año. En invierno el numero de insectos activos es dismrnuido grandemente por las temperaturas bajas, yen las secciones más temperadas el invierno tíene que ser soportado exclusivamente en estado de huevo. Estos huevos eclosionan en Febrero. Los estudios de población muestran primero un incremento lento en densidad de población, pero mas tarde en el a~o la población se incrementa bruscamente de acuerdo con la curva logística sigmoide, seguido normalmente en el crecfmfento de una poblaci6n.La población del thrIp alcanza un pico cada otoño antes que sea reducida por condiciones el imáticas adversas. No sólo se observa ~sta fluctuacion estacional anual J sino que ademas la población media fluctua de año en año~ y este tipo de fluctuacion parece estar influenciada principalmente por las temperaturas mfnrmas durante el invierno.Otro modelo de fluctuación estacional se nota con la arañita roja de los citros, Paratetranychus citri. Los picos de población ocurren durante ¡as dos estaciones de condiciones el imáticas moderadas, la primavera yel otoño. Los áfidos de los citros alcanzan su pico de densidad de población durante la primavera. De nuevo, así como todas las especies~ la densidad media de poblacion varía de año en año. De esta manera todas las especies tienen su modelo caracterfstico de fluctuación de población.Los factores biolSgícos tambi~n afectan la naturaleza y el grado de las oscilaciones de las poblaciones, y estos no son necesariamente estacio-nales~ Tomaremos aquf en cuenta las Interacciones entre el insecto hospedero y sus entomófagos.Los insectos tienen posiciones equil ibrfo característicos con respecto a las densidades medias de población. estas posiciones pueden cambiar de año en año, como se afirmé antes, a causa de las influencias climáticas cambIantes. Tanto los insectos hospederos como sus parásitos oscilan perpetuamente alrededor de sus posIciones de equilibrio. liCuando los dos factores densidad de población del hospedero y densidad de población del parásfto se consideran juntos~ parece que sus relaciones numericas relativas por si solas son suficientes para expl icar las oscilaciones de la población alrededor de una posición equil ¡orlo obtenida a lo largo de generaciones sucesivas\" (De Back, 1947). En vista de que la población del parásito esta determinada por la generación previa de insectos hospederos, existe un retraso en la oscilación del parásito en relación a su hospedero, mostrado gráficamente en la Fig. 2, Este retraso ocasiona que las oscilaciones tienden a incrementar en amplitud continuamente. Se notara de este gráfico que cuando el hospedero está en su posición equilfbrio o densidad estable los parásitos están sea en su densidad máxima o en su densidad mínima. haciendo de esta manera que el hospedero rebaje o aumente.Las oscilaciones de la población no pueden por supuesto, incrementar en amplitud indeflnidamente t pero anotaron. Nfcholson y Bailey (1935) ~ ellos pueden llegar a ser 10 suficientemente grandes para dar 1 ugar a un extermfnio regional del hospedero y la formacian de grupos pequeños, ampl ¡amente separados de la especie hospedera dentro de las cuales las oscilaciones inducidas por la interacción hospederopparasito continuaran. pero con a1gunos de los hospederos escapandose al campo circundante desocupado. La hipótesfs anterior puede expl Ical\" las distríbuciones !!aisladas!! de las poblaciones de insectos no correlacionados con nichos eco16gic05 a menudo observados en la naturaleza (Smith, 1939).Smith (1939) hace notar que si un parásito que tiene bajo poder de descubrimiento interacciona con hospedero que tiene al tos poderes de dis-persi6n. prometerá oscilación extrema a una densidad promedio alta. Si un parásito que tiene altos poderes de descubrimiento interacciona con hospedero de bajos poderes de dispersión tendera a producir oscílaciones ligeras a una densidad promedia baja, etc. El escarabajo Rhizobius que fue importado pé.lr'a predar la escama negraHha sido utilizado como un ejemplo de un insecto entomófago que tiene bajos poderes de descubrimiento. Si este insecto fuera el único enemigo natural de la escama negra, resultaría en una oscilací6n extrema a una densidad promedia alta.Algunos investigadores pensaban que ninguna especie de insecto entomáfago por sr solo controla una pe_s te dañina. sino que es necesario que una secuencia de especies ataquen al insecto perjudicial en Jos diferentes estados de desarrollo. Se conocen ahora, por supuesto que los Insectos perjudiciales han sido controlados en un número notable de ocasiones por una especies única de parásito o predador; mientras que todas las otras especies combinadas han fallado, Sin embargo, hay que destacar la val ¡dez del razonamiento que un número de especies entomófagas podrían controlar exitosamente la plaga por el efecto combinado de sus ataques en instares o estados sucesivos de la plaga, supuesto que 5US hábitos permiten que las varias especies ataquen los instares o estados diferentes del insecto perjudicial.  En un artículo publicado en 1980 1 Levins y Wilson se refirieron a las relaciones entre la teorra ecológica y la base conceptual del manejo de plagas. Según estos autores la práctica contemporánea de manejo de plagas tiene una base teórica muy estrecha y los avances teóricos de la ecología han tenido un impacto muy reducido en la entomología económica. Poca investigación básica en ecología de poblaciones y comunidades se real iza util izando sistemas ecológicos agrícolas. Existe un distanciamiento entre el desarrollo teórico en ecología y su transferencia a la práctica. Con excepción de las investigaciones real izadas sobre dinámica de poblaciones de insectos fit6fagos y parásitos, poco se ha hecho en la teória eco 10gica que haya sido de beneficio para los programas de manejo~ El manejo de plagas se ha desarroJ lado sin una base conceptual sól ida, debido a que su desarrollo ha sido tan rápido que no ha habido tiempo suficiente para absorber los conceptos básicos.Como sustentación de esta afirmación se puede constatar que los estudios básicos sobre la relación insecto-planta se han real izado en sistemas no agrícolas en su mayoría independiente de los programas de mejoramiento genético de resistencia a plagas. Esta situación es lamentable porque los programas de resistencia podrían avanZar más rápidamente sí existiera una base fisioecológíca más s61ida, y reciprocamente sistemas agrícolas ofrecen a los investigadores riquísimos ejemplos de interacciones insectoplanta que pueden servir de base al desarrollo de la teorra. En mis tra ~ bajos de reststencia en soya he procurado establecer un puente entre los conceptos básicos de interacción insecto•planta y la apl icación práctica en el mejoramiento. A continuación intentaré resumir mi percepción de este sistema entre la teoria y la práctica.Cuando se procura establecer la relación insecto-planta es necesario conocer cual es el comportamiento del insecto en la selección de1 hospedante. Considero que ia analogía más prectsa para describir esta relaci6n, es considerar al insecto corno una peque~a computadora preprogramada geneticamente para responder de manera simple a una serie secuencral de esti -1 I mulos; los estímulos son respondidos o con una actitud positiva o con una actitud negativa pero en forma definida, la respuesta es casf binaria f si o no, y la secuencia de respuesta es lo que va a determinar la complej ¡dad de la interacción. Consideremos a una población de adultos que están en dispersión y tengamos en cuenta 5610 a las hembras que son 1as más importantes desde el punto de vista de establecimiento y colonización. Los vuelos de dispersión pueden ser ocasionados por una congregación de hembras en 105 puntos de himbernación o por colonias que han completado Su ciclo sobre un hospedante o porque lo han consumido y se dispersan en búsqueda de nuevos hospedantes. Así pues, los adultos se díspersan por una motivación intríseca y son atraídos por factores físicos del medio ambiente. El problema que en general el insecto encuentra en los ecosistemas naturales es que la distribución de sus plantas hospederas es esparcida y no está concentrada COIl'K) en los cultivos agrícolas. Por 10 tanto, el insecto en su dispersión inicía vuelos de búsqueda del ambiente de su hospedante. Si lo encuentra continúa con la etapa siguiente Que es guiada por Jos estímulos de la planta que actúan a corta y a larga distancia. Los estímulos pueden ser el color de la planta, su forma y estímulos químicos que pueden determinar si el insecto se posa o no sobre la planta. Cuando el insecto está sobre la planta Jos estímulos son 01fatorios 1 táctiles o gustatorios, son estímufos de contacto y si ~st05 son los correctos continúa entonces examinando y probando sus componentes químicos por medio de sus piezas bucales. Si los estímulos son ios apropiados el hospedante es aceptado para consumo o para oviposición. El hospedante aceptado puede ser util izado solo para al imentación de 10$ adultos los cuales continuan sus vuelos de dispersión o la hembra puede util izarlo para 1a oviposición y al ¡mento de sus larvas; si los factores nutricionales esenciales están presente se produce otra generación de adultos que inicIan de nuevo el ciclo. Si los nutrientes no son los adecuados o hay factores antibióticos el insecto puede morir.De este esquema general de selección del hospedante por los insectos fitófagos, se puede deducir que los factores de resistencia pueden ínter• fer¡r con los sistemas de comunicación entre el insecto y la planta. El insecto es un detector sensorial de los estímulos que emanan las plantas y la planta es una transmisora de estímulos que son detectarlos por el insecto. Desde el punto de vista práctico la resistencia es e1 resultado de la ruptura de esos mecanismos de comunicación. En la fase de detección sensorial la ruptura afecta ei comportamiento del insecto y los mecanismós de resistencIa son conocidos como antixenoticos (Kogan y Ortman 1978).Sí por el contrario la ruptura afecta la fisiología del insecto después de la ingestión del al ¡mento los mecanismos de resistencia se deben a factores antibióticos. Definido el comportamj~nto del insecto en la selección de su hospedante discutiremos a continuación los tipos de estfmulos de la planta que median esta relaci6n.En la Figura 1 se presenta en forma general el esquema del metabol isme en una planta. Al final de los procesos bioquímicos fundamentales resultan compuestos del metabol ismo primario tales como los azucares t los ácIdos grasos. los fosfolipidos, los ácrdos nucleicos y los aminoácidos; en asociación con los anteriores productos aparece una gran cantidad de compuestos de poI imer!zación de los metabol itos primarías como también derivados del metabol [smo secundario como los terpenoides, productos fenól icos, taninos, flavonoides, cumarinas y alcaloides. Durante mucho tiempo se desconoció cuál era la función de los compuestos secundarios en la planta y se le consideraban como productos de excrec¡ón, o compuestos que la planta almacenaba como inertes. Posteriormente se determinó que estos compuestos secundarios tenían mucha influencia sobre 105 animales herbivoros que se al imentaban de las plantas. Finalmente se observo que una función importante de los productos secundarios era la interferencia en la relación insecto-planta. En ciertos casos se ha probado que compuestos espec¡ficos podían actuar como factores de protección de la planta contra el ataque de insectos.Basados en la evidencia de que los compuestos secundarios tienen una función central en la relación insecto-plaga, se estableció una teoría de esta relación que se expl ica en la Figura 2. Supongamos tres clases de plantas, A,S,C con diferentes contenido de compuestos orgánicos secundarios. Supongamos también tres especies de insectos muy próximas. la planta A contiene tres componentes orgánicos secundarios (1-3-4); la planta B contine dos (3-4) y la planta e contiene cuatro compuestos orgánicos secundarios (t-2-3-4). El insecto (1) requiere como estímulo de al¡mentac.ión el compuesto 1 Ó el 2; este insecto no tiene requerirdentos muy específicos se puede alimentar de la planta A o de la planta e y se considera un insecto oligófago. El insecto (11) tiene requerimientos al ¡mentados muy restrictos (1-2-3-4). es un insecto monófago que se podría al ¡mentar de la planta A pero seguramente prefiere la planta e que contiene todos sus requerimientos al ¡mentados. El insecto (111) que no tiene ningún compuesto orgánico secundario como requerimiento se puede al ¡mentar de las tres plantas (A,a,e) y se denomina un insecto pol ífago, La relación insecto-plaga en términos de monofagía, 01 igofagía o pol igofagía, sí tiene un principio taxonómic.o como se pensó por algún tiempo! porque existe una relación química que en general acompaña líneas taxonomicas. (Fraenkel 1959, Dethien 1966). Basado en estas observaciones se establecieron algunas hipótesis básicas de las relaciones insecto-plant~. Estas hipoteses han estimulado muchos estudios de evaluación critica \\Thorsteinson 1960~ Kennedy 1965).Primera Hipótesis: los insectos fitófagos poseen requerimientos al jmenticios uniformes; requieren los diez aminoácidos básicos que no pueden sintetizar; requieren además vitaminas, lípidos y carbohidratos que son compuestos orgánicos primarios.Segunda Hipótesis: las plantas verdes en general contienen todos Jos requerimientos al ¡menticios grimarios de los insectos.Tercera Hipótesis: La selección del hospedante como un corolario a las hipótesis anteriores, es debida a la presencia de compuestos organicos secundar ios. Varios investigadores consideraban que si un insecto íngería suficiente material al ¡!TIent icío de cualquier planta. entonces cualquier planta podría satisfacer sus requesisitos al imenticfos primados. Waldbauer & fraenkel (1961) realizarón ensayos cortando los palpos labiales y maxilares de larvas de Manduca sext\"a para comprobar si las larvas incapacitadas de detectar los esttmulo~m¡co$ aceptarían a una planta que no era el al ¡mento que el \\as consumían. Se comprobó por lo tanto que en la aceptación de la planta no solo intervenían los factores sensoriales sino también los factores fisiológicos que intervenian después de la ingestión iníc¡a¡ del al ¡mento. En base a este y otros ensayos se propuso ciertos cambios a las hipótesis básicas en el sentido: (a) hay diferencias en el valor nutricional de las plantas verdes para insectos; (b) en la selección de hospedante interfieren tanto los compuestos secundarios Como los primarios, y (c) la planta es aceptada por el insecto como un todo y no como un mosaico compuesto de estímulos singulares. {Kogan 1977, SchOQnhoven 1972).A mediados de 1960 se propuso la teoría de la coevolución entre insecto y plantas que expl ¡ca las interacciones entre estos organismos como el resultado de un proceso alternado de ataque. defensa, contraataque, etc. (Ehnl ¡ch y Raven 1965). Esta teoría considera que así como Id evolución de la planta esta influenciada por presiones aMbientales, una de las cuales es generada por los animares herbívoros, igualmente la evolución de los insectos fitófagos está influenciada por la planta que le sirve de al ¡mentación y abrigo. En esta evolución los mecanismos de defensa de la planta son transformados por algunos insectos que pasan a utíl izar la planta con mayor exclusividad y obtienen una ventaja adaptativa con relación a otros fitofdgos; a este proceso concurrente se le ha denominado coevolución. En la Figura 3 se expl íca esta teoría en forma muy general izada; una planta (1) es atacada primariamente por el complejo de insectos a,b 1 c,dj la planta al sufrir un cambio evolucionado produce un tipo de planta llresistente ll contra los herbivoros {I I}; en este proceso se pueden cambiar drásticamente la complej ¡dad de los compuestos secundaríos volviéndose resistente a los rnsectos que antes la atacaban. Después de cierto tiempo, es posible que una especie de insectos sufra una mutación que le permite transformar las defensas que había desarro1 lado la planta y por 10 tanto la puede atacar. Posteriormente la planta puede producir otro cambio y el insecto otro, es decir es un proceso continuo en el cual 105 mecanismos de defensd desarrollados por la planta pueden pasar a ser un factor de estímulo para el insecto. Es una lucha continua de la planta produciendo nuevos factores de defensa yel insecto tratando de util ízar esas defensas para su propio beneficio.De acuerdo con el tipo de estrategias basicas de defensa de las pia ntas, éstas se han dividido en dos 9rúpos~las plantas aparentes o previs¡bles representadas por los árboles, arbustos mult¡anuales y otras plantas Expl icación de la tearTa de la coevolución insecto planta~ que existen por un tiempo muy J imitado y desaparecen del ambiente tales como las hierbas anuales. lo más interesante es que se ha establecido una relación entre el habito de crescimiento en estas dos clases de plantas de acuerdo con el tipo básico de defensas que poseen (Funy 1975, Rhoades andCates 1976).las plantas aparentes presentan defensas cuantitativas constituidas por compuestos orgánicos que se van acumulando gradualmente durante su período de crecimiento, que es lento; la planta tiene tiempo suficiente para movíl izar estas defensas a las hojas, tallos o frutos. Estos compuestos como taninos y otros se supone tienen un papel muy importante en la defensa de la planta contra el ataque de insectos. Las plantas no aparentes no tienen períodos prolongados de crecimiento que permitan la movl1 i~ zación de sus defensas, por lo tanto sus compuestos químicos no son muy concentrados pero si son muy activos y eficientes contra los insectos) tales como los alcaloides, isotiocianatos, etc. También esta hipótesis ha sido sujeta a una evafuación critica y la general ¡dad de su apl icación a sido cuestionada.Otro aspecto i~ortante a considerar, es que la planta en su evolución ha desarrollado mecanismos óptimos de defensa para contrarestar las preSiones del medio donde crece y estas defensas deben ser prOducidas a los ~s bajos costos metaból icos (Rhoades 1979) Es decir la planta tiene capacidad para absorber cierta cantidad de energía que debe ser util izada para la producción de hojas, flore5~ frutos, semillas. La inversión en la producción de 105 compuestos de defensa debe ser mantenida a un mínrmo costo metaból icc. Si el riesgo de sufrir daño es elevado la planta reacciona contra los factores de ambiente que presentan el mayor riesgo de daño, Si los riesgos son por patógenos o por insectos la planta Invertirá más para sobrev¡vir a estos riesgos. Los tejidos que tienen mayor valor son los más protegidos; las semi llas protegidas por el fruto y en ocasiones por compuestos químicos en concentraciones que resultan tóxicos para los insectos que las atacan. la planta puede compensar cierto tipo de daño a las partes vegetativas, pero esta compensación es muy difícil cuando el daflo es en los órganos reproductivos.En )a práctica del mejoramiento de plantas los mecanismos fundamentales de resistencia han sido definidos por Painter (1951). vease también Maxwell y Jennings (1980). Pero como era de esperarse, hay un paraJel ismo entre tos principios ecologicos que han sido enunciado y 105 mecanismos de resistencia.Las plantas que presentan mecanIsmos de defensa que no afectan direc~ tamente al insecto se consideran como plantas tolerantes. La planta tiene capacidad para recuperarse del daño; es un mecanismos defensivo eficiente puesto que el costo metaból ice se real iza solo sí existe el daño del insecto, sino existe el daño la planta deja esta reserva para invertirla en otro proceso de su desarrollo.Este termino a sido propuesto (Kogan y Ortman 1978) para reemplazar la categoria de no-preferencIa de Painter. Si los mecanismos de defensa afectan el comportamiento del insecto la resistencia es antixenosís que define la forma como la planta afecta el establecimiento del insecto. El mecanismo de antixenosls incorpora io que se ha definido como preferencia pero es más ampl io porque Involucra los mecanismos de defensa mecánicos y los mecanismos de defensa químicos que afectan al Insecto a nivel de selección de la planta antes de que inicie la ingestión de al imento. Pueden ocurrir en la planta presencia de alomonas (Whittaker y Feeny 1971) que tiene una acción detrimental para el insecto, o carecer de los estímulos (queromonas) indispensables para que el insecto tenga una reacción positiva; por lo tanto se considera que la presencia de alomonas como la ausencia de queromonas son factores antixenóticos. Antibiosis las defensas que afectan la fisiología del insecto después de la ingestión son los factores antibióticos con 105 cuales se presentan dos condiciones muy distintas: algunos factores antibióticos por lo general determinan una disminución en la ingestión de al imento del insecto, pero otros factores antibióticos aumentan la ingestión. En este último caso se produce un alargamiento del ciclo de vida del insecto, 10 cual lo expone durante mayor tiempo a ia acción de sus enemigos naturales, reduciendo el dafio que pueden ocasionar a la planta.los mecanismos antíbioticos y antixenoticos de resistencia ocurren independientemente de la presencia de ataques ínsectiles. Defensas índucidas ocurren como consequencia del ataque. Defensas inducidas pueden ser naturales o apl icadas sobre la planta~ Uno de los factores más conocidos es la prodUCCIón de fjtoalexTnas por las plantas como defensa a enfermedades o a insectos (Hart el al 198), Kogan y Paxton 1982). Estas fitoalexi-nas son inducidas solo cuando hay un ataque de insectos y no preexisten en la planta. lo cual las hace muy diferentes de los mecanismos clásicos de defensa. Se conoce que algunas gramtneas se benefician del daño moderado del ganado ó de langostas; la sal ¡va del ganado o de las langostas inducen un estímulo para producir nuevos brotes y un aumento general en la producción.El conocimiento de las bases ecológicas de las interacciones entre insectos y plantas pueden contribuir para una mejor util ización de los mecanismos de resistencia en programas de control integrado de plagas. Si la suposición de levins y Wilson {1980} es val ida en el ambito general de la entomología agrícola, la aplicación de la teoría ecológica en el campo del mejoramiento de resistencia varietal puede servfr de modelo de integra• ción entre la teoria y la práctica. La ut¡l izacación de la resistencia varletal es un método ideal en el control integrado de plagas. Si con la resistencia sola no es suficiente para controlar una plaga la resistencia se puede integrar con el control biológico, control cultural y control químico. Plagas que se al ¡mentan sobre plantas moderadamente resistentes se vuelven más susceptibles a dosis bajas de insecticidas y más vulnerables a ataques de enemigos naturales. El éxito de programas para el manejo de plagas de cultivos agrícolas depende de una percepción global de la real ¡dad económica del productor y de la sociedad en la cual él opera. Arriesgando la sobre-impl icación del problema. propongo tres prernfsas que definen la percepción del productor en cuanto a insectos plagas: La mayor parte de las pérdidas económicas debidas a daños causados por insectos~ pueden ser evitadas a través de medidas de control las cuales tienen un preCio determInado.Los productores, en su objectivo de maximizar ingresos, favorecerán aquellas medidas de control que aseguren la prevención de pérdidas a un costo mínimo.Los productores son, generalmente, adversos a riesgo, Ellos prefieren absorber el costo de las medidas de control en vez de contemplar la posibi-I idad de pérdida en la producción.Como especial ¡stas en la protección de cultivos, nos toca desarrollar sistemas que garantizen la seguridad de las recomendaciones (minimizar el riesgo) conducientes a la optímfzación de las estrategias de control, El problema es complejo porque cada acción, por parte del productor? puede tener consecuencias en su propia hacienda, en los alrededores cercanos, o más allá de los límites de la región. Debido a eso, nosotros nos cabe considerar todas las interacciones y consecuencias de las medidas de control que sobrepasan los límites de la propiedad individual. Al mismo tiempo necesitamos entender que cualquier programa de manejo integrado de plagas (emplearé ia sigla MIP -IlManejo Integrado de Plagas!!) solamente tendrá éxito si resulta en una ventaja económica evidente para el productor.NIVEL DE DA~D ECONDMICO y UMBRAL ECONOMICO. los conceptos de nivel de dafio economlco (NDE) y umbral economlco (UE) (Stern 1973) han sido definídos por entomólogos con un enfoque centrado en el productos. Este enfoque es juzgado simpI ¡sta por los economistas que, 111¡nois Natural H¡story Survey and University of 11linols.en cambio, han contribuido en la profundización del concepto con la Inclusión de elementos de anái isis de costo/beneficio apl ¡cable a varias estra~ tegras de control, y la consideracfón de componentes del riesgo en decisIones de control (Headley 1972a(Headley , 1972b(Headley , 1975;;Noorgaard 1976;Talpaz and Fr1sble 1975).Aún con el mismo enfoque simpl ¡sta del entomólogo la determinación exacta de niveles de daño económico presenta dificultades considerables. Sin embargo, estas determinaciones, y sus empleos en programas de control, representan un gran avance sobre la condición que normalmente preced1a a la definición de estos niveles es'to es: aplicaciones de insecticidas de acuerdo con un calendario predeterminado, o recomendaciones $ubjectivas tales COfOCl; lIap l ¡que cuando hayan gusanos presentes\".La determinación de niveles de daño económico es una fase prel ¡minar esencial para el desarrollo de programas de MIP. Es con el enfoque en los aspectos biológicos que propongo discutir el tema del nivel de daño económico y umbral económico.Con el objeto de ilustrar cuanto simpl ¡sta es el enfoque entomológico del concepto de NDE, presento a continuación las 1 imitaciones que necesa -r¡amente se imponen al establecer NOEI S para un insecto plaga:El cultivo crece singuiarmente en una situación de aislamento. Las \"islas u de cultivos son separadas de otras \"islas\" sin posibil ¡dad de interacciones.Poblaciones de plagas surgen en explosiones discretas en varias etapas de crecimiento del cultivo. El daño, aún a nivel económico, en un estado no afecta el resultado del daRo en un estado posterior. Esto es el da~o al tiempo t es evaluado independientemente de lo que puede ocurrir al tiempo t + 1 -~---t + n.Las plagas son consideradas singularmentctlos posibles efectos aditivos, agonísticos o antagonTsticos de complejos de plagas, o plagas que ocurren en sucesión son raramente observados.El cultivo, se presume, crece en condiciones óptimas con relación a todas las otras 1 imitaciones fertn ¡dad del suelo t pluviosidad, temperatura, otras plagas y maJezas.El \"umbral económico \" es determinado con base en el tiempo necesar io para activar procedimientos de control (normalmente unos cuantos dTas). Esto 1 imita, para la mayoría de los cultivos de campo, las opciones a una única táctíca el empleo de insecticidas.Se presume que insecticidas actuan de manera instantánea, y que son capaces de reducir las poblaciones a niveles mlnimos inmediatamente después de hecha la apJ icacíón~ Es obvio que tales 1 imitaciones no son real ¡stas. Los cultivos no crecen como islas, sino por el contrario, sufren de la influencia continua de otros cultivos adyacentes, y también de la flora natural. Las plagas no surgen, en general y en explosiones discretas cuyo efecto es Independiente de 10 que pase antes y después de la explosión. Las plagas ocurren, principalmente en complejos. En el campo, insectos~ malezas enfermedades y nematoideos co-existen y sus acciones se combrnan~ magnificandose algunas y atenuandose otras.Además, en programas de MIP otras tácticas de control también afectan el NDE. La rnayor1a de los estudios conducidos sobre NDE1 S no han considerado el efecto mútuo de estas otras tácticas. Asl, en general, NOE's han sido definidos para facil ftar decisiones en cuanto a la ,niciación de apl icaciones de insecticidas, sin embargo las consecuencias de las apl icaciones (resurgimiento de las plagas, explosiones de plagas secundarlas, efectos de contaminaci6n del medio ambiente, efectos tóxicos en el hombre y animales domésticos y la fauna nativa) no han sido consideradas en el cómputo de costos individuales y sociales.Aunque conceptualmente débil. NOE1s propuestos por entom610gos son muy utiles porque la alternativa es actuar de manera paliativa hasta cuando todos los parámetros complejos que se necesitan para un anál ¡sis económico completo sean agregados en un modelo operacional. A pesar de que se ha hecho progreso en esta dirección, el desarrollo de tales modelos es todavTa incipiente. Debido a la falta de modelos integrales los NDE1s que se emplean presentemente mejoran la probabil ¡dad del uso eficiente y económico de insecticidas y otros métodos de control.En conclusión a estos comentarios prel iminares~ me gustaría resaltar que los NDE's propuestos por entomólogos en el presente representanJ pese a sus I imitaclones, un gran avance en el establecimiento de sistemas de MIP.Las consideraciones económicas y biológicas necesarias para obtener NDE1s real isttcos y dinamico5 están diagramadas en la Figura 1 (Kogan y Turnipseed, en prensa). Este diagrama incorpora los conceptos de incertidumbre y riesgo, como también un anál is¡s detal lado del presupuesto de producción y prácticas de control.Antes de poder hacer un anál isis económico detallado, es fundamental ei obtener la información bfológica básica. Southwood y Norton (1972) han anal izado las varias funciones necesarias para la determinación de NDE de plagas agrícolas. Estas funciones fueron apl ¡cada s en un anál isis de las plagas de soya (Kogan 1976) y~ me parece t son de utiJ fdad universal en la determinación de NOE1s. Tres de estáS funciones, son basadas en datos experimentales de campo y de laboratorio. Ellas requieren el desarrollo de t~cnicas de muestreo de poblaciones insectiles, de niveles de daño, y de la relación entre niveles de daño y p~rdida de producción. Estas son las funciones biológicas del sistema. Otras tres funcIones util izan datos económicos sobre el costo de control f potencial de producción y precio del producto. Estas funciones, (Kogan 1976), son: relación entre la población de ia plaga y el daño producido; relación entre el nivel de daño y pérdida de producción; relación entre el nivel de daño y cual ¡dad del producto; relación entre la pérdida económica y el decrecimiento de la producción; relación entre costo del control y decrecimiento de la población de plaga; relación entre costo del control y preservación del valor de la produccr6n.En nuestra discusi6n me voy a concentrar en los aspectos biológicos de este anál isis porque estos son los que más directamente requieren la participación del entoffiÓlogo.Para Ilustrar la informaci6n biológica empleada en la determinación de NOE1s y como la obtención y apl ¡cación de esta información depende de la naturaleza del cultivo y del tipo de plaga he seleccionado tres sistemas: larvas de Oiabrótica spp. atacando raíces de maíz; el gusano terciopelo, Antlcarsia gemmatalis atacando hojas de soya; y el gusano bellotero atacando cuadros y bellotas del algodonero. las Diabroticás y el gusano terciopelo son plagas indirectas, el gusano bellotero es una plaga directa.Las larvas de Oiabrotica virgifera, D. longicornis, y D. undecimpunctata howardi son serias plagas de las rarees del marz en la regíon central de los Estados Unidos. La reducción del sistema radicular resulta en: plantas más sensibles a déficits hídricos; plantas tumbadas por la acción mecáníca de vientos y lluvias fuertes; una reducida absorcion de nutrientes yagua. Biclogía de las Diabroticas del maíz.~. virgifera y~. iongicornis hiberna como huevos en el suelo de campos de maíz. El desarrollo larval empieza en temperaturas encima de 7~C y los adultos emergen en el verano al imentandose de 105 estigmas del pilote. Ellos copulan y ovipositan en el suelo, habiendo una generación por año. Datos para las funciones constituyentes del NDE.Solamente el daño a las raíces será considerado. En la solución del problema de NDE para Diabrotica de! maíz se han requerido datos experimentales sobre las siguientes relaciones: número de huevos para daño de raíces; daño a raíces para pérdida de producción; numero de adultos para número de huevos; número de adultos para daño de raíces.(la mayoría de estas relaciones fueron definidas matem8ticamente por W. Lazarus, estudiante de post-grado en la Universidad de 111 inoi5)~ Número de huevos/daño de ralees.Estas funciones uti1 izan estimados del número de huevos por unidad de área y estimados del daño a las raíces. Muestras de suelos son procesadas en máquinas separadoras de huevos (Kogan et al., 1980), y las estImaciones del daño de raíces se basan en una clas¡fTcaclón arbitraria de 1 a 6; 1 = no daño, 6 = 3 o más nudos de la raíz destruidos.La relación entre el número de huevos y la clase de daño es dada por la ecuación: clase de daño = a {no. de huevos)B donde a y b < 1. (Figura 2a) La correlación directa entre el número de huevos y la p~rdida de produccfón es muy variable (Figura 2b). Daño de raíces/pérdida de producción.Esta función es descrita por una ecuación 1 ineal de la forma: pérdida de prodUCCión = a (cJase de daño) -B a ya> 1 (Figura 2.) Número de adultos/y clase de daño a la raíz.Esta función es descrita por una ecuación de la forma: clase de daño = a {no. de adultos)B a y B < 1 (Figura 2e) Como adultos son más facilmente es preferida en la práctica de MIP. predicción del daño potencial en el NDE's prácticos para MIP de maíz. muestreados que huevos, esta relación El número de adultos es un índice de año siguiente (Figura 2d) NOE's basados en el número de huevos o de adultos (en el año anterior). Estos NDE1s en 111 ¡nois son dados en la Tabla 1.   El 9usano terciopelo es quizás el más serio defoliador de la soya en América del Sur y del Norte. Poblaciones elevadas causan defol ¡ación total, y ataques tardíos resultan en daño a las vainas. aiología del gusano terciopelo.La especie sobrevive el invierno en zonas más cal fentes al imentándose de leguminosas silvestres. las mariposas vuelan norte Q sur para latitudes mayores durante la primavera y verano. En regiones donde la soya es atacada por esta plaga las invasiones coinciden con el período de floración y desarrollo de vainas. En estos períodos la planta es más susceptible a defol ¡ación.Datos para las funciones constituyentes del NOE.Las funciones usadas en el cómputo de NDE's de p1aga defoi iadoras de soya fueron expl ¡cadas anteriormente. Dos de estas relaciones requieren datos de experimentación: la relación entre el número de insectos y la cantidad de daño, y la relación entre la cantidad de daño y la caída de producción.Nivel de población/cantidad de daño. la cantidad de hojas consumidas por el gusano terciopelo durante su desarrollo larval a sido estimada en 120 cm a , Si uno no considera el efecto de concurrencia intraespecífica (también una sirnpl ificaci6n) la relación número de larvas/cantidad consumida es lineal siguiendo la ecuac ión: total de hojas consumidas oo. de larvas x 120 cm Cantidad de daño/carda de producci6n.la información necesaria para defínir esta relación ha sido obtenida con experimentos de defol ¡ación manual. La caída de la producción para un mismo nivel de defol ¡ación varía con la etapa de desarrollo de las plantas. Durante la etapa de crecimiento vegetativo y hasta el comienzo de la producción de vainas no se observa carda de producción con menos de 30% de defoliación. Algunos experimentos revelan un aumento moderado de producción a niveles Oajos de defol ¡ación. Durante el período de desa-rroJ Jo de vainas las plantas son más susceptibles~ En este período, por ejemplo t 20% de defo1 ¡ación puede resultar en una caída de la producción de 1-2%. Esta relación, para varios periodos de crec¡miento~ es ilustrada en la Figura 3. La ecuación que define estas curvas tiene la forma general : \"\"delo est~tico para NDE.Con base en los datos de las relaciones presentadas se ha producido un modelo estático para el cómputo de NOE para insectos defoliadores de la soya (Ruesink 1975). Esta ecuaclon ha sido empleada por Kogan (1976) y Kogan y Turnipseed (en prensa) para interpretar el efecto de fluctuaciones del precio de la soya y de) costo de tratamíento en NOE. Estos efectos están ilustrados en las figuras 4a y 4b.NDE's praético5 para MIP en soya.Este modelo estático ha sido muy út¡¡ en la construcción de tablas de decisión en 105 programas MIP en Illinois. la Tabla 2 es un ejemplo de esta ap! icación.Todavia tablas de estas naturaleza sufren de las 1 imitaciones referidas al comienzo de este trabajo~ Las aJternativas requieren el empleo de modelos dinámicos y serán discutidas adelante. Blologla de He! lothls en algodón.Parece ser que Hel iothi5 tiene tres generacfones con el potencial de causar dafio al algod6n (Phillips eLal. 1979). Las generaciones 11 y 111 son las más dañinas y explosiones-C>cü7ren casi anualmente en algodón de crec.,imiento vigoroso.Datos para las funciones constituyentes del NDE.Va exIste una relación compleja entre la destrucción de cuadros y bellotas y la caída de la producción. En el comienzo de la estación las plantas compensan las perdidas de cuadros, pero esta compensación depende de las condiciones ambientales en el decorrer de la temporada de crecímiento del cultivo, debido a 10 cual, NOE's son difíciles de establecer con seguridad y varían de un lugar a otro. Número de huevos y larvas/daño de cuadros y bellotas.Los métodos experimentales usados en la determinación de esta relaclon han sido sumar izados por Graham et. al. 1972. Datos colectados en Texas, durante cuatro años; han sido anal izados matematícamente por Harstack et. al (1978). Estos anál ¡sis fueron la hase para establecer la relación entreel número de larvas-días (el número de días x número de larvas presentes) acumulados cada 10 días y el porcentage de daño a las bellotas. Esta relación está dada por la ecuación exponencial: ya % de cuadros y bellotas destruidos (2)(3) Basados en las ecuaciones de Harstack et al (1978) se puede establecer que 2% de daño a cuadros y bellotas, y 60-70 mil larvas-días pueden ser tolerados por el algodonero sín caída de producción de hilas. Las recomendaciones de MI? en práctica son más conservadoras. Estas recomendaciones varían de región en región; y hao sido modifIcadas con el pasar del tiempo.Tabla 3 presenta un resúmen de las recomendaciones en varias partes de 105 Estado Unidos, en 1970 (Graham et al 1972)  Por ejemplo, en 1975 fue empezado en Brasil un programa MIP piloto para plagas de soya (Kogan et al. 1977). Este programa utilizó inicialmente los umbrales económicos para insectos defol ¡adores y que atacan las vainas desarrollados para los Estado Unidos. DebIdo a que~ las especies de las prfncipales plagas eran las mismas, la transposición pareció aceptable. la introducción de estos NDE's junto con un sistema simple de muestreo y la percepción de la importancia de la enfermedad del gusano terc¡opel0 (el hongo Nomuraea riley¡) fueron la base del éxito del programa.El programa se encuentra sól idamente establecido, estimándose que alrededor de 2 millones de hectáreas de soya en los estados de Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná~ Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, y Go!a5, están bajo este sistema de manejo. Se estima que el número de aplicaciones de insecticidas se ha reducido de 50-75%, representando una economía medra para el agricultor de US $ 17.60/ha~ o una reducción de cerca de 9% en el costo de la producci6n (01 ivelr. et al. 1980)  Si la determinación de NOE's de especies individuales es difícíl. la de complejos de plagas, (incluyendo patógenos, nematoTdes, y malezas) es aún mucho mas compl ¡cada. Desgraciadamente. la existencia de complejos de p1agas es la regla y no la excepción. Hay tan solo unos pocos estudios experimentales sobre el efecto de complejos y se espera que 105 métodos de simulación dinámica aceleren el progreso en este campo~ Mucha más investigación básica es necesarfa en este aspecto. CONCLUSIONES NDE's corrientes tienen una base conceptual simpl ¡sta pero son extremamente útiles. Yo estimo que por cada 10% de aumento en el NDE de una plaga uno puede esperar; por lo menos, una reducción correspondiente del área tratQda. Muchos de 105 campos que serían tratados, probablemente tienen poblaciones marginales que fluctuan ! 10% alrededor del NOE. El caso del programa MlP de soya en Brasil apOYQ esta conclusión. los agricultores que siguen el programa de muestreo y recomendaciones basadas en NOE' S para Oiabrotica en maíz pueden economizar hastQ $14.00 por hectárea solamente en el costo del insecticida. Para el caso del algodón, el empleo de NOE's, junto con otras prácticas ha revital izado la industria algodonera en el sur de los Estados Unidos. la determinación de NDE's para plagas ágrícolas en forma experimental y á través de modelos de Simulación son el fundamento económico de programas MI? EntomóJogos t patólogos, especial ¡stas en malezas y nematólogos, junto con economistas, necesitan enfrentar el desafío del problema de NOEls para complejos de plagas. Solamente entonces estarán los programas MI?, para cultivos agrícolas. operando sobre fundaciones ecológicas y económicas só! idas. Las plagas de la yuca incluyen una gran diversidad de artr6podos; se han identificado aproximadamente 200 especies. Muchas de estas especies se consideran plagas menores y ocasionan poca o ninguna pérdida en el rendimíento. Sin embargo, algunas se deben clasificar como plagas mayores las cuales pueden ocasionar daños severos al cultivo y resultar en pérdidas en el rendimiento. Las plagas mayores de la yuca son los ácaros, trips, gusano cachón, escamas, piojo harinoso, barrenadores del tallo y mosca blanca. Otras plagas tales como salta hojas, chiza blanca, gusano trazador, hormiga cortadores de hojas y mosca de la fruta pueden ocasionar daños esporádicos o local izados. los insectos pueden causar daño a la yuca mediante la reducción del área fotosintéticamente activa, la cual resulta en reducciones del rendimiento; mediante el ataque a los tallos. debi! itando la planta e inhibiendo el transporte de nutrientes; y mediante el ataque al material de s¡embra~ reduciendo la germinación. También pueden atacar a las raíces y ocasionar pudriciones secundarias. Algunos son vectores y diseminadores de enfermedades. las observaciones indican que las plagas que atacan la planta durante un período prolongado, tales como ácaros, trlps, escamas, piojo harinoso y barrenadores del tallo, reducirán el rendimiento en mayor grado que )05 que causan dafoll ¡ación y daño a partes de la planta durante un período corto. tales corno el gusano cachón~ mosca de la fruta~ mosca del cogollo y hormiga cortadora de hojas. Esto se debe a que la planta de yuca es capaz de recuperarse de un daño causado en corto tiempo bajo condiciones ambientales favorables.En los países de América se ha reportado la mayor díversidad de ¡n~ sectos que atacan la yuca. Esto es de esperarse puesto que eXiste gran variación genética de la planta hospedante y también una gran variabil ¡dad de organismos los cuales atacan la planta o se encuentran en simbiosisEntomólogo. Científico Visitante, Asistente de lnvestígación. Investigador Asociado respectivamente -Programa de Yuca CfAT con élla. Los 19 grupos generales de plagas descritos en el Cuadro 1 se encuentran en América, 12 en Africa y 6 en Asia.INSECTOS QUE ATACAN EL MATERIAL DE SIEMBRA. la siembra de estacas-l ibres de insectos y sin daños es importante para obtener una buena germinación y establecimiento de las plantas jóvenes.Se han identificado diversas especies de escamas que atacan los tallos de yuca en muchas regiones productoras del mundo. la cal ¡dad del materia] de siembra se puede reducir significativamente si las estacas están infestadas con insectos escamas. la escarna blanc\" Aonidomytilus albus, puede reducir la germinación en un 50-60 por ciento dependíendo del grado de infestación. la inmersión de estacas infestadas en soluc¡ones de insecticidas redujo la infestación, pero las estacas altamente infestadas aún germinaron pobremente después de Jos tratamientos. En consecuencia. se recomienda no util izar estacas infestadas con escamas como material de propagación. A. albus es una plaga encontrada en la mayorta de las regiones productora~yuca en el mundo~ La mosca de la fruta.Se han identificarlo dos especies de mosca de la fruta~ Anastrepha pickel ¡yA. manihotl, que atacan la yuca en América. las larvas de esta mosca~hacen tOneles en los tallos de )a planta de yuca, formando galerías de color marrón en el área de la médula. Un patógeno becteriano (Erwinia caratovora vr caratovora) frecuentemente encontrado en asocia-ci6n con las larvas de la mosca de la fruta, puede causar pudriciones severas del tej ido del tallo. Las estacas tomadas de tallos afectados presentan menor germinacion.En estacas utíl izadas pata siembra se han encontrado barrenado~es del tallo, principalmente del árden Coleoptera y lepidoptera. Es factible que la infestación haya ocurrido en las plantas en crecimiento, pero la infestación también puede ocurrir durante el almacenamiento del material de siembra. El material de siembra se debe inspeccionar cuidadosamente antes de su util izacióo.Chizas.Las chizas blancas (Leucophol is rorida y Phyllophaga sp.) atacan el material de síembra o las raíces de plantas jóvenes. Se han encontrado varias especies de chizas blancas que atacan la yuca en gran parte de las regiones productoras de yuca de} mundo. El estado adulto de la chiza es un escarabajo de la famil ia Scaraba~idae.El daño ocasionado por las chizas se carateriza por la destrucción de la corteza de las estacas sembradas las cuales pueden podrtrse y morir. El ataque a las plantas jóvenes (1-3 meses) ocasiona el marchitamiento de las hojas. Las larvas se al ¡mentan de la corteza de la parte basal del tal lo, generalmente bajo el suelo o forman túneles dentro de la estaca. Las larvas son de color blanco con cabeza oscura y su longitud puede ser hasta de 5 centímetros. Generalmente se local iza alrededor de la estaca o de las raíces de la planta. En Indonesia se describió la biología de L. rorira en yuca Los adultos son activos al inicio de las i luvias, yel da~o más severo ocurre aproxí~damente 4-6 meses después. Los adultos ¡níciao la ovíposición aproximadamente nueve días después del apareamiento § y ovipositan profundamente en el suelo (50-60 cm) hasta 37 huevos individuales de color blanco aperlado. los huevos eclosionan en aproximadamente tres semanas. El estado larval tiene una duración de aproximadamente 10 meses, y las larvas de 4-6 meses de edad son las más destructivas. Las larvas viven a una profundidad de 20-30 centímetros donde se al imentan de las raíces. Empupan a una profundidad de aproximadamente 50 centímetros. El estado de prepupa dura 14 días y el estado de pupa aproximadamente 22 días. Otros hospeden tes incluyen maíz, arroz y batata.La observaciones de Phyllophaga sp. en Colombia indican que su ciclo de vida dura un a~o, y el mayor daño ocurre al inicío de la estación lluviosa. los ataques frecuentemente ocurren si la yuca se siembra en un suelo que anteriormente tenía pastos o en un campo enmalezado. Al momento de la preparaci6n de) suelo frecuentemente se pueden detectar altas poblaciones.las chizas blancas se controlan efectivamente con Aldrín (2,5%. 50 Kg/hal y Furadán 391m2 (carbafuran 0,09 gr. j.a/planta) aplicados bajo la estacas en ei suelo. Los tratamientos de inmersión de las estacas en soluciones de insecticidas no han sído tan exitosas como las apl icaciones al suelo. El hongo Metarrhizium anisopl ¡ae, es patogén¡co para las chízas.Exfsten varias especies de gusanos trozadores que atacan la yuca y ocasfonan daño a las plantas de tres maneras.1. Los trozadores de la superficie, tales como Agrotis psi Ion, los cuales causan daño en un sector cercano a la superficie del suelo sobre o bajo la superficie), y dejan la planta doblada sobre el suelo. Las larvas son de coJor gris grasoso y marrón con rayados de colores claros~ 2. Los trozadores trepadoresJ tales como Prodenia eridania, trepan los tallos, consumen yemas y follaje y pueden hacer cortes anulares en los tallos y ocasionar el marchitamiento y muerte de las plantas. La larva bien desarrollada es de color gris oscuro o casi negro y presenta bandas laterales amari 11as.3. Los trazadores subterráneos permanecen en el suelo para al imentarse de las raíces y partes subterráneas de los taJlos, lo cual causa una pérdida de material de siembra. La pérdida de plantas jóvenes puede alcanzar el 50 por ciento 10 cual hace necesaria la resiembra.El ataque de gusanos trazadores ocurre esporádicamente pero es más frecuente cuando la yuca le sigue al maíz en rotación. La biología de las tres categorías de especies trazadoras que atacan la yuca es similar. Los huevos son ovipositados en masas en el envés de las hojas cercanas a.l suelo. Los huevos eclosionan en 4-6 días y se desarrollan en 20-30 días. El estado de pupa (8-11 días) ocurre en el suelo o debajo de los residuos de plantas. La ovfposición se inicia aproximadamente una semana después de la emergencia de los adultos. Una generación dura aproximadamente dos meses, y bajo condIciones ambientales favorables, pueden ocurrir varias generaciones en el aRo.Los ataques de trazadores son esporádicos pero ocurren más frecuentemente cuando la yuca le sigue al maíz o sorgo, o cuando se siembra en campos adyacentes a estos cultivos. ~Las estacas de mayor longitud (30 cm) permitirán la recuperación de las plantas por encima o a nivel del suelo se pueden controlar efectivamente con cebos envenenados (10 kg de aserrín. 8-10 litros de agua, 5009 de azúcar ó I litro de melaza y 1009 de trich1orfón. para 1/4 Ó 1/2 ha). Los trozadores subterráneos se pueden controlar mediante apl ¡cacíones de aldrTn o carbofurán alrededor de las estacas.Termitas.Las termitas atacan la yuca principalmente en las tierras bajas del tr6pico. Se hao reportado como plaga en diversas regiones del muodo~ pero primordialmente en Africa. En Madagascar se han identificado las especies Cóptoterrnes voeltzkowi y f. paradoxus (Rhiootermitidae). se al ¡mentan del material de propagación, raíces engrosadas o plantas en crecimiento~ El daño principal parece ser la pérdida de estacas; también pueden afectar severamente el establecimiento del cultivo~ especialmente durante períodos secos prolongados. Se ha observado daño en raíces engrosadas y posteriormente la pudrición de las mismas debido a las termítas.En Colombia Coptotermes niger se al ¡menta de material de propagación (estacas), de raíces o de plantas en crecimiento que presentan partes en proceso de secamiento o muerte debido a condiciones el imátícas desfavorables, patógenos o mala cal ¡dad de semilla. Es necesario real izar protección a las estacas al momento de establecer el cultfvo para garantizar buena germinación y buen desarrollo de plantas. La protección debe hacerse en base a mezclas de fungicidas tales como: Captan + Carbendazin 2 gr. i.a/litro de agua y posteriormente apl ¡cación de Aldrin en polvo a las estacas o al suelo en dosis de O~025 gr. r.a. por estaca o srtio.Los grillos (Gry!!us assimi! is y Gryllotalpa sp.) Causan dafio a las plantas de yuca al cortar los retoños jovenes después de su emergencia. También pueden causar faño en la base de la planta lo cual favorece la susceptibilidad al volcamiento por el viento. Para su control se pueden util izar 105 mismo insecticidas recomendadods para los insectos trozadores.Consumidores de follaje.El gusano cachón, Erinnyis ello generalmente se considera como una de las plagas más severas de la yuca en América. Este insecto no se ha reportado en Africa y Asia. La defol iacfón durante los meses iniciales del crecimiento del cultivo puede ocasionar pérdidas en el rendimiento. Se han estimado reducciones del rendimiento de 10-50 por ciento, dependiendo de la edad de la planta e intensidad del ataque. Los ataques fuertes pueden ocasionar la muerte de las plantas j6venes. En estudios de s¡mtlación del daño se observó que la defol ¡ación de plantas jóvenes (2-5 meses) reduce más el rendimiento que la defol ¡ación de ~lantas de más edad (6-10 meses)~ Aunque cada larva puede consumir 1.107 cm de área fol iar, se pueden tolerar altas poblaciones puesto que bajo condiciones ambientales favorables, pueden haber hasta un 80 por ciento de defol iación sin que se presenten reducciones en el rendimiento de raíces. Las hembras son de hábitos nocturnos, de color ceniza y ovipositan los huevos grandes de color verde claro en el haz de la hojas de yuca. En condiciones de jaulas de oviposic~ón colocadas en el campo (25 C C, 80% HR}; la hembra tiene una longevidad promedfo de 8,6 días y el macho de 7 días.El período de preoviposición es de 2 a 3. Una hembra puede 1 legar a ovipositar durante toda su vida hasta 1800 huevos con un promedio de 850 huevos cuando están en parejas individuales, y de 448 cuando están en grupos de parejas. Las hembras y los machos se pueden diferenciar en el estado pupa1 por la posición de la apertura genital. La apertura genital del macho (gonoporo) se encuentra local izada en el noveno segmento abdominal con el octavo segmento 1 ibre, en tanto que la apertura genital de la hembra alcanza a ocupar el octavo segmento. la relación de sexo es aproximadamente de una hembra por un macho. las larvas varían en su color; los colores más comunes son el amarillO t verde, negro, gris oscuro y canela. las larvas en el quinto estado larval pueden alcanzar 10-12 centímetros. Maduran en aproximadamente 12 a 15 días y migran hacia el suelo donde forman una pupa en forma de castaña de color marrón con rayas negras bajo los resíduos de plantas. El adulto emerge en aproximadamente 15 a 20 días. Los brotes generalmente ocurren después del inicio de la estación lluviosa pero son irregulares y pueden no ocurrir durante años.El uso de prácticas culturales adecuadas {control de malezas, buena preparación del terreno), puede reducir las poblaciones de adultos y pupas. Hay varios parásitos y predatores del gusano cachón. Los huevos de la mariposa de I. Control microblal. Aspersiones con suspensiones bacteriales de Bacillus thuringiensfs en dosis de 2 a 3 gm. de producto comerciaf por litro de agua proveen un control muy efectivo. Este control es más eficaz contra las larvas en los tres primeros instares. También se ha identificado un virus de la larva y un hongo de la pupa. El control químico con Dipterex es efectivo contra las larvas, pero debe evitarse ya que destruye 105 insectos benéficos que ejercen control biológico lo cual puede aumentar la frecuencia de ataque de esta plaga.Util ización de trampas de luz. Se utilizan las trampas de luz ultravioleta debido a la gran atracci6n que ejerce sobre los adultos del gusano cachon.En observaciones prel íminares se capturaron un maxlmo de 3094 adultos en una noche, determinándose que el mayor número de individuos se capturaron entre las 12 pm y las 2 amo Esta información es importante porque en los lugares donde no se tenga energía, las tramapas se pueden hacer funcionar sólo de 12 pm a 2 am util izando baterías o motores movidos por combustible. Métodos mecánicos. las recolecciones manuales de larvas y pupas resultan muy efectivas en la reducción de las poblaciones del gusano cachón. Esta práctica tiene más apl ícabil ¡dad cuando se hace en los campos donde se inician los ataques del insecto.Hormiga cortadora de hojas.En América se han reportado varias especies de hormigas (Atta sp. y Acromyrmex sp.) que se al ímentan de yuca. las plantas de yuca pueden sufrir defoliación cuando una alta población de hormigas obreras atacan un cultivo. las hormigas hacen un corte semicircular en la hoja; durante ataques severos, también cortan las yemas. las partes cortadas son llevadas al hormiguero bajo la superficie del suelo donde por masticación forman una pasta sobre la cual crece el hongo Rhozites gongzlophora. los brotes frecuentemente ocurren durante los primeros meses del crecimiento del cultivo; no se conoce su efecto sobre eJ rendimiento.El medio más efectivo de control es el uso de insecticidas. los hormigueros, los cuales se observan con facil ¡dad debido a los montones de tierra alrededor de los orificios de entrada. se pueden destruir mediante la fumigactón con humo de bisulfuro de carbono y azufre o arseniatos. Los hidrocarburos clorinados apl icados alrededor del hormiguero o los cebos granulados de mirex a lo largo de los caminos dejados por las hormigas, dan un control efectivo. Acaros e insectos chupadores.Los ácaros soo probablemene la plaga más seria que ataca la yuca. Frecuentemente atacan el cultivo durante la estación seca y caUSan daños severos en la mayoría de las regiones productoras de yuca del mundo. El ácaro verde de la yuca Mononychellus tanajoa. nativo de América, ha ocasionado considerables reduccfones del rendimtento en partes de Africa Oriental después de su introducción a esta área. Los informes recientes indican que este ácaro se está diseminando a otras áreas de Africa.La distribución de 01 igonychus peruvianus se 1 imita a América.Los ácaros se pueden encontrar en gran número en el envés de la~ hojas bajo óptimas condiciones ambientales. Generalmente las plantas más viejas son más susceptibles al ataque.El acaro Mononyehellus generalmente se encuentra alrededor de los puntos de crecimiento de las plantas, en las yemas, hojas jóvenes y tallos; las partes más bajas son menos afectadas. Cuando emergen, las hojas presentan puntos amarillos, pierden su color verde normal, desarroJ lan una apariencia moteada, bronceada en forma de mosaico y se deforman. En ataques severos, los retoños pierden Su color verde, los tallos se escarifican; primero se tornan ásperos y de color marrón y eventualmente se presenta la nuerte descendiente. los tall05 y hojas sufren oecrosamiento progresivamente de las partes superiores a las inferiores.El dano ocasionado por ácaro Tetranychus aparece primero en las hojas más bajas de la planta. Inicialmente se observan puntos amaril los a lo largo de la nervadura central, los cuales eventualmente se extienden a la total ¡dad de la hoja, la cual toma un color marrón roj izo o herrumbroso. Comenzando con las hojas basales, las hojas severamente infestadas se secan y caen, y las plantas pueden morir.La presencia del ácaro 01 igonychus se caracteriza por manchas blancas pequeñas, las cuales son telarañas que la hembra esparce sobre la superficie del envés de las hojas~ comunmente a lo largo de las nervaduras centrales y laterales y los márgenes. la oviposición ocurre bajo estas telarañas donde se desarrollan los estados inmaduros. En el haz de las hojas se forman las correspondientes manchas amarillas a marrón. El da~o es más marcado en las hojas inferiores.Nyiira reportó reducciones del rendimiento hasta del 46 por ciento en Africa debido a M. tanajoa. En estudios recientemente real izados en Venezuela (Ooreste, comunicación personal) se estimaron reducciones del rendimiento del 30-40 por ciento debido a este ácaro. Las infestaciones de ácaros en el CIAT incluyen las tres especíes mencionadas y en experimentos recientes se detectó una pérdida en rendimiento del 20 a 53 por cíento dependiendo de la duración del ataque.La evaluación del banco de germopiasma del CIAl para resistencia a los ácaros indica que existen bajos niveles de resistencia o tolerancia. Tetranychus y niveles moderados al Mononychel lus y 01 igonychus.También existen varios agentes de control biológico que regulan las poblaciones de ácaros entre las cuales se destacan 01 ¡gota minuta (Coleoptera-Staphyl ¡nidae), Stethorus sp. (Coleoptera: coccineiI idae) y varios ácaros Phytoseiidae.En caso estrictamente necesario se pueden apl ¡csr algunos productos acaricidas tales como Monocrotophos, clordímeform (Galecron, Fundal). dimetoato y binapacril (Acricid) en dosis comerciales~ El chinche de encaje.El daño causado por chinches de encaje (Vatiga manihotae) solo se ha reportado en América. No se conocen los efectos de estos insectos sobre el rendimiento. Los adultos son de color gris y miden aproximadamente 3 milímetros de longitud. las ninfas de color blanco son más pequeñas, y tanto las ninfas como los adultos se pueden encontrar en gran número en el envés de las hojas. las hojas afectadas presentan manchas amaril las las cuales eventualmente se tornan de color marrón rojizo, semejante al daño por ácaros. Puede ocurrir un daño considerable al follaje. los estudios de laboratorio real izados en e1 CIAT indicaron cinco estados de desarrollo, que duraron 2~9~ 2,6~ 2 t 9 t 3,3 Y 4,8 días respectivamente (total 16,5 días). El estado de huevo dura aproximadamente ocho días; las hembras ovipositan en promedio 61 huevos. La longevidad de los adultos díó un promedio de 50 días. Los perlados secos prolongados favorecen una mayor población de chinches de encaje.En CIAT-Palmira se ha observado que un chinche Zel1us nugax (Herniptera: Redíviidae) es un excelente predator de ninfas y adultos de Vatiga, 1 legando a consumir durante todo su cíleo biológico un promedio de 496 individuos del chinche de encaje. También se han identificado variedades resistentes a esta plaga. Mosca blanca. la mosca blanca (Aleyrodidae) atacan la yuca en América, Africa y ciertas partes de Asia. Ataques fuertes pueden Causar pérdidas en el rendimiento y son vectores del mosaico de la yuca en Africa e India. En esta áreas la especie más importante es Bemisia tabaci. En Africa también se han reportado las especies !. gossypiperda y!. nigeriensis. Las especies más frecuentemente encontradas en yuca en América incluyen Tríaleurodes variabjJ is ,Aleurotrachelús social ¡s, B. tuberculata y AJeurothrixus sp. Aunque B. tabaci se ha reportado en AmérTcB, existen dudas con relacion a su capacidad para al imentarse en yuca. El mosaico africano 1 revisado por Lozano y Booth, no se encuentra en América.Altas poblaciones de mosca blanca pueden causar el amarillamiento y necrosis de las hojas bajeras de 1~ planta de yuca. En Colombia se han observado infestaciones severas de Aleurotrachelus social is; el daño fo1 iar se manifestó por un moteado o encrespamiento severo con s1ntomas similares al mosaico en las variedades susceptibles. Una enfermedad fungosa que produce un moho negro frecuentemente encontrada en excre5iones de la mosca blanca, puede tener un efecto adverso sobre la fotosíntesis de la planta. Pérdidas hasta de1 80% en rendimiento se han observado con fuerte ataque de la plaga.Las poblaciones de adultos casi siempre se encuentran en el env~s de las hojas en desarrollo, donde ocurre la oviposiclón. Una generación de B. tabaci dura 4-5 semanas, dependiendo de las condiciones el imáticas. se pueden presentar hasta 10 generaciones por año.Los estudios sobre la biología de T. varíabil is indicaron que las hembras ovipositan un promedio de 161 huevos, con un sesenta y dos por ciento de supervivencia desde el huevo hasta el adulto. La longevidad promedio de las hembras fué de 19,2 días y la del macho, 8,8 dlas. La pupa de forma oblonga normalmente es de color verde pál ido pero la de Aleurotrachelus es negra con una secreción blanca cerosa alrededor del márgen exterior. Las hojas altamente infestadas se encuentran casi totalmente cubiertas con Jos estado inmaduros y pupas, 10 cual le dá al envés un efecto blanco brilloso. Las ¡ngestaciones también se han observado en las hojas superiores e inferiores.L~s poblaciones altas generalmente se asocian con la estación lluviosa cuando las plantas se encuentran más vigorosas. Los niveles de poblaciones pueden depender más de las condiciones ffsiológicas de la planta que del el íma.La util ízación de variedades resistentes y de insectos benéficos parece ser el método más racional para regular las poblaciones de mosca blanca. En zonas con altas poblaciones de mosca blanca, apl ¡caciones con productos como monocrotophos en dosis de 0.6 cc de ¡.a/1 ítro de agua cada 3 meses pueden bajar significativamente las poblaciones. Insectos raspadores.Se han identificado varias especies (Frankl ¡nlena will iamsi Hood Corynothrips stenopteru5 y Cal iothrips mascul inusJ de trtps que atacan a la yuca l todas pertenecientes a la famil ia Thripidae. Los trips son una plaga principal en América Central y Suramérica y también se han reportado en Africa.La especie más importante es F. williamsí que causa daños a las yemas terminales de la planta. las hojas no se desarrollan normalmente; los folloJos se deforman y presentan manchas amaril las cloróticas irregulares. El dalo causado por el estilete a las hojas en expansión causa la deformación y distorsión t lo cual ocasiona la ausencia de lóbulos fo) iares. En En el CIAT se estudiaron las reducciones del rendimiento debido al ataque de los trips. Los resultados indican que los trips pueden ocasionar una pérdida en rendimiento del 15-20 por ciento lo cual es consistente con la 1 iteratura.El control de Jos trips se logra eficfentemente mediante el uso de variedades resistentes, las cuales se consiguen con facíl ¡dad. La resistencia se basa en la característica morfológica de las vellosidades de la yema fal íar y casi el 50 por ciento del banco de germoplasma del CIAr (2.300 variedades) presenta altos niveles de resistencia.Para su control se pueden lograr buenos resultados mediante la apl ¡caclon de productos sistémicos tales como dímetnoato o th¡ometon en dosis de 1 a 1,5 ce de producto comercial por 1 itro de agua.Insectos perforadores del tallo.La mosca del cogollo.El daño ocasionado por la mosca del C090llo (Silba pendula f Carpolonchaea chalybea) se puede observar en casi ~ las regiones productoras de yuca en América. la plaga no se ha reportado en Africa y Asía.La mosca adulta oscura de color azul metál ica real iza la oviposíción entre las hojas que aún no han rniciado su expansión en los puntos de crecimiento o en una cavidad pequefta en el tej ido perforado por el ovípositor. Se han observado hasta 22 huevos por retoño, pero el promedio es de 3-8 huevos. Los huevos eclosionan en aproximadamente cuatro días, y las larvas jóvenes construyen túneles en el tejido y matan el punto de crecimiento. En la yema afectada se pueden observar varias larvas blanquecinas. El período larval tiene una duraci6n de aproximadamente 23 d1as; las larvas empupan en el suelo y la mosca adulta emerge aproximadamente 26 días después. La mosca es más activa en dídS soleados. los ataques pueden ocurrir durante todo el año f pero en muchas áreas son estacionales y frecuentemente se presentan al inicio de la estación lluviosa. En el CIAT el período seco fué favorable para mayores poblaciones de mosca del cogollo.las larvas son difíciles de controlar. Se recomienda el uso de insecticidas sistémicos organofosforados durante los ataques tempranos si las pOblaciones son altas. Un cebo efectivo para el control de los adultos es el uso de insecticidas y una solución de azúcar, el cual se asperja sobre las plantas. También se recomienda el uso de trampas con frutas descompues~ tas, casina o levadura con un insecticida como atrayente.La mosca de la fruta.Frecuentemente se indica que la mosca de la fruta de la yuca (Anastrephq manihoti, A. pickel i) ataca el fruto de la yuca donde no causa perdrdas econ6micas~ Sin embargo esta plaga ha causado daños severos a los tallos de la planta. Los adultos de Anastrepha son de color amaríl Jo o canela y las hembras insertan sus huevos en 10$ tejidos tiernos del tallo preferiblemente de plantas jovenes, encontrandose la mayor parte de estos en los primeros 20 cm de la planta al momento de la eclosi6n la larva blanca amaril lenta puede barrenar el tallo hacia abajo a través de la medu1a~ encontrandose Juego unos orificios con exudado lechoso, por donde han sal ido las larvas a empupar en el suelo.En asociación con la larva frecuentemente se encuentra una bacteria patógena, la cual puede causar una pudrición severa del tejido del tallo. Frecuentemente se observa un exudado blanco que fluye de1 túnel de la larva. Los ataques severos pueden causar la muerte y colapso de los puntos de crecimiento de las yemas laterales. Esta pudrición secundaria puede causar una reducción en el rendimiento y una pérdida de estacas de siembra.Aún no se conoce el nivel de pérdfdas ocasionadas por esta plaga, pero aparentemente es importante la edad de la planta el momento del ataque. las plantas más jóvenes (2-5 meses) sufren más debido al ataque de la mosca de la fruta.El uso de atrayentes o cebos envenenados es un método de control promisorio. Se ha identificado un parásito Hymenoptera (Opius sp.) t el insecticida lebaycid (Fenthion) da un buen control de 1arva~el tallo, apl ¡cado en dosis de 1 a 1,5 cc de producto comercial por 1 itro de agua.Se han reportado numerosas especies de insectos que se al ¡mentan y causan daño a los tallos y ramas de la planta de yuca. Aunque su distribución es mundialt tienen mayor importancia en América, especialmente en Brasil. Generalmente causan daños esporádicos o local izados, y ninguna de las especies se puede considerar como plaga universal. los barrenadores del tallo mas ímportantes pertenecen al árden Coleóptera y lepidóptera. Los barrenadores del tallo son altamente específicos para hospedantes, y se ha reportado que sólo pocos se al ¡mentan en hospedantes alternantes. En Africa se han fdentificado varios lepidópteros y coleópteros, pero en Asia (Indonesia) sólo se ha reportado la especie lagochirus sp. En América existen 7 especies de Coelosternus que atacan la yuca y la especie C. manihoti se considera plaga en Afríca. A continuación sólo se discutirán-en detalle las especies Coelosternus spp. y Lagochfrus spp.Las larvas varían en tamaño y forma dependiendo de la especie. Algunas pueden medir hasta 30 milímetros de longitud. las larvas generalmente son de color blanco, amarillo o canela y se pueden encontrar formando túneles en las partes aéreas de las plantas. Los tallos y ramas se pueden romper o reducir a aserrín. Ourante los períodos secos las ramas pueden perder sus hojas o morir f y bajo infestaciones severas las plantas pueden morir. En las ramas infestadas o en el suelo debajo de la planta se pueden encontrar excresiones y exudados del aserrín expulsados por las larvas.La hembra de Coelosternus spp. puede ovipositar en varias partes de la planta de yuca~ pero prefiere las partes tiernas. En C. alterans la oviposición se ha observado cerca de los extremos quebrados-o cortaoos de ramas o debajo de la corteza en cabidades perforadas con la probaseis. La oviposiclón por f. granico]1 is comienza tres días después del apareamiento; la hembra penetra en el tallo y oviposita varios huevos blancos.Las larvas pueden variar en tamaño, 10 cual depende de la especie. las larvas de C. alternans tota1mente desarrol ladas miden 16 milímetros de longitud y un ~ximo de 4 milímetros de ancho~ en tanto que las C~ tarpides miden 9 X 2,5 milímetros. la mayoría de las larvas son curvas, con un cuerpo de color blanco marrón rojizo y sus mandíbulas son negras. En e rugicol is, sólo se encuentra una larva en cada tal lo, en tanto que en las otras especies, se pueden observar varias larvas. El período larval dura 30-69 días. Las larvas totalmente desarrol ladas de todas las especies empupan dentro de una ceJda construída en la región de la médula. La pupa se sostiene en su celda por un extremo de la perforación hecha en el taflo, con excresíones larvales¡ la duración del estado de pupa es de aproximadamente un mes. Después de su emergencia, el adulto puede permanecer en la celda durante varios dias antes de abandonar el ta110. El tamaño de los adultos oscila entre 6 milímetros de longitud para C. granicoll ls a 12 milímetros para el I. alternus y~. rugicol ¡s. El coTar de los adultos es marrón claro a oscuro y se pueden observar casi totalmente cubiertos con escamas amarillentas. Los adultos son activos durante todo el año~ pero la actividad puede disminuir en algunas áreas durante los meses más frescos. los adultos de Lagochirus spp. ovipositan en 10$ tal los y ramas apro~ ximadamente 2,5 milímetros bajo la corteza; los huevos ectosjonan en 5-6 días. EJ período de desarroJ lo larval es de aproximadamente dos meses; las larvas miden oasta 29 milímetros; se al tmentan en la base de la planta y se pueden encontrar numerosas larvas en una planta. El período de pupa, el cual tiene una duración de aproximadamente un mes, ocurre en la perforación hecha por la larva. los adultos son voladores nocturnos de vuelo rápido. y son activos durante todo el año. Son de color marrón, con una longitud de aproximadamente 17 milímetros y se al ¡mentan de hojas y cortezas.Chilomima clarkei (lepidoptera: Pyral idae) es otro barrenador del tallo que afecta las plantaciones de yuca y puede causar pérdidas hasta del 60% en producción de raíces cuando los tallos se quiebran debíl itados por el ataque de este insecto.En CIAT se ha observado que una hembra de Chílomima coloca individual mente hasté 237 huevos en los tallos cerca de los brotes.La larva recién eclosioanda es amaril la en Su total.dad~ más tarde la cápsula cefá! ica se torna café permaneciendo de color amarillo el resto del cuerpo. Antes de penetrar en el tallo la larva permanece afuera durante 15 días aproximadamente, alimentándose de la corteza del tallo y de los brotes; posteriormente penetra en el talio formando galerías de 3 a 10 centímetros de largo.Los ataques se identifican por la presencia en la boca de las galerías de una masa formada por excrementos y seda producidos por la larva. Las larvas empupan dentro del tal lo y los adultos emergen 13 a 15 días más tarde. Existen varios enemigos naturales de Chilomima, algunos de los cuales actúan como parásitos de huevos y otros como parásitos de larvas y pupas.En virtud de que los adultos de los barrenadores del tallo son dificiles de matar y las larvas se al ¡mentan dentro de los tallos, no es práctico adelantar un control con insecticidas. Las prácticas culturales que reducirán las poblaciones de la plaga incluyen la remoción y quema de las partes de la planta infest~das. Sólo se deben util izar estacas de siembra no infestadas y sin daños.La mosca de las aga1 las.En América se han reportado varias especies de mosca de las agallas en yuca, la más frecuente latrophobia brasil iensis (Olptera: Cecídomyiidae).Esta mosca generalmente se encuentra en el envés de las hojas donde ovipositan. Las larvas ocasionan e1 crecimiento anormal de las células en las hojas y )a formación de una agalla. Las agallas fol ¡ares en el haz de las hOjas son de color verde amarillo a rojo y más estrechas en la base y frecuentemen~ te curvas. Cuando se abren las agal las presentan un túnel cilíndrico con una larva en su interior. Se considera que la mosca de las agallas tiene poca importancia económica y generalmente no requiere control. Sin embar90~ se ha reportado que retarda el crecimiento de las plantas jóvenes cuando los ataques son severos (a Jos 2-3 meses de edad}. Para reducir las poblaciones se recomienda la colección y destrucción de las hojas afectadas a intérvalos semanales.Insectos que atacan el tallo externamente.En la mayoría de Jas regiones productoras de yuca se han identificado varias especies de escamas (Aonydomitilu$ albus, Saissetia spp. Hemiberlesia díffinis, Ceroplastes sp.) que atacan los tallos de la yuca. En el CIAT las p~rdidas en rendimiento de plantas altamente infestadas alcanzaron un 19 por ciento (en base a plantas individuales), Los tallos atacados ocasional el amaril1amiento y caída de las hojas.En los ataques severos el crecimiento de l~s plantas se retarda, los tallos se pueden secar y ocurre la muerte de la planta. El mayor da~o ocasionado por las escamas parece ser la pérdida de material de sfembra. Las estacas de siembra altamente infestadas con escamas presentan una baja germinación, las raíces de desarrollarán pobremente y perderán su palatabil ¡dad. La escama adulta de A. albus tiene forma de mej ¡llón y está cubierta por una secreción blanca cer~ Ataca las ramas de 1a yuca especialmente durante la estación seca.Swaine (1950 estudió en detalle la biologTa de A. albus. Las pieles de las mudas del primero y segundo estado ninfal se Tncorporan a la escama. A diferencia de las hembras, los machos tienen patas y alas bien desarroiladas. La hembra produce un promedio de 47 huevos t los cuales ovipositan entre la cobertura superior de la eSCama y la secreción algodonosa inferior Durante la oviposición la hembra se reduce de tamaño. Los huevos eclosionan en cuatro días; los primeros estados ninfales (rastreros) son locomotores y pueden dispersarse. Estos estado se fijan en 1-4 dias, se cubren con numerosos hilos finos, mudan en 11 días y se tornan inmóviles. Después de CUátro días aparece la hembra adulta y comienza la oVfposfción en 1 a El piojo harinoso del Afrtca es Pseudococcus virgatus (Ferisiana virgata, pastulopius virgatus), ~. citri I ?h. adonjdum y P. manthoti. Las altas poblaciones de piojo harinoso causan )a defol íacTón de las plantas de yuca y el secamiento del tej ido del tallo, lO' cual resulta en una pérdida de material de siembra. Las hojas se amarillan y secan, y las plantas defol iadas forman núevas yemas, las cuales también sufren el ataque. P. herreni en las Amér¡cas y P. manihot i en Africa han causado pérdidas en el-rendimiento de la yuca. Estas son las especies más importantes atacando la yuca. El daño de ambas especies es parecido; el ataque ocurre Inicialmente en el cogollo de la planta causando un encrespamiento de las hojas~ dando un efecto como de IIRepollo\". El P. herreni está reportado solamente en Brasil y Colombia. Con altas poblacIones de pijo hay defoliación completa de la planta; las plantas no están bíen desarrolladas, hay deformación de los tallos, los entrenudos son cortos y en algunos casos hay ca -mificac¡ón excesiva. Este daño no solamente reduce la producción de raíces sino también la cal idad y cantidad del material de siembra. ?h. gOSSyrii presenta un ampl io rango de hospedentes, los cuajes incluyen cüTtivos a imenticios y plantas ornamentales. las hembras depositan sacos que continen un gran número de huevos alrededor del eje de tallos en ramificación u hojas, en el envés de la hoja donde el pecíolo se une con ia hoja alrededor de las yemas en el tallo príncipa]. Las ninfas jóvenes poco después de iniciar su al imentación exudan un material blanco ceroso de sus cuerpos el cual forma una cubierta para el insecto. Las poblaciones altas presentan una apariencia algodonosa a la porción verde o suculenta del tallo y al envés de la hoja. No permanecen fijas sino que se mueven lentamente sobre la superficie de la planta~ En CIAT el ciclo de vida de Ph g05sypl ¡ tuvo una duración de 29 a 32 dfas dependiendo de la variedad que se desa-rrol16.Las poblaciones de P. herreni se encuentran principalmente en el cogo -110 de la planta pero en-altas poblaciones se encuentra en el envés de las hojas. Esta especie presenta dimorfísmo sexual que se manifiesta a partir del segundo instar. Al eclosionar los huevos, las ninfas permanecen por un tiempo dentro del ovisaco; despues se desplazan rápidamente buscando en la planta un sitio donde fijarse. La hembra tiene cuatro instars; el cuarto instar es er estado adulto. El ciclo de los tres primeros instars es un promedio de 18.4 días; el cuarto instar (adulto) tiene una duración promedio de Z~.8 días y el período de oviposición de 18.4 días. El macho tiene 5 instars incluyendo el adulto. La duración de los primeros cuatro instars es de 19.4 días y el adulto es de 3.8 días. El período de huevo es de 6.3 días para ambas especies. El macho adulto es atado y vuela buscando hembras para copulaí. La copulación es obl ¡gatoría para la oviposición. El promedio de huevos colocados por hembra es de 773.6, durante un períOdO promedio de 18.4 días.Corno base principal para el control de este insecto se buscan variedades resistentes y la utilización de sus numerosos enemigos naturales. Entre los parásitos se encontraron: Dos especies de Anagyrus (Encyrtidae), Hexacnemus sp') Eusemium sp., (Encyrtidae) y dos especies de género desconocido (Encyrtldae). El piojo es también parasitado por Haltrichella sp. No se dispone de información sobre pérdidas de yuca seca debido a los insectos. En India. las tajadas de yuca quedaron convertidas en polvo en 4-5 meses. Los estudios reciente real izados en el CIAT~ indican que A. fascículatus y D. minutus pueden causar pérdidas considerables.-Las medidas más efectivas de control sanitario son la I tmpieza y desínfecci6n de las bodegas antes del almacenamiento y la remoción rápida del material infestado. Se indica que las variedades amargas de yuca son mas resistentes a los gorgojos que las dulces; sin embargo t aún se requiere confirmar esto. Las fumigaciones también son un método efectivo para controlar estas plagas.   Urueta (1970;1975;1980), Madrigal (1974) ) y Zuluaga (1971;1980) han aportado conocimientos valiosos en este campo. Flechtmann (1978) reportó un complejo de 23 especies de ácaros en yuca distribuidos a través de todo el mundo. Revisiones de 1 iteratura y últimos reportes indican que existen unas 40 especies de acaros en yuca. muchas de las cuales han sido reportadas ocasionalmente. El objetivo del presente trabajo es el de determinar cuales de las especies reportadas en yuca a traves de todo el mundo se encuentran en nuestro medio, cuá1es están causando realmente un daño económico y cuáles representan un pel ¡gro potencia 1.A partir de 1973, en el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) se iniciaron 1as prime(as investigaciones sobre ácaros en la yuca Man¡hot escutenta Cranzt. Hasta el momento se han encontrado 16 especies de ácaros en yuca, siendo las más comunes y que rep(éSentan un pel ¡gro económico las siguientes especies: Mononycheilus tanajoa (Sondar), ~.caribbeanae (Me. Gregor), Tetran chus urtleae. Koch, T, cinnaba(inus (Soisdoval) y 01 igonychus perUVlanos Me. Gregor). Las demás especies no tienen importancia en nuestro medía, debido a que su presencia ha s¡do ocas rana 1.Según Krantz (IS70). la sub-clase Acarf se divide en tres órdenes: Opilíoc:ariformes, Parasitiformes y Acariformes. En este último órden se encuentran las principales familias de ácaros fit6fagos: Tetranychidae. Tenuipalpidae, Eriophyldae y Tarsonemidae. La mayoría de las especies de ácaros Que se han encontrado en la yuca pe(tenecen a la famil ia Tetranychidae. No se ha encontrado ningún Tarsonemidae.Especfes de ácaros de esta familia se encuentran a trav~s de todo el mundo en la mayoría de los cultivos y plantas ornamentales. El daño oca-., Tecnólogo Agropecuario y Entomólogo. Programa de Yuca. CIAT. sionado a las plantas debido a su al imentacf5n, a menudo resulta en un serío perjuicio y en algunos casos la muerte del hospedante. los ácaros de esta famil la son formadores de telaraña (Livschitz y Sal ¡nas, 1968) y se conocen con el nombre común de Harañitas\", Pueden medir hasta unos 0.80 mm de longitud y son de forma globosa o piriforme (8aker and Wharton, 1952). El color en las hembras varía entre especies y generos, variando entre un verde, verdoso, pardo. amarillo, rosado, hasta un rojo Intenso. Los ácaros poseen una uña o garra en el cuarto segmento palpal j pueden tener de 12 a 16 pares de setas dorsales en el idiosoma (Baker and Pritchard, 1960). Normalmente existen tres pares de setas propodosomales, dos pares de setas humerales, tres pares de setas dorsocentrales histerosomales, tres pares de setas dosolaterales histerosometes, -dos pares de setas sacras y un par de setas clunaiesj la posición, forma y tamaño de las setas varra de acuerdo al género y la especies. Esta famil ia se caracteriza por tener quelíceros largos, encorvados yen forma de flagelos, presencia de dos pares de setas íntimamente asociadas. es decir las setas dobles en el tarso I y 11; también puede existir en el tarso I y II un par de setas asociadas pero ampl ¡amente separadas (Meye r,197\"). las caracterfsticas de importancia para la identificación de ¡os Tetranychidae son Per¡tremas, los cuales pueden terminar en un simple bulbo, un garfio distal o anastomosado; setas dorsales y el tipo de setas, las cuales pueden ser simple o ampl ¡amente clavadas y aserradas tipo de estriación dorso histerosomal en la hembra; número y posición de las setas de las patas; forma del adeago en el macho, el cual es quitinizado en su parte terminal y visto de perfil es importante para la determínación específica; la presencia y tipos de lóbulos en las estrías dorsales; genital ia en las hembras y la quetotaxia gen¡to-anal (Jeppson et al 1975; Livschitz y Sal inas, 1968). las especies de ácaros de la famil ¡a Tetranychídae encontradas en la yuca en Colombia estan agrupadas en los siguientes géneros; Allonychus, Aponychus, Atrichoproctus, Eutretanychus, Mononychel1us t 01 igonychus y Tetranychus, siendo los tres últimos g¡neros los más importantes.Este género posee dos pares de setas para-anales. El empodio es un espolón largo mediodorsal con tres pares de pelos próximoventrales desiguales y colocados en un ángulo menor de 4S Q con el espo16n. La garra palpal es bifurcada. La hembra presenta estrfas dorsales con lóbulos más altos que anchos y distalmente puntiagudos. En este género se han agrupado las siguientes especies: A)lonychus quercí Baker & Pritchard, A. dorestai Saker & Prltchard t A. littoraHs (Me Gregor), A. braziliensis Me Cregor, A. reisi Paschoal y-A. bambusae Lo (Meyer, 1974). En Colombia se han encontrado dos espec Tes; ~ . . : braz i 1 lens i s y ~. re ¡si.Las especies de este género son muy similares y el macho es necesario para determinación específica (Jeppson et al, 1975).Allonychus brazil iensi. Pritchard & Saker A. brazil iensis está relacionado con A. dorestai y fué considerado como un 'SinonilTlO de ésta. Sin embargo. el macho de ti. brazil iensis presenta las siguientes diferencias: Tarso I con pelos pr6xrmoventrales sueltos palpos con sensil ¡um terminal pequeño y edeago con el cuerpo recto. la hembra de A. brazil iensis como en A. reisi presenta las setas dorsales del idiosoma largas, pubescentes y puntiagudas, setas clunales cortas, rectas y formando una especie de ¡¡\\JI', A. brazil iensis fue encontrada en Brasil sobre Pyrus communis y Mangifera indica (Paschoal, 1970a). En Cuba fué reportada sobre Persea americana y en Nicaragua sobre paradisiaca (Jeppson et al, 1975;lívschitz y Sal inas, 1968).especie fue encontrada en los cultivares de yuca, en el CIAT~Palm¡ra (Tabla 1), sobre plantas muy viejas de la varIedad M Col 70, local izada en toda la planta, menos en los cogollos y hojas Jóvenes. Estos ácaros se observan sobre el haz fol iar formando telaraRas transversales muy visibles, causando en los lóbulos de las hojas un encartuchamiento hacIa arriba. Los ácaros permanecen sobre las telarañas, donde realizan la ovlposicTón y la muda de los diferentes estados. Para su al imentacl6n estos ácaros bajan hasta la superficie del haz~ causando una clorosis. los Sea ros son de color rojo oscuro o morados~ las pafas presentan un color más claro, huevos 1 ige.ramente de coJor rojo con estrías longitudinales. De esta especie se encontraron machos y hembras.Esta especie dfflere de otras del mismo g~nero por la forma del edeago, el cual tiene un tronco largo, aproximadamente tres veces mas largo que el cuerpo central.A. reisi fue descrita en Brasil a partir de material colectado de RhodOdendron ind¡cum (Paschoal. 1970a). En Colombia. el úníco reporte de esta especie fue hecho por Urueta (1975) f de matedal colectado sobre cacao, zapote y yuca.Este género ~stá estrechamente relacionado con Eutetraoychus. Ini\" cialmente las especies de Aponycnus estaban agrupadas en el genero Eutetranychus, pero pudieron separarse de este último por la presencia de un par de setas anales en lugar de dos pares anales en la hembra: el cuarto par de setas dorsocentrales histerosomales están en posición marginal; anteriormente. el estiloforo esta provisto de un par de fuertes 10bulos! el empodio es reducido y tiene una protuberancia como cabeza. En este género están iocluldad las siguientes especies: Aponychus corpuzae Rímaodo t ~. rarus Rimando, A. grandieri (Gutiérrez) I A. spinosus (BanksJ y A. schutzi (Blanchard) (Meyer, 1974).Aponychus schultzi (Blanchard) Aponychus scnultzl. Blanchard Eutetranychus schultzi, Pritchard & Baker Aponychus ==-,-,,,i 1 Tuttle & Baker A.schuitzi) está estrechamente relacionada a A. spinosus. La hembra de ~.schultzi tiene las setas dorsocent(ales histerosomales largas y delgadas, casf paralelas y distalmente redondeadas. Las setas dorsales h¡s-tero50males están sobre tubercuJos fuertes; aunque el tercer par de setas dorsales propodoso~~'e5, el par de setas humerales, el par de setas sacras exteriores y las setas clunales son muy cortas y ampl ¡ame~te espatuladas. Las dos setas propodosomales anteriores son de~9adas pero más cortas t como f' ... !pinosus (Pritchard & Baker. 1955).A. shultzI fue reportado en Argentina sobre higuertlla, en Brasil sobre papaya-~--:¡:¡:f')Ol. rr.amoncíl10 y otros hospederos incluyendo la yuca (Paschoal, 1970b); Zuluaga (1971). reportó esta especl. para Colombia sobre hojas de escoba (Sida rombhlfolia L.).Estos ácaros se presentaron en los cultivares de yuca del CIAT, Palmira {Tabla 1) ~ sobre plantas viejas yen las ramas débiles de la parte baja de la planta. La población presente fue muy baja encontrándose hembras y machos. Los ácaros presentan una coloración verde oscura. Local izados en el haz foliar, donde colocan ¡os huevos a1 lado de las nervadurasj estos huevos tienen forma semiesferka, con la parte superior plana y con un ápice central en forma de bastoncillo. InIcialmente el huevo es cdstal ¡no, to rnandose opaco.El g~nA¡-\" es similar al OlY90nychus. pero se caracteriza por las presencia de un par de setas anales y un par de setas para-anales. Las setas dorsales del idlosoma son fuertes y están colocadas sobre tubérculos (Meyer, 1974).El género Atricho roctus, con A, unclnatus como la especie tipo fue descrito por F etc Dic.17.1967).Livschitz (Dic. 196]). descrlb16 el generó Acostanychus de Cuba. con A.salinasi como la especie tipo, Estos dos g~neros parecen ser el mismo teniendo empadro en forma de garra, ~n par de setas anales y un par de setas para-anales. La especie cubana tiene un par de setas clunales sencillas y en posicf6n ventral yen la especie brasileña las setas clunaJes son despuntadas, aserradas y están en posicion caudal. Fletchmann & Baker (1970), señalaron que estos dos géneros son slnonimos.El ácaro fúe colectado en Brasil sobre Rhododendron indicum, Desmodfun sp. y Quercus sp. (Flechtmann & Baker, 1970;1975). En Cuba fue colectado de ~auhinia galplnia (Livschitz & Salinas, 1968).InicIalmente esta especie se presentó en el CIAT, Palmira. 1979 (Tabla n, sobre las plantas de yuca en condiciones de invernadero y posteriormente se ha observado en el campo. Ocurre sobre el haz fol iaf en las hojas desarrolladas. Son de color oscuro, colocan los huevos de color marron bri lIante en el haz especialmente al lado de la nervadura central j son $ubglobulados con un ápice dorsal.El género se caracteriza porque el tarso no posee empodio, fa garra es una pequeña protuberencia redondeada en forma de almohadíJ la (Jeeppson et .1, 1975;Meyer, 1974). Las setas dobles del tarso 1 y II típicas de la famil ia no están presentes aunque el tarso I lleva dorsal mente un par de setas asociadas. ampl íamente separadas y que son probablemente homólogas con uno de los pares de setas dobles; aunque los alveólos de estas setas no son coalescentes. En la hembra hay dos pares de setas anales y dos pares de setas para-anales (Lívschitz &- Sal ¡nas, 1968;Meyer, 1974) pares de setas para-anales; tarso I con setas dobles contiguas; empodio con tres pares de pelos próximoventales; estrías longitudinales entre el tercer par de setas dorsocentrales histerosomales y las setas dorsales del idiosoma pueden estar sobre pequeños o tenues tubérculos. Los lobulos de las estrías pueden ser promInentes; las estrías pueden ser reticuladas (Jeppsson et al, 1975;Meyer & Rodr1guez, 1966). !10nonychellus bondari (Paschoal) ~~nonychus bonclari (Paschoal) Mononychel1us bonaar1 (Flechtmann & Sakarl, Se caracteriza porque en fa hembra las setas dorsocentrales histerosomales son largas. similares a las otras setas y mas alargadas que la mitad de Jos intervalos longitudinales entre sus bases; tercer par de setas dorso~ centrales histerosomales una y media veces más largas qut:: el primer par de setas y un tercio más largas que el segundo par (Paschoal. 1970b;1971a).Setas dorsales pubescentes, colocadas en pequeños tuberculosj tibial con 9 setas táctiles y una seta sensorial (Flechtmann, 1978). Esta especie fué encontrada en Brasil (Paschoal, 1970a), en yuca. Urueta (1975)  Las setas dorsales de este ácaro son cortas, pubescentes~ clavadas y estan colocadas sobre pequeños tuberculos. los tres pares de setas dorsocentrales SOn muy cortas. clavadas, similares en lonQitud~ v no están sobre tubérculos; tienen menos de la mitad de la longitud de los intérvalos entre sus bases. Setas dorsolaterales igual de cortas pero más largas que las setes dorsoeentrales. las demás son más largas1 espatuladas y sobre tubér-cuJos, principalmente las setas sacras y clunales.En Colombia esta especie fue reportada por el ICA (1976) en yuca y en este mismo cultivo en Arboletes~ Antioquía (ICA, 1979). taMbién fúe reportado en la Isla de San Andrés (Urueta,1978)*. Estudios real izados por CIAT en 'a costa norte de Colombia sobre resistencia a 105 ácaros en yuca, Indican la presencia de esta especie en San Juan del Cesar y Fonseca (Guajira) (Tabla 1).Este ácaro es d~ color verdoso; en Venezuela (Quiroz~ 1977)! se le conoce con el nombre común de ácaro amarll 10 de la yuca. Se Jocal fza de preferencia en la parte superior de ta planta. Los srntomas son sfmilares a los causados por ~. tanajoá.La hembra de esta especie tiene las setas dorsales del Idlosoma largas. fuertes, aserradas y distalmente poco redondeadas; cOlocadas sobre tuberculos tedas de igual longitud menos el primer y tercer par de setas propodorsoma les y setas humerales, que son más cortas. Tibia I con 8 setas táctiles y una seta sensorial (Flechtmann. 1978).fue descrita en Brasil sobre Phyllanthus yen Argentina sobre Cassia (Flechtmann, 1978). En yuca ha sioo reportaaa en Ven'ezuela (Bellotti & $choonhoven, 1978) y Trinidad {Vaseen & Bennet. 1978). En Colombia, Urueta (1975) la halló en Dosmedi\", spp Sida spp. y yuca en los municipios de Apartadó,Cáceres, Cocorná y San Jerónimo en Antioquia. El CIAT ha regístrado la presencia en varios sitios del Valle del Cauca (Tabla 1), Los ácaros de esta especie presentan una coloración verdosa, huevos 1 igeramente achatados con un ápice dorsal. Se local izan en la parte superIor de la planta; las poblaciones se presentan bajas y generalemente se encuentran asociado con M.Mononyche11us ta~ajoa, (Sondar)Mononychellus tanajoa, Flechtman & Baker las principales características de esta especie son: Hembras con setas dorsocentrales hísterosomaJes cortas. clavadas y con una longitud menor que la mitad de los espacios longitudinales entre sus bases; tercer par de setas dorsocentrales aproximadamente una y Medía veces más largas que los dos pare!.'i anter'Íores; setas dorsocentrales aproxImadamente dos veces más largas que las setas dorsocentrales (PaschoaJ, 1971a).Esta especie es nativa de las Américas flonde ha sído reportada en va~ rios pafses (Flechtmann, 1978;Vaseen and Bennett, 1978) también ha sido registrada en Africa (Hyi ira, J978) I en donde probablemente se introdUjO * Comunicación personar. alreoedor de '970, pero pudo haber estadQ presente antes y haberse disemi~ nado rápidamente como resultado de las condiciones ambientales favorables (Bellatt; & Schoonhoven, 1978), Generalmente se ha encontrado en yuca, pero también ocurre en Manihot Nyifra, 1973;197;1978). Escasamente ha sido reportada en otras plantas tales como Vitoda, Tomate y Cidrayota. {Tuttle et al, 1977a}Esta especie ha sido reportada en Colombia sobre yuca por el ICA (1976) y Urueta (T975) en los municipios de Bello, Guatapé y San Jerónimo t en el departamento de Antloquia.Como resultado de las investíqaciones del CIAT se ha encontrado esta es~ecie en vados Jug,:;res de Colombia {Tabia 1).Esta especie, conocida con el nombre comun de ácaro verde de, la yuca, presenta una coloración verde o a~arillo verdoso, huevo ligeramente achata~ do con un ápice dorsal y de color cristal ino opaco. Se 1 oc,:; 1 iza en la par~ te apical de la planta y su daño es más notorio en el cogol lo, yemas y hojas jóvenes. Las hojas presentan puntos amarillos y p'¡'erden su color verde normal desarrollando una apariencia de mosaico. En ataques severos los brotes pierden su color verde, hay gran reducción del área foliar, los ta~ 1105 terminales se escarifican; primero se tornan áspel~os y de color marrón y eventualmente ocurre muerte descendente.El género se caracteriza porque los ác,:;ros t ¡enen empodio con una uña fuerte bien desarrollada, el cual puede ser igualo mas largo que los pelos próximoventrales; en algunas especies el empodío ¡ y II del macho puede llevar dos espolones próximoventrales en lugar de los próximoventralesj. un par de setas para-anales y dos pares de setas anales estan presentes (Jeeppson et al, 1975;Meyer, 1974), El adulto es de color rojo pero los estado jóvenes presentan un cotor verde oscuro. Huevos con la parte superior ligeramente plana. Se encontraron hembras y machos de esta especie.Tet ranychus pe ruv i anus j Me GregorParatetranychus trin!tat¡s. Hirst.Los ácaros de esta especie presentan el cuerpo casi desnudo, setaS dorsajes del cuerpo cortas y lanceoiadas estrías longitudinales entre el tercer par de setas dorsocentrales histerosomales (Estebanes & Baker, 1966).El O. peruvianus se ha encontrado sobre sauce, algodón uva. algarrobo y trébol; ;n el Perú. Trinidad, Guátemala y México (Estebanes & I::$aker ' , 1966) En Ecuador (Mc Gregor, 1954/55), se ha reportado en yucca, 10 cual no es muy claro porque se sabe si se refiere a Vucea sp. (trI lacea) o a yuca (manihot esculenta). Se ha reportado sobre yü•ca en Costa Rica (Salas, 1978) yen Trinidad (Yasoen and Bennet, 1978). En Colombia esta.especie solamente se ha registrado en yuca {!CA.1976; Urueta, 1975L Calle y Ríos {1976L reportaron esta especie en cultivos de yuca en zonas de los departamentos de Quindio. Risaralda y C31das, observándola como plaga de importancia económica en el Departamento de Risaralda. El CIAT ha registrado esta especie en diversos sitios de Colombia (Tabla 1), en Atlántfco, Cauca, Magdalena. Meta, Tol ima t Valle del Cauca y Quindio.Esta especie es de color verdoso y se reconoce en el campo porque se localiza al lado de las nervaduras y bordes en el envés de las hojas formando pequeñas capas de telaraña, debajo de las cuales vive y se al imenta, causando puntuaciones notorias de color amarillo o marrón sobre el haz foliar, que corresponde al área delimitada por la telaraña del envés de ¡as hojas inferíores. El macho no está en capacidad de produCir telaraña.El género Tetranychus contiene algunas de las especies de ácaros más destructtvas para la agricultura. Generalmente Tos ácaros de este genero se local izan en el envés de las hojas en el cual se al ¡mentan.Muchas especies pueden producir gran cantidad de telaraña. Las especies de las regiones tropicales son de celor carmín o roj izo. Los huevos 50n cristal ¡nos opacos, aperlados , esféricos y I ¡sos.El género se conoc.e por el empodio rayado~ por la ampl ia separacíón de las setas dobles y por la presencia de un solo par de setas para-anales. Las setas dorsales del idfosoma son largas y delgadas, no están sobre tubérculos. Puede ser dividido en grupos basados en el tipo de estriación dorsal del perfil es de importancia específica  Urueta (1975), registra para Colomb¡a esta especie en cítricos. cocotero, guanábana, maracuya , nOlí, palma africana y yuca.La hembra tiene la seta táctil del tarso I proxlma a la seta doble (Jeapson et al, 1975) y espolones empodiales grandes. El eje de la protuberancia del edeago está paralelo al eje del cuerpo central. al ángulo anterior es corto y agudo mientras que el ángulo posterior agudo es considerablamente :ná::. largo ( Estebanes & Baker. 1966).Tetranychus bimaculatus~ Harvey Esta especIe se conoció con muchos nombres comunes, que tuvieron referencia a un complejO, incluyendo T. cinnabarinus (BoisduvaJ). ahora consideradas como especies separadas ya que difieren en su biolos-in y morfología.Este complejo ha incluído cerca de 59 sinónimos. cada uno descrito de hos• pederos diferentes y de distintas partes del mundo ( Jeppson et al, 1975), El color de la Ilenbra de T. urticae es v~rdcso o am~rillo verdoso con una mancha negra a ambos lados de la linea media dorsal del ídiosoma, Tiene setaS largas y delgadas. Estrías dorsales con lóbulos semi-oblongos. El edeago y otras características del macho y la hembra sor. similares a las de l. cinnabarinus (Meyer, 1974). La ~e~bra es de forma ovoide y globosa, con huevos lisos esféricos cristal ¡nos ligeramente opacos, cambiando a un tono nacarado a medída que avanza el proceso de incubación. El nacho es piriforme, En Colombia se ha reportado como una de las especies m §s severas en vartos cultivos tales como aguacate, alfalfa, zapate, cebolla, crisantemo, fresa, fríjol, papayo, yuca y otros (ICA, 1976;Urueta, 1975). En el departamento de Antloquia, Urueta, 1975. lo reportó sobre yuca en los municipios de Bello, la Unión, Copacabana. El Carmen, El Retiro, La Ceja. Me-del1ín. San Gerónimo, Sopetrán y Santa Barbara. En varios pafses han sido reportada esta especie en yuca (Aran da y Flechtmann, 1971;González: & Flechtmann, 1977;Madison, 1973;Yaseen & Bennet, 1977;1978). El CIAT registró esta especie sobre yuca en el Valle del eauca; Palmi ra (CIAT) t La Zapata y Golondrinas (Tabla 1). los ácaros se localizan en el envés de ¡as hojas y tiene preferencia por la parte basa' de la planta llegando a cubrir toda la planta. Cuando las poblaciones son bajas se encuentran en la base de las hojas y a los lados de las nervaduras, pero cuando la población aumenta se distribuyen en toda la hoja incluyendo el haz, formando colonias compactas y observándose gran cantidad de teTarana. El daño se inicia con pequeñas puntuaciones amarillas que se hacen más notorias dependiendo del hospedero y el aumento de la población. Forman zonas necr6ticas que pueden cubrir toda fa hoja. con encrespamiento y por último caída prematura de ellas.Los tenuipálpidos o falsas arañitas son ácaros fitófagos de tamaño muy pequeño, de 200 a 350 micras de longitud, cuerpo aplanado y 1 ígeramente alargado, de patas cortas y arrugadas. lo cual hace que sus. movimientos sean lentos. Generalmente son de color anaranjado o rojizo con pequeñas manchas negras O verdes y fuertemente deprimidos en sentido dorso-ventral (González, 1968) .Se caracterizan por tener pelos sensoriales en ras uñas tarsa!es y en los empodios, quelíceros recurvados en forma de l §tígo~ dentro de un estilóforo. No poseen uña en los palpos y la tráquea consiste en dos tubos dirigidos anteriormente, los cuales terminan en bulbos simples (Jeppson et al 1975) .En las patas tienen setas sensoriales en los extremos distales de los tarsos I y I1 de la hembra) la cual tiene siempre dos en el tarso I y uno o dos en eJ tarso 11; el macho posee un par de setas sensoriales tanto en el tarso t como en el 11. Las uñas tarsales pueden ser en forma de gancho o almohadi 11as con pelos sensoriales (Jeppson et al J 19-75).La quetotaxia dorsal varía entre géneros y especies. Hay tres pares de setas propodosomales, pero el nümeto de setas en el histerosoma puede veriar. Generalmente hay tres pares de setas dorso-hísterosomaies pero uno o dos pares pueden faltar; generalmente el par de setas humerales están presentes; nay también cinco o siete pares de setas dorso-laterales~ una serie de setas dor~o-sublaterales de una a cuatro pares pueden estar entre las setas dorsolaterales y dorso-centrales. Las setas dorso-sub latera les es~ tán generalmente en 1 fneq longitudinal, pero pueden estar desplazadas (Jeppson et al, 1975).Ventralmente es importante conocer el namero de setaS médlo-ventrales del podosoma, especíalmente en las especíes Tenuipalpus y Oollchotetranychus, donde varía el número de setas en la parte anterior y posterior. En la zona ventral del opistosoma de la hembra hay una placa genital característica, generalmente con dos pares de setas posteriores. El macho difiere normal~ente de la hembra por tener htsterosooa más angosto, el cual generalmente lo lleva más levantado al caminar. las hembras depositan los nuevos aislados o en grupos al lado de las nervaduras, estos son ovalados. estriados y brillantes (Jeppson et al. 1975;González, 1968).Los tenulpálpldos están agrupados en 15 generoso La mayorra de las especies no son de Importancia econ6mfca porque ocurren en plantas no cultivadas, o debido a que sus poblacfones permanecen por debajo de los nfve~ les de daño económico. Pocas especies son de importancia económfca. En Colombia se han reportado dos g~neros: Brevr'palpus y 001 ichotetranychus. los géneros Brevlpalpus y Tenuipalpus son los Que más nómero de especies contienen (Gonz5iez, 1968;Jeppson et al, 1975).Brevipalpus Oonnadieu las especies poseen cuatro segmentos en el palpo. Hay 5 Ó 6 pares de setas dorso-laterales nisterosonales; setas dorso-sublateraies no están presentes; la placa genital de la hembra es generalmente cuadrada o rectangular. con una placa ventral anterior. Ei cuerpo es oval y posteriomente angosto (Baker & Pritchard, 1960;Jeppson et al, 1975).Tenulpalpus phoenicís,GeiJskes Brevi~~~ phoenic(5~Pritchard & Baker Esta especie tiene cinco pares de setas dorsoJaterales histerosomales cortas, más las setas humerales. Hay dos sensorios en el tarso 1I y un par de poros histerosomales. El área dorso-central del propodosoma está cubierta con una reticulación típica y el área dorso-central del hísterosoma tiene estrías irregulares. Es especie está dlstribufda a traves de todo el mundo y se al ¡menta de una gran variedad de plantas (Flechtmann. 1978).El ICA (1976) reportó esta especie en cítricos, guayaba~ papaya, vid y zapateo En vados países se ha registrado esta especie en yuca (Carmona, 1967/68;Flechtmann 1978;Paschoal, 1971b). Este ácaro se registró en los cuitivares de yuca del CIAT (Tabla 1). la población es mvy baja, por 10 tanto no se observa ningún tipo de daño. Se encuentran en el envés de las hojas desarrolladas, tIenen un color rojizo, con huevos ovalados de color rojo brillante.E ri ophy ¡ dae Na 1 epa los eriófidos so~ ácaros fitófagos de tama~o micro$c6pico y vermifor~ me. Generalmente se al ¡mentan de brotes, inflorescencias, hojas y frutos de diversas plantas; en la mayoría de los casos dependen de tejidos que de~ ben permanecer vivos para continuar su al imentación. El dai\"io producido en los tejidos provoca una prol iferación de los pelos hipertrofiados (erino'\" sis), deformación de hojas y brotes y produce/So de agallas (acarocecidias) Los eriófidos presentan dos pares de patas en el estado ninfal y en el adulto. El cuerpo está dividido en ef gnatosúma. el propodosoma y el histerosoma.La forma oecutiar del aparato bucal y la poca longitud de los estfle'\" tes contribuyen a que muchos ácaros de esta familia sean vectores effcientes de \"í rus.Presentan una serie de setas histerosomales; seta lateral tanasomal, primera seta ventral tanasomal. segunda seta ventral tanasomal, tercera seta ventral telosomal. seta caudal y seta accesoria.Los eriófidos se desarrollan part ¡endo del estado de huevo, pasando por dos instares ninfales hast~ IleQar a la for~a adulta. Los machos estan presentes en la población pero no copulan. La genitalia es proxrmal. los machos producen ~spermatóforos pedunculados que depositan en la superficie vegetal; las hembras vírgenes al encontrar un espermatóforo de un macho de su misma especie se coloca sobre esta, abre el escudo genital y re~ coge la masa espermática del espermatóforo (Flechtmann. 1972; Jepsson et al 197,: Urueta, 1980).Varias especies de Eriophydae se han reportado en Colombia en cultivos como algodonero, anonáceas, manzano, vid. cocotero, guanabano. cacaotero, mallgo, pasifloráceas, zapote, peral, guayabo, cítricos, durazno) palma africana, tomate de árbol y rosal (Urueta, 1980, ICA, 1976).Recientemente se ha observado el ácaro Calacarus sp de la familia Eriophydae en 105 cultivares d. yuca del CIAT-Palmira (Tabla 1); Sus poblaciones se han ido fncrementando rápidamente permi t ¡endo detectar su pre'\" sencía en las hojas basales de las plantas. aunque se nan observado varie~ dades con alta poblacfón cubriendo toda la planta.Los ácaros están sobre el haz foliar y su presenCIa se detecta porque el haz se observa cubíerto de un polvi110 blanco o ceniza, que corresponde a las exuvias. Aparentemente no Cdusan necrosamiento del tejido, pero en variedades eón alta población se observa amar! Ilamiento general.Los ácaros no se observan a simple vista, pero observador en el estereoscopio presentan forma cuneiforme t con dos pares de patas, típTcas de la fami11a; un par de seudopatas caudales. Estos Scaros presentan una colo'\" ración grisácea, De acuerdo a reVISiones de literatura en la primera vez que un Eriophydae se presenta en yuca.  la yuca es comunmente cultivada para la subsitenc;a de los agricultores él través de las regiones tropicales del mundo. Historicamente, la yuca ha sido vista COrJK) un \"cultivo rústico ll , generalnfante 1 ibre de artro\" podos plagas. Aunque los rendimientos experimentales han excedido 70 tIna, (cIAr) y 1.5 producciones comerciales en Colombia han sida hasta de 40 t/ha el promedio mundial es apenas 10-IS t/ha. Estas cifras indican que hay varios factores limitantes de la producci6n, siendo las plagas uno de los más importantes.En general. la literatura na reporta buenos datos sobre pérdídas económicas. puesto que se han hecho estimativos visuales para calcular las reducciones en rendimiento causadas por las plagas. En el CfAT se han realizado estudios sobre pérdidas en rendimiento, como ayuda en la identificación Qe prioridades en el programa de investigación con este cultivo. El presente trabajo discute esos resultados y analiza las posibles causas fisiológicas de esas reduccrones. Se ha hecho énfasis en el dano de las plagas a la parte aérea de la planta, aunque también se presentan algunos resultados sobre las p~rdldas causadas por l. mala calidad del material de siembra. Se hace la comparación entre las plagas que defol ian O producen algún dafio por un perroda corta de tiempo (gusano cachón, mosca de la fruta, maSca del cogollo) y aquellas que atacan 1. planta por un largo perroda (ácaros, thrips, moscas blancas, escamas).La mayor diversidad de la yuca ocurren en las A~ricas (Bellotti & Schoonhoven, 1977;Bellotti, 1978), centro de origen del cultivo. Dentro de las plagas mayores reportadas unicamente en las Américas figuran el gusano cachón, Erlnnyis ello (l). los thripst Frankllniella willíamsi Hood, los chinches de encaje, Vatiga manihotae Drake y y. flludens Orake, la * Eotomólogo, Asociado de Investigación y Asistente de Investrgación Programa de Yuca, CIAT. mosca blanca, Aleurotrachelus social is Bondar y las moscas de la fruta Anastrepha píckeli Costa lima. Ninguna de las plagas mencionadas anteriormente ha sIdo reportada en Asia y Africa.Hasta ahora, unas pocas plagas especfficas de la yuca han sido diseminadas a otras áreas. En aftas recientes, sin embargo, dos plagas importantes. el ácaro verde Mononychel1us tanaioa Bondar y el piojo harinoso Phenacoccus manihoti Matile~Ferrero fueron introducidos inadvertidamente en Africa donde han sído reportados causando serias pérdfdas en rendímlen'\"' to (leuschner & Nwanze, 1978;Ny;lra, 1976). El piojo harrnoso trene altos niveles de control natural en las Américas; raz6n por la cual no está reportado causando reducciones mayores en el rendimiento. la escama blanca~ Aonydomitilus albus Cockereli, se encuentra en casi todas las regiones yuqueras del mundo y puede causar pérdidas en el material de siembra ya que reduce la germinación de las estacas y por consiguien~ te disminuye los rendimientos.las bases fisiológicas para expl icar pérdidas en rendimiento en yuca ocasionadas por insectos y §caros plagas han sIdo exploradas por Cock (1978), quien establece que la yuca puede ser más tolerante al ataque de plagas que otros cultivos debido a la falta de perradas críticos en la producción. Una vez establecida la planta, el crecimiento de ésta puede ser determ{nado completamente en casi cualquier estado de desarrollo sin afectar los órganos en formación responsables del rendimiento -engrosamiento de las raíces. las plagas pueden causar da~ a la yuca por reducción del Srea y de la rata fotosíntétrca, resultando en disminucfón del rendimiento; por ataque a los tallos, la planta se debil fta e inhibe el transporte de nutrientes y por ataque al materfal de siembra. el cual reduce la germinación. Los ácaros e insectos que ataca la yuca también reducen la cantidad y cal ¡dad del material de siembra de estas pJantas t afectando así los rendimientos. los insectos tierreros que atacan las estacas, producen heridas o huecos a través de los cuales los patdgenos del suelo pueden entrar; dichos insectos también pueden destrurr completamente la epidermrs ylo las yemas de las estacas.PLAGAS QUE CAUSAN DA~D ECONOMICO Acsros Las especies de mayor importancia económica est~n representados por Hononychellus tanajoa (Sondar), Tetran~chus urticae Koch y 01igonychus peruvianus {Me Gregor}. Una descripclon detallada del da~o causado fue presentada por Bellottl & Schoonhoven (1977, 1978). Los ácaros causan dano principalmente durante la época de verano, ya que estaS condiciones ambientales son favorables para su desarrollo, permitiendo así que los niveles de población alcancen niveles altos~ la duración del ataque depende de la duración de la época de verano y de la cantidad de al ¡mento disponible. la continua al imentacj6n puede conducí r a la defoJ ¡ación y la rata foto,!nt\"tica se reduce (Cock, 1978). Nylira (1976), reportan pérdidas en rendimiento hasta el 46% causadas por M. tanaJoá en parcelas experimentales en Uganda.-En condiciones experimentales de campo en el CIAT y en presencia de un complejo de 4 especies de ácaros ataques son mas frecuentes durante la época de verano pero las plantas se recuperan con la iniciación de la época de lluvias. F. wi I f iamsi. parece ser la especie de mayor Importancia económica; este ¡ñsecto ataca los terminales de la planta; las hojas no se desarrollan normalmente; los fol ¡olos se deforman y presentan manchas clorotlcas irregulares, los cogollos pueden morir, con 10 cual se destruye la dominancía apical permitiendo así el desarrollo de los brotes laterales, 105 cuales a su turno también pueden ser atacados dando una apariencia de escoba de bruja (Bellott¡ & Schoonhoven, 1977), El ataque de thrips no tiene COroo resultado la defoliación pero sí la reducción del área fotosrntética.En CIAr el rendimiento se redUjO entre 5.6 y 28.4% dependiendo de la su,ceptibilidad de la varIedad (Schoonhoven & Peña, 1976, 1978). Como consecuenCia de un ataque de thrips que dur6 cerca de 3 meses, la reducción promedio para ocho variedades fu~ 17.2%Varias especies de escamas han sido ídentiffcadas atacando tallos, ramas y follaje en yuca en muchas reglones de las Américas, Asia y Africa (BelJotti & Schoonhoven, 1978). la especie más importante y universal es A. albus.Las hojas de los tallos y/o ramas se tornan amarillas y caen; en ataques severos en plantas jóvenes, ocurre achaparramiento, el terminal puede morir y los tallos se pueden secar, causando la muerte de la planta.L¡s escamas pueden estar presentes durante todo el aRo pero sus ataques son más severos durante la época de verano; a9rav~ndose asf por la intensidad de la sequTa. Aunque el mayor dafio producído por el ataque de escamas parece Ser la pérdida del material de siembra estudios en CIAT han mostrado reducción en rendimiento cuando las poblaciones de escamas son continuamente altas. En una evaluación se usó un sistema de clasificación así: O~ para plantas con considerable follaje y la no presencia de escamas 6 unas pocas en los tallos; 1, redocción en el follaje y las escamas cubriendo menos del 50% de la superficie del tallo; y 2, severa defotfación. muerte de terminales y las escamas cubriendo completamente la superficie del tal 10.-Se cosecharon cien plantas correspondientes a cada grado de daño y se tomo el peso de las raíces. los daños se correlacionaron con las reducciones en rendimiento. Según los resultados ocurri6 una pérdida en rendimrento de 4% para las plantas con grado 1, Y de 19% para aquellas con grado 2; esto último representa en este caso una pérdida de 3 tIna.Mosca Blanca la mosca blanca ataca el cultivo de la yuca en las A~ricas, Africa y ciertas partes de Asta. No hay reportes en la 1 iteratura de pérdidas en rendímiento debido al daño directo por la acción de alimentarse. la especie Bemicfa tabaci (Genn) es de particular importancia, sIn embargo, este insecto es el~r del mosaico africano de la yuca el cual se encuentra en India y Africa.En ciertas regiones de Colombia, se encuentran altas poblaeiones de Aleurotrachel Jus social ís durante todo el año. El daño en las variedades susceptibles se manifíesta por un moteado y/o enrollamiento de las hojas, siendo este un daño muy similar al mosaico africano. También puede ocurrir el amarillarniento de las hojas y deformación de los terminales en crecimiento, además la formación de fumagína~ la cual se desarrolla con las excreciones azucaradas del insecto. En infestaciones severas, la caída de las hojas bajeras pueden ocurri r.Se realízó una evaluación sobre ei efecto dei ataque de mosca blanca en tres variedadas de yuca (eMe 57, eMe 40 y M /\\ex 59), las cuales fueron tratadas con monocrotophos cada 10 dras hasta la época de cosecha. Las poblaciones de mosca blanca se presentaron durante todo el año. las plantas tratadas presentaron grados de población y pupas más bajas y un mayor rendimiento que las plantas no tratadas (Ver parte, daño econ5m¡co causado por moscas blancas).El frinnyls ello en sus estados larvales es un voraz consumidor de fol1aJe y es considerado generalmente como una de las más importantes plagas de la yuca en las Am~rJcas. Su habilIdad para causar rápidas defoliaciones en las plantaciones causa alarma entre los cultivadores de yuca.En un cultivo comercial en Co1ombia, sembrado con la variedad Chiro2a de alto potencial de rendimiento~ se presentd un ataque muy severo; ~ parcelas completamente defol radas fueron comparadas con un igua1 número de plantas sin ataque. las p1antas tenran 3 meses de edad cuando ocurrió el ataque siendo estas cosechadas a los 12 meses de edad del cultivo. El rendimiento promedio de las plantas no atacadas fué de 4.58 Kg/planta 1 mientras que las defol iadas rindieron 3.75 Kg/planta.Este 18% de pérdida fué equivalente a 6 t/ha en esa finca. Ataques repetidos resultarían en pérdidas mayores al 45%.~sca de 1 a Fruta las moscas de la fruta Anastrepha pickeli y~. manihoti fueron o~i~í nalmente reportadas atacando el fruto donde ellas no causan daAo economlco Sin ~mbargo los adultos también depositan 10s huevos en las partes apicales tiernas de los talios en crecimiento y la larva inIcia su daño como barrenador. Además un patógeno bacterial (Erwlnia caratovora, Pv. caratovora) frecuentemente se encuentra en asocíacion con la larva, la cual puede causar pudrición en los tejidos del tallo. Ataques severos pueden causar retardo y muerte de las yemas terminales en crecimiento, retrasándose el crecimiento de la planta y favoreciendo el desarrollo de las yemas laterales (Bellotti & Peña, 1978). Esto muestra que las plantas de yuca pueden recuperarse rápidamente del daño causado por la mosca de la fruta, cuando existe una buena distribución de las lluvias. Plantas que estaban severamente atacadas cuando tenían 3 meses de edad fueron comparadas con plantas sanas durante un período de 6 meses. Medidas de altura de las plantas mostraron que a los 5 meses las plantas atacadas se habrían recuperado i alcanzando la misma altura Que las no atacadas (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, 1977). No hubo diferencia signíficat¡va en rendimiento entre plantas atacadas y no atacadas; sin embargo, hubo considerable diferencia en la cal ¡dad de estacas (CIAT, Ta51a 3). las parcelas tratadas produjeron entre qQ y 50% más estacas de buena cal ¡dad que las no tratadas.El daño causado por la mosca del cogol lo ha sido observado en la mayoría de ¡as regiones yuqueras de las Américas, pero no ha sido reportado en Africa ni en Asia.Aunque hay muchas otras plagas que atacan la yuca, hay pocos datos disponíbles concerniente a su efecto sobre el rendimiento de rarees y del material de sIembra (Tabla 2 y 3). Muchos insectos atacan el material de siembra, causando pérdida en germinacíón 10 cua1 puede reducir el rendimiento si muchas plantas son destruidas, Estas plagas incluyen chlzes, (Phyllophaga .p., Leuco 1 holls rorlda) (Fabricius), Tierreros (Prodenia, spp., Agrotís ips,ton} Hufnagel}, Lagochirus spp. y termitas. Entre las plagas que atacan el follaje estan las hormigas; el piojo harinoso (Phenacoccus manihoti) Townsend • Cockerel 1; chinche de encaje (V.tiga manihotae J V. ¡lludens) y saltamontes. El piojo harinoso P. manfhoti está reportado causando p~rdidas hasta 80% en ciertas partes de~fríca (Herren COmo per.).la yuca es un cultivo de período vegetativo largo, de 8 a 2q meses según la variedad y las condiciones ambientales. Este cultivo tiene un nivel de daño económico alto; varíedades vrgorosas pueden perder conside\"\" rabie follaje (40% ó más). y hay períOdOS en los cuales la planta puede tolerar defol ¡ación más alta sin una reducción sfgniffcatrva en el rendí\"\" miento. Estos dos factores son Importantes en la relación entre daño de plagas y la reduccion del rendimiento en yuca. Como es un cultivo de un período vegetativo largo, la planta es continuamente atacada por un grupo de plagas que causan diferentes tipos de daño. Los ataques más severos generalmente ocurren durante la época de verano cuando el efecto por el daño de la plaga esta combinado con la rntensidad de la sequía. Aunque hay algunas plagas que atacan el cultivo durante la ~poca de l1uvías J este período hace que la planta se recupere~ usualmente permitiendo un crecimiento vigoroso.Los experimentos descritos en esta publicación muestran que algunos artropodos plagas reducen los rendimientos (Tabla 2); La mdgnitud de la reduccíón esta influenciada por las condiciones ambíentales. fertil ¡dad del suelo, edad de la planta, tipo de daño y duración del ataque.Aquellas plagas que atacan la parte aérea de la planta por un período prolongado reducen más Jos rendimIentos que aquellos que defolian o dañan la planta por un perrodo corto (Tabla 4). Basados en los datos de campo y simulación en el computador. Cock (1978). dice que \"pérdidas relativamente menores en rendimiento son el resultado de pequeña disminución en el área fol ¡ar\", De otra forma los rendimientos son severamente reducidos cuando la longevidad de la hoja es reducida y la rata fotosintética es reducida.Los resultados de experimentos previamente presentados tienden a sustentar esas conclusiones. Los ataques por plagas tales como la mosca de la fruta y del cogollo, las cuales destruyen las partes apicales de la planta, pero tienen poco efecto en la rata fotosintétíca, no resultan en pérdidas del rendimiento (Tabla 2). El daño por gusano cachón {consumo de fOllaje reduce el área foliar, pero como el ataque ocurre por un breve período, la planta produce nuevo follaje.La rata fotosintética se interrumpe por un breve período (1 a 2 semanas) en todo el ciclo vegetativo de la planta. En estudios de campo el rendimiento fué de 18% menos después del ataque. {Esto es interesante de mencionar ya que una pérdida de! 20% fué predicha por un modelo sImulado en computador para este típo de daño (Cock, 1978). los thrips reducen el área y número fol iar por un períOdo aproxiMado de 3 meses, reduciendo el rendimiento en un 17%. Las escamas causan un daño considerable en el tallo y las ramas debido a su al imentación contínua. La pérdIda en rendimiento en CIAT fue del 18%; esto sustenta las conclusiones de Cock en el sentido de que un daño severo a los tal los reduce el rendimiento.El efecto más negativo en el rendimiento parece ser causado por la reducción de la rata fotosíntetica durante todo el ciclo vegetativo (Ta~ bla 2). Los ácaros y las moscas blancas atacan el follaje por )arg05 períodos, durante los cuales la rata fotosintetica disminuye. Si la duración del ataque aumenta t el rendímiento decrece~ Cock (datos no publicados)j sugiere a partir de su modelo simulado en computador, que un 10% de reducción en fotosíntesis en un tipo de planta cercano al ideal, a través de su ciclo vegetativo resultará en un 20% menos en producción de rafees. Parece que la planta es capaz de recuperarse mejor de una rápida defoliación o de la muerte de sus cogo] los que de una contrnua reducción de la rata fotosintética por un largo período de tIempo. Entonces, plagas tajes como el chinche de encaje y el piojo harinoso, podrían causar consfderable pérdida en rendimiento, pero no han stdo suficientemente estudiados.Hay suficiente información de campo para demostrar que los ataques de ínsectos y ácaros pueden reducir drásticamente los rendimfentos en yuca. Varios factores parecen influenciar la relación plaga/cultivo, incluyendo las condiciones ambientales y la fertfl ¡dad del suelo. lluvias adecuadas permitiran a la planta recuperarse del daño, frecuentemente con una reducción mínima en el rendimiento.El t¡po de daño y la duración del ataque tambrén determina el grado de disminución en el renoímfento. Las evidencias muestran que las plagas que atacan la planta por un perrado prolongado (ácaros t mosca blanca, thrips y escamas). generalmente reducen mas los rendimientos que aquel los que atacan la planta por un corto período (gusano cachón. mosca del cogollo, mosca de la fruta). El tipo de daño más detrimente es la continua reducción de la rata fotosíntética.  Las moscas hlancas pertenecen al orden Homoptera y a la famil la Aleyrodidae la cual comprende 1156 especies en 1z6 géneros. La fami J ia Aleyrodidae tiene 3 subfamilias: Aleurodícinae, Aleurodinae y Udamoselinae. las moscas blancas son plagas tanto da plantas ornamentales como de cultivos. La distribucíón de las especies se sumariun en las siguientes nueve zonas zoogeográficas: PoJeártica, Etiope. Mada9ascar~ Oriental, Austro-Oriental, Austral Asiática, Pacffica, Neo~rtica y Neotropical.La clasificaci6n genérica de los Aleyrodidae está basada en la estruc• tura de 4! instar larval llamado pupa y no en 1as extructuras de Jos adultos. Desafortunadamente algunas especies de moscas blaocas son polífagas las cuales varían en apariencia de Sus cubiertas pupa les dependiendo de la forma de la cutícula de la planta hospedera sobre las cuaJes se desarrollao (Mound, 1963) Entre los cultivos atacados por moscas blancas tenemos la yuca en la cual las especies Aleurotrachelus social is Sondar, Bemisia tuberculatá, Bondar y Trialeurodes variabil ís causan daño económico.Los huevos de mosca blanca tienen un pedicelo el cual es insertado dentro del tejido de la hoja por el ovipositor de la hembra. Estos son generalmente colocados en el envés de la hoja. En unas especies de Aleurodicinae el pedicelo es más largo que el huevo y muchas especies de esta sub-faml1 ia depositan gran cantidad de cera alrededor de 105 huevos en forma de un espíral suelto como la huella de un dedo4 Algunas especies de la Aleyrodinae depositan sus huevos en un parcial o completo círculo.El primer instar larval son pequeños pero tienen relativamente patas y antenas largas. Ellos pueden arrastrarse activamente aunque ellos probablemente no abandonen la hoja sobre Ja cual ha emergido. Las patas y las antenas del 20, 3er. y 40. instar larval están atrofiadas y estos instares son inmóviles. El adulto se desarrolla dentro del 40. instar y este es co\" nocido como estado de pupa.La especie predomlna~t. en 1. Zona de Espinal (Tal ima) es Aleurotrachelus social ¡s. Estudios preliminares sobre su ciclo de vida mostraron que en estado de huevo dura 11.3 días; el primer instar 7.4 días, el segundo instar 5.3 dí.s. tercer Instar 5.8 días, pupa 10.6 días, yadulto 12 días (com. pers A.M.Varela). Muchas especies producen cantidades grandes de cera alrededor de 1as márgenes y sobre la superficie dorsal de la larva. En muchas especies el adulto emerge a través de una abertura en forma de T sobre la superficie dorsal de la pupa. De las pupas de las cuales han emergido parásitos pueden ser reconocídas por un círculo irregular el cual eS masticado por la emergencia del parásito.El polvi I lo blanco ceroso que cubre el cuerpo de muchas especies, en esta familia es secretado por unas glándulas ahdominales. Algunas especies tienen puntos negros en las alas, los cuales se desarrollan unas horas después de 1a emergencia y unas pocas especies no son blancas. La mosca negra de los cítricos Aleurocantnus woglumi, tiene alas negras y poca cera yalgunas especies de Aleurodicfnae tienen grabados en las alas. Unas especies no descritas de Oialeurodes en café al sur de Nigeria tienen alas rojas y Bemísia siffardi tiene alas amaril10 pál ido.Dos Hymenopteros fmitus aleurodinls Haldeman (Platygastridae) y Eretm>cerus aleurodipnaga (Riosbec) (Apnel inidae) nan sido reportadas parasitando pupas de mosca hlanca en yuca. E:.studíos realizados en CIAT-Palmira y en 1as regiones de Armenia y Caicedonia en 1978 se encontró un promedio de 56.12% de parasitismo en pupas de Aleurotrachelus socialis.  Siendo las moscas blancas una plaga potencial de mucha importancia económica en nuestros medios, hubo necesidad de 1 levar 1;1 cabo e~peíimentos en la granja experimental ICA-Nataima del Espinal (Tol ima), para buscar posibles fuentes de resistencia a este insecto. Se escogió dicho centro por presentar durante todo el año poblac'iones muy altas de roo:sca blanca.El daño directo del adul to consiste en un amaril lamiento y encrespamiento de las hojas apicales. El daño de las ninfas se manifiesta en pequeños puntos cloróticos y el dafio indirecto, tanto de adultos como ninfas, debido a sus excreciones, consiste en la presencia de un hongo soprófíto conocido comunmente como fumagina el cual hace que la capacidad fotosintética de la planta se reduzca.En 1976 se realizó la primera evaluación para la resitencia en la cual se uti I izarón 12 variedades. De estas algunas se mostraron aparentemente como susceptibles. intermedías y resistentes. El resul tado más interesante fue: la variedad que presentaba mayor grado de resistencia (cMe-57) fué la que presentó mayor disminucí6n en rendimiento y se esperaba todo lo contrario? a mayor resistencia menos disminución. El factor o factores que hacen que la planta no muestre ningGn sTntoma se desconocen hasta el presente.La disminución en rendimiento puede ser causada por la alimentación de los adultos y ninfas, 105 cuales se alimentan dcl floerna~ además dei da~o indirecto debido a la formación de fumagina sobre las excreciones de los adultos y ninfas en el haz de las hojas, reduciendo así la capacidad fotosintética de la planta.\"\" w ! m\"\"\"\" \" Se Ilev6 a cabo el anál isls de varIanza y el test de Duncan para cada uno de los fáctores; rendimiento. porcentaje de infestación para población y pupas, resultando altamente significativo para tratado Vs. no tratado para cada uno de los factores antes mencionados.Como conclusi6n general se tiene que la mosca blanca Aleurotrachelus sp. produce daño económico en diferentes porcentajes en el cultIvo de la yuca t dependiendo de 1a variedad (Tabla 1). Durante 1979 se colectaron muestras de moscas blancas en las localidades de Nataima (Espinal), CIAT Palmira y CIAT-QUILICHAO. Se encontraron 3 especies de moscas blancas atacando a la yuca al mismo tiempo, el 92.6% correspondió a la especie Aleurotrachelus social is, ~.6% a Trialeurodes variabilis y 2.8% a Bemisía tuberculata. Además en Espinal (Tol ima). se real izaron estudios para determinar las pérdidas en rendímiento en los cultivares de yuca CMC-40. M-Ven 218 y CMC-57 en 3 frecuencias de aplicacl6n 15, 30 y 45 dr.s con Monocrotophos (0.6 ce de I .a./l Itro H20). Dlmethoato (0.8 ce de i .a./litro H20) . la aplicación de Monocrotophos o de Dimethoato fue igualmente efectiva en disminuir las pOblaciones de moscas blancas y aumentar el rendimiento. los mayores rendimientos se obtuvieron cuando el Monocrotophos se epI icó cada 15 dras (Tabla 2). los resultados de este ensayo confirman que las reducciones del rendimiento causadas por moscas blancas pueden ser severas ya que se observó una máxima reducción de 68% para el cultivar M Ven 218 (Tabla 3) Se determinó el porcentaje de alf1lidón para las 3 variedades presentando diferencia sfgnrficativa entre las varíedades (Tabla 4). Para los tratamientos se hizo igualmente el test de Duncan, el cual mostró diferencias significativas para algunos tratamientos (Tabla 5).Durante 1980 se continuaron los estudios de.moscas blancas para tratar de determinar el porcentaje de dafio económico causado por ~. social is, ~. tuberculata y T. variabilis dependiendo de la duración del ataque y de la edad de la planta. Un prirrer experimento consistió en un mes de ataque de moscas blancas a diferentes edades del cultivo (1-10 meses) con el hibrido 305~122 el cual no presentó diferencia significativa entre las diferentes edades del cultivo para la variable rendimiento, pero si hubo dfferencia significativa de estas con r\"esr~cto al testigo. En cuanto al contenido de almidón no hubo diferencia signíficativa de los tratamientos respecto al testigo (Tabla 6).El número de estacas por planta presentó diferencia significativa entre tratamientos y de algunas de estas respecto al testigo. En general la producción de estacas a las diferentes edades de ataque fue buena, siendo el testigo de menor producción de estas.La no significativa diferencia en rendimiento entre cada edad del cultivo puede deberse a que la mosca blanca solo alcanza en un mes de ataque de 56.8% de su ciclo de vida, es decir no ocurre ni una generación completa, minimfzando de esta forma el daf'io potencial causado por la mosca blanca en su ciclo de vida completo.Para tener un mejor conOCIMiento sobre la duración del ataque y Su efecto sobre el rendrmiento, porcentaje de almidón y número de estacasl planta se hizo un ensayo con el H-305-122 hasta 10$ 11 meses de edad del cultivo. El insecticida utilizado fué Dimethoato (0.8 ce. ¡.a./litro H 2 0)Se observó una correlación negativa (-0.90) y altamente significativa de la duración def ataque respecto al rendimiento. Referente al porcentaje de almidón no hubo diferencia de los tratamientos respecto al testigo.El número de estacas por planta se redujo en un 60% en el testigo (tratamiento 11) respecto al control (Tratamiento O).El efecto de la duración del ataque respecto al rendiMiento fue significativo después de 3 meses de ataque, lo que nos induce a recomendar posiblemente apl icaciones cada 3 meses (Tabla 7). Se real izó el anál isis de costos para los diferentes tratamientos observándose diferentes rr¿rgenes de utilidad (Tabla 8), Realizando las 3 aplicaciones de insecticida daría un margen de utilidad bastante alto al agricultor.Aunque el control químico ha daño causado por moscas blancas, el método de control más eficente res¡stencla a las moscas blancas. sido efectivo en prevenir o reducir el generalmente se está de acuerdo en que sería desarrol lar material genético con Estos ataques se presentaron en el municfpio de Caicedonia (Va) Te) sobre 1 a variedad lICh i roza\"Ca 1 ¡ i naza\" y en Santander de Qu j 1 ichao (Cauca) sobre las variedades J1Barranqueña\" y IIVa11una ll , causando considerables pérdidas a los agricultores.El Oro T.J. Henry, del SEl-IIBIII en Washington, identificó esta chinche subterránea como Cyrtomenus be(9; Froeschner, en Marzo de 1981.Esta espec ie fue reportada por el I CA 3 , causandQ daños en cebo 11 a de bulbo (Al1 ium cepa l.) y posteriormente en maíz (Zea mayz L.) causando conside'r:iibleS\"d'afuj's (ICA,4).--~--Inmediatamente fue reportada como plaga en yuca, en la secClon de entoMOlogía del programa de yuca del CIAT, se iniciaron estudios sobre los aspectos biológicos del insecto, para posteriormente implementar prácticas tendientes a su control.El presente estudio se real Izó en el laboratorio de entomología del programa de yUCd, del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAl, bajo condiciones ambientales de 23°C temperatura promedia y 65% humedad relativa.Inicialmente a nivel de campo se recolectaron adultos, nfnfas y posturas del insecto plaga en el municipio de Ca icedonia. Para ello se rea-I izaron tres visitas a la región yen cada una de ellas se cosecharon alrededor de 20 a 30 plantas de yuca con edades comprendidas entre Tos 8 y los 10 meses.Tanto las chinches adheridas a las raíces cosechadas como las encontradas en el suelo t se colocaron en bandejas plásticas (33 x 17 x 10 cms) , que contenían muestras de suelo representativas de cada sitio-planta cosechada para tratar de garantizar también la presencia de posturas del insecto; además se les suministr6 como sustrato al ímenticio raíces de yuca y una moderada humedad para su preservación.Biología.A nivel de laboratorio. los adultos una vez separados de las ninfas, se confinaron en forma definitiva en las mismas bandejas que se util izaron para la recolección. Se les adicionó suelo franco-arenoso, simulando al de la zona mencionada, el cual se revisó a diario para la obtención de posturas, para así iniciar el estudio.Como sustrato alimenticio se les suministró, al igual que para el estudio de los demás estados de desarrOllo dei insecto. raíces de yuca variedad CMC-40, recortadas en tajadas de dos centímetros de espesor, las cuales se envo)v¡eron en papel plástico parafinado (\"farafilm H ) para conservarlas en buen estado por 8 a 10 días, cuando se renovaban. El suelo se mantenía con una humedad moderada.Para la extracción de las posturas existentes en el suelo se util izó la técnica recomendada por Matteson (5). Se real izó una mezcla del suelo (250 grs por 1 itro de solución) con agua de azúcar al 20%, la cual se sometió a una agitación magnética dentro de un erlenmeyer de 2000 mI durante cinco minutos; luego se dejó en reposo durante un tiempo similar y en un tubo local izado en la parte superior del erlenmeyer se recogieron Tas posturas que flotaban con el resto de material 1 ¡viano, y se lavaron con hipoclorito de sodio al 0.5%.Las posturas obtenidad se colocaron en cajas de petri de 12 cm de diámetro (10 posturas por caja) con suelo moderadamente húmedo sobre el papel filtro. Como fecha de oviposición se usó la del día en que se hallaron, ya que la revisión se hizo a diario y en las últimas horas de la tarde. Las cajas se revisaron dos veces al día para lograr establecer con exactitud la fecha de eclosión, y determinar la duración de este estado.Una vez eclosionaron las posturas, las ninfas de primer instar se colocaron individualmente en cajas de petri de 5 cm de diámetro con 10 gr. de suelo sobre papel filtro en el fondo, para lograr uniformidad en la humedad.Las cajas se identiffcaron debidamente~ con el fin de llevar los registros de duración de cada instar y e1 número de mudas presentadas a 10 largo del estado n¡nfal~ En estas cajas se dejaron hasta que se presentó la segunda muda. Desde la iniciación de) tercer instar hasta cumpl ir su ciclo de vida total, se dejaron en cajas plásticas de 9 x 9 x 6cm con aproximadamente 20 gr de suelo sobre papel filtro. El suelo, al igual que el al ¡mento era renovado cada 8 a lQ días.Con todos los adultos obtenidos se continuaron las observaciones para determinar el sexo, los hábitos de cópula y la longevidad. De acuerdo a características morfoló9icas se diferenciaron los sexos, se aparearon y se observó cual ovipositaba para así deferenciarlos más correctamente. En base a esto se estableció la relación de sexos.Para determinar el período de preoviposición, se tomaron hembras vírgenes y cada una se colocó coo dos machos durante 48 horas, al cabo de las cuales se contabil izaron los días hasta la obtención de las primeras posturas.En cuanto a la fecundidad, a cada hembra se le asignó un macho en forma definitiva. Cada pareja se confinó en una caja plástica (9 cm x 9 cm x 6 cm), con ~O grs de suelo aproximadamente. Cada ocho días se cambfó el medio para separar las posturas util izando el método ya descrito.En la parte superior de estas cajas, con el fin de conservar la humedad del sueio, se colocaron toallas de papel humedas y un vidrio como tapa común de doce cajas evitando tamhién la sal ida de los insectos.Para la descripción morfo!ógica de cada uno de los estados de desarro~ flc del insecto se observaron los especimenes en forma detallada bajo microscopio estereoscópico y se real izaron mediciones usando una reglll1a micrométrica incorporada eo uno de sus oculares. Con la ayuda de una camara lúcida o Abbe se hicieron algunos dibujos. Además se tomaron fotografías de los diferentes estados de desarrol lo.El huevo es de color crema hial ino~ de forma ovalada y con superficie J iSá y brillante. Sus dimensiones en promedio son; diámetro axial 1,35 mm y diámetro ecuatorial 0.92 mm. La duracl6n promedio de la incubación es de 13,6 días, con un rango de 11-18 días. La fertil ¡dad es de 90.5% en 295 huevos observados.Durante el desarrollo embrionario, a los 4-5 días se aprecian dos puntos rojos hacia la parte apicaf, 105 cuales corresponden a los ojos, y las demás estructuras formadas se pueden observar claramente en Jos días próximos a la eclosi6n presentándose por lo tanto un ligero oscurecimiento del huevo.Una vez eclosiona el huevo, el insecto inicia su primer instar ninfal, que presenta las siguientes caracter7sticas, las cuales se acentúan a través de los cinco instares: antena fil ¡forme con cinco segmentos, siendo el segundo más corto; ojos de color rojo; un par de ocelos; el primer par de patas de tipo cavador; las tibias de las patas están provistas de espinas, lo cual facíl ita su rlesplazam¡ento dentro del suelo; todas las patas poseen tarsos con tres segmentos terminando en dos pequeñJs uñas; presenta una sutura a los largo del noto por el cual emerge, cada vez que muda. En los dos últimos instares se presenta la formación de los cojines alares provenientes del desarrollo y diferenciación del meta y post-noto (Fig. l).En este estado el insecto dura un total promedio de 111.2 días con una variación entre 91 y 134 días. las dimensiones del cuerpo y fa duración de cada uno de los instares ninfales se consignan en la Tabla l.Recién emergido el adulto tiene una coloración crema, y al cabo de algunas horas logra su color caracter7stlco que va de marrón oscuro a negro. Dentro de las c.aracteríst icas más importantes están: cabeza con el contorno anterior en forma de semicírculo¡ yugo sobresaliente y conver• gente al frente del clípeo; ocelos pequeños; antena fil ¡forme, siendo la long itud de sus segfl1entos 1 (0,45 mm) (0.30 -0.70) 11 (0,25 mm) (0,2 -0,45), 111 (0,45 mm) (0,31 -0,65), IV (0,45 \"..,,) (0,35 -0,6) Y V (O.~7 mm) (O~38 -0,82); pico con cuatro segmentos bien diferenciados siendo sus longitudes I (0,76 mm), 11 (1,0 mm), 111 (1,0 mm) y IV (0,75 mm).En cuanto a ¡as características de valor específico, según Froeschner (2), presenta: pronoto con la márgenes laterales rectas sobre la media basal, con una fila subrnarginal de 15-20 punturas setígeras; el lóbulo anterior con una impresión sub-apical poco pronunciada, lateralmente con algunas punturas toscas; el lóbulo posterior hacia su parte media cuenta con pocas o mucnas punturas toscas dispersas (Fig. 2).El escutel0 es menos largo que ancho, 2,95 mm (2,5; 3t4S): 3.02 mm (2,45 -J,Sl), de forma triangualr con el ápice sobresal fente y redondea-do~ En los hemiél ¡tros, el clavus y corium son pul ídos; el clavus con una fila intermedia de punturas; punturas mesocoriales arregladas en dos filas paralelas a la sutura claval, la fila externa muchas veces incompleta, numerosas punturas en la parte d¡scai~ bien separadas, muchas veces ausentes a los largo de la vena radial; exccorium usualmente con punturas más esparcidas que el mesocorium; la vena consta con 6-8 punturas setígeras; la membrana SObrepasando claramente el ápice del abdomen (Frocscnner (2) ).La tibia anterior es fuertemente comprimida, presenta una hilera de espinas fuertes hacia su parte dorsal; las patas medias delgadas con setas menos fuertes que en las anteriores; las patas posteriores cilíndricas o t igeramente comprimidas con filas de espinas sobre Jas márgenes dorsal y ventral; tarsos presente en todas las patas (Froeschner (2) l.Por 10 general, la hembra presenta un mayor tamaño que el macho (Tabla 2) el cual presenta una cápsufa genital mientras que la hembra posee una placas genitales; de ahí que la hembra se pose sobre el macho  El período de preoviposlclon es de 8 a 11 días con un promedio de 250 huevos por hembra con un rango de 200 a 280 huevos. Cada hembra coloca 6 huevos en promedio por semana.Aún no se ha podido determinar la longevidad del adulto, se cuenta con especímenes que llevan en este estado de 250 a 330 días.La enfermedad que ha sido encontrada en yuca, asociada con el ataqu~ de f. bergi ha sido denominada r'viruela de las raíces de la yuca\" (CIAT n, Este insecto introduce su estilete a través de la epidermis y corteza de la raíz da fiando 105 tejidos de ésta y al mismo tiempo inocula microorganismos del suelo (principalmente hongos) (CIAT 1) (Fíg.3).Algunas especies de hongos pertenecientes a 105 géneros Aspergillus, Oiplodia, Fusariuffi J Genícularia t Phytophthora y Pythium han sido aisladas de estas lesiones. Inoculaciones artificiales simulando el dai'1o del insecto han producido síntomas similares (Fig. 4) Estos microorganismos degradan los tejidos de la raíz infectada causando inicialmente una pudrición local izada la cual puede invadir la raíz entera a 10 1argo del sistema vascular (CIAT,1).Lesiones jóvenes son puntos de color café pál ido a oscuro, los cuales muestran degradación de los tejidos. los síntomas son más notables y las lesiones son más frecuente en raíces engrosadas (CIAT, 1). En el estudio de un cultivo se tiene en cuenta en el principio los problemas limitantes del mismo. Así el Programa de Entomolog1a de yuca se dedic6 inicialmente al estudio del gusano cachón (E. ello), el complejo de ácaros (T~.tranychus sp y Mononychellus sp) y los trips (Frankl ¡nielTa sp}~que son las plagas mis comunes en este cultivo. Se ha tenido €xito en el control del gusano cachón con un programa de control integrado y se identificó un considerable número de variedades resistentes a ácaros y trips, Jo que da margen a adelantar estudios sobre otros insectos presente en yuca. Hace tres anos se iniciaron los trabajos sobre el barrenador de la yuca, Ch. clarkei t que está causando problemas en algunas regiones yuqueras de Colombia y Venezuela.El adulto del barrenador es una mariposa nocturna y oviposita sobre el tallo de la yuca, alrededor de las yemas axilares de las hojas caídas. El huevo es aplanado de aproximadamente 1.2 mm de largo y 0.8 mm de ancho. Su superficie es reticulada y el color inicial blanco crema se torna a las 24 horas. La incubaci6n promedia de los huevos a 2S Q C es de 6.0 días, con una .iabíl Idad de 99.1% (1.011 huevos). Al emerger del huevo la larva es de alta movil ¡dad y busca un sitio apropiado para establecerse. Generaimente se situa entre una yema axílar y el tallo formando una tela protectora debajo de la cual permanece los primeros cuatro instares, aurnentanda el tamaño de la tela con cada muda. Después de la muda al quinto instar, fa larva penetra al tallo abandonando muchas veces la tela antes construida. Dentro del tallo completa su ciclo de vida larval y pupal. la duraci6n de la fase larval es muy variable con número mínimo de 6 instares larvales y un máximo de 12, comprendiendo un tiempo de 32 hasta 64 dfas. Tres días antes de empupar la larva deja de comer y construye un pupario de seda dentro del tallo donde se forma la pupa. El peso de las pupas provenientes de} campo es entre 0.12 y 0.17 gramos. En condiciones desfavorables el peso se puede reducir hasta 0.05 gramos. La duración de la pupa es de 12 a 17 días.Los adultos emergen entre las 6:30-7:15 pm y generalmente copulan la misma noche. La oviposiclón empieza 1a noche siguiente y se extiende por un máximo de 5 nocnes. Las hembras del campo tienen una fecundidad promedia de 2Z8~6 huevos, mientras que las hembras de la cría pusieron 136.27 La longevidad promedia para hembras es de 5.6 días (campo) y 5.1 días (cría) y de 4.6 días para machos.El ataque de Ch. clarkeí se presenta todo el año siendo mayor en la época lluviosa quetan la ~poca seca. Debido a la variabil ¡dad en la duración de la fase larval el barrenado puede completar de 4 a 6 ciclos en un año. Normalmente los ciclos son intercalados, aunque la mayoría de las larvas encontradas en cierta época están en el mismo estado.La sobrevivencia de larva a adulto muestra una gran diferencia entre verano (2%) e invierno (16%), igualmente hay díferencias entre variedades debido a diferencias en el tipo de crecimiento. Más de 70% de la morta -! ¡dad de las larvas en los primeros dos días, es decir en el tiempo de establecimiento de la larva.Se encontraron los siguientes enemigos naturales! Agathis sp (Hymenoptera, Braconídae), un ectoparásito de la larva presente en los meses de Septiembre hasta Enero; Bracoo sp (Hymeooptera, Braconidae), endoparásito de larvas en primer y segundo instar presentes en Septiembre hasta Diciembre; Brachymeria sp (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae), parásito de la pupa en númeroS considerables por toda la estación lluviosa yen números bajos en la estación seca. Todos los parásitos arriba mencionados se encontraron en Carimagua. Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Se encontró un solo parásito de los huevos Trichograrnma sp (HYM€nopters, Trichograrnmatidae) en la Dorada, finca La Petrolea.Los estudios de daño economlco se real izaron con infestaciones artificiales con dos niveles de ataque (8-12 larvas/planta y 16-20 larvasl planta) y un tratamiento de daño simulado partIendo fOS tal los a los einco meses. Se encontró una reducción significativa en el rendimiento de raíces (62%, 45% Y 46% respectivamente), el porcentaje de rafees comerciales, el número de tallos partidos y de estacas por planta.También se estudió la influencia de un ataque natural en 6 variedades sobre la producción de material de siembra. se observaron diferencias significativas en el número de perforaciones por planta, siendo la variedad más atacada M Ven 77 (7.14 perforaciones/planta), seguido por Llanera (5.5), HMC 2 (4.6), CMC 40 (4.1), M Col 638 (3.8) y M Col 1684 (3.4). Aunque M Ven 77 y Llanera fueron las variedades más atacadas, mostraron significativamente menos volcamiento de las plantas que las demás variedades y M Ven 77 produjo significativamente más estacas sanas que las otras variedades.Como posibles métodos de control se estudiaron el efecto del tratamiento de estacas para proteger la planta pequeña y la epI icación' de diferentes insecticidas a los talJos de las plantas atacadas. Se encontró que solamente el tratamiento de las estacas con una solución de AJdrex (2.5 cc/l)t produjo una mortal idad superior al 80% de larvas de primer instar durante un período de seis semanas. la apI icac¡ón de Sevin. Bacillus Thuringiensis (Oipel)! Spicaria sp y un macerado de larvas muertas por una enfermedad (probablemente un virus) a larvas de cuatro instar, resulto en ~na mortal idad de 100% en el tratamiento con el macerado de larvas enfermas¡ 99.2% con Sevin y DipeJ y 88.3% con Spicaria sp. La epI ieación de 105 mismos agentes a larvas de sexto insta~rcBusó 100% de mortal ¡dad en el caso del macerado de larvas enfermas y 8% por Spicaria sp. mientras que Oipel y Sevin no mostraron ningún efecto. El chinche de encaje Vatlgü maninotae Orake causa daño en Colombia, Bf\"asil y otros países de América.Las poblaciones altas pueden ocasionar daño fol iar; sobre las hojas aparecen manchas amarillas que eventualmente se vuelven de un marrón rojizo y semejan el daño causado por los ~caros. No se tiene informes sobre pérdidas en rendimiento pero observaciones en Brasil indican que hay defol ¡a\" ción severa en cíertas áreas~ la cual posiblemente disminuye el rendimiento.En el Valle del Cauca se ha encontrado a este chinche atacando al follaje de la yuca; se considera como plaga (6).Los estudios de laboratorio de CIAT indican que Vatíga manihotae pasa por cinco estadios ninfaJes. durando 2.9, 2.6, 2.9, 3.3 y 4.8 dfas, respec• tlvamente, para un total de 16.5 días. La etapa de huevo dura casi ocho dras; las hembras ponen un promedio de 61 huevos. la longevidaa del adulto es de 50 dlas en promedio (1).Ciclo biológico de Vatiga manihotae Ciclo biológico y capacidad de predación de Zelus nugax E.pecifidad y factlbll ¡dad de erla del predador.Este trabajo se real iz6 en l. casa de malla a n'e y 72 HR Y el laboratorro A 22.0 0 c y 67 HR de Entomología de Yuca del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAT. la siembra de yuca se hizo en materas medianas con estacas ae la variedad CMC-40; en la casa con mal la se ubicaron 30 materas con una mezcla de arena y suelo t cada una con Su respectiva estaca. El tie,mpo que trancurrf6 hasta que las plantas tuvieron un buen fol Jaje fOO de 30 dras, para su posterior (nfestación.* Estud ¡ante de tes ¡ $; p Entomólogo respect í vamente. Programa de Yuca.A cada planta se le coloc6 una trampa-pinza con una pareja de Vatiga en la hoja mi. desarrollada y diariamente con la ayuda de un estereoscopio se observ5 si habTa postura. cuando se encontraba alguna postura se Golocaba un marbete pequeno con la fecha de la oviposlclón, siguiendo la observación hasta su eclosión.Al momento de eclosionar Jos huevos, las nInfas se colocaron individualmente en trampas-pinzas con sU respectivo marbete donde se anotaba la fecha de eclosión. Se llevó un registro del numero de Instar y el tiempo transcurrido hasta que el Insecto alcanzó el estado adulto. Se continuó la observación de los adultos hasta su muerte.La deterrnfnaclón del ciclo biológico de Zelus nugax se real Izó en el laboratorio. En 20 cajas de petri cada una c~ respectiva masa de huevos se siguió la duración de la incubaci6n. Después de la eclosfón se separaron las ninfas individualmente en cajas de petri y asf se anoto el nú~ mero de instares y la longevidad de Jos adultos t La observación sobre la capacidad de predación de Z. nU 9 ¡x se efectuó en el laboratorio, se utilizaron 30 cajas de petri de las cua es 10 sirvieron de testigo y las 20 restantes contenTan cada una su respectivo predador en cantidad de uno, A cada caja de petri se le colocó una fina capa de algod6n. al cual se le adicionó una pequeña cantidad de agua destilada. El algod6n se recubrió con una hoja de pape! de filtro. En cada una de las cajas de petri testigos, se colocaron 10 adultos y 10 ninfas de Vatiga sobre una hoja de yuca. A 1as cajas con el predador se le colocaron el mismo número del Insecto p1aga, los conteos se hicieron diarramente.Se fueron adicionando adultos y ninfas de Vat;gaj traidos de la casa con malla, para mantener siempre la misma poblaci6n de 10 adultos y 10 ninfas en cada una de las cajas de petri, Ciclo biológico de Vatiga manihotae La incubación fue en promedio de 12.6 dras con un rango de 8 a 15 días. La longitud del huevo es de 0.4 mm, forma ovoide e hial ino. los ensayos a nivel de cada de malla muestran que este insecto pasa por cinco instares ninfa les, los cuales duran en promedio 2.9, 3.5. 2.9 Y 4.9 dlss, respectivamente para un total de 17.3 dr ••• la longevidad del macho adulto fue de 38.9 dras y de la hembra 42.3 dr.s.El perrodo de incubación de los huevos fué en promedio de 14.6 dras con un rango de 11 • 17 dras. la 10n~ltud del huevo es de 1.4 mm y 0.5 de ancho, de forma cilfndrica y de un color café oscuro, En las posturas de Zelu~ nugax se encontró un par~sito de la famil ia Scel ionidae y se observ6 que por cada huevo parasitado emerge solamente un Los estudios de laboratorio muestran ~ue este Insecto pasa por cinco estadIos nlnfales, los cuales duran 10.7. 7.2. 8.4, 11.0 Y 19.5 dTas res' pectlvamente. para un total de 56.8 dfas La longevidad del macho adulto fue de 36.3 df.s y de l. hembra 49.0 dlas. La longitud del macho es de 10mm y la hembra 11 mm.El número de posturas por hembra fue de 5.6 con un rango de 2 a 15 posturas por hembra.Las hembras ovipositaron en promedio 30,8 huevos por postura con un rango de 12 a 65 huevos por masa. El 72.9% de los huevos eclosionaron.El perfado de preovlposición fue de 7 dTas y de ovlposlclón de 30 dias.En el perfodo ninfal del predador se observó que hay preferencia por los adultos de Vatiga.La predación total de Z. nugax en sus cinco instares ninfales fue de 11.8. 23.2, 39.2. 71.4 y 179.4 vatlgas. respectivamente. un total de 324.9 individuos de Vatiga Del tota1 de individuos predados en el perrodo ninfal, en el cuarto y quinto instar se ohtuvó el mayor porcentaje de predación 21.97% y 55.21%. para un total de 77. 18%~ de 10 cual se podrfan pensar, que para una 1 iberación efIciente serran los estadios indicados.El consumo promedio de l. nugax fue de 496.0 individuos de ~. manfhotae, En el ensayo solamente 2 nrnfas llegaron al estado adulto con una duracian de 24 y 1 dfa, respectivamente, este último con patas defectuosas y muy debll para predar.Lo anterior hace pensar que la dieta a base solamente de Vatiga no proporcfona los nutrientes suficientes para el normal desarrollo del predador; ya que éste en la naturaleza se alimenta de diferentes insectos t teniendo por consiguiente, una dfeta muy variada y balanceada.De Jos 60 l. nugax de primer instar al ¡mentados solamente con y. manihotae uno llegó hasta el cuarto Instar, 10 cual hace pensar que la dieta no fue suficiente para alcanzar a completar su periodo nfnfal.Las ninfas al ¡mentadas solamente con E. ello~ 3 completaron 5U ciclo biológico (1 hembra y 2 machos) y hubo una-po~a con 17 huevos) de 10 cual se podrfa pensar que es una fuente más balanceada con nutrientes que V. manihotae.En la dieta a base solamente de G. mel10nella, 8 llegaron a adultos (5 hem-bras y 3 machos) y hubo 4 posturas de 18, 38, 29 Y 34 huevos respectivamente, con un promedio de postura de 29.8 nuevos por postura.Esta fuente de alimento se puede considerar como la que tiene mejores perspectivas en un futuro, pues las larvas de C. Meilonel1a es una especie que se puede criar con faerl ¡dad y a bajo costo en el laboratorio.De una forma intercalada utí I izando como base alimenticia a Vatiga y Gallería, se obtuvieron 12 adultos (5 hembras y 7 machos). El número de posturas fue de una con 16 huevos; 10 cuai es un promedio muy bajo por hembra. Se esperaba que esta dieta con 2 diferentes fuentes de alimento fuera la mejor por ser !. nugax un predador polífago. La yuca (Manfhot esculenta) es un arbusto perenne de la fami) ia Euphorbiaceae. Se cultfva en todas las regiones tropicales del mundo y es la mayor fuente de energía para cerca de 500 millones de habitantes. La yuca es originaria de las Amér ieas; más tarde fué llevada al Africa y más recientemente Introducida en el Asia (Leon. 1977). Sus nombres comunes incluyen los de: Mandioca. yuca, manioc y tapioca. La yuca se cultiva principalmente en países en vías de desarrollo en pequeñas fincas con muy poca tecnología moderna. Consecuentemente ésta ha recibido atención muy 1 imitada por parte de científicos investigadores.La yuca usualmente se propaga vegetativamente por medio de estacas. las hojas están formadas de ápices activos que consisten de pecíolos alargados y hoja palmeada. El ápice principal es normalmente dominante, produciendo un solo tallo, y los peciolos nacen de estructuras que dan al tallo una apariencia nudosa caracterTsttca.Cuando el ápice principal es dañado se rompe la dominancia apical e inmediatamente se activan dos ó cuatro yemas adyacentes al ápice principal. La acumulación de carbohidratos ocurre en el parénquima los cuales engrosan las raíces. la yuca es uno de los más altos productores de carbohi~ drato soluble por unidad de área y tíempo. El período de crecimiento es de 8 a 2~ meses dependiendo de las condiciones ecológicas.Puesto que la yuca es un cultivo de largo período, cultivado frecuentemente para la subsistencia de agricultores, con un bajo margen de utiJ jdad, el uso continuo de pssticldas para el control de insectos y ácaros no es recomendado. los métodos de control más factibles son resistencia varietal, control biológico y prácticas culturales, ó la combinación de estos ~todos.El número de cromosomas de M. esculenta es de 36 y la especie se conoce generalmente como un alotetraploide (Umanah and Hartmann, 1972).* Entomólogo y Fitomejorador. Programa de yuca CIAT.Estudios recientes mente heteracigota tiva.(CIAT, 1975), indican que la yuca es una especie altala cual se mantiene facilmente por propagación vegeta~ Tanto la polinización cruzada como la auto poI inización ocurren naturalmente en la yuca. La proporción de pol inazación cruzada en una población determinada depende del hábito de floración de los genotipos y de la d¡stribuci6n natural de la población (CIAT, 1976). La yuca es una especie monóica con el estigma y anteras usualmente separados en diferentes flores en la misma planta. Las flores mascul ¡nas y femeninas casi nunca se abren sfmultaneamente en la misma rama. Sin embargo, es muy común que las flores mascul rnas y femeninas de diferentes ramas de la misma planta abran al mismo tiempo.Se ha observado una fuerte depresión endogámica de características tales como rendimiento de raíces y peso total de la planta (CIAT, 1975), y las evidencias indican que auto poI inización puede ser desventajosa. La depresión endogámica, además de la propagación vegetativa natura), de la especie, es el mecanismo biológico a través del cual se mantiene la alta heterosigocldad. La esteriJ ¡dad mascu1 ¡na es común, la cual es efectiva en la prevención de auto-pol ¡nación. De ahí que el uso eficiente de la esterel ¡dad mascul ¡na es extremadamente importante si el programa de mejoramiento está basado en una polinización abierta.La propagación vegetativa natural de 1a especie es ventajosa para los mejoradores. Una vez que se ha obtenido un tipo superior, ya sea para rendimiento, o para resistencia a insectos y enfermedades, este puede ser multipl icado indefinidamente.Estudios recientes ha revelado que caracter1sticas importantes tales como índíce de cosecha y contenido de materia seca, son altamente heredables, y que la función de genes adrtivos en determinar estas características es significativa (CIAl, 1975(CIAl, , 1976)). Además, la resistencia a enfermedades tales como a~ubl0 bacterial y cercospora son transmitidas con relativa facil ídad a las progenies si un genotipo resistente se ha inclui-dQ en la hibridaci6n (CIAT, 1976). la propagación vegetativa del cultivo y la forma aditiva de herencia, de caracteres mayores. simpi ¡flcan la hibridación y selección de programas. La identificación de buenos padres y selección de progenies son más importante que los detalles de métodos de mejoramiento. La acumulacf6n de genes favorables sin provocar endogamia, es probablemente el problema nás crítico con que tienen que enfrentarse 10$ meJoradores. Esto es, cUándo el carácter deseado es conocido y controlado por genes recesivos el programa' iega a compl icarse.La posible herencia pol is6mica del carácter y la heterosigocidad de las especies son Jos factores de comp1 icaci6n.la yuca es considerada a menudo como un cultivo rústico y por 10 tanto generalmente 1 ibre de artropodos plagas. Estudios recientes muestran sin embargo que la yuca no está 1 ibre de ataques de insectos y ácaros, y que estas plagas son factores 1 imitantes en la producción. Las plagas de la yuca representan un ampl io rango de artropodos, con aproximadamente 200 especies.Los insectos pueden dañar la planta por ataque a las hojas, reduciendo el área y eficiencia fotosint~tica; por ataque a los tallos debíl ¡tanda la planta, e inhibiendo el transporte de nutrfentes; y por ataque al material de siembra, permitiendo una invasi6n microbial que reduce por consiguiente la germinación y rendimiento. Algunas plagas. tales como moscas blancas y moscas de la fruta. son vectores ó diseminadores de enfermedades; otros atacan las rafces conduciendo a daftos secundar íos.La mayor diversidad de insectos reportados atacando la yuca se encuentra en las Américas. Los 17 grupos de plagas existentes han sido todos encontrados en las Américas, 12 están reportados en Africa, y 6 encontrados en Asia (Sellotti & Scnoonhoven 1977). Esto es de esperarse puesto que, donde quiera que hay gran variaci6n genética de plantas hospedantes, también hay gran variabil ¡dad en los organismos que atacan la planta o están en relación simbiótica con ésta, (Jennings & Cock, 1977}. Nuestros actuales conocimientos indican que los ácaros, trips, barrenadores, gusano cachón, mosca blanca, escamas y piojo harinoso, causan pérdidadas en rendi~ miento.Insectos que atacan la planta por períodos prolongados, tales como ácaros, trips. escamas, piojo harinoso, mosca blanca y barrenadores, redu• cen más el rendimiento que aquellos que defol fan o dañan las partes de la planta por períodos cortos, tales Como: gusano cachón, mosca de la fruta, mosca del cogollo. y hormigas cortadoras. Bajo condiciones favorables la planta se recupera de este tipo de daño. Lluvia adecuada y fertil ¡dad del suelo son los factores críticos. la yuca se cultiva frecuentemente en regiones de sequ1a prolongada puesto que tolera la falta de agua. Sin embargo, las poblaciones de trips, ácaros, chinches de encaje y escamas aumentan durante los períodos de sequía incrementando el daño al cultivo.Existe una pausa en relación con la iñformación disponible sobre biología, ecología, distribución, ocurrencia estacional, y daño económico. Se han reportado pérdidas en rendimiento caúsados por varias plagas, pero con alguna frecuencia estos reportes no están respaldados por estudios científicos. Pérdidas ocasionadas por Mononychel lus tan atoa han sido reportadas hasta del 56 por ciento en Africa (Nyflra, 197 L y experimentos llevados a cabo en CIAT con un complejo de Cuatro especies de ácaros (~. tanajoa, ~. MC%regOri, Tetranychus urticae y peruvianus)resultaron en un 2 a 53 por ctento de pérdidas, de la edad de la planta, del tiempo de ataque y duración del mismo (CIAT, 1977).Pérdidas en rendimiento causadas por trips fluctúan entre el 6 al 28 por ciento dependiendo de la susceptibil idad varretal (CIAT, 1976; Schoon-hoven~ 1976), La reducción en rendimiento ocasionada por el ataque de gusano cachón ha sido estimada entre 10 y 50 por ciento. Estudios llevados a cabo en condiciones de campo, en Colombia~ muestran de un 15 a 20 por ciento de reducción en rendimiento después de un 5010 ataque. La infestación repetida durante la prolongada época de crecimiento del cultivo indudablemente dá como resultado grandes p~rdidas. Ataques de escamas en el CIAT han reducido el rendimiento en un 20 por ciento en variedades susceptibles. Infestac¡ón similar de escamas bajo condiciones ambientales y de suelos menos favorables, podrian resultar en una reducción mayor. (Ver parte perdidas en rendimiento causado por insecto y ácaros), CRITERIO PARA DESARROLLAR UN PROGRAMA DE RESISTENCIA EN EL CULTIVO DE LA YUCA.La investigación en grupo orientada j es reciente en yuca. La jnves~ tigaci6n entomológica se encuentra todavía en su fase inicial. Programas de control de plagas estan siendo iniciados solamente con conocimientos fragmentarios sobre las muchas plagas que atacan el cultivo. El ent0m61ogo debe formarse un criterio en relación con el m€todo de control m §s eficrente, basado'tanto en conocimientos existentes acerca de la yuca, Como de otros cultivos y sus complejos de plagas.Diversos críterfos deberían ser considerados antes de decidir el establecimiento de un programa que uti 1 ice resistencia varietal para plagas específicas de la yuca:1. El nivel de daño economlco causado por una plaga determinada debería ser significativo. ?ara un cultivo como la yuca, donde el potencial de rendimiento es grande (i.e, J varias veces el rendimiento actual de una finca), deber1a darse prioridad a aquellos insectos que reducen el rendimiento signíficativamente.2. Deberia\" orientarse búsquedas de resistencia a aquellas plagas para las que sea factible encontrar resistencia. Por ejemplo~ ser1a dificil encontrar resistencia a plagas tales como el gusano cachón, gusanos trazadores, hormigas cortadoras, ó saltamontes; recursos 1 imitados en este aspecto no deben util izarse en este sentido.3. la disponibil ¡dad de métodos alternos de control adecuados y de bajo costo para determinadas plagas, podrTa anular la necesidad de establecer un programa extensivo de mejoramiento para resistencia. SI las poblaciones de plagas pueden reducirse por debajo de niveles de daño eco-n6mico por medio de control biológico o simples prácticas culturales, entonces deben emplearse estos sistemas, especialmente si los niveles de resistencia no son adecuados, o son difíciles de incorporar en híhridos, sin sacrificar el potencial de rendimiento.~. Debe tomarse en consideración el nivel de resistencia que se necesita para reducir las poblaciones de plagas. Algunas variedades de yuca tienen un alto nivel de daño económico en relación a las plagas y pueden perder una considerable cantidad de follaje (40 por ciento ó más para determinadas var¡edades) sin que esto reduzca los rendimientos (CIAr, 1976).Por consiguiente no se necesitan altos niveJes de resistencia para algunas plagas.5. Los niveles de resistencia pueden combinarse con otros métodos de control) tales como control biológico o prácticas culturales, para mantener las poblaciones de insectos por debajo del nivel de daño económico. Por ejemplo, solamente se han encontrado niveles bajos de resistencia para ácaros Tetranychus urticae. Combinando este tipo de resistencia con un programa vigoroso de control biológico, puede ser posible controlar los ácaros adecuadamente.6. El sistema de siembra en el cual la yuca va a ser cultivada puede dictaminar el nivel de resistencia necesario. Algunos estudios muestran que las poblaciones de insectos son reducidas cuando la yuca se cultiva por sistemas de cultivos rnútiple, o en asociación con otros cultivos, tales como fríjol. Si una variedad de yuca esta siendo desarrollada para un sistema de cultivos intercalados, los niveles de resistencia necesitados pueden ser menores.Hasta el momento la yuca se ha cultivado principalmente en pequeñas parcelas, por pequeños agricultores, a través de las diferentes regiones tropicales de el mundo. la variabil ¡dad genética en este sistema es enorme, porque cada área, ó zona es cultivada a menudo con diferentes varieda-des~ La variabil ¡dad genética en este sistema constituye, en esencia, una multíl ¡nea geográfica como guardian genético contra las grandes epidemias de plagas y enfermedades.A medida que desarrollan híbridos de alto rendimiento~ se 1 iberan y se siembra en áreas extensas, la uniformidad genética desaparecerá eventualme\"te~ Los nuevos híbridos se acondicionarán fácilmente a las modernas prácticas agronómicas, pero tal uniformidad genética es una invitación al desastre por epidemias de plagas y enfermedades. En la agricultura de subsistencia, en la que actualmente se cultiva la yuca, existe un equil jbrio razonable entre plagas y genotipos. Se necesitan programas de control integrado alrededor de la resistencia varietal para mantener el equil ¡brío en los modernos sistemas de agricultura) donde extensas áreas son sembradas con material genético uniforme.La literatura no ha reportado en forma muy ampl ia la resistencia al ataque de insectos ó ácaros en fa yuca. Muchos de estos informes sólo tienen relación con observaciones en el campo y, hasta muy recientemente t había muy poca evaluación sistemática de material genético. Hasta cuando se estableció la colección de CIAT, no había gran cantidad disponible de material genético en ningún sitio para los investigadores en yuca. Este banco de germop1asma ha sido evaluado para resistencia a trips (Schoon~ hoven} 1974}, los ácaros Tetranychus urticae, Mononychellus tanajoa, y Oli onychus peruvianus. ~scamas lAonidom tilus albus) y pfojo harinoso Phenacoccus spp}? moscas blancas Aleurotrache~ y chinche de encaje (Vatiga manthotí) (CIAT, 1975(CIAT, , 1976(CIAT, , 1977)).Acaros.Existen varias especies de ácaros que atacan la yuca (Sel1otti & Schoonhoven, 1978)  por ciento de las variedades presentaron alta susceptihil idad a T. urticae en comparación con el 45 por ciento para ~. tanajoa (CIAT, 1976(CIAT, ,-1977)).Aproximadamente el 14 por ciento de las variedades estaban en línea intermedia de resistencia para ~. tanajoa, mientras que solamente el 0.4 por ciento de las variedades estaban en una línea similar para T. urticae.Esto indica que hay un nivel de resistencia más alto para M7 tanajoa que para T. urtícae, en el germoplasma de yuca J Y que son pocas las variedades resistentes a las dos especies. Estos resultados deberían esperarse puesto que T. urticae es una plaga de mucha importancia en agricultura con más de 400 hospedantes conocidos. M. tanajoa parece ser un huesped específico para Manihot sp ~ lo que-indica una posible evolución paralela entre la plaga y el hospedante.Tri ps.Parte del banco de germoplasma ha sido evaluado para resistencia a los trips Frankl ¡niella sp. y Corynothrips stenopterus. Aproximadamente el 20 por ciento de las variedades son resistentes al ataque de trips y un 29 por ciento adicional solamente presenta un daño menor. La resistenc¡a esta relacionada con la pubescencia de los cogo! los y de las hojas no expandidas (Schoonhoven t 1974). Esta importante característica morfológica de resistencia parece ser muy estable y no se espera el desarrollo de bfot ipos.La mosca blanca 8. tabaci se ha identificado como vectór del mosaico africano de la yuca, enfermedad no presente en las Américas. La resistencia varietal que reduce las poblaciones de mosca blanca podrla reducir la incidencia de enfermedades (Costa, 1969). Se han observado diferencias varietates en número de adultos y estado rnmaduros. Las variedades con conteos más bajos de mosca blanca fueron las menos infectadas con mosaico (Goldlng, 1936), La colección de yuca de CIAT está siendo evaluada siste-mátieamente para resistencia a AJeurotrachelus sp. una importante especie de mosca blanca en las Américas. Resultados ¡n¡eíales indican que hay niveles de resistencia disponibles (CIAT, 1976(CIAT, , 1977)).La escama Aonidomytilus albus ataca la yuca en casi todas las regiones yuqueras del mundo (Cornmonwealth Institute of Entúmology. 19S7). No ha sido reportada resistencia varietal. EvaluacLones del germoplasma para resistencia a esta escama han sido iníciadas en el CIAT, y los resultados prel ¡minares indican que hay diferencías varietales al ataque de escamas.Pio..;•o harinoso.El piojo harinoso se ha convertido recientemente en una plaga importante de la yuca, causando defol ¡ación en Africa y las Américas. Su inci~ dencia parece aumentar cuando la yuca es plantada en monocultivos o cuando se siembra continuamente en el mismo lote. No se ha reportado resistencia varietal. Cualquier programa de mejoramiento, incluyendo aquel que impl ¡que resistencia varietal a insectos, debe comenzar con un extenso trabajo en el Banco de Germoplasrna. El Banco de Germoplasma del CIAT contiene más de 2,400 variedades, con considerable var¡abil ¡dad genética disponible. Puesto que la yuca no se reproduce por medio de semil la, esta colección es sembrada permanentemente en el campo, i l .Puesto que el mejoramiento para resistencia de plantas a insectos conlleva una interacción entre la planta y el insecto, es esencial un profundo conocimiento de la biología y habitos de al imentación del insecto. Antes de comenlar con estudios sobre resistencia, son necesarios estudios sobre el ciclo de: vida del insecto, fluctuación de población, habitas de oviposición y ocurrencia estacional. Estos estudios son espe~ cialmente efectivos cuando se trabaja con un cultivo como la yuca, cuyo complejo de Insectos no ha sido extensamente investigado por los entornó • 10gos.Las t~cnjcas para evaluación de grandes cantidades de material genético para resistencia a plagas serán diferentes para cada insecto. Sin embargo, hay varios procedimientos de tipo standard que pueden considerarse cuando se inicia un programa de evaluación de germop1asma que implica cientos O miles de varIedades. Estos procedimientos se discuten brevemen~ te y se establecen por su status para insectos específicos.1. Cualquier programa de evaluación debe garantizar una población uniforme de insectos que garantize una adecuada presi6n de selección. Esto es extremadamente importante cuando se hace una selección de germoplasma bajo condiciones de campo util izando poblaciones naturales. Existe siempre el riesgo de que variedades seleccionadas como resistentes sean efectivamente escapes, esto es plantas que no ofrecen daño porque los insectos no se alimentaron de él las. Cuando se util izan poblaciones naturales, es mejor acumular datos de por 10 menos dos estaciones y probar varios hospederos.B. las variedades sembradas en el campo pueden infestarse en forma manual con el insecto que está siendo evaluado+ Esto garantiza que cada una de las plantas recibirá una población inicial de la plaga que se está estudiando en adición de cualquier poblacion natural que pueda presentarse. La crra de estas plagas pueden provenir de laboratorio o de invernadero para su 1 íberaciones en el campot 6 pueden críarse bajo condiciones de campo y utIl Izarlos para infestar aquellas variedades que estan siendo evaluadas. Es preferible usar este último procedimíento porque asegura que las plagas ya adaptadas bajo condiciones de campo no sufrirán un cambio ambiental, como podría ser el caso si los insectos provínieran de dietas artificiales para ser liberados posteriormente en el campo. Si la cría en laboratorio se hace con dieta artificial f la población de plagas requerirá una adaptación adicional y las variedades evaluadas pueden presentar más resistencia de la que verdaderamente poseen. b. El germoplasma puede ser inicialmente seleccionadQ bajo condiciones controladas con infestaciones artificiales. Las condiciones ambientales pueden regularse a favor ya sea del hospedero ó de la plaga por medio del control de la temperatura y la humedad. Esto es especfalmente útil en Colombia. puesto que algunas de las plagas más importantes de la yuca, (ácaros) no son naturalmente abundantes donde se mantiene el germoplasma de yuca. Poblaciones naturales de ácaros (especialmente ~~ tanajoa) son adecuadas para seleccionar bajo condiciones de campo, en algunos Jugares de Venezuela y Brasil. Sin embargo t la yuca debe propagarse por estacas y las regulaciones de cuarentena difIcultan el traslado de grandes cantidades de germoplasma de un país a otro. la selección inicial de germoplasma puede hacerse bajo condiciones de invernadero; un pequeño número de variedades que muestran resistencia, pueden ser enviadas a otras áreas para su evaluact6n en el campo.3. El programa inicial de evaluación del germoplasma puede encausarse a el ¡minar variedades susceptibles, en vez de buscar variedades resisten• tes; el objetivo es reducir grandes cantidades de germoplasma a un numero manejable de variedades. Sí un programa tiene 2,500 variedades, el 90 por ciento puede el iminarse y pueden hacerse estudios más detallados en las 250 variedades restantes~ Esto puede hacerse ejerciendo una fuerte presión de selección, ó sea, manteniendo una población de insectos mayor de 10 normal en variedades evaluadas. El pel ¡gro en este proced¡míento, es que la excesiva presión de selección puede descartar variedades con bajos nfveJes de resistencia. Para reducIr esta posib¡¡ ¡dad, la selecci6n de germoplasma puede hacerse en 100 variedades y las 10 6 20 variedades que presenten la mayor resistencia pueden avanZar al siguiente ciclo de selección. El uso de una demasiada presión de selección reduce la posib¡-l¡dad de seleccionar escapes.~. Cuando se lleva a cabo una selección en el campo, la 1 fberación de plagas o las infestaciones deben coincidir con las condiciones cl imáticas para que favorezcan e1 desarrollo de la plaga para así asegurar una adecuada presión de selección en 'os materiales a evaluar. Si el ataque más severo de la plaga ocurre durante la estación seca, como es con frecuencia el caso en los trópicos, entonces la infestación de las variedades debe coincidir con la iniciación de la estación seca. Si, por ejemplo; plantas de yuca fueran infestadas con acaros durante la estación lluviosa, las poblaciones nunca aumentarían suficientemente para la manifestación de los síntomas, para una exacta evaluaci6n. las evaluaciones deben hacerse en un periodo determinado; especialmente cuando el dafio es más severo.5~ Cuando poblaciones naturales son utíl izadas en un proceso de seiección en el campo, y no se han reforzado con infestación artificial, deben sembrarse varias hileras de variedades susceptibles entre las variedades que se están evaluando para tener una población de insectos más uniforme.6. Debe establecerse una escala de reacción del huésped para describir en forma precisa Jos niveles de daño. Esta escala debería definir nivel alto de resistencia, intermedio y plantas susceptibles con relación al daño de las plantas. Deberán usarse términos concisos en vez de extensos, puesto que JO$ investigadores local izados en las diferentes áreas usarán la misma escala para la evaluación de su germoplasma. Basicamente dos tipos de escalas de daño pueden desarr01larse: la primera escala de daño debe usarse para evaluar el mayor húmero de variedades cuando el principal objetivo es el ¡minar material susceptible. Esta escala está comprendida generalmente entre O y 5.Un rango de O a 2 = alguna resistenc[a y sugiere ensayos posteriores 4 a 5 = altamente susceptible, para descartar; y 3 = un grado intermedio. Aquí el científico debe juzgar si una variedad merece ensayos futuros ó si debe descartarse. la segunda escala puede usarse para aquel las variedades identificadas para evaluaciones posteriores. En este caso se necesita una escala con más rangos, por ejemplo, 1 a 10. La diferenc1a entre estos rangos es más pequeña que de O a S en términos de niveles de daño. Esto permite definir en forma más precisa la reacción varietal, siendo ésta muy importante cuando se trabaja con bajos niveles de resjstenc¡a~ ó cuando se está tratando de incrementar la resistencia por la combinación de niveles bajos o Intermedios, por medio de cruces, En el último caso un pequeño incremento en Id resistencia debe ser detectada. (Ejemplos de tales escalas se dan en la sección síguiente), 7. Las escalas deben proyectarse para considerar la población existente de insectos cuando 10$ síntomas no son suficientemente marcados para evaluar la resistencia con precisjón. Estas son MUy útiles si el insecto o ácaro se puede detectar fácilmente de modo que se pueda llevar a cabo una rápida evaluación en el campo. Por ejemplo, la hembra de O. peruvianus teje una telaraña blanca pequeña en el envés de las hojas, bajo la cv~os huevos son depositados y los estados inmaduros se desarrollan. Cada telaraña tiene un diámetro de 2 mm., y puede verse fácilnente al voltear la hoja. Cada telaraña representa una colonia de ácaros y el número de telarañas ha sido también usada para evaluar la resistencia a mosca blanca. escamas y piojo harinoso. 8. Deben diseñarse métodos para evaluar rápidamente grandes cantidades de plantas por infestación y daño de insectos y ácaros. Esto puede hacerse en el campo o en et invernadero. La selección en plántulas representa una economía de tiempo especialmente con cultivos taJes como la yuca que tiene un largo período vegetativo. Estas técnicas pueden desarrollarse, pero la resistencia en plántulas debe ser correlacionada con plantas de mayor edad,Procedimientos para la evaluación de germoplasma de yuca, están siendo desarrollados para tr¡ps} ácaros, mosca blanca y piOjo harinoso. los síntomas de daño de trips son más notorios durante la época de verano, aunque los ¡nsectos están presentes durante todo el aRo. Los procedimientos para evaluar resistencia a trips en yuca fueron desarrollados por Schoonnoven (197~). Parte de ia colección de germoplasma del CIAT fué evaluada bajo condiciones naturales de infestaciones durante dos estaciones seca sucesivas, para daño de trips. Las p1antas fueron evaluadas a los 4 y a los 8 meses, y un promedio de las dos evaluaciones fué utilizando como clasificación de resistencia. Síntomas de daño de tríps fueron clasi-f¡cados en seis tipos de reacción: o = No hay síntomas.Puntos amarillos irregulares sólamente.2 Puntos en las hojas, 1 ¡gera deformación de las hojas faltan partes del lóbulo de la hoja. Tejido suberizado color café en los peciolos y tal los.3 = Severa deformación y distorción de las hojas; hojas pobremente expandidas, mal desarrolladas, acortamiento de entrenudos y cubiertos por tejidos suberizados color café.Como en el anterior. pero con los puntos de crecimiento. muertos retoño de los brotes laterales. 5 = Brotes laterales también muertos. Plantas achaparradas con apariencia de nescoba de brujall~ La naturaleza de la resistencia a trips se estudió en clones no florecidos de 8 meses de edad, representados por cada uno de los niveles de resistencia. Las poblaciones de trips fueron determinadas, colectando tres terminales por las plantas, estos terminales se colocaron en bolsas plásticas, las cuales fueron sumergidas en alcohol, del 30 por ciento y contando los insectos bajo microscopio. La pubescencia de las plantas se determinó contando el número de tricomas en el envés del lóbulo de una hoja no expandida. Se tomaron muestras de dos hojas por planta cuando las hojas medían cerca de 1 cm~ de Jargo~ Se encontró que las hojas de clones susceptibles tenían muy pocos, ó ningún trícoma mientras que las hojas de los clones resistentes tenían muchos. En todos 105 clones se encontraron tríps a pesar de la resistencia, pero en menor número fueron encontrados en los clones resistentes. No se encontró correlación entre la resistencia a trips y el contenido de cianuro, permitiendo de este modo la combinación de resistencia a trips y bajo contenido de cianuro.Se desarrollaron procedimientos para evaluar y seleccionar germoplasma a tres especies de ácaros: M. tanajoa, T. urticae y O. peruvianus. Cada especie requiere un procedimiento diferente. Como se indic6 previamente t poblaciones naturales, de I. urticae y ~. tanaíoa no son lo suficientemente uniformes para la selección de materiales en el CIAT. Por 10 tanto la selección inicial para estos dos ácaros es hecha bajo condiciones de casa de mal la y invernadero. La selección para O. peruvianus se hace con infestaciones naturales en e' campo. El procedimiento para cada uno es descrito: Mononychellus tanajoa.En la fase inicial de selección, el principal objetivo es el ¡minar cerca de 80 por ciento de las variedades y reevaluar las restantes. Estas especies de ácaros primeramente se al ¡mentan de las hojas superiores de la planta, especialmente de las hojas emergentes del cogollo, estos causan unas puntuaciones blanco-amarillentas y deformación de las hojas.Estacas de 2 pulgadas de largo son sembradas en materas plásticas de 4 pulgadas de diámetro. Aproximadamente un mes después de germinación son llevadas al invernadero (30 a 34 Q C) y colocadas en cajas de malla (1 x 2 m}J 60 plantas por caja. Dos semanas más tarde, son infestadas con ácaros. Cada matera representa una variedad, y la variedad puede estar repetida varias veces en una o diferentes cajas (CIAT, 1976), La infestación es hecha colocando uno o dos lóbulos de hojas infestadas con ácaros (SO a 100 ácaros) en las hojas superiores de cada planta a evaluar. Acaros provenientes del campo son reintroducidos regularmente en la colonia~ las evaluaciones de daño se hacen comenzando la segunda semana después de la infestación, y se continúan cada semana durante cuatro semanas consecutivas. Una segunda o tercera infestacion son hechas en caso de que la inicial no haya tenido éxito~ Basandose en estos síntomas una escala de daño de O a 5 es usada durante la fase inicial. o = No hay ácaros ni síntomas.Acaros en el cogollo, algunas puntuaciones blanco-amarillentas en las hojas.2 ; Muchos ácaros en las hojas, puntuaciones moderadas en las hojas del cogollo y adyacentes.3 Puntuaciones abundantes en las hojas terminales, 1 igera defor-mac¡ón en las hojas del cogollo.~ = Severa deformación en las hojas del cogollo reducción de cogollos, ácaros en casi todas las hojas con apariencia blanquecina y alguna defo! ¡ación.5 Cogollos muy reducidos o muertos, defol iación de hojas superiores.Las líneas que son seleccionadas como promisorias (15 a 20 por ciento) son reevaluadas varias veces hasta el ¡minar las más susceptibles. Aquellas seleccionadas como las más resistentes se reevalúan usando una escala de daño de O a 10. 6 • Deformación moderada del borde de las hojas con hendiduras que casi alcanzan las venas centrales y encrespamiento de las hojas apicales resultando con apariencia de mosaico. Hojas basales también muestran puntuaciones_ Ligera reducción de los cogollos.7 = Deformación y reducción de cogollos, hojas apicales con moteado intenso.8 = Planta completamente afectada, severa reducción de cogollos, y de algunas hojas nuevas desarrolladas, con apariencia generalmente blanco-amarillenta con alguna necrosis apical en las hojas. 9 = Cogo1 los completamente reducidos, no hay hojas nuevas en deS8rrol lo, defol iación comenzando por las hojas apicales. 10 = Muerte de cogollos y defol ¡ación severa.Esta escala contempla tres síntomas distintos de daño: manchas en las hojas y deformación de las hojas y reducción de cogollos para definir sintomas de da~o y detectar pequeRas diferencias de daño. Este sistema no es solamente útil en la clasificación de germoplasma sino que vienen a ser más importante cuando se nacen cruces y pueden detectarse 1 ¡geros incrementos en resistencia. Esta escala ha sido usada solamente para evaluaciones en invernadero. en vista de que se han empleado escalas de O a 5 t tanto evaluaciones de invernadero como de campo+ los materiales genéticos selecionados en invernadero como promiso~ ríos para resistencia, son sembrados en campos donde altas y uniformes poblaciones náturales pueden presentarse. Las poblaciones de ácaros llegan a su punto máximo 3 o 4 meses después de la iniciaci6n del período seco. 12 piantas de líneas promisorias Son sembradas en dos repl icaciones de 6 plantas cada una~ intercaladas con hileras de variedades conocidas como susceptibles. Se hacen evaluaciones mensuales en una esca1a de O a S desde el inicio de la estación seca hasta la época de lluvias, para medir la habilidad de recuperación de estas líneas al daño causado por los ácaros.Los resultados obtenidos en el campo deben coincidfr con los resultados de selección en el invernadero. Sin embargo, algunas líneas no han reacionado ígualmente bajo ambas condiciones de selección, posiblemente debido a la diferencia en condiciones ambientales, a la capacidad de los materiales para soportar sequía, al nível de infestación de ácaros, o a la capacidad de la planta para recuperarse del ataque de ácaros.Tetranychus urticae la selección comienza con estacas de 2 pulgadas sembradas en camas en el invernadero, las cuales son encerradas en plástico para aumentar la temperatura de 32 a 34 Q C. Cada cama contiene dos plantas de cada una de las 100 variedades espaciadas 8 pulgadas entre sí. la infestación con ácaros y la calrficación de daño en una escala de O a 5 son similares a aquellas usadas para M. tan~oa. Sin embargo, el síntoma de daño de T. urticae comienza eñ lasjas basales presentando muy poca, Ó ninguna deformaci6n de éstas. las poblaciones de ácaros y los síntomas progresan hacia la parte superior de la planta y en infestaciones severas hay presencia de telaraña en las hojas apicales y basales. la selección para estas dos especies de ácaros debe hacerse en áreas separadas, puesto que T. urticae progresa mejor bajo condiciones de invernadero y enmascara la colonia y dafio de~. tanajoa_ Además, la secuencia de trabajo debe comenzar con M. tanajoa y debe continuar a T. urticae; nunca 10 contrario.Oligonychus peruvianus. la evaluación de germoplasma para resistencia a este ácaro se hace usando explosiones naturales de la plaga durante dos estaciones de sequía. las telara~as de la hembra son facilmente visibles. El germoplasma se evalua por medio de conteos de telarañas en una muestra de tres hojas de la parte media de la p1anta~ ya que aqur la población es mayor.El estado pupa1 de Aleurotrachelus sp. es oblongo y de color negro, con una excresión blanca cerosa alrededor de sus bordes. y pueden verse fácilmente en el envés de las hojas. Las variedades de yuca se evaluan en un área donde haya severa infestación natural. 10 plantas por variedades son sembradas en dos repl icaciones, 5 piantas/repl ¡cación; además se intercalan hileras de variedades susceptibles. las evaluaciones se llevan a cabo cada dos meses a partir de los 2 meses de edad del cultivo.Para evaluar resistencia se usan tres escalas O a 5 para (1) número de pupas por hoja; (2) poreentaje de hojas infestadas con: huevos, ninfas, pupas, adultosj y (3) síntomas de dafio causado por la al imentación mosca blanca. El número de pupas por hoja se determina tomando una muestra de tres hojas por planta: Estas tres escalas permiten la correlación del síntoma de daño con número de moscas blanca. Grandes poblaciones de mosca blanca con pocos sIntomas de daño pueden indicar que existe un mecanismo de tolerancia. En éste caso la sola evaluación de síntoma de daño no indicaría necesariamente la población de mosca blanca. Variedades tolerantes no reducirían las poblaciones de mosca blanca, 10 cual sería el principal objetivo de un programa de resistencia dirigido a reducir la transmisión de virus.A. albus ataca principalmente los taflos y ramas. y muy rara vel las hojas~ Las hojas de las plantas atacadas se amaríltan y caen~ Las plantas pueden achaparrarse y los tallos se secan, causando la muerte de la planta. Puesto que la infestación de eScamas ocurre lentamente y en forma local izada en los cultivos de yuca, las infestaciones naturales no son suficientes para la evaluación de germoplasma. Se ha desarrollado un proceso sencillo para la infestación y evaluación de variedades.Una colonia de escamas es mantenida en un campo sembrado con la variedad susceptible 1M col 22 1 , Cuando las variedades a ser evaluadas tienen 3 Ó 4 meses de edad, un trozo de 8 cm. de tal lo infestado es amarrado al tallo (30 cms de suelo) de la variedad a evaluar. El material de Infestación debe tomarse de una colonia activa al inicio de la época de verano. las evaluaciones son hechas mensualmente usando el siguiente sistema de conteo: O• No hay escamas en los tallos. que todo alrededor de los cogol los, especialmente media del tallo y cubriendo más o menos 1/4 de los Algunas hojas basales con amaril lamiento y necrosis.mas de la mitad de los entrenudos cubiertos, defol ¡ación de las hojas basales.5 ~ Escamas cubriendo todo el tallo, secamiento de 105 tejidos del tallo, defol ¡ación de las 2/3 de la planta, muerte del punto de crecimiento.Si las condiciones del campo no son adecuadas t este método de evaluación modificado 1 igeramente. puede también usarse en la casa de malla o invernadero.El pfojo harinoso ataca las hojas como los tallos, de modo que hay dos métodos de infestación. Una colonia de piojo harinoso es mantenida en variedades susceptibles. Una hoja infestada con ninfas se retira de la colonia y se pega a una hoja basal o media de la variedad a probar. Las masas de huevos pueden ser también puestas en la axila de ta hoja. Los huevos del piojo harinoso contiene una substancia pegajosa que usualmente se adhiere a la planta. Una segunda o tercera ínfestaci6n con huevos debe hacerse con 3 días de intervarlo, especialmente si se han presentado lluvias después de la primera infestación.La evaluaci6n sistemática de germoplasma de yuca para resistencia a insectos, como un componente de ampl ios programas de seleccIón de germoplasma es comparativamente reciente. Estudios sobre resistencia a insectos fueron recientemente iniciados tanto en el Instituto Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (Leuschner, 1975), como en el CIAT. Las recomendaciones para ras propuestas y sistemas estan basados en una fnformación 1 imitada si se compara con estudios más extensos sobre cultivos como arroz, maíz o alfalfa.Como se mencionó anteriormente, la yuca es un cultivo perenne, vigoroso; altamente heterocigoto, de po] ¡nilación cruzada natural. Tiene un ciclo de cultivo largo y de fácil progapagación; por medio de estacas. Como patron de cultivo se siembra en pequeñas parcelas con muchas variedades regIonales y tradicionales con diferentes grados de susceptibil ¡dad a insectos y enfermedades. Estas características indican que en el cUltivo de la yuca existe una mínima presión de selección ejercida por plagas. La resistencia vertical, en términos de la teoría gene por gene, posIblemente no evolucionaría dentro de este sistema. Por 10 tanto, la resistencia es probablemente heredada mult¡genéticamente y de tipo horizontal o de campo. Investigaciones recientes indican que no hay inmunidad, excepto para Spaceloma maníhoticola. Existe resistencia a la mayoría de insectos y enfermedades a niveles bajos e intermedios (Lozano, com. personal) en los cultivares existentes.La estabil ¡dad de la resistencia horizontal es considerada mayor que la resistencia vertical (Robinson, 1976) y acarrea menos riesgos para el desarrollo de biotipos (Pimentel & Bellotti, 1976). Dada la naturale-Za del cultivo de la yuca, su habii idad para resistir épocas de sequía y su rápida recuperación del daño causado por insectos (CIAT, 1976), y su alto nivel de daño económico, la resistencia horizontal basada en numerosos genes, debería ser adecuada para mantener las poblaciones de insectos a un nivel de daño económico muy bajo.Un esquema para desarrol lar resistencia a plagas de )a yuca se muestran en la Fig.l. El gerrnoplasma es evaluado para resistencia a diferentes plagas y poblacfones resistentes son identificadas. Posiblemente altos niveles de resistencia no pueden encontrarse en una sola variedad. Si diferentes genes aditivos estan involucrados, cruces entre genotipos pueden incrementar el nivel de resistencia. Una vez que la resistencia ha sido fdentifícada para diferentes plagas, los genotipos pueden ser cruzados entre si, para un aumento de resistencia si es necesaria. Mejoramiento en base a unos 20 genotipost resultaría en una población que presente resistencia horizontal a varias plagas~ Entonces material genético de alto rendimiento puede ser introducido en esta población dando como resultado variedades de alto rendimiento con resistencia horizontal estable. Naturalmente, este tipo de programa requiere un equipo multidisci-pI ¡nario en el que toman parte el entomólogo y el fitomejorador además del patólogo, puesto que resistencia a enfermedades también es requerida para la 1 iberación de un material comercial.Esto debe tenerse en cuenta~ que cuando la yuca es mejorada para resistencfa a insectos, ésta es propagada vegetativamente y que los caracteres mayores son heredados hasta cierto punto de una forma aditiva. Por esta razón, una vez que se ha obtenido el tipo deseado, ei genotipo puede multipJ lcarse indefinidamente. Si el efecto aditivo es igualmente importante para caracteres de resistencia como lo es para rendimiento, esta puede ser una herramienta efectiva para incrementar la resistencia en donde solamente existen niveles bajos en un genotipo. Al cruzar cultivares que tengan bajos niveles de resistencia, la presencia de genes aditivos podría resultar en un incremento de resistencia.En la heredabil ¡dad las yucas alotetraploides tienden a comportarse como diploides. Puesto que el alotetraploide combina el gene contenido de dos especies diferentes de dipioides, su capacidad potencial de varia-Clon es mayor. Se recomienda poI inización cruzada controlada como el método más efectivo para producir recombinaciones deseables cuando las características de los padres son conocidas. Por 10 tanto, una buena cantidad de polinizaciones involucradas con genotipos deseados, dará una mayor recomhinación aditiva prometedora.Sistemas de mejoramiento uti¡ izados:1. Si la características de resistencia es controlada por genes dominantes, entonces el método de pqdigree es sugerido. Dos genotipos son cruzados uno poseeyendo la características de rendimiento deseable, y el otro, el factor resistencia. De este cruce, se selecciona una planta de generación Fl, de aquel los individuos que poseen las dos característi-cas~ rendimiento y resistencia. Cruces posteriores no son necesarios porque las características deseables de Jos genotipos pueden ser propagados vegetativamente por tiempo indefinido, sin que ocurra una segregación en el futuro~ 2. Si el carácter de resistencia es controlado por genes recesivos, el método de mejoramiento es mas compl ¡cado. Un cruce doble, es hecho entre híbridos o variedades de alto rendimiento t que sean resistentes (Fig. 2). Puesto que los genes son recesivos, esta resistencia no se expresa en la Fl. Las plantas Fl de más alto rendimiento son cruzadas para dar un híbrido de alto rendimiento con resistencia. Sí la nerencia se transmite de una manera diploide normal (3:1) este método es más exitoso que si esta fuera tetrasóm¡ca (35:1).3. Los detal les de los métodos de mejoramiento con genes aditivos no son decisivos. Primero debe identificarse la fuente de resfstencia y desarrollar un método efectivo de selección para identificar la resistencia de la progenie. Por 10 tanto es muy importante tener una escata exacta y d¡ferencial para seleccionar la progenie resistente e identificar la progenie resistente superfor a los dos padres. FIGURA 2. Un programa de doble cruzamiento entre variedades altamente rendldoras-susceptrbles y otras variedades con resistencla controlada por genes rpceslvos.Cuando se tienen disponibles varios genotipos moderadamente resistentes, se recomienda hacer cruces dobles o múltiples, ¡ncluyendo genotipos resistentes y genotipos de alto rendimiento. El esquema es una modificación del proceso de selección masal recurrente. Una selección efectiva es acrecentada en cualquier poblací6n segregante con el uso de propagación vegetativa~ Esto es muy importante para evitar la endocría.4. Si solamente se tienen bajos niveles de resistencia disponibles, por ejemplo con el ácaro T. urticae. éste debe incrementarse cruzando dos variedades distintas que sean moderadamente resistentes. Si hay genes aditivos involucrados y los genes de resistencia de cada variedad son diferentes (l.e. en diferentes locus) entonces la resistencia puede ser incrementada por medio de combinaciones apropiadas. Es muy importante hacer suficientes cruces y desarrol lar una escala de daño efect ¡va para identificar la progenie que ofrezca una resistencia mayor a cualquiera de las padres. la selección se hace para resistencia no para rendimiento, Esta resistencia puede ser incorporada en híbridos de alto rendimfento por medio de los métodos anteriormente mencionados.Existe un potencial val ¡oso para mejorar plantas con resistencia a insectos y ácaros. Escasamente se ha iniciado un trabajo a nivel internacional, y no existe mayor información sobre resistencia a insectos. Puesto que la yuca es normalmente cultivo de poco valor, los pesticidas y otro métodos de control son a menudo prohibitivos en relación a su costo. Por 10 tanto la resistencia varietal ofrece una alternativa econ6mica.Muchos insectos y plagas atacan la yuca, causando reducci6n en el rendimiento. Puesto que la yuca es cultivo de largo ciclo vegetativo (8 a 24 meses), los insectos y ácaros que atacan el cultivo por períodos prolongados parecen ocasionar mayores pérdidas en rendlmiento t que aquellos que atacan los cultivos por períodos cortos. Por esta razón los ácaros~ trips, escamas piojo harinoso y mosca blanca pueden causar reducciones substanciales en el rendimiento. Las evaluaciones de resistencia están dirigidas a estas plagas persistentes, Se han encontrado altos grados de resistencia a trips y una resístencra moderada a ácaros~. tanajoa yO. peruvianus y a Las moscas blancas. Recientemente se iniciaron estudios para escamas y piOjO harinoso. los siguientes puntos son muy importantes para establecer la resistencia a insectos en yuca: 1) colección de germoplasma ampl ia y variable; 2) selecctón con altas poblaciones de la plaga que esta siendo evaluada y 3) desarrollar una escala exacta para evaluucíón de daño. la selección puede hacerse bajo condIciones de campo, usando infestación natural y artificial! o bajo condiciones controladas en Invernadero ó caSa de malla.La yuca generalmente ha sido considerada como un alotetraploide y es altamente heterocigota. Esta presenta una fuerte endocria y tiene un alto grado de esteril idad mascul ina. Características importantes tales como índice de cosecha; contenido de materia seca, y resistencia a varías enfermedades son altamente heredables. La función de los genes aditivos en estas características es significante.La propagación vegetativa de el cultivo y la herencia aditiva de características superiores, indican que una vez se ha obtenido un tipo superior, este puede ser multipl ¡cado indefinidamente. Si las características de resistencia son controladas por genes dominantes el método convencional de pedrigree sera exitoso. Si las características de resistencia son controladas por genes recesivos, el procedimiento es más compl ¡cado y requiere un doble cruce entre hrbridos altamente rendidores o variedades, que posean resistencia. Cuando se trabaja con genes aditivos el procedimiento es identificar primeramente la fuente de resistencia y luego, por medio de un método de se1ección se identifica la progenie que t¡ene un incremento en resistencia En Uganda Nyiira (1975) encontró una pérdida de rendimiento debido al ácaro_M. tanajoa del 46% y Doreste Cc.am. per.) en VenezueJa t encontró una pérdida del 15-20%, debido .1 ácaro antes mencionado. En ia granja del CIAT en Palmira t se ha encontrado un complejo de cuatro especies de ácaros; !~ urtícae, ~~ tanajoa, M. mcgregori y_O. peruvianus, los cuales ocasIonaron pérdidas del 20-53% segün la edad de la planta, época de iniciación del ataque y duración del mismo (CIAT, 1977).El T. urticae se encuentra distribuido en todo el mundo y tiene más de 400 hüespedes. El da~o causado por esta especie se observa primero sobre las hojas Inferiores de las planta, manifestándose con puntos amarillos, que aparecen a lo largo de la vena principal. y luego se extienden por toda la hoja, la cual finalmente se torna de un color herrumbroso o café rojizo. Con infestaciones muy altas se produce una defoliación que comienza por las hojas basales; a medida que el ataque se intensifica, las colonias de los ácaros se localizan en toda la pianta cubriéndola con telarañas 10 cual trae como resultado la muerte de la planta.El ácaro~. tanaioa es orIginario de las Américas y fué introducido recientemente en el Afr¡ca donde ha causado grandes pérdidas en el cultivo de la yuca. Este ácaro se encuentra generalmente cerca á los puntos de crecimiento de la planta t sobre las yemas. hojas y tallos jóvenes; Jas ho~ jas ínfer iores sufren un ataque menos severo. De las yemas atacadas, las hojas emergen con puntos amarillos, luego pierden su color verde normal y se deforman. los cogoJ los atacados se tornan ásperos y de color café. las hojas y los tallos mueren progresivamente comenzando por la parte superior y luego afectando la inferior.Los ácaros se reproducen en mayor cantidad durante la estación seca en zonas con altas temperaturas y baja humedad relativa. Existe una relación directa entre el período seco y el ataque de ácaros y a mayor duración del período seco, mayor grado de defoliación y daño.El cultivo de la yuca se desarrolla normalmente en un lapso vegetativo de doce meses. En muchas partes donde se cultiva en forma intensiva está sometido a un período prolongado de sequía, lo cual favorece el desarrollo de los ácaros.El control químico de los ácaros en la yuca es anti-económico, ya que por el período vegetativo largo del cultivo se requieren varias aplicaciones. Además, las apl icaciones continuas de acaricidas destruyen la fauna benéfica que ayuda a controlar otras plagas como el gusano cachón y las escamas. Oe)o anterior se deduce que la resistencia varietal es la mejor forma de controlar los ácaros, porque es económica al agricultor, compatible con el control biológico y no daRa el medio ambiente.Este estudio fué real izado en la granja del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical. CIAT y en la granja de CENIAP en Maracay. Venezuela, con el fin de evaluar las variedades del banco de germoplasma de yuca por su resistencia a los ácaros!j,: tanajoa y !: urticae.En todo trabajo reiacionado con la búsqueda de resistencia a plagas se requiere de 1) una fuente de material genético con un ampl io rango de va-riabi¡ ¡dad t tal, como un banco de germoplasma; 2) la presencia de la plaga y condiciones favorables para el desarrollo de altas poblaciones; y 3) una escala para evaluar {) medir diferentes grados de ataque. El banco de germoplasrna de yuca de CIAT consta de más de 2000 colecciones; más sin ernbargc 105 ácaros T. urticae y M. tanajoa~ que causan el mayor daño. no se encuentran en altas poblaciones en el cafl1'o de la granja, debido a que las condiciones climáticas no son las más favorables para su desarrollo.Por esta última razon se desarrolló un procedimiento para evaluar el material del banco de germoplasma de yuca por su resistencia a Jos ácaros bajo condiciones de aislamiento. Previamente se establecieron colonias de las dos especies de ácaros en plantas de yuca~ sembradas en macetas aisladas en jaulas. Para T. urticae se realizaron las evaluaciones en el insectario cubriendo las materas con plástico transparente para aumentar la temperatura y la humedad consiguiendo así un buen ambiente para el desarrollo de la población acarina; la temperatura prorredio fluctuó entre 28°c-32\"C y la humedad relativa entre 60 -70%. Las variedades de yuca se sembraron en camas de 1.20 m de ancho por 4.00 m de largo para 100 variE\"dades por cama.Las evaluaciones para M. tanajoa se realizaron en el invernadero: allí las variedades de yuca se sembraron individualmente en macetas y se cubrieron con jaulas de malla plástica. Al mes de germinadas las plantas, se colocaron hojas infestadas con 30 -100 ácaros sobre las hojas apicales de cada una. Se previó una segunda infestacIón dependiendo de la efectividad de la primera.Después de la primera semana de infestación se efectuaron cinco evalua-c¡ones sel\"Oanales. Las variedades seleccionadas se reevaluaron varias veces con replícaciones, con el fin de estudiar más detal les y estar ~eguro de la evaluación injcial.Las evaluaciones de ácaros se hicieron de acuerdo a las siguientes eScalas de daño:T. urtícae O.Ningún daño sin ácaros 1. -Puntuaciones de luz. Pocos ácaros en algunas hojas 2. -Daños traslúcidos. Pocos ácaros en muchas hojas 3. -Daño extenso. Acaros moderadamente abundantes en algunas hojas. 4. -DaRo extenso. Acaros abundantes en casi todas las hojas. Del banco de germoplasma existente en el CIAT~ se tomaron 101 variedades de yuca al aZar y se enviaron a Maracay, Venezuela, para una prueba de campo ya que esta región presenta condiciones favorables para el desarrollo de altas poblaciones de !:l.y!:!.. roc.gregori bajo una sequía prolongarla (l¡ -6 \"\"ses).En las 2.071 variedaes evaluadas por resistencia al ácaro T. urticae, solamente se encontraron bajos nivetes de resistencia (Tabla 1)~ Estos resultados eran esperados porque este ácaro tiene mas de 400 plantas hospedantes conocidas y es muy dificil encontrar resistencia a una pLaga que tiene muchos y divelisos huéspedes. Aunque la mayoría de las variedades son susceptibles. 286 variedades de yuca fueron seleccionadas mostrando bajos niveles de resistencia. Estas variedaaes Se reeva!uaron nuevamente y se seleccionaron las siguientes 12 variedades como promisorias por su resistencia a este ácaro: Meo1 230,256,282,289,310,371,395,560,  No. Escala de daño: 0-1 resistencia; 2-3 resistencia intermedia; 4~5 susceptible .':;'; Infestacíón natural en Venezuela. Entre paréntesis: Variedades seleccionadas después de varias evaluaciones.Los resultados de. la evaluación de 1.349 variedades de yuca por su resistencia a ~. tanajaa indican que hay algunas variedades que poseen niveles moderados o intermediarios de resistencia (Tabla lIt pero ninguna variedad contiene niveles altos de resistencia. De éstas 210 fueron seleccionadas como promisorias para futuras evaluaciones y 40 se seleccionaron con niveles intermediar íos de resistencia. Las variedades que sobresalieron fueron M Ecu. 85, Ecu, 58, M Ecu 160, M Col 1390 y M Col 1434, M Col 517.En base a una escala de daño de 0-5 sólamente O~4% de las variedades evaluadas para T. urticae recibieron una evaluación de 3.5 o menos~ De las variedades evaluadas para ~. tanajoa. 14% recibieron una evaluación de 3.5 o menos. Además de las variedades evaluadas para resistencia a T. urticae 86.7% recibieron un grado de 5.0 mientras que sólamente 7.7% recibieron un grado similar para M. tanaJoa, 10 cual indica que en el germoplasma probado hay mayor susceptibil ¡dad al I. urticae.Los resultados de la evaluación de las variedades enviadas a Venezuela mostraron que el 20% de el las contienen niveles intermedios de resistencia a~. tan.joa y ~. mcgregori (Tabla 1).Las variedades M Col 395, M Mex 5(, y M Ecu 160 seleccionadas como promisorias en CIAT salíeron también promisorias en las pruebas de campo de Venezuela.Los resultados de la evaluación del banco de germoplasma de yuca por su resistencia a los ácaros MononycheJlus tanaJoa y Tetranychus urticae muestran que no hay altos niveles de resistencia El ácaro M. tanajoa es más específico para el género Manihot y por lo tanto el nivel~e resistencia encontrado en el materIal exlir~ en el banco de germoplasma fué más elevado que el de l. urticae.De acuerdo con los resultados nO hay variedades con resistencia a ambas especies de ácaros. deducféndose que en zonas en donde ambas especies sean plagas será difícil sembrar una variedad resistente. Los resultad05 tamb¡én indican que quizás los niveles de resistencta que ya existen en las variedades no sean suficíentes para mantener la población de ácaros bajo un nivel de daño económico.Por eso es recomendable estudiar la posibil idad de combinar niveles bajos o intermedios de resistencia con control biológ¡co para mantener la población de ácaros a un nivel bajo que no cause daño económico~ Existe la posibl ¡dad de hacer cruces entre variedades con niveles de resistencia intermedia con la esperanza de aumentar la resistencia en la progenie. Para valorar la importancia que tienen los agentes benéficos en la regulación de las poblaciones de las plagas de la yuca, resulta convenien* te que en primer Jugar se discuta~ aunque someramente, sobre algunos principios básicos del control integrado, las causas de la aparición de las plagas y las experiencias de los cultivadores de algodón en Colombia.En el control de insectos perjudiciales a la agricultura se puede decir que uno de los objetivos prácticos por parte de los entomólogos es mantener las poblaciones de insectos plagas a niveles de ninguna importancia económica.Este es aparentemente, un enunciado claro y fácil de entender, pero la verdad es que en la práctica parece que se ignora su verdadero sen-tido~ Cuando se habla de mantener los insectos perjudiciales a niveles de poca importancia económica, debe entenderse que no siempre la presencia y daño de un insecto plaga significa reducción en la producción, que casi todos los cultivos tienen capacidad para soportar cierto porcentaje de daño, que tiene habil ¡dad para recuperarse y que por Jo tanto no tiene sentido apl icar insecticidas por la sola presencia de insectos dañinos.Generalmente la importancia que alcanza una plaga en un cultivo es el resultado de las actividades del hombre introduciendo plagas a regiones antes no infestadas, introduciendo a áreas nuevas plantas y animales e~ótí cos, produciendo varied~des o razas de organismos! y simpl ificando los ecosistemas como un resultado de las actividades agrfcolas o industriales. Antes de tratar de controlar a los insectos plagas debemos aprender a convivir con ~l 10s t a real izar un inte! ¡gente manejo de nuestros recursos razonando no sólo en función económica sino también en función ecológica.El contra! integrado parece ser la forma más racional de luchar contra los insectos plagas y consiste en la combinación e integración de todas las técnicas disponibles para que epI ¡cadas en forma armoniosa mantengan los insectos plagas a niveles que no produzcan daño de importancia económica a los cultivos. El control biológico es parte básica del control integrado y se puede definir como el combate de las plagas mediante la util izaclón del ¡berada y sistemática de sus enemigos naturales. * Científico Visitante. Programa de yuca CIAT. la accf6n de parásitos, predadores y patógenos, mantiene la dens¡dad de otros organismos a un nivel más bajo del que podría ocurrir en su ausencia.A pesar de que en algunas épocas se presentan explosiones de algunas plagas, se puede decir que el cultivo de la yuca no está sometido permanentemente a ataques severos de insectos y que por el contrario mantiene un excelente equilibrio biológico, debido a que existen factores de morta-I ¡dad que han mantenido sus poblaciones a niveles de poca importancia económica. Existen varios insectos parásitos y predadores. bacterias, hongos y virus que hacen factible el control de las plagas sin necesidad de recurrir a la aplicación de insecticidas que rompen el equil ¡brío que debe existir entre los agentes dañinos y sus enemigos naturales.Esta situación tan favorable que se presenta en el cultivo de la yuca debe tratarse de que perdure evitando que ocurra 10 que le paso al cultivo del algodonero en Colombia en 1977. Durante este aRo el Hel iothís. su principal plaga t alcanzó tal grado de resistencia a los insectIcidas que su control se hizo más que difícil, imposible. Pero lo que se debe recordar es que cuando se inició en Colombia hace más de 20 años el cultivo del algodonero, eran pocas las plagas que lo atacaban y su control relativamente fácil. Podría decírse que era una condición slmi1ar a 1a presentada hoy en día por el cultivo de la yuca; también podría asegurarse que al no manejar racionalmente las plagas de la yuca y de apl ¡car insecticidas indiscriminadamente, se llegará en un futuro no muy lejano a la misma situación de desesperación a que llegaron los algodoneros.El caso del algodonero más que una nota histórica es una voz de alerta y una experiencia a la que se le debe sacar el máximo provecho. Por tal razón resulta conveniente entrar en más detalles sobre el particular.En el año de 1954 Heliothís y casi la total ¡dad de las plagas del algodonero se controlaban f~cilmente con productos cJorinados taJes como Endrln, OOT, Toxafeno y Cotton Dust 3-10-40. En esta época no se había determinado la reducción en los rendimientos causada por los ataque de Hellothis y se desconocía la tolerancia del cultivo a esta plaga; las ap' j ... caciones de insecticidas se iniciaban con porcentajes bajos de la plaga (6% de larvas en terminales)~ El número de aplicaciones de insecticidas durante la cosecha era inferior a seis. (Tabla 1) Para el año de 1977 la situaci6n era muy distinta t de acuerdo a la investigaciones de la Federacion de Algodoneros se conocía que la planta podía recuperarse de 10$ ataques iniciales del Hel iothis y que na se justiftcaba su contro1 antes de los 60 días; tambien se establecía que el nivel para iniciar aplicaciones de insecticidas era de 15% de larvas pequeñas en terminales. Igualmente existía perfecta claridad de que el Endrín ya no era efectIvo para el control de Hel iothis y que este insecto también z(li¡ había adquirido resistencia al Metil Paration (Tabla 2).Durante la cosecha de 1977 se apl ¡caron dosis de Metil Paration hasta de 1,5 galones/ha en lugar de 0,3 galones como se hacía en 1964. El He) iotis era incontrolable hasta el punto de Que muchos cultivos fueron abandonados. En el Interior del País (Valle, Tal ¡roa) se real izaron 22 apl ¡caciones en promedio y la producción de algodón semil la fué de 1200 Kgs/ha. En la Costa Atlántica se real izaron hasta 32 api ¡cacionas y la producción promedio fué inferior a 900 Kgs/ha. El cultivo en esta temporada llegó a lo que Ray Smith cal ifícó como etapa de crisis resultante del uso desmedido de ínsecticidas. Durante esta etapa se hace necesario apl ¡car ínsecticidas a intervalos cada vez más cortos; las apt ¡cacianes se inician más temprano y se extienden hasta más tarde en el período de cosecha. las poblaciones de las plagas se recuperan rápidamente después de cada tratamiento y plagas que en raras ocasiones causaban daño se convierten en plagas serias y permanentes. A la etapa de crisis sigue la de desastre en la cual el uso continuado de pesticidas eleva los costos hasta tal punto que el cultivo pasa á ser antieconómico.El cultivo de la yuca posiblemente se encuentra en la actual ¡dad entre la etapa de subsistencia y la etapa de explotación. la etapa de subsistencia para algunas regiones donde los rendimientos son bajos, donde se util izan algunas prácticas culturales y casi ninguna apl icación de insecticidas.En otras zonas el cultivo se encuentra en una etapa de explotación donde se introducen programas fitosanitarios para obtener máximos rendimieo• tos. Desafortunadamente durante esta etapa existe la tendencia de abusar eh el uso de ínsecticidas lo que conduce a la etapa de crisis. Es ahora cuando debemos aprovechar las experiencias de los algodoneros para no abusar de los insecticidas, convencidos que no son suficientes para el control de insectos y que se deben encontrar otras alternativas val iéndose de métodos más racionales y económicos que no continúen aumentando la resistencia de los insectos a los insecticidas, ni contaminando el ambiente a niveles crTticos para la humanidad.Conocida la imposibil ¡dad de controlar 105 insectos con sólo insecticidas t es posible que se haya creado un ambiente favorable para discutir sobre los diferentes agentes benéficos que se presentan en el cultivo de la yuca y no se los considere como una 1 ¡sta interminable de compi ¡cados nombres cientfficos, sino que se les dé el lugar y la importancia que les corresponde en la regulación de las plagas; se entiende sohre la necesidad de conservarlos mediante la aplicación de productos selectivos, sobre la necesidad de aumentar sus poblaciones mediante crras masaJes y posterior colonización de los campos.Por otra parte se deben aprovechar al máximo las ventajas que ofrece el cultivo de yuca a la apl icación de las diferentes técnicas del control integrado y especialmente del control biológico como son su tolerancia y poder de recuperación después de un ataque de artrópodos, su alto nivel de daño económico a muchas de las plagas, además de que mucnas de éllas no están diseminadas ampl ¡amente y su incidencia es a menudo estacional.Se han identIficado más de 200 especies de artrópodos atacando las plantaciones de yuca, pero en la actual fdad son pocas las que tienen importancia económica por la reducción en los rendimientos que ocasionan sus ataques. Para anal izar el valor de los enemigos naturales se discutirá sobre tres de las plagas que se presentan con mayor frecuencia en este cultivo como son el gusano tachón ErinoliS el lo registrado únicamente en las Américas; el ácaro verde Mononychel us tanajos y el piojo harinoso Phenacoccus manihoti registrados en Afr!ca y las Américas de donde son originarios. Hasta la fecha se han identificado para cada una de estas plagas más de 25 enemigos naturales (Figura 1). De estaS diferentes especies benéficas es posible seleccIonar las más efectivas y llevarlas a reglones donde la plaga no tiene agentes controladores eficientes ó a donde se ha introducido la plaga y no a sus enemigos naturales. lo anterior se puede entender mejor al considerar que Mononychel1us tanajoa y Phenacoccus manihoti fueron introducidos de las Américas al Africa y allí no 5610 tienen menor número de enemigos naturales (Figura 2) sino que están ausentes los principales, como son Oligota minuta predator de M. tanajoa~ Ocyptamus y Kalodiplosis predadores de~. manihoti. las p1agas introducidas generalmente tienen poca importancia en su lugar de origen a causa de sus efectivos enemigos naturales, por tal razón el control biológico aplicado recomienda la introducción de enemigos naturales para restaurar el balance natural por la reproducción de las condiciones que existfan en el Jugar donde la plaga es nativa. donde no se liberó el parásito. En estudios durante dos años en las regiones de Armenia y Caicedonia,se determinó que el porcentaje promedio mensual de parasitismo de huevos de Erinnyis por este parásito fu~ de 57%. Este agente benéfico es de fácIl erra masa I en laboratorio y su manipuleo en el campo no es compl ¡cado.Telenomus posiblemente dilophonotae es otro parásito de huevos, cuya importancia radica en que presenta alta especificidad para posturas del gusano cachón.En la Tabla 4 se presenta la progenie, fecundidad, relación de sexos y capacidad de parasítaci6n de Trichograrnma y Telenomus. Falta más estudio sobre estos dos microhymenopteros, pero con Jos datos observados se puede afirmar que estas especies se comportan muy diferentemente con las posturas de Erinnyis. Telenomus tiene una mayor progenir (100) y el número de adultos por huevo es menor (3), por lo tanto necesita encontrar más huevos de Erinnyis que Trichogramma (Progenie ~2; adultos por huevo 17) para colocar sus posturas. los datos de la Tabla 4 facil itan discutir un poco sobre el número de parásitos que se deben liberar en yuca en comparación a los 1 iberados en otros cultivos como el algodonero.En algodonero se liberan 15 pulgadas cuadradas de Trichogramme por ha, para paras.tar posturas de Heliotis y Alabama; de cada postura de estos lep¡dopteros emergen aproximadamente dos adultos de Tricnogramma. En CIAT el promedio de varios anos es de 23 adultos de Trichogramma por huevo de E. ello; por lo tanto una hembra de este parásito necesita menor cantidad de huevos de gusano cachón y mayor cantidad de huevos de Hel iotis para colocar su progenie. lo anterior hace pensar que a iguales densidades de población de las plagas sería conveniente liberar mayor cantidad de Trichograrnma por ha en yuca que en el cultivo de algodonero.Principales agentes benéficos de~. ello en estado de larvas.Son muchos los enemigos naturales de Erinnyis en su estado larval, pero hasta el momento sólo se han estudiado unos pocos que se consideran efectivos en la lucha contra el gusano cachón, entre los cuales se destacan dos predadores, Pol istes erythrocephalus y Podísus sp; un pat6geno Bacil lus thuringiensls y dos parásitos Apanteles congregatus y Chetogena scutel1aris.PoI istes erythrocephalus (Hymenoptera:Vespidae). Investigaciones con este predador han permitido conocer que su capacidad de predación depende principalmente de las larvas de PoI istes que tengan sus nidos y que el consumo diario es de 0.47 larvas de Erinnyis por larva de Polistes. En lo referente a los programas de colonizaci6n se determinó que para obtener éxito es conveniente llevar nidos de más de 50 celdas, en los cuales hay hembras y machos que aseguran el establecimiento de nuevas colonias. No se han encontrado machos en nidos con menos de 50 celdas. zw las pOblaciones de PoI rstes pueden estar regutadas no solo por factores el imáticos y por la apl ¡cación de insecticidas sino también por el parásito Oxysareodexia (diptera: Sarcophagidae) que ataca sus larvas y pupas. Es fácil detectar los nidos atacados por este par~sito 105 cuales deben ser el ¡minados cuando se lleva Poi istes de una región a otra.Podisus sp. (Hemiptera: Pentatornid.e). Es otro predador de larvas de E. ello de fácil cria masal en laboratorio. En la Tablá 4 aparecen datos sobre su ciclo biológico, fecundidad y fertil ídad~ Cada individuo de Podisus puede consumir durante toda su vida un promedio de 100 larvas de Erinnyis de prímero a segundo instar.Dentro del control biológico se considera que existe mayor probabl¡ ¡dad de éxíto con la util ización de insectos parásitos específtcos que con predadores polífagos, razón por la cual ha habido tendencia a sub-estimar estos últimos.Sin embargo, en los últimos años se considera que los predadores forman un val ioso componente del complejo formado por enemigos naturales y que éllos en un momento dado pueden bajar el incremento de las plagas potenciales o reducir los máximos de infestaciones cuando 10s parásitos específicos hayan stdo reducidos por otros factores. 8acillus thuringiensis. Se conoce desde hace muchos años que el control microblal de insectos ocurre continuamente en la natura1eza como parte del complejo del control biológico. La industria seleccionó esta bacteria como el primer patógeno para ser ampl ¡amente explotado y hoy en día es parte indispensable en muchos programas de control integrado por ser específico para ciertos insectos y plagas y no tener efectos letales sobre los insectos benéficos.Investigaciones en CIAT determinaron que el Bacillus thuringiensis es muy efectivo para el control de los primeros tres estados larvales de Erinnyis ello; ¡as larvas pueden sobrevivir 1 a 4 días después de consumido el follaje tratado con Bacilius pero en consumo fol lar se reduce considerablemente durante este perrodo. Igualmente se ha observado que esta bacteria no afecta adversamente ni a Trichogramma; ni a PoI ¡stes, ni a Podisus.Apanteles congregatu5 y Chetogena scutellaris, son dos parásitos de larvas de E. ello sobre 105 cuales se inicraron estudios para mejor conocimiento de s~tiv¡dad parasítica.Apanteles fué 1 ¡berado en plantaciones atacadas por Erinnyis lográndose un aumento de parasitismo superior al 50%. Chetogena es originario del Brasil donde al parecer tiene mucha importancia en la regulación de las poblaciones del gusano cachón, su cría en laboratorio no es difícil. Recientemente se obtuvo permiso de la oficina de Sanidad Animal de Colombia (ICA) para traer a CIAT pupas de este parásito con el prop6sito de real izar los estudios básicos necesarros.Otros agente. benéficos.En el presente trabajo se ha hecho mene Ion de los agentes benéficos en yuca de los cuales se tiene alguna informaci6n sobre su biolog1a 1 comportamiento y forma de manipulearlos en el campo; pero existen otros enemigo. naturales (Tabla 6) de los cuales sólo se ha registrado 01 nivel de parasitismo alcanzado en cierta época pero muy posiblemente son los causantes en parte de que el cultivo de la yuca presente un excelente equilibrio biológico.En el cultivo de la yuca se presenta un balance natural entre las plagas y sus enemigos naturales, condición que debe perdurar ev¡tando al máximo Ja apl ¡caeión de insecticidas no selectivos, selección y util ización de los agentes ben~ficos ~s efectivos, y capacitación de profesionales para que conjuntamente con todas las técnicas del control integrado hagan del control biológico un eficiente método de control~ '\" 2.No deje que las plagas se Intensifiquen, ya que los insectos son más fáciles de combatir al iniciar sus ataques.Inicie control de He) iothis cuando encuentre 10 a 15 huevos y más del 5% de larvas en terminales.Para el control de He} iothis apl tcar: 2.4.Federación Nacional de Algodoneros Perrada crítico de control de Hel iothis entre 60 dfas y maduración. No se controJe este insecto antes de los 60 días.La no apl icación de insecticidas clorados y fosforado$ en las primeras etapas del cultivo favorece la acción de 105 insectos benéficos.Inicie control de Heliothis con el 15% de las larvas pequeñas en terminales.Para control de Heliothis:  INTRODuce ION Oentro de los artrópodos plagas que atacan las plantas cultivadas, los ácaros revisten gran fmportancra debido al r~pido incremento de sus poblaciones en los perfoOos de sequía pro1ongada, a la facfl ¡dad de su distribu• ci6n t a 1a severa reducción de los rendimientos a causa de sus ataques y a la dificultad de su control con la gran mayorTa de los acarlciaas comerciales, Las InvestIgaciones realiz.da.•en CIAT (Colombia) con Mononychellus tanajoa y Tetranychus urticae han demostrado que en el cultivo de la yuca estos ácaros reducen-dr §sticamente los rendlmientos en Tas variedades sus-ceptrbJes t siendo su accfón menos notoria en las variedades resistentes. Se ha demostrado con claridad que existe una relación directa entre la duración del ataque de 105 á,aros y la reducción en los rendimientos de rafces frescas y del material de siembra. Igualmente se han identificado y estudiado los principales enemigos naturales que reducen sus poblaciones.Son muchos y variados 105 enemigos naturales de los ácaros que se han Identificado hasta la presente. Entre 105 ártropodos benéficos se encuentran espec¡es de los órdenes Coleóptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Díptera, Thysanopters t Acarina y Araneida; fgualmente se han registrado varios hongos, virus. bacterias y rlckettsfas. Un total de 41 agentes benéficos se han registrado atacando ácaros fit6fa90S en yuca (Cuadro 1).El hongo Entomophthora floridana se encontr~ atacando hasta el 100% de las hembras adultas de Eutetranychu$ ba~~.Tetranychus urtfcae y T. clnnabarinus son atacados por Entomophthora sp.La bacteria Pseudomonas aeruglnosa se ha registrado atacando T. urticae, * Tecnologof Entom6logo l Asociado de Capacitación, Programa de Yuca, CJAT~ El ácaro Phyllocoptruta ~~a es atacado por el hongo Hirsutella \"~homp~..!!i! el cual es un factor muy importante en el control de este ~caro.En CIAT se encontr6 que este mismo hongo causa hasta 100% de mortali~ dad en las poblaciones del Eriophydae, calacarus sp. las poblaciones de Panonychus citri son reducidas drástIcamente por los ataques de un vi rus. \"\"~\"~--~\"~\"--' ---Los patógenos asocIados con §caros no han sido tan estudfaclos como los que atacan fnsectos, existiendo por 10 tanto la posibfl ¡dad que en el futuro se puedan util izar en el control de ácaros fitofagos.Varios estudios biológicos y ecológicos han demostrado que los ácaros de la famil Ja Phytoseifdae son los predadores más eficientes de los Tetranychidos y se encuentran distríbuídos en casi todas las regiones del mundo.El fitoseido Phytoseiulus persimll ts-pa sido muy ut!l izado en Europa para controlar Tetranychus urticae en cultivos de invernadero IrPhlodromalus 1 imonlcus y Neoselulus anomymus son dos Phytoseiidae predadores del Scaro verde Mononychel1us tanajoa, consumiendo sus huevos y estados activos.También se han encontrado ácaros predadores en las famil ¡as Bdel1idae. Anyst¡dae. Stígmaeldae y Cheyletidae. En general se considera que lOS acaros fitosefdos pueden consumir desde 25 hasta más del 50% de la progeníe de los 'caros fitófagos.Se considera que los Phytosei idae son más eficientes que los insectos benéficos para controlar los ácaros cuando estos se encuentran a bajas densidades de poblaci6n. Esta condición se puede deber a varios factores como: los fitoseidos tienen mayor habilidad para encontrar la presa, sobreviven en diferentes fuentes de alimento, su ciclo de vida y período de incubación son más cortos que en los Insectos y por ser más peque~os que estos tienen requerimientos m&s bajos de al fmento. Cnntrario a Jos ácaros predadores t los ínsectos benéficos tIenden a emigrar cuando las poblaciones de ácaros fitófagos son bajas.Los insectos predadores de ácaros pueden ¡legar a constltufrse en a~ gentes importantes en la regulaci8n de las poblaciones de esta plaga, cuando su acción se complementa con otras medidas de control taJes como resistencia Várretal, practIcas culturales y utll ización de acaricidás selectivos. Se consrdera que los Insectos predadores de 'caros más promisorios se encuentran en el orden coleóptera tales como Oligota spp (Stapnyl inidae) yOllgota minuta es un pequefto coleóptero que ovlposlta en las hojas de la yuca entre las colonias de Mononrehollus tan.Joa. Las larvas y adultos de Ollgota predan activamente todos Jos estados del ácaro, observándOs. que las larvas j6venes tienen preferencia por los huevos y estados más jóvenes de Mononychellus.En estado larval este predador puede consumir de 49 a 70 ácaros y de 44 • 61 huevos. En su estado adulto consumon, en un lapso de 7 a 16 dras un total de 97 a 142 huevos y ácaros.Stethorus es un coccinelido predador que muestra gran preferencfa por Tetranychus spp. Durante todo Su estado larval Stethorus modecassU5 coosumio 500 huevos de Tetranychus neocaledontcus.Estudios r.al Izados en CIAT para determinar la preferencia de los predadores de ácaros fndfcaron que cuando 1as poblacfones predominantes eran de T. urtlcae y T. clnnabarlnu$ el 98% de los predadores presentes eran Stethorus y el 2% de 01 Igota minuta. Cuando las poblaciones predominantes eran de Mononychellus tanajoa, las poblaciones de 01i$ota eran del 88% y las de Stethorus del 12%.Por abundantes y variados que sean los predadores de ácaros su acción se dificulta y por lo general pasa desapercibida en las variedades susceptibles de yuca; por 10 anterior se considera que la utilizacIón de variedades resistentes eS Indispensable en el manejo de ácaros. En estas variedades se retrasa la aparJclón de los ácaros, sus poblacfones son bajas faci~ Iftándose la acción de sus enemIgos naturales que adquIeren en esta forma gran importancra en la regulación de sus poblaciones. El adulto del cachón puede volar a grandes distancias y es posible que altas pob1aciones migren a un area O zona determinada, depositando gran número de huevos que pueden en un momento dado romper el equil ¡brin existente entre la plaga y los agentes de control biológico. As! pueden presentarse ataques violentos con severos daños en las plantas. Problemas igualmente serios se presentan cuando se hace U50 indiscriminado de insecticidas. Por 10 tanto se hace necesario el estudio de otros tipos de agentes biológicos como el Bacillus thuringiensis Ser! ¡ner, para control de esta plaga.Troehez (1975) manifiesta que para cualquier programa de control racional es indudable que los patógenos de insectos; ya sea que ocurran en forma natural o procesados por el hombre para ser apl icados en forme Intensiva juegan un papel muy importante. Dentro de éstos los vIrus y las bacte rías ofrecen una mayor seguridad y efectividad contra algunos insectos economicamente rmportantes.El !: thuringlensis ha sido utilizado con resultados satisfactorios para controlar larvas de lepidópteros de diferentes especies en otros cultivos. En .xperiencias con!. thuringiensis apl ¡cado en dosis de 350 g/ha de producto comercial en horas de la tarde~ se observ6 en caña de azucar una mortal ¡dad del cabrito de la caña Cal i90 111 ioneus (Cramer) entre el 85% y 90%. después de hacer conteos antes y despu~s de la apl ieaci6n; después de la aplicacfón las larvas dejaron de al imentarse y no se encontró daño fresco en las plantas de caña. Oespues de 5 a 6 días las larvas murieron 1.Revelo (1965) reporta que la bacteria !. thurlngiensis fué probada por primera vez en Colombia en 1959 contra ssodotera frugiperda (J.E.Smith) y Agrotis ¡pslloo (Hufnagel). y que en 196 se probó contra Oi_trae_ saecharal is (F.)El objetivo del presente trabajo radica en estudiar básicamente la eficiencia del B~ thuringiensfs como agente de control de larvas del gusano cachón de la-yuca E. ello y a la vez observar el par~s¡tismo efectuado por Trichogramma sp.7 par3sito abundante en forma natural en los cultivos de yuca sobre las posturas de!: ello.Con tal fin se real Izó un estudio en el laboratorio de Entomologfa de la granja experimental del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Troptcal (CIAT) yen una finca situada en Florida (Valle).En el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) a nivel de laboratorio, se real {zaron observaciones con el fin de estimar comparativa-Infonmación personal J.d.O. Raigosa, Entomólogo, Ingenio Providencia mente la cant[dad de área fol ¡ar que puede consumir una larva de L ello, indívidualmente alimentada con follaje de yuca asperjada con una soluci6n de 6. thuringiensis (1,0 grs/500 ce de agua) y otra que se al imentó con fo' Ilaje no a.perJado como test ¡go.La temperatura en el laboratorio fluctuó entre 26 P y 28°C Y la numedad relativa dentro de los recipientes fué aproximadamente del 100%. Las hojas de yuca después de asperjadas con Ja soiución Se introdujeron en frascos de vidrio de un galón de capacidad con un papel filtro humedecido y enseguida En relación a la liberación de Trichogramma sp. real izada en los lotes anteriores, se observó que el parasitismo de huevos siempre aumentó tanto en la parte tratada COmo en la no tratada (Tabla 3) indicando que la aplicación de!. thuringiensis no tuvo un efecto adverso sobre el parásito. No. de Larvas )\"; (Acarina: Tetranychídae)El ácaro verde de la yuca M. tanejas se ha reportado como una de las especfes que más da~o ha causado al cultivo de la yuca en verlos países de las Ar:'!éricas y Africa incluyendo Colombia. Especialmente en regiones cáli~ das de veranos prolongados donde las condiciones climáticas se presentan favorables para el desarrol Jo de altas poblaciones acarinas.El O. minuta ha sido reportado como el predador más dominante sobre poblaciones de ~.tanajoa: (Bennett y Yaseen 1 1975). Nyiira (1973) en Uganda reportó que las poblaciones más altas de predadores se encontraron donde las poblaciones de ácaros fueron dltas~ y el más alto número de predadores y ácaros fueron local izados entre las hojas quinta y octava.Sennet y Yaseen (Abril 1974 -Marzo 1975) en Trinidad, reportaron que e1 número de predadores varfa de acuerdo al nivel de infestación en las ho-Jas; e1 mayor número fué encontrado entre las hojas sexta y décima, y en observaciones prel ¡minares sobre la relativa abundancia de O. minuta durante diferentes períodos del día indicaron que los adultos soñ mas dblJndantes en las primeras horas de la mañana (9 am -10:30 am). En el Centro Interna~ cional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT (Marzo 1977) se hizo una evaluación preliminar del número de predadores adultos de 01igota y Stethorus, observándose una mayor poblacion de 01 ¡gota y poblacTOn~aJas de Stethorus. El O. minuta se ha observado como el ~rredador de mayor dominanc-¡1iTsl.fs-~larvas y aOü11O'S consumen. ninfas y adultos de,::.. tanajo~. la biología de 0, minuta fué estudiada (Yaseen y Bennett, 1976).Huevos, larvas y pupas CfiTraron de 2-3, 9-10.5, 4-5 días respectivamente con un total de 16-18 ciTas. las hembras vivieron entre 7-16 días y colocaron un promedio de 20.8 huevos. Los machos vivieron hasta 12 días, El total de ácaros y nuevos consumidos en el estado larval estuvo en un rango de 49-70, 44-61 respectIvamente. los adultos consumieron entre 97-142 huevos y ácaros en 7-16 dras. El objetivo final está encaminado al estudio de la biología, ecologf'a y fluctuación de qllgota con el fin de * TecnSiogo, Entomélogo y Cientifrco Visistante respectivamente. Programa Yuca. CIAT. las mayores poblaciones de Q. ~~ se encontraron entre la quinta y octava hoja •.Las poblaciones de Ollgota 00 vorlaron signifIcativamente durante el dTa. permftiendo hacer una sola evaluac~on a cualqufer hora dél dTa.Observacrones indican que Oligota minuta aparece en forma sfncronfzada con 10s ácaros, y su dlstrrbuci6n en la planta es sfml1ar a la de los áca~ ros, y 1. mayor densidad del predador coincide con 1 •• epoca. de mayor abundancia de.•Mononyc~.Estos resultados dan una mejor orfentaci5n en ia utrl lzaclón y buen uso de 01 ¡gota como predador del ácaro Ü. tanaJoa. los resultados concuer~ dan con otras Investigaciones sobre la distribución de Oligota en )a planta l y a través del tiempo permitiendo una mejor orfentación para próximos estudfos con el propósito de hacer un buen uso y aprovechar mejor la capacidad de predacf6n de ~. minuta en en contro1 bio16gico bajando o suprimiendo las poblaciones acarlnas combinada con la utilización de varIedades resistentes, TABLA En el cultivo de la yuca Hanihot esculenta eranz. existen grandes po~ sibil idades de establecer existosos programas de control integrado basado en la utilización de variedades resistentes, control biológico prácticas culturales e insecticidas selectivos~ Pol istes erythrocephalus es un predador importante en la regulación de las poblaciones del gusano cachón de la yuca, Erínnyjs~. Las larvas del gusano cachón pueden defoJiar en poco tiempo grandes extensiones sembradas en yuca y por su causa los agricultores apl ¡can insecticidas no selectivos En CIAr se han reatizado estudios sobre la biología, capacidad de predación de Polistes erythrocephalus y sobre el manejo y establecimiento de sus colonias. Sin embargo, poco se conoce sobre los factores que regulan sus pOblaciones entre los cuales estan algunos enemigos naturales como Oxysarcodexia sp.El Objetivo de esta investigaci6n fué la identificación de los principales enemigos naturales de Pol rstes spp. en cinco regiones (Departamentos) de Colombia y con ésta informaciÓn en el futuro estab1ecer estrategias tendientes a disminuir su acción sobre PoI ¡stes.Se recolectaron y examinaron un total de 412 nidos con más de cien celdas conteniendo adultos. huevos, larvas y pupas. En el laboratorio durante varias semanas se recolectaron tos artropodos asociados con los nidos de Pol istes spp.Polistes erythrocephalus fué encontrado en el Valle del Cauca t Caldas y Quindio; Polistes canadensis fué encontrada en el Departamento del Magdalena.Un total de 19 insectos fueron identificados asociados con nidos de folistes (Tabla 1); 10 Hymenoptera; 3 Coleoptera; 2 Lepidoptera; 2 Díptera; 1 Psocoptera; 1 Strepslptera. * Asociados de Capacitación, Entomológo respectivamente. Programa de YucaOxysarcodexia sp: Este parásito de larvas y pupas es el enemigo más frecuente en los nidos de PoJistes spp •• se encontró en todas las regiones, en el 17% de los nidos recolectados. Se encontraron cuatro parásitos de Oxysarcodexia que emergen de sus pupas: Pacnyneuron sp; Mel ítobia sp; Brachymeria canica y Signipnora dipterophaga.Pachyneuron se ha registrado también como hiperparásito de larvas de} del Syrphidae Ocytamus estenogaster, impertante predador de Phenacoccus spp. en yuca.Mel itobia sp y Signiphora dipterophaga han sido registrados en Colombia y Venezuela como hiperparasitos que emergen de pupas de Paratheresia claripalpís y Metagonistylum minense dos Importantes parásitos de Diatraea saccharal is en el cultivo de la caña de azucaro Pachysomoides stupidus, se encontró en el Valle del Cauca sobre P. erythrocephalus; con anterioridad se había registrado como parásito de pupas de P. canadensis en Colombia; Poi ¡stes versicolor en Brasil j ~. ~nnularTs y!. exclamans en Estados Unidos (lllinoís).Strepsiptera StyJopidae: Este parásito fué encontrado en el Val1e del Cauca sobre adultos de P. erythrocephalus. Los adultos parasftados se reconocen porque el abdomen-se ve distorsionado y se puede ver una parte del parásito entre los uromeros.Trypoxrlon sp. se encontró en el Valle del Cauca asociado con t.erythocephalus al parecer este insecto util iza las celdas vacías para introducir arañas para reproducción de sus crias. En Estados Unidos se encontró asociado con Po' istes sp util izando sus celdas para colocar arañas; en Venezuela se registró como un predador de Schrstocerca paranensjs.Sobre los otros insectos encontrados no se pudo determinar el tipo de asociación con PoI istes spp~ Stei is sp. se ha registrado en Estados Unidos como parásito de abejas; Trog~rma anthrenoides fué encontrado en Colombía por primera vez en 1977 en un trigo importado de Estados Unidos, es un in~ secto de granos almacenados.Epitragus aurulentus aurulentus, se ha registrado en Colombia como perforador de frutos de vid, y como defol ¡ador en citricos y algodonero. la importancia de la información pre1iminar consignada en este trabajo radica en el conocimiento de la pOblación insectil relacionada con Po} istes SPP'l 10 cual es de gran importancia para determinar el posible efecto de cada uno de el los o del conjunto sobre las poblaciones de este predador a través del tiempo. Igualmente sería posible implementar un manejo eficiente de Polistes en un programa de control integrado, para 10 cual es necesario complementar ta información referente a distríbuci6n. época de aparición y frecuencia de cada uno de los insectos asociados con nidos de PoI istes spp....,  la yuca (Manihot esculenta) I una de. las principales fuentes energeticas de 300 a 500 mil iones de personas. s~ cultiva en las regiones tropicales y subtropicales del mundo. Históricamente es un cultivo del pequeño agricultor pero en los años recIentes se le encuentra cultivada en plantaciones de mayor escala. La FAO estima una producción anual global de yuca para 1980 de 122 mil Iones de toneladas en 13.9 millones de hectáreas, de las cuales por lo menos 78.8 millones se destinan al consumo ~umano. En la actual ¡dad, los rendimientos mundiales de la yuca promedian en 8.8 t/ha; el promedio en América del Sur es de 11.7 t/ha. (FAO. 1981). En Colombia y otros países se han obtenido rendimientos experimentales hasta 70 t/ha. (CIAT, 1979). Los rendimientos comerciales con un nivel de insumos bajo, han superado las 40 t/ha en Colombia. Estas cifras indican que hay indudablemente varios factores que limitan la producción en las fincas, úno de los cuales son plagas.Las plagas de la yuca representan un amplio rango de artrópodos (Bellotti & Schoonhoven, 1978)~ y se pueden dividir en categorías: aquellas que atacan el material de siembra (mosca de la fruta, barrenadores, escamas chizas, tierreros etc.); aquellas que atatan la planta en desarrollo (consumidores del follaje, deformadores de la hoja y barrenadores del tallo, las ramas y los cogollos; aquellas que atacan material de siembra almacenada y yuca seca y aquellas que atacan las raíces.La mayor diversidad de insectos y ácaros reportados atacando la yuca se encuentran en las Américas (Bel1ottl &, Schoonhoven, 1977). Representantes de los 17 grupos principales de plagas de ta yuca se encuentran en las Américas; 12 en Africa y 5 en Asia. Debido a que la yuca se originó en las Américas, se espera que la mayoría de las plagas se encuentran en las Amé~ rrcas. Sin embargo t varías de las especies principales dentro de estos 17 grupos se han diseminado a otras regiones del mundo. Las especies principales que han sido diseminadas a otros continentes son Mononychellus tanajoa~ el ácaro verde de la yuca (Lyon, 1973), el Phenacoccus manihot¡ (Matile-Ferrero? 1976), ambos odginarios de las Américas e introducidos a Africa. la escama blanca. Aonidomytilus albus problablemente se originó en las Amerícas y fué diseminado a casi todas partes del mundo donde se cultiva la yuca, convirtiendose en la plaga más universal de este cultivo.Plagas importantes en las Américas, tales como el gusano cachón Erinnyis el Jo, la mosca blanca, Aleurotrachelus socialls, la mosca del cogollo t Sflba pendula~ el chinche de encaJe,Vatiga manihotae y !.illudens y el barrenador Chilom'ma clarkei, no han sido disemInados a otros continentes. Con excepci6n de los barrenadores y de S. pendula, que ataca las yemas apicales, las restantes plagas atacan principalmente las hojas y como en el intercambio de material genético hay una mfnima util ización de estos órganos. la dísemfnación de estas plagas ha ocurrido especialmente en las Américas (Sellotti & Varga., 1982).El movimiento de las plagas dentro de las Américas ha sido extenso debido a que la yuca se cultiva en casf todos los paTses tropicales y sub~ tropicales y el extenso intercambio de germoplasma entre agricultores. Plagas tales como el gusano cachón (E. ello), la mosca del cogollo (varias especies), la mosca de la fruta (Anastre--¡;iia manihotl y~. pickel i), trips (Frankliniella wllllamsl), los ácaros (~. tan.jo.), 1. escarna blanca (!l.. albus), 1. mosca de la. agallas (Iatrophobia braslllensls), el chinche de encaje (V. manihotae y V. ¡lludens) y los barrenadores del género Coelosternus estan reportadas en varios parses de las Américas. Algunas especies como la mosca blanca (A. social isl el chinche de la viruela, Cyrtonemus bergi. e1 piojo harInoso !.. herreni, y los barrenadores f.. clarkei y Lagocheirus spp, han sido reportados en ~reas espeefficas y su diseminaci5n es aparentemente 1 imitada.Estudios presentes indican que cada ecosistema donde se cultiva la yuca contienen su complejo particular de insectos y ácaros que atacan el cultivo. Ciertas plagas aparecen en varios ecosfstemas y sin embargo sus niveles de poblacrón e intensidad de ataque pueden variar entre ecosistemas (CIAT, 1980 y 1981).Estudios realizados en CIAT y en varias partes de las Am€ricas, muestran que los insectos pueden causar pérdidas en el rendimiento de raíces y en la producci6n de material de siembra. las bases flsiologicas para expi ícar pérdidas en rendimFento en yuca ocasronadas por insectos y ácaros plagas han sido exploradas por Cock (1978), quien establece que 1. yuca puede ser mas tolerante al ataque de plagas que otros cultivos debido a la falta de perrodos críticos en la produccidn.Se puede resumir el efecto del tipo de d.no sobre el rendimiento de yuca en la siguiente forma~ pérdida. Menore.Reducción en namero de cogol los activos Bajas pérdidas en número de raíces Pequeña reducción en área fol íar Pérdida. Mayores Reducción de la longevidad de la hoja Reducción de la rata fotosintética Oaño severo en Jos tallos Muerte de plantas jóvenes en altos porcentajes «30) El tipo de da~o y la duracion del ataque determinan el grado de disminucíón en el rendfm(ento. Las evrdenclas muestran que las plagas que atacan la planta por un perrada prolongado (ácaros, mosca blancá. trfpst chinches de encaje y piojos harinosos), generalmente reducen más Jos rendimien\" tos que aquellas que atacan la planta por un corto perroda (gusano cach6n. \"\",sca del cogollo, mosca de la fruta). El tipo de dafio más detrlmente es la continua reducción de la rata fotosintétlca (8ellottl et al, 1979). La yuca es un cultrvo de perroda vegetativo largo, de 8 a 24 meses según la variedad y las condicIones ambfentales~ Este cultIvo tiene un nivel económico alto; varfedades vigorosas pueden perder considerable follaje (40% 6 más) y hay perrodas en los cuales la planta puede tolerar defo) ¡acIón más alta sin reducción srgnificativa en el rendimiento. Estos dos factores son importantes en la relación entre daño de plagas y la reducc1ón del rend¡miento en yuca. Como es un cultivo de un período vegetativo largo, la planta es continuamente atacada por un grupo de plagas que causan diferentes tipos de da\"o. los ataques más severos generalmente ocurren durante la epo~ ca de verano cuando el efecto por el daño de la plaga está combinado con la intensidad de la sequfa. Aunque hay algunas plagas que atacan el cultivo durante la época de lluvias este período hace que la planta -se recupere, usualmente permitiendo un crecimíento vigoroso.El objetivo primordial de un programa de manejo de plagas de yuca es suprimir las plagas insectites y mantener las poblaciones por debajo de su umbral de daño económico. Esto se debe hacer con un mfnimo de ¡nsumos costosos sobre todo de pesticidas. Estamos firmemente convencidos que un programa de control integrado de plagas de la yuca se debe basar en el control bio16gico, la resistencia de la planta hospedante y pr~ctjcas cultura~ les. La yuca se ha cultivado tradiciona1mente en pequeña escala, con diversas variedades en una región o aún en una sdla finca. La variabil ¡dad genética existente en este sistema, ha actuado como defensa contra las grandes epidemias de pla9as y enfermedades. En la agricultura tradicional de subsistencia existe un equil Ibrlo bastante estable entre la plaga, geno~rpo, medio ambiente y los enemigos naturales. El agricultor tradIcional debe hacer todo 10 posible para mantener un ecosrstema que d~ buena defensa a la planta y baje la Incidencia y poblacIones del insecto. SerS casi imposIble mantenerlo en sistemas de agricultura modernos con plantaciones de yuca de mayor extensi6n y con un número limitado de variedades o hfbridos de alto rendimiento. En la agricultura moderna será necesario manipular los factores de control de plagas, Existen varios métodos para dIsmfnurr las poblaciones de plagas hasta un nivel inferior al daño económico. Se debe desa-I I I ! rrollar un programa de control integrado en el cual se utllizarfen practicas culturales, selección de ~terial de propagación f variedades resistentes, control biológico y ~todos alternativos como feromonas o atrayentes. Se util izan insecticidas porque ofrecen la manera más inmediata y rápida de reducir poblaciones de plagas a corto plazo. Sin embargo, es un hecho aceptado que ningún programa de manejo de plagas debe depender del uso de pesticidas, los cuales se deben emplear unicamente como ültimo recurso y siempre por un tiempo corto.La resistencia de la planta hospedante es la manera más económica de controlar las plagas de la yuca sin afectar el equilibrio del medro ambiente, la estabil ¡dad en los rendimientos a través del tiempo en un ecosistema dado, depende no sólo de las presiones a las drferentes plagas y enfermedades en el ecosistema, sino también de la capacidad genética de los clones de la yuca para resistír a estas presiones. DebIdo a la selección regional apl ¡cada a1 cultivo de la yuca desde milenios y a que los clones han sido perpetuados vegetativamente, existe una gran interacción genotrpo~ecosistema. Un clon que muestra buena adaptación y tolerancia en un ecosistema dado, puede ser severamente afectado por las plagas y enfermedades existentes en otro ecosistema diferente cuando es introducido. Consecuentemente en un ecosistema dado se debe preferir la utilízación de Jos mejores clones regionales sobre 105 introducidos; las introducciones deben hacerse específica~ mente para mejorar geneticamente los clones regionales más promisorios o porque proceden de ecosistemas similares, con iguales plagas y enfermedades. Híbridos mejorados pueden ser introducidos y eva'uados en un ecosistema dado antes de ser 1 íberados a los agricultores para cultivos c.omerciales (Lozano, Byrne & Bellotti, 1980;Lozano & Bellotti, 1980). El banco de germoplasma de) CIAT contiene aproximadamente 3000 accesíónes~ colectadas de varias partes de las Américas. La variedad que existe en este banco es la base para el programa de fitomeJoramíento. El programa de mejoramiento. conjunto con el programa de entomologra y patología, eva luan las accesiones de germoplasma en varfos ecosistemas con miras a una posible recomendación bien sea para qUé se usen directamente como nuevos cultivares ó bien para usarlos en programas de hibridaciones como progenitores.El banco de germoplasma del CIAT ha sido evaluado para resistencfa a seis insectos y tres especies de ácaros (Tabla 1). Altos niveles de resistenda existen para trips (E... williamsi) yel ácaro, M. tana,oa.: Niveles moderados de resistencia han sido identificados para acaros T. urticae y O. peruvianus), para la mosca blanca (~. socialis), el chrnche d~are Tv. manihotael, el barrenador, C. clarkei y el piojo harinoso (P. herreni).Las accesiones con resistencia a trips, §caros y mosca blanca ya han entrado en el programa de mejoramiento y estan desarrollando hfbridos los cuales cont¡enen resistencia a una ó mas de estas plagas. Ademas se han identificado varIedades con resrstencia a varios insectos; la variedad Brasil 12~ por ejemplo, contiene resistencia a ácaros, trips, rosca blanca y chinche de encaje. Debido a que la yuca tiene un cido de producción comercial tan largo reduce la posibil ¡dad económica de todo control qurmico de plagas de aspersiones al cultivo con pesticidas. Sin embargo, esta característica y el hecho de que la planta de yuca tiene la capacidad de recuperarse de ataques de plagas una vez cesa la presión biótica, hace que el control biológico pueda funcionar extraordinariamente (Bellottl. Reyes & Arias, 1980). Se han identificado numerosos enemigos naturales que reducen eficientemente las poblaciones de plagas en la yuca. En estudios de los enemigOs naturales rejizados por CIAT en Colombia se han identificado 130 predadores, parásitos y patógenos de 105 insectos y ácaros que atacan la yuca (Tabla 2).  (Vaseen & Bennett 1976. Información no publicada).Las prs\"cticas cu1turales que se deben aplicar al cultivo de la yuca no son todas universales, pues algunas son específicas a ecosistemas con características peculiares.Igualmente algunas de ellas púeden parecer costosas o inoperantes1pero debe tenerse ¡;OITO principios generales que para el productor de la yuca es más económico IIprevenir que curar'1! y que la estabilidad de producción aceptable debe ser su meta a través del tiempo. las siguientes son algunas práctícas culturales que, aplicadas íntegramente. pueden reducir los problemas debidos a las plagas existentes en un ecosistema dado y conllevar a altos rendimientos en forma estable (lozano & Be Ilottí. 1980). La ca) ¡dad del material de siembra es en gran parte la responsabilidad del éxito en cultivos multipl ¡cados vegetativamente t En la yuca, este factor es de los mas importantes en la producción, responsable no sólo del buen establecimiento del cultivo (enraizamiento de las estacas y germinaclon de las yemas), sino de Su sanidad y produccidn (número de raíces comerciales/planta) por unídad de superfícíe en cada cíclo (Lozano et al 1977). En general el material de siembra debe tomarse de plantaciones que presenten el máximo de sanidad posible dentro del cultivo, 6 de la región. Se debe desechar todo trozo de tallo que presente necrosis, chancros, tumores~ agallas, galerías y/o presencia de insectos~ los ínsectos que danan ó son diseminados por material de siembra son escamas, mosca de la fruta. barrenadores (f. ~larke¡, lagochirus sp y Coelosternus sp.), ácaros (especia1-mente~. tanajoa) y piojos harinosos. Oebe, en lo posible evitarse el almacenamiento de las estacas, ó si es necesario, este debe hacerse adecuadamente. las poblaciones de plagas tales como escamas. barrenadores y comejenes pueden atacar las estacas almacenadas. limpíeza del Campo los residuos de cosecha dejados en el suelo pueden servir como medio para que se propaguen pestes y pat6genos que causan danos severos en siembras suces ¡vas de yuca. Su el iminación sobre todo en cuanto se refiere a socas, tallos y rafees de desecho, pueden ayudar a mantener un nivel bajo de daños debido a insectos oomo barrenadores, escamas y piojos.Los perrodos de sequfa favorecen el aumento de pOblaciones de varias plagas (ácaros, escamas, trips, piojos harinosos y chinches de encaje). Se recomienda la siembra lo antes posible durante la época de lluvia en las zonas donde hay problemas con estas plagas. Es preferible tener el cultivo lo más avanzado posible, para cuando llegue el ataque de estas plagas.La siembra intercalada con otras especies de cultivos se ha registrado como uno de 10$ factores responsables de la baja presencia de problemas con p1agas en los cultivos tradicionales del tr6pico. Estudios en CIAT con la yuca en siembras intercaladas con frfjol, resultaron en reducción de poblaciones de chinche de encaje (32%), mosca blanca (30%) y el gusano cachón (30%) (CIAr, 1978). Rotación de Cultivos las siembras consecutivas durante periodos o durante todo el a~o, pueden inducir a que el inócu]o potencial de los patógenos y de las plagas íncremente progresivamente y a que aparezcan ataques severos sob~e todo en las siembras más recientes, La interrupción de las siembras del hospedero por algunos meses, o por uno o-dos ciclos del cultiv0 7 sería lo más conveniente. Poblaciones de insectos como chizas (Phy\\lopnaga sp) y el chinche subterrSneo de la viruela (Cyrtomenus bergi), aumenta con culti-vos de yuca consecutivos.La el irninación de las malezas en toda la plantación de yuca constituye una 1abor esencial para el cultivo, debido a que ésta es una especie poco competitiva.El uso de diferentes genotipos de yuca en el mismo sistema de cultivos influye mucho a que los problemas de plagas sean relativamente de poca importancia económica en los cultivos más tradicionales de yuca del trópico.El uso de insecticidas químicos para controlar plagas de la yuca debe ser restringido y hecho con mucho cuidado. Por cultivarse la yuca de 8 a 24 meses. no es conveniente que se permita la aplicacion indetermfnada de insecticidas ya que estos causan disminución en las poblaciones de los enemigos naturales y presionan para que los insectos plagas adquieran resistencia a los insecticidas con lo cual además de dificuftarse su control se encarecen los costos por aplicaciones frecuentes y mayores dosis que sería necesario utl tizar.Las siguientes sugerencias se pueden apl icar al uso de insecticIdas dentro de un programa de control integrado de la plaga de la yuca.Para prevenir el ataque de enfermedades y de insectos (escamas, barre~ nadores, comejenes, trazadores y chizas), las estacas antes de almacenarse ylo sembrarse deben ser sumergidas durante 10 minutos en una solución de insecticidas y fungicldas (Tabla 3).La chiza (Phyllophaga sp.) ataca el material de siembra después de plantado, ó rafees de plantas jovenes.tos ataques frecuentemente ocurren si la yuca se siembra en el suelo que anteriormente tenía pastos, ó en un campo enmalezado.Varias especies de gusanos cortadores (Agrotis sp., Spodoptera sp.) que ocasionan daño a las plantas bien sea trotando los brotes recien germinados O bien consumiendo los cortes anulares en los tallos lo cual puede ocasionar el marchitamiento y muerte de la planta. Los trozadores pueden atacar debajo del suelo ocasionando daño a las raíces y partes subterraneas de los tallos.Las termitas atacan la yuca principalmente en las tierras bajas del tr6pico. Se al ¡mentan de material de propagación, raíces engrosadas, ó plantas en crecimiento, Las apl icaciones fol iares de insecticidas pueden disminuír probiemas de plagas temporalmente, pero hay indiCIOS que son ineficaces durante períodos largos, ya que pueden reducir poblaciones de parásitos y predadores.Acaros. Ataques iniciales de los ácaros, normalmente comienzan en áreas TOCaTrzadas y lim¡tadas (a veces con sólo unas pocas plantas) dentro de una plantación de yuca. Apl icaciones de acaricidas selectivos en las áreas del ataque pueden reducir las poblaciones suficientemente. Con el inicio de las lluvias, las poblaciones de ácaros bajan y la planta se recupera del daño de áca ros.Trips. El uso de variedades resistentes; las cuales se encuentran fácilmente disponibles, es el mejor método de control~ El ataque es más frecuente durante los períOdOS secos. El ataque frecuentemente se inicia en ~as plantas de los bordes de la plantación. Cuando com¡enza a aparecer en estas pla~tas síntomas típicos de daño (las hojas se desarrol lan anormalmente y las hojas jóvenes se deforman y presentan manchas cleróticas irregulares), una aplicación de un insecticida sistemico foliar en las plantas del borde puede demorar un ataque fuerte hasta que llega el perfado de las lluvias y se recuperan las plantas (Bel1otti & Schoonhoven, 1978b). Gusano Cach6n. Los primeros tres instares de E. ello son los mas susceptibles a los insecticidas (Triclorfon) y apl icacTon~si es necesario deben hacerse, cuando la gran parte de la población está en estos 3 instares.Mosca del Cogollo y Mosca de la Fruta~ Ataques de estas dos plagas sólamente disminuyen la producción de material de siembra y no tienen efecto sobre el rendimiento de rafces. En áreas de ataques severos de estas plagas, quitas sea necesario proteger una parte de la plantación para producción de material de siembra sano. El período crítico de la planta en relación al ataque de estas plagas es durante los primeros 3 meses del crecimiento. Aplicaciones de insecticidas corro Fenti6n (1 a L5 cc de La/lt. de agua) durante este período del cultivo controlan las larvas de las moscas.Para lograr un programa efectivo de control integrado de E. Ello es necesario entender el ciclo de vida y comportamiento del insecto.----Los adultos son nocturnos; las hembras viven de 5-19 días y los machos unos cuantos días menos. La oviposíción tiene lugar 2-3 días después de la emergencia, generalmente sobre el haz foliar. Una hembra puede ovipositar un promedio entre 448 y 850 huevos. la eclosión Se produce al cabo de 3-5 días. Hay cinco estadios larvales los cuales duran de 12-15 días. Las larvas prefieren al ímentarse inicialmente en las hojas superiores y consumen aproximadamente el 75% del área fo! íar total durante el quinto estadio. Durante el quinto estadio las larvas pueden llegar a medir 10-12 cm. de longitud; estas larvas emigran al suelo donde formen pupas de color castaño oscuro bajo residuos vegetales. Las pupas pueden permanecer en estado de reposo durante varios meses, pero los adultos normalmente emergen en 2-4 semanas. Los brotes de gusano cachón generalmente ocurren al comienzo de la estación lluviosa ó de la seca, pero los ataques son esporádicos y el insecto permanece casi totalmente ausente durante varios años.Basado en las investigaciones real izadas por el CIAT sobre Erinnyjs ello se puede elaborar un programa de manejo para este insecto incorporando las diferentes técnicas que ofrecen el manejo integrado de plagas.Existen varios insectos parásitos y predadores, bacterías~ hongos y virus que hacen factible el control de E. ello sin necesidad de recurrir a la aplicación de insecticidas que rompa~equil íbrío que debe existir entre el gusano cachón y sus enemigos naturales.Con la no aplicación de insecticidas no sólo se favorece la conservación de los agentes entomófa90s sino que se evitan apl icaciones más frecuentes contra E.y la no aparición de otras plagas especialmente de ácaros, los cuaTes sor más dificí les de manejar.El uso de insecticidas como Oipterex sp. 80 (2 9 de ¡.a./it de debe ser utilizado solamente cuando es necesarfo y bien programado. deben tomar en cuenta tos siguientes puntos; agua) , SeEl cultivo de yuca puede perder bastante follaje hasta 40 Ó 50% sin perder rendimiento en las raíces. Por la tanto unas pocas larvas por plan'\" ta normalmente nC tienen efecto sobre el rendimiento.La larva de E. ello consume muy poco en los primeros instares: es en el quinto instar que-coñSume mucho (75%)..Es muy diffcil matar la larva cuando está en su quinto instar y no vale la pena apl icar el insectida en las plantas que están casi sin hojas, el daño ya ha sido causado. lo mejor es esperar hasta el pr6xiroo ciclo: se deben hacer inspecciones del cultivo y apl icar el insecticida (si se presenta otra ovipOSición con poco parasitismo) cuando las larvas estan en los primeros estadios. En un ecosistema dado donde se cultiva la yuca existe un complejo de plagas; algunas son plagas de menos importancia y no causan da~o económico al cult¡vo, mientras que otras ocurren en altas poblaciones y pueden causar bajas en rendimiento. El potencial del daAo que causa una plaga depende de varios factores; el el ¡roa y las susceptibi 1 ¡dades de las variedades cultivadas s¡endo unaS de las más importantes. Por ejemplo los ácaros, trrps, chinches de encaje son importantes principalmente en las zonas donde existen períodos de sequfa prolongados (3 a 6 meses).En el mundo yuquero existen varios ecosistemas o regiones ecológicas donde se cultiva la yuca. En CIAT se han identificado seis (CIAT, 1981). El manejo de plagas en yuca se debe basar fundamentalmente en el control bfo16gico, la resistencia de la planta hospedante y en la epi icación de prácttcas culturales. Estos tres eslabones en la cadena del control integrado tendrán papeles importantes en programas de manejo de yuca en e 1 futuro.La habil ¡dad de la planta de yuca para recuperarse de daf'íos de plagas es un criterio Importante que siempre debe ser considerado y no se debe recurrir a la aplicaci6n de métodos de control al menos que se haya hecho un estimativo de la pérdida en rendimiento. De ser necesario el control de plagas en este cultivo se debe hacer con un mfnimo de insumos costosos, sobre todo pesticidas. Para lograr este objetivo se requieren mayores conocimientos de los que se tienen actualmente sobre la biolog¡a y ecología de muchas de estas plagas. Se deben aprovechar los factores favorables involucrados en la interacción insecto/planta/medio ambiente y las consideraciones que hacen que un sistema de manejo de plaga de yuca sea un objetivo práctico. Algunos factores son: La yuca se cultiva de 8 a 2~ meses; por 10 tanto el uso de pesticidas es costoso.Por ser un cultivo de ciclo largo, la yuca es ideal para un programa de control biológlco t especialmente en ~reas donde se cultiva ininterrumpidamente y en grandes extensiones. Ya se han identificado agentes de control bIológico para muchas de las plagas principales.La planta de por los insectos. los niveles altos d¡miento.yuca se puede recuperar casi siempre del daño causado Durante perrodos de precipitación pluvial adecuada~ de defol {ación causarán poca o ninguna reducción en ren-Muchas de las plagas no están diseminadas ampl ¡amente y su incidencia es a menudo estacional. Las épocas secas favorecen el aumento de poblacfones de muchas plagas, pero la habll ¡dad de la pianta para resistir largos perrodos de sequía generalmente le permitirá recuperarse cuando comiencen las lluvias.* Entomólogo, Cientffico Visitante, Asistente de Investigaci6n respec-t{vamente? Programa de Yuca. CIAT. la yuca tiene un umbral alto de daño económico por plagas; ¡as variedades vigorosas pueden perder bastante follaje (~O% ó más) y hay períodos cuando pueden sufrir aún más defol ¡ación sin que se afecte significativamente el rendimiento. Sin embargo t ¡as nuevas variedades des,Jrrolladas pueden tener una tolerancIa menor a la clefol ¡ación.Muy pocas SOn las plagas que realmente pueden matar la planta, lo que hace posible que ésta se recupere del daño y produzca raíces comestibles.La selección de material de propagación sano y vigoroso, junto con un tratamiento de fungicidas e insecticidas de bajo costo,permite una germinación rápida y exitosa, asegurando el vigor inicial de la planta durante esta fase tan importante y aumentando finalmente el rendimiento.Estudios han demostrado que existen fuentes de resistencia en yuca, que, aunque bajas, pueden ser adecuadas para evitar graves pérdidas en el cul tivo.A menudo se cultiva yuca en pequeñas fincas bajo condiciones de cultivos mixtos; este sistema no 5610 reduce la incidencia de plagas sino que también evita brotes de plagas en áreas muy diJatadas~ Se tiene evidencia de que los insectos pueden ocasionar dismínuciones en el rendimiento durante períodos específicos del desarrollo de la planta. Se deben identificar estos períodos para que puedan intensificarse las prlfcticas de control durante este tiempo.Los insectos existen en la tierra desde hace más de 300 millones de años y han sobrevivido y evolucionado con todos los cambios drásticos originados en la evolución de la tierra. Por otra parte p~esentan una gran capacidad reproductora; una termita (comejen) reina puede llegar\" a ovipo-s¡tar 30.000 huevos diarios. Cuando aparecf6 el o..D.T. para uSo agrícola t su efecto letal fué de tal magnitud que rmJchos entomóJogos iniciaron la recolección de insectos para conservarlos ya que se creía que el D.O.T. los iba a exterminar, pero el insecto que había sobrevivido a situaciones mucho más dific¡les, dió su respuesta desarro1lando resistencia no sólo al D.D.T~ sino a la gran mayoría de insecticidas. Hasta la fecha se registran mas de 321 especies de insectos resistentes a varios grupos de insecticidas, lo cual quiere decir que éstos, los insecticídas t ya no son efectivos para reducir sus poblaciones y que por lo tanto el hombr\"e debe buscar otras alternativas val iéndose de métodos más racionales y económicos que no contin~en aumentando la resistencia de los insectos a los insecticidas, ni contaminando el ambiente a niveles críticos para la humanidad. Muchos entQmó16gos y cientrficos, algunos ya fal lec/dos, dedicaron su vida al estudio de los insectos benéficos y a pregonar que éstos debían ser util izados en los programas de control de insectos plagas, convencidos de que con el empleo de s610 insecticidas se propiciaría el desequi 1 ¡brio bio16gico, además de consecuencias catastróficas para la humanidad# Estas investigaciones reposan en los J ibros y boletines especializados en los cuajes presentan en detalle los ~todos y recomendaciones a seguir en los programas de control Integrado y manejo de plagas. Hoy en día la situación ha cambíado. todos reconocen qJe los insecticidas por sí solos no son suficientes para el control de las plagas y que ya están sufriendo las consecuencias de su uso indiscriminado. Ante ésta situación tan propicia corresponde no sólo a los entomálogos y técni~os1 sino también a toda la humanidad tratar de verter a la práctica estos principios y experiencias que además de resolver problemas de producción minimiza la contaminación del ambiente.El cultivo de la yuca puede servir de modelo para entender algunos principios básicos del control integrado y principalmente del control btológ¡co por medio de insectos benéficos.A pesar que en algunas épocas se presentan explosiones de algunas plagas, se puede decir que el cultivo de la yuca no está sometido permanentemente a ataques severos de insectos y que por el contrarío mantiene un excelente equil ¡brío biológico. debido a que existen factores de mortalidad que han ~ntenido 5US poblaciones a niveles de poca importancia económica.Esta situación tan favorable debe tratarse de que perdure, evitando o retardando que ocurra lo que ha pasado en otrQs cultivos.El control integrado parece ser la forma más racional de luchar contra los insectos plagas y consiste en la combinación e integración de todas las tecnicas disponibles nara que aplicadas en forma armoniosa mantengan los insectos plagas a niveles que no nroduzc¿¡;n daño de irr:>ortancia economica a los cultivos. Se recalca que Son todas las técnicas disponibles y no unicamente el control biológico y los insecticidas que sín lugar a duda son dos de sus unidades básicas. Entre estas técnicas Jisponibles figuran además de las dos anteriores, el uso de plantas resistentes y tolerantes al ataque de los insectos, la util ización de rnétodos mecánicos y físicos, de atrayentes y repelentes, métodos culturales , técnica de machos esteri les etc. las técnicas disponibies pueden ser muchas pero lo más importante para que se aplique exitosamente es que deben ser entendidas y utí 1 izadas correctamente por los técnicos y agricultores.En control biológico se puede definir como el combate dé las plagas mediante la ut¡lización de1iberada y sistemática de sus enemigos naturales. La acción de paráSitos. predatores y patógenos. mantiene la dens¡dad de otros organismos a un nivel más bajo del que pOdría ocurrir en su ausenda. Esta forma de control tiene varias ventajas.Es relativamente permanente, económico y mantiene favorablemente la cal ¡dad del ambiente. la idea de que las poblaciones de insectos podrían ser inícialmente reducidas por otros insectos es antigua. Parece que esta se originó en la China, cuando ellos utilizaron hormigas predatoras para controlar ciertas plagas de crtricos. Este mismo sistema se sigue usando en la actual ¡dad en algunas partes de Asia.E1 parasitismo de insectos 10 registró por prfmera vez en el clentTfico Valli$nierl (1661-1730) en Italia. El notó la asociación única entre la avispa pará.ltlca Apanteles glomeratu. y el gusano del repollo Pierl. rapae. los primeros usos de parásitos para control biológico en cultivos se hicieron en Europa. principalmente en Alemania, Francia e Italia, durante el siglo XIX. Sin embargo, la ciencia de control biológico se desarrolló y adelant6 en los Estados Unidos durante los siglos XIX y XX.El proyecto de control biológico en cftricos contra la escama a190do~ nosa (Icerya purchasf) en Cal ¡fornta, fué el primer ejemplo exitoso del uso del control bfo16glco. La escama fué Introducida de Austral ia V, en 1888 los entomólogos trajeron del mismo pafs dos enemi90s naturales, incluyendo el predator coccinelldae \"Veda 1 ia\" (Rodal la cardinalls). Las pOblaciones de escamas dfsmfnuyen rápidamente. la técnica de crranza masiva de parásitos y predatores, y sus liberaciones perfodicas, para el control de plagas, se desarrol16 en California en 1919 con el proyecto del coccinellidae Cryptolaemus montrouzieri I predator del pTojo harinoso.Desde entonces, más de noventa y seis proyectos de control biológico han sido completamente evaluados como sustancialmente exitosos y m&s de sesenta y seis han sido evaluados como parcialmente exitosos (De Sach 1964) en todas partes del mundo.Después de los planteamientos presentados anteriormente, qulzas se facjj ite el entendimiento del término manejo de plagas que no es una defInición \",s, sino un estado de cosas que nos obl iga a entender que antes de tratar de el ¡minar a 105 insectos plagas debemos aprender a convivir con él1os, a realizar un inteligente manejo de nuestros recursos razonando no sólo en función económica sino también en funci6n ecológica. Manejo de plagas es una categoría superior al control integrado que además de los factores considerados por éste, tiene como base fundamental) en la lucha contra los Tnsectos nocivos, los principios biológicos y ecológicos, Reconociendo que el estado a que llega una plaga es el resultado de las ac-tIvidades del hombre introduciendo plagas a regiones antes no infestadas, introduciendo a áreas nuevas plantas y animales exóticos, produciendo variedades o razas de organ¡smos~ y simpl ificando los ecosistemas como un resultado de las actividades agrícolas o rndustriales.Manejo del Gusano Cachón de la Yuca Erinnyi.(L)Basado en las investigacIones realizadas por el CIAT sobre Erínnys ello se puede elaborar un programa de manejo para este Insecto incorporando ras-diferentes técnicas que ofrece el manejo integrado de plagas.Existen varios insectos parásitos y predadores, bacterias, hongos y virus que hacen factible el control de E. ello sin necesidad de recurrir a la apl icación de insecticidas que rompen-er-equil ibrio que debe existir entre el gusano cachon y sus enemigos naturales. Con la no apl ¡cacjón de insecticida no sólo se favorece la conservación de los agentes entom6fagos sino que se evitan apl icaciones más frecuentes contra E. ello y la no aparición de otras plagas especialmente de ácaros, los-cuales son de más difícil manejo.Enemigos Naturales de Huevos E. ello El parasitismo de huevos por Trichogramma spp. y Telenomus sp. puede ayudar a reducir las poblaciones. Trichogramma es un parásito de mucha importancia por encontrarse durante todo el año en los campos de yuca ocasionando parasitismos superiores al 50% y por la facil ¡dad de su cría masal en el laboratorio. En cada liberación se recomienda de 10 a 15 pulgadas por ha., 10 que equivale de 36.000 a 54.000 avispitas por ha. A través del período vegetativo se real izan unas 10 liberaciones que tiene un costo aproximado de US$25.oo ha.Es importante tener en cuenta el momento preciso para real izar las liberaciones de Trichogramma, y esto se logra realizando evaluaciones periódicas en 105 lotes de yuca con el fin de detectar en qué momentos o época ocurren las mayores poblaciones de huevos de E. ello.No existe un patrón que sirva de base para indicar con que número de huevos de Erinnyis se deben inidar las 1 iberaclones de Trichogramma, pero experiencias de técnIcos y agricultores indican que las liberaciones con la aparición de las primeras posturas del gusano cachón, permiten el establecimiento del parásito para controlar las subitas pob~aciones de E. ello que aparecen de un día para ot ro.---Las liberaciones de Trichograrnma se deben realizar preferiblemente cuando los huevos estan reclen colocados y presentan una coloración verde, o cuando la tonal idad es amarillenta. Es Importante no dejar que el huevo de E. ello se desarrolle mucho para realizar las 1 iberaciones porque en éstos se ha iniciado la formación de la cápsula cef31lca de la larva, no siendo parasitados por Trichogramma.Investigaciones de CIAT, muestran que Trichogramma austral icum es una de las especies con mayor actividad parasítica sob~ posturas de Erinnyis (Annu. ' Report, 1978).Telenomus sp. es un parásito de huevos.s. ello y E. al10pe y tiene mucha importancia en la regulación de sus poblaciones. -La duración del ciclo biológico de Telenomus de huevo adulto es de 11 a 14 días. Una hembra de este parásito puede dar origen a un máximo de 228 adultos con un promedio de 99 adultos.Predadores: PoI istes erythrocephalus y PoI istes canadensis. La capa-cidad de predación de los adultos depende del número de larvas que tengan los nidos. En CIAT se determinó que cada larva de Polistes consume diariamente 0,47 larvas de i. ello (CIAT Annual Report, 1978).Los campos sembrados con yuca se pueden colonizar con nidos de PoI istes colocados en casetas o ranchos. Los adultos prefieren los lugares sombreados, frescos, cercanos a las fuentes de agua, por lo cual se ha util izado las guaduas y hojas de palma en la construcción de las casetas. Se recomienda un rancho por cada cuatro ha y 20 nidos por rancho. Los nidos deben tener más de 50 celdas ya que estos estan conformados por hembras y machos, 10 que favorece el establecimiento de nuevas colonias.Podisus sp. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae): Su importancia rádica en la facil ¡dad de sus crías masivas y su capacidad de predación. Durante toda su vida un chinche Podtsus consume un total de 100 larvas de E. ello de primero o segundo instar.Parásitos: Apanteles sp es un braconido que ataca las larvas de Erinnyis desarrollandose en su interior y posteriormente empupándose en la epidermis formando una masa blanca de apariencia algodonosa. Las I iberaciones de Apanteles realizadas en CIAT dieron como resultado un aumento del parasitismo de las larvas del gusano cachón superior al 50% (Annual Report, 1977). Es posible la cría masiva de este parásito para ser utilizado en los programas de control biológico.Drino sp. Belvosia y Chetogena (Euphorocera) Scutellaris son varios de los tachinidos que parasitan las larvas de E. ello; Chetogena tiene particularmente importancia por la posibil ¡dad de-su cría masal en laboratorio y por la rapidez de su ciclo biológico.Patogenos: las larvas son atacadas por un virus de la granulosis nuclear y la bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. Esta última es la más fácil de utilizar por encontrarse comercialmente bajo los nombres de Dipel, Thuricide, Bactospeine y Biotrol. Ensayos del CIAT mostraron que Bacillus thuringiensis es efectivo contra todos los estados larvales pero especialmente contra el primerc apl icado en dosis de 2 a 3 gramos de producto comercial por 1 itro de agua. Este producto tiene la ventaja de no afectar ni a los enemigos naturales de E. ello ni a los otros insectos.Las larvas en sus primeros estados permanecen ocultas en el énves de las hojas terminales, por 10 cual al recorrer los campos es necesario examinar muy bien esta parte. Cuando se encuentren de 5 a 7 larvas de primero o segundo instar por planta es el momento de apl icar Bacillus. Este nivel es flexible dependiendo de la abundancia de enemigos naturales, de las condiciones cl imáticas, de la variedad, edad y vigor de la planta. El número de plantas a revisar por ha. depende del área sembrada, de la edad de la planta y de la disponibil idad de tiempo; un mínimo de 5 plantas por ha. sería aceptable. Lo más conveniente sería que extensiones superiores a 15 ha. se tenga un plaguero (obrero entrenado) permanente para que este revisando los campos. recurrirá a su uti I ización en caso extr¡ctame~te indispensable.En ocasiones los insectos benéficos no son suficientes para controlar el gusano cachón o sus larvas presentan tamaños superiores al tercer instar, caso en el cual las apl icaciones de insecticidas microbiales no tendrían la efectividad esperada. En estos casos se puede recurrir a la aplicación de Dipterex sp. 80 (Triclorfon) en dosis de 2 gramos de producto comercial por litro de agua para apl ícaciones terrestres y 400 a 500 gramos por ha. para apl icacíones aéreas.Uti 1 ¡zación de Trampas de Luz Se utilizan las trampas de luz ultravioleta debido a la gran atracción que ejerce sobre los aduftos del gusano cachón.Se ha observado que la lámpara de luz negra tipo Bl y la lámpara de luz negra azulada tipo BLB, son las más recomendables para util izar en los tranpeos de Erinnyis. las trampas de luz no constituyen un método de control sino que permiten conocer las fluctuaciones de las poblaciones de adultos de Erfnnyis, las épocas de mayor y menor abundancia con lo cual se puede planificar mejor la aplicación de las diferentes técnicas que se util izan en el manejo de plagas.En observaciones preliminares Se capturaron un máximo de 309~ adultos en una noche, determinándose que el mayor numero de individuos se capturaron entre las 12 PM Y las 2 AM.Esta ínformación es importante porque los lugares donde no se tenga energía, las trampas se pueden hacer solo funcionar s610 de 12 PM a 2 AM util izando baterías o motores movidos por combustible.Métodos Mecánicos las recolecciones manuales de larvas y pupas resultan muy efectivas en la reducción de las poblaciones del gusano cachón. Esta práctica tie\" ne más aplicabi I ¡dad cuando se hace en los campos donde se inician los ataques del insecto. En las gráficas que se adjuntan al fina) de este capítulo, y usando como ejemplo a E. ello, 5e presentan los principales factores que se dehen considerar en el manejo de poblaciones de insectos y ácaros de la yuca.Es bien conocido que para llegar a real izar un eficiente manejo de plagas se necesita mucha información sobre el insecto, sobre la planta que ataca y sus interrelaciones; sobre los factores bióticos y abióticos que regulan la densidad de sus poblaciones.Se considera sin embargo que mientras se logra reunir toda la información necesaria, es posible con los factores conocidos real ízar un exitoso Programa de Control Integrado y bajo ninguna condición depender unicamente de 1a aplicación de pesticidas~ zn Factores que se deben tener en cuenta parQ tener éxito en el manejo de poblaciones  Las investigaciones recientes indican que los ácaros son una de las plagas más graves de la yuca en todo el mundo. Frecuentemente atacan el cultivo durante la estación seca~ causando daños considerables cuando el ataque es prolongado.El incremento que han tenido las poblaciones de ácaros y la ¡mportancia económica de los daños que el los ocasionan se deben en parte al mal manejo de las plagas en la yuca, especialmente al uso inadecuado del control químico. Además t el intercambio de material de propagación vegetativa de una región a otra o entre países t posibil ita el que plagas nuevas se introduzcan y dispersen inadvertidamente, situación que se agrava por la poca información disponible sobre esas plagas, 10 que impide la ident.ficación rápida del problema y, por 10 tanto, la elaboración de una adecuada estrategia de control, Desde comienzos de la década del setenta, el Programa de Entomología del CIAT inició investigaciones sobre sistemática, biología, hábttos y factores relacionados con el control de las poblacíones de ácaros que atacan o están presentes en el cultivo de la yuca.Han sido identificadas alrededor de 40 especies de ácaros, que se encuentran distribuidas en todas ras zonas yuqueras del mundo; entre esas las especies de los géneros Tetranychus, Mononychel1us y 01 ígonycnus causan los más graves prob1emas. En el Apéndice, Cuadro 1, se mencionan ras especies de ácaros fitófagos y los países donde han sido encontradas.Las investigaciones real izadas desde 1973 por el CIAT, han permitido determinar, hasta el momento, 16 especies de ácaros que atacan la yuca en Colombia, considerándose como las más importantes Monochellus tanajoa, M. caribbeanae, Tetranychus urticae, T. cinnabarinus y Of igonychus peruvianus. Las demás especies tienen, por ahora, una importancia secundaria, debido a que su presencia ha sido ocasional.* Entomólogo i asociado de Capacitación, Tecnólogo, Asistente de Comunicación, Programa de Yuca CIAT.Los ácaros son una plaga universal de la yuca. Observaciones indican que las especies más importantes en Sur América son Mononychellus tanajoa. Tetranychus urticae y 01 tgonychus peruvianus¡ en Africa, ~. tanajoa y T. urtjcae y en Asia T. urticae. Otras especies del género Tetranychus han sido encontradas en Asta, pero la información sobre ellas es escasa. la especie Mononychullu$ tanajoa. el ácaro verde de la yuca, es nativa de América de) Sur y parece limitada a Manihot spp., aunque puede ata -Car otras Euphorbiaceae; recientemente fue Introducida al Africa donde se ha disem¡nado rápidamente. Tetranychus urticae es una especie cosmopól ita que ataca gran variedad de hospedantes. 01 igonychus peruvianus es una especie nativa de Amérfca Central y del Sur y que tamhi¿n parece 1 imitada a Manihot .pp.Según Krantz (1970), la subclase Acari se divide en tres órdenes: Opil¡oacariformes,Parasitlformes y Acariformes. En este último orden se encuentran las principales famil ¡as de ácaros fitófagos: Tetranychídae, Tenuipalpidae, Eriophydae y Tarsonemfdae. La mayoría de las especies de ácaros que se han encontrado en la yuca pertenecen a la famiJ 1a Tetranychidae; no se ha encontrado en este cultivo ninguna especie de la famil ia Tarsonemidae.La clasificación taxonómica de las especies de ácaros fitófagos que se detallan en el presente artículo se encuentran en el Cuadro 1.Este trabajo que resume y complementa la parte de ácaros ya tratada en varios de los artículos de este J rbro~ tiene por objeto presentar la biología y los hábitos, y describir los da~os característicos, la importancia económica y los métodos de control de los ácaros fitófagos, principales y secundarios, que afectan el cultivo de la yuca; algunos de e1los son causantes de daños económicos en diferentes zonas yuqueras del mundo.BIOLOGIA. HABITOS y DAROS OE LOS AtAROS DE LA YUCA.Los ácaros pertenecen a una clase diferente de la de los insectos; no obstante, en ocasiones se presenta confusión al respecto, que es necesario evitar especificando las diferencias entre unos y otros. los insecto en estado adulto presentan un par de antenas, generalmente uno ó dos pares de alas, tres pares de patas y el cuerpo dividido en tres parte bien definidas; cabeza, tórax y abdomen. Por su parte Jos ácaros, en ese mismo estado t carecen de antenas y alas, tienen dos ó cuatro pares de patas y el cuerpo dividido en tres regiones no bien definidas! gnatosoma¡ porloSOmá y opistos~. El desarrollo biológico de los ácaros comienza con un huevo del cual eclosiona una larva, característicamente hexápoda, que se convierte luego en nfnfa; en este estado tran~curren generalmente dos instares:protoninfa y deutoninfa; la ninfa a diferencia de la larva, posee cuatro pares de patas. Los ácaros pasan luego al estado adulto. Entre un estado y otro del desarrollo bi01ógico suelen presentarse fases de reposo o ninfocrisál idas (protocrisál ida t deutocrisál ida y tel iocr[sál ida).Características generales del daño. los ácaros causan su dafto en las hojas porque se al ¡mentan de ellas penetrando el estilete en el tejido fol iar y succionando el contenido celular. Los síntomas típicos del daño son manchas cloróticas, puntuacjó~ nes y bronceamiento en el 1 imbo, muerte de las yemas y algunas veces deformaciones y caída de las hojas. Consecuentemente se reducen el área fol iar y la rata fotos¡ntética, factores importantes de la producción.Para los fines de esta guía se describirán las características del estado del huevo y del adulto; este último és la base para la diferencia ~ cí6n de las especies; se comenzará con las especies de mayor importancia económica.Pertenecen a este genero Mononychel1us tanajoa y ~. caribbeanae que son de importancía eco~ómicat y ~. mcgregori de importancia secundaria.Estas especies tienen características semejantes en 10 que respecta a su coloración, ubicación en la planta y síntomas ael da~o que producen; es posible diferenciarlas por ciertas estructuras llamadas seta, especialmente por las ubicadas en el dorso y patas de) ácaro, según su distribu• ción~ número, tipo y tamaño. Por ejemplo, ~. tanaJoa se caracteriza por tener setas dorsales cortas y clavadas, las de M. caribbeanae además de cortas y clavadas son pubescentes y ~. ffiCgregorT las tiene largas, fuertes y aserradas.Para el estudio de la biología~ hábitos y daños característicos de este género se ha escogido la especie Mononycnel1us tanajoa, por ser la más importante.Esta especie se conoce con el nombre común de nácaro verde de la yuca ll debido a que su adulto presenta una coloración verde o amarillo verdoso.El período de preoviposición de los ácaros Mononychellus es de 1 a 3 días; cada hembra durante toda su vida puede oviposftar entre 35 y 111 huevos sobre el envés de las hojas, a 10 Jargo de la nervadura prinCipal o de las secundarias. Los huevos son colocados individualmente; su forma es 1 igeramente achatada, presentan un pelo 1 ¡so en la parte dorsal, inicialmente son cristal ¡nos, y se tornan opacos a medida que avanza la incubación.En términos generales y bajo condiciones de laboratorio (27 a 30\"C 60 a 70% H.R.) se han establecido como períodos de duración para los diferentes estados biológicos del Mononlchellus, los siguientes~ huevo 4 a 5 dlas; larva t a 2 días; protoninfa a Z dTas; deutonfnfa 1 a 2 días. Longevidad de los adultos (17 a 29°C) hasta 35 días, con una relación de sexos de dos hembras por un macho, y una vlabil ¡dad de los huevos del 92% Daño. Este ácaro se local iza en la parte apical de la planta, siendo más nO\"tO'rio su daño en el cogollo, yemas y hojas jóvenes que en las partes más bajas que resultan menos afectadas~ Generalmente, este ácaro se al ¡menta de la savia de las hojas que apenas están brotando (primordios fol ¡ares). los sTntomas iníciales son pequeños puntos traslúcidos que se encuentran en la base de las hojas Jóvenes o dispersos en el folíolo, el que va perdiendo su color verde normal y adquiere la apariencia de mosaico.Cuando el ataque es severo la, hojas embrionarias no alcanzan su desarrollo normal y hay una dr&stica reducción fol ior. los brotes pierden su color verde y los tallos terminales se escarifican, tornándose ~speros y de color marrón; eventualmente ocurre la muerte descendente. En los tallos y las hojas se observa una necrosis que avanza de las partes superiores a las infer¡ores~ Los dafios causados por este 'caro pueden confundirse con los de algunas especies de trips. tales como Frankínlel1a will iamsi encontrado en Colombia y Scirtothríps manihoti encontrado en Brasil. que atacan los puntos de crecimiento y las hojas jóvenes de la yuca~ Sin embargo, pueden diferenciarse porque cuando el daño es ocasionado por el ácaro la hoja pierde su color verde, presenta gran número de manchas pequeñas, redondeadas y amaritlas y se deforman sus bordes; en cambio, si el daño es causado por el trips~ la hoja conserva el color verde normal, las manchas son menos numerosas, de forma irregular y las defor~ maciones pueden llegar hasta la nervadura central.Las especfes de este género son conocidas como las arañitas rojas (aunque no todas presentan esta coloración); y se encuentran dfstriburdas en las zonas yuqueras del mundo.De este género son Tetranychus urticae y Tetranychus cinnabarinus t especies de importancia econ6mlca en yuca.La diferenciación taxonómica de las especies de este género se realiza con base en la forma y disposición de} edeagus. Para las especies Tetranychus urticae y Tetranychus cinnabarinus la coloración de la hembra adulta es de gran importancia para dicha aiferenciación.La hembra de T. urticae es de forma ovoide y globosa, y su color es verdoso o amarillo-verdoso con una mancha negra a ambos lados de la 11nea media dorsal. La hembra de T. cinnabarinus de forma similar a la anterior, es de color rojo, con las maflchas dOrsales, no siempre visibles. Los machos de ambas especies son de menor tamaño, de forma casi oval con Ta parte posterior angosta, y de igual color que las hembras. la oviposición se inicia en el segundo día del estado adulto. Cada hembra oviposita en el envés de las hojas basales, entre 40 y 50 nuevecillof durante un perrodo de 20 días. Los huevos son lisos, esféricos, cristalinos lrgeramente opacos, van adquiriendo un tono nacarado a medida que avanza el período de incubación, y no presentan el ápice dorsal que tiene los de Mononychellus.Estudios de laboratorio (25 a 28°c, 60 • 70% H.R.) indicaron los siguientes periodos para cada uno de los estados: huevos 3 a q dfas; larva 2 a 5 días; protoninfa de 1 a 2 días; deutonlnfa de 1 a 3 días; el perTodo total de huevo a emergencia del estado adulto de 7 a 14 días, y la longevidad del adulto tiene una duración hasta de 22 días (Cuadro 3). Daños. Generalmente estos ácaros tienen preferencia por las hojas que se encuentran en la parte media y basal de la planta, y se local izan principalmente en el envés. los daños causados por ambas especies son muy parecidos. los sfntomas iniciales son puntos amarillos en la base de las hojas yal lado de la nervadura central I correspondiendo a la forma como se distribuyen los ácaros en los folíolos~ Cuando las poblaciones se incrementan los ácaros se distrfbuyen en toda la hoja, incluso en la haz. y las puntuacfones amarillas aparecen en la total ¡dad de la hoja, la que se ve de un color roj izo o herrumbroso.En ataques severos se observa una defoJ iaci6n inténsa en la parte basal y media de la planta que avanZa progresivamente hacia la parte terminal, que presenta el cogollo muy reducido y con gran cantidad de telaraña; puede ocurrir la muerte de la planta.Pertenecen a este género las especies 01 igonychus peruvianus de ímpor~ tanela económica, y 01 igonychus gossypl¡ de importancia potencial: or¡gonychus peruvianus. Biología y hábItos. 01 igonychus peruvianus se conoce como el ácaro plano de la yuca, es de color verdoso en todos los estadQs de su desarrollo y la apariencia de desnudez de su cuerpo se debe a que tiene las setas cortas. En el campo se reconoce por que se local iza al lado de las nervaduras y bordes en el envés de las hojas, y forma pequeñas capas de telara~as debajo de las cuales vive~ se al ¡menta y ovíposita huevos 1 igeramente achatados. los machos de esta especie no producen telerañas.Este ácaro ataca las hojas inferiores de la planta, donde por lo general, se Jocal iza.Daño. El daño causado por O. peruvíanus consiste en puntos de color amari~o marrón que se observan en la haz fol jaro y que corresponden al área cubierta por las telarañas en el envés. 01 igonychus gossypi i.Generalmente este ácaro se encuentra sobre la haz de las hojas basa)e5~ en colonias compactas; sus telarañas son similares a las de Tetranychus, según lo observado en las poblaciones halladas en los cultivares de yuca del CIAT, Palmíra.El adulto de esta especie de color rojo y en Sus estados inmaduros verde oscuro.Los huevos tiene la parte superior 1 igeramente plana y casi sieMpre están ubicados al lado de la nervadura central. Acaro de la famil fa Eriophyidae.Recientemente se observó en CIAr, Palmira, el ácaro Calacarus sp. que pertenece a la famíl ia Eriophyidae siendo la primera vez que se presenta en el cultivo de yuca. Son de color café grisáseo, cuneiformes, tienen dos pares de patas, típicas de la famil ¡a, y un par de seudopatas caudales.La pOblación de esta especie se ha incrementado tanto que permite detectar facilmente su presencia en la haz de las hojas basales, las cuajes se ven cubiertas de un polvillo blanco o cenizo, constituído por las exuvias de los ácaros, que puede 1 legar a cubrir toda el átea fol raro Aparentemente el ataque de este ácaro no causa necrosis del tejido. pero se ha obsetvado que las hojas adquieren un color amarillo cenizo que puede ser evidencia de un trastorno fisiológico de la planta.En 1980, en ei CIAT se encontró este ácaro en algunas plantas ya desarrolladas y en bajas poblaciones, local izado sobre la haz fol iar; aparentemente no caus6 daño. las hembras son anchas, robustas, de apariencia corrugada y con patas relativamente gruesas. Los machos son triangulares y con patas dos veces más largas que el cuerpo que les permiten moverse con más rapidez que laS hembras. los huevos son aplanados t discoidales, con un fino canto o borde volteado hacia abajo.Este ácaro de la famil la Tenuipalpldae, se conoce comúnmente como \"falsa arañita l' , y ha sido observado sobre el envés de las hojas basales.Es de tamaño muy pequeño, cuerpo aplanado, i igeramente alargado y de color rojo. Sus huevos son ovalados y de color rojo brillante.Allonychus braz i 1 iensi s es de color rojo oscuro o morado y 5US patas tienen una tonalidad mas clara. Los huevos son ligeramente achatados, de color rosado intenso y con estrías longitudinales. Estos ácaros se observan sobre la haz fol ¡ar, donde forman telarañas transversales muy visibles y causan en los lóbulos de las hojas un curvamiento hacia arriba; peímane~ cen sobre las telarañas donde real izan la ovíposición y la muda de los diferentes estados~ pero para alimentarse bajan a la superficie fa) ¡aro Aponychus schultzi.Este ácaro se encuentra ocasiona1mente sobre la haz de las hojas de las ramas débiles en la parte baja de plantas desarrolladas de yuca. La población de machos y hembras observada en los cultivares de yuca del CtAT fue muy baja. Aponychus schultzi presenta una coloración verde oscura; sus huevos, colocados al lado de las nervaduras, tienen forma semiesférica con la parte superior plana y un ápice central en forma de bastoncillo; inicialmente son cristal ¡nos, y a medida que avanZa la incubación van tornándose opacos.Atrichoproctus unicínatus. los ácaros de éste género son similares a lOS de 01 igonychus se diferencian por la presencia de un par de setas anales y un par de seta para~analest y por el color. Se presentaron en el CIAT, primero en plantas de yuca bajo condiciones de invernadero y posteriormente se observaron en el campo.Estos ácaros se local izan preferentemente sobre la haz de hojas desarrolladas; su cuerpo tiene una coloración oscura y los huevecilios colocados casi siempre al lado de !a nervadura central de la haz, son de color marrón brillante, de forma subglobulada y tiene un ápice dorsal.Como resumen de esta prImera parte sobre la descripción de los ácaros que atacan la yuca, se hace una comparación de las caracterrsticas de los nuevos, adultos y daños de los principales géneros (Cuadro 4) y que puede servir de ayuda de campo para la diferenciación de esos ácaros.Los ácaros son plagas que atacan la parte áerea de la planta de yuca, ocasionan daños severos al cultivo y por consiguiente pérdidas de rendimiento.  los trabajos realizados hasta el momento no permiten establecer niveles de daño económico, sin embargo, se cuenta con algunas determinaciones, prel ¡minares y específicas, de las reducciones en el rendimiento debidas principalmente a los daños que caUSan las especies de ácaros más importantes.Se ha encontrarlo que como consecuencia del daño ocasionado por los ácaros se reducen la actividad fotos¡nt~ntica hasta en un 90%, la longevidad fol iar hasta en un 78% y el tamaño de la hoja hasta en un 65%, procesos y partes de la pianta que son componentes básicos de la producclan. Por consiguiente, el rendimiento de raíces se reduce éntre un 20 y 87%t según la variedad y edad de la planta y la duraci6n del ataque. Igualmente, se afectan la cal ¡dad y la cantidad del materíal de siembra (estaca) .El CIAT observó, en fonseca, Colombia, que el ataque de Mononychellus tanajoa y M. caribbeanae, ocurrido durante todo el período vegetativo de la yuca, causÓ en las variedades susceptibles una reducción promedio del 73% en el rendimiento de raíces y del 67% en la cantidad de material apto para la siembra.Otras investigaciones real izadas en el CIAT, Palmira, con la variedad susceptible M Col 22 y el complejo Mononycheilus tanajoa, ~. mcgregori, Tetranychus urticae y 01 igonychus peruvranus dieron como resultado reducciones de la producción de acuerdo a la duración del ataque, 21% cuando la duración del ataque fue de tre meses y del 53% cuando fue de seis meses (Cuadro 5). principal, respecto a las plagas que atacan este cultivo, desarrollar medidas de manejo y contioJ que permitan mantener las poblac¡ones por debajo del nivel de daño económico y evitar o reducir al mínimo posible la util ización de pesticidas no se.lectivos. Los esfuerzos de L:ls investigaciones entomolósicas en yuca están dirigidos a la determinación de las p~rd¡das en rendimiento y la biologTa y ecologia de las plagas, la util ización de la resistencia varietal, el control biológico, las prácti-. cas culturales yel uso de pesticidas en los casos en que sea estricta -: mente necesar'io-s.Antes de describir las diferentes medidas de control disponibles. se e hará una breve referencia a 105 factores que afectan las poblaciones de ~ ácaros, cuyo conocimiento hace parte del conjunto de criterios necesarios 3 para el manejo de estas plagas.Factores que afectan las poblaciones de ácaros.Los ácaros fitófagos son afectados por factores bf6tícos (predatores y parásitos) y abióticos (temperatura. humedad relativa~ etc), componentes dinámicos de los ecosistemas.El manejo sistemático o del ¡berado de estos factores por parte del hombre constituye parte de las medidas de control. Se discutirá príncipatmente acerca de los factores de tipo abiótico. que influyen en la dispersión de tos ácaros y afectan la densidad de su poblaciones.En términos generales, los ácaros inicialmente atacan plantas aisladas, luego pequeños grupos de plantas en determinados sitios y posteriormente invaden todo el cultivo. Esta dinámica exige la disponibii ¡dad de medios de dispersíón? constituídos t además de los propios mecanismos de desplazamiento de los ácaros, por la acción Involuntaria del hombre y de 105 demás animales y por el arrastre del viento, siendo este último el nedio más importante. Se ha determinado que Mononychelius tanajoa. Se dispersa rápídamente al colgar de su propia telaraña para se arrastrado por el viento, siendo mayor esta dispersión cuando la temperatura es de 24 a 29°C. Otro medio de dispersión y a mayores distancias, es el transporte de material vegetativo infestado; es posible que este haya sido el medio por el que Mononycoellus tanajoa pasó de Sur América al Africa. los ácaros de la famil ia Tetranychidae. durante períodos secos (baja humedad relativa) y de alta temperatura, tienen una alta rata de reproducclon. Pero, además de la relación cón los anteriores factores, la capacidad reproductora de los ácaros varía según la planta hospedante. la clase de nutrimentos y la presencia de enemigos naturales.La temperatura es uno de 105 factores de mayor influencia en la población de los ácaros; temperaturas bajas o cambios bruscos de temperatura reducen sus poblaciones.Otro factor de importancia es la humedad relat ¡va. Se ha observado que casi siempre una humedad alta contrnua hace que el incremento de la población sea menor, porque afecta la oviposición y la eciosión, y sobrevivencia de las larvas. la precipitación es otro factor que ayuda considerablemente a d¡sminuir las poblaciones. Las lluvias fuertes no solo causan un aumento de la humedad relativa, la que a su vez ocasiona una disminución en la rata de reproducción, sino que también lavan las hojas y el ¡minan los ácaros por ahogamiento~ o al ser éstos golpeados por las gotas de agua o por las part1culas de lodo que saltan del suelo. La precipitación es un factor que afecta más a las poblaciones de ácaros que, como Mononychellus, pro M ducen pocas telarañas, que a aquellas que viven protegidas bajo el las, como 01 igonycnus peruvianus~ Medidas de control.Para el control de los ácaros que atacan la yuca se recomienda seguir la misma programación establecida para el manejo de plagas en este cultivo t y Que se basa en la ut i 1 ización del control integrado.El control integrado es la forma más racional de lucnar contra Jos ácaros e insectos plagas y consiste en la combinación e integración de todas las técnicas disponibles. para que, apl icadas en forma armoniosa, mantengan las plagas a niveles que no produzcan daños de importancia económica.Son componentes ¡mportantes del control Integrado la resistencia varietal, el control b¡ológico, las prácticas culturales y el control químico.Las variedades de plantas resistentes a las plagas son el medio ideal para controlar o reprimir los ácaros y minimizar los daños causados por ellos a los cultivos; son una solución de bajos costos de producción, no perjudicial para los insectos benéficos, de fácil manejo y campatible con las otras medidas de control. las variedades resistentes deben constituir la base de los programas de control integrado de plagas.En el CIAT se ha encontrado 43 clones prQmísorios por su resistencia varietal a los ácaros, especia1mente a las especies del género Monooychellus; también se ha determinado que las variedades de yuca del banco de germoplasma tiene niveles bajos de resistencia a Tetranychus urticae y niveles intermedio o moderados a Mononychellus tanajoa y 01 igonychus peruvianus; no se ha encontrado inmunidad en ningGn clono La selección de Jos materiales según su resIstencia se ha realizado en condiciones de campo e invernadero. La selección en invernadero sólo puede usarse para ayudar a el imínar material susceptible, pero no sirve para la identificación de líneas resistentes, lo que impl ka que debe hacerse énfasis en la selección en el campo, y evaluar los materiales prom/sorios en diferentes condiciones ambientales y por un perlado de varios años para medir la estabil ¡dad de la resistencia.Se ha observado que la resistencia en las plantas está determinada por factores químicos y por factores morfol6gicos Como la pubescencia, que puede afectar la fecundidad, la preferencia de oviposición a al imentación y la supervivencia de los ácaros.Estudios real izados en CIAT, Palmfra, sobre la biología de~. tanaJoa, util izando cultivares con diferentes niveles de resistencia y bajo condiciones de cámara de crecimiento (t2 horas de luz; temperaturas diurna/ nocturna de 30'C/28'C; 40-70% HR), mostraron que la fecundidad y preferencia de estos ácaros fueron menores en los cultivares resistentes y tolerantes que en los susceptibles (Cuadro 6)~ Además, estudios sobre el desarrollo de M. tanatoa, bajo condiciones semejantes, en un cultivar resistente (M.Col 143 ) y otro susceptibles (M. Col 22) mostraron que en el cultivar resistente, los ácaros se desarrollan más lentamente, presentan un menor período de vida adulta y una mayor mortal ¡dad de ninfas (Cuadro 7)El CIAT ha desarrollado estudios sobre preferencia y fecundidad de Tetranychus urticae, en condiciones de cámara de crecimiento (12 horas de luz; temperaturas diurna/nocturna de 30'C127'C; 50-70% de H.R.) util izando cultrvares susceptibles y resistentes. los resultados obtenidos muestran una mayor preferencia al imenticia y una mayor oviposición en cultivares susceptibles.Los estudios mencionados indican que en la yuca existen mecanismos de resistencia a los ácaros, de carácter tanto de no preferencia como de Antibiosis.Los estudios de control biol6gico de insectos y ácaros plagas que está desarrollando el CIAl es un aspecto importante de los programas económicos de protección del cultivo de yuca t que tienen como base el control integrado.El control biológico se puede definir como el manejo de las plagas mediante la util ización del iberada y srstemática de sus enemigos naturales. La acción de los agentes benéficos mantrene la densidad de las poblaCiones de plagas a un nivel más bajo del que podría ocurrir en su ausencia. Este propósito es más factible cuando se combina el control bioló9ico con la utilización de variedades resistentes y la aplicact6n de prácticas culturales.Los estudios real izados en el Programa de Yuca en el CIAT, Colombia, han demostrado que varios insectos ben~ficos atacan muchas plagas de importancia económica, incluyendo 105 ácaros, en sus diferentes estados de desarrollo. El 01 ¡gota minuta ha sido catalogado como el predador dominante de poblaciones de Mononychellus tanajoa. Los adultos de este insecto son pequeños coleópwos negros, tienen el cuerpo alargado y él itras cortos qUé dejan descubierta la mitad del abdomen, la que doblan hacia Su parte dorsa 1 .Genera1mente las hembras de 01 ¡gota ovipositan en el envés de las hojas que están infestadas de Mononychellus y cubren sus huevos con exuvias y cadáveres de ácaros; los huevos son de for~ ovalada y color amaril1o. Las larvas también son amarillas, con ocelos rojos; empupan en el suelo. La duración del ciclo biológico de huevo a la inciación del estado adulto es de 16 a 18 días.Investigaciones real izadas en el CIAT y en Uganda coinciden en que las poblaciones de 01 ¡gota se local izan entre las hojas quinta y octava, o sea donde se encuentran las poblaciones más altas de Mononychel1us. En estado larval este predador puede consumir de 49 a 70 ácaros y de 44 a 61 huevos; en su estado adulto consumen, en un lapso de 7 a 16 días, un total de 97 a 142 huevos y ácaros.En el CIAT se ha encontrado el Stethorus sp. asociado con pOblaciones de Tetranycnus urt¡cae y T. cinnabarinus. En ataques de altas poblaciones de T. urticae se observó que el 98% de los predadores eran Stethorus y sólo un 2% 01 ¡gota. Lo contrario sucedíó cuando el ataque era de M. tanajoa, donde el 88% de los predadores fueron 01 ¡gota y sólo el 12% Stethorus.El adulto de Stethorus es de color negro y cuerpo redondeado. Sus huevos son de forma ovalada~ de color crema y normalmente no están cubiertos con exuvias y cadáveres de ácaros como los de 01 ¡gota; las larvas son de color caf~ o negro y empupan en el envés de las hojas.Acaros predadores de la famil ia Phytose¡¡dae.Estos ácaros viven y ovipositan entre las colonias de ácaros fitófagos y conSUmen huevos. larvas, ninfas y adultos. Pueden ser confundidos con especies de Tetranychus pero se diferencia porque los Phytoseiidae son de mayor tamaño, ptriformes t de colores claros y en vez de tener estilete para succionar poseen quel ¡ceros para depredar; además tienen mayor movi-1 idad.Con varios predadores de la famíl ia Phytoseiidae se ha tenido éxito en el control de ácaros fitófagos en el invernadero, y son más efectivos que los insectos depredadores, cuando ambos se encuentran en bajas poblae iones.Las principales especies de Phytoseiidae asociados con Mononychel1us tanajoa son: Typhlodromaius 1 imonicus y NeoseruJus ~.~!?_nymus.A manera de resumen, se incluyen en el Cuadro 9 las principales diferencias entre los predadores de ácaros y que pueden servir de ayuda de campo pa ra su i dent i f icac ián.Phytose La real ización de ciertas prácticas tendientes á modificar las condiciones que favorecen el desarrollo de los ~caros y a disminuir o retardar su dispersión, es lo que se entiende por control cultural.Rotación con cultivos no hospedantes de los ácaros que atacan la yuca. Destrucción de plantas hospedantes.Inspecciones períodicas al cultivo para determinar focos.Destrucción inmediata de los residuos de la cosecha anterior, práctica indispensable en aquellas plantaciones que durante su desarrollo, presentaron altas poblaciones de ácaros.Selección del material de siembra para obtener estacas 1 ibres de ácaros, insectos y enfermedades.Oistribvci6n adecuada de las plantas en el cultivo para reducir la diseminación de los ácaros.Control químíco~ los acaricidas son componentes ímportantes de) control integrado de los ácaros, para ser apJ ¡cados únicamente cuando fallen los otros métodos de control.A pesar de que existen compuestos qu1micos efectivos para el control de lOS ácaros, desde ningún punto de vista se pueden elaborar programas de control sólo a base de acaricidas. Cuando la necesidad de util izarlos sea real, en lo posible se deben apl tcar productos selectivos que controlen 105 ácaros sin causar efectos adversos en Jos artrópodos benéficos, no provoquen en los ácaros resistencia a los químicos, ni induzcan 'a aparición de otras plagas. los acarlcidas también pueden ser de gran ayuda para el tratamiento de estacas infestadas de ácaros y cuando se aplican a plantas aisladas donde se inician los ataques.Cuando se decida apl icar acaricidas es importante tener en cuenta que las lluvias causan disminución en las poblaciones de ácaros, por 10 tanto no resulta práctico apl jcar estos productos al final de los períodos secos.Según el significado de control integrado, un buen manejo de los ácaros y otras plagas en el cultivo de la yuca se logrará cuando se combinen armoniosamente las prácticas culturales con la resistencia varietal, con el control biológico, y con la apl icación de acaricidas en forma adecuada y en los casos en que sea estrictamente necesario~ Para discutir sobre como manejar la aparición de altas poblaciones del gusano cachón se hará referencia a la explosión ocurrida en Santander de Quil ¡chao en Mayo de \\980, en plantaciones de la Estación Experimental de CIAT y en plantación comercial vecina. la densidad de las poblaciones del gusano cachón presenta dos situaciones en el cultlvo de yuca.Durante estas épocas las pOblaciones son tan bajas que resulta dificil encontrar posturas \"t larvas, pasando desapercibidas para los agricultores. En ocasiones algunos yuqueros pueden pensar que la no presencia de E. ello es sólo cuestión de suerte. pero la verdad es que es debido a muchos f~ res del ecosistema que afectan adversamente al gusano cachón entre los cuales ocupan lugar destacado los insectos y patógenos benéficos.Esta situación se puede prolongar si el agricultor util iza insecticidas selectivos en caso de aparición de otras plagas tales como thrjps~ mosca blanca, mosca de la fruta ó brotes de E. ello. Durante este período la acción de los ínsectos benéficos es muy importante por 10 cual se deben colonizar los campos con PoJistes y TrichO,ra!Tlf'f\"Ja. No se justifica bajo ningún punto de vista la aplicación de insect cidas tales como Azodrín (=Monocrotopnos). Metil Paration y otros similares por su drastico efecto sobre la fauna benéfica.Las experiencias de los agricultores de otros cultivos (como el algodonero) muestran que el abuso en la utí) ización de jnsectjcidas~ llevan los cultivos a épocas de crisis en las cuales las apl icac¡ones son más frecuentes, las dosis cada vez más altas. aparición de resistencia de tos insectos a los insecticidas, surgimiento de nuevas plagas y altos costos de producción * Entomólogo, Científico Visitante, Asistente de investigación e Investigadores Visitantes -Programa de Yuca -CIAT, Período de Altas Poblaciones (Explosiones) Puede ocurrir por la desaparición de muchos de los factores que afectan adversamente al gusano cachón; por la migración de adultos de otras regiones o por un mayor vigor de la poblaci6n que se traduce en una mayor capacidad de postura de las hembras.Durante este período pueden encontrarse de un día para otro más de 600 huevos por planta y en los siguientes días más de 70 larvas por planta (Cuadro 1). En esta época 105 agentes benéficos son insuficientes para real izar un control efect ¡vo. s: ¡ende; necesario recurri r a )a ap 1 ¡cación de insectícidas. Para tener éxito en el manejo de una explosión de E. ello es necesario tener en cuenta las siguientes consideraciones:-----Son necesarias las revisiones períodicas de los cultivos para detectar Jos inicios de la explosión. Para esto las trampas de lUZ tipo Bl son de mucha utilidad ya que los aumentos en el número de adultos capturados está en relac¡ón directa con el aumento de posturas en el campo (Cuadro 1).Los adultos capturados pueden presentar huevos dentro del abdomen (Cuadro 2); el menor ó mayor número de huevos en el abdomen es un indicativo del tiempo que se prolongará la oviposíción en las plantaciones. Después de la eclosión de las posturas, debe revisarse la planta en la parte terminal, debido a que las larvas en su primer estado de desarro~ 110 (primer instar) se esconden en el cogol lo. Generalmente las repentinas defol iaciones ocurren porque los agricultores se dan cuenta del ataque cuando las larvas están en sus últimos estados de desarrollo (5 a 12 cm. de longitud), caso en el cual 20 larvas defol ian una planta en pocas horas. las larvas son más susceptibles a los su primer instar (0.4 a 1 cm de longitud). pendiente de la eclosión de las posturas y principales caracterfsticas de la larvi:l en 110 (Cuadro 5).Por tal razón hay que estar tener idea de las cuales son las sus distíntos estados de desarro-Las 1 iberaciones de Trichogramma deben hacerse con posturas frescas, pues el insecto no parasita Jos huevos de avanzada edad en los cuales ya se ha formado la capsula cefál jca de la larva I. ello. Las 1 iberaciones que normalmente se hacen (15 pulgada~/ha) no controlan la población del primer c¡cl0 de la explosión, su acción controladora se aprecia durante el segundo ciclo y de ahí en adelante (Cuadro 3); para lograr un control con Trichogra~ de una explosión como la presentaba en el cuadro 2, sería necesario 1 iberar más de 150 pulgadas/ha. En tlAT el promedio de muchos años es de 23 adultos de l!:.-!.~hogramma por huevo de E. ello? sin embargo, en épocas de explosión este promedio es menor (Cuadro-4)-r,o-que se puede deber a que el parásito dispone de más al ímento, condición que darfa un mayor vigor de las proximas generaciones del parásito~ lo que reflejará en una mayor actividad parasftica. las apl ¡caciones de Baci 11us thurinqiensis {Dipel. Bactospcine) sor más 306 efectivas cuando se apl ¡can en el primer estado de desarrollo de Erinnyis en dosis de 2 a 3 gramos del producto comercial por 1 itro de agua, En el caso de las altas poblaciones de Santander de Quil ¡chao se apl ico Bactospeine 3 gramos por lítro de agua, más 0.5 ce de Triton ACT (Coadyuvante).El control fué excelente (Cuadro 1).  , 1981).Inicialmente se present6 una confusIón en su fdentificación taxonomica; las especies encontradas en el nor-oeste de Brasil yen los llanos Orientales de Colombia fueron identificados corno P. manihotj ~ la misma o similar a P. manihoti descrito en Africa. Sin embargo, recientes estudios taxonomicos los han separado en dos especies. p~ herren¡ y P. manihoti (Cox y Wil1 iams, 1981). Ambas especies se eocüentran en las Américas, pero f.. maninot! es descrita para Africa.Phenacoccus manihoti fué encontrado en Paraguay en 1980 (eellottj~ obs. per.) y recientes busquedas real izadas por Yaseen (1981aYaseen ( y 1981b) ) ha identificado esta especie en Brasil (Mato Groso), Bol ivra y Paraguay. P. manihoti parece haber sido introducido recientemente a Paraguay (en Tos Bltirnos 4 Ó 5 a~os); este ha sido encontrado unicamente alrededor de Caucupe. donde originalmente fué descubierto. P. herreni, ha sido reportado en Colombia, Guayana y nor-oeste de Brasil-(incluyendo los estados de Pernambuco, Ceara, Pará y Amapá).Phenacoccus herreni Estudios de la biología de P. herreni fueron real Izados en invernadero en plantulas de la variedad H7Col 113; ninfas recien emergidas fueron colocadas sobre las hojas y aisladas con peque~as jaulas-pinza. Se hicieron observaciones diarias del desarrollo de ninfas y adultos. También se estudio su capacidad de oviposición.La hembra es de color crema y de forma oval, a través de su ciclo de vida. Cuerpo blando y segmentado con antenas cortas y 3 pares de patas. Después de su emergencia y de cada muda ninfal, su cuerpo es translucido; la hembra posteriormente procede a cubrirse con unas pequeñas secreciones cerosas que le dan un aspecto algodoso (Fig. 1).Despu~s de emerger de los huevos las ninfas permanecen en ei ovisaco por un corto tiempo y después rápidamente emigran en busca de un sitIo de al imentación. Ellas pueden permanecer al imentandose en este sitio a través de sus estados ninfales ai menos que ocurra una necrosis o un disturbio que las obl igue a buscar otro sitio de al irnentación. No es posible distinguir sexos en el primer instar; sin embargo, el dimosfismo sexual se manifiesta durante el segundo instar. El primer instar de la hembra tiene una duración promedia de 7.7 días durante las cuales las ninfas~ llamadas usualmente Ilmo tiJes ll migran en busca de sltios de al ímentaclón. La duración del segundo y tercer instar de la hembra es de 5.1 Y 5.6 días respectivamente (Tabla 1). Aparte de un incremento en tamaño no hay diferencias fundamentales entre estos dos instares. El cuarto instar es el estado adulto (Fig. 2), con una duración promedia de 24.8 dr.s. El macho adulto es alado, frágil, con partes bucales reducidas (Fig. 2). Su cuerpo es de color rosado con un par de alas blancas y 2 apéndices caudales, cerosos de color blanco tan largos como su cuerpo, sus patas son bien desarrolladas y la longitud de las antenas son las dos terceras partes de su cuerpo. El macho pasa por Cuatro instares ntnfales antes de alcanzar su estado adulto (Tabla 1). El primer estado nlnfal de la hembra es identico al del macho, con una duración promedio para este último de 7~5 días. El segundo instar dura seis dfas; al principio del cuarto día, la ninfa cambia de color crema a rosado; en el quinto día Inicia la formación de un capullo blanco algodonoso en el cual permanece hasta la emergencia del adulto (fjg. 1). No se al ¡menta durante el tercer y cuarto instar dentro del capullo, sus partes bucales atrofiadas no son funcionales. El tercer instar que dura 2~8 días es el estado prepupal y la ninfa empieza Su transformación en adulto. El cuarto Instar o estado pupa) dura 3.1 d1as; aparecen los rudimíentos de las alas y las antenas (Tabia 1). Una vez formado el adulto permanece dentro del capullo por un día antes de su emergencia; es muy activo en la busqueda de hembras durante 2 al ~ día. Un macho puede copular con varias hembras.En la población estudiada no se observó pertenogenesis. El macho es indispensable para la reproducción; si las hembras no son fertilizadas no hay oviposición. las hembras pueden ser fertll izadas Inmediatamente alcancen el estado adulto. la oviposición se inicia tres dras despu~s de la copulación; antes de iniciar la oviposíción la hembra forma en la parte posterior de su cuerpo un saco algodonoso llamado ovisaco dentro del cual son colocados 105 huevos (Fig. 3). la formación del ovisaco continua a través del período de oviposición pero no cubre todo el cuerpo de la hembra. El período promedio de oviposición es de 18.4 días y puede durar hasta 21 días.El número promedio de huevos ovipositados fué de 773 (529-1028) durante período de 18.4 días. la máxima oviposición ocurre dentro del tercer día, 80 huevos por hembra, y decrece hasta 10 huevos en el último día de oviposición (Fig. ~). los huevos son de color crema, miden 0.38 mm. de longitud por 0.20 mm. de ancho y su per1odo de incubación es de 6.3 días (Tabla 1).Cuando las hembras fueron aisladas sín machos, vivieron hasta 23 días~ Cuando los machos fueron colocados con hembras virgenes de 15 a 23 días de edad, el ovisaco se formó de 2 a 3 d1as~ Se observó un promedio de 200 huevos por ovisaco y la relacfón de sexos fué de 3 hembras por un macho. FIGURA). la hembra de P. nerreni con el ovisaco formándose sobre la parte posterior del cuerpo. El ciclo de vida de!. gossyp. \" fué estudiado sobre tal los de la variedad M-Col 113 en condiciones de laboratorio (26'2B', 75-85% HR). Hay tres estados ninfa les con un promedio de 8.6, 5.7 y 6.3 dras respectivamente (Tabla 3). las hembras adultas vivíeron hasta 21 días. la oviposicrón fue iniciada entre el 5 y 7 día y continuo por cinco días, con un promedio de 328 huevos por hembra la mayor producción de huevos fue en el primer día la cual decl ¡na progresivamente. Los huevos permanecen en el ovisaco hasta la emergencia de las ninfas.A pesar de que las ninfas son móviles en todos los instares ellas se pueden al ímentar en un sitio por varios dfas; prefieren al ¡mentarse en el envés de las hojas o en la parte tierna de los tallos. La hembra no es alada, mientras que los machos poseen alas funcionales. Los machos pasan a través de dos estados nfnfales (8.5 y 6~o días respectivamente), un estado prepupal (2.1 dfas) y pupal (2.1 días) antes de la emergencia del adulto. Los machos adultos viven hasta tres días.Estudios de P •. manihoti han sido recientemente Iniciados en las Américas. Los resultados de Africa indrean que la hembra es partenogenetica y los machos no han sido observados ni en el campo ni en el laboratarío (Nwanze et al 1979). El ciclo biológico de la hembra es similar al de P. herreni;haytres estados ninfaJes antes de que la hembra llegue al estado adulto, que corresponde al cuarto instar. El período promedio de preoviposición es de 5.2 dfas, con un período de oviposición de 20.2 días. la duración total promedio es de 46.2 dlas (27-56 días). La hembra adulta oviposita un promedio total de 4~o huevos en un período de 20.2 días. Ninfas y adultos son de color blanco cremoso y cubiertos con una delgada capa algodonosa (Nwanze ~ ~ 1979).ECOLOGIA y COMPORTAMIENTO DE P. herreni la infestación de la planta es iniciada generalmente por los primeros ínstares ninfales Jos cuales normalmente migran a la parte apical de los puntos de crecimiento de la planta y alrededor de estos puntos se incrementa la población inicial del piojo harinoso. La reacción de las plantas consiste en un efecto de roseta en las hojas apicaies que dan un aspecto arrepollado a 105 cogollos, condición que da cierta protección a la colonia que se inicia. Esta reacci6n de la planta a menudo puede ocurrir con la presencia de pocas, indIcando la presencia de una tóxina que es inyectada a la planta por las ninfas o las hembras adultas. las poblaciones de piojos harinosos pueden incrementarse considerablemente en estos puntos de crecimIento infestados; en un brote atacado en Pernambuco, Brasil. se contaron 30 machos y 150 hembras. A medida que la población aumenta los piojos migran del brote y se diseminan por todas partes de la planta. La dispersi6n comienza en 105 tallos y eventualmente ínfestan todas las hojas; la infestación ocurre siempre por el env~s de las hojas iniciandose en la unión de la hoja y el peciolo, a lo largo de las nervaduras y eventualmente cubre toda la hoja.Infestaciones severas ocasionan enanismo, defol ¡ación, deformación de los brotes, acortamiento de los entrenudo y distorcl6n de JO$ tallos. Las infestaciones más severas ocurren durante los períodos secos; explosiones en Pernambuco a través de un perroda de 3 años coincidió con una disminución del regimen de lluvias. El incremento de las poblaciones del piojo harinoso en Colombia también ocurre en períodos secos, con lo cual se incrementa la severrdad del stress.Con el inicio de la época lluviosa se estImula el brotamfento de la planta y decrece la población del piojo harinoso. Deformaciones severas de los tallos se pueden reconocer con la iniciación del crecimiento de la planta; los tallos toman apariencia de espira), toman giros de 360o~ algunos tallos 1 legan a formar angulos rectos. Aunque las poblaciones pueden disminuir drásticamente durante los períodos de lluvras, aun quedan piojos en número considerable; se pueden observar ligeras deformaciones de los brotes y al abrirlos se pueden encontrar ninfas, adultos y ovisacos; los piojos harinosos también pueden encontrarse en los tallos especialmente alrededor de las yemas yen el envés de las hojas medias y bajeras. Huy frecuentemente las plantas más pequeñas y debiles son las maS atacadasj los rebrotes de las yemas basales también pueden estar constderablemente infestadas durante los períodos de lluvia.Experimentos preJ ¡minares en el campo, en Colombia, mostraron que el viento es el factor más importante en la drseminacióo del pfojo de un campo a otro. Parcelas de yuca fueron sembradas aproximadamente a 100 mts. de un campo severamente atacado, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. los campos sembrados en dirección de los vientos predominantes se infestaron rápidamente mientras que en los sembrados en dirección contraria a los vientos permanecieron sin infestación del piojo. la diseminación de un área a otra se facil ita por el materíal de siembra infestado. En campo recíen sembrados en Pernambuco, se encontraran estacas y resfduos de cosechas infestadas par el piojo harinoso, se enCOntrarOn ninfas al imentandose en las yemas laterales de estas partes de la planta.En muchas ocasiones el material de siembra es almacenado por largas períodos en espera de las lluvias que permitan hacer la siembra ó durante períodos fríos en las áreas subtropicales como el suroeste de Brasil y Paraguay. los piojos harinosos que infestan el materíal almacenado durante esos períodos facil itan la diseminación de la plaga de un ciclo de crecimiento al siguiente.Phenacoccus gossypi i es un insecto que tiene un ampl io rango de hospederos y yuca es un hospedero ocasional.Generalmente sus poblaciones estan reguladas por la acción de numerosos enemigos naturales. las hembras depositan ovisacos alrededor del axis de la ramas. O en las hojas, o alrededor de las yemas del tallo principal, o en el env!s de las hojas donde se une el pecíolo a la hoja. Altas poblaciones dan una apariencia algodonosa a la porción verde o suculenta del tal Jo y al envés de la hoja. Las infestaciones en el campo aparecen en focos y frecuetemente ocurren en áreas donde se abusa de la aplicación de pestIcidas los cuales pue.den disminuir sus enemigos naturales.Los sfntomas de dafio son muy diferentes a los de P. herreni; los ataques de t. gossypri ocasionan amarilJamiento de las hoYas y ocasfonalmente la defol iacfan se 'niela con las hojas basales. No se forman rosetas en los brotes ni presentan distorsiones de brotes y tallos. A1tas poblaciones de!. gossypii tambIén ocurren durante Jos perfodos secos. COMPORTAMIENTO DE t. manihoti EN YUCA la biología y comportamiento de P. manihoti es simIlar a la de P.herreni. las partes terminales son las primeras atacadas pudiendo pasar luego a otras partes de la planta; los entrenudos se acortan, hay encurvamientos de las hojas y se reduce el crecimiento de las hojas nuevas. Cuando aumenta la densldad de la población todas las partes verdes de los brotes atacados eventualmente mueren. Infestaciones en las hojas bajeras~ que presentan calda natural durante la estación seca, dan a la planta una apariencia de \"candelero\" (Le\"schner y Nwanze. 1978). Con 1. aparición de la 'poca lluviosa 1. población disminuye considerablemente y con un mes de IJuvlas las hojas y brotes son abundantes. Ninfas y adultos persisten en las plantas de yuca durante la estación humedad y sirven de inoculo a la iníciacf6n de la estación seca. La diseminación de P. manfhoti es priocipalmente por el material de siembra y por el viento TNwanze et. al, 1979).El efecto del ataque de los piojos harinosos en la producci6n de raíces de yuca no ha sido bien cuántificado en las Amér[cas. Observaciones indican que las poblaciones de P. manihoti y P. oss ii no son 10 sufícientemente altas para causar reducción en la-produce I n de raíces~ Sin embargo. las poblaciones de P. herreni en el noroeste de Brasil son lo suficientemente altas para causar reducción en los rendimientos, 'ndican~ dose que la reducción de rafees puede ser hasta del 80% y en Pernambuco, Brasil, los agricultores tradicionales de yuca quieren reemplazar este cultivo por otro. Reportes de Africa indican que se han determinado reduce ión en los rendimientos del 45% en parcelas experimentales (Atur y Dkeke, 1981).En general, el control b¡ológico de piojos harinosos en cultlvos agrícolas ha sido exitoso (Oebach. 196~). Existen grandes posibll idades para tener éxito en el control de los piojos harinosos de la yuca con sus enemigos naturales. Hay numerosos enemigos naturales asociados con los piojos harinosos de la yuca (Tabla 4); estos incluyen predadores, parásitos y patogenos. Aproximadamente 25 parásitos de t. gossy~¡ j ~ f.. herreni y,t. manihoti han sido registrados en las Américas; 23e estos parásitos pertenecen a la famil ia Encyrt¡dae e incluye los generas Anaayrus. Apoanagyrus, Aenasius, y Acerophaga. Recientemente se ha identifica O un hongo patogeno Cladosporium sp_ par.,sitando P. herreni en Brasil y Colombia.Aproximadamente se han reportado 43 predadores predando las tres especies de piojos harinosos mencionados anteriormente. la meyorfa de elfos pertenecen a la famit ia Coecine] 1 idae, sobresaJ ¡eodo 105 generas Se discutirá a continuación dos especies de PIOJOS harinosos y su potencial de control biológico en las Américas; ellos son P. herreni y P.gossypi¡ que presentan dos situaciones diferentes; su modo-de ataque esdiferente y yuca no es el hospedero preferido de !. gossypii; mientras si parece ser para~. herreni.Phenacoccus gossypt i t ¡ene numerosos enemigos (Tabla 4); la forma de sus ataques es de tal forma que sus poblaciones quedan muy expuestas y accesibles a la predación y parasitismo de sus enemigos naturales. En estudios real izados en CIAT (1979) cultivares de yuca fueron Infestados a los 4S días de desarrollo vegetativo con 6 ovisacos de!. gossypii y protegidos con jaulas para prevenir el ataque de enemigos naturales. Al observar la distribución de las poblaciones del piojo harinoso se encontró que el 44.9; 41.0 yel 14.1% de los estados biológicos estaban loca) izados en la parte basal, media y tercio superior de la planta respectivamente.La efectividad de varios enemígos naturales para controlar P. gossypii fué estudiada en jaulas en el campo (CIAT, 1980), cuando la pobTaci6n de piOjo se incrementó considerablemente (aproximadamente 26.000 ninfas y adultos por jaula) se permitió la entrada de sus enemigos naturales. Se registró la población de predadores y parásitos durante 6 semanas al cabo de las cuales la población de) piojO fué casi cero.En generar Se presentó un mayor porcentaje de predación que de parasitismo y este último nunca promedlo más del 1D%. La predación de ovisacos principalmente por K. cocc¡darum llegó al 100% después de 5 semanas y predación de ninfas y adultos 1 legÓ al 96% principalmente debido a Chrysopa y Reduviídos (Tabla 5). Los mejores predadores fueron Chrysopa, ~. cocc¡darum, varios Coecinel idos y Reduviidos; Anaayrus spp. fueron los parásitos predominantes (Tabla 6). En las jaulas don e los piojos harinosos eran más abundantes, !. coccidarum fué el predador predominante, mientras que Chrysopa.Reduvidos y algunos Coccinell idos predominaron en las jaulas con mas bajas poblaciones de piojo. la población de ~. gossypi i decreció progresivamente durante 6 semanas (fig. 5).'\" ~ ' \" .., \"-'\" '\". . FIGURA 5. Reducción en número de ovisacos. njnfas y hembras adultas de ?henacoccus gossypi i por sus enemigos naturales., Altas pOblaciones de K. coccidarum se han observado en invernaderos sobre colonias de !~ gosSypi ¡ y ~. herreni. sin embargo, su poblaciones en el campo han sido erraticas, econtrandose con mayor frecuencia cuando ¡as poblaciones de1 piojo son altas. Este predador se observó inicialmente consumiendo huevos dentro del ovisaco, nabiendose encontrado también sus larvas predando sobre ninfas y sobre hembras adultas con ovisaces disponibles. Ellas permanecen en estado de ectoparásito y raras veces ocasiona mortal ¡dad a las ninfas hasta que el ovlsaco se halla formado en el cual predata los huevos hasta completar su ciclo de vida. Su estado ectoparásito es importante para sobrevivir cuando las poblaciones del hospedero son bajas. La relación macho hembra observadas fué de 2:1. El número promedio de K. coccidarum por ovisaco varía dependIendo de la disponibil ¡dad del hospedero; cuando los ovisacos fueron numerosos se encontró un promedio de tres larvas del predador por ovisaco (l-S) y en más altas poblaciones del predador se encontraron en promedio de 5 larvas por ovisaco (2-8). Estudios iniciales de K. coccidarum indicaron un ciclo de vida de 12 días (a 2B'e) a 16 días (a ~2•C).En los últimos años, Jos estudios real izados en el CIAT se han concentrado en P. herreni debido a su gran importancia económica. Poblaciones naturales de este piojo fueron estudiadas en campos de yuca en CIAT; durante 1981 se real ¡zarón evaluaciones sistemáticas de las poblaciones de sus enemigos naturales, para 10 cual se coJectaron partes de plantas infestadas de 13 localidades y se identificaron los parásitos de predadores que emergieron; las colecciones se hicieron durante Jul io, Agosto y Septiembre épocas en las cuales se presentaron las más latas poblaciones del piojo harinoso. Se identificaron cinco importantes enemigos naturales (Tabla 7); Ocyptamus fué ei predador predominante constituyendo el 68% del total de los enemigos encontrados, y encontrandose en el 85% de los campos evaluados. Otros predadores encontrados fueron Cleothera, Symherobius, y Chrysopa. Anagyrus sp. fué el parásito que se encontró con mayor frecuencia y representÓ el 19.2% de los enemigos naturales colectados.Durante 1982 se iniciaron evaluaciones similares, encontrandose diferentes enemigos naturales (Tabla 8); en el primer muestreo se identificaron 13 especies de predadores y 12 en un segundo muestreo. El predador encontrado con mayor frecuencia fué K. coccidarum especie que no se encontro en los muestreos realizados en 1981. Acerophaga coccois fué el parásito encontrado en mayor proporción, representando el 85% de los parásitos recolectados en el primer muestreo y 92% en el segundo muestreo; a pesar de que este parásito ya había sido encontrado en a~os anteriores, nunca se había presentado en poblaciones tan altas, por lo cual se estableció una colonia para la real ización de futuras investigaciones.Ourante la aparlci6n de altas poblaciones de P. herreni en Pernambuco, Brasil, se recolectaron varios predadores y parásitos; incluyen los dípteros Ocyptamus sp.y el Cecidomyiídae (posiblemente Kalodiplosis); los Coleopteros, Hyperaspis notata, Hyperaspis sp. Nephus sp. y un carabidae; un neuroptero Chrysopa sp; un lepidoptero P~roderces sp. un Reduviidae Zellus sp. y un Anthocoridae aun no identificado. Se observó un hiperpará-SIto atacando Ocyptamus sp., predador este que se presento en altas pobla-ciones~ Los parásitos encontrados, tres en total I pertenecen a la famí) ia Encyrtidaé. y uno de el los al genero Anagyrus sp.Tanto en CIAT como en Pernambuco se observó un hongo patogeno, Cladosporium sp, parasitando ninfas y adultos de P. herreni, las cuales toman una apariencia blanda y una coloración gris~oscura. Alto grado de parasitismo sé observó para este hongo en 105 campos de yuca de Pernambuco, y el patogeno parece ser más efectivo en altas poblaciones de piojo harinoso. El hongo puede ser reproducido fácilmente en medios artificiales ofreciendo la posibi J ¡dad de apl icarIo en el campo cuando las poblaCiones del pIojo son bajas con lo cual se previene su rápido incremento. Deben real izarse futuras investigaciones sobre este patogeno. la busqueda de enemigos naturales de P. manihoti ha sido recientemente iniciada en Paraguay~ Brasil y Bol ivia. Se han identificado varios parásitos y predadores; entre Jos parásitos figuran Apoenagyrus lopezi, Aenasius Vexans y Acerophagus sp. (todos hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Predadores incluyen 10$ coccinel 1 idos Hyperaspis Notata, Hyperaspis sp, Exochromus sp y olla sp. Otros predadores encontrarlo son Crysopa sp. Sympherobius sp, QCYPtamus SP. y Kalooiplosis sp. (Tabla 4).Un problema ooservado en el complejo de enemigos naturales de PIOJOS harinosos en la presencia de varios hiperparásitos (Tabla 4), que pueden reducir las poblaciones de estos agentes beneficos. Ocyptamus sp. es un predador frecuente de los piojos harinosos y parece ser eficiente? sin embargo, cuando aumentan su poblaCiones se incrementa también el hiperparásitismo. Aunque Ocyptamus es un predador de ampl ia d¡stribucióo 1 será díficil de introducirlo en áreas donde no existe sin correr el riesgo de introducir sus hiperparasitos. Sin embargo, deberan tomarse precauciones para evitar la introducción de hiperparásitos de otros enemigos naturales del piojo harinoso.'\" '\" ....  El cachón de la yuca es uno de los insectos plagas más importante en este cultivo debido a la severa defol ¡ación que puede causar con la consecuente disminución en los rendimientos. Sin embargo, sus poblaciones pueden regularse en base al grado de defol ¡ación tolerado por la p1anta, con la epi ¡cación de productos bfológlcos como el Oipel y la liberación de sus enemigos naturales tales coroo TrichografJVlla, Apanteles y PoI istes.', Es indispensable que los anteriores métodos sean los usados en el control de este insecto y no se recurra al uso de insecticidas de efecto letal a los insectos benéficos.De acuerdo a esta fílosofía, para emprender cualquier tipo de estudio tendiente a conocer mejor la biologfa y comportamiento de un insecto plaga y de sus principales enemigos naturales se hacen indispensables las crías. masivas, con e! fin de disponer en forma continua y oportuna de material suficiente de estudio y lograr los objetivas propuestos en un tiempo no tan prolongado.Mantener una cría masiva, no es tan fácil como se puede llegár a pensar porque son muchos los problemas que se presentan cuando ésta se encuentra en desarrollo; la metodología que aquí se presenta puede ser adaptada a las necesidades y problemas que se vayan presentando de acuerdo a las con• diciones (el ima -otros agentes adversos) de la loca) ¡dad donde se está haciendo este tipa de trabajo. los ataques de enfermedades virosas o bacteria les, pueden ser t im¡tantes en las crías masivas cachón, E. ello {L).Listones de madera de 2.5 metroS de la~go.Malla de nylon tupida que no permita la entrada de insectos benéficos.Torni 1105 de empate de los 1 istones 4 u x 5/8 Asistente de Investigación; especial ¡sta visitante respectivamente Programa de Yuca el AT.Pasadores sue,os, grapas, madeflex, bandas de caucho.ElosaJ o Oíthane M-lfS, bandejas plásticas. Aserrín de madera, vidrio para jaulas de cría de la rvas.Forro de 1 ¡enzo tupido, lámparas (tubos) de lúz ultra'\" violeta para el ¡minar virus y bacterias.Grasa para evitar ataques de hormigas, miel de abejas.Frascos para al imentación de adultos.Las jaulas de cría de larvas (Fig. 1) (lxlxl mt) como las de coputa y oviposición (2.5x2.5x2.5 mts) (Fig. 2 y 3) deben estar lo mejor acondicionadas posíble para una manipulación adecuada de la colonia de cachón durante el proceso de su desarrollo.En estas jaulas, se debe colocar una capa de aserrín de madera (fino) de aproximadamente 4-5 centímetros y este debe ser tratado con una solución de Elosai o Dithane M-45 (1.0 gm. producto comercial por litro de agua) para prevenir el desarrollo de hongos.En el campo se debe sembrar un lote, con el fín de mantener plantas que proporcionen el al ¡mento fresco para las larvas y en este mismo lote se colocarán las jaulas grandes (copula y oviposíción), de tal manera que queden de 6-9 plantas dentro de éllas donde los futuros adultos van a ovipositarj es preferible sembrar las variedades de yuca por las cuales Erinnyis muestra mayor preferencia (para Colombia eMe 57). Por exper¡eneras en CIAT Colombia, parece que el mayor éxito en la ovíposición se logra cuando las plantas dentro de la jaula tienen porte alto.También se debe de disponer de un forro de 1 ¡enza tupido para forrar las jaulas de cópula y oviposición y evitar la entrada de insectos bené -f¡cos que pueden parasitar o predatar huevos o larvas; Trichogramma es uno de los parásitos más frecuentes en estas jaulas (Fíg.4). PROCEDIMIENTO las larvas colectadas se distribuyen en las jaulas de cría de larvas, separandolas por instares donde se les proporcionara fol laje de yuca proveniente del lote sembrado para este fin y no de lotes donde se hayan apl ¡cado insecticidas.Se puede colocar larvas de I y 1I instar juntas pero las de III-IV en jaulas separadas. El follaje que se ofrece a las larvas en las jaulas de cría, debe de colocarse dentro de éstas con tal los es decrr, no darles unicamente las hojas con el fin de colocar las ramas verticalmente y las larvas encuentren una posición similar al campo. Cuando el follaje ha sido consumido, los materiales de residuo J como tal los y pecfolos deben ser sacados para que no se produzcan fermentaciones y aumentos de temperatura en el interior de las jaulas.Cuando las larvas llegan al estado de pre-pupa se sacan de las jaulas de cría y se colocan en otras iguales con aserrín (tratado con losal o Oithane M-45) para que pasen al estado de pupa donde se dejan quietas por un período de 15 días~ En cada jaula se pueden colocar de 100-150 prepupas.Va obtenidas las pupas estas se sacan entre 5-6 días antes de la emergencia de los adultos y se I levan a las jaulas de copula y oviposici6n previamente colocadas en el campo. Para esto es recomendable usar bandejas plásticas con aserrín para que las pupas no se maltraten (Fig. S).Cuando las pupas se van a pasar a las jaulas de cópula y oviposición es recomendable hacer la separación de hembras y machos {F¡g.6)t para en esta forma colocar en las jaulas proporciones adecuadas de hembras y machos. Tres (3) días antes de que emerjan los adultos en las jaulas de cópula y ovipos¡ción~ estas deben ser tratadas con Diclorvos (Nogos -nuvan vapona -OOPV)1 lcc/1 itro de agua y luego se cubren estas jaulas con el forro de 1 ¡enzo tupido con el fin de el ¡minar cualquier agente (insectos benéficos) que haya en su interior e impedir la entrada de otros que parasíten o predaten los huevos colocados por los adultos que han emergido.Cuando el 100% de los huevos han eclosionado se retira el forro de 1 ienzo y se llevan las larvas a las jaulas de cría tal como se indicó en el punto anterior. A los adultos se les debe suministrar al ¡mento, el cual puede ser soluciones en agua ai 5-7% de miel de abejas o de azúcar colocados en frascos en la parte superior de la jaula. Por previsión también se les colocan otros frascos con agua sola.CuJ dados que se deben tener con e I manejo de l a cal on ¡a.Procurar manipular al mínimo las larvas cuando están en proceso de al imentación. Por medio de sus pseudotapas, las larvas se adhieren fuertemente a los pecíolos o fol1olos de las hojas. Si se trata de desprenderlas manualmente puede ocurrir que estas se lesionen por la presión de los dedós , además de poderse transmltfr enfermedades por medio de virus o bacterias~ Esto se puede evitar proporcionando el al imento en la forma recomendada en el punto anterior, Es necesario cambiar el follaje dos veces al día con el fín de que las larvas mantengan síempre material fresco; sobre todo en los tres últimos instares, en los cuales el consumo de follaje es mayor. Cuando las larvas al estado de pre-pupas se pasan a las jaulas con aserrín para que empupen. Se pueden manipular, pero se debe tratar de no hacer presión sobre éJlas. En adelante no tocarlas por lo menos durante 13-15 días.Cuando se van a llevar las pupas a las jaulas de copula y oviposición t es importante hacer una selección de éllas por tamaño y desarrollo con el fín de obtener adultos vigorosos y sanos, aumentandose la posibil ¡dad de lograr buena cantidad de posturas. Las jaulas pequeñas de cría se deben colocar en lugares frescos para evitar las altas temperaturas en su interior. Es posible que ranchos de paja en el campo proporcionen condicianes adecuadas para la cría de E. ello (L).las jaulas en general se deben colocar en lugares apartados de cultivos donde se apl ¡quen insecticidas, la colonia en las jaujas de cría puede ser atacada par hormigas por lo cual es necesario colocar estas jaulas sobre soportes de madera aJas cuales se les coroca una franja de grasa semi-líquida. En las jaulas de cópula y oviposición se debe tener cuidado de que no queden entradas para animales como lagartos y ratas, los cuales destruyen las pupas.Cuando se presenta en las jaujas de cría el problema de enfermedades causadas por virus en ¡as larvas, es necesario lavar estas jaulas con agua y detergente y posteriormente exponerlas a la acción de luz ultravioleta durante 24 a 36 horas y luego píntarlüs para recubrir cualquier agente patógeno que haya persistido después del tratamiento con luz ultravioleta. , , FIGURA q. Jaula de cópula y ovíposición cubierta por tela de I ¡enzo tupida FIGURA 5. Bandeja para traslado de pupa. Tijeras Lapfz Tapas de rr~scos con malla de nyion Recoleecidn En esta labor es indíspens~ble actuar con mucha precaución~ evitando movimientos bruscos en el sftio donde se van a colectar los nidos con 105 adultos, con el fin de no alterar el comportamiento de las avispas y el operario pueda efectuar su labor eficientemente.Es Indrspensable que la persona encargada de la labor de recolección utilIce un traje apropfado, lo m'smo que guantes para una eompleta proteccidn. los nIdos se deben recolectar en las primeras horas de la mañana o en las ultimas de 1. tarde (5 1/2 PM en adelante). los nidos de Po1 ¡stes, es muy coman encontrarlos en sitios como trapiches, establos y contrucclones abandonadas en fincas. Estos nidos tienen una estructura fabrfcada por las avfspas, llamada pedOnculo de la cual cuelgan en los cielos rasos de los sitios mencIonados anterrormente.Para su captura, se toma una bolsa plástica y se inf1a con el fin de que ésta quede bien expandida y faerl Ite la tntroduccidn del nido con las avfspas en ~lla, movIendo esta de abajo hacia arriba. Cuando se tiene metido completamente el nrdo en la bolsa se crerra totalmente la boca a ésta. Ya con el nIdo y avispas encerrados en la bolsa se arranca el nido presionando el pedúnculo firmemente sIn dañar las prImeras celdas. moviendo y halando suavemente según lo permita la fuerza de adhesión que éste tenga en su base.Arrancando el nido, por la boca de la bolsa se inyecta una pequeña cantidad de Gas CarbónTco con el fin de dormir las avfspas. 10 que ocurre en un corto perrodo de tiempo. Dormidas éstas se procede a pasarlas de la bolsa a los frascos; identificando luego. el nido como los frascos (avispas) con el mismo numero, con el fin de que al llevarlos a otros sitios estos correspondan. los frascos de vidrio son usados porque las avispas poseen fuertes mandibulas con las cuales rompen la bolsa de po) ietileno. los nidos seleccionados no deben estar par&sitados por Oxysarcodexia; preferiblemente debe tener más de cIncuenta celdas y no es conveniente tomar los nidos demasiado grandes y viejos.Despues de ser guardadas las avispas en los frascos; estos son colocados en termos de tcopor, los que llevan en su parte inferior gavetas pl §sticas con hielo bien tapadas, las cuales se proteJen con papel perfod¡co o acerrin para evlt&r acumulacl6n de agua en el fondo del ternK>. Todo esto se hace con el fin de mantener una temperatura baja durante el tiempo de transporte.Es importante que al meter los frdscos en los termos. estos queden aislados uno del otro y bien ajustados para que cuando se presenten movimientos bruscos en el transporte~ estos no se quiebren.Por jo general tos nidos son transportados por aparte, cuidando de que no se humedezcan n¡ les dé el sol directamente, pues el exceso de temperatura mataría las larvas y las pupas.Según observaciones, las avispas prefieren los lugares sombreados y frescos para establecer sus colonias, por 10 cual se ha ut¡li%ado la guadua y la hoja de palmiche, o en ausencia de la última se usa hoja de plátano para obtener estas condiciones. las casetas o ranchos pueden ser de diferente tama~o. La altura puede variar de 1.80 -2.00 mtrs. buscando la facil i~ dad de manipuleo al colocar los nídos (Fig. 1) También pueden ser util izadas casetas pequeñas (Fíg, 2-3). repartidas en tos cultivos, preferiblemente en los bordes de canales por donde este pasando continuamente agua y fuera del alcance de personas dañinas. Bajo las casetas son colgados los nidos por medio de alambre u otro material que previamente ha sido amarrado del pedúnculo de estos.Luego de colocar los h¡dos bajo el techo de las caseta se acercan los frascos que contienen las avispas y se hace coincidir el número del frasco con el número del nido~ Al hacer esta operación. se destapa suavemente el frasco t se acerca a Su nido correspondiente y se deja que las avispas salgan lenta y directamente al nido, sin hacer movimientos bruscos ni meter objetos al frasco~ Cuando quedan pocas avispas en el frasco, se les puede ofrecer una paja o rama delgada para que suban a élla una por una, se acerca luego la rama al nido para que puedan pasar sin mayor problema. Las pulgadas de Trichograrnma son conseguidas en laboratorros especializados en la crianza de este microhymenoptero, pero a medida Que estos laboratorios se popularizan. se corre el pe1 ¡gro de que la cal idad del material se vea afectada más por una mentalidad comerciante que de servicio. Por lo tanto es importante tener en cuenta corno factores de cal ¡dad, los siguientes:Pulgadas por lo menos con un 85% de parasitismo en los nuevos adheridos a él la.Limpias, que na tengan demasiados residuos de poli! las Que tengan la fecha de parasitación y fecha de eclosión de las avíspi~ tas para estar seguros de que no han estado almacenadas por mucho tjempo~ ya que esto reduce la actividad parasítíca además que se puede incrementar el número de machos emergidos.Es importante tener en cuenta el momento preciso para realizar las 1 jberaciones de Trichogramma, y esto se logra reál izando evaluaciones per¡ódicas en los lotes de yuca con el fin de detectar en que momento o épocas ocurren las mayores poblaciones de nuevos de ello. las 1 iberaciones de Trichogramma se deben real izar preferiblemente cuando los huevos está recien colocados y presentan una coloración verde , o cuando la tonalidad es amarillenta. Es importante no dejar que el huevo ello se desarrolle mucho para real izar las liberaciones porque en este céiso-seinittia la formación de la cápsula cefal ica de la larva, no siendo parasitados por Trichogramma.En la liberación de las avispas es importante hacer una buena distribu\" ción de las mismas de acuerdo al método que se utilice. Método de las bolsas de papel Método de los porrones plástIcos Método de las bolsas de papel Consiste en que cada pulgada de Trichogramma es introducida en una bolsa de papel de 5 cm de ancho por 10 cm de largo que luego es rasgada para faci-1 itar la sal ida de las av'ispas (FIg. 1). la colocación de las bolsas en el campo debe ser de tal manera que estas queden 10 mejor distribuidas en los lotes, de acuerdo. la cantidad liberada por ha (15 -20 pul gada/ha). Las bolsas se pegan en las hojas con el ips.En este método son usados unos rec ipientes plást icos de más o menos un 9a16n de capacidad, en los cuales se depositan 100 pulgadas. Este recipiente debe ser tapado con una tela bien tupida asegurandose con una banda de caucho por el cuel lo del mismo. Esta cant ¡dad de pulgadas alcanzará para ser distribuidas en 5 hectareas. Cuando se hace 1 a i i berac j ón El recipiente con las pulgadas de TriChogramma se debe mantener en observación (Oficina o casa de la finca) en base la fecha de emergencia de las avisp¡tas~ Cuando estas empiezan a emerger pueder ser vistas fácilmente por 10 tanto es el momento de llevarlas al campo. Las 1 iberaciones se deben nacer preferentemente en las horas de la manana.Como se hace la 1 iberac ión la 1 iberación debe ser real izada por personas responsables bajo supervisión para evitar que las avispas sean depositadas en un solo sitio. E1 porrón o recipiente plástico se lleva al campo. se quita cuidadosamente la tela con el fin de no matar las avispas que estén en é11a y el operario empieza a caminar por el lote, tratando de recorrerlo completamente, tapando y destapando la boca del mismo con una hoja de papel cada 30-40 mts. hasta que ya no se vean avispas en el porrón. Debido a que de las pulgadas no emergen todas las av'spitas al mismo t fempo es conveniente tapar de nuevo el porrón y ponerlo en observación hasta que se vean nuevamente las avispas y as! repetir el proceso, 10 cual puede ser posible durante 2-) días. Por esta ¡ Drenaje de agua en lluvias con razón es necesario que la persona no coloque el recipiente con la boca dirigida hac~a abajo en nIngún momento para no botar las pulgadas, perdiendose las liberaciones posteriores.","tokenCount":"69244"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6785276418.json b/data/part_1/6785276418.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cab7e68bbc921882bab00148f9202fa481674da6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6785276418.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0754c8b8477067158d7bb385d70e83a0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4b5bafc6-c54f-4e46-9bad-0a5b02b3a1be/retrieve","id":"1921032101"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"41483361-9ea6-43cf-80ad-3c41d14f832d","pagecount":"34","content":"Siembra al voleo muy ineficiente:• playas con doble dosis de semilla → pérdida• playas sin sembrar → lote para malezas Siembra en el sitio muy eficiente:• uso preciso de semilla → más comida• 2-3 aporques → control de malezas Deshierba del maíz en país azteca, ca. 1500 Labranza en país belga, ca. 1500Lecturas adicionales: Butzer 1995, Debouck 2017, Diamond 1997 donde la difusión había operado: Oriente Próximo (trigo), SE Asia (arroz), Sahul (plátano) sureste asiático (yuca), Oriente Próximo (ají)Ejes continentales mayores (Crosby 2004, Diamond 2002) gradiente de latitud en las Américas = impedimento a la difusión rápida de cultivos 4 ta explicación: masa continental y longitud Población de distintas partes del mundo en millones de personas• América Latina: después de 1850: arroz asiático, trigo, pollo, cerdo, ganado• Norteamérica: después de 1900: trigo, maíz, soja, cerdo, ganado• África: factura de la esclavitud (10 7 personas); cultivos americanos, arroz asiático• Europa: costo de varias guerras; papa, maíz, pollo, cerdo, ganado, medicina• Asia: maíz, camote, con su arroz que es otro ecosistema (control de malezas/ plagas!)Lecturas Criterios de selección de clones fuentes: Arias-García et al. 2005, Boster 1984, 1985, Emperaire et al. 1998, Reichel-Dolmatoff 1996 Producción Cultura ","tokenCount":"194"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6799455033.json b/data/part_1/6799455033.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f1f354708e501eca51d859be2777d99a06417b5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6799455033.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6bb5a70fc6ad81ec5a20f806a4ef571f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a4c7aace-ecdf-4ca0-8472-fe4697e57ad3/retrieve","id":"415680903"},"keywords":["climate change","food security","malnutrition","orphan legumes","sustainable development goals"],"sieverID":"b4610270-9765-4882-9c3f-a51ba33d97af","pagecount":"21","content":"Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have become major concerns in recent times. The effects of climate change, drought, and unpredictable rainfall patterns threaten food production and sustainable agriculture. More so, insurgency, youth restiveness, and politico-economic instability amidst a burgeoning population requiring a sufficient and healthy diet remain front-burner issues in the region. Overdependence on only a few major staple crops is increasingly promoting the near extinction of many crops, especially orphan legumes, which possess immense potentials as protein and nutritional security crops. The major staple crops are declining in yield partly to their inability to adapt to the continuously changing climatic conditions. Remarkably, the orphan legumes are climate-smart crops with enormous agronomic features which foster sustainable livelihood. Research efforts on these crops have not attained a reasonable comparative status with most commercial crops. Though many research organizations and scientists have made efforts to promote the improvement and utilization of these orphan legumes, there is still more to be done. These legumes' vast genetic resources and economic utility are grossly under-exploited, but their values and promising impacts are immeasurable. Given the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) of zero hunger, improved nutrition, health, and sustainable agriculture, the need to introduce these crops into food systems in SSA and other poverty-prone regions of the world is now more compelling than ever. This review unveils inherent values in orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, as well as the application of genome editing techniques, could significantly enhance the genetic improvement of these useful but underutilized legumes. Efforts made in this regard and the challenges of these approaches were also discussed.Africa's population is currently estimated above 1.3 billion, and it is expected to hit 2.5 billion by the year 2050 (Fischer et al., 2009;Paliwal et al., 2021). This burgeoning figure is mounting pressure on food production. At the same time, factors such as poor soils, land degradation, climate change, lack of access to fertilizers, poor agricultural infrastructures, banditry, and insurgency impede sustainable agriculture. The continent is endowed with a rich agrobiodiversity and has excellent potential for self-sufficiency in food production. However, it is one of the food-and nutrition-deficient regions in the world. Africa's agrobiodiversity is continuously under threat resulting in the erosion of valuable genetic resources (Popoola et al., 2020;Ikhajiagbe et al., 2021). The destruction of many agricultural fields and farms by overgrazing and unregulated nomadic pastoralism has fueled an upsurge in herder-farmer's conflict in some regions, thereby subjecting many to poverty. Moreover, the internal displacement of persons is on the increase. Traditional agronomic practices for many indigenous species are on the verge of being lost, resulting in low yield and neglect. This could have far-reaching consequences on global food production and the supply chain. Whereas food insecurity and dietary deficiencies are global issues, their severities are more pronounced in Africa and some parts of Asia (Li and Siddique, 2020;Popoola et al., 2020). Nutritional transitions, overdependence on a few major staple foods, and improved socioeconomic status contribute to food and protein insecurity (Dixon, 2009;Chakona and Shackleton, 2017). Mitigating the impacts of these problems calls for global attention and concerted efforts by all stakeholders.The promotion of indigenous biodiversity and incorporation of nutrient-dense crops into food value chains have been identified as measures that could ensure sustainable and resilient food systems, improve diet quality, and increase smallholder farmers' incomes (Padulosi et al., 1999;Cheng et al., 2019;Hunter et al., 2019). The United Nations SDGs of zero hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture, are critical to alleviating poverty and malnutrition in Africa. To ensure sustainable food production and overcome dietary deficiencies, several strategies, including consistent cultivation, conservation, and genetic characterization of many unrecognized, abandoned, and under-exploited species alongside the reformation of traditional agronomic practices, are imperative (Popoola et al., 2020;Ikhajiagbe et al., 2021). Dietary diversification and incorporation of resilient crop species such as under-exploited leguminous species referred to as an orphan, minor, or underutilized into food systems will ensure food and protein security in many parts of Africa (Considine et al., 2017;Cullis and Kunert, 2017;Singh and Fernandes, 2018).The term \"Underutilized\" or \"orphan\" alludes to the neglect of a species by international and indigenous research communities. Orphan species are generally classified as crops with little relevance at the global level (Muhammad et al., 2020). By way of definition, underutilized legumes are a diverse collection of domesticated pulses with beneficial properties, but with limited importance compared to major global crops like rice, maize, potato, and wheat due to utility and supply constraints. This set of crops regardless of their neglect is characteristically diverse with cultural values and inherent useful agronomic, genetic, and biochemical traits (Cullis and Kunert, 2017;Khan et al., 2021a). Orphan legumes play a vital role in several developing countries by generating revenue for smallholder farmers, as well as tackling micronutrient and protein deficiencies associated with the consumption of high calorie diet derived from the major crops researched by scientists and private corporations. Although these crops may be extensively distributed beyond their centers of origin, orphan legumes occupy special niches in traditional production and consumption systems. Whereas underutilized legumes are stapled food crops in many rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), their economic potential for regional and international markets have not been fully tapped into, hence their neglected status and lack of genetic improvement, resulting in reduced quality and yield (Cullis and Kunert, 2017;Mabhaudhi et al., 2017). Although it is difficult to precisely define what attributes makes a crop underutilized, orphan legumes are marked by the following constraints: (i) often associated with the cultural heritage of their places of origin; (ii) poor documentation of their cultivation and use; (iii) adaptation to specific marginal land and agro-ecological niches; and (iv) no formal seed supply systems. In addition, the hard-to-cook (extended time required to achieve desired softening during cooking) characteristic, inadequate processing techniques, and seed coat hardness of many orphan legumes results in a lack of functional value chain that guarantees the delivery of processed and refined products from farmers to consumers (Khan et al., 2021c). Major legumes with a high quantity of oils particularly soybean and groundnut are preferred to orphan legumes in some regions owing to their numerous uses (Nedumaran et al., 2015;Muhammad et al., 2020). Consequently, orphan legumes which are subsistence food crops for the indigenous population are replaced with these profit crops given their export potentials (Muhammad et al., 2020). In Africa, many orphan legume crops abound which due to their dense nutritional profile, good adaptability to adverse climatic scenarios, and ability to grow in marginal soils hold potential for sustainable cultivation (Gulzar and Minnaar, 2017).This review focuses on five orphan legume crops endemic to SSA. The crops include African yam bean (AYB; Sphenostylis stenocarpa), Bambara groundnut (BG; Vigna subterranean), Kersting's groundnut (KG; Macrotyloma geocarpum), Lima bean (LB; Phaseolus lunatus), and Jack bean (JB; Canavalia ensiformis). In addition to the above-listed features, the criteria of low production rank and per capita consumption coupled with common trade in terms of export and import volumes (tons) at the international market compared to mainstream pulses like soybeans (Glycin max) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) were used in the selection of the five species. Although yield, production, and consumption of pulses had increased modestly in the last decades in SSA and on the global scale, orphan legume crops were not classed as commodities in the international trade framework. Statistics on their production, consumption, and trade remain scanty and, in some cases, nonexistent or aggregated with other pulses/dry beans. Therefore, this paper unveils inherent values in the selected orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation/production, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Also discussed are current biotechnology approaches and plant breeding strategies, including advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, genome editing tools, and the challenges of these approaches.The production and yield quantities of pulses in Africa have surged in the last decade from 2010 to 2020, with a fall between 2015 and 2016 and a steady rise from 2017 to 2020 (Figure 1). Globally, in 2020, over 5.9 million hectares (Ha) of pulses were cultivated with a production of over 4.4 million tons (MT) and a yield of 7,503 kg/ha. Africa produced only about 1.35 MT of pulses on a harvested area of 2.12 million ha with a yield of 6,407 kg/ha. In the same year, the global production of soybean and groundnut was above 350 MT and 53 MT compared to 0.23 MT for BG (FAOSTAT, 2020). Currently, BG production is restricted to only seven countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Togo, Niger, and Zimbabwe. Based on FAOSTAT, there are no production data on AYB, KG, LB, and JB (Table 1; Figure 2). Burkina Faso is the leading producer of BG with 57,429 tons, followed by Niger (55,570 tons) and Mali (26,996). Previously 100,000 tons were reported from Nigeria (Hillocks et al., 2012), but this is not captured on the current FAOSTAT data. The overview of the global area and production of pulses show that more tons of soybean and groundnut were produced globally and in SSA compared to BG and lack of production in others. The five orphan legume crops lag with little or no production data or aggregated under other pulses/beans compared to the major pulses (Ayenan and Ezin, 2016;FAOSTAT, 2020). Lima bean production is not reflecting on FAOSTAT, and just like BG, its production and that of others might not likely exceed 0.23 MT recorded for BG.Consumption of pulses had been driven by factors like taste, accessibility, ease of cooking, population growth, dietary needs, income level, and other supply chain constraints (Nedumaran et al., 2015). Given SSA sizeable consumption requirements, the region consumed 37% of global roots and tubers and only 21% of global pulses (OECD/FAO, 2020). The per capita consumption of pulses recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is 30 g/day/person. Remarkably, the average per capita daily consumption of pulses in SSA has significantly increased from about 21 g/day/per in 1985 to about 33 g/day/person in recent time (Rawal and Navarro, 2019;Akah et al., 2021). However, the most consumed pulses are the common bean, soybean, and groundnut. The per capita consumption of common bean is about 10 g/day/person. In contrast, soybean consumption has increased tremendously (about 32 g/day/person) and is driven by multiple utilizations in the poultry, fishery, and edible oil industries. Contrarily, the consumption of orphan legumes is meagre, and their per capita daily consumption level is unknown or nonexistent compared to the mainstream pulses. Most orphan legumes are fallback crops usually consumed in lean periods when popular pulses are unavailable and expensive. Several factors such as poor agronomic features, high cost of production, intensive labor, lack of improved varieties, changes in dietary patterns, and most critically, the hard-to-cook (HTC) phenomenon hinders their production and consumption (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012;Tan et al., 2020;Khan et al., 2021c).The orphan legumes are mainly cultivated by subsistence farmers, who lack the financial capability to adopt high-input farming practices needed to grow major staple crops (Conti et al., 2019).  In some areas, these crops are referred to as \"the poor man's food. \" In Niger and Mali, these crops were essential food sources for poor farmers and their livestock during a period of drought that lasted over 20 years (Chivenge et al., 2015).The orphan legume crops are well appreciated by the traditional farmers who have spent most of their years in their hometowns, where the origin and usefulness of these grains are well understood. Farmers are aware of these crops' capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, tolerate drought, provide medicine, efficiently utilize soil moisture through their deep root system, and survive harsh environmental conditions. However, significant constraints such as long cooking time, poor shelf-life, low yield, sensitivity to daylight, presence of potent anti-nutritional factors (ANTs) have plunged their utilization as farmers are less interested to invest their time and energy in their cultivation and production (Nnamani et al., 2017;Popoola et al., 2020). More so, poor market price, poor demand, lack of buyers, lack of improved varieties, and inadequate capital have hampered their production (Khan et al., 2021c). Generally, the acceptance and utilization of these underutilized grain legumes are declining owing to urbanization, change in market needs, migration, land degradation, and other earlier mentioned factors. It is believed that these factors consequently reduce the transfer of traditional and agronomical knowledge on these crops from the older to younger generation. Thus, reliable production data are scanty, except for BG (Khan et al., 2021c) and as highlighted in Table 1.Currently, several researchers such as those at the Genetic Resources Center, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria; Crops for the Future Malaysia; African Orphan Crops Consortium, among others, are reappraising the need to adopt the orphan legumes as a means of boosting child development, improving public health, and bridging the nutritional gaps in the yearly nutritional cycles (Cullis et al., 2018;Vidigal et al., 2019;Paliwal et al., 2021). Very recently, Ojuederie et al. (2020) reported that well-processed seeds and tubers of AYB (one of the orphan legumes) could be included in meals to reduce protein malnutrition while improving food and nutritional security in Africa. All these are geared toward enhancing the utilization of such crops to increase their production. Thus, to obtain significant benefits from these underutilized grain legumes, there is a need for systematic cultivation, wide acceptance, increased utilization, strategic crop improvement and funding, and the creation of global and local market spaces to enhance consumption across the SSA.Diversity in seeds of the selected five underutilized legumes that can be cultivated to enhance Africa's food and protein security is shown in Figure 3, while basic scientific information is listed in Table 2. In areas like East Africa, the Pacific, South Asia, and SSA, progress in the fight against poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition is slow-paced compared to other regions of the world. Most importantly, the food system should be the first area of concern due to its capacity to provide nutrition to the people and stabilize the dilapidating economies of these countries. The need for the addition of food varieties like orphan legumes to the existing homogenous food-basket system in these regions can serve as safety nets to supply the nutritional needs of the people and generate support for local markets. Orphan legumes are resistant to biotic stress like pests and diseases, rich in quality protein and B vitamins, high in lysine content, and a good source of healthy oils. More so, orphan legumes are effective in fixing soil nitrogen, and capable of thriving in unfavorable environmental settings (Ojuederie et al., 2020;Popoola et al., 2020). A crop like Kersting's groundnut is intolerant to soils with high moisture content. Cultivating this crop in droughtprone areas will have no adverse effect on the yield or nutritional content. While a few African countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi have emergency food reserve systems in place, some others are still unable to provide infrastructures critical to the conservation of these future food products. In the absence of appropriate storage infrastructure, embracing orphan legumes that require little or no special preservative techniques can be suitable in the short term.The global pulse trade has grown with prices more volatile and increasing faster than traded volumes (Akibode and Maredia, 2011;Nedumaran et al., 2015). This trend situates the growing global demand relative to supply. Also, the export and import of pulses had greatly expanded across SSA (Fabinin, 2021). In 2014, the international export of pulses was worth over USD 10 billion, and Africa contributed only about 9.5%, while in 2020, it grew to over USD 12 billion (ITC, 2022). Major traded pulses include soybean, groundnut, lentils, peas, chickpeas, kidney beans, and black gram. Among the five orphan legumes considered in this review, only BG is on the list and traded but of low volume. In contrast, AYB, Kersting's groundnut, Lima bean, and Jack bean are not traded or likely bundled under other pulses/beans. The market trend for many orphan legume crops is somehow sketchy. Nevertheless, local trading and markets exist, and we predict regional and international trade expansion in the coming years as awareness increases and the value chain expands.This crop is grown locally in West/East/Southern African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroun, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, and Angola. Its trade is restricted to local markets and not listed under crops and livestock products (production) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) nor listed under the Harmonized Tariff code System (HS) of the International Trade Centre (ITC). There are no data on its harvested area in hectares, production in tons, and market values. However, in Nigeria, an income of N74,000, equivalent to USD180, was generated monthly from the sales of prepared foods and derived products sold in open markets along the highways. This amount is more than twice the minimum wage (N30,000 or USUSD73) paid by the Federal Government of Nigeria (Nnamani et al., 2017). This portends a high potential to generate income for the rural population and their households.It is a pulse with a subterranean fruit set, cultivated by subsistence farmers mostly in semi-arid regions of Africa (Olanrewaju et al., 2022). BG is emerging as an income source and gradually receiving more international research attention with export potential. Currently, it is not classed as a commodity in the global trade framework due to its low production rank (Halimi et al., 2019;Hasan et al., 2021), but it is classified as an edible leguminous vegetable and falls into the Harmonized Tariff code System (HS) as fresh (HS0708) or dried (HS0713). The trade outlook for BG is promising due to its high yielding potentials in varied agro-ecological areas and available intra-Africa trade outlets. The top exporter of BG in 2020 was Madagascar, with an export value of 213,000 USD, while South Africa was the leading importer with an import value of 282,000 USD. The awareness of the potential of BG as a climate-smart crop is expanding beyond its endemic areas (Jahanshiri et al., 2022). Recently, a total of USD 6 to 13 billion of yearly income to the global economy was predicted for BG using the mean potential areas with a modesty yield of 0.85 t/ha for one optimal season (June-September) with a modest price of 143 USD/T (Mayes et al., 2019;Hussin et al., 2020;Jahanshiri et al., 2022). Currently, in Nigeria, 50 kg of BG sells for N30,000 or USD 72.30, with a considerable profit from the sales of processed products (Onuche et al., 2020). Similar information has been reported from Mali (Majola et al., 2021).It is a highly nutritious tropical crop adapted to drought-prone areas but neglected by researchers and policymakers. KG is declining in cultivation, and production statistics are unavailable due to intensive labor requirements, low yield, and improved varieties (Ayenan and Ezin, 2016). It is not yet traded globally, but it is well-known in Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. It provides substantial incomes for the rural population, and its price can climb from CFA 1000 (USD 2) per kg in a period of plenty to CFA 4,000-5,000 (USD 8-10) per kg in a period of scarcity (Assogba et al., 2015;Akohoué et al., 2019). Farmers produce KG mainly for home consumption, and thus, market value is still low. Nonetheless, it is an essential source of income for the rural populace since gross revenue earned from growing the crop averages USD1200/ha (Assogba et al., 2015;Akohoué et al., 2019).This crop is also known as butter beans. Though there is no matching HS code and trade statistics for LB, its trade is increasing globally and possibly lumped under the HS code for other pulses. Its utilization is expanding in the United States, Brazil, and India. Production and trade volume is low in SSA. In 2020, Morocco was the top exporter of LB with an export value of USD 271 M, while the United States was the leading importer valued at USD 198 M (Tridge Statistics, 2022)data based on HS code 070820 (Phaseolus spp). 1This crop is grown in the traditional farming system in SSA, and there are no statistics on its trade. It has impressive nutritional contents, but it is largely untapped. In summary, the prospects of these underutilized legumes look promising in SSA if stakeholders, including farmers, policymakers, government, and consumers, can embrace an integrated approach involving improved varieties, modern agronomic practices, increased funding, genetic manipulation using their rich genomic resources, and infrastructural development.Several agronomic features confer on orphan legumes significant potential to enhance sustainable agriculture and human livelihood (Table 3). Poor research interest in these crops informs that there is no robust, comparable, and reliable empirical information which can be used to advocate for policy development (Mabhaudhi et al., 2019). This further establishes their poor competition with notable crops. However, the few reports considered in this review informed that orphan legumes are not useless but host huge possibilities for food and protein security. Critically, the continued existence of orphan crops within marginalized farming systems shows that they are adaptable to changing climatic scenarios. According to Vidigal et al. (2019), pulse crops offer a viable and sustainable strategy for upholding farming systems' intercropping and production indices. The capacity to augment soil nitrogen makes orphan legumes an excellent partner in many farming systems, with additional contributions leading to soil fertility improvement, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem stabilization, farming risks reduction, and sustainable yield (Table 4).The survival of orphan legumes in a marginal environment may be due to their capacity to stimulate the colonization of a variety of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in different soil types (Naluwairo, 2011;Baldermann et al., 2016;Mabhaudhi et al., 2019).As documented in Babalola et al. (2017), Allorhizobium, Azorhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Rhizobium, and Sinorhizobium are among the nitrogen-fixing bacteria which exist naturally in legumes. Moreover, the diversity of host legumes is accompanied by diversity in nodulating bacteria with significant differential capacity at taxa and cultivar levels  (Sprent et al., 2010). This seems to inform that the use of legumes in soil amelioration would be a backbone for organic agriculture if their resources are well harnessed. There are very wide variations in nodule productivity and effectivity of both plant and rhizobial germplasms for optimizing nitrogen fixation (Sprent et al., 2010). Babalola et al. (2017) hinted that there are so many underutilized leguminous crops whose potentials have not been fully tapped to understand their functionalities within the realm of biological N fixation (BNF). Agronomic features, specific challenges, and possible solutions of the considered orphan legumes are provided in Table 4. Notably, the contribution of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria which cooperatively function with orphan legumes is not well documented. However, the reasons for the protracted featuring of the most orphan leguminous crop in the cropping systems in SSA may be due to their contribution to soil fertility which farmers may have found to be highly sustainable. We speculate that the quantity of nitrogen they supply to the soil may be very significant, although this needs to be investigated.Human dietary deficiencies are caused by a lack of essential nutrients in diets or the body's inability to absorb and process these nutrients once ingested. Deficiency in nutritional requirements is the leading cause of various diseases today, like diabetes, proteinenergy malnutrition (PEM), 'beriberi' (Thiamine deficiency), among others (Wokes et al., 1955;Flyman and Afolayan, 2006). Generally, legumes are a good source of quality proteins, dietary fiber, vital amino acids, and minerals, but scientific reports have shown that under-exploited legumes are nutritionally superior to the other commonly known legumes (Considine et al., 2017;Adegboyega et al., 2020). Many diseases are associated with a low diet, high in animal-based nutrients, overly processed foods, and low plantbased nutrients. Underutilized legumes are known to be a rich source of bioactive compounds, unsaturated fat, little or no cholesterol, and dietary fiber (Bhartiya et al., 2015;Li and Siddique, 2020). These dietary constituents promote health and sustainability by decreasing insulin production and preventing chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and the likes (Bhartiya et al., 2015;Salvi and Katewa, 2016;Hunter et al., 2019). A legume-based diet can guarantee a longer and healthier life. Without any doubt, the inclusion of under-exploited legumes into the dietary cycle of countries suffering from chronic deficiencies, malnutrition, hunger, and protein deficiency, will be a long-lasting solution due to its dense nutrient content, good quality protein, and micronutrients. It could also reduce the over-dependence on other major legumes like soybean, cowpea, chicken pea, groundnut, etc. In obesity, several studies have shown that consumption of processed underutilized legumes such as AYB and Lima bean could significantly aid weight loss (Onwuka et al., 2009;Crujeiras et al., 2010;Rebello et al., 2014). This could be attributed to the low-fat content and high dietary fiber. Many vegetarians include underutilized legumes as an alternative source of animal protein/ meat without lagging in nutritional quality (Crujeiras et al., 2010;Vidigal et al., 2019). The low gastrointestinal tract nature of legumes' carbohydrates aids in stabilizing the blood glucose level (Maphosa and Jideani, 2017). Generally, the B-Group vitamins such as folate, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid among others are abundant in the orphan legumes (Table 5). These species are also a source of essential minerals like zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, copper, and selenium (Table 5). Calcium plays an important role in bone health and also eases the movement of blood within vessels. Zinc helps boost the immune system, iron synthesizes hemoglobin, and potassium helps prevent stroke (Barman et al., 2018). Orphan legumes with high zinc content would be very useful in preventing the symptoms associated with the Covid 19 virus if introduced into the human diet in the required amount. The high-quality protein (from 19.4 g per 100 g in KG to 22.5 g per 100 g in AYB) available in these orphan legumes makes them suitable and essential for every age group. However, some species like AYB, BG, KG, and JB are known  to contain some toxic phytochemicals that can lead to bloating, flatulence, or activate allergic reactions in some people. Fortunately, most of these toxins can be easily neutralized by steaming, de-hulling, boiling, fermenting, roasting, and using advanced processing technology such as irradiation, infrared heating (micronization), and high-pressure cooking without jeopardizing their nutritional contents (Maphosa and Jideani, 2017;Adeleye et al., 2020;Tan et al., 2020;Khan et al., 2021c). Comparative nutritional profile of raw, mature seeds, and values per 100 g of the considered orphan legumes are shown in Table 5. The dense network of adequate quality protein, novel minerals, and vitamins all make up for their nutraceutical and pharmaceutical impact on human health, not exempting the animals' health that feed on them. Regional differences exist in the utilization of these rich protein and nutrition security crops. For instance, for the AYB, the tubers are highly consumed in east and central Africa while the seeds are consumed in West Africa. Thus, there is the tendency of having more seed production of AYB in West Africa and the focus on tuber production in the east and central Africa. Studies by (Ojuederie and Balogun, 2017) and Ojuederie et al. (2020) showed that the tubers of AYB have a high protein content of up to 15% which is considerably higher than the protein content found in tuber crops such as cassava and sweet potato. Findings of their study on Wistar rats also found the tuber to possess fewer antinutrients than the seeds. This study has led to more research interest on the tuberization of AYB for food and nutrition security. There is therefore an urgent need to increase the production of these orphan legumes and others identified as being rich in protein and essential minerals to lessen malnutrition and enhance food and nutrition security in Africa. A nutraceutical can be defined as a food or part of a food that provides medical or health benefits, including preventing or treating a disease. It can be an isolated nutrient, dietary products, processed foods, or beverages. Legume seeds can be considered a potent nutraceutical. It benefits human health and prevents or treats several diet-related diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, digestive tract diseases, diabetes, and others (Morris, 2003;Duranti, 2006). Regardless of the dense protein content in legume seeds, they are also known to contain an adequate amount of energy, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, and low-fat content (Ojuederie and Balogun, 2017;Adegboyega et al., 2020;Ojuederie et al., 2020). Some bioactive compounds like glycosides, tannins, isoflavones, saponins, flavonoids, and so on contribute to its nutraceutical abilities (Carbonaro et al., 2015;Hoste et al., 2015). In most extensively pigmented legume seeds such as Lima bean, Jack, and Sword beans, there is a high phenolic acid and flavonoid level, contributing to the coloring alongside anti-oxidative functions (Morris, 2003;Carbonaro et al., 2015;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). The seeds also contain enzyme inhibitors α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), for which it can be used as a nutraceutical molecule (Barman et al., 2018). Green legume seeds are also a good source of nutraceutical compounds. When legume seeds are processed, they enhance the present nutraceuticals' bioavailability by inactivating ANTs like trypsin, growth inhibitors, and hemagglutinins (Suneja et al., 2011;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). Some molecules in legume seeds that have been tagged toxic can be crucial to human health if consumed in the right proportion. Underutilized legumes can be used as active components of drugs and other pharmaceutical products to promote human health status in terms of pharmaceuticals. Most under-exploited legumes are used in folk medicine in various parts of the world without knowing their active ingredients. For example, Kersting's groundnut can be used to cure diarrhea, BG provides relief from menstrual cramps, cures insomnia, and promotes red blood cell production as well as prevent cancer (Ayenan and Ezin, 2016;Tsamo et al., 2019;Udeh et al., 2020). Similar properties abound in most of the underutilized legumes, including the AYB seeds where the paste made from the ground seeds have been used to treat ailments such as stomach aches and acute drunkenness when mixed with water in some West African countries; Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo (Adewale and Dumet, 2010). These pharmaceutical capabilities are attributed to bioactive agents like phenols capable of signaling structural polymers such as anthocyanin, flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic acids that chelate metal ions, inhibiting the peroxidation lipids and scavenge free radicals (Morris, 2003;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). Phenolic compounds are responsible for the anti-oxidative nature of the seeds (Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). Also, phenolic compounds show anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic activities, and cancer prevention (Morris, 2003;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020;Udeh et al., 2020). Precisely, legumes exhibit pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and heart protection (Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). The seeds have to be fermented to get the maximum anti-oxidative potentials of phenolic compounds (Rezende et al., 2018). Triterpenoids are commonly found saponins in legumes which play a major role in reducing carcinogenic substances in the colon. They can lower the risk of heart diseases and serve as immune stimulants by inducing cytokine production such as interferon (IFN) and interleukins (Singh et al., 2017;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). Tannins are also abundant among the orphan legumes, which helps remove toxins from the intestinal tract because of their ability to bind proteins (Hoste et al., 2015;Barman et al., 2018). Anthocyanin, alkaloids, enzyme inhibitors such as α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase, phytic acid, and phytoestrogen have been isolated and reported among the orphan legumes (Barman et al., 2018;Serventi and Dsouza, 2020). The nutraceutical components of these grain legumes are mostly used as preventive measures of disease or to reduce some infections' virulence (Duranti, 2006;Hoste et al., 2015;Barman et al., 2018). The introduction of these under-exploited legumes into our diet at a healthy amount will be of great health benefits to people in SSA.Globally, tropical Africa and some regions in Asia are the most significant endemic areas and producers of orphan legumes (Cullis and Kunert, 2017;Popoola et al., 2020;Paliwal et al., 2021). These species' ability to thrive in various environments, whether harsh or favorable, has enabled the species to survive in diverse areas. For instance, the Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) was initially endemic to West Africa, but it is now cultivated mainly in the temperate regions of the United States (Caicedo et al., 1999;Serrano-Serrano et al., 2010;Andueza-Noh et al., 2013). Furthermore, adaptability is the capacity to acclimatize to a wide range of environmental conditions effectively. Orphan legumes should be a reference masterpiece in terms of adaptability due to their ability to overcome neglect, near extinction, and under-exploitation before becoming the highlight of scientific research. These unpleasant conditions triggered various adaptation mechanisms (survival strategies) in their morphology, physiology, biochemical, and genetic constituents (Sita et al., 2017). Such survival mechanisms include; possession of a deep taproot system to enhance soil water capture during drought, regulation of stomata, reduction of canopy size and duration, increasing wax accumulation on the surface to prevent water loss, early maturation to allow reproduction before environmental conditions depreciate (mostly in annual crops), and nitrogenfixing ability to self-enrich their soil (Sita et al., 2017;Kumari et al., 2020). The Canavalia species (C. ensiformis and C. gratilis) are characterized by an extensive rooting system that can be exploited for phytoremediation of polluted sites. Generally, grain legumes have various adaptation mechanisms for different threats and stresses; this ability makes them unique, and the need for their exploitation is crucial (Considine et al., 2017;Cullis and Kunert, 2017).Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the plant's vegetative and reproductive parts, from which the plants are propagated. In orphan legumes, every part is of great importance, ranging from the root, seeds, tubers, pods, flowers, and stems. Each part possesses heritable characteristics of potential value to plant breeders, varying from their dietary, medicinal, and social value. Due to the effortless adaptability of orphan legumes to almost all climatic conditions, each species has thousands of accessions, varying in phytochemical content, proximate, nutritional, and antimicrobial values. The availability of a diverse collection of PGR is the building block for any crop improvement program. Future development of improved varieties of orphan legumes depends largely on collections and preservation of their PGR. The Genetic Resources Center (GRC) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) presently maintains a collection of about 6,747 accessions of various orphan legumes consisting of 2000 accessions of BG (Atoyebi et al., 2017), with 19% of these collected from Nigeria, 456 accessions of AYB with 97% from Nigeria while 100% of the 22 accessions of the Kersting's groundnut, were collected from Nigeria. Other legumes conserved at the Genetic Resources Center of IITA include winged bean (50 accessions) and other minor legumes, such as Jack bean, Mung bean, Canavalia species, and rice bean, made up of about 18% of the total 25,000 accessions of the seed crops conserved at the center.The IITA Genebank has been developing a program of research on various aspects of these orphan legumes, particularly BG, AYB, and winged bean, and lately Kersting groundnut to understand their genetic diversity, nutrient composition and to evaluate them for various biotic and abiotic stresses (Paliwal et al., 2021). To identify valuable traits for improving and developing climate-smart varieties, it becomes necessary to conduct genetic diversity studies and quantitative trait loci (QTL) discovery for drought, yield-related traits, and climateadaptive traits. Accessions of AYB have been evaluated for both nutritional and anti-nutritional properties, the result indicated a good nutritional profile of the seeds with high protein, carbohydrate, and other nutrients when compared with other important legumes (Adegboyega et al., 2020), while the assessment of the genetic variation of AYB accessions using the established crop descriptors and molecular markers has been carried out for some of the collections (Moyib et al., 2008;Adewale et al., 2014;Ojuederie et al., 2014;Shitta et al., 2016;Nnamani et al., 2019). Studies are ongoing on the seed processing procedure that will enhance the seed's longevity in storage for both BG and AYB to minimize the high cost of conservation of their germplasm, thereby securing the availability of their PGR for future genetic improvement. The seeds of these crops were collected and stored in genetic resource centers, while the whole plant can be propagated in vitro using tissue culture techniques to ensure their sustainability (Ogunsola et al., 2016).Major bottlenecks like the \"hard-to-cook\" factor, low yield, indeterminate growth habit, pest and disease attack, pod shattering, mandatory need for stakes or trellis, low seed supply, among others, cannot be solved at once. However, plant breeders and researchers working on the orphan legumes are to tackle these issues accordingly to improve the species for sustainable utilization. Plant breeders are currently studying how the entire genome sequence of some species such as AYB and BG can hasten their genetic improvement and, hence, better utilization. The genomes of some of these legumes are currently being sequenced by the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC), which seeks to assemble and annotate the genomes of 101 traditional African food crops to improve their nutritional content (Ojuederie et al., 2021). Regardless of the ongoing efforts to see to the complete success of orphan legumes in the global food basket, the need for more crop improvement strategies is demanding, not just from conventional plant breeders alone, but biochemists, plant geneticists, botanists, technology providers, the government, and the traditional farmers. They have in-depth knowledge about these minor legumes. Presently, the impact of morphological markers in analyzing the diversity among germplasms of various underexploited legumes is minimal since environmental conditions influence results. Future directions lie in the use of genomeediting tools, e.g., the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), GBS (Genotyping by sequencing), High-throughput phenotyping, SNP (Single nucleotide polymorphism), CNV (Copy number variation), cloning, transformation, and core set development, to get improved traits. Exploring the genomics of these underutilized crops via conventional breeding, Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), modern biotechnology, and computational technology, will hasten the species' improvement for wide acceptability and utilization (Paliwal et al., 2021). In recent years, the development of large-scale genomic and genetic resources, including simple sequence repeat, expressed sequence tags, diversity array technology markers (DArT), and draft genomes, have enhanced genetic knowledge on these minor species (Varshney et al., 2009;Chang et al., 2019). These discoveries can accelerate gene discovery and pioneer breeding at the molecular level in these under-exploited crops.The conventional method of producing plants with improved traits relied on time-consuming and laborious approaches. It could take up to 8-12 generations to obtain an improved crop with the desired trait, but other genes could also be transferred in the process. Thus, the use of an alternative method such as modern biotechnology has been considered by several researchers for the improvement of orphan legumes. However, most of the studies that have been conducted were based on the use of DNA or molecular markers for genetic diversity studies and marker-assisted breeding of these underutilized species. Molecular markers are segments of DNA revealing variations, which can be used to detect polymorphism between different genotypes or alleles of a gene for a particular sequence of DNA in a population or gene pool (Jiang, 2013). These molecular markers are short sequences of nucleotides positioned beside the DNA sequence of the desired gene, thus, they are genetically linked and can be transferred from one generation to the next (Abu et al., 2021). The polymorphisms present in molecular markers which arise from alteration of nucleotides or mutations within the genomic loci make them useful for the identification of genetic differences between individual organisms and assessment of the relationship between breeds (Igwe, 2021). Different molecular markers have been used to assess the genetic diversity within the germplasm of orphan legumes (Table 6). The initial molecular markers were PCR-based Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), Random Amplified DNA (RAPD), Amplified, Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) until the development of sequencing-based molecular markers such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), diversity array technology (DArT) and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) which have provided much useful information for the improvement of orphan legumes.The relative ease and reduced cost of the next-generation sequencing platforms imply that the use of SSR and/or single nucleotide polymorphisms for genetic diversity analysis and association mapping could be supplanted by genotyping by sequencing (Cullis and Kunert, 2017). The identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for several traits in orphan legumes and the development of codominant molecular markers and linkage maps for some orphan crops have been made possible through marker-assisted selection with specific molecular markers. There is an urgent need to link phenotypic data with the genotypic data to appropriately select the landraces of these orphan legumes for genetic improvement.Using a high-throughput DArTseq genotype-by-sequencing SNP approach, Oluwole et al. (2021b) generated a total of 3.6 k SNPs out of which 2.48 K quality SNPs were used for Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) in the AYB population. They identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for genes that could be useful for the improvement of the protein, oil, and starch contents of AYB. Likewise, 493 SNPs were used for the genotyping of a population of 281 Kersting's groundnut accessions from Benin using the DArTseqTM approach with about 10.6% of the SNPs found to be aligned to the reference genomes of adzuki bean and mung bean, an indication of an evolutionary relationship of Kersting's groundnut with adzuki bean and mung bean (Akohoue et al., 2020;Paliwal et al., 2021). Uba et al. (2021) utilized DArTseq and SNP for genetic diversity and population structure studies on some genotypes of BG obtained from Nigeria, Cameroun, West Africa, East, and Southern Africa regions. The analyses of the results revealed that the mean gene diversity was highest 0.478) in Nigeria/Cameroon and West Africa region within the populations across the five regions and revealed the highest Shannon diversity index (0.787) in the West African region. Likewise, it also indicated that among the populations the genotypes in the unknown origin population from the United Kingdom was more closely related to the Western Africa population (0.018), and then the Nigeria/Cameroon populations (0.020) which were all grouped into a single subpopulation which was the largest based on the population structure generated by ADMIXTURE model among the 270 BG genotypes evaluated (Uba et al., 2021). Not much effort has been done in the use of gene technology or modern biotechnology for the genetic improvement of orphan legumes. Though there is public skepticism of the use of modern biotechnology for crop improvement adhering to biosafety measures and guidelines the technology could be very useful for the genetic enhancement of orphan legumes.Advances in next-generation sequencing have provided a way for a new generation of different omics such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics, which can proffer imperative solutions to these underutilized legumes, enhance crop improvement, and broaden the scope of the various germplasms (Popoola et al., 2020). These multi-omics approaches have been effectively utilized in elucidating growth, senescence, yield, and the responses to environmental stresses in several crops (Yang et al., 2021). Utilization of omics technologies coupled with high-throughput next-generation sequencing platforms, and bioinformatics, have allowed a greater comprehension of the plant system biology as well as the expression of genes and the various metabolic systems in plants (Ojuederie et al., 2022). The ever-increasing decline in the cost of sequencing has initiated the contribution of genomics to the improvement of orphan legumes. However, the use of omics in the characterization of orphan legumes is still in its infancy stage. This is because most of the genomes of these legumes are yet to be sequenced. Nevertheless, efforts are ongoing in the whole genome sequencing of some orphan legumes led by several organizations such as the African Orphan Crops Initiative 2 to close the gap yet to be filled by the use of genomics transcriptomics and proteomics to extract useful information for the improvement of orphan legumes.The sequenced genomes of legumes and the model species such as Glycine max, Vigna unguiculata, and Medicago trunculata, would speed up genomic advancements through comparative genomics in other important orphan legumes such as cluster bean, Dolichos bean AYB, as well as winged bean, which are still being sequenced (Dhaliwal et al., 2020).Gene editing entails the use of engineered nucleases to instigate cellular DNA repair pathways to make precise, site-directed alterations to an organism's genome (Bhowmik et al., 2021). Over the years, several genome editing techniques have been developed, including Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), meganucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) and homing endonucleases (Gaj et al., 2016). However, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing has emerged as the most straightforward, adaptable, and precise strategy for genetic manipulation in plants (Bhowmik et al., 2021;Nadakuduti and Enciso-Rodríguez, 2021). The mechanism  Transferability of 36 SSR-derived markers from cowpea revealed considerable genetic diversity among 67 AYB accessions which could be exploited for genetic improvement. Shitta et al., 2016 Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) Genetic variability of AYB accessions from Ebonyi State revealed a high degree of variation which could be utilized for improvement of the species Nnamani et al., 2019 Diversity array technology (DArT) sequencing Genome-wide association mapping of nutritional traits of AYB using DArT Seq identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for genes which could be useful for the improvement of the protein, oil, and starch contents of AYB Oluwole et al., 2021b Bambara groundnut Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) Profiling of the genetic diversity of 100 Bambara landraces from diverse regions of Tanzania using AFLP markers. Landraces were clustered into two groups which correlated with their geographic origin and phenotypic traits. Ntundu et al., 2004 Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Genetic diversity of Bambara groundnut accessions from Burkina Faso. Assessment of genetic diversity and population structure of 217 Kersting's groundnut accessions from five west African countries using 886 DArTseq generated SNP markers. Despite the low polymorphism information content (0.059) the SNPs gave greater density which enhances their effectiveness in quantification of the genetic diversity and discrimination of the accessions. Kafoutchoni et al., 2021 Assessment of the potential effects of climate variations on suitable environments for Kersting's groundnut cultivation, and subsequent distribution around four West-African countries using genetic information from DArTseq and ecological niche modelling. Large areas with suitable conditions for the cultivation of Kersting's groundnut and genetic populations of the landraces were determined. Coulibaly et al., 2022 Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) GWAS analysis revealed 10 significant marker-trait associations, of which six SNPs were consistent across environments. The genomic selection through crossvalidation showed moderate to high prediction accuracies for leaflet length, seed dimension traits, 100 seed weight, days to 50% flowering, and days to maturity. Akohoue et al., 2020;Paliwal et al.,  The ISSR analysis revealed a wide genetic diversity among 23 LB accessions from Timor Island and grouped them into two main groups of \"plain\" seed group and \"pattern\" seed group. Bria and Bani, 2021 Jack bean (JB)Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP)Genetic diversity and relationship among 29 accessions of JB from 16 countries revealed a low variation of five cluster groups composed of different accessions with different phenotypic traits. Liu et al., 2014 of action that underpins the CRISPR technology has been extensively reviewed elsewhere (Gaj et al., 2016;Li et al., 2020;Wada et al., 2020;Bhowmik et al., 2021). While the recalcitrant nature of legumes to in vitro gene transfer, low amenability to transformation, and regeneration efficiencies have posed a significant hurdle to the application of the CRISPR technology, some level of success has been recorded. CRISPR/ Cas9-assisted gene editing has been achieved in some legume crops, including Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, cowpea, and soybean (Wang et al., 2017;Zheng et al., 2020;Bhowmik et al., 2021). The success of the technique in these crops shows promise for its cross-application in underexploited legumes (Bhowmik et al., 2021). A critical requirement for improving crops by this technique is in-depth bioinformatic and genomic information, as the technology relies on functionally characterized target genes (Wolter et al., 2019). Primarily, the phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene which encodes an enzyme involved in carotenoid biosynthesis is the most commonly targeted gene in orphan legumes (Badejo, 2018;Venezia and Creasey Krainer, 2021). Furthermore, researchers at the international crops research institute for the semi-arid tropics (ICRISAT) are currently experimenting with the technique to knock down flowering time and photoreceptor genes correlated with photoperiod sensitivity in pigeons pea (ICRISAT, 2020). 3 Other traits in orphan legumes that can be targeted for improvement using the CRISPR/Cas system include disease resistance, salinity tolerance, biomass yield, grain yield and quality, and nutrient use efficiency (Rasheed et al., 2021).Albeit CRISPR provides an unparalleled opportunity to improve traits in the underutilized legumes, the first step remains to establish an efficient transformation protocol for guide RNA (gRNA) delivery and the availability of complete genome sequences in public databases. These are both lacking for the orphan legumes which this review focuses on Mousavi-Derazmahalleh et al. (2019). While the Bioscience eastern and central Africa International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) has achieved significant progress in sequencing the entire genome of AYB, the availability of whole-genome sequences and annotations of the underexploited legumes could accelerate the deployment of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to enrich their commercial value, and improve traits associated with photosensitivity, prolonged maturity period, and hard seed coat responsible for long cooking times (ACACIA Africa, n.d.). 4  Despite the potential benefits of CRISPR technology to underexploited legumes, regulatory bottlenecks remain a significant matter of concern (Bhowmik et al., 2021). Recently, a ruling by the European Court of Justice declared that targeted mutagenesis via genome editing should be subject to rigorous GMO regulations, even though the product is free of any foreign gene (Wolter et al., 2019;Zaidi et al., 2020). This calls for concerted efforts from policy makers and scientists to design a comprehensive framework for CRISPR-generated crops integration. In addition, large-scale field trials are also required to evaluate the performance of CRISPR-generated crops for traits that may be compromised owing to the disruption of specific genes (Zaidi et al., 2020).Speed breeding is revolutionizing plant breeding, making it possible to have several generations of crops within a year. It utilizes enhanced light-emitting diode (LED) supplemental lighting and day-long regimes of up to 22 h at temperatures maintained between 17°C and 22°C to enhance photosynthesis and early flowering of the plants, which results in rapid growth and better yield. During the process, the LED lighting increases the breeding cycle of the exposed plants. Scientists at the University of Queensland, Australia, developed this technique. They successfully used it to increase the growth of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) per year in a temperature-controlled glasshouse fitted with high-pressure sodium lamps for up to six generations and four generations for canola (Brassica napus), in contrast to 2-3 generations under normal glasshouse conditions or field using conventional breeding methods (Watson et al., 2018). They achieved a significant reduction in the time taken for anthesis to occur for all crop species at 22 h photoperiod compared with the 12-h day-neutral photoperiod conditions, with a mean decrease of 22 ± 2 days (wheat), 64 ± 8 days (barley), 73 ± 9 days (canola) and for Chickpea, 33 ± 2 days (Watson et al., 2018). It, therefore, implies that plant breeders would be able to accelerate the rate of genetic improvement of several crops such as wheat, barley, rape, and pea for increased yield, disease resistance, and climate resilience in crops. The neglected and underutilized legumes could also benefit from this modern plant breeding technique, especially as most climate-resilient crops possess a rich nutritional profile. Gaur et al. (2007) andO'Connor et al. (2013) successfully developed protocols for speed breeding of chickpea (Gaur et al., 2007;Chiurugwi et al., 2018) as well as Arachis hypogea, which resulted in a reduction in the generation time to 89 days from the usual 145 days in the second filial generation hybrids (O'Connor et al., 2013;Chiurugwi et al., 2018). They employed controlled temperature and constant light to fast-track plant development and accelerated a single seed descent (SSD) breeding program. Gaur et al. (2007) was able to achieve three seedto-seed generations within a year by carrying out two generations under open field conditions and one under rainout shelters by exposing plants to lengthened (24-h) photoperiod (Saxena et al., 2019). Protocols have also been developed to shorten the generation time in some orphan legumes and oilseeds. These include lupin (Lupinus sp.; Croser et al., 2016), chickpea (Cicer arietinum; Sethi et al., 1981;Watson et al., 2018), subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum;Pazos-Navarro et al., 2017), lentil (Lens culinaris) as well as broad beans (Vicia faba; Mobini et al., 2015;Lulsdorf and Banniza, 2018). The application of cytokinins and auxins to induce early flowering enabled Mobini et al. (2015) to increase the number of generations to 7 generations for Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and eight generations for lentil (Lens culinaris Medik), after which immature seeds were harvested for generation advancement (Saxena et al., 2019).The AYB (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) has recently received more attention as a potential food and nutrition security crop. However, it has a long generation time between 6 and 7 months hence it is grown once a year. Could this dual-purpose crop that produces edible seeds and underground tubers also benefit from speed breeding? Some landraces of AYB are tuber producing while others are not. This characteristic has been linked to the photoperiod sensitivity of the crop, with short photoperiods being suggested as a probable stimulant for tuberization in the species. Using the speed breeding approach, which requires more extended photoperiod of 22 h to shorten the breeding cycle, may not initiate tubers in tuber-producing landraces but may shorten the generation time of the crop. However, a major challenge to the use of speed breeding techniques in Africa is the availability of a constant power supply. In some countries utilizing the technology, containers used for conveying manufactured goods across borders are being converted to a speed breeding facility with LED lights installed and powered by solar panels. Alternatively, a solarpowered glasshouse with LED fitted lighting could be used for speed breeding and adapted for orphan or underutilized legumes in Africa by the National Agricultural Research Centers in the various countries where these legumes are cultivated.With the speed breeding technique, plant breeders and plant molecular geneticists would hasten the genetic variation inherent in wild relatives of these orphan legumes, thereby introducing elite varieties that will be widely accepted and grown by farmers. The ongoing discoveries of the vast genetic resources and nutraceutical components of these lesser-known legumes are increasingly attracting research and funding attention as potential future crops for sustainable agriculture by CGIAR, IITA, and other Genebank institutes around the world. International agricultural organizations such as the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (Ghana), the BeCa-ILRI Hub (Kenya), the World Vegetable Center (Taiwan), the African Orphan Crops Consortium (Kenya), Crops for the Future (Malaysia), the Global Pulse Confederation (UAE) and the CGIAR Centres and Research Programmes like the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas are wellpositioned to establish speed breeding facilities to give a boost to the breeding programs of these orphan legumes for enhanced utilization and food and nutrition security. Despite the potential of speed breeding in reducing the breeding cycle in crops, it has some limitations. The success of speed breeding depends on the crop and species and proper regulation of environmental factors such as the photoperiod, temperature, light intensity, and relative humidity. It may also be challenging to utilize speed breeding for short-day plants that require less light for floral induction. Simulating breeding set-ups that combine rapid generation advances with other technologies like genomic selection (GS) would be an excellent approach to optimize breeding methods cost-effectively (Hickey et al., 2019). Genomic selection (GS) accelerates the selection accuracy of superior genotypes, germplasm enhancement and aids in selecting targeted genes for particular traits from Genebank accession to elite lines. Thus, the genetic gain of key traits can be accelerated using integrative approaches of speed breeding and genomic selection, permitting more rapid production of improved cultivars.The need to introduce these orphan legume crops into the food systems in Africa and other poverty-prone countries to attain zero hunger, improved nutrition, and sustainable agriculture goals of the SDG by 2030 is nonnegotiable. Their dense network of cheap, high, and quality protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, low fat, the presence of diverse nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical components that can help prevent or alleviate diet-mediated disease cannot be overemphasized. Without any doubt, the inclusion of underutilized legumes into the dietary cycle could offer longlasting solution to the high prevalence of malnutrition, hunger, and protein deficiencies in SSA malnutrition, hunger, and protein deficiency, will be a long-lasting solution due to its dense nutrient content, good quality protein, and micronutrients. Currently, the potentials of these minor legumes have begun to receive scientific attention. The target is to improve crop yield, eradicate toxic ANTs, reduce the cooking time of the seeds, speed up maturity rate, gain consumer acceptance, and solve food and protein insecurity. Efforts to elevate these nutrient-rich crops to the top of the food basket of any nation are demanding. However, modern technologies such as speed breeding and CRISPR/Cas9 in an integrative approach with genomic selection and other high-throughput methods could fast track the breeding cycle of orphan legumes to develop new varieties with traits that enable more than one cycle of cultivation per year. Still, with the various efforts being made worldwide, it is hoped that these legumes will contribute immensely to the food and nutritional security of most households and may likely become staple crops for Africans in the not-sodistant future.","tokenCount":"9592"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6802371260.json b/data/part_1/6802371260.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e91b9bf5819a79689479190610fed88e01cba0ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6802371260.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"792bbbc341d69f00646e1df5fc5cd07d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/154d4286-df28-477a-afb8-b731d0fb7dd2/retrieve","id":"1824744655"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37bfc92c-4352-43f6-a4a2-345d0970d131","pagecount":"30","content":"3 C4ED | Center for Evaluation and Development •AFSs are found to be exclusive in their improvement in well-being, with women and vulnerable people being disadvantaged. Technical and technological innovations in agri-food systems (AFSs) increased farmers' resilience. •Increasing focus on combining social, technological, and technical innovations. •Socio-Technical Innovation Bundles (STIBs).Technological innovations alone do not necessarily make AFSs sustainable and inclusive over time.• What are the contextual barriers to enhancing women's resilience and empowerment?• What are the enabling environments of STIBs? • What are the facilitators (actors) of STIBs?equitably, thereby missing. •Gender gaps in agriculture and rural economies: Need to design STIBs according to Reach-Benefit-Empower-Transform (RBET) framework , to reach women, allow them to benefit, actively take steps to empower them, and transform structural and gender norms. •Enhancing women's agency or decision-making improves overall agricultural productivity and household welfare.Different social and economic barriers, and a lack of complementary inputs and services for women.•Gaps prevent researchers, policymakers, programme implementers and other stakeholders from effectively addressing issues of inequity in rural development.Large gaps in the knowledge base around gender integration and equity in AFSs. C4ED | Center for Evaluation and DevelopmentObjectives of the review     Stage 1• Pilot phase to develop and refine the screening protocol.• Second pilot to guarantee standardization of procedures.• Title and abstract screening.• The algorithm of EPPI Reviewer shows first the most relevant studies. Stop after reaching a saturation level (no new studies after screening 100 papers).• Full-text screening.• Two piloting rounds. Bundled interventions may lead to an improvement in women's resilience, with nearly 61% reporting positive impact on outcomes.• A large part of the results in resilience is driven by the reporting in adaptive capacity: 32 positive effects,13 insignificant results, and two negative results.o A large number of agricultural and crop productivity outcomes: 21 positive outcomes out of 32. • Many studies do not specify the population target, making a populationspecific comparison infeasible. For those specified: o The age of the targeted population was not a facilitator or hindrance towards improving resilience.o Location:-No evidence to report for differences between rural and urban populations. -70% reported a positive impact of STIBs on adaptive capacity in Africa.Bundled interventions shows no clear evidence on women's empowerment outcomes.•43 reported outcomes: 21 with a positive effect, three with a negative effect, and 19 with no significant effect. •The number of indicators within a category was small: oFor income and leadership categories, the reported effects were positive, but it is hard to draw any conclusions.oFor decision-making, a positive effect was reported for eight indicators compared to no significant effect for five, but six of the positive indicators were from the same paper. •Many studies do not specify the population target, making a population-specific comparison infeasible. For those specified:o There appears to be no great difference between age groups regarding women's empowerment through STIBs.-All reported negative impacts are from the African sample and none are from the Asian and South American ones. Still, six out of the nine empowerment studies are in Africa.-The largest number of positive results were found in the African country sample:Either due to the larger number of studies or higher effectiveness of bundles there.Results -RQ4 STIBs' features § Use of existing (farmer) groups eases field implementation and also is cost-efficient. Also, women's groups. § Regionally, empowerment outcomes only show a positive effect in the African sample. § Facilitating access to additional financial resources, intervention targeting, and size of (farmer) groups can enhance the intervention and achieve the desired impact. § Future research in the areas of STIBs and women's resilience and empowerment may benefit from a quantification (after standardisation) that a meta-analysis allows, such that a combined overall estimate for impact can be derived. § Extension of the current EGM to capture other outcomes (e.g., yield, knowledge) § Due to the relatively small sample of studies found for this EGM, it is evident that more evaluations measuring the impacts of STIBs on women farmers is needed.","tokenCount":"654"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6820070608.json b/data/part_1/6820070608.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..95c2aa088f5c31e7eb7dd4476e5a7d20c7262368
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6820070608.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06c61d9f4a66438ae7b3b9d98d1bb6a0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5fd1496d-e0d3-42ca-900b-bab0e369bea0/content","id":"159080891"},"keywords":["cropping system management","FarmDESIGN model","dietary energy yield","organic matter inputs","farm types","GHG emission"],"sieverID":"9aec291c-c43d-455d-a73d-e31421fac31f","pagecount":"10","content":"The agricultural productivity and sustainability in Eastern Gangetic Plain Zones of India are threatened because of the inefficiency of current production practices, shortage of resources, and socioeconomic constraints. We hypothesized the potential impact of intensified cereal systems with mung bean as a third crop within the annual cropping cycle. We assessed economic, social, and environmental indicators for intensified and current cropping system management practiced by different farm types in the region using the FarmDESIGN model. Building on a farm typology constructed for the region in our past research, we used five types of farmers: part-time (PT), well-endowed (WE), small-scale (SS) crop and livestock mix, medium-scale (MS), and resource-poor farmers (RP) in this study. The performance indicators of the 229 original cropping systems cultivated within the 43 farms varied strongly in the eight performance indicators. This variability of cropping systems performance within the farm types resulted in the absence of significant differences between the types. Compared to the original cropping systems, the intensified cropping systems with mung bean not only performed high in dietary energy (DE) production and organic matter (OM) inputs into the soil but also had high application rates of biocides and minimized losses of nitrogen (N). The intervention systems were low in labor requirement and scored at an intermediate level for crop gross margin, water use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The ranges of areas of maize-and rice-based systems that could be replaced by intensified systems were largest for the WE and RP farm types. This was reflected in large ranges of change in the performance indicators, but no significant differences in response were found between the farm types. The intensification of maize-and rice-based systems with the proposed intervention cropping systems involving mung bean would result in increased profitability, higher DE yield, and lower requirements for labor and water as the proportion of the farms being converted increases. However, the use of biocides would increase, while the intervention cropping systems would have no significant effect on OM input, GHG emissions, and soil N losses.In the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) of South Asia, an estimated 450 million people live in extreme poverty, with a highdensity population of over 1,000 persons per square kilometer, relying on cereals for primary subsistence (Gathala et al., 2021). The Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) zones cover approximately 6.0 million hectares of rice-wheat (R-W) and rice-rice double-cropping systems, respectively, and the rice-maize system is emerging as an alternative profitable system in this region (Gathala et al., 2022). The IGP has a high degree of spatial variability in terms of poverty and farm size, with a clear low-to-high gradient of food insecurity from the western regions toward the EIGP (Erenstein and Thorpe, 2011). Challenges to the agricultural systems in the EIGP include low crop productivity correlated with the region's increased poverty, farmers' low investment capability and aversion to risk, and increasing energy and input costs, in addition to climactic variability (Gathala et al., 2022). Mixed croplivestock systems are common as is farmer engagement in seasonal and semi-permanent migration and off-farm labor (Erenstein and Thorpe, 2011). The EIGP is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in India due to heat, drought, and flood risks, in addition to increasingly erratic monsoon precipitation (Gathala et al., 2020a,b).Over the last decade, alternative cropping systems employing the principles of Conservation Agriculture (CA) have been developed through on-station (Jat et al., 2014) and on-farm validation trials conducted over 4 years across Bihar (Gathala et al., 2020a,b). Alternative technologies such as no-till and crop residue recycling have shown potential advantages in terms of resource use efficiency and yield stability to climate change and variability in a wide range of agro-ecologies (Jat et al., 2014;Rakesh et al., 2021), which could support the adaptive and productive capacity of farming systems to future climates and resource scenarios. CA-based practices have a larger potential to improve household food availability for various farm types in the EIGP than livestock interventions (Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2018). The implementation of CA interventions requires an analysis of trade-offs and synergies among productive, socioeconomic, and environmental performance indicators. To exploit synergies and minimize trade-offs, decision support tools can be used to identify portfolios of practices in the IGP (Jat et al., 2019a).CA interventions aim to improve crop yields, enhance input use efficiency, and increase net farm incomes (Hoque et al., 2013;Dutta et al., 2020;Jat et al., 2020;Rakesh et al., 2021) while reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Sapkota et al., 2019). These interventions have been extensively tested at the field level in the EGP (Gathala et al., 2020a,b). The inclusion of legumes and CA-based management optimization can be a potential option to ensure nutritious food for the dwelling communities and the sustainability of natural resources in the IGP of India (Gora et al., 2022).Some agronomic technologies such as zero tillage are widely promoted in the EIGP, but do not fit in all diversified farming systems due to their low and separated adoption (Singh et al., 2016), adding more challenges to cereal production in the region (Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2018). Sustainability of intensive cereal systems can be achieved through CA-based management with sustainable intensification and residue recycling in cereal-based cropping systems (Dutta et al., 2023). The inclusion of legumes in the cropping systems (Samal et al., 2017) has the potential to contribute to the accumulation of soil organic carbon resulting in better soil health, higher crop productivity, and sustainability. Crop diversification, along with the integration of oilseeds and pulses crops into sustainable intensification, has been recognized as an effective strategy for achieving the objectives of food and nutritional security, sustainable management of land and water resources (Yadav et al., 2021), and enhancing the production of dietary energy, fats, and protein (Damerau et al., 2020).The farming system design aims to develop options for sustainable intensification by integrating diverse crops, improved practices, and technologies. The benefits are analyzed in terms of productive, socioeconomic, and environmental performance indicators (Groot et al., 2012). A multi-enterprise model for sustainable production under diverse situations can not only increase system productivity, profitability, and livelihood security of farming communities but also help in resource conservation and mitigating risks and uncertainties (Cortez-Arriola et al., 2016). Various computational tools have been developed to simulate and explore alternatives that can inform the re-design of farming systems. Modeling tools have been used to precisely simulate and optimize yield, profitability, labor, and whole farm management in agriculture (Tittonell, 2014). Analysis at the farm scale by using a model as an additional tool simultaneously with empirical information supports scientists and advisors to illustrate accurately potential outcomes and to relate these to individual farm objectives. The FarmDESIGN model (Groot et al., 2012;Ditzler et al., 2019) supports iterative cycles of farm structure reconfiguration allowing the analysis of mixed crop-livestock farming systems. In the EGP, a prominent cropping sequence is rice during the kharif season, wheat during the rabi season, and fallow during the summer season. Additionally, maize intercropping with potato during the rabi season and rice during the kharif season is also practiced on a large scale. To assess the impact of short-duration mung bean (Vigna radiata) in the summer season, three alternative cropping patterns were constructed in combination with common kharif (rice and maize) and rabi (wheat and mustard) crops: rice-wheat-mung bean; maize-wheat-mung bean; and maize-mustard-mung bean. The objectives of this study were (1) to identify sustainable intensification opportunities through diversified cropping systems to increase food production by sustainably increasing the productivity of smallholder farms and (2) to assess current and intensified cropping sequence on farm performance and quantify the contribution of CA practices that enhance farm economic performance, while improving resource use efficiency and reducing negative environmental impacts of diverse farming systems at the farm level in smallholder systems of Bihar.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 03 frontiersin.orgBihar is located in the Eastern part of India. It has a geographic area of 94,163 km 2 divided into two parts by the river Ganges that flows from west to east. Over 66% of the geographic area is cultivated. Agriculture in Bihar is characterized by low productivity, large yield gaps, high uncertainty, and instability in crop production. In the state, approximately 91% of farmers have marginal holdings, with each holding less than one hectare of land. Cropping intensity is also low (1.45%). Approximately 60% of the gross cropped area is irrigated; tube wells are the main source of irrigation followed by canal irrigation [Agriculture Census (2015-16), 2019]. The rotation of rice during the kharif season (July to November), wheat during the rabi season (November to April), and fallow during the summer season (April to June) is the dominant cropping system in the region. The climate is hot and humid in summer and cold in winter with 1,140 mm average annual rainfall, of which 70% occurs during the months of June to September. The mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures are 30°C and 19°C, respectively, with 60-95% relative humidity throughout the year.In total, 43 farmers representing 5 farm types; [well endowed (WE), part-time (PT), medium scale (MS), small scale (SS), and resource poor (RP)], were selected randomly from different farm types of the region defined by Lopez-Ridaura et al. (2018). This typology was constructed based on structural farm properties comprising land, workforce, market integration and income, cropping patterns, use of crop residues, and farm-produced household food consumption for each farm household based on farm productions and prices.Structured in-depth interviews were conducted to collect input data for FarmDESIGN from 10 villages of Vaishali, Samastipur, and Muzaffarpur Districts of Bihar, consisting of a total of 43 farms. The Impact LITE survey instrument (Rufino et al., 2013) was adapted to the local context and used to collect the data for the farmer's case study. Environment, economics, farm-produced food household consumption, crop management, livestock management, and applicable intervention were entered into FarmDESIGN. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. All experimental protocols were approved by the research committee CIMMYT. The informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s).A static farm balance model (FarmDESIGN) was used to calculate flows and balances of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to, through, and from a farm, the feed balance, the amount and composition of manure, labor balance, and economic results on an annual basis (Groot et al., 2012;Ditzler et al., 2019). Input data representing management options described rotations, crop groups and crops (area, yield, and destination), farm animals (species, number, weight, growth, production, and activities), feed rations, additional fertilizers, labor, equipment, and buildings. Economic calculations allowed the determination of crop and animal margins, fixed costs, operating profit, and return to labor. Information from the soil, crops, livestock, labor, income, inputs, imports, and nutrients cycling at the farm scale was used as data input in the FarmDESIGN model.Eight indicators were selected as objectives based on the farm diagnosis performed in the region. Gross margin = crop gross margin (×1,000 INR ha −1 ); DE yield = dietary energy yield expressed in number of persons that can be sufficiently fed per ha; labour input = labour required for crop cultivation (h ha −1 ); OM input = organic matter added to the soil (kg ha −1 ); water use = amount of irrigation water applied (m 3 ha −1 ); GHG emiss. = greenhouse gas emissions (Mg CO 2 -eq ha −1 ); biocide use = biocide active ingredients applied (kg ha −1 ); and soil N loss = loss of nitrogen (N) from the cropping system (kg ha −1 ).In this study, we analyzed the objective as maximizing the gross crop margin of the farm, water saving, DE yield, and soil organic matter (SOM) input and minimizing the soil N loss, GHG emissions, use of biocides, and labor inputs while intensified cropping sequences. Soil organic matter balance, water saving and nitrogen balance, GHG emission, and biocide use function as proxies for environmental health. This selection was such that it targeted improving the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the farms and farmers' livelihoods, by maximizing the profitability (expressed in financial terms; Indian rupees, INR), thus increasing economic performance. Minimizing the nitrogen (N) soil losses (kg ha −1 year −1 ) enhances the N availability of the farming system. Maximizing the SOM input (kg OM ha −1 year −1 ) enhances inherent soil fertility and water retention. Minimizing labor use (h ha −1 ) therefore improves the availability of labor for other farm operations or improves livelihood time. Minimizing GHG emissions therefore minimizes global warming and affects various aspects of climate, including surface air temperatures, precipitation, and sea levels. Maximizing DE yield makes food and nutrition available for a family on the farm. Minimizing biocide use therefore minimizes harmful effects on human health and soil and environmental health. The interactions between farm components under these eight farm objectives. Gross margin (Indian rupees INR year −1 ) is the farm economics indicator, calculated as the difference between gross margin and farm input costs, such as manure and fertilizer, hired labor, and general farm maintenance costs. SOM input (kg ha −1 year −1 ) is calculated as the difference between the added organic matter into the soil and the losses by degradation and erosion. Water requirement for irrigation (m 3 ) measures the depletion of available water resources and the amount of water applied to each of the crops. Farm nitrogen losses (kg N ha −1 year −1 ) is calculated directly after excretion, during storage, and after application on the field using loss fractions. DE yield is calculated by dividing the energy content (in kilocalories) in consumed food by the weight of foods consumed at the farm. GHG emissions are calculated as emissions (N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 ) from all sources (green manure, residue applied in soil, flooding, atmospheric N fixation, symbiotic N fixation, etc.) and summed emissionsFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 04 frontiersin.org expressed in CO 2 equivalents from all sources. Labor input is calculated as the sum of farm labor (family labor, hired labor, and casual labor) required for crop, animal, and general management of the farm. Biocide use is calculated as the total amount of active ingredients applied (kg ha −1 ) on the farm.Three alternatives to farmers' dominant cropping sequences (ricewheat-fallow) were used in the case study area: rice-wheat-mung bean (RWMb); maize-wheat-mung bean (MWMb); and maizemustard-mung bean (MMuMb). The data generated from the on-station experiments at BISA farm, Pusa over 4 years were used as primary data for the study. These practices are known as climateresilient cropping systems, which address the interconnected challenges of food security, accelerating climate change, and mitigation. These cropping systems also save input costs and water due to the no-tillage system, improve soil health due to residue retention and inclusion of mung bean (Choudhary et al., 2018), and minimize greenhouse gas emissions (Sapkota et al., 2014).We performed an inventory of the cropping sequences at 43 farm households from 10 climate-smart villages (CSVs) in Bihar. The current practices of rice-based cultivation have substituted the cropping sequences by switching to rice-wheat-mung bean (RWMb) or maize-wheat-mung bean (MWMb). Similarly, maize-based cultivation has substituted the cropping sequences with maizemustard-mung bean (MMuMb), regardless of other crops in the cropping sequences.We investigated the relationships between the original cropping sequences and the alternative substitutes on the performance indicators. The correlation between original versus intensified sequences and trade-off analysis was done through plotting in the form of a scattered plot of all the performance indicators using Microsoft Office Excel 2013 version. To conduct cluster analysis and ANOVA, we used the R packages \"fit lm model\" (R version 3.5.2).The performance indicators of the 229 original cropping systems cultivated within the 43 farms varied strongly in the eight performance indicators (Figure 1). This variability of cropping systems performance within the farm types resulted in the absence of significant differences between well-endowed (WE), part-time (PT), medium-scale (MS), small-scale (SS), and resource-poor (RP) farm types (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S1). Contributing individual cropping sequences on performance indicators to improve whole-farm performance, the average value of each indicator was assessed for each farm type (Figure 2). The five farms differed in terms of characteristics (land, cropping sequences, and household size) and performance indicators.Gross margin (INR ha −1 ) was reported to be the highest for MS, followed by WE, PT, and RP farm types. The lowest profit was reported with the SS farm type. DE yield was reported to be the highest under WE farms, followed by RP, MS, PT, and SS farm types, respectively. The highest labor input was reported with WE farms, whereas the lowest was with PT farm types. Similarly, in the case of organic matter input, WE farm types showed the highest value, whereas PT farm types reported the lowest value. Regarding water use for irrigating the crop, WE farm types reported higher water use, whereas SS needed less water for their crops in their farms. The highest GHG emission was reported with the WE farm type, followed by SS, RP, MS, and PT, farm types, respectively. The highest biocide use was reported with PT farm types, whereas the lowest was with MS farm types. Higher N soil losses were reported with WE, followed by SS, RP, PT, and MS farm types, respectively (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S4).Compared to the original cropping systems, the intensified cropping systems with mung bean performed well in terms of dietary energy production and organic matter inputs into the soil. However, they also had high application rates of biocides and nitrogen losses (Figure 1). The intervention systems (rice-wheat-mung bean; maizemustard-mung bean, and maize-wheat-mung bean) were low in labor requirement and scored at an intermediate level for crop gross margin, water use, and GHG emissions.The potential contribution of intensification of rice-wheat and maize-based cropping systems by adding mung bean and CA practices to the improvement of the performance indicators was evaluated for all potential farm types. The model-based assessment replaced 'ricewheat-fallow' systems with 'rice-wheat-mung bean' , and maize-based sequences with 'maize-wheat-mung bean' and 'maize-mustardmung bean' cropping sequences.The ranges of areas of maize-and rice-based systems replaced by intensified systems were the largest for the WE and RP farm types (Figure 3). This was reflected in large ranges of change in the performance indicators, but no significant differences in response were found between the farm types (Figure 4). The profit increased the most for the RP farm types, followed by SM, WE, MS, and PT farms. The DE yield increased the highest for the RP farm types, followed by WE farm types when intensified with alternative cropping sequences. Similarly, total labor inputs were minimized more for RP farm types than for WE farm types when intensified with an alternative crop sequence. The organic matter input increased the highest for the WE farm types and the lowest for RP farm types. Total water requirement increased highest for SS whereas minimum for WE farm types. In the case of GHG emissions, MS farm types emitted less GHG compared to other farms when intensified with alternative sequences. Lower biocide use was reported in PT farm types, whereas the highest use was in RP farm types, followed by SS, WE, and MS farm types, respectively. Higher N soil losses were reported for WE farm types whereas lower in PT farm types, whereas the rest of the farm showed moderate soil N losses when intensified with alternative cropping sequences (Figure 4; Supplementary Table S5).The intensification of maize-and rice-based systems with the proposed intervention cropping systems with mung bean would result Relationship between performance indicators for individual cropping patterns of different farm types (closed symbols) and the three intensified cropping systems (open symbols). Indicator definitions: gross margin = crop gross margin (×1,000 INR ha −1 ); DE yield = dietary energy yield expressed in number of persons that can be sufficiently fed per ha; labour input = labour required for crop cultivation (h ha −1 ); OM input = organic matter added to the soil (kg ha −1 ); water use = amount of irrigation water applied (m 3 ha −1 ); GHG emiss. = greenhouse gas emissions (Mg CO 2 -eq ha −1 ); biocide use = biocide active ingredients applied (kg ha −1 ); soil N loss = loss of nitrogen (N) from the cropping system (kg ha −1 ). Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 06 frontiersin.org in increased profitability and DE yield and lower labor and water requirements with an increasing proportion of the farm being converted (Figures 5A-C). However, also the use of biocides would increase, while the intervention cropping systems would have no significant effect on organic matter input, GHG emissions, and soil N losses (Figures 5D-H). Among biocides, the use of herbicides increases more significantly with the extensive adoption of intensification combined with CA-based practices compared to fungicides and insecticides as a proportion of farmland as a function to control the annual and perennial weeds. Average changes in farm performance, the alternative cropping system intensification would particularly increase DE yield (82%) and profitability (39%) and reduce labor requirement by 84%, while irrigation water use would decline by 28%, but biocide use would enhance by 44% and N losses by 21%. For the increase in DE yield and the reduction in labor requirement, significant differences were found between the farm  The results of this model-based study suggest that alternative cropping sequences with crop diversification and intensification in existing rice-and maize-based sequences could be beneficial for farm types differing in endowment levels. The intensification of maize-and rice-based systems with the proposed intervention cropping systems with mung bean and mustard would result in increased profitability and DE yield and lower labor and water requirements with an increasing proportion of the farm converted. However, also the use of biocides would increase, while the intervention cropping systems would have no significant effect on organic matter input, GHG emissions, and soil N losses. In the early stages of adopting conservation agriculture (CA) practices, the use of biocides, especially herbicides to knock down the existing weeds, increases due to the transition from conventional to no-tillage systems. However, in the long term, these usage are expected to decrease (Jat et al., 2019b). Furthermore, due to financial constraints, farmers in the EGP often find themselves unable to afford inputs, particularly herbicides and existing weeds controlled by tillage and later post-emergence weeds managed by family labor. As a result, there is a reduced reliance on biocides in their current agricultural practices. In particular, WE and RP farm types could enhance DE yield, while the largest labor reduction was achievable for RP farm types. Increasing the availability of land for intensified cropping sequences would help to increase soil organic matter and decrease soil erosion while maintaining or increasing farm profit (Jat et al., 2019a). This may be due to growing the other cropping sequence options such as cash crops available for the farmers in this region. Michalscheck et al. (2018) observed that higher resource-endowed farmers had larger space to improve their objective indicators because of more options available to improve their objective indicators.Under maize-wheat sequences, the system yield significantly increased with the addition of third crop (mung bean) in the system (Parihar et al., 2017). CA-based rice-wheat cropping sequences had a positive effect on cropping system productivity when intensified with mung bean in the system (Jat et al., 2019b). Choudhary et al. (2018) and Kumar et al. (2018) reported that the integration of mung bean in the CA-based rice-wheat system resulted in higher system productivity compared to the conventional rice-wheat system. This might be because of improved soil physical, chemical, and biological properties when added mung bean (Gathala et al., 2016;Jat, 2017;Kumar et al., 2024). In the study area, farms are very diverse to grow other cash crops, instead of cereal crops. Samal et al. (2017) reported higher rice-wheat system grain yield under CA practices intensified with mung bean compared to farmer's practices. Rashid et al. (2019) reported that the grain yields of maize were obtained higher under rice-maize-mung bean sequences in CA-based practices than in conventional tillage-based practices. This might be due to reduced input costs such as fuel and labor, coupled with higher system productivity resulting in higher gross margins. In addition, having crop residue on the soil surface can increase soil organic matter, and total N, available P, and available S contents of soil resulting in higher  The study suggests that the intensified system showed improvement in all the objective indicators but not in all cropping systems and farm types. In each selected farm, there is a diversity of cropping sequences which has potential support to improving objective variables. The improvement in objective indicators is also determined by the socio-economic condition of a farmer, availability of inputs, and crop management practices and by external factors such as climate, soil, and market. Similarly, Sierra et al. (2017) revealed that variability of farming practices at the farm-type level had a strong impact on soil organic carbon changes, which ranged from net soil organic carbon losses to carbon (C) sequestration. Comparing the current farm performance with the sets of alternative options, wellperformed farms in terms of N and labor balances, whereas the largest scope for improvement was found for increasing soil organic matter balances (Cortez-Arriola et al., 2016). Sutherland et al. (2019) demonstrated that emergent patterns of land management depend upon farm types, differentiated primarily by the scale of farm size, presence of diversification activities, and types of animals present. Gitz and Meybeck (2012) indicated that climatic shocks, plant disease and pests, reductions in output prices, and increases in input prices are the types of risks that impact agricultural production systems. Therefore, intensification and improved agronomy (CA-based management) as presented here should be entrenched in adaptive as well as practical for researchers and policymakers, which could target the farm types and cropping systems for better farm input use efficiencies and potential benefits.In this study, we assessed the potential of integration of intensified cropping systems with mung bean to improve multiple objectives for five farm types, each representing a farm type in Samastipur, Bihar, India. We found large performance variations on objective values among farms, indicating heterogeneity in the farming community, leading to differentiated potential to improve the system's performance. These insights on the alternative intensification options per farm type help decision-makers establish policies for this sector. They also assist stakeholders and farmers in defining priorities, identifying solutions, and implementing technical interventions for specific sets of farm types. The farm-scale model suggests that there is an option to improve the overall performance of current farms, including aspects such as overall farm profitability, soil organic matter accumulation, water saving, and improving environmental and nutrition outcomes among the community in the region. However, additional innovations may be needed to further manage the vulnerability and resilience of these systems in the face of increased input costs, deteriorating soil health, and potential climatic risks in this region. These findings could be highly beneficial for the Government of Bihar in directing interventions and prioritizing investments within the 4th Agricultural Road Map (2023Map ( -2028)), which has an allocated budget of US$ 20 billion.","tokenCount":"4497"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6823280750.json b/data/part_1/6823280750.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..250b3afbfc16b7bee6fba6cbcdb5c45d59e6cf61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6823280750.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"541911bf06fd8b219a909dd9bbc010fc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/bf9fe02d-2580-4535-afe0-e3ca20fead96/content","id":"563980656"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51e53368-5ae9-4784-ac3e-5b3c0605d9b5","pagecount":"136","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on MAIZE and WHEAT. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.Mechanical sowing refers to the placement of seeds into the soil by an agricultural machine or manually operated (but mechanical) device. Mechanical sowing, also referred to as mechanical seeding, is generally practiced in areas where there are constraints to labor availability or where farmers want to reduce the drudgery of planting seed by hand. It is typically utilized for cereal crops, but can also be applied to legumes and many other crops, including rice. When farmers or agricultural machinery service providers -people who own seeding machinery and rent out its use on an affordable fee-for-service basis -practice such seeding, the geometry of crop placement tends to be precise, so long as the machine is well calibrated, and correctly used and maintained (topics that are covered in this learning module). While mechanical seeding may not always result in increased yields, it does tend to save labor costs for farmers, and thus profit increases where yields are maintained compared to hand-sown seed. Further savings may result when farmers use mechanical seeding equipment that tills or prepares the soil at the same time as it sows seed, or where tillage is foregone, as in zero-till and conservation agriculture systems. Where the sowing date is critically important -for example, for wheat or maize grown in the tropics and sub-tropics -mechanical seeding can advance sowing dates, leading to potential yield increases compared to more time-consuming conventional planting involving multiple tillage passes and hand sowing. This book focuses on seeding machinery that can be attached to a two-wheeled tractor (sometimes called a 'power tiller-operated seeder', or PTOS), which typically has a rotovator to till the soil, and seed and fertilizer boxes with mechanisms to meter and place the seed and fertilizer into the soil in rows A typical power tiller-operated seeder (PTOS), sometimes referred to by its commercial name as a 2BFG (or its derivatives), used for direct seeding. In the above picture, only the seed box (and no fertilizer box) is visible.as the tractor moves forward. Other configurations exist, but we focus on the above because it tends to be the most commonly and commercially available seeding machine in South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. More specifically, our focus is on two-wheeled 'hand' tractors (sometimes also called single-axle tractors) because of their wide suitability for smallholder farming conditions in both Asia and Africa, although they are also found in parts of Central and South America. The 'scale-appropriate' nature of this equipment for resource-constrained smallholder farmers is particularly appealing for agricultural development projects concerned with advancing appropriate technologies 1 .When some of the rotary blades are removed from the rotovator of a PTOS, the same machine (often termed \"2BG-6A\" and usually made in China) for two-wheeled tractors can be used to practice strip tillage. Strip tillage is a conservation agriculture (CA) practice, which permits the machine operator to place seeds into the soil while tilling the field only in small strips (also referred to as furrows or slots), leaving in place a mulch of the previous crops' residue on the untilled area between the strips. The residue acts as a soil moisture conserving mulch. When practiced in the context of diversified crop rotation, this CA practice can provide cost-saving benefits to farmers. Other two-wheeled tractor attachable equipment suitable for zero tillage and direct seeding applications is also available in a number of other countries, although in this book we focus on the most common makes and models, similar to the 2BG-6A and originally developed in China.This book covers critical topics for the principles and practice of mechanical seeding by two-wheeled tractors in the context of smallholder farming in the tropics, with emphasis on experiential and handson learning. The materials within provide a guide for training facilitators to conduct a rapid one-day training on mechanical seeding and crop establishment, with emphasis on maize, wheat, rice and legume crops, including detailed instructions on how to facilitate a training session, training material requirements, flipcharts to facilitate discussions, and pre-and posttraining evaluations for training participants. These practices are better learned through multiple training sessions or as part of a farmer field school as opposed to individual one-day training. Hence while this book details several modular training sessions that can be conducted consecutively during a single day, the sessions can also be broken up and applied as individual modules during a season-long farmer field school, or for more targeted training sessions.Note also that both training on mechanical seeding (this book) and on integrated weed management practices (IWM; see Book 2 in this series) is needed prior to training farmers, machinery service providers, or others on aspects of direct seeding or the practicalities of direct seeding or conservation agriculture.Direct seeding of rice, strip tillage, or conservation agriculture all require very precise weed control before and after sowing the crop.For this reason, training facilitators are encouraged to use these IWM modules prior to attempting to train farmers or service providers on more advanced crop establishment techniques like conservation agriculture or direct seeding. When practiced together, mechanical seeding, conservation agriculture and IWM techniques can be incorporated into the packages of services that agricultural service providers make available for farmer-clients, thereby improving both their skill set and business case, as well as their income generation.This training is meant to be discussion-based and experiential, and to encourage critical reflection and learning among participants. This means that while the facilitator will have to present materials, the format in which this should be done should be horizontal and participatory. We also underscore that farmers and agricultural machinery service providers, who are the target of these trainings, are experts -they work daily in their fields and have considerably more experience than most university educated technicians, researchers or extension agents. Listening to their opinions and working with them to facilitate learning will enhance the quality of a training session. In this sense, it is the responsibility of a training facilitator to elicit training participants' input, opinions and ideas, and to use them interactively to shape discussion and learning. The technical materials included in this document are therefore a guide to supplement farmers' and agricultural machinery service providers' already indepth knowledge.The training format used here is based loosely on the experiential learning cycle described by Kolb (1984) , who proposed that adults learn differently than children, with learning based on having a concrete experience, reflecting on this experience, conceptualizing this experience, and then experimenting with the main ideas generated from this experience, after which the cycle of learning is repeated. He further hypothesized that there are generally four types of adult learners and learning styles that should be accommodated, including people who learn by watching demonstrations (whom he called divergers), those who learn by thinking, reading and watching (assimilators), those who learn by hands-on thinking and doing (converges), and those who learn by doing (accommodators). Well-designed training should accommodate each participant's individual learning style by providing a mixture of lecture and discussion, reading or visual materials, hands-on experiential and experimental opportunities, and opportunities to watch demonstrations and to learn. Kolb's theories have been widely researched and validated in a number of contexts, and provide a solid foundation for educational programs aimed at experienced farmers and agricultural service providers. They are also most popularly used in farmer field schools. In this training, we loosely attempt to formulate Kolb's learning styles, as shown below. .The field as the classroom. Farmers and service providers learn about mechanical seeding using power tiller-operated seeders in Bangladesh. Photo: Ranik Martin.Facilitators should therefore at every step of the process work to generate discussion and hands-on learning through activities, to provide opportunities to demonstrate and show how to use mechanical seeding approaches, and to encourage critical but constructive reflection among the training participants. There is a certain art to this process, and facilitators should practice with their peers beforehand how to implement different techniques for eliciting discussion among trainees.Here are some examples of how to ask questions of the training participants in a way that will encourage them to think and critically reflect on the training material:1. Arrange seating in a circle, not like in a classroom. Circular seating arrangements encourage participants and facilitators to interact as equals, and improve the potential for discussion.2. Rather than ask closed questions, ask open ones. For example, rather than ask \"How does a furrow opener place seed in the ground?\" ask \"What is the significance of the depth at which a furrow opener places seed?\" Participants may require some additional encouragement to discuss this question, but gently push them towards realizing the answer.For example, rather than ask training participants \"What happens if one fluted roller (used for seeding) is not calibrated?\" ask \"If not all the seeding mechanisms are calibrated, what are the implications for crop establishment, yield and farmers' profits?\"4. Pick a particular participant to give an answer.Rotate among students, choosing different ones and asking them or a group to answer a question. It may take time for them to come up with an answer, but allow them to work through the process of reflection and come up with their response. Engage with them and discuss their response, and ask others for their thoughts on it. However, if a particular participant is naturally quiet or reserved, avoid asking them too many questions. The goal is to encourage an active learning atmosphere, but without making participants feel uncomfortable.on the training materials. This seems like a simple point, but it is important to stay on topic and ensure that participants are equipped to respond to questions. The field is the best classroom for farmers and service providers!The training sessions described in this book are to be held primarily outside and in the field, where participants are encouraged to learn with their own hands how to work with two-wheeled tractors and mechanical seeding equipment. It is only by actually attempting to calibrate machinery and use it to directly place seed that participants will develop sufficient and satisfactory knowledge. To facilitate this, the flipchart material provided in this book can be printed on large paper and taken to farmers' fields, where electricity for PowerPoint presentations or other formats may not be available.The training sessions described in this book are to be held primarily outside and in the field, where participants are encouraged to learn with their own hands how to work with two-wheeled tractors and mechanical seeding equipment. It is only by actually attempting to calibrate machinery and use it to directly place seed that participants will develop sufficient and satisfactory knowledge. To facilitate this, the flipchart material provided in this book can be printed on large paper and taken to farmers' fields, where electricity for PowerPoint presentations or other formats may not be available. Flipchart materials are provided to guide the technical content for each of these presentations. Facilitators should simply follow the flipcharts and use the materials presented to initiate discussion and ensure that all technical points are covered. Care should be taken to allow all participants to speak, and to make space for under-represented participants, specifically women, to speak and ask questions.The pages of this book can be printed out on large poster-sized paper and used for the flipcharts. Flipchart sessions should be conducted in the field and not in a classroom. The same flipcharts are also intended to be printed on normal size paper, stapled together and provided as handouts and reference material for participants at the beginning of each session. This training is aimed at improving farmers' and agricultural machinery service providers' awareness and knowledge about mechanical seeding using power tiller-operated seeders (using two-wheeled tractors), and to improve their skill so that they can ensure safe, effective and economically profitable crop establishment. This module is designed to cover the major principles of mechanical seeding machinery, correct seed placement and two-wheeled tractors using 2BFG-6A equipment as a model platform for learning.By the end of the training, participants should be able to:• understand and explain usefulness of using power tiller-operated seeders for mechanical seeding;• identify the major mechanical parts of powertiller-operated seeders and their functions as related to mechanical seeding;• operate the power tiller-operated seeders efficiently and safely;• understand major failures/breakdowns associated with power tiller-operated seeders and find solutions to fix them; and• provide tillage and mechanical seeding services to farmers efficiently and profitably.Power tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 5This training is designed for rural agricultural service providers, farmers and future training facilitators interested in understanding and/or practicing mechanical seeding of rice, maize, wheat or legumes using a two-wheeled tractor, and those interested in conservation agriculture. If owners of two-wheeled tractors or mechanical seeders are present, their hired machine operators should also attend to improve learning and apply the lessons in this book in farmers' fields. The training, however, is also designed to some extent for those who have at least a basic familiarity with two-wheeled tractors, though those who do not can still successfully participate and learn.Note that this module builds on the 'Integrated weed management' modules also available in Book 2 in this series. We recommend that participants taking the integrated weed management (IWM) training complete the one-day CA module before enrolling in the current module. In addition, this module provides advice that is important for the management of weeds in mechanically sown rice, a topic covered in the next module on twowheeled tractor-driven seed and fertilizer drills (Book III). Completion of the IWM sessions is therefore a prerequisite for moving on to this material.The number of participants per batch should be limited to a maximum of around 10-15 people. Ideally, it is good to have at least one two-wheeled tractor-operated mechanical seeder per three to five participants so the opportunity for hands-on learning is increased. Ideally, at least 25% of the participants should be female. Trainees should be targeted who have leadership capability, at least a primary level of education, ideally business experience, and the capability to work outside the household and run a rural business. These points are important as they increase the probability that the participants will transfer their knowledge to other farmers or service providers. Participants should be contacted well ahead of the training date (at least one week) to allow them to prepare for the training.The training venue should be selected carefully.There should be a covered outdoor area, or similar facility having sufficient light, air and adequate space for the number of participants in each session, and a large bare field/cropland (with adequate space to experiment with equipment). This outdoor area should be no more than a 5-minute walk away from the place where participants will meet. The space should be free from outside distractions. Fields should be available for running mechanical seeding equipment and for participants to learn how to operate machinery successfully (see 'Planning and preparation', below).Please review the detailed list of training aids included at the beginning of each module and make sure that all required materials are available.Facilitator(s)  The date of the training should be decided following discussion and agreement with trainees to ensure their participation (preferably during their weekly day off to avoid any financial loss to their business).Participants should reach the training venue on time. Before starting the pre-evaluation exercises which begin each training module, divide participants into three small groups (about five participants per group; however, the number of groups or participants per group may vary depending on the total number of participants and machinery availability). Working in smaller groups ensures a more action-oriented, hands-on approach to learning. Generally, four to five people should be assigned to work on each available machine. Set up any seating arrangements so these small groups can sit with one another. Participants will take part in discussions, question and answer sessions, demonstrations, exercises, etc., in this small group throughout all the sessions. Do not set up seats in classroom style. Circular seating should always be used, as it increases horizontal learning.The training approach should be participatory, with emphasis on hands-on and experiential learning. The facilitator should utilize techniques that aim to get participants interested and involved in the training, for example, question-and-answer sessions, experience sharing, group exercises, group discussions, group presentations, etc.The training should be facilitated in such a way that the trainees find it useful and valuable, rather than a waste of their time. To achieve this goal, the facilitator should work to ensure that the training is enjoyable (use of games, quizzes, sing-along sessions or other techniques to get trainees involved). Oneway lecture formats are not acceptable and are discouraged, as they reduce participants' potential to learn effectively through discussion and experience.The facilitator should arrange a short break (about two minutes) after each ten minutes of presentation, discussion and/or exercise, during which they should ask questions to check whether participants are understanding the training well, and if necessary, adapt their teaching style.Use of mobile phones causes distractions and reduces the effectiveness of the learning experience. All participants, including the Facilitator, should keep their mobile phones switched off during the training session. The course is designed for one day's training lasting approximately 12 hours and 20 minutes including demonstrations and practical exercises. This intensive course should be held in the field, not in a classroom. Training facilitators can decide on the best time to take tea and lunch breaks (these are not included in the time estimates above and should be taken into account for when planning the training). Times should be kept flexible depending on the needs of the participants -some sessions may be faster than reported above, others may be slower. This is why it is important to remain flexible.Please review the 'Key considerations for training' section at the front of this book. Note that you may wish to establish demonstration learning field plots before the start of this training (detailed below in different sessions), so advanced preparation of several weeks is required. In addition to the items listed there, prepare for the training by considering the following:The content is divided into an introductory session plus eight instructional sessions, as follows:Training venueProvide adequate space outside with cover from the sun for at most 10-15 participants, and an empty field/ cropland nearby for a practice session. If mechanical seeding is to be practiced using strip tillage, make sure that the nearby field contains the residue of the previous crop as a mulch (preferably about 15 cm tall and still anchored in the soil). The venue should be free from outside distractions.an empty field/cropland nearby for a practice session.If mechanical seeding is to be practiced using strip tillage, make sure that the nearby field has residue of the previous crop as a mulch (preferably about 15 cm length and still anchored to the soil) Step 1 -Form groups (15 minutes)Most adults learn best when they can work in groups.Participants in a small group can interact and share ideas with each other, which allows peer-to-peer learning, and can stimulate more entertaining and rich learning experiences.An ideal size is 10-15 participants for the entire training, divided into smaller groups.Divide the participants into groups of four or five people by asking them to number themselves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and asking those with the same number to rearrange their seats and sit together (all the 1s in one group, 2s in another and so on). This splits up participants who are sitting with people they already know.Next, ask each group to select a leader and choose a fun name for their group. It is helpful if the group leader can read and write, which is something the training facilitator can assess during the registration period. Also, try to ensure that someone in each group is competent in basic mathematics and calculations. This will be important later on when learning about machine calibration and business models.Ask each group to find five things they have in common with every other person in the group, and that have nothing to do with work. Please, no body parts, as we all have legs and arms! Also, no clothing, as we all wear clothes. Focus on more interesting commonalities, such as where they were born and how many children they have, or how many years of experience in farming they have, and so on. This helps the group explore shared interests more broadly.Ask the group leaders to take notes and be ready to read their list to the whole group at the end of the session. This should generate discussion, and a lot of laughter and fun, while encouraging each group to think more like a team.Step 2 -What are participants' expectations? (10 minutes)This is one of the most effective tools for breaking the ice and enabling a new group of participants to get to know each other. Each group member is an important source of knowledge. Each participant also has his or her own style of thinking and learning. This means that for effective learning, it is important for the trainers to understand each participant's expectations of the training module. It will also help the facilitator(s) be better equipped to deliver a successful learning experience throughout the training.Use an icebreaker approach, during which participants can state what their learning expectations are at the beginning of the day. This will provide feedback from each participant regarding what they expect and also want to get out of the training.During the introduction to the training, when it is time for participants to introduce themselves following group formation, the facilitator should explain that participants' expectations are very important, and that understanding them will be crucial for ensuring quality outcomes from the training. These expectations can later be compared with the module outline, and modifications and changes can be made where necessary.Ask participants to:• introduce themselves individually • share their expectations of the training course (which should be summarized and presented by the group leader after 2-3 minutes of discussion) Here's an example:\"Hi, my name is Apurba. Our group is expecting to learn how to calibrate a machine to seed crops, and our expectation is that if we knew how to do that we would be able to sow different types of crops efficiently. If we can do that, then each of us can start a business sowing farmers' fields for them.\"At the end of the training, the training coordinator should review the list of expectations the groups made, and discuss/explain points not covered in the course and explain whether their expectations, will be met, and if not, why.Step Step 4 -Pre-training evaluation questionnaire (25 minutes)Distribute a 'pre-evaluation questionnaire' (see Annex 1) to each participant and allow 20 minutes or so to complete it. If necessary, help any less literate participants to understand and answer the questions.The questionnaire can also be printed out and put up on flipchart paper. Collect the answers; they will be compared to the post-training evaluation answers at the end of the training. They should be corrected before the end of the day, prior to the closing session, during which the evaluation scores will be given to all participants.Session 2Introduction to the two-wheeled tractorAt the end of this session, participants should be able to:• check that main parts of the two-wheeled tractor have been correctly prepared for use in the field• understand how to safely start the two-wheeled tractor's engine Key messages to convey to participants during this session 1. Carefully inspect the two-wheeled tractor before starting and correct any problems identified.2. Before starting the engine, make sure there are no children or other people within 5 m of the tractor.3. Follow the correct process for starting the engine.For this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• the flipchart Session 2: Introduction to the twowheeled tractor• A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• the tools described in Annex 3• at least one two-wheeled tractor for each group of participantsStep 1 -Generate reflection and discussion (5 minutes)Initiate the session in a field beside a demonstration plot where the two-wheeled tractors are parked, with a question-and-answer session. Ask:• How do you know if the two-wheeled tractor is ready to start and operate?• What safety precautions do you take when starting your two-wheeled tractor?Allow one or two participants to answer the questions, and note important points on poster paper or whiteboard for later discussion.Step 2 -Hands on-learning: Inspecting the two-wheeled tractor and starting it (20 minutes)Step 2, distribute the Session 2: Introduction to the two-wheeled tractor handout to participants. Explain that it can be used as a reminder and guide for starting the two-wheeled tractor. Next, make use of the two-wheeled tractors to explain or review their basic maintenance with the participants. Pick one tractor, and carefully walk the participants through each step of the handout, beginning with starting the engine. Before starting the engine, check that nobody is within five meters of the tractor. This is because while starting the engine, the crank handle could fly off and injure someone.The two-wheeled tractors should be parked outside in a line, with at least six meters between them so each group can comfortably work on them. After describing the process of inspecting and starting the two-wheeled tractor, ask each group to correct any problems identified during inspection and start their tractor. After successfully starting the machine, it can be turned off.Here are the main messages to convey during Step 2:Before starting the tractor:1. Carefully inspect the two-wheeled tractor.2. Check the radiator has sufficient water.3. Make sure there is enough fuel to complete the task, and that the fuel is good quality.4. Check the V-belt tension and adjust if necessary.5. Check the tension of the fan belt and adjust if necessary.6. Check the engine oil and add more if needed.7. Check the transmission oil and add more if needed.8. After inspection, add quality engine oil if needed.9. Check that the air filter and exhaust tube are free from obstructions and operating normally.10. Verify the tire pressure is correct.11. Make sure there are no children or adults within two meters of the tractor.12. To start the engine, first press down on the decompression lever. At the same time, turn the crank handle as quickly as possible in a clockwise motion until the engine starts, at which time you can release the decompression lever and remove the crank.Introduction to the PTOSAt the end of this session, participants should be able to:• demonstrate awareness of the different types of two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeders available on the market• understand and state the function and usefulness of the of two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeders for sowing cereal and legume crops, and for alternative uses• understand and explain the advantages of line sowing cereal crops, legumes and other crops using two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeders1. The two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeder (often called a power tiller-operated seeder, or PTOS) is a power tiller-operated machine which enables land preparation using a rotovator, seed sowing and fertilizer application to be done at the same time.2. Compared to conventional seeding and manual sowing of seed, the PTOS can reduce fuel use, land preparation time and labor costs, thereby minimizing production costs by up to 30%.For crops that are typically broadcast by hand, the PTOS can reduce the seed requirements per unit of land area.When used for strip tillage (covered in Book 5 of this series), the PTOS can conserve soil moisture and advance sowing dates, which can be beneficial for yields.Compared to broadcast seeding, line sowing ensures better and more even crop stands, and makes it easier to weed crops, either by hand or mechanically.6. Yields of wheat and other dry season crops can be improved by up to 15% just by line sowing alone, largely because this improves the density and evenness of the plant stand.7. Line sowing can be done using the PTOS for wheat, maize, rice, pulses, jute, mustard, sesame and many other crops.For this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• flipchart Session 3: Introduction to the PTOS • A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• DVD of the films \"Save More, Grow More, EarnMore\" and \"Power Tiller Operated Seeder\"• electrical connection and multi-media facilities for showing the DVD, including speakers or small sound system (see Annex 2, \"Video resources\")• several sheets of blank poster paper/whiteboard, whiteboard stand, dry marker/whiteboard pensStep 1 -Generate reflection and discussion on land preparation and different types of sowing (20 minutes)Initiate the session by exploring participants' experience about spraying herbicide or insecticide. Ask the following questions:• When you prepare land for sowing, how do you do it? How many tillage passes does it take?• When you plant rice, wheat, maize or legumes, how do you do it?• What do you think the advantages of sowing a crop in lines might be?• What might the advantages and disadvantages of sowing rice seed by hand be?• What do you understand about two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeding?Encourage one or two participants to answer each question, and make a note of any important points on the whiteboard or flipchart for further discussion.Also clarify that rice can be directly sown by twowheeled tractor mechanical seeding, a topic that will be discussed later in these sessions.If any major technical questions arise, do not get caught up in detailed discussions, as these topics are likely to be addressed later in the day's training. Simply refer to the coming sessions.Step 3 -Use flipcharts to generate discussion and learning of the basics of two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeding (20 minutes)Using the flipcharts, review these key items:1. This training focuses on mechanical seeders that can be attached to Dongfeng and Sifeng two-wheeled Chinese tractors, which are the two most common types of two-wheeled tractors globally.2. Two-wheeled tractor mechanical seeders are also commonly called power tiller-operated seeders (or PTOS) because Donfeng and Sifeng two-wheeled tractors come with power tillers (without seeding capability) when they are sold.3. The PTOS tills the soil and plants seed and places fertilizer at the same time.4. The PTOS has 48 high-speed blades used for tilling the soil.Step 2 -Power tiller-operated seeder video (20 minutes)Using a television or multi-media projection and sound facilities, show the video \"Power tiller-operated seeder\".Following the video, allow up to ten minutes for participants to ask any questions and make any comments. Encourage participation and discussion, and allow time for any necessary clarifications.Main parts of the PTOS and their functionsAt the end of this session, participants should:• understand how a PTOS works • be able to identify the main parts of a PTOS • understand and state the key functions of the main parts of the PTOSThe main parts of a PTOS include:• rotovator, typically with 48 blades • hitching gear • rotovator chain-sprocket • seed/fertilizer box • seed/fertilizer meter • seed/fertilizer rate adjustment lever • seed/fertilizer metering shaft • seed/fertilizer on-off clutch • furrow opener• leveling and compaction roller • tillage depth control leverFor this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• flipchart Session 4: Major parts of the PTOS and their functions• A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• blank poster paper/whiteboard, whiteboard stand, dry marker/whiteboard pensStep 1 -Raising participants' awareness (5 minutes)Take participants to a nearby field (selected before the training starts) where PTOS machines have been placed to demonstrate their use.Initiate the session using ice-breaking questions and answers.Rotovator Tills the soil by rapid rotation  Ask: Can anyone name the main parts of a PTOS?Encourage one or two participants to answer the questions. Listen carefully and list the parts they mention on blank poster paper or the whiteboard.Step 2 -Generate discussion and learning (30 minutes)Lead the discussion using the flipchart Session 4: Major parts of the PTOS and their functions, identifying the main parts of the PTOS, pointing to them on the machine. Pay attention to those not identified correctly (or at all) by participants.Step 3 -Quick review (20 minutes)At the end of Session 4, ask participants to get together in their group, with the three groups side by side. Ask each group five to ten questions. If a participant can't answer a question, invite other members of their group to answer. If no one in the group can answer, pass the question on to the next group.Calibration of the PTOS (practical exercise)At the end of this session, participants should be able to:• understand and perform the basic mathematics needed to calibrate the seed and fertilizer meter, as appropriate for different crop seeds and fertilizers• calibrate the seed and fertilizer meter properly Key messages to convey to participants during this session 1. Calibration means fixing the length of the metering roller to get a specific and appropriate seed or fertilizer rate before starting to operate the machine. For example, if 120 kg of seed or 240 kg of urea are to be applied per hectare, it will be necessary to set up the machine to ensure the exact amounts are applied.2. Calibration of the seed meter should be done by considering: (1) the type of seed metering plate (whether fluted or inclined), and (2) the type and size of the seed.3. Calibration should be done once at the beginning of each season, each time marking the settings on the machine.Calibrations differ for each crop and fertilizer.5. Calculate the metering length using the mathematics and formulas given in this module.6. Set the metering roller length for each crop. This changes the amount of seed or fertilizer picked up and rotated by the fluted rollers before it is dropped into the soi.For this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• the flipchart Session 5: Calibration of the PTOs (practical exercise)• A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• blank poster paper/whiteboard and whiteboard stand, dry erase/whiteboard pens• an area of uncultivated land around 25-30 m long, and at least several meters wide• a seed-fertilizer machine • the required amount of seed/fertilizer for the crop you wish to sow (see below and/or consult local extension services for recommendations)• polythene bag • rubber band • a digital balance for measuring seed and fertilizer, with at least two or three units after the decimal• an experienced mechanic/operator.Step 1: Questions about calibrating a PTOS (5 minutes)Begin Session 5 in the field immediately after Session 4, assisted by an experienced PTOS operator or mechanic. Initiate the session with questions and answers.Ask: Can anybody describe how to calibrate a PTOS, and why it is important?Encourage one or two participants to answer each question. Write answers on the flipchart if it helps facilitate discussion.Step 2: Discussion and group exercise (25 minutes)Lead the discussion using the Session 5: Calibration of the PTOS (practical exercise) flipchart, and explain the following:• the principles of seed meter calibration • the basic mathematics needed for (1) the fluted roller, and (2) the inclined plate style of seed metering mechanismsWork with the example calculation procedure as shown on the flipchart. Lead a group exercise on the basic mathematics, following the example calculation in the flipchart. Make sure the group has enough time to ask any questions if they find the procedure complicated.The steps for calibration are:1. According to the line-to-line distance required, set the number of furrow openers, starting from the middle point of the machine. For example, the line-to-line distance for wheat is 20 cm (0.2 m), so the six furrow openers should be set 20 cm from each other, measured from the middle of the machine.2. Extra furrow openers can be removed from the machine or set so they do not touch the soil. It is best to cover the openings to their seed tubes (on the bottom of the seed/fertilizer box) with tape.3. Use rubber bands to attach a plastic bag to the end of the seed delivery tube (by removing the tube from the furrow openers used -you can replace it later when needed). Make sure there is sufficient space at the bottom of the bag for it to collect the seed/fertilizer.4. Select a specific size of land (20 m to 30 mlong and at least 4 meters wide is usually sufficient) as a trial plot to run a test calibration.Before running the PTOS in the field, it is essential to meter seed at the right rate by knowing how much seed is needed in each line's plastic bag. This can be determined through a generic and simple calculation, as follows:Required seed quantity in plastic bag (kg) = Desired seed rate (kg/ha) × line to line distance (m) × length of trial plot 10,000 m 2 (equal to 1 hectare)For example, for wheat sown at a rate of 120 kg per hectare on a trial plot 20 m long, with a line-to-line distance of 20 cm, the resulting calculation will be:in plastic bag 10,000 m 2 (equal to 1 hectare)This gives the following result:10,000 m 2 (equal to 1 hectare)For crops such as maize, where the number of seeds per unit of land area is more important than their weight, the calculation is different. Irrigated maize is often seeded at a rate of 83,333 plants per hectare and at 60 cm line-to-line spacing. To calibrate for this rate using the same 20 m long trial plot, do not use plastic bags. Instead, simply allow seed to fall onto the ground, and count the number of seeds per 1 m length (do this along several 1 m lengths to ensure consistency).Here is the formula for maize using this seed rate: 1. Now, it is important to test how much seed the PTOS is metering. Put seed in the seed boxes and run the machine for 20 meters.2. Next, weigh the seed from each plastic bag separately using a digital balance (or count the number of seeds, depending on what crop you are seeding) and observe whether an equal amount/ number of seeds were dropped in each line. If the lines are not equal or the seed rate is not correct, it will be necessary to adjust the PTOS.3. If you are using a fluted roller and the quantity of seed is found to be more (or less) than the required amount, turn the knob to the right (or left) to reduce (or increase) the size of the fluted roller (which is visible from the top of the seed box). This changes how much seed is metered. Repeat the process until you have achieved the correct seed rate.4. Use a permanent marker to indicate on the machine where to set the knobs for each crop (it is essential to check this calibration at the beginning of each season).A PTOS that uses an inclined plate seed meter does not require much adjustment, as each plate is made specifically for the type of seed you want to meter, at the correct rate. For these seed meters, the seed rate depends on: (1) the number of cells around the periphery of the plate, and (2) the number of revolutions per minute of the plate.1. 1. Lastly, hold a discussion on how to use the PTOS in the field. When first sowing, it is best to cross the field in parallel lines, turning 180 degrees at the end of the field, as shown below:Above: Travel pattern for the first step of sowing crops.Above: Travel pattern for the second step of sowing crops.This method works very well for maize. For other crops (such as rice, wheat and legumes) it is also good practice to sow two perpendicular lines at each end of the field, after this first step:Step 3: Demonstration of calibration by an experienced operator and participant practice (30 minutes)An experienced operator or mechanic should demonstrate the total procedure of seed and fertilizer calibration in the field. Participants should practice this method of calibration.How to use a PTOS safely and effectivelyAt the end of the session, participants should be able to:• check engine oil and fuel, water, lubricant, belt pressure, tine setting and other components• set the tines correctly for full tillage (48 tines) and strip tillage (24 tines)• join the machine to the power tiller • start the machine and operate in the field, and • maintain safety and operate the PTOS safely Key messages to convey to participants during this session 1. Wear tight-fitting clothing when operating a PTOS machine to prevent entanglement in its moving parts.2. Be sure there is sufficient fuel and engine oil to complete the job before starting.3. Check nuts and bolts, belt pressure and tine setting.4. Be sure the seed-fertilizer box contains enough seed and fertilizer.Check the calibration of the seed and fertilizer meter has been done.Check the tine settings have been made correctly according to the type of tillage (i.e., 48 tines for full tillage and 24 tines for strip tillage)7. Keep the rotovator on-off lever in the off position before starting the machine.8. Select the appropriate furrow opener and set at the correct seeding depth for the type of seed (e.g., maize, wheat, mungbean) 11. Care should be taken so that clods of earth or straw do not get into the seed-fertilizer tubethis can cause blockages.For this session, you need the following resources and materials:• a PTOS machine • the flipchart Session 6: How to use a PTOS safely and effectively• A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• a piece of crop land to demonstrate the PTOS in operation• an experienced PTOS operator • blank poster paper/whiteboard, whiteboard stand, dry erase/marker pens Above: Demonstrating safe operation of the PTOS.Power tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 21Step 1: Introduction to a practice session on operating a PTOS safely (10 minutes)Begin Session 6 in the field immediately after closing Session 5, assisted by an experienced operator/ mechanic. Initiate the session through a question-andanswer session and short discussion.Ask: How many of you can operate a PTOS machine? Make a note the answers on poster paper/whiteboard to remember which participants are skilled and which unskilled.Then ask: What are important considerations for starting and running a PTOS?Encourage one or two participants to answer. Note responses on the poster paper/whiteboard if it will help facilitate discussion.Step 2: Demonstration of PTOS operation (30 minutes)The experienced operator describes and demonstrates the procedures for starting the machine and safely operating it, focusing on the following:• Wear tight-fitting clothing.• Check the engine fuel and oil to make sure there is enough.• Check the belt tension -make sure it is not loose.• Check lubricant in the chain, shaft and blademake sure there is enough.• Check lubricants in the transmission gearbox and bevel gearbox -make sure everything is well-lubricated.• Check and clear away any grass or straw which has jammed the tines or rotary shaft.The experienced operator then starts the PTOS and runs it to demonstrate the following:• starting the PTOS • running the PTOS for full tillage • running the PTOS for strip tillage • clearing away any grass, straw or soil jam from the tines or other partsStep 3: Operating a PTOS (practice) (50 minutes)One participant from each group should operate the machine on uncultivated land for at least one pass each for (1) full tillage, and (2) strip tillage. The experienced operator/mechanic should guide them.Monitor the activity, making sure that any unskilled participants practice operating the machine (tillage and seeding) successfully, and point out areas for operation improvement.Troubleshooting and maintenanceAt the end of the session, participants should be able to:• understand and explain common failures/ breakdowns of the PTOS• make basic repairs and adjustments, and solve different operational problems• ensure good maintenance of the machine Key messages to convey to participants during this session• Overloading the PTOS can cause the horizontal transmission shaft to break, resulting in complete machine failure.• The seed metering shaft may bend due to jams in the metering system, causing non-uniform seed metering.• Overloading the gear pinions (by tilling hard soil or tilling too deeply) and lack of gear oil causes hitching gears; this may reduce engine power.• The seed/fertilizer on-off clutch might stop working due to wearing/breaking, wearing of clutch ball, or loosening/wearing of the spring inside the clutch.• The rotary shaft can stop rotating and produce noise because of lack of gear oil, overloading or the wearing of the bearings.• The leveling roller bearings can jam or become faulty due to rusting or damage of the bearing seal (a result of the gathering of soil on it) or the roller shaft bending.• Mishandling or excessive wear and tear can cause the casing on the vertical transmission chain-sprocket box to break.For this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• the flipchart Session 7: Troubleshooting and maintenance • A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• blank poster paper/whiteboard, whiteboard stand, dry marker/whiteboard pens• faulty/broken PTOS parts (if available)• spare PTOS parts (if available),• an experienced mechanicStep 1: Introduction to the practice session (20 minutes)Begin Session 7 in the field immediately after ending Session 6. An experienced mechanic should be on hand to assist. Initiate the session through questions and answers to warm up participants.Ask: What are the common causes of failure/ breakdown of a power tiller and a PTOS machine?Allow one or two participants to share their experiences with PTOS breakdown or other malfunctioning problems. If they have not operated a PTOS before, ask what they expect problems could be.List important points on blank poster paper or white board.Next, refer to the flipchart Session 7: Troubleshooting and maintenance to discuss common causes of PTOS failure/breakdown and their solutions. Consider the following points:• horizontal transmission shaft and its casing break • seed metering shaft bends • hitching gears (both on PTOS and 2WT)• seed/fertilizer on-off clutch does not work • rotary shaft does not rotate • leveling roller bearings jam • casing on the vertical transmission chainsprocket box breaksPower tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 23Use the flipchart to review the importance of maintenance and proper storage of the machine, emphasizing the following points:• Remove and clear away straw and other particles from machine parts and tighten nut bolts.• Fill rotovator chain-sprocket casing with lubricant if quantity is low.• Apply lubricant to each moving part (e.g., bearings, bush, chain-sprocket).• For long-term storage at the end of the season, the machine should be washed and cleaned properly after necessary repairing. Ideally, store the PTOS under a shed or cover with a polythene sheet.• Re-paint the PTOS when necessary.• Store the machine in a dry place and beyond the reach of children.Step 2: Demonstration of faulty PTOS parts (40 minutes)If available, an experienced mechanic demonstrates faulty parts of the machine and how to repair/replace them, and demonstrates/discusses maintenance and storage of the machine. If a mechanic is not available, engage an experienced service provider; if not available, the facilitator should complete this part of the training.Step 3: Quick review (10 minutes)At the end of this session, conduct a quick review of sessions 3, 4, 5 and 6, using the same procedure as outlined above for the review of sessions 1 and 2 (carried out at the end of Session 2).At the end of Session 7, return to the classroom.Starting a PTOS businessAt the end of the session, participants should know how to:• explain the meaning of 'business' and 'business plan'• work out how much it costs to operate a PTOS for line sowing different crops• develop a smart business plan so that both they and their clients can profit• provide a PTOS service to farmers efficiently and profitably• record financial information (costs and benefits)and do a rough analysis of the profitability of providing a PTOS serviceService providers use business plans to make the most money possible while keeping farmer-clients satisfied.Participants should be able to answer the following questions. If they have any trouble, the facilitator should assist them.• Where can you find farmer-clients for line sowing different crops?• What is the demand for line sowing different crops? How can a service provider increase this demand?• What is my capacity to provide this service?What more do I need to know or learn to start and run a PTOS business?• What machinery and equipment do I need for line sowing different crops?• What is the profit from my proposed PTOS business?For this session, you will need the following resources and materials:• the flipchart Session 8: Starting a PTOS business • A4 printed copies of the flipchart as a handout for each participant• blank poster paper/whiteboard, whiteboard stand, marker pens • a service provider successfully marketing PTOS services (if available)Step 1: Introduction to running a PTOS business (15 minutes)If available, introduce a successful PTOS service provider and ask him/her to share his/her experience running a PTOS business. Cover the following points:• Why did you decide to start a PTOS business?• How are you running your PTOS business?• What are the costs and benefits of the business?• When did you break even on the cost of investing in the PTOS (that is, when did the income gained equal the purchase cost of the PTOS)?• What activities/strategies make your PTOS business profitable?• What challenges do you face?• What benefits are the farmers-clients obtaining from using the service?Encourage participants to interact with the service provider and discuss the use of the PTOS as a business.If a successful PTOS service provider is not available, the facilitator should present a generic business model and cost-benefit analysis based on a successful service provider's practice, or on general material using the flipchart. Step 2: Group exercise to work out the costs of running a PTOS business (60 minutes)Briefly discuss the following points, referring to the flipchart:• What is a business?• What is a business plan?Lead a participatory/group exercise (participants should stay in the groups they formed at the beginning of the training) to develop a business plan and costbenefit analysis. Use the flipcharts to calculate how to make a profit selling PTOS services while at the same time benefiting farmers.Guide the discussion using the questions below, which participants should discuss in their group, arriving at answers that make sense to the group. Make a note of the decision agreed on by all the groups and enter it in the respective boxes. When all the boxes are complete, the resulting information will give one version of a PTOS service business plan/model and its related costs and benefits. Note: this model is likely to change in different locations and for different crops, machines, and so on. The goal here is to get participants to carefully think through the different aspects of running a service provision business in ways that benefit both themselves and the smallholder farmers who purchase their services.Use wheat as a case study crop (or use an alternative crop as an example, if appropriate, but note that the types of tillage, sowing and fertilizing may be different):a. What is the cost of tilling land with a two-wheeled tractor power tiller + manual seed sowing and fertilizing + re-tilling or laddering for wheat?First, participant groups should decide the 'unit area of land' according to which the cost will be determined (this will help other calculations later on). For example, allow the group to agree on what percentage of a hectare, area in m2 or local land unit to consider for this exercise. It is probably best to use the average unit size of a farmer's field in their area.To make it easier to work through this question, you can ask about the cost of each operation separately, and then combine the results: 1. What is the cost of tilling land by power tiller for wheat? Note that providing tillage for wheat usually requires several passes with a power tiller. Where this is the case, decide on the cost of each pass and then add them up and record the total cost for the sum of all passes. 2. How much does it usually cost to do manual sowing and fertilizer application? (Note: for this question, it is best to include the value of family labor in the calculation. This is called an opportunity cost and is an important consideration for family farmers and smallholders). 3. What is the cost of re-tilling or laddering? 4. Should farmers determine the cost based on time?Based on the size of the land? Or based on number of laborers? 5. For wheat, what is the total cost of tilling by power tiller + manual sowing + laddering and fertilizing a unit area of land (decimal/acre/hectare)?.In Box B, note the purchase price of a PTOS (plus the purchase cost of a two-wheeled tractor, for new buyers only) as agreed on by all the groups.. c. How much does it cost a service provider to operate a PTOS for tilling + sowing + fertilizing in the unit size of land agreed on by the farmers, for wheat?Again, to make it easier to work through this question, ask about the cost of each operation separately and then combine the results:1. How much oil and fuel would be needed for the unit of land area agreed on by participants? How much does it cost to make a single pass with the PTOS on this land area? 2. How much time will it take for a service provider to use a PTOS to till, seed and apply basal fertilizer to the unit of land area decided on by the participants? What is the value of this time? This is known as the opportunity cost of the SP's labor.It is usually best to use the average labor cost per hour or per day as the value of the SP's labor. However, this is an abstract economic concept, and may be too complicated for the participants to grasp. If so, choose to simply value their time as zero (meaning no monetary expenditure will be counted for the SP's labor and time). 3. Does this differ from other crops (e.g., jute, mungbean) or alternative crops in your area?Encourage participants to choose and analyze at least 1-2 alternative crops that can be seeded with the PTOS.Log the oil-fuel cost per unit area in Box C.A PTOS tills, sows seed and applies fertilizer simultaneously, meaning that no additional labor cost is incurred for sowing and fertilizing. However, in Box D, enter the value of the opportunity cost of the service provider's labor and time taken (or, if calculating opportunity cost is too complicated, enter zero) to use the PTOS in a farmer's field (based on the consensus of the three groups).d. How much money should service providers charge for PTOS tillage, sowing and fertilizing?Again, to make it easier to work through this question, ask the following: 1. How much does one pass to till, seed, and provide basal fertilizer application cost? 2. If a power tiller costs a certain amount of money (which you can refer to in monetary value in units of 'X') then how much should the PTOS cost (which you can refer to in units 'Y')? Y may be greater than 'X' as it serves both tillage and seeding and fertilizing, or it may be lower than 'X' because the participants might agree that the power tiller needs to be used several times before seed can be sown (thus using more than one pass). These subtle differences need to be discussed clearly with participants and worked out collectively.Guide the participants to work out an amount that brings them profit but ideally is lower than the total cost of power tiller plowing (which may require multiple passes in the same field) + hand sowing and fertilizing + re-tilling or laddering on the same land area (if the latter is the applicable practice for a particular crop). This point is very important, as the lower cost of PTOS services is what will attract farmers to pay for PTOS tillage, sowing and fertilizing.In Box E, note down the PTOS service provider's service charge per unit area as agreed on by the three groups.Note: it is also beneficial to discuss that use of the PTOS generally saves time for farmers compared to multiple power tiller passes (which are often practiced on separate days), and compared to hand sowing and fertilizing, followed by re-tillage or laddering (if this is the sequence of steps for the crop in question). The yield of wheat in South Asia, for example, usually declines each day a field is planted late. This is because late planted wheat matures when the temperature in the spring is hotter, which reduces the amount of days the crop is growing in the field, and because it can cause sterility of the wheat spikes. Using a PTOS allows earlier crop establishment -sometimes, 5-7 days earlier. In general, less total time and effort is needed to establish a field using a PTOS, which can be powerful and attractive to farmers.e. How much does the service provider profit per unit area of wheat land (tilling + sowing + fertilizing)?Calculate this amount by subtracting the oil-fuel cost per unit of land area from the money farmers pay as a service charge:Next, write in Box F on the flipchart the service provider's profit per unit of land area chosen by consensus of the groups.f. How much do farmers save per unit area of wheat land using the PTOS for tilling + sowing + fertilizing?Again, to make it easier to work through this question, address it step-by-step, as follows: Subtract the money farmers will pay as service charge (per the chosen unit of land area) from the cost of tilling by traditional power tiller (which again may require multiple passes) + laddering + manual sowing and fertilizing. The resulting value is the savings the farmers gain from using the PTOS for Box G:In Box G, write the savings in the correct place on the flipchart listed as \"[A-E].\"\".g. The following additional calculations can also be considered:The PTOS can be used for many crops, not only wheat. It can be used to seed maize, mungbean, sunflower, lentils, jute (if care is taken in the process of calibration and seeding) and many other small and medium-sized seed crops. Generally, the fluted rollers can be changed to accept seeds of different shapes and sizes, although the machine will need to carefully recalibrated.Participants can calculate the same information for crops other than wheat, and work out the profit for farmers and their service provision businesses in the same way as described above.Following the above procedure, complete the boxes for 'Alternative crop 1\" (boxes H to N) and 'Alternative crop 2\" (boxes I to U) as shown on the flipchart. Care should be taken to include the correct number of tillage operations and oil-fuel cost; these are likely to vary with each alternative crop.h. What area of land (in units chosen collectively by the participants) do you think you can till + sow + fertilize with a PTOS in a single day?Participants should agree on the area of wheat, or 'Alternative crop 1' and 'Alternative crop 2', or a combination of crops, that one can till + sow + fertilize with a PTOS in a single day. Make a note of the area for each of the crops on the flipchart, that is, in Box V for wheat (AA=), Alternative crop 1 (AB=) and Alternative crop 2 (AC=).Here, focus should be on the crops available in the area where the training is taking place.Power tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 27i. iHow many days do you think a service provider can till + sow + fertilize different crops with a PTOS in one year?Participants should agree on the number of days an SP can provide PTOS services (tillage + sowing + fertilizing) for different crops (grown in the area the training is taking place) in different cropping seasons in one year. Note the number of days that a PTOS service can be rendered for each of the crops on the flipchart, that is, in box W for wheat (AD=), Alternative crop1 (AE=) and Alternative crop 2 (AF=).j. How much does a PTOS service provider profit from tilling + sowing + fertilizing wheat, or 'Alternative crop 1' and 'Alternative crop 2' with a PTOS?Multiply the land area of wheat that can be serviced in one day and the number of days a PTOS service can be provided for wheat in one year by the profit per chosen land area. Write the result in Box X. This is the approximate annual profit from using the PTOS to seed wheat (note: this may vary slightly if the SP charges different farmers differently for their fields, or if field size varies. The point of this exercise is to provide a general idea of profitability potential).Apply the formula below, using the calculations already made and logged on the flipchart:Next, calculate the annual profit from other crops, using the following formula:The formula below can also be used:Participants should thus arrive at a consensus about the total profit in a year. Note this in Box Y.k. Breaking even is the point at which a service provider has accumulated profits that equal the cost of investing in a PTOS machine. How many days or how much land area must be tilled + sowed + fertilized by the PTOS to break-even?Dividing the cost of purchasing the PTOS by the total annual profit earned from PTOS service sales to farmers will result in the time required to break even. Calculate this using the formula below:In consensus with the three groups, write the 'estimated time to break even' in Box Y.Note: this calculation gives only the estimated time to break even, considering the total profit from the whole year (all crops seeded within a year).But how much area has to be tilled + sown + fertilized using the PTOS to break even? To answer this, use the following formula, inserting values decided on by the groups instead of the letters:Write the 'required area to break even' on the flipchart, based on the consensus of the groups.If it takes too long to break even, ask the SPs how they could change their business models to profit more while still keeping tilling prices lower than that of traditional power tiller and hand sowing + fertilizing + laddering (where applicable). The goal is to find ways for participants to make a profit quickly, while giving farmers an opportunity to prepare land at a reduced cost.l. For more advanced participants, start a discussion about the interest on the credit used to purchase the machine, and the time needed to repay these loans. Use additional calculations to determine when the loan and interest should be repaid. . m. Finally, ask each group to note if they see any difference(s) between the real-world, observed PTOS businesses and the ones they have developed, and suggest strategies/activities for a profitable PTOS service business. Each group should present their assignment on a sheet of poster paper. If time does not permit, a single business model analysis can be presented.Step 3: Discussion (10 minutes)Discuss the following points and record any important aspects of running a PTOS service business on the flipchart.• primary investment • monthly expenditure on and income from the PTOS • list of potential farmers to whom a PTOS service could be provided• (for advanced groups) cost of a loan, interest and other considerationsStep 4: Review of the session's key messages (5 minutes)Review the key messages using the Session 8 flipchart.Review of key messages, post-training evaluation and close of trainingFor this training session, you will need the following resources and materials:• the flipchart Session 9: Review of key messages,• a copy of the post-evaluation questionnaire for each participant• handouts or other materials (e.g., leaflets, brochures, if available)Step 1: Question-and-answer session to review key points of the training (20 minutes)Review each session by asking participants to recall the key messages, to make sure they have understood those which are essential.Ask the following questions:• What are main parts of a PTOS?• What are the benefits of line sowing by PTOS?• What is calibration?• What is full tillage and strip tillage?• What are the potential major failures or breakdowns of the PTOS and their cause(s)? What are their solutions?• What is a business plan?v How can you make PTOS services profitable, while also benefiting farmers?Check the \"Participants' Expectations\" as noted in Session 1 of the training (Step 2) and ascertain whether these have been fulfilled. If not, address them through discussion or follow-up meetings and consultations.Step 2: Complete the post-training evaluation questionnaire (30 minutes)Distribute the post-training evaluation questionnaires to participants and allow about fifteen minutes to complete it. Calculate the scores, and check them against their pre-training evaluations. Give both the preand post-training evaluations back to participants for review, and record each participant's score in a training or project logbook. Take time to discuss any common errors with participants and correct any misconceptions before closing the training.Step 3: Distribute additional materials (5 minutes)Distribute any handouts, leaflets, brochures and other materials among participants.Step 4: Close the training (10 minutes)   ♦ Discuss each topic with your group.♦ Speak up when the facilitator asks questions -and ask questions yourself. This way we can learn from each other.Inspecting the two-wheeled tractor before starting (1)Start by checking the bolts and tightening them.Fill the radiator with water.Fill the tank with high quality fuel.Make sure the V-belts Make sure the small fan are tight.belt is tight. Inspecting the two-wheeled tractor before starting ( 2)Check and fill the oil Verify the air filter and transmission.exhaust pipe are not blocked.To start, make sure all gears oil clutch and bearings.are in neutral.Turn the fuel tap to the left Turn the throttle fully to the 'on' position.to 'on' position. ♦ can be attached to a Dongfeng or Sifeng two-wheeled tractor.♦ has 48 blades for tilling the soil (compared to 18 on a power tiller).♦ reduces the time needed to till and plant a field.Using a PTOS to plant farmers' fields can be profitable -both for the machine owner and the farmer! Most PTOS are 1.2 m wide, but some are 1 m wide.♦ The depth of tillage is adjustable, but can be as deep as about 6 cm.♦ The PTOS usually weighs about 145 kg.♦ Power tillers require between 2-4 passes to complete tillage and sowing -the PTOS needs only one pass. What are the advantages of using the PTOS for line sowing?    With most PTOS, these are more common for seed and fertilizer.Function: these meters deliver seed and fertilizer from the seed boxes to the seed tubes. They rotate as the machine moves, capturing seed and fertilizer, and dropping them into the seed tubes.The seed and fertilizer meters    What is calibration -and why is it important? (1)Calibration is essential to make sure that the PTOS meters the correct rate of seed (or fertilizer) per unit land area.Calibrate the PTOS by changing the length of the fluted rollers (so they provide more, or less, seed and fertilizer).Some machines have inclined plates -you can change these for different seed types. Inclined plates provide precise seeding, though calibration checking is still necessary.Calibrate your PTOS at least once at the beginning of every season, and when you change from sowing one crop type to another. Calibrating the PTOS: An example Remember: 1 ha = 7.5 bigha, around 247 decimals or 10,000 m 2 .The recommended seed rate for machinesown wheat is 100 kg per ha (16 kg per bigha, or 0.4 kg per decimal).Following the appropriate line distance for the crop being sown (for wheat this is 20 cm from row to row), set the position and number of furrow openers starting at the middle point of the machine.For wheat, 6 furrow openers will give a line-to-line average distance of 20 cm (0.2 m), and a full length of 1.2 m -so place the furrow openers starting at the center of the machine (0.6 m).Session 5 • Calibration of the PTOS HANDOUT MATERIALS Session 5 • Calibration of the PTOS For maize, 2 furrow openers will give a line-to-line average distance of 60 cm (0.6 m) -so set them both 30 cm away from the center of the machine at 0.6 m, measured from the side of the machine.For mungbean, 4 furrow openers will give a line-to-line average distance of 30 cm (0.3 m) -so set the first left and right ones 15 cm from the center (at 0.6 m), then the others 30 cm away.Remove unused furrow openers and attach plastic bags to the remaining ones (unless sowing maize or sunflower).1. If you are sowing 4 rows, remove the extra furrow openers.2. 2. Cover the openings to these furrow openers' seed tubes in the seed and fertilizer boxes with tape (this keeps the seed and fertilizer from spilling onto the ground).3. Attach plastic bags to the end of the seed delivery tube (by removing the tube from the furrow openers you will use) with rubber bands. Make sure there is enough space for them to collect seed or fertilizer.To meter seed at the correct rate, we need to know how much seed is required in each line's plastic bag before running the machine in the field. This can be determined by using a simple generic calculation:Required seed quantity in plastic bag (kg) = desired seed rate (kg/ha) × line -to -line distance (m) × plot length 10,000 m 2 (equal to 1 hectare)For wheat sown at a rate of 120 kg/hectare on a trial plot 20 m long, with a line-to-line distance of 20 cm, the calculation is: For crops like maize where the number of seeds per unit of land area is more important than the weight, the calculation is different. For example, irrigated maize is often seeded at a rate of 83,333 plants per hectare, and at 60 cm line-to-line spacing.To calibrate for this rate using the same 20 m trial plot, do not use plastic bags. Instead, let the seed fall on the ground and count the number of seeds per 1 m length (do this along several one-meter lengths to ensure consistency).Here is the formula for maize using this seed rate:   If you are using a fluted roller and seeds are found to be more (or less) than the required amount, turn the knob to the right (or left) to reduce (or increase) the size of the fluted roller that is visible from the top of the seed box. This changes how much seed is metered.Repeat this process until you have achieved the correct seed rate.When you have arrived at the right seed rate, use a permanent marker to mark on the machine where to set the knobs for each crop (although it's advisable to check this calibration at the beginning of each season). Some PTOS use an inclined plate seed meter -these don't require much adjustment, as each plate is made specifically for the type of seed you want to meter, at the correct rate.For these seed meters, the seed rate depends on the number of cells on the periphery of the plate and the number of revolutions per minute the plate turns.♦ Calibration means setting up the PTOS to get a definite seed or fertilizer rate before operating the machine.♦ Calibrate seed meters, considering:(1) the style of seed metering plate (whether fluted or inclined), and(2) the type and size of seed.  Safe PTOS operation is a must! (1)♦ The PTOS can be dangerous -it's important to stay safe when using it.♦ Wear tight clothing when operating a PTOS machine, so it won't become tangled in its moving parts -this can cause injury or even death. How do you prepare the PTOS for use in the field?♦ Be sure there is enough fuel, engine oil and water in the radiator to run the machine and complete the day's work.♦ Check the nut and bolts on the PTOS, and the belt pressure and tine setting. Make sure all the nuts and belts are tight.♦ the tine settings and make sure they are correct for the type of tillage (48 tines for full tillage and 24 tines for strip tillage), and that you have the right blades for your soil type type.Power tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 77rotovator with 48 tines used for full tillage of wheat rotovator with 24 tines arranged for strip tillage of wheat; blade arrangement should be changed for other crops, depending on line-to-line distance.♦ Keep the rotovator on-off lever in the off position until starting the machine.  During operation ♦ Remove straw and other objects from machine parts regularly; clean, and tighten nuts and bolts.♦ Make sure the rotovator chainsprocket casing has sufficient lubricant.♦ Apply lubricant to all moving parts like bearings, bushings and chainsprockets.For extended storage (between seasons)FLIPCHARTS AND HANDOUT MATERIALS Session 7 • Troubleshooting and maintenance ♦ Carefully wash and clean the PTOS ♦ Store the PTOS out of the rain.♦ Store the PTOS on a platform so it does not contact the soil.♦ If necessary, paint the PTOS to avoid rust.♦ Cover the gearbox with a polythene sheet.♦ Store the PTOS in a dry place, out of the reach of children. Annex 4Accurate procedure for measuring fuel consumption by two-wheeled tractors and the PTOSIn order to improve participants' learning, it can be instructional to measure how much fuel machines consume when following different tillage or seeding systems (for example, compare full tillage to conventional tillage or PTOS). Fuel consumption can be calculated in two ways: (1) directly, by measuring the force and forward speed (for tractors) or torque and rotary speed (for rotary tillage implements), and (2) indirectly, by measuring the engine's fuel consumption directly. The latter is easier for service providers to understand, and is the most useful.Both methods require taking measurements under idling and moving tillage conditions. The fuel consumption can be calculated from their difference. The direct method requires a load cell/ torque transducer and speed measurement system (potentiometer) and is quite accurate. Conversely, the indirect method requires simple tools, is considerably less expensive and can be performed in the field during training; however, it may be slightly less accurate. Simply completely filling the tank, using the machine, and measuring how much fuel was used is also quite inaccurate, so we recommend the simple and inexpensive indirect method of measuring fuel consumption, explained below. This method is applicable for both two-wheeled and four-wheeled tractor-based implements, as well as engines that are used to power irrigation pumps.Tools required for measuring fuel consumption• a tractor known for its good performance and fully equipped with standard parts and settings.It should be filled up with sufficient fuel, oil, water• implements to be tested (fully equipped with standard parts and settings), for example, power tillers vs. power tiller-operated seeders• a plastic can (2 liter capacity) with a tap (see Fig. 1)• a hose pipe (fuel hose) to connect the plastic can and the fuel filter• hose clamps to attach the hose • a measuring cylinder • a stopwatch • a tachometer (if available)Steps 1. Place the tractor fitted with the test implement near the field (unless it is being used for irrigation, where the pump should be set up where there is water). Each plot size should be large enough to run the tractor for at least 10 minutes without stopping (but 30-60 minutes is preferable). Plots need to be roughly identical in size and shape for an accurate comparison.2. Fasten the plastic fuel reservoir securely to a suitable place on the tractor (no lower than the height of the fuel tank).3. Fill the plastic fuel reservoir with two liters of fuel (diesel).Setting up the plastic can and connection of fuel hose for fuel consumption measurement of a power tilleroperated seeder, or PTOS(2BG-6A model). 5. Remove any air inside the hose or fuel pump/ injector by squeezing it out by hand.6. Idle the engine for about five minutes at the desired engine rpm (i.e., rpm that will provide the desired forward travel speed using the tachometer, if available), and lock the engine throttle lever.7. Measure the size of the experiment plot in m 2 (A).8. Place the tractor fitted with the test implement at an exact position in the field to start the tillage or seeding operation. 9. Adjust the settings of the machinery, if required. Record the setting of the tractor (gear position, engine rpm) and test implement (type, depth, width, spacing).10. Replenish the fuel tank up to the 2 L mark and start the test immediately at the set rpm.11. In minutes:seconds using a stopwatch, record the time (δt ) it takes to complete land preparation while covering the whole plot without interruption.12. Stop the engine immediately after completion.13. Replenish the fuel can up to the 2 L mark using the measuring cylinder and record the required amount in ml (δV).14. Follow these steps for other implements/ settings and other fields or machines.15. Calculate the fuel consumption using the formulas below:16. Fuel consumption (L/ha): ((δV))/((A)) × 10000/1000where δV = fuel required per plot (ml), and A = area of the experiment plot (m 2 ).Fuel consumption (L/h): ((δV))/((δt)) × 3600/1000where δV = fuel required per plot (ml), and δt = time required to cover one plot, in seconds.Power tiller-operated seeders for mechanics | 125Notes:This set of training modules focuses on ensuring that local service providers are able to make repairs to power tiller-operated seeders efficiently and correctly. This booklet is designed so that anybody who uses these materials can easily conduct training -even those with a limited background in and understanding of agricultural engineering or machinery. This training uses an experiential and hands-on modular format. It is based on a foundation of experiential and hands-on work, combined with discussion and reflection among participants. This means that although the facilitator is instructed on how to carry out the training and how to present the materials, the format in which this is done should be horizontal and participatory, with room for adaptation and modification.The technical materials included in this document should therefore be seen as a guide to supplement the in-depth knowledge that the trainee farmers and agricultural machinery service providers already have. By the conclusion of the training module, participant service providers will be well-equipped to repair power tiller-operated seeders as part of their ongoing agricultural machinery service business. Nonetheless, users of this booklet should carefully read all the instructions on how to implement the training effectively in order to ensure the best learning experience possible for the participants.Funded by","tokenCount":"13079"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6829015062.json b/data/part_1/6829015062.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a595d7f0ea20f2051777b6172c1fa529cc30c64b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6829015062.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"348730ce7b82da7ba318dd49576f3be1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/833ae3a4-fff7-4096-899d-9a5afe9524af/retrieve","id":"1880863619"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"246a3474-593c-4d2c-863e-33f4b29f84f8","pagecount":"16","content":"Dépêches 16 Parlons Tech Le bureau en dehors du bureau Sheida Mutuku Propriété La question des femmes et des TIC se pose-t-elle donc encore ? L'expérience de WOUGNET, qui continue de se préoccuper de l'accès et de l'usage des TIC, nous apporte un élément de réponse. En 2011, avec le soutien du bureau local du Fonds des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO), WOUGNET a formé 25 paysans (hommes, femmes et jeunes) de trois écoles d'application agricole du nord de l'Ouganda à l'utilisation combinée de trois TIC -le portable, la radio et le Centre d'information rural -pour obtenir les prix du marché. Dans les villages reculés d'Amuru et d'Anaka, le portable permet de rester en contact avec les proches et les amis. À l'occasion, il permet d'appeler les talk-shows de la radio locale pour faire un petit coucou ou participer au débat du jour. Lorsque WOUGNET a demandé à Angelina, une paysanne locale, si elle s'était déjà servie d'un téléphone, elle a répondu « Oui, je l'utilise parfois pour appeler des amis et des connaissances. » Il vous appartient ? « Non, il est à mon mari. Quand j'en ai besoin, je lui demande de me le prêter. » Il y a donc toujours un problème de propriété, surtout dans les villages reculés. En 2007, RIA (Research ICT Africa) a mené une enquête dans 16 pays africains. Il en ressort que, dans 11 d'entre eux, les chances de détenir un portable sont les mêmes chez les hommes et chez les femmes à revenu, niveau d'éducation et d'emploi similaires. Elles sont même plus grandes pour les Sud-Africaines et les Mozambicaines ; elles ne sont plus faibles que pour les Sénégalaises et les Tanzaniennes. Dans tous les cas, Perception et attitude Rédacteur invité Sommaire Les épouses disent que leurs maris deviennent très suspicieux dès qu'elles ont leur propre portable Certes, l'accès et l'utilisation des TIC se féminisent depuis dix ans ; mais leur prix autant que la perception et l'attitude à l'égard de cette féminisation posent encore question. ICT Update numéro 68, octobre 2012. ICT Update est un magazine multimédia disponible à la fois sur Internet (http://ictupdate.cta.int), en version papier et sous forme d'une newsletter diffusée par courriel. Parution du prochain numéro en décembre 2012.L e dernier article consacré par ICT Update à la question des femmes et des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) remonte à 2002 ; or tout a changé depuis, en termes de disponibilité et d'accès. En 2002, on savait déjà que les TIC chambouleraient les activités de soutien à l'agriculture et au développement rural. Depuis, le secteur des télécommunications a explosé aux quatre coins de la planète. eTransform Africa rapporte qu'en 2000 l'Afrique comptait moins de 20 millions de lignes téléphoniques fixes et que 3,5 millions de raccordements étaient en attente. L'essor des réseaux mobiles fait que l'Afrique compte aujourd'hui 500 millions d'abonnements. En d'autres termes, il y a plus d'Africains qui ont accès à un portable qu'à l'eau potable, à un compte en banque ou à l'électricité. La situation est analogue dans les Caraïbes et le Pacifique, où le réseau cellulaire couvre au moins 98 % de la population, d'après un rapport de la Banque mondiale et de l'Union internationale des télécommunications (UIT).L'essor des TIC en général, et du portable en particulier, a entraîné l'apparition d'une pléthore de services et d'applications, qu'il s'agisse de services financiers au Kenya, d'informations sur les marchés agricoles au Ghana, de la déclaration d'impôts électronique en Afrique du Sud ou de systèmes d'irrigation par capteurs en Égypte. En 2002, WOUGNET se servait principalement du courriel et du web, ce qui restreignait son champ d'action à ses groupescibles : les femmes et les associations féministes ougandaises. En 2012, la gamme des TIC s'est étendue et le portable engendre de nouvelles activités comme l'envoi d'alertes et d'astuces agricoles par SMS, l'insertion d'appels téléphoniques dans les émissions de radio, ou l'organisation de campagnes de plaidoyer par SMS durant les « 16 journées d'activisme contre la violence faite aux femmes ». cependant, l'étude constate que les hommes dépensent plus en communications que les femmes, et que les dépenses des femmes en communications représentent une part plus importante de leurs revenus. Lorsqu'elle tient compte en outre de facteurs tels que l'âge, le niveau d'éducation, le revenu, la zone rurale, le type d'emploi, l'appartenance à un réseau social et les singularités nationales, l'enquête de RIA constate que les femmes connaissent et utilisent moins l'Internet et que peu de femmes ont une adresse courriel. Elle constate en outre que davantage d'hommes que de femmes écoutent la radioprincipale source d'information des populations rurales et à faible revenu.« En maîtrisant les TIC, tu pourras mettre très rapidement ton riz sur le marché ! » Ni cette incitation, ni l'idée de faire la publicité de son riz via l'affichage public mis en place par le projet n'ont convaincu Christine, une des agricultrices présentes à la session de formation de WOUGNET. Moralité : ne jamais oublier l'importance de la perception, de l'attitude et du changement lorsqu'on s'interroge sur la pertinence et le prix des TIC en fonction du genre.La question des femmes et des TIC se pose donc encore, autant que celle des raisons qui font qu'on commence à utiliser les TIC, puisqu'elles s'avèrent différentes selon le sexe. Les hommes ont une approche utilitaire de la technologie, alors que les femmes seraient davantage séduites par sa facilité d'emploi, d'après un rapport de 2000. Qu'en est-il en 2012, face à la plus grande convivialité des TIC et à une prise de conscience de leur champ d'application ? Et avec quelles conséquences pour les inventeurs et les développeurs de matériels et de logiciels qui veulent répondre aux besoins des deux sexes ?La situation des femmes rurales et à faible revenu dans les pays ACP est particulièrement intéressante à cet égard. Bien que les options technologiques aient beaucoup évolué en dix ans, au point d'assister à une prolifération du portable, du Web 2.0, etc., les préoccupations premières et les besoins particuliers des femmes rurales et à faible revenu n'ont pas tant évolué que cela. En 2012, le programme mWomen du GSMA a publié une recherche, Striving and Surviving: acquérir de portable parce qu'elles ne savent pas s'en servir. Un autre quart connaît toutefois l'Internet mobile. Mais 2 % seulement l'ont déjà utilisé, ce qui limite le champ d'exploitation de services mobiles basés sur Internet. À nouveau, les services et programmes TIC doivent intégrer les questions de genre afin de promouvoir un accès équitable. Comme l'ont souligné plusieurs études consacrées aux TIC et la violence faite aux femmes, plus de 80 % des épouses disent que leurs maris deviennent très suspicieux dès qu'elles ont leur propre portable.Rien ne sert d'accroître la disponibilité et l'accès aux TIC, ni leurs services et applications dans les zones rurales, s'il subsiste des problèmes d'accès fondamentaux (infrastructure, pertinence, prix abordable), de même que des problèmes de perception et d'attitude envers la féminisation des TIC. L'accès égal des hommes et des femmes aux TIC doit faire l'objet d'un plaidoyer constant. ◀ Dorothy Okello (dokello@wougnet.org) est la fondatrice et directrice de WOUGNET (http://wougnet.org/).Exploring the Lives of Women at the Base of the Pyramid, à laquelle ont participé plus de 2 500 femmes de quatre pays : l'Égypte et l'Ouganda pour l'Afrique, la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée pour le Pacifique et l'Inde pour l'Asie.Ces pays ont été choisis pour leurs différences sociales, culturelles et commerciales. Vu la grande diversité de l'Inde, 1 000 femmes y ont été sélectionnées, contre 500 dans chacun des trois autres pays. Les principales constatations de l'étude, bien que se rapportant spécifiquement à l'usage du portable, décrivent les besoins particuliers des femmes vivant au bas de l'échelle, c.-à-d. avec moins de deux dollars par jour, en termes d'accès et d'usage des TIC. Première conclusion : les services et applications TIC doivent être accessibles et pertinents eu égard au quotidien de ces femmes. En d'autres termes, les services SMS doivent leur en donner pour leur argent puisque 37 % seulement des femmes utilisent le SMS (contre 77 % pour les appels vocaux). Les applications mobiles de santé -ou autres -doivent parfaitement s'intégrer dans le quotidien de ces femmes pour susciter leur adhésion. Sur les 84 % de femmes ayant besoin d'informations sanitaires, moins de la moitié souhaitent les obtenir via leur portable.Deuxième conclusion : l'utilisation des services et applications TIC se heurte à un manque (parfois total) de maîtrise des TIC. Près d'un quart des femmes interviewées ne veulent pas Jake LyeLL / aLaMy Les freins économiques et cognitifs ne sont pas les seuls à influencer l'accès des femmes aux TIC. L'accès aux TIC n'est pas le même selon le sexe, surtout en zone rurale. Cela peut varier selon le statut social de la famille, mais les gadgets électroniques sont souvent l'apanage de l'homme. Lorsqu'une famille ou un de ses membres possède un téléphone portable ou autre gadget électronique, c'est toujours l'homme qui en contrôle l'accès et l'usage ; la femme dépend de son bon vouloir.Bett Kipsang', agent de terrain au Ng'arua Maarifa Centre, peut témoigner de l'expansion quotidienne des TIC au féminin, mais aussi de la difficulté à atteindre les paysannes qui ont raté le train des TIC. Il a personnellement vécu le cas d'une femme venue au Maarifa Centre pour obtenir son numéro d'identification personnel (PIN) exigé par le gouvernement pour la déclaration fiscale. Le mari, qui l'avait accompagnée, ne cessait de la harceler sur le fait qu'elle ne lui avait pas dit « ce qu'elle traficotait sur l'ordinateur ». Cette femme s'est trouvée si mal qu'elle a dû partir avant d'avoir son code PIN. Elle est revenue le chercher, seule, le lendemain.Ce genre de situation décuple sa volonté d'aller de l'avant en proposant des projets et des services qui féminisent l'accès des TIC. Le Ng'arua Maarifa Centre organise des séminaires et des sessions de formation pour veiller à une représentation égale des femmes. « Nous nous efforçons de sensibiliser les hommes à cette problématique pour qu'ils autorisent leurs femmes à trouver des solutions à leurs problèmes, de leur propre initiative, grâce aux TIC », ajoute Kipsang' . « Nous avons mis en place des cours de formation destinés à l'ensemble de la communauté, mais plus spécifiquement aux femmes. Nous leur faisons connaître des initiatives de commerce en ligne, par exemple, qui leur permettent de vérifier les cours du marché sur un portail web, via Internet et leur téléphone portable. » Ce portail s'appelle Sokopepe, ce qui, librement traduit du swahili, signifie « marché en ligne » (www.sokopepe.co. ke). Développée par l'ALIN, cette initiative commerciale envoie aux paysans locaux des SMS qui les informent sur la situation du marché et leur permet de télécharger leurs offres en ligne et de recevoir des informations de différents centres commerciaux afin de vendre leur production en toute connaissance de cause. Ce système aide aussi les femmes rurales à connaître les prix et l'emplacement des acheteurs potentiels. « Une paysanne des régions rurales de Sipili », explique Kipsang', « peut négocier avec un acheteur situe à 480 km, c.-à-d. à Nairobi, la capitale prodigue du pays. Grâce aux services TIC, les femmes peuvent commercialiser leur production. »Faire venir les femmes aux ateliers et aux séances de formation pour y apprendre le maniement des TIC relève toutefois de la gageure. Au fil des ans, le Maarifa Centre a appris qu'il était plus facile de faire venir les femmes à des journées d'activité délocalisées, les femmes étant souvent asservies à des corvées ménagères.Il ressort de deux projets, l'un au kenya, l'autre au Burkina Faso, que les paysannes qui ont un meilleur accès aux TIC s'en servent pour améliorer leurs moyens d'existence. Il n'empêche que la fracture numérique et de sérieux problèmes entravent la déclinaison des TIC au féminin.Bett Kipsang' (ngaruamaarifa@alin.net) travaille pour l'ALIN (Arid Lands Information Network) comme agent de terrain au Ng'arua Maarifa Centre, dans le comté de Laikipia, au Kenya. Noélie Marceline Ouédraogo (ouednoelie@gmail.com) est la fondatrice et la coordinatrice en chef de l'association Songtaaba.C'est la raison pour laquelle le centre organise chaque mois ce type d'activité au profit des femmes de villages reculés. Au programme notamment, des présentations et des démonstrations de bonnes pratiques agricoles, de collecte de l'eau et d'autres activités agricoles pertinentes, telles que l'utilisation des TIC. À l'issue de ces visites, les femmes sont plus enclines à pousser la porte du centre.Plusieurs démarches sont nécessaires pour faire comprendre aux femmes tout le profit qu'elles peuvent retirer de l'utilisation des TIC. La plupart d'entre elles sont analphabètes ou peu instruites, ce qui complique d'emblée le recours aux TIC, et plus encore lorsque les services offerts le sont dans une langue étrangère comme l'anglais. Le Maarifa Centre demande aux femmes instruites du groupe de lire et d'expliquer les informations aux autres durant les réunions.Des vidéos traduites en langue locale sont montrées à l'aide de projecteurs ou d'iPods pour introduire de nouvelles méthodes agricoles ou commerciales et des mesures prophylactiques. « Dans le cas des femmes rurales, notre approche se distingue par sa \"convivialité\" et la simplicité des équipements utilisés », explique Kipsang' .La simplicité est également au coeur de la démarche suivie par Songtaaba, une association burkinabé de commercialisation de produits cosmétiques à base de beurre de karité, pour former des femmes rurales au maniement des TIC dans ce secteur économique national. Au Burkina Faso, le beurre de karité est en effet « l'or des femmes » depuis des décennies. Elles le produisent à partir des noix de l'arbre à karité, qui pousse à l'état sauvage dans les savanes d'Afrique de l'Ouest. L'arrivée des TIC en 2005 a toutefois chamboulé l'existence des productrices, souligne Noélie Marceline Ouédraogo, responsable de Songtaaba.Songtaaba produit deux types de beurre : le Karipur, un beurre traditionnel, et Karibio, un beurre certifié bio. L'association propose aussi un savon au beurre de karité ainsi que des épices séchées, autre activité traditionnelle des femmes burkinabé. L'association procure du travail à plus de 3 100 femmes dans 11 villages, et ses revenus ont considérablement augmenté depuis l'arrivée des TIC. La création de son propre site Internet lui a également donné un nouvel élan, par l'amélioration de ses techniques de vente et de marketing. Ce sont désormais des femmes qui actualisent et gèrent le site et traitent les courriels entrants. Le site revêt de l'importance pour donner des informations sur les prix et les produits à un large public et aux acheteurs potentiels. On peut passer commande par courriel, ce qui rend la communication avec des clients internationaux -les distributeurs canadiens et français pour les marchés nord-américain et européen, Des projets comme l'association Songtaaba et le Ng'arua Maarifa Centre s'avèrent efficaces pour soutenir l'apprentissage des TIC, de la lecture, de l'écriture et de diverses sources d'information utiles auprès de femmes désireuses de créer et de gérer leur propre entreprise, de s'assurer des moyens d'existence durables et de participer à la vie sociale et politique. Kipsang' et Noélie s'accordent toutefois à dire qu'il incombe aux développeurs de logiciels, au secteur des TIC ainsi qu'aux créateurs et aux investisseurs de prendre conscience des besoins et des intérêts spécifiques des femmes en matière de TIC. « S'ils s'intéressaient davantage aux femmes et à leurs besoins particuliers, en leur apportant une aide au niveau de l'économie ménagère, de la gestion du foyer, de l'accès au marché, des informations sanitaires, de la nutrition et des soins, les femmes seraient plus enclines à se servir des TIC », conclut Kipsang' . « Elles assument une grande partie des responsabilités familiales ; si les TIC étaient disponibles à un prix raisonnable, elles s'empresseraient de les utiliser pour résoudre nombre de leurs problèmes quotidiens. » ◀ Après cette première expérience de tournage, les membres de VH ont décidé de travailler avec un metteur en scène et un monteur professionnels pour s'attaquer à un travail d'envergure, un « docufiction ». Les fictions, « telenovelas » sont en effet très populaires en Amérique latine.Comme le groupe compte trois mères âgées de moins de 20 ans, la grossesse chez les adolescentes s'est naturellement imposée comme thème du docufiction. Le suivi des SMS entrants est une opération délicate. Les femmes ont souvent l'impression de n'avoir personne vers qui se tourner. Au Guatemala, comme dans d'autres parties de l'Afrique et des Caraïbes, dénoncer la violence semble vain tant l'impunité prévaut. Même lorsque les preuves existent et que la communauté connaît le coupable, celui-ci court peu de risque. L'omerta règne en maître, par crainte de représailles.« Nous sommes conscients des risques que prend notre public cible s'il envoie un texto », dit Bautista. « Lorsque nous organisons des événements communautaires et des séminaires de prévention de la violence, nous expliquons aux participantes qu'elles doivent impérativement s'abstenir de s'inscrire à notre service si elles pensent que leur partenaire espionne leurs communications. Nous leur conseillons alors de demander à un(e) ami(e), un(e) voisin(e), ou un membre de la communauté (une personnalité religieuse) de s'inscrire pour elles. » Lorsque Texting Peace reçoit des SMS de femmes qui ne sont pas encore sur sa liste de diffusion, il ne les ajoute pas automatiquement à sa liste de contacts.Les femmes peuvent ainsi contacter les opératrices de la ligne d'assistance au moment où elles se sentent en sécurité. Texting Peace ne leur envoie pas de message non sollicité, qui pourrait être interceptés par leur abuseur.  au zimbabwe, le coût d'utilisation d'un portable demeure relativement élevé, mais les entrepreneuses bénéficient d'un meilleur accès à la mobilophonie.A vec ses 750 000 habitants, Bulawayo est la deuxième ville du Zimbabwe, à 439 kilomètres au sudouest de la capitale, Harare. L'agriculture apporte un complément de ressource aux banlieusards pauvres, et surtout aux femmes, dont la grande majorité exerce une activité agricole.En 2009, la SNV, l'organisation de développement néerlandaise, a démarré un programme financé par le DFID en partenariat avec World Vision et en coopération avec l'association de paysans-producteurs PMRG afin de créer une activité de production et de commercialisation de volailles, de champignons et de lapins dans la banlieue de Bulawayo. Ce programme s'inscrivait dans un contexte de relative stabilité politique et donc de redressement économique du pays.Les TIC occupent une place de plus en plus importante dans ce programme d'agriculture urbaine car elles établissent un lien entre la filière et les marchés. Avant 2009, le paysage des TIC était quasi désertique. Les choses se sont nettement améliorées depuis, ouvrant de nouvelles perspectives aux Minenhle Ngwenya (mngwenya@snvworld.org) est conseillère en développement économique à la SNV -organisation néerlandaise de développement -au Zimbabwe. Le contenu de cet article n'engage que son auteur.  Afin de donner un coup de pouce aux initiatives mobiles de santé, l'organisation TtC a développé une plate-forme pour téléphone portable ouverte aux organisations de la société civile, aux entreprises sociales et aux institutions gouvernementales. Le but est d'accroître la connaissance et la sensibilisation à des questions de bien-être, surtout en matière de santé, de prévention du VIH/sida, de paludisme, de planification familiale, de malaria et de multipartenariat sexuel. Le système peut envoyer et recevoir des SMS, des MMS, des messages vocaux et des données mis gratuitement à la disposition des participants.Créé en 2008, TtC participe à plus d'une centaine de projets de toute nature. Il propose des quizz interactifs ou à intéressement destinés à éduquer, mobiliser et émanciper les individus ainsi que des programmes qui utilisent le téléphone portable comme support à des systèmes de gestion des informations de santé, à des enquêtes de recueil de données par SMS et à des programmes personnalisés de rappel de prise des médicaments.La mobilophonie est intéressante pour accroître la connaissance et la sensibilisation aux questions de santé, surtout auprès des femmes des PED, qui sont les gardiennes de la famille. En transcendant le niveau d'éducation, le portable permet, surtout à des femmes, de mieux s'informer au moment opportun.Comment cela fonctionne-t-il ? Vous trouverez quelques exemples sur le site web www.texttochange.org. La plateforme peut converser avec les participants en leur envoyant une question qui leur demande d'utiliser un mot spécifique, lié à la question, dans leur réponse. TtC crée un short code (numéro de 4 ou 5 chiffres) gratuit pour l'utilisateur. Si la réponse est correcte, celui-ci reçoit des informations supplémentaires. Si elle est fausse, il reçoit la bonne réponse, accompagnée d'une explication. TtC peut ainsi évaluer les niveaux de connaissances dans n'importe quel domaine de santé et envoyer des informations supplémentaires.TtC recourt essentiellement au SMS, pour ses divers avantages : rentabilité, extensibilité, commodité, périmètre et popularité considérables dans les PED.  ➜ Certains chercheurs de GRACE se sont penchés sur l'usage des TIC au profit des femmes, en analysant ce que les femmes propriétaires foncières d'Ismaïlia, en Égypte, par exemple doivent faire pour avoir leur mot à dire dans la gestion de leurs terres. Ou en voyant comment des rurales du Nord-Nigeria comblent leur besoin de communication grâce au portable. Les principales contraintes mises en lumière par ces recherches ont trait aux valeurs et systèmes qui érigent l'inégalité des genres en norme, que les hommes acceptent dans la vie des femmes et que les femmes elles-mêmes acceptent, ou du moins admettent souvent. Et comme si cela ne suffisait pas, le destin des TIC repose sur des sociétés privées et multinationales en quête du profit maximal. Sans accès ou presque au téléphone public, par exemple, la facture cellulaire peut s'avérer salée et accentuer les problèmes engendrés par les inégalités. Le ralliement à la philosophie capitaliste, qui privilégie le profit, prend le pas sur la contribution des TIC à la résilience de la communauté, aux capacités individuelles et au développement durable.Les TIC peuvent favoriser l'émancipation des femmes et un développement et un changement plus équitables dès lors que les rapports de force socio-économiques sont reconnus et aplanis. De mon point de vue, la contribution des TIC au développement et au changement dépend donc à la fois du contexte et, plus largement, des relations et valeurs socio-économiques.N'est-il pas temps de concentrer la recherche sur les contextes dans lesquels les femmes peuvent profiter des TIC ? ➜ Les chercheurs de GRACE ont maintes fois constaté un postulat d'accès dès lors qu'il y avait disponibilité, or l'accès est bien plus complexe que la simple disponibilité. Même lorsque les TIC sont disponibles, les rôles sociaux, les normes culturelles et le statut économique des femmes peuvent restreindre le temps, l'espace et le volume d'utilisation auxquels celles-ci pourraient prétendre, même s'il est évident qu'elles pourraient en tirer profit. Je pense que la vision de l'exclusion féminine est réductrice lorsqu'on sort « l'accès » et « l'usage » de leur contexte en laissant de côté la question complexe des inégalités.Dans notre prochain ouvrage, des chercheurs décrivent ce qui leur paraît fonctionner, à la lumière de leur enquête : les ingrédients nécessaires pour que les femmes puissent profiter d'une intégration des TIC dans leur vision d'elles-mêmes, de leur famille et de leur communauté. Comme le suggère le titre, Changing Selves, Changing Societies, il ne s'agit pas tant d'identifier des produits ou des besoins particuliers que des obstacles, des contraintes et des points d'appui dans nos sociétés, nos communautés et nousmêmes, et de trouver des solutions qui tiennent compte de ces éléments réels.➜ Pour parvenir à comprendre si et en quoi les TIC contribuent à améliorer la condition des femmes, les enquêtes doivent se concentrer sur les participantes et leur vision de leur environnement social, mais aussi sur ce qu'elles attendent des TIC, l'expérience qu'elles en ont et en quoi les TIC peuvent contribuer à la réalisation de cette vision. Pour ce faire, les femmes doivent prendre conscience non seulement de leurs propres intentions et de ce qui y fait en obstacle en elles et autour d'elles, mais aussi de leurs capacités et aptitudes. Nous avons également tenu compte du fait que les femmes ont « adapté » ce qu'elles considèrent de l'ordre du possible et du réalisable suivant les normes et représentations propres à leur contexte.C'est sans doute le côté « multistrates » de la réflexion et de l'analyse de GRACE qui permets de définir les besoins et la marche à suivre pour mettre les TIC au service du renforcement des capacités des femmes et de l'occupation par celles-ci de la place qu'elles méritent dans l'édification de communautés plus durables. On voit bien que les TIC peuvent contribuer à un développement durable, équitable et centré sur l'être humain lorsqu'on s'en sert délibérément pour réduire les inégalités politiques, économiques, sociales et culturelles. ◀  La perte de données sur un appareil mobile pose un réel problème, surtout aux entreprises, aux associations et aux particuliers. C'est en juillet que la société East Africa Data Handlers, basée à Nairobi, a dévoilé son nouveau logiciel, destiné à récupérer les données perdues sur un appareil portable suite à une panne du système, à un formatage, à une surcharge de courant, à l'effacement accidentel de fichiers ou à la corruption des données par un virus. Le logiciel est capable de récupérer jusqu'à cinq ans d'informations perdues sur la plupart des appareils. Sur les Android, iPhone et Blackberry, il peut récupérer les SMS, les MMS, les courriels, les mots de passe, les signets, les cookies, les contacts, les appariements Bluetooth et les mémos.  forbes.com, businesstrade.org, africa.com, entrepreneur.com, barrons.com, smartmoney.com et wsj.com figurent parmi mes sites préférés.Les smartphones sont une bénédiction pour moi ! En temps normal, j'effectue au moins six déplacements -au bureau, à une ou deux réunions à l'extérieur, à l'école en coup de vent, à la maison, au supermarché, au club de fitness et « coincée dans les embouteillages » ! Mon portable me permet d'accéder facilement à l'information partout, à toute heure. Je préférerais me limiter à un laptop, mais ça n'irait pas. Le smartphone est plus pratique parce que je l'utilise plus souvent pour la messagerie, la navigation sur Internet, les courriels, les photos, la musique, les transferts d'argent et les cartes Google. Mon portable est devenu « mon bureau en dehors du bureau ».Mon portable regorge d'apps que je n'utilise jamais. WhatsApp Messenger est en revanche une app de messagerie mobile multiplateforme dont je me sers tout le Sheida Mutuku (woodsidemarketing@yahoo.co.uk) est une entrepreneuse sociale, une consultante en RSE et une motivatrice. Elle dirige le Woodside Africa Group, qui gère le programme i-LIKE AFRICA (www.facebook.com/ILikeAfrica).temps et qui me permet d'échanger des messages sans devoir payer de SMS. Je peux également créer des groupes et envoyer de manière illimitée des images et des messages audio et vidéo à d'autres utilisateurs.J'utilise aussi un GPS Garmin pour mes longs déplacements et un iPad pour les réunions, les photos, faire des vidéos et écouter de la musique. Je stocke toutes les informations dont j'ai virtuellement besoin sur le service de backup dans les nuages de Safaricom. ➜ www.whatsapp.comJe rêve d'avoir un lecteur de pensées. Pour consigner toutes mes errances cérébrales 24 h sur 24, 7 jours sur 7 sur une sorte de moniteur et pouvoir les consulter ultérieurement ! Pour capter les pensées d'autrui : cela raccourcirait certainement les cycles de vente ! Toutes les TIC du monde n'ont toutefois aucun intérêt sans des hommes et des femmes qui pensent positivement, qui se lèvent et agissent, qui prennent leur vie en mains.C'est pour cela que je me réfère sans cesse au discours « Le citoyen d'une République » de Theodore Roosevelt, dont je tire cette célèbre citation : celui qui « connaît le grand enthousiasme » et qui, « dans la pire des hypothèses, chute » est un homme vrai parce qu'il « s'est élevé au-dessus des âmes mesquines qui n'ont jamais connu ni victoires ni défaites ». ◀ Monter une entreprise sociale de rang mondial, qui offre des programmes, des produits et des services efficaces, requiert de nombreuses recherches. Et de se tenir au courant des tendances mondiales dans le secteur. Les TIC permettent de glaner, de partager et de stocker ces informations.","tokenCount":"4609"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6830567109.json b/data/part_1/6830567109.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7389b54aff259d441ffb45a486c9369e7fe0b748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6830567109.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2a49aec252c4775b9633bb3bb448c6db","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://www.eikeluedeling.com/uploads/3/1/8/4/3184740/2011_luedeling_acci_climate_modelling_icraf_11-11.pdf","id":"927040252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"65a98175-7ceb-4efe-95ca-0d669dd80d08","pagecount":"76","content":"Eike Luedeling, World Agroforestry CentreClimate change is expected to impact crop production in the Lake Victoria Basin, yet little quantitative information is available on the extent and direction of these impacts. Without such quantitative information, however, developing appropriate adaptation strategies is difficult. While it may seem to make sense to promote measures that make farmers less vulnerable to climatic variability, such measures may not be economically recommendable. For example, putting in place irrigation infrastructure makes crops less vulnerable to water shortages, but this is only appropriate if there is a current or future risk of drought. If there is no such risk, purchasing expensive irrigation equipment would be a bad investment for most farmers.It is therefore important to anticipate effects of future climate change as accurately as possible and identify those climatic factors that represent the greatest risk of compromising food security. Once these factors have been identified, appropriate and quantitatively informed adaptation strategies can be devised. This study attempts to accomplish this for two counties on the Kenyan shore of Lake Victoria, Busia and Homa Bay, as well as for surrounding areas. The current and future suitability of this region for major agricultural crop was evaluated using a range of methods.Doing such an analysis is impaired by a striking shortage of necessary input data. Except for isolated rainfall data, there are essentially no long-term weather records for either district. This means that even current climate cannot be reliably characterized, placing constraints on the accuracy, with which the future can be projected. Targeted climate change projections for the study region have also been scarce, for the same reasons. Observations of local weather are needed for calibrating climate models, and where no records are available, the accuracy of climate models is questionable. Similarly, soil information for the study region is scarce, yet soil data is an essential input into any crop model. Finally, information on what crop varieties farmers grow, how these respond to climate, and how exactly they are managed, is unavailable. Some of this information could be obtained through detailed fieldwork, and recommendation will be made on how to go about improving the site-specific validity of modeling efforts. For the purposes of the current study, however, best-bet proxy datasets were used to arrive at the conclusions presented here. This study therefore provides a rough indication of the impacts of climate change on the production of major crops in the study region. It also presents an evaluation of which climatic factors are the most likely constraints for production of the various crops. Yet the results of this study should not be taken as completely accurate, because of the host of unknowns about essentially all important factors of climate, soils and cropping systems.Reliable climate data for the target region is scarce and of limited usefulness for climate change projection. Long-term weather station records from stations within the study area are only available for rainfall, whereas temperature records are limited to a small number of years, long in the past. Outside the study region, consistent weather records exist for a few stations, such as Kisumu, Kakamega and Kisii. While these stations lie in the geographic vicinity of the study counties, they are not necessarily climatically comparable, due to their positions directly at the lakeshore (Kisumu), or at higher elevation (Kisii and Kakamega). In addition to limited suitability as a proxy for climate in Busia and Homa Bay, station records also had gaps and were lacking information on radiation, both of which reduce their suitability for subsequent analysis steps.As an alternative source of climate information, the SLATE dataset produced by the HarvestChoice project was used in this study (White et al., 2008). This dataset combines daily observational records from the NASA-POWER dataset (for 1997-2008 at 1 degree resolution) with the results of climate model runs from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (for 1901-2006, at 0.5 degree resolution), resulting in a 100-year  record of daily weather information (temperature extremes, rainfall and radiation) for all of Sub-Saharan Africa at 0.5 degree resolution. The SLATE dataset was used for all subsequent downscaling steps.Three climate models were chosen for the analysis. Due to the short project duration, inclusion of more models was not possible, because model runs could not have been completed for a larger array of scenarios. The following three General Circulation Models were selected: http://ccafsclimate.org/download_allsres.html) were used for analysis. These projections have a spatial resolution of 2.5 min (approx. 25 km in the study region), and are available for two IPCC greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (A2a -'business as usual' emissions; and B2a -reduced emissions), and three points in time (2020s, 2050s and 2080s). CCAFS also provides baseline climatology for the time span 1950-2000 (Hijmans et al., 2005), which was used as a reference scenario.All climate scenarios used only provide monthly means of important weather variables, which are not sufficient for capturing variation in crop production due to climate variability. Consequently, models were temporally downscaled using the LARS-WG weather generator (Semenov, 2008). This tool uses daily weather data for a particular location to estimate climatic site parameters, which statistically describe rainfall, temperature extremes and radiation at the location, with separate distributions for wet and dry spells. Based on these parameters, LARS-WG can then be used to generate synthetic weather records, with the same characteristics as the original record. It is also possible to modify this process by including changes to monthly means of all climate variables extracted from climate change projections. The results can then be used to simulate climate change effects on biological processes at high resolution (e.g. Luedeling et al., 2011a;Luedeling et al., 2011b) Weather generator parameters were computed from all locations from the SLATE database, located within a rectangular area spanning 3.75°S -3.75°N and 31.25°E to 38.75°E. For all 200 stations, site parameters were calculated from SLATE's 100 years of daily weather. The spatial resolution of this dataset is only 0.5 degrees, so that only about 3 sites would have been located in the vicinity of Homa Bay and Busia counties (and only 2 in the counties). To enhance the resolution, each site parameter produced by the weather generator was extracted from the generated site files and spatially interpolated using the Kriging technique. The almost 6000 resulting grids were then sampled at selected locations within the study area, and LARS-WG parameter files were assembled for each location. The resulting set of 36 stations covered the entire study region at a spatial resolution of 0.2 degrees, corresponding to approximately 20 km.Climate scenarios for downscaling were obtained by sampling all monthly layers of minimum temperature, maximum temperature and precipitation for the three GCMs, for the A2a and the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. A2a is the 'business-as-usual' scenario, whereas B2a includes a gradual transition towards a low emission society. Consequently, climatic changes are typically greater in the A2a than in the B2a scenario. For each combination of GCM and greenhouse gas emissions scenario, projections for three time slices were used: the 2020s, the 2050s and the 2080s. Additionally, a climatic baseline was obtained from the WorldClim database. This data layer was generated with the same technique as CCAFS' climate projections, ensuring a cohesive dataset. From the resulting set of climate parameters, LARS-WG scenario files were prepared for all 684 combinations of site and climate scenario. Based on these files and the reassembled site parameter sets for each location, the weather generator was used to produce 25 years of synthetic daily weather data for each scenario. These 25-year records are not time series. They rather constitute 25 replicates of a given year's weather, spanning the range of weather situations that can plausibly be expected. Variation in these records is introduced by a random seed, ensuring that weather is variable, but within the confines dictated by the site parameters and climate scenarios.As with weather data, soil data for Kenya is scarce. Some surveying work has been done within the Fertilizer Use Recommendation Project, but this effort only included 6 sites within the study districts (Bukiri-Buburi and Alupe in Busia and Rodi Kopany, Rongo, Homa Bay and Oyugis-Ober in South Nyanza). This small selection surely does not cover the full range of soil types in the region. Closing this knowledge gap would require an extensive soil survey covering the full expanse of the study region, which was not possible in this study. Instead, globally available soil data from the ISRIC WISE database was used for the modeling of crop production (Batjes and Bridges, 1995). This database provides soil information on a 0.5*0.5 degree grid. For each such grid cell, up to 10 soil types are given in the database, with the respective share of the cell that is covered by this type. For the three most important soil types per grid cell, the FAO soil classification code was extracted, and information about the soil extracted from ISRIC's soil profile collection (Batjes, 2009). This database contains information from more than 10,000 soil profiles from around the world, with data on soil properties at different depth that is detailed enough for a process-based crop model that includes multiple soil layers. For all soil types in the database, and for all soil properties, the median values for the distributions were calculated. From the results, a typical profile for the respective soil type was constructed. The number of soil layers was determined as the number of layers present in more than two thirds of profiles from the database, for each soil type separately.Robust crop modeling requires detailed knowledge of a host of factors that influence cropping systems, such as the crop variety planted, sowing densities, fertilization regimes etc. In particular the crop variety needs to be defined not only by name, but with a comprehensive set of crop attributes describing crop phenology (timing of development stages in response to weather), photosynthetic rate etc. If all these factors are known, and reliable weather and soil information is available, crop yields can be simulated quite reliably, with several available models.In this study, most of the required information was not available, and the time frame of the study did not allow collecting sufficient data for the host of crops that were to be modeled. The crop modeling thus relied on a range of assumptions about pertinent factors. This will be sufficient for getting a general impression of climate change effects on major crops, but for yield projections to be accurate, field collection of relevant data and a repeat of the model runs are recommended.For modeling the production of annual crops, the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) was selected (Keating et al., 2003;McCown et al., 1996). This crop model is a robust, process-based model that provides sophisticated modules for a host of important field crops. Unlike more empirically based models, a process-based model can differentiate between different phases of crop development, which may be impacted by weather in different ways. It thus produces a good estimate of how and when crops are susceptible to adverse weather. While developed initially for modeling Australian crop production systems, APSIM has been applied successfully in many countries, across diverse climatic zones. An important feature of APSIM is that it has not only an easy-to-use user interface; it also provides the option of running models in 'command line' mode (directly from the operating system), which is necessary for implementing the batch processing needed for this study.For preparing APSIM simulations, the user interface was used to design appropriate crop management systems, and the instructions for running the simulation were then modified to accommodate different sets of weather records and soil types. For choosing the most appropriate crop variety, the number of degree days available during each growing season was calculated according to equations used by APSIM. The number of degree days required by each crop variety given in APSIM's database was also calculated. Based on these calculations, the most appropriate variety was selected as the one that best matched the available number of thermal units, while being slightly below the available amount for each rainy season. To ensure comparability of modeling results, the variety selected for the majority of sites was then chosen for all locations.APSIM was run for each combination of site, major local soil type, rainy season and climate scenario. Crop yields for all years of the 25-year simulations were extracted from APSIM's output files, and plotted as cumulative distributions for each site, soil and climate scenario.One important input parameter for a crop model is the time of planting the crop. This time invariably varies within the study region, depending on the exact onset date of the rainy season. While farmers' intuition may tell them reliably when the rainy season begins and ends, automatic extraction of these dates from the weather records generated in this study required defining a formalized decision rule. This rule must be able to reproduce the dominant pattern of long and short rains for most of the study region. To achieve this, all rainfall records were first subjected to a 7-day running mean, i.e. the rainfall of each day was replaced by the average rainfall of the period starting 3 days before and ending 3 days after the respective date. All days for which this running mean was above 4 mm were classified as rain days. Since it does not rain every day even during the rainy season, a tolerance of up to 7 days of non-rain days was built into the rule, meaning that periods of up to 7 consecutive days that were not classified as rainy did not signify the end of the rainy season. Finally, a minimum duration of the rainy season of 30 days was used as a threshold. Rainy spells that were shorter than 30 days were not considered to constitute a rainy season.Applying this rule to averaged annual rainfall records for all years of the baseline scenario produced the following rainy season pattern for the 36 sites chosen for more detailed crop modeling: For all sites, the algorithm found at least 1 rainy season, running from mid-March to the beginning of June. On average, this season lasted for 82 days, with a standard deviation ofWith few exceptions, perennial crops cannot be modeled with APSIM, and for most crops, no process-based models exist. Modeling yields of perennial crops could thus only be achieved via empirical correlations of yields with certain environmental factors. However, since empirical models are not based on a thorough understanding of climate responses of all the processes that lead to crop yields, model validity under different climate regimes or in a different location would be questionable. The physiological processes of most annual crops are much better understood, allowing process-based modeling. As another important difference between annual and perennial crops, productivity of a tree crop is determined not only by environmental conditions and management decisions in the current year, but also by conditions and decisions in all years leading up to the current year. A range of factors, such as the pruning regime, alternate bearing or previous exposure to drought or heat stress can have strong effects on yield. But even the applicability of empirical models is quite limited by low availability of productivity data for perennial crops in locations comparable to the study districts.For perennial crops, as well as for sweet potato and cassava, for which no APSIM modules were available, climate change impact projection was thus based on climatic crop requirements published in FAO's ECOROP database (http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home). ECOCROP consists of a collection of 2568 crops, for which minimum, maximum and optimum rainfall and temperatures are collated. For perennial crops included in the study, these requirements were extracted from the database. Projected climate conditions for all future scenarios and the baseline were then evaluated, with respect to their suitability for the given crops.In the evaluation, weights were assigned for monthly minimum and maximum temperatures, depending on how high monthly values were compared to the optimal range. The weighting scheme is illustrated in Figure 1. For either minimum or maximum temperature in the optimal temperature range, a weight of 1 was assigned for the respective month. For values outside the absolute temperature range, the month received a value of 0. For temperatures within the absolute temperature range but not within the optimal range, weights were scaled linearly. For example, where the absolute maximum temperature is 35°C and the upper end of the optimal range is 30°C, a monthly maximum temperature of 32.5°C would receive a weight of 0.5, whereas a minimum temperature of 28°C would receive a weight of 1. Weights were calculated in this manner for minimum and maximum temperature layers for all months of all climate scenarios, and the average per scenario calculated from all scores, for each grid cell of the climate layers that were within the study region. Wherever temperatures fell below the absolute minimum thresholds, or exceeded the absolute upper thresholds, weights for that location were set to 0, since ECOCROP indicates that the site is poorly suited for the crop. For rainfall, only annual totals are given in the database, which precluded taking full account of intra-annual variation. Annual rainfall sums were evaluated against crop requirements in the same way as temperatures (Figure 1). Suitability weights for temperature were then multiplied by weights for rainfall to arrive at a final suitability score for the crop for each map pixel and climate scenario. These were mapped to allow assessment of climate change impacts on crop suitability. For temperatures in the optimal range for the crop, a weight of 1 was assigned. For temperatures outside the absolute range, 0 was given. For temperatures between the optimal and absolute thresholds, weights were scaled linearly. This scheme was applied to monthly means of daily minimum temperatures, monthly means of daily maximum temperatures and for annual rainfall totals.Providers of weather insurance products must know the kind of climatic conditions that impact crop yields. From these conditions, weather indices can be defined. Evidently, these conditions will vary across crops, crop varieties, soil types and management practices. Insurance companies must ensure that the set of indices they use captures the site-specific crop vulnerability situation of their clients. Establishing the details of this vulnerability situation requires collection of a host of site-specific factors, including most importantly data about crop yields, as well as detailed descriptions of crop varieties. Since this information is not currently available, the analysis in the present study was restricted to screening of modeled crop yield patterns for phases and weather parameters that were strongly correlated with either high or low crop yields. This was done by Projection-to-Latent-Structures Regression (PLS), which has recently been shown to be an effective tool for analyzing the way, in which plant performance depends on climate (Luedeling and Gassner, under review;Yu et al., 2010). Unlike most regression approaches, PLS can handle daily weather records as independent input variables, making it suitable for the present study.Essentially, PLS produces two major outputs: the Variable Importance Plot (VIP) indicates how well certain variables are correlated with crop yields (Wold, 1995). VIP values are computed for each input variable (i.e. minimum and maximum temperatures and rainfall for each day of the growing season). Typically, a threshold value of 0.8 is adopted, with VIP scores above this threshold indicating that the variable is important. The second output is the model coefficient plot, which conveys the strength and the direction of the effect. All effects are measured relative to mean weather conditions at the site that the analysis is done for.The way PLS outputs must be interpreted is best illustrated using an example: For maize, the 1 st of June may have VIP scores of 0.6 for minimum temperature, 1.0 for maximum temperature and 1.2 for rainfall. This means that variation in maximum temperature and rainfall on 1 st June should be considered important for explaining crop yields. Model coefficients for the respective days are +0.5 for minimum temperature, -1 for maximum temperature and +0.3 for rainfall. This would mean that high maximum temperature on 1 st June has a strongly negative effect on yield (negative sign of the coefficient), whereas high rainfall on that day has a positive effect. The influence of high minimum temperature is also positive, but this effect is not considered important due to a low VIP score. Combinations of weather parameter and day that have high VIP scores and negative model coefficients are those that are of most concern to crop producers, because high values for the respective combination are associated with low yields. PLS analyses were run for all combinations of field crops that could be modeled with APSIM and for all major soil type in the study area. Dependent input variables were crop yields generated by APSIM, for all climate scenario years for the climate baseline and the 2020s scenarios. Later results were not included in the final analysis, because the 2050s and 2080s are beyond the planning horizon of most insurance companies. Moreover, due to a strong tendency towards lower yields in most climate change scenarios and for most crops, low yields were associated with higher temperatures during all days of the year. This was not considered realistic, and reflects Luedeling and Gassner's (under review) assertion that all input data for a PLS analysis must be from approximately the same 'climate domain', for the PLS analysis to work.In the outputs of the PLS procedure, all VIP values above the threshold were marked in blue, for easier interpretation. A VIP threshold of 1.0 was adopted to highlight variables of particular importance. For the model coefficients, all those combinations of weather parameter and year, for which high values had a positive effect on yields were marked in green, whereas those with negative effects are drawn in red.The various model runs done in this study produced a large number of maps, which cannot all be presented in a written report. Therefore, all maps are organized in a series of HTML pages, which is provided as a digital attachment to the report. These maps can be accessed by a standard web browser.Among the map units of the ISRIC soils database that spanned the study region, a total of 7 soil types were among the three most prevalent soils of the cells. That is, these soils ranked either first, second or third in importance for any of the map units of the ISRIC database that covered the study region. Among these soils were Humic Andosols, Orthic and Plinthic Acrisols, as well as Orthic, Plinthic, Rhodic and Xantic Ferralsols. Andosols are of volcanic origin, with high plant nutrient contents, but potential limitations in water availability and a risk of aluminum toxicity. Acrisols are clay-rich soils of the humid tropics, with low soil fertility and high aluminum contents. Ferralsols are highly weathered soils of the humid tropics, with very low soil fertility. All results presented in this report are for these soils. Modeling yields for all soil types listed in the database was not possible, because model runs could not have been completed during the time available for the study with the available computing infrastructure.Among the three climate models used, all scenarios for both emissions scenarios showed a strongly increasing temperature trend (Figure 2). Mean annual temperatures in the study counties were around 22°C in the lower areas, and about 20°C in areas at higher elevations. For the B2a scenario, mean annual temperatures rose to 25°C in the lowlands and 23°C at higher elevations by the 2080s. In the A2a emissions scenario, mean annual temperatures in the lowlands reached 27°C, and even the higher regions of Homa Bay had 25°C as annual mean temperature. Among the three climate models, temperature increases were strongest for the HadCM3 model (third row in Figure 2), while the CCCMA and CSIRO models had similar results. Monthly temperatures were in line with the annual temperature (not shown, but included in the digital supplement).Figure 2. Mean annual temperature (°C) for the study region projected for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios. Rows across are projections with the same climate model. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions), whereas the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.The maps of changes relative to the baseline scenario illustrate projected temperature increases clearly (Figure 3). Projected increases were homogeneous across the study region, but differed across scenarios. Projected temperature rise by the 2020s was around 1°C in all GCMs and emissions scenarios. For the 2050s and 2080s, increases were strongest for the HadCM3 model, which predicted up to 5°C warmer conditions than presently. Projections were more moderate for the other two models, indicating temperature rise by 2-3°C for the B2a scenario by the 2080s, and about 4°C for the A2a scenario.Figure 3. Changes in the mean annual temperature (°C) for the study region projected for the current situation, relative to baseline climate, for 18 future scenarios. Rows across are projections with the same climate model. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions), whereas the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.Mean annual rainfall in the study region ranged from 1000 to 2000 mm in the baseline scenario (Figure 4). It is highest in the hilly areas north of Kisumu and east of Homa Bay. The least rainfall falls along the lake shore. This general pattern persisted in all future projections, but the three models differed significantly in projections of future rainfall. The HadCM3 and the CCCMA models showed rainfall patterns similar to the baseline for all future scenarios. Only the CSIRO model projected a marked increase in rainfall, reaching more than 2500 mm in the highlands. Maps of projected changes in rainfall (Figure 5) show these trends more clearly. No projection indicated annual rainfall decreases of more than 200 mm, while up to 800 mm more were projected for the 2080s for the CSIRO model and the A2a emissions scenario.Judging by annual rainfall alone, changes in the study counties should not pose big problems for agriculture. However, gains and losses in rainfall differed throughout the year, with less rainfall projected for some regions for May and June, and substantial gains for October through April.Figure 5. Changes in the mean annual rainfall (mm) for the study region projected for the current situation, relative to baseline climate, for 18 future scenarios.Rows across are projections with the same climate model. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions), whereas the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.Changes in seasonal rainfall had some effect on the duration of the rainy seasons, as defined by the decision criteria described in the Materials and Methods section. This information is derived from more detailed, daily weather records, so that not the entire area shown on the previous maps was covered. The following maps also only show data for locations, where the clear pattern of two rainy seasons still persisted in future scenarios. This was not the case everywhere in the study region. Especially for the CSIRO model, which projected strongly increasing rainfall, the long and short rains merged for some sites. These locations are not shown on the maps, because their inclusion would have shifted the legend scale so much that other differences could no longer have been distinguished. The start of the long rains, which currently happens around early to mid-March in the study region, was projected to shift in many climate projections (Figure 6). Interestingly, significant differences were present between climate models, with the CCCMA model projecting a delay by about 10 days already by the 2020s for the B2a scenario. However, the A2a scenario, which is typically associated with greater changes, showed almost unchanged conditions at that time. This emissions scenario only showed such strong changes by the 2080s. The CSIRO model predicted an advanced beginning of the long rains by up to 20 days by the 2080s. For earlier time slices, changes were smaller but pointed in the same direction. The HadCM3 model also showed a clear advance of the long rains.Figure 6. Mean beginning of the long rains (day of year) for the study region projected for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions; the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.Not all earlier starts of the long rains translated into longer rainy seasons. In spite of the earlier beginning, the HadCM3 actually projected a shortening of the long rains by up to 20 days (Figure 7). In contrast, CCCMA indicated a mostly unchanged length of the long rains, whereas the CSIRO model showed longer long rains. Among scenarios, changes in the length of the long rains were much less linear along the time progressions than other weather parameters. For the 2020s scenarios, all projections except the Length of the long rains (days)Figure 7. Length of the long rains (days) for the study region projected for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions; the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.On average, the short rains started between the end of September and the end of October throughout the study region, with only the very north-eastern corner starting earlier, around mid-August (Figure 8). The CCCMA climate model showed a tendency towards slightly earlier short rain onsets until the 2020s, but then went back to close to the baseline situation. The area of earlier rain onset in the northeast experienced a month or more delay in the beginning of the short rains. The CSIRO model, which projected substantial rainfall increases, saw earlier onset of the short rains throughout the study region. For many stations, the short rains even merged with the long rains, so that the rainy season detection algorithm no longer recognized a separate short rainy season. The HadCM3 model showed relatively stable rain onset dates for the short rains, with some advances only recognizable by the 2080s, for both emissions scenarios.Figure 8. Mean beginning of the short rains (day of year) for the study region projected for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions; the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.Changes in the length of the short rains were relatively small for most scenarios. Only the CSIRO GCM projected substantial changes, indicating a lengthening of the short rains. This went so far, that at many of the modeled sites, the short rains essentially merged with the long rains, forming one long rainy season, rather than two distinct ones (Figure 9). For these locations, no data are shown in the maps. While also relatively small, projected changes according to the HadCM3 model may be significant, because the rainy season is already quite short for many crops. Further shortening by up to 20 days, as projected by this GCM, may therefore be a concern.Figure 9. Length of the short rains (days) for the study region projected for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions; the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.Yields of annual crops for 25 years were calculated for each crop, climate scenario, site and major soil type present in the vicinity of the site. For each combination of site, soil and crop, this resulted in 19 sets of 25 yield estimates. For taking full account of the effects of weather variability on crop production, the entire population of these 25 years' yields must be evaluated, rather than simply calculating means. This is best accomplished by showing yield distribution functions. These plots show the likelihood of yields exceeding a certain level for each climate scenario, based on the empirical distribution of yields produced by the model. In these plots, yields for each climate scenario are shown as lines, with the black line showing the baseline scenario, and the colored lines the results of the climate projections. Figure 10 shows an example of such a cumulative yield frequency plot. The x-axis of the figureshows cotton yields at one of the modeling sites, as a percentage of the maximum yield that was modeled in the study region. The y-axis shows the probability of yield exceeding a certain level. The lines in the plot area indicate the distribution of yields for all modeled scenarios. The black line is the baseline scenario, while the colored lines are future projections. The following kinds of information can be extracted from the figure:1) The point where the right-most line meets the bottom of the figure is the best yield obtained in any model run, relative to the highest in the region. In this case, this site's production potential is only about 80% of that at the region's best site, meaning that other places in the study region have a higher yield potential. 2) Some lines intersect with the left edge of the plot. This means that there is a risk of complete crop failure all climate scenarios. This risk is relatively low, with the highest risk among all scenarios at 4% (intersection with the left edge at 96%). 3) Rather than going relatively straight down, most lines are rather diagonal. This indicates highly variable crop yields. 4) Most, but not all colored lines are to the left of the black line. This means that for most climate scenarios, yield expectation decreases. However, for the lines to the right of the black line, climate change is projected to improve crop yields. Modeled yield of most crops differed considerably between soil types, and no reliable map of the distribution of soils in the region was available. Consequently, the point estimates of yield profiles could not be interpolated into maps. The following presentation of results will thus rely on selected cases that span the spectrum of results that were obtained.During the long rains, modeled maize yields were quite stable, with surprisingly little variation.  For the short rains, the situation was quite similar, once again with little yield variation among soil types and sites. Also for the short rains, climate change projections indicated a steady decline of yield levels, but with relatively stable yields for each climate scenario (Figure 12). The clustering of yield projection curves for each time slice indicated that climate change impacts on maize yields are quite predictable. In other words, the point in time had a stronger effect on yield levels than the climate model or the greenhouse gas emissions scenario. This indicates that future yield levels can be anticipated with relative certainty. The likely trajectory is a gradual decline in yield levels.Modeled cotton yields depended primarily on the soil type. Among the soils modeled in this study, most were virtually unsuitable for cotton (Figure 13, left). Only on Humic Andosols, cotton production was possible (Fig. 13, right), and even there yields were highly variable, as indicated by the diagonal orientation of most lines in the figure . In the example shown here, which was typical of the yield patterns obtained for all sites that had this soil type, yield varied between 15% and 85% of the maximum yield in the region, even for the baseline scenario, and obtaining yields close to the mean of this distribution was no more likely than any other yield. This signifies that even under current climate, cotton yields are highly variable. Two climate scenarios for the 2020s actually improved yield expectations, but for all other scenarios projected yields were substantially lower than baseline yields. Even for some 2020s projections, very low yields were obtained. For the short rains, modeled yields for all soil types except Humic Andosols were also negligible. Among the Humic Andosols (two examples shown in Figure 14), projected yield patterns were similar to those for the same soil during the long rains. In contrast to those, however, some projections for the 2050s and 2080s indicated higher yields than the baseline. Similar to maize, sorghum yields during the long rains showed little variation for most sites (Figure 15). For most sites, climate change effects in all scenarios were relatively small, but with a slight tendency towards decreasing yields. Only for a few sites, impacts were stronger, accompanied by an increase in yield variability, as illustrated in the right plot. These effects, however, only manifested themselves in the 2050s and 2080s scenarios. During the short rains, sorghum yields were more variable, and climate change impacts differed markedly. The four plots in Figure 16 illustrate this variability. For sorghum, the soil type had a major influence on yields. On Humic Andosols, yields were very stable, while on all other soils, yield variation was greater. Again, most climate changes scenarios indicated a decrease in yields, but a few exceptions existed (top left figure). By the 2050s and 2080s, several of the climate scenarios showed a clear decline in yield levels. Greengram yields in the long rains were relatively stable for the baseline scenario, for all sites and all soils. However, all climate change scenarios projected a strong decline in yields (Figure 17). Already by the 2020s, the amount of greengrams that could be harvested declined by more than 10% in most future scenarios. These losses became increasingly severe for the later time slices. As for maize and sorghum, the time slice was the most important determinant of yield, whereas climate model and greenhouse gas emissions scenario were of lesser importance. For many sites, yield patterns of greengram during the short rains were similar to those for the long rains (Figure 18 right). For some locations, however, variability was quite high in the baseline scenario, and some climate scenarios showed a slightly decreasing risk of obtaining very low yields (Figure 18 left). During the long rains, most sites, for which yields were modeled, had very low yields, compared to a few sites in lower Busia (Figure 19 left). For these sites, high baseline yield potential was identified, but climate change effects promised to be quite severe. For all other locations, yield potential was very low, in most cases below 1000 kg per ha (Figure 19 right). For the short rains, yield potential of soybeans was low for all modeled sites, and climate change impacts were severe (Figure 20). The highest modeled yield for the short rains was only about one third of the maximum yield of the long rains. Many climate change scenarios reduced these yields to half of this amount or less. Groundnut yields during the long rains were quite high for all of the study region, but at risk from climate change impacts (Figure 21). In all climate change scenarios, yields were quite a bit lower than at present, and yield losses increased as time went on. For some locations, the yield patterns during the short rains were quite similar to those of the long rains, though at a slightly lower level (Figure 22 left). However, a few stations showed a pattern as shown in Figure 22 right, in which climate change lowered attainable yield, but for some climate scenarios reduced the risk of obtaining very low yields. For some of these sites, all future scenarios had more consistent (though lower) yields than the baseline. Cowpea yields during the long rains were fairly stable within climate scenarios. Once again, the main factor that determined yield levels for future scenarios was the time slice, with a steady decline in productivity projected as time went on. While yield levels varied among sites and soils, the general pattern shown in the two presented examples (Figure 23) was evident for all simulations. During the short rains, two types of yield patterns were observed. For many sites and soils, simulated yields and changes projected for climate change scenarios resembled those for the long rains (Figure 24 left). However, some locations exhibited a different behavior, which featured higher yield variability for the baseline scenario (Figure 24 right). At these sites, climate change reduced yield levels, but also reduced variability (more vertical lines in the figure). Yields thus became lower but more predictable. This is probably due to the brevity of the short rains, which appear barely long enough to reliably produce a cowpea crop. For some future scenarios, the rainy season increased in length, but the effect shown here may also be related to faster accumulation of thermal time due to higher temperatures. The optimum temperature for cowpea development (not for yield) in APSIM's cowpea module is quite high at 35°C and growth only ceases at 44°C, so that temperature increases within the range projected for the future should accelerate growth. This makes the crop harvestable at an earlier date, making it less vulnerable to short growing seasons. During the long rains, modeled yields of fababean were quite high and reliable in the baseline scenario at most locations (Figure 25 left). In all climate change scenarios, a clear decline in yields was visible, with again the time being the major determinant of yield levels. A second type of yield pattern was also observed in the study region. Here, yields were also quite stable, but with a 10-20% probability of getting much lower yields. This risk was preserved in some, but not all, of the climate scenarios (Figure 25 right) The duration of the short rains was not enough to ensure reliable fababean yields in most places. While the maximum yield observed in the study region was similar to the long rains, yield variability was much higher, ranging in the example from 25 to 85% of the maximum (Figure 26 left). This was mainly related to the length of the growing season, and since changes to this parameter differed among climate scenarios, responses to climate change were less clear-cut than for the long rains. Some scenarios indicated yield increases and lower risks, while others showed lower yields and similarly high variability as in the baseline scenario. Only in the more humid highland areas were yields more predictable, but even here a certain probability of low yields persisted. In these areas, effects of climate change were predominantly negative (Figure 26   Most of the study region was highly suitable for mango production. While the maximum suitability score of 1.0 was not reached anywhere for any climate scenario (Figure 27), much of Busia and Homa Bay had scores above 0.6 for all scenarios. Most future projections saw slightly increasing suitability, because some months of the baseline scenario were slightly cooler than would be ideal for mango production. Only the CSIRO model, which projected strong increases in rainfall, showed declining suitability in the future.Figure 34. Suitability of the study region for production of finger millet, according to crop requirements from FAO's ECOCROP database. A score of 1.0 indicates optimal conditions, whereas 0.0 means unsuitable for the crop. Suitability is shown for the current situation (baseline; first column), and 18 future scenarios.Rows across are projections with the same climate model. The second to fourth column show projections for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s for the B2a greenhouse gas emissions scenario (low emissions), whereas the last three columns are for the A2a (higher) scenario.According to the ECOCROP database, favorable conditions for finger millet can currently only be found along the lakeshore (Figure 34). This was projected to persist throughout the 2020s and 2050s scenarios. By the 2080s, however, conditions were much less favorable, probably due to higher temperatures.The second set of outputs for each crop comes from the analysis of weather effects on crop yields, accomplished by PLS regression. This procedure generated three plots each for minimum temperature, maximum temperature and rainfall. The example below, for the response of a crop to minimum temperatures, shows how these results can be interpreted (Figure 35). The x-axis for each plot shows the time between about 20 days before the beginning of the planting window and the date, when 90% of the cotton crops of all model runs had been harvested. The first plot shows the variable importance statistic, which evaluates whether or not minimum temperature during certain days has an important effect on crop yields. This is the case for all days, for which the bars are blue, i.e. for short phases in March, April and June, and for a long period between December and February. The middle plot, showing the coefficients of the PLS model, shows the direction, in which high minimum temperature during these phases pushes yields. Red bars indicate that high minimum temperatures lead to lower yields, green bars signify a yield increase. The plot shows that during a short phase in April, high minimum temperatures have a significant positive effect on yields. During short phases in March and June, the opposite effect occurs. The main effect, however, is the negative effect of high minimum temperatures on yield, for the end of the growing season.The third plot shows the same results in the context of modeled temperatures. The black line in this figure shows the mean minimum temperature of the respective dates among all scenarios for the 2020s and the baseline. The gray, red or green bars are the standard deviation of Tmin for these dates. The coloring is the same as in the middle plot. In this case, the figure shows that minimum temperatures in December, January and February are relatively low, compared to earlier in the season. However, the modeled crop still reacted strongly to Tmin, with warmer conditions having a fairly strong negative effect on yields. Overall these results show that the modeled crop is relatively insensitive to minimum temperatures within the range observed in the modeled scenarios, during most of the growing season. Only during the last few months before harvest is there a strong effect of this climate parameter, with conditions at the cooler end of what can be expected being optimal for yields.Maize is normally planted at the beginning of the rainy season and matures after the rains have stopped. Its productivity is thus not very susceptible to the length of the rainy season, unless rains are very short. This is reflected in the crop weather profile (Figure 36), which shows very few days, during which rainfall had a significant effect on crop yields. Both minimum and maximum temperature, in contrast, had strong effects, with warm conditions during most developmental stages impacting yields negatively, while heat never benefitted the crop. The pattern shown in Fig. 34 for Orthic Ferralsols was also apparent for all other soils.Figure 36. Results of the PLS analysis for maize during the long rains on all Orthic Ferralsols. For a more detailed explanation, see text.For the short rains, maize also responded strongly negatively to high temperatures (Figure 37). For this rainy season, however, the shorter duration of humid conditions was reflected in greater yield response to variation in rainfall. For example, maize grown on a Xantic Ferralsol responded favorable to extraordinarily moist conditions until mid October. After this time, effects of high rainfall were mixed, with both negative and positive impacts detected.Other soils, most notably Plinthic Ferralsols, did not show a positive response of maize yields to high rainfall.Figure 37. Results of the PLS analysis for maize during the short rains on all Xantic Ferralsol. For a more detailed explanation, see text.Among the soils, for which cotton production was modeled, only Humic Andosols deserve a closer look. On all other soils, yields were negligible, and while for some sites, influential factors can be identified, overcoming the associated constraints would probably still not make production worthwhile.Figure 38. Results of the PLS analysis for cotton during the long rains on all Humic Andosols. For a more detailed explanation, see text.On Humic Andosols, the growing period of cotton ranged from March through September to October, for most sites (Figure 38). However, in some cases, cotton was only harvested in January. Unlike maize, cotton production was strongly impacted by rains, with high rainfall in the second half of the long rains and first half of the short rains impacting yields positively.Between the rainy seasons, the impact was lower in spite of relatively low rainfall, reflecting a low water requirement of cotton during the corresponding development phases. The second phase of high rainfall influence is after most of the cotton has already been harvested. Effects of temperature were only manifest for maximum temperatures. High maximum temperatures after the long rains and during the short rains led to low yields.Figure 39. Results of the PLS analysis for cotton during the short rains on all Humic Andosols. For a more detailed explanation, see text.Also for cotton planted during the short rains, rainfall was the dominant factor impacting yields (Figure 39). The emerging pattern was somewhat less clear than for the long rains, but in general, high rainfall during the drier seasons had a positive effect on yields, whereas relatively low rainfall was beneficial during the wettest phases of the rainy seasons. Harvest dates for cotton ranged between May and August for the baseline scenario, with most of the yields coming in between June and August, after the end of the long rains. For many future climate scenarios, harvest dates advanced, so that cotton harvest occurred between March and May. While the crop model did not simulate cotton quality, this advance in harvest dates may be a concern, because rainfall just before and during harvest diminishes cotton quality. With most of the simulated cotton growing season ending during the long rains, the value of the harvested product may thus decline.Figure 43. Results of the PLS analysis for greengram during the short rains on all Humic Andosols. For a more detailed explanation, see text.Also for the short rainy season, weather effects on greengram yield were dominated by adverse heat effects (Figure 43). High precipitation had a positive impact during certain parts of the growing season. The response of greengram to weather varied among soil types (see digital attachment).Soybean responded to weather in a rather inconclusive way. For example, high minimum temperatures had a strongly negative effect for some soils, but a strongly positive effect for other soils. A representative PLS profile could therefore not be identified. The reason for this pattern is probably that soybean yields were only high in the highlands, yet soils there were similar as in the lowlands (according to the global database used). In the PLS analysis, all sites for a given soil type were analyzed together. For soybean, however, differences between the sites may have been greater than acceptable for the analysis method. In contrast to the long rains, clear weather response patterns emerged for the short rains (Figure 44). This is probably because for many of the high potential sites, no short rainy season was identified, because the short rains were projected to merge with the long rains.As for most of the other crops, high temperatures had a strong negative effect on yield levels. High rains during early phases of the growing season had a positive influence.Figure 49. Results of the PLS analysis for fababean during the long rains on all Humic Andosols. For a more detailed explanation, see text.As most other crops, fababean responded predominantly to high temperatures, with lower yields (Figure 49). High precipitation had a slight effect, where it extended the rainy season.Maize is currently the most important crop in the region, and this analysis confirmed its suitability for the climate of the study region. Current yields were stable and relatively high, and the crop could be reliably produced during both the long and the short rains at every site that was analyzed. Compared to other crops, soil type was of little influence. It appeared that water demand was well attuned to rainfall patterns, with relatively low water needs after the end of the rains, during maturation of the crop.Future projections indicated declining yields for every site, soil and climate scenario. However, these losses were relatively modest and predictable, and yield levels continued to be stable (though lower) for all future scenarios. The main factor that drove yield variation was temperature, with high minimum and maximum temperatures having a negative impact on maize yields. During the short rains, some sites and soils benefited from rainfall around the beginning and end of the season.Based on these results, adaptation of maize production to climate change impacts should focus on introducing or developing varieties that can tolerate heat. Farmers could also benefit from introducing measures to influence farm microclimate, e.g. by planting shade trees or introducing other kinds of agroforestry practices.Given local climatic conditions, it was possible to achieve high cotton yields without irrigation, but only rarely and only on certain soils. Among the soils investigated in detail in this study, only Humic Andosols had high potential, whereas for all other soil types, yields were very low. Exploratory further model runs on additional soil types implied that Eutric Histosols and to a lesser extent Chromic Vertisols should be added to this list. For these soils, yield patterns resembled those for Humic Andosols, except that yields on Chromic Vertisols were only about two thirds of those on the other two soils. On all soils that are not in this select group of three, cotton production cannot be recommended.For the suitable soils, yields were very variable for the baseline scenario and also for all future scenarios. Mean yields were only about half of the maximum yields, and many scenarios showed a certain risk of complete crop failure. Whether cotton production makes sense in such a risky production environment must be evaluated in light of the economics of cotton production and marketing, which were not explored in this study. In any case, the high yield fluctuations would likely be a major constraint on the establishment of a viable cotton industry.Future scenarios mostly saw a decline in yields, even though in some cases, increases were also projected. In general, future climate scenarios indicated either yield losses or increasing yield variability. High temperatures during certain phases of the growing season had a negative effect on cotton yields, but the dominant factor was rainfall. The growing period of cotton spans both rainy seasons, meaning that much of the active growth occurs between these seasons. Any additional rainfall during this period is thus of great benefit for the crop. As a result, cotton production would benefit from the option to irrigate during the dry season.Since this is necessary for ensuring stable production levels even under current conditions, this is not only an adaptation strategy for future climates, but also a prerequisite of a viable cotton industry, which currently does not exist in the area.Quality attributes of cotton were not evaluated in this study, but some concerns resulted from the analysis. Cotton quality depends to a large extent on weather before and during harvest. Rainfall around that time has a detrimental effect. Dry seasons in Kenya's southwest are not as dry as those in other major cotton-producing regions, and some rain can fall at any time of year. Whether cotton from the study region can compete for quality with other supply regions should be explored separately, before investments in cotton production are intensified. Some climate change scenarios also indicated that cotton could complete its life cycle earlier, due to faster accumulation of thermal time. This shifted harvest dates earlier, so that in many cases, harvest occurred in the middle of the next rainy season. This could have a strong negative effect on cotton quality. For cotton, more than for most other crops, yield levels are not the only, and possibly not even the most important, aspect of production, and care should be taken when recommending this crop to farmers.Like maize, sorghum yields were also very stable throughout the growing region, and the crop grew almost equally well on all soil types. While most sites displayed this behavior in both the long and the short rainy season, some sites had more variable yields during the short rains. For future climate scenarios, most site/soil combinations showed a decline in yields, which however, was much less pronounced than for maize. On soils that had fairly variable yields in the baseline scenario, some future climate scenarios even saw an increase in yields, and sometimes a decrease in yield variability. This pattern indicates that sorghum is sensitive to the length of the short rainy season. The PLS analysis confirmed this impression, showing a strong positive effect of high rainfall at the beginning and end of the short rains for many sites. In addition to this moisture effect, high temperatures negatively impacted sorghum yields. The high yield levels, small variation and low susceptibility to climate change make sorghum appear like a recommendable crop, for the present situation as well as for climate change adaptation. The crop model results indicate that particularly during the long rains, sorghum production represents a good option for farmers.For greengram, yield differences among sites were relatively small. Only a few locations showed notable yield variability for the baseline scenario, and only during the short rains. All future scenarios indicated a yield decline. The main driver of this decline was high temperature. In addition to this strongly negative effect, a positive effect of abundant rainfall at the beginning and end of the short rains was beneficial. This indicates that greengram is better suited for the long rains, while the short rains may at times not be long enough for optimal greengram yields.For soybean, yield varied substantially between sites. Only a few locations came close to the regional yield maximum. For most sites and most soils, yields were insignificant during the long rains and would probably not allow profitable production of this crop. For the short rains, maximum yield across all sites was only about a third of that for the long rains, implying that the short rains are not long enough for soybean production. In spite of the low production level, yields during the long rains were stable, whereas for the short rains, some sites displayed substantial variability. All climate change scenarios indicated a yield decline. The response of soybean yields to weather variables was mixed, but a general negative impact of high temperatures was detected. As many other crops, soybean would benefit from an extension of the growing season, as implied by positive PLS model coefficients for rains near the margins of the short rains.For groundnuts, yield differences across sites were relatively small, and most sites had quite high yields. This was particularly true for the long rains. During the short rains, yields were more variable and generally lower. All future scenarios indicated decreasing yields, with quite substantial losses for all time slices. Again, the main driver of this yield decline was high temperature, whereas high rainfall at the beginning and end of the short rains was beneficial.For cowpea, differences between sites were small. During the long rains, most sites had stable and moderately high yields. Short rain yields were much more variable, but maximum yields during this season were only slightly lower than during the long rains. In all climate change scenarios, yield losses were substantial, with 2050s yields only about half of those for the baseline scenario. Again, it was mainly high temperature that reduced yields, while more rains had a positive effect on yield during the short rainy season.Fababean yields during the long rains were high, and did not vary much between sites and soils, except for a few locations, which had more variable and lower yields than the majority of sites. For most sites, yields were quite stable. During the short rains, yields were much more variable, but still relatively high. Climate change scenarios projected a steady decline in yields over time. For a small number of sites, however, yields during the short rains increased slightly and became less variable for some climate scenarios. Even for those sites, most climate scenarios saw a decrease in yields. Higher temperatures were mainly responsible for the yield decline, while a longer than usual duration of the short rains was beneficial.Both counties were classified as suitable for mango production. While yield levels could not be projected with the method used, this should indicate good potential to produce mangoes in the study region. Suitability was not compromised by climate change, with increases in suitability for much of the study region.When grown under rainfed conditions without irrigation or access to groundwater, much of the study region was unsuitable for sugarcane. Only the higher reaches of Busia received adequate amounts of rainfall for classifying this region as suitable for the crop. Since the main constraint to production appeared to be rainfall in most of the study region, additional irrigation could make sugarcane production possible in most of Busia and Homa Bay counties. Likewise, access to groundwater would facilitate sugarcane production. This is already widely practiced, with sugarcane predominantly grown in low-lying areas, where it does not depend on rainfall alone for meeting its water needs.The whole study region was highly suitable for pineapple production. In future scenarios, conditions improved further.With the exception of highland areas, most of the study area was suitable for banana production. Again, climate change seems poised to further improve suitability for this crop.The whole region was classified as suitable for cassava production and projected to remain suitable. There was a slight drop in suitability in some 2080s scenarios, but not to an extent that would warrant concerns.Like cassava, sweet potato could be grown throughout the study region. Most of the area was highly suitable for all climate scenarios. By the 2080s, suitability dropped slightly, but remained at high levels.Common beans, a major component of typical farming systems in the region, encountered high suitability in the study region, in the baseline scenario. For future scenarios, however, suitability declined slightly, and by the late 21st century, some parts of the study region had become unsuitable because of high temperature.The lowland areas near the lake were highly suitable for finger millet in the baseline scenario. High suitability persisted there throughout the 2020s and 2050s. By the 2080s, suitability declined considerably due to high temperatures.Among the crops that were modeled, the cereals maize and sorghum performed strongly in the baseline scenario, and losses in climate change projections were moderate. This was particularly true for sorghum. Among the pulses, groundnut and fababean had high yields and were moderately resistant to climate change. Greengrams and cowpeas also produced well, but were very susceptible to climate change. The production potential for soybeans was low, and this crop may not be well adapted to the study region. Many crops, in particular the pulses, benefited from irrigation during the short rains. This rainy season is short, as the name suggests, and if it is further shortened during particularly dry years, it may not be long enough for many crops. Whether establishment of irrigation infrastructure is economically warranted cannot be answered in this study, but additional water at the right time has potential to increase short rain yields. Maize and sorghum appeared to benefit relatively little from such measures.Cotton production would also benefit from additional water supply, because it has to grow through one dry season. As discussed earlier, producing cotton can be risky, because this crop is vulnerable to factors other than yield. Product quality can be too low to be profitable, if it rains during harvest season.High potential was identified for cassava and sweet potato. Both of these crops thrive in climates that are warmer than present-day Busia and Homa Bay. They are thus expected to do well in the study region in the future. The same was true for mango, banana and pineapple, for which climatic conditions were almost optimal.The main climate factor that was responsible for climate-induced yield losses in annual crops was not rainfall but temperature. At the same time, temperature is the climate parameter that is most predictable. All climate models agree that temperature in the study region will rise substantially over the 21 st century. The most promising strategy for reducing crop vulnerability to climate change is thus breeding for heat tolerance or introduction of drought tolerant new crop species and varieties. Establishment of multi-strata agroforestry is also a promising adaptation option. Temperatures under an open tree canopy can be several degrees cooler than they would be in full sunlight. As long as competition between trees and crops for water and nutrients can be controlled, or additional production resources provided were they are lacking, such agroforestry systems, which are already present in the study region, could be a viable adaptation option.For some crops, modeling results indicated high potential for index-based weather insurance. This was particularly true for cotton, as well as for a number of crops during the short rains. For these, rainfall variability had a major effect on yields, and it should be possible to capture this in an index that describes abundance of rainfall at both ends of the rainy season. For cotton, rainfall between the rainy seasons may also be worth considering. While high temperatures also had a strong negative effect on yields, the feasibility of designing an index around temperature variables must be investigated in more detail. This will depend greatly on how accurately APSIM captures crop responses to high temperatures.In the current version of the model, these are built-in constants for each crops, while only the numbers of thermal units required for reaching each crop developmental stage are varietyspecific. Yield observations, coupled with actual weather observations are needed for validating the relationship. The best index for use in designing insurance schemes is probably the projected yield by a crop model, provided that the model is well calibrated for local soils and crops. A crop model integrates all effects of weather on yields, and thus provides a better indicator of yield potentials than a more restricted index would allow.For evaluating the feasibility of a weather insurance scheme for local conditions in the Lake Victoria Basin, an evaluation of the effects of other drivers of crop yields is recommended. It seems quite likely that the more important climate-related impacts on crop yields will be caused by indirect effects, such as higher pest and disease pressure. Such factors can amplify the effects of climate, or even counteract direct climatic effects. For example, while a cool, moist season may be good for the crops, it may also favor development of fungal diseases, which may eliminate the positive weather effects on crop yields. If these effects are found to be of similar magnitude to the direct effects of weather, designing an insurance scheme around these factors may be more promising than one focused on weather alone.One strategy for identifying suitable adaptation options for climate change scenarios is climate analogue analysis. This approach is based on the premise that for most places and most climate projections, an existing place can be found, that currently has that climate. In other words, the objective is to find a place, where the current climate resembles the climate that is projected for the study region in the future. Such locations were identified for one site from each of the target counties. The procedure was based on mean monthly minimum temperatures, mean monthly maximum temperatures and mean monthly rainfall for the selected locations, for all climate scenarios described above. Euclidean distances between these values and the respective values in the baseline scenario were then calculated for each grid cell of the baseline climate grid within East Africa. The location, at which the Euclidean distance between projected future conditions and baseline conditions was lowest, was accepted as the best available climate analogue. In this study it was not possible to physically visit any analogue locations, so that this method could only be used as an illustration tool. The maps below thus simply present the distribution of analogue locations, as well as the distribution of climatically similar sites to selected future scenarios in the study region.Climate analogues of Lower Busia Climate analogue locations of Lower Busia were scattered across East Africa (Figure 51). For three long-term climate scenarios, analogue locations were situated as far away as the Congo River (CSIRO A2a 2080s), western Central African Republic (CSIRO A2a 2050s) or the Tanzanian coast north of Dar es Salam (HadCM3 A2a 2080s). Most analogue locations, however, were close to inland water bodies in East Africa, either scattered around Lake Victoria, close to Lake Albert at the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border or near Lake Tanganyika at the border between Burundi and the DRC. While these sites are much closer to current-day Busia, the climate there is quite different due to lower elevations. While Busia is at roughly 1150 m a.s.l., many analogue sites were several hundred meters lower.Climate analogues of Upper Homa Bay For Upper Homa Bay, only one climate analogue (for the HadCM3 A2a 2080s scenario) was more than 100 km from the current location of this site (Figure 52). All other analogue locations were around Lake Victoria, but most were at lower elevation than the Baseline location. Depending on the time slice, analogue sites were between 50 and 400 meters lower than the current location. This shows that where a pronounced elevation gradient exists, the most likely climate analogues of high-elevation locations are at lower elevation within the same region. These analogue sites are locations where candidate technologies and crop varieties for climate change could be sourced or tested. The search for adapted technologies could be extended to all places with similar climate, based on the same kind of Euclidean distance approach that was used for identifying the climate analogues shown above (Figure 53). As mentioned earlier, all results presented in this report, and in the supporting digital materials, were produced from proxy data, and a wide range of assumptions were necessary to arrive at these results. While for the purposes of a rough assessment this seemed like an acceptable strategy, a lot more data would ideally be collected and input into the models, in order to ensure that results are truly site-specific.Most importantly, information on crop varieties grown in the study counties should be collected. This would include yield levels of all major crops, as well as the thermal time requirements of the various crop stages, which are an important input into the APSIM crop model. Better soil data is also needed. Relying only on global FAO data is too crude an approach for making site-specific decisions. Moreover, for actual adaptation planning or for designing a site-specific crop weather insurance product, knowledge about the distribution of soil types within the region is essential. In collecting soil data, information about soil hydraulic properties is particularly important. Management practices by local farmers should also be assessed, because specifications about crop management are needed by APSIM.It should also be kept in mind that climate responses quantified in this study only include direct effects of weather on crop yield. Yet much of the yield variability in the region likely stems from indirect effects, or from phenomena that are unrelated to weather. Pests and diseases are a major factor that is influenced by weather. This effect can amplify or compensate the direct weather effects. An assessment of the impact of such factors on crop yields and consideration of including such factors in a potential insurance scheme is thus also recommended.","tokenCount":"11905"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6835692842.json b/data/part_1/6835692842.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..887d2644cdeb39274a3c830d1d7b3ab1ce31f7b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6835692842.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ae33d09af860b9cfee3a98a574d64f07","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/512cb306-9b8f-4a82-80ab-91c0ead85b59/retrieve","id":"-929054370"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5d5daefd-ea82-45ef-8854-92e6b33f0b44","pagecount":"17","content":"Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.), one of the five domesticated Phaseolus bean crops, shows a wide range of ecological adaptations along its distribution range from Mexico to Argentina. These adaptations make it a promising crop for improving food security under predicted scenarios of climate change in Latin America and elsewhere. In this work, we combine long and short read sequencing technologies with a dense genetic map from a biparental population to obtain the chromosome-level genome assembly for Lima bean. Annotation of 28,326 gene models show high diversity among 1917 genes with conserved domains related to disease resistance. Structural comparison across 22,180 orthologs with common bean reveals high genome synteny and five large intrachromosomal rearrangements. Population genomic analyses show that wild Lima bean is organized into six clusters with mostly non-overlapping distributions and that Mesomerican landraces can be further subdivided into three subclusters. RNA-seq data reveal 4275 differentially expressed genes, which can be related to pod dehiscence and seed development. We expect the resources presented here to serve as a solid basis to achieve a comprehensive view of the degree of convergent evolution of Phaseolus species under domestication and provide tools and information for breeding for climate change resiliency.A chromosome-level high-quality assembly for Lima bean. We generated a chromosome-level assembly of the Lima bean genome from G27455, a domesticated accession from the Mesoamerican gene pool MI collected in northern Colombia. Data from the use of Pacific Biosciences and Illumina sequencing technologies and four experimental protocols, namely paired-end whole genome sequencing (WGS), 10x, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), and RNA sequencing, were combined to achieve the contiguity and base quality of this assembly. An initial backbone assembly of PacBio WGS reads polished using paired-end Illumina reads produced a draft assembly with 512 contigs adding up to 542 Mbp. A total of 206 of these contigs-totaling 512 Mbpwere further assembled in scaffolds, sorted, and oriented in 11 pseudomolecules based on an analysis of linked reads obtained from the G27455 accession following the 10x protocol and analysis of GBS data from the F 8 generation of UC 92-UC Haskell recombinant inbred line population. A linkage map was developed for this population with 10,497 SNPs across 522 unique loci with an estimated genetic length of 1064 cM (Supplementary Fig. 1). Linkage groups were established for each of the 11 chromosomes (Supplementary Fig. 2 and Supplementary Table 1). This linkage map had an average genetic and physical spacing between loci of 2.18 cM and 1.10 Mbp, respectively. Genetic gaps larger than 20 cM were observed on three linkage groups: Pl01, Pl02, and Pl09, with 20.5, 24.4, and 32.8 cM gaps, respectively. Marker coverage varied across and within linkage groups with the densest marker coverage observed in the pericentromeric regions of Pl02, Pl05, Pl07, and Pl11, and the sparsest marker coverage observed in the pericentromeric regions of Pl01 and Pl09. Recombination rates varied within linkage groups, with the lowest rates of recombination in the centromeric and pericentromeric regions and the highest rates towards the telomeric ends (Fig. 1a and Supplementary Table 2). The Pl03 linkage group had the highest average recombination rate, with recombination events occurring every 662 kbp. The Pl10 linkage group had the lowest average recombination rate, with recombination events occurring on average every 2074 kbp, which may be influenced by the high degree of segregation distortion observed in the pericentromeric region towards the UC Haskell haplotype. The largest spans of the pericentromeric regions were on the Pl04, Pl10, and Pl11 linkage groups, and the shortest spans were on Pl03 and Pl06 (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Table 2). The Pl01 and Pl09 linkage groups had particularly sparse marker coverage across the pericentromeric regions, which likely reduced the accuracy of the recombination rates in these regions and the definition of the pericentromeric regions for these linkage groups.Base-pair-level quality was assessed by the mapping of Illumina reads to the assembly, which reached 99% of the raw reads after polishing. In addition, the identification of orthologs reached 98.8% of 1614 genes known to be conserved in a single copy across plant species (Supplementary Fig. 3). Annotation of repetitive elements was performed using repeat masker 30 and based on a common bean library of 796 transposable elements 31 . A total of 656,928 events were identified covering 225 Mbp (41% of the assembly). More than half of these regions (174 Mbp) were covered by long terminal repeats (LTRs). Additional 8 Mbp were covered by other class I retrotransposons, namely LINE and SINE elements. DNA (Class II) transposons covered 25 Mbp of the assembly and other 6 Mbp was covered by other unclassified transposable elements (Supplementary Table 3). Repetitive elements are more abundant within pericentromeric regions of the genome (Fig. 1c).To perform automated structural and functional annotation of gene models for the Lima bean genome, repeat elements were masked and Illumina RNA-seq data from three tissues (leaf, flower, and pod), two developmental stages (initiation of pod elongation and before seed filling), and two accessions (G25230: wild from Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico; and G27455) were analyzed. In contrast to repetitive elements, gene density and observed number of SNPs is higher outside pericentromeric regions (Fig. 1d, e). By integrating publicly available RNA-seq data and gene models from the common bean genome, a total of 28,326 gene models and 35,881 transcripts were predicted with an average total length of 3.7 kbp, and an average protein length of 413 amino acids. Distributions of gene and protein length are consistent with the current gene annotation for P. vulgaris (Supplementary Fig. 4). Gene ontology functional annotations could be recognized for 21,642 (76%) of the gene models by ortholog identification from other plant species. Common ontology terms included response to stress, different metabolic processes, transport, anatomical structure development, signal transduction, cellular component assembly, and homeostasis (Supplementary Fig. 5). A total of 19,554 gene models were annotated with pathways from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). In total, functional annotations were assigned to 22,634 (80%) gene models. Gene expression was evidenced in at least one RNA-seq dataset for 26,295 (93%) gene models. Moreover, orthologs with P. vulgaris within synteny blocks were identified for 22,180 (78%) gene models (details in the next section). Considering only gene expression and orthology with P. vulgaris in synteny blocks, direct evidence could be identified for 27,029 (95%) of the annotated gene models. From the remaining gene models, 416 show at least 50% protein sequence similarity with P. vulgaris genes outside synteny blocks. The remaining 3% are either paralogs of genes with direct evidence or have functional annotations from other plant species.QTL mapping of agronomic-related traits in Lima bean. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped in the biparental population UC Haskell-UC 92 used to build the genetic map for genome assembly (Fig. 1f-i and Supplementary Table 4). Determinacy and three quantitative traits (flowering time, FT; hundred-seed weight, HSW; and cyanide content) were screened in this population (Fig. 1j). Nine quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified in the biparental population. One major QTL for determinacy was identified on the long arm of chromosome Pl01, explaining 78% of the phenotypic variation. The peak LOD score for determinacy was located at the first marker on the long arm, after a nearly 20 cM and 20 Mbp gap in the pericentromeric region of chromosome Pl01. A likely causative gene for this locus is an ortholog of the Arabidopsis gene TFL1. The common bean ortholog PvTFL1y was previously mapped at 45Mbp of chromosome Pv01 32,33 . We identified the ortholog PlTFL1 in Lima bean at 41Mbp of Pl01 (Supplementary Data 1). For flowering time, transgressive segregation was observed for both earlier and later progenies than the UC 92 and UC Haskell parents, respectively (Fig. 1j). A major QTL was also found on chromosome Pl01 and it is likely that the causative gene for this QTL is also PlTFL1. However, this QTL explained only 30% of the phenotypic variation, which suggests that other genes influence flowering time in this population.Regarding seed weight, transgressive segregation was observed for seed weights below the small-seeded parent UC Haskell, but not for larger seed weights. This observation is consistent with prior results showing a shift towards smaller-seeded segregants, observed in common bean 34,35 . Four additive minor QTL were identified collectively explaining 28% of the phenotypic variation, including one on the long arm of chromosome Pl10 that explained 11% of the phenotypic variation. Finally, a major QTL for cyanogenesis in floral bud tissue was found on the long arm of chromosome Pl05 and explained 93% of the phenotypic variation, and collectively with two other minor QTL explained 97.5% of the total phenotypic variation for cyanogenesis. The UC 92 variety did not show measurable cyanide content in contrast with UC Haskell. There was transgressive segregation for cyanide content above the levels observed in UC Haskell. The three QTL showed epistatic interactions: the UC 92 allele of the larger QTL on Pl05, causal of the absence of cyanogenic glucosidase, prevented the expression of the two QTLs on Pl08 and Pl10 (Supplementary Fig. 6). The significance interval of the QTL for cyanide content on Pl05 includes a sequence for a glucosidase with homology to a cyanogenic glucosidase in white clover 36,37 .Evolution of paralogs and orthologs and speciation events. Predicted proteins for representative transcripts of all annotated genes were aligned to each other to build 3499 paralog clusters representing the gene families generated through different genome evolution processes. Classification of paralog relationships and interchromosomal synteny analysis revealed 1647 genes with paralogs generated by the ancient whole-genome duplication events documented in the history of Fabaceae 38 . Chromosome pairing inferred from these paralogs is consistent with that reported in the genome of P. vulgaris 23 (Internal links in Fig. 1). Intrachromosomal duplication events were identified for a total of 7285 genes. Even after removing highly repeated genes (with more than ten paralogs), 5849 genes were involved in intrachromosomal duplication events. Figure 2a shows that the Ks values for these cases are significantly smaller than those of whole-genome duplication (WGD) paralogs (p-value < 10 −15 for a Wilcoxon rank test), meaning that intrachromosomal duplications are more recent than WGD paralogs. Protein evolution among the two types of paralogs was assessed by calculating the Ka/Ks ratio between pairs of paralogs to identify patterns of selection. In contrast to Ks values, Ka/Ks values of intrachromosomal duplications are significantly larger than those of WGD paralogs (p-value < 10 −15 for a Wilcoxon rank test), which means that these duplications are diverging faster than WGD paralogs (Fig. 2b). Moreover, 12% of the local duplications seem to experience a rapid sequence divergence showing Ka/Ks ratios above 1. Functional enrichment of 368 genes involved in recent duplications with high Ka/Ks ratios revealed a relatively large set of interconnected biological processes mostly related to immune response, including cell death, cell communication, and signaling (Supplementary Fig. 7). These findings are consistent with those reported by Qiao et al. 38 for other plant species. Other processes enriched in evolving intrachromosomal duplications include lipid transport and metabolism of lignan.We compared the genome of Lima bean assembled in this study with that of common bean v1.0 23 based on the identification of orthologs between the two species and synteny blocks. Orthologs could be identified for 25,564 (94%) of the P. vulgaris genes and 26,009 (92%) of the P. lunatus genes. As reported in previous studies 26 , a high collinearity was observed between the P. lunatus and P. vulgaris genomes (Fig. 2c). The most important structural events identified in this study are an inversion of the short arm of chromosome Pl10 and a large translocation of the pericentromeric region of Pv02 within the short arm of chromosome Pl02. Other large events include a 5Mbp inversion within the long arm of chromosome Pl03, a 10Mbp inversion within the long arm of chromosome Pl07, and a complex translocation within the short arm of chromosome Pl09. The rearrangements in Pl02 and Pl10 confirm previous works suggesting pericentromeric inversions in these chromosomes based on Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays 28 . As seen in other species, some of these rearrangements could be related to the previously observed reproductive isolation between Lima bean and common bean 39,40 .Figure 2a shows that the Ks distribution of 22,180 orthologs between P. lunatus and P. vulgaris identified in synteny blocks is centered around 0.05. This is about half of the average obtained for paralogs generated by the recent (about 13 MYA) WGD event within the G. max genome 41 , suggesting that the speciation between P. vulgaris and P. lunatus occurred around 6 MYA. This date is close to the age of the Phaseolus crown clade B (that contains P. vulgaris and P. lunatus) estimated on the basis of evolutionary rates of the chloroplast trnK locus (5.0 ± 0.7 MYA) and older than the date estimated from ITS/5.8 S sequences (3.4 ± 0.4 MYA) 2 . Comparing the genomes of Lima bean and Vigna unguiculata 42 , the separation of Phaseolus from Vigna could be dated right before the WGD of G. max, around 15 MYA. This date is much older than that estimated by Delgado-Salinas et al. 43 for the Vigna sensu lato crown clade (9.1 ± 1.0 MYA) from chloroplast trnK sequences. Protein evolution between orthologs was also assessed by calculating the Ka/Ks ratio, in this case, to identify patterns of selection after the speciation event separating P. vulgaris and P. lunatus. In line with previous studies in other species 38 , the distribution of Ka/Ks was centered far below 1, suggesting that most gene coding sequences evolve under purifying selection (Fig. 2b). Conversely, 656 gene pairs within the main synteny blocks showed rapid sequence divergence with Ka/Ks values larger than 1. Functional enrichment of these genes shows ontologies related to the metabolism of aminoglycan, chitin, and lignan (Supplementary Fig. 7). As described in the last section, genes related to these processes have increased expression values during the development of the pod.Orthologs of genes related to agronomic characteristics. Genes of agronomic interest were predicted by ortholog relationships of genes associated with agronomically relevant traits in other crops (Supplementary Data 1). We identified Lima bean orthologs of 30 genes having reported associations with traits in previous studies, 27 of which were reported in common bean. Traits included due to their importance in plant breeding are yield 44 , nutritional quality 45 , herbicide resistance 46 , plant architecture 47 , tolerance to abiotic stresses 48 , among others. Moreover, seed coat color and growth habit, important characteristics needed to meet consumer and farmer preferences in Lima bean and common bean breeding and marketing, were also included.In particular, 1917 genes distributed across the 11 chromosomes were related to resistance to biotic stresses predicted on the base of bioinformatics analysis and the presence of the LRR (leucine-rich repeat-containing) and other important domains for disease resistance such as toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR), leucine zipper (LZ), coiled-coil (CC), nucleotide-binding site (NBS/NB) shared by ARC (Apaf-1, R proteins, and CED-4) (NBS/NB-ARC) domain, serine-threonine kinase, and WRKY (Fig. 2d and Supplementary Fig. 8). Serine-threonine and other receptor-like protein kinases were one of the most abundant types among the selected disease resistance candidate genes (828). The WRKY domain was present in 91 genes and the leucine zipper domain in 74. The CC domain was only found in 11 genes. However, a low number of CNL (CC-NBS-LRR) genes has been previously observed and reported in dicots 49 . In contrast, 98 TNLs (TIR-NB-LRR) were identified in the annotated gene models. Furthermore, 631 genes contained the LRR domain, 151 the NB-ARC domain, and 91 both domains (Supplementary Data 2). Large numbers of predicted disease resistance genes were localized to chromosomes Pl02, Pl04, Pl08, Pl10, and Pl11.The subset of genes with the LRR domain tended to be clustered in discrete regions of the genome (Supplementary Fig. 9). This subset includes the following domain arrangements: LRR, NB-ARC-LRR, TIR-NB-ARC-LRR, and TIR-LRR. Neighbor joining clustering of this family showed some correspondence between chromosome clustering and sequence similarity (Fig. 2e). Proteins with the domains NB-ARC-LRR formed a large cluster, but five of them were nested into the TNL group that also contained the three proteins with the TIR and LRR domains only. Common bean orthologs were identified for most of the predicted genes related to biotic stress resistance. These orthologs were located on the same chromosomes and were mainly collinear. Also, motifs were mostly conserved between the gene sequences of both species. Furthermore, the genomic positions of the genes correspond with resistance loci associated by previous studies with some of the most important diseases affecting the common bean. For instance, we found clusters of genes within or close to resistance loci for anthracnose [50][51][52][53][54] , angular leaf spot 51,52,55 , halo blight 52,56 , bean golden yellow mosaic virus 51 ; as well as other viral diseases, rust, and mildew 23,52 .Population structure analysis reveals genetic clusters in Lima bean. Wild Lima bean presumably originated in the northern Andes, during Pleistocene times, and from there it expanded to other areas in the Andes and Mesoamerica 11 . As a result, wild Lima bean reached a widespread distribution, from northern Mexico to northern Argentina, and became differentiated into three major gene pools (MI, MII, and AI) with mostly nonoverlapping distributions, as documented by previous studies. Later, humans domesticated this species twice, once in Mesoamerica from gene pool MI and once in the Andes from gene pool AI 10,15,16 . To investigate in greater detail the genetic structure of Lima bean, we combined previously analyzed genotyping-bysequencing (GBS) data from 270 Lima bean accessions 10 with GBS data for 212 additional samples to increase the amount of variation (Supplementary Data 3). From a raw number of 116,030 biallelic SNVs, 12,398 were selected for diversity analysis (Supplementary Data 4).The samples sequenced in this study increased representation of the three major gene pools and the geographic sampling in countries such as the United States, Mexico, and Colombia (Supplementary Fig. 10). Different statistical and heuristic clustering analyses, including Neighbor Joining (NJ), discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC), and Bayesian clustering (STRUCTURE) were applied. The optimal number of clusters according to the decrease of BIC is between K = 5 and K = 6, while STRUCTURE results suggest that the optimum K is 6 (Supplementary Fig. 11). The results not only supported the existence of the three major wild gene pools (MI, MII, and AI) but also showed evidence for two large novel clusters (Fig. 3a, Supplementary Data 5, and Supplementary Figs. 12-14). First, domesticated MI accessions were clearly separated from wild accessions in a single cluster, which is in agreement with a single domestication of Mesoamerican landraces (dark blue cluster in Fig. 3a from K = 5 onwards and Supplementary Fig. 12), and second, a more complete sampling of wild accessions in the central Andes of Colombia supported the presence and genetic differentiation of an Andean wild gene pool, the AII gene pool (yellow cluster in Fig. 2a, from K = 4 onwards and Supplementary Fig. 12). The wild AII group shows a very restricted distribution on the eastern slope of the Andes in central Colombia, specifically in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá (although one accession occurs in Peru) (yellow dots in Supplementary Figs. 13, 14). It is worth noting that five wild accessions from Guatemala, one from Honduras, and one from Chiapas (Mexico) clustered within the Andean gene pool AI. When K = 6 is considered, a further subcluster is detected within wild gene pool MII (Fig. 3a. dark green cluster) that contains accessions from Peninsula of Yucatan in Mexico, northern Guatemala, Costa Rica, and northern Colombia.Because Lima bean is an inbred species, heterozygosity rates per accession are generally low (details below), which facilitates the inference and analysis of haplotypes. Figure 3b shows the comparison of linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay between pairs of variants in the same chromosome. LD decays faster in wild accessions (dark gray line) than in domesticated accessions (light gray line). However, due to population structure, LD remains high (on average over 0.3 for the wild gene pool and over 0.4 for the domesticated gene pools) even at distances larger than 1 Mbp. LD analyses within wild and domesticated populations showed that in the wild MI and wild MII gene pools LD decays to basal levels at about 100 kbp, whereas in the domesticated MI, MII, and AI populations, it decays to background levels at about 500 kbp. LD decayed faster in MI and MII landraces than in the AI landraces, which agrees with the higher genetic diversity observed in the former (Supplementary Table 5).Taking advantage of the reconstructed haplotypes and relatively long blocks of linkage disequilibrium, we applied the software fineSTRUCTURE 57 to exploit the information contained in genome-wide linkage disequilibrium patterns for dissecting fine population structure. This approach not only identified a much larger number of populations than STRUCTURE (in total 181) but also revealed the genetic relationships among the inferred populations (Supplementary Data 5). Examination of the radial tree shown in Fig. 3c, from the highest to the lowest level of clustering, allowed to view the whole population at multiple structuring levels. In general, major clusters in the tree (shown by different colors) corresponded to the major gene pools detected by STRUCTURE, DAPC, and NJ. Also, the subgroups observed within the wild MI, Dom MI, and wild MII gene pools are clearly related to geography, as described below (Supplementary Figs. 13, 14).Among the wild accessions, MI accessions were separated into two subgroups according to their geographical origin: one subgroup (purple cluster) included 55 accessions assigned to ten populations mainly distributed in northern-western Mexico, from the states of Sinaloa to Colima, and the other subgroup (pink cluster) included 34 accessions assigned to 13 populations mainly distributed in southern-western Mexico, from the state of Michoacan to Oaxaca. MII accessions were also separated into two subclusters: one of them (light green cluster) contained 66 accessions mainly distributed in Mexico and southern Guatemala, and the other one (dark green) contained 49 accessions from northern Guatemala, Costa Rica, northern Colombia, and nine accessions from the Peninsula of Yucatan. Among the domesticated accessions, MI landraces were separated into three subgroups according to their geographical origin: one subgroup (dark blue cluster) included 43 accessions assigned to 13 populations mainly distributed in Mexico and Central America, with only 12 accessions from other countries (United States, Colombia, and Ecuador), a second subgroup (medium blue cluster) included 51 accessions assigned to nine populations mainly distributed in South America, with only 8 accessions from the United States and one from Mexico, and the third subgroup (light blue cluster) contained 59 accessions assigned to five populations (numbers 19, 60, 80, 88, and 101. See Supplementary Data 5 and supplementary Fig. 15 for population numbers) distributed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This third subgroup was also observed in the STRUCTURE results at K = 7 (Fig. 3a). By examining in more detail the landraces contained in each one of these five populations from the Yucatan Peninsula, there is some tendency to group accessions by variety or seed shape. According to the Mayan nomenclature registered by Martinez-Castillo et al. 58 , population 88 comprises 14 accessions that belong to four landrace varieties known as Bacalar-ib, Chaksaak, Chak-ib, and Bayo-ib, all of them with small and flattened or semi-flattened seeds (the typical morphotype of the Sieva cultigroup). Population 101 includes 24 accessions that belong to landrace varieties known as Putsica-Sutsuy, Mulicion blanco, Mulicion rojo, Box-ib, Pool-santo, Kan-ib, Morado-ib, Yete Boch ib, Kolbihi, and Chak ib, most of them characterized by having small rounded or semi-rounded seeds (the typical morphotype of the Potato cultigroup). Population 60 comprises 13 accessions that belong to varieties known as Sac-ib, Chak-chi, Bayo-ib, Mejen-ib, Bacalar, and Madza-kitam with seed morphology intermediate between both cultigroups. Population 80 contains four landrace accessions that belong to the variety known as Boxib that carry small purple-black semi-flattened or rounded seeds. Population 19 contains 4 accessions of the landrace variety known as Chak-chi with white-red small seeds with seed morphology also intermediate. The intermediate forms may arise by the fact that some farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula may grow up to seven different landrace varieties together, which may promote opportunities for crossing 58,59 .Supplementary Table 5 shows basic diversity statistics for all major gene pools in wild and domesticated accessions. Observed heterozygosity was much lower than expected heterozygosity, as expected for an inbred species as Lima bean (Bartlett's K-squared = 18257, df = 1, p value < 2.2e-16; paired-t test t = 165.28, df = 12397, p value < 2.2e-16). Among the wild clusters, the most diverse were the Mesoamerican MI and MII gene pools (H E = 0.128 and H E = 0.133, respectively), while the least diverse were the Andean AI (H E = 0.040) and AII gene pool (H E = 0.052). The genetic diversity of the seven wild accessions from Chiapas, Guatemala, and Honduras, clustered within the AI gene pool, was also low (H E = 0.053). Domestication brought a reduction in genetic diversity in landraces (the domestication founder effect). When measured in the whole sample, this reduction was about 25%, but when measured within major gene pools, the reduction was more drastic for the Mesoamerican domestication (MI gene pool, 55%) than for the Andean domestication, where no reduction was observed. It is worth noting that the genetic diversity of MI landraces from the Yucatan Peninsula (H E = 0.029) is significantly lower than other MI landraces (H E = 0.065). This result is in agreement with a late introduction of the crop in the Yucatan Peninsula from its area of origin in centralwestern Mexico, as well as a late development (or introduction) of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands 60 .Pairwise F ST distances among gene pools showed that the wild gene pool most closely related to the Mesoamerican landraces is MI (F ST = 0.33), distributed in central-western Mexico (Supplementary Table 6). As for the Andean landraces, the most closely related wild gene pool is AI (F ST = 0.21), mostly distributed in the Andes of Ecuador-northern Peru. F ST values also showed that the wild cluster, AII is most closely related to the Mesoamerican gene pools (F ST values ranged from 0.56 to 0.65) than to the Andean gene pool AI (F ST = 0.86). Such a close relationship was also shown by Caicedo et al. 61 on the basis of AFLP polymorphisms and Toro et al. 62 on the basis of electrophoretic patterns of phaseolin. STRUCTURE results also suggest a close relationship of gene pool AII with gene pool MII (Fig. 3a), however, the analysis of fineSTRUCTURE shows that gene pool AII is most closely related to gene pool AI (Fig. 3c).As stated above, F ST values showed high genetic differentiation among gene pools, and consistent with this, haplotype introgression analyses clustered most of the accessions within their respective gene pools. However, there were 103 instances of chromosomal segments distributed in 35 accessions (9 wild and 26 domesticated) that could represent genetic contributions from different gene pools (Supplementary Data 6). The 103 chromosomal segments varied in size from 1 to 53 Mbp. In six accessions these chromosomal segments occupy more than 25% of their genome length, and concordantly these accessions were classified by STRUCTURE as admixed. Figure 3d shows the 58 chromosomal segments that were larger than 5 Mbp and that were observed in 15 accessions. Most of these segments represent genetic contributions between Mesoamerican gene pools (MI and MII) or between Andean gene pools (AI and AII), and more rarely between Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools.These genetic contributions may be the result of recent contact between wild and domesticated accessions, or between domesticated accessions of different origin. We found examples where introduced domesticated populations may have contributed chromosomal segments to the genetic makeup of wild accessions. For example, five MII wild accessions, distributed in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Campeche, in Guatemala, and in northern Colombia, all carry chromosomal segments that could have been potentially introgressed from introduced MI domesticated accessions. In all these geographical places, wild MII and MI domesticated accessions are distributed. Two AII wild accessions from central Colombia carry chromosomal segments potentially derived from domesticated AI accessions. We also observed 18 MI domesticated accessions carrying chromosomal segments potentially derived from the MII gene pool. These could represent cases of introgression from MII wild accessions into MI landraces in places where both kinds of accessions coexist such as the Mexican states of Veracruz and Chiapas, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the Caribbean coast in northern Colombia. Interestingly, we detected four MI landraces from the United States and one from Colombia with chromosomal segments potentially derived from Andean AI landraces. At least in Colombia and Ecuador MI and AI landraces coexist. We also found two AI landraces, G25172 and G26184 collected in Ica, Peru, where the foreign haplotypes belong to the MI gene pool suggesting that these accessions might be the result of an interbreeding occurrence, maybe due to the presence of both Andean and Mesoamerican landraces in Ica, Peru. An early introduction of Mesoamerican landraces in coastal Peru has been suggested by the occurrence of pod remains (typical of small-seeded landraces) in association with the ceramics of the Guanape Period (from 1200 B.C. to 400 B.C.) and Cupisnique Period (from 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C.) in Huaca Prieta, Peru 63 , although more recent introductions cannot be excluded. Finally, an interesting pattern that we observed was that a single 2.6 Mbp MII segment located in chromosome Pl07 was shared by six MI landraces from different departments in Colombia, and that a second 2.2 Mbp MII segment located in chromosome Pl08 was shared by seven different MI landraces cultivated in different places of Central America and Colombia (Supplementary Data 6).Gene expression during pod development. Reduction or loss of pod dehiscence is one of the key domestication traits in Lima bean, and also a trait of agronomic importance 64,65 . To obtain information on the genetic regulation of the pod development, we carried out an RNA-seq experiment measuring expression levels at the initiation of pod elongation (T1) and before seed filling (T2) in one wild and one domesticated accession. At the developmental stage T1, pod valves become visible with the flower corolla still attached (or recently detached). At the developmental stage T2 pods reach their maximum length and weight (excluding the seeds) before the initiation of seed filling. Principal component analysis of expression values inferred from RNA-seq reads, including publicly available reads from a previous study 66 consistently clustered replicates of each library with only one outlier which was removed for downstream analysis (Supplementary Fig. 16). Differential expression (DE) analyses revealed a total of 4275 genes with patterns of differential expression either across developmental stages or between the wild and the domesticated accession (Supplementary Data 7). Figure 4a shows a general heatmap of normalized expression values for these genes. Hierarchical clustering based on these values distinguished between five and seven gene clusters following different expression patterns.Looking at genes previously identified as related to pod dehiscence, the PDH1 gene significantly increased expression between T1 and T2 (Fig. 4b). The expression at the second stage was over 2-fold higher in the wild accession compared to the domesticated accession but the difference between accessions was not significant due to a relatively low expression value of one of the replicates. The PDH1 gene is involved in the formation of fibrous, strongly lignified cell layers between the inner and outer parenchyma of the pod, thus increasing the torsion force of pods in shattering genotypes 67 . Furthermore, it has been recently identified as a strong pod dehiscence QTL on chromosome Pv03 in common bean 65 .The ratio of gene expression between developmental stages or accessions showed that in general the domesticated accession had increased expression values for a larger number of genes than the wild accession (especially at T1) and that the number of genes with increased expression is larger than the number of genes with decreased expression between T1 and T2, especially in the wild accession (Fig. 4c). These patterns are collectively explained by about 1500 genes increasing expression between T1 and T2 in the wild accession. Genes with consistently increased expression between T1 and T2 in both the wild and the domesticated accession are enriched for terms that include cell wall biogenesis and organization, which is related to the biosynthesis of polysaccharides, particularly xylan and lignin, important components of the seed (Supplementary Fig. 17). Conversely, genes that only increase expression between T1 and T2 in the wild accession are enriched for metabolism-related genes of lignan, chitin, and aminoglycan and the fruit ripening process (Fig. 4d). Enrichment of chitin metabolism-related genes was mainly generated by a cluster of seven genes located at 38 Mbp of chromosome Pl09. Lignan metabolism-related genes were also enriched in this subset, mainly due to an array of nine genes with increased expression located at 9 Mbp of Pl11. Genes that remained more expressed in the domesticated accession only at T2 show enrichment of functions related to the development of the reproductive system, and particularly with the development of the fruit (Supplementary Fig. 18). Finally, genes with consistently reduced expression between T1 and T2 were enriched for developmental processes such as cuticle development and metabolism of different compounds, including cyanogenic glycoside. These findings are expected because the plant completed the formation of the pod and is about to start filling the seed.In this work, we conducted a large collaborative effort to provide a comprehensive set of genetic and genomic information for Lima bean. This effort resulted in information on the content, organization, and function of chromosomes and sequences, evolutionary relationships with close relatives at different taxonomic levels, population genomics of wild and cultivated accessions, and inheritance of agronomic traits. The analysis of this information revealed, at a greater detail, the genetic structure of wild and domesticated Lima beans across their large distribution range in the Americas, and provided insights on the genetic basis of variability in different agronomically relevant traits. Knowing the genes controlling these traits represents a great advantage for breeding programs and could potentially accelerate the development and release of improved Lima bean varieties in the future.The backbone of these achievements is the chromosome-level genome assembly for P. lunatus and a comprehensive genotyping of the available genetic variability within the species. The effort to build a high-quality reference genome sequence, both in terms of contiguity and base-pair quality, was rewarded by the assembly and functional prediction of large clusters of genes related to different traits. Although these predictions must be experimentally validated, the information provided is useful to prioritize genes to perform experimental validation as a community effort. Genes that confer resistance to biotic stresses on plants show large nucleotide diversity but good correspondence with common bean resistance genes based on orthology predictions and literature. As observed in previous studies in species with high-quality genomes such as rice, the variability of disease resistance genes is a key component of the defense mechanisms in plants 68 and can contribute to functional redundancy favoring durability of resistance in the field 69 . Moreover, local gene duplication was also observed in genes performing functions such as metabolism of xyloglucan and chitin and regulation of flower development, which are directly related to yield traits such as seed weight and flowering time.The evolutionary history of plant genomes is shaped by several WGD and local duplication events, characterized by a wide range of evolutionary rates within and between gene families with important consequences in gene expression and function 38 . A full understanding of these processes is only possible through the development of high-quality genome sequences 29 . In the case of Phaseolus species, a synteny analysis of our assembly with that of P. vulgaris not only confirms the high degree of chromosome conservation between these genomes but also provides a detailed view of five major rearrangements between these genomes. Thus, this work makes a significant contribution to ongoing genome assembly and resequencing efforts to allow a full reconstruction of the evolution of genomes within the legume family, including the complete characterization of potential convergent evolution processes triggered by multiple domestication events.Previous phylogenetic analyses have placed the origin of wild Lima bean in the Andes of Ecuador-northern Peru during Pleistocene times and have suggested that, in this ancestral area (gene pool AI), wild populations experienced a range fragmentation event that reduced genetic diversity 11 . Accordingly, we found that Andean wild populations are relatively less diverse than the Mesoamerican ones, although more sampling is needed to have a more precise estimation of genetic diversity in this population. In wild common beans, a reduction of diversity was also documented in Andean populations but it was attributed to the effect of rare long-distance dispersal events from Mesoamerican populations to the Andes 70 . The identification of a wild Lima bean cluster (AII) in the Andes of central Colombia is of great significance because it supports the dispersal of the species from south to north and may represent a source of alleles not found elsewhere, as suggested by the characteristic phaseolin type (M8) that has been observed in this gene pool (see Supplementary Data 3). With regard to domestication, this study revealed that the domestication bottleneck in Mesoamerica seems to be more severe than previously thought 10 . The genetic diversity that was lost during domestication was apparently hardly re-gained by gene flow from wild to domesticated types, as suggested by the low number of landrace accessions showing signals of introgression. However, further studies including whole genome resequencing of larger numbers of landraces in a wider range of geographic locations are needed to completely assess the role of introgression in the current genetic diversity of domesticated Lima bean and avoid potential biases produced by low sampling or missing data in GBS experiments.The higher number of samples and genetic markers analyzed in the present study also provided us more in-depth information on the genetic substructure of the MI gene pool and its relation to geography, although we acknowledge that there could still be some sources of bias due to the relatively low SNP density and missing data obtained from GBS experiments. Within the MI wild cluster, two subclusters were observed: northern-western Mexico and southern-western Mexico. Also, within the cluster of Mesoamerican MI landraces, three subclusters were detected: Mexico-Central America, South America, and the Peninsula of Yucatan. The observation that landraces from the Peninsula of Yucatan form a separate subcluster and that their genetic diversity is relatively lower than other MI landraces, is in agreement with the hypothesis that after its domestication in central-western Mexico, Lima bean was a relatively late adoption of the Mayan communities of the Peninsula of Yucatan 60 . Unfortunately, in this region, Lima bean is under serious threat of genetic erosion 58,71 . The genetic differentiation observed among wild gene pools, the predicted domestication bottleneck in Mesoamerica and the threat of genetic erosion of landraces in the Yucatan Peninsula have important implications for conservation purposes.The development of the biparental population UC Haskell-UC 92 presented in this work not only guided the genome assembly but also provided a unique tool for further investigation on the drivers of domestication traits through QTL mapping. As in common bean 72 , the presence of the PlTFL1 gene is associated with a QTL for both determinacy and flowering time: determinacy can cause earlier flowering by converting the terminal meristems from a vegetative state into reproductive ones. In common bean, the determinacy trait is more common in the Andean gene pool 73 . In this experiment, the determinacy trait was contributed by the Andean parent UC 92. This observation raises several questions. Given the presence of determinacy in the Mesoamerican gene pool as well, what is the origin of this trait in the latter gene pool? Is it due to an independent mutation at the same or different loci or is due to introgression from the Andean gene pool? Whole genome resequencing data among a broader sample of Andean and Mesoamerican accessions is necessary to answer these and other questions.The three quantitative traits scored in the UC 92-UC Haskell population showed transgressive segregation to varying extents. However, seed weight only showed transgressive segregation for seed weights below the small-seeded parent UC Haskell, but not for larger seed weights. This observation points to the difficulty in developing large-seeded improved progenies in populations arising from selfing only. Possible solutions are the development of population based on backcrosses to a large-seeded parent. An alternative is suggested by the phenotypic distribution for HSW, discriminated by allelic combinations (Supplementary Fig. 6). The presence of three marker alleles of the large-seeded parent (UC 92) for three seed weight QTL corresponds to the heaviest seeds and vice-versa for the individuals with the three marker alleles of the small-seeded parent (UC Haskell). Thus, indirect selection using these markers in early generations may shift breeding populations towards heavier seeds. Regarding cyanogenesis, the combination of QTL alleles giving the highest levels of cyanogenic glucosidase was the Pl05 (UC Haskell)-Pl08 (UC 92)-Pl10 (UC Haskell). Whether or not this combination should be selected for will depend on considerations such as a concern for consumer safety or a potential role in insect resistance.We also used RNA-seq to follow the gene expression patterns at two pod developmental stages in one wild (shattering) and one domesticated (non shattering) Lima bean accession. Hundreds of differentially expressed genes between the two accessions were detected between two developmental stages of the pod (T1 at the initiation of pod development and T2 when pods reached their maximum length before seed filling). In particular, we identified differential expression in the PDH1 gene, known to be involved in the control of pod dehiscence in other crops 74 . The PDH1 gene is a 'dirigent'-type gene involved in the polymerization of lignin monomers, consistent with the pod fiber role in dehiscent pods of wild types. In soybean, this gene is involved not only in lignification of pod walls but also in the increase in the torsion force of the pod 67 . Hence, the reduced expression of this gene is consistent with reduced pod dehiscence in domesticated types.In P. vulgaris, PvPDH1 is known to be only transcribed in the pod tissue 75 . Recently, this gene has been associated with pod dehiscence and with the adaptation of the domesticated ecogeographic race Durango of P. vulgaris to arid conditions in northern Mexico 65 . Anatomical and histological analyses have shown that shattering genotypes have an extensive lignified wall fiber layer (LFL) in pod walls while in non-shattering genotypes LFL deposition is reduced or absent. Our observation that the PlPDH1 gene increases expression in the wild accession of Lima bean at T2 is compatible with the results in common bean; therefore, PlPDH1 is a good candidate for further investigation. Moreover, the information obtained from differential expression was also useful to identify genes related to the regulation of flower development and metabolism of xylan and pectin, which in turn can be related to flowering time and seed weight. In addition, interesting patterns of expression were also observed for genes with annotated biological processes such as metabolism of chitin and cyanogenic glycoside, cuticle development, response to auxin, cell wall biogenesis and fruit ripening, which could be related to different physiological characteristics and even seed quality traits such as cookability or cyanide content.Given the importance of Lima bean, both as a current food security crop and as a potential protein source for different climate change scenarios, we expect that this work will provide a basis for many future studies in Phaseolus species with applications to breeding and will make an important contribution to the field of Phaseolus genomics across the five domesticated species of the genus.Sequencing. Lima bean genomic DNA was extracted from young leaves of twoweek-old seedlings of the domesticated accession G27455 according to the requirements for DNA concentration and integrity of each sequencing technology. High molecular weight (HMW) DNA for Pacific Bioscience and 10X Genomics sequencing was extracted with the Qiagen MagAttract HMW DNA Kit (QIAGEN, Germantown, MD, USA) following manufacturers' instructions. For the construction of libraries for Pacific Bioscience sequencing, a SMRTbell Template Prep Kit was used according to the manufacturer's instructions (Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, CA, USA). DNA was randomly fragmented by adding fragmentation buffer using Covaris g-TUBE devices and the purification was carried out with AMPurePB magnetic beads after concentration. Fragments greater than 3 kbp underwent a damage repair step combined with an end-repair, followed by a blunt end ligation with hairpin adapters. Libraries were sequenced on a PacBio Sequel platform at the sequencing provider Novogene Corporation Inc.For 10X Genomics DNA library construction, one μg of Lima bean DNA was prepared with Chromium Genome HT Library & Gel Bead Kit V2/10x Genomics according to the manufacturer's protocol (10x Genomics, Pleasanton, CA, USA). The resulting 500-700 bp insert libraries were quantified using a Qubit 2.0 fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and quantitative PCR. The size distribution was analyzed using an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Suitable libraries were sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq Platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) using a paired-end 150 run (2 × 150 bases).For Illumina sequencing, young trifoliate leaves from two-week-old seedlings were collected and frozen with liquid nitrogen. DNA isolation was performed with the same extraction method used for genetic diversity and population structure analyses (see below). The Illumina library used 1.0 μg of DNA according to a NEBNext DNA Library Prep Kit following the manufacturer's recommendations (New England BioLabs, Ipswich, MA, USA). Genomic DNA was fragmented to a size of 350 bp, fragments were ligated to NEBNext adapters and enriched by PCR. The library was analyzed for size distribution with an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and quantified using real-time PCR. Libraries were sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq Platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) using a paired-end 150 run (2 × 150 bases) and insert size of 450 bp.RNA sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly. Plants from accessions G25230 (Mesoamerican wild) and G27455 (Mesoamerican landrace) were grown under greenhouse conditions at the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT; Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). Total RNA was extracted from leaves, pods, and flowers with a specific protocol for each tissue 76,77 . For the analysis of differential gene expression related to pod dehiscence, RNA was extracted for the wild and domesticated accession at two pod developmental stages (with three replicates each), at the initiation of pod elongation (T1) and before seed filling (T2). At T1 pod valves become visible with the flower corolla still attached (or recently detached) and at T2 pods reach their maximum length and weight before seed filling. Previous studies show that strong lignin deposition at the dehiscence zone is already observed at this stage of the pod development in wild samples 78 . RNA samples were quantified with Nanodrop 2000 and quality was assessed with Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 system (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and agarose gel electrophoresis. Samples showing a 260/280 ratio of absorbance between 1.9-2.0 and RIN (RNA Integrity Number) values above seven were selected. mRNA samples were enriched using oligo(dT) beads and randomly fragmented, then cDNA was synthesized using mRNA templates. RNA-seq library preparation was completed through size selection and PCR enrichment. Sequencing of the library was accomplished using a paired-end 150 run (2 × 150 bases) on an Illumina HiSeq Platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA).The quality of the raw reads was evaluated with the fastQC v.0.11.2 program 79 and low-quality reads and adapter sequences were filtered with Trimmomatic v.0.36 80 , removing approximately 3% of the reads. De novo transcriptome assemblies were obtained by using the software Trinity v.2.4.0 81 . Each transcriptome assembly was compared with 1440 single-copy orthologs from the OrthoDB v.9.1 database using the BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) v.2 pipeline 82 .To increase the expression evidence for gene annotation, we also downloaded public RNA-seq reads sequenced in a previous study 66 from the NCBI Sequence read archive (bioproject accession number PRJNA275266), using the fastq-dump facility of the SRA toolkit v.2.9.4 (https://github.com/ncbi/sra-tools/wiki).Sequencing and assembly into scaffolds and pseudomolecules. A chromosome-level assembly of the Lima bean genome was achieved by combining reads from four different sequencing protocols (Supplementary Table 7). The entire sequencing effort added up to a total of 97.6 Gbp of raw data, which represents about 157x of the haploid genome size, initially estimated to be around 622 Mbp 27 . The genome assembly pipeline included four main steps. First, a de novo assembly of the PacBio reads was performed using Canu v.1.6 with default parameters 83 . This step resulted in a draft assembly of 496 contigs with N50 of 5.5 Mbp and a total length of 542 Mbp (Supplementary Fig. 19). An initial analysis of the linked reads data and the GBS data from the biparental population (see details below) allowed us to identify and break 12 potential misassemblies. As a second step, polishing was performed to achieve high base pair quality integrating the pairedend Illumina data to correct base pair and indel errors. Reads were aligned to the 508 contigs using bowtie2 v.2.3.5 84 and variants were called using the command FindVariants of NGSEP 3.3.2 85 with the following parameters: -runRep, -runRD, -runRP, -minMQ 0, -maxBaseQS 30, -minQuality 40, -h 0.0001 and providing predictions of STRs performed using tandem repeats finder 86 . Assembly errors, called as homozygous alternative variants, were corrected using the command VCFIndividualGenomeBuilder of NGSEP. This process was repeated four times. The options -runRep and -runRD were executed to identify repetitive regions from multiple alignments and CNVs from read depth signal, respectively. Although 439 contigs (86%) were identified as repetitive because they included predicted repeats over at least 60% of their total length, the total length spanned by these contigs is 194 Mbp (36% of the assembled length). The remaining 69 scaffolds span 348 Mbp mostly because they are the longest contigs (Supplementary Fig. 20). In a third step, linked reads were aligned to the polished contigs using bwa v.0.7.17 87 to perform scaffolding. In the 10x protocol, reads having the same barcode should have been sequenced from the same initial molecule. Hence, reads with the same barcode mapping to different contig ends provide evidence of linkage between such ends. We built an undirected graph having contig ends as vertices and evidence of linkage as edges to run a clustering algorithm similar to that implemented in the software Salsa for Hi-C data 88 . This procedure allowed us to combine 164 contigs in 40 scaffolds.Finally, in a fourth step, a dense genetic map including more than ten thousand selected variants was built by analyzing GBS data from an F 8 biparental population (parents UC 92 and UC Haskell, details in the next section). Linkage disequilibrium was calculated for each pair of variants and pairs in different contigs having an r 2 value greater than 0.8 were considered as evidence for linkage between contigs. Connected components on a graph with contigs as vertices and linkage evidence as edges allowed us to identify the expected 11 linkage groups. Combining this linkage information with the linkage provided by the scaffolding process, 206 contigs adding up to 512 Mbp were sorted and oriented to produce the final 11 pseudomolecules representing the chromosomes of the species. The GBS reads were reanalyzed against the assembled pseudomolecules to verify the structural consistency of the final assembly and to identify recombination breakpoints per sample.RNA-seq data-based genome annotation, comparisons, and expression analysis. Annotation of repetitive elements was performed using RepeatMasker v.4.0.5 30 using the library of repetitive elements for P. vulgaris kindly provided by the authors of Gao et al. 31 . The genome assembly was masked by replacing nucleotides within these regions with N characters to perform gene annotation. The genome annotation strategy combined ab initio predictions, cDNA sequences (pod, flower, and leaves), and homology-based approaches following the Maker pipeline v.2.31.9 89 . Raw RNA-Seq data were filtered using Trimmomatic v.0.36 to remove adapter and low-quality sequences (>Q30). We used 57,742 de-novo transcript assemblies obtained following the Trinity pipeline 81 and 36,995 putative protein sequences from common bean as evidence in the Maker annotation process. In parallel, RNA-seq clean reads were processed according to the Tuxedo pipeline 90 . HISAT2 v.2.1.0 91 was used to align the reads to the Lima bean reference genome with default parameters. StringTie v.1.3.5 92 was used to predict transcript annotations from aligned reads. The two annotations were merged using a custom script available with the NGSEP distribution (class ngsep.transcriptome.io. GFF3CombineAnnotations). Suspiciously long genes and genes with an abnormally high number and distribution of transcripts and covering other genes were curated according to sequence similarity with common bean. This annotation was initially used for validation of the base pair quality of the genome assembly searching 1440 single-copy orthologs from the OrthoDB v9.1 database using the BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) v.2 pipeline 82 . The Tuxedo pipeline was also followed to generate the count of expression levels for each gene and each sample. HISAT2 v.2.1.0 was used to align the reads to the Lima bean reference genome and StringTie v.1.3.5 was used to obtain the matrix of read counts. We carried out a differential expression analysis with DeSeq2 v.3.1 93 performing independent comparisons between developmental stages for each accession and between accessions within each developmental stage. Results of a linear model design combining developmental stages and accessions were also evaluated. Significant differential expression was predicted if the comparison p value was below 0.05 and the log-fold change was above two. To assess at which level the results were skewed by reference bias, expression levels for the transcripts assembled de-novo were estimated directly from raw reads using the software tool Salmon v.1.2.1 94 . Differential expression analysis of these expression levels was also assessed with DeSeq2. The trends were consistent between expression levels obtained following the two pipelines (Supplementary Fig. 21).Functional annotation of the predicted gene models and transcripts was performed following the Trinotate pipeline v.3.1.1 95 . In brief, blastx and blastp searches from NCBI Blast v.2.10.0 were performed against the UniProt database using as queries the cDNA and amino acid sequences of each transcript, respectively. The best hit of each search was retrieved if its corresponding e value was below 0.001. The hmmscan tool of HMMer v.3.3.1 96 was also used to identify conserved domains registered in the Pfam database. Results of these queries were combined into a Trinotate database to generate the final annotation report.To assess the quality of the gene models and perform automated curation, orthology with P. vulgaris, expression measured as having a transcript per million (TPM) measure greater than 0.5 in at least one tissue and functional annotation were considered evidence supporting the existence of each annotated gene. A total of 10,263 annotations were filtered keeping genes with at least one type of evidence or having both proteins length over 200 amino acids and a paralog with direct evidence.Paralog identification and comparison with other annotated genomes were performed running the GenomesAligner command of NGSEP. In brief, this command builds an FMIndex with the proteomes of each species and then performs amino acid searches of non-overlapping k-mers taken from each sequence on each FM-Index. A homology relationship is called if the percentage of matching query k-mers for a sequence is larger than a given parameter. To achieve identification of paralog relationships from the latest whole-genome duplication event, the GenomesAligner was executed with a k-mer length k = 5 and a minimum percentage of k-mers p = 20. A WGD paralog relationship is called if the two genes have at most ten paralogs in total, are located in different chromosomes and at least half of the neighbors in a window of up to ten genes share a syntenic homology relationship.Functional enrichment of gene ontology (GO) terms for gene sets selected from the different experiments was performed running the topGO package of Bioconductor v.2.36.0 97 using a Fisher exact test. Each set was compared against the genes in the Lima bean genome as background. Visualization of enriched GO terms was performed using REVIGO 98 and visualization of GO knowledge graphs was performed in Cytoscape v.3.8.1 99 .Identification of genes for biotic disease resistance was performed based on the functional annotation of the genome and orthology prediction. The complete list of gene models with known functions was manually screened for known domains associated with resistance (R)-genes as predicted or confirmed by at least one of the searched databases: NCBI (BLASTp), Pfam, and eggNOG/GO/KEGG. The domains included in the selection were: CC, NB-ARC, TIR, LRR, WRKY, LZ, and protein kinase. According to the different domain arrangements within the nucleotide-binding site (NBS)-Leucine-rich repeat (LRR) gene family different subfamilies were classified for each of the 11 Lima bean chromosomes. Genomic locations of these genes and their different protein sequences were derived from the genome assembly and structural annotation. A physical map of the 11 chromosomes with individual NBS-LRR genes was generated by MapGene2Chrom web v.2.1 100 and a multiple sequence alignment of the corresponding proteins was created using muscle v.3.8.31 101 . The alignment was used to produce a tree topology for gene diversity analysis based on the Neighbor-joining approach by MEGA X v.10.8.1 102 , which was visualized and edited by iTOL v.4.4.2 103 .Genetic analyses in the UC 92  Haskell is a small-seeded, vine-type cultivar of Mesoamerican origin and UC 92 is a large-seeded, bush-type cultivar of Andean origin. Crosses were made in a greenhouse in 2012 and progeny seeds were grown for hybrid verification. F 1 hybrids resulting from this cross were verified using the polymorphic codominant Pvctt001 simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker using a PCR protocol performed as recommended using Taq DNA Polymerase with ThermoPol Buffer (New England Biolabs). PCR products were analyzed on a 2% agarose gel using 1x TAE buffer. Subsequently, the population was advanced to the F 8 stage by single-seed descent. Leaf tissue of the two parents and each RIL was collected from two-week-old seedlings; DNA was extracted using a DNEasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen). The resulting RIL population demonstrated segregation for many agronomic traits, including germination rate, flowering time, inflorescence position, plant height, plant habit, pod position, pod density, yield, and biotic stress tolerances 21 .Leaf tissue for DNA extraction was sampled from two-week-old seedlings of 238 RILs in the F 8 generation. Leaf tissue samples were collected into 96-well plates from plants grown in a greenhouse, immediately put on ice, and lyophilized for 24 h. DNA was extracted using an adapted DNA extraction protocol for Lima and common bean 104 . The presence of DNA was confirmed for samples with 260/280 absorbance ratios above 1.8 using a NanoDrop Lite (Thermo Fisher Scientific). DNA was quantified using the Quant-iT PicoGreen dsDNA Assay Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and 100 ng of DNA from each sample was transferred to a PCR plate. GBS barcode libraries and adapters for the CviAII restriction enzyme (New England Biolabs) were prepared using an adapted protocol for common bean 104 . The CviAII restriction enzyme 104 , CutSmart buffer (New England Biolabs), and unique barcode identifiers for each well were added to the plates, spun down and incubated in a PCR machine for 2 h at 25 °C. T4 (10x) buffer and T4 ligation were added to the wells and run in the PCR machine for 1 h at 22 °C followed by 30 min at 65 °C. Seven microliters of each sample was added to a petri dish, mixed, and transferred to Eppendorf tubes. Binding buffer and isopropanol were added to the tubes and mixed. Eight-hundred microliters were transferred to a GeneJET (Thermo Fisher Scientific) purification column, centrifuged for 60 s, and eluted with water. DNA was quantified on the QUBIT dsDNA HS Assay Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific/Invitrogen) prior to GBS sequencing. Two genomic libraries were prepared, each containing 144 unique barcode identifiers for the CviAII restriction enzyme, and a total of 240 unique genetic lines were sequenced. The libraries were sequenced using the SR100 protocol on two lanes of an Illumina HiSeq flow cell at the University of California, Davis, Genome Center.Sequence data was de-multiplexed and adapter contamination was removed using the Demultiplex command of NGSEP. Single reads for each sample were aligned to the contigs using bowtie2 with default parameters. Then, the command MultisampleVariantsDetector of NGSEP was used to identify variants and call genotypes for each sample with parameters similar to those used to analyze the GBS diversity data. A total of 51,897 SNVs, 2927 biallelic indels, and 758 biallelic STRs were identified in 183 contigs after filtering calls with genotype quality less than 30, minor allele frequency less than 0.3, heterozygosity rate larger than 0.05, and variants for which less than 100 individuals were genotyped. Missing genotypes were imputed and parental assignment of individual haplotypes was obtained running the ImputeVCF command of NGSEP with the following parameters: '-p UCHaskell, UC92 -k 2 -c 0.003 -ip -is'. Recombination events between each pair of neighboring markers were identified and centimorgans were estimated assuming five generations of crossover and one expected crossover per individual chromosome per generation.Ninety-three RILs and 10,497 polymorphic SNP markers were used to construct the genetic map using the ASMap v.1.0.4 and R/qtl v.1.44 packages in R 105,106 . Markers with less than 20% missing genotypes were used for map construction, and individuals with excessive recombination rates and more than 50% missing genotypes were removed from map construction. Linkage groups were formed using the 'mstmap' function with p < e-8 and genetic distances were calculated using the 'Kosambi' mapping function. Linkage groups were merged when originating from the same chromosome and recombination frequencies were recalculated by chromosome with lower p-values. Recombination rates across the genetic map were calculated using the 'MareyMap' function using the 'sliding window' interpolation method every 200 kbp in a 1 Mbp sliding window 107 . Pericentromeric regions of the chromosomes were defined when recombination rates exceeded 2 Mbp/cM for a given locus. Chromosome numbering followed the numbering of P. vulgaris chromosomes to obtain a one-to-one correspondence, justified by the high level of synteny 108 .QTL mapping for plant habit, seed weight, days to first flower, and cyanogenesis was performed in the UC 92-UC Haskell RIL population using the R/qtl package 105 . A genome-wide scan for single QTLs was performed using the 'scanone' function with the extended Haley-Knott regression method 105 . For traits that were controlled by a single QTL, composite interval mapping was performed using the 'cim' function with the extended Haley-Knott regression method, the Kosambi mapping function, and 1000 permutations to identify the position and LOD score of QTLs above the 95% significance threshold. For traits that contained multiple significant QTL, the 'makeqtl' and 'fitqtl' functions were used to identify the optimal multiple QTL model, and to calculate LOD scores, percent of phenotypic variation explained by the QTL and QTL effects.Days to first flower were collected from an experiment grown at two locations in Davis, California in 2018. The date was recorded when a majority of plants in the plot had at least one floral bud open. An ANOVA of a generalized linear mixed model, including genotype and treatment as fixed effect factors and location and blocks as random effect factors, was performed for days to first flower. Phenotypic characterization for plant habit, hundred seed weight, and delayed senescence included in the QTL mapping study were performed on single plants that were grown within a greenhouse.Cyanide quantification of samples of floral bud tissue was collected in triplicate subsamples from an experiment grown at two locations in Davis, California in 2018. Tissue samples were kept on dry ice, weighed, and organized in 96-well plates and frozen at −80 °C. Cyanide quantification was performed using an adapted Fiegl-Anger method 109 . Tissue samples thawed at room temperature for 30 min before Fiegl-Anger paper was placed over each plate for 30 min. Standards of hydrogen cyanide were created with concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 nM of potassium cyanide exposed to Fiegl-Anger paper for 30 min. Fiegl-Anger paper was immediately scanned, and quantification of the blue absorbance intensity was calculated using ImageJ software and the 'readplate2' plugin. Blue absorbance intensity was calculated as -log(Mean/255). A standard regression curve was calculated from the standard HCN concentrations and nanomolar concentrations for the samples were calculated based on this curve and calculated as an nM/min rate across the initial 30-min interval measured. Two separate linear models and ANOVAs were performed for the RIL population grouped by haplotype at the QTL peak on chromosome Pl05, since this QTL effect consistently produced bimodal distributions. The best fitting linear model for floral bud cyanogenesis included genotype, location, and treatment as fixed effect factors.Genetic diversity and population structure analyses. For GBS library construction, five biological samples of leaf tissue (three young trifoliate leaves of five different plants) were collected for each accession. The samples were frozen and stored at −20 °C until processing. DNA isolation was performed from frozen trifoliate leaves using the extraction method developed by Vega-Vela and Chacon Sanchez (2011) 110 . DNA quality was checked with a Nanodrop 2000 and analyzed in 1% agarose gel electrophoresis; DNA with no visible degradation and a ratio 260/280 above 1.8 was selected. DNA libraries (one per accession) were generated by mixing the DNA of five individuals in equal parts (with the help of a Nanodrop 2000 and electrophoresis calibration with lambda DNA at concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 ng/µL), then the DNA restriction for each sample was performed with the ApeKI enzyme and ligated to adapters containing one of 94 unique barcodes for each plate. The library was sequenced in paired end using an Illumina Hi-Seq2000. Both library preparation and sequencing were done at the Australian Genome Research Facility (Melbourne, Australia).A total of 482 Lima bean accessions from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture-CIAT (262 accessions) and Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan-CICY (220 accessions) were analyzed in this study (see Supplementary Data 3). Of these accessions, 215 were domesticated and 267 wild. Wild accessions covered the known natural geographic range for this species and domesticated accessions were landraces from different countries in the Americas (Supplementary Fig. 10). These accessions complemented those analyzed in a previous study 10 to increase the sampling of wild accessions from the MI gene pool (the putative ancestral gene pool of Mesoamerican landraces) and gene pool AII from central Colombia. Sequenced accessions from CIAT are available through the mechanisms established by the germplasm collection. Sequenced accessions from Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan (CICY) are available directly upon request.The sequences obtained from each sample were de-multiplexed by their barcode using Next Generation Sequencing Experience Platform (NGSEP) v.3.3.2 85 . Individual fastq files were mapped to the Lima bean reference genome by using default parameters of bowtie2 and adding an ID code for each accession 84 . Variants were identified and individuals were genotyped using the MultisampleVariantsDetector command of NGSEP. The parameters used for SNP calling were: 50 as a maximum number of alignments per start position, heterozygosity rate of 0.0001 (prior probability of finding in every position a heterozygous SNP), and a minimum genotype quality score of 40 (codified in Phred, where 40 means 0.9999 of posterior probability that each genotype call is correct). Initial filtering to obtain a raw set of reliable variants was obtained by filtering using the FilterVCF command of NGSEP with the following criteria: (1) Exclude variants from repetitive regions and in not-assembled scaffolds; (2) Exclude variants genotyped in less than 100 of the 482 accessions; and (3) Exclude variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) less than 0.01. This procedure generated an initial set of 116,030 biallelic SNVs, 7517 biallelic indels and STRs, and 22,138 multiallelic variants (96.6% of them triallelic SNVs) with approximately 40% of missing data. Further filtering was applied for the different downstream population genetics analyses (details below).Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was measured as r 2 , the correlation coefficient among pair of alleles across pairs of SNP loci, specifically as average r 2 against 10 and 100 kbp physical intervals through the 11 chromosomes of Phaseolus lunatus using TASSEL v.5 111 . This analysis was conducted on a filtered dataset with the wild samples, as well as a filtered dataset with the domesticated samples. We also conducted the analysis for Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools. Results were plotted in R software by using an adapted code.To estimate the number of clusters in Lima bean useful to describe the genetic data, we used algorithmic approaches and model-based approaches. For this, we built a multilocus-genotype matrix containing the 482 accessions (267 wild and 215 domesticated) described earlier. The raw VCF file described in the previous section was filtered keeping only biallelic SNVs with a distance of more than 10 bp from other variants, genotyped with quality at least 40 in at least 450 individuals and with minor allele frequency larger than 0.03. A total of 12,398 SNVs were retained after these filters with only 5.3% of missing data. For each sample, genotype calls based on read data were present for at least 75% of the SNPs and this percentage is less than 90% for only six samples (Supplementary Data 4).The algorithmic approaches were carried out with the software Darwin v.6.0.021 112 and the R package Adegenet v.2.1.2 113 . In Darwin, a pairwise distance matrix was calculated by estimating the proportion of matching alleles per locus for every pair of individuals. For the representation of the genetic structure, we used three methods: a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA in Darwin), a tree method (neighborjoining -NJ-algorithm in Darwin), and a discriminant analysis of principal components 114 (DAPC in Adegenet), that unlike PCoA, optimizes the variance between groups while minimizing the variance within groups. In Adegenet, the function 'find.clusters' was used to identify the optimal number of clusters based on the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), 500 principal components were retained, four discriminant functions were used and the proportion of conserved variance was 0.95. For statistical support of NJ tree structure, 1000 bootstrapped matrices were obtained. The tree was visualized using iTol 103 .The software STRUCTURE v.2.3.4 115 was used as an alternative approach to infer the population structure of the sequenced accessions. The filtered VCF file was converted to the input format of STRUCTURE using the ConvertVCF command of NGSEP. A total of 200 STRUCTURE runs were executed varying the number of clusters (K parameter) from 1 to 10 and performing 20 repetitions for each K value. For each run, 10,000 burn-in iterations and 30,000 sampling iterations were executed. The main and extra parameters were left with default values with the exception of the option 'ONEROWPERIND' which was set to 1 to make it consistent with the format provided by the VCF converter of NGSEP. Stability of the Markov chain was assessed looking at the variance of the likelihood of the clustering achieved by each repetition. The solution with the best likelihood was selected for each K value between 2 and 8 and cluster numbers were reorganized to visually assess the cluster stability across different K values (Fig. 3a). The Evanno test was performed to predict the optimal number of clusters 116 .Haplotype based population structure was assessed with the software fineSTRUCTURE v.4.1.0 57 . In brief, this software builds a sample relationship matrix capturing the haplotype similarity across the genome. This matrix is then used to run a Markov chain to sample group configurations and tree topologies consistent with the similarity matrix. For this analysis, the VCF file with population information was filtered keeping only biallelic SNVs with a distance of more than 10 bp from other variants, genotyped with quality at least 40 in at least 300 individuals, MAF larger than 0.02, and observed heterozygosity (OH) below 0.5. A total of 28,753 SNVs were retained after these filters with 11% missing data and 332,817 (2.4%) heterozygous data points. Imputation of missing data and statistical haplotyping was performed using Beagle 5.0 117 setting the phase states to 50, the imputation states to 400, and the effective population size to 100,000. For each chromosome, the VCF was converted to the input format of fineSTRUCTURE using the command VCFConverter of NGSEP. The four steps pipeline of fineSTRUCTURE was executed using default parameters following the user manual and providing genetic distances inferred from the genetic map developed from the biparental population.Basic diversity statistics for populations, namely observed heterozygosity (H O ), expected heterozygosity (H E ), endogamy (F IS ), global F ST , and pairwise F ST 118 were estimated using the R packages Adegenet 113 and Hierfstat v.0.5 119 from the same dataset used to run STRUCTURE. Difference between H O and H E was assessed by means of the Bartlett test and paired t test. The significance of population differentiation was tested by means of a likelihood ratio G-statistic 120 .Introgression analysis was performed running the 'IntrogressionAnalysis' command of NGSEP. The input VCF for this analysis was the same used to run STRUCTURE. The input file with population assignments contained genetic populations inferred by STRUCTURE at K = 4, which separates the MI, MII, AI, and AII populations. Only 448 samples with clear assignments were included in this file. The analysis was executed with default parameters (non-overlapping windows of 50 SNPs discriminating at least one pair of populations). The raw set of predicted introgression events called with this procedure was filtered keeping only events that span more than one contiguous window or, for a single window of 50 SNPs, if the similarity score between the haplotype of the sample and the consensus haplotype of the sample background population was below 15. Then, the D-statistic implemented in the ANGSD package v.0.93 121 was calculated to assess significance of the introgression events. GBS reads from common bean were aligned to the P. lunatus genome to use them as an outgroup for this analysis. Events with Z-scores larger than 2 were retained. Additionally, the introgression called for the MII sample JMC_1097 was retained because it spanned 53Mbp over four chromosomes. Finally, two introgressions of about 2Mbp called at 36 Mbp of Pl07 and 4.6Mbp of Pl08 were retained because they were consistently called in six and seven accessions, respectively. Although the D-statistic probably did not have enough power to assess significance of these introgressions, they were validated by construction of neighbor-joining clusters within the specific regions (Supplementary Fig. 22).Reporting Summary. Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.","tokenCount":"12412"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6849395108.json b/data/part_1/6849395108.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..65307077cadce9905ecf840a315e2649e06027fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6849395108.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ffe3709f5c5f49b4fcc76afc2d2d708","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1b2249d3-1389-4bdf-8a3f-93f9350b4edd/retrieve","id":"954755671"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8bd122e0-b69c-42ec-8e5b-4a5ffb84c959","pagecount":"48","content":"-Livestock for food, for sale, for prestige, for social functions, as an asset to store wealth, to protect against shocks -These systems make use of natural vegetation and other natural resources -They play a key role in the protection and maintenance of ecosystems goods and services There is a large heterogeneity across systems -Livestock as the main livelihoods option -Mixed agro-pastoral systems with integration with cropping -Off-farm income plays a significant and increasing role in some areas• Climate change (quantity and quality of food) Examples of ILRI-supported innovations: participatory rangeland management (PRM)• Developed to address land and resource tenure securities and improve management of these in a context of reducing authority of customary institutions.  The Raika people represent the majority of the migratory stock growers in western Rajasthan. For the Raika, domestic animals are living assets contributing to HH income, food security and health. Their pastoral system, evolved over the last 5 centuries, and has been centered on the use of large tracts of uncultivable and marginal land coupled with seasonal use of rain-fed cropland. Changing demographics, climate, and environmental awareness is changing their migration patters and land use. Many Raika are very poor and many, especially women, are illiterate. The migration group generally comes from the same village. During long distance migration generally 10 to 20 person move together with their animals for the sake of safety. A respected village leader acts as group leader (NAMBARDAR). His main task is to finalize the locations for grazing after talking to different officials/communities in other locations.The main constraints faced at the herders during migration were as follows: Shortage of common grazing resources ▪ Rapid decline of common grazing (quality and quantity)▪ Crop encroachment (cultivation of the best RNG sites) ▪ Proliferation of invasive species (Prosopis juliflora) in common lands▪ Restrictions to livestock grazing on land controlled by the forestry department/conservation purposes (parks). Institutional support (Services and infrastructure)▪ Little or no access to support services (veterinary, insurance, extension, credit, etc.).▪ Lack of infrastructure for processing and production of value-added livestock products. Dependence on middlemen for marketing of products.▪ Communication gaps between migratory herders and government officials.▪ Farmers' unwillingness to allow grazing on their fallow lands and harvested fields.Daily Travel inLocal DateCattle travelled an average of 7.09 km day -1 before migration began, 8.8 km day -1 during migration, and 8.71 km day -1 averaged across the entire observation period.Migration routes depend on availability of water and pasture land.Water can be from wells or water retention basins. Known water sources along the migration route were identified. 5 km buffers were constructed around each water source so that areas with water limitation could be identified. Cattle traveled approximately 10 km/day. Cattle watered near noon on most days. Improving the condition of the common grazing lands and religious trust-owned pastures with community participation could provide better forage resources that fulfil the nutritional requirements of migrating animals. Rangeland improvement projects, dissemination of near real-time information about the condition and abundance of forage resources and availability of crop aftermath/fallow fields would facilitate the migration process and increase efficiencies. Institutional support (services & Infrastructure): Creation of livestock watering points on different migratory routes will help to enhance the productivity. Provision of market infrastructure in production regions to facilitate sale of animals at remunerative prices. The interventions of state agencies through provision of mobile veterinary services and quality medicines on different migratory routes will help reducing losses to livestock owners. Control of criminals shall provide a healthy space to livestock owners in different regions and ensure safety of people engaged in this enterprise. Special program should be in place to look after woman & children in the absence of male (gender).(Tunisia)Rangeland Himas contributes to poverty reduction and economic growth as well as protection of habitat and conservation of endangered species• Easy to implement,• Low cost, The option of using local feed resources (shrubs, promising forages, crop residues, by-products)▪ More economic than the use of concentrates ▪ More ecological as they integrate the animal to its environment and can improve soil and water conservation ▪ More sustainable than grain (cropping or import)There is great scope to reduce areas under fodder crops by using, innovating and developing alternate animal feed resources;• utilizing agricultural and agroindustrial by-products as feed blocks, silage and/or mixed with the ration. • Feed block technology is simple and does not require sophisticated equipment. • Blocks are easy to handle, transport and can be made at the farm levels using the family labor. -For producing same amount of forage with Buffel grass, only 116 million m3 of water was required.Potential national water savings: 112M m3.Buffle Grass: highnutrition forage crop with less water requirements. Rangelands represent largest land use  They contribute to the living of the poorest populations (pastoral communities) Provide various ecosystem services and goods to society ","tokenCount":"801"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6860945562.json b/data/part_1/6860945562.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e1cf4665c5db4f1b22d9461ee877910a4eceb811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6860945562.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cc89b3631fce9755e75dc33c3a9bee3f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e929483-cf1e-4197-9920-0f826c2aa75d/retrieve","id":"-230537881"},"keywords":["AUDPC, area under the disease progress curve","BLUP, best linear unbiased prediction","CIAT, International Center for Tropical Agriculture","CMD, cassava mosaic disease","CMDS, cassava mosaic disease severity","GBS, genotype-by-sequencing","GEBV, genomic estimated breeding value","GLM, general linear model","GS, genomic selection","GWAS, genome-wide association study","IITA, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture","LD, linkage disequilibrium","MAF, minor allele frequency","MCMDS, mean cassava mosaic disease severity","MLM, mixed linear model","MLMM, multilocus mixed model","NaCRRI, National Crops Resources Research Institute","NRCRI, National Root Crops Research Institute","PCA, principal components analysis","PCR, polymerase chain reaction","QTL, quantitative trait loci","SNP, single-nucleotide polymorphism","SSR, simple-sequence repeat","TMS, Tropical Manihot Selections"],"sieverID":"dcfe983f-0850-4d90-86a3-3f4e513f1771","pagecount":"13","content":"Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a crucial, under-researched crop feeding millions worldwide, especially in Africa. Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) has plagued production in Africa for over a century. Biparental mapping studies suggest primarily a single major gene mediates resistance. To investigate this genetic architecture, we conducted the first genome-wide association mapping study in cassava with up to 6128 genotyping-by-sequenced African breeding lines and 42,113 reference genome-mapped single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We found a single region on chromosome 8 that accounts for 30 to 66% of genetic resistance in the African cassava germplasm. Thirteen additional regions with small effects were also identified. Further dissection of the major quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 8 revealed the presence of two possibly epistatic loci and/or multiple resistance alleles, which may account for the difference between moderate and strong disease resistances in the germplasm. Search of potential candidate genes in the major QTL region identified two peroxidases and one thioredoxin. Finally, we found genomic prediction accuracy of 0.53 to 0.58 suggesting that genomic selection (GS) will be effective both for improving resistance in breeding populations and identifying highly resistant clones as varieties.C ASSAVA (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a crucial staple food crop, usually grown by smallholder farmers and feeding over half a billion people worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (http://faostat.fao.org). Breeding cycles are long in this outcrossing, clonally propagatedcrop, and genetic gains from breeding have been small over the last century compared with other crops (Ceballos et al., 2004(Ceballos et al., , 2012)). With a recently sequenced genome (Prochnik et al., 2012) and SNP-based genetic linkage maps (International Cassava Genetic Map Consortium, 2014), it is for the first time possible to study the genetic architecture of key traits using modern genome-wide association study (GWAS) and to improve those traits with GS (Oliveira et al., 2012;Ly et al., 2013).Cassava mosaic disease is the longest running and, thus far, most impactful of the challenges cassava farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa (Fauquet et al., 1990). The disease is caused by several related species of geminiviruses and transmitted both through infected cuttings and by a vector, the common whitefly (Bemisia tabaci G.). Development and deployment of resistant cultivars is the most effective control method for this devastating disease. Following an unsuccessful worldwide search for resistance in cultivated germplasm in the 1930s, cassava breeders at the Amani research station in Tanzania resorted to interspecific hybridization with Ceara rubber tree (M. glaziovii Mull. Arg.) and other related wild species in the 1930s (Hahn et al., 1979(Hahn et al., , 1980a;;Fauquet et al., 1990). Moderate polygenic resistance combined with reasonable root yields was achieved through several cycles of backcross of Ceara rubber to the cultivated cassava (Hahn et al., 1980b). One of these interspecific hybrids, clone 58308, was subsequently used to initiate cassava breeding at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the 1970s and resulted in the Tropical Manihot Selections (TMS) varieties (Hahn et al., 1980b).More recently, a strong qualitative and dominant monogenic resistance known as CMD2 was discovered in a Nigerian landrace (TMEB3) in the 1980s (Akano et al., 2002). Multiple biparental QTL analyses have been conducted, initially using simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers (Akano et al., 2002;Lokko et al., 2005;Okogbenin et al., 2007Okogbenin et al., , 2012;;Mohan et al., 2013) but more recently genome-wide SNPs (Rabbi et al., 2014a,b), to understand the genetic basis of this type of qualitative resistance to CMD. Although some studies hint at additional resistance loci (Okogbenin et al., 2012;Mohan et al., 2013), most evidence points solely to the CMD2 locus (Rabbi et al., 2014a,b). However, these biparental mapping efforts relied on a handful of unique parental genotypes from West Africa and therefore only examined a narrow slice of African cassava germplasm diversity (Rabbi et al., 2014b).A limited genetic base for the dominant resistance implies potential vulnerability if the cassava mosaic geminivirus can evolve to overcome it. This possibility necessitates diversification of resistance sources to ensure durability. To determine with greater certainty whether there are additional sources of CMD resistance in the continent's breeding germplasm, we undertook a large GWAS using >6000 cassava accessions from West and East Africa genotyped at more than 40,000 SNP loci using genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) (Elshire et al., 2011). The entire collection represents five subpopulations (Table 1) that are part of an ongoing international GS-based breeding project in cassava (http://www.nextgencassava.org). In addition, we combined GWAS and genomic prediction to not only dissect the genetic architecture of resistance to CMD but also to assess the potential for population improvement by GS. We used a variety of approaches to localize and identify candidate genes for future investigation. The potential for GS to improve CMD resistance and for nonadditive models to predict total genetic merit of clones for the selection of superior CMD resistant varieties were assessed. Finally, multikernel genomic prediction models were used to study the relative importance of qualitative and quantitative resistance sources.The germplasm included in this study represent the reference populations used to develop genomic prediction models for three African plant breeding institutions: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria; the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) in Umudike, Nigeria; and the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Namulonge, Uganda.The IITA population (also referred to as the Genetic Gain) is comprised of 694 historically important, mostly advanced breeding lines that have been selected and maintained clonally since 1970 (Okechukwu and Dixon, 2008;Ly et al., 2013). Most of these materials are derived from the cassava gene pool from West Africa and early introductions of CMD tolerant parents derived from the interspecific hybridization program at the Amani Station in Tanzania (Hahn et al., 1980b). It also includes hybrids of germplasm introduced from Latin America (see Supplemental Table S1 for a list of accessions and details on pedigree where available).The NRCRI population contains 626 clones from their breeding program, 189 of which are also part of IITA's Genetic Gain. The remainder of the NRCRI collection includes a large number of materials either directly from or derived with parentage from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Columbia (Supplemental Table S2).The NaCRRI in Uganda has a population of 414 clones that represents the genetic diversity of the East African cassava gene pool. The pedigree of this population arises from 49 parents coming from IITA, CIAT in Columbia, and Amani Research Station in Tanzania (Supplemental Table S3). The population was generated, in part, by making crosses of parents with qualitative resistance to parents with quantitative resistance as well as quantitative quantitative and qualitative qualitative resistances. We note that there are two major clades of cassava mosaic virus species, African cassava mosaic virus and East African cassava mosaic virus (Legg and Fauquet, 2004). East African cassava mosaic virus is generally more severe in its symptoms and is present in West Africa but only at low levels, usually occurring as a dual infection with African cassava mosaic virus (Legg and Fauquet, 2004;Rabbi et al., 2014b). This fact makes it all the more important to include East African cassava breeding germplasm in a more comprehensive screen of the genetic architecture of CMD resistance.We also analyzed a large genotyped and phenotyped multiparental population of individuals from two cycles of GS conducted at IITA. The GS program at IITA will be described briefly here and in detail as part of other publications. In 2012 the IITA Genetic Gain population was used as the reference population from which genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) were obtained using the genomic best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) (Heffner et al., 2009). Selection of clones from the Genetic Gain was based on a selection index including CMD and cassava bacterial blight disease severity and yield components (dry matter content, harvest index, and fresh root yield). In the end, 83 parents gave rise to 2187 progenies, which we will call IITA Cycle 1. In 2013, the GEBVs for Cycle 1 were obtained, again using the Genetic Gain as a reference population, and 84 Cycle 1 plus 13 (97 total) Genetic Gain clones were selected as parents, giving rise to 2466 progenies (Cycle 2). The pedigrees of IITA Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 are available in Supplemental Table S4 and S5.Phenotypic data were combined from trials conducted at multiple locations in Nigeria and Uganda. The data are contributed from all three breeding programs (IITA, NRCRI, and NaCRRI). The IITA's Genetic Gain trials were conducted in seven locations over 14 yr (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) in Nigeria. Each Genetic Gain trial comprises a randomized, unblocked design replicated one or two times per location and year. The NRCRI's population was phenotyped in 2 yr, 2013 and 2014. During the 2012-2013 season, the trial was conducted in one location, Umudike, Nigeria. In the 2013-2014 season, the population was planted in three locations (Umudike, Kano, and Otobi). The NRCRI's trial design was a randomized incomplete block with three replications per location per year and five plants per plot. Trials at NaCRRI were conducted in two growing seasons: 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. In both years, plots were 10 plants in two rows of five with randomized incomplete blocks. During the first year, a single location (Namulonge, Uganda) was used with only one replicate. During the second season, two replications were used at each of three locations: Namulonge, Kasese, and Ngetta.Genomic selection Cycle 1 (C1) progenies were observed as seedlings in the 2012-2013 field season with phenotyping conducted only for early disease expression and seedling vigor. Cycle 1 progenies were subsequently cloned and phenotyped in a three-location (Ibadan, Ikenne, and Mokwa) trial in the 2013-2014 season with all phenotypes scored. For the C1 clonal trial, planting material was only available for one plot of five stands per clone, so each clone was only planted in one of the three locations. Clones were assigned to each location so as to equally represent each family in every environment. The GS Cycle 2 (C2) individuals were observed in a seedling trial during the 2013-2014 field season. We note that expression of disease symptoms in cassava seedlings may not be representative of expression in clonal evaluations. This is in part because seedling symptoms can arise solely from whitefly transmission, making it probable that some asymptomatic plants are in fact escapes rather than resistant genotypes. Table 1 summarizes the phenotypes and phenotyping trials available for each subpopulation. We also provide details about the sample sizes and replication numbers for each location and year of data analyzed (Supplemental Table S6) and per accession (Supplemental Table S7) Cassava mosaic disease severity (CMDS) was scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing no symptoms and 5 indicating the most severe symptoms. Cassava mosaic disease severity was scored at up to five time points (1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo after planting) depending on the trial. Additionally, we analyze the season-wide mean CMDS score (MCMDS), which is used for making selections and the area under the disease progress curve (see below; AUDPC). The distribution of raw phenotypic data used in each population and for each trait can be seen in Supplemental Fig. S1 through S6.Our interest in this study was to identify key aspects of the genetic architecture of cassava in Africa rather than location-or year-specific QTLs. We condensed up to 38,854 observations on 6,198 genotyped and phenotyped clones to single BLUPs for each. To do this, we fit the following mixed linear model (MLM) with the lme4 (Bates et al., 2015) package in R (R Development Core Team, 2010):Here, y lij represents raw phenotypic observations, is the grand mean, c l is a random effects term for clone with, i is a fixed effect for the combination of location and year harvested, r j(i) is a random effect for replication nested within location-year combination assumed to be distributed 2 0, r N , and finally, lij is the residual variance, assumed to be random and distributed 2 0, e N. Because the number of observations per clone varies greatly in our dataset (from 1 to 941, median of 2; Supplemental Table S7), we expect BLUPs are differentially shrunken to the mean. To counter this, we deregressed BLUPs according to the following formula:Where PEV is the prediction error variance for each clone and 2 l is the clonal variance component. The distribution of deregressed BLUPs used as response variables in GWAS can be seen in Supplemental Fig. S7 through S13.We also calculated AUDPCs for each clone using data from 1, 3, and 6 mo after planting. To do this, we treated severity scores from any time point as the same trait with a second variable indicating the time point of the score. We then ran the model indicated in Eq. [1] but with c l indicating the clone-time point combination. This gave us a deregressed BLUP for each clone at each time point. We calculated areas under these curves using the trapezoid rule as implemented by the auc function in the flux R package (http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ flux/index.html). We excluded 9 and 12 mo data because they were only scored at NRCRI, thus, including them would have limited the ability to compare results for this trait between populations.Genotyping of SNP markers was done by the GBS procedure (Elshire et al., 2011) using the ApeKI restriction enzyme recommended by Hamblin and Rabbi (2014) and read lengths of 100 bp. Marker genotypes were called with the TASSEL GBS pipeline V4 (Glaubitz et al., 2014) and aligned to the cassava version 5 reference genome available on Phytozome (http://phytozome.jgi. doe.gov) and described by the International Cassava Genetic Map Consortium (2014). Individuals with >80% missing SNP calls and markers with >60% missing were removed. Also, markers with extreme deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ( 2 > 20) were removed. Allele calls were maintained if depth was 2, otherwise the call was set to missing. Marker data was converted to dosage format (0, 1, 2) and missing data were imputed with the glmnet algorithm in R (http://cran.r-project. org/web/packages/glmnet/index.html) as described in Wong et al. (2014). To judge the resolution of association analyses, we calculated pair-wise linkage disequilibrium (LD) between all markers with a minor allele frequency (MAF) 5% on each chromosome using PLINK (version 1.9, Chang et al., 2015). We examined the rate of decay with increasing physical distance between markers.To examine the patterns of relatedness within and among our populations and to control population structure, we constructed a genomic-relationship matrix according to the formulation of Yang et al. (2011), as implemented in PLINK, using all markers with >1% MAF.We conducted principal components analysis (PCA) on SNP markers with MAF >5% using the prcomp function in R. Principal component analysis on SNP markers is often used to identify major patterns of relatedness (population structure) in a sample, and the first few PCs can be used as covariates to control false-positive rates in GWAS (Price et al., 2006). Because the GS progenies (C1 and C2) are by far the largest part of our dataset and because these individuals are descended from the IITA Genetic Gain population, we excluded these from the initial PCA. We then projected these individuals into the genetic space defined by the three training populations (NRCRI, IITA, and NaCRRI) using the predict function in R. This allowed us to visualize and quantify the relatedness in our populations based on the founders only and unbiased by the large size of the C1 and C2 collections.Because GWAS has not previously been done in this or any other cassava collection, we tested several different models for controlling population structure. In particular, we compared the genome-wide inflation of p-values between a general linear model (GLM) with no population structure controls, a GLM with five and one with 10 PCs (GLM + 5 PCs, GLM + 10 PCs; Price et al., 2006), and a MLM, which fits a random effect for clone with ~ 2 g 0, N K , where 2 g is the clonal variance component and K is the relationship matrix described above (Kang et al., 2010). The MLMs were conducted using the 'population parameters previously determined' and compression method (Zhang et al., 2010). All GWAS were conducted in TASSEL (version 5; Bradbury et al., 2007). We compared the observed −log 10 (p-values) against the expectation using quantile-quantile plots. We used visual inspection of quantile-quantile plots to judge which model most effectively reduced the genome-wide inflation of −log 10 (p-values) typically attributed with population structure. We consider association tests significant when more extreme than the Bonferroni threshold (with experiment-wise type I error rate of 0.05).Because marker effects, LD patterns, and allele frequencies may differ within as well as across subpopulations, we conducted GWAS population wide as well as within each subpopulation. In each analysis, we used markers that segregated with MAF >5% in that specific subpopulation. Bonferroni thresholds were calculated according to the number of markers analyzed in each subpopulation.We also examined the proportion of variance in the deregressed BLUPs explained by the kinship matrix, K, using the variance components estimated when TASSEL fits the MLM model.Because the underlying mechanisms of plant disease resistance are of general interest and identification of causal polymorphism may aid in transgenic approaches and marker-assisted selection, we identified candidate genes in CMD-associated regions. Significant SNPs from the GWAS results corresponding to four time points (1, 3, 6, and 9 mo after planting) were selected for the analysis. We considered SNPs that were both above the Bonferroni threshold and were located within exons or introns of cassava genes. The SNP position on the genome was compared with the gene interval position using the annotation list from Phytozome 10. Gene ontology annotation for each time point and combining all the datasets was done with Panther (http://go.pantherdb.org/). We have generated whole-genome sequences from one CMD-resistant clone (I011412) and two CMD-tolerant clones (I30572 and TMEB1). TMEB1 is a landrace from Ogun State, Nigeria, also called Antiota, that is not likely to contain the qualitative resistance allele and is usually classified as tolerant or only partially susceptible to CMD (Raji et al., 2008;Rabbi et al., 2014b). Similarly, I30572 is an improved variety whose parents were the M. glaziovii-derived clone 58308 and a South American cassava (Branca de Santa Catarina) and is therefore known to have only the quantitative resistance source (Fauquet et al., 1990). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-free libraries were generated from these clones and sequenced at 20 coverage using Illumina HiSeq. Additionally, two resistant clones (TMEB3 and TMEB7) were obtained from Phytozome (http://phytozome.jgi.doe. gov). TMEB3 is itself the original landrace parent from which the qualitative resistance source has been derived, and TMEB7 has been shown to be nearly genetically identical to TMEB3. We therefore define TMEB3, TMEB7, and I011412 as resistant lines, while for simplicity, TMEB1 and I30572 will be referred to as susceptible primarily on the basis of whether they do or do not have the qualitative resistance source CMD2. These sequences were aligned against the cassava V5 reference genome assembly to call the variants to identify the genomic difference between resistance and susceptible clones in candidate gene loci. Since the genotypes compared were few in number, we called SNPs manually using an exon annotated sequence and the Integrative Genomics Viewer software (IGV; http://www.broadinstitute.org/igv/).We used a multiple random effects (also know as multiplekernel or multiple-relationship matrix) genomic prediction model to compare the variance explained and prediction accuracy achieved from the major CMD QTL (CMD2) compared with the rest of the genome. Specifically, we created relationship matrices either from all markers, markers significantly associated with CMD2 from GWAS results, or all markers not in the region of the QTL.For additive relationships, we used the formulation of VanRaden (2008) as implemented by the A.mat function in the rrBUP package (Endelman, 2011). Dominance relationships can be captured as 2 1 2i i i i i p q p q HH D (Su et al., 2012;Muñoz et al., 2014), where H is the SNP marker matrix (individuals in rows, markers along columns), heterozygotes are given as (1 − 2p i q i ) and homozygotes are (0 − 2p i q i ). We made a custom modification (available on request) to the A.mat function in the rrBLUP package (Endelman, 2011) to produce the D matrix. Relationship matrices that capture epistasis can also be calculated by taking the Hadamard product (element-by-element multiplication; denoted #) of two or more matrices (Henderson, 1985). For simplicity, we tested an additive-by-dominance (A#D) matrix in this study.We tested four models. Model 1 used all markers and only a single, additive kernel (Additive All_Markers ). Model 2 used all markers but three kernels, Additive All_Markers + Dominance All_Markers + Epistasis All_Markers . Model 3 used two additive kernels, one constructed from the 163 CMD2 significant markers (Additive CMD2 ) and the other from all markers outside of the chromosomal region bounded by CMD2 markers (Additive Non-CMD2 ). Model 4 had four kernels: Additive CMD2 + Dominance CMD2 + Epistasis CMD2 + Additive Non-CMD2 .We assessed the influence that modeling nonadditive genetic variance components have on genomic prediction using a cross-validation strategy (see below). We used the deregressed BLUPs for MCMDS as described above. In our data, the number of observations per clone ranges from one to 941 (checks, TMEB1 and I30572) with median of two and mean of 10.6 (Supplemental Table S7). Pooling information from multiple years and locations, especially when there is so much variation in numbers of observations can introduce bias. Much theoretical development, particularly in animal breeding, has been done to address this issue, and we followed the approach recommended by Garrick et al. (2009).In the second step of analysis, where deregressed BLUPs are used as response variables, weights are applied to the diagonal of the error variance-covariance matrix R., where h 2 is the proportion of the total variance explained by the clonal variance component, 2 g , derived in the first step (Garrick et al., 2009).We implemented a fivefold cross-validation scheme replicated 25 times to test the accuracy of genomic prediction using the genomic relationship matrices and models described above. In each replication, we randomly assign each individual to one of five groups (folds). We then selected one fold, removed the corresponding individuals from the training set, and used the remaining four folds to predict the fold that was left out. We iterated this process over each of the five folds to produce a prediction for each individual that was made while its phenotypes were unobserved. For each replicate of each model, we calculated accuracy as the Pearson correlation between the genomic prediction made when phenotypes were excluded from the training sample and the BLUP (ĝ, not deregressed) from the first step. For each model, we calculated accuracy both of the prediction from the additive kernel (where present) and the total genetic merit prediction, defined as the sum of the predictions from all available kernels (e.g., additive + dominance + epistasis). Genomic predictions were made using the EMMREML R package. For simplicity, we tested only the trait MCMDS in the IITA Genetic Gain population.In addition, we assessed the predictability of CMD based on random forest regression, a nonlinear, machine-learning approach that excels at capturing nonadditive especially interaction-type genetic effects (Jannink et al., 2010). We used random forest regression only with the significant CMD2-associated markers as predictors to assess additional evidence for interaction at this locus on the basis of prediction accuracy achieved. We used the same cross-validation scheme described above.The SNP marker data was generated using GBS (Elshire et al., 2011). Overall coverage was 0.07 (range 0.05-0.2). There were 114,922 markers that passed initial filters with a MAF >1%. Of these, 95,047 are mapped to the genome. Of mapped markers used for GWAS (MAF >5%), there was an average of 2293 SNPs per chromosome or one marker every 9.5 kb. The mean MAF (0.21-0.22), mean heterozygosity (0.32-0.35), and number of markers analyzed (40,113) were similar between subpopulations (Table 1). Most chromosomes in most populations had mean r 2 > 0.2 extending 10 to 50 kb. Given one marker every 9.5 kb, we estimated r 2 on average 0.3 (median 0.13) between markers 4.5 to 5.5 kb apart, that is, the approximate maximum distance between an untyped causal locus and the nearest marker. This suggests at least some LD between most causals and at least one marker but also that increased density in future studies will provide additional mapping resolution (Supplemental Fig. S14-S19).Principal components analysis of our SNP dataset revealed subtle differentiation among African cassava clones analyzed. This can been seen from a plot of the first four PCs (cumulative variance explained = 15%; Fig. 1). The Nigerian subpopulations (NRCRI, IITA Genetic Gain, Cycle 1 and Cycle 2) occupy similar genetic space, but the Ugandan subpopulation (NaCRRI) is somewhat distinct on PC1 and PC2. This may be consistent with a history of germplasm sharing and recurrent use of elite parents among African breeding institutes.We tested several standard GWAS models for controlling inflation of p-values caused by population structure including a GLM (no correction), a GLM with the first five PCs of the SNP matrix as covariates, and a MLM using the marker-estimated kinship matrix. Visual inspection of quantile-quantile plots (Fig. 2 inset; Supplemental Fig. S20-25) indicated that the MLM was most consistent for reducing −log 10 (p-values) toward the expected level (i.e., controlling false-positives, removing population structure effects). All subsequent results are therefore based on mixed-model associations. From the variance components estimated when fitting MLMs, we found that kinship matrices explained on average 57% (range 29-95%) of the phenotypic variance (Supplemental Table S9).Association tests were performed for CMD symptom severity at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo after planting (where measured) in the five subpopulations (Table 1) and in an analysis that combined all accessions. We identified 311 markers in total that pass a Bonferroni significance threshold (Fig. 2; Supplemental Table S8). However, many significant SNPs were detected because of rare marker genotypes that were phenotypically extreme (Supplemental Fig. S26). The F-test implemented by TASSEL is sensitive to imbalanced sample size between groups, and we wish to be conservative and only consider significant results that we can be confident in. Therefore, we only considered SNPs where each genotype class (e.g., aa, Aa, AA) is represented by at least 10 individuals. This reduced the number of significant markers to 198 on 14 chromosomes, mostly concentrated at a single region of chromosome 8. Significant results were found within  each subpopulation with more signals associated with greater sample size (e.g., Cycle 1). Variance explained by significant markers ranged from 0.5 to 22% (median 3.5%) (Supplemental Table S8).There were 163 significant markers on chromosome 8 (between 3.56-11.38 Mb; Fig. 3a) with the top marker (S8_7762525) explaining 5 to 22% of the variance depending on the subpopulation. The frequency of the resistanceassociated allele at S8_7762525 is 56% overall (range: 44% in IITA Genetic Gain to 63% in IITA Cycle 2 progenies).The resistance allele at S8_7762525 is incompletely dominant (Fig. 3 inset); homozygotes with the alternate allele were closer to CMD free than heterozygotes. To formally test this, we conducted post hoc tests using the lm function in R, in which we included either an additive or dominance deviation or both effects. The additive-only test explained 15% of the variance compared with a test of additive plus dominance effect that explained 20% and the test of dominance alone that accounted for only 2%.We confirmed that our major QTL is the CMD2 locus by aligning previously published SSR marker primers (SSRY28, NS158, and SSRY106) (Akano et al., 2002;Lokko et al., 2005;Okogbenin et al., 2007Okogbenin et al., , 2012;;Mohan et al., 2013) to the reference genome using electronic PCR (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/tools/epcr/). Our significant markers on chromosome 8 colocate with these markers (Supplemental Fig. S28a). Additionally, scaffolds bearing the significant QTL reported in Rabbi et al. (2014a,b) are located in this region. However, while Rabbi et al.'s (2014a,b) strongest association was on scaffold 5214, corresponding to chromosome 8 position 6,511,133, the strongest association for the present study is on scaffold 6906 (7,454,836,749), more than a megabase away. This discrepancy is due to the fact that the SNP markers in scaffold 6906 did not segregate in the resistant parents of the biparental mapping populations.The significance region on chromosome 8 is large (~8 Mb; Fig. 3a). In fact, the region appears as two, sometimes equally significant peaks in some subpopulations (Supplemental Fig. S27). We scanned the region for haplotype blocks with PLINK and found it was not characterized by a single, or even a few large, but many small LD blocks (Supplemental Fig. S29). A second locus (CMD3) has been reported on the same chromosome as CMD2 (Okogbenin et al., 2012). The authors reported the marker NS198 to be 36 cM from CMD2 and associated with very strong resistance in the progeny of TMS972205. Electronic PCR colocated NS198 on chromosome 8, 5 Mb (position 997,099) outside our significance region (Supplemental Fig. S28). Thus, our results suggest a second QTL (i.e., CMD3), if present, is much closer to CMD2 than previously believed.We used several approaches to further evaluate the QTL region. We conducted a post hoc test for interactions between the top marker on chromosome 8 and every other marker on the chromosome. There were significant interactions, explaining up to 42% of the variance, 1 to 3 Mb from the top GWAS hit but none in the region surrounding S8_7762525 (Fig. 3b). We also used PLINK to conduct pairwise epistasis tests for MCMDS after filtering to 286 markers on chromosome 8 with MAF >5% and LD <0.4. In this case, the most significant interaction was identified between markers S8_7762556 (31 bp from our top hit) and S8_5645072 in the secondary QTL region (Fig. 3c; Supplemental Fig. S30). This analysis explains a maximum of 19% of the variance and agrees with our other epistasis scan in the general location of a statistical interaction effect.We implemented a multilocus mixed model (MLMM; Segura et al., 2012), which uses a forward-backward stepwise model selection approach to determine which and how many marker cofactors are required to explain the associated variance in the region. The MLMM for MCMDS in the population-wide sample selected five markers (S8_7762525, S8_6380064, S8_6632472, S8_7325389, and S8_4919667) spanning the significance region (Supplemental Fig. S31). Of the five, the first was our top marker S8_7762525, the fourth is only ~400 Kb away, and the remaining three cover the secondary peak and the region of statistical interaction. These markers are mostly in linkage equilibrium (Supplemental Table S10) and collectively explain up to 40% of the variance. The selection of markers distributed across the region by MLMM, including both putative peaks to explain the phenotypic association in the region, is additional evidence in support of a multilocus hypothesis.Linkage disequilibrium decays in the region to low levels (r 2 < 0.25) and is virtually zero between significant markers on the left, for example, S8_5064191, and those on the right, for example, S8_7762525 of the significance region (Fig. 3d) but still extends relatively extensively around the top hit. Combined with our genome-wide analysis of LD decay rates (Supplemental Fig. S14-S19), this pattern explains, in part, the complexity of the association signal we see in the region and supports the possibility of multiple loci and alleles in the region.In examining the two-locus genotype effects (e.g., between S8_7762525 and the SNP with the most significant interaction test, S8_4919667), we found the reference allele of the secondary resistance locus (e.g., S8_4919667) has an effect even in homozygous susceptible background of S8_7762525, although this depended on the marker considered (Fig. 4a; Supplemental Fig. S32). Clones that are homozygous resistant at both loci are superior to all other cassava clones, expressing virtually no symptoms (Fig. 4b).We identified 35 markers on 13 chromosomes that explained 0.5 to 10% (median 4%) of the variance (Supplemental Table S9). Many of these had recessive and usually rare susceptibility alleles (Supplemental Fig. S26). Marker S4_637212 explained 4% of the variance (CMD6S, Genetic Gain) and had an additive effect. Marker S11_20888811's recessive resistance allele appears to lower CMD symptoms 4% more than CMD2 (S8_7762625), but only 14 clones are homozygous resistant at this locus (Supplemental Fig. S26). There were four significant markers on chromosome 14 with mostly dominant effects and explaining up to 5% of the variance. Two previously published SSR markers (SSRY44 and NS146) (Mohan et al., 2013) are located within 1.4 Mb of these SNPs (Supplemental Fig. S28b). Four markers, spread across 7 Mb of chromosome 9 with recessive susceptibility loci, explained up to 10% (S9_14551208) of the variance. These markers colocated with SSRY40 originally reported as CMD1 and associated with quantitative resistance (Fregene et al., 2000;Mohan et al., 2013).We intersected our association results with available gene annotations and related data and identified 105 unique genes within the association peaks with 79, 61, 56, and nine genes identified at 1, 3, 6, and 9 mo after planting, respectively (Supplemental Table S11, Supplemental Fig. S33). There were no significant differences between gene ontology categories between time points. Most of the annotated genes are involved in metabolic processes (Supplemental Fig. S34). Thirty-five out of the 105 genes are known to respond to cassava mosaic virus infection (Allie et al., 2014) (Supplemental Table S11).Among these genes, we found ones known to be susceptibility or resistance factors, a number of which are also involved in plant-geminivirus interaction processes (Hanley-Bowdoin et al., 2013). We found two peroxidases, Cassava4.1_029175 and Cassava4.1_011768, within the primary QTL region (scaffold 6906, ~7.7 Mb); peroxidases are pathogenesis-related proteins involved in host response to infection (van Loon et al., 2006).In the secondary GWAS peak (scaffold 5214, 5-6 Mb), six SNPs were in a protein disulfide-isomerase-like 2-2 ortholog, a thioredoxin (PDIL2-2, cassava4.1_007986). In barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), an ortholog of PDIL2-2 (HvPDIL5-1) is a known virus susceptibility factor as are PDI gene family members across the animal and plant kingdoms (Yang et al., 2014). We also identified the Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 ortholog (UBC5) gene (cassava4.1_017202) under the secondary GWAS peak (scaffold 5214, 5-6 Mb region). Genes like UBC5 in the ubiquitinylation pathway have been known to influence plant virus infection response (Becker et al., 1993).We analyzed the coding sequence of the three genes mentioned above in three CMD resistant cassava genotypes known to possess the qualitative resistance alleles (TMEB3, TMEB7, and I011412) and in two susceptible and tolerant ones known to possess only quantitative resistance sources (I30572 and TMEB1). We identified SNPs within the coding regions and identified amino acid changes (Supplemental Table S12). Two nonsynonymous mutations were found on exons 7 and 9 of Cassava4.1_007986, homozygous in the susceptible group but heterozygous in the resistant clones (Supplemental Table S12). The peroxidase Cassava4.1_011768 did not show any nonsynonymous mutations specific to the resistant-susceptible group. However, Cassava4.1_02917 showed three nonsynonymous mutations that were specific to the susceptible group.We tested four prediction models using cross-validation: (i) Additive All_Markers , (ii) Additive All_Markers + Dominance All_Markers + Epistasis All_Markers , (iii) Additive CMD2 + Additive Non-CMD2 , and (iv) Additive CMD2 + Dominance CMD2 + Epistasis CMD2 + Additive Non-CMD2 . Mean cross-validation accuracy averaged 0.53 for additive and 0.55 for total value across models (Table 2). Including nonadditive effects, using all markers (Model 2) shifted 60% of the variance to dominance and epistasis and decreased the accuracy of the additive prediction from 0.53 (Model 1) to 0.51 but gave increased total prediction accuracy of 0.55. An additive-only model giving separate weight to CMD2 and non-CMD2 regions (Model 3) had the highest total prediction accuracy (0.58), with most accuracy coming from CMD2 (0.54) vs. non-CMD2 (0.29) but most variance absorbed by non-CMD2 regions. Modifying Model 3 to allow the CMD2 region additive, dominance, and epistatic effects (Model 4) slightly decreased total prediction accuracy (0.57) relative to Model 3, with most accuracy coming from the additive CMD2 kernel (0.52) but with 51.7% nonadditive variance, 33.6% non-CMD2 variance, and only 14.7% additive CMD2.The present study solidifies our understanding of the genetic resistance to CMD that is available in African cassava germplasm and demonstrates the efficacy of GS at improving CMD resistance. After conducting the first GWAS for this species with markers anchored to chromosomes, we are able to confirm that the basis of genetic resistance to CMD is indeed narrow, arising chiefly from a single region of chromosome 8 that colocates with the loci CMD2 (Akano et al., 2002) and CMD3 (Okogbenin et al., 2012). The lack of new major-effect loci is a key outcome of our study, even after analyzing a broad sample of the breeding germplasm from West and East Africa. However, we also identified 13 regions of small effect including one on chromosome 9 that colocates with CMD1 (Fregene et al., 2000).Another key result of our analysis is that the most highly resistant cassava clones, those that never show disease symptoms, are best identified using models of epistasis in the significance region on chromosome 8. We propose two alternative hypotheses to explain this result. As suggested both in our analyses and previous studies (Okogbenin et al., 2012), there may be multiple possibly epistatic loci in the region (i.e., CMD2 and CMD3). Alternatively, our results may arise from a complex haplotype structure where observed levels of resistance come from a single locus with one moderate and another strong resistance allele segregating in the population. An example of the later scenario is resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl, which initially mapped to two genes, Ty-1 and Ty-3, on the same chromosome but was later revealed by fine mapping to be one gene with multiple alleles (Verlaan et al., 2013).To facilitate functional studies of the qualitative resistance sources on chromosome 8, we used our GWAS results to identify three candidate genes. Interestingly, there are no major resistance genes (e.g., nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat) in our region of interest (Lozano et al., 2015). We found two peroxidases, which have recently been shown to downregulate in response to cassava mosaic geminivirus infection in susceptible genotypes (Allie et al., 2014), and a thioredoxin, which can be important for plant defense activation (Bashandy et al., 2010;Ballaré, 2014). We note that our genome assembly contains gaps (International Cassava Genetic  Map Consortium, 2014) and is based on a South American accession (Prochnik et al., 2012) that may not possess the causal genes. Significant work remains to identify the causal mechanism of qualitative resistance to CMD.Finally, we demonstrate the potential of GS for CMD resistance breeding. In agreement with our association analyses, we found most of the variance and the prediction accuracy was attributable to the chromosome 8 QTLs. While additive-only models achieve the highest accuracy of predicting phenotypes (e.g., Model 3), nonadditive models suggest that a large proportion of the apparent additive variance is actually dominance or epistasis. Partitioning genetic variance in prediction models may therefore provide more accurate estimates of the breeding (i.e., additive) value of cassava clones while simultaneously providing for the selection of clones with superior disease resistance to be elite varieties. The accuracies for disease resistance we achieved are consistent with those for other diseases in other plant species (e.g., sugarcane yellow leaf virus; Gouy et al., 2013).It is significant that while accuracy is low for the quantitative (nonmajor gene) components, it is not zero. This is consistent with results for quantitative resistance in other plant species, including fusarium head blight in barley (Lorenz et al., 2012) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (Rutkoski et al., 2012) as well as rust in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) (Gouy et al., 2013). It should therefore be possible to do GS to simultaneously improve both qualitative (i.e., CMD2/CMD3) and quantitative (i.e., polygenic background) resistance. This is important because quantitative disease resistance is important in many plant species (St. Clair, 2010) and has been shown to improve the durability of resistance when combined with major gene resistance, for example in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) (Quenouille et al., 2014). Similar analyses to integrate results from GWAS into genomic prediction have been performed in wheat (Bentley et al., 2014;Zhao et al., 2014) and in rice (Oryza sativa L.) (Spindel et al., 2016). As in our case, this integration usually results in small increases in prediction accuracy.The results we present in this study will represent progress toward discovering the mechanistic basis for major gene resistance to CMD and will also aid breeders seeking to pyramid useful alleles and achieve symptomfree cassava varieties either by marker-assisted selection or GS. In only 2 yr, we have conducted two rounds of selection and recombination, more than twice as fast as conventional phenotypic selection, and have increased the resistance-allele frequency at our top marker from 44 to 63%. The present study is an example of the possibilities for rapidly improving and dynamically breeding a crop that is crucial for hundreds of millions particularly in underdeveloped regions of the world.","tokenCount":"6762"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6869322753.json b/data/part_1/6869322753.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..65d5848aaf0cb7cf5aa8c89a14ceab334b6ed831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6869322753.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"968a4e77069a227581fa142a956b38b7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d643773b-e3e4-43cb-873f-dbaecc92f200/retrieve","id":"-285062423"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"44d7d5e4-58ff-4532-98ea-0729fac41b44","pagecount":"13","content":"The previous chapters review and summarize the evidence base for how people use agricultural biodiversity to achieve different aspects of sustainable food systems. Agricultural biodiversity is important in four dimensions: in consumption for nutritious diets and human health; in production for long-term productivity, resilience and multiple ecosystem services; in seed systems for access to options that serve diverse needs and help adaptation to changing conditions; and in integrated conservation methods for enabling future uses and insurance against shocks.The evidence combined illustrates that agricultural biodiversity sits at the nexus of different food system components and sustainability dimensions (Figure 6.1). Such a perspective on agricultural biodiversity for multiple goals aligns with one of the core food system principles proposed by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems: \"Food systems must be fundamentally reoriented around principles of diversity, multi-functionality and resilience.\" (1) Many indicators and methods have been developed and applied to measure the many facets of agricultural biodiversity. For example, metrics illustrated in Table 6.1 inform pathways that connect agricultural biodiversity to diet quality, sustainable agriculture, ecosystem services, the diversity within seed systems, or biodiversity conservation. This variety in measurements is both agricultural biodiversity's strength and its weakness. Its strength because evidence of agricultural biodiversity's contribution to each of these ambitions has been collected and has triggered interest in agricultural biodiversity across sectors, Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Its weakness because data, information and metrics are scattered across locations, disciplines (e.g. conservation, ecology, agriculture, markets, nutrition) and scales (from crop varieties and species to ecosystems, entire regions and countries). No coherent monitoring exists, which limits our effectiveness to manage agricultural biodiversity for sustainable food systems.  Learning across agricultural biodiversity measures and monitoring efforts, we can draw several lessons to help guide the design and initial architecture of the Agrobiodiversity Index.First, agricultural biodiversity is used and measured throughout the food system (Chapters 2 to 5, Table 6.1). Understanding agricultural biodiversity trends across, and interactions among, multiple food system dimensions helps to identify points of constraint, trade-off, synergy or action. For example, if levels of agricultural biodiversity in production are increasing, but diet diversity is not, then there is potential to strengthen local markets for increased access to, and consumption of, food biodiversity. Mobilizing existing databases and applying a consistent set of simple agricultural biodiversity indicators (e.g. species richness, or commonly used measures of diversity, such as the Shannon diversity index i ) across food system Jaya Bahadur Thapa and his daughter-in-law, Saraswati Thapa, from Chaur, Begnas, Nepal. Jaya Bahadur and his wife Lal Kumari Thapa (not in the picture) are custodian farmers who specialize in medical plants. They make herbal remedies and powders and also sell saplings of medicinal plants. Sale of their medicinal products is generating a steadily increasing income. They are passing on their knowledge of medical plants and remedies to their daughter-in-law. Credit: LIBIRD/Sajal Sthapit dimensions (consumption and markets, production, seeds, conservation) enables trends in these dimensions to be identified and compared (2)(3)(4). Two examples can illustrate how useful, novel insights can be drawn from synthesizing publicly available data with a diversity lens.The first (Figure 6.2) compares over 40 years of data on production diversity (i.e. number of species produced in a country) with data on supply diversity (i.e. a measure of the diversity of species available for human consumption in a country, considering production, export, import, feed and waste). In Malaysia, while the diversity in production has dropped drastically through intensification of palm oil production, the diversity in food supply has increased through import of diversified food items. The example illustrates that international trade can provide people with diverse foods to eat, but the drastic reduction in production diversity raises concerns about the environmental consequences as well as the country's dependence on palm oil. In Nepal, on the other hand, production and supply diversity have slowly increased together over time, suggesting that the country is achieving food supply diversity through a system of diverse food production. This indeed reflects Nepal's agricultural and food policy (5,6), which has been closely integrated with its multisectoral nutrition policy and plan (7). Nepal is still a low-income country with limited international trade and high levels of chronic undernutrition (40% stunting among children under five years of age), despite recent accelerated reductions in stunting (8). A key question here is how Nepal can further climb up the economic development ladder, while smartly managing its production and supply diversity. Another example (Figure 6.3) compares data on diversity with data on levels of stunting (i.e. low height for age) in children under five years old. Higher levels of supply diversity correlated closely with lower levels of stunting. While this does not necessarily indicate a cause-effect relationship between diversity and the reduction of stunting, it does suggest an interesting and strong relationship which scientists can explore to understand better how to address malnutrition.Second, it is possible to combine existing crop and livestock data with farming system and spatial modelling in order to generate global agricultural biodiversity maps (e.g. species diversity illustrated in Figure 6.4). Visualizing data in this way helps trigger novel insights into spatial distribution of agricultural biodiversity, and how this is changing over time. The data can be overlapped with other spatially explicit data, for example on Sustainable Development Goals, wild biodiversity or agricultural production. Figure 6.4, for example, illustrates how agricultural production in Europe, Africa and Asia is more diverse than most parts of the USA and Latin America. These regional differences are associated with the scale of farms and the type of major crops: large-scale farms are dominant in many parts of the Americas, and in the production of sugar and oil crops (10). The landscapes of these large-scale sugar and oil crop farms are less agriculturally diverse than landscapes with small-scale farms (10). While global analyses may be subject to making some broad generalizations, this does imply that small farms and smallholder farmers play a vital role in maintaining agricultural biodiversity at global to village scales. Third, considering diversity at different spatial scales, researchers have shown that, while species diversity in national food supplies is increasing (more diversity available to consumers), at global level, food supplies are becoming more homogeneous (less diversity between countries) (11). This has sparked debate about implications and related actions needed for food and nutrition security as well as environmental sustainability.Fourth, there are still many important data gaps in all four dimensions (consumption, production, seed systems, conservation) and at various levels of diversity (landscape diversity, species diversity, varietal and genetic diversity, functional diversity). Further, many of the data are collected and used only at small scales, often sitting on researchers' and local institutes' desks or on computer hard drives. Biodiversity monitoring increasingly crowdsourcing and citizen science (12). Linking high-level monitoring efforts with local crowdsourced agricultural biodiversity information in the index could be a highly innovative development which enables decision-makers to: (1) ground-truth high-level data insights, (2) increase monitoring sensitivity and (3) apply the index at different spatial scales. One potentially very powerful tool that could be used to predict how agricultural biodiversity may change with altered land use and management is the PREDICTS project. PREDICTS is collecting small-scale data from scientists worldwide in order to produce a global database of terrestrial species' responses to human pressures. It investigates how local biodiversity typically responds to human pressures, such as landuse change, different intensities of management within land uses, pollution, invasive species and infrastructure, ultimately combining this analysis with satellite data and improving our ability to predict future biodiversity changes.Fifth, measurements or scorecard information on drivers, commitments and strategies, which are needed in an enabling environment or a business case for agricultural biodiversity in food systems, are more readily available than measurements on the actual state of agricultural biodiversity. They provide a critical way to identify entry points for action. At the country level, national or company strategies could, for example, include policies and programmes that explicitly commit to managing agricultural biodiversity in conservation and/or production systems, increasing food biodiversity in diets, and providing incentives for growing food items other than major staples. At the company level, such strategies could include, for example, product lines that consider a diversity of varieties or species in their supply chain, land restoration efforts, application of agroecological principles and interventions on production farms, and leveraging benefits from diversified, mixed systems. There are many composite indices constructed to inform decision-making and different types can be distinguished based on the audience targeted and the type of data used. For example, the Global Biodiversity Outlook, Global Food Security Index, Global Hunger Index and the Environmental Performance Index, all use national datasets, aggregate well-established indicators and mainly target national governments. Some of these focus on measuring drivers (e.g. Global Food Security Index), while others capture outcomes (e.g. Global Hunger Index). Other examples, particularly those assessing issues that are difficult to quantify, like the Corruption Perception Index and the Ease of Doing Business Index, also target national governments and relevant stakeholders, but collect input from a sample of experts or other priority stakeholders using indexspecific questionnaires. The Access to Medicine, Access to Seeds, Access to Nutrition type of indices, focus on companies and use company-specific information. Other private sector indices are specifically designed for and used in investment, like the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which is based on an annual questionnaire completed by the company. These different types of indices indicate that different groups of decision-makers (e.g. national governments, local governments, private actors, NGOs) require different resolutions and time frequencies of index reporting.Across the broad range of those existing indices, we can draw several general lessons to help guide the process of developing an Agrobiodiversity Index: First, no index is perfect and there is always space for improvement. Most important from the user perspective is that the index steers progress on intractable challenges. Therefore indices need to be informative, sensitive to relevant change, actionable and inspire communications with other end users (e.g. consumers and farmers).Second, composite indices emphasize multiple dimensions of a certain issue. While the overall index often serves mainly to attract attention and provide comparisons of performance, analyses of trends in sub-indices allow policymakers to identify entry points for action.Third, many datasets exist, often collected at great expense and increasingly experienced by users as an overload of information. Indices that aim to prioritize and filter data to make them useful and manageable in decision making, or to score issues that are difficult to quantify, are increasingly in demand, used and referred to.Fourth, most robust indices are developed, improved and adapted over time through an iterative and adaptive process, engaging end users throughout and adopting lessons learned.Fifth, no examples of indices were found that mobilize recent digital opportunities, such as crowdsourcing, as input of data. This seems like an underexplored opportunity with powerful potential to link the local with the national and global scales.Building on the above, we summarize our perspectives for the development of the Agrobiodiversity Index. We start from the demand side. Five user groups have expressed strong interest in the Agrobiodiversity Index:• National governments: to monitor and manage agricultural biodiversity at national level in order to guide country-specific policies and public investments in sustainable food systems Five years from now, we expect that the methodology for the Agrobiodiversity Index (Figure 6.5) will:• Combine big data with new crowdsourced data in a georeferenced model• Provide information on the status of agricultural biodiversity along the food system chain, from genetic resource management, to production systems, to markets and consumption, relevant for countries and companies The Agrobiodiversity Index will draw on input from existing databases, combined with crowdsourced data and a screening of public and private policies and reports on issues connected with agricultural biodiversity's contribution to global goals. Users can consult scorecards, and access and input information through applications. The results from the Agrobiodiversity Index can be used to monitor risk related to poor agricultural biodiversity and report on commitments to global goals.Diversity is increasingly identified as key to food system sustainability and integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, but there is no consistent way of tracking it across diets, production, seed and conservation systems.A recent collaboration between research scientists and influential business leaders identified the top 40 research priorities for managing the complex relationship between food, energy, water and the environment (13). Four of their priority research questions (RQ) identify the role of biodiversity directly at that nexus, and ask how to measure and communicate that complex relationship:• How can the role of biodiversity on the supply and interdependence of food, energy and water be measured and assessed to enable improved decision-making? (RQ 10)• How can complex nexus interactions and uncertain outcomes be communicated such that they can be easily understood and applied by non-experts (customers and the public)? (RQ11)• What common metrics can be devised to enable nexus comparisons to be made to help businesses and investors choose priorities and inform decisions? (RQ12)• How does the lack of food crop diversity (dominance of wheat-maize-rice) impact upon the sustainability of the food-energy-waterenvironment nexus and what are the risks to business? (RQ17)Building on agricultural biodiversity science combined with new innovative approaches, interconnected databases and an active, ground-rooted network, it seems feasible to build an innovative Agrobiodiversity Index and initiate a new global service of agricultural biodiversity tracking that can help answer these questions and move the needle in our food systems.The Agrobiodiversity Index aims to help guide more sustainable practices, for individuals, communities, governments and companies through presenting food system sustainability data in a digestible form. In our era of data overload, there is a unique opportunity to reach a wide variety of change leaders with newly gained scientific insights. The Agrobiodiversity Index turns the lens around to the consumer, the company, the farmer, government and the globe and asks: 'Why and how is agricultural biodiversity important to you?'Farmer in Uganda during a baseline assessment study for a project investigating the role of crop diversity in combatting pests and diseases. Here she is sitting with her children in an agricultural landscape belonging to multiple farmers. Credit: Bioversity International/P.De Santis","tokenCount":"2351"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6877169592.json b/data/part_1/6877169592.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6a4ddbd39a7f590ca6be52f4b8fae0e9c99e8821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6877169592.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e763abd9934823287407453b66c2bc3e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/abcc1f8a-b97c-4a21-9263-191ecb0690f1/retrieve","id":"-316322390"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8ceefe1a-f5db-4598-bd2a-f4713bf1bde2","pagecount":"2","content":" El Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR) y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) firman convenio Clima y sector agropecuario colombiano 'adaptación para la sostenibilidad productiva', con el que se busca enfrentar la variabilidad y el cambio climático en el sector agropecuario y establecer medidas de adaptación y mitigación que permitan producir alimentos sosteniblemente y garantizar la seguridad alimentaria. En los próximos 10 años, en Colombia se deberá reducir el área dedicada a la producción ganadera, de 39 millones a 20 millones de hectáreas, con el fin de lograr un sector ganadero más eficiente y al mismo tiempo reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero. Este miércoles 17 de julio es la presentación oficial del convenio en el marco de Agroexpo 2013.Bogotá, 16 de julio de 2013. Ejercicios de modelación del cambio climático basados en experiencias previas, han identificado que la agricultura colombiana enfrentará fenómenos más severos de variabilidad climática en las siguientes décadas.Aunque se prevé que la temperatura se incrementará, habría una disminución de las lluvias en algunos sitios y aumentaría en otros. Por este motivo, el Gobierno Nacional dio prioridad al sector agrícola en el contexto de variabilidad y cambio climático y por ello firmó un convenio entre el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR) y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) denominado: Clima y sector agropecuario colombiano 'adaptación para la sostenibilidad productiva'. Esta alianza constituye la acción más relevante del Gobierno colombiano para enfrentar la variabilidad y el cambio climático en el sector agropecuario y establecer medidas de adaptación y mitigación que permitan producir alimentos sosteniblemente y garantizar la seguridad alimentaria para su población.Expertos en cambio climático como Timothy Searchinger, líder en el estudio internacional de orientación técnica sobre las formas de reducir las emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero GEIdióxido de carbono, metano y óxido nitroso-procedentes de la agricultura, asegura que Colombia es líder en el mundo en políticas de mitigación y adaptación al Cambio Climático y resalta que \"las metas que se propuso el Gobierno para reducir las emisiones de GEI son muy ambiciosas, pero determinantes para poder alimentar a una población creciente mientras se reducen estas emisiones\".En especial resalta el objetivo de reducir el área dedicada a la producción ganadera, de 39 millones a 20 millones de hectáreas en los próximos 10 años, con el fin de lograr un sector ganadero más eficiente y al mismo tiempo reducir las emisiones de GEI, ya que la Segunda Comunicación, presentada por el Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales de Colombia (IDEAM) en 2010, como uno de los compromisos de Colombia en la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio Climático (CMNUCC), la mitad de los gases generados por la agricultura (38% del total nacional) provienen de la ganadería.Estudios preliminares del CIAT han identificado que los cultivos que podrían estar en mayor riesgo por la variabilidad climática son: arroz, plátano, fríjol, maíz y papa. Estos alimentos constituyen gran parte de la oferta alimentaria del país y de la canasta familiar y por tanto, son críticos para la seguridad alimentaria, especialmente en la agricultura familiar que produce estos alimentos con fines de autoconsumo.El Cambio Climático tiene efectos directos sobre los cultivos, en especial, por las áreas en las que se deja de producir por cambios de las condiciones ambientales y por eventos extremos recurrentes como inundaciones, sequías, heladas, encharcamientos o por efectos del incremento de plagas y enfermedades.Asimismo, se identificó que los riesgos de pérdidas productivas para los agricultores, especialmente para los pequeños productores, son muy altas cuando se presentan fenómenos de variabilidad climática como la Niña y el Niño.Presentación del Convenio MADR-CIAT Salas: 7, 8 y 9 Pabellón Conector Norte. Segundo Piso Fecha: miércoles 17 de Julio Hora: 6:00 p.m. a 7:00 p.m.Adriana Varón (a.p.varon@cgiar.org) Oficina de Comunicaciones CIAT Celular: 311 300 63 00","tokenCount":"635"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6880662118.json b/data/part_1/6880662118.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0e155150761e1c14bf6f0d63c7009a9ce20d9517
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6880662118.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ecf63afcebd111e8b4df9da0ed8b15fe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0ac0b013-5831-4faa-bf25-2e4f15f28f64/content","id":"585561690"},"keywords":["subsoiling","rotary tiller","anti-vibration","anti-wrapping","backfill","tillage"],"sieverID":"e207a2fa-a194-461e-ba55-8505a6182e30","pagecount":"9","content":"The commonly used subsoiling cum rotary tiller machine (SRT) in Northern China is a combination of subsoiler and horizontal rotary tiller, however backfilling of the subsoiling slot, excessive vibration and plant residue wrapping on rotary components has been rarely considered. Therefore, the rotary components and assembly were redesigned to address these issues and to an SRT fitted with IT225 short curve rotary blades behind the V-shape subsoiling slots and IIT245 long curve rotary blades between the tines. Long and short blades were fitted on a rotor in a double helix, with optimal spiral angles of 65º and 90º, and phase angle of 147º and 180º, respectively. Compared with the commonly used SRT (CSRT), the additional anti-wrapping cutting blades in the circumferential and axial direction of ASRT could remove hanging residue on the blade holders, wrapping on the rotor and formation of an isolation layer. Moreover, the cutting edge curve of anti-wrapping cutting blades was an exponential curve. Field tests demonstrated that the redesigned SRT with anti-vibrating and anti-wrapping rotary components (ASRT) had was a significant advancement over the CSRT. Moreover, the working depth of rotary tillage was more stable, while other observations confirmed that backfilling of the subsoiling slot was also improved.The combination of subsoiling and rotary tillage creates a flat fine tilth on the soil surface and shatters deep plow pans at the same time. The combination of the two operations has a number of stated advantages: reduction in tractor hours; reduced soil compaction [1] ; shorter operation cycle time; reduced power consumption by 20% to 25% compared to subsoiler or rotary cultivator alone [2,3] .Crop production advantages include: improved efficiency in plant dry matter conversion and water use; enhanced root growth; and improved crop yield [4][5][6][7] .Subsoiler cum rotary tiller (SRT) is a simple combination of subsoil shanks and a horizontal rotary tiller [8,9] , which is commonly used in the North China Plain (NCP). SRT mixes and buries a large amount of plant residue, and breaks/shatters the deeper compaction layers, from the winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system of. Planting areas are quite large, and the farming cycle is short due to the harsh cold winters [10] . The SRT of subsoiler shanks were evenly mounted in front of rotary tiller. Slots were formed in the soil surface with some shattering after subsoiling, however the rotor blades are unevenly stressed when working across the disturbed surface. Compared with separate rotary tillage operations, the vibration of the rotary parts of the SRT are much larger, which reduces the longevity of component parts such as; bearings, oil seals, gears and blades. In addition, rotary blades wear unevenly, seriously reducing the efficiency and reliability of the SRT [11] . In fields, where plant residue is retained, there is an increased incidence of straw and weeds wrapping around the rotor, which reduces tillage depth and the quality of operations [12] . However, it takes considerable time for the SRT to service the land and the rotary parts are easily clogged and wrapped by prolific weeds in the NCP. Therefore, to increase efficiency and operational performance, the SRT requires reduced vibration and a capacity to avoid weed and straw wrapping.At present, the parameters of rotary tiller were studied. Li et al. [13] studied rotary blade by designing with smoothed particle hydrodynamics modelling and Taguchi method, which reduced power consumption compared to conventional rotary blade by 12.4%; Matin et al [14][15][16] . studied the effect of three blade geometries (conventional, half-width and straight) at four rotary speeds (125, 250, 375, and 500 r/min) on torque, power and energy characteristics. The results showed that the soil fraction was not significant under the straight blade, and the amount of soil disturbance and torque was significantly better than that of the other two kinds of rotary knife; Saimbhi et al [17] . Studied the power consumption difference among rotary blades of C style, L style and C-L style, and results showed that C style had less power consumption.There are some studies on combination arrangement of rotary blades. Yang et al [18] . studied three types of blade (bent C, straight and hoe) in four tool configurations at four rotary speeds (180, 280, 380 and 510 r/min) in paddy soil. Results showed that the mixed blade configuration (central hoe blades with two straight blades aside) was optimal; Lee et al [19] . reported that rotor shaft with four rotary blades had the lowest torque variation and torque requirement, and the soil breaking ratio was 24.4%. Studies on vibration reduction and anti-winding in rotary tillers were carried out. Chaturvedi et al [20] . studied the influence of synthetic rubber, polyurethane and combination of rubber and polyurethane on the vibrations of rotary power tiller. It was reported that the maximum vibration reductions were achieved with the rubber in all three operational conditions; Xu et al [21] . found that the rotary tiller winded up the straw and the weed were mainly related to the length of the straw and the weed, the radius of the rotary blade shaft, and the friction coefficient of the cutter shaft. And increase the radius of the knife shaft could reduce the rotary tiller winding straw and weeds. These studies were mainly focused on shapes and parameters of rotary blades, relationships between power consumption and tilling parameters, vibration reduction, and anti-wrapping in single rotary tillers. However, there is little research on anti-vibration and anti-wrapping on SRT roto-tiller components.In the view of these issues and according to the required soil effects after subsoiling, the rotary blades, their arrangement, and the addition of anti-wrapping blades were redesigned to reduce vibration and wrapping. To be specific this study aimed to: (1) to design rotary blades and their arrangement, and find out vibration effects on blade shaft, (2) to analyze wrapping process and combine the straw distribution situation to design anti-wrapping blade and decrease wrapping, (3) to verify the operation performance of ASRT. Therefore this study hopes to provide suggestions to improve SRT performance in China.Key components of the SRT with anti-vibrating and anti-wrapping rotary components (ASRT) are shown in Figure 1. Under normal operations, the SRT shank and points operate in the non-tilled area ahead of the roto-tiller, which forms a V-shaped area of loosened soil (Figure 1b), with the roto-tiller rotates in the direction of travel i.e. counter clockwise (Figure 1a). The soil in the V-shape zone is crushed, cut, shredded and thrown by short blades, helically mounted on the rotor shaft. Simultaneously, uplifted soil and subsoiling slots are flattened and filled by the short blades to retain soil moisture. Long blades mounted on an alternate helix are used to break, mixed and smooth the soil between the subsoiling shanks. Consequently, the forces on rotary components mounted on a single helix vary depending on their position in relation to the subsoiler disturbance zone. Blades of different lengths, arranged on two helical lines on the rotor, can reduce forces induced within the same spiral, reduce the impact and vibration along the blade axis and improve blade life, gears, bearings and other parts. Weeds and straw disturbed by the subsoil shank, often become wound on the blades and rotor. The rotor is fitted with anti-winding blades and a counterweight baffle for each set of blades. Plant material caught on the blade seat and/or wrapped on the rotor, slide and then are cut by the anti-wrapping blades. This reduces winding and occlusion by weeds and straw on the rotor and blades and ensures the reliability of machine operations. As well as vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components, the ASRT includes a breast board, body frame, gearbox, hanger and blade rotor (Figure 2). The 4 subsoiling shanks with chisel points I. subsoiling part II. rotary part 1. subsoiling shovel 2. breast boards 3. body frame 4. gearbox 5. hanger 6. blade shaft Figure 2 Structural diagram of subsoiling and rotary tillage combined machine are mounted 625 mm apart on the front bar of the machine. The subsoiling shanks and points were designed according to the soil properties of tillage layer, plow pan and subsoil layer commonly found on the NCP. The shanks are designed to reduce resistance and power requirement and can reduce plant material from wrapping on shanks [22] . The SRT operating width is 2500 mm and has a power requirement of ≥66.2 kW. The dimensions of machine are 1435 mm in length, 2568 mm in width and 1230 mm in height. Rototiller operating depth is ≤200 mm, with a tillage width of 1200 mm at 250-350 r/min. The operating speed is 1.8-3.96 km/h.Due to changed soil conditions following subsoiling, vibration reduction and anti-wrapping capabilities of the rotary tiller were re-designed. The focus was on rotary tiller blades to reduce the vibration and considered the design and arrangement of the blades. Based on the outcome, the structure and location of the anti-wrapping blades and counterweight baffles were modified.As described previously, V-shape areas were formed where the soil condition was between phases, and raised a certain height (H 1 ) by the action of subsoiler. In order not to affect the soil surface flatness after the operation, the volume of the soil thrown by the roto-tiller blades in subsoiling area and the non-tilled area should be the same. In addition, blades should impart specific soil flow characteristics to achieve adequate backfill of the subsoiling slots. Accordingly, rotary tillage depth in the subsoiling areas and non-tilled areas with the ASRT should be consistent. That is, long blades should throw the same soil volume as that of short blades according to the working depth of long blades (no tilled zones) and short blades (subsoiled zones). The positional relationship of rotary tillage blades and soil is shown in Figure 3a. The short blades operate at depth H 3 , which is equivalent to the long blade operating at depth H 4 . The difference in rotational radius of long blades and short blades can be obtained by determining the actual height (H 1 ) of the soil, which was lifted by the subsoiling action and thus the compressed height of the upper soil moved by the subsoiler points was h [23] , which can be determined from the geometric relationships in Figure 3b:where, H 1 is the actual height of soil lifted by the subsoiler point; H 2 is the theoretical height of soil lifted; h is the actual height of soil compressed by subsoiler point; α is the penetration angle of the subsoiler point; S 1 is the length of subsoiler point in the horizontal plane; L is the length of the subsoiler point; φ is the friction angle between subsoiler point and soil.According to the national standards JB/T9788-1999 \"Subsoiler and share shaft \" [24] , the penetration angle of the subsoiler point α was 23°, the length (L) was 165 mm, the width B was 60 mm [25] . The average friction angle between subsoiler point and soil φ was measured as 23.12º by a MXD-01 Friction Coefficient Measuring Instrument. Substituting these values into Equation (1), the height of soil lifted by the subsoiler point (H 1 ) was calculated as 19.17 mm, and therefore we assigned a value of 20 mm to H 1 .Referring to GB/T5669-2008 \"Rotary Tiller-Rotary Blades and Blade Holders\" [26] , the long rotary tillage blades (Type IIT245) [27] designed for heavy residue and hard soils, its rotating radius R 1 is 245 mm and its operation width b 1 is 50 mm. The short tillage blade (Type IT225) [27] designed for loose and soft soil, has a rotating radius R 2 is 225 mm. In order to increase soil throw, the width of short rotary tillage blade was 60 mm. Both blade types are forged from 65 Mn steel and the long rotary blade soil contact section was quenched after forging. On ASRT machines employed in rainfed farming, the number of rotary blades in a blade set is 2 to 3, and the rotary speed ratio set at greater than 4 [28,29] . Refer to commonly used subsoiling cum rotary tiller (CSRT) machines, the number of rotary blades (long and short rotary blade) in the blade set was 2. By calculating the width of V-shape subsoiling area the number of short blades and the distance of blade holders can be determined. The width of V shaped subsoiling area is S 2 =B+2H 0 tanβ, where H 0 is the critical depth of subsoiling [30] with a value of 200 mm; β is the sector angle [31] of 22.5°; the width of subsoiler point is 60 mm, providing a V shaped subsoiling area of 225.69 mm. Therefore, to ensure the short blades cover the V shaped subsoiling area, the tilling width S 4 (220 mm) should be matched to width of the V-shape subsoiling area (S 2 ) as much as possible. Considering the working width of the short rotary tillage blades, two blade sets (4 in all) (Figure 3) were installed behind the subsoiler, with a distance 110 mm between the two blade sets (S 3 ).The appropriate arrangement of rotary tiller blades on the rotor can improve the tillage quality, power consumption, rotary parts balance, blade wear uniformity, and reduce vibration and shock on the machine, prolonging the service life of the transmission and other components [32] .In this paper, the ASRT was a mid-mounted transmission system, with two left and right rotors. The rotary tiller blades were symmetrical arranged in double-headed spiral, to offset the forces on the rotor, reduce bearing load and horizontal vibration of the machine. To ensure complete tillage, the blades are alternately mounted, facing inward and outward in each 4 blade cutter head. The width of the rotary tiller (D) was 1200 mm. The total tillage width of the short rotary tillage blades was 4S 4 =880 mm (Figure 3a). The total number of long rotary tillage blades (Z') installed on rotor can be obtained from Z'=(2D-4S 4 )z/b' [24] , where z is the number of blades on the same cutter-head in this case z = 2; b' is the distance from the adjacent rotary tiller blades, to the end of the rotary tillage blades working in the soil. In this case the distance between the adjacent rotary tillage blades b' is greater than the working width of the rotary tillage blades b (b=50 mm), namely b'=b+Δb, where Δb often takes the value of 15 to 20 mm, in this design the value of Δb is 20 mm. The number of the long rotary blades Z' installed and considering the overlap between the long and short rotary blades, the number of the long rotary blades was 44. The number of long blades (Z 1 ) on each left and right rotors was 22, while the number of short blades (Z 2 ) on each rotor was 8 (Figure 5).Considering the difference in soil condition (Figure 4) and blade length, the two sets of blades were arranged in a double helix to reduce vibrations and variable force induction. The long blades, working in the uncultivated area, were arranged in a spiral, with an optimal helix angle θ 1 [33] derived from 4×(360º/Z 1 ) was 65.45º, rounded to 65º. The short blade optimal helix angle θ 2 was derived from is 2×(360º/Z 2 ) and was 90º. In order to prevent clogging and wrapping during operations, the phase angle of the adjacent two blade holders, on the same cutter head, should be greater than 110º. Considering the interference of the long rotary tillage blade with the short rotary tillage blades, the long rotary tillage blade phase angle and the short rotary tillage blade phase angle was set to 147º and 180º respectively. Figure 5 shows the arrangement of these blades on the rotor. The process of straw and weeds wrapping around the blade seat and shaft was analyze. It was also assumed that straw and weeds wrapped evenly around on the shaft with the same thickness and tensile strength; the adhesion to the soil particles was not considered; and the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the shaft was ignored. The shaft moved horizontally at a speed of v m , and rotated clockwise with rotational speed n and Figure 6 showed the force analysis diagram when the shaft was wrapped. A coordinate system with the central axis of the tool axis as the origin, the horizontal direction as the x-axis, and the vertical direction as the y-axis was established. Then, a micro-arc dL was intercepted from the wrapped straw or weeds, and the corresponding angle was dα 0 . So the friction between the shaft and the straw and weed fdF N could be obtained as shown in Equation (2). where, f is the coefficient of friction between shaft the straw and weeds; F 0 and F 0 +dF 0 are the tension at both ends of the micro-arc, dF N is the pressure of the shaft to the micro-arc.Figure 6 Force analysis diagram when the shaft was wrapped According to the infinitesimal method, sin(dα 0 /2)=dα 0 /2; cos(dα 0 /2)=1. Straw and weeds are small deformed materials, ignoring the second order trace dF 0 (dα 0 /2), then Equation (3) could be obtained from Equation (2)where, F 1 is the critical strain force of straw and weeds at O 1 (N); F 2 is the critical strain force of straw and weeds at O 2 (N). Then the maximum wrapping force F e =F 1 -F 2 . When the straw and weeds are hung on, there is a sudden change of the structure formed by the blade holder and the shaft, and the tension force at both ends is F′, then F 1 +F 2 =2F'. Combined with Equation (3), the maximum wrapping force F e is obtained by Equation ( 4)where, e is the base of natural logarithm, and approximately equal to 2.718; α 0 is the wrapping angle, and the value is L/R, where L is the length of the wrapped straw or weeds, and R 0 is the shaft diameter. Therefore, maximum wrapping force F e related to the tensioning force F, friction coefficient f between the shaft and straw and weeds, length of the straw and weeds L, R 0 is the shaft diameter. F e is proportional to F'; When F, L and f remain fixed, F e decreases with the increase of R 0 . When F, f, R 0 remain fixed, F e decreases with the decrease of L; When F', R 0 and L remain fixed, F e decreases with the decrease of f. The length of straw and weeds and the friction coefficient between shaft and straw is hard to change, therefore, in order to reduce wrapping, structure can be improved as follows: (1) improving the sudden change between the structure of the blade holder and shaft, so as to reduce the straw and weeds hanging and reduce the tension force F'; (2) increasing rotary radius of the shaft which can effectively reduce the shaft wrapping.Two anti-wrapping cutter blades were installed on the blade seat, which was designed to cut hanging weeds in the circumferential direction and in the axial direction to cut wrapped straw and weeds. An exponential cutting edge curve was chosen for effective cutting in both directions, as shown in Figure 7 and designed from the following; Take any point B in the cutting edge curve and set the pole radius OB of B point as ρ, polar angle as θ, while ρ=ρ(θ). When pole radius ρ and the polar angle θ increased Δρ, Δθ, the polar coordinates of C point were obtained (ρ+Δρ, θ+Δθ), and the static slip angle of C point was φ, which was the angle between the direction of C point velocity and velocity tangent and the value was [24] φ 0 -Kθ, where φ 0 is the static slip angle of the starting point of the cutting edge curve; and K is the static slip angle reduction ratio on the cutting edge curve. When Δθ and Δρ were infinitely close to zero, the length of arc CB was approximately equal to length straight line CB. According to the geometric relation in Figure 7a, φ=σ. The static slip angle relation of point C was:Simplified the limit of Equation ( 5), and integrated ( )where, c was constant. When the polar angle θ was 0, c was calculated as [(sinφ 0 ) 1/K ]/ρ 0 from Equation ( 6), where ρ 0 was the pole radius starting from start point of the edge curve. Established a rectangular coordinate system with polar axis as the rectangular axis, π/2 polar angle as radial the positive axis of the y-axis and the pole is the right-angled coordinate system of the coordinate origin (Figure 7a). The polar coordinate system was connected with the rectangular coordinate Equation ( 6) and combined with the constant c, the parameter equation of the edge curve in the Cartesian coordinate system was obtained (Equation ( 7)).( ) ( )In Equation ( 7), the value of x, y which are coordinates in the edge curve equation were related to ρ 0 (the pole radius starting from start point of the edge curve), φ 0 (the static slip angle of the starting point of the cutting edge curve), polar angle θ and K (static slip angle reduction ratio). In order to effectively make the transition between anti-wrapping blade and blade shaft, the start point of the edge curve A was selected to be on the outside surface of blade shaft, and also on the polar axis x, and in other words, that ρ 0 was the radius of the blade shaft and value of ρ 0 was 40 mm. According to other research [34][35] , φ 0 should be 52º and K should be 0.1 to ensure the optimum cutting performance and reduced power consumption. The end point of the cutting edge curve (E) needs to be a tangent with the side cutting edge of rotary blade to make sure that there was no structural breaks between the parts, thus the point E was located in the blade seat length and width intersection. According to the national standard GB/T5669-2008, the segment OF is 95 mm, and segment FE is 25.5 mm and angle θ 0 =arctan (EF/OF)=15º, so the range of the angle θ can be: 0≤θ≤θ m = 90º-θ 0 = 75º. The above parameter values were substituted into Equation ( 7) and the cutting edge curve was plotted, as shown in Figure 7b. In order to simplify subsequent processing, the circumferential direction anti-wrapping blade and axial direction anti-wrapping blade had the same edge curve design. To prevent blade from excessive deformation and attain effective cutting, 65 Mn steel was selected as blade material, the thickness of the blade was set at 5 mm, and edge angle was 30º. Two anti-wrapping cutting blades were installed in the V-shape subsoiling zone, while one anti-wrapping cutting blade and one counterweight baffle were installed in the non-subsoiled zones. The mass and positioning of the counterweight baffle was equal to the anti-wrapping cutting blade to reduce vibration (Figure 8). A field experiment was conducted in June 2017 at a research site in Zhuozhou city, Hebei province (115º56′E, 39º28′N). An ASRT was compared with a CSRT by assessing field tillage indicators after the operation of each machine.Typical plot conditions were as follows; average soil bulk density, 1.47 g/cm 3 ; average soil moisture content, 14.27%; and average soil compactness, 3175.8 kPa. Tillage depth was from 0 to 450 mm. Plant residue from the previous maize crop 2.32 kg/m 2 and a considerable number of weeds were chopped and uniformly spread on the field.Test equipment: Lovol M1104 tractor, ASRT, CSRT(working width 2500 mm; 4 subsoilers with broken line blade and the distance between the blades is 625 mm; 68 rotary blades (34 on the left and 34 on the right) are arranged in a double-headed spiral, type of rotary blades are IIT245 machete; the same plane inside and outside the staggered rotary blade phase angle is 150º, the same direction of the adjacent rotary blade on the same spiral line is 42º), field comprehensive test vehicle (A rotary torque sensor is installed to measure the torque and rotation speed of the rotary parts of SRTs), AIC3600 vibration analyzer (produced by Beijing institute of space intelligence monitoring technology), Revealer 5F01 high-speed camera (produced by Fuhuang Agile Device co., LTD), 2000 W strong light, compactness measuring instrument, soil box , ring knife, electric thermostat drying oven, tape measure, steel ruler, electronic scales, etc.The operating speed, rotary tillage speed, subsoiling depth and rotary tillage depth were 0.8 m/s, 350 r/min, 350 mm and 150 mm, respectively. The test indexes included vibration reducing, torque and anti-wrapping performance in the process of machine operation, as well as indexes such as tillage depth stability, vegetation cover rate, soil turgor and surface roughness after operation of the two machines. LSD method in SPSS 21 software was used to test the significant difference between the two machines in operation indexes.Specific methods and steps of measurement and calculation were as follows.The flat field with 300 m in length and 30 m in width was selected as test plot, and 20 m in width of it was selected as the measuring area. The single-channel magnetic vibration sensor AIC3600 type vibration analyzer was attached above both sides of the frame of rotary tillage components (Figure 9), and the data were collected when the average operating speed and rotary tillage speed were 0.8 m/s and 350 r/min. The vibration acceleration stability value of the machine was recorded every 30 m with 3 times repetition.2) Torque The flat field with 300 m in length and 30 m in width was selected as test plot, the first 50 m and the last 50 m were set as commissioning area, and the middle 200 m was test area. Field comprehensive test vehicle was installed between the tractor and the SRT (Figure 10). The torque was collected every 0.1 s when the average operating speed and rotary tillage speed were 0.8 m/s and 350 r/min, and the test duration was 40 s.3) Anti-wrapping performance To figure out whether the wrapping of the rotary shaft affected the rotary blade penetrating soil, working operation for 60 m with 3 repetition was conducted. Revealer 5F01 high-speed camera was used to record the operation process of rotary tillage components at 750 fps, as shown in Figure 11. I-SPEED Suite software was used to reproduce the process of high-speed photographic recording and static images of specific locations were obtained to analyze the influence of anti-wrapping performance. The working stability area was selected for measurement, and the steel ruler was used to measure the vertical distance from the bottom of subsoiling ditch to the field surface. Four points were measured every 5 m, a total of 40 points were measured, and the average value was the subsoiling depth. Along the forward direction, steel ruler was used to measure the rotary tillage depth. Ten points are measured every 5 m, a total of 50 points are measured, and the average value was the rotary tillage depth. The stability coefficients of subsoiling depth and rotary tillage depth were calculated according to Equation (8).where, a is the average depth of subsoiling or rotary (cm); a i is the depth of subsoiling or rotary at the ith point (cm); n was the number of measured points; S is the depth standard deviation of subsoiling or rotary (cm); V is the depth variation coefficient of subsoiling or rotary; U is the depth stability coefficient of subsoiling or rotary.2) Vegetation cover rate The five-point sampling method was adopted in the working operation stability area to measure the weight of 1 m 2 (1 m×1 m) vegetation (straw, weed and root stubble) on the surface before the operation of the two SRTs, and the average value was W q ; The same method was used to measure the weight of vegetation after the operation of the two SRTs, and the average value was W h . Equation ( 9) was used to calculate the vegetation cover rate Y of the two SRTs.3) Soil bulking intensity The operation stability zones of the two kinds of SRT were selected to draw the uncultivated surface lines, cultivated surface lines and subsoiling bottom lines at the same location, respectively. In addition, the above drawing lines in the same planes were all perpendicular to the STRs' forward direction. Defining the cross-sectional area before and after operation of the SRTs was A q and A h , respectively (Figure 12). Soil bulking intensity P can be obtained by Equation (10).Figure 12 Measurement of Soil Bulking intensity and Surface Flatness 4) Surface flatness A horizontal baseline was set crossing the highest surface lines before and after operation of the SRTs (Figure 12). Equal interval points were marked in 50 mm interval of the whole machine's operation width (2500 mm). Before and after operation of the two SRTs, vertical distances between these equal interval points and baseline at same positon were measured. The mean and standard deviation can be calculated by Equation (11), in which standard deviation represented as surface flatness.Furthermore, experiments repeated 5 times. )where, k is the measurement times, k=5; a k is the mean vertical distance at k th measurement; a kj is the vertical distance at k th measurement of the j th equal interval point; n k is the measured points' number at k th measurement; S k is the surface flatness at k th measurement.The results of vibration acceleration, torque and anti-wrapping effect of the two SRTs are tabulated in Table 1. The average vibration acceleration of the ASRT (2.13 m/s 2 ) was significantly reduced by 59.05%, compared with the CRST (52.09 mm/s 2 ). The average torque (784.78 N•m) reduction was not significant in the ASRT when compared with CSRT (839.30 N•m). Observed wrapping of plant residue was not evident in all 3 journeys with ARST, while the CSRT experienced wrapping in all 3 journeys. High speed camera was applied to observe the rotary parts' wrapping process (Figure 13). Results showed that the roller equipped with anti-wrapping blades can effectively make weeds and straw slide off blade seats, and reduce wrapping of the roller. The field test results indicated that, rotary tillage depth and stability, subsoil depth, subsoil depth and stability, straw coverage rate, soil bulking intensity, soil surface flatness were acceptable according to the industrial standards laid out in JB/T10295-2014 [36] for SRT (Table 2). Compared with CSRT, the stability of rotary tillage depth of the ASRT was significantly improved by 5.01%. While for other indices, there were no significances. According to the test, the average vibration acceleration of the ASRT was significantly reduced by 59.05%, compared with the CSRT. The main reasons were: two arrangement types were applied on long/short rotary blades of the vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components. The long rotary blades entered into the uncultivated soil area in turn and subjected to large force, which were designed for heavy residue and hard soils. The short rotary blades entered into the V-shape subsoiling areas in turn and subjected to relative small force, which were mainly used for burying the furrows formed by subsoiler. Rotary blades of the CSRT were mounted on a single helix and rotated into soil in succession. Rotary blades' force will be changed suddenly when they rotated from uncultivated area to subsoiling area, which would made the vibration of machine. The vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components reduced the impact and vibration on blade shaft from rotary blades, which was beneficial to prolong the service life of rotary blades, bearings and gearboxes. Moreover, the results showed that the wear of the rotary blades were uniformly, which was helpful to improve working efficiency and reduce the frequency of changing rotary blades.The average torque reduction was not significant in the ASRT when compared with CRST. The main reasons were as follows:(1) Vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components were designed according to the soil surface after subsoiling and with 60 rotary blades in total, while for CSRT there were 68 rotary blades. When compared with ASRT, vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components decreased the number of powered rotary blades, thus reduced the average torque. (2) V-shape subsoiling area was formed by subsoilers of two SRTs and soil was soft, which resulted in little different forces of two SRTs' rotary blades. In addition, the soil compactness of surface was unevenly, which lead to the nonsignificant torque difference of rotary components.The CSRT experienced wrapping in all 3 journeys, while straw wrapping was not observed for the ASRT. By experiment, we found that rotary parts of the CSRT in uncultivated area were wrapped seriously. Reasons may be that: soil, weeds and straw in V-shape subsoiling area were all upraised and moved to both sides of subsoiler, which led to blade seats and blade shafts wrapped with weeds and straw easily. Wrapping processes of rotary parts were divided as follows: (1) Blade seats hanging weeds. Weeds and straw were easily hanged at the joint area of blade seats and blade shaft, and the amount of hanging weeds and straw increased with the rotation of blade shaft. (2) Blade shaft winding straw, weeds. Corresponding with the increase amount of weeds hanged on blade seats, long straw and weeds in front of rotary parts were attached at blade seats and finally wrapped on the blade shaft. (3) Formation of an isolation layer. With the progress of the operation, more and more straw and weeds were wrapped around the blade shaft, gradually forming straw and weed isolation layer. Anti-wrapping blades were assembled in axial and circumferential directions of the vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components, which reduced blade seats hanging weeds and blade shaft winding straw and weeds. Thus, the rotary parts obtained the function of anti-wrapping.The average rotary tillage depth of vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components was 15.07 cm, which met the working requirement. While for the CSRT, the average rotary tillage depth was 13.27 cm, which couldn't meet the working requirement. The reason was that isolation layer formed by wrapping straw and weeds on the blade shaft upraised the whole blade roller, which led rotary blades unable to achieve the expected tillage depth. In addition, instability of the rotary tillage depth caused by wrapping weeds and vibration in the rotary parts of CSRT reduced the stability of rotary tillage depth. Above all, vibration reduction and anti-wrapping components not only guarantee subsoil depth and stability, straw coverage rate, soil bulking intensity and soil surface flatness, but also enhanced stability of rotary tillage depth, decreased vibration, torque and weeds/straw wrapping.Redesign of SRT rotary components reduced vibration and prevented residue wrapping, thus improved its suitability for fields with plant residue retention in Northern China. Based on discrete element simulation and field experiments the adaption of long and short rotary blades on different helixes according to soil disruption after subsoiling, was effective in reducing vibration and improving soil surface outcomes, IT225 type rotary blades with two anti-wrapping blades and a working width of 60 mm were recommended for the subsoiled zone, and IIT245 type rotary blades with one anti-wrapping blade and a working width of 50 mm were recommended for the zones between the subsoiling tines. Comparative field tests showed that the ASRT reduced vibration acceleration by 59.05% and increased rotary tillage depth stability by 5.01%. Anti-wrapping blades mounted on the rotary roller in axial and radial directions effectively reduced residue and weed wrapping of rotary parts. The recommended anti-wrapping blade, should be made from 65Mn steel, 5 mm thick, have an exponential curve and blade angle of 30º. Overall these modifications improved SRT working efficiency and operation time, thereby reducing wear and increases the longevity of the machine.","tokenCount":"5965"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6886819285.json b/data/part_1/6886819285.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e247ad4372b48f6b8bc57a317e2c543032e219e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6886819285.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ce42c5c3ab08b12787d83527fbbee4e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7bac0b44-2d4e-40de-80f0-85189a75b2a7/retrieve","id":"1112754904"},"keywords":["social capital","food security","cassava farmers","composite score","Nigeria"],"sieverID":"e656480d-ba90-4439-bc4a-65df7eb52475","pagecount":"35","content":"Food security, at national and household levels, is on the decline because traditional capital (physical, natural, human and financial) has not fully led to its improvement. There is an increasing shift of attention to social capital as an element that explains household food security, but there is a lack of adequately documented information on this. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of social capital on food security, using data collected on a cross-section of 775 cassava farming households from four zones of Nigeria. About 58% of the respondents (cassava farming households) fall under the intermediate category in terms of the benefits received from belonging in social groups. Age and educational level increased the probability to receive benefit from group activities (p < 0.05), while membership density, labor contribution and decision making significantly affected the level of benefit received (p < 0.10). Based on the estimated food security line, 41% of the cassava households were food secure, while 59% were food insecure. Membership density, cash and labor contribution significantly affected food security. Membership density (p < 0.10) and cash contribution (p < 0.05) increased the probability of being food secure. It was recommended that cassava farming households should be encouraged or aided to form cooperatives or farmers' groups, participate in the activities, and make financial contributions to investments that reduce manual labor-input in the farming activities to enhance household food security.Food is a basic necessity of life, and is regarded as the indispensable means of energy sustenance and nutrition wholeness. Adequate food intake, in terms of quantity and quality is vital for both a healthy and productive life. The need for food is topmost in the hierarchy of life's essential needs, and is imperative for one to maintain healthy living. Thus, the achievement of food security is essential in any given country. Food security related issues have been receiving attention in many developing nations. The intense rise in food prices prompts this revitalization all over the world, due to increasing rate in demand for food, declining global food reserves and unfavorable weather patterns, Metu et al. [1]. Food security is not merely having enough and a sufficient quantity of our various staple foodstuffs, but it also involves access to these food items at affordable prices. On the other hand, food insecurity represents a lack of access to enough food and can be either chronic or temporary. According to Ojo and Adebayo [2], in chronic food insecurity, which arises from a lack of resources to produce or acquire food, the diet is persistently inadequate.The current global food crisis and insecurity has been attributed to factors such as climate change, population growth, increased demand for biofuels, failure to improve crop yield, high oil prices, leading to increased input loss for producers and traders, as well as structural problems like under-investment in the agricultural sector. A decrease in a household's access to food may be due to seasonality of agricultural production, crop failures or unemployment among the healthy members of households.In effect, food security does not include a \"standalone\" concept. The above-enumerated factors are attributable to global food crises and insecurity. Thus, they dovetail into food production problems and their food security consequences. In Nigeria, some of the main consequences of inadequate food production leading to food security challenges are (i) the agricultural sector has remained underdeveloped and depended too much on primary agriculture system with degraded low fertile soils, (ii) less external farm inputs utilization and significant loss of food crops both before and after harvest, and (iii) lack of facilities for storage and preservation of food all of which have cumulatively contributed to price fluctuation of agricultural products (Ilaboya et al.)  [3]. These lead to reduced food production (IITA Blogs, 2020) [4], and a resultant problem of availability and access to these food items at affordable prices. From there, the \"dreaded\" food insecurity surfaces.The government had made concerted efforts at different levels through the formulation of several agricultural policies to restrict food security challenges. Unfortunately, these policies are not yielding the expected outcome of increasing food production. Hence, a new national Rural Development Strategy (RDS) was prepared and adopted in 2001 by the federal government. It aimed to improve livelihoods and food security through a process of community-based agriculture and rural development. As stated by Eme and Onyishi [5], the strategy advocates a community-driven development (CDD) approach, which ensures the active participation of the beneficiaries and Local Governments at all levels of decision-making. It encourages the organization of the social group, through which the voice of the stakeholders can be heard, and the necessary action taken. This social group formation fosters social connectivity or networking among the participants, and this enhances and promotes social capital. Hence, social capital is seen as an element that ensures food security and sustainable development, Lawal et al. [6]. Social capital is a resource that facilitates cooperation within or between groups of people. It can emerge in relationships in many areas of life, such as those involving friends and families, school communities, ethnic, religious and community groups, occupational groupings, firms, governments and other institutions. The term social capital is used to refer to connections which exist among people and organizations. These social networks have important implications for social identity, emotional support, as well as the exchange of goods, services, and information. Views differ about what constitutes social capital, how it operates, to whom and what the concept applies, and how to delineate between its sources, manifestations and effects. However, there seems to be a broader agreement in the literature about what social capital does more than what it is. In particular, it is widely agreed that social capital facilitates mutually beneficial collective action. This is expected to facilitate and enhance production output and welfare outcomes especially among subsistent farmers which dominate the agricultural sector in Nigeria (Since it permits reliance on each other for individual capabilities, e.g., technological skills, for their own benefit).A couple of studies have observed that social capital has increasingly gained recognition in many aspects of agriculture, natural resource management and rural development in developing countries. Among others, the prominent of these studies include food insecurity (FAO) [7], Kirori [8], Rudd [9]; Iyanda [10], and Lawal et al. [6]. This is as a result of its perceived positive consequences for development, and opportunity for those who lack possession of and access to financial, human or natural capital [10]. Most of the farmers have severely limited access to, and control over critical assets, including land physical and human capital. They lack production and labor market endowments, resulting in low income and consumption. This can be attributed to the fact that they depend on subsistence agriculture as their main source of livelihood, where returns to labor and capital are generally low. Adepoju et al. [11], asserted that these factors, coupled with lack of access to the local institutions that shape policies, weaken the decision environment and prevent the rural poor from acquiring the capabilities for decent living, hence, being food secured.One of the major food crops grown in Nigeria is cassava (Manihot esculenta). This is because it is an important staple food of an average household, particularly for the poor rural household. Cassava or its derivatives form part of daily food both for poor and non-poor households. Therefore, this makes it an essential factor in food security, poverty alleviation and employment generation, among others. It was observed by Nweke et al. [12], that cassava has the potential for bridging the food gap, because it has been discovered from research that famine rarely exists where cassava is widely grown. This is because cassava can grow in poor marginal soil where most crops cannot grow, Okpukpara [13]. Since its debut in the late 1600s on Portuguese trade ships from Brazil into Nigeria, cassava has gone from minor crop to a major crop and accounts for between 40-50% of all calories consumed in southern and central Nigeria. Therefore, cassava has played and continues to play a remarkable role in the agricultural sector of Nigeria, particularly on food security. It is of great interest to note that Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava in the world. Its current production was estimated in 2009 to be 36.8 million metric tons and the total area harvested in 2009 was 3.13 million ha, with an average yield of 11.7 tons/ha Idrisa et al. [14]. It is produced predominantly (99%) by small farmers with 1-5 ha of land intercropped with yams, maize, or legumes in the rainforest and savanna agro-ecologies of southern, central, and lately northern Nigeria.In order to tackle the challenges associated with food security, cassava production has gotten international attention, and currently, different organizations and foundations are involved in its research and development activities. Several studies have been carried out on food security in Nigeria. Some of these include Omonona and Agoi [15], Idrisa et al. [14], Adeyemo and Kuhlmann [16], and Fakayode et al. [17]. Most of these studies focused on measuring food security among rural or urban poor households, suggesting ways of solving the food problem. However, there is a gap in the literature on the role of root and tuber crops on ensuring food security particularly cassava which has been highly recognized as one of the crops that possess the potential for higher yield per unit area relative to other crops such as cereals, pulses fruits, vegetables, etc., Gezhagne et al. [18]. Also, in spite of the influence of social networking on food security, no appreciable studies have tried to link the two together in Nigeria. Hence, this research was designed to fill this gap and provide empirical information concerning the nexus between social capital and food security. This study, therefore, identifies the various social capital dimensions available in the study area and the benefits that farmers derived from participating in social networking. It also profiled the farmers based on their food security status and examined the effects of social networking on farmers household food security.In what follows; however, we summarize the concept of \"food sovereignty\", make a distinction between it and food security and clarify why our study is on food security and could not be based on food sovereignty concept.Food sovereignty can be defined as the right every nation has to maintain and develop its own capacity to produce its basic food needs regarding cultural and productive diversity. It emphasizes the right to grow one's food in one's territory, as well as define one's food and agriculture policies, which consequently protect and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade. This is to attain sustainable development through autonomy production, thereby limiting the dumping of foreign products on the local markets Via Campesina [19]. According to Via Campesina [20], food sovereignty is a precondition to genuine food security. In contrast to food security, food sovereignty focuses on food for people, value food providers, emphasizes and localizes food systems and advocates its local control. The concept of food sovereignty emerged as a significant alternative to the prevailing neoliberal globalization policies for agriculture and trade. The emergence was during a conference of peasant and farm leaders in 1996 where they agreed that the potential in the concept of food security to ensure local access to culturally appropriate and nutritious food was considered invalid [19]. In their view, the pillars of food security lay more emphasis on food-related policies in terms of food production and enhancing food access opportunities, without taking into cognizance how, where and by whom food is produced. Food security, in actual fact, does not differentiate where food comes from (nor consider) under what conditions they are produced or distributed. It is known to be supported by subsidies and policies which damage local food producers but benefit agribusiness corporations. Therefore, it is criticized based on this. On the other hand, food sovereignty considers the food producer, distributors and consumer at the center of food systems and policies relatively than the demands of markets and corporations. It also prioritizes local and national economies and markets, which consequently give power to smallholder and commercial-driven agriculture (Change for Children, https://changeforchildren.org/learn-teach/food-security/) [21].In Africa, however, the concept of food sovereignty as a phenomenon has not been commonly used in discussion with regards to food production among African leaders. In contrast, the principles of food sovereignty, such as agrarian reform, food production, natural resources protection, reorganization of food trade, and putting an end to the globalization of hunger, all indicate that some of the food sovereignty concepts are already embedded in the principles expressed by African agencies. Conversely, the expression of food security is not new among African political and agricultural agencies and leaders. In this wise, what may be lacking in this instance is a common definition for food security, (Tambi et al.) [22].The emphasis in this paper is to fill some identified gaps, which will lead to addressing the issue of food security in Africans perspective using social networking. Moreover, Nigeria, before late 2019, is well known for massive importation of food which does not advocate food sovereignty's core principle of stopping neoliberal trade. For this reason, this study is within the context of food security in an aggregated macro-level vis-à-vis social networking. This indicates the motive of why the concept used for the study is different from food sovereignty. Food sovereignty fully embodies the right to food because it adds a human dimension to food security, acknowledging individuals, households, communities and nations have a say in their relationship with food. This distinction is being emphasized in order to reiterate the difference between food security and food sovereignty concepts and that this present study clearly focuses on food security. The social networking identified is hinged on the cooperation ensued to combat risk faced in their livelihood activities and other related risks. Also, data collected are to capture social capital and food security variables as well.The central idea of social capital is that networks and the associated norms of reciprocity have value for the people who are in them, and at least, in some instances, demonstrable externalities, so that there are both public and private aspects of social capital. There are many different definitions of social capital, and different theoretical approaches underpinning these definitions. Putnam [23] defines social capital as the networks, norms, and trust that enable participants of a group to act together more effectively to pursue common objectives and describes some of its benefits as mutual support, cooperation, trust, institutional effectiveness.Social capital is an intangible form of capital that is accumulated by individuals when they engage in social relationships. This investment can be intentional or not, but enables an individual to engage in certain actions and to raise certain benefits otherwise impossible to reach. It, therefore, provides for participants to secure benefits by virtue of membership in social networks or other social structures, Aker [24]. Indeed, research evidence shows that high levels of social capital are associated with a range of positive outcomes for individuals and/or communities, including better health and wellbeing, lower crime rates and higher educational achievement. Some forms of social capital are highly formal with the organized chairperson or a president and membership dues. Other forms of social capital, such as a group of people who gather at a newspaper stand every day, are highly informal. Both forms constitute networks in which reciprocity can easily develop, and in which there can be gains. The capacity for coordination within a group and the attainment of some common objectives are potentially conducive to some individual and social benefit. But, the number of benefits and the distribution will ultimately depend on the nature of the relationships, the group, and the objectives pursued by its members. Moreover, apart from the nature of the group, also the institutional setting in which formal and informal organizations evolve will influence the conduct and outcomes of in-group cooperation [24].While social capital is usually discussed within the context of communities, which something relies on the existence of links, networks and trust between people, it is arguably the case that some kinds of social capital, such as willingness to trust other people or perceptions of the local area are also attributes of individuals. In practice, attributes associated with individuals, groups of people and places may all contribute to forming social capital. According to Adepoju and Olawuyi [25], the essence of this concept is to facilitate interactions that exist among people based on institutions and network that they establish among themselves or that they mutually belong. The identified critical elements of social capital include: (a) Social resources which are informal arrangements between neighbors or within a community; (b) collective resources which include the establishment of self-help groups, credit unions, community safety schemes; (c) economic resources these are based on the levels of employment; access to green, open spaces; and lastly (d) cultural resources such as libraries, art centers, local schools.Social capital at a neighborhood level, as reported by Stone et al. [26], can be categorized into three, namely; informal ties which exist among members of household, family and family-in-law, friends, neighbors, and workmates. Secondly, is the generalized relationships which are community-based, and or societal ties that is a relationship existing between people who do not know each other personally, including local people, and people in civic groups. The third type of social network is institutional relationships, which are the ties individuals have with institutions, including the legal system, the police, the media, unions, governments, political parties, universities, and the corporate world. These identified categories of social capital can further be grouped into different dimensions on which social capital can be measured.Social capital (SC) can be conceptualized under two broad approaches. These include social cohesion and social networking, although the distinction between these theoretical approaches is gloomy.1. Social cohesion: This originated from Coleman [27], and is considered to be a level of trust and reciprocity that exist among community members. Coleman [27] opined that SC affects social structures and can exist on the same level (horizontal) and between individuals, group and institutions (vertical). The dimensions include: (i) Structural, where individuals have formal opportunities to develop social ties; (ii) cognitive, which is hinged on perceptions of trust and reciprocity; and (iii) relational which emphasizes relationships and identification with others. Features of social capital identified in the literature under this category are: (a) Social cohesion and inclusion: This reveals a lack of conflict in society through the presence of strong social bonds which bridge divisions in a community, measured by a strong feeling of togetherness within the community. This method has been used by Ehsan et al. [28], Sakurai [29], Ekanayake [30], Ogunrinola [31], and Misselhorn [32]. (b) Trust and solidarity, measured by perceptions about whether people in the community can be trusted and provision of social support by group members for each other in times of hardship. This approach was used by [29], Moazami [33], Diawara et al. [34], and Ogunrinola [31].Other studies which made use of the approach are Sseguya [32,35] and Hung and Lau [36].(c) Collective action, measured by community contributing resources towards common developmental goals. This is an indication that people in the community work together to solve common problems. The method was applied by Daud [33,37], Ali [30,32,34,36,38].2. Social networking: In support of [23,27] revealed that social trust and civic commitment are correlated based on the success of local administration with an emphasis on social networking. The presence of local administration facilitates cohesion and overall cooperation between individual and groups. Therefore, a social network is the structure of social ties that link different individuals together either personally or through groups or organizations. This social link can be formal or informal. The dimensions include: (i) Binding, an enduring, complex, and extremely emotional relationships; (ii) bonding, this focus on resources accessed within networks with similar characteristics; (iii) bridging, the existence of social assets accessed across diverse groups with different socio-economic status; and (iv) linking, a trust network connecting individuals and groups across different classes often in relation to organizational power. The aspects of SC identified here are:(i) Groups and networks: Measured by membership in a formal or informal organization; ability to secure support from other non-family members and relatives in times of hardship; ability to learn from one's group, access to markets information through the group. These have been used by Sakurai [30,38,39], Thamizoli [31,34,40]. Others who used it are Sseguya [35], Islam and Al Mamun [36,41], Grootaert [42], Grootaert et al. [43], Kuroki [44], Narayan and Pritchett [45], Adepoju et al. [11], Yusuf [46], Okunmadewa et al. [6,47], Kirori [8] among others. (ii) Group cooperation: Measured through member's willingness to contribute time and money towards group and individual advancement. This, as used can be found in [6,8,35,40,42,43,[45][46][47], among others. (iii) Information and communication: This is measured by Incidence of reading or listening to news sources, such as radio, newspapers, and television, as well as sharing useful information among group members. Previous studies which used this are Thamizoli [40], Kuroki [44], Martín-Alcázar [46,48]. (iv) Empowerment and governance: Measured by acquiring control in decision making, affecting daily activities. It also connotes involvement in local elections, such as voting and being voted for. This method was adopted by Kuku and Liverpool [6,29,30,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49].The concept of SC can be a combination of different methods highlighted above. SC was conceptualized in this study using the combinations of all social networking measures as applied by [42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. The choice of this was based on the use of primary data that extensively capture different areas of measuring household capital unlike the use of secondary data which may limit the number of SC available to three or less.Concepts of food security have evolved in the last thirty years to reflect changes in official policy thinking, Heidhues et al. [50]. The term first originated in the mid-1970s, when the World Food Conference in 1974 according to Shaw [51] defined food security in terms of food supply-assuring the availability and price stability of basic foodstuffs at the international and national level. The definition was revised to include the individual and household level, in addition to the zonal and national level of aggregation, in food security analysis. World Food Summit (WFS) [52], definition of food security existence as when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The widely accepted definition reinforces the multidimensional nature of food security to include food access, availability, food use and stability. It has enabled policy responses focused on the promotion and recovery of livelihood options.According to Pinstrup-Andersen [53], the concept of food security has been used extensively at the household level as a measure of welfare and attempts have been made to make the concept operationally useful in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs, projects and policies. A household is considered food secure if it can acquire the food needed by its members to be food secure. There are two reasons why household food security may not assure food security for all its members. First, the ability to acquire enough food may not be converted into actual food acquisition. Household preferences may not prioritize food acquisition over the acquisition of other goods and services, such as school fees and housing. Second, the intra-household allocation of the food may not be based on the needs of each individual member. The existence of a large number of households with both undernourished and obese members is a case in point. Rao [54], reported that at the individual level, the definition of food security is much more straightforward. An individual is food-secure if his or her food consumption is always greater than need, as defined by physiological requirement. Consumption is determined by the claim the individual has on household food resources. This may be affected by individual earnings and assets, or by the individual's position in the household. It is certainly unusual for an individual's share of household food consumption to be determined solely by need. It is clear that food security at one level does not imply food security at a lower level of aggregation. Food security at the household level does not imply that all members of the household are food secure. A food-insecure household may equally contain food secure members. The nature and extent of food insecurity are dependent on the time factor. Food security analysts have defined two general types of FAO [55] as (i) Transitory Food Insecurity and (ii) Chronic food Insecurity.Different methods have been used in literature to measure food security. These among others include:1.Coping strategies index: As adopted by [49]. The coping strategies can be defined as a response to adverse events or shocks. These strategies range in intensity from activities like food rationing or drawing down savings, to more permanent strategies like the sale of assets.Use of money metric: Where food security status is measured based on the proportion of household income or expenditure expended on food. This method has been extensively used by [15], Irohibe and Agwu [56], Amaza et al. [57], Abdullahi et al. [58], Oni et al. [59], Salman and Ekong [60].Cost of caloric (COC) intake: Here, the cost of buying the recommended minimum calorie intake is used to determine the food insecurity line. The method was used in the following studies: Sultana and Kiani [61], Fawehinmi and Adeniyi [62] and Olagunju et al., 2012 [63].Daily calorie intake per adult: This is measured at the household level where a seven days memory recall method is put to use to classify households into food secure and food insecure. The method was adopted by Zemedu and Mesfin [64], among others. 5.Household Hunger Scale (HHS): This was developed by the \"Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA)\" project and adopted by Digo et al. [65]. The method categories households into three based on the level of hunger experienced. 6.House Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS): This utilizes nine occurrence questions that ask whether a particular condition related to the experience of food insecurity has happened during the past four weeks or 30 days, with responses coded as 1 for yes and 0. This has been used by Malual [66], Obayelu [67], and Ibrahim et al. [68].The money metric approach is without specific assumptions about preferences. While it can be seen as conceptually less complete relative to a few methods mentioned above, it has the advantage of requiring substantially fewer data. On this basis, this study adopted the use of expenditure on food (money metric approach) to categorize the household into food security status. This is because, when we consider the advantage of less required data, the fact that getting the actual calories intake by households through memory recall may not be possible. The approach has been extensively used in various similar studies, such as References [15,[56][57][58][59][60].Social capital is expected to influence household food security in two possible ways, either through an increase in the resource base of the household or by increasing the dependency ratio. A large dependency ratio can aggravate household food insecurity by directly creating additional mouths, thereby increasing the pressure on available resources. On the other hand, it improves food insecurity status indirectly when more household members earn incomes for households with other resources or engage in family labor (Liverpool-Tasie et al. [69]. Social capital can cushion the effect of food insecurity through the benefit that households derive from belonging to a social group. These benefits may include information sharing about market opportunities, sources of credit and subsidized input, price movement, among others.The household income, in addition to remittances, received determines the household assets base, which directly influences the level of food consumption within the households. These with other socio-economic factors, further influence the type of social network that the household engages in, either formal or informal groups. Conversely, social network directly affects income and the food security strategies adopted at the household level, as well as household expectations from these social groups. The food security problems (such as poverty, vulnerability to risk, lack or inadequacy in information, lack of farm inputs, price and income fluctuations, and market failures) will prescribe the strategies that the household will use in order to improve its food insecurity status.Sseguya [35], reported that availability, accessibility and utilization of food by households could be enhanced by collectively sharing information and resources. Further, during times of stress or shock, social capital manifested through relationship, community solidarity and access to external networks potentially plays a role in facilitating access to food for the affected households and/or communities. Access to information and resources from informal and formal networks is mediated by norms of reciprocity and mutual trust and solidarity at both household and community levels. The household general characteristics are expected to directly determine the level of income which will consequently affect various expenditures undertaken at the household level-the instability or fluctuation of income influences household expenditure and hence, food security status.This study was carried out in four geographical zones of Nigeria. They are the northcentral, south-east, south-south and south-west zones. Nigeria is bordered to the west by the Republic of Benin, to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by Cameroon and to the north by Chad and Niger Republic. The survey which was carried out during the implementation of the IITA/IFAD project was accomplished by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture during the first quarter of 2015 under the sub-project \"Enhancing the competitiveness of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) in Nigeria\". A Multi-stage sampling technique had earlier been adopted in selecting respondents for this study. The sampling resulted in the following: (i) One state in the north-central (FCT), two states in the south-east (Abia and Enugu), one state from the south-south (rivers) and two states from the south-west (Oyo and Ogun); (ii) random selection of local governments areas (LGAs); (iii) random selection of villages and localities/enumeration areas (EAs); (iv) in the final stage, the cassava producing households were randomly selected by way of proportionate and representative sampling. A total sample of 775 cassava producers had earlier been pre-determined through a confidence interval approach.Primary data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire containing both open and close-ended items. The questionnaire administration was cross-sectional. Secondary data were extracted from IITA database and other documented reports, such as journals, bulletins, as well as other books on related issues. Data and variables which included demographic characteristics (age, gender, household size, marital status, education, farming experience), the benefit derived from social groups, household food expenditure, among others, were collected. The demographic, social capital and food security variables used in the analysis are described in Tables A1 and A2 in Appendix A. The abridged questionnaires containing the questions asked to gather the information on the variables used in this paper are shown on Tables A6-A9 in Appendix B.Descriptive statistical tools included frequencies and percentages, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum parameters used to describe the social capital dimensions.Arising from the consideration of the social capital concepts adapted and used by previous studies described in Section 2.1 above, it was expedient to compute a composite score. A composite score was employed to measure the level of benefit derived by farmers who engaged in social group activities. Respondents' claim of benefits received from membership in the social group was estimated on a binary scale. A score of 1 was allotted to 'Yes' and 0 to 'No' responses on highlighted benefits. With ten (10) statements, a respondent can score a maximum of 10 points and a minimum of 0 points. The categorization into high, intermediate and low benefit was then achieved using a composite score as used by Sirkin [70]   [11]; Jerry et al. [71], and Kawakatsuy and Largeyz [72] was used to identify the factors influencing benefit received by farmers. The fractional regression (non-heteroskedastic probit) model was, however, run to determine the factors influencing the benefits received by the farmers on the geographical zonal basis. The actual index of the derived social capital benefits was proxied as the rate of benefits and used as the dependent variable. An ordered probit model is used to model relationships between a polytomous response variable which has an ordered structure and a set of regressor variables. Using the composite score (as computed in Section 3.3.2) from the level of benefit received from social capital, farmers were categorized into high, intermediate and low benefit recipients. The standard ordered probit model is widely used to analyze discrete data of this variety, and it is built around a latent regression of the following form:where x and β are standard variable and parameter matrices, respectively, and ε is a vector matrix of normally distributed error terms. Predicted grades (y*) are unobserved. We do, however, observe the following:where µ 1 and µ 2 , are the cut-off points, i.e., the threshold variables in the probit model. The threshold variables are unknown, and they indicate the discrete category that the latent variable falls into. They are determined in the maximum likelihood estimation procedure for the ordered probit.When normalized σ to 1, Pr(y i = 0) = Pr(y * < 0) (5)Pr(0Pr(X i β + ε ≥ µ 1 )Note that 0 < µ 1 in that order for the benefits received from being a member of a social group. The likelihood for a benefit received by an individual isZ ij =1 if y i = j; 0 otherwise for j = 0.1 and 2 (9) where for the i th individual, y i is the observed outcome and X i is a vector of explanatory variables. The unknown parameters β j are typically estimated by maximum likelihood. Y = level of benefit received, (0 = low benefit, 1 = intermediate benefit, 2 = high benefit). X 1 = age (years), X 2 = gender (male = 0, female = 1), X 3 = level of education (years), X 4 = Household size (number), X 5 = Meeting attendance/(frequency of interaction) index, X 6 = Farming experience (years), X 7 = Labor contribution index, X 8 = Decision making index X 9 = Cash contribution ( ), X 10 = Membership density.2. Use of Fractional Probit: Another model which was used to identify the factors influencing the benefits received by farmers (on the geographical zonal basis) was the Fractional regression (non-heteroskedastic probit) model. The actual index of the derived social capital benefits was proxied as the rate of benefits and used as the dependent variable. The variants of the model are often used for such outcomes as rates, proportions, and fractional data. The fractional probit regression was used because it was the model that captured all the independent variables as a result of interaction during the disaggregation of the sample into the zonal basis. Details of this model can be found in Papke and Wooldridge [73] and Wooldridge [74]. The model, adapted from [73] is presented as follows:Assuming the availability of an independent (though not necessarily identically distributed) sequence of observations (X i , y i ) : i = 1, 2, . . . , N , where 0 ≤ y i ≤ 1 and N is the sample size. The asymptomatic analysis is carried out as N → ∞ . A maintained assumption is that, for aIl i,where G(•) is a known function satisfying 0 < G(z) < 1 for all z ∈ R. This ensures that the predicted values of y lie in the interval (0, 1).Food security can be measured using varying methods among which are: Dietary Energy Consumption, FAO [55] and Otemuyiwa and Adewusi [75] which is closely related to Dietary diversity Score, Hoddinott [76] and Maxwell et al. [77]. This categorized household into food security status based on estimated energy composition of food intake. Cost of Calorie is another method which classifies households to different status based on the total cost of daily calorie intake from food consumed by each household [57,63]. Another method related to Cost of Calorie Intake is Household calorie Acquisition [76]. Also, there is a food security index (FSI) which differentiates household using their level of food expenditure [15,53,56,77]. In addition to these, we have the Food Insecurity Multidimensional index (FIMI), this makes use of different dimensions to food security to categorize household based on food availability, affordability, sustainability and utilization, Marion [78].The food security index approach to measuring food security uses imputed monetary flows without specific assumptions about preferences and is in a sense shortcut version of the other approaches. While they can, therefore, be considered conceptually less complete, they do have the advantage of requiring substantially fewer data. On this basis, this study adopted a food security index to categorize the households in the study area, considering the advantage of less required data. The approach has been extensively used in various similar studies.The households were classified into food secure and food insecure using food security index as earlier used by [15,25]. This was used to establish the food security status of various households. It is given by: Fi = Per capita food expenditure for the i th household 2/3 mean per capita food expenditure of all households Where Fi = food security index. When Fi ≥ 1, the i th household is food secure, and Fi ≤ 1, the i th household is food insecure. A food-secure household is, therefore, that household with per capita monthly food expenditure falling above or equaling to two-third of the mean per capita food expenditure. On the other hand, a food-insecure household is that household with per capita food expenditure falling below two-third of the mean monthly per capita food expenditure.The logit model: A Logit model was used to examine the determinants of household food insecurity. This is specified as:where: Y i is the observed response for the i th observation (i.e., the binary variable, Y i = 1 for food-secure household and Y i = 0 for a food-insecure household); I i is an underlying and unobserved stimulus index for the i th observation (conceptually, there is a critical threshold I * i for each household; if I i < I * i the household is observed to be food secure if I i ≥ I * i the household is observed to be food insecure). Also, g (in Equation ( 11)) is the functional relationship between the field observations (Y i ) and the stimulus index I i which determines the probability of being food insecure. The logit model assumes that the underlying stimulus index I * i is a random variable, which predicts the probability of being food insecure. Therefore, for the i th observation (a household):The relative effect of each explanatory variable (X ji ) on the probability of being food secure is measured by differentiating with respect to X ji , using the quotient rule, we have:where Pi is the probability of an i th household being food secure; Xi = vector of explanatory variables.The logit model as used in this paper has been applied by Amaza et al. [57], and Olagunju et al. [63] in their studies on determinants and measurement of food insecurity in Nigeria and determinants of food insecurity in Ogbomoso metropolis, respectively.The descriptions and or definitions of the variables (The questions which have been used to elicit the data/variables are presented in the abridged sections of the household questionnaire on Tables A6-A9 in Appendix B. The particular questions were asked because they were amenable to the methodology of the study. Households' heads or their representatives were interviewed through a household survey) used in the analyses are presented in Tables A1 and A2 in Appendix A (with their expected signs).The dimensions of the social capital of the sampled households are presented in Table 1. The mean value of membership density (DM) for Nigeria is 1.63 (1.29%), which is approximately 2. This is an indication that an average household participated in about two social groups. This result is low relative to the findings of [11,46] where membership density in the social group was about five. However, in another study by [6] where the effects of social capital on credit access among cocoa farming households in Osun State was analyzed, the overall membership density was found to be about 48. In effect, we can imply that participation in social groups will depend much on the perception that household members have about the quantum and quality of the benefits they can derive from participating in such social groups. This also depends on the set up of the social groups and the environment where they operate. It is worthy of note that the south-west zone recorded the highest mean value of 1.83 (1.41%), while the least in that category was the south-east zone with 1.63 (1.19%). In our study, the results of the zone membership density imply that though the four zones had very low DM figures, households in the south-west zone enjoyed better and more benefits than their counterparts in the other three zones. Participation in decision making within a group reveals a good level of activity with a 59.40 (23.17%) decision score. Only the north-central zone recorded below average in decision making score 46.00 (20.85%) relative to other zones. In the study of [6], the decision-making indexes were low across the zones considered. It has been asserted that active and robust decision making involvement by members of an association improves the benefits derived from such associations [43,46,47]. In terms of meeting attendance, the result shows an average of 81.47 (21.07%) attendance for the sampled respondents (cassava farming households). All the zones had above 80.00 meeting attendance except the south-west zone, which had 78.37. This is an indication that cassava farmers are fairly committed to social group activities, suggesting that regularity at meetings and interaction among members and between groups or association was reasonable. Studies, such as Maluccio et al. [79] and Aker [24], reported an increase in benefits that members derived from their association as the meeting attendance and interactions at different levels increased. The mean value for labor contribution was very low (5 person-days). This shows that only an average of 5 person-day labor was contributed every month. The reason for this may be the use of modern implements for agricultural activities that is encouraged for cassava cultivation both at the zonal and national levels. This is contrary to the findings of [11], where labor contribution was almost 20 person-days. The highest mean value for labor contribution, 8.18 (6.26%), was observed in the north-central zone, while the least, 3.43 (4.68%), was in the south-south zone of Nigeria. Finally, on the social capital dimensions, a mean value of 5733.08 was estimated as contribution by an average cassava farmer in their various social groups. Cassava farming households from the south-west zone made the highest average contributions of 8999.10, while households from the north-central made an average contribution of 1840.00. Generally on dimensions of social capital, participation in decision making by households in our study was high enough, and this implies that farming households were actively involved in decision making within the associations they belonged. This is in agreement with the findings of Grootaert [80]. Also, cash contributions or cash commitments by the cassava farming households to the associations were much lower than contributions made by fish farming households involved in a recent study by Adepoju [83] where the fish farming households contributed as much as 43,887.52. The categories of benefits (that the farming households derived for participating in social groups), the number of benefiting households and their percentages are presented in Table 2. Results (pooled) showed that most of the households (58.10%) received an intermediate benefit. A high benefit was received by 23.09% of the households, while 18.81% received low benefits. This is an indication that the majority of the cassava farmers in Nigeria are in the intermediate benefit category. The mean value of 1.62 for all the groups implies that an average cassava farming household in Nigeria derives nearly 50% more benefits than the contribution made to the social group they belong to. About 58% of the cassava farming households in Nigeria obtained intermediate benefit from their social groups. The north-central and south-south zones of Nigeria, however, had a higher percentage, 45% and 28%, respectively, of cassava farming households that obtained low benefits from participating in social groups. The south-east and south-west zones had a higher percentage, 18% and 32%, respectively, of cassava farming households in the high benefit category. Among the zones in Nigeria, the south-west had the highest mean value (1.81 ± 1.40) for the benefit received by cassava farming households from the social groups they belonged, implying that an average cassava farming household in the south-west derives nearly double the benefits compared to the contributions made to the social groups they belonged. Our results fairly compare with that of [11]. Though the percentage of farming households with high benefits is a bit lower in our study, the percentage of households with intermediate and low benefits that we estimated are higher. Nevertheless, the patterns of the results from the two studies are similar. Table 3 presents the result of the ordered probit model used to investigate the factors influencing the level of benefit derived from membership in social groups in the study area. Six variables are statistically significant at various levels. The likelihood ratio chi-square of 1126.01 with a p-value of 0.0000 reveals that the model as a whole is statistically significant.Age (and age square) significantly affected benefit received from a social group at a 5% level of significance. This implies that the more the number of aged households, the less the probability of receiving a low benefit (by 1.08%), intermediate benefit (by 0.05%) and the more the likelihood of receiving a high benefit (by 0.007%). This may be because older farmers participate more actively in social activities. The level of education also significantly determined the level of benefit (at 5 percent significant level), meaning that an increase in the years of schooling increases the likelihood of receiving low benefit by 0.548%, and intermediate benefit by 0.265%. On the contrary, an increase in the years of schooling decreases the likelihood of receiving high benefit by 0.004%. The reason for this may be that increased formal education may minimize active participation in social group activities; hence, reduction in benefit received. The social capital variables that significantly affected (at 10% level of significance each) the benefits derived from social groups are membership density, labor contribution and decision making. An increase in the membership density will reduce the possibility of receiving low benefit by 53.8%, while it will increase the chances of receiving intermediate and high benefits by 2.6% and 0.35%, respectively. On the other hand, increasing labor contribution by a unit will reduce the probability of receiving a low benefit and increase the possibility of receiving both intermediate and high benefits. Lastly, participation in decision making within a social group reduces the chances of receiving low and intermediate benefits with a unit increase, while it will increase the likelihood of receiving a high benefit. This is an indication that it is not sufficient to be a member of a social group, active participation in the group is equally important, as previously reported by [11].The determinants of benefits derived from social groups were disaggregated on a zonal basis, and the results are presented in Tables A3 and A4 in Appendix A. At the zonal levels, the result of the marginal effects suggests that there is no significant variable for the benefits received in the north-central zone. However, in the south-east, education is statistically significant (at 5%) for low, intermediate and high categories of the benefit received from the social group. This implies that the more educated the farming households are, the higher will be the likelihood of receiving a benefit.Membership density and meeting attendance affected benefit received (at 5% level of significance) in the south-west zone. A unit increase in membership density increased the likelihood of receiving low, intermediate and high categories of benefit by 5.2%, while a unit increase in meeting attendance increased benefit received at all levels by 0.36%.In the south-south zone, two factors significantly influenced the benefit derived. These are household size and marital status. Household size decreased the likelihood of receiving a high benefit of 0.22%, while being a married household head had a likelihood of receiving a high benefit. This is an indication that married farmers who are heads of their households received more benefit when they participated in social activities than their unmarried counterparts. Our overall results on the influence of education, labor and decision making index are similar to those of Adepoju et al. [11]. However, our study revealed more significant demographic and social capital dimension variables (e.g., age and membership density). Since, based on our results, the advancement in age favors high benefit, while farm experience does not, we submit that farmers with longer years of experience in farming (which is also related to advanced age) are better placed to receive a high benefit. For education, which showed in this study, a decreased likelihood of high benefit, we suspect a correlation with farming experience which has to do with training received in the course of gathering experience. So, it is not plausible to discourage the more educated farming households not to take an active part in social activities. The memberships of the social groups are likely made up of fewer households with appreciable years of formal education. Increase in membership density and participation in decision making, which also favor high derivable benefits have some important implications (Grootaert [42], Yusuf [46], and Okunmadewa et al. [47]). One is that apart from the high benefits that members will derive, decisions, opinions and contributions in cash and in-kind will be optimal, and this further enrich the expected outcomes and benefits from the social groups. Secondly, and on labor contribution, the cost of achieving goals and objectives and deriving more high benefits will be reduced in as much as it is the members themselves that are supplying the manual labor needed by the group for any of such work. More memberships that will generate more labor to achieve more goals and objectives and in essence, derive more benefits, is therefore encouraged.The food security status of the cassava farmers in Nigeria is presented in Table 4. Generally, 41.5% of the cassava farming households are food secured, while others are food insecure. Except in south-west zone where more than 50% of the cassava farming households are food secured, the level of food insecurity among cassava farming households is high in the south-south (73%), north-east (61%), and north-central (60%). It is essential to take note of the high level of food security among cassava farming households in the south-south zone of Nigeria. Our results are similar in the pattern of food security status with those of Ahungwa et al. [81], Osuji et al. [82], Oyetunde-Usman and Olagunju [83], where the numbers and percentages of food-insecure households are more than those of the food secure households. However, in the studies of Abu and Soom [84] and Ahmed et al. [85], the number and percentages of food secure households are more than their food-insecure households. Our results seem to reveal the food security impact of cassava commercialization in the different zones of Nigeria. The cassava sub-sector, according to Abass et al. [86], in the south-west zone, has become more commercial in the last three decades, due to increased investments in cassava processing factories. The factories offer substantial market opportunities to cassava farming households to sell their roots and make a decent income, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation. However, the trend of cassava commercialization in the other zones is at a much slower pace. Thus, food security among farming households is an essential indicator for measuring the performance or success of development initiatives, as well as the commercialization of the agriculture sector, and specifically, the cassava sub-sector. The social capital dimensions driving household level of food security in Nigeria are presented in Table 5, while Table A5 in Appendix A presents the decomposition into selected geographical zones. Eleven (11) independent variables comprising five social capital dimensions (membership density, cash contribution, labor contribution, meeting attendance and decision making) and six control variables (age, gender, household size, marital status, education and farming experience) were used. Marital status was the only control variable that significantly influenced food security with a marginal value of 0.074 and at a 1% level of significance. This means that the married household heads have a higher likelihood of being food-secure increases with more (1% increase) married households by 7.4%. This is an indication that married household heads are more likely to be food secured relative to their unmarried counterparts. The result is expected-married households have adults that will work to ensure that the household is food secured. This finding is supported by the report from Oni and Fasogbon [87]. We, however, do not infer that being married is one of the conditions to be food secured. Rather, married household heads may tend to strive harder to keep the household members put collective efforts into farming activities that may result in increased food security for all the members. In the study area and a similar environment, agriculture development programs should be geared towards including married household heads even when there is a priority on youth and the vulnerable. From the social capital variables, membership density and cash contribution positively determined the likelihood of being food secured, while labor contribution had a negative relationship. Membership density and cash contribution significantly affected food security with marginal values of 0.010 and 0.047, respectively. This suggests that a 1% increase in membership density and cash contribution will increase the household food security level by 1.0% and 4.7%, respectively. The implication is that the more the households actively participate and make a cash contribution in social groups, the more food secured they will be. The result is in line with findings of Adepoju et al. [11]. The groups' activities can drive active participation in any social group and ample cash contribution to it that members perceive as being able to generate the desired benefits. On the other hand, an increase in labor contribution reduces the probability of being food secured with a marginal value of 0.092. With this result, there are indications that an increase in labor contribution will reduce household food security status by 9.2%. This implies that the more the labor contribution, the less the food secured the households become because more time will be spent developing other farms rather than working only on the family farmland. These results have profound implications for the organization of agriculture or cassava development programs in Nigeria, especially in the zones/zone with high food insecurity. First, the results imply that formation of cooperative systems (with high membership density) where the members make cash contributions for investment in a collective farming activity (increased cash contribution) is likely to prevent food insecurity. Secondly, the priority for such investments should be in the mechanization of cassava production or processing, thereby, reduce excessive labor contribution. These two elements if combined in the organization of agriculture or cassava development programs would have a significant positive effect on food security of a large population of cassava farming households, preventing them from falling into food insecurity or bringing them out of food insecurity. In general, our results support a significant relationship between social capital and household food security, as previously found by Obaa [88] and Malual [66].Several variables controlled the food security level of cassava households in the north-central (Table A5 in Appendix A) compared to other zones. Among the control variables that positively influenced food security status in this zone are marital status, farm experience and membership density (Table 5). An increase in these variables by a unit enhanced the probability of the household being food secure. Here, the importance of farm experience, high membership density of social groups and married household heads being members of such groups are further affirmed as strategies for ensuring food security. Extension and training enhance farm experience. Thus, extension and training could improve on the hidden skills of the cassava farming households, which possibly, in turn, increased their expertise in farming activities that rendered them more food secure.Meanwhile, household size, years of education and meeting attendance significantly affected food security status negatively. An indication that increases in these variables reduced the probability of the households being food secure. In other words, high frequency of meeting attendance and proliferations affected household resources, because more people consumed from the same resources, hence, the household members may have less food to go around when compared with smaller household size. This suggests that attendance at meetings should be limited to the most important and crucial issues. The result seems to suggest that an increase in years of education reduced the possibility of being food secure. This seems to be a counter-intuitive but long period of education and education expenditure that lead to insufficient attention and resources to the farming activities could also be detrimental.Here again, we encourage full attention to the farming activities, as well as access to extension services and training, which are correlates of education. In the south-east zone of Nigeria, none of the control variables had any significant effect on the food security status of the cassava farmers (Table A5 in Appendix A).On the other hand, in the south-south zone, social capital had no significant relationship with household-level food security (Table A5 in Appendix A). This is an indication that the social interaction of cassava farming households in the zone had no significant contribution to their food security status. Nonetheless, household size influenced the food security status negatively and marginally by 0.025, meaning that a unit increase in household size will reduce the probability of the household being food secure by a 2.5%.Lastly, in south-west zone, none of the control variables affected the food security status of the household (Table A5 in Appendix A). Nevertheless, a social capital variable that is, cash contribution positively influenced household food security. Cash contribution significantly affected household food security (at 5% level of significance) and with a margin of 0.045. This indicated that a unit increase in cash contribution increased the probability of food security by 4.5%. This is expected because financial commitment to a group is expected to yield benefits which consequently affect household food security status.Generally, the trend of effects of the control and social capital dimension variables on food security in this study agrees with results from some previous studies, e.g., Ahmed et al. [85], Achida et al. [89], Adepoju [90], Lutomia et al. [91]. These studies either analyzed the separate effects of some control variables or their joint (with social capital dimensions) effects on food security or welfare. However, according to Haddad et al. [92] and Antoni [93], as Achida et al. [89] pointed out, it is not always that social capital produces a significant positive outcome on household's welfare or food security. Therefore, apart from the significant and indicative variables in our study, most of the other control and social capital dimension variables are of utmost policy relevance that should be taken into account in the design of agriculture development or policy interventions in the various zones.This study has presented an analysis of the influence of social networking on the food security status of cassava farming households in Nigeria using various social-science tools, techniques, and indices (composite score, ordered and fractional probit, food security index, and logit model). The findings revealed that an average cassava farming household in Nigeria belong to about two social groups. The south-west zone recorded full participation for all the categories of socio-economic factors considered in the selected social capital dimensions. Whereas, the cassava farming households from the south-west zone made the highest average contributions in the group, the contributions were still below those made by fish farmers, as shown in other studies. Also, households with tertiary education made the least cash contribution.Majority of the cassava farmers derived intermediate benefit from participating in social groups. Membership density, decision making, and age of farmers directly influenced the benefit received. However, educational level and labor contribution negatively affected the level of benefit. The study further revealed that 41% of the households in the study area were food secure. The household food security increased with an increase in membership density, that is, group participation, cash contribution and being married. Food insecurity increases with an increase in labor contribution.The following conclusions and recommendations are made:(1) Participation in social groups will depend much on the perception that household members have about the quantum and quality of the benefits they can derive from participating in such social groups. This also depends on the set up of the social groups and the environment where they operate. Cassava farming households are reasonably committed to social group activities, regularity at meetings and interaction among members and between groups or association were reasonable. Thus, agriculture or cassava development agender should devise mechanisms for improving the quantity and quality of benefits that members of cooperative or farmers' associations derive from their associations. (2) Increase in membership density and participation in decision making, which also favor high derivable benefits have important implications. One is that apart from the high benefits that members will derive, decisions, opinions and contributions in cash and in-kind will be optimal, and this further enrich the expected outcomes and benefits from the social groups. Secondly and on labor contribution, the cost of achieving goals and objectives and deriving more high benefits will be reduced in as much as it is the members themselves that are supplying the manual labor needs of the group for any of such work requiring it. More membership that will generate further labor to achieve additional goals and objectives and in essence, derive more benefits is therefore encouraged. (3) Our results indicated that cassava farming households with married household heads are more likely to be food secured relative to their counterparts. This possibly because married household heads may tend to strive harder to keep the household members make collective efforts into farming activities that may result in increased food security for all the members. Thus, we recommend that agriculture development programs should prioritize involving married household heads even when there is a priority on women, youth and the vulnerable. (4) The results further affirm the importance of farm experience, high membership density of social groups and married household heads being members of social groups as important policy elements for ensuring food security of farming household. In addition, extension and training could improve on the hidden skills of the farming households, which possibly, in turn, increase their expertise in farming activities that may render them more food secure. (5) Our study revealed that high frequency of meeting attendance affected household resources, especially for large household size compared with smaller household size. This suggests that attendance at meetings should be limited to the most important and crucial issues.(6) The influence of control variables, such as marital status, farm experience, membership density, as well as household size, years of education, meeting attendance in the social group and others on the food security status of cassava farming households are region-specific and are according to the situation of each region. Hence, most of the control and social capital dimension variables are of utmost policy relevance that should be taken into account in the design of agriculture development, food security or policy interventions depending on the peculiar situation of each region in Nigeria.To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the influence of social networking (and socio-demographic control variables) on food security among cassava farming households in Nigeria using some reliable analytical approach. The approach, however robust it may be, many to be exhaustive. Our method could be replicated in future studies by using other extrapolative methods to provide new exciting evidence of the influence of social networking on food security of value chain actors of agriculture commodities. We propose future studies to explore more dimensions of social capital and indices, such as bonding, bridging, household calorie acquisition, and others.  [72], and Adepoju and Olawuyi [25] Food Security Food Security Index Definition: Food security index (FSI) which differentiates households into their food security status (food secure or food insecure) using their level of food expenditure. How selected/calculated: 1. Direct questionnaire elicitation (See Appendix B-Table A9); 2. Calculated as the Per capita food expenditure of the i th household divided by two-third of the mean per capita food expenditure of all the households. Previous Studies: Omonona and Agoi [15], and Adepoju and Olawuyi [25].Expected Sign on (Food Security)Membership density (Coefficient/index) Definition: This is the average number of active memberships in association per household as calculated. How selected/calculated: 1. Direct questionnaire elicitation (See Appendix B-Table A7); 2. The coefficient/index was calculated as the average number of active memberships in association per household. This is expected to be positively related to both benefits received through social capital acquisition, as well as household welfare. Previous Studies: Aker [24].Positive (+ve)  A8); 2. The score for this was derived/obtained through daily interaction which was scored 100%, while weekly, monthly, every six months and annual meetings were scored 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20%, respectively. Frequency of interaction was used as a proxy for meeting attendance, and it is therefore expected to be positively related to benefit received from the social group, Previous Studies: Maluccio et al. [81], and Aker [24].Positive (+ve)Labor contribution (Coefficient/index) Definition This is the number of days that household members asserted to have worked for their various groups. How selected/calculated: 1. Direct questionnaire elicitation (See Appendix B-Table A7); 2. It was calculated as the total number of days worked by household members or the number of days worked per month as membership contribution. The coefficient is ambiguous as it was reported to be positive in some studies, while in others it is negative. Previous Studies: Yusuf [46]; Okunmadewa et al. [47],(positive); Grootaert [42] (negative).Positive (+ve)/Negative (−ve) Positive (+ve)Definition: A variable representing the perceived level of respondents' involvement in disseminating information within their various groups. How selected/calculated: 1. Direct questionnaire elicitation (See Appendix B-Table A8); 2. This is estimated as follows: Very strong perception of sharing information within a group was scored 100%, another level of perception such as very weak, weak, moderate and strong scored 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, respectively. According to previous studies, the expected sign is positive.Previous Studies: Grootaert [80], Yusuf [46] Definition: A variable/index representing the amount paid as membership due per annum in an association. How selected/calculated: 1. Direct questionnaire elicitation (See Appendix B-Table A7); 2. This (index) was obtained by the summation of the total cash contributed to the various associations which the household belongs. Cash contribution can also reveal respondents' commitment to the group. The coefficient, as noted by Grootaert et al. [43] is therefore expected to be positive. Previous Studies: Grootaert et al. [43] Positive (+ve)Positive (+ve)   ","tokenCount":"11134"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6894398065.json b/data/part_1/6894398065.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dd9f1f92fd5da559c8d3d8463d50e242e77454e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6894398065.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9bf5cb89d3c925a838d6b142b40b124","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a48235ef-0b07-42a2-a2a3-560a17653583/retrieve","id":"101525736"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"38f8a603-d3ee-48d9-abe4-a094a1e2891d","pagecount":"2","content":"Honduras permite responder preguntas tales como: ¿cuál es la cantidad de agua disponible a nivel mensual por microcuenca?, ¿cuáles son las demandas de agua por sector económico y actividad en una microcuenca?, ¿cuándo y de qué magnitud son los déficits y excesos hídricos por sector y época del año?, ¿cuáles son los efectos del cambio climático en el balance hídrico?, entre otras.6 Está disponible en la web, es de fácil acceso y solo algunas aplicaciones requieren un proceso de registro. Es utilizada por instituciones del gobierno a nivel local y nacional, ONG, mancomunidades, Unidades Municipales Ambientales, Juntas de Agua y Regantes, cooperantes, academia, entre otros.2 Es la primera en su clase que ofrece gratuitamente información obtenida de análisis hidrológicos y los combina con información de escenarios sobre clima presente y futuro, coberturas vegetales y demanda de agua para facilitar la toma de decisiones sobre el manejo del recurso hídrico a diferentes niveles de planificación hídrica.7 La plataforma ha jugado un rol muy importante en la implementación de algunas leyes nacionales como la Ley General de Agua, el Plan de Nación y Visión de País y el Plan de Agua, Bosques y Suelos. Es por esto que la Secretaría de Energía, Recursos Naturales, Ambiente y Minas (MiAmbiente+) ha adoptado esta plataforma como uno de sus sistemas principales para la gestión y gobernanza del recurso hídrico en el país.3 Es una iniciativa de innovación que ofrece información confiable sobre 6.845 microcuencas, 133 subcuencas y 25 cuencas del país. Estas delimitaciones hidrográficas fueron generadas y aprobadas oficialmente para el país en el 2018 a través de la implementación de la plataforma.8 Un componente clave de la plataforma es AGRI (AGua para RIego), una herramienta que identifica fuentes de agua superficial y mapea las mejores rutas de conducción para abastecer sistemas de riego a pequeña escala o acueductos rurales. Originalmente fue diseñada en software comercial gracias al apoyo de la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID/Honduras), y ahora, gracias al apoyo técnico de la Organización para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO), esta herramienta galardonada se encuentra disponible como una plataforma de código abierto.4 Cuenta con una base de datos históricos de clima de al menos 20 años recopilados a partir de las diferentes fuentes de información oficiales existentes en el país. Agua de Honduras contiene los escenarios climáticos futuros para 16 regiones de desarrollo del país, así como también a nivel de microcuenca. 9 Esta plataforma gubernamental fue desarrollada por la Alianza de Bioversity International y el CIAT y ha contado con el apoyo conceptual y financiero de la USAID en Honduras, COSUDE y otras agencias de cooperación con un presupuesto aproximado de USD 1,5 millones.5 Ha sido utilizada por organizaciones locales y gobiernos municipales, responsables de la gestión de microcuencas, para comprar terrenos con enfoque de conservación como estrategia para mejorar la disponibilidad de agua en sistemas de agua potable. ","tokenCount":"482"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6896905422.json b/data/part_1/6896905422.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..16a93712dc044bef8f367b1343b7f66680bedf80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6896905422.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"94e24fbdca0e16998115fe4af230818b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0e072169-3bc0-4e5f-9466-37d3a3eaa595/retrieve","id":"-1484360891"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c6b8a6ab-6129-4acc-9eea-b326739029d0","pagecount":"1","content":"access to important services, such as input supplies, veterinary services and artificial insemination. Those services have further suffered from reduced public support since the early 1990s. SDP research shows that these market factors have a larger impact on successful dairy production than access to land and fodder resource, for example. Upgrading infrastructure and services may thus benefit dairy livelihoods more than focusing attention on reducing imports of milk powder.The practice of milk consumption in Kenya, mostly in tea, is very strong. SDP research on milk demand has found that Kenyan households in the highlands treat milk like a staple, rather than the luxury good it is regarded in other developing countries. On average, Kenyans drink 80-125 kgs of milk a year (depending on location) while in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, including Uganda and Tanzania, people drink less than 25 kgs a year. Households in Nairobi and Nakuru spend an average of 18% of all food expenditure on milk and dairy products, second only to what they spend on grains such as maize (27%).All Kenyan households, even the very poorest, buy milk. Even households earning less than US$1 a day typically consume at least half a litre of milk daily. The poorest households in Ethiopia, in contrast, buy no milk or dairy products. Even when the retail price of unpasteurised 'raw' milk rises, or family income falls, Kenyan households do not change significantly the amount of raw milk they buy [based on SDP estimates of price elasticity for raw milk among the poorest households in Nairobi and Nakuru of only 0.12, and the income (expenditure) elasticity for raw milk among all households in the same cities of only 0.13.]The picture is quite different for pasteurised, packaged milk. SDP research shows that poor households outside Nairobi, which already buy little pasteurised milk, would significantly reduce their pasteurised milk purchases if either the price rose or their incomes fell [price elasticity for pasteurised milk is 0.70; income (expenditure) elasticity for pasteurised milk 0.50]. Interestingly, most households report that they regard raw milk as better than pasteurised milk in both taste and quality. Households have increased their purchases of raw milk significantly over the last 10 years, while also increasing their purchases of pasteurised milk, both at the expense of UHT milk and milk powder, whose consumption in the country has declined dramatically. The latter may be related to the problems with Kenya Cooperative Creameries, which had made UHT milk and milk powder widely available until the mid-1990s, possibly at unrealistically low prices.Overall, there is strong and relatively priceand income-resistant demand for raw milk in Kenya, which is 25% and 50% cheaper than pasteurised milk in urban Nairobi and urban Nakuru, respectively. Pasteurised milk is likely to increase its market share significantly only when household incomes rise, which will be dependent on real growth in the Kenyan economy.Studies by the SDP were some of the first to estimate the large and important role of informal raw milk markets in Kenya, estimated to comprise 85% of all milk marketed in the country. Probably less than 15% of marketed milk gets pasteurised or processed into other dairy products. The reasons for this bias towards raw milk are outlined above: poor households are generally not willing to pay the higher price for pasteurised milk, which is also generally less preferable.The studies show that the raw milk market operates through different channels to pasteurised milk and by a variety of traders with different scales of operation. Most raw milk is not handled by traders at all. More than 50% of all milk marketed in Kenya is delivered directly by farmers to house-holds and restaurants. As a result, small traders handle only some 25-30% of the overall milk market. Some traders are licensed, some unlicensed. Most operate from fixed premises (milk bars), while some operate as small-scale mobile traders (including 'hawkers').Given this predominance of raw milk sales, a key area of research for SDP and its partners was to quantify the public health risks associated with different marketing channels. Milk samples were taken from a wide variety of market agents in Central Kenya and tested for adulteration and for bacterial load, including pathogenic coliform bacteria, brucellosis antigens and contamination by antibiotics. Adulteration was found to vary by season, with higher levels (up to 27% of samples) in the dry season and lower levels (as low as 4% of samples) in the wet season. Bacterial counts were found to be high in all market channels, except in rural areas where fresh milk is delivered directly from farmer to consumer.A significant finding was that raw milk quality differed little between licensed and unlicensed traders and retailers. Some of the poorest-quality milk was found among largerscale traders who transport milk long distances from rural to urban areas. The lack of association between licensing and milk quality may raise questions about current policies and requirements regarding licensing.All urban households and nearly all rural households reported boiling milk before consuming it. Those rural households that did not boil milk (4%) soured the milk before consuming it. The practice of boiling milk, whether pasteurised or not, reduces health risks significantly, as all milk-borne potential disease-causing micro-organisms are destroyed by boiling.With other partners in the dairy industry, SDP is working to improve the performance of small-scale market agents in delivering highquality and safe milk through training, development of appropriate milk-containers and milk testing. Improving the performance of smallscale milk market agents through these activities will help bridge the quality and entrepreneurial gap that such traders must cross in order to be eventually incorporated into the formal milk market.Significant numbers of jobs are created in the smallholder dairy sector, both on farms and in milk collection, transportation, processing and sale. SDP research shows that raw milk trading creates up to two full-time jobs for every 100 litres of milk handled on a daily basis, with monthly wages averaging Ksh 5,000. This figure is higher than that of the official minimum wage and the typical rate given to low-skilled labourers.Research is now analysing employment generation in the formal processed milk market. As in other sectors, employment generation relies predominantly on micro-and small enterprise development, including informal markets. Enhancing dairy employment thus appears to be in line with the current national policy for employment-led economic recovery that includes engaging informal sectors and small enterprises.Milk is an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals critical for child development. On-going research in Kenya is confirming that consumption of milk by malnourished children enhances their physical and mental development. SDP is collaborating with others to look at how dairy cow ownership benefits child nutrition. Cattle-keeping households both at the Kenya coast and in the central highlands were found to have significantly fewer children exhibiting stunting (a height-against-age indicator of long-term under-nutrition) than those households without cattle, after controlling for income and other factors.These nutritional benefits are also provided to the urban households that buy and consume milk, whether raw and boiled, or pasteurised. The price elasticity results above suggest that if relatively high-cost pasteurised milk is the only milk made available to poor households, those households will consume less milk with potentially negative nutritional consequences for their children.Given enabling policies and well-functioning institutions, Kenya's successful and large dairy sub-sector will continue to grow and help drive the economic recovery of this country. Through this wide-ranging and high-quality research, the Smallholder Dairy Project is providing reliable information to support dairy smallholders, consumers, planners and the dairy industry as a whole. More information and reports of SDP research are available through the contact details given.• Any views expressed by SDP are not necessarily those of DFID or the UK or Kenya Governments. Napier grass head smut disease threatens industry S mallholder dairy farmers in Kenya produce more than 80% of all the milk marketed in the country, mainly on family farms keeping one or two cows. Most of these farmers practice 'zero-grazing' by growing a high-yielding fodder crop that they cut and carry to feed their cows confined in stalls.Napier grass is the fodder crop of choice for Kenyan smallholders. It provides more than half the amount of feed required on some 300,000 smallholder dairy farms. In Kiambu, smallholder farmers grow Napier on an average 15% of their arable land, a proportion equal to that under maize in the same district.In the last few years, Napier grass in Kenya has been attacked by a fungal disease called 'head smut', which is caused by Ustilago kameruniesis. This disease drastically reduces the amount of biomass a Napier crop yields. The low milk yields, high calf mortality and long calving intervals that are problems in Kenyan dairy are predominantly due to insufficient good-quality feed. Napier grass head smut has worsened this problem, especially in central and eastern Kenya.The disease was initially noticed in Lari Division of Kiambu District. Since then, it has spread to most districts in central and eastern Kenya. In Githunguri, Gatundu, Kikuyu, Limuru, Kamwangi, Kiambaa, Ndia, Mukurwe-ini and Kangema divisions, the disease has reduced Napier grass yields by up to 90%. The smut appears to be spreading, with cases reported in Molo and Bahati, in the Rift Valley.Naomi Njeri Kibunja, a small-scale dairy farmer keeping three dairy cows on a two-acre farm in Gakoe, Gatunda, Thika, says head smut disease is a serious problem in her area. \"If we don't get a solution soon, dairy production in this area will collapse because we have no alternative feed for our cows. The effort being made by our research officers is the only hope we have.\"When the disease was first reported, scientists at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), as well as farmer groups themselves, screened many varieties of Napier grass for resistance to smut. Two resistant varieties, 'Kakamega 1' and 'Kakamega 2', were identified. After evaluation on research stations and farmer fields, Kakamega 1 was bulked at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Muguga, and distributed to some 10,000 farmers, many of whom hired vehicles to collect the planting material from Muguga.To reduce these transportation costs of the farmers, KARI and the Smallholder Dairy Project (SDP) are encouraging farmer groups to start bulking sites. Other groups involved in this include the focal area development committees of the National Agricultural and Livestock Extension Programme (NAL-EP) and parent-teachers associations (PTAs).The Gakoe Primary School PTA, in Kamwangi Division, Thika, has been particularly successful at this. This PTA voted money to start a bulking site in the school, which serves an area of 12 sq km. In just four seasons, the school has supplied about 15,000 planting canes, mainly to its 360 PTA members. Plans are under way to start selling the smutresistant Napier planting material to farmers outside this PTA. The SDP team is encouraging other school committees and farmer groups to start their own bulking sites.SDP is also planning to screen more varieties of Napier for resistance to the head smut disease. They will collect varieties from Kenyan farms, from ILRI's forage genebank in Ethiopia, and from the East Africa region as a whole. The material will be inoculated with fungal spores and observed for development of head smut disease. Because this procedure takes 4-5 months, the researchers are now considering employing molecular techniques to select varieties of Napier resistant to head smut. ","tokenCount":"1877"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6898744464.json b/data/part_1/6898744464.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..87bfeae895007b4546ee069c63e50afa2dcaa8d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6898744464.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9f735702c11191f937199e30ab97ffb0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cef1e6b8-a172-49f9-9182-6c6e4da6957b/retrieve","id":"2105090568"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a4c1baa3-ed1e-46c9-bc4f-8d31fed7a33b","pagecount":"32","content":"Es una solución líquida o gelatinosa que contiene los nutrientes necesarios para permitir, en condiciones favorables de pH, temperatura y fotoperiodo, el crecimiento de tejidos vegetales y pequeñas plantas. Medio MS (Murashige & Skoog, 1962) Medio B5 (Gamborg et al., 1968) Medio White (White,1943) -Funciona bien con miles de species -Medio de cultivo más utilizado Disolver 4.43 g de sales MS comerciales con vitaminas (CAISSON) en aprox. 600 mL de agua destilada-desionizada.Agregar 25 g de sacarosa. Remover hasta el azúcar se ha disuelto completamente.Enrasar a un volume de 1000 mL con agua destilada-desionizada.Ajustar el pH con HCl (1N) y NaOH (1N) a 5.60±0.02.Agregar 3.0 g de Phytagel (SIGMA) y calentar en microonda por 10 minutos. Después de 7 minutos hacer una pausa y remover el medio.Dispensar 9 mL de medio de cultivo por tubo de ensayo de 25x150 mm. Tapar tubos. Autoclavar por 20 minutos a 121 °C (15 psi).Dejar enfriar el medio de cultivo. Conservar bajo refrigeración a 5±3 °C por un periodo máximo de 2 semanasEn el caso de magentas:1. Limpiar magentas y tapas interna-y externamente con papel toalla antibacteriano, humedecido con alcohol (70%). 2. Autoclavar magentas tapadas (vacías) por 20 minutos a 121 °C (15 psi). 3. Preparar medio de cultivo y dispensar en botellas autoclavables (de 1 ó 2 litros). 4. Autoclavar medio de cultivo por 20 minutos a 121 °C (15 psi). Durante el proceso de autoclavado, la tapa de la botella colocar encima de la abertura, sin cerrar la tapa (para permitir el escape de vapor durante el autoclavado, de lo contrario podría explotar la botella). 5. Cuándo ha terminado el proceso de autoclavado cerrar la tapa de la botella dentro de la autoclave (usando guantes protectoras y protector facial) 6. Transferir botella hacia la cámara de flujo laminar y dejar enfriar el medio de cultivo a una temperatura de aprox 35-40 °C. 7. Dispensar 45-50 mL de medio de cultivo por magenta. Tapar magentas. 8. Conservar bajo refrigeración a 5±3 °C por un periodo máximo de 2 semanasOtros tipos de / medios de cultivo que utilizamos (en trabajos de investigación) Medio líquido en agitación (80 rpm)Envases con filtros HEPA que permiten variables tasas de intercambio gaseoso (Microbox de SacO2)Algunos otros compuestos que pueden formar parte de los medios de cultivo:1. Reguladores de crecimiento (Fitohormonas)• Citoquininas• Giberelinas Reduce oxidación en los explantes Crecimiento lento  forma parte del medio de cultivo de conservación in vitro del CIP (se puede mantener las plantas por 2 a 4 años en el mismo tubo de ensayo).Fuente: Roca W and Mroginski L (1991). Cultivo de Teijdos en la Agricultura. Fundamentos y Aplicaciones. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). 969 p.   Condiciones ambientales para la incubación (papa): Inicio: ","tokenCount":"449"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6908719877.json b/data/part_1/6908719877.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df9386a90576d55d31e2a49f9e07355510063cdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6908719877.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac3e38e895936ddaf6fbb028eb90a4d2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1d48c034-187e-42d1-a7d8-eeb52e0cfd97/retrieve","id":"-486252391"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e9adf322-3036-43a0-95a1-5bda393cef00","pagecount":"21","content":"This week, policymakers are convening in Naivasha for the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) conference organised by Kenya's Agriculture and Environment ministries and the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) This is our chance to start developing a more definitive climate change adaptation plan for Kenyan agriculture.Scientists have developed four different scenarios, or \"climate models,\" each revealing different outcomes for food production between now and 2050. One shows areas of the Rift Valley and coastal provinces becoming too hot or too dry to support maize cultivation. Another model indicates maize yields could increase in all areas where it is currently grown. What is really interesting is that all the models show that farmers will likely be able to grow maize in a few parts of Kenya that in the past have been too dry or too cool to support the crop. They also indicate that in the near future, wheat yields will fall in fields cultivated on the slopes of Mounts Kenya and Elgon, but increase in areas near Nakuru.\"You prepare for all outcomes\", said Thomas.Already, some countries have made commendable progress in terms of national adaptation planning processes. During GLF, a session organized by CCAFSbrought together representatives from 10 countries to share experiences from their National Adaptation Planning processes. And already, a lot of progress has been made at farm level, with many successful adaptation strategies identified. According to experts, farmers should start by taking up simple technologies such as water harvesting; crop rotation to take care of pests as well as soil fertility; growing improved crop varieties; and agroforestry, among others. They can also adopt new crop varieties developed through research.Of course these two-levels need a bridge. And this is where programs like CCAFS' Climate Smart Villages come in, places where \"CCAFS is working with stakeholders in to define the vision of communities vis-a-vis Climate Change,\" noted Robert Zougmore, CCAFS West Africa Program Leader, also speaking at the session.Climate Smart Villages are sites where researchers, development partners, and farmers come together to test climate-smart agricultural interventions. The aim is to boost farmers' ability to adapt to climate change, manage risks and build resilience. At the same time, the hope is also to improve livelihoods and incomes and, where possible, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ensure solutions are sustainable.The other thing to-do when the models don't agree is to combine data from scenario models with research on the ground, by talking to farmers about what will drive change and what will prevent it. Another task which CCAFS is currently undertaking in the Climate Smart Villages.From the start, the Climate Change in Africa books have been a collaboration: between regional research organizations, and also between researchers, farmers and policy makers. We hope that, through partnerships like these, the good and the bad might balance each other out after all. With an estimated 70 percent of the world's poor reliant upon agriculture as their primary source of livelihood and sustenance, relevant and actionable climate information and advisory services are crucial to reducing the risks of climate variability.The use of intermediaries -individuals trained in communication of climate services and provision of recommendations on how the information can be applied has been identified as an efficient way of achieving this.Recognising the important ek, policymakers are convening in Naivasha for the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) conference organised by Kenya's Agriculture and Environment ministries and the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agricul-Food Security (CCAFS) This is our chance to start developing a more definitive climate change adaptation plan for Kenyan agriculture.Scientists have developed four different scenarios, or \"climate models,\" each revealing different es for food production between now and 2050. One shows areas of the Rift Valley and coastal provinces becoming too hot or too dry to support maize cultivation. Another model indicates maize yields could increase in all areas where rently grown. What is really interesting is that all the models show that farmers will likely be able to grow maize in a few parts of Kenya that in the past have been too dry or too cool to support the crop. They also indicate that in the ure, wheat yields will fall in fields cultivated on the slopes of Mounts Kenya and Elgon, but increase in areas near Nakuru.\"You prepare for all outcomes\", said Thomas.Already, some countries have made commendable progress in f national adaptation planning processes. During GLF, a session organized by CCAFSbrought together representatives from 10 countries to share experiences from their National Adaptation Planning processes. And already, a lot of s has been made at farm level, with many successful adaptation strategies identified. According to experts, farmers should start by taking up simple technologies such as water harvesting; crop rotation to take care of pests as well as ility; growing improved crop varieties; and agroforestry, among others. They can also adopt new crop varieties developed through research.Of course these two-levels need a bridge. And this is where programs like CCAFS' Climate illages come in, places where \"CCAFS is working with stakeholders in to define the vision of communities vis-a-vis Climate Change,\" noted Robert Zougmore, CCAFS West Africa Program Leader, also speaking at the session. Smart Villages are sites where researchers, development partners, and farmers come together to test climate-smart agricultural interventions. The aim is to boost farmers' ability to adapt to climate change, manage risks and build ce. At the same time, the hope is also to improve livelihoods and incomes and, where possible, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ensure solutions are sustainable.The other thing to-do when the models don't agree is to combine data enario models with research on the ground, by talking to farmers about what will drive change and what will prevent it. Another task which CCAFS is currently undertaking in the Climate Smart Villages.From the start, the Climate in Africa books have been a collaboration: between regional research organizations, and also between researchers, farmers and policy makers. We hope that, through partnerships like these, the good and the bad might balance each his week, policymakers are convening in Naivasha for the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) conference organised by Kenya's Agriculture and Environment ministries and the GIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) This is our chance to start developing a more definitive climate change adaptation plan or Kenyan agriculture.Scientists have developed four different scenarios, or \"climate models,\" each revealing different outcomes for food production between now and 2050. One hows areas of the Rift Valley and coastal provinces becoming too hot or too dry to support maize cultivation. Another model indicates maize yields could increase in all areas where t is currently grown. What is really interesting is that all the models show that farmers will likely be able to grow maize in a few parts of Kenya that in the past have been too dry r too cool to support the crop. They also indicate that in the near future, wheat yields will fall in fields cultivated on the slopes of Mounts Kenya and Elgon, but increase in areas ear Nakuru.\"You prepare for all outcomes\", said Thomas.Already, some countries have made commendable progress in terms of national adaptation planning processes. During LF, a session organized by CCAFSbrought together representatives from 10 countries to share experiences from their National Adaptation Planning processes. And already, a lot f progress has been made at farm level, with many successful adaptation strategies identified. According to experts, farmers should start by taking up simple technologies such as ater harvesting; crop rotation to take care of pests as well as soil fertility; growing improved crop varieties; and agroforestry, among others. They can also adopt new crop varieties eveloped through research.Of course these two-levels need a bridge. And this is where programs like CCAFS' Climate Smart Villages come in, places where \"CCAFS is working ith stakeholders in to define the vision of communities vis-a-vis Climate Change,\" noted Robert Zougmore, CCAFS West Africa Program Leader, also speaking at the session. Climate-smart agriculture success stories from farming com-","tokenCount":"1333"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6919607971.json b/data/part_1/6919607971.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..389d477174ad16b9e539d9d4e0665cf6ebb69a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6919607971.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34f872dc52ff9b7fdd7e8df9af7eeec1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2ee2dfa2-ff46-4d47-a3d3-35bdf530315d/retrieve","id":"1696428223"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e089f760-d341-4506-82fe-e8ef2d28b392","pagecount":"13","content":"Food-borne disease is an important public health and economic problem but in D.C. (Côte d'Ivoire), it is difficult to obtain accurate estimates of the incidence (WHO, 2002).Milk & milk products contain L. monocytogenes, E. coli , Salmonella, S. aureus (Johnson et al., 1990).The local dairy production chain is totally informal (Abidjan) and producers & vendors contribute to dissemination and multiplication of pathogens.Some consumers believe that raw milk products are better quality than pasteurized dairy products (cultural, food, taste & economic reasons)=> zoonoses (Hegarty et al., 2002;Desenclos et al., 1996, Headrick et al., 1997) Risk to human health linked to unpasteurized milk ingestion should not be underestimated.   ,2000).Components of risk analysis (Codex Alimentarius , 2007)   Risk of gastroenteritis -12.8% of consumers have been ill after raw milk consumption.-268 of milk consumers could contract a gastroenteritis per day (Abidjan).-The occurrence of gastroenteritis was significantly related to milk processing (not heated or fermented) (P <0.05) RR= 2.81 The milk taken from cow's udder is good quality, but this quality alters quickly when samples are mixed for selling. This milk contains different species of pathogens to be taken into account globally in risk analysis process. Fermentation using Bifidobacteria isolated from dairy production chain in Abidjan (Kouamé-Sina et al., 2011), is a good way to reduce initial bacterial load of milk.That which must be coupled with measures adequate hygiene related to cleanliness of animals and their environment as well as sanitation of the milking process (milker's hands, milking utensils).","tokenCount":"245"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6926852130.json b/data/part_1/6926852130.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f69078da4342c9f193ae7bd35e8a4492a71a2835
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6926852130.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a0f572feb1b4c9090ff587c105f541cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H045351.pdf","id":"-1747691914"},"keywords":["Clay","compost","fecal sludge","irradiation","pellets","starch"],"sieverID":"b212e886-deb0-4fe0-94af-e876d9aab80f","pagecount":"5","content":"This paper describes the pelletization process of fecal sludge-based fertilizers. The equipment used for the process was fabricated locally in Ghana. Each fertilizer product was individually used for the production of cylindrical pellets. From the current study, the binding material type (cassava starch, either pregelatinized or pretreated by gamma irradiation, or kaolin clay) and concentration (0 to 10 % in mass) as well as moisture content (20-47%) appeared to be the most critical factors during pellets production. It was noticed that the higher the binder concentration, the higher the stability of pellets. This study confirmed that cassava starch is a preferred binding material and that fixing its concentration at 1-3 % could be enough during the pelletization process. The pellets produced in this project had 7.5 to 7.7 mm in diameter, but their length distribution varied depending on the material used.In Ghana, as in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), human excreta from on-site sanitation systems are dumped in the environment without any appropriate treatment (TTZ 2012). In Accra, for example, > 90% of all collected excreta are directly discharged into the ocean. On the other hand, farmers are keen to use the nutrient-rich product resulting in informal sludge markets which are also common in India and other developing countries (Cofie and Adamtey 2009).While this practice fits some farming systems, it does not fit others and can in addition pose health threats. A solution to address both challenges is to sanitize the sludge and to sell it as dried and pathogen free organo-fertilizer. Initial market studies in Ghana revealed that there is a significant potential for such product (Ankrah and Sarpong 2012). To match the fertilizing requirements, which varied between farming systems, a solution was sought to influence the nutrient value of the final product and to support easier handling/transportation options. The IWMI project team responded to this need by exploring enrichment of fecal compost. Moreover, for SSA soils which have low water holding capacity and are subject to high seasonal torrential rain, leaching of nutrients following application of composts is often observed. High ambient temperatures also cause volatilization of mineral nitrogenous fertilizer and fast degradation of soil organic matter. Above all is the bulkiness of compost which makes it difficult for farmers to store and transport (Adeoye 2012). Some 15 years ago, researchers from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) introduced the idea of pelletization to address some of the previously mentioned issues for market waste compost. Doing so, they realized that a binding agent was to be added and they tested various materials such as clays (kaolin and bentonite) and pregelatinized cornstarch at concentrations of 2.5, 10 and 15 %. The pellets they produced had a diameter of 13 mm for a length of 25 mm. Parameters they studied included effects of type and concentration of binder on pellets' mechanical properties such as durability/friability, axial elastic recovery, brittle fracture index, crushing strength, etc. For most parameters, cornstarch used at a concentration of 15 % revealed to be the best additive.The present research is built on the experience gained from Nigeria and aims at optimizing the pelletization of fecal-sludge based materials.Organic materials included 1) raw dewatered fecal sludge (DFS) sanitized through Gamma radiation (I-DFS); 2) DFS compost (C-DFS); 3) DFS + sawdust (mass ratio: 1/3) co-compost (C-SDFS); 4) compost enriched with ammonium sulfate (EC-DFS). They were individually used for the production of cylindrical pellets (die hole diameter: 8 mm). Two binders, that is cassava starch and kaolin clay, were used. Cassava starch was pretreated through irradiation or pregelatinization. Irradiation consisted of subjecting each material (starch or DFS) to 20 kGy of gamma rays for 2 days. The equipment used for irradiation is available at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of Ghana. On the other hand, pregelatization consisted of mixing cassava starch, dispersed in limited amount of water, with hot water (80˚C). The amounts of water and starch involved in this process varied depending on the purpose of the research. Tested concentrations of binders ranged between 0 and 10 % in mass while the moisture content varied between 20 and 47%. The equipment used for the pelletization was fabricated in Ghana using locally available materials (including pumps) and local expertise.Plate 1 presents different raw materials, the equipment used in the pellets production as well as typical pellets obtained in this study. After pelletization, pellets were dried and sieved using a grid having 5 mm in pore size. This allowed removal of fines from pellets. The amount of fine particles generated in the process can then be calculated as a percentage of the total feed, in mass. It serves as an indicator of the efficiency of the pelletizer as well as the appropriateness of its operating conditions. In a continuous process, these fine particles should be returned into the mixer (to be re-pelletized), which equivalently increases the volume of processed organic material, compared to the process inflow, this resulting in higher capital and operation costs.A shaking test was performed to assess how successful pellets could be in maintaining their shape following shaking at 300 motions/min for a duration of 2 hours. This was meant to simulate handling challenges (e.g. transportation) the pellets might undergo from production to usage. Therefore, 120 g of pellets were placed into transparent glass bottle (height = 12.7 cm; diameter: 7.0 cm) to half fill it and shook. Following this shaking, the percentage of particles having more than 5 mm in length was used as an indicator of the stability of pellets.From the study, the moisture content appeared to be a critical factor during pellets production. At moisture contents lower than the optimal value, it was visually noted that pellets coming out of the pelletizer were weak and easily break upon contact with the receiving container. Also, the pelletizer easily gets blocked with the feed material (due to its reduced fluidity) causing, at times, excessive heating of the pelletizer motor. On the other hand, at moisture content higher than the optimal value, formed pellets stuck together and excess water drained from the pelletizer.Suitable moisture levels varied with the nature of the pelletized material as well as with the binder type and concentration. Under similar conditions (i.e. same binder type and concentration), lowest water requirements were for EC-DFS (e.g. 21-25% with starch) and highest requirements for C-SDFS (e.g. 38-42% with starch). The use of clay resulted in the need for higher amounts of water, compared to the use of cassava starch. Finally, in any case, lower amounts of water were required for higher binder concentration. Optimal moisture content (%)Efficiency of pellets' production Fig 2 presents the percentage of fine (non-desired) particles, removed through sieving, obtained following variation in moisture content and irradiated starch concentration for a selected material (C-DFS). Overall, when starch was added (1-5%), the mass of marketable pellets corresponds to about 85-90% of the mass of material fed to the pelletizer. Fig 2 shows that the higher the binding material's concentration, the lower the levels of fines generated during the pelletization process. On the other hand, while moisture contents of 30.4 % and 33.3 % gave similar values, the lowest moisture level was detrimental (high levels of fines) especially when no binder was added during pelletization. Pretreatment method applied to the starch, as well as the type of pelletized material, had a marked effect on pellet length distribution. In terms of pellets' length, C-DFS < I-DFS < EC-DFS. However, there was not much difference in the diameter of the various pellets (7.5 mm to 7.7 mm) because of the pelletizer uniform die hole (size: 8 mm). The little variation is the result of the contraction of the pellet which occurred as a result of drying.For all materials, pellets produced with starch (1-5%) under suitable moisture content were proven to be of good stability, i.e. 90-95 % of the initial pellets' mass still being more than 5 mm of length after the shaking test. Higher binding material's concentrations led to higher stability.Various operating parameters are of significance for production of fecal sludge-based pellets. But most of them revolved around the binder type and concentration. Based on this study, it is possible to conclude that a starch concentration of 1-3 % could be enough during the pelletization process. This is significantly below the 15 % of pregelatinized cornstarch, recommended from anterior experiments in Nigeria for organic waste compost pelletization (particle diameter: 13 mm, length: 25 mm) (Adeoye 2012). This study confirms that it is possible to produce excreta based pellets in small and medium size enterprises with local machinery. Ongoing studies include testing of the produced pellets in a greenhouse to confirm their suitability for different soil types and crops. Recommendations would then be made for the production of fecal sludge pellets by entrepreneurs.","tokenCount":"1457"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6935282142.json b/data/part_1/6935282142.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1c846d5836ebc1fbb9e9f63ad2cc2eacc27801dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6935282142.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"679a1190033b46be0db40f9b9575166b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e46f35f1-554c-46fc-9e4d-09b4cfc02b76/retrieve","id":"-1026875003"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3870ef80-a16c-490c-a4c0-c486623c7950","pagecount":"28","content":"Ya m ar Mb od j, Ex ec ut ive Di re cto r of th e Ru ra l Hu b N°160 septembeR-octobeR 2012 the magazine for agricultural and rural development in aCP countriespeople living in harsh environments where alternative land use systems are difficult. In Africa, pastoralists occupy more than 40% of the land mass and contribute 10 -44% of the GDP of the countries where they live. They provide much of the milk and meat consumed in Africa -up to 90% of the meat consumed in East Africa comes from pastoral herds. Their overall contribution to cultural heritage, biodiversity and export earnings is substantial. However, pastoral communities face many challenges -growing population, climate change, lack of social and health services, marginalisation and conflict over land and water. On the positive side, the local and international demand for dairy and livestock products is increasing. Exploiting this opportunity requires improved market access, reducing livestock trade barriers and non-tariff barriers, enhancing market information systems and financing. Pastoralists could also earn more income from a range of conservation-related activities such as eco-tourism and sale of medicinal plants, gums and fruits. At the Brussels Briefing on Pastoralism which CTA organised with the African Union Commission in February 2012, experts highlighted policies that could improve the welfare of pastoralists. Policies should be designed to strengthen pastoral economies, for example by enabling pastoralists to gain better access to markets and add value to their produce. Greater efforts should be made to empower pastoralists and involve them in policy-making. Governments should increase their investments in essential services for pastoralists, such as education, infrastructure and information and communication technologies (ICTs).Director -CTA sePtember-oCtober 2012 | sPore 160 | I n rangelands near Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, an eco-conservancy scheme is rewarding pastoralists for sound land management. The model, which involves herders agreeing to allow free movement of wild animals on their land, is helping to protect grazing areas and enabling Maasai herders to diversify their income. Payment for Ecosystem Services is one of a range of initiatives being explored to support pastoralism, a time-honoured way of life that is facing massive challenges. Pastoralists living on Africa's rangelands are the environmental stewards of these vast resources, but many of them live on less than US$2 (€1.6) a day. Subject to climate variability, food insecurity, poor markets, animal diseases, under-investment and conflicts over natural resources, pastoralists are among the world's most vulnerable peoples.Pastoralism is practised in all of Africa's dryland regions. Just how many people are involved is open to debate, since accurate data are lacking. Estimates range from 20 million to 200 million, depending on the precise definition used. For the same reason, figures vary on pastoralists' contribution to the economy. But according to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa, pastoralism provides 90% of the meat consumed in East Africa.Pastoralism's mobile production strategies have been identified as a crucial instrument of adaptation to climate change. Research by the International Institute for Environment and Development shows that the nomadic cattle of West Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya produce more and better quality meat and generate more cash per hectare than modern Australian and American ranches. Yet, pastoralists are often mistakenly viewed as backward people, with some governments actively attempting to get them to give up their nomadic lifestyles.By constantly moving, nomadic herders have learned to exploit areas where no one else could survive. Indigenous communities prosper by harnessing the variable conditions of the drylands. \"Perceptions of their archaic life belie the fact that they have completely adapted to their environment,\" says Ugandan vet Pascal Pan Vuga, who has worked with the Karamojong, a tribe whose way of life has been changed due to a government decision to 'sedentarise' them. Like the Ugandan herders, many pastoralists are now reluctantly moving towards settled farming. But the transition is not always successful. \"Now I have to grow maize and vegetables,\" said Kenyan herder Orumoi Evans. \"But pastoralism is more secure than cultivating. You cannot rely on the weather for growing food, but we do know where to go to find pasture.\"While some governments have a hostile policy to pastoralism, others such as Mali, Mauritania and Niger are more supportive. But here too, herders face difficulties when other policies, such as those on land and water, fail to keep pace. Conflicts over these two key resources are increasing and there is an urgent need to acknowledge herders' rights to pastoral lands by granting themPastoralism makes a major contribution to food security and offers strategies for using harsh environments threatened by climate change. But many policies underestimate the potential of pastoralists, and some governments favour moves to make them sedentary.communal land ownership, as well as compensation when land is expropriated.Trends towards urbanisation, and the new demand for animal products that it brings, are opening up lucrative new markets for pastoralists. But tapping them requires organisation, communication and education, and a key issue is how to integrate pastoralists into modern value chains. Pastoral Field Schools offer an interactive learning approach, with groups of 30-40 pastoralists who meet regularly to explore difficulties and solutions. Other successful strategies, tested in Ethiopia and Kenya, include collective-action groups to improve literacy and numeracy, develop microfinance and provide micro-enterprise training.Offering these and other services to remote and scattered populations is a challenge, but ICTs can play an important role, from distance learning via radio, to market prices and banking services by mobile phone. Other useful ICT applications include geographic information systems and global positioning system devices to help track animal movements and support efforts to provide livestock insurance. A pilot insurance project launched in northern Kenya in 2010 has helped to address the gap in the insurance market and is now being rolled out in Ethiopia.Many experts support diversification, but it appears to work best when some degree of nomadic herding is included in the mix. Various marketbased incentives exist for sustainable pastoralism, including niche markets for pastoral products, labelling and certification schemes. In Mauritania, dairy enterprise Tiviski has a network of more than one thousand herders and has moved into processing, producing, among other things, a cheese made from camel's milk. Hurdles to be overcome include improving market access, tackling livestock trade barriers and nontariff barriers, enhancing market information systems, achieving standards compliance and developing financing mechanisms.A range of recent policy initiatives gives some cause for hope. The African Union (AU) Policy Framework for Pastoralism in Africa, adopted in 2011, is the first continent-wide measure aimed at securing, protecting and improving the livelihoods of African pastoralists. The 2011 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Stock-Rearing Action Plan recognises pastoralists' right to move stock from one region to another, protects access to water in settled agricultural regions and facilitates cross-border trade.Interesting innovations include a cut-and-carry feeding system introduced by herders in Ethiopia's Awash National Park after violent conflicts erupted over moves to take over large areas of prime grazing and water points. Barred from introducing their cattle, some pastoralists have started collecting forage from the park and transporting it for distribution within the community. As a complement to grazing of natural pasture, many pastoralists in Niger are making hay and selling the surplus to animal keepers in towns. Faced with inadequate water supplies and recurrent drought, pastoralists in both Ethiopia and Niger are increasingly replacing cattle with sheep, goats and camels.In Kenya, a scheme to set up a network of markets closer to herders has proved highly successful. Instead of transporting livestock over long distances, pastoralists can walk in, sell their animals and buy food and other input supplies. The model has spread to more counties and the thriving markets have attracted activities such as hotels, butchers and shops. At Lolkuniani in Samburu County, 10% of the community is actively engaged with livestock trade. An average of 2,000 goats worth €27,500 and cows worth €10,000 are sold on each weekly market day.■ A smartphone application has been developed to provide rice farmers with advice on fertiliser use. Developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the free phone app is called the Nutrient Manager for Rice Application (NMRiceApp). The Android app is designed primarily for extension workers who provide farmers with site-specific recommendations on fertiliser usage, said IRRI's Rowena Castillo.Unlike its precursor -a mobile phonebased service called NMRiceMobile -the new app enables extension workers and farmers to access and process information directly, rather than having to wade through automated voice commands. The information is based on the latest IRRI research on rice productivity. For the time being, it is only available for Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, but there are plans to roll the service out to other developing countries. \"We are also developing an app for crop management. This will provide information on rice farming practices, irrigation, pest management and seed selection,\" said Castillo.reloCationKiribati is buying land on Fiji's main island as a long-term measure to cope with rising sea levels. President Anote Tong said that the purchase of 25 sq. km on Viti Levu was an investment at this stage. \"Relocation is our last resort,\" he said.The 33 islands and atolls of Kiribati lie 2 m above current sea level, but increasingly high tides threaten to submerge part of the Pacific nation. Coconut trees, which supply Kiribati's main cash crop, are threatened by the encroaching sea and extended droughts, and saltwater intrusion into wells has caused drinking water shortages.■ The people of Mauritius did not know what to do with the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household waste which piled up on the island. So about 10 years ago, they began burying it at a site chosen for its distance from residential areas, though transporting it was very costly. The small size of the island also meant that pollution from the waste threatened the water table, which supplies more than half the population with drinking water. Composting the waste, which is made up of 70% organic matter and therefore suitable for agricultural purposes, seemed the perfect solution. It has been a long process, but compost is at last being produced on a large scale in Mauritius. Instead of going to the landfill site, the waste now heads for the Solid Waste Recycling factory in the west of the island, where any metal objects are removed before natural bacteria are added to accelerate composting. The waste is turned every 7 days to ensure good ventilation, before being put out to dry. The compost is then ready for mechanical sorting. After undergoing several more sorting processes it is sifted using sieves of 2.4 mm, then packed in 5 and 25 kg bags to be sold to farmers. mxit ('mix it'), a free application developed in south africa, now claims to have 50 million users in africa. with 750 million messages exchanged every day, this african social network now beats twitter. the cost of sending text messages from mobile phones connected to the internet is very small. leading south african company naspers, a leader in developing the internet in emerging countries, has backed the initiative, which was launched in 2005. in rural areas, where iCts are increasingly popular, the network is proving a growing success.A free application offers advice to rice farmers.on tHe airwavesAt the end of 2011, the citizens' association ACDIC launched 'Fréquence agricole', an interactive broadcast on agriculture, put out by several radio stations in Cameroon. The programme is hosted by rapper Valsero and ACDIC President Bernard Njonga, a highly experienced agronomist. Listeners call in or send SMS messages to ask questions on agropastoral issues. The studio team gives them immediate responses live on the air. Large numbers of project leaders dealing with agriculture or livestock follow each broadcast closely. Given its success, programme organisers are now broadcasting recordings of the exchanges for rural radios.seed ProdUCtionEfforts are succeeding in attempts to revive the potato sector in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Lagaip-Pogera, in Enga province, was a major production centre before potato late blight (PLB) wiped out crops throughout PNG in 2003. Now, farmers are being helped to restore potato cultivation, with systems for healthy seed production. Three modern screen houses have been built to grow tissue-cultured potatoes resistant to PLB. The initiative has already provided farmers with 50 tonnes of healthy seed potatoes. Extra support includes training and extension. After the PLB outbreak, potatoes could only be grown using costly fungicides.■ Farmers in South Africa are changing the way they grow rooibos to adapt to changing weather conditions that threaten the survival of the crop. Lack of rain between May and August has decimated seedlings in recent years, causing massive losses to the 300 mostly smallholder farmers who cultivate rooibos for sale as tea, much of it for export.In response to the threat, farmers have planted windbreaks with indigenous plants to stop soil erosion, built water catchments and planted seeds instead of seedlings.\"Seeds take longer to grow, but are less sensitive to lack of rain,\" said farmer Pieter Koopman, who has lost half his crop over the past decade in the Suid Bokkeveld region of South Africa, a small area where the entire global supply of the red bush tea is produced. Rooibos, one of the few examples in geographical indication products from Africa, is in growing demand from consumers in the North, but only grows in this particular area, where it thrives on harsh winters and hot summers.■ Each year, several million tonnes of agricultural products rot in rural areas of Mozambique due to lack of infrastructure and inadequate roads to transport them to market. For some years now, a special government programme, funded by IFAD, has been offering support to agricultural fairs as an alternative to traditional markets. More clients attend the fairs, generally people who would have problems travelling to production areas to make purchases.João de Castro, administrative director of Netia in the province of Nampula -an area rich in cereals, groundnuts, beans, sesame and cassava -explains that at traditional markets, it is the traders, arriving in 4x4 vehicles, who dictate the prices. Farmers have no choice but to accept them. At agricultural fairs which are held weekly at fixed locations, more traders and producers buy, sell and trade products so there is greater competition. Farmers barter agricultural products for bicycles, household goods, clothes and shoes, while at the same time attracting future clients. Pesticides to blame researchers in ghana claim that lower outputs for cocoa and palm oil are linked to pesticides, which harm insects that carry out pollination. entomologists are now recommending planting oil palms in the middle of cocoa plantations, which will act as hosts to reproduced insects.In four provinces of northern Mozambique, a group of civil society organisations is carrying out a government programme to promote rural markets (PROMER). The scheme offers services to local farmers and helps them to obtain credit from banks and microfinance institutions. The group links producers to markets through 'futures contracts', with the guarantee of selling their products at advantageous prices for both parties (producers and buyers). The contracts ensure access to credit. The region's chief traders have pledged to buy cereals, beans and other crops and the farmers have undertaken to produce and supply them by an agreed date.© A da Silvaresearchers have made a breakthrough in imaging plant roots in a bid to develop varieties that can thrive in harsh conditions. the technique uses X-ray computed tomography, a technology used to diagnose soft tissue damage in humans. scientists at the University of nottingham, UK, have developed imaging software -called rootrak -to analyse the scans, testing them on maize, tomato and wheat.The old and the new ■ Fishing communities in Fiji are combining new approaches with ancient ones in their fight to conserve marine resources. Together with time-honoured community approaches to marine management, they are harnessing modern science to protect their livelihoods.Ten villages in Fiji's Kubulau District have worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Fiji Program to create the country's first science-based network of marine protected areas. The aim is to increase fish biomass in the area, providing food for the communities and maintaining biodiversity along the coastline, by establishing a network of areas where fish are either left completely alone or fished only under tightly controlled conditions.The project has combined traditional methods frequently used in the region's locally managed marine areas -such as temporary no-take (or 'taboo') areas -with the science of ecosystem-based management, which considers ecosystems holistically, recognising the interactions between humans and their environment.The large numbers of shea butter caterpillars present in western Burkina Faso may offer an opportunity to combat malnutrition. Launched by students at the 2iE Institute in Ouagadougou, the Faso Prot project makes use of this insect, which costs half as much as meat and is three times as rich in protein. At present, the caterpillars are only consumed in certain regions, between July and September, but the students' initiative aims to make a food supplement based on powdered caterpillars which would be available in all parts of the country throughout the year.a special purple dye is being introduced to chicken farmers in Kenya to help reduce losses blamed on predation by hawks. developed by the Kenya maize development Programme (KmdP) in conjunction with farm input Promotion, the dyed chicks cannot be spotted by hawks in the sky. Up to 40% of free range chicks are lost to predation by hawks.■ Angola's Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging and funding cross breeding for local species in an attempt to improve indigenous breeds and reduce meat imports. The initiative involves crossing local breeds Zunu and Mondombe with Brazilian beef cattle from the Nelore breed. These Brazilian cattle regularly produce medium-sized healthy calves which are able to follow the rest of the herd as it moves soon after birth. Their hide is black and rich in melanin, which offers protection against the sun's rays, an important feature in Angola's tropical or sub-tropical regions. Adult cows can weight up to 800 kg, and bulls more than 1,000 kg. Crossing these with Angolan species, which are more resistant to high temperatures and local diseases, is producing positive results.The first cattle to be produced from the crossing have already begun to be traded at agropastoral fairs, where they are proving popular with herders. Systems have also been set up to help farmers access credit, water and energy, in an attempt to rebuild the country's livestock population, which was badly hit by more than 25 years of war.Pacific island nations and conservation groups have failed to obtain new measures to protect threatened tuna species in the region. during negotiations held in the spring with the western and Central Pacific fisheries Commission (wCPfC), the major fishing countries -China, japan, the eU and the Usa -refused to introduce any new restrictions.jUveniles PreservedFitting traditional fish traps with escape gaps dramatically reduces the catch of non-target fish while maintaining fishers' incomes, trials show. Fishermen built traditional basket traps and added vertical rectangular gaps, 2-4 cm by 30 cm, to the sides. These gaps allow juvenile and narrow-bodied species to escape but retain larger target species. The trials were carried out on the Kenyan coast in a heavily fished coral reef lagoon. Researchers placed the traps at marked locations and baited them with sea grass and algae. The traps reduced the number of non-target fish by up to 80%. The gaps had no significant effect on the number of target, high-value species.■ Planting spekboom, a South African succulent that absorbs huge quantities of carbon dioxide, is creating jobs and helping to check climate change. The evergreen plant, Portulacaria afra, also known as 'elephant's food', has massive powers for sequestering carbon and also absorbs water and releases it into the earth like a sponge. Spekboom plants can reach a height of 2.5 m and occur mainly in rocky, dry areas. Local communities are being paid to plant large areas in the Eastern Cape. Here, massive erosion caused by overgrazing has stripped the soils from hillsides. The plan is to make the government-led scheme become self-financing in time by selling carbon credits.Research has shown that spekboom thicket is able to remove 250 tonnes of carbon per hectare, at a rate of four tonnes per year. Its capacity to offset harmful carbon emissions is equivalent to that of moist, subtropical forest. The spekboom cuttings have been taken from a neighbouring farm, on a carefully monitored and sustainable basis.environmental mobilisation■ Since Madagascar's political crisis in 2009, natural resources such as precious timber (rosewood, ebony), marine and mining resources (gold, sapphire) have been plundered. That is the verdict of environmental organisation Alliance Voahary Gasy (AVG), which has opened a platform for investigation, information sharing and training. According to its secretary general, since 2009, 25,000 cubic metres of precious timber has been trafficked, compared with 1,000 cubic metres per year before the crisis. Backed by about thirty civil society organisations, AVG has established a green line, an online forum, a series of debates and investigations out in the field. Since its launch in November 2009, the alliance has brought a case against the government, demanded an end to the legal loophole that allows precious timber to be used in exceptional circumstances and called for illegal mining to be halted. It also urged the setting up of a green tribunal. Its activities have resulted in a repeal of the contested law, the suspension of three mining companies without environmental permits and an initiative to count quantities of rosewood and other resources, including confiscated batches intercepted since the crisis.In 2011, communities planted nearly 1,240 small community forests in the province of Inhambane, southern Mozambique, as part of the 'One Leader, One Forest' programme. This initiative aims to halt the destruction of forests in the province, devastated by logging and charcoal production. In each of the country's regions, local community leaders have the task of coordinating the planting and protection of trees. The provincial agricultural department supplies technical assistance and distributes manuals on environmental education. Funds are provided by the government.The Spekboom tree, or Portulacaria afra migratorY waterbirds Threatened with extinction more than one migratory waterbird in ten is in danger of extinction, due to the destruction of marshlands, mangroves and estuaries where they feed. in just 20 years, 90% of west africa's wetlands have disappeared. in may, 65 member countries of the agreement on the Conservation of african-eurasian migratory waterbirds (aewa), 28 of them from africa, adopted an action plan for africa.to discuss monitoring natural resources.Some 23 conservation projects for threatened species will benefit from funding of €2.4 million from international conservation organisation Save Our Species (SOS), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Africa features in more than half the projects, spread over fifteen countries. Six projects involve mammals, such as gorillas in Cameroon, where fewer than 300 individuals remain. Others cover species of birds and amphibians. In Madagascar, a campaign to protect Mantella frogs is being headed by the national association Madagasikara Voakajy, together with local communities and authorities. Ommeh, a geneticist at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, is one of the 250 women who has won a fellowship since the project began in 2008. She has carried out in vitro studies looking at disease tolerance in indigenous chickens, and is hoping to breed chickens high in meat and egg production, drought tolerance and disease resistance. Indigenous chickens often produce little meat and few eggs, and are highly susceptible to viruses, such as Newcastle and Gumboro diseases. Ommeh says AWARD's training has sharpened her determination to \"make the 'chicken agenda' a priority for research institutions and governments.\"■ Malnutrition is directly linked to loss of agricultural biodiversity. That is the conclusion of an FAO programme to investigate the links between biodiversity and dietary balance. Studies show the richness and nutritional variety provided by ancient local varieties. These plants have largely disappeared due to the emergence of a few commercial varieties that dominate crop growing in global agriculture (maize, wheat, rice, potatoes and soya).Against this backdrop, FAO is working on a project to survey the varieties of fruits and vegetables consumed throughout the world. 10,000 foodstuffs have already been listed in a database.For bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, taro and rice, amongst others, the data made available by FAO reveals significant differences in mineral and vitamin content between one variety and another. Since each variety has its own qualities, it is their diversity and complementarity that provides balance. FAO says that working to provide information on the nutritional value of foods should make it possible to re-establish some traditional varieties.As the moth borer threatens Barbados' sugar industry, the island's authorities have launched the Cotesia flavipes, a tiny wasp identified as a predator. Head of the Ministry of Agriculture's Entomology Section Ian Gibbs said there has been a dramatic increase of the major sugar cane pest on the island over the past 2 to 3 years. A small laboratory is now producing the pest's natural predator, which is being released in fields that test positive for moth borer damage. The ministry is appealing to Barbadian sugar cane farmers to work alongside the department and give officials their full cooperation as they try to bring the pest under control.vary according to the variety.Researchers from Burkina Faso and France have developed an inexpensive building material based on clay, sand and fibres from kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus). This plant, widely used in Burkina Faso to make sacks and rope, is part of the cotton family. Less expensive and more resilient than traditional construction materials, it also offers effective insulation against heat and sound. The scientists stress the environmental advantage of using a crop that does not degrade soil and requires no fertiliser. Jacob Sanou, from the Farako-Ba research centre in Burkina Faso, says he borrowed the idea from the example of linen in Europe.UnesCo's chair on the world's food system, set up by the institute of Higher education in agricultural sciences in montpellier, france, is celebrating its first anniversary. a partner of various agricultural research institutes, including Cirad and inra, it aims at a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together biotechnical and social sciences to promote sustainable agricultural and food systems. ■ In this, the International Year of Cooperatives, the consumer cooperative in Mauritius has made a last ditch stand with its newly created Fair Price Shops, which seek to pursue the ideals of the cooperative movement. Shopping centres, which have been mushrooming throughout the island, have had the upper hand over the 90 cooperative stores opened ten years ago. Of these, just three remain and are fighting for survival. The management and members of the cooperatives are partly to blame since their lack of vision has left the field wide open to the private sector. Consumers were no longer prepared to tolerate the amateur nature of these cooperatives, the prices they set, the bad management, the poor state of the stores and the lack of variety of the products they stocked, and ultimately left them for more modern supermarkets, where a warm welcome, good prices and wide variety are standard.Other sectors of the cooperative movement, however, are more profitable. Farmers grouped into cooperatives produce about 40% of sugar, 70% of vegetables, 75% of onions and 40% of potatoes. Without them, agriculture would not be viable.■ Fijian sugarcane farmer Mun Sami was so dejected with his low income that he almost gave up farming 7 years ago. Sami, from Tavua, decided to branch out into growing seedlings for the horticulture sector and, with no capital, he started collecting old plastic cups to raise his first small plants. After 2 years of struggling, he approached Fiji's Ministry of Agriculture and was given help in setting up a small nursery, and proper plastic trays to grow the seedlings. Today, he boasts one of the largest fruit and vegetable seedling nurseries in the area, supplying farmers throughout Fiji's Western Division. Sami works hard to keep up with demand and he earns far more than he could ever have made from sugarcane.\"Relying only on sugarcane was my biggest drawback,\" he said. \"I regret that I have not realised this earlier. It is time for farmers to move away from culture of monocropping and embrace other agribusiness opportunities so that they continue to earn a decent leaving from farming.\"More than 300 small-scale Pacific spice producers have grouped together under the banner of the Vanuatu Spices Network. The farmers, who grow organic vanilla, ginger, chillies, pepper and turmeric, are spread over seven Vanuatu islands and organised with the help of the NGO Farm Support Association (FSA). With an average farm size of 0.3 hectares, the producers conduct first stage processing of the spices. Final processing is done at the premises of one of their main buyers, Venui Vanilla, before the products are sold and shipped to high-value gourmet markets in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.Quality seed a seed Potato value Chain roadmap has been launched for ethiopia, Kenya, rwanda, tanzania and Uganda, targeting business investments to increase the availability of high-quality seed potatoes. Potato production in sub-saharan africa has more than doubled since 1994, but yields continue to be low due to inadequate high-quality seed. engaging the private sector in seed potato value chains is seen as a way of overcoming the supply bottleneck for the provision of quality seed. mango Valuable kernels a seasonal fruit, the mango is much sought after for its sweet taste and rich vitamin content. recent research has revealed that butter extracted from the kernel has valuable cosmetic properties. mango butter is believed to be beneficial to dry skin and brittle hair, offering another use for this flexible fruit.More than 40% of potatoes grown in Mauritius are produced by cooperatives. nafasoIn Burkina Faso, seed producer Abdoulaye Sawaodogo and agronomist Issaka Sawadogo set up an enterprise called NAFASO in 2008, specialising in the production, packaging and marketing of improved seeds. In this country, the government is hoping to raise the level of farmers using improved seeds from 6 to 50% by 2015. He tries with funding from the EU's Food Facility programme, but the backing will not last forever. The founders of NAFASO are seeking to \"bring seeds as close as possible to our main clients, the farmers in the fields.\" NAFASO's output of various types of seed rose from 234 tonnes in 2008 to 1030 tonnes in 2010.For several months now, West Africa has been hit by a severe food crisis. Has the regional response been appropriate and adequate? Thanks to the system set up by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the alarm was raised swiftly (the first alerts were made as early as September and October, then again at the Food Crises Prevention Network (FCPN), held in Praia in December 2011). Unfortunately, although this violated commitments they had previously made, some actors contested the figures for various reasons, or made alarmist announcements that created psychosis and led traders to hoard stocks to push up prices. So the response has not been adequate. Worse, it has come too late, so the situation has become more serious and the scale of the assistance needed has increased. In terms of prevention, the response has to be targeted and rapid if it is to be effective at the lowest possible cost.Like most decision-makers, the international community only reacts when the crisis is already full-blown, with shocking images appearing on television screens. Only then are the major resources unleashed, at great expense and often without much impact. That is the situation right now, hypocritical and extremely fragile. This is due to a number of factors: the constant decline of peoples' living standards, high market risks and instability of regional and international prices, a growing vulnerability to swings and risks… Households don't have time to rebuild their capital before the next crisis hits and they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the smallest external shocks. A structural response is needed, one which goes beyond the current trend of boosting resilience, which, although certainly a major step in the right direction, will not be enough. We need serious investments in agriculture: recapitalising land, developing irrigation and finding means to ensure that small-scale producers have access to land and financing for production techniques, and that they are linked to markets.These elements are contained in the regional and national investment programmes (PRIA/PNIA). But what is lacking is commitment, continuity in our efforts and the conviction that it can be done and that it is we Africans who are going to bring about development by ourselves, not the donors.Lack of coordination for aid, too many different approaches and an increase in ad-hoc structures of managing projects -all these factors weaken national and regional capacities and cause delays in achieving the goals set by governments, regional institutions and international partners.Producers' organisations (POs) are becoming increasingly involved in working for food security. Are they sufficiently well developed?In the field of agricultural policies, almost all the demands made by POs have been taken into account in general policy guidelines, especially for ECOWAP. POs are increasingly well trained, with support from partners in the North and South. But much still needs to be done to improve their capacity to become involved in negotiations and in the implementation of policies. There is a particular need to improve the representative nature of their networks and therefore the legitimacy of their proposals and their capacity to wield influence. It is also important to strengthen the internal capitalisation of practices, initiatives and experiences of POs, in line with the agenda for negotiations.Are family farms the solution to ensuring food security in the sub-region?Covering the food and nutritional needs of a rapidly growing population, and ensuring that each person has lasting and constant access to a varied diet -that is the main challenge facing the region. A solid agriculture sector offers the most reliable path for taking up this challenge. The region believes that it has the potential in terms of production (land, grazing, water, human resources) to achieve food security and cover its basic needs. However, conditions for realising this potential will be decisive in the battle to combat hunger. West Africa has a large farming community and the bulk of agricultural output is ensured by household farms. Diversification into other economic activities outside agriculture is difficult, given the reduced opportunities offered by the industrial and services sectors. Most of the workers currently leaving farming end up in a highly varied informal sector, which is very badly paid. Against this backdrop, modernising household farms is of major importance. Developing agriculture through agri-enterprises may possibly help to resolve problems of supply, but it can only make a slight contribution to solving the problem of poverty, which is the number one cause of food insecurity. www.hubrural.orgInforming, advising and debating in order to improve the impact of rural development programmes in Central and West Africa. That is the aim of the Rural Hub. An international organisation based on Senegalese law since 2011, the Rural Hub has made food security one of its key themes. With the market in full swing, governments are taking a renewed interest in cocoa. In Côte d'Ivoire, deregulation has been dropped. In producer countries, public-private partnerships are trying to boost production and win niche markets. The challenge is to make markets work better for farmers while ensuring that production is more environmentally sustainable. and Ecuador -in that order. Alongside these major producer countries there are others -Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela -which have a more limited output that is nevertheless recognised for its quality and fine aroma. There are three cocoa varieties: forastero (80% to 90% of global output), criollo (1% to 5%, the most delicate and aromatic) and trinitario (10% to 15%, the result of a cross between the first two varieties). Trinitario and criollo, famous for their aroma and delicate flavour, are highly prized by connoisseurs and have been enjoying a revival since the mid 1990s. As well as being consumed as a food product, cocoa is also used in cosmetics.Together, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana currently produce nearly 60% of cocoa traded globally. The world's leading producer (it supplies 40% of all global output), Côte d'Ivoire is currently producing low yields, while Ghana produces a quality cocoa that is a benchmark for global markets. The Caribbean countries produce high quality cocoa and have grouped themselves into a Caribbean cocoa collective to promote value added cocoa from the region.The major importers of cocoa beans are the industrialised countries of the North which account for more than 80% of consumption. There are two markets for buying cocoa: the London stock exchange and that of New York. The market, which is subject to rumours or forecasts of interrupted supplies, poor harvests and climate or political emergencies, is extremely unstable and highly speculative, with substantial price swings.While demand for cocoa, driven by the emerging countries, continues to rise (2-3% per year), and is expected to increase even further in the coming years, African cocoa farmers have not seen their incomes increase as a result. The United Nations has expressed concern over the unfair share of profits, declaring that: \"The low incomes of smallholder cocoa farmers are widely acknowledged to be the single most important challenge for the world cocoa economy. Prices must be sufficiently remunerative for farmers and production more efficient to ensure decent incomes for them,\" (2010 UN Conference on cocoa).In Côte d'Ivoire, obtaining higher prices for farmers is one of the main goals of a reform backed by the MFI and World Bank, which want to see an overhaul for the sector. To encourage political stability for the country, the government has decided to retake control of productionThe International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) is a global body made up of producer and consumer countries. Based in London, it was formed in 1973 to implement the International Cocoa Agreement, negotiated in Geneva at the UN Cocoa Conference. Since then, there have been seven more agreements. The seventh, negotiated in Geneva in 2010, is due to enter into force in October 2012, and will last for 10 years. It introduces major innovations, including a new organisational structure to improve the efficacy of the ICCO in its mission, creating a Consultative Board and developing clearly defined goals for a sustainable cocoa economy. It also seeks to improve market transparency through the collection, handling and dissemination of data from both private and public sources and stresses the need to fight for fair cocoa prices, for both producers and consumers.and marketing, and 2011 proved a record year for Côte d'Ivoire, with a bumper harvest. A three-pronged strategy is planned which will seek to abolish child labour (which still involved 800,000 children in 2009, according to a study by the University of Tulane in USA), renew ageing trees without resorting to slash-and-burn and halt cocoa smuggling into Ghana. But this reform, which also involves removing tax advantages from powerful local manufacturers, has come up against opposition and is unlikely to be achieved overnight.However, all eyes are currently on Côte d'Ivoire, the world's leading producer, which is emerging from a decade of political instability that has had significant repercussions on the cocoa sector: ageing plantations, a highly fragmented sector and poorly organised farmers who are increasingly tempted to turn to rubber cultivation which brings bigger revenues -US$3,000 (€2,438), compared with US$1,000 (€812.50) for cocoa. The ICCO's decision to hold the first world cocoa conference in Abidjan in November 2012 sends a strong message.Consumers are increasingly sensitive to product quality and the well-being of farmers, so the leading groups involved in marketing chocolate products have bowed to certification and a growing number of brands have produced labelled chocolate: organic, FairTrade/FLO, Rain Forest Alliance and UTZ are the main types of certification. But while there are more and more labels to choose from -different varieties, designation of origin, organically certified cocoa, fair trade, etc. -they remain the exception: just 6% of world output is certified as organic, 1% as fairtrade and about 1% Rainforest Alliance. A 'fine and aromatic cocoa' label is defined by the ICCO, mainly on the basis of the origin of the cocoa (only certain countries are eligible) and its volume (it must not exceed 5% of global output). In Côte d'Ivoire, a government reform under way which will establish a fixed minimum price for the farmer is not welcomed by some parties, who thought that the Dutch label UTZ would be a sufficient guarantee of support for the sector. This latter, which now involves 150,000 certified planters throughout the world, including 50,000 in Côte d'Ivoire, focuses on good agricultural and environmental practices rather than on fair incomes for farmers.However, producing certified chocolate is no guarantee of earning additional income. Certification has been principally developed by actors in the North, with very little dialogue. It is often costly and involves meeting complex specifications (see Spore 158: 'The cost of certification').There is a growing number of international initiatives aimed at supporting the cocoa sector. The USA's Feed the Future has launched a campaign to promote the cocoa sector in Africa, providing US$11 million (€8.94 million) to 13 chocolate manufacturers with the aim of developing cocoa production in West Africa; the World Cocoa Foundation, set up by a group of companies in 2000 -ADM, Armajaro, Barry Callebaut, Nestlé, Cargill and others -is seeking to promote and coordinate the development of the cocoa community.Public-private partnerships are also emerging, such as that forged at the end of 2011 between US multinational Cargill and the rural development agency for Côte d'Ivoire, Anader, which injected an investment of 1.5 billion FCFA (€2.3 M) into training for farmers and the distribution of 600,000 new cocoa plants (though the impact should be seen in perspective, given the size of the country -the new plants will cover just 400 ha). For its part, Cadbury, the world leader in the confectionery sector, has been helping 60,000 families since 2008 as part of the Cocoa Partnership Initiative, which brings together the Cocoa Board of Ghana and a fair trade cooperative. A plan to extend the initiative to India, Indonesia and the Caribbean is expected to benefit one million farmers.However, the emergence of so many such initiatives should not obscure the fact that the primary goal of the companies involved is to secure their cocoa supplies. The well-being of farmers is a side effect.At a time when plantations are ageing in Côte d'Ivoire, less land is available and climate change is becoming more acute, improving productivity is crucial, and research is aiming to do just that. Hybrid plants are producing gains in terms of both early maturing and higher yields.In November 2011, the launch of an experimental research station was announced for Côte d'Ivoire, at a cost of US$5 million (€4.06 million) with the goal of \"bringing together the research efforts of the national agronomic research centre and Nestlé's private research initiatives to promote cocoa production.\" Nestlé is planning to invest €81 million to replant 12 million cocoa trees over the next 10 years, at a rate of more than 1 million trees per year. However, while the involvement of the private sector is likely to produce positive results, it may also call into question the independent nature of research and the motives behind it.A recent study by CIAT (see Spore 159 p. 9) shows that recent temperature rises may cause a dramatic decline in cocoa production between 2030 and 2050 in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. In its report, CIAT outlines certain measures to reduce the impact.The EU is the world's biggest cocoa processor, accounting for more than 40% of all cocoa bean grinding worldwide.Of the industrialised countries, the Netherlands is the world's leading processor (525,000 tonnes), followed by the USA (390,000 tonnes) and Germany (385,000 tonnes).Despite difficulties such as erratic supplies and electricity cuts, the producer countries are venturing into processing. Leading the field are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria.Côte d'Ivoire is well placed to overtake the Netherlands, processing a little over 500,000 tonnes (40% of the country's cocoa output). It should, however be noted that of the eight companies currently processing cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire, four are branches of European or US multinationals, including Saco (Barry Callebaut, Switzerland), Unicao (ADM, USA), Cargill Cocoa (USA) and Cemoi (France). Nevertheless, more and more local companies are becomingIn Souanké, in the department of Sangha, north of Congo Brazzaville, local environmental and cultural association OCBBEE has, since 2009, been making cocoa butter from beans grown on small household farms (2-3 ha) in the region, which are toasted then crushed in a mill. The cocoa butter is sold for 24,000 FCFA a litre (€36) in Sangha and Brazzaville. \"We buy a 100 kg sack of cocoa for 100,000 FCFA (€153) from farmers before processing it into butter,\" says OCBBEE coordinator Calvin Ampieh. The cocoa butter is widely used in cooking, and is a key ingredient in many local dishes. It is also highly prized for cosmetic and medicinal purposes, especially for massage.Fredy Rajaonera is deputy chief executive of Chocolaterie Robert. He is also vice president of SIM, the manufacturers union in Madagascar, and general coordinator for the Ramanandraibe Exportation group.The top of the range Why did you choose the top end of the cocoa market? Although cocoa production in Madagascar is relatively weak in terms of quantity (5,000 tonnes of cocoa per year, compared with 1.5 Mt in Côte d'Ivoire, for example), the quality is exceptional. The organic cocoa beans that we produce are delicate, succulent and aromatic -all qualities that are highly sought after. The country has 15,000 ha of top quality cocoa growing in the northeast (Sambirano), which is acknowledged as one of the five best types of cocoa in the world. We have built on this potential by targeting niche markets in the USA, France, Britain, Italy and neighbouring islands. Each year, our company Chocolaterie Robert exports 3,500 tonnes of cocoa beans and 40 tonnes of chocolate.Criollo, trinitario and forastero are the three varieties of cocoa that we use. We export 40 tonnes of chocolate a year in different forms: as cocoa powder, bars of chocolate, snacks and Yule logs, etc. The company has been awarded the Silver Cup from the Académie du Chocolat in France and a chocolate produced by French chocolate maker Cluizel using our cocoa beans won the top prize at the international chocolate fair held in Paris in 2004.It is not enough to have good cocoa. It is also important that the pods are well ripened and fermented and that there are modern processing facilities. At each stage, we carry out microbiological and chemical analyses of the product. Our producers are well paid and are very loyal to the company. We buy directly from farmers or from collectors. Whatever the production swings, the company guarantees farmers a minimum order and a bonus each season. The farmers also have access to health centres. We offer regular training sessions and practical advice in the field. Our two highly qualified engineers work together with agricultural technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture and we have regular visits from the the recipient of the Meilleur ouvrier de France award.We are planning 1,500 ha of new plantations to guard against the problem of ageing cocoa plants. We are also starting to diversify, branching out into using dried fruits with chocolate, confectionery, baking and also exporting cocoa butter for the cosmetic industry, for example to make moisturising creams.involved in processing in Côte d'Ivoire, and this sector is making significant progress in the country.In Ghana, there are four companies that process cocoa beans into liquor, powder, butter and cakes. Increasing investments are being made in primary cocoa processing. Major international cocoa company Barry Callebaut recently doubled its processing capacity. Another big firm, Cargill, is getting ready to build its first factory in Ghana.However, in the current climate, African countries would do well to look to South America, especially Brazil. CIRAD researcher Philippe Bastide, back from the first world chocolate fair to be organised in a producer country, held in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, talks enthusiastically about the initiatives of Brazilian producers who are adding value to their products, by-products and semi-finished products. Brazil, the world's 6 th largest producer and 3 rd biggest consumer, consumes all the cocoa it produces. It is way ahead of its African neighbour in terms of entrepreneurial dynamics. Perhaps Africa should follow its lead?KeY figUres 80 % of all chocolate is consumed by people in countries of the North.1 % of global cocoa production is certified fairtrade.1.48 M t was the total cocoa output of Côte d'Ivoire in 2010.2-3 % annual growth -global demand for chocolate is increasing at a strong and steady pace. Visiting Grenada over the years, American engineer Mott Green became a 'cocoa hobbyist' and set up the initiative in 1999. His motivation was to bring highend chocolate profits to local cocoa farmers who get smallest Mott researched and developed the solar equipment and basic machinery to make chocolate, and it was easy to certify cocoa farms as organic since farmers had already stopped using chemicals because they couldn't afford them. This poor state of agriculture and an elderly farming population remains one of the biggest challenges facing Grenada today. \"Even though farmers supplying us get a higher price for their crops and aChocolatiers from Belgium and Switzerland love high quality cocoa beans from Grenada. The 'tree to bar cooperative' is possibly the only small organic chocolate factory, powered completely by solar energy, in a cocoa growing country. With Mott the only foreigner out of thirteen shareholders now, the company's key to sustainability is: higher pay, consistency (year round incomes) and pride. 'Growing Smilo' is what spreads the joy, with its catchy calypso jingle. Smilo is the company's local version of Milo (minus sugar or additives) and the by-product of cocoa fat extraction. This drinking chocolate powder outsells chocolate bars and can be found in any corner store. Proof of success in this niche and a growing taste for true dark chocolate is their 82% cocoa bar, which received the Academy of Chocolate 2011 silver medal and great international reviews. A 100% bar is now available and a bar made with 71% cocoa and Caribbean sea salt, Salty-Licious, will be available very soon.After a spurt in production, the company is now trying to balance even again, holding a particular place in the international market as a gastronomic fine chocolate with a bargain price. They are now aiming at specialty shops in the 'snobby' European market -smaller quantities than their supply to large wholesalers but better profits. In March 2012, history was made with the first ever carbon-neutral transatlantic chocolate delivery! Fair Transport's sailing vessel Tres Hombres delivered 3 tons of organic dark chocolate to the UK and Amsterdam with great success. taste of chocolate just got sweeter and richer for all by being made fairly and greenly in Grenada.O n her 2-hectare plot in Mumias, western Kenya, Mary Awino has built 12 fishponds. She has stocked them with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), a fish that is easy to farm and fetches good prices. Awino harvests between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes of tilapia every 9 months from each pond.Like Awino, growing numbers of smallscale producers in ACP countries are rearing tilapia, the common name for nearly a hundred species of fish from the tilapiine cichlid family. Due to its high meat content, rapid growth, and palatability, tilapia is now the third most important fish in aquaculture. World tilapia production soared from 1.6 M t in 1999 to more than 3.5 M t in 2010. Asia is the main region responsible for the spectacular growth, but Africa has experienced a substantial increase. The fish is also widely farmed in the Pacific. In the Solomon Islands, where existing tilapia species (Oreochromis mossambicus) are insufficient to meet growing market demand from urban populations, the faster growing Oreochromis niloticus is being introduced. Output is rising sharply as a combination of small to medium enterprises and school ponds take to tilapia farming to improve incomes and diets.Tilapiines are among the simplest and most profitable fish to farm due to their omnivorous diet, tolerance of high stocking density and rapid growth. In some regions, the fish can be put out in paddies when rice is planted, and will have grown to edible size when the rice is ready. An excellent source of protein and valuable micronutrients, and low in saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium, tilapia is making a valuable contribution to household food security.More focus on the fish value chain is accompanying increases in output. The WorldFish Center is working with fisheries research institutes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, to improve profits. Activities include improving fish seed through production guidelines, genetic improvement and optimal seed sizes for farmers, promotion of more cost-effective commercial feeds by fish farmers, and improved marketing through development of value added products such as smoked fish targeting poor consumers.Whole tilapia are often processed into skinless, boneless fillets: the yield is from 30% to 37%, depending on fillet size and final trim. In Zimbabwe, small-scale producers and processors are being linked to a booming tilapia value chain developed by local company Lake Harvest in Kariba, which has tripled output in just 12 months. The fish are filleted or whole-gutted, packed and distributed to local, regional and international markets, including Botswana, DR Congo, Mozambique and South Africa. With its own fish processing factory and a total of more than 700 employees, the company offers good opportunities for local involvement in the value chain. Smallholder farmers supply the feed input, mainly maize and soya beans, and the small-scale informal sector is doing a brisk trade in the sale of by-products such as fish heads and belly flaps.women take the lead Women are playing a major role in the production, processing and marketing of tilapia in many African countries, forming groups to increase access to funds, micro-loans and training.In DR Congo, the department of Pool was a centre for tilapia farming before the persistent conflicts that ravaged the area from 1998-2000 destroyed the industry. Now, the government is setting up tilapia hatcheries to revive aquaculture. Since 2011, 76 fish farmers grouped into associations called Mille étangs (a thousand lakes) and Poissons pour tous (fish for all) have received 832 kg of fingerlings and 22 tonnes of fish feed. They have also been given training. With the setting up of 150 new ponds, about 5 t of tilapia have become available on a regular basis at local markets.Simple to farm, tilapia is rapidly catching on with ACP producers. Its high meat content lends itself to processing, and women are at the forefront.Dried tilapia at the market in Béni (DR Congo)© Syfia International■ The dichotomy is all too glaring. While some people have too little to eat and die from malnutrition, others have too much and die from food-related diseases.Guaranteeing enough food for the world's rapidly expanding population is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity, but new issues related to food have also emerged. One of these is the social and environmental damage caused by some methods of food production. The risks in terms of eroded biodiversity and rising pollution are there for all to see. Exploring the link between food and development, the author approaches the subject from every angle. Various chapters examine the continued prevalence of mass undernutrition in the developing world and analyses some of the causes. There are sections on conflict and hunger, gender and nutrition, and a look at how race can affect nutrition levels, in this case in South Africa. On the other side of the coin, there are sobering analyses of obesity in the industrialised world and the emergence of overnutrition in some developing countries. Fifteen case studies are presented here, examining how communities and their members respond to climate change. Taken from a wide range of environmental settings, spanning sub-arctic to equatorial regions, the case studies all portray poor or marginalised communities, forced to tackle the challenges presented by global warming.As the farmers in Ethiopia showed, being prepared is the key. These villagers' responses ranged from changing planting dates for sorghum to making use of remittances from family members engaged in labour migration. A central message of the book is that the knowledge and wisdom of communities and indigenous peoples should be recognised and heeded, now more than ever, given the urgent threat posed by climate change.A novel strategy for agricultural intensification and market linkage offers good opportunities for rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The approach, known as Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE), comprises pillars involving agribusiness cluster formation, value chain development and strengthening of transaction governance capacities. Focusing on the first of these pillars, a guide explains the CASE approach. ■ Since more than two-thirds of the world's dollar-a-day poor live in rural areas, where farming is a core activity, any attempts to raise incomes will involve introducing policies and investments that raise economic returns from agriculture. But in the longer term, it will be important to offer multiple development pathways for farm households. Exploring some of these, contributors to this collection pinpoint increased productivity, diversifying income sources and, for some, leaving the agriculture sector for better paid jobs as among the most promising avenues.Within agriculture, there are rising opportunities for smallholders to develop commercially viable operations. This will involve some rural dwellers moving out of the farming sector altogether. In tandem with such developments, there is a need for a wide range of improvements in non-agricultural policies. These include education and primary healthcare and a sound overall investment climate, which will depend on factors such as peace, political stability, property rights and governance.edited by j brooks Cabi/oeCd;2012;192 pp. isbn 978-92-64-16863-3 €100 Cabi Publishing nosworthy way wallingford oxfordshire oX10 8de, UK fax: +44 (0) 1491 829198 www.cabi.org land managementA report looks at the growing debate on two very different approaches for dealing with land against a backdrop of a rapidly rising population. Some advocate 'land sharing', whereby agricultural production takes place within complex multi-functional landscapes. Others favour 'land sparing', where agricultural production on cultivated or marginal lands is maximised, so that other areas are set aside for the conservation of biodiversity. The rate of lost wild animal species will be accelerated by climate change unless urgent measures are taken. Africa, where a mean temperature rise of 3-4 °C is expected by the end of the century, is one of the world's most vulnerable regions. Using case studies, including several from ACP countries, a report puts forward a series of responsive measures to mitigate the impact of temperature change. ■ Crop plant varieties developed by local farmers are commonly referred to as farmers' varieties. They are of immense importance to sustainable agricultural production. However, efforts to increase the share of benefits farmers receive from the use of these varieties are fraught with problems, not least because there are no fixed taxonomic or legal definitions.Attempting to clarify the issues, the authors examine some of the biological and social complexities involved in defining farmers' varieties and techniques for distinguishing one from another. Legal recognition for the concept of Farmers' Rights was codified for the first time in an international treaty in 2001, but the book argues that more international recognition for these rights is still needed. It urges greater efforts to develop national-level policies and laws, and considers various solutions, based on revised or new definitions of farmers' varieties that reflect the biological and cultural realities in which they are produced. ■ In spite of massive investment in rural water supply systems for developing countries over the past three decades, major problems remain. Once installed, water systems are often poorly maintained and eventually break down, leaving users with an unreliable supply.While acknowledging that much progress has been made, an investigation into rural water services sets out to find out what has gone wrong in so many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where service levels are often still inadequate. Findings from thirteen country studies are examined here, including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda. These were carried out as part of a global learning initiative -Sustainable Services at Scale, or Triple-S. The book offers insights into ways countries and individual organisations can move towards a service delivery approach step-by-step and ensure that once established, rural water supplies are maintained. The next three decades Fuelled by the turbulence of world agricultural markets, the debate on links between agriculture, food security, natural resources, population growth and economic development has never been more lively. A report from FAO examines some of the issues and looks ahead to the next three decades. ■ In this, the UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, the injustice of energy poverty is moving further up the development agenda. Unless drastic advances are made in the developing world, the total number of people without access to electricity will still be 900 million by 2030. Some 3 million people will cook using traditional fuels and 30 million people will have died of smoke-related diseases. Health aside, access to energy has a massive impact on incomes, for those denied it are also denied a chance to work their way out of poverty.In a clear concise style, a new book traces the consequences of energy poverty on rural people, with a special focus on agriculture, which is one of the hardest hit sectors. For smallholder farmers, modern energy services can help to increase incomes at each step of the agricultural value chain, from production, post-harvest processing and storage to marketing. The book examines some of the opportunities for improving energy access, both for producers, and for small-scale enterprises, so important to development in rural areas. One of agriculture's most important tasks is to provide food of sufficient quantity and quality to feed and nourish the world's population sustainably so that all people can lead healthy, productive lives. A booklet explains that achieving this goal will require closer collaboration across the sectors of agriculture, nutrition, and health, which have long operated in separate spheres. ■ Interest in sugar cane as a source of renewable energy is a relatively new development. As recently as a decade ago it was mainly viewed as a commodity crop for sugar. All that has changed now, and there is wide acceptance of sugar cane's potential as a feedstock for many energy and non-energy products. For reasons of climate, tropical crops like sugar cane have the advantage over biomass sources in temperate areas, opening up opportunities for some developing countries. As Brazil, India and Mauritius have already shown, the results can be impressive -and not just from an economic perspective. Developing a highly productive biomass resource such as sugar cane has strategic value throughout sub-Saharan Africa in addressing the triple challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and rural poverty.This book examines how sugar cane offers a future pathway for economic growth and development in a part of the world that badly needs both. It outlines the prospects of a green economy better matched to local needs, but also integrated into regional and global markets. Improving nutrition in developing nations is likely to require a multisectoral approach that involves a variety of ministries and organisations addressing particular aspects of the problem. Using case studies from Senegal amongst other countries, where multisectoral efforts to integrate action on nutrition have proved successful, the book identifies common characteristics that contribute to a positive outcome. ■ A substantial part of the world's population relies on small community water supplies, especially in developing countries. Such supplies serve communities that are frequently remote and vulnerable. Poor sanitation, often present in such circumstances, increases the risk of contamination of water sources.Managing risks is a challenge in a setting where facilities are limited and resources in short supply. Yet ensuring access to safe and clean water can greatly relieve the burden on health services, so economic evaluation of drinking-water supply options is crucial. A book put together by a consortium of international experts provides guidance on assessing the benefits from improving access to safe drinking water and from reducing the burden of water-related diseases. It shows how to compare the value of these benefits to the costs of the interventions, with special reference to small-scale drinking water systems.  While taking pains to recognise the faults in the Chinese experience, the authors present a detailed comparison of the rural sector in China and Africa. And they point out lessons that they believe African policy makers could learn from, if the continent is to use rural development as a motor for economic advancement. Publications marked @ may be downloaded from the following website: http://publications.cta.int titles marked with the logo can be obtained as follows:If you are a subscriber to ctA publications: Use one of these options.  Helping CTA to build websites and services connecting people to the information. The most important part of this is making it easy to access as much information as possible in the clearest way possible.Is it not naive to think that the Internet might be used to help alleviate the poverty of rural communities or mitigate climate change impact ?No. The Internet now gives the possibility for all to be more involved in the processes of change and to find new ways to earn a living and adapt to new circumstances. We should focus on removing barriers to knowledge access, giving people who previously may not have been able to access information the opportunity to do so now.ICTs for international development are focused on Web 2.0 tools. What is next?Web 2.0 has been largely about social sharing, collaboration and user-generated content. More context and relationship mapping is needed to get better related, contextualised and personalised data.In Africa, smartphones outsell computers four to one. What are the implications of the proliferation of mobile internet?Mobile phone and internet users in ACP countries are not just consumers, they increasingly start to take matters into their own hands and develop their own websites, software and apps. Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world. This offers the unique chance for CTA to change from being a publisher to a platform for sharing knowledge, taking advantage of any new tools and methods of interaction. Turning itself into a truly open platform for data sharing usergenerated content and crowd sourcing for interacting with this new generation in ACP countries will enable CTA to effectively contribute to unlock the potential of ICTs in developing regions.CTA will contribute to the 11 th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) to be held in Antigua and Barbuda on 14-19 October 2012. As the flagship regional event on the annual agricultural calendar in the Caribbean, the CWA brings all major decision-makers, actors and stakeholders in policy and practice into a dialogue on key issues of agricultural development. Together with its partners, CTA will organise and manage cross-learning activities whose results will inform policy dialogue during and after the Week. The Centre will therefore contribute to knowledge sharing and policy dialogue on one of the emerging pillars of the Caribbean Common Agricultural Policy: youth and rural modernisation. Another area in which CTA's interventions are eagerly awaited is value chain development. The Centre will co-organise a workshop and a study visit on value addition to local foods as well as a consultation on ICTs and value chains. In another critical domain, CTA will support a workshop on the development of regional policies for climate change smart agriculture in the Caribbean. The Centre's recently endorsed Monitoring, Evaluation and Organisational Learning Strategy recognises the importance of monitoring and evaluation for accountability, as well as organisational learning. This strategy acknowledges the importance of both internal (CTA) and external partnerships and the active involvement of stakeholders throughout the entire project cycle.As such, CTA in collaboration with key regional and international organisations and its partners will be hosting a Joint Learning Workshop on 'Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Practices in Agriculture and Rural Development Organisations', in Southern Africa in December 2012. The objectives of the workshop are three-fold:-gain an insight into how partners actually plan, monitor and evaluate their projects and activities; -share best practices and lessons learnt in these areas and see how these may be embedded at the level of the organisation; and -plan joint monitoring and evaluation activities for the coming year.The workshop will combine both conceptual and practical approaches to planning, monitoring and evaluation.  CTA has welcomed a new member to its team: Dr Oluyede Ajayi. Of Nigerian origin, Oluyede is now our Senior Programme Coordinator for agricultural policy and rural development. With 20 years' experience, his career has mainly focused on research into agricultural economy and policy. He will be particularly looking to improve the situation regarding agricultural and rural development policies by, for example, facilitating exchanges and understanding between scientists and politicians or by strengthening the capacities of regional economic and pan African communities (CAADP) and national bodies (Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, etc.) for the analysis and formulation of agricultural and rural development policies.A new face at CTA (continued from page 25) This competition -organised in conjunction with the value chains conference to be held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 6-9 November 2012 -is aimed at encouraging journalists to investigate the challenges and opportunities for involving smallholder farmers in value chains, showcase success stories and best practices that can be replicated, and raise awareness on the importance of value chains in agricultural and rural development. The competition specifically focuses on priority themes that will be discussed at the conference such as value chain innovations, enabling environments, sustainability and scaling up, and capacity development. For further information, contact Samuel Mikenga (Mikenga@cta.int).","tokenCount":"11571"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6943297336.json b/data/part_1/6943297336.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2e0ca95c47bfcb227b9ece61c6a89a3e450c1503
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6943297336.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dcf5cc13c96201d40b5ef7b94f459ac9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9a308a77-0ef0-445f-9a9b-03f03f1bb031/retrieve","id":"-1542964717"},"keywords":["maize","bi-parental cross","MARS","genetic gain","allele frequency"],"sieverID":"32240d8b-4578-4e7a-b0e4-4450c9a2c2b8","pagecount":"11","content":"Marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) is a breeding method used to accumulate favorable alleles that for example confer tolerance to drought in inbred lines from several genomic regions within a single population. A bi-parental cross formed from two parents that combine resistance to Striga hermonthica with drought tolerance, which was improved through MARS, was used to assess changes in the frequency of favorable alleles and its impact on inbred line improvement. A total of 200 testcrosses of randomly selected S 1 lines derived from the original (C 0 ) and advanced selection cycles of this bi-parental population, were evaluated under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions at Ikenne and under artificial Striga infestation at Abuja and Mokwa in Nigeria in 2014 and 2015. Also, 60 randomly selected S 1 lines each derived from the four cycles (C 0 , C 1 , C 2 , C 3 ) were genotyped with 233 SNP markers using KASP assay. The results showed that the frequency of favorable alleles increased with MARS in the bi-parental population with none of the markers showing fixation. The gain in grain yield was not significant under DS condition due to the combined effect of DS and armyworm infestation in 2015. Because the parents used for developing the biparental cross combined tolerance to drought with resistance to Striga, improvement in grain yield under DS did not result in undesirable changes in resistance to the parasite in the bi-parental maize population improved through MARS. MARS increased the mean number of combinations of favorable alleles in S 1 lines from 114 in C 0 to 124 in C 3 . The level of heterozygosity decreased by 15%, while homozygosity increased by 13% due to the loss of some genotypes in the population. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of MARS in increasing the frequency of favorable alleles for tolerance to drought without disrupting the level of resistance to Striga in a bi-parental population targeted as a source of improved maize inbred lines.Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important food security and incomegenerating crop for millions of people in West and Central Africa (Adetimirin et al., 2008). Its production is limited by several biotic and abiotic factors including Striga hermonthica (Del) Benth, drought, declining soil fertility and susceptibility to pests and diseases (Odendo et al., 2001). Globally, about 160 million hectares of maize is grown under rain-fed conditions and annual yield losses attributed to drought are estimated at about 25% (Edmeades, 2008). The losses are expected to be greater in tropical countries that rely on unpredictable and erratic rainfall (Mhike et al., 2012). The gap between potential yield and yield under drought stress (DS) is often large, but 20-25% of this gap could be eliminated by genetic improvement in drought tolerance and a further 20-25% by application of water-conserving agronomic practices (Edmeades, 2013). The remaining 50-60% can only be met by irrigation, when available and affordable (Edmeades et al., 2006). Drought alone causes an average yield loss of about 17-60% (Edmeades et al., 1999), while Striga causes an estimated yield loss of about 10-100% under severe infestation (Lagoke et al., 1991;Odhiambo and Woomer, 2005). Armyworm (Spodoptera spp.) infestation occurs in maize from plant emergence to tasseling and silking. Losses due to the fall armyworm attack can reduce grain yield up to 34% (Cruz et al., 1999;Lima et al., 2010). Marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) in combination with high-throughput and precise phenotyping and year round nurseries can significantly accelerate the development of climate resilient maize germplasm and have been used to improve tolerance to drought (Xu et al., 2012;Prasanna et al., 2013).Marker-assisted recurrent selection for quantitative traits has relied on identifying markers linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL). It involves improvement of an F 2 population by one cycle of selection based on phenotypic data and marker scores followed by two to three cycles of marker based scores only (Johnson, 2001(Johnson, , 2004)). Improving bi-parental maize populations for tolerance to stress through MARS is of major importance because it harnesses several QTLs carrying the most desirable combinations of favorable alleles using only significant markers to predict performance of the population (Meuwissen et al., 2001;Bohra, 2013). This procedure has been effective and superior to phenotypic selection (PS) by accumulating favorable alleles for multiple trait improvement in maize and other crops (Edwards and Johnson, 1994;Van Berloo andStam, 1998, 2001;Charmet et al., 1999;Johnson, 2001Johnson, , 2004;;Yousef and Juvik, 2001;Eathington et al., 2007;Crossa et al., 2013, Massman et al., 2013).Assessment of the changes in the frequency of favorable alleles within a bi-parental population improved by MARS would provide information on specific genomic regions that have responded to selection (Frascaroli and Landi, 1998). In addition, assessment of genetic gains in breeding program provides an opportunity to critically analyze efficiency and plan new actions and strategies. Realized progress with any breeding scheme, however, depends largely upon the ability of the breeders to identify superior genotypes and the precision of experimentation (Khalil et al., 2010). Xu et al. (2012) proposed MARS as an effective tool to breed for complex traits because it enables the harnessing of those genes or QTL exhibiting minor effects on the phenotype. Edwards and Johnson (1994) studied the changes in frequency of favorable alleles in sweet corn F 2 MARS population and observed an increase in the frequency of the favorable alleles from 0.50 to ≥0.80 at 11 out of 35 markers used and one marker locus in the population became fixed for the favorable allele. Bernardo and Mayor (2009) observed an increase in the frequency of favorable alleles for grain yield from C 0 (0.50) to C 2 (0.65) in a double haploid (DH) population improved by MARS. Recent studies (Semagn et al., 2015;Beyene et al., 2016a) have highlighted improved genetic gains in grain yield of tropical maize populations using MARS under DS. Semagn et al. (2015) reported an average gain of 184 kg ha −1 cycle −1 under WW and 45 kg ha −1 under DS conditions in bi-parental maize populations, whereas Beyene et al. (2016a) reported an average gain of 105 kg ha −1 year −1 under well-watered (WW) and 51 kg ha −1 year −1 under DS.Maize breeders at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) developed a bi-parental maize population from elite inbred parents with combined tolerance to drought and resistance to S. hermonthica. The focus of the breeding activities was to improve the population for tolerance to drought in order to extract superior inbred lines with enhanced recombination of favorable alleles originating from both parents. The bi-parental population was improved through three cycles of marker assisted recurrent selection under DS condition. However, studies have not been conducted to assess genetic gains in tolerance to drought and changes in the frequency of favorable alleles that accrued under drought stressed conditions in this population. Also, assessment of the performance of progenies derived from improved cycles of this population under S. hermonthica infestation as a non-target environment is important to determine the effect of parental selection on grain yield and resistance to the parasite. This study was therefore, conducted to assess (i) genetic gains in grain yield under DS and WW conditions, (ii) the potential impact of parental selection on non-target traits under Striga infested condition in a bi-parental population improved with MARS, and (iii) the associated changes in the frequency and number of favorable alleles using SNP markers.The population targeted for MARS in the study was derived from a cross between two elite Striga resistant inbred lines (Acr.Syn-W-S 2 -173-B * 4) and (TZLComp.1C 4 -S 1 -37-5-B * 3), that are also tolerant to drought and resistant to the major lowland foliar diseases. The F 1 was selfed to generate F 2 bulk seeds, which were grown in 50 rows of 5 m length spaced 0.75 m apart to generate 300 F 2:3 lines (F 2 derived populations in F 3 ). A total of 250 F 2:3 lines from this population were planted each in a row and crossed to an inbred tester from an opposite heterotic group.The testcrosses were evaluated under DS and WW conditions at Ikenne during the dry season (Supplementary Figure S1).Marker effects of the genotyped 250 F 2:3 lines were calculated using the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) model (Meuwissen et al., 2001), which permitted predicting genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) (Henderson, 1975;Gianola and Fernando, 1986). The GEBV was calculated per marker across all the lines derived from C 0 using the BLUP values. Each line was scored 0 or 1 based on the presence or absence of parental allele. The BLUP value per marker was multiplied by the marker score of each line and the resultant values per line were the GEBVs. Significant markers on each chromosome were identified by backward elimination. A relaxed significance level (P = 0.10), which has been found desirable to maximize the response to MARS (Hospital et al., 1997;Johnson, 2001) was used. Selection at C 1 was based on marker used to calculate GEBV which is the sum of all marker effects included in the model for an individual. The selected C 0 lines were ranked according to their GEBV and 10% of the S 1 lines with the highest GEBV were planted ear-torow and inter-crossed. Bulk pollen collected from 10 plants in each line was used for inter-crossing with other lines. Four ears were harvested in each row and shelled to obtain more than 100 seeds per ear. Equal amounts of seed were taken at random from each ear to form a bulk of the new cycle (C 1 ) for planting. Leaf samples were collected from each of the plants for genotyping at LGC Genomics using the full complement of SNPs originally used for genotyping the C 0 populations. The top 10% of the C 1 individuals were selected based on GEBV and intermated to form C 2 as described above and repeated to form C 3 . All recombination were conducted at IITA, Ibadan in Nigeria.In 2013, the original (C 0 ) and advanced selection cycles (C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 ) of the MARS population were planted at Ibadan each in 60 rows of 5 m length spaced 0.75 m apart. Several plants were self-pollinated and 120 to 150 S 1 lines were harvested from each selection cycle and retained. Amongst these, 60 S 1 lines were randomly selected and were planted along with parental lines of the bi-parental cross and an inbred tester (TZISTR1138) at Ibadan in 2013 to generate testcrosses. The S 1 lines were used as female parents, whereas the inbred tester was used as the male parent. Bulk pollen collected from the male parent was used to pollinate the emerged silks of several plants in each S 1 lines. The ears from each testcross were harvested and dried to 15% moisture content and shelled.A final set of 275 SNPs were selected after rigorous screening of 1250 KASP assays developed by LGC Genomics (United Kingdom) by converting 1536 Illumina Golden Gate Array (Semagn et al., 2013). Two separate bulks of leaf from eight plants of each parent and one bulk of F 1 was genotyped with all 1247 SNP markers at LGC Genomics (formerly KBiosciences, United Kingdom). Of the 1247 markers run by LGC Genomics markers over a 1000 SNPs provided successful calling in one or both bulks of each parent. However, SNPs that were not uniform between the two bulks (one bulk homozygous and the other heterozygous; one has allele call and the other has no allele call) of the same parent or that gave no call in one or the other parent were eliminated. Likewise, SNPs that were heterozygous in either parent or homozygous in the F 1 s were also excluded. Finally, 233 markers that are uniform and homozygous in the parents as well as polymorphic between the parents were used for genotypic selection in the MARS population (Supplementary Data 1).Sixty randomly selected maize sample from each MARS cycles were used for DNA extraction. Leaf samples from each of the randomly selected 60 S 1 lines planted to generate testcrosses and the two parents were collected 2 weeks after planting and transported to IITA Biosciences laboratory in Ibadan, Nigeria for DNA extraction. The samples were lyophilized to dry for about 3 days, then two tiny steel grinding balls (2.4 mm) were inserted into each extraction tubes. About 15-20 small leaf disk of each sample was punctured into extraction tubes, covered up and grounded into fine powder using the Geno Grinder-2000. Genomic DNA was extracted using a CTAB extraction protocol of Azmach et al. (2013). The clean pellets were dried by leaving the tubes open for at least an hour to get rid of all drops of ethanol. The dried DNA (pellet) in each tube was dissolved in 100 µl solution of Rnase-DNase free water to get rid of all traces of RNA in the pellet. The purified genomic DNA was quantified in ng/u ˛l on a Nanodrop spectrophotometer and ran on 1% agarose gel to double check the DNA quality. Genomic DNA samples were lyophilized to dry powder and sent to LGC genomics (United Kingdom) for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping on Kbiosciences' KASP assay platform (KBioscence-LGC Genomics) 1 . The SNP data obtained from this assay was used to assign genotype score to the population.An experiment consisting of 50 randomly selected testcrosses of S 1 lines from each of the four cycles of selection, along with testcrosses of each of the parental line of the bi-parental cross to the same tester (P 1 × T, P 2 × T), a cross of the two parental lines (P 1 × P 2 ) and standard hybrid checks 9022-13 and 8338-1 were evaluated under DS and WW conditions at Ikenne (6 • 53 N, 30 • 42 E, 60 m asl, 1200 mm annual rainfall) during the 2014 and 2015 dry seasons. The testcrosses were arranged in a 41 × 5 alpha lattice design with two replications and were planted in single rows of 5 m long with 0.75 m space between rows and 0.25 m spacing between plants within a row (Abdulmalik et al., 2016). In the DS trial, DS was imposed by withdrawing irrigation water from 5 weeks after planting through harvest, whereas the WW trial received irrigation until physiological maturity. NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer was applied at the rate of 60 kg N ha −1 , 60 kg P ha −1 , and 60 kg K ha −1 , at planting and an additional 60 kg N ha −1 was applied 4 weeks later. In each trial, gramoxone and atrazine were applied as pre-emergence herbicides at 5.0 l ha −1 . Subsequently, manual weeding was done to keep the experiments weed-free.The testcrosses were also evaluated under Striga infestation at Abuja (9 • 16 N, 7 • 20 E, 300 m asl, 1500 mm annual rainfall) and Mokwa (9 • 18 N, 5 • 04 E, 457 m asl, 1100 mm annual rainfall) for 2 years. The S. hermonthica seeds for infestation were mixed with fine sand in the ratio of 1:99 by weight and about 5,000 germinable Striga seeds were placed in each planting hills as described by Kim (1991). NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer was applied at the rate of 30 kg N ha −1 at planting, and an additional 30 kg N ha −1 was applied 4 weeks after planting. The N rate, which was only half the recommended rate for maize in the savannas of Nigeria, was used to ensure optimal development of S. hermonthica that allowed differentiation among testcrosses for Striga damage rating (SDR) and ensured a minimum of 50% yield reduction under infestation. Weeds other than Striga were removed by hand throughout the planting season.Data was collected for grain yield, days to silking, anthesis-silking interval (ASI), plant height, ear aspect (EASP), plant aspect (PASP), and leaf senescence (SEN), SDR at 8 and 10 weeks after planting and number of emerged Striga plants (ESP). Days to silking was recorded as the number of days from planting to when 50% of the plants showed emerged silks. ASI was computed as the interval in days between silking and anthesis. Plant height was measured as the distance from the base of the plant to the height of the first tassel branch. EASP was also visually rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = clean, uniform, large, and wellfilled ears and 5 = rotten, variable, small, and partially filled ears. PASP was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = excellent overall phenotypic appeal and 5 = poor overall phenotypic appeal. SEN was scored on a scale of 1 to 9, where 1 = almost all leaves green and 9 = virtually all leaves dead. SDR was recorded on a scale of 1-9 (Kim, 1991) at 8 and 10 weeks after planting, where 1 = no damage (highly resistant), 9 = severe damage (highly susceptible). Number of ESP was counted at 8 and 10 weeks after planting. All ears harvested from each plot were shelled to determine percentage moisture and grain yield adjusted to 15% moisture was computed from the shelled grain weight.Percentage yield loss = yield of (WW − DS)/WW * 100Analysis of variance (ANOVA) combined over years for all traits measured was conducted with PROC GLM in SAS using a RANDOM statement with the TEST option (SAS Institute, 2009). Independent ANOVA were conducted for data collected under DS, WW, and Striga infested conditions. Years, environments, replications, and incomplete blocks were considered as random effects whereas selection cycles and testcross within cycles were considered as a fixed effect. The significance of mean squares for the main and interaction effects were tested using the appropriate mean squares, obtained from the RANDOM option in SAS (SAS Institute, 2009).For each trait, cycle means across environment were regressed as dependent variables on cycle numbers (0-3) as independent variables. The coefficient of linear regression (b-value) provided an estimate of the gain per cycle, which was divided by the intercept and multiplied by 100 to obtain the percent response per cycle.Favorable alleles are alleles that have a positive effect on the trait under selection for higher values and negative effect on the trait under selection for lower values. The favorable allele of each marker was determined using the coded marker scores −1 or 1 that was used to represent each parent. As the target trait was grain yield and alleles were expected to have a positive effect on it, the parent with the positive marker score was chosen as the favorable parent. The mean change in the frequency of favorable alleles was calculated for each cycle for all markers using the Power Marker (v3.25) software. The mean, minimum, maximum, skewness, kurtosis, and standard error of the frequency of favorable alleles were calculated using the PROC UNIVARIATE procedure in SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute, 2009). The minor allele frequency, inbreeding coefficient, heterozygosity, homozygosity, number of effective alleles, genotype lost, and genotype gained were calculated using the Power Marker (v3.25) software.In the combined ANOVA, year was a significant source of variation for all measured traits except ASI, plant height, PASP, SEN under DS and ASI, and EASP under WW conditions (Table 1). The variation of testcrosses within cycle was highly significant for days to silking and SEN under DS and days to silking, ASI and plant height under WW conditions. Year × testcross interaction was significant only for days to silking under both DS and WW conditions (Table 1).Significant mean squares were recorded among selection cycles for grain yield, days to silking, and plant height under Striga infested condition (Table not included). Testcrosses within cycles were significant for all traits except for EASP and SDR at 8 weeks after planting. Environment × testcross interaction was significant for days to silking and SDR at 8 weeks after planting, while environment × cycle interaction was not significant for the remaining other measured traits.The testcrosses of MARS population sustained a 87% yield loss in 2015 due to severe damage by fall armyworm and an average of 73% in both years. The standard hybrid check (9022-13) also had the largest yield loss of 88% under DS, the highest days to silking, poorest PASP and shortest plants (Table 2). The highest grain yield was recorded at C 3 , which was significantly higher than the two standard check hybrids (9022-13 and 8338-1). The C 3 yielded 13% more than C 0 , 10% above P 1 xT and 44% more than 8338-1 (Table 2). The C 3 out yielded the base population by 163 kg ha −1 in the DS condition and also sustained a yield loss of 71% between the WW and DS conditions (Table 2). In general, mean ASI was 3 days under DS and 2 days under WW condition. Under Striga infestation, traits measured did not change with selection in the population through MARS. However, the testcrosses of S 1 lines derived from the various cycles produced more yield, had taller plants, supported fewer S. hermonthica plants, had improved Striga ratings and better EASP scores compared to the hybrid checks (Table 3).The response to selection per cycle was −2% for PASP under DS condition (Table 2).Grain yield of the best testcrosses in each selected cycle of the MARS population under DS with their corresponding performance under WW condition, Striga infested and noninfested conditions are presented in Figure 1. The best testcrosses differed significantly from the parents, P 1 × P 2 and hybrid checks under DS condition. The performance of the testcrosses ranged from 35 to 84% above P 1 × P 2 and hybrid checks under DS condition. However, the performance of the testcrosses above P 1 × P 2 and hybrid checks were not consistent under WW condition, Striga infested and non-infested conditions.The mean frequency of the favorable marker alleles for grain yield increased from C 0 to C 3 by 9% (Table 4). In C 1 , the frequencies of the favorable alleles fell below the expected frequency (0.50) and picked up again in the advanced cycles (Figure 2 and Table 4).None of the markers were fixed for the favorable allele in the different cycles of MARS (Table 4). The mean combination of favorable alleles present in each S 1 lines increased significantly by 8% from C 0 to C 3 and the mean of the best 10 S 1 lines cycle −1 increased from C 0 to C 3 by 7% (Table 5). The change in minor alleles decreased by 22% with advance in selection from C 0 to C 3 , but none of the marker loci got fixed (Table 6). The level of heterozygosity among the cycles decreased by 15% and the number of effective alleles decreased by 9% from C 0 to C 3 . The inbreeding coefficient increased by 57% and homozygosity by 13% from C 0 to C 3 . About 5% of the total markers used were lost during selection at C 2 and C 3 (Table 7). Twelve genotypes were lost at C 2 and C 3 and only two of the markers (bt2_7 and PZA02148_1) were common in the two cycles (Table 7).Developing hybrids that are able to withstand DS throughout the growing season with no yield penalty under optimum conditions have become important, since drought incidence and severity vary considerably among years and within fields (Beyene et al., 2016a). The year × cycle interaction was not significant for any of the measured traits under both DS and WW conditions, suggesting that cycles showed consistent performance despite the stress conditions, across the 2 years. This was consistent with the result of other authors (Menkir and Kling, 2007;Derera et al., 2008;Menkir et al., 2010;Adebayo and Menkir, 2014) but was in disagreement with Menkir et al. (2012). Consequently, genotypes with consistently better drought tolerance and high yield potential can be selected under both conditions. The absence of significance among cycles and the high level of yield reduction observed in this study under DS condition, resulted from the combined effect of severe DS and armyworm (Spodoptera spp.) infestation that occurred in 2015. DS can cause detrimental effects to plant pathogen resistance (Atkinson and Urwin, 2012). Exposure of plants to a pest or pathogen increases the effects of an abiotic stress such as water deficit (Cockfield and Potter, 1986;Audebert et al., 2000). For these reasons, the observed yield reduction under DS in the present study was more than those reported by other authors (NeSmith and Ritchie, 1992;Banziger et al., 2000;Menkir and Akintunde, 2001;Campos et al., 2006;Derera et al., 2008). Though, an increase in mean performance for grain yield, plant height and a decrease in PASP and SEN ware observed in the bi-parental population, the observed shift with selection moved towards the positive direction. This was consistent with the result of Beyene et al. (2015), who also reported an increase in grain yield and plant height. The ASI increased up to 4 days under DS condition from an average of 2 days under WW condition. These results are in agreement with the findings of earlier studies (Edmeades et al., 1995;Menkir and Akintunde, 2001;Kamara et al., 2003), who reported that ASI is a useful adaptive trait for selecting maize for drought-tolerance. Days to silking did not differ for all cycles, indicating that the lines were at similar phenological stage (Magorokosho et al., 2003). MARS cycles for plant height and SEN were significantly (P < 0.05) different from each other and from the hybrid checks. Beyene et al. (2016a) also found significant difference among the populations for plant height under DS.The non-significant gain for grain yield observed in this study under DS, was not consistent with the findings of previous empirical and simulation studies (Bernardo and Yu, 2007;Massman et al., 2013;Beyene et al., 2016a). The lack of response to selection under WW condition for grain yield and other traits was consistent with the findings of previous studies (Bänziger et al., 1999;Magorokosho et al., 2003). Beyene et al. (2015) and Semagn et al. (2015) conducted MARS on different bi-parental maize populations under DS and WW environments and observed that each population deferred in their response to MARS.The focus of MARS on selection for high yield under managed DS alone did not result in an overall improvement in genetic gain for grain yield and resistance to the parasite. Nonetheless, the selection for tolerance to drought did not have any negative effect on the performance of testcrosses of the different selection cycles when compared to the parents and hybrid checks. As selection for drought tolerance resulted in a negative response to selection for grain yield under Striga infestation (non-target traits), it is important to choose parents with tolerance to multiple stress and conduct selection under the different stress conditions to attain the desirable improvement in performance of the progenies derived from bi-parental cross. This was in agreement with the findings of Casler et al. (2003), who reported little improvement on the non-target trait from the simultaneous improvement  of forage yield and seed yield of orchard grass bred for an increase in forage yield. Contrary to these findings, Lafitte and Edmeades (1995) and Edmeades et al. (2006), reported significant improvements in the non-target trait in a research selected for tolerance to drought. These could probably be due to genetic and physiological mechanism(s) between the parental traits. In rare situations, selection for a non-target trait proves more effective than the target trait and when it occurs, it may simply be that the parental alleles under selection are more or less the same in both environments or because the environments do not differ sufficiently (Witcombe et al., 2008). Testcrosses 14, 34, 64, 74, 80, and 81 showed consistent performance above the mean under both DS and Striga infested conditions. As shown in Figure 1, the best testcrosses derived from the bi-parental cross produced higher mean grain yields than the parents, P 1 × P 2 and hybrid checks under DS condition. This result is similar to the findings of Beyene et al. (2016b), who reported higher performance in grain yield of MARS derived lines compared to parents and hybrid checks under DS condition.The increase in mean frequency of the favorable marker alleles for grain yield from C 0 to C 3 indicated that MARS rapidly accumulates favorable alleles linked to the desired QTLs in the breeding population while decreasing the frequency of the unfavorable alleles (Hallauer, 1985;Hallauer and Miranda, 1988;Mhike et al., 2010). Our result is in agreement with Bernardo and Mayor (2009), who reported an increase in frequency of favorable marker alleles for grain yield, grain moisture, plant integrity, and stay green in a DH mapping population improved using MARS. Edwards and Johnson (1994), also reported an increase in the frequency of favorable alleles in an F 2 population of sweet corn improved using MARS with some marker loci fixed for the favorable alleles. The frequency of alleles with large effects should increase or decrease faster than the frequency of alleles with relatively small effects (Delaney and Bliss, 1991). The trajectory of change in allele frequency allows for the identification of favorable, neutral, or unfavorable alleles. On the other hand, Johnson (2004) found a high mean frequency at C 1 while a third population showed no difference in mean frequency of favorable alleles between C 1 and C 2 . Our results suggest that breeder may conduct three cycles of MARS to develop superior inbred lines for evaluation.The mean combination of favorable alleles present in the present study reveals that all the S 1 lines derived from the advanced cycle (C 3 ), had more combinations of favorable alleles than those derived from C 0 , suggesting that a lot of recombination had taken place and the breeding scheme was effective in enhancing genetic gain in the bi-parental population. The observed increase in inbreeding coefficient with selection are in agreement with Dorak (2014), who stated that positive inbreeding coefficient values indicates heterozygote deficiency compared with Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium expectations. The high rate of loss of heterozygosity in the MARS populations was also an indicator of the effect of selection. The frequency of heterozygotes at the marker loci shown in MARS cycles decreased as the selection progressed, which was consistent with the findings of Massman et al. (2013), who also observed loss of heterozygosity in testcrosses of B73 × Mo17 MARS population using SNP markers. The unequal percentage decrease in heterozygosity and increase in homozygosity was due to loss of some genotypes in their homozygous state. The loss of genotypes observed in this study suggests that desirable alleles were selected throughout the four selection cycles. The fact that no genotype was gained throughout the selection process in each cycle provides further evidence that the genotypic data was accurately scored and is a true representation of the genetic changes that occurred during breeding cycles. A similar result was observed by Vogel (2010) in characterization of maize populations selected for grain methionine content using SNP markers. Further research is needed on the use of haplotype signatures to identify genomic regions that have responded to selection.The MARS procedure caused desirable changes in frequency of favorable marker alleles, though no significant gain in grain yield was recorded under DS condition due to the severe fall armyworm infestation. The absence of changes in grain yield from the original to the advanced selection cycles under Striga infestation could arise from the fact that the selection has not been done to improve defensive traits against Striga. Our study demonstrated that selection for improved performance under DS did not necessarily have a negative effect on grain yield under WW conditions and also, selection of parents with tolerance to multiple stress may allow some acceptable level of resistance to the parasite even when improvements were made only for tolerance to drought. To make significant progress from selection, however, selection for multiple stress should be done simultaneously under the target stress conditions. MARS could therefore, be used to improve genetic gains for complex traits like drought and accelerate the development of new inbred lines in maize breeding programs.","tokenCount":"5345"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6950721231.json b/data/part_1/6950721231.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cc73929cbb67cb0a103ed411ff22a7ac3ba9d29c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6950721231.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a29f73cc8c295a48bdf959aea964dfa6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c3d1595e-a0e6-4021-9c2a-41bb7f6349f9/retrieve","id":"-1958691445"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9c7eeb23-d0ab-499b-9632-95fa455ba42d","pagecount":"68","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate borders for which there may not yet be full agreement.The mention of specifi c companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the Word Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health Organization to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages arising from its use.Endemic zoonotic diseases such as anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis (hydatid disease), rabies and zoonotic trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) occur throughout the African continent where conditions for their maintenance and spread exist. These diseases perpetuate poverty by attacking not only people's health but also their livelihoods. Unfortunately, these persistent zoonoses remain neglected in most of the African countries where they are endemic because of lack of information and awareness about the extent of the problem, lack of suitable diagnostic and managerial capacity, and lack of appropriate and sustainable strategies for prevention and control. The result is a false perception that the burden of these diseases and their impact on society are low, such that they neither attract the health resources nor the research needed for their control -effectively putting them in the category of neglected zoonotic diseases (NZDs).Control of NZDs, by simultaneously saving lives and securing livelihoods, offers a very real and highly cost-effective opportunity for alleviating poverty, especially in remote rural areas and marginalized periurban communities. In many African countries, the veterinary public health infrastructure is poor or nonexistent, generating indecision as to which sector(s) should take responsibility for investigating and controlling NZDs (the veterinary or agricultural sector versus the health sector). This situation has led to control of NZDs falling into the gap between veterinary responsibilities and medical needs. Because NZDs affect both humans and animals, especially where they involve livestock, interventions to control NZDs require concerted action between veterinary, livestock and human health sectors. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach is therefore needed to address the major obstacles to control NZDs. This joint meeting brought together researchers, those working on the control of NZDs and policy-makers from across the African continent to discuss and plan the specifi c actions needed to implement a regional programme for understanding and controlling NZDs. These actions are detailed in the proceedings of the meeting contained in this report. The results of such a programme will benefi t the many communities affected by these diseases.Successful control of NZDs entails effective leadership and concerted effort as well as technical, fi nancial and political support. The NZD initiative is focusing fi rst on Africa as the continent most affected by these diseases. Together, we should seize the opportunity afforded to make a genuine difference. Although many meetings and initiatives have addressed emerging and re-emerging diseases, the particular focus on endemic zoonoses and the problems of their control has been lacking. There is increasing interest in neglected zoonotic diseases (NZDs), an under-diagnosed group of diseases whose neglect stems from various reasons, including the fact that the main burden of these diseases falls mostly on poor and marginalized populations. There is today a growing body of evidence to suggest that many of these diseases impact negatively on livestock productivity, undermining livelihoods both by causing illness in the household and by threatening its livestock and their output. Many of these diseases are more or less effectively controlled in industrialized countries, but are emerging or re-emerging in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Since controlling them is highly cost effective from a societal point of view, taking into account both the health and the agricultural aspects, this is an area where interventions have enormous potential to alleviate poverty.An international meeting jointly organized by the UK's Department for International Development-Animal Health Programme (DFID-AHP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) was held at WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2005, entitled \"The control of neglected zoonotic diseases: a route to poverty alleviation\" to focus international attention on the issue. Seven endemic zoonoses, namely anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis, rabies and zoonotic trypanosomiasis, were targeted as the initial group of NZDs at which to direct concerted efforts. The report of this fi rst meeting outlined the needs, justifi cation and opportunities for combating NZDs and proposed fi ve main action points to accomplish this: to promote a \"one health\" integrated approach, to develop plans for advocacy and information, to improve diagnosis and surveillance, to foster research, and to strengthen prevention and control activities.This second meeting addressed the needs and opportunities for controlling NZDs in Africa, which is the continent most affected by NZDs, where these diseases are endemic and where their combined burden seriously hinders development. The objective of the meeting was to formulate a strategic framework for implementing the action points emanating from the fi rst meeting. The involvement of researchers, programme managers and policymakers in this planning phase was to enable the intended outcome of the meeting -effective and sustainable control of NZDs in Africa.Proceedings of the WHO/DFID-AHP meeting \"The control of neglected zoonotic diseases: a route to poverty alleviation\" can be obtained freely via the Internet: www.who.int/zoonoses/Report_Sept06.pdf Promote the concept of \"one health\" by dealing with health problems in both people, their livestock and other domestic and wild animals they depend on through the development of integrated \"control packages\" that address several disease/ health problemsDiseases Meeting, 2005No data available 1 disease reported 2 diseases reported 3 diseases reportedAll rights reserved.Overlap of 5 selected neglected zoonotic diseases at country level in Africa: cutaneous leishmaniasis (anthroponotic and zoonotic), zoonotic trypanosomiasis, echinococcosis, cysticercosis (Taenia solium) and rabies. No attempt has been made to differentiate diseases that occur focally within each country. Over 30% of African countries have 3 or more of these NZDs in various combinations.Note that the boundaries shown and the designation used on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country territory, city or areas or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.Data source: World Health Organization map production: Public Health Information and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) World Health Organization.The objective of the meeting was to address the practical, institutional, political and resource-related issues associated with integrated surveillance, prevention and control of NZDs on the African continent by formulating a specifi c implementation plan for accomplishing the action points emanating from the fi rst meeting on NZDs held in 2005 (see Table ). A multidisciplinary group of researchers, programme managers and policy-makers from across the African continent was brought together with international experts and representatives of regional and international technical support agencies and organizations to develop this strategic framework for implementation.The meeting was arranged such that researchers and programme managers fi rst came together to discuss the situation of NZDs in Africa and to consider in-depth through working groups specifi c realistic actions at the regional and national levels that could be undertaken to effectively and sustainably relieve the burden of NZDs. Four working groups were convened to cover the areas that needed to be addressed:• management and advocacy • research and training (changed to research and capacity building)• diagnostics and surveillance • prevention and control.On the third day of the meeting, regional policy-makers were informed about the needs and opportunities for combating NZDs and invited to provide feedback on how the issue and actions to address it (i.e. integrated surveillance and control) would be considered from their viewpoint and to make suggestions for refi nement. The outcome was an appropriate and achievable plan of action for each of the thematic areas. The key issues considered, main discussion points and action plans developed by each of the working groups, which are presented below.In support of the working groups' deliberations, plenary presentations were provided by key speakers on topics of relevance. Two keynote presentations were given on the \"one health\" approach to prevention and control of NZDs and the double benefi ts of the control of NZDs in consideration of their dual burden on health and agriculture, respectively. Other presentations -on trends, initiatives, programmes and approaches of relevance to NZD surveillance and control in Africa -included:• Changes in livestock marketing and production systems in Africa • Avian infl uenza: paving the way for surveillance and control of NZDs • The intersectoral approach to sleeping sickness control • Challenges and opportunities for integrated control of NZDs • OIE's information system (WAHIS) and database (WAHID)• The EU's FP7 for research and the ETPGAH • The Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed)• The health promotion approach for control of NZDs.Abstracts of these presentations are included in the proceedings (pages 30-39).1/ Promote \"One Health\" Veterinary and medical aspects of NZDs control must be linked at all levels approach to integrated thereby promoting and facilitating communication, cooperation and surveillance and control of NZDs collaboration across sectors and disciplinesEstablish a secretariat to coordinate activities in conjunction with a scientifi c advisory committee tasked with facilitating and promoting priority research and training activities Increase awareness of decision-makers, the donor community, technical support agencies and other stakeholders about the burden and costs of NZDs as well as cost-effectively combating them Establish international/regional resource centers for producing, gathering and distributing educational and advocacy materials The meeting on integrated control of NZDs in Africa is satisfi ed with the progress achieved over the past two years since the initial meeting. The momentum has been maintained until this second meeting, which is tackling some of the practical, institutional, political and resource-related issues associated with the NZD initiative in Africa. Strong international interest in this initiative is evidenced by the support provided for the meeting from international technical support agencies (WHO, FAO, OIE) and research institutes (ILRI, DBL) as well as the European Commission and the African Union. In addition to the commitment of these agencies, institutes and intergovernmental organizations, funding bodies have also begun to recognize the impact of these diseases and have started supporting the development of the concept of NZD prevention and control (e.g. the EU Research Directorate, the Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).Recommendations from the meeting for a plan of action to combat NZDs in Africa have been developed following intense deliberations of the diverse group of researchers, programme managers, policy-makers, international scientists and representatives of technical support agencies assembled in Nairobi to consider the best way forward. The results provide the basis for a strategic framework to effectively address the burden of NZDs in Africa. One of the main components of this plan is the establishment of a coordinating body in the form of a scientifi c advisory committee to provide managerial support and to serve as the \"driving force\" for combating NZDs. The meeting also called for an assessment of current NZD surveillance and control activities and tools in Africa with an aim of fi lling in the gaps through development of regional and national surveillance and control programmes based on proven guidelines and tested strategies. The justifi cation and demand for these activities will be secured through understanding and information about the burden of NZDs on African society and their recognition as a serious hindrance to development.The NZD initiative may benefi t from the global attention paid to highly pathogenic avian infl uenza due to H5N1, whereby new whereby new veterinary public health (VPH) structures and initiatives established to deal with that emerging threat (e.g. OIE/FAO/AU Animal Health Centres, Regional/National Task Forces) can also be utilized to address the persisting problem of endemic NZDs. In addition, a number of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are targeted for elimination. The successful completion of these programmes will create new opportunities on the global NTD platform for increased attention to be paid to NZDs that are already being included as a subset of the NTDs under WHO's global plan to combat NTDs (http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2007/WHO_CDS_ NTD_2007.3_eng.pdf).Neglected diseases are at the core of human rights as they deal with issues related to poverty, discrimination, stigma and the right to health. 5. Newly established regional FAO/OIE/AU animal health centres should support activities to control NZDs within their regions.6. WHO with FAO and OIE should lead a regional inventory of existing intersectoral arrangements and ongoing NZD control programmes.7. WHO AFRO with HQ support should develop a regional strategy and mid-term plan for NZD surveillance, prevention and control.8. WHO, FAO, OIE and other organizations or entities such as the AU, EU, WB, IFAD and ALive should plan for a next Africa regional meeting on NZDs (suggested deadline: early 2009).1. Clarify the role of national VPH structures in the context of their contribution to health care, while recognizing that the responsibilities of VPH go beyond NZDs.2. Use guidelines developed by the NZD International Scientifi c Advisory Committee to guide how VPH units should be established and structured. It will be crucial to be very clear as to whom they report to and where they are located. The mandate of the national intersectoral committees or task forces established to deal with avian infl uenza should include other zoonoses of public health signifi cance including NZDs. In addition, these committees should become permanent as was successfully accomplished in Ethiopia.3. Produce and diffuse advocacy and informational material in all media (radio, fi lm, print media, etc.), targeting decision-makers and those who implement and enforce recommendations and, separately, end-users (that is, those people threatened most by NZDs). The fi rst group of briefi ng documents targeting specifi c key decision-makers (ministers of agriculture/livestock, fi nance, health, education and the interior and writers of policy documents) will need to be designed. Developing the educational materials for the second group of documents will require the active involvement of mass media technicians and communication experts.4. Include zoonoses in the education system (alongside other health and veterinary issues) at all levels from primary school onwards and integrate NZDs in the health delivery system.5. Include NZDs in the curricula of veterinarians and physicians, with the possibility of joint courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.6. Promote synergy through reciprocal dialogue between employers and educational institutes so that employers (e.g. ministries) advise educational establishments on the profi les required for effective NZD control.7. Conduct pilot studies on the burden of NZDs and their societal costs, risk analysis and adjusting for underreporting. In particular, conduct cost analyses of \"incentive-based research and intervention packages\", and study the relationship between poverty, human health-related risks, livestock production, distribution systems and value chains (farm to fork, stable to table) and NZDs.8. Conduct an inventory of notifi able NZDs (in humans and animals) in each country, evaluate and develop diagnostic tools (including molecular tools) and conduct knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies in local settings. Improve the compatibility of reporting systems for human NZDs and animal NZDs.9. Initiate pilot studies to test the acceptability, effectiveness, timing and costing of possible combined integrated prevention and control packages. In this respect, WHO and its partners should produce guidelines for the development and delivery of such packages.Increased public awareness of all relevant audiences is a crucial and cross-cutting component of any integrated package.1. Need for an international entity with strong regional representation to steer the Integrated Control of Neglected Zoonoses initiative, with particular attention to Africa.• an intersectoral approach;• effective communication among all stakeholders;• the establishment of and liaison with regional NZD networks, collaborating and reference or training centres and other relevant public and private institutions including academia.3. Need for Regional Scientifi c and Technical Advisory Groups to advise the above entity in planning, implementing and monitoring control and research activities in order to:• conduct an inventory of current research into epidemiology, burdens and control of NZDs; • identify signifi cant research gaps in these areas;• ensure that research efforts are integrated with control needs. 4. Need to mobilize human and fi nancial resources by securing the commitment of governments, international and regional organizations and donor bodies to enable operational research, training and implementation of surveillance and control activities.1. Establish regional resource centres for gathering educational and a dvocacy materials on NZDs in collaboration with WHO, FAO and OIE.2. Increase awareness among decision-makers and policy-makers, donor community and other stakeholders about the burden, impact and costs of NZDs.3. Disseminate and improve availability of information on all aspects of NZDs. • An international scientifi c advisory committee for NZDs (NZD-ISAC) should be established to facilitate information-sharing.• Both veterinary and medical fi elds must be represented on the committee, while recognizing the need to involve other professionals such as scientists, economists and sociologists.• As Africa is a key area for NZDs, the NZD-ISAC should include representation from AFRO, and include AU (IBAR and human health group).• The committee should also involve existing vertical groups (e.g. African rabies group, CWGESA, Bovine tuberculosis (TB) network), which could include setting up a forum for regular meetings with representatives from these groups.• A time-line should be fi xed for the basics of setting up the NZD-ISAC, ideally before the next global neglected zoonoses meeting.• NZD-ISAC should be responsible for setting dates and themes for future international and regional NZD meetings, which should be held regularly, probably at least every two years.• The NZD-ISAC should provide a model for how the \"one health\" approach can be applied in Africa in relation to NZDs in the context of the eco-systems facilitating their transmission. This should initially be interpreted in terms of a dynamic intersectoral approach to the control of these diseases.• The NZD-ISAC should establish ad hoc committees to address the following as required:-management and advocacy; -research and capacity building; -diagnostics and surveillance; -prevention and control.• The NZD-ISAC should identify existing national, regional and international centres where NZD information could be compiled, stored, updated, accessed and disseminated (i.e. NZD reference centres).• The NZD-ISAC should clarify the role of national VPH structures in the context of their contribution to health care, while recognizing that the responsibilities of VPH go beyond just the NZDs.• The NZD-ISAC should provide guidelines on how national VPH units should be established and structured. Reporting arrangements should make clear to whom and in which location the units should report (ministry of health versus ministry of agriculture/livestock) .• There is a need to institutionalize a national inter-ministerial committee in order to oversee the VPH units, both to clarify fi nancial and authority issues. This should be advocated for at the policy level of national strategic action plans (as was successfully demonstrated in Ethiopia for avian infl uenza and the potential to transform these units to deal with more zoonoses).• VPH units should oversee any programme or projects on NZD research, surveillance, and prevention and control and advise the leading organization of each programme/project.• Responsibilities of VPH units go beyond simple meat inspection and food safety issues to include active surveillance and awareness creation, with reference to existing guidelines, and should be responsive to developments.• Activities with respect to NZD should be included in the routine work of VPH units. Affected countries should identify the key NZDs and assign appropriate tasks for their surveillance, prevention and control to the VPH unit.• Staffi ng of VPH units should refl ect professional balance and appropriate training.• Reporting structures should be promote links with the veterinary/ livestock, agriculture and health services and research organizations.• There is an urgent need to increase awareness among decisionmakers, the donor community and other stakeholders on the burden, impact on livelihoods, human health, agricultural production and other costs imposed by NZDs. This task will rely on the work on surveillance, estimation of incidence and prevalence and calculation of disease burden .• Information on the total costs to society of NZDs (in both people and their livestock) can be used to demonstrate that controlling NZDs is highly cost-effective. Information used should be highly relevant to the countries/organizations/groupings being targeted, and also appropriately packaged.• The \"one health\" concept should be further explained and promoted.• Active targeted lobbying for NZD control (e.g. for tabling items on World Health Assembly agenda, FAO council, AU council of Heads of State) by briefi ng relevant national ministers should be undertaken by key members of the NZ-ISAC or similarly highprofi le individuals.• AU, WHO and FAO should initiate a biennial meeting of Ministers of Agriculture/Livestock and Health from African states, with a view to reviewing issues of joint concern. (This should be modelled on the biennial RIMSA meeting organized in Latin America coordinated by PAHO.)Effective advocacy based on evidence of the burden of NZDs on endemic communities is needed to ensure that the importance of NZDs is recognised by decision-makers and donors.• Opportunities for regular interaction among individuals at all these levels (meetings, workshops, seminars, briefi ng sessions) should be created.• Advocacy and information materials in all media (radio, fi lm, print) should be produced and diffused, in particular, briefi ng documents targeting specifi c key decision-makers and policy-makers (Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, Health, writers of policy documents). Mass media technicians and communication experts should be actively involved in this process.• New discoveries, innovations and research breakthroughs of relevance to the NZD control should be communicated to decisionmakers.• NZD issues should be included in the education system (alongside other health and veterinary issues) at all levels from primary school onwards.• Synergies should be promoted through reciprocal dialogue between employers and educational institutes so that employers ( e.g. ministries) can advise educational establishments on the profi les required for effective NZD control.• Control of NZDs should be integrated into the health-care delivery systems for both humans and animals. • Resource or information centres at national and regional levels are needed to make available appropriate information on NZDs at all levels and to all stakeholders.• To avoid duplication of medical/veterinary resource centres, consideration should be given to creating NZD sections within existing centres or independent NZD resource centres as appropriate.• Good management of these resource centres is imperative: for example, it is vital that information materials are submitted to these centres in a timely manner; ways and means to increase access to NZD resource centres should be devised and those who need the materials should be alerted to their availability (e.g. e-mail alerts)• The relevant VPH unit should take the lead in ensuring the NZD resource reference centre is established and the information effectively disseminated.Pastoralist boy near Lake Chad. Consumption of unpasteurized milk enables transmission of NZDs from livestock to humans.a. There should be diverse representation on the committee with regard to disciplines, geography, gender, etc.b. Africa should be represented scientifi cally as well as politically with a representative of the AU.c. Terms of reference for the Committee should be formulated.d. The committee will assist WHO and other organizations and agencies with organizing international and regional NZD meetings. The next international and Africa meetings should be held in 2009.e. Ad hoc subcommittees on management and advocacy, research and capacity building, diagnostics and surveillance, and prevention and control will be formed.f. Guidelines concerning the structure and functions of regional and national VPH units will be developed by the above Committee.g. Guidelines for establishing national, regional and international reference centres for NZDs will be developed and the Committee shall nominate existing institutes to serve as hosts for the NZD reference sections.a. An inventory of African countries where VPH units exist will be conducted by the NZD-ISAC.b. VPH units will be established in countries where they do not already exist and strengthened in those where they do exist based on general guidelines provided by the NZD-ISAC: i. National interministry committees will be formed to oversee the VPH units; ii. The structure and functions of the VPH unit and its location will be determined by the interministry VPH committee.a. The NZD-ISAC will lobby to have the issue of NZD control addressed by the governing bodies of AU, WHO, FAO and OIE.b. The NZD-ISAC, AU, WHO, FAO, OIE and other relevant bodies will initiate joint regional meetings of the Ministers of Health and Agriculture/Livestock on a regular basis (biennial) to review the NZD situation and other issues of joint concern.Programmes for sustained personal interchange between ministries of agriculture and ministries of health should be developed, to facilitate long-term communication, collaboration and programme development across the sectors.A lot of people who really need informational materials on NZDs currently fi nd them inaccessible.c. The NZD-ISAC together with WHO, FAO, OIE and AU will assist regional NZD networks/working groups to produce advocacy and informational material on the societal costs and benefi ts of controlling NZDs for dissemination to decision-makers at all levels.d. The VPH units and regional NZD working groups/networks with support from NZD-ISAC will actively lobby national and regional governing bodies to include the issue of NZDs in the health, agriculture/livestock and educational systems.4. Establish Regional/National NZD Reference Centres a. NZD centres should be established by the VPH units within national veterinary or medical resource centres or as independent NZD reference centres when appropriate b. AU-IBAR/FAO/OIE regional animal health centres should select national NZD units to serve as regional reference centres for Africa.c. Mechanisms for timely submission and dissemination of information should be instituted (e.g. Africa VPH network, national/regional e-mail notifi cation systems).d. VPH units should manage the NZD reference centres (whether national or regional in scope) i. Hiring an administrator ii. Establishing a NZD offi ce iii. Liaising with networks/working groups and vertical programmes for individual diseases to share information 4. Pilot studies on the NZDs, especially in regard to their burden and socioeconomic costs, and risk analysis including adjusting for underreporting should be conducted.1. Regional training centres on NZDs should be established.2. Individual scientists, medical doctors, veterinarians, animal scientists and other appropriate personnel should be trained in techniques applicable to the diagnosis, epidemiology, burdens and control of NZDs should be trained.Training packages on prevention and control of NZDs should be provided to target groups in affected communities (e.g. livestock keepers) with particular regard to the importance of the role of women through health education and agricultural extension.• The term \"training\" should be substituted with \"capacity building\".• Research should guide control.• Both basic and operational research are needed.• Emphasis should be placed on bridging research and development.• Research should be aimed at improving livestock marketing opportunities and livelihoods of farmers/livestock keepers.• Involvement of stakeholders is important especially for sustainability (e.g. validating endemic community acceptance of intervention tools).• Sustainability can also be ensured by mobilizing affected communities to make change through \"community and incentivesbased control packages\".• The research package needs to be attractive to the private sector.• Curricula need to be fl exible enough to include other sectors.• There is a need to ensure publication, dissemination and feedback to study populations of results.• It should be remembered to elucidate traditional methods for prevention and control of NZDs.• Research and capacity building should be:-designed with the aim of achieving cost-effective, ethical and sustainable control or elimination/eradication of NZDs; -multidisciplinary, multidisease, intersectoral and interprogrammatic in nature; -directed at both humans and animals; -contribute to the surveillance and control of NZDs; -support diagnostic methods for NZDs; -provide evidence on the burden of NZDs based on published and informed data: and -promote an \"incentives-based approach\".• Research and capacity strategies should:-build the capacity of both veterinary and human medical communities as well as of health and agricultural extension workers; -identify and strengthen NZD networks and reference laboratories; -use existing services in a combined way to share resources; -investigate the effectiveness and appropriateness of diagnostic tools and intervention measures (e.g. vaccines). a. On the burden and societal costs by: i. standardizing data gathering;ii. designing appropriate epidemiological data collection methods; iii. measuring mortality/morbidity/social impact associated with NZDs; iv. conducting farmer fi eld schools on selected issues; v. developing rapid appraisal for proxies of diseases; vi. performing cost analyses of \"incentive-based intervention packages\"; vii. conducting epidemiological studies to demonstrate the existence of and links between the NZDs in both animals and humans.Training local health and agricultural extension workers about NZDs along with other livestock diseases and public health problems.b. On Risk analysis by: i. developing transmission dynamic models to link human and animal disease; ii. assessing the relationship between risk, poverty and NZDs; iii. assessing risks of livestock production and distribution systems in relation to NZDs; iv. assessing risks associated with value chains (farm to fork, stable to table).c. On underreporting by: i. developing and validating methods to estimate reporting proportions (biases) at all steps; ii. promoting better linkage with extension services. f. \"Proof of principles\" for the effectiveness of NZD control in animals for prevention of human disease should be demonstrated.g. \"Proof of principle\" studies to show effectiveness of production system changes should be carried out.h. Control measures should be developed and their effectiveness and appropriateness in the fi eld be estimated.• Brucellosis vaccine (RB51) for cattle  5. Availability of diagnostic facilities at the regional (i.e. regional reference centres) and national levels as appropriate should be ascertained. • A surveillance programme for NZDs in Africa should promote systematic collection and assimilation of data on both humans and animals.• Surveillance systems should cover each of the NZDs.• Existing databases should be used as appropriate, although it is not always clear where data are currently available (ministries, NGOs, etc),• Data collection is most often the legal mandate of the respective ministries. Whatever parallel structure (if that is appropriate) is recommended it will have to fi t into these systems;• The impact of decentralization and privatization on data availability has not always been positive.• Data transfer from local to central level (and back again) is often lacking.• Medical and veterinary data collection is usually not coordinated and often maintained separately. There are examples of integrated surveillance systems (which currently do not have a focus on zoonoses) through the \"INDEPTH Network\" (www.indepth-network. org) which has Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) sites in different countries around the globe. This model is one of those available for collecting data, but may not be appropriate for countrywide, national/local data collection.• There is a need for consistent, reliable data at a national level (over a longer term) but also the need for reliable data to demonstrate the neglected status of the diseases in the shorter term. This is necessary to raise the profi le of NZDs and ensure adequate longer term resources for control.• An example of a regional data capturing system is the East African Disease Surveillance System (EADSS) which depends on effective communication between veterinary and medical partners at each level (district, region, national, regional). Regional collaboration cannot be expected to work if there is no collaboration at the lower levels, to cross-check and validate the data.• Data collection implies data storage. Best data storage methods need to be identifi ed.• The lack of diagnostic facilities and central/referral laboratories compounds the problem. There is a need for an inventory of national and regional laboratory capacity and data availability.• Regional reference laboratories for diagnosis of NZDs should be established to provide services for countries where national diagnostic capacity is not currently available.• An example of an established regional reference lab in Africa that could serve as a model is the CWGESA Regional Reference Laboratory for Immunodiagnosis of Taenia solium infections based at the Samora Machel School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia in Lusaka:-the reference laboratory aims at standardizing immunological screening for T. solium infections in the eastern and southern Africa region; -it has capacity for antigen testing for both human and pig serum samples and is building capacity for antibody detection as well; -it conducts the same tests using the same reagents and methodology; -it uses the same personnel conducting the tests. In many instances the scientists conducting the surveys go to Lusaka with their samples to conduct the testing themselves under close supervision of the reference laboratory technicians and managers; -the end result is that results from around the region can be compared easily. So far, nearly 8000 samples have been tested (90% pig samples/10% human samples); -charges for testing cover the costs of reagents and other supplies (i.e. non-profi t);• A fi ve-point fl exible scheme could be used to develop a national/ regional NZDs surveillance programme by answering these questions:-Which zoonoses are problems in which countries or regions? -Which primary data are important, and do veterinarians or medical doctors have a better opportunity for collecting the data for each NZD of importance? -What reporting system, if any, is already in place and does it need upgrading? Is diagnostic confi rmation available incountry? Regionally? -What level of cross-checking is needed and at which level? -Can we have combined teams for active surveillance? -How can the detailed data be shared with higher levels?• Diagnostics research and development for NZDs should be focused on developing tests that are practical and inexpensive, can be stored easily and provide rapid results.• An independent validation of NZD diagnostic tests is required (i.e. those who have developed the tests should not be the ones validating them).To conduct (in parallel) demonstration surveillance projects on NZDs in selected African countries. Steps are as follow:1. Form national multidisciplinary teams to conduct active surveys on the burden of NZDs relevant for each selected countryPoints responsible for coordinating the surveillance project jointly including collation and cross-checking dataThere is no \"one size fi ts all\" method for improving data collection for these neglected diseases. Each  that are in need of support and improvement will be identifi ed. b. Opportunities for addressing other adverse human and animal health/production conditions suffered by the surveyed communities while collecting the core data should be facilitated to promote the \"one health\" approach.© Sue Welburn Strategies should take into account the economic, sociological and cultural aspects related to the diseases as well as traditional knowledge.The \"proof of principle\" for integrated control should be demonstrated through pilot projects, which should assess the impact, safety and cost-effectiveness of the strategies.Cost-effective single NZD control programmes that promote an intersectoral approach should be supported where appropriate.Efforts should be directed primarily at rural smallholder and pastoral communities as well as marginalized urban/periurban livestock producers.Proper meat inspection and control including responsible disposal of infected carcasses and visecera can help combat NZDs.• Specifi c risk groups for the different NZDs and benefi ciaries of interventions should be identifi ed. The most vulnerable populations at risk of NZD infection are livestock keepers, veterinarians and animal health workers, laboratory workers, consumers, children and women.• Operational research needs include intervention delivery systems and the benefi t of combining interventions.• Leishmaniasis and RVF should be considered for inclusion in the NZD group of diseases for Africa (RVF classifi ed as an emerging zoonosis).• VPH units should be created/strengthened and entrusted with managing/coordinating national NZD prevention and control efforts. Experience indicates that basing VPH units in the Ministry of Health to be the most effective arrangement.• The formation at national level of an inter-ministerial committee with task forces to address NZDs could greatly facilitate prevention and control. It would be helpful to involve other relevant ministries in addition to those of health and agriculture/livestock such as Ministries of Finance, Wildlife and Tourism.• In countries where a highly pathogenic avian infl uenza virus (HPAI) task force exists, its mandate could be expanded to neglected and other zoonotic diseases.• Involving Ministries of Finance would be strategic with regard to mobilisation of resources aimed at NZD prevention and control.• The newly established regional FAO/OIE/AU-IBAR animal health centres should include support of NZD activities within their regional mandate and facilitate the national VPH units.• Policy-makers should advocate with their respective ministers to raise the issue of the burden and need to control NZDs on the agenda of the meetings of the governing bodies of relevant regional and international organizations (e.g. AU, World Health Assembly, FAO Conference and OIE chief veterinary offi cers (CVOs) annual meeting).• International specialized (WHO, FAO, OIE) and other organisations/entities (e.g. AU, EU, WB, ALive) should join forces and play supporting and facilitating roles for cooperation, coordination and resource mobilization aimed at NZD prevention and control in Africa and elsewhere (e.g. arranging a regular regional meeting involving Ministers of Health and Agriculture/Livestock, technical meetings, stimulating (operational) research, strengthening veterinary and heath services, etc).• There is a strong need for visibility and advocacy for NZDs as public awareness (and especially consumer demand) is a crucial entry point for prevention and control of NZDs.• Regional inventories of vaccines, treatments, public awareness material, suppliers and supplies relevant for NZD prevention and control should be conducted, updated on a regular basis and reported to the appropriate bodies.• Means for prevention and control of NZDs should be made accessible in Africa.• Vaccination campaigns for NZDs may serve as an entry point for other interventions such as health education.• The appropriateness of combining animal vaccination programmes with that of children should be considered and guidelines for such developed:-NZD research should be integrated with NZD prevention and control needs.• With regard to the benefi ts of prevention and control of the NZDs, it is helpful to consider the following with respect to each of the NZDs:-animal species affected -human risk groups -preventive, curative and control measures available (or desirable) -benefi ciary groups -possible added value for the intervention(s).-combined vaccines against different zoonotic and/or nonzoonotic diseases (e.g. anthrax and blackquarter vaccines for cattle); -combining different types of interventions for the same species of animal (e.g. rabies vaccination and praziquantel administration to dogs); -Combined interventions for different animal species (e.g. vaccination of cattle and dogs).• Lessons can be learnt from current ongoing integrated zoonoses control programmes such as sleeping sickness (SOS) and RVF.a. Make an inventory of existing intersectoral arrangements and ongoing zoonoses control programmes.b. Defi ne the status and needs regarding vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, public awareness material, suppliers and supplies for surveillance, prevention and control of NZDs.The integrated approach to preventiona and control of NZDs can be extended to incorporate non-zoonotic public health and livestock problems prevalent in the same impoverished communities.a. Develop regional strategies and midterm plans for NZD prevention and control in the Africa region in collaboration with WHO, FAO and AU.b. Develop and deliver integrated NZDs control and prevention packages (including components on public awareness). Zoonoses are the most prominent example of interaction between human and animal health. perspective can contribute to the strengthening of health systems in a way that disciplinary medicine cannot offer alone, and thereby contribute to an improved use of scarce resources. Furthermore, there is a large untapped potential of new institutional and operational models for providing health services jointly to remote populations which is particularly relevant with regard to ongoing health sector reforms and the human resource crisis.Promoting intersectoral participation and cooperation in regional and international working groups, and multidonor initiatives, as well as WHO-facilitated programs on zoonotic diseases, foodborne diseases, and control of neglected tropical diseases, adds value to the international advocacy efforts aimed at putting neglected zoonotic diseases on the agenda in multiple sectors.The total societal benefi ts, the intervention in the animal sector saves cost, provides the economic argument and thus opens new approaches for the control of zoonoses in developing countries through cost contributions from multiple sectors.Major changes in population, urbanization, consumer demand, environmental risks and globalization are already having an important impact on development in Africa. The rate of change of these main drivers is likely to speed up even further and will profoundly infl uence livestock production and marketing systems.With respect to zoonotic diseases, we can expect an increase in the risk of zoonotic diseases and an increase in the complexity of how new and old risks will be identifi ed and managed.With respect to zoonotic diseases, three broad livestock production and marketing systems can be used to illustrate key anticipated trends. Industrial livestock systems are much less important in Africa than other regions and their widespread growth is unlikely except in a few sectors such as the poultry sector, close to large urban markets. The two main livestock systems will continue to be intensifying market-oriented smallholder systems and adaptive agro-pastoral and pastoral systems in more marginal areas. There will be major changes in intensive marketoriented smallholder systems which will supply large local and regional markets. Intensifi cation of production will increase disease risk and market supply chains to consumers will increase in complexity, requiring better risk management approaches for food safety and zoonotic disease control. In more marginal livestock systems, climate and other shocks will increase risk and vulnerability to traditional neglected zoonoses and as well as the potential threat for emerging ones.As neglected diseases are linked to neglected peoples, the targeting of development interventions for the poor within systems will be critical. Opportunities for pro-poor targeting are discussed which could benefi t producers, service providers, employees and consumers. Active interventions will be required if poor people are to benefi t from increasing market opportunities and protected from economic and climatic shocks. How decision makers and investors are mobilized around a neglected peoples and diseases agenda will be critical. This requires demonstrating the importance of zoonotic diseases in addressing key development challenges such as economic growth and poverty alleviation.The increasing length and complexity of value chains will require innovative arrangements for risk management. Control of NZDs needs to be linked to development challenges that matter to decision-makers and investors.The fi rst outbreaks of the presently circulating highly pathogenic avian infl uenza virus (HPAI/H5N1) have found most countries unprepared, requiring the diversion of human and fi nancial resources from ongoing disease control programmes to address HPAI and its consequences. At present most developing countries affected or at risk have been able to access fi nancial support from various sources. Nevertheless, the extent of human resources, technical expertise and logistical support have remained limited while countries have been able to establish inter-ministerial task forces, rehabilitate diagnostic laboratories and benefi t from capacity building to enhance their surveillance and response capabilities.The increased awareness of policy makers and the general public of the potential impact of zoonotic diseases on animal populations, human health and countries' economies provides the momentum to address not only emerging but also endemic/neglected zoonoses by building on the structures, approaches and cooperation mechanisms that have been put in place. Overall, the recognition that most zoonotic diseases in humans require coordinated control efforts addressing the disease at its source in animals is an important step forward for the implementation of integrated approaches and the long promoted intersectoral cooperation.The international cooperation, coordination and support between animal and human health sectors and others for combating emerging zoonoses such as avian infl uenza can be transferred to endemic/ neglected zoonotic diseases.The New PCR based diagnostics helped identify accurately the reservoir of disease in cattle and demonstrate that restocking activities were responsible for the disease spreading around Lake Kyoga, Uganda. This led to development of a cattle-based approach to halt the spread of the acute form of sleeping sickness towards the Gambiense disease focus, complementing efforts to trap tsetse fl ies or treat humans with the disease.In phase I, 220,000 head were targeted for trypanocide treatment in 5 districts in the overlap zone with follow on application of insecticide applied using restricted application technology to prevent re-infection.The cost-effectiveness of this new approach attracted private funding from IK, to help underwrite Makerere University's veterinary program to prevent the disease in cattle using an inexpensive spray-on insecticide developed by CEVA.Neglected Tropical Diseases, such as Sleeping Sickness, promote poverty as they stigmatize, disable and inhibit individuals from being able to care for themselves and their families.The What became evident at our meetings in 2005, is that we were dealing with a very diverse set of diseases, caused by viruses, bacteria, blood parasites, worms, some food-borne, some transmitted by insect vectors… and manifesting themselves in very different ways in different human and animal populations. What they all have in common is that, fi rstly, they selectively attack the poorest members of society, all too often also reducing the productivity and increasing the mortality of those few animals these people are able to keep, and on whom families rely to provide some protein or a source of cash in times of adversity. Secondly, they are diffi cult to diagnose and awkward to treat. Many of these diseases are linked to very specifi c risk factors, refl ecting the interaction between affected human and animal populations. As a result their distribution is very patchy, completely absent in some areas, highly concentrated in others. For this reason, they are massively underreported and the people affected often suffer for years before being correctly diagnosed -in some cases dying undiagnosed as a result of a treatable condition. Thirdly, effective control or even prevention of zoonotic diseases often relies on dealing with the disease in animals, thus involving the veterinary sector; while the main benefi ts accrue to human health and are channelled through the health services. Thus, as has often been said, these diseases fall into the crack between the veterinary and the human health services' responsibilities. For all these reasons, they are a grossly neglected group of diseases, and nowhere more neglected than in Africa, where poverty and the demands of the major diseases of malaria, HIV-AIDS and tuberculosis mean that health sector resources are already so stretched as to fi nd it diffi cult to accommodate other concerns.Our mission now must be to fi nd ways of converting these diseases' main disadvantage -the way the responsibility for control often devolves to those who do not always directly benefi t from it, being passed back and forth between the human and the veterinary sector -into a strength. As workers in the fi elds of human and animal health, as scientists and social scientists, we have come to believe that this is a challenge that can be met. Firstly, we aim to promote the concept of 'one medicine', founded on the belief that human and animal diseases need to be considered and treated together -sometimes because they are one disease which must be dealt with in all the populations it affects; sometimes because there are great economic and social advantages in delivering health to both people and their livestock at the same time. Secondly, we aim to provide fi nancial decision-makers with clear evidenceQuantifying the dual burden of the disease, along with underreporting will greatly strengthen the justifi cation for intervention. Having calculated the total societal benefi t to be gained from controlling NZDs ways should be found to enable sharing the costs between the agricultural and health sector in proportion to the benefi ts each sector obtains.of the true overall cost of these diseases, both to human health and livestock productivity. This means providing evidence of their actual, as against their reported, incidence as well as fi nding out more about their impact. Thirdly, we are all involved in developing cost-effective strategies for their control, and in demonstrating how very cost-effective these strategies can be, often far more so than is the case for other diseases.Using this as a basis, we are working on new models for equitable cost-sharing between the veterinary and medical sectors. We believe that combining these approaches, by showing how high the dual burden that these diseases impose is, by improving existing diagnostics and control strategies, by looking for support for researching them and for their control and by implementing fairer intersectoral cost-sharing, will make it possible to greatly reduce the suffering of those affected by this neglected group of diseases. ","tokenCount":"7974"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6952253769.json b/data/part_1/6952253769.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d7577182618cf32bdc1621756d9fbadbc252ed23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6952253769.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a1f5b898caf5a88e2b20c9b9e677d791","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d13a5d97-9994-4d93-b4d4-6c579beecdbb/retrieve","id":"2143797425"},"keywords":["Aromatic rice","Indole-3-acetic acid","L-tryptophan","Rhizobacteria","Organic farming"],"sieverID":"acb0e316-ccc2-4a44-9f31-2bfacd417448","pagecount":"24","content":"Significance and Impact of the Study: Organic rice farming practice has played a key role in increasing the indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production ability of rice rhizobacteria. Three species of rhizobacteria that produce the highest amount of IAA, via the L-Trp-independent pathway, were of interest and applied to the Thung Kula Rong Hai (TKR) paddy areas, where the availability of nitrogen, the main content of L-Tryp, might be reduced in the rhizospheric soil due to salt stress, to enhance KDML 105 rice growth and yield.Given the rate at which the world's population is growing, the amount of food produced may need to be doubled in the next 30 years. The main challenge is to increase crop yield as well as food quality in a sustainable way, and this requires the replacement of chemical inputs with other alternatives such as microbial bioinoculants. There has been a continuous rise in the use of microbial products in recent years, and the demands create real opportunities for highquality and effective bioinoculants (Lugtenberg 2015). Half of the world's population consume rice every day, and as consumption increases with the ever-increasing population, there could be huge consequences on the environment. Currently, rice production is faced with serious challenges: (1) the worldwide mass rural-to-urban movement of young people induces a serious scarcity of farm labor; (2) it is impossible to expand the surface of land dedicated to rice production; (3) rice production requires ample amount of water, but with the global warming some areas are partially deprived of rainfall. The selection of high-yielding varieties/hybrids of rice and concomitant use of high levels of fertilizer, especially nitrogen fertilizer, have been the two major drivers of increased rice production in the last four decades, with huge negative consequences on soil health (Prasad et al. 2015). Among all the rice varieties grown across the world, Thai Jasmine rice, or Khao Dok Mali 105 (KDML 105), has dominated the aromatic rice scene, at least in Thailand, particularly for international trade. It won World's Best Rice for two consecutive years (2016 and 2017) but lost the following years due to quality decline induced by significant and frequent application of chemical inputs (Suwannarit et al., 2012;Chan-in et al. 2020;The Rice Trader, 2020). It is well known from the literature that excessive application of chemical inputs as recommended in conventional farming leads to a significant decrease in microbial diversity and ecosystem services. On the other hand, agroecological practices combined with the use of commercial bioinoculants containing effective beneficial microorganisms in organic farming enhance soil health and crop yield in an environmentally friendly way (Melo et al. 2016;Avis et al. 2008;Marja et al. 2014). In Thailand, one of the best areas to produce KDML 105 is Thung Kula Rong Hai (TKR) at the center of northeast Thailand. Unfortunately, intensive management based on chemical inputs has significantly reduced the aromatic level of the rice grains (Suwannarit et al. 2012). Meanwhile, these mineral fertilizers have provoked an anthropogenic salination process, resulting in a high production cost and unprofitable investment (Vetchasitniraphai and Intaruccomporn 2013;Arunin and Pongwichian 2015). To reverse such a negative and unsustainable situation, Thai authorities encourage farmers as much as possible to produce organic KDML 105, with the objective of achieving a high yield with good aroma without any negative impact on the soil and the environment.The plant microbiome is very important for plant growth and health especially in the fraction of soil influenced by the plant, called the rhizosphere, which serves as an interface that connects the soil with the plant. The rhizosphere microbial communities are highly dynamic, and their composition is mainly shaped by the plant and the soil type and factors influencing these drivers such as the agricultural practices (Fasusi et al. 2021). There are a several studies concerning the diazotrophic bacteria that live in association with the rice plant, in genera including Pantoea, Bacillus, and Sphingomonas in the seed (Mano et al. 2007), Azospirillum sp. and Herbaspirillum sp. in the stem (Koomnok et al. 2007;Mano and Morisaki 2008), and Bacillus sp., Bukholderia sp., Herbaspirillum sp., Klebsiella sp., Methylobacterium sp., and Novosphingobium sp. in the roots (Verma et al. 2004;Mano and Morisaki 2008). The literature has described many plant hormones, also called phytohormones, but there are 5 main classes: auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, abscisic acid and ethylene. Several studies have described the ability of diverse microbial species to produce phytohormones, with a big focus on the production and role of auxin. This class of phytohormones is well known for its role in almost all aspects of plant growth and development such as stem and root elongation, stimulation of cell division, lateral and adventitious root initiation, apical dominance, vascular tissue differentiation, gravitropism and phototropism (Egamberdieva et al. 2017;Frankenberger and Arshad 2020).The most important naturally occurring auxin is indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Despite the occurrence of a multitude of pathways, it is agreed that there are two dominant IAA biosynthetic pathways in microbes: one via the intermediate indole-3-acetamide (IAM) and the other via the intermediate indole-3-pyruvate (IPyA). In the IAM pathway, tryptophan is first converted to IAM, which is then catalyzed to IAA. This pathway has been well characterized in many phytopathogenic bacteria and in some rhizobia. In the IPyA pathway, which is abundant in beneficial plant-associated bacteria, tryptophan is first transaminated to IPyA, which is then converted to indole-3-acetaldehyde (IAAld), which in turn is converted to IAA.Interestingly, multiple pathways may be present and active in the same single organism, including the tryptophan-independent pathways (Prinsen et al. 1993). IAA production in beneficial bacteria has always been described as promoting plant growth, as inoculation with these strains results in increased root and shoot biomass. From an agronomic point of view, promoting the inoculation of these strains in cultivated plants is a reasonable way to limit the utilization of chemical fertilizers, especially N fertilizers, without compromising plant yield (Spaepen 2015). Recently, several beneficial bacteria isolated from the rice rhizosphere, such as Bacillus, Burkholderia and Pasteurella, have been described as high IAA-producing strains capable of significantly enhancing rice yield under controlled conditions (Dar et al. 2014).Azotobacter AtMh6 showed the highest IAA production (28.0 mg IAA L -1 ) and Azotobacter AtCk1 gave the best seedling growth with 91.7% increase in N uptake over the control. (Chumpoo and Shutsrirung, 2018). Growth in terms of tiller numbers and shoot length rice was significantly increased by inoculation of Azospirillum sp. B510 and affected minor riceassociated bacteria (Bao et al. 2013). Inoculation experiments with the endophytic bacterium Azospirillum sp. strain B510 significantly enhanced the growth of newly generated leaves and shoot biomass under greenhouse conditions and then transplanted to paddy fields, tiller numbers and seed yield significantly increased. Azospirillum sp. strain B510 is a promising bacterial inoculant for plant growth promotion and agricultural practices. This was also obtained after inoculation of maize with the strains Chryseobacterium sp. NGB-29 and Flavobacterium sp. NGB-31, which have also been described as high IAA-producing strains (Youseif 2018). With increasing awareness about the decline in the aromatic quality of KDML 105 due to environmental degradation and low soil health caused by multiple applications of chemical fertilizers, it seemed scientifically relevant to investigate the presence of high IAA-producing native beneficial bacteria in the rhizosphere of KDML 105 cultivated in the TKR region of Northern Thailand, in order to see how their populations can be enhanced by agricultural practices such as organic farming which favors higher microbial diversity.Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (i) to isolate indigenous rhizobacteria from KDML 105 rice grown under organic and conventional farming conditions; (ii) to evaluate and screen the isolated rhizobacteria for their ability for IAA production; (iii) to identify selected isolates by 16s rRNA gene sequencing; and (iv) to evaluate the effect of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolates on rice seed germination.The number of isolates per site is presented in Table 1. We found about 10 times more native rhizobacteria in ORF soils compared to CRF soils (2.8 ×10 7 CFU g -1 dry soil and 2.6 ×10 6 CFU g -1 dry soil for ORF and CRF practices, respectively). Chaiharn and Lumyong (2011) isolated bacterial strains from rice but also from bean and maize rhizospheric soils in Northern Thailand. They came up with a bacterial population range in the rhizosphere of 1.45-4.5 x 10 8 CFU g -1 . This average is higher than the average of the populations we measured. This suggests that the rhizosphere of rice may be less rich in rhizospheric bacteria than the rhizospheres of bean and maize. Among all the colonies with morphological differences, we came up with an average of 45 isolates for ORF and 25 for CRF practices, which suggests a higher variability in colonial morphology of the ORF isolates than of the CRF isolates. Finally, we isolated more strains from ORF practices than from CRF practices, and the abbreviations for selected isolates are as follows: ORF and CRF stand for organic and conventional rice farming, respectively, followed by the site of isolation and the isolate number. The 2 general categories for farm management practices in the literature are organic and conventional.Organic management is considered as promoting biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. In contrast, conventional practices are based on the application of chemical inputs, which reduce soil microbial community diversity and evenness (Krauss et al. 2011).Our results confirm these definitions and highlight the importance of organic management for enhancing the populations of rhizobacteria in the soil of rice fields. Wang et al. (2016) showed that for 3 crops (including rice), the bacterial community structure was more uniform and the microflora more stable with organic management compared to conventional management. In addition to the improvement in soil nutrient status and soil enzyme activity due to organic 172 management, these authors showed a positive impact on the richness and diversity of the soil 173 bacterial communities. These results may explain why, in a review, Chaparro et al. (2012) 174 pointed out how plant productivity and ecosystem functioning are negatively impacted by the 175 loss of microbial diversity and evenness. The key to solving these challenges is finding a good 176 balance between great yield and minimum resource use. According to these authors, agriculture 177 must consider maximizing the co-adaptation between plants and microbes to promote soil 178 microbial diversity as organic management does. 179 180 183 All data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Turkey's HSD at 184 the 0.05 probability level in Statistix 9.0. Arithmetic means were calculated for each of the 185 three replicates separately 186 187 *The average values followed by different letters within the same column were significantly different according to pairwise comparisons using the Tukey (HSD) test (p ≤ 0.05).We assessed the capacity of 629 isolates to produce IAA. This choice was made based on the importance of the auxins in root development (lateral and adventitious root formation and root elongation) (Kazan 2013). As shown in Supplementary Figure 1, out of the 629 isolates, 545 isolates (86.7%) displayed positive IAA production while 84 isolates (13.3%) displayed non-IAA production. Among the positive IAA-producing isolates, 389 were from soils of ORF practices and 156 from soils of CRF practices. The average production was about 20 μg of IAA mL -1 (data not shown). Melo et al. (2016) investigated the influence of the crop management system (conventional and organic) on microbial PGPR features of the rhizosphere of Carica papaya. The difference in total bacterial density between both crop managements was not significant. On the other hand, IAA production in the presence of tryptophan for the conventional farming system ranged from 15 to 60 μg mL −1 , while for the organic farming system it ranged from 8 to 180 μg mL −1 . This suggests that organic management promotes high-producing IAA bacteria in the rhizosphere of Carica papaya. These results are in accordance with ours, showing how organic management boosts the population of IAAproducing rhizobacteria in the rhizosphere of rice plants.Tryptophan has been identified as a main precursor of IAA biosynthesis pathways in bacteria (Spaepen 2015). It plays this precursory role via the intermediate IAM or IPyA. The IPyA pathway is the most common pathway in beneficial plant-associated bacteria. However, it occurs also as a tryptophan-independent biosynthesis pathway, which remains partially unexplored (Prinsen et al. 1993;Spaepen et al. 2007). For instance, we do not know if it is present in beneficial microorganisms living in the rhizosphere of rice plants. In the present study, among the 545 isolates that showed positive IAA production, we selected 163 isolates (98 ORF isolates and 65 CRF isolates) that produced at least 20 μg IAA mL -1 each, and we tested their ability to produce IAA in nutrient broth (NB) medium without and with 0.02% L-Trp. These 2 options were used to distinguish isolates capable of producing IAA in the presence or absence of tryptophane in the culture media. In Table 2, we see that for the 98 ORF isolates, 97% produced IAA in the absence of L-Trp (84% produced 0.10 to 20 μg IAA mL -1 ; 10% produced 20 to 50 μg IAA mL -1 ; and 3% produced > 80 μg IAA mL -1 ). For the 65 CRF isolates, 94% produced IAA in the absence of L-Trp, but the production was mainly low, with 92% producing 0.10 to 20 μg IAA mL -1 and 2% 20 to 50 μg IAA mL -1 . We did not find very high producers among the CRF isolates.Production of IAA in the presence of L-Trp in the culture media happened with 90% of both the CRF and ORF isolates. We found some differences in the distribution of the production between the ORF and CRF isolates when L-Trp was added to the culture media: for ORF, 50%, 27%, 5% and 17% produced 0.10 to 20 μg IAA mL -1 , 20 to 50 μg IAA mL -1 , 50 to 80 μg IAA mL -1 , and > 80 μg IAA mL -1 , respectively; for CRF, 69%, 17%, 11% and 2% produced 0.10 to 20 μg IAA mL -1 , 20 to 50 μg IAA mL -1 , 50 to 80 μg IAA mL -1 , and > 80 μg IAA mL -1 , respectively. When we compared the average values of IAA production, the highest production was observed in the absence of L-Trp (ORF 155 μg IAA mL -1 ). Our results suggest that organic management stimulated the selection of isolates that produced more IAA, and this production was both tryptophan-dependent and tryptophan-independent.Table 3 shows the details of the IAA production with and without L-Trp in the culture media for 23 of the highest producing isolates. The production of IAA was higher when L-Trp was added to the culture media. There were some high-producers among the ORF isolates, such as ORF4-5 and ORF4-13 from site 4 and ORF15-19, ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23 from site 15, with an average production of 140 to 160 μg IAA mL -1 . The production of the CRF isolates was lower; the highest productions were 80 μg IAA mL -1 by CRF14-15 and 50 μg IAA mL -1 by CRF17-18. Interestingly, in the absence of L-Trp, the 3 highest producers of IAA (ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23) produced more IAA than in the presence of 160.80 and 174.73 μg IAA mL -1 , respectively) (Table 3). On the other hand, for all the other strains mentioned above (ORF4-5, ORF4-13, CRF14-15 and CRF17-18), the IAA production decreased dramatically (below 20 μg IAA mL -1 ). Our results with the 3 strains ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23 suggest the existence of different pathways to IAA production in these bacteria, an observation also pointed out by Spaepen (2015). Ahmad et al.(2020) published the first report on IAA biosynthesis by one isolate of Micrococcus employing tryptophan-independent pathway. Similar approaches based on the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methodology should be used to confirm the existence of this pathway in the 3 strains ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23.We confirmed these results on IAA production using HPLC. Our results are totally in accordance with those obtained with the Salkowski's method (but with smaller amounts of IAA detected) (Table 3). 11.75 hijk 55.10 h 1.32 ± 0.00 1 Farming practices: ORF (Organic Rice Farming) and CRF (conventional Rice Farming) Mean ± standard error values for 3 replications. The average values followed by different letters within the same column were significantly different according to pairwise comparisons using the Tukey (HSD) test (p ≤ 0.01). In the literature, many endophytes have been described as IAA producers and beneficial to the growth of rice plants (Etesami et al. 2014;Syamsia et al. 2015;Banik et al. 2016;Wang et al. 2016;Defez et al. 2017;Adeleke and Babalola 2018;Greetatorn et al. 2019). Only a few studies targeting rhizospheric plant growth-promoting microorganisms of rice have been published (especially for KDML105 aromatic rice). For instance, Harikrishnan et al. (2014) isolated one strain of Streptomyces, namely VSMGT1014, which produces IAA, from a rice rhizosphere in India. Khan et al. (2017) isolated probiotic bacteria in Bangladesh and showed that some isolates enhanced the growth and grain yield of rice. Among these isolates, several were high IAA producers. They were mainly Burkholderia sp. In the present study, all the 23 isolates were sequenced, and the results showed there were eight different genera: Sinomonas sp., Micrococcus sp., Microbacterium sp., Fictibacillus sp., Bacillus sp., Burkholderia sp., Leclercia sp. and Enterobacter sp. (Figure 1). The isolate ORF1-14, ORF4-5 and ORF4-13 were closely related to Sinomonas sp. bE8(2011) (98, 99 and 98% similarity, respectively) (Supplementary Table 1). The isolates ORF14-15 and ORF15-21 were closely related to Sinomonas sp. R-NB-3 (99 and 99%, respectively; Supplementary Table 1). The highest IAA producer, isolate ORF15-23, was closely related to Sinomonas sp. OTB13 (99%; Supplementary Table 1Table 4). Six selected isolates, ORF6-44, ORF9-35, ORF11-15, ORF15-7, ORF15-19, ORF15-20 and ORF15-49, were likely affiliated as Micrococcus sp. The isolates were closely related to the Micrococcus luteus strain FC1737 (99%), Micrococcus yunnanensis strain SR3-17-1 (99%), Micrococcus luteus strain SSA-1 (98%), Micrococcus yunnanensis strain SR3-17-1 (99%), Micrococcus sp. UT 1-02 (99%), Micrococcus aloeverae strain ML051-2 (99%) and Micrococcus sp. strain SSA-1 (98%), respectively (Supplementary Table 1). Two isolates, ORF1-13 and ORF6-17 were closely related to the Microbacterium sp. strain OsEp_A&N_15A2 (99% similarity each; Supplementary Table 1). Only one isolate, ORF11-23, was closely related to the Fictibacillus sp. strain NBS12 (99%; Supplementary Table 1). One CRF isolate, CRF17-18, was closely related to the Bacillus marisflavi strain C5 (98%; Supplementary Table 1). Three CRF isolates, CRF16-3, CRF16-20 and CRF17-7, were closely related (99% each) to Burkholderia sp. GR 3-04, Burkholderia sp. LRSZN41 and Burkholderia sp. LRSZN42, respectively (Supplementary Table 1). Another isolate, ORF2-22, was closely related to the Leclercia adecarboxylata strain 60ft2 (99%; Supplementary Table 1). Lastly, isolates ORF4-4 and ORF10-12 were closely related to the Enterobacter cancerogenus strain 42-a blue (99 and 98%, respectively; Supplementary Table 1). Rao et al. (2018) described the genus Sinomonas sp. as gram-staining, aerobic, non-motile member of the Micrococcaceae sp. family. Several Sinomonas sp. were previously described as Arthrobacter sp., a genus known to contain strains that produce IAA (Forni et al. 1992). This may explain why we came up with several strains of IAA-producing Sinomonas sp., including the highest IAA producer, isolate ORF15-23, described as closely related to Sinomonas sp.OTB13. The current study is the first report to show clearly that strains of the genus Sinomonas sp. can produce IAA, and, for two of them, our results suggested high production of IAA without using L-Trp as a precursor. Further investigations are required to confirm this suggestion. The presence of Burkholderia sp. and Bacillus sp. among the IAA-producing genus was not surprising because they are well-known bacterial IAA producers living in the rhizosphere of cultivated plants. However, it was interesting to find that Burkholderia sp. were present only in the soil of the conventional fields. Wang et al. (2016) pointed out the positive effect of organic agriculture on the abundance of some nutrition-related bacteria, but also the negative impact on the abundance of acid-and alkali-resistant bacteria. Burkholderia sp. may belong to one of these 2 categories (acid-or alkali-resistant bacteria) and be absent in the soil of organic fields.Interestingly, ORF6-44, ORF9-35, ORF11-15, ORF15-7, ORF15-19, ORF15-20 and ORF15-49 were likely affiliated as Micrococcus sp. Ahmad et al. (2020) showed that one strain of Micrococcus sp. produced mainly IAA through a tryptophan-independent pathway. This seems to be the case for ORF15-20, as showed in Figure 1. For the 5 other strains of Micrococcus sp., IAA production was observed mainly when tryptophan was added to the culture media (Supplementary Table 1). Obviously, all the strains of Micrococcus sp. do not have the same pathway for IAA production.For biopriming, KDML 105 rice seeds were soaked in a solution of diluted bacterial supernatant IAA or pellet bacterial cells to evaluate their effect on seed germination. The germination rates of the negative control (sterile water) and two positive controls (10 and 30 μg mL -1 IAA solutions) were 80, 83 and 85%, respectively (Figure 2).Effect of different rhizobacterial isolates (crude bacterial supernatant IAA or pellet bacterial cells) on the germination rate of rice seeds. The positive control consisted of stock solutions of 10 and 30 μg mL -1 IAA, and sterile distilled water was used as the negative control.On average, the results indicated that the pellet bacterial cells of almost all selected isolates gave higher germination rate (84 to 98%) than the bacterial supernatant IAA of the same isolates (80 to 97%). For our 3 highest producing strains, ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23, the last 2 significantly enhanced the rice germination rate when pellet bacterial cells were applied (same results with ORF4-5 and ORF4-13, which produced high amounts of IAA only in the presence of tryptophane in the culture media; ORF15-20, ORF15-21 and ORF15-23 produced higher amounts of IAA in the absence of tryptophane in the culture media than in the presence) (Supplementary Figures 2 and 3). The application of crude bacterial supernatant IAA and pellet bacterial cells of the selected isolates gave a linear relationship between the IAA concentrations and the percentage of germinated rice (Supplementary Figure 3). The percentage of germinated rice showed statistically significant correlation (P<0.05) with the amount of IAA productions by selected isolates, with R 2 = 0.7049 and R 2 = 0.7352 for the seed biopriming with crude bacterial supernatant IAA and pellet bacterial cells, respectively. Our Crude bacterial sup results suggested that the percentage of germinated rice was strongly correlated with IAA production. This is totally in accordance with results of previous studies on rice in aerobic conditions by Ng et al. (2012) andHernández-Rodrıguez et al. (2010). In the literature, it is admitted that the microbial conversion of the precursor L-tryptophan (Trp) to IAA is often under environmental control since IAA concentration varies largely with changes in the environment (Bergman et al. 2008;Khalid et al. 2006).  are interesting because of their ability to produce high concentrations of IAA in the absence of tryptophane in the culture media. In addition to IAA, from our previous study, these strains could also solubilize P and K, and produce siderophore (Chinachanta et al., 2020). Growth promotion and alleviation of salt stress by the inoculation of PGPR including IAA producing isolates has been recorded for improving the productivity of wheat, rice, maize, and groundnut under saline conditions (Egamberdieva et al., 2019;Rojas-Tapias et al., 2012;Shukla et al., 2012;Rajput et al., 2013;Sarkar et al., 2018;El-Esawi et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2018).Therefore, the IAA producing strains obtained in the study have a high potential to apply for KDML105 rice yield enhancement in the TKR area. However, the efficiency of these isolates should be further investigated for their potency on KDML 105 rice under the prevailing soil conditions in the TKR region (e.g., salinity and drought).Rhizosphere soils were collected (0-15 cm) from 18 sites located in five provinces (Roi Et, Maha Sarakham, Surin, Yasothon, and Srisaket) of the TKR area. Nine sites practiced organic rice farming (ORF) and the other nine sites practiced conventional rice farming (CRF).Soil sampling and soil characterization are described in Chinachanta et al. (2020). The rhizosphere soil suspensions were serially diluted (10 -1 -10 -5 ). An aliquot of 0.1 mL (10 -3 -10 -5 cells) of each sample was spread on egg albumin agar medium plates (Alef, 1995) and incubated at 27°C for 3 days. After counting, morphologically distinct colonies were randomly picked from the same plate of each sample and further re-streaked onto the nutrient broth (NB) plates to get pure cultures. The pure cultures of selected rhizobacterial isolates were used in this investigation. The pure cultures were preserved on NA slants for short-term storage and in 30% glycerol at -20°C for long-term storage.A broth of each selected isolate (1 mL) was inoculated in 25 mL of nutrient broth (NB: Hi-media, India) which is a minimum media containing 0.02% L-tryptophan (L-Trp) and incubated with shaking (120 rpm) for 3 days. IAA produced by each isolate was quantified by the Salkowski method (Gordon and Weber 1951;Brick et al. 1991;Goswami et al. 2013).The cultures were centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 15 minutes. One milliliter of the supernatant was mixed with 2 mL of Salkowski's reagent (Gordon and Weber 1951), and then incubated at room temperature in the dark for 30 minutes. The quantity of IAA was measured by a spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, mod. GENESYS 20, USA) at OD530nm. All the strains were classified into low, medium, and high IAA-producing categories. Finally, only rhizobacterial isolates that produced more than 20.00 μg mL -1 of IAA (in NB with L-Trp) were selected for further investigations.All the selected isolates were multiplied in 25 mL NB containing 0.02% L-Trp with shaking (120 rpm) for 3 days. The culture supernatant of each isolate was analyzed for IAA concentration by HPLC, as described by Kim et al. (2006), using a Thermo Surveyor system (Thermo Scientific, U.S.A.) consisting of a HPLC pump (MS Pump Plus) and an autoinjector (Autosampler Plus; Thermo Electron, Bremen, Germany). The column used was C18 (150×2.1 mm; 5 mm; Waters Corp., Milford, MA, U.S.A.). The mobile phase was methanol: water: acetic acid (36:64:1) at a flow rate of 1 mL min -1 . The detector was a UV/VIS detector (Polygen, Denmark) at a wavelength of 220 nm. IAA was confirmed by comparing the peaks with the peaks of an authentic IAA (SigmaAldrich, U.S.A.).Molecular identification of the selected isolates was performed by the amplification of the 16S rRNA gene. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were amplified using the forward primer (27 F) 5'-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAGG-3' and the reverse primer (1492R) 5'-GGTTACCTTGTTA CGACTT-3' (Tournier et al. 2015). Amplicons were purified using the DNA clean and concentrator-MEGAquick-spin™ Plus Total Fragment DNA Purification Kit and eluted buffer in 40 µL DNA concentrations of purified PCR. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of the strains were analyzed on the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) website using the BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) tool and compared to the corresponding neighbor sequences from the GenBank-NCBI database. The consensus sequence was imported into the Multalin program and multiple alignments were performed with related species (GenBank-NCBI database).Sequences were compared to those present in the data bank using BLAST and aligned with the ClustalW program. The results obtained were further imported into the MEGA-7 software for the construction of a phylogenetic tree using phylogeny reconstruction analysis and maximum likelihood with 1000 replicates. The UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) method used was the substitution nucleotide type and the statistical method used was maximum composite likelihood.Enhancing seed germination by selected isolates KDML 105 (Oryza sativa L.) rice seeds were used to evaluate the ability of IAAproducing isolates to boost the germination rate. The selected isolates were grown in 25 mL NB containing 0.02% L-Trp for 36 hr at 37 °C with shaking at 120 rpm. The culture broth of each isolate was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 15 min. The broth was separated into two phases-crude bacteria supernatant IAA and pellet bacterial cells. The crude IAA supernatant (~25 mL) and the cell pellets were separately adjusted to 100 mL with sterile distilled water (Chromkaew et al. 2018). IAA solutions (10 and 30 μg mL -1 ) were used as the positive control, and sterile distilled water was used as the negative control.The KDML 105 seeds were surface-sterilized in a mixture of 0.2% Tween 80 and 2% sodium hypochlorite for 3 min. The seeds were then washed 3 times with 70% ethanol, and then rinsed 5 times with sterile water. The sterile seeds were soaked (seed biopriming) in a solution, according to the treatment, and then incubated in the dark at 25ºC for 24 hr. The biopriming seeds (20 seeds per treatment) were then placed at an equal distance on sterilized tissue paper in Petri dishes using sterile forceps (five replicates per treatment) and kept in the plant growth chamber under dark condition at 25 °C for 5 days. Afterward, the plates were taken out and checked for germination. We considered germination as the capacity of one seed to form roots and shoots. Completely randomized design was used in this experiment.In this study (screening of isolates for IAA production, determination of IAA by high performance liquid chromatography and enhancement of seed germination by selected isolates), a mixed model analysis procedure was used to analyze data. Data were compared statistically by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Duncan's multiple range tests at the 0.05 probability level in Statistix 8.0. Each data point was the mean of three replicates, and standard deviations (SD). Arithmetic means were calculated for each of the three replicates separately.A new version of MEGA (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis) has been developed for use on MacOS systems (MEGAX_10.1.8_installer.pkg). For identification of rhizobacteria by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the obtained data were analyzed statistically (Correlation) using SPSS Statistics for Mac OS X, version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). To obtain the relationship between the concentrations of IAA produced by rhizobacterial isolates and the percentage of germinated rice seeds diluted in crude bacterial supernatant IAA and pellet bacterial cells, the data were analyzed using the R package corrplot and performance analytics (R 1.2.5019)All sequences generated were submitted to the NCBI database generating accession numbers OK103855.","tokenCount":"5013"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6955966444.json b/data/part_1/6955966444.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dab89615e1be500b480dcb77353b992ec8ad434c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6955966444.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"93b3cd417cb3f0391891be399ffe398d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/85d16ea3-38da-4b22-afdc-ef29dad0fdb8/content","id":"1661338265"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d05dba9f-5adc-42bc-b6e8-b983195884f0","pagecount":"29","content":"CIMMYT's methods fOFon-farm research (OFR) are now being implemented by many national programs, helping them to identify improved and appropriate technologies for target groups of farmers. These experiences have contributed to a growing awareness that policy-induced constraints can limit gains associated with potential or actual technological change. CIMMYT's Economics Program has recognized that efforts to analyze this policy context and effectively communicate information derived from the analysis to policymakers could improve the basis for formulating or implementing policy. This area of research is called farm-based policy analysis (FPA).The case of market imperfections in fertilizer provision in Haiti discussed in this working paper illustrates the close links between OFR and FPA. However, although traditional OFR assumes that socioeconomic circumstances--including the policy environment--are a given, FPA sees policy as a lJal';able, and builds a case for modifying policy constraints by applying microeconomic tools to farm-level data obtained through OFR programs.As this study demonstrates, that approach helped encourage important changes in fertilizer policy in Les Cayes, Haiti, which suggests that the market imperfections identified through the analysis were due at least in part to a lack of appropriate technical information among the relevant decision makers. It is apparent that FPA analysis using data generated from OFR programs has much potential to help correct such deficiencies and make farmers' policy environment more conducive to technological change.The environment in which farmers make production decisions is generally complex. Both natural circumstances (e.g., rainfall, soil type) and economic ones (e.g., product and input markets) condition farmers' behavior and choice of technology. The economic environment is shaped by many factors, including agricultural policy decisions. Such decisions significantly affect the introduction and diffusion of improved technologies.CIMMYT has formulated a set of cost-effective research methods for developing improved, appropriate agricultural technologies through on-farm research (OFR).l These methods are being implemented in many areas of the world, increasing the capabilities of national research programs to generate a.nd transfer appropriate technologies for target groups of farmers.The experience of many OFR programs has indicated that policy-induced constraints can limit gains associated with potential or actual technological change. CIMMYT's Economics Program recognizes that methods for analyzing the policy context could greatly benefit many national research programs. The methods would provide guidelines to identify, where appropriate, policy constraints or opportunities related to the use of new technologies, and to effectively communicate that information to relevant policymakers to improve the basis for formulating or implementing policy. This area of research is what we call farm-based policy analysis (FPA).2As this case study illustrates, OFR and FPA are closely linked. An essential characteristic of both approaches is a \"bottom up\" perspective that takes as a point of departure the microlevel data obtained through field research with target groups of farmers. Thus FPA and OFR tend to be \"case-specific.\" Another link between the two approaches is the concept of \"recommendation domain\"3 used in OFR. In FPA, that concept is an appropriate framework to measure the impact of policy on target groups of farmers, for policy issues cannot be assessed effectively at the level of the individual farm.1 See Byerlee, Collinson et al. (1980).A tentative conceptual framework for FPA is described in greater detail in Martinez et al. (1986).A recommendation domain may be defined as a group of farmers sharing agronomic and socioeconomic circumstances similar enough for the same recommendation to be appropriate for all. See Harrington and Tripp (1984) for more details.But there are important differences between OFR and FPA. Traditional OFR assumes that socioeconomic circumstances, including the current policy environment, are given, and tries to identify technologies within that context.In FPA, policy is seen as a variable, and where appropriate an analysis of the wealth of farm-level data that can be supplied by OFR programs is used to build a case for modifying policy constraints.Although CIMMYT is only just beginning to develop an approach for FPA, initial work suggests that the following sequence of steps can be helpful:1) Identify the policy-induced constraint(s).2) Understand the rationale behind the policy in question, and how the policy affects relevant sectors of society.3) Identify the decision makers most directly associated with the policy to better target results of the analysis.4) Identify solutions or policy options, including performance measures that can satisfy decision makers, again taking into account the potential impact of those options on relevant sectors of society.As this paper will illustrate, microlevel data from OFR can be used effectively to generate both appropriate technologies and valuable information that policymakers can employ to make the policy environment more conducive to technological change. First, some background information on the OFR program and its results is presented. Next follows a discussion of inconsistencies between local policies and conditions that might accelerate adoption of the recommendations of the OFR program. The third section of the paper describes the process of targeting audiences and communicating information to them. The fourth section reviews actions taken by institutions and policymakers that encouraged changes in fertilizer distribution in Les Cayes. The role of both the FPA analysis and the Les Cayes OFR program in supporting these positive changes is also discussed. Finally, some general conclusions underline the impact that farm-based policy analysis can have on increasing the productivity and incomes of target groups of farmers.The Ministry of Agriculture The Les Cayes District embraces some 32,000 ha of arable land and its population exceeds 200,000. As maize is the most important crop in the area (total production for the District is estimated at 14,000 t), it was selected as the target crop for the OFR program. Each year, farmers in Les Cayes plant an average of half a hectare of maize, often spread over two or more parcels of land. 'fhe principal maize season extends from FebruarylMarch to June/July; relatively little maize is grown at other times.Following CIMMYT's sequential strategy for OFR,4 the team in Les Cayes did an exploratory survey of farmers' circumstances to identify and assign priority to production constraints. At that time most farmers were not fertilizing their maize, though they generally cropped their fields continuously. That practice implied asteady depletion of plant nutrients, which was confirmed by agronomic field observations that identified important nitrogen deficiencies and suggested possible phosphorus deficiencies. Secondary data (Virginia Polytechnic InstitutelUSAID 1979) Ruggested thai local maize varieties had low genetic yield potential, so both plAnt fertilization (N and P) and variety were subsequently identified as high-priority research topics.The experiments implemented to test hypotheses on fertilizer and variety revealed that nitrogen fertilization (80kg N/ha) had a highly consistent, positive effect on yield across sites and cycles, with yield increases averaging 850 kglha. 5 Response to phosphorous fertilization (50 kg Plha) was significant in only 3 of 12 locations (with no significant interactions), and it was apparent that phosphorus levels were not a major production constraint in most of the area.Variety gave more promising results. An improved maize variety yielded better than the local material in 16 of21 locations, with yield increases averaging 520 kg/ha. The interaction between nitrogen and variety was not statistically significant.A combined economic analysis of three years of on-farm trials indicated that two factors strongly conditioned returns to nitrogen fertilization by limiting farmers' ability to obtain the technology's full potential benefits: 1) land tenure arrangements and 2) the type of fertilizer available.Approximately half of the maize farmers interviewed were sharecropping.Sharecroppers were typically compelled to give half of the harvest to the landowner, though fertilizer costs were generally not shared. Under those arrangements, tenant farmers received only half of the benefits of using fertilizer while paying all of the costs. Thus the economic returns to nitrogen fertilization were dramatically different for landowners and sharecroppers.Aside from land tenure, the other factor affecting the economic feasibility of nitrogen fertilization was the type of fertilizer available. Rates of return to investment capital were computed for two nitrogen pricing scenarios: 1) urea sold in the free market and 2) the more widely available compound fertilizer (18-8-20 NPK) supplied and subsidized by MARNDR. With urea, returns across locations for landowners only were well above the opportunity costs of capital. With MARNDR's fertilizer blend, returns were below acceptable levels. The OFR program therefore identified an important inconsistency between the Ministry's fertilizer policies and the real needs (and potential demand) of Les Cayes maize farmers.5 For full details of the Les Cayes OFR program and experimental results, see Yates and Martinez (1984).The researchers assumed that this economic constraint was an integral part of farmers' decision-making environment, and so decided to inform the relevant policymakel's of the situation. 'rheir subsequent actions, based partly on the information mentioned above, helped remove the constraints to using the recommended technology. The next sections of this paper will consider those developments in greater detail, presenting the methodological framework that was used in the Les Cayes study and which may be used to analyze similar cases elsewhere.Local Demand for Nitrogen Results from three experimental cycles (1981, 1.982, and 1983) showed a consistent maize yield response across sites and years to nitrogen application. That physical response may be represented by the following function:where:maize yield; units of applied nitrogen; units of other factors influencing the nitrogen/maize yield relationship but considered fixed (typical components of vector X will be levels of other inputs, such as other nutrients or variety); and a vector of farmers' circumstances conditioning the choice of techniques (e.g., soil type).Consider a single response curve, Y =f (NIXO, ZO). Given a set of maize and nitrogen prices, it is possible to derive a demand function for nitrogen. The demand function reflects a farmer's willingness to pay for successive units of nitrogen. That is, where:N* = per-hectare amount of nitrogen demanded by a representative farmer in the recommendation domain; and l'= price ratio PnlP m , where P n is the field price of nitrogen and Pm.the field price of maize.Fi~lre 1 illust.rates a hypothet.ical response curve (pAnel a) and a hypothetical derived demand (panel b) for nitrogen. 6 For any given price ratio, and with perfect information, the farmer will choose a level of nitrogen that maximizes profits. The derived demand function would then reflect these amounts for different price ratios. In Figure 1 (panel b) at 1'0, the optimal nitrogen use level is No (point A), whereas if the price ratio drops to l'l. it is economically appropriate for a farmer to increase the use of nitrogen to N 1 (point B).Note that the derived demand curve of panel b can also be interpreted as illustrating the maximum amount that a farmer will be willing to pay for successive units of nitrogen. Furthermore, note that at price ratios above 1'2 the farmer will choose not to use any nitrogen.To this point we have developed the response function y =f (.) and its associated derived demand curve for nitrogen N* =g (.) for a representative farmer. The per-hectare amount ofN the farmer will apply would be No, given 1'0 and the physical response curve. However, to derive the demand curve for the market we need to aggregate horizontally the demand curves of all farmers belonging to the recommendation domain--that is, those whose response curve for N can be fairly represented by the same response function, Y =f (NIXO. ZO). In this case, although No in panel a or b could represent, for example, 30 kg ofN per hectare, No in aggregate might be 120 t of nitrogen,7 reflecting the aggregated demand of the regional market at the price ratio 1'0.The OFR program in Les Cayes identified a potential demand for nitrogen fertilizer from maize growers in the local market. The demand had two distinct segments: 1) farmers who owned their maize plots and 2) those who sharecropped maize. 'The cost-sharing arrangements related to land tenure implied a different profit function for owners and sharecroppers despite identical response curves: hence the derived demands of the two groups also diverged (see Appendix). The local market demand curve shown in Figure 2 has two segments: between Po and P s the curve reflects only the demand from owners, whereas for prices below P s the curve represents the demand from both owners and sharecroppers. The response curve to nitrogen was estimated using data obtained from experiments in farmers ' fields over 1981' fields over , 1982' fields over , and 1983 (see Appendix) (see Appendix).Calculations for the cOlTesponding derived demand were made for the relevant range of average annual field prices for maize and nitrogen (urea).Table 1 provides the information used in those calculations. For comparison, the cOlTesponding values associated with blends as a source of N are also included. The results of calculations for landowners and sharecroppers are presented in Table 2 and Figure 3. Note that the derived demand functions are drawn on a per-hectare basis for \"representative farmers\" and not for the market.The distribution of maize and urea prices between 1981 and 1985 (Table 1) gives an average price ratio (1') of7.5 for that period, with a standard  deviation (0) of 3.3. A conservative price ratio r • r + 0 was used to project bot.h per-hect.are demand for N (i.e., recommended dosis) And t.he potential aggregate demaud from landowners and sharecroppers. With this ratio (approximately r. 11) the recommended optimum dosis ofN is 39 kglha for landowners, whereas no nitrogen should be recommended to sharecroppers (Table 2).These results are highly consistent with those derived earlier by the OFR team. Taking a similar price ratio based on information available at that time, and using discrete analysis,8 the team developed a recommendation for landowning farmers only of 40 kg Nlha (using urea) (Yates and Martinez  1984). That recommendation is virtually identical to the optimum derived from continuous analysis using the responue curve and underscores the accuracy of the research process that lead to the recommendation.With regard to the aggregate regional demand for nitrogen, the conservative pricing scenario presented above implies a potential total demand of approximately 350 t urea for local maize production (see Appendix Table A).In summary, results of the analysis indicated that for the relevant range of price ratios (using urea as a source ofN) there should be a consistent demand for nitrogen from landowners. For sharecroppers the results are quite different, showing that nitrogen use in maize will be profitable to them only dul'ing years when pl'ice ratios are quite favorable. However, despite the clearly assessed profitability of nitrogen fertilization in maize, the OFR team found that farmers generally did not apply nitrogen to maize, although they used fertilizers with other crops. So, in addition to trying to confirm the nitrogen response with on-farm experiments and further refine a potential farmer recommendation, researchers took one more step. Because the recommendation was associated with the availability of urea in the area, the team decided to conduct a detailed supply-side analysis of the local fertilizer market (FPA).In 1981 there were five sources of fertilizer in the area (Table 3). By far the most important was the Ministry of Agriculture office in Les Cayes, which in that year sold a total of690 t (61% of the regional supply) of various fertilizers, especially NPK blends. The second largest supplier was the Institut de Developpement Agricole et Industriel (IDAl), which dispersed approximately 205 t (18% of the market). Three private concerns provided 8 Following the methodology set forth in CIMMYT (1988), smaller amounts exclusively to their clients, who were tobacco, sugarcane, and tomato growers. ------_._,--------------_._----a Data from Sept. 1980 to Sept. 1981.Even though urea was the cheapest source of nitrogen (Table 1), it represented just 5% of the total fertilizer provided by the MARNDR to Les Cayes. One other source of urea was IDAI, but that agency assigned almost all urea to rice production. At that time, no private sector fertilizer distributors operated in Les Cayes, and if maize farmers wanted to obtain urea, they had access to only minimal supplies from the Ministry. All Ministry fertilizer was sold at a subsidized price (US$ 10.00/100-lb bag, regardless of fertilizer type), resulting in different field prices for nitrogen depending on the source used ($0.48Ikg for urea and $1.32Ikg for blends) (Table 1). In 1982 the market situation was even more restricted. No urea was available from the public sector, and supplies of blends were down sharply.Regional market conditions in 1981 and 1982 are illustrated in Figure 4, where curve ABC represents the potential regional demand for nitrogen. The curve is calculated by summing all of the estimated individual nitrogen demands at each relevant price ratio over the total maize area where the recommendation is applicable (both landowners and sharecroppers).9 For each of the price ratios considered, the curve represents the total amount of nitrogen farmers should buy to apply to maize. It should be interpreted as a long-term demand curve, since it implies that the process of diffusion and adoption by farmers is complete.The curve ruDEFS, on the other hand, represents the short-term market supply of nitrogen for maize. As noted earlier, two sources of nitrogen were available in different amounts in the local market: urea and blended formulas. Urea was the cheapest source but was available only in very limited amounts (represented in Figure 4 by segment ruD). More nitrogen was available from blended formulas (Figure 4, segment EF), though it was much more expensive. The price ratio with urea as the source of nitrogen is represented by ru; the much higher rb reflects the same ratio with blends. Note the difference in length of segments ruD and EF, which represent the availability of urea and blends in the market.It was clear to the OFR team that the implicit/explicit fertilizer distribution policy was not in the best interests of farmers growing maize in the Les Cayes Plain. Experiments in farmers' fields clearly demonstrated that a nitrogen-rich fertilizer such as urea offered by far the cheapest and most efficient means of increasing local maize yields. Therefore a strong deman.d for nitrogen should exist at most of the relevant price ratios, provided that the information was available to farmers. However, potential adoption by farmers and consequent gains in area productivity and income were constrained by the scarcity of urea in the local market.Meeting the strong and unfulfilled excess demand for nitrogen implied by the analysis (Figure 4, DC) would mean potential gains for all interested parties: farmers (gains in productivity and income), MARNDR (increased agricultural production), and the private sector (increased sales in an expanding market for the appropriate fertilizer). The OFR team concluded that improving the availability of w'ea in the local market would be highly desirable and was possible if policymakers would take appropriate actions based on the analysis. In effect, the team assumed that local market imperfections were due in no small measure to a lack of appropriate technical information among policymakers. The next step was to identify the relevant decision makers and convey that information to them.Once tlw policy constraints were identified. the OFR team determined that t.wo audiences should receive the information they had assembled: 1) the public sector. represented in this case by MARNDR. and 2) the private sector, represented by a few firms that had recently begun selling inputs in the area.Through personal interviews with MARNDR officials, researchers confirmed that one of the main reasons for the fertilizer distribution policy in Les Cayes was a lack of relevant technical information. Policy decisions were made at two levels within the Ministry: at the local MARNDR offices in Les Cayes and at MARNDR headquarters in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Regular reports and preliminary findings were submitted to both offices.Another target audience for this information was the nascent private sector involved in fertilizer distribution. Although no private dealers were selling fertilizers before 1982, as soon as local merchants began to operate the OFR team established close and regular contacts with them. They were given research results and preliminary findings relevant to the fertilizer recommendation. and discussions between private sector representatives and the OFR team became a regular part of the project's activities. The OFR team perceived that the private sector was truly interested in making the appropriate fertilizers available to farmers, provided there was sufficient demand and that prices (margins) were adequate.With these audiences in mind, the OFR team devised a set of \"performance measures\" to be used in making a case for changing fertilizer provision policies. For the public sector, the potential gains in farmer productivity-yield increases--were emphasized (see Table 2, column 4). For the private sector, emphasis was placed on the amounts of fertilizer that could be sold to farmers if urea were adequately available at reasonable prices (see Appendix Table A). 'rhe large difference between existing supply and derived demand was a powerful argument. for changing fertilizer provision patterns.During 1983 and 1984 the OFR team maintained close contact with both the private and public sectors. They continued to emphasize the potential gains in productivity that might be realized if the excess demand for nitrogen were satisfied with urea. In January, 1984, the OFR program made a final recommendation through the Ministry to landowning farmers. The recommendation, as noted previously, called for the application of 40 kg N/ha of maize, regardless of variety, and specified urea as the source of nitrogen. rrhe recommended fert.ilizer rate was intentionally conservative to take account of year-to-year variability in yields and prices and the associated risk involved (see Yates and Martinez 1987).The OFR program in Les Cayes had developed a sound recommendation for farmers, and long-term maize (Borsdorf and Foster 1985) and urea price trends augured well for increasing adoption. In addition, a potentially important recommendation was generated for policymakers in the capital, emphasizing the need to assure adequate supplies of urea for the farmers of the target recommendation domain. Those results attest to the effectiveness of the research methodology, apart from the actual policy response. In the case of Les Cayes, the provision of urea did increase after the recommendation was made to policymakers, and the response from the public sector was greatly augmented by positive interventions from the local private sector.As noted above. MARNDR provided only minimal supplies of urea in 1981 and offered none in 1982, 1983, or 1984. That policy changed dramatically in 1985 when MARNDR made more than 90 t of urea available in Les Cayes, fully 60% of the total fertilizer they distributed in the region. 10 There is therefore some evidence of a shift, consistent with the project recommendation, in MARNDR's fertilizer provision priorities for Les Cayes. 11 1.'he government's role in providing urea was overshadowed however, by positive interventions from the local private sector.The increasing importance of the private sector in supplying fertilizer has been a strong force for change. One store in Les Cayes began selling small quantities of fertilizer in late 1982. The amount sold, especially of urea, has risen dramatically from year to year. Rapid growth in sales is consistent with the demand hypothesized by the OFR team, as well as with the timing of the project recommendation (January 1984).The increase in urea sales has been nothing short of explosive, with an almost ten-fold jump from] 983 to 1984 (TAhle 4). From 1984 to 1985, sales continued to grow at a very impressive rate of 174%, and though sales of mixed blends have also increased rapidly, the change in urea sales has been far more pronounced. Note that although urea accounted for just 9% of the total sales volume in providing fertilizer and perhaps other inputs in Les Cayes seems to be offered by the private sector itself, and the record to date is encouraging. In fact, the most appropriate policy intervention on the part of the government to encourage more widespread adoption of the nitrogen recOlmnendation might be to facilitate the work of private sector producers and suppliers. One might ask whether the results from the OFR program could not have been used by the government to encourage private sector investment in fertilizer distribution, had there been no independent initiatives from private investors.Hypotheses concerning maize production constraints and research opportunities were developed by the OFR program in Les Cayes. Some of them, especially nitrogen feltilization with urea, were confirmed through three cycles of experiments in farmers' fields under farmers' production conditions and potential benefits to area farmers were shown to be substantial. Long-term price trends for both maize and urea also indicated good prospects for the increasing adoption of the recommended technology.A follow-up analysis of the local fertilizer market from the supply point of view, however, showed that the unavailability of Ul'ea was a critical constraint to realizing those potential benefits. This information was communicated to MARNDR officials and representatives of the private sector in Les Cayes and Port-au-Prince. Both sectors responded in ways that greatly impl'oved the availability of urea in Les Cayes. As their actions were based to some extent on information provided by the OFR project, it may be inferred that the market imperfections identified in Les Cayes were at least partly caused by a lack of appropriate technical information among decision makers.Thus data generated from the area-specific OFR program were used to supply administrators with information that enabled them to make better decisions on an important policy. Those results underscore the effectiveness of the FPA methodology. Note too that, though the results of the OFR program apparently exerted an important influence on regional demand for urea, the FPA analysis helped encourage modifications in regional supply. This is one more example of the close and positive links between OFR and FPA.In the case of the MARNDR, for example, the amount of urea sent to Les Cayes increased from 36 to 90 t from 1981 to 1985, with urea representing fully 60% of the total fertilizer shipped that final year. Changes in the private sector were consistent with, if more dramatic than, those in the public sector. PrivAte sector urea sales increased from just 11 tin 1983 to 289 t in 1985. This phenomenon suggests that agricultw'al policy can indeed be a variable and that well-oriented FPA analysis can encourage positive modifications in farmers' socioeconomic circumstances.It is certain that \"on-farm researchers with a first-hand understanding of farming systems and knowledge of biological responses to alternative practices under farmer conditions are in a unique position to identify policy constraints and promote changes in the policy environment to complement technological change\" (Byerlee, Harrington, and Winkelmann 1982). As this case from Les Cayes illustrates, that first-hand understanding can have important positive implications both for target groups of farmers and for the nation as a whole. (3where r is the relevant price ratio, calculated as: In this case all quoted prices are already adjusted by T, R, and H. Therefore expression (4) becomes:where P n * and P m * are the field prices of nitrogen and maize quoted in Table 1 (page 7).The estimated response equation was: The overall fit of the equations was reasonable, and although not all individual coefficients are significant their signs are conect.The calculated per hectare demand equations were: In calculating 1', the cost of capital was taken as 60% and application costs as $O.l/kg (Yates and Martinez 1987). Finally, the estimate of potential regional demand for nitrogen was done by summing estimates using equations ( 7) over landowners' recommendation domains and (8) over those of sharecroppers (each was 6,000 ha), and assuming an adoption ceiling of 70% for each case. The results were then transformed to regional potential demand for urea (calculated assuming urea is 46% nitrogen). Results for the price ratios are presented in Table A. ","tokenCount":"4554"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6966099263.json b/data/part_1/6966099263.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..239d403e96a00180e139a2183667a418efaecd91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6966099263.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"14154006083c986f6f5bfdbf93b9ed02","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2a21793-7508-48ad-a346-e0d09bac829c/retrieve","id":"-1206065750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a6e70a30-bf4a-40f3-b6d1-2e72603d2abb","pagecount":"57","content":"Oferta total de proteína Producción de fríjol seco, por grandes regiones Principales países productores de fríjol seco APROXlMACION A LA SITUACION DE CONSUMO 4 1 Consumo aparente de proteína en las grandes regiones 42 Consumo aparente de fríjol seco en algunos países de Am4rica Latina 4 3 Principales países consumidores de fríjol seco 4 4 Países con menor consumo aparente per-cápita de proteína 4 5 Situación de consumo de los diez principales países pro• ductores de fríjol secoUna preocupación de t~cnicos y políticos es el estado de deficiencias nutricLonales de muchos habitantes en el mundo El CIAT, se propone hacer énfasis sobre el desarrollo de algunos cultivos, dentro de los cuales el fríjol aeco \"phaseolus vulgsris\" es uno de ellos Es de gran interés obtener algunas indicaciones en cuanto a la importaneia que tiene éste cultivo en la solución del déficit de alimentos, especialmente en cuanto a proteína Este informe pretende específicamente obtener una visi6n que permita sintetizar el estado mundial de la producción da fríjol I Diferenciar niveles de consumo de proteína de fríjol y de otras fuentes de 0rigen por grandes regiones Identificar países productores y consumidores de fríjol, sus necesidades proteicas y cuantificar sus déficits Identificar la situación general del mercado internacional del fríjol seco en América Latina Las leguminosas generan en los países en desarrollo el 16% de la proteína total y dentro de estas, el fríjol seco ocupa lugar predominante en América Latina, Africa y Lejano Oriente Se ha hecho una recopil$ción bibliog1áfica SODre la trayectoria del cultivo en cuanto a producci6n y consumo en el mundo Se hace énfasis en el aspecto del mercado Internacional en Latinoamérica La producción de fríjol seco en América Latina, generalmente se realiza Trabajo presentado a la XX Reunión Anual del PCCMCA San Pedro Honduras, 11 al 14 de Febrero 1974 Elaborado por Mario A Grant M Scobie, Urie1 Gutiérrez P Grupo de Economía Agrícola CIAT de Sula, Infante, Fríjol-LVpor pequeftos productores y en su mayor proporción en asocio a otros cultivos, principaUnente el maíz El lento crecimiento de la producción, (2,6%/afto) en los últimos 20 anos se debe al poco incremento de los rendimientos Se observa que en las regiones con menor consumo protéico per-c~pita se consume relativamente menos pr~teínaanimaly ~s proteína leguminosa que en las regiones con mayor consumo de proteína per-cápita total El menor precio/kg de proteína de fríjol con relaci6n a la proteína anima~ 10 constituye en alimento favorable para incrementar su consumo especialmente en mezcla vegetal, principaUnente con el maíz y el arroz ,~Los países\\fOnsumidores de fríjol seco per-c~pita por lo general son deficitarios en proteína a excepción de aquellos que consumen grandes cantidades percáplta de fríjol como Burundi, Rwanda, Brasil, Nicaragua y Méjico En los últimos 20 años el 64% de las importaciones de fríjol y leguminos as secas de los países Latinoamericanos fueron entre sí, mientras el 36% se hicieron con el resto del mundo Los países más importadores han sido Venezuela, Costa Rica y El Salvador y exportadores Méjico y Honduras Al dirigir esfuerzos en incrementar producci6n es conveniente estimar cuáles pueden ser 108 efectos de incrementar área y productividad, en la oferta de otros cultivos, el ingreso familiar, empleo y nutrición Es necesario estudiar económicamente las asociaciones cen el fríjol y compararlo con el cultivo del fríjol !loio~ como-también conocer los diversos subsLstemas de producción Es indispensable saber hasta donde la solución del pro~lema consLete en producir más Saber para quien~se va a producir Cuáles El estado de deficiencias nutricionales de los habitantes, ea una de las grandes preocupaciones de los políticos, instituciones y técnicos en el mundo Se han desarrollado estudios, como los llevados a cabo por la FAO ( 13), ( 14), (15) que buscan cuantificar los problemas en las regiones con deficiencias nutricionales para definir las prioridades de acción De acuerdo s la información recolectada se afirma que las producciones nacionales de alimentos aumentarían, durante la década de 1970-1980 (19), lo suficiente para satisfacer el incremento de la demanda de alimentos básicos Esta afirmación sin embargo, no significa que en términos de las necesidades individuales de alimentos no existirán, en muchas regiones graves problemas de sub-nutrición y malnutrici6n Es as!, como a nivel de agregado un país puede no presentar un problema extremo, pero a nivel de regiones dentro del país, fam11ias dentro la región y entre los componentes de la familia, existan graves discrepancias entre los diferentes niveles de consumo Se han realizado estudios más detallados, que permiten identificar estos problemas de mala distribución de los alimentos (2), (3), (4), revelando estos t~pos de problemas a nivel de la familia Las causas de esta mala distribución ~ 2de los alimentos obedece a varios tipos de razones dentro de las cuales se puede anotar las diferencias ecológicas, condicianes culturales y niveles socio-econ6micosPor 10 visto, los países denominados deSarrollados o de altos ingresos consumen en su dieta, un alto porcentaje (471.) de proteína. de origen animal y en~ontrapartide los países en desarrollo y por lo tanto de bajos ingresos, consumen tan solo 14% de proteína de esta misma-fuente Es lógico que 108 mayores problemas de defLciencias nutricionales se presenten generalmente en los países en desarrollo Además es all1, donde el incremento de la demanda, se debe más al Crecimiento de la población antes que al incremento del ingreso (19)\"Con mucha frecuencia, las dietas son más deff.cientes en calorías que en proteínas, con el resultado de que las proteínas. en vez de ejercer su funeión primaria de permitir el crecimiento y la co~6a de los tejidos, asumen la de suministrar energía para otras funciones vitales\" (11), es así como se convierte en un ciclo de deficiencias de calorías y prote!nas Ante estos hechos se presenta la necesidad de buscar un ~r conocimiento de las desigualdades de consumo de alimentos. El ClAT se propone por medio de sus programas, incrementar La producción de alimentos en las regiones tropicaléa Uno de loa cultivos que el CIAT fortifie& ea el fríjol comttn phaseolus vulgaris, el cual es fuente rica en proteína conteniendo 18 a 2S¡ (6)Este estudio se fundamenta en una revisión ~ibliográfica qua busca re-copLLar la información sobre el cultivo del fríjol seco y se divide en tres partes La primera parte es un análisis de produce ion que permit~ observar cuál -3es el estado actual del cultivo del fríjol en el mundo La segunda parte contempla un análisis comparativo de consumo de alimentos como fuente de proteína dursnte el tiempo, basados en datos para tres períodos 1957-1959, 1960-1962, 1964-1966, para  producci6n del fríjol, identificando a loa prinCipales países productores y las variaciones en los niveles anuales de producci6n 3 1 Oferta total de proteína Con el fín de ubicar la posici6n relativa que ocupan las diferentes fuentes de proteína se presenta el Cuadro 1, que permite observar como las leguminosas y nueces representan el 11% de la proteína ofrecide en el mundo En los países denominados de dieta deficiente, contribuyen las leguminosas y nueces con el 16% y en los países con dieta adecuada el 6Y.Es indudable que en el mundo los cereales están aportando un alto por-• centaje de las proteínas (501), mientras que los productos de origen animal generan cerca del 30% Se presenta una diferencia marcada en el origien de la proteína entre países con dieta adecuada y países con dieta deficiente, se puede observar al comparar que el 47% de la proteíná ofrecida en los países con dieta adecuada es de or~gen animal frente al 14% que es ofrecida por los países con dieta defic~taria (23)En términos absolutos y relativos las leguminosas y nueces son ofrecidas en su mayoría por los países con dieta deficitaria En estos, el (60%) de la producci6n de proteína total depende loa eereales, frente al 38% en los países con dieta adecuada  1948-1951, 1952-1955, 1956-1959, 1960-1963, 1964-1967 Y 1968-1971 Se puede observar que Latinoamérica es la región que presenta la mayor producción y que período a período ha incrementado su volumen de participaci6n en forma considerable En el periodo 1948-1952, producía el 28~, y en el periodo fine1 aument6 a 34~ del total generado en el mundoEl Lejano Oriente produce una g~ parte del total pues ha alcanzado \"ofrecer el 26% en el periodo de 1960-1963, y se ha mantenido máa o menos en esa misma posición en los períodos siguientes Esto no indiea que en t4rminos absolutos no haya existido un incremento ya que se observa que éste se presentó durante los periodos en menci6n _ Se puede decir por 10 tanto que existe una tendencia a aumentar la pro-} ducci6n a un ritmo del 10% entre periodos de 4 aftos con relación al perido base en todo el mundo y que en general, en todas las regiones se presenta un aumento de la producción, superado por el crecimiento de Africa, Lejano Oriente y América Latina que gira en torno del 16% en promedio, de perídos de 4 aftos durante los 20 aftos (195~-197l)  • Cuadro 3 Variación de la producción mundial de fríjol seco eon respecto al período anterior y sumento promedio de 1952 a 1971 1952-1955 1956-1959 1960-1963 1964-1967 1968-1971   1957-1959, 1960-1962 Y 1964-1966 En este Cuadro se pueden observar las fuentes de proteína y en especial c6mo el grupo de alimentos de origen leguminoso juegan su aporte al consumo aparente per-cápita/día La proteína de origen animal aporta en Norte América, Europa y Oceanía más del 50% y en los períodos analizados se mantiene dicha proporción, a excepción de un ligero incremento En Norte América y Oceanía se puede decir generalmente que sus requerimientos de proteína animal están más que superados Esta situación se invierte para las regiones de Latinoamérica, Africa y Asia, siendo más crítica la situación de proteína de origen animal en el    • l,'Qt t L thll\".\"1.'1c, \"\" 96 16 2MI \" \" '\" m 100 00 1., ,ti\" 1 Lutn.-.hte '\" '\" 1 .'\" 1<9 '\" , , tILa! f!;()4:\"\"': L \"''' \", S'ltí al )9 tU!! ta 114 \" , e ,,, d ¡ N J 421a 16 21 '''''' ltí 61 . . 1 \" í \" \", \"\" 100 00 611' 100 00 2691 \",. 00 ... \"', $<» ,., M142 ,a .36 llU!! 9913 TU 96 101 le6S n. on.\". J1 26 U~; . . 14\", , , , , ,,., .. n) 14 51 1013 , . . . . .\" \" J:nlU02 10 11 22'''9 100 00 111.21 1 &' 14 '''' lT Ull'l 1 g \" , 2411 too 00 656\" -lulO 00 un, loo •• '\" tOO 00' 636' 100 oc 121\"j1oo -00 t131 100 00 :In, ¡ too 00 lar.  [1959][1960][1961][1962][1963][1964][1965][1966]           u S DEPARXMENT OF AGRlCl1LTURE \"Chile. Demand and Supp1y Prolection f,\"OT~..:A;:¡g;.:r...:i:::c:::u~1.:::t~u.::.ra=l...óP~r!..lo:::d~u~co.lt:.Sa\"-....l:19~6~5=-1~9:..:8:::0~   ","tokenCount":"1777"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6972917715.json b/data/part_1/6972917715.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d70a291ff9fd3fc77daded6dd2a1058b8481caa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6972917715.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"57859879c4d5656f54035a9996f1861a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/712cb52a-80aa-41f6-901a-46c5ea8e9cb9/retrieve","id":"908299558"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f4c8ae33-d811-402e-9f98-deb2cd00cefe","pagecount":"10","content":"In West Africa 80% of small holder farmers are living in mixed crop-livestock/agro-pastoral systems.Niger, multiply constrained: -Poorest country of the world -Harsh climates, -Extreme maximum temperatures, decreasing rainfall -Globally highest population growth -Rapid urbanization -Demographic pressure -Climate change -Agriculture expansion in marginal lands -Livestock keeping in urban and peri-urban areas as a livelihood strategy but constraint by feed scarcity -Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is number one legume crop , followed by Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) in Niger.-Farmers grow and market these multi-purpose crops for food (grain) and fodder (haulm) with anecdotal evidence suggesting the latter becoming more important -To better understand these demands trading and pricing of cowpea and groundnut haulms were investigated in urban and rural Fodder Markets in Niger.• Maradi and Tillabery districts were purposively selected.• Selection criteria: cowpea and groundnut growing areas and 0.35 aridity index, 70 habitation km 2 population density.• Total 4 markets: two rural and two urban• Focus group discussion with randomly five traders and five farmers from each markets. Haulms were visually scored by traders and farmers for quality.-One year survey, on bimonthly basis price of haulms of cowpea and groundnut along with with collection of feed samples from July 2014 to June 2015. Grain prices were also collected.-Haulms were analysed for nitrogen (N), neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF) detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin (ADL), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy using NIRS at ILRI India.-Data were analysed by ANOVA.-Cowpea haulm was more in demand than groundnut halum -Cowpea haulm (average 162.43 CFA/kg) were sold consistently at higher prices than groundnut haulm (119.50 CFA/kg).-Haulm prices were lowest after harvest. Average price ratio of: cowpea grain to haulm was 2.4:1.Average price ratio of Groundnut grain to haulm was 4.0:1. Trader and farmer perception on quality was green leafy haulm perceived to be high quality, yellow coloured medium and leaves infested with moulds, insects as low Cowpea haulm fodder quality traits were consistently superior to those of groundnut haulm.Significant difference in haulm for N p<.0001), ADF (p=0.01)., ME (p=0.03), IVOMD (p=0.00) • Sales prices at urban markets were about twice that at rural markets. • Significant variation in prices between rural and urban markets and haulm (p=0.0034) types.Farmers can make significant additional income from selling of cowpea, groundnut haulm and cowpea and groundnut breeder should pay attentions to haulm yields and disease resistance.The high price premium of cowpea relative to groundnut haulm suggest that attention should also be given to haulm fodder quality.","tokenCount":"409"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6984565148.json b/data/part_1/6984565148.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f90523efd6bf2da693ffdfa2da179c81d7b21c8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6984565148.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c426770ea5aa190a9690713066da5c43","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/deb78bd1-9ffe-474b-8062-cf1f0f7be662/retrieve","id":"732410619"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"05d2d831-763d-49b4-933a-acf117099264","pagecount":"7","content":"40 SOUVENIR, 22-24 November 2022   Application of Plant Cryopreservation for the Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources, Production, Virus Eradication and as a Tool for Modern Breeding TechniquesPlant Cryobiologist, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Belgium By cryopreservation we understand the conservation of biological materials at ultralow temperature. For this, mostly the tissues are submerged in liquid nitrogen (temperature of -196°C) or exposed to its vapor phase (temperature between 190°C and 170°C). At these low temperatures no metabolic, physical nor chemical processes take place in the tissues making it the ideal condition for long term and stable storage. The main problem when exposing biological materials to such low temperatures is the formation of ice crystals as these penetrate membrane structures causing loss of their semi-permeability and thus cell death. Water is essential in all living tissues so removing all of it would kill the cells. The ultimate way of avoiding ice crystal formation is making use of a physical phase called \"vitrification\" (or glass formation). All cryopreservation methods developed over time irrespective of their origin (animal, human or plant) are thus based on the successful introduction of a vitrified state of the intracellular solutes.In plants, efficient cryopreservation methods were developed for a wide range of plant species; originating from tropical to temperate regions, herbaceous as well as woody species as well as for diverse tissue types; pollen, meristems, calli, zygotic as well as somatic embryos, seeds and dormant buds. The mostly used cryopreservation protocols applied to plant tissues are the classical slow freezing protocol, droplet vitrification, encapsulation dehydration and dormant bud cryopreservation (Panis et al., 2019).Plant cryopreservation is increasingly becoming a widely accepted and applied method for the long term conservation of plant genetic resources that can not be conserved through seeds. This because there are plants that do not produce seeds (sterile crops like edible bananas), that produce non storable, recalcitrant seeds (cacao, avocado, coconut) or that, in the case of sweet potato, are clonally propagated-since its offspring does not have the same genetic set up when propagated by seed. For such species field, in vitro and cryopreserved collections are setup. Currently, between 20000 and 25000 accessions are safely preserved in liquid nitrogen and more initiatives to increase these numbers are in the pipeline. Crops with more than 1000 accessions cryopreserved are apple, banana, mulberry, cassava, garlic and potato. It is estimated that worldwide between 100000 and 150000 unique accessions of vegetatively propagated and recalcitrant seed crops are currently held in field and in vitro and genebanks. A global initiative is thus needed to make sure that all these accessions are safely maintained for next generations. Like the Svalbard global seed vault that is storing almost one million seed samples as backup for national and international seed banks, a safety cryopreservation back up facility should be established (Acker et al., 2017).Besides for storage of genetic resources, cryopreservation can also be applied to store cell lines with specific characteristics for the long term. For example, the initiation of embryogenic banana cell suspensions is time and labor consuming (Strosse et al., 2006). Once they are initiated they are subject to loss of regeneration capacity, somaclonal variation and contamination. Since these suspensions are for the application of modern breeding techniques such as genetic engineering (Sagi et al., 1995) and gene editing (Zorrilla-Fontanesi et al., 2020), their safe conservation is outermost important. Hundreds of cryotubes containing transformation competent embryogenic cell lines of Musa species (bananas) are safely stored in liquid nitrogen for already more than 20 years and are being used on a regular base. Also in case of conifers, cryopreservation can be used to store embryogenic calli derived from breeding for 10-20 years, awaiting their final evaluation in the tree plantation (Cyr, 1999).Another but equally important application of cryopreservation is its use for the eradication of plants from pathogens such as viruses, phytoplasmas and bacteria. The mode of action of cryotherapy is based on the fact that after cryopreservation only the most meristematic part (often only a few cell layers of the apical dome) survives and is able to grow out into a new plant. Since this is also the region that, depending in the aggressiveness of the organism, contains no or a low titer of pathogens, often a healthy, pathogen-free plant will result from cryopreservation (Helliot et al., 2007). Cryotherapy has already been applied for pathogen eradication from a wide range of crops such banana, Grapevine, Potato, Raspberry and sweet potato (Wang et al, 2009).Finally, cryopreservation van be applied in in vitro plant production companies. This for cultures in production since it is advised to store a \"clean\", true to-type back-up *in case of problems of contamination, hyperhydricity and somaclonal variation. But it is also important to store cultures that are put \"On hold\" that comprise putative interesting lines that are currently not in production but of which their maintenance is costly and subject to risks of loss.","tokenCount":"816"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/6991208678.json b/data/part_1/6991208678.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f1525ee360aa9e317bbb99007973007fffe005e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/6991208678.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"072ad1758cf673343400d8d3f606cbc5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5d4fd30c-45a7-4840-8f2c-d7e5ca7446c3/content","id":"1777408734"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"20606ac8-5b1e-4702-9135-6b0e926a3853","pagecount":"20","content":"Due to the ever-increasing data collected in genomic breeding programs, there is a need for genomic prediction models that can deal better with big data. For this reason, here we propose a Maximum a posteriori Threshold Genomic Prediction (MAPT) model for ordinal traits that is more efficient than the conventional Bayesian Threshold Genomic Prediction model for ordinal traits. The MAPT performs the predictions of the Threshold Genomic Prediction model by using the maximum a posteriori estimation of the parameters, that is, the values of the parameters that maximize the joint posterior density. We compared the prediction performance of the proposed MAPT to the conventional Bayesian Threshold Genomic Prediction model, the multinomial Ridge regression and support vector machine on 8 real data sets. We found that the proposed MAPT was competitive with regard to the multinomial and support vector machine models in terms of prediction performance, and slightly better than the conventional Bayesian Threshold Genomic Prediction model. With regard to the implementation time, we found that in general the MAPT and the support vector machine were the best, while the slowest was the multinomial Ridge regression model. However, it is important to point out that the successful implementation of the proposed MAPT model depends on the informative priors used to avoid underestimation of variance components. KEYWORDS maximum a posteriori estimation EM algorithm Bayesian Threshold Genomic Prediction model support vector machine multinomial Ridge regression genomic selection Genomic Prediction GenPred Shared data resourcesIn plant breeding it is very common to measure ordinal traits like gray leaf spot (GLS) resistance (0 = no infection, 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = high, 4 = total infection level) (Montesinos-López et al., 2015), rice sheath blight resistance measured on a 0-9 scale, where 0 indicates no disease and 9 indicates dead or collapsed plants (Zou et al., 2000), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) resistance (1 = no symptoms on the third and fourth axillary shoots, 2 = systemic necrosis on the shoots and/or mosaic on the leaves of the third axillary shoot [corresponding to the inoculated leaf], 3 = systemic necrosis on the shoots and/or mosaic on the leaves of both axillary shoots) (Caranta et al., 2002), etc.For this reason, appropriate genomic selection (GS) methods for dealing with ordinal traits have been developed, for example, the Bayesian Threshold Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (TGBLUP) proposed by Montesinos-López et al. (2015). However, the TGBLUP model requires considerable computational resources since it was built under a Bayesian framework and involves the sampling process of high-dimensional unknown parameters iteratively. The TGBLUP model is a Bayesian version of classical probit models which were first introduced by Bliss (1934a, b)  and Gaddum (1933) for binary data.The TGBLUP is very competitive in terms of prediction performance, as was shown by Montesinos-López et al. (2019), who compared this method to deep learning (DL) and support vector machine (SVM). However, due to the fact that the TGBLUP model was built under a Bayesian framework (that uses Gibbs sampling), it requires a lot of computational resources because convergence requires considerable time in the context of large data sets. For this reason, methods for ordinal data that are more cost effective than Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling are lacking. One approach to partially solve this problem of MCMC, is to base the prediction in terms of different point estimates of the parameters, for example, by using the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate of the parameters, which maximizes their joint posterior distribution. This is different from the MCMC framework where the full posterior probability distribution is explored and then summarized (mean, median, quantiles, etc.) to draw inferences and make predictions. The MAP also uses the full posterior distribution, f ðujyÞ}f ðyjuÞf ðuÞ; that contains all the knowledge about the unknown quantity u to find point or interval estimates of u, but instead the MAP solves an optimization problem to estimate a central tendency (point estimate) of the posterior probability; the u values that maximize the full posterior distribution, f ðyjuÞf ðuÞ; are called the MAP estimates. For the latter, the MAP estimator is interpreted as an analog of maximum likelihood for Bayesian estimation, since instead of maximizing the likelihood, it maximizes an augmented likelihood, that is, the posterior distribution.For this reason, the MAP is an alternative probability framework for Bayesian methods under the MCMC framework. It selects the most likely hypothesis given the data and a prior distribution of the parameters, is often more tractable than full Bayesian learning, requires less computing time than MCMC methods, and can be implemented for large data sets more efficiently. Also, the larger the data set, the better its performance (Brownlee 2019). However, the posterior means (pure Bayesian) are always preferred over the MAP estimates under a theoretical point of view. But when the posterior is not in closed form or is difficult to sample, MAP estimators can be calculated much faster in several orders of magnitude than posterior means. It is also important to point out that if the posterior is approximately symmetric (more common with larger data sets), MAP estimates are closer to posterior means and can be a good point estimate (Gelman et al., 2014). So, the attractiveness of the MAP is actually that it can be a very cheap approximation of the posterior mean. One of the drawbacks of the MAP method is that it does not allow estimating uncertainty in the parameters (SE, variance, etc.), which is a big deal in association studies, but not a big problem in the prediction paradigm, since for the evaluation of prediction performance, we can use cross-validation and the bootstrap method to estimate the uncertainty of the parameter estimates.Applications of the MAP in statistical science for association and prediction studies are many, for example, for the estimation of item parameters and latent abilities in item response theory (Rigdon and Tsutakawa 1983), for estimation in a multivariate normal regression model with incomplete data (Meng and Rubin 1993), for parameter estimation in a gamma model with incomplete data (Meng and Rubin 1993), for parameter estimation in mixed models in the presence of missing data in quantitative genetics (Lindstrom and Bates 1988;Van Dyk 2000), for parameter estimation in probit models (Ruud 1991), for the estimation of the polychoric correlation when two ordinal items were measured (Chen and Choi 2009) and for image reconstruction (Dong 2007;Hebert and Leahy 1989).In genomic selection, MAP strategy has been applied for continuous traits and ordinal traits. For example, Yi and Banerjee (2009) considered MAP estimation appropriate for generalized linear models, but not appropriate for continuous traits. Shepherd et al. (2010) developed a MAP estimation for the BayesB model, which is a different formulation than the BayesB estimation done by Hayashi and Iwata (2010), who also considered a MAP estimation of the BayesA model. Kärkkäinen and Sillanpää (2013) developed a MAP estimation for the ordinal model with a Laplace prior distribution of the marker effects.Parameter estimation using the MAP approach is straightforward when the f ðujyÞ}f ðyjuÞf ðuÞ has a closed form since an analytical solution can be obtained using standard calculus techniques. However, this case is rare even when we have all the full conditionals for each component of u. For this reason, most of the time the following are used for MAP estimation: (a) numerical methods (Newton's methods, conjugate gradient descendent, etc.) that need first or second order derivatives, (b) the Expected Maximization (EM) algorithm that does not require derivatives of the posterior density, and (c) the Monte Carlo method using simulated annealing.Of the three options, the EM algorithm can be a good alternative in some problems, since it does not require derivatives of the full posterior distribution and iteratively allows finding parameter estimates in the presence of missing data and unobserved (hidden) random variables in the models, and when the random variables belong to the exponential family, its performance is guaranteed.The EM algorithm maximizes a lower bound of the likelihood function or augmented likelihood, better known as the Q-function, iteratively. Two steps are performed at each iteration: the Expectation (E) and Maximization (M) steps. The Q-function that consists of integrating out the missing values, allows obtaining the expected value of the complete data log likelihood function (observed + missed), while the M step consists of maximizing the Q-function over the unknown parameters. This iterative process is repeated until the convergence criterion is satisfied. Due to the fact that the maximization step most of the time is computationally simple because it only involves complete data, and that its convergence is stable, the EM algorithm enjoys great popularity. The EM algorithm is safe since it guarantees an increasing likelihood sequence and safe monotonic convergence (McLachlan and Krishnan 1997;Dempster et al., 1977;Borman 2004). However, although the EM algorithm converges toward a stationary point of the marginal posterior density, (a) it depends on initialization, (b) it is a deterministic algorithm since it does not allow automatically estimating a variance-covariance matrix of parameter estimates (the uncertainty), and (c) it is limited to models where it is possible to conveniently perform the expectation and maximization steps.However, to broaden the applicability of the EM algorithm to circumstances where the M-step is more complicated, Meng and Rubin (1993) extended the conventional EM to complicated M-steps by replacing the M-step of the EM algorithm with a sequence of conditional maximization (CM) steps in which each component parameter is maximized individually, conditionally on the other parameters remaining fixed. Meng and Rubin (1993) called this extension the Expectation conditional maximization (ECM) algorithm.The ECM algorithm is attractive as a tool for predicting ordinal data in the context of genomic selection since the data sets collected for plant breeding continue growing, and also because there is empirical evidence that the difference in speed between Bayesian models under MCMC and a MAP estimation algorithm is far from trivial. The run time of an MCMC algorithm is typically hours at the lowest, while EM algorithms perform the analyses in significantly less time (Kärkkäinen and Sillanpää 2013). For this reason, in this paper we propose an expected conditional maximization a posteriori threshold (MAPT) model for parameter estimation in the Threshold Genomic prediction model.Our proposed method is different from the GEM algorithm that Kärkkäinen and Sillanpää (2013) used to analyze ordinal genomic data, since their algorithm works by updating each parameter with the expected values of the corresponding fully conditional posterior distribution, while we use the conditional mode of each parameter and also a different latent variable.Bayesian threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction (TGBLUP): The ordinal probit model assumes that conditioned to x i (covariates of dimension p), Y i is a random variable that takes values 1, ..., C, with the following probabilities:where b ¼ ðb 1 ; . . . ; b p Þ T are beta coefficient effects associated with the p explanatory variables, and 2N ¼ g 0 , g 1 , . . . , g C ¼ N are threshold parameters. A Bayesian formulation of this model assumes the following independent priors for the parameters: a flat prior distribution for g ¼ ðg 1 ; . . .. . . ; p, and a scale inverse chi-squared distribution for s 2 b , s 2 b $ x 22 vb;Sb . The same prior variance is assigned to all independent covariates, so the shrinkage is homogeneous.This threshold model assumes that the process that gives rise to the observed categories is an underlying or latent continuous normal random variable l i ¼ 2 x T i b þ e i where e i is a normal random variable with mean 0 and variance 1; and the values of l i are called \"liabilities\" (Gianola, 1982, andSorensen et al., 1995). The ordinal categorical phenotypes in model (1) are generated from the underlying phenotypic values, l i , as follows: y i ¼ 1 if 2N , l i , g 1 ; y i ¼ 2 if g 1 , l i , g 2 ;. . .., and y i ¼ C if g C21 , l i , N. The TGBLUP model can be implemented in the BGLR package of Pérez-Rodríguez and de los Campos (2014) in the R statistical software (R Core Team 2020). The multinomial Ridge regression model, with C levels for the response variable, c ¼ 1; 2; ::; C, assumes the following relation with a regressor variable x:Let Y be the n • C indicator response matrix, with elements Y ic ¼ IðY i ¼ cÞ. Then the Ridge penalized log-likelihood function becomes:where b 0 ¼ ðb 01 ; . . . ; b 0C Þ, b is a p • C matrix of coefficients with column c equal to b c , regression coefficients are related to outcome category c, c ¼ 1; 2; :::; C, l $ 0 is a regularization parameter that determines how much the beta coefficients are shrunk toward zero. The optimization of this loss function (3) can be done using the R package glmnent (Lasso and Elastic-Net Regularized Generalized Linear Models) (Friedman et al., 2010). To select the tuning hyperparameter (l), this function performs a 10-fold cross-validation with the training set. This default strategy will be used in the applications.Support vector machine: Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a popular and efficient machine learning algorithm proposed by Vapnik (1995) for binary classification problems. Its versatility and the fact that it performs well in the presence of a large number of predictors, even with a small number of cases, makes SVM very appealing for solving a great variety of problems such as text categorization, image recognition, speech recognition, face detection, faulty card detection, credit rating analysis, junk mail classification, diabetes classification and cancer, to mention some of them (Byun and Lee 2002;Attewell et al., 2015). SVM is the solution to the following optimization problem in its dual representation:subject to : where T is a non-negative tuning parameter that determines the number and severity of violations to the margin (and to the hyperplane) that we will permit; it is seen as the total amount of errors that will be tolerated. Generally, this is chosen by crossvalidation. Kðx i ; x j Þ is a kernel, which is a positive definite function that quantifies the similarity between two observations (James et al., 2013).Once found, the a value in the optimization problem in (4) and ( 5), â, the training/test observations (x) under SVM are classified according to the sign of f ðxÞ ¼ b0 þ P NS i¼1 âi y i Kðx i ; xÞ, where b0 ¼ 1 NS P i2S ðy i 2 P j2S âj y j Kðx i ; x j ÞÞ and N S is the total number of support vectors (S) lying on a marginal hyperplane; if f ðxÞ,0, the observation is assigned to the class corresponding to -1, but if f ðxÞ.0, the observation is assigned to the class corresponding to 1 (James et al., 2013).Also, since most of our data sets contain K . 2 classes in the response variable, we implemented the one-vs.-one approach that constructs KðK 2 1Þ=2 binary SVMs to compare each pair of classes (k,k'), where one class is coded as +1 and the other as -1. Then, the prediction is done with a voting scheme where a new observation x is assigned to the most frequently assigned class in the KðK 2 1Þ=2 binary SVM (James et al., 2013). We implemented the SVM with the radial kernel Kðx i ;, with g a positive constant (James et al., 2013):The SVM was implemented with the R package e1071 in the R statistical software (R Core Team 2020). In all models, the relationship matrix G was calculated as G ¼ WW T q (as proposed by VanRaden 2008), where W is a matrix of scaled markers (or environmental information) of dimension J • m.The G matrix is a covariance matrix that contains the similarity between individuals based on marker information, pedigree or environmental information. However, for the implementation we obtained the square root of matrix G, and then we post multiplied it for the design matrix of genotypes.Instead of using a Gibbs sampler for this model, as done in the BGLR R package, here we propose making predictions with the MAP of the parameters. To do this, an ECM approach is used with the latent variable approach and re-parameterization proposed by Ruud (1991) for obtaining the maximum likelihood estimation. First, note that from the latent representation in model ( 1), this can be equivalently represented as, for c ¼ 2; . . . ;C 2 1, and1; and denoting this modified latent variable as l i instead of l à i , the complete likelihood (based on the observed values y i and the latent variables l i ) of the parameters is given by Lðb; g; y; lÞ ¼and from here the corresponding log-posterior distribution of the parameters is given by where In the ECM algorithm, the M-step in the EM is replaced by several computationally simpler conditional maximization (CM)-steps, where in each of these steps, Qðb; d b ðtÞ ; d ðtÞ Þ is maximized with respect to one parameter at a time, keeping the others fixed, and repeating this for each parameter. Specifically, the CM-step in this model is given by: CM-steps (b):Step 1:Step 2: For k ¼ 2; . . .is the positive solution of the following quadratic equation:Step 3: ForStep 4:These steps were obtained by solving the derivative of Qðb; d b ðtÞ ; d ðtÞ Þ with respect to each parameter equal to 0. For example, for k ¼ 2; . . . ; C 2 1; the derivative of this quantity with respect to d k , and equal to 0 is given byThen, by multiplying by d k and grouping terms, step 2 is obtained. This is similar for the rest of the parameters. In all the CM-steps, the updated parameters obtained in the above CM-steps are used. When a flat prior is assumed for the beta coefficients, step 4 is removed, and step 3 of the CM-steps is replaced byThe extension of ECM implementation occurs almost immediately when more predictors are included in this model.Hyperparameter specification in genomic prediction is very important for building models with reasonable prediction performance.Here, we adopted the strategy used in the BGLR package (Pérez and de los Campos 2014), but with some modifications. We assigned a proportion 1 2 R 2 of the total variability to the latent variable, to the linear predictor 2x T i b. Because the average variance of the latent variables across the individuals is equal tothen by fixing a value for v b , the prior average of the proportion of the total variability explained by the linear predictor is 1 2 R 2 when the scale parameter of the prior distribution of the variance of the beta coefficients is chosen to beWe used R 2 ¼ 0:5 and the v b value used in the applications was set by default to 1000, which induced a prior distribution for s 2 b with meanand a coefficient of variation of about 4:48%.We used 8 data sets, of which data sets 1-7 were used by Montesinos-López et al.  Most of these data sets were evaluated in the following six environments: Bed2IR, Bed5IR, Flat5IR, FlatDrip, EHT and LHT. In this publication we used only the information of two discretized traits, Days to Heading (DTHD) and days to maturity (DTMT), with five levels each (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Data set 5 is part of data set 3; for this reason, the phenotypic information and genomic information were obtained in the same way as in data set 3. However, only 964 lines of the total 980 lines under study in data set 3 had complete data. But now we used three traits measured in data set 5: grain color (GC) (1 = yes, 2 = no), leaf rust (ordinal scale with 5 points) and stripe rust (ordinal scale with 3 points). Data set 6 and data set 7 are part of the wheat yield trial (YT) nurseries from CIMMYT's Global Wheat Breeding Program. For data set 6, the number of lines used was 945, and for data set 7, 1145 wheat lines were used. In this publication we only used the ordinal trait lodging (ordinal scale of 5 points) measured on both data sets.Data set 8 contains information of 278 maize lines on Gray Leaf Spot (GLS) disease which is caused by the fungus Cercospora zeae-maydis. Data sets 1, 2, 3, and 4 were genotyped using genotyping-bysequencing (GBS) (Elshire et al., 2011;Poland et al., 2012) at Kansas State University, using an Illumina HiSeq2500 for obtaining genomewide markers. Marker polymorphisms were called across all lines using the TASSEL (Trait Analysis by Association Evolution and Linkage) GBS pipeline (Glaubitz et al., 2014) and anchored to the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium's (IWGSC) first version of the reference sequence (RefSeq v1.0) assembly of the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring. Markers with more than 60% missing data, less than 5% minor allele frequency and percent heterozygosity greater than 10% were removed; as a result, we obtained 2,038 markers. Missing marker data were imputed using LinkImpute (Money et al., 2015) implemented in TASSEL (Bradbury et al., 2007), version 5. The lines under study were filtered for more than 50% missing data and we ended up with 3,486 lines (79.807%) of the total 4,368 lines originally evaluated in four seasons (767 lines from data set 1, 775 lines from data set 2, 964 lines from data set 3 and 980 lines from data set 4) (Juliana et al., 2018). The lines used in data sets 5, 6, and 7 were genotyped with the same marker system that was used for the other data sets.The lines of data set 8 were initially genotyped with 1,152 SNPs and re-genotyped later with 55k SNPs using the Illumina platform. After removing SNPs with more than 10% missing values and imputing filtering markers with minor allele frequency smaller than 0.05, a total of 46,347 markers were still available for further analysis. The data set containing the phenotypic and genotypic information can be downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/11529/10254.Details of the phenotypic and genomic data of the first seven data sets used in this study can be downloaded from the link: http://hdl.handle. net/11529/10548140. Data set 8 is available at http://hdl.handle.net/ 11529/10254.To evaluate the prediction performance, we used a type of crossvalidation that mimics a situation where lines were evaluated in some environments for all traits but where some lines were missing in other environments. We implemented a fivefold cross-validation, using four folds for training and one for testing. We reported the average of the five folds of the proportion of cases correctly classified (PCCC). It is important to point out that the process for tuning the hyper-parameter (l) in the multinomial Ridge regression was done with ten-fold cross-validation. Also, for the PCCC we computed the standard error (SE) in each fold using 500 bootstrap samples (of observed and predicted values from the testing); then the average of the 5 SE was reported as a measure of variability in each metric. It is important to point out that the fivefold cross-validation strategy was implemented with only 1 replication.The results are given in seven main sections. Each section provides the prediction performance of each data set with the proposed methods, except that data sets 6 and 7 are given in the same section. In each section the proposed method (M2) is compared with the multinomial ridge regression (M3) model, support vector machine (M4), and the Bayesian threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction model (M1). In this data set, the levels of both response variables were five (1, ...,5). It is important to point out that here the predictor contains information with (E+G+GE) and without the genotype by interaction term (E+G); E refers to environment information, G refers to the genotypes incorporating the genomic relationship information and GE refers to the genotype by environment interaction. First, we compared the prediction performance in trait DTHD of the proposed MAPT (model M2) algorithm with the Bayesian Threshold Genomic prediction model (model M1) implemented in the BGLR package, the classic Multinomial Ridge regression (model M3) implemented in the library glmnet, and the support vector machine (model M4) implemented in the library e1071. Then, we did the same for trait DTMT. The panels (right and left) in all figures except Figures 9 and 10 give the results of the models with and without interaction.Figure 1A shows that in general the best predictions for trait DTHD were observed when the genotype by environment interaction was ignored under models M3 and M4; however, models M3 and M4 were not statistically better than model M2. The worst performance was observed under model M1 with and without taking into account the genotype by environment interaction term (Figure 1A). Also, without genotype by environment interaction, no statistical differences were observed in the prediction performance of models M2, M3 and M4, which outperformed model M1 in most environments. With regard to the implementation time, Figure 1B indicates that when ignoring the genotype by environment interaction, the best models were M2 and M4 and the slowest was model M3. When taking into account the interaction term, model M2 was the best in implementation time, while the worst was model M3 (Figure 1B; right panel). Also, the largest gain in terms of time of performance of M2 compared to the other models was observed when considering the genotype by environment interaction.For trait DTMT, we also obtained the best predictions when ignoring the genotype by environment interaction with models M3 and M4, although they were not statistically better than the proposed model M2 (Figure 2A). In general, the worst performance in terms of prediction was observed in model M1. Taking into account the genotype by environment interaction, we observed (Figure 2A) in the four environments that model M2 was the best in terms of prediction performance but was not statistically better than models M3 and M4 and was better than model M1 in two out of the four environments. Regarding the implementation time, without taking into account the genotype by environment interaction, Figure 2B (right panel) indicates that the slowest model was model M3 and the fastest was model M2; however, a large difference was not observed between the time required for models M2 and M4. On the other hand, taking into account the genotype by environment interaction, the shortest implementation time was observed in model M2 and the slowest in model M3 (Figure 2B; left panel), and taking into account the genotype by environment interaction, model M2 showed the greatest superiority in terms of implementation time compared to the other models (Figure 2B).In data set 2, there were five (1, ..., 5) levels of the response variable. In this data set, the predictor contains information with (E+G+GE) and without the genotype by interaction term (E+G). Figure 3A gives the prediction performance for trait DTHD. Here also the best predictions were observed when ignoring the genotype by environment interaction under models M3 and M4, but in most cases, these models were not statistically better than model M2. In general, the worst prediction performance was observed under model M1, but in most cases it was not statistically different than model M2 (Figure 3A). Taking into account the genotype by environment interaction, the prediction performances of M2, M3 and M4 were very similar (no statistical differences were found). With regard to implementation time, in all environments the best time was in model M2 and the slowest in model M3; however, the gain in implementation time of M2 compared to the other models was less when the genotype by environment interaction term was not taken into account (Figure 3B; right panel).For trait DTMT, the best performance in terms of PCCC was observed when the genotype by environment interaction term was ignored and, again, models M3 and M4 were the best in terms of prediction performance, but in all cases no statistical differences were observed with regard to model M2 (Figure 4A). In general, M1 had the worst prediction performance. When the genotype by environment interaction was taken into account, the differences between models M2, M3 and M4 were smaller, but under this scenario, many times model M1 was not statistically different from model M2 (Figure 4A). With regard to implementation time, the fastest models were models M1 and M2 (taking into account the interaction term), but models M1, M2 and M4 were the slowest when the genotype by environment interaction term was ignored; however, the implementation time for model M3 is very expensive compared to the other 3 models (Figure 4B).First, we explain the prediction performance of the 4 models for trait DTHD. The same predictor as in data sets 1 and 2 was used with (E+G+GE) and without the genotype by interaction term (E+G). Figure 5A indicates that when the genotype by environment interaction was not taken into account, the best models were models M3, M4 and M2. However, no statistical differences were observed between these three models in terms of prediction performance, but in general the worst model was model M1 (Figure 5A). When the genotype by environment interaction was taken into account, model M2 was the best in four of the five environments; however, it was not statistically superior to models M3 and M4. In general, the best predictions were obtained when the genotype by environment interaction was ignored. It is important to point out that in environment LHT, the best predictions occurred under models M2-M4, but generally in all environments, the predictions were larger than random guessing (20% since the response variable has five levels). With regard to the implementation time, the best model was model M2, but the gain was larger for this model compared to the other three models when genotype by environment interaction was taken into account (Figure 5B; left panel). It is important to point out that the slowest time performance was observed in model M3, that is, it was many times longer than the time performance of the other models (Figure 5B).For trait DTMT, the best prediction performance was observed when the genotype by environment interaction was ignored, and again the best predictions were observed under model M3 and the worst under model M1. However, model M3 was not statistically better than models M2 and M4. When the genotype by environment interaction was considered, models M2, M3 and M4 were the best and M1 was the worst (Figure 6A). In terms of implementation time, model M2 was the best and model M3 the slowest, and again the major gain in terms of implementation time was observed in models with genotype by environment interaction (Figure 6B; left panel).The same two predictors as in the previous three data sets were used with (E+G+GE) and without the genotype by interaction term (E+G). For trait DTHD, Figure 7A shows that when the genotype by environment interaction was ignored, the best models in terms of PCCC were models M3 and M4 and the worst was model M1. When the genotype by environment interaction was taken into account, models M2, M3 and M4 were the best and the worst again was model M1. However, in general, the best predictions were observed when the genotype by environment interaction was ignored (Figure 7A). The prediction performance was quite similar across environments for each model (Figure 7A). As for the implementation time, again the best model was model M2 and the worst was model M3. However, under genotype by environment interaction, the largest gain was observed with model M2 compared to the other models (Figure 7B; left panel). It is important to point out that, in general, model M3 was many times slower in terms of implementation time than the other models.For trait DTMT, when the genotype by environment interaction was not taken into account, models M3 and M4 were the best in terms of PCCC, and model M1 was the worst (Figure 8A; right panel). However, when the genotype by environment interaction was considered, models M2, M3 and M4 were the best and model M1 was the worst (Figure 8A; left panel). The best predictions were observed without considering the genotype by environment interaction and the predictions of environments Bed5IR and Flat5IR were considerably better with models M3 and M4 (Figure 8A; right panel). With regard to the implementation time, again the best model was model M2 and the slowest model was M3, but again the largest gain in terms of implementation time was observed when genotype by environment interaction was taken into account (Figure 8B; right panel). In both scenarios, with and without the genotype by environment interaction, the best model in terms of implementation time was M2, the second best was model M1, the third best was model M4 and the worst was model M3.This data set contains three ordinal traits; for this reason, we report the prediction performance for trait GC (binary trait), Leaf_Rust (5 levels) and Stripe_Rust (3 levels). The predictor now only contains information on genotypes (G). For traits GC, Leaf_Rust and Stripe_ Rust, we found no statistical differences between the four models in terms of prediction performance, but the best predictions were observed in trait Stripe_Rust and the worst in trait Leaf_Rust (Figure 9A). In terms of implementation time, we found in all traits that the best time was observed in models M2 and M4, but the worst time was in model M3 (Figure 9B). However, the longest implementation time was observed for trait Leaf_Rust and the shortest for trait GC (Figure 9B).Both these data sets have only one trait (lodging) with five levels in the response variable. The predictor in these two data sets only contains information on genotypes (G). In terms of prediction performance, in both data sets we found no statistical differences between the four models even though models M1 and M2 were slightly better. The prediction performance in data set 7 was much better than in data set 6 (Figure 10A). With regard to the implementation time, in data set 6 the best performance was observed under model M4, followed by model M2, and the worst performance occurred under model M3 (Figure 10B). In data set 7, the best implementation time was observed in models M2 and M4 and the worst again in model M3 (Figure 10B). In general, the implementation time was longer in data set 7 than in data set 6 (Figure 10B). Finally, in both data sets, the implementation time of model M3 was many times longer than the time of the other models (Figure 10B).In this data set, the only trait evaluated was GLS with five levels. Figure 11A gives the prediction performance with the simple predictor with interaction (E + G + GE + A + AE) and without interaction (E + G + A; A refers to the genotypes incorporating pedigree information). In one out of three environments, models M2, M3 and M4 outperformed model M1. A similar pattern was observed with and without the genotype by environment interaction, but taking into account the genotype by environment interaction was slightly better than ignoring it (Figure 11A). With regard to the implementation time, in general, the best performance was observed in model M2, then in model M4 and then in model M1, and the worst performance was observed in model M3 (Figure 11B). The implementation time was considerably longer when the genotype by environment interaction was taken into account (Figure 11B) and model M3 was considerably slower in terms of implementation time than the other models (Figure 11B).The prediction performance with the more complex predictor (with interaction: E + G + GE + A + AE + Rep + ERep + GRep + ARep, and without interaction: E + G + A + Rep + ERep + GRep + ARep; Rep refers to the effects of replications, ERep to the interaction between the environment and replications, GRep to the interaction between the genotypes and replications and ARep to the interaction between the lines with pedigree and replications) for the GLS trait is given in Figure 12. Figure 12A shows no statistical differences in terms of prediction performance between the four models with and without the genotype by environment interaction term. However, in general, the performance was better taking into account the genotype by environment interaction (Figure 12A). On the other hand, with regard to the implementation time, model M2 was the best, model M4 the second best and model M1 the third best, while model M3 was the worst. The required implementation time was many times longer in model M3 compared to the other models (Figure 12B).In this section we evaluated the degree of sensitivity of the priors in the prediction performance of the proposed MAPT model. As mentioned in material and methods, the prior of the beta coefficients is informative and the degree of informativeness depends on the coefficient of variation of the prior distribution of s 2 b which is equal toq , that does not depend on the scale parameter. For large values of v b , this prior will concentrate around its mean  Therefore, according to the hyper-parameter specification described before (in material and methods) S b ¼ ð1 2 R 2 ÞV l 1 n trðXX T Þ ðv b 2 2Þ, and this indicates that its mean is reduced toBut the concentration around this mean of the prior can be controlled for its coefficient of variation (CV ¼ ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ½2⁄ ðv b 2 4ÞÞ p that only depends on the degrees of freedom ðv b Þ parameter. For this reason, to evaluate the sensitivity of the prior distribution specification for s 2 b , four values of CV were evaluated: 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 15% that resulted in the following degrees of freedom values (v b Þ : 804, 369, 204 and 92.88, respectively. These different degrees of freedom (different values of CV) represent the amount of prior information. The larger (smaller) the CV (degrees of freedom=v b Þ, the less informative the prior distribution. Results are given in Figure B1 (Appendix B) for data set 1 for traits DTHD and DTMT. Figure B1 shows that the lower the CV (more informative prior), the better the prediction performance in both traits (DTHD and DTMT). However, a big difference in terms of prediction performance was not observed when the CV was increased from 5 to 7.5%; however, when the CV was increased to 15%, a drastic reduction in terms of prediction performance was observed. The performance of the proposed MAPT model with regard to the degree of informativeness of the prior for data set 2 (Figure B2), data set 3 (Figure B3) and data set 4 (Figure B4) was very similar and these plots (Figure B1 for data set 1) are displayed in Appendix B.In this article, applications of the ECM algorithm for MAP estimation in the context of ordinal data for genomic-enabled prediction were introduced due to the need to implement GS with ever-increasing ordinal data sets. The general performance of the proposed Maximum a posteriori Threshold Genomic Prediction (MAPT) model was compared with that of the conventional Bayesian threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction model, a multinomial Ridge regression model and the popular support vector machine. In terms of prediction performance, in most of the evaluated data sets, the proposed MAPT model was better than the conventional Bayesian threshold model and almost similar to the multinomial Ridge regression and support vector machine. However, in terms of implementation time, the MAPT model was almost always better than the multinomial Ridge regression, most of the time better than the conventional Bayesian Threshold Genomic prediction model and many times similar to or slightly better than the support vector machine model. One advantage of the proposed MAPT model is that it is very stable and its implementation time in general is lower than that of models M1 and M3. The stability of the MAPT is attributed to the fact that it was built using the ECM algorithm that guarantees a monotonic increasing expected likelihood function, which means the iterative parameter estimation method will not have many divergence problems, as do conventional optimization methods. Another advantage of the proposed MAPT algorithm is that since it was built under the Bayes theorem framework, it allows incorporating prior information, but with the difference that instead of sampling from the distribution of the full conditionals, we only compute the posterior mode of the full conditional distributions.Because we observed that the proposed MAPT using uninformative priors considerably underestimates the variance components compared to those obtained by the Bayesian Ordinal regression, to be able to successfully use the proposed method in the context of genomic prediction, we provided more informative priors for the variance component of the beta coefficients. The prior specification was done according to Pérez et al. (2010), who assume that a certain proportion of phenotypic variance is explained by the genotypic variance, but instead of equating the expected a priori genotypic variance divided by 1 n trðXX T Þ to the mode (S b =ðv b þ 2Þ of the prior distribution for the genetic variance, and solving for the scale parameter (S b Þ for a fixed value of degrees of freedom (v b Þ, we equated the expected a priori genotypic variance divided by 1 n trðXX T Þ to the mean of the prior distribution for the genetic variance (S b =ðv b 2 2ÞÞ, and then we solved the scale parameter (S b Þ for a fixed value of degrees of freedom (v b Þ. This approach allows control of the prior specification to be concentrated more around its mean prior phenotypic value with a desired coefficient of variation. It is important to point out that for a better performance of the proposed MAPT method, we always suggest scaling each independent variable.As mentioned in the introduction, our method is different from the GEM method proposed by Kärkkäinen and Sillanpää (2013), which uses the conditional mean to update each parameter, while our proposed MAPT uses the conditional mode of each parameter, and the ECM algorithm implementation is based on a different latent variable than in the representation proposed by Ruud (1991).On the other hand, an explanation of why many times the support vector machine was the best can be attributed to the fact that we implemented the support vector machine with a Gaussian kernel, while the other models (M1, M2 and M3) were implemented without a specific kernel (linear kernel). That is, the outstanding performance of the support vector machine can be attributed to the fact that the Gaussian kernel captures no linear patterns of the training data sets used that cannot be captured by models M1, M2 and M3, where linear kernels were used.In this research, we proposed an alternative method for the Bayesian threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction model based on the MAP estimation method. The proposed method is simple, easy to implement and an efficient tool for learning parameters of a model since it was built using the Expected Conditional Maximization (ECM) for deriving the MAP for the conventional threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction model. Our proposed maximum a posteriori threshold genomic prediction (MAPT) model was compared with the conventional Bayesian Threshold genomic best linear unbiased prediction model, the multinomial Ridge regression model and the support vector machine. We found that the proposed MAPT model was very competitive in terms of prediction performance with multinomial Ridge regression and the support vector machine which, in most data sets, outperformed the conventional Threshold genomic prediction model. However, in terms of implementation time, our proposed model (MAPT) and the support vector machine were the best, and the worst was the multinomial Ridge regression model, which although it produced a competitive prediction performance, its implementation time (computational resources) is extremely demanding. For these reasons, we encourage plant breeding scientists to benchmark the proposed method with other machine learning models for ordinal outcomes to get a better sense of the usefulness of our approach.   ","tokenCount":"7335"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7053840227.json b/data/part_1/7053840227.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c255aa5e258a8bfd310fe3cb18350a9573e15a48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7053840227.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c88d5b9483131143073f6cc5727bce8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.iita.org/dataset/75dff056-1805-432f-bfca-8c60e2a7fe7b/resource/c4ef668d-83f6-4ad1-aa37-f274de138b74/download/iita-cowpea-sop01-site-selection_validated.doc.pdf","id":"1863653853"},"keywords":["Crop","Cowpea Function","Site selection and Field layout SOP # IITA-CP-SOP01 Revision # IITA-CP-SOP01-01 Implementation Date 15/05/2022"],"sieverID":"b11b7f57-da1f-4ff2-ad07-5d7041a22ff2","pagecount":"8","content":"Site selection and field plot layout are important components of experimentations and require adequate attention. Poor site selections and field layouts are major sources of heterogeneity in experimental fields and can have adverse effects on the data quality. This SOP describes the standard processes to be followed in the cowpea breeding programs to ensure appropriate sites are chosen for experiments and the field plot layouts are appropriate. This document describes standard operating procedures (SOPs) for careful selection of sites for setting cowpea trials. This is a living document that will continuously be updated to reflect the most current advances in the cowpea breeding programs.The purpose of this document is to outline the roles, responsibilities, and guidelines for choosing appropriate sites for cowpea evaluation. This SOP can also be used as a checklist of what to consider prior to setting up cowpea experiments across sites.This document contains outlines of steps involved in the choice of experimental sites. It covers key considerations for site selections and field layout, detailing items to look for when searching for a good experimental site. Site: An area in a specified locality that can be used to conduct field trials Field lay-out: A map of how trials are placed in the field, with clearAll staff involved in implementing breeding activities in the cowpea improvement program at IITA must use the site selection and field layout SOP. NARS partners involved in Regional Coordinated Trials or any other Network designed trials are highly encouraged to follow the same SOP for site selection and field layout. No alteration should be made to the procedures unless approved exceptionally by the program leaders. The list of individuals responsible for each section of the SOP is listed below.Responsible for the overall management of the breeding program and for delegating team responsibilities. The crop lead is also responsible for making formal requests for lands that are both inside and outside the research farm unit. Associate scientists (AS): Support the CLB with follow up and implementation of activities.Research associate (RA): Responsible for conducting site assessments to establish issues with soil heterogeneity, cropping history, slopes, waterlogged areas etc.Responsible for physical on-site verification and mapping of the sites.Responsible for soil sampling cross sites where necessary, supervising and participating in mapping sites.Site selection for cowpea must be guided by the steps outlined below:Step1: Timing Site selection is a crucial initial step and must be conducted early. This should be done at least 3 months prior to the beginning of the cropping season. This is to allow ample time to carry out other required operations before establishing trials. Step2: Consider the representativeness of selected sites Consider the geographical location of the sites to ensure that the testing sites are representative of the target environments; that is, the environments in which released materials will be grown. Here, use should be made of weather data and geographical information, soil suitability for cowpea and site suitability for some biotic or abiotic stresses. For initial and preliminary yield trials, 3-5 sites are sufficient, while for advanced yield trials, a minimum of six sites should be considered.In West Africa, we have identified three main Target Populations of Environments (TPE) (Figure 1). These TPEs were identified using cowpea production, area under cowpea, rainfall, temperature, and soil characteristics. For the late testing stage and National Performance Trial, it should be good to have at least 2-3 testing sites per TPE. Step3: Consider soil heterogeneity Cowpea can be grown in diverse types of soils ranging from predominantly clay to predominantly sandy and acidic to basic. A well-drained, open-textured sandy loam to clay loam soil between pH 6 to 7 is the best. To choose an experimental site that has minimum soil heterogeneity, attention must be drawn to the features that magnify soil differences. These are described below: a. Slopes: Fertility gradients are generally most pronounced in sloping areas, with lower portions more fertile than high areas. This is because soil nutrients are soluble in water and tend to settle in lower areas. An ideal experimental site, therefore, is one that has no slope. If a level area is not available, an area with a uniform and gentle slope is preferred because such areas generally have predictable fertility gradients, which can be managed using proper blocking. b. Site history: Different treatments used in experimental planting usually increase soil heterogeneity. Thus, areas previously planted to different crops, fertilized at different levels, or subjected to varying cultural managements should be avoided, if possible. Otherwise, such areas should be planted to a uniform variety and fertilized heavily and uniformly for at least one season before conducting an experiment. In order to manage diseases, insects, and weeds, the history and crop rotation of the field should be known. c. Empty plots: Another source of soil heterogeneity is the presence of non-planted alleys, which are common in field experiments. Plants grown in previously non-planted areas tend to perform better. Non-planted areas should be marked so that the same areas are left as alleys in succeeding plantings. d. Avoid graded Areas: Grading usually removes topsoil from elevated areas and dumps it in the lower areas of a site. This operation, while reducing the slope, results in an uneven depth of surface soil and at times exposes infertile subsoils. These differences persist for a long time. Thus, an area that has had any kind of soil movement should be avoided. If this is not possible, it is advisable to conduct a uniformity trial to assess the pattern of soil heterogeneity so that a suitable remedy can be adopted by proper blocking or by appropriate adjustment through the use of the covariance technique. areas are usually undependable because the shade of the structures, and probably some soil movement during their construction, could contribute to poor crop performance. g. Unproductive Site: A productive site is an important prerequisite to a successful experiment. Thus, an area with poor soil should not be used unless the experiment is set up specifically to evaluate such conditions. Frequent soil nutrient analysis (every two years) should be conducted to evaluate the productivity of the soil. Monitor plant growth and productivity from current trials to understand soil deterioration in experimental fields. h. Field dimension and GPS: Record the dimension of the selected field and area (ha or acres) and take the GPS. i. Soil analysis: Regular soil analysis is required to monitor variability in the soil. Soil nutrient tests for cowpea experimental sites should be conducted after every 3 years.For new sites, soil samples must be taken for nutrient analysis before considering the site for trials. This will help ascertain fertility gradients in the field. For frequently used sites, frequent soil analysis (after every 2 years) should also be conducted.Step4: Considerations for field layout • Once sites have been chosen, it is paramount to consider minimizing some of the unavoidable sources of heterogeneity using proper field layouts. • After describing the fertility pattern of an experimental area, several options are available for reducing the effect of soil heterogeneity. These options can be inexpensive, involving only a change of plot or block orientation, but at times, the option may involve enlarging the experimental area or increasing the total number of plots. The options that are commonly used, these are: i.Plot Size and shape • The contribution of soil heterogeneity to experimental error stems from differences in soil fertility between plots within a block. The smaller this difference is the smaller the experimental error. • Therefore, the choice of suitable plot size and shape should reduce the differences in soil productivity from plot to plot within a block and consequently reduce experimental error. • The gain in precision decreases as the plot size becomes increasingly large.• Furthermore, higher costs are involved when large plots are used. Hence, the plot size that a researcher should aim for is one that balances precision and cost. This is commonly referred to as optimum plot size. • Once the optimum plot size is determined, the choice of plot shape is governed by the following considerations: a. Use long and narrow blocks for areas with distinct fertility gradient, with the length of the plot parallel to the fertility gradient of the field. b. Blocks should be as square as possible (close to a square) whenever the fertility pattern of the area is spotty or not known, or when border effects will manifest. ii.• Block size is governed by the plot size chosen, the number of treatments tested, and the experimental design used. Once these factors are fixed, only the choice of block shape is left to the researcher. • The primary objective in choosing the shape of blocks is to reduce the differences in productivity levels among plots within a block so that most of the soil variability in the area is accounted for by variability between blocks. • Information on the pattern of soil heterogeneity in the area is helpful in making this choice. When the fertility pattern of the area is known, orient the blocks so that soil differences between blocks are maximized, and those within the same block are minimized. • For example, in an area with a unidirectional fertility gradient, the length of the block should be oriented perpendicular to the direction of the fertility gradient. • On the other hand, when the fertility pattern of the area is spotty, or is not known to the researcher, blocks should be kept as compact, or as nearly square, as possible. • Because block size, for most experimental designs, increases proportionately with the number of treatments and because it is difficult to maintain homogeneity in large blocks, a researcher must also be concerned with the number of treatments.","tokenCount":"1610"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7072887787.json b/data/part_1/7072887787.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7d0cf116fa14d74884df86b4083aa2b52a17a7cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7072887787.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f0de87a2bd828eb07d36f1ed470de58c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ff096ab3-39f6-4773-b967-c3064418f963/retrieve","id":"638584828"},"keywords":["glycosyltransferase family 61","Liliopsida","gene family expansion","positive selection footprints","orthologous genes","phylogeny"],"sieverID":"61c0bb9e-019d-4c55-beb2-a3f15e5ceeb6","pagecount":"13","content":"Plant cell walls play a fundamental role in several plant traits and also influence crop use as livestock nutrition or biofuel production. The Glycosyltransferase family 61 (GT61) is involved in the synthesis of cell wall xylans. In grasses (Poaceae), a copy number expansion was reported for the GT61 family, and raised the question of the evolutionary history of this gene family in a broader taxonomic context. A phylogenetic study was performed on GT61 members from 13 species representing the major angiosperm clades, in order to classify the genes, reconstruct the evolutionary history of this gene family and study its expansion in monocots. Four orthogroups (OG) were identified in angiosperms with two of them displaying a copy number expansion in monocots. These copy number expansions resulted from both tandem and segmental duplications during the genome evolution of monocot lineages. Positive selection footprints were detected on the ancestral branch leading to one of the orthogroups suggesting that the gene number expansion was accompanied by functional diversification, at least partially. We propose an OG-based classification framework for the GT61 genes at different taxonomic levels of the angiosperm useful for any further functional or translational biology study.Glycosyltransferases (GTs) constitute a large superfamily of enzymes that catalyze the assembling of monosaccharide moieties into linear and branched glycan chains (Rini et al., 2009). GTs have been subdivided into several families (Coutinho et al., 2003) with 105 of them identified up to now (Lombard et al., 2014). Among them, the glycosyltransferase family 61 (GT61) contains genes strongly believed to play a central role in the synthesis and feruloylation of Arabinoxylan, the major components of cell walls in grasses (Mitchell et al., 2007). These components are known to play a crucial role against pathogen penetration, manufacturing processes for human and animal consumption as well as alcohol and biofuel production (Freeman et al., 2017).The GT61 proteins are characterized by the presence of a conserved domain of unknown function (Pfam DUF563) in the C-terminal portion and by a N-terminal putative transmembrane domain (Chiniquy et al., 2012). Until now, only four gene have been functionally characterized: the Arabidopsis thaliana XylT (β1,2-xylosyltransferase) (Strasser et al., 2000), the Oryza sativa Xax1 (Xylosyltransferase) (Chiniquy et al., 2012) and the Triticum aestivum TaXAT1 and TaXAT2 (xylan arabinosyltransferases) (Anders et al., 2012). Additionally, some other GT61 genes members has been shown to be involved in the synthesis of Xyl-Rich mucilage polymers in A. thaliana (Muci21) (Voiniciuc et al., 2015) and in Plantago subspecies (Phan et al., 2016).Previous studies (Anders et al., 2012;Voiniciuc et al., 2015) consistently divided the GT61 genes family in three major clades, named A, B, and C. Clade C is the most differentiated and contains usually one gene per species whereas clades A and B contain several members per species. In clade A, a gene expansion was shown in the Poaceae family based on sequences from O. sativa and Sorghum bicolor. However, comparative genomics databases based on a wider plant genome sampling such as GreenPhyl (Rouard et al., 2010) indicate possible gene copy amplification in other monocots beyond the Poaceae (Figure 1A). Gene family expansions can be due to both small size duplications (tandem duplications) and large scale duplications [segmental or whole genome duplications (WGDs)]. In the first case, duplicated copies of the genes remain physically close in the genome (forming gene clusters) while for large scale duplications, the genes are more distant with reduced physical interactions between them. Whatever the duplication mode, each copy accumulates independent mutations (genic conversion apart) and the classically described evolutionary fates of duplicated genes are either the loss of redundant copies, subfunctionalization (maintenance of both copies to assure the original function) or neofunctionalization (acquisition of a new function retained over time by natural selection due to a selective effect increasing fitness) [Moore and Purugganan (2005) and Innan and Kondrashov (2010)]. Somehow, the persistence of two or more copies of a gene over the course of evolution is a clue of functional differentiation among the copies (Fischer et al., 2014). Such a gene expansion and selective pressure of the GT61 gene duplicates have not been examined yet.The objectives of this study are first to investigate the homology relationships in the GT61 by identifying orthogroups (OG) and thus providing an OG-based classification framework for this family (Cenci et al., 2014;Cenci and Rouard, 2017). Orthogroups are defined as group of genes of a given sample of species that descended from a single ancestral gene. Since the functional annotation transfer relies on the accurate identification of orthologous sequences between genomes, this work will likely be useful for any further classification and gene function assignment in the GT61 gene family. The second objective was to identify the type of duplication events that occurred in the GT61 beyond Poales in the monocots and clarify whether patterns of functional differentiation were present.Cell walls in flowering plants (angiosperms) differ in their characteristics based on the presence of a network of either Xyloglucans (XyGs) present in dicots and non-commelinids monocots (e.g., Asparagales) or Galacturonoarabinoxylans (GAXs) specific to monocots commelinids (e.g., Arecales, Zingiberales, and Poales) (Vogel, 2008). Consequently, we analyzed the whole set of GT61 sequences in a broad taxonomic panel composed of a basal monocot (Asparagus officinalis), the main clades of the monocot commelinids (Musa acuminata for Zingiberales, Phoenix dactylifera and Elaeis guineensis for Arecales, Ananas comosus for basal Poales and Setaria italica, Brachypodium distachyon, and O. sativa for Poaceae), dicots (Coffea canephora for asterids, A. thaliana, Vitis vinifera, and Theobroma cacao for rosids) and the basal angiosperm Amborella trichopoda as outgroup for both monocot and dicots (Figure 1B).Motif Analysis of GT61 Genes GT61 protein sequences from M. acuminata were retrieved from GreenPhyl database (Rouard et al., 2010) and used to search GT61 sequences of other species with BLASTp (score > 200) in their respective NCBI Annotation Release from A. trichopoda (release 101, species code AMBTC), V. vinifera (102, VITVI), T. cacao (100, THECC), P. dactylifera (101, PHODA), E. guineensis (101, ELAGV), S. italica (103, SETIT), B. distachyon (103, BRADI), O. sativa (102, ORYSA), and A. officinalis (100, ASPOF) or from species specific sequence databases: A. thaliana (ARATH) from TAIR10.1 (Berardini et al., 2015), M. acuminata (MUSAC) v2, from the Banana Genome Hub (Droc et al., 2013), C. canephora (COFCA), from the Coffee Genome Hub (Dereeper et al., 2015) and A. comosus (ANACO) from Plaza v4 (Van Bel et al., 2018). Sequences were manually curated to verify their gene structure and when necessary exon introns boundaries were corrected. A list detailing species and annotation for all the sequences used as well as a FASTA file containing them are available in Supplementary Datas S1, S2. A five-digit species code at the end of sequence names (as reported above between brackets) indicates the relative species. GT61 genes' physical locations along the genome were determined for all the species. When chromosome pseudomolecules were unavailable, the assignation was based on scaffold coordinates. GT61 genes separated by no more than five other genes were considered in tandem cluster.Phylogenetic analyses were performed on protein sequence alignments obtained with the MAFFT program (Katoh and Standley, 2013) via the EMBL-EBI bioinformatics interface (Li et al., 2015) using default parameters. Conserved blocks were extracted from the alignments with Gblocks (Castresana, 2000). The selection of conserved blocks was performed by allowing: (i) smaller final blocks, (ii) gap positions within the final blocks, and (iii) less strict flanking positions. Phylogenetic trees were built with PhyML (Guindon and Gascuel, 2003) available at phylogeny.fr (Dereeper et al., 2008) using an LG substitution model and the Approximate Likelihood-Ratio Test (aLRT) as statistical tests for branch support (Guindon et al., 2009). Phylogenetic trees were visualized with MEGA6 (Tamura et al., 2013).In this study, orthogroups (OG) were visually delineated with regards to the angiosperm species tree in Figure 1B (source NCBI taxonomy). OGs were thus identified based on gene trees as the clades including both monocot and dicot, implying the existence of a common ancestor gene before the monocot/dicot lineage split. The same method was applied for GT61 genes that underwent additional copy amplification in monocot lineage with commelinids and Poaceae divergence as reference taxonomic level.In order to investigate the selection pressures driving evolution of the GT61 family, different models allowing the dN/dS ratio (ω, i.e., the non-synonymous on synonymous substitution rate ratio) to vary according to branches, sites or both, were tested using the codeml program of the PAML4 software (Yang, 1997). Three kinds of models were used: 'site' models, wherein the dN/dS ratio is allowed to vary between sites; 'branch' models wherein the dN/dS ratio is allowed to vary between branches; and 'branch-site' models wherein the dN/dS ratio is allowed to vary between both branches and sites. Site models were implemented in homemade python scripts, relying on the egglib package (De Mita and Siol, 2012).The 'site' models were used to test whether positive selection drove the differentiation between paralogous sequences within each species, as performed in Fischer et al. (2016). Two models were tested: the nearly neutral model (M8a) assumes that codons evolve either neutrally or under purifying selection whereas the positive selection model (M8) assumes positive selection acting on certain codons. Likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) were performed to compare M8 with M8a and, hence, to detect sequences groups (species) for which models that include positive selection are more likely to occur than models that do not. When models with positive selection were more likely, Bayes empirical method was used to calculate the posterior probabilities at each codon and to detect those under positive selection (i.e., those with a posterior probability of having a dN/dS > 1 above 95%). Sites detected to be under positive selection at the codon level were manually validated according to alignment quality and reliability.To determine if each of the six branches leading to subgroups A1 to A6 underwent a significant different selective pressure compared to all the other branches of the tree, the 'branch' and 'branch-site' models were used. Each of the six branches was tested individually by comparing the likelihood of a 'branch' model allowing the dN/dS to take a different value for the tested branch with the likelihood of a 'null' model. The null model was defined as follow. Two different values of dN/dS are allowed: a first value of dN/dS on the 'outgroup' branches (G group) and another value of dN/dS on all the other branches of the tree. As multiple testing is implicit in this method, the p-values were corrected using the total number of branch partitions tested (i.e., 6).Branch partitions tested with 'branch-site' models were the same as for the 'branch' models. Two models were compared: the null model (A0), in which sites on all branches (including the G group) evolved under the same selective pressure (purifying or neutral), was compared to a model including positive selection (model A) in which some sites on the tested branch evolved under positive selection, whereas sites on the rest of branches still evolved under purifying selection or neutrality. Again, the most likely model was inferred by LRT and sites detected to be under positive selection at the codon level were manually validated according to alignment quality and reliability.A total of 219 members of GT61 gene family were found in A. thaliana, T. cacao, V. vinifera, C. canephora, A. officinalis, M. acuminata, E. guineensis, P. dactylifera, A. comosus, B. distachyon, S. italica, O. sativa, and A. trichopoda. In dicots and A. trichopoda, the number of GT61 genes found per species ranged between 4 and 7 and in monocots between 9 and 39, with 24 in average (between 15 and 39 when only commelinids are considered, i.e., excluding A. officinalis) (Table 1 and Supplementary Data S1).The phylogenetic tree of the whole GT61 gene family was obtained with 253 aligned positions (amino acids). Three main clades were detected (Figure 2 and Supplementary Data S3). The first one (in green in Figure 2, named clade G), has a strong branch support (aLRT = 0.98) and contains 11 sequences belonging to both monocot and dicot lineages plus one sequence of A. trichopoda. However, in this clade, there are no sequences of the following species: A. thaliana, M. acuminata and all considered Poaceae (Table 1). The second clade is also strongly supported (aLRT = 1), and includes 44 sequences (subclades D and F in Table 1) distributed in sub-clades with variable support (in blue and fuchsia in Figure 2). The third clade (clade A, aLRT = 0.94) is the largest one (in red in Figure 2). It includes 164 sequences, i.e., more than 75% of GT61 sequences (Table 1).A second phylogenetic analysis restricted to the second clade was performed in order to increase its phylogenetic resolution, using the clade G as an outgroup. Thus, the 44 sequences of this clade and 11 of the clade G were re-aligned and the phylogenetic tree was built based on 307 amino acid aligned positions (Figure 3 and Supplementary Data S3). In this new tree, a strongly supported clade (aLRT = 0.98) includes seven sequences from only A. trichopoda and three dicots species (T. cacao, V. vinifera, and A. thaliana; in fuchsia in Figures 2, 3). The remaining 34 sequences (aLRT = 0.80) form five new clades named D1 to D4, and D (dicot) (Figure 3). The OG-GT61-D (dicot) clade (aLRT = 0.94) contains all and only dicot sequences (Figure 3). An A. trichopoda sequence is branched to this clade with a lower branch support (aLRT = 0.76) (Figure 3). The sequences composing the four remaining clades (D1-D4) come all exclusively from monocot species, and each clade includes sequences from almost all the commelinid species studied. As expected, A. officinalis sequences have a basal position in all four clades, with LOC109843905 and LOC109840057 clearly included in clade D1 and D4, respectively, whereas the A. officinalis sequence (LOC109831329 * ) is branched on a basal position of the two clades D2 and D3 (Figure 3).In the same order of idea, a third phylogenetic tree was built to better disentangle the phylogenetic relationships within the group A. The 164 sequences it contained were re-aligned and a new phylogenetic tree was build based on 277 aligned amino acid positions. Several well-supported clades were identified but relationships among them remained poorly resolved (Figure 4 and Supplementary Data S3). All the dicot sequences were grouped in the same well-supported clade named ' A (dicot)'. Five others clades contain at least one sequence of each monocot species sampled in our study (A1, A2, A3, A4, and A6) whereas a sixth (A5) is missing sequences from O. sativa. Finally, the clade A7 contains only sequences from A. comosus and from the three Poaceae species. All these clades have an aLRT support higher than 0.95 except A3 (0.81). The seven remaining sequences, whether grouped or not in small well-supported clades, could not be assigned to the main clades previously described. As previously mentioned, an orthogroup (i.e., group of orthologous genes) is defined, for a given sample of species, as a group of genes all issued from a single ancestral gene present in the last common ancestor of the species being considered. Based on the species considered in this study (i.e., monocots and dicots), we identified 4 orthogroups. The sequences included in the phylogenetic clade G appear clearly derived from the same ancestral gene present in the monocot/dicot last common ancestor and constitutes thus a first orthogroup (named OG-GT61-G). Indeed, the internal topology of clade G follows almost perfectly the expected topology of angiosperm phylogeny. Clade G is well supported and contains sequences from both monocot and dicot species (Figure 3); one sequence from A. trichopoda is included in this cluster. Two other orthogroups (OG-GT61-F and OG-GT61-D) were defined in the second main clade. Again, the ancestral gene, from which all the genes of the clade OG-GT61-F are derived, was probably present in the common ancestor of monocot and dicots. However, in this clade, the absence of genes from the monocots species studied here can be interpreted as a gene loss that probably occurred early in the evolution of monocot lineages. Conversely, for the OG-GT61-D, in the lineage of commelinids copy amplification took place that generated four copies; each one was conserved in the descendant species and formed four commelinid-specific orthogroups, named from OG-GT61-D1 to OG-GT61-D4 (Figure 3). The position of the three A. officinalis sequences in the phylogenetic tree suggests that the duplication which resulted in the presence of D2 and D3 sequences occurred after commelinids lineage diverged from Asparagales (Figure 3). Due to the low branch support for OG-GT61-D2 and -D3 clades, one cannot exclude the possibility that Acorales and Poales sequence duplications (no representative sequence was found for M. acuminata) were independent and successive to the respective lineages separation (Figure 3), implying the existence of a unique orthogroup.All the sequences of the group A, issued from both dicot and monocot species, were assigned to an orthogroup named OG-GT61-A. Clade A (dicot) contains all the dicots sequences and each dicot species possesses one to three sequences. Speciesspecific tandem duplications occurred in some species, such as A. thaliana and T. cacao. A lineage-specific amplification was also observed in A. trichopoda. The phylogenetic analysis performed on the sequences of this orthogroup shows that several amplifications occurred but concerned almost exclusively genes from the monocots.The monocot sequences of OG-GT61-A are more numerous and can be grouped into six clades (A1-A6) containing each all commelinids, and a seventh one (A7), Poales-specific (Figure 4 FIGURE 4 | Phylogenetic tree obtained with 164 GT61 sequences from clade A. Clades corresponding to orthogroups are collapsed. The fully expanded representation of the tree is in Supplementary Figure S1.and Supplementary Figure S1). The positions of A. officinalis sequences are, however, sometimes not well-resolved, especially LOC109846408, which is closely related to the GT61-A3, -A4 and -A7 orthogroups. Seven orthogroups commelinid-specific can therefore be defined, and named OG-GT61-A1 to OG-GT61-A7 (Figure 4). Additional amplifications were observed in some commelinid OGs. Internal clades containing each of the three Poaceae species (O. sativa, B. distachyon, and S. italica) were identified: 4 for OG-GT61-A1, 3 for OG-GT61-A2, 5 for OG-GT61-A4 and 3 for OG-GT61-A7. We finally further refined the nomenclature within Poaceae-specific OGs with a letter as a suffix (e.g., OG-GT61-A7a, OG-GT61-A7b, and OG-GT61-A7c, Supplementary Figure S1).The analysis of the genomic positions of the GT61 sequences from the orthogroup A in monocots showed that several genes are tandemly distributed. Each tandem is composed of genes, each one belonging to a different commelinid-specific OG-A. Moreover, the tandem organization is collinear among the studied monocot species (Table 2). The tandem repeat loci present in the genome of P. dactylifera and E. guineensis contain members from all the subclades (A1-A6). Differently, in M. acuminata, whose genome experienced three lineage-specific WGDs, the number of OG-GT61-A tandem loci is higher (nine loci) and it appears that each of them underwent gene loss, a process known as 'fractionation process' in polyploid species (Langham et al., 2004). Thus, the complete ancestral structure of the tandem repeat locus of M. acuminata can be inferred by consensus from all the clusters (Table 2). In Poales (not shown in Table 2), because of (i) the presence of the A7 orthogroup members and (ii) the occurrence of additional tandem amplifications, the OG-GT61-A tandem loci harbor a more complex organization, but they still remain partially collinear with those of Arecales and Zingiberales.Based on comparative analysis of loci on which GT61 genes are tandemly distributed and on the phylogenetic analysis, a model was built to reconstruct the history of GT61 gene amplification before the commelinid radiation. Since the GT61 family underwent additional copy amplifications in the Poales, only Arecales and Zingiberales are taken into account (Figure 5).In order to investigate evolutionary forces which could explain the diversification of this gene family into six orthogroups in commelinids, several models of codon evolution were tested. Due to the further gene expansion that took place in Poaceae, only A. comosus was included in analyses as a species representative of Poales. A. officinalis sequences were also removed to simplify the focus on commelinids. The sequences of the OG-GT61-G were included as outgroup. The 103 amino acid sequences  were aligned and converted back into codons (311 positions).The phylogenetic tree used in the PAML analysis was built with the same codon alignment (Figure 6 and Supplementary Data S3).The first model tested the diversification between paralogous sequences within each species and revealed no signal of positive selection (Table 3).The second model allowed us to test the significance of a different dN/dS value on each of the six ancestral branches leading to the different orthogroups (A1-A6), compared to the dN/dS values of the rest of the tree (Figure 6 and Table 4). This analysis showed that on the branch leading to the orthogroup A6, the dN/dS value was significantly higher (0.7543) than the dN/dS values of all the remaining (i.e., background and root) branches of the tree (0.1467 and 0.1881 for the root). This result shows that the constraints were much more relaxed, on average, in this branch, i.e., after the duplication leading to the A6 copy and before the speciation occurred.To go further in the investigation of the selective constraints on those six branches, other models were used. They tested for the presence of sites under positive selection on the selected branches (Figure 6 and Table 5). On two branches, A5 and A6, a proportion of sites (2.3 and 9.8% for A5 and A6, respectively) were under positive selection. For the A5 branch, the estimated value of dN/dS in the site category expected to be superior to one is exactly 1, suggesting that the significance of the 'branch-site' model compared to the null model may be artefactual. On the contrary, the dN/dS value estimated for positively selected sites on the A6 branch was 5.98, confirming that those sites are clearly under positive selection on this branch. Indeed, Bayes empirical method (BEB) showed that 5 codons have a high posterior probability to be under positive selection (p > 0.95). These codons are located in the cleaned alignment positions 67, 129, 151, 236, and 311, where amino acid variants are often specific to the OG-GT61 sequences (Supplementary Data S4).   In order to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the GT61 gene family in angiosperms and to propose a classification of its members, we conducted a deep phylogenetic analysis of the GT61 genes present in 13 species representative of angiosperms.Our strategy was to identify orthogroups (OG) for three different sub-sample of species, from the widest one (monocots and dicots) to the narrowest (Poaceae species), with an intermediate one (commelinid species). This strategy allowed us to make assumptions on how many ancestral genes were present at each node of interest across the angiosperm evolutionary history, and thus to model when and where duplication and loss events occurred. When all the species were considered (the largest species subsample), four orthogroups could be defined: OG-GT61-A, -D, -F, and -G [the very divergent clade C in the phylogeny of Anders et al. (2012) was not considered in this study]. It indicates that all the GT61 genes from monocots and dicots derived from at least 4 ancestral genes. This number is consistent with the fact that six GT61 genes were found in A. trichopoda, included here as an outgroup for the monocot/dicot lineage. Actually, two of them are included in the clade containing the OG-GT61-A genes and probably result from an A. trichopoda lineage-specific duplication while other two are included in the well-supported F orthogroup (Figures 2-4).Since a commelinid-specific expansion was observed within OG-GT61-A and -D, the commelinids were chosen as the second species sub-sample to define narrower OGs. Thus, 7 and 4 orthogroups, respectively (OG-GT61-A1 to -A7 and OG-GT61-D1 to D4) were identified. Finally, due to additional amplifications detected in A orthogroups of Poaceae (represented by O. sativa, B. distachyon and S. italica in our study), Poaceae constituted the third species level and 15 additional OG could be defined (Supplementary Figure S1). This number should be validated by an analysis including a more complete representation of Poaceae species. A GT61 additional amplification was observed also in Arecales, but since only two species represented this group, we considered unreliable to define an Arecales-specific orthogroups.The GT61 gene family underwent dramatic copy amplifications, as already noted in the study by Anders et al. (2012), which was restricted to Poaceae species, in particular within OG-GT61-A. However, the estimation of when the amplifications occurred, in particular over the course of monocot evolution needed to be specified. Our results show that a first round of amplification involved the ancestor of all commelinids analyzed here. Moreover, the phylogenetic positions of the non-commelinid A. officinalis GT61 sequences in D and A orthogroups suggests that the amplification process started before the split between the Asparagales and Commelinid lineages. The copy number amplification observed for grasses (Poaceae) by Anders et al. (2012) would actually involve a larger taxonomic range (at least for some duplication events).Gene amplifications shared by the commelinid were observed in two different orthogroups: OG-GT61-A and, to a lesser extent, OG-GT61-D. The dicot clade position in the OG-GT61-A and OG-GT61-D trees raises the question whether the amplification process started before the monocot/dicot split and was followed by loss of the duplicated copies in the dicot lineage. For example GT61-A1 clade appears to have a basal position in the OG-GT61-A subtree (Figure 2 and Supplementary Figure S1) but unresolved position of the outgroup (A. trichopoda) sequences prevent us from solving this question.The Poales-specific amplifications within the orthogroups A1, A2, A4, and A7 indicate that new copies were retained. With the exception of the Poales-specific A7 OG, independent amplifications took place also in Arecales (P. dactylifera and E. guineensis). Finally, in the M. acuminata GT61 family, gene amplification was observed in all A OGs, likely explained by the three WGDs that took place during the Musa genome evolution (D'Hont et al., 2012). Taken together, these observations indicate that the expansion in the GT61 family was not an evolutionary burst that occurred before the Commelinids or Poaceae radiation but rather the result of recurrent duplication events in the monocot evolution. The analysis of GT61 gene genomic locations indicates that the GT61 family expansion was shaped by both local tandem amplification and large scale duplications (WGDs).Combined analyses of phylogeny and comparative genomics (Table 2) of the OG-GT61-A members allowed us to reconstruct the first phase of amplification, i.e., the one concerning the entire commelinid lineage (Figure 5). This reconstruction is based on highly supported phylogenetic branches (aLRT higher than 0.9) and on relative positions and orientations of GT61 genes in tandemly organized loci found in all the commelinids. However, to reach a higher level of resolution in the GT61 family tandem amplification history in monocots, additional high quality genome would be needed, especially in other monocot orders such as Acorales or Liliales for instance.One hypothesis to explain the retention of duplicated copies during the genome evolution of all monocot species analyzed here is that the GT61 genes underwent a functional divergence. This hypothesis relies, in a schematic way, either on the neofunctionalization scenario under which a new advantageous function appears on one copy (for which positive selection is expected to act), or on the subfunctionalization scenario under which divergence accumulated between copies makes them non-redundant and consequently prevents each of them from being eliminated during the evolution (for which only neutral processes are expected) (Moore and Purugganan, 2005;Innan and Kondrashov, 2010). In order to go further, and to figure out which functional implications could be deduced from the evolutionary history of GT61 gene family, we searched for putative footprints of selection. The PAML analysis performed on the sequences of OG-GT61-A of monocots revealed positive selection footprints on the branch specific to the OG-GT61-A6. In particular, five codons with a dN/dS value significantly higher than 1 were identified. Only two of them lie in the DUF563 domain. No other branches or sites under positive selection were identified but action of diversifying selection cannot be excluded. In particular, some analyzed branches are really short (for example in the case of OG-GT61-A3 and -A4, Figure 6) and the statistical power is known to be reduced in short branches. It is also possible that the alignment cleaning steps removed significant codons.At present, the function of only three OG-GT61-A genes has been identified: TaXAT1 and TaXAT2 in wheat (Anders et al., 2012) and XAX1 in rice (Chiniquy et al., 2012). These three genes are involved in cell wall xylan synthesis. TaXAT1 and TaXAT2 belong to the orthogroups GT61-A1a and GT61-A2b, respectively; the rice XAX1 belongs to the commelinid orthogroup GT61-A7 (Poales specific). It is likely that other copies share similar function in synthesis of cell wall xylans. The increasing number of genes observed in the monocot could be related to the higher biochemical complexity and diversity of the cell wall of this taxonomic group compared to other plant species (Peña et al., 2016). Duplicated copies could have enabled the transfer of different molecules to the xylose chain, thus modifying the cell wall composition. Moreover, the cell wall xylan composition is different in tissues and organs (Anders et al., 2012) and a part of the amplification could be followed by regulatory subfunctionalization adjusting expression of the cell wall network genes to an optimal level in each plant tissue. Since these additional copies were not lost during the course of evolution, this retention possibly being the result of selective forces, the new functions most probably improved the fitness of the plants.","tokenCount":"4890"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7073060621.json b/data/part_1/7073060621.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4472291778897b50b8bc471b5447e1f71fff1f41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7073060621.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2cfc4928723e891f72873368a32e61dc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2180ae9d-a7e1-407d-a09d-e71d06a765af/content","id":"1851726585"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d324daa4-4395-4872-90f5-0de27f5ae64f","pagecount":"11","content":"Adaptation to a temperate climate was a prerequisite for the spread of maize across a broad geographical range. To explicitly explore the demographic process underlying maize adaptation, we used a diffusion-based method to model the differentiation between temperate and tropical populations using the Non-Stiff Stalk group as a proxy for temperate maize. Based on multiple sequential Markovian coalescent approaches, we estimate that tropical and temperate maize diverged approximately 3‚000 to 5‚000 years ago and the population size shrank after the split. Using composite likelihood approaches, we identified a distinct tropical-temperate divergence event initiated 4‚958 years ago (95% confidence interval (CI): 4‚877-5‚039) from an ancestral population whose effective size was 24,162 (95% CI: 23,914-24,409). We found that continuous gene flow between tropical and temperate maize accompanied the differentiation of temperate maize. Long identical-by-descent tracts shared by tropical and temperate inbred lines have been identified, which might be the result of gene flow between tropical and temperate maize or artificial selection during domestication and crop improvement. Understanding the demographic history of maize diffusion not only provides evidence for population dynamics of maize, but will also assist the identification of regions under selection and the genetic basis of complex traits of agronomic importance.Maize is a geographically widely distributed crop, grown from approximately 50°N to 45°S 1 . Although it originated from a single domestication event in southwestern Mexico 2 , a tropical zone, now more than 60% of maize is produced by countries that lie in the temperate zones 3 . The spread of maize to temperate areas required adaptation to changes in daily temperature, day length, soil type, and possible disease 4,5 . Association studies and genome-wide scans for recent positive selection have been performed to predict genes involved in the adaptation to temperate zones and improved agronomic qualities 6-8 . However, limited knowledge of detailed demographic parameters increases the possibility that the genes identified in these studies are false positives [9][10][11] . We aimed, therefore, to explore the detailed demographic history of maize diffusion to temperate zones.Considerable efforts have been made to estimate the time and the route of maize diffusion to temperate zones. Archaeological evidence supports the hypothesis that maize diffusion to temperate zones occurred through the Americas 12,13 . Recent archaeological discoveries 14 and ancient DNA sequencing 15 have revealed that maize diffused to the southwestern United States (US) through the Mexico highlands and appeared in New Mexico or Arizona 4,100 years before present (BP). Based on the fixation index Fst estimation, Liu et al. augured that temperate-tropical divergence occurred 3‚400-6‚700 years BP, but this estimate was based only on genetic drift without accounting for changes in population size or gene flow between populations 8 . More complex models for maize diffusion have not been tested. In addition, although population-level transcriptomes have been generated for genome-wide association and pan-genome studies 16,17 , few have been used to identify demographic events in maize history.Various types of genetic information and algorithms have been used to infer population history. Coalescent simulation and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) 18 are widely used in inferring domestication bottlenecks and changes in population size in maize, rice, poplar and apple [19][20][21] . Using a coalescent model, maize was predicted to be domesticated 7500 years ago 22, 23 through a single event 2 . With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, another strategy that fits the site frequency spectrum (SFS) of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with the proposed demographic model using a composite likelihoodapproach, named Diffusion Approximation for Demographic Inference (∂a∂i) has been widely applied to infer demographic history 24 . It has been used to estimate not only divergence events that occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago, such as between giant panda and polar bears 25 , but also domestication or effective population size changes in the time span of tens of thousands of years in soybean, common bean and rice [26][27][28] , and even to estimate bottlenecks within a time period of 100 years 29 . Recently, population genetic inference has been achieved by applying Markovian coalescent analysis (MSMC) to one or multiple genomes 30,31 . MSMC can infer the changes in size of a single population or the timing and comparative population size of two populations that split from multiple phased haplotypes. Compared with the ABC method, ∂a∂i and MSMC are more efficient in handling high-throughput genomic data; therefore we chose these two methods to estimate the demographic history of the tropical and temperate split in this study. The biggest difference between the ∂a∂i and MSMC approaches is that the former requires a predefined model for demographic modeling. Under many scenarios with little precognition of demographic history, MSMC analysis will not only provide evidence for demographic change but also assist in constructing a more realistic model that can be used for other approaches that require a predefined model.Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (SS) and non-stiff stalk (NSS) are the two temperate maize populations that are the most widely used to produce hybrids 16,32,33 . SS and NSS have very similar origins and are an admixture of Northern Flint, Southern Dent and Tropical highland. In this study, we used NSS as a proxy for the temperate maize population for the following reasons: SS was generated from a very narrow genetic background in the 1930s 34 . Based on previous principal component analysis of the genetic diversity of different maize populations 16 , the genetic diversity of the SS population is small, thus it is inadequate to represent the generic diversity of temperate maize. If we combine NSS and SS together, an unbalanced sampling of these populations might introduce more artifacts in the simulation 35 .To understand the demographic history of temperate and tropical maize, we used the tropical/subtropical (TS) and NSS populations to infer the demography of maize diffusion to temperate zones. We first employed MSMC, for which no specific demographic model is needed, to estimate the population statistics for different maize populations and determined that the split time between TS and NSS was approximately 3‚000 to 5‚000 years ago. We then estimated more detailed parameters including the strength and duration of the bottleneck during this split using the diffusion-approximation approach. The long identical-by-descent (IBD) tracts between populations were then identified. These long IBD tracts might be attributed to extensive gene flow/germplasm exchange between populations, or strong artificial selection during domestication or improvement and therefore might have contributed to maize adaptation to the temperate zone or to traits that meet human needs. The long IBD tracts identified in this study could be further examined and serve as targets for maize breeding.Characterization of maize populations. Before examining the demographic history of maize populations, we characterized each population to help us to build more realistic demographic models. A total of 1.03 million high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated from RNA sequencing of 368 maize inbred lines from Fu et al. were kindly provided by Dr. Fu 16 . From these data, Fu et al. determined the population structure with a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) 36 approach using common SNPs with a low missing rate. We validated this population structure using a variational Bayesian framework with k = 3 and k = 4 implemented in fastSTUCTURE 37 . All 346 tested inbred lines are clearly structured into four subgroups including the two major US grain heterotic groups (SS and NSS), TS and mixed populations (Supplementary Fig. S1). It should be noted that the degree of admixture of different ancestries varies in individual lines. Only inbred lines with their main membership probability >0.60 were included in the ∂a∂i simulation described below. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) 38 of the genetic diversification of these populations indicated a clear separation of TS, NSS, SS and mixed populations. The first two principal components were used to visualize the relatedness between individuals and the four populations (Fig. 1a). During maize breeding, parental lines were generated within heterotic groups to ensure a heterotic effect in the hybrid. Thus, to avoid cryptic relatedness within samples, we eliminated the samples with a kinship greater than 0.5.Next, we examined the divergence between SS, NSS and TS based on Fst, population-specific SNPs and linkage disequilibrium (LD). Fst is exponentially distributed and strongly peaked at 0.066 (NSS-TS) and 0.057 (SS-TS) (Fig. 1b). Fst between the temperate population, SS and NSS, is very small (peaked at 0.032). When randomly sampling 50 individuals from each population 10 times, we identified 20% of SNPs as being population-specific. The number of both common minor allele frequency (MAF > 0.05) and rare (MAF ≤ 0.05) SNPs are summarized in Fig. 1c. The number of population-specific SNPs in TS is 0.5 and two times larger than those in NSS and SS, respectively. The rare to common ratio of population-specific SNPs for SS is significantly greater than for NSS and TS. This difference might be attributed to the differences in NSS, SS and TS effective population size and/or weak purifying selection in the SS population 39 . As expected, we found that tropical maize exhibited faster LD decay (Fig. 1d) than the NSS and SS populations. The average distance over which LD decayed to a stable r 2 value (using 0.1 as a cutoff) is 170 bp in TS, 186 bp in NSS and 224 bp in SS in the genetic regions. We observed a faster LD decay than reported in previous studies 32 . This might be attributed to the fact that the marker density in Fu's dataset is much higher than in the datasets used for these previous studies. In another study where high density markers (over 0.6 million SNPs) were genotyped for the lines in the USA national maize inbred seed bank. It was shown that the LD decayed to within from 100 bp to 500 bp for stiff stalk, non-stiff stalk and tropical population 33 .To assess the pattern of tropical maize diffusion to temperate zones, we estimated the timing of divergence using two methods (MSMC and ∂a∂i) 24,40 . The MSMC method does not require a predefined demographic model. Therefore we first employed MSMC to separately study the population size change for the TS, NSS and SS populations using the whole genome sequencing data for these inbred lines (details in Supplementary Table 1). The results from eight haplotypes are shown in Fig. 2a. After domestication, the population sizes of TS, NSS and SS sharply decreased. The TS population recovered from the bottleneck first followed by the NSS population. The SS population split from the NSS population in this century, so the bottleneck occurred very recently. We inferred the genetic split time between TS and NSS to be approximately 3‚000 to 5‚000 years ago (Fig. 2b).We further inferred the demographic history using a diffusion-approximation approach 24 . To make sure the data are suitable for demographic inference, we revisited the original pipeline of SNP calling and processed the data to remove potential artifacts. First, we verified the accuracy of SNP calling in the previous pipeline. Although SNPs generated by the second generation sequencing platforms are error-prone, Fu's SNP data set was already corrected using realSFS 41 , and the accuracy of SNP calling is high according to multiple validation methods 16 . Secondly, samples with hidden relatedness were removed from the analysis. Thirdly, we removed regions that have been predicted to be under strong natural or artificial selections during domestication or improvement 6 . Fourthly, only the 246,943 synonymous SNPs that have been predicted by SnpEff 42 were included in the downstream analysis. Because the LD decays rapidly in genic regions (Fig. 1d), we randomly sampled SNPs and made sure that they were at least 2‚000 bp apart. We randomly performed the thinning approach ten times to ensure that SNPs thinning did not affect the model fitting. Our sample size was large, with more than 80 samples for each population. Thus, we projected our data into 60 haplotypes for each population. Both documented records and population diversity analysis indicated that the SS population was generated from a small group of founders in the 1930s 34,43 , and the population size of SS is too small. Therefore, we used NSS as a proxy for the temperate maize population.To test whether the allele frequency spectrum that we generated from inbred lines is suitable for the diffusion-approximation approach, we evaluated the fit of three different demographic models to the polymorphism data for the TS and NSS populations. We compared the neutral equilibrium model, the two-epoch model (corresponding to an instantaneous change in population size that occurred at a specific time), and the three-epoch model (a bottleneck that occurred at a specific time and lasted for a specific period of time). Because these three models are nested, we could perform the standard likelihood-ratio test and determin whether the difference in likelihood is significant. The log-likelihoods of various models are presented in Supplementary Table S2, and the difference between each model and the real data is reflected by Anscombe residuals provided by ∂a∂i (Supplementary Fig. 2). We found that both the two-epoch and three-epoch models significantly outperformed the neutral equilibrium model (P-value < 1.0 × 10 −6 , df (degrees of freedom) = 2) for the TS and NSS populations; however, the difference between the two-epoch and three-epoch models is not significant. When parameters are converted into physical units, the best fitting model indicates that the effective population shrank 4‚134 and 3‚387 years ago in the TS and NSS populations, respectively.Because both archaeological and molecular data indicate a single domestication of cultivated maize, we only considered the models where NSS directly split from domesticated tropical maize. To simplify the question, we first compared demographic models simulating the split between the TS and NSS populations without considering the change in population size before or after the split (Supplementary Fig. 3A). In the simplest model, an instantaneous change in population size is allowed in both populations at the onset of the split. We inferred the parameters Na (the effective size of the ancestral tropical maize population), nu1 (the size of the TS population immediately after the split), nu2 (the size of the NSS population immediately after the split), T (time in the past at which the split began) and m (migration rate between populations). Based on the results from models for one population, we found that population downsizing happened earlier for TS than for NSS, which might suggest the bottleneck effect of domestication; therefore, we constructed a second model that allows a population size change before the split (Supplementary Fig. 3B). In the third model, a population size change in NSS is specified after the split (Supplementary Fig. 3C). In the fourth model, a bottleneck with an exponential increase in size before the split is added (Supplementary Fig. 3D). Our simulations showed that the third model and the fourth models have the minimum Akaike information criterion (AIC) values 44 , and the likelihood ratio tests considering models 3 or 4 as a null hypothesis and models 1 or 2 as alternative hypotheses are both significant (P-value < 1.0 × 10 −13 , df = 2) (Fig. 3).Based on the MSMC result, the effective population size of TS, NSS, and SS gradually shrank after the split. In addition, it is unlikely that there was instantaneous population downsizing during the divergence of maize. Therefore, we constructed a fifth model that allows a linear downsizing of the subpopulations (Fig. 3a). The new model includes a double bottleneck, which characterizes the domestication process and population split separately, population downsizing after the split, and gene flow between TS and NSS. The likelihood ratio test shows that the fifth model is the best among the five models we tested. Model parameters and confidence intervals are displayed in Fig. 3b. Our models indicate that the ancestral population size of maize was approximately 24‚162 (95% CI (confidence intervals) [23‚914-24‚409]) and that the TS and NSS populations split 4‚958 years ago (95% CI [4‚877-5‚039]). The bottleneck before the split was very severe (142 individuals) and of short duration (5 generations). The ancestral temperate founder population is estimated to be 1‚312 individuals. Divergence persisted for approximately 126 generations. After that, both tropical and temperate population underwent gradually shrinking for 4‚832 years, with their population sizes decreasing by 25% and 65%, respectively. Extensive gene flow is predicted at both the split-recovery stage and the shrinking stage, which is 4.3 × 10 −3 and 1.2 × 10 −3 migrants per generation, respectively. To further validate the strength and the pattern of gene flows between TS and NSS, we analyzed IBD sharing among populations.between TS and NSS has been predicted by ∂a∂i. IBD tracts, the DNA segments shared between individuals, are informative of demographic and evolutionary events in the population. Although gene flow could introduce IBD between populations, it is worth noting that strong natural or artificial selection also give rise to IBD tracts that are commonly shared between lines. To further explore the intensity of the gene flow and potential regions under selection, we evaluated IBD sharing within and between populations. IBD segments smaller than 1 cM were eliminated because they are more likely to be affected by background LD. The length distributions of IBD segments within and between populations are shown in Fig. 4. As the length of IBD segments increases, the frequency of IBDs segments decreases dramatically. This is likely due to the elevated recombination rate in maize 45 and breakdown of IBDs tracts when desirable loci were selected by breeders. The TS population exhibits less within-population IBD sharing compared to the other two populations (Fig. 3a). We also found that the IBD sharing between TS and SS is more extensive than that between TS and NSS. On average, a single tropical line shares 6.66 cM segments with an NSS line but shares 10.66 cM segments with an SS line.To determined if any specific tropical lines have been intensively used as donors of germplasm introgression, for each tropical line we analysed the IBD segments that are shared with NSS or SS individuals (Supplementary Table S3). We found that the total length of shared IBD between TS lines and NSS/SS lines are in disequilibrium. For instance, the TS lines ZHONG69, CIMBL42, CIMBL143 and CIMBL141 share large segments of IBD with NSS lines. These lines were classified as a mixed group in a previous study 16 , although more than 50% of their genomes are of tropical ancestry based on our population structure analysis. Therefore, to eliminate the possibility that IBD only exists between close relatives or mixed inbred lines, we plotted the amount of IBD sharing against genetic similarity, which is represented by the first two components of PCA analysis shown in Fig. 1a  (Fig. 5). Based on the random expectation, the chance of two 19th descendants sharing a 7 cM IBD block is very slim; therefore, we used 7 cM as a threshold to define small and long IBD blocks. We plotted short IBD blocks (<7 cM), which are universal among all inbred lines (grey lines in Fig. 5) and long IBD blocks (>7 cM), which tend to be concentrated in a few lines. Of particular interest is the finding that IBD sharing not only occurs between closely related lines but also between distantly related lines.The distribution of IBD blocks across the genome is also imbalanced. Regions with extensive IBD sharing are indicative of regions under positive selection during domestication or improvement. The average frequency of IBD segments spanning each 10 cM window are displayed in Fig. 6. Of the IBD regions with the highest frequency (top 5%), 10.7% and 9.7% of IBD overlap with regions that were previously predicted to be under selection during maize domestication and improvement 6 , respectively. This overlap is greater than expected by chance (P < 0.03,  based on a random permutation). A region in bin 3.08 on chromosome 3 is commonly shared within all of the populations and between all populations and, which might be a target of strong selection. We also found a peak located in bin 8.06 that is enriched in IBD tracts within the NSS population. Genes located in these two peaks were annotated using slim gene ontology and pfam HMM model (Supplementary Table S4). Using the same SNP dataset, Yan's group also detected strong selection in bin 3.08 and bin 8.06 during tropical and temperate divergence 8 , and nine genes in the regions they identified are also found in the IBD tracts we identified in our study. Moreover, bin 8.06 has been detected as a selected region in comparisons of historical germplasm of North American maize 46 .Fast diffusion of tropical maize to temperate zones. In this study, we reconstructed the demographic history of the tropical-temperate split using the MSMC and the ∂a∂i approach. Our results indicated that the diffusion of domesticated maize to temperate zone was fast and might have occurred immediately after the domestication. Based on MSMC, the divergence time between the TS and NSS populations is predicted to be approximately 3‚000 to 5‚000 years. This is consistent with a recent estimate of 3‚400 to 6‚700 years obtained using Fst 8 . However, the confidence interval (95% CI: 4‚877-5‚039) from our ∂a∂i analysis is much narrower than the Fst estimation, which suggests less uncertainty. In addition, this estimation is consistent with the archaeological records 14,15 . A recent archaeological study suggested that maize spread to Peru from 5,000 to 6,200 years ago 47,48 . The corn collected from five sites in Arizona and New Mexico predates 2,000 B.C., which indicates that maize diffusion to the US Southwest can be traced back to 4,000 years ago 14 . Considering previous estimations and the archaeological record, our simulation provides an slightly earlier and more accurate estimate of the split date of tropical and temperate maize that is in keeping with the expectation.Our result also indicates that the time between domestication and the split was short. This estimation is consistent with a previous experiment in which researchers tried to adapt tropical maize germplasm to a temperate environment. After six cycles of selection in Urbana, IL (located at 40°6′35″N 88°12′15″W), flowering time in a photoperiod insensitive maize collection with 13 tropical populations was reduced by 14 days 49 . This experiment can be treated as an example of maize diffusion from tropical to temperate zones and indicates that under strong artificial selection, tropical maize can adapt to the temperate environment in a very short period of time. This provides support for our hypothesis that there was fast diffusion of maize from tropical to temperate zones.After recovering from the domestication bottleneck, the temperate population split from the tropical population with a founder population of 1‚312 individuals (5% of the ancestral population). Compared with the domestication bottleneck (0.5% of the ancestral population in our simulation), the temperate bottleneck was less severe and persisted a comparatively longer time. A moderate bottleneck also occurred when maize was introduced from the US to Europe; the diversity of European maize decreased 25% compared to that of American maize. Given that our estimations were based on simulations with the genetic variance between tropical and temperate inbred lines, these lines might not be the most optimal population to conduct this study. More archaeological studies and population analyses with local landraces or ancient maize from archaeological sites will help to clarify the demographic history of the tropical-temperate split.Inferring a demographic model for the tropical-temperate split event. Using inbred line populations to infer demographic history seems to violate the assumption of panmixia in population genetic research. However, maize was a widely openly pollinated species for a long time before modern plant breeding started early in the last century, so the departures from randomness in mating might be small enough to be negligible. Therefore, with high-density genomic markers and many sequenced samples in hand, using the breeding populations as a proxy for inferring demographic models of the tropical-temperate split is a worthy endeavor. Our results are consistent with previous studies in several key parameters. Our best fitting model inferred the effective population size of the ancestral populations to be around 24,000. This estimation is close to an estimation made using microsatellites. The authors of this study argued that the lower and upper bounds of the effective population size for maize is 13,100 and 33,000, respectively 50 . However, an estimation as large as 200,000 51 has also been made, which might be attributed to the higher population recombination frequency the author used. A recent estimation of the ancestral effective population size using teosinte genomes is approximately 123,000 (http:// www.nature.com/articles/nplants201684) 8 . This difference between this estimate and ours might be attributed to the fact that we used inbred lines to estimate the ancestral population size, which might lead to an underestimation. Our simulation strongly supports a severe bottleneck prior to the TS-NSS split, which is coincident with the known bottleneck in maize domestication (approximately 5% of ancestral population) 8 . In addition, our best fitting model indicated a prompt recovery of the ancestral teosinte population; at the onset of the split, the total population size of TS and NSS was 10,746, which indicates that in the maize population we studied, 50% of the ancestral population recovered soon after domestication.Although the diffusion-based approach has been widely used to inferring demographic history for many species and for many scenarios, there are still some limitations. First, an accurate SFS is crucial to make precise demographic inferences. Multiple algorithms have been proposed to correct the SFS 52,53 , and in this study we used a Bayesian approach, RealSFS 52 to correct the dataset 16 . Second, many factors influence the conversion of model parameters solved by ∂a∂i to physical units. The ancestral population size is proportional to the effective length sequenced and the mutation rate. The effective length is harder to determine in second generation sequencing than in Sanger sequencing because of the variation in sequencing coverage. In addition, the estimation of the nucleotide substitution rate is under debate. Based on a study of the tb1 intergenic region in maize and teosinte using the Bayesian approach, the nucleotide substitution rate has been estimated to be approximately 3.310 × 10 −8 (95% CI is 2.0-5.0) per bp per generation 54 . In a recent study where a genome-wide pedigree-base was estimated, the nucleotide substitution rate of the genetic region was 4.794 × 10 −8 per bp per generation 55 . A reliable estimation of the substitution rate is the basis for accurate demographic inference; therefore, future studies needs to be conducted to obtain a more accurate estimation of the substitution rate. Although the inaccuracy in substitution rate will affect the estimation of absolute divergence time of tropical and temperate maize, the interval between the domestication bottleneck and tropical-temperate split event is short in our simulation, which is less affected by the substitution rate. Therefore, we concluded that the diffusion of domesticated maize to temperate zone after domestication was fast.Demography and population characters. Population structure and many population divergence indices are strongly affected by changes in demographic history, such as expansion, bottlenecks and gene flow. In this study, we found that many population characteristics are consistent with the demographic models we drew from joint SFS. For example, in our simulation we found that the current effective population size of TS is larger than that of NSS. In this study, we found that there are more population-specific SNPs, faster LD decay, and a lower level of IBD in TS than in NSS. The difference in effective population size could be one, but not the only explanation for all of these observations. We also observed a higher ratio of population-specific SNPs in SS, which might be attributed to SS population expansion. The initial population of size of SS was less than 20 parental lines. But many inbred lines have been developed using several elite lines. For example, there are more than 50 inbreds lines that share more than 97% of their genomes with B73 33 . We observed a moderate Fst between TS and NSS. This estimate is consistent with several previous studies that reported an average Fst of 0.06 between tropical, SS and NSS populations 33 . The differentiation between tropical and temperate maize is moderate and is smaller than between tropical and temperate cultivated rice 56 (0.50 between indica and japonica) and greater than between tropical and temperate cultivated soybean (0.005) 26 .Breeding process and demography. The demographic history of cultivated plants reflects a process of meeting human needs and adapting to new environments. Extended IBD/haplotypes have been identified in many populations and seem to be related to genes involved in stress responses and human directional selections 8 . Another resource of large IBD tracts might due to the germplasm introduced by breeders. For example, in the 1980s, breeders introduced some tropical germplasm to SS, which has been used as the female parent in hybrid production. In this study, we have identified multiple long identical-by-descent tracts shared by tropical and temperate inbred lines, some of which are consistent with previously detected regions under selection during maize breeding and some of which might be attributed to the gene flow between tropical and temperate maize. In summary, the demography of maize is largely affected by the breeding process.Data processing. A total of 1.03 million high-quality SNPs generated from RNA sequencing of 368 maize inbred lines were adopted from Fu's study 16 . To avoid the strong influence of SNP clusters in the population structure and sample relatedness analyses, LD-based SNP pruning was performed using the bioconducter package SNPRelate with an r 2 threshold of 0.2 and a window size of 500‚000 base pairs 57 . To calculate the sample relatedness, IBD estimation was conducted using the method of moments implemented in SNPRelate. When kinship between two samples was greater than 0.5, one of the samples was randomly removed from the analysis. A total of 22 samples were removed from the analysis.Population structure analysis. The population structure was investigated using both a non-parametric approach using a variational Bayesian framework (fastSTRUCTURE) 37 , and principal component analysis implemented in SNPRelate using LD-pruned SNPs with minor allele frequency (MAF) > 0.05. Different numbers of ancestral clusters (k = 2 through 5) were tested successively with the default convergence criterion ten times. The results from different replicate runs were integrated using the CLUMPP program with the full search algorithm 58 .Population divergence and linkage disequilibrium analysis. Genomic divergence between different populations and pairwise nucleotide diversity within a population were calculated using VCFtools version 0.1.12.0 via the Weir and Cockerham estimator 59 of Fst 60 with a window size of 1 Mb. Windows with more than 30 segregating sites were analysed. Population-specific SNPs were extracted by VCFtools. Because the population size affects the number of population-specific SNPs, we randomly sampled 50 individuals from each population. The result from 10 independent runs were summarised. The r 2 of ten adjacent SNPs were calculated using PLINK 1.07 61 , and a boxplot of different r 2 bins in different populations was generated by ggplot2 in R. Population-specific SNPs were selected by VCFtools.Demographic inference with MSMC. Hapmap 3 has released the genotypes of 916 diverse inbred lines of maize. We first downloaded the whole dataset from maizeGDB (http://www.maizegdb.org/diversity). Samples with TS, NSS and SS genetic ancestry greater than 99% were selected as candidate haplotypes. We made a fake dipoid by randomly joining two haplotypes in the same population. The MSMC analysis were conducted using the updated version (https://github.com/stschiff/msmc2) using pattern parameter 20*1.A total of 246,943 synonymous SNPs were identified by SnpEff.Regions predicted to be under positive selection during domestication and improvement were eliminated from the analysis 6 . The number of SNPs was further reduced using the thin option in PLINK 61 , leaving 13.6% of these SNPs located at least 2 kb apart. Joint allele frequency spectra between TS and NSS were derived from this dataset. The data were then hypergeometrically projected to 60 samples to eliminate the influence of missing data. Demographic modeling was performed with ∂a∂i version 1.6.3 24 . For each model, we performed the simulation with an exhaustive search of the initial parameter to reduce artifacts introduced by improper choice of initial parameters. For each parameter, we used at least two starting parameters one magnitude apart. We investigated and compared different demographic models based on the relative log-likelihoods of the models given the observed site frequency spectrum. To compare the models with different numbers of parameters, we calculated the Akaike information criterion (AIC) 44 for each model, and the model with the minimum AIC value was preferred in our analysis. Confidence intervals were derived based on the simulation results from the bootstrap method. The reference population size Na was calculated using the equation theta = 4 × Na × μ × L, where μ is the mutation rate and L is the effective sequence length. In our analysis, the total length of L was the sum of the length of exons containing at least one SNP. This number was then multiplied by 13.6% to obtain the approximate effective length after SNP thinning (L = 3.8 Mbp), because we filtered 86.4% of SNPs in thinning. Based on a recent study of genome-wide pedigree-based estimation, the average nucleotide substitution rate per gene is 4.794 × 10 −8 55 , and the nonsynonymous-to-synonymous ratio is 1.14, therefore, we used μ = 2.230 × 10 −8 .Identification of IBD segments. The kinships between samples was estimated by identical-by-state (IBS) pairwise identities using the snpgdsIBS function in the SNPRelate package in R 62 . Samples with kinships greater than 0.5 were removed from the downstream analysis. For each pair of inbred lines, IBD was calculated by fastIBD with the default threshold 1.0 × 10 −8 63 . The consensus IBDs, generated by 10 independent runs, were used for downstream analysis. The physical positions of SNPs were transformed into genetic positions by a linear interpolation based on a randomly chosen population, CFD03 64 . IBD segments smaller than 1 cM were eliminated, because they tend to be affected by background LD [65][66][67][68][69] . To detect the hotspots of IBD sharing, we calculated the average occurrence of IBD segments between two populations for 10 cM non-overlapping windows by dividing the number of IBD segments spanning the window by the number of all possible pairs. Genes within an IBDs sharing hotspot were extracted and annotated by slim plant ontology and Pfam domain prediction.","tokenCount":"5726"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7078139584.json b/data/part_1/7078139584.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..006843bd5319b287c7e8ccac98a90e7c5fddd47b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7078139584.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e65682b493cb800171ae6ccf4e95bdd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/29738564-57d7-4030-a423-de356243fc07/retrieve","id":"-2115483569"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9e5da177-4343-4303-80f2-47b095ae88a3","pagecount":"8","content":"Identification of suitable sustainable agricultural intensification options for the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia: Developing a multidisciplinary methodology for the Meki sub-basin Ethiopia has ambitious plans of expanding irrigation throughout the country to feed the growing population (FDRE 2011;NPC 2016). Due to population growth, landscapes in Ethiopia are facing increasing pressure from agriculture (e.g., Desta et al. 2020). The promotion of irrigation using shallow groundwater (Gowing et al. 2020;Tilahun et al. 2020) and better waterlifting mechanisms (Gebregziabher 2012(Gebregziabher , 2019;;Loulseged et al. 2011) is helping farmers to shift from only rain-fed agricultural production to utilizing irrigation during dry seasons and/or as a supplementary water source in the main rainy season. Lake Ziway, in the Central Rift Valley (CRV), and its basins, in particular, experienced the increased presence of large-and small-scale irrigation systems because of government policies that favor agriculture. These systems are decreasing upstream Harvesting of cabbage from an irrigated field in Koshe (between Ziway and Butajira), Ethiopia (photo: Dawit Mekonnen).Technical Brief river flow and reducing the size of downstream Lake Abijata (Desta and Lemma 2017;Desta et al. 2020;Getnet et al. 2014;Goshime et al. 2019;Legesse and Ayenew 2006;Seyoum et al. 2015). However, in the upstream catchments of Lake Ziway Basin, communities are not yet utilizing irrigation to its full extent. If agricultural intensification is continuously promoted (e.g., as done by ATA 2020) during the coming decades and irrigation is likely to increase, how will this impact the hydrology of the basin?The Resilience and Sustainability through Small-scale Irrigation Intensification project, led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), aims to assess sustainable agricultural intensification pathways through an interdisciplinary approach.  Sustainable intensification (SI) indicators, identified from literature, fall into five domains: productivity, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and human well-being (Smith et al. 2017). Using Farm Africa's baseline survey 2018/2019 (Farm Africa 2020) in selected woredas (districts), an analysis was carried out to estimate some metrics of the environment, livelihoods, and irrigation production and their statistical associations in CRV to get a general picture of sustainable intensification (Musumba et al. 2017;Smith et al. 2017;USAID 2019). Following the guidelines provided by Musumba et al. (2017), we report some of the SI indicators based on the baseline survey.Rivers are the main source of irrigation water in CRV, followed by groundwater, lakes, and rainwater harvesting. Many households in Tiyo and Arsi Negele woredas (outside the boundary of Meki sub-basin) use rivers as a source of irrigation water.Groundwater is commonly used as an irrigation water source in Abijata Shalla (outside the boundary of Meki sub-basin) and Adami Tulu. Lake water is an important source of water in Adami Tulu and Meskan. Many households in Abijata Shalla (42%), Adami Tulu (31%) and Tiyo (22%) use rainwater harvesting as a source of irrigation water. Households practicing irrigated agricultural production in CRV, regardless of the source, lie between 14% and 31% in the selected districts.Surface (flood) irrigation is the dominant practice in CRV, while the use of modern water application technologies (drip and sprinkler) is very low. This could be one of the reasons for inefficient water use (Koech and Langat 2018;Megersa and Abdulahi 2015) and probably the reason for the perceived water shortages. Nearly 65% of the households in Tiyo, 58% in Abijata Shalla, 32% in Arsi Negele, 13% in Meskan, and 1% in Adami Tulu use manual pumps to access both surface water and groundwater.The perception of irrigation water shortages is used to identify whether water availability is assessed as being sufficient by households practicing irrigation. More than 50% of the households in Tiyo and Meskan, less than 35% in Arsi Negele, and about 13% in Adami Tulu perceive that there is sufficient irrigation water. None of the households in Abijata Shalla believe that there is sufficient water. Surprisingly, households that use water from rainwater harvesting and groundwater wells perceive that there is less water shortage compared to farmers that depend on lakes and rivers, perhaps highlighting household preference for private compared to collective management.Households use a variety of agrochemicals -herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, rodenticide, etc. -to protect their crops against weeds, pests and diseases, especially in vegetable cultivation, often at the expense of the environment and human health (Mengistie et al. 2017). Households in CRV use insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, rodenticide, and other chemicals (even those that are hazardous and have been phased out globally). More than 85% of the households report using agrochemicals. Chemicals such as Endosulfan, which has been phased out globally, are used in Adami Tulu and Arsi Negele. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), malathion, spiroxamine and diazinon are some of the chemicals that are used extensively in CRV, especially in Meskan, Arsi Negele and Tiyo woredas. This has serious implications for water quality, human health, and the goal of achieving sustainable agricultural intensification in CRV.Assessment Tool -Modular Three-Dimensional Finite Difference Groundwater Flow Model (SWAT-MODFLOW) (Bailey et al. 2016). SWAT is a widely applied, physically based, semi-distributed and continuous-time simulation hydrological model (Arnold et al. 1998), which has been applied in different small and large watersheds in Ethiopia and around the world. MODFLOW, on the other hand, is a three-dimensional, finite-difference hydrogeological model for simulating and predicting groundwater conditions and groundwater/surface water interactions (Harbaugh 2005).It is one of the industrial standard groundwater models developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).Although SWAT has its own groundwater module, it is a lumped model that cannot reflect a distributed concept.In the SWAT-MODFLOW coupling, the SWAT groundwater module is replaced by MODFLOW.Integrated models that account for surface water and groundwater interactions are useful for solving complex water resource problems and contribute substantially to our understanding of the impacts of land use change or agricultural intensification on the hydrology of watersheds. They are useful tools to develop conjunctive surface water and groundwater resource management plans, and to test water management scenarios that consider complex interactions of the hydrological system, particularly in a changing climate.Conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater resources is essential in irrigated agriculture, because it can buffer the natural variability of surface water supply. To support conjunctive water use in the Meki sub-basin (catchment area of 2,183 km 2 ), an integrated model is developed using a coupled SWAT-MODFLOW model -Soil and WaterThe change in water budget obtained from the coupled SWAT-MODFLOW model provides a quantitative means to assess the effects of climate variability and changes as well as the impact of human activities on water resources. Some of the advantages of applying the SWAT-MODFLOW model in the Meki sub-basin include: (i) substantial contribution to our understanding of the hydrology of watersheds, rivers and aquifers. It provides a better conceptual understanding of the interconnectedness of the different hydrological processes; (ii) improved groundwater recharge estimation. As a critical component of the water balance, the groundwater recharge rate and its spatial and temporal variability are essential for groundwater sustainability;(iii) detailed groundwater-surface water interactions (spatiotemporal pattern of interactions) for different river reaches of the watershed, which will be looked at in different scenarios; (iv) detailed water budget in space and time for the catchment; (v) a credible platform for assessing the impact of climate change and other scenarios, due to the model's integrated system analysis approach that accounts for the nonlinear interactions between surface water and groundwater systems; and (vi) Identify data gaps in the integrated modelling approach and provide recommendations for future monitoring.1 https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/search/cmip6/ Pumping water using a diesel pump in irrigation scheme near Ziway, Ethiopia (photo: Petterik Wiggers/IWMI).Anticipated changes to hydrometeorological variables such as precipitation and temperature are estimated using climate models. Climate model data from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), which are available from the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) website 1 , are used. From the ESGF website, 25 models were downloaded with their historical and future projections. In the CMIP6, the scenarios are based on Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), which are scenarios of projected socioeconomic global changes up to 2100 (O'Neill et al. 2014). For the Meki sub-basin, temperature projections show a continuous increase until midcentury. The projections for precipitation show increases in the range of 10%-40% for the March-May and July-September seasons, while a decrease up to 40% is projected for the October-December season. These projected changes will be used for estimating changes in water availability in the future, in conjunction with scenarios to be developed from communities' aspirations.Co-design is a collaborative approach to a design process that involves stakeholders providing a joint framing of objectives and challenges to ensure their needs are reflected in results and this helps to enhance uptake of the results (Mauser et al. 2013). It supports strategic planning and decision support by helping to balance the different and sometimes competing engagement demands and/or preferences from stakeholders (Kunseler et al. 2015). A scenario encompasses multiple types of hypothetical futures, which differ according to whether they inspire normative (what do we want to happen?), exploratory (what may happen?), or predictive (what will happen?) styles of thinking (van Notten et al. 2003).For this study, we combined normative and explorative scenarios to explore the implications of short-term decisionmaking on a long-term future. Specifically, to inform the scenario development of agricultural intensification options, a participatory approach is used by consulting communities and stakeholders of the Meki sub-basin. The participatory scenario development reflects how different agricultural intensification scenarios influence water security in three woredas 2 that are located in the upstream (Siltie woreda), mid-stream (Meskan woreda) and valley (Sodo woreda) of the sub-basin (Figure 3).The scenario development with communities is guided by a semi-structured questionnaire that is divided into five modules. The aim of the first module is to understand typical household characteristics and livelihood activities. The aim of the second module is to understand the landscape of the study site in the past, present and future, using a landscape mapping exercise to facilitate discussion. The mapping exercise was carried out to obtain social data (i.e., perceptions or observations about a landscape) and arrange it spatially (Baker et al. 2015). This exercise helps to understand drivers and consequences of land use change (Hessel et al. 2009). Two kebeles 3 (one where livelihoods are dominated by irrigation, and rain-fed farming is commonly practiced in the other) from each woreda were identified in consultation with woreda officials. From each kebele, community members were identified based on their livelihood activity, gender and age. Separate discussions were held with community members (men, women and youth) from each kebele.Key informant interviews were conducted with woreda officials (irrigation expert, livestock expert, woreda water expert, natural resource management expert) to inform scenario development. The interviews were guided by a semi-structured questionnaire that is divided into five modules that help to2 Woreda is the third-level administrative division of Ethiopia.3 Kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia.Using groundwater for irrigation at a farm near Ziway, Ethiopia (photo: Apollo Habtamu/ILRI).facilitate discussion and gain an understanding on: (i) water situation in woredas; (ii) water point information; (iii) water requirement for irrigation; (iv) water requirement for livestock; and (v) competition for water resources. Secondary data will also be collected from relevant government offices at national, regional, basin and woreda levels to gain a better understanding about agricultural intensification and the water situation in the study sites. The results will be analyzed through a coding process and used to support scenario development and co-design of sustainable intensification pathway options for the Meki sub-basin.","tokenCount":"1876"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7089298066.json b/data/part_1/7089298066.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5719b0e80e3eb92d66a896719a49607f907cd8ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7089298066.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd0adfda3804b76410d77bca22e8ec89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H016392.pdf","id":"1237954639"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86877465-5278-428e-a6ec-1d383cd31fb0","pagecount":"2","content":"Con sumo agrado hemos recibido una buena cantidad de respuestas a nuestro pedido de informacion y experiencias sobre temas relacionados con el genero en el contexto del riego. Las respuestas revelan una conciencia cada vez mayor de que una planificacion eficazy los metodos de manejo del riego deben tener en cuenta consideraciones relativas al genero. Resultado de ella es la tambien creciente necesidad de informacion sobre enfoques, mecanismos y estrategias para reconocerlas y tratarlas adecuadamente en el contexto del riego. Varias personas nos es.cribieron solicitando informacion, material de capacitacion y metodologias. La recoleccion y evaluacion de experiencias pasadas y presentes constituyen los pasos iniciales en el desarrollo de esta informacion. Por consiguiente, les solicitamos continuen en contacto con nosotros y compartan con nosotros y con otros sus hallazgos y experiencias.Los primeros intentos por incrementar la sensibilidad hacia la problematica del genero en actividades relacionadas con el riego se han llevado a cabo en Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Tanzania y Burkina Faso. Las experiencias demuestran que hacerparticipar y conciliar los intereses de hombres y mujeres en los sistemas de riego requiere de un enfoque un tanto diferente, en primerlugar, porque las necesidades e intereses de las mujeres usuarias del agua a menudo no son bien conocidos 0 interpretados y, en segundo lugar, porque las mujeres frecuentemente se enfrentan a restricciones especificas y son mas dificiles de abordar que los hombres. Las mujeres a menudo carecen de apoyo institucional y suelen tener un acceso a y control de los recursos critic os menos seguro.Un enfoque participativo que inc1uya la comunicacion e interaccion con agricultores de ambos sexos puede ayudar a identificar yabordar los intereses y necesidades tanto compartidos como contrapuestos de hombres y mujeres. Seto destacan dos series de pautas, una de elIas preparada por SAW A (una consultora) y la otra por la Embajada de Paises Bajos en la India. Dichas pautas tienen por objeto ayudar a que planificadores y diseftadores del riego reconozcan y aborden cuestiones relativas al genero enla planificacion, el disefto y la ejecucion de los proyectos de riego.En diversas respuestas recibidas se insiste en la necesidad de realizar investigaciones destinadas a analizar y comprender las numerosas actividades agricolas, de riego y de manejo desarrolladas por hombres y mujeres y de que forma estas son interdependientes. La mujer debe ser reconocida y tratada en su caracter de productora y sosten del hogar y no solo como ama de casa. En muchos de los sistemas de riego existentes han surgido pequefios proyectos aislados para generar ingresos ante la necesidad de satisfacer los requerimientos de los donantes de prestar atenciona la problemcitica del genero y lode la mujer. La experiencia ha demostrado que el solo hecho de agregar un componente referido a la mujer en proyectos de riego existentes 0 planificados tendra un impacto muy limitado y puede llegar a agravar las inequidades en las actividades programadas. A continuaci6n se describen en . mayor detalle familia. En la mayoria de los casos, son los algunas de las experiencias e iniciativas mas agricultores masculinos, considerados jefes de interesantes. Si desea obtener mayor informaci6n, familia, quienes asumen esa representacion. Ud. puede ponerse en contacto con nosotros 0 bien comunicarse directamente con los autores.Una conclusion de esta experiencia es que la formalizacion de organizaciones puede,(Margreet Zwartroeen, Experta Adjunta. Problemdtica del ('''''nero y el Riego,inadvertidamente, excluir a la mujer de la participacion en reuniones grupales 0 en las actividades de manejo. Porconsiguiente, losintentos EI papel de la mujer en el riego por bombeo en el noreste de Tailandia por mejorar la eficacia de las organizaciones de agricultores deberan tener en cuenta las necesidades y opiniones de la mujer as! como las del hombre.En el Programa de Riego del Mekong, puesto en busca de trabajo no-agricola. Despues de casada, disminuye su trabajo no agricola y asume La ideologia oficial del\" purdah\" en Pakistan impide responsabilidades principales en actividades ala mujer trabajar fuera de las cuatro paredes de su agricolas regulares. La mujertambienes responsable casa y, por consiguiente, en los campos. Una mujer de las tareas domesticas y a menudo se dedica a la que pueda darse ellujo de permanecer en su casa es produccion de artesanlas. A un cuando los ingresos considerada como un signo de prosperidad y honor de la mujer provenientes de la produccion de familiar. Debido a ello, tanto las mujeres como los artesanias sean minimos, cumplen una funcion hombres se muestran renuentes a aceptar la importante al reducir las incertidumbres de la participacion de la mujer en actividades agricolas. agricultura.La percepcion popular es que la agricultura, Elimpacto del incremento en la produccion agricola especialmente la agricultura bajo riego, es un asunto exclusivamente masculino. bajo riego ha generado una mayor carga laboral para la mujer, pero a cambio de esto hay una Los resultados de una encuesta preliminar llevada produccion mas estable de arroz. Algunas mujeres a cabo en las areas bajo riego del Punjab Pakistani ahora desarrollan sus tradicionales actividades de desaffanesta percepcion.Masde180% delasmujeres estacion seca --como es el tejido al telar-durante entrevistadas (de una muestra de 87) se dedicaban la noche. La introduccion del riego por bombeo ha a tareas agricolas. En 10 que respecta a la produccion mejorado la provision de agua en la estacion seca.de arroz, la mujer se dedica a las tareas de trasplante Actualmente se cuenta con mas agua para cultivar y cosecha. La participacion de la mujer tambien es hortalizas destinadas tanto al consumo familiar muy importante en la cosecha de hortalizas (pi como al mercado. miento, arvejas y otras), trigo, algodon, maiz y cana Los agricultores de los sistemas de riego porbombeo de azucar. El almacenamiento de granos en una actividad exclusivamente femenina. estan organizados en Grupos de Usuarios de Agua (WUGs por sus siglas en ingles). Estos grupos Las mujeres de familias que no poseen tierras 0 deciden los tumos de riego, cobran las tasas de cuyas parcelas son tan pequenas que los ingresos agua y organizan las tareas para el mantenimiento que generan tienen que ser complementados con de los canales. Un WUG es un grupo informal, sin otras actividades, trabajan comojomaleras en tareas entidad juridica. Una vez que se establece como agricolas. Los miembros femeninos de las farnilias una cooperativa legal, pasa a denominarse mas pobres tambien se dedican a espigar trigo y Cooperativa de Usuarios de Agua (WUC por sus algodon, para 10 cual necesitan con tar con la previa siglas en ingles) y adquiere entidad juridica, 10 que autorizaci6n del dueno de las tierras. Ie permite un mejor acceso al credito. La formalizacion de los WUGs en WUCs ha reducido La participaci6n de la mujer enla toma de decisiones la cantidad de miembros femeninos porque solo se agricolas es mayor en aquellas actividades en las permite como miembro a un representante por que se desempena. La comercializaci6n es una[continued on page 41","tokenCount":"1132"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7106187438.json b/data/part_1/7106187438.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..efb8eaf6fcb154e47a87bc78c79cfbb4050bd578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7106187438.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fbbffad1c4b9aa3b1489c7732c5ee426","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/327e2017-12c8-4a13-aa44-16c37af7672a/retrieve","id":"-39604267"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cebb9848-962d-45ee-821e-1b6c1707e804","pagecount":"329","content":"La misión del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) es reducir el hambre y la pobreza en los trópicos mediante una investigación colaborativa que mejore la productividad agrícola y el manejo de los recursos naturales.El CIAT es uno de los 16 centros internacionales de investigación agropecuaria auspiciados por el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAI).El presupuesto básico del CIAT es financiado por 30 donantes, entre los que figuran gobiernos de países, organizaciones para el desarrollo regional e internacional y fundaciones privadas. En el 2000, los siguientes países son donantes del CIAT: Alemania,Describir la importancia del ecosistema Sabanas Tropicales de América Latina en este prólogo sería repetir el excelente trabajo realizado por los autores de esta publicación. No se puede dejar de mencionar la enorme expectativa que la comunidad internacional tiene con respecto a la utilización de esta región, una de las pocas áreas disponibles en el mundo para un crecimiento inmediato en busca de una mayor producción de alimentos, lo que significa un gran desafío en la preservación de los recursos naturales y la sostenibilidad de las producciones agrícola y ganadera.En los 19 capítulos de este libro, los autores transmiten de manera clara las experiencias adquiridas, el potencial de los sistemas agropastoriles y las oportunidades futuras para explorar en forma eficiente y sostenible este ecosistema, preservando los recursos naturales. Las contribuciones científica de la Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) y del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), sumadas a los esfuerzos de los programas nacionales de investigación enBolivia, Colombia y Venezuela han despertado un gran interés en la comunidad científica internacional.Los análisis de los autores indican que existen sistemas integrados agricultura-ganadería con buenas perspectivas económicas para los agricultores y ganaderos, a la vez que garantizan la sostenibilidad de los recursos naturales para las generaciones futuras. Por lo anterior, creemos que se justifica la inversión en las investigaciones en este ecosistema, y hacemos un llamado a la comunidad internacional para que analice las informaciones presentadas en este libro y continúen apoyando los esfuerzos institucionales dirigidos al ecosistema.Para terminar, aprovechamos la oportunidad para agradecer a los investigadores que mediante su dedicación y esfuerzo produjeron una publicación que, sin duda alguna, servirá como marco para la región, mostrando que la suma de los esfuerzos y el interés en el trabajo colaborativo producen resultados que mejoran la vida de nuestros hermanos campesinos. Las sabanas de América Latina tropical representan una de las grandes extensiones de tierra con potencial para la producción agrícola. Este ecosistema ocupa más de 250 millones de hectáreas, equivalentes a la superficie cultivada en el mundo bajo el sistema de riego. En la medida en que la población mundial continúe creciendo, la demanda por alimentos también aumentará y, como resultado del nivel estable de producción que han alcanzado varios cultivos, existe actualmente una presión creciente para incorporar la tierra restante a la producción agrícola. Parece inevitable, por tanto, que una mayor área de las sabanas aún no explotadas se incorpore a la explotación agrícola. Las lecciones aprendidas de las experiencias alcanzadas en los Cerrados de Brasil indican que el monocultivo agrícola y las pasturas no son sostenibles con las actuales prácticas de manejo, como lo muestra la tasa de degradación de la tierra en esta región, que se estima entre 2% y 4% por año. Las principales causas de la degradación en las áreas cultivadas son la compactación del suelo y su pérdida por erosión como consecuencia de prácticas de manejo equivocadas; la pérdida acelerada de la materia orgánica; y la infestación por malezas, plagas y enfermedades. Las pasturas se degradan por la falta de fertilización, de mantenimiento y el manejo deficiente del pastoreo que favorecen la invasión por malezas y el ataque de plagas y enfermedades.Los productores, las agroempresas y las instituciones de investigación han reaccionado frente a estos problemas. Para el efecto, están buscando nuevos y mejores sistemas de producción agrícola y ganadera de fácil adopción. Estos sistemas incluyen las labranzas cero y mínima, y la integración de cultivos y pasturas en sistemas de producción agropastoriles.En este libro se hace una revisión de las investigaciones, los avances y las perspectivas de los sistemas agropastoriles en las sabanas tropicales de América Latina. La parte principal de la obra es el resultado del establecimiento en 1992 de la Red Agropastoril para Sabanas y de las conclusiones de los talleres de trabajo y de análisis de resultados celebrados en Colombia (1992Colombia ( y 1996)), Brasil (1993), Venezuela (1994) y Bolivia (1995).Se espera que las experiencias, logros y avances aquí presentados sean de utilidad para productores, investigadores, extensionistas, estudiantes y personas encargadas de dirigir las políticas sobre el uso sostenible de los recursos en las sabanas de suelos ácidos de AméricaSe analiza brevemente el contexto en que se desarrolla la investigación agropastoril en las sabanas neotropicales. Inicialmente se resumen las tendencias recientes en el uso de los recursos de tierras y el papel que cumplen en el suministro de una proporción creciente de productos agrícolas y pecuarios básicos tales como granos, oleaginosas, carne y leche. Este fenómeno está estrechamente asociado con una 'antropización' creciente de las sabanas, por lo que se debate la necesidad de compatibilizar su uso agropecuario con la conservación de los recursos. La definición de sistemas agropastoriles en el contexto de las sabanas es objeto de análisis y se discute el papel que el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Colombia, desempeña en la investigación sobre sistemas agropastoriles y su relación con instituciones nacionales y otras internacionales en estasLa Red de Investigación Agropastoril para las Sabanas está tratando de promover trabajos en sistemas agropastoriles para las áreas de sabanas y regiones sabanizadas. Estos trabajos están enmarcados dentro de la concepción de agricultura sostenible y reconocen la realidad de la intervención del hombre en forma masiva en esas ecozonas.Las sabanas neotropicales de América del Sur cubren aproximadamente 250 millones de hectáreas en Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Guyana y Venezuela, y están conectadas con otros importantes biomas, tales como la cuenca Amazónica y las regiones de Chaco en Bolivia y Paraguay (Figura 1). Debido a esta proximidad y, en parte, porque algunos de los recursos de suelos son semejantes, la tecnología desarrollada para el uso de dichas sabanas ha influenciado algunas de las prácticas agronómicas y de uso de tierras que se aplican en estos otros ecosistemas. Un ejemplo del grado de intervención antropogénica en el agroecosistema de sabanas es el hecho de que en él se incluyen más de 12 millones de hectáreas dedicadas a cultivos anuales, muchos de ellos como el maíz y la soya que requieren altos insumos externos como agroquímicos, energía y administración.Esta región, como se mencionó antes, está conectada físicamente con otras del subcontinente, de tal modo que, por ejemplo, la superficie dedicada al cultivo de soya en 1994-95 se extendió a un total de 20 millones de hectáreas que se inician en el límite norte del ecosistema Cerrado, en el Estado de Mato Grosso (Brasil) y llega, en forma casi ininterrumpida, hasta las pasturas de clima templado y subtropical en Argentina y Uruguay, atravesando grandes áreas de Chaco en Bolivia y Paraguay. Con variaciones en el uso de insumos y variedades, la tecnología agronómica es bastante semejante a lo largo de todo ese gradiente. Asimismo, un mínimo de 30, y probablemente, 50 millones de hectáreas han sido convertidas en pasturas sembradas en forma de monocultivo. Otras áreas menores, pero aún importantes, han sido convertidas a plantaciones de árboles maderables y frutales, caña de azúcar y palma africana, entre otros.Esta masificación de la industria agropecuaria en las sabanas ha Sabanas Márgenes de bosque Laderas 20 0 N N conducido a que, en menos de 30 años, la contribución del ecosistema a la producción agrícola haya pasado de prácticamente cero hasta valores que oscilan entre 20% y 90%, según el país que se considere. Porcentajes semejantes se encuentran para el sector ganadero; así, por ejemplo, el Cerrado mantuvo en 1994-95 aproximadamente el 40% del hato nacional de Brasil. Más aún, algunos países consideran, entre ellos Bolivia, que las áreas de sabanas naturales y las derivadas constituyen no sólo una válvula de escape para problemas de tenencia de la tierra y degradación de los recursos naturales en ecosistemas muy frágiles como el bosque amazónico o muy intervenidos como la región alta andina; en consecuencia, se debe prever un continuo crecimiento en el grado de intervención humana, aunque, tal vez, a un ritmo algo menor que en los últimos años.El desafío es, entonces, enfrentar estas realidades y contribuir por medio de la generación de tecnología al desarrollo de un sector agropecuario que sea capaz de mantener altos niveles de productividad, minimizando los riesgos ambientales. Desde el punto de vista de la investigación, se debe estar en capacidad de cuantificar los procesos de ganancias y pérdidas involucrados inevitablemente en cualquier modificación de los sistemas naturales, para contribuir con hechos científicos al debate que sobre desarrollo y ecología se da cada vez con mayor intensidad en medio de la sociedad en que vivimos. Esta contribución de la investigación agropecuaria tanto al desarrollo de las sabanas como al debate científico, requiere ajustes y modificaciones en los modelos institucionales de investigación, así como en la propia preparación y actitud mental de cada uno de los individuos involucrados en este proceso. Es en este contexto que se recapitula muy brevemente el proceso vivido en el CIAT y se examinan algunas de sus implicaciones y conexiones con la red agropastoril que funciona de manera informal en América Latina.El origen del CIAT, como es conocido, es el de un centro de investigaciones por productos, siendo el número de éstos muy limitado (arroz, yuca, frijol y pastos tropicales). Este es un modelo bastante común en instituciones nacionales y regionales. A partir de ese origen, se ha evolucionado con éxito razonable hasta adoptar una estrategia de investigación que, por un lado continúa apoyándose en el desarrollo de germoplasma de productos tradicionales y, por otro, inició en 1991 investigaciones en el manejo de recursos naturales en tres agroecosistemas mayores: laderas en zonas de alturas intermedias, márgenes de bosque y sabanas. Estos dos últimos constituyen el centro de investigación del Programa de Trópico Bajo del CIAT.La investigación en manejo de recursos naturales implica reconocer desde el principio que, si bien en algunas regiones o subregiones de los agroecosistemas de interés, los productos cuyo germoplasma se pretende desarrollar pueden ser muy importantes, existen igualmente otros que los superan en importancia, tanto desde el punto de vista económico como de su impacto ambiental. La vegetación nativa y los cultivos de soya y maíz son ejemplos de estos últimos, particularmente relevantes en el caso de las sabanas.Estas investigaciones sobre uso y preservación de los recursos naturales son complejas y requieren del apoyo de numerosas instituciones. Por lo mismo, el CIAT no pretende ser autosuficiente en ningún agroecosistema y, al igual que los demás centros internacionales del Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAI), el CIAT está tratando de implementar investigaciones colaborativas con otras instituciones, sean éstas gubernamentales, regionales, nacionales o privadas. De la misma manera, se pretende suministrar una base de operaciones o plataforma para la actividad de otros centros internacionales en la región. Por ejemplo, en 1995 se tenían operaciones regionales del CIMMYT, el IPGRI, el IIMI, el IFPRI, el ICRISAT, el IFDC, el CIRAD y JIRCAS.El GCIAI está en proceso de evolución y, al contrario de la situación en el pasado reciente, cuando cada Centro era más o menos autosuficiente, se están implementado rápidamente programas y proyectos globales que involucran a varios centros, así como a varias instituciones. Ejemplos muy recientes de estas iniciativas lo constituyen el Programa Global sobre Recursos Genéticos, el Programa sobre Ganadería -incluyendo el Proyecto Tropileche propuesto por instituciones de Costa Rica, Perú, el ILRI y el CIAT-y el Programa Ecorregional para América Tropical y Subtropical, recientemente aprobado.Esta serie de desarrollos de los últimos años implica que el CIAT debe continuar evolucionando en su mandato y adquiriendo una visión más amplia, que trascienda los cultivos y productos tradicionales, para poder hacer honor al término 'Agricultura Tropical', que figura en su nombre.Es dentro de este contexto general que se enmarca la investigación sobre el manejo sostenible de los recursos en el ecosistema sabanas.Como se indicó anteriormente, las sabanas contribuyen en forma creciente a la producción de cultivos anuales y perennes, y a la producción ganadera. Hasta el presente, e históricamente, los sectores agrícola y ganadero han evolucionado en forma independiente, existiendo muy poca integración espacial o temporal entre ellos en trabajos en finca, lo cual sugiere una de las hipótesis de trabajo más importantes para el sostenimiento, al menos, del recurso suelo en las sabanas, como es el desarrollo de sistemas que integren dichos sectores: los sistemas agropastoriles.La concepción de sistemas agropastoriles no puede limitarse a la más ortodoxa de las rotaciones de sistemas de cultivos anuales con sistemas de producción de forraje para rumiantes. Una interpretación mucho más amplia y comprensiva incluye situaciones como la antes mencionada, pero debe incluir también otras estrategias que permitan capturar el sinergismo potencial entre cultivos, pastos y otros componentes (Spain, 1993), ya que la rotación de cultivos y pastos no es siempre la solución óptima. En efecto, en la mayoría de las fincas existe una variedad de suelos y topografías con diferentes aptitudes de uso. Es posible que algunas partes sean muy adecuadas para la agricultura continua o por lo menos una larga secuencia temporal de cultivos, mientras que otras partes, generalmente más pobres, deberán ser reservadas para pastos perennes o plantaciones forestales. En consecuencia, la integración de estos componentes en sistemas reales de producción tiene tanto dimensiones temporales como espaciales. Como lo indica Spain (1993), sin duda las rotaciones planeadas de cultivos y pastos maximizan el sinergismo entre ellos, pero esas mismas formas de uso de los recursos de tierra y otras más pueden ser altamente complementarias, sin ocupar necesariamente el mismo espacio físico. Por ejemplo, el uso de residuos y subproductos de las actividades agrícolas para la suplementación animal en época seca constituye otra forma de integración, en tanto que el uso de los fertilizantes orgánicos (heces y orina) provenientes de animales en confinamiento tienen el potencial de aumentar o recuperar numerosas propiedades de los suelos agrícolas. Los ejemplos anteriores son una integración espacial de los diversos componentes.En la investigación de estos sistemas se pueden identificar los enfoques siguientes, que son mutuamente complementarios:1. La investigación en sistemas agropastoriles destinada a superar limitantes o problemas ya identificados. Como ejemplos se pueden citar los que se relacionan con la degradación física y biológica de suelos sujetos al monocultivo, aún con la aplicación de altos niveles de fertilización y el bien conocido, pero poco documentado, proceso de degradación de pasturas; y 2. La búsqueda de oportunidades y la generación de sistemas innovativos, para aquellos casos en que surgen nichos específicos. Ejemplos de estos casos podrían ser la selección e identificación de nuevo germoplasma para cobertura, como leguminosas en sistemas de labranza cero y en plantaciones de árboles; o el desarrollo de nuevos cultivos adaptados a suelos ácidos y su incorporación en sistemas.Dentro de este panorama se requieren investigaciones desde básicas hasta aplicadas o adaptativas. Precisamente en esta Red están representadas instituciones que cubren ese amplio rango de actividades complementarias, y la división del trabajo ha sido bien identificada en proyectos como el de sabanas de Procitropicos. En este proyecto, y en general dentro de todo el trabajo de investigación en manejo de recursos naturales de las sabanas, el CIAT prefiere concentrarse en la investigación estratégica, o sea, aquella dirigida a desarrollar una comprensión mecanicista de los procesos, sean biofísicos o socioeconómicos, sujetos de estudio. En el Cuadro 1 se muestra el acuerdo suscrito en 1994 sobre división de responsabilidades, el que se podría implementar en la medida en que cada una de las actividades previstas cuente con financiación.Frecuentemente se cree que la investigación estratégica es sinónimo de investigación de procesos biofísicos, pero existe igualmente y es de igual importancia, la investigación económica y social. Estas últimas son de importancia en la medida en que el ser humano es quien toma decisiones sobre el uso y manejo de los recursos naturales, siendo el proceso de toma de decisiones por parte del productor el que requiere ser comprendido, inclusive para el diseño de nuevas tecnologías.En consecuencia, la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles, como la relacionada con otros sistemas complejos, tiene una serie de requerimientos (Taylor, 1990), tales como: (1) Equipos multidisciplinarios.(2) Análisis holísticos (Seré y Vera, 1990) y experimentación en sistema de producción o finca, lo que involucra documentar las experiencias que puedan existir sobre sistemas, mediante estudios de caso, encuestas, y monitoreo en fincas, así como experimentar en forma participativa con nuevas alternativas y prototipos.(3) Investigación a largo plazo más mecanicista, fuera y dentro de la estación experimental. (4) Enfoques de investigación tanto analíticos como sintéticos.La investigación de síntesis puede operar en la práctica de más de una forma, dependiendo del objetivo perseguido. Así, la síntesis puede darse en la forma de uno o más prototipos de sistemas agropastoriles, que idealmente deben ser evaluados en forma participativa y a nivel de finca. También se pueden sintetizar los conocimientos sobre sistemas agropastoriles y, aún, los supuestos que sobre ellos se hagan, mediante el uso de modelos matemáticos de simulación, bien sea para investigar a priori hipótesis alternativas como para evaluar su factibilidad económica y de otros tipos. Idealmente, los prototipos y los modelos simulados se deben desarrollar en forma más o menos paralela e interactuar el uno con el otro.Por último, es necesario hacer referencia muy brevemente a los problemas de escala de las investigaciones en sabanas. El diseño de prototipos de sistemas agropastoriles sostenibles que combinan cultivos, sabanas nativas, pastos sembrados y otros usos en el espacio y/o en la escala temporal, se debe apoyar y beneficiar de las investigaciones en marcha sobre sus diferentes componentes que, frecuentemente, son conducidas a una escala más reducida. Así, por ejemplo, aspectos del reciclado de nitrógeno deben ser evaluados con isótopos en parcelas pequeñas o aún en condiciones de invernadero. Los problemas de escala de extrapolación del uno hacia el otro son evidentes. En forma similar, las oportunidades para la generalización y extrapolación de los resultados de investigación en prototipos o la generalización sobre demandas de investigación, dependen de los análisis a otras escalas de los recursos de tierras. Esto requiere el análisis de miles y, a veces, millones de hectáreas, como ha ocurrido para el Cerrado de Brasil (Jones et al., 1992) y que están en proceso para otras regiones.Cuadro 1. Distribución de responsabilidades entre las instituciones involucradas en la investigación de sistemas agropastoriles, acordada por Procitropicos en 1994. Es a estos niveles más agregados donde se deben examinar las consecuencias de la intensificación del uso de las sabanas sobre aspectos tales como la sedimentación y la contaminación de los principales ríos, la pérdida de biodiversidad u oportunidades para conservarla en áreas seleccionadas, el impacto económico sobre el desarrollo de la propia región y otras aledañas. Smith et al. (1997;1998) presentan algunos ejemplos de este tipo de análisis agregado. Nuevamente, al igual que en los casos anteriores citados, es notoria la necesidad del trabajo multidisciplinario e interinstitucional.Tecnologías para Corregir la Acidez y la Baja Fertilidad en el Suelo Encalamiento Modificación de la acidez en el subsuelo Incremento de las reservas de fósforo en el suelo Incremento de las reservas de potasio en el suelo Incremento de las reservas de micronutrimentos en el suelo El Uso de la Tierra y los Sistemas de Manejo Sistemas de pasturas Sistemas de cultivos anuales con labranza convencionalLos suelos ácidos de las sabanas tropicales constituyen gran parte del área disponible para la expansión de la frontera agrícola en el mundo. Estos suelos han sido generalmente considerados marginales debido a su baja fertilidad natural y a su susceptibilidad a una rápida degradación. Las vastas áreas de los Cerrados brasileños, abiertos hace 30 años, hoy responden por una considerable proporción de la producción agrícola del país. Sin embargo, los sistemas de monocultivo, tanto de especies anuales como de especies forrajeras perennes, han mostrado poca sostenibilidad bajo las actuales condiciones de manejo. Los nuevos sistemas desarrollados e implementados incorporan tecnologías de producción y de conservación de los recursos naturales; entre ellos, los de cero-labranza, labranza mínima y los sistemas integrados de agricultura-ganadería están siendo exitosos en términos de su rápida adopción por los productores. No obstante, es necesario conocer mejor los principios y el funcionamiento de estos sistemas con el fin de determinar su conveniencia en términos de sostenibilidad en el largo plazo. Los desafíos que aún persisten para asegurar el desarrollo sostenible de las sabanas incluyen aspectos económicos, sociales y culturales. Además, es necesario implementar una política ambiental adecuada y un mejor entendimiento de la sostenibilidad y de la forma de medirla. En este artículo se revisan las lecciones aprendidas de la experiencia del desarrollo de la agricultura en los Cerrados brasileños. La futura investigación debe incluir el desarrollo de otras opciones de cultivos con tolerancia a la acidez en el suelo, un mejor entendimiento de los ciclos del agua y de los nutrimentos, el desarrollo de los principios de manejo de la materia orgánica y de los residuos de los cultivos y del manejo biológico de la fertilidad del suelo.El crecimiento anual de la población mundial se estima en más de 80 millones de personas, lo que aumentará la demanda de alimentos en el corto plazo. Esto se traducirá en la necesidad de intensificar aún más la producción agrícola en las áreas ya disponibles y de expansión hacia áreas marginales. Al mismo tiempo, está surgiendo la necesidad de manejar adecuadamente aquellas áreas que están sufriendo problemas de degradación.Las vastas sabanas -en millones de hectáreas entre paréntesis-en Brasil (207), Venezuela (28), Colombia (17), Bolivia (14) y Guyana (4) se consideran como la frontera agrícola mundial más importante (Borlaug y Dowswell, 1994). El área total de este ecosistema (250) excede el área total bajo irrigación en el mundo.Hasta la década de los 60's, los Cerrados de Brasil han sido utilizados exclusivamente para la cría y levante de ganado bovino en pasturas nativas de baja calidad y capacidad de carga. A partir de los 70's se inició el cambio en el uso de esta región con la siembra de extensas áreas de pasturas mejoradas y la incorporación de áreas con potencial de mecanización para la producción de granos, café, frutas y sistemas de reforestación (Lopes, 1996).En este artículo se revisan las lecciones aprendidas del desarrollo de la agricultura en los Cerrados brasileños, con énfasis en las limitaciones naturales de estos suelos y en las tecnologías de fertilización y de manejo desarrolladas para superarlas. Estas experiencias pueden ser valiosas para la explotación de áreas similares en América Latina y de ciertas zonas en Africa. Gran parte de la información usada en este trabajo fue tomada de la literatura e incluye aspectos relacionados con los cambios químicos, físicos y biológicos que ocurren en estos suelos después de los cultivos.La mayoría de los suelos en el Cerrado son Oxisoles (46%), Ultisoles (15%) y Entisoles (15%) altamente and implemented. Among the improved technologies being successfully adopted by farmers are no tillage, minimum tillage, and integrated crop-andlivestock systems. Nevertheless, the principles and functioning of alternative systems need to be assessed for long-term sustainability. The challenges in ensuring that acid-soil savannas are developed sustainably include better understanding the social, cultural, and economic aspects involved, creating a favorable policy environment, and understanding more clearly \"sustainability\" and its measurement. We review the lessons learned from the \"Cerrados\" experience. Future research should include developing more crops with acidsoil tolerance, better understanding water and nutrient cycles and the principles of managing soil organic matter and crop residues, and developing a system of biologically managing soil fertility.meteorizados. Estos suelos presentan limitaciones para la producción de cultivos debido principalmente a su baja fertilidad natural. Lopes y Cox (1977) publicaron un inventario de la fertilidad de 518 muestras de suelos tomadas bajo vegetación nativa en una área que cubre aproximadamente el 33% del área total de los Cerrados. Los resultados de ese inventario se utilizan en este artículo para cuantificar las limitaciones edáficas de esta región y comparar esos valores con los niveles críticos definidos por otros investigadores.Aproximadamente, la mitad de las 518 muestras analizadas mostraron un pH en agua inferior a 5, y el resto varió entre 5 y 5.9. Esto indica que los suelos son predominantemente ácidos y que el encalamiento es una práctica esencial para sembrar las especies no tolerantes a la acidez. La aplicación de cal también es importante para corregir las deficiencias de Ca y Mg, comúnmente encontradas en estos suelos. La mayoría de las muestras analizadas tenían menos de 0.4 cmol/ dm 3 de Ca y 0.2 cmol/dm 3 de Mg, lo que se considera muy bajo para el crecimiento de las plantas.El nutrimento más deficiente en estos suelos es el fósforo (P). Según los resultados de Lopes y Cox (1977), el 95% de las muestras presentó niveles menores que 2 mg/dm 3 de P, por el método Melich 1. La corrección de este problema es aún más complicada debido a la alta capacidad de fijación de estos suelos (Leal y Velloso, 1973).Aunque la respuesta a la fertilización potásica no es tan común o tan pronunciada como aquellas obtenidas con la aplicación de cal y P, es importante suministrar niveles adecuados de fertilizantes potásicos para obtener altos rendimientos de grano.La gran mayoría de las muestras presentó niveles de Al intercambiable entre 0.25 y 1.0 cmol/ dm 3 de Al, lo que se considera como nivel medio. Solamente el 25% de las muestras presentó niveles altos de Al. En todos los casos, la saturación de este elemento fue alta debido a que los niveles de Ca y de Mg eran demasiado bajos. Kamprath (1967) encontró que la mayoría de las plantas cultivadas son sensibles a Al +3 cuando la saturación de Al es mayor que 20%. En el presente estudio, más del 90% de las muestras analizadas estuvo por encima de ese nivel y el 79% presentó más de 40% de saturación, nivel en el cual la mayoría de las plantas cultivadas presentan una severa toxicidad.El nivel de materia orgánica (M.O.) en estos suelos varía entre 70-600 g/kg. Sin embargo, predominan los suelos con niveles medios a altos. A pesar de esto, la capacidad de intercambio catiónica efectiva es muy baja. Una posible explicación para este fenómeno es que la alta acidez del suelo y las deficiencias de los nutrimentos pueden limitar la descomposición microbiológica de la M.O. (Lopes y Cox, 1977). A valores de pH mayores que 5.4 ocurre un aumento significativo en la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (C.I.C.) con el incremento en los niveles de M.O. Esto resalta aún más la importancia de un adecuado encalamiento para aumentar el número de sitios de intercambio de cationes.Bajo el sistema de manejo convencional con labranza continua y uso de cal y fertilizantes, la mineralización de la M.O. puede ser muy rápida y alcanzar niveles muy bajos después de 5 a 6 años de cultivo. Silva et al. (1994) encontraron que la pérdida de M.O. en los primeros 15 cm en algunos suelos cultivados con soya en el oeste de Bahia, Brasil, fue de 80% en suelos con menos de 150 g/kg de arcilla, de 76% en suelos entre 150 y 300 g/kg de arcilla y de 41% en suelos con más de 300 g/kg de arcilla. En función de estos resultados, los autores calcularon que el promedio de vida de la M.O. en estos suelos era de 2.2, 2.3 y 2.9 años, respectivamente. Malavolta y Klieman (1985) estiman que apenas el 32% de los suelos del Cerrado es deficiente en N. Estos autores basan sus conclusiones en un cálculo de disponibilidad anual de este nutrimento en 135 kg/ha por año, asumiendo un nivel promedio del total de N de 90 g/kg de suelo y una tasa de mineralización de 5% por año. No obstante, esta tasa es en realidad menor, debido al déficit hídrico, la acidez en el suelo y las deficiencias generalizadas de nutrimentos en estos suelos. Por lo anterior, es común observar altas respuestas a la aplicación de N en un amplio rango de cultivos (Britto et al., 1971;Cunha et al., 1980;Freitas et al., 1971;Grove et al., 1980;Magalhães et al., 1978;Reis et al., 1974).Las deficiencias de azufre (S) tienden a aumentar a través del tiempo, como resultado de las pérdidas ocasionadas por la quema de la vegetación durante la época seca y por el uso de fertilizantes que no contienen S. En varios experimentos se ha encontrado respuesta positiva a la aplicación de S en estos suelos (Couto y Sanzonowicz, 1983;Freitas et al., 1964;McClung et al., 1958;1959;1961;Mascarenhas et al., 1967;Miyasaka et al., 1964). Tomando en cuenta estos resultados, Couto y Ritchey (1986) sugieren la aplicación de 15 a 30 kg/ha por año de S para suplir las necesidades de la mayoría de las plantas cultivadas. Como valor crítico proponen 10 mg/dm, extraido mediante Ca(H 2 PO 4 ).2H 2 O.Muchos de los suelos del Cerrado, incluidos en el inventario de Lopes y Cox (1977), son deficientes en zinc (Zn) con valores menores que el valor de nivel crítico de 1 mg/dm 3 .Las respuestas a la aplicación de cobre (Cu) son poco frecuentes. Algunos autores sugieren un nivel crítico de 0.8 mg/dm 3 de Cu (EMBRAPA, 1982;Galrão y Mesquita Filho, 1981;Perim et al., 1980). Una situación similar ocurre con molibdeno (Mo) (Britto et al., 1971;França et al., 1973;Freitas et al., 1972;McClung et al., 1958;Mikkelsen et al., 1963). No obstante, Couto et al. (1988) observaron aumento en la producción de materia seca de pasturas basadas en leguminosas con la aplicación de Mo.La mayoría de los suelos en el Cerrado tienen suficientes cantidades de manganeso (Mn) extractable. Al comparar los valores de Mn obtenidos en el estudio de Lopes y Cox (1977) con el nivel crítico de 5 mg/dm 3 de Mn, se encontró que solamente el 37% de las muestras analizadas se encontraban por debajo de ese valor. Las deficiencias comúnmente observadas en sistemas de cultivos anuales se deben al encalamiento excesivo y a la inadecuada profundidad de incorporación de la cal.Las deficiencias de boro (B) son limitativas en suelos arenosos y pobres en M.O. McClung et al. (1961) observaron un incremento entre 80% y 90% en los rendimientos de algodón, y Silva y Andrade (1982) en los de trigo, como resultado de adiciones de B. Las respuestas en estos casos estuvieron más relacionadas con la mayor demanda de B en estos cultivos que con una baja disponibilidad natural. Sousa (1989) y Lopes y Guilherme (1990) sugieren un nivel crítico de 0.5 mg/dm 3 de B extraido en agua caliente.La toxicidad de Mn y Fe están restringidas a pequeñas áreas, y generalmente están asociadas con lluvias continuas e intensas o con problemas de drenaje pobre.Una de las mayores limitaciones para la producción agrícola en sistemas sin riego es la alta probabilidad de períodos secos durante la época de lluvias. La duración, período y número de 'veranillos' o períodos cortos sin lluvia que se presentan durante un año son variables. Utilizando datos climáticos de 42 años, Wolf (1975) estimó que cada año pueden ocurrir tres veranillos de 8 días de duración. Este investigador también concluyó que sólo 1 de cada 13 años tiene una adecuada distribución de la precipitación (Cuadro 1).El problema del déficit de agua es aún más severo debido a la baja capacidad de retención de estos suelos. Reichardt (1985) estimó que la capacidad promedio de almacenamiento de agua entre 0 y 10 cm de profundidad en suelos arenosos es de 6.9 mm de agua y de 11.1 mm en suelos arcillosos (Cuadro 2). Asumiendo una pérdida por evapotranspiración de 6 mm por día, el mismo autor estimó que el agua disponible para un cultivo con raíces hasta 30 cm de profundidad en el suelo sería suficiente para los primeros 4 días después de la aparición de un veranillo.Otro factor importante relacionado con el déficit de agua en suelos de los Cerrados es la presencia de barreras químicas que restringen la penetración radicular de la mayoría de las plantas cultivadas. Estas barreras naturales son el resultado de la toxicidad de Al y del bajo contenido de Ca. Ritchey et al. (1984) indican que el crecimiento radicular es restringido cuando el Ca intercambiable es menor que 0.15 cmol/dm 3 en el subsuelo y la saturación de Al cerca de 80%.Las operaciones de labranza anual con rastras pesadas de discos favorecen la formación de capas compactas en el perfil del suelo. Esto reduce la Cuadro 1. Probabilidad de ocurrencia de períodos de sequía durante la época seca en Brasília, DF, Brasil, y sus efectos sobre la disponibilidad de agua en un Oxisol arcilloso.Días secos Frecuencia de ocurrencia Profundidad en el suelo (cm) a la que consecutivos (no.) (no./año) ocurre el punto de marchitamiento (15 bar) penetración radicular y limita la absorción de agua y nutrimentos desde el subsuelo, ocasionando la susceptibilidad de los cultivos a los problemas causados por los veranillos. Stoner et al. (1991) midieron un alto nivel de compactación (1.4 Mpa) en un Oxisol con 430 g/kg de arcilla, cultivado con rastra de discos durante 10 años consecutivos, en comparación con un valor de 0.4 Mpa encontrado en el Cerrado nativo. La labranza efectuada en el décimo primer año en el sistema convencional aumentó la compactación hasta 1.8 Mpa. El mejor sistema para destruir esta capa compacta fue el uso de cinceles rígidos. Sin embargo, esta práctica es muy lenta y consume energía. El problema de compactación se mantuvo constante en el sistema de labranza mínima.El contenido de arcilla es un factor importante en la definición de la susceptibilidad del suelo a la compactación y la restricción del desarrollo radicular. Muestras de suelo con 160, 530 y 700 g/kg de arcilla fueron compactadas artificialmente por Stoner et al. (1991) para alcanzar densidades aparentes de 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 y 1.4 t/m 3 y evaluar el desarrollo radicular de semillas de maíz, soya, trigo y frijol. Las raíces de estos cultivos mostraron un desarrollo normal en los suelos más arenosos (160 g/kg arcilla), aún con la densidad más alta. En los suelos con 530 g/kg de arcilla, las raíces crecieron también normalmente hasta densidades aparentes entre 1 y 1.4 t/m 3 . Sin embargo, en el Oxisol más arcilloso (700 g/kg de arcilla), la limitación radicular fue seria en todos los cultivos en la densidad aparente de 1.1 t/m 3 . La mayor restricción ocurrió con las raíces de frijol común seguido por maíz, trigo y soya. De este trabajo se concluyó que, a mayor contenido de arcilla, mayor es la susceptibilidad del suelo a la compactación y a la reducción en el desarrollo radicular de cultivos. Igualmente es importante considerar la humedad en el suelo cuando se evalúa el efecto de la compactación sobre el desarrollo radicular.La labranza excesiva aún en áreas con poca pendiente conduce a pérdidas de la estructura del suelo y a la formación de láminas compactas a una profundidad entre 10 y 15 cm. Esto reduce la infiltración de agua y produce pérdidas considerables de suelo por escorrentía y erosión. Cuadro 2. Variación del agua disponible en muestras de suelo tomadas en el ecosistema Cerrado nativo, en función de la textura del suelo.Arcilla Textura Densidad aparente Agua disponible (g/kg) (g/cm 3 ) En peso (%) En volumen (%) Mm/10 cm < 180 Arenoso a 1.4 4.9 6.9 6.9Franco arenoso 180-350 Arenoso a 1.3 8.5 11.0 11.0Arcillo-arenoso 350-600 Arcilloso 1.2 9.8 11.8 11.8> 600 Muy arcilloso 1.2 9.1 10.9 10.9 FUENTE: Reichardt (1985), adaptado de Lopes (1983).El poder erosivo de la lluvia en los Cerrados es alto y conduce a la destrucción de la agregación del suelo y al sellamiento de la superficie. De acuerdo con la evaluación de erodabilidad efectuada por Dedecek et al. (1986) en un Latosol Rojo-Oscuro se encontró que las pérdidas de suelo y agua en suelo desnudo y en sistemas con maíz fueron mayores que en los sistemas con soya y cero-labranza, y con pasturas. Este resultado enfatiza la necesidad de mantener el suelo cubierto y evitar los largos períodos sin cobertura (Cuadro 3).Varios trabajos han resumido los efectos positivos de la cal para corregir la acidez en el suelo, reducir la toxicidad por Al, aumentar la disponibilidad de macro y micronutrimentos y la actividad biológica (Lathwell, 1979;Lopes, 1983). La práctica de encalado tiene además otros efectos benéficos, entre ellos, aumento de las cargas dependientes del pH y, por tanto, de la C.I.C. efectiva; reducción de la capacidad de fijación de P, mediante la precipitación de Al intercambiable; y estímulo del desarrollo radicular (Goedert, 1987;Lopes, 1983).El nivel promedio de aplicación de cal en el Cerrado es de 3 con un rango entre 1 y 5 t/ha a una profundidad de incorporación 0 y 20 cm, utilizando arado de disco o rastra pesada. Esta práctica es común antes de sembrar cultivos anuales de granos, plantas perennes y en algunas especies de pasturas.Cuando las deficiencias de micronutrimentos son debidamente corregidas, se pueden obtener beneficios adicionales usando niveles de cal que aumenten el pH a 6.0. Estos niveles se pueden calcular utilizando el método de saturación de las bases. Independientemente del método usado, es necesario corregir las cantidades calculadas de acuerdo al poder de neutralización total (PRNT) de la cal y de su poder de reactividad. Usualmente, el efecto residual de la cal varía entre 3 a 5 años en estos suelos.El concepto de encalado en sistemas de labranza mínima y cerolabranza difiere del utilizado en la Cuadro 3. Pérdidas de agua y suelo bajo diferentes coberturas en un Latosol Rojo Oscuro con 5% de pendiente. Cerrados del Brasil. labranza convencional. Antes de iniciar estos sistemas, es necesario incorporar un nivel adecuado de cal con el fin de aumentar la saturación de bases a 70%. La cal debe ser incorporada a la mayor profundidad posible y usar un tipo de cal granulada para aumentar el efecto residual (Lopes y Guilherme, 1994). Después de este período de corrección se puede aplicar a voleo una tercera parte o la mitad de la cantidad de cal recomendada en suelos arcillosos y arenosos (Lopes, 1996a).Una alternativa para corregir el problema de acidez en el subsuelo consiste en la incorporación profunda de la cal y de la fertilización fosfatada, y promover el movimiento vertical de Ca y Mg a través del perfil. Sin embargo, esta práctica tiene un uso limitado por el costo de la incorporación de la cal y por el lento movimiento vertical del Ca y el Mg en el suelo.Una de las mejores opciones para corregir este problema es el uso del yeso agrícola. Este es un subproducto de la elaboración del ácido fosfórico y ha sido identificado como un mejorador de la acidez en el subsuelo (Raij, 1988). El efecto directo del yeso consiste en el aumento de Ca en el perfil y en la reducción del Al intercambiable, lo cual aumenta la profundidad radicular y mejora la absorción de agua y nutrimentos del subsuelo.Se han realizado varios estudios para recomendar el uso de yeso en condiciones específicas. Lopes (1983) recomienda aplicar yeso cuando el Ca intercambiable sea ≤ 0.3 cmol/dm 3 y el Al intercambiable ≤ 0.5 cmol/dm 3 y la saturación de Al sea ≥ 30%. Estos parámetros deben ser evaluados a profundidades entre 20 y 40 cm, entre 40 y 60 cm para cultivos anuales y entre 60 y 80 cm para cultivos perennes (Lopes, 1983;1986). Estas recomendaciones han sido mejoradas incluyendo otros parámetros como la textura, el nivel de M.O. y la proporción de Ca en relación con otros cationes (Sousa et al., 1992).Una estrategia para alcanzar producciones adecuadas y económicas en el corto plazo en suelos con niveles extremadamente bajos de P extractable y con alta capacidad de fijación de este elemento, consiste en incrementar las reservas disponibles mediante una fertilización de corrección. Los rendimientos de trigo, soya y maíz se duplicaron usando niveles adecuados de fertilización fosfórica básica, en comparación con la aplicación de dosis bajas de mantenimiento (Wagner, 1986).En el Cerrado se han evaluado varios métodos de aplicación, fuentes y niveles de fertilización fosfórica (Goedert, 1983;Lathwell, 1979;Lopes, 1983;Sánchez y Salinas, 1981). En general, se recomienda aplicar a voleo una fertilización de corrección con fósforo, seguida por aplicaciones de mantenimiento en bandas para producir granos en áreas recién abiertas para la producción agrícola (Lopes, 1983). El método más común para estimar el nivel de corrección consiste en aplicar entre 1.5 y 2 kg/ha de P por cada 10 g de arcilla por kg de suelo, seguido por dosis normales de mantenimiento anual. Este método es adecuado para alcanzar buenos rendimientos después de 3 ó 4 años del desmonte del Cerrado nativo (Lopes, 1983). Sousa (1989) desarrolló un método para recomendar la fertilización de corrección en el cultivo de soya, en función del contenido de arcilla en el suelo (Cuadro 4).También se ha evaluado la eficiencia agronómica de las rocas fosfóricas brasileñas en comparación con el superfosfato y rocas fosfóricas importadas tales como Gafsa. En un estudio conducido por Goedert y Lobato (1984) sobre un Oxisol arcilloso localizado en el Centro de Investigación en Planaltina, Brasília, se encontró que las rocas brasileñas tenían un índice de eficiencia agronómica (IEA) muy bajo (Cuadro 5). Sin embargo, su eficiencia tiende a aumentar con el tiempo. Esta tendencia se demostró con la siembra de Andropogon gayanus después de 3 años de cultivos anuales. El alto IEA del superfosfato y de la roca Gafsa las hace fuentes adecuadas para aumentar el P disponible en el suelo.En los últimos años se ha comparado la eficiencia agronómica de las aplicaciones en polvo o en gránulos de algunas rocas altamente reactivas como Carolina del Norte, Arad, Daouy y Gafsa. Los resultados preliminares indican que ambas formas son igualmente efectivas para aumentar las reservas de fósforo en estos suelos, cuando son aplicadas a voleo e incorporadas con las operaciones de labranza del suelo.Cuadro 4. Recomendaciones de dosis correctivas de fósforo (kg/ha de P 2 O 5 ) para sembrar soya en los Cerrados de Brasil. Según el contenido de este elemento en el suelo. Una buena estrategia para aumentar las reservas de K en suelos con más de 200 mg de arcilla/kg de suelo y contenido bajo de K intercambiable, consiste en la aplicación a voleo de una fertilización potásica correctiva. Para suelos con menos de 200 mg/kg de arcilla, la corrección completa no es recomendada, ya que la baja capacidad de retención de cationes de estos suelos puede conducir a una pérdida acentuada de K por lixiviación (Sousa, 1989).La fertilización con K para corregir deficiencias también se puede hacer gradualmente mediante aplicaciones anuales de niveles mayores que los recomendados para fertilización de mantenimiento en el surco de siembra. El K residual se incorpora en el suelo con las labores de preparación posteriores. Esto resulta en un nivel adecuado después de 4 a 5 años (Sousa, 1989). En el Cuadro 6 se presentan las recomendaciones de fertilización para elevar la reserva de este nutrimento en forma total o gradual, según el contenido de arcilla y la disponibilidad de K en el suelo para la siembra de soya. La fuente más disponible en Brasil es cloruro de potasio (KCl).Otro método para alcanzar la dosis de corrección adecuada consiste en aplicar la cantidad necesaria para saturar entre 3% y 5% de la C.I.C. a pH 7. Para facilitar este cálculo se debe recordar que se deben aplicar a voleo 9.4 kg/ha de K 2 O para incrementar en 0.01 cmol el nivel de K en el análisis de suelo entre 0 y 20 cm (Lopes y Guilherme, 1994).El Uso de la Tierra y los Sistemas de ManejoHasta hace 30 años, el sistema predominante en el Cerrado estaba basado en el uso de extensas áreas de vegetación nativa para la cría y levante de ganado bovino. La única práctica de manejo consistía en la quema de la vegetación al final de la época seca para eliminar las especies poco Cuadro 6. Dosis de K 2 O en kg/ha recomendadas para la corrección total o gradual de la deficiencia de este nutrimento en el suelo antes de sembrar soya en el Cerrado de Brasil. Buena a > 30 > 50 0 0 a. Después de alcanzar este nivel se deben aplicar 20 kg de K 2 O por cada tonelada de soya producida por hectárea.FUENTE: Sousa (1989).palatables y estimular un rebrote de mejor calidad. La baja calidad de la pastura y escasa fertilidad del suelo eran los factores responsables de la baja productividad de este sistema.Las pasturas nativas fueron rápidamente desplazadas por pasturas basadas en gramíneas introducidas de Africa. Se estima que actualmente existen aproximadamente 48 millones de hectáreas de pasturas sembradas con especies de los géneros Brachiaria y Andropogon (Macedo, 1995). Estas especies fueron, en su mayoría, establecidas a voleo después de un cultivo de arroz de secano sembrado sobre suelos de Cerrado recién desmontado y quemado, y aplicando un poco de fertilizantes. A pesar de la baja fertilidad del suelo, las pasturas permanecían vigorosas y productivas durante los primeros años de uso (Spain et al., 1996). Sin embargo, después de 4 a 10 años de uso, las pasturas de sólo gramíneas, disminuyen drástica la productividad. Este efecto es más rápido en suelos arenosos (Boddey et al., 1996;Macedo, 1995). Actualmente se estima que más del 50% de las pasturas cultivadas en el Cerrado presentan algún tipo de degradación (Macedo, 1995). Este fenómeno se caracteriza por la pérdida de producción y cobertura de la pastura, seguida por la invasión de malezas. A menudo se observa un aumento concomitante de la población de termitas (Boddey et al., 1996).Las causas de la degradación son numerosas y complejas (Spain et al., 1996). No obstante, la deficiencia de N ha sido indicada como la principal. Bajo presiones de pastoreo intensivo, las gramíneas forrajeras se tornan deficientes en este nutrimento, después de 2 ó 3 años (Spain et al., 1996). Esto se ha asociado con las pérdidas de N del sistema por volatilización y lixiviación a través de la orina y por inmovilización en los residuos de la planta (Ferreira et al., 1995). La falta de una fertilización de mantenimiento y la presión de plagas y enfermedades también han sido mencionadas como causas importantes de la degradación de las pasturas.La inclusión de leguminosas forrajeras es una buena alternativa para evitar la pérdida de productividad de las pasturas y para mejorar la calidad de la dieta animal durante al época seca (Boddey et al., 1996). Actualmente existen especies de leguminosas forrajeras disponibles en el mercado que pueden mejorar la persistencia de la pastura, siempre que sean manejadas adecuadamente.Este sistema se caracteriza por el uso intensivo de insumos para la producción de cultivos anuales. Su rápida expansión en el Cerrado obedeció a los incentivos del gobierno y de varios proyectos de colonización para producir soya en esta región. Se estima que en la actualidad hay 10 millones de hectáreas dedicados a la producción de cultivos.Como resultado de los buenos precios de la soya en el mercado internacional, este sistema se convirtió en un monocultivo. La preparación del suelo se hacía hasta dejar el suelo completamente nivelado y libre de malezas mediante el uso de rastras de discos y pulidoras. Esto resultó en un excesivo paso de maquinaria, provocando la pérdida de la estructura y generando problemas de erosión y compactación del suelo. Con el transcurso del tiempo, los costos de control aumentaron por la creciente presión biótica y las pérdidas de productividad. Esto obligó a los productores a buscar alternativas de preparación del suelo menos agresivos y sistemas de rotación de la soya para romper los ciclos de plagas y enfermedades en forma más económica. Los sistemas de monocultivo han, prácticamente, desaparecido dando paso a sistemas de rotación soya-maíz con preparación mínima del suelo y alto uso de herbicidas.Probablemente, el avance más importante hacia una agricultura más sostenible en el Cerrado ha sido la aparición de los sistemas de cero-labranza y labranza mínima. Estos sistemas se iniciaron en el Brasil en los años 80, pero su uso se popularizó en los 90's. De 150,000 ha sembradas en 1980 se pasó a 1 millón de hectáreas en 1990, y hoy se calcula que hay aproximadamente 10 millones sembradas bajo estos sistemas (Landers, 1995). Por lo menos, 2 millones de hectáreas están siendo sembradas en el Cerrado usando estos sistemas.Las tentativas iniciales de introducir este sistema en el Cerrado fracasaron debido a la imposibilidad de producir el típico cultivo de invierno. Este problema fue solucionado con la aparición del cultivo de 'safrinha' -un segundo cultivo sembrado sobre los residuos del cultivo principal en el mismo año. Los rendimientos de este tipo de cultivo dependen de la disponibilidad de agua (Cuadro 8). Esta estrategia mejora el retorno financiero del sistema, incentiva la producción de residuos vegetales y reduce los niveles de herbicidas. En sistemas mixtos de agricultura y ganadería, el cultivo de safrinha mejora la disponibilidad del forraje durante la época seca y la eficiencia del reciclado de nutrimentos (Landers, 1995).El hecho más importante para mejorar la producción de cobertura para los sistemas de cero-labranza en Cuadro 8. Probabilidad de alcanzar una productividad aceptable de maíz, sorgo y mileto (Pennisetum typhoides) como 'safrinhas', de acuerdo con la precipitación mínima durante los meses más críticos en el Cerrado de Brasil. el Cerrado fue la introducción del Mileto Africano (Pennisetum typhoides). Esta planta es altamente resistente a la sequía, ya que tiene un sistema radicular profuso que penetra en subsuelos con alto nivel de Al y deficientes en Ca. Además, tiene alta capacidad para producir materia verde (Cuadro 9), es fácil de establecer y manejar, produce semillas con alto vigor y se puede establecer en surcos, a voleo y por vía aérea. Este cultivo es poco susceptible a las enfermedades y plagas, es un excelente alimento para animales y tiene poco riesgo de convertirse en maleza (Scaléa, 1995).A pesar de que las prácticas de labranza mínima y cero-labranza son recientes en el Cerrado, se han desarrollado muchas variaciones de estos sistemas. A continuación se describen algunos de los principales sistemas.Cero labranza sobre residuos. Este sistema se inicia con la generación de una gran cantidad de residuos de cobertura. En algunos casos se siembra mileto con las primeras lluvias, seguido por la siembra del cultivo principal sin labranza y la generación de residuos con un cultivo de safrinha [maíz, millo (Pennisetum sp.) o sorgo]. Usando este sistema durante 4 años consecutivos se han obtenido rendimientos de soya de 4 t/ha, aproximadamente (Seguy et. al., 1992), siendo estos rendimientos similares a aquellos obtenidos en los mejores suelos del mundo.Cero-labranza sin cultivo de cobertura. En este sistema se utilizan malezas como cobertura, principalmente gramíneas forrajeras provenientes del banco de semillas en el suelo. Después de su germinación y establecimiento durante la época seca se controlan con herbicidas al inicio de las lluvias. Este sistema ha sido utilizado con éxito en la finca Santa Helena de Goiás, Goiás, para sembrar soya y maíz sobre suelos arcillosos de alta fertilidad.Cero-labranza sobre cobertura viva. En este sistema se siembran los cultivos sobre una cobertura viva de leguminosas. Cultivos como soya perenne (Glycine javanica), Kudzú (Pueraria phaseoloides), Centrosema (Centrosema spp.) y Siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum) han sido usadas con relativo éxito. Más recientemente se ha utilizado maní forrajero (Arachis pintoi) como cobertura permanente en sistemas con maíz en un Oxisol de Uberlândia, MG. En sistemas con maíz se requiere del control del rebrote de las leguminosas usando herbicidas del tipo 2,4-D durante los primeros 40 días, y Paraquat en las fases posteriores. El ciclo de cultivos termina cuando se establece una asociación gramínealeguminosa. También se ha sembrado Calopogonio (Calopogonium mucunoides) en forma simultánea con arroz, el cual posteriormente se utiliza como forraje para producción de carne.Esta combinación se emplea cuando ocurre una demora sustancial en la siembra del cultivo y se presenta una alta infestación de malezas en áreas ya preparadas con métodos convencionales. En este caso, el agricultor selecciona las áreas más infestadas que puedan producir más Cuadro 9. Producción de materia verde de mileto (Pennisetum typhoides) en función de la época de siembra. rastrojo y en las que pueda introducir la cero-labranza. Las operaciones mecánicas se sustituyen por el uso de herbicidas. Las principales ventajas de este sistema consisten en la reducción de los costos de producción y la eliminación de operaciones de preparación sobre suelo húmedo, lo cual es una de las causas principales del sellamiento superficial y la compactación.Cero-labranza intermitente. La compactación superficial causada por el paso de la maquinaria sobre suelo húmedo y la infestación de malezas de difícil control pueden, con el tiempo, obligar al productor a regresar a las prácticas de labranza convencional. La compactación superficial puede ser fácilmente eliminada usando un arado de cincel. Sin embargo, existen circunstancias en las cuales es necesario usar labranza más profunda. Landers (1995) sugiere que esta combinación se debe considerar en las circunstancias siguientes: (1) cuando el cultivo sea muy sensible a pequeños cambios en la compactación del suelo, como en el caso de arroz (Seguy y Bouzinac, 1992; (2) cuando sea necesario y más económico para controlar malezas persistentes y plagas; (3) como una medida de precaución contra la propagación de enfermedades ya sea a través de los rastrojos o por causas aún no identificadas; (4) para eliminar la compactación del suelo debido al exceso de tráfico de maquinaria en suelos húmedos, especialmente para la producción de ensilaje en sistemas irrigados; y (5) para diluir el efecto de niveles altos de cal aplicada en la superficie del suelo.Labranza mínima. Este sistema produce la mínima remoción de la cobertura del suelo, dejando la mayor cantidad de residuos sobre él. Cuando es utilizado en combinación con tratamientos químicos preemergentes para el control de malezas, la labranza mínima representa una opción intermedia entre la labranza convencional y la cero-labranza. Este sistema es adecuado para controlar la erosión en sitios donde no existan capas de suelo compactadas. Es, además, un paso preliminar a la adopción de la no-labranza. Landers (1995) presenta algunas variaciones de este sistema.Cero-labranza y labranza mínima en cultivos anuales bajo irrigación. Algunos agricultores utilizan las prácticas de no-labranza y labranza mínima en cultivos anuales en sistemas irrigados. Bajo estas condiciones es posible producir dos o más cultivos por año y generar una cantidad considerable de rastrojos. Sin embargo, el uso de cero-labranza requiere un continuo monitoreo de la humedad en el suelo al momento de introducir maquinaria y de conocimiento técnico para seleccionar la secuencia de cultivos más apropiada, los herbicidas más efectivos y el manejo de la fertilidad del suelo.La necesidad de recuperar la productividad de pasturas degradadas en áreas mecanizables y de restablecer las condiciones del suelo en sistemas de cultivos anuales, ha motivado la integración de sistemas de cultivos y de pasturas en el tiempo y el espacio. Esta es una de las opciones más factibles para mejorar la eficiencia biológica y económica de los sistemas agrícolas en los trópicos húmedos y subhúmedos. Esta estrategia se ha hecho aún más atractiva con la inclusión de prácticas de cero-labranza y labranza mínima en cultivos anuales.Las ventajas de la integración de cultivos y pasturas en sistemas de rotación ('ley farming') se derivan principalmente del potencial sinérgico entre sus componentes (Lal, 1991;Spain et al., 1996). Las ventajas más importantes de este sistema son: (1) el mejoramiento de la fertilidad del suelo;(2) el aumento de la actividad biológica;(3) el reciclado de nutrimentos más eficiente; (4) la mayor disponibilidad de alimento para el ganado durante la época seca; (5) la mayor utilización de agua y nutrimentos; (6) el mejoramiento de las propiedades físicas del suelo; (7) la menor invasión de malezas; y (8) es un sistema económicamente más sólido.Actualmente, los productores del Cerrado están utilizando varias tecnologías de integración. Una de ellas es el Sistema Barreirão, el cual se describe en el Capítulo 15 de este libro. Otro tipo de integración ha sido desarrollado por la Fundação para Pesquisa e Difusão de Tecnología para o Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Esta consiste en la rotación de B. decumbens, B. brizantha, Panicum maximum cvs. Tanzania y Mombaça con cultivos anuales, principalmente soya. Otras combinaciones de cultivos comerciales con barbechos mejorados y pasturas han sido desarrolladas en la misma región (Broch et al., 1997). Estos sistemas incluyen el uso de herbicidas para desecar las pasturas (Borges y Bordin, 1996;1997a;1997b;Paiva y Borges, 1995). Debido a la cercanía de esta región al sur del país es posible usar cultivos de invierno seleccionados para zonas templadas. Se encuentra disponible una serie de publicaciones prácticas de extensión sobre estos sistemas (Hermani et al., 1995;Pitol y Salton, 1989;Pitol et al., 1997;Salton y Cichelero, 1988;Salton et. al., 1995). Uno de los ejemplos de integración de cultivos y pastos más exitosos ha sido desarrollado en la finca Santa Terezinha, cerca a Uberlândia, MG. La descripción detallada de este sistema se encuentra en el Capítulo 14 de este libro.La rotación de ciclos de cultivos y pasturas ha permitido al productor aumentar la capacidad de soporte de estas últimas, aumentar el rendimiento de los cultivos y mejorar las propiedades físicas y la M.O. en el suelo. Ultimamente, los productores están practicando la cero-labranza sobre pasturas de P. maximum. A pesar de los impresionantes logros en la producción y en el mejoramiento de las propiedades del suelo, el sistema presenta aún algunos problemas. Los ciclos de las pasturas se están acortando a 2 ó 3 años, debido a la rápida disminución de la productividad de las especies de Panicum. El problema está asociado con la deficiencia de N. Una de las estrategias para resolver este problema es la aplicación de fertilizantes nitrogenados, lo cual aumentaría los costos de producción. Otra sería la introducción de una leguminosa forrajera adaptada a este sistema. Los trabajos preliminares realizados en finca muestran que A. pintoi podría tener potencial para adaptarse a este sistema.El impacto positivo de la apertura del Cerrado para producir granos y carne ha demostrado claramente que aún suelos de baja fertilidad pueden ser incorporados al proceso productivo, siempre y cuando se manejen adecuadamente. Sin embargo, la falta de sostenibilidad de los sistemas convencionales en el largo plazo ha dado origen a una serie de alternativas más adaptadas a las necesidades actuales y futuras.Al igual que con todas las nuevas tecnologías y opciones de manejo, hay dificultades y obstáculos para su difusión y adopción en otras áreas. Estas dificultades se discuten a continuación.Es necesario tener una mejor comprensión de los factores socioeconómicos y culturales que influyen en la decisión de manejo de los productores para asegurar que las nuevas opciones tecnológicas y de manejo sean apropiadas y adoptables. Por ejemplo, la creencia convencional de que los productores no adoptan tecnologías de conservación de los recursos naturales que requieren inversiones de largo plazo necesita ser examinada nuevamente. Los productores de granos en el Cerrado están adoptando tecnologías de mínima labranza para evitar problemas de erosión y aumentar la producción. En este caso, el papel del sector privado ha sido fundamental en la difusión de este sistema.Otro ejemplo es el caso de la integración de cultivos y pasturas. Aunque el concepto es económica y ecológicamente atractivo, su adopción ha sido baja. En un estudio conducido en tres cuencas cerca de Uberlândia se encontró que más del 60% de los productores de granos entrevistados siembra pasturas solamente en áreas que ellos consideran no aptas para cultivos. Estos ejemplos enfatizan la necesidad de una mejor comunicación y colaboración entre agricultores, investigadores y gobernantes en la definición de los nuevos sistemas de manejo. El reciente interés en los métodos de investigación participativa es una buena señal del interés de la comunidad científica en la participación de los productores en el desarrollo de tecnologías. Un indicador de esta nueva dirección ha sido la publicación de la Sociedad Americana de Agronomía sobre las experiencias de un agricultor chileno que utiliza cerolabranza.Así como la apertura del Cerrado brasileño fue estimulada por programas gubernamentales y subsidios, es necesario que las nuevas tecnologías y opciones de manejo sean apoyadas por políticas ambientales adecuadas que aseguren su adopción y uso. Las recetas mágicas son raras, especialmente cuando se trata de manejar la complejidad de sistemas sostenibles. Es necesario un mayor esfuerzo de la comunidad científica para dialogar con los agricultores, extensionistas y gobernantes.La agricultura sostenible debe incluir el manejo exitoso de las recursos disponibles para satisfacer las necesidades de la humanidad y mantener o mejorar la calidad ambiental y los recursos naturales (FAO, 1989). La clave de esta definición está en la calidad ambiental, lo que en términos de este documento se denomina calidad del suelo.Es necesario establecer parámetros para detectar en forma temprana la degradación del suelo y, consecuentemente, evaluar los efectos de manejo. Desde el punto de vista de agricultura sostenible, los parámetros de calidad son herramientas importantes para evaluar los cambios de las condiciones del suelo, monitorear procesos de degradación y desarrollar políticas y criterios de evaluación de sostenibilidad (Eswaran et al., 1993).Para el caso especifico del Cerrado, muchos de los posibles parámetros de calidad del suelo (químicos, físicos, biológicos y otros) aún no han sido cuantificados sobre bases científicas para permitir una discusión sobre las futuras direcciones del manejo sostenible de los sistemas. Además de ser desarrollados sobre bases científicas, deben estar altamente relacionados con indicadores que los productores puedan entender y usar.La adopción de tecnologías de manejo más sostenibles requiere del uso de componentes que se adapten a las condiciones especificas de una región o de las condiciones del productor. Por ello es necesario identificar más opciones de cultivos, de coberturas y de especies forrajeras que sean más eficientes en el uso de agua y nutrimentos, y de sistemas que reduzcan el uso de herbicidas y controlen malezas y plagas. Al mismo tiempo, es necesario cuantificar mejor el impacto ambiental de los sistemas cero-labranza en términos de uso de herbicidas. La investigación debe prestar mayor atención a la búsqueda de soluciones para los sistemas agropecuarios de pequeños productores. Es necesaria desarrollar más investigación estratégica para definir el impacto de los nuevos sistemas sobre la cantidad y calidad de la M.O.Los cultivos perennes ocupan un espacio menor en comparación con los cultivos de granos y pasturas mejoradas. Sin embargo, algunos cultivos como café, caucho, arboles frutales y reforestación con pinos y eucaliptos, constituyen experiencias exitosas. Sistemas integrados que involucren cultivos perennes, cultivos anuales y pasturas mejoradas, están comenzando a recibir atención de los investigadores como otra estrategia para mejorar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción de los Cerrados.Para reducir espacio, las siglas y acrónimos siguientes se utilizan en el espacio respectivo: Las características agroecológicas y socioeconómicas prevalentes en la región de las sabanas latinoamericanas demandan del Proyecto Sabanas-Procitropicos la promoción de tecnologías de uso y manejo del suelo socialmente aceptables y ecológicamente sostenibles y rentables, con el fin de mejorar los sistemas de producción agrícola y pecuaria. Dichas acciones se realizan a través del enfoque sistémico y holístico aplicado al manejo sostenible de los suelos de sabanas. La estrategia planteada es la investigación participativa, cuya aplicación exige el avance de conocimientos basados en acciones interdisciplinarias y en la integración sectorial involucrando investigadores, extensionistas y productores. El trabajo se inicia con el diagnóstico de la realidad de los sistemas de producción en fincas de referencia, seguido de investigación participativa destinada al ajuste y validación de innovaciones tecnológicas en los agroecosistemas tradicionales. Además de promover la mejor articulación en las actividades de generación-síntesis, validación y transferencia de tecnología hacia los usuarios, la estrategia planteada proporcionará información de retorno para la investigación temática tendiente al desarrollo tecnológico. A través de la investigación participativa se espera disminuir el 'vacío' existente entre la generación y la adopción de innovaciones tecnológicas planteadas para el manejo sostenible de los suelos de sabanas, además de ampliar la participación de los agentes locales, nacionales y regionales en las políticas de desarrollo rural.The agricultural and livestock production systems in the Latin American savannas need improving. Taking into account the prevailing agroecological and socioeconomic characteristics, the Procitropicos-Savannas Project is promoting soil use and management technologies. To ensure that these technologies are socially acceptable, environmentally sustainable, and profitable, a systemic and holistic approach, based on participatory research, is adopted. This approach requires interdisciplinary activity and the integration of researchers, extension workers, and farmers. Research first begins with a diagnosis of current production systems on targeted farms, followed by participatory research to adjust and validate new technologies in traditional agroecosystems. Not only will linkages between technology generation-synthesis, validation, and transfer to users be improved, but also feedback will be provided for thematic research aimed at technological development. Through participatory research, the \"gap\" between the generation of technological innovations and their adoption is expected to narrow. At the same time, the participation of local, national, and regional entities in rural development policies is expected to increase.Considerando las características agroecológicas y socioeconómicas prevalentes en la región de sabanas latinoamericanas, el reto consiste en generar, ajustar, validar y difundir tecnologías de uso y manejo del suelo que sean ecológicamente sostenibles, económicamente rentables y socialmente aceptables con el fin de mejorar y estabilizar la producción agropecuaria y disminuir los riesgos de los cambios de clima y mercadeo en los sistemas de producción fundamentados en cultivos anuales mecanizados y en pasturas (IICA-Procitropicos, 1994).El manejo conservacionista de los suelos tropicales involucra un conjunto de prácticas y procesos en el uso de suelos y cultivos, los cuales, adecuadamente combinados, podrían sostener la capacidad productiva e incrementar la eficiencia económica de los sistemas de producción en el largo plazo (Nademan, 1991). Este concepto involucra la integración del laboreo y la diversificación del uso de la tierra a través de rotaciones y secuencias de cultivos, incluyendo pasturas y el uso de plantas destinadas a la cobertura del suelo (Figura 1).En los suelos tropicales y subtropicales de América Latina, la labranza convencional con implementos de discos, en especial las rastras pesadas tipo 'rome', a pesar de que produce mayor rendimiento operativo y menor consumo de combustible, también es la que causa más efectos nocivos en el suelo. La siembra directa (cero-labranza) sobre rastrojos vegetales es un proceso más efectivo para proteger el suelo contra la erosión y la degradación. No obstante, esta práctica casi siempre tiene un costo inicial elevado, representado por las inversiones en maquinaria y control de malezas y demanda un alto grado de conocimiento técnico y organización gerencial en las fincas; además, favorece la mayor incidencia de plagas y malezas, si la secuencia de cultivos no es la más adecuada. Por las razones antes mencionadas, la siembra directa sigue todavía restringida a los productores más calificados y progresistas en términos técnicos, administrativos y financieros, aún en aquellas zonas con mayor nivel de experiencia en la adopción.La labranza vertical del suelo es una opción intermedia a los procesos anteriores, que no tiene muchos de los inconvenientes antes citados. Como desventajas, existen riesgos por mayor incidencia de malezas y dificultades iniciales para establecer los cultivos en áreas recién desmontadas o en suelos muy pesados. Actualmente se está considerando la posibilidad de utilizar en forma combinada los procesos de labranza, como alternativa más eficaz para el manejo adecuado de los suelos tropicales (Benítez, 1991;Plá Sentis, 1991).En relación con la rotación de cultivos, además de la preservación del suelo, está práctica tiene beneficios como el control biológico-cultural de malezas y plagas, la mejor organización del trabajo en la finca, el mejor uso del capital invertido y la reducción de riesgos por cambios climáticos o fluctuaciones en los precios. Sin embargo, las rotaciones deberán ser flexibles, considerando las variaciones de clima y suelo, las oportunidades de mercadeo, los intereses y los recursos de los productores. Es decir, no se deben buscar 'recetas' de rotación, sino proporcionar conocimientos y opciones que posibiliten ajustes para cada situación (Gutiérrez, 1991a;Viegas y Machado, 1990).Plantas de cobertura ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ Figura 1. Componentes del manejo integrado del suelo. Proyecto Sabanas-Procitropicos.Las pasturas constituyen una alternativa eficiente para disminuir la degradación de los suelos tropicales después del desmonte. No obstante, aún prevalece el concepto que ellas solamente se deben establecer en tierras de baja calidad. En tales condiciones, si los recursos naturales son suficientes y favorables, el agroecosistema pecuario podrá mantenerse a través del tiempo o en la mayor parte de él con una demanda reducida de capital. Si ocurre una escasez de pastos por sequía, degradación del suelo u otras razones, el manejo consiste en disminuir la carga animal por unidad de superficie, resultando así un sistema de producción de baja sostenibilidad, ya que al disminuir la disponibilidad de los pastos, es necesario reducir la población animal hasta un límite en el cual la rentabilidad y estabilidad económica del sistema quedan comprometidas.De otro lado, el uso prolongado o inadecuado de pasturas en condiciones de sobrepastoreo, casi siempre resulta en problemas de compactación del suelo y degradación de su fertilidad, además, en presencia de malezas que compiten con los pastos o son tóxicas para el ganado. De lo anterior surgen las ventajas del establecimiento de programas adecuados de manejo de las pasturas, buscando su rehabilitación a través de prácticas de descanso y rotación periódica con cultivos anuales. En esta situación será posible realizar operaciones de labranza profunda para descompactar el suelo, controlar malezas y aplicar enmiendas y fertilizantes, además de reemplazar los pastos existentes por otros de mejor calidad.La creciente valorización de las tierras y de los productos de origen animal justifica el mejor uso de los suelos para compensar las inversiones de capital en la actividad pecuaria. Bajo tales circunstancias, el éxito de los sistemas de producción agropecuario demandará:1. Reconocer que los pastos, como componentes de un agroecosistema, son plantas cultivadas y, por tanto, necesitan de manejo adecuado para su establecimiento y mantenimiento en niveles satisfactorios de rentabilidad y sostenibilidad.2. Considerar el rol de las pasturas y sus interacciones con los demás componentes de la producción agropecuaria a nivel de la finca como un todo (Muzilli, 1993a).En relación con la inclusión de cultivos de cobertura en los sistemas de rotación, los avances en la investigación latinoamericana evidencian su importancia como medida coadyuvante para conservar el suelo y controlar malezas y plagas. Como desventaja de este sistema se puede mencionar que aún existen incertidumbres en la selección, establecimiento y manejo de las especies de cobertura y los costos adicionales por la ocupación periódica de la tierra, exigiendo que los márgenes netos de ingreso de los rubros sean compensados por incrementos en su rentabilidad. Siendo así, la interacción de cultivos de cobertura con los rubros deberá proporcionar la protección del suelo sin comprometer la rentabilidad económica de los sistemas de producción (Gutiérrez, 1991b).Los tres componentes mencionados no actúan de manera aislada, sino a través de una compleja interacción de efectos en el espacio y en el tiempo, según lo comprueban experiencias realizadas bajo distintas condiciones de clima tropical y subtropical de América del Sur.Aunque existen muchas experiencias, todavía persisten inquietudes acerca de la factibilidad de las tecnologías ofrecidas, sobre todo en zonas donde el desarrollo agrícola se encuentra en fase de expansión. Tales inquietudes se refieren a la adecuación de los procesos de labranza y de los arreglos espaciales y cronológicos de los cultivos y pasturas en distintas condiciones agroecológicas y socioeconómicas. Sobre el uso de plantas de cobertura existe aún escasez de experiencias en relación con las ventajas de su incorporación en los procesos de manejo del suelo en rotaciones con cultivos y pasturas.En tales circunstancias, es evidente la necesidad de adaptar y difundir procesos de manejo conservacionista que sean apropiados a las distintas condiciones agroecológicas y socioeconómicas de las zonas tropicales y subtropicales latinoamericanas, con la finalidad de revertir la degradación del suelo sin comprometer la rentabilidad de los sistemas de producción fundamentados en el uso intensivo de la tierra, sea bajo cultivos anuales mecanizados o pasturas.Como premisas básicas para el manejo sostenible de los suelos de sabanas, se enfatiza en:1. El uso de la tierra según los criterios de aptitud agrícola más apropiados.2. El incremento en la eficiencia del uso de las aguas de lluvias.3. La restricción de las prácticas de laboreo capaces de promover la exposición continua del suelo a la acción erosiva del clima.4. La explotación de cultivos de ciclo corto, que utilizan más eficientemente el agua y los nutrimentos disponibles en el suelo, combinados con especies de ciclo medio o largo que preservan los recursos naturales y del medio ambiente.5. La formulación de sistemas diversificados de producción, que garantizan una actividad productiva continua a través de la explotación racional de los recursos naturales, tecnológicos y socioeconómicos.El manejo integrado del suelo exige considerar todas las variables agroecológicas y socioeconómicas que incluyen desde la selección de parcelas sobre la base de su vocación para uso agropecuario, hasta prácticas y procesos tecnológicos que maximicen la conservación del suelo y el agua, y la relación beneficio:costo y minimicen el deterioro del medio ambiente.La estrategia que aparece como más adecuada es el enfoque de sistemas de producción aplicados a la generación, validación y transferencia de tecnologías a los usuarios intermediarios (extensionistas) y finales (productores). La aplicación de la investigación agropecuaria bajo dicho enfoque demanda el avance de conocimientos basados en acciones interdisciplinarias; además exige la integración sectorial a través de un esfuerzo participativo que involucra directamente a investigadores, productores y extensionistas.Siendo así, la adopción del enfoque sistémico -integración de actividades en las unidades productivas-y holístico -el proceso visto como un todo-en la investigación y transferencia de tecnologías, permitirá una percepción más global de los problemas y soluciones relativos al uso y manejo sostenible del suelo, además de estrechar la integración de esfuerzos entre las entidades públicas y privadas que se dedican al desarrollo agrícola en el ámbito de cada región o país.La planeación de las acciones deber ser iniciada con el conocimiento de la realidad de los sistemas de producción practicados por los productores (investigación de la finca), seguido de la investigación en la finca (ajuste y validación de innovaciones tecnológicas) donde, basándose en la sumatoria del conocimiento científico y la experiencia y lógica de los usuarios, surjan los agroecosistemas modificados (investigación para la finca). Bajo tal estrategia, la investigación en sistemas de producción será responsable del diagnóstico de las demandas y, posteriormente, de comprobar y transferir los avances producidos por la investigación temática, bien sea por componentes o por rubros. Los programas de investigación temática, a su vez, serán generadores y donantes de innovaciones tecnológicas que se ajustarán, validarán e incorporarán a los agroecosistemas y sistemas de producción tradicionales. Por tanto, la investigación en sistemas de producción no confronta o reemplaza la investigación temática; al contrario, la enriquece y complementa (Muzilli, 1988;1993b).A través de las experiencias adquiridas en la región fue posible proponer el Proyecto Sabanas IICA/Procitropicos-1994, para ser desarrollado en Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia y Venezuela. Ha sido evidente el vacío existente entre la generación y la adopción de las innovaciones ofrecidas, lo que indica la necesidad de cambios en la estrategia de transferencia hacia los usuarios. Además de la falta de recursos humanos y financieros para implementar acciones de validación y transferencia de tecnología a los diferentes dominios de recomendación, hace falta una mayor agresividad y complementariedad de esfuerzos por parte de las instituciones públicas de investigación y extensión rural para ampliar el grado de adopción de las opciones tecnológicas disponibles.En los sectores de investigación y extensión rural prevalece la sobrevaloración aislada de los principios filosóficos y del marco teórico de sus actividades, perdiéndose el objetivo principal de hacer llegar los avances tecnológicos a los productores. En estas circunstancias, la posibilidad de lograr progresos en el desarrollo rural de las áreas de sabanas dependerá de que las acciones de investigación, extensión rural y asistencia técnica estén articuladas entre ellas y sean conducidas con participación activa de los usuarios, sobre todo, los productores.Tales inquietudes justifican la implementación de esfuerzos de carácter participativo para promover una mejor articulación en las actividades de generación y síntesis, validación y transferencia de tecnología hacia los usuarios finales. Además de proveer mecanismos eficaces para realimentar la investigación en busca del desarrollo tecnológico, basándose en nuevos problemas y demandas que podrán surgir de las propias acciones realizadas en conjunto con los agentes de asistencia técnica y los productores. Estas premisas han llevado al Proyecto Sabanas a proponer una estrategia de investigación participativa, involucrando la secuencia de acciones, cuyas etapas se describen a continuación (Figura 2).Los objetivos del diagnóstico dentro del Proyecto son los siguientes:1. Identificar distintas zonas agroecológicas homogéneas (ZAE's) y los respectivos dominios de recomendación (DOR's) existentes en cada región.2. Conocer los sistemas de producción predominantes (SPP) y las tecnologías en uso por los productores de los distintos DOR's.3. Identificar los problemas y analizar las causas y efectos que restringen la productividad, la rentabilidad y la sostenibilidad de los SPP.4. Pronosticar posibles cambios tecnológicos capaces de contribuir a superar los problemas diagnosticados, con base en las ofertas tecnológicas disponibles.Caracterización de las zonas agroecológicas. Las ZAE's son áreas relativamente homogéneas en la condición de los recursos naturales y socioeconómicos, en los cuales las actividades productivas muestran o Figura 2. Estrategias para la investigación y transferencia de tecnología en sistemas de producción.Proyecto Sabanas-Procitropicos. Investigación analíticade recomendación ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ podrán mostrar un mismo comportamiento.Su caracterización se hará a través de la recopilación, el procesamiento, la sistematización y el análisis del conjunto de datos secundarios descriptivos de los recursos naturales -clima, suelo, toposecuencias, vegetación-y de aspectos socioeconómicos -uso y tenencia de la tierra, evolución y formas de organización de las comunidades, y perfil de la producción agrícola-con el objetivo de orientar las etapas posteriores de la investigación en sistemas de producción. Otro aspecto fundamental será la caracterización de la infraestructura regional, es decir, el conjunto de factores externos a las unidades productivas que estén relacionados con las actividades de producción, entre ellas: mercado interno y externo (oferta y demanda), líneas de crédito específico, ventajas comparativas (costos), estructura de mercado, canales de comercialización, oferta de mano de obra, estructura agraria y normalización del uso del suelo.Las informaciones proporcionadas por los datos secundarios deberán ser complementadas y ampliadas a través de excursiones al campo para identificar, delimitar y seleccionar las ZAE's de interés. Tipificación de los dominios de recomendación. Los DOR's constituyen estratos homogéneos de sistemas de producción (unidades productivas o grupos de productores) con características agrosocioeconómicas, problemas y potencialidades agrícolas similares y, por tanto, factibles de ser investigados en forma colectiva y capaces de adoptar las mismas innovaciones tecnológicas.En una ZAE, cada finca o unidad productiva es única. Sin embargo, para orientar el diagnóstico de los sistemas de producción, podrán ser agrupadas según características similares que corresponden al perfil de los DOR's.La etapa de tipificación tendrá por finalidad agrupar dichas unidades productivas, tomando como variables de clasificación la naturaleza y disponibilidad de la fuerza de trabajo, las relaciones de trabajo empleadas en la explotación, la disponibilidad e intensidad de uso del capital y las actividades de producción agropecuaria predominantes en relación con el valor bruto de la producción. Además se deben considerar los rubros más importantes, los tipos de rotaciones y asociaciones, el origen de los principales ingresos y el manejo tecnológico que los productores dan a todos los recursos y factores necesarios para la producción. Como resultado, durante la tipificación se conocerá el perfil de los SPP en relación con el uso de los recursos -tierra, trabajo y capital--y las actividades de producción (agroecosistemas) mayoritarias en las unidades productivas.Para su ejecución, además de talleres con grupos de productores, se podrán realizar encuestas formales o sondeos informales en cada finca localizada en el área de interés, bien sea ésta un municipio, una comunidad o una microcuenca hidrográfica. Además de agrupar los sistemas de producción similares y detectar la representatividad de cada tipo predominante, la tipificación de los DOR's ayudará en la formulación de hipótesis preliminares que van a orientar la definición del diagnóstico y su implementación a través del muestreo de unidades productivas.Consiste en la descripción y análisis de la estructura y dinámica organizacional, las restricciones y oportunidades, y el perfil técnico de los agroecosistemas (actividades de producción) de los SPP, como elementos básicos para:1. Identificar y jerarquizar los problemas, propósitos y aspiraciones que condicionan la toma de decisión de los productores en la gestión de los recursos y actividades productivas.2. Pronosticar posibles cambios tecnológicos que se podrán ofrecer en forma compatible con la realidad vigente en los distintos DOR's.En las fincas tomadas al azar para representar los DOR's de interés, se deberán recolectar datos relacionados con: (1) formas de uso y ocupación de la tierra; (2) inventario de los procesos tecnológicos para producción agrícola y pecuaria; (3) disponibilidad de recursos y medios de producción; y (4) aspiraciones, prioridades y restricciones de los productores.Especial atención se deberá dar a los procesos de uso y manejo del recurso tierra, en lo que se refiere a las formas de habilitación de parcelas, uso de equipos y maquinaria, procesos de labranza, siembra y cosecha, uso de fertilizantes y plaguicidas, control de malezas, rotaciones y secuencias de cultivos, manejo de las pasturas y animales, y manejo de rastrojos poscosecha, entre otros.Tomando como base el diagnóstico, los técnicos podrán identificar y entender los problemas y demandas expresados por los usuarios. Es importante comenzar con el análisis de los problemas tecnológicos mejor percibidos y destacados por los productores. Existen otros problemas que ellos no siempre reconocen, pero que los técnicos podrán reconocer y ofrecer alternativas para su solución. Comparando dichas alternativas con los problemas detectados, se podrán formular hipótesis de uso de los recursos de producción.El hecho de que los productores no estén empleando las prácticas que los técnicos consideran como mejores, no significa que ellos tengan un problema. Es posible que bajo sus circunstancias y aspiraciones, los productores estén usando los recursos disponibles de la manera más lógica y eficiente. Por tanto, antes de decidir si tienen un problema que ellos no lo perciben, será importante comprender la dinámica de gestión y operación de la unidad productiva como un sistema, lo que se podrá lograr a través del seguimiento de fincas de referencia.Los diagnósticos podrán ser formulados a través de encuestas o sondeos, talleres con participación de grupos de productores y estudios de caso. Para todas las situaciones se tomarán muestras al azar a partir de un listado de productores representativos de cada uno de los DOR's de interés, lo que ayudará a consolidar el diagnóstico de cada DOR por separado.El diagnóstico de problemas y demandas deberá ser reconstruido y analizado en talleres formales con la participación de investigadores, agentes locales de asistencia técnica y extensión rural, productores representativos de los respectivos DOR's, además de miembros representativos de las organizaciones comunitarias y de las clases políticas locales.Sobre la base del análisis causaefecto, se establecerán prioridades y se seleccionarán innovaciones disponibles en el banco de ofertas tecnológicas proporcionadas por la investigación, las cuales deben ser compatibles con las experiencias prácticas de los productores y de los técnicos que trabajan en la zona.De la planeación participativa se espera como producto el diseño de prototipos o modelos físicos de agroecosistemas para validación en fincas de referencia. A través de la planificación participativa será posible verificar la reacción de los usuarios a los prototipos sugeridos, cuya decisión final de ejecución resultará del consenso y de la aceptación de los cooperadores y responsables de las fincas de referencia donde se conducirán las actividades de validación.Además, la planificación participativa ayudará a realimentar nuevas propuestas de investigación temática a través de ensayos analíticos o de síntesis (multifactoriales), cuando la oferta tecnológica aún no ha hecho posible el pronóstico, basándose en los agroecosistemas tradicionales, de los efectos interactivos de las innovaciones tecnológicas que se incorporarán a los prototipos modificados. En el Proyecto Sabanas se ha establecido que las propuestas de validación resultantes del proceso de planeación participativa deben estar fundamentadas en los principios siguientes:1. Sostenibilidad agroecológica, que se alcanzará mediante la combinación de prácticas de asociación y rotación de cultivos y pasturas, e inclusión de especies para rehabilitación o preservación del suelo en sistemas diversificados de producción.2. Rentabilidad económica, por la explotación combinada de alternativas que produzcan ingresos financieros en el corto, mediano y largo plazo.3. Aceptabilidad socio-cultural, considerando la lógica de los procesos tecnológicos tradicionales y evitando la introducción de cambios bruscos en los valores sociales de la zona.Bajo las condiciones prevalentes en fincas de referencia, la validación de los modelos físicos de agroecosistemas se ha orientado hacia:Agroecosistemas con cultivos anuales. Consiste en la simulación de agroecosistemas con cultivos mecanizados o semimecanizados y ajustados a las épocas, densidades y procesos de siembra y manejo que son compatibles con los equipos y facilidades disponibles en las fincas, con los propósitos de: (1) evitar la remoción, la desagregación excesiva y la compactación del suelo, y la destrucción de los rastrojos de cultivos anteriores durante las operaciones de labranza; (2) promover rotaciones de cultivos mediante el uso de plantas de cobertura para favorecer el reciclado de nutrimentos y la protección del suelo;(3) introducir alternativas de variedades de cultivos mejorados, épocas, densidades y métodos de siembra y control de malezas.Se refieren a modelos que consideran sólo pasturas o su combinación con producción agrícola, y que se destinan a: (1) reemplazar pasturas de baja calidad nutritiva o infestadas con malezas y plagas, por pasturas de mejor calidad forrajera y nutritiva;(2) la asociación o sucesión de pasturas con cultivos temporales, para mejorar las condiciones del suelo, controlar las malezas y disminuir los costos de renovación de las pasturas; (3) ofrecer residuos y forrajes para la alimentación suplementaria del hato ganadero en períodos de escasez de pastos y durante la renovación de las pasturas; (4) promover sistemas agrosilvopastoriles a través de la rotación de pasturas con cultivos temporales intercalados entre especies arbóreas y plantas forrajeras arbustivas con el fin de proveer sombra, dar protección contra vientos, suministar alimentación suplementaria a los animales y producir madera.Es más apropiado para fincas pequeñas y medianas, donde las actividades de producción son diversificadas y los procesos de siembra y manejo son manuales o semimecanizados. Bajo tales situaciones, los objetivos que se consideran son: (1) la diversificación de la producción agrícola a través de la rotación y la sucesión de cultivos temporales; (2) la promoción del uso de abonos verdes en sistemas de cultivos asociados para protección del suelo, control de malezas, aporte de nitrógeno y reciclado de nutrimentos; (3) la reducción de la remoción del suelo y la quema de los rastrojos de cultivos anteriores.Agroecosistemas con cultivos perennes. Promovidos para pequeñas y medianas fincas, y zonas no aptas para mecanización, con los siguientes objetivos: (1) diversificar la producción agrícola a través de agroecosistemas con estratos múltiples, asociando cultivos temporales y perennes;(2) establecer la rotación de cultivos temporales y abonos verdes entre callejones de cultivos arbóreos para mejorar el reciclado de nutrimentos y el aporte de nitrógeno; controlar malezas, plagas y enfermedades y proteger el suelo contra la erosión.Siendo las pasturas especies que ocupan grandes superficies, y la ganadería una actividad generalizada en las zonas de sabanas, los investigadores especializados en esta actividad deben estar directamente involucrados como miembros de los equipos multidisciplinarios encargados de la investigación. En la mayoría de los proyectos existentes, no siempre dicha situación ha sido posible.El propósito de las actividades de validación en fincas de referencia es introducir, ajustar y comprobar innovaciones tecnológicas consideradas como factibles de realizar para el cambio de los sistemas de producción tradicionalmente practicados en las condiciones de los DOR's representados. Bajo estas condiciones, el impacto de los cambios propuestos se deberá evaluar en el contexto de las unidades productivas (red de fincas de referencia) como un todo.Sin embargo, en zonas donde la información es escasa, existe la necesidad de realizar investigación de síntesis para combinar e integrar procesos y componentes tecnológicos, aún no factibles de incorporar en las pruebas de validación. Además, dichas actividades podrán servir como una vitrina de ofertas tecnológicas, para dar soporte a la capacitación de técnicos locales y como referencia para el diseño de futuras pruebas de validación. Por ejemplo, para el manejo conservacionista del suelo, la investigación de síntesis podrá estar constituida de ensayos multifactoriales que integren procesos de labranza, rotaciones de cultivos y pasturas, con o sin plantas para cobertura del suelo. Las parcelas deberán ser lo suficientemente grandes para permitir la mecanización y la medición de parámetros predictivos de sostenibilidad agroecológica, a través de un monitoreo preciso y controlado. También podrán existir ensayos complementarios o satélites de carácter temático en parcelas de pequeña dimensión, con el fin de verificar el efecto aislado de determinados componentes tecnológicos.La investigación de síntesis se podrá realizar en fincas privadas representativas de los DOR's (fincas de referencia o satélites), utilizando diseños experimentales que posibiliten las comparaciones y mediciones relativas a la investigación y el apoyo a actividades específicas de transferencia de tecnología como días de campo y giras técnicas. Lo anterior con el objeto de conocer los avances y verificar la aplicabilidad de las opciones tecnológicas en otras unidades productivas del mismo DOR. Sin embargo, como se trata de ensayos grandes, con diseño experimental complejo, casi siempre de larga duración y que demandan el uso de equipos y mano de obra en las mismas épocas de siembra, no siempre será factible realizar la comprobación experimental de las tecnologías seleccionadas bajo las condiciones agroecológicas y socioeconómicas de las fincas.Como alternativa, la investigación de síntesis se podrá ejecutar en campos experimentales propios, ubicados en áreas cuyas condiciones agroecológicas sean representativas del DOR para facilitar, de esta forma, la medición de parámetros de naturaleza agronómica, simulando algunos indicadores de carácter financiero. En consecuencia, la representatividad socioeconómica será perjudicada y, por tanto, será necesario someter las innovaciones a pruebas de validación en fincas de referencia, para minimizar los problemas mencionados y consolidar el monitoreo socioeconómico.Por tratarse de modelos físicos que se plantean, manejan y evalúan con la participación activa de los usuarios y con los recursos y medios de trabajo disponibles en la finca, el diseño de las pruebas de validación deberá ser sencillo y flexible, para posibilitar la introducción y el ajuste de nuevas técnicas y procesos de acuerdo con los avances de la investigación de síntesis y las circunstancias de cada DOR.En talleres de planeación, se consultará y motivará a los usuarios para que propongan cambios en los modelos según sus experiencias, propósitos y circunstancias; además, se deben motivar para que cooperen y participen en forma activa en la conducción de los trabajos.Los indicadores que se monitorean, desde la selección y descripción de las parcelas hasta la consolidación de las pruebas de validación, se refieren a parámetros edafoclimáticos, tecnológicos y financieros internos y externos a la finca de referencia. Estos parámetros deben ser suficientes para evaluar los impactos de las innovaciones tecnológicas en relación con la sostenibilidad agroecológica, la rentabilidad económica y la aceptabilidad sociocultural. Después de ajustar debidamente las innovaciones y ser validadas por los usuarios cooperadores, las pruebas de validación servirán como parcelas demostrativas para fines de transferencia de tecnología. Las innovaciones se difundirán a los usuarios del mismo DOR en eventos como giras técnicas, días de campo y talleres; para ello se utilizarán las informaciones y aclaraciones transmitidas por los usuarios cooperadores, quienes serán los voceros para exponer a sus vecinos todos los procedimientos y experiencias practicados por ellos mismos hasta llegar a los prototipos validados.La organización de las actividades de difusión estará a cargo de los asistentes técnicos y extensionistas que participaron en el trabajo, desde el diagnóstico hasta la comprobación de las innovaciones, debidamente apoyados por los investigadores. Posteriormente, la adopción de las innovaciones transferidas deberá ser evaluada mediante entrevistas y sondeos para medir su impacto junto con los usuarios.Esta validación se ha hecho utilizando la metodología propuesta en este documento. Con los ejemplos siguientes se pretende demostrar las acciones y avances que es posible lograr desde el primer año en la validación de sistemas en fincas de referencia.El trabajo se adelanta en una finca localizada en la zona integrada sur del departamento de Santa Cruz, Bolivia, con un sistema de producción predominante en monocultivo de algodón durante el período lluvioso, seguido de barbecho en el período seco. La preparación del suelo se realiza tradicionalmente al inicio de las lluvias mediante labranza convencional, usando hasta tres pases de rastra pesada y cuatro de rastra niveladora.El diagnóstico previo del perfil cultural en un suelo franco-arenoso en una parcela de 2 ha elegida para establecer las actividades de validación, mostró deficiencia de materia orgánica (M.O.), desagregación de la capa superior y presencia de una superficie compactada entre 17 y 26 cm de profundidad. En estas condiciones, se pudo constatar la baja sostenibilidad del sistema de producción practicado, y la incidencia de malezas y plagas que resultan en disminución de la productividad y aumento de los costos de producción. La eficiencia de uso del agua por los cultivos era baja, debido a las restricciones en el desarrollo de las raíces. La erosión eólica era acentuada por la escasez de cobertura vegetal del suelo en el período seco, cuando ocurren fuertes vientos en la zona.Ante esta situación, se propuso reemplazar el sistema tradicional de labranza por labranza vertical con arado de cincel hasta 35 cm de profundidad, lo que permitiría, por lo menos, 30% de cobertura con rastrojo sobre el suelo durante el período de cultivo del algodón, seguido de la rotación con plantas de cobertura vegetal para reducir la incidencia de malezas, equilibrar la población de plagas y proteger el suelo durante el período seco. Debido a las expectativas del productor por la práctica de siembra directa, se propuso para validación la rotación de cultivos que aparece en el Cuadro 1.Entre 1995 y 1996, cuando se realizó el primer cultivo de algodón, los principales beneficios obtenidos con el agroecosistema modificado, en comparación con el tradicional, fueron un mejor desarrollo vegetativo de la parte aérea y raíces del algodón, retraso en la incidencia de malezas y mayor productividad del cultivo.Se toma como ejemplo una finca ubicada en el Estado de Anzoátegui, Llanos Orientales de Venezuela. La actividad predominante es la ganadería de leche con pasturas de Brachiaria decumbens con un período de uso aproximado entre 4 y 5 años. El manejo tradicional consiste en pastoreo intensivo con 2 cabezas/ha durante 10 días, seguido de pase de guadaña y 20 a 30 días de descanso. El diagnóstico del perfil cultural del suelo mostró restricciones para el desarrollo de raíces después de 40 cm de profundidad. Según la experiencia del productor, los problemas más frecuentes son la compactación del suelo por pisoteo de los animales, la incidencia de malezas y la presencia de áreas de suelo desnudo por baja germinación de semillas.El programa de validación consistió en establecer una parcela de 1 ha para hacer una rehabilitación de la pastura mediante labranza convencional con pase de rastra, siembra asociada de la leguminosa Stylosanthes capitata y niveles de fertilización recomendados por la investigación según el análisis de suelo. Como resultado se ha observado un adecuado desarrollo de las raíces de la gramínea y buena actividad biológica en el perfil del suelo hasta 40 cm de profundidad. La pastura de B. decumbens presenta excelente desarrollo vegetativo, mientras que la leguminosa se encuentra en la fase de germinación y desarrollo inicial. El productor, por iniciativa propia, estableció en un sitio cercano otra parcela de 1 ha, la que sometió a un manejo intermedio consistente en un pase de rastra, la mitad de la dosis de fertilizantes aplicada en la parcela de validación y resiembra de B. decumbens.La capacidad productiva de estas pasturas se evaluará midiendo diariamente la producción de leche. El administrador de la finca registra diariamente los costos e ingresos de la finca, para evaluar los resultados financieros de los distintos agroecosistemas bajo monitoreo.Central. La finca de referencia en este caso está localizada en el municipio de Paraúna, Goiás (Brasil). En la finca predomina el agroecosistema pecuario semi-extensivo, en el cual se destinan pequeñas parcelas a la producción de maíz para la alimentación del hato lechero en períodos de sequía. Predomina B. decumbens, establecido en potreros de 100 ha. El pastoreo es continuo durante el período lluvioso y no se aplican fertilizantes. Como resultado de este manejo, las pasturas se encuentran degradadas, siendo posible observar reducción en la producción de biomasa y la incidencia de hormigas, termitas y malezas. La explotación por encima de la capacidad de soporte de las pasturas, ha favorecido la presencia de áreas desnudas de suelo y desprotegidas contra las fuertes lluvias, lo que resulta en una baja infiltración de agua y consecuente en una alta erosión hídrica. En la época seca, la producción de biomasa no es suficiente para alimentar el hato, dando como resultado una baja producción de leche y ganancia de peso vivo animal, y un aumento del índice de mortalidad de los animales.La parcela seleccionada como unidad de validación fue una pastura de B. decumbens de 10 años, con baja capacidad productiva y con las características de suelo que aparecen en el Cuadro 2. Conjuntamente con el productor y los agentes locales de asistencia técnica, además de una parcela testigo de sólo Norte. La parcela seleccionada como unidad de validación está localizada en la hacienda 'Comag', municipio de Uruçuí, Estado de Piauí (Brasil). Consiste en una pastura alta de Andropogon gayanus establecido hace 4 años, después de un cultivo de arroz de secano durante 2 años sin aplicación de fertilizantes. El manejo tradicional consiste de pastoreo intensivo durante el período de lluvias (3 a 4 meses) con una alta carga animal, descanso en el período seco y el inicio nuevamente del pastoreo al comienzo de las lluvias. Las pasturas se encontraban totalmente degradadas y con elevada incidencia de malezas. Bajo estas condiciones, la vida útil de las pasturas en la propiedad es 4 años, aproximadamente.Los sistemas de manejo evaluados fueron: (S1) A. gayanus bajo manejo tradicional; (S2) siembra simultánea de arroz/B. brizantha utilizando arado vertedera (Sistema Barreirão);(S3) siembra simultánea de arroz/ B. brizantha utilizando rastra pesada; (S4) siembra de A. gayanus sobre el cultivo de arroz; y (S5) siembra de B. brizantha sobre cultivo de soya.En el Cuadro 4 se presentan los resultados financieros resultantes de los cultivos anuales entre 1995 y 1996. Se observa que con el sistema tradicional (S1) los ingresos fueron nulos en el primer año, resultando un margen bruto negativo. En el sistema S2 (Barreirão), la producción de arroz fue suficiente para amortizar la inversión anual más los costos variables, quedando un margen bruto de R$18.62 1 . Los ingresos brutos obtenidos con arroz correspondieron a 50% del valor global -inversiones más costos variables-para recuperar la pastura de B. brizantha, cuyo rendimiento fue de 32 t/ha. El sistema S3 es una variación del Sistema Barreirão propuesta por el productor, siendo el ingreso bruto obtenido con él suficiente para amortizar los costos variables durante el primer año, quedando un margen bruto de R$114.7 por hectárea. Sin embargo, los rendimientos de biomasa verde (18.5 t/ha) de la pastura fueron inferiores a los obtenidos en el sistema S2, debido, principalmente, a la baja cantidad de raíces existentes bajo la capa del suelo removida por la rastra pesada. En el sistema S4, los ingresos brutos por el arroz correspondieron a 81% del valor global (inversiones + costos variables) necesario para la recuperación de la pastura, quedando en el primer año un margen bruto de R$189.51 por hectárea. Finalmente, en el sistema S5, los rendimientos de soya fueron bajos, debido a la siembra tardía y a la poca reacción de la cal aplicada en el suelo en el primer año, resultando un margen bruto negativo. costos variables) necesario para recuperar la pastura.Una vez que se validan los prototipos bajo prueba, se podrán utilizar como unidades de demostración para fines de difusión de tecnologías, donde el productor cooperador expondrá a sus vecinos las experiencias sobre sus ventajas y limitaciones.Con la aplicación de la estrategia de investigación participativa planteada para el Proyecto Sabanas, se espera:1. Ajustar, validar y difundir procesos de uso y manejo sostenible de la tierra que sean apropiados a las condiciones agroecológicas y socioeconómicas de las sabanas de América Latina.2. Acortar la brecha existente entre la generación y la adopción de innovaciones tecnológicas, planteadas para el manejo de los suelos de sabanas, mediante mecanismos facilitadores de la coordinación de acciones entre investigadores, extensionistas y productores.3. Ampliar la participación de los agentes locales, nacionales y regionales en las políticas de desarrollo rural sostenible, a través de la integración y el intercambio de experiencias entre los principales protagonistas involucrados en el proceso de desarrollo tecnológico, es decir, los productores, los agentes de asistencia técnica y los investigadores de los sectores público y privado.Benítez, J. R. En este artículo se presenta un análisis sobre los parámetros edafoclimáticos relacionados con la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción y se discute cuáles de ellos podrían funcionar como indicadores apropiados de la 'salud del suelo' en las diferentes fases de desarrollo de los sistemas agropastoriles. La sostenibilidad de un sistema de producción se debe evaluar dentro del concepto de un tipo de tierra y ecosistema específico, en un período de tiempo definido y dentro de las limitaciones físicas, económicas y sociales que normalmente ocurren. El análisis histórico del comportamiento de las lluvias por métodos estadísticos y probabilísticos es una herramienta de gran utilidad en la toma de decisiones sobre la conveniencia o no de la aplicación de prácticas para el manejo productivo y la conservación de los suelos, entre ellas: el tipo de labranza, aplicación de riego y construcción de drenajes. El objetivo principal que se debe tener en cuenta en el manejo de suelos tropicales es la construcción de una capa arable, entendiendo por ello la obtención de una capa favorable para el crecimiento de las raíces de las plantas sin limitaciones físicas, químicas o biológicas. Como se sabe, la riqueza del suelo puede ser evaluada mediante la calidad en la zona de raíces, utilizando parámetros sensibles que permitan evaluar el impacto de los sistemas de producción agrícola en el recurso suelo y en el ambiente. Es necesario desarrollar y evaluar nuevos indicadores que tomen en consideración la dinámica de las reservas orgánicas de los nutrimentos. Los procesos de pérdida y acumulación de materia orgánica son básicos para la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción agrícola de secano, ya que los compuestos orgánicos están estrechamente relacionados con factores de calidad del suelo como la estructura, el potencial de agua aprovechable, el reciclado de nutrimentos y la actividad biológica. La evaluación de indicadores de sostenibilidad y su observación pueden requerir varios años para determinar los cambios significativos en la calidad del suelo. Los modelos mecanísticos constituyen una herramienta poderosa para integrar los conocimientos en sistemas de producción, venciendo las limitaciones de escala y de especificidad de sitios.Existen varios tipos de modelos o familias de modelos que simulan el crecimiento de cultivos o la función del ecosistema dentro de la relación clima-suelo-planta-hombre. Estos modelos ahora tienen la capacidad de simular secuencias que permiten la evaluación de efectos de varias estaciones.This article analyzes the soil and climatic parameters related to the sustainability of agropastoral systems, and the fitness of these parameters as indicators of \"soil health\" in the systems' different phases. A production system's sustainability should be evaluated in terms of land type and ecosystem, a defined time period, and typical physical, economic, and social constraints. The historical analysis of rainfall behavior by statistical and probabilistic methods is highly useful for making decisions on the convenience of applying production management and soil conservation practices such as type of tillage, application of irrigation, and construction of drainage. Soil management in the tropics should aim mostly at developing an arable layer, which is understood as achieving a soil layer that favors root growth without physical, chemical, or biological constraints. Soil fertility can be assessed by the quality in the soil surrounding plant roots, using sensitive parameters to evaluate the impact of agricultural production systems on the soil (as a resource) and on the environment. Indicators that take into account the dynamics of organic nutrient reserves should be developed and assessed. The loss and accumulation of organic matter are key processes in sustainable agricultural production systems on nonirrigated arable land because organic compounds are closely related to soil quality factors such as structure, usable water potential, nutrient recycling, and biological activity. The evaluation and observation ofA medida que la población mundial incrementa, el suelo, un recurso básico, es sometido cada vez más a una presión creciente para suplir las crecientes demandas por alimento, combustibles y fibra. Gran parte de esta presión sucede en los países tropicales y subtropicales en desarrollo, región donde los suelos generalmente tienen menores reservas de nutrimentos y donde ocurren eventos de temperatura y precipitación extremos que pueden acelerar los procesos de degradación de aquellos a una escala mayor de la que usualmente sucede en la zona templada. Los sistemas de producción agrícola deben, por tanto, ser adaptados a las condiciones edafoclimáticas de estos ecosistemas, con el fin de alcanzar los niveles de producción que demanda el crecimiento de la población, sin causar a largo plazo problemas de degradación del recurso básico del cual depende la producción.La sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción agrícola depende del mantenimiento o mejoramiento de las características físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo, como recurso básico. El desarrollo y la evaluación de sistemas alternativos de producción implica, por tanto, que el estudio de la productividad no debe hacerse a corto plazo, sino a largo plazo. Esto requiere, a largo plazo, la cuantificación del impacto del sistema y de las prácticas de manejo del suelo en las propiedades y procesos importantes de la productividad sustainability indicators can take several years to determine significant changes in soil quality. Mechanistic models constitute powerful tools for integrating knowledge on production systems, overcoming the limitations of scale and site specificity. Several classes of models are available for simulating crop growth or ecosystem functions within the climate-soil-plant-man relationship. These models can also simulate sequences that assesses the effects of several seasons. agronómica y en la calidad del ambiente (Lal, 1994). La sostenibilidad de un sistema de producción debe ser evaluada dentro del concepto de un tipo de tierra y ecosistema específicos, en un período de tiempo definido y dentro de las limitaciones físicas, económicas y sociales de la región (Dumansky, 1993). Un sistema que es sostenible bajo determinadas condiciones socioeconómicas y edafoclimáticas, no necesariamente lo es cuando las condiciones son diferentes.En este artículo se analizan los parámetros edafoclimáticos relacionados con la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción agropastoril y se discute cuáles de ellos podrían funcionar como indicadores apropiados de la 'salud del suelo' en diferentes fases del desarrollo de estos sistemas.La producción y productividad agrícola dependen del comportamiento, intensidad, equilibrio, interacciones e interdependencia entre los factores clima-suelo-planta-hombre (Figura 1). Corresponde al hombre identificar, definir y cuantificar las variables de clima y suelo para decidir la clase de cultivo que se desarrolla exitosamente dentro de determinada zona agroecológica y conseguir, mediante acciones de manejo, el mejor equilibrio dinámico entre estos factores, con el fin de obtener el máximo rendimiento para el mejor aprovechamiento del medio (Amézquita, 1989).Las prácticas de cultivo deben estar enfocadas de tal manera que se maximice la fotosíntesis en un sitio y suelo determinados. Esto se consigue si se logran optimizar los factores que controlan la fotosíntesis, como son: la luz, la temperatura, el agua, los nutrimentos, el aire y el soporte mecánico. Bajo condiciones de agricultura de secano es imposible controlar la intensidad de la luz y la temperatura en el medio, pero los demás factores que provienen del suelo sí son susceptibles de manejo y de mejoramiento con el fin de optimizarlos en forma sostenible.En condiciones normales en el campo, el agua que usan las plantas tiene originen en las lluvias. En la Figura 2 se muestran las características generales de las precipitaciones, su aprovechamiento y las implicaciones que tienen en el manejo adecuado de los suelos. Por ejemplo, el parámetro de cantidad de agua conduce a la definición cuantitativa del balance hídrico, según los requerimientos hídricos específicos de las plantas; el parámetro intensidad conduce hacia el cálculo de la energía cinética de la lluvia que afecta el grado de erosión y la conservación del suelo; la combinación de los parámetros duración, cantidad e intensidad de precipitación está relacionado con el control de inundaciones y con prácticas adecuadas de labranza para un mejor aprovechamiento del agua en el perfil del suelo; por último, la frecuencia de los anteriores atributos de las lluvias permite el estudio de períodos de retorno con fines de diseños de sistemas de conservación, recolección de aguas de escorrentía y a la producción de energía eléctrica por medio de su almacenamiento en embalses (Harrold et al., 1976).  Factores bióticos ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲El análisis histórico del comportamiento de las lluvias por métodos estadísticos y probabilísticos es una herramienta de gran utilidad en la toma de decisiones sobre la conveniencia o no de la aplicación de prácticas para el manejo productivo y la conservación de los suelos, entre ellas: el tipo de labranza, aplicación de riego y construcción de drenajes. En este sentido es posible trabajar con probabilidades mensuales, semanales y diarias sobre la cantidad de lluvia que se esperaría, así como calcular balances hídricos, lo que permitirá planear razonablemente las prácticas de riego y de drenaje cuando sean necesarias, y diseñar prácticas de labranza y de manejo de suelos para mejorar el perfil del suelo en áreas bajo sistemas de producción intensiva (Amézquita, 1974;Ortotani y Camargo, 1987).En la Figura 3 se presenta la probabilidad y la cantidad de lluvia semanal en el Centro de Investigaciones Carimagua, Llanos Orientales de Colombia, con una probabilidad de 80%, determinada a partir de datos de 20 años de registros consecutivos. Se observa que con seguridad ocurren lluvias a partir de la semana 16 y hasta la 43; por ejemplo, en la semana 21 es seguro que llueva porque la probabilidad es igual a 1 y con 80% de certeza se pueden esperar lluvias entre 70 y 250 mm.En la Figura 4 aparece el comportamiento probabilístico de caída de lluvias, cuándo cae una cantidad determinada y cuándo aquellas se consideran iguales o mayores que 25 mm. Se observa, por ejemplo, que entre las semanas 18 y 40 hay una alta probabilidad de caída de lluvias superiores a 25 mm.El estudio de la intensidad de lluvias en términos de energía y la probabilidad de ocurrencia de eventos máximos para diferentes períodos de retorno es indispensable para la programación de prácticas de control de erosión, utilizando los términos de la ecuación universal de pérdida de suelo (Wischmeier y Smith, 1978).El estudio de balances hídricos, basado en análisis climatológicos históricos y en las características físicas del suelo relacionados con almacenamiento de agua, profundidad ▲ ▲ de enraizamiento, compactación, formación de costras superficiales, capacidad de aireación, e infiltración, entre otros, es de utilidad para el manejo y la planificación de prácticas agronómicas. El conocimiento de las propiedades del perfil del suelo antes y durante el ciclo agrícola es también fundamental para el mejor uso de la tierra.Como resultado del geotropismo, las raíces de las plantas se desarrollan en el suelo y crean en él un ambiente único, en el que suceden continua e instantáneamente numerosas reacciones químicas, fisicoquímicas y biológicas que determinan la capacidad del suelo para suplir las necesidades nutritivas de las plantas.La dinámica de los procesos de absorción de agua y nutrimentos es influenciada por el comportamiento de las fases sólida, líquida y gaseosa en el suelo y es regida por leyes termodinámicas, las que a su vez determinan la magnitud, intensidad, calidad y oportunidad del suministro de nutrimentos y del intercambio iónico en las interfaces suelo-solución-planta, procesos por medio de los cuales se nutren las plantas. En el Cuadro 1 se muestra la secuencia de transformaciones que debe sufrir un elemento esencial hasta convertirse en nutrimento, así como los factores que afectan dichas transformaciones (Amézquita, 1991).Para que un elemento nutritivo que se encuentra en el suelo pueda ser absorbido por la planta, es necesario que entre en contacto con la raíz. Este contacto se lleva a cabo mediante los fenómenos siguientes:(1) interceptación por las raíces, (2) flujo de masa, y (3) difusión (Barber, 1984;Malavolta et al., 1989).  En el proceso de interceptación, las raíces a medida que crecen encuentran el elemento en la solución del suelo y se ponen en contacto con él. En el proceso de flujo de masas, el nutrimento se traslada en la fase acuosa o solución del suelo obedeciendo a gradientes de potencial hidráulico entre capacidad de campo y punto de marchitez, que son creados por el proceso de evapotranspiración. Mediante el proceso de difusión, el elemento se mueve en distancias muy cortas dentro de una fase acuosa estacionaria, cambiando de una región de alta concentración a otra de baja concentración muy cercana a la superficie de la raíz; existiendo, además, una relación estrecha entre estos procesos y la distribución de tamaño de poros. La interceptación ocurre fundamentalmente por los macroporos, el flujo de masa por los mesoporos y la difusión por los microporos (Figura 5) (Amézquita, 1994;Greenland, 1979).La absorción de agua y nutrimentos, y su posterior transporte dentro de la planta, dependen de la presencia de agua suficiente en el suelo que garantice la normal transpiración, y de la suplementación suficiente y oportuna de nutrimentos a la planta, tanto en cantidad como en calidad.Normalmente bajo condiciones en el campo, las exigencias de transporte oportuno de agua dentro del sistema suelo-planta-atmósfera no se cumplen (Reichardt, 1985). En estos casos, la transpiración, que debe equilibrar la demanda de la evaporación ambiental, es limitada por la capacidad de almacenamiento de agua en el suelo debido, entre otras causas, a la disminución en la conductividad hidráulica de éste a medida que disminuye la humedad almacenada, la distribución de las raíces, la permeabilidad de éstas y la capacidad conductiva de agua por las plantas, la contracción de las raíces cuando la demanda es excesiva y el suelo no está en capacidad de conducir el agua a las velocidades requeridas. Todos estos factores dentro de un esquema de manejo productivo de suelos, deben ser comprendidos y optimizados mediante prácticas de manejo oportunas y bien enfocadas.La suplementación adecuada y oportuna de nutrimentos en cantidad y calidad también puede ser limitada por factores como: la baja disponibilidad de nutrimentos, la ausencia de alguno o algunos de ellos, la baja solubilidad, el antagonismo iónico, el bajo contenido de humedad, la deficiencia en la distribución de las raíces, y la baja capacidad de aireación en el suelo.Los planteamientos anteriores muestran que para nutrir adecuadamente una planta se deben considerar tanto los factores climatológicos como los edafológicos. En estos últimos es necesario considerar los químicos y biológicos que conducen al suministro de nutrimentos, y los físicos que conducen al adecuado suministro de agua y de aire para la respiración de las raíces. El manejo edafológico (Recuadro 1) en relación con la nutrición vegetal debe satisfacer la demanda de nutrimentos esenciales, utilizando prácticas de fertilización de acuerdo con los requerimientos locales de los cultivos y de los suelos. Además, debe asegurar una buena distribución de poros especialmente macro y mesoporos que regulan la aireación, el crecimiento de las raíces y los procesos de flujo de masa y de difusión de los nutrimentos; todos ellos esenciales para que se sucedan de manera activa y permanente los procesos nutritivos (Amézquita, 1994). para las raíces, que no posee limitaciones físicas, químicas ni biológicas para el buen desarrollo de las plantas. Una vez que se obtiene una capa arable consistente y productiva, es posible hacer sobre ella una agricultura sostenible. La labranza y la aplicación de enmiendas químicas y fertilizantes, en combinación con un manejo biológico adecuado del suelo, son prácticas constructivas (agradativas) del suelo y no degradativas como generalmente sucede.Un buen perfil cultural en el suelo se caracteriza por:• Una suficiente disponibilidad de los elementos nutritivos esenciales, de tal manera que no se presenten deficiencias para las plantas;• Una alta capacidad para almacenar y transmitir agua suficiente a las raíces con el fin de evitar el estrés hídrico;• Poseer suficiente espacio aéreo para garantizar la respiración de las raíces y la absorción de nutrimentos;• La fácil penetración por las raíces de las plantas, lo que les permite explorar un adecuado volumen de suelo para absorción de agua y nutrimentos; y• Las buenas características térmicas con un rango adecuado de temperaturas para la realización de las reacciones físico-químicas involucradas en la disponibilidad y absorción de nutrimentos y agua.La investigación en suelos es exitosa en la medida en que conduzca al conocimiento del control de los factores anteriormente mencionados mediante prácticas de manejo que tiendan al mejoramiento integral del suelo con el objeto de asegurar su sostenibilidad.Recuadro 1• Presencia y disponibilidad de los elementos nutritivos esenciales.• Succión del agua en el suelo.• Aireación en la zona radicular.• Resistencia mecánica a la penetración de raíces.• Temperatura en el suelo.Desde el punto de vista edafológico, el perfil se refiere al volumen de suelo que puede ser explotado por las raíces de las plantas. Está constituido por la sucesión de capas individualizadas por la acción de los implementos de labranza, las raíces y los factores resistentes a las intervenciones del hombre y el ambiente (Gautronneu y Manichon, 1987).La construcción de una capa arable es el principal objetivo que se debe tener en cuenta en el manejo de suelos tropicales. Este concepto consiste en la obtención de una capa de crecimientoLa riqueza del suelo puede ser evaluada a través de la calidad de la zona de raíces (Dumansky, 1993). Los factores biofísicos que determinan la calidad del suelo en la zona radicular y que consecuentemente afectan la producción agrícola, incluyen: la densidad aparente, las propiedades hidráulicas, la fertilidad y disponibilidad de nutrimentos, y la presencia de elementos tóxicos, entre otros. Los índices objetivos para evaluar el impacto de los sistemas de producción agrícola en el recurso suelo y en el ambiente, se pueden basar en observaciones sobre uno o varios de esos factores. No obstante, los índices de sostenibilidad sólo son viables si incluyen consideraciones de sensibilidad a los cambios de manejo y variabilidad en el tiempo y en el espacio (Lal, 1994), además de ser fáciles de medir. Lal (1994) ha sugerido diferentes escalas para la evaluación de indicadores de sostenibilidad (Cuadro 2). Las definiciones de sostenibilidad deben incluir, también, conceptos sobre reversibilidad e irreversibilidad en términos biofísicos y económicos.En el Cuadro 3 se presentan las propiedades físicas e hidrológicas de los suelos tropicales que son más susceptibles a cambio por acción del tiempo y del manejo de suelos y cultivos. El uso no adecuado e indiscriminado de implementos en suelos frágiles de áreas planas donde es posible hacer agricultura intensiva, trae como consecuencia la aceleración de los procesos de degradación y, por tanto, la baja sostenibilidad de los suelos y los sistemas de producción. En consecuencia, es necesario enfatizar en la necesidad de hacer investigaciones que conduzcan al desarrollo de metodologías nodestructivas para el manejo sostenible de los suelos.Los procesos químicos que afectan la sostenibilidad de los sistemas agrícolas incluyen la acidificación del suelo, la disminución de nutrimentos y la pérdida de la materia orgánica ( Es fundamental conocer que, al menos en aquellas condiciones donde la precipitación es mayor que la evapotranspiración, los sistemas de producción natural y agrícola promueven el incremento de la acidez con intensidades variables, sino se toman las medidas correctivas adecuadas. Consecuentemente, los sistemas agrícolas, especialmente los desarrollados en suelos altamente meteorizados y con débil capacidad bufer, requieren del monitoreo regular de la acidez. Como indicadores de acidez se incluyen las mediciones de pH, Al intercambiable y acidez total. Diferentes cultivos y pasturas tienen, a menudo, niveles variables de tolerancia a la acidez. Esto tiene dos consecuencias muy importantes: primero, para diferentes cultivos se requieren niveles distintos de aplicación de cal, y segundo, los sistemas de producción basados en bajos niveles de cal se verán necesariamente limitados a componentes que tengan niveles de tolerancia adecuados al nivel de acidez en el suelo.Los suelos altamente meteorizados del ecosistema húmedo tropical de América del Sur son bajos en nutrimentos totales y aprovechables. El mejoramiento de germoplasma basado en la tolerancia de los cultivos a la baja fertilidad en el suelo permite incrementar la explotación de tales suelos; sin embargo, para sostener una producción agrícola aceptable, son necesarias aplicaciones externas de enmiendas y fertilizantes. Sin estas aplicaciones, el germoplasma más adaptado conducirá el sistema a una mayor explotación del recurso base y a la disminución de los nutrimentos en el suelo.Por otro lado, la habilidad de estos suelos para retener nutrimentos contra la lixiviación es muy baja, con excepción del P, debido a su baja C.I.C. Por tanto, la aplicación de nutrimentos debe ser manejada y balanceada en forma cuidadosa, de manera que una aplicación excesiva no ocasione índices de contaminación. Una nutrición de plantas balanceada exige que las relaciones entre los requerimientos de los cultivos, los niveles nutritivos en el suelo y la aplicación de fertilizantes sea bien definida. Usualmente, estas relaciones son específicas para cada localidad y cultivo; no obstante, si se definen con cierta amplitud para asociaciones de suelo y tipo de cultivo, pueden también conducir a un mejoramiento significativo en la eficiencia de uso de nutrimentos.En suelos con baja reserva de nutrimentos minerales, las reservas orgánicas de P, N y S adquieren una marcada importancia. Los estudios sobre fraccionamiento de P muestran incrementos significativos en las reservas de este nutrimento en forma móvil, cuando se aplica en el suelo. Los análisis convencionales para fósforo no reflejan adecuadamente el estado de este nutrimento, ni el grado de reciclaje dentro del sistema. Se requiere, en consecuencia, desarrollar y evaluar nuevos indicadores que tomen en consideración la dinámica de las reservas orgánicas de los nutrimentos.Los procesos de pérdida y acumulación de M.O. son básicos para la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción agrícola de secano, ya que los compuestos orgánicos están estrechamente relacionados con factores de calidad del suelo -estructura, agua aprovechable, reciclado de nutrimentos y actividad biológica. Bajo condiciones de cultivo, el contenido de M.O. total disminuye. Los intentos por recuperar estas reducciones con altas aplicaciones de residuos de cultivos y otros tipos de biomasa orgánica han tenido poco éxito. Las fracciones activas o móviles de M.O. pueden ser indicadores más sensibles de la calidad del suelo, que el contenido total de M.O. Gijsman y Thomas (1995) encontraron una alta correlación entre estabilidad estructural y C orgánico soluble en un Oxisol de Colombia.En el Cuadro 5 se incluye el rol de la macrofauna y la microflora en el mantenimiento y mejoramiento de la calidad del suelo. La macrofauna está involucrada en el fraccionamiento e incorporación de los residuos orgánicos y en su conversión a M.O. Consecuentemente, su actividad tiene influencia significativa en la estructura y en el reciclado de nutrimentos, y su dinámica y población son influenciadas fuertemente por las prácticas de manejo del suelo.En observaciones en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (Decaëns et al., 1994) encontraron que la macrofauna incrementa bajo pasturas mejoradas, mientras que en sistemas de cultivos anuales tiende a disminuir (Figura 6). El rol principal de la fauna en el suelo es el reciclado de nutrimentos y la dinámica del carbono (Cuadro 5). Los microbios son responsables de la mineralización y la inmovilización de nutrimentos en la M.O. Por consiguiente, estos atributos pueden servir como indicadores útiles del reciclado y la 'salud' del sistema. Los factores que determinan si un sistema agrícola es o no sostenible son numerosos, complejos e interactivos. Los modelos mecanísticos son una herramienta útil para integrar conocimientos en sistemas de producción, venciendo las limitaciones de escala y de especificidad de sitios. Estos modelos se enfocan en una caracterización cuantitativa y en el entendimiento de procesos que operan a varios niveles dentro de los sistemas de producción y en los efectos que el clima, las propiedades del suelo y las prácticas de manejo tienen en ellos. Existen varios tipos de modelos o familias de ellos que simulan el crecimiento de cultivos o la función del ecosistema dentro de la relación sueloagua-atmósfera. Estos modelos tienen diferentes atributos o enfoques, dependiendo del objetivo para el cual se apliquen.La investigación en recursos naturales en el CIAT está enfocada en el uso de dos modelos como una base para integrar la investigación en el desarrollo de sistemas de producción sostenible para suelos tropicales ácidos de las tierras bajas. Estos modelos son CERES para producción de cultivos (Tsuji et al., 1994) y CENTURY para materia orgánica (Parton et al., 1987) Figura 6. Distribución de la densidad y la biomasa de la macrofauna en suelos con sistemas de manejo diferentes en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.FUENTE: Decaëns et al. (1994).Otros invertebrados Lombrices Hormigas Termites Número de taxa = 27 contexto de DSSAT y simula el crecimiento y desarrollo de un rango de cultivos importantes (cereales, leguminosas, raíces y tubérculos) bajo condiciones variables de clima y limitaciones de agua y nutrimentos -actualmente está limitado a N, pero iniciando se desarrolló para P-Estos modelos tienen la capacidad de secuencia para permitir la evaluación de efectos de varias estaciones.CENTURY está enfocado a la dinámica de los nutrimentos C, N, P y S y fue desarrollado originalmente para las grandes áreas de pasturas naturales en América del Norte. La evaluación de este modelo en el CIAT para los Oxisoles en las sabanas de América del Sur ha revelado varias debilidades debido a la baja disponibilidad de P en estos suelos (Gijsman et al., 1996).El uso de modelos en la evaluación de sistemas sostenibles de manejo de tierras está limitado, entre otros factores, por una ausencia en conocimientos técnicos que no permite predecir los efectos en el largo plazo, ni la importancia de procesos sutiles. Además, existe un entendimiento incompleto de algunos procesos, su complejidad y sus interacciones, lo que conduce a una gran simplificación que puede resultar en conclusiones erróneas cuando se aplican a largo plazo. Los modelos son útiles para explorar los posibles efectos de nuevos métodos o alternativas de uso de tierras, explorando tendencias y comparando los efectos de estrategias alternativas. La investigación en sistemas agropastoriles en las sabanas tropicales de América latina, a diferencia de la investigación en cultivos de ciclo corto, en pasturas o en suelos per se, presenta complejidades adicionales que exigen complementar y compatibilizar los resultados obtenidos mediante la investigación en componentes individuales como el suelo, uno o más cultivos, una o más pasturas y el hato ganadero. Es, por tanto, necesario profundizar en aspectos metodológicos de este tipo de investigación, con el fin de hacer comparables y extrapolables los resultados que se generen en Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Guyana y Venezuela, países que conforman la Red de Investigación Agropastoril para las Sabanas.En este artículo se presentan aspectos metodológicos partiendo de las hipótesis de investigación relevantes para el ecosistema sabana tropical bien drenada. Se identifican las distintas fases de la investigación agropastoril y sus objetivos y se analizan aspectos relacionados con la planeación y diseño de los ensayos, entre ellos: hipótesis experimentales, factores experimentales, tratamientos control, tipo de diseño experimental, variables de respuesta y duración del período experimental. También se ofrecen conceptos y recomendaciones para la planeación y diseño de investigación en la Red Agropastoril.El potencial de los sistemas de pasturas y cultivos asociados, sistemas agropastoriles, para la explotación sostenible de los ecosistemas de sabana y márgenes de bosques tropicales ha sido reconocida por varios investigadores (Goodland, 1980;Toledo et al., 1989;Zeigler et al., 1989). Las investigaciones realizadas en Laos, sur de Asia, en áreas de sabana tropical biestacional previamente sometidas a tala y quema del bosque (Shelton y Humphreys, 1972;Thomas y Humphreys, 1970) y las más recientes realizadas en los Cerrados del Brasil (Kluthcouski et al., 1991) y en las sabanas de Colombia (CIAT, 1994c;CIMMYT, 1994;Sanz et al., 1994a;1994b;Vera et al., 1993) muestran que los sistemas de asociación y rotación de pasturas con cultivos ofrecen soluciones alternativas viables y económicamente atractivas frente a los problemas ocasionados por los sistemas tradicionales de cultivo -altos costos de establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas, degradación de pasturas sometidas a pastoreo extensivo, y compactación y degradación del suelo causado por el monocultivo continuo.La tecnología de sistemas agropastoriles ofrece como alternativas para la solución de los problemas antes mencionados: (1) el establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas asociadas con cultivos, mediante el uso de mínimos insumos que no demandan altas inversiones de capital; (2) la renovación de pasturas degradadas, mediante rotaciones o asociaciones con cultivos anuales; y (3) sistemas de rotación de pasturas con leguminosas de grano o cereales y de leguminosas forrajeras como abono verde para reducir el deterioro del suelo causado por el monocultivo permanente. Zeigler et al. (1989) definen el objetivo de la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles para las sabanas tropicales de América Latina. Según estos autores, este tipo de investigación debe ensamblar germoplasma de pasturas y cultivos adaptados y productivos bajo condiciones de sabana, identificando y utilizando las opciones más apropiadas de manejo. En el sistema, el componente perenne debe contribuir al mejoramiento del suelo a largo plazo, y el componente anual debe asegurar el establecimiento rápido y económico de los componentes perennes, ofreciendo así alternativas atractivas para el productor. Este objetivo llegó a ser posible con el desarrollo de germoplasma de arroz, maíz y sorgo adaptado a los suelos ácidos e infértiles del ecosistema sabana [CIMMYT (1993); INTSORMIL (1993); Sarkarung y Zeigler (1989)], y con la disponibilidad, a partir de 1983, de germoplasma de gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras adaptadas a dicho ecosistema y desarrollado en los trabajos de la RIEPT (Red Internacional de Evaluación de Pastos Tropicales) (Pizarro, 1992;1982); Toledo et al., 1983).Es importante reconocer la complejidad de la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles. Esta se caracteriza por:(1) El estudio de componentes múltiples -suelo y su manejo, cultivo (opciones de germoplasma y prácticas de manejo que muestren efecto sinergístico y no-antagonístico con la pastura), la pastura (opciones y combinación de germoplasma, y manejo), el tipo y la condición de los animales, y el entorno socioeconómico del productor-los cuales se deben analizar tanto en forma independiente como en interacción con los demás componentes del sistema. (2) Su larga duración, ya que el objetivo es el aumento de la productividad de un sistema con un componente perenne (la pastura) y el mejoramiento del suelo a largo plazo. (3) La naturaleza multidisciplinaria que exige, entre otros, investigadores en suelos, cultivos, pasturas, animal y biometristas. Una integración multidisciplinaria entre todos los investigadores es esencial para el éxito del trabajo.Es, por tanto, necesario profundizar en los aspectos metodológicos de los ensayos agropastoriles, incluyendo fases de la investigación y sus objetivos, y la planeación y diseño de los experimentos de cada fase. Lo anterior con el objeto de definir metodologías estándares que hagan comparables y extrapolables los resultados generados en los países que conforman la Red de Investigación Agropastoril para las Sabanas. El objetivo del presente capítulo es analizar estos aspectos metodológicos y ofrecer recomendaciones para los participantes en esta Red.Las etapas de la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles se detallan a continuación. Estas se estructuran en varias fases que responden a las necesidades particulares de sus componentes, de la forma siguiente:Fase 1: Investigación en el componente planta (cultivo o pastura) e investigación en disciplinas, mediante ensayos en estación experimental. Incluye fases sucesivas sobre investigación en sistemas agropastoriles con o sin animales, en estación experimental o en fincas según el objetivo del ensayo.Fase 2: Establecimiento de pasturas con cultivos.Fase 3: Recuperación de pasturas con cultivos.Fase 4: Sistemas de rotación pasturas-cultivos.Fase 5: Ensayos de validación de tecnología en sistemas comerciales.En el Cuadro 1 se resumen las principales diferencias y similitudes metodológicas entre la investigación por componentes y por disciplina (Fase 1) vs. investigación en sistemas agropastoriles (Fases 2 a 5).La investigación en los componentes cultivo y pastura (componentes planta) tiene como objeto desarrollar materiales de cultivos de ciclo corto y pasturas adaptados a suelos ácidos e identificar los promisorios para ensamblar sistemas de producción agropastoril en sabanas; estos sistemas pueden ser pasturas con cultivos, rotación pasturas-cultivos y monocultivo de corta duración.La planeación, diseño e implementación de la investigación en el componente cultivo son etapas similares a las de la investigación tradicional en mejoramiento de cultivos de ciclo corto. No obstante, en ciertas etapas la evaluación de líneas promisorias se debe realizar en cultivos asociados con pasturas.Un ejemplo es la estrategia del CIAT y la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica) en arroz de secano para sistemas agropastoriles en el ecosistema sabana bien drenada, la cual consiste en:(1) evaluación de progenitores potenciales en monocultivo y en asociación con pasturas; (2) manejo de todas las etapas de selección e identificación de líneas promisorias en condiciones de monocultivo;(3) evaluación de las líneas promisorias bajo asociación con pasturas, con el fin de identificar aquellas que no perjudican el desarrollo de la pastura y no disminuyen su propio rendimiento en asociación; y (4) identificación de prácticas de manejo del cultivo en la asociación que beneficien a ambos componentes. La identificación de líneas promisorias como componentes de sistemas agropastoriles se realiza en ensayos sucesivos con diseños tradicionales -preliminar de rendimiento [diseño bloques completos al azar (BCA) con 20 a 40 líneas y tres repeticiones]; ensayo avanzado o regional (diseño en BCA con 5 a 10 líneas y tres repeticiones); y ensayos comerciales (diseño en BCA con 1 a 2 líneas y tres repeticiones). En estos ensayos, las líneas se evalúan en monocultivos y en asociación con pasturas en parcelas de 25 y 36 m 2 , Planeación y Diseño de Ensayos Agropastoriles Cuadro 1. Características de la investigación por componentes y disciplinas vs. la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles.Investigación Por otro parte, en el Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), el proceso de selección e identificación de materiales de maíz para suelos ácidos se realiza en condiciones de monocultivo. El producto final, por ejemplo, la actual variedad Sikuani, adaptada y productiva en suelos ácidos, se entrega como un componente para sistemas de investigación agropastoril (CIMMYT, 1994). En otra sección de este artículo se tratan en detalle otros diseños experimentales para el proceso de selección e identificación de líneas promisorias de cultivos.La investigación en el componente pastura tiene como objetivo identificar gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras y sus asociaciones promisorias para sistemas agropastoriles en el ecosistema sabana. La metodología experimental utilizada es la sugerida e implementada por la Red Internacional de Evaluación de Pastos Tropicales (RIEPT) entre 1979 y 1994 en ensayos multilocacionales tipos A y B para especies solas (Toledo et al., 1983) y ensayos tipos C y D para especies solas o asociadas bajo condiciones de pastoreo (Paladines y Lascano, 1983;Pizarro, 1992). El potencial de producción de estas especies se ha medido en sistemas comerciales de carne y doble propósito de larga duración, en estación experimental o en fincas de productores, donde la parcela experimental corresponde a potreros desde 20 hasta 300 ha, con un período experimental variable entre 1 y 6 años (CIAT, 1991).La investigación por disciplinas en patología, entomología, fisiología y malezas estudia los problemas específicos que afectan el cultivo y la pastura en sistemas asociados o en rotación. La investigación en suelos tiene por objeto identificar las prácticas de labranza, fertilización y manejo que garanticen la sostenibilidad del sistema agropastoril a largo plazo.La investigación básica en sistemas agropastoriles evalúa cultivos y pasturas en condiciones de asociación y rotación, y las mejores opciones de ellos como producto de la investigación por componentes. Para el efecto, se aplican técnicas mejoradas de manejo de suelos, plagas, malezas y épocas; y métodos de siembra del cultivo y la pastura recomendadas por la investigación disciplinaria. Su impacto socioeconómico puede ser evaluado mediante investigación complementaria antes y después de la adopción de la tecnología.En la fase preliminar (Fase 1), las hipótesis obedecen a las necesidades específicas de la investigación por disciplina o del componente planta. La investigación en sistemas agropastoriles (Fases 2 a 5) está regida por seis hipótesis que aparecen en la literatura: Los ensayos agropastoriles de las distintas fases de investigación requieren diseños experimentales diferentes, que permitan responder sus hipótesis específicas.La fase de investigación por disciplinas como suelos, patología, fisiología, malezas, se puede realizar mediante ensayos satélites de corta duración en parcelas pequeñas en estación experimental. En este caso se emplean diseños multifactoriales replicados, completos, incompletos, o aumentados, que permitan probar la significancia de los factores experimentales y sus interacciones. Los ensayos de fertilización representan un ejemplo típico del uso de diseños factoriales aumentados del tipo: N x P x K x... + controles (positivo o negativo).Para la evaluación, selección e identificación de líneas promisorias de cultivos de ciclo corto existen otros diseños experimentales, los cuales adecuadamente implementados en el campo, han demostrado ser más eficientes que el diseño de BCA tradicionalmente utilizado por los fitomejoradores. Se trata de la familia de Diseños Experimentales Resolubles en Bloques Incompletos ('Resolvable Incomplete Block Designs'). Los diseños en bloques incompletos son necesarios cuando el número de variedades a evaluar es mayor (12 o más) que el número que puede albergar un bloque homogéneo, lo cual es frecuente en este tipo de investigación, y se requiere que sean 'resolubles', es decir, que los bloques incompletos se puedan arreglar en repeticiones completas y que el número requerido de repeticiones sea pequeño (2, 3 ó 4). Los diseños en Bloques Incompletos Balanceados exigen un número muy alto de repeticiones, lo que los hace inmanejables.A la familia de diseños 'resolubles' en bloques incompletos pertenecen los diseños en Látices Cuadrados de k 2 que permiten probar v variedades en repeticiones completas de k bloques incompletos con k variedades cada uno; los Látices Rectangulares con v = k x (k+1); y los Látices Cúbicos con v = k 3 , mencionados por Cochran y Cox (1957). Pertenecen también a esta familia los diseños ALFA ('Alpha Designs'), desarrollados por Patterson y Williams (1976) y mencionados por Patterson et al. (1978), los cuales llenan muchos vacíos en las Tablas de Cochran y Cox, en relación con número de variedades a probar. Con estos diseños es posible evaluar, por ejemplo, números de variedades que no corresponden a un cuadrado perfecto, múltiplos de k x (k+1), o cubo perfecto (como lo exigen los diseños en Látice). Se ha demostrado que cuando el número de variedades a probar v es un primo, el diseño ALFA es igual al Látice, pero si v no es un primo, el diseño ALFA es menos eficiente que el Látice (Verdooren, 1998).En las fases de establecimiento de pasturas con cultivos, de renovación de pasturas con cultivos y de rotaciones pasturas-cultivos, con pocos y muy selectos sistemas de producción (2 ó 3 tratamientos), es recomendable el empleo de diseños sencillos. El diseño de BCA o el de Parcelas Divididas son útiles, si se prueba además otro factor, por ejemplo, un manejo específico para cada sistema y se desea comparar con el manejo local. Estos tratamientos se replican en varias fincas y se conciben para evaluar las respuestas de los componentes a largo plazo. Amézquita (1986) trata este tema aplicado a ensayos de evaluación de especies forrajeras en pastoreo. El tipo de diseño experimental per se no representa un reto en ensayos de comparación de sistemas agropastoriles. Sin embargo, debido a su naturaleza de largo plazo, existen aspectos importantes que se deben considerar en la planeación como la selección de los factores experimentales y sus niveles, la identificación de los tratamientos control más apropiados y la identificación de variables de respuesta relevantes y sus técnicas óptimas de medición.Los factores experimentales seleccionados en cada fase de investigación deben ser relevantes al sistema de producción que se desea investigar. Los niveles deben representar opciones de manejo factibles, sin dejar de incluir la práctica de manejo tradicional del productor como tratamiento control.En la Fase 1 se identifican los mejores materiales y las prácticas óptimas de manejo del suelo, del cultivo y de la pastura, las cuales se utilizaran en fases avanzadas. Los factores experimentales en esta fase son múltiples (Cuadro 1). Como ejemplo, se recomienda observar los Cuadros 5 y 6 del Capítulo 6 de este libro, que ilustran los factores que afectan significativamente el comportamiento del cultivo y de la pastura y su contribución a la varianza total de las variables analizadas, en un experimento de asociación de arroz de secano con pasturas. Este tipo de ensayos multifactoriales exploratorios ayuda a identificar factores relevantes y sus niveles óptimos para utilización en fases avanzadas de la investigación.Una vez identificados en la Fase 1, los mejores materiales y prácticas de manejo del suelo, del cultivo y de la pastura, el tipo de asociación es el principal factor que se debe estudiar en las Fases 2 a 5. El sistema de producción tradicional se debe incluir siempre como tratamiento control. En ensayos de establecimiento de pasturas con cultivos, el control es el establecimiento tradicional. Así, en ensayos de renovación de pasturas degradadas, el control es la pastura sin renovar. En ensayos dirigidos a corregir problemas en el suelo causados por el monocultivo continuo o a estudiar el empleo de leguminosas forrajeras o de grano como abono verde, el control es el monocultivo continuo.A través de las distintas fases de investigación agropastoril, el investigador mide la respuesta del suelo, del cultivo, de la pastura y del animal a distintas prácticas de manejo y bajo distintos sistemas de producción. En la Fase 1, el número de variables es mayor, ya que uno de los objetivos es identificar aquellas que mejor caracterizan las diferencias entre tipos de asociaciones. En las fases avanzadas se mide la productividad final de cada componente y del sistema total (Cuadro 1). En el Recuadro 1 se incluyen ejemplos de tipos de variables medidas en las fases iniciales.La duración del período experimental depende de la fase de investigación (Cuadro 1). En ensayos de investigación en el componente, cultivo y disciplina, el período experimental es corto y por lo general cubre un ciclo del cultivo. En ensayos de establecimiento y renovación de pasturas con cultivos, el período experimental es de mediana duración y comprende desde la siembra de las asociaciones o del cultivo, en el caso de renovación de pasturas, hasta la cosecha o hasta un tiempo variable entre 4 y 12 meses después de la cosecha del cultivo (Sanz et al., 1994a;1994b) cuando la pastura se considera establecida o renovada. En los ensayos multilocacionales dentro de la RIEPT, se considera el porcentaje de cobertura del suelo a las 12 semanas después de la siembra como el mejor indicador en el establecimiento de la pastura (Amézquita, 1986;Toledo et al., 1983). En ensayos de asociación de pasturas con cultivos, los análisis realizado por Amézquita et al. (Capítulo 6, este libro) confirman que esta edad es la más temprana para evaluar el éxito en el establecimiento de una pastura con arroz. En ensayos de renovación de pasturas, es importante, además, reconocer cuándo se debe renovar la pastura, asegurando, a la vez, un buen rendimiento del cultivo; un criterio válido es el porcentaje de leguminosa en la pastura. Se ha reconocido que 20% es el mínimo contenido de leguminosa para garantizar la estabilidad de una pastura (CIAT, 1994a).En ensayos de rotación pasturascultivos, que son por naturaleza de largo plazo, la duración total del período experimental y de cada ciclo en particular, merecen un estudio más detallado. Dependiendo de la pastura, del cultivo con el cual se asocie y de las características del suelo del sitio, se ha recomendado que un ensayo de rotación pasturas-cultivos tenga una duración de 3-5 años (CIAT, 1994b).Debido a la naturaleza de largo plazo de la investigación agropastoril, de sus componentes múltiples, y carácter multidisciplinario, que demanda un alto número de mediciones en el suelo, en el cultivo, en la pastura y en los animales, es importante distinguir claramente los objetivos, alcances y necesidades metodológicas de la fase de investigación por componentes y disciplinas vs. las fases de investigación en sistemas agropastoriles per se.Los aspectos importantes que es necesario considerar en la planeación de ensayos de este tipo incluyen la definición clara del nivel de avance de la investigación (fase preliminar vs. fases avanzadas) y sus hipótesis experimentales; la selección apropiada de los factores experimentales y sus niveles; la identificación de los tratamientos control y la selección de variables de respuesta sensibles a diferencias entre los distintos sistemas bajo estudio. Establecimiento:Germinación: Número de plantas/área a distintas edades después de la siembra Area foliar (cm 2 /planta; m 2 de área foliar por m 2 de superficie cubierta)Biomasa de la parte aérea (g/área)Porcentaje de malezas Componentes de rendimiento a distintas edades del cultivo Producción: Rendimiento a la cosecha (t/ha)Se miden por componente y en la pastura total, las siguientes variables:Establecimiento:Germinación: Número de plantas/área a distintas edades después de la siembra Cobertura (%)Area foliar (cm 2 /planta; m 2 de área foliar por m 2 de superficie cubierta)Biomasa de la parte aérea (g/m 2 ) Biomasa de las raíces (g/m 2 )Composición botánica de la pastura, incluyendo malezas Producción: Forraje en oferta (MS total/área) Potencial de carga animal o capacidad de cargaDependiendo del sistema de producción animal que se está evaluando (levante, ceba, hatos de cría, doble propósito, lechería), las variables de respuesta incluyen:Carga animal/ha o presión de pastoreo Curvas peso de novillos jóvenes Ganancia de peso/animal y por hectáreaProducción y calidad de leche, curvas de lactancia Teniendo en cuenta las ventajas que representa la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles bajo el contexto de la Red de Investigación Agropastoril para las Sabanas, se recomienda:1. Realizar la Fase 1, o de investigación por componentes y disciplinas, en ensayos satélites de corta duración, en estación experimental.2. Realizar las Fases 2 a 5, o de investigación en sistemas agropastoriles, en estación experimental o en fincas de productores.3. Definir los diferentes tipos de ensayos correspondientes a las Fases 2 a 5 de investigación en sistemas agropastoriles, según las necesidades en las diversas regiones en la Red, pero evitando duplicidad de esfuerzos y recursos.4. Hasta donde sea posible, los experimentos agropastoriles con objetivos comunes deben utilizar diseños experimentales y metodologías de evaluación comparables.5. Tratar de canalizar el flujo de información generado por la Red a través de un sistema ágil de comunicación, que permita analizar en forma integrada los resultados de las distintas fases de investigación y divulgarlos a los miembros de la Red. Un ensayo agropastoril exploratorio o preliminar juega un papel importante en la planeación e implementación de investigación más avanzada. El análisis de un ensayo exploratorio con objetivos metodológicos es de gran utilidad debido a la complejidad de la investigación agropastoril, caracterizada por sus múltiples componentes, que demandan técnicas y prácticas de manejo diferentes y que exigen evaluaciones a largo plazo con múltiples variables de respuesta en el suelo, el cultivo, la pastura y el animal. El presente capítulo ilustra cómo, a través del análisis estadístico de la información generada por un ensayo agropastoril exploratorio, multifactorial y de corta duración, se responden preguntas importantes que facilitan un uso más eficiente de recursos y tiempo en etapas más avanzadas de investigación. El análisis identifica un conjunto reducido de variables de respuesta del cultivo y de la pastura; y determina y prioriza los factores experimentales que afectan el desarrollo y productividad del cultivo y la pastura bajo asociación y los niveles óptimos de dichos factores para sugerir edades de evaluación apropiadas.An agropastoral experiment is characteristically a complex of many components, each of which demands techniques and practices requiring different management, and long-term evaluations with many response variables involving the soil, crop, pasture, and animal. The statistical analysis of results from a multifactorial, short-term, exploratory (or preliminary) trial, established according to methodological objectives, will help answer important questions on the most efficient use of resources and time during the more advanced research stages. Such an analysis will identify a reduced group of response variables for the crop and pasture, identify and prioritize experimental factors that significantly affect the development and productivity of the crop/pasture association, and determine those factors' optimal levels, which would thus suggest the appropriate periods for evaluation.El objetivo de la fase preliminar o exploratoria de la investigación en sistemas agropastoriles consiste en actuar como un filtro de la variabilidad externa de dichos sistemas, entregando como producto final un conjunto de recomendaciones para la planeación e implementación de fases de investigación más avanzadas. Estas recomendaciones se refieren a: (1) las prácticas de manejo más apropiadas para los cultivos y pasturas experimentales que se van a someter a fases más avanzadas de la investigación, tales como método de preparación de suelos, tipo y dosis de fertilización a aplicar en el momento de la siembra del cultivo, sistema y densidad de siembra del cultivo y de la pastura, entre otros; (2) identificación de un conjunto mínimo de variables de respuesta a medir, tanto en el cultivo como en la pastura, que sean suficientes para evaluar el efecto de los factores experimentales e idealmente no correlacionadas entre sí;(3) identificación de las épocas y edades más apropiadas de evaluación del sistema agropastoril, que permitan al cultivo y a la pastura expresar en forma óptima las diferencias entre tratamientos; y (4) recomendaciones sobre las técnicas más apropiadas para la medición de las diversas variables de suelo, del cultivo, de la pastura y del animal.El objetivo de este capítulo es ilustrar, a través del análisis de un ensayo exploratorio, el tipo de preguntas metodológicas que puede responder este tipo de investigación. Se utiliza como estudio de caso un ensayo multifactorial de asociaciones arroz-pasturas, conducido en la estación experimental La Libertad, en el departamento del Meta, Llanos Orientales de Colombia.En este experimento agropastoril se busca:1. Identificar un conjunto reducido y mínimo de variables de respuesta del cultivo y de la pastura, que permita cuantificar el efecto de los distintos factores experimentales sobre el comportamiento agronómico y productivo de los sistemas agropastoriles de interés.2. Evaluar el efecto de los distintos factores experimentales sobre el desarrollo y la productividad del cultivo y de la pastura. En particular, se desea evaluar el efecto de la técnica de preparación del suelo; del método de aplicación de la fertilización; de la densidad de siembra del arroz, del método de siembra de la pastura y de líneas de arroz, seleccionadas como producto de la investigación realizada por Fischer et al. (1995).3. Estudiar el efecto de los varios factores experimentales sobre la compactación del suelo.4. Identificar los niveles óptimos de cada factor experimental para uso en etapas más avanzadas de la investigación.5. Identificar las edades de evaluación más sensibles a las diferencias entre tratamientos.El experimento se llevó a cabo entre mayo y diciembre de 1994, en la estación experimental La Libertad, en el departamento del Meta, Llanos Orientales de Colombia, zona representativa del ecosistema de sabana bien drenada. Se inició con la siembra simultánea del arroz y la pastura y se concluyó 215 días después de la siembra.Para cumplir con los objetivos metodológicos del ensayo, en el análisis estadístico se siguieron los pasos siguientes:1. Reducción del número de variables de respuesta a un conjunto menor de variables no-correlacionadas y sensibles a las diferencias entre tratamientos.Se utilizó para este fin el Análisis de Componentes Principales (CP), inicialmente desarrollado por Pearson (1901) y ampliado luego por Hotelling (1933). Este método estadístico es una técnica multivariada que examina las relaciones existentes entre un conjunto de variables cuantitativas, detecta correlación entre las mismas y sirve para reducir el conjunto inicial a un conjunto menor no-correlacionado. Partiendo de un conjunto de n variables originales, calcula n nuevas variables, independientes entre sí, llamadas componentes principales; cada una de ellas corresponde a una combinación lineal de las variables originales.El conjunto completo de las n componentes principales explica el 100% de la varianza existente entre las variables originales. Para efectos de reducción, este método organiza estas n componentes principales en forma decreciente según su varianza, de tal manera que la primera de ellas tiene la mayor varianza entre todas, es decir, explica el mayor porcentaje de la varianza existente entre las variables originales; la segunda explica el segundo porcentaje de varianza, y así sucesivamente. El último componente principal explica el menor porcentaje de varianza. El usuario de esta técnica generalmente selecciona en forma subjetiva un número reducido de componentes principales (por ej., las primeras 2, 3 ó 4), de tal manera que la suma de sus varianzas sea aceptablemente alta. En muchos casos, las primeras 2 ó 3 explican un alto porcentaje de la varianza total entre las variables originales.Principales, se utilizó un conjunto reducido de variables de respuesta, tanto del cultivo como de la pastura, representativas de cada una de los componentes principales seleccionados, para identificar los factores experimentales que mostraban un efecto significativo (p < 0.05) sobre el desarrollo y productividad del cultivo y de la pastura en asociación, así como sobre la compactación del suelo. Las variables de respuesta seleccionadas fueron aquellas que mostraron el mayor coeficiente en el componente principal respectivo. Se realizaron análisis de varianza (ANOVAS) sobre cada variable de respuesta seleccionada con el fin de estudiar la significancia del efecto de cada factor experimental. Como criterio de priorización de los factores significativos, se utilizó el porcentaje de varianza explicado por cada factor -resultante del ANOVA-expresado como: CM factor/CM error x 100.3. Identificación de los niveles óptimos de cada factor experimental para utilización en fases más avanzadas de la investigación agropastoril. Para aquellos factores significativos se identificó como nivel óptimo aquel que maximizara la productividad de la asociación y que mostrara los mejores efectos en las condiciones del suelo.4. Identificación de las edades para evaluación del cultivo y de la pastura en asociación y de criterios relevantes para cuantificar el éxito en el establecimiento de una pastura con cultivos.El modelo utilizado para el análisis de varianza obedece al diseño experimental del ensayo y se presenta en el Cuadro 1. Para realizar las pruebas de hipótesis sobre los factores densidad de siembra del arroz, método de siembra de la pastura y su interacción, se descompuso el efecto de asociación en contrastes ortogonales que permiten probar estos efectos, y además comparar los monocultivos (de arroz y de pastura) vs. el grupo de asociaciones arroz-pasturas.Se realizaron análisis de componentes principales sobre las variables de respuesta del arroz, independientes para cada edad de evaluación: a los 30, 60 y 90 días después de la siembra (dds) y a la cosecha del arroz (120 dds). Igualmente se realizaron análisis de dichos componentes independientes para las variables de respuesta de la pastura para cada edad de evaluación: a los 60 y 90 dds, a la cosecha del arroz (120 dds), y a los 45 y 95 días poscosecha. Los resultados aparecen en los Cuadros 2 a 4.En el Cuadro 2 se muestra que el análisis de componentes principales realizado sobre las variables de respuesta del arroz a los 30 y 60 dds, permitió, en cada caso, reducir las seis variables originales a dos componentes principales, que en conjunto explican el 80% de la varianza total existente entre las variables originales para la edad de 30 dds y el 75% de la varianza total para la edad de 60 dds. En forma similar, el análisis del mismo tipo efectuado sobre las variables evaluadas a 90 dds permitió reducir las seis variables a tres componentes principales, que en conjunto explican el 81% de la varianza total.Cuando se interpretan los coeficientes de cada componente principal (Cuadro 2), se observa que los resultados son muy consistentes entre las tres edades, es decir, las seis variables originales se pueden reducir a dos componentes principales (CP1 y CP2) de igual interpretación, en las edades de 30 y 60 días, y a tres (CP1, CP2 y CP3) en la edad de 90 días, con interpretación similar a los resultantes en edades de 30 y 60 dds. En el caso de 30 dds, CP1 se interpretó como biomasa, según las magnitudes de sus coeficientes, por estar caracterizado por altos pesos para las variables peso seco de hojas (con peso de 0.50), área foliar total (0.48), peso seco total (0.47) y peso húmedo total (0.43). El CP2 se interpretó como germinación, por estar caracterizado por un alto peso de 0.61 para la variable número de plantas. En el análisis a la edad de 60 dds, los dos componentes principales resultantes se interpretan en forma similar. El análisis realizado a la edad de 90 dds permitió reducir las seis variables originales a tres componentes principales: CP1 interpretado como germinación, CP2 como área foliar y CP3 como biomasa.Estos resultados sugieren la existencia de correlación entre las variables de respuesta del arroz, medidas en la etapa de precosecha a los 30, 60 y 90 dds, y que es posible limitarse a las mencionadas anteriormente: capacidad de germinación, capacidad de producción de biomasa y área foliar, evaluadas en una sola edad. La edad más adecuada para la evaluación en el cultivo de arroz en la etapa de precosecha sería la más tardía, es decir, 90 días.En la época de cosecha (Cuadro 3), las seis variables de respuesta del arroz se pueden reducir a dos componentes principales (CP1, interpretado como componentes de rendimiento y CP2, interpretado como rendimiento final), los cuales explican el 78% de la varianza presente entre las variables originales.En el Cuadro 4 también se presenta la reducción de las siete variables de respuesta de la pastura a dos componentes principales en las edades de 60 y 90 dds (CP1 interpretado como biomasa y CP2 como germinación) y a tres componentes principales en la etapa de poscosecha del arroz (CP1 interpretado como biomasa a la cosecha, CP2 como área a. Días después de la siembra simultánea del arroz con la pastura. b. ddc = días después de la cosecha del arroz. Para 60 y 90 dds: CP1 = biomasa y CP2 = germinación. Para 90 dds: CP1 = biomasa, CP2 = área foliar a cosecha y CP3 = biomasa a cosecha.evaluación, tanto para el cultivo como para la pastura. Para evaluar tanto el arroz como la pastura, la edad adecuada sería a los 90 días. En forma similar, una sola edad de evaluación de la pastura es suficiente en la etapa de poscosecha.En el Cuadro 5 se incluyen los factores que afectaron significativamente el comportamiento del cultivo. Estos son, en orden de magnitud del porcentaje de varianza total explicada por cada factor, los siguientes:1. Tipo de asociación arroz-pasturas. Explica entre 8.8% y 51% de la varianza total de las distintas variables de respuesta.2. Preparación previa del suelo. Explica entre el 2.4% y 19.5% de la varianza total.3. Línea de arroz. Explica entre el 1.6% y 8.6% de la varianza total; y 4. Preparación posterior del suelo. Afectó únicamente al área foliar.En el caso de la pastura, los factores que influyeron significativamente en su comportamiento fueron menores (Cuadro 6), siendo el principal el tipo de asociación, que explica entre 5.4% y 57.9% de la varianza total entre las distintas variables de respuesta. El método de preparación del suelo parece afectar únicamente la respuesta de la pastura a partir de la cosecha de arroz. La línea de arroz utilizada afecta muy poco la respuesta de la pastura.Los factores experimentales no mostraron efecto significativo sobre la compactación superficial del suelo, medida como resistencia a la penetración (kg/cm 2 ) entre 0 y 60 cm de profundidad. a. NP = plantas (no./m); PSHt = peso total hoja; PSt = peso seco total (g/10 plantas). b. C. = 100 x SC (factor) Sc (total). c. ns = no significativo; * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01.En los Cuadros 5 y 6 se muestra que la densidad de siembra del arroz afecta significativamente la capacidad de germinación del arroz, siendo la mejor densidad 34 cm entre surcos, pero no afecta su rendimiento final. En forma similar, este factor afecta el comportamiento de la pastura sólo al inicio del establecimiento (60 dds), pero no en edades posteriores (Cuadro 5).El método de siembra de la pastura (a voleo o en el surcos) sí afecta la respuesta de la pastura en términos de su producción de materia seca total en todas las edades, siendo el método de siembra en el surco el que dio los mejores resultados. Sin embargo, el sistema de siembra de la pastura a voleo es el que más beneficia al cultivo de arroz. Este es un ejemplo de efecto inverso de un factor experimental. El mejor método de siembra de la pastura es, en consecuencia, aquel que maximiza la productividad del sistema a largo plazo, es decir, el que muestra un mayor beneficio sobre el componente perenne.Estos resultados sugieren que las mejores prácticas de manejo consisten en sembrar el arroz a una densidad de 34 cm entre surcos y la pastura en el surco (Cuadro 7).Para los métodos de preparación del suelo, los datos en el Cuadro 8 sugieren que la mejor práctica es usar vertedera en la preparación previa y rastra en la preparación posterior, ya que estas prácticas benefician el comportamiento de la pastura, sin mostrar efecto significativo sobre el rendimiento final de arroz.Las mejores líneas de arroz fueron la Oryzica Sabana 6 y Línea 4 (Cuadro 9), ya que maximizan la producción del cultivo, sin afectar la respuesta de la pastura. a. NP = número de plantas/2 m; PSt = peso seco total (g/10 plantas); MSt = materia seca total (g/10 plantas). b. ddc = días después de la cosecha del arroz.En las fases preliminares de establecimiento de pasturas con cultivos y de renovación de éstas con cultivos, el período experimental mínimo requerido comprende, desde la siembra de las asociaciones o del cultivo en el caso de renovación de pasturas, hasta la cosecha del cultivo o un tiempo después de ésta, cuando la pastura se considera establecida o renovada.En ensayos multilocacionales para evaluación de gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras en monocultivo, se considera como el mejor indicador del éxito en el establecimiento el porcentaje de cobertura del suelo a las 12 semanas después de la siembra (Amézquita et al., 1989;Toledo et al., 1983). Para ensayos de asociación de pasturas con cultivos es importante confirmar si esta edad de evaluación es apropiada. Es, por tanto, necesario identificar las variables de respuesta y edad de evaluación más temprana que permitan cuantificar el éxito en el establecimiento o renovación de una pastura.La edad más temprana para evaluar el establecimiento de una pastura es aquella a partir de la cual existe correlación significativa entre los distintos indicadores de establecimiento. Tomando en cuenta los resultados obtenidos del Análisis de Componentes Principales sobre las variables de respuesta de la pastura (Cuadro 3), se utilizaron como indicadores de establecimiento de la pastura: germinación (número de plantas/2 m) y producción de biomasa (MS total en g/10 plantas), 60 y 90 dds del arroz.En el Cuadro 10 se incluyen las correlaciones entre germinación inicial de la pastura a 60 dds y la producción de biomasa a distintas edades, así como entre los distintos datos de producción de biomasa de la pastura asociada a través del tiempo. Estos resultados sugieren que la edad más temprana para evaluar el éxito en el establecimiento de la pastura es a los 90 dds, mediante la producción de biomasa.Cuadro 10. Correlación entre indicadores de establecimiento de la pastura a distintas edades. Ensayo de asociación arroz-pasturas, Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Este estudio ilustra la capacidad que tiene un experimento agropastoril exploratorio de pequeña escala para contribuir a eliminar fuentes de variabilidad en etapas posteriores y más avanzadas de investigación, así como su utilidad para aclarar dudas en etapas preliminares, que resultaría muy costoso en etapas posteriores, haciendo más eficiente el uso de recursos y tiempo.El análisis estadístico con objetivos metodológicos juega un papel importante en esta fase preliminar de investigación. Con base en el análisis estadístico de este estudio de caso se puede concluir lo siguiente:1. El análisis permitió identificar y priorizar los factores experimentales que mostraron efecto significativo sobre el desarrollo y productividad del cultivo y la pastura en asociación. Los factores que afectaron el desarrollo y productividad del cultivo y su explicación en la varianza total entre paréntesis, fueron, en orden de prioridad: el tipo de asociación arroz-pastos (entre 8.8% y 51%); la preparación previa del suelo (entre 2.4% y 19.5%); la línea de arroz (entre 1.6% y 8.6%); y, finalmente, la preparación posterior del suelo que afectó únicamente al área foliar. En el caso de la pastura, el principal factor fue el tipo de asociación (entre 5.4% y 57.9%). El método de preparación del suelo parece afectar únicamente la respuesta de la pastura a partir de la cosecha del arroz. La línea de arroz utilizada no afectó de manera significativa la respuesta de la pastura.2. El análisis permitió identificar los niveles óptimos de cada factor significativo. Siendo estos niveles son una guía para la planeación de fases de investigación agropastoril más avanzadas.3. El análisis identificó que 90 dds del arroz es una edad apropiada para evaluar el éxito en el establecimiento de una asociación de pasturas con arroz.4. El análisis permitió identificar un conjunto reducido de variables de respuesta del cultivo y de la pastura, suficiente para evaluar el efecto de los factores experimentales. Estos fueron la capacidad de germinación, la capacidad de producción de biomasa y el área foliar. Las pruebas de validación en fincas son realizadas de forma participativa con productores cooperadores con la finalidad de introducir, ajustar y comparar las ventajas de las innovaciones tecnológicas en los agroecosistemas tradicionales, las cuales, posteriormente serán transferidas a los demás usuarios del ámbito de la recomendación en una zona agroecológica de interés. El tema requiere de un adecuado monitoreo y análisis de diferentes variables involucradas, hasta llegar a una síntesis de resultados que evidencie las ventajas comparativas de modificar los agroecosistemas de producción existentes. En este capítulo se presentan algunos conceptos básicos y se dan algunas sugerencias en relación con la planificación de las pruebas de validación. Se destacan aspectos relevantes para la selección y descripción de los sitios de ubicación de dichas pruebas y se brinda orientación para el análisis e interpretación del registro y ordenamiento de parámetros agronómicos y económicos que se deben tomar en las parcelas de validación. Además, se busca aclarar algunos procedimientos para la evaluación de los resultados de validación mediante entrevistas con productores cooperadores y describir y ordenar un conjunto de parámetros que se consideran fundamentales, de acuerdo con los propósitos y características de los proyectos de investigación en sistemas de producción.On-farm validation tests, incorporating participatory research with collaborating farmers, are used to introduce, adjust, and assess the advantages of technological innovations in traditional agroecosystems. Successful technologies are then transferred to other farmers within the same recommendation domain of a given agroecological zone. Adequate follow-up and analysis of the different variables involved must be carried out until results show that comparative advantages may be obtained in modifying existing production agroecosystems. We present some basic concepts and suggestions for planning validation tests. Aspects related to site selection and description are highlighted. We suggest ways for analyzing and interpreting data and for organizing the agronomic and economic parameters that should be assessed in validation plots. We also discuss certain procedures for evaluating the results of validation through interviews with the collaborating farmers, and describe and rank a series of certain fundamental parameters according to the objectives and characteristics of research projects on production systems.La validación se realiza en fincas de referencia con la finalidad de introducir, adaptar y comparar las ventajas de innovaciones tecnológicas propuestas para el cambio de los agroecosistemas tradicionalmente practicados por los productores. Esta validación se hace bajo las condiciones agroecológicas y socioeconómicas representativas de las explotaciones predominantes en la región. El propósito de esta etapa de la investigación participativa es apoyar el planteamiento de estrategias y acciones para mejorar la productividad y rentabilidad, sin comprometer la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción (Muzilli y Thiele, 1992).Los objetivos específicos de las pruebas de validación en fincas son los siguientes:1. Introducir y ajustar innovaciones tecnológicas consideradas apropiadas para las zonas agroecológicas, y adecuadas a los intereses y condiciones de los dominios de la recomendación (DOR's).2. Formular modelos físicos (prototipos) de agroecosistemas y promover su validación en los sistemas de producción predominantes en las áreas de interés de un proyecto de desarrollo rural.En la planificación de las parcelas de validación se deben introducir innovaciones que contengan parámetros de fácil medición por parte de los productores y cuyos resultados sean fácilmente percibidos por los usuarios. El cambio de técnicas o el reemplazo de los cultivos (comerciales o pasturas) existentes podrá producir disturbios en el sistema de producción -la finca-como un todo, hasta el punto de limitar la adopción de las innovaciones propuestas. Por esta razón, el tema requiere el adecuado monitoreo y análisis de las diferentes variables involucradas, para llegar a una síntesis de resultados capaz de evidenciar las ventajas comparativas de modificar los agroecosistemas existentes en la explotación.Los parámetros de evaluación normalmente se refieren al suelo, a los cultivos y los animales y, sobre todo, a los aspectos económicos. Esto implica la necesidad de disponer de procedimientos y criterios analíticos capaces de medir con precisión los efectos observados y resaltar las ventajas y limitaciones de las opciones propuestas.Las fincas de referencia son unidades representativas de los sistemas de producción, formadas por un conjunto de actividades productivas que interactúan como una sola unidad. Un agroecosistema es una actividad productiva al interior de la finca, cuyo producto final es el resultante de la interacción de un conjunto de factores agroecológicos y socioeconómicos. Se refiere, por tanto, a un solo rubro o al conjunto de rubros establecido en una parcela de la finca (Bojanic, 1988;Hart, 1980).Bajo estos conceptos, el agroecosistema involucra todos los componentes necesarios para la producción de un rubro o el conjunto de rubros durante una temporada o durante toda la gestión agrícola. Además del suelo, dichos componentes se refieren a los insumos, trabajo y capital que ingresan en el agroecosistema y la dinámica de su manejo.Los agroecosistemas de producción vegetal incluyen los cultivos y el manejo por el productor. Las técnicas de manejo comprenden desde la selección de especies y variedades, el arreglo espacial y cronológico, las épocas y procesos de siembra, los manejos culturales, los insumos y las labores utilizados, hasta la cosecha y el procesamiento posterior de los productos. Si se trata de producción pecuaria, los pastos, los animales y su manejo también son componentes del agroecosistema.Para fines de promoción del desarrollo agrícola, se pueden considerar los sistemas de producción desde su sentido más restrictivo -un agroecosistema ubicado en la fincahasta su sentido más amplio -un conjunto de fincas ubicadas en una misma zona agroecológica (microcuenca hidrográfica, municipio, comunidad, etc.).Con el propósito de introducir y validar innovaciones tecnológicas en zonas de producción agropecuaria tradicional, es más factible iniciar la implementación de acciones en los agroecosistemas, pero sin olvidar su rol e interacciones con los demás componentes de la finca. De acuerdo con los logros alcanzados, gradualmente se integrarán los modelos físicos de producción en la finca y luego en la zona como un todo.No se deben confundir las parcelas de validación con los ensayos tradicionales de investigación temática conducidos en fincas. En dichos ensayos, a pesar de que es posible el análisis de más de una variable (ensayos multifactoriales), casi siempre se busca aislar los componentes del estudio, dejando, muchas veces, de considerar sus interacciones con los factores agroecológicos y socioeconómicos que podrían restringir el alcance de los resultados en finca y de la zona. Además, en los ensayos tradicionales, la cooperación del productor casi siempre está restringida a proporcionar el terreno y algunas facilidades logísticas, sin participar activamente en el trabajo.Las parcelas de validación, por otra parte, son planificadas, conducidas y evaluadas con la participación activa de los productores y asistentes técnicos cooperadores, usando los propios recursos y medios disponibles en la finca. En esta etapa de la investigación se deben considerar los eventos como parte de un todo, enfatizando en éste antes que en las partes, y dirigiendo la atención al conjunto de elementos que se interrelacionan.El trabajo en las parcelas de validación en fincas se debe iniciar con el conocimiento y la caracterización de parámetros relacionados con la situación vigente, los que orientarán e influenciarán la introducción de innovaciones y su ajuste a los sistemas de producción.El sitio seleccionado para la conducción de una prueba deberá ser representativo de los tipos de suelo y del ambiente que predominan en el área de interés. En otros términos, el sitio deberá asegurar la reproducción y aplicabilidad de los resultados alcanzados en otras áreas con características ambientales similares.Además, se deben seleccionar sitios en fincas con adecuada infraestructura de apoyo y de fácil acceso para labores de capacitación y extensión. El productor deberá estar motivado para cooperar en todas las etapas del trabajo y debidamente informado acerca de la utilización de sus recursos y medios de producción.Las actividades de campo se deberán planificar por lo menos con 3 a 4 meses de anticipación a la fecha prevista para el establecimiento de la prueba; para ello se harán reuniones y talleres participativos con los productores cooperadores y los demás integrantes del grupo objetivo. Una vez seleccionados los cooperadores, la primera actividad es la descripción de los agroecosistemas existentes en las parcelas seleccionadas para establecer las pruebas. Esta descripción inicialmente podrá ser hecha de una manera rápida e incluir sólo aquellos aspectos necesarios para la identificación y comprensión de las técnicas y procesos en uso por el productor. Los datos de clima y suelo son algunos de los parámetros físicos de interés; también se deben conocer los recursos económicos y de infraestructura (disponibilidad de tierra, trabajo, equipos, herramientas), y los factores externos -ofertas y demandas en el mercado local, ventajas comparativas de insumos y rubros, oferta de mano de obra, normalización de uso del suelo, entre otros-que podrán influir en la toma de decisiones por parte de los productores para aceptar o rechazar las innovaciones propuestas. Además, se deben establecer la época y la duración efectiva de la gestión agrícola según las condiciones edafoclimáticas prevalentes y la disponibilidad de mano de obra a través del año.A medida que se desarrolla el estudio, es posible agregar a la información otros elementos descriptivos del ambiente. Como parámetros principales en la selección y descripción de los sitios, desde el inicio y durante la conducción de las pruebas, se sugieren los siguientes:Es importante conocer los factores del clima que restringen el desarrollo y rendimiento de las actividades de producción. Hasta donde sea posible, se deben recopilar los datos relacionados con la temperatura y las lluvias, los cuales, conjuntamente con la información de los productores, sirven para conocer los períodos adversos de sequía y exceso de humedad que puedan ocurrir y su relación con la producción.Se debe ubicar la posición de las parcelas en relación con la secuencia topográfica y determinar las características químicas y físicas de los suelos -textura, profundidad, capacidad de drenaje y permeabilidad. Además, cuando se considere necesario, se debe medir el estado de agregación y organización estructural de las partículas, y evaluar la actividad biológica presente. Otros datos se refieren a la naturaleza y densidad de la cobertura vegetal viva o muerta, el estado de agregación de la capa superficial, la presencia de costras o capas duras en la superficie y compactas en las capas inferiores del suelo.Estos parámetros ayudarán a identificar las posibles restricciones, la aptitud agrícola y la potencialidad de uso de la tierra, y los procesos de laboreo más adecuados. Con esta información, las parcelas de validación se deberán establecer en sitios representativos de la mayor área de interés y donde sea posible reproducir los mejores resultados relacionados con las innovaciones y los sistemas productivos que se quieren recomendar.Se refiere a la recolección de datos sobre la disponibilidad de recursos en la finca de referencia, bien sean externos o internos. Como externos se consideran:1. La ubicación y oportunidad de mercadeo para los principales rubros, y los precios vigentes.2. Las facilidades y los costos de transporte y almacenamiento para insumos y productos.3. La ubicación y la capacidad de acopio y procesamiento de productos.4. La presencia y actividad de los servicios de asistencia técnica y asociaciones de productores.5. Las formas de tenencia de la tierra, y los precios para alquiler y venta.6. Las facilidades de crédito y las respectivas tasas de interés.Como recursos internos se consideran:1. El tipo de finca en relación con el tamaño, la forma de tenencia de la tierra y división de las parcelas.2. La disponibilidad estacional de la mano de obra y recursos financieros.3. La disponibilidad local de mano de obra (cantidad, género y habilidades).4. El capital fijo y variable disponibles en la finca.5. Los conocimientos técnicos, la expresión y la educación del productor.Estas informaciones, especialmente las relacionadas con los recursos externos, se deben recolectar previamente durante la etapa de diagnóstico de los sistemas de producción, mediante sondeos y entrevistas realizados conjuntamente con el grupo objetivo del trabajo.Se deberán conocer y detallar aspectos relacionados con los procesos y técnicas de producción. Durante las entrevistas realizadas con los productores de cada DOR, se deben obtener los datos necesarios para caracterizar el conocimiento tecnológico típico o tradicional involucrado en los sistemas de producción. Es posible que las informaciones más detalladas sobre los parámetros de interés van a necesitar una mayor familiaridad de los técnicos con los productores cooperadores, así como la familiaridad de éstos con los propósitos y procedimientos de trabajo. Como es de esperar, mayores detalles se podrán conseguir a lo largo de la ejecución de las pruebas de validación, después que las mismas han sido establecidas.El diseño de parcelas de validación debe ser planificado para cada sitio en forma separada, aun cuando se trate de una misma finca o zona donde se esté desarrollando la investigación. Es necesario simular modelos físicos (prototipos), cuyos componentes sean fácilmente percibidos y manejados por el productor cooperador. Los diseños deberán ser flexibles y la introducción de nuevas técnicas y procesos será planificada de acuerdo con las condiciones en cada finca, teniendo en cuenta las circunstancias que estarán determinando la toma de decisiones por los productores durante la conducción de la prueba.En los modelos físicos simulados se deben sugerir técnicas y procesos sencillos con el fin de facilitar la percepción, la comprensión y la aceptación por los productores cooperadores y los asistentes técnicos locales, quienes, de acuerdo con sus experiencias, participarán directamente en el manejo de las parcelas y en la evaluación de los resultados.Los procedimientos metodológicos deberán proveer una identificación clara y detallada de las etapas y tareas que se deben realizar. Los técnicos y productores deberán estar motivados para participar desde la selección del sitio hasta la selección de las opciones que se comprobarán utilizando el modelo modificado. Además, los productores se informarán y estarán de acuerdo en que las actividades se ejecuten usando los recursos y medios de trabajo disponibles en su finca.Los técnicos encargados del monitoreo tendrán la tarea de orientar y seguir cada una de las acciones programadas, mediante visitas formales y periódicas, por lo menos una vez cada semana.Los modelos físicos se someten al análisis y discusión en talleres participativos con los productores del respectivo DOR en cada zona. En estos talleres, se les consulta y motiva para que propongan cambios en los diseños, de acuerdo con sus propósitos y circunstancias. Además, se les invita a cooperar y participar de manera activa en la conducción y evaluación de las pruebas.Las parcelas de validación deben ser lo suficientemente grandes para permitir el uso de los equipos y la maquinaria existentes en las fincas. Además, es un hecho que a los productores no les gusta acompañar y observar pruebas o demostraciones en parcelas pequeñas. En sistemas de producción agrícola, el tamaño mínimo propuesto para estas parcelas es de 1000 m 2 en fincas pequeñas, hasta 1 ha en fincas medianas y grandes; para explotaciones pecuarias, el tamaño mínimo debe ser de 1 ha en fincas pequeñas, hasta 3 ha en fincas medianas y grandes. Al lado de las parcelas de validación se debe tener otra de igual tamaño y representativa del sistema tradicional del productor (parcela testigo).Las pruebas de validación normalmente duran entre 2 y 4 años, tiempo necesario para consolidar el ajuste y la validación de acuerdo con las circunstancias de los DOR's de interés. Casi siempre, el primer año es una etapa de ajuste de las innovaciones tecnológicas a las condiciones y circunstancias del trabajo en la finca de referencia.Por tratarse de diseños sencillos y de fácil manejo por el productor y los asistentes técnicos cooperadores, no siempre se dispone de las herramientas apropiadas para el análisis estadístico y para la evaluación e interpretación de los datos obtenidos en las validaciones. En la práctica, por un lado es necesario desarrollar procedimientos y criterios analíticos para medir los efectos observados, mientras que por otro lado se deben destacar las ventajas y limitaciones de las innovaciones propuestas vs. los sistemas tradicionales del productor.En la evaluación de las pruebas de validación dentro del Proyecto Tierras Bajas del Este, en Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Muzilli y Carreño (1994) consideraron un conjunto mínimo de parámetros que debía ser monitoreado, siguiendo el esquema que aparece a continuación.En cada período o gestión agrícola, utilizando un libro de campo para registro y ordenamiento de datos, se recolectó la información siguiente:1. La identificación de la prueba, incluyendo el título o el tema, la localización, el nombre del productor cooperador, el nombre del técnico encargado y la gestión agrícola.2. La descripción de los sistemas, indicando sobre un croquis los arreglos espacial y cronológico de los cultivos en el sistema tradicional y en el propuesto, y las principales características de los modelos tradicional y modificado, entre ellas: los rubros, los arreglos y combinaciones de cultivos, los cambios realizados durante el establecimiento de las pruebas y luego en cada época.3. El cronograma de actividades, donde se registraron los datos relativos a cada actividad realizada en las parcelas de validación, iniciando por la fecha de preparación del suelo hasta la cosecha de los diferentes cultivos. En cada época de cultivo se registró el resumen cronológico de los sistemas para conocer el período de tiempo en cada cultivo bajo los diferentes modelos en evaluación. Esta información indica el arreglo cronológico de los rubros dentro de cada modelo durante la gestión agrícola.4. Los datos de fertilidad y características físicas del suelo, al inicio de las pruebas y cada 2 años. La fertilidad del suelo se evaluó tomando muestras compuestas de 10 a 15 submuestras entre 0 y 10 cm y de los horizontes inferiores hasta 40 cm de profundidad en el suelo.Además de estos datos se recomienda la recolección de información agronómica y económica, como se detalla a continuación.Indices de ocupación y uso de la tierra. Se proponen los parámetros de Zandstra et al. (1981), cuya estimación ayuda en los cálculos y posterior comparación económica de los sistemas, en relación con la eficiencia de uso de la tierra.La superficie ocupada de la tierra (SOT) es una estimación del área de las parcelas en cada cultivo durante un período. Para cultivos temporales asociados y sembrados en hileras, la SOT (en porcentaje) se puede estimar multiplicando el número total de ellas por las distancias compartidas y dividiendo por el ancho total de la parcela. Por ejemplo, en una parcela con un ancho total de 7 m, ocupada por hileras dobles de yuca que comparten un ancho de 1 m, intercaladas con hileras dobles de maíz que comparten 1.5 m y distanciadas 1 m de las hileras de yuca, la SOT estimada para cada uno de los cultivos será la siguiente: El espacio libre en la parcela será: 100 -(28.6% + 42.9%) = 28.5%. En el caso de monocultivos en secuencia o rotación, la SOT del respectivo cultivo será igual al 100%.En cultivos arbóreos, la SOT se estima multiplicando el número de árboles existentes en la parcela por el promedio del radio de la proyección de las copas y transformando los datos en porcentaje. Por ejemplo, en una parcela con un área útil de 20,000 m 2 (200 m largo x 100 m ancho) existe una hilera central con 50 árboles distantes 4 m entre ellos, con un radio promedio de proyección de la copa -medido por muestreo al azar en 15 árboles-de 2.40 m. En este caso, la SOT estimada para los cítricos será igual a:[50 x 3.1416 x ((2.40) 2 /2000) x 100] = 45.2%El índice de uso de la tierra (IUT) sirve para estimar el espacio ocupado en el tiempo por los cultivos en la parcela. Se estima multiplicando la SOT de cada cultivo por el número de días que ha ocupado la parcela desde la siembra hasta la cosecha y dividiendo el resultado por 365 días. Tomando como ejemplo el cultivo de maíz anteriormente mencionado (SOT = 42.9%) y suponiendo un período de ocupación de 168 días, el IUT para este cultivo es igual a (168 x 42.9)/365 = 19.7. Para un monocultivo de soya (SOT = 100%) sembrado en secuencia con sorgo, cuyo ciclo desde la siembra hasta la cosecha es de 117 días, el IUT será igual a (117 x 100)/365 = 32.1.La inclusión de abonos verdes para cobertura del suelo tiene como propósitos principales reducir la incidencia de malezas mediante la competencia por luz o por efectos alelopáticos, además de conservar la humedad y reciclar nutrimentos, mejorando la fertilidad del suelo.Los principales parámetros incluyen la tasa o celeridad de cobertura del suelo durante el período de uso, y el rendimiento y la calidad de la fitomasa. Los resultados se correlacionan posteriormente con la cantidad de mano necesaria para el control de malezas, el rendimiento de los cultivos y la disponibilidad de nutrimentos en la capa arable.La tasa de cobertura del suelo por los abonos verdes se puede medir periódicamente, entre 10 y 15 días, según el procedimiento descrito por Arruda (1984). Con los datos obtenidos se construyen gráficos que indican la curva de desarrollo vegetativo de los abonos verdes a través del tiempo. Si los abonos verdes son gramíneas o especies de crecimiento rastrero como Mucuna sp., el método de medición no es seguro. En este caso, lo más recomendable es tomar muestras periódicas para estimar el desarrollo de las plantas sobre la base del peso seco.El rendimiento de fitomasa de los abonos verdes se mide en la época de plena floración de las plantas, cuando es el mejor momento para el corte. Para ello, se cortan las plantas (hojas + tallos) a ras de suelo en cinco puntos de 1 m 2 en cada parcela. Con estas submuestras se determinan posteriormente los rendimientos de materia verde (M.V.) y materia seca (M.S.) por hectárea. Siempre que sea posible se debe determinar el rendimiento de M.S. mediante el secado en estufa a 70 °C por 24 h de una muestra compuesta. Con el objeto de calcular el reciclado de nutrimentos también es importante determinar el contenido de nutrimentos en el abono verde.Para medir el desarrollo de los pastos se deben tomar muestras de la acumulación de forraje de la parte aérea en tres épocas del año (al inicio, en la mitad y al final de la época lluviosa). En las pasturas se recomienda aislar del pastoreo dos parcelas de 2 m 2 por hectárea. Antes del aislamiento, en cada parcela se deben cosechar dos submuestras de 1 m 2 con el fin de medir la producción de M.S. La altura de corte y el tiempo entre cortes dependerán de las características de desarrollo de las especies; por ej., en especies rastreras, el corte puede ser a 10 cm, en semierectas a 20 cm y en cespitosas a 30 cm de altura sobre el suelo. El tiempo entre cortes varía generalmente entre 25 y 35 días.Este procedimiento permitirá realizar comparaciones relativas de capacidad productiva, vigor, calidad y nivel de producción en el tiempo de las pasturas y entre parcelas de cultivo tradicional y modificado. En sistemas de pastoreo rotacional con intervalo de descanso entre 28 y 35 días, es posible seleccionar una parcela de referencia, en la cual se hacen cortes de medición del forraje acumulado antes del pastoreo y de uniformización posterior a éste.El desarrollo de los cultivos perennes se debe evaluar en épocas secas y lluviosas. En frutales se deben tomar datos promedio de 8 a 10 plantas en hileras útiles de cada parcela, relacionándolos con la altura de plantas, el diámetro de copa y del tallo a 50 cm sobre el suelo. Para especies maderables se sugiere tomar mediciones del diámetro del fuste, la altura comercial y el diámetro de la copa. Cuando la altura del árbol sea menor que un DAP (diámetro a la altura del pecho) de 1.30 m, se recomienda medir el diámetro del fuste a 30 cm del suelo. La altura comercial se mide sin dificultad hasta una altura aproximada de 2 m. A mayores alturas, es necesario utilizar clinómetro o el método de proporción geométrica. El diámetro de la copa se mide en la proyección que da la sombra en el suelo en horas del mediodía; también se podrán utilizar clinómetro, regla telescópica, altímetro, hipsómetro o relascopio de Biterlich, según la disponibilidad de estos equipos.Se recomienda llevar un registro del número de días desde la siembra hasta la floración y cosecha, y de los rendimientos de los principales cultivos temporales y perennes. El primer parámetro es útil para calcular el IUT. Los rendimientos se expresan en las unidades de medida usadas por el productor, pero posteriormente se transforman en kg por hectárea de producto procesado y se relacionan con la SOT del respectivo cultivo en el agroecosistema. La información sobre rendimiento es fundamental para estimar los ingresos financieros según los precios de mercado de cada cultivo.Lascano y Avila (1991) sugieren como parámetros para evaluar la producción de leche en pasturas: el número de días de lactancia (al inicio de cada fase de medición), la producción de leche (kg por vaca por día) y el cambio periódico de peso vivo de las vacas. En explotaciones dedicadas a la ceba de ganado, el principal parámetro es el cambio de peso vivo de los animales, el cual se debe medir al inicio y cada determinado tiempo, por ej., cada 28 días. En los sistemas pecuarios es indispensable la presencia de zootecnistas o veterinarios dentro de los equipos multidisciplinarios encargados del monitoreo de las pruebas de validación.El análisis económico-financiero -costos de producción, ingresos, relaciones beneficio/costo e índices de utilidad-generalmente proporcionan las informaciones que más motivan a los productores en la toma de decisiones.Los análisis económico y financiero de los sistemas agrícolas bajo validación, incluyen las acciones y mediciones siguientes:1. La evaluación del beneficio o ventajas financieras de las innovaciones en relación con el sistema tradicional en uso por el productor.disponibilidad (espacial y cronológica) en la finca.4. El establecimiento de indicadores de utilidad relacionados con los factores de producción (tierra, trabajo y capital).5. La comparación de la eficiencia de los sistemas agrícolas modificados vs. sistemas tradicionales practicado por el productor.El estudio económico se debe iniciar con el registro de los antecedentes del productor, anotando entre otras características, su origen, el año de migración a la zona, la experiencia en la actividad y en la finca (León, 1992).El inventario de los recursos en la finca se debe hacer al inicio de cada gestión agrícola, incluyendo la superficie y uso de la tierra, los equipos y herramientas, y la infraestructura disponible. El uso de mano de obra e insumos se debe registrar semanalmente durante el tiempo que dure la prueba, con el objeto de mantener un control financiero en cada uno de los sistemas. Esta información puede ser tomada en formularios previamente elaborados o en una libreta de apuntes.En cada visita, el técnico local encargado del seguimiento de la prueba debe recopilar la información del productor para el posterior registro y ordenamiento en los formularios correspondientes. Los datos más importantes que debe anotar son los siguientes:1. Cada actividad u operación realizada durante la semana, desde la última visita.2. Las fechas de ejecución de cada actividad.1. El sistema agrícola al cual corresponde.2. El tamaño de la superficie respectiva. Si no corresponde a una sola parcela o sistema, es necesario estimar la mano de obra utilizada en cada uno de ellos, en forma separada.3. Los tipos de equipos, herramientas e insumos empleados.Se refieren a los gastos totales en mano de obra familiar, contratada o comunal; insumos y servicios como transporte, procesamiento, acopio y alquiler de equipos, los cuales varían según la dimensión y los componentes técnicos empleados en cada agroecosistema. Los costos variables son los que más afectan los valores de los ingresos netos de cada actividad y, en consecuencia, el margen de ganancia de la explotación, mientras que los costos fijos representados en tierra, equipos y maquinaria no sufren variaciones significativas.Al final de cada ciclo de cultivo se revisan y registran los datos tomados en cada operación, con el fin de estimar los gastos en mano de obra como equivalente-hombre por hectárea o número de jornales por hectárea en cada sistema. De la misma manera, se registran los gastos en insumos y las inversiones en el establecimiento de cultivos y pasturas, los que se utilizan para calcular los promedios de costos fijos y variables (CV) e inversiones por año o ciclo de cultivo en cada sistema agrícola.Se registran en términos de cantidad de producto y valor de mercado de los rubros, incluyendo los de subsistencia, en cada sistema. Los precios, tanto para los costos como para los ingresos, se deben referir a valores reales o constantes y no deben estar sometidos a fuertes cambios o variaciones por las tasas de inflación. Se sugiere convertirlos a dólares americanos.Utilidad de los factores de producción. Son estimaciones realizadas teniendo en cuenta la relación entre el margen bruto (MB) -diferencia entre el ingreso bruto y los costos variables-y el factor de producción utilizado para la obtención de los ingresos en un tiempo determinado. Estos indicadores sirven para comparar los sistemas modificados entre ellos y con el sistema tradicional del productor. De los indicadores presentados por Piñare y Fuentes (1984) y Soldatelli y Machaca (1992), los más útiles son los siguientes:1. Utilidad del capital (C), se relaciona con el capital circulante y se estima por la relación entre el MB y los CV.2. Utilidad del trabajo (L), se estima por los MB de los sistemas agrícolas y su relación con el costo total de mano de obra y servicios.3. Utilidad de la tierra (T), se estima por el valor de los MB de los sistemas en relación con el IUT.Eficiencia comparativa de los agroecosistemas. Es un índice útil para comparar la eficiencia económica de los sistemas. El cálculo de la eficiencia comparativa (EfC) se realiza mediante la relación entre el MB del sistema modificado y el MB del sistema tradicional.Este índice permite evaluar la eficiencia de la actividad o sistema modificado y compararla con la del sistema tradicional del productor cooperador; igualmente, permite comparar la eficiencia entre los distintos sistemas probados para cada ámbito de la recomendación.El sistema tradicional tiene una EfC igual a uno. El sistema modificado es más eficiente cuando la EfC presenta un valor mayor que uno. Una EfC negativa indica un mal desempeño del sistema, por tanto, se deben analizar los componentes para identificar el sitio o punto problema.Los cálculos finales de cada gestión, consistentes en el manejo de los datos de campo y en el desarrollo de indicadores de eficiencia, se deben efectuar con la asesoría de economistas, sociólogos y estadísticos participantes del equipo multidisciplinario.En las pruebas de validación, el productor finalmente es quien decide si la nueva tecnología es útil o no para sus propósitos y condiciones. Esto quiere decir que, si de un lado son necesarias las evaluaciones agronómicas y económicas para la comprobación técnica de los resultados de las pruebas en fincas, es la evaluación con los productores la que proporcionará la oportunidad de elegir y tomar decisiones acerca de la factibilidad de la innovación tecnológica.La participación activa de los productores en la evaluación de las pruebas de validación permite sistematizar y comprender sus percepciones acerca de los resultados obtenidos mediante la libre expresión de sus opiniones, perspectivas, sugerencias y criterios.El objetivo de las entrevistas de evaluación es conocer los comentarios espontáneos del productor cooperador y analizarlos como indicadores. Algunas recomendaciones a los técnicos encargados de las evaluaciones en fincas de productores son las siguientes (Ashby, 1992) La entrevista de evaluación no es una simple charla con el productor. El proceso debe incluir una secuencia de entrevistas durante las distintas etapas de desarrollo de los cultivos. Después de analizar cada entrevista, se debe informar al productor acerca de las conclusiones generales y programar las acciones futuras. Antes de iniciar las entrevistas, se recomienda hacer un listado de lo que el técnico cree que es importante registrar, como son la oportunidad de las épocas de siembra y el manejo de las plagas y malezas.La evaluación de la aceptabilidad sociocultural de las innovaciones propuestas se debe centrar en las opiniones de los productores, mientras que las evaluaciones agronómica y económica, para estimar la sostenibilidad agroecológica y la rentabilidad económica, deberán estar basadas en los criterios y procedimientos anteriormente presentados. Cuando no es posible hacer ambas evaluaciones en forma independiente, es mejor, primero, realizar la entrevista con el productor cooperante y, luego, proceder a hacer la toma de datos y las observaciones en el campo. Ashby (1992) sugiere utilizar un formulario de entrevistas que incluye los temas siguientes:1. La identificación del productor cooperador, la ubicación de la finca, el nombre del entrevistador, la fecha de entrevista y el agroecosistema.2. Comentarios espontáneos, para consignar las reacciones e informaciones del productor sobre cada punto de la tecnología en evaluación. Después de que el productor realice espontáneamente sus comentarios, el entrevistador podrá buscar informaciones complementarias mediante preguntas en búsqueda de informaciones o de aclaraciones. Es importante registrar los comentarios del productor lo más exacto posible y en sus propias palabras.3. Las preguntas directas se deben hacer solamente al final de la evaluación y después de los comentarios espontáneos. Las respuestas se consignan en una sección específica del formulario. Las preguntas directas sólo se hacen en el caso de requerir más detalles sobre las opiniones del productor en un comentario específico.4. Una vez terminada la evaluación, el entrevistador puede anotar comentarios adicionales acerca de los aspectos que merecen ser destacados para mejorar la evaluación, entre ellos, el estado de desarrollo de los cultivos, las condiciones de clima prevalentes durante el ciclo de cultivo y la incidencia de plagas y enfermedades. Ashby (1992) presenta algunas recomendaciones para realizar las entrevistas de evaluación; entre ellas, se debe evitar:• Iniciar la entrevista sin explicar los objetivos y aclarar las expectativas.• Enseñar y hacer recomendaciones acerca de la evaluación del productor.• Evaluar de las opiniones con productores o técnicos que no parezcan usuarios potenciales o que no tengan experiencia relevante acerca del tema.• Imponer criterios personales en la evaluación.• Criticar los criterios del productor y discutir o contradecirlo.• Rechazar la hospitalidad y abusar del tiempo del productor.• Interrumpir y apresurar al productor durante la evaluación.• Tomar más tiempo en preguntar que en escuchar.• Terminar la entrevista sin estar seguro de haber comprendido las razones del productor por preferir una alternativa sobre otra.• Interpretar opiniones y preferencias del productor sin verificar su propia interpretación.• Reprimir la iniciativa y creatividad del productor a través del control rígido de la innovación a evaluar. Quirós et al. (1992) recomiendan la utilización de varios tipos:• Abiertas, las cuales permiten una amplia gama de respuestas sin sugerir las esperadas.• De búsqueda de información, para facilitar la comprensión de un hecho específico. Son complementarias a las preguntas abiertas y sólo se hacen cuando se necesita información más específica para conocer mejor la opinión de productor.• De aclaración, destinadas a explorar más a fondo el significado de términos y opiniones expresadas por el productor, así como estimular su juicio y lograr más detalles sobre la opinión.• De inducción, que sugieren respuestas esperadas y no deben ser realizadas por restringir la expresión libre y espontánea del productor.Una vez se concluye la entrevista, se procede a una codificación de los comentarios espontáneos del productor. A cada información se le asignan símbolos positivo (+) o negativo (-) para identificar el tipo de opinión manifestada por el productor. Esta codificación ayudará a comprender cómo y por qué el productor acepta o rechaza la tecnología. Ashby (1992) también señala otros criterios de evaluación en las entrevistas, entre ellos:• Evaluación absoluta, para identificar lo que el productor acepta o rechaza según sus opiniones.• Ordenamiento de alternativas, destinado a obtener un orden de preferencia global de las alternativas bajo prueba, por parte del productor.• Matriz de ordenamiento, una técnica que consiste en solicitar al productor una relación de los varios tratamientos con base en parámetros específicos elegidos conjuntamente con él.• Comparación entre pares, aplicada a las alternativas cuando los temas por comparar son claramente diferenciables.Al final de cada ciclo de cultivo, los técnicos elaboran una síntesis de los principales resultados, consignando en el resumen aspectos positivos y negativos destacados por el productor cooperador durante las entrevistas de evaluación. Cuando se comparan las opiniones del productor con los parámetros agronómicos y económicos seleccionados, es posible verificar hasta qué punto los efectos evaluados bajo la óptica técnico-científica coinciden con la lógica y experiencia del usuario.Los productores, al igual que los investigadores, no desean comprometerse sobre la base de una prueba. Más bien, desean estar seguros de que los resultados observados podrán repetirse en otras circunstancias. Por esta razón, tratarán de seleccionar varias opciones promisorias para futuras pruebas. Además, podrán expresar dos o tres opciones atractivas. Por tanto, los investigadores deberán adoptar y mantener la actitud neutral y ser receptivos frente a las críticas honestas del productor.Para el ajuste y la comprobación de la sostenibilidad, la rentabilidad y la aceptación de las innovaciones tecnológicas ofrecidas por la investigación agrícola, es necesario establecer y monitorear pruebas de validación en fincas de referencia. Estas pruebas deben ser planeadas y ejecutadas de acuerdo con los problemas y limitaciones previamente diagnosticados y teniendo en cuenta las características prevalentes en el ámbito de la recomendación y la existencia de la necesidad y el interés en la adopción de las nuevas tecnologías.El ajuste y validación de las ofertas tecnológicas se debe realizar en agroecosistemas a nivel de fincas, con la participación activa de los productores cooperadores y con el apoyo formal de los extensionistas y asistentes técnicos locales.Mediante el adecuado monitoreo y evaluación, será posible escoger las tecnologías que sean más apropiadas a los diferentes objetivos y necesidades del productor y de su área de influencia. Por tanto, es necesario adoptar procedimientos y criterios que permitan el adecuado registro y ordenamiento de los parámetros de evaluación.El éxito en las evaluaciones con productores requiere, ante todo, establecer una relación de confianza, amistad y respeto a lo largo de todo el proceso de validación. Esto exige actitudes de sencillez y sinceridad por parte de los investigadores para establecer una buena relación con el productor.Transferencia de Tecnología: El Caso del Sistema Barreirão en Goiás, Brasil Los sistemas de producción agrícola representan actualmente un reto a las estrategias de transferencia de tecnología. Los modelos tradicionales implican una secuencia de acciones que se inician con el diagnóstico del problema por el investigador, pasando por la elaboración de proyectos y la ejecución de la investigación, y terminando con el proceso de transferencia de resultados experimentales a los asistentes técnicos. La propuesta del 'Sistema Barreirão' es más amplia y requiere que todo el sistema se transfiera a través de un mayor esfuerzo en las fases de validación y transferencia propiamente dicha con la participación de investigadores, productores, políticos, cooperativas y técnicos en extensión. Para tener éxito en el proceso es necesario utilizar la palabra 'sistema' como una clave para la adopción de toda la tecnología, el desarrollo de maquinaria para preparar el suelo y sembrar, la obtención de financiamiento para el sistema y ganar el apoyo de políticos, la realización de eventos como días de campo, y la divulgación del sistema a través de los medios de comunicación. Los resultados obtenidos en el Sistema Barreirão indican que es exitoso en relación con: (1) los costos, que fueron cubiertos por la venta de los granos producidos;(2) el desarrollo de una serie de arados y sembradoras adaptados al Sistema; y (3) el financiamiento por parte del sistema bancario para la recuperación y renovación de pasturas. Con el uso de este sistema, el área recuperada de pasturas aumentó de cerca de 2000 ha en el período 1990/91 a 400,000 ha en el período 1993/94, lo cual es un indicativo de su adopción y uso por los productores.Agricultural production systems present a challenge in the development of strategies for technology transfer. Traditional models follow a sequence of actions, starting with problem diagnosis by the researcher, followed by project design and execution, and finishing with the transfer of experimental results to technical assistants. The \"Barreirão System\" is broader in concept, requiring that a whole system be transferred through a major effort of validation and transfer and involving researchers, farmers, extension workers, policymakers, and cooperatives. For transfer to be successful, the word \"system\" is key to the farmer adopting the whole technology package, to developing machinery for plowing and planting, to obtaining financial support for the system and thus win policymakers' support, to conducting field days, and to promoting the system through communication media. The \"Barreirão System\" was successful in terms of (1) costs, which were recovered through sale of crop grains; (2) adapting a series of plows and planters for the system; and (3) funding from banks to reclaim and renew pastures. The area of recovered pastures grew from about 2,000 ha in 1990/91 to 400,000 ha in 1993/94, thus indicating the success of the \"Barreirão System\" strategy.En los países en desarrollo, la evolución tecnológica en el sector de la producción agropecuaria es limitada, entre otros factores, por el empirismo de los productores y su bajo poder económico. Esto dificulta el proceso de transferencia de tecnología, lo que constituye una barrera para el desarrollo sostenible. Históricamente, las nuevas variedades liberadas en las regiones tropicales han tenido una adopción más o menos razonable por los productores. Por tanto, la difusión de sistemas de producción que involucran prácticas e insumos fundamentales para mejorar la fertilidad los suelos, en general pobres, es compleja.Esta situación se vuelve aún más compleja cuando existen dificultades para la expansión del área agrícola, en detrimento de la productividad; por ej., en algunos países de América del Sur, principalmente en la región Central del Cerrado de Brasil, el 62% del área está ocupada por explotaciones superiores a 1000 ha y 0.5% tienen menos de 100 ha (Teixeira et al., 1986, citados por Seguy et al., 1989). En este ámbito, el incremento de la productividad es de máxima importancia para los pequeños y medianos productores; no obstante, debido a la deficiencia en recursos e información, ellos casi siempre tienen un acceso limitado a mecanización y al uso de insumos.Aunque el servicio de extensión rural oficial tiene como filosofía básica la de actuar junto al pequeño productor, transfiriendo conocimientos y tecnologías, esa relación no siempre presenta resultados que conducen a una mejor productividad y al desarrollo sostenible de las regiones productoras. Por otro lado, la baja adopción de tecnologías por los productores desmotiva a los asistentes técnicos, llegando inclusive a perder credibilidad en la sociedad (Mussoi, 1993). Aun más, la no-adopción de las innovaciones tecnológicas como uso de insumos y mecanización agrícola, genera un mercado cada vez menos competitivo, principalmente por la relación de precios entre los productos primarios y los bienes e insumos necesarios para la producción.Por considerar que la solución para los factores limitativos de la producción se encuentra en el mercado, muchos productores no se preocupan por la sostenibilidad del potencial productivo del ecosistema, siendo cada vez menos utilizadas prácticas como el control de la erosión y la conservación de la materia orgánica. Adicionalmente, en las regiones tropicales existen aún problemas de costo de producción, que se vuelven más elevados por la necesidad de aplicaciones frecuentes de fertilizantes y agroquímicos para el control de malezas, plagas y enfermedades; y por la adopción de prácticas culturales específicas para la preparación del suelo y la siembra de cultivos (Kluthcouski et al., 1991). Además, el productor no tiene incentivos para invertir en tecnología, debido a que la liberación de los recursos para el financiamiento agrícola es inoportuno e insuficiente.Con excepción de las nuevas variedades y algunas tecnologías específicas, generalmente de costo reducido, el servicio parcial de transferencia de tecnología no ha influido, hasta ahora, en los rendimientos agrícolas. Por esta razón, se considera que esta actividad debe incluir un conjunto de técnicas interrelacionadas con los sistemas agrícolas, con el fin de garantizar un efecto en la productividad y en el mejoramiento socioeconómico del productor.Teniendo en cuenta algunos de los factores limitativos para la adopción de las tecnologías generadas por la investigación, se admite que la forma de transferencia de las mismas puede contribuir en forma significativa al cambio de mentalidad de los productores e influir en el sector de crédito y en la implementación de programas de desarrollo generados por la clase política. El modelo usual que relaciona los procesos de generación y de transferencia de tecnología implica una secuencia de acciones, iniciadas con el diagnóstico del problema en la finca por parte del investigador, pasando por la elaboración de proyectos y la ejecución de la investigación, y terminando con el proceso de transferencia de los resultados experimentales a los asistentes técnicos mediante capacitación o medios escritos (Figura 1). A partir de ese momento, la responsabilidad de la difusión de la tecnología generada pasa a ser de los técnicos, quienes no siempre poseen el suficiente conocimiento de la misma.Este modelo da buenos resultados cuando se trata de temas aislados como el uso de productos químicos y distancias de siembra, entre otros, siendo inadecuado para la difusión de sistemas agrícolas. Entre sus limitaciones se destacan la actuación aislada del técnico en difusión, a quien le corresponde, también, la responsabilidad de desarrollar tecnologías para alimentar nuevamente la investigación.Este Sistema consiste en una tecnología que incluye un conjunto de prácticas -técnicas avanzadas de preparación de suelos, siembra de precisión y utilización de insumos modernos-que posibilitan la recuperación de pasturas degradadas mediante la asociación de forrajeras con cultivos como arroz, maíz, sorgo, Pennisetum sp. y girasol (Kluthcouski et al.,Capítulo 15,este libro). Debido a las interrelaciones de las prácticas recomendadas, es fundamental que todas ellas sean aplicadas, para no comprometer la eficiencia del Sistema. En esta tecnología se adoptó un método distinto de difusión y transferencia, el cual desde su concepción ha venido sufriendo un proceso de mejoramiento continuo en el seguimiento de los procesos agropecuarios.Partiendo del supuesto que la transferencia de este Sistema ocurriría especialmente entre ganaderos, se consideraron, entre otros factores, los siguientes:• La necesidad de utilizar maquinaria y equipos diferentes a los que tradicionalmente venían empleando los productores y de ajustar los que ya existían.• La posibilidad de que el uso de arroz de secano, cultivo pionero en la implementación del Sistema, no estimularía al productor.• La necesidad de aplicar insumos en la cantidad y calidad que requería el Sistema.• La necesidad de implementar y observar numerosas unidades demostrativas, lo que implicaba una alta demanda de recursos humanos, materiales y capital financiero.• Algunos de los equipos disponibles en el mercado no eran adecuados para la realización de las prácticas agronómicas que exige el Sistema.• La falta de crédito para el establecimiento de cultivos asociados que incluyen plantas forrajeras.• Debido a lo complejo del Sistema Barreirão, la capacitación de los asistentes técnicos no debía restringirse sólo a la realización de cursos y publicaciones.• En el Cerrado brasileño, de un total de 130 millones de hectáreas de pasturas, cerca del 80% se encontraban degradadas, siendo económicamente viable la recuperación de ellas.En el proceso de transferencia de la tecnología se adoptaron las estrategias siguientes:• Denominar \"Sistema\" a la tecnología generada con el fin de inducir el uso de todas las prácticas, eliminando el término \"arroz de secano\" que era de baja aceptación por los productores.• Promover el Sistema en todo el país, a través de medios masivos como prensa, radio y televisión.• Acordar estrategias con empresas productoras de maquinarias, implementos e insumos, buscando apoyo para divulgación del Sistema, y la cesión de los equipos utilizados en la realización de las actividades específicas y las modificaciones necesarias en los productos ofrecidos.• Estimular a las empresas de asistencia técnica, cooperativas y otros segmentos del sector agrícola para que participaran de manera efectiva en la implementación y en el seguimiento de las unidades demostrativas del Sistema, desde el momento de la selección del municipio y del área para la prueba.• Invitar a los representantes de entidades financieras, autoridades políticas locales y nacionales, y representantes de aseguradoras agrícolas, a todos los eventos promocionales del Sistema.• Ofrecer entrenamiento teórico y práctico continuado a los extensionistas de las redes de asistencia técnica oficial y privada.Con estas estrategias se inició en el Cerrado el proceso de transferencia del Sistema Barreirão. Esta región tiene aproximadamente 200 millones de hectáreas, lo que equivale al 25% del territorio de Brasil. Durante el primer año de divulgación se implantaron varias unidades demostrativas representativas, que permitieron evaluar los métodos convencionales de recuperación de pasturas y los efectos de diferentes técnicas de preparación de suelos, en comparación con las prácticas agronómicas recomendadas en el Sistema Barreirão. Desde el inicio, los productores interesados y, particularmente, los asistentes técnicos, estuvieron en contacto permanente con el desarrollo de las unidades demostrativas. A partir del segundo año, con el fin de reducir costos, el monitoreo de las nuevas unidades instaladas se hizo a nivel nacional en explotaciones particulares de mayor extensión.Se debe reconocer que el éxito obtenido durante todo el proceso es el resultado de un trabajo conjunto y multidisciplinario, siendo necesario enfatizar:• La participación conjunta de biólogos, economistas y extensionistas.• La contribución efectiva de los socios en la promoción de eventos con políticos, representantes del gobierno y de las industrias.• La responsabilidad de los técnicos locales en la organización de días de campo.Cuando en algunas de las localidades no existía asistencia técnica oficial, la reponsabilidad en los trabajos dentro del Sistema Barreirão fue asumida por los técnicos de las cooperativas, de la municipalidad o de otras instituciones comprometidas.La eficiencia del modelo de transferencia utilizado para el Sistema Barreirão puede ser comprobado por las tasas de retorno directas obtenidas en 4 años de cultivos agrícolas (Cuadro 1).Estas tasas representan la retribución por venta de granos, que tiene un retorno inmediato al capital empleado. En este caso no se consideraba la retribución debida a la pastura renovada, la cual está determinada por la ganancia de peso vivo de los animales y por el incremento de la producción de carne y leche, principalmente en el período seco. También se debe tener en cuenta que la calidad de la pastura renovada proporciona una mayor productividad animal -mayor índice de natalidad, menor índice de mortalidad, reducción en el tiempo al destete y más rendimiento de carne-y una mejor cobertura de los suelos que ayuda a reducir la erosión y el uso de agroquímicos.El Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Arroz e Feijão de la Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa Arroz e Feijão) implantó el Sistema Barreirão e hizo el seguimiento en 37 unidades demostrativas. Esta labor fue coordinada conjuntamente con el Servicio de Extensión Rural en 35 unidades adicionales.A través del tiempo, se utilizó una gama diversificada de medios de divulgación, entre ellos: videos y reportajes para programas de televisión nacional, regional y local; artículos en revistas, periódicos y cuadernos agrícolas; e informativos de cooperativas y empresas privadas. Además de difundir la tecnología, con este trabajo se motivó a numerosos productores a participar en días de campo demostrativos sobre el Sistema. Para alcanzar grupos específicos, se utilizaron medios dirigidos como conferencias y capacitación; y consultorías y establecimiento de correo directo con los productores, Cuadro 1. Productividad y tasas de retorno directas obtenidas en las unidades demostrativas del Sistema Barreirão, establecidas en cuatro períodos agrícolas en diferentes municipalidades y estados de Brasil. empresas privadas e instituciones públicas.Como principales resultados del método utilizado para la transferencia de tecnología en el Sistema Barreirão, se pueden mencionar los siguientes:1. La evolución del área de pasturas recuperadas pasó de cerca de 2000 ha en el período 1990/91, a 10,000, 50,000 y 400,000 ha en los períodos agrícolas 1991/92, 1992/93 y 1993/94, respectivamente.2. Las modificaciones importantes que hicieron más eficientes los equipos de labranza, entre ellas, vertedera con desarme automático, sembradoras adaptadas, fertilizantes con fórmulas balanceadas, e incremento en el número y disponibilidad de modelos de arados de vertedera.Federal de crédito y seguro agrícola suficientes, incluyendo el respaldo total de los costos y favoreciendo al Sistema Barreirão en relación con la explotación de otros cultivos.4. La entrega de subsidios al programa nacional de seguro agrícola, para perfeccionar el proceso de seguridad de monocultivos.5. El fortalecimiento de las relaciones con entidades privadas, las cuales asumieron los costos de divulgación y transferencia y proveyeron vehículos, maquinarias y equipos.6. La obtención de ayudas para investigación, evitando los gastos públicos.7. La participación de líderes técnicos y políticos a nivel nacional, comprometidos con la continuidad del proceso de difusión del Sistema.8. La producción de un programa nacional de divulgación, conocido como 'Programa Verde y Amarillo', patrocinado por un grupo de empresas para la divulgación y capacitación durante todo el proceso de transferencia de tecnología.9. La formación de equipos multidisciplinarios de investigación local y nacional, involucrando centros de investigación y universidades.10. La realización de 23 días de campo en siete estados de la federación, en los cuales participaron, en promedio, por evento, entre 50 y 4000 productores; extensionistas; investigadores; estudiantes y personas del gobierno, la banca y la empresa privada. Las sabanas de la Orinoquia Colombiana se caracterizan por tener suelos de baja fertilidad con bajos contenidos de fósforo (P), calcio (Ca), magnesio (Mg), potasio (K) y azufre (S); bajo pH, alta concentración de aluminio (Al) intercambiable, elevada saturación de Al y baja estabilidad de la estructura física. Sin embargo, estos suelos ácidos tienen algunas características que favorecen sistemas de agricultura sostenible, entre ellas: (1) abundante y adecuada distribución de lluvias entre abril y noviembre, (2) topografía relativamente plana, (3) buenas características físicas, y (4) una alta disponibilidad de tierra. La Orinoquia Colombiana comprende cerca de 26 millones de hectáreas, de las cuales el 53% son bien drenadas y subutilizadas en sistemas de ganadería extensivos en pasturas manejadas con baja tecnología y escasa productividad. Para el manejo racional de estos suelos se requieren tecnologías altamente eficientes y de bajo costo. Los componentes tecnológicos necesarios para el desarrollo de esta región incluyen especies y cultivares que toleren altas concentraciones de Al y sean eficientes en la absorción de nutrimentos. Asimismo, se requieren prácticas que incrementen la estabilidad estructural en los agregados y que disminuyan la erosión y la escorrentía del suelo. La investigación en sistemas de producción de cultivos para incorporar estas áreas a la producción de alimentos ha sido liderada por el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) y por la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica), a través de la generación de variedades con alto potencial genético y el desarrollo de prácticas tecnológicas de manejo de suelos adecuadas para la solución de los problemas edáficos. Los logros de la investigación en sistemas de producción sostenible son el resultado de la integración de los grupos multidisciplinarios. Los Llanos Orientales de Colombia abarcan cerca de 26 millones de hectáreas, de los cuales un 53% pertenecen a la Orinoquia bien drenada que comprende terrazas aluviales y las altillanuras plana y disectada. De esta área, cerca de 4.6 millones de hectáreas en terrazas y altillanura plana tienen un alto potencial agrícola y pecuario, que se encuentran actualmente subutilizadas en sistemas de ganadería extensiva, con pasturas de baja calidad nutritiva.La producción en estos ecosistemas es limitada por factores agroecológicos como la baja fertilidad de los suelos debida a la deficiencia de P, Ca, Mg, K y S; elevada acidez; alta saturación de Al y fragilidad estructural. Otros factores limitativos, que han retrasado el desarrollo sostenible de la región, son la falta de adopción de tecnología y la ausencia de estudios socioeconómicos. Aún se utiliza germoplasma no-adaptado y prácticas agronómicas que modifican de manera negativa el ambiente -exceso de laboreo; uso excesivo de enmiendas, fertilizantes químicos y pesticidas-lo cual se traduce en altos costos de producción, escasos incentivos al productor, baja rentabilidad y competitividad de los productos.No obstante, la región tiene ciertas ventajas, entre ellas, suelos de topografía plana de fácil mecanización, y suficiente y adecuada distribución de las lluvias entre abril y noviembre.Con estos antecedentes y considerando el gran potencial agropecuario de la Orinoquia colombiana, el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) y la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica) han liderado la investigación en la región con un enfoque multidisciplinario, con el fin de generar tecnologías que permitan el desarrollo de sistemas de producción eficientes, sostenibles y competitivos. La generación tecnológica está orientada hacia la obtención de especies y genotipos mejorados adaptados a suelos ácidos altamente saturados de Al, eficientes en la utilización de los recursos de producción y en la generación de prácticas agronómicas conservacionistas.La mayoría de los cultivos no toleran las condiciones de fertilidad prevalentes en suelos ácidos y requieren la aplicación de dosis altas de enmiendas y fertilizantes para producir satisfactoriamente. Teniendo en cuenta esta situación, las entidades antes mencionadas han desarrollado germoplasma adaptado a estos ecosistemas, tolerante a Al y con alto potencial de producción (Cuadro 1).Arroz (Oryza sativa L.) Oryzica Sabana 6, que tiene como progenitores: TOx 1780-2-1-1-1P-4/Col1 x M312A//IAC 47, fue liberada en 1991 como la primera variedad de arroz de secano de alto rendimiento para suelos ácidos. La tolerancia de este genotipo a suelos ácidos parece deberse a exudados orgánicos de las raíces, entre ellos el ácido cítrico. Estos ácidos establecen enlaces con el Al, al cual se ligan fuertemente e inactivan, a la vez que liberan el P fijado.Esta variedad mejorada de arroz es precoz -tiene un período vegetativo entre 110 y 115 días-tolera altas saturaciones de Al (> 90%); presenta hojas anchas; tallos gruesos y fuertes; y es resistente al volcamiento. Tiene un promedio de altura de 100 cm y produce granos largos y delgados con poco centro blanco. Se caracteriza por raíces profundas, lo que le permite tomar más fácilmente el agua y los nutrimentos de las capas inferiores del suelo.Oryzica Sabana 6 es resistente a las enfermedades y plagas prevalentes en la región, lo que permite reducir o eliminar el uso de agroquímicos, ayudando a la conservación del medio ambiente. Esta variedad se puede sembrar en asociación con pastos y leguminosas, lo cual permite así el establecimiento en corto tiempo de una pastura mejorada (Leal et al., 1991).En pruebas regionales en suelos con saturaciones de Al entre 81% y 92%, esta variedad produjo, en promedio, 3.22 t/ha, mientras que la variedad mejorada IAC-165 (de Brasil), utilizada como testigo tolerante, produjo 2.21 t/ha, y las variedades susceptibles presentaron rendimientos aun inferiores (Cuadro 2).Otra alternativa genética desarrollada para suelos ácidos y que presenta granos de mejor calidad es la nueva variedad de arroz Oryzica Sabana 10, que fue desarrollada en 1986 mediante el cruzamiento Colombia 1 x M 312A/IRAT 124//RHS 107-2-1-2TB-1-1M, realizado en el CIAT y a partir del cual se generó, por selección individual, la Línea 3, que posteriormente recibió el nombre de Oryzica Sabana 10.En 1994, en pruebas realizadas por Corpoica en las localidades de Yopal y Puerto López, y en los centros experimentales La Libertad y Carimagua (Llanos Orientales de Colombia), la Línea 3 produjo, en promedio, 3.6 t/ha en tres pruebas regionales y 2.9 t/ha en cuatro siembras semicomerciales, siendo estos rendimientos similares a los obtenidos con la variedad Oryzica Sabana 6 (Cuadro 3) (Aristizábal et al., 1995).La variedad Oryzica Sabana 10 presenta una mayor producción de biomasa como materia seca (M.S.), en comparación con Oryzica Sabana 6; y tiene excelente habilidad para competir en sistemas asociados arroz-pasturas. Además es resistente al volcamiento, posee un mayor nivel de resistencia a la Piricularia en la hoja y en el cuello de la panícula. La apariencia del grano (longitud y relación largo:ancho) le dan una ventaja adicional para el sector molinero, mejorando, en consecuencia, las condiciones de mercado para el arroz de sabana (Aristizábal y Leal, 1995).El mejoramiento genético del arroz para suelos ácidos actualmente está orientado hacia la búsqueda de materiales precoces de alto rendimiento, calidad y adaptación, con resistencia a Piricularia, que puedan ser introducidos en sistemas integrados de producción en sabanas tropicales, en las cuales la rotación y las asociaciones de cultivos son elementos fundamentales de sostenibilidad.En 1984 se inició en el CI. La Libertad (Villavicencio, Meta) el programa de Mejoramiento Genético de Soya para Suelos Acidos, con el fin de desarrollar genotipos tolerantes a altas saturaciones de Al en el suelo. Inicialmente se evaluaron 1089 accesiones de la colección mundial de soya (421 de Brasil, 226 de Taiwán y 422 de otros países) y 407 poblaciones entre segregantes y líneas avanzadas del CI. Palmira (Valle del Cauca). Como producto de fuertes presiones de selección intra e interfamiliar se obtuvieron las primeras líneas de soya tolerantes al 70% de saturación de Al, las que recibieron la denominación de Litas (líneas tolerantes a Al) (Valencia, 1994).La línea Lita 09, caracterizada por su buena adaptación y alto potencial genético, fue liberada con el nombre de Soyica Altillanura 2 como la primera Cuadro 3. Rendimiento promedio (t/ha) de las variedades Oryzica Sabana 6 y Oryzica Sabana 10 en pruebas regionales y semicomerciales en suelos ácidos de la Orinoquia colombiana. Soyica Altillanura 2 es producto del cruzamiento simple de la línea 109 (actual Soyica N-21) y la línea 124. La primera tiene como uno de sus progenitores la introducción PI274954 que presenta tolerancia a crisomélidos, y la segunda cuenta con genes de la variedad Davis para resistencia a Cercospora (Cercospora sojina), combinados con genes de las variedades Hill y Mandarín para alto potencial de rendimiento.Esta variedad se caracteriza por tolerar hasta un 70% de saturación de Al y utilizar eficientemente los recursos de producción, siendo una alternativa potencial para los sistemas de producción sostenible de los suelos ácidos de sabanas tropicales. Presenta crecimiento indeterminado, flores de color púrpura, pubescencia café y semillas amarillas. Es precoz, con un período vegetativo entre 85 y 95 días, con 13 a 26 vainas por planta y dos a tres granos en cada una de ellas (Caicedo et al., 1984).En suelos ácidos con 70% o más de saturación de Al, la variedad Soyica Altillanura 2 alcanza rendimientos, en promedio, de 1.5 t/ha, mientras que en suelos con niveles inferiores de saturación aquellos aumentan significativamente (Cuadro 4). En la medida en que se logre aumentar el contenido de materia orgánica en los suelos de la región, mediante rotación de cultivos, incorporación de abonos verdes y manejo eficiente del recurso suelo, se reducirán los efectos nocivos del Al y, consecuentemente, se incrementará el potencial productivo de estos agroecosistemas de una manera sostenible y competitiva.Con el propósito de desarrollar una variedad de soya de mayor adaptación y alto rendimiento, Corpoica adelanta investigación en evaluación y selección de progenitores de alto potencial genético para involucrarlos en planes de hibridación dirigida. De este proceso se han generado líneas avanzadas altamente promisorias para suelos ácidos, las cuales son precoces y resistentes a las principales enfermedades presentes en la región. Sorghica Real 40 es una selección de la introducción Serere 1, que tiene entre 59 y 62 días a floración, una altura de planta entre 1.5 y 1.7 m, excersión de la panoja de 5 a 7 cm, hojas lisas, panojas semiabiertas y semicompactas. Presenta buen comportamiento en los dos semestres del año, con rendimientos superiores en el primero (Cuadro 5).Sorghica Real 60 es una selección de la introducción MN 4508 y tiene: tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades, buena adaptación y estabilidad en rendimiento en suelos con saturaciones de Al entre 40% y 60% (Cuadro 5). Para la selección de esta variedad se tuvieron en cuenta la precocidad y la altura de la planta (Ruiz y Rendón, 1991).Ambas variedades son tolerantes a las principales enfermedades (Colletotrichum y Gloeocercospora) que afectan el sorgo en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia; y aunque en el primer semestre no tienen problemas de plagas, en el segundo se deben hacer liberaciones de Trichogramma para reducir los ataques de Diatraea.Otra alternativa para suelos ácidos es la variedad de sorgo Icaravan 1 que fue obtenida a partir del material introducido IS 3071, originario de Uganda y resultante de la investigación realizada por Intsormil dentro del Convenio entre la estación experimental El Alcaraván y el ICA. Se adapta bien a suelos de vega y vegones con 60% de saturación de Al, tiene un período vegetativo de 110 días y 73 días a floración. La altura de la planta es de 1.6 m y tiene una panoja semiabierta con granos café-claro. Presenta tolerancia a enfermedades del follaje y a los hongos Fusarium y Curvularia que causan pudrición del grano. En pruebas regionales y siembras comerciales realizadas en el segundo semestre en la zona de Arauca, presentó rendimientos promedio de 2.48 t/ha, siendo éstos iguales o ligeramente superiores a los de la variedad comercial Sorghica Real 60, utilizada como testigo (Muñoz et al., 1993).Actualmente existen otros convenios, entre ellos, el de Corpoica con el International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, por su sigla en inglés) para la investigación en variedades de sorgo de grano y forrajeras con mejor adaptación a suelos ácidos que las variedades antes mencionadas.El ICA y el Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), en colaboración con Corpoica, desarrollaron la variedad mejorada de maíz Sikuani V-110. Esta variedad tolera hasta 55% de saturación de Al y contenidos de P tan bajos como 8 ppm en el suelo. Por lo anterior, se recomienda sembrarla en suelos mejorados de la Altillanura y el Piedemonte de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Es resistente a volcamiento, alcanza, en promedio, 2 m de altura, la Con el fin de incrementar la productividad del maíz en suelos de sabana, el Convenio Corpoica-CIMMYT ha desarrollado una serie de híbridos con buen vigor, que superan significativamente en rendimiento a la variedad Sikuani V-110. Estos materiales se encuentran en proceso de evaluación bajo diferentes prácticas agronómicas antes de su liberación.Además de la identificación de variedades adaptadas a suelos ácidos, fue necesario desarrollar técnicas de manejo agronómico adecuadas para optimizar los recursos existentes, en ellas se incluyen: la selección del terreno; la preparación de suelos con implementos adecuados para minimizar las pérdidas por erosión y mejorar la aireación y la actividad biológica; épocas y densidades de siembra; la fertilización y el manejo integrado de plagas. En los Cuadros 7 y 8 se resumen algunas de las recomendaciones para el manejo de los cultivos anuales en suelos ácidos. Cuadro 6. Rendimiento (t/ha) de las variedades de maíz Sikuani V-110 y Tuxpeño en suelos ácidos de diferentes regiones, entre 1992-93. En las sabanas de suelos ácidos de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, la alimentación animal está basada en la utilización de biomasa forrajera de gramíneas nativas e introducidas de calidad baja o moderada, lo que repercute negativamente en la producción animal. Con el objeto de mejorar esta situación, el ICA, Corpoica y el CIAT han unido esfuerzos en la generación de alternativas forrajeras de amplia adaptación, buena calidad y con potencial para producción en la región. Para ello, se han venido desarrollando programas de introducción, selección y desarrollo de germoplasma.Las leguminosas son componentes importantes de las pasturas tropicales, ya que fijan nitrógeno atmosférico que es aprovechado por las gramíneas en sistemas asociados para aumentar la producción y la calidad nutritiva, contribuyendo de esta manera en forma significativa a la ganancia de peso de los animales en pastoreo. En el Cuadro 9 se incluye un listado de especies forrajeras promisorias en regiones tropicales con suelos ácidos.Originario de Africa Occidental fue introducido por el CIAT a Colombia en 1973. Crece bien en suelos ácidos. Es de polinización cruzada y responde a días de corta longitud, siendo su período de cosecha de 36 a 44 días desde el inicio de la floración. En condiciones comerciales produce entre 65 y 125 kg/ha de semilla limpia.La producción anual de peso vivo animal en sabanas con pasturas de cv. Carimagua-1 en monocultivo varía  1992FUENTE: ICA (1983;1987;1990).entre 90 y 119 kg/año. La introducción de leguminosas en estas pasturas permite alcanzar ganancias de peso vivo de 150 kg/año con cargas moderadas hasta de 2 animales/ha. A las 12 semanas de rebrote produce entre 3 y 6 t/ha de M.S. en épocas seca y lluviosa, respectivamente (Belalcázar et al., 1995).Esta leguminosa resistente a la antracnosis y adaptada a suelos ácidos, permite obtener buena productividad animal y aceptables retornos económicos. Por el fácil establecimiento y manejo, tolerancia a las sequías prolongadas y abundante producción de semilla, es ideal para aumentar y mantener la producción de las pasturas. Otra ventaja es su persistencia bajo condiciones de pastoreo y su compatibilidad con gramíneas como el cv. Carimagua-1 (A. gayanus). En pruebas agronómicas con pastoreo controlado y en asociación con el cultivar anterior, produce anualmente entre 2 y 3 t/ha de M.S. Los rendimientos de semilla en vaina varían entre 75 y 300 kg/ha, si la cosecha es mecanizada; y 50% mayor con cosecha manual. En ambos casos, la pureza de la semilla alcanza 98% y la germinación, una vez escarificada, es de 95%. El contenido de proteína cruda de las hojas en la época seca es de 12% y en la lluviosa de 18%, siendo la digestibilidad de 55% a 60% (ICA, 1983).Esta especie es originaria de la Orinoquia colombiana y fue recolectada en 1979 en el departamento del Vichada. En condiciones experimentales se ha mostrado como una leguminosa bien adaptada a suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad, tolerante a la sequía y de mejor calidad que otras leguminosas adaptadas a la región, con potencial para establecimiento en asociación con gramíneas forrajeras como A. gayanus cv. Carimagua-1 y B. decumbens. En las condiciones de los Llanos Orientales, con período de rebrote de 12 semanas, se han obtenido producciones de 0.9 a 2 t/ha de M.S. en épocas seca y lluviosa, respectivamente.Es una planta de días cortos que se reproduce por autofecundación. La floración se inicia a mediados de noviembre y tiene una duración entre 4 y 5 semanas, variando los rendimientos de semilla entre 30 y 80 kg/ha. Su contenido de proteína puede llegar a 25% con una digestibilidad de 60%. En el CI. Carimagua, después de 2 años de pastoreo, la asociación de A. gayanus cv. Carimagua-1 con esta leguminosa ha producido ganancias de peso vivo de 670 g/animal por día en época de lluvia y de 115 g/animal por día en época seca (ICA, 1987).Es el resultado del esfuerzo interinstitucional ICA-CIAT. Este cultivar fue evaluado y seleccionado como alternativa para el Piedemonte y la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Es originario de Africa y fue introducido a Colombia por el CIAT en 1978.Se caracteriza por su buena adaptación y producción en suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad; es tolerante a la sequía y se recupera bien después de las quemas; tolera el ataque del mión de los pastos y se recupera rápidamente; no tolera encharcamiento prolongado; se propaga por estolones, cepas o cariópside; las semillas presentan latencia prolongada y difícil de romper; de buena palatabilidad y buena capacidad de carga. En el Piedemonte, la producción de forraje fluctúa entre 0.6 y 0.7 t/ha de M.S. en época seca y entre 0.9 y 1.7 t/ha de M.S. en época de lluvias. La capacidad de carga del cv. Llanero en pasturas asociadas con leguminosas varía entre 3 y 6 animales/ha en sistemas de pastoreo alterno. La ganancia de peso vivo es de 179 kg/animal y de 537 kg/ha por año, con un contenido de proteínas de 8.6% y una digestibilidad de 59% (ICA, 1987).El Maní Forrajero Perenne es originario de Brasil, se adapta bien a condiciones de suelos tropicales de textura entre franco y arcilloso, en suelos ácidos con altos contenidos de Al intercambiable. Tiene buena persistencia y compatibilidad con gramíneas, facilidad de propagación vegetativa o por semilla. Por su hábito estolonífero soporta bien el pastoreo con carga animal alta. Presenta moderada tolerancia a la sequía y es ideal para cultivos de cobertura y control de la erosión en asociación con cultivos perennes. En la Altillanura, esta leguminosa ha alcanzado producciones de M.S. hasta de 1.4 t/ha por año, mientras que en el Piedemonte llanero produce entre 3.8 y 5.5 t/ha. El nivel de proteína cruda en las hojas varía entre 13% y 18% en las épocas seca y lluviosa, respectivamente. El promedio de digestibilidad es de 62% a 67%. En el Piedemonte, en pastoreo alterno y carga fija de 3 animales/ha, la producción anual de peso vivo en pasturas solas y asociadas con Maní Forrajero Perenne varía entre 134 y 200 kg/animal en B. decumbens, y entre 131 y 168 kg/animal con B. dictyoneura (Rincón et al., 1992).En el Cuadro 10 se presentan algunas recomendaciones técnicas para el manejo de especies forrajeras adaptadas a suelos ácidos.La fragilidad de los suelos en las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana, la pérdida de estructura por la aplicación de prácticas inadecuadas de preparación y la pérdida de suelo por erosión, demandan la aplicación de prácticas conservacionistas que permitan la sostenibilidad del sistema, tanto en el aspecto productivo como de preservación. Entre estas prácticas se tienen los sistemas rotativos de cultivos anuales de gramíneas y leguminosas de grano, las asociaciones de estos cultivos con gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras para el Cuadro 10. Densidades y métodos de siembra de pastos y leguminosas forrajeras en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Con la liberación de la variedad de arroz Oryzica Sabana 6, para uso en asociación con gramíneas como B. dictyoneura cv. Pasto Llanero y A. gayanus cv. Pasto Carimagua-1 y leguminosas forrajeras como S. capitata cv. Capica se inició una etapa clave en el desarrollo de sistemas agropecuarios sostenibles para la Altillanura colombiana. El sistema arroz-pasturas fue propuesto como una alternativa para el establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas o para su recuperación en sabanas nativas. La tecnología disponible incluye: la selección del campo, la preparación del suelo utilizando implementos adecuados para minimizar las pérdidas por erosión, el mejoramiento de la aireación y la actividad de los microorganismos en el suelo, el uso de especies y variedades adaptadas, la siembra con densidades y métodos apropiados, la utilización mínima de enmiendas y fertilizantes, el manejo de plagas y enfermedades, y la incorporación de germoplasma forrajero tolerante al ecosistema con el fin de reducir o eliminar la aplicación de agroquímicos y preservar el medio ambiente (Leal, 1994).Algunas experiencias con la rotación de cultivos anuales para establecer pasturas mejoradas en las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana, indican que es posible incrementar los rendimientos de los cultivares, mejorar las condiciones fìsicoquímicas de los suelos y reducir los costos de establecimiento. Por ejemplo, la variedad Oryzica Sabana 6 produjo 3.9 t/ha de arroz cuando se sembró en forma consecutiva, mientras que cuando se sembró después de un cultivo de soya produjo 4.2 t/ha. Aunque la variedad Oryzica Sabana 6 representa actualmente la mejor alternativa genética para suelos ácidos, su producción en monocultivo puede traer como consecuencia la degradación acelerada de los suelos. Por ello, la rotación o asociación de cultivos con pasturas y leguminosas forrajeras constituyen el principio básico y fundamental para la producción sostenible en las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana.En el Cuadro 11 se presentan los resultados obtenidos en producción animal bajo el sistema arroz-pasturas. Las ganancias de peso vivo animal son similares a las obtenidas con el uso de otras tecnologías de producción propuestas para suelos de mediana a alta fertilidad en el Piedemonte de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Con el enfoque sistémico de la investigación se espera incorporar a la producción nacional en forma sostenible y económica una extensa área de las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana, mediante prácticas de rotación y asociación de Cuadro 11. Carga animal y ganancias de peso vivo en pasturas establecidas en asociación arroz-pastos, en Puerto López, Colombia.Epoca Carga (animal/ha) Ganancia de peso (g/animal por día) Los sistemas de producción que se encuentran en proceso de investigación en esta región incluyen la rotación de cultivos arroz-soya-maíz utilizando variedades tolerantes a Al, la incorporación de abonos verdes y su integración con pasturas mejoradas. Adicionalmente, en estos sistemas se están evaluando los efectos de diferentes intensidades de uso de la tierra sobre las propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo.De esta revisión sobre los sistemas de producción en sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana, se puede concluir lo siguiente:1. Actualmente existe una base genética de germoplasma de cultivos anuales y especies forrajeras para los sistemas integrados de producción en la región.2. Se dispone de un acervo de tecnologías apropiadas para producción, que está de acuerdo con los principios de sostenibilidad y conservación del medio ambiente.3. Se deben utilizar sistemas de rotación y asociación de gramíneas y leguminosas que permitan un uso eficiente de los recursos de producción.4. Independientemente del sistema de producción y de las especies utilizadas, se debe desarrollar y mantener una cobertura sobre el suelo para reducir la erosión, la compactación y las pérdidas de nutrimentos.Aristizábal, D. y Leal, D. 1995 El maíz (Zea mays) se cultiva en 130 millones de hectáreas en el mundo, de las cuales el 60% se encuentran en los países en desarrollo donde es básico para la alimentación de la población humana o como alimento para animales, principalmente aves. Debido a que la demanda por maíz es mayor que el incremento en la producción, las importaciones en estos países están creciendo a un ritmo de 1.5 millones de toneladas por año, siendo urgente incrementar la producción de este cultivo. Para ello, se requerirán tecnologías que aseguren buenos rendimientos en suelos marginales, ya que las zonas de mayor fertilidad serán ocupadas por cultivos más rentables. Los suelos disponibles para la expansión de la frontera agrícola son generalmente de baja fertilidad, siendo la acidez una de sus principales características. Para aumentar la producción en estos suelos se puede mejorar la fertilidad utilizando enmiendas, o se pueden generar cultivares que crezcan en estas condiciones. Aunque la primera opción tiene algunas limitaciones prácticas para la adopción por el pequeño agricultor, ambas son complementarias. El Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), con sede en México, conjuntamente con varios programas nacionales de investigación, han optado la segunda estrategia, o sea, la obtención de cultivares tolerantes a suelos ácidos. Para ello se formaron poblaciones base a partir de las cuales por selección se generaron, primero variedades de libre polinización y, luego, líneas sintéticas e híbridos. Se ha venido trabajando con dos poblaciones amarillas (SA-3 y SA4) y dos blancas (SA-6 y SA-7), que son heteróticas entre sí. El incremento en rendimiento en las variedades generadas ha sido significativo, si se considera que en suelos ácidos el rendimiento de los materiales que constituyeron las poblaciones base fue menor que 0.4 t/ha, mientras que el promedio de rendimiento de las nuevas variedades de libre polinización es 3 t/ha, y el de los híbridos de 4.5 t/ha. Estos mismos cultivares tienen, también, buen rendimiento en suelos de media a alta fertilidad, existiendo híbridos que producen más de 11 t/ha. En el campo de la fisiología se está trabajando para explicar los mecanismos fisiológicos responsables de la tolerancia a suelos ácidos. En el germoplasma existente en el CIMMYT se ha identificado que la exudación de ácido cítrico por las raíces es un mecanismo de esta tolerancia. Simultáneamente, se trabaja en la agronomía del cultivo para encontrar las alternativas que contribuyan al incremento de la productividad de los elementos que componen los sistemas del cultivo de maíz y, a la vez, mantengan la sostenibilidad del ambiente en el que desarrollan las actividades.Maize (Zea mays) is grown throughout the world, on about 130 million hectares. Of these, 60% are in developing countries where maize is both a staple food and animal feed, especially for poultry. Because demand for maize is greater than its production, developing countries import at an increasing rate of 1.5 million tons per year, and thus urgently need to increase their maize production. Because the best lands are occupied by cash crops, marginal environments with acid, low-fertility, soils must be developed. Such soils can be improved by using amendments, complemented by planting adapted cultivars. Because the first option is usually out of reach of the resource-poor farmer, the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), based in Mexico, in collaboration with several national agricultural research programs, has developed four maize populations that tolerate acid soils. These populations, two yellow (SA-3 and SA-4, both heterotic) and two white (SA-6 and SA-7, also heterotic), are being improved and used to develop cultivars. Grain yield of cultivars already developed from these populations has increased dramatically from less than 400 kg/ha for the cultivars used to form the base populations to 3.0 t/ha for open-pollinated cultivars, and 4.5 t/ha for hybrids. Yield of these same materials is also very high in medium to highly fertile soils, with some hybrids yielding more than 11 t/ha. One physiological mechanism found as contributing to acid-soil tolerance is the release of citric acid from roots. Also being studied are alternatives for crop management that would help improve the productivity of maize cropping systems while preserving the environment.El maíz es el tercer cultivo más importante en el mundo, después del arroz y el trigo. Se cultiva en aproximadamente 130 millones de hectáreas, de las cuales más del 60% se encuentran en países en desarrollo. Este cereal provee el 10% de la proteína y el 8% de las calorías para la alimentación humana, siendo básico para millones de habitantes en América Latina y el Caribe, Asia y Africa.El incremento anual de la producción de maíz (3%) es menor que el de la demanda mundial (4%), siendo este déficit mayor en países en desarrollo, lo que determina que las importaciones crezcan a un ritmo de 1.5 millones de toneladas por año. El incremento de la producción de maíz en nuevas áreas significa utilizar suelos de márgenes de baja fertilidad y que están expuestos a otros tipos de estrés abióticos. Una de las principales causas de la baja fertilidad de estos suelos es la acidez, que está relacionada con bajo pH, alta saturación de Al y baja absorción de fósforo, principalmente. Estos suelos se encuentran en el trópico, especialmente en el ecosistema de sabana que es considerado de alta importancia para producir alimentos en el futuro próximo; más aun, si se tiene en cuenta que a comienzos del milenio entrante se necesitarían unas 200 millones de hectáreas adicionales para alimentar la población mundial, asumiendo que el consumo per-cápita actual no aumentará.Para poder utilizar estos suelos se requiere el desarrollo de tecnologías adecuadas. Entre ellas, las más frecuentes son la modificación de las condiciones edáficas para permitir el desarrollo de cultivos, y la manipulación de la estructura genética de la planta para conseguir que los individuos crezcan favorablemente en estas condiciones. El CIMMYT, en colaboración con varios programas nacionales de investigación, decidió trabajar con la segunda opción a fin de desarrollar cultivares -variedades de libre polinización e híbridos-que se desarrollen bien en condiciones de suelos ácidos y, de esta forma, contribuir con una solución permanente, ecológicamente limpia y económicamente factible, a la generación de tecnologías de fácil adopción por parte de los agricultores.En la primera parte de este escrito se tratará sobre la manipulación genética de las plantas de maíz, y en la segunda se hace una revisión de los mecanismos responsables de la tolerancia de la planta que le permiten crecer en suelos ácidos. Un mejor entendimiento de estos mecanismos es fundamental para conseguir mayor eficiencia en el esquema de mejoramiento genético. Adicionalmente se están desarrollando materiales genéticos necesarios para marcar genes y estimar mecanismos de tolerancia relacionados con el rendimiento de maíz en suelos ácidos. Finalmente se presentan algunos avances de la investigación agronómica realizada por el CIMMYT como un complemento fundamental en el proceso de adopción de tecnología por parte de los productores en diferentes regiones del mundo.El paso inicial dentro del desarrollo de germoplasma de maíz para suelos ácidos consistió en la formación de poblaciones básicas para el programa de mejoramiento. La SA-3 de granos amarillos semicristalinos (Granados et al., 1993) fue la primera población de maíz tolerante a suelos ácidos. La segunda fue SA-8 derivada del ciclo 2 de hermanos completos (HC) de la población SA-3 (Granados et al., 1995).Para responder a las exigencias de los programas nacionales y a las necesidades futuras para la producción de híbridos, fue necesario formar otras poblaciones. Se decidió, entonces, formar poblaciones heteróticas entre sí, dos amarillas (SA-4, dentada, y SA-5, cristalina) y dos blancas (SA-6, dentada, y SA-7, cristalina). La metodología para la formación de estas poblaciones fue descrita por Granados et al. (1995) y Pandey et al. (1995).La prioridad actual es orientar el programa de mejoramiento hacia la producción de líneas, tanto para la formación de sintéticos (variedades de libre polinización) como de híbridos. En consecuencia, se está reuniendo el germoplasma en dos grupos heteróticos, uno para maíces amarillos y otro para blancos (Narro et al., 1997). De acuerdo con la heterosis interpoblacional, las poblaciones SA-3 y SA-5 fueron reunidas en una sola (nueva SA-3) y la población SA-7 fue unida con la población SA-8 (nueva SA-7). Luego se adoptó un programa de selección recurrente recíproca para el grupo amarillo que incluye las poblaciones SA-4 y nueva SA-3, y para el grupo blanco que incluye las poblaciones SA-6 y nueva SA-7.Ambientes y métodos de selección. En el programa se han utilizado diferentes métodos de selección recurrente, entre ellos: Mazorca Hilera Modificado (MHM), HC y selección basada en familias S 1 (S 1 ) con pruebas internacionales de progenie en todos los casos. En suelos de alta fertilidad en Palmira (Colombia) se recombinan y generan las progenies que se evaluarán posteriormente en tres o más localidades dentro del país. Las evaluaciones se realizan en el CI. Carimagua en suelos con 55% de saturación de Al y 10 ppm de P (Bray-II), Santander de Quilichao en condiciones similares a las de Carimagua, y en Villavicencio en dos suelos con 10 ppm de P y 55% y 65% de saturación de Al. Adicionalmente, si es posible, las progenies son evaluadas en Brasil, Filipinas, Indonesia, Perú, Tailandia y Venezuela. La selección de las progenies de mejor comportamiento a través de localidades y su recombinación han permitido mejorar los niveles de tolerancia de las poblaciones de maíz a las condiciones de acidez en el suelo.Una vez formadas las poblaciones base, se inició el proceso de selección intrapoblacional con el fin de incrementar la frecuencia de genes favorables en cada una de las poblaciones.La población SA-3 ha sido sometida a un proceso de selección intenso (Granados et al., 1993) durante 16 ciclos de selección utilizando el método MHM (Pandey et al., 1984). En la población SA-8 se completaron tres ciclos de selección de HC y S 1 . Actualmente está en progreso un programa de selección recurrente recíproca en las poblaciones amarillas y blancas.Programa es el alto rendimiento en condiciones tanto de suelos ácidos como fértiles. La selección indirecta, es decir aquella que considera características de más fácil o más rápida evaluación, es útil cuando existe una alta correlación genética entre las dos características incluidas en el proceso de selección, y cuando la heredabilidad del carácter sobre el cual se está haciendo la selección indirecta es mayor que la heredabilidad del carácter principal. Para la población SA-3, la eficiencia fue sólo de 88.7%, cuando se consideró el número de mazorcas por planta como carácter para mejorar rendimiento (Pandey et al., 1994).La selección utilizando soluciones nutritivas o macetas con suelo ha sido menos eficiente para mejorar el rendimiento de maíz en suelos ácidos, en comparación con la selección evaluando el rendimiento directamente en parcelas experimentales (Kasim et al., 1990;Magnavaca et al., 1987).En cada una de las poblaciones se ha cumplido un número variable de ciclos de selección (Cuadro 1). Inicialmente, desde mediados de la década de los 70, el método de selección fue MHM en la población SA-3 y, posteriormente, se utilizaron los métodos HC y S 1 o una combinación de ellos en todas las poblaciones, incluyendo la SA-3. Otro aspecto importante de la metodología de selección utilizada consiste en que la evaluación de progenies y de ciclos se hace indistintamente en ambientes con suelos ácidos o fértiles.El progreso de selección, medido en suelos ácidos para la población SA-3, dio una ganancia, promedio en 14 ciclos, de 40 kg/ha utilizando el método MHM, y de 310 kg/ha (promedio de dos ciclos) con el método HC. Para las demás poblaciones (SA-4, SA-5, SA-6 y SA-7) se han cumplido dos ciclos de selección con el método HC, con ganancias de 48, 7, 119 y 185 kg/ha por ciclo, respectivamente.Cuando la evaluación se hizo en suelos fértiles, la ganancia promedio por ciclo con el método MHM en la población SA-3 fue de 47 kg/ha, después de 14 ciclos; y de 145 kg/ha después de dos ciclos con el método HC. Para las poblaciones SA-4, SA-6 y SA-7, las ganancias fueron de 263, 360 y 703 kg/ha por ciclo, respectivamente. En la población SA-5 se presentó una reducción en rendimiento de 131 kg/ha por ciclo. En la interpretación de estos resultados se deben tener en consideración el número de ciclos y de localidades en que se hicieron las evaluaciones.Las conclusiones más importantes en la evaluación de ciclos de selección son las siguientes:• La metodología de selección utilizada permitió incrementar simultáneamente el rendimiento tanto en suelos ácidos como en Cuadro 1. Rendimiento de grano de variedades e híbridos no convencionales de maíz, evaluados en seis localidades con suelos ácidos y tres con suelos no ácidos. Una tendencia similar se observó en las poblaciones de menores rendimientos.• Cuando el método de selección incluyó la evaluación de progenies en ensayos con repeticiones, como ocurre con el método de HC, las ganancias por selección fueron mayores.• La ganancia por selección depende de la población en estudio y de la precisión con que se realizan la selección y la evaluación de progenies.Las variedades experimentales pueden ser utilizadas inmediatamente por los programas nacionales de investigación; en consecuencia, en diferentes localidades del mundo se realizan ensayos con repeticiones para evaluar el comportamiento de aquellas que se forman en el Programa, en comparación con los mejores testigos disponibles en cada programa nacional.Desde 1992 se han venido estableciendo diferentes tipos de ensayos (I, II, III, IV y V) en suelos ácidos en los que se puede observar la evolución de los cultivares obtenidos en el Programa. En el período 1992-93, el ensayo en suelos ácidos II se estableció en 24 localidades -cuatro en suelos fértiles y 20 en suelos ácidos. Los resultados indican que en condiciones de suelos ácidos, el rendimiento de las variedades de maíz CIMMYT-CIAT (CIMCALI's), aproximadamente de 2.8 t/ha, es ligeramente superior al de los mejores testigos regionales (aproximadamente de 2.5 t/ha).El ensayo tipo III fue sembrado en 13 localidades con suelos ácidos y en dos sin problema de acidez. Los resultados indican que a través de los ambientes con suelos ácidos, la mejor variedad (var.) CIMCALI rindió 3.51 t/ha, mientras que el mejor testigo rindió 3.67 t/ha y la var. Tuxpeño rindió 2.31 t/ha. Como logro en esta serie de trabajos, se destacan las liberaciones de variedades experimentales por programas nacionales de Indonesia (Antasena) y Colombia (ICA-Sikuani V 110).En el ensayo tipo IV para suelos ácidos, se inició la evaluación de ocho híbridos no convencionales (línea x variedad), conjuntamente con ocho variedades de libre polinización (CIMCALI's 95) y cuatro testigos (Sikuani y Tuxpeño y dos testigos locales). El ensayo se sembró en seis localidades con suelos ácidos y tres con suelos no-ácidos. Los resultados muestran claramente que el rendimiento del mejor híbrido supera en 50% el de las variedades de libre polinización (Cuadro 1). En suelos ácidos, los rendimientos de las var. Sikuani, Tuxpeño y la mejor CIMCALI fueron 3.07, 2.51 y 3.18 t/ha, respectivamente, mientras que el rendimiento del mejor híbrido fue de 4.53 t/ha. Los resultados en 13 ensayos tipo V, seis en suelos ácidos y siete en suelos no-ácidos, muestran que el rendimiento de los mejores híbridos es aproximadamente 50% mayor que el de la variedad de libre polinización (Cuadro 2). En suelos ácidos, el rendimiento de Sikuani fue de 1.9 t/ha y el del mejor híbrido fue 44% mayor (de 3 t/ha). Obviamente, las condiciones de estrés fueron muy severas, razón por la cual los rendimientos fueron muy bajos.Lo que se pretende mostrar con esta serie de resultados es que un sistema de producción que incluya el cultivo de maíz como uno de sus componentes es ampliamente beneficiado cuando se utiliza la mejor tecnología disponible, siendo la variedad (cultivar o genotipo en general) un factor clave que puede, en muchos casos, decidir la adopción de una tecnología.La toxicidad del Al es el factor limitativo más importante y más ampliamente distribuido en los suelos ácidos; por tanto, la búsqueda de genotipos tolerantes a esta condición es un paso previo fundamental para la adaptación de cultivos. En los cultivos de cebada y trigo se ha encontrado que la adaptación a suelos ácidos y la tolerancia a Al están estrechamente correlacionadas (Reid et al., 1969); un hecho similar parece que ocurre con el maíz. El Al afecta principalmente el sistema radicular de la planta, produciendo un efecto tóxico e inhibiendo la absorción de P y agua. La disminución en el crecimiento del sistema radicular se puede medir algunas horas después del inicio del estrés (Horst et al., 1992), no obstante, existen otros indicadores más sensibles de la toxicidad de Al, entre ellos, la formación de callos en la raíz (Schreiner et al., 1994;Wissemeir et al., 1987) y la inhibición del flujo neto de K (Cakmak y Horst, 1991;Sawasaki y Furlani, 1987).Los mecanismos responsables de la tolerancia de la planta a la toxicidad de Al son aún menos conocidos. Debido a que este fenómeno se manifiesta principalmente en el sistema radicular, es posible que exista una estrecha relación entre la concentración de Al en el ápice de la raíz y la cantidad de crecimiento radicular (Rincón y Gonzáles, 1992).Actualmente existen evidencias que indican que la toxicidad y la tolerancia a Al se pueden manifestar en el ámbito celular. Esto hará posible desarrollar métodos de evaluación usando cultivos de células y tejidos, lo que permitirá disponer de importantes ayudas para identificar individuos tolerantes a este elemento, tomando como base una planta individual o, quizá, una célula. Esta metodología prepararía el camino para la aplicación de técnicas no convencionales de mejoramiento en la adaptación de plantas de maíz a suelos con problema de acidez.El P es otro elemento importante en suelos ácidos y su utilización depende de la capacidad de absorción por la planta, el transporte a la superficie foliar, y el metabolismo y Cuadro 2. Rendimiento de grano de variedades e híbridos de maíz evaluados en seis sitios con suelos ácidos y en igual número de sitios con suelos no ácidos. crecimiento de la planta. Como se sabe, este nutrimento se mueve muy poco en el suelo y, como resultado, las plantas con sistema radicular bien desarrollado tienen mayor acceso a él. De igual manera, las plantas con mayor capacidad para segregar enzimas hidrolíticas, ácidos orgánicos y CO 2, que incrementan la descomposición de la materia orgánica, también hacen un mayor uso del P disponible en el suelo.Para identificar individuos tolerantes a suelos ácidos se han ensayado diversas técnicas de evaluación, tomando en consideración las características de la raíz de la planta. En 1987 se evaluaron 17 poblaciones de maíz con diferentes grados de tolerancia a toxicidad de Al, tomando como criterio la longitud seminal neta de la raíz (longitud seminal final menos longitud seminal inicial). Las plantas crecieron en soluciones nutritivas con 0, 4.5, 6 y 8 ppm de Al. En materiales tolerantes a suelos ácidos, por ej., la var. CMS-36, la longitud de la raíz seminal (19.9 cm) fue casi el doble de la de los materiales susceptibles (Tuxpeño = 9.9 cm), aunque algunos materiales que fueron altamente tolerantes en el campo no mostraron superioridad en soluciones nutritivas (Pandey, 1991).En suelos ácidos de las estaciones CIAT Carimagua y Quilichao se evaluó la tolerancia de genotipos de maíz a suelos ácidos bajo condiciones de campo, macetas en invernadero y solución nutritiva (Urrea, 1994). Las plántulas crecieron por 2 semanas, durante las cuales se midieron características morfológicas que se utilizaron para separar genotipos susceptibles y tolerantes. El primero fue un experimento dialélico de ocho progenitores (seis tolerantes y dos susceptibles a Al) y sus posibles combinaciones. El segundo consistió en la evaluación de 10 variedades, 2 de las cuales eran susceptibles. Los resultados sugieren que la técnica de macetas permite distinguir eficientemente genotipos tolerantes y susceptibles. Las correlaciones entre las mejores características en la evaluación en macetas y el rendimiento en campo variaron entre 0.45 y 0.55.La liberación de la var. Sikuani por la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica) en 1974, creó la necesidad de obtener información agronómica complementaria relacionada con fertilización, uso de enmiendas y la factibilidad de incorporar el cultivo de maíz en sistemas agropastoriles. Para tal fin, se iniciaron ensayos en campos experimentales y en fincas de productores en coordinación con los programas nacionales. A continuación se incluyen los avances en estos trabajos.En fincas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia con tradición en el cultivo de maíz se instalaron dos ensayos en lotes donde tradicionalmente se siembra maíz. Los suelos en los sitios experimentales (Guacavía y Guamal) tienen baja saturación con Al; por tanto, no se aplicó cal. Se utilizaron la variedades de maíz Sikuani con cinco niveles de N, P y K, y la variedad del agricultor con un nivel alto de fertilización (N = 100, P = 100 y K = 120). Se incluyó, además, un tratamiento representativo del manejo del agricultor -variedad local, sembrada a una densidad de aproximadamente 40,000 plantas/ha, con una fertilización muy baja, deshierba manual y sin control de plagas. Los resultados mostraron un mayor rendimiento (más de 3 t/ha) de la var. Sikuani vs. la variedad local. El rendimiento de ésta con la tecnología propia del agricultor fue de 1.9 t/ha y de 2.3 t/ha con alta fertilización. El mayor beneficio neto se obtuvo con la var. Sikuani y la aplicación de 100, 60 y 60 kg/ha de N, P y K, respectivamente (Cuadro 3).En la misma región, en campos de agricultores localizados en Pachaquiaro, Santa Cruz y La Esperanza, donde antes no se había sembrado maíz por la alta saturación de Al que no permitía el crecimiento de las variedades disponibles no tolerantes a suelos ácidos, se evaluó la var. Sikuani. Los suelos tenían una saturación de Al superior a 60%; en consecuencia, fue necesario aplicar 400 kg de cal dolomítica para reducir a 55% esta saturación. Se aplicaron cuatro niveles de N, P y K (Cuadro 4). Los resultados mostraron diferencias en rendimiento entre localidades, pero no en la respuesta a dosis de fertilización en una misma localidad. Lo más importante en estos ensayos fue el rendimiento y la respuesta a la fertilización de la var. Sikuani (> 4.5 t/ha) en Pachaquiaro, donde el nivel de saturación de Al era de 55%.En el CI. Carimagua (Llanos Orientales de Colombia) se evaluó la respuesta de los cultivares de maíz Sikuani, CIMCALI 93 SA3, CIMCALI Cuadro 3. Rendimiento y beneficios netos (Col$/ha) obtenidos con la variedad mejorada de maíz Sikuani y la variedad del agricultor, con diferentes sistemas de manejo del cultivo en las localidades Guacavia y Guamal, Colombia. 1994. US$1 = Col$900. Para estudiar el efecto residual de los tratamientos en este ensayo, se sembraron los mismos cultivares en las parcelas que correspondieron a cada uno de ellos el año inmediatamente anterior y se aplicaron en forma uniforme 80 kg/ha de N. El promedio del rendimiento fue de 2.02 t/ha vs. 3.26 t/ha del año anterior cuando se aplicaron P y K. Esto indica que la inversión en fertilizantes es rentable si el valor de la producción adicional (1.24 t) es mayor que el costo en fertilización, lo que era en esa época una inversión altamente rentable en Colombia. Es posible que esta rentabilidad sea mayor en la medida en que se utilicen las mejores alternativas tecnológicas disponibles en términos de cultivar, dosis y forma de uso de fertilizantes. En este caso no se observaron diferencias por efecto residual de las dosis de K, pero sí por las dosis de P, siendo los rendimientos de 1.46, 1.99, 2.24 y 2.38 t/ha para los efectos residuales de 0, 40, 80 y 120 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 , respectivamente (Cuadro 6).En los Llanos Orientales de Colombia se hizo un ensayo con el objeto de estudiar la respuesta del maíz a la aplicación de microelementos. Se incluyeron B, Zn, Mn y Cu en las dosis de 1. A continuación se resumen los principales resultados de ensayos en fincas de agricultores, realizados con la colaboración de instituciones nacionales de Colombia, Ecuador y Perú.En zonas de vega y en la sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, se estudió el comportamiento de la var. Sikuani y la del agricultor bajo dos tecnologías de manejo -recomendada y tradicional. La tecnología recomendada incluyó básicamente una fertilización (kg/ha) con N (100), P 2 O 5 (60) y K (60); una densidad de siembra de 50,000 plantas/ha y dos aplicaciones de agroquímicos para el control de plagas. La tecnología del agricultor incluyó la aplicación de la mitad de la dosis de la fertilización anterior, 37,500 plantas/ha y una aplicación para el control de plagas. En ambos casos se aplicaron herbicidas para el control de malezas. Se encontró una respuesta significativa, tanto para el uso de tecnología como para la adopción de la variedad. La tecnología recomendada significó un incremento, promedio, de 0.7 t/ha de maíz en relación con la tradicional, siendo este incremento mayor en el sitio de vega que en sabana. De igual manera, la sola adopción de la variedad mejorada, en este caso Sikuani, significó un mayor rendimiento de grano, equivalente a 0.6 t/ha. La adopción de esta variedad en condiciones de vega significó más de 1 t/ha en comparación con el rendimiento de la var. local (Cuadro 8). En el Cuadro 9 se incluyen los resultados de cuatro ensayos conducidos en las localidades de Castilla, Granada, Yopal y Aimaral (Llanos Orientales de Colombia) con la var. Sikuani, un híbrido comercial y la variedad del agricultor, cultivados con el uso de las tecnologías recomendada y tradicional similares a las descritas anteriormente. Los resultados muestran un mayor rendimiento con el uso de la tecnología recomendada frente a la tecnología tradicional (3.4 vs. 2.2 t/ha, respectivamente). Con los tres cultivares se obtuvo, en promedio, más de 1 t adicional de grano con la adopción de la tecnología recomendada, aunque esta diferencia fue mayor cuando se utilizó el híbrido comercial. Por otro lado, la adopción de un nuevo cultivar (Sikuani) o el híbrido comercial significó un incremento de, por lo menos, 0.6 t de maíz. Este incremento fue mayor con el híbrido comercial en la tecnología recomendada. El análisis económico en el caso de la adopción de la var. Sikuani mostró una tasa de retorno marginal de 60%, en En Perú, los ensayos fueron establecidos en campos de agricultores en el departamento de San Martín (Alto Mayo). Se evaluaron las variedades Sikuani y la del agricultor -una generación avanzada de Marginal 28 tropical, que es una variedad derivada de la población 28 del CIMMYT-utilizando las tecnologías recomendada y la del agricultor. La diferencia principal entre tecnologías fue la aplicación de fertilizantes; en la tecnología del agricultor no se aplicó fertilizante, mientras que en la recomendada se aplicaron (kg/ha) de N (90) y P (90 como P 2 O 5 ), sin K. Los resultados indican un mayor rendimiento de la var. Sikuani (1.81 t/ha) en comparación con el rendimiento del cultivar local (1.22 t/ha) (Cuadro 11).Aunque en estos ensayos se evaluaron diferentes alternativas tecnológicas, cultivares y prácticas agronómicas para identificar variedades de maíz con potencial en sistemas de producción en fincas de productores, también es cierto que este cultivo debe jugar un rol importante en el manejo de los sistemas agropastoriles en sabanas con suelos ácidos de América Latina tropical. En consecuencia, el mejoramiento gradual de germoplasma orientado a la búsqueda de cultivares con mayor rendimiento para estas condiciones contribuirá al mejor uso de estos ambientes. Actualmente, las variedades mejoradas poseen mayor rendimiento y mejores características agronómicas que los cultivares nativos. La evidencia de que el vigor híbrido debe ser explotado para incrementar los rendimientos en suelos ácidos, permite acelerar los trabajos de hibridación para obtener líneas útiles para la formación de sintéticos e híbridos superiores para estos ambientes. Igualmente son muy importantes los resultados que muestran la respuesta a la aplicación de P, principalmente en la dosis 80 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 . La alta respuesta a la aplicación de Zn es también un logro importante que se debe tener en cuenta en la formulación de recomendaciones para los sistemas de producción.En la estación CIAT Quilichao (Colombia) se evaluó el efecto de la aplicación de cal dolomítica y su interacción con fósforo en las variedades de maíz Sikuani (tolerante a suelos ácidos) y Tuxpeño Sequía (susceptible a suelos ácidos). Los efectos se midieron en una fase del cultivo y en un cultivo siguiente sin aplicación de P. Las saturaciones de Al en el suelo fueron 65%, 50% y 35%; y los niveles de P 2 O 5 fueron 0, 45, 90 y 135 kg/ha. En promedio, la var. Sikuani produjo 22% más grano que la var. Tuxpeño (4.71 vs. 3.87 t/ha); esta diferencia fue mayor cuando el estrés de la planta por la alta saturación de Al o por la deficiencia de fósforo era también mayor. Así, la var. Sikuani rindió 80% más que Tuxpeño cuando la saturación de Al fue de 64% y no se aplicó fósforo en el suelo (3 vs. 1.7 t/ha). Ambas variedades respondieron a la aplicación de P, siendo la respuesta mayor entre 0 y 45 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 . rendimiento de las variedades fue de 1.12 t/ha.Para evaluar el efecto residual de la cal y el P, se utilizó el arreglo experimental del ensayo anterior, sin aplicación de fertilizantes. Se observó claramente una reducción en el rendimiento en las variedades Sikuani (1.68 t/ha) y Tuxpeño (0.89 t/ha), siendo más drástica en Tuxpeño a medida que el estrés fue mayor; no obstante, cuando la saturación de Al fue de 64% no se observó un efecto negativo de la ausencia de aplicación de P. La producción en este caso también fue mayor cuando en el cultivo anterior se habían aplicado 45 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 ; mientras que en el testigo sin P la producción fue de 0.68 t/ha, con la aplicación de 45 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 fue de 1.27 t/ha. En un Oxisol arenoso de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia se evaluó la aplicación de enmiendas en el suelo. Se utilizaron como fuentes cal dolomítica (57% CaCO 3 y 35% MgCO 3 ) y Sulcamag (25% CaO, 12% MgO y 8% S) en la var. Sikuani. Se utilizaron los métodos de aplicación: a golpe, a voleo, en banda y una combinación de los dos últimos. Se aplicaron 1.03 t/ha de cal dolomítica y 1.3 t/ha de Sulcamag más una fertilización constante con 120, 80 y 80 kg/ha de N, P 2 O 5 y K 2 O, respectivamente. Cuando se aplicó Sulcamag, el rendimiento de maíz fue dos veces mayor que con cal dolomítica (3.45 vs. 1.59 t/ha). No se observaron diferencias entre métodos de aplicación ni para la interacción métodos x fuentes (Cuadro 12). En consecuencia, la aplicación de Sulcamag a voleo es una buena alternativa en suelos arenosos de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Cuando se evaluó el efecto residual de la aplicación de estas enmiendas, se observaron tendencias similares a las observadas en el primer ensayo, no obstante, los rendimientos fueron menores.En los Llanos Orientales de Colombia se evaluó el establecimiento de pasturas utilizando maíz var. Sikuani como cultivo asociado. Los tratamientos consistieron en maíz en monocultivo, maíz-gramínea, maízgramínea-leguminosa. La gramínea utilizada fue Brachiaria dictyoneura y las leguminosas fueron Stylosanthes capitata, Centrosema acutifolium y Arachis pintoi.Cuadro 12. Efecto en la primera cosecha y residual del método de aplicación de cal y Sulcamag en maíz var. Sikuani en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Primer Los resultados obtenidos (Cuadro 13) indican lo siguiente:• Un cambio significativo en el rendimiento de maíz por efecto de las pasturas asociadas, bien sea de sólo gramínea o gramínea más leguminosa.• El valor comercial de la producción de maíz cubre los costos de establecimiento de la pastura asociada. Este resultado es clave para el aprovechamiento más intensivo de las pasturas en la región.• El costo de establecimiento de la asociación maíz-gramínealeguminosa se incrementa por el alto costo de la semilla de la leguminosa y de la mano de obra para la siembra de maíz y la pastura. En este ensayo, A. pintoi se sembró entre dos 'golpes' de maíz y la gramínea en forma paralela y distante 15 cm de las hileras de maíz.• El mayor beneficio neto por hectárea, equivalente a Col$286,000 (US$358), se obtuvo con el sistema maíz-gramínea.El establecimiento de sistemas de producción que incluyan cultivos anuales y pasturas mejoradas en las sabanas con suelos ácidos de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia es una alternativa económicamente viable, ya las especies nativas tienen una capacidad de carga tan baja como 1 animal/10 ha, con ganancias de peso vivo de 300 g/día por animal. Esta situación significa un ingreso aproximado de US$110/10 ha por año. Con pasturas mejoradas se puede incrementar la carga animal a 2 animales/ha y la ganancia de peso vivo puede llegar a 500 g/día por animal, lo que incrementa el ingreso anual por hectárea a US$365. Si se considera que con la mezcla de gramíneas y leguminosas es posible aumentar entre 10% y 15% la ganancia de peso de los animales, el productor podría obtener un ingreso anual por hectárea de US$400. Consecuentemente, este ecosistema es propicio para el establecimiento de sistemas agrosilvopastoriles rentables en los que los cultivos anuales, las pasturas mejoradas y los sistemas de explotación arbórea deben ser partes de un sistema de producción que permita el uso racional y sostenible de los recursos naturales disponibles. La explotación de las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela es una alternativa potencial para incrementar la producción de granos, carne y leche. Sin embargo, el ecosistema presenta suelos con características químicas y físicas que limitan su utilización; por tanto, se requieren tecnologías adecuadas y adaptadas a una explotación sostenible. El Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) está trabajando para desarrollar y adaptar las tecnologías disponibles en la región; para ello ha hecho introducciones de germoplasma de forrajeras que está evaluando a través de localidades. En el caso del cultivo de arroz, desde de 1990, cuando se inició el programa arroz, se vienen identificando líneas tolerantes a suelos ácidos y sequía. Actualmente existen varias líneas adaptadas a las condiciones de suelos ácidos de Venezuela que se están evaluando asociados con pasturas en sistemas agropastoriles. Los avances de estos sistemas se resumen en este capítulo.Exploiting the savannas of the Venezuelan Plains provides an alternative for increasing the country's grain, meat, and milk production. However, the soils of this ecosystem have physical and chemical limits that require suitable technology for sustainable exploitation. The Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) is developing and adapting available technology for the region, such as introducing forage germplasm and evaluating it locally. Since 1990, when the rice program was established, several lines adapted to acid soils and drought have been identified. Some of these lines are now being evaluated in association with pastures, destined for agropastoral systems.Progress on the research of these systems is summarized in this chapter.La superficie del ecosistema sabana en Venezuela es de aproximadamente 260,000 km 2 (Ramia, 1967), que equivalen a 29% del territorio nacional. El 70% de esta superficie (189,000 km 2 ) corresponde a los Llanos en los Estados Monagas, Anzoátegui, Apure, Barinas, Portuguesa, Cojedes, Guárico y parte del Estado Bolívar. Los Llanos Orientales, con una superficie de 3,395,000 ha, ocupan casi la totalidad del Estado Monagas y el centro-sur de Anzoátegui; en ellos se localizan las formaciones: altiplanicies de mesas, planicies aluviales, valles y superficies onduladas. Las mesas representan 82% del área ocupada por los Llanos Orientales, y se tipifican como mesa de Piedemonte, llanas y disectadas. En las dos primeras se ha desarrollado principalmente la actividad agropecuaria regional (MARN, 1982).Los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela están localizados dentro de la zona de vida bosque seco tropical, caracterizada por precipitaciones erráticas y de alta intensidad, con un promedio anual de 1600 mm hacia el noreste (dos períodos lluviosos y uno seco) y de 850 mm hacia al sur (un período lluvioso y uno seco). Entre septiembre y octubre ocurren períodos secos de 5 a 10 días con una probabilidad de ocurrencia de 50%, mientras que aquellos con más de 10 días tienen una probabilidad de 20% (Caraballo et al., 1994).La vegetación es típica de sabana, representada por las gramíneas: Trachypogon plumosus, T. vestitus, T. ligularis, Axonopus purpusii, A. anceps, Axonopus pulcher, Andropogon bicornis, A. selloanus y algunas especies arbustivas como Curatella americana, Birsonima crassifolia, B. cocolobaefolia y Bowdichia virgilioides.En la formación de mesas predominan Entisoles, Ultisoles y Oxisoles (Quartzipsamments, Kandiustults, Haplustox). Estas zonas tienen algunas ventajas para uso agrícola, entre ellas, topografía plana que no requiere de costosas inversiones en adecuación de tierras; suelos livianos y profundos, de fácil mecanización; buen drenaje que facilita el ingreso de maquinaria poco tiempo después de las lluvias; disponibilidad de agua subterránea abundante y de buena calidad. Caraballo et al. (1994) consideran que las limitaciones principales de este ecosistema son las siguientes:1. Textura predominantemente arenosa en sus primeros horizontes, lo que implica bajo contenido de nutrimentos esenciales como Ca, Mg, K y P.2. Suelos de reacción ácida y de baja capacidad de retención de humedad, lo que disminuye la eficiencia de la fertilización.3. Ocurrencia de períodos secos en la época de lluvias y alta capacidad de evaporación debido a las condiciones del clima.4. Suelos frágiles y de bajo contenido de materia orgánica, que sufren procesos de endurecimiento, escurrimiento, erosión hídrica y eólica.5. Escasa penetración de las raíces de las plantas, como consecuencia de la acidez y la baja disponibilidad de nutrimentos en las capas inferiores del suelo.6. Susceptibilidad a compactación en el subsuelo por el uso excesivo de maquinarias y la presencia de grava en horizontes cercanos a la superficie.En los Llanos Orientales, el Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) desarrolla trabajos en los centros de investigación de los Estados Anzoátegui y Monagas, mediante un plan estratégico tendiente a la utilización racional del ecosistema sabana. Este plan de trabajo se inició parcialmente en 1993 y se propone entre sus objetivos la identificación de tipos de utilización de la tierra, sus limitaciones y sus causas; la generación de tecnologías para la explotación de cultivos mediante prácticas dirigidas al mejoramiento y conservación del suelo (labranza, rotación de cultivos); la selección de germoplasma forrajero adaptado a condiciones de estrés hídrico, acidez y suelos de baja fertilidad; la selección de clones promisorios de marañón y yuca, cultivos con un alto potencial para su explotación en condiciones de sabana; y la evaluación del comportamiento agronómico de materiales genéticos promisorios con prácticas de manejo adecuadas.En la región se pueden identificar diversos tipos de utilización de la tierra. En las formaciones mesas planas y onduladas se distinguen la agricultura de secano (sorgo de grano, marañón, frijol, piña, maíz, batata y yuca); pasturas de Brachiaria brizantha, B. dictyoneura, B. decumbens, B. humidicola, Digitaria swazilandensis y asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas; agricultura de riego (sorgo semilla, maracuya, melón, mango, sandía, guayaba, lima tahití). Además, se desarrolla en el área una intensa actividad forestal con especies de pino caribe y eucaliptus, lo que ha generado conflictos por el uso de la tierra.En Venezuela existen aproximadamente 13,182,000 ha en pasturas; de éstas, 7,597,000 ha son naturales y 5,585,000 ha son introducidas. La mayor proporción de ellas se encuentra en regiones con sistemas de explotación ganadera intensiva y de doble propósito, que no pertenecen a la región de sabanas. Del total de pasturas naturales, aproximadamente el 52% (5,915,000 ha) corresponden a sabanas bien drenadas y el resto (48%) son sabanas mal drenadas (Chicco y Linares, 1992).La producción de carne y leche bovinas constituye una opción para el país, ya que existen grandes superficies de pasturas nativas y cultivadas aptas para esta actividad. Las pasturas nativas no suministran los requerimientos suficientes para la producción de los animales, especialmente en la época seca. Chacón y Arriojas (1989) encontraron que la vegetación de sabana de Trachypogon en zonas bien drenadas constituye un recurso de bajo potencial productivo, con producciones de MS entre 0.4 y 20 kg/ha por día en sabanas sin quemar, y entre 5.8 y 22 kg/ha por día en sabanas no-quemadas.El 73% de la superficie del Estado Monagas se encuentra en pastos naturales de baja capacidad productiva, donde pasta el 43.3% de la población animal; la superficie restante (27%) se encuentra en pasturas introducidas (Alcalá, 1990). En esta región, los pastos introducidos, cuando se manejan adecuadamente, mejoran la producción y productividad animal, pero los costos de su establecimiento y mantenimiento son elevados, debido principalmente a la necesidad de aplicar insumos para corregir las deficiencias de nutrimentos en el suelo. No obstante, en la mayoría de los casos se evidencian problemas de manejo, como la excesiva carga animal en algunas fincas y excedentes de producción de biomasa en la época lluviosa. Esta situación demanda la generación de estrategias apropiadas para la producción y manejo de las pasturas con el fin de garantizar el suministro de alimentos suficientes en cantidad y calidad para los requerimientos de la población animal.El Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) de Venezuela en los centros de investigación en los Estados Anzoátegui y Monagas, conjuntamente con la Universidad de Oriente, han venido realizando estudios para seleccionar especies de leguminosas forrajeras adaptadas a las condiciones del ecosistema sabana. Se busca que estas especies tengan buena capacidad de producción de materia seca (M.S.) en la época seca y sean eficientes en la fijación del nitrógeno.En el proceso de evaluación de germoplasma forrajero se ha contado con la colaboración de la Red Internacional de Evaluación de Pastos Tropicales (RIEPT). En el proceso de recolección, evaluación agronómica y multiplicación de especies de gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras con potencial para las sabanas bien drenadas, se han seleccionado algunos materiales promisorios de los géneros Brachiaria, Digitaria, Stylosanthes, Centrosema, Gliricidia y Alysicarpus. La productividad de varias especies de estos géneros está limitada por factores climáticos, baja retención de humedad y baja disponibilidad de nutrimentos en el suelo.En trabajos realizados por el FONAIAP en la Mesa de Guanipa se encontró que los rendimientos de M.S. de B. humidicola durante la época lluviosa fueron de 1.38, 2.49, 3.18 y 3.89 t/ha, mientras que en el período de menor precipitación (septiembrenoviembre) las producciones fueron 0.38, 0.47, 0.56 y 0.65 t/ha de M.S., cuando se aplicaron 0, 37.5, 75 y 112.5 kg/ha de nitrógeno, respectivamente (Navarro et al., 1992). Esos investigadores, en un trabajo similar con D. swazilandensis, encontraron en el período lluvioso, producciones de M.S. de 1.10, 1.61, 2.08 y 2.51 t/ha con aplicaciones de 0, 37.5, 75 y 112.5 kg/ha de nitrógeno, respectivamente. En el período septiembre-noviembre, el rendimiento fue de 0.81, 1.17, 1.48 y 1.76 t/ha de M.S., respectivamente.Actualmente, el Centro de Investigación de Anzoátegui cuenta con un Banco de Germoplasma de las especies forrajeras evaluadas en años anteriores, enriquecido con especies procedentes del CIAT, EMBRAPA, CIRAD y de colecciones nacionales. Entre los materiales considerados como promisorios se encuentran Cratylia argentea, C. rotundifolium, Galactia striata, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, S. humilis, S. scabra y S. capitata.Cratylia argentea (Cratylia) presenta un rápido establecimiento, tolerancia a la sequía y rebrote vigoroso después de la defoliación. Esta especie arbustiva se ha extendido rápidamente entre los productores por su facilidad de integración en sistemas mixtos de producción y en bancos de proteínas. También sobresale su alta producción de semillas. En parcelas del Centro de Investigación de Anzoátegui se han obtenido rendimientos hasta de 650 g/planta (Rodríguez, 1996). Esta característica de Cratylia la presentan como una alternativa para el suministro de proteína a los animales y, eventualmente, como un sustituto de Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena), cuya adaptación a los suelos ácidos de la región no está bien definida (Sanabria, 1989).El uso de Leucaena, a pesar de haber sido introducida en los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela hace más de 15 años, no se ha generalizado entre los productores de la región, lo que sí ha ocurrido con S. capitata cv. Capica (Fariñas, 1995). Esta última especie, fue introducida en la década de los 80, no obstante su alta susceptibilidad a antracnosis, tiene un alto potencial como forrajera. También Lascano et al. (1994) señalan que Leucaena puede crecer bien en una amplia variabilidad de condiciones ambientales en el trópico y subtrópico, pero que tiene algunas limitaciones para su adaptación a suelos ácidos con baja saturación de base, como es el caso de las mesas orientales venezolanas.Glyricidia sepium (Matarratón) bajo manejo con aplicación de riego produjo más M.S. y proteína cruda (PC) que Leucaena. De la misma manera, C. macrocarpum presentó un elevado potencial como fuente de proteína en sabanas bien drenadas, siendo persistente y fácil de cosechar en forma mecanizada. Esta última especie presentó rendimientos de M.S. y PC (12 t/ha por año y 15% de PC) comparables a los de la alfalfa (M. sativa) en zonas templadas (Fariñas, 1995). En el sistema Matarratón-Pangola, animales jóvenes en pastoreo han alcanzado promedios de incremento de peso vivo entre 600 y 785 g/día, durante el período septiembre-diciembre.Actualmente se encuentra en evaluación Pachecoa venezuelensis, una leguminosa arbustiva, perteneciente a la subtribu Stylosanthineae, subfamilia Papilionoideae, que fue recolectada por primera vez en el Estado Guárico y que tiene perspectivas como fuente de proteína para ovinos y caprinos (González, 1995)  (Flores, 1992).En 1990, FONAIAP inició en Monagas los trabajos con líneas avanzadas de arroz tolerantes a suelos ácidos procedentes del CIAT. Las primeras evaluaciones se hicieron en el campo experimental Santa Bárbara, caracterizado por una precipitación, promedio anual, de 1000 mm; 26 °C de temperatura; suelos con pH 5.6 y bajos contenidos de fósforo, potasio, magnesio y zinc, y un contenido moderado de calcio.Los resultados preliminares, a pesar de las condiciones adversas, debido a la siembra tardía, mostraron la existencia de líneas con potencial para la región, entre ellas, la línea CT7072-43-1-4-1-1-M que produjo 2 t/ha. En 1991 se iniciaron trabajos en la localidad de San Agustín de La Pica, en condiciones de suelo distintos a los de Monagas y una precipitación de 1300 mm. Bajo esas condiciones se observaron líneas con rendimientos hasta 4.5 t/ha, pero no se encontró respuesta a la aplicación de 500 kg/ha de cal (Sanabria, 1994).Los estudios de fertilización mostraron un comportamiento diferencial de los materiales. El 53.6% de ellos no mostró diferencias entre la aplicación de 65 y 100 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 , y 60 ó 100 kg/ha de K 2 O. La línea CT1059-3-1-M-4 mostró la mayor respuesta a esta fertilización, con un aumento de 1.33 t/ha. En 1993 se continuó con el proceso de introducción y evaluación de nuevas líneas de arroz procedentes del CIAT, lo que permitió identificar materiales con potencial para producir hasta 7 t/ha. En 1994 se iniciaron la investigación con nuevas líneas de arroz en la estación FONAIAP-Anzoátegui. En estas pruebas con líneas introducidas de EMBRAPA y del CIAT cultivadas en condiciones de extrema deficiencia hídrica, se produjeron hasta 1.8 t/ha, destacándose los cultivares brasileños Araguaia, Guaraní, Río Paranaiba y Carajas, y la línea CT9992-22-2-4-M-16 del CIAT. Los rendimientos en este sitio, aunque inferiores a los obtenidos en Monagas, se consideran como promisorios (Rodríguez, 1995). A partir de estos resultados se ampliaron las investigaciones en Anzoátegui y en 1995 se iniciaron en FONAIAP-Amazonas.Las investigaciones con el germoplasma de arroz y las evaluaciones preliminares utilizando la asociación arroz-pasturas, han despertado el interés de productores e instituciones. Así, se han iniciado relaciones con la Corporación Venezolana de Guayana, institución a la que se le ha suministrado semillas de los materiales promisorios en los trabajos en Monagas.El estado actual de la investigación en arroz de secano permite concluir que:1. El arroz de secano, cultivado con bajos insumos, es una alternativa válida en los sistemas de producción de las sabanas bien drenadas de los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela.2. Por su comportamiento en condiciones experimentales, existen materiales de arroz de secano con potencial en sistemas de rotación con pasturas.3. La siembra de arroz de secano, conjuntamente con pasturas, es una práctica posible en la región, ya que contribuye a la reducción de costos de establecimiento de éstas y mejora la sostenibilidad del ecosistema.No obstante, es necesario intensificar la investigación e iniciar la validación de esta tecnología en fincas de productores, con el objeto de hacer ajustes en las prácticas agronómicas y analizar las ventajas económicas como garantía de su sostenibilidad.En los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela no existe tradición en sistemas agropastoriles. La agricultura es esencialmente del tipo monocultivo con utilización intensiva de abonos, plaguicidas y maquinismo, mientras que la ganadería se basa en pastos nativos o introducidos. No obstante, en los últimos años, con la eliminación de los subsidios y el cambio en las políticas fiscales ha ocurrido un cambio hacia la diversificación en las explotaciones agropecuarias en la región, incluyendo:1. El establecimiento de pastos en forma simultánea con cultivos de sorgo y maíz.2. La fabricación de bloques multinutricionales con residuos de cosecha.3. El uso de maíz producido en la finca para raciones de vacas en ordeño.4. La inclusión de los cultivos de yuca y batata en la alimentación animal.5. El establecimiento de bancos de proteína a base de leguminosas forrajeras.6. La siembra de marañón y de mango, intercalados con pasturas del género Brachiaria.Los trabajos sobre adaptación de germoplasma forrajero y de cultivos que actualmente se desarrollan en los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela, permiten identificar algunas accesiones con potencial en sistemas agropastoriles sostenibles para la región. Para la transferencia y adopción por parte de los productores es necesaria la colaboración de instituciones nacionales en Venezuela.Potencial En la parte central de la Llanura se encuentran las áreas integradas y de expansión, y algunas colonias de campesinos. En esta zona se encuentran las cuencas de los ríos Grande, Piraí y San Julián. Los suelos son de origen aluvial, de clases II a IV, aptos para usos agropecuario intensivo y extensivo. En general son suelos profundos, de textura mediana, francos, franco-arcillosos, francoarenosos, aunque también es posible encontrar otras categorías de acuerdo con la pendiente y depresión del terreno. Estos suelos son de reciente formación, con fertilidad natural de moderada a alta (Severiche, 1992). Los suelos en algunas partes tienen problemas de drenaje y lixiviación ocasionados por la tala descontrolada de bosques. La precipitación, promedio anual, en esta Unidad es variable desde 900 mm en la parte sur hasta 1300 mm hacia el norte, con una temperatura media anual de 24 °C.El área integrada se encuentra cerca a la ciudad y es la más desarrollada en infraestructura de servicios (caminos, energía, fábricas y mercados), pero también es la más disturbada y con problemas de fertilidad y compactación de suelos. Está comprendida entre el río Grande al este, el río Piraí al oeste, Mora y Sanja Honda al sur, y Chané al norte.El área de expansión tiene una extensión aproximada de 650,000 ha, se encuentra al este del río Grande y fue recientemente incorporada a la actividad agrícola por sus suelos de alta fertilidad (Guamán, 1980, citado por Barber y Romero, 1993).Las colonias de campesinos están al norte del área integrada y de expansión y son, en su mayoría, pequeños productores que recibieron del Gobierno entre 20 y 50 ha de tierra que se dedicaron inicialmente a la agricultura de corte y quema, y actualmente tienden a la mecanización por efecto de la apertura del mercado internacional de soya.En el sur se encuentran las llanuras aluviales del lzozog, que son sedimentos del río Parapetí, caracterizadas por un clima seco semiárido. Esta zona se conoce como Chaco.Pantanal. Esta Unidad está formada por el límite de Bolivia con Brasil y constituye la llanura de inundación del río Paraguay.La Llanura Chaco Beniana, el sector noroeste, las áreas integradas y de expansión, las colonias de productores campesinos y el Escudo Chiquitano son las unidades fisiográficas de mayor importancia para la producción agrícola y pecuaria en el Departamento de Santa Cruz.Las características de la agricultura migratoria y la etapa de la 'crisis del barbecho', al igual que el proceso de degradación de los suelos mecanizados, han sido ampliamente descritos por los técnicos del Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical y la Misión Británica en Agricultura Tropical en Bolivia (CIAT- MBAT, 1994). En la crisis del barbecho, la situación para el productor es insostenible por los bajos rendimientos de los cultivos, causados por la invasión de malezas, compactación y pérdida de fertilidad del suelo. Se considera que las alternativas para la solución de esta crisis se encuentran en la mecanización, la ganadería, los cultivos perennes y los sistemas agroforestales.Se espera que estos sistemas de producción le permitan al productor la consolidación en su parcela, olvidándose de su retorno al lugar de origen o la migración a los centros urbanos para engrosar los cinturones de pobreza.La mecanización en fincas de pequeños productores de la zona es una opción que sólo es posible mediante el uso de diferentes estrategias y cuando estén dadas ciertas condiciones económicas y de vías de comunicación. Con la mecanización se requieren más insumos y el productor debe enfrentar problemas típicos del sistema como la compactación del suelo por el uso de los implementos pesados, particularmente en suelos con alto contenido de limo o arena fina; la erosión eólica debida a las altas velocidades del viento en la región y la falta de cortinas de protección; el encostramiento y la erosión superficial del suelo.La ganadería, otra opción para el pequeño productor en la zona, es una actividad menos riesgosa y más estable, aunque tiene impacto negativo en la degradación del ambiente por el uso de germoplasma inadecuado, mal manejo, compactación y pérdida de fertilidad.Los sistemas agroforestales que involucran dos o más cultivos son de reciente introducción y tienen potencial para aliviar la crisis del barbecho. Están orientados hacia la diversificación de la producción, la recuperación de los barbechos y el mejoramiento de la fertillidad del suelo. Con las asociaciones de cultivos anuales y perennes con especies arbóreas de uso ganadero y forestal, además de mantener la productividad, se valorizan las fincas de los pequeños productores.La integración de cultivos como arroz y maíz con pastos, bien sea para establecer pasturas después de 2 ó 3 años de cultivos anuales o para recuperar pasturas degradadas, son alternativas para solucionar los problemas originados por la crisis del barbecho entre los pequeños productores. En el ecosistema Cerrado del Brasil (Kluthcouski et al., 1991) y en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (Sanz et al., 1993) utilizando arroz de secano como cultivo asociado se han establecido con éxito pasturas de Andropogon gayanus y Brachiaria decumbens, solas o asociadas con leguminosas forrajeras.En el Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical, en Santa Cruz (CIAT/SC) no se han realizado trabajos específicos de investigación en sistemas agropastoriles; sin embargo, se tiene información sobre las experiencias de los productores de Santa Cruz en la siembra de cultivos anuales asociados con arroz o maíz, bajo diferentes estrategias.En el sistema 'Chaqueado', después de la siembra anual de arroz, y cuando el cultivo tiene una altura entre 10 y 15 cm, el productor siembra pastos. Después de la cosecha del cereal se deja que la pastura produzca semilla para permitir la resiembra espontánea. Un año más tarde, la pastura está completamente establecida. No obstante, debido a la baja calidad de la semilla comercial disponible o al uso de germoplasma no-adaptado, son frecuentes los casos de fracaso con este sistema. En ocasiones, por la falta de maquinaria y de mano de obra, los productores no establecen grandes extensiones de arroz o maíz asociados con pastos.Desde el punto de vista técnico, la rotación de cultivos anuales con pasturas bien manejadas es un sistema más recomendable y más sostenible que las rotaciones de sólo cultivos anuales; así lo demuestran los trabajos realizados dentro del Convenio CIAT/ MBAT (Barber y Navarro, 1991). En este tipo de rotación es importante manejar adecuadamente la pastura, utilizando la carga animal adecuada para evitar su degradación y permitiendo la recuperación de acuerdo con la especie y la época del año. Barber y Romero (1993) consideran que el tiempo de uso de la pastura en el sistema de rotación debe ser de 5 a 8 años, antes de ser eliminado. Con esto se garantiza la recuperación de la productividad del suelo y se amortizan los costos del establecimiento. Después de la eliminación de la pastura, al final de la época seca (agosto-septiembre), se puede iniciar la rotación con la siembra de cultivos anuales de verano (por ej., soya) e invierno (por ej., girasol), cultivos que permiten el uso de graminicidas en preemergencia y postemergencia, con lo cual se garantiza el control del rebrote de la pastura.El período óptimo en sistemas de cultivos anuales, antes del establecimiento nuevamente de pasturas, depende del sistema de labranza, siendo mayor en el sistema de labranza mínima que en el de labranza convencional. Finalmente, se vuelve al inicio del ciclo, o sea, establecer el pasto asociado con un cultivo anual el cual, dependiendo de la zona, puede ser arroz, soya, maíz o trigo.Aunque la rotación cultivo anual-pasturas tiene muchas ventajas, sólo podrá ser adoptado por aquellos productores dedicados a la agricultura y a la ganadería y en fincas con la mayor parte del área en pasturas (50% a 80%). En fincas de agricultores, los aspectos más importantes que se deben tener en cuenta para esta rotación son la construcción de cercas y la disponibilidad de agua y animales. En el caso de fincas dedicadas a ganadería, se debe considerar la disponibilidad de implementos para las labores de cultivo.El CIAT/MBAT está adelantando trabajos de investigación en sistemas agrosilvopastoriles. Uno de estos trabajos consiste en la evaluación del uso de callejones forrajeros multiestrato, consistente en la siembra inicial de un cultivo anual en forma paralela a los arbustos o árboles forrajeros. Después de 2 años se siembra la pastura, cuando los árboles han alcanzado el tamaño adecuado para ramoneo y pueden ser cosechados.Se ha identificado que Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) es útil para este propósito, siempre y cuando no existan problemas de acidez en el suelo. Otra alternativa es Flemingia congesta, aunque su valor forrajero es inferior al de Leucaena.Los callejones forrajeros se pueden diversificar estableciendo árboles de alto valor como Mara (Swietenia macrophylla) o Cerebó (Schizolobium amazonica). La pastura puede ser de Brachiaria decumbens, B. brizantha u otra gramínea.En la estación experimental agrícola de Saavedra, en Yapacaní y San Julián, se han establecido callejones forrajeros en parcelas de productores que están actualmente en utilización (León y Adlard, 1994). Si bien el establecimiento de estos callejones no ha tenido problemas de tipo agronómico en su primera etapa, es aún necesario conocer los costos de siembra y las prácticas de manejo más apropiadas (Johnson et al., 1995;León y Adlard, 1994). En la estación Saavedra se está evaluando el efecto de tres alturas de corte en Leucaena (0.9, 1.2 y 1.5 m sobre el suelo), con el objeto de determinar la altura adecuada de uso por los animales en pastoreo y de corte para producir forraje verde. Se debe indicar que la época y frecuencia de pastoreo en los callejones depende del estado de la gramínea.El Convenio CIAT/MBAT está evaluando la siembra de árboles de leguminosas en pasturas ya establecidas, como alternativa para mejorar su rendimiento. Este sistema tiene, entre sus ventajas, (1) el mejoramiento del ambiente para el ganado, ya que proporciona mayor sombra en los potreros, lo que reduce el estrés por exceso de radiación solar y estimula un mayor consumo de pasto;(2) los árboles reducen la evapotranspiración en el suelo, la velocidad de los vientos y el impacto de las gotas de lluvia; (3) los árboles en los potreros favorecen el reciclado de nutrimentos debido a la profundidad de sus raíces, la capacidad de fijar nitrógeno atmosférico y proveer forraje de ramoneo al ganado.En la estación experimental Saavedra se tienen 80 ha de pasturas asociadas con árboles en diferentes estados de desarrollo de Erythrina fusca, Samanea tubulosa y Prosopis sp.Existe un alto número de especies arbóreas que sirven para sistemas multipropósito, pero todavía no se conocen algunos aspectos relacionados con su establecimiento (Wilkins, 1995); entre estos: (1) la distancia ideal entre árboles para evitar la competencia entre ellos y la pastura, y para el reciclado de nutrimentos a través de la materia muerta de hojas; (2) la tolerancia de los árboles al pisoteo y el consumo por el ganado, y las quemas;(3) la edad que deben tener los árboles al momento de la introducción del ganado, teniendo en cuenta que la pastura debe ser utilizada en forma periódica.En la región de Santa Cruz aún no se tienen datos sobre el impacto de los árboles en el rendimiento de las pasturas y en la productividad del ganado. No obstante, se ha observado que los árboles se pueden establecer en forma simultánea con cultivos anuales, utilizando plantas de 8 meses a 1 año de edad que, al momento del inicio del pastoreo, tendrán 15 o más meses y tolerarán la presencia de los animales.Otros sistemas que se están implementando en la zona son las cercas vivas con Gliricidia sepium y las cortinas rompevientos utilizando L. leucocephala.En el área conocida como integrada, aproximadamente el 50% de las tierras con cultivos anuales están degradadas (Barber y Navarro, 1991), como consecuencia de la alteración física y química del suelo, estando, en su mayor parte, dedicadas a explotaciones ganaderas.Entre las causas para esta degradación se citan la erosión eólica y la mineralización acelerada de la materia orgánica del suelo; la extracción de nutrimentos por el monocultivo intensivo sin uso de abonos, la erosión hídrica y, sobretodo, la compactación del suelo. Lo anterior agravado por el excesivo laboreo, uso de implementos inapropiados y por la compactación natural provocada por las fuertes lluvias.En el Convenio CIAT/MBAT se están realizando actividades de investigación para un manejo más sostenible del suelo con cultivos anuales, entre ellas: (1) sistemas de labranza conservacionistas, reduciendo el número de labranzas y utilizando implementos agrícolas más adecuados;(2) uso de abonos verdes y enmiendas para corregir el desequilibrio de la composición química en el suelo; y (3) rotación de cultivos que proporcionen grandes cantidades de materia orgánica y faciliten el control de malezas, plagas y enfermedades con un uso mínimo de agroquímicos.Es un proyecto colaborativo IICA/Procitropicos de investigación participativa y capacitación, que involucra al CIAT/SC y productores; se está evaluando la renovación de pasturas en cultivo simultáneo con arroz o maíz, utilizando cero-labranza con cultivos anuales y abonos verdes.El proyecto está en fase de implementación en cuatro zonas agroecológicas del Departamento de Santa Cruz, tres en el área Integrada y uno en la Chiquitanía. La estrategia de acción en el proyecto comprende las etapas siguientes:• Diagnóstico, que comprende la caracterización regional y la tipificación de los dominios de recomendación (DOR) y selección de fincas de referencia, donde se hacen los trabajos de validación.• Planificación participativa entre técnicos investigadores, extensionistas y productores.• Monitoreo y toma de datos por el productor. Estos datos se refieren a indicadores de sostenibilidad, rentabilidad y aceptabilidad.• Transferencia de tecnología mediante actividades de difusión, evaluación de resultados y su adopción por los productores.En el Departamento de Santa Cruz (Bolivia), el sistema de uso del suelo con varios cultivos en tiempo y espacio es una alternativa promisoria para los pequeños productores, ya que les permiten diversificar su producción de forma sostenible.Si bien los productores de la región conocen las ventajas del sistema agropastoril para el establecimiento de pasturas en asociación con cultivos anuales, es necesario que el CIAT/SC realice investigaciones de validación de este sistema para conocer de manera sistemática el mejor uso económico, racional y tecnológico de los diversos factores involucrados en su ejecución. Básicamente se deben hacer investigaciones con animales en los sistemas agroforestales existentes. Por otra parte, las instituciones de transferencia y extensión deben adaptar, validar y difundir la tecnología agropastoril existente. El inicio de la explotación del ecosistema Cerrado en Brasil se basa en el uso del cultivo de arroz como pionero, seguido del establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas. En la actualidad en el Sistema Barreirão se recomienda la explotación basada en la asociación cultivos-pasturas. En este sistema, los cultivos de grano rinden ingresos económicos para el productor y facilitan el establecimiento de las pasturas. Por esa razón, es importante conocer los mecanismos fisiológicos involucrados en la interferencia de la pastura sobre el cultivo. Con el objeto de estudiar las características morfológicas y fisiológicas del cultivo de arroz asociado con Brachiaria brizantha, en Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, en Goiânia, Brasil, se realizaron cuatro experimentos en suelos degradados del Cerrado de Brasil. Los resultados mostraron que la asociación afectó los parámetros de crecimiento del arroz y de la gramínea, además del rendimiento de granos (RG) y el biológico (RB) del arroz. Bajo condiciones óptimas de fertilidad del suelo y disponibilidad hídrica, el RG se relacionó significativamente con el rendimiento; en monocultivo. En condiciones menos favorables, el rendimiento solamente se relacionó positivamente con el RB y negativamente con la fitomasa seca de la pastura. El ciclo del cultivo no se relacionó con el rendimiento; sin embargo, la precocidad se presentó como una característica deseable. Bajo condiciones de buen manejo, aun los cultivares susceptibles a la competencia pueden presentar un buen rendimiento. Es deseable que los genotipos de ciclo intermedio posean características de buena adaptación, lo que es más común en los tipos tradicionales de arroz de secano y no en los tipos recientemente desarrollados. La capacidad de la planta de arroz para acumular y traslocar compuestos fotoasimilados de reserva representa un alto potencial en la identificación de genotipos deseables, pero esta metodología debe ser mejorada. El sistema de asociación tiene un efecto benéfico sobre el desarrollo foliar y el potencial del uso del agua bajo condiciones de deficiencia hídrica; por tanto, permite un mejor uso del agua en el suelo.The Brazilian \"Cerrados\" were first exploited by opening up new areas with rice, followed by pastures. Today, the \"Barreirão System\" introduces crop/pasture association. Income from grain crops is used to establish pastures, which are planted, intermixed with the crop. Understanding the physiological mechanisms involved in the growth of the two mixed crops will help establish criteria for genotype evaluation and improve crop management. The results of four trials in Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, Goiânia, Brasil, showed that such an association does affect the growth parameters of both rice and pasture (Brachiaria sp.), and the grain yield (GY) and biological yield (BY) of rice. Under optimal conditions of soil fertility and water availability, GY under association correlates significantly with GY under monocropping. Under less favorable conditions, GY correlates positively with BY and negatively with pasture dry matter. The crop cycle, overall, does not correlate with yield, except for earliness, which is a desirable trait. Under good management, even cultivars susceptible to interference can yield well under association. Nevertheless, genotypes with a medium growth cycle, ideally, should be adapted; such genotypes are more frequently traditional upland cultivars than modern. The capacity to accumulate and remobilize stored photoassimilates can be used as a criterion for screening desirable genotypes, although the screening methodology needs improving. Association reduces leaf rolling in rice and helps maintain water potential under drought. Soil water reserves are similar to those under the rice monocrop, showing that association does not increase the rice crop's susceptibility to stress.Los Cerrados brasileños poseen un gran potencial para la producción agropecuaria. Su explotación se estimuló fuertemente en las décadas de los 60 y 70, resultando en la apertura indiscriminada de áreas nativas y en la aplicación de técnicas de manejo poco adecuadas a las condiciones edafoclimáticas de la región. Después de la tumba y quema de la vegetación nativa, el establecimiento de las pasturas se hacía utilizando maquinaria pesada del tipo rastraarado. Utilizando esta estrategia, se introdujo en la región el cultivo de arroz de secano, considerado rústico y tolerante al bajo pH en el suelo y, por tanto, un excelente cultivo para la apertura de la zona. En muchos casos, dependiendo de la fertilidad natural del suelo y el precio de mercado, el cultivo de arroz fue permanente durante varios años, antes del establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas.Como resultado de esta estrategia de explotación, el cultivo de arroz de secano alcanzó 3.5 millones de hectáreas en el Cerrado del Brasil. No obstante, la susceptibilidad de este cultivo al déficit hídrico y la aparición de otros cultivos, como la soya y el maíz, igualmente atractivos en el mercado, ocasionaron la reducción en el área de arroz, hasta llegar a sólo 2 millones de hectáreas en la región.Por otro lado, el desarrollo de nuevas variedades de arroz de mejor comportamiento y mayor calidad, permiten prever un nuevo incremento en las áreas de siembra en el Cerrado.En este capítulo se incluyen los resultados preliminares de varios estudios sobre aspectos de la morfología y la fisiología de cultivos arroz-pasturas asociados, realizados en el período 1994-97 en Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, en Goiânia, Brasil, con la colaboración de la Overseas Development Agency (ODA).En los períodos agrícolas 1995-96 y 1996-97 se realizaron sendos experimentos en Latosoles Rojo Oscuro de pasturas de Brachiaria brizantha (Brachiaria) degradada. Las diferencias básicas entre ambos sitios eran la fertilidad del suelo y la altura del nivel fréatico, siendo más favorables en el segundo sitio. En ambos casos, la pastura degradada fue incorporada con un pase de arado de vertedera, al inicio de la estación lluviosa. Antes de la siembra, el suelo se preparó con un pase de arado liviano y posteriormente se niveló.En ambos experimentos se utilizó el diseño de parcelas subdivididas con dos tratamientos: arroz en monocultivo y asociado con la gramínea. En el primer año se evaluaron ocho genotipos de arroz y en el segundo se evaluaron cuatro, que fueron seleccionados por sus características contrastantes.Durante el período de crecimiento se determinaron, con intervalos de 12 a 15 días, el índice del área foliar (IAF) y la fitomasa seca, separando las varias fracciones de la planta (hojas, tallos + vainas y panículas). En el momento de maduración se midieron el rendimiento de granos (RG) y sus componentes, el rendimiento biológico (RB) (paja + grano) y el índice de cosecha (IC).En la Figura 1 aparece la curva de crecimiento de la fitomasa seca y el área foliar de B. brizantha en monocultivo y asociada. Los valores del IAF fueron similares en los dos períodos. El promedio de la fitomasa de la gramínea asociada en el momento de la cosecha de arroz en el período 1996-97 fue de 660 g/m 2 , mientras que en 1995-96, este valor fue sólo de 320 g/m 2 . En ambos períodos, los valores máximos para la pastura en monocultivo fueron, respectivamente, 1700 y 1500 g/m 2 .En ambos períodos no se observaron diferencias estadísticas en la habilidad relativa de los genotipos de arroz para afectar el crecimiento de la gramínea, no obstante, la aparente diferencia en fitomasa seca en la asociación de los cultivares evaluados. Una de las mayores dificultades en este tipo de estudio es obtener densidades uniformes de plantas de Brachiaria en fincas o en experimentos controlados. Además, casi siempre, la semilla presenta germinación poco homogénea, lo que se manifiesta en una alta variabilidad espacial y, consecuentemente, en elevados coeficientes de variación para densidad de plantas.En ambos experimentos, la asociación redujo el crecimiento del área foliar y la acumulación de fitomasa total del arroz (Figura 2). Los genotipos precoces, evaluados solamente en el primer experimento, presentaron el punto de máximo crecimiento del IAF en la época de floración. Para los genotipos de ciclo intermedio, el punto máximo se observó en el quinto muestreo. Como era de esperar, el crecimiento del área foliar y la acumulación de fitomasa seca fueron menores en los materiales de ciclo corto que en los de ciclo intermedio.  En algunos de los muestreos se observó una significativa interacción entre sistema de cultivo y genotipo. Se destaca el crecimiento del cv. Caiapó, de ciclo intermedio, que en el primer ensayo presentó su máximo crecimiento, al mismo tiempo que los materiales precoces, resultando en mayor fitomasa al final del crecimiento que los materiales de ciclo intermedio. Además, ese cultivar presentó poca reducción de los parámetros de crecimiento por la competencia de Brachiaria, especialmente en el primer experimento (Figura 3).Cuando se comparan la reducción de crecimiento del cultivo de arroz (Figura 2) con la reducción en Brachiaria (Figura 1), es evidente que el primero afectó más al segundo. Esta mayor eficiencia relativa se origina en la mayor densidad de plantas de arroz, en relación con Brachiaria.En el experimento 1, el RB en el monocultivo de arroz fue de 776 g/m 2 . La asociación con B. brizantha redujo el rendimiento de arroz a 557 g/m 2 , o sea, una disminución de 28.2%. El RG fue afectado de manera similar por la competencia de la pastura y se redujo de 359 a 242 g/m 2 (32%). El efecto combinado de la competencia sobre ambos parámetros ocasionó una reducción en el IC de 46.5% a 43.6%. En el experimento 2, sembrado en el área más fértil y con mayor dosis de nitrógeno en la época de desarrollo, el rendimiento del arroz en monocultivo fue mayor que en el experimento 1, presentando promedios de 991 y 523 g/m 2 , para RB y RG, respectivamente. Los valores obtenidos en la asociación durante el período 1996-97, para estos mismos parámetros, fueron 675 y 344 g/m 2 , siendo también superiores a los obtenidos en 1995-96. La reducción debida a la competencia de la asociación fue de 34.5% para RB y de 28.4% para RG; por tanto, fue muy similar a la observada en 1995-96; no obstante, los IC fueron superiores en 1996-97 (52.8% en monocultivo y 50.7% en la asociación).Tomando en cuenta las variaciones del RG y del RB del sistema asociado en relación con el monocultivo, los ocho materiales evaluados en el primer año se agruparon en tres clases: (1) dos susceptibles, con reducción en el rendimiento superior a 40%; (2) cinco medianamente tolerantes, con reducción entre 20% y 40%; y (3) uno tolerante con reducción inferior a 20%. Asociado 96/97 Figura 3. Evolución de la fitomasa seca total e índice de área foliar del cv. Caipó de arroz, en monocultivo o asociado con Brachiaria brizantha, en 2 años de evaluación.Para el segundo experimento se seleccionaron los dos materiales que se destacaron como extremos: los cvs. Caiapó (tolerante) y Río Verde (susceptible), que poseen tipo de planta tradicional de secano y presentaban, respectivamente, el mayor y el menor rendimiento en asociación con la gramínea. También se incluyeron los dos genotipos de comportamiento intermediario que tienen tipos de planta contrastantes: Río Paranaíba (secano tradicional) y Progresso (secano mejorado). En las Figuras 4 y 5 aparecen los RG y RB de estos genotipos.Se observa que en el segundo experimento, el cv. Caiapó nuevamente presentó un elevado rendimiento bajo condiciones de asociación con la gramínea, pero también una mayor reducción en el rendimiento en 1995-96, pasando de 9% a 15.1% en el RB y de 14% a 21.9% en el RG. Para el cv. Río Verde, la reducción fue inferior a la observada en 1995-96 (de 55% a 43% en el RG y de 43% a 35% en el RB). Sin embargo, el cv. Río Paranaíba mantuvo la misma posición intermediaria obtenida en el período 1995-96, mientras que el cv. Progresso presentó un desempeño inferior, siendo similar al cv. Río Verde por su desempeño en asociación con Brachiaria.El estudio de correlaciones indicó una variación de los parámetros de rendimiento de granos en la asociación con la gramínea. En el primer año, utilizando los ocho cultivares, el RG del arroz en asociación se relacionó solamente con el RB de la misma asociación (r = 0.874**) y con la fitomasa seca de Brachiaria (r = -0.771*). El número de días hasta la floración no se relacionó con el RG, indicando que el ciclo corto no es un factor limitativo del rendimiento en condiciones de cultivos asociados. En el sistema de monocultivo, los parámetros no mostraron relación con el RG.En el Cuadro 1 se incluyen los coeficientes de correlación que permiten las comparaciones entre los dos experimentos, incluyendo los cuatro materiales comunes a ambos. En el primer año, la fitomasa seca de Brachiaria y del arroz fueron los factores determinantes del rendimiento en la asociación. El efecto intenso de la pastura sobre el arroz afectó la manifestación de las características de los genotipos desarrolladas en el monocultivo. Por otro lado, en el segundo año se observó que el RG bajo monocultivo, así como una serie de características de crecimiento evaluadas en este sistema, se relacionaron de manera altamente significativa con el RG bajo el cultivo asociado. En este caso, el efecto de Brachiaria fue menos relevante en el RG, destacando la capacidad de rendimiento del genotipo.La asociación induce a una competencia por utilización de recursos de agua, nutrimentos, luz y espacio físico, entre otros (Odum, 1996). Por tanto, las diferencias entre comportamiento de las especies en los 2 años puede deberse a diferencias en el nivel de los recursos disponibles. Esto permite concluir que, bajo un manejo adecuado con buena fertilidad en el suelo y disponibilidad de agua, la competencia de Brachiaria sobre el arroz, o viceversa, es de menor intensidad, lo que hace que la competencia presente un papel secundario, en comparación con las características relacionadas con el rendimiento bajo condiciones de monocultivo.La falta de relación entre las características de la planta y el RG en la asociación en el primer experimento, permite decir que la habilidad Cuadro 1. Coeficientes de correlación lineal simple entre el rendimiento de granos de arroz en asociación con pasturas y parámetros morfológicos, fisiológicos y de rendimiento bajo diferentes formas de cultivo. competitiva del arroz en asociación con Brachiaria no se debe a una característica específica, sino más bien a varias características. El cv. Guaraní, de ciclo corto, produjo menos fitomasa y área foliar que cv. Caiapó, de ciclo intermedio, pero sus rendimientos en asociación con la gramínea fueron similares. Este resultado no es totalmente inesperado, pues la capacidad competitiva que determina el éxito en la asociación es considerada como una característica genética difícil de ser definida y de relacionar con características biológicas de los individuos (Harper, 1964).En el segundo experimento, incluyendo sólo materiales de ciclo intermedio, predominaron las características que contribuyen a un buen crecimiento del arroz en términos de fitomasa, área foliar y altura de planta, así como las que contribuyen para un buen desempeño metabólico como el número de espiguillas. Todas estas características se encuentran en cultivares de arroz de secano del tipo tradicional, lo que permite concluir que ellos son los más adecuados para sistemas de cultivos asociados.El tipo de planta per se no garantiza un buen desempeño, como lo demuestra el hecho de que los cvs. Caiapó y Río Verde poseen un tipo de planta similar y tienen diferencias significativas en el desarrollo de la fitomasa de tallos más vainas y panículas (Figura 6). El cv. Caiapó presentó una disminución de la fitomasa de tallos, paralela al crecimiento de la fitomasa de panículas, lo que sugiere una intensa traslocación de carbohidratos de reserva. En el caso del cv. Río Verde, la fitomasa de tallos permaneció prácticamente constante en todos los casos, lo que sugiere una baja capacidad de traslocación, como lo menciona Raissac (1992) en estudios sobre estrés hídrico.La estimación de la tasa de traslocación es difícil en la práctica, ya que involucra análisis bioquímicos que requieren mucho trabajo y, en algunos casos, el uso del carbono marcado. En trabajos sobre estrés del ambiente, normalmente se utiliza la tasa de translocación aparente de fotoasimilados (TTA) -calculada con base en la variación de peso de los tallos y de las panículas entre la floración y la maduración-como una herramienta en la diferenciación de los genotipos (Reyniers et al., 1982). La aplicación de esta metodología, tomando como base los datos en la Figura 6, mostró que el cv. Caiapó presenta mayor capacidad de traslocación de fotoasimilados que el cv. Río Verde. Sin embargo, los elevados coeficientes de variación obtenidos para esos parámetros, especialmente en el segundo experimento, indican que la metodología es difícil de aplicar y, por lo tanto, no se debe recomendar como método de evaluación. Parte de esta dificultad se encuentra en la variabilidad espacial de Brachiaria, que provoca variación en el crecimiento del arroz.Los datos obtenidos en este estudio son preliminares y aún no permiten indicar con seguridad las características que se deben utilizar como criterio en programas de mejoramiento. Existen, aún, indicaciones que el ciclo corto per se permite escapar a la competencia severa de Brachiaria, que ocurre tardíamente en el ciclo de la planta de arroz. En el caso de los genotipos de ciclo intermedio, la capacidad de desarrollar una gran fitomasa, establecer reservas y posteriormente traslocarlas parece ser un mecanismo deseable. A través de este mecanismo, la planta puede desarrollar fitomasa en el período vegetativo, mientras la pastura no ejerce sombreamiento Esta característica se encuentra en genotipos del tipo de planta tradicional, como el cv. Caiapó. Los nuevos cultivares, recientemente recomendados para el sistema, no poseen ese tipo de planta y, por tanto, esa característica. Sin embargo, es posible que posean otras características que garanticen cierta capacidad competitiva con Brachiaria.El arroz de secano es susceptible a la deficiencia hídrica, principalmente durante el período reproducido.Observaciones preliminares sugieren que la deficiencia hídrica puede ser minimizada en el sistema asociado arroz-pasturas, debido, especialmente, a la preparación profunda del suelo. En dos ensayos se evaluaron los efectos de la competencia de Brachiaria brizantha en la respuesta a sequía y el consumo por agua de arroz de secano, cultivados según la metodología del Sistema Barreirão, modificada en la época y densidad de siembra. Se incluyó además un testigo en monocultivo.La siembra fue tardía, con el fin de hacer coincidir el período reproducido del cultivo de arroz con el inicio del período seco y utilizando una densidad de siembra de Brachiaria de 10 kg/ha, el doble de la recomendada, con el fin de generar una alta competencia. El diseño experimental fue de parcelas subdivididas, con dos tratamientos hídricos (control con riego y deficiencia hídrica en el período reproducido), dos sistemas de cultivo (arroz en monocultivo y asociado con B. brizantha cv. Marandú) y dos genotipos de arroz de secano (Río Paranaíba y CNA 7066). Durante el período de los tratamientos hídricos se realizaron determinaciones periódicas del potencial de agua, el grado de enrollamiento de las hojas, el contenido de agua en el suelo, el área foliar y la fitomasa seca. En la época de maduración se determinaron el rendimiento de granos y sus componentes.El segundo experimento se realizó en la época seca, con el fin de medir el consumo de agua de las plantas. El estudio se realizó en macetas con Latosol Rojo Oscuro y arena, utilizando un diseño de bloques al azar con los siguientes tratamientos de cultivo: arroz solo (T1), pastura sola (T2) y asociación arroz-pasturas (T3). La variedad de arroz de secano utilizada fue Guaraní.En los tratamientos arroz solo y en la asociación, las semillas de arroz se distribuyeron en surcos, mientras que en la pastura sola y en la asociación, las semillas de Brachiaria se sembraron en sitios a igual distancia. Después del establecimiento de las plantas, se hicieron raleos para obtener finalmente 125 plantas de arroz en el T1, 18 plantas de Brachiaria en el T2, y 100 plantas de arroz más 18 plantas de Brachiaria por cada maceta en el T3.El agua agregada se midió con hidrómetro, y el consumo estimado como la cantidad de agua necesaria para llevar el suelo a la saturación, después de restar la cantidad de agua eliminada por drenaje. Se hicieron mediciones del IAF por el método del ancho y largo a cada 15 días. Estas se iniciaron a los 23 días después de la siembra (dds) y siguieron hasta los 83 dds. El consumo de agua por unidad de área foliar se estimó después que aquella había cubierto totalmente el suelo.En el experimento de campo, la alta densidad de Brachiaria favoreció su rápido crecimiento desde del inicio de la siembra, lo que restringió el crecimiento del arroz, si se compara con lo que normalmente ocurre en el Sistema Barreirão. En la cosecha se obtuvieron 800 g/m 2 de fitomasa seca de Brachiaria y solamente 345 g/m 2 de fitomasa seca de arroz. La deficiencia hídrica fue larga, 21 días, durante el período de floración e inicio de llenado de los granos, períodos de mayor sensibilidad de la planta. De esa manera, los efectos de la competencia de la pastura y de la deficiencia hídrica sobre el rendimiento de granos de arroz fueron muy elevados, causando una disminución de 60% en relación con los respectivos controles. No se observó interacción entre el tratamiento hídrico y el sistema de cultivo, lo que indica que la planta de arroz no se afecta mucho por la sequía cuando se asocia con pasturas.Aunque se encontró una alta competencia en el rendimiento de arroz, lo que posiblemente no ocurre si se emplea la densidad de siembra recomendada para Brachiaria, la asociación trajo un beneficio fisiológico significativo a las plantas de arroz sometidas al estrés hídrico, manteniendo sus hojas más desarrolladas (Figura 7) y con un potencial de agua de 0.4 MPa mayor que el monocultivo de arroz, al final del período de estrés.Este efecto puede ser explicado por la alteración del microclima, ocasionado por el sombreamiento inducido por las hojas superiores de Brachiaria, que cubrieron de manera gradual las hojas del arroz durante el período de estrés hídrico. La reducción de la evapotranspiración posiblemente redujo la transpiración del arroz, lo cual fue corroborado por el mayor potencial de agua de las hojas al final del período de estrés. Posiblemente, este efecto no se manifestó en mayor rendimiento, debido a que la deficiencia hídrica por un período prolongado de tiempo incidió sobre el período más crítico de sensibilidad del cultivo.Los datos del consumo de agua, obtenidos en segundo experimento, indicaron que Brachiaria consumió menos agua por maceta que el monocultivo del arroz o la asociación, que presentaron consumos similares (Figura 8). Este menor consumo podría ser atribuido, inicialmente, a la menor área foliar de Brachiaria, resultante de su baja densidad de siembra. Inclusive, como resultado de una mayor tasa de crecimiento subsecuente, el IAF de esta gramínea fue superior al del arroz monocultivo, pero inferior al IAF de la asociación.La estimación del consumo de agua por unidad de área foliar, a partir de la cobertura completa del suelo, indica valores similares para los tres tratamientos en el período entre 48 y 62 dds. En la medida en que Brachiaria incrementó su área foliar, entre 62 y 83 dds, el consumo de agua por unidad de área foliar disminuyó significativamente, tanto en el cultivo solo como en la asociación. Por otra parte, el arroz en monocultivo, además de la reducción observada, presentó un consumo de agua superior a los demás tratamientos (Figura 9).Los resultados de estos estudios, aún preliminares, sugieren que bajo condiciones óptimas de manejo y de fertilidad en el suelo, los cultivares susceptibles a la competencia por otros cultivos asociados pueden presentar buenos rendimientos cuando se asocian con B. brizantha cv. Marandú arroz de ciclo medio y recomendados para los sistemas de cultivo asociados tengan un alto potencial de adaptación. En ese sentido, la capacidad de acumular y traslocar fotoasimilados de reserva es una condición esencial para la utilización y selección de genotipos.Los resultados también indicaron que el sistema de cultivo asociado arroz-pasturas no disminuye la reserva de agua en el suelo más rápidamente que el arroz en monocultivo y, por tanto, no contribuye a un mayor déficit de agua y estrés por sequía. Además, el microclima favorable inducido por el sombreamiento del arroz favorece el desarrollo de Brachiaria.La continuidad de esos estudios deberá consolidar el conocimiento de las características de la planta de arroz que garanticen un adecuado crecimiento y rendimiento en presencia de B. brizantha o de otras pasturas. Esta situación podría comprometer la calidad de los recursos naturales y la sostenibilidad de la agricultura en esta región a largo plazo. Una de las opciones para intensificar la producción agrícola y minimizar su impacto negativo sobre la calidad del suelo y del agua consiste en la integración de sistemas agrícolas y pecuarios en el tiempo y el espacio (sistemas agropastoriles). A partir de 1992, el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y la Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária en el Cerrado (Embrapa Cerrados) trabajaron conjuntamente con otras instituciones para desarrollar sistemas agropastoriles para el Cerrado brasileño. La estrategia de investigación consistió en desarrollar sistemas basados en leguminosas forrajeras adaptadas a bajo y alto uso de insumos y en cuantificar el impacto productivo y edáfico de la integración de sistemas de cultivos y pastos. La mayoría de las actividades se llevaron a cabo en fincas de la región de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. La inclusión de la leguminosa Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão en un sistema de arroz-pasturas con bajo uso de insumos dio como resultado un incremento de más de 50% en la producción animal, en comparación con el control sin leguminosa. La adaptación de esta leguminosa a sistemas de cultivos anuales con alto uso de insumos fue marginal. Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 mostró una mejor adaptación a la competencia de los cultivos y de las gramíneas forrajeras en los sistemas de altos insumos. Esta leguminosa tiene un gran potencial de uso como componente de rotaciones con cultivos anuales o como cobertura permanente en sistemas de siembra directa. Sin embargo, es necesario usar métodos químicos o mecánicos para controlar temporalmente los problemas de competencia sobre los cultivos. Los resultados de un estudio de caso en un sistema agricultura-ganadería confirmaron la existencia de un efecto sinergístico de la integración sobre la producción y las condiciones del suelo. Durante el ciclo de cultivos se elevó la fertilidad en el suelo. Durante el ciclo de pasturas se mejoró la agregación del suelo y los niveles de materia orgánica. Estudios más detallados indicaron que bajo las pasturas ocurren mecanismos de protección física de la materia orgánica. Este proceso es de especial significado en suelos arenosos. Las encuestas en tres cuencas cercanas a Uberlândia mostraron que la integración de sistemas agrícolas y pecuarios está comenzando a ser usada por los productores de granos.Grain, meat, and milk producers in the Brazilian \"Cerrados\" are facing growing economic and environmental problems that may, over the long term, compromise natural resources and thus the sustainability of agriculture in the region. One option for intensifying agriculture and minimizing its negative impact on soil and water quality is to integrate crops and livestock across time and space as agropastoral systems. In 1992, a research project to develop agropastoral systems for the Brazilian \"Cerrados\" was started by the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), the Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados (EMBRAPA-CPAC), and other institutions. The strategy was to develop systems based on integrating crops, pastures, and forage legumes (adapted to low and high inputs) and to quantify the impact made by these systems on production and soils. Most of the activities were carried out on farms around Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The legume Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão, introduced into a rice/pasture system with low inputs, increased animal production by more than 50%, compared with the control (no legume). This legume only marginally adapted to the system with annual crops and high inputs. In contrast, Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 was more competitive with crops and forage grasses in high-input systems. This legume has high potential for use as a component in rotation with annual crops or as a permanent cover in direct sowing systems. Even so, chemical or mechanical methods are needed to temporarily control problems of competition. A case study confirmed the synergetic effects of this system on production and soil. Under crops, soil fertility increases, and under pastures, soil aggregation improves and organic matter becomes physically protected (especially important in sandy soils), raising levels. Surveys of three watersheds near Uberlândia showed that the integrated crop and livestock system is beginning to interest grain farmers.La región del Cerrado se ha convertido, en menos de 30 años, en la frontera de expansión agrícola más importante del Brasil. Esta rápida transformación se debió a los avances tecnológicos en el manejo del suelo, la selección de cultivares adaptados a las condiciones de suelo y clima de la región y a la masiva inversión del Estado en infraestructura y programas de desarrollo para ocupar este ecosistema.El crecimiento de la actividad agrícola en la región tuvo impactos positivos en la generación de riqueza y de empleo. No obstante, también generó impactos ambientales negativos como el aumento en erosión y compactación del suelo en los sistemas de cultivos anuales (Ayarza et al., s.f.). Además, creció en forma vertiginosa el consumo de pesticidas para controlar la presión biótica de malezas, plagas y enfermedades. Al mismo tiempo, se hizo notorio el problema de degradación de las pasturas, siendo ésta especialmente severa en más del 50% de las pasturas sembradas en el Cerrado, las cuales presentan cuadros severos de pérdida de vigor e invasión de malezas y ataques de plagas.Con el fin de reducir el impacto negativo de los sistemas de manejo actuales se están desarrollando sistemas alternativos. Los sistemas tradicionales de preparación del suelo están siendo sustituidos por sistemas de labranza mínima donde los cultivos son sembrados sobre residuos de cosecha o sobre coberturas controladas con herbicidas. Al mismo tiempo, el monocultivo de soya se está reemplazando por sistemas de rotaciones con otros cultivos, lo que permite reducir la incidencia de malezas y plagas. En los sistemas pecuarios se están usando gramíneas más resistentes al ataque del salivazo (Deois flavopicta) y cultivos para recuperar pasturas degradadas (Kluthcouski et al., 1991). Una de las mejores estrategias para intensificar la producción agrícola en forma sostenible y revertir los problemas de degradación consiste en la integración de sistemas agrícolas y pecuarios en el tiempo y el espacio (sistemas agropastoriles). Esta estrategia se basa en el hecho de que cuando se combinan especies anuales y perennes ocurre un efecto sinergístico en la productividad y las condiciones del suelo (Lal, 1991;Spain, 1990). Este efecto se refleja en la utilización más eficiente de los nutrimentos disponibles y el mejoramiento de las propiedades químicas, físicas y biológicas del suelo, además de reducción en los riesgos económicos que se derivan de la explotación de las actividades por separado.Durante 4 años, el Programa de Trópico Bajo del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y la Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária en el Cerrado (Embrapa Cerrados) trabajaron con otras instituciones en un proyecto conjunto para desarrollar sistemas agropastoriles mejorados para el Cerrado brasileño. Los objetivos específicos del Proyecto fueron:1. Desarrollar sistemas agropastoriles basados en leguminosas de uso múltiple;2. Evaluar la productividad de esos sistemas en finca;3. Cuantificar el impacto productivo y edáfico de la integración de sistemas agrícolas y pecuarios; y 4. Caracterizar el potencial de uso de esos sistemas en función de la dinámica de los sistemas de producción actuales.En este capítulo se describen el enfoque metodológico seguido en la selección de los componentes y los resultados de la evaluación de prototipos, basados en leguminosas, en fincas de productores de la región.La mayoría de las actividades se condujeron en fincas de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil. La región está localizada entre 19° sur y 48° oeste y en ella se encuentran las clases agroecológicas más importantes del Cerrado (Jones et al., 1992). Además, ha experimentado un acelerado proceso de intensificación en el uso del suelo durante los últimos años (Oliveira Schneider, 1996). Los suelos de la región son profundos y bien estructurados con una fertilidad natural baja y una alta capacidad de fijación de fósforo. Según el sistema brasileño, estos suelos son clasificados como Latossolos Vermelho-Amarelo y Vermelho-Escuro (Anionic Acrustox y Typic Haplustox, de acuerdo a la clasificación americana). La precipitación, promedio anual, es de 1600 mm concentrada entre noviembre y marzo. Entre junio y septiembre se presenta una época seca muy marcada donde la humedad relativa alcanza valores inferiores a 15%.El estudio se enfocó en el desarrollo de sistemas agropastoriles basados en leguminosas con potencial de adaptación en sistemas pecuarios y de cultivos con bajo y alto uso de insumos, respectivamente, como componentes de rotaciones y coberturas permanentes. Las investigaciones llevadas a cabo en otras regiones tropicales indican que la leguminosa es el componente clave para incrementar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción (Boddey et al., 1996;McCown et al., 1993;Thomas et al., 1995). En este caso, se evaluó el potencial de Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão (Estilosantes) y Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 (Arachis) como componentes de estos nuevos sistemas. Estas leguminosas están adaptadas a las condiciones de clima y suelo de los Cerrados y tienen un gran potencial de producción (EMBRAPA/CPAC, 1993;Pizarro y Rincón, 1994).Las etapas seguidas en el proceso de evaluación aparecen resumidas en la Figura 1. Los estudios de compatibilidad agronómica de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão y A. pintoi BRA-031143 se llevaron a cabo en experimentos de parcelas pequeñas bajo corte. En una de las fases se determinó su compatibilidad con varias gramíneas forrajeras promisorias; en otra, se estudió el efecto combinado de gramíneas y cultivos sobre el establecimiento de las leguminosas en un suelo arenoso con dos niveles de fertilidad. El potencial de ambas leguminosas como coberturas permanentes del suelo en sistemas de cultivos anuales se evaluó previamente en parcelas puras de sólo leguminosa.La evaluación del impacto productivo de las leguminosas como componentes de sistemas agropastoriles se hizo en prototipos de 4 ha en fincas. Los prototipos se sembraron en sistemas de pasturas y de cultivos anuales con bajo y alto uso de insumos, respectivamente, en suelos arenosos y arcillosos. En el Cuadro 1 se incluyen las propiedades químicas y físicas de los suelos en cada sistema seleccionado. El diseño base de los prototipos incluyó la comparación entre un sistema de cultivos + pasturas vs. un sistema de cultivos + pasturas + 'coctel' (mezcla) de leguminosas.Los componentes de cultivos y gramíneas forrajeras de los prototipos variaron en función del sistema de producción y el nivel de fertilidad. En el sistema de pasturas con bajos insumos se sembró arroz junto con las gramíneas B. decumbens y B. ruziziensis. En los sistemas con altos insumos se sembraron maíz y la gramínea Panicum maximum cv. Vencedor. En todos los prototipos con leguminosas se utilizó el mismo 'coctel' (S. guianensis cv. Mineirão, Neonotonia wightii cv. Tinaroo y Calopogonium mucunoides cv. Comercial). Estas dos últimas leguminosas se incluyeron como controles de cultivares comerciales disponibles en el mercado. Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 no se sembró en los sistemas de altos insumos por falta de suficiente semilla. La fertilización en los prototipos de bajos insumos La evaluación de los prototipos incluyó parámetros de producción de grano y de productividad animal. La producción de biomasa y la composición botánica de las pasturas se midió tres veces al año. Los cambios en la estabilidad de los agregados, en el porcentaje de materia orgánica y en la disponibilidad de nitrógeno se midieron a varias profundidades en el perfil del suelo. En el prototipo de bajos insumos en el suelo arenoso (17% de arcilla) se incluyó un control consistente en pastura degradada.En forma paralela con las actividades de investigación se promovió la multiplicación de semillas de S. guianensis y A. pintoi BRA-031143 en campos de productores y la difusión de los resultados a través de visitas a los campos con cultivos prototipos.El impacto productivo y edáfico de la integración agricultura-ganadería fue cuantificado en un estudio de caso realizado en la hacienda Santa Terezinha en Uberlândia. Esta propiedad está ubicada en un suelo arenoso; en ella se han tenido sistemas integrados de cultivos y pasturas por más de 10 años. Allí se recolectó toda la información disponible sobre uso del suelo y productividad animal y de los cultivos; se analizaron los cambios en las propiedades químicas y físicas del suelo bajo los ciclos de cultivos y pasturas. El trabajo se complementó con estudios detallados sobre la agregación del suelo y la composición de la materia orgánica.La caracterización de la dinámica de los sistemas de producción de granos y de los cambios tecnológicos ocurridos a través del tiempo se llevó a cabo en tres cuencas hidrográficas ubicadas en los municipios Río Uberabinha (Uberlândia), Ribeirão Santa Juliana (Santa Juliana) y Río Bagagem (Iraí de Minas). La caracterización se hizo mediante encuestas con productores en la finca. Los resultados obtenidos se complementaron con informaciones de sensores remotos.En todas las etapas de evaluación se contó con la participación de los productores de la región, quienes colaboraron en la selección de los componentes de cultivos y gramíneas incluidos en los ensayos en pequeñas parcelas y suministraron la información utilizada para documentar el estudio de caso sobre el impacto de la integración agricultura-ganadería. Su nivel de participación fue aún mayor en las etapas de evaluación y análisis de impacto en la finca y en la caracterización de la dinámica de los sistemas productivos. Finalmente, se realizaron varios días de campo para analizar las diferentes opciones y discutir sus ventajas y limitaciones.La agresividad de las gramíneas forrajeras y de los cultivos acompañantes afectó el establecimiento de las leguminosas en sistemas de siembra simultánea. En un experimento que incluyó 19 ecotipos de gramíneas forrajeras asociadas con S. guianensis cv. Mineirão, se observó que este cultivar se asoció mejor con ecotipos de Paspalum y de B. brizantha, que con ecotipos de P. maximum y de B. decumbens (Ramos et al., 1996). No obstante, se encontraron diferencias de compatibilidad entre la leguminosa y ecotipos del mismo género; por ej., las diferencias en compatibilidad con los ecotipos de B. brizantha estuvieron inversamente relacionadas con la producción de materia seca (M.S.) de las gramíneas. En el caso de los ecotipos de P. maximum y B. decumbens, el efecto negativo sobre la leguminosa estuvo probablemente más relacionado con otras características de competencia, tales como sombrío, producción de raíces y absorción de nutrimentos. Stylosanthes es un género muy sensible a la sombra (Rodrigues et al., 1993) y a la competencia con gramíneas por N, Ca y P (Rao et al., 1995).En otro experimento se comparó el comportamiento de varios ecotipos de A. pintoi, Centrosema macrocarpum, C. brasilianum y C. mucunoides sembrados en asociación con B. decumbens CIAT 16488. La mayoría de las leguminosas, excepto los ecotipos de Arachis, desaparecieron por problemas de adaptación y de enfermedades. Los ecotipos de Arachis evaluados se asociaron bien con la gramínea y retuvieron las hojas durante una buena parte de la época seca (Pizarro et al., 1996). En este estudio se encontraron diferencias significativas en la producción de M.S. entre el cultivar comercial A. pintoi cv. Amarillo y la accesión A. pintoi BRA-031143 (Figura 2).La competencia de las gramíneas no sólo afecto el establecimiento de las leguminosas, sino también el crecimiento de los cultivos acompañantes. Panicum maximum cv. Vencedor redujo en forma significativa la producción de arroz y el establecimiento de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão, en comparación con P. atratum BRA-009610 en un sistema de siembra simultánea (Cuadro 2). Sin embargo, este efecto negativo de las gramíneas se redujo significativamente cuando se sembraron 30 días después de la siembra del cultivo y las leguminosas. Con el incremento de la fertilidad en el suelo aumentó el nivel de competencia de la gramínea hacia la leguminosa; así, Estilosantes prácticamente desapareció cuando se sembró simultáneamente con P. maximum cv. Vencedor y maíz en un sistema de altos insumos (Cuadro 3). Los rendimientos de maíz en este sistema se afectaron poco (menos que 14% en rendimiento) por la gramínea Arachis pintoi en la producción de materia seca de una asociación con Brachiaria decumbens. Minas Gerais, Brasil.acompañante, en comparación con maíz en monocultivo. La siembra de las gramíneas 30 días después que la leguminosa también redujo la competencia sobre éstas y el cultivo (Cuadro 3). La producción de M.S. de A. pintoi BRA-031143 fue muy baja en ambos sistemas de producción. Sin embargo, su establecimiento mejoró después de la cosecha de maíz. experimento en un suelo arenoso mostraron que el crecimiento de maíz sembrado sobre cobertura de Estilosantes fue similar al de maíz en monocultivo, mientras que sobre la cobertura de Arachis, el crecimiento fue severamente afectado. En este caso, las plantas de maíz se desarrollaron muy poco y mostraron fuertes síntomas de deficiencias nutricionales, lo cual estuvo asociado a la gran cantidad de raíces de Arachis entre 0 y 10 cm de profundidad en el suelo y a la gran capacidad de rebrote de la leguminosa con el inicio de las lluvias. En experimentos posteriores se observó que la competencia de A. pintoi BRA-031143 puede ser reducida temporalmente con la aplicación de 3.5 lt/ha de glifosato + 1% de urea, o con el paso de un subsolador sobre la cobertura antes de la siembra de maíz (Figura 3). Otros métodos mecánicos más intensivos, tales como el paso de rastra y arado + rastra, redujeron también la competencia de la leguminosa, pero estimularon la incidencia de malezas (Cuadro 4). Trabajos exploratorios con un rango amplio de herbicidas mostraron que existen varias alternativas para reducir en forma temporal la cobertura de Arachis. En todos los casos, la cobertura de esta leguminosa se restableció completamente con el tiempo. En contraste, la cobertura de Estilosantes desapareció después de la cosecha de maíz.Al igual que lo ocurrido en los experimentos en parcelas pequeñas, S. guianensis cv. Mineirão se adaptó bien en los sistemas de bajos insumos, tanto en el suelo arenoso como en el arcilloso. Al momento de la cosecha de arroz se encontraron 3 ó 4 plantas/m Los rendimientos del cultivo en este sistema fueron muy bajos, debido a la ocurrencia de períodos cortos de sequía y a la competencia de las gramíneas.En los sistemas de altos insumos, todas las leguminosas desaparecieron, como consecuencia de la competencia por luz de P. maximum cv. Vencedor y del cultivo de maíz. La producción de este último y el establecimiento de la gramínea fueron óptimos.Después de 3 años en pastoreo, la ganancia animal en los prototipos de bajos insumos con leguminosas fue 50% mayor que en los prototipos cultivos-pasturas (Cuadro 5). Esta diferencia aumentó hasta llegar a 80% después de una fertilización para mantenimiento con 20 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 y 40 kg/ha de K 2 O. La mayor producción animal en los prototipos con leguminosa se asoció con una mayor capacidad de carga animal, ganancias individuales más altas y mejor calidad de la dieta. Las diferencias fueron más notorias durante la época seca, debido a la capacidad de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão para mantener una mayor oferta de materia verde. La proporción de este cultivar en la pastura se ha mantenido estable durante todo el tiempo de evaluación -entre 30% y 60% de la biomasa total, dependiendo de la época del año.Cuadro 4. Efecto de la intensidad de labranza y de uso de herbicida sobre la producción de materia seca (t/ha) de Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 y malezas. Las ganancias de peso vivo animal en el prototipo cultivos-pasturas en el suelo arenoso, fueron similares a las obtenidas con el tratamiento control de pastura degradada, mientras que la producción animal en el prototipo de altos insumos en el suelo arcilloso fue dos veces mayor que en el suelo arenoso. Gran parte de esta diferencia se debió a la mayor disponibilidad de nitrógeno para la gramínea en el suelo arcilloso (1.29 mg/g vs. 0.61 mg/g en el suelo arenoso). El efecto de la baja disponibilidad de N en el suelo arenoso fue confirmada con la respuesta lineal de P. maximun cv. Centenário a la aplicación de este nutrimento (Figura 4). La limitación, debida a bajo nitrógeno en el suelo, se ha reflejado con el tiempo en una creciente proporción de soya perenne (N. wightii) en la pastura y con una mayor productividad animal en el prototipo con leguminosas (Cuadro 5). Las evaluaciones recientes de la composición botánica muestran que esta leguminosa constituye el 40% de la biomasa en oferta en la pastura.Los resultados obtenidos en los prototipos que incluyen S. guianensis cv. Mineirão y A. pintoi produjeron un creciente interés entre los productores de la región para multiplicar semilla de estas leguminosas. En 2 años se sembraron 8 ha de la primera y 3.5 ha de la segunda, que rindieron 122 y 235 kg de semilla pura, respectivamente.En 1983, con la introducción de la actividad agrícola en la hacienda Santa Terezinha, el sistema original de ganadería de cría se trasformó en un sistema integrado, en el cual se alternan ciclos de cultivos y pasturas en el tiempo y el espacio. En 1992, todas las pasturas originales de B. decumbens cv. Basilisk ya habían sido reemplazadas por pasturas de P. maximum sembradas en forma simultánea con maíz después de un ciclo de 3 a 4 años de cultivos (Cuadro 6). A partir de esa época, la proporción del área en pasturas se ha mantenido en un 40% del área total de la finca. A pesar de esta reducción en área, la capacidad de soporte animal ha aumentado (Cuadro 7). Esto ha dado resultado en un incremento en la productividad de terneros por hectárea, en comparación con el sistema tradicional.El nuevo sistema de producción mejoró también las condiciones del suelo (Cuadro 8). Durante el ciclo de cultivos se elevó la fertilidad en el suelo debido al uso de fertilizantes y correctivos. Durante el ciclo de pasturas se recuperó la agregación del suelo, y la materia orgánica aumentó en 30%, en comparación con áreas que tienen 4 años en cultivos (Figura 5). Lilienfein (1996) encontró que también ocurre un enriquecimiento de C, N y P en los macroagregados de estos suelos bajo los sistemas de pasturas. Cuadro 6. Cambios en el área en pasturas a través del tiempo en la hacienda Santa Terezinha, como consecuencia de la introducción de cultivos en rotación con pasturas, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Actualmente se están haciendo mediciones adicionales para evaluar el impacto de la leguminosa sobre las propiedades del suelo. Los resultados preliminares indican que hay un aumento de la población de la mesofauna y en los residuos de materia vegetal muerta en las pasturas asociadas (Figura 6).Los resultados de la caracterización de los sistemas de producción en las cuencas seleccionadas mostraron que los cultivos anuales ocupan, en promedio, el 72% del área total de las fincas. El resto está ocupada por cultivadas. En la época seca, los animales son confinados y suplementados con ensilaje y concentrados producidos generalmente con los cultivos de la finca. Este tipo de integración ha permitido aprovechar las áreas no aptas para la agricultura y aumentar la renta de los productores con la producción de leche y carne. La percepción de los productores es que la ganadería es más un complemento que un sustituto de la actividad principal de producción de granos. La rotación de cultivos y pasturas es todavía una práctica poco usada entre los productores. Sólo un 6% de ellos ha sembrado pasturas de alta productividad en áreas agrícolas para sistemas en confinamiento; la mayoría tiene pasturas en áreas poco mecanizables, lo que dificulta la siembra de cultivos.Para que una tecnología sostenible sea rápidamente adoptada por los productores, es necesario que genere beneficios a corto y largo plazo en productividad y calidad del suelo, sin ocasionar cambios estructurales en el sistema productivo (Spencer, 1991). Este podría ser el caso de la introducción de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão en sistemas ganaderos con bajo uso de insumos. Esta tecnología requiere poca cantidad de semilla para su establecimiento (700 a 1500 g/ha), no necesita labores adicionales de preparación de suelo y exige muy pocos insumos. Aunque no se han estudiado en detalle los mecanismos de adaptación de esta especie a baja disponibilidad de nutrimentos en el suelo, sí se sabe que las leguminosas de este género son muy eficientes en asociación con micorriza y tienen una alta tasa de absorción de fósforo por unidad de raíz (Rao et al., 1997). Estas características, y la capacidad de proporcionar forraje verde durante la época seca, le dan a esta leguminosa claras ventajas sobre otras especies para mejorar la productividad del sistema aún en épocas críticas.A pesar de los atributos positivos de esta leguminosa, es muy sensible a la competencia por luz y nutrimentos; por tanto, es necesario seleccionar el tipo de gramínea y cultivo acompañantes. Las gramíneas tienen un sistema radicular más profuso que las leguminosas, lo que les permite explorar un mayor volumen de suelo para absorber agua y nutrimentos (Rao et al., 1996). En condiciones de mayor fertilidad en el suelo, la sobrevivencia de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão es menor, debido a la mayor capacidad de respuesta de las especies acompañantes al incremento de fertilidad.La mayor productividad en las pasturas con S. guianensis cv. Mineirão está relacionada con el suministro de N de la leguminosa al sistema sueloplanta-animal. Cadish et al. (1993) determinaron que más del 80% del N absorbido por varias especies de Stylosanthes proviene de fijación biológica. Parte de este N es consumido como proteína por los animales y parte es reciclado al suelo a través de la orina y las heces de los animales y por procesos de descomposición de los residuos vegetales (Thomas, 1992). Estos procesos dan como resultado el incremento en el nitrógeno mineral en el suelo (Cadish et al., 1993;Freibauer, 1996) y eventualmente en una mayor disponibilidad de este elemento para la gramínea acompañante. Esto se confirmó en este trabajo con los mayores contenidos de N medidos en el tejido de las gramíneas asociadas con S. guianensis cv. Mineirão en comparación con las gramíneas solas. El incremento observado en la productividad de las pasturas asociadas después de la fertilización con P y K también podría estar relacionado a esa mayor disponibilidad de N. Por otro lado, las escasas diferencias de producción animal entre la pastura sola del sistema cultivospasturas y el control pastura degradada en el suelo arenoso, indican que el efecto de la recuperación de las pasturas mediante el uso de cultivos es de corto plazo y que es necesario incluir una fuente de N, si se quiere mantener el incremento en la productividad.El comportamiento de A. pintoi BRA-031143 contrasta con el de S. guianensis cv. Mineirão. Arachis es una leguminosa perenne, de crecimiento postrado y que tiene varios mecanismos de persistencia (Fisher y Cruz, 1994). Aunque su crecimiento inicial es lento, produce más raíces que otras leguminosas y tiene una mayor eficiencia en la absorción de nutrimentos (Rao et al., 1996); además, tolera la sombra temporal. Estas características, sumadas a su excelente calidad nutritiva y su buena capacidad de cobertura del suelo, la hacen una planta adaptada a sistemas de manejo intensivos con alto uso de insumos. Una vez establecida en estos sistemas, puede persistir en asociación con gramíneas tan agresivas como P. maximum cv. Vencedor y contribuir al mantenimiento de la producción animal en sistemas de rotación con cultivos en suelos arenosos. Aunque este efecto no pudo ser documentado, sí se observó una buena persistencia de esta especie en parcelas bajo pastoreo en los prototipos en los que se evaluó.En América Central existen varias experiencias sobre el uso de Arachis como cobertura permanente en plantaciones de café (Staver, 1996), banano (Granstedt y Rodríguez, 1996;Pérez, 1996) y naranja (Pérez-Jiménez et al., 1996). Entre las ventajas de estos sistemas de cultivo se menciona un mejor control de malezas, la protección del suelo contra el impacto de las lluvias y la reducción de las poblaciones de nematodos. No obstante, el establecimiento de la leguminosa ha sido lento, eventualmente compite con los cultivos y su establecimiento es costoso.Los resultados obtenidos en estos trabajos indican que una vez que la cobertura con Arachis está bien establecida, la incidencia de malezas se reduce significativamente, pero es necesario controlar temporalmente la competencia de la cobertura para obtener buenos rendimientos de cultivos como maíz. El objetivo del control es minimizar la competencia inicial para el cultivo y permitir que la cobertura se restablezca completamente al final del ciclo de crecimiento del cultivo. La celeridad de recuperación de la cobertura y la incidencia de malezas dependen del sistema de control de la cobertura. Los métodos que destruyen la cobertura y perturban el suelo estimulan la germinación de semillas viables en el suelo de algunas malezas. El uso del subsolador ha dado los mejores resultados. Con este implemento de preparación vertical del suelo se produce un daño mecánico sobre las raíces de Arachis sin destruir totalmente la cobertura. Esto reduce la competencia radicular y mejora las condiciones físicas del suelo para el cultivo.Los resultados del monitoreo de sistemas agricultura-ganadería confirmaron el efecto benéfico de la integración sobre la productividad del sistema y sobre la calidad del suelo. A pesar de su gran potencial, este sistema es todavía poco usado por los productores. Esto se debe, en parte, a los cambios necesarios en infraestructura y administración para manejar ambas actividades. Además se requiere un cambio en la mentalidad del productor de granos y del ganadero, acostumbrados a trabajar con una sola actividad (Spain et al., 1996). Aparentemente, este cambio está comenzando a darse entre los productores de granos, como lo demuestran los resultados de las encuestas.Por otra parte, los productores están percibiendo cada día más el beneficio económico de la integración cultivos-pasturas, aunque ambas actividades se mantienen en áreas separadas. La adopción de los sistemas de rotación de cultivos y pasturas tomará tiempo. Sin embargo, éste parece ser el camino más viable para incrementar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas agrícolas en suelos frágiles. La inclusión de especies forrajeras como cobertura en sistemas de siembra directa de cultivos anuales tiene un gran potencial debido a su capacidad para cubrir el suelo, agregar valor a la cobertura y permitir su eventual utilización como componente de sistemas de rotación con cultivos. Es aún necesario identificar otras especies de gramíneas y leguminosas que se adapten a las condiciones de suelo y de manejo del productor.Los resultados obtenidos en estos trabajos han demostrado que los sistemas agropastoriles tienen potencial para incrementar la productividad y reducir los riesgos de degradación, mejorando las propiedades químicas, físicas y biológicas del suelo. El impacto positivo de estos sistemas es aún mayor cuando se incluyen leguminosas forrajeras como Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão y Arachis pintoi BRA-031143.Mineirão es una leguminosa adaptada a baja fertilidad en el suelo, que puede ser fácilmente establecida en sistemas arroz-pasturas, con el fin de renovar pasturas degradadas mediante la aplicación de bajos niveles de insumos. Además de mejorar la dieta de los animales, aumenta la disponibilidad de N en el sistema suelo-planta y permite una mayor estabilidad de las pasturas a más largo plazo.En contraste, Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 está más adaptada a sistemas de producción intensivos en el uso de insumos. Es relativamente tolerante a la competencia por luz y nutrimentos y tiene una buena capacidad de cobertura una vez establecida. Estos atributos la hacen apropiada para sistemas de rotación con cultivos y como cobertura del suelo en sistemas de siembra directa.La integración de las actividades agrícolas y pecuarias en una misma finca es una actividad relativamente reciente entre los productores del Cerrado. Los productores que la están practicando ya perciben las ventajas económicas y ambientales de esta tecnología. La adopción en mayor escala de este sistema va a depender, en gran medida, de la capacidad de los ganaderos y agricultores para adaptarse a los cambios estructurales y de tradición que imponen este sistema. Los sistemas de investigación, por su parte, tendrán que aumentar la oferta de componentes de cultivos y de pasturas e identificar el manejo adecuado para maximizar su efecto sinergístico sobre la producción y la calidad del suelo.La estrategia de investigación en fincas permitió incorporar en forma temprana al productor en la generación y evaluación de las nuevas tecnologías. Además, dio la oportunidad de identificar más rápidamente los problemas y las oportunidades de investigación en un rango amplio de condiciones. Ese fue el caso en el presente trabajo, donde se incluyeron, desde sistemas ganaderos extensivos en suelos arenosos con bajo uso de insumos, hasta sistemas intensivos de cultivos anuales con alto uso de insumos en suelos arcillosos. El Cerrado brasileño es una bioma que presenta un potencial inmenso para la explotación agrícola y ganadera; sin embargo, ambas alternativas utilizadas aisladamente llevan a una degradación del ambiente. El Sistema Barreirão (SB) es una propuesta de recuperación/renovación de pasturas utilizando cultivos anuales asociados que busca solucionar el problema. El SB posee etapas fundamentales: el conocimiento del suelo, su preparación, la siembra, la conducción del cultivo, la cosecha de granos del cultivo y la introducción de ganado. Para el completo desarrollo del sistema fue necesario realizar varios experimentos para determinar factores, tales como los niveles de fertilizantes requeridos por los diferentes cultivos y el residuo para las pasturas, la cantidad de cal y el momento de la aplicación, el tipo de maquinaria y los ajustes requeridos para su funcionamiento eficiente, el mejor método y época adecuada para preparación del suelo, y el análisis socioeconómico del sistema. En este capítulo se presentan y analizan los resultados obtenidos durante los años de desarrollo y de la transferencia del SB a los agricultores y ganaderos en Brasil.The Brazilian savannas (or \"Cerrados\") have high potential for crop and livestock production. However, either production system alone may lead to environmental degradation. The \"Barreirão System\" (BarS) provides a means of reclaiming or renovating pastures while exploiting the ecosystem commercially through planting annual crops and yet preventing degradation from occurring. The BarS involves six stages: understanding the soils, land preparation, sowing, crop management, grain harvest, and grazing. When developing the BarS, we determined, among other factors, levels of fertilization required by different crops and of residual fertilizer left for pastures; amount of lime and timing of application; type of equipment and adjustments needed for efficient use; the most adequate methods and timing for land preparation; and socioeconomic conditions. In this chapter, we discuss results obtained from developing and transferring the BarS to resource-poor farmers and ranchers.El Cerrado brasileño, además de representar la mayor área continua con potencial para la producción de alimentos, es, también, privilegiada por su localización central, recursos hídricos abundantes, topografía y clima favorables (Goedert et al., 1980) Desafortunadamente, el proceso de ocupación y apertura del Cerrado brasileño, iniciado en la década de los 60, no tuvo en cuenta tales requerimientos, generando con ello una situación delicada como lo es la degradación ambiental. Por un lado, los dueños de las tierras, en su mayoría propietarios de grandes áreas (Seguy et al., 1988), fueron básicamente extractistas y aplicaron tecnologías originarias de otras regiones, principalmente de clima subtropical templado, no adecuadas a las condiciones edafoclimáticas de ese bioma; y por otro lado, los conocimientos y tecnologías disponibles para la utilización adecuada de los recursos naturales eran escasos.Algunas prácticas por entonces utilizadas, como la preparación inadecuada del suelo, escasa fertilización, ausencia de control de la erosión, y en el caso de las pasturas, el sobrepastoreo, fueron muy nocivas. A pesar de esto, la región continuó ocupada principalmente con pasturas. La predominancia de pasturas puede ser explicada por la actitud del productor que las ocupó; las condiciones de acidez y baja fertilidad natural del suelo; la introducción de gramíneas forrajeras poco exigentes, Brachiaria sp. y por la ausencia de políticas y leyes de trabajo para el medio rural, más adecuadas y más justas.El uso no-adecuado del suelo en la región del Cerrado (Brasil) ha ocasionado un impacto negativo y significativo como es la degradación del medio ambiental. En la agricultura convencional o en la formación y recuperación de pasturas, la utilización exclusiva de equipos inadecuados, como las rastras-arados, compacta las capas sub-superficiales, altera la estructura y la superficie del suelo, favoreciendo la invasión de malezas y las erosiones hídrica y eólica (Kluthcouski et al., 1991b;Seguy et al., 1984).La aplicación de fertilizantes por debajo de las cantidades necesarias y el desbalance de nutrimentos en el suelo producen bajos rendimientos. Finalmente, las quemas, erróneamente apoyada por algunos productores, ayudan al empobrecimiento del suelo, ya que destruyen la M.O., la cual representa entre 50% y 80% de la C.I.C. de los suelos, reduciendo la actividad biológica, la capacidad de retención de agua y de nutrimentos, e incrementando la susceptibilidad de los suelos a la erosión. En el proceso de quema, algunos nutrimentos se pierden hacia la atmósfera. Actualmente, de los 42 millones de hectáreas ocupadas con pasturas sembradas, alrededor de 34 millones se encuentran degradadas o en proceso de degradación; al mismo tiempo, el 50% del área destinada a la producción de granos presenta el mismo problema (Kluthcouski et al., 1993).Las principales pérdidas registradas en los hatos mantenidos en pasturas degradadas están relacionadas con producción de carne de menor calidad y valor, reducción de la tasa de natalidad, incremento de la mortalidad y baja producción de leche, entre otros factores. En el Cerrado, estas pérdidas son mayores en el período seco que se extiende entre abril-mayo y septiembre-octubre. En este período, tomando como base una mortalidad de 1% del hato y sumando la pérdida de peso vivo animal (18 kg, aproximadamente), las pérdidas económicas pueden superar US$1000 millones por año (Yokoyama et al., 1995).La situación de la ganadería de carne, igualmente es preocupante. Según Correa (1986), la tasa de natalidad del rebaño bovino varía entre 50% y 60%, la tasa de mortalidad de animales es de 7% a 10% hasta el destete y de 3% a 5% de esa edad en adelante, el primer nacimiento ocurre a los 4 años, el promedio de edad a sacrificio es 4.5 años y de producción de carne es de 20 kg/ha por año.Con tecnología mejorada y en pasturas recuperadas y de buena calidad, la producción de carne puede ser superior a 1000 kg/ha por año, mientras que la producción de leche puede alcanzar 9000 kg/ha por año (Zimmer y Correa, 1993).Los ganaderos no han adoptado la tecnología de recuperación de pasturas, debido, entre otras causas, al bajo costo de la tierra, que incentiva la ampliación del área de la explotación; la deficiencia en maquinaria y equipos y los costos de las operaciones e insumos necesarios para la recuperación y renovación de pasturas por métodos directos (Carvalho et al., 1990).Los costos de producción de carne en Brasil son del orden de 50% y 33% de los correspondientes en los E.U. y Europa, respectivamente (Zimmer y Corrêa, 1993). Por tanto, desde el punto de vista económico no se justifica la no-adopción por parte de los productores del Cerrado de las tecnologías de recuperación de pastura.En los últimos años, la investigación ha generado tecnologías de recuperación y renovación de pastura, entre ellas:• En forma directa, utilizando correctivos de acidez, fertilización y manejo del suelo (Zimmer et al., 1994).• Rotación con cultivos anuales de media duración (Séguy et al., 1994) y corta duración (Zimmer et al., 1994).• Asociación de cultivos anuales con forrajeras, principalmente las de los géneros Brachiaria y Andropogon (Kluthcouski et al., 1991a;Sanz et al., 1993).Cada una de estas tecnologías se aplica en casos específicos, según las preferencias, las condiciones socioeconómicas y la aptitud del productor. La recuperación directa y tecnificada requiere conocimientos e inversión del capital en un corto período de tiempo. La recuperación basada en la rotación con cultivos anuales mecanizados requiere conocimientos en ganadería y agricultura, además, demanda maquinaria, implementos e instalaciones. La recuperación mediante cultivos asociados exige cambios sustanciales en las prácticas de manejo del suelo y del cultivo; sin embargo, requiere menos inversión que el método de rotación.La calidad de la pastura, recuperada por cualquiera de los métodos mencionados anteriormente, depende de la aplicación correcta de las recomendaciones técnicas y del manejo animal que sea impuesto a la pastura.El Sistema Barreirão es una tecnología de recuperación y renovación de pasturas en asociación con cultivos anuales. Los cultivos utilizados son arroz, maíz, sorgo y Pennisetum typhoides con forrajeras, principalmente de los géneros Brachiaria y Andropogon y leguminosas forrajeras como Stylosanthes sp., Calopogonium mucunoides y Arachis pintoi (Kluthcouski et al., 1991a).Este sistema, que presenta más de una alternativa disponible para los productores, fue desarrollado teniendo en cuenta las experiencias de los productores que, aún de manera empírica, establecieron gran parte de sus pasturas en el Cerrado, asociadas con el arroz.En el Sistema Barreirão, la selección de los cultivos y de las forrajeras que se asocian, depende del interés del productor y de las condiciones del suelo.Se puede decir que actualmente la ganadería y la agricultura, explotadas de manera aislada, difícilmente tendrán una relación beneficio/costo satisfactoria. Desde el punto de vista del mercado, el consumidor exige precio y calidad de carne, lo que se observa en muchos países importadores y competidores. Desde el punto de vista agronómico, las agriculturas convencional y tecnificada degradan las propiedades físicas y biológicas del suelo, mientras que la pastura, que aprovecha los residuos de los fertilizantes aplicados a los cultivos, recupera tales propiedades y sólo agota los nutrimentos (Séguy et al., 1994). El cultivo de arroz, por ejemplo, encuentra en áreas con pastura degradada las condiciones ambientales optimas para expresar su potencial (Kluthcouski y Yokoyama, 1994).El Sistema Barreirão ha tenido buena aceptación por los productores y en la actualidad existen millones de hectáreas recuperadas con él. Esto confirma la efectividad y calidad del esfuerzo de difusión de tecnología y la unión entre varios estamentos de la sociedad (Gomide, Capítulo 8, este libro).La decisión de los agricultores sobre la adopción del tipo tecnología de recuperación y renovación de pasturas depende de algunos factores, entre ellos, el costo, que cambia en función de la necesidad de servicios e insumos y de la calidad de la pastura deseada. La gran mayoría de los ganaderos no dispone de maquinaria e implementos.La oferta tecnológica para los ganaderos incluye, desde las tecnologías de recuperación directa, hasta la rotación agriculturaganadería. Los métodos de recuperación directa pueden costar desde US$86 hasta US$499 (US$1 = Cr$1.05) por hectárea, incluyendo todos los tipos de tecnologías. Estos valores equivalen, en kg/ha de carne, a 47.5 y 271.3, respectivamente. Es evidente que las tecnologías A y B que aparecen en el Cuadro 1 no producen buenas pasturas, resultando, por tanto, en bajo aprovechamiento. Las tecnologías que involucran asociaciones cuestan desde US$423 hasta US$496 por hectárea, equivalentes a 232.5 y 272.5 kg/ha de carne, respectivamente. El retorno por la cosecha de granos cubre 108%, 90% y 62% de los costos, cuando la recuperación se hace asociando la forrajera con arroz, maíz o sorgo, respectivamente. Eso indica que, para esa misma secuencia de cultivos, los productores recuperan totalmente los costos con el arroz y necesitan 27.5 y 100 kg de carne para cubrir totalmente los costos, cuando la asociación se hace con maíz o sorgo, respectivamente.La calidad de la pastura en los sistemas asociados es, como mínimo, equivalente a la obtenida en el sistema directo tipo C (Cuadro 1). El éxito en el uso de las tecnologías de recuperación por rotación, en lo que se refiere al rendimiento agrícola (costo/beneficio en la producción de granos) depende del nivel tecnológico y del conocimiento del productor. La transición de agricultura a ganadería en el sistema de rotación, Sistema Barreirão, se puede hacer, principalmente, utilizando como cultivos asociados maíz con forrajera, o a. Precios en Goiânia en nov./dic. 1994. R$ = US 0.85 $. Media de las dos cotizaciones más bajas. b. A = Recuperación mala, B = recuperación media, C = recuperación buena y D = recuperación óptima. c. Productividad de 33.25 bultos. 60 kg/ha. Precio de mercado de US$13.80/60 kg. d. Productividad de 61.50 bultos. 60 kg/ha. Precio de mercado de US$7.27/60 kg. e. Productividad de 58.30 bultos 60 kg/ha. Precio de mercado de US$5.09/60 kg. f. Cálculo considerando número de días excedidos de descanso con ganancia diária de 0.7 kg peso vivo, al precio de US$22.74/arroba promedio de de 11 años -1984/94). g. Valor cubierto por el lucro neto obtenido con los granos. FUENTE: EMBRAPA (1994). sorgo con forrajera. El costo de esa transición es, lógicamente, inferior, debido a la menor necesidad de correctivos y fertilizantes, una vez que se está utilizando área corregida previamente para la práctica de la agricultura.La calidad y la cantidad de los insumos y servicios utilizados en cada técnica permiten sugerir el siguiente orden decreciente en la calidad de la pastura: rotación con soya, asociación maíz con pasturas, recuperación directa (D), Sistema Barreirão (SB) maíz, SB sorgo, SB arroz y recuperaciones directas C, B y A (Cuadro 1). Independiente de la tecnología utilizada, el período más indicado para la recuperación de pastura es el verano (época lluviosa en la región), cuando hay mayor disponibilidad de forraje, que casi siempre genera excedentes. Las técnicas que utilizan la descompactación del suelo, como la escarificación o la arada profunda (disco y vertedera), pueden proporcionar mejor desempeño de las forrajeras en el período de sequía (mayo a octubre) reduciendo la necesidad de suplementación con alimentación y permitiendo, inclusive, reducir la diferencia en los costos de producción de carne entre los períodos lluvioso y seco, lo que se refleja en cambios de los cambios de precios de mercado.El Sistema Barreirão reúne prácticas para la solución de los problemas que comúnmente ocurren en la mayoría de los suelos bajo pasturas degradadas, en las condiciones del Cerrado brasileño. La omisión o alteración en la aplicación de estas prácticas puede comprometer la producción del cultivo, de la forrajera o de ambos.Primera etapa. Se relaciona con el conocimiento del suelo, a través de su análisis. Para ello se deben hacer muestreos de suelo de la manera convencional, pero a dos profundidades: entre 0 y 20 cm y entre 20 y 40 cm. Esta operación se debe realizar de preferencia en julio y septiembre, antes de cualquier perturbación del suelo. De acuerdo con los resultados del análisis se debe o no adicionar la cal y fósforo.El maíz, el girasol y el millo (P. typhoides), al igual que A. gayanus y las leguminosas forrajeras, son susceptibles a alta acidez en el suelo y requieren, por lo menos, 3 meq/100 g de Ca + Mg. Para calcular la necesidad de cal se pueden utilizar la saturación de bases (entre 50% y 55%) o el método de los contenidos de Ca + Mg y Al. En el caso de cultivos más exigentes, la cal debe ser bien mezclada con el suelo; así, el mejor método consiste en aplicar 60%-70% de la cal, incorporándola superficialmente con rastra-arado; arar profundamente (entre 35 y 40 cm de profundidad); aplicar el resto de cal (30%-40%); nivelar y sembrar.Barreirão, esta etapa consiste en la preparación del suelo. La pastura degradada debe ser arrancada e incorporada superficialmente mediante un pase de una rastra-arado entre 10 y 15 cm de profundidad. Esta operación se debe hacer, por lo menos, 30 días antes del inicio del período de lluvias y de la práctica de arado. El arado profundo se debe realizar preferencialmente con arado tipo vertedera, cuidando de que el suelo se encuentre húmedo hasta la profundidad de trabajo. La nivelación se debe realizar entre 7 y 10 después de esta labor e inmediatamente antes de la siembra.Tercera etapa. Empieza con el uso de semillas de buena calidad, tanto de los cultivos anuales como de las forrajeras. Las semillas de los cultivos deben ser tratadas con insecticidas sistémicos (Carbofuran, Carbosulfan, Thiodicarb) para prevenir el ataque del mión de los pastos y de las larvas en el suelo. Las distancias y las densidades de siembra para maíz, sorgo, millo y las forrajeras son aquellas que se recomiendan tradicionalmente (Cuadro 2).Para el cultivo de arroz, la distancia tradicional entre las hileras de siembra se debe reducir de 50 cm hasta 30 ó 40 cm. Se debe sembrar una variedad precoz, de porte bajo y con hojas erectas. La densidad de siembra, para las variedades de ciclo corto varía entre 80 y 100 semillas/m, y para las de ciclo intermedio entre 60 y 70 semillas/m. Para las forrajeras del género Brachiaria, según un valor de cultivo (VC) de 30%, se deben sembrar entre 5 y 7 kg/ha de semilla. Si se divide la constante 150 por el VC, se obtienen las cantidades de semillas de B. brizantha y B. decumbens que se deben utilizar por hectárea. Para A. gayanus, son necesarios entre 10 y 20 kg/ha de semillas de buena calidad, sembradas superficialmente. Las especies de Brachiaria se deben mezclar con el fertilizante antes de la siembra en la misma hilera de los cultivos. Para distancias superiores a 70 cm entre líneas, se recomienda sembrar una entrelínea de la forrajera mezclada con fertilizante.La fertilización del cultivo de arroz se hace en dosis adecuadas según el análisis de suelos, ya que su efecto residual debe beneficiar la pastura. Para el arroz, cultivado en Latosoles de baja fertilidad del Cerrado, con contenidos de P entre tan bajos como 3 ppm o menores y de K inferiores a 45 ppm, se han obtenido buenos resultados con aplicaciones mínimas (kg/ha) de N (12 a 15), P 2 O 5 (90), K 2 O (30 a 45), FTE (30) y sulfato de zinc (20). Otros cultivos anuales, como maíz y sorgo, requieren más P 2 O 5 , siendo recomendable aplicar, por lo menos, 105 kg/ha de este nutrimento.El fertilizante, solo o en mezcla con las semillas de Brachiaria, se debe incorporar hasta una profundidad entre 8 y 10 cm en el suelo, mientras que la profundidad de siembra de las semillas de los cultivos anuales debe ser la convencional, entre 3 y 5 cm. En suelos muy arenosos, se debe evitar la colocación profunda de la semilla.La siembra de las asociaciones, así como la de los demás sistemas, se debe efectuar con una velocidad de 3 a 5 km/h. Se deben utilizar sólo sembradoras que hayan sido probadas con anterioridad y que tengan dosificador de semillas en forma de disco perforado horizontal, inclinado o vertical; distancia reducida entre el mecanismo dosificador y el fondo del surco (30 a 40 cm); y que permitan profundizar la fertilización en relación con las semillas de los cultivos anuales; y una distancia variable mínima de 30 cm entre las hileras.Cuarta etapa. Comprende el manejo del cultivo. En este caso no es necesario hacer control de malezas, ya que se trata de áreas con pasturas degradadas. La fertilización nitrogenada varía con el cultivo asociado; para arroz se deben aplicar 20 kg/ha de N y para maíz entre 40 y 60 kg/ha de este nutrimento. En suelos arenosos, para el cultivo de arroz es necesario aplicar, antes de la aplicación de N, 50 kg/ha de K 2 O. Los cuidados fitosanitarios, si son necesarios, deben hacerse de acuerdo con las recomendaciones generales en la región.Quinta etapa. Comprende la cosecha. En el caso del arroz, ésta se hace cuando el cultivo se encuentra en el punto ideal ya que, en caso contrario, puede ocurrir acame y pérdidas debido al incremento acelerado de la biomasa de la forrajera después de la maduración de los cultivos anuales. El proceso y la velocidad de cosecha son similares a los recomendados para los monocultivos.Sexta etapa. Esta es la última etapa en el Sistema, y consiste en la introducción de los animales en el área por un período mínimo de 30 a 60 días, después de la cosecha. Esto es necesario para el desarrollo de la pastura y la producción de semillas a partir de las plantas forrajeras que se cosecharon con el cultivo. Desde esta etapa se inicia el pastoreo, considerando siempre que el manejo de la pastura y la fertilización son básicos para la productividad y sostenibilidad del sistema de producción basado en la pastura.En el desarrollo de tecnologías, cada etapa tiene igual importancia. Las características edafoclimáticas del bioma del Cerrado, particularmente las restricciones en las propiedades del suelo y las variaciones pluviométricas durante el período lluvioso, al igual que la competitividad entre las especies forrajeras y de cultivos de grano, constituyen el supuesto básico para la conducción de una serie de estudios que sostienen el Sistema Barreirão. En el Sistema, nuevas investigaciones han dado origen a estudios que intentan perfeccionarlo considerando, siempre, la solución tecnológica vs. los resultados económicos.La corrección de la acidez y la suplementación con Ca + Mg para las plantas son fundamentales para la producción de granos y forrajes en los suelos ácidos del Cerrado. En el Sistema Barreirão, la determinación de la necesidad de cal obedece a la misma metodología y a los criterios utilizados para los monocultivos. El cultivo de arroz es más adaptado a las condiciones naturales del Cerrado, siendo, por tanto, poco exigente en cal y considerado como cultivo de apertura en áreas nuevas.En suelos que tienen 1 meq/100 g de Ca + Mg se han obtenido buenas producciones de arroz. No obstante, si se tienen en cuenta los requerimientos de las forrajeras, se debe aplicar cal en suelos que presenten menos de 1.5 meq/100 g de Ca + Mg, en una proporción Ca/Mg de 4:1 (Cuadro 3). El maíz (Cuadro 4), el sorgo y el millo, por otro lado, son exigentes en estos nutrimentos y no toleran alta acidez en el suelo. Para estos cultivos, la cal es indispensable cuando el suelo presente contenidos de Ca + Mg menores que 3 meq/100 g de suelo, también en proporción 4:1. Mezcla de cal con yeso. Existen varios trabajos que muestran que el proceso más económico para corregir la acidez de las capas sub-superficiales del suelo es la aplicación de una parte de yeso (sulfato de calcio) en mezcla con cal. Los sulfatos capturan algunos cationes-base a través de los horizontes, corrigiendo la acidez y favoreciendo el crecimiento radicular de las plantas.En el Sistema Barreirão, las mayores dosis de cualquiera de los correctivos resultaron en menor productividad de maíz cv. BR 201 y de la forrajera B. brizantha (Cuadro 5), no encontrando diferencias significativas entre las dosis evaluadas. Sin embargo, los mejores rendimientos se obtuvieron con las mezclas (en porcentaje) cal:yeso 60 y 40, y 40 y 60. La distribución del Ca en el perfil del suelo, hasta la profundidad de 60 cm, fue en aumento a medida que la mezcla contenía mayor cantidad de yeso.Barreirão, el tiempo de reacción de los correctivos en el suelo no es suficiente, ya que no se cumple el período mínimo de 90 días de humedad en el suelo, entre la aplicación y la siembra del Cuadro 3. Efecto de dosis crecientes de cal en la producción de arroz cv. Guaraní y en la producción de materia verde de Brachiaria brizantha en el Cerrado de Brasil. cultivo o la forrajera. Considerando que el principal factor determinante de la celeridad de reacción de un correctivo es el tamaño de sus partículas, las cales finamente molidas pueden producir mejores resultados que las convencionales. En el cultivo de maíz, aunque la prueba estadística no mostró diferencias, sí ocurrió un incremento superior a 1 t/ha de granos con la utilización de cal finamente molida, mientras que para B. brizantha la producción de materia verde fue significativa (Cuadro 6).El Ca y el Mg presentes en la cal, que es un insumo de bajo costo, son nutrimentos esenciales para la producción de las plantas. Estos nutrimentos reducen la acidez y el aluminio, mejorando las propiedades del suelo. Para el establecimiento de la asociación arroz-pasturas en el Sistema Barreirão se debe aplicar cal cuando el contenido de Ca + Mg en el suelo es inferior a 1.5 meq/100 g; y para maíz, sorgo y millo con pasturas cuando este contenido es inferior a 3 meq/100 g de suelo.La preparación adecuada del suelo es fundamental para la producción agrícola y tiene, entre otros objetivos, reducir la compactación, controlar malezas anuales y perennes, e incorporar residuos orgánicos y enmiendas o correctivos.En el Cerrado predominan Oxisoles (Latosoles) y Entisoles (Areias Quartzosas y Podzoles) con problemas de compactación y de fertilidad desigual a través del perfil que deben ser parcial o totalmente eliminadas en la etapa de preparación.En esta región, en las áreas con pasturas degradadas es, aun más necesario, el cumplimiento de los objetivos de la preparación del suelo, ya que son frecuentes los problemas de compactación, malezas perennes y baja fertilidad química en los perfiles subsuperficiales que presentan una alta población de colonias de hormigas.En el Sistema Barreirão, la preparación del suelo comprende las etapas que aparecen a continuación. Cuadro 6. Efecto comparativo de la aplicación de cal vs. microencalada en el número de plantas y de mazorcas, y en las producciones de maíz y materia verde de Brachiaria brizantha. (EMBRAPA-CNPAF). Incorporación superficial de residuos vegetales y correctivos. La incorporación superficial o preincorporación se realiza mediante uno o dos pases de rastra-arado (Cuadro 7). El objetivo es eliminar las raíces de la vegetación existente, mezclar superficialmente los correctivos, iniciar el proceso de descomposición de la M.O. y destruir los hormigueros. Esta operación se hace a una profundidad entre 10 y 15 cm en el suelo, en el período seco que va desde principio de agosto hasta mediados de octubre, y 15 a 30 días antes del inicio del período lluvioso o de la siembra. Si esta operación no se realiza, o se hace muy próxima de la siembra o en el período lluvioso, resulta en una disminución en la productividad de los cultivos, dependiendo de la M.O. y de otros factores, y en una mayor competencia de las malezas y pasturas remanentes con los cultivos y forrajeras sembradas. Esta labor posibilita también la calidad del arado y reduce la necesidad de la de nivelación.La preparación profunda del suelo con arado-vertedera permite reducir la compactación en la superficie del suelo (entre 0 y 40 cm), incorporar residuos orgánicos y correctivos en una mayor profundidad, eliminar parcial o totalmente las raíces de las malezas perennes e incorporar los hormigueros con el subsuelo. Esta operación se debe realizar a partir del momento en que el suelo presente humedad suficiente -preferiblemente en capacidad de campo-hasta una profundidad de 35 a 40 cm. Es fundamental para un mejor desarrollo de las raíces y para favorecer la infiltración y el almacenamiento de agua, lo que resulta en producciones más estables a través del tiempo (Cuadro 8). Aunque los arados de disco presentan buenos resultados en cultivos de arroz y para forrajeras, siendo superiores a los obtenidos con rastra-arado, se deben preferir los arados de vertedera que penetran mejor en el suelo debido a su estructura especialmente diseñada para esta labor.Los suelos bajo pasturas degradadas presentan una mayor resistencia a la penetración, debido a la compactación, a la presencia de raíces remanentes y a las malezas perennes. En estos casos, los arados de vertedera proporcionan una preparación homogénea.Después de arar, cualquier exceso de mecanización vuelve a compactar el suelo y altera la estructura superficial. Cuando la labor de arado está bien hecha y con implementos bien Cuadro 7. Efecto de la incorporación previa de la pastura degradada sobre la productividad del cultivo de arroz cv. Guaraní y de Brachiaria brizantha en el Cerrado de Brasil. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. calibrados, a veces es posible eliminar la nivelación. Sin embargo, en caso de ser necesaria, se debe efectuar una sola nivelación 2 días antes de la siembra.Preparación del suelo y déficit hídrico. Un período corto de deficiencia de agua ocasiona una reducción de 13.7% en la producción de granos y de 14% en la MS de arroz. La preparación profunda del suelo, con arado de vertedera, minimiza el efecto de la deficiencia hídrica, ocasionando incrementos de 28.4% en la producción de granos y de 23.9% en la producción de MS de este cultivo (Cuadro 9). Este resultado práctico indica que, bajo deficiencia hídrica moderada (10 a 15 días de sequía) una buena preparación del suelo sustituye con ventajas la irrigación suplementaria. En este estudio no se verificó la respuesta de la interacción preparación del suelo x régimen hídrico en la producción de granos del cv. Guaraní de arroz. Bajo condiciones de deficiencia hídrica como de riego suplementario por aspersión, la obtención de mayores producciones con la preparación adecuada recomendada se debe, básicamente, al mejor desarrollo de la parte aérea y de las raíces de la planta de arroz.En monocultivo, la arada profunda ha presentado un efecto marcado en la profundización y mejor distribución de las raíces en el perfil del suelo; además, ayuda a controlar malezas, mejorar la fertilidad, la infiltración del agua y las propiedades físicas del suelo (Kluthcouski et al., 1988).La descompactación del suelo, el mejoramiento de la fertilidad y la incorporación de fertilizantes hasta 40 cm de profundidad, tienen efectos positivos en la mejor distribución y la profundización de las raíces en el suelo (Guimarães y Castro, 1982;Kluthcouski et al., 1988). Con la aplicación de estas prácticas, recomendadas en el Sistema Barreirão, se ha encontrado un buen desarrollo de las raíces del cultivo de arroz cv. Douradão al final de la fase reproductiva y en la floración de B. brizantha asociada, en comparación con el sistema radicular de la pastura degradada en la misma época. La rotación de cultivos -pastura degradada de B. decumbens con arroz cv. Douradão-y la preparación adecuada del suelo proporcionaron mejores condiciones ambientales para Cuadro 8. Efecto del implemento utilizado después de la incorporación previa de la pastura degradada sobre la productividad del cultivo de arroz cv. Guaraní y de Brachiaria brizantha en el Cerrado de Brasil. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. el desarrollo radicular, que alcanzó hasta 1.4 m de profundidad (EMBRAPA-CNPAF, 1994). El sistema radicular presentó un desarrollo muy denso en la capa superficial hasta 20 cm, y aunque disminuyó ligeramente con la profundidad, presentó densidad aceptable hasta 1.4 m.El sistema radicular de las pasturas degradadas presentó menor desarrollo en el perfil, excepto en los primeros centímetros superficiales del suelo. A partir de esa capa, presentó una reducción drástica en densidad, hasta desaparecer completamente después de 1 m de profundidad. Esta condición de la gramínea puede ser explicada por la degradación de las propiedades físicas y químicas del suelo, que ocurren, por lo general, en las áreas con pasturas mal manejadas. La profundización del sistema radicular y el incremento de su densidad proporcionan a la planta mejor capacidad para absorber nutrimentos y agua almacenada en el suelo que es aprovechada en las secas.En el Sistema Barreirão es fundamental disponer de nutrimentos en forma residual para garantizar el buen desarrollo de las forrajeras. Las informaciones obtenidas hasta ahora no permiten establecer la cantidad y la calidad de los nutrimentos necesarios para el sostenimiento de una pastura productiva. Por tanto, dentro de los límites de la economía y de la respuesta de los cultivos, es posible, por lo menos, establecer los límites mínimos de fertilización para cultivos menos exigentes como arroz, y más exigentes como maíz y sorgo. Estos límites se aplican a los suelos pobres del Cerrado, donde el P se encuentra en concentraciones variables entre 0 y 3 ppm, y el K entre 0 a 45 ppm.Las recomendaciones de fertilización se deben basar en los resultados del análisis del suelo. Las opciones de mejorar los niveles de P en el suelo, mediante la aplicación de fosfatos natural y parcialmente acidulado, o termofosfato, así como la fertilización base en la siembra, son responsabilidad del técnico y del productor, siendo estas prácticas necesarias para el buen establecimiento de la pastura.Fertilización base. Las variedades tradicionales de arroz se adaptan bien a las condiciones naturales del Cerrado aún no degradado, requiriendo dosis Cuadro 9. Promedios de rendimiento de granos y de peso de la materia seca de arroz y de la pastura en sistema asociados, según el régimen hídrico (tratamiento) y el método de preparación del subtratamiento. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. a. Fertilización según la recomendada para el Sistema Barreirão. Hacienda Barreirão, Piracanjuba, GO, Brasil. Los análisis estadísticos presentaron diferencias significativas al nivel de 5% entre los tratamientos para la productividad y el peso de materia seca de arroz, y de 1% para los subtratamientos. b. Evaluación realizada en la cosecha del arroz. relativamente pequeñas de fertilizantes cuando se cultivan solas. En estas condiciones, las dosis más altas de fertilizante no se reflejan necesariamente en incrementos de la producción (Cuadro 10) y es posible que ocasionen el acame del cultivo, debido al gran desarrollo vegetativo de las plantas (Cuadro 11). Este hecho también se ha observado en forrajeras cultivadas en asociación. Se ha observado, por ejemplo, que dosis de 50 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 no ocasionan incrementos significativos en el rendimiento del cultivo de arroz y dosis mayores de este nutrimento favorecen un volcamiento excesivo de las plantas antes del llenado de los granos provocando, muchas veces, reducción en la producción por pérdida de la cosecha. Los niveles máximos de P evaluados en condiciones experimentales fueron 90 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 y 45 kg/ha de K 2 O.Los cultivos de maíz y de arroz no difieren mucho en extracción y traslado de nutrimentos hacia los granos. El arroz moviliza 24% del P 2 O 5 y 22% del K 2 O recomendado en el Sistema Barreirão, mientras que en maíz esos valores son de 42% y 33%, respectivamente (Cuadro 12). Esto significa que la mayor parte de los nutrimentos aplicados, si no ocurren pérdidas por erosión o lixiviación, son retenidos en el suelo o en la M.O. y, de todas maneras, representan residuos disponibles para la pastura.La aplicación de nitrógeno es fundamental, no solamente para mejorar la relación C/N, reduciendo los efectos perjudiciales de la descomposición, sino también para proporcionar mayor vigor inicial a las plantas. El zinc es el micronutrimento más limitativo en los suelos del Cerrado (Lopes, 1983); por tanto, se Cuadro 10. Efecto de los niveles de fertilización y de la especie forrajera sobre la productividad del cultivo de arroz. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. debe agregar a razón de 5 kg/ha de Zn, aproximadamente. Se recomienda también aplicar 30 kg/ha de FTE BR12 (Frited Trace Elements, una mezcla de micronutrimentos) para los cultivos de maíz y soya. Con la aplicación de 105 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 y nutrimentos en cantidades similares a las aplicadas para el cultivo del arroz, se han alcanzado producciones superiores a 3.5 t/ha en maíz y 3 t/ha en sorgo.Debido a la pérdida de solubilidad del fósforo aplicado en el suelo del Cerrado, bajo condiciones naturales sería deseable, por un lado, la disponibilidad inmediata de este nutrimento para cultivos anuales, lo que se logra aplicando fuentes solubles en agua; y por otro lado, la disponibilidad controlada para los cultivos perennes como las forrajeras. No obstante, se debe tener en cuenta que los costos de las diferentes fuentes de fósforo son variables, dependiendo de su solubilidad en agua.Mediante la combinación de fosfatos de solubilidad intermedia, como los termofosfatos, con fuentes solubles, fórmulas o superfosfatos, es posible reducir el costo de la fertilización fosfatada y llenar las exigencias de los cultivos asociados. Una ventaja de los termofosfatos es que suministran, además de fósforo, diversos micro y macronutrimentos. Algunos estudios han demostrado que tomando como base 100 kg de P 2 O 5 , la mezcla en cualquier proporción de termofosfato con superfosfato, resulta en rendimientos de arroz superiores al testigo (Cuadro 13). No obstante que la mayor producción de arroz en grano se obtuvo con fuentes de fósforo solubles, no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre las proporciones termofosfato:fuente soluble en agua (20:80 y 60:40), en presencia de los demás nutrimentos, tal como se recomienda en el Sistema Barreirão. Mezclas de este tipo no se encuentran disponibles en el comercio, por tanto, es necesario prepararlas en la misma explotación.En el Cerrado, algunos micronutrimentos, en especial zinc, han sido limitativos para la producción satisfactoria de cultivos, principalmente gramíneas. Los estudios en asociaciones arroz-B. brizantha indican que los mejores rendimientos de arroz se obtienen con la aplicación de 30 kg/ha de FTE BR 12, y 20 kg/ha de sulfato de zinc (Cuadro 14). Los tratamientos que más afectaron en forma negativa el rendimiento de arroz fueron el testigo sin Zn, aunque se aplicara FTE; y aplicación de Zn en combinación con elevadas dosis de FTE. La gramínea presentó la mayor producción de forraje en presencia de las dos fuentes de micronutrimentos. Se observó que la aplicación de la cal aumenta la necesidad de Zn y que los mejores efectos de éste se observaron en combinación con los menores niveles de fertilización con fósforo (Cuadro 15).La fertilización nitrogenada para el cultivo de maíz en fase de desarrollo es una práctica indispensable en el Cuadro 13. Efecto de la aplicación de dosis proporcionales de termofosfato y de fórmulas comerciales en la producción y acame de arroz cv. Guaraní, en el desarrollo de B. brizantha y en los contenidos de fósforo en esta gramínea y en el suelo. EMBRAPA-CNPAF.  Sistema Barreirão, mientras que la aplicación de potasio depende del contenido de este nutrimento y de la textura en el suelo. En suelos muy arenosos, los cultivos casi siempre necesitan fertilización con potasio.Para el cultivo de arroz, por otro lado, la fertilización nitrogenada en la etapa de desarrollo es discutible, teniendo en cuenta los efectos indirectos que esa práctica puede ocasionar en las plantas. Este nutrimento puede favorecer el crecimiento excesivo y el acame de las plantas y, en variedades susceptibles, favorece el ataque de Piricularia (Pyricularia grisea) con mayor intensidad, principalmente, en los años que ocurre deficiencia hídrica. Los mejores resultados en desarrollo se han obtenido con la aplicación de ambos nutrimentos (P y K). En este caso, se encontró un efecto pequeño, pero significativo, de la interacción entre la aplicación e índice de Piricularia (Cuadro 16).En condiciones de suelos de muy baja fertilidad y con deficiencia de agua por períodos de 23 días, como ocurre en Goiânia, se observó una elevada incidencia de Piricularia en las panículas cuando se aplicó fertilización en la etapa de desarrollo. En Goiânia, los mejores rendimientos se obtuvieron con la aplicación de potasio en esta etapa, y en Piracanjuba, Goiás, con fertilización combinada de nitrógeno y potasio (Cuadro 16).Las áreas con pasturas degradadas pueden ofrecer ventajas en relación con la reducción de los focos de plagas y Cuadro 14. Efectos de la aplicación de micronutrimentos en el acame, la producción de arroz, desarrollo de Brachiaria brizantha y en la absorción de zinc. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. a. Suelo LVA; pH 5.5; Ca + Mg = 3.6 meq/100 g; contenidos de P, K, Cu, Zn, Fe y Mn = 0.7, 86, 2.2, 0.5, 121 y 40 ppm, respectivamente; M.O. = 1.6%. Hacienda Barreirão, Piracanjuba, GO, Brasil. b. 1 = 0 y 5 = 100% de acame o volcamiento. c. 1 = malo, 2 = regular, 3 = bueno, 4 = muy bueno, 5 = excelente. * Promedios en una misma columna seguidos por letras iguales no son significativamente diferentes (P < 0.05), según las pruebas de Tukey.enfermedades. Estas áreas, no obstante, presentan condiciones naturales apropiadas para la reproducción y sobrevivencia del mión (Deois flavopicta), insecto que puede comprometer el desarrollo de las plantas de las gramíneas. El tratamiento preventivo de las semillas de los cultivos anuales como arroz, maíz, sorgo y millo, es fundamental. Los insecticidas más indicados son sistémicos a base de Carbofuran, Carbosulfan y Thiodicarb.Las termitas o comején son una plaga en el suelo que puede comprometer el rendimiento del cultivo de arroz, principalmente en años con distribución irregular de lluvias. El mejor control de este insecto se obtiene con productos a base de Carbofuran (Cuadro 17). El elasmo (Elasmopalpus lignoselus) es otro insecto de ocurrencia errática que puede causar daños severos en cultivos anuales asociados.Se puede controlar tratando las semillas con los insecticidas antes mencionados.La enfermedad de mayor importancia económica en el cultivo de arroz es Piricularia, aunque en las áreas con pasturas degradadas es posible que no exista el inóculo P. grisea. Sin embargo, en explotaciones que utilizaron el Sistema Barreirão, aún con variedades de arroz tolerantes o resistentes, se observaron algunos ataques severos de la enfermedad. El producto químico que controla Piricularia tiene como base Pyroquilon (Felippi y Prahu, 1990;Prabhu, 1990), manteniendo la materia verde del tallo de las plantas por un período de tiempo más largo después de la maduración fisiológica de los granos, lo cual reduce el acame. El tratamiento de las semillas de las variedades más susceptibles, entre ellas, el cv. Río Verde mostró efectos significativos en el control de la enfermedad. Por el contrario, en variedades como Guaraní, que es tolerante, y Douradão, que es susceptible, no se encontró respuesta a la aplicación. En estas variedades, Pyroquilon intensificó el volcamiento, debido, probablemente, a la mayor altura de las plantas y al peso de las panículas (Cuadro 18). a. Suelo LVA; pH = 5.1; Ca + Mg = 0.9 meq/100 g; contenidos de P, K, Cu, Zn, Fe y Mn = 0.9, 47, 2, 1.1, 99 y 120 ppm, respectivamente. b. Suelo LVE; pH 5.8; Ca + Mg = 8.6 meq/100 g; contenidos de P, K, Cu, Zn, Fe y Mn = 2.3, 137, 1.6, 2.3, 77 y 110 ppm, respectivamente; M.O. = 2.8%. c. IP = Indice de Piricularia en porcentaje de panículas atacadas. Promedio de tres cultivares. * Promedios en una misma columna seguidos por letras iguales no son significativamente diferentes (P < 0.05), según las pruebas de Tukey.En monocultivo y en el Sistema Barreirão, el mal establecimiento del cultivo compromete el rendimiento de granos. La colocación del fertilizante por debajo de la semilla del cultivo anual mejora la eficiencia de esta práctica. La distribución homogénea y la densidad correcta de las semillas a lo largo de los surcos, son esenciales para una mayor producción de las plantas, particularmente aquellas tipo C4 como sorgo, Pennisetum typhoides (millo) y Brachiaria sp. La colocación de las semillas de las forrajeras, principalmente de B. decumbens y B. brizantha, a una mayor profundidad y en mezcla con el fertilizante, puede aumentar su competencia sobre los cultivos anuales, en particular, sobre Cuadro 17. Influencia del tratamiento de las semillas y la preparación del suelo a sobre la infestación y el daño de termitas rizofilo en la variedad de arroz Guaraní asociada con Brachiaria brizantha en Sistema Barreirão, Finca Santo Antônio, Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, Brasil. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. arroz. La densidad, la época de siembra y la distancia entre las plantas, también son aspectos importantes.Se deben preferir variedades adaptadas en la región. Para el cultivo de sorgo (Cuadro 19) o millo, se recomiendan variedades tolerantes a la acidez en el suelo. Para maíz, las variedades deben ser tolerantes a la acidez y al aluminio, y deben tener una inserción alta de las mazorcas, para evitar las pérdidas durante la cosecha (Cuadro 20). Para arroz se prefieren cultivares de ciclo corto (100 a 110 días) que permiten un tiempo mayor dentro del período de lluvias para un mejor desarrollo de las forrajeras asociadas, lo que no impide la utilización de cultivares de ciclo medio (130 a 140 días) más productivas. Algunas variedades, como Caiapó, de ciclo medio, altas y con hojas caídas, tienen la capacidad de dar sombra más rápidamente y, en consecuencia, pueden producir más en asociación que en monocultivo.El fenotipo de las plantas es un factor muy importante en las asociaciones arroz-pasturas. En general, las variedades de porte bajo tienen una mayor competencia que las de porte alto.Distancia y densidad de siembra de cultivos anuales. En el Sistema Barreirão, para la siembra de arroz es necesario reducir la distancia entre surcos e incrementar la densidad de semillas en la hilera, debido a que este cultivo es menos competitivo que maíz, sorgo o millo (Cuadro 21). Esto posibilita el rápido sombreamiento del suelo, reduciendo el desarrollo vegetativo de las forrajeras. Se recomienda la distancia de 30 a 45 cm entre surcos, siendo ésta menor a medida que el ciclo es más corto y menos macollas presenta la variedad. En consecuencia, la densidad recomendada (80 a 100 semillas/m) debe ser menor, a medida que el ciclo del cultivo es más largo.No se han observado modificaciones significativas en la altura de las plantas de arroz, cuando son asociadas con forrajeras o se siembran en monocultivo. No obstante, la producción de granos se reduce en 8%, aproximadamente, cuando el arroz se asocia con A. gayanus, y en 21% cuando se asocia con B. brizantha (Cuadro 22). El incremento en la densidad de siembra del cultivo del arroz produjo mayor rendimiento de granos, como promedio de 12 variedades y líneas evaluadas. a. Fertilización: 500 kg/ha de 4-20-20 + FTE, 2 t/ha de cal, 50 kg/ha de N en etapa de desarrollo, para las siembras en 18/01 y 09/02; y 92 kg/ha, en dos veces para la primera época de siembra. b. Entre paréntesis, la tasa de retorno. Costo de producción de US$ 359.86/ha. Distancia y densidad de siembra para forrajeras. El ajuste de la distancia entre surcos para la siembra de las forrajeras determina la mejor cobertura del suelo, siendo también posible alcanzar una mejor producción de forraje. La densidad de siembra, a su vez, no sólo contribuye a mejorar la calidad de la pastura, sino que afecta el redimiento del cultivo anual, principalmente de arroz. En Brachiaria no se han observado diferencias entre siembras a voleo, en los mismos surcos de siembra del cultivo anual o entre estos últimos (Cuadro 23), cuando las condiciones de clima y suelo, y la época de siembra son las indicadas para el desarrollo del cultivo de arroz. De la misma manera, la siembra simultánea del cultivo y de b. Sitio de siembra de la gramínea en relación con el arroz. c. Epoca de siembra de la gramínea en relación con el arroz.cuanto más temprana sea la siembra, a partir del inicio del período lluvioso, mejor será el desarrollo de la forrajera después de la cosecha de los granos.Mezcla de las semillas de las forrajeras con fertilizantes. Debido a la facilidad para la siembra y a la falta de maquinaria adecuada para la implementación de las prácticas recomendadas en el Sistema Barreirão, las semillas de las gramíneas del género Brachiaria se mezclan con el fertilizante para su incorporación en el suelo. Para la siembra de otras forrajeras, como las de los géneros Panicum y Andropogon, se siguen las prácticas convencionales, ya que si se mezclan con los fertilizantes pueden sufrir daños por las sales presentes en ellos. En el Sistema Barreirão se recomienda que la mezcla semillasfertilizantes se prepare antes de su incorporación en el suelo, evitando su almacenamiento por más de 24 h. En el caso de B. brizantha, el almacenamiento prolongado puede Cuadro 24. Efecto de la densidad de siembra de tres especies forrajeras asociadas con arroz cv. Guaraní sobre la producción del arroz y de materia verde (MV) de las gramíneas a . EMBRAPA-CNPAF. la forrajera no afectó el rendimiento de arroz. En consecuencia, el método más económico es sembrar en forma simultánea, Brachiaria en el surco del cultivo anual y A. gayanus a voleo, lo que reduce el número de operaciones necesarias.La densidad de siembra de la forrajera es importante en el rendimiento del cultivo de arroz (Cuadro 24) y puede interferir en los otros cultivos anuales. Densidades superiores a 4 ó 6 plantas/m 2 de las forrajeras A. gayanus, B. brizantha y B. decumbens, redujeron sensiblemente el rendimiento de arroz. Las observaciones de campo mostraron que A. gayanus, por su desarrollo inicial lento, compitió menos con el cultivo. En resumen, las mayores densidades de siembra de la forrajera pueden reducir la productividad de los cultivos, aunque no siempre generan mejores pasturas, mientras que menores densidades de la forrajera favorecen el cultivo anual. De la misma manera, reducir en más de 80% el poder germinativo de la semilla (Cuadro 25).Las forrajeras de los géneros Panicum y Andropogon se deben sembrar en forma superficial. Las del género Brachiaria, principalmente B. brizantha y B. decumbens, se deben incorporar en el suelo a una profundidad entre 8 y 10 cm. Esta práctica retarda la emergencia de las plántulas de estas forrajeras, reduciendo la competencia para el cultivo de arroz. Los mejores resultados en trabajos sobre profundidades de fertilización y siembra se han obtenido cuando el cultivo tiene crecimiento limitado por la baja fertilidad en el suelo, en condiciones de clima variables y épocas de siembra diferentes. Al comparar las siembras a 3, 6, 9 y 12 cm de profundidad en suelos de textura media, se observaron pequeñas variaciones en la población de las forrajeras y un incremento significativo en el rendimiento de grano en el cultivo de arroz, a medida que la mezcla semillas-fertilizante se incorporó a una mayor profundidad (Cuadro 26). Los suelos muy arcillosos o arenosos pueden dificultar la emergencia de las plántulas, principalmente si ocurre un período de seco después de la siembra. Si es posible, se sugiere hacer evaluaciones locales para determinar la mejor profundidad para fertilización y para siembra de la forrajera.Maquinaria para siembra. El ajuste y la velocidad de operación de la sembradora tienen gran influencia en el éxito de la siembra. Existen en el comercio algunas sembradoras que no poseen los mecanismos necesarios para una buena labor, por lo que no se consideran adecuadas para realizar el Sistema Barreirão. Durante la siembra, la velocidad de operación del equipo debe estar entre 3 y 5 km/h. Los ajustes necesarios para la siembra son los siguientes:1. Dosis correcta de semillas y fertilizante;2. Profundidad adecuada de los surcos para la fertilización y la colocación de la semilla;3. Mecanismos dosificadores de semillas que no ocasionen daños a las semillas; y 4. Distancia horizontal apropiada entre las líneas de fertilización y de siembra.Cuadro 25. Germinación de Brachiaria brizantha y producción de materia verde (MV) de la parte aérea 60 días después, según el tiempo de almacenamiento después de la mezcla de las semillas con fertilizantes. EMBRAPA-CNPAF. de pureza y 78% de germinación), equivalente a 547 semillas por parcela, mezcladas con 300 kg/ha de 4-30-16, 30 kg/ha de FTE y 20 kg/ha de ZnSO 4 . La emergencia de las plantas en la parcela sin abono se demoró 17 días. Excepto el primer tratamiento, en los demás las semillas de B. brizantha, con o sin abono, fueron incorporadas a 8 cm de profundidad. b. Gramínea a 3 cm y fertilizante a 8 cm de profundidad. c. Forrajera y fertilizantes mezclados en el día de la siembra, ambos colocados a 8 cm de profundidad. d. Gramínea incorporada a 8 cm, sin fertilizante. * Promedios en una misma columna seguidos por letras iguales no son significativamente diferentes (P < 0.05), según las pruebas de Tukey.Para un mejor ajuste, las sembradoras deben disponer de:1. Una distancia mínima (30 a 40 cm) entre el mecanismo dosificador de semillas y el fondo del surco de siembra;2. Un sistema de resortes que permita diferenciar la profundidad de fertilización, en relación con la colocación de las semillas de los cultivos anuales;3. Una distancia variable entre líneas, siendo el mínimo 30 a 35 cm; 4. Un sistema dosificador de semillas en forma de disco perforado horizontal, inclinado o vertical;5. Mecanismos alimentadores del fertilizante que eviten la formación de vacíos en el interior del depósito; y 6. Mecanismos para controlar de la profundidad de siembra.El desarrollo de las especies asociadas, principalmente de sus hojas, es modificado por la competencia interespecífica. Inicialmente y hasta el momento de la cosecha, es deseable que los cultivos anuales se desarrollen con mínima competencia por parte de la forrajera. A partir de este momento, se persigue el desarrollo de las forrajeras a una tasa que permita el inicio del pastoreo lo antes posible.En las Figuras 1 y 2 se presentan los resultados en ensayos para evaluar la tasa de crecimiento de cultivos asociados. Desde la emergencia, el maíz, el sorgo, el millo y el arroz afectaron el crecimiento de las hojas y los tallos del pasto asociado, dando como resultado valores menores a los encontrados con B. brizantha cv. Marandú en monocultivo.Las cosechas de sorgo, millo y arroz se realizaron 110 días después de la Cuadro 26. Efecto de la profundidad de fertilización y de siembra de dos gramíneas forrajeras sobre la productividad de arroz asociado. EMBRAPA-CNPAF.  cultivos. El corte de la pastura asociada indujo una mayor producción de nuevas macollas y hojas (Figura 3), favoreciendo, por tanto, la cobertura del suelo. Las productividades de maíz, sorgo, millo y arroz fueron, respectivamente, de 3.58, 2.24, 1.26 y 2.56 t/ha. La tasa de crecimiento máximo (Figura 4) del pasto en monocultivo fue de 392 kg/ha por día, mientras que las del pasto asociado con maíz, sorgo, arroz y millo fueron 32, 75, 91 y 260 kg/ha por día, respectivamente.Todos los cultivos evaluados compitieron con B. brizantha cv. Marandú, interfiriendo en el crecimiento de las hojas y de los tallos. Hasta 180 días después de la emergencia, la recuperación de la forrajera fue mejor cuando se asoció con millo, seguido de sorgo, arroz y maíz.Durante los períodos de 1987-88 y 1990-94, se establecieron y monitorearon 81 unidades de demostración del Sistema Barreirão, en siete Estados de la Federación (Goiás-GO, Mato Grosso-MT, Mato Grosso do Sul-MS, Tocantins-TO, Minas Gerais-MG, São Paulo-SP y Bahia-BA). En estos períodos, los rendimientos obtenidos variaron de 0.6 a 3.41 t/ha para arroz, y de 2.1 a 7.43 t/ha para maíz. Los promedios de rendimiento por hectárea, fueron: para arroz 33.5 bultos de 60 kg y para maíz 61.5 bultos de 60 kg cada uno (Cuadro 27). En los Sistemas Barreirão monitoreados por el grupo técnico de Embrapa Arroz e Feijão no ocurrió pérdida total por efecto de distribución de las lluvias. En algunos casos, se observaron reducciones en el rendimiento atribuidos al ataque intenso de la Piricularia. Los suelos donde fueron implantadas los Sistemas Barreirão presentan, predominantemente, baja fertilidad, acidez de alta a media y textura de arcillosa a arenosa.Una encuesta a 20 ganaderos que utilizan el Sistema Barreirão mostró variaciones en la capacidad de carga animal entre los períodos seco y lluvioso de 1993 y 1994. Sistema Barreirão, en orden decreciente: la falta de maquinaria adecuada (90%), la falta de crédito específico (70%), el costo de la maquinaria y los implementos (60%), poca experiencia y falta de interés del productor (60%) y falta de asistencia técnica específica (35%).El análisis económico de los cultivos y unidades demostrativas en el Sistema Barreirão, donde se sembró arroz asociado con forrajeras, muestra que el costo de producción se mantuvo estable  a través de 4 años, mientras que el valor de la cosecha sufrió variación considerable (Cuadro 28). Sin embargo, el beneficio/costo varió de 0.83 hasta 1.27, significando que además de la recuperación de la pasturas los productores obtuvieron beneficios adicionales con la utilización del Sistema. Las variaciones en las productividades de los períodos 1992-93 y 1993-94, en relación con el período 1991-92, se debieron a los períodos cortos de sequía o veranillo y, en algunos casos, al cambio de la variedad Guaraní por la Douradão, más susceptible a Piricularia, y a pérdidas en la cosecha debidas a la falta de maquinaria en el momento apropiado.Para el cultivo de maíz, en la evaluación de 19 Sistemas Barreirão, la relación beneficio/costo varió desde 0.80 hasta 1.06 (Cuadro 29). En el período 1993/94 se observó un incremento de 13% en los costos de producción y una reducción de 16% en productividad, en comparación con el período inmediatamente anterior.En el Sistema Barreirão, la relación beneficio/costo considera solamente la producción de granos de arroz y de maíz. Los residuos que se quedan para la pastura (preparación del suelo, fertilización, semillas, etc.) representan cerca de 63% del costo de producción (Yokoyama et al., 1992). De esta manera, los beneficios de los productores no están solamente en la producción de granos, sino también en la utilización de las pasturas recuperadas para la producción de carne o de leche. Los fertilizantes y el manejo de los suelos son las labores de mayor costo en el Sistema Barreirão.El análisis económica presentado en el punto anterior, incluye las relaciones directas entre beneficio y costo, considerando solamente la producción de granos y excluyendo los retornos debido a: (1) producción de carne y de leche; (2) incremento probable en la tasa de natalidad y reducción de la mortalidad de animales; (3) reducción o eliminación de los costos para control de hormigueros y malezas perennes; (4) reducción o eliminación de la pérdida de peso vivo y de la mortalidad del rebaño en el período seco;(5) producción de carne en canal de Cuadro 28. Costos comparativos de producción, precio, producción y tasa de retorno del Sistema Barreirão, utilizando arroz asociado con forrajeras. mejor calidad; y (6) probable reducción de la necesidad de suplementación mineral a los animales.En los suelos, también: (1) se mejora el perfil por reducción de la compactación, la corrección de acidez, y el aumento en nutrimentos y M.O.;(2) se reduce el proceso de erosión hídrica; y (3) se favorece el enraizamiento profundo de las forrajeras, lo cual facilita el trabajo de la maquinaria agrícola.Como beneficios ecológicos originados en el Sistema Barreirão, se pueden citar: (1) la mejor cobertura y menor degradación del suelo, lo que favorece la disponibilidad de alimentos para los herbívoros; (2) la reducción del ritmo de apertura de nuevas áreas, particularmente en la Amazonia; (3) la reducción de la erosión en las cuencas de los ríos, debido a mayor infiltración del agua en el suelo, y de eventos en los centros urbanos; (4) incremento del volumen y en la calidad del agua subterránea; y (5) reducción en el uso de productos químicos para el control de malezas y plagas. El sistema de cultivos anuales en forma continuada en el ecosistema Sabana de América del Sur ha sido cuestionado a largo plazo. Por otra parte, las pasturas mejoradas gramíneas-leguminosas, aunque protegen el suelo, tienen costos de establecimiento que van más allá de las posibilidades del promedio de los productores. En esta región, caracterizada por suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad, existen más de 15 millones de hectáreas en pasturas de Brachiaria sp. en estado avanzado de degradación. La recuperación de estas pasturas como un sistema de sólo gramínea no es atractivo, debido al largo tiempo que debe transcurrir antes de que el productor reciba algún retorno económico por la inversión necesaria en insumos. La siembra de líneas adaptadas de arroz (Oryza sativa) en asociación con mezclas de gramíneas-leguminosas seleccionadas para este ambiente, en zonas con pasturas degradadas y como parte de un sistema de cultivo, permite obtener altas producciones de arroz (más de 3 t/ha), a la vez que se logra el establecimiento de una nueva pastura o la recuperación de una ya degradada y el aprovechamiento del fertilizante residual como un mejorador químico de la fertilidad del suelo. Se encontró que las pasturas extraen una cantidad considerable de P, K, Ca y Mg, lo que sugiere que estos nutrimentos son retenidos dentro del sistema. La quema de la sabana nativa, seguida por una preparación temprana del suelo al comienzo de la época seca, resultó en una mayor producción de arroz y en una menor invasión de malezas, en comparación con la preparación del suelo inmediatamente antes de la siembra al inicio de las lluvias. El suministro de nitrógeno por las leguminosas presentes en pasturas asociadas cultivadas anteriormente contribuyó de manera significativa al incremento de la producción de arroz. Después de la cosecha de arroz, la pastura recuperada quedó lista para pastoreo con animales. Las leguminosas forrajeras también se pueden sembrar al mismo tiempo con el arroz sobre las pasturas degradadas, y cuando se establecen bien mejoran la calidad de las pasturas y finalmente la calidad del suelo. Los factores que contribuyen a la degradación de las pasturas probablemente afectarán la producción de arroz. El retorno económico de la cosecha de arroz permite corregir los desbalances y deficiencias en el suelo sin asumir grandes riesgos.Long-term, continuous cultivation of annual crops in the South American savannas is questionable, and, although improved grass/legume pastures protect the soil, their establishment costs are far beyond the reach of the average farmer. Within this region, characterized by low-fertility acid soils, more than 15 million hectares are under highly degraded Brachiaria pastures. Reclaiming these pastures as pure-grass systems is impractical because of the length of time farmers must wait to recover the investment made in inputs. More profitable is to plant adapted rice (Oryza sativa) lines in association with grass/legume mixtures (selected specifically for this environment) in areas under degraded pastures. Rice yields can be more than 3 t/ha, and, at the same time, either a new pasture is established or the old degraded pasture is reclaimed and the residual fertilizer from the crop improves soil fertility. Pastures extract considerable amounts of P, K, Ca, and Mg, indicating that these nutrients remain within the system. The burning of native savannas, followed by early land preparation at the beginning of the dry season, increases rice production and reduces weed incidence, as compared with preparing land immediately before planting, at the beginning of rainy season. The nitrogen supplied by legumes in the previously planted pasture association contributes significantly to the increase in rice production. After the rice harvest, the reclaimed pasture is ready for grazing. Forage legumes alone can also beEn el ecosistema Sabana de América del Sur existen aproximadamente 250 millones de hectáreas de suelos ácidos (Oxisoles), de los cuales 16 millones se encuentran en Colombia (Cochrane et al., 1985), siendo, la mayoría de ellos, adecuados para cultivos anuales o para el establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas.Como resultado de presiones económicas y de población, actualmente existe la necesidad de intensificar la producción agrícola mediante la transformación de la sabana nativa en cultivos anuales o pasturas mejoradas. El Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), conjuntamente con instituciones nacionales de investigación y extensión, han venido desarrollando en los últimos 15 años sistemas agrícolas mejorados para este ambiente (Zeigler y Toledo, 1993); no obstante, es posible que estos sistemas puedan llegar a ser no-sostenibles. Por ejemplo, después de 3 años de cultivo continuo de arroz de secano, la producción disminuye hasta niveles que no son económicamente sostenibles debido a problemas por competencia de malezas y reducción de las bajas reservas de nutrimentos en el suelo (Seguy et al., 1988). De esta misma manera, el cultivo continuo de otras plantas anuales como maíz y soya resulta en serios problemas de erosión.Por otra parte, las pasturas de sólo gramíneas tienden a degradarse después de varios años de pastoreo, sino se fertilizan adecuadamente (Buschbaker, 1986;Uhl y Buschbaker, 1985;Vera y Seré, 1985).Algunas pasturas asociadas de gramíneas y leguminosas se comportan bien bajo las condiciones comunes en explotaciones comerciales de la región. Sin embargo, existen limitaciones económicas para su establecimiento o recuperación una vez degradadas. Estas pasturas requieren un mínimo de inversión en capital -en preparación de suelos, fertilizantes y semillaspara su adecuado establecimiento o recuperación y, generalmente, los productores no desean invertir lo suficiente en estas prácticas (Vera y Seré, 1985). Cuando las pasturas tienen una leguminosa forrajera entre sus componentes y ésta ha sido bien manejada, se espera que el arroz se beneficie al convertir el aumento en el contenido de nitrógeno en el suelo en una mayor producción. En el caso de las pasturas degradadas, se espera que el fertilizante agregado al cultivo de arroz estimule el crecimiento del banco de semillas en el suelo y permita la incorporación de una leguminosa en el sistema.El presente capítulo se dividió en dos componentes: (1) uso de un cultivo de arroz de secano para establecer una pastura mejorada gramínealeguminosa en sabana nativa; y (2) uso de un cultivo de arroz de secano y un componente de leguminosa para recuperar pasturas degradadas.El primer objetivo consistió en determinar si en un Oxisol ácido era posible establecer, en forma exitosa y permanente, una pastura de gramíneas más leguminosas mejoradas, cuando se cultivan en asociación con arroz de secano. En el segundo objetivo se trató planted simultaneously with rice on degraded pastures. Once these legumes are well established, pasture quality and, ultimately, soil quality improves. Factors contributing to pasture degradation will probably affect rice production. Soil imbalances and deficiencies can be corrected with inputs bought with the income from the rice harvest, without farmers having to assume large risks.de identificar el mejor método para establecer la mezcla gramínealeguminosa-arroz de secano en sabana nativa o en pasturas degradadas. El procedimiento empleado consistió en establecer, tanto el arroz en monocultivo como la mezcla, en parcelas de campo mayores que 2500 m 2 para comparar la producción de los componentes de la segunda (arroz en grano y materia seca de la pastura) 1 año después de la siembra.Para cumplir con el primer objetivo del estudio, se condujeron dos experimentos (experimentos 1 y 2) en la Finca Matazul, localizada a 40 km al oriente del Municipio de Puerto López, en el departamento del Meta (Colombia). La finca está localizada a 4° 19' norte y 72° 39' oeste; a 160 m.s.n.m.; con una temperatura, promedio anual, de 27 °C y 2200 mm de precipitación. La época seca se extiende entre diciembre y marzo seguida de una época lluviosa de forma bimodal. En julio y agosto normalmente ocurren períodos secos de corta duración -entre 1 y 2 semanas. Los suelos son Oxisoles (Tropeptic haplustox isohyperthermic) con pH de 4.5 y baja disponibilidad (meq/100 g) de Ca (0.2), Mg (0.08), K (Bray 2) (0.1) y P (Bray 2) (2 mg/g) y una saturación de Al mayor que 80%. En ambos experimentos se quemó la sabana nativa y e inmediatamente después se preparó el suelo para la siembra de las asociaciones arroz-pastura.Para el segundo objetivo se realizaron tres experimentos (denominados experimentos 3, 4 y 5 en este capítulo). El experimento 3 se realizó en la estación CIAT-Carimagua, localizada en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia a 4° 36' norte y 71° 19' oeste, a 175 m.s.n.m. El suelo en el sitio experimental es ultic haplustox de arcilla caolinítica fina. Los experimentos 4 y 5 se realizaron, respectivamente, en las fincas Santa Cruz y El Tigrillo, localizadas aproximadamente a 195 y 200 km al oeste de la estación CIAT-Carimagua, bajo condiciones ecológicas similares. Los valores del análisis de suelos para los tres sitios se encuentran en los rangos siguientes: pH 4.2-4.5; P disponible 1.5-2.0 mg/g; y K, Ca y Mg (meq/100 g) = 0.06-0.10, 0.15-0.20 y 0.06-0.08, respectivamente. La capacidad efectiva de intercambio de cationes tiene entre 80% y 90% de saturación de Al.En todos los experimentos, para la siembra de arroz en monocultivo, el suelo se preparó en surcos distanciados 17 cm y para la siembra de las asociaciones la preparación se hizo a 34 cm, con el fin de evitar la competencia por las pasturas. Para la siembra de las gramíneas y las leguminosas (experimentos 1 y 2), las semillas se esparcieron a voleo inmediatamente antes de sembrar el arroz. En los experimentos 3, 4 y 5 no se utilizaron semillas de las gramíneas, sino que éstas se restablecieron a partir del banco de semillas y estolones presentes en el suelo.Para la siembra de los experimentos 1 y 3 se utilizaron 60 kg/ha de semilla de la línea de arroz CT 6196-33-11-1-3 (Línea 3, la más avanzada en 1989 por resistencia a enfermedades). En el experimento 2 se utilizaron 80 kg/ha de la línea CT 6947-7-1-1-1-7-M (Línea 6, con características similares a las de Línea 3, en 1990). En los experimentos 4 y 5 se utilizaron 80 kg/ha de la línea CT 7244-9-2-1-52-1 (Línea 23, que resultó igualmente resistente a enfermedades en 1991).En los experimentos 2 y 4 (como un tratamiento) y en el experimento 5, la preparación temprana del suelo consistió en la quema de la vegetación seguida de dos pases de arado de cincel rígido a 40 cm de profundidad en el suelo. Estas labores se hicieron al inicio de la época seca (al inicio de diciembre), seguidas de una preparación tardía posterior. En estos mismos experimentos (2 y 4) (como un tratamiento) y en los experimentos 1 y 3, la preparación del suelo consistió en la quema de la vegetación -si no se había hecho previamente una preparación temprana-seguida de dos pases de rastrillo de disco para destruir los agregados grandes en el suelo e incorporar los fertilizantes aplicados a voleo 2 semanas antes de la siembra, al inicio de las lluvias en mayo. La cosecha de arroz se hizo a fines de agosto.Cuando los nutrimentos no fueron parte de los tratamientos, la fertilización básica (kg/ha) consistió en: N (80-urea) (30 kg a los 25 días; 20 kg a los 40 días; y 30 kg a los 60 días después de la siembra); P (50) (25 kg como roca fosfórica Huila y 25 kg como superfosfato triple (SFT), excepto para el tratamiento 2, donde sólo se aplicó SFT); K (100-KCl) (en tres aplicaciones de 30, 50 y 20 kg al mismo tiempo de la aplicación de N); Zn (5-ZnSO 4 ) (excepto en los experimentos 1 y 3); y 300 kg/ha de cal dolomítica (31.3% de Ca y 4.7% de Mg) al voleo e incorporada con el último pase de rastrillo 2 semanas antes de la siembra. El P en los experimentos 1 y 3 se aplicó a voleo y se incorporó antes de la siembra. El P y el Zn en los experimentos 4 y 5 se aplicaron con la semilla al momento de la siembra. La roca fosfórica Huila es una apatita con solubilidad media en citrato de amonio a pH 7.0 y con un contenido de P de 8% (Chien y Hammond, 1988).Los experimentos 1 y 3, en cada uno de los tres sitios seleccionados, y el experimento 5 se dispusieron en un diseño de bloques al azar con tres repeticiones. En los experimentos 2 y 4 se utilizó un diseño de parcelas divididas con tres repeticiones.En el experimento 1, arroz vs. asociaciones arroz-pasturas después de sabana nativa (1989), se incluyeron tres tratamientos, cada uno de ellos en nueve parcelas de 100 m x 100 m. La Línea 3 de arroz se sembró en todas las parcelas, sola o en asociación con dos mezclas de gramíneas-leguminosas: Andropogon gayanus cv. Carimagua-1/ Stylosanthes capitata cv. Capica o Brachiara dictyoneura cv. Llanero/ Centrosema acutifolium cv. Vichada. Las tasas de siembra de A. gayanus, B. dictyoneura, S. capitata y C. acutifolium fueron de 10, 3, 3 y 4 kg/ha, respectivamente.En el experimento 2, efecto de la época de preparación del suelo y el método de aplicación del fertilizante en el establecimiento y producción de arroz en monocultivo y asociado con pasturas después de sabana nativa (1990), las parcelas principales consistieron en las preparaciones temprana y tardía del suelo; las subparcelas fueron arroz en monocultivo (Línea 6), arroz + (B. dictyoneura + C. acutifolium) y arroz + (A. gayanus + S. capitata); y las sub-subparcelas la aplicación de fertilizantes con la semilla o a voleo. Las parcelas principales medían 150 m x 150 m, las subparcelas 50 m x 100 m y las sub-subparcelas 25 m x 100 m. Estas últimas se dispusieron a lo largo del campo para facilitar el laboreo mecánico. El área total fue de 9 ha y la tasa de siembra fue igual a la utilizada en el experimento 1.Para el experimento 3, arroz en pasturas de gramíneas-leguminosas y en pasturas de sólo gramíneas (1989), se seleccionaron tres sitios adyacentes cultivados previamente con tipos diferentes de pasturas:(1) B. decumbens + P. phaseoloides con 10 años de establecida;(2) B. decumbens sola, con 10 años de establecida; y (3) sabana nativa. En cada pastura se aplicaron como tratamientos dos niveles de P y tres de N (P x N) en parcelas de 400 m 2 . Los niveles de P fueron 25 y 50 kg/ha (50% SFT + 50% roca fosfórica Huila). Los niveles de N (urea) fueron 0 y 40 kg/ha aplicados en dosis de 15, 10 y 15 kg/ha a los 25, 40 y 60 días después de la siembra, respectivamente; y 80 kg/ha de N distribuidos en dosis de 30, 20 y 30 kg/ha con la misma frecuencia de la aplicación anterior.En el experimento 4, recuperación de pasturas degradadas de B. decumbens con cultivo de arroz y pasturas de leguminosas (1990), las pasturas degradadas de B. decumbens tenían 10 años de establecidas y habían sido manejadas con mínimo uso de rastrillo para remover el suelo y sin aplicación de fertilizantes. Las parcelas principales fueron las preparaciones temprana y tardía del suelo, y las subparcelas con y sin la siembra por semillas de S. capitata (3 kg/ha) + C. acutifolium (4 kg/ha). Las parcelas principales medían 100 m x 100 m y las subparcelas 100 m x 50 m para un área total de 6 ha.En el experimento 5, recuperación de pasturas degradadas de B. humidicola utilizando cultivo de arroz con y sin leguminosas (1991), debido a la rusticidad y agresividad de esta especie no es fácil encontrarla en estado degradado. No obstante, para este experimento fue posible encontrar una pastura de B. humidicola ligeramente degradada con alto porcentaje de malezas debido al sobrepastoreo y a la falta de descanso adecuado. Los tratamientos consistieron en la siembra o no de Arachis pintoi (4.5 kg/ha) + Desmodium ovalifolium (1.3 kg/ha). El tamaño de las parcelas era de 150 m x 50 m para un área total de 4.5 ha.En todos los experimentos se midieron la emergencia de plantas a los 20 días después de la siembra, la producción de M.S. de arroz (grano + tamo) y la biomasa en la parte aérea de las pasturas asociadas (gramíneas + leguminosas + malezas). Estas mediciones se hicieron en ocho sitios de 1 m x 1 m localizados al azar en cada parcela. La producción de grano de arroz comercial en el total del área experimental se determinó usando una cosechadora tipo combinada. El pH y los contenidos en el suelo de P, K, Mg, Al, Zn, Cu, S, B y M.O. en cada tratamiento se determinaron antes de la aplicación de los fertilizantes y después de la cosecha de arroz, mediante la mezcla de varias submuestras de cada replicación. De manera similar, se determinó el contenido de los nutrimentos: proteína cruda, P, B, K, Ca, Mg, S y Zn en muestras de planta en cada tratamiento.La nueva línea 3 de arroz secano presentó una buena producción (más de 2 t/ha) cuando creció con una aplicación moderada de fertilizantes, y no mostró una reducción significativa de la producción cuando creció asociada con pasturas tropicales mejoradas en Oxisoles ácidos de baja fertilidad (Cuadro 1). Las malezas, un problema importante en sistemas de pasturas, aparecieron en todos los tratamientos, probablemente como resultado de la mayor fertilidad en este nuevo sistema o de su introducción en las semillas de arroz o de pasturas.El cálculo de la absorción de nutrimentos por unidad de área en la biomasa aérea muestra que el cultivo de arroz fue el principal extractor entre las especies, pero también sugiere que las pasturas compiten con él, particularmente por P, K y Mg (Figura 1), aunque sin afectar su producción de grano. En general, la pastura A. gayanus + S. capitata absorbió más P, K, Ca y Mg que la pastura B. decumbens + C. acutifolium. Los análisis de suelos indicaron que los contenidos de P, K, Ca y Mg fueron mayores después de la cosecha (Cuadro 2), excepto el Zn que se había reducido significativamente. Aparte de Zn, los suelos después de la primera cosecha de arroz fueron químicamente mejores que los de la sabana nativa original, las pasturas se desarrollaron bien con la fertilidad residual y estuvieron listas, inicialmente, para pastoreo ligero y, posteriormente, para uso permanente.Con la preparación temprana del suelo, la producción de arroz en todos los tratamientos aumentó 1 t/ha, en comparación con la preparación tardía (Cuadro 3). En monocultivo, la producción de arroz fue mayor cuando el fertilizante se aplicó a voleo con la preparación temprana, pero no se encontraron diferencias cuando la aplicación se hizo con la preparación tardía. En la asociación con pasturas, Cuadro 1. Producción de arroz paddy (14% de humedad) de la Línea 3 y biomasa de pasturas, en cultivos de arroz en monocultivo y asociado con pasturas. la aplicación del fertilizante con la semilla siempre resultó en producciones significativamente más altas de arroz (Cuadro 3). La producción de MS de las malezas fue menor en esta última forma de aplicación del fertilizante, en comparación con la aplicación a voleo en la preparación tardía del suelo (Cuadro 3).La producción de arroz sembrado después de B. decumbens + P. phaseoloides produjo más de 3 t/ha (Figura 1) en todos los tratamientos, inclusive en aquellos que no recibieron N, o que sólo recibieron 25 kg/ha; no obstante, cuando se duplicó la dosis de P (50 kg/ha) no se encontró efecto sobre la producción. Cuando la aplicación de N se aumentó de 0 a 80 kg/ha, la producción de arroz aumentó en 0.5 t/ha. La siembra de arroz en pasturas de sólo B. decumbens sin aplicación de N, tanto con 25 kg/ha como con 50 kg/ha de P, dio bajos rendimientos de arroz paddy (1.3 t/ha).No obstante, la aplicación de 40 kg/ha de N incrementó la producción a 3 t/ha, y la aplicación de 80 kg/ha la aumentó en 0.5 t/ha más. No se encontraron diferencias en la producción de arroz como resultado de la aplicación de dosis diferentes de P. La producción de arroz sembrado después de la sabana nativa fue baja (menos de 2 t/ha), siendo inferior a la alcanzada con la siembra de arroz después de pasturas mejoradas. El análisis inicial de los suelos en los tres sitios mostró que el estado del K, el Ca y el Mg fue mayor en las pasturas mejoradas que en la sabana nativa.Los resultados en este experimento (Cuadro 4) nuevamente muestran una alta producción para la Línea 23 de arroz (más de 3.4 t/ha) y una buena recuperación de las pasturas degradadas. No se encontraron diferencias entre los tratamientos de preparación temprana y tardía del suelo, con o sin la introducción de leguminosas forrajeras.Durante la preparación temprana, la quema de la gramínea fue difícil por la falta de material vegetal en la pastura degradada. Al momento de la cosecha de arroz, la pastura de B. decumbens se encontraba recuperada y lista para pastoreo. Las leguminosas se encontraban en las mismas condiciones que las gramíneas y el estado de las asociaciones gramíneasleguminosas era excelente, siendo su relación (M.S.) 1.5:1 y 1.8:1.Los análisis de suelos antes del experimento y después de la cosecha de arroz (Cuadro 5) mostraron que los niveles de los nutrimentos no fueron afectados por la fertilización aplicada al cultivo, en contraste con la pastura de 10 años bien fertilizada (ver experimento 3 anterior).Inicialmente, el arroz presentó un crecimiento pobre con síntomas foliares de deficiencia severa de Mg; no obstante, B. humidicola se desarrolló bien. Los análisis de suelo (0.11 y 0.06 meq/100 g de Ca y Mg, respectivamente) y de tejido (0.21% de Ca y 0.04% de Mg) confirman la deficiencia de Mg en el cultivo de arroz, así como bajos niveles de Ca. Cuando se aplicaron 135 kg/ha de Ca y 160 kg/ha de Mg como cloruros en un tratamiento adicional en una parcela aparte, se observó una buena recuperación del cultivo de arroz. La producción de arroz con este tratamiento adicional fue el doble de la obtenida sin dicha aplicación (Figura 2), a pesar del crecimiento vigoroso de B. humidicola. Tanto esta especie como las leguminosas se establecieron bien y se continuaron evaluando en pastoreo.En asociación con pasturas y con aplicación de cantidades moderadas de insumos es posible obtener altas producciones de arroz (entre 2 y 3 t/ha). En las pasturas establecidas en forma simultánea con arroz, se obtuvieron producciones entre 0.41 y 2.54 t/ha de M.S. para la gramínea y entre 0.07 y 0.44 t/ha de M.S. para la leguminosa, sin afectar los rendimientos del arroz. El establecimiento de las asociaciones arroz-pasturas permite mantener un bajo nivel de malezas y asegurar la cobertura del suelo a través del año. En trabajos anteriores (CIAT, 1989) se encontró que, con la preparación temprana del suelo, es posible obtener dos veces más producción de arroz que con la preparación tardía. En el experimento 2, el efecto de la preparación temprana del suelo, en adición de la supresión de malezas, se debió al aumento en la liberación de K + Cuadro 5. Estado de disponibilidad de los nutrimentos en el suelo (kg/ha) antes y después de un cultivo de arroz en la recuperación de pasturas degradadas de Brachiaria decumbens. y NH 4 + a partir de Al-clorita/Alvermiculita después del secado y el humedecimiento que siguen a la cosecha (Sanz y Rowell, 1988;Sylvester-Bradley et al., 1988).En este trabajo existió un efecto confundido de componentes en el tratamiento de preparación temprana del suelo: fuego y arado de cincel. Actualmente se conducen experimentos para separar los efectos individuales de estos componentes y para evaluar alternativas de quema. La densidad de plantas en la pastura puede tener un efecto negativo en el desarrollo y producción del cultivo de arroz, particularmente si aquella es alta en el estado inicial del cultivo. En el experimento 1 -arroz + B. decumbens/ C. acutifolium y arroz + A. gayanus/ S. capitata-el promedio de la germinación de los componentes de la pastura fue, respectivamente, de 0.6 y 0.9 plantas/m 2 , 20 días después de la siembra. En el experimento 2 para tratamientos equivalentes con preparación tardía del suelo, este promedio fue de 13.9 y 18.2 plantas/m 2 . En este último, la producción de arroz fue más baja que en el anterior experimento y la producción de las pasturas al momento de la cosecha (Cuadros 1 y 3) no fue afectada por las densidades iniciales de planta.Las pasturas mejoradas pueden ser aradas, y en forma espontánea se restablecen cuando se asocian con arroz. La producción de arroz después de la siembra de pasturas mejoradas (3.5 t/ha) puede ser aún mayor que después de sabana nativa; esto puede ocurrir inclusive sin la aplicación de N, después de pasturas de gramíneasleguminosas. En todos los casos, ocurrió el restablecimiento de las pasturas asociadas.La absorción de nutrimentos por el arroz se redujo cuando éste se sembró en asociación con pasturas en sabana nativa. No obstante, la competencia por P, Mg y Zn puede limitar la producción bajo estas condiciones. Sin embargo, después del cultivo de arroz y arroz-pasturas, en ambos años los niveles de Ca y Mg en el suelo permanecieron más altos que los iniciales. El P y el K fueron altos después del primer año de cosecha, pero permanecieron en el mismo nivel en el segundo año. Esto indica que después de la cosecha de arroz queda una fertilidad residual significativa que pueden aprovechar las pasturas. Aunque las bajas reservas de P, K y S sugieren que las pasturas se pueden degradar rápidamente, a menos que se reduzca la competencia inicial. El Zn, que es muy bajo en estos suelos, fue altamente absorbido por el arroz y fue necesario aplicarlo en el segundo año.La contribución de N por la leguminosa en este trabajo se refiere a una asociación gramínea-leguminosa de 10 años. En trabajos realizados en CIAT-Carimagua (CIAT, 1992) utilizando la productividad de las pasturas y el contenido de leguminosas en B. decumbens solo y asociado con P. phaseoloides, se estimó que entre 80% y 90% del beneficio potencial de esta leguminosa, en términos de fijación de N, se obtiene entre los años 3 y 5. Esto indica que no es necesario esperar 10 años para alcanzar este importante beneficio económico.El alto beneficio en el corto término de un cultivo anual puede combinarse con la productividad a largo plazo y el mejoramiento de las propiedades del suelo que proporcionan los sistemas pasturas de gramíneas-leguminosas. El sistema arroz-pasturas mejora el estado de los nutrimentos en el suelo mediante la aplicación directa en forma de fertilizantes de los elementos más importantes, la fijación de N por las leguminosas y la M.O. resultante de la acumulación de la abundante biomasa de la pastura asociada. Las alternativas de producción: cultivo anual y pastura permanente, pueden beneficiarse mutuamente; así, en las zonas ganaderas donde previamente no fue posible cultivar, se pueden utilizar las nuevas líneas de arroz secano desarrolladas y adaptadas a estos suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad, lo que representa nuevas opciones de producción.El tamaño extenso de las parcelas utilizadas en este trabajo en combinación con los niveles de producción comercial indican que el sistema es posible, e igualmente, lo es a nivel comercial la cosecha con combinada del arroz en presencia de la mezcla gramínea-leguminosa. Este experimento en gran escala también permite la realización de estudios a largo plazo bajo condiciones reales de sistemas de producción, con el fin de establecer, documentar y evaluar los determinantes de sostenibilidad de una manera práctica y directa.La riqueza de especies en los bosques de galería en la sabana nativa (Burman, 1991) y su belleza natural hacen de ellos un recurso natural invaluable. Las alternativas de manejo sostenible pueden ayudar a estabilizar la producción en las áreas abiertas ya existentes. Se requiere el desarrollo de sistemas agrícolas y de políticas apropiadas para asegurar la conservación de las reservas existentes alrededor de la sabana nativa y para la expansión de la frontera agrícola sin alterar el ambiente.Para el establecimiento de sistemas integrados de producción agropastoril es necesario conocer los factores biológicos y socioeconómicos involucrados en los procesos de producción agropecuaria. Estos deben ser ecológica y socialmente aceptables. La degradación de las pasturas en áreas de Cerrado de Brasil es marcada y cerca del 50% de ellas ya están en proceso de degradación; igualmente con cultivos anuales presentan graves problemas de compactación, erosión y ocurrencia de plagas y enfermedades. Para enfrentar este problema existen varias alternativas en proceso en la región que integran sistemas agrícolas y ganaderos. La introducción de la agricultura en fincas ganaderas ha permitido la transformación de áreas con cultivos anuales en sistemas de rotación con forrajeras como avena y maíz. Los sistemas de suplementación de los animales con pastos en confinamiento al final de la época de ceba, han sido posibles por la producción de granos en las propiedades rurales. Varias de esas prácticas han mostrado viabilidad económica, pero aún es necesario desarrollar investigaciones para perfeccionar estos sistemas, especialmente en relación con las técnicas de control y manejo gerencial que faciliten a los ganaderos el uso y desarrollo de los sistemas integrados agricultura-ganadería.To establish integrated agropastoral production systems, the biological and socioeconomic aspects involved in agricultural production must be understood. These systems must be ecologically and socially acceptable. Pasture degradation is visible in the Brazilian savannas (or \"Cerrados\"), where about 50% of pastures are degraded. Likewise, croplands present severe problems, particularly soil compaction and erosion, and outbreaks of pests and diseases. These problems can be tackled through various alternatives of integrating crops and livestock production. One alternative is to change from growing annual crops to rotating forages with annual crops such as oat and maize and using crop residues as animal feed. Income from grain production also helps buy dietary supplements for animals being fattened, but confined to pasture. Several of these practices are economically feasible, but further research is needed to perfect them, especially those related to control and management, to encourage ranchers to use and develop integrated crop-and-livestock production systems.Para el establecimiento exitoso de sistemas integrados de producción agropastoril es necesario conocer los factores que los afectan, entre ellos: suelo, clima, cultivos en uso, sistemas, especies animales y tipo de explotación -bovinos de carne o leche, caprinos, ovinos y porcinos. Además de los factores biológicos es importante conocer los socioeconómicos relacionados con mercado, sistemas de transporte, almacenamiento, recursos financieros disponibles y principalmente el tipo de agricultor o ganadero involucrado en el proceso. El tipo de productor, bien sea agricultor o ganadero, será quien tome la decisión final del sistema a utilizar en función de la disponibilidad de recursos, capacidad de manejo, y gusto por determinado tipo de explotación según posibilidad de mejorar su ingreso.La necesidad de resolver los problemas de preservación del medio ambiente y de perfeccionar los sistemas de producción, posibilita el resurgimiento de sistemas integrados de conservación de suelos en las microcuencas y de rotación de cultivos de grano, o el uso de los sistemas agropastoriles.El concepto de agricultura sostenible ha sido ampliamente difundido, siendo indispensable que esta sostenibilidad beneficie a toda la sociedad. Según las leyes agrícolas de E.U. (Affin, 1994), la sostenibilidad en la actividad agropecuaria es un sistema integrado de prácticas con vegetales y animales adaptados a las condiciones específicas de cada localidad o región. La sostenibilidad debe cumplir, de manera simultánea y a largo plazo, varios requisitos, entre ellos, satisfacer las necesidades de alimentos y fibra de la población; el mejoramiento de la calidad ambiental y de los recursos naturales; la utilización eficiente de los recursos no-renovables y de los internos o propios de la comunidad, integrando, siempre que posible, ciclos y controles biológicos naturales; la viabilidad económica y el mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de los agricultores y de la sociedad en su conjunto. En otras palabras, la explotación agropecuaria sostenible debe mantener o mejorar la producción, con ventajas económicas para los productores, sin perjuicio para el medio ambiente y en beneficio de toda la sociedad.No obstante, para que eso ocurra se necesitan estudios más completos sobre sistemas y flujos de producción agropecuaria. En Brasil, estos estudios son escasos y, sólo ahora, están en progreso en EMBRAPA y son temas de enseñanza en algunas universidades.La mayoría de los sistemas de producción en Brasil fueron desarrollados por los propios productores rurales que, con su creatividad y por necesidades de producción, reunieron y ensamblaron diversas actividades y tecnologías agrícolas y pecuarias. Muchos de esos sistemas están siendo ejecutados con muy poco control en los flujos de producción y económico y con baja capacidad gerencial. Son escasas las empresas y propiedades rurales en la región de los Cerrados de Brasil que desarrollan sistemas integrados de producción con buen control sobre los datos y con alto nivel gerencial.En este capítulo se describen algunas de las condiciones de producción en la región de los Cerrados, señalando los problemas y las necesidades de investigación.El bioma Cerrados está ubicado, en su mayor parte, en la región centro-este de Brasil, que abarca los Estados de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Tocantins y Distrito Federal, y posee un área aproximada de 201.7 millones de hectáreas. Según el Censo Agropecuario de 1995, esta región tenía aproximadamente 30.2 millones de hectáreas en pasturas cultivadas y 28.9 en pasturas nativas (IBGE, 1985). En 1994 se estimaba que el área en pasturas cultivadas era entre 45 y 50 millones de hectáreas y los cultivos anuales mecanizados de 11 millones de hectáreas.La explotación de ese ecosistema, según datos no publicados de Embrapa Cerrados, tendría el siguiente potencial (en millones de hectáreas): 60 para pasturas cultivadas, un área similar para cultivos de secano, 10 para cultivos irrigados, 66 para preservación ambiental y 6 para cultivos permanentes.Las pasturas cultivadas crecieron sorpresivamente en la década de los 70, pasando de 11 a 29 millones de hectáreas, en 1980. Ese aumento se explica por la introducción de especies del género Brachiaria por programas especiales de desarrollo. La tasa de crecimiento actual es menor, pero se estima que es, aproximadamente, entre 600 y 800 mil hectáreas por año. Estos incrementos han ocurrido mediante sustitución de pasturas nativas y de cultivos anuales o perennes, dependiendo de la situación económica de cada microrregión.El análisis de la evolución del crecimiento de las pasturas cultivadas en la región, permite concluir que éstas se están acercando al límite del área potencial estimada por Embrapa Cerrados. Las pasturas nativas se limitan, cada vez más, a los hábitat de preservación natural, como la región del Pantanal, y áreas de inserción en la Amazonía y en el Semiárido.Aunque no se tienen datos precisos sobre la importancia relativa de cada una de las especies forrajeras en la composición de las pasturas cultivadas en el Cerrado, los datos en el Cuadro 1 muestran que las especies de Brachiaria constituyen el 85% de ellas (Zimmer et al., 1993).La utilización de leguminosas forrajeras es difícil de estimar. Se estima que cubren alrededor de 1% a 2% del área total, siendo Calopogonium mucunoides la especie más difundida. Recientemente, el Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Gado de Corte (Embrapa Gado de Corte) y el Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados (Embrapa CPAC) liberaron algunas especies promisorias de Stylosanthes, las cuales se encuentran en etapa inicial de multiplicación por el sector privado.Los estudios de Corrêa (1995) sobre ganadería de carne en la región de los Cerrados de Brasil Central indican que, entre 1970 y 1985, las pasturas nativas y cultivadas pasaron de 59.7 a 85.2 millones de hectáreas y el hato se incrementó de 26.3 a 53.2 millones de cabezas (IBGE, 1985). Es evidente que el mayor incremento porcentual de este último se debió al aumento en el área de pasturas cultivadas. El crecimiento de las pasturas cultivadas en la década 1970-80 fue entre 57% y 65%, pero disminuyó a 37.9% en el período 1980-85, o sea, que registró una reducción de 26%, aproximadamente (Corrêa, 1995).No obstante las dificultades para separar el hato que efectivamente se mantiene en pasturas nativas de aquel que se mantiene en pasturas cultivadas, se puede decir que, en promedio, la carga animal es menor que 1 animal/ha en ambos tipos de pasturas. Aunque en la década de los 70 se logró incrementar de manera significativa la productividad de las pasturas, aún no ha sido posible alcanzar por lo menos 1 unidad animal por hectárea (U.A./ha).Los animales utilizados en la formación de ganado de carne en la región de los Cerrados son, en su mayoría, mezclas de las razas cebuinas con predominancia de la raza Nelore. Más recientemente, debido a los incentivos fiscales para la producción de novillos precoces, se ha observado la expansión de cruces Nelore x razas europeas de diferentes orígenes. La población de este tipo animal es superior 50 millones de animales y representa más de la tercera parte del rebaño nacional.Según Corrêa (1995), los sistemas de producción predominantes en la región de los Cerrados se basan en la crianza extensiva en sistemas de pasturas. Si se comparan estos sistemas con los de otros países que tienen hatos más pequeños y donde las condiciones agroclimáticas son más adversas que en los Cerrados, se observa que los índices zootécnicos en esta región son bastante modestos. Mientras tanto, se han introducido y adoptado diversas prácticas, por ejemplo, la clasificación del rebaño por categorías, períodos de monta estacional, destete precoz de terneros, suplementación mineral adecuada y manejo sanitario del rebaño, las que han contribuido a una evolución gradual de estos índices. Los incentivos especiales de crédito, quizás habrían podido favorecer una más rápida evolución de los índices zootécnicos. De cualquier manera, la falta de este crédito y las fallas en los sistemas existentes, han hecho que el sector ganadero se capitalice y sea menos dependiente de las instituciones de crédito, al contrario de lo que ocurre con la agricultura.El factor más limitativo de la producción sigue siendo la escasez de forraje en el período seco, lo que hace que el ciclo productivo sea más largo. Ese factor retrasa la época de sacrificio de los novillos y la pubertad en las hembras. Los machos se sacrifican entre 3.5 y 4 años de edad con peso vivo de 450 a 480 kg, con un rendimiento de 52% en carcasa (aproximadamente 225 kg). Las terneras, por otra parte, sólo alcanzan la edad para servicio alrededor de los 3 años y, dan la primera cría a los 4 años. La falta de una alimentación adecuada en el período seco ocasiona pérdidas de peso vivo de las vacas lactantes, provocando anestro o ausencia de celo, lo que representa un alto número de vacas con no-preñadas. En esas circunstancias, el promedio de la tasa de natalidad en los hatos es actualmente de 54% con mortalidad de terneros de 6.5% y tasa de destete de 51% (Corrêa, 1995).Una característica importante de la explotación pecuaria en esta región es el aumento en la caída de los índices de producción en años recientes. Tal situación sugiere que los sistemas de producción que están siendo utilizados no son posibles desde el punto de vista de la sostenibilidad. La reversión de esta situación ya es, de hecho, uno de los principales retos que deben enfrentar los investigadores, técnicos y productores. Aún, es responsabilidad principal de la investigación señalar nuevos rumbos y alternativas en la búsqueda de la sostenibilidad de los sistemas productivos.La producción de cultivos de grano en los Cerrados representa alrededor de 30% de la producción nacional en Brasil, la cual llega a 82 millones de toneladas, siendo los cultivos más importantes arroz, maíz y soya. En el Cuadro 2 se puede observar que las producciones alcanzadas en la región son semejantes o superiores al promedio nacional.Las tecnologías utilizadas en la producción de granos varían en intensidad. La mayor parte de la producción se obtiene en fincas de tamaños medio y grande, con tecnologías que varían entre media y avanzada.Uno de los principales obstáculos para la producción de granos es la falta de un sistema de transporte eficiente, lo que dificulta el transporte de insumos y productos. Además, los impuestos excesivos influyen en la competitividad de la producción de granos en la región. Por ejemplo, los impuestos y el costo del transporte de la soya hasta el puerto de Santos (São Paulo), partiendo de Rondonópolis (Mato Grosso) más el costo del embarque en el buque representan aproximadamente 40% del valor del producto, lo que reduce la competitividad de la producción de los Cerrados, aún con buenos índices de productividad.De acuerdo con la información anteriormente presentada, la alimentación insuficiente, especialmente en la época seca, es el principal obstáculo para la explotación de ganado de carne en la región de los Cerrados.Si se considera que la producción de carne es una función de la interacción del animal con el ambiente, representada por el complejo sueloplanta-clima, se puede observar que los Cerrados presentan algunos aspectos limitativos muy típicos, cuando se comparan con otras regiones productoras en el mundo.Para la producción de granos, las limitaciones climáticas principales son las épocas secas y la ocurrencia de período cortos sin lluvia (veranillos) durante la época lluviosa. La distribución de la precipitación es el componente climático más importante relacionado con las producciones agrícola y pecuaria. Castro et al. (1994)  entre 1200 y 1800 mm, en 60% del área; y entre 800 a 1200 mm en el 28% del área. Dependiendo de la distribución de las lluvias y el tipo de suelo se pueden presentar riesgos entre medio y alto para la agricultura de secano.Un fenómeno importante relacionado con la precipitación en los Cerrados es la ocurrencia de veranillos, que son típicos en enero. Su promedio de duración es de 10 días, siendo posible su ocurrencia dos veces en un mismo mes.Estas características explican parcialmente por qué las pasturas ocupan la mayor parte de las áreas agrícolas exploradas. Cabe recordar que, aunque las pasturas tienen ventaja sobre la agricultura de secano, los períodos secos y los veranillos las afectan por igual.La interacción del clima con las propiedades químicas y físicas de los suelos de los Cerrados, constituye un factor importante relacionado con la productividad y la sostenibilidad de la producción, en sistemas asociados de producción cultivos-animales en pasturas.En el Cuadro 3 aparecen las principales clases de suelos existentes en los Cerrados (Adamoli et al., 1986). Se observa que los Latossol (49%), Podzol (15%) y Arenas Quartzosas (15%) suman alrededor de 80% de los suelos en la región.Las características físicas de estos suelos muestran que los contenidos de arcilla varían entre 8% y 80%, estando las Arenas Quartzosas en un extremo y los Latosoles muy arcillosos en otro. Los contenidos de arcilla, en general, varían entre el 10% y 20%. El agua disponible en el suelo es removida a presiones entre entre 0.1 y 1 bar, independientemente de la textura o color de los suelos (Wolf, 1975 Desde punto de vista químico, alrededor del 95% de los suelos son Distróficos, o sea, presentan saturación de bases menor que 50%, lo que puede ser explicado por la baja C.I.C., que se encuentra entre 3.9 y 13.9 meq/100 cm 3 de suelo. La mayoría de los suelos son Alicos, con saturación de Al mayor que 50%. Si se considera que muchas plantas son sensibles a saturaciones de Al por encima del 30%, esto indica que muchas especies, entre ellas gramíneas, no se desarrollan bien en estos suelos. Para cultivos anuales normalmente es necesario corregir las condiciones en el suelo y utilizar cantidades entre media y alta de fertilizantes. En el Cuadro 4 se incluyen las características químicas más importantes de los suelos en los Cerrados.La degradación de las pasturas es el proceso evolutivo de la pérdida de vigor, de productividad y de capacidad de recuperación natural de las pasturas para sostener los niveles de producción y calidad requeridos por los animales, así como para superar los efectos nocivos de las plagas, las enfermedades y las malezas, lo que termina con la degradación avanzada de los recursos naturales debido a sistemas de manejo inadecuados (Macedo, 1993).Brachiaria predominan en la región de Brasil Central. Independiente de los cultivares utilizados, la pastura, cuando no se somete a prácticas de manejo relevantes (fertilización, descanso) tiene un ciclo de producción naturalmente descendente, o sea, presenta producciones de materia seca (M.S.) sustancialmente mayores en los primeros años que disminuyen a través del tiempo de forma proporcional a las prácticas de manejo. Ese comportamiento es también caracterizado por la ocurrencia cíclica de los períodos de lluvia y de sequía. Estudios realizados por Euclides et al. (1993a;1993b)  CTC (meq/100 cm 3 ) 3.9-13.9 5.8 3.7Saturación de bases (%) 5.9-43.9 13.8 13.5Saturación de Al +++ (%) 16.4-85.9 57.0 57.4 FUENTE: Adaptado de Adamoli et al. (1986).cv. Colonião, Tobiatã y Tanzânia-1, y de B. decumbens cv. Bazilisk y B. brizantha cv. Marandú, cuando se someten a presión controlada de pastoreo, presentaron un ciclo decreciente de producción. En el cuarto año, las ganancias de peso vivo fueron significativamente inferiores a las observadas en los primeros años de utilización de las pasturas (Cuadro 5).La caída más drástica se presentó con P. maximum cv. Colonião, el cual también presentó 45% de suelo descubierto y 5% de invasión por malezas. Además de esto, se observó una caída acentuada en los contenidos de nutrimentos en el tejido de las forrajeras entre el primer y el tercer año. En los cv. de P. maximum, las concentraciones (g/kg de M.S.) de N pasaron de 21 a 15, las de P de 1.8 a 0.9 y las de K de 17 a 13. Para las especies de Brachiaria, el contenido de N se redujo de 19 a 15, el de P de 1.4 a 1.0 y el de K de 21 a 11 g/kg de M.S. (Macedo et al., 1993).En el estudio anterior, realizado en un Latosol Rojo Oscuro-arcilloso del Cerrado, con baja fertilidad natural (1 a 2 ppm de P, 0.10 mg de K, 7 a 10% de saturación de bases y 60 a 70 de saturación de Al), las pasturas recibieron en la siembra 1 t/ha de cal dolomítica, 350 kg de superfosfato simple, 100 kg de cloruro de potasio y 40 kg de FTE. En la fase de desarrollo y producción no se aplicaron fertilizantes y el manejo animal fue uniforme. En los cv. Panicum se ofrecieron diariamente 8 kg de M.S. por cada 100 kg de peso vivo animal (PV), y 15 kg de M.S./100 kg de PV en Brachiaria.En un experimento con B. brizantha cv. Marandú sin fertilización y utilizando animales desteto fue posible alcanzar el peso de sacrificio a los 30 meses con una carga de 1.4 U.A./ha. No obstante, bajo esas condiciones de suelo este cultivar presentó problemas de rebrote y crecimiento después de 2 años de utilización. En el segundo ciclo la reducción de la ganancia de PV por hectárea fue de 31% y en el tercero de 41%, en comparación con el primero. En este caso, bajo el concepto de degradación, sería necesaria la intervención en el sistema, mediante la aplicación de fertilizantes fosfatados, por lo menos, para reducir o para revertir el proceso de degradación.Cuadro 5. Ganancia de peso vivo de terneros en pasturas de especies de Brachiaria y cultivares de Panicum, porcentaje de malezas y de suelo descubierto, después de 3 y 4 años de pastoreo continuo. Cerrado, Brasil.  Euclides et al. (1993a;1993b).Partiendo de esa idea, se nota que la degradación es dinámica y está caracterizada por un conjunto de factores que actúan de manera asociada, pudiendo ser reducida o agravada por las prácticas de manejo.Hasta este punto se ha analizado el aspecto relacionado con la reducción de la productividad de las pasturas, pero aún se deben considerar los aspectos relacionados con la ocurrencia de plagas, enfermedades y malezas.Aún no está suficientemente aclarada la relación entre el estado nutricional de la pastura y el ataque de mión o salivita de los pastos, pero existente una preferencia por algunas especies. Según Valério (1989) Otro indicativo de senescencia de las pasturas es la presencia de hormigueros. Su presencia masiva es una característica en áreas de pasturas degradadas. Además del daño directo que las hormigas pueden ocasionar, los montículos que construyen dificultan el movimiento de la maquinaria agrícola.La ocurrencia de malezas arbustivas en las pasturas degradadas de los Cerrados está relacionada principalmente con el método del desmonte de la vegetación natural. Se ha observado que en áreas desmontadas que han sido sembradas inicialmente con cultivos de arroz, soya o maíz, mediante sistemas intensivos de preparación de suelos con arado y rastrillo, el retoño de malezas no es tan intenso. Las áreas abiertas con tumba y quema de la vegetación y un solo pase de rastra-arado son más susceptibles a la invasión de malezas. Las pasturas establecidas en esta última condición no persisten y son invadidas por las malezas adaptadas a ese ecosistema.Los esfuerzos de los productores para limpiar estas áreas enmalezadas no han tenido éxito. Muchas veces el paso de guadaña sólo corta la vegetación, estimulando el rebrote lateral y el rebrote vigoroso de las malezas. Los trabajos realizados en Embrapa Gado de Corte mostraron que el paso de rastra, aun con equipos pesados (rastra-arado) no fue suficiente para impedir el rebrote de la vegetación nativa en pasturas recuperadas con y sin fertilización en la superficie (Cuadro 6).El monocultivo asociado con malas prácticas de manejo han afectado la productividad, favoreciendo la degradación de los recursos naturales. La ocupación de los Cerrados después de la apertura con introducción de la ganadería y el desarrollo de nuevas técnicas de manejo como corrección de acidez y la fertilidad en el suelo, nuevas especies y cultivares mejor adaptados, trajo una gran expansión del cultivo de la soya. Al sur de esta región, el cultivo asociado soya-trigo o el monocultivo de la soya, han sido una constante en la explotación agrícola.En los últimos años, la ocurrencia de plagas y enfermedades como el chinche castaño de la soya, la pudrición del tallo, el nematodo de las agallas (Meloidogyne javanica) y, más recientemente, el nematodo del ciste (Heterodera glycine), han causado graves perjuicios al cultivo de la soya (Sosa-Gomez et al., 1993;Yorinore et al., 1993;Mendes, 1993). Estos investigadores enfatizan que el monocultivo de la soya ha contribuido especialmente a la persistencia y ha estimulado el desarrollo de plagas y enfermedades. El nematodo del ciste, por ejemplo, fue identificado en áreas soyeras con 10 a 12 años de monocultivo (Mendes, 1993).En relación con el manejo del suelo, los productores, por razones económicas y de operación, han realizado la preparación prácticamente con el uso exclusivo de rastras. La mala utilización de estos implementos ha ocasionado una serie de problemas relacionados con la pulverización de las capas superficiales del suelo, destruyendo así la estructura de los agregados y causando compactación en la capa arable. Extensas áreas de cultivo han presentado un deterioro de las propiedades físicas del suelo, como lo demuestran los trabajos de Denardin (1984) en la región Grande Dourados, en Mato Grosso do Sul (Cuadro 7).Otro problema asociado con el mal manejo del suelo en los monocultivos es la concentración de la fertilidad en las Cuadro 6. Peso de materia seca de malezas (M.S.)  En los Cerrados, la asociación pasturas-cultivos se viene realizando desde las décadas de los 30 y los 40, mediante la siembra de forrajeras con cultivos anuales o después de éstos. El establecimiento de los pastos gordura (Melinis minutiflora), cv. Colonião (Panicum maximum), Jaraguá (Hyparrhenia rufa) y otros, se hace en suelos fértiles por medio de semillas o estolones colocados en las entrelíneas al momento de la siembra o después de los cultivos de maíz, arroz y frijol (Rocha, 1988). A partir de la década de los 70, con el aparecimiento de las especies de Brachiaria, la siembra de B. decumbens, al mismo tiempo o después del cultivo de arroz, pasó a ser una práctica de rutina.En general, las pasturas de las forrajeras se siembran junto con las semillas de arroz o a voleo, e inclusive, con la primera deshierba después de la emergencia del arroz. Los resultados han sido variables, dependiendo de la fertilidad en el suelo, la tasa de siembra de la pastura y las lluvias, entre otros factores. Como la especie forrajera más utilizada ha sido B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, las pasturas en su mayoría se han desarrollado en forma satisfactoria. Este cultivar, por su hábito de crecimiento, agresividad y capacidad de adaptación, cubre rápidamente el suelo y permite una carga animal superior a la pastura nativa. Kornelius et al. (1979) encontraron la posibilidad de la siembra simultánea de arroz con cultivos forrajeros para la formación de pasturas en los Cerrados. En el Cuadro 9 se presentan los Cuadro 8. Distribución de la fertilidad en el perfil de un Latosol Roxo después de 7 años de cultivo y preparado con rastra, en Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul (Brasil). resultados obtenidos en diferentes sistemas de siembra y dosis de fósforo en siembras asociadas de arroz con forrajeras. Las conclusiones de este trabajo señalan que, sin fertilización, la competencia de las forrajeras con el cultivo fue menor, o sea, en la medida en que se mejoraba la fertilidad del suelo, se incrementaba la competencia de las forrajeras.Cuando se aplicaron fertilizantes, las especies forrajeras se comportaron según su grado de adaptación y respuesta a ellos. Las especies más adaptadas y de menor capacidad de respuesta afectaron menos la producción de arroz, siendo gordura (M. minutiflora) y B. decumbens, las especies que más afectaron la producción de arroz cuando se aplicaron fertilizantes (Cuadro 9). En otro trabajo (Kornelius et al., 1979), se analiza la posibilidad del establecimiento de pasturas con arroz en diferentes secuencias de cultivos, después de la apertura de los Cerrados. Ya en esa época se señalaban las ventajas de la siembra asociada pasturas + cultivos para cubrir los costos de la aplicación de cal y fertilizantes, los cuales eran muy altos en relación con el valor de la tierra. Los resultados mostraron que la siembra de cultivos durante 1 ó 2 años, serían suficientes para pagar los costos del establecimiento de las pasturas, incluyendo la cal y los fertilizantes.En un trabajo realizado por Macedo y Zimmer (1990) se muestran las posibilidades de realizar la siembra simultánea de maíz con B. brizantha cv. Marandú después del cultivar soya durante 2 años en Arena Quartzosa, en Bandeirantes, Mato Grosso do Sul. En este trabajo se realizaron siembras de maíz en la época convencional (octubre) y tardía (enero) con densidades de siembra de la gramínea forrajera que variaron entre 0 y 0.6 kg/ha de semilla pura viable. La siembra de la forrajera se hizo a voleo e incorporada con rastra-niveladora, seguida de la siembra de maíz a 1 m entre líneas y sin fertilización.Las producciones de grano de maíz se presentan en el Cuadro 10 e indican Cuadro 9. Efecto de la siembra simultánea en la producción de granos de arroz y en el número de plantas de Brachiaria decumbens y Melinis minutiflora bajo dos niveles de fertilización en los Cerrados de Brasil. que en ese ecosistema, las siembras tardías afectan significativamente las producciones de maíz. En esos casos, la densidad de siembra de la forrajera afecta de manera lineal y negativa la producción de grano de maíz. Por otro lado, la producción de M.S. de la gramínea forrajera en la primera cosecha, aunque alta cuando se estableció en monocultivo, se afectó de manera negativa y significativa por la competencia del cultivo de maíz. No obstante, los resultados posteriores, 480 días después de uso de la pastura y una uniformización a los 410 días, mostraron que la cobertura del suelo y la producción de M.S. total de la forrajera no se afectaron por la siembra simultánea con maíz.La recuperación de pasturas degradadas con el uso cultivos anuales puede ser realizada de dos maneras:(1) Mediante un método rápido, en el cual los cultivos de arroz y maíz se establecen con preparación del suelo al final de la época seca y siembra en el inicio de las lluvias, con lo cual la forrajera rebrota espontáneamente por resiembra natural. En este caso, la pastura se utilizaría después de la cosecha del cultivo anual. La mayor dificultad de este sistema es el control de la cantidad inicial alta de semilla de la forrajera presente en suelo, lo que provoca competencia excesiva con el maíz o el arroz. En el caso del cultivo de maíz es necesario que la aplicación de cal se realice, por lo menos, con 90 días de anticipación. (2) A largo plazo, para lo cual se establecen durante 2 ó más años cultivos anuales de arroz, maíz o soya; o se hacen rotaciones de estos cultivos y, posteriormente, después de 2 ó más años, se establece la pastura. Este sistema implica el control total de las plantas viejas y las que emergen de semillas de Brachiaria. Para ello es necesario hacer la preparación del suelo en la época seca, con el fin de eliminar las plantas viejas, y utilizar herbicidas para controlar las plántulas. En este caso es más recomendable el cultivo de dicotiledóneas, como soya, girasol y algodón, los cuales facilitan el control de Brachiaria con herbicidas.Los trabajos de investigación en los que se busca la recuperación de pasturas con cultivos anuales normalmente están asociados a otras prácticas, de manera que los resultados puedan ser comparados. Carvalho et al. (1990) en Planaltina, DF., evaluaron varios sistemas de Cuadro 10. Efecto de la densidad de siembra de semillas puras viables de Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandú en la productividad de los cultivos asociados y en la producción de materia seca de la forrajera. Suelo Arena Quartzo, después de 2 años de soya, en Bandeirantes, Mato Grosso do Sul (Brasil). Aunque varios de los métodos de recuperación evaluados dieron resultados satisfactorios, ocurrió una fuerte competencia de Brachiaria sobre los cultivos asociados debido al alto número de plantas de la gramínea forrajera que germinó en forma natural. Se debe señalar que, en las parcelas preparadas en octubre por el método convencional -cal, pase de arado y rastra, y 30 días más tarde aplicación de superfosfato simple incorporado con rastra-la cantidad de semillas puras viables en el suelo era de 25 kg/ha y el número de plantas de Brachiaria en las parcelas de sólo arroz y maíz sin deshierba era de 65 plantas/m 2 , mientras que en las parcelas preparadas con aplicación de cal, rastra pesada tipo 'rome' y posterior arada y pase de rastra para nivelación e incorporación de superfosfato (preparación invertida), el número de plantas/m 2 era de 72.Las fertilizaciones favorecieron de manera significativa la recuperación de la pastura degradada después de 8 años de uso en pastoreo (Cuadro 12); no obstante, se debe resaltar que la aplicación de correctivos y la Cuadro 11. Efecto de diferentes tratamientos de recuperación de pasturas degradadas en la producción de forraje de Brachiaria decumbens, leguminosas forrajeras a y granos de varios cultivos b . Estudios realizados en el CPAC, Planaltina, DF. fertilización se hicieron con dosis alta de insumos. La fertilización de arroz consistió en 1.65 t/ha de cal dolomítica, 350 kg/ha de fórmula 0-20-20 más zinc, y 200 kg/ha de sulfato de amonio en la fase de desarrollo. Para el maíz se aplicaron 3.7 t/ha de cal, 500 kg/ha de superfosfato simple, 450 kg/ha de fórmula 0-20-20, 40 kg/ha de FTE BR-16 y 400 kg/ha de sulfato de amonio en desarrollo. Para la soya se aplicó la misma fertilización que para maíz, pero sin sulfato de amonio.La siembra y la fertilización de los cultivos se hicieron en hileras, pero debido a la ausencia de lluvias, fue necesario resembrar, lo que requirió de un nuevo pase de rastra. Esa operación perjudicó los cultivos, ya que los fertilizantes se movieron del área de las raíces de los cultivos y beneficiaron el desarrollo de la pastura.Las producciones de arroz y soya en monocultivo fueron satisfactorias. Sin embargo, la producción de maíz, aún en las parcelas con deshierba, fue reducida como consecuencia de la aplicación tardía de los correctivos en el suelo. La presencia de Brachiaria con arroz y maíz redujo la producción de estos cultivos en más del 50%. La aplicación de Trifluralina (1.7 lt/ha) fue suficiente para el control de Brachiaria en el cultivo de soya. La soya cv. Doko, con o sin aplicación de la cal 30 días antes de la siembra, dio una buena producción de granos. Por el contrario, el maíz cv. BR-201 fue afectado negativamente cuando la aplicación de cal se realizó muy próximo a la siembra. Se encontró una tendencia hacia una mayor producción de los cultivos cuando la preparación del suelo se hizo por el método invertido.Las respuestas de la pastura a la fertilización fueron significativas, independientemente de la forma de aplicación. Los cultivos de arroz y maíz compitieron con la forrajera y las producciones de éstas fueron menores en el primer ciclo de crecimiento, cuando la pastura se encontraba asociada con ellos. La siembra de B. brizantha sobre soya, antes de la caída de las hojas de ésta, no produjo resultados positivos en este año agrícola.Los datos relacionados con el rebrote en el segundo período de crecimiento entre agosto y noviembre -el área experimental fue utilizada en pastoreo entre abril y agostomostraron poca diferencia entre los tratamientos. Aunque en ese período la precipitación fue escasa, el crecimiento fue inferior al del primer año. En el cuarto ciclo de crecimiento se observaron tendencias similares -en este caso, con crecimiento entre noviembre y marzo, pastoreo entre febrero y noviembre y buena precipitación-y las diferencias entre los tratamientos fueron poco notorias. Estos efectos se han observado en otros experimentos, donde el impacto de la renovación ha sido más marcada en el primer año.Como la principal dificultad en el establecimiento de cultivos de arroz y maíz en asociación con Brachiaria es el exceso de semillas de ésta, y consecuentemente de plantas, se realizaron algunos ensayos buscando reducir la competencia de esta última gramínea. Barcellos et al. (1993), en Planaltina DF., en épocas seca y lluviosa evaluaron cinco métodos de preparación del suelo con rastra-arado, y arado de disco y de vertedera, en la población de plantas y la producción de Brachiaria y de grano de maíz. Los datos del Cuadro 13 muestran que el paso de rastra en el período seco favoreció ligeramente la producción de maíz, pero los diversos métodos de preparación del suelo tuvieron poco efecto en la población y producción de Brachiaria.Una buena posibilidad en los cultivos de arroz o maíz es el uso de herbicidas en el control de la población y el crecimiento de Brachiaria, aunque la deshierba en las entrelíneas es igualmente una buena alternativa. En el Cuadro 14 se pueden observar los resultados de prácticas de control de B. brizantha en cultivos de arroz, y en el Cuadro 15 los resultados en el cultivo de maíz. Se debe resaltar que estos resultados son preliminares y los tratamientos se deben repetir en otras condiciones y también con otros herbicidas bajo otras dosis y métodos de aplicación.En otros experimentos conducidos en Embrapa Gado de Corte se observó igualmente una fuerte competencia de B. decumbens con los cultivos de arroz y maíz, en experimentos de recuperación de pasturas (Cuadros 16 y 17) en un Latosol Rojo Oscuro Álico y Distrófico fase Cerradão, con pH = 5.4; M.O. = 3.08%; P = 1.7 ppm; y Ca, Mg, K, Al, saturación de base y CIC = 0.63, 0.31, 0.07, 0.46, 1.01 y 7.26 mg/100 ml, respectivamente; y 14% y 31% de saturación de bases y aluminio. Los datos en ambos cuadros indican que el cultivo de arroz fue más competitivo con B. decumbens que maíz y que la forrajera redujo de manera más acentuada la producción de este cultivo. Sin embargo, en estos cultivos es importante reducir la competencia de la forrajera en la fase inicial para obtener una buena producción de granos.El Sistema Barreirão es otra posibilidad para recuperar Brachiaria (ver capítulo 15 de este libro). Este sistema fue perfeccionado por Kluthcouski et al. (1991)  4. Arroz convencional, arada y pase de rastra y fertilización de 6, 30 y 30 kg de N, P 2 O 5 y K 2 O. 5. Arroz con preparación invertida (pase de rastra pesada, arada con vertedera y pase de rastra de nivelación y fertilización de 12, 90 y 48 kg de N, P 2 O 5 y K 2 O y más 30 kg de FTE-BR 12, 20 kg de sulfato de zinc y 20 kg/ha de N 45 días después de la siembra. En la siembra del arroz se adicionaron 3 kg/ha de semillas de B. brizantha. 6. Igual a T5 más la adición de 2 t de cal, 40 kg de P 2 O 5 (superfosfato simple) y 20 kg de N a los 15 días y 20 kg a los 35 días después de la siembra. 7. Igual a T6 con una deshierba para control de B. decumbens a los 20 días después de la siembra. b. 300 días de crecimiento. Los demás tratamientos con 135 días. c. Incluyendo las leguminosas. * Promedios en cada columna seguidos de letras iguales no difieren en forma significativa (P < 0.05), según la prueba de Duncan.FUENTE: Adaptado de Kichel et al. (1996).no eliminaron el rebrote de los arbustos del Cerrado, que son frecuentes en esas áreas. El cultivo de soya con aplicación de 1.7 lt/ha de Trifluralina posibilitó un buen control de B. decumbens y permitió el establecimiento de B. brizantha y A. gayanus, asociados con Calopogonium, después de 1 ó 2 años de cultivo de soya.El menor crecimiento de la forrajera en el segundo año se debió a la lixiviación del potasio, que es alto en suelos arenosos. En el Cuadro 20 se pueden observar los contenidos de fósforo y potasio en el perfil de suelos con B. decumbens degradado y en suelo con 1 ó 2 años de cultivo de soya. En este último caso, fue necesario aplicar durante 3 años, para regresar a pastura. En estos casos se recomienda el cultivo de soya por 1 ó 2 años y en el último año sembrar la forrajera con maíz o arroz.Recientemente se ha despertado interés por la renovación de pasturas con cultivos de sorgo granífero, sorgo forrajero y maíz, con énfasis especial en los dos últimos que pueden ser utilizados directamente por los animales. Esto constituye un sistema de cultivo y recuperación de pasturas, sin necesidad de inversiones en maquinaria e instalaciones para la producción de granos.En Goiânia, Goiás, Carvalho et al. (1995) obtuvieron un restablecimiento más rápido y mejor de B. brizantha utilizando el Sistema Barreirão con maíz que con sorgo, arroz o maíz, encontrando, después de 180 días, 462, 405, 202 y 183 macollas/m 2 respectivamente. La producción de M.S. de la forrajera fue inferior en las asociaciones con cultivo que en monocultivo, y la producción de grano fue, respectivamente, de 3.58, 2.24, 1.16 y 2.56 t/ha de maíz, sorgo y arroz.La renovación de pasturas con maíz facilita la utilización de la biomasa total entre 45 y 50 días después de la siembra del maíz. En Río Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, B. decumbens renovado con maíz en el período 1993-94, permitió un período de ocupación de 114 días, con 3 U.A./ha Cuadro 17. Número de plantas por m 2 , producción de materia verde seca (MVS) y MS total (MST) de Brachiaria decumbens y leguminosas, y producción de granos del cultivo de maíz en el Cerrado de Brasil. Promedio de cuatro repeticiones. (4.8 animales/ha), con una ganancia de peso vivo animal de 850 g/día y 470 kg/ha. En esta evaluación, el ingreso por ganancia de peso animal fue US$325/ha y el costo de la renovación fue de US$210, resultando en una ganancia de US$115/ha (Kichel, EMBRAPA-CNPGC, datos no publicados).Otras prácticas de recuperación de pasturas, que realmente son de mantenimiento, están siendo utilizadas por productores y evaluadas por investigadores, como es el caso de la siembra directa sobre Brachiaria sp. Esa práctica parece ser muy promisoria y consiste en la siembra directa de la soya sobre áreas de pasturas degradadas establecidas sobre suelos anteriormente utilizados con cultivos anuales. El objetivo es mantener la fertilidad y la productividad de la pastura.La técnica consiste de las labores siguientes:1. Retiro de los animales al final del período de sequía.2. Después de las primeras lluvias, en septiembre u octubre, después del rebrote de la pastura, se aplica un herbicida (glifosato) a razón de 2.5 a 3 lt/ha, 21 días después de la siembra. Es necesario que la pastura se encuentre bien desarrollada. La soya se siembra 3 meses más tarde.3. En Mato Grosso do Sul, la soya se siembra normalmente entre el 15 de octubre y el 30 de noviembre, en forma directa. La fertilización se hace según la condición del suelo.4. Se aplican herbicidas de posemergencia para eliminar las malezas germinadas.5. La soya se cosecha entre marzo y abril y seguidamente se siembra avena o maíz para pastoreo por los animales. En septiembre se hace la siembra directa del maíz, conjuntamente con el rebrote de Brachiaria.Cuadro 20. Contenidos de fósforo y de potasio en el suelo (Arena Quartzosa) después de 1 y 2 años de cultivo de soya en la renovación de Brachiaria decumbens. Cerrado del Brasil. Este sistema de siembra es utilizado en un área de 700 ha, bajo la administración de la Fundación Mato Grosso do Sul. En esta área se han alcanzado producciones promedio de 2.16 y 2.76 t/ha con B. decumbens y B. brizantha, respectivamente.En el área para evaluación de las características del suelo, la producción de biomasa por el sistema de siembra directa fue de 3.5 t/ha y por siembra convencional fue de 3.7 t/ha. Como puntos positivos en la siembra directa se observó una alta población de raíces, un mejoramiento en la estructura del suelo y una alta cantidad de materia seca en descomposición (Salton, J. C., información personal). En otra finca, la siembra directa sobre B. brizantha produjo 3.6 t/ha de M.S., mientras que con la siembra convencional se obtuvieron 3.53 t/ha de M.S., siendo en el primer caso US$34 más bajo los costos.Existen casos donde los productores realizan la siembra directa durante 2 años. Un productor en Maracajú, Mato Grosso do Sul, en un área de 700 ha -350 ha establecidas con B. brizantha, la mitad de esta área tiene 1 año y la otra mitad 2 años, y 350 ha con soya en siembra directa con distribución en área y tiempo similar a la pastura. Este productor aplica un sistema de rotación consistente en el uso de la pastura por 2 años seguido de siembra de soya, avena y maíz por un período igual. En el área de B. brizantha (350 ha) mantiene aproximadamente 1000 animales en el período lluvioso y en el invierno adiciona las 350 ha donde sembró avena y maíz después de soya. El sistema con avena sólo es posible en la parte sur de los Cerrados, donde la sequía es menos drástica.Este sistema de cultivo tiene en cuenta la sostenibilidad de la productividad de la pastura, pero en áreas de pastura y de suelos recuperados con cultivos anuales aún tiene una serie de problemas, ya que el gran impacto de la renovación se manifiesta solamente en el primer año. En consecuencia, se debe permitir que la pastura se degrade nuevamente para renovarla con cultivos, aplicar fertilización de mantenimiento o hacer siembra directa sobre ella. Después de la recuperación del suelo y de la pastura, el factor limitativo para ésta es la aplicación de nitrógeno. Surgen aquí varios interrogantes. ¿Es viable la fertilización nitrogenada? ¿ Cuál es su costo? ¿Cómo desarrollar leguminosas que fijen suficiente nitrógeno?.La fertilización de mantenimiento es básica para la persistencia de la pastura, especialmente las leguminosas, y para la producción animal. En Minas Gerais, Vilela et al. (1982) obtuvieron buenas producciones de forrajes en pasturas de gramínea y leguminosa y, consecuentemente, incrementos en las ganancias de peso vivo animal con la aplicación anual de 20 y 40 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 y K 2 O durante 7 años (Cuadro 21).Mediante la fertilización de mantenimiento o la recuperación de pasturas se puede mejorar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas. Macedo (1995) encontró un mejoramiento de las condiciones físicas (permeabilidad, porosidad y retención de humedad) de un Latosol Rojo Oscuro Distrófico y arcilloso cuando aplicó fertilización de mantenimiento en B. decumbens y P. maximum cvs. Tanzânia y Tobiatã en Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul.No obstante, aún no son claras las ventajas de la fertilización de mantenimiento sobre la producción de carne después de algunos años de uso de la pastura, ni cuál sería la condición física y química del suelo para cultivos anuales, especialmente en pasturas asociadas. Estos interrogantes aún no tienen respuestas claras y es necesario más investigación a largo plazo.En los Cerrados, las áreas de producción de cultivos anuales como soya, maíz y arroz, generalmente permanecen en descanso después de la cosecha, durante la época seca de mayo a octubre. Sin embargo, muchos productores de la región sur siembran avena después de la cosecha del cultivo de verano, y en las regiones menos frías, al centro y norte, siembran maíz.Con estos sistemas se pretende proteger los suelos y proporcionar materia muerta seca para la siembra directa; recientemente, con la aparición de nuevos cultivares de maíz de ciclo más largo, esa práctica tiende a extenderse. Pero, además de cubrir el suelo, surgió el interés de utilizar las especies establecidas para pastoreo directo con animales durante los períodos secos y lluviosos, tal como se ha venido haciendo con maíz, o para fabricar heno y ensilaje.El maíz se puede establecer en rotación con cultivos anuales o para la renovación de pasturas, como se describió anteriormente. Su utilización bajo pastoreo puede ser en otoño, cuando se siembra después de la cosecha de soya, o en primavera y verano. Estas pasturas también se pueden cultivar con irrigación suplementaria, y muchos productores las utilizan para el ganado de carne o leche. En trabajos realizados en el municipio de Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul, Thiago et al. (1995) obtuvieron un mejor desempeño de terneros de carne en pastoreo de avena en el período seco y de maíz en el verano. Los tratamientos evaluados fueron:(1) Pastura 100% con B. brizantha (sistema tradicional). ( 2) Pastura 50% de área con B. brizantha y 50% con avena en el invierno y maíz en el verano. (3) Tratamiento 2 + suplementación de concentrado a razón de 0.8% de peso vivo. La carga fue de 1 U.A./ha y solamente fue ajustada en el testigo. Se utilizaron terneros de la raza Nelore y mestizos Nelore/Charole y Nelore/Chianina, divididos en destetos y de 1 año en el inicio del experimento. Los animales permanecieron durante dos ciclos en avena y un ciclo en maíz; sólo los animales Nelore permanecieron más de dos ciclos en maíz antes de alcanzar el peso para sacrificio.El pastoreo en avena y maíz favoreció el desempeño animal, pero en el segundo ciclo de avena el desempeño no fue satisfactorio, ya que solamente la suplementación proporcionó una mejor ganancia de peso, como se observa en los Cuadros 22 a 24. Se debe resaltar que sólo los animales mestizos con suplementación de la pastura anual o con pastura anual más concentrado alcanzaron pesos para sacrificio en noviembre de 1994. Los Nelore alcanzaron este peso solamente después del período de las lluvias siguientes (febrero-95). En el invierno (época seca), B. brizantha presentó contenidos de proteína bruta (PB) de 5.8% y digestibilidad (DIVMO) de 47%; la avena alcanzó 21.7% de PB y 70% de DIVMO. En el verano, B. brizantha tenía 11.5% de PB y 67% de DIVMO, y el maíz 21% de PB y 74% de DIVMO.También en Río Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, novillos de 220 kg de peso vivo inicial presentaron buen desempeño en pastoreo de avena, y P. maximun cv. Tanzânia seguidos de maíz (Cuadro 25). En esa evaluación también se encontraron diferencias entre los grupos genéticos utilizados.El sistema que involucra la utilización de forrajeras anuales (avena, maíz o sorgo) en pastoreo, en realidad es más importante en aquellas explotaciones donde se realiza la producción conjunta de ganado y granos. En estos sistemas también es importante el potencial genético del animal, ya que animales mestizos han proporcionado mejor desempeño, no sólo en ganancia de peso vivo, sino en Cuadro 22. Efecto de la suplementación de avena en la ganancia de peso vivo (g/animal por día) en animales mestizos y Nelore. la fase de terminación durante la época seca cuando el precio de mercado es entre 20% y 30% mayor.En los sistemas sostenibles de producción agropecuaria, la utilización de residuos de cultivos no es promisoria, ya que se estaría afectando la cobertura del suelo, el costo de recolectar los residuos es alto y su valor nutritivo es muy bajo. No obstante, algunos métodos de utilización pueden ser importantes; así, el libre acceso de los animales a las áreas de cultivo les permite seleccionar componentes de mejor calidad, aunque con este sistema se puede favorecer la invasión de malezas en áreas de cultivo.Bajo ciertas circunstancias, es necesario remover el exceso de residuos para establecer el cultivo siguiente. Esto puede facilitar la cosecha, como en el caso de arroz bajo riego, cuando se desea un segunda siembra del cultivo. Siempre es importante que las heces de los animales se incorporen en las áreas donde se retiran los residuos.En el Cerrado, la disponibilidad de residuos de cultivos es alta, pero su recolección no es factible; además, los suelos son pobres en M.O. y la remoción de estos residuos perjudica algunas características como la M.O. y la capacidad de intercambio de cationes ligada a ella.Los residuos de arroz, fríjol, maíz y trigo, y aún los de caña de azúcar, deben ser utilizados en un sitio próximo a la cosecha, ya que el transporte a más de 25 km eleva los Cuadro 25. Comportamiento de animales mestizos y Nelore en pasturas de avena, maíz y Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania. Hacienda Remanso, Río Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul (1994-95).  costos de manera significativa. La aplicación de urea o amonio a los residuos de cosecha incrementa los contenidos de PB y reduce la fibra, mejorando su uso por los animales (Reis y Rodrigues, 1993). Este tratamiento es más interesante en henos de baja calidad y su costo generalmente no tiene ventajas. Cuando se ofrecen como fuente exclusiva de nutrientes para los animales, proporcionan sólo pequeñas ganancias de peso vivo.Los residuos de caña de azúcar, cogollos o bagazo, tienen la misma limitación que los residuos de cosechas. El bagazo auto-hidrolizado presenta mejor calidad y está siendo utilizado en confinamiento de bovinos cerca a las industrias de alcohol y azúcar. La principal perspectiva para el uso de estos residuos se centra en la producción de energía para la industria. Silva et al. (1992) presentan información completa sobre uso de residuos agrícolas e industriales para la alimentación animal, considerando las etapas de cosecha, tratamiento y aprovechamiento.La suplementación en pastoreo ha despertado el interés de muchos ganaderos y de manera especial a quienes manejan sistemas integrados agricultura-ganadería. Este sistema se realiza normalmente en una o varias de las etapas: cría junto a la madre, recría o levante, y ceba.La edad avanzada al sacrificio de los bovinos en la región del Cerrado es resultado de su pobre desempeño en las etapas de cría y especialmente en el levante, debido al estrés durante la época seca. La suplementación en esta época favorece un desarrollo continuo de los animales, evitando interrupciones en el crecimiento.En la región, el 80% del crecimiento de las pasturas ocurre en el período lluvioso y el 20% en el seco, por tanto, una estrategia de manejo consiste en guarda parte del excedente de forraje del primero disponible para el segundo. Sin embargo, este forraje es de baja calidad, siendo necesario mejorar la dieta de los animales con suplementación proteica y energética. Dicha suplementación busca reducir la edad para sacrificio, produciendo un ternero precoz con mayor valor comercial o reduciendo la edad a primer parto.Normalmente, la suplementación se hace con granos como maíz, sorgo y soya; o con harinas, tortas, henos y productos industriales como urea. La suplementación es más lógica cuando el agricultor produce los insumos en su propiedad. Otra alternativa es cultivo de leguminosas forrajeras en bancos de proteína a los cuales los animales tienen acceso durante el período de sequía.La suplementación en la etapa de cría tiene como fin mejorar el peso de los terneros en el momento del destete. Normalmente se utiliza maíz triturado más 20% de harina de soya. Con esta ración es posible obtener aumentos adicionales de peso vivo entre 20 y 30 kg al momento del destete de los terneros. Euclides et al. (1995), en Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, evaluaron cuatro alternativas de suplementación en pasturas de B. decumbens. Los animales utilizados eran terneros destetos de la raza Nelore y se sometieron a tratamientos siguientes:(1) Suplementación en la primera época seca, después del destete.(2) Suplementación solamente en la segunda época seca.(3) Suplementación en la primera y la segunda época seca. (4) Suplementación en la primera época seca y confinamiento en la segunda.Todos los animales se sometieron a los tratamientos hasta el momento de sacrificio con peso vivo de 440 kg.La suplementación consistía en una ración compuesta de 80% de maíz triturado y 20% de torta de soya (17% de PB y 76% de NDT). Para garantizar un consumo promedio diario de la ración equivalente a 0.8% de peso vivo, se proporcionaron 1700 g/animal por día en la primera época seca de 75 días, y 3500 g/animal por día en segunda de 85 días. En el Cuadro 26 se incluyen los resultados económicos de este trabajo, siendo importante señalar que:1. La edad de sacrificio a 26 y 28 meses de edad (tratamientos C y B), a pesar de ocurrir fuera de la época seca, posibilitan la liberación de pasturas que se utilizan en el período seco siguiente; El mismo patrón de respuesta se presentó con animales media sangre Angus x Nelore; inclusive, éstos alcanzaron el peso de sacrificio de una manera más precoz (Cuadro 27) (Euclides et al., 1996).Cuando se evalúa la oportunidad de suplementar durante el período seco es importante considerar, además de los puntos antes mencionados, los siguientes:1. Para que la suplementación sea exitosa es necesario que la pastura proporcione una biomasa Cuadro 26. Efecto de sistemas de suplementación en pastoreo sobre la edad y época de sacrificio de terneros Nelore. Cerrados, Brasil. suficiente, 2.5 a 3 t de M.S., en el inicio de la época seca. En el caso de B. decumbens, la pastura debe tener entre 25 y 30 cm de altura; y 2. Antes de iniciar la suplementación, el productor debe medir la ganancia de peso de los animales a partir del mes de mayo, de manera que sólo suplemente en el período estrictamente necesario, iniciando la oferta de la ración cuando los animales se encuentran próximos a perder peso.Un segundo experimento está en progreso con animales Angus x Nelore, siendo la ganancia de peso vivo en el primero período seco de 620 g/animal por día en los animales suplementados y de sólo 73 g en los testigo sin suplemento.También es posible suplementar urea, pero su manejo es difícil. Valadares Filho (1995) menciona que la adición de 3% a 5% de urea reduce el consumo de concentrado por animales en pastoreo.Esa actividad es realizada por diferentes tipos de productores que tienen cultivos para producción de ensilaje y granos, y que mantienen animales en compañía con otros ganaderos. El grupo más interesante es el de productores que tienen animales destinados al confinamiento con granos y ensilaje con equipos y tecnología adecuados. Este productor normalmente adquiere la cosechadora y el equipo para el acarreo del forraje a los comederos en campo abierto.El confinamiento tiene una duración entre 80 y 120 días y constituye la etapa de terminación de los animales durante el período seco, para la venta en el período entre agosto y noviembre. El objetivo es producir un animal más joven y de mejor calidad (Cebú x una raza europea), levantado en pastoreo, con o sin suplemento de avena o maíz. Los animales normalmente son confinados cuando tienen un peso vivo entre 350 y 380 kg y se venden en la época cuando el precio en el mercado es entre 20% y 30% mayor, con peso entre 450 y 470 kg.Otra ventaja del confinamiento es la reducción de la ocupación de las pasturas durante el período seco. Para los productores de granos y de bovinos, este sistema mejora el flujo financiero de la explotación por venta de animales en la época previa a la inversión de recursos para cultivos de verano.Las técnicas para confinar animales son ampliamente conocidas. La principal dificultad es producir los volúmenes de concentrado necesarios para alimentar los animales. La alimentación representa entre 70% y 80% de los costos de operación del sistema. Según Thiago y Costa (1994), el rango de ganancia de peso vivo animal económicamente viable está entre 700 y 1100 g/día, dependiendo del tipo de animal, edad y peso inicial.Las dietas normalmente contienen de 50% a 70% en volumen como heno, ensilaje, o caña, y 30% a 50% de concentrado de maíz, sorgo, soya, algodón, tortas, harinas y residuos de la limpieza de granos.La necesidad de producir alimentos con costos dio origen a nuevas alternativas agrícolas. Los ensilajes, henos o granos para confinamiento se producen en la época normal de siembra o en cultivo en rotación. Este último sistema se ha difundido en los últimos años, con la siembra de maíz, sorgo o avena después de los cultivos de verano. La rotación de cultivos presenta, entre otras ventajas, el mantenimiento de la cobertura del suelo; la posibilidad de rotar cultivos a corto plazo; el uso intensivo del suelo; el control de malezas y el uso más racional de maquinaria y mano de obra.A continuación se citan algunos sistemas de cultivos en rotación, en los cuales el cultivo principal se siembra en el período normal entre octubre y noviembre y el de rotación desde febrero hasta final de abril.• Soya seguida del maíz, sorgo, o avena;• Maíz seguido de millo o avena;• Maíz para ensilaje seguido de sorgo, millo, avena o leguminosas para abono verde o corte. La leguminosa puede estar asociada con sorgo o millo;• Frijol seguido de maíz, sorgo, o millo; y• Arroz seguido de sorgo o millo.Los cultivos de rotación pueden ser destinados a producir granos, ensilaje, heno o corte para suministro directo a los animales. Estos cultivos generalmente rinden menos que el cultivo en el período normal, su productividad es altamente dependiente de la ocurrencia de lluvias y temperaturas favorables durante su ciclo de crecimiento.El maíz en cultivo de rotación normalmente produce entre 2 y 3.5 t/ha de granos y entre 10 y 15 t/ha de ensilaje. El sorgo, por resistir la sequía, presenta productividades superiores. Sin embargo, su potencial es variable, dependiendo de la variedad más adaptada para siembra en rotación. En Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, en ensayos realizados por Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste, se encontraron comportamientos diferentes de tres cultivares de sorgo, dependiendo de la época de siembra (Cuadro 28). Ribas y Zago (1986) Cuadro 28. Análisis de cultivar dentro de época y análisis conjunto para cultivares de sorgo, en Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, 1982. presentan resultados con ocho cultivares de sorgo de grano cultivados en rotación en diferentes localidades. En Capinópolis, MG, las producciones variaron entre 3.5 y 4.8 t/ha; en Patos de Minas, MG, entre 5.6 y 6.7 t/ha; en Santa Helena, Goiás, entre 5 y 6.6 t/ha; y en Inhumas, Goiás, entre 1.4 y 7.9 t/ha. Estos mismos investigadores mencionan producciones entre 26 y 38 t/ha de MS de cinco cultivares de sorgo forrajero en áreas idénticas; y de 28 líneas de sorgo para corte y pastoreo en siembras en rotación en la localidad de Capinópolis, con producción entre 36 y 50 t/ha con siembra en febrero y cortes entre abril y mayo. En Mato Grosso do Sul se han encontrado producciones de sorgo de grano entre 1.5 y 4 t/ha en siembras en rotación.Considerando una producción de 30 t/ha de ensilaje, 2 t de sorgo como cultivo en rotación y 2.1 t/ha de soya, para un confinamiento de 100 animales durante 100 días con ganancias de peso vivo entre 0.7 y 1 kg/animal por día, con un consumo promedio diario/ animal estimado de 20 kg de ensilaje, 2 kg de sorgo y 0.5 kg de soya, más 130 g de urea y 50 g de mezcla mineral, sería necesario utilizar 19.5 ha, de la manera siguiente: En ese sistema, el maíz se siembra en octubre, antes de la siembra de la soya, el cultivo más frecuente en la región que se siembra en noviembre. El sorgo se siembra en rotación con maíz para ensilaje, el cual se cosecha al final de enero. Se debe señalar que la cosecha de maíz para ensilaje dificulta un poco el cultivo de soya, ya que al final de enero es necesario hacer el control de plagas en este cultivo. El sorgo se cosecha al final de mayo, después de la cosecha de soya. Otro aspecto importante es que el confinamiento se hace entre mayo y junio hasta agosto u octubre, cuando la mano de obra en la propiedad es relativamente poco utilizada.Existen otras formas de producción de forrajes para confinamiento de animales, dependiendo de las facilidades de equipos, disponibilidad de residuos y subproductos de las agroindustrias.Para alcanzar una alta eficiencia productiva en términos económicos y de preservación de los recursos naturales, en los sistemas integrados de producción agropastoril es fundamental que los productores dispongan de una buena organización gerencial y un nivel razonable de controles sobre las operaciones de campo y de un apoyo financiero suficiente.El interés del productor en determinado tipo de explotación depende del gusto personal y de las posibilidades de alcanzar una ganancia económica razonable. Bajo ciertas circunstancias, un ganadero puede que no esté interesado en la producción de granos; sin embargo, podrá contratar servicios o arrendar en sociedad tierras agrícolas para dedicarlas a cultivos anuales -en el Cerrado, alrededor de 40% de la producción de granos se hace en tierras bajo arriendo. Por otra parte, teniendo en consideración los elevados costos de ciertos cultivos anuales, podrá ser interesante no cobrar el arriendo de tierras cuando se trata de renovación de pasturas, e inclusive, colaborar en la compra de insumos para obtener como retorno áreas con mejores pasturas en un tiempo más corto. En estas condiciones el productor puede aprovechar el área para sembrar avena o maíz para el pastoreo de animales con ganancias de peso vivo entre 36 y 50 kg/ha, en comparación con 25 ó 36 kg/ha en la pastura degradada.Los costos de oportunidad de la renovación directa de la pastura o a través de cultivos anuales deben ser bien analizados, especialmente las inversiones necesarias, ya que el productor tiene gastos mayores y necesita garantizar el retorno de ellos. Se debe poner especial atención en los costos de los insumos y en las posibilidades de comercialización en el futuro para garantizar la economía del negocio a largo plazo.Se debe igualmente prestar una atención especial a la productividad del sistema: si se hicieron inversiones en la recuperación de pastura es necesario que el hato tenga potencial genético y manejo adecuado para garantizar el uso eficiente de la pastura. Para un hato con 60% de natalidad y 8% de mortalidad, la tasa interna de retorno de renovación de pasturas fue de 6.9% cuando se cultivó arroz por 1 año, de 8.43% en la recuperación directa, y de 10.1% cuando se cultivó soya por 2 años. Cuando la natalidad incremento a 80% y la mortalidad se redujo a 4%, las tasas de retorno para cada uno de los sistemas anteriores fueron, respectivamente, de 12.7%, 12.8% y 18.3%.Cuando se utilizan avena y maíz para pastoreo o suplementación en confinamiento, es importante que el objetivo y el tipo de animales estén bien definidos, considerando la edad a sacrificio en la época de mejor precio de mercado y la calidad de la carne en canal. Algunos estados de Brasil están aplicando menores impuestos para terneros hasta de 30 meses de edad al sacrificio.Para un buen desarrollo físico y económico de los hatos se deben considerar las diversas formas de utilización de pasturas y suplementación. Cezar (1995), en trabajos de simulación sobre utilización de sistemas agropastoriles, encontró reducciones de la edad a sacrificio de 42 a 26 meses y en el uso de pasturas de 28%, para vender un número igual de animales, lo que representa un aumento de 40% en la producción de carne por hectárea.En el Cuadro 29 se observan algunos datos sobre los indicadores económicos y físicos. Cuando se agrega el incentivo fiscal a los terneros precoces, el margen bruto es del 42% (Cuadro 30), aunque su desempeño no fue superior al de novillos con 37 meses de edad y confinados durante 65 días. Esto se debió al mayor período de confinamiento (96 días) de los terneros, lo que incrementó los costos por animal. En los Cuadros 31 y 32 se observan aspectos relacionados con el efecto del peso vivo en el momento del destete sobre la producción y la rentabilidad de la producción de carne.Antes del establecimiento de sistemas de producción agropastoriles sostenibles, es necesario responder una serie de preguntas. En consecuencia, se debe investigar más sobre:1. Las características de la degradación en los suelos agrícolas y las aposturas.2. Sistemas de cultivos en rotación, incluyendo cultivares, variedades forrajeras anuales y precoces.3. Cultivares para recuperación de pasturas degradadas, 7. Obtención de cultivares de maíz y arroz adaptados para siembra conjunta con forrajeras.La investigación en sistemas parece que no atrae mucho la atención de personas e instituciones, debido a que los experimentos tienen un alto costo y son a largo plazo. En el Cerrado, la experiencia de EMBRAPA en CNPGC y CPAC ha mostrado que desde los primeros años las informaciones son relevantes y útiles para los productores interesados. Este hecho debe servir para garantizar la continuidad de las investigaciones con el objeto de consolidar esas informaciones. Es necesario, aún, que esta línea de investigación sea institucional y no de un investigador o grupo de investigadores. Evaluación de Sistemas Agropastoriles en la Altillanura de la Orinoquia Colombiana orgánica. Se adelanta investigación con tres sistemas de labranza (convencional, vertical y mínima), en un diseño de franjas, seis sistemas de producción y dos niveles de fertilidad. La evaluación de sistemas de producción se inició en el primer semestre de 1995, con la siembra de arroz (Oryzica Sabana 10) y pasto Brachiaria dictyoneura, que se comparan con sabana nativa. Los resultados no mostraron diferencias significativas entre los sistemas de labranza para el rendimiento del arroz (convencional 2.13 t/ha, vertical 2.03 t/ha y mínima 1.73 t/ha), mientras que la respuesta a la fertilización fue evidente y significativa. Posterior al cultivo de arroz, la soya (Soyica Altillanura-2), como cultivo de rotación produjo, en promedio, 1.36 t/ha, sin diferencias estadísticas entre sistemas de labranza (convencional 1.28 t/ha, vertical 1.26 t/ha y mínima 1.56 t/ha) ni entre niveles de fertilidad. En el segundo ciclo (primer semestre de 1996), después de la rotación con soya, los rendimientos de arroz aumentaron significativamente (convencional 3.34 t/ha, vertical 3.35 t/ha y mínima 3.06 t/ha). Los mayores incrementos se lograron con el sistema arroz-caupí (incorporado)-arroz. La población de bacterias en los sistemas de producción evaluados incrementó significativamente de 10 2 a 10 4 unidades formadoras de colonias por gramo (ufc/g) de suelo, particularmente en el sistema de labranza convencional. Por otra parte, los hongos y actinomicetos presentaron mayor estabilidad en comparación con las bacterias, con poblaciones, promedio, de 10 4 ufc/g de suelo. Los sistemas de rotación de cultivos e incorporación de abonos verdes permitieron incrementar, en relación con la sabana nativa, los contenidos de fósforo (2 a 4.4 ppm), calcio (0.14 a 0.28 meq/100g) y magnesio (0.04 a 0.1 meq/100 g) pero, a la vez, se redujeron significativamente los contenidos de materia orgánica como consecuencia del incremento de la población de bacterias. En las propiedades físicas se observó que los menores valores de resistencia a la penetración de raíces los presentó el sistema arroz-caupí con la labranza mínima; la menor densidad y mayor porosidad se presentaron en los primeros 10 cm del suelo, con reducción significativa de la porosidad a mayor profundidad en el perfil. Estos resultados preliminares de investigaciones en sistemas agropastoriles demuestran los beneficios obtenidos del proceso de rotación de cultivos e incorporación de abonos verdes para el establecimiento de pasturas de alta calidad y bajo costo, en las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana.To convert the savannas of the Colombian \"Altillanuras\" into a food production area, varieties must be developed that can tolerate the region's acid soils. To improve and adapt forage grasses and legumes for animal production, the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) and the Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (CORPOICA) collaborated with the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). The three institutions also evaluated agropastoral systems on class IV soils, which are characterized by an 86% aluminum saturation, and P contents at 2 ppm and organic matter contents at 2.5%. Three tillage systems (conventional, vertical, and minimum) were applied, in a strip design, to six cropping systems with two fertilization levels. The first system, evaluated in 1995A, was rice/pasture (Oryzica Sabana 10 and Brachiaria dictyoneura, respectively), with native savanna as control.While differences for rice yields among fertilization levels were significant, they were not among tillage systems (conventional = 2137 kg, vertical = 2036 kg, and minimum = 1736 kg/ha). The next crop rotated after rice was soybean (Soyica Altillanura 2), which produced an average of 1367 kg/ha. Again, no statistical differences were found among tillage systems (conventional = 1281 kg, vertical = 1260 kg, and minimum 1561 kg/ha), but were found between fertilization levels. In the second cycle (1996A), in rotation after soybean, rice yields increased significantly from the previous cycle, although not between tillage systems (conventional = 3340 kg, vertical = 3356 kg, and minimum = 3062 kg/ha). The highest increases in yield were obtained with rice/cowpea/rice, in which cowpea was used as green manure. Bacterial populations increased significantly from 10 2 to 10 4 cfu/g of soil, particularly under conventional tillage. Fungi and actinomycetes were more stable than the bacteria, having average populations of 10 4 cfu/g of soil. The soil's properties also changed: nutrient availability increased for P (from 2 to 4.4 ppm), calcium (from 0.14 to 0.28 meq/100 g), and magnesium (from 0.04 to 0.10 meq/100 g). However, organic matter content dropped significantly as the bacterial populations increased. The lowest values for resistance to root penetration were observed in the rice/cowpea rotation with minimum tillage. The first 10 cm of topsoil presented the lowest values for bulk density and the highest for porosity, but values for porosity dropped significantly with increasing soil depth. These preliminary results demonstrate the benefits of crop rotation and green manure incorporation in establishing high-quality, lowcost pastures in acid soils.Las sabanas de la Altillanura plana en la Orinoquia colombiana tienen una extensión aproximada de 3.1 millones de hectáreas, que se encuentra actualmente subutilizada con una ganadería extensiva en pasturas naturales de bajo poder nutricional. Esta región tiene un gran potencial para la producción agrícola y animal, ya que sus suelos tienen características físicas, químicas y biológicas que ameritan un manejo especial. La estrategia está en la búsqueda de nuevos patrones tecnológicos que contribuyan con el crecimiento agropecuario bajo los principios de equidad y de conservación, donde se promueva el uso de tecnologías como el manejo integrado de cultivos y manejo más eficiente de los recursos.El establecimiento de sistemas integrados de producción sostenible es, a mediano y largo plazo, el mayor desafío de la investigación, más aun cuando se trata de incorporar nuevas áreas al desarrollo agropecuario del país. La investigación en cultivos para incorporar estas áreas a la producción de alimentos, ha sido liderada por el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA), conjuntamente con la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica), a través de la generación de variedades mejoradas tolerantes a la acidez del suelo (ver Capítulo 9, este libro). Para la producción animal se han introducido, conjuntamente con el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), pasturas y leguminosas forrajeras de alto potencial genético (Valencia y Leal, 1996). Este germoplasma disponible es fuente importante para la producción sostenible en las condiciones de la Orinoquia colombiana. No obstante, aún es necesario desarrollar tecnologías para un uso eficiente y racional del recurso suelo bajo el modelo de sistemas integrados de producción, que contribuya con el establecimiento de pasturas mejoradas de bajo costo. Estas tecnologías deben estar orientadas hacia la recuperación de las propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas de los suelos degradados; y un manejo eficiente de los factores bióticos con programas integrados de control de plagas, para que la explotación agropecuaria sea una actividad altamente estable y competitiva.En los sistemas actuales de producción, uno de los campos de investigación más incipiente es el relacionado con la población microbiana en el suelo. Los microorganismos nativos del suelo son los responsables del mejoramiento de las propiedades físicas y químicas de los suelos y de la nutrición de los cultivos, lo que ocurre por medio de procesos como la fijación de nitrógeno atmosférico; la degradación de substratos de difícil descomposición, que hacen más eficiente la solubilización de los fertilizantes; y la absorción y translocación de los nutrimentos (García, 1984). En los sistemas de agricultura sostenible, los microorganismos en el suelo ejercen un papel importante en la dinámica de la materia orgánica (M.O.) y en el reciclado de nutrimentos mediante su intervención en los procesos de inmovilización y mineralización (Castro y Amézquita, 1991).La microflora del suelo se caracteriza por su diversidad que comprende cinco grupos principales: hongos, bacterias, actinomicetos, algas y protozoarios que pertenecen a innumerables géneros y especies. Las bacterias más numerosas en el suelo pertenecen a los géneros Pseudomonas y Arthrobacter (75% a 90%). Los actinomicetos en el suelo son heterotróficos y degradan una amplia gama de compuestos nitrogenados y carbonados, tales como celulosas, hemicelulosas, proteínas y, posiblemente, ligninas. En forma similar a los hongos, son más comunes en suelos secos que en húmedos y con una temperatura cercana a 28 °C. Se encuentran en placas con los valores de 10 5 a 10 8 colonias por gramo de suelo (Pelczar et al., 1982).Las micorrizas vesículoarbusculares (MVA) endotróficas son raíces asociadas simbióticamente con hongos de la familia Endogonae que se forman en casi todas las especies de plantas superiores. Para la formación de la simbiosis no se conoce especificidad entre especies de hongos MVA y especies determinadas de plantas. Aunque las MVA se encuentran en todos los climas y suelos en forma natural, su presencia puede variar cuantitativamente. La MVA es una asociación simbiótica esencial para la nutrición de muchas especies de plantas, y es un recurso microbiológico con alto potencial de explotación que representa beneficios económicos y ecológicos (Sieverding et al., 1989).En general, los beneficios para la planta de la asociación con los hongos formadores de MVA son muchos, siendo la nutrición la función más importante, ya que mediante el micelio externo del hongo, la raíz micorrizada explora un volumen más grande de suelo para la absorción de nutrimentos, en especial los elementos poco móviles como P, Zn, S, Ca, Mo y B. El hongo transporta los nutrimentos, principalmente el P (organo-fosfatos), a través del micelio hacia la raíz y los intercambia en las células epidérmicas de la misma por carbohidratos que requieren para su desarrollo. Otros beneficios son la síntesis de hormonas vegetales, el mejoramiento de la resistencia o tolerancia de la planta a enfermedades radiculares y el aumento de la eficiencia de otros simbiontes, como el Rhizobium. Indirectamente, esta asociación contribuye a la tolerancia de la planta a condiciones adversas en su entorno, entre ellas, estrés por agua, extremos de temperatura del suelo, pH, desbalances de nutrimentos, presencia de sustancias o elementos tóxicos en el suelo (Sieverding et al., 1989).Una alternativa para determinar los cambios que ocurren en un ecosistema es la evaluación de la dinámica de los microorganismos como un indicador del impacto agroecológico que puede causar la introducción de los diferentes sistemas de labranza y rotación de cultivos en los sistemas de producción agropastoril. Por medio de este tipo de evaluación de las propiedades físicas, químicas y microbiológicas en suelos ácidos, se pretende definir el manejo más sostenible para el sistema agropastoril, que garantice el reciclado de nutrimentos y un mayor equilibrio en el ecosistema, al disminuir el patrón de erosión y promover la actividad biológica.La evaluación de sistemas agropastoriles se viene realizando en la finca La Maloca, a 31 km de Puerto López vía Puerto Gaitán, en suelos Clase IV de la Altillanura colombiana, con una saturación de aluminio inicial del 86%, 2 ppm de P y 2.5% de M.O. La zona se encuentra a 360 m.s.n.m.; con una precipitación, promedio anual, de 2200 mm; una temperatura de 27 °C y humedad relativa de 78%.En una investigación en 4 ha se evalúan tres sistemas de labranza, seis sistemas de producción y dos niveles de fertilidad del suelo. Las unidades experimentales de 320 m 2 se distribuyeron en un diseño de franjas divididas con tres repeticiones.La aplicación de los sistemas de labranza se realiza exclusivamente en el primer y segundo semestre de cada año. Todas las unidades experimentales reciben un mismo tratamiento que consiste en un pase de rastra-pulidor para la incorporación de cal dolomítica. Los sistemas son:(1) convencional con dos pases de rastra profunda y un pase de pulidor;(2) vertical consistente en un pase de cincel vibratorio y un pase de pulidor; y (3) mínima con un pase de pulidor.Los materiales genéticos de arroz utilizados corresponden a variedades desarrollas para suelos ácidos: arroz (Oryzica Sabana 10), soya (Soyica Altillanura-2), maíz (Sikuani V-110) y pasto mejorado (Brachiaria dictyoneura). Los sistemas de producción en evaluación son los siguientes:1. Arroz-soya (3 años-3 ciclos) y arroz/pastos (cuarto año).2. Arroz-soya (3 años-3 ciclos) y maíz/pastos (cuarto año).3. Arroz-caupí (3 años-3 ciclos) y arroz/pastos (cuarto año).4. Arroz-caupí (3 años-3 ciclos) y maíz/pastos (cuarto año).5. Pasto mejorado introducido (de 1 a 4 años).6. Sabana nativa (de 1 a 4 años).Como especie forrajera introducida se seleccionó Brachiaria dictyoneura (cv. Llanero), que tiene buena adaptación a las condiciones de la Altillanura, con características sobresalientes en cobertura, producción de forraje, tolerancia al mión de los pastos, buena producción de semilla y consumo por animales en pastoreo.En esos estudios se utilizan los niveles de fertilización recomendados para cada cultivo en condiciones de sabana, así: para arroz = 120-120-120-3 kg/ha de N, P 2 O 5 , K 2 O y Zn; y para soya = 0-80-60-0, respectivamente. El primer nivel con dosis completa y el segundo nivel con el 66% del primero.Durante 18 meses de evaluación de los sistemas de producción se ha obtenido información sobre altura de planta, producción de materia seca (M.S.), reacción a enfermedades y componentes de rendimiento en cultivos de arroz, soya, caupí y pastos. También se han hecho análisis de caracterización química de suelos, incluyendo elementos menores; análisis físicos como la penetrometría, infiltración, densidad y porosidad del suelo; análisis biológico de suelos para determinar las unidades formadoras de colonias de bacterias, hongos, actonomicetos y micorrizas.Para los análisis fisicoquímicos del suelo se tomaron muestras entre 0 y 30 cm de profundidad en cada unidad experimental, después del primer ciclo de rotación arroz-soya. Los análisis físicos de densidad aparente y densidad real se efectuaron con muestras sin disturbar obtenidas con anillos metálicos -tres muestras por tratamiento a profundidades entre 0-10, 10-20 y 20-30 cm-con el método gravimétrico y método del picnómetro, respectivamente. Las medidas de resistencia del suelo se hicieron con un penetrómetro electrónico, tomando cuatro lecturas por tratamiento después de la cosecha del cultivo. La medición de infiltración se realizó una vez al año en la época seca y en cada tratamiento, usando anillos infiltrómetros. La estabilidad estructural se determinó superficialmente por el método de Yoder en tres muestras por tratamiento (IGAC, 1990).La evaluación de sistemas agropastoriles se inició en el primer semestre de 1995, con la siembra de la variedad de arroz Oryzica Sabana 10, altamente tolerante a saturación de aluminio (85%-90%), alto potencial de rendimiento y buena calidad de grano. La siembra se realizó sobre los sistemas de labranza convencional, vertical y mínima, en un diseño de franjas.En el análisis de los resultados no se presentaron diferencias estadísticas significativas entre los sistemas de labranza para la variable rendimiento, mientras que la respuesta a la fertilización fue evidente y significativa. Con la aplicación de 120-120-120-3 kg/ha de N, P 2 O 5 , K 2 O y Zn, respectivamente, el promedio del rendimiento fue de 2.19 t/ha de arroz paddy y con 66% de esta fertilización fue de 1.76 t/ha. En el segundo ciclo (1996A), después de la rotación con soya, aunque los rendimientos aumentaron significativamente (en promedio, 1.20 t/ha) no se observaron diferencias entre sistemas de labranza, tanto en el sistema arroz-soya como en el sistema arroz-caupí. Los mayores incrementos en rendimiento se lograron con el sistema arroz-caupí (incorporado) (Cuadro 1). Los beneficios obtenidos por la rotación arroz-soya o por la incorporación de caupí se deben, en parte, a la fijación simbiótica de nitrógeno por las bacterias Bradyrizobium japonicum en soya y Rhizobium sp. en caupí, que contribuyen con nitrógeno para los cultivos subsiguientes; sin embargo, los mayores beneficios se obtuvieron cuando el material vegetal fue incorporado en el suelo.Por otra parte, la variedad de soya Soyica Altillanura-2, tolerante a 70% de saturación de aluminio, es una de las alternativas más viables para los sistemas de producción sostenible de las sabanas ácidas de la Orinoquia colombiana. En el primer ciclo después de arroz, el rendimiento promedio de la variedad fue de 1.36 t/ha, sin diferencias estadísticas entre los sistemas de labranza y niveles de fertilidad, pero sí con tendencia a incrementar el rendimiento con la labranza mínima (1.56 t/ha). Es necesario observar que, para las siembras (soya y caupí) del segundo semestre, la preparación fue homogénea para todas las unidades experimentales, y consistió en un pase de guadaña para cortar la soca de arroz, aplicación de cal dolomítica (300 kg/ha) y un pase de rastra para incorporar la cal. Con este procedimiento se pretende aplicar los sistemas de labranza únicamente en el primer semestre para reducir la mecanización excesiva de los suelos durante el segundo semestre.El caupí se considera como cultivo para descanso de los lotes, ya que no se cosecha sino que se incorpora y tiene como propósito mantener y mejorar la productividad de los suelos y reducir los problemas de malezas, insectos plaga y enfermedades. Además, es una especie de ciclo vegetativo corto, tolerante a aluminio y multipropósito, que contribuye a mejorar las propiedades del suelo. La mejor respuesta en producción de arroz se logró en el sistema arroz-caupí-arroz, con un rendimiento, promedio, de 3.38 t/ha. No obstante, una de sus desventajas es su rápida descomposición y pérdida acelerada de nitrógeno.(33.8%), mientras que caupí presentó una mayor producción de M.S. (0.62 t/ha más que soya). Estos resultados sugieren que los altos contenidos de agua que acumula la planta de caupí favorecen los procesos de descomposición vegetal por la acción de las bacterias.Con el método de labranza mínima, el rendimiento de arroz paddy presentó una tendencia decreciente, en comparación con los otros sistemas, mientras que en soya ocurrió lo contrario (Cuadro 1). Una de las causas de estos efectos es el endurecimiento por formación de costras superficiales en el suelo debido a los pases de rastra superficial (pulidor) y al impacto de las lluvias. Las semillas pequeñas, como las de arroz y pastos, presentan mayores dificultades para emerger y crecer en suelos endurecidos en los primeros 3 cm de la capa vegetal, a diferencia de las semillas de mayor tamaño como las de soya, que con su imbibición y fuerza de cotiledones rompen con más facilidad esta pequeña capa endurecida.Efectos similares se presentaron en el establecimiento de B. dictyoneura. Después de 45 días de la siembra, la población de plántulas/m 2 de esta especie presentó una reducción, siendo inferior a 1 planta/m 2 en el tratamiento de labranza mínima; esto contrasta con el número aceptable de plántulas en los tratamientos de labranza convencional y con cincel. En estos últimos métodos, la población fue de 5 plántulas/m 2 , lo cual asegura un buen establecimiento con una rápida cobertura del área por el crecimiento estolonífero de esta gramínea. Como consecuencia de lo anterior, la cobertura de esta gramínea fue superior a 75%, sin presencia de malezas, lo que contrasta con el tratamiento de labranza mínima que presentó una cobertura entre 10% y 15% e invasión de malezas de hoja ancha y angosta superior a 60%.Las producciones de M.S. (t/ha) de B. dictyoneura cv. Llanero fueron de 4.82 en el sistema convencional, 4.70 en el vertical y de 0.42 en el de labranza mínima. En estos sistemas, las producciones de malezas de hojas anchas fueron, respectivamente, de 0.07, 0 y 1.04 t/ha; y de malezas de hoja angosta de 0.040, 0 y 2.55 t/ha. Las labranzas convencional y con cincel son adecuadas para sembrar pasturas bajo las condiciones específicas de este suelo, ya que proporcionan buena producción de forraje después de 5 meses, con más de 4 t/ha de M.S. y presentan una baja incidencia de malezas.En los sistemas en evaluación, hasta el momento no se ha observado incidencia alta de enfermedades ni de plagas que justifiquen la aplicación de productos químicos. La incidencia de malezas entre los sistemas de producción fue mayor en la labranza mínima, como resultado de una menor competencia del cultivo de arroz o pasturas en condiciones de manejo sin control de aquellas.La población de bacterias en el suelo bajo los sistemas de producción evaluados incrementó significativamente de 10 2 a 10 4 conteos de unidades formadoras de colonias por gramo (ufc/g) de suelo, particularmente en el sistema de labranza convencional. Por otra parte, los hongos y actinomicetos presentaron mayor estabilidad en comparación con las bacterias en los diferentes sistemas de producción, con un promedio de poblaciones de 10 4 ufc/g de suelo.La evaluación de la dinámica de la población de microorganismos en el sistema agropastoril se realizó en 1995 y 1996 mediante la medición de ufc/g de suelo rizosférico. En el Cuadro 3 se observa el efecto de la labranza y los sistemas de producción en la población microbiana de la rizosfera, 1 día después de la cosecha de arroz (1995A).El suelo en sabana nativa presentó una población inicial de bacterias muy baja (5.4 x 10 2 ufc/g), la cual se incrementó al introducir los sistemas de arroz y B. dictyoneura, especialmente en la labranza convencional. Las bacterias encontradas en el suelo rizosférico nativo y en el suelo disturbado son heterótrofas, es decir, que dependen de las sustancias orgánicas para el suministro de energía. Morfológicamente presentaron dos tipos de colonias y al microscopio se observaron bacilos móviles en forma de bastones cortos, los cuales se caracterizaron como Gram-negativos (Sánchez, 1986). En este campo falta aún realizar las pruebas fisiológicas específicas para clasificar e identificar las bacterias.Las bacterias presentaron incrementos en su población al introducir el sistema agropastoril, debido a que se pueden multiplicar muy rápidamente bajo condiciones favorables y pueden agotar temporalmente los nutrimentos. Poco se conoce sobre el comportamiento de las bacterias bajo condiciones de los Cuadro 3. Efecto de la labranza y sistemas de producción en la población microbiana (ufc/g) a de la rizosfera, en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. 1995A. Cuadro 4. Efecto de la labranza y sistemas de producción en la población microbiana (ufc/g) a de la rizosfera en los sistemas arroz-soya y arroz-caupí, en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. 1996A. suelos de la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, o de su importancia en relación con la fertilidad y la estructura del suelo. La población de hongos y actinomicetos permaneció estable en relación con la introducción de sistemas agropastoriles durante el primer ciclo de los cultivos en 1995A (Cuadro 3).En los Cuadros 4 y 5 se observan los resultados en el muestreo de 1996A, después del primer ciclo de rotación e incorporación de caupí. Los resultados indican que el mayor incremento en la población de bacterias ocurrió en el sistema arroz-caupí, que pasó de 10 2 a 10 3 ufc/g, mientras que en los sistemas arroz-soya, B. dictyoneura y sabana nativa presentaron un promedio de 10 2 ufc/g. La población de actinomicetos fue muy estable en todos los sistemas de producción y labranza.Los hongos encontrados en la rizosfera del suelo nativo y en los sistemas de producción son heterótrofos. Las colonias se aislaron en cultivo puro y se caracterizaron por estructuras reproductivas especializadas (hifas, esporas sexuales o conidias y conidióforos) y se clasificaron en géneros como: Aspergillus, Penicillum, Fusarium y Mucor. La población de hongos en el suelo fue más estable y su crecimiento más lento en relación con las bacterias. Estos hongos son los responsables de la degradación de la celulosa y la hemicelulosa.Dentro de la flora microbiana en la rizosfera del suelo de sabana nativa se encontraron micorrizas, con un bajo porcentaje de infección y un reducido número de esporas. En la población inicial de microorganismos se encontró mayor cantidad de actinomicetos (10 4 ufc/g) en sabana nativa en comparación con las poblaciones de bacterias y hongos. Las poblaciones de actinomicetos permanecieron estables en los sistemas de producción. En el medio de cultivo se observaron diferentes tipos de colonias que se identificaron como Gram-positivos por medio de la tinción de Gram y por observación a través de microscopio.Los actinomicetos son organismos heterotróficos de morfología muy variable, difíciles de clasificar y comunes en suelos secos. Se considera que desempeñan un papel importante en la formación de humus, por su capacidad para degradar sustancias resistentes de los tejidos de las plantas (celulosa, polisacáridos, humicelulosa, queratina y ácido oxálico) de alto peso molecular que son convertidas en ácidos húmicos altamente polimerizados (Burbano, 1989).Cuadro 5. Efecto de la labranza y sistemas de producción en la población microbiana (ufc/g) a de la rizosfera en sistemas con Brachiaria dictyoneura y en la sabana nativa, en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. 1996A. Se presentaron cambios en los contenidos de nutrimentos en el suelo por efecto de la labranza, rotación e incorporación de abonos verdes, en comparación con el suelo testigo. En general, en los diferentes sistemas de producción evaluados se observaron incrementos en los contenidos de P, Ca y Mg, pero se redujeron los contenidos de M.O. como consecuencia del incremento de la población de bacterias. En el sistema arroz-soya se encontró un menor contenido de M.O. y Al, y un incremento de P, Ca y Na en relación con los demás sistemas de producción (Cuadro 6). Entre sistemas de labranza se presentó una tendencia similar con reducción de la M.O., especialmente en los sistemas arrozsoya y arroz-caupí (Cuadros 7 y 8).Los elementos menores variaron de manera diferente. En los diferentes sistemas de producción se observó una reducción de los contenidos de Fe, Cu y Mn, e incremento en B y Zn, comparativamente con el suelo nativo testigo. En general, los mayores cambios se presentaron en el sistema arroz-caupí con incrementos de 0.15 a 0.76 ppm en B y de 1 a 2.37 ppm en Zn (Cuadro 9). Estos resultados concuerdan con los obtenidos en otros estudios (Angel y Prager, 1990;Restrepo y Navas, 1982;Sánchez y López, 1983). Dentro de los sistemas de labranza, el contenido de elementos menores presentó una tendencia similar a la observada en los sistemas de producción, en relación con el suelo testigo. Las mayores diferencias se observaron con la preparación por Cuadro 6. Análisis químico de elementos mayores de los suelos en varios sistemas de producción, en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. 1996A. En todos los sistemas de producción, la resistencia del suelo para el desarrollo de las raíces fue menor (0.5 a 1.5 MPa) en los primeros 6 cm de profundidad. El sistema arroz-caupí presentó los valores más bajos, en comparación con los demás sistemas de producción, especialmente en la labranza mínima. En el sistema arroz-soya, los valores fueron más altos que en el caso anterior y no se observaron diferencias entre sistemas de labranza. Un comportamiento similar al sistema arroz-soya se presentó en la sabana nativa y en la pastura de B. dictyoneura. Otras características físicas como la densidad aparente y porosidad total del suelo, confirmaron los resultados en el sistema arroz-caupí con labranza mínima, ya que el suelo presentó densidad aparente normal Cuadro 12. Efecto de la labranza y sistemas de producción sobre la porosidad y densidad aparente del suelo en los sistemas arroz-soya y arroz-caupí, en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. 1996A. (1.30 g/cm 3 ) y buena porosidad total (47%). Otros investigadores encontraron respuestas similares al evaluar diferentes sistemas de labranza (Castro y Amézquita, 1991;Herrera, 1989), mientras que en el sistema arroz-soya ocurrió lo contrario: incremento de la densidad en la labranza mínima y reducción de la porosidad (Cuadros 12 a 15). Este efecto diferencial de la densidad del suelo entre sistemas de producción se atribuye a la incorporación de material vegetal, que contribuye al mejoramiento de las propiedades físicas del suelo.En general, la porosidad del suelo en los primeros 10 cm varió entre 44.8% y 53% y se redujo con la profundidad, alcanzando a los 30 cm valores entre 39.6% y 51.8%. Los cambios en la densidad y la porosidad del suelo son relativamente bajos, cuando se comparan los sistemas de producción y de labranza. Estas características inversamente proporcionales presentaron cambios estadísticamente significativos en relación con la profundidad en el suelo (Cuadro 16).Es importante señalar que, por la fragilidad de estos suelos, cualquier sistema de labranza que se utilice aumenta el valor de la tasa básica de infiltración desde moderada (2 a 6.3 cm/h) hasta moderadamente rápida (6.3 a 12.7 cm/h) (Cuadro 17). Si la infiltración se hace más rápida influirá negativamente en un mayor consumo y pérdida de agua por percolación, ocasionando un mayor lavado de bases intercambiables.Los resultados de este trabajo permiten concluir lo siguiente:1. Con el sistema de rotación arrozcaupí-arroz se obtuvieron mejores resultados que con el sistema arroz-soya-arroz, aunque en ambos fueron altos.2. En arroz se incrementaron significativamente sus rendimientos con el aumento en la fertilización, contrario a lo ocurrido con soya.3. El mejor establecimiento de la pastura de B. dictyoneura se logró con las labranzas convencional y vertical.4. La población de bacterias en los sistemas de producción evaluados incrementó significativamente, particularmente en el sistema de labranza convencional. Los hongos y actinomicetos presentaron mayor estabilidad, en comparación con las bacterias en los diferentes sistemas de producción.5. Los sistemas de rotación de cultivos e incorporación de abonos verdes permitieron incrementar los contenidos de P, Ca y Mg, en relación con los suelos nativos; sin embargo, redujeron significativamente los contenidos de M.O.6. En los sistemas de producción arroz-caupí y arroz-soya, la resistencia en el suelo para el desarrollo radicular fue inferior a 0.5 MPa en los primeros 6 cm, y aumentó progresivamente con la profundidad. Los menores valores de resistencia los presentó el sistema arroz-caupí con labranza mínima.Los resultados presentados en este capítulo corresponden a 2 años de investigación sobre sistemas de producción agropastoriles en suelos ácidos de la Orinoquia colombiana. El trabajo está proyectado para 5 años, etapa en la cual se harán evaluaciones del comportamiento animal en los diferentes sistemas de producción. No obstante, las informaciones generadas hasta el momento están mostrando el potencial de los sistemas de rotación y de asociación de cultivos y pasturas para las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. solucionar los problemas de producción agrícola. Como resultado de estos esfuerzos se han desarrollado materiales genéticos de soya, arroz, maíz y otros cultivos, con potencial para crecer en suelos con limitaciones edáficas. En la búsqueda de soluciones productivas, la combinación de pasturas con cultivos adaptados cambió el escenario de las sabanas brasileñas y los sistemas agropastoriles comenzaron a hacer parte de la estrategia de utilización del ecosistema. En Colombia, como resultado de la obtención de germoplasma adaptado de arroz, se intensificó el uso del ecosistema sabanas de los Llanos Orientales. En Venezuela, la situación ha sido similar a la de Colombia, pero en Bolivia ha sido un poco diferente, ya que allí se decidió concentrar los esfuerzos de investigación en sistemas agrosilvopastoriles. En todos los casos, los problemas de sostenibilidad siempre han sido el objetivo principal de las investigaciones. Por otra parte, la inseguridad social en algunas regiones, como es el caso de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, la falta generalizada de maquinaria agrícola apropiada para el desarrollo de nuevos sistemas de producción y de infraestructura han desestimulado las inversiones de los productores -agricultores y ganaderos-en estas regiones. La tarea en el futuro consistirá en la motivación de los dirigentes y la comunidad internacional para dar seguimiento a los trabajos de utilización sostenible de los recursos en este ecosistema.The savannas of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia offer high potential for the sustainable production of grains, meat, milk, fruit, and forest products. To successfully exploit these regions, suitable systems must be developed for managing the soils, which are typically of low fertility, acid, and physically fragile. The savannas are already used for livestock production, an inefficient system of exploitation. Recently, the entire savanna ecosystem, particularly in the Brazilian \"Cerrados\", has undergone an important transformation in which native pastures are replaced by introduced pastures, crops, and crop/pasture rotations. Research on soybean, rice, maize, and other species has led to the development of cultivars adapted to acid soils. By combining adapted cultivars of both crops and forages in agropastoral systems, farmers have changed the savannas, showing the crop/livestock production system to be a significant component in strategies for exploiting savannas. In Colombia and Venezuela, adapted rice cultivars led to the intensified exploitation of their respective Plains. In Bolivia, more emphasis was given to agrosilvopastoral systems, in which trees play an important role. The social insecurity of certain regions, such as the Colombian Eastern Plains, has prevented the development of infrastructure (e.g., machinery, roads, and storage facilities), thus limiting the adoption of agropastoral technology. Thus, while the overall research objectives for the Latin American savannas are to improve the economic and ecological sustainability of crop/livestock production, the major challenge is to encourage national leaders and the international community to continue supporting research efforts for the sustainable development of these savannas.Las sabanas en Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela y Bolivia constituyen aproximadamente 50% de este ecosistema en el mundo y son una de las únicas fronteras disponibles para la expansión agrícola (Borlaug y Dowswell, 1994). Los suelos de sabana se caracterizan por su alta acidez, baja fertilidad natural y actividad biológica y, aunque sus condiciones físicas son buenas, son altamente susceptibles a erosión y a la pérdida de estructura cuando se someten a labranza. Predominan los sistemas de explotación extensiva, poco eficientes y, en su gran mayoría, basados en las pasturas nativas.Este ecosistema ha sufrido una transformación importante en los últimos años y la sabana nativa ha sido reemplazada en forma paulatina por pasturas mejoradas y cultivos adaptados (Vera, Capítulo 1, este libro). El Brasil ocupa el primer lugar dentro de la escala de desarrollo y de utilización económica y sostenible de esta región, debido a la implementación de políticas de incentivos fiscales para los productores, que ocurrió a partir de la década de los 70. Inicialmente se trabajó con tecnologías y germoplasma introducidos de las regiones del sur del país y, como consecuencia, los resultados en producción y económicos fueron poco halagadores, principalmente aquellos relacionados con cultivos. Inicialmente, la ganadería se desarrolló lentamente, pero este proceso se aceleró con la introducción de especies forrajeras tropicales mejoradas y adaptadas a las condiciones climáticas y edáficas prevalentes en la región. Para obviar las limitaciones edáficas fue necesario hacer un gran esfuerzo en investigación, lo que hizo posible la generación de cultivares principalmente de soya, arroz y maíz, capaces de producir bajo esas condiciones. La combinación de pasturas y cultivos adaptados cambió el escenario de las sabanas brasileñas: Inicialmente se generaron sistemas agropastoriles poco tecnificados que empezaron a hacer parte de una estrategia de utilización más racional del ecosistema (Lopes et al.,Capítulo 2,este libro).En Colombia, el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), conjuntamente con el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) y posteriormente con la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (CORPOICA) adelantaron investigaciones para encontrar soluciones tendientes a la intensificación de la utilización de las sabanas (Llanos Orientales) y desarrollaron, a principios de los años 90, el primer germoplasma de arroz, con capacidad para producir eficientemente bajo las condiciones limitantes existentes. Con anterioridad se habían generado varias alternativas de germoplasma de pasturas y de cultivos como soya, que fueron poco utilizadas por los productores. La historia de los sistemas agropastoriles en las sabanas colombianas es aún parte del esfuerzo de quienes quieren edificar la sostenibilidad de sus fincas y de producción en estas regiones.La situación en Venezuela es similar a la de Colombia. Allí se desarrollaron alternativas de pasturas antes que de germoplasma de cultivos anuales adaptados a las condiciones limitantes de las sabanas. La investigación del Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) enfatizó la utilización de los Llanos Orientales, buscando materiales tolerantes a problemas de fertilidad en los suelos y a la deficiencia hídrica. El progreso de estas estrategias fue lento y en la actualidad la integración de esa investigación en sistemas agropastoriles es todavía una ambición de investigadores y productores agrícolas y ganaderos de avanzada.La historia en las sabanas de Bolivia es un poco diferente. El Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical (CIAT/Santa Cruz) decidió concentrar sus esfuerzos de investigación en sistemas en los cuales los árboles tienen un rol importante. Las pasturas fueron combinadas con cercas y barreras vivas de árboles en sistemas agrosilvopastoriles. Los cultivos dentro de este sistema aún están bajo estudio y en pruebas de adaptación en las regiones de interés del gobierno.En los países anteriores, los problemas de sostenibilidad de los sistemas de producción han sido el objeto fundamental de las investigaciones, ya que se ha encontrado que el uso continuado de los suelos con cultivos como la soya en Brasil (Cardoso, 1993) y el arroz en Colombia (Preciado, 1997) se manifiesta en reducciones progresivas en los rendimientos. Por otro lado, los problemas de degradación de las pasturas ocasionados por sobrepastoreo o mal manejo, han favorecido la caída en los rendimientos, la erosión, la deficiencia hídrica, la pérdida de estructura y la compactación, ocasionando la pérdida general de la capacidad productiva del suelo, como se ha observado en Colombia y Venezuela.La ausencia de seguridad social en algunas regiones de sabana, como en el caso de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia; la falta generalizada de maquinaria agrícola apropiada para manejo de suelos y de cultivos; y la deficiente infraestructura de carreteras y silos son algunos de los factores que han desestimulado a los productores a invertir en esas regiones. Sin embargo, la investigación ha generado un gran volumen de información que está estimulando las inversiones en la región.A continuación se describen los procesos evolutivos del desarrollo de esas tecnologías, los problemas encontrados y las expectativas futuras en los sistemas agropastoriles.En cada país, y de forma independiente, el inicio del proceso de utilización de las sabanas se basó en el desarrollo aislado de los componentes agrícolas y pecuarios. Los esfuerzos se enfocaron hacia la identificación del mejor germoplasma de pasturas o cultivos y las mejores técnicas de manejo agronómico (Friesen et al., 1997;Kluthcouski et al., 1991;Macedo, 1995;Rao et al., 1993;Spain et al., 1996;Thomas et al., 1995;Thomas et al., 1999;Vera et al., 1992;Zeigler y Toledo, 1993;Zeigler et al., 1995), sin considerar cómo serían los resultados de utilizar estas tecnologías dentro de sistemas integrados pasturas-cultivos.En Brasil, después de que se identificaron algunas especies de Brachiaria como alternativa para aumentar la productividad de las sabanas, se desarrolló germoplasma de cultivos como el arroz, que se adaptaron bien en asociaciones con Brachiaria sp. (Kluthcouski et al., 1991). La soya fue otro cultivo tropical seleccionado que rápidamente ocupó la mayor parte de la región de sabanas (Roessing y Guedes, 1993;Spehar et al., 1993) estimulando el desarrollo. Se generaron igualmente variedades de maíz adaptadas a suelos ácidos y pobres (Bahia-Filho et al., 1997).La utilización aislada de los componentes de pasturas o cultivos mostró rápidamente la falta de sostenibilidad de los sistemas. Seguy et al. (1988) muestran cómo los rendimientos de arroz en Mato Grosso se redujeron drásticamente debido, probablemente, a la competencia de las malezas y a la caída en las reservas de los nutrimentos en el suelo. Euclides (1994) presenta datos similares que muestran la degradación de las pasturas. En Colombia, Valencia et al. (Capítulo 9, este libro) muestran las alternativas desarrolladas para la Orinoquia colombiana e identifican especies forrajeras como B. dictyoneura y Andropogon gayanus, y la variedad de arroz Oryzica Sabana-6 adaptada a las condiciones prevalentes en la región como material genético útil para la renovación de pasturas. Sin embargo, antes de la aparición del arroz se encontraba disponible la variedad de soya Soyica Altillanura 2 (Valencia, 1994). Preciado (1997) muestra datos importantes sobre manejo del suelo y la importancia de las malezas en la estabilidad de los sistemas agropastoriles en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.En Venezuela (Rodríguez et al.,Capítulo 11,este libro) en trabajos colaborativos dentro de la Red Internacional de Evaluación de Pastos Tropicales (RIEPT) identificaron germoplasma de gramíneas y leguminosas con potencial para pasturas en los Llanos Orientales de Venezuela. Igualmente se han identificado líneas promisorias de arroz y maíz que están en proceso final de evaluación y de multiplicación de semillas.El caso de Bolivia no es diferente; la necesidad de los ganaderos por pasturas mejoradas hizo que las investigaciones se orientaran hacia la búsqueda de alternativas basadas en componentes de pasturas y de cultivos (Martínez, Capítulo 12, este libro).Como se observa, el objetivo de todos los programas nacionales de investigación en la región consistió en desarrollar de una forma aislada los componentes de los sistemas, identificando, principalmente, variedades de pastos para atender la demanda de los ganaderos que fueron los primeros colonizadores de las sabanas. Los cultivos de soya, maíz y arroz surgieron más recientemente, debido a la demanda del mercado por granos. Posteriormente surgió la idea de sistemas integrados de exploración agropecuaria, debido a la necesidad de resolver los problemas de sostenibilidad originados en los monocultivos de pasturas, cereales o leguminosas.Los productores en fincas que utilizan sistemas agropastoriles se interesan, no sólo en los rendimientos y la rentabilidad de los cultivos, sino, y aun más, en la productividad de sus hatos. Estudios realizados en pasturas mejoradas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia muestran ganancias de peso vivo animal en la época seca hasta de 600 g/animal por día (Lascano y Euclides, 1996).Para la explotación sostenible de los sistemas agropastoriles es importante que en las investigaciones se tenga en cuenta el componente animal, principalmente su potencial genético buscando una mayor productividad por animal y por área. En la región de los Cerrados de Brasil, el promedio de la edad al sacrificio de los bovinos es de 48 meses, como resultado de su baja calidad genética. Magnabosco (comunicación personal) encontró que animales seleccionados de la raza Nelore presentaron ganancias diarias de peso vivo de 300 g/animal durante el período seco y de 700 g en la época de lluvias. En este caso, la edad al sacrificio se redujo a 24 meses con un peso de 450 kg/animal. Además de los avances en la producción de germoplasma forrajero, se generó información importante en otras áreas. El suelo, el factor más responsable de la sostenibilidad de la producción, ha recibido cada vez más atención. Se han generado nuevos conceptos para garantizar el mejoramiento integral -físico, químico y biológico-y la estabilidad en la intensificación de uso y mayor sostenibilidad. Amézquita et al. (Capítulo 4,este libro) discuten la forma cómo el uso de los suelos afecta sus propiedades e interfiere con la sostenibilidad del ecosistema, lo que también se demuestra con los resultados obtenidos en Brasil y Colombia (Amézquita, 1998a;1998b). La maquinaria agrícola para la preparación de los suelos y el efecto en la sostenibilidad del ecosistema de sabana ha merecido un estudio especial. Se ha podido determinar que el uso continuado de rastras pesadas destruye la estructura, produce sellamiento superficial y causa compactación, impidiendo el desarrollo de las raíces de pasturas y de cultivos, lo que favorece su rápida degradación y el estrés por sequía y falta de nutrimentos. En ensayos sobre suelos arenosos y arcillosos, típicos de las sabanas, se ha encontrado que la preparación temprana, antes del inicio del período lluvioso, es recomendable para incrementar la producción de granos. Con esta labor es posible duplicar la producción de arroz (CIAT, 1989). Equipos como el subsolador, arado de disco y arado de vertedera han sido alternativas recomendables para una buena preparación de los suelos en los Cerrados de Brasil. Sin embargo, su utilización no puede ser generalizada para todas las condiciones. En Colombia, los suelos que fueron sometidos a preparación con arado de vertedera no produjeron los resultados esperados, debido a que toda la M.O. y los nutrimentos fueron incorporados en el subsuelo perjudicando el desarrollo del arroz. En los Llanos Orientales de este país, lo más recomendable es la preparación vertical con cinceles rígidos, complementada con un mínimo número de pases de rastra (Amézquita, 1998a).Las investigaciones en labranza que actualmente realiza el CIAT en los Llanos Orientales (Amézquita, 1998b) están orientadas hacia la creación de una 'capa arable', entendida ésta como la formación de una capa superficial de 0 a 30 cm de profundidad (dependiente del cultivo) que no presente limitaciones físicas, químicas ni biológicas para los cultivos que se van a establecer. Dentro de esta estrategia, el uso de sistemas agropastoriles y agrosilvopastoriles es fundamental, ya que las raíces de las plantas son las únicas capaces de mantener una condición física favorable creada por la labranza correctiva y conducir al suelo hacia su sostenibilidad física, química y biológica. Un vez construida la capa arable, los suelos deben pasar a sistemas conservacionistas de cero-labranza y labranza reducida.Los estudios sobre fertilidad de suelos han demostrado que es recomendable sembrar cultivos antes de la pastura, ya que los residuos de éstos y la fertilización residual son útiles para suplir los requerimientos de aquellas que se siembran solas o en asociación. Para el componente cultivo, son bastante conocidas las recomendaciones de fertilización, pero cuando se trata de pasturas, los ganaderos aún son poco flexibles en relación con las necesidades de mantener la fertilización en ellas. Zimmer et al. (Capítulo 17,este libro) muestran los resultados de la fertilización de mantenimiento en las pasturas mejoradas y su efecto en la sostenibilidad de la producción. Kluthcouski et al. (Capítulo 15,este libro) muestran una serie de ensayos con aplicación de cal y fertilización con fósforo y potasio en cultivos de arroz y maíz, e indican las consecuencias provechosas en las pasturas que siguen a éstos.También se han logrado avances en los estudios sobre competencia entre cultivos y pasturas. Pinheiro et al. (Capítulo 13, este libro) muestran algunos datos preliminares que indican las principales características fisiológicas que favorecen el desarrollo del cultivo de arroz en competencia con pasturas. Esta información podrá ser útil para trabajos de fitomejoramiento en la selección de genotipos de este cultivo mejor adaptados a sistemas agropastoriles. En estos estudios se encontraron diferencias entre cultivares en relación con tolerancia a la competencia. Los genotipos precoces presentaron mayores rendimientos, ya que alcanzaron la fase productiva antes de que la pastura ejerciera un efecto negativo sobre su rendimiento.Desde el punto de vista metodológico, la investigación en sistemas generó muchos interrogantes, desde aspectos que se relacionan con el cómo y cuándo hacer las evaluaciones, hasta los métodos de análisis de los resultados. Por ejemplo, en la asociación de arroz y pasturas, la expectativa del productor de granos es obtener el máximo de ganancias en la producción del arroz, pero a partir del momento en que la competencia de este cultivo con la pastura empieza a ser perjudicial, ya no es interesante para el ganadero obtener máximos rendimientos en arroz.Las apreciaciones anteriores deben ser consideradas en los análisis de viabilidad de los sistemas agropastoriles. A su vez, la fuerte competencia de la pastura con los cultivos posiblemente no resulta en las ganancias iniciales esperadas y perjudica el flujo de caja de la propiedad.La mayoría de los trabajos en sistemas deben ser conducidos en fincas, como lo recomienda Muzilli (Capítulo 3, este libro). Bajo esas condiciones, la utilización de los diseños estadísticos tradicionales no siempre es viable. Esto requiere que los investigadores sean creativos para lograr las comparaciones y las respuestas deseadas. A su vez, los análisis estadísticos deben ser conducidos de otra manera y las metodologías deben ser ajustadas a esa realidad. Amézquita et al. (Capítulo 6, este libro) muestran algunos ejemplos de esos procedimientos.Como se mencionó anteriormente, los sistemas agropastoriles en América Latina generaron sus propias tecnologías. Las variedades de pasturas y de cultivos fueron adaptadas considerando las exigencias de las condiciones edáficas y agroclimáticas de las sabanas. Los estudios con los animales enfatizaron las razas adaptadas y más productivas en esas condiciones. Las prácticas de manejo de suelos y cultivos en sistemas agropastoriles fueron desarrolladas considerando las interacciones del sistema. Para todo ello fue necesario adaptar metodologías experimentales para determinar la significancia de los resultados.Una de las estrategias utilizadas para la difusión de las informaciones generadas con los estudios de los sistemas agropastoriles fue la tradicional, o sea, preparar algunas publicaciones técnicas para divulgación de los resultados. Sin embargo, muchos resultados y experiencias fueron transferidos a través de visitas técnicas, apoyadas por el Programa Cooperativo de Investigación y Transferencia de Tecnología para los Trópicos Suramericanos (Procitropicos). Este programa contrató consultores para que, conjuntamente con las instituciones nacionales, desarrollaran proyectos para captación de recursos.La FAO también estuvo involucrada en el desarrollo de este proyecto y su objetivo principal fue transferir tecnologías. Desafortunadamente, esas iniciativas no alcanzaron los logros esperados, principalmente por falta de apoyo financiero de la comunidad internacional.Sin embargo, considerando que los países con áreas de sabana están en diferentes niveles de desarrollo y que participaron con diferentes intensidades en la acumulación de las experiencias para la explotación racional del ecosistema, la principal estrategia de transferencia de tecnología utilizada fue el CIAT, que con el apoyo del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) y la participación de los programas nacionales, realizó talleres sobre sistemas agropastoriles en diferentes países. Los logros tecnológicos conseguidos y las experiencias obtenidas en estos talleres son presentados en este libro.El objetivo principal de esos eventos fue la difusión de los resultados y el intercambio de ideas y experiencias entre los países participantes. Para el efecto se realizaron cinco talleres en Colombia (1992y 1996), Brasil (1993), Venezuela (1994), Bolivia (1995).Los eventos consistieron en 1 ó 2 días de presentaciones teóricas con discusiones de los resultados, 2 días siguientes para visitas de ensayos en campos y un quinto día reservado para la planeación de las actividades conjuntas e individuales para el año siguiente.Esa estrategia permitió crear, de manera informal, la Red Agropastoril, mencionada por Vera (Capítulo 1, este libro). La distribución de tareas que se presenta en el Cuadro 1 de ese capítulo, muestra el nivel de interacción existente entre los grupos que investigan en sistemas agropastoriles en la región. Obviamente, la limitación financiera y la capacidad de captación de recursos de cada país e institución es el elemento que determinará la velocidad con que tal estrategia puede ser implementada.De los cuatro países donde el ecosistema sabana es importante, Brasil es el único que sigue enfatizando estudios en esa área. Bolivia, Colombia y Venezuela, aunque siguen trabajando en el tema, tienen problemas de diversa índole para priorizar las investigaciones en ellos.La situación socioeconómica de Bolivia no ha permitido que el país invierta fuertemente en investigaciones en sistemas agropastoriles, aunque el CIAT/Santa Cruz está haciendo esfuerzos y obteniendo buenos resultados en los estudios con los sistemas agrosilvopastoriles. Las prioridades son dirigidas a investigaciones que atiendan a los pequeños agricultores que siembran cultivos en áreas de laderas. Las inversiones en las sabanas están siendo hechas por agricultores de países vecinos, como los de Brasil, que con la experiencia obtenida en los Cerrados, atraviesan la frontera y siembran en las sabanas de Bolivia utilizando las tecnologías desarrolladas en Brasil. De esa manera, en este momento, el desarrollo sostenible de la región va a depender más de los adelantos brasileros que de una estrategia boliviana para lograrlo. La limitada actuación del gobierno en el desarrollo de infraestructura de carreteras y bodegas ha desestimulado al agricultor local a explotar la región.En Colombia, aunque la presencia del CIAT ha incrementado el interés por el uso sostenible de los Llanos Orientales, las instituciones locales y el gobierno han restringido sus actividades e inversiones, principalmente debido a la inseguridad social. A pesar de que la infraestructura no es suficiente, hay un visible esfuerzo político para la utilización de la región. La tecnología en sistemas agropastoriles utilizando los cultivos del arroz y maíz, asociados con pasturas, está disponible. La experiencia con frutales, como marañón y mango, ha mostrado potencial.Venezuela, que hasta hace poco tiempo fue considerado un país esencialmente petrolero, en general, no priorizó la explotación agrícola. No obstante, y como resultado de la caída de los precios internacionales del petróleo en los últimos años, el país ha despertado su interés en el potencial agrícola. Como en décadas pasadas, la condición financiera era bastante buena, Venezuela pudo desarrollar una infraestructura, principalmente de carreteras, de muy buen nivel. Por otro lado, la preocupación en investigación agrícola fue limitada. Actualmente, aunque cuenta con tecnologías disponibles de los países vecinos, poco se ha progresado.Aunque el crecimiento poblacional en América Latina no se encuentra en los niveles de otras regiones en el mundo, la demanda por alimentos es cada vez mayor y los recursos para satisfacerla son cada vez más limitados. Por tanto, la producción en ecosistemas como las sabanas debe ser intensificada, pero de manera sostenible, sin degradar el medio ambiente. Para eso, los agricultores tendrán que incrementar la utilización de las tecnologías disponibles y los investigadores deberán seguir generando nuevas alternativas de uso y de manejo. Debido a lo mencionado anteriormente se puede añadir que el potencial para la utilización de las sabanas es inmenso. Sin embargo, es necesario que en el futuro los científicos:• Desarrollen tecnologías que conduzcan a la sostenibilidad en la productividad de los suelos, para desarrollar sobre ellos una agricultura igualmente sostenible;• Desarrollen germoplasma adaptado y productivo para las condiciones agrícolas y edafoclimáticas de las sabanas, tanto de cultivos como de pasturas;• Continúen los estudios sobre los efectos de los diferentes sistemas en las propiedades químicas, físicas y biológicas de los suelos;• Continúen los trabajos sobre reciclado de los elementos químicos como nitrógeno, fósforo y potasio, buscando determinar los sistemas más eficientes de fijación biológica de nitrógeno; absorción y utilización de nutrimentos y agua;• Continúen el proceso de adaptación y desarrollo de maquinaria agrícola a las condiciones edáficas prevalentes en la región;• Incrementen el monitoreo de plagas y enfermedades con el objetivo de analizar su evolución bajo una menor presión, cuando se compara con el monocultivo;• Incrementen los conocimientos relacionados con el manejo de malezas en sistemas de asociaciones;• Estudien en forma intensiva los nuevos sistemas de utilización de las sabanas, por ejemplo, el laboreo mínimo; y• Enfaticen los estudios a largo plazo en los aspectos mencionados, para determinar sus efectos en la sostenibilidad de los sistemas.Pararelo a lo anterior y con los resultados ya obtenidos, se puede estimular a los gobiernos para tomar algunas medidas políticas, entre ellas:• Establecer una política de explotación sostenible de las sabanas, evitando la penetración en otros ecosistemas como la Amazonía;• Crear incentivos especiales para el uso de enmiendas y fertilizantes, principalmente cal y fuentes de fósforo;• Estimular la industria productora de maquinaria agrícola para diseñar equipos más adaptados a las necesidades de la agricultura en las sabanas;• Incentivar la investigación en los campos que presentan potencial para ese ecosistema; y• Establecer programas de capacitación y transferencia de tecnología enfocando las sabanas.Además de las acciones políticas y de investigación en los países, las instituciones internacionales tienen un papel importante en la utilización de las sabanas para:• Catalizar las iniciativas de los países y las fuentes de recursos internacionales;• Mostrar la importancia del ecosistema sabanas de América Latina para la producción mundial de alimentos;• Promocionar el uso sostenible del ecosistema, como una manera de preservar otros ecosistemas como la Amazonía, que son importantes desde el punto de vista global; y• Estimular y facilitar la interacción entre los países, bien sea a través de la creación de mecanismos especiales como una Red Agropastoril, o mediante eventos específicos como talleres y seminarios.Las bases para la continuidad de un trabajo de impacto en el ecosistema de sabanas de América Latina tropical se han lanzado por la Red Agropastoril para Sabanas de una manera informal. La labor, de ahora en adelante, consistirá en que cada país busque motivar sus dirigentes y la comunidad internacional para dar seguimiento en los trabajos de explotación sostenible de este ecosistema. Aún falta un largo camino por recorrer, ya que la consecución de producciones pecuarias y agrícolas sostenibles son metas que solamente pueden ser alcanzadas mediante estudios a largo plazo que merecen todo el apoyo político y social.","tokenCount":"94158"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7109786364.json b/data/part_1/7109786364.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..af815639313bde565ca8dd29053646cb9c679820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7109786364.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd625cd324c72740ec1e04eb8317a15b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4585cd85-ba1d-4cb7-9cd4-6a5098d32a5d/content","id":"1558529319"},"keywords":["Tree-crop interaction","Competition","Facilitation","Agronomic use efficiency","Crop failure","Mineral fertilizer"],"sieverID":"e2ead14b-114d-427f-b85b-d77551d01511","pagecount":"16","content":"Aims This study aimed to disentangle tree-cropfertilizer interactions in agroforestry systems, which has been suggested as an entry point for sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although tree-crop systems generate multiple economic and ecological benefits, tree-crop competition commonly occurs. We hypothesized that mineral fertilizers affect facilitative and competitive interactions differently in tree-crop systems. Methods Tree-crop-fertilizer interactions were explored for wheat growing under Faidherbia albida, and maize growing under Acacia tortilis and Grevillea robusta through omission trials of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in open fields and fields under tree canopy, using a split plot design. The experiments were conducted in Ethiopia and Rwanda, replicated four times, and over two seasons. Results Our results demonstrated that the presence of F. albida significantly improved N and P use efficiencies, leading to significantly higher (P < 0.001) grain yields in wheat. This tree species contributed around 64 kg ha −1 yr. −1 of mineral N. The P use efficiency of wheat under F. albida was double that of open field wheat. By contrast, G. robusta and A. tortilis trees lowered nutrient use efficiencies in maize, leading to significantly less maize grain yields compared with open fields receiving the same fertilization. Probabilities of critically low crop yields and crop failure were significantly greater for maize growing under the canopy of these species. Conclusions Our results showed that recommended fertilizer rates led to facilitative interaction only with F. albida, highlighting that fertilizer recommendations need to be adapted to agroforestry systems.In many smallholder farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), poor soil fertility is a major limitation to crop production (Barrett and Bevis 2015). Insufficient nutrient input causes low crop yields (Vanlauwe et al. 2011;Barrett and Bevis 2015), fuelling a vicious cycle of soil degradation, low productivity and poverty in the region. The problem is compounded by the fact that most smallholders are resource-constrained and can only afford limited quantities of mineral fertilizers (Sileshi et al. 2009;Yirga and Hassan 2010). Even where farmers apply inorganic fertilizers, soils in many parts of the tropics are unresponsive (Vanlauwe et al. 2011). A large proportion of soils in SSA are unresponsive due to limited soil organic matter and reduction in biological functions, undermining immediate gains from application of mineral fertilizers (Tittonell and Giller 2013). There is a need for integrated soil fertility management (ISFM)whereby mineral and organic nutrient sources are utilized efficiently. As sources of soil organic matter are scarce, agroforestry trees offer a viable path to increase inputs of organic matter in SSA (Lahmar et al. 2012).In addition to improving soil nutrients through atmospheric nitrogen (N) fixation by some leguminous species (Giller 2001), agroforestry trees may improve soil fertility by increasing soil organic matter (Teklay et al. 2006;Gnankambary et al. 2008). Organic matter accumulating from decomposing plant parts play a critical role in improving soil quality and enhancing longerterm soil productivity in most smallholder farming systems in the tropics (Sanchez et al. 1997;Palm et al. 2001). Organic inputs from Gliricidia sepium, for example, resulted in higher N and phosphorus (P) uptake by maize in Malawi (Akinnifesi et al. 2007).As these trees also compete with crops for soil resources (Bertomeu et al. 2011), an understanding of the interactions between on-farm trees and mineral fertilizer is needed to manage tree-crop interactions (positive or negative). It has been established that there is an increase in soil carbon under trees (Bayala et al. 2015). This improves soil physical properties through soil aggregate formation and increased biological activities in the soil (Bayala et al. 2008), leading to lower soil density and improved soil porosity for better water infiltration under tree canopies compared with bare soils (Bayala et al. 2007;Sanou et al. 2010;Bargués Tobella et al. 2014). The presence of trees improves soil chemical fertility through addition of organic matter, which serves as the source of nutrients through decomposition (Rao et al. 1997). The trees also improve understory microclimate and the increased accumulation of soil organic matter creates favourable conditions for the microorganisms that thrive under their crowns compared with open field conditions. In addition to these improved soil conditions, trees reduce radiation underneath their crowns, leading to favourable condition for the associated crops (Sida et al. 2018b). Regardless of these improvements in soil conditions, improved yield in associated crops has not been automatically observed (Ndoli et al. 2017). According to Bayala et al. (2008), one of the reasons for these tree-associated improvements not to lead to an increase in crop yield is that both the tree and the crop are sharing the same pool of nutrients and soil water. Under those circumstances, it is common that the competition for these resources causes poor performance in associated crops, which in most cases are the less competitive species. Mineral fertilizer amendments may potentially offset such competition and improve crop performance. We hypothesized that facilitative and competitive interactions are affected by the use of mineral fertilizers. In addition, these tree-crop interactions could vary depending on agroecology, tree species and crop species.Most studies conducted so far to improve tree-crop interactions have focused on tree management practices, in particular, root and canopy pruning (Jackson et al. 2000). However, studies exploring the impact of combining trees with mineral fertilizers on crop performance have been scarce. Thus, the current study aimed to (i) understand the impact of different combinations of N and P fertilizers on crop yield in treecrop systems and (ii) evaluate mineral fertilizer-tree combinations that maximize agronomic nutrient use efficiencies (AE) in different agroecologies.This study was conducted in two countries, Ethiopia and Rwanda, where retaining scattered trees in fields have been practiced for centuries. The study was conducted under three different agroecologies. Mojo (8.509°N and 39.071°E) is located in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia at an elevation of 1665 m above sea level (m.a.s.l). The climate is semi-arid with average annual rainfall of 700 mm yr. −1 received mainly between June and October. The long-term mean daily temperature is 24.2 °C and the mean maximum daily temperature is 31 °C. Temperature may peak above 35 °C. Andosol is the dominant soil type (RSO 2003), characterized by poor water holding capacity. Sparsely distributed F. albida is the main agroforestry species to which wheat (Triticum aestivum var. aestivum) and teff (Eragrostis tef) are associated in the area. F. albida in the study area is not undergoing reverse phenology (Sida et al. 2018b). It has been attributed to the heavy pruning performed towards the end of dry season. As a result, the trees produce freshly regenerating leaves during the wet cropping season.Meki is also located in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia (8.1855 o N and 38.86 o E) to the Southwest of Mojo at an elevation of 1500 m.a.s.l, and is characterized by a semi-arid climate. The annual average temperature is 19.3 °C and the average annual rainfall is 775 mm. Similar to Mojo, Andosol is the dominant soil type. The area is dominated by savannah woodland vegetation type, where the retention of scattered trees during conversion to agriculture created agroforestry parklands. Although, the local farming systems are characterised by diverse crops in rotation, maize (Zea mays), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) are the most dominant. Maize associated with A. tortilis represents the most dominant agroforestry practice in this area, and was thus, selected for our investigation.A similar study was conducted in Bugesera, Rwanda (2.354°S and 30.265°E), at an elevation of 1397 m.a.s.l. The area is characterized by bimodal rainfall with primary and secondary peaks in April and November, respectively. A short dry season -from January to mid-Marchis followed by a long rainy season from mid-March to June. A long dry seasonfrom mid-June to September is then followed by a short rainy seasonfrom mid-October to December. The annual rainfall ranges from 850 to 1000 mm. This area has a dry season lasting for three months and an average temperature of 21 °C (Verdoodt and Van Ranst 2003). Some of the dominant agroforestry tree species include G. robusta, Senna spectabilis and Euphorbia spp. Soils at Bugesera are humic and haplic Ferralsols. In Bugesera, the current study explored interactions between G. robusta and maize under different N and P fertilizer management.Tree-crop-fertilizer interaction was explored for wheat growing under crowns of F. albida (Mojo, Ethiopia), and maize growing under A. tortilis (Meki, Ethiopia) and G. robusta (Bugesera, Rwanda). For each species, selected trees were located in a single field within a farm. We used key informant interviews, group discussions, DBH (diameter at breast height) estimates, and visual observations to select trees with approximately similar ages, crown structures, and pruning history. Most scattered tree species are known for their crown asymmetry (Sileshi et al. 2014). To avoid fertilizer redistribution problem because of these asymmetry, we purposively selected trees showing crowns very close to symmetrical distribution in the plot. We selected trees in such a way that North-South crown diameters did not deviate from East-West crown diameters by more than 5% (Table 1). In addition, we assigned fertilizer treatments randomly so that the asymmetry effect on the result is minimized. As farmers usually prune trees every 2-3 years, we selected trees that are in their second season after pruning (i.e., the experiments had been completed before the trees reached the next pruning cycle). Plots measuring 10 × 10 m were established around each tree, with the tree at the centre. The trees selected for the experiment were a minimum of 40 m away from any other tree in the field. Within the same field, another plot of the same size was established in an open field, at least 40 m away from any tree. The open fields were also a minimum of 40 m away from the experimental tree as well as any tree in the field. Each of these plots (under tree canopy and open field conditions) was split into four sub-plots, measuring 4 × 4 m and received different mineral fertilizers. The 10 × 10 m plots were considered main plots, while fertilization was a subplot factor. Open field and under canopy plots received inorganic fertilizers as: no fertilizer /control (N − P − ), P only (P + N − ), N only (P − N + ) and combined N and P (N + P + ) as sub-plot treatments (Fig. 1). The fertilizer treatments were randomly allocated within the main plots. In Ethiopia, this setting was replicated in four farms and repeated over two seasons. In Rwanda, the experiment was replicated in three farms and repeated over four seasons. Individual trees for a particular species were selected to be as similar as possible. Tree heights and canopy diameters (East-West and North-South) for the selected trees were measured to fix the DBH, canopy radius and height of the selected trees to be within 5% of the size of the first purposively selected tree, in order to maintain reasonable similarity between selected trees.Trees were managed following farmers' typical practices and plots were managed following recommended practices. Wheat variety 'Kilinto', maize varieties 'Melkasa-2 and PAN4M21, which were well-adapted to the respective environmental conditions, were used in Mojo, Meki and Bugesera, respectively. Plots where N was used as a treatment were fertilized with 64 kg ha −1 N (split applied 50% at sowing and the remaining side dressed six weeks after planting). In plots where P was used as treatment, 30 kg ha −1 P was broadcasted at sowing. For wheat in Mojo, seed was drilled at a spacing of 20 cm between rows at a rate of 150 kg ha −1 . For maize in Meki and Bugesera, a recommended spacing of 70 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants was used.Crop growth and development data were collected at two weeks interval starting 30 days after planting. At harvest, dry biomass and grain yields were estimated. For maize, yield was sampled from five central rows, leaving the border rows. For wheat, yield was estimated from a sub-plot of 9 m 2 at the centre of the experimental plots. For both crops, samples were dried at 65 °C for 48 h to estimate dry matter yield.Because our data was generated from contrasting seasons and agroecologies, we made comparisons of treatment effects for each site separately. We used split plot ANOVA for mean separation in R (R Core Team 2017). In the model (Eq. 1), treatment (i.e., under canopy vs open field) was considered main plot factor, while fertilization was treated as a sub-plot factor.where, Y ij(k) represents across season maize or wheat grain yield, TR i(k) is the i th treatment (i.e., under tree canopy or in open field condition) nested within the k th season, FR j is the j th type of fertilizer, SN k is the k th season, ε is the residual, and where, α, β, γ, μ and λ represent regression coefficients for the main and interaction effects. The effect 'season' was used as a grouping variable (i.e., the comparison between treatments was performed, ignoring the variation between seasons), while farms were treated as replications in the model. Interactions and main effects that had little explanatory power, i.e., variables with F-values lower than 0.1, were removed. Statistical analysis was performed with square-root-transformed values for maize grain yield from Meki to follow normal distribution. For Bugesera, the grain yield followed a Poisson distribution and its data was analysed assuming this distribution. Where transformed data were used, mean comparison was  made on a back-transformed least squared mean, i.e., on the mean that was adjusted for other factors.In addition to causing variations in yield, the treatments are likely to be associated to crop failures or extremely low yields. The probabilities of crop failure and low yields were computed using Eqs. 2 and 3.where, P 0 is the proportion of plots characterized by crop failure for a given treatment, Y 0 is the number of plots characterized by crop failure (i.e. plots yielding no grain harvest at all) and Y t is the total number of plots in the whole experiment.Where, P i is the proportion of plots characterized by critically low crop yield under a given treatment, Y i is the total number of plots with critically low crop yield and Y t is the number of plots in the whole experiment. All yields that were two standard deviations lower than the mean grain yield were considered critically low.We also computed agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) for under canopy and open field treatments using Eqs. 4 and 5, respectively (Vanlauwe et al. 2011). This was mainly because we hypothesized that the possible increase in organic matter content under the canopy of trees may improve nutrient use efficiencies in agroforestry systems.where, NUE represents agronomic use efficiency for nitrogen (kg/kg), Y N represents grain yield (kg ha −1 ) from treatments where nitrogen fertilizer was applied, Y C represents grain yield from the control (open field treatments where no fertilizer was used [kg ha −1 ]) and F APN represents the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied as a treatment (kg ha −1 ).where, PUE represents agronomic use efficiency for phosphorus (kg/kg), Y P represents grain yield from treatments where phosphorus fertilizer was applied (kg ha −1 ), Y C represents grain yield from the control (open field treatments where no fertilizer was used [kg ha −1 ]) and F APP represents the amount of phosphorus fertilizer applied in the treatment (kg ha −1 ). Equations ( 4) and ( 5), respectively, were applied for treatments where N and P were applied. Treatments that did not receive the respective nutrients were excluded from the analysis on nutrient use efficiencies.Neither crop failure nor critically low yield was recorded from F. albida-wheat systems. The probabilities of maize yield reduction in A. tortilis-maize and G. robusta-maize systems were influenced both by the presence or absence of trees and the type of N and P combinations used (Fig. 2).In G. robusta-maize systems in Bugesera (Fig. 2), the probabilities of crop failure for under canopy maize were 25.0%, 15.0%, 17% and 8.0%, for the control, P only, N only and combined NP treatments respectively. By comparison, the probabilities of crop failure in maize were less in the open field. It was 10.0%, 7.5%, 6.0% and 7.0%, respectively, for the control, P only, N only and combined NP fertilizer applications. The probabilities of critically low maize yield in under canopy treatments that received no fertilizer, N only, P only and NP were 45.0%, 33.0%, 33.0% and 13.3%, respectively. The probabilities of such a low yield were relatively lower for the corresponding open field treatments at around 8.0% for all treatments.In A. tortilis-maize systems in Meki (Fig. 2), the probabilities of critically low maize yield in under canopy treatments that received no fertilizer, N only, P only and NP were 13.3%, 13.3%, 8% and 8%, respectively. For the open fields, there was no critically low yield under the combined application of NP. The probability of crop failure for the other fertilizer treatments (control, N only and P only) in the open fields was similar: around 8%.The presence of F. albida trees and fertilizer application showed a statically significant effect (P < 0.05) on wheat grain yield in Mojo (Table 2 and Fig. 3). The interaction between the type of NP fertilizer used and the presence of F. albida trees was also statistically significant (P < 0.001).Grain yield under the tree canopy was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than grain yield in the open fields (Table 2), when both treatments did not receive any fertilizer. Application of P only to wheat under canopy produced significantly higher (P < 0.001) grain yield than any open field treatments, except the NP treatment. For example, application of P only to wheat under canopy resulted in twice as much grain yield as wheat in open field plots receiving the same fertilization.The N only treatment resulted in comparable wheat grain yield in open field and under canopy treatments, indicating that N fertilization of wheat under canopy did not lead to yield gain, contrasting with P fertilization. Combined application of N and P produced significantly higher (P < 0.001) grain yield for wheat under canopy of F. albida compared with wheat in open fields. The combined NP treatment under canopy produced significantly larger yield than any other treatments. Open field wheat did not respond to application of P only fertilizer, resulting in yields that were comparable with the control treatment (Fig. 3) and significantly smaller than under canopy wheat receiving no fertilization.Effect of NP fertilizers on maize yield in A. tortilis-maize systems Under A. tortilis-maize systems in Meki (Table 1 and Fig. 4), maize yields were lower under tree canopy than in open fields (P < 0.001). Mean maize grain yield in the open field was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than maize grain yield under the canopy of A. tortilis, regardless of the N and P treatment used (Table 2).Fig. 2 The probability of crop failure (no grain yield) and critically low yield (yields of −2 standard deviations from the mean) in A. tortilis-maize and G. robusta-maize systems with control (N − P − ), P only (N − P + ), N only (N + P − ) and NP (N + P + ) fertilizer applications. Note: the broken vertical lines represent the threshold for critically low yield, calculated as the difference between the mean and two standard deviations, while the solid vertical lines represent the sum of the mean and two standard deviations.Table 2 Summary of the results of GLMM models for explaining the variability in grain yields under F. albida-wheat (Ethiopia, n = 4), A. tortilis-maize (Ethiopia, n = 4) and G. robusta-maize (Rwanda, n = 3) systems. Probabilities of significant effects (P < 0.05) are indicated in bold With further mean comparison (Table 3), there was no significant difference in grain yield between the open field and under canopy control. Application of N-containing fertilizer (N alone and combined NP) to the open fields resulted in significantly higher yields compared with the open field control and all under canopy treatments (Control, P, N and NP). Application of P only to open field produced comparable grain yields to under canopy maize that received no fertilizer. N only and combined NP fertilizers applied to under canopy plots resulted in maize grain yields that were only comparable to open field plots without any fertilization (control). Under canopy maize that received P only, resulted in significantly higher yields than under canopy plots that received no fertilizer.Effect of NP fertilizers on maize yield in G. robusta-maize systems For G. robusta in Bugesera (Table 1 and Fig. 4), the presence of trees and fertilizer application showed a statically significant effect (P < 0.05) on maize grain yield. The presence of G. robusta trees significantly reduced maize grain yield (P < 0.05), regardless of the fertilization used (Table 4). All under canopy treatments resulted in significantly (P < 0.001) less maize yield compared with any of the treatments in the open fields. The only exception was under canopy maize that received combined NP fertilizers, which was the highest yielding among all under canopy treatments. It resulted in comparable (only 5.4% lower) maize yield with the open field maize that did not receive any fertilizer (control). Compared with the unfertilized maize in the open field, the presence of G. robusta trees resulted in a 75.7%, 61.0% and 50.0% reduction in grain yield for no fertilizer, P only and N only treatments, respectively. For open fields, separate application of either N or P fertilizers resulted in comparable maize yields. By contrast, application of N only resulted in significantly higher maize yield than application of P only to under canopy maize.An interesting result from G. robusta-maize systems was that with the control, use of P only, N only and combined NP fertilizers (Table 4 and Fig. 4), maize grain yield under the canopy showed a progressive and significant increase (P < 0.001). This can point to the conclusion that fertilizer rates different from those currently recommended for the area may enhance productivity of maize in these systems (Table 4).Tree-crop interactions and agronomic fertilizer use efficiencies NUE and PUE varied across tree-crop systems (Figs. 5  and 6). In F. albida-wheat systems (Fig. 5a), application of N only fertilizer did not improve NUE of under canopy wheat compared with open field wheat. By contrast, NUE was 17.4% higher for under canopy compared with open field treatments when combined NP fertilizer was used (i.e., 23 kg grain for every kg of N applied on the open field wheat, while it was 27 kg for under tree canopy wheat, on average). This indicates that P is more limiting than N for wheat production under the canopy Of F. albida. In A. tortilis-maize systems, under canopy treatments showed consistently lower NUE values compared with open field conditions (Fig. 6a). NUE was 35% higher for  open field maize (48.3 kg of grain for every kg of N added) compared with under canopy maize (31.4 kg of grain for every kg of N added). Similarly, PUE in maize was 9% higher for open field plots compared with under canopy plots (Fig. 6b). The inefficient nutrient use does not appear to be related to the sole availability of nutrients between under canopy and open-field soils (Table S1).In G. robusta-maize systems, the majority of under canopy maize showed inefficient utilization of nitrogen and phosphorus, as evidenced by negative NUE (Fig. 6a) and PUE (Fig. 6b). NUE was 13.2 kgkg −1 for open field conditions, while it was extremely low for under canopy treatments (0.1 kg of grain for every kg of N added). Similarly, the PUE was significantly lower for under canopy maize (0.5 kg of grain for every kg of P added) compared with open field maize in Bugesera (29 kg of grain for every kg of P added). Under the current study, the type of mineral fertilizer applied to under canopy maize did not cause significant variation in the nutrient use efficiencies of maize associated to G. robusta. This may imply the existence of factors in addition to nutrient affecting nutrient utilization by under canopy maize.The outcome of fertilizer-tree-crop interactions depends on tree species and crop type Our results clearly demonstrated that different on-farm tree species interact uniquely with crops, resulting in different responses to N and P fertilization. With the exception of F. albida, perhaps the most ideal agroforestry species, the other two tree species under the current study raised the old question of tree-crop compatibility for optimum productivity (German et al. 2006). While maintaining these trees in the system is beneficial for biodiversity and associated ecosystem services (Pattanayak and Mercer 1998;Bhagwat et al. 2008) and income generation (Steffan-Dewenter et al. 2007;Sida et al. 2018a), our results raise least two main concerns. The first is whether fertilizer recommendations should consider tree-induced heterogeneity, which is common in many farming systems of SSA to address the negative effects of these trees on crops. The second is whether these systems require redesign such that trees are rearranged in ways that minimize their negative effects on crops.On the other hand, tree-crop compatibility appears to be dictated by the type of associated crop. Wheat under the canopies of F. albida responded positively to tree presence. This contrasts with maize, which usually underperforms in the presence of trees (Ndoli et al. 2018). Similarly, Noumi et al. (2011) reported from the Mediterranean ecosystem that A. tortilis shades suppressed yields more in wheat than barley.In A. tortilis-maize system, low yields and crop failures were more probable under tree canopy compared with open field conditions. This could be due to the fact that tree-crop competition is particularly high for this tree species and will intensify under moisture stress condition (Noumi et al. 2011). In support of this, Rao et al. (1997) argued that the positive influence of scattered trees on crops may be offset by large competition of trees with crops for water, especially during dry seasons. Low yields and complete crop failures observed in our study could also be attributed to such competitions. Because tree shades can cause significant delay in the vegetative development of understorey crops (Page et al. 2011), crops may fail due to shortage of moisture at the grain filling stage.Similarly, the probability of low yield and crop failure were higher under tree canopy than under open field condition for G. robusta-maize systems. This agrees with the findings of Ong et al. (2000), which showed crop failures to be more prevalent under the canopy of G. robusta. Other studies have suggested that presence of trees poses consistently negative effects on grain formation in G. robusta-maize systems, affirming that the increased probability of crop failure could be due to competition (Muthuri et al. 2005).Interestingly, the probability of low yield and crop failure varied with the NP fertilization in tree-crop systems (Fig. 2). In both A. tortilis-maize and G. robusta-maize systems, treatments that involved N fertilizer (i.e., N only and combined NP) reduced the probability of low yield and crop failure. Moser et al. (2006) demonstrated that grain yield increased with an increasing N rate for maize exposed to pre-anthesis resource limitation (moisture and nutrient stresses). N fertilizer improved yields under the canopy indicating that competition for N was part of the reason for yield suppression under the canopy. This seems, at least partly to explain, why application of N-containing fertilizers (N only and NP) reduced the probability of low yield and crop failure. In addition, the significant positive response to fertilizer under trees may reveal that nutrients were more limiting than other resources, especially under tree-crop environments.Crop response to N and P fertilization varies with the tree-crop system Results from our omission trials in F. albida-wheat systems revealed that N was strongly limiting in the open field soils of the study area (Fig. 2), contrasting with under canopy soils. For example, under canopy treatments that received no fertilizer and open field plots that received N only resulted in comparable wheat yields. This suggests that this tree contributes, directly or indirectly, mineral N about 64 kg N ha −1 yr. −1 , which conforms to recent findings by Yengwe et al. (2017), who reported F. albida to fix about 96 kg N ha −1 yr. −1 (i.e., 18 kg N ha −1 yr −1 from litter decomposition in addition to about 78 kg N ha −1 year −1 from native soil organic matter).Application of P only caused a contrasting response in wheat yield for under canopy and open field conditions. Open field plots that received P only fertilization did not respond compared with the open field control, while addition of P only to under canopy plots resulted in large gains in wheat yield. This could refute the suggestion that F. albida trees might selectively establish on initially fertile spots (Nair 1993). Although, Dangasuk et al. (2011) reported that F. albida improved available P underneath its canopy, our results suggest that phosphorus limited wheat yields under canopy. However, N may become limiting once P and other nutrients are no longer limiting.Our results imply that wheat yields may be improved under F. albida with minimum N fertilization. However, further research is needed to assess the optimum crop stage to apply this small amount of N: e.g., at planting, booting or first node stage, the three stages when N uptake by wheat is high (Justes et al. 1994). Our results also suggested that farmers practicing agroforestry with F. albida might invest their limited resources on localized P application instead of N fertilization.In A. tortilis-maize systems, under canopy grain yield was not statistically different between all fertilizer treatments, suggesting that N and P may not be limiting in these systems. Although A. tortilis is known to fix nitrogen (Schulze et al. 1991), we did not observe any positive nutrient impact of the tree on the crop growing under its canopies. The presence of trees had a clear negative effect on maize yield. This could be explained by the dense root system of A. tortilis in the top soil (unlike roots of F. albida that penetrate deep) overlapping with maize roots, intensifying competition for nutrients and soil water (Belsky 1994). Stressing the imof competition for soil moisture under A. tortilis, Noumi et al. (2011) demonstrated that crop yields under the canopy of this species were significantly higher during relatively wet years compared with relatively dry years. Our findings also agree with Larcher (2000) who showed soil moisture stress, not nutrients, to be the most important factor determining crop yield under the canopies of this tree. In addition, under canopy maize could not respond to nutrients as a result of heavy shade known to reduce photosynthesis in graminacea (Belsky 1994).While fertilization rates under the current study were those recommended for conventional conditions, our results suggest that the application of fertilizer in combination with A. tortilis did not influence maize yield. In addition to tree canopy and root management to reduce tree-crop competition (Lehmann et al. 1998;Jackson et al. 2000), further study to disentangle alternative fertilization practices that may reduce tree-crop competition in A. tortilis-maize systems is required.In Rwanda, the presence of G. robusta resulted in an average yield decline of 75%, 61%, 59% and 38% for control, N only, P only, and combined NP fertilizers, respectively, compared with maize outside the canopy with similar fertilization. While maize yields for N alone and P alone treatments were generally comparable, the highest yields were always recorded in the treatments that received combined NP for both under the canopy and the open field. The lowest yield decline (38%) under the canopy of G. robusta as compared with the corresponding open field treatment was observed for combined NP fertilizer application, suggesting that higher N and P rates compensate for tree-crop competition. This result corroborates earlier findings of maize grain yield being affected by shade at kernel setting stage when faced with nutrient limitation (Andrade et al. 2002), resulting from competition between trees and crops. A recent study also reported that the shade from trees may affect grain formation negatively by decreasing kernel rows per head and kernels per row (Cui et al. 2015), although additional negative effects from root competition is expected in agroforestry systems (Callaway and Walker 1997). An interesting trend in G. robusta-maize system was the significant increase in yield with additional fertilizer, suggesting that fertilizer rates other than currently recommended for open field systems might optimize under canopy maize yield. As G. robusta is known for its timber (Bertomeu 2006) and phosphorus mobilization (Lambers and Shane 2007), higher rates of mineral fertilizer could improve its contribution to the overall productivity of the system.The contrasting outcomes (i.e., yield declines in G. robusta and A. tortilis and yield improvement in F. albida) in fertilizer-tree-crop combinations could be related to the differences in tree root plasticity, which is a process that affects the root's foraging capacity depending on the nutrient availability surrounding the root (Leitner et al. 2010;Chen et al. 2013;Henke et al. 2014). From root excavation studies on G. robusta in Rwanda (Ndoli et al. 2016), F. albida and A. tortilis in Ethiopia (Sida et al. 2016), only F. albida showed a deep tap root with few laterals. G. robusta and A. tortilis had dense lateral roots mostly concentrated in the top soil. According to Chen et al. (2013) roots can adjust the direction of growth following resource gradient. In this case, the laterally branching roots of G. robusta and A. tortilis could behave in such a way, which could be the reason why we did not observe much improvement from nutrients added under their canopies. By contrast, the deep penetrating roots of F. albida may not respond in a similar manor, because the chance of these roots becoming in contact with the soil P patches (created by treatments applied under a single tree) is lower.It has been established that combinations of organic materials and mineral fertilizer can improve nutrient use efficiencies in crops (Goyal et al. 1999;Han et al. 2004). As trees add organic matter to the soil through litter fall, dead roots and N 2 fixation for some species, nutrient use efficiencies could be higher for crops growing under their canopies. Addition of N to the soil in the form of N 2 fixation may increase NUE in two ways. It improves the total amount of available N under nitrogen-deficient conditions (Hirel et al. 2011), while it improves nitrogen availability under nitrogen-rich conditions (Xu et al. 2012). Our results confirmed this assertion for F. albida-wheat system, where NUE was larger for under canopy wheat. Similarly, PUE was doubled for wheat under the canopy of F. albida. This F. albida effect is interesting, as inefficient P use has been a major constraint in agricultural systems across the tropics (Simpson et al. 2011). In SSA, where limited availability of P is a critical limitation in cereal production, F. albida-based agroforestry systems could improve food security in the regions where this tree dominates.However, the presence of G. robusta and A. tortilis resulted in inferior nutrient use efficiencies in maize. N and P deficiencies, which are likely to happen because of competition from tree roots, could be one of the causes for low nutrient use efficiencies (Simpson et al. 2011). The other explanation for the inefficiencies could be low radiation penetration resulting in low rates of photosynthesis in maize (Setter et al. 2001). Although nutrient use efficiencies by maize are low and often negative in tree-crop systems, van Noordwijk and Brussaard (2014) argued that system level nutrient use efficiency analysis (for example, if the yield of G. robusta were included in the analysis) may give a different perspective. According to Sida et al. (2018a), a farm-scale comparative analysis of ecosystem services, which included A. tortilis from the same region, indicated that farmers' rationale to maintain scattered trees within crop fields were not for yield purposes alone. The trade-offs that arose from the presence of these trees were off-set by the fuel wood, conservation, construction and social values obtained from these trees.While this study has highlighted the need for adapting fertilizer application in heterogeneous tree-crop systems, stronger conclusions have been constrained by an unbalanced experimental design, the lack of soil fertility data and possible effects of root plasticity in response to resource patches created from our treatments. In future studies that aim to explore optimum fertilization in tree-crop systems, a balanced design combining more crops with single tree species and a single crop with more tree species would lead to a better understanding of mineral fertilizer-tree-crop interactions, particularly in highly heterogeneous farming systems as the ones considered in this study. Inclusion of soil fertility parameters and a larger number of replicates would also enhance our understanding of the mechanistic processes involved in these interactions.The current study demonstrated that tree-crop interactions are mediated by the application of N and P fertilizers in tree-crop systems. In F. albida-wheat agroforestry systems, N fertilizers could be saved, with localized application of P fertilizers close to tree crowns. In G. robusta-maize and A. tortilis-maize agroforestry systems, maize did not respond to N and P fertilizers applied at recommended rates, although the application of these nutrients compensated for competition. This implies that mineral fertilizers can offset the effect of competition, while they fail to provide the yield advantages similar to mono-cropping situations. Thus, the current study highlighted the fact that fertilizer recommendations need to be adapted to agroforestry systems. However, in order to quantify the exact magnitude and nature of fertilizer-tree interaction in agroforestry systems accurately, factorial application of higher and lower rates of mineral fertilizer is needed. In addition, further research is needed to identify fertilization rates that minimize tree-crop competition for G. robustamaize and A. tortilis-maize systems, while additional studies are needed to identify the rates and timing of application that optimize F. albida-wheat facilitation.Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.","tokenCount":"6348"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7134288226.json b/data/part_1/7134288226.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..181966c7cbfce72d9d6b2b5adabe8d09c7cf334d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7134288226.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd0b44cedb0a70f6fca7f329e2db3446","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5aecb38c-5d4c-4a8e-a3c3-0e3535a69b47/retrieve","id":"-443478651"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bab610ac-d8ca-4645-b6c5-7c8082c87a9f","pagecount":"1","content":"Cassava biofortification has been a successful strategy focused on reducing the menace of micronutrient deficiency among the most vulnerable groups of people (pregnant women and children under age of 5) in Africa. Strategic integration of innovative research activities with delivery and dissemination platforms (Fig. 1) has yielded significant impact in producing and promoting biofortified food products with increased nutritional value. Cassava varieties bred for higher levels of provitamin A content have been released and distributed in Nigeria and DR Congo with research in progress in over 10 other countries in Africa.More than 50 biofortified cassava genotypes with total carotenoid content higher than the best released variety are in the pipeline in advanced breeding stages and national performance trials. To scale biofortification, partners are testing genotypes with total carotenoids content for incorporation into national breeding programs (Fig. 6). Genotypes in current national performance trials include IITA-TMS-IBA141092, IITA-TMS-IBA141099 and IITA-TMS-IKN120016 with total carotenoids content ranging between 13-17 µg/g fresh wt.Over 4000 individuals have been trained on processing and storage of biofortified cassavabased products. Additionally, NARS partners have been trained on carotenoid quantification using iCheck™ (Fig. 5). 260 participants were collectively trained on cassavabase and data collection using the fieldbook application in Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria between 2015-2017. Hybridization generates large populations of families for screening, selection (Fig. 2a & b) and further evaluated in different breeding stages (Fig. 3). A total of seven biofortified cassava varieties with total carotenoid content (TCC) ranging from 8-12 µg/g fresh wt. have been released (Table 1). Through our various strategies, it is expected that more than 2 million farming households will be planting PVAC varieties and at least 17 million people will be consuming vitamin A food products in their regular diets in 2018 resulting in a vibrant and stronger cassava value chain with multi-sectoral engagement and new nutrition based markets for cassava in Africa.    ","tokenCount":"310"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7135590111.json b/data/part_1/7135590111.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bda044396e7eda3ad2d715e8adf546429afa4681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7135590111.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d53dbbdfe2ed221c2b6691f15ab5725d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e845052c-8b01-4906-9f81-2638dbfaeb84/retrieve","id":"-1564275680"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"76cd0429-52e0-4ce1-953e-e91a75faa61d","pagecount":"12","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.ILRI identified the pig sector in Uganda as one of nine livestock systems worldwide where research investments are most likely to make a major difference to the livelihoods and diets of poor people. Since 2012 CGIAR Research Programs (CRP) Livestock and Fish (L&F) and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) have conducted research on the pig value chain performance, challenges and opportunities, for enhancing the pork sector. The new m-Pig project supports CRPS 1) L&F by piloting innovative methods to disseminate demanded information to pig value chain actors, to increase pig growth and reproductive performance on farm, improve market access for poor value chain actors, and ultimately improve food security through increased pork production; and 2) A4NH through applications on pig zoonoses, production of safe pork, and improved human nutrition. It directly builds on research work by CRP L&F and A4NH, being funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Irish Aid, and BMZ (through the Safe Food Fair Food project). The project targets pro-poor smallholder pig value chains in Uganda. The collaborations greatly enhance the probability of success and ultimate development impact of the project. The m-Pig project links farmers, traders, butchers and consumers to the information platform. This ILRI-led project is funded by BMZ and has Vétérinaires sans Frontières Germany (VSF-Germany) and Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) as partners.An inception workshop was conducted on 15-16 January 2015 in Kampala, Uganda to launch project activities, discuss approach to be followed and jointly, with partners, develop a work plan for the activities.Project PI Kristina Roesel briefly introduced the objectives and expected outputs of the meeting:  present and discuss the proposal, objectives and activities  lessons learned from other m-projects, i.e. Community Animal Health Network (CAHNET)  identify target audience for project  identify delivery mode for mPig  identify target intervention area(s)  present and discuss the work plan and timeline of activities (including budget implications)  discuss partner's roles and responsibilitiesThe agenda and list of participants are found in Annex 1 and Annex 2 of the report.Session 1: Discussion points on the overall proposal, objectives and activities Florence Mutua outlined the activities proposed and approved by BMZ. The presentation was followed by an extensive discussion -application approach and opportunities:  Opportunities to apply for a bigger BMZ grant after successful completion of the mPig project (up to 1.2m Euro for 3 years) The push (where mPig system sends out alerts) versus pull (where end users request for information) mechanism  Individual versus group mechanism: The CAHNET project was designed to allow for group subscription. Each group had a chairman who communicated messages to the group members during physical meetings sessions. CAHNET experiences were that, after some time, individuals in the group started subscribing to the system on their own, partly because their chairmen started keeping received messages to themselves, instead of sharing it with members of the group, as would be expected. Kamuli was one of the sites covered by CAHNET. Research needs: which method works best, message delivered through agrovet, or extension workers or to farmers directly; evaluation-does it work (i.e. do farmers gain financially from alerts) and what does it cost, and the need to include biosecurity (KAP), willingness-to-pay studies in the project, etc. Question on whether the value chain actors' needs are already known and if solutions to these have been identified. Yes, that is the data generated during the extensive ILRI led value chain assessments. Lack of knowledge has been identified as a major constraint by all value chain actors (general knowledge like husbandry practices and specific knowledge like silage preparation for pigs) -mainly because pigs are a livestock species, relatively new to Uganda. There is vast material, i.e. the 8 training modules for farmers developed by CRP L&F that can be the source of information for mobile messaging. Farmers usually have multiple enterprises; those without pigs may ask why they are not included in the study. This is a pilot study with an initial focus on pig value chain actors only. . Bundle charges, subscription and sharing of revenue with service providers was a hindrance to use own USSD codes. An option was to lease codes from those that had subscribed-was also a challenge. Easy-to-remember phone numbers was an option but attracts roaming fee (server and provider was in Nairobi, end users in Uganda), USSD-is now not free  Lesson-livestock information is not easy to package, not like for crops.  Capturing GPS coordinates of end users possible (would help verify location of the person sending the message). Collaborations with Kenya livestock marketing association (sourced pigs) or government during vaccination days (worked very well -vets went to homes and farmers were almost 100% at home -good response rate and easy to measure)  The groups are still there (project did not form new groups but used existing groups)  Need for a commercial partner to make it sustainable -CSR? may not be a long-term solution because eventually providers or Agribusinesses will want to make money  Media houses who run agricultural shows could be partners: revenue sharing; these shows use platforms like this for backstopping etc., project was being approached to be a source of content for the shows. Short call programming for cost targeting: higher fee for traders could sustain lower fee for farmers  In Uganda cost for subscriber were 220 UGX per SMS but that was ok; Used system successfully to trade manure, animals, also could be used as an opportunity to send alert messages when bonuses are released ","tokenCount":"966"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7151352605.json b/data/part_1/7151352605.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a2ef42f3db5822b4793887c0828f7bc562c2a6dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7151352605.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0691d7b17076221855e42d0620c7ca00","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e68d22d-30db-4881-a4e4-0d4ef46878f0/retrieve","id":"-1538032693"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ca4c027-24a9-493c-9338-56848de1a5fb","pagecount":"19","content":"Welcome to yet another edition of the EADD-Uganda news letter.The piece provides progress achieved by the dedicated Uganda team. Great strides have so far been made to sensitize and mobilize farmers, studies taken to understand the implementing environment while assessing the project impact at the same time, farmers have been trained and linked to dairy value chain Business Development Services. A number of activities have been rolled out to ensure that we transform the lives of 45,000 small holder farmers. The articles provide a highlight of what we have achieved so far and our focus ahead. We are also privileged to hear from the recipient communities about the benefits realized out of their engagement with EADD.Over the past period, the country team has weathered storms but risen above the challenge. A lot more is ahead of us but we are more than prepared to make our contribution towards poverty reduction in this country. Review meetings have consistently indicated greater enthusiasm among smallholder farmers to partner with EADD as they forge ahead towards a better living standard. We will be there for them with a hard task of making their lives a little bit better.As we enter the second year with a lot of backlog from year one, we find ourselves facing a stream of bad and good news. The events of recent months have brought a combination of great hope and perhaps even greater uncertainty to us in EADD. We have been buoyed by new challenges which bring promise of renewed commitment to basic principles of due process of diary value chain. At the same time, the global credit crunch has meant fewer financial resources -from the private sector and communities alike -to contribute equity for at least the next two to three years. I keep on smiling whenever, I hear my colleagues in EADD project contending that EADD is a complex project. Serious socio-economic problems confronting our communities today, must be addressed with very innovative and sustainability strategies. The EADD complexities have principally cultivated a new breed of great strategic thinkers. If we challenge our negative thoughts and do not give them credence and power, we neutralize them. I enjoy interacting with such a proactive team which must ensure EADD initiative maintains its relevance to the communities while demonstrating its complete commitment to the project overall agenda.In the midst of the challenges, I take hope in the certainty that the core values built around partnership and collaboration will foster a continued successful creation of systems appropriate to achieve project agendas. In continuing to serve its client community, EADD operations therefore, for the next quarter will require continual updates and training firmly focused on cooperative and human resource development to provide capacity to share best practices and ideas. Mutuality among partners and collaborators will need to remain tick. I believe that if you think positive thoughts and focus yourself on something you want, very often you achieve it. To all of you, best wishes for a wonderful and more fruitful new year 2009.Note from the Country Director Note from the Country Director Note from the Country Director Note from the Country Director Heifer Project international Uganda Heifer Project international Uganda Heifer Project international Uganda Heifer Project international Uganda Mr. Patrick Nalere Mr. Patrick Nalere Mr. Patrick Nalere Mr. Patrick NalereThe project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) as part of an agricultural development grant designed to boost the yields and incomes of millions of small holder farmers in Africa and other parts of the developing world so that they can lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty. EADD envisions to see the lives of 179,000 farmers in East Africa transformed by doubling household dairy income through integrated interventions in dairy production, market access and knowledge application.On-farm production is being improved by: increasing the volume of milk produced, improving milk quality and reducing loss through spoilage, and providing access to production inputs through business delivery services.Milk production is being increased through artificial insemination (AI) to improve local breeds of dairy cows and through improved animal nutrition.Market access is being improved by: developing traditional market hubs (TMs) of business delivery services and chilling plants (CPs) that facilitate market access, linking producers to formal markets through processors, and increasing producers' benefit from traditional markets.The project is also enhancing the dairy farmers' understanding of fundamental business practices and ability to access finances.The project is aiming to accomplish these aims through coordinated, farmer-focused interventions that integrate to develop small holder profit-participation in the dairy value chain. The project is providing extensive training in organization development and dynamics, animal agriculture, business practices, plus other related subjects. Women and youth are particularly being targeted for inclusion in both the benefits and leadership.These include to: generate information for informed decisionmaking on the dairy value chain and to develop innovative solutions for use of resources that increase income; expand dairy markets and increase market access for smallholder farmers; and sustainably increase dairy productivity and efficiency Key components and benefits of EADD -Uganda• Establishment of TMs• The formation of farmer business associations with a range of business services to farmers and traditional traders including AI and animal health/extension services, veterinary drugs, farm equipment and inputs, feed supplies, access to financial services• Extensive training and a wealth of knowledge in group dynamics, improved animal husbandry, animal breeding• dairy business practices and other related subjects• Affordable access to AI services and related products thus improved animal breeds and productivity• Improved fodder varieties which will improve animal nutrition and animal health for better milk quality• Improved milk production, quality, demand and reduced milk losses• Leveraged farmers' position with traditional traders through collective bargaining and competitive dairy markets thus improved incomeThe project promotes two hub models Chilling-plant hubs (CPs) where typically 2,000 to 5,000 farmers belonging to smaller groups organize as a single dairy farmer business association (DFBA) for the purpose of milk bulking, chilling and transportation.Traditional-market hubs (TMs) where farmer income is increased through improved traditional milk markets.The hub comprises of about 1,000 farmers under a DFBA to attract input services and build business development services (BDS) provider capacity.In Uganda, EADDP aims to work with 45,000 families lift themselves out of poverty by developing 10 milk collection hubs with Chilling plants (CPs) where farmers bring raw milk for bulking and chilling before pick-up by commercial dairies. Additionally, 5 traditional market hubs (TMs) will be established where activities will seek to achieve multiple goals including to: provide a range of business services to farmers and traditional traders; leverage the farmers' position with traditional traders through collective bargaining; and improve the demand for quality milk.  A fascinating story is told about the humble beginnings of Heifer International. It is a widely known story in Heifer International circles that a wonderful hero and its founder, Dan West in 1944 while working as a relief worker in USA developed a great idea to assist people affected by World War I. His idea was \"not a cup but a cow\" . Dan West and a team of relief workers were supplying aid to people affected by the war. They were giving powdered milk to affected families. He realized that supplying powdered milk was not sustainable but instead supplying the source of milk, the heifers.Dan West may be long gone but his original idea still lives on. Backed by Heifer International values, the 12 cornerstones 1 for just and sustainable development and acronymed PASSING ON THE GIFTS, holistic and demand-driven approaches, Dan West's original idea has contributed to improvement of livelihoods of more than 300 communities comprising of more than 10 million poor families in 128 countries world wide .The spillover of Heifer International intervention to needy communities in Uganda was through small scale dairy farming when in 1982 the first dairy heifer project under Church of Uganda, Gulu Diocese was supported. Since then, Heifer International Uganda has promoted dairy development using its popular approach of mobilizing Community Based Farmer Groups (CBFGs). Heifer International has worked in Uganda with directly over 23,000 families and indirectly over 1.8 million persons, sharing knowledge and resources and has alleviated human suffering by assisting communities to improve food security, increase household incomes while protecting the environment. Using community based farmer groups, Heifer International assists small holder farmers who are needy and living on 1-5 acre pieces of land to manage quality and high yielding dairy heifers and goats in stalls or cow/goat sheds. The heifers/dairy goats are distributed to individual families constituting a farmers' group.The farmers' groups come together to address common themes like poverty, malnutrition, environmental degradation, gender inequality and HIV/AIDS. The groups approach Heifer International to loan them the goats and families are mobilized and trained in integrated goat farming. The training covers areas of; farm/home planning, pasture/forage establishment and management, agro-ecological practices, cow/goat shed construction and socio-economic areas such as family nutrition, home hygiene and sanitation and gender equity. Training is on going and extension workers and Heifer staff train and prepare families to plant enough pastures, build cow/goat sheds and adopt agro-ecological practices such as soil and water conservation and tree planting. The use of the group approach has several advantages; easy to train a number of farmers at ago rather than one farmer at a time, use of group pressure to monitor management of the heifers/goats distributed to the group and implementation of the process of the passing on the gifts. In that process, every family trained, prepared and loaned a heifer/ goat (s) has to donate (pass on) to another needy family within the group including passing on knowledge gained through training to others who have not been trained by Heifer.To ensure that farmers gain economically from dairy farming business, Heifer trains them on quality marketing and connects them to market linkages in the value chain system. This requires farmers to organize themselves and market as a group rather than individually and this has the advantage of bargaining for better prices for their products (milk, heifers, and goat offspring) and also reduces on transportation costs when moving them from farms to the market. The East African Dairy Development Project (EADDP) come on board to play a vital role in enhancing the marketing of surplus farmers' milk using a hub model.Heifer Project. needy farmers like the one next to the plant are supported to market their surplus milk.EADD Uganda continues to mobilize farmers By Dr. Allan Bisagaya, Livestock Specialist , EADD UgandaThe East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project aims to move smallholder women, youth and men farmers out of poverty by improving their profit participation in the dairy value chain in the central districts in Uganda. The vision of success for the EADD is that lives of 45,000 households or approx. 252,000 people is transformed by doubling dairy income by year 2010 through integrated interventions in dairy production, market-access and knowledge application.In order for EADD Uganda to achieve its vision, the project developed a farmer mobilization strategy in a participatory manner to be able to reach its targeted quota.The farmer mobilization strategy characterized farmers based on the farmer holdings, previous interaction with Heifer International Uganda or other NGOs like Send A Cow Uganda, farmer trainings received before, and the business the farmers are doing as a group.Among the strategies used by the project was the highly publicized National Launch of EADD in Uganda in July 2008. Additionally sensitization meetings were conducted at various levels including the district officials, executives of groups, opinion leaders and individual farmers. BDS providers, existing CBOs, churches, ToT trainings in group dynamics and farmer exchange visits to Kenya were also among the various avenues used for sensitization and mobilization.The key message in the mobilization has been on the Chilling Plant and the Traditional Hub model highlighting entry points for the various stakeholders and encouraging farmers to form cooperative societies/DFBAs. While working with the community EADD has been keen on organizing and strengthening dairy farmers to effectively manage dairy business by including women and youth in the field activities undertaken. Currently after the mobilization, there are 17 women and 9 youth in the leadership positions. The trends for this are positive and it is expected that more will enroll into the EADD activities.However the mobilization of farmers has not been a rosy affair and has its share of challenges which include among others:• It is a process, yet a time consuming activity and does not necessarily produce quick or visible outputs.• Some of the Coops are still in their infant stages of group development (lack constitution, struggling with leadership, low membership , lack of offices , weak internal systems, etc) to manage finances.• It requires the workers involved to be sensitively aware of the concerns and feelings of the farmers and to respond to these with respect and patience.• It requires the agencies involved to hand back power and responsibility to the farmers themselves.• It can be difficult when the needs expressed by farmers cannot be matched with available external resources.• It requires a community to be open and available to dialogue -populations that are controlled or coerced by a minority may have difficulty in engaging with external agencies.As part of development these challenges are expected and to remedy them, EADD employed a competent diverse team that seeks to improve the livelihoods of farmers in the project area.Farmer MobilizationA cross section of participants attending a mobilization meeting in Luweero dairies which currently has a capacity of 6,000 ltrs of milk per day and making products of pasteurized milk, and flavored yoghurt. Farmers also visited St. Jude Projects Busense, Gayaza women's saving scheme and some selected model farmers.Farmers were able to visit and learn from both small holder and large scale farmers.The main objectives of the study tour were to learn on the following; How small holder dairy farmers have been mobilized into Cooperative Groups, How volumes of milk are increased and milk spoilage reduced at household level, and How small holder dairy farmers access production inputs through business delivery services (BDS)The theme of the exchange visit was \"Okugenda Kulaba,Okudda Kukola\", literally meaning that all participants who participated in the study tour would see, learn, and on coming back, they would put into practice what they saw and learned.Asked about what they had learnt during the study visit, the farmers were able to enlist the following among others:• Compounds can be utilized to grow vegetables (kitchen gardening) instead of children using such big compounds to play various games which are not very productive to the family's well being.• Locally available resources can be used to achieve high quality yields on relatively small pieces of land.• Women can also work hard and prosper through farming. A case was taken of Ms. Kiiza of St Jude family project, a learning center coordinated by a woman for many years after death of her husband.• A small piece of land can be utilized for several family projects through determination and hard work.• cleanliness of the home and the general surrounding were a key requirement for a successful small holder farmer• That keeping of records was not only for business men or office people, but it is vital for each individual home stead to be able to know the daily income and expenditure for planning and saving purposes.• Unity is strength. Farmers progress more if they work not as individuals but through groups.Farmers were also introduced to the 5 \"main commandments\" which they should follow to reach sustainable development; The farmers hailed the good cooperation, respect and trust among their host groups of farmers, especially the Gayaza women's saving scheme, which was operated at the village level. The message to learn from this group was clear that \"poverty has no boundaries or religion. It is a sickness which affects all people. Farmer groups should not be discriminatory in their activities because it will result into group conflicts and divisions\".The leader of the farmers' delegation, Mr. Edward Ssebuufu was very grateful to EADD for taking the initiative to organize for study tours and bring farmers to practically learn from other farmers and dairy groups like MADDO. \"Following the theme of the study visit, it is therefore expected that all the participants are determined to practice the newly acquired skills and knowledge to increase farm and dairy production\", Said Mr. Ssebuufu.\"I have liked the study tour and the model farmers visited because they were relevant to the subject matter of alleviating poverty of the small holder farmers by working through groups\" said Ms Rose Bukenya, one of the participants of the study tour.Cycling to spread the EADD Gospel By Beatrice Bamulesewa Nabwire, M&E/Information Officer, EADD UgandaAs one of the strategies to involve more farmers to participate in the East Africa dairy Development (EADD) Project -Uganda activities, a number of Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) were identified and trained. The ToTs will not only help to train other farmers, but will also help in mobilizing the farmers in the various project areas However, after training and passing out, one major constraint was quickly identified and pointed out by the ToTs. This was the lack of transport means to reach the farmers given the long distances involved. The ToTs requested EADD -Uganda to facilitate them with transport and bicycles were suggested.It was not long before their request was granted. \"EADD -Uganda has so far purchased 160 bicycles to be distributed to the ToTs. \"We shall facilitate more ToTs as we continue to identify and train them in all the project sites\" Said Mr. John Musisi, the Organization Development Coordinator who is in charge of training farmers in group dynamics and governance issues Two official bicycles flagging ceremonies were organized in two EADD -Uganda sites. This was at BUBUSI Dairy Cooperative Society in Busunju, Wakiso district (TM site) and at Luweero Dairy Cooperative Society (CP site). Guests at both functions included various district dignitaries, local leaders, development partners and faith based organizations from the districts of Wakiso and Luweero respectively. Particularly for Luweero, the Mayor of Luweero town council, Mr. Moses Sempagama who is also a dairy farmer was in attendance, and he underscored the many benefits from dairy farming. The Archbishop of Luweero Diocese Church of Uganda was also represented.Of course the ToTs and farmers in attendance had no better words to express their appreciation. Singing and dancing, big smiles and laughter plus ululations every now and then were part of their way of expressing joy.In addition to the bicycles given to the ToTs, farmers have already realized other benefits from the EADD -Uganda project including high quality AI and liquid Nitrogen, trainings in group dynamics and governance, experience learning from study tours to successful dairy hubs in Kenya and a variety of improved fodder and legumes for the animals. \"We expect to benefit even more from EADD -Uganda in terms of more farmer trainings, local and external study tours, sourc-ing of milk buyers; and we are very optimistic on acquiring our own chilling plant and milk testing equipment\", said Hajj Muhammad Mubiru, Chairman of Luweero Dairy Coop society. The ToTs pledged to use the bicycles to mobilize and train more farmers.In his remarks, the Country Project Manager of EADD -Uganda, Mr. William Matovu, emphasized to the farmers and ToTs that dairy farming is a profitable business and that EADD belongs to the farmers. He encouraged them to mobilize more farmers to join the dairy cooperatives. He urged the ToTs to use the bicycles to mobilize and train more farmers and to be role models to other farmers. He also urged them to include the women and youth because they are also a major target of EADD. \"Women bear much responsibility for farm work, contributing up to 80% of food production and some women are house hold heads. The youth share almost similar constraints like women, especially as far as asset ownership is concerned. Developing the capacity of youth is expected to create long term viability in farm management\" said Mr. Matovu.The chief guest at both functions was none other than the Country Director Heifer Project International-Uganda, Mr. Patrick Nalere. In his address, he said that the causes of poverty among people include idle minds, lack of knowledge and information, and lack of markets. He promised that EADD will try to change the people's mindset and provide knowledge and information through various trainings and interactions. He encouraged the farmers to manage their cows as a dairy business for profitability, and to form or join cooperatives in order to enjoy the related benefits.The function was a major news item on major radio and TV stations including the national television (Uganda Broadcasting Cooperation) and newspapers. This is expected to boost the number of farmers joining the cooperatives to participate in EADD-Uganda activities.Cycling to spread the EADD GospelThe Country Director Heifer Project International Uganda, Mr. Patrick Nalere, handing over bicycles to ToTs in Luweero while the Country Project Manager EADD Uganda , Mr.William Matovu, looks on (Extreme right)In addition to the bicycles given to the ToTs, farmers have already realized other benefits from the EADD -Uganda project including high quality AI and liquid Nitrogen, trainings in group dynamics and governance, experience learning from study tours to successful dairy hubs in Kenya and a variety of improved fodder and legumes for the animals.Ugandan farmers participate in exchange visit to Kenya More Uganda farmers learn from their Kenya counterparts By Beatrice Bamulesewa Nabwire, M&E/Information Officer, EADD UgandaIn October 2008, EADD Uganda organized another external farmer exchange visit to Kenya in which a total of 69 farmers selected from EADD-Uganda sites participated in the visit to successful chilling plants and farmers in Kenya.The farmers visited 2 chilling plant sites; Kinangop (Muki) Dairy Company Ltd and Nyara farmers Dairy Coop Society.This is located in North Kinangop, Nyandarua division, Naivasha, central province of Kenya, the farmers learnt many issues related to formation and management of a dairy cooperative, milk collection, handling and quality assurance, joint marketing, and how to source for development support. This is a community based cooperative located in Nyahururu division, Ndaragwa district, central Kenya. The cooperative's activities include milk bulking, Agrovet shop, SACCO, and AI services. While here the farmers learned also about BDS, milk transportation, milk quality and formation of SACCOs offering savings and borrowing to members and some of the major driving factors for farmers to cooperate, some of them being the need for the milk market and the transparency in running the cooperative.Farmers also visited a successful farmer, Mwalimu Lawrence Njuguna Munywa (MAFAD Farm) of Karua sub-location, Kihara location, Kiambaa division, Kiambu east district, central province of Kenya (Matatu route 107). Mwalimu is a trained teacher who retired after 30years of teaching, and there after undertook courses in animal management, fodder management, calf management and milk processing. Mwalimu started rearing zero gazing animals in 1982 with only 2 cows and through selective breeding; he currently owns 40 cows Holstein Fresians and Jerseys. His story inspired the farmers especially to know that he is able to manage well all these cows under zero grazing at his home in a plot of land of 25 decimals (0.25 acres) in size. He grows the grass for making hay and silage and conserves the grass himself at his home Mwalimu sells some of the milk locally at his home but delivers most of it to the dairy. The local sales help to generate money to run daily activities while money at the dairy is paid to him monthly in bulk. From the milk sales he bought more land, and built modern houses for his 3 sons and a storeyed building where he has put milk processing machines . At Mwalimus's farm, farmers learnt among others:• New methods of planting napier for the animals which make the napier to grow faster and also in very large quantities• Planting grass, making silage or hay and storage• Feeding animals on hay, silage, and other feed supplements including chicken droppings• Animal breeding and record keeping• Cow defects and how to detect and mange themAt the end of it all, the farmers were very happy for having participated in the exchange visit and conveyed appreciation for they said they had gained a lot of knowledge and had received so many challenging inspirations from the sites they visited. They were very enthusiastic and pledged to put into practice what they had seen and learned.Some farmers who participated in the exchange visit have started passing on the gained skills and knowledge to other farmers back home. Some of them are also now helping EADD Uganda as farmer trainers Farmers learning how to make silage at MAFAD farm during the exchange visit to Kenya EADD Uganda trains Farmer Trainers not only help to train other farmers, but will also help to create farmer structures at grassroot levels (parishes) that will feed into the larger cooperatives. From this training and future trainings, it is anticipated that there will be an increased outreach to farmers by the AHPs through clinical services at a fee, farmer training and field days in the community, advisory services to farmers, drug shops owned by some AHPs, and regular feedback from the field on activities undertaken by the AHPs.In order to enhance the role of AHPs in providing animal health services and on farm checks for milk quality assurance to improve the quality of milk provided to Chilling Plants and processing centers, EADD Uganda plans to organize more refreshers courses in Animal Health and Breeding for the identified AHPs. Some of the AHPs are to be accredited as AI technicians. The workshop was also attended by several partners including ILRI, Heifer Project International Uganda and Kenya, the African Highlands Initiative, research organizations, NGOs, farmers and private companies.Passing on the Gift of Knowledge for improved fodder By Jane Kugonza, Dissemination Facilitator, EADD UgandaThe World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), one of the EADD Uganda implementing partners is working together with other development stakeholders like Namulonge Agricultural research institute and farmers to develop strategies and options for improved animal nutrition. Together with the partners, extension providers, farmer leaders and farmers, a number of farmer trainers have been identified, engaged and trained to train other farmers in improved fodder technologies.In Mukono, one of EADD Uganda project sites, it is evident that the farmer trainers have picked up with zeal and are already training other farmers. One such successful trainer is Ms Sara Karagi who has been able to train over 30 farmers in a period of two months. She tells her story; \"As a widow, I have multiple tasks to perform in addition to being a farmer trainer. I look after two families, mine and that of my co-wife who died. This is a challenge but I have sacrificed time to train my fellow farmers on how to grow and manage fodder crops to increase milk production from our cows. I am motivated by the fact that being a farmer trainer has made me popular. I meet many people as they pass by my fodder demonstration garden, at church, in women groups and village meetings. I train these informally and my joy comes when I see them appreciate and take on the new fodder technologies to improve their milk production and income. Since I don't pay for the knowledge I receive as a farmer trainer, then I must pass it on as a gift for free. The extension worker Mr. Enock Mukalazi and the EADD staff advise and monitor what I do on my farm. This has encouraged me to improve my feeding practices'' Sarah says that she has faced a few challenges as a farmer trainer including transport limitations. Sometimes she wishes to travel from one village to another or even go to other parishes but being an elderly lady, she can not walk long distances. She also finds a challenge in handling multiple tasks which she has tried to solve by involving other family members to assist her.Sarah's example shows that using farmer trainers is an effective approach of passing on new farming technologies to many farmers in a relatively short time and in a more cost effective manner. Farmers learn more from fellow farmers whom they easily identify with and whom they believe share similar problems and challenges. If Sarah is able to train 30farmers in two months, it means that she can train 180 farmers in a year.Passing on the Gift of Knowledge for improved fodder Dissemination Facilitators hold annual workshop EADD Uganda is a Heifer project which started in January 2008 to operate in central region (13 districts) in Uganda. With Heifer's mission of eradicating poverty, ending hunger and caring for the earth, the purpose or aim of the project is to add value of the millk, helping farmers to access milk markets, helping farmers to form cooperatives linking producers to formal markets through processors and developing local hubs for increasing producers' benefit from traditional markets and delivery of business services like AI, improved fodder and animal health.The benefits EADD being a project that offers support to organized groups; it encourages farmers to form dairy cooperatives and where necessary, facilitates the farmers through this process including recommendations to the ministry of cooperative for registration issues. EADD goes ahead and connects these cooperative farmers to banks for financial support in terms of loan advances. The cooperatives are intended to last for centuries if they are well sustained by the farmers. This implies that EADD helps farmers to pool up their scarce resources to form a strong economic activity, which will make a big impact to the beneficiary communities. Through development of local service hubs and access to business development services such as AI, Agrovets, animal health, and the installation of CPs that facilitate market access by linking farmers to processors, the small holder farmers are developing profit-participation in the diary value chain. These farmers are going to see success way beyond the expiry of the funding years of the project.Extensive trainings given to the farmers are very vital to ending hunger, eradicating poverty, and even to caring for the environment. This is a very good benefit for the farmers as they acquire knowledge and skills which are very helpful not only to the individual farmers and their families, but also to the community at large who are able to tap into the knowledge.EADD acts as a uniting factor as farmers are mobilized in the community of the same locality with the aim of forming cooperatives and making it easy for EADD to train them in various skills like organizational development and governance, group dynamics and resource mobilization among others.It is HPI's norm to discourage farmers from being given hand-outs. Farmers are highly encouraged to work hard which is a necessary principle of ending hunger. The farmers are helped as they help themselves for sustainable reasons. This is what EADD is encouraging in dairy farmer cooperatives.EADD, being implemented in a partnership of international organizations including HPI, TNS, ILRI, ABS-TCM and ICRAF, there are backward and forward linkages as farmers are being connected worldwide. For example, farmers exchange visits where farmers go to the different participating countries, they learn a lot from these visits. A case in point is when farmers from EADD Uganda went for an exchange visit to Kenya CP and traditional hubs where they learnt a lot of things including dairy cooperative management and improved animal husbandry. Actually, after this study visit, some farmers from the pastoral areas of Kiboga have adopted the zero grazing system due to its benefits.The self esteem of farmers is also something to mention. Many farmers who participated in the study visit to Kenya have become \"very important and knowledgeable people\" in their communities. It is not un-common to listen to such farmers telling their experiences and giving advice to other farmers and in so doing; they are also spreading the EADD gospel of the benefits.Even receiving important visitors like those from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), HPI and other partner headquarters has boosted the status of the communities. Kiboga West is one of such communities where they now talk of themselves as being \"international\" and being known \"internationally\" and \"by one of the most famous development funding foundations (BMGF)\".The farmers' attitude is very important in implementation of EADD. This is in the sense that if the farmers are not ready to play their roles religiously, EADD can not do everything for them. In the pastoral areas, farmers are slow to change the way they are doing things, including slow adoption of AI and rearing more beneficial breeds in terms of milk production.In many societies, women and youth involvement in development activities is discouraged. This is in addition to the fact that the youth and women do not own important resources like land, even cows. Their views on issues do not normally count. This is likely to affect negatively on EADD's effort to see that those categories of people actively participate in the project Over expectation by farmers, and like in many parts of the developing world, farmers always expect to get every thing on a silver platter.However, all that mentioned, with experienced and highly skilled and motivated team of staff, I strongly believe that the communities are going to greatly benefit. The cordial relationship between the staff and farmers shows that there is already indentified success by the project to the communities and much to the pride of the implementing staff.*Prices are not guaranteed and are subject to change without notice * Prices are only per straw. The inseminator adds his fee, transport/distance to the farm, sheath, glove, lube, liquid nitrogen, communication, and administration to calculate the cost of an artificial insemination service EADD Uganda was also a key player in advocating for the partial lifting of the semen importation ban by the government.However, a number of challenges still exist:• The current intermittent production of liquid nitrogen in Uganda demoralizes farmers as well as the AI technicians• The wide spatial distribution of registered dairy hub members who are targeted to receive services is a major challenge.• The wide use of natural mating bulls is a major challenge in pastoral areas because the farmers in these areas are cultural adherents to bulls. The good news is that the demand for AI services by the farmers is growing by the day. With continued sensitization, training, provision of high quality services, AI refresher courses, bringing services closer to the cows by setting up AI satellite centers (that provide liquid Nitrogen, proven semen, sheath, gloves, tanks, ear tags, ear tag applicators, breeding calendar, cow life cards IDs among others), the benefits will continue to be realized.Artificial Insemination (AI), in this respect, is the process of using sperm cells collected from a bull with proven high production and artificially depositing them into the reproductive tract of a cow.The potential benefits of AI include: The breeder can choose the best males e.g. for milk production for use as parents; It reduces the costs associated with raising and managing the bulls on the farm; it reduces the chances of inbreeding; It reduces the transfer of venereal diseases between bulls and cows because the AI collection process allows for the screening of disease agents and the collected semen is routinely checked for quality; It allows for increased efficiency of bull usage whereby semen collected from a single ejaculate can be diluted and extended to create hundreds of doses; . The semen can be easily transported, allowing multiple females in different geographical locations to be inseminated simultaneously; Semen can be stored for long periods of time; therefore bulls can produce offsprings long after their natural reproductive lives have ended; and AI eliminates accidents and injury that may arise due to the usually relatively larger and aggressive adult bulls than the cows.The potential shortcomings of AI include: AI can be a more tedious effort; Bulls instinctively detect the cows that are on heat.With AI the detection becomes the responsibility of the farmer, where poor detection results in decreased rates of fertility; and The intense genetic selection during AI may lead to decreased variation in the cows population and therefore the need to balance between selection and variation.Artificial Insemination for improved animal breeds 029AY07649_Baltimore 029HO10241_Hess 029HO11054_Accent 029HO11413_Fearless 029AY07649_Baltimore Daughter 029HO10241_HESS461 029HO11054_Accent 029HO11413_Fearless 029JE03274_GUNNER 029JE03274_GUNNER_3QuartersCows Breeds-PictorialBy Dr. Mugisa Kihire William, EADD UgandaThe words Strategy and Marketing shall be defined right away before we embark on talking about strategic marketing.The word, Strategy rightly belongs to the military lexique, and is defined as a plan of war or plan of battle, believed to have originated from the Chinese author, Sun Tzu who called it the 'art of war'. This envisages the attainment of positions, postures and other advantages and putting into action the ways and means for the partial or total destruction of the enemy. And, supreme excellence in war consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting, or without firing a single shot! One becomes an enemy when all hope is lost for a negotiated end of a conflict or issue, and war is declared (where force and deception are the cardinal principles), and as they say, in war as in love, all is fair! It therefore follows that to end a state of war one needs to restore hope to the hopeless! A strategy is the assembly in a coherent and efficient manner of actions and decisions that support the choice of the ways and means that have to be implemented, and the proper allocation of all resources necessary for the partial or total destruction / overcoming of the competition.It goes without saying that a strategy is multi-faceted, and there is not one universal strategy that is there for everyone to replicate. Instead there exists a mosaic of all possibilities and many ways how these are adapted to the myriad of situations that present themselves or are orchestrated to elaborate particular strategies.In elaborating a strategy, Strengths are built upon, Weaknesses are addressed, Opportunities are exploited and Threats are nipped in the bud or extinguished.A good strategy has three basic purposes; 1. It must be a record of analysis, so that the logic behind every action can be checked. This is precisely because the strategy has to be feasible, consistent and show likely consequences. 2. It should show soundness of approach so that one can visualize how specific actions go from one to another in a flowing manner. 3.It must be able to attract empathy, sympathy and support from other stakeholders so that the end result or impact is achieved cost-effectively.Marketing on the other hand is the whole business seen from the point of view of the customer/ consumer. (Peter Drucker). Marketing involves the exchange of value for value and therefore there has to be a buyer, a seller and the product (goods, services or ideas) at an agreed exchange or perceived value. To be able to satisfy needs and wants of the buyers and sellers it is imperative for one to understand that buyers pay for benefits that products have: These are SAFETY, PERFORMANCE, APPEAL, COMFORT, ECONOMY and DURABILITY. The marketing environment (socio-political) must enable certain factors to be operative for a good market to exist. At least seven items need to be mastered for a good market to exist are: (4Ps) Product, Place, Promotion, Price, and (2Cs) Customers and Competition, and Risk management. Successful marketing operations are those that are effective at rendering customer satisfaction and achieving competitive advantage; they are also those who concomitantly excel in efficiently allocating resources and integrating their functional actions. Good marketing is doing the right thing so excellently that the customer can come to you and say 'That is great. I am satisfied with your product!' Doing the right thing excellently, the first time and all the time for the customer is efficient marketing. Therefore the most important internal asset of an organization is its human resource, while the most important external asset is its customers. To implement any strategy one needs a complement of highly motivated staff that goes to efficiently service the customer base, defend the market share and grow the business. That way profits and other benefits begin to be realized sustainably. The human resource must be right if the best strategy is to get off the drawing board. Execution or best implementation is thus attained if the human resource is fit for the job. The reverse is also true.Every successful enterprise elaborating a marketing strategy is well advised to have some unique qualities and merits. A closer look at, and study of, the major success stories the world over have revealed these handy tools as they are herebelow described and there is no earthly reason why they should not work for you.1. There is Visibility. 'Seeing' is believing; Enterprises, which invest in visibility, are considered serious and are, so to speak, announcing their intentions to any or all doubting Thomases their capacity to perform a good job or to fight the good fight! In any case there is the adage that the apparel proclaims the man! If you want to be portrayed as a royal you must dress like a king, and a king who does not dress like a royal will be considered a fluke. Is it not true that a candle should never be covered by a basket? To be visible to both your customers (to inspire confidence in them), and to the competition (to create in them the fear of the Lord) is a smart move. This is achieved through presence and such items as uniforms and other apparel, advertisements of visual nature like television, printed materials, billboards, banners, packaging etc.2. A good warrior must remain in a permanent state of urgency. This allows the strategy to keep on course without losing its steam. An enterprise should therefore take a stance that her enemies (the competition) are wide-awake even in the dead of the night, all the year round to maintain and exceed a competitive edge. The motto for Scouts of \"Always Be Prepared\" is spot on. This helps to avoid the so-called ambushes that have wrecked havoc on not so few organizations that are found napping. The urgency in an enterprise is to be found at all stages of its operations, beginning with the time 'Think Tanks' are employed in the elaboration of the strategy and a vision is pronounced, the mission declared, the purpose internalized and the objectives stated to the stage of implementing and execution of the activities to achieve results and attain organizational goals.From the Expert: Strategic MarketingNotes on Strategic Marketing (cont'd)Caption describing picture or graphic.The stated objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. Efficiency (doing the right thing right, the first time and all the time) makes the whole difference.Being busy per se is easy. You only need to be busy, expend precious energy, but have no work done! A permanent state of urgency also entails efficiency. This calls for support supervision, monitoring and evaluation including operational research and feedback.3. There is the need to seek and acquire continuous feedback on what is being planned and implemented. This serves as a safety valve or audit trail for the whole system. All situations are temporary and the only permanent constant is change. An enterprise must have the means of adapting to sudden changes or else it dies. It is NOT enough to manage change! The strategy should include actions that orchestrate change. That way the competition is left to cope with the new situation on the ground or perish. A robust system of monitoring and evaluation must be operative at all levels of the strategy. This can be conducted by in-house human resource or by hired hands. The acquisition of information or research matter for the enterprise can be passive or active; Overt or covert. It is wise to use all these ways and means.4. A good warrior should be able to induce a generic effect. This means that other stakeholders can be inspired to copy and apply the example you have set. What may have began as a small idea snowballs into something to reckon with, and with wide ranging generic effects. From then on the warrior has a fifth column in areas not yet reached physically. This translates into reduced costs and effort. Examples of inducing a generic effect include the use of advocacy (Information, Education and Communication), pedagogy, oratory, and networking with stakeholders, advertising and publicity, investing in public affairs and personnel relations.5. It is imperative that a good warrior enterprise should have an Identity Mark that sets her from the rest or stand apart from the crowd. This feature helps you to get noticed and not to be confused with fakes, copies or clones. In the business world there will always be those whose strategy is to fool the unsuspecting customers to buy that which is not up to specifications of the real thing. An identification mark should preferably be backed by the force of law to significantly reduce these craftsmen to manageable level. It is advisable to Gazette such Identity Mark. This Identity Mark also reduces the hassle the customers would have to go through to easily identify and get what they want.6. There is the fact that the price of your products must be protected.Prices have to be protected if profits are to be realized. The shareholders will always expect to enhance the worth of their investments. The revenue generated from the operations should always soar above the costs, in order for a reasonable return on investment to be realized. Price is a major compliment of the revenue in any serious organization. The real dan-ger of a price war is mutually assured destruction! It should therefore be avoided like the plague.7. The marketing strategist should erect barriers (against competition) at the entry into the market place, while reserving for self exit strategies! It is a necessity that once a competitive advantage has been obtained it should be protected, kept and where possible enhanced. These barriers can take the form of legal framework e.g. exclusivity clauses, physical placements or even cartels. Buy-outs, hostile takeovers, some mergers and conglomerates are some of the business examples where the winner wants to keep out the competition. Alternatively, you help the competition to exit the market place. The end result is the same.If you can position yourself as morally superior to the competition you will have a field day in the market place. A well functioning public affairs and personnel relations department will deliver this much sought-after goodie. Goodies will also come with prestigious research and development of your products (or a meticulous application of the copy and apply stratagem); and a customer friendly human resource supporting these products auger well in establishing moral superiority. It translates into credibility and trust that a quality service will be dispensed at a moment's notice. The marketing function will have to determine the market segment and target market which currently utilize the product and decide how to operate and when to do so. Once this target market is defined the activities of penetrating it (or excluding others from it) can then be elaborated and implemented. Various strategies focusing on market share and return investment can then be put into action to achieve measurable results.The mode of product manufacture and fabrication provide a fertile ground for research and development. This will reveal the technological level reached and the capacity of change or the lack of it. High levels of technological advancement will place a major hurdle for those with lower levels. The history of the spear and gunpowder is clear testimony of what happens when low tech and high tech systems meet for a clash.Once a product is manufactured it should reach where it is required to satisfy customer needs. This calls for an efficient distribution system that includes a robust network of distributors and agents, a functional supply chain management system and a concerted promotional campaign. While excellent promotion brings the people to the products, an efficient delivery and distribution system brings the products to the people (Logistics of the supply chain e.g. storage, packaging and shipping).The volume of purchases is another area marketing research should encompass in order to achieve development of a market segment or niche. This is because revenue is a function of volume of purchases, and turnover and rate of turnover are significant determinants of the robustness of an enterprise. Different pack sizes will yield different rates of turnover. For example because of low purchasing power of the customer a small pack size may be amenable to his pocket and allow him to be captured among the customer base. Similarly, more distributors can be accessed if their aggregate level of purchases does not expose the enterprise to un-necessary risk. The reverse is true for those who do not have the capacity to maneuver.The nature and composition of the clientele should be given serious consideration when conducting research and developing new products or finding new uses for existing products. It is important that cognizance be made of the different buying behavior of the different age groups, social strata, and socio-cultural setups among the clientele. Peer pressure has long been recognized as an important element in behavior change. So is the sense of belonging that is important for nation formation and building. This survey should also reveal the people with the final decision to buy; the people who are lobbyists and assist in influencing the decision to buy; and the so-called \"china eggs\" with no capacity whatsoever of ever delivering any results.Knowing the nature and composition of the clientele is one thing. Locating them by geographical or spatial distribution is another equally important function of any serious R&D effort of a marketing nature. This will lead to their identification, isolation and then looking for the best means of delivering to them the goods and services. This is what is referred to, in political speak, as getting nearer to the people or being able to work at the grassroots.The product itself should merit serious attention when it comes to R&D efforts. Indeed many people associate most R&D matters to the product attributes. The position of the product in the matrix of product portfolio is of utmost importance, precisely because without knowing this one merely helps the competition to devour that product and it has led many enterprises to collapse without trace. The results of the research in this area will reveal whether the product is a cash cow, rising star, question mark or dead weight of the enterprise. Arising from this will be decisions of milking the product in case it is a cash cow; investing in the product in case of a rising star; further development or wait and see for the question mark product; and outright divestiture for the dead weight product. Analysis of data from marketing research will guide an enterprise on whether or not to proliferate the products in a particular niche or to do selective branding and promotion. Whereas a description has been made for one product, the same logic is applicable to a range of one product (e.g. different packs, or different dosages) or several of them.These are the different types of Enterprises existing in everyday life:• Those that do not understand what is happening around • Those that demand to know what is happening • Those that contemplate on the events that happen • Those that understand the events happening • Those that provoke the events that happen It is now up to you to choose where you belong, and where you aspire to move! Notes on Strategic Marketing (cont'd)cium intakes may reduce high levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, and increase low levels of good cholesterol both of which are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease. 4. Reduced obesity. Contrary to popular belief people who consume milk and dairy foods are likely to be slimmer than those who do not. 5. Reduced Type 2 diabetes. Regular consumption of low fat dairy products can help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, which has been a long standing problem in adults, and is becoming increasingly common in children and adolescents. It is thought that this effect may be due to the combined effects of many beneficial nutrients found 6. Reduced risk of cancer. Increased intake of milk has a protective effect on risk of both colorectal and breast cancer. Calcium and a naturally occurring fat in dairy products known as Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) have been suggested as protective components in colon cancer. 7. Hydration. In order to remain adequately hydrated, it is recommended that we consume 6-8 cups of fluid each day. Milk is an excellent choice of fluid as it not only re-hydrates the body, but provides a host of beneficial nutrients and protects the teeth at the same time! The efficient production and harvest of high quality milk is the goal of most dairy farmers. High quality milk is visually appealing, free of adulteration and meets specific quality standards for somatic cell count (SCC), and bacteria. Producers of high quality milk know that a consistent method of pre-milking udder hygiene and the uniform attachment of properly milking methods are important.According to History, cows being milked were recorded as far back as 9000 B.C. In Uganda, cattle keeping has been a crucial activity for some communities and milk has played a big role in the diets of people. But of course there has been and there are problems in producing good quality milk at all levels of value chain.Production of high quality milk is the concern of almost all people, whether they are the direct consumers of the dairy products or they derive a living from the dairy industry through direct employment or otherwise. Distributors -large and retail, milk and milk product processors, dairy cooperatives, state regulatory departments, veterinarians, and dairymen are all concerned.Over the years, modern technology has rectified some of milk quality problems and today a wide array of safe, wholesome dairy products are available for consumers. However, some of these are still not yet guaranteed for the local consumers due to lack of equipment/facilities and the technical know-how. It is for such reason that EADD is promoting products and services that are aimed at ensuring high milk quality production.EADD conducts training on Milk Production, Handling and Quality Did You Know............?By Beatrice Bamulesewa Nabwire, M&E/Information Officer, EADD UgandaDairy foods are naturally nutrient-rich providing many essential and non-essential nutrients. Including dairy foods in your diet contributes greatly to your nutritional intake, health and status. Milk is one of the most nutritionally complete foods. It is a naturally good provider of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals for growth, development and maintenance of the body. Relatively small quantities of milk can provide a significant proportion of daily nutrient requirements for all age groups making it nutrient rich relative to its energy content.In addition to its contribution to nutrient intake, increased milk consumption is also linked numerous health benefits including:1. Healthy bone and teeth. Milk and dairy products are providers of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and protein, are all essential for healthy bone and teeth growth and development.2. Reduced high blood pressure. Consuming 2 portions of dairy each day, along with 5 portions of fruit and vegetables as part of a low salt diet can reduce high blood pressure in both adults and children. ","tokenCount":"9207"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7159366060.json b/data/part_1/7159366060.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..54152122e753b9ea8858fd589d40e096ee4c6221
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7159366060.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8bba0ff148e72ee09ddcc87a25cf2a95","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9d447f3b-706d-42da-a946-6faaee09d2fe/retrieve","id":"-1194340746"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"26798ecb-7d8a-4f91-bf31-b999b87f067e","pagecount":"14","content":"This report is part of a collaboration between the Autonomous University of Chapingo (Mexico) and CIMMYT for the mechanization work related with Advances Research Institute (ARIs). The objective of this collaboration is focused on performing a life cycle assessment analysis of a two-wheel tractor compared to animal drawn equipment.The present report describes the progress of this collaboration including the 2-wheel tractor disassembly to analyze and cost the complete manufacturing process (methods, materials, and resources). For this, computer-aided design (CAD) software SolidWorks © was used for creating accurate 3D models of each piece of the tractor, facilitating a detailed visualization of the geometry and operations required for construction. Additionally, to promote capacity building, two training workshops to students were conducted by CIMMYT focused on the development of prototypes of sustainable machinery from a smallholder perspective and the use of SolidWorks software packages for virtual sketching and 3D engineering.Este informe forma parte de una colaboración entre la Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo (México) y el CIMMYT para los trabajos de mecanización relacionados con los Institutos de Investigación Avanzada (IIA). El objetivo de esta colaboración se centra en la realización de un análisis de evaluación del ciclo de vida de un tractor de dos ruedas en comparación con el equipo de tracción animal.El presente informe describe los avances de esta colaboración, incluido el desmontaje del tractor de dos ruedas para analizar y calcular el coste del proceso de fabricación completo (métodos, materiales y recursos). Para ello, se utilizó el programa de diseño asistido por ordenador (CAD) SolidWorks © para crear modelos 3D precisos de cada pieza del tractor, lo que facilita una visualización detallada de la geometría y las operaciones necesarias para su construcción. Además, para promover el desarrollo de capacidades, el CIMMYT impartió dos talleres de formación a estudiantes centrados en el desarrollo de prototipos de maquinaria sostenible desde la perspectiva de los pequeños agricultores y en el uso de los paquetes de software SolidWorks para el esbozo virtual y la ingeniería en 3D.La actividad se realizó en el taller designado dentro de las instalaciones de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, con la participación de alumnos y expertos en mecánica y maquinaria agrícola. Durante esta actividad, se ha logrado desmontar componentes principales del tractor de dos ruedas. Las piezas se han separado y documentado.Imagen 1. Inspección y separación de componentes principales como paso principal para iniciar la generación de modelos 3DLas representaciones tridimensionales de cada componente del tractor de dos ruedas, por medio del uso del software SolidWorks © permiten una visualización precisa y detallada de las piezas individuales, lo que facilita el análisis de su forma y función. Estos dibujos tridimensionales son esenciales para documentar el diseño y la valorización de las piezas.Los códigos de identificación propuestos para etiquetar cada componente de manera única del tractor garantizan una gestión eficiente de los modelos 3D. Es importante mantener una estructura de archivo y nomenclatura coherente para facilitar la identificación y gestión de los modelos.En este apartado se busca comprender los métodos, materiales y recursos utilizados en la producción de estas piezas. Además, se evalúa el costo asociado a la fabricación de cada componente. Esto implica el desglose de los gastos relacionados con materiales y otros recursos utilizados en la producción.Para el análisis de los componentes del tractor de dos ruedas, se realizó la identificación del material y el proceso de manufactura de cada uno de los componentes, estos fueron clasificados según su función y/o condición operativa como se a continuación se presenta: ▪ Elementos de primer orden. Estos elementos sirven de soporte y protección para algún sistema, incluyendo el chasis, guardas, soporte de batería, sistema de escape, depósito de gasolina y manubrio de dirección. Se fabrican con placas de acero galvanizado o acero ASTM A36 y AISI 1018 para el chasis, pintados con pintura a base de aceite para mitigar la corrosión ▪ Elementos de Unión Mecánica: Son elementos de unión móvil utilizados para unir dos o más piezas, como tornillos, pernos, arandelas, tuercas, chavetas, anillos de retención y rodamientos. Varían en tamaños, materiales y tipos de cabeza, con materiales que incluyen acero galvanizado, acero con contenido de carbono y aleaciones para rodamientos ▪ Elementos Estructurales de Segundo Orden: Estos elementos se utilizan para soportar elementos mecánicos móviles, como el monobloc del motor, caja de transmisión, dirección, cabeza del motor, camisa del pistón y cárter. Se fabrican mediante procesos de fundición en arena con hierro colado ▪ Elementos Mecánicos Móviles: Incluyen el pistón, eje del pistón, anillos, cigüeñal, biela, engranes, catarinas, cadena de transmisión, volante de inercia y resortes. Se fabrican mediante aleaciones como SAE 4340, aluminio 4032, AISI 1045, entre otros, según las cargas y funciones específicas ▪ Filtros: Cumplen la función de atrapar partículas finas, como el filtro de gasolina, filtro de aceite y filtro de escape, hechos de aluminio tamizado, fibra de acero y tela de algodón ▪ Elementos Diversos: Esta categoría agrupa materiales que no se clasificaron previamente y se encuentran como elementos adicionales de la transmisión, bomba de diésel, marcha, etc. Debido a las condiciones de funcionamiento y a que no están sometidos a cargas severas, estos elementos se fabrican con acero de bajo contenido de carbono como el AISI 1018, AISI 1020 y A36; para fines prácticos y por costos de producción, se usará el acero AISI A36Adicionalmente, cada una de las piezas que conforman el motocultor fue analizada para determinar el proceso de manufactura que se empleó en su conformación. Para ello, se clasificaron las piezas según el proceso de manufactura utilizado y el tipo de función que desempeñan, obteniendo la siguiente clasificación general:▪ Elementos torneados: Esta sección abarca piezas cuyo proceso de manufactura principal fue el torneado. Incluye engranajes, ejes, cigüeñales, árboles de levas, pistones, camisas del pistón, entre otros. Es importante destacar que, en el caso particular de los engranajes, además de utilizar el proceso de torneado, se empleó como actividad de manufactura secundaria el cepillado para la formación de los dientes. ▪ Elementos rolados: Son aquellas piezas cuyo proceso de manufactura principal fue el rolado.En esta categoría se incluye el sistema de escape (ver figura 7). Vale la pena mencionar que el uso de una roladora para la fabricación de este sistema incrementaría significativamente el costo de producción. Por lo tanto, se recomienda construir la pieza mediante el uso del proceso de \"repujado\", que utiliza como herramienta principal un torno convencional. ▪ Elementos doblados: En esta clasificación se agrupan elementos cuyo proceso de manufactura principal es el doblado de lámina. Aquí se encuentran el tanque de diésel, la guarda de motor, la guarda de dirección, la guarda de batería y el manubrio de dirección. Estos elementos cuentan con procesos de manufactura adicionales como troquelado y pintado. ▪ Elementos por fundición: En esta categoría se encuentran las piezas obtenidas mediante la fundición por molde en arena. Comprende una gran cantidad de piezas como el monobloc del motor, monobloc de la caja de transmisión, monobloc de la dirección, cabeza del motor, masas, tapas de cada sistema, entre otras. Aunque la fabricación de estas piezas es un proceso económico, resulta en la obtención de piezas dúctiles susceptibles a fallar, ya que están hechas de hierro gris.El costo de las piezas se determinó considerando el costo del material y el costo de cada uno de los procesos de manufactura involucrados en la fabricación de las piezas. Para fines prácticos, se presenta el costo de un par de piezas del sistema de escape. Como parte de la segunda línea de acción, se realizaron un par de talleres acerca la mecanización sustentable. Se explico a los estudiantes que esta iniciativa busca lograr la eficiencia de equipos agrícolas que trabajen en sinergia con sistemas agrícolas resilientes y sostenibles, como la agricultura de conservación. Durante los talleres, se presentaron ejemplos del desarrollo de máquinas agrícolas adaptadas para diferentes escalas de operación. Estas máquinas han contribuido a optimizar la eficiencia en el uso de recursos, reducir el impacto ambiental y, al mismo tiempo, mejorar la productividad y rentabilidad de las actividades agrícolas. Para complementar el taller, se proporcionó a los estudiantes las habilidades y conocimientos necesarios para la elaboración de un modelo 3D de un tractor de dos ruedas. Se abordaron aspectos básicos de SolidWorks, instruyendo a los estudiantes sobre cómo generar representaciones tridimensionales de cada componente del tractor de dos ruedas mediante el uso del software para lograr una visualización precisa y detallada, facilitando así un análisis exhaustivo de la forma y función de cada componente. También se resolvieron dudas surgidas durante el diseño del modelo 3D del tractor. Los estudiantes tuvieron la oportunidad de clarificar conceptos y recibir orientación adicional para garantizar la calidad y precisión de sus modelos.Los talleres de formación representan una contribución significativa, al proporcionar a los estudiantes las habilidades técnicas necesarias para contribuir al desarrollo del proyecto. La experiencia de aprendizaje técnico adquirida durante estos talleres será invaluable para los participantes, ya que les permitirá abordar de manera competente futuras tareas de diseño y análisis.Se ha implementado el estudio de cada uno de los componentes que conforman un tractor de 2 ruedas de la marca Dongfeng modelo DF15, además se generaron modelos 3D para un análisis de los procesos de construcción involucrados. Las ventajas que ofrecen actualmente un software CAD permitieron integrar información en forma de metadatos materia prima, masa, volumen, entre otros, pueden fácilmente variar para ajustarse a necesidades específicas. Agregar el costo por cada proceso de fabricación permite medir la contribución de cada elemento respecto al total. Es indispensable para un análisis de ciclo de vida tomar en cuenta factores postproducción como el transporte de los materiales, la venta e incluso la disposición de los desechos resultado de los distintos procesos.-Se generaron modelos 3D de cada uno de los componentes que conforman un tractor de dos ruedas para realizar un análisis de materia prima, procesos de construcción y costos utilizados -Se realizaron talleres de capacitación a alumnos de la carrera de ingeniería mecatrónica agrícola en el tema de mecanización sustentable Anexos ANEXO 1. Listas de asistencia de los talleres de mecanización sustentable ANEXO 2. Captura de pantalla de la lista de componentes del tractor de dos ruedas","tokenCount":"1682"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7160612353.json b/data/part_1/7160612353.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a5f65a49a7b92a5199dc9f8b16e8e1cee67d11c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7160612353.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9086a7ec68c81677aba301a1235d13d6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81bccab0-9dbd-44e2-bc53-68bad5743818/retrieve","id":"-1510932547"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2f534549-e4b6-4ca2-ba66-0ee96b3adfe2","pagecount":"8","content":"This Practical Guide helps pastoralists understand markets for animals and milk.Target your customers. Farmers want bullocks to pull carts and ploughs. They want young females to produce offspring and milk, or good-quality males for breeding. Abattoirs need fattened animals for slaughter. To earn more, try to produce animals suited to a particular type of buyer.Consider when is the best time to sell your animals. Prices tend to be highest in the wet season (when there is plenty of feed and few producers want to sell), and lowest during a drought. Prices also go up before festivals, when people like to buy fattened animals for slaughter. Keep an eye on the calendar, watch the weather, and find out the current price before deciding to sell.Selling meat. Some pastoralists slaughter animals themselves. They sell the meat fresh or cut it into strips and dry it. But it can be difficult to find buyers for the meat, so you may earn more by selling live animals to a butcher.Regular income. Selling milk brings in money every day. You can sell milk directly to consumers, to a trader or to a collection centre that delivers to a dairy.Wet and dry seasons. Animals produce more milk in the wet season. But the milk price is likely to be higher in the dry season. Give your animals extra feed and water so they continue to produce milk at this time.You can make butter, cheese and other products to sell. They keep longer than milk and can fetch a better price.For many pastoralists, selling live animals is their main source of cash.Milk is a regular source of income for many pastoralists, especially for women.What is a market chain? Imagine a rope with knots in it. You, the producer, are at a knot at one end of the rope. At the other end is the consumer, the person who eats the meat or drinks the milk you have produced.At each knot in the rope is someone who buys and sells the animal or its meat or milk. Some ropes are short and have only a few knots. Some ropes are long and have many knots.You sell milk directly to a consumer (two knots in the rope).You sell an animal to a butcher, who slaughters it and sells meat to consumers (three knots).You sell milk to a milk collector with a bicycle, who sells it to a bigger collector with a pick-up, who sells to a market trader, who sells it to consumers (five knots).You sell an animal to a trader, who sells it to a larger trader, who sells it to an abattoir, which slaughters it and sells the carcass to an exporter, who ships it abroad and sells it to a wholesale butcher, who sells cuts of meat to a supermarket, which retails them to consumers (eight knots).If the rope is short, the consumers are probably nearby. You can sell only a few animals at a time, or a small amount of milk. You may get only a low price.If the rope is longer, the consumers are probably far away -in the city or even in a different country. You might be able to sell more and you can earn more. But to interest the buyer you will need to supply good quality and sufficient quantities.The person at each knot in the rope adds value to the product.• You raise the animal or produce the milk.• The trader selects animals, buys enough to fill a lorry, and takes them to market. • A butcher slaughters the animal, cuts up the carcass and disposes of the waste. • A supermarket packages and chills the meat, adds labels, sells it to consumers.Each of these steps costs money: feeding, herding, transport, butchering, packaging, retailing, etc.For the rope to be strong, everyone must make a profit. If they do not, the rope will break, and everyone loses.For example, if some of the animals die on the way to market, the trader will not make any money and will not be able to buy more animals from you next time.Some people think that \"traders exploit herders and make all the money\". Others say that dairies or supermarkets have all the power. But everyone in the chain adds value, pays costs, and takes on risks. For the chain to work, they all need a fair income.Other people are needed for the rope to stay strong.• Veterinarians check the animals are healthy.• Feed suppliers, pharmacies and microfinance organisations supply inputs and credit.advice. • Transport firms move animals, meat and milk from place to place.• Packaging suppliers make containers and labels for the milk and meat.• Local and national governments set rules, maintain security and provide roads, electricity and marketplaces. • Phone companies let farmers and traders get information about prices. Africa's cities are growing, and people there need meat and milk. That is an opportunity for you. You can sell:• Animals directly to an abattoir or to a trader who supplies an abattoir. The abattoir slaughters the animals and sells the meat to supermarkets, shops and schools. • Milk directly to a dairy or to a collection point that delivers to the dairy. The dairy processes the milk, makes butter, yoghurt and ice cream, and sells them to supermarkets and shops. ","tokenCount":"877"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7187616898.json b/data/part_1/7187616898.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a44a8a8d566d3caca8970433afdb4dc830281860
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7187616898.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4122106608db2ceab93bfcc4fd0f77ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d988a4b5-5357-4b9c-b7ca-58ea669cc8d3/retrieve","id":"521960498"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1d7dbcd1-c594-448b-ab66-e88b838e0c27","pagecount":"1","content":"• In 2006, Colombia launched its Strategic Plan for Livestock Production (PEGA 2019) aiming at a reduction of the total area under pasture by 10 million ha until 2019• To achieve this goal, the current production systems, characterized by strong seasonality and a low offer in feed quality and quantity, need to be transformed into more sustainable production systems with higher animal productivity and resilience to changing environmental conditions• Improved forages such as grasses and (herbaceous and shrub) legumes are viable alternatives for livestock systems in adverse environmental conditions (e.g., extreme droughts or floodings, high aluminium saturation in soils) contributing to higher animal productivity, feed availability and environmental sustainabilityMeasuring animal live weight gains in grass-legume forage associations with the aim to:• Identify the forage effect on the animal, expressed in animal productivity per unit area • Animals grazing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Toledo associated with the legume Canavalia brasiliensis (T2) showed the highest individual daily weight gains: 380 g, 125 g more than those grazing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Toledo only (T1)• Animals grazing grass-legume associations (T2 and T3) show higher per area live weight gains (554 and 526 kg/year) than those grazing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Toledo only (T1; 371 kg/year)• The higher per area productivity of grass-legume associations is related to both forage quantity and qualityLive weight gain in Kg/ha/year Animal live weight (Kg)Grass-legume forage associations can:• Be a valuable option for livestock producers for achieving higher productivity levels and for increasing resilience to changing environmental conditions  ","tokenCount":"246"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7209411993.json b/data/part_1/7209411993.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..77ceef88af4092bc39f7d8bbd8698612e40da683
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7209411993.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"012a6a296fc0b70f3b5ac99a30dcae6a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/64835c75-da59-4baf-8984-19e4019324ed/retrieve","id":"-157203438"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a9874cd1-c33a-4f76-a953-ee069b970e3f","pagecount":"16","content":"From the perspective of healthy nutrition and well-being, meat is a good source of protein, minerals (iron, zinc, calcium), and vitamins (A, B12 and other B vitamins) (Pereira & Vicente, 2013;Randolph et al., 2007). As part of a nutrition transition (Popkin, Adair, & Ng, 2012) and livestock revolution (Delgado, 2003), growth of meat consumption in developing countries is likely to increase. According to FAO (2014), average annual consumption of meat in developed countries is 75.5 kg/inhabitant, while consumption of 33.9 kg/inhabitant is estimated in developing countries. Worldwide, levels of meat consumption are projected to increase by 72% in 2030 compared to the situation in 2000 (Fiala, 2008). In sub-Saharan Africa, the demand for meat products is also growing rapidly, increasing by 140% between 2000 to 2030 (FAO, 2011).The projected increase in meat consumption is a sign of a better future with regard to malnutrition levels among the poor in lower-income countries who suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and mainly depend on high fiber and phytate plant-based staples (Neumann et al., 2003). The impact of malnutrition is globally estimated to be as high as US$3.5 trillion per year or US$500 per individual (FAO, 2013). The costs are opportunity costs of economic growth foregone and lost investments in human capital resulting from infections, impaired child development, and mortality (Hoddinott, 2016). In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), over 3.6 million children under five are affected by acute malnutrition annually and 2 million of them suffer from its most severe form (OCHA, 2016). This country is estimated to be losing more than a billion dollars a year to the effects of child undernutrition, which is equivalent 4.5 percent of GDP. Therefore, consumption of meat products could be one of the keys to reducing malnutrition costs in the DRC. However, as argued by Randolph et al. (2007), the negative publicity on livestock and their products is driven by health and food safety concerns related to outbreaks of diseases like avian influenza and the continued debates on the association between the saturated fats and cholesterol found in animal food sources and chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer, contributing to consumer nervousness about meat products. Consumer nervousness affects their WTP, purchase, and consumption of meat products, thus exacerbating the malnutrition level and related costs in developing countries. Nevertheless, consumers' choices are influenced by many factors that ultimately shape purchasing decisions. Font-i-Furnols and Guerrero (2014) identified consumers' behavior as depending on interrelated factors that included psychological influences (willingness, risk, expectations, sociocultural factors, lifestyle, and values), sensory qualities (visual appearance, texture, flavor, and odor), and marketing factors (price, label, brand, and availability). In addition, Grunert, Bredahl, and Brunsø (2004) used the Total Food Quality model to analyze consumers' perception and decision-making in determining meat quality. The model showed that consumers form expectations about quality at the point of purchase, based on their own experience and informational cues available in the shopping environment. These preferences are influenced not only by quality and consumer-related factors but also by context, culture, and information (Kanerva, 2013;York & Gossards, 2004). Alemu, Olsen, Vedel, Pambo, and Owino (2017) showed that preferences in Kenya are also influenced by context and information in addition to product attributes. Van Wezemael, Verbeke, de Barcellos, Scholderer, and Perez-Cueto (2010) also reported that European consumers considered label, brand, freshness, and leanness of beef as cues to indicate quality to purchase, whereas safety in Ghana and hygiene in Rwanda were purchasing attributes in purchasing meat products (Niyonzima et al., 2017;Owusu-Sekyere, Owusu, & Jordaan, 2014). However, most of the studies on consumers' preferences for meat products focus on developed countries (Tonsor et al., 2005;Reicks et al., 2011;Schumacher, Schroeder, & Tonsor, 2012;Zimmerman et al., 2012;Hung, de Kok, & Verbeke, 2016;Shan et al., 2017). Only a few studies focus on the African context where food quality and malnutrition remain huge challenges (Niyonzima et al., 2017;Owusu-Sekyere et al., 2014). Increasing incomes in developing countries together with the inherent market failures makes it vital to understand the factors driving consumers' meat consumption patterns and their WTP for such food products. Failure to understand the key determinants of consumers' preferences could lead to further market failure and the consumption of unwholesome meat products (Mockshell, Ilukor, & Birner, 2014).The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the preferences for meat and meat products and WTP among consumers in Eastern DRC.Specifically, this study aims at: (a) identifying consumer and household characteristics influencing consumer preferences and WTP; (b) examining consumers' preferences for meat products; and (c) analyzing the effect of socio-demographics and product attributes on purchasing decisions and WTP by using linear and ordered multinomial logistic regression models. The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the structure of the meat market in the DRC, and Section 3 presents the materials and methods. The results are presented in Section 4 and discussed in Section 5; the paper presents the conclusions in Section 6.The agricultural sector is an important sector in the economy of the DRC. Its accounts for 21% of GDP and employs about 70% of the population (KPMG, 2016). The proportion of livestock to the agricultural GDP is only 9%, and the livestock sector is largely undeveloped, with small numbers of cattle, pigs, goats, and chickens. The livestock population is estimated to be seven million, and 60% are goats, 15% pigs, 14% sheep, and 11% cattle (FAO, 2005). Livestock populations have suffered significantly since the civil war, when many farms were looted and the animals stolen. As an important source of dietary protein, consumption and sale of wild animals (\"bushmeat\"), including some primates, are widespread. This has been fueled partly by poor living conditions and the rise in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing regional conflicts. As shown in Figure 1, wild meat is the most produced meat product in the DRC followed by pork and beef.The consumption of meat is higher than the production of meat in DRC, so the country is a net importer of food products   pigs, poultry, and rabbits, as their coping strategy (Maass et al., 2012). However, small animals are sold in the markets only when household needs arise, and the money raised is mostly invested in school fees (Zozo et al., 2012).A consumer study survey was conducted between April and June quarter, a list of households was generated and random samples of 309 were selected for interview based on the probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling approach. This PPS approach was used because the household population is not the same in each Quarter.Interviews were conducted with selected respondents face-toface by trained enumerators using a semi-structured questionnaire administered in Kiswahili, Mashi (local Congolese language), and French. To ensure that the respondents understood the concept, the enumerators were requested to explain the unfamiliar terms to the respondents, use illustrations, and test their understanding of key terms before administering the questionnaire. TA B L E 3 (Continued)The survey questionnaire was structured in three modules. The first module covered household composition and characteristics such as region of residence, gender, age, marital status, education level, occupation, and household size. The second module included questions on income, expenditure, and household decision-making.Respondents were asked who was the main breadwinner in their household and who decides which food to purchase. In the third module, respondents were asked about their consumption and purchasing frequencies of meat products including beef, pork, goat, chicken, and rabbit. In the fourth module, respondents were asked how satisfied they were with the meat products and the factors influencing their purchasing decisions and WTP.To evaluate the willingness of consumers to pay, the revealed preference method was applied. The method was chosen because data obtained from revealed preference methods more truthfully reflect preferences and choice in the real market when compared to stated preference methods (Howard & Allen, 2008). Respondents were given the average prices based on the different markets for each meat product, and then they were asked to score the influence of product attributes (nutrition, color, texture, smell, harmful effect, price, availability, and quantity) on their perception (no = 0, yes = 1).In addition, they were asked to rank the importance of these attributes on their purchasing decisions by using a five-point Likert scale (not important/definitely would not pay = 1, least important/ probably would not pay = 2, moderately important/might pay = 3, important/probably would pay = 4, and most important/definitely would pay = 5).Data analysis was performed using R software (version 3.2.3, R Core, 2015). Basic statistics (means, standard deviation, and frequencies)were computed to describe the responses. Chi-square (χ 2 ) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine the differences in the responses. In order to fit linear regression assumptions for ANOVA, BoxCox power transformations were applied to the continuous variables; the transformed variables were analyzed using ANOVA, and the mean comparisons were done on the back-transformed values (Box & CoX, 1964). Significantly different means were separated using least significant difference (LSD) with the appropriate error terms and a significance level at p < 0.05.To investigate the factors determining purchasing decisions and WTP among respondents, a logistic regression analysis was performed following a generalized linear regression with probit link.When Y is the dependent or response variable as Y is dichotomous, the use of probit link, f(Y), leads to the transformation of the response into a continuous variable, Y. The link function then maps the (0, 1) range probabilities onto (−∞, +∞), the range of linear predictors (Agresti, 2002;Fox, 2008). We then have a probit model as: The probit link function is given by Faraway (2006) as:where Φ -1 is the inverse normal cumulative distribution function, such as N (0, 1) (Agresti, 2002).The model parameters were estimated using the maximumlikelihood method, with chi-square test of significance (Dodge, 2008). The following vector of independent variables was considered for their socio-demographic effects:These are standard socio-demographic variables such as living area, gender, current age, marital status, education level, and employment status of household head, household size, and income.Table 1 describes the independent variables used in the linear regression model.The effects of product attributes (nutrition, color, texture, harmful effect, price, availability, and quantity) on consumers' purchasing decisions and WTP were determined by performing an ordered multinomial logistic regression model, as the above dependent variables were nominal and polytomous, i.e. had more than two categories with an ordered structure (Engel, 1988;Menard, 2002).When the following ordered probit model estimated using maximum-likelihood (ML) method is considered, we have with y * n is the unobserved dependent variable, x ′ n is the vector of independent variables, and β is the vector of regression coefficient to estimate. The latent random variable y * n for individuals n = 1,2,3…N, linearly depends on the independent variables x n and ε n is the error term. Therefore, If the errors ε n are logistically distributed, with distribution function Λ( i ) = 1 1+e − i produces an ordered logistic model given by Akshita, Ramyani, Sridevi, and Trishita (2013) as:With regard to household income, the influence of product attributes on purchasing decisions and WTP was explained by the gg plots.Most of the respondents (86%) lived in urban areas, and the majority were female (56%) with an average age of 37 years (Table 2). The average household size was 6 persons, and the composition is characterized by 54% of children, 18% of the household head, 15% of the spouse. In this study, 87% had attained at least primary school, with an average of 8 years of formal education. Most of the respondents in Ibanda had completed higher education when compared to those in Kadutu and Bagira. The main occupation of respondents varied among communities. Self-employed business/services (26%) was observed as a main occupation in Ibanda, whereas many respondents in Kadutu (20%) and Bagira (20%) were unemployed.Household income and expenditure profiles varied substantially (Table 2). Relating this to household size, the average per capita income was about US$1,039 in Ibanda, US$397 in Kadutu, and US$368 in Bagira. The main source of income in Ibanda was permanent employment (48%), whereas petty trading (37%) was reported as the main source of income in both Kadutu and Bagira. Food was the main item of household expenditure (44%), followed by medical fees (24%), and school fees (13%). The results also found that on average about 48% of households' income was spent on food. Most respondents in Bagira and Kadutu directly purchased food from farms, while various sources for purchasing food were observed in Ibanda.Although the main source of fuel for cooking was charcoal (86%), more households (16%) in Ibanda had access to electricity than in other communities. About 98% of the main household water supply was from RIGIDESO, the water supply authority in Bukavu.In terms of frequency of meat consumption, results showed that beef was the most consumed product, with 83% of the household consuming it at least weekly (Table 3). Goat meat and pork were widely consumed too, with between 66% and 71% of the respondents, respectively, consuming these products weekly. The products least consumed were chicken and rabbit since these are less often produced and available. On average, 68% of the respondents consumed milk in a week, followed by sausage (53%), yogurt (48%), and cheese (45%). Households in Ibanda purchased more fresh meat and meat products than those in Kadutu and Bagira. The average daily consumption in Ibanda was 1.9 times higher for beef than in Kadutu and Bagira, 1.5 times higher for goat meat, 1.5 times higher for pork, and 3.5 times higher for chicken. In the study, it was also found that the price of meat products varied by communities. For example, the price of processed products (sausage, milk, yogurt, and cheese) seemed to be higher in Ibanda than in Kadutu and Bagira.Only 47% of the respondents were satisfied with the meat products in the market (Table 4). When asked about the criteria that caused dissatisfaction, 24% claimed unhealthiness and high price as the main criteria, followed by low quantity (18%) and harmful effect (11%). It could be seen that the dissatisfaction can be divided into two groups. The respondents, especially in Kadutu and Bagira, used high price and low quantity as extrinsic criteria; unhealthiness and harmful effect were mainly perceived as intrinsic attributes by the respondents in Ibanda.When the reason for purchasing new, improved products is considered, the tendency to pay was more in Ibanda (66%) when compared to Kadutu (42%) and Bagira (44%). The result also showed that the respondents demanded more products from beef (40%) compared to pork (21%), goat meat (17%), poultry (15%), and rabbit (8%).Regarding the association between socio-demographic and socioeconomic factors on purchasing decisions and WTP for meat products, it was observed that living area and gender have a positive significant effect on purchasing decisions but a negative significant effect on WTP (Table 5). Results of the logit model also indicate a negative correlation between age and purchasing decisions; a positive correlation was observed between age and WTP.Although other variables were not found to affect purchasing decisions and WTP significantly, when the education level of the household head changes from low to high, the estimated coefficients of purchasing decisions increase by 2.3 times and of WTP by 2.9 times. Marital status and intrahousehold sharing of information were not found to affect purchasing decisions and WTP. Similarly, the employment status of a household head, household size, and the presence of children did not have a significant influence. Surprisingly, household annual income did not play a significant role.The results showed that although the respondents were dissatisfied about unhealthiness, harmful effect, high price, and low quantity, TA B L E 6 Ordered probit regression for product attributes determining consumer purchasing decision and willingness to pay for meat products these attributes did not exhibit a significant influence on their purchasing decisions and WTP for meat products but color, in-mouth texture, and availability were identified as significant attributes. The respondents selected availability as the only significant attribute for WTP (Table 6).Consumers' preferences, behavior, and perception of meat and meat products depend on many factors, sensory (product-specific factor), psychological (individual factor), and marketing (environmental factor). These aspects might be altered owing to individual behavior, context, culture, available information (Font-i-Furnols & Guerrero, 2014), concerns, lifestyles, and socio-demographic characteristics (Bernués, Olaizola, & Corcoran, 2003;Grunert et al., 2004). Among sociodemographic variables, our findings demonstrated that, as expected, living area and gender had a positive significant effect on purchasing decisions but a negative significant effect for WTP. The positive significant effect of living area on purchasing decisions and WTP for meat products indicated that people living in rural areas make a decision to purchase meat products differently from those living in urban areas. While a higher rate of WTP among respondents for meat products was found in urban areas, price alone cannot be used to infer the actual WTP of respondents because they were aware of the artificial purchase situation. Consumers often claim that they would pay higher prices for certain product attributes than they actually do in real purchase situations (Feldmann & Hamm, 2015). For gender effect, Croson and Gneezy (2009) stated that men and women apparently vary in their emotional response to uncertain situations and this difference results in dissimilarities in risk taking. In food purchasing, women are more selective and tend to integrate multiple cues in the household more than men. In contrast, men are generally more confident and more willing to take risks in purchasing complex products/services than women (Erasmus, Donoghue, & Dobbelstein, 2014). Cavaliere, Ricci, and Banterle (2015) reported that women are more concerned about a healthy diet and have high levels of personal knowledge on food characteristics, and thus, they are more careful than men about what they eat. Dibb and Fitzpatrick (2014) also showed that men tend to consume more meat than women and are less willing to consider reducing their consumption.A negative correlation between age and purchasing decision suggests that younger people were less concerned in making decisions to purchase than older people. In contrast, a positive correlation between age and WTP shows that older and more experienced people tend to be more conscious about the meat products they buy. Although household income did not play a significant role in this study, pork and poultry products were mostly demanded by respondents from Kadutu and Bagira, while those from Ibanda rated beef and goat meat highly. This result can be explained by the fact that beef and goat are sold in large portions that require refrigeration: Pork and poultry are mostly sold in smaller portions that do not need it. People in Ibanda who have access to more electricity are likely to purchase and consume goat meat. Likewise, higher income and more educated consumers in Ibanda may prefer quality rather than quantity of products when compared to consumers in Kadutu and Bagira. This could be explained by the budget constraints of lower-income households that may be limited to cheaper choices (Morales & Higuchi, 2018). This is in agreement with the findings of Jolly, Bayard, Awuah, Fialor, and Williams (2009) and Sabran, Jamaluddin, Abdul Mutalib, and Abdul Rahman (2012) who mentioned that wealthier consumers are more likely to take precautions about food and are more willing to pay for high-quality products than those with lower incomes. Additionally, Silva, Caro, and Magana-Lemus (2016) also found that food-secure households with higher incomes purchase a wider variety of highquality food items than food-insecure households with lower incomes. However, this finding contrasts with the studies reported by Robert, Manolis, and Tanner (2003) who reported that lowerincome consumers are more concerned about the value of money and with not wasting their money on goods and services that do not meet their basic needs (Erasmus et al., 2014).Moreover, it could be seen that the more educated people in Ibanda generally have higher incomes; thus, they might have more options than less educated people when purchasing meat products. Also, people in Ibanda might be sensitive to quality since meat products can be a risk factor for their health. In Ibanda, high blood pressure (57%), high cholesterol levels (21%), and incidence of diabetes (20%) were reported as a cause of specific dietary requirements, while in Kadutu and Bagira, the averages reported were 41% for high blood pressure, 16% for high cholesterol, and 14% for diabetes (data not shown). A study by Chen, Anders, and An (2013) showed that consumer willingness to purchase also increased with level of education; and the education level was positively linked to consumers' willingness to adopt new products (Huotilainen, Pirttila-Backman, & Tuorila, 2006).However, these results are opposed to those of Dellaert, Arentze, and Timmermans (2008) who reported that less educated consumers might lack the cognitive ability to comprehend the implications of their purchasing decisions and might subsequently not be bothered about all functional and quality-related issues compared with more educated consumers. The meat consumption trends in Eastern DRC seem differ from the European trend. For example, Germans with higher education are more likely to consume less meat or follow a vegetarian diet than lower educated people (Pfeiler & Egloff, 2018). Luning, Marcelis, and Jongen (2002) mentioned that quality represents the features/properties of a product that result in satisfying the consumers' physiological and/or psychological needs. Dransfield (2005) also suggested that at least two attributes of appearance are normally used by consumers in quality judgements on meat. For instance, cut type, color, and fat structure and levels have been observed as influential in calculating quality expectations (Grunert et al., 2004). When the influence of product attributes on purchasing decisions in this study is considered, quality aspects such as color and in-mouth texture cannot be ignored.Color as an intrinsic quality attribute influences consumers' expectations of meat quality at the moment of purchase (Carpenter, Cornforth, & Whittier, 2001;Font-i-Furnols & Guerrero, 2014;Gracia & de Magistris, 2013;Verbeke et al., 2005;West, Larue, Touil, & Scott, 2001), probably because consumers normally use color to indicate wholesomeness or contamination of meat products (Mancini, 2009;Owusu-Sekyere et al., 2014). On the other hand, eating quality and in-mouth texture are found to be highly correlated with the overall experienced quality, attitude to purchase, and WTP for meat products (Lusk et al., 2001;Banović, Grunert, Barreira, & Aguiar Fontes, 2009). Robbins et al. (2003) reported consumers were most concerned with color, fat content, price, and type of cut when purchasing beef, whereas texture and flavor were most important in determining eating satisfaction.The findings from this study also suggest that availability (marketing factor) is one of the most important attributes that influences purchasing decisions and WTP of meat products. Availability is one reason that can explain, for instance, the lack of access to markets and market information that had a negative influence on consumers' WTP and purchase behavior toward food products (Zundel and Kilcher, 2007;Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010). Young et al. (2010) also mentioned that consumers generally do not like to spend much time searching for food products although perception, a psychological motivator for purchasing meat products, affects the process for consumers in selecting, organizing, and interpreting information related to meat products (Kotler, Armstrong, Harris, & Piercy, 2013). This factor is important in shaping consumers' acceptance, purchase, and future consumption, as stated by Grunert, Verbeke, Kügler, Saeed, and Scholderer (2011). The results in this study exhibited a significant effect on consumers' perception in both purchasing as presented in Figures 3,4), it appears that the higher the income, the better the consideration that is given to nutrition, harmful effect, and availability as important factors on purchasing decisions and WTP. This result agrees with the findings of Henchion, McCarthy, Resconi, and Troy (2014) who pointed out that the influence of factors such as income and price are likely to decline over time so that other factors, such as quality, will become more important in purchasing meat products.This exploratory study investigated the preference and WTP for meat products of Congolese consumers in Eastern DRC. The study revealed that women and older consumers from urban areas were more likely to purchase meat products. Although the respondents were expected/hypothesized to rate healthiness, quantity, and the low price of products, consumers' decisions to purchase meat products are more often based on sensory factors such as color and in-mouth texture as well as on marketing factors such as availability. Availability played a prominent/key role on their WTP. However, nutrition, harmful effect, and availability tended to be taken into consideration in higher income groups.This result is related to personal WTP and is a consequence of consumers' poor access to information about meat quality.Therefore, public efforts are needed to address knowledge gaps through awareness campaigns that promote and disseminate information about meat quality. In summary, the empirical findings presented here reveal new and essential insights into consumers' preferences and their purchase of meat products (in a region where food insecurity is prevalent). These insights provide practical insights for actors in the meat value chain to better satisfy consumers' expectations, demands, and needs. The findings can be used to identify opportunities for livestock farmers to commercialize livestock enterprises for income and employment generation, thus contributing to improving nutrition and alleviating poverty. These insights can also be of relevance to countries with similar socioeconomic characteristics in low-income countries.","tokenCount":"4183"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7220300880.json b/data/part_1/7220300880.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3d9b65be34cd1f2765d1ca8eb919617090cc6556
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7220300880.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f0672e77607b7ba78c828efb3fd1b76b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dee63cff-249a-4ab7-93ee-3d65056b7cf5/retrieve","id":"-765487357"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"15fbf567-4e30-4dc1-9238-cb229796f18e","pagecount":"6","content":"var. tenuifolius, 6 racèmes, en floraison, j go, j go en transition à go verte, go vertes, go sèche à déhiscence spiralée explosive, folioles terminales et latérales avec esquisse de lobe basal externe, tige grêle volubile, c'est un sauvage; une carte du 'county' indique avec un point rouge et une flèche rouge la collecte juste à l' E de North Mt.. [L; 15-X-2007].y turismo continuos. Alt. entre 2250 y 2600 m. Cima. Predominan las compuestas herbáceas y los pastos. Suelo muy superficial. Enredadera herbácea, de +/-1.50-2 m de largo; hojas de superficie áspera, flores rosas. Común. 29 Agosto 1979. Col. & Det. Ma. Teresa Pulido S. 127. /// DGD: coccineus, 5 racèmes, en floraison, fleurs probablement rouges, j go à pubescence dense dorée, j go en transition à go vertes, go verte, forme sauvage, B1 triangulaires 4 mm long, bractéoles ovées pubescentes de longueur égale au calice, racèmes à 8 insertions, pédoncule = rachis = 90 mm, folioles petites ovées acuminées 40 x 38 mm. [L; 15-X-2007]. Herb. Lugd. Bat. N o . 920.229 … 36 Trepadora herbácea en arbustos, tallos hasta 2 m de largo; flores blancas o lilas. Frecuente cerca de la carretera. 12 diciembre 1979. Col. T Wendt, EJ Lott y J García P. 2423. det. A Delgado S., 1981. /// DGD: dumosus, 4 racèmes à 10 insertions, en floraison et fleurs crème sur le spécimen, j go en transition à go verte, go vertes, les go vertes à 4 graines droites et 13 mm large font penser à une forme échappée de culture et non une forme sauvage, B1 9 mm long 1.5 mm large triangulaires linéaires, bractéoles 8 mm long 1 mm large linéaires, aspect spiciforme de la partie terminale de l'inflorescence. [L; 15-X-2007]. e Rijksherbarium, Leiden (Herb. Lugd. Bat.)  ","tokenCount":"295"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7228119700.json b/data/part_1/7228119700.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca74339ade7b05feb50c73a13bbbac27c1740760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7228119700.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b4f152a451c6e51e9503f6a8a21f6939","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f6858dae-b7e0-49c5-8f8c-c052cc9d5ed6/retrieve","id":"1514232173"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e59e2bc4-fe06-4a66-b93f-f392dc06a65f","pagecount":"14","content":"Rural radio production is an ongoing training that IRETA has conducted over the years. The emphasis on radio as an effective means of communication as according to the Director IRETA, Mohammed Umar is due to the fact that radio will continue to provide the coverage (through radio ownership), penetration (its use) reach (reception) listenership and promote effective socio-economic development of our island nations.W hat do farmers want from radio and how do you give them what they want? This was the main question being discussed at a two-week Institute of Research Extension and Training Agriculture (IRETA) workshop on rural radio held at the USP Media Centre, Suva, from 3-14 July.There were twenty participants, all with a wide background in agriculture. Some are broadcasters, some are extension officers and two are quarantine officers. The two workshop tutors come from Britain and New Zealand. Both have an extensive experience of working in developing countries.These experienced farming officers spend each day talking with one another about communication, research, interviewing, scripting, handling tape recorders and finding new and better ways to make interesting radio programmes for rural listeners.Among the first small revelations on day one was the realisation by the participants that most farmers in the South Pacific, Africa and Asia and probably elsewhere liked to listen to their radios early in the morning and early in the evening.By day two the participants were working in pairs with their portable tape recorders conducting interviews around the USP campus.By day four they were seen in the Suva fruit and vegetable market talking and recording radio interviews with the vendors.Radio is still the most efficient way of communication within the South Pacific. In a research paper presented after the opening of the workshop, Mohammed Umar, the Director of IRETA told the participants that in Fiji, the average amount of time that farmers spent listening to radio was about three hours per day.When asked to rank drama, music and songs, market report, news and weather report with rural radio programmes, the respondents placed news and weather report and rural radio programmes as first and second priority respectively.Umar said radio was the most dynamic of all communications media. \"The other unique features of radio is that it's competitive, it shifts to public taste and habits, incorporates development in marketing techniques, programming and establishing station image,\" he said.The workshop was funded by the Centre Technique de cooperation et Rural (CTA) which is based in the Netherlands.This organisation was established under the Lome Convention to enhance access to information, research results and innovations in rural development.Since 1990 CTA has supported a number of activities for journalists and broadcasters in radio stations and agricultural information services within the South Pacific region.The art of flowers in the Solomon IslandsI RETA again this year will continue with its ongoing floricultural workshops; an activity that has provided income generative opportunities not only for women, but men and the youth as well. This year's floriculture workshop in the Solomon Islands follows on from the workshop that was organised jointly by CTA and IRETA in 2003. Small-scale holder flower growers from around the region gathered in Fiji three years ago, to witness and experience the potential of flowers for personal earnings and the overall economic development.For this year, another group of new flower growers will have the opportunity to sharpen their skills and knowledge on floriculture. Most of the participants for this year's workshop are fairly new or have little experience in the flower growing and arranging business. In fact, these are the selected beneficiaries of such activity and the people that IRETA works to assist and serve in improving their quality of life. However marketing is the overall focus of this workshop considering that Pacific farmers and marketers, particularly women, have limited capacity to seize the income opportunities provided by floriculture. It is the reason why the workshop program kicks off with presentations and discussions focused on developing a marketing system for the floriculture industry in the Pacific. This is the result of insufficient information, knowledge and insights into income potential offered by flowers as a commodity, the kind of flowers suitable for the internal and external markets, export requirements and regulations, as well as improved flower production techniques.But floriculture is a booming business in some countries and is strengthened by the establishment of flower associations. Apart from Fiji and Samoa, Vanuatu has also formed a Flower Growers Association in 2005 based on training provided to Vanuatu women in Fiji and Port Vila (2004).Noo Tokari, ALO Cook Islands T he last test carried out to determine whether the Pawpaw Ring Spot Virus (PRSV) has reappeared in the Cook Islands has brought good news for the islands agricultural ministry.Nga Mataio, Secretary of Agriculture said that a total of 864 trees have been tested negative for the ring spot virus at the Totokoitu Research Station using cutting edge biotechnology tools.Dr Richard Davis, Plant Virologist from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) office in Suva, Fiji, has been carrying out the third and final test on pawpaw crops on the island of Rarotonga.The ringspot virus causes a disease that is the worst for pawpaw in the world affecting not only the leaves but also the fruits according to Mataio. The papaya ringspot virus, is an aphid-transmitted potyvirus that causes a debilitating disease of all commercial papaya cultivars, and severely limits pawpaw production.Symptoms of the disease were first noted in June 2004 in one of the pawpaw plots on the island of Matavera. Only a single tree was immediately destroyed by the Ministry of Agriculture Research Staff.However, Dr Davis says that while the disease is not here farmers should still be cautious. There is one simple thing papaya growers can do to try to stop this disease from happening again.Papaya growers are not strongly advised to practice smart intercropping, \" says Dr Davis.Smart intercropping -DO NOT intercrop cucurbits with pawpaw. Instead, grow alternatives like chillies, capsicums and taro.AVOID dumb intercropping -growing pawpaw together with cucurbit crops like watermelon and cucumber.PRSV exists in two very related forms -one strain causes disease in cucurbit crops like pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon etc, while the other is the pawpaw infecting form. The pawpaw is a deciduous, often narrowly conical tree growing from about 12 feet to around 20 feet.Pawpaw trees are prone to producing root suckers a few feet from the trunk. When these are permitted to grow, the single-clone pawpaw patch comes into being. The prevailing experiences of many individuals is that the pawpaw is a slow grower, particularly when it is young.However, under optimal greenhouse conditions, including photo-period extension light of approximately 16 hours, top growth of up to 5 feet can be attained in three months.Based on Fiji Times report Y ams are regarded as prized food in the Fijian society. Unlike other root crops, it is harvested once a year.The food is so sacred that its preparation required a lot of sacrifice and hard work.In some places, the preparation of that place would be done in groups and there would be ceremonies or food prepared for the group.At the Saint Patrick's Mission in Vuaki in Nacula, yams are given such a special treatment. That was the reason why yams dug from there were no ordinary yams. Its extra ordinary size showed the importance of the crop.The smallest of the giant yams dug up weighed 120 kilogram.However, the yams is given special treatment during harvest and transportation:Yams which you want to store must be harvested carefully. Some cultivars have very long and uneven shapes, and when digging them out, great care should cut surfaces by dusting with cold fire ash.Yams can easily be damaged during transport from the field by wagon or truck. Do not clean dirt off the yams until you have transported them to the store. The dirt protects the yams from scraping and bruising. The floor of the wagon or truck should be padded with grass or mats or sacks and the yams piled in gently. Do not pile the yams very high. Passengers and other loads should not sit on top of the yams.be taken not to stab the tuber or cut the skin. So instead of hacking carelessly at the soil, like the man in the picture, try to feel gently around for the yam so that it can be loosened carefully. If cut or broken yams must be stored, treat the A strong stand on pest and diseases E nsuring that pests and diseases are kept well out of the country is an important role for Quarantine staff. The local quarantine effort is getting a boost as the Ministry of Agriculture hosts the Regional Workshop for the Review of Draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs).Held at the Takuvaine Assembly of God hall, the workshop will focus on quarantine issues and procedures, reviewing some of the quarantine inspection and clearance procedures and to identify areas of improvements and strengthen.Quarantine Adviser Ngatoko Ngatoko says this is the first time the Cook Islands has ever hosted the annual regional event.Ngatoko says that the objective is to strengthen quarantine procedures and activities at the wharfs and airports to minimize the intrusion of pests and diseases that will adversely affect agriculture and the environment.Among the participants are representatives from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Wallis & Fotuna, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Australia, New Zealand and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.Topics to be covered are the revision of the pest risk analysis, recognition of pest free areas and areas of low pest prevalence, phytosanitary treatments for regulated pests, debarked and bark free wood, and establishment of areas of low prevalence for fruit flies.Ngatoko says the importance of the workshop is for countries to work together to set the necessary standards required for inspection on goods exported and imported, so that countries have the same set of standards.Also, having the proper and updated standards in place, this should ensure minimum transfer or movements of unwanted pests and diseases from one country to another, which will significantly affect agriculture and the environment and therefore the livelihoods and food security of the countries.The workshop is being funded by International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a branch of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Cook Islands Government.Human cases of avian influenza and the threat of an influenza pandemic continue to make headlines as new instances are reported from around the globe. While the disease has not yet been identified in the Pacific, SPC is taking charge of putting plans in place to deal with any incursions. A meeting convened by SPC to discuss the Pacific region's preparedness for exotic animal diseases, in particular avian influenza, will be held from 24 to 28 July at the Tanoa Hotel, Nadi, Fiji.The meeting will be attended by country members of the Pacific Heads of Veterinary and Animal Health Production Services (PHOVAPS) and discussions will focus on the Pacific Regional Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan (PRIPP) project.SPC's Animal Health and Production Group has been working with the PHOVAPS Advisory Group and SPC's Public Health team to prepare the project document. The aim of the project is to establish immediate measures to prevent and/or respond to a possible outbreak of avian influenza and pandemic human influenza in the region. The focus will be on building capacity within Pacific Island countries for surveillance and diagnosis of avian influenza, and other emerging diseases, and emergency response planning. Activities will cover both public and animal health.Dr Ken Cokanasiga,ALO Cook Islands, Noo Tokari outlines some of the important and interesting points needed to prepare the most effective and efficient radio presentation R adio programs is one of Noo Tokari's duties in the Cook Islands Ministry of Agriculture.As an Agricultural Liaison Officer (ALO) for IRETA/CTA, Tokari is responsible in the dissemination of agricultural information relevant and timely to assist the Cook Islanders involved in agricultural activities. Radio is a powerful means to take the information across.In fact agricultural radio programs are very popular with rural farmers in most countries of the Pacific region.Noo Tokari is now one man with the knowledge of producing some of the best agricultural radio programs for his country. Adviser for the Animal Health and Production Group in Suva, said of the PRIPPP project, \"It will give Pacific Island countries an opportunity to establish a proper framework for addressing zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans) and other emerging health threats. The approach being taken is in line with international efforts by WHO, the Office of International Epizooties (OIE) and FAO to address a potential pandemic through collaboration between animal health and human health authorities. In our case, SPC's Animal Health and Production specialists will work closely with Public Health specialists based at SPC Noumea. We'll also call on expertise in other LRD teams including the Biosecurity and Trade Facilitation, Information and Communication teams, and our Regional Media Centre.\" \"At the meeting, we will share this project with the countries, and work out how we can collectively produce appropriate plans and what outputs are needed to ensure that Pacific Island countries and territories, and the region, are prepared to act quickly in the event of an incursion of avian influenza.\"\"The success of the project will very much depend on the individual PICTs claiming ownership of it, contributing to its implementation and ensuring that all stakeholders are involved,\" said Dr Cokanasiga.In the Pacific, human influenza outbreaks can happen at any time of the year, being more influenced by the flow of people from temperate regions than by the local climate. Many islands are visited by large numbers of tourists and there is the potential for new strains of influenza to be transported back to Pacific Island communities in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.Although there is no certainty that an influenza pandemic will occur, it is a potentially serious threat that must be addressed. The Pacific is vulnerable to the introduction of pandemic influenza through the movement of people, migratory birds and legal and illegal trade in poultry and poultry products. To respond to such a threat, Pacific Island countries need effective preparedness plans and the resources and capacity to implement them. While some countries have developed, or are in the process of developing preparedness plans, and some surveillance and laboratory capacity, none of these have been tested for a pandemic scenario. The priorities identified by regional governments include improved surveillance, development and testing of plans, strengthened public health measures, and inclusion of more sectors/stakeholders in planning and implementation.The PRIPPP project is fully funded by Australia and New Zealand with Australian Prime Minister John Howard making a firm commitment at the Forum Leaders meeting in PNG last year. SPC's Animal Health & Production Group will coordinate the animal health component of the project with its Public Health team in Noumea coordinating the human health component.For more information please contact, Dr Ken Cokanasiga, kenc@spc.int.SPC to help Pacific Islands prepare for avian influenza.......from page 5Submitted by Noo Tokari, ALO Cook Islands E arlier this year, pig farmers in the Cook Islands were given funding to enable them to import the best breed from New Zealand. This time, the pigs have arrived and have been distributed. The Large White, Duroc, Land Race were the three specific breeds, which farmers all agreed were the best for the islands as they were familiar with the rearing and breeding of these stocks.The pig improvement stock arrived Saturday 15 th July 2006 and was received by Tiria Rere, Chief Livestock Officer, Arapati Rani, Livestock Officer, and Edwin Apera of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rarotonga.The Chief Livestock Officer inspected the pigs and he found out that they were in the best of health on arrival and that the ship's crew has taken good care of it during the trip down under.After all the clearance of the live pigs were carried out by Custom Officials, Quarantine Officers the crate containing the live pigs was discharged from the vessel onto a waiting truck and were distributed to targeted pig farmers around the island of Rarotonga.These pig farmers will look after these pigs and feed them and to make sure that they are taken care of until they are ready for breeding. Those pig farmers who need to take their pigs for cross-breeding must arrange with above pig farmers for time availability before they can cross-breed their pigs.These pigs will remain under the Ministry of Agriculture on checking for their health (pest & disease care) for a year before it can be given away to the Pig Farmers Association.Matangi o Tonga reports T onga this year has secured a second market for its squash, Korea, and it is hoped this will encourage growers who have lost confidence after their worst year in 2005.The Secretary General of the Tonga Squash Council, Stephen Edwards said today that the advantage of the Korean squash market is that it provides a market for light-weight Tongan squash, ranging from 900 grams to 1.3kg. The Japanese would not buy squash that is less than 1.2kg each.Despite an increase in the demand for Tongan squash in Asia, Stephen said that it was unfortunate that fewer growers were growing this season, \"because many of the growers have lost their confidence in the squash industry, and have withdrawn\".The 2005 squash season was the worst ever, so bad that the Squash Council had to borrow from the Tonga Development Bank to give the growers some cash. The total export to Japan in 2005 was 12,000 tonnes, some 1000 tonnes less than their target, and then tonnes of Tongan squash were presumed to be rotten and were dumped in Japan.Stephen said that the trend this year was for the 16 exporters to grow more acres of squash. One new exporter this year is Quality Exporters Ltd.The Tonga Development Bank this year has earmarked $3.2 million to be lent to growers but according to Steve, so far a substantial amount of the squash loan allocation has not been taken up.He said that land preparation for squash growing was already well on the way and the planting was set to start on July 1.Press Release: www.organic-systems.org.Journal of Organic Systems will be launched at the Organic Federation of Australia's annual conference dinner in Sydney on the 22nd of July.This long overdue initiative provides the first opportunity for those committed to 'organic' approaches to publish their work in English in a southern hemisphere refereed journal. It is a significant step in the maturity of Organics in the Oceania Pacific region. Though international, it has a distinct pulse of 'down under'.\"Researchers and practitioners of 'organic approaches' can publish their findings and ideas. These may relate to the design and management of agricultural production systems, problem-proofing and problem solving, produce handling and marketing, policy issues and associated organisational and technological issues, and supportive approaches to education, research and development,\" explained Australian co-founding Editor Professor Stuart Hill.Though two years in the making, the initiative came as an integral part of a bigger vision for Organics. Founding director Brendan Hoare believes that, \"If we want the world Organic, then we have to believe that every part of the world is going Organic. We need rigour in our applied practices, science and its communication to help us achieve our vision.\"The initiative has been fully supported by the Organic community throughout Oceania and Pacific region and by the international research community. The editorial board comprises some of the most respected and active researchers in their field currently from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.Founding editors Professor Neil Macgregor is a retired soil ecologist from Massey University in New Zealand and Professor Stuart Hill is Founding Chair of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.\"The systems approach to the Journal of Organic Systems is significant\" says Professor Neil Macgregor. \"It becomes increasingly clear that conventional approaches are unsustainable and have inherent negative impacts on individuals, communities and ecosystems. The Journal of Organic systems will provide a valuable communication tool in this necessary cultural transformation. It is a significant step in our history.\"The Journal will be free and electronic based on www.organicsystems.org.Prof Neil Macgregor:+ 64-6-3571184 anpjmacgregor@xtra.co.nz Prof Stuart Hill:+ 61-2-4736-0799 s.hill@uws.edu.au Brendan Hoare:+ 886-91-2939026 bhoare@unitec.ac.nz Dr Els Wynen: + 41-22-3445169 els.wynen@elspl.com.auI RETA also will host at the end of this month a workshop on organic certification and marketing in the Pacific.The International Federation for Organic Movements (IFOAM) will participate in this workshop. IFOAM is the mother organisation for all certified organic movements.The Pacific Organic Producers Association will also be actively involved in this event.This workshop will run for a week with presentations, discussions and field visits to some of the certified organic farms in Samoa.More articles and stories on organic developments in our August issue. ","tokenCount":"3454"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7237886250.json b/data/part_1/7237886250.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..044eb8152ce8c310b93eaff394280b5e1f5faf45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7237886250.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9c78e33e08372cc65e60d6bf0107da8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4c2b37ed-e79c-4ff1-a1a9-0ddb3dd91462/retrieve","id":"960266285"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"671553c2-8733-4f21-80a1-cec782544ff7","pagecount":"2","content":"Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) experience in Ethiopia shows that natural resource management (NRM) requires multi-sector integration and the strong involvement of farmers to identify problems and implement solutions. However, research shows there is a 'disconnect' between farmers and decision makers in their perceptions of NRM problems and ideas for solutions. Tools for better communication and joint understanding among different actors are essential in development planning processes. This brief showcases one such tool -WAT-A-GAME -that has been tested in Ethiopia.Land degradation is a major cause of Ethiopia's low and declining agricultural productivity, persistent food insecurity, and rural poverty. Ethiopia is also susceptible to natural disasters and weather-related shocks and climate change that exacerbate this situation, increase water stress and further reduce agricultural productivity.To counter these, the Ethiopian Government works with development partners to rehabilitate rural land, using 'food for work '  Early successes include increased forest cover, increased availability of livestock feed, soil and water conservation efforts and restored agricultural productivity.Lessons from these efforts show that success in land rehabilitation has resulted from strong commitment to local level participatory planning in which smallholder associations and community leaders are seen as key stakeholders.Several tools can be used to support participatory planning approaches. This brief introduces the WAT-AGAME tool used by the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) in Fogera, Ethiopia.It also reports on the outcomes of a February 2013 'learning event' with national partners to present and discuss the tool and its potential to support landscapescale strategy development for integrated NRM.Developed by the French National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA -www.irstea.fr ) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD -www.cirad.fr ), WAT-A-GAME (WAG -http://sites.google.com/site/waghistory ) is a toolkit and method to design participatory simulations (i.e. role playing games) for water management, policy design and education.Through role-playing, it shows participants how water moves within a landscape, how it is used, polluted, transformed and shared by actors and any trade-offs encountered. WAG is designed for use by a range of stakeholders, including farmers, scientists, experts, administrators and policy makers.In 2012, WAG was deployed in 5 African countries to test integrated natural resource management strategies as part of the EU-funded AFROMAISON project (www.afromaison.net). The NBDC was a partner in one of the case studies in Ethiopia and used the tool in Fogera to simulate key rainwater management issues including water availability, run-off, soil erosion and the impact of different land-use practices on livelihoods.The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). It aims to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management. It comprises five linked projects examining: 1) learning from the past; 2) developing integrated rainwater management strategies; 3) targeting and scaling out of rainwater management innovations; 4) assessing and anticipating the consequences of innovation in rainwater management systems; and 5) catalysing platforms for learning, communication and coordination across the projects.As mentioned above, progress on NRM issues are often held back by a 'disconnect' between farmers and decision makers. WAG was used in Fogera to try to reconnect these groups.To highlight the different perspectives, the first WAG workshop in April 2012 brought community representatives together with decision makers and experts.The groups worked separately to identify and prioritize key issues, identify technical, institutional and policy interventions to address these issues, and to incorporate these actions into an integrated strategy. They then presented their strategies to one another. This led to knowledge sharing and constructive dialogue about similarities and differences, the reasons for these and how they might be reconciled.The game and subsequent discussions raised awareness about upstream and downstream linkages and landscape interconnectedness. Regional and district staff learned about farmers' knowledge and priorities, and vice versa.To take stock of the 2012 experiences, the learning event in February 2013 convened an expert group in Addis Ababa to play the game and assess its potential wider usefulness.Participants played the game using two similar game boards designed for the Fogera landscape. Seven volunteer participants from each group represented the farmers living in the highland, mid-land and wetland areas and also a landless farmer.After the learning event, participants raised many questions: Was the tool new? Does 'landscape' mean the same as 'watershed', were users surveyed before and after they played the game, what time framework is involved in playing the game?Participants gave constructive feedback on the game itself and how to make it useful for other organizations and experts working in the area of NRM. All agreed on the need to simplify the tool. They also suggested that community level representatives should be grouped by gender and should develop the strategy separately to ensure that women's views were recognized.More generally, playing the game stimulated a discussion around different approaches towards integrated planning of NRM used in Ethiopia. It seems that most of the approaches in the past lacked genuine community participation and they failed to create a sense of ownership. At the learning event it was agreed that the WAG tool could usefully complement ongoing watershed management planning and implementation. Participants felt that the role playing element would help communities better understand their problems, from household to landscape levels, and give them an opportunity to identify potential solutions from their own perspectives. Some participants showed interest in taking and adapting the tool to their own organizations and programs. However, a simple set of guidelines is needed to explain how to design the game board for a specific landscape and then to use the game effectively to reflect and address different actors' views. This will help the scaling up of the tool by other organizations. In depth training is also needed for organizations that are interested to use it in their project sites with necessary documents and materials. ","tokenCount":"965"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7250527610.json b/data/part_1/7250527610.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..472a2979f03dded72ce3dcf8d1ac22a15e20fcb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7250527610.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"911ad30acc5e5eaa38ed66fc0ec716d1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/38573429-7fda-4146-9550-5ee6f7b73016/retrieve","id":"1337822251"},"keywords":["híbridos","Phaseolus","tolerancia a enfermedades","tolerancia a calor"],"sieverID":"0afa9e52-8386-4523-9d5f-35ed7d03ef34","pagecount":"23","content":"Mejorar los métodos de conservación y descubrir el valor secreto de estos materiales, promoviendo el mejor uso de la diversidad Conservar y distribuir de manera eficente y efectiva los Recursos Genéticos, siguiendo los más altos estándares internacionales Sensibilizar sobre el rol vital de la diversidad de cultivos y contribuir al diálogo sobre políticas de equidad en beneficios derivados de la diversidadHíbridos en frijol -NIAB / Alianza Bioversity-CIAT 3 Porcentaje del número de estomas (S) en un área de la hoja (abaxial) con respecto al número total de células en el área (la suma de células de epidermis (E) y estomas) Dos hojas de la planta (superior-soleado, inferior-sombra)• Genotipificación DArT híbridos y parentales, así como accesiones control• Cruzamientos de híbridos promisorios con línea élite SER16premejoramiento• Tizón de telaraña -caso 10 (G52443-3)• Sclerotinia -caso 10 (G52443-6)• Antracnosis -caso 10 (G52443-2), complejo 11 (G51274I-2), complejo 19 (G23860H-4 y -13) • Ángulo amplio en raíz -Caso 10 • Baja densidad estomática -complejo 19 (G23860H-4 y -6)","tokenCount":"162"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7255644018.json b/data/part_1/7255644018.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b803bec2f859da041c6f88d9ad1783cb578b414e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7255644018.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cece7b15ffc0d540e124a9f7c813acbe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/73773f22-c504-4de9-858e-2e65e2d0110e/retrieve","id":"-1894618004"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"69a144f3-db13-4201-91e0-e4f1a088cab2","pagecount":"2","content":"Mucuna pruriens, widely known as \"velvet bean\" is a leguminous cover crop with good potential to regenerate soil health. It is a tropical legume widely used as a forage, fallow crop, soil cover and green manure crop due to its rapid growth rate.Mucuna is deep-rooted and improves nutrient recycling and fixes atmospheric nitrogen. Its roots and vegetation cover protect the soil from erosion, thus improving soil fertility and health. It reduces weed growth and associated costs and Authors• Plant mucuna as an intercrop at the onset of the rainy season and allow it to grow throughout the year.• If you need to intercrop your perennials with other food crops in the rainy season, mucuna can be sowed at the end of the rainy season (ideally one month before the end of the rainy season) and allow it to establish and provide cover in the dry season.When to establish mucuna? A B","tokenCount":"151"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7255930724.json b/data/part_1/7255930724.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f666c2edadd663e268248d530627a5993414f510
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7255930724.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fd707cb46acb41648e291d9f0061f55c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f0d70030-df2a-4f87-a93e-f7228676ae71/retrieve","id":"4097507"},"keywords":["Other MELIA activity IWYP","BBSRC","MasAgro","WHEAT"],"sieverID":"06a9bf82-95a8-4465-8951-6c660728dbbe","pagecount":"2","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Reduced smallholders production risk Little is known about the contribution of trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose phosphate phosphatase (TPP) genes to achieving a carbon allocation balance that ultimately helps maximize expression of grain yield through the mediation of T6P. A wealth of information on natural variation of TPS and TPP genes related to yield potential was generated, which confirms T6P's role in resource allocation, in affecting grain number and other traits. This opens up the possibility for translational research to explore natural genetic variation in these enzymes and incorporate their alleles into elite wheat backgrounds, thereby achieving a better understanding of how to deploy them in mainstream breeding. These results have high translational potential to most crop species, since the regulation of partitioning of carbon to edible structures is a fundamental yield determinant.Comments: <Not Defined> 1 This report was generated on 2022-08-19 at 08:13 (GMT+0)","tokenCount":"153"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7280580962.json b/data/part_1/7280580962.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ffd754d99952fd67db640ff73b776eda1e443874
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7280580962.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9d77f314eaefa7aa8a7e944043d1d89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93c78944-4f4a-41d1-a946-889a6cb5da61/retrieve","id":"50157695"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"055de496-3d2d-4134-af40-de7a08988e68","pagecount":"10","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.The Accelerated Value Chain Development project -Livestock Component, in collaboration with the Department of Veterinary Services, Marsabit County, conducted a training workshop in Marsabit on 27 September 2018 aimed at launching an expanded electronic surveillance (e-surveillance) system for livestock diseases in the county and reviewing the system that had been launched for syndromic surveillance and which has since been expanded to include surveillance of abattoirs and agrovets, reporting of notifiable diseases and zero reports.The project has developed a disease manual based on the endemic diseases in counties in arid and semi-arid regions; the manual was used to train the community disease reporters and formed the basis of the e-surveillance system. The e-surveillance team had been expanded to include additional personnel in the county who will help to implement the expanded e-surveillance system.The training was conducted in form of lectures with practical sessions after each lecture. A training setup was established to enable the participants interact with the data collection tools and experience how the data will be analysed and used for decision-making.At the end of the training, it was recommended that:• the misspelt names of the community disease reporters and villages be corrected;• the expanded e-surveillance system be put into use as soon as possible;• the Marsabit Information and Communication Technology team increase its participation in the project by taking more responsibilities in the running of the system; • a WhatsApp group be created for quick communication and to discuss matters related to e-surveillance; and • the county veterinary department allocate adequate funds to sustain the esurveillance system.The e-surveillance system extensively uses a set of data collection tools on the Open Data Kit platform hence the participants were required to be able to use Open Data Kit Collect on an Android platform. Most participants were familiar with the Android platform and over 70% had used Open Data Kit Collect to collect data. Because of time constraints, the refresher on Open Data Kit was carried out as the training progressed.For each data collection tool, the participants learned how to:• navigate through the Open Data Kit Collect application;• get new blank forms for data collection;• fill the forms while paying attention to mandatory fields and fields with constraints;• finalize the forms with the collected data; and• submit the finalized forms to the online server.The participants were taken through a refresher on syndromic surveillance. They learned of the 10 categories of disease syndromes (respiratory condition, generalized skin infection, stomatitis pneumoenteritis complex, nervous syndrome, abortion, diarrhoea, haemorrhagic illness, red urine, endemic diseases and mastitis), the different diseases under each syndrome and the symptoms for each disease. This categorization forms the basis of syndromic surveillance and is used to complete surveillance tool.The different aspects of the syndromic surveillance tool were covered including how to determine the herd size at risk and how to fill start and end dates of a set of syndromes especially when the farmers are not very clear on when the syndromes started.The question on differential diagnosis was exhaustively discussed. Participants noted that since this was a syndromic surveillance, it would be quite difficult for a veterinary officer to make an accurate diagnosis just from a telephone call, hence the need for a differential diagnosis question and not a provisional diagnosis question.As part of the expanded surveillance and with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, surveillance of abattoirs was included. Marsabit County has five abattoirs, one each in Moyale, Laisamis, Marsabit Town, Sololo and North Horr. These abattoirs have dedicated meat inspectors who inspect meat daily and file a report on the observed lesions from the carcasses and organs. It is this report that will be included in the e-surveillance system. It is envisaged that these reports will offer a truer picture of the diseases circulating within the flocks as compared to the syndromic surveillance.The participants were introduced to the concept of e-surveillance for abattoirs, the gap that it aims to fill and its place and importance in the wider disease surveillance in Marsabit County. The current ante mortem and post mortem practices were discussed for each abattoir. The abattoirs have a myriad of challenges including lack of adequate resources, designated personnel and holding facilities for the animals. The abattoir personnel also travel long distances between their homes and the abattoirs and in some cases, this poses a security risk to them.The participants discussed the recommended standard operating procedures for an abattoir; some of the procedures, especially ante mortem, were strictly adhered to because of some of the challenges noted above. They agreed that there was no need to collect data merely for the sake of it and the collected data should be of high quality. For this reason, the ante mortem section of abattoir surveillance was excluded. The participants were trained on how to fill their normal records on the e-surveillance forms with emphasis on correctly specifying observed lesions for each carcass and/or organ.The e-surveillance system was rolled out in Marsabit in early 2017 and this training workshop was an opportune time to evaluate its performance to date, acknowledge its successes and address any challenges encountered.• The e-surveillance system is a modern way of disease surveillance for the county.• The system has eased the process of disease reporting as the electronic forms are easier to fill than paper forms.• The system has reduced the paperwork and the number of physical records.• The automatic analysis of received data has reduced the turnaround time between receipt of data and launching a response.• A few gaps were noted in the data collection forms. These include: o The list of villages was not exhaustive. o The corresponding list of community disease reporters was not exhaustive and had some missing names.o The names of some community disease reporters and villages were misspelt. • At one point, there was a considerable system downtime of two months.• The county is yet to provide airtime for the sub-county veterinarians to consistently communicate with the community disease reporters.• There is need to increase the number of disease reporters.","tokenCount":"1045"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7285894181.json b/data/part_1/7285894181.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7ba1e07e689ac43617adb6904cac3d2505f8b6b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7285894181.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"583caf18c7779ab4c4a298efd85c70c4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e54fb02c-9947-4cf7-a0e0-c760e3fc7577/retrieve","id":"-349745564"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2d5e5cac-2690-4e2a-84a3-99ed8e0fd0b8","pagecount":"42","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears. Please send a copy to the Communications Department at the address below.The study was by a team of researchers from TARI-Ukiriguru and the International Potato Center (CIP). The team is grateful for the financial support from SweetGAINS project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).The team would also like to thank all key stakeholders in the study area who participated in interviews for this study. We appreciate the tireless cooperation we received from the district staff throughout the study the Regional Administrative Secretar (RAS) of Geita, Mara and Mwanza regions, for providing consent to undertake field work in their regions. Lastly, we appreciate the useful comments received during the validation workshop which were used to improve the report.Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) is a traditional subsistence crop grown in Tanzania and is increasingly being marketed as an important crop for improved nutrition and food security. This has increased the need to have varieties that are preferred by both producers and consumers, for sustained widespread adoption. Furthermore, the production environments for sweetpotato are changing rapidly due to the changing climate, necessitating changes in the traits preferred by the producers. Many of these trait preferences vary by gender of producers and consumers, with women producers and consumers preferring certain traits considered unimportant by men, and vice versa. To adequately cater to these various needs, breeders need to respond to these changes in the demand for new varieties by introducing varieties that adequately meet the changing preferences of end users. This report is an update of information on gender-differentiated producer and consumer preferred characteristics of sweet potato conducted at the Lake Zone of Tanzania. It is intended to inform gender responsive breeding strategies, specifically to help set breeding priorities and to expand the potential impact of improved sweetpotato varieties. Information in the report was obtained by interviewing sweetpotato farmers and consumers from the Lake Zone districts of Tanzania (Bukombe, Butiama and Nyamagana) through focus group discussions (FGDs). These FGDs comprised of about eight to twelve participants and were conducted separately for men and women.The study shows that consumption of sweetpotato in urban and sub-urban areas has increased in the last five years. Although some of the urban households produce their own sweetpotato roots, most purchased the product from local markets. Overall, the top three Sweetpotato varieties grown by both male and female FGD participants were Ukimwi and Umeme in Bukombe district, and Rwakoma (Ukerewe) in Butiama district. On the other hand, the common varieties consumed by both male and female participants in Bukombe district were Polista and Ukimwi. Nyangubu and Polista were consumed by both male and female consumers in Butiama and Nyamagana district, respectively. Flesh sweetness, high root yield, big root size, skin and flesh color were the major preferred sweetpotato traits by producers, while the most important traits for both male and female consumers were good root shape, skin color, high dry matter content, non-fibrous roots and sweet taste.isaggregation of the results by gender show no major differences on the variety trait preference men and women, there is an indication that women tended to grow more varieties than men, including those with low market demand but considered beneficial to the family's wellbeing. These varieties possessed positive traits such as big root size, high dry matter content, high yields and good taste. On the other hand, men mainly grew varieties with a high market demand. gender roles women affected by traits thatNotable changes are occurring in Sweet potato value chains due to various factors including changing weather conditions, changing consumption patterns, increasing household incomes, and increased awareness as information becomes more accessible. These factors have led to changes in producer and end-user demand for varieties that are responsive to their unique production environments, changing market demands, and processing scenarios. More often than not, variety trait preferences are not uniform across populations with different segments of the society having varied preferences. For example, studies show that women and men have different variety and variety-trait preferences. Breeding programs therefore need to consider these factors when developing new varieties, for inclusive value chains and impactful development interventions.To understand preferred and non-preferred traits of key varieties in these changing production and marketing environments, this study was undertaken to guide breeding activities in the Genetic Advances and InnovativeSeed Systems for Sweetpotato (SweetGAINS) project, a flagship initiative led by the International Potato Center (CIP) which aims to modernize sweetpotato breeding programs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study, conducted at the Lake Zone region of Tanzania, aimed to understand gender-differentiated preferences on sweet potato traits and varieties, as well as the effects of these preferences on the roles of men and women in the household, for a gendered analysis of impact of released varieties on household gender roles.The study involved identification of sweet potato varieties produced and consumed in the study area, as well as producer and consumer preferences and non-preferences of key variety traits. Results of the study will inform gender-responsive breeding strategies, specifically to help set breeding priorities and to expand the potential impact of improved varieties through incorporation of end-user preferences in breeding strategies.The study adopted a mixed methods approach where surveys were combined with key informant interviews (KII)and focus group discussions (FGDs) to collect data. Only the FGDs are discussed in this report. The FGDs were conducted with both sweetpotato producers and consumers, where both urban and rural consumers were targeted to capture the dynamics in the preferences between these two market segments. To understand differences in variety preferences and allow for uninhibited discussions, all the FGDs were organized into male and female groups.To collect the data, qualified facilitators were recruited and trained by the lead scientist from CIP. The facilitators were trained on how to conduct the FGDs using a checklist in a manner that elicits robust discussions. The checklist was pretested and feedback from the pretest used to improve the questions and mode of questioning.This also ensured familiarity of the tool by the facilitators. Data were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis approach.2.2 Sampling and protocolsTwo districts in the Lake Zone region of Tanzania, Bukombe and Butiama, were purposively selected for the study based on sweetpotato production potential. From the two districts, the best sweetpotato producing wards as ranked by the district agricultural, irrigation and cooperatives office (DAICO) were chosen for inclusion in the study. In Bukombe district, Namonge and Butinzya wards were selected for inclusion in the study while Buhemba and Butiama wards were selected in Butiama District (Table 1). From these selected wards, one village was randomly selected for two FGD sessions, one with male and the other with female participants. Selection of the participants for the FGDs was conducted at the sub-village (vitongoji) level, with each sub-village contributing to the overall count of participants in the FGD at the village level. A total of 94 farmers participated in FGD (Table 2). Protocols followed during the field exercise included explaining the purpose of the study to sub-village leaders who were convened by the village government. Each sub-village leader was asked to submit a list of 20-25 names of male and female farmers involved in sweetpotato root/vine production from which three to four male and female farmers from each sub-village were then randomly selected. A briefing was held with the selected farmers, who were informed about the objective of the FGDs and then requested to participate in sessions scheduled for the following day.Participants for the consumer FGDs were selected from the township markets of Bukombe and Butiama districts.To capture the dynamics of rural and urban sweetpotato consumers, Mwanza city was purposively selected to sample urban consumers for the study. The FGD sessions were therefore conducted in the township markets of Bukombe and Butiama districts, and in the Nyamagana township market of Mwanza district. Similar to the producer FGDs, two sessions were conducted in each market, one with women and the other with men. Six FGDs were conducted in total, comprising of 51 participants, 23 male and 28 female (Table 3). Protocols used to select participants for the consumer FGDs were two-fold; the first approach involved requesting retailers and food vendors in the markets to provide contacts of their regular customers, who are not primarily producers of sweet potato roots. Participants for the FGDs were then randomly selected from the provided list. In the second approach, clients purchasing or consuming sweetpotato roots from retailers and food vendors were observed and requested to participate in the FGDs sessions the following day. In this section, the socioeconomic characteristics of sweetpotato producers and consumers are presented first, followed by results on producer sweetpotato variety and trait preferences. Next, the effects of the producer preferred and non-preferred traits on the role of men and women in the household are reported. This is then followed by a discussion on consumer variety and trait preferences, and lastly, the effects of these consumer preferences on the role of men and women are reported.3.1 Socioeconomic characteristics of FGD participantsThe average age of the participants was 44 years old, with male participants being older than female participants at 45 and 43 years of age, respectively. In terms of education, the number of years spent in school by women was less than those spent by men, with women spending on average a year less in school, compared to men.Region-wise, female participants from Butiama had higher educational outcomes compared to those in Bukombe (Table 4).Table 4. Socio-economic characteristics of sweet potato producers Across the two districts, both male and female sweetpotato producers allocated similar land area to the crop's production. Participants from Bukombe however allocated an acre of land more to sweetpotato production compared to those from Butiama, perhaps due to the differential sweetpotato commercialization in the two districts. Sweetpotato producers in Bukombe have access to urban markets (traders from Dar-Es-Salaam, Morogoro and Dodoma markets) while those in Butiama rely mostly on local markets for their produce, with some small access to urban markets in Mwanza city. Thus, producers from Bukombe district are more market oriented and more commercialized.The average age of participants for sweetpotato consumer FGDs across the three districts was 38 years (Table 5). Butiama District had the oldest participants with an average age of 43 years, while Nyamagana had the youngest participants, with an average age of 34 years. The average participant across the study districts spent nine years in school, which was similar across men and women participants. Across the districts, women in Bukombe district spent only six years in school compared to 10 years spent by their male counterparts. Conversely, women in Butiama district on average spent three more years in school compared to their male counterparts, with Butiama having more educational outcomes than Bukombe, on average.The study also sought to understand sweetpotato consumption patterns across consumers in the study districts.Overall, 75% of the sweetpotato consumers reported that their sweetpotato consumption had changed in the last five years (see Table 6). Across the gender divide, more women (89%) than men (57%) indicated they had changed their consumption of sweetpotato over the past five years, with a majority of them reporting an increase in the consumption of the sweetpotato. Across the study sites, women (62%) in the Nyamagana FGD recorded the highest decrease in sweetpotato consumption (see Table 7). The decrease in sweetpotato consumption was mainly attributed to the presence of sweetpotato varieties in the market that did not meet the consumers preferences. This highlights the importance of considering urban market segments in variety selection. One female participant from the Nyamagana district FGD pointed out \"there is a type of sweetpotato that is bitter [nikichungu] . . . it is also infested by certain black insects . . .there are other varieties that rot after only two days of storage.\" Other participants in the same FGD added that most sweetpotato in the market had a short shelf life, were watery, fibrous and infested by pests. Results on the frequency of sweetpotato purchases indicate that on average, 23% of female and 19% of male consumers in the three districts purchase sweetpotato on a weekly basis (Table 8), followed by four times a week (8% females and 15% males) and daily (8% females and 11% males). In Bukombe, Butiama and Nyamagana districts, 46% of males, 41% of females, and 29% of females respectively, purchase sweetpotato every week. The purchase of sweetpotato on a weekly basis by consumers could be an indicator of the need for varieties with a long shelf life. It also points to the changing diets among both urban and rural consumers as tastes, preferences and lifestyles change, resulting in an increased demand for sweetpotato products. These results also highlight the importance of sweet potato as a source of food for both male and female consumers in urban and sub-urban areas of the study area.3.2 Producer sweetpotato variety and trait preferencesThis section reports results obtained from the four-cell assessment process adopted in the methodology. In Bukombe district and among male producers, Ukimwi was found to be grown by many households in large areas in Mji mwema and Silamila-Butinzya villages, both located in Bukombe district (Table 9). On the other hand, the female counterparts across the district had a higher preference for Ukg16, Pisitatu and Ukimwi, which they indicated were grown by many households in large areas in the district. Polista and Rwakoma were found to be grown by many households and in large areas by female participants in Butiama district, while Rwakoma and Rumala were grown by many households in small areas, in the same district by male participants. Men who grew Polista in Butiama district stated that they liked the variety due to its long shelf life, making the variety ideal for transportation to the market. It was however noted that its tubers rotted easily when bruised. On the other hand, all female sweetpotato producers in the district (Butiama) FGD grew the variety in many households and in large areas, and their preference for the variety could be further explained by the traits they found preferable, as shown in Table 10. These traits include good taste, being liked by children and the elderly, among others.Analysis of producer variety preferences show that preferences vary by district and sex. For example, in Butiama district the dominant varieties grown by all (100%) male producers are Rwakoma (Ukerewe), Rumala, and Nyangubu while their female counterparts mainly grew Tunzamurume (Polista) (100%), Kabode (84%) and Rwakoma/Mkombozi (71%). On the other hand, 83% of male producers in Bukombe district mostly grew Mwinga hana siri (Ukimwi) and 75% grew Ukg16 (Umeme) varieties. All female producers (100%) in the same district grew Ukg16 (Umeme), Pisitatu, Ukimwi and Sirari (Table 10). Among these varieties, only Ukg16 was known to the researchers because it was included in the variety catalogue (Mtunda K., et al 2019). It was also noted that some varieties were known by more than one name (these alternative names are indicated in brackets).  *Key: 1=Many Households, large area, 2=Many households small area, 3=Few households large area, 4=few households small area Ukimwi appears to be a variety dominantly grown in Bukombe district by both female and male participants. It was not mentioned as a preferred variety by participants in FGDs in Butiama district. During the FGDs with female participants in Bukombe district, it was reported that Ukimwi (which means HIV/AIDS in Kiswahili) sweetpotato variety was introduced in the district by a project that aimed to improve the income and health of HIV/AIDS patients. Later traders from Dar es Salaam developed a preference for it. This variety is also known as Mwinga hana siri (translated to sweetpotato without a secret) because it is the first variety to flower before other varieties all planted at the same time and under the same conditions.On the other hand, Tunza murume (Polista) appears to be more popular among women than among men in Butiama district. This is because it was grown by all female FGD participants in the district, but only by 29% of the male participants therein. Kabode variety, on the other hand, is an OFSP variety popularized in the area through a school feeding program. During the FGD with female participants in Butiama district, it was reported that Tunza murume was introduced as a new commercial sweetpotato variety in Buturu village. However, the poor infrastructure in the village prevented buyers from purchasing the sweet potato variety, resulting in producers incurring huge loses. This occurrence could have possibly deterred men from growing it for the market, while women grew it for consumption within their households. This finding is similar to Asrat et al. (2010) who found that the ability of a variety to fetch a good price was an incentive for farmers to grow it.The study also sought to understand why some of the varieties were lowly ranked by some FGD participants in different areas. Results show that Polista, Sirari and pisitatu were lowly ranked by male FGD participants in both Butiama and Bukombe districts. Pisitatu and Sirari are new varieties in the study area and it was noted that planting materials for the varieties are scarce. A female participant in Bukombe district stated that \"a challenge with Pisitatu is obtaining sweetpotato vines for planting. The vines easily dry up in dry weather…it is difficult to get its vines.\" Participants noted that these varieties have the potential to become dominant varieties when planting materials become more accessible. On the other hand, few male participants (29%) grew Polista due to some negative traits mentioned earlier such as its ability to rot easily when bruised and it being prone to sweetpotato weevils (SPW). Female participants in Butiama district did not rank Mwezi moja, Simama and Kiliona varieties highly. Mwezi moja was reported to be susceptible to pests and diseases, while Simama was less preferred due to its khaki color, a trait consumers find unappealing. Kiliona was described as having low yields and drought intolerance. These negative traits resulted in the low acceptance of these varieties. This finding is supported by Okello et al., (2015) who found that acceptability of sweetpotato varieties by producers was dependent on yield ability, disease resistance and storability.The FGD participants were also asked to indicate the traits they liked the most in the preferred varieties (see Table 10). Results show that both male and female producers in the study areas select varieties based on various characteristics. Unsurprisingly, sweetpotato farmers across all study sites and sex attached substantial weight to traits such as flesh sweetness, high yield, big root size, high dry matter content, long storage shelf life, early maturity, diseases and pest resistance, and drought resistance. Yield and shelf life of roots constitutes an important basis for farmers to cultivate the variety because it ensures food and income security to households (Bela et al., 2018). Visual attributes such as skin and flesh color were found to be important by male and female producers, with varieties with purple skin color and yellow and/or orange flesh color being the most preferred over varieties with white skin and white flesh color. Other important visual attributes in producer variety preference included shape and size of the roots. In addition, organoleptic attributes such as non-fibrous roots, flesh sweetness, and pleasant smell were also mentioned as preferred traits since they increased the marketability of a variety. This finding is similar to Asrat et al. (2010) who found that the ability of a variety to fetch a good price was an incentive for farmers' selection of that variety. From a gender perspective, results show that women producers preferred organoleptic attributes such as flesh sweetness, and visual attributes such as big root size, high root yield and high dry matter content (Table 10).From a taste perspective, the results were varied, with most men preferring the varieties to have moderate/less sugar. Similar to female producers, male producers also had a preference for growing sweetpotato varieties with organoleptic traits such as flesh sweetness and visual traits such as high root yield, and big root size. It was observed that in addition to these visual traits, male producers also frequently mentioned other preferred traits that increased marketability of the produce such as short growth cycle, good root shape and long shelf life. This was echoed by a male respondent in the Bukombe FGD who stated that \"we grow [sweetpotato] for the market, our food requirements for home consumption can be catered for later.\"The FGD participants gave various reasons for the preference of key sweetpotato variety traits. One of the most mentioned trait by producers is flesh sweetness. This is an important organoleptic trait that determines the consumption of sweetpotato at the household level and its marketability to traders. High root yields with big sized tubers is a desirable trait since it ensures food security and profitability at the household level. Similarly, good root shape is a commercially desirable trait as the shape makes it is easy for traders to pack and fill up a sack. This trait is also desirable to traders who prefer long oblong-shaped roots that are medium in size. Other organoleptic traits like high dry matter content (starch) and non-fibrous roots are desirable to consumers and traders who wish to process sweetpotato into flour and crisps. However, some of the consumers indicated they do not prefer varieties with high dry matter content as this causes heartburn, particularly to people suffering from stomach ulcers.Varieties with a long storage shelf-life enable consumers to produce and/or buy sweetpotato in bulk and store them for a long period of time to mitigate production and market risks. Traders also prefer varieties with this trait since the produce can be transported over long distances and kept for a longer period in the market before getting spoilt. On the other hand, early maturing varieties provide food security because food is available for the household when other crops are not yet ready for harvesting and consumption. These varieties also require less labor inputs as weeding cycles are reduced, and they are also reported to generate higher incomes since they are sold when the demand is high and supply low, hence higher prices. For example, both male and female participants in Bukombe district indicated that sweetpotato prices in the previous season (February-May 2020)were very high at the beginning of the marketing season (February-March) compared to the end of the season (April-May). On their part, drought tolerant varieties are preferred as they are able to withstand recurrent dry seasons occasioned by erratic rainfall patterns, while pest and disease resistant varieties are desirable for areas with high incidences of sweetpotato weevils and viruses. Pests and diseases reduce yields and affect the quality of roots, thereby reducing their market value.Other preferred traits like visual attributes e.g., skin and flesh color, are important market traits with most rural and urban consumers preferring purple skin and yellow/orange fleshed sweetpotato. Traders prefer varieties with such traits as they are easily transported without getting bruised, as opposed to white-skinned varieties.On the other hand, white-skin and -flesh color is good for processing michembe (dried chips) and matobolwa (boiled chips), which come in handy during food scarcity.The study also sought to understand the traits that were less desirable among the preferred varieties (see Table 11). The most common unpreferred traits were susceptibility to pests and diseases, drought intolerance, long growth cycle (up to six months), low root yields and lack of a sweet taste (Table 11). The participants were also asked to give recommendations on improving the dominant varieties. The recommendations given included enhancing drought tolerance, increasing sweetpotato yields, and improving flesh sweetness. Enhancing pest and disease resistance was also mentioned as a recommendation. *Key: 1=Many Households, large area, 2=Many households small area, 3=Few households large area, 4=few households small area Further disaggregation of the results by gender show that there are slight differences in the type of non-preferred varieties between female and male participants. Over 60% of female producers in Bukombe district, grow less dominant varieties such as Polista (66%), Sugute (75%), Lyaga na lukulu (83%) and Mwezi moja (83%). The differences in variety preference between men and women producers can be attributed to different gender roles in the household. Most of these varieties are mainly grown for home consumption, where the roots are boiled or processed into michembe and matobolwa. Women are more inclined to providing food for the household, thus they may not prefer traits that limit food availability for home consumption. Men on the other hand, are more inclined to produce for the market thus may not prefer varieties with low market demand.Among the less dominant varieties, participants were asked to indicate traits that made these varieties less preferred. Results in Table 13 indicate key reasons for non-preference for most of these varieties as late maturity (Polista, Lyaga na lukulu, Mazao and Nyagumbu), bad taste (Polista, Juliana, Mazao and OFSP (viazi lishe), and low root and vine yields (Mwezi moja, Lyaga na lukulu, Sugute, Mazao, Simama and Nyangubu). The OFSP varieties were also said to have watery and soft roots with low dry matter content when boiled, in addition to the bad pumpkin-like taste. On the other hand, Juliana was said to have a shortage of planting materials given that its vines do not spread and are more erect, and the tubers are also less marketable. Susceptibility to pests and diseases was also mentioned as a reason for the non-preference for Simama and Sugute varieties, whileNyangubu was said to be susceptible to drought. Lyaga na lukulu, Mazao and Nyangubu were also said to have fibrous roots. While the non-preferred traits discussed above make these varieties less preferable, these varieties have some unique preferrable traits which ensures their continued production by some segments of producers. Results from Table 13 show that long shelf-life is one of the key preferable trait among these non-dominant varieties with four varieties having this trait (Polista, Mwezi mmoja, Lyaga na lukulu, Juliana and Mazao). Another dominant preferable trait among these varieties is resistance to pests and diseases, with Polista, Mwezi mmoja, Lyaga na lukulu, Juliana, Mazao and Nyangubu possessing this trait. Mwezi mmoja, Lyaga na lukulu and Mazao are also preferred due to high vine yield, while Polista and the OFSP varieties are preferred due to their high root yield.The latter also have better nutritional and health benefits (Vitamin A), hence desirable. Big root size, high sugar content, good taste, flesh color, non-fibrous roots and texture are other traits that are preferrable among these non-dominant varieties.Similar to producers, results show that consumer preferred varieties also vary by region and gender (see Table 14). Common varieties consumed by both male and female participants in Bukombe district are Polista and Ukimwi, with more men than women preferring Polista at 71% and 38%, respectively, while more women than men preferred Ukimwi at 83% and 14%, respectively. In Butiama district, Nyangubu was preferred by both men and women with all the women participants indicating consumption of the variety compared to 63% of the male participants. Similar to Bukombe district, Polista was preferred by both male and female consumers inNyamagana district with about 77% of the female participants consuming the variety compared to about 38% of the male participants. Polista is the only sweetpotato variety consumed by male and female consumers in rural (Bukombe district) and urban centers of the districts selected for the study. Results show some correlation between producer-preferred and consumer-preferred varieties, with mixed results across gender and market segments. For instance, Ukimwi, which was grown by all female producers participating in the FGDs in Bukombe district, is consumed by 83% of female consumers in the same district.Similarly, Nyangubu, which is produced by all male farmers in Butiama district, is consumed by 63% of male farmers in the same district while Berita is produced by 71% of male producers in Butiama district and is consumed by 63% of male consumers in the same district. On the other hand, Polista is produced by all female producers and only 29% of male producers in Butiama District but is consumed by 71% of male consumers in Bukombe district and 77% of female consumers in Nyamagana district. Similarly, Simama, which is grown by 67% of female producers in Butiama district, is consumed by 75% of male consumers in the same district.As expected, most of the consumer preferred traits centered on visual and organoleptic characteristics (see Table 16). Visual attributes preferred by both male and female consumers were good root shape and skin color with consumers preferring sweetpotato with medium to large root sizes and purple skin color. On the other hand, organoleptic attributes preferred by both male and female consumers included high dry matter content, nonfibrous roots and sweet taste. From a gender perspective, most male consumers preferred traits such as good root shape and taste, as well as high dry matter content, while most female consumers preferred sweet taste, good root shape, non-fibrous roots, and good skin color. Comparison between urban and rural consumer preferences reveal that the preferred visual attribute by both rural and urban consumers was good root shape, while the most preferred organoleptic traits were high dry matter content and sweet flesh/good taste. Additionally, more female consumers in FGDs held in both rural and urban settings were found to prefer sweetpotato with a good taste compared to their male counterparts. Results also indicate that more consumers in the FGDs held in the rural townships preferred sweetpotato varieties with large roots, compared to consumers in FGDs held in urban areas. Lastly, more consumers from FGDs held in the urban areas preferred sweetpotato that were not fibrous and those with a long shelf life compared to their rural counterparts.Consumers who participated in the male and female FGDs were requested to list non-preferred sweetpotato varieties. Seventeen sweetpotato varieties were mentioned in the FGDs with none being repeated across the three districts (see Table 17). It was observed that a few of the consumers, most of whom were men, did not know the names of some of the sweetpotato varieties. These were identified as 'unknown variety' by the FGD facilitators.Results on the least preferred varieties and traits show a convergence in non-preferred traits across location and gender, with the most commonly unpreferred traits being those related to taste (Table 17). These included characteristics such as not being sweet, being tasteless, and having a bad flavor. Other unpreferred traits noted by consumers for the less dominant varieties were less dry matter content and high-water content in the tubers, with highwater water content being reported to cause sweetpotato to become soft when cooked. Some consumers also reported that a few sweetpotato varieties produced latex when peeled, a trait they found undesirable. Among these less preferred varieties, consumers also found some to have desirable traits, which contributed to their continued consumption by some consumers. Such traits included long shelf life which was exhibited in Berita, Mlenga and Unknown variety 2, sweetness which was characteristic of Mwezi mmoja, Berita, Katebe and Kinanje, and good root shape which was a trait common with Mwezi Mmoja, Kinanje, Mazao, Katebe, unknown variety 3 and Karoti. Another preferred trait was low-fiber roots, which was common with Unkown variety 2, Unknown variety 3 and Simama.Variety traits that are preferred by different market actors i.e., vine multipliers, root producers, consumers and traders, may have different effects on the household roles played by men and women. This could range from positive effects such as improving the breadwinner's ability to provide for food and income, to negative ones such as inducing more drudgery for parties mostly involved in production activities. It is therefore critical for these effects to be considered in breeding for certain traits, even though these may be preferable by certain sweetpotato value chain actors. In this section, results from the study are presented on women and men's perceived trait preferences and how they affect gender roles in the household.Results presented in Table 18 show that many of the preferred sweetpotato traits have a similar effect on the roles of both men and women in the households. However, traits involving labor usually affect women more than men, as these have the ability to either increase or decrease the workload associated with the production of sweetpotato, which is primarily a woman-driven crop in terms of production.Table 18. Effect of producer preferred sweetpotato traits on the role of men and womenPositive or negative effects on men/women Early maturity Early maturity results in a more food secure household and stable income because harvesting is done when the demand is high. Additionally, labor for weeding is reduced therefore saving the cost of production and reducing labor requirements for women.Increases root and vine yields and reduces costs of production. This trait has a positive effect on both men and women.Increases production of sweetpotato roots hence more food secure households and income.This increases availability of planting material which gives room for the expansion of the variety in the area hence increasing the volume of production.This increases the availability of planting materials and reduces the need for weeding, thus reducing the labor requirement for weeding by women. Long storage shelf life Saves labor and time used by women to harvest sweetpotato roots for home consumption because they can harvest the tubers once a week. It also leads to increased household incomes due to high market demand for varieties with this trait. Red/purple skin color and yellow/orange flesh colorVarieties with these traits are preferred by traders, hence increase household income.Small sized roots are not preferred by most of the traders (only bought by retailers within the district), because it takes many roots to fill a sack. This reduces income to producers. Producers prefer round shaped roots because they easily fill up a sack compared to long shaped roots. This reduces the time taken to pack the roots in the sacks for both men and women. On the other hand, some female producers prefer large root size because it allows a big family to use fewer roots per meal. Larger roots are faster to peel, therefore reducing the time required to prepare the sweetpotato by women High dry matter content This causes heart burn particularly to people with ulcers. The cost of consuming this variety is increased because the consumers report the need to eat it with a glass of milk or tea. Feeling unwell may interfere with both women and men's roles.These traits make this variety a favorite by children. Parents will spend less time feeding their children. The traits also increase its demand in the market therefore increasing household incomes.Sweetpotatoes with this trait reduce women's workload in looking for nutritious foods rich in vitamin A for their families. Good for processing michembe (dried chips) and matobolwa (boiled chips)Increased workload for women while preparing the dried sweetpotato root chips (michembe), but also increases household food security. The tubers need to be processed immediately after harvesting because they change color when peeled. To avoid change of color the roots can be processed into matobolwa (roots boiled before being peeled). Value addition of the tubers into juice, porridge and snacks increases women's workload, but at the same time generates more income to both women and men. Short cooking duration Saves the time spent by women cooking as well as fuel costsGood for processing michembe and matobolwa for sale or use during food scarcity. This is good for income for women at household level and for food security.Productivity traits like high vine and root yields as well as pest and disease resistance are beneficial to both women and men as they improve food security and bring more incomes. While other traits like early maturity also imply food security to households, they also have labor implications such as reduced weeding cycles, which implies low labor inputs by women who are mostly tasked with this sweetpotato labor activity. On the other hand, varieties with good household processing qualities (for example making of michembe and matobolwa) may imply more labor for women, since these have to be processed immediately after harvesting to avoid color change after peeling. Processed sweetpotato, however have a food security implication since the processed food can be stored for future consumption.Generally, sweetpotatoes are creepers. However, FGD participants reported that some varieties (for example Rumula and Juliana) were not creepers. These varieties had erect leaves. Unlike the creeping varieties, erect varieties allowed producers to intercrop the sweetpotato with other crops. FGD participants however reported that varieties with erect leaves increased women's labor requirement for weeding.The effects of non-preferred variety traits on the roles of men and women were stated in general terms by both men and women with no distinct differences in the stated effects between the two groups. These are presented in Table 16.Table 16. Effect of producer non-preferred sweetpotato traits on the role of men and womenTraits not Preferred Positive or negative effects on men/women Late maturing/long growth cycle This trait makes it difficult for producers to time the market because sweetpotato fetch a good price at the beginning of the season. This means varieties with this trait do not provide food and income to the household when required. The varieties are ready for harvesting mainly when there is a glut of the produce in the market, leading to low market prices. This reduces household income for both men and women. The trait also increases weeding cycles creating more labor demand for women. Additionally, women being responsible for its production, work alone in the field, causing a security problem to them.Reduces food security and income to the households affecting both men and women Prone to drought Leads to low root and vine yields, which results in low income and reduced food security to the household. Irrigation can be done to increase production of roots/vines in lowlands. However, this increases production costs and possibly leads to losses when market prices for the tubers are low. In addition, irrigating the crop presents labor implications for both men and women Susceptible to pests and disease More vines are needed for gap filling therefore increasing the costs of production.Incomes and yields are reduced.Varieties with short storage shelf life are not preferred by consumers because their quality deteriorates within a few days. This means its demand in the market is low resulting in less income to the producers. Furthermore, producers are forced to harvest the tubers in small quantities to avoid root deterioration when harvested in large quantities for home consumption, increasing women's workload. Varieties with short shelf life are usually processed to michembe which also increases women's workload.Low dry matter content/high water contentThese traits are not preferred by both men and women producers because when cooked the sweetpotato becomes too soft, watery and tasteless, hence reducing their marketability. This leads to reduced household income. A female participant in Bukombe said that \"consumers look for sweetpotato varieties with high dry matterTraits not Preferred Positive or negative effects on men/women content, they don't look for nutritional traits that is why Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties are less preferred. People need to be trained on the importance of nutritional traits which will increase the consumption of OFSP varieties\"Low sweetness/tasteless roots Have low market demand which reduces household income for both men and women Low market demand A variety with low market demand fetches low prices leading to less income from sales.This affects both men and women.Consumers do not like varieties with fibrous roots. This trait leads to low market demand hence less income from sales. This affects both men and women Latex This trait is observed during peeling of the sweetpotato variety. It makes the peeling process difficult, increasing the workload for womenCreeping habit This is mentioned as a desired trait. However, some producers state that this trait makes intercropping sweetpotato with other crops difficult. This reduces the variety of crops grown in an area of land, reducing food security Easily bruised This trait reduces the marketability of the variety because it leads to a reduction of the shelf life of the tubers, hence less incomes from sales.This reduces the shelf life of the sweetpotato and reduces yields when rotting occurs in the field. This leads to less income from sales and increases food insecurity.Unlike producer preferred traits, most of the consumer preferred sweetpotato traits were found to affect the roles of both men and women. These results are presented in Table 17.Table 17. Effect of consumer preferred sweetpotato traits on the role of men and womenPositive or negative effects on men/women Long storage shelf life This trait enables the variety to be stored for a period of about a week. This reduces the frequency of consumers purchasing varieties with this trait, saving time for both men and women at the household level.Varieties with this trait are easy to peel reducing women's workload while cooking.Large/medium sized roots Tubers with large roots require more labor for peeling increasing women's workload. Small tubers also take longer to peel. Medium-sized tubers are preferred.This trait increases the workload for women while preparing dried sweetpotato root chips (michembe). Processing matobolwa also requires labor to boil and dry the roots. However, varieties with these traits increases food security since the processed food can be stored for future use.Saves women labor used to cook and also saves money for the household as less cooking energy is required.High dry matter content Good source of carbohydrates for members of the household.Varieties whose roots can be boiled or fried while the leaves can be used as vegetables are preferred. This means more work for women while preparing the dishes, but at the same time reduces the woman's time in providing various food types for her family.Positive or negative effects on men/women Short growth cycle/early maturity This trait makes the preferred sweetpotato variety more readily available in the market, important for food security Sweet taste Sweet varieties are liked by children, reducing the time women take to feed them.Sweetpotatoes that are tasty result in increased consumption at household level and better health.Purple skin and yellow or orange flesh color Consumers found sweetpotato varieties with purple shiny skin and yellow or orange colored flesh attractive. These traits increased the sweetpotatoes palatability, hence increasing consumption at household level.However, those trait preferences for sweetpotato varieties in 4. Summary of key findings, conclusions and recommendationsThis study was conducted with the aim of establishing gender-differentiated preferences for sweetpotato varieties and traits in order to inform gender-responsive breeding strategies. This will help set breeding priorities that expand the potential impact of improved sweetpotato varieties in the study area. A total of 94 producers and 51 consumers from Bukombe, Nyamagana and Butiama districts in Tanzania participated in the focus group discussions. The results from the study show that consumption of sweetpotato in urban and -urban areas has increased over the last five years. This is consistent with Jones et al., (2012) who revealed that although some of the urban households produce their own sweetpotato roots, most purchase the from local markets weetpotato varieties grown by farmers differ according to geographic location, gender and market opportunities.the top three Sweetpotato varieties grown by both male and female FGD participants were Ukimwi and Umeme in Bukombe district, and Rwakoma (Ukerewe) in Butiama district. On the other hand, the common varieties consumed by both male and female participants in Bukombe district were Polista and Ukimwi. Nyangubu and Polista were consumed by both male and female consumers in Butiama and Nyamagana district, respectively. lesh sweetness, high root yield, big root size, skin and flesh color were the major preferred sweetpotato traits by producers, while the most important traits for both male and female consumers were good root shape, skin color, high dry matter content, non-fibrous roots and sweet taste.isaggregation by gender show that women tended to grow more varieties than men, including those with low market demand but good for meeting their family's food security needs, while men mainly grew varieties with a high market demand.Study participants were also found to have little knowledge on the names of the sweetpotato varieties grown in their respective areas. Majority of the varieties are known by their origin and/or names of the person who brought them. Out of the six varieties preferred in Bukombe district, three of them (Polista, Ukerewe and UKg16)were identified through the sweetpotato varieties catalogue (Mtunda,K et al.,, 2019). Some varieties were known by their local names, while the names of other varieties were unknown to FGD participants.Similarly, out of twelve varieties preferred by sweetpotato consumers in the study area, only six were included in the catalogue. This shows the importance for information sharing between researchers and their stakeholders. ","tokenCount":"7439"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7293189398.json b/data/part_1/7293189398.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e8902a9d9aaa47488d7ce72a5d383b0b87dd6e08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7293189398.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"97858ff2dbdb2b3aa800dc5263c684c6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f01010b9-6428-404d-a542-8d801c01a352/retrieve","id":"664905828"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"447ccd4d-1d20-498f-ab52-0fd7569509ad","pagecount":"85","content":"The authors of this manuscript acknowledge the following organizations that were important partners during the design and implementation of this project. Some of then were intended partners and users since the beginning of the project and other although unintended users and partners, their involvement during the project life time contributed to enrich its contents, approaches and to catalyze its impacts.The project \"Payment for environmental services as a mechanism for promoting rural development in the upper watersheds of the tropics\" aimed to investigate and analyze the environmental externalities as a driver to promote social investment and a new dynamic and harmonic development in the rural sector. The environmental externalities were primarily waterrelated, which were quantified for selected Andean pilot watersheds. In these sites, the areas with higher potential to generate positive environmental externalities (environmental services) were prioritized. Moreover, in the prioritized areas the social and economic benefits (including multiplier effects by additional employments and income generated) derived from proposed land use changes to deliver environmental services were also assessed. Through the development of this project, the research team developed a methodological approach for quantifying and valuating the environmental services. Based on early results, the project through its development partners, make direct investments in the selected watersheds to test if financial or economic mechanisms (e.g. PES) were viable and feasible for providing environmental services under the existing socioeconomic context.Between 2005 and 2008, the socioeconomic conditions changed drastically in the Andean region posing new challenges for the design and development of these financial mechanisms. This influenced the potential of environmental services as drivers of new rural. The project learned that private profitability of delivering these services is related to the type of watershed, and in general is low though can produce very high social benefits. When investment on infrastructure measures is proposed for improving a water-related environmental externality, this is rarely profitable at private prices. In most cases the investment is recouped by agricultural producers that not necessarily are the ones capturing the highest share of derived benefits and those sectors that do, do not contribute to pay back the investment cost neither compensate for the associated environmental benefit.Each report in the CPWF Project Report series is reviewed by an independent research supervisor and the CPWF Secretariat, under the oversight of the Associate Director. The views expressed in these reports are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. Before taking any action based on the information in this publication, readers are advised to seek expert professional, scientific and technical advice.    This project was pioneer in Latin America by linking its purpose, methodological approach and analyses to direct interventions that aimed to tackle well-identified problems related to negative water-related environmental externalities. The project also has contributed to develop capacities in young professionals. The main research highlights are:-A methodological approach to quantify and valuate water-related environmental services was developed including an approach to assess the potential of these services to positively impact socioeconomic conditions in watersheds.-The magnitude of environmental services was determined for different watersheds. By prioritizing the sites where land users may deliver the highest amount of services, -based on hydrological modeling, an efficient and effective economic compensation per unit of service can be achieved. These sites corresponded to hydrological response units (HRUs) that constituted the level at which it was possible to study the trade off between increasing hydrological services vs.changes in socioeconomic benefits derived from different land use scenarios. This approach was proposed as a means to increase efficiency of investments in the watershed instead of promoting untargeted investments all over a watershed.-The analysis of the isotopic signatures permitted to quantify the relationship between nonpoint sources of N and P and N and P concentrations in water bodies. This was specifically important for targeting areas that with a change on management practices may have a high contribution for reducing the pollution of water bodies.-Poverty profiles were determined along with quality of life indicators and level of access to natural resources and this was related to eventual payments for environmental services in the studied watersheds -The economic benefits associated with different land uses or management practices and desired environmental services were determined. Benefits include the marginal incomes for farmers and the social benefits derived from increasing the income and labor use with new proposed land uses (i.e. multiplier effects).-A new methodological approach was developed to determine how changes in the provision of the environmental service may influence the competitiveness indexes of land use systems benefiting from that service. This is based on the cost of domestic resources and the social cost and benefit.-Strategic alliances and financial schemes to improve the provision of environmental services were created based on results from the analyses conducted to quantify the service, to explore the willingness to cooperate, the investment cost of different land use scenarios and the socioeconomic impacts on farmers and society. As a result, different types of alliances and schemes were developed: alliances with the public (governments, environmental authorities and public water supply companies) and private (farmers associations, development agencies, etc) sectors; and different type of incentives, from direct payments and soft loans to technical assistance in agricultural technologies. The different incentives were selected according to the socioeconomic context of watershed farmers and water users.-The ex-ante analysis was designed and conducted in a manner that provides the basis to compare with future ex-post analysis.-To apply a hydrological model able to analyze the complex interactions between soil-land use-climate in a single watershed and determine those areas with important contributions to water and sediment yield, it was necessary to collect primary and secondary data related to soil characteristics, current land uses and covers, digital terrain models, climatic databases, etc. This information in the Andes is not easily available and accessible and as such the project contributed to create these basic databases needed for posterior analysis and ex-post assessments.-The developed methodological approach has been applied in other watersheds different to those selected for the project, and thus has reached more beneficiaries than those originally intended, contributing to resolve social and environmental problems caused by water-related externalities in other sites.-The design of PES-type schemes in selected watersheds revealed how difficult it is to use these mechanisms for increasing income of rural households as well as for conserving nature. The HRUs with the highest potential to deliver environmental services are not necessarily occupied by the poorest. Actually many poor people in Andean watersheds do not own lands, and as such, cannot capture the economic benefits derived from agricultural activities (e.g. producer's surpluses) and from compensation for environmental services. For them, land use changes promoted to provide environmental services in a watershed will only generate benefits by the multiplier effect resulting from eventual increments on labor use and associated income.-The project enabled analysis of land use changes that may not require any compensation for environmental services to be implemented, as the opportunity cost is negative. In these cases, other types of incentives to stimulate the change are needed, such as soft loans that enable farmers to overcome up-front investment costs . One example was conservation agriculture in Colombia, a practice that impacts positively on soil characteristics that influence water flows and sediment retention while increasing farmer's income. Increasing small farmer access to cheaper loans is an effective mechanism to promote conservation practices with proven positive impacts on reducing sediment production and on increasing carbon sequestration. These practices however only favor the farmer by increasing the agricultural productivity and the net income, but reduce the economic benefits to others in terms of multiplier effects because labor use is reduced. This evidenced the difficulty to maximize private and social benefits by using environmental services as a new entry point of rural development strategies.-Experimental economics methods were applied by using economic games to assess the willingness of different actors to cooperate for delivering better environmental services, whether by implementing land use changes or by making payments to environmental service providers. A lack of communication between actors in a watershed and the socioeconomic asymmetries between them impedes cooperation However, when communication is enhanced, cooperation notably increases. Since it was not possible to involve the wealthiest farmers in the games, the best alternative to promote their participation in schemes to promote land uses likely to provide environmental services could be through command-and-control measures.In 2004, the Water and Food Challenge Program of the CGIAR approved the proposal \"Payment for Environmental Services (PES) as a mechanism for promoting rural development in the upper watersheds of the tropics\" to be executed in five Andean watersheds. The selected watersheds were located in four different Andean countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia) and with contrasting biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. The altitudinal range, rainfall amount and regime, agricultural production systems, poverty profiles, type of negative environmental externalities and actors were different across all these study sites. These watersheds contrasted with the other watersheds of the CPWF selected in other parts of the world in terms of size being the Andean ones much smaller. However these watersheds were representative of the type of those found in the Andes: small watersheds with strong slopes, important climatic variations along their altitudinal range (precipitation and temperature), short-term stream response, great altitudinal variations in relative short distances (from 1000 to 4000 m altitude), heterogeneous soil types and different levels of agricultural productivity. Specifically the studied watersheds were: the Fuquene Lake watershed (Colombia); the Ambato River watershed (Ecuador); the Jequetepeque River watershed (Peru); the Altomayo watershed (Peru) and the Tunari mountains microwatersheds (Bolivia).In the Andean watersheds, most of the farmers located in the steeper lands are poor. Thus, they seek new sources of income including compensation for environmental services would help to increase their incomes. In this document the potential that the provision of water-related environmental services may have as a new income source is discussed based on project outputs and experiences.Between 2005 and 2008, the period over which the project was executed, the Andean region countries suffered strong changes in their macroeconomic conditions. In 2003 and 2004 when the idea to compensate for environmental services started to be proposed by project team members, the challenge was to seek for new income sources for Andean farmers under a panorama of continued reduction of agricultural products prices. In 2007, however, the compensations for environmental services seemed to be insufficient to counteract the unexpected increment in food prices. In 2008, when the project ended, the increase in agricultural input prices and the decline in agricultural products prices made PES a scheme viable under two possible situations: ) For farmers which production systems loss their competitiveness and then were needing of alternatives (e.g.receive awards for implementing new land uses that deliver ES and are not high-input demanding)or providing ES payments for current land uses that with changes on management practices can be beneficial for the environment while improving its competitiveness (e.g. by increasing the use of local labor). During the initial years of the project, the methodological approach focused on a)Determining the magnitude of the hydrological externalities, b) Prioritizing the hydrological response units (HRUs) in a watershed where farmers have the highest potential to make land use or management changes to increase environmental services and be compensated; c) Determining the poverty profiles of these farmers and their level of access to natural resources and environmental services payments; and d) the quantifying of the socioeconomic benefits derived from the land use changes and their distribution (e.g. farmers, society, etc). Under the abovementioned changes, the project team incorporated analysis of how changes in the provision of a water-related environmental service (e.g. increase in stream flows during dry season, reduction in sediment yield, increment in water yields, etc) may result in changes in the competitiveness of farming systems by using the competitiveness index as indicator (based on the cost of domestic resources and the social benefits and costs).In terms of direct interventions in the watersheds, strategic alliances were created to collect funds for providing incentives to farmers willing to implement land use changes that were likely to impact a given environmental service. The strategic alliances were made with public and private actors, from environmental authorities and local governments to water users and international organizations. The compensations went beyond direct payments, including technical support assistance, facilitation of agricultural inputs, soft loans, etc.To generate the analytical outputs a series of activities were conducted. One, hydrological models (i.e. SWAT -Soil and Water Assessment Tool) were applied refining its parameters for the Andes throughout the project execution. Two, a model to evaluate different land use scenarios from a socioeconomic and environmental perspective and to determine the shadow price of non-market goods and services was developed (i.e. ECOSAUT -A model for social, economic and environmental evaluation of land uses). Three, basic biophysical data to quantify hydrological externalities was collected for the study sites and improved when necessary with primary data (soil type units, digital elevation models, land use maps, climatic stations and water flow gauges data.Four, surveys for poverty profiles were developed and economic data of current farming systems collected. Five, with the information gathered and generated, HRUs for all studied watersheds were determined along with their corresponding water balances in order to prioritize those with high impact on hydrological externalities. Six, land use scenarios were evaluated to understand opportunity costs. Seven, poverty profiles were defined and economic games applied to explore willingness of actors to cooperate towards the positive modification of environmental externalities.In summary the main project lessons learned are:-An understanding of the spatial distribution and temporal hydrological behavior of the identified HRUs is essential to achieve a high efficiency in the use of financial resources to compensate for environmental services -There is a great difference in using schemes of payments for environmental services as a mechanism for enabling the conservation of natural ecosystems vs. for increasing income and improving rural population wellbeing. The latter objective requires broader analysis to understand all the derived socioeconomic benefits of land use/management changes at different scales: farm, sub-watershed; watershed and the society in general. In addition,the HRUs with the highest potential to deliver environmental services are not necessarily occupied by the poorest. Many poor people in Andean watersheds do not own lands and as such, and therefore cannot capture the economic benefits derived from agricultural activities (e.g. producer's surpluses) and from compensations for environmental services.For them, land use changes promoted to provide environmental services in a watershed will only generate benefits by the multiplier effect resulting from eventual increments in labor use and income.-When a land use is identified as being appropriate to improve the provision of environmental services and has a negative opportunity cost, other types of incentives to stimulate the change are needed, such as soft loans. One example was conservation agriculture in Colombia, a practice that positively impacts soil characteristics by improving stream flows regulation and reducing sediment production while increasing farmer income.Increased accessibility to cheaper loans by small farmers showed to be an effective mechanism to promote a practice with proven positive impacts on reducing sediment yields as well as on increasing carbon sequestration (Quintero, 2009). However, these practices only favor the farmer by increasing the agricultural productivity and the net income, but since labor use is reduced the economic benefits to others may not exist. This poses a major obstacle in attempting to maximize private and social benefits by using environmental services as an entry point in new rural development strategies.-The lack of communication between actors in a watershed and the socioeconomic asymmetries (i.e. smallholders dedicated to agriculture vs. large dairy cattle ranchers)between them impede cooperation that can help improve the provision of environmental services. However when communication is enhanced the cooperation is increased notably.Also, involving the wealthiest farmers in the economic games was difficult. This may indicate that the best alternative to promote their participation in providing environmental services compensations is through command-and-control mechanisms (e.g. laws and regulations, not prices).-Many poor people in Andean watersheds do not own lands. Thus, they cannot capture some of economic benefits derived from agricultural activities (e.g. producer's surpluses)and from compensations for environmental services. For the landless, land use changes promoted to provide environmental services in a watershed will only generate benefits via a multiplier effect resulting from increases of labor use and income.In  In the Andean watersheds, most farmers located in the steeper lands are poor. New sources of income such as compensation for environmental services would help to increase the incomes of these farmers and thus will contribute to the overall goal of the project that was to stimulate the economic recognition of water-related environmental externalities in order to promote PES schemes that can improve ES delivery along improvements in rural income. In this document the potential of the provision of water-related environmental services to accomplish this goal is discussed based on the basis of project outputs and experiences.Between 2005 and 2008, the period over which the project was conducted, the Andean region countries suffered strong changes in their macroeconomic conditions. In 2003 and 2004 when the idea to compensate for environmental services started to be proposed by project team members, the challenge was to seek for new income sources for Andean farmers under a panorama of continued reduction in agricultural products prices. In 2007, the compensations for environmental services seemed to be insufficient to counteract an unexpected increase in food prices. In 2008,when the project ended, the increase in agricultural input prices and the decrease in agricultural products prices made a PES scheme viable under two possible situations: ) For farmers which production systems loss their competitiveness and then were needing of alternatives (e.g. receive awards for implementing new land uses that deliver ES and are not high-input demanding) or providing ES payments for current land uses that with changes on management practices can be beneficial for the environment while improving its competitiveness (e.g. by increasing the use of local labor).During the initial years of the project, the methodological approach was focused on a) Determining the magnitude of the hydrological externalities, b) Prioritizing the hydrological response units (HRUs) in a watershed where farmers have the highest potential to make land use or management changes to increase environmental services and be compensated ; c) Determining the poverty profiles of these farmers and their level of access to natural resources and eventual environmental services payments; and d) the quantifying of the socioeconomic benefits derived from the land use changes that can be captured by farmers and society. Under the abovementioned changes, the project team analyzed how changes in the provision of a water-related environmental service (e.g.increase in water flows during dry season, reduction in sediment yield, increment in water yields, etc) may result in changes in the competitiveness of farming systems. (A competitiveness index was used as indicator based on the cost of domestic resources and the social benefits and costs.)In terms of direct interventions in the watersheds, strategic alliances were created to collect funds for providing incentives to farmers willing to implement land use changes likely to impact a given environmental service. The strategic alliances were made with public and private actors, from environmental authorities and local governments to water users and international organizations.The compensations went beyond direct payments, and were turned into technical support assistance, facilitation of agricultural inputs, soft loans, etc.This manuscript summarizes the research activities and outputs achieved in the selected watersheds; the evolution of the created strategic alliances; the impacts attributable to the project; the lessons learned and new research issues that need to be addressed by future research projects and that have resulted from the last macroeconomic changes in the Andean countries.Specific information about the different research activities, its methods and results are found in the references cited in this document and freely available. This manuscript is the first effort to integrate the different methods and perspectives adopted by this project to understand the potential of PES schemes to conserve environmental services and generate rural development in the Andes.Fuquene watershed (Colombia)The Lake Fuquene watershed is located in the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá, north of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia (South America) (N 05 20' W 73 51'). The soils of this location are Andisols, Inceptisols and Histosols (IGAC 2000). The mean monthly humidity varies between 70 and 80%. The annual mean precipitation is 610 mm (JICA 2000).Concern for the lake's conservation began in the latter part of the twentieth century due to the advanced and accelerated process of deterioration from excessively high levels of phosphates and nitrates and the proliferation of aquatic plants, which have accelerated eutrophication. The surface covered by water has been reduced considerably, making navigation impossible. The downstream municipalities, whose aqueducts depend partially or totally on waters from the Suarez River, which begins at the outlet of the lake, are concerned about the future of their water-supply systems.A systematic study using secondary data was contracted by the regional environmental authority CAR (Autonomous Regional Corporation for Cundinamarca Province). Results suggested that cattle producers are responsible for 80% of the pollutants that flow into the lake. Fertilizers from the pastures, animal manure and urine wastes infiltrate the waters permanently (CTI et al. 2000).However, the producers do not invest in any action or resource to revert or minimize the impact.Additionally, the industry and population around the lake lack appropriate treatment systems for residual waters, dumping wastes directly into superficial waters. According to this study, the annual contribution of total loads including point and non-point sources was estimated at 48,123 kg/day of total N and 6,156 kg/day of total P (CTI et al. 2000).The area lacks sound environmental management, both in the upper parts of the catchment where paramo ecosystems (a type of high alpine grasslands) are replaced by potato crops and in the valley bottom where cattle ranchers overexploit land and destroy the wetlands. From a socioeconomic standpoint, inequity is characteristic, with the most productive areas in hands of large landholders, while the hillsides are for smallholders. In summary, the accumulated effect of individual actions at plot scale are having a regional impact on the quality of water resources.Decisions taken at the plot level are determining a water-quality problem of regional characteristics.The main local partners of the project were CAR (Corporación Autonoma Regional), the Environmental Program of GTZ in Colombia and FUNDESOT (Fundacion para el Desarrollo Sostenible Territorial).Altomayo watershed (Peru) (Rumiyacu and Mishquiyacu microwatersheds)The Rumiyacu and Mishquiyacu micro-watersheds, located in the Altomayo transitional zone between the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon (1022-1539 m.a.s.l), encompass 7.3 km2, and have an average annual precipitation of 1408 mm. They supply drinking water to the town of Moyobamba, benefiting about 40,000 inhabitants. The Mishquiyacu River is the regular source of water supply, while during shortages water is also taken from the Rumiyacu.The two micro-watersheds are mostly covered by natural forest (61%); the remainder is under a mosaic of slash-and-burn systems, coffee, and permanent pastures. However, deforestation in the Jequetepeque watershed (Peru)The Jequetepeque River watershed is located in the Peruvian Northern Andes, stretching from the Peruvian coast to the high Andes (4188 m altitude) and covering an area of 4,372.50 km 2 . The annual precipitation ranges between 500-1000 mm. The rainfall is highly variable and during extreme drought periods can be as low as 200 mm in the lower lands or can cause catastrophic flooding events during El Nino phenomenon. In the upper parts, there is rainfall during all months;the January-May period is the wettest one. In the lower part, the precipitation is concentrated in only few months.The watershed comprises six provinces and 30 districts belonging to two departments: La Libertad and Cajamarca. The population in the watershed is about 350,000 inhabitants. 80% of the poor households are located in the upper parts of the watershed and the per capita income is on average US$750 yr -1 , 25% below the poverty line. Subsistence and rainfed agriculture are the main economic activities of the communities located in the middle and upper parts, while in the lower parts the intensive and irrigated agriculture is predominant. The main environmental externalities are related with the high production of sediments and the water pollution caused by deforestation, unsustainable agricultural systems, and mining. The main local partners of the project were CEDEPAS, ASPADERUC, CESAH Project (WWF-IIED), and some municipalities (Moreno & Renner, 2007) Ambato watershed (Ecuador)The Ambato River watershed covers 60% of the Tungurahua province territory located in the central part of Ecuador. Its surface area is approximately of 1300 Km 2 with about 310.000 inhabitants. Due to its strategic location in the country, this watershed produces a wide variety of products that are commercialized in the Ecuadorian coast, the Andean region and the eastern part of the country. The highest part of the watershed at 6310 m altitude corresponds to the Chimborazo volcano. This volcano and the Carihuairazo supplies water to the province. 40% of the watershed is located above the 3500 m altitude where only 5% of its total population is located. In the upper parts the natural ecosystem is páramo (high alpine grasslands) and the main economic activity is the extensive livestock. The average net income per person is US$1,000 yr -1 and the average farm area is 1 hectare. The lower part of the watershed, located between 2200 and 2800 m altitude, hosts 70% of the total population. The main economic activities are floriculture, small animals rising, handicrafts and industry (Moreno and Renner, 2007) The main environmental issues are related to the overexploitation of the páramo ecosystem (that covers about 55,000 ha), intensive and unsustainable agriculture, water pollution, inefficient water use and unequal water distribution. All these factors contribute to frequent social conflicts. Water demand exceeds the water availability by 40%, creating a water deficit of 903 millions m 3 of water every year. This poses a constant pressure on natural areas that are important for water supply.The local partners of the projects were: GESOREN program of the GTZ (Gestion Sostenible de los Recursos Naturales), PROMACH (Proyecto de Manejo de Cuencas Hidrograficas) -a project of the Tungurahua Provincial Government, and Randi-Randi Corporation (NGO).Microwatershed of the Tunari Mountains (Bolivia)The Tunari Mountains are located in the Cochabamba department of Bolivia. This area was selected because of its context, enabling the study of relationships between poverty and potential schemes of payment for environmental services. The mountain range is home to 39 microwatersheds and about 45 communities living in the upper parts, practicing agriculture as their main economic activity. In the lower areas, Community-based Territorial Organizations (Organizaciones Territoriales de Base -OTB's) are common, located in the transitional zone between the rural and urban sector. In these watersheds, diverse interventions for improving natural resources management have been conducted through PROMIC (Programa de Manejo Integral de Cuencas).These interventions have been carried out in the Taquiña, Pajcha, Pintu Mayu, La Llave, Huallaquea, Khora Tiquipaya and Chozaya micro-watersheds. The water that drains from the Tunari watersheds enters the Cochabamba valley that has a population of about 700,000 inhabitants and 450 Km 2 . The water resources coming from these mountains are important for the provision of potable and irrigation water in the lower areas, and at the same time are crucial for the subsistence agriculture in the upper areas. The appropriate land use of the upper areas is essential for controlling and mitigating the high flooding risk of the Cochabamba valley. The project focused its activities on the Taquiña, Pajcha, Pintu Mayu, and Khora Tiquipaya watersheds.The main local partner was PROMIC.The overall goal of the project was to alleviate poverty and enhance sustainability in upper catchments by increasing the flow of resources from governments and civil society to poor rural producers that impact positively on water-related environmental externalities while strengthening the competitive capacity of the poor through greater food security, higher incomes, and better administrative and organizational skills.The results of the project can be grouped according to two main objectives: 1) To demonstrate the potential and feasibility of schemes of payments for environmental services to reduce poverty in the selected watersheds; 2) Generate appropriate information and institutional platforms to create strategic alliances needed to implement PES pilot schemes and new land uses or management practices likely to deliver beneficial watershed services.To accomplish this objective, different methods were implemented in order to achieve the following outputs: 1) the main water-related environmental externality was quantified in each selected watershed by means of hydrological modeling. The externalities were mainly related to the production of sediments that affect water quality and the seasonal water yields (peak flows and base flows during dry season); 2) Poverty profiles were determined in the watersheds and also an assessment of the state of access to natural resources (land and water) was conducted; 3) The opportunity costs and profitability of different land use scenarios likely to result in positive effects on water-related environmental services were determined.The SWAT model (version 99.1) was used in all case studies. Through the ArcView-SWAT interface, information about topography (digital elevation model), soils (soil map and survey), weather (climatic stations and its coordinates) and land use (most recent land-use map) were combined for simulation. Values of soil characteristics per soil map units were incorporated in the model such us soil depth, bulk density, available water capacity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, clay, sand, silt and organic matter content. The climatic information for simulating the water balance consisted of daily rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, and monthly radiation. Climatic datasets were entered into the model for the longest available time periods. In most cases they were available for the last 10 to 20 years.For the simulation, the watersheds were delineated using a digital elevation model. Subwatersheds and Hydrological Response Units (HRUs) were defined. HRUs are spatial units with unique soil and land use characteristics. For each HRU, SWAT estimated the soil loss through water erosion and the water yield, thus featuring the two main hydrological services (environmental externalities) of interest. For this, the water balance per HRU was calculated taking into account three storage volumes: soil profile, shallow and deep aquifer. The soil profile was subdivided into multiple layers, according to the number of horizons identified in soil-profile descriptions. The soilwater processes modeled with SWAT included infiltration, evaporation, plant uptake, lateral flow and percolation to lower layers. Thus, we calculated water yields (total amount of water leaving the HRU and entering the main channel) and sediment yields (amount of sediment contributed by the HRU to the stream) (Neitsch et al. 1999), and routed them through drainage to the watershed outlet.The model was calibrated to reduce parameter uncertainty and increase robustness of the results, i.e. some parameters were marginally adjusted until the best possible correspondence between observed and simulated stream flow at the basin outlet was obtained. During calibration, the runoff curve number, the saturated hydraulic conductivity, and the USLE (Universal Soil Loss In addition, in one of the cases (i.e. Tunari, Boliva), other models such as LISEM, Muskingun-Cunge and Flo2d were used to determine the effect of soil conservation practices on the reduction of flooding risk.The determination of poverty profiles was based on local perceptions about the quality of life.These perceptions were obtained through the well-being classification made for representative communities of the watersheds. These communities were selected according to the diverse environmental, social and cultural characteristics found in the watersheds such as different altitudinal ranges, ethnic groups, land distribution and accessibility, among others as recommended by the poverty profiles methodology by Ravnborg et al. (1999). For each identified community, the well-being classification in three levels was made by key informants and described in local terms. Based on these descriptions, well-being indicators were identified and used for a survey design which was applied in the communities to obtain information about the well-being status. The surveys were applied for a representative households sample in each watershed. To select the households, the number of communities was determined initially and later, the size of the sample was estimated and the households were selected randomly.The application of the survey permitted to evaluate the households for the identified well-being indicators, and therefore to define their corresponding poverty level. Each family was scored for each indicator according to three possible scores: 33, 67 or 100. The final poverty qualification was calculated as the averaged score obtained per each family after evaluating all indicators. With this information, histograms were built showing the poverty index frequency and the households were classified into three categories: not poor, less poor and poorer.The variables that were mostly used to classify the households into different poverty classes were related to income sources (land tenure, animals tenure, agricultural products commercialization, non-agricultural income, etc); basic needs fulfillment (food security, house tenure, health services)and family characteristics (leadership in the family, capacity to ensure child education, capacity to contract labor for agricultural activities, etc).With respect to access to and management of water, the access to irrigation and the parcel location in the irrigation systems (if existing) with respect to main and secondary channels were analyzed , as well as the availability to water throughout the year.Three different approaches were used to assess the opportunity cost of land use alternatives for HRUs (defined initially through hydrological modeling). The selected land use alternatives were those likely to have a positive impact on the hydrological service (environmental service) and that at the same time were interesting for local farmers. The different approaches contrast the proposed land use change and the \"business-as-usual\" land use (or the baseline). When the environmental service has potential to be generated in areas under land uses with low levels of labor use, the opportunity cost was determined based on the direct benefits and costs for the farmer. However, when land use changes were proposed for areas with more intensive agricultural uses where the consequence of implementing the proposed land use change may imply a reduction on labor use or income, the impact on social benefits by the multiplier effect of impacting the levels of labor and income was assessed through a value chain analysis (De Janvry and Gilkman 1991) in addition to the calculation of the opportunity cost for the farmer.For these two cases, the ECOSAUT model -developed by this project (Quintero et al. 2006) was used which by means of linear programming maximizes farmer's net income under imposed social, economical and environmental constraints. The model considers multiple land use systems and therefore, allows to quantify the marginal benefits between the baseline land use system and the alternatives. In addition, for the optimal solution, the shadow price for the most restrictive variable was determined. When this variable corresponded to a non-market good or service (e.g. an environmental service such us water and sediment yields), the shadow price corresponded to its price. This shadow price is equivalent to the opportunity cost of that resource or service (restrictive variable in the model) for the farmer. Thus, this price is indicative of the amount that may be negotiated in an eventual PES scheme design.The model is multi-period as it simulates the behavior of the variables throughout the time (up to 10 years) such us variations on sediment and water yield, agricultural productivity, labor use, cash flows, etc. The model is suitable to simulate mixed production systems such as those that commit land for both crop and livestock production. It also permits modeling of the interdependency between the production of crop residues and their use for cattle raising, generating a nutritional balance according to the nutritional requirements of the animals and therefore, determining the carrying capacity.A third approach was adopted when the improvement of a water-related environmental service had implications for the competitiveness of agricultural systems and as such for its sustainability in the middle and long term. In the same way, improvements in the agricultural production can have impacts on the economic benefits (i.e. surpluses) realized by producers and consumers. This approach was applied for the Ambato watershed, where the operation of a reservoir prompted to initiate operation will have impacts on these aspects.From the methodological standpoint, an analysis to determine changes in the competitiveness was conducted by estimating indicators of competitiveness. The most appropriate method is through a general equilibrium model of the entire economy. However, that was not possible in this case due to time and resource constraints, so an alternative approach based on the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM; Monke and Pearson 1989) was adopted. This approach allows the use of secondary data and requires the calculation of social values (shadow prices) for inputs and outputs. To determine the shadow price of the land and labor under different technological alternatives, an optimization model (i.e. ECOSAUT) can be used. It is also appropriate to quantify the environmental and social externalities generated by the system and examine growth linkages (employment and revenues)with other sectors of the economy.The PAM framework allows direct estimation of competitiveness, which is related to the social profitability of an activity under consideration. More specifically, the elements of the PAM include both social and private costs, benefits and profitability and these can be used to estimate two indicators of competitiveness, the Domestic Resource Cost or the Social Cost Benefit indexes (Kydd et al. 1997, Monke andPearson 1989). The SCB is considered the better indicator when an important part of the costs is represented by non-tradable goods. The DRC and SCB measure the efficiency of using domestic resources instead of importing the products. The PAM provides information about profitability based on both private (actual) prices and social values, where the latter are those prices that would exist in the absence of various types of distortions (often due to policy or market failures). In this study the analyses compared the opportunity costs of production with the social benefits that this generates, eliminating all quantifiable market distortions.Likewise, it estimates the opportunity cost of saving one unit of foreign exchange through the domestic production (CIAT 1993, Masters andWinter-Nelson 1995).The PAM is constructed taking into account the revenues, costs and benefits at both private and social prices. Private prices refer to the market prices while social prices are the opportunity cost of the domestic resources. The later includes the cost of local resources that cannot be trade internationally (e.g. water, labor, local capital, etc.) but are essential for producing tradable goods.The costs are divided into tradable and non-tradable resources. The DRC is given by the following: DRC= NTC*/(P*-TC* )Where NTC* is the unit social value of non-tradable inputs used in production, P* is the social price and TC* is the unit social value of tradable inputs used in milk production. A value of the DRC less than 1.0 indicates that the social value of domestic resources is less than the social value of the output less tradable costs, indicating that the country has a comparative advantage. If the DRC is equal to 1.0, the country could either import or produce domestically. If the value is greater than 1.0 or less than 0.0, there are clear competitive disadvantages. In the former case the DRC is greater than the value of the foreign exchange used in their importation. In the latter case more foreign exchange is used than the true value of the goods for the country based on the international market.The social values of input prices reflect the shadow prices of the goods used in the production at the farm level. By design, social prices do not take into account the taxes, subsidies, import tariffs, quotas and other governmental controls that affect the market price. The tradable goods category includes inputs such as fertilizers, fuel, machinery, etc. which can be imported or exported, whereas the non-tradable goods are assumed only to be available at the specific country level (e.g., water, land and labor).One of the challenges of calculating a DRC is allocation of input costs to tradable and non-tradable factors. The two types of goods usually are integrated in a given input cost. For example; in the preparation of the land for planting pastures, an important component is the depreciation of the tractor, which is a tradable good, while the cost of the operator is a non-tradable input. In this analysis the budget line items of the production costs should be detailed and in each one of them the values of the tradable and non-tradable goods (labor and capital) are estimated. The challenge of input classification into tradable and nontradable goods implies that the SCB may be preferred in many situations (Masters and Winter-Nelson 1995) The SCB is given by the following: SCB= (NTC+TC) /P where the elements are as defined for the DRC calculation. Note that the SCB is essentially a different arrangement of the information used to calculate the DRC. The system is competitive if this value is greater than 0.0 and less than 1.0; this indicates the total social costs are less than the social benefits (alternatively, this means that the activity is socially profitable). The advantage of this indicator is that, unlike the DRC, it is not necessary to separate the tradable and nontradable components of several production costs when these components are integrated. In fact, Monke and Pearson (1989) do not recommend disaggregating these costs because it is a formidable challenge to assign the proportion of tradable and non-tradable goods Generally when the analyses are done at the farm level, the investments in infrastructure and equipment are considered capital assets, whose yearly cost is the value of the depreciation plus the value of the capital involved in the process. Given the high social interest rates (7-10% annually), this is a high cost for the whole system and does not reflect the great versatility of production systems that are using a high proportion of labor. Such systems are more competitive when the shadow price of the daily wage is low.The hydrological analysis conducted in this watershed was useful to the relationships between land uses and water quantity, quality and sedimentation, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)for a 10 years simulation periodIn the context of the biophysical and socioeconomic heterogeneity of this Andean watershed, the spatial information helped identify the HRUs and prioritize them according to their environmental benefit (i.e. reduction of sediments). Not all HRUs had the same importance at the moment of valuing their role in providing this environmental service. In this watershed, the role in the production of sediments to the lake was a priority given the movement of phosphates and nitrates towards the lake within the sediments (Rubiano et al. 2005). Criteria for selecting the relevant HRUs were also dependent on the scale of the externalities to be assessed. At this point, international water-quality standards were an alternative source of information since local limits are not clearly defined. Figure 2 shows the HRUs contributing the most to leached nitrates in Fúquene Lake.  1978) and modified for applying to individual runoff events. The loading function estimates the daily organic N runoff loss based on the concentration of organic N in the topsoil layer, sediment yield and the enrichment ratio (the concentration of organic N in the sediment divided by that in the soil) (Rubiano et al. 2006).Data on water quality, fertilizer use and quantity for each cropping system were included in the simulation. Tracing the contribution of N and P made by each cropping system to the water system was done using dN15 and dO18 isotopes. Stable isotopes could determine the contribution of old and new water to a stream and to other components of the catchment during periods of variable runoff, integrating temporal and spatial variability (Kendall and Caldwell 1998). The analysis of the isotopic signatures permitted to assign to the sediments the higher contribution source of nitrates with a figure of 43.6% followed by fertilizers with 38.3% and organic wastes with 18.1%.Summing up the three sources, areas in pasture were contributing with 17.4 while cropland were accounting for the 43%. Nitrates attached to sediments are accounting for more than a half of cropland contribution (Rubiano 2005).Based on these results, the SWAT analysis permitted to prioritize the cropland areas with the highest sediment contribution to the main channels. 329 ha for their impact on the sediment yield levels were prioritized, in which N and P move until reaching the water courses. Some of these HRUs were located in the upper watershed; others in the intermediate part of it. This altitudinal gradient implies differences in the production systems and climatic characteristics and, therefore, a variation in the value of the environmental service and in the opportunity costs of changing the land use. Main results are summarized below and are detailed in Rubiano et al. (2006).The ex-ante economic analysis considered two main scenarios: production systems with conventional tillage (CT) (current scenario) and production systems implemented with conservation tillage (or reduced tillage -RT) (minimum tillage, direct drilling, and green manures).The CT rotation is traditional potatoes rotated every 2 years with other 2-years of pasture (ryegrass). The RT rotation is potatoes with an oat cover crop previous to potato sowing. In these parcels, oat and potatoes are also rotated with pastures as in CT. RT is distinguished from CT because oat cover crops are included in the rotation along with reduced tillage. The CT systems instead use intensively rotary tillers. Tables 1 and 2 show that net incomes of upper and middle catchment farmers implementing conservation farming schemes are increased while the negative externality is reduced (a reduction of sediment yield by about 50%). The environmental impact was assessed using results from simulations with SWAT. From the standpoint of generating jobs, changes in the management practices in the upper catchment produce a reduction in the contracted labor; however this is compensated with an increase in the levels of employment obtained with the technological change in the middle catchment.Shadow prices were calculated for the HRUs selected in Fúquene by running a sensitivity analysis in the linear programming model (i.e. ECOSAUT). Since the model was fed with actual costs and benefits of the evaluated land use alternatives, the sensitivity of the state variables (including sediment production) were indicated also in monetary terms. These prices were obtained regarding production systems with CT but imposing a limit to the production of sediments. Under these conditions the shadow price for reducing one ton of sediments was US$85 and US$24, respectively, for farmers located in the upper and middle catchments. This price corresponds to the cost of reducing one ton of sediments in the first semester of ten consecutives semesters evaluated (the ex-ante analysis was conducted for 10 semesters). It means that the modification of the negative externality (sediments) is more important in that semester due to temporal variations related to crops rotation and climatic conditions.From a practical perspective, it is not effective to transfer this value just in one semester. For this reason and using the marginal changes in net incomes and sediments yields, the reduction of one ton of sediments costs US$ 18 and US$11, respectively, for the upper and middle catchment farmer. Regarding the obvious difficulties of monitoring actual annual changes in sediment yields caused by the farmers' production systems, it could be more efficient to calculate the opportunity cost of one hectare if taken out of the current production systems in order to accomplish erosion limits. The opportunity cost per hectare is US$1578 for farmers located in the upper catchment vs.US$1255 for middle-catchment farmers. In relative terms, the difference between opportunity cost (per ha) of upper lands vs. middle catchment lands is smaller than the difference between the shadow price of a ton of sediments reduced in the upper catchment vs. in middle catchment. This is explained by the fact that the estimation of land opportunity costs only reflects the differences on profitability among the production systems -or rotations; while the shadow price captures the differences in sediments yield as well as of profitability of the system. Although the shadow price seems to be a more precise method for approaching the real price of the externality (sediment production), in pragmatic terms could be better to use the opportunity costs of land as an element for negotiation and designing PES schemes. However, as more sophisticated a PES scheme is desired to be, as better will be to use shadow prices as it gives the price of the externality (and the service) and its importance in monetary terms for different areas in the watershed.As shown previously (Tables 1 and 2), however, this cost can be avoided if conservation farming practices are offered and adopted by Fúquene farmers because net income is improved and negative externalities (sediment yield and ) are reduced.  After ex-ante analysis, the project conducted an ex-post analysis using ECOSAUT for economic analysis and soil local measurements to determine to what extend conservation tillage effects were consistent with those assessed during the ex-ante analysis. For this purpose, Two types of parcels were selected for this study: 1) parcels where conventional tillage (CT) had been practiced for over 7 years and 2) parcels where conservation agriculture or reduced tillage (RT) had been practiced within the last 7 years following prior conventional tillage similar to that in parcel type 1. The CT rotation was traditionally potatoes rotated every 2 years following 2-years of pasture (ryegrass).The RT rotation was potatoes with an oat cover crop previous to potato sowing. In these parcels, oat and potatoes are also rotated with pastures as in CT. RT is distinguished from CT because it left unincorporated oats residues and practiced minimum tillage. The CT systems instead used a Rotovator. Each system was represented by 3 sites. The 6 sites were selected based on similar characteristics such us: 1) landscape position; 2) land use; 3) slope; and 4) rainfall. Thus all sites were located on backslope positions, with linear moderate slopes, under potato-based rotations and the same rainfall regimen.Two soil pits were dug at each location in May 2007. Soil horizons were identified in each pit, and one soil sample (500 g) was removed from the middle of each of the identified horizons for aggregation and carbon analyses. Thirty-five soil samples were collected in total. In addition, soil samples per horizon were removed using 3 cylinders (2.5 x 2.5 cm.) per horizon to determine the bulk density. The profile was comprised of three horizons with an average thickness of 78 cm (horizon A1, top), 39 cm (A2) and 49 cm (C).It was found primarily, that conservation tillage in potato-based systems improved in a 7 year period the soil organic matter and carbon content in disturbed soils of the paramos of Colombia. The soil carbon concentration (gr C/ Kg soil) in the whole soil profile (to a depth of about 120 cm) and content (t C ha-1) was 29 and 45% higher under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage sites. \"C content improvement primarily occurred in the subsoil (A2 horizon) increasing by 177% although in absolute terms most of the C is stored in the top A1 horizon\". . This improvement was attributed to the enhancement of soil physical characteristics related with soil water movement and storage such us bulk density, available water content, saturated hydraulic conductivity and mesoporosity. These improvements reflect that conservation tillage, is allowing the rehabilitation of carbon and water-related soil characteristics compared to conventional tillage systems (Table 3 and 4) (Quintero, 2009). In this study the organic matter contained in soil aggregates was determined using ultrasound. The results showed that aggregated organic matter corresponded in most soil samples to 80% or more of the total organic matter in the soil. This means that about 80% of the total organic carbon was in the aggregate pool.Moreover, higher values of %AOM (as a percentage of total OM in the soil) was found in smaller macroaggregates (0.5 -1 mm and 1-2 mm aggregate size fractions) suggesting that in these fractions the C has a slower turnover that the C in bigger macroaggregates (>2 mm). Based on Kong et al. (2005) findings, where increases on C stabilization in the smaller macroaggregates were associated to greater aggregate stability and long-term sequestration, we suggest in the same direction, that the higher AOM and SOM in smaller macroaggregates in our soils is linked to greater C and aggregates stability and in consequence is contributing to long-term C sequestration in the Andes. In addition, increases of AOM may be related to improvement of soil structure. The conservation agriculture curves for OM release using different ultrasound energy levels, had better defined hierarchal steps than did the conventional agriculture curves. Since well defined steps indicate well developed structure, we suggest that conservation agriculture in these Andean soils also improves structure. Methodological details are explained in Quintero (2009). From the economic perspective, when the ECOSAUT model was run to identify an optimal solution -the one that maximizes net revenues in a hectare giving the two treatments as the only land use alternatives, the conservation tillage rotation was the optimal solution. The 7-year cumulative net revenues for the assessed rotations indicated that conservation tillage rotation increased the net revenues by 17% compared to the conventional tillage rotation. This increment is due to particularly the improvement on potato income in 23% when conservation tillage is practiced (Table 5). This improvement was high enough to compensate the additional investment required in the conservation tillage rotation that is the production costs of incorporating oat as a cover crop in the rotation ($337 ha-1 yr-1). A greater net return from potato cropping using conservation tillage practices was related to a reduction of production costs by 11% and to an increment of potato productivity by 10%. Lower production costs were due mainly to a reduction in fertilizers and machinery costs rather than in a substantial reduction in the use of workdays which instead was similar in both, conservation and conventional tillage (table 6). For the Rumiyacu and Mishquiyacu micro-watersheds, located in the Altomayo watershed, 7 subwatersheds and 22 HRUs for the Mishquiyacu watershed, and 6 subwatersheds and 28 HRUs for Rumiyacu were determined. For the modeled period, 1999-2005, during the dry months when some potable water was drawn from the Rumiyacu River for consumption in Moyobamba, the latter did not increase sediments to total flow. This indicates that most sediment in the water treated by EPS comes from the Mishquiyacu watershed (Quintero et al. 2005). With respect to the performance of the simulation, we obtained a Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient 1 of only 0.03: comparison of observed and simulated time series demonstrates that during days of high rainfall (>100 ml), observed stream flow is systematically underestimated; regressing the latter on the former yields an R2 of 93.75%. This is probably explained by limitations in the local measurement technique and frequency (e.g. stream stage), resulting in underestimated observed data. Nevertheless, the minimum and intermediate stream flows are better predicted: R2 is 96.5 and 97% in the two cases, without systematic biases. In general, the simulated time series fits quite well with the observed one, which is important for determining the HRU with higher sediment yields. The sedimentation analysis was thus focused on Mishquiyacu, where 8 HRUs showed particularly high sediments per hectare. They contained slash-and-burn systems or abandoned areas occupying 23.1 ha, and accounting for an estimated 27% of total sediments in the watershed (Table 7). 1 Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies can range from −∞ to 1. An efficiency of 1 corresponds to a perfect match of modeled discharge to the observed data. An efficiency of 0 indicates that the model predictions are as accurate as the mean of the observed data, whereas an efficiency less than zero occurs when the observed mean is a better predictor than the model For these HRUs, SWAT simulations showed that, depending on model parameters chosen, the establishment of live barriers, forest plantations, and shade-grown coffee each potentially could about halve sediments\", compared to \"business as usual\". In terms of total streamflow (although this is not the main externality of interest for Moyobamba and results are only shown as additional information), shade-grown coffee would reduce quantities by 11% and forest plantations by 14%, while live barriers would not have any impact (Table 8). We used ECOSAUT to calculate the NPV (discount rate of 15%, 10 years) for the different land-use alternatives. Introducing shade-grown coffee would require significant initial investments, but still increase NPV by 91%, compared to the traditional slash-and-burn system. In contrast, forest timber plantations would reduce NPV by 62% and live barriers by 11%, if no compensations are being paid to farmers. Finally, we calculated the cost of reducing one ton of sediments, using the marginal NPV and including labor costs (Table 9). The results show that the live barriers alternative is cheapest to install (US$0.36 t -1 ). The higher cost of reducing sedimentation with shade coffee and forest plantations (US$1.16 and 1.10 t -1 , respectively) is due to their higher investment costs. However, live barriers had negative income effects as it imposes additional costs to the traditional system without an increase on income, so farmers are unlikely to adopt them unless they receive compensation. Instead, shade coffee systems seem to provide the best tradeoff between environmental and economic benefits, since they both increase environmental services and medium-term incomes. Yet, high initial investment costs may mean that farmers may only be willing to change if they receive PES in the form of significant transitory payments or subsidized, contingent credits.  (Bruijnzeel et al. 2004). This is basically explained by an increase on water loss by evapotranspiration once forests are planted. It is worth noting, that although water yields are lower with tropical forests, the regulation of water flows may improve with it as moderate pick flows can be reduced ad base flows can be increased as a result of improving soil water infiltration and water holding capacity. Converting the 23.1 ha of critical slash-and-burn areas to shadegrown coffee would provide a 'win-win' of both significantly more sediment retention and higher farmer incomes. However, probably due to farm household liquidity shortages, as the main obstacle, low-return slash-and-burn systems still dominate the watershed. The initial capital investment needed to establish shade-grown coffee is US$176 ha -1 . In contrast, the traditional burning-maize-pastures system requires only $9 ha -1 in capital costs for seeds. The lack of financial infrastructure (and possibly of technical assistance) may thus constrain the adoption of shade-grown coffee systems. The favored strategy of EPS and the Municipality is to buy environmental services while also improving the socioeconomic conditions of upstream farmers.For setting up live barriers on land dedicated to maize and pastures, the marginal cost of reducing erosion is US$0.36 t -1 , i.e. $16.6 ha -1 year -1 --to be paid every year, since the barriers need yearly maintenance. In comparison, to encourage farmers to establish shade-grown coffee would seemingly require only a two-year subsidy of US$269 ha -1 year -1 ; for the following years, profits from shade-grown coffee exceed those from annual cropping. Taking into account that priority areas only cover 23.1 ha, and that changing their use could potentially cut sediments by 18%, this is the preferred alternative for stakeholders in Moyobamba. It is worth to highlight that shaded coffee was an alternative suggested by local stakeholders who perceived it as a promissory economic activity due to the increasing national demand for the high quality coffee of this region.Subsidized loans for shade-coffee adoption are thus now discussed, which would seemingly be cheaper than a permanent PES scheme. The resources could probably be collected directly from the Moyobamba water users whose stated willingness to pay is US$1.3 family The main environmental externality affecting the water quality in the Jequetepeque River watershed is the sedimentation is caused by the advanced deforestation of the watershed and the current conventional agricultural practices. The hydrological analysis for the whole watershed showed that in average 1'823.703 tons of sediments are produced annually. The erosion process in the upper and middle parts of the watershed is causing the accelerated siltation of the Gallito Ciego reservoir, which is essential for irrigated fields downstream, flooding control and production of hydropower. With respect to water regulation, the hydrological analysis showed a high monthly and annual variation of streamflows. This irregularity in the streamflow availability affects downstream agricultural production, especially rice production which is the main agricultural activity in the region. The actors indicated that extreme climatic events such as drought and extreme high rainfall events are causes of main concern.SWAT was capable of simulating water and sediment yields under the current and proposed land use scenarios. With respect to the simulation performance, the simulated flows fit well with measured ones (figure 3) although in some occasions the simulated flows are lower. This may be related to lack of information regarding aquifers and its contribution to the water flow. However, a good fit of simulated vs. measured data still permitted to the identification of those areas with high impact on water and sediment yield.  The SWAT analysis -based on calibrated simulated flows, showed that 60% of the time, the average streamflow of the Jequetepeque river is higher than 2.1 m 3 s -1 . This model permitted to determine 441 HRUs distributed in 38 sub-watersheds of which seven (Asuncion, Pallac, Chausis, Contumaza, Huacraruco, Choten, Llapa/Yanahuanga) are producing the highest amounts of sediments (Table 10). In these sub-watershed 10 HRUs were prioritized on the basis of their contribution of sediments to the streamflows (Table 11, figure 4 and 5)    12).  For the reforestation and agroforestry systems, the costs and benefits of their implementation (table 13) were estimated for reforestation of 250 ha, 450 ha under agroforestry systems and 110 ha under silvopastoral systems respectively.  From the economic standpoint, a cost-benefit analysis was conducted to understand the benefits that these management practices imply for producers located in the upper and lower part of the watershed. In the upper part, farmers grow potato for self-consumption and had reported and increment in the productivity once the management practices promoted by PROMIC were implemented. Potato growers of the lower part sell most of the produce in the local market and their systems are more intensive, using agrochemicals, herbicides, etc. These producers have abandoned many of the practices promoted by PROMIC and the only ones that are maintained are the terraces constructed with rock walls. During the surveys they also reported an increment in the productivity but this may be a result of the intensive use of agrochemicals. In the lower parts of the watershed the cultivation of flowers is also very important and complements the production of potato. The farmers have reported increments in the productivity after the implementation of practices promoted by PROMIC. In table 15, a summary is shown of the cost-benefit ratio for the different farmers in the watersheds (PROMIC, 2007a). The upper parts of the Ambato watershed are essential for supplying water to downstream areas including urban centers and agricultural fields. These upper parts are paramos -alpine grasslands that have an important role in the storage of water and regulation of streamflows, due to their particular soil and climatic characteristics. This important role has been recognized by the provincial government and as such, the construction of two reservoirs has been planned for collecting the water produced in upper catchments and expand the irrigated agricultural areas downstream. The reservoirs are the Mulacorral and the Chiquiurcu with a storage capacity of 4.8 millions of cubic meters that may benefit new agricultural areas (about 1670 ha) in the lowlands of the Ambato watershed. The Mulacorral reservoir is already built and the Chiquiurco is in the contracting process.The project team conducted an analysis to evaluate the potential of the corresponding watersheds to fill up the reservoirs throughout the year and to estimate the private and social benefits (including a competitiveness analysis of the production systems and the multiplier effects of generating additional jobs and income) derived from the expansion of the agricultural frontier downstream. The results have been used by the Tungurahua provincial government in order to propose the most appropriate mechanisms to recover the reservoirs investment costs by charging the beneficiaries.To do this, the SWAT model was used to determine the monthly water yield produced by the watersheds. The simulation results fit well with measured data with a correlation of simulated vs.measured data of 58% (figure 13). The results showed that it is only possible to maintain the maximum storage levels of the reservoirs during dry season if 100% of the streamflows during the rainy season is used for filling up the reservoir. This implies that not any streamflow is left for aqueducts and for maintaining the ecologic functions of the rivers. Under a scenario where only 30% of the streamflow above the mean values is used for filling up the reservoirs, it was found that it may be not possible to reach the maximum capacity of storage reservoirs during the dry season (figures 14 and 15) (Estrada et al. 2009). Apart from these simulated results, the economic analysis was conducted for the most optimistic scenario where it was assumed that it will be possible to use the maximum storage capacity of the reservoirs for adding irrigated fields to the downstream agricultural areas. In figure 16, it is shown how the benefits are distributed if the agricultural area is expanded as expected. The social benefits include the multiplier effects analysis. With respect to the profitability of these infrastructure projects, the IRR is 4% if only the agricultural-related benefits are considered. However if the benefits for urban water consumers are accounted due to the increment of water during dry season, the IRR is higher (9%). Now, if the overall social benefits are taken into account, the social profitability of the project can be 31%. In figure 17, it is shown that benefits for the society represent 94% of the total benefits generated by the project (Estrada et al. 2009). These results contradict the initial provincial government proposal to recover investment costs where the producers are assumed to be the ones that may capture the highest amounts of benefits. However this analysis showed that water consumers and the society in general are the sectors that will capture more benefits and as such should be involved in any scheme to recover the investment cost and eventually to compensate upper catchments farmers who may be affected by the reduction of the streamflow when this is used to filling up the reservoirs to their maximum capacity. The poverty profiles are described based on a classification of the watersheds by climatic conditions: dry, semi-humid and humid . The poverty profiles results are summarized as follows:1. Dry Andean watersheds (microwatersheds located in the Tunari mountains of Cochabamba, Bolivia). These microwatersheds are located between 2500 and 5000 m altitude, with steep slopes and dry conditions (500-700 mm yr -1 ). There is an inverse relationship between the altitude and the precipitation.The proportion of poor households varies by community ranging from 12 to 32% of the total households. There is a direct relationship between the altitude and the poverty levels. This is explained by the fact that in 95% of the poor households its members are farmers or work in other agricultural activities located in areas above the 3600 m altitude where there is a high frequency of frost events and productivity levels are low . This reduces the economic retribution to the workday of these people. In addition, 68% of the poor households owned less than 0.25 ha contrasting with the wealthiest households, where 74% of them own companies, stores or at least have a technical profession (e.g. builder) (Westermann and Arevalo 2008).Jequetepeque watershed -Peru)The poverty profiles in these two watersheds are similar. The poorest households correspond to 25 and 28% of the total households respectively. In Ambato, any of these families have more than 4 cows, its members are day labourers who 60% of their time are unemployed. Their income is low and generated through activities inside the watershed. The productive capacity of their lands is similar to that found in lands of non-poor households but the area is smaller. Thus, 90% of the poor households do not own land or have less than 0.4 ha, while 70% of the non-poor households have lands larger than 0.4 ha. In 64% of the poor households the lands are never left under fallow while in only 34% of the non-poor households, their lands are permanently cultivated. The access to irrigation is similar among all households and the water availability throughout the year is not related with the poverty levels.In 26% of the poor households the woman plays a role as the household's head and in 48% of the poor households the children between 13 and 18 years old do not go to school. Instead, in nonpoor households, it was found that women are the household's head in only 9% of them and only in 19% of the households the children are not attending schools. With respect to income, most of the poor households (94%) do not receive income derived from non-agricultural activities. In fact, only 1% of them have their own business, 1% receives money from family relatives that have emigrated to other countries, 1% has a stable employment and 2% receives income by trade (Chapalbay et al. 2007).In Jequetepeque, the poor households are settled on lands with poor quality soils and steep slopes. Despite these unfavorable conditions, during the last decade these lands have been cultivated without interruption by fallow periods. Unlike Ambato, 50% of the poor households are located at the end reach of the irrigation channel. The area of their farms is also different among the watershed households. More than 50% of the poor ones have less than 0.5 ha while only 7%of the non-poor households have such small areas. The poor households (87%) can not contract labor whilst 63% of the non-poor households can. Like Ambato, the women are the head of the families in many poor households (31%) while rarely in the non-poor families (5%) (Gomez et al.In this watershed the differences between poor and non-poor households are enormous. The proximity to the Bogota city (capital of Colombia) contributes to this asymmetry by distorting the traditional profile of Andean watersheds. This leads to increments in the land price that may exceed the US$25.000 ha -1 and the wealthiest families can own extensive and very productive areas (100 ha aprox) dedicated to dairy production in the lowlands of the watershed, surrounding the Fuquene Lake. These livestock systems can reach annual milk productivities of 10000 lt ha -1 and 30 t of forage (dry matter). In the upper parts there are also wealthy farmers dedicated to the intensive production of potato located in very high OM soils, where productivities can reach 40 t ha -1 . In contrast, the poor households are mostly located in the middle parts of the watershed, where soils are less deep and slopes are steeper and prone to degradation. Cereals are cultivated in rotation with pastures and potato . Productivities are not as high as those in the upper parts of the watershed. The poorest households are characterized by not owning land, by having women as the head of the family and by being employed in operations of dairy farms. However the incorporation of milking machines has displaced these laborers, leaving especially women without employment.4. Humid watersheds located away from big cities and in lower altitudinal ranges (Altomayo watershed, Ecuador)Poverty profiles of five microwatersheds of the Altomayo watershed were determined. These microwatersheds supply water to downstream urban towns. It was found that 20% of the total households live under conditions of extreme poverty and about 17% are considered non-poor. Also there are differences across the microwatersheds regarding the proportion of extremely poor households (between 8 and 32%). The non-poor household's proportion is in the 12-24% range among the microwatersheds. This variation is attributable to the high migration process happening in the region, where many families colonized lands in the upper parts of the watersheds, particularly families without economic resources. Detailed information is found in Moreno & Renner (2007).The activities of this project aimed to determine if environmental services can be used as a entry point of rural development strategies. This implies a different approach compared to the one adopted in the design of PES schemes with conservation objectives only. Our objective required to analyze if it would be socially efficient to make an investment to provide better ES and how the poor might benefit from it. This demanded an approach that, although it still needs to be improved, has provided the basis to discuss methodological, conceptual and operational aspects of the process to design a PES scheme. These main aspects are:Conceptual aspects -Targeting spatially the economic compensations in order to maximize the provision of the service, the overall socioeconomic benefits and the profitability of the investmentThe environmental service can be used as a driver of rural development if it is well defined, its socioeconomic implications are studied and there is willingness of providers and beneficiaries to cooperate towards the conservation and provision of these services. However, this requires knowledge about the magnitude of the provided service and its associated co-benefits (socioeconomic benefits). The most common water-related services in the Andes are related with streamflow regulation and sediment yields. However not all interventions in any place of a watershed will result in the same level of impact on the service and even more will not necessarily contribute to maximize social benefits and profitability of the investment. This will highly depend on the marginal productivity caused by the modification of the land use and the service and on the opportunity cost to implement the required land use changes. In this sense the project has provided a methodology to define those service providing units (e.g. HRUs) as the unit at which the trade offs with the resultant socioeconomic benefits can be assessed.Although the definition of these units relied on the use of hydrological models developed under different conditions (SWAT was developed in USA), they still provide insights into the priority areas in a watershed and have permitted to quantify the tendencies of the impacts on hydrological services under different land use scenarios. The model performance can still be improved through more field research for adjusting and validating the model but the approach can be considered as valid . From the socioeconomic perspective, the project developed a linear programming model (ie. ECOSAUT) that permitted to combine SWAT results with socioeconomic data to study the trade offs between the environmental and the socioeconomic benefits. The model is an open access tool for which the validity of the results depends more on the quality and reliability of input data than on the model itself. Also, the project has demonstrated the importance of advancing towards targeting of compensations in the watershed since spatial location is an essential factor when including social and economic efficiency aspects of the investment .-Pro-poor PES schemes demanded complex economic methods to understand how the distribution of benefits can reach poor sectors. Ravnborg et al. (2007) found that in 65% of identified PES case studies, hydrological services are being involved. At the same time, the project through its poverty profiles analysis found that the poorest households do not own land (Gomez et al. 2007, Chapalbay et al. 2007).Traditional analysis focused on valuing the benefits for direct service providers and beneficiaries is limited because it does not permit to assess the real impact of PES schemes on those poorest households that may be benefited indirectly by the multiplier effects of proposed land uses likely to provide ES.-PES is not always the best economic mechanism to provide incentives for land use alternatives that deliver environmental servicesThe purpose of the economic analysis in many of the study sites was to determine the opportunity cost of implementing different land use alternatives prompted to deliver better watershed services. The rationale behind this was that for a farmer to change from conventional uses to alternative ones, he must bear an opportunity cost (Antle et al., 2007). In the Fuquene case, this cost was the difference between the conventional and the conservation tillage returns. Therefore, only conservation tillage systems capable of producing equivalent or greater yields and returns than conventional tillage are likely to be readily accepted by the producer (Muller et al., 1981). The results of our studies showed that in some cases there are alternatives with negative opportunity costs and as such a payment or compensation of watershed services needs to be reconsidered. This was the case in Fuquene. Conservation tillage increases net return implying a negative opportunity cost and therefore a net economic benefit for the farmer. Our results compared well to the current rental price of a hectare of land in the study area (US$1870 vs. $1200, for the simulated conventional tillage system vs, the actual rental price of land, respectively) if we take into account that net revenue should not only be a retribution to land price but also to the administrative costs, being this last the difference between the two values. This explains the fact that currently land is cultivated by its owners instead of being rented as they can get greater returns cultivating by themselves and using their own labor in most of the activities. Also, we suggest that the willingness of owner to rent their land will be less as net revenues increase with the conservation tillage system.Better mean net returns from conservation tillage are also reported by Sandretto (2001) and Jeong and Forster (2003) who attributed this to decreases in input costs particularly due to reduced labor hours due to a decrease in the number of trips to crop fields, reduced machinery wear, and a saving in fuel consumption. In our case reduction of input costs are only related to reduced machinery operations and fertilizers applications.Thus the results of this study indicate that conservation tillage is a \"win-win\" alternative for Fuquene farmers by benefiting economically the farmer and by contributing positively to the watershed service as evidenced with indirect data analysis of soil characteristics that influence water movement in the watershed. In other words there is a complementary tradeoff between the economic and environmental benefits. However, Uri et al. (1999) recognized that conservation tillage on highly erodible land will unquestionably result in an increase in social benefits, whilst the expected gains will be modest. Similarly a 17% of increase in net revenues in our study area would be not enough to overcome the possible aversion to risk (or other adoption barriers) of farmers and encourage them to make an additional investment to cover initial extra costs of conservation agriculture (ie. cultivation of oat as cover crop). This fact may explain why this practice is not widely adopted in the Fuquene watershed (Currently there are about 1800 ha implementing these practices of 16933 ha under potato production in the watershed, (Otero, pers. comm.2009;Quintero and Otero, 2006)). This same situation has been described by Sandretto (2001) who showed that although mean net returns on reduced tillage practices are equal to or greater than the returns from conventional tillage, mainly because of decreases in input costs, yet conservation tillage practices have been adopted on only 35% of US agricultural lands. The factors that have been reported as barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture practices are various. First, the additional risks perceived by farmers when adopting reduced tillage including the human and/or physical capital investments that producers may have to incur (De la Torre et al., 2004). The availability of credit to assist with the increased need for purchased inputs (such green manure cover crop seeds, herbicides, etc) for conservation tillage is another factor. In fact, successful experiences of conservation agriculture practices adoption in Latin America have demonstrated the importance of credit as an important enabling factor (FAO, 2001). On the other hand, according to Tweeten (1995), for farmers with short-term planning horizons the benefits of conservation agriculture are not immediate. This becomes an additional barrier for adoption.Also, there may be other barriers particular to culture and recent history (Nyagumbo, 1997), and to information aspects such as contact with extension agents, availability of technical assistance, attendance to field demonstrations and plots, etc. (FAO, 2001).Therefore, our results show that although conservation tillage practices are feasible in mountainous areas and low income countries such as our study area, existing barriers may constrain wide adoption of these practices. One factor important for enhancing the adoption may be the required investment and therefore credits or other financial or economic incentives different to PES (Carcamo et al., 1994). In fact, this has been demonstrated in the study area were a small revolving fund was created to provide credits to farmers willing to implement conservation tillage in their potato-based production systems. The credits were created only to cover the required investment to implement the cover crop as the potato production costs are assumed to be covered by the farmers as they are used to do. This system, although small, has proven to be effective since 2005 incorporating about 180 small farmers every year and using the capital of the fund at its maximum capacity (Quintero and Otero, 2006;Rubiano et al., 2006). (See Objective 2 section).-There is a lack of coherence between the macroeconomic policies and the desire to increase employment opportunities in the Andean countries. Many subsidies given to the rural sector for modernizing the production systems have resulted in an increased use of machineries displacing the labor use as has been the case in the dairy production systems of the Fuquene lake. These kinds of macroeconomic policies deteriorate the competitiveness of the rural sector by increasing the use of tradable goods instead of keeping using domestic resources. Then, the analysis of the effects of changing land use should incorporate the analysis of competitiveness because this may affect directly the poor beyond the mere impact of changing the provision of an ecosystem service. This is especially important when the objective is to use these services as an entry point to improve a more equitable share of benefits in a watershed (i.e. by means of payment for environmental services).It is very common that hydrological models are calibrated using sensitivity analysis which identifies the variables that influence most on the resultant output values (i.e. water and sediment yield). In general these variables are modified in a ±10% range until the simulated results match well with measured values. However when there are big differences between measured and simulated values in certain critical points this might be not the best procedure to adjust the model. In this sense the best practice is to understand which characteristics of the data and of the watershed may be causing these big differences that can not be adjusted with conventional sensitivity analysis. This will not only enable the model user to obtain a better simulation but to improve his understanding of the watershed. This situation is very likely to occur in the Andes watersheds.Particularly, the efficiency of SWAT simulations in the Andes will depend highly on the watershed area. For example, in watersheds bigger than 10.000 hectares SWAT efficiency will likely be good as more climatic stations may be located in such a big area -representing better the spatial variation of rainfall, and the response time -the amount of time it takes for rainfall to reach a stream, is higher than 10 hours which in fact means that one daily streamflow measurement will be a good approximation of real streamflow occurring on that day. However, when modeling smaller watersheds, calibrating the model might be not straightforward, not because of the model itself but because of the Andean watersheds characteristics and the nature of streamflow and sediment measurements. The moderate and steep slopes characteristic to the Andes and the high intensity of the peak rainfall events shorten the response time to even less than 4 hours and thus peak streamflows are not reflected in a unique daily streamflow measurement (generally measured every 24 hours). This results in big differences between the reported daily streamflow and the actual maximum stream flow for that day. Under this situation it is very likely that simulated daily streamflow results in higher values than the measured value. It is very common that instruments used for measuring streamflow are not able to register adequately these few but common peak values in the Andean watersheds.This might be explaining the difference obtained in some cases. For example for the Mishkiyacu watershed (Peru), there were differences between the magnitude of the simulated and measured streamflows during peak rainfall events (although the model simulates well the moment those extreme events occurred) (Quintero et al. 2009).respect to intermediate streamflows which are related to rainfall ranging between 60-80 mm and well distributed throughout the month the simulated streamflows matched better with the measured values than what occurred with peak streamflows. This may be related with the fact that there are no major variations between hourly streamflows so one daily measurement represents well the actual daily streamflow. Similarly, the minimum streamflow simulations were even better adjusted to the measured ones (intermediate and minimum streamflow represent 96% of the data used for many of the models calibrations in the studied watersheds).Further improvements in intermediate stream flows simulations can still be done with more spatially detailed data about the varieties of crops, the fertilization levels and the crop management (SWAT is able to model biomass growth according to detailed crop information).These aspects influence photosynthesis and therefore the evapotranspiration which is the hydrological variable that affects importantly the water balance under conditions of high soil water infiltration rates due to the high amount of soil organic matter (e.g. Mishkiyacu watershed). Thus, any variation in intermediate streamflows is more dependent on evapotranspiration.Thus, a good adjustment of the model depends on the understanding of hydrological processes, the characteristics of the watershed and the type of measured data used for calibrating the model.This kind of approach is necessary in the Andes where the frequency and means to measure hydrological data is limited and the watersheds have short response times during extreme rainfall events. Being said this, and taking into account that in most of the cases the trend of simulated series fit well with measured values, we believe that despite data limitations in the Andes, the SWAT model still permits to identify those HRU with higher incidence in water and sediment yields and to give an approximation of the magnitudes.The SWAT model has generally a good potential to develop time and cost-efficient analyses for watershed management and decision-making (Jayakrishnan et al. 2005). The main benefits of the SWAT approach are that a) watersheds where no monitoring data are available (e.g. stream gage data) can still be modeled and b) the relative impact of alternative input data (e.g. changes in management practices, climate, vegetation, etc.) on water quality or other variables of interest can be quantified (Neitsch et al. 1999).SWAT is universally applicable, because its physical equations can be used for any climatic zone or land-use type (Heulvelmans et al. 2005). Some SWAT empirical equations (e.g. curve number technique and Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation -MUSLE) were developed from field experiments in the USA, and should be varied accordingly when employed elsewhere. In fact, during model calibration for Andean simulations the runoff curve number and MUSLE factors had to be modified to obtain realistic output values, as precisely recommended by SWAT developers during calibration. However, SWAT is able to manage the heterogeneity of biophysical conditions typical in the Andes (soils, topography, land uses and weather). Yet, detailed input data such as streamflow measurements (see discussion above), rainfall and soil data will definitely improve SWAT's simulation in Andean contexts. Analogous observations have been made for SWAT applications in Africa (e.g. Jayakrishnan et al. 2005).However, SWAT is still very useful for prioritizing HRUs as the simulated series of streamflows compare well to the observed ones. Thus, the model permits to safely identify critical target areas for service provision, although the absolute quantitative predictions of 'services rendered' may still be improved. More detailed soil data will help to increase resolution when defining HRUs. In the Andes it is relatively easy to find good resolution of land use data but soil data are still too general for small watersheds (1:100000). Thus, the efficiency of hydrological simulations in the Andes still needs to be improved by generating better input data, especially streamflow, daily rainfall and soil parameters, but this does not deprive us from the capacity to identify and prioritize the service providing units (HRUs).For the economic analysis, optimization models depend on quality data about benefits and costs of production systems, which is relatively easy to collect. However, data about default deforestation and other land-use change rates (incl. their fluctuations over time) used for scenarios analysis could critically affect incomes. Hence, this information in many cases needs to be refined.Nevertheless, we believe this methodological approach can still orientate systematic efforts to prioritize actions in cases like the Andean watersheds, where a complex environmental reality -in terms of multiple land uses, slopes and soil types, has to be assessed. Eventually, this should also stimulate researchers to propose adjustments in innovative benefit sharing mechanisms such as PES, including spatial targeting of high-service provision areas. Supplementary factors could be added, such as the special contribution of cloud forest to flows that was not considered in the hydrological modeling in our studied watersheds.In addition to the lack of data in many Andean settings, complex cases can also trigger high transaction costs -for those interested in designing PES schemes, in integrating biophysical, social and economical information at different scales. The methodological approach employed for quantifying and assessing the impacts of land use changes (combining SWAT and ECOSAUT) simplified the process of integrating this knowledge by homogenizing the scale of analysis (HRUs), determining the minimal information needed and including socioeconomic and environmental variables in a single tool for land uses economic assessment.Finally, whether this kind of analysis is required for implementing PES schemes (e.g. quantification of environmental services, estimation of opportunity costs and identification of service providing units) depends on the settings and context of the area. For example, there are already PES schemes in the Andes that have operated for almost a decade without previous studies. One example is the Pimampiro PES scheme in Ecuador where the lack of ex-ante studies may be explained by the low level of investment made by the municipality and conservation organizationsaccumulated start-up and running costs combined for 2000-05 were US$62,987 (Wunder and Albán 2008: 689). Also, the few number of land holders, the small land area located in the watershed supplying water, and the forest conservation purpose of the scheme make it relatively easy to allocate these funds. In such cases conducting detailed studies and incurring high data collection costs may not be efficient investments. Following this rationale, these studies may be necessary if the investment is conditioned to a previous demonstration of the importance of conserving forests or implemented land use changes for providing the watershed services.However, when potential payment amounts are higher and the alternatives more complex, as is the case of some of our study sites (e.g. Moyobamba, Peru), the need for hydrological and socioeconomic ex-ante analysis (quantifying watershed services, identifying service providing units and estimating opportunity costs) to target the investments is essential (Quintero et al. 2009).The main challenge for improving the performance of hydrological modeling in the Andes as a means to simulate the behavior of hydrological services such as sediment retention and water flows regulation is to improve input data related with climatic information, grasses-cover and soil characteristics. Climatic stations in many watersheds are not enough in number to cover the spatial variation of precipitation. It is common to find stations in the 1000-2800 m altitude range but few in the upper parts (above the 3000 m altitude) and in the piedmonts where the precipitation is importantly different. Thus, performance indexes of modeling exercises are low when simulated stream flows values are distant from the measured values.However, the increment of available data does not only need a financial effort but requires a substantial period of time to permit the gathering of data series long enough to simulate adequately the hydrological behavior of a watershed (ie. 10-20 years). To ameliorate this difficulty in the shorter-term -while the coverage of the climatic station network is expanded, the models to With respect to soil data, it is important to know the values of soil characteristics that influence the hydrology in a watershed such as organic matter content, bulk density, available water content, and percentage of silt, sand and clay. However, for many Andean watersheds, the available soil surveys do not include the values for all these characteristics and most of them only describe the texture of the soil map units. In these cases, the other characteristics are indirectly determined using the Soil Characteristic Tool (Saxton et al. 1986) based on the texture data. However this tool was developed for mineral soils and as such is not applicable for high organic matter soils as those found in the high Andes (e.g. Paramo soils may have up to 30% of organic matter content). This high organic matter content confers to these soils unique properties that favor the soil water retention which is crucial for maintaining stream flow throughout the year. Under this context, the project had to conduct field sampling to measure directly these characteristics. However it will be desirable that future efforts in the Andean countries will be oriented to updating and completing soil surveys especially for these characteristics.With respect to land covers, the project has found that it is crucial for hydrological modeling to differentiate between the various types of pastures as its growth characteristics may influence the infiltration of water into the soil profile. In general, default values in the model do not distinguish between the different pastures that may occur in a watershed. In temperate countries, where most Having the Andean Watersheds Project (AWP) of the GTZ as main development partner in the project it was possible to create strategic alliances required to implement pilot economic and financial schemes oriented to stimulate land use alternatives that may contribute to modify positively environmental externalities. Moreno & Renner (2007) recognized that the improvement of the knowledge on the hydrological dynamics of the studied watersheds and ex-ante analyses of opportunity costs and benefits derived from proposed land use changes were essential for discussing with local stakeholders different economic and financial schemes. Apart from these analyses, already explained in objective 1, the project applied other methods to explore the willingness to cooperate of service providers and beneficiaries. This facilitated the understanding of the rationale behind the stakeholders before the discussion of a specific scheme.Knowing that information generated in objective 1 per se is not enough to promote changes, the project, in collaboration with the Javeriana University-Bogotá campus, included economic games as part of the methodology. The information resulting from the objective 1 was used to design decision-making games through experimental economic techniques to determine stakeholders' willingness to collaborate and negotiate. Thus it was possible to observe, in a more controlled environment, how incentives and institutions were governing the individual decisions affecting outcomes at individual and group levels (Cardenas 2003). The decision-making games were played by individuals from local communities in the upper and lower parts of the watershed who have the choice to change their current land-use scenarios or/and make a payment to provide an incentive for these land-use changes. These decisions were studied under different scenarios: a scenario of negotiation where the different players were allowed to discuss before taking a decision; a scenario without communication which may correspond to the baseline; and a scenario were certain decisions are enforced by the application of penalties to players that do not incorporate better management practices or do not pay to the service providers (Cardenas and Ramos 2006).The economic games results permitted to analyze the possibilities and limitations of actors to resolve cooperation-related problematics and to establish to what extend reciprocity, trust, inequity and risk aversion influence the decision making to resolve common goods dilemmas (as those related to the provision of watershed services). Detailed information about games design and application are described in Cardenas and Ramos (2006).The use of experimental economic games has demonstrated that individual decisions on natural resource use do not obey classical economic theories, which state that rational people maximize their profits without taking into account the well-being of others and have a self-interested behavior when opportunities appear. Preliminary exercises with experimental economics make it possible to identify the willingness of the stakeholders involved to cooperate in an environmental conflict. Many facets of the problem have to be considered, especially those related to power relationships and conflict of interests. This is where collective action plays a role in promoting understanding among the parts, reducing negative externalities and improving the benefits of all parties. These games, based on conflict understanding (interdependencies among parties) and having stakeholder representatives as participants, identify the willingness to cooperate in solving the environmental dilemmas. The games consisted of simulated exercises where different actors in a watershed such as farmers, cattle ranchers and urban dwellers modify their decisions to negotiate the current environmental conflict in consecutive rounds. Providing players with different decision options simulates the decision-making process, where the participants must choose between implementing changes in the current land-use scenario and rules, or maintaining current practices, uses and institutions.The context and issues of the watershed were mirrored during the process. Land use/management changes were discussed in the light of changes in income or environmental impacts. Some changes in land use mean reduced income for some stakeholders; thus social and biophysical interactions abound during the simulated discussions. Payment schemes and negotiations among both upstream and downstream stakeholders were suggested; and cost figures or values inherent to those changes were also introduced in the game. As a result of these games, the individual rationality that oriented the decision-making process was revealed.Especially for the Fuquene watershed, the economic games were very useful and illustrative of the complexity of interests resulting from a high socioeconomic asymmetry occurring among the actors settled in this site. In this case, cattle ranchers located in the lower zone of the watershed had the major assets and lowest discount taxes in relation to water resources. They are not open to investing in regulatory organization, much less to exploring ways to reduce their detrimental management practices. For the games, three main questions were answered: 1) Which stakeholders will continue with the same land management practices?; 2) Which ones are willing to change their management practices?; 3) Which are willing to pay or compensate to those making beneficial changes in their systems?All these questions involve dilemmas among individual and collective decisions, between the farm or plot scale and the aggregated effect at subregional or regional scales. The answers found to these questions in the Fúquene case are shown in figures 18 and 19. Figure 17  Experimental economics made its biggest contribution by revealing the interdependencies of the problem among the stakeholders. In this case study, this consisted basically of showing how different crop-and soil-management practices affect water quantity and quality. When the participants understood that quantity and quality of water flows are externalities, they realized that local agreements with their neighbors are a self-control mechanism for implementing the appropriate land uses. At the same time, the economic game revealed a preference of local communities to accept local rather than government organizations managing resources because of the poor reputation of the latter. The project still believes that once stakeholders understand the causality and relationships among those generating the externality and those being affected; the emergent collective action will motivate the required changes. However all the results of the economic games inspired the team to design a financial scheme to share the costs of implementing the desired land management practices, as will be explained below.The project achieved the creation of two schemes in two of the five studied watersheds: Fuquene and Altomayo, which will be described below. In the other three watersheds the project contributed with information and institutional processes that are currently the basis for the negotiation of similar schemes. In Jequetepeque the generated information along with the creation of a watershed coordination committee are currently the basis for designing and negotiating an eventual PES scheme. This effort is now being lead by a PES project carried out by WWF (World Wildlife Fund), CARE and IIED for which our project team conducted the studies described in objective 1. In Ambato, the study results are currently considered in the negotiation of a benefit sharing scheme to be applied by the Tungurahua Provincial Government with the aim to recuperate the costs of the construction of two reservoirs according to the different benefits that will be derived from this to farmers, city water users, etc. In the Tunari Mountains, the project outputs served to understand the hydrological dynamic of the watershed and the constraints to improve the watershed services with mere economic payments. In Westermann (2008) are given the main considerations and recommendations for future efforts oriented to design a PES scheme.o Hybrid schemes: Conservation and development initiatives: PES is only one of multiple strategies to promote the conservation and improvement of watershed services. It is suggested to consider PES jointly with conservation and development projects in order to maximize investment from multiple sources and to reach poor sectors that not necessarily may be prioritized in a PES design (of which the main objective is to target the environmental externality) o Individual vs. collective providers: An eventual payment should not necessarily be targeted to individual farmers (service providers) rather than to groups or communities. It is common to think that payments should be traded between one single buyer and one provider. However taking into account the very small areas owned by farmers it may be the case that several farmers are required to change their management practices to improve the watershed service. Thus, aggregating them may contribute to reduce transaction costs and ensure that the required area to achieve the desired impact on the service is attended.o PES for conserving vs. PES for improving land use: A potential PES scheme could be oriented to protect remaining natural land covers by restricting its land use conversion (as most of the existing PES schemes in the Andes) or to stimulate land use changes and better technologies that can improve the watershed service. If the purpose is to favor the poorest as well, the second option may imply more opportunities for those without land and whose income relies on employment opportunities in production systems of others. At the same time the promotion of better management practices instead of restricting the use of lands will be more feasible if it is considered that more than 53% of the poor people own less than 0.25 ha. In this way they will not be able to sacrifice land and leave it for natural regeneration. Instead they may need better management practices that not only improve the level of provision of watershed services but improve the productivity of their parcels.o Payments: in-kind vs. monetary payments; perpetual vs. transitory payments: The PES scheme design can consider non-monetary payments such us the construction of infrastructure (schools, health centers, etc) and training on promising activities to improve income in rural communities. These kinds of payments have the advantage of staying in the communities in the long term, especially when the payments are used for the building of capacities. However the disadvantage is that not all members of a community take advantage of these new capacities and as such would not perceive this as an incentive or payment to deliver a service. Also it was found that incentives such as employment generation for those without land and the provision of materials for implementing land management can be highly valuated by the farmers even more than monetary payments.The monetary payments are easily used for anyone and can be rapidly reflected in the coverage of immediate necessities. However, at the same time a PES scheme can not guarantee that the payment is oriented to cover the priorities of poor households. On the other hand, the fact of giving payment for an ecosystem service has in many Andean communities a negative connotation by being related wrongly with the privatization and appropriation of natural resources. In addition to this, it is still unknown what can be the effect of providing a big initial payment to cover a large investment (e.g. the construction of infrastructure) that can be oriented to pro-poor objectives as well vs. small perpetual payments that can be on a contractual basis conditioned to the provision of the service but not necessarily can attend immediate needs of poor households in a watershed. Westermann (2008) also highlighted the pros and cons for designing PES schemes in the Tunari microwatersheds. The pros are related with the land tenure security as all private and communal lands are legally recognized, reducing the risks of invasion and favoring the contracting processes with service providers. The second positive factor is related with the favorable social organization that is completely inclusive and as such incorporates all farmers regardless of their socioeconomic status. This can favor the design of PES schemes oriented to trade a service between organized groups rather than between individuals, and therefore reducing the transaction costs (although this option demands an efficient social control to monitor the compliance with obligations). Existing power relations inside the social organizations are possible limiting factors that could cause the misuse of the payments by being invested in activities that do not necessarily incentivize the provision of the service. Another limiting factor is the socioeconomic and cultural asymmetry between the upstream farmers (service providers) and the downstream farmers (service beneficiaries). This can limit the negotiation capacity of poor farmers (upstream farmers) even though their organizational capacity is recognized as strong. Thus a PES scheme in the Tunari region should be focused on developing bridging social capital (rather than bonding social capital) in order to close the gap between providers and buyers and therefore, to endeavor a fair negotiation. For this, all information about opportunity costs and willingness to pay analysis has to be disseminated and explained to service providers.The project facilitated the creation of an intersectorial committee for the promotion of a fund to pay for ecosystem services. The Municipality and the water supply and sanitation company (EPS -a public entity but operating under private law) were part of this PES committee. This process was accompanied by a permanent politic dialogue that aimed to contextualize and disseminate the implications of putting in place a PES scheme. At the project finalization the fund was created. The idea was to levy a surcharge on Moyabamba's water consumers, and correspondingly subsidize upstream farmers willing to change towards less sediment-prone land uses (Aspajo 2006). The water surcharge was approved by the corresponding national authorities and the water users, and currently the payments are being collected and deposited in a specific bank account. Nowadays, it is under discussion if the payments should be used either as recurrent payments or subsidized conditional credits. The challenge will be to bring into practice the prioritization of HRUs and of land use alternatives made in objective 1 for the micro-watersheds, as a means to optimize the use of these resources. The results of this analysis concluded that changing the land use in prioritized HRUs could potentially cut sediments by 18% while improving the income and therefore, subsidized loans for shade-coffee adoption could be even better and cheaper than a permanent PES scheme. Paying upstream farmers to abandon or set aside cropped areas in favor of forest regrowth would have been an economically and politically less feasible solution. On the one hand, high immigration and lack of land titles undermine the potential use of PES to avoid new deforestation. On the other hand, watershed services there need not only protection, but also active restoration through reconversion of intervened areas to more benign land uses. In consequence, win-win alternatives like shade-coffee that require an initial PES-like conditional incentive for adoption, but then allegedly can be self-sustained, have functioned elsewhere (e.g. Pagiola et al. 2004), and could thus be more attractive than perpetual compensations (e.g. for live barriers), as long as the former can be sustainably adopted in practice (Quintero et al. 2009). Aspajo (2006) describes in detail the participatory and political process undertaken for the creation of this PES scheme.Results from analysis conducted under activities of objective 1 indicated that a switch to Conservation Farming practices (i.e., reduced tillage, permanent cover and green manure use) would have the most beneficial impacts overall, and especially on controlling erosion and nitrate and phosphate leakage into the lake. Based on these results the project sought to reduce eutrophication in Lake Fuquene by encouraging upstream potato farmers to use less fertilizer and more environmentally friendly cultivation techniques. Thus, conservation agriculture was promoted as one of the primary means of accomplishing these goals and reducing the amount of organic nutrients (nitrates and phosphates from fertilizer and animal wastes) in runoff water to the lake.In order to facilitate land management changes, GTZ and Ford Foundation helped significantly with start-up costs to create a revolving fund for providing soft loans (0.9% interest rate) to the smallest and poorest farmers (<2ha). These loans are specifically targeted to small farmers via their farmer associations. This credit subsidy was conditional upon the farmer presenting an approved land-use plan, accompanied later by technical follow-up assistance from a GTZ and CAR technician. Compliance with the land-use plan was around 97%, and over time the scheme doubled its initial cultivation area reaching 178 hectares per year. In this sense, the project clearly was a success; the mechanism worked as planned, and seems to be sustainable. The project was so far less successful in scaling up the initiative within the entire watershed, which is sized 99,137 ha, 55,662 ha of which are under cultivation. Transferring the idea to the commercial banking sector was so far not successful. Some producers remain skeptical about changing cropping practices with a century-long history. Some particularly larger landowners are leasing out their lands to commercial producers of in particular potatoes. When the functions of landowner and farmer are divorced, the latter has little incentive to preserve soil fertility for the future, or to make investments in the land that give returns beyond the short-run lease period. The tenure arrangements are thus one significant obstacle for upscaling. Key to this small scheme success was the cooperation with and involvement of local government through the environmental authority (CAR) who is in charge of the technical assistance and the participation of research institutions (CIAT) that provide reliable information about the environmental and economic benefits of conservation agriculture. Currently the revolving fund is under operation covering about 180 ha annually and the capital is being recovered every year. Quintero and Otero (2006) describe in detail the participatory and political process undertaken for the creation of this financial scheme.Thus, this scheme in Fuquene, through its established rules, has tried to reach the smallest and poorest farmers by including the farm area as criterion to provide the loan. In this way this scheme is not only aiming to stimulate changes in the conventional management practices of potato cropping but is targeting the economic incentives to those that have major problems to cover the extra investment for incorporating the green manures into their rotations. The main constraint to the smallest farmers is their inaccessibility to commercial banks credits to overcome their limited cash flow, which keeps them away from new and profitable land management alternatives that demand initial investment.Further efforts should be focused on how to enlarge this fund to reach a wide adoption of these practices whether by incrementing the capacity of the fund or by providing an extra incentive. The latter may come via payments for other environmental services such as net Greenhouse Gas removals. Quintero (2009) found that in 7 years of practicing conservation tillage in the upper Fuquene watershed, 788 t CO2 ha -1 are sequestered which could mean an extra income of US$450 yr -1 (assuming a carbon price of $4 per t CO2 which is a conservative price. A constant carbon price is assumed as currently carbon contracts are negotiated on a constant price basis). This carbon payment alone could cover oat production costs that are around $377 ha -1 and increase the net revenues over the remaining years of the rotation when oat is not cultivated (in a 7yr period oat is cultivated twice), This may mean to the farmer a 29% increase in net return instead of 17% derived from the economic benefits of conservation tillage alone.Although this estimation is based on a conservative carbon price of US$4 per t CO2, this price already covers the cost of sequestering 1 t CO2 in the 7yr-period. If we consider that this cost may be equal to the additional investment the farmer had to incur, which is the oat production cost (US$377 x 2), then each ton of CO2 requires an additional investment of US$1. Of course, this calculation does not include the costs of technical assistance that is currently provided by the regional environmental authority (CAR). Thus, it is recognized that off-site benefits of conservation tillage are not only related to watershed services and therefore financial incentives should be designed on this basis. Carbon sequestration by conservation tillage can imply various other co-benefits for society such as soil retention and therefore the reduction of downstream sedimentation and regulation of rivers flows (FAO, 2001).Thus, showing all conservation tillage benefits for society together may be a strong strategy to design robust and stable financial incentives for enhancing adoption of conservation agriculture in the Andes.Experimental economics through economic games constituted a promising methodological approach to study the willingness to cooperate in the watersheds. However, its application was quite limited in watersheds with high socioeconomic asymmetries, like the Fuquene watershed.The downstream wealthiest farmers did not attend the economic games and even did not want to participate indirectly through phone calls. This apathy to participate with smaller farmers in activities to discuss the water problematic of the watershed can be related with their own interests. They own the most expensive lands that currently have a good volume of water allocation and may not be interested in incurring new payments. On the contrary, the downstream small farmers participated in the economic games and showed their willingness to compensate upstream farmers for incorporating management practices that can result in the reduction of soil and nutrient loss. This willingness to cooperate was shown to be dependant on good communication between the parties, otherwise the compensation was not given (in the economic game context). Thus economic games were useful to understand the conditions under which the that pay for conserving natural areas will hardly favor these poorest households. Instead, PES schemes that promote better management practices may improve the conditions of the poorest if the new alternatives provide new sources of employment to landless inhabitants, change the availability of water during dry periods and improve accessibility to good quality water. This demands broader economic and social analysis to be able to link all possible benefits derived from interventions promoted by PES-like schemes to the poor. This should at least include the multiplier effects of modifying income and employment through new land use alternatives, benefits derived from increasing water supply during dry periods and from improving water quality by reducing sediment yields, benefits from better water allocation, and those derived from agricultural productivity changes. Of the changes listed above, which have the greatest potential to be adopted and have impact? What might the potential be on the ultimate beneficiaries?The change noted in Peru has a great potential as now the Ministry of Environment is aware of the feasibility of establishing PES schemes in Peru to ensure the regular provision of water. There are already evidences of this potential as now there are other initiatives by the Ministry and other organizations that are promoting the creation of these schemes based on the Altomayo experience.Also, the changes noted in the CAR and the farmers of the Fuquene watershed has great potential to be outscaled to other areas by demonstrating that not only payments, but other kinds of financial incentives such as soft loans are enough to promote the adoption of agricultural practices that have positive impacts on watershed services and farmer's income. This case should be brought to the agricultural national financial scheme in order to get more support for amplifying the mechanism and reach bigger scales. The project initiated contacts with representatives of the government in charge of creating financial incentives for farmers but still more work on policy change needs to be done.The change perceived in the representatives of the Tungurahua Provincial Government has high potential to influence the final political decision about how to recuperate the costs of the construction of the reservoir. The project has helped to raise awareness in the government about the benefits and costs that the construction of the reservoir represents for different actors, specially those derived from the intensification of agriculture downstream, the reduction of water flows in the upper part (as a result of the capture of water for filling up the reservoir), the increment in water supply for downstream water users, the increment of competitiveness for downstream farmers and the benefits derived from increasing the offer of agricultural products for Tungurahua town consumers.What still needs to be done to achieve this potential? Are measures in place (e.g., a new project, on-going commitments) to achieve this potential? Please describe what will happen when the project ends.As mentioned above, in Peru the initiative of creating PES schemes has been taken up by the national environmental authority (Ministry of Environment) who is now promoting similar cases in the country. In fact one of these will be incorporated in a project during the second phase of the CPWF. In Fuquene, the same second phase project will assess the ex-post impacts of this project and expects to produce recommendations that can be taken effectively to the policy-makers to try to incorporate this kind of schemes in the financial system of Colombia for the agricultural sector, especially for those interested in practicing conservation agriculture. Also, the CAR continues committed to keep promoting conservation agriculture in the area as an alternative to reduce the production of sediments that are linked with the advanced eutrophication process of the Fuquene Lake. In Ecuador, the GTZ continues working closely with the Tungurahua Provincial government in the design of a scheme to share the costs and benefits derived from the construction of the reservoir.Each row of the table above is an impact pathway describing how the project contributed to outcomes in a particular actor or actors.Which of these impact pathways were unexpected (compared to expectations at the beginning of the project?) Why were they unexpected? How was the project able to take advantage of them?The impact related to the changes achieved in some actors/organizations was unexpected as they were not initially targeted as partners or intended users by the project. These are the Ministry of Environment in Peru, WWF-CARE-IIED in Peru and the Tungurahua Provincial Government (in relation with the construction of the reservoir). However the project took advantage of the opportunity of having them part of the impact pathway by considering these new actors as project output users and also as crucial actors for turning research results into actual decisions. The creation of partnerships with these actors has been crucial especially by founding these alliances on a partnership to link research with development. It is especially important when the local actors do not have the required technical and professional expertise to evaluate the possible impacts of PES-like schemes and therefore, to guide their design and implementation. On the other hand it is very usual that research project teams do not have the experience to influence policy makers who at the end are key actors for making viable this type of schemes. So these kinds of alliances permit to bring research results into the decision-making arena.What would you do differently next time to better achieve outcomes (i.e. changes in stakeholder knowledge, attitudes, skills and practice)?The project has been characterized by having an important influence on local decisions and as such on local interventions due to the important role that development partners as GTZ had in taking research results to decisions making processes and also by routing decisions maker's research questions to the project research team. However the project team considers that this collaborative scheme needs to be enforced in future projects by ensuring this in all watersheds having a strong interlocutor between decision makers and research team. In some sites this role was played by members of the research team, who already had research responsibilities and it was difficult to promote decision making changes in the desired intensity. Next time a clear interlocutor should be defined since the very beginning allocating the time and resources needed for ensuring this role in the project.The model and its user manual was released in English and Spanish versions and are available in CD ROM. A printed Spanish version of the user manual is also available. The model can be applied to any watershed since it has been designed considering a wide range of possible variables that could affect water flows, sedimentation, cash flows, labor employment, and net income, among others.For each Andean watershed the project is committed to identify the hydrological response units (HRUs) after integrating and analyzing the watershed soils, topography, land covers and climate. To date the project has identified the HRUs of the Fuquene watershed (Colombia), five sub-watersheds of Altomayo (Peru), Ambato watershed (Ecuador) and Jequetepeque watershed (Peru). In this database are included the hydrological reports which contain hydrological variables for each HRU. These reports are useful to determine the contribution of each unit to the hydrological externalities (water flows and sedimentation). All the GIS information is provided in CDROM to the CPWF.Publications describing the methodological approach (see section 6) are available possible to train African professionals on the application of the ECOSAUT and SWAT models. With this, the project team wants to emphasize the importance to keep fostering research projects founded in partnerships with local stakeholders and ideally, next users.o The use of a hydrological model such as SWAT has generated in most of the cases simulated series of which the trends fit well with measured values, and therefore, despite data limitations in the Andes, the SWAT model still permits to prioritize those HRU with higher incidence in water and sediment yields and to give an approximation of the magnitudes. Thus, although the model performance can still be improved by improving input data and adjusting the model for Andean conditions, the approach should be considered as valid and improvable through more field research for adjusting and validating the model. Thus, hydrological models are recommended as a powerful tool for targeting spatially the economic compensations in order to maximize the provision of the service.Gathering more detailed soil data will help to increase resolution when defining HRUs. In the Andes it is relatively easy to find good resolution of land use data but soil data is still general for small watersheds (1:100000). Thus, the efficiency of hydrological simulations in the Andes still needs to be improved by generating better input data, especially streamflow, daily rainfall and soil parameters, but this does not deprive us of the capacity to identify and prioritize the service providing units (HRUs).o It is very common that hydrological models are calibrated using sensitivity analysis which identifies the variables that influence most on the resultant output values (i.e. water and sediment yield). In general these variables are modified in a ±10% range until the simulated results match well with measured values. So, it is recommended that sensitivity analysis for SWAT results should be run prior model calibration. This is especially feasible now that latest SWAT version includes this component to model. However when there are big differences between measured and simulated values in certain critical points this might be not the best procedure to adjust the model. In this sense the best practice is to understand which characteristics of the data and of the watershed may be causing these big differences that cannot be adjusted with conventional sensitivity analysis. This will not only enable the model user to obtain a better simulation but to improve his understanding of the watershed. This situation is very likely to occur in the Andes watersheds.o For the economic assessment of land use alternatives and its impact on socioeconomic conditions of farmers, optimization models have demonstrated to be useful tools. However, the reliability of its results depends on quality data about benefits and costs of production systems, which is relatively easy to collect, information about default deforestation and other land-use change rates (incl. their fluctuations over time) used for scenarios analysis could critically affect incomes. Hence, this information in many cases needs to be refined in the Andes.o The use of economic games was useful to understand the conditions under which the compensation may be feasible. However still some issues remained unanswered with this methodology. These are how the willingness to pay can vary with different amounts of payments (using real magnitudes in the game rather than symbolic numbers as used in o The facilitation of dialogue and negotiation prior to the implementation of a PES-like scheme requires an important investment to cover consultations, applications of participatory methodologies, ex-ante analysis to know the magnitude of the service and the opportunity costs for implementing desired land uses, etc. This investment in this project, as in other PES schemes in Latin America, was covered by the donors (CPWF and GTZ) and was not charged to the created schemes. Although in theory it may be desirable that all those transactions costs should be included in the costs of the scheme, this may reduce its viability and for that reason these costs are commonly assumed by external parties (NGOs, governments, etc). This can continue being the situation in other cases of PES-like schemes and should be clearly recognized. Under these circumstances, it is important to raise the awareness and willingness of public sectors to promote these schemes as another tool for ensuring the provision of environmental services. Thus, all these up-front costs can be financed by the public sectors as part of their own agendas and as such, the implementation of these schemes will not rely only on the interest of external parties. This will still require strong efforts at the policy levels.o The identification of win-win technological alternatives for improving the environmental and economic performance of conventional agricultural systems is essential. This may contribute to accelerate the process of negotiation by incorporating new incentives for the farmers beyond the mere payments (e.g. improvements on productivity and income).However the implementation of new technologies by small farmers may require PES-like subsidies as was the case in Fuquene, and as such PES-like schemes should be considered, as a complementary strategy in adoption processes of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.o To finalize, as the poverty profiles demonstrated, the poorest in the Andes are those without land and therefore pro-poor PES schemes can be difficult to implement. In particular those schemes that pay for conserving natural areas will hardly favor these poorest households. Instead, PES schemes that promote better management practices may improve the conditions of the poorest if the new alternatives provide new sources of employment to landless inhabitants, change the availability of water during dry periods and improve accessibility to good quality water. This demands broader economic and social analysis in order to link all possible benefits derived from interventions promoted by PESlike schemes to the poor. This should at least include the multiplier effects of modifying income and employment through new land use alternatives, benefits derived from increasing water supply during dry periods and improving water quality by reducing soil erosion and water pollution.The ultimate aim is to generate sustainable development processes in the rural sector. By focusing on the internalization of externalities derived from watershed management, transfers of funds from urban to rural populations are stimulated, triggering urban investments in rural environmental goods and services.The process starts integrating key spatial information, which is available at different scales for the site, in order to facilitate envisioning different land-use scenarios and their impacts upon water resources. Subsequently, selected alternative scenarios regarding the impact on the externalities identified are analyzed, using optimization models. Opportunities for and constraints to promoting cooperation among users are identified, using economic games in which more sustainable land-use or management alternatives are suggested. Projects on natural resource management are oriented towards preserving and/or restoring the ecological functions of ecosystems as one way to ensure adequate levels of environmental goods and services. Hence, watershed analyses are focusing on understanding the causal relationship between land use and associated technologies and their effects on water quality and quantity. Understanding this relationship is emphasized because most environmental conflicts in watersheds arise from protests of those affected by sedimentation, water deficits during dry times, increased floods, and reduced potability of water.Recently, the Policy Analysis Section of the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN) studied externalities related to hydrologic dynamics as a priority axis on which to generate new dynamics of rural development in the mountains of the Andean Region, South America. These new dynamics will be initiated through transfers of capital from urban to rural sectors, which will be justified by positive changes in the supply of environmental goods and services from these watersheds.Since 2003, CONDESAN's initiative, formally constituted as the Regional Project-Andean Watersheds, has been supported by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). One objective of this project is to develop and apply capabilities related to watershed analyses that will support decision makers on changes in land use and management practices that will generate positive externalities. This project is being executed in the Andean ecoregion, which include the watersheds of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.With this purpose, the Andean Watersheds Project seeks to strengthen watershed analyses to permit suitable interventions in these areas through joint investment schemes. One way of supporting these analytical processes is to develop tools and methodologies that can be used in watersheds by all the Project's local partners. One tool is the model being presented here, which permits, among other things, the ex ante evaluation of the impact of changes in land use on hydrologic externalities and the socioeconomic status of a watershed's inhabitants.This document aims to illustrate and facilitate the management of the model Economic, Social, and Environmental Evaluation of Land Use (ECOSAUT, its Spanish acronym) by users interested in integrated watershed analyses. The design of both the model and this manual is directed towards professionals involved in natural resource management and who understand environmental economics.The manual's structure is based on three principal parts: (1) a description of the model, (2) an explanation of its use, and (3) an exposé of its structure and functions. This document should be read while accessing the model's Excel files to better comprehend the explanations. The model's operation and structure will be described with reference to each of the Excel spreadsheets composing it. Although the model contains information corresponding to that used in the manual's examples, it is valid only for academic purposes. Hence, if users wish to use the model for their own purposes, they need to initialize it. Recently a new type of conservation project has entered the 'conservation and development' scene, the so called payment for environmental service schemes (PES). PES schemes seek to integrate protection of environmental services like watershed services with poverty alleviation by setting up schemes where beneficiaries, e.g. downstream urban populations and industries or international organizations, pay or compensate natural resource managers/land users, often poor rural farmers, for the protection of environmental services. In theory this is an appealing idea that increasingly has been endorsed by local authorities and national and international development organizations. The challenge is that PES schemes are not poverty alleviation tools per se. The principal objective of PES schemes is to conserve and/or generate desired environmental services which do not necessarily coincide with poverty alleviation. At the same time PES schemes are often set up in contexts of competition and struggle over natural resources which determine whether and how the process of PES negotiations take place. Khora Tiquipaya watershed is, among other watersheds in the Cordillera del Tunari, the principal source of water for both consumption and agricultural production in Cochabamba, Bolivia. At the same time, these watersheds regulate the flow of water and torrents in streams and rivers determining the risk of flooding in the valley. Unfortunately, human intervention has led to large scale degradation of the watersheds resulting in lower recharge of aquifers and a decrease in groundwater availability as well as an increase in flooding damaging agricultural production and infrastructure in the valley. The watersheds are also characterized by extreme poverty (90% of the rural population) and, particularly in the case of Tiquipaya, by numerous struggles and conflicts over access to and control over water resources. On basis of the situation of poverty and environmental degradation in the Cordillera del Tunari and considering the struggles and conflicts over access to and control over water resources in the Khora Tiquipaya watershed, this thesis explores the conditions under which pro-poor payment for watershed hydrological services schemes (PWHS) is feasible in the Khora Tiquipaya watershed. Specifically, the thesis looks into (i) whether and to what extent water access and control relations is likely to influence the negotiation of PWHS schemes in the Khora Tiquipaya watershed and vice versa, and (ii) what the consequences for the poor of implementation of PWHS schemes and what their options and capacities for participating in these as service providers are. To understand water access and control relations and struggles in Khora Tiquipaya watershed the thesis combines Ribot and Peluso's analytical framework and inclusive understanding of access as both rights based, social and structural, with Bourdieu's praxeology that sees social life as being a result of struggle in a social field of power relations. Ribot and Peluso's analytical framework helps to operationalize the particular field of access and control over water resources in Tiquipaya while a stakeholder analysis, based on interviews with key actors with contrasting views, is used as a tool for empirical data collection and analysis. The dimensions and levels of poverty in the Cordillera del Tunari, including Khora Tiquipaya watershed, are examined on the basis of local perceptions and an extensive questionnaire survey. This study finds that there are opportunities for implementing pro-poor PWHS in Tiquipaya. Land tenure is secure also for the poor (allowing long term conservation investments) and organization strong and inclusive (minimizing transaction costs of payment to numerous small-scale farmers and allowing the poor to participate on equal basis). It is suggested that pro-poor PWHS schemes will be most effective using an asset-building/in-kind payment approach, e.g. in the form of capacity building to improve agricultural production in combination with a system of continuous payments. At the same time there is a need to scale up payments schemes to the entire Cordillera del Tunari to establish a regional support group/fund that could can help to resolve the economic constraints inherent in local payments schemes. However, to assess the feasibility for implementing pro-poor payment schemes it is necessary also to understand the potential interaction that will occur between the implementation of pro-poor PWHS and the established field of water access and control. Because, following Bourdieu and Long, the power relations in a field inevitably will interact with, in this case, the implementation of PWHS. How these power relations influence the social feasibility of the implementation of PWHS depends on how PWHS schemes affect the content and boundaries of the field i.e. how PWHS schemes changes the values and the different actors' capital based position in the field, because such changes will influence their points of view on PWHS schemes. The analysis shows that the negotiation and implementation of PWHS schemes in Khora Tiquipaya is likely to change the dynamic of the social field not only because it changes communications among the actors in the field, particularly among the irrigation farmers and drinking water committees, but also because it changes who the players are and what their positions in the field are. Particularly it strengthens upstream farmers' voice in the field and allows external actors like NGOs a stronger position in the field. The implementation of PWHS schemes is also expected to contribute to changing the values in the field increasing recognition of payment as a valid form of compensation or retribution. PWHS schemes are likely to add to the repertoire of means upon which upstream farmers claim access to water resources (Cruzani community) or claim benefit from other actors' (particularly irrigation farmers) access to water resources (Totora community). Due to the changes in the objective relations of positions, values and upstream farmers' diverse claims in relation to water resources it is likely that the dominant stakeholders in the field, particularly the irrigation farmers, will feel that their position in the field will be threatened. As a result, the implementation of pro-poor PWHS schemes is only feasible if the position of the irrigation farmers and their organization, ASIRITIC, in the field, is recognized and they are included in the negotiations from the start.based Rotations of the Colombian Andes.Over 60% of the world's carbon is held in both soils (more than 41%) and the atmosphere (as carbon dioxide; 20%)). However, soil disturbance is redistributing the carbon, augmenting the atmospheric carbon pool. Thus, a part of carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere is thought to come from agriculture, affecting not just climate change but also productivity and sustainability of agriculture and natural resources. This study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of conservation tillage practices in potato-based rotations of the Fuquene Lake watershed in the Colombian Andes, to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions, sequester soil carbon, to rehabilitate water and carbon-related soil characteristics, and to understand the opportunity costs of changing from conventional to conservation tillage. Field soil sampling was conducted in 7-years old conservation tillage farms and in farms with conventional tillage practices. Soil samples were analyzed in the lab to determine Soil Organic Carbon stocks, SOC in soil aggregates by applying ultrasound, and water-related physical characteristics. In addition GHG net emissions were calculated for conservation and conventional tillage, and contrasted with net revenues. As a result, conservation tillage in potato-based systems improved in a 7 year period the soil organic matter and carbon content in these disturbed soils. The soil carbon concentration in the whole profile was 29% higher under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage sites and the carbon content was higher by 45%. C content improvement specially occurred in the subsoil (A2 horizon) increasing by 177% although most of the C is stored in the top A1 horizon. This improvement was correlated to the enhancement of soil physical characteristics related with soil water movement and storage such us bulk density, AWC, saturated hydraulic conductivity and mesoporosity. In another hand OM in aggregates represented more than 80% of total OM of these soils and was positively affected by conservation tillage. This improvement showed a preferential C sequestration in smaller macroaggregates (<2 mm). The aggregate dispersion energy curves further suggest this is happening in microaggregates within the smaller macroaggregates fraction. A complementary tradeoff between the economic and environmental benefits was found for our study site. This relies on the fact net farmer revenues were increased -by reduced machinery operations and fertilizers applications-, while GHG emissions were reduced -by increasing soil carbon retention and reducing GHG emissions from machinery operations-. Thus, although conservation tillage practices are not widely adopted in the watershed, payments for net GHG removals could increase more the net revenues and facilitate the investment to cover initial extra costs of conservation agriculture (ie. cultivation of oat as cover crop). The main objective of this research work was to identify the well-being levels in the communities located in the Tunari Mountains (Bolivia) by means of building local profiles of poverty based on local well-being perceptions. The ultimate purpose is to be able to analyze the relationship between poverty and access and management to and of natural resources. The analysis is essential for the discussion about the implementation of payment for watershed services schemes (PWSS) to alleviate poverty. The results of the study show that there are opportunities to integrate this kind of economic schemes with poverty alleviation. The land tenure is secure even the lands of poor permitting to make long-term investments for the conservation of ecosystem services. Also the social organization is strong and inclusive diminishing the transaction costs of making payment to several small farmers and allowing them to participate in equal terms. However, due to the very small size of the land properties (50% of the poor own less than 0.25 ha and 23% do not own land) and the lack of economic resources to implement new agricultural practices it is proposed that pro-poor PWSS could be more efficient if: 1) the payments are given as an in-kind compensation or retribution like training on new agricultural technologies; 2) new employment opportunities are created when PWSS are setting up and there are payments in advanced in order to cover the up-front costs of conservation activities. All of this combined with a permanent system of payments to ensure the conditionality of the scheme.","tokenCount":"23513"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7294849464.json b/data/part_1/7294849464.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7dcd0a9abd826feaea10abc73b82fc19270c7d48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7294849464.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"42260a7c4d17fb803d9d05e4caa1514d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ebed7cda-2e26-44be-9e35-2ec5d7ee2068/retrieve","id":"-146659292"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d1fde8b-b750-4458-9095-29116ade7f77","pagecount":"14","content":"Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India E-mail: p.partha@cgiar.org 6. Cost of the Research Grant ('000 USD, funds requested from the SLP) 8. Background (Max. 300 words)In the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) rice-wheat systems dominate crop agriculture. They cover some 13.5 million ha and typically include a significant ruminant livestock component. These crop-livestock systems sit at the core of the livelihood strategies of millions of families on the IGP -most of them resource-poor. Integrating crop and livestock production has a number of advantages, including complementarities in terms of resource use and income and risk reduction. Rice-wheat cropping is experiencing stagnant or declining grain yields, falling water tables and soil degradation (Kumar et al., 1999;Pingali and Shah, 1999). These threats are being addressed by research by the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) on resource-conservation technologies (RCTs, including zero-tillage, permanent beds and mulching) within the context of conservation agriculture. The RCTs are having some success in improving resource use efficiency for crop production, but there is a lack of information about their impacts on overall farm productivity and its livestock components. To adopt conservation agriculture practices, farmers face trade-offs between crop and livestock production. It is proposed to research the crop-livestock interactions in the rice-wheat-livestock systems of the IGP to quantify the trade-offs faced by farmers who have adopted or are considering conservation agriculture practices. An important part of the research will be to assess the livelihood impacts of RCTs -including those beyond the farm gate like institutional change and the social implications for the large number of landless livestock keepers in the IGP. The research will assess: (i) the trade-offs affecting crop and livestock production and natural resource management (NRM); (ii) the impacts of the trade-offs on the livelihoods of poor households; and (iii) their implications for the design of research and extension programmes in support of improved livelihoods and NRM in the IGP.9. Project purpose (Max. 200 words) a) State project purpose simply and directly.-To better understand crop-livestock interactions (CLI) and the trade-offs farmers face in applying conservation agriculture practices in rice-wheat-livestock systems; -To assess the implications of the CLI and the trade-offs for the development of conservation agriculture in particular and of rice-wheat-livestock systems in general; -To use this understanding to realign and focus current and future R&D efforts addressing conservation agriculture practices in rice-wheat-livestock systems so as to optimize their benefits for rural livelihoods, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability.10. Need/demand for the proposed research a) State results of any previous consultations (workshop, interviews, surveys, etc) that show that the proposed work responds to a demand by beneficiaries and users of project outputs. If evidence of the demand for the project is not available indicate what activities will be undertaken to ensure that the proposed work is demand-led.There has been a strong program of research and promotion of RCTs to improve crop productivity in the rice-wheat systems of the IGP (RWC, 2005;Sangar et al., 2005). While the results have been focused on and are very encouraging for improving crop productivity, the external review of the RWC (Seth et al., 2003) emphasized the need to assess RCTs from a system perspective. Consistent with that, recent RWC and regional conferences have highlighted the importance of assessing the impacts of RCTs more holistically, by including the livestock component and considering other livelihood strategies in the evaluation of their impacts on the resource poor, including, e.g., landless livestock keepers (RWC, 2005;Sangar et al., 2005). Applying conservation agriculture practices (zero-tillage, permanent beds and mulching) typically implies the need to retain crop residues on the soil surface. Although the adoption of zero tillage in wheat is spreading fast, adopters often do so without retaining significant amounts of crop residues as mulch. In part, this seems to relate to practical difficulties with crop residue management, particularly in view of changes in harvesting practices (use of combiners) and the current zero-till drills in use. However, even without zero-tillage, the practice of burning crop residues is common in certain locations (Sidhu et al., 1998). Another important factor appears to be that crop residues are an important source of fodder.Not much is documented about crop-livestock interactions in the IGP (Paris, 2002;Parthasarathy Rao et al., 2004;Parthasarathy Rao and Hall, 2003;Thomas et al., 2002). Indeed, research and technical interventions typically focus on crops or on livestock, often without a system perspective (Devendra et al., 2000;Thomas et al., 2002). Yet a better understanding of the system and the livelihood objectives of landed and landless families are essential for successful alleviation of poverty and improving rural livelihoods. For three reasons the need for a systems and livelihoods approach is particularly critical in the case of crop-livestock interactions in the IGP: 1. Complexity: Although conceptually simple and often idealized, disentangling crop-livestock interactions typically proves more complex in practice (e.g. Sumberg, 2003); 2. Dynamics: Recent technological and institutional changes in the agricultural systems in the IGP, e.g. mechanization, have had varying direct and indirect implications for the crop and livestock enterprises and their integration and/or separation; and, 3. Diversity: The significant diversity of the agricultural systems in the vast IGPs means that the type and extent of crop-livestock interactions are considerable and that their influences on technological change cannot be ignored nor generalized. The significant divergences between, for example, the Western and Eastern IGPbe it in agricultural systems; land use productivity and intensity; poverty; or, traditions (Narang and Virmani, 2001), demands a clear understanding of the factors which drive crop-livestock interactions and how their effects should be addressed by research, extension and policy changes. It is evident that the interactions between crops and livestock in the IGP is complex, dynamic and diverse -and our knowledge only partial; hence the urgent need to update our knowledge base and to assess the implications for agricultural R&D -particularly with the advent of, and strong advocacy for, conservation farming and RCTs. This proposal addresses that need.The ultimate beneficiaries of this research-for-development project are the resource poor farmers in the IGP and their peers (e.g. landless livestock keepers) faced with the same challenges, which are to increase crop and livestock productivity while efficiently managing scarce natural resources.The immediate beneficiaries are researchers, development agents and policy makers working in the domains of rural development, crop and livestock production and conservation agriculture.The project intends to target the beneficiaries' directly through two ways:-Consultation: The stakeholder group within the RWC will become more inclusive through partnering livestock keepers and the livestock R&D community. The enlarged group will be consulted through a systematic process of interactive dialogues, participatory approaches and structured surveys. The consultative process with stakeholders will include both immediate and ultimate project beneficiaries at various levels, beginning with farmers, landless livestock keepers, other villagers and market agents/service providers. The extensive RWC network, which has been built on strong participation by national, state, district, NGO and private-sector partners, will facilitate the process. -Feedback and Dissemination: Through: the iterative participatory R&D process with landed and landless families; regular site workshops for R&D staff; end of project workshop; dissemination of results through RWC (including www.rwc.cgiar.org); and, scientific publications (book, project reports, papers) and policy briefs.The ultimate project beneficiaries (beyond the project sites) will be targeted indirectly by benefiting from the more relevant R&D efforts.12. Location a) Indicate the countries in which the proposed project will be implemented.India, Bangladesh b) Explain the criteria used to select countries and project sites.-Rice-wheat systems have high annual biomass production -suggesting 'surplus' residual biomass and scope for conservation agriculture practices (Erenstein, 2003). -The Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) emphasizes the research and promotion of Resource Conserving Technologies (RCTs) / Conservation Agriculture in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. -RWC works in four countries in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan).To prevent dilution of study resources, the proposed research will target two of the countries (Bangladesh and India), while the results will be shared by the RWC with the other two countries and more broadly as appropriate. -Most success so far with adoption of RCTs (particularly zero-tillage) in the region has been in India. Size and diversity of Indian IGP allow for a number of potentially relevant contrasts. -Bangladesh offers a number of additional potentially relevant contrasts with India -including the status/role of cattle and being the most densely populated sizeable country in the world. Bangladesh also has started making advances with another RCT (bed planting). -Favorable logistics for working simultaneously in both India and Bangladesh (e.g. in terms of border crossing, IARC offices, capability and interest NARS partners).List the outputs that will be delivered by the project.1. Accessible knowledge of the linkages between conservation agriculture, livestock and livelihood strategies in the IGP. This includes: a. A comprehensive scientific knowledge base and documentation (including 1 book, 5 supporting project module reports and at least 1 peer reviewed journal article), encompassing:-Description, typology and quantification of rice-wheat-livestock systems in the IGP, including an assessment of underlying drivers and modifiers and interactions that influence choice and mix of farm enterprises; -Assessment of trade-offs resulting from the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, particularly in terms of stability, productivity and profitability of crop and livestock enterprises and impacts on livelihoods and environmental sustainability; b. Policy briefs synthesizing major findings in accessible format; c. Shared awareness and understanding of major implications amongst stakeholders.2. Well founded recommendations developed to realign and focus current and future R&D efforts addressing conservation agriculture practices in rice-wheat-livestock systems so as to optimize their benefits for rural livelihoods, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. This includes: a. Policy and institutional recommendations that are both supportive of holistic analyses of rice-wheat-livestock systems and of outcomes resulting in improved livelihoods and sustainable agricultural practices; and, b. Technical recommendations for targeted R&D programs in rice-wheatlivestock systems addressing issues of natural resource and farm productivity, environmental sustainability and improved livelihoods.The research will draw on existing datasets, methodologies and literature (e.g. Baltenweck et al., 2003), complemented by significant primary data collection. The data will be collected at selected geographic clusters within the main agro-ecologies and agricultural systems, further stratified in terms of market access, population density and their exposure to RCTs.Data collection will target:-Four system levels: regional, local/community, farm/household and enterprise.-Multiple stakeholders, including farmers with diverging rural livelihood strategies, landless keepers of ruminant livestock, service providers, market agents and community leaders.The analysis will assess trade-offs resulting from the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, particularly in terms of stability, productivity and profitability of crop and livestock enterprises, and their impacts on livelihoods, NRM and environmental sustainability.In order to learn and to extrapolate from site-specific findings, particular attention will be paid to: (i) adhering to a shared research methodology across sites; and, (ii) understanding the underlying system drivers and modifiers that influence choice and mix of farm enterprises. To assess changes over time extensive use will be made of: (i) a retrospective perspective per site, and (ii) contrasting cases at different stages of adoption and maturity of conservation agriculture on farms. These, together with the understanding of system drivers, will allow for prospective assessments from which to derive the implications and develop the policy, institutional and technical recommendations. To assess spatial components, spatial analysis tools (including geo-referencing) will be applied.Six modules will be implemented:1 Stocktaking (Inception workshop; Data/literature review; Stakeholder consultation; Institutional/policy review). 2 Participatory appraisal (Informal surveys). 3 Livelihood/Household module (Formal surveys). 4 Enterprise module (detailed formal survey crop/livestock production). 5 Market module (Survey/assessment of selected markets). 6 Feedback/Dissemination module (Analysis and write-up; R&D recommendations; final workshop)Modules 1-5 feed into the sixth, which delivers the two project outputs (also see Table 1 and Annex 1). The ultimate beneficiaries (resource-poor families in the IGP and beyond) benefit from more relevant R&D efforts with favorable implications for poverty reduction, food security and environmental protection.The immediate beneficiaries (R&D agents and policy makers) benefit depending whether they work in the domains of conservation agriculture and livestock in isolation or in cross-cutting fashion. In the case of disciplinary or single commodity work, the results and recommendations coming from this study should help guide and realign their priorities. In case of cross-cutting work, the results and recommendations should strengthen their arguments. In both cases, the results are expected to enhance the impact of current and future R&D work and thereby help to better target increasingly scarce R&D resources.State what indicators will be used to demonstrate impact.-Increased relevancy of R&D activities by immediate beneficiaries -Increased reference to system and livelihood implications by immediate beneficiaries -Increased adoption of selected conservation agriculture practices by ultimate beneficiaries -Number of visits to project page on RWC website (www.rwc.cgiar.org) -Number of downloaded project documents from project page on RWC website (www.rwc.cgiar.org) c) State what activities will be undertaken during the project's life to assess potential impact either ex-ante or ex-post.The study is itself a kind of impact assessment of conservation agriculture practices in rice-wheat-livestock systems. It is both ex ante in areas without significant adoption of RCTs and ex post in areas with more significant adoption (like NW India).In terms of specific activities that will be undertaken:-Research results and proposals presented at the next RWC planning meeting (spring 2007) will be screened for relevancy and related references. -Project page on RWC website (www.rwc.cgiar.org) will be monitored for visits and downloads. -The survey data will be systematically organized and documented and forwarded to CIMMYT headquarters for storage with the socioeconomic data sets.16. Scaling out strategy (Max. 150 words) a) Describe the strategy, processes and institutional alliances that can or will be used to upscale findings and ensure that outputs are made available to targeted beneficiaries.The feedback/dissemination module specifically addresses the scaling out strategy and includes:-Feedback to the R&D community through scientific publications (book, project reports, papers) and policy briefs; end of project workshop; dissemination of project results through RWC and at regional and international conferences. -Results from the project will be uploaded on the RWC website (www.rwc.cgiar.org) -with a direct link to the SLP website.In addition the consultation, dialogue and collaboration with immediate beneficiaries during project implementation will expose them to system-level and livelihood implications.The project foresees the recruitment of a regional project scientist of good caliber for the duration of the project. It is expected that the person can be timely identified and participate without staff turnover.The project implementation assumes research field activities to get under way quickly and to be more or less completed within the first two years of the project along with the delivery of interim outputs -allowing the third year for finalizing data analysis, reporting, book publishing and the final workshop.For successful project outcomes, it assumes that disciplinary/commodity-based researchers and development agents will adopt and effectively apply an holistic systems perspective to their understanding of the objectives of landed and landless families and related environmental issues and to the development of technological and policy interventions.The research clearly cuts across the boundaries of any individual CG centre -involving various commodities (livestock, rice, wheat, other crops), systems (irrigated and rainfed), natural resource management and livelihoods. Although eco-regional in focus the project will generate lessons applicable to other eco-regions. The SLP is the most appropriate mechanism for collaboration and funding for this research proposal in view of the focus on food-feed crops within the context of sustainable use of land, water and soil nutrients in crop-livestock systems. Furthermore, the proposed research neatly fits the subject matter of the research grants for 2005: targeting the strategic interface between the demand for feed resources and the sustainability of conservation agriculture strategies.The RWC, CIMMYT and IRRI have made significant advances at the crop/plot level. The proposed research would actively incorporate ILRI and ICRISAT and move beyond a pure crop perspective to a genuine system and livelihood perspective.19. Specific capabilities and roles of partner institutions and key staff (Max.300 words) 5 Market module -Targeted survey of selected markets -particularly crop residues, green fodder, manure and selected agricultural service providers (zero-tillage, combining). Focus on agents, roles, transactions, spatial flows and dynamics.-Rapid assessment of selected markets and their imperfections, and implications for conservation agriculture and livestock, including capital (risk); labor (mechanization); land (incentives for conservation); livestock products.6 Feedback/dissemination module -Analysis and write-up: This encompasses (i) project reports documenting project modules; (ii) final comprehensive book; (iii) policy briefs; and (iv) synthesis paper in peer reviewed journal. -Research & development recommendations: Will be included in project publications, synthesized in policy briefs and actively disseminated in networks. -End of project workshop: Gathering of main project partners and selected stakeholders -including policy makers and advisers -to present and discuss results of project. Will also identify follow-up activities and strategy to implement recommendations.To implement the project under the leadership and guidance of the principal investigators, a regional project scientist will be contracted for the duration of the project.The qualifications and experience of the ideal candidate for this position include: -Recent PhD in agricultural economics or related field; -Young, dynamic, flexible, mobile and ability to work in both field and office; -Conversant in major language groups of the IGP (Hindi, Bangla, …); -Good social skills and team worker; In case of equal merit, female candidates will be preferred to facilitate interaction with female target group.","tokenCount":"2822"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7320992116.json b/data/part_1/7320992116.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e77f428123c6867cb56fce1cea78d956b9e60ca2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7320992116.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fbfcbf0ce4cd20272e94c0adec99917f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/83f40e41-9e57-4b93-96a8-57e3d44806b7/retrieve","id":"650501279"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af222a3b-5e99-468f-8e09-7ce9cd4894ad","pagecount":"9","content":"Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, has a population of approximately 1.2 million inhabitants that is growing at a rate of over 3.9% per year. The growth of the city represents a large expansion in markets for agricultural products. Many of these markets offer comparative advantages to producers and processors located in or close to the city. Agriculture is widely practiced both within the municipal boundaries and peri-urban areas. In 1992, it was estimated that 56% of land in the city was used for agriculture.The purpose of the study is to identify a portfolio of agricultural products with market demand, whose production is technically and economically feasible by urban and peri-urban farmers.The study has involved the following steps: a) a participatory rapid urban appraisal, b) a rapid market study, and c) an evaluation of the most promising options for urban and peri-urban farmers. This paper describes the methodology used and results obtained in the first two steps. The evaluation and selection of most promising options is on going.The rapid urban appraisal indicated that the most important commodities that farmers produce for sale are broilers, eggs, milk, pigs and pork, fruit (mango, avocado, jackfruit and paw paw), mushrooms and cocoyam. The major constraints to the production and marketing these commodities were determined.The rapid market study has identified the following market opportunities: poultry products (broilers, eggs and indigenous chicken), vegetables (leafy vegetables, tomato, carrot, onion, cocoyam, mushroom, cauliflower and red pepper), fruits (avocado, mango, paw paw, pineapple, watermelon, jackfruit, tangerine, apple, pear, orange), meat (beef and pork) and fresh milk. For all these products, information on purchasing requirements (quality, packaging, minimum volumes, frequency of delivery etc.) has been collected. This preliminary analysis indicates that there is demand for the commodities produced by Kampala farmers, and there are opportunities for producing a number of additional fruits and vegetables. The feedback of this information to farmers on the demand and requirements for these products, and their technical and economic production feasibility will provide the basis for consolidating enterprises that the farmers select as the most promising options.Kampala, the capital city of Uganda covers an area of 197 km 2 and has a population of 1.2 million inhabitants with a growth rate of 3.9 percent per year. Kampala in the 21 st century is the showcase of Uganda's economic, political and social transformation. However, the rapid growth of Kampala raises concerns that the migration of people towards the city is bringing with it a migration of poverty and that often-unplanned urban growth is accompanied by environmental pollution, health risks and a decline in the quality of life. On the other hand, the growth of the city represents a large expansion in markets for agricultural products. Many of these markets offer a comparative advantage to producers and processors located within or close to the city. Urban agriculture is widely practised both within the municipal boundaries and peri-urban areas. In 1992, it was estimated that 56 percent of the land in the city is used for agriculture (Maxwell, 1995b) and that approximately 70 percent of all poultry products consumed in Kampala are produced in the city (Maxwell, 1995a).In 2002, as part of the Strategic Initiative on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (SIUPA) of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the first one-year phase of a project to strengthen and promote urban agricultural systems was initiated with the goal of improving food security and the livelihoods of the urban poor in Kampala. This first exploratory and information gathering phase of the project will be the basis on which to develop a wider research and development proposal. The three components of the first phase are: i) An investigation of livelihoods and production systems; ii) An assessment of market opportunities for urban and peri-urban farmers, and iii) An exploration of schools as extension service providers and as producers of high quality seed.The research described in this paper deals with the assessment of market opportunities for urban and peri-urban farmers in Kampala. The purpose of the study is to identify a portfolio of agricultural products whose production is technically and economically feasible by urban and peri-urban farmers and to establish the purchasing conditions for the identified products. The information generated will be subsequently used to strengthen or create new micro-and small crop and livestock enterprises.The market opportunity identification process that is being employed has been adapted from the methodology described by Ostertag (1999). It has involved the following steps: i)A participatory rapid urban appraisal to establish the socio-economic and institutional profile of the area under study; ii)A rapid market study to capture opportunities for existing and potential crop and livestock products, and iii)An evaluation of the most promising options for urban and peri-urban farmers.The third step is still in progress and the results are not reported in the present paper.The participatory rapid urban appraisal was undertaken as a common activity that provided information for the livelihoods and production systems and the market opportunity identification components of the project. Four parishes, each representing different socio-economic conditions (urban old, urban new, transition from peri-urban to urban and peri-urban settings), were randomly selected from four of the five of administrative divisions that make up Kampala. The criteria used for selecting parishes in each division included: a) presence of crop and livestock enterprises, b) presence of farm produce markets, c) presence of NGOs working towards the empowerment of local communities, d) relative levels of environmental degradation/pollution, f) population density and g) presence of local food processors.The main tools used in the rapid urban appraisal were focus group discussions, interviews with key informants and observation. A total of 190 farmers (86 men and 104 women) from the four parishes participated in the exercise. Crops and livestock produced for income generation and household food security were identified. In addition, the scale of production, market outlets, value addition and constraints for the various enterprises were determined.The rapid market study included the following activities: a) Defining strategies for the market survey. Based on the information generated by the rapid urban appraisal, the enterprises of major importance to urban and peri-urban farmers were established and ranked. The Ansoff product-market growth matrix (Kotler, 1999) was used as a tool for planning the survey in terms of growth alternatives, based on the perceived opportunities and constraints of urban and peri-urban farmers in Kampala. The following market research strategies were adopted:• Products whose demand exceeds supply • Products that are in scarce supply • Products that are currently sold by urban and peri-urban farmers • Alternative high value products that could be grown by urban and peri-urban farmers • Street foods b) Developing the research plan and corresponding tools. A matrix checklist of the above market research strategies against the different categories of market outlets (traders, markets, supermarkets, hotels, food industries etc.), from which relevant information could be obtained, was developed. Where available, secondary sources of market information were consulted. For primary data collection, questionnaires for each of the different market categories of respondents were designed, tested and adjusted. All of Kampala's 5 major produce markets and 3 large supermarkets were included in the survey. In addition, 5 small supermarkets and a total of 21 small shops/kiosks were randomly selected from each of the five divisions of Kampala city. Top and middle range hotels have been interviewed, and 5 food processors were selected based on the categories of products currently being sold by urban and peri-urban farmers. c) Data collection. The survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires to obtain the information required. The methods of contact were by face-to-face discussions in teams of two and telephone interviews. d) Data processing and analysis. Data were cleaned, standardised and manually coded. Analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) computer software.Based on the results of the rapid market survey, and for those options that look most promising, more precise information on the market, the production characteristics of the products in question and their corresponding financial costs and returns will be obtained. With this additional data, farmers will be asked to rate the different options against their own criteria for selecting enterprise options. This exercise is pending.Table 1 shows the existing agricultural enterprises in order of their importance for income generation and household food security use, as well as an indication of the ranking of enterprises based on the number of people involved.The results indicate that the most important income generating products in Kampala are poultry (broilers and eggs), milk, pigs, fruits (mango, avocado, jackfruit and paw paw), cocoyam, mushrooms and leafy vegetables. There is no significant overlap between the principal income generating enterprises and food security crops and livestock products produced for home consumption. Among the important income generating enterprises, poultry and fruits are the two categories of enterprise common across all urban/peri-urban categories.  2 summarises the scale of operation, prices, market outlets and constraints faced by farmers for the principal income-generating products. With the exception of dressed poultry, pork meat and cooked cocoyam as a snack food, there is little value addition and there are no sales to food industries. The relative scale of production conditions the type of market outlet that farmers are using for any particular product. Among the constraints, farmers mentioned lack of appropriate (cold) storage facilities and lack of capital, both of which limit the possibility to bulk production of higher value and perishable products (poultry, fruits, mushrooms etc.), and thus capture higher volume markets.Across the different groups (old urban, new urban, transition and peri-urban) it was observed that there was a definite gradient in terms of age, degree of responsibility, ownership of resources and equality of participation of men and women, and level of interest and motivation. In the old urban situation participants were younger, appeared to have time at their disposal, were alert and open to new opportunities and with very high expectations with respect to the project. There was also more equal participation of men and women in the discussions that were conducted in entirely in English. On the other hand, in the peri-urban situation, participants were more elderly, possessed more resources and had other commitments, which made them less disposed to invest more time than necessary. The men dominated the discussions that had to be conducted in local language because few people spoke English.In Tables 3, 4 and 5 the responses from all categories of market outlet have been bulked for the purposes of this result summary.Table 3 shows that between 65-100% of traders in all product categories reported equal or greater sales compared to from the previous year.  4 indicates that there is demand for the crops and livestock products produced urban and peri-urban farmers. This implies that these products could present an opportunity for urban and periurban farmers to increase their incomes if they can meet the demands of traders in terms of quality, quantity, continuity and price (see Table 5). It also shows that demand exists for fruits and vegetables other than those being currently produced. Tables 2 and 5, illustrate that on average actual supply quantities for all products by urban and periurban farmers are less than the quantities demanded by traders, even the small kiosks that specialize in fruits and vegetables. This explains why most of the products shown in Table 5 are procured from rural districts where supplies are sufficient and more reliable. This implies that urban farmers face two alternatives: i) to confine themselves to the local or niche markets that they can supply with their present production levels, or ii) move toward collective action as a means to supply greater volumes to those markets indicating growth possibilities.In addition, the average purchase/wholesale prices of some of the products studied, like milk and pork, obtained from districts other than Kampala were found to be less than the farm gate prices of the same products produced in Kampala. This could be attributed to, inter alia, economies of scale enjoyed by extensive producers in rural areas of milk) or lower feed costs (case of pigs). On the other hand, there are certain commodities like poultry, mushrooms and fruits in which producers in Kampala have a comparative advantage because of proximity to feed supplies (poultry), and closeness to market that reduces transport costs and enables the timely delivery of fresh produce (mushrooms and fruits).Based on this analysis, it is possible to categorize the current products of urban and peri-urban farmers in the following manner:1. Those products with which farmers are meeting all the purchase conditions with respect quantity, quality, continuity and price. Examples of these are poultry (broilers and eggs) and mushrooms. 2. Those products with which farmers are meeting requirements of quality and price, but are unlikely to meet the additional requirements of quantity and continuity in order for their enterprises to grow. Examples of these are vegetables and fruits. 3. Those products with which farmers are unable to compete in terms of price, quantity and continuity with producers from rural areas selling into mainstream markets. The examples of these products are pork and milk. The quality of these products, especially milk, is competitive and could be used as a lever to capture a share of the market that will pay higher prices for better quality.Peri-urban farmers would be better placed to make use of the opportunities identified by the market study that require land as a principal input (dairy, pigs, fruits and vegetables). However, it was interesting to observe the relative lack of motivation at the outset towards new opportunities, relative to those farmers from the urban areas. Whether this attitude might represent an obstacle needs to be further investigated.Urban farmers were open to new opportunities. However, the study has been unsuccessful in identifying alternative products, beyond mushrooms and poultry, of high value and with a quick return on investment that could be produced on reduced land areas.Overall, the study has shown that demand for a wide range of food products is growing in Kampala. This is to be expected given the rate of growth and economic development. While the marketing of food, especially fresh food, is still predominantly in the hands of small traders in produce markets, there is an increasing trend towards the 'supermarketization' of the food system (Weatherspoon and Reardon, 2003). Urban and peri-urban farmers, at least those with whom the project has interacted,have not yet been able to capture a share of this new market that has very demanding purchase conditions.Without depreciating the important role of urban and peri-urban farming in contributing to local food security, it is imperative that farmers are supported in their endeavors to produce income-generating products, as only through this means will it be possible to make a significant impact on the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban dwellers occupied in agriculture.As mentioned in the introduction, this study is part of an exploratory and information gathering process whose results will form the basis of a wider proposal to support urban and peri-urban agriculture in Kampala. The preliminary results show Kampala farmers to be market oriented and that there are opportunities for them to grow their enterprises and thereby improve their livelihoods. However, there are many obstacles for them to overcome.To be able to achieve the goal of improved livelihoods will require an integrated and concerted program that brings together a number of support institutions that can provide appropriate services to urban and peri-urban farmers. At present this type of integrated program does not exist. The inter-institutional and multidisciplinary nature of the present is an attempt to bring together the most appropriate actors, from both research and development.With respect to the marketing and enterprise development component of this initiative, local capacity needs to be built to provide the following functions:1. Market information that can help farmers decide what crops and livestock products to produce and where to sell; 2. Microfinance schemes to motivate expansion of production and the creation of new enterprises; 3. Technical and business extension and training services; 4. A legal framework that will encourage appropriate and environmentally sound agroenterprise activity in urban settings, including access to suitable land resources; 5. Support for farmer organisation for collective action in marketing and the provision of other essential services (inputs etc.).","tokenCount":"2690"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7321966507.json b/data/part_1/7321966507.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cc7c963d233de79a38ac51dfd9335963b75b0742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7321966507.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"48579008945dfd9c0c0ce4fa6a0a17a3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c3297b1-50ca-4aed-8117-e683e3296db0/retrieve","id":"-1855121898"},"keywords":["Ghana","agriculture","climate change","climate variability","food security","capacity development","climate-smart agriculture","data","data access","Goal 2 Zero Hunger"],"sieverID":"37c8af13-0708-48bc-98fe-4202403aa6e2","pagecount":"11","content":"On March 21, 2022, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) of the Columbia Climate School presented and demonstrated the capabilities and functionalities of the IRI Data Library during the Ghana Cluster Team Meeting in Accra, Ghana. The presentation and demonstration, which were organized as part of the World Bank's Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, informed discussion and decisions around how to best develop a demand-driven ag-data hub for the country of Ghana.Amanda Grossi is a Senior Staff Associate and the ACToday project Country Manager for Ethiopia and Senegal at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia Climate School. She is also the IRI's Senior Country Manager for Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, and Senegal for the AICCRA project.Tufa Dinku is a Senior Research Scientist and the AICCRA project Country Lead for Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia Climate School. He also the lead for the Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) initiative at the IRI..The AICCRA project aims to establish a secure, reliable, multi-tier and multi-purpose digital data exchange platform known as an agdata hub in Ghana whereby information and data on climate and agriculture can be easily shared amongst stakeholders. This will advance evidence-based decision-making for climatesmart agriculture and sustainable agricultural value chains.On March 21, 2022, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) presented and demonstrated the Data Library to AICCRA stakeholders as a platform for supporting Ghana's ag-data hub needs. The Data Library is a powerful and freely accessible online platform that allows users to view, analyze, download, and share hundreds of terabytes of multidisciplinary climate-related data through a standard web browser.While further discussion is needed, the IRI Data Library represents a viable option for a ag-data hub platform that goes beyond enabling data access to supporting analysis, and which is strongly connected to and rooted with user demands through coproduction processes, especially through its component Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) maprooms.Towards achieving its aim of delivering a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture, the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa (AICCRA) project is undertaking the establishment of national ag-data hubs in all six anchor countries of implementation (Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, Mali).The goal of the ag-data hubs is to provide a secure, reliable, multi-tier and multi-purpose digital data exchange platform whereby information and data on climate and agriculture can be easily shared amongst stakeholders within a given country such as Ghana, to ultimately advance evidence-based decisionmaking for climate-smart agriculture and sustainable agricultural value chains. As part of the agenda for this meeting, project partners received an update on the progress of implementing an ag-data hub in Ghana from an AICCRA consultant tasked with assessing options for implementation, and discussed and deliberated the way forward for implementing a high-quality, functional ag-data hub within the time and resource constraints of the project.Towards this end, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) presented and demonstrated the functionalities of the IRI Data Library and its components such as the Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) maprooms to AICCRA project partners, discussing its potential applications in hosting or supporting Ghana's ag-data hub. This activity report outlines the contents of that presentation and discussion.Participants of the March 2022 AICCRA meetings in Accra, Ghana Dr. Tufa Dinku of the IRI delivered a presentation on the IRI's Climate Data Library, which is a powerful and freely accessible online platform that allows users to view, analyze, download, and share hundreds of terabytes of multidisciplinary climate-related data through a standard web browser (Blumenthal et al., 2014). ICT solutions like this and especially co-created map visualizations such as the IRI's interactive \"maproom\" visuals and graphs of climate data can play a large role in making climate information more usable by translating past, present, or future conditions into expected impacts and management advisories for different decision-makers (Christel et al., 2018;Daron et al., 2015). The IRI Data Library enables the following: Access to over 400 diverse datasets; The ability to conduct analyses of data ranging from simple averaging to more advanced EOF analyses; this includes analysis of past (climatology), present (monitoring), and future (forecast) climate information at high-resolution (4 km). Monitoring of present climate conditions with maps and analyses in the Maproom; Visualization and representation of data, including animations.The AICCRA partners noted that it is important to have a searchable database of decisionrelevant information.With the Data Library, data is searchable by:  Source, creator, or provider  Category (data related to certain topics)  Dataset and \"maproom\" browser (organized by many characteristics and keywords)Within the Data Library, Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) \"Maprooms\" are collections of interactive maps and other figures created (using the expert mode) for specific applications.The maps and figures are dynamic and, importantly, are linked to the original data; in other words, the Data Library is a true data hub.Beyond a repository or hub of information, however, the Data Library allows for manipulation, analysis, and visualization of the data, including the possibility of combining climate data with various other data types to answer questions relevant for various sectors-such as health, water, agriculture, and DRM-that are relevant food and nutrition security analysis, and more broadly planning, management, and response within the agricultural sector. In other words, the Data Library and its component \"maprooms\" enable the transformation of data into information, and ultimately services.A user interested in climate data tailored for health applications, for example, can click on the collection of \"Climate and Health\" maprooms to see visualizations such as malaria suitability maps for a given area.Similarly, those interested in examiningDr. Tufa Dinku introduces AICCRA-Ghana partners to the IRI Data Library within the context of the agdata hub discussion.climate data in combination with agricultural data to inform agricultural decisions can click on the collection of \"Climate and Agriculture\" maprooms to see historical, monitoring, and even forecast information to get location-specific (4 km resolution) information to inform a variety of agricultural decisions. For example, one could examine historical onset of rain or forecast information to advise farmers when to plant, historical seasonal rainfall and its patterns to inform the selection or development of certain crop varieties, monitoring of extremes (droughts, floods) to inform humanitarian response or insurance design, and a variety of other data and maprooms to inform agricultural planning and risk management.Capacity building around understanding and even the process of co-developing the \"maproom\" visualizations of climate data themselves has enabled decision-relevant information and the co-production processes behind them to spread quickly in the 24 countries where ENACTS maprooms are implemented through the Data Library (Grossi & Dinku, 2022).All data from the Data Library can be downloaded in \"full information\" format (with all available metadata) or \"data-only\" formats (just the data with no metadata).The data can also be downloaded in formats to fit additional software to analyse the data such as Matlad, CPT, Ingrid, Ferret, NCL, and WinDisp.Some of the main advantages for using the Data Library for the ag-data hub in Ghana include: The Data Library easily allows curating data from different sources and in different formats AICCRA partners present emphasized that enduser products should be able to be pulled out of the data that is piped into Ghana's ag-data hub. However, most institutions do not have expertise to develop end-user products.IRI staff present noted and reminded participants that its Data Library platform and derived ENACTS \"maproom\" products and approach are demand-driven and meet the key gaps and needs identified. As indicated in its presentation, the IRI underscored that the Data Library is searchable, is connected to various institutions which maintain ownership of their data (i.e. it is a true data hub), and is intentionally coupled with capacity building of end-users to ensure effective co-production of useful products and ultimately services to advance climate resilience for a variety of sectors, including but most especially agriculture.The AICCRA project partners are currently pulling together and identifying sources of data to support ag-data hub implementation here. However, long-term storage of data and sustainability of the platform beyond the life of the project is a concern and was a major point of discussion.Because long-term storage of data can be costly, an \"exchange model\" whereby data is pulled from various institutions which host their own data was identified as the preferred model by participants. (This exchange model is also the one used by the IRI Data Library.).Overall, the use of the IRI Data Library as the platform or as an input to Ghana's ag-data hub platform requires further discussion and a consensus agreement amongst partners.However, the presentation and demonstration of the IRI Data Library provided useful insight as AICCRA partners move forward in these decisions.Moreover, it raised awareness and exposed several AICCRA partners such as the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) to the Data Library and its freely available resources which students, researchers, and practitioners alike can harness in their activities.There has also been a follow-up discussion between Dr. Tufa Dinku and the AICCRA consultant developing the Data Hub during the recent (May-June 2022) AICCRA Core Partners meeting. It was agreed that the consultant will work with IRI Data Library staff to install the system on his computer and then explore it for some time. Then he will have further discussion (remotely) with IRI experts. If the consultant is convinced that the IRI Data Library would be useful for the Data Hub, then he could go to IRI for training on the Data Library.AICCRA partners discuss the value and potential use of the IRI Data Library platform for Ghana's ag-data hub.","tokenCount":"1601"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7362837193.json b/data/part_1/7362837193.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..380c20de17668bd78830ab55172c9c6859c01660
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7362837193.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89a2c1699e1230bcd1426d88cb9304be","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a7359e4e-763b-4751-8877-9d59785fb814/retrieve","id":"749332767"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4fd56c8-5368-44bf-930c-611db5f53a64","pagecount":"1","content":"Assess nitrogen (N) and organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in farmerpracticed as well as improved cropping systems by application of the biophysical, crop soil simulation model CropSyst (right figure).• Derive recommendations for best-bet management practices to conserve or improve soil fertility. Ethiopia case study: wheat-based smallholder cropping systems• as expected, adding mineral fertilizer increased wheat grain yields significantly (Fig. 1);• Mineral fertilizer-only treatments had a negative N-balance, even with high amounts of N added (Table 1);• Only if manure was added and/or crop residues retained were N-inputs and exports balanced;• All treatments lost significant amounts of SOC over 15 years (on average 0.2 to 0.7 t C/ha/yr), unless the soil was protected by residues and some organic matter was thus retained (Fig. 2).  ------------------------------(kg N/ha) --------------------------------  ","tokenCount":"125"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7376468760.json b/data/part_1/7376468760.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bee9171a63170f5178f1d7ee0ff75f0f0fcae6b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7376468760.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"67a90c8132330ce750420214503c05ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e1d76b27-5911-4baf-a246-209541f8ec22/retrieve","id":"569484"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"93169331-92d7-4dda-9e5b-4019cc45cc50","pagecount":"35","content":"Tables Table 1: India livestock census 2019  5: Likely formulation of the compound feed that will be marketed after using pre-treated rice straw with either the chemical pre-treatment process or the steam explosion process Table 6: Laboratory analysis of rice straw samples Table 7: Chemical composition of rice straw (% on dry matter basis)  The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are attempting to find alternate raw materials for preparing animal feed/concentrate. Rice straw has been identified as one of the key raw materials for preparing the concentrate. Since rice straw, as it comes from the farm, is not palatable for animals, it was decided to find a process to improve its composition and thereby its palatability. IICT has tried two processes namely, chemical pre-treatment (CT) and steam explosion. Feed prepared by the treated rice straw was used for animal trials by ILRI and showed encouraging results. This report presents the lab and bench scale results of IICT and the equipment requirements along with block flow diagrams to operate 500 kg/ batch CT process or 250 kg/batch steam explosion process. The cost of the project and power requirements are discussed as is the availability of market and raw materials for such rice straw-derived feeds. The report also highlights government policy for livestock development and its associated industry and presents a business plan for running a pilot plant for improving rice straw. Finally, the level at which the animal feed industry becomes viable is arrived and found to be one lakh tons per annum with an investment of INR180 crore.Rice and wheat straw is available in plenty in India, but most of it is burned on farm due to various reasons, mainly for clearing the farm for next sowing. These crop residues from rice and wheat crops are the basic starting materials for the preparation of feed for cattle, buffalo and sheep among others. These animals eat these crop residues along with green fodder and specially prepared concentrates or compound feeds. Unfortunately, burning of the crop residues in farms creates a serious pollution problem in the country.Crop residues have for a long time been a major source of food for animals and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Though crop residues are the largest feed resource in the country, their use and development has not received proper recognition due to their bulkiness, poor nutrient density and high transport costs. Presently, these crop residues are mixed with nutrients to make compound feeds. These importance of crop residues will continue to grow due to a deficit in feed resources and a rising demand for livestock feed, which cannot be fulfilled by green fodder alone. The consumption of concentrate feeds is also increasing as more farmers are seeking increase the yield of milk or meat from their animals. Crop residues are the best bet for increasing the production of these compound feeds for animals. Therefore, reliance on crop residues for animal feed will continue.In India, 501 million metric tons (MMT) of crop residues are generated annually out of which 70% or 362 MMT are from cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize and millet). Of this 34% (and 22% from wheat crop) is from rice crops working out to 123 MMT and for wheat crop about 80 MMT, most of which (about 92 MMT) is burned on-farm. This onfarm burning of rice straw causes not only severe pollution of land and water in local and regional levels but also an estimated nutrient loss to the soil of approximately 3.85 tons (t) of organic carbon, 59,000 t of N2, 20,000 t of phosphorus and 34,000 t of potassium. This information was given out by Niti Aayog in an article in The Economic Times in Feb 2019. Niti Aayog said that crop residues from rice and wheat crops can be used for various alternative purposes such as fodder for animals, for generation of electricity and as raw material to the paper/pulp industry.It is estimated using data from various sources that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together produce about 13.5 MMT (2014-15) of rice straw per annum.Tables 1-3 give the total livestock in India as per 2019 census, the feed requirement of different animals per day and the estimated demand and availability of fodder in India as per the Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India (CLFMA) data compiled in 2013-14.     A typical feed composition as used by ILRI in their trials to find alternate resources for preparation of concentrate feed is given in Table 5. As identified by Niti Aayog and successfully tried by ILRI, use of crop residue for preparation of compound feed is a good alternative.It is clear from the data in the Tables 1-4 that both the demand and shortfall are high and there is a need to bridge the gap by looking in to all the available sources in India. A typical feed composition as used by ILRI in their trials to find alternate resources for preparation of concentrate feed is given in Table 5. As identified by Niti Aayog and successfully tried by ILRI, the use of crop residue for preparation of compound feed is a good alternative. The processed used to do this are examined in this report.Table 5: Likely formulation of the compound feed that will be marketed after using pre-treated rice straw with either the chemical pre-treatment process or the steam explosion process Ingredient Quantity (%)Pre-treated rice straw 71Molasses 8Min mix 1Total 100Rice straw is fed to livestock in most areas where green fodder is scarce. Stubble that is left in fields after harvesting of rice is also grazed. Rice and wheat straw is readily available in India, hence in this report, preparation of compound feed using rice straw is considered. The chemical analysis taken from two different sources on a dry matter basis are given in Tables 6 and 7. Rice straw is a poor-quality feed in terms of protein and mineral content. It is high in lignocelluloses, silica and insoluble ash. Rice straw is also poorly palatable and its intake by animals is low. However, the intake of straw depends on straw type (coarse, fine, long, dwarf, leafy, steamy, fresh, stored, hard, and soft), animal species and breed, body weight of animals, other feeds in the ration, physiological state of the animal etc. In general, fine (slender), soft, long, leafy and stored rice straw is preferred by animals.Looking at the composition of rice straw and its limited preference by animals because of its poor palatability, ILRI and IICT assessed whether it can be improved by identifying a suitable process that would enhance its palatability and improve its chemical composition.  This report discusses in detail the alternate processes tried by CSIR-IICT at laboratory level and the encouraging results obtained by ILRI in its animal trials using the concentrate feed prepared from the pre-treated rice straw provided by CSIR-IICT and finally, it identifies the gaps in the data obtained in lab experiments for scaling up. It also discusses the cost of the project to establish a pilot plant to collect this data and take it to a commercially-viable size (Singh and Schiere 1995).2 Process ILRI approached CSIR-IICT for pre-treatment of biomass to be used as fodder for animals after the addition of nutrients. CSIR-IICT conducted biomass pre-treatment experiments using the biomass supplied by ILRI using chemical pre-treatment and steam explosion. The pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass is the key step, which is essential and challenging for facile conversion of biomass to valuable products. After the initial evaluation of different pre-treatment methodologies available in literature and based on the generated data, CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, developed a chemicalbased pre-treatment method and steam explosion method and evaluated the process at length for its effectiveness at both laboratory and bench scale. The pre-treatment processes available in literature were evaluated and modified to delignify the biomass and to prepare feed stock from raw rice straw supplied by ILRI.2.1 A lab and bench scale process for preparing rice straw to make fodder mixture for animal trialsThe biomass supplied by ILRI was preprocessed by milling to the required size and was achieved with minimum power consumption. It was then pre-treated using a chemical process and a steam explosion process. The pre-treatment process developed by CSIR-IICT was simple, with very low dosage of chemical input and high solid loading, coupled with simple operating conditions with recycling and reusing of the water used in the process. Between 20 and 30 experiments were conducted by recycling and reusing the chemicals and water by steam explosion and chemical pretreatment processes which are described below. The experimental results are given in Tables 8 and 10.Steam explosion experiments were conducted in the 50 L SS steam explosion unit using 1-6 kg dried rice straw at 140-170 o C with a residence time of 10 minutes with and without alkali addition as given in Table 8. The pre-treated mother liquors were processed through membrane filtration and 70-80% of water was recycled in the process. The analysis of the different pre-treated biomass samples revealed that alkaline peroxide addition was efficient in the removal of 80-85% lignin and improving the overall cellulose and hemicellulose content. The experimental results were tabulated in Table 9.Table 8: Stepwise procedure of steam explosionStep ProcedureStep 1 Coarse sizing of biomass from 300-100 mm using circular straw/suitable cutting unit to size of 25-50 mmStep 2 Pulverizing the biomass from 25-50 mm to 2-5 mm in two stages.Stage 1: 10-15 mm Stage 2: 2-5 mmStep 3 Collection and storageStep 4 Material handling -transportation to the reactorsStep 5 Prewash -for removal of sand/mudStep 6Charging of biomass and addition of chemicals Quantities of chemicals for 1 kg batch of biomass: water =1.5 kg; no chemicals: pressure = 10 bar, temperature = 170 0Sequence: (i) Charge water and biomass, (ii) maintain the pressure for fixed residence time, (iii) record the corresponding temperature, (iv) blow down the biomass to the expansion chamber, (v) wait until the temperature cools down, and (vi) discharge the material.Step 7 Process monitoring and control. pH monitoring at 30 min intervals and adjusting pH as required.Step 8 Discharge the liquid, solid-liquid separation, centrifugation to remove excess waterStep 9 Drying using Rotocone dryerStep 10 Delumping of dried pre-treated biomass using suitable pulveriser The equipment and utilities used in the operation of a steam explosion are: electrode boiler: Heater: 66 kW, air compressor of power load: 4 kW, compressed refrigerated air dryer of power load: 0.4 kW, vacuum pump of power load: 1 kW.In this process, alkaline treatment was carried out using oxidizing agents such as H 2 O 2 alone or in combination with alkali as given in Table 10. The required chemicals included acids, alkali, oxidizing agents, surfactants and ionic liquids for pre-treatment. The role of H 2 O 2 is essentially to promote removal of lignin and break the lignin-carbohydrate bonds. The optimized process includes low temperature operation in atmospheric pressure for minimum chemical consumption. The water from the pre-treated mother liquor was recovered and recycled through membrane filtration and 70-80% of the water was recycled in the process. The alkali treatment experiments were conducted using NaOH with different concentrations ranging from (0.05 2.25w/w), temperature in the range of 40-50 o C and a reaction time of 3-4 hours with a solid loading of 10-20% using 10-litre and 1,000-litre reactor vessels. The experimental results are tabulated in Table 11 below.Table 10: Chemical pre-treatment processStep ProcedureStep 1 Coarse sizing of biomass from 300-100 mm using circular straw/suitable cutting unit to size of 25-50 mmStep 2 Pulverizing the biomass from 25-50 mm to 2-5 mm in two stages. Stage1: 10-15 mm Stage 2: 2-5 mmStep 3 Collection and storageStep 4 Material handling -transportation to the reactorsStep 5 Prewash (For removal of sand/mud)Step 6Charging of biomass and addition of chemicals Quantities of chemicals for 1 kg batch of biomass: water =12 kg ; NaOH=100 gm; H 2 O 2 =100 gm Sequence: (i) charge water, NaOH, (ii) check the pH of the solution, (iii) preheating of biomass to 45 0 C, (iv) slowly under stirring with 60 rpm for 30 mins. Ensure pH is between 11.5 and 12.0.Step 7 Process monitoring and control. PH monitoring at 30 mins intervals and adjusting pH as required.Step 8 Discharge the liquid, solid-liquid separation, centrifugation to remove excess waterStep 9 Drying using Rotocone dryerStep 10 Delumping of dried pre-treated biomass using suitable pulveriser The analysis of the different pre-treated biomass samples revealed that alkaline peroxide treatment was efficient in the removal of 80-85% lignin and improving the overall cellulose and hemicellulose content. The equipment and utilities used in the operation of a chemical Pre-treatment in 10L reactor: Fluid circulator of power loads 3 kW, vacuum pump of power load of 1 kW, agitator motor of power load of 0.5 kW. The equipment and utilities used in the operation of a chemical pretreatment in 1 KL reactor: electrode boiler of power load of 36 kW, vacuum pump of power load 0.5 kW, dosing pump of power load: 12 W, water charging pump of power load of 1.5 kW, agitator motor of power load: 3.7 kW. The pre-treated biomass (rice straw) was analysed for its composition and compared with the raw straw. Tables 12 and 13 give the chemical compositions of raw straw and chemically treated straw, respectively. It can be noticed that the treated straw has improved in many ways, essentially in reduction in lignin content and increase in protein and other nutrients. The results of tests performed by ILRI on animals (goats and sheep), which are given in Table 14, were very encouraging. Based on this experience, a decision was made to start the next level of the process, experimentation at pilot-plant level, to test whether it can become the basis for commercialization of the process and process designs.The lab or bench scale operations normally used in a research and development (R&D) laboratory involve only a few steps as most of the unit operations are done manually. However, at pilot scale, each step involves significant material handling, measurements and estimations. When one designs a pilot plant to give an input of 500 kg/batch by CT process and 250 kg/batch by steam explosion process, the equipment requirement changes, though the process conditions are maintained. The bench scale process is analysed for its unit operations and appropriate equipment are identified and sizes are estimated to give the final results, namely the chemical composition same as at lab/bench scale. Selection of the equipment and size are such that the process followed at the pilot plant level will be identical to the bench scale process. Since bulk density of rice straw is very low, a continuous process is envisaged at pilot plant level to the pre-processing stage. However, the main process for pre-treatment remains batch mode only. In this report, the pilot plant described is designed as per the following:1.Pre-processing equipment is common to both CT and steam explosion processes and is continuous to give 300 kg/hr production 2. Chemical pre-treatment process is for 500 kg/batch production.Steam explosion process has a capacity 250 kg/batch.The process is illustrated in the block flow diagrams in Figure 2     Water 320 literThe equipment required for the pilot plant is listed in Tables 12-14. The tables also give the approximate cost and power requirement for each of the equipment. In the absence of measured or reliable engineering data, the equipment sizing may not be accurate and only when the pilot plant is run and all the engineering data collected can the adequacy and accuracy of each the equipment be established. This data will help to give a basic design process with reasonable accuracy for designing a commercial plant.  To establish and run a facility having a pilot plant with all the equipment listed in Table 12-14 requires other supporting facilities such as land and buildings and other infrastructure. It also requires estimates and provision for all expenditure that will be incurred while putting up the facility. All these costs need to be planned for and to arrive at the final cost of the project. Many of the estimates are based on the experience and the norms generally followed by financial institutions and banks. Once the cost of the plant and machinery is arrived at, other capital expenses are based on the percentage of capital expenditure depending on the complexity of unit operations. More accurate numbers can be obtained when actual designs are frozen based on the engineering data collected in the pilot plant and the costs obtained from the vendors/equipment manufacturers.The cost of the scheme comes to INR 574.00 lakhs, which covers most of the administrative and financial expenses during the establishment of the facility. The facility itself is versatile and by the time all the pilot plant runs are completed it gives a good idea on which of the two processes is a better option technically and financially (viability). It also helps in freezing the equipment and sizes for pre-treatment of raw straw for a plant of any capacity.Tables 15 give the details of the cost of the scheme for setting up of pilot plant and Tables 16-21 give the details for all the figures that have been taken for arriving at the cost of the scheme.   Harvesting of these crops generates large volume of crop residues. The Ministry of New and Renewable energy estimated that about 500 MMT of crop residues are generated annually in India. The amount of crop residues generated states across India is given in Table 24. Table 25 gives the availability of crop residues as per Anandan and Gowda (unknown year) who note that the availability of rice straw is 135.61 MMT (34%) and that of wheat straw is 97.9 MMT (27%) of all straw available in the country.The data in the tables indicates that lack of raw materials would not be a hindrance in the manufacturing of concentrate feeds. The projected demand and availability of fodder in India was presented in Table 4.India is the largest milk producer in the world with 133 MMT of it produced in 2012-13. The need to produce milk for its growing population is driving the feed industry at 7.5 MMT (2012-13) for dairy animals. However, the supply of compound feed for dairy industry is still low. If for one litre of milk produced, 0.5 kg of compound feed is required, then the approximate total demand for cattle industry is 67 MMT in India. However, the feed sector is currently unable to meet this demand.Compound feed plays an important role in improvement in milk yields of cattle and buffalo by offering a balanced feed. Driven by the strong growth in the dairy industry, compound feed volumes increased at an average rate of 6% between 2007 and 2013. At 10% consumption volumes in 2007, 7.5 MMT of concentrate feed was required. But this quantity would feed only about 7% of the total animals in India. Assuming 0.5 kg of compound feed requirement (industry standards), cattle feed requirement would be around 67-70 MMT and is depicted in Table 26. With increased participation of the private sector in the dairy industry, the scenario is expected to change resulting in increased consumption of concentrate feed. The low penetration of compound feed in the cattle feed industry is one of the major bottlenecks affecting dairy development in India. Currently only 11% of total livestock feed requirement is met through compound feed. One of the main reasons for this low penetration of compound feed is the small number of large organized dairy farms, which currently account for only 24% of total dairy production in India. Lack of large-scale dairy farms remains a key constraint in the cattle feed industry as small-scale farms do not use modern feeding practices continuously, organized marketing structures are necessary to improve the use of compound feed in the industry.6.2 Animal feed industry to grow at 13.9% between 2017 and 2020In an April 2019 report on animal feed in India, Motilal Oswal Financial (2019) predicted that the overall \"animal feed industry would grow at ~14% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over financial years (FY) 2017-2020 to INR1,065 billon by FY 2020 (as per CRISIL).\" They also reported that low compound feed penetration, declining availability of fodder and increased cross breeding of cows and buffalo offers huge opportunities for the cattle feed manufacturing industry. After analysis of the growth and opportunities in compound feed manufacturing, they estimated the figures given in the Table 27.  Some of the objectives of the NLM include:1.Increasing availability of fodder and feed to substantially reduce the demand-supply gap through measures, which include more area coverage under quality fodder seeds, technology promotion, extension, post-harvest management and processing in consonance with diverse agro-climatic condition.Promoting innovative pilot projects and mainstreaming of successful pilots relating to livestock sectorThe mission is designed to cover all the activities required to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity development of all stakeholders. The mission will cover everything germane to improvement of livestock productivity and support projects and initiatives required for that purpose.The sub-mission is designed to address the problems of scarcity of animal feed and fodder resources, to give a push to the livestock sector making it a competitive enterprise for India, and also to harness its export potential. The sub-mission will especially focus on increasing both production and productivity of fodder and feed through adoption of improved and appropriate technologies best suited to specific agro-climatic regions in both arable and non-arable areas.Based on the results obtained from the pilot plant study, the final process should be halted and an appropriate digester designed before the commercial plant is set up. Before putting up a commercial plant, the following considerations also are to be noted and implemented. During pilot plant studies the required data to implement these points should be collected.a.The location of the pilot plant should be determined by access to raw material (i.e. crop residues from rice fields). Raw material (rice straw) transportation should be minimized if not altogether avoided. For example, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh more than 10 MMT of residue is available from rice crops (Government of India 2014) and it can support 10-12 industries of 0.1 MMT easily.b.Optimization and recycling of water should be done to reduce energy consumption and to reduce wastage of water, as well as to ensures the plans have zero discharge.c. Lignin that is removed from the crop residues should be used to generate steam for the boiler.d. Solid wastes coming from the process or plant and also RO rejects should be used for making compost.e.All recyclable materials will be safely stored and given to recycling plants.f. Air pollution will be minimized to the extent of burning lignin in the boiler.14. Encouraging community participation on sustainable practices related to animal husbandry, involvement of communities in breed conservation and creation of resource map for the states.The mission is designed to cover all the activities required to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders. The mission will cover everything germane to improvement of livestock productivity and support projects and initiatives required for that purpose subject to condition that such initiatives which cannot be funded under other centrally sponsored schemes under the department.The mission is organized into the following four sub-missions:1.Sub-mission on livestock development: the sub-mission on livestock development includes activities to address the concerns for overall development of livestock species including poultry, other than cattle and buffalo, with a holistic approach. The risk management component of the sub-mission will, however, also cover cattle and buffalo along with other major and minor livestock.Sub-mission on pig development in northeastern region: the sub-mission will strive to forge synergies of research and development organizations through appropriate interventions, as may be required for holistic development of pigs in the northeastern region including genetic improvement, health cover and post-harvest operations.Sub-mission on feed and fodder development: this sub-mission is designed to address the problems of scarcity of animal feed and fodder resources, to give a push to the livestock sector making it a competitive enterprise for India, and also to harness its export potential. The sub-mission will especially focus on increasing both production and productivity of fodder and feed through adoption of improved and appropriate technologies best suited to specific agro-climatic regions in both arable and non-arable areas.Sub-mission on skill development, technology transfer and extension: this sub-mission will provide a platform to develop, adopt or adapt the technologies including frontline field demonstrations in collaboration with farmers, researchers and extension workers wherever it is not possible to achieve this through existing arrangements.ISBN: 92-9146-637-9The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. ilri.org CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its research is carried out by 15 research centres in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. cgiar.org","tokenCount":"4180"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7379045281.json b/data/part_1/7379045281.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fda5b857590f94e5d9f48b48c589a94bedbd9fc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7379045281.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f8638fb7003d58f523570d9fd73fa6d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/02c71718-e67d-4387-ba5b-5bd81494828b/retrieve","id":"-1165976347"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e6c489a0-f7f0-47a3-a8a1-e2dd5eaa4253","pagecount":"53","content":"UNEP is also highly acknowledged for supporting the project activities and managing the financial matters.The Nile basin region is vulnerable to climatic variability as its economies are largely based on weather-sensitive crop and livestock production systems. A pilot project on ''Enhancing communities' adaptive capacity to climate change in drought-prone hotspots of the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia'' was implemented in Woreilu Wereda, South Wollo of Ethiopia from Oct 2011 to Feb 2013. The objectives of the project were (1) to understand key socio-economic factors of dry land communities affecting adoption, collective action and effective utilization of land and water management (LWM) interventions; (2) create a knowledge base forum at local level to share best practices; (3) assemble knowledge base to integrate LWM interventions and approaches, and improve local climate adaptation capacity; and (4) generate local scientific evidence that may contribute to the regional and global policy debate on climate change issues. The pilot project had seven major activities to fulfill the project objectives. The activities included stakeholder workshops to initially introduce the project ideas and at the end of the project share key insights and to effect policy influence. Furthermore surveys were undertaken to assemble knowledge on factors influencing adoption of climate adaptation strategies. Capacity building activities were undertaken for local partners. Mapping and targeting LWM related interventions in the landscape was carried out. Action research was undertaken on climate change adaptation interventions. Finally, information materials were developed and disseminated to upscale lessons learnt from the project interventions.The project operated in Kabe watershed (Worreilu district), which is part of the Jemma subbasin of the Blue Nile, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Upstream to downstream interactions at Kabe watershed are very strong. Altitude range is 2822-3837 m.a.s.l. The mean annual rainfall is 840 mm per annum. Main and short rainy seasons are the two crop growing seasons in the watershed. Climate variability in the area has pushed farmers to abandon the small rainy season for cropping. The watershed is characterized by a mixed crop-livestock system. A total of seven land use systems can be identified in the watershed. The dominant land use is agricultural land that covers 71 % of the watershed area. Major crops grown in the watershed include cereals (barley, wheat), pulses (faba bean and field pea) and horticultural crops (cabbage and potato). Small ruminants such as sheep, and cattle and equines are abundant in the watershed and also play significant economic and cultural roles for the communities. Natural vegetation is declining from time to time. The soil classes in the watershed are Glyic Cambisols, Vertic Cambsols, Eutric Regosols and Eutric Nitisols. The upstream part of the watershed is less fertile due to nutrient depletion. Generally, land degradation is apparent because of soil erosion and extractive farming system. Over all, the watershed has more than 18 watering points or stream heads that could be developed and potentially used for drinking as well as supplemental irrigation and dry season high value crops production.The partners for the project were composed of ILRI, UNEP, Wollo University, ARARI (Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre), Woreilu Wereda Office of Agriculture, Woreilu Wereda Administration and Kabi Kebele Administration. These institutions collaborated and implemented the project interventions. The project also employed a local community facilitator to promote collective action, integrate new interventions, upgrade the existing ones and enable regular learning and sharing among farmers through cross-farm visits, community meetings, demonstration fields and collective action engagements. Surveys were conducted to characterize the watershed constraints, opportunities and communities' climate change adaption strategies. Watershed resources mapping and a training program on making digital stories were sub-contracted to consultants. ILRI and Wollo University organized a launching stakeholder workshop in Dessie, Northern Ethiopia from 24-25 Nov 2011. A wide range of partners participated in the workshop to share their experiences and to engage in this project. Key challenges encountered by most watershed management initiatives include: negotiations and convincing farmers are timeconsuming and sometimes challenging; some initiatives do not sustain after the completion of projects due to lack of ownership; poor exit strategy by donor-supported projects; duplication of initiatives and institutions; and lack of landscape scale planning -delineation commonly based on project objectives and available budgets.The survey on assemblage of communities' knowledge in relation to the factors affecting adoption of climate adaptation strategies demonstrated that erratic and insufficient rainfall particularly during the short rainy season, lack of improved crop varieties, poor farming practices, land degradation and crop diseases (yellow rust on wheat, root rot on garlic) as major challenges of crop production. Poor performance of local breeds, lack of animal fodder and prevalence of animal diseases constrained livestock productivity. As a result of challenges related to biophysical and socio-economic issues, farmers are not able to produce enough to satisfy their annual food requirement. The national Safety Net Programme supported the majority of the community to complement their livelihoods.As part of the capacity building scheme undertaken by the project, the project trained 160 farmers and 120 extension workers. Farmers and extension workers training focused on physical and biological soil and water conservation (SWC), crop and livestock production, water, forestry/agroforestry, livestock management, horticulture technologies and community mobilization, and supported by training manuals. The importance of needs assessment to identify training topics, the comprehensive nature of the training to address different topics, the participatory nature of the training program, and the involvement of experts from different fields for enhancing cross learning are important lessons from the capacity building schemes.A significant number of interventions were considered to address the constraints related to water, crop, livestock and feed, forestry/agroforestry, home-garden development and collective action. The project team in collaboration with the communities of the watershed improved two springs, and used them as source of drinking water for more than 60 beneficiaries. Similarly, three hands dug wells, and one water harvesting dam were constructed at a household level. The water stored during the rainy season served as a source of supplementary irrigation for the home-garden grown vegetables. Utilization of clean water for drinking contributed to the communities' health and to the productivity of their farming activities.Crop related activities focused on selection/evaluation of already released crop varieties and demonstration of varieties with recommended fertilizer rates for scaling up purposes. The wheat variety (Dinkinesh), barley variety (Estayish) and field pea variety (Adi) performed better in terms of grain and biomass yield as well as preference by the local farmers. Grain and straw/biomass yield of the improved barely and field pea varieties was 3 and 3.8 t ha -1 and 2.8 and 1.3 t ha -1 over the grain and biomass yield of the respective local varieties. About 80 farmers participated in crop varietal evaluation and scaling up activities. It was expected that farmers can easily get these improved seeds of the varieties either through exchange in kind or in cash for wider utilization.The project introduced 13 improved Awassi breed rams to 13 groups of farmers in cluster/village based approach within the watershed to improve the potential productivity of local sheep breed. So far, local ewes mated with the improved rams have produced more than 80 lambs. The quality of the improved sheep in terms of selling price and increased birth weight attracted farmers as these benefits help them generate more income and enable them cope with the effect of rainfall variability. In line with the introduction of improved sheep breed, the project introduced forage plants at the watershed. The forage plants and grass species were planted on SWC structures and around the homesteads (backyards). Survival after 3 month of planting was 70% for Desho grass and less than 50 % for Phalaris, Sesbania and Tree Lucerne.Different species of tree seedlings were raised and planted on bench terraces with integration of moisture conservation practices around Mount Yewol through the project support. The planted species include Erica arborea, Arundinaria alpine, Acacia decurrens, Acacia saligna, Acacia abyssinica, Cuppresus lusitanica, Sesbania sesban and Chameacytisus palmensis. Survival after 3 months of planting was more than 65% for Erica arborea and Acacia saligna. In addition to Mount Yewel, a hilly landscape was identified and used to plant A. decurrens, A. saligna, C. lusitanica, Shinus mollie and C. palmensis. Mean survival rate of seedlings 3 months after planting was above 87% with Ibro water conservation basin and 76 % with normal pit. This was achieved due to the implementation of appropriate physical SWC conservation measures, introduction of niche compatible tree species, improved tree plantation and seedling management practices and controlled free grazing systems.The home-garden initiative has been found attractive to farmers as it helps them produce and consume vegetables and root crops, and generate income within a short period of time. Most of the participating farmers planted cabbage, swiss chard, lettuce, carrot, shallot, garlic and potato and high land fruits such as apple and plum in their respective home-gardens. However, the performance of potato and garlic was poor due to the incidence of diseases like late blight and root rot. Problems in relation to lack of application of proper cultural practice (spacing, watering, weeding and cultivation) were apparent in some of the homegarden development efforts.The Wereilu Wereda facilitated the implementation of different physical and biological SWC practices, plantation of tree and forage seedlings on hillsides and farmlands and around the homesteads. The local communities voluntarily participated in the watershed management activities for 60 days to support the recent government NRM initiatives. Stone faced soil bunds and stone terraces covered 33.6 and 37.7% of the physical SWC measures. Survival of the indigenous plant species such as Erica arborea, Juniperus procera and Festuca species was promising under the extreme high altitude (upstream watershed) conditions. The physical and biological SWC measures are expected to contribute to the maintenance of soil fertility and halt soil and water erosion, and finally improve water infiltration and ground water recharging. In addition to the soil improving and protection role, the grasses and shrub species provided forage to animals.Privately owned but collectively managed grazing lands cover 82 ha of land in the watershed. In addition to crop residues and other locally available feeds, grazing lands served the community as important sources of feed for different livestock species both during the dry and rainy seasons. Farming communities in the watershed closed grazing lands, harvested the biomass and fed to their animals. Farmers believed that the current arrangement and management of grazing lands enhanced productivity of grazing lands in terms of quantity and frequency of biomass production. The cut and carry system also improved livestock productivity as a result of controlled feeding and avoidance of long distance movement of animals.The project used field-day and digital photo stories as important tools to advocate and up scale the lessons from the project implementation activities. Project personnel also produced and released online three digital stories focusing on grazing land management, improved crop varieties and water harvesting. A field-day was organized at Kabe watershed and involved 96 participants from various institutions. Implementers of the project demonstrated selected climate change adaption interventions to the field day participants. Identified strengths of the project included the ability of the project to enhance partnerships at local level, the integrated approach of the project and the focus of the project in alignment with the government development agenda. On the other hand, low effort to prevent disease and provide technical support on home garden crops, low effort to use local materials for gully rehabilitation and weak exit strategy to ensure sustainability were identified as limitations of the project. The participants also recommended that a sense of ownership has to be ensured for the developed springs, the Woreda has to take over the project activities to ensure their sustainability, and the project has to scale up its success stories to a wider scale.ILRI in collaboration with UNEP, Wollo University, ARARI and Woreilu Office of Agriculture organized a two day workshop on \"Lessons and success stories from a pilot project on climate change adaptation interventions in Kabe watershed, south Wollo, Ethiopia\". The workshop took place from 11-12 February 2013 at ILRI campus. The total number of participants was 49. Presentations, demonstration of digital stories, and group discussions on possible strategies of scale out/up of success stories/lessons and possibilities for the second phase of the project were part of the workshop sessions. Establishment of strong partnership among partners, creation of demand for research and development, production of baseline information, building of capacity of some farmers and extension workers through training and site visits, and identification and introduction of some potential technologies and practices that can enable communities' capacity to adapt climate change/ variability impacts were some of the project successes. Technologies, practices and approaches accepted by the watershed communities were suggested to be scaled out and up through organizing experience sharing visits, facilitation of farmer-to-farmer experience exchange, application of participatory extension, improving access to information (credit, market, climate, inputs, best practices) and establishment of partnerships with NGO's and private organizations. A second phase of a project was proposed by the workshop participants. This phase will consider water as a central issue, and it will be livestock-led and include diversified technological options. Capacity building will be a big component of the project, and the project will include off-farm and on-farm activities to address the concerns of low income, landless and poor women households. Value chain approach will receive much attention to address gaps both at supply and demand side. The project is also assumed to have stakeholders' forum, and strengthen partnership among government development institutions, universities and research organizations.In conclusion, partnership among farmers and partner institutions were strengthened because of the operationalization of the project at Kabe watershed. Meetings, trainings, workshops and field evaluation forums enhanced the knowledge of farmers and other local extension workers on climate change effects and possible adaptation intervention measures. A number of climate change adaptation interventions were implemented at the watershed and sub-watershed level, and benefited the communities. Although the life span of the project was very short, the interventions on spring water development, shallow wells, drought resistant and early maturing crop varieties, improved sheep breeds and homegarden high value fruit and vegetable plants and the NRM activities are evidence of the possible avenues for communities to adapt the effects of climate change. Some of the issues and the R&D gaps that need a follow up action at the watershed include: more area coverage and involvement of more farmers, technologies coverage beyond entry points, backyard forage development, use of locally available feed resources, R&D on income generating activities, off-farm income, capacity building on researchers, market linkage activities, detailed studies on collective actions for grazing land management, gully rehabilitation and landscape/ watershed based SWC, studies on technological options/ agronomic practices that improve the productivity of collectively managed grazing lands, the potential contribution of watering points and the positive and negative impact of Eucalyptus species for adapting effects of climate change/ variability.A number of lessons emerged from project implementation and these are listed in the main report. In summary, the project demonstrated the possibility of achieving practical climate change adaptation measures quickly through strong engagement with existing local institutions. Practical field demonstrations were effective in stimulating local demand for innovations. When involving local institutions in a research for development project it is important to provide strong orientation on M&E protocols. The project was short and the early success stories of the project should be scaled out/up within and beyond the watershed through new initiatives.                    The Nile basin is one of the most poverty stricken regions of the world, where the economic performance and income per capita has been declining while population has been increasing by about 2.5% per annum (Marenya et al. 2003). The region is particularly vulnerable to climatic variability as its economies are largely based on weather-sensitive crop and livestock production systems (Stige, et al. 2006). This vulnerability has been demonstratedby the devastating effects of the various droughts in the last two decades.Rain-fed agriculture is the backbone of the economies, whereby rainfall patterns dictate food security and annual GDP of member states (Grey and Sadoff, 2002). In Ethiopia, the national economy and the contribution of agriculture to the national economy is strongly linked to rainfall patterns (Grey and Sadoff, 2002), and this is reflected particularly in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia where agriculture is practiced in sloping landscapes, land degradation is apparent and water conservation practices are rarely applied. Even in landscapes where there are ongoing land and water management (LWM) initiatives, investment is targeted mainly on crop-dominated and high rainfall areas. There is lack of due consideration of the dry-land drought-prone crop-livestock systems, which is the focus of this project. Climate change directly affects the natural resource base thereby it impacts livelihoods and ecosystem services. In general, LWM related investments in the region need to be revitalized to improve food security and minimize the effects of climate change.Climate change effects can be lessened through building local capacity, including strengthening local governance structures, and introducing cross-sectoral and integrated incentive mechanisms that would enable short term economic benefits and long term sustainable resource management.There have been positive experiences in developing LWM strategies such as rehabilitating degraded lands and improving water budgets of landscapes in Northern Ethiopia, particularly in Tigrai region. In this region it was possible to reverse water scarcity and enhance the adaptive capacity of communities through integrated LWM of upper watersheds using collective action and area enclosures. Research work from ILRI and IWMI showed an improvement of water flows and livestock feed availability through rehabilitation of watershed within 5 years (Descheemaeker et al., 2011). However, most of these projects are either government-led, or opertionalized with top-down approaches or with strong involvement of external actors (e.g. NGOs). Experiences have shown that top-down implemented projects have mostly failed as these investments either did not integrate the views and the priorities of the local communities, did not use an integrated cross-sectoral and ecosystem services or did not bring immediate benefits / incentives to engage communities in long term investments. For instance in Ethiopia, only about 35% of the water harvesting ponds constructed through national campaign over the years of 2003 and 2004 are currently operational (Merry and Gebre Selassie, 2010). Moreover, project-based attempts to disseminate technologies in the region have failed in the absence of institutional capacity building (including farmers and local institutions). On the other hand, there are a few farmers in these watersheds, who have managed to make a fortune out these investments.Integrated LWM embraces a whole range of practices; from in situ moisture conservation and water harvesting, various forms of irrigation to SWC and livestock management. The most important are those strategies that foster maximum economic use of rainwater that falls onto an agricultural field (Rockström, 2000). Improved LWM is an important adaptation strategy to help combat the negative effects of drought and seasonal rainfall variability, The pilot project is under the umbrella of UNEP Nile River Basin bigger project (Work The activities/interventions that the partners implemented to generate evidence on promising climate change adaptation practices included:  Various consultation meetings, workshops and surveys were held to identify the project site,  6) the role of keeping all the documents in a systematic manner for future reference.The The project team in collaboration with the communities at the watershed improved two springs, and used them as sources of drinking water for more than 60 beneficiaries.Similarly, three hands dug wells, and one water harvesting dam were constructed at a household level (Table 2) and (Figures 4 and 5). The beneficiaries dug the water harvesting structures. The project provided technical support, cement, geo-membrane and hired a mason for the dam, and rope and washer pumps for the hand dug wells. The water stored during the rainy season served as a source of supplementary irrigation for the home-garden grown vegetables (Figure 6). Communities in the area used to have problems of water borne diseases before developing/improving the two springs. The watershed communities had access to pure drinking water after the project (Figure 7). The utilization of clean water contributed to their health and the productivity of their farming activities. Crop related activities focused on selection/evaluation of already released crop varieties and demonstration of varieties with recommended fertilizer rates for scaling up purposes. The project distributed food barley (6 varieties), and wheat (8 varieties) to demonstrate and later on select the varieties that fit the ecology and interest of the communities. Additionally, highyielding, pest-resistant and high-market value varieties of field pea (Addi) and wheat (Dinkinesh) were demonstrated to the farmers to scale up in the watershed and the surrounding areas (Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11). Some selected farmers in the watershed received 15-30 kg of seeds of the improved varieties. The wheat variety (Dinkinesh) was high yielding, early maturing and yellow rust resistant in other similar agro-ecologies of the north-eastern parts of the country. This variety also provided a better yield at Kabe watershed compared to other wheat varieties. Dinkinesh was equally good and better performing at the watershed compared with the majority of the improved wheat varieties.From the barley varieties, Estayish (218963-4) performed better than existing varieties in terms of grain and biomass yield as well as preference by the local farmers. This variety had a grain and biomass yield gain of 3 and 3.8 t ha -1 over the grain and biomass yield of the local barley variety (Table 3). Generally, the local barley variety was very poor in terms of grain and biomass yield compared to the introduced barley varieties. Farmers considered yield, seed color and freedom from diseases as criteria to select the field pea varieties.Based on these criteria, farmers ranked Addi as the most preferred introduced field pea variety. Addi had a grain and biomass yield gain of 2.8 and 1.3 t ha -1 over the grain and biomass yield of the local field pea variety (Table 4). About 80 farmers participated in crop varietal evaluation and scaling up activities. It was expected that farmers can easily get these improved seeds of the varieties either through exchange in kind or in cash for wider utilization.  (Asnakew, 1994;Kidane and Getachew, 1994). In a cropping system where large quantities of nutrients are exhausted by erosion and exported in harvested products, it is unlikely that sustainable high yield will be obtained without nutrient replenishment. The research findings from one season location specific on farm fertilizer trial (LOSOFT) at Kabe watershed demonstrated an increased grain yield of wheat (Dinkinesh) and barley (Agegnehu) over that of the farmers traditional practice (Table 5). Note: Fertilizer sources for P and N are DAP and Urea.The project introduced 13 improved Awassi breed rams to 13 groups of farmers in a cluster/village based approach within the watershed to improve the potential productivity of local sheep breed (Figure 12). So far, local ewes mate with the improved rams and have produced more than 80 lambs. Comparison of the improved sheep with that of the local sheep breed in terms of birth weight, selling price at different ages and other characteristics is shown in Table 6. The quality of the improved sheep in terms of selling price and increased birth weight attracted farmers as these benefits help them generate more income and enable them cope with the effect of rainfall variability. Income diversification through improved animal husbandry is one of the pathways to enable vulnerable communities to adapt climate change impacts. In line with the introduction of improved sheep breed, the project introduced forage plants at the watershed (Table 7) and (Figure 13). The forage plants and grass species were planted on SWC structures and around the homesteads (backyards). A total of 106,386 tree lucerne, 100,001 Sesbania seedlings, and 15,000 Phalaris and 354,500 Desho splits were planted on soil bunds of the farmlands. The area coverage for tree/shrub plantation is 190.4 ha whereas 17.5 ha for Desho grass plantation. A total of 4125 beneficiaries (2759 male and 1366 female) participated during plantation of the tree/shrub seedlings. The beneficiaries from the plantation of Phalaris were 375 male and 296 female farmers. A total of 63 households planted 2,205 tree lucerne and 2,205 Sesbania seedlings around the homestead/backyards. Of the 63 households, four of them were female-headed.Survival after 3 months of planting was 70% for Dinsho grass and less than 50 % for Phalaris, sesbania and tree lucerne (Table 7). Low survival for Phalaris, sesbania and tree lucerne could be associated with late planting. Plantation of tree seedlings used to be practiced in the watershed for many years. However, survival rates of tree seedlings were very low. More than 40,000 different tree seedlings were raised and planted on bench terraces with integration of moisture conservation practices around mount Yewol through the project support. The planted species include Asta (Erica arborea), highland bamboo (Arundinaria alpine, Acacia decurrens, Acacia saligna, local Acacia spp (Acacia abyssinica), Cuppresus lusitanica, Sesbania sesban, tree lucerne (Chameacytisus palmensis), guassa grass (Festuca spp) split (detached-7000). Survival after 3 months of planting was more than 65% for Erica arborea and Acacia saligna (Table 8). A total of 1690 (606 female and 1084 male) farmers participated during plantation of these seedlings (free labor contribution). In addition to mount Yewel, a hilly landscape was identified and used to plant A. decurrens, A. saligna, C. lusitanica, Shinus mollie and C. palmensis (Figure 14). Mean survival rate of seedlings 3 months after planting was above 87% with Ibro water conservation basin and 76 % with normal pit (Table 9). This was achieved due to the implementation of appropriate physical SWC conservation measures (Ibro basin and normal pits), introduction of niche compatible tree species, improved tree plantation and seedling management practices and controlled free grazing systems. The home-garden initiative was attractive to farmers as it helped them produce and consume vegetables and root crops, and generate income with short period of time. The home-garden activities need an integrated approach and market linkage.The project team accessed Plum (one variety) and apple (six grafted varieties) seedlings from Chencha (southern parts of Ethiopia) and distributed to 18 and 50 selected beneficiary  11) and (Figure 16). Survival of the indigenous plant species such as Erica arborea, Juniperus procera and Festuca species was promising under the extreme high altitude (watershed upstream) conditions (Table 12). The physical and biological SWC measures contribute to maintain soil fertility and halt soil and water erosion, and finally improve water infiltration and ground water recharging. In addition to the soil improving and protection role, the grasses and shrub species were intended to provide forage to animals. Privately owned but collectively managed grazing lands cover 82 ha of land in the watershed (Table 13). Collectively managed grazing lands were located in the four sub-watersheds. In addition to crop residues and other locally available feeds, grazing lands served the community as important sources of feed for different livestock species both during the dry and rainy seasons. Farming communities in the watershed closed grazing lands, harvested the biomass and fed to their animals (Figure 17). Farmers believed that the current arrangement and management of grazing lands enhanced productivity of grazing lands in terms of quantity and frequency of biomass production. The cut and carry system also improved livestock productivity as a result of controlled feeding and avoidance of long distance movement of animals. According to the local communities' perception and observation, free grazing caused considerable damage to young grasses and other plants, and aggravated the degradation of natural resources. It also caused disappearance of palatable species and the subsequent dominance by other, less palatable, herbaceous plants or bushes. Excessive livestock grazing activated soil compaction and erosion, decreased water infiltration and soil fertility, and led to a loss of organic matter content and water storage capacity. Mphinyane (2001) and Borman (2004) also reported a similar impact of free livestock grazing on different natural resources. The soil classes in the watershed were Glyic Cambisols, Vertic Cambsols, Eutric Regosols and Eutric Nitisols although they originated more or less from the same parent rock-basalt. A total of seven land use systems identified in the watershed. The dominant land use was agricultural land that covers 71 % of the watershed area. Some of the agricultural lands particularly in the upstream part of the watershed were with shallow soil, and they were less compatible for crop production.The downstream part of the watershed had relatively deep soil and water resources that led to intensification. Over all, the watershed had more than 18 watering points or stream heads that could be developed and potentially used for drinking as well as supplemental irrigation and dry season high value crops production. Nearly 15 % of the land was bare land resulting from continuous cultivation, deforestation and land degradation. Grasses, shrubs, sparse forests and plantations with Eucalyptus were the dominant vegetation types in the watershed. Biomass in the watershed was scarce to satisfy the human and livestock demand because of low coverage of vegetation. Significant land use change within a short period of time did not seem apparent as the agricultural lands already covered more than two-third of the watershed for long periods of time.The project used field-day and digital photo stories as important tools to advocate and up scale the lessons from the project implementation activities. The project also produced and exit strategy to ensure sustainability were identified as limitations of the project. The issue of free grazing on collectively managed farmlands and grazing lands was raised as a risk unless close supervision and alternative animal feed sources strategies are properly planned and implemented. The participants also recommended that a sense of ownership has to be ensured for the developed springs (beneficiary contribution for maintenance has to be done),the Woreda has to take over the project activities to ensure sustainability, and the project has to scale up its intervention to a wider scale in terms of scope (area and time) and intervention area. The project produced information and knowledge, and built capacities that will contribute to the effort on climate change adaption. However, the duration of the pilot project was one year and it was suggested to develop a project concept note for the second phase.Justifications for the idea of initiating a second project phase included: one year is too short to see visible impacts from the pilot phase, problems at the watershed are severe, farmers are still interested to work with researchers and other experts and they expect project continuation, not all the sub-watersheds and technological options explored, policy makers expect lessons from the pilot project for in-depth analysis, and more strategic research are needed. The second phase of the project will consider water as a central issue, and it will be livestock-led and include diversified options (apple, agro-forestry). Capacity building will be a big component of the project, and the project will include off-farm and on-farm activities to address the concerns of low income, landless and poor women households. The value chain approach will receive much attention to address gaps both at supply and demand side. The project is also assumed to have stakeholders' forum, and strengthen partnership among government development institutions, universities and research organizations.Partnership among farmers and partner institutions were strengthened as a result of the The barley variety named as Estaysh, the wheat variety Dinknesh and the field pea varietyAddi received the highest score by farmers mainly in relation to their yield advantage and disease resistance. Therefore, there is a need to multiply and scale up these varieties. This approach can help to reach more farmers and capacitate communities to improve food security and adapt the effect of climate change.The soil in the upstream part of the watershed is highly depleted and requires nutrient addition from organic and inorganic fertilizer sources. It was evidenced from a location specific on-farm fertilizer trial (LOSOFT) at the watershed that the soil was responsive to DAP and urea fertilizer application. The plots provided with DAP and urea fertilizers provided more wheat and barley grain and biomass yield than the traditional (without fertilizer application) farmers' crop production system. However, farmers strictly questioned the escalating price of fertilizer for its wider utilization. Therefore, continuous awareness creation on the use of recommended fertilizer rates and creating various income generating options are very critical.The crop yield from the fertilizer trial and varietal evaluation varied tremendously. The crop yield in the varietal evaluation was relatively high as compared to the fertilizer trial as the sources of seeds for the former is breeder seed while the later was from the farm management seed. The site variability in the watershed also contributed to yield differences between the two research and demonstration activities.The local sheep at the watershed are characterized by their low reproduction performance and low body condition although they have their own important qualities. On the other hand, the introduced Awassi crossbred showed reasonable birth weight as compared to the local sheep. Farmers can achieve earlier weaning weight and benefit more from the Awassi cross bred sheep if they able to feed the locally available fodder trees as well as improved forages.Appropriate feeding regime especially for pregnant ewes should be also promoted in order to achieve better pre-and post-weaning weights.Tree planting with water harvesting structure such as eyebrow basins could increase the survival rate and growth performance of tree species. Tree planting should be also combined with stone fenced structures in high altitude and wind prone areas to protect the seedlings from frost and wilting and enhance growth performance. Based on three month data, Acacia saligna and Acacia decurrens demonstrated the best survival and growth performance.  ","tokenCount":"5552"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7388425643.json b/data/part_1/7388425643.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d56fcf222770d9ed35b9fd4dacc7e648215cfb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7388425643.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4912af83279fc56f237782f35e0ed6b9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31b2ec41-0792-49c3-97bc-8d2527dbd11a/retrieve","id":"266875825"},"keywords":["Ethiopia, cooperation, public good experiment","conflict","war","local leaders"],"sieverID":"de9b76ed-50e4-4b0b-a588-1a9eb9f22d0b","pagecount":"56","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Cooperation is a key factor for the provision of public goods and fostering economic development (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981;Nowak, 2006;Gross et al., 2023). It is particularly important in rural and fragile settings where well-functioning institutions and markets meant to encourage and incentivize cooperation are missing. Understanding how to promote and maintain cooperation among people in contexts where social dilemmas are ubiquitous, that is, situations in which private and social benefits are in conflict, is therefore crucial (Hardin, 1968). Evolving evidence from the experimental economics literature shows that cooperation among individuals can be induced using several instruments, including proper sanctioning systems (punishment and reward) (Molenmaker et al., 2023), repeated interactions (Sefton et al., 2007), reputation (Cuesta et al., 2015), and other mechanisms (genetic and cultural evolution) (Henrich and Muthukrishna, 2021) that affect incentives and behaviors of actors.Emerging evidence shows that leaders play a pivotal role in inducing and maintaining cooperation within groups. This is particularly the case in rural settings where administrative functioning of governments remains weak and hence relies on community or traditional leaders (Herbst, 2000;Van der Windt and Voors, 2020). In most parts of rural Africa, these community and traditional leaders are responsible for the provision of public goods and services (Logan, 2013), allocation and reallocation of land (Goldstein and Udry, 2008;Jayne et al., 2021), ensuring and nurturing peace (Haider, 2009;Casey, 2018), targeting and allocation of social assistance and safety net programs (Berhane et al., 2014;Basurto et al., 2020;Duchoslav et al., 2023), mobilization of the public for collective action (Vedeld, 2000;Kahsay and Medhin, 2020;Kahsay and Bulte, 2021;Kahsay et al., 2021), response to pandemics (Van der Windt and Voors, 2020), and environmental and ecological protection (Rust, 2017). This allows these leaders to play critical roles in the livelihood and economic development of their communities.Leaders can stimulate cooperation through mechanisms like leading by example (motivating followers to cooperate by taking the initiative and cooperating first) (Jack and Recalde, 2015;Hermalin, 1998;Potters et al., 2005Potters et al., , 2007) ) and norm enforcement (reward and punishment) (Fehr and Gachter, 2000;Kosfeld and Rustagi, 2015;Fehr and Fischbacher, 2004;Fehr and Gächter, 2002;Lergetporer et al., 2014;Beekman et al., 2018;Nikiforakis and Mitchell, 2014).As much as they may contribute to communities constructively, community leaders lacking the appropriate incentives and accountability to serve communities can undermine the delivery of public goods and services, for example, by facilitating elite capture (Bardhan, 2002;Bardhan andMookherjee, 2000, 2006;Casey, 2018). But it is not obvious about what type of community leaders are most cooperative. Similarly, what drives cooperation among community leaders and how we may increase the willingness to cooperate among these important actors has not been well explored, especially in rural settings of Africa. 1Recognizing the importance of community leadership in rural development, particularly for provision of public goods in rural settings, this paper seeks to understand important attributes and factors that explain and facilitate cooperation among community leaders with the aid of incentivized experimental games, specifically public good games. This paper addresses two broad objectives. First, with the aim of identifying avenues for fostering cooperation among community leaders in rural areas, we examine the role of women's leadership in the provision of public goods and associated willingness to cooperate in delivering these public goods. Recently, a small but growing literature on women leadership and public goods provision. However, findings of these studies remain mixed. While some studies show that women leaders improve the provision of public goods (Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2004;Agarwal, 2009a,b;Coleman and Mwangi, 2013;Leisher et al., 2016;Kahsay et al., 2021), others suggest that women's leadership might reduce the quality of public goods provision (Gajwani and Zhang, 2015;Deininger et al., 2015;Ban and Rao, 2008;Bardhan et al., 2010). The rural setting and actors we study in this paper offer an interesting case to examine whether women's leadership facilitates cooperation among community leaders. Second, in addition to examining community leaders' cooperation and willingness to contribute to public goods, we also aim to generate more nuanced understanding on existing mixed evidence on the implication of exposure to conflict on cooperation. For example, while Bauer et al. (2016) and several other studies (Bellows and Miguel, 2009;Blattman, 2009;Bauer et al., 2014Bauer et al., , 2018;;Gilligan et al., 2014;Cecchi et al., 2016b;Voors et al., 2012) argue that war fosters cooperation and pro-social behavior, some other recent studies find evidence to the contrary (e.g., Kıbrıs and Cesur 2023;Cassar et al. 2013). In this paper, we hypothesize that conflict takes different forms and different types of conflict can have distinct implications for cooperation and pro-social behavior. Armed conflicts such as battles are likely to be perceived as external threats to survival, which in turn, can encourage collective response and cooperation among community members (Bauer et al., 2016). However, other types of conflict events such as protests, demonstrations, and riots are likely to divide political opinion among elites and community leaders, which in turn can erode trust and cooperation among community leaders.Despite the increasing trend in armed conflicts in Africa in the last decade (World Bank, 2020), how and which type of conflict affects cooperation remains poorly understood. This is particularly the case for grassroots community leaders, who are important actors in rural development programs and initiatives.Ethiopia experienced various forms of conflict during the last three years, including battles among armed groups as well as protests, violent demonstrations, and riots (Gesesew et al., 2021;Kumar et al., 2022;Abay et al., 2023;ACLED, 2023;Nyssen et al., 2023). Some of these armed conflicts followed ethnic lines and hence have affected the social fabric and social networks among community members and leaders. This provides a fertile ground to test whether different types of conflict have varying implications on community leaders' level of cooperation and hence willingness to contribute to public goods. The nature and widespread coverage of our sample offers unique setting and substantial variation in willingness to cooperate.Our main findings can be summarized as follows. First, women community leaders exhibit high level of cooperation and contribute more to the public goods than men community leaders.For example, compared to those assuming the highest official administrative responsibility in the village, who are all male, women leaders (and representatives) contribute about 11 percent more to public goods. Second, we find that exposure to conflict events that affect the whole community, such as political violence (including battles and violence against civilians), is associated with greater cooperation, while those conflict events that trigger division along ideological, political, or social lines (e.g., demonstrations and riots) are associated with lower cooperation. Third, consistent with previous studies (Fischbacher and Gächter, 2010;Chaudhuri, 2011;Kocher et al., 2015), most of the community leaders are conditional cooperators.We find that ex-ante belief about other leaders' cooperation behavior positively and significantly explains cooperation among community leaders. These findings have important policy implications, especially in the rural settings of Sub-Saharan Africa, where weak functioning of administrative governments is widespread and the role of community leaders is indispensable.For example, our findings imply that including women in community leadership can improve cooperation and collective action. This paper contributes to three strands of literature. First, it contributes to and extends the literature on the factors that explain cooperation among various actors and decision-makers.To date, the existing literature primarily focus on understanding cooperation among student subjects and individuals (Chaudhuri, 2011;Kocher et al., 2015). However, we argue that the drivers of cooperation among student subjects and individuals may differ from those driving cooperation among community leaders. Hence, unlike previous studies, this paper provides new evidence on what factors explain cooperation among community leaders, important actors for delivering public goods and services in rural Africa.Second, this paper contributes to the literature on the role of women leadership in public goods provision and economic development (Duflo, 2012;Beaman et al., 2012;Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2004). The existing evidence on the role women leaders play in the provision of public good is mixed. Some earlier studies find that bringing women to leadership positions may ensure better provision of public goods, particularly, goods that women would prefer. For instance, a study by Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2004) shows that women's representation in leadership is associated with higher investment in public goods that are directly relevant to the needs of women, such as roads, drinking water, and fuel. An emerging literature also documents that women participation in communal decision-making, particularly their participation in executive committees of forest user groups is associated with improved public goods (fishery and forest management) outcomes (e.g., Agarwal, 2009a,b;Coleman and Mwangi, 2013;Leisher et al., 2016;Kahsay et al., 2021). However, recent studies have uncovered a contrasting effect, indicating that political quotas for women might lead to a reduction in public goods provision (e.g., Gajwani and Zhang, 2015;Deininger et al., 2015;Ban and Rao, 2008;Bardhan et al., 2010). For instance, Gajwani and Zhang (2015) demonstrates that villages with women chairpersons tend to have fewer public goods available, including infrastructure such as roads and schools. 2 This paper, therefore, complements the existing studies by examining the link between the representation of women in community leadership and the provision of public goods in the rural settings of Africa. Particularly, we test if women community leaders are more likely to contribute to the provision of public goods than their male counterparts. In contrast to earlier research, which typically compares public goods provision between villages with and without gender quotas or reservations for women in leadership roles, this paper directly compares the contributions of women leaders to public goods with those of their male counterparts. Third, this paper contributes to the emerging literature that focuses on the effect of conflict on cooperation (Bauer et al., 2016). The interplay between conflict and cooperation is complex and has garnered substantial attention among researchers and development practitioners over the last few decades. However, existing studies show mixed evidence. While some studies find that conflict fosters cooperation (Bauer et al., 2014(Bauer et al., , 2018;;Cecchi et al., 2016b;Blattman, 2009;Bellows and Miguel, 2009;Voors et al., 2012), other studies document that conflict reduces cooperation (Cassar et al., 2013;Rohner et al., 2013;Hager et al., 2019). This paper complements previous studies by providing nuanced findings that might reconcile existing mixed evidence on the interplay between exposure to conflict and cooperation. Specifically, we differentiate between conflict events that affect the whole community such as political violence (including battles and violence against civilians), and conflict events (e.g., demonstrations and riots) that trigger division along ideological, political, or social lines.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: The subsequent section provides an overview of the context and data, including our method of measuring cooperation. Section 3 outlines our estimation strategy. In section 4, we present our main findings along with several robustness checks. Section 5 offers concluding remarks.This study covers an extensive geographic area, spanning all regional states of Ethiopia with the exception of the Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambela regional states, as well as the capital city, Addis Ababa. The study targeted 180 villages (kebeles) across the country, providing a comprehensive representation of diverse communities. This allows us to examine substantial variation in our outcomes of interest. However, due to the prevailing security concerns, some areas within the Amhara and Oromia regions were not included in our survey and experiment.Figure 1 presents the distribution of sample kebeles included in our survey.Ethiopia, characterized by its diverse ethnic groups and agrarian landscape, faces unique challenges in social and economic development. Some of these challenges include: (i) limited access to essential infrastructure, such as roads, health, education, and irrigation facilities, (ii) recurrent conflicts, drought, and other shocks, and (iii) high levels of deforestation and environmental degradation. 3 More recently, violent conflicts continue to disrupt peace, security, and social cohesion in the country, especially after the outbreak of an armed conflict in Northern Ethiopia in November 2020. This conflict has resulted in substantial loss of life and public infrastructure, reversing important gains in poverty reduction Ethiopia had achieved over the past two decades. 4 The nation had also contended with recurring and severe droughts in recent years, exacerbating existing challenges of high levels of food insecurity and poverty. In countries like Ethiopia that are grappling with compounding crises, promoting cooperation among communities is crucial for mobilizing collective action to address these challenges. Addressing these crises and challenges, including peace-building efforts, entails collective problemsolving, resource-sharing, and the development of sustainable solutions that are more likely to have a lasting impact on community well-being. Cooperation among major actors can facilitate the provision of essential infrastructure, environmental protection, and promotion of social cohesion, and stability. In both urban and rural settings of Ethiopia, community leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of local initiatives, from infrastructure development to social cohesion. However, the attributes and factors that influence and facilitate cooperation among these leaders remain understudied. Against this backdrop, the current paper aims to delve into the intricacies of cooperation among community leaders in rural Ethiopia. The significance of such cooperation is paramount for the successful implementation of community-driven projects and hence the overall well-being of community members. By focusing on urban and rural settings of Ethiopia, where communal ties and governmental and traditional leadership structures often play a crucial role, we seek to uncover the nuanced factors that contribute to or hinder collaborative efforts among community leaders.The data for this paper come from two sources. First, we conducted a comprehensive community survey and a public good experiment with community leaders. 56 We selected six community leaders from each of the 180 villages, resulting in a total sample size of 1,080 community leaders.The community leaders include: (i) a village/kebele leader, (ii) an elder from the community, (iii) a religious leader, (iv) a teacher or agricultural or health extension worker, (v) a women representative, and (vi) a youth representative. We used teachers and agricultural and health extension agents interchangeably. In villages where a teacher was unavailable, an agricultural extension agent was enlisted, and in the absence of agricultural extension workers, a health extension worker was included. 7   We note that although the source of legitimacy and influence for each type of leader described above emanates from different agents and institutions, these leaders play important roles in delivering various services to communities. From a government administrative bureaucracy point of view, the village/kebele leader assumes the highest administrative responsibility in the village. However, the other leaders, including the elders, religious leaders, and women and youth representatives play an active role in rural communities, including in mobilizing collective action and delivering public goods and services. Teachers, development agents, and health extension workers in Ethiopia are well-integrated into rural administration through various committees and task forces. To probe this, we asked each community leader about their role and participation in: (i) village/kebele-level food security task force, and (ii) targeting of the flagship national safety net program in Ethiopia, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). In Table A1, we report that large share of these community leaders serve as members of village-level food security task forces and most have participated in targeting of the PSNP.The community survey and the public good experiment were conducted between November and December 2023. The community survey contains modules on community leaders' demographic 5 We discuss the public good experiment in more detail in section 2.3. 6 This paper was part of a large project that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative targeting approaches in identifying impoverished households and determining the extent of social assistance transfers distributed within communities in fragile and conflict-affected settings which was previously preregistered at the American Economists Association's RCT registry (AEARCTR-0012677). 7 When the kebele leader was not available during the survey period, we replaced him/her with the deputy. characteristics, preference for redistribution, and subjective and relative poverty status. In addition, the community survey contains information on village characteristics and access to basic services. 8 Importantly, the community survey data also include information on the GPS coordinates of the villages (kebeles), which allowed us to integrate it with the conflict data from the Armed Conflict Location Events Dataset (ACLED). Second, we use data on the exact timing and location of different conflict events from the ACLED database. The ACLED database is widely used to study the consequences of conflicts in different settings. ACLED provides detailed information on a wide range of conflict events, both violent and non-violent. It provides information on six conflict event types: battles, protests, riots, explosions/remote violence, violence against civilians, and strategic developments. To facilitate analysis and enhance power, the different conflict events are also further categorized into three overarching types of conflict: (1) political violence, (2) demonstrations, and (3) strategic developments. Following the description and characterization in the ACLED database, battles, explosions/remote violence, and violence against civilians are categorized into the political violence while protests and riots are grouped into demonstrations. Figure 2 presents the distri-bution of different conflict events across all regions of Ethiopia from 2020 to 2023. Notably, the dominant conflict type is battle followed by protests and violence against civilians. In this paper, we focus on the number of conflict events that occurred between 2020 and 2023 to capture many of the armed conflicts in Northern Ethiopia as well as other parts of Ethiopia. While the conflict between the Tigray regional forces and the Federal army continued until both parties agreed to a \"permanent cessation of hostilities\" in November 2022 through the Pretoria agreement, there are still some on-going conflicts in Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia, some of which erupted after the agreement was signed. 9Cooperation is a broad concept and has been defined and measured in several ways. In the literature cooperation has been measured using both survey and experimental measures (Bauer et al., 2016). The survey measures proxy cooperation by participation in local social groups or community organizations, participation in community leadership and engagement (including local meetings, volunteering for community works), trust levels among in-group and out-group members, voting in local and national elections, knowledge of and interest in politics, willingness to host refugees, and trust in local government (Rohner et al., 2013;Bateson, 2012;Casey et al., 2012). Similarly, cooperation has been measured using comparable experimental measures-behaviors observed in experiments such as Trust, Dictator, Public Goods, Ultimatum, and Social Value Orientation games (Gneezy and Fessler, 2012;Voors et al., 2012;Cassar et al., 2013;Gilligan et al., 2014;Hopfensitz et al., 2014;Cecchi et al., 2016b).In this paper, we measure cooperation among community leaders using behavior observed in a Public Good experiment. As mentioned above, using the Public Good experiment to measure cooperation in an incentive-compatible way is a widespread practice in empirical economic literature (Karlan, 2005;Rustagi et al., 2010;Fehr and Leibbrandt, 2011;Gilligan et al., 2014;Hopfensitz et al., 2014;Attanasio et al., 2015;Kosfeld and Rustagi, 2015;Cecchi et al., 2016a;Nigus et al., 2023).As mentioned above, we selected six community leaders from each village. We note that these leaders play important roles in the communities even though not all of them hold official governmental positions. For example, they commonly participate in community-based targeting of beneficiaries of social safety net programs and they are members of community-level task forces for mobilizing community members for collective action. Table A1 shows that most of these leaders are active members of village-level food security task forces and hence participate in targeting of social protection programs, including for the national Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). Once we identified these six leaders, we randomly assigned them into two experimental groups. Each group comprised three leaders. By playing with a group of three instead of six, we enhance the significance of the social dilemma. Additionally, playing the experiment with a group of three people may reduce complexity and potentially minimize fatigue associated with calculating contributions and payoffs. We conducted a total of 180 experimental sessions, one per village, with only one session administered per enumerator per day.Below we describe how the experiment was conducted. Consider a scenario where n=3 community leaders participate in a one-shot public good game. 10 At the beginning of the game, each leader (l ) receives an endowment e and has to decide how much to keep in his or her \"private account\" and how much to invest into the \"group account\". The total contributions invested in the group account are doubled by the experimenter and subsequently distributed equally among all three group members, irrespective of individual contributions. The portion of the endowment retained in the private account is only beneficial to the individual who invested in it. The payoff function for a community leader l from the public good experiment is as follows;where π(l) represents the payoff of leader l, e l denotes the initial endowment, and c l is the contribution of leader l to the group account. The parameter α denotes the marginal propensity to cooperate or marginal per capita return (MPCR) from the public good. In this experiment, the MPCR is approximately 0.67, implying that each leader would receive 0.67 Ethiopian birr (ETB) for every token contributed to the public good by any other member in the group. At the beginning of the experiment, each leader receives an endowment, e l , of 100 tokens which is equivalent to 100 ETB. 11We invited community leaders to come to public offices (such as public schools and kebele 10 We opted for a one-shot version to circumvent the impact of learning and reputation effects, which is the main concern in repeated public good games (Cecchi et al., 2016a). Additionally, a one-shot public good game helps to minimize participant's fatigue. However, it is essential to recognize that the one-shot version may not capture the intended outcome if participants lack a thorough understanding of the game. In this paper, meticulous steps were taken to ensure participants' comprehension. They engaged in multiple trial rounds and were presented with comprehension questions, requiring accurate responses before their involvement in the actual game. 11 At the time of data collection, $1 was equivalent to approximately 56 ETB . offices) to take part in a public good experiment. Upon arrival, we recorded the names and individual IDs of the community leaders. We obtained informed consent from all leaders. 12   The experimenters provided oral instructions regarding the public good game. Before the actual game began, to ensure they all understood the game and the calculation of payoffs, we provided them with several examples. We checked for comprehension through several exercises to make sure that all leaders understood the procedures. At the beginning of the experiment, we provided leaders with two envelopes: one labeled as a \"private account\" and the other as a \"group account\", along with 100 tokens. We then asked each leader how much to contribute to the \"group account\" and how much to keep in his/her \"private account\". Community leaders made their own decisions individually. We informed them that their earnings from the game would be determined by their own decisions and the decisions of two other leaders. We also informed the leaders that their participation in the game is entirely voluntary, and they can withdraw at any time without giving reasons. Including a show-up fee of 200 ETB, leaders earned an average of approximately $6.34. A total of 1,080 community leaders took part in the experiment.  Figure 3 presents the distribution of community leaders' contributions to the public good. On average, community leaders contributed about 55 ETB, more than half of the amount of the initial endowment. The modal contribution appears to be 50 ETB. About 3 percent of the leaders contributed nothing, while 16 percent of the community leaders contributed their entire endowment, suggesting a substantial variation in their willingness to contribute and free ride.Table 1 presents the summary statistics of community leaders. The distribution among kebele leaders, community elders, religious leaders, teachers, women and youth representatives is fairly uniform, each constituting approximately 17 percent of the sample. The vast majority of the leaders are relatively poor and nearly 13 percent of them reported that they are richer than most households. The average age of a community leader is about 42 years. Most leaders are literate. While about 39 percent and 17 percent of the leaders have primary and secondary levels of education, respectively, a non-trivial share of the leaders (26 percent) have above secondary education. Approximately 18 percent of the respondents report no literacy. Almost all leaders, except the women representative, are male. On the other hand, all women representatives are female. The overwhelming majority of the leaders (about 84 percent) reside in rural areas. We also asked community leaders to indicate how much they would agree with the statement that \"It is the responsibility of the government to reduce the differences in income between people with high incomes and those with low incomes, perhaps by raising the taxes of wealthy families or by giving income assistance to the poor\" using a Likert scale, which ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 represents \"Strongly disagree\" and 5 represents \"Strongly agree\". Most community leaders agreed with this statement. Regarding the regional distribution of our sample, we recruited around one-third (32 percent) of the community leaders from the Oromia region. We also recruited about 22 percent and 18 percent of them from Southern Nations Nationalities People region (SNNPR) 14 and Tigray region, respectively. About 12 percent of the sample leaders were recruited from Amhara 15 and 11 percent of them come from Somali region.On average, leaders contributed about 55% of their 100 ETB endowment to the public good, which is consistent with previous evidence from the public good game (Hopfensitz et al., 2014). This contribution level is comparable to average contributions observed in previous public good experiments among farm households in rural Ethiopia. For instance, a study conducted by Nigus et al. (2023) in the Tigray region of Ethiopia finds that households contributed about 45% of their endowment to the public good. The community leaders also anticipated that other leaders in their community would contribute about 52% of their 100 ETB endowment.Table 1 also presents the conflict events coming from the ACLED database, including information on battles, explosions, remote violence and protests, riots and attacks against civilians. We construct community-level measure of exposure to different conflict events by simply counting the number of conflicts within a 10 and 20 km radius distance around the kebele office or other central locations where the community leaders' met. Most of the conflict events recorded by ACLED between 2020 and 2023 were battles, followed by attacks against civilians, and protests.Figure 2 also presents the distribution of the conflict events across all regions of Ethiopia.We use alternative empirical methods to characterize the distribution and variation in community leaders' cooperation. As we aim to test alternative hypotheses and relationships, we run multiple and separate empirical specifications characterizing the distribution of cooperation as measured by community leaders' contribution to public goods. We first characterize the distribution of cooperation among community leaders to address what explains and drives cooperation among community leaders. We consider the role of (i) community leaders' individual attributes and roles in communities, especially women's leadership, (ii) belief/expectation about other members' cooperation and contribution, and (iii) culture and norms in communities. In our second stage analysis, we focus on the role of exposure to external threats, mainly conflict, focusing on different types of conflict that may affect communities differently. We estimate our first stage equation that characterizes the distribution and variation in cooperation among community leaders using the following simple specification:where C ic stands for the contribution of community leader i in community c. Ind ic stands for a vector of community leaders' individual characteristics and roles in communities, including an indicator variable for women's leadership. Expect ic stands for community leaders' expectation and belief about their peers' contribution to the public good game. 16 X ict captures additional observable demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of community leaders, including age, education level and their role in the community. θ c represents a vector of geographic fixed effects, which can control for any unobservable time-invariant differences across communities, including culture and norms. We control for a set of regional dummies (fixed-effects) to capture differences in livelihoods, culture, and norms related to cooperation and collective action. ϵ ic captures additional unobservable factors that may explain variation in cooperation.We also aim to uncover the implication of different types of conflicts on community leaders' willingness to cooperate or free ride. We hypothesize that different types of conflicts can affect community members and leaders differently, both in terms of their perception and their actual impacts. For example, some conflicts, such as battles between organized entities and groups, that usually affect the whole community or related public infrastructure can foster cooperation within communities while increasing enmity towards other (out of group) members of communities (Bauer et al., 2016). On the other hand, protests and riots can divide political opinions among community leaders and opinion makers, which in turn can beget mistrust and division among community leaders. For this purpose, we disaggregate exposure to different types of conflict events and estimate the following empirical specification:where all terms except Battle ic and OtherConf lict ic are as defined in Eq. 2. Battle ic andOtherConf lict ic stands for the number of battles and other types of conflict events experienced within a 20 km radius of the community. We anticipate that while battles and related covariate shocks may trigger cooperation as a response to external threat, other types of conflict can divide opinions and erode trust among community members. Thus, we hypothesize α 1 to be positive and statistically significant, while α 2 assumes the opposite. To probe the robustness of our results, we use both event counts associated with battles and other types of conflict events (such as riots and demonstration) as well as the corresponding number of fatalities recorded.The empirical model specified in Eq. 2 and 3 exploit spatial variation exposure to conflict events and willingness to cooperate. However, such specifications can be susceptible to omitted variables bias, as exposure to conflict may not be purely exogenous. Although we anticipate that community leaders have limited influence to shape the type of large-scale battles that have occurrred in many parts of Ethiopia in the past three years, their attributes may affect social significant.fabric and social cohesion among community members. For example, some types and attributes of community leaders may correlate with the breadth and spread of conflict in communities, especially small-scale conflicts. Thus, although we are controlling for a comprehensive list of observable characteristics and geographic variables, our estimates might not carry causal effects due to potential endogeneity problems arising from omitted attributes of community leaders that may affect exposure to conflict and willingness to cooperate. We thus interpret our resultsas associational evidence on the relationship between the important characteristics of community leaders and cooperation. That said, such associational evidence is important to inform strategies to nurture cooperation among leaders and other members of communities grappling with different types of conflicts. In particular, identifying which type and how community leaders can be more cooperative is crucial for effective delivery of public goods and services.We note that leaders for each community come from a narrowly defined area belonging to the same community and ethnic group. Thus, cooperation in our context mostly stands for within community or in-group cooperation rather than out-group cooperation. We have six community leaders from each community, who are likely to face similar shocks, including conflict, which could generate spatial correlation of unobserved effects (error terms) across leaders within the same community. To account for this, standard errors are clustered at the community level, which is the level at which exposure to conflict varies, thus, the recommended level of clustering for standard errors (Abadie et al., 2023).In this section, we first present empirical evidence on the implications of community leaders attributes, including gender and beliefs about others' cooperation, on their cooperation behavior (i.e., contribution to the public good). We next delve into the implication of conflict and fatalities on cooperation among community leaders. We further perform several robustness checks to ascertain whether conflict promotes or inhibits cooperation.Table 2 provides estimates of Eq. 2, which explains community leaders' cooperation behavior as a function of community leaders' attributes and roles in communities, belief about others' cooperation as well as a battery of characteristics at both the leader and community levels.We provide estimation results for different specifications. We first report baseline specifications controlling for leaders' attributes and roles as well as belief about other leaders' cooperation.We extend this by controlling region fixed effects in the second column. We then add a battery of community leaders' socioeconomic characteristics in the third column.The estimation results in Table 2 show that women leaders (captured by women representative) are more likely to contribute higher amounts of money to the public good. More specifically, women community representatives contributed significantly more to the public good than the kebele leaders. The size of the estimate is reasonably large: on average women leaders (women representatives) contribute 6 ETB more to the public good than the keble leader (the base group). Considering the mean contribution to the public good reported in Table 1 (55 ETB), this translates to an 11 percent higher contribution. This is surprising, given that the kebele leaders assume the highest official administrative responsibility in the village. We note that as almost all the community leaders, except the women representatives, are male, using an indicator variable for women representative or an indicator variable for gender of community leaders generates similar results. In Table A2, we report similar results using an indicator variable for gender of community leaders. This implies that including women in community leadership can increase cooperation in the provision of public goods and services. This finding contributes to the existing mixed evidence concerning the impact of women leaders on public goods provision. The majority of findings from experimental and quasi-experimental studies on women's leadership roles in public goods provision vary across different contexts, even within the same country. While some studies have shown a positive effect of women's leadership on public goods provision (e.g., see Deininger et al., 2020;Duflo and Topalova, 2004), others find that women's leadership is associated with a reduction in public goods provision (Gajwani and Zhang, 2015;Deininger et al., 2015;Ban and Rao, 2008;Bardhan et al., 2010;Rajaraman and Gupta, 2012).Although we lack additional data to uncover the mechanisms driving these differences across men and women community leaders, we can suggest the following alternative mechanisms. First, evolving literature in economics (Eckel and Grossman, 2008;Vieider et al., 2015;Charness and Gneezy, 2012;Falk et al., 2018;Croson and Gneezy, 2009) and psychology (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1978) documents important differences in social preferences between men and women. Many of these studies show that women exhibit higher levels of altruism, cooperation, trust, and positive reciprocity than men (Falk et al., 2018;Ho et al., 2024;Kamas and Preston, 2015).Interestingly, Falk et al. (2018) find that these gender differences in pro-social behaviors are relatively universal across countries and cultures, rather than being limited to specific cultural or developmental contexts. Previous studies have also suggested that these gender differences in preferences may stem from biological factors and social norms (Croson and Gneezy, 2009).Pro-social behavior and motivations are important ingredients and incentives for delivery of public goods and services (Besley and Ghatak, 2018;Gregg et al., 2011). Second, women may exhibit higher levels of empathy and responsibility to their constituency than men (Beutel and Marini, 1995;Adams and Funk, 2012;Kamas and Preston, 2021). Third, the experimental setting that put women as minority in the group may trigger pressure to contribute more to the public goods as demonstrated by DellaVigna et al. (2013).However, we find no significance difference in contribution to the public good between the kebele leader and community elder, religious leader, teacher, and youth representative. Furthermore, Table 2 indicates no significant association between community leaders' demographic characteristics (such as age and education) and contribution to the public good.Furthermore, the results in Table 2 show that community leaders' belief about other leaders' contributions is strongly associated with their own contribution to the public good. The estimates in column (1) show that a one birr increase in the belief of leaders about others' contributions is associated with a 0.4 ETB increase in their own contribution to the public good. These results are robust even when we control for a set of leader characteristics in column (3) and consistent with the findings in previous studies (Kocher et al., 2015). Specifically, the study by Kocher et al. (2015) finds that student subjects at the University of Munich contributed about 6.83 points (34.2 percent of their 20 points endowment) to the public good. The corresponding guessed contribution by other student subjects is also about 7.32 points, meaning about 36.6 percent of their endowment. 17 Consistent with the findings from other lab-in-the-field experiments (Hopfensitz et al., 2014;Nigus et al., 2023), the community leaders in our study made a substantial contribution (leaders contributed about 55 percent of their endowment) to the public good. This contribution surpassed that of student subjects in lab-experiments, which averaged around 34 percent. Likewise, the community leaders exhibit a higher expectation that their fellow leaders will contribute to the public good (approximately 52 percent of their endowment), compared to student subjects (who expect around a 36 percent contribution from their peers).We are also interested in examining the role of culture and norm on community leaders' cooperation behavior. To this end, we control for geographic fixed effects-region fixed effects-in columns (2) and (3). As stated above, accounting for geographic fixed effects allow us to control for any unobservable time-invariant differences across communities, including culture and norms. Table 2 reveals that community leaders based in Tigray region contributed less to the public good compared with those based in Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions as well as those resided in Dire Dawa city administration. This highlights important regional heterogeneity in culture and norms that defines cooperative behavior and associated attributes. Accounting for a large set of regional fixed effects improves the predictive power of our estimation, suggesting that these regional fixed effects capture important differences in culture and norms related to cooperation and collective action.Table 3 provides estimates of Eq. 3, which explains the implications of different types of conflict events on community leaders' cooperation behavior. Particularly, it provides estimates on the relationship between exposure to different types of conflict events and cooperation among community leaders. To enhance power and test our main hypothesis, we categorized the different conflict events into two broad types of disorder: (1) political violence and (2) demonstrations, and strategic developments. As discussed in section 2, we categorize battles, explosions/remote violence, and violence against civilians into the political violence disorder type. We then categorize the remaining conflict events-protests, riots and strategic developments-into demonstrations and strategic developments.Column (1) of Table 3 presents the most parsimonious model, wherein only conflict events and region fixed-effects are included as explanatory variables. The estimation results reveal a significant association between different conflict events and cooperation, albeit in divergent directions. Specifically, exposure to political violence within a 20 km radius distance exhibits a positive and significant association with cooperation among community leaders, while exposure to demonstrations and strategic developments within the same radius is negatively associated with cooperation. These estimation findings remain robust even after controlling for beliefs about other leaders' cooperation and the role of community leaders in column (2), as well as community leaders' individual characteristics in column (3). The results in Table 3 indicate that, on average, an additional incident of political violence that took place within a 20 km radius of the kebele is associated with a 0.15 ETB increase in the contribution to the public good. On the other hand, an additional demonstration or strategic development that took place within 20 km radius of the kebele, on average, is associated with a 0.43 ETB decrease in the contribution to the public good.In section 3, we hypothesized that different types of conflicts may affect community leaders' cooperation behavior differently. Some conflict events such as battles, remote violence, and violence against civilians between organized groups that usually affect the whole community, including essential public infrastructure, may foster cooperation within communities. On the other hand, protests and riots may deter cooperation by dividing political opinions and increasing division among community leaders. The estimation results in Table 3 lend support to our hypothesis in the sense that conflict events such as political violence (exposure to battles, explosions/remote violence, and violence against civilians) that usually affect the whole community is positively and significantly associated with cooperation. Despite the immediate disruption and destruction they cause, such events can paradoxically foster cooperation within communities (Bauer et al., 2014). As hypothesized by previous studies, shared identity and adversity can drive cooperation-community members may unite in solidarity to confront and overcome the common enemy (Bauer et al., 2014). The shared adversity can lead to a sense of collective identity and purpose, fostering cooperation among community members, the need for mutual support, and recognizing the strength in numbers can drive communities to unite.These results are consistent with the findings in previous studies that examine the effect of conflict on social capital and cooperation. For instance, the study by Rohner et al. (2013) in Uganda finds that conflict (battle, violence against civilians, and internally displace people) has a negative and significant effect on social capital (trust). However, they also show that these conflict events have no significant effects on trust towards inter-group members, such as known people and relatives, indicating that conflict erodes trust mainly towards out-group members by strengthening ethnic identity and within group ties. Similarly, Bauer et al. (2014) study the effect of armed conflict on altruism and inequality aversion using allocation games in Sierra Leone and finds that conflict increases altruistic behavior and makes individuals more inequality averse but only towards in-group members. Cecchi et al. (2016b) find evidence that conflict leads to differential pro-social behavior towards in-group and out-group members.Table 3 also shows that conflict events such as protests and riots, that affect only a certain portion of the community and hence can trigger division among the community members, are negatively and significantly associated with cooperation. This result is consistent with the evidence that conflicts within a complex and diverse network of rivalries may decrease cooperation. For instance, the study by Cassar et al. (2013) finds that in situations where conflict was perpetrated by people from within the communities (intra-group conflicts) and neighbors fight with neighbors, conflict decreases trust among community members from the same village.Notably, the estimated coefficients remain consistent across different specifications. 18   We also measured exposure to conflict using the cumulative number of fatalities caused by different conflict events that have taken place within a 20 km radius of the community. Table 4 and   Table A4 in the appendix report the association between fatalities caused by different conflict events and cooperation among community leaders. More specifically, we measured fatalities as those caused by political violence, and demonstrations and strategic developments, consistent with the method used for categorizing different conflict events. Columns ( 1)-( 3) of Tables 4 and   A4 present the estimation results ranging from the parsimonious model (column ( 1)), where we only control for fatalities and region fixed effects as explanatory variables, to our most preferred specification (column (3)), which includes a comprehensive list of community and leader level characteristics.Table 4 shows that fatalities caused by different conflict events have differential associations with cooperation. We find closely consistent results with the association between different conflict events and cooperation in Table 3. Specifically, fatalities caused by conflict events that affect the community as a whole tend to enhance cooperation among its members. Table 4 also echoes the estimation results reported in Table 3, suggesting that fatalities stemming from conflicts capable of fracturing community unity and weakening interpersonal bonds may decrease cooperation. For instance, fatalities caused by riots and protests have the potential to undermine cooperation within communities by fostering division along ideological, political, or social lines, eroding trust, instilling fear, and diverting resources. 19 20   18 In Table A3, we present the relatively more disaggregated results. As hypothesized, the association between the disaggregated conflict events and cooperation remain broadly consistent. The link between exposure to political violence and cooperation is significant at the 10% significance level in our most preferred specification in column (3) that includes a set of relevant covariates and region fixed-effects. Demonstrations as well as strategic developments have the expected sign but the later appears to be statistically insignificant, potentially due to lack of power because of the limited variation in this variable of interest. 19 Table A4 presents the relationship between a relatively more disaggregated fatality counts and cooperation.The estimation results are in line with those reported in Table A3, While fatalities arising from political violence and demonstrations demonstrate significant positive and negative associations with cooperation, respectively, no significant association is observed between fatalities caused by strategic developments and cooperation. Nonetheless, the results presented in Table A4 reinforce the conclusions drawn from Tables 3 and 4, indicating that conflicts affecting the entire community may foster cooperation, whereas conflicts specific to the community may dampen cooperation. 20 Moreover, we examine whether women generally contribute to the public good than men leaders while controlling for different conflict events. As shown in Table A5, women contribute approximately 4 ETB more to the public good than their male counterparts.  We probe the robustness our results by measuring exposure to conflict by counting the number of conflict events within a 25 km and 30 km radius around the community. We hypothesize that the 25 km and 30 km radius buffers are reasonable distance to ensure that conflicts occurred within close proximity, thereby potentially detecting any significance association between conflict events and cooperation behavior. To test if the observed results in Tables 3 and 4 remain consistent, we explore the relationship between the cumulative number of conflicts in 25 km and 30 km radius and cooperation. The estimation results in Tables A6 through A9 in the appendix are consistent with the main results in Tables 3 and 4. The estimation results show that different conflict events can have varied effects on cooperation. The results show that conflict events that affected the whole society may foster cooperation and strengthen social bonds in the face of adversity. Such types of conflict events promote in-group cooperation. On the other hand, conflict events that triggers division among in-group community members are negatively associated with cooperation. 21To probe if the observed relationship between conflict and cooperation is channeled through changing beliefs about other leaders cooperation behavior, we test the link between exposure to conflict and beliefs about others' contribution in Table A10. Political violence is positively associated with belief about other leaders' cooperative behavior in our parsimonious models (columns (1) and ( 2)). However, this relationship dissipates gradually in our most preferred specification (column (3)). In addition, we find no significant association between demonstrations and strategic developments and belief about others leaders' cooperation behavior. In Table A11, we explore the relationship between fatalities and belief about other leaders cooperation behavior. We observe no substantial association between fatalities and belief about others' behavior, with the estimated coefficients less economically meaningful. The estimation results in Tables A10 and A11 suggest that conflict may affect cooperation through channels other than shaping beliefs.21 To further probe if the observed results in Tables 3 and 4 as well as Tables A6 through A9 remain robust, we measure exposure to conflict events at 10 km radius distance. We find statistically weak association between different conflict events and cooperation. This could be attributed to the relatively limited number of conflict events within a 10 km radius distance. Supporting this notion, Table 1 indicates that the occurrences of conflicts within a 10 km radius distance are notably fewer compared to those within a 20 km radius distance.For instance, the number of battles within a 10 km radius distance is about one-third of the number of battles occurred within a 20 km radius distance. Moreover, this paper focuses on villages (Kebeles) rather than individual households, suggesting that villages cover a larger geographic expanse. Hence, a 10 km radius distance might not necessarily entail a broad scope for the exposure to conflict events. The results are available up on request.Cooperation is vital for mobilizing collective action and delivering public goods and services.Mounting evidence suggests that leaders are instrumental in promoting and maintaining cooperation within groups. This is particularly pertinent in rural settings of Africa where government administrative capacities are constrained, necessitating reliance on community or traditional leaders. However, the attributes and factors driving cooperation among community leaders and strategies for enhancing willingness to cooperate among community leaders remain relatively uncharted territories. This paper aims to examine the role that women's leadership as well as exposure to armed conflict play in facilitating or limiting cooperation among community leaders. It aims to extend earlier studies by investigating (i) the role women leaders play in the provision of public goods, (ii) the drivers of cooperation among community leaders rather than previously studied student subjects and individuals, and (iii) the implication of exposure to different types of conflict events (both covariate and idiosyncratic) and cooperation.To this end, we use a unique dataset from about 1,080 community leaders selected from 180 villages/kebeles in Ethiopia. We use a lab-in-the-field experiment, survey, and geo-referenced data on conflict exposure (which come from the ACLED database). We use contributions in the public good game as measure of cooperation. We find that women leaders exhibit a higher level of cooperation than male leaders. For example, compared to those assuming the highest official administrative responsibility in the village, who are all men, women leaders (and representatives) contribute about 11 percent more to public goods.This complements existing contested evidence regarding the role of women leaders in public goods provision.We analyzed the contributions of women representatives alongside other community leaders, potentially contributing to a more nuanced understanding of women's role in public goods provision, as opposed to the limited perspective in the provision of public goods offered by comparing villages with and without female chairpersons. Our findings indicate that including women in community leadership can increase cooperation and the provision of public goods and services.Ethiopia recently witnessed a widespread armed conflict, which impacted millions of people.This allows to explore the implication of various types of conflicts on community leaders' cooperative behavior by merging the lab-in-the field experiment with conflict data from the ACLED database. We, therefore, test whether exposure to different types of conflict matters for cooperation. We provide nuanced empirical evidence that reconciles existing mixed evidence on the affect the whole community such as political violence (including battles, explosions/remote violence, and violence against civilians) are associated with higher levels of cooperation. However, localized conflicts impacting specific community segments, such as demonstrations, protests, and riots, are associated with lower levels of cooperation.While our data cannot pinpoint the exact mechanisms through which women's leadership and conflicts shape cooperation, our findings offer important insights that can help inform strategies to foster cooperation. These findings highlight the role of leaders' attributes as well as their exposure to shocks. That said, although the conclusions drawn in this paper offer valuable insights for policy and future research, they warrant additional investigation using longitudinal data as well as experimental sources of variation. Future research may also focus on uncovering the mechanisms through which leaders' attributes and exposure to conflict can shape cooperative behavior.       ","tokenCount":"8621"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7410577201.json b/data/part_1/7410577201.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..90ea0b3e72cf65dd1b0ae117c718d5b66535f9f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7410577201.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7110e44137c87efecef989ba69c41b29","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7a7eeb92-42de-4872-9b6b-11d0306aa57e/retrieve","id":"1069970704"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"45d43c2e-8aae-4555-984e-553be59beea0","pagecount":"3","content":"Strategies for reducing rural poverty face the challenge to identify promising leverage points for public and private sector investments, while at the same time accounting for diverse rural livelihoods of smallholders and other resource-poor people. In response to their asset endowments and the risks and opportunities they perceive, smallholders diversify their livelihood strategies. Diversification can take different forms depending on household conditions and the political, institutional and market environments in which smallholders pursue their livelihoods. Households with limited asset endowments may primarily aim at meeting subsistence needs through on-farm production, sell any surplus in the market, and supplement their cash income through off-farm labor in the agricultural and related sectors. Households with higher asset endowments may gear a higher percentage of their production to markets, with some members seeking out employment opportunities in nearby or distant urban areas. In both cases, access to resources, labor division, income generation, and decision making are gender and age specific, with clear differentiation between women, men and the youth.Over the past decade, many rural poverty reduction strategies have adopted value chain development (VCD) as a key element to promote local economic growth and development. Public and private sector agents and civil society organizations have engaged with rural households for building supplies of higher value products for distant markets. However, doing so without understanding the needs and circumstances of rural households and intra-household differentiation can imply higher costs, low uptake, and reduced or undesired impact. This is of particular importance in view of the inherent tension between the specialization promoted by VCD and the diversification of smallholder livelihoods. Typically, VCD initiatives focus on a specific agri-food value chain for which resource allocation and investments appear most promising in terms of local economic development and in pursuit of further social and environmental goals. There are numerous examples where such a single-chain focus has disproportionally benefited men through better access to technical assistance, training and credit, often aggravated by cultural norms that limit the control over increased income and other resources by women and the youth. In response, a growing number of VCD initiatives has put women empowerment at the forefront by gearing VCD services predominantly or exclusively to them. While the promotion of women's involvement in VCD may lead to increased gender equity in a given chain, there may be unfavorable shifts in gender relations as regards other market and non-market household activities performed by women and men. Such trade-offs in smallholder livelihoods remain often undetected in the approaches and tools for designing value chain interventions and assessing their impact.In response to the typical shortcomings of single-chain approaches to VCD, this paper makes the case for a multi-chain approach to rural poverty reduction that accounts for broader livelihood and gender goals. The approach is based on assets, with a focus on human, social, natural, physical and financial capitals at the level of smallholder households and the enterprises they may be part of (e.g. cooperatives, farmers' associations). We present a conceptual framework that integrates value chain, livelihoods and gender perspectives to identify value chain options for women, men and the youth differentiated according to their capacities and aspirations and the non-market activities they perform. The framework is further informed by the review of VCD tools, own case studies and those presented in the literature.In what way does VCD allow for asset building at the level of smallholder households and their enterprises, and to what extent are outcomes gender differentiated?2) Which trade-offs exist between increased investment of household resources in a given value chain and other livelihood activities geared to the market or subsistence?3) What implications do the findings have for the assessment of current and the development of future VCD initiatives, as well as the design of public and private policies in support of gender-equitable economic and overall livelihoods development?This paper is based on a critical review of VCD approaches and tools, conceptual debates on addressing intra-household power relations and trade-offs, and the review of case studies on gender and value chain development. The latter include cases studies based on the 5Capitals tool for assessing the impact of value chain development on poverty (Donovan & Stoian 2012, Sheck et al. 2013). These cases, involving research and development organizations engaged in value chain analysis or development, covered a broad range of countries, crops, types of intervention (private vs. public sector driven), and stages of enterprise development (incipient vs. advanced). We assessed livelihood resilience at the level of smallholder households and business viability at the level of small and medium enterprises linking them with downstream value chain actors (\"linked enterprises\"). Focus was on critical livelihood and business assets, with special attention to the synergies and substitutions among these assets resulting from the interventions. As women empowerment was an explicit goal only in a few of the VCD case studies, we will also draw on literature for further insight into gender relations and equality with regard to intra-household access to and use of assets, for example the GAAP studies (IFPRI 2013).Principal data used were those related to 30-35 indicators for the household and business assets listed in the table below. Changes in asset endowments were determined at the level of outcome domains (2-3 per asset) and categorized as green (\"reasonably high asset endowment\"), yellow (\"somewhat insufficient asset endowment\"), or red (insufficient asset endowment\"). At aggregate level, this led to a traffic light system that allows prioritizing future VCD interventions for more balanced asset building that enhances resilience of smallholder households and gender equity. Across the case studies we found evidence, though to varying degrees, that VCD can address resource inefficiencies and achieve economies of scale through bundling household and other assets for improved production, processing and commercialization of agri-food products. While several cases showed building of certain assets at household and/or enterprise level, we found little evidence for broad-based asset building that would ensure livelihood resilience and business viability as markets contract, natural disasters hit, or regulatory frameworks change. In some cases, particularly those targeting women producers and salespersons (e.g. horticultural value chain in Afghanistan), women's empowerment took place through building of both household and enterprise assets controlled by women. In many cases, however, VCD was promoted without a gender lens and women's empowerment or shifts in gender relations were less pronounced or visible. These preliminary findings will be complemented through insights from literature that address intra-household resource allocation and decision making in relation to value chain development and other development efforts.A principal finding is that the transformation of household livelihoods and gender relations requires looking beyond a given value chain to account for the broad number of market and non-market activities smallholder households are engaged in, as well as related opportunities for women, men and the youth.Based on this we make a case for a multi-chain approach to gender equitable value chain and livelihoods development and associated changes in the political, institutional and market environment. Such an approach requires coordinated efforts in a given territory between governmental agencies, NGOs and value chain stakeholders to promote smallholder integration in different value chains, where the portfolio of chains implies household, gender and age-differentiated opportunities based on asset endowments, livelihood aspirations, and risk tolerance. From a women empowerment perspective, the identification of opportunities for effective participation in value chains needs to take into account the underlying power relations between men and women to allow for improved access of women to assets and decision making power. At the same time, possible trade-offs with non-market activities geared towards food security and other household goals need to be addressed. Finally, analysis needs to extend beyond the household to include administrators of smallholder enterprises (e.g. cooperatives, farmers' associations), services providers, and downstream buyers and processors who all play a major role in determining the opportunity set available to women.","tokenCount":"1293"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7444580136.json b/data/part_1/7444580136.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a33740ff6100e716467af5db691ace82e7a454f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7444580136.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9c7b1bd2dca3cb071bf19b43ccf2d3b2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3595bc8b-d84d-456a-9d89-ab45b45e95b1/retrieve","id":"-366256277"},"keywords":["Adoption","cattle","climate change","improved forages"],"sieverID":"e86d21be-1fde-4452-93aa-4707d165b86f","pagecount":"4","content":"In Colombia, cattle farming is the economic activity of highest relevance in the rural environment, contributing to 53% of the agricultural GDP and 1.3% of the overall GDP. However, extensive management prevails, based on the use of native and/or naturalized pastures on soils of low to medium fertility, which limits the forage supply for prolonged dry periods, leading to low productivity and increased production costs due to the additional use of concentrates and supplements.Considering this problem, researchers from the University of Cauca and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have been working for > 10 years in the Colombian Cauca Department on investigating processes of adoption, diffusion and transfer of improved forage technologies among small and medium scale livestock producers. The investigated improved forages allow maintaining the feed supply in terms of quantity and quality throughout the whole year while contributing to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and also promoting socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of the livestock production system. The results of these studies demonstrate the acceptance of improved forages among livestock producers, though adoption levels are still low.In order to identify strategies to promote adoption of improved forage technologies among small and medium scale livestock producers, a semi-quantitative study was conducted with 307 producers in the Colombian Cauca Department (Patía and Mercaderes Municipalities). Participatory rural appraisal workshops were organized to evaluate the perception of producers related to utilization of improved grasses and legumes. The hypothesis that the level of knowledge about management and establishment of improved forages, as well as the access to resources (positively or negatively) influence the adoption level were tested. Based on these results, factors that inhibit adoption were identified and recommendations for both producers and regional decision makers were formulated to support the design of strategies for a wider adoption of improved forages, contributing to sustainable intensification of livestock systems, productivity increase and climate change mitigation.In Colombia, cattle farming is the economic activity of highest relevance in the rural environment, contributing to 53% of the agricultural GDP and 1.3% of the overall GDP (FEDEGAN, 2014). Furthermore, it is the activity with highest land use in the country, occupying over 30 million hectares (80% of the agricultural land), out of which 69.4% are related to forages (DANE, 2015) under mainly extensive cattle production systems. These systems are based on the use of native and/or naturalized pastures on soils of low to medium fertility, resulting in a limited forage supply especially during prolonged dry periods, and leading to low productivity. In addition, increased production costs might arise due to the use of concentrates and supplements. These factors result in high environmental impacts such as those related to land degradation due to overgrazing, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, deforestation, or water contamination (Steinfeld et al., 2009).The University of Cauca and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), with other collaborators have demonstrated the potential of improved forages for a sustainable intensification of livestock systems, reducing areas under extensive grazing, increasing productivity and competitiveness, and contributing to the adaptation and mitigation of climate change (Rao et al., 2015).Improved forages have shown to be accepted by livestock producers, however adoption levels are low, which leads to the assumption that productive inefficiency is also a result of limited technology adoption (Suárez et al. 2012). There are multiple factors that promote and limit the adoption of technologies for a particular region. It is necessary to identify these factors so that decision makers can be informed on how to develop adequate policies, incentives and strategies that lead to higher adoption levels and contribute to the transformation of traditional into sustainable production systems.The aim of this study is to identify the relevant adoption factors (drivers and inhibitors) for improved forages among cattle producers in the Colombian Cauca Department and to propose strategies on how to increase adoption levels of improved forages.This study is part of the research program \"Development and implementation of forage resources for sustainable bovine production systems in the Cauca department, Colombia\" coordinated by the University of Cauca and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).This study was conducted in the Colombian Cauca Department (Patía and Mercaderes municipalities) between October 2015 and July 2016. A semi-structured surveys was applied to 307 cattle producers of the region, randomly selected through producer associations of this area (Coagrousuarios and Asogamer) and by applying a snow-ball sampling method. In addition, personalized interviews with formal institutions along the cattle value chain (Banco Agrario, Secretaría de Desarrollo Agropecuario y Ambiental de Patía (SEDAM), Centro Provincial de Mercaderes) were conducted and through participatory rural appraisal workshops with cattle producers (adopters and non-adopters of improved forages) more in-depth qualitative information on adoption factors was obtained.Information analysis included a qualitative, descriptive part to identify the main factors that facilitate or inhibit adoption processes and a second phase with correlation analyses and mean difference tests to evaluate the influence of sociodemographic variables (e.g., education, income, producer size), technical knowledge, access to information, membership in a producer association, and role within the association on the adoption level.According to the survey results, 42.7% (N=307) of the interviewed cattle producers have adopted improved forage technologies. Currently, 1,082 out of 9,558 hectares of the area the interviewed producers dedicate to cattle production are being cultivated with improved forages -that corresponds to 11.32% of the study area. 4.8% of the producers show a 100% adoption rate, and 20.8% are increasing the use of improved forages showing adoption levels from 50 to 90%.The statistical analysis (t-tests for mean difference) shows significantly higher adoption levels among producers with administrative/leading roles in producer associations. Significant correlations exist between adoption level and age (older producers tend to adopt less), distance of the producers' farm to input and output markets (the further away a producer lives from a market, the lower the adoption level). Although these correlations are significant, they show relatively small magnitudes (between -0.1 and -0.2). We found no significant relationships or differences between the adoption level and the variables gender, income, and education.According to both the quantitative and the qualitative analyses, the following drivers for the adoption of improved forages could be identified:• Biophysical characteristics of improved forages: higher productivity of improved forages (quality and quantity), tolerance to abiotic stress factors (e.g., drought) • Availability of technical assistance • Membership in associations • An administrative/leading role of a producer within a producer association Adopting producers never stated environmental benefits (e.g., less GHG emissions) to be a reason for adopting improved forages -all mentioned drivers are a result of the aim to achieve a higher economic performance.As inhibiting factors could be identified:• Lack of knowledge (e.g., about the existence of forage species relevant for the region, and about the implementation and management of improved forages) • Limited access to productive resources (e.g., improved forage seeds, fertilizers) • Limited economic resources resulting from inadequate credit schemes (e.g., repayment schemes) • Distance to input and output markets • Negative experiences made by other producers • Lack of interest and initiative of the producers (risk aversion)According to the results of this study, technical knowledge has an important effect on the adoption of improved forages. Transferring the existing knowledge on the species relevant for the region, their establishment and management is recommended as one strategy for the promotion of improved forages. Methodologies for this purpose include Farmer Field Schools (FAO, 2005), training of trainers, demonstration plots, feedback loops between producers, technicians and researchers, and workshops.The establishment of improved forages is a costly undertaking for cattle producers and credit, if available, is being provided under inappropriate conditions. It is necessary to promote the dialogue between producer associations and financial entities to develop appropriate credit schemes for cattle production.In spite of the interest in implementing improved forages, productive inputs such as seeds can be hard to find. Therefore, it is recommendable to promote local seed multiplication programs (legumes) and to strengthen the formal seed sector (for forage hybrids).Promoting public and/or private incentives (differentiated products, payment for eco-system services) may serve as a monetary incentive to producers for investing in the establishment of improved forages and in creating an awareness of their environmental benefits.","tokenCount":"1348"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7453745452.json b/data/part_1/7453745452.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..24487907c4d8e5173fe425466746911f73a3738a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7453745452.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e48c0bb80ffe58775fe4961ecb14afc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/403e17fd-1661-4c72-a13d-58f82af63a6e/retrieve","id":"209805875"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1c33a6c7-8279-432f-bfdb-348b455d688f","pagecount":"13","content":"A limiting factor in cassava production is cassava bacterial blight (CBB) 4 . This disease is distributed extensively in Asia, Africa, and South America.Losses caused by CBB vary greatly. If environmental conditions are favorable for disease development and if no agronomic practices are adopted to control it, losses may reach 100% in only two or three cropping cycles. The disease spreads from one area to another and from one growth cycle to the next mainly through the planting of infected stakes. Dissemination also occurs over small areas through tools, insects, and rain splash.Disease severity depends very much on the cultivar, soil fertility, climate, and quantity of inoculum present in the area. Repeated cropping of highly susceptible varieties, without rotation, reduces soil fertility, which increases the crop's predisposition to the disease.The causal agent of the disease is the bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis or Xam. This pathogen induces a wide range of symptoms. In Colombia, the disease was very destructive in 1971. Since then, its presence has been reported in the country's principal cassava-producing areas (Lozano 1986;Restrepo and Verdier 1997).Xam is a systemic pathogen and an epiphyte. It characteristically induces a combination of a wide range of symptoms, including angular spots in leaves, blight, wilt, exudates and lesions in stems, and death (Figure 9-1).Infection begins with an epiphytic phase of the pathogen on leaves, which helps build inoculum. This, in its turn, significantly increases the probability of future infection through stomata and wounds. Leaf spots appear as moist, angular areas that are clearly distinguishable on the lower surface of leaves. The leaf blight is attributed to a toxin (3-methylthiopropionic acid) produced by Xam. The bacterium colonizes the intercellular spaces in leaf mesophyll and multiplies rapidly, producing large quantities of exopolysaccharide matrix. The leaf spots exude a yellowish and sticky substance that concentrates into drops, mainly on the lower side of leaves. These bacterial exudates are scattered to other plants by rain drops, which fall and splash, during the rainy season and, to a lesser extent, through insects. The pathogen multiplies and the consequent increased production of bacterial exudates blocks vascular tissues, leading to the leaves wilting.Highly susceptible clones may be entirely defoliated. The bacterium enters the xylem vessels through lysis of cell walls in the tissue and multiplies rapidly in the vascular system, extending to all parts of the plant and producing death. Symptoms can also appear on fruits as wet areas and on the leaf sheath or in embryos. Seeds from infected fruits may be deformed and the germination rate is low. Roots of infected plants usually do not present symptoms, except in some susceptible varieties, which may then display dry and putrescent spots around necrosed vascular lines. This characteristic putrefaction is exclusive to vascular tissues, with other root tissues remaining normal.Losses are usually correlated with the number of infected stakes used in planting. When plants are infected, their aerial parts may be completely destroyed. New shoots may develop from the stem, either above or below the soil surface. These young shoots are susceptible under extreme and rainy conditions, rapidly becoming infected. If the planting material is infected, any shoots it produces will wilt and quickly die.The causal agent of bacterial blight was renamed several times between 1912 and 1915. It was first called Bacillus manihotis Arthaud-Berthet and Bondar; and then called Phytomonas manihotis (Arthaud-Berthet and Bondar) Viegas. It was then renamed Xanthomonas manihotis (Arthaud-Berthet) Starr, and further X. campestris pv. manihotis Berthet and Bondar. In 1995 Vauterin et al. proposed the name X. axonopodis pv. manihotis (or Xam).The bacterium grows in a medium containing sucrose, producing colonies without pigmentation. It is a Gram-negative rod, measuring 0.5 × 1.0 mm, and has a single polar flagellum. Except for the lack of pigmentation, most of its physiological and biochemical characteristics are typical of xanthomonads.More than 90% of Xam strains evaluated hydrolyze Tween 60, Tween 80, and starch. They grow in the presence of 0.001% (w/v) of Hg(NO 3 ), but not of 0.05% (w/v) of triphenyltetrazolium chloride or of 0.001% (w/v) of malachite green. They show βglucosidase activity, and form acid from melibiose but not from D-ribose or lactose. They grow in DL-glyceric acid, but not in mucic or saccharic acid, or ethane. They use L-threonine as their only source of nitrogen and are sensitive to 10 g of gentamicin and fusidic acid.According to Restrepo and Verdier (1997), considerable variation was observed among Xam strains in terms of biochemical, physiological, serological, and genomic characters when analyzed, using either the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) or amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique (Restrepo et al. 1999).For characterization, different types of probes for Xam are being used by RFLP, whether genomic or plasmid. Universal probes such as ribotyping have also been used. The African Xam strains belong to one of five ribotypes identified in South America and, when using RFLP analyses with a plasmid probe, 14 different haplotypes can be distinguished. A high level of DNA polymorphism was detected in strains from South America (Restrepo and Verdier 1997).In Colombia, Xam strains collected from three edaphoclimatic zones (ECZs) were geographically differentiated (Restrepo and Verdier 1997). The genetic diversity of Xam was shown to have a microgeographical distribution (Restrepo et al. 2000b).Differences in virulence between Xam strains were described for the first time by Robbs et al. (1972). Such variation in virulence was also observed among strains from either Brazil or Africa. The speed at which differences in symptoms develop suggests variation in aggressiveness. In 1998, a total of 10 pathotypes were determined among Xam strains in Venezuela, using five cassava varieties as differentials (Verdier et al. 1998b). In 2000, a group of differential cassava varieties was proposed to differentiate the virulence of Xam in Colombia (Restrepo et al. 2000a). Different pathotypes were identified within a group of strains representing the genetic diversity of Xam in Colombia.Infection begins with the multiplication of the pathogen as epiphyte, occurring usually near the stomata. Leaves are penetrated through stomatic openings or wounds. Twelve hours of high relative humidity suffice for bacterial establishment. The most appropriate temperature for infection is about 23 °C.Apparently, the length of the photoperiod does not affect the bacterium's establishment. Xam is a vascular pathogen that establishes itself inside vessels after a preliminary phase of intercellular development in the mesophyll. If the bacterium invades lignified stems, it remains within the vascular tissues, where it can survive for up to 30 months. Host-pathogen interactions have been studied under controlled conditions, using histological and cytochemical methods.Studies on the epiphytic phase of the disease are well documented, both in the field and in vitro. A cytochemical study of the development of an aggressive strain in a susceptible host showed that Xam degrades the middle lamella and cell wall (Boher et al. 1995). This suggests that the bacterium's lytic activity favors its intercellular progress and penetration of vascular bundles. The bacterial extracellular matrix (xanthan), produced in all phases of pathogenesis, is associated with the degradation of the host's parietal structures.Seed can be infected by rain, mechanical inoculation, or translocation of the pathogen through xylem vessels. A high percentage of planting materials collected from crops infected with CBB carry the pathogen. However, they do not show symptoms, as the bacterium is latent in the embryo. Dormancy breaks shortly after germination. Although stakes germinate normally, symptoms can appear during stem and leaves development.The use of infected stakes is the principal reason for the pathogen persisting from one growth cycle to the next. Another reason is the way it is dispersed over the land. The pathogen can disperse over short distances mainly through rain splash and contaminated tools. Tools used to harvest cassava are simultaneously used to cut stakes for the next plantings. Hence, the pathogen disseminates easily to healthy stakes taken from asymptomatic stems, which harbor the pathogen. Because wounds facilitate infection, the transit of people and animals through cassava fields, especially during or after rains, can help spread the pathogen.Other potential sources of inoculum are soils or contaminated irrigation waters, although their role in infection is smaller, as the pathogen does not survive well in soil. In contrast, it survives as an epiphyte on many weed hosts that then serve as inoculum sources. Insects may also disseminate the bacterium, comprising as much as 10% of its dispersion over short distances.During drought, disease development is reduced but the bacterium remains viable in plant tissues and exudates, providing sources of inoculum when the rainy season arrives.The amount of damage caused by CBB varies in different places of the world, but can be considerable. Crop losses can reach 30% when stakes are taken from infected materials to disease-free plots. If environmental conditions are favorable and control measures are not adopted, losses can reach 100% within three harvesting cycles.When weak pathogens such as Colletotrichum spp. and Choanephora cucurbitarum invade tissues infected with CBB, the synergistic effect of these pathogens increases disease severity. Such combinations can produce losses of up to 90% of the first harvest.At the beginning of the 1970s, CBB epidemics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo caused losses of the cassava crop (75%), with the total damage being compounded by the destruction of the leaves, which are rich in protein and therefore used in the diet. Famine developed, during which crop losses in central Africa were 80%. In 1974, an epidemic was reported in Minas Gerais, Brazil, causing losses of 50% in a planting of over 10,000 hectares.Losses in other regions of America ranged between 5% and 40% in 1975. In Asia, losses have not been estimated, as the pathogen was introduced only recently, possibly in the mid-1960s. The disease is endemic in certain regions of America and Africa, where it causes significant losses. The blight is moderately important in Thailand and China, although, especially in China, its incidence has been increasing over the last 2 years.Disease severity increases when day-to-night temperatures fluctuate widely from 15 to 30 °C. This explains the moderate to low severity of CBB in areas with relatively stable temperatures. This effect of temperature on the disease has helped researchers predict the relative importance of the disease in each region and to develop practical recommendations for its control.The principal edaphoclimatic zones (ECZs) where cassava is cultivated in Colombia were visited between 1995 and 2000. An ECZ is defined according to climatic conditions; soil type; importance of the predominant ecosystem; and the crop's principal limitations, both biotic and abiotic:In each ECZ, different sites were visited and different plots were evaluated for the presence of bacterial blight. For each plot, at least 15 plants were randomly chosen and qualified according to a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 refers to an asymptomatic plant and 5 to a plant that died from CBB. Evaluations were made in optimal periods (rainy seasons) for observing symptoms. In each field, leaf or stem tissue was collected from plants infected by Xam to confirm the pathogen's presence.In ECZ1 (North Coast), the disease incidence was severe on all farms or plots visited. The varieties most used were M Col 2215 ('Venezolana') and M Col 1505, which were found to be highly susceptible to CBB in greenhouse evaluations. In this ECZ, the climate is favorable for disease development and is a factor towards explaining the blight's incidence. Indeed, optimal conditions for CBB include alternate dry and rainy seasons, very high relative humidity, and significant differences between the maximum and minimum daily temperatures (Lozano and Sequiera 1974).In ECZ2 (Eastern Plains), disease is severe. In ECZs 1 and 2, the widespread distribution of the pathogen can also be explained by the intensity with which cassava is cultivated in these areas and the length of time the pathogen has been present in the zones.However, the lack of available stakes encourages small farmers to exchange planting materials, which may be contaminated. Hence, variants of Xam are disseminated or introduced into regions where the CBB had not been previously detected.In ECZ5 (high-altitude Andes), the disease is widespread. Geographically isolated from the other zones by mountains, CBB is conditioned for altitude, which permits the introduction of only a few cassava varieties. The genetic context of the host is therefore limited and, in certain plots (perhaps most), only the genotype 'Algodona'-a variety discovered by the region's small farmers-is found. Because of the uniform population, the pathogen does not exert pressure for change.In ECZ7 (semiarid region of Guajira), the disease was not detected in the field, nor was the bacterium found in collected samples. Recently, the disease was detected as relatively severe in the Departments of Quindío and southern Valle del Cauca. Usually, plots in forest ecosystems are disease-free.Resistance to Xam by Manihot esculenta is characterized mainly by hypersensitivity at the vascular scale, and is not observed in leaves. In this case, response is more defensive than constituting real hypersensitivity.Resistance to CBB is expressed as a gradual development of the disease in leaves and stems. Kpémoua et al. (1996) demonstrated that, in resistant varieties and on a cellular scale, osmophilic compounds accumulate in vacuoles, and cell walls in contact with the pathogen lignify rapidly. In addition, tylosis, which closes off vascular bundles, occurs rapidly. Phenols and reinforcements of structural barriers (lignin, callose, and suberin deposits) are also produced. Thus, a resistant variety impedes the bacterium's progress and no exudates are formed (Boher and Verdier 1994;Boher et al. 1995).Overall, the same reactions are presented in the tissues of both susceptible and resistant varieties. The difference is that, in resistant varieties, reactions occur earlier and with greater intensity, so that the defensive response diminishes the extent of the disease (Kpémoua et al. 1996).A very important characteristic is the increase in cells that produce phenols, found first in the phloem and then in the xylem of resistant varieties that have been infected. Phenol compounds are known to play a key role in plants' resistance to pathogens. Other compounds, including new lignins, are synthesized only after being induced by the bacterium. Applications of potassium fertilizer also increase resistance to Xam, probably because it improves lignification mechanisms in vascular tissues.Evaluation of resistance to CBB can be conducted at various levels, whether in the field or greenhouse, with seedlings and seeds, or in in vitro cultures. For field evaluations, the following scale of 1 to 5 is used (Figure 9-2), where: 1 = absence of symptoms 2 = angular spots only, no wilt 3 = extensive angular spots and leaf wilt, gum exudates in stems and petioles 4 = extensive angular spots, wilt, leaf defoliation, and drying of apical parts 5 = drying of apical parts and plant death Plants are evaluated over three or four cycles and, in each cycle, four observations are made. This type of evaluation is very useful in areas where disease pressure is high, which facilitates observation of disease development and progress. Furthermore, this type of evaluation does not require investment in inoculation materials or maintenance of plants under special conditions. In Colombia, such evaluation is practiced in the different ECZs where cassava is cultivated, such as the Eastern Plains, Atlantic Coast, and Andean Region. When inoculum presence is low, spraying can be carried out with local strains of the bacterium, together with sand or other abrasive material that wounds foliage and thus facilitates penetration by the pathogen.Stems are inoculated 1 month after planting mature stakes. Bacterial isolates are made to grow on LPG agar medium 12 h before inoculation. To inoculate, a colony is taken from the bacterial culture, using the end of a needle or toothpick, directly out of the petri dish. With that same needle, the colony is introduced into the stem near the plant's apical parts, at about 10 8 cfu per puncture. According to the availability of material, 10 replications are made for each pair of bacterial isolate and cassava variety.Observations are made at days 8, 15, and 30 after inoculation. Optimal conditions for disease development are 30 °C and a saturated relative humidity. Symptoms are scored on a scale of 1 to 5 (Figure 9-3), where: 1 = necrotic area around inoculation point 2 = exudate at the inoculation point 3 = wilting, regardless of quantity of exudate (one or two leaves) 4 = wilting of more than two leaves 5 = entire plant wilts A categorical (i.e., quantifiable) appraisal can therefore be made of the observations. A simple method of inoculating in vitro seedlings has been described (Verdier et al. 1990). It is carried out under sterilized conditions on 6-week-old seedlings. The inoculum is calibrated at 10 8 cfu/mL and is deposited, using a paintbrush, on the lower and upper surfaces of the first two leaves (i.e., the oldest). The plants are left in a climate chamber at 28 °C with a day-to-night ratio of 16/8 h.Resistance to CBB is believed to be polygenic and additively inherited, with a variation that ranges between 25% and 65% (Hahn et al. 1979). Differences between resistant and susceptible varieties are expressed as a variation in the rate of colonization by Xam and penetration of vascular tissues. Hence, resistance is considered to be quantitative (Kpémoua et al. 1996). Because of the quantitative nature of resistance, a strategy based on detecting quantitative trait loci (QTLs) was developed to use the available cassava genetic map to identify those genomic regions involved in resistance. These regions are also known as quantitative resistance loci or QRLs.The cassava genetic map was developed through an intraspecific cross between TMS 30572 (an improved variety developed at IITA) and CM 2177-2 (an elite line from CIAT). To detect QRLs, five bacterial strains (CIO84, CIO1, CIO136, CIO295, and ORSTX27) were selected. They corresponded to different haplotypes from different geographical regions of the country, as according to Restrepo et al. (2004). Resistance was evaluated in an F 1 population under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. In all, 12 QRLs were detected, located in linkage groups B, C, D, G, L, N, and X, which explained 9%-27% of resistance (Jorge et al. 2000). Some QRLs were specific for certain Xam strains, while others, mainly in linkage group D, were common to different Xam strains (Jorge et al. 2000).Similarly, resistance to bacterial blight was evaluated in the field under high disease pressure for three consecutive production cycles (Jorge et al. 2001). Several QRLs were detected but a change was observed in the QRLs during the 2-year study. These changes correlated with the dynamics of Xam populations (Jorge et al. 2001). In particular, QRLs detected in linkage group D were observed as remaining constant over two production cycles. In the greenhouse, some QRLs were identified in this same linkage group. Certain analyses suggest that this region may have come from Manihot glaziovii (Jorge et al. 2001). Similarly and more recently, QRLs have also been identified for strains from Africa (Wydra et al. 2004). Proteins for resistance to pathogens in different plant species possess conserved domains such as NBS, TIR, and LRR, which have been used to design degenerated primers and thus isolate resistance gene analogs (RGAs) (Meyers et al. 1999). This strategy was used to identify RGAs in cassava (López et al. 2003), including two of type TIR and 10 of type NBS. Analysis of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library enabled identification of low-or single-copy RGAs, as well as RGAs that are part of multigenic families (López et al. 2003). Mapping analyses located two BACs with NBS in linkage group E and four in linkage group J. In the latter group, the presence of a region with at least 15 NBS-type sequences could be established.Unfortunately, to date, no QTLs associated with resistance have been identified in this region (López et al. 2003). More recently, additional data on QTLs associated with two Xam strains permitted identification of a new QTL associated with resistance to strain CIO151 in linkage group U (López et al. 2007). The marker responsible for this QTL corresponds to a BAC that contains an NBS-type RGA (B39P22). This QTL explains 62% of resistance, suggesting the presence of a major gene in this BAC clone. The gene is denominated as RXam2 for \"resistance to Xam 2\".Using primers generated from the resistance gene Xa21 from rice, which confers resistance to X. oryzae pv. oryzae, led to the identification of a fragment of the cassava genome that presents a high degree of similarity with this gene. This fragment is related to a QTL that explains 13% of resistance to Xam strain CIO136 (Jorge et al. 2000). From a BAC clone, the complete gene has been sequenced and is called RXam1 for \"resistance to Xam\" (López, 2004.). All these data suggest that the protein codified by the RXam1 gene is implicated in resistance to strain CIO136.Losses caused by CBB can be reduced if a combination of agronomic practices and detection methods is used, together with varietal resistance. The measures described below have successfully reduced the incidence of CBB and has even eradicated the pathogen in some areas.Crop rotation controls the blight only if the stakes used to plant cassava are disease-free. All residues from infected plants should be buried, as the pathogen does not survive long in the soil. Or they may be removed and burned. An interval of 6 months between two cassava crops is sufficient to prevent transmission of the pathogen in the soil. Weeds must be carefully controlled, as the pathogen can survive as epiphytes for long periods. Rotating the cassava crop with maize or sorghum effectively reduces primary infection by CBB caused by rain splash. Four consecutive rotation cycles will reduce the incidence and severity of the disease to economically insignificant levels.Losses can be reduced by changing planting times, especially in subtropical areas. Cassava is usually planted at the beginning of the rainy season, when conditions are also optimal for infection by and dispersal of the pathogen. But the crop can be planted towards the end of the rainy season, when environmental conditions are drier, thus reducing incidence of CBB. Disease-free planting materials are essential for maintaining the blight at low levels.A method for producing stakes free of bacteria is to root infected or uninfected stakes in sterilized water and then collect the apical parts of shoots. This method is useful for cleaning infected clones or stakes. The pruning of aerial parts of infected plants sometimes helps reduce dispersal of the disease and secondary infection. The success of this method depends on the susceptibility of the variety and on the interval between initial infection and pruning. It is more successful with resistant and moderately resistant cassava varieties that are mildly infected.Soil organic content can be improved by burying crop residues in small containers (which also restricts pathogen survival), applying dung, or alternating cassava with legumes. Potassium increases resistance to Xam, but small farmers find this fertilizer difficult to obtain.Improved quality can be achieved by carefully selecting healthy stems from which stakes are obtained. However, farmers are not accustomed to selecting stakes according to this criterion. Nevertheless, they can be trained to recognize bacterial blight symptoms and thus choose clean stems or those with little contamination for new plantings. This practice is also recommended for the control of other cassava diseases. Healthy planting materials can also be produced in controlled multiplication sites, an especially important measure in areas with low or medium disease pressure.The production and distribution of high-quality stakes is essential, and has proven invaluable, for enhancing cassava production. This practice has been neglected in Colombia and should receive more attention.The operation and management of these multiplication fields, which could be used to supply small farmers, is not still organized. Such sites would facilitate better control over crop health, improve distribution of new varieties, and better control the introduction of new pathogens and pests. Cassava seed beds for planting stakes should preferably be placed in forest areas, where CBB can be avoided.Cassava pathogens and pests disseminate largely through the exchange of cassava stakes. Bacterial wilt was introduced this way into Africa and Asia. Many of the cassava pathogens, including CBB, can be also dispersed through botanical seed.Planting materials and seeds should be collected only from healthy plants in crops that are presumably free of bacterial blight. These crops should be inspected more than once before collection, especially towards the middle and end of the rainy season when the blight tends to be more severe, to determine overall plant health. Any abnormal seed or stake should be discarded. To prevent dissemination of the bacterium and other pathogens through seed, seeds should be visually reviewed with considerable care and selected for density. They are then dried in heat.Different methods exist for detecting Xam in accordance with international plant health quarantine. The PCR procedure is simple and takes 2 h (Verdier et al. 1998a). This method detects Xam at 300 cfu/mL in plant tissues. Because of its specificity and sensitivity, the method has considerable potential as a reliable procedure for detecting and identifying the CBB pathogen in infected plant tissue.Nested PCR is also available for detecting Xam in cassava seed (Ojeda and Verdier 2000). Nested PCR increases sensitivity of detection and enables successful identification of the pathogen in seeds or embryos. A material can be evaluated in just one day. Dot-blotting uses a DNA fragment that acts as a specific probe for a pathovar. This simple and specific method can detect Xam colonies recovered from plant tissues and also evaluate colonies of presumed Xam isolates (Verdier and Mosquera 1999). The pathogen's presence can be identified directly in cassava plant tissues (leaves, stakes, fruits, seeds, and embryos). Dot-blotting is a highly sensitive and fast technique that permits large-scale evaluation of stakes at relatively low cost and with little equipment. Viable bacteria can also be detected through plating in semiselective medium for Xam (Fessehaie et al. 1999).Pseudomonas putida strains, applied to leaves, can significantly reduce the number of angular spots per leaf and the number of leaves blighted per plant in susceptible cassava clones. In one study, cassava plants were impregnated by spraying with a solution of 1 × 10 9 cells per milliliter of beneficial bacteria in water four times per month during the rainy season, beginning one month after planting. Root production increased, on average, by 2.7 times. Although the use of these biocontrol agents looks promising for commercial plantings, more research is needed to determine if this practice is indeed recommendable.The most appropriate and realistic method for controlling CBB is through host resistance. A certain number of adopted varieties possess considerable resistance to CBB and have remained so over many years. The genetic base of such resistance is currently limited, but should be expanded by using other Manihot species and natural hybrids of M. esculenta and M. glaziovii, and should be introduced, on a widespread basis, into locally adapted varieties.To identify genes that are expressed in response to Xam infection and other genes expressed in cassava plants, a strategy of generating expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was developed. These tags are short sequences that are generated from cDNA libraries, meaning that they correspond to genes that express under given conditions, which thus indicate their function. To obtain a wide range of genes, several types of cDNA libraries were constructed from different plant parts of different varieties that were either inoculated or not inoculated with Xam. We generated 13,043 ESTs and assembled them into a unigene set of 5700 unique sequences, comprising 1875 contigs (overlapping sequences, involving 9218 ESTs) and 3825 unique sequences. These may represent about 10% to 20% of the genes present in cassava (López et al. 2004).With this information, the first microarray of cassava was developed and used to study the kinetics of expression of these 5700 genes in response to infection by Xam (López et al. 2005). Genes were identified, whose expression varied significantly between plants inoculated with the pathogen and healthy plants (126 showed induction and 73 were repressed). The proportion of differentially expressed genes was low and constant for the first 48 h after inoculation but increased considerably by day 7 before dropping at day 15 after inoculation.Of the genes expressed differentially, most showed similarity with proteins known to be important in plant protection against pathogens, for example, proteins implicated in the strengthening of cell walls or associated with oxidative stresses such as peroxidases, cationic peroxidases, and glutathione-S-transferase; or with protein degradation (proteases and ubiquitin), which are transcription factors responding to ethylene. The repressed genes found were basically genes that code for proteins involved in photosynthesis (López et al. 2005).A group of 10 differentially expressed genes were studied, using real-time PCR. The pattern of expression (induction or repression) was conserved for all the genes, using both methods. The induced genes represented a group with high potential for being used in genetic improvement programs, once their functional validation was confirmed (López et al. 2005).Understanding the bacterium's pathogenicity strategies and the plant's natural defense strategies can help generate innovative control methods that target critical points in disease development. Recently, strategies of comparative and functional genomics have been used to accelerate the discovery of important genes for pathogenicity in this bacterium (Verdier et al. 2004). As a result, the genome of Xam strain CIO151 has been sequenced, using state-of-the-art technology (the 454 and Illumina sequencing systems, reviewed in Metzker 2005). Thousands of sequence fragments were assembled until tens of genomic fragments of the bacterium were obtained (Arrieta et al. 2011). These DNA fragments denote a genomic structure typical of a bacterium belonging to the Xanthomonas genus.The bacterium has a genome of about 5 Mbp, with two operons of ribosomal RNA and more than 50 codifying regions for tRNAs (Arrieta et al. 2011). A phylogenomic study was developed, which used hundreds of genes that were shared between this and other Xanthomonas species that had also been sequenced. This study confirmed the phylogenetic proximity of Xam with closely studied bacteria such as Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri and Xanthomonas euvesicatoria (Rodríguez et al. 2011). Xam's evolutionary proximity with other extensively studied bacteria enabled comparisons that facilitated the search for pathogenicity genes in Xam.Among the important strategies used by phytopathogenic bacteria are the production of proteins for adhering to the host, synthesis of toxins, production of exopolysaccharides, and the secretion and translocation of proteins to the cytoplasm of the plant cell. In the genome of Xam, the following have so far been found (Arrieta et al. 2011):• Eleven genes potentially associated with adhesion to surfaces • Three clusters of genes potentially associated with the biosynthesis of toxins • Two clusters that codify for type II secretion system, which secretes enzymes that degrade host components • One cluster implicated in the biosynthesis of exopolysaccharide xanthan • One cluster of genes for cellular signaling for quorum sensing • One cluster that codes for type III secretion system The last system, type III secretion system or TTSS, is perhaps the most important for pathogenicity in Gram-negative bacteria (Alfano and Collmer 2004). This system is highly conserved for the injection of effector proteins in the host's cytoplasm. Once inside, these effectors suppress the host's defenses and generally modify the host's physiology to benefit the pathogen. However, in a resistant host, these effectors are recognized by the plant's surveillance system. Thus, the set of effectors that a bacterium has determines whether it will cause disease in a plant with a given set of resistance genes. When these genes are absent, the pathogen can freely invade the host, as its effectors will then be fully virulent.Each phytopathogenic bacterium is estimated to have 35 to 50 genes that codify for effector proteins (Alfano and Collmer 2004). In the Xam genome, more than 20 effectors have been found after comparison with other phytopathogenic bacteria of the Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas genera (Arrieta et al. 2011). Two of these genes were found to be associated with pathogenicity. One is hpaF, which is shared with many Xanthomonas bacteria and has previously been associated with virulence in X. axonopodis pv. glycines (Kim et al. 2003). The other is pthB (Castiblanco et al. unpublished data), which has been used extensively in population studies and which presents high sequence homology with genes of the TAL family (for \"transcription activator-like\" gene family) in Xanthomonas.The TAL gene family contains a type of effector that is translocated by the TTSS to the cellular cytoplasm (Bonas et al. 1989), where it is directed to the nucleus. There, it modulates the expression of certain genes, according to a code that was recently deciphered (Boch et al. 2009;Moscou and Bogdanove 2009). Because pthB is crucial for pathogenicity, it is a promising target in the generation of resistant plants.Cassava bacterial blight is an important disease. Because it is widespread in Colombia, the control methods previously described must urgently be applied. The production and distribution of high-quality stakes that are free of the pathogen is an essential step in controlling the disease.Current studies on the genetics of both the pathogen and cassava should lead to practical applications in the field. Where methods of biological control (use of antagonists) or chemical control (applications of cupric compounds) do not result in expected reductions of disease incidence, then modifications to farming practices and, especially, the introduction of resistant varieties continue to be effective alternatives for controlling CBB.The results of characterizing the structure of Xam populations can be applied in the selection and introduction of resistant materials. The breeder can now evaluate genotypes, using a reduced number of strains, that is, those that reflect the pathogen diversity faced by the crop in those regions where it is introduced.Although the defense mechanisms used by the cassava plant against the pathogen are well known, the genes for resistance need to be identified. The cassava genetic map has been established and serves as a basis for searching for markers linked to resistance to CBB. The availability of techniques, together with genetic transformation, would enable rapid acquisition of new genetic materials with resistance to CBB. Recently, the sequence of the cassava genome was released at www.phytozome.net/cassava.php. It covers 416 of the 770 Mbp of its DNA, which is estimated to represent 95% of codifying DNA. Likewise, 47,164 loci that code for proteins have been predicted.With this large resource, strategies can be developed for identifying the repertoire of genes implicated in this plant's immunity, and for more easily associating those markers with the appropriate phenotypic characteristics to accelerate the development of improved varieties. The big challenge will be to develop functional genomics tools to validate the function of these genes and determine those that are important for resistance to CBB. The development of oligoarrays, mass sequencing of transcripts (RNAseq), and mapping by association with genes, markers, and candidates will help better represent cassava's molecular responses to CBB and identify genes and markers for genetic improvement.With the complete sequencing of the genomes of both cassava and Xam, we have passed from an almost \"orphan\" state of research in this pathosystem to being possibly part of a pathosystem model that allows us to understand the complex interactions and evolutionary relationships that have been molded over centuries of molecular dialogue between plants and bacteria.","tokenCount":"5814"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7482875976.json b/data/part_1/7482875976.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f87b5de0ceebeb11405ef1b2ffd5aa16d7ab406c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7482875976.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7bc9fc7638d058c4f5ee0074fb08a8ae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eabfeefc-bf21-4c82-8f44-e0d34116ca05/retrieve","id":"-1570120629"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"756a910f-c4a4-4af5-8d63-652c6e970cdc","pagecount":"35","content":"Effects of land-use type on total plant species numbers and total plant % cover by agro-ecological zone at the Loitokitok site, Kenya. Data indicated with a dash means that this land-use type did not appear on our transects in this zone. Note that cropping in the lower zone (drylands) was only in the swamps. ............................... Table 2. Percentage of plant species that were weeds in different agro-ecological zones at the Loitokitok site, Kenya..    Map 1. Location of the study area just north of Kilimanjaro in southern Kenya.............. Map 2. Land use in 1973Land use in , 1984Land use in , 1994Land use in and 2000  This study attempts to link land-use change, biodiversity and land degradation for the Loitokitok area, just north of Kilimanjaro in Kenya. These are the highlights of our findings:• Land-use change. The Loitokitok area has experienced rapid and extensive land use change over the past 30 years in response to a variety of economic, cultural, political, institutional and demographic processes. Expansion of agriculture down the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro dominates these changes in land use. Farmers expanded rainfed agriculture from the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro onto the piedmont on the lower slopes and also now grow irrigated crops around swamps and along rivers. The expansion of the area under crops has restricted the viability of herding activities around the base of the mountain, resulting in increased sedentarization and diversification of herding livelihoods into mixed herding-farming livelihoods. Wildlife populations, which had access to swamps ringing the base of Kilimanjaro in the 1970's now have no access to one of these swamps and only partial access to three others.• Subdivision of group ranches. Over the past 25 years there has been considerable tension in the group ranches over the security of land tenure, especially for young people. This has created a demand for sub-division, a process that has now begun on many of these lands. We expect sub-division will increase the security of land rights, but will also reduce the viability of pastoralism and wildlife, by restricting movements.• Land use and gender. Women supply more of the labour required in livestock production than the men. This evolution in care of livestock towards women, and in crop production towards both men and women, appears to be related to sedentarisation.• Land-use change and wildlife. Between the 1970's and 1990's, most of the 17 rangelands districts of Kenya lost over 50% of their wildlife. However, wildlife in one district, Laikipia increased over this period, and in Kajiado, where the Loitokitok site is found, wildlife numbers have remained unchanged. The conversion of swamps to cropland over the last 20 years near Loitokitok and the growth of settlements and human populations is altering the distribution and probably the abundance of wildife in the Amboseli Basin. Wildlife no longer have access to important wetland areas that were the stepping stones in their movements between the Amboseli and Tsavo ecosystems.• Land-use change and plant diversity. Trees and shrubs clearly were more sensitive to farming and grazing than either herbs or grasses. The pastoral lowlands supported 50% more species than wetter, farming zones and more than 55% of these were natives. Our results suggest that pastoral land use is more compatible with high native plant diversity compared with middle zone farms. However, once pastoral people settle and cultivate farms, weeds replace native plants quickly, just as they do as farmers cultivate more well-watered farms in the midlands. Mixed croplands can support more than twice as many species as mono-cropping.• Land-use and soils. In most cases in Loitokitok, nutrient levels are generally adequate in uncultivated soils, unless there is significant natural erosion or heavy grazing. Phosphorus and soil organic matter only fall below fertility thresholds where organic matter is naturally low or where farmers use practices that mine soil nutrients.Particularly in the lowlands, the soils show a characteristic wide range in available P, from moderate to high. This reflects that strongly weathered soils of the non-dissected erosional plains and the weakly weathered soils of the plains, both on gneisses, have a low P-status. Soil organic matter is naturally high in the upper, wetter zones on the slopes of the mountain, but are low in the hotter and drier zones around the base of the mountain. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and phosphorus (P) are generally low in grain fields, irrigated fields, fallows, and sometimes in maize fields, pasture and bushlands. This is due to continuous cultivation in all zones and possibly grazing in the lowlands, and the high mineralisation rates of soil organic carbon caused by high temperatures and adequate moisture, the latter particularly in the lowlands.• Implications for land management. All soils across the agro-ecological zones have inherently good soil fertility. They do not, however, receive adequate nutrient replenishment to compensate for continuous nutrient mining. This replenishment could come in the form of organic manures, inorganic fertilizers or biomass transfer through agro-forestry or short fallow. These practices, are within the means of people in the area as many already practise agroforestry, those producing horticultural and other cash crops obtain sufficient income to purchase inputs, while others combine livestock raising with cropping and have access to manure.• Implications of sub-division of group ranches. Land tenure policy is having strong impacts on the livelihoods of herders and farmers, and will have consequences for land management practices, water availability, agricultural production, fuelwood production, and conflicts among different land users. Policy makers and land managers need to clearly understand both the positive (tenure security) and negative (possible land and water degradation, increasing conflicts) that privatisation of land will bring to these drylands. As has been shown in other parts of Kajiado District, land privatisation of land may make herders and farmers more vulnerable to drought because their safety net of mobility has been removed.• To be better accepted, wildlife management policy will need to address both the sustainability of peoples' livelihood systems and that of wildlife populations.Human use of the land is at the center of some of the most complicated and pressing problems faced by land managers, land users and policy makers around the world today (e.g., De Fries et al. 2004, Platt andRutherford 2004). Globally, concerns about the changes in land use / cover emerged due to realization that land surface processes influence climate and that changes in these processes impact on ecosystem goods and services that all live depends upon (Lambin et. al. 2003). Land-use is at the center of the trade-offs between human needs and the environment because changes in land use often enhance the share of primary production for human consumption but decrease the share available for other ecosystem functions. The impacts that have been of primary concern are the effects of land-use change on biological diversity, soil degradation, and the ability of biological systems to support human needs. Crop yields have declined, forcing people to cultivate more and more land to meet their needs.Grazing areas have become less and less productive resulting from over stocking of livestock.Conflicts over the use of land have increased due to increased demand for land by different sectors of the economy. Of particular concern are the conflicts among cultivators, livestock keepers, wildlife conservationists, individual land users and governments due to encroachment of human use into the protected areas (Western 1976, Wells and Brandon 1992, Hoare 1999, Campbell et al. 2003).In this paper we report a summary of linkages among changes in land use, biodiversity and land degradation on the northern side of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya, based on research conducted for the nearly 30 years between 1976 and 2003 by members of the LUCID team. This summary was made possible by the Global Environmental Facility through UNEP, which took the bold step to support this synthesis, rather than collection of new data. We combine analysis of land-use change with ground measurements and assessments of biodiversity change and land degradation to give a robust analysis of the impacts of land-use change. We have adopted a multidisciplinary approach combining ground assessments, remote sensing analysis, and human perceptions analysis.We start our synthesis of these linkages with background information on the trends in landuse change in the study area from 1970-2000. We then assess the impacts of these changes on wildlife, soils, plant species and water quality. We finish by establishing links between plant species diversity (a proxy for biodiversity) and soil fertility and erosion (a proxy for soil conditions).The study area is located in southeast Kajiado District, Kenya (Map 1). Here, rain falls twice a year in the classic bimodal pattern found around the equator in East Africa, with precipitation peaks in March-April and October-December. Lower elevations between Amboseli National Park and the Chyulu Hills receive less than 500mm and higher rainfall occurs on the Chyulu Hills and on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Jaetzhold and Schmidt 1983). Total mean annual rainfall, over a distance of only 17 km, varies from about 400 to 1000 mm, a rise of 100 mm per 3 km traveled upslope. The rainfall is however inconsistent in time and space and drought is a recurrent problem in the area. During the present century droughts are recorded in 1933-35, 1943-46, 1948-49, 1952-53, 1960-61, 1972-76, 1983-84, and the early 1990s.The site covers seven agro-ecological zones, spanning from the lower highlands to the lower midlands (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1983). Agricultural potential is highest on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro due to reliable rainfall and fertile volcanic soils. The lowlands are of relatively low productivity, supporting a savanna bushland in which livestock herding and wildlife predominate. Altitude ranges from about 1900 m in the lower highlands (LH2) to about 900 m in the lower midlands (UM4) in the rangelands. The eight agro-ecological zones include:1) LH2, the wheat/maize -pyrethrum zone, 2) LH3, the wheat (maize) -barley zone, 3) UM3, the marginal coffee zone, 4) UM4, the sunflower -maize zone, 5) UM5, the livestock sorghum zone, 6) LM4, the marginal cotton zone, 7) LM5, the livestock -millet zone, and 8) LM6, the ranching zone. This broad classification hides the presence of relatively small, localized areas that due to the existence of permanent water and fertile soil are potentially more productive than the surrounding rangelands. These areas include the swamps at Namalok, Isinet and Kimana, and the valleys of the perennial streams that originate on Mt. Kilimanjaro, such as at Rombo and the Nolturesh (Jaezthold and Schmidt 1983).Map 1. Location of the study area just north of Kilimanjaro in southern Kenya.Around Loitokitok town, soils are young and fertile (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1983), and developed on Tertiary basic igneous rocks (nitro-cambic cambisols and eutric cambisols). These rich soils spill like a mantle off the footslopes of Kilimanjaro, grading into soils of somewhat lower fertility towards Kuku and the Esoitpus River derived from igneous rocks (luvisols, phaeozoms). Soils of low fertility dominate the lakebed (lacustrine plains) in the lowlands in nearby Amboseli National Park and near Kimana swamp. These soils were derived from volcanic ash and other sources. See more detailed descriptions of the soils in the study site in (Gachimbi 2002).The area's rural economy is diverse. Subsistence production dominates, though horticultural production has expanded over the past two decades and the area has become one of Kenya's foremost producers of horticultural products (Krugmann 1996). Livestock herding by the Maasai is still widespread, and is subject to strong dynamics due to drought, exemplified by the livestock loss during the recent 1999-2000 drought (Figure 1). Wildlife-based tourism is the most important activity in terms of the national economy. Population growth in the District has been rapid since independence (Figure 2). The size of the human population more than doubled between 1979 and 1999 in Loitokitok Division, from 5 people per km 2 to 12 people per km 2 . In the Loitokitok area it reflects natural increase as well as migration of large numbers from the congested central highlands to cultivate the fertile and relatively well-watered slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and other hills.  The methods employed by the different studies that we summarise here can be found in the following working papers on the LUCID website (www.lucidea.org): (Gachimbi 2002, Campbell et al. 2003, Githaiga and Muchiru, Wangui 2003, Worden et al. 2003, Maitima et al. 2004). We collected information on: 1) plant diversity, soil fertility and erosion in different land use types and across agro-ecological zones, 2) wildlife diversity and abundance around swamps used by wildlife alone, livestock and wildlife together, and livestock and crops alone, 3) farmer and herder perceptions of changes in their environment, and 4) water quantity and quality in the swamps described above. A summary of the methods used to collect each set of information appears below at the beginning of the appropriate section; further information can be found on the several working papers on the LUCID website. They found that this area has experienced rapid and extensive land use change over the past 30 years in response to a variety of economic, cultural, political, institutional and demographic processes (Campbell et al. 2000, Campbell et al. 2003). Expansion of agriculture down the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro dominates these changes in land use. Farmers expanded rainfed agriculture from the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro onto the piedmont on the lower slopes and also now grow irrigated crops around swamps and along rivers. The expansion of the area under crops has restricted the viability of herding activities around the base of the mountain, resulting in increased sedentarization and diversification of herding livelihoods into mixed herding-farming livelihoods. Wildlife populations, which had access to swamps ringing the base of Kilimanjaro in the 1970's now have no access to 1 of these swamps and only partial access to 3 others.The forest area on the upper slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro adjacent to the national forest in Tanzania, declined 2.3 percent from an estimated 646 hectares in 1973 to 417 hectares in 2000. Over that time period, the area of rainfed agriculture expanded 177 percent and that of irrigated agriculture 45.2 percent. The principal changes are associated with the availability of water for crop production.The period of most rapid expansion of both irrigated and rainfed cultivation was between 1973 and 1984. The general pattern of agricultural expansion between 1973 and 1984 (Map 2) follows a concentric pattern conforming to the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Jaetzhold and Schmidt 1983). An uneven expansion extended farther down slope around the town of Loitokitok and along the main road from the town to Nairobi. These slopes receive over 800 mm of rainfall annually and a number of perennial streams flow down them to the plains. They offered considerable opportunities for cultivation and by the mid-1980s almost the entire area between the Tanzania border and the semi-arid plains has been cleared and planted, by immigrant farmers, mostly from Central and Eastern Provinces, and by Maasai themselves. Land adjacent to permanent water sources, e.g., at Kimana, Rombo and around swamps at Namalok and Isinet had also been cleared for cultivation. The second focus of the expansion of cultivation is that around swamps and around rivers, taking advantage of opportunities for irrigated crop production.Map 2. Land use in 1973Land use in , 1984Land use in , 1994Land use in and 2000 at at the Loitokitok site, Kenya.Paul Ntiati designed a study to describe some of the important socio-economic and ecological implications of the contemporary process of subdivision of group ranches resulting in a change from communal to individual land tenure in the Loitokitok Division of Kajiado District, Kenya (Ntiati 2002). Mr. Ntiati conducted group interviews, meetings with key informants, and discussions with community leaders and development agencies involved in land tenure issues.The land tenure reform programme implemented in Kajiado District started in 1961 with the demarcation of commercial ranches and group ranches. Its objective was to set the stage for development of what was assessed to be the best sustainable production system in the semi arid and arid rangelands of Kenya, and Kajiado District in particular.Over the past 25 years there has been considerable tension in the group ranches over the security of land tenure, especially for young people. This has created a demand for subdivision, a process that has now begun on many of these lands. Subdivision is likely to affect all land uses in the area. These include the Maasai pastoral system and the wildlife that depend on availability of large landscapes that allow both livestock and wildlife to access resources that are widely distributed in both time and space. This is happening in a context in which tourist activities as well as agriculture have expanded on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro along rivers and swamps. It is therefore important to understand the sub-division process, how it is controlled and its implication on land uses and livelihood systems.Land tenure changes in Kajiado District and Loitokitok sub-district in particular have been mostly externally driven, they have undermined the value of traditional natural resource management. The intentions were good --the need to secure land for Maasai was also clear -but it was the lack of real support for their implementation and the assumption that the financial, legal and institutional mechanisms needed were in place for the group ranches to work. These have failed to provide positive results and have led to the failure of the group ranch system.Group ranches were formed under the Land (Group Representative) Act of 1968. This an Act of Parliament to provide for the incorporation of representatives of groups who have been recorded as owners as owners of land under the Land Adjudication Act, and for the purpose connected collective pastoral management and resource use. This arrangement can continue to be maintained until the members decide to dissolve the group ranch (The Land Group Representative Act -Cap 287). The group ranch can be dissolved upon a written application to the registrar signed by a majority of the group representative pursuant to a resolution passed by a sixty percent of the group present in person or proxy at a special general meeting convened for that purpose. The affairs of the group shall be wound up in such manner as the registrar may approve.Under the Land (Group Representative) Act ( 1968) group ranches were adjudicated with the principal objectives being to:• Increase the productivity of pastoral land by increasing off-take • Pre-empt landlessness among the Maasai due to allocation of individual ranches to some pastoralists • Improve the earning capacity of pastoralists • Reduce environmental degradation from overgrazing on communal lands.The concept of group ranches was, at first, generally popular among the Maasai pastoralists as it provided security and safeguard against land alienation by non-Maasai people, and annexation as national parks or government forests. But, the failure of the group ranch system to deliver the objectives of improved livelihoods and security of tenure has led to their ongoing dissolution and subsequent subdivision. Sub-division is now inevitable. Subdivision of group ranches becomes a central question as Munei put it that 'It is now clear from the major problems of livestock development in Kajiado District are no longer about management of group ranches but those of coping with the breakdown of group ranches. In particular, the sub-division of group ranches, further subdivision of resultant parcels by owners and the eventual sale of land are emerging as more urgent problems' (Munei 1991:2).All group ranches in the study area, except for Eselenkei and Kuku' A group ranches are under the process of subdivision. The procedures used in sub-division of the group ranches are characterised by lack of a defined process and therefore are ad-hoc in nature. The process is similar in all the group ranches and land subdivision guidelines are lacking. Subdivision of group ranches will have implications for herding but its impact may not be realised in the first 5-years after subdivision. However, even so before the official subdivision has commenced, illegal subdivision is already going on especially in arable areas either for rain-fed or irrigated agriculture. More and more land is being converted for farming and less and less is available for livestock and wildlife.For example in Rombo Group Ranch 50% of the 38,000 ha group ranch land has already been sub-divided informally. The rest of the ranch is a bare and highly degraded area. More than 70% of the 18,000 cattle in Rombo Group Ranch are entering Tsavo West National Park year in year out. During the study, in month of September 2001, livestock were already grazing 15km inside Tsavo West National Park. Irrigation is expanding but water will not be adequate to meet the current demand. There are already conflicts between herders and farmers because no water is flowing down stream. Subdivision of group ranches and subsequent fencing is going to interfere with the wet and dry season traditional grazing regimes for both livestock and wildlife. The study area being dry rangeland lying in agro-ecological zones IV and V is prone to poor rainfall. These dry lands are likely to be affected by subdivision since movement of livestock will be restricted by fencing and boundary limitation. More areas are likely to be degraded. Figure 6 shows areas of less than 30% grass cover as was observed by the author during the study period of July -October 2001.Edna Wangui, who received her PhD as part of the LUCID project, completed a study on the relationship between gender division of labour in crop and livestock production and changing land use/cover patterns along the Mt. Kilimanjaro ecological gradient, Kenya. The study sought to answer the following research questions:(1) What is the historical division of labour and how was it related to land use?(2) How has the division of labour changed over the past seventy years?(3) How and why does the division of labour vary by agro-ecological zone? (4) How does ethnicity influence gender division of labour?(5) Why has the division of labour changed? (6) How is the gendered division of labour negotiated in the context of the changing land use systems?Dr. Wangui used a combination of household interviews, key informant interviews focus group discussions and participant observation were used to collect data on gendered division of labour and land-use for methods and other details, see (for methods and other details, see Wangui 2003). Data were collected over a period of ten months beginning March 2001. The study found that local changes in land use and gender roles are influenced by an interaction of social, ecological, economic and political forces, acting at a variety of scales from local to global. Structural adjustment programmes, the national land reform and ecological forces influence land use decisions made by farmers in Oloitokitok Division. Land use decisions in turn have implications for gender roles. This study found that land use alone is not enough to explain the changing gender roles that are observed in the division. Social forces such as interaction with other communities, the changing value of formal education, conversion to Christianity, and the changing structure of dwelling units have all contributed to change the roles that women and men have in the households.The study found spatial patterns in the way men and women use the land, that have persisted since in the 1930s. In the 1930s, range grazing was the dominant activity in almost all Oloitokitok households. Range grazing was predominantly done by the men. During this time, women took care of the sick and young livestock that were left at the homestead when the rest of the livestock went to graze on the range. Currently, range grazing is slowly being replaced by zero-grazing, and grazing close to the homestead, particularly in areas with higher rainfall. These methods of grazing are primarily confined to areas within or close to the homestead. Over time, the dominant locality of the livestock has been transferred from the range to areas closer or within the domestic locale, and consequently from the care of the men into the care of the women.Integration into a cash economy and increasing focus on cash crop farming has changed the gendered spatial patterns of marketing. In pre-colonial times, women were engaged in long distance travel for trade purposes (Spear and Waller 1993). Exchange was through barter trade as the monetary system was not yet in place. Women would trade livestock products for crop products to supplement their diet. Currently men are the ones primarily engaged in long distance trade travel than the women are. While men travel as far as Mombasa to sell crop produce, women only travel to markets within the division to sell their crops. Crops sold by men are usually grown specifically for cash, while crops sold by women constitutes the surplus of the food crops they produce. Men primarily sell cattle, sheep and goats at livestock markets within the division. Women on the other hand can only sell poultry, as these are the only livestock that they have complete control over. Poultry sales are rare, and they primarily happen within the homestead.Women supply more of the labour required in livestock production than the men. This evolution in care of livestock towards women, and in crop production towards both men and women, appears to be related to sedentarisation. Sedentarisation in Oloitokitok has occurred as access to former communal grazing land has declined, and as incomes have rapidly diversified towards rainfed and irrigated cropping. These changes in lifestyles towards sedentarisation are similar to that found by others working among the Rendille of northern Kenya (Fratkin andSmith 1994, Nduma et al. 2001). Among the Rendille, sedentarisation presented new economic opportunities for women, through the sale of agricultural produce, milk and labour in neighbouring towns. As Maasai communities adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve settle, they diversify income towards farming, wildlife tourism and large scale cereal cultivation (Thompson and Homewood 2002). Similar patterns were found in pastoral communities in southern Ethiopia (Little et al. 2001).Figure 3. Time spent on livestock production in each agro-ecological zone 1 (arrows indicate significant differences). Source: Author's fieldwork.Men spend more time than women do in activities related to irrigation in Oloitokitok Division. This can be explained by two factors. First, irrigation activities are perceived by the men to be too difficult for women, and the men therefore chose to perform them. Secondly, crops grown on irrigated lowlands are mostly grown for cash. The tendency in Oloitokitok Division is for men to control property that have high use and exchange value.Men have therefore relegated the care of livestock to women as livestock have declined in exchange value, and focused on cash cropping for its higher exchange value. In this study, men were found to spend significantly more time in field preparation than women did. This study found no significant difference between the time that men and women spend on weeding. These differences in findings could be related to the lower male outmigration in the study area.Conflicts that occur over the control of the female labour are not about the labour, but more about resources produced by the female labour. When resources generated from household female labour are used for the benefit of the entire household, no conflict arises. Conflict arises when men, who control resource distribution in the households, misappropriate resources generated by the household's collective labour.These trends in land use are altering the soil, water, and vegetation characteristics of the the Loitokitok area. As soil, water, and vegetation interact within ecological systems, so do they within human-ecological systems. It is important therefore to identify the impact of land-use change on both the individual components (soil, water and vegetation) and upon the interaction between these components. Further, it is important to investigate possible from these altered conditions and interactions in the soil/water/vegetation system feedback to the human-ecological system -to cultivation, herding, and wildlife.Between the 1970's and 1990's, most of the 17 rangelands districts of Kenya lost over 50% of their wildlife (Said 2003). In the Mara ecosystem of Narok, 70% of the wildlife disappeared during this period (Ottichilo et al., Serneels and Lambin 2001). The reasons for these losses are the expansion of subsistence and commercial agriculture in wetter areas and the expansion settlements and fencing, changes in burning practices, drought and increased poaching in wet and dry areas (Dublin 1995, Ottichilo et al.).However, wildlife in one district, Laikipia increased over this period, and in Kajiado, where the Loitokitok site is found, wildlife numbers have remained unchanged. Even so, our field observations led us to ask if the land-use changes in the swamps at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro are affecting resident wildlife. Wildlife, like people and livestock, aggregate around these swamps, particularly in the dry season (Western 1976). We counted (from ultralight) and mapped wildlife in and around these swamps to assess the impacts of three land use systems on wildlife: wildlife-only use in the swamps of Amboseli National Park, cultivation in Namelok swamp, and mixed livestock/wildlife use in Kimani swamp (Worden et al. 2003). Namelok swamp is currently ringed by a fence and pastoral families cluster their settlements within this fence and also at the north end of Kimani swamp (center and right hand swamps in Figure 3).We found most species of wildlife near water during this daytime count. However, fencing and cultivation of Namalok swamp effectively excluded all wildlife from this important swamp itself, which used to be a 'stepping stone' for wildlife between this ecosystem and the Tsavo ecosystem to the east (Figure 4). The conversion and subsequent fencing of the swamp has resulted in the local extinction of buffalo and hippo, and the virtual collapse of elephant, zebra, and wildebeest populations outside the fence also. All of these species show extreme preference for areas close to water and their declines suggest a significant response to conversion and excision of the swamp habitat. By contrast, gerenuk and giraffe, water independent species, were less affected by the loss of the swamp and may in fact benefit from an increase in woody plant species that has been observed with sedentarization and intensification of pastoral populations (e.g., Western 1989, Tobler et al. 2003) and the loss of ecosystem engineers such as elephants and rhino (van Wjingaarden 1985, Owen-Smith 1988, 1989, Western and Gichohi 1993). It is also interesting to note that while Namelok is the most human dominated of the swamps surveyed, it does not have the highest livestock biomass density. While this may be an expected pattern in peri-urban and urban environments, the low livestock density relative to that found in Kimana corroborates the hypothesis that the intensification of human land-use in the swamps has negative implications for both livestock and wildlife. However, wildlife were abundant in Kimana swamp, that is used by both livestock and wildlife, and is adjacent to the Kimana Wildlife Sanctuary that provides protection to wildlife. This implies that co-existence between domestic livestock and wildlife is still possible in this ecosystem under a facilitative land use system. Pastoral homesteads (bomas)Some wildlife appeared to avoid livestock, while others were unaffected by livestock. In general wildlife herds were most abundant and diverse farther from livestock. However, the distribution of gerenuk, Grant's and impala show little relationship to that of livestock. Wildebeest and especially buffalo and zebra, on the other hand, appear to be actively avoiding livestock. Elephant, giraffe and warthog (and possibly eland, ostrich, and waterbuck) occur at intermediate distances from livestock. Wildebeest appear to only avoid livestock in Kimana where the permanent presence of settlements and domestic animals may result in direct competition for forage. Zebra, on the other hand, appear to avoid livestock in Amboseli and to a lesser degree Namelok, but occupy intermediate distances in Kimana. Thus, conservation of biodiversity will be most successful if it accounts for these particular responses of wildlife species to livestock. Simon Mugatha, Stephen Mathai, Joseph Maitima and Robin Reid completed a study of the effects of land-use change on plant diversity along an ecological gradient from the dry rangelands to the lower highlands on Kilimanjaro. These We measured the diversity and abundance of plant species (and soils, see the next section) on two transects radiating in two perpendicular directions from Loitokitok town, downslope from the lower highlands into the dry rangelands below (Map 3). Along each of these two transects, we established four, 1-km long sub-transects running perpendicular and across the slope within each of the four agroecological zones. On each of these sub-transects, we established 2 sampling sites in each of the common land use / cover types available. For example, in the lower highland zone, we only found annual and perennial croplands, so these were the only two land cover / use types sampled in this agro-ecological zone. Vegetation was sampled in quadrats in each lan-use type. The land-use types sampled included: forest, woodland, bushland, grassland, pasture, fallow, perennial crop, annual crop and settlement. We do not present the lower highland results in what follows because the zone was small, as were the number of samples.Map 3. Location of the two sampling transects and sampling points that cross several agroecological zones, starting in Loitokitok town and heading downslope into the dry rangelands ringing the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.Comparing between the middle and lower zones, there were more species in the lowest and driest zone, where agro-pastoral people principally graze livestock (Table 1). All land use/land cover types in the low drylands supported 25-600% more species than the middle zone and 50% of these were native species (Table 2). Woodlands and bushlands were particularly rich with species here. Furthermore, only here did we find threatened, endangered, rare or endemic species (about 2% of the flora, Table 3). Surprisingly, grasslands here were remarkably species poor. Cultivated fields in the swamps contained many plant species, but about 75% of these were weeds. Our results suggest that pastoral land use is more compatible with high native plant diversity compared with middle zone farms. However, once pastoral people and immigrant farmers settle and cultivate farms around swamps and along rivers, weeds replace native plants quickly, just as they do as farmers cultivate more well-watered farms in the midlands.In the midland zone, we found that annual mixed croplands supported more species and had more plant cover than any other type of land-use type, but 91% of these were weeds and 1-5% of these were invasive species. In this zone, less used forest, bushlands and woodlands had fewer species, but only about 40% of these were weeds. Unexpectedly, in both zones, there was more plant cover in cultivated fields than in the less used types of land cover. We expected perennial croplands and mixed cropping to support more native plant species than either annual croplands or mono-cultures. Unfortunately, we had few opportunities to compare plant diversity among these types at Loitokitok because few farmers grew perennial crops. Our one comparison of mono-crops with mixed crops showed that mixed croplands can support more than twice as many species as mono-cropping, but there was no difference in the number of species in these two cultivation types in swamps in the lowlands. This weakly supports the notion that mixed cropping conserves biodiversity. We rarely found trees in croplands or fallows in any of our plots. The trees we did find in these plots were mostly those species useful to people. Pasture and grassland areas fell intermediate between these two extremes. There was no difference in the number of trees in perennial cropland, annual cropland, fallows and settlements. It appears that establishing pasture for livestock has less impact on tree species than crop cultivation.Tree cover followed similar patterns as tree species, except that pastures tended to have similar tree cover as bushlands, woodlands and forest. In general, the non-cultivated or settled types supported up to 20 times (about 6-8% cover) more tree cover than the croplands and settlements (about 0-0.3% cover, data not shown). Woodland, bushland, pasture and grassland supported about the same cover of tree canopies, and usually significantly more than any of the cultivated types. Again, this suggests that cultivation removes both tree cover and tree species more than grazing land use.There were 6-20 times more shrub species (3-13 species) in pastures, bushland, woodland and forest than other types (data not shown). We found either few or no species of shrubs in grasslands, fallows and croplands. Pastures often fell in the middle ground with a moderate number of species. Shrub cover was low in all land-use types, but higher (up to 3% cover) in woodlands, forest, pasture and bushland than in the more heavily used types.Herb species showed the fewest clear responses to use by people, but this may reflect a complex and varying response rather than no response. Farming and grazing does remove herb species, but not to same extent as shrubs or trees (as above). Similarly, there was no significant effect of land use on herb cover, but the variation was wide (from 0.3 to 5.5%), potentially masking a complex response.Grasses responded more clearly to farming, grazing and settlement than herbs. Not surprisingly, there were more species of grasses in grasslands than in any other type of land cover. For example, in the upper midland zone, there were 8 species of grasses per square meter in grasslands and only 1.5 species in the same area around settlements. In lower midland zone, even though there were only 4 species of grasses in grassland, we found a quarter of that number (1 species) in bushland and cropland. Pastures tended to support an intermediate number of grass species. We found the lowest numbers of grass species in a combination of heavily used areas (croplands, settlements) and wooded land covers (forest, woodland).In all of the quadrats sampled in all land use types, we found only one rare and threatened species, the hardwood tree, Dalbergia melanoxylon. This hardwood is used by people in Kenya to make carvings, instruments and for charcoal. We found this species only in the lower midland zone. We also found one endemic herb, Cyphostemma kibweziense, in the same zone. This means that about 1% of the flora that we captured in our sampling was of conservation significance.We did not, however, find many species that were not native (exotic) to the Kenyan flora.Excluding crop species, we found only 5 of the 110 species (4.5%) in the upper midland, 2 of 94 species (2.1%) in the lower midland and 1 of 107 species (0.93%) in the rangeland were exotic plant species. The exotic species were Lantana camara, Nicandra philisoides, Stelleria medica, and Tagetes minuta. The fruit of Nicandra is poisonous to people and livestock. However, Stelleria is used to treat eye infections and the seeds used to feed caged birds. Tagetes is cattle feed during droughts. Even Lantana is useful for hedges and for treating colds (but it is reported to be toxic to cattle).Moreover, invasive species were even more rare, with only two, Lantana camara and Datura stramonium, appearing in our samples. Lantana is a common invasive shrub throughout East Africa, and Datura often grows in disturbed areas and in abandoned livestock corrals. The latter has seeds that are poisonous to people and livestock alike, but they also have medicinal value.There is no evidence, in these agro-ecological zones in Loitokitok, that people conserve or improve the number of trees or shrubs in any way, either by grazing or cultivation. In fact, the picture is most clearly the opposite. Farmers clear most if not all trees and shrubs from their fields when they grow crops. It does not seem to matter if these crops are perennial or annual crops; farmers remove trees and shrubs in both these cultivation types.Trees and shrubs clearly were more sensitive to farming and grazing than either herbs or grasses. Grasses responded more than herbs. Removal of the woody overstory by people likely promotes the establishment of some grasses and herbs, but only if the area is not cropped. Farming, across all the life forms, causes the most biodiversity loss. Grazing has moderate or even promotive effects, if woody canopy cover is removed.The LUCID team examined land degradation in terms of soils and water. The team conducted surveys soil characteristics (Gachimbi) along the same two transects surveyed for plant species, as described above. Information on peoples' perceptions of soil conditions, gathered during the socio-economic survey (Campbell et al.), supplemented the chemical and nutrient analysis. Water quality indicators were obtained from a sampling of rivers and swamps (Githaiga and Muchiru). This information was examined in conjunction with reports of declining water quantity and quality provided by respondents to a household survey in 1996 (Campbell et al. 2000).Soil fertility decline (also described as soil productivity decline) is deterioration of chemical, physical and biological soil properties (FAO, 2001). It has also been shown that soils in sub-Saharan Africa have inherently low fertility and do not usually receive adequate nutrient replenishment in the form of mineral or organic fertilizer (Dudal 2002). However, in most cases in Loitokitok, nutrient levels are generally adequate in uncultivated soils, unless there is significant natural erosion or heavy grazing. For example, forests, woodland and bushland all have adequate fertility and soil organic matter. However in lower drylands (LM5 and LM6), there is very low soil organic matter natural erosion in bushlands near inselbergs, which is probably aggrevated by livestock grazing (Figure 6). Phosphorus and soil organic matter only fall below fertility thresholds where organic matter is naturally low or where farmers use practices that mine soil nutrients. Particularly in the lowlands, the soils show a characteristic wide range in available P, from moderate to high. This reflects that strongly weathered soils of the non-dissected erosional plains and the weakly weathered soils of the plains, both on gneisses, have a low P-status. The same low levels of available P were recorded in some of the strongly weathered soils in lower zones.Soil organic matter is naturally high in the upper, wetter zones on the slopes of the mountain, but are low in the hotter and drier zones around the base of the mountain, in agro-ecological zones LM5 and LM6. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and phosphorus (P) are generally low in grain fields, irrigated fields, fallows, and sometimes in maize fields, pasture and bushlands . This is due to continuous cultivation in all zones and possibly grazing in the lowlands, and the high mineralisation rates of soil organic carbon caused by high temperatures and adequate moisture, the latter particularly in the lowlands. The low P and SOC levels are due to continuous nutrient mining through crop products without sufficient replenishment in the form of fertilizers or farmyard manure. High soil nutrient levels are due to the presence of many weatherable primary minerals, which occurred during volcanic ash enrichment of chemically poor soils or during rock formation. The soils have inherent high K reserves as observed by Legger and van der Pouw (1980). K levels are adequate in agronomic terms from the upper to lower zones. However, the stock is threatened by nutrient mining through continuous cultivation and erosion. Soil pH ranges from slightly acidic to moderately alkaline in the lower zones (not shown). This range makes most crop nutrients available to the plants when required. This was also evident by visual observation in the field. Soil erosion was low to absent in forests, woodlands, coffee and irrigated fields (not shown). Maize, other grains, pasture, and fallows varied from moderate to severe sheetwash, with shallow rills, depending on the geomorphology of the area and the management. Bushlands were the only areas with occasional severe sheetwash and gully formation, particular where pediment slopes occur below bare rocky inselbergs. Farmers cause moderate to severe erosion when they fail to install soil and water conservation measures. This situation will clearly call for a combination of changed land use, special management practices, or major land improvements. But there is good variation in the erosion status of farmer's fields showing that some farmers are successful at erosion control and thus local knowledge exists to arrest further degradation.9 Effects of land-use change on water quantity and quality in swamps and rivers John Githaiga and Andrew Muchiru measured the quality and quantity of water in swamps inside Amboseli National Park (wildlife use), in Namelok (fenced and cultivated), Kimana (livestock-wildlife use) and along the Nolturesh and Rombo Rivers (Githaiga and Muchiru 2003). They found that changes in land use strongly reduced the quality and availability of water in swamps at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya.Levels of Carbon Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the areas used for domestic water indicate low pollution levels with means of COD and BOD at 124 mg/lt. and 129 mg/lt., respectively. The highest mean COD of 429 mg/lt. was found in water samples collected from discharge canals from irrigated fields and this indicates high levels of pollution. Livestock/wildlife land use around the swamps leads to pollution with dissolved solids due to excreta from the animals as well as high soil from trampling along the edge of the swamp. Pollution with suspended solids was highest where land was used by livestock and agriculture, especially irrigated agriculture. The colloidal nature of the soils prevents rapid flocculation of the suspended particles, accentuating the suspended solid concentration values.The irrigated fields had high conductivity due to dissolution of artificial fertilizer applied in the farms, evaporative concentration of irrigation water by high temperature prevalent in the area, and the elution of crystallized salts from the soils in the field. Salanization of the soils in the irrigated farms was high. The pH was elevated where land use consisted of irrigated agriculture and livestock/wildlife. Artificial fertilizer inputs, alkalinisation of the slightly alkaline water and urea inputs from livestock could be responsible for the rise in water pH.There was a build up of organic matter in canals collecting water from the irrigated farms leading to the high BOD content, low-oxidation reduction potentials and the slight decline in pH. The negative reduction potentials in areas under irrigated agriculture, livestock/wildlife and livestock agriculture indicate enhanced organic loading in water under these land-use types.There was an increment in nitrogen nutrient concentrations from irrigated farms and from livestock as well as from removal of aquatic vegetation. Irrigation caused a decline in phosphate concentrations possibly due to phosphate binding to soil particles within the irrigated fields and uptake by phytoplankton, sedges and macrophytes that were common in the canals. Livestock and wildlife grazing did not cause any change in phosphate concentrations.Iron concentration in the water samples increased with land use, high levels in the irrigation discharge areas but highest in areas where land use upstream was livestock/agriculture. Manganese was the only other heavy metal detected in the study area,and concentrations were found to increase due to cultivation.Inter-basin water diversion and abstraction causes serious water shortage to downstream users. Salinity increases downstream and water levels decline, leading to changes in plant community structure, loss of plant communities dependent on water and establishment of salinity tolerant plant species.In Loitokitok, the diversion of a majority of the Nolturesh River flow to areas near Nairobi has destroyed downstream riverine ecosystems and displaced the local people from their traditional home area at Ol Laika. Water is scarce in this area and residents were observed digging holes in the dry riverbed to draw water for domestic purposes from pools that formed. Large numbers of Ficus sycomorous and Acacia trees had dried due to the water diversion (Githaiga and Muchiru 2003). The residents said a large number of people formerly living in the area had moved to the Leinkati area, compounding the ecological problems in this site. Desiccation through water diversion may explain the reduction in extent of the Leinkati swamp and use of the swamp by livestock for grazing and watering. Over utilization of water resources within the water bodies studied has already led to a shortage leading to implementation of water rationing regimes. The amount of water available is not adequate to sustain the current level of irrigation within Leinkati, Namelok and Kimana and there were several abandoned fields in Namelok as well as in Leinkati.David Campbell, Helen Gichohi, Robin Reid, Albert Mwangi, Lucy Chege, and Thor Sawin, all part of the LUCID team, examined peoples' concerns about wildlife conflict over a 20-year period during which a variety of initiatives to address communitywildlife conflict were undertaken. Issues of competition and conflict over resources among and between the three dominant land uses -herding, farming and wildlife-based tourismwere investigated in 1977 and 1996 employing similar research methods. Information was derived from a variety of sources including archives, scientific and policy documents, household surveys, community workshops, and discussions with key informants. While similar studies have been conducted elsewhere in Africa, this study is unusual in that it has examined people-wildlife interactions across a 20-year period during which a series of initiatives designed to reduce conflict were implemented.This longitudinal study of competition and conflict between people and wildlife shows that reports of conflict have increased since 1977 such that in 1996, despite intensive efforts at community involvement in wildlife management, seventy-five percent of herders and ninety percent of farmers reported problems with wildlife in the previous five years. In both periods eating and trampling of crops were the most frequently reported problems. The principal difference between the two surveys is that the latter included farmers who began farming in the lowlands between the two surveys. These lowland systems included sheep and goats alongside crop cultivation. Thus one of the principal differences between the two time periods is addition of conflicts related to livestock in 1996. Interestingly, the Maasai, once they became farmers, faced the same conflicts as non-Maasai farmers. Much of the increase in conflict with wildlife in the lowlands can be attributed to the fact that cultivation extended to riparian areas where wildlife congregated. These included loss of access to resources inside national parks, predation, crop damage, and personal injury.The actions taken by herders to reduce damage by wildlife changed between the two surveys, reflecting the fact that many herders are now also farmers. In 1977, herders' responses were limited to hunting and reporting to game wardens, and many did nothing. In the 1996 survey herders reported scaring the animal and building fences much more frequently, and more contacted the game warden. Fewer herders report killing the animals involved. Herders were less likely to build fences in response to conflict than farmers in either year. There was a substantial decline in reporting to the game warden among farmers between 1977 and 1996. About the same proportion of farmers, around 60%, build fences and in 1996 more of them reported scaring or killing the animals.The high degree of friction between people and wildlife reflects ongoing competition over access to scarce land and water resources between herding, farming and wildlife, that has been conspicuous for over 30 years and is intensifying. To be better accepted, wildlife management policy will need to address both the sustainability of peoples' livelihood systems and that of wildlife populations.12 The Linkages between Changes in Biodiversity and Land DegradationWe tested the links between biodiversity and land degradation by relating the number of plant species (all species and then native species alone) and percent plant cover to soil phosphorus, soil organic carbon and soil erosion level (Table 4). The results compare these relationships across all the land-use types, so the changes in these variables caused by land use are inherent in the analysis. The results from the upper midland zone were unexpected. There were more plant species and plant cover in plots with less soil carbon and more erosion (and possibly less phosphorus). Because this zone is wetter and has been cultivated more intensively, the correlation of higher species in poorer soil conditions may be related to the large number of weeds in the flora. When we remove the weeds from the analysis, we find more native species where there is less erosion, more phosphorus, and possibly less soil carbon. This means that weed diversity is greater in poor soil conditions and native diversity in better soil conditions. This reflects land use: native diversity is higher in the forests and bushlands that are not cultivated or little grazed, while weeds are more common in places that are cultivated and thus have poorer soils.The relationships changed in the lower midland, where farms are uncommon and pastoralism dominates. Here, there were more of all species and natives and plant cover where soil conditions were better. This likely reflects the lower proportion of weeds in the flora and the less intensive land use (grazing) in this zone. 13 Implications for management, policy and development 13.1 Land management to reduce land degradation and biodiversity loss • All soils across the agro-ecological zones have inherently good soil fertility. They do not, however, receive adequate nutrient replenishment to compensate for continuous nutrient mining. This replenishment could come in the form of organic manures, inorganic fertilizers or biomass transfer through agro-forestry or short fallow. These practices, are within the means of people in the area as many already practise agroforestry, those producing horticultural and other cash crops obtain sufficient income to purchase inputs, while others combine livestock raising with cropping and have access to manure.Paul Ntiati predicts that subdivision of group ranches will increase permanent settlement along permanent streams and water points (Ntiati 2002). Some of the effects of settlements near these key resources that we see today in Loitokitok include the following:• More emphasis on subsistence agriculture and less on commercial production • Pressure on natural resources will increase substantially • Limited availability of water • Increase in areas under crops and decrease in areas under livestock production • Demand for fuel wood will greatly increase • The social situation will become complex, new comers will tend to stick together and there will be conflict with previous land holders These changes imply that land tenure policy is having strong impacts on the livelihoods of herders and farmers, and will have consequences for land management practices, water availability, agricultural production, fuelwood production, and conflicts among different land users. Policy makers and land managers need to clearly understand both the positive (tenure security) and negative (possible land and water degradation, increasing conflicts) that privatisation of land will bring to these drylands. As has been shown in other parts of Kajiado District, land privatisation of land may make herders and farmers more vulnerable to drought because their safety net of mobility has been removed (Njoka 1979, Rutten 1992).The results of the gender and land-use study have important implications for agricultural development programmes in pastoral communities. Livestock development programme officers need to recognize the gendered nature of labour allocation and even more importantly, the significance of women's labour in livestock production. The failure of livestock development projects have been attributed to the neglect of the role of women in livestock production (Kettel 1992, Hodgson 2000). Livestock development programmes need to be formulated with the importance of women's roles in mind. For example, since women are increasingly engaged in activities associated with cross-bred and exotic livestock (e.g. watering, collecting fodder, collecting manure), livestock development programmes that advocate a shift towards cross-bred and exotic livestock will increase their chances of success if women's opinions are incorporated from the beginning. This is likely to be a challenge because in many pastoral societies, men own the livestock and subsequently make decisions regarding livestock. Livestock development officers need to actively seek and engage women in the spaces that women feel comfortable to express their opinions. The popular format of general community meetings does not always provide the appropriate setting for women's voices to be heard. Usually women do not attend general community meetings, and when they do, they remain silent. Women's only meetings would be more appropriate than general community meeting. During such meetings, women's time demands and availability for participation in livestock development projects should be addressed.The results of this study also have important implications for natural resource management.There are many natural resource management projects that rely on local labour availability for their success. Examples range from wildlife community conservation efforts (Western and Wright 1994) to village forestry programmes (Maathai 1988). It is important for those involved in formulating such projects to recognize that both men and women's labour is already highly committed to crop and livestock production. The need for food and money to meet health and education needs is a large factor influencing decisions on where labour is allocated. Natural resource managers relying on local labour inputs need to recognize this fact while formulating their projects. Natural resource management needs to be understood as a land use competing for land and labour with such land uses as crop and livestock production, and subsequently designed so as to provide short term economic gains to land and labour investment.13.4 Wildlife policy: should people be compensated for wildlife damage?The issue of compensation to people after personal or livestock injury or crop destruction illustrates clearly the importance of finding effective means to address societal concerns so that people living in and adjacent to areas inhabited by wildlife can support the presence of wildlife (Campbell in prep). That the levels of conflict have remained high over the last twenty years suggests that the variety of initiatives to engage communities in wildlife management have had limited success. The causes lie locally as livelihood systems have changed and demand has increased for critical resources shared with wildlife, and externally as global interests in conservation and national economic interests in tourism have emphasized policies designed to protect wildlife. Wildlife management issues such as those discussed above, provide a clear example of the elusive processes whereby what happens locally has a direct bearing upon policy outcomes.Greater power to design and implement policy lies with global and national institutions than with local ones. Yet it is at the local level that the goals will be realized or not, and that the conflicting claims on resources by local and external interests are mediated. Approaches such as Integrated Development and Conservation Projects, and Community Based Wildlife Management, have attempted to improve local communities' tolerance of wildlife. However there is a growing body of evidence that such approaches have not met their objectives (Alpert 1996, Songorwa 1999, Turner 1999, Kellert et al. 2000, Twyman 2000). Some see participation being used as a means of extending government control of rural communities (Neumann 1997); others emphasize a need to fully involve local people to empower their role in establishing the goals and priorities of community-based development (Wells and Brandon 1992), while still others, recognizing that they have been implemented during a period of rapid cultural, economic and demographic change, call for more comprehensive approaches that reflect the complexity of ecological systems, human systems, and their interactions (Newmark and Hough 2000). The challenge is to establish goals for economic development and for conservation, set priorities, and develop strategies to achieve them in ways that are broadly acceptable and viable.Goals of economic growth, at individual, community and national levels, and global concern for biodiversity illustrate the variety of pressures demanding supportive policy initiatives. There is considerable discussion about which management strategies are appropriate (Heinen 1996) and whether anthropocentric approaches can achieve the goals of conservation and also the capacity of science and technology to find solutions to conservation problems when the functioning of the ecosystems and their patterns of interaction with society are poorly understood (Stanley 1995).Given the diverse interests at play, it is relevant to ask whose goals and priorities are to be promoted? Is social equity an issue? For whom and to what end are the strategies to be acceptable and viable? The existing conflicts between local communities and wildlife represent a clash of interests. Each of the interested parties (local communities and wildlife representatives in the conservation community) has a measure of power with which to enact or negotiate outcomes. Is a goal of conserving biodiversity superior to one of maximizing horticultural production? Are these activities in a zero-sum game or can compromises yield greater combined benefits? Such questions may not be readily answered, or answers may imply politically impractical outcomes. It is important however, to pose them and to make explicit that the control and use of power will ultimately define future outcomes regarding broad land use questions, and human-wildlife conflict specifically.This paper has discussed linkages among changes in land use, plant and mammal biodiversity, and land degradation on the northern side of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya. It has adopted a multidisciplinary approach involving analyses that combine land-use change with ground measurements and assessments of biodiversity change and land degradation to give a thorough analysis of the impacts of land-use change. Historical trends in land-use in the study area from 1970-2000 formed the basis for an assessment of the impacts of these changes on wildlife, soils, plant species and water quality. The study has established links between land use dynamics and plant species diversity (a proxy for biodiversity) and soil fertility and erosion (a proxy for soil conditions). It has also explored the sensitive issue of wildlife conservation effectively complementing sustainable development of local livelihood systems.As discussed in a number of the LUCID working papers, policy by its very nature contributes significantly to land use change. In some cases the results enhance sustainability, but in other cases, particularly where policy is defined sectorally, long-term implications for the societalbiophysical system may be undesirable and unintended. This paper has identified a number of issues that policy-makers in government and in NGOs, as well as land managers should consider in formulating future strategies for sustaining both livelihoods and the natural resource base of the Loitokitok area.","tokenCount":"10207"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7488133962.json b/data/part_1/7488133962.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..789f6a80452549ab598c34325a52ed2a233b7862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7488133962.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9eb8ba7860a903a8eeb54ed41524bdf8","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://cpwfbfp.pbworks.com/f/IGB_situation_analysis.PDF","id":"-310716255"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"45939603-e59b-41fd-99be-ce466c157e66","pagecount":"14","content":"Indo-Gangetic basin, one of the world's most populous, has emerged during the past 40 years into an intricate mosaic of interactions between man and nature, poverty and prosperity and problems and possibilities. Rapid expansion in agricultural water use is a common theme across these interactions and access to water is central for the livelihoods of the rural poor. Given the diversity of agro-climatic, social and economic conditions in the four riparian countries-Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh-the IGB is clearly one of the most complex river basin systems in the world. Home to the earliest river valley (Indus valley) civilizations as well as the present-day economic dynamism taking off in South Asia, the basin is a study of contrasts and opportunities in all respects. And yet it is 'water' that remains the principal driver (or main set of brakes) for development in South Asia. Management of IGB water resources presents some formidable challenges and, therefore, steps must be taken towards integrated management of the IGB's water and land resources in order to ensure the future sustainability of all production and ecosystems in the basin. This report presents a brief situation analysis related to water, agriculture and poverty; water resources, water productivity, institutional aspects and opportunities and risks related to the development of the Indo-Gangetic basin.The total basin area is 225.2 million ha and the net cropped area is 114 million ha. The population of IGB is 747 million as per 2001 census. Rural population in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan is 79.9%, 74.5%, 86.0% and 68.0%, respectively of the total population. While both rural and urban poverty were decreasing strongly in India and Nepal, the levels of poverty are static or deteriorating in Pakistan and Bangladesh (Figure 1). Major gains have been made in the Ganges, from headcount ratios of approximately 50% in the 1980s. In 2000, about 30.5% population in IGB is below poverty line.However, poverty in rural areas where agriculture is the main livelihood is substantially higher. In India much of the rural poverty is concentrated in few states that fall in the Ganga basin (Figure 2). High population growth rates in all countries remain a cause for concern in terms of water and food security, poverty alleviation and resource conservation. IGB basins will have some of the highest growth of population in South Asia in the first half of this century. For example, India's population is increasing, but will stabilize at a level of about 1,583 million in the middle of this century. By this time (2050), about half of the India's population shall be living in cities. However, due to high population growth, more than 61% of the rural population and 56% of the urban population of India will live in IGB by 2050 (Table 1).As far as water use is concerned, 90% of the annual water withdrawals in the Ganga is still being diverted for agriculture followed by 7.8 per cent for domestic use in IGB (Table 2). In Indus, the share of agriculture in total withdrawals is as high as 96%. However, the major drivers of increasing water demand in the future will be from the domestic and industrial sectors.  1973-1974 1983 1993-1994 1999-2000 2004-2005 Headcount ratio (%)  & 1983-1984 1993-1994 1999-2000 2005-2006 State level headcount ratio (of India %) Source: Authors' estimates based on PODIUMSim modelThe regions experiencing water scarcities shall also witness migration from agriculture to nonagriculture sector. Further, odds of rural youth moving out of agriculture are high in areas where water scarcities are more, and where non-agricultural employment opportunities in the neighborhoods are high ( Sharma and Bhaduri, 2006).The IGB system drains from the southern Himalayan and Hindu Kush \"water tower\" of Asia and provides the economic base for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock, plus urban and industrial water requirements for about a billion people. Water availability in the Indian part of the IGB is presented in Table 1. The per capita water availability in the Indo-Gangetic basin under the projected water demand by 2025 is going to be reduced to the level that it will become a water stressed area (ie., having per capita water availability < 1700 m 3 ). The water availability in all the four basin countries and in the designated basin area is likely to decline very sharply due to an ever increasing population pressure (Table 3 and Table 4). The Indus Basin: The total length of the Indus river is 3,199 km. From its origin to the Guddu Barrage in Pakistan, it is called the Upper Indus, while downstream from the barrage it is known as the Lower Indus. In Upper Indus Basin, the principal tributaries are the Kabul, the Swat and the Kurram on the right bank and the major tributaries on the left bank are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Satluj. The basin extends over an area of 1,165,500 km 2 and lies in Tibet (China), India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The drainage area lying in Pakistan is 692,700 km 2 . The area lying in Afghanistan and China is 15,100 km 2 . The drainage area lying in India is 321,289 km 2 . The mean annual flow of the Indus Basin Rivers amounts to about 187 cubic km. There is a significant contribution from snowmelt. For the Satluj basin, the contribution of snow and glacier melt to annual runoff is about 60%.The Ganga Basin: The Ganga River is the most important and sacred river of India. The catchment area of the Ganga falls in four countries, namely India, Nepal, Tibet-China, and Bangladesh. Table 3 gives areas of different countries in the Ganga basin. The major part of the geographical area of the Ganga basin lies in India. Many important tributaries of Ganga originate in the Himalayas in India and Nepal; Bangladesh lies in the deltaic region of the basin. The total length of the Ganga River is 2,525 km which makes it the 20 th longest river in Asia and the 41 st longest in the world (Philips World Atlas). Ganga enters into plains near Haridwar and thereafter flows in south/south-easterly direction. Yamuna is the most important tributary of the Ganga that joins it on the right bank at Allahabad. After confluence with Yamuna, the Ganga River flows in an eastward direction and is joined by a number of tributaries, such as the Ramganga, the Gomti, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Bagmati, the Kosi, the Sone and the Damodar (Jain and , 2007).Table 3. Areas of different countries in the Ganges basin.The delta of Ganga begins at Farakka where a barrage controls river flow. At about 40 km downstream of Farakka, the river splits in two arms. The right arm, the Bhagirathi River, flows towards south and enters the Bay of Bengal about 150 km downstream of Calcutta. The left arm, known as Padma, turns towards east and enters Bangladesh. While flowing in Bangladesh, Padma meets the Brahmaputra River at Goalundo. The combined flow, still known as Padma, is joined by another mighty river, Meghna (or Barak), at Chandpur, 105 km downstream of Goalundo. Further down, the river ultimately flows into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga basin extends over an area of 1,086,000 km 2 . The mean annual flow of the Ganges at Haridwar (entry into plain areas) is 23,900 MCM and of its largest tributary Yamuna at tajewala is 10,750 MCM. The combined flow of both the rivers at Allahabad is 152,000 MCM and finally the mean annual ( flow of the Ganges at Farakka (prior to entry into Bangladesh) is 459,040 MCM. The Ganga basin is one of the most densely populated regions of the world. The average population density is 550 individuals per km 2 and about 42% of India's population resides in this basin. The surface water resource potential of the Ganga and its tributaries in India has been assessed at 525 billion m 3 out of which 250 billion m 3 is considered to be utilizable (Chaturvedi and Rogers, 1985).Groundwater Resources: Ground water resources can be classified as static and dynamic. The static resource is the amount of ground water available in the permeable portion of the aquifer below the zone of water level fluctuation. The dynamic resource is the amount of ground water available in the zone of water level fluctuation. Sustainable ground water development requires that only the dynamic resources are tapped. Exploitation of static ground water resources could be considered during extreme scarcity conditions, that also only for essential purposes. The static fresh ground water resource of Indus and Ganga basin are listed in Table 4. As expected, ground water resources in the Ganga basin are nearly six times that of the Indus basin.  There is a steep increase of private tubewells in Punjab province of Pakistan from the year 1950 to 2000 (Fig- 3). According to Khan ( 2002), there are presently 3,00,000 tubewells in the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS). In Indian part IGB, the groundwater now accounts for 67% of total irrigated area (Table 5), and the grain crop account for about 70 percent of total irrigated area. Therefore, irrigation and especially groundwater irrigation is central to the livelihood security of many poor people in the basins. It is even more important for India, as Indus and Ganga basin account for about two-third of the total grain production in India (Table 6). Among the grains, IG basin produces a major part of wheat production (93%) and more than half (58%) rice production at present.Substantial production surpluses of Indus basin now meets the productions deficits other basins. In fact, that production surpluses is more than 23% percents of consumption of both in Indus and Ganga basins. Indeed, IG basin a major virtual water trader in that it trade the water embedded in food for other water scarce basins in India.  Irrigation is a critical factor in agricultural productivity in the Indus and Ganges basins. More than anywhere else in the world, gains in crop productivity in IG basin represent the benefits of the Green Revolution. Cropping systems characterized by rice, wheat, cotton and sugarcane crops besides several other minor crops. In the lower parts of the Ganges basin in India and Bangladesh inland fisheries also forms a significant component of the agricultural production system. The Indus basin is quite productive in India and food surplus in this basin meets the food requirements of several other food deficits basins in India. However, there is a wide variation in agricultural productivity in different parts of the basin. It also reflects on how best water management practices are adopted at the farm and irrigation system levels. Average productivity of diverted water was reported to be 1.47 kg/m 3 and 1.11 kg/m 3 for Bhakra canal system of Kaithal Irrigation Circle in Indian and lower Jhelum Canal System in Pakistan (IWMI), respectively for wheat. The overall water productivity was reported to be 0.5 kg/m 3 for Pakistani Punjab and 1.0 kg/m 3 for the Bhakra system of the Indian Punjab which shows a lot of opportunities for improving the water productivity in the region. In general, the IGB exhibits high potential but with only low-to-medium actual primary productivity of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock. However, conditions are extremely heterogeneous; as a result, it is necessary to assess potential and actual productivity separately in the Upper Catchments (UC), Western Indo-Gangetic Plains (WIGP), and Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) as indicated in Table 5. The region that has most closely achieved its agriculture production potential is WIGP, spanning from Pakistan Punjab, right across Indian Punjab, Haryana, western U.P. and western Nepal Terai. Agricultural potential is listed as medium-to-high in Table 1, given the constraints of salinity and sodicity of soils and groundwater in the region. Combined rice-wheat productivity is estimated to be 8-12 tons/ha/year, although quite variable. Again due to water quality constraints (both geogenic as mentioned for agriculture, but also anthropogenic resulting from high population densities and major industrial and urban concentrations), the fisheries potential and actual productivity in WIGP are considered to be low. Forestry is not a major resource in the region; though poplar and eucalyptus based agro-forestry systems have become quite popular in certain pockets of the region. Livestock on the other hand are least constrained by water quality, with the result that potential is considered to be high while productivity is medium-to-high.Among the three IGB regions it is the EIGP that has the greatest differences between potential and actual productivity. The region comprises eastern U.P., Bihar and West Bengal in India, eastern Nepal Terai, and all of Bangladesh. Rich alluvial soils and abundant surface and groundwater provide high agricultural potential; however, for a variety of reasons including inadequate drainage, unfavorable land tenure, and inadequate infrastructure and institutional arrangement including marketing, combined rice-wheat productivity is estimated to be just 4-8 tons/ha/year. Abundant supply of good quality water combined with a traditional fish eating population gives high fisheries potential, although the achieved productivity is medium and could be increased significantly. Forestry and aquatic vegetations form a part of the lowland ecosystems but its potential has also not been fully realized. Finally, livestock potential or productivity is not considered to be as high as in either UC or WIGP primarily for want of poor infrastructure, distribution and marketing channels and high incidence of animal diseases.In the basin there are significant spatial mismatches of the population and water resources. Less water is available in places where more people live and much of the food is grown. The Indus basin is experiencing problems of physical water scarcity and the problem of unsustainable groundwater use.Water quality is also a serious problem in several large areas of the Indus and Gangetic basin. Whereas in the Indus basin, the problems of salinity and alkali groundwaters are encountered, the lower reaches of the Ganges basin are afflicted with arsenic contamination. The natural incidences of high arsenic in groundwater in the vast tract of alluvial aquifers within the delta plains in West Bengal, eastern India, have attained an alarming magnitude. Many studies have detected arsenic contamination of groundwater in the lower Ganga Plain of West Bengal and Bangladesh (Acharya et al., 1999;Chowdhury et al., 2000). The source of arsenic in deltaic plain of West Bengal is considered to be the arsenic-rich sediments transported from the Chotonagpur Rajmahal Highlands (Acharya et al., 2000;Saha et al., 1997) and deposited in sluggish meandering streams under reducing conditions.Water management at the river basin level has undergone several shifts in paradigms over the last several decades, from largely ignoring the hydrological aspects of a river basin and resorting to interbasin transfers on the one hand, to emphasizing the interconnectedness of unique ecological systems and encouraging an integrated approach to planning, on the other. The shift in paradigm was accompanied by an increased orientation from supply-side solutions to demand-side management and to recognizing the need to preserve ecological services and address issues related to equity in water use (ADB, 2007). River basin organizations support the integrated physical and technical management of water resources and, if developed adequately, can respond to the growing competition for water among agricultural, industrial, urban and in-stream uses within basins. However, Indian and the neighboring countries geographic and geopolitical challenges generally do not favor integrated hydrologic perspective. The reasons include a short but intense monsoon season of water availability followed by a long rainless period (instead of steady river flows), and significant decentralized rainwater harvesting in many parts of the basin unrelated to the holistic basin perspective. The basin is also unique in its large-scale dependence on groundwater usage, which is equally seen as seemingly unrelated to the basin perspective.Water resource legislations in the basin countries are also not very effective and conducive to integrated basin management. Water is chiefly a state subject and the union generally does not interfere except for the subjects related to inter-states water sharing and disputes and water/ river treaties with the neighboring riparian countries such as India-Pakistan (Indus treaty); India-Nepal and India-Bangladesh (Farakka Treaty). Water administration at the national levels do not treat water as a scarce resource and the states that do not use economic instruments or regulations to increase the efficiency of water use are not worse off and continue to receive national support (ADB, 2007). Water resource management is still developing, is functional and top-down. River basin management organizations are established only for the purpose of constructing large interstate multipurpose projects and water sharing or conflict resolution and have been successful in this respect. The more demanding and complex functions related to conservation of water and improvement of water productivity, allocation of water among the competing sectors, integrating environmental and social concerns related to the resources, ensuring equity to access and compensating for losing access or relocating are inadequately addressed. The water management thus chiefly focuses on supply augmentation.One such mega recent initiative on supply augmentation is the National River Linking Project of India, wherein a number of river links are proposed to divert potentially surplus water from the east and north-east rivers to the water scarce basins in the south and western region. The discussions on the project have become highly polarized between the proponents and opponents of the concept and the need for undertaking such a mega irrigation infrastructure investment aimed at creating surface irrigation schemes for certain selected regions (Sharma and Upali, 2008). Apart from several issues related to environment, displacement, water and food needs for the future populations; the inadequacies of the existing policies for sharing and transferring of water between riparian and non-riparian states appears to be a major institutional issue.However, there have been several direct and indirect policies in the past which helped in the spread of Green revolution technologies in certain parts of the basin and helped India to achieve food self-sufficiency and security. These included massive investments in surface irrigation infrastructure, spread of high yielding varieties, subsidies on fertilizers and energy supply for agriculture, minimum support prices for agricultural commodities, farm-credit policies and support for farm extension programs. Focus of the efforts remained confined to certain wellendowed pockets and several states in the east, including Nepal and Bangladesh have not much benefited from these policies and remain poverty hotspots.A new and innovative set of policies which are more equitable and inclusive (small and marginal farmers), away from infrastructure construction to emphasis on management; proper mechanisms for water sharing and transfer , conducive energy policies, proper targeting of subsidies and creation of responsive institutions at different levels shall be required to ensure higher productivity and support to the livelihoods.The Indo-Gangetic basin presents both great opportunities and serious challenges for the water and agriculture-centric poverty reduction interventions. One of the main opportunity in the large part of the Ganges basin is that in spite of adequate water and land resources, the productivity levels are exceptionally low and can be potentially enhanced through suitable physical, economic and policy interventions. Multiple water use systems through integration of crops, horticulture, aquaculture , livestock and other water-centric livelihood options offer a great opportunity for improving agriculture and water productivity (both in net and $ terms) and thus improving the livelihoods.Though a large part of the Indus basin has reasonable levels of agricultural productivity, it is largely supported through government subsidies (water, energy, fertilizers) but still does not make great margins for the farmers as the production systems are highly grain dominated with little opportunities for value-addition and diversification. Moreover, the present production systems are also supported by the over-exploitation of groundwater resources which in the long run are hydrologically and economically unsustainable. A substantial part of the Indus basin in both India and Pakistan also suffers from geogenic and secondary salinity and alkalinity and water-logging problems and require individual and community interventions and supportive policy instruments for implementing sustainable solutions for productivity improvements under such environments. Rainfed agriculture regions, especially in the upper catchments have also received inadequate attention in the past, and have good opportunities for value-added agriculture.The basin as a whole and Indian region in particular is witnessing a good expansion in economy and income levels which shall have substantial implications for future water and food requirements (Upali, 2007). Land use, cropping and water use patterns are changing, partly as responses to changing demographic and consumption patterns, and partly as responses to changing investment scenarios and economic growth. Rapid urbanization and changes in food consumption patterns are so significant that they have considerable impact on the needs of future food and water demand. Parts of this basin lying in the different countries have traditionally served as food bowls for the remaining parts and this exerts a tremendous pressure for improving the agricultural productivity. Potential future interventions must take cognizance of the existing opportunities and challenges for development to meet the ever-increasing water and food demands of a vast population of the Indo-Gangetic basin.","tokenCount":"3461"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7514781650.json b/data/part_1/7514781650.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b0b3b7335186462ccd2cfdd72661206ba0fe45f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7514781650.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f98e115ef8a83b1a6135d15af9a25c8f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81ebb54a-7d37-4858-8f7d-b827f48352c7/retrieve","id":"-1084410279"},"keywords":["rice","biofortification","micronutrients","Zn","QTL","candidate genes","connected populations"],"sieverID":"4e410929-0139-4d7f-b6d8-f694a1ebe690","pagecount":"20","content":"Breeding staple crops with increased micronutrient concentration is a sustainable approach to address micronutrient malnutrition. We carried out Multi-Cross QTL analysis and Inclusive Composite Interval Mapping for 11 agronomic, yield and biofortification traits using four connected RILs populations of rice. Overall, MC-156 QTLs were detected for agronomic (115) and biofortification (41) traits, which were higher in number but smaller in effects compared to single population analysis. The MC-QTL analysis was able to detect important QTLs viz: qZn 5.2 , qFe 7.Globally, more than 3 billion people depend on rice for their daily caloric intake and nutritional needs (Yadaw et al., 2006;Elert, 2014;Bouis and Saltzman, 2017). However, milled rice is a poor source of micronutrients; hence, majority of the resourcepoor rice consumers without access to adequate nutrition suffer mineral deficiencies (Dipti et al., 2012;Goudia and Hash, 2015;Garcia-Oliveira et al., 2018;Goloran et al., 2019;Ludwig and Slamet-Loedin, 2019). Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) malnutrition is common across all age groups, especially among children and women in the developing world (Bouis et al., 2002;Ahmed et al., 2016;Palanog et al., 2019;Gupta et al., 2020;Calayugan et al., 2021). Increasing the mineral density in the edible portion of the staple crops is a food-based approach to tackle mineral deficiencies. It is reported to be the most economical and sustainable solution to address malnutrition (Dipti et al., 2012;Bouis and Saltzman, 2017;Goloran et al., 2019;Ludwig and Slamet-Loedin, 2019). However, for the successful adoption and consumption of biofortified rice varieties, they should be highyielding, agronomically-superior, and desirable in terms of grain quality (Swamy et al., 2016;Swamy et al., 2021b).Rice has a vast amount of genetic diversity available in cultivars, landraces, and wild relatives (Khush, 1997;Jackson and Lettington, 2003;Huggins et al., 2019). In particular, aus is a genetically-distinct group of rice accessions mainly originated from Bangladesh and India (Garis et al., 2005;Norton et al., 2018;Swamy et al., 2018). They are well-known for their wider adaptability, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and nutritional value (Xu et al., 2006;Ali et al., 2011;Henry et al., 2011;Gamuyao et al., 2012;Zhu et al., 2016). Currently, aus accessions are being explored for Zn biofortification due to their high grain Zn concentration (Swamy et al., 2018;Rakotondramana et al., 2022).Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping using bi-parental populations is widely popular in rice (Al-Shugeairy et al., 2014;Travis et al., 2015). However, it has limited recombination and lesser allelic diversity, which results in larger confidence intervals of the QTLs, and captures only a portion of the total genetic variation (Xu et al., 2016;Verdeprado et al., 2018). Further, QTLs have to be fine-mapped and validated in multiple genetic backgrounds for their use in Marker Assisted Breeding (MAB). An alternative approach is QTL mapping in multi-parent populations that can increase the power of detecting major QTLs, and helps to understand QTL interactions and QTL by genetic background effects (Wang et al., 2014;Descalsota et al., 2018). Multi-parent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) and nested-association mapping (NAM) populations increase the probability of identifying precise QTL (Bandillo et al., 2013).In this study, we developed four connected recombinant inbred lines (RILs) populations derived from Kaliboro (IRGC 77201-1) -a high grain Zn germplasm crossed with four elite Zn breeding lines. These populations were analyzed using multi-cross QTL (MC-QTL) method to identify QTLs for agronomic, yield and biofortification traits, candidate genes were shortlisted for major effect QTLs, and detailed analyses of major effect Zn QTLs was conducted to characterize candidate genes and cisregulatory elements.All the four recombinant inbred lines (RILs) populations were developed using high Zn aus donor parent Kaliboro::IRGC77201-1 (P2), while promising Zn breeding lines developed at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) were used as recipient parents viz; IR14M141 (P1), IR14M110 (P3), IR14M125 (P4), and IR95044:8-B-5-22-19-GBS (P5) (Table S1).All the mapping populations were grown in an alpha lattice design with two replications at Zeigler Experimental Station at IRRI during the dry and wet seasons of 2017 (DS2017 and WS2017) and in the dry season of 2018 (DS2018). Seeds were sown in the seedbed, and 21-day old seedlings were transplanted in the field at 20 cm x 20 cm planting distance. Each plot consisted of 2 rows with 20 hills per plot. Inorganic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers were applied at the rate of 120:30:30 NPK kg ha -1 during the DS and 90:30:30 NPK during the WS. Standard crop management practices were employed to ensure good crop growth.We collected data on days to 50% flowering (DF), plant height (PH), number of tillers (NT), number of productive tillers (PT), panicle length (PL), thousand-grain weight (TGW), grain length (GL), grain width (GW) and grain yield per hectare (GY). We followed the standard evaluation system to gather data (IRRI, 2014). The Fe and Zn concentrations in the rice grains was measured using 3 grams of milled rice per sample by using XRF-Bruker S2 Ranger. Samples were analyzed twice, and mean values were considered for statistical analysis.Basic statistical analyses were performed using STAR v.2.0.1 (http://bbi.irri.org), PBTools v1.4 (http://bbi.irri.org), and R v3.5.2 in R Studio (RStudio Team, 2015). Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values for each of the traits across three seasons were computed using PBTools v1.4, and were used for further analyses. Pearson's correlation, histograms, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Abbreviations: MC-QTL, multi-cross quantitative trait loci analysis; Fe, Iron/ grain Iron; Zn, Zinc/grain Zinc; GY, grain yield; PH, plant height; DF/FLW, days to flowering; NT, number of tillers; PT, productive tillers; TGW, total grain weight; PL, panicle length; GL, grain length; GW, grain width; Mb, mega base pairs; ICIM, inclusive composite interval mapping; GWAS, genome-wide association study; MAF, minor allele frequency Palanog et al. 10.3389/fpls.2023.1157507 Frontiers in Plant Science frontiersin.org and descriptive statistics of traits were performed using R v3.5.2 in R Studio v1.0.153 (RStudio Team, 2015). Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) of all the traits was estimated using following formula:Where s 2 g is the genotypic variance, s 2 p is the phenotypic variance,Fresh leaf samples were collected from RILs and parental lines during the early seedling stage. Samples were ground after freezing in liquid nitrogen and genomic DNA was extracted from each sample using the modified CTAB method (Murray and Thompson, 1980), and the quality of DNA was estimated by using 1% agarose gel electrophoresis. High-quality DNA samples with desirable concentration (~50 ng) were submitted to IRRI-Genotyping Services Laboratory (GSL) for SNP genotyping using the 7K Infinium Chip (Morales et al., 2020).A set of 7,086 high-quality SNP markers were generated after thorough filtering using Illumina's protocol based on >80% call rate, homozygosity, and polymorphism between respective parents. SNP markers were further filtered based on homozygosity of the parents and with high heterozygosity on the segregating families. There were 495 high quality SNPs selected based on the distribution across the genome with < 20% missing SNPs among the parental lines. The selected SNPs were used to generate individual genetic maps and merged to construct a consensus physical map using BioMercator v4.2.1 considering a conversion of 250 kb = 1 cM. The scoring of alleles for the combined populations was performed by comparing parental alleles for each SNP. Four recipient parents were scored as \"A\", donor allele was scored as \"B\", and ambiguous/missing data were scored as \"X\".Combined phenotypic (BLUP) and genotypic data of four populations were used to perform MC-QTL analysis using MC-QTL v1.0 (Jourjon et al., 2005;De Oliviera et al., 2016). A linear regression model and iterative QTL mapping method (iQTLm) was used to detect QTL (Haley and Knott, 1992;Charcosset et al., 2000). A logarithm of odds (LOD) threshold of ≥5 was used to declare putative QTLs (Churchill and Doerge, 1994). The Phenotypic variance (R 2 ) for each QTL and global R 2 for each trait were generated. Epistatic analysis was also performed.QTL detection for each individual bi-parental mapping population was conducted using inclusive interval mapping (ICIM) with the aid of IciMapping v.4.1 (Wang, 2009). Critical threshold value for QTL detection was calculated by 1000 random permutations of the phenotypic data to establish an experimentwise significance value at 0.05 (Churchill and Doerge, 1994). Estimated phenotypic variance explained by QTL for each trait and corresponding additive effect was also generated.Consistent major effect QTLs with overlapping regions and with consensus boundaries of ≤500 Kb, found across different types of QTL analysis were subjected to candidate gene analysis. Predicted candidate genes were searched within or near ( ± 500 Kb) the QTL for each trait using its flanking markers. Physical locations of the annotated genes were determined with the aid of the RAP-DB (http://rapdb.dna.affrc.go.jp/viewer/gbrowse/irgsp1) (accessed on March 20, 2019). Functions, ontology, and gene networks for each of the candidate genes were determined using the KNetminer (http://knetminer.rothamsted.ac.uk/Oryzasativa/) (accessed on March 20, 2019) and the Rice Genome Annotation Project (http://rice.plantbiology.msu.edu/cgi-bin/gbrowse/rice/) (accessed on March 20, 2019). The patterns of gene expression in various organs and stages were displayed using the eFP browser (http://bar.utoronto.ca/efprice/cgi-bin/efpWeb.cgi) (accessed on March 21, 2019), and the CoNekT (http://conekt.mpimpgolm.mpg.de/pub/) (accessed on March 21, 2019). Further searches on the previously reported QTL that co-localize with the QTL identified in our study were made using the Gramene (http:// archive.gramene.org/qtl/) (accessed on March 22, 2019).In silico gene prediction and cis-regulatory elements analysis of grain Zn QTL SNPs within the candidate genes related to Zn homeostasis were downloaded from the rice SNP-Seek 18 (http://snp-seek.irri.org) (accessed on March 22, 2019). Coordinates of the genomic regions of interest were identified using the reference genome (Nipponbare) by extracting flanking sequences and aligning these to the target reference genome assemblies of IR64 and Kaliboro 600 (representing the genomes of the parents). A region in the target genome with best flank hits was then extracted and characterized. Alternative SNPs between indica-IR64 (representing the recipient parents) and aus-Kaliboro 600 (representing the donor parent) were identified using Rice SNP-Seek 18 (Mansueto et al., 2017). SNP genotyping data were sourced from 3K Rice Genome Project (The 3,000 rice genome project, 2014; Wang et al., 2018). The 1 Kb upstream region of each gene was used to shortlist the SNPs in their promoter regions. All polymorphic SNPs in the promoter and coding regions were listed.Predicted genes showing SNP polymorphisms between the query genomes were further subjected to cis-regulatory analysis. The 1Kb region from the coding sequences in the 5' upstream strand of the Zn homeostasis gene was scanned for putative cis-regulatory elements using PlantPAN (http://PlantPAN.mbc.nctu.edu.tw) (accessed on March 23, 2019).The data of the various traits from four populations evaluated over three seasons are presented in Table 1. All the traits had large phenotypic variations and showed typical normal distribution across seasons and populations (Table 1 and Figures S1, S2). The highest mean values were recorded for GY, TGW, and GW during the DS; while DF, PH, and PL were higher during the WS. Grain Zn and Fe concentration were high during the DS. A low coefficient of variation (CV, <10%) was observed for DF and GL, whereas a moderate to high CV (10-45%) was observed for other traits. High broad sense heritability (H 2 ) was observed for Zn, DF, PH, and TGW (>70%) while it was low to moderate (10 to 60%) for all other traits (Table 1). Zn exhibited moderate to strong negative correlation with GY across populations (Figures 1A-D). Likewise, it has moderate negative correlation with TGW and GL in Pop2 (Figure 1B), and strong negative correlation with DF in Pop3 (Figure 1C). Similarly, Fe was negatively correlated with several agronomic traits: PH, PL, DF, TGW, and GL in Pop1, Pop2 and Pop3 (Figures 1A-C), while showed positive correlation with GW, NT, PT and GY in Pop4 (Figure 1D). Meanwhile, a strong positive correlation between NT, PT, TGW, and GL; with PH and PL were observed consistently across populations (Figures 1A-D). Notable positive correlations were observed among agronomic traits such as TGW, GW, PH, DF, and GL. The grain Fe and Zn concentration had consistent positive correlation across populations (Figures 1A-D). Overall, 495 SNPs across four populations were used to construct a consensus genetic map and used for MC-QTL analyses. The number of SNPs per chromosome ranged from 11 to 75 with lowest and highest number of SNPs on chromosomes 9 and 1, respectively (Figure S5). The total map length was 1627 cM with an average distance of 6.0 cM between SNPs. MC-QTL analyses identified MC-156 QTLs for 11 traits (Table 2). The global R 2 captured by the QTLs varied from 12 to 58% for various traits, while the R 2 explained by individual QTL ranged from 0.1 to 22%. The two major QTLs with highest R 2 (22% and 13%, respectively) were qPH 1.1 and qZn 5.2 . The tall parent (P2) allele    increased PH by 7.19 cm while the other parents reduced PH by 1.77 to 1.91 cm. Some of the major QTLs for agronomic and yield traits were: qDF 7.1 , qNT 4.1 , qPT 4.1 , qPL 1.2 , qTGW 5.1 , qGL 3.1, qGW 6.1 and qGY 10.1 (Table 2). The qDF 7.1 located between id7005418 and c7p27670416 on chromosome 7 explained 7.3% R 2 , P1 allele increased maturity by 1.70 days while P5 allele reduced maturity by 0.80 days. Whereas, qNT 4.1 and qPT 4.1 were detected between 3647133 and 3653113 on chromosome 4, each explained by a R2 >3%. Meanwhile, qPL 1.2 detected on chromosome 1 explained 7% R 2 , and qTGW 5.1 identified between 5020568 and 5056493 increased TGW by 0.52 g. Among the 21 QTLs identified for GL, qGL 3.1 explained 8% R 2 , P1 allele increased GL by 0.09 mm. For grain width, qGW 6.1 contributed 4.2% R 2 and P3 allele increased grain width 0.03 mm. The qGY 10.1 explained 4% R 2 with highest positive allelic contribution from P2 (85.5 kg/ha). A total of 27 QTL was detected for Zn that explained R 2 of 0.3 to 13.0% with a global R 2 of 58%. As expected, the donor parent (P2) had the highest combined additive effect (2.6 ppm). Interestingly, the recipient parent (P5) total allele contribution was 2.5 ppm (Table 2). A major QTL (qZn 5.2 ) with an R 2 of 13% was detected on chromosome 5 at 22.03 Mb flanked by markers 5711540 and 5726844. It has a narrow genomic region of 600 Kb among the Zn QTLs. There were three QTLs, qZn 3.2 , qZn 11.1a and qZn 12.1b each contributed >3% R 2 . Similarly for Fe, 14 QTLs were detected with R 2 ranging 0.7-3.2% and a global R 2 of 25%. These QTL were located on all the chromosomes except chromosomes 5 and 10. The qFe 7.2 , located on chromosome 7 at 21 Mb, accounted for the highest R 2 (3.2%). However, the highest positive allele contribution with 0.16 ppm increase in Fe concentration observed for qFe 2.1 .QTLs that shared common SNPs were considered co-located. In all, 26 QTL clusters were identified on different chromosomes (Figure 2). Four QTLs, qGY 5.1 , qTGW 5.1 , qGL 5.1 , and qGW 5.1 were co-located at 2.5 Mb on chromosome 5, while QTLs qZn 8.1 , qFe 8.1 , qNT 8.1 , and qPT 8.1 were at the same genomic region on the short arm of chromosome 8. Similarly, qGY 9.1 , qZn 9.1 , qFe 9.1 , and qGL 9.1 co-localized between markers id9000710 and 9569595 on chromosome 9. We observed three QTLs clusters at four genomic regions on chromosomes 3, 4, 8, and 9, while 20 genomic regions had two QTLs co-located (Figure 2).Epistatic interactions were detected between qZn 5.1 and qPH 6.1 , and qPH 6.1 and qGY 6.2 ; each explained a R 2 of 5% (Table S2). qPH 6.1 is a minor QTL flanked by id6007220 and 6228191 with genetic interval of 8.08 Mb. The positive allele (P3) increased PH by 1.25 cm while P4 allele reduced PH by 1.70 cm. On the other hand, qZn 5.1 is also a minor allele associated with Zn flanked by 514403 and SNP-5.9394949 with positive allele contributed by P2 (0.60 ppm). Minor QTL, qPH 6.1 is also interacted with qGY 6.2 which was flanked by markers 6907224 and id6016547 with a narrow interval of 0.07 Mb. The positive alleles were contributed by P3 and P4 with an additive effect of 100 kg/ha (Table 2).Largest-effect QTL for grain yield, agronomic traits, Fe, and all the QTLs detected for grain Zn were subjected to candidate gene analysis (Table 2 and Figure S3). Genes conferring biological functions related to the trait were shortlisted (Table 3). The OsMADS18 is co-located with qFe 7.1 , it helps in Fe transport, cellular and inter-cellular responses under Fe deficiency, it is also known to regulate seed maturation and days to maturity. Similarly, HUA2 was linked to flowering locus qDF 7.1 and regulates flowering time and reproductive development. A pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase gene (OsPdk1) is found nearest to qPL 1.2 which is involved in root hair length and panicle threshability. Meanwhile, Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK) is found to influence days to maturity, seed maturation, brown rice shape, grain width and grain weight. GSK2 was co-located with major effect QTL, qTGW 5.1 , while GSK4 was co-located with qGW 6.1 . Similarly, GS3 was within the confidence interval of qGL 3.1 . Candidate genes OS01G0899425, OS04G0350700, and OS10G0326900 were co-located with qPH 1.1 , qPT 4.1 , and qGY 10.1 , respectively (Table 3).The details of 20 candidate genes shortlisted from qZn 5.2 are presented in Table 4. Most of the candidate genes were either Zn finger or metal cation transporters. Four putative candidate genes identified within or nearest the QTL Viz: LOC_OS05G39540 (OsZIP9), LOC_OS05G39560 (OsZIP5), LOC_OS05G40490 and LOC_OS05G41790. These genes are differentially expressed in roots, leaves, stems, flowers, and meristems (Figure S4). OsZIP5 was highly expressed in stem, internode and seeds, and moderately expressed in roots; OsZIP9 highly expressed in roots differentiation  Palanog et al. 10.3389/fpls.2023.1157507 Frontiers in Plant Science frontiersin.org zone, and in inflorescence. LOC_OS05G40490 had minimum expression in leaves during drought stress, but LOC_OS05G41790 has high expression in seeds and had moderate expression in leaves under well-watered and drought conditions (Figure S4). The in-silico gene prediction analyses of all these genes using the 3k genome identified 75 non-synonymous SNPs, 23 transversions, 34 transitions, and 18 deletions. Out of 20, 15 genes have non-synonymous SNPs found in their promoter and coding sequences (Table S3). The highest number of transitions (A/C, A/T, or G/C) was identified for OsZIP9 and LOC_OS05g40490, while OsZIP9 had the highest number of transversions (A/G or T/G). LOC_OS05g40490 had the highest number of deletions. The 15 predicted genes that show nonsynonymous SNPs were further investigated for cis-regulatory elements in their promoter regions using PlantPAN. A large number of cis-regulatory elements were detected and they were mainly associated with important physiological processes involved in submergence tolerance, light-regulation, meristematic tissue activities, and disease resistance (Figure 3).Breeding for improved nutrition has been prioritized in rice and other major staple food crops (Bouis and Saltzman, 2017;Gaikwad et al., 2020). There have been significant efforts over the last one decade to breed for high Fe, Zn and Vitamin A enriched crop varieties, and to deploy them on a large scale to create a health impact (Mwanga et al., 2021;Swamy et al., 2021a;Biswas et al., 2021). In rice, Zn biofortification breeding has been taken up on a large scale by IRRI and its partners leading to release of several high Zn rice varieties in Asia and Africa (Swamy et al., 2016;Tsakirpaloglou et al., 2019;Calayugan et al., 2021). Recently, Zn mainstreaming breeding has been initiated to incorporate Zn as a must trait in all the future rice varieties (Stangoulis and Knez, 2022). Identification of diverse donors, QTLs, genes, and a better understanding of molecular basis of grain Zn concentration, agronomic and yield traits are essential for the efficient Zn biofortification of rice (Swamy et al., 2016, Swamy et al., 2018;Calayugan et al., 2020;Rakotondramana et al., 2022) We used high Zn aus accession Kaliboro (IRGC 77201-1) to develop four RILs mapping populations. It has acceptable yield potential (~4900 kg/ha) and twice the amount of grain Zn (~40 ppm) in comparison to popular rice varieties (14-16ppm). In addition to that aus accessions are also genetically diverse and adaptable to a wide range of environmental conditions (Redoña and Mackill, 1996;Xu et al., 2006;Jagadish et al., 2008;Norton et al., 2010;Henry et al., 2011;Gamuyao et al., 2012;Al-Shugeairy et al., 2014). All the four recipient parents were high Zn breeding lines (12-19 ppm) developed at IRRI.A wide range of variation for GY, Zn, Fe, and other major agronomic traits was observed in all the populations. Most of the traits exhibited normal distribution indicating the complex genetic basis of these traits (Table 1 and Figures S1, S2). Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) was high for DF, PH, TGW, and Zn across populations (Table 1), which permits effective phenotypic selection for their improvement. These results are in consonance with earlier reports on traits distributions and heritability (Widodo et al., 2010;Du et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2014;Swamy et al., 2016;Chang et al., 2018;Swamy et al., 2018). Consistent positive  correlations were observed between Fe and Zn (Figure 1) indicating the possibility of simultaneous improvement (Swamy et al., 2016). However, concomitant breeding for high Zn and Fe with high GY will be challenging due to their strong negative correlations. Hence, appropriate breeding strategies would be essential for the successful Zn biofortification (Welch, 2004;Chang et al., 2018). One approach is to use high Zn donors with acceptable GY potential coupled with rapid generation advancement, speed breeding and genomic selection (Swamy et al., 2016;Calayugan et al., 2021;Swamy et al., 2021a;Yang et al., 2021). Moreover, breeding materials or populations that exhibit weak or no correlation between GY and Zn and transgressive seggregants that possess both high GY and Zn increases the chances of successful biofortification breeding (Figures 1, S1).  Cis-regulatory elements in the upstream region (500 Kb) of predicted genes for grain Zn. Various elements are associated with physiological functions such as submergence tolerance (blue), merismatic (orange), disease resistance (yellow), light regulation (green), amylase synthesis (red) were indicated using different colors. Palanog et al. 10.3389/fpls.2023.1157507 Frontiers in Plant Science frontiersin.org MC-QTL analysis detected major QTLs and epistasisGenetic analyses using multi-parent derived populations or combined analysis of multiple biparental populations that share common parentage help to dissect major effect and stable QTLs, which can work across genetic backgrounds without any epistatic or genetic background effects (Specht et al., 2001;Jannink and Jansen, 2001;Blanc et al., 2006;Doust et al., 2014). We carried out MC-QTL analyses for 11 traits using a set of 495 SNPs distributed across 12 chromosomes (Figure S5). A high rate of SNPs polymorphism among parents was expected as Kaliboro (aus) and IR14M141, IR14M110, IR14M125, and IR95044:8-B-5-22-19-GBS (indica) are from genetically-distinct subgroups (Garis et al., 2005;Chen et al., 2014;Tang et al., 2016). The MC-QTL analysis detected more QTLs but effects were smaller compared to QTLs discovered by Inclusive Composite Interval Mapping (ICIM) (Tables 2 and S4). For instance, MC-QTL was able to detect 14 QTLs for Fe whereas only 2 QTLs were identified by ICIM. Some of the important QTLs detected using MC-QTL analysis viz: qZn 5.2 , qFe 7.1 , qGY 10.1 , qDF 7.1 , qPH 1.1 , qNT 4.1 , qPT 4.1 , qPL 1.2 , qTGW 5.1 , qGL 3.1 , and qGW 6.1 , which can be used in rice MAB and Genomic Selection (GS). Interestingly, most of the positive alleles for high GY and early DF were contributed by high yielding (IR14M110) and early maturing parents (IR95044:8-B-5-22-19-GBS) respectively. High-grain yield and early-maturity are two most desirable traits for rice varietal development (Zhao et al., 2011;MacKill and Khush, 2018;Li et al., 2019). Similarly, QTLs for PL and GW were contributed by Kaliboro, while TGW and GL were derived from IR14M141 (Table 2). Thus, it is evident that Kaliboro has contributed many positive alleles for yield and yield related traits and for improved grain Zn concentration. These favorable alleles can be pooled through genomics assisted breeding to develop rice varieties (Blanc et al., 2006;Grenier et al., 2015;Varshney et al., 2021;Xu et al., 2021;Reyes et al., 2022).The QTLs of correlated traits (positive or negative) tend to cluster together on a chromosomal region (Zhang et al., 2019;Yu et al., 2021). The GY, TGW, GL, and GW were highly correlated, and their respective QTLs co-located on chromosome 5. All the QTLs for PT and NT, and Fe and Zn were co-located (Figures 1, 2). However, these co-locations may be due to pleiotropy or linkage or shared regulatory genes (Collard and MacKill, 2007;Du et al., 2013;Swamy et al., 2016;Descalsota et al., 2018). Positively correlated traits and their co-located QTLs can be readily mobilized into the breeding programs, while negative linkages must be removed by pre breeding, phenotypic selections, and fine mapping for their deployment in the rice breeding (Du et al., 2013;Swamy et al., 2016;Descalsota et al., 2018;Descalsota-Empleo et al., 2019a;Pradhan et al., 2020).A notable result is that a major QTL for grain Zn (qZn 5.2 ) is consistently identified in all the populations and also in the combined population analysis. It had a R 2 of 13% in MC-QTL analysis and went up to 19.75% in ICIM (Table S4), with an additive effect ranging from 0.44 to 2.10 ppm (Tables 2 and S4), and had a narrow genetic interval of 600Kb. It is also devoid of any epistatic interaction or background effects, making it one of the potential candidate loci for MAB or GS to improve grain Zn concentration. This locus has been frequently reported from aus derived populations. Several studies have also identified similar genomic regions (Lu et al., 2008;Garcia-Oliveira et al., 2009;Zhang et al., 2014;Descalsota-Empleo et al., 2019b;Islam et al., 2020).We observed very minimal epistasis among the QTLs. The PH (qPH 6.1 ) interacted with GY (qGY 6.1 ) and Zn (qZn 6.1 ), but their R 2 (<5%) and additive effects (0.12-1.25 cm, 9-282 kg/ha, 0.13-1.0 ppm, respectively) were low to make any significant changes in their phenotypic expression (Table S2). There were reports on genetic interactions between Zn and PH that affected their phenotypic performance, and also genetic background altering the epistasis effects leading to variable trait expression (Jiang et al., 2008;Lekklar et al., 2019). Therefore, epistatic QTLs and the influence of genetic backgrounds on major QTLs should be verified before their use in the breeding programs (Xu et al., 2015;Islam et al., 2019;Lekklar et al., 2019).A number of candidate genes that co-localized with QTLs were identified for different traits such as HUA2 (DF), OsPdk1 (PL), OS01G0899425 (PH), OS04G0350700 (PT), GSK2 (TGW), OS10G0325400 (YLD), GS3 (GL), and GSK4 (GW) (Table 3). These genes have proven biological functions directly or indirectly related to the traits but also involved in the important physiological processes related to stress tolerance (Chen and Meyerowitz, 1999;Fan et al., 2006;Jan and Komatsu, 2006;Yoo et al., 2006;Wei et al., 2012;Hu et al., 2015;Jan and Komatsu, 2006;Li et al., 2016;Yin et al., 2019;Sevanthi et al., 2021). Previously reported QTLs and genes for yield and yield related traits and grain micronutrients match with our results (Anuradha et al., 2012;Du et al., 2013;Descalsota et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2019;Pradhan et al., 2020). Some of these genes are potential candidates for functional validation and for introgression through MAB.The qZn 5.2 was also enriched with Zn/Metal homeostasis genes, especially Zn-finger proteins (Table 3). They play an important role in Zn uptake, transport and loading into the grains, and their expression provides abiotic stress tolerance under diverse climatic conditions (Goel et al., 2011;Zhang et al., 2014;Hara et al., 2017;Papierniak et al., 2018;Lekklar et al., 2019). It is noteworthy that these genes were also enriched with cis-regulatory elements in their promoter regions, and actively regulates physiological processes involved in metal homeostasis, submergence tolerance, meristematic tissue activities, light-regulation and disease resistance (Pandey et al., 2015;Biłas et al., 2020) (Table 4 and Figure 3).Functional polymorphisms within genes play an important role in phenotypic diversity (Srivastava et al., 2014). We report that 15 of the 20 genes shortlisted from qZn 5.2 had functional polymorphic SNPs; notable ones are OsZIP9, OsZIP5, and LOC_OS05G40490. These transcription factors regulate expression of Zn homeostasis genes such as OsNAS1, OsNAS2, and OsNAS3, therefore play a role in metal transport, partitioning and loading into grains (Guerinot, 2000;Chandel et al., 2010). There are previous reports showing upregulation of OsZIP5 in roots and flag leaves, and OsZIP9 in roots of rice (Banerjee and Chandel, 2011;Chadha-Mohanty et al., 2015), but they are homologs and complement in phytosiderophoremediated Zn uptake (Lee et al., 2010). Recent haplotype analysis of OsZIP5 and OsZIP9 using a 3K rice panel revealed that superior haplotypes for these two genes were in high frequency in aus and indica sub groups (Gaurav et al., in press). On the other hand, there is less information on LOC_OS05G40490, a Zn knuckle domaincontaining protein gene involved in metal binding. Some of these genes can be pyramided using gene specific markers, explored for superior haplotypes, and can be used to develop high Zn transgenics or genome edited rice lines.We carried out MC-QTL and ICIM analysis for agronomic, yield and grain micronutrient traits using connected rice populations. In all 156 MC-QTLs, 26 QTL co-locations and two epistatic interactions were detected. The donor parent, Kaliboro, contributed many positive alleles. A major QTL (qZn 5.2 ) for grain Zn concentration has been detected on chromosome 5 that accounted for 13% of R 2 . There were 20 genes within qZn 5.2 that are involved in metal binding, uptake, transport, partitioning and loading in different tissues. Three primary putative genes, OsZIP5, OsZIP9, and LOC_OS05G40490, along with 12 other genes showed functional SNP polymorphisms indicating their role in metal homeostasis. These genes were also enriched with cis-regulatory elements that regulate mineral uptake, growth and development, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses etc. All the major effect QTLs can be readily mobilized into breeding programs through genomics assisted breeding. Promising candidate genes can be characterized to understand their functional roles. Over all our results provide insights into molecular bases of Zn homeostasis, and identified major QTLs/genes useful for Zn biofotification of rice.","tokenCount":"4982"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7522309166.json b/data/part_1/7522309166.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..07e59a8ef33ccd86e7f91d57826f7f8737eed536
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7522309166.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ff855062794f498618a596be11423a8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2d972cb-976b-4f77-a61b-f365e43b45b0/retrieve","id":"-1322586396"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ca08870-a59a-4320-886b-7835a318777d","pagecount":"14","content":"Slide 2: Problems in the Victoria Lake Crescent zoneIn the Lake Victoria Crescent zone of central Uganda, farmers have been struggling with increasing poverty and malnutrition due to low agricultural yields.They face many challenges every day, such as: pests  diseases  fake agricultural inputs  poor access to markets  post-harvest losses  infertile soilAs farm production in the region is rain dependent, it is already being affected by climatic change.Slide 3: The Mukono-Wakiso district• Mukono and Wakiso are two districts where Humidtropics has one of its field sites in the Lake Victoria zone of Uganda.• This periurban area is highly populated which reduces the acreage used for agriculture and threatens food security.• Both districts have a booming business of real estates with many city entrants opting to construct houses. This, in turn, increases competition for the land uses and exerts pressure on natural resources such as forests and wetlands.• The districts are close to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, which provides a big market opportunity for farmers' produce. • Despite the business opportunities, both districts have high youth unemployment close to the national average of 62%, which poses a challenge and at the same time an opportunity for innovation platforms. • The Lake Victoria Crescent zone, where Mukono and Wakiso are located, is largely dependent on a banana-coffee farming system. Productivity and the relative importance of this system have significantly reduced over the past decades. Development projects and extension office have largely adopted a value chain approach encouraging farmers to specialize in sole crop production. Climate change is increasing the animal and crop disease/pest burden in the area, leaving farmers' enterprises vulnerable to climate and price shocks.2. Protagonist one: How the IP helped the farmer Slide 5: Our protagonist -challengesMr Kigoonya Augustine from Mukono district was working as a shop attendant in a suburb of Kampala where he earned SHS 300,000 per month. He decided to return to farming.'I was spending all the money on food, transport and rent and would have to run back to my father for some financial help.'He started with sole crops of beans, which he lost due to seasonal changes. Then tried maize sole crops from which he also did not earn much due to price fluctuation. He later decided to diversify with a number of crops: banana, tomato, maize, sweet potato and beans and as result he is reaping more.Slide 6: Our protagonist -how the IP helped He says that before the support from Humidtropics he only grew tomato. Now he is able to grow various vegetables for home consumption and sale. He has incorporated fodder trees in his plot to help with nutrient recycling and is using the fodder for mulching vegetables and bananas.'I now earn SHS 1.5-2 million at the end of one season and don't spend on food because I have banana, maize, sweet potato and vegetables to sustain my family. I get manure from my father's poultry but I am hoping to own chickens to have ready access to manure and eggs. I have also received training on system integration and natural resource managements from Humidtropics and decided to get my own poultry to better use my fodder from the fields.'Slide 7: Integrated farming system Crops and trees are produced within a coordinated framework. The waste products of one component serve as a resource for the other.Slide 8: Integrated farming systemThe incorporation of the livestock, crops and tree farming system provides an opportunity to improve sustainable access to income and nutrition by spreading risks. This also sustains the natural resource base through nutrient recycling, erosion control and pollination.Improving on-farm fodder availability throughout the year is feasible and can be done by planting fodder trees such as Calliandra, and reusing crop residues from vegetables, bananas and sweet potatoes.Due to the limited farm size in Mukono and Wakiso, livestock is often kept under zero grazing, and farmers rely on additional feeds/fodder from outside the farm, at least for part of the year. This makes livestock keeping an expensive enterprise.Researching which systems work best for farmers is an opportunity for the platform to involve different research organization to answer farmers' questions. Then they decided what system combinations they should take on to address these issues:• Vegetables featured strongly in almost all identified systems as they mature and sell quickly which makes them a fast income generating activity. They also provide opportunities for women and youth in the district. • The platform agreed on an integrated system of crops, livestock and trees including banana, vegetable, poultry, agroforestry (with main focus on fruit trees) and piggery.• CGIAR centres with local organizations carried out rapid surveys among the farmers to validate the integrated system selected.A series of research for development activities (R4D) were initiated in response to the platform's needs: situation analysis  baseline survey  market survey  agro-biodiversity surveyThe platform started field activities with trees provided by ICRAF. The following agroforestry trees were selectedThese trees were selected for the following reasons:  soil fertility improvement  provision of fodder  provision of timber  provision of fruits  Eucalyptus was preferred because it provided fast income for the farmersThe platform conducted research on integrated soil fertility management to understand how farmers can utilize manure and crop residues to improve soil productivity.Bio-slurry and chicken manure are evaluated to validate recommended rates and to determine the response of various vegetables to each manure.One of the platform members, Uganda Christian University, is leading other partners in finding solutions using on-station experiments to better advise the farmers.The experimental research and some other activities were funded with resources from the Humidtropics cluster 4 grant.The platform organized training on:• Integrated systems operation at production level to empower the farmers to identify synergies among different activities at plot and farm levels.• Value addition and marketing to help farmers manage their business better.• Business planning to help farmers get ideas of how they can move their enterprises into money making ventures and increase profitability.• Nutrition to emphasize the importance of eating a balanced diet and to encourage them to integrate the crop-livestock-tree system to increase access to different foods.• Irrigation to help farmers continue production during the dry spell using water from fish ponds.The irrigation training was particularly important for the periurban farmers whose vegetables fetch a better market in dry season.Slide 13: Strategies and activities of the IP -linking farmers to market• Middlemen offer very low prices and don't allow farmers to penetrate the markets once they make efforts to do so.• Markets are disorganized and there are weak linkages between the producers and the buyers.• Perishability of most of the products forces farmers to sell cheaply to middlemen for fear of produce rot and wastage.A consultancy firm, Farmgain Africa, was chosen to help link farmers to the market. They specialize in agri-business, market information and agro-enterprise development. The organization identifies traders who can work with farmers at the available scale and capacity to provide a market for their different products. The organization encouraged farmers to use local market opportunities before they venture outside. As a result, farmers from Wakiso are buying sweet potato vines for planting from Mukono farmers.To identify gaps, Farmgain visited farmers to understand their market arrangements and models. The organization is trying to draw up memoranda of understanding or contractual arrangements between farmers and big buyers on behalf of the platform.Brainstorming meetings with farmers are held to understand short and long-term market strategies for the farmers' products. Traders (the middlemen) have been engaged in platform market activities to see how the middlemen can offer farmers better prices for their produce. The discussion minutes are later shared via Dropbox.Slide 15: Our protagonist -challengesMs Beckie Nakabugo, a professional designer who loved farming and returned to it after giving up her job in Nairobi.She consulted the local community before choosing her enterprise and began with piggery succeeding with 100 animals raised in periurban area, which is a very big achievement. Being inadequately informed about possible challenges related to piggery she soon lost all her pigs due to swine fever.Then she tried nuts seeing potential profits (SHS 4,000 for 1 kg) but she soon realized that the people she employed to shell the nuts kept going away with half a kilo in their clothes.Slide 16: Our protagonist -how the IP helpedBeckie admitted she learned a lot with Humidtropics training.'I have learned to love farming, not looking at is as a punishment. Now I know how to calculate profitability of my business and to invest and get money from my enterprise. I liked the interactions with other farmers under Humidtropics. One farmer dealing with tomatoes told me that a certain variety does not perform well on newly opened ground. Had I met these farmers before I would not have made the loss that incurred after buying 4 kg of Asila tomatoes each at SHS 500,000 and none of these germinated partly because I mixed the fertilizer with the seed at planting.'","tokenCount":"1492"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7535542291.json b/data/part_1/7535542291.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..80d09337475318de6e7389c8f80ed49e39a3806a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7535542291.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"407989a5e4c801319133a7bbce665a58","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fa330afe-2878-4a87-aad6-0c7d01884821/retrieve","id":"-610091491"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"32452f2f-5106-4de7-874e-ce15e0d727c9","pagecount":"20","content":"Objective:To promete an active participation of CGIAR Centers in rural development processes at different ecoregions in Tropical Latín America (TLA)Outputs: CGIAR Centers improve their support to local and national organizations operating in rural areas of different ecoregions to implement research and development. CGIAR Centers, rural development organizations and national and regional networks actively exchange methods, products and experiences, and implement joint research activities on ecoregional issues. Rural development organizations working in regions different than TLA benefit from the experiences and expertise developed in TLA Gains: A regional network (The Ecoregional Network) linking organizations and people in Latín America related with conservation and rural development, serving as a mechanism to exchange information, as a forum to analyze issues of common interest and as a too\\ to implement joint work among countries. Monitoring and evaluation approach and methods available to make assessments in different fields (organization, projects, sustainability). Joint initiatives on natural resources and sustainable development monitoring under implementation with partner organizations.1999 Establishment of the Ecoregional Network. Development of Project assessment tools.Support to other CGIAR Projects on planning, monitoring and evaluation. Organization of a regional workshop to share experiences and extract lessons about rural development processes led by communities.2000 Routinary operation of the Ecoregional Network. Project monitoring and evaluation training.Case studies on natural resources and sustainable development monitoring published. Development and validation of institutional assessment tools started. Organization of a regional workshop to share experiences and extract lessons on innovative funding mechanisms for rural development processes. Publication of workshop findings.2001 Routinary operation of the Ecoregional Network. lnstitutional assessment tools tested and validated. Regional workshops to share experiences and extract lessons continued, as well as the publication of the workshop findings.CGIAR system linkages: Protecting the environment (70%), Policies (20%), Biodiversity (10%)CIAT Project linkages: Ecoregional Programme activities to assist PE-3, PE-4, PE-5, SN-1.Project Logframe      • At least one meeting and three• Meetings Proceedings working in regions different than TLA exchanges with non-TLA• Non-TLA partners Reports benefit from the experiences and Ecoregional Programmes .• Trip Reports expertise developed in TLA• Participation in at least 2 non-TLA • Participation in other planning, review and evaluation activities -~ *Ecoregional issues: relevant issues for every ecoregion . These issues are identified annually by the Programme and added to this list. To avoid dispersion the list of ecoregional issues will not exceed 5 issues. For 1999, the list of ecoregional issues includes:• analysis and synthesis of landscape and ecoregional units • project and impact assessment • sustainable use of biological diversity • stakeholder-based approaches to resource management at the watershed (local} scale • upscaling processesDuring 1999, severa! advances have been made in different fields, on which detailed information is given in Section 4. From amongst them, the following are highlighted:~ Organization of the Ecoregional Network, linking more than 1600 organizations and people throughout Latín America related with rural development and conservation of Nature and natural resources . The Network combines an open Website with e-mail operations to foster the exchange of information among its members and to promete joint intellectual work across borders.~ Preparation of a Handbook on Project Assessment, based on actual experiences from Latin America, and working jointly with regional experts and organizations. The joint work included two workshops (Cartagena, December 1998, andCali, April, 1999), as well as an intensíve work through e-mail facilitated by the Ecoregional Network ~ Completion of the field work of a project to research the existence of native organizations at the community level related with landscape management in San Dionisia, Nicaragua. Preliminary analysis seems to show that there is none. All the existing community organizations in the two different areas surveyed were established by externa! organizations and projects.The advances made during 1999 are summarized in the following table. In process. There is a list-serve with more than hundred Central American specia/ists on 40% l. Gutiérrez coastal areas, discussing and agreeing on criteria for monitoring coastal areas. Jointly with IUCN-Central America that provides the expertise on coastal issues.A. lmbachVarious agreements for joint research (IUCN, IDRC) A. lmbachAgreements signed: CA TI E: cooperation on impact assessment, and 70% T. Ammaur (CATIE)Agreements under negotiation: IDRC cooperation on impact assessment, IUCN F. Carden (IDRC)cooperation on monitoring and eva/uation, and /UCN cooperation on coastal areas N. MacPhersan (IUCN)sustain ability assessment.-------------- The Ecoregional Network of Tropical Latin AmericaThe Ecoregional Programme aims to (1) contribute to the fluid diffusion of CIAT investigative products to intermediate and end users, and (2) channel the received feedback from these to the Centre. In other words, the Programme is part of the interface between CIAT and its partners and beneficiaries.The Programme works with an ecoregional approach, that is, subdividing tropical America into a number of relatively homogeneous reg ions in biophysical terms. Thus the Programme concentrates on determined tapies, to find answers on the thematic specificity of the investigation and of many externa! organisations. Greater emphasis is placed on those areas that are of common interest to different ecoregions.Networking is a fundamental tool for the Programme, which already collaborates with various networks. However, no network existed containing those with whom the Program needs to interact. Thus the Programme proposed structuring a net specifically oriented towards that sector: the Ecoregional Network.The main aim is to serve as an interface between CIAT and its non-scientific audience (development projects and related organisations). Another aim is to serve all types of organisations of tropical America that carry out projects of sustainable rural development (such as integration of conservation and development) . The Network will afford these projects an effective mechanism to:• Oiffuse and exchange information of general interest,• Exchange experiences,• Diffuse resulting investigative information of the specíalised centres (national and international) of the regían, • Support the work of these centres starting with the demands that emerge from fieldwork, and • Analyse and debate conceptual and operative questions that are important for their work.These aims are based on the hypothesis that the operation of effective mechanisms of the types mentioned will give the organisations and projects access to a group of experiences, lessons, tools and concepts that will help them improve their performance and increase their impact on rural development.Membership is extended to include:• Organisations carrying out projects and activities of sustainable rural development (governmental, non-governmental organisations, grass-roots organisations, internationals, etc.), • Projects in the field of sustainable rural development in tropical America, emphasising both conservation and development, • Diffusion/extension structures of the national organisations of agricultura! investigation and of conservation and use of natural resources , and • Diffusion/extension structures of the lnternational Centres of agricultura! investigation and natural resources that are active in the region.The Network seeks to integrate the organisations and people linked in some way to the sustainable development of Latín America.To date, the Network has 1600 receivers of electronic mail distributed throughout Latín America (about 90%) and some beyond (10%) .Additionally, 50 networks have been identified that redistribute the messages of the Ecoregional Network.Work is based on three mechanisms that the Ecoregional Programme co-ordinates:1) Diffusion and exchange by electronic mail, 2) A site with deposited information accessible through Internet (Website), and 3) Working documents.The CIAT Ecoregional Program facilitates this exchange, which consists of regular message sending by electronic mail with information on:• Useful products for development: methodologies, publications, lessons learned, experiences, etc. • Events: courses, conferences, congresses, workshops, etc.• Diffusion of Projects' information, financing opportunities, vacancies, etc.• Applications for information. • Other.The Website is http://www.redeco/org.The site works as a deposit of technical information (methods, alternatives, tools, case studies, work documents, etc.) that can be and is updated and is important for the Net audience. This information is generated by the members/users of the Net but above all by CIAT projects.These are a collection of technical and conceptual documents related with the activities in the field of rural development (methodologies, case studies, lessons learned , new alternatives, technological proposals, etc.). These documents do not usually qualify for scientific publications but are important for the good performance of projects. Publications are kept in electronic format at net site ftp://gis.ciat.cgiar.org/redecoDescriptive mechanisms are organised by ecoregion and theme using work groups within the Ecoregional Network, in arder to improve the compatibility of the work.At the moment, Thematic and Geographical groups exist. • An Ecoregional Directory has been elaborated-the Directory of Members of the Net. At the moment it contains complete information of about 400 people in the Region (name, position, institution, postal box and physical address, telephone and fax, electronic address and area of interest or of work). • Exchange by electronic mail is maintained with the 1600 members/users of the Net. A daily message is sent. • The Website of the Ecoregional Net was designed and launched. This site is updated weekly.","tokenCount":"1437"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7542049080.json b/data/part_1/7542049080.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4a737270d6c33d66b0c9df3a8f100dc03c418c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7542049080.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7ce7db76b969e8ce43743c7daea9284a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d4c9dfe9-cb2e-43cf-b4cf-31be9494a8c4/retrieve","id":"-488619415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34c0d8cf-d676-4642-9189-261079733c66","pagecount":"6","content":" Participants in policy processes require constant communication and networking among stakeholders to be able to exploit the available policy windows. The review process requires a dynamic and engaging tool. The robustness of a review tool is one step toward having a good and fruitful review process. Using socio-economic scenarios and quantitative evidence in policy review processes allows policy actors to develop a great body of information in an all-inclusive manner, keeping all stakeholders engaged. This alone, however, does not guarantee success. State and non-state actors need to invest in trust building if the citizenry is to benefit from the fast approaching private-public partnership frameworks. It is beneficial to work on a single policy document that is already under a review or formulation process.The development and use of scenarios originates in the military and the private sector. Scenarios are 'what if' stories about the future, told in words, numbers (models), images and other means. Rather than attempting to forecast a single future in the face of broad future uncertainty, scenarios represent multiple plausible directions that future drivers of change take (Wilkinson and Eidinow, 2008).Scenarios are used to test and develop policies, plans and investments. Each scenario offers different future challenges and opportunities. Therefore, for each scenario, planners can ask the questions: 'How well will our plan work under the specific conditions of this scenario?' 'What needs to be changed?' When recommendations for improvement from a range of different scenarios are integrated, the plan has a better chance of being effective in the face of an uncertain future for instance by having strategies that are expected to work under all scenarios, or by including a range of different options that can be used depending on the specific scenario. Scenarios can also be used before a plan exists, by starting with the challenges and opportunities that different scenarios offer, coming up with ways to approach those issues, and then combining them in a new, robust, plan.The CCAFS scenarios process focuses on working with stakeholders to prioritize contextual drivers of change for agriculture and food securityclimate change and socio-economic changes (e.g. in markets, governance, broad economic developments, infrastructure).The CCAFS scenarios for Eastern Africa were developed in 2010and 2011(Vervoort, 2013)). These four scenarios were identified using drivers that were considered highly relevant by stakeholders: regional integration and mode of governance. A visualization of these scenarios is shown in Figure 1. Drawing from the four CCAFS East Africa scenarios, participants worked towards adapting them to fit the specific national conditions using the issues addressed in the National Environment Policy. Two drivers of regional integration and governance were adapted to be able to cast an accurate picture at the national level. Governance was maintained but regional integration was adapted to coordination especially between central and Regional Administration and Local Government authorities. It is important to note that while the National Environment Policy under review has many sections with a number of issues in each, the majority of the issues addressed in this brief are climate change issues from the agriculture and land use section as this is what directly relates to food security.This scenario features slow but strong economic and political development in East Africa, accompanied by proactive government action to improve regional food security. However, on the down side, costly battles with corruption continue and peace is fragile, since the region has to deal with new international tensions as a result of its growing prominence on the global stage. The region's focus on the production of staple foods, rather than highvalue crops for export, undermines its participation in the global market for a time, while an over-reliance on trade within the region causes problems when climate extremes intensify. By that time, though, many government and non-government support structures are in place to mitigate the worst impacts. Governments and their partners work well together and achieve some success in mitigating the adverse environmental impacts of increased food and energy production, although the need to put food security and livelihoods first overshadows these efforts from time to time.Due to pro-active governance, different types of agricultural production have been made more climate resilient. Climatic shocks or unpredicted events have increased, but most farmers are better prepared to cope with these. Climate instability remains, however, a threat to smallholders.In this scenario, governments and the private sector push strongly for regional development, but mainly through industry, services, tourism and export agriculture, with limited action on food security, environments and livelihoods. East African economies boom, but the region suffers the consequences of its vulnerability to global market forces and unsustainable environmental exploitation. Only when food insecurity becomes extreme, following rocketing food prices during the great drought of the early 2020s is action taken to improve the management of water resources and invest in climatesmart food production for regional consumption.Concerning the livestock sector, the industrialization growth of the middle-income population contributes to increased demand for livestock products in this scenario. There is an increase in livestock processing and demand for livestock drugs. High livestock numbers contribute to land degradation, inadequate water resources and grazing land. Scarce feed and water for livestock is also contributed by land taken up by industries and pollution. In the fisheries sector, pollution leads to destruction of water sources and reduction in fish stocks, leading to loss in biodiversity and loss of livelihood sources for fishing communities. Industrialization increases demand for fish production resulting in high prices. Demand also results in use of poor fishing techniques including an increase in deep sea fishing. The poor are unable to afford fish products and suffer from poor nutrition. High pollution increases incidences of contaminated fish which contributes to human diseases. As a result of high industrial emissions there will be an increase in volumes of GHGs released, resulting in accelerated climate change. In the short-to-medium term, there will be an increase in climate variability affecting the smallholder farmers. These poor farmers will have low adaptation capacity to the new climate shocks. The government's response will not be designed around structural support to mitigate climate change, but rather on managing the resulting disasters.In this scenario, regional integration exists only on paper by 2030. In reality, government and non-government institutions and individuals are busy securing their own interests. In terms of food security, environments and livelihoods, the region initially seems to be heading for catastrophe in the 2010s. However, after some years, national and international as well as government and nongovernment partnerships become more active, and, unburdened by strict regional regulations and supported by international relations, are able to achieve some good successes by the 2020s. Unfortunately, because of the lack of coordination, this is a hit-and-miss affair, with some key issues ignored while on others there are overlapping or competing initiatives. The inability of governments to overcome regional disputes and work with one another becomes untenable when a severe drought hits in 2020. This pushes civil society, bolstered by international support, into a demand for radical change in governance. In many cases, the resulting change is long lasting and for the better.In this scenario, government is in a move to attract more foreign investment and is uncoordinated; there is a lot 'investors' flocking in and buying big chunks of land for commercial crop development, directly and indirectly reducing protected areas. As a result, locals are increasingly becoming landless. And because of reduction of the primary forests fueled by big commercial plantations, the tourism sector is affected. This is further affecting the funds allocated for conservation as most of the money from revenue is siphoned. Farmers are powerless and not well organized and thus vulnerable to both input and output market forces. This is leading to lack of competitiveness with other markets in the region. The government and other stakeholders are promoting fish farming but efforts are isolated and uncoordinated. There is a lot of food insecurity especially in the countryside.This scenario is all about wasted potential and win-lose games. Governments in 2030 are only acting in response to serious situations and in ways to further their own selfinterests, thereby allowing foreign interests free rein in the region. Their actionsor lack of themhave devastating consequences for East Africans' food security, livelihoods and environments.Conflicts, protests and uprisings are common, but each time reform is promised, it fails to materialize. The lack of coordinated effort on climate change and its impacts means that a severe drought occurring in 2020-2022 results in widespread hunger and many deaths among the region's poor and vulnerable. It is only the adaptive capacity and resilience of communities, born out of decades of enforced self-reliance based on informal economies, collaborations and knowledge sharing, that mitigates the worst effects of this disaster. The first signs of better governance emerge only in the late 2020s, but the region's population still faces a very uncertain future.Under this scenario, deforestation in Tanzania is occurring widely with a clearing of forest rate happening at a faster pace than the natural recover pace. Regardless of many good policies and programs to protect the forest (e.g. REDD, NAPAs), implementation of these policies is weak. Additionally, conflicts over land tenure are increasing since governments are leasing a lot of land. Land tenure conflicts happen at a multitude of levels: 1) local communities among themselves; 2) livestock keepers vs. farmers; 3) local community vs. investors; 4) government vs. local communities.In this scenario, water scarcity and increase of pest and diseases constitute the major problems for the livestock sector. Furthermore, the government is increasingly encouraging farmers to reduce the number of animals and keeping livestock in modern facilities. However, this is not happening, since for farmers keeping animals is a matter of investment and prestige. Pastoral communities are moving beyond their traditional livestock corridors because of lack of water and pasture. In this scenario, milk production is declining because of lack of adequate pastures. This creates a decrease in profits for livestock keepers that more likely will change occupation because of lack of profit. In a changing climate and in the sleeping lions scenario, culture will change progressively out of necessity. For instance, traditionally many men would keep 40-50 cows for the dowry but with the increasing lack of pasture and water, this will not be possible anymore in some areas.The scenarios developed specifically for the Tanzanian context were used to test the different issues that are addressed in the draft NEP (1997). These are some of the recommendations that were then suggested for consideration at both policy and strategy level: Private sectors and civil society organization (CSOs) roles should be clearly stated in the policy so that inaction from stakeholders, including government, can be checked. Government should address current informal settlements-they should be upgraded in terms of water access and sanitation. Coordination among the concerned stakeholders regarding land use management is necessary. Government should promote participatory management of fishing areas, for example planting of mangrove trees. The government should put in place a strategy to promote and regulate fishing and aquaculture detailing diversified alternative livelihoods/diversified sources for fishing communities. Review the Land Act and include an ultimatum for each actor to have started developing the land within a certain amount of time, such as two years. This will reduce grabbing of land by speculators. Government should formulate a livestock strategy designating land-use plans including communal grazing for livestock/grazing to reduce livestock agriculture-conflict. The strategy should stipulate, among other things, the carrying capacity related to the size of the designated land to avoid overgrazing as well as have milk and meat processing plants to be set up within each livestock community. Government should implement strategies for creating awareness and enforcement of fisheries laws at the local levels to guard against pollution of water sources.Examining these recommendations reveals that these are issues that increase smallholder vulnerabilities to climate impacts. As proposed, having in place and enforcing policy frameworks that address the sources of vulnerabilities would greatly reduce smallholder vulnerabilities.The scenario review processes took place in Tanzania and Uganda, which are the CCAFS Policy Action for Climate Change Adaptation (PACCA) project target countries. The Uganda Info Note (Rutting et al., 2016) covers the entire process and lessons learnt but here we look at a comparison between the two countries for learning purposes (see Table 1). While other review processes followed in Uganda, the comparison focusses on the very first reviews that worked on the national agriculture policy and the mechanization framework. There is need to fully bring on board all actors working on the review process including consulting firms where applicable so as to not lose knowledge contributed by the stakeholders. Stakeholder participation also enables those participating to learn about the policy and will likely respond to its implementation. The review process would benefit by having policy experts in each of the reviewing groups. This allows appropriate policy issues framing and avoids having policy statements read like implementation strategies. Scenario-guided planning as a tool is a very practical way of utilizing research-generated evidence to influence policy, especially for unpredictable phenomena like climate change. With a late communication from the ministry that the irrigation policy had gone to top policy management and thus not available for review, two documents were suggested by the ministry of agriculture for review. National Agriculture Policy It had already been launched, thus the review would not affect the policy but was hoped to inform the development of the implementation strategy, which plan was not tagged to any period.","tokenCount":"2230"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7556780990.json b/data/part_1/7556780990.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..19bfdc9f1bbfac6b848883303534fe57b42b8f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7556780990.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5cbaad0bb9477caa839a1b14608bbed9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/15e65010-fc61-4b2e-a504-485c4bbbac03/retrieve","id":"-1488406886"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"441c2153-9a9f-4021-9585-b07ac37ac2cd","pagecount":"91","content":"Headquarters, generously hosted the study-partly to emphasize how central research and development (R&D) has to be to seed relief and rehabilitation situations. CIAT scientists, Roger Kirkby and Soniia David offered important insights into seed issues beyond Kenya, and from the CIAT office in Uganda, Julius Kamulindwa provided critical logistical support. Kande Matungulu, first with CIAT and later with CRS, spearheaded the difficult task of moving interviewers among farms and field sites.Finally, this report would not have emerged at all without the interest and encouragement of Carole Levin, G/EG/AFS, USAID, and Ray Meyer, of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, USAID, in upgrading the quality of 'emergency aid' and in linking emergency to recovery from the very first stages of agricultural intervention. In this vein, thanks also to Tom Remington, who at all stages has been an excellent intellectual sparring partner.This report reviews the effectiveness of seed aid in Kenya, with emphasis on the process and products of aid delivered during the Long Rains 1997 (February to June). While focusing on a single season just after a drought, it draws on a history of almost 10 years of repeated seed aid, with yet another intervention being organized as this report is being written. From an 'internal' organizational perspective, the report explores how the seed aid was managed at the community level and then puts this in the view of an 'external' perspective that examines the effects of seed aid interventions on the longer-term sustainability of Kenyan farming systems. One of the unique features of this report is its inclusion of a strong component of smallholder farmers' own assessments and reflections on the effectiveness of the seed-aid intervention.A workshop on seed-system analysis was also funded under this grant-drawing from the Kenya findings but also on a range of seed interventions in East and Central Africa (Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda) and select sites beyond (e.g., Honduras and the 'Mitch'-related emergency assistance). This workshop, held June 21-24, 2000, in Kampala, Uganda, sought to accomplish the following:1. Exchange and synthesize 'better practices' among seed-system interventions in East and Central Africa;2. Develop/Refine conceptual tools for more informed design of seed-system interventions.The proceedings of this workshop will be issued early in 2001.Table 1: Seed distributed as aid by the GOK, Long Rains 1997 Table 2: The relative importance of maize seed aid against total areas planted, 1997 Table 3: The relative importance of vegetable seed aid against total areas planted, 1997 Table 4: Field sites chosen for study of seed aid given long rains 1997 Table 5: Aid crops received by farmers: Long rains 1997 Table 6: Farmers' assessments of the crops distributed during the emergency situation, Long Rains 1997: \"Were they the appropriate crops?\" Table 7: Farmers' assessments of the varieties distributed during the emergency situation, Long Rains 1997: \"Were they the correct variety of the given crop?\" Table 8: Farmers' assessment of the quality of the seed received Table 9: Percent of seed aid received which was actually sown by farmers (by crop). Table 10: Farmers' assessments of timing of seed aid delivery, Long Rains 1997 Table 11: Farmer-perceived criteria for those who received seed aid 1997: overview Table 12: Farmer-perceived criteria for those who received seed aid 1997 Distinctive features Table 13: Maize seed aid 1997: quantity received Table 14: As a seed aid strategy, would farmers prefer vouchers/cash so as to obtain desired crops/varieties themselves --or seed aid itself ? Table 15: Weighing the pros and cons of a voucher system: the farmer perspective Table 16: Number of times farmers have received seed aid since 1992 Table 17: Importance of maize seed aid to farmers' overall seed procurement strategy, Long Rains 1997 Table 18: Importance of bean seed aid to farmers' overall seed procurement strategy, Long Rains 1997 Table 19: Importance of sorghum seed aid to farmers' overall seed procurement strategy, Long Rains 1997 Table 20: Importance of cowpea seed aid to farmers' overall seed procurement strategy, Long Rains 1997 Table 21: Farmers who relied on seed aid for 100% of the seed sown of crop given, Long Rains 1997 Table 22: Priority Crop 1: Farmer assessments at each site Table 23: Priority Crop 2: Farmer assessments at each site Table 24: Priority Crop 3: Farmer assessments at each site Table 25: Farmers' assessments of whether seed aid given in 1997 comprised crops valued among their three top priority crops Table 26: Maize: Farmers' normal procurement sources for seed Table 27: Frequency (farmers' estimate) of accessing maize seed off-farm Table 28: Farmers' estimates of percent of maize seed acquired off farm---when off-farm seed is sourced Table 29: Bean: farmers normal procurement sources for seed Table 30: Frequency (farmers' estimate) of accessing bean seed off-farm Table 31: Bean: farmers' estimates of percent of bean seed acquired off farm during 'normal' season (when off-farm acquisition takes place) Table 32: Farmers satisfied with their routine maize seed procurement strategy? Table 33: Changes in farmers' maize seed as procurement strategy in the last 10 years? overview Table 34: Machakos: Changes in farmers' maize seed as procurement strategy in the last 10 years? Table 35: Farmers satisfied with their routine bean seed procurement strategy ? Table 36: Have there been changes in farmers' bean seed procurement strategy in last 10 years? Table 37: Machakos: Changes in farmers' bean seed procurement strategy in the last 10 years?  1. This report reviews the effectiveness of seed aid in Kenya, with emphasis on the process and products of aid delivered during the Long Rains 1997 (February to June). While focusing on a single season just after a drought, it draws on a history of almost 10 years of repeated seed aid, with yet another intervention being organized as this report is being written. One of the unique features of this report is its inclusion of a strong component of smallholder farmers' own assessments and reflections on the effectiveness of the seed-aid intervention.Summary: Key Points 2. Seed aid, as distinct from food aid, is a relatively new phenomenon in the Horn of Africa (dating within the last decade) and both seed aid and seed-system support have yet to be seen as something fundamentally different from food aid and food-assistance support.Seed aid is different from food aid in at least three key aspects:-Seed is not intrinsically useful. It has to be adapted to the immediate biophysical environment, and adapted to farmers' potential management levels. It also has a builtin, often narrow, time limit for usefulness.-Seed interventions affect the heart of a farmer's agricultural system-such as farmers' programming (of land, labor, intercropping patterns)-and tie it into a routine that assumes a certain stability. Further, although seed is often given under the rubric of short-term intervention (the 'Seed and Tools' paradigm), its effects on the agricultural system can be long-term.-Seed is costlier than food for all key actors (farmers, implementers, donors).3. In Kenya, seed aid has been delivered on a fairly large scale-about every other season since 1992-and across a large number of districts. The focus has been heavily on maize over the years and throughout the regions.4. The case study draws from research at four sites where seed aid distribution has taken place (Machakos, Baringo, Makueni, Embu/Mbeere). These sites were chosen so as to compare and contrast aid delivery by a variety of organizations, both government and nongovernment (NGOs), with slightly different approaches to seed-system support in similar agroecological contexts.The study examines both the internal process and effects of seed aid delivered during the Long Rains 1997 (February to June), along with the external process and effects:-Internal process and effects refers to issues such as the appropriateness of the crops and varieties distributed and the targeting of seed-aid recipients.-External process and effects examines how the seed-aid intervention affected farmers' broader agricultural management strategies and whether the seed helped farmers get back on their feet and establish a sustainable means of accessing desired seeds.1. Most farmers interviewed received seed aid in 1997 (77.8%) with the sites managed by the Government of Kenya (GOK) generally giving maize and beans (plus vegetable seeds in Baringo) and the NGO-managed sites distributing some maize and beans plus a range of more drought-tolerant crops (cowpea, sorghum, millet, pigeon pea). One site also programmed in a component of farmer capacity building (in improved seed production).2. Farmers generally assessed the crops and varieties given as appropriate. The more droughttolerant crops were also deemed 'acceptable'-as long as maize was one of the elements in the aid package. Furthermore, farmers commented on the high quality of the seed; most of the farmers sampled did not routinely use certified seed or maize hybrids (except in Baringo). They recognized the 'luxury value' of hybrids, but not necessarily just for direct sowing. Farmers can exchange the packaged maize for urgently needed items (for example, food staples such as salt, sugar, and oil). Seed aid in this sense achieves a 'currency' function. Thus, the 'products' delivered received high ratings.3. Farmers expressed strong discontent with all three 'process variables'-that is, the timing (generally late), targeting (not transparent), and quantities of seed received (too little). The less rigorous targeting was directly related to lesser quantities received per farmer. Overall, the process variables were rated higher at a single site where a prior assistance/development program had been established.4. Each of the four sites had specific built-in biases in targeting, with the possible exception of a government-managed site (Machakos) where there was a blanket distribution for all appearing at public meetings. Apparent biases included those who organized into work groups (Makueni), Catholics (Embu/Mbeere), and those with access to irrigated plots (Baringo). There was some evidence that poorer populations were also specifically reached in the Embu/Mbeere sample.5. Lack of targeting transparency is creating social frictions. Farmers cited 27 different (sometimes conflicting) criteria used to select recipients. At GOK-managed sites, all expect seed as part of a 'public good' and 'their right.' The fuzziness in targeting also reflects an ambiguity in the goals set for the seed-aid distribution (see point II. 7, below).6. While vouchers were not given, exploration of their potential acceptability showed farmers very divided as to their usefulness and acceptability. Much depends on (a) the availability of local crops/varieties, even if purchasing power is guaranteed, and (b) the will power of farmers to use the cash/voucher solely for seed stocks.Different kinds of farmers seem to prefer different options, based to a certain extent on wealth. The very poorest prefer seed aid because of their fear of diverting money and because the maize hybrid is beyond their normal reach. Richer farmers-a good number of whom received seed aid-generally feel equally disposed to the two options because hybrids are what they normally use and they have little trouble reaching the seed stocks. The issue of distance to market cross-cuts wealth categories, as does a concern that 'quality' seed (local quality seed as well as certified) just isn't available in local markets. In areas where aid organizations are experimenting with non-maize options, farmers sometimes prefer the seed aid just because the crops or varieties they desire (green grams, cowpeas, millets) may not be easily accessed otherwise.7. Most fundamentally, the internal analysis showed that the goals of giving seed aid were not very transparent in the four cases analyzed. Based on an analysis of practice, there were at least four different goals:--to fill a temporary seed gap-for the farmer to have something to plant --to encourage self-help, or for farmers to achieve a self-sustaining seed-production strategy --to give a gift to a political constituency-political combined with farming goals --to stimulate 'progressive' modern farming practices None of these goals is inherently negative, although the first two probably more closely parallel goals aspired to in emergency stress situations. However, the multitude of goals, and accompanying approaches, create confusion about what the seed is for and create false expectations as well as unnecessary dependencies.8. Even the small number of cases suggests that seed aid (procurement and delivery) is more effective when decentralized:--The choice of crops and varieties can be more local and tailored to the environment.--Targeting on a smaller scale is more accurate --A range of approaches are possible, rather than standardized ones. In some cases, seed alone may be needed; in others, skill building may prove crucial, and in still others, novel approaches in crops and crop management may be vital.Has it served to strengthen farmers' seed and agricultural systems?1. Since 1992, on average, each farming family has received seed aid twice, with a high of 10 times. Thus, most farmers, irrespective of wealth, have received seed aid more than once in the last decade. Those in the 'church sample' (Embu/Mbeere), who correlated more with poorer segments, received seed aid once in about every two seasons. Farmer comments suggest that many have come to expect 'emergency' aid on a continued basis.2. Seed aid of maize, which was the lion's share of aid given, provided 14% of the total maize sown in the Long Rains 1997, while for beans, aid seed represented 11% of the total sown. The situation for sorghum and cowpea was slightly different because aid agencies most often gave these crops expressly to diversify farmers' crop profiles in more drought-prone areas. Aid seed for these minority crops accounted for 33% and 27% of the total seed sown for sorghum and cowpea, respectively. Thus, during the emergency period, farmers accessed the majority of their seed for all four crops analyzed (maize, beans, sorghum, and cowpeas) by themselves. Across crops, a large portion of seed was sourced from local markets (not stockists), even in ecologically stressed areas.3. The research assessed the portion of farmers relying on seed aid for 100% of their seed sown during the Long Rains 1997. Overall figures varied from 14% to 66% of farmers at each site. However, a closer analysis, by crop, shows that only six farmers (out of 171 total, across sites) relied 100% on seed aid for their key crops-that is, those crops in which they themselves normally invested. For most farmers, seed aid supplied their full seed stocks for a single crop only if the crop were relatively new or of lower priority (as in the case of cowpea, sorghum, pigeon pea, or millet), or in the case of income-generating vegetables such as onion, kale, and tomato.4. Across sites, farmers primarily assessed their top two priority crops as maize and beans, with some of the more drought-tolerant crops cited in third place at unirrigated sites and the income-generating vegetables cited where the supply of water was more reliable. The matching of farmers' priorities with what they received as aid showed that, overwhelmingly, farmers received at least one of the crops they consider 'most' important.5. Farmers can 'normally' use some seven potential channels for accessing seed. . 1 For maize, nearly all farmers regularly use home-saved maize seed as their main source and, also, regularly use the local market to top off supplies. Use of stockist seed, that is, use of improved varieties and certified seed, is key only in the Baringo sample, although between one-quarter and a third of farmers in Machakos and Embu/Mbeere claim to use it 'occasionally.' Certified seed and hybrids are rarely used in Makueni. This overwhelming dependence on local maize seed perseveres in a context of very vigorous and prolonged government efforts to promote hybrid and certified material.6. For beans, across sites, farmers use home-saved stocks as their central source for seed. However, local markets appear as an equally used source. Given that bean seed can easily be selected out from the previous harvest (i.e., as it is self-pollinated), it is surprising how many farmers get bean seed off-farm every season or every other season (about 30% across the sites), with high amounts being acquired in this way (70% plus of stocks). Thus, most farmers get more than half their bean seed off-farm on a regular basis.7. For both maize and beans, the Kenyan data run counter to what is often taken as a truism when describing farmer seed systems: that is, that about 80% of the seed used by 'normal farmers' comes from their own stocks and that accessing off-farm seed sources is 'abnormal.'The Kenyan material shows that small farmers routinely rely on local markets for a significant portion of their seed.8. Farmers overwhelmingly expressed dissatisfaction with their maize-procurement strategy, with the notable exception of Baringo where the 'progressive' sample accesses seed from stockists. The large majority can't afford certified seed (and find the prices exorbitant) and complain about the local market: the right varieties are not available, the seed is poor quality, merchants cheat on quantity, and the distances are too great. This widespread dissatisfaction seems relatively serious for a crop that forms the core of their agriculture. 9. For bean-seed acquisition, farmer sentiment is also strong and clear across sites. The large majority find themselves heavily tied to the local market-spending money but not sure of the quality they are receiving. Because beans are self-pollinated, farmers generally regard bean seed as something they shouldn't have to buy, using the money instead for school, medicine, and food. Overall, what does the 'average' farmer want in terms of bean seed? Self-sufficiency. She wants to save seed money, to save transport getting seed, and she wants the seed on time-all implying that home-saved seed is the way to go.10. Have seed trends improved for maize and beans over the last decade? Apparently not-just the opposite. Prices have gone up, exchange networks have become weaker, and deteriorating soil fertility and fragmentation have meant smaller harvests. The few positive developments-some new varieties, the emergence of seed aid, the packaging of varieties in smaller packets-do little to counteract very strong negative forces.11. There is no concrete evidence that seed aid, per se, is strengthening farmer systems. Those who have received it once are not necessarily less likely to receive it again, and the amounts given were not significant in the context of farmers' overall seed-procurement strategies. Further, the main crop given-hybrid maize-does not ensure that farmers can become less dependent on outside sources: it only performs in better conditions and has a built-in deterioration factor. Considering that it only treats a symptom, and perhaps not in the most effective way, seed aid (Seed-and-Tools), as currently delivered, seems to be a rather costly intervention.IV. Characterizing seed system constraints and opportunities: The Kenya case 1. The external analysis of the farmers' seed situation in Kenya raises a number of fundamental questions about the type of problem seed aid is and was supposed to alleviate. Seed-and-Tools programs-that is, the delivering of quantities of seed and basic tools on a one-off basis (the kind of intervention being practiced in Kenya)-are designed to help farmers out of a temporary, and well-defined, acute situation. Seed and tools are given in a context where a series of assumptions are made, whether they are consciously articulated or not:--that farming systems have suffered an acute jolt and farmers have lost vital seed --that given a discrete injection of seed-a boost-farmers will have the means to plant the seed given: that labor and inputs are adequate to plant and harvest, and that the situation is sufficiently secure --that the seed given, once, will help farmers re-establish an independent means of producing and accessing their own seed 2. The external perspective on seed aid has documented the general vulnerability of farmers' seed systems and overall agricultural systems. For some Kenyan farmers, the last decade has been one in which they have suffered droughts on a repeated basis. Between distinct, severe dry periods, their farming systems have operated well. However, with sharp drops in rainfall, like that in 1991-92 and in 1996, they have required help from the outside to get back to where they were. These farmers have been experiencing repeated acute stress.3. For many Kenyan farmers within the sample, the seed stresses they describe are neither acute nor repeatedly acute. They are there on a continual basis. Small plots (and harvests), unreliable rainfall, lack of adapted varieties, poorly adapted crops (like maize in many areas), distant markets, scarcity of cash to purchase seed-all of these things hinder the farmers' ability to produce and/or access sufficient quantities of seed each season. While seed-andtools treat their problems as acute; indeed, their stress situation is a chronic one.4. A framework is started within this report for examining acute, repeated acute, and chronic stresses, cross-cutting these seed-system disaster types with root causes: agroecological and political/economic, as well as seed-system issues themselves. In plotting material relating to seed-system functioning from the Kenyan case, economic and political constraints leap forward as a major farmer-articulated constraint. Further, the analysis shows that focusing on seed and variety issues, per se, is not effective for dealing with the real bottlenecks in many seed-system situations.5. The issue of 'right seed/crop' is examined in the context of emergency versus nonemergency situations. At a minimum, crops/varieties for emergency interventions need to be --adapted to farmers' biophysical environment --adapted to farmers' preferences --adapted to farmers' management conditions --promoting risk aversion 'Right variety/crop' is also examined on the basis of acute, repeated acute, and chronic seedsystem stresses.6. Hybrid maize proves to be a poor choice in the context of acute, repeated acute, and chronic stress situations. Most farmers do not routinely access hybrid maize seed from the stockist and therefore probably do not have the management expertise with which to nurture the 'aid' varieties. Moreover, most maize hybrids have not traditionally been designed for suboptimal environments and the built-in genetic deterioration of hybrids doesn't necessarily promote self-reliance for those farmers who cannot afford to renew their stocks annually.Simply, the overriding bias on hybrids-across years and regions-makes the situation something of an extreme or classic case of ignoring a basic emergency principles of promoting risk aversion .7. A range of seed-system support interventions in East Africa-which go beyond seed-andtools-is reviewed. These interventions have various goals, such as delivering more locally adapted varieties, ensuring that even the poorest farmers can get new materials, improving the quality of farmers' seed, and even helping farmers earn money from seed-production operations. They illustrate that a body of work is emerging to help address some of the more chronic constraints to seed-system health.8. A paramount challenge to strengthening the systems by which farmers access seed rests in a more refined diagnosis of where the constraints and opportunities lie. Analysis of seed systems-farmer, formal, and those that aim to integrate the two-is a relatively new field.Prior to a decade ago, development work focused almost exclusively on supporting the institutionalized, formal seed sector. In Africa, seed-system experts estimate that such institutional channels may supply farmers with, at most, 5% of their seed, the obvious exception being maize in areas where hybrids are widely used.9. The report ends by sketching the full components of a seed system and their interlinking relationships. Continuing to deliver seed-and-tools may be analogous to putting a band-aid on a gushing wound. Only a more-targeted diagnosis can lay the foundations for more-targeted interventions-interventions that have longer lasting positive impacts.Section 1This report has modest, yet focused, goals. It aims to examine the effectiveness of a single season of emergency seed aid, delivered in Kenya during the 1997 'Long Rains' (from February to June). It examines the internal process and effects of the seed-aid intervention as it unfolded in four different regions, through the Government of Kenya (GOK) and through two nongovernmental implementers. Internal process and effects refers to such issues as the appropriateness of the crops and varieties distributed and the targeting of seed-aid recipients.Equally, this study considers the external process and effects of seed aid and examines how the seed-aid intervention did (or did not) help farmers overcome what looked like an acute stress situation (that is, a reduced harvest due to marked drought). An examination of the external process and effects looks at the effectiveness of the aid in the context of the farmers' broader agricultural management strategies and asks whether the seed helped farmers get back on their feet and re-establish a sustainable mode of accessing desired seeds (see Annex I for terms of reference for the study). Much of these analyses come from a previously unheard viewpoint: the perspective of the end-user-male and female smallholder farmers.This report also has a second main goal. Using the Kenya case study as a grounded base, it aims to stimulate the development of conceptual models, management guides, and practical tools for sharpening external interventions in the area of seed-system support. The term seed system refers to the range of components that make a seed system sustainable. This includes all phases from seed and variety testing, to multiplication, to different channels of distribution and storage. Each phase embraces technical and social organizational forms-operating at levels from the household upwards. Finally, we include in the notion of seed system, all systems that farmers may use-local, formal, and any intermediary/intertwined forms. (The last section of the report discusses in some depth the concept and practice of seed systems.)Seed, the physical input planted into a field (which has genetic, physiological, analytical, and sanitary qualities), is only one critical element to sustaining a seed system-and not always the crucial one to support in times of a social or ecological disaster. Reaching this second goal, development of refined and practical tools and guides, requires longer time horizons that go beyond the finalization of this report. A first significant step has been completed in the convening of a workshop from June 21-24, 2000, in Kampala, Uganda, entitled \"Targeted seed aid and seed system interventions: Strengthening small farmer seed systems in East and Central Africa.\" This workshop drew together a group of seed-system and disaster-management specialists to forward our understanding of (a) how to characterize the components of seed systems, (b) how to distinguish among different kinds of seed-system stresses (with accompanying indicators), and (c) how to start to link a more accurate diagnosis of seed-system stress with a more targeted method of outside intervention support. (Annexes 5 and 6 contain the seminar program and list of participants, respectively.) Case studies were drawn predominantly from East and Central Africa (Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia), but lessons were also drawn from key, more far-flung sites, such as Honduras (the Hurricane Mitch interventions).The Kenya Seed Aid report and the complementary workshop (funded also under grant #LAG-4111-00-3042-00) both aim to encourage thinking beyond what have become somewhat simplistic or seed-and-tools interventions.Every country in the Horn of Africa has experienced drought, civil disturbance, or both within the last 10 years, with many regions having experienced stress on a near continuous basis (for example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and northern Rwanda). A pessimist might say that instability-rather than its opposite-is becoming the norm for East and Central Africa. One of the results of the prolonged turmoil is that repeated 'emergency interventions' are taking the place of needed longer-term research-and-development (R&D) programs.Along with disasters, either natural or man-made, have come increasing infusions of both food and seed aid. For instance, as this report is being written, the Government of Kenya has called for US$ 100 million in food aid and US$ 1 million in seed aid for a single season, and the United Nations has just appealed for US$ 377.7 million for emergency assistance in Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Kenya combined, including US$ 8.9 million for seeds and other agricultural needs (Dehai-news 2000).Seed aid, as distinct from food aid, is a relatively new phenomenon in the Horn of Africa. A recent comprehensive review of seed-aid programs (ODI 1996), which interviewed nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national agricultural research systems (NARS), government emergency branches, and international agencies, found that seed aid-or specifically, seed-and-tools, which represents the dominant form of seed aid-is a concept of the last 10 years. 2 Reviews of relief and rehabilitation journals (e.g., Disasters), operational manuals, and a range of personal communications from field practitioners) also show that the seed-aid paradigm has developed squarely on the tracks of food-aid procedures. Seed and seed-system support has yet to be seen as something fundamentally different from food aid and food-assistance support.Repeated drought in Kenya over the last 10 years has resulted in repeated, near continuous distributions of seed aid. Since 1993, when a government body, the Emergency Drought Recovery Programme (EDRP), was first formed to deal with the effects of drought in arid and semi-arid areas, yearly seed-aid distributions have taken place across a broad range of Kenyan ecologies. Government structures have also responded to the (perceived) increasing frequency of drought by starting to construct preparedness units, such as district-level drought-emergency plans and district disaster-relief committees.Drought is not a new phenomenon in Kenya. One specialist describes 18 significant droughts in the century between 1883 and 1984-about one every five-and-a-half years (Downing et al. 1989). Most evidently, drought is related to fluctuations in weather patterns and, hence, local water availability. However, equally important is that this 'lack' has to be linked to specific spatial and temporal parameters associated with the resource base that communities access. For example, whether the amount of land farmers have access to-and from which they can get a harvest-has remained constant (Sandford 1979). 3 Landholdings in Kenya have decreased over the last 20 years, perhaps by as much as 15% for smallholder farmers (author's estimate).Drought or its acute effects may be becoming more common largely because farming systems, and particularly poorer farm holdings, are increasingly less resilient (with less land, fewer crops, and less, little, or no surplus to store).The decade of the 1990sSeed aid has been distributed by the Government of Kenya on a relatively large scale since 1992. In fact, there has been a distribution nearly every season since then. While there may have been isolated seed-aid efforts by NGOs in single regions or sites before 1992, Ministry of Agriculture records (complemented by international organization and NGO oral histories), suggest the concept and practice of seed aid in Kenya dates back only eight years or, at most, 16 seasons.During this consultancy, it did not prove possible to trace the exact amounts of aid or crop/variety profiles delivered during the different governmental seed-aid interventions. While official records clearly published the amounts requested, delineated by province and by crop, managers attest that funds received were routinely below those requested and that the crops/varieties requested were often not those in stock at the Kenya Seed Company (KSC), which is the near total supplier of government-coordinated seed aid. (One reason for this bias may be that the KSC offers the GOK seed against credit.) Thus, while official district and MOA requests included seed aid in the form of sorghum, cowpeas, or beans, it was overwhelmingly hybrids and vegetable seeds (onions, kale, tomatoes)-that is, more commercial crops-that have been received on a dependable basis from KSC during the last eight years of emergency assistance.For the period under intensive review, Long Rains 1997, Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) records document the amounts delivered on a nationwide basis (table 1).Records from the Office of the President (OP) further give some interesting insights into the importance of government seed-aid seed in relation to the total seed planted in a given district. Among the eight districts (out of 46), which filed final seed-distribution reports in 1997, the range in importance of seed aid was impressive, with government maize-seed aid accounting for an area ranging from small (6%) to large (54%) (table 2). These kinds of statistics, however imperfect or incomplete, are important for assessing just how vital outside aid was (or was not) in the various regions.A similar table (table 3) has been constructed for data reported to the Office of the President on other crops, notably vegetables and rice. The number of cases is too small to draw firm insights, but it looks as if government aid has been a vehicle for promoting vegetable gardening during emergencies.   In brief, seed aid has been delivered on a fairly large scale about every other season, and across a large number of districts. The focus has been heavily on maize across regions and years.In introducing and exploring the theme of seed aid, it is important to highlight how distinct it is from food aid. The qualities that distinguish seed are different from ones that identify food: seed occupies a central role in the farming (not just digestive) system, and seed aid in general is probably costlier for all actors than is comparable food aid. These points are elaborated below and each should dramatically affect how such aid is operationalized.Seed in itself is not intrinsically useful. To provide benefits to the farmer, it has to be adapted to the immediate biophysical environment and adapted to farmers' potential management levels, which include not just labor but access to potentially critical inputs (manure, fertilizer, etc.). Seed also has a built-in, often narrow, time limit for usefulness: if not planted in just the right seasonal intervals, it may not germinate, or mature, or survive a drought.Seed is also not a product whose value may be immediately visible. While analytical purity and sanitary quality can be sometimes visually assessed, genetic and physiological traits often become apparent only after the seed is planted and first emerges (ODI 1996). Therefore, the procurer has to have unusual expertise-in both the characteristics of the variety/seed and the specific contexts in which it might be sown.Seed interventions affect the heart of a farmer's agricultural system. They affect a farmer's programming (of land, labor, intercropping patterns) and they tie her to a routine that assumes a certain stability-that what is sown can be harvested, five months or even up to one year later.Although seed is often given under the rubric of short-term intervention (the 'seed-and-tools' paradigm), its effects on the agricultural system can be significantly long-term. Under a positive scenario, farmer-appreciated varieties may be sown season after season (at least for the self-pollinated crops; hybrids have built-in self-destruction). Under a negative scenario, poor seed can spread disease for a season or two. More dramatically, seed aid given again and again can alter the profile of farming systems and even render them less stable. The widespread distribution of maize in the southern regions of Africa has certainly been blamed for this later effect (van Osterhout 1996).Seed is more expensive than food for all actors Logically, it would seem that seed aid is more expensive for all actors involved (although followup calculations still need to be made). 4   For the donor, a good-quality variety or seed is more expensive per unit than what one would buy for grain. The process of delivery is also costlier if one aims to both target the 'seed-short' populations and couple the crop/variety with a compatible agroecological environment. Simply put, more 'niches' (and hence, the delivery of more 'niche products') need to be considered than is necessary with a blanket food distribution, or even a targeted one. The window of delivery time is also more narrow (discounting food-aid situations where populations are in critical distress).For the farmer, seed aid is certainly not a 'no-strings' gift. It uses up the farmer's land and labor at critical moments. Planting seed and tending the growth/harvest periods has several kinds of opportunity costs. Seed aid may substitute for other crops/varieties that the farmer could also have sown. And seed-related activities take scarce time away from activities that are not seedrelated.Finally, seed aid is especially expensive when it has to be repeated. One of the key rationales for giving seed aid versus just food is that it can help farmers get back on their feet to produce their own food in the not-so-near future.It is clear that the rendering of usable seed aid is a formidable task. Also given the huge amounts spent on seed aid, it is odd that relatively few in-depth analyses exist for guiding such operations.The how-to guides known by the author are all very recent-and variable in their coverage of themes and quality (ODI 1996;Johnson 1998). Seed-and-tools sections, per se, do exist in a number of larger manuals (USAID (BHR/OFDA/PMPP), 1997; Concern, n.d.), yet, in their simplicity, perhaps they risk being more counterproductive than helpful.Two fundamental tenets on seed aid shape this report. First, the purpose of seed aid should aim to jump-start farming communities back into a self-help mode. As elaborated by ODI (1996):The rationale for seed provision during and after emergencies is that it can re-establish a 'self-help' mode within communities affected by emergencies. Once families have basic seed and basic tools, they can start the process of producing their own food and/or making money from selling crops.Second, while seed aid is often given under the rubric of 'emergency' support, by its nature, the giving of seed has to be put within a developmental and/or recovery context. Something planted today, during an emergency, may bear fruit five to nine months later in a changed context. If resown, seed can have socioeconomic, production, and bio-environmental effects for several years onwards.Seed aid, as truly distinct from food aid, is a relatively new type of intervention, and there have been few evaluations of it. This Kenya case aims to explore some of the strengths-and constraints-imposed by seed aid, as well as to reflect on the paradigm of seeds-and-tools, itself.In the immediate context, this type of analysis aims to make the process and product of seed aid more effective, especially for the beneficiary-the smallholder farmer. However, the longer-term goal of such an analysis is to reduce the need for emergency seed assistance, through defining strategies that both (a) strengthen seed systems themselves and (b) build a capacity for a more locally based seed response.The next section presents the general methods used in the study. Section 3 then analyzes the internal process and effects of seed aid in 1997. Section 4 provides the external complement, looking at the longer term of 'external process and effects' of seed aid. Based on such insights, section 5 offers insights into characterizing different types of seed-system stress and ways of linking more targeted action to stress.The four site cases are discussed and contrasted so as to learn from their differing strengths and challenges. No direct comparisons or judgments should be made, as the implementers' contexts for giving seed aid varied greatly, for example, in terms of scale, funds available, and flexibility to act at all phases. The aim of this overall study is to construct a set of scenarios for better practice.1. Seed aid, as distinct from food aid is a relatively new phenomenon in the Horn of Africa (within the last 10 years). Seed aid and seed-system support has yet to be seen as something fundamentally different from food aid and food-assistance support.2. Seed aid is different from food aid in at least three key aspects:--Seed is not intrinsically useful. It has to be adapted to the immediate biophysical environment, as well as to farmers' potential management levels. It also has a built-in, often narrow, time limit for usefulness: if not planted in just the right seasonal intervals, it may not germinate, mature, or survive stress periods.--Seed interventions affect the heart of a farmer's agricultural system. They affect the farmer's programming (of land, labor, intercropping patterns) and they tie her into a routine that assumes a certain stability. Further, although seed is often given as a shortterm intervention (the seed-and-tools paradigm), its effects on the agricultural system can be very long-term.--Seed is costlier than food for all key actors (farmers, implementers, donors).3. In Kenya, seed aid has been delivered on a fairly large scale-since 1992, about every other season and across a large number of districts. The focus has been heavily on maize across regions and throughout the years.4. The case study examines the internal process and effects of seed aid delivered during the Long Rains 1997 (February to June), along with the external process and effects:--Internal process and effects refers to such issues as the appropriateness of the crops and varieties distributed and the targeting of seed-aid recipients.--External process and effects examines how the seed-aid intervention affected farmers' broader agricultural-management strategies and whether the seed helped farmers get back on their feet and establish a sustainable means of accessing desired seeds.5. Much of these analyses draw from the perspective of end-users: male and female smallholder farmers.6. Two fundamental tenets of seed aid are proposed:--The purpose of seed aid is to jump-start farming communities back into a self-help mode.--Seed aid has to be put within a developmental and/or recovery context. Seed sown can have socioeconomic, production, and bio-environmental effects for several years onwards.Section 2This report draws information and insights from varied sources. Substantial written documentation was provided by all direct collaborators: the Government of Kenya, Ministry of Agriculture, Office of the President, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Diocese of Embu Parish, and German Agro-Action (GAA). This information encompassed in-house logistical notes and correspondence, operational reports, and select internal program evaluations spanning the emergency program cycle (from first stages of problem identification through to post-intervention assessments). Direct interviews were held among seed-aid managers and planners at various levels of operation (key personnel of the Office of the President and Ministry of Agriculture, NGO managers and individuals who designed specific emergency and development field activities, church leaders, and development/relief field staff) (see annex 3 for a list of persons contacted). Extensive interviews were also conducted with end-users, beneficiaries, or local decision-makers. Some 171 farmer interviews were conducted in the four main sites of Machakos, Makueni, Embu/Mbeere, and Baringo, with a pre-test phase taking place at a fifth site (Thika).Four sites were chosen for carrying out intensive farmer interviews (annex 4 lists specific locales). These sites were selected to provide a basis for discussing and contrasting aid delivery by a variety of organizations with slightly different seed-system support approaches in similar agroecological contexts. The choice of sites was also heavily dependent on institutional interest in collaboration. Only if implementers were open to an intensive evaluation of their activities-an exchange of insights-were sites considered. This study was partially designed to stimulate selfreflection.Table 4 sketches the key parameters of the sites-all in areas where there had been some seed-aid distribution. These tend to be smallholder areas with lower, sporadic rainfall. In Baringo and Machakos, the implementers were Ministry of Agriculture district staff. In Mbeere/Embu, the Diocese distributed the seed aid, with financial and some technical support from an NGO, Catholic Relief Services. In Makueni, German Agro-Action, another NGO, was the key implementer. GAA had initiated an extensive program in strengthening the seed system prior to drought, starting in 1995. Their aim was to maintain nutritional standards partly by diversifying crops and improving methods of local seed production. This prior development activity proved to be critical in their making better-targeted and -informed interventions during emergency periods. Direct interviews with farmers were carried out in July 1998. University and professional enumerators were first trained in a two-day workshop along with a two-day pre-test. In Machakos, Makueni, and Baringo, sampling of those to be interviewed was done randomly, within general zones where seed aid was recorded to have been distributed in 1997. In the other two areas (Embu/Mbeere and Thika), the intermediary organizations provided detailed lists of farmers who had supposedly received seed for the 1997 Long Rain season.Interviews were always conducted in the local language (which often was not Swahili) and lasted about one hour each. Both male and female farmers were interviewed, with both men and women on the interview team. The 1997 Long Rain was chosen as a season for specific study because the last aid package was given at that point in time and it was close enough to remember in some detail. While the sample of 171 farmers may be too small to extrapolate for national or even regional statistical analysis, the sample was unusually large for the intensive interview format adopted. Certainly in terms of farmer insights, this analysis is the most complete one on the process and effects of seed aid in Kenya to date.In pre-fieldwork visits in both February 1998 and June 1998, a wide range of aid organizations, disaster-relief specialists and agricultural managers were consulted (see annex 3). Individuals were given ample opportunity to comment on the terms of reference, the project design, and the initial findings. This was done both through private communication (rendezvous, email) as well as in organized public meetings (see point 4 below).Most of the more-informed publications on seed aid and seed-system relief (in both the official and gray literature) are products of the last five years. We used the term informed to refer to reports/documents that recognize the complexity of small-farmer seed systems. They recognize that farmers may rely principally on their own seed systems (sometimes called farmer, local, or informal seed systems) or draw principally from formal seed systems (depending on the crop)or a combination of the two. Informed seed-system perspectives also recognize the dynamic between social aspects of seed systems (e.g., is your neighbor going to lend you the seed or not?) and its technical dimension (varietal choice, aspects of seed quality, etc.). Some of the literature reviewed is directly cited in this report. A more extensive bibliography will appear in the compendium workshop proceedings on \"Targeted seed aid and seed-system interventions:Strengthening small-farmer seed systems in East and Central Africa.\"A public pre-study preparatory and familiarization meeting was held in Nairobi at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) on March 13, 1998. Similarly, a public pre-closure was held at the same institute on June 26, 2000, to discuss results and interpretations among collaborators-before finalization of this report. These public consultations very much affected the design of the initial program as well as the interpretation of results. Meetings were attended by a range of organizations: for example, representatives from USAID, The World Bank, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Office of the President, scientists from international agricultural research centers (CIAT and ICRISAT), scientists from KARI, and personnel from NGOs (CRS, GAA, and World Vision).Finally, a workshop, held in Kampala in June 2000, served as a sounding board for presenting the preliminary results of this Kenya seed study. As the workshop brought together seed-aid and disaster-relief specialists working in East and Central African regions, the seminar served to contextualize the Kenyan cases amidst a wider range of similar relief actions in such countries as Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.1. Intensive analysis was done at four sites where seed-aid distribution took place in 1997 (Machakos, Baringo, Makueni, Embu/Mbeere). The sites were chosen to provide a basis for discussing and contrasting aid delivery by a variety of organizations (government and NGO) with slightly different approaches to seed-system support in similar agroecological contexts.2. The methods encompassed extensive field interviews (171), a literature review, broad consultation with seed-aid practitioners, two public meetings, and a targeted workshop bringing together seed-system analysts and disaster-management specialists.Of the 171 households interviewed, 133 (77.8%) received seed at the four sites (including the test site). This section draws on both groups-the receivers and non-receivers of seed-when summarizing qualitative insights and reflects on the internal process and effects of the seed-aid distribution. This 'internal' type of analysis is sometimes programmed in a follow-up action by governments (see, for example, Anon. 1997) or implementing NGOs (e.g., CRS/Kenya-DRI 1997). Taking place shortly after implementation (either during the planting season or just after harvest), this 'internal evaluation' explores questions of crop and variety choice, logistical procedures (timing and methods of distribution), adequacy of amounts given, and beneficiary targeting. This internal evaluation of a seed-aid intervention may be used to help sharpen the process of giving seed aid in future delivery periods, once the decision has been made to embark upon a seed-and-tools program.Table 5 shows the crop profile of seed aid given in 1997 at each of the four sites. At the government-managed seed-distribution sites, Machakos and Baringo, farmers generally were provided maize and some beans, as has been the trend since the beginning of seed-aid distribution in 1992 (see GOK/MOA seed-aid lists). In addition, aid recipients in Baringo, most of whom had access to irrigated plots, received a range of vegetable seeds. These latter crops are key for income generation by supplying more greens to urban markets.Maize and beans also were given at the NGO-managed distribution sites, Embu/Mbeere and Makueni, though to a significantly smaller proportion of farmers. As all four sites are semi-arid and prone to the effects of drought, the NGOs, both GAA and CRS, have been working to diversity the crop profile of farmers in their zones of action. Within the scope of seed-aid distribution, both promoted more drought-tolerant crops, such as cowpea, millet, green gram, and pigeon pea. While all the crops given as aid in these latter sites are known to farmers, few listed them as among their priority crops (see section 5). The diet of Kenyans, even in these droughtprone areas, is very much rooted in maize and beans, however vulnerable their actual production may be.From the farmers' perspective, the crops given as seed aid (table 6), as well as the varieties (table 7), were appropriate. It proved unnecessary to disaggregate these data by site, given the high coincidence among responses. Interviews showed that farmers, fundamentally, expect maize and beans for seed aid, although in some of the drier areas, additions such as sorghum and cowpea are acceptable as long as maize seed is one of the elements in the aid package. (Most farmers were given two different crops as seed aid during the same season.) From these comments, we see that seed aid has saved farmers money for certified seed, introduced new varieties, introduced new crops, and introduced/stimulated progressive farming practices. All of these may or may not be important-but are not necessarily related to alleviating acute stress.Across sites, both the quality and germination properties of the seed given were deemed remarkable (table 8). Simply put, most farmers have not used certified seed-or only when given it free. In the case of maize, the seed aid, which consisted primarily of hybrids (the 500 series and 600 series) and the composite variety Katumani, was also highly valued because most farmers (except in the Baringo sample) did not routinely sow hybrids ( see section 4 on routine procurement sources for further discussion).Unlike many seed-aid situations, farmers in this Kenyan sample recognized 'the value' of the seed commodities delivered, but not necessary just for direct sowing. Farmers repeatedly mentioned how easy it is to exchange the two-kilo package of maize for an item that might be more urgently needed (for example, staples such as salt, sugar, and oil). Seed aid in this sense is achieving a 'currency function' beyond its more immediate sowing (and hence production) value. How did these farmers' subjective assessments of the appropriateness of seed compare with their actual practices? At least according to farmers' testimony, the great majority of the aid seed was sown-across crops and across locations (table 9). For instance, 85% of farmers sowed all (100%) of the maize seed they received as aid, while 72% of those receiving cowpea sowed all (100%) of this crop given as aid. The relatively lower proportion of sorghum and cowpea sown reflects farmers' secondary preference for this crop, although by absolute standards, the percentages sown indicate positive interest. Reading the table, 83% of those who received sorghum seed sowed at least half of that aid given. The process of seed-aid delivery during the 1997 Long Rains proved more problematic for farmers for several reasons: the timing of delivery, farmers' perceptions of how beneficiarytargeting took place, and their valuation of the actual amounts received.While seed arriving late is a common complaint across seed-aid interventions, in Kenya in 1997 it appears that the process was given an unusually late start due to the delay in announcing an official emergency-the end of January 1997 (CRS-Kenya/DRI 1997). Funds for seed purchase and transport cannot be raised until an official emergency is declared. Only GAA in Makueni, which had a prior seed-assistance program on site, was able to deliver most of their aid punctually (table 10). The official rules (theory) of targeting proved very different from 'better practice' in the Kenyan situation-and caused some discontent. Here, we review both the theory (what is written officially) and how targeting actually unfolded. For seed aid, targeting challenges are basically twofold: (a) to identify those who actually need seed aid and (b) to ensure they have the means to use it (that is, the land and labor necessary for sowing, and sufficient stability to guarantee that seeds planted are harvested). More fundamental, however, policymakers have to decide what the seed aid is for-that is, what goals it wants to achieve-and this must be done prior to choosing techniques of targeting. This is unclear in both the official rules and subsequent practice, as is seen below. Targeting aid to sustain the chronically seed-poor is different from helping those temporarily in seed stress, and it is different from using seed aid to introduce new varieties and to further catalyze the efforts of more progressive farmers.Both government and church officials are well aware of some of the seed-targeting challenges and problems. There are official guidelines-and then there exists actual practice, i.e., what they predict will occur.The official guidelines elaborate criteria for recipients of seed aid. The list below is taken from both government and church documents. --those who have not received relief through government or any other relief organization --those who cannot obtain seed through other means --those who have prepared a minimum of 1 acre of land --those who have prepared land but have no seed With the Church, there is usually a two-tier process of selection. The seed-needy are identified within what is already considered a vulnerable agroecological zone. However, it is not clear whether the seed-needy within higher-potential/less-vulnerable zones are also targeted with seed aid.The written guidelines listed above contrast with what actually unfolds. Several government officials were particularly frank about the challenges of actual targeting. They want both clearer mandates and more 'rough and ready' tools to select recipients. In practice: It is hard to exclude anyone. Usually a baraza (local meeting) is called and those who want seed present themselves. Frequently, pre-packaged seed (in 2-kg and 5-kg packages) needs to be opened to accommodate increased demand. One officer commented, \"Not unusually, a very needy person may get but a cupful of seed. Sometimes it is so little, they say, 'I don't even want that.'\" Farmers themselves also help to corrupt the process away from its original goals, saying, \"Everything free from the government should be for us all.\"Local committees may be highly political in choice of beneficiaries. Many non-needy are included as seed aid comes increasingly under the rubric of a 'government gift.' Also, elected officials have a vested interest in ensuring that their own constituencies are well-served-whether they are in need of seed or not.The social pressures are such that those who receive may be obliged to redistribute to those who do not. Government officers insightfully remarked that the poor could be disadvantaged in the long run if they did not share with others. They are involved in social networks of help. So, if they don't share seed, neighbors won't help them with other activities, such as labor exchanges: \"You get free seed and don't share with medon't come to me for other help.\"2. In theory, there is an analysis of need and beneficiaries through identification of local zones where there are production shortfalls. Percentage shortfalls are estimated (e.g., from 5 T/ha to 1 T/ha), vulnerable zones are identified, and then a percentage of the 'needy' is suggested (e.g., \"20% of the population in this zone probably cannot buy seed on their own\").In practice:The basis for estimating the percent of seed needed within a zone is not clear. Seed needs are calculated on the basis of vague acreage estimates of crops in the given zone during normal times. For example, the seed needs are extrapolated by multiplying recommended sowing rates by estimated total area, then divided by a seemingly arbitrary percentage of 'seed-needy,' i.e., to cover 20% of the acreage of crop x in zone y, then 20% of the acreage is assumed to equate with 20% of population.Officials also frankly admitted they rarely have the resources to travel across their zones to see the full variability in harvest performance.In brief, government officials well recognize that there are significant political, social, and technical constraints to targeting well. The political and social pressures are especially embedded and will be difficult to alter. Officials also admit that not targeting often results in too little seed being received by the truly needy.By their range of complaints (\"too little seed because too many receive\"), farmers also see the targeting issue as a challenge that needs to be better addressed-sooner rather than later. Over 20 different criteria by which farmers thought the need had been targeted (or not) were given from among the 133 farmers who received aid (table 11). Clearly, there is need for a great deal more transparency in choosing seed-aid recipients; the lack of clarity is creating frictions within communities. Unfortunately, and particularly because the seed distributed by the Government is perceived to be of such elite or exotic quality (certified maize hybrids), the general rationale for seed aid is not clear-cut for many. The notion that 'the best farmers' should get the seed or that 'all citizens should get this gift' does not fit well with normal visions of who should received seed aid in times of stress. --In Makueni, the implementer GAA strove to give aid to those organized into groupswho could continue to produce seed on a longer-term basis.--In Embu/Mbeere, farmer complaints suggest that Catholics were given preference and that some not deserving seed received substantial amounts. In the zones sampled, Church leaders themselves seemed unusually well-informed about grass-roots developments and reiterated these same targeting concerns. Well-kept Church records (name, ID, village, religion, seed types, date received) also noted a high proportion of recipients as Catholics.--In the GOK/MOA-implemented site in Machakos, farmers were unclear if targeting went on at all (and rumors were rife).--In the GOK/MOA-implemented site in Baringo (identified by the DAO), targeting seems to have followed distinctive and perhaps atypical criteria for model or progressive farmers.Beyond these farmer perceptions, in section 5 we look at how important the seed aid received was to the beneficiaries-in terms of their total seed planted. While there were evident biases in the targeting, which had little to do with seed need, there is some evidence, particularly at the Makueni and Embu/Mbeere sites, that the recipients were indeed among those most in need of outside seed support. That is, in both of these sites, the seed aid delivered accounted for a significant portion of the seed planted for their staple crops (section 5).Finally, both the official guidelines and practice of targeting suggest that the goals of the seed aid may be both varied and unclear. This issue of 'what goals for seed aid' is pursued in the concluding discussion portion of this section. The quantity of aid received per recipient is, of course, a function of the total amount available and the number of those receiving any seed at all. As table 13 shows, the amounts received varied markedly, even at a single site, with Baringo having the highest divergence of 1 to 15 kilos of maize received by single farmers, and Makueni appearing to have the most equal distribution. Across sites, the farmers' biggest complaint about the maize received was the small quantity, with the number of complaints highest at Machakos, where a generalized, untargeted, government distribution took place. There, a cluster of farmers received almost nothing (0.1, 0.2, 0.25 kg). Indeed, there may be costs of targeting well (the technical costs of learning which farmers need seed, as well as the political and social costs of 'not giving to all'). However, there are also substantial-and direct-costs to not targeting. Those most in need may receive only token help, that is, not enough to make a difference to their lack of agricultural viability.Finally, we end this section on the process of seed-aid delivery by looking at the question of vouchers. Vouchers were not used during the 1997 aid intervention, although they are currently being programmed in CRS's work for the Short Rains 2000 season.1. Overview: While still within the realm of 'aid,' the logic of vouchers is based on the notion that (a) farmers are better at deciding which crops and varieties most suit their needs and (b) farmers will normally procure, locally, the variety and seed material they know to be adapted to their environment. Theoretically, vouchers should also support, rather than undermine, the seed markets running locally (whether or not truly local, these are open markets or local seed shops known as 'stockists,' which sell certified seed of commercially released varieties). While seed vouchers have been tried in Uganda by Sasakawa Global 2000, their use in Kenya seems relatively unknown. During the course of the interviews, farmers were asked their views on vouchers: Would they prefer vouchers (or cash to buy seed), or did they have a preference for getting the physical seed itself during emergency handout operations?Fieldwork showed the voucher issue to pose two very different sorts of challenges and concerns for farmers: (a) the availability of local crops/varieties even if purchasing power were guaranteed and (b) the 'will power' of farmers to use the cash/voucher for seed stocks when other needs were just as pressing (paying school fees or buying basic food supplies, such as salt, sugar, or cooking oil). It was interesting-and surprising-to note that a good number of farmers did not want anything at all for buying local seed. They voted for the seed option specifically because they equate 'aid' with the certified maize hybrids delivered in government-assistance programs. As mentioned above, at all sites sampled, such hybrids as those from the Kenya Seed Company are perceived by many as an incredible luxury good, which is not to be passed over (even if one has enough of his/her own seed). Table 14 quantitatively summarizes the relevance of these concerns by region. The variability in even such a small sample is intriguing, and qualitative insights are elaborated in the discussion sections below. Makueni. In Makueni, farmers overwhelmingly said they did not want vouchers or cash.Only four (13%) indicated they could get the appropriate varieties and wanted the cash.Half stressed that they could not get the varieties they most desired, focusing on the government-certified maize seed, which is a coveted luxury product. Reinforcing this view, many also mentioned the significant costs incurred while traveling (that is, the market is just too far) and their lack of faith in the local sellers (e.g., \"they mix varieties, mislabel varieties,\" etc). The remaining group (37%) glossed over the seed issues (potentially, they could purchase what they needed), but were simply reluctant to have the money in their pockets. Women, in particular, mentioned the fear of diverting needed seed money for urgently needed food and school fees. Embu/Mbeere. At Embu/Mbeere, relatively more farmers (58%) were predisposed to the cash/voucher idea. Unlike Makueni, few (12%) felt they could not get desired seed if they had money. (They purchase local maize varieties here, as well as cowpeas, beans, etc., and have no special attachment to the newer maize hybrids.) However, even though some confirmed they could access seed locally, a good number (30%) did not want the cash/voucher coupon as they feared using it for other purposes. This reluctance to have cash in the pocket serves as a rough 'informal' indicator of poverty and/or a lack of control over how the money will be used. Some also stressed how much they appreciated having the seed aid directly delivered, rather than having to walk the 10-20 km to market. Machakos. Farmers were equally divided over vouchers, primarily for reasons of economics (not seed issues). Farmers' priority crops here were mainly maize and beans, with an occasional cowpea fan. Desired varieties of maize (e.g., 511) and beans (e.g., Nyayo) are easy to get at stockists, with beans also available at the many open markets.Those who wanted seed mainly expressed concerns about diverting the voucher/cash resources elsewhere.Baringo. Farmers here voted primarily for the voucher/cash option. They use hybrid maize and commercial vegetable seeds anyway-the same they receive from relief sources. A few didn't trust themselves to spend the money as targeted (and by their comments, these were probably the poorest among the group).3. Use of a voucher system: yes or no? Analysis of the responses suggests that different kinds of farmers prefer different options, based to a certain extent on wealth. The very poorest prefer seed aid because of their fear of diverting money and because the maize hybrid is beyond their normal reach. (Whether hybrids are appropriate for such a group of farmers needs to be seriously debated.) The richer farmers-a good number of whom received seed aid-generally feel equally disposed to the two options: hybrids are what they normally use and they have little trouble reaching the stockist. The issue of distance to market (particularly in Makueni and among the aged) cuts across wealth categories, as does the concern that 'quality' seed (local quality seed as well as certified) just isn't available in local markets. In addition, in areas where the NGOs are experimenting with non-maize options, farmers sometimes prefer the seed aid, just because the crops and varieties of crops they desire (green grams, cowpeas, millet) may not be easily accessed. As one farmer stated, \"Crops in the market often come from the richer agricultural zones and are not locally adapted.\"The pros and cons of using vouchers are further explored in the following discussion.It is important to note that the Government of Kenya and some of the NGOs have themselves previously commissioned studies to determine the internal logic of their seed aid (Anon. 1997;CRS-Kenya-Dri 1997).One report, Monitoring of Relief Seed Distribution (Anon. 1977), specifically saw as its objective \"to visit selected districts in Eastern, Central and Coast Provinces to monitor relief distribution and ascertain that seed was received and distributed on time, in the right varieties and reached the intended beneficiaries.\" The conclusions were unusually frank, but not necessarily analytically framed or targeted to audiences in a way that could encourage better practice. Some extracts follow:Malindi district decided to target family holdings and give adequate seed for 1 acre per family-while most districts issued seed to whoever turned up.Embu-The quantity each recipient received ranged from 1kg to 10kg. This was based on the number of farmers that turned up.Mwingi District-The exact number of beneficiaries is difficult to ascertain as traditions in the district dictate that no one can be denied seed, thus all who turned up during distribution received at least a small quantity, estimated at less than 1/4 kg.In the discussion section following, we aim to reflect on four central issues raised by the previous analysis of the internal delivery of seed aid: goals, targeting, vouchers versus seed, and overall organization. (Discussion of 'which crops and varieties' is included in section 5, where the fuller farming systems are brought into view.) Here, we compare and contrast lessons from the four different sites, as well as drawing from the insights of both aid practitioners and farmers, specifically to stimulate more conscious decision making in seed-aid program design and delivery.The goals of giving seed aid are not very transparent in the four cases analyzed. Based on analysis of practice, there seem to have been at least four different ones. Seed was given --to fill a temporary seed gap-for the farmer to have something to plant This was most evident in the Embu/Mbeere case, where a variety of crops were given (including some of the more drought-tolerant) and where those receiving aid were generally a needy group.--to encourage self-help, or for farmers to achieve a self-sustaining seed-production strategy This was clearest in the Makueni case, where farmers received training in improved seed-production techniques, were organized into collaborative groups, and were also encouraged to put more emphasis on drought-tolerant crops.--to give a gift to constituency-political combined with farming goals Machakos is the type case here. Farmers' standard crops-maize and beans-were given as seed to all who turned up, although the certified maize seed was an extra bonus for many. Complete lack of targeting resulted in relatively small quantities of seed received per person.The Baringo seed distribution illustrates this goal. Progressive farmers were targeted with hybrid maize and income-generating vegetable seeds.None of these goals is inherently negative, although the first two probably more closely parallel the goals aspired to in emergency stress situations. However, the multitude of goals, and accompanying approaches, created confusion among the general population about what the seed is for, and perhaps created false expectations as well as unnecessary dependencies-as exemplified in the following farmer statements.Embu: \"Seed relief aid should be given throughout the year, whether during emergency periods or normal periods, because there are some farmers who have enough land but can't make use of it because of financial problems. The most serious problem is the high price of seeds Minimally, the goals of a seed-aid operation should be transparent to all (donor, implementer, farmer) and should be matched with an active strategy to reach those goals. In the current Kenyan situation, we seem to have hidden goals and multiple (even conflicting) expectations.A confusion of goals necessarily translates into a muddled targeting situation, although it is difficult to say which of these precedes the other. Further, without a definition of goals beforehand, it is very hard to judge the effectiveness of subsequent targeting.Among the sites visited, several targeting strategies have been noted. Programs such as the MOA distribution in Machakos achieved zonal targeting: i.e., everyone in the zone received aid (known as 'blanket distribution' or 'equi-distribution'). In the other areas, attempts were made to target specific groups within zones. This encompassed the more vulnerable in both the Church/CRSsponsored distribution of Embu/Mbeere and the GAA-sponsored seed program in Makueni, while the MOA-sponsored program of Baringo seemed to target the more progressive farmers (those with 'exemplary farming practices'). The Church sample had the additional targeting criteria of reaching Catholics. This may have been an outcome rather than an explicit strategy, as prayer houses proved to be the major channels of dissemination.What is clear within the Kenyan context is that lack of clear goals for the seed aid, which leads to unclear messages about who the beneficiaries are, could create significant friction among those who dispense the seed as well as among many of the recipients. There were repeated accounts of the very needy receiving insignificant amounts. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority (95% of those interviewed) indicated that the seed aid was simply \"too little.\" This statement could also be interpreted as a sign of the increasing dependency and expectations of farmers on outside, 'free' support.In theory, the targeting scenario posed in this Kenya study should be a relatively easy one technically, in that the populations are physically stable (compared to refugees on the move) and have lived in their home areas for at least several seasons. Some further technical parameters would need to be addressed: how to define seed-vulnerable populations in an emergency situation, and then how to distinguish those who are experiencing acute seed stress (that is, stress just this season because of drought, for example) from those who are chronically seed-stressed (and require outside help nearly every season). Specific indicators and strategies for distinguishing stress populations are elaborated in the complementary volume to this report (workshop proceedings).However, many (most?) of the challenges in remedying targeting concerns are political and/or social and lie beyond the scope of this study. In public distribution zones, populations have been given the sense that seed aid is their right and a gift from the government.The question of vouchers might be best explored in a more analytical manner than has been done to date. A country-wide strategy to promote the voucher option (or not) would, a priori, disadvantage some farmers. In areas where stockists regularly operate and aid givers tend to give certified seed of major crops anyway, a voucher system could work well-and save money in the seed-distribution process. In areas where seed markets function poorly (little seed, little variability in crops, few reliable seed sources for well-adapted crops), seed aid in the form of seed might actually be more effective, assuming donors deliver seed of locally adapted crops and varieties. Table 15 lays out some of the key variables important in the decision-making process about whether to give vouchers. Finally, a closing reflection on the organization of the seed-aid process. Even this small number of cases suggests that seed aid (procurement and delivery) is more effective when it is done in a decentralized manner.--The choice of crops and varieties can be tailored more to the local environment.--Targeting on a smaller scale is more accurate.--A range of approaches is possible, rather than standardized ones, if seed aid is tied to the actual cause. In some cases, seed alone may be needed; in others, skill building may prove crucial; and in still others, novel approaches to crops and crop management may be vital.The need for a greater basket of approaches may be clearer when we look at some of the effects of 10 years of seed aid, within a broader, farming-systems context in the next section.1. Three-quarters of those interviewed (77.8%) received seed aid 1997. At GOK-managed sites, maize and beans were primarily given, with those at Baringo also receiving vegetable seeds. NGO-managed sites also distributed maize and beans, and further distributed seed of more drought-tolerant crops (cowpeas, sorghum, millet, pigeon peas)-to promote their use. The single site at Makueni programmed in an aid component of farmer capacity building (in improved seed production).2. Farmers generally assessed the crops and varieties that were given as appropriate. The more drought-tolerant crops were also deemed 'acceptable' as long as maize is one of the elements in the aid package. Over 85% of the maize and bean seed was sown, with relatively lower proportions of the cowpea and sorghum seed.3. The quality of seed given was deemed exceptional: most farmers sampled do not routinely use certified seed or maize hybrids (exception in Baringo). Farmers recognize the luxury value of hybrids, but not necessarily just for direct sowing. They can exchange the packaged maize for urgently needed items (for example, food staples such as salt, sugar, and oil). Seed aid in this sense achieves a currency function.4. All three process variables were generally deemed problematic by farmers: timing (generally late), targeting (not transparent), and quantities received (too little). The less rigorous targeting was directly related to lesser quantities received per farmer. Overall, the process variables were generally rated higher at Makueni, where a prior assistance program had been established.5. Each of the four sites had specific built-in biases in targeting, with the possible exception of the government-managed site Machakos, where there seems to have been a blanket distribution for everyone who appeared at public meetings. Apparent biases were noted at Makueni (those who organized into work groups), Embu/Mbeere (Catholics), and Baringo (those with access to irrigated plots). There was some evidence that poorer populations also were specifically reached in Embu/Mbeere.6. Lack of targeting transparency (i.e., 27 different-and at times conflicting-criteria cited by farmers) creates social frictions. At GOK-managed sites, all expect seed as part of a 'public good.' The fuzziness in targeting is also related to an ambiguity in the goals set for the seedaid distribution (see point 8, below).7. While vouchers were not given, exploration of their potential acceptability showed farmers very divided as to their usefulness and acceptability. Much depends on (a) the availability of local crops/varieties, even if purchasing power were guaranteed, and (b) the 'will power' of farmers to use the cash/voucher solely for seed stocks. Different kinds of farmers seem to prefer different options, based to a certain extent on wealth. The very poorest prefer seed aid because of their fear of diverting money and because maize hybrids are beyond their normal reach. Richer farmers-a good number of whom received seed aid-generally feel equally disposed to the two options: hybrids are what they normally use and they have little trouble reaching the stockist. The issues of distances to market (particularly in Makueni and among the aged) would cut across wealth categories, as would a concern that 'quality' seed (local quality seed as well as certified) just isn't available in local markets. In areas where aid organizations are experimenting with non-maize options, farmers sometimes prefer the seed aid just because the crops or varieties they desire (green grams, cowpeas, millet) may not be easily available otherwise.8. The goals of giving are not transparent in the four cases analyzed, with four distinct goals emerging:--to fill a temporary seed gap-for the farmer to have something to plant --to encourage self-help or for farmers to achieve a self-sustaining seed-production strategy --to give a gift to a political constituency-political combined with farming goals --to stimulate 'progressive' farming practices None of these goals is inherently negative, although the first two probably more closely parallel goals aspired to in emergency stress situations. However, the multitude of goals, and accompanying approaches, create confusion about what seed is for and create false expectations as well as unnecessary dependencies. 9. Even the small number of cases suggest that seed aid (procurement and delivery) is more effective when decentralized:--The choice of crops and varieties can be more local and tailored to the environment.--Targeting on a smaller scale is more accurate.--A range of approaches is possible, rather than standardized ones. In some cases, seed alone may be needed; in others, skill building may prove crucial; and in still others, novel approaches to crops and crop management may be vital.This section looks at the effectiveness of the aid in the context of farmers' broader agriculturalmanagement strategies. It examines whether the seed aid given helped farmers \"get back on their feet\" and re-establish a sustainable mode of accessing desired seeds. To arrive at this longer-term perspective, this section reviews farmers' history of seed aid and its relative importance among the other seed-procurement strategies farmers have, during both emergency and more routine agricultural periods.The introduction (section 1) gave a glimpse of the government view of the history of seed aid. It started on a large scale in 1992, and seed has been distributed nearly every year since then. More detail on the 1997 distribution showed that the seed aid given, mostly maize, provided between 10% and 35% of total seed sown, by district.This section looks at the history of seed aid in Kenya from a farmer-centered perspective, with the profile of aid delivery at four specific sites. Those interviewed (in July 1998) were asked to recall the number of times and type of seed aid they had received since 1992. For each farming family, the donor of the aid, crop, variety, and dates were all recorded. However, given the relatively long time period for recall, it is likely that farmers underestimated the times they received aid over the previous eight years.indicates the number of times, since 1992, that farming families received seed aid. On average, each family has received aid slightly more than twice, with an impressive high of 10 times. In Machakos, Baringo, and Makueni, sampling of those interviewed was random within general zones where seed aid was recorded to have occurred in 1997. In the other two areas (Embu/Mbeere and Thika), the intermediary organizations contacted provided detailed lists of farmers who had supposedly received seed for the 1997 Long Rains season (although a number of the farmers on the lists claimed not to have received seed aid). The latter two samples were to loosely correlate with 'the poor.' The MOA should train people to educate farmers on how to preserve seeds for planting, how to improve them instead of buying seed and waiting for aid every time. [No. 54] An example from another region reinforces what was found within this study: farmers have become dependent on seed aid in the sense that they expect it to come, and have altered their seed strategies accordingly. One farmer in the Tana District, when asked what his procurement strategy would be if seed aid were not given, commented, \"Oh, that would never happen.\" (T. Remington, CRS, personal communication, 1998).Government records for the Long Rains 1997 indicate that aid seed accounted for about 10%-35% of the seed sown in the regions for which data were provided to the Office of the President (table 2). This view from the top down, however, looks quite different from that expressed from bottom-up, that is, from the view of the individual farming family. This family-centered perspective is explored below.In the course of extended interviews, farmers listed the full range of sources from which they procured seed for the Long Rains 1997. Across the board (that is, across farmers and crops) farmers listed seven main sources for obtaining seed: seed aid given in emergency aid (from church, NGO, government) home-saved saved from the previous harvest and stored within the homestead local market bought from open markets or local shops that stock grain and seed (often a mix of both). Genetically, this may include local varieties and improved varieties that are circulated through markets (such as self-pollinated beans, OPV maize) stockist procured from specialized input-supply shops that carry certified seed, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. extensionist supplied by government agent who normally promotes varieties coming from research and/or private sector relatives given (usually as gifts) by close relatives other a mixed bag of anything else that happens on an irregular basis: e.g., picked from abandoned fieldThese sources are obviously among those for procuring seed of their two main crops, but to varying degrees. Maize and beans are very different in terms of seed issues. Hybrid maize in Kenya has been heavily promoted by both the government and private sector (Hassan and Karanja 1997) and, if planted according to recommendations, should be totally renewed each season. Hybrid maize can potentially be accessed by most farmers at the small local stockist shops-all they need is money. Improved varieties of beans have also been developed by research (e.g., Mwezi Moja, Mwitamania). However, they are less readily available from the formal seed sector and, as a self-pollinated crop, beans can be resown season after season (with some disease limitations), even using the new varietal materials.Tables 17 and 18 show how farmers accessed their maize and bean seed for the Long Rains of 1997. Seed-aid maize, which was the lion's share of aid given, provided 14% of the total maize sown, while aid for beans reached 11% of the total.The situation for sorghum and cowpea (tables 19 and 20) was slightly different, as aid agencies most often gave this crop expressly to diversify the farmers' crop profile (that is, to promote more drought-tolerant crops in areas where farmers were still concentrating resources on their cherished maize and beans). Aid seed for these minority crops, therefore, proved more significant in relation to the total sown. These tables show that during the emergency period, farmers accessed the majority of their seed by themselves for all four crops analyzed: maize, beans, sorghum, and cowpeas.Also clear is the central importance of local markets (not stockists) for accessing seed, even more than home-saved stocks. Note that the source local markets proved to be the most important even during a so-called ecologically stressed period.Finally, table 21 homes in on the central question that an aid agency might ask: How many farmers relied on seed aid for 100% of the seed sown of a particular crop? Would there have been farmers who would have had no seed in the absence of a seed-aid intervention?  21 suggests, at first glance, that seed aid seems to have been important for an impressive number of farmers, varying from 14% to 66% who used it for 100% of their crop at each site. However, a closer analysis, by crop, shows that only six farmers (one at Makueni and five at Embu) relied 100% on seed aid for their key crops-that is, those in which they themselves normally invested. For most farmers, seed aid supplied their full seed stocks of a given crop only if the crop were relatively new or lower priority, as in the case of cowpeas, sorghum, pigeon peas, millet, or the income-generating vegetables such as onions, kale, and tomatoes.Would farmers have endured severe seed shortages had seed aid been not given? From our sample, the evidence is far from conclusive and veers towards a 'no.' However, this reflection should be tempered by the importance of aid to the Embu/Mbeere sample, which, by several parameters, was more focused on the poorer agricultural segments.It is hard to judge how abnormal any situation is unless one understands how things operate in more routine times. This basic, even banal, reflection, seems to have been consistently overlooked in shaping the large majority of seed-aid interventions to date-certainly those going on in Kenya in the last 10 years. To-date, a simple linkage has been made: when harvests are slightly lower, maybe even cut in half, give farmers seed aid-immediately! There has been little or no effort to examine the resiliency of farmers' agricultural or seed systems, or to question whether physically giving farmers seed is the best among several potential strategies (alternatives including, for example, giving farmers vouchers to access seed themselves, or subsidizing local-market seed prices for a period of time). Seed is given without diagnosing what the constraint may be, or whether there is a seed constraint (aside from the fact that the harvest of a given crop may be lower than normal). This lack of diagnosis and lack of understanding of the seed system itself is particularly flagrant in a situation such as Kenya, where seed aid has been given some 10 or more out of 16 consecutive seasons.In this section, we take a broader view and examine farmers' current 'routine' agricultural strategies: What are the priority crops? How is seed for these crops normally accessed? Some the key changes farmers perceive as hindering or enhancing seed systems over the last decade are also considered.Farmers designated their priority crops at each of the four sites, using their own key criteria (tables 22 to 24). As always, maize came first across sites and then beans, despite the important differences among farmers' own agricultural conditions (some having access to irrigation, some not). This access to or lack of water is reflected more in their third choice of crop. Those without supplemental water (all but Baringo) were increasingly interested in the more drought-tolerant crops, while those belonging to irrigated schemes (Baringo) were experimenting with vegetable gardening (for sale at town and urban markets). When these priority crops are matched against what was actually given (table 25), we see that according to the farmers' views, the crops given as aid matched to a large extent farmers' own crop priorities. Overwhelmingly, farmers received at least one of the crops they considered most important. This issue of the 'right' crop is explored-and debated-in section 5. Description of farmers' routine seed-procurement strategies Farmers also offered insights into their normal strategies for accessing seed for their key crops of maize and beans. Their sources were described, along with the frequency seed was procured offfarm and the relative amounts procured from off-farm sources. Getting both frequency and relative amounts is important for understanding farmers' opportunities and constraints. A farmer who gets most of her bean seed off-farm every season may be financially stressed, eating her full harvest before the next sowing. This is very different from a farmer who may seek a handful of seeds every season to test new varieties.Farmers' routine strategies for procuring maize are summarized in tables 26 through 28. Except for the case of Baringo, nearly all farmers regularly use home-saved maize seed (kernels harvested the season before) and also regularly use the local market to top-off supplies. Use of stockist seed (that is, the use of improved varieties and of certified seed) is near universal only in the Baringo sample, although between one-quarter and a third of farmers in Machakos and Embu/Mbeere claim to use it 'occasionally.' Of farmers sampled in Baringo, generally 100% use a stockist for acquiring seed; 89% use a stockist every season; and about 78% use a stockist to renew all of their seed. This is a very different scenario from those sampled in Makueni. There, very few farmers ever access maize seed from a stockist (6%), relatively few get maize off-farm every season (20%), and when they do, it is not usually 100% of their needs (only 13.3% of farmers get 100% of their seed off-farm).  In Makueni, farmers highlight their very vulnerable farming conditions. They describe frequent droughts in the area, with routinely poor maize harvests. Farmers use home-saved seed except when it is lost to drought, and then they buy from the local market. Even local market seed is deemed expensive: farmers rarely use a stockist. Stockist stores are few and far between in Makueni, and many farmers feel the improved varieties on offer are not adapted to their local growing conditions. Very tellingly, two out of the 30 farmers interviewed listed \"emergency aid maize seed\" among their routine sources of seed procurement. 6   In Makueni, the message was the same, again and again:When rains are low, maize is lost-we buy seed from local market. [No. 130) butWe prefer home-saved seeds, so we can save money for other purposes [school fees, food]. The quality of seeds bought is unknown. [No. 136] In Baringo, the scenario described for acquiring maize is quite different. Clearly, those with access to irrigation want hybrids and certified seed-and are prepared to pay for it.Only poor people use home-saved seeds. [No. 113] Seed aid saves us money. It reduces the costs of our having to buy from the stockist. [No. 146] Further, in the Baringo sample, the agricultural jargon common to both extension agents and 'model farmers' was repeated fairly frequently:My farming has improved and through seed aid I have been encouraged how to do farming properly-I know which plants to use, how many seeds to put per hole, and the correct time to sow. [No. 112].These very different contexts-irrigated/progressive practices in Baringo and rainfed/local routines in Makueni-are not sufficiently reflected in government seed strategies in these regions. They all get maize, with modifications only in the choice of variety.The case of beans is different from maize. As beans are self-pollinated, farmers potentially have more control over their seed supplies: they can resow a small portion of what they harvest. Tables 29, 30, and 31 summarize farmers' strategies for procuring bean seed. Across sites, home-saved stocks are a central source of seed. However, local markets appear as an equally used source. Given that bean seed can be easily selected out from the previous harvest, it is surprising how many farmers get bean seed off-farm every season or every other season (about 30% across the sites)-and how much-most farmers (70% plus) get more than half their seed off-farm on a regular basis. Complaints were rampant about the low quality of local market seed, so the varieties and seed they get off-farm are certainly not better than what they harvest themselves. This unusually high amount of bean seed accessed off-farm is an index of poverty (not of progressive farmers improving their seed). Note that in the Machakos sample, some farmers routinely listed emergency seed aid as a source of beans, while others highlighted their use of food stores for bean seed. Note also that in the descriptions for both maize and beans, farmers felt they could rarely get seed from relatives. For both maize and beans, the data shown above contradict was is often taken as a truism when describing farmer seed systems: that 'normal' farmers use about 80% of their seed from their own stocks and that accessing off-farm seed sources is 'abnormal' (Cooper, 1993). The Kenyan material shows that small farmers routinely rely on local markets for seed. Similar in-depth seed studies in three other Africa countries (Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) also show that smallholder farmers rely heavily on markets for bean seed, a selfpollinated crop (Sperling et al. 1996). Perhaps in some 'good ole days' farmers were selfsufficient in their inputs, but certainly not now. This observation has important implications for action: ensuring that local markets can deliver good-quality seed may be as important as increasing the farmers' ability to produce more seed inputs of their own.Assessment/Reflection: Farmers' routine procurement strategies It is one thing for an outsider to comment on Kenyan farmers' high use of local markets (and a commercially oriented assessor might scorn their lack of use of stockists). However, more relevant is how farmers themselves reflect on the adequacy of their 'routine' seed-procurement strategies. How do they see the trends of the last decade, and what do farmers themselves hope for?In the case of maize, farmers overwhelmingly expressed unhappiness with the way they get maize seed-again, with the notable exception of Baringo where the 'progressive' sample accessed seed from stockists (table 32). For the large majority, some maize seed is home-saved and some is bought from local markets; relatives give little support. Farmers cannot afford certified seed, find the prices exorbitant, and, as in many seed studies (e.g., , David, 1996;Sperling et al. 1996), complain about the local market-the right varieties not available, seed poor quality, merchants cheating on quantity, and the distance. This widespread dissatisfaction seems serious for a crop that forms the core of their agriculture. There have been vigorous efforts to promote the use of improved maize varieties and practices among all farmers-to achieve what is sometimes called 'Africa's emerging maize revolution' (Byerlee and Eicher 1997). Yet, a widespread analysis from a nationwide Kenyan survey in 1992-93 showed benefits accruing mostly to larger-scale farmers and farmers in higher potential zones, rather than smallholders (Hassan and Karanja 1997): \"farmers' major reasons for not using improved seed were that an appropriate variety was lacking, seed was expensive, or they were unaware of improved seed. The reasons limiting farmers' adoption of fertilizer included its expense and unavailability\" (Hassan et al. forthcoming, as cited in Hassan and Karanja 1997: p. 84).Do farmers in our sample see the trend as improving? Apparently not. Some of the more detailed comments, using an example from Machakos , suggest just the opposite: \"yields are decreasing, NO 75 67 94 64Have bean-procurement strategies changed over the last 10 years? Farmers' assessments are even more damning for beans than for maize (table 36). Again, taking an example from Machakos, there are concrete reasons for farmers' overall discontent. The only positive move in 10 or so years seems to have been the availability of one or two new varieties.  This section has documented the relative unimportance of seed aid in farmers' overall seedprocurement strategies during an emergency period. Perhaps the quantities of seed aid given were too little to make a dent (as farmers complained), or perhaps farmers really needed little outside help for seed, knowing how and where to access it and with limited financial means were able to do so. In both cases, a very expensive seed-aid operation proved not to be a critical element in farmers' accessing seed for 1997.The data also confront the myth that normal smallholder farmers save most of their seed and only turn to outside sources when very stressed. Local markets have long been equally important in topping off supplies and adding new varieties-for the very poor who have to restock each season, as well (Sperling and Loevinsohn 1993). Local markets, themselves, need to become a more central focus of development efforts, to ensure that a diversity of varieties, locally adapted varieties and crops, and quality seed can be purchased locally. This implies increased work on local-level seed production, distribution, and marketing. It also implies that research must take a much more aggressive role in working with farmers to develop locally adapted varieties that combine production gains with desired quality traits. These issues are explored again in section 5.Finally, this external perspective on seed aid has documented the general vulnerability of farmers' seed systems and overall agricultural systems. Farmers in both acute stress (drought) and routine times are heavily tied to purchasing large amounts of seed, even the self-pollinated types, and mainly choose to do so at local markets. There have been few positive developments to support their seed systems over the last 10 years-just a new variety here and there.There is no concrete evidence that seed aid, per se, is strengthening farmer systems. Those who have received it once are not necessarily less likely to receive it again. The amounts given were not significant in the context of farmers' overall seed-procurement strategies. Furthermore, the main crop given-hybrid maize-does not ensure that farmers can become less dependent on outside sources: it performs only in favorable conditions and has a built-in deterioration factor. At best, the seed aid has served as a temporary stop-gap measure for the very needy. Considering that it treats but a symptom, and maybe not in the most effective way, seed aid (seed-and-tools), as being currently delivered, seems to be a rather costly intervention . These issues are pursued in Section 5.1. Since 1992, on average, each farming family has received seed aid twice, with a high of 10 times. Thus, most farmers, irrespective of wealth, have received seed aid more than once in the last decade. Those in the 'church sample' (Embu/Mbeere), who correlated more closely with poorer segments of the population, received seed aid about once in every two seasons. Farmer comments suggest that many have come to expect 'emergency' aid on a continued basis.2. Seed aid of maize, which was the lion's share of aid given, provided 14% of the total maize sown in Long Rains 1997, while for beans, aid seed represented 11% of the total sown. The situation for sorghum and cowpea was slightly different, as aid agencies most often gave these crop expressly to diversify farmers' crop profiles in more drought-prone areas. Aid seed for these minority crops accounted for 33% and 27% of the total seed sown for sorghum and cowpea, respectively. Thus, during the emergency period, farmers accessed the majority of their seed by themselves for all four crops analyzed: maize, beans, sorghum, and cowpeas. Across crops, a large portion of seed was sourced from local markets, not stockists, even in ecologically stressed areas.3. The research assessed the portion of farmers relying on seed aid for 100% of their seed sown during the Long Rains 1997. Overall figures varied from 14% to 66% of farmers at each site. However, a closer analysis by crop shows that only six farmers (in total across sites) relied 100% on seed aid for the key crops in which they themselves normally invest. For most farmers, seed aid supplied their full seed stocks of a single crop only if the crop were relatively new or lower priority-as in the cases of cowpea, sorghum, pigeon pea, and millet-or an income-generating vegetable such as onion, kale, and tomato.[The case study explored farmers' routine crop and seed-procurement strategies so assess how 'abnormal' their practices were during the designated emergency. The following summary points refer to analysis of more normal periods. To-date, seed aid has been given without diagnosing what the constraint may be. There has also been little effort to examine the resiliency of farmers' agricultural or seed systems, or to question whether physically giving farmers the seed is the best among several potential strategies.] 4. Across sites, farmers primarily assessed their top two priority crops as maize and beans, with some of the more drought-tolerant crops cited in third place at nonirrigated sites and the income-generating vegetables cited where water supplies were more reliable. The matching of farmers' priorities with what they received as aid showed, overwhelmingly, that farmers received at least one of the crops they consider most important. [The issue of the 'right crop' during normal versus emergency periods is debated in section 5.] 5. Farmers used some seven potential channels for accessing seed. For maize, nearly all farmers regularly use home-saved maize seed as their main source and, also, regularly use the local market to top-off supplies. Use of stockist seed, that is, use of improved varieties and of certified seed, is key only in the Baringo sample, although between one-quarter and a third of farmers in Machakos and Embu/Mbeere claim to use it 'occasionally.' Certified seed and hyrbids are rarely used in Makueni. This overwhelming predominance of local maize seed perseveres in these drought-striken areas in a context of very vigorous and prolonged government efforts to promote hybrid and certified material. 6. For beans, across sites, farmers use home-saved stocks as their central source for seed.However, local markets appear as an equally used source. Given that bean seed can easily be selected out from the previous harvest because it is self-pollinated, it is surprising how many farmers get bean seed off-farm every season or every other season (about 30% across the sites) and how much they get off-farm (at least 70% of stocks). Thus, most farmers get more than half their bean seed off farm on a regular basis.7. For both maize and beans, the Kenyan data contradict what is often taken as a truism when describing farmer seed systems in Africa: that is, that 'normal' farmers use about 80% of their seed from their own stocks, and that accessing off-farm is 'abnormal.' This Kenyan study shows that small farmers routinely rely on local markets for a significant portion of their seed.8. Farmers overwhelmingly expressed dissatisfaction with their maize-procurement strategy, with the notable exception of Baringo where the 'progressive' sample accesses seed from stockists. The large majority cannot afford certified seed (and find the prices exorbitant), and complain about the local market: the right varieties not available, seed quality poor, merchants cheating on quantity, and distances. This widespread dissatisfaction seems relatively serious for a crop that forms the core of their agriculture. 9. For bean-seed acquisition, farmer sentiment is also strong and clear across sites. The large majority find themselves heavily tied to the local market, spending money without being sure of the quality they are receiving. Because beans are self-pollinated, farmers generally regard bean seed as something they should not have to buy-using the money for school, medicine, and food instead. Overall, what does the 'average' farmer want in terms of bean seed: selfsufficiency. She wants to save seed money, to save transport getting seed, and she wants the seed on time-all implying that home-saved seed is the way to go in these drought-prone areas.10. Have seed trends improved for maize and beans over the last decade? Apparently not; just the opposite. Prices have gone up, exchange networks have become weaker, and deteriorating soil fertility and fragmentation have meant smaller harvests. The few positive developments-some new varieties, the emergency of seed aid, the packaging of varieties in smaller packets-do little to counteract strong negative forces.11. There is no concrete evidence that seed aid, per se, is strengthening farmers' systems. Those who have received it once are not necessarily less likely to receive it again. Amounts given were not significant in the context of farmers' overall seed-procurement strategies. Furthermore, the main crop given, hybrid maize, does not ensure that farmers in these areas will become less dependent on outside sources, as hybrids tend to perform well only in better conditions and have a built-in deterioration factor. Considering that it treats but a symptom, and perhaps not in the most effective way, seed aid (seed-and-tools), as currently delivered, seems to be a rather costly intervention.The 'external' analysis of the farmers' seed situation in Kenya (section 4) raises a number of fundamental questions about the type of problem seed aid is and was supposed to alleviate. Seedand-tools programs, that is, the delivering of quantities of seed and basic tools on a one-time basis (the kind of intervention that is being practiced in Kenya), are designed to help farmers out of temporary and well-defined acute stress. Seed-and-tools are given in a context where a series of assumptions are made, whether these are consciously articulated or not:--that farming systems have suffered an acute jolt and farmers have lost vital seed --that a discrete injection of seed will boost farmers' means to plant the seed given, with labor, inputs, and the security adequate for planting and harvesting --that the one-time provision of seed will help farmers re-establish an independent means of producing and accessing their own seed --that seed will be sufficiently appropriate to fit in (adapt) and maybe even strengthen farmers' agricultural systems (help them to evolve in positive ways)The early rationale for giving seed aid, rather than only food aid, was specifically to help farmers regain their means of production and to set them off in independent ways. However, what is happening in Kenya is that these one-time 'push to self-sufficiency interventions' are being repeated and repeated. Has the problem or constraint been adequately diagnosed? Have the appropriate support activities been well defined? Have the support activities been designed to link to the specific problems or constraints at hand?The problem: Characterizing the constraints in Kenyan farmer seed systems-the broad viewWhen this consultancy was initiated, 'the problem' was presented as an acute one: Kenyan farmers suffered drought in the season prior to 1997 and needed critical seed to sow the next time rains fell. The solution was given as seed, and the consultancy was to evaluate the effectiveness of the seed-delivery program; that is, the internal process and products: were the right varieties given, were they given on time, were they given in an equitable manner (see TOR, annex 1). The goal was to make seed-and-tools interventions more effective, more on the mark.However, as the work unfolded, using both government documents and perspectives (top-down overviews) and drawing on valuable farmer-based data and insights (bottom up), it became clear that the drought situation was not a one-off affair. It was not a discrete, acute disaster situation.For some Kenyan farmers, the last decade has been one in which they have suffered droughts on a repeated basis. Between distinct and severe dry periods, their farming systems have operated well. However, with sharp drops in rainfall, like that in 1991-92 and in 1996, they have required help from the outside-to get back to where they were. These farmers have been experiencing repeated acute stress. There are probably a range of reasons why these repeated acute (welldefined and delineated) stresses are occurring, some of which are meteorological. (Whether there has been a significant decline in rainfall on a longer-term basis in Kenya is debatable, with a discussion of possible climate change being outside the scope of this report.)For many Kenyan farmers within the sample, however, the seed stresses they described are neither acute nor repeated acute-they are there on a continual basis. Small plots (and harvests), unreliable rainfall, lack of adapted varieties, poorly adapted crops (like maize in many areas), distant markets, scarcity of cash to purchase seed-all hinder their being able to produce and/or access sufficient quantities of seed each season. While seed-and-tools treat their problems as acute, indeed their stress situation is a chronic one.A first attempt to conceptualize these different situations appears below (table 39). The first two columns of the table are fairly self-evident, and distinguish acute from repeated acute and from chronic distress situations, using agroecological stresses to differentiate among the three types.Severe drought once is different from severe drought every 10 years (repeated acute) and is different again from farming in an extremely dry area on a constant basis (chronic). The second two columns start to indicate, by building a theoretical framework, that chronic, acute, and repeated acute situations affecting seed systems may be spurred by events other than agroecological ones. Disasters and/or constraints can be economically or politically induced, and a small number of variables that constrain seed systems may be directly seed and/or variety related.  'right crops' have to be adapted (bio-physically, socially, and in terms of management practices) and have to be acceptable to farmers. Then variables such as crop maturity, and ability to push farmers on the path to self-sustainability, might be factored in as key elements.A range of current interventions in seed-system support in East Africa aim to strengthen farmer seed systems in the longer term. Their aims include delivering more locally adapted varieties, ensuring that even the poorest farmers can get new materials, improving the quality of farmer seed, and even helping farmers earn money from seed production operations. Annex 7 (prepared by S. David) summarizes over a dozen of these programs. They illustrate that a body of work is emerging to help address some of the more chronic constraints to seed-system health.However, a good deal of the challenge to strengthening the systems by which farmers access seed lies in a more refined diagnosis of where the constraints and opportunities lie. Analysis of seed systems-farmer, formal, and those that aim to integrate the two-is a relatively new field. Prior to a decade ago, development work focused almost exclusively on supporting the institutionalized or formal seed sector, as this was the supposed vehicle through which farmers would receive modern varieties emerging from the formal research system. In Africa, at least, seed-system experts now estimate that such institutional channels may supply farmers with, at most, 5% of their seed, the obvious exception being maize in areas where hybrids have attained wide use, such as the Southern African Region and the higher-potential areas of Kenya and other Eastern African countries (personal communication, see the companion volume to this report).This section ends by making the first steps to understanding what the full components of a seed system might be and how they need to be linked. The companion volume starts to lay out a methodology for diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of the various seed-system components. More-targeted diagnosis should directly lead to more-targeted interventions, with longer-lasting positive impacts.A seed specialist, someone who focuses on producing and distributing seed as a physical input might feel comfortable with viewing the building blocks of a 'seed system' as four basic units: testing the material, multiplying it to ensure availability, distributing it to ensure access, and then possible storage. At each of these stages, both varietal issues (which genetic materials?) as well as seed issues (quality, quantity) are considered. These four basic blocks appear in a linear fashion in figure 1, although, of course, the end feeds into the beginning and so the cycle re-starts. A person with more of a seed-systems perspective would add a series of filtering lenses, so as to make these blocks more realistic or closer to what actually happens. First, each of the blocks obviously has technical content: e.g., what level of genetic purity; how much multiplied? Equally, each block has a strong social content or set of social dynamics: which varieties are preferred by different farmers; how will the multiplication be organized so people will work together; how can the channels be made user-friendly so that all have access? In addition to the technical analysis and the analysis of social dynamics, one might even add a lens of \"institutional analysis,\" since the kind of technical and social strategies are intimately tied to the institutions (whether formal or local) through which one works (figure 1).The situation is complicated further by the increasing evidence that farmers use a variety of seed systems for different crops and for different purposes. For instance, the same farmer might get cassava cuttings from her neighbor in exchange for labor, buy her beans from one of the local open markets, and purchase her maize from a stockist in a specialized government store. And from time to time, these different systems intersect; for example, maize bought from the stockist is exchanged with the neighbor and sown for several seasons, thus affecting its quality. Figure 2 (prepared for different purposes by Almekinders and DeBoef (2000) starts to indicate the complex relationships between farmer and formal systems: sometimes linking, sometimes not.The point in setting up these conceptual diagrams is because they help serve as a grounded base for diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of different seed-system components that might need strengthening in an emergency situation and beyond. All might be well with the testing and multiplication blocks, but the main bottlenecks in a crisis period might have to do with the distribution channels. Seed is available in theory, but farmers may be afraid to go to public places (because of war) or may just not have the means to buy from the market (they have lost assets during the crisis). Neither of these problems is most effectively solved by giving seed. In the first instance, the seed intervention might focus on ensuring security; in the other, vouchers or credit might be considered.The issue of seed-system diagnosis, developing indicators of seed-system health, and linking specific problems with specific solutions forms the core interest of the complementary volume to this report. Such a volume was not anticipated at the beginning of the Kenyan seed study, mainly because the TOR inadequately anticipated the fundamental Kenyan seed-system needs.Discussion: Characterizing seed-system constraints and opportunitiesthe Kenya caseIn a sense, the end of this report is really the beginning. The key to improving the series of crisis seed situations in Kenya lies in more accurately diagnosing the underlying problem in seedsystem functioning. Continuing to deliver seed-and-tools may be analogous to putting a band-aid on a gushing wound.It is clear that many farmers have chronic problems producing and accessing seed. It also holds true that those with 'just' acute seed stresses are probably not being best served by some of the current seed-aid delivery practices. (Practices may be technically ill-informed, and they are certainly creating counterproductive dependencies.) The reform of seed-system support in Kenya might best be articulated by a series of simple, yet challenging, steps that form the core of future action:1. Accurately diagnose the seed-system problem (or cluster of problems for different populations).2. Define precise and transparent goals of seed-aid/seed-system capacity building.3. Build in flexibility to be able to act in site-specific manner.4. Always think longer-term. From the discrete notion of seed aid, we need to move to a focus on how to support the current system and how to build increased capacity to help seed systems function by themselves.1. The external perspective on seed aid has documented the general vulnerability of farmers' seed systems and overall agricultural systems.2. For some Kenyan farmers, including those in the semi-arid areas studied in this report, the last decade has been one in which they have suffered droughts on a repeated basis. Between distinct and severe dry periods, their farming systems have operated well. However, with sharp drops in rainfall, like that in 1991-92 and 1996, they have required help from the outside to get back to where they were. These farmers have been experiencing repeated acute stress.3. For many Kenyan farmers within the sample, the seed stresses they describe are neither acute nor repeated acute-they are experienced on a continual basis. Small plots (and harvests), unreliable rainfall, lack of adapted varieties, poorly adapted crops (like maize in many areas), distant markets, scarcity of cash to purchase seed all hinder the ability of farmers to produce and/or access sufficient quantities of seed each season. While seed-and-tools treat their problems as acute, indeed their stress situation is a chronic one.4. This section sets out a framework for examining acute, repeated acute, and chronic stresses, cross-cutting these seed-system disaster types with root causes: agroecological, political/economic, and seed-system issues themselves.5. In plotting material from the Kenyan case relating to seed-system functioning, economic and political constraints leap forward as a major farmer-articulated constraint. Furthermore, the analysis shows that focusing on seed and variety issues, per se, can be ineffective for dealing with the real bottlenecks in many seed-system situations.6. The issue of 'right seed/crop' is examined in the context of emergency versus non-emergency situations. At a minimum, crops/varieties for emergency interventions need to be adapted to farmers' bio-physical environment adapted to farmer's preferences adapted to farmers management conditions those that facilitate risk-aversion 'Right variety/crop' is also examined by differentiating acute, repeated acute, and chronic seed-system stresses.7. Hybrid maize is a poor choice in the context of acute, repeated acute, and chronic stress situations. Most farmers do not routinely access hybrid maize seed from the stockist, do not have the management expertise, and may not even have the appropriate bio-physical environment in which nurture the 'aid' varieties. Suboptimal environments and limited knowledge do not tally up to promoting risk-aversion during a stress period. Further, the built-on deterioration factor for hybrids does not necessarily promote self-reliance in the longer-term for those farmers who cannot afford to renew their stocks on an annual basis. Simply put, the overriding bias on hybrids-which have been developed mostly for more favored environments-makes the situation somewhat an extreme case of ignoring basic emergency principles.8. A range of seed-system support interventions in East Africa is reviewed. These interventions go beyond seed-and-tools and have various aims including delivery of more locally adapted varieties, ensuring that even the poorest farmers can get new materials, improving the quality of farmer seed, and even helping farmers earn money from seed-production operations. The review illustrates that a body of work is emerging to help address some of the more chronic constraints to seed-system health.9. A paramount challenge to strengthening the systems by which farmers access seed rests in a more refined diagnosis of where the constraints and opportunities lie. Analysis of seed systems-whether a farmer system, the formal sector, or a system that aims to integrate the two-is a relatively new field. Prior to a decade ago, development work focused almost exclusively on supporting the institutionalized or formal seed sector. In Africa, seed-system experts estimate that such institutional channels may supply farmers with, at most, 5% of their seed, the obvious exception being maize in areas where hybrids are well adapted and have attained wide use. A history of the seed situation in Kenya will be examined for the past 10 years, using secondary information from public and private institutions, although the main focus will be on the emergency relief of 1996/97. It will be important, in view of the possible effects of timing and type of food aid upon the use and appropriateness of the seed aid, to make some assessments of the overall aid package delivered in Kenya: food aid and tools, as well as the seed of each crop (principally sorghum and maize).The whole seed aid process would be more cost-effective over the long-term if distributed seed were used not simply as a stop gap measure, but made a contribution over the long-term. Farmers themselves are well placed to comment on whether there were distinct positive or negative effects of the seed aid on farming community equity. While institutional and national-level experiences and perspectives will be important, local recommendations may need to be tailored accordingly. 12:30-13:00 Closure of workshop be organized and motivated to produce and sell good-quality bean seed. Second, demand exists among smallholders for good-quality seed of modern varieties supplied by specialized farmer producers. While FSEs offer a sustainable solution to the problem of seed supply, the challenge of implementing this approach in Eastern and Southern Africa remains formidable. Collaborative linkages need to be fostered between farmers, researchers, NGOs, and the formal seed industry. Seed-policy reforms need implementing and more client-oriented research systems must be institutionalized.In collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASAL) Program in Laikipia District, Eastern Kenya, supported community-based seedproduction activities between 1996 and 1999. The crops involved were potatoes, beans, chickpea, trees, and safflower. Stringent criteria (e.g., access to irrigation water for off-season production) were used to select potato-seed growers. Training of producers covered crop husbandry, group dynamics, leadership, bookkeeping, and marketing. Farmers paid 50% of cost for potato seed and fertilizer and the remaining amount after the harvest. In 1999 the project was assisting farmers in making direct contact with the national potato research institute in order to secure source seed on a regular basis. The project bought back the initial amount of seed given for some crops (beans, safflower).In 1995, a group of farmers in Kabale and Kisoro Districts, Uganda, formed an association to produce potato seed commercially after receiving training from the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and CIP. The association, Uganda Seed Potato Producers Association (USPPA), is now a registered company. Members of USPPA purchase seed potatoes from a nearby research institute, which also provides technical support (training, seed inspection, and economic analysis). In 1999 the association consisted of 18 members: 11 men and 7 women. Most producers are above average in terms of resources since the association requires all members to have an initial capital outlay to construct a seed-potato store, purchase pesticide and spray pumps, and have enough land for planned rotations and fallowing. On average, production for individual producers is above 15 t/ha.to the seed committee of each association. It is not clear whether producer groups received any training directly.Farmers produced seed of the following crops, depending on the prefecture: beans, potatoes, groundnuts, soybeans, maize, wheat, sweet potatoes, and cassava. Groups produce a minimum of two crops and a maximum of four. Source seed was provided by the project; because of the collapse of the formal seed sector, no provision was made to enable farmers to access source seed on their own. Project staff checked seed quality (germination, moisture content) in beans only and provided packaging materials for beans for a short time.Since 1999, the Tanzanian National Bean Program has worked with 17 women's groups in the Arusha area to address the seed-supply constraint. The groups are being developed as commercial units to produce seed of modern bean varieties. The project is attempting to link the groups with stockists to address the problem of marketing and demand.The African Highlands Initiative is seeking to address the seed-delivery bottleneck by supporting efforts to establish local seed production units in seven of its benchmark sites in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Madagascar. Priority crops are identified by farmers and the modalities for seed production are formulated by various stakeholders, including NGOs, researchers, the formal seed sector, local entrepreneurs, and farmers.Planned activities involve seed production by farmers (groups and individuals), schools, and church organizations of potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, rice, wheat, sorghum, forages, indigenous vegetables (which vary by site).The IFAD-funded Kagera Agricultural and Environment Management Project supports commercial seed production activities for the following crops: OPV maize, beans, bananas, cassava, and clonal coffee. The project began in 1998 and operates in five districts of western Tanzania. Individual farmers are identified (nominated at village meetings) and trained for two days in seed-production methods. Training only covers agronomic and post-harvest handling.Participating farmers must be able to devote half a hectare to seed production. Farmers are given seed and other inputs as a grant. Foundation seed is produced by contract farmers in each district. Seed producers are supervised by district seed supervisors trained by TOSCA, the national certification authority, and village extension officers. Production is low (250 kg per season for beans). The project offers no assistance in marketing.The project plans to organize producers into groups to enable them to access credit and to boost production. In 2000, the project worked with more than 1000 seed producers.","tokenCount":"20527"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7574148504.json b/data/part_1/7574148504.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..10e8e6d846ffabe5e7e6cfec0f966213ead59b96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7574148504.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39609be9492d9799be5b8d4376aadf6f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/VGU2DW/RQE1JM","id":"-1579897111"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2f3af4a9-5a56-4a81-a92c-842de556ae65","pagecount":"5","content":"The biodiversity of plant and animal species both domesticated and wild used for food by humans (referred to here as agricultural biodiversity-ABD) is one of the most important assets for rural households, particularly for the poor in marginal areas such as the drylands of the developing world. A contribution of Bioversity International to the Dryland Systems CGIAR Research Programme (CRP) [http://drylandsystems.cgiar.org/] has been to examine systematically the diversity of these species in CRP target sites in Mali, Ghana, Malawi and India. Bioversity and partners have carried out a set of Agricultural Biodiversity Assessments in these countries. In the case of Rajasthan, the selected sites include eight villages in the three districts of the state of Rajasthan: Balmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. The specific villages are: Damodara (26°54',70°43'); Deda (26°94',70°43'); Dedhu, (27°20', 71°45'); Dhirasar (25°27', 71°11'); Dhok (25°29', 71°01'); Govindupura (26°49', 73°05'); Mansagar (26°45', 73°08'); Sankadiya (27°29',71°41') 1 .The objective of the ABD Assessment is to identify and quantify all the useful plant, animal, and aquatic species utilized by rural households and communities in the Dryland Systems CRP sites, as well as information on markets attended and general socioeconomic household characteristics. This information will be used to characterize three dimensions of ABD: (1) diversity in the production system, including on farm and common lands; (2) dietary diversity; and (3) market diversity; in terms of the elements and relationships involved and the exogenous factors that influence their status and dynamics. These data will be the basis for analyzing the roles of ABD in the lives and livelihoods of these rural populations in order to identify entry points for designing and implementing interventions that contribute to improve their well-being.The ABD Assessment consists of two parts:(1) a series of focus group discussions (FGDs) to elicit the local knowledge about the agricultural and wild biodiversity present in the study areas in order to generate: (a) an inventory (list) of all useful plant, and animal species used by local communities for human food; (b) an inventory of foods consumed; (c) an inventory the markets attended to sell and buy different types of products. 2 All the FGDs include both males and females in their composition. Effort should also be made to have different social categories of people in the study areas be represented in the FGDs. This should be done in four of the eight villages included in the exercise.(2) a household survey with a representative random sample of 30 households per village for the eight villages that were selected in the state of Rajasthan for a total sample size of 240 households.(a) One that elicits information on the ABD use by the household;(b) Another that elicits information on foods consumed by specific members of the household.The criteria for determined to whom each section should be applied to is presented in the appropriate section.. The number of participants per group and their composition will be based on GRAVIS' experience in the field and organized accordingly (we do not want a very large group, so probably between 8-15 participants/group, but again this will depend on GRAVIS' judgment).The FDG will elicit information on (a) biological diversityon farm as well as harvested from forest and community land, including crops, trees, grasses, and domestic animals; (b) foods consumed in house and also purchased from market; and (c) a list of markets attended by households in the village. An important principle to keep in mind during the FDG is the need to capture as much diversity as possible, particularly for those species used by few people or even rarely. Therefore, it is important to probe for additional species, every species is important, no matter how insignificant it may appear to be.For the useful biological diversity on farm, information will be elicited for the following categories:1. Useful plant species produced in the farm, including those in kitchen gardens (annual) 2. Useful tree and shrubs species in individual lands (perennial) 3. Useful grasses in individual lands (annual and perennial) 4. Useful wild or semi-wild species harvested from forest area and community land 5. Domesticated animalsTo elicit the information a modified four-cell method will be used. It will elicit information on species that are grown by:(1) many households in a large area within their individual farms;(2) many households in a small area within their individual farms;(3) few households in a large area within their individual farms;(4) few households in a small area within their individual farms.Large or small area does not refer to the total area in the village, but to individual farms (the absolute size of the landholding may be small, but a large part [cases 1 and 3] or a small part [cases 2 and 4] is devoted to the species).In the case of tree and shrubs, as well as domesticated animals the first four cells will be modified as follows:(1) many households with many trees/shrubs/animals within their individual farms;(2) many households in a few trees/shrubs/animals within their individual farms;(3) few households in a large area many trees/shrubs/animals within their individual farms; (4) few households few trees/shrubs/animals within their individual farms. The other three categories remain the same.For the foods consumed, group members will be asked to free-list foods that are available in their village -consumed by them or by others-covering all seasons throughout the year. To facilitate the discussion, it can be organized around breakfast, lunch, dinner and as snacks any time during the day. It is very important to probe for foods consumed rarely, as well as industrialized and processed foods. The exercise should elicit as many foods as possible, regardless of whether they are self-produced, purchased, or obtained by any other means (food aid, gifts, barter, etc.), in the village or elsewhere.For markets, participants will be asked to name the markets they and other people in their respective village attend, this is, places where they go to purchase or sell different types of items (including their own village) and distance from their village for the following categories of items:(1) foods;(2) groceries;(3) clothes;(4) domestic animals.So the names of all these places should be elicited first and then for each one, we will ask which of the four types of items are purchased, sold or both in that market place.The household questionnaires will be carried out to the extent possible with the same households interviewed for the ICRISAT baseline survey carried out in the same villages. It is important to use an identification system that allows linking the ABD survey with the ICRISAT baseline survey for these households.The survey consists of four components: The survey is divided into two questionnaires. One elicits information on biological diversity, markets and general socioeconomic information. The second one elicits information on dietary diversity.For the components on biological diversity, markets and general information, the questionnaire will be applied to the head of the household and spouse together. If not possible, it should be filled by an adult in the household involved in agriculture.For the dietary diversity component, filling of the questionnaire presents different possibilities that should be chosen depending on the features of the household interviewed. Ideally, the questionnaire should be filled by a woman in the household between 15 and 49 years of age that is the mother of at least one child between 6 to 59 months. So the team will first inquire if the household has such a member. If there are several women in the household with these characteristics, one of them should be chosen randomly to fill the questionnaire. If the mother has several children that fit the criteria, only one of the children should be chosen randomly to be the reference for the dietary diversity questionnaire. Therefore, the survey will elicit information on the foods consumed by one mother and her child in the last seven days, as well as the frequency of consumption. If there is no mother with a child that fit the criteria, then the questionnaire should be filled by a woman between 15 and 49 years of age (for example the mother in the household even if her children are older than the criteria of 6-59 months). In this case, the questionnaire should be filled ONLY for the women (not for any children), for the foods consumed by the respondent in the last seven days, as well as the frequency of consumption. Third, if there is no mother that fits the criteria of age, the questionnaire should be filled by whoever customarily prepares the food in the household and only for her consumption (not for the whole household) in the last seven days as well as the frequency of consumption (as in the other cases).The questionnaire will elicit information on the foods consumed by the mother and child for the last seven days (or alternative respondent as explained above). The following procedure should be used:1) The list of foods identified in the FDG will be included in the dietary diversity questionnaire organized by food group (e.g. cereals, roots and tubers, etc.). This should be done as soon as the FDG for the original eight villages included in the ICRISAT baseline are completed. The generation of the food list will be done under the coordination of Dr. Mathur as indicated above.2) The dietary diversity questionnaire will contain a list of foods organized by food groups. Using the questionnaire, the mother will be asked to indicate for herself and for her child which foods she and her child had consumed in the last seven days and the previous day (yesterday) completing the same line (mother 7 day, previous day and child 7 day and previous day) and the source of food for each marked food (selfproduced, purchased, gift, collected, food aid, etc.). The interviewer should go systematically down the list food by food completing the information line by line for both mother and child.3) The same procedure will be followed until all foods that were consumed in the last seven days have been captured for mother and child.4) Once all relevant foods in the list have been marked for both mother and child, the interviewer will go back, starting a fresh with the list to complete the number of times each food marked as consumed (frequency) the previous day; first for mother and immediately for the child for the same food. The number will be noted in the questionnaire.5) After completing the form, the interviewer will complete the remaining questions at the end of the questionnaire.For the general information, the questionnaire should be filled by the head of the household and spouse.","tokenCount":"1743"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7595832807.json b/data/part_1/7595832807.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cee6c7ca1a21aee1ca3e1ab8e8f2cc51a7de799e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7595832807.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"681fdb55e49d491537c3f14967cebe71","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/90ed1534-f305-453d-8b85-44daef9fa0c1/retrieve","id":"-56376285"},"keywords":["cooking banana","physical postharvest losses","economic postharvest losses","food security","value chain"],"sieverID":"adc43690-20e9-4beb-bd26-3160385170fa","pagecount":"19","content":"Postharvest losses (PHL) result in direct food and income losses to farmers and consumers globally. PHL reduction strategies offer unique opportunities to contribute to sustainable food systems for increased food security and farm incomes for more than 200 million food insecure people in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of empirical information remains a major challenge to operationalization of PHL reduction strategies in many countries of the region. This paper utilizes cross-sectional data to determine the extent and factors that are influencing postharvest losses in the cooking-banana value chain in Uganda. We find that 14.9% of all the cooking bananas that are produced in Uganda suffer postharvest deterioration along the value chain (7.2% of the bananas deteriorate completely and have no residual value, while 7.7% deteriorate partially and are sold at discounted prices), mostly affecting retailers. At farm level, female headed households experience more losses than those headed by males. Household headship, household size, proportion of land allocated to banana production, and monthly banana production are the principal determinants of PHL at farm level. At retail level, such losses are mainly determined by sex of the vendor and group membership. The findings call for comprehensive and gender-responsive PHL reduction strategies.The reduction of postharvest losses (PHL) reduction has become a central pillar of sustainable global food systems. PHL reflect a missed opportunity in the fight against global food insecurity. The reviews \"The Future of Food and Farming\" [1] and the \"Missing Food\" report [2] recommend PHL reduction as a critical response to global food availability concerns. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) [3] estimates that one-third, which amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes, of all the food that is produced for human consumption is lost globally. The World Bank [2], for instance, estimates that up to USD 4 billion in value of cereals is lost to PHL in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); this exceeds the value of food aid received in SSA over the last decade [4]. In such a case, reducing PHL is crucial if the food demands of the ever growing world population are to be met [5,6]. Pedrick [7] asserts that even without increases in agricultural production, PHL reduction can make a significant contribution to combating hunger and increasing farm incomes. Reduction of PHL is even more crucial in SSA, where approximately 218 million people live on the margins of food insecurity [8]. In light of this, PHL reduction has become a central component of development policy in Africa. PHL reduction is an integral component of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Plan (CAADP). In Uganda, for instance, PHL reduction is an essential pillar of the second National Development Plan [9].Despite policy prioritization, operationalization of PHL policies and strategies remains a challenge. One of the main constraints to operationalization of PHL reduction policies and strategies is the lack of clear and empirical information on the magnitudes, distribution, and determinants of these losses. This information is crucial in the identification of solutions and in guiding priorities of action [3,4,10]. In this study, we contribute to PHL literature by analysing the extent and determinants of PHL in the green cooking banana (matooke) value chain in Uganda.Banana is an important source of food and nutrition security for smallholder farmers in Uganda. Annual country production is 8.9 million metric tons [11]. Banana provides 17% of Uganda's daily caloric requirements [12]. Similarly, on average, each banana cultivating household earns USD 1244 per annum [13]. Uganda is the largest consumer of cooking bananas in the world [14], with an annual per capita consumption of 172 kg [15]. However, because of a short shelf life, bananas are highly vulnerable to postharvest deterioration [16]. Information on the extent of these losses in bananas is limited. Affognon et al. [4] in a meta-analysis of PHL literature in SSA note that, whereas evidence on PHL in cereals is increasingly available [3,17], only scanty information exists on the extent, distribution, and drivers of PHL in vegetables, roots, and tubers, and fruits, like bananas. Where available, evidence on PHL in banana is mixed: losses of up to 80% are reported in Rwanda [18]; on season and off-season market losses of 6.6% and 2.2% are reported in Nigeria [19]; total value chain losses of 26.5% are reported in Ethiopia [20]. In the Ugandan context, only TRIAS [21] has attempted to quantify PHL in bananas. However, estimates from this study are anecdotal and are based on secondary review of literature. The study is also silent about the distribution of losses at the different value chain nodes, yet such information is essential in the identification of loss hotspots and can guide targeting of loss reduction strategies. Using a value-chain approach, the current study, first: estimates the extent of postharvest losses in the cooking banana value chain; and, then identifies the factors that affect PHL at value chain nodes with the highest losses. In doing so, the study will underscore strategies and recommendations for reducing PHL, and in turn, will contribute to make the value chain more efficient and sustainable.The article is structured as follows. In the next section, we present a conceptual framework to show how PHL can be estimated along with the factors that underlie these. We then describe the survey data and the econometric methods of analysis used to identify the determinants of PHL. Finally, we present and discuss the main results and draw conclusions for future research and development efforts.Postharvest losses refer to measurable quantitative and qualitative food losses in the postharvest system [22]. PHL threaten food, income, and nutrition security for smallholders [2]. PHL can be subdivided into \"food loss\" and \"food waste\". The distinction between \"food loss\" and \"food waste\" is arbitrary and not well defined in PHL literature. The current study follows FAO [10], which distinguishes \"food loss\" and \"food waste\" on the basis of the food supply chain stage/level at which losses occur. Losses at farm, collection, wholesale, and retail levels are defined as \"food loss\", while losses at consumer level are termed \"food waste.\" In this study, losses at the consumer level defined as food \"waste\" were not used in the estimation of PHL in cooking banana value chain. We define the extent of PHL in the banana value chain to be the sum of losses at farm, collection, wholesale, and retail levels, which are hypothesized to be influenced by a number of factors, including social, economic, and infrastructural factors, as shown in Figure 1.retail levels, which are hypothesized to be influenced by a number of factors, including social, economic, and infrastructural factors, as shown in Figure 1. This study utilises primary cross-sectional data collected from Isingiro, Rakai, and Kampala districts between July and September 2015. These study areas are shown in detail in Appendix Figure A1. Rakai and Isingiro were purposively selected because they are among Uganda's biggest banana producing districts [23], while Kampala was selected because it is the leading banana consuming district in the country. Isingiro district is located about 310 km and Rakai district about 208 km southwest of Kampala, Uganda's largest urban and capital city. One sub-county from both Rakai and Isingiro districts was purposively selected, that is, Dwaniro sub-county in Rakai and Rugaaga subcounty in Isingiro district. The two selected areas are the main banana producing sub-counties in each district. 100 farmers (50 per sub-county) were randomly selected for the survey. Ten wholesalers (lorry traders) and 17 collectors (seven bicycle traders and ten brokers) were also randomly selected in the study to provide information on banana collection and wholesale. Similarly, eight markets in metropolitan Kampala were sampled. A total of 40 retailers randomly selected from these markets. Eight market masters (one per market) were also interviewed to obtain deeper insights about the banana retail market.Different tools were used for data collection. A structured and pretested questionnaire (for faceto-face interviews) consisting of both open-and closed-ended questions was administered to producers and retailers, while checklists (sets of few open-ended questions) were used to gather information from key informants [including market masters, collectors (bicycle traders and brokers), and wholesalers]. Four enumerators were hired and trained specifically for this study. Prior to the interviews, each respondent was informed about the purpose of the study and the context in which the interview was to be conducted. Respondents were told that their participation is voluntary and their responses will be kept strictly confidential. Consent was sought for each respondent before participation, and each was informed to discontinue participation at any time if chosen so. Finally, each respondent was reminded that there were no right or wrong answers and that the interviewers were only interested in their opinions. During the interview, each question was described carefully, This study utilises primary cross-sectional data collected from Isingiro, Rakai, and Kampala districts between July and September 2015. These study areas are shown in detail in Appendix A Figure A1. Rakai and Isingiro were purposively selected because they are among Uganda's biggest banana producing districts [23], while Kampala was selected because it is the leading banana consuming district in the country. Isingiro district is located about 310 km and Rakai district about 208 km south-west of Kampala, Uganda's largest urban and capital city. One sub-county from both Rakai and Isingiro districts was purposively selected, that is, Dwaniro sub-county in Rakai and Rugaaga sub-county in Isingiro district. The two selected areas are the main banana producing sub-counties in each district. 100 farmers (50 per sub-county) were randomly selected for the survey. Ten wholesalers (lorry traders) and 17 collectors (seven bicycle traders and ten brokers) were also randomly selected in the study to provide information on banana collection and wholesale. Similarly, eight markets in metropolitan Kampala were sampled. A total of 40 retailers randomly selected from these markets. Eight market masters (one per market) were also interviewed to obtain deeper insights about the banana retail market.Different tools were used for data collection. A structured and pretested questionnaire (for face-to-face interviews) consisting of both open-and closed-ended questions was administered to producers and retailers, while checklists (sets of few open-ended questions) were used to gather information from key informants [including market masters, collectors (bicycle traders and brokers), and wholesalers]. Four enumerators were hired and trained specifically for this study. Prior to the interviews, each respondent was informed about the purpose of the study and the context in which the interview was to be conducted. Respondents were told that their participation is voluntary and their responses will be kept strictly confidential. Consent was sought for each respondent before participation, and each was informed to discontinue participation at any time if chosen so. Finally, each respondent was reminded that there were no right or wrong answers and that the interviewers were only interested in their opinions. During the interview, each question was described carefully, simply, and thoroughly to ensure that the respondents understood the questions asked. A household head (male or female) was interviewed for each selected farming household, while a trader (male or female) was interviewed at other value chain nodes. All of the interviews were conducted in local languages. Responses were checked daily by a supervisor to ensure accuracy, consistency, and completeness.Following Naziri et al. [24], physical losses were estimated as the proportion of banana that is deteriorated to the point that it is unfit for human consumption. Bananas affected by physical losses do not have a residual value or alternative uses (products intended for human consumption and used as livestock feed falls in this category). This includes bananas that were left in the field after harvesting, spoiled bananas that are discarded, and bananas that are eaten up by pests and diseases. Economic losses on the other hand refer to the proportion of bananas that are partially spoiled or damaged and whose market price is discounted as a result. Bananas that are affected by economic losses have a residual value and alternative uses. In this study, we measured both the indicative average prices of good quality bananas and the discounted prices for bananas that have incurred quality deterioration at the different value chain nodes. Similarly, physical and economic losses at farm, collection, wholesale, and retail levels in both scarcity and surplus seasons were estimated. Weighted means, as opposed to simple means across the two seasons were used to obtain the average physical and economic losses at each value chain node. This is because different banana quantities are produced in surplus and scarcity. A simple mean in such a case would produce inaccurate estimates of losses. The relative proportions of bananas produced and marketed during surplus and scarcity were thus used as weights in estimating the average physical and economic losses at the different value chain nodes, as shown in Equation (1) below.PHL i = PHL scarcity × Bananas scarcity + PHL surplus × Bananas surplus (1) where PHL i is the average amount of PHL (either physical or economic) incurred at the ith VC node; Bananas scarcity/surplus refers to the proportions of bananas produced or handled during scarcity or surplus season. The sum of the proportions of bananas handled in surplus and scarcity seasons is one (1). PHL scarcity/surplus refers to the losses (either physical or economic) suffered during a scarcity or surplus season. The extent of PHL at the ith value chain node were estimated as the sum of the average physical and average economic losses at the ith stage, as shown in Equation ( 2)Because partially spoiled bananas can move from the farm to wholesalers, to retailers, and finally, to consumers, the total amount of economic losses in the banana value chain was estimated as a sum of economic losses at each node of the chain. However, since bananas that are physically lost at one node of the chain actually disappear from the value chain and cannot be lost again (they do not move to the next value chain node), the total amount of physical losses along the whole chain were calculated by summing up the losses at each node of the VC netting off losses that had occurred at the previous stage in order to avoid double counting (this is more rigorous than simply summing up the relative losses of all stages).The current study also assessed the determinants of postharvest losses at farm and retail level. These two levels were considered for further analysis because: first, the deterioration of marketable banana originates from the farm, understanding the factors contributing to this deterioration could be useful in reducing losses as the product moves along the value chain; and second, the highest PHL occur at the retail level, understanding loss drivers could also help in reducing retail losses. We employed a multiple linear regression model following Basavaraja et al. [25], Adewumi et al. [19], and Mebratie et al. [20] to assess the determinants of postharvest losses at farm and retail levels, as explicated in Equation (3).where S i is the loss at the ith level of the value chain and X j are the factors affecting losses at producer or retailer level in the VC. The general equation can be specified aswhere Y i are the PHL at ith level, X 1 to X n is a vector of explanatory variables, and µ is a random error term. A significant number of producers interviewed reported zero PHL. As a result, we employed a tobit censored regression model to obtain robust estimates of the factors affecting postharvest losses at the farm level. The tobit or censored regression model, as suggested by Tobin [26], is used in situations in which y is observed for values greater than zero, but is not observed (that is censored) for values of zero or less. The standard Tobit model is defined as;where y i * is the latent dependent variable, y i is the observed dependent variable, X i is a vector of the independent variables, β is the vector of coefficients, and the ε i is assumed to be independently normally distributed: ε i ~N (0, σ 2 ) (and therefore y i ~N (βX i , σ 2 )). It should be noted that observed zeros on the dependent variable could mean either \"true\" zero or censored data. Some of the observations in the model must be true zero censored data, or y i would always equal y i * and the true model would be a linear regression not Tobit. Various checks were performed to best fit our model. Normality and linearity assumptions for continuous explanatory variables were assessed before the models were estimated. We used different diagnostic procedures to check for outliers, multicollinearity among the continuous independent variables, and the homogeneity of variance assumption. We calculated standard residuals, student residuals, and DFBETAs to check for outliers. We also examined a scatter plot of the residuals against the predicted values to evaluate whether the assumption of homogeneity of variance is not violated. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was also calculated to check for multicollinearity.The independent variables in the producer and retailer regression models and their hypothesized signs are shown in Table 1 below. The independent variables for producers and retailers were estimated, as follows; age was calculated as the number of complete years for both producers and retailers; dummy variables for sex and group membership were determined and male/group membership was coded as 1 and female/non-group membership was coded as 0; for education, two categories that is to say at least completed secondary education and above coded as 1 and no secondary education and below coded as 0. Total annual production reflects the number of bunches farmers produce annually, while quantity sold is the number of bunches retailers sell monthly. Market access was proxied by distance to markets and distance to tarmac road. Experience is measured as number of complete years a retailer has been in business. Farm size is the number of acres of farm land owned by a farmer, which is a proxy for wealth. Household size (a proxy for farm labor) was calculated as the number of people living in the household. Following Beaman and Dillon [27], a household was defined as \"a group of people who normally live and eat their meals together in the household, and members must acknowledge the authority of one person as head of household and that person must live with the rest of the household members.\" A varietal dummy (Kibuzi = 1) was also included. Kibuzi variety is perceived by farmers to have the longest intrinsic shelf-life when compared to all other varieties. It is expected that PHL are lower if you grow such varieties on farm. The chain is made up of producers, collectors (brokers and bicycle traders), wholesalers, retailers, consumers, and exporters, as explicated in Figure 2 below. Bananas move from producers to lorry traders (wholesalers) directly or through collectors (brokers and bicycle traders). The lorry traders then transport and distribute the bananas to the retailers who then sell to the final consumers in the domestic market. Some bananas move directly from producers to exporters, who mostly sell to Europe and regional markets, especially South Sudan. The volume of bananas exported however remains very small (estimated at less than 5% of total production) and this is not included for this study. This study focused mainly on the domestic cooking-banana market.Bicycle traders, which are common in Rakai district, buy bananas from farmers that were dispersed within the village; they act as initial collecting agents. Bicycle traders are well-known members of the community and have established relationships with the farmers. Competition exists amongst bicycle traders as barriers to entry are low. Bicycle traders sell most of their produce to brokers at collection centre that are found at sub-county or district trading centers. Smaller percentages (20%) of their sales go to local consumers, market vendors, or lorry traders directly. At times, brokers collect bananas directly from farmers though they buy most of their bananas from bicycle traders. Brokers, in turn, supply the bananas to lorry traders (wholesalers); they are commission agents linking bicycle traders to lorry traders. In a few circumstances, brokers engage in the transportation of banana to urban markets.Retailers (vendors) operate in small stalls in major urban markets. The major key banana markets in Kampala city are Kalerwe, Nakawa, Kasubi, and Nakasero, but there are several other smaller markets in the Kampala metropolitan area where retailers operate. Retailers purchase most of their stock from lorry traders (wholesalers), while a few purchase directly from producers (who doubles as traders) or other large retailers in the same or neighbouring markets. Vendors have long term strong relationships with lorry traders and they usually negotiate banana prices on phone before the bananas are delivered in the markets. Retailers, in turn, sell bananas mostly to individual urban household consumers and restaurants.From Table 2, male dominance at most value chain nodes is evident. At wholesale and collection, all of the traders in the study were males. Our findings are similar to Mebratie et al. [20] who find males to dominate the banana value chain in Ethiopia. The results also show that most of the respondents were married. Retailers were found to be the most educated, followed by the producers, while wholesalers were the least educated.Producers were more likely to belong to a farmers' group. Only a handful of retailers, wholesalers, and bicycle traders belonged to any group. Brokers did not belong to any group. Results further show producers, wholesalers, and brokers to be older and retailers and bicycle traders to be younger. This may be because production, brokerage, and wholesale activities are capital intensive (in form of land or cash). Older people with more resource endowments are more likely to participate in resource intensive activities, like the production and wholesale of bananas. Younger people with limited capital endowments may only afford to participate in less capital-intensive activities. This may explain the lower mean age for retailers and bicycle traders. Retailing and bicycle trading are also labor intensive and may be more suited to younger people who are usually more energetic. The mean overall proportion of land under banana was 23% (33% in Isingiro district and 15% in Rakai district).  Postharvest losses are proportionally higher in the high production (surplus) season than in the low production (scarce) season. At times of scarcity, physical losses and economic losses affect about 1.2% and 1.9% of harvested bananas, respectively, on farm (Table 3). Due to quality deterioration (economic losses), a bunch is sold at a discount rate of about 25% in the scarce season at farm level. The major causes of physical losses at farm level are theft and ripening, while the causes of economic losses are mainly selling of immature bananas, followed by poor postharvest handling and ripening. Selling immature bananas is attributed to the high demand in the market that cannot be met by the available farm production during times of scarcity. Immature bananas are considered to be of low quality and thus buyers pay less than the normal price of a mature bunch. During the surplus season, physical losses are estimated at 3.4%, while economic losses affect approximately 2.8% of harvested bananas that are sold at 65% price discount. The major cause of postharvest (physical and economic) losses during the surplus season is ripening. During the surplus season, there are many producers offering bananas to the market yet buyers are few. As a result, some farmers fail to sell their bananas, while others store their bananas for longer periods predisposing them to ripening.At the collection level, proportionally larger losses are incurred during the surplus season (3.9% and 4.6% of bananas affected by physical and economic losses, respectively, resulting into a 20% price discount for the latter) when compared to the scarcity season (1.8% and 2.2% of bananas affected by physical and economic losses, respectively, with a 16% price discount for the latter). Bruising, ripening, and overstaying are the lead causes of physical and economic losses in both the surplus and scarcity seasons. It must be noted that the economic losses reported at collection, wholesale, and retail levels in Table 3 are cumulative and are not actual (net) economic losses that are incurred at those   3). Due to quality deterioration (economic losses), a bunch is sold at a discount rate of about 25% in the scarce season at farm level. The major causes of physical losses at farm level are theft and ripening, while the causes of economic losses are mainly selling of immature bananas, followed by poor postharvest handling and ripening. Selling immature bananas is attributed to the high demand in the market that cannot be met by the available farm production during times of scarcity. Immature bananas are considered to be of low quality and thus buyers pay less than the normal price of a mature bunch. During the surplus season, physical losses are estimated at 3.4%, while economic losses affect approximately 2.8% of harvested bananas that are sold at 65% price discount. The major cause of postharvest (physical and economic) losses during the surplus season is ripening. During the surplus season, there are many producers offering bananas to the market yet buyers are few. As a result, some farmers fail to sell their bananas, while others store their bananas for longer periods predisposing them to ripening.At the collection level, proportionally larger losses are incurred during the surplus season (3.9% and 4.6% of bananas affected by physical and economic losses, respectively, resulting into a 20% price discount for the latter) when compared to the scarcity season (1.8% and 2.2% of bananas affected by physical and economic losses, respectively, with a 16% price discount for the latter). Bruising, ripening, and overstaying are the lead causes of physical and economic losses in both the surplus and scarcity seasons. It must be noted that the economic losses reported at collection, wholesale, and retail levels in Table 3 are cumulative and are not actual (net) economic losses that are incurred at those particular nodes. For example, during scarcity, the observed economic losses at the collection level was 2.2%. However, this includes economic losses incurred at farm level (1.9%). The actual economic losses incurred at this node, therefore, is only 0.3%. That is to say, all of the economic losses reported in this section are cumulative. Actual losses are discussed in estimating the extent of postharvest losses in the chain later in the paper.At the wholesale level, physical losses during scarcity are estimated at 6.7% and economic losses at 3.2%. Due to quality deterioration, a bunch is sold at about 13% price discount. The major causes of such losses are thefts and bruising for physical losses and bruising and ripening for economic losses. However, in the surplus season, both physical and economic losses increase to 8.7% and 7.5%, respectively, and they are mainly caused by ripening and bruising. Quality deterioration leads to selling each bunch at a discount rate of approximately 33%.At retail level physical losses during periods of scarcity are estimated at about 6.2%, while economic losses affect approximately 6.5% of traded banana whose price is reduced by about 52%. At times of surplus physical losses increases to 9.8% and volumes affected by economic losses almost double to 11.9%, resulting into 60% discounted selling price per damaged bunch. Physical losses are mainly caused by ripening, bruising, and thefts, while economic ones are caused by ripening, bruising, and finger plucking in scarcity seasons. Generally, workers who load (and offload) bananas onto (from) the truck are not paid cash. So at any point of loading and offloading these workers pull out (pluck) some banana fingers as their in-kind payment. On average about 10 fingers are removed per bunch. Retailers are very dissatisfied with the act of plucking out fingers from the bunch and about 57% of the retailers reported tremendous losses (due to weight loss and accelerated quality deterioration) from finger plucking. Bruising and ripening are the lead causes of postharvest (both physical and economic) losses during the surplus season at the retail level. Bruising results into discoloration and exposes the banana to infections thus shortening the shelf life and lowering the quality. Other causes that have been mentioned include overstaying, scotching (drying/shrinking due to exposure to prolonged sunlight), and finger plucking. Survey data shows that approximately 36.5% of cooking bananas are produced and marketed in the scarce season, while 63.5% are produced and traded during the surplus season. The proportions of bananas in these two seasons were used as weights for calculating the average amount of banana affected by physical and economic losses at the various nodes of the value chain, as shown in Figure 3. As hypothesized, the weighted means gave better estimates than simple unweighted means, which underestimate the losses. PHL from simple means are attached in Figure A2 for comparison. Results show that substantial amounts of banana are lost on farm. Losses at this level are caused by pests and diseases, poor harvesting practices, poor husbandry practices, and excessively long storage periods as farmers look for market. These result into bruising, ripening and splitting of banana fingers. Off the farm, bananas spoil more as they move along the value chain with cumulative effects of mishandling manifesting more as bananas move along the value chain. As a result, bruising and ripening are therefore more prevalent at retail level. From Figure 2, it can be observed that most PHL (both physical and economic) occur at the retail level. Our findings are similar to Mebratie et al. [20] in Ethiopia who report banana PHL at retail level to be 14.9% and Wanjari & Ladaniya [28] who report physical banana losses at retail level to be 2.85% in India. In contrast, collectors and wholesalers handle mostly greener and fresher bananas that suffer less deterioration; this may explain why they incur relatively lower losses when compared to retailers. Collectors suffer the lowest losses in the value chain. This may be because they handle the crop for only limited periods transporting it over very short distances as they connect producers to wholesalers.In this study, the extent of postharvest losses in the banana value chain is estimated as the sum of the total physical and total actual economic losses in the value chain. However, it is extremely important to take into account that we found that on average, only about 35% of the total harvested cooking bananas actually leaves the farm for the market, the rest being consumed by the farm household.Therefore, in calculating the total extent of physical losses in the chain, it was assumed that 65% of harvested banana incurs only on-farm losses (2.6%), while the remaining 35% (i.e., marketed banana) is affected by losses at all stages of the value chain, including on-farm. In computing the proportion of marketed bananas affected by physical losses we net off losses that are incurred at previous value-chain nodes since the produce lost at one node does not move to the next node (and cannot be lost again). Our results show that that 20.6% of traded banana is lost along the chain (1 − 0.974 × 0.969 × 0.920 × 0.915). It is worth noting that a direct sum of physical losses at the respective value-chain nodes without netting off losses at previous chains would have overestimated the physical losses at 22.2%. If the physical losses value of 20.6% obtained is extrapolated for all of the bananas produced in Uganda, it translates into a physical losses value of 8.9%.The total PHL value of economic losses was calculated as a direct sum of the actual (net) economic losses at farm, collection, wholesale, and retail levels, resulting into a value of 9.9% (2.5 + 1.3 + 2.2 + 4.0), translating into an overall economic losses value of 3.5% for all of the cooking bananas produced in the country.  Results show that substantial amounts of banana are lost on farm. Losses at this level are caused by pests and diseases, poor harvesting practices, poor husbandry practices, and excessively long storage periods as farmers look for market. These result into bruising, ripening and splitting of banana fingers. Off the farm, bananas spoil more as they move along the value chain with cumulative effects of mishandling manifesting more as bananas move along the value chain. As a result, bruising and ripening are therefore more prevalent at retail level. From Figure 2, it can be observed that most PHL (both physical and economic) occur at the retail level. Our findings are similar to Mebratie et al. [20] in Ethiopia who report banana PHL at retail level to be 14.9% and Wanjari & Ladaniya [28] who report physical banana losses at retail level to be 2.85% in India. In contrast, collectors and wholesalers handle mostly greener and fresher bananas that suffer less deterioration; this may explain why they incur relatively lower losses when compared to retailers. Collectors suffer the lowest losses in the value chain. This may be because they handle the crop for only limited periods transporting it over very short distances as they connect producers to wholesalers.In this study, the extent of postharvest losses in the banana value chain is estimated as the sum of the total physical and total actual economic losses in the value chain. However, it is extremely important to take into account that we found that on average, only about 35% of the total harvested cooking bananas actually leaves the farm for the market, the rest being consumed by the farm household.Therefore, in calculating the total extent of physical losses in the chain, it was assumed that 65% of harvested banana incurs only on-farm losses (2.6%), while the remaining 35% (i.e., marketed banana) is affected by losses at all stages of the value chain, including on-farm. In computing the proportion of marketed bananas affected by physical losses we net off losses that are incurred at previous value-chain nodes since the produce lost at one node does not move to the next node (and cannot be lost again). Our results show that that 20.6% of traded banana is lost along the chain (1 − 0.974 × 0.969 × 0.920 × 0.915). It is worth noting that a direct sum of physical losses at the respective value-chain nodes without netting off losses at previous chains would have overestimated the physical losses at 22.2%. If the physical losses value of 20.6% obtained is extrapolated for all of the bananas produced in Uganda, it translates into a physical losses value of 8.9%.The total PHL value of economic losses was calculated as a direct sum of the actual (net) economic losses at farm, collection, wholesale, and retail levels, resulting into a value of 9.9% (2.5 + 1.3 + 2.2 + 4.0), translating into an overall economic losses value of 3.5% for all of the cooking bananas produced in the country.We then sum up the physical and economic losses to obtain the extent of PHL in the entire chain approximating to 12.4% of harvested bananas (corresponding to 30.5% of the traded bananas), of which 8.9% are completely lost, while 3.5% are sold at a discount due to quality deterioration.PHL estimates from our study are considerably lower than the ones that were reported by the National Agricultural Research Organization, which estimates that over 35% of fruits and vegetables that are produced in Uganda are lost after harvest [29]. Our PHL estimates are also lower that the ones that were reported by FAO [3], which estimates the global value of PHL for fruits and vegetables to be 45% of total production. The low value of our estimates can be attributed to our adoption of a more rigorous estimation methodology, which eliminates double counting and controls for the bananas that are auto-consumed by the producing households. In addition, our results show that PHL in Uganda are lower than in Ethiopia where losses of 26.5% are reported in plantains [20].Our results also show that PHL in cooking bananas are approximately threefold the losses that are incurred in cereals in Uganda. Kaminski & Christiaensen [17] report PHL for maize in Uganda to be 5.9%. Findings from our study fit into Aulakh et al.'s [30] argument that perishables, like fruits and vegetables, are subject to the greatest proportions of PHL in developing countries because of the underdeveloped links between supply chain nodes in these countries.Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics for the common variables used in econometric analysis. For the outcome variable, the proportion of banana incurring either physical or economic PHL, results show that retailers suffer higher PHL than producers. For the independent variables, education and sex were not significantly different between producers and retailers. However, differences in age and group membership are observed. Producers are more likely to belong to a group when compared to retailers. The data also shows that older people are more likely to engage in the production of bananas, while younger ones are more in retailing. This maybe because retailing in Kampala markets is a labourrather than capital-intensive activity, which is more suited for younger people. At production level, farmers suggested that if they can even out the supply throughout the year, then the tremendous losses in the surplus season will be reduced. All of the value-chain actors agreed that producing and marketing varieties with longer shelf life (as well as those that are more demanded by the market) can help to reduce losses that are caused by ripening. Farmers suggested that training in proper harvesting time can reduce immature harvests, thus reducing losses arising from selling immature bananas. Similarly, farmers hinted that fencing off banana plantations can help to reduce losses due to theft, but it would be costly to implement. Lorry traders suggested that improving roads in rural areas, transporting bananas at night (when temperatures are low) and proper packing of bananas on trucks can reduce losses during transportation. At the retail level, about half of the vendors also suggested that avoiding overloading could reduce bruising during transportation to the market. All of the value-chain actors believe that proper handling of bananas right from the farm to the market can reduce bruises. Finally, covering bananas with tarpaulins (perforated to avoid heat build-up) after harvest at farm level, during transportation, and at retail markets can reduce the exposure of bananas to direct sunlight, which in turn, can minimize losses as a result of scorching.In determining the factors that affect postharvest losses at the farm level, we used both ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and Tobit regression. The R squared value for the OLS model was 0.637, and the model passed all the diagnostic tests performed. The DFBETAs, student, and standard residuals for the OLS model, were all within the prescribed limits. However, because 24 observations of the dependent variable had zero observations, a Tobit model was estimated. This is because using the common linear specification for models, such as OLS with a censored dependent variable, may result in biased estimates [31]. The Tobit model fitted better than OLS model (i.e., χ 2 (15) = 86.3; Prob > χ 2 = 0.000). As explained, the determinants of PHL at farm level are discussed based on the Tobit estimates. The factors influencing postharvest losses at the production level are presented in Table 5. These estimates build on Equation ( 5), with total annual PHL as the dependent variable.Results show that sex of the household head, household size, education, monthly production of bananas, specialization (proxied by the proportion of total land under bananas), and an interaction between district (Rakai = 1) and distance to tarmac road significantly influence the level of PHL at farm level. First, female headed farm households experience higher levels of PHL than the male-headed ones. This might be because of the intensive nature of banana production and marketing. Males in male-headed households are usually in charge of looking for markets, and, thanks to their greater mobility; that is, they tend to travel long distances away from their respective villages searching for markets for their produces, inputs, and other household needs when compared to female farmers [31][32][33]. In so doing, men can even sell their banana to distant markets and this can reduce the level of physical losses, especially through ripening when compared to their female counterparts who mostly sell their bananas on farm. These results are similar to Mebratie et al. [20] who found female headed households to incur higher postharvest losses than male headed households in Ethiopia. Contrary to findings by Aidoo et al. [34], our results find that household size has a positive and significant coefficient. This could be that larger households (a proxy for labor) are more likely to grow more banana, and in turn, more likely to experience higher PHL, especially during surplus seasons. Furthermore, access to markets (proxied by distance to market and distance to tarmac roads) was found to have insignificant negative effects on PHL, but an interaction between distance to tarmac with the district variable (where Rakai district = 1 and Isingiro district = 0) resulted into a significant negative effect. This implies that farmers who are far from tarmac roads in the Rakai district (i.e., mean distance to tarmac is 14.4 km) have lower losses than Isingiro farmers who are further away from tarmac roads (i.e., mean distance to tarmac road of 39.7 km). This could be attributed to the levels of production in the two sites. Descriptive statistics shows that households in Isingiro produced approximately 450 more banana bunches (on 33% of the total land owned) per month when compared to the surveyed households in Rakai (occupying only 15% of the land owned). Similarly, UBOS (Uganda Bureau of Statistics) [23] rank Isingiro as the biggest banana producing district in Uganda, and most of its banana producing farmers are far away from the tarmac road. Most farmers in Isingiro are therefore likely to incur more losses than Rakai district farmers with lower monthly production. Similarly, our results show that farmers producing more bananas per month experience significantly higher PHL than those that are producing fewer bunches per month. PHL have been found to be positively associated with the level of production [19,24]. In addition, farmers with at least secondary education have lower PHL than their counterparts with less education. Lastly, farmers who are more specialized and commercially orientated, (whose land is mostly occupied by banana) experience less PHL. In fact, commercial farmers are more aggressive at searching for markets, and this can help in reducing the physical losses they are likely to encounter. However, other factors, such as age of the household head, banana variety (using Kibuzi, with a longer shelf life), wealth (measured as total land), and group membership have no significant effects on PHL. We used ordinary least squares regression to determine the factors that influence postharvest losses at the retail level. The R-squared of the model was 0.584, implying that 58.4% of the retailers' losses were explained by the explanatory factors in the model. The mean VIF was 1.34, meaning that the explanatory factors were independent of each other. The DFBETAs, student, and standard residuals were within the acceptable limits of −2 and 2. The Cook's distance values of all the explanatory variables in the model were also between the acceptable ranges of 0 and 1. This means that no one single explanatory variable had a great effect on the dependent variable (postharvest losses).Regression results in Table 6 show that sex, group membership, source of bananas, and information shared with suppliers are key factors in determining PHL at the retail level. The negative coefficient for sex shows that female vendors have lower losses in comparison to their male counterparts. This finding is consistent with Mebratie et al. [20], who report female banana retailers to have lower losses in Ethopia. The underlying reason could be that female retailers are better handlers of bananas. Results further suggest that retailers who are in groups have lower PHL than non-members. Through collective action, group members usually purchase in bulk at lower prices directly from producers, this gives group members access to clean, mature, and fresh banana fruits at lower prices, which may allow for them to have a higher turnover and lower losses. Furthermore, sources of banana bunches/fingers and the information shared with suppliers also affected the level of PHL significantly. Retailers who source banana bunches from nearby markets and directly from producers have lower PHL than those who purchase from suppliers who are mostly wholesalers from distant areas. It can be argued that retailers who source their own bananas (for instance from the farm) do more quality assurance, and therefore purchase bananas with less damage, and this directly translates into lower PHL. Depending on the type of information shared with suppliers, results further show that retailers who mostly sought information on prices have higher losses than those who seek for information on quality (quality measured as freshness of the banana bunch/fingers). Traders that are mostly interested in prices may pay less attention to inspection and quality assurance, and, as a result, experience higher losses resulting from bruising and ripening. This study examined the extent and determinants of postharvest losses in the cooking banana value chain in Uganda. The results show that reliable estimation of PHL along the chain depend not only on the quality of the data collected-often a major challenge in the midstream and downstream segments of a value chain-but also on adequately taking into account specific value chain characteristics, such as storage and handling at the farm level, during transport, and at the retail outlets. We have shown that a solid estimation that helps to prioritize interventions and policy change should: (1) be mindful of the end-use destination of the crop (market vs. own-consumption);(2) focus on both physical and economic losses as the latter affect a higher proportion of traded produce; (3) determine the physical and economic losses along the different stages of the chain and for the chain as a whole; and, (4) account for the relative and absolute weight of a given crop across different types of production systems. PHL need to be understood in a broader context, including economic considerations, environmental externalities (e.g., avoidable greenhouse gas emissions linked to the produce that eventually is lost), and social aspects (e.g., labor that could have been invested in alternative farming or income generating activities). The total volume of PHL will be a critical parameter for such integrated assessments.In the case of our study, PHL affects 14.9% of the produced volume of cooking bananas, translating into 1.1 million tons/year lost in terms of physical or economic losses along the value chain. This represents significant food losses to consumers, equivalent to 21.3 kg per person per year, along with considerable income losses to producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Strategies to reduce PHL need to focus on the different stages where these occur, particularly at the retail level, but also at the farm, transport, and wholesale levels. Such integrated strategies would include, for example, utilising ripened cooking banana fingers as a source of raw material for processing into another product, such as pancakes (locally known as Kabalaga). This would contribute to transform some of the physical losses into economic losses at the farm and retail levels, as there is still a product to sell, even if at lower price. Further interventions include the development of product and handling standards from production through consumption. At the transport level, moving bananas in boxes would protect against bruising, minimizing both physical and economic losses. At retail level, interventions can foster innovations, such as selling of bananas as fingers and clusters, as opposed to bunches, using ripening control chemicals, like ethylene for timebound selling, and offering packed and peeled bananas for increased shelf life and as convenience food. Peeled bananas have numerous advantages, as the peels can be used for on-farm production of organic manure, reducing transport weight, and minimizing waste in urban consumption areas. This is particularly important in countries, like Uganda, where waste disposal is largely uncontrolled (e.g., large quantities of waste are deposited in water channels with far reaching effects on human and ecosystem health). Further reduction of PHL can be achieved through processing of bananas into semi-elaborated (e.g., banana flour) or elaborated products (e.g., convenience food ready for cooking or direct consumption). This requires investment in processing technologies and equipment, for example, in the framework of public-private partnerships.The principal determinants for PHL at farm level were sex of household head, household size, education, monthly production, and proportion of land under banana. At the retail level, they included sex of the vendor, participation in traders' groups, source of bananas, and information shared with suppliers. Complementary interventions targeting producers need to focus on increasing farmer mobility (particularly of female headed households) to access bulk markets, farmer organization, and infrastructural improvements. Similarly, interventions at retail level can contribute to enhanced organization of traders and use of modern information and communication technologies for improved linkages with the sourcing areas and tracing of the produce along the value chain.There is a need to sensitize key value chain stakeholders on PHL and their economic implications, and to involve them in the co-creation of strategies that are aimed at minimizing such losses. The pay-off of viable, co-designed strategies will come in the form of increased food security, particularly in areas where cooking banana is a staple, and reduced pressure on natural resources as less farmland and inputs are needed. Finally, reduced PHL imply higher value chain efficiency, and, consequently, lower costs that can translate into higher trader margins and lower consumer prices, making banana production more sustainable altogether. ","tokenCount":"8208"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7625496994.json b/data/part_1/7625496994.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3aec55d00e96d5a1252cc1808dddee21f17d2ea1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7625496994.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"512f37b26a3fec3ba136b05f5c134d94","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e4f3effd-9aaa-4fb5-9b38-7c72db6e6ba5/content","id":"-1674670657"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08cc48be-60d3-4d86-b581-6e92fd360239","pagecount":"12","content":"A growing urban population and dietary changes increased wheat import bills in Africa to 9% per year. Though wheat production in the continent has been increasing over the past decades, to varying degrees depending on regions, this has not been commensurate with the rapidly increasing demand for wheat. Analyses of wheat yield gaps show that there is ample opportunity to increase wheat production in Africa through improved genetics and agronomic practices. Doing so would reduce import dependency and increase wheat self-sufficiency at national level in many African countries. In view of the uncertainties revealed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, and world security issues, national policies in Africa should re-consider the value of selfsufficiency in production of staple food crops, specifically wheat. This is particularly so for areas where water-limited wheat yield gaps can be narrowed through intensification on existing cropland and judicious expansion of rainfed and irrigated wheat areas. Increasing the production of other sources of calories (and proteins) should also be considered to reduce dependency on wheat imports.Africa spends 85 billion USD annually on food imports, of which 15% are for wheat imports alone (FAO, 2021). Wheat imports are particularly high for countries in Northern Africa, who are responsible for 59% of Africa's wheat import bill, followed by countries in Western (19%) and Eastern Africa (14%; FAO, 2021). Moreover, Africa's wheat import bill has been increasing over the past two decades at a rate of 9% per year due to population growth, urbanization, and less consumption of coarse grains (Tadesse et al., 2019;Reardon et al., 2021;Noort et al., 2022). Thus, wheat imports have been necessary to fill the widening gap between wheat consumption and wheat production in the continent. However, reliance on imported wheat is becoming a serious challenge considering recent anthropogenic and natural crises disrupting production and trade systems worldwide. Short-and medium-term strategies (Bentley et al., 2022) are needed to prevent over reliance on wheat imports, which could jeopardize food and national security.Supporting domestic wheat production through better practices and proper technology transfer is indispensable to ensure affordable wheat prices for consumers. In this regard, the experience related to the 2008 wheat price spike shows that most countries across Africa responded to the increased prices with increases in wheat production in the year following the incident (Supplementary Table 1). For instance, compared to 2008, Algeria and Tunisia increased their wheat area in 2009 by 84% and 47%, respectively. In addition to area expansion, remarkable yield improvement was also observed in Northern African countries. Combined effects of area expansion and yield improvement contributed to above 70% of wheat production increment in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Similarly, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia expanded the area under wheat production, which resulted into a tangible increase in wheat production in 2009. Alike the 2008 crisis, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two major wheat exporters, aggravated input prices and food security worldwide (Behnassi and El Haiba, 2022). This calls for designing and implementing initiatives in response to the shortages of wheat stocks in the world market and reducing wheat import bills of nations in Africa through expanding domestic wheat production.Recent studies concluded that wheat productivity can be increased through narrowing yield gaps on some of Africa's wheat producing areas (Silva et al., 2021a;Baudron et al., 2019;Negassa et al., 2012). The yield gap of irrigated or rainfed crops is defined as the difference between the potential (Yp) or water limited potential yield (Yw) and the actual yield (Ya) realized in farmers' fields, respectively (van Ittersum et al., 2013). Increases in input use combined with good agronomic practices and improved varieties are key to narrow wheat yield gaps in smallholder farming systems in Eastern Africa (Silva et al., 2021a;Baudron et al., 2019) whereas water management is also paramount in Northern Africa (Oweis and Hachum, 2006). Adoption of technologies and functional seed systems and markets are equally important to create a conducive environment for farmers to increase wheat production (Frija et al., 2021a;Shiferaw et al., 2013), which can be fostered through proper policy and institutional innovations.The objective of this paper was to assess the continental and country level potential to increase wheat production in Africa and to highlight agronomic interventions that can improve wheat yield in the short-and medium-term. We argue that coordinated efforts in disseminating improved varieties and crop management practices, disease monitoring and control, and access to complementary inputs could enhance wheat productivity in Africa, particularly in smallholder farming systems. Identifying areas with high potential for increasing wheat yield, with minimum negative impact on biodiversity, could further help sustaining wheat production in the continent.Cereals cover about half of the energy sources in the daily food consumption in Africa. Among cereals, wheat stands first in terms of per capita consumption, and constitutes about 30% of the cereal consumption in the continent. This goes up to 63% in Northern Africa, where nations heavily depend on wheat consumption for their daily calorie intake, and where most of the wheat is imported (Table 1). Though the per capita consumption of maize is the highest among the cereals consumed in Eastern and Southern Africa, the role of wheat in these regions is also substantial, i.e., between 17 and 32% of the total cereal consumption (FAO, 2021).Wheat consumption across Africa was ca. 60 kg capita − 1 in 2019 and increased over time at a rate of 0.36 kg capita − 1 yr − 1 (Fig. 1A).Conversely, domestic wheat production would only sustain a wheat consumption level of ca. 20 kg capita − 1 across Africa, a value that has been stable during the past four decades. Wheat consumption has historically been highest in Northern Africa (Fig. 1B), intermediate in East and Southern Africa (Fig. 1C-D), and lowest in West and Central Africa (Fig. 1E-F). Yet, the gap between production and consumption has widened over the past four decades in all five regions (Fig. 1). In Northern Africa, per capita wheat consumption increased linearly over the past four decades to nearly 200 kg capita − 1 in the most recent years, with domestic production currently satisfying slightly less than half of that demand (Fig. 1B). Wheat demand in East Africa also increased linearly over the past four decades, but at a slower pace than in Northern Africa (0.57 vs. 1.60 kg capita − 1 yr − 1 ; Fig. 1B-C). Current wheat consumption levels in East Africa reach ca. 30 kg capita − 1 yr − 1 , half of which can be satisfied with domestic production (Fig. 1C). In contrast with the other regions, wheat consumption slightly declined in Southern Africa, at a rate of 0.28 kg capita − 1 yr − 1 , reaching a level of 60 kg capita − 1 in 2019 (Fig. 1D). Domestic production in Southern Africa satisfied nearly all wheat demand in the early 1980s, but only about a third since 2015. Lastly, wheat consumption in West and Central Africa was about 20 kg capita − 1 in 2019 and increased at a rate of 0.39 and 0.20 kg capita − 1 yr − 1 , respectively (Fig. 1E-F). All the remaining wheat demand in these regions has been met with imports.Foresight studies show that per capita wheat consumption in Middle East and Northern African countries is not expected to further increase by 2050. The growth of wheat demand in these regions is predicted to be driven by population growth. Per capita wheat consumption is however expected to increase in many Asian and sub-Saharan African countries (Frija et al., 2021b).Wheat self-sufficiency ratios at national level differ considerably across Africa (Fig. 2C). For instance, Ethiopia reached ca. 80% wheat self-sufficiency in 2018 and 2019 because of increased wheat production. Zambia was also able to reach a high degree of self-sufficiency in wheat (73%), the second highest in the continent after Ethiopia, over the same period due to low consumption levels. Conversely, domestic wheat production in Egypt only met 45% of the country's wheat demand in 2018 and 2019, which is a result of high wheat consumption met through high wheat imports. Domestic production in all other countries in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa satisfied 10-40% of their wheat consumption. When food crises occur, with associated spikes in prices of imported food commodities, consumed cereals might be expected to shift to favor locally produced over imported ones. Yet, this has not been observed for the major wheat producing countries in Africa (Supplementary Table 1).Wheat production in Africa increased steadily at a rate of 0.52 million tons per year (Mt yr − 1 ) since 1980 to nearly 25.2 Mt in 2020 (Fig. 3A). Such increase in wheat production was accompanied by a much sharper increase in wheat imports: since the mid-1990s wheat imports increased steadily at a rate of 1.45 Mt yr − 1 , resulting in a gap between wheat import and production of 21.7 Mt in 2020. The magnitude of the increase in wheat production varied across countries (Fig. 3B). For instance, Ethiopia (the largest wheat producer in Eastern Africa) saw spectacular increases in wheat production, at a rate of 0.24 Mt yr − 1 , since the early 2000s. Conversely, Egypt (the largest wheat producer in Northern Africa) has experienced negligible increases in wheat production during the same period, following three decades of steady increases at a rate of 0.26 Mt yr − 1 .Increases in wheat production across Africa were accompanied by modest increases in wheat harvested areas (Fig. 3C). About 10 Mha of wheat were harvested across the continent in 2020, an increase of ca. 2.5 Mha since 1980. From a theoretical point of view, increased wheat yield led to the sparing of an estimated 0.34 Mha of land every year, land that would have been put under wheat cultivation to maintain actual production if yields had remained at their 1980 levels (Fig. 3C). Trends in wheat area were also different across countries (Frija et al., 2021a), but it is remarkable that the rate of wheat area expansion slowed down since ca. 2010 in countries like Ethiopia and Egypt (Fig. 3D). Ethiopia reported a wheat harvested area of 1.83 Mha in 2020. Prior to that, the country experienced increases in wheat area of 0.05 Mha yr -1 until 2010, followed by an expansion of the wheat area at about half of that rate since then. A more extreme case was observed in Egypt, a country with nearly 1.2 Mha of wheat harvested in 2020, where slight decreases in wheat area were observed since ca. 2010 after three decades of wheat area expansion at a rate of 0.03 Mha yr − 1 . The top four wheat producing countries in Africa experienced a mix of yield advances (e.g., Algeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa) and yield plateau over the past four decades (i.e., Egypt; Fig. 3E-F). Wheat yield was lowest in Algeria, where wheat yield progress has also been lowest, 30 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 , corresponding to a yield increase from 0.7 to 1.7 t ha − 1 between 1980 and 2020 (Fig. 3E). Wheat yield progress in South Africa was also linear, 72 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 , corresponding to an increase in wheat yield from 0.9 t ha − 1 in 1980 to 4.1 t ha − 1 in 2020 (Fig. 3F). In Ethiopia, wheat yield increased following a linear piecewise trendline with increasing rate over time (Fig. 3E). Small rates of yield progress, 10 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 , were observed until 2005, with average wheat yields of ca. 1.2 t ha − 1 . Since then, wheat yield increased at a rate of 110 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 , reaching a maximum of 3.0 t ha − 1 in 2020. Lastly, wheat yield progress in Egypt was described by a linear trend with an upper plateau after the year 2000 (Fig. 3E). The upper plateau corresponds to 6.6 t ha − 1 and follows a period with increases in wheat yield of nearly 160 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 . The scope to increase wheat yield in the future is thus country specific (Frija et al., 2021a), but analysis of yield gaps is needed to seize the extra production that can be realized in each country on existing wheat areas (see Section 5.1). In 2020, Africa imported 46.5 million tons of wheat grain corresponding to nearly 25% of the global wheat imports (FAO, 2021). As the major wheat exporting countries are limited in number, global wheat trade is highly concentrated. A high trade concentration ratio (i.e., trading a large proportion of specific commodities with a limited number of countries) could make countries vulnerable to unexpected shocks deterring trade in specific regions. Extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, or conflicts in exporting countries are good examples of unexpected shocks affecting trade. Wheat imports in Africa showed a high trade concentration ratio as 60-70% of the wheat imported to the continent originated from six countries, namely Russia, France, Ukraine, USA, Canada, and Argentina (Fig. 4). The trade concentration ratio was even worse for individual countries. For instance, more than 60% of the wheat imports in Egypt and Algeria, the largest wheat importing countries in Africa during 2018 and 2019, originated from a single country: Russia for Egypt and France for Algeria (Fig. 4). Such heavy dependence on few countries as a source of import makes adjustment to shocks challenging, as observed with the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict.The world market price of wheat is highly volatile (Guo and Tanaka, 2019) and usually connected to fuel prices, i.e., the main source of energy for farm operations and production of nitrogen (N) fertilizers. The wheat price was particularly high in the past two decades during the 2007/8 economic crises, when high fuel prices were observed in 2011 and 2013, and at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 (Fig. 5). Increases in the world market price of wheat put wheat importing countries under heavy import bills, which can have severe effects when it occurs suddenly. Such a price hike in the world market is quickly transmitted to domestic markets, where it often stimulates governments and farmers to boost domestic production.Opportunities to increase wheat yield depend on the magnitude of existing yield gaps, and on the interventions available to narrow them. Wheat yield gaps are large for most countries in Africa, with values above 50% of Yp or Yw (Fig. 6A and B; van Ittersum et al., 2016 as available in www.yieldgap.org). The exception is Egypt, where the yield gap for irrigated wheat is ca. 30% of Yp, corresponding to a yield gap of ca. 1 t ha − 1 .Wheat is cultivated under rainfed and irrigated conditions in Northern Africa, whereas wheat production in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania) is predominantly rainfed (www.yieldgap.org). Wheat Ya in Morocco was on average 1.2 t ha − 1 , about half of what could be achieved with good agronomic practices (Yw of 2.6 t ha − 1 ). In Tunisia, wheat yield under rainfed conditions reached less than 20% of Yw (0.5 t ha − 1 against Yw of 3.5 t ha − 1 ) and under irrigated conditions reached close to 40% of Yp (2.5 t ha − 1 against Yp of 6.5 t ha − 1 ). Similarly large yield gaps were found for rainfed wheat in East African countries (see also van Ittersum et al., 2016). In Ethiopia, wheat yield reached only ca. 25% of Yw, corresponding to Ya of 2.3 t ha − 1 and Yw of 8.2 t ha − 1 (Silva et al., 2021a). Wheat yield was also only ca. 25% of Yw in Tanzania, although Yw in Tanzania was about half of the Yw in Ethiopia. In Kenya, wheat yield reached ca. 40% of Yw, which was on average 6 t ha − 1 . In summary, wheat yield gaps are large in Northern and Eastern Africa, indicating it is agronomically possible to more than double wheat yields across the main producing areas in both regions.Narrowing yield gaps entails risks and costs for farmers and can thus be more achievable in the short-to medium-term in some regions than in others. Variability in Yw over time is a good indicator of climatic risk due to inter-annual fluctuations in soil water availability. Irrigated wheat can deliver high and stable yields over time, whereas rainfed wheat suffers from high inter-annual yield variability (except few areas in the Ethiopian highlands, Fig. 6C). Large fluctuations in crop yield make it difficult for farmers to invest in capital intensive inputs as returns do not materialize under risky, water limited conditions. Farmers operating in such environments often favor technologies that are less risky, and potentially less profitable (Hansen et al., 2004).Input-output price ratios largely determine if narrowing yield gaps is profitable from an economic perspective (Bonilla-Cedrez et al., 2021). Many African countries could increase wheat production profitably under existing input-output price ratios and moderate levels of fertilizer use. For instance, Ethiopia could produce more than 9 Mt of wheat profitably with existing market prices and 50% of the recommended fertilizer rate (Negassa et al., 2012). African countries could also increase wheat production through expanding areas under irrigated wheat and improve irrigated wheat yield with improved crop management practices. Such practices include adjustments in planting dates to escape extreme growing-season temperature (Xiao et al., 2017), integrated and site-specific nutrient management (Darjee et al., 2022;Abhijit et al., 2007;Khurana et al., 2008) , and proper mechanization in irrigated wheat production (Banaeian and Zangeneh, 2011). Many wheat varieties have been released across Africa depending on government's attention to wheat as a national strategic food security crop. For example, 173 bread and durum wheat varieties were released in Ethiopia since 1967 though not more than four dozen were grown each year (MoA, 2020). Many varieties became obsolete due to new rust races, low yields, slow early generation seed multiplication, and weak extension systems in promoting and scaling newly released wheat varieties. In South Africa, 291 varieties were released between 1891 and 2013 (Nhemachena and Kirsten, 2017). In Morocco, 171 bread and durum wheat varieties were released between 1982 and 2012 (Andalousi et al., 2019). By contrast, only 16 wheat varieties were released in Nigeria since 1965 (Nigerian Seed Portal Initiative).Yield potential and disease resistance are important traits for which modern wheat varieties have been bred for. Genetic gain in yield potential is routinely measured in breeding programs, though its value depends on the germplasm used and the testing method deployed. For instance, analysis of national performance trials (194 advanced lines) across 20 sites in Ethiopia indicated a wheat genetic gain of 0.94% yr − between 2014 and 2019. The estimated genetic gain for irrigated wheat in South Africa, between 1998 and 2013, was 0.82% yr − 1 in the Eastern Highveld and 0.40% yr − 1 in the cooler Central areas, whereas a limited gain was observed in the warmer Northern areas and KwaZulu-Natal province (Dube et al., 2019). In Morocco, field trials in six sites of twenty-nine durum cultivars revealed a genetic gain of 0.43% yr − (1949-2016), mostly associated with selection for early flowering and higher harvest index (Taghouti et al., 2014). Modern wheat varieties also include gains in heat tolerance allowing to grow wheat at lower elevations in a broader range of cropping systems in tropical Africa Fig. 3. Historical trends in wheat production (tons), harvested area (ha), and yield (t ha − 1 ) across Africa and for the main wheat producing countries in the region (in terms of harvested area). The area theoretically spared in panel (C) was estimated as the additional land that would have been required to reach the amount of wheat produced in a particular year if yields had remained at their 1980 levels. Segmented regression lines were fitted to the data, and respective slopes are displayed in each panel. Source: FAOSTAT. (Pequeno et al., 2021). New varieties are the backbone of a robust seed system. Wheat varieties are being developed and released in Africa. Yet, farmers' access to improved varieties remains a major challenge (Tadesse et al., 2019;Frija et al., 2021a). Wheat seed systems in Africa comprise both formal and informal exchanges of seed, with informal seed systems (i.e., farmer to farmer exchange) being dominant in most countries (Bishaw et al., 2010;McGuire and Sperling, 2016). Limited availability of early generation seed is the main bottleneck facing the formal seed system, whereas seed quality and availability remains the main challenge in the informal seed system (Tadesse et al., 2019). The informal seed system provides seeds of locally adapted cultivars to nearby farmers though it lacks standard certification, and basic infrastructures.The formal seed sector alone can't supply the desired quality and quantity of seeds to wheat farmers. Early generation seed multiplication must be carried out at scale to deliver seeds of new varieties to farmers quickly. Therefore, for wheat seed to reach farmers, and support productivity gains, it is crucial to (1) strengthen variety development, release, and registration, (2) improve the delivery of early generation seed, (3) strengthen the capacity of public and private sectors to produce large volume of certified seed, (4) develop a reliable seed demand/ supply system, and (5) establish a more efficient quality assurance and certification system. Informal seed systems would also benefit from enhanced resilience of community-based seed systems (Mulesa et al., 2021;McGuire and Sperling, 2016) and from technical support on on-farm seed selection, cleaning, separate storage, and related seed management practices that ensure seed quality at household level (Bishaw et al., 2010).Land preparation and sowing are the most labor-intensive operations for smallholder wheat production (Baudron et al., 2019) and labor constraints during these operations can lead to poor yields (Silva et al., 2019). Appropriate-scale farm mechanization, including the use of low powered, affordable, and easy to maintain two-wheel tractors (Baudron et al., 2015), in combination with direct seeding, can help overcoming labor constraints during peak periods while increasing wheat yield.On-farm trials in the Southern Highlands of Ethiopia revealed that mechanized direct seeding and basal fertilization (in a single operation) using a two-wheel tractor increased wheat yield significantly, by 1.4 t/ ha (47%) on average, compared to 'conventional' crop establishment (ploughing using animal traction, followed by manual seeding and manual application of basal fertilizer; Fig. 7A). Field observations indicated that higher wheat yields under mechanized direct seeding were the result of better placement of seeds and fertilizer, as well as higher plant population. Plant population is indeed a major determinant of wheat yield gaps in Eastern Africa (Baudron et al., 2019;Silva et al., 2021a). Another study on mechanized wheat establishment also found labor requirements for land preparation and seeding wheat to be 10-fold lower with mechanized direct seeding than with the traditional method.  This can lead to greater timeliness of seeding under on-farm conditions, with a positive impact on yield as planting time is often another major determinant of wheat yield gaps in the region (Baudron et al., 2019).Farm operations for wheat cultivation are mostly mechanized in Northern Africa. On-station experiments and farmer's field surveys confirmed that direct seeding increased wheat yield by 10-20% relative to the 'conventional' method of crop establishment (Devkota et al., 2022;Mrabet et al., 2021). Indeed, adoption of direct seeding was shown to be more profitable and less susceptible to risk than practices involving tillage before seeding in Morocco and hence, an important intervention to reduce yield gaps for rainfed wheat (Devkota and Yigezu, 2020). Direct seeding is known to increase the uptake, conservation, and use of available soil water in the Maghreb region (Mrabet et al., 2021) and in the Middle East and Northern Africa region (Devkota et al., 2022). Yet, most direct seeders are expensive and beyond the reach of smallholders. Availability of low-cost direct seeders thus remains important for wider dissemination of direct seeding of wheat in Northern Africa (Devkota et al., 2021(Devkota et al., , 2022)).Benchmarks for water productivity can be derived using boundary functions between crop yield and water requirements (Fig. 6D; Rattalino-Edreira et al., 2018). The parameters of such boundary functions are biophysically meaningful (Rattalino-Edreira et al., 2018;French and Schulz, 1987): the x-intercept indicates the seasonal soil evaporation, the slope indicates the maximum water productivity, and the plateau indicates the maximum yield obtained without water limitations. The slope and x-intercept for wheat crops in Eastern Africa had a value of 43.6 kg ha − 1 mm − 1 and ca. 100 mm, respectively. Slightly smaller values were observed for wheat crops in Northern Africa for which the slope of the boundary line was 34.7 ha − 1 mm − 1 and the x-intercept ca. 40 mm. Thus, rainfed wheat crops can produce higher yields per mm of water in Eastern Africa compared to Northern Africa, where judicious use of water is particularly important (Chebil et al., 2016;Oweis and Hachum, 2006). Finally, no further yield increases were observed for water supply above 325 and 270 mm of plant available water meaning such levels of water supply can satisfy crop water requirements to reach Fig. 6. Yield and yield gaps (A and B), yield variability (C), and water productivity (D) for irrigated and rainfed wheat in the main producing countries of Northern and Eastern Africa. Deviations from the boundary line in (D) indicate yield gaps due to sub-optimal distribution of rainfall in specific growing seasons (see also Rattalino Edreira et al., 2018). Two boundary lines were fitted in (D) to acknowledge different wheat mega-environments between Eastern and Northern Africa (Negassa et al., 2012). Eastern Africa falls under mega-environment 2, which is characterized by \"high rainfall in summer; wettest quarter mean minimum temperature >3 • C and <16 • C, wettest quarter (three consecutive wettest months) precipitation >250 mm; elevation 1400 m; with spring wheat growth habit\". By contrast, Northern Africa falls under mega-environment 9, which is characterized by \"low rainfall <400 mm, winter/spring rainfall dominant with facultative wheat growth habit\". Source: Global Yield Gap Atlas (www.yieldgap.org) and van Ittersum et al. (2016).a Yp of 10.0 and 7.9 t ha − 1 in Eastern and Northern Africa, respectively.Soil fertility and nutrient management are important to consider in an integrated manner. N is the most important determinant of wheat productivity in Africa, where moisture is sufficient (e.g., Silva et al., 2021a;Chebil et al., 2016), and a key driver of wheat protein (an important quality trait). Extension advisories that support good agronomic practices and targeting of N to wheat growth are effective to increase wheat production, and N-use efficiency. For instance, in Northern Rwanda (Baudron et al., 2019), the relationship between NDVI, measured with a hand-held sensor at first node and booting stages, and grain yield was established to generate site-specific recommendations of N rates to apply during these two critical stages, following the basal application of a modest N rate. Results from on-farm trials conducted over three growing seasons revealed that NDVI-derived N management (i.e., 18 kg ha − 1 of N applied as basal, variable N rates based on NDVI reading applied at first node and booting stages, making a total of 18-105 kg N ha − 1 ) increased wheat yield significantly compared to the recommended N management (18 kg N ha − 1 applied as basal and 23 kg N ha − 1 applied as top dressing; Fig. 7A). Mean wheat yields in the area range between 3.0 and 3.5 t ha − 1 (Baudron et al., 2019) and benefit from residual effects of fertilization applied to potato, which receives high rates of inorganic and organic fertilizer. In general, wheat yield response to N can be optimized through multiple split applications where higher amounts are applied in good rainfall years.Negative N balances were found for wheat in Ethiopia indicating that N application rates are insufficient to maintain current yields (Silva et al., 2021b). One of the key questions in wheat agronomy is thus how to use effectively and profitably the N available through mineral and organic fertilizers. Landscape position was also identified as an important driver of nutrient-use efficiency in the Ethiopian highlands. Results from on-farm trials revealed that fertilizer should be targeted to high responsive sites in micro-topography, as there is a modest crop fertilizer response on steep slopes due to low soil fertility on these landscape positions, with limited soil organic carbon, clay content, and soil water content (Amede et al., 2020).Wheat yield response to N in the Mediterranean drylands, including Morocco, was noticeable under both low and high yielding conditions (Savin et al., 2020). Indeed, fertilizer management was the second most important variable explaining wheat yield variability in Morocco (Devkota and Yigezu, 2020). Application rates greater than 20 kg N and P ha − 1 were more profitable and less subject to risk than application rates lower than 20 kg N and P ha − 1 under rainfed conditions. Under irrigated conditions, N and P application rates ranged between 65 and 120 kg N ha − 1 and 28-80 kg P ha − 1 . N management of wheat cropping systems in semi-arid areas also depends on the crop rotation adopted. For instance, on-farm trials conducted across four different regions of Tunisia found that N capture by durum wheat was significantly affected by the preceding crop (Ben Zekri et al., 2019). The highest N uptakes of irrigated and rainfed wheat were observed after vegetables, and after legumes, respectively, and the lowest N uptake was observed in cereal-wheat rotations.Early warning systems of disease outbreaks are important to minimize the impact of pests and diseases on wheat production. The Ethiopian wheat rust Early Warning and Advisory System (EWAS) is an example of near real-time predictive capacity within the growing season (Allen-Sader et al., 2019). The EWAS provides daily automated 7-day rust risk forecasts and advisories across Ethiopian wheat production regions in collaboration with partners in the country. The 7-day advanced forecasts for rust risk, combined with approximately 2 weeks for the disease to develop on crops, provide farmers and extension officers up to three weeks warning of wheat rust appearance in a new area, which is deemed sufficient for timely control.Since its piloting in 2015-2016, the EWAS has been fully operational reaching hundreds of thousands of smallholders. Mottaleb et al. (2021) found a positive benefit from the EWAS in Ethiopia using household surveys and key informant interviews. Changes in farmer behavior (fungicide use, increased awareness on rusts, and rust control) and policy change (reserve stocks of fungicide and a dedicated desk at national bank for fungicide imports) were reported. The EWAS also improved collaboration and coordination at national level through the implementation of rust planning meetings.In the 2021/22 wheat growing season, there was a very high risk of a major stripe rust outbreak in Ethiopia (CIMMYT, 2022). Yet, thanks to early warning, high levels of engagement with national partners, and preparedness/timely response from officials and farmers, effective control was achieved in many wheat producing areas. Initial forecasts indicate a potential record wheat production with minimal levels of disease and small yield losses (USDA United States Department of Agriculture, 2022). An impact assessment of the EWAS is on-going and the system is currently being adapted to the Kenyan and Zambian wheat disease-production context, where it is expected to be released in 2023.Wheat area expansion is also a possible pathway to narrow the gap between wheat demand and wheat production in Africa. Wheat suitability mapping indicates that close to 86 Mha of cropland (excluding forests and protected areas) could be suitable for wheat production (Fig. 8; Negassa et al., 2012). This is a much larger area than the ca. 10 Mha sown to wheat in 2020 (Fig. 1C). Throughout Africa, wheat harvested areas are much smaller than areas with high suitability (Supplementary Table 2). In all cases, wheat area expansion needs to be carefully planned to avoid deforestation, undesirable land-use changes, and reductions of existing crop diversity. Diversification is a vital component of sustainable agricultural development, and wheat expansion could endanger this through land conversion.Considering medium levels of intensification and profitability, twelve countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) could produce wheat profitably on ca. 25 Mha without irrigation (Negassa et al., 2012). The amount of wheat that could potentially be produced by cultivating suitable land for wheat would exceed the current consumption levels. In addition to rainfed wheat production, Africa has more than 23 Mha of land that could be irrigated (You et al., 2010). If wheat would be grown as a double crop on at least half of the potential irrigation area, this could provide an additional 12 Mha for irrigated wheat in the continent.Irrigated wheat can be grown in lowland areas as a double crop in rotation with other crops. For example, in the irrigated lowlands of Ethiopia, double cropping is practiced by growing wheat after cotton, rice, soybean, or sesame in the winter season (Tadesse et al., 2019(Tadesse et al., , 2022)). In the irrigated highland areas of Ethiopia, wheat is often double cropped with maize, potato, or horticultural crops in the off-season, a time when temperatures are conducive for irrigated wheat production. In Sudan, irrigated wheat is rotated with cotton, groundnut, or fodder crops within a season (Ishag, 2015). This is possible due to the availability of improved wheat varieties that include gains in heat tolerance allowing to grow wheat at lower elevations in a broader range of cropping systems (Pequeno et al., 2021;Iizumi et al., 2021). Opportunities for intensification at cropping systems level, with wheat as a double crop, need to be further explored in other lowland regions across Africa.Wheat is also a good rotation crop in the existing wheat growing areas as it helps conserve soil resources, protects water quality, and breaks the cycle of pests and diseases of non-cereal crops (Snapp et al., 2010). In South Africa, wheat is double cropped with soybean, maize, tobacco, and sunflower depending on soil conditions (Maas and Kotzé, 1990). The use of legumes such as field bean, faba bean, and chickpea in smallholder wheat-based cropping systems was found to be useful to increase wheat yield while reducing fertilizer rates and input costs for smallholders (Tadesse et al., 2019). Rotation of wheat with oil crops such as canola, rapeseed, sesame, and sunflower is also important in major wheat growing areas of Africa as such crops help in weed, pest and disease control, and improve soil structure thanks to their deep tap roots (Tadesse et al., 2019).Wheat represents a major source of energy and protein in African diets. Across the continent, wheat provides an average energy supply of 415 kcal capita − 1 yr − 1 (or 16% of the total energy supply, Fig. 9A) and an average protein supply of 11 g capita − 1 yr − 1 (or 19% of the total protein supply, Fig. 9B). Yet, there are strike regional differences across Africa (Fig. 9). Energy and protein supply from wheat are highest in Northern Africa, corresponding to 1140 kcal capita − 1 yr − 1 (or 36% of the total energy supply) and 35 g capita − 1 yr − 1 (or 39% of the total protein supply), and negligible in Central Africa.Wheat flour is unique in forming a viscoelastic dough that retains gas and sets during baking (Hoseney and Rogers, 1990) and can thus not be substituted for e.g., bread-making. However, flour blends which incorporate flour from other crops, often indigenous, such as cassava or legumes, have been developed to manufacture several wheat-based products (Owusu et al., 2017;Monnet et al., 2019;Noort et al., 2022). Though this tends to modify the texture and taste of these products (Monne et al. 2019), it could significantly reduce wheat imports in the region, with the potential additional benefit of improving the nutritional value of these products (Owusu et al., 2017, Monnet et al., 2019).Despite the unique technological properties of wheat flour mentioned above, it should be highlighted that the calories and proteins currently supplied by wheat could be replaced to some extent by other commodities whose local production has been increasing on the continent (Supplementary Fig. 1). For instance, the production per capita of roots and tubers has increased substantially in Africa, and particularly so in Northern and Western Africa, over the past six decades, and could be considered as alternative dietary energy sources in a context of wheatrelated food shocks. Similarly, the production of pulses per capita, particularly in West Africa, and the production of egg per capita, particularly in Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa, increased substantially over the past six decades and should be given consideration as substitutes to the proteins currently supplied by wheat.Domestic wheat production can be increased in Africa by allocating resources and setting proper policies that support a research and development (R&D) agenda addressing the major bottlenecks affecting current regional wheat production. Three pathways can support such strategy. Firstly, narrowing yield gaps through improved seed systems and agronomy can more than double current wheat yields in rainfed cropping systems. This requires functional and inclusive seed systems and the availability of inputs to farmers in the right volume, at the right cost, and at the right time. Secondly, cropping systems can be further intensified in some regions by adding wheat as a double crop, as demonstrated in irrigated wheat production systems in South Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and Morocco, hence improving water use and management capacity throughout the year. Finally, the advent of heattolerant varieties makes it possible to cultivate wheat under irrigated conditions in lowland areas of the continent. However, attention needs to be paid to protection of natural areas and agriculturally diverse production systems, so that wheat self-sufficiency in Africa is achieved in a sustainable way.Many African countries have similar environmental and socioeconomic constraints to wheat production. Coordinated efforts towards wheat self-sufficiency in the region are possible particularly on trans-boundary constraints (e.g., wheat rusts) and exchange of germplasm. Extension is needed as well, to support the improved agronomy necessary to increase wheat production in the continent. Identification and scaling of context-specific and appropriate mechanization technologies could ensure proper and timely crop establishment and enhance the efficiency in water and fertilizer use to narrow yield gaps. Further attention should also be paid to understand how different technologies should be combined to ensure maximum adoption and to develop farm advisories that can facilitate site-specific crop management. Exploring policy, institutional, and market related gaps influencing the profitability of wheat production and trading across regions in the continent is another key area for further research. Such strategies would help reducing wheat import dependency in many African countries, which should re-consider the value of wheat self-sufficiency as a strategic investment for national economies. Increasing the production of other sources of calories and proteins could also be considered to reduce dependency on wheat imports. ","tokenCount":"6460"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7639333752.json b/data/part_1/7639333752.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fcdb435fd7cd347a6c697145eabe3e0fc56908a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7639333752.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"342c01f02f156de239b8a366b085bfb6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/29a434c5-d922-4322-a8dc-8bfdd395be15/retrieve","id":"-2010216028"},"keywords":[",T'\" •• ' fiil.&i'Z:--• uc.nt1K5dlha¡ J!Ci&&","s","!!W"],"sieverID":"d2920bb1-4b63-4855-be35-b8d5f799d07f","pagecount":"7","content":"From Nov 27\" to Dec. 2 19.75 the Llanos Subcenter LoCistics Cornmittee made a \"trip through the Llanos froro Puerto Lopez to eaviotas in Vichada and obtainéd .'\" \"\" .,\".the following lnformation on the subject of so11s and cal'sava production.1} Piedmont extending in a strip of 50~lOO km width aloog ¡:lie eas:~,,\"\", n\"o': of the Cordillera to the river }Ietlca (Puerto Lopez). This i5 al5.: :\" _ ','1<1the \"Near Llanos\" ,and i8 of youngest origin, consisting of a seque\"c~, oE wide 'flood pIafns subject ta intensive flooding during the rainy sea son. :: i8 tite most ;Íertile and intensive1y used part of the Llanos; extensive ~eef production i5 more and more belng raplaced by lntensive catt1e fat~e~ing snd commerc1al crop production sucn as rice. 011 palm, eotton, pIantain e~c._'1'0 the south óf Granada the commercial agriculture changes to slash-and-l>um agriculture forming a gra'dual transition to continuous jungle aro<.:\"d t:,e Macarena mountains and south of rhe Guayabera and Guav!ar! rivers. the Ariari river to San Jose, del Guaviarc, th~ GUllviarl river towards the east, then moving northward followinll the Viehada river in Vlehada.•tThe area consists mainly of d1ssected high plains (serrauia) in the south , .. ' .--~.:. ané! of level h1gh plains aud level high pla1ns \\11th l;'0or drainage in the north-east.-The hUI lIlndscape of the se-:ran1a was produeed .. by severe eros ion during various stages exposing in s~me areas outcroppings of plinthite (hardened laterite) •. These highly infertile soils have very lietle agricultural :potent1al besides extensive cattle grazing. The high level plains have a 'very smooth topography end only gentle slopes towards drainage channels. .he boetom part of these slopes are referred to as \"bajos\" whien generally have a higher organic mateer content and adequate moisture throughout the year.These .. ~•bajos\" have some potential Eor rice production during the wet seaso:;, and are very important for producing green pastures for cattle in the dry season. Because of their topography, and the excellent physical coñditions oE the 80115, the high level plaios seelUS to have the most potential far more inte.nsified beef cattle production as well as commercia1 agricultura once ~he proper infr8.structure and markets have been developed. Nora over, these a:::e tlle soils that most resemble those oE ehe Campo Cerrado in Brazil.• Table 1 sholils    produced cassava for sale in the Puerto Lopez market.When asked mast farmers responded noc to have problems with diseases but field observation gene rally indicai:ed the presence of ellll (6 farms), superelongation (5 farms) and Cercospora (2 farms\" of which'one ver)' serious}.The problem mast often mentioned was that of cuctcr-ants attacking young plantings. Ocher prob~ems mentioned were stemborers' (1 farro) and gallmidgets., ..The latter was very severa in El Pidal, possibly causing economical losses.o ,The stemborar problcm was best treated by benediction according to one farmer!The varieties planted 'were Chirosa. Algodona (or Paloma), or of unknown originoThe algodona plantings ere generalIy free oE bacteriosis, but had more'problems with gallmidgets. One lndian village produced good-looklng bitter cassava for preparins casave, the main staple food.Cassava was ieneially planted,in old corab, in slash-and-burnt gallery forest, or close to a coral to facilitate the applitation oE farro manure. Bcautiful cassava was 'found in the farm of S.llvino Caro with the applicatlon oí cattle snd goat manure. Only in San Antonio ehamieal fertilizers were applied (250 kg basie slas/ha anq 15-15-15) and the cassa'ln suffered from severe !1gdeficiency as we11 as other nutrittonal problems. In nearly all farms csasava was planted at the Dnset of the rainy season or throughout the yenr. harvcsting aí\\!:er 10-12 monchs.le may be concludcd that cogether with plantain caasava is tt:\" most widcly -, -----------,-------•.. ~'~ .. ,', . : . ':. '.,r,. ,~' ... ' .. : .• \"' \".:. .. Land'suitable for cultivation -106,250 hectares.Land suitab1c for cultivation and 1ivestock on improved pastures -1,~66,900 hectares.Class 111 Land suitable for grazing 01\\ natural sava1\\nas in combination with improved pastures and subsistencc agricu1ture -3,981,875 hectares., \"Class VLand suitable for grazing on natural savarina. in combination with forestry -6,750,610 hectares., \".Lands neither suitable for agricu1turc nor for livcst~c~.V rccornmendcd for forestation or conservation of forcst -215,000 hectares •  . '\",.• \" . Flgu re 1. Land scape ron)' Llanos Ortent~le. ol. CalamaL/!, ,;.. ' . . t ','• .'_. ","tokenCount":"706"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7642251914.json b/data/part_1/7642251914.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aa9b292c71d78af081246147fad8de404197c2c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7642251914.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5bae8b956b98f66d71cdc610de67672","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e0b594f-3999-4a91-8c27-9d07b5c68308/retrieve","id":"198723035"},"keywords":["Plantain chips","alternative drying","contamination","consumer safety"],"sieverID":"81270626-6956-4622-9330-288c02d6b600","pagecount":"22","content":"Mature unripe plantain is usually processed into chips using the traditional sun-drying method without considering consumer safety. Thus, there is a need to assess the influence of solar tent and open sun drying on the heavy metal composition and microbial load of plantain chips. Thirty samples of dried plantain chips were collected randomly from 10 processing centers in Akure South and Idanre Local Government Areas of Ondo State, Nigeria. In addition, four popularly consumed plantain varieties (agbagba, bobby tannap, mbi egome, and pita 23) were processed to chips and dried using open sun and solar tent drying. The samples were analyzed for heavy metal compositions using an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and microbial loads using the serial dilution method. The heavy metal content of the dried plantain chips was in the range of 0.01-0.08 mg/kg for Cd, 0.01-0.07 mg/kg for Co, and 0.05-0.50 mg/kg for Pb. Seven fungi (Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Fusarium verticillioides, and Monilla spp.) of health importance were isolated. The drying methods had a significant effect on the Cd (p < 0.01), Co (p < 0.001), and Pb (p < 0.01) contents of the plantain chips, but with no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the bacterial, fungi, and total coliform counts. Since the heavy metal content and microbial loads were higher in the surveyed and open sun-dried samples, the solar tent-dryer may be more reliable in producing less contaminated plantain chips than the open sun drying methods.Plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) is a tropical fruit that constitutes an essential food crop in Central and West Africa (Akinsanmi et al., 2015). It is a popular nutritional staple due to its versatility and excellent nutritional value (Abioye et al., 2011). Plantain is a starchy, less sweet variety of banana that can be used either ripe or unripe and is an invaluable carbohydrate source (Amah et al., 2021). It is used as food, beverage, fermentable sugar, medicine, flavoring, and cooked food (Amah et al., 2021;Ayanwale et al., 2018) and is widely consumed in Nigeria. Mature plantain pulp is rich in iron, potassium, and vitamin A but low in protein and fat (Anajekwu et al., 2020). It has been reported and identified by some food consumption surveys in Nigeria that plantain is a food among the primary starch staples (Odenigbo & Inya-Osuu, 2012;Ogechi et al., 2017).Mature unripe plantain is usually processed into plantain chips to be further processed to flour by local producers using the traditional sun-drying method. Drying reduces the moisture content, retards the development of microorganisms and increases the shelf life of the stored product. The chips, prone to contamination during drying, may be blanched for consumption after preparation or converted to flour for further use (Obidiegwu et al., 2020). This process is, however, gradually finding application in weaning food formulations and composite flour preparations and is recommended as an ideal diet for diabetic patients (Anajekwu et al., 2020).The water content in green plantain is about 61% and increases in ripening to about 68%, making it highly perishable after harvest. The increase in water is due to the breakdown of carbohydrates during respiration (Pelissari et al., 2012). Drying is a common preservation practice, thus, making the plantain available throughout the year in different forms (Olorode and Ewuoso, 2017). Sun, oven, cabinet, and solar drying have been used to dry plantain. Sun drying is Nigeria's most popular method due to its simplicity (Olorode and Ewuoso, 2017). During sun drying, the slices of unripe fruit are usually spread out on bamboo frameworks or bare patches of earth, roofs, stones, crops, or sheets of corrugated iron. This drying method under hostile climatic conditions leads to severe losses in both quantity and quality of the dried produce. These losses may be due to contamination by dirt, dust, bird droppings, and infestation by insects, rodents, and animals. The quality of products is degraded due to uncontrolled heat, even to the extent that the food becomes inedible (Hii et al., 2012). Also, the chip's shape, size, and thickness influence how fast it dries and the subsequent quality. For instance, when chips are thick, the outer layer easily compacts, preventing unrestricted air movement through the mass. Thick slices may appear dry on the surface, however, their internal moisture content will still be high (Olowoyeye and Evbuomwan, 2014). Olowoyeye and Evbuomwan (2014) reported that when plantain chips of varying thicknesses (2 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm) were subjected to natural sun drying (with an ambient temperature of 29 °C and artificial tray drying with a dry bulb temperature of 60 °C, wet bulb temperature of 48 °C, air flow rate of 2.0 m/s, and relative humidity of 52%), there was more moisture loss in the tray drying method than the sun drying. There were distinct differences in their respective moisture content. On the other hand, a solar tent dryer is an advanced open sun drying technology. It is simple to build and consists of a wooden pole frame covered by a plastic sheet (Rwubatse et al., 2014). It is an evaporative drying process with the greenhouse principle (Ayua, 2017). Solar energy passes through the polyethylene and gets trapped inside it, leading to increased internal temperature and faster drying (Logesh et al., 2012). This covered structure gives protection against exhaust fumes, dirt, grit, rain, and insect and rodent infestation. It also keeps animals from the products and may reduce heavy metals and microbial contamination.Heavy metals like cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, and zinc are pollutants of environmental concern, and their bioaccumulation in the food chain is dangerous to humans (Lanlokun et al., 2018). The intake of heavy metals by human populations through the food chain has been reported in many countries. This problem has received increasing attention from public and governmental agencies, particularly in developing countries (Iyama et al., 2022). Many studies have reported the toxicological implications of these metals in the human system. These metals like lead and cadmium in the human body can negatively affect mental development, particularly in children, an impact that persists into adulthood, and kidney damage (FAO/ WHO, 2017;Iyama et al., 2022). Additionally, excessive consumption of metals like zinc, iron, and copper can cause diarrhea, pancreatitis, liver cell necrosis, heart failure, and liver and kidney damage (Ametepey et al., 2018;Armachius & Athanasia, 2018;Velu et al., 2014).In Nigeria, more than 200,000 people die annually of food poisoning caused by food contamination through improper farming, processing, preservation, and storage (Premium Times, 2017). Microorganisms are microscopically small forms of life that occur as single-cell or multicellular organisms. They are ubiquitous in the natural environment, water, soil, air, etc. They can also naturally be found in foods or on the surfaces of raw materials as contaminants during the manufacturing process of food products (Aruwa et al., 2017). Some studies have been done on the microbiological assessment of sun-dried plantain chips (Adeyeye & Yildiz, 2016;Ajayi, 2016;Bolade, 2016), but none on the microbial quality of solar tent-dried plantain chips. In addition, different studies have been done on the chemical and heavy metal composition of roadside foods (Anhwange & Asemave, 2018;Bolade, 2016;Idowu-Adebayo et al., 2015). However, little has been reported on assessing heavy metals in plantain chips dried with a solar tent dryer and open sun drying. Therefore, this study aims to assess the influence of drying methods (solar tent and open sun drying) on the heavy metal composition and microbial load of plantain chips.Before constructing the solar tent dryer used for this study, and the subsequent laboratory assays, a survey was done to get baseline information on the usual traditional practices of the small-scale commercial producers of plantain chips in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ondo State (Akure South and Idanre LGAs) based on many commercial plantain chips processors (Adenitan et al., 2021). The samples' heavy metal composition and microbial loads were carried out at the Analytical Service Laboratory and the Virology Laboratory, respectively, of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.Information collected from the head of the processors on the number of persons involved in plantain chip processing was used to select plantain processors and marketers in ten communities in the LGAs: Aponmu (18 processors), Isinkan (18 processors), and Idi agba (20 processors) in Akure South LGA (56 processors), and Alade (28 processors), Odode (29 processors), Atosin (29 processors), Idi araba (27 processors), Ita olohun (30 processors), Oniyeu Abusoro (29 processors) and Okolo Ajembamibo (28 processors) in Idanre LGA (200 processors). Information on the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the processors, their current processing methods, and the problems/constraints encountered while processing plantain chips were obtained based on the willingness and availability of the respondents in each location. One hundred interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data for this study, with 30 respondents from Akure South LGA and 70 from Idanre LGA. The high number of respondents from Idanre LGA was due to more processors than in Akure South LGA. Also, Idanre LGA is a rural settlement closer to the plantain farm, while Akure South is an urban settlement far away from the plantain farm. In addition, nine samples were collected from Akure South (3 samples from 3 communities), and 21 samples were collected from Idanre (3 samples from 7 communities) LGAs, making 30 samples. The 30 collected samples were analyzed in the laboratory with the solar tent dried (4 samples) and open sun-dried (4 samples) plantain chips produced from four different plantain varieties as described below. This gave 38 samples to compare the level of heavy metal composition and microbial load of the products (Adenitan et al., 2021).The solar tent dryer was constructed using locally available materials of transparent plastic sheets, wood, plywood, cement, and sand; and black polyethylene was used on the U-shaped drying platform built inside the dryer. The size of the tent was 3 × 5 m (Plate 1). The tent was positioned in the prevailing wind path to allow air into the tent since the drying process combines air movement, temperature, and relative humidity (Adenitan et al., 2021).Four popularly consumed plantain varieties, agbagba, bobby tannap, mbi egome, and pita 23, were used for the research. Bunches at the mature green stage were obtained from the research farm of IITA, Nigeria. The plantain fingers were cleaned with water, peeled using a stainless-steel knife, sliced to a round shape of about 3 mm thick to dry fast, and dried in thin layers on a black polyethylene sheet 200 µ thick, with a solar tent-dryer and in the open sun (as a check for the locally processed samples; Plate 1). The samples were dried under the open sun by spreading the sliced plantain finger thinly on the polyethylene sheet placed on a concrete floor. For the solar tent drying, the samples were spread thinly on the polyethylene sheet placed on a raised wooden platform inside the dryer (Plate 1). The temperature and relative humidity of the solar tent and open sun drying were measured using a thermohygrometer in 3 h intervals for the 5-day drying period between 8 am and 5 pm daily to dry to breakage and crispness. The average drying temperature and relative humidity of the solar tent dryer was 40 °C and 45%, while that of the open sun drying was 38 °C and 48%, respectively. The average initial moisture content of the plantain chips (before drying) was 65%. The average final moisture content of the plantain chips (after drying) using the solar dryer and open sun drying were 7% and 9%, respectively. The dried plantain chip samples (Plate 2) were crushed with a laboratory mortar and pestle and milled with a Stainless USHA mixer grinder (MG 2053 N model) to flour. The flour samples were packaged in zip lock bags before laboratory analyses, as reported by Adenitan et al. (2021).The heavy metal profiles of the samples were done using the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES Perkin Elmer Optima 8000; Bolade, 2016). The sample (0.5 g) was weighed into a clean ceramic crucible and recorded to the nearest 0.001 g. One empty crucible was included for a blank, and all were placed in a cold muffle furnace (VULCANTM furnace model 3-1750) and ramp temperature to 550 °C and heated for 2 h. It was allowed to remain at 550 °C for an additional 2 h to obtain a grey appearance, after which the sample was allowed to cool in the oven. The sample was removed from the oven, ensuring the environment was breeze-free. The ashed sample was poured into an already labeled 50 ml centrifuge tube, and the crucible was rinsed with 5 ml ultrapure water in the centrifuge tube. The crucible was rinsed again with 5 ml of modified aqua regia. The modified aqua regia solution was made with 1.2 L of distilled water with 400 ml conc. HCl and 133 ml of 70% Nitric acid and made up to 2 L with distilled water. Rinsing was repeated two more times to make a total of 20 ml. The sample was vortexed for proper mixing and then centrifuged for 5 min. The supernatant was then decanted into vials for heavy metal profiling determination using ICP-OES. The analysis was done in triplicate.The microbiological investigation was carried out according to the method described by Yeleliere et al. (2017). One gram (1 g) of each sample was homogenized in 10 ml of sterile peptone water. Dilutions were made by mixing 1.0 ml of the homogenate in 9.0 ml of sterile peptone water to obtain 10 −1 dilution. The dilution was then made to 10 −2 , 10 −3 , 10 −4 , and 10 −5 . The bacteria's total viable counts were determined by enumerating the Colony Forming Units (CFU) by pour plating on nutrient agar plates and incubated at 28 °C for 24 h. Mold and yeast counts were determined by pour plating onto acidified potato dextrose agar plates and incubated at room temperature (28 ± 2 °C) for 3 days. The total coliform counts were determined by pour plating on MacConkey agar plates and incubated at 37 °C for 24 h. The analyses were done in triplicate.The intercepted fungi were identified based on the colony and morphological characters to identify fungal pathogens. The isolated fungi were identified to the genus and species level, which was possible based on microscopic structures (Conidia, chlamydospores, etc.) and macromorphological characteristics using suitable media, slide cultures, and the most updated keys from identification guides, as stated below.The plates were inspected again for growth and purity after three consecutive times of purifying the plates following the method of Saeed (2012). Some of the pure cultures obtained on Potato dextrose agar (PDA) had colonies that were whitish to dark grey with thick to sparse lawns of aerial mycelium when viewed from the top of Petri dishes, similar to Awa et al. ( 2012) description. They were greenish to orange or dark brown at the center bordered by a creamy surrounding when viewed from the reverse side of the Petri dish.When viewed under the microscope, conidia were observed to be hyaline, single-celled, and cylindrical with obtuse ends. Some plates exhibited similarities in morphological growth, so they were divided into groups. Eleven different groups with similar growth morphologies of isolates within each group were identified, and three distinct and morphologically different from any isolate were also identified. A maximum of three pure isolates with similar morphology were carefully selected from each group of eleven isolates and assumed to be the same. They were grouped according to their growth. Purification was done for the various groups to ensure pure isolates were consistently obtained. Temporary slides from each group of plantain chips isolates were made after carefully selecting the purest and observed under an electronic microscope. Some unidentified spores were observed to be similar and were identified as such. A total of seven fungi (Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Fusarium verticillioides, and Monilla spp) were identified and were then described and classified based on conidia and colony morphology as described by Guoyin et al. (2013) andNyongesa et al. (2015).The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS-version 21) was used for the descriptive analysis of the data collected from Akure South and Idanre LGAs. Data obtained in the laboratory were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the Statistical Analytical System (SAS) package (SAS 9.3 version), and the means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The significance test was done at the 5% probability level (p < 0.05).The results obtained from the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of plantain processors in the study area are shown in Table 1. Results revealed that respondents in the 41-50-year age group had the highest percentage of 40, and 21-30 years had the least (3%). This implies that older people were significant processors of plantain chips in the study area, with women dominating (92%). The result for age group and sex obtained for this study was comparable to studies reported by Bolade (2016): 41-50 years (58%), women (100%), and Aina et al. (2012): women (84%), respectively. Thus, using the proposed solar tent may encourage the youth to produce plantain chips as a business. The marital status of the processors depicts that a higher value of 90% was married while 0%, 1%, and 9% were single, divorced, and widowed, respectively. The values obtained for marital status in this study were similar to the values reported by ; 69%), Aina et al. (2012) (86.7%), andBolade (2016). This may imply that processing plantain chips is a reliable source of income for family upkeep and is viable for sustenance. A higher percentage of the processors (94%) was Yoruba, while 4% and 2% were Igbo and Urhobo, respectively. The result obtained by tribe in this study was comparable to studies reported by Bolade (2016) (Yoruba 79%). Most of the processors had secondary school education (58%), while 32% had primary, and 2% had tertiary education, and only 8% had no formal education. The values obtained for the level of education in this study were similar to those reported by Aina et al. (2012) (secondary 64% and primary education 24%). Thus, at least secondary-schooleducated people are getting involved in plantain chip processing and could enhance their processing effectiveness and efficiency. The values obtained from the occupation of the processors showed that 55% of them had the processing of plantain chips as their primary occupation and 45% combined other products with plantain chips. This may imply that the respondents were engaged in other activities to improve their capital base and stabilize their income level.  (41.3%) and Bolade (2016) (58%) for 6-10 years' experience. They constantly process the agbagba variety (74%) to chips within 5 days (36%; Table 2). The percentage of other plantains used by the local processors was 24%, and 2% for agbagba and panbo, and agbagba, and paranta, respectively. This means that agbagba is the standard variety planted by the farmers in the study area for processing into chips. The use of 5 days for sun-drying was employed by the highest number of processors (36%), while others (1%) dry for 3-4 days. Overall, 82% of the plantain processors sundried between 5 and 6 days. This implies that drying for more than 6 days may affect the quality of the plantain chips. It was observed that 40% of the processors sourced the plantain fingers directly from the farm, 17% sourced it from the market only, while 43% sourced from both farm and market. The implication is that the farmers are the major suppliers of plantain fingers to the processors in the study area. The values obtained for the source of plantain for processing in this study are comparable to the study reported by Folayan and O (2011) (direct from farmers 70%).Types of preservatives used by the local processors in the study area were discovered to range from non-toxic (pepper) (21%) to toxic (phostoxin) (2%).Table 3 shows the challenges faced by the local processors during the processing and storage of the plantain chips. Most (91%) local processors reported that processing plantain fingers into dried chips is time-consuming, stressful, and tedious when peeling and drying, especially during the rainy season. Moreover, 14% reported weevil and insect infestation during storage, and 18% had transportation from the farm to the processing point, especially during the rainy season. About 40% of the local processors reported weakness in the body system, and 8% complained of staying close to the drying point to ensure animals did not have access to the product to reduce contamination. Only 1% of the local processors reported that it took several days to dry during the rainy season and the weather condition, which affects the quality of the plantain chips. This indicates that the quality and safety measures of the chips may be affected by these constraints, and the use of a solar tent may be a perfect alternative for drying to reduce product contamination. Similar challenges encountered by processors in this study were reported by Folayan and O (2011).The results of the heavy metals in the samples are shown in Table 4. The varieties have a significant effect on the Cobalt (Co) (p < 0.001), Nickel (Ni) (p < 0.05), Lead (Pb) (p < 0.05), Copper (Cu) (p < 0.05) and Manganese (Mn) (p < 0.01) contents of the plantain chips, but no significant effect (p > 0.05) was observed in the Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), and the Iron (Fe) contents of the plantain chips. The drying methods (open sun drying, solar tent-drying, and traditional sun drying) do not have significant effects (p > 0.05) on all the heavy metals composition of the plantain chips except the Cd (p < 0.01), Co (p < 0.001), and Pb (p < 0.01) content. Also, the interactions between the varieties and the drying methods have no significant effect (p > 0.05) on all the heavy metals composition of the plantain chips except the Co content (p < 0.001; Table 4).The solar tent-dried plantain chip Cd levels ranged from 0.03 to 0.04 mg/kg, while those dried in the open sun ranged from 0.04 to 0.08 mg/kg, and those collected from the local processors in Ondo State ranged from 0.01 to 0.07 mg/kg. However, Cd was not detected in the solar tent dried agbagba variety, and the plantain chips collected from Ita Olohun, Atosin, and Okolo Ajebamibo communities of Idanre LGA. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the Cd level of the solar tent-dried and open sun-dried plantain chips. Also, a significant difference (p < 0.01) exists in the Cd content of the open sun-dried plantain chips produced from the Pita 23 variety compared to the other varieties. The variations in the levels may be due to varietal and environmental differences, soil, or land where the plantain was planted. The health effects of exposure to Cd include the gastrointestinal tract, pulmonary, hepatic, or renal injuries, and pancreatic and thyroid cancer (Buha et al., 2017;Lanlokun et al., 2018). It is imperative to add that the Cd level in solar tent-dried plantain chips was lower than the recommended maximum limit of 0.05 mg/kg (FAO/WHO, 2017),      implying that there was little or no possible interaction of the plantain fingers with vehicular emission during processing (Iyama et al., 2022;Lanlokun et al., 2018). Also, Bolade ( 2016) investigated the level of metallic pollutants in roadside, sun-dried plantain chips, and Lanlokun et al. (2018) studied heavy metal assessment of unripe plantain flour. They reported high levels of Cd ranging from 0.0081 to 0.0131 mg\\100 g and 0.50-4.51 mg/kg for Bolade (2016) and Lanlokun et al. (2018), respectively, disagree with the recommended limit (0.05 mg/kg) according to FAO/ WHO (2017).The Co levels in the samples ranged from 0.01 to 0.07 mg/kg (p < 0.05). Co was detected in only one variety (bobby tannap) dried in the solar tent (0.01 mg/kg) and two varieties (bobby tannap and agbagba) dried in the open sun (0.03 mg/kg and 0.07 mg/kg, respectively). No Co was detected in the local processor samples collected from Ondo State. The differences could be influenced by environmental factors such as soil or land where the plantains are planted (Dolara, 2014). In addition, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the Co content of the open sun-dried chips produced from the agbagba and bobby tannap varieties. No permissible limit was established for Co (Mehjbeen & Nazura, 2013). However, Dolara (2014) reported that the ingestion of 3 µg/kg/d (0.003 mg/kg/d) could be safe throughout a lifetime for healthy individuals. This implies that the Co level of the open sun-dried agbagba plantain chips may not be safe for consumption. The health exposure of Co includes lung cancer and fibrosing alveolitis (Nordberg et al., 2014).The Ni level of the plantain chip samples ranged from 0.02 to 0.33 mg/kg, with solar tent-dried samples having lower values of between 0.02 mg/kg and 0.27 mg/kg. The open sun-dried samples had higher Ni values of 0.23-0.33 mg/kg. Samples collected from the local processor's Ni content ranged from 0.20 to 0.31 mg/kg. The low level of Ni obtained in solar tent-dried chips may be because of a controlled environment devoid of vehicular movement. In contrast, the higher values in the open sun-dried samples could reflect high traffic volume with a simultaneous release of vehicular emission in the study area (Bolade, 2016;Lanlokun et al., 2018). The Ni level in the samples was lower than the maximum limit of 6.7 mg/100 g in vegetables as prescribed by FAO/WHO (2017). Also, in another report where the metallic pollutants were investigated in roadside, sun-dried plantain chips by Bolade (2016), the results revealed high levels of nickel (0.0043-0.0098 mg/100 g) comparable to the study. A large quantity of Ni ingestion may result in gastrointestinal disease, cancer, heart disorders, respiratory failure, and chronic bronchitis (Mehjbeen & Nazura, 2013).The Pb content of the samples ranged from 0.05 to 0.50 mg/kg, with no detection in one sample dried in the solar tent (bobby tannap), open sun (agbagba), and the local processor sample (Idanre LGA). Solar tent-dried chips had the least Pb values (0.05-0.11 mg/kg), followed by the samples collected from the local processors (0.08-0.47 mg/kg). The samples dried in the open sun had the highest Pb values of 0.29-0.50 mg/kg. The Pb level in the solar tent-dried samples was generally lower than the International standard maximum limit of 0.2 mg/kg, as indicated by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO/WHO, 2017). Also, the Pb content of the Open sun-dried plantain chips produced from the bobby tannap and mbi egome varieties was significantly different (p < 0.05). Varietal and environmental differences may influence the variations in the levels of the metal. Furthermore, Bolade (2016) reported low levels of lead (0.0024-0.0083 mg/100 g) in the study of the level of metallic pollutants in roadside sun-dried plantain chips, which is comparable to the levels reported for solar tent-dried plantain chips (0.05-0.11 mg/kg). Lead accumulation in humans can cause brain damage, kidney damage, gastrointestinal diseases, and adverse effects on blood and the central nervous system (FAO/WHO, 2017).Cu was detected in the plantain chips with a range of 1.20-5.00 mg/kg. Solar tent-dried chips had the lowest values of Cu ranging from 1.29 to 4.42 mg/kg. Open sun-dried samples had Cu values between 1.79 mg/kg and 5.00 mg/kg, while those obtained from local processors were within 2.74-4.27 mg/kg. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the Cu content of all the samples. The Cu content of the open sun-dried plantain chips produced from the agbagba and the bobby tannap was significantly different. The high Cu content in the samples from the local processors might be attributed to mechanical abrasion and normal wear and tear of vehicular components such as tires and alloy rims (Bolade, 2016). Cu is an important trace metal and has some nutritional benefits for human life. It is present naturally in foodstuff but toxic when consumed in excess (Awoyale et al., 2017;Magomya et al., 2013). According to FAO/WHO (2017), the recommended limit of Cu in vegetables is 7.3 mg/100 g, which is higher than the Cu content of the samples. High doses of Cu can cause nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, or diarrhea (FAO/WHO, 2017). Moreover, in another report (Bolade, 2016), where the metallic pollutants were investigated in roadside sun-dried plantain chips, the results revealed slightly lower levels of copper (2.91-3.42 mg/100 g) than this report, which is comparable to the study.Zn was detected in the dried samples with a range of 3.62-11.16 mg/kg. Solar tent-dried chips had the lowest Zn content with a range of 3.62-5.15 mg/kg. Open sun-dried chips had values between 3.73 mg/kg and 5.27 mg/kg, while those obtained from the local processors ranged from 3.95 to 11.16 mg/kg. A significant difference (p < 0.05) exists in the Zn content of the samples. Zinc levels in the samples were generally below the FAO/WHO permissible limit of 40.0 mg/kg and the European Union acceptable dietary limits (FAO/WHO, 2017; Nordberg et al., 2014). The results obtained for Zn in the study are like the values (3.41-5.41 mg/100 g) reported by Bolade ( 2016), who worked on metallic pollutants in roadside sundried food products. However, unripe plantain naturally contains some level of Zn, as reflected in the solar tent-dried samples (Oyeyinka & Afolayan, 2019). The levels reported by Bolade (2016) were higher than the FAO/WHO permissible limits. High zinc ingestion may cause anemia, damage the pancreas, and decreased levels of highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (FAO/WHO, 2017).The Fe content of the samples ranged from 8.92 to 25.96 mg/kg. Open sun-dried chips had the least values in the range of 8.92-10.95 mg/kg, followed by solar tent-dried chips (9.41-11.87 mg/ kg), while the highest values were found in the samples obtained from the local processors (14.72-25.96 mg/kg) (p < 0.05). Although, the Fe content of the open sun-dried and solar tent-dried plantain chips was not significantly different (p > 0.05). The result is comparable to studies reported by Bolade (2016), which ranged from 15.81 to 24.13 mg/kg. As observed in the samples, the Fe level was lower than the recommended maximum limit of 42.5 mg/100 g in vegetables (FAO/WHO, 2017). However, Fe is one of the nutritionally essential metals found naturally in plantain (Oyeyinka & Afolayan, 2019) but is toxic when consumed in excess. The high Fe content in some of the samples collected from the local processors might be attributed to contamination from the atmosphere, possibly from the wear and tear of motor vehicle tires (Bolade, 2016). A high dose of Fe can result in gastrointestinal effects, especially constipation, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting (Mehjbeen & Nazura, 2013).Mn composition of the dried samples ranged from 2.08 to 12.11 mg/kg. Solar tent-dried plantain chips had the lowest values in the 2.08-10.08 mg/kg range. Open sun-dried samples had values between 2.19 and 9.87 mg/kg, while those obtained from the local processors were within 8.22-12.11 mg/kg. The difference in the Mn content of the locally processed plantain chips compared to those of the open sun-dried and solar tent-dried may be attributed to the drying of the plantain fingers in places burning fossil fuels (Tóth et al., 2016). The Mn content of the solar tent-dried and open sun-dried plantain chips produced from the agbagba and bobby tannap varieties was significantly different (p < 0.05). Mn is also an important trace metal and has some nutritional benefits for human life; this metal is a coenzyme essential for growth and respiration. They are present naturally in foodstuff but toxic when consumed in excess (Awoyale et al., 2017;Magomya et al., 2013). A high level of Mn can cause lung, liver, and vascular disturbances and declines in blood pressure (Mehjbeen & Nazura, 2013).It is imperative to add that the variations in the levels of heavy metal contamination may be attributed to the planting soil, fertilizers, air, closeness of the plantain farm to vehicular movements, plantain variety, and materials of construction of the drying platform, among others (Bolade, 2016).Table 5 shows the total bacterial and fungal counts in the dried plantain chips. The varieties have a significant effect on the fungi counts (p < 0.01) of the plantain chips, but with no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the bacterial and total microbial counts. The drying methods, on the other hand, have no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the bacterial, fungi, and total microbial counts of the plantain chips. However, the interactions between the varieties and the drying methods have a significant effect on the bacterial (p < 0.01) and fungi (p < 0.001) counts, but with no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the total microbial counts of the plantain chips (Table 5).The bacterial counts of the samples ranged from 0.20 to 3.09 × 10 4 CFU/g. Solar tent-dried samples had the lowest bacteria counts, between 0.20 × 10 4 CFU/g and 2.15 × 10 4 CFU/g. Open sun-dried samples had values between 1.13 × 10 4 CFU/g and 2.80 × 10 4 CFU/g, and samples obtained from the local processors had the highest bacteria count of 0.89-3.09 × 10 4 CFU/g. The lower bacteria count recorded for the solar tent dryer may result from an enclosed medium that uses greenhouse principles to dry agricultural products. However, WF (2012) stated that bacterial counts should not exceed 1.0 × 10 4 CFU/g in foods. It is imperative to add that processing the plantain chips into flour and subsequent cooking of the flour to amala in boiled water may reduce the bacterial counts before consumption. However, some studies reported microbial counts and pathogens higher than international stipulated limits (1.0 × 10 2 CFU/g) in commercial and conventionally produced fresh and dried fruits and vegetables (Alimi & Workneh, 2016). A significant difference (p < 0.05) exists in the bacteria count of the solar tent-dried and open sun-dried plantain chips produced from different varieties.The fungal count of the dried plantain chips ranged from 0 to 0.13 × 10 4 CFU/g. The solar tentdried plantain chips had the lowest values (0-0.06 × 10 4 CFU/g). Open sun-dried samples ranged from 0 to 0.13 × 10 4 CFU/g, and the samples obtained from the local processors had the highest fungal counts of 0.01-0.07 × 10 4 CFU/g. The variation in the fungal counts of the locally processed samples may be due to incomplete drying for several days, environmental conditions, and handling methods during processing by the local processors (Rani & Saxena, 2022). The dried plantain chips are below the recommended guidelines for dried foods, which should not exceed 1.03 × 10 4 CFU/g (Nutli et al., 2016). The fungal count of the solar tent-dried plantain chips produced from the different varieties was significantly different (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the fungal count of the open sun-dried plantain chips produced from the Agbagba and Pita 23 varieties.Seven fungi (Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Fusarium verticillioides, Monilla spp) were isolated from the dried plantain chips (Table 5). One or more fungi were found in the dried plantain chips except in one variety (mbi egome) dried in the solar tent-dryer and open sun. One of the samples was collected from the local processors (Idi Araba, Idanre LGA). The fungi isolated could be present in the atmosphere because most of these fungi (Aspergillus, Fusarium, Rhizopus, and Penicillium) are surface pollutants of most agricultural products that induce deterioration and can grow inside dried products (Adeyeye & Yildiz, 2016). The fungi isolated in this study differed slightly in solar tent dryers and open sun-drying due to varietal and environmental differences.The fungi intercepted in this study (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus Niger, Rhizopus spp, and Penicillium spp) were similar to studies reported by some authors on the microorganisms associated with the preparation of plantain pudding in Western Nigeria (Adeyeye & Yildiz, 2016;Jonathan et al., 2017). Nutritional and mycoflora changes during storage of plantain chips and the health implications, and the nutritional compositions, fungi, and aflatoxins detection in stored gbodo and elubo ogede from southwestern Nigeria (Adeyeye & Yildiz, 2016;Jonathan et al., 2017). However, Aspergillus spp. are the common fungi isolated in this study, agreeing with Jonathan et al. (2017) and Okafor and Eni (2017), who reported Aspergillus spp. as the commonly isolated fungi. The health implications of fungi ingestion may cause urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, pulmonary and disseminated infections, cutaneous infections, keratitis, and damage to blood vessels and nerves, among others (Deutsch et al., 2019). The microbial contamination of the plantain chips may be reduced by using contaminant-free water for processing under strict hygienic conditions and drying under the solar tent dryer. However, the dried plantain chips of the present study will be milled into flour and reconstituted in hot water to form a thick paste (amala) eaten with the preferred soup, reducing microbial contamination.The drying methods significantly affected the cadmium, cobalt, and lead content of the plantain chips but with no significant effect on the bacterial, fungi, and total microbial counts. However, the interactions between the plantain varieties and the drying methods significantly affected the cobalt content and the bacterial and fungi counts of the plantain chips. The heavy metal content and microbial load were higher in the surveyed and open sun-dried samples than in the solar tentdried samples. Therefore, this research showed that a solar tent dryer might be a perfect alternative for drying agricultural commodities. This would reduce heavy metal accumulation and microbial contamination since a solar tent dryer produced a lower concentration of heavy metal and microbial load than open sun drying. Therefore, enlightenment and awareness of solar-tent dryers should be created to improve the safety of food preservation, processing, and nutritional value among the local processors in the study areas and Nigeria as a whole.Additionally, the microbial contamination of the plantain chips may be reduced by using contaminant-free water for processing under strict hygienic conditions and drying under the solar-tent dryer. However, the dried plantain chips of the present study will be milled into flour and reconstituted in hot water to form a thick paste (amala) eaten with the preferred soup, thus, reducing microbial contamination. Other drying methods like freeze drying, vacuum drying, and oven drying methods should be carried out with the open sun and solar tent drying to enable effective comparison of heavy metals and microbial load composition and the drying kinetics of the plantain chips.","tokenCount":"6363"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7642621260.json b/data/part_1/7642621260.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..934e9f9d118b040e50bbe2a08276549bfa30079b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7642621260.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4b558474ed9b6f4b3db9aa43ffb793bd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7f4d38c7-1670-4444-ba62-614b191e981d/retrieve","id":"-1325420279"},"keywords":["gender bias","bargaining","maize seed","Uganda"],"sieverID":"1efa322d-a008-483f-bb22-275afb3fb8b2","pagecount":"19","content":"The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a CGIAR Research Center established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Over the past few decades, attention has shifted from considering farm households as a single unit to studying the structure and organization of the household as an institution comprised of different actors, each with their own preferences, which may or may not align (Agarwal, 1997). In the context of collective bargaining models, research has established the importance of household members' control over resources for their intra-household bargaining power and outcomes in terms of intra-household equity.In settings characterized by strong gender norms and customs, activities within the household often have a gendered dimension. For instance, men could be responsible for economic activities like maize production, while women take care of reproductive activities such as fetching water and firewood. In settings characterized by subsistence agriculture, entry points for women in food supply chains are generally downstream, consisting of activities such as light processing and retail. Research indeed shows that informal vendors often tend to be selfemployed or owner-operatored women. As such, these forms of informal selfemployment often constitute a crucial source of income that women can earn independently from the husband (Giroux et al., 2021).Unfortunately, even though women would be allowed to participate in these roles, perceptions may still be stacked against them. For instance, previous research with agro-input dealers in Uganda showed that female managed agroinput shops are perceived less favorably on a range of attributes than their male counterparts. This includes perceptions that female-managed shops sold seed of lower quality, while in reality the reverse seemed to be true (De, Miehe, and Van Campenhout, 2022). The difference in perceptions was largest when customers were asked to rate agro-dealers in terms of price competitiveness, again despite the fact that we found no difference between average prices charged by male-and female-managed agro-input shops.In this paper, we investigate whether this gender bias in perception extends into price bargaining processes and outcomes. In the context of rural Uganda, bargaining over prices is the rule rather than the exception. The ensuing transaction price is a function of a range of variables, such as perceptions, power relationships, well-being of negotiating partners, etc. If some of these variables are skewed against female informal vendors (such as perceptions related to the quality of what they sell), gender bias may also manifest in the strategies that negotiating parties use, and the outcome of the process. The fact that the bias in perceptions was particularly large for price-related attributes of the seller leads us to suspect that there will also be effects on the bargaining process.At the core of the study is a simple lab-in-the-field experiment. In particular, we offer the opportunity to a representative group of both male and female maize farmers to buy a bag of hybrid maize seed. A trained enumerator, guided by a script implemented on a tablet computer, acts as a seller. After explaining the virtues of hybrid maize seed to the buyer, the seller asks if the buyer wants to buy the seed at an initial offer price. If the buyer rejects the offer, he or she is encouraged to call out a first counter-bid. The algorithm on the tablet then determines if the seller agrees on the counter-bid (depending the difference between the two bids being small enough) or to enter into a second round of negotiations and name a second offer price (which is lower than the previous offer price but higher than the farmer's previous counter-bid). This process continues until the farmer accepts an offer price, or the seller is instructed to accept because the difference between last bid price and new offer price is lower than a particular threshold.We provide exogenous variation along two dimensions. First, we randomly assign farmers to either a male or female seller. This allows us to estimate the causal impact of the seller's gender on the bargaining process and outcomes. Second, we also randomly assign the initial offer price that the seller (male or female) asks of the farmer, allowing us to estimate the causal impact of initial offer price on the bargaining process and outcomes, and to compare the sizes of these two effects. Furthermore, we can look at interactions to test if the gendered effect becomes even more important when the stakes are high (e.g., when the initial offer price is high).Our experiment allows us to investigate the effect of the seller's gender and/or the initial offer price on various strategies used by the buyer as well as outcomes of the process. These include: (1) the likelihood that the buyer immediately accepts the initial offer prices (and hence no bargaining takes place);(2) the first counter-bid following the initial offer price; (3) the likelihood that this first counter-bid is the minimum admissible counter-bid; (4) the likelihood that the buyer sticks with the initial counter-bid throughout the bargaining process (that is, the buyer plays a non-concessional strategy); (5) the number of negotiation rounds; (6) the likelihood that the buyer accepts at any point (as opposed to ending negotiations because of convergence); and (7) the transaction price.Results show that the likelihood that the buyer immediately accepts is reduced when the seller is a woman. Negotiations with female sellers also lead to a substantial decrease in buyers' initial counter-bid and a higher percentage of buyers starting with the lowest possible bid. The bargaining process with female sellers tends to involve more negotiation rounds, indicating increased resistance from buyers, and ultimately resulting in transaction prices that are approximately UGX600 lower than those with male sellers. Thus, this gendered effect seems to manifest early in the negotiation process, influencing initial counter-bids and setting the stage for subsequent interactions, emphasizing the significant impact of seller gender on bargaining dynamics.This article contributes to the existing literature in several ways. First, most research on bargaining uses a WEIRD population (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic), yet bargaining is much more prevalent in non-WEIRD societies (Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan, 2010). By implementing a lab-in-the-field experiment in the context of smallholder farmers bargaining over seed, we contribute to the knowledge on how economic transactions transpire in a more realistic setting (Fitzpatrick, 2017). Second, the literature mostly investigates differences in bargaining behavior between men and women, yet most of this research is situated in a Western context and often focuses on how differ-ences in bargaining contributes to the labour market outcomes such as the wage gap. We investigate the consequences of gendered bargaining processes in the context of informal employment in developing countries. Third, the majority of studies that look at discrimination in the market place are mainly concerned about seller-side discrimination, whereby sellers offer different prices depending on minority membership. We focus on buyer-side discrimination, whereby buyers are willing to pay more to majority group members.The remainder of this article is organized as follows. In the next section, we provide a brief overview of the related literature. We then proceed with an in-depth description of the bargaining experiment, followed by a description of the study population. Section 5 provides the results of the analysis, and the final section concludes with discussion of the implications.A large number of studies-based on observational data and more rigorous field experiments alike-find overwhelming evidence of differences in the outcomes of market transactions when minorities (including women) are involved as a transacting party (as compared to cases where all transaction parties come from the majority (Riach and Rich, 2002)). This unsettling regularity has led to a search for the sources of this apparent discrimination, generating an equally large body of research.Research on the causes of discrimination is particularly prominent in labour economics, where so-called situation or audit tests have been used to estimate the effect of race on the likelihood of being invited for an interview (eg: Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004). The fact that women generally earn less than men is also a fertile breeding ground for research. Potential explanations include sorting (where women end up in companies that pay lower wage premiums), the fact that women are offered lower wages, and/or the fact that women negotiate worse wage bargains (Card, Cardoso, and Kline, 2015;Leibbrandt and List, 2015).Given the large volume of research, we focus on a specific set of studies. First, we are interested in the effect of gender of one party (the seller) on bargaining behaviour of the other party (the buyer). This is different from studies that look at the impact of gender on own behavior (for instance, testing if female buyers' initial bid price is different from male buyers' initial bid price ceteris paribus). While the impact of gender on own behaviour is certainly an interesting question, it is much harder to investigate since gender cannot be randomized. Second, we will focus on studies that capture at least some elements of bilateral bargaining. This excludes studies where only the outcome of the transaction is recorded; most studies we review involve some kind of lab-inthe-field component where actual bargaining between partners for real stakes is observed. List (2004) studies bilateral negotiation in the US sports card market, and observes that 1) sellers from minority groups (in terms of gender, race, and age) receive initial and final bids that are lower than those received by majorities and that 2) buyers from minority groups receive initial and final offers that are higher than those received by majority groups. He further finds that the former type of discrimination (that is, consumer-side discrimination) is more pronounced than the latter (seller-side discrimination). Note that in our experiment, we only test for consumer-side discrimination.One of the first studies to use identical scripted bargaining strategies to study the impact of gender (and race) is Ayres and Siegelman (1995). In their study, seller-side discrimination in the market for new cars is investigated. Ayres and Siegelman (1995) carefully selected mock buyers to resemble each other as closely as possible, and trained them to bargain uniformly through a prespecified bargaining script. From over 300 negotiations at new car dealerships in the US, they conclude that dealers quoted significantly lower prices to white males than to black or female test buyers. Castillo et al. (2013) report on a sequential bargaining experiment in the market for taxi rides in Lima. Here, the focus is also on seller-side discrimination, as they are interested in the impact of gender of the customer on the bargaining strategies and outcomes of the taxi driver (which are all men). They use a fixed-offer bargaining script that both male and female potential passengers follow when interacting with (male) taxi drivers. Interestingly, they find that men are offered and pay higher prices than women. Fitzpatrick (2017) tests whether women pay more or less than men in the Ugandan market for antimalarial drugs in yet another seller-side discrimination audit study. To do so, she started from a census of outlets selling antimalarial drugs in 5 parishes and sent mystery shoppers to purchase an antimalarial drug according to randomly assigned scripts. She finds evidence that women are offered higher prices for the same product as men. However, women are more successful at bargaining, and as a result the transaction price does not differ between male and female buyers.The only study that investigates buyer-side discrimination is Delecourt and Ng (2021), who start from the observation that women-owned micro-businesses are generally less profitable than male-owned businesses. To separate the effect of differences in business characteristics from the gender effect, they conduct two field experiments among Indian vegetable sellers where men report earning roughly 50 percent more daily revenue than women. In their experiment, they keep every business aspect (e.g., location, opening hours, stock, etc.) the same except for the gender of the seller. After controlling for supply side factors in this way, they find that earnings between male and female vendors do not differ and conclude that there is no buyer-side discrimination.Farmers are offered the opportunity to buy a bag of seed from a seller in a way that is as close as possible to a real life setting where bargaining is the norm. The seller follows a standard script, and an initial offer (or ask) price is randomly drawn from a set of four prices (UGX12,000, 11,000, 10,000, and 9,000), with higher probability on the extremes (probabilities are 0.25, 0.125, 0.125, and 0.25 respectively). 1 This price is then presented to the farmer as the price of the bag of seed. The seller explains what kind of seed it is and what the advantages are, and the farmer is asked if they want to buy the seed for this price. If the farmer says no, then they are encouraged to name their counter-bid price. The minimal bid price was UGX3,000, but this lower limit was not communicated to the farmer in advance. Only if the farmer's initial counter-bid was lower than 3,000 was it communicated that this was the lowest acceptable price and the farmer could revise the first counter-bid to 3,000 or above, or abandon the game.Sellers then follow a concession script where they split the difference between the offer price and the farmer's bid (List, 2004). The tablet computer guiding the seller uses an algorithm to determine a counter-offer that the enumerator asks in a second round of negotiation. This new ask price is determined as the farmer's bid price plus 80 percent of the difference between the (initial) ask price and the farmer's bid price, and this is rounded to the nearest multiple of 500. This updated (lower) ask price is then compared to the last bid price of the farmer. If the difference is smaller than 500, the seller is instructed to accept the bid price. If the difference between the updated (lower) ask price and the bid price is larger than 500, then the updated ask price is presented to the farmer and the farmer gets a second opportunity to accept or reject. If the farmer does not accept, the farmer is encouraged to make a second bid that should be equal to or higher than the first bid the farmer made. Based on this second bid, a third ask price is determined as the farmer's second bid price plus 80 percent of the difference between the second ask price and the farmer's second bid price.Bargaining continues in this way until the farmer accepts an ask price, or the price difference between the bid and ask price is smaller than 500 Ugandan shilling, in which case the computer instructs the enumerator to sell at the last price the farmer bids. If the highest initial offer price of UGX12,000 was drawn and a farmer sticks to the lowest possible bid price (UGX3,000), the program accepts this bid after 10 negotiation rounds. Farmers were not informed about the algorithm. That is, they did not know that the seller would eventually accept even if they stick to the lowest price. We do not expect that farmers would be able to learn about the offer price formation algorithm from a single bargaining experiment, and we also made sure that farmers could not communicate with each other by making sure the experiments were run in parallel in villages.The experiment was timed to coincide with the start of the harvest season to ensure high demand for the seed. We had a team of 26 enumerators, of which 10 where female and 16 where male.The total sample consists of a representative sample of 760 households, drawn from 4 districts in southeastern Uganda (Mayuge, Kamuli, Iganga, and Bugiri). These districts were chosen because maize is an important crop for both food and cash. In these 4 districts, 76 villages were randomly selected from a list of all villages, with the likelihood of a village being selected proportional to the number of households that live in the village. Within each village, 10 households were randomly selected.Enumerators visited these households and asked to speak with the person that generally makes the most decisions related to growing maize and input use of maize seed. These individuals were then subjected to the bargaining experiment and after completing the experiment, we administered a survey. We find that 22 percent of interviewed individuals were women with an average age of 49 years old and living households of about 8 people.The average household in our sample has about 1.5 maize plots of on average about 1.1 acres each. Yields on an average plot is about 436 kilograms per acre. As such, the average household produces about 700 kilograms of maize.A significant share of farmers have experience with improved seed variety. We find that about 40 percent of farmers in our sample used seed of an open pollinated or hybrid variety in the previous season (Nsambya of 2022) on any of their plots. However, farmers have less experience with the type of seed that we offer in the field experiment (a type popularly known as bazooka). Only about 9 percent of farmers indicate that they used this type of seed on any of their plots in the previous season. We also asked broader questions related to the seed we use in the experiment. For instance, we find that while 53 percent of sample farmers know bazooka, only 13 percent ever tried it. This may be because farmers consider bazooka to be an expensive variety.Figure 1 shows that the bargaining process is more likely to converge at a low price when the seller is a woman than when the seller is a man. When the seller is a woman, there is a clear peak in the density around UGX5,000. When the seller is a man, there is also some bunching around 5,000, but the likelihood that the eventual transaction price is around 5,000 does not differ all that much from the likelihood that the negotiation ends up at a price around 10,000.The bottom panel shows that the disadvantage of the female seller immediately manifests itself at the start of the negotiation process when the buyer names their first counter-bid after the seller named the initial (randomly assigned) offer price. When the seller is man, prices are most likely to start from 5,000. When the seller is a women, farmers are more inclined to quote the absolute minimum. As with the first offer price, the first counter-bid price is likely to be an important anchoring point for the rest of the negotiation, and the gendered effect is likely affect a range of other outcomes in the bargaining Figure 1: Prices process (Galinsky and Mussweiler, 2001).We now turn to a more formal analysis of various outcomes and strategies using regression analysis. In the first model, we exploit the fact that the initial offer price was randomly assigned and regress outcomes on an indicator variable for \"high initial price\" which takes the value of 1 if the initial price was 12,000 or 11,000, and zero if it was 9,000 or 10,000. In this regression, we control for the gender of the seller as the orthogonal treatment. Furthermore, as we found some indications of gender matching in the negotiation pairing (see section 6), we control for the gender of the buyer in the regressions as well.In the second model, we look at differential bargaining behaviour based on seller gender and regress outcomes and strategies on an indicator of the sex of the seller which takes the value of 1 if the seller was a women and zero if it was a man. Here, we also control for the gender of the buyer in the regressions to control for treatment imbalance in this dimension and for level of initial offer price as the orthogonal treatment.The first and second models are estimated using a single specification. In this equation, y i represents the outcome of interest (for instance, the initial bid price or an indicator that the describes the use of a particular strategy such as sticking to the initial bid throughout the entire negotiation process) of the farmer. x i is the gender of the farmer, ε i is a buyer specific residual, and T p i and T g i are indicator functions for the initial offer price and the gender of the seller respectively. α is a constant to be estimated, β p is the estimate of the impact offered a high starting price and β g is the estimate of the effect of the gender of the seller.In the third model, we also isolate the interaction effect and include an indication variable that is one if both the \"high initial price\" indicator is 1 and the seller is a women. This allows us to test if a gender effect is stronger or weaker when higher initial prices are quoted. As in previous models, we control for the gender of the buyer in the regressions. As such, the third model simply adds an interaction term to equation 1:where now β pg becomes the coefficient of interest.For the independent variables, we consider the following outcomes and strategies: (1) the likelihood that the buyer accepts the initial offer of the seller (and thus no negotiation ensues); (2) the counter-bid price that the buyer calls after the initial offer by the seller; (3) the likelihood that the initial counter bid is the lowest admissible bid (UGX3,000); (4) the likelihood that the buyer sticks to his or her initial bid; (5) the number of negotiation rounds before the buyer accepts or the seller is instructed to accept by the algorithm; and (6) the final transaction price.The first column of Table 1 shows overall averages for the control group (the subset of buyers that negotiated with a male seller and started from a low initial offer prices of UGX9,000 or 10,000). The second column in Table 1 reports differences in the dependent variable between negotiations that started with a high initial offer price (12,000 or 11,000) and negotiations where the initial offer price was low (9,000 or 10,000). The third column in Table 1 reports differences in the dependent variable between negotiations with a female seller and a male seller. The fourth column shows the interaction effect.As a first outcome of interest, we see that about 30 percent of buyers immediately accept buying the seed pack at the initial offer price. The likelihood that farmers immediately accept reduces substantially when the initial offer is high: If the seller asks for at least 11,000 Ugandan shilling,only about 11 percent of buyers accept immediately. Interestingly, we see that the likelihood that farmers immediately accept also reduces substantially when the seller is a woman. Finally, for this outcome we also find a significant interaction effect. The interaction effect counteracts the main effects. The fact that the interaction effect is very similar to the main gender effect suggests no difference in the likelihood of initial acceptance between male and female sellers when the initial offer price is Note: **,* and + denote significance at the 1, 5 and 10% levels. \"Initial accept\" is the likelihood that the buyer immediately accept to buy the seed pack at the initial offer price of the seller; \"Starting price\" is the initial counter bid by the buyer following the initial offer price of the seller; \"Bottom price\" is the likelihood that the buyer responds to the initial offer price of the seller with the lowest admissible bid price (UGX 3000); \"Sticky strategy\" is the likelihood that the buyer sticks to his or her initial counter-bid throughout the bargaining process; \"Rounds\" is the number of negotiation rounds; \"Buyer accepts\" is the likelihood that the buyer accepts (as opposed to situations where negotiation ends because the last bid and offer price is smaller than the threshold and the seller accepts); and \"Transaction price\" is the price as which the transaction was concluded.high. The large reduction in the likelihood emanating from a high initial offer price leaves little room for an additional gender effect. We already touched upon the importance of the initial counter-bid in the negotiation process and revisit the first counter-bid of the buyer here (see starting price in Figure 1). The average counter-bid by farmers in response to this initial offer was just over UGX6,000. For this outcome, there is no significant impact from from the initial price level. However, we do see a significant reduction in the first bid price when the seller is a women. The effect is also economically significant, amounting to only 87 percent of the initial bid price that male sellers are confronted. For this outcome, the interaction effect is not significantly different from zero.We also find that about 17 percent of buyers started negotiating from UGX3,000, the lowest possible bid. The level of the initial offer price does not seem to affect this share. However, in line with the previous finding, we do see that the share of buyers going for the lowest possible counter-bid is significantly higher if the seller is a woman (although only at the 10 percent level). We do not find evidence of a significant interaction effect.Another interesting negotiation strategy some buyers seem to use is to name an initial counter-bid and stick to this price. A surprisingly large share of farmers (40 percent) uses this strategy. The use of this strategy does not depend on the initial offer price. However, we do find that a significantly lower share of farmers use this strategy when the woman is a seller. Apparently, the lower base price this subgroup starts from increases the likelihood that farmers increase bid prices over time. There is also no significant interaction effect for this strategy.The average negotiation took almost 5 rounds before the buyer agreed or the difference between the last bid and the last offer was smaller than the threshold where the seller was instructed to agree. We find that negotiation increases to about 7 rounds if the seller started with a high initial offer price. The significant and positive effect is not surprising given that sellers follow a concessional script where the steps are a direct function of the initial offer price. More interestingly, when the seller is a woman, this adds an additional round to the negotiation process.The fact that female sellers face an additional round of bargaining seems to suggest that farmers that negotiate with a women are less likely to agree with an offer price. We thus also look at the share of negotiations that were concluded with the buyer agreeing (as opposed to instances where the negotiations ended because the difference between ask price and bid price was less than UGX500). While in about 40 percent of cases the buyer eventually accepts, this percentage is indeed almost 12 percentage points lower when the seller is a woman. A high offer price also leads to a lower likelihood that the buyer accepts. There is also an interaction effect that counteracts the reduction in the likelihood that the buyer accepts. In this instance, this may indicate that if a higher offer price already substantially reduced the likelihood that the buyer accepts, there may be less room for an additional reduction due to the gender effect.Finally, we look at what is arguably the most important outcome. The average transaction price was about UGX7,000, which was about 70 percent of the maximum initial offer price, and 2.3 times the minimal bid price. We see that an initially high offer price increases the final price by UGX334. If the seller is a women, however, we see that the transaction price is about UGX600 lower than when the seller is a man.Together, these results show a clear and substantial effect emanating from the seller's gender. The effect originates early in the bargaining process, with a lower first counter-bid and a higher share of buyers that start off at the lowest possible bid price when the seller is a woman. This lower bound serves as an anchor for subsequent strategies-with buyers less likely to accept and hence more negotiation rounds-eventually leading to a significantly lower final price.6 Discussion, limitations, and way forwardIn this paper, we examined the potential consequences of biased perceptions on market transactions. Specifically, we tested whether the gender of seed sellers had an impact on seed buyers' negotiation strategies and eventual outcomes in bilateral price negotiations. This was done through a lab-in-the-field experiment in eastern Uganda, where a representative sample of smallholder maize farmers was given the opportunity to bargain over a bag of improved maize seed variety from either a male or female seller. The findings revealed that buyers confronted with a female seller were less likely to accept the initial offer price and responded with a lower counter-bid compared to farmers faced with a male seller. Negotiations, on average, took one additional round when the seller was a woman and resulted in a transaction price that was almost 9 percent lower.Our results are in line with List (2004) who finds that \"consumer-side\" discrimination appears to be more pronounced than \"seller-side\" discrimination. Delecourt and Ng (2021), in contrast, find no evidence of consumer side discrimination in a context closer to ours. However, an important difference with our study is that in their context-the Indian market-transactions tend to be fast-paced, short and without chit-chat, and bargaining is uncommon. Exley, Niederle, and Vesterlund (2020) make the argument that since discrimination is already present from the initial counter-bid, it is unlikely that differences in outcomes are due to differences in negotiation. Our study indicates that differences in final outcomes have their origin in both the initial counter-bid and the ensuing negotiations.As is generally the case, our experiment only establishes the existence of discrimination, but it does not tell us anything about the nature of discrimination. In the economic literature, a distinction is generally made between discrimination that involves some kind of animus on the one hand and statistical discrimination on the other. While in the former case there is some kind of general distaste for minorities or a \"social custom\" of discrimination (Riach and Rich, 2002), in the latter case the apparent discrimination is simply the result of market actors using average group characteristics as a proxy of reservation value. In our case, this would mean that buyers think that women, would be willing to accept lower prices than men. 2  Our study has several limitations. One limitation of the study is potential bias from tester behavior. For instance, it could be that male sellers bargain harder than female sellers. Confounding by tester behavior is a known problem in audit studies that involve actual people to do the transactions, and a reason why correspondence studies (where personal contact is avoided, such as in the Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) study, where CVs of imaginary job candidates with white and non-white sounding names are sent to potential employers to screen on discrimination) are preferred. We tried to mitigate this problem by instructing our enumerators to strictly stick to a script on the tablet computer. However, we can not completely rule out the fact that male sellers behave differently during the field experiment than their female counterparts.A second limitation lies in the fact that, for logistical consideration, we did not randomize ex-ante the gender of the seller. Sellers were sent to farmers based on who was available (hence the larger group where the seller was a man). As in Fitzpatrick (2017), supervisors were instructed not to assign enumerators to farmers in a systematic fashion. While we assume this happened randomly, we do find that women sellers had a significantly higher probability of being paired with women buyers than male sellers. To account for this, we include the gender of the buyer in all specifications. We further looked at balance on a range of characteristics (such as age, education level, etc.) between farmers that were paired to male and female sellers and generally found no significant differences. That said, we can not completely rule out that sellers and buyers were matched on some (unobservable) characteristic.Third, our study population may not be representative for real live situations. For instance, List (2004) works with subjects that endogenously select into the market and likely have previous experience in the transactions he is studying. In our case, it may be that participants have never bought seed in the past and did not intend to do so in the near future. Our study should therefore be regarded as somewhere between an experimental study in a lab environment where certain behavioral patterns and roles are endogenously imposed on study subjects and studies that observe actual individual behaviour in an existing market.Fourth, our study does not look at heterogeneity in bias. One obvious sources of heterogeneity in this context would be the gender of the buyer, as gender homophily effects have been found in a wide range of interactions (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook, 2001). If we consider the gender of the buyer, we see that the reduction in both initial and transaction prices is due to the seller being a women is largest for female buyers. This suggests that female buyers appear to be even more biased than men. However, the difference is insignificant and the parameter estimate is likely to suffer from small sample size.In light of the above, we believe more studies are needed on both seller-side","tokenCount":"5621"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7652133097.json b/data/part_1/7652133097.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d4fc885765a852ffd6a593e1185a11395493b727
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7652133097.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"68d81b95ad51bf473b1d1f09d156b8b2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/982fa50b-d99a-41a1-8fa9-1547bbe4a503/retrieve","id":"2009741391"},"keywords":["Propensity score matching","Gomma","market development","impact","IPMS"],"sieverID":"672aadc4-f4a0-4f14-a9ac-82fb7f61ba8b","pagecount":"113","content":"First, I declare that this thesis is my solely work and that all sources of materials used for this thesis have been duly acknowledged. This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for M.Sc. degree at the Haramaya University and is deposited at the University Library to be available to borrowers under rules of the library. I seriously declare that this thesis is not submitted to any other institution anywhere for the award of any academic degree, diploma, or certificate.Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.. Result of sensitivity analysis using Rosenbaum bounding approach ......................Ethiopia is still predominantly agricultural economy which is almost rain fed. The sector accounts for 40 percent national GDP 90 percent of export earnings and 85 percent employment opportunity are dominated by agricultural products (World Bank, 2007). Such characteristics or contribution to the socioeconomic well-being of the population lead that Ethiopia should have to start from agricultural sector as it employs most of the labor force. Despite its importance in the livelihood of the people and its potential, the sector has still remained at subsistence level due to multifaceted problems (Dercon and Zeitlin, 2009).The overall development strategy of Ethiopia is based on the development of a strong free market economic system. Policies towards the development of the agricultural sector and its role in the Ethiopian economy as a whole are guided by the strategy of Agricultural Development Led Industrialization (ADLI), which has been put forward by the Government of Ethiopia in 1993. ADLI has an aim to bring about a structural transformation in the productivity of the peasant agriculture and to streamline and reconstruct the manufacturing (Industrial) sector, so that it makes extensive use of the country's natural and labor resources (MoPED, 1993). This strategy has driven the introduction of policies to promote: a more supportive macroeconomic framework and development; liberalized markets for agricultural products; and a strong extension-and credit-led push for intensification of food staples production through the use of modern inputs, especially seed and fertilizer.Since then, this strategy has been developed further and fine-tuned, most recently in the more nuanced PASDEP, Ethiopia's strategic framework for the five-year period 2005/06-2009/10. Commercialization of agriculture and the growth of the non-farm private sector are two main thrusts of the initiative to accelerate growth. PASDEP also recommends specialization both at farm and community level, a shift to high-value crops, promotion of niche high-value export crops, a stronger focus on selected high-potential areas, supporting the development of largescale commercial agriculture where it is feasible, and facilitating the commercialization of agriculture, among others, through improved integration of farmers with markets -both local and global (MoFED, 2006). Moreover, increased availability and utilization of appropriate technologies, an effective and efficient service delivery system and, improving institutional competence and performance, integrated and coordinated service delivery, sustained demand for the agricultural outputs are some strategies which are crucial to making market orientation of agricultural sector a reality are the component of this strategy (Puskur and Hagmann, 2006).In this strategy, markets are expected to lead production, not the other way round as it has been practiced where farmers look for markets after they produce (Berhanu et al., 2006). The policies, strategies and instruments document clearly emphasizes that the development of Ethiopian agriculture should be based on market-oriented production system. Although both the local and international markets are recognized, in the short term emphasis is put on developing the local markets and in the longer term penetrating the international market. To be successful in competing in the international market, continuous improvement in production efficiency at farm level and quality of products has been envisaged.As an integral part of this overall strategy, improving the efficiency of markets is underlined.In this regard, four areas are especially emphasized. These are establishing a system of labeling and standards, improving the provision of market information, expanding and strengthening cooperatives, and improving and strengthening the participation of private investors in agricultural marketing. The strategy also stipulates that rural banks be established and expanded to provide financial services to farmers. Acceleration of private-sector involvement in agricultural production, marketing and providing different service is the other components (MoFED, 2006).In order to realize these policy directions and strategies, several options/efforts have been promoted by the government to increase farmers' income from marketing and processing, including the formation of cooperatives and better access to market information. Even though the Government has market orientation as a goal, government policy is not very clear on how the potential benefits of increased smallholder commercialization could be maximized and the potential damage minimized i.e. in creating an enabling economic environment in which smallholders can take advantage of commercialization opportunities and progressively move away from the widespread subsistence orientation towards a more viable and market-oriented smallholder sector (Samuel and Ludi,2008). In addition to this, Puskur et al. (2007), argue that most past development efforts have been geared towards increasing food production but the development of agricultural markets was not sufficiently emphasized. During this period there was a high degree of control by government institutions with limited involvement private sector and other players.The challenge, therefore, is to develop a knowledge based system which is capacitated and responsive to markets with linkages between different partners in development and improved development processes, including technology introduction, and input/output marketing to facilitate the development of marketable commodities (IPMS, 2005). Recognizing these government initiatives, MoARD embarked on the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) Ethiopian Farmer project, which is donor-supported and implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on behalf of the MoARD.The project follows a value chain development approach, which is made up of several interconnected components. These components include the development and availability of farm inputs and technology, the agricultural production process, harvesting, storage, processing, marketing and distribution which involves different stakeholders along the value chain including the active involvement of private sectors. It aims at making the institutional linkage between producers, processors, marketers and distributors which are very important in sustained agricultural growth (IPMS, 2005).The project aims to contribute to improved agricultural productivity and production through market-oriented agricultural development, as a means for achieving improved and sustainable livelihoods for the rural population in Ethiopia. To accomplish this goal, the project supported development and research on innovative technologies, processes and institutional arrangements in four focus areas i.e. knowledge management, innovation capacity building of public and private sector partners, farmers and pastoralists, market oriented production technologies and input/output marketing and financing; contributing to evidence-based policy making to support innovation processes and capacity development and developed strategies, policy, technology and, institutional options from research and lessons learned (IPMS, 2005).In doing so, the project has been assisting government endeavors by accelerating the introduction of technology and institutional innovations, as well as adding/modifying innovations in collaboration with relevant stakeholders so that the technology adoption and application is enhanced which in turn help the farmers to improve the farm productivity and their market orientation status.To this end, the project was implemented in Gomma woreda in Jimma zone as one of the cash crop growing areas among ten PLWs.Agricultural marketing in Ethiopia is generally weak and inefficient (Puskur et al., 2007). Past agricultural development strategies have mainly focused on production and productivity.Farmer organizations, on the other hand, are weak and are not yet business oriented. The involvement of private sectors can potentially improve the delivery efficiency of input for the producers. However, even though there are conducive policy environments their involvement in input/output marketing and investments are weak (Eleni and Goggin, 2006). The Ethiopian government has recognized the situation and is currently paying attention to the improvement of agricultural marketing in order to improve the economic well being of the farming population who depend on agriculture as a source of income and employment.Development of agricultural markets contributes towards revitalizing the agricultural sector by increasing agricultural production and productivity. In the past, the government has instituted various programs to encourage agricultural production but the development of agricultural markets was not sufficiently emphasized. Government and the various stakeholders currently recognize the important role that a well-developed market can play in the process of agricultural development and commercialization which further catalyze production growth and boost rural incomes in the country (Eleni et al., 2003).Program or project evaluation is one of the components of project design matrix whenever any project has been designed and implemented. According to Ponniah et al. (1996), there are several reasons to undertake ex-post impact evaluation of any project. These include provision of feed-back to the scientists and the system including policy makers, for accountability purposes including establishing the credibility of the public sector research and development, as justification for increased allocation of resources, learning from and adjusting to new challenges.Similarly, Baker (2000), argues that evaluating impact is particularly critical in developing countries where resources are scarce and every dollar spent should aim to maximize its impact on poverty reduction. If programs are poorly designed, do not reach their intended beneficiaries, or are wasteful, with the right information they can be redesigned, improved, or eliminated if deemed necessary. The knowledge gained from impact evaluation studies will also provide critical input to the appropriate design of future programs and projects.Most past impact assessment studies have analyzed the impact of the project/program interventions interms of the economic and environmental changes. The consideration of change in institutional and organizational aspect of marketing as outcome variable is limited in most literatures. Moreover, they are providing qualitative insights into processes and do not assess outcomes explicitly which are now widely seen as unsatisfactory (Ravallion, 2005). On the other hand, where the quantitative estimation methods were applied in estimating program impact, parametric estimation methods have been commonly used to capture the impact of the program/project on outcome of interest that has many limitations in attributing the impact to The general objective of the study is to generate information on impact of input and output market development interventions by the IPMS project.In relation to the project's market development interventions the following specific objectives were set. 1. To describe changes in the organizational and institutional aspect of agricultural market in the district. 2. To assess the impact of market intervention on intensification and productivity of commodities of intervention. 3. To assess the impact of market intervention on household total net income from the commodities of intervention. 4. To assess the impact of market intervention on marketed surplus from the commodities of intervention. 5. To assess the impact of market intervention on market orientation of household.The study was undertaken in Gomma woreda of Jimma Zone. The main aim is to evaluate the impact of input and output market development interventions on different outcome of interest.Though there were many PAs where project activities have been undertaken in the woreda only few of them were included due to time and resource limitations. Moreover, the analysis was limited to the impact of market development interventions for market oriented commodities undertaken in the woreda by the project. Data for the empirical study were collected from both households participating and non-participating in the market interventions using the same survey questionnaire at the same time.The study is constrained by lack of clear and wide range of previous empirical studies on market development and market orientation particularly on establishing market orientation criteria and its clear indicators for its measurements.As the study focused on the ex-post impact of the intervention, the information provided in this study has much importance for policy makers and scientific community in terms of providing insights and knowledge. It can also potentially contribute for the growing impact evaluation literature in at least identifying casual effect of market development interventions on different outcome variables at household level. Moreover, it is very helpful for the project in providing the feedback information on its effectiveness and in validating the works done on market interventions endeavors.The thesis is organized as follows. The following section describes literature review that includes concepts on market development, market participation, market orientation and their measurements and linkage of institutions and marketing, impact evaluation methods and empirical studies. Section three introduces the methodology which includes description of the project and study area, source and methods data collection and analysis as well. Section four describes the results and discussion of the research outcomes and finally section five present conclusions and recommendations.This section tries to discuss the following sub-headings: market development, market participation, commercial orientation and its measurements, market institutions and its roles impact evaluation methods and empirical studiesInput market development: In this case the small and medium size village traders have been supported in capacity strengthening, linking to input importers, provisions of credit and other material and technical support for the market oriented commodities of interventions.Consequently, the input markets for those high value commodities develop over time.Because of a high demand for commercial input like fertilizer by the producers of commodities, traders (input suppliers) can bring in large quantities to rural areas with a low unit cost (Goetz, 1992).This include identifying the products which have potential and demanded in the domestic as well as international market places, linking producers to potential buyers, provision of market information which contributes for reduction in marketing cost, establishing primary cooperatives in order to improve their bargaining power and further reduce the transaction cost in the value chain approach (Mwape, 2009).It can be said that market is developed, if in addition to the existing markets, new markets are created like niches and linkage to supermarkets which has not been practiced before though marketing practice has been there for long periods, new customers are targeted, different institutions and organizations have get involved in every activities in the value chain development approach (Mwape, 2009). In this regard, improving quality and quantity of the existing product, targeted marketing strategies are paramount important components.According to Ansoff(19570,Bellmare and Barrett(2006),the main components of market development are; (i) marketing extension and training, (ii) market information and intelligence network, (iii) grading and standardization at producer's level, (iv) improvement in competition and awareness, (v) accessibility of marketing finance and credit, and (vi)promoting the product by targeting different customers.Similarly, Eleni and Goggin (2006), explain that market development requires an integrated rather than piecemeal approach, in which the key market institutions needed, such as market information, grades and standards, contract enforcement, regulation, and trade and producer groups, involvement of different stakeholders including private sectors which mutually reinforce each other. Moreover, the interaction of these stakeholders and the institutions which are governing them is very important for the best functioning of the activities. Identify opportunities for new products for new clients or markets Source: Adopted from Ansoff (1957) Input and output marketing system play key roles in adoption of agricultural technologies. If farmers do not have efficient input and output markets, they resist investing in new and more productive technologies (Oechmke et al., 1997). Thus, generally it can be said that, market development increases the competitiveness of selected agricultural sub-sectors that target national, sub-regional and international markets thereby contributing to agricultural growth.Ana et al. (2008), defined market participation in terms of sales as a fraction of total output, for the sum of all agricultural crop production in the household which includes annuals and perennials, locally-processed and industrial crops, fruits and agro-forestry. This sales index would be zero for a household that sells nothing, and could be greater than unity for households that add value to their crop production via further processing and/or storage.On the other hand, the commonly approach in the literatures is to divide the marketparticipation decision into two stages. In the first stage, households that produce a particular commodity decide whether to be net buyers, net sellers, or autarkic in the market for that commodity. In the second stage, net buyers and net sellers determine the extent of market participation (Goetz, 1992;Key et al., 2000;Holloway et al., 2005;Bellmare and Barrett, 2006).As argued by Reardon and Timmer (2005), market participation is both a cause and a consequence of economic development. Markets offer households the opportunity to specialize according to comparative advantage and thereby enjoy welfare gains from trade.Recognition of the potential of markets as engines of economic development and structural transformation gave rise to a market-led paradigm of agricultural development. He explained further as households' disposable income increases, so does demand for variety in goods and services, thereby inducing increased demand-side market participation, which further increases the demand for cash and thus supply-side market participation.The poorest people in the world are farmers with low market participation and low agricultural productivity. Increasing either one could help to improve the other, and both could boost living standards: higher market participation could drive productivity by providing incentives, information and cash flow for working capital, while higher productivity could drive market participation since households with higher productivity are more likely to have surpluses above their immediate consumption needs (Ana et al., 2008).The definition of commercialization process varies. These definitions have been taking into account different side of markets, types of commodities, decision making power of farmers etc. According to Dawit et al.(2006), commercialization can be defined considering three perspective viz. input versus output, sales versus purchases, and the type of commercial activity (cash crops versus other crops).However, according to Pingali (1997), agricultural commercialization is more than marketing agricultural outputs. He argued that agricultural commercialization is attained when household product choice and input use decisions are made based on the principles of profit maximization. Moreover, according to von Braun et al. (1994), commercialization implies increased market transactions to capture the benefits from specialization. Increased market transactions are more easily attained when there are favorable policies and institutionalarrangements that promote open domestic and international trade environment and the development of market infrastructure and support services that facilitate access to existing markets and the opening up of new market opportunities under a secured legal system. The review made by Moti et al. (2009), argues about the concept of smallholder commercialization, the meaning is not merely about producing significant amount cash commodities and supplying the surplus to the market. Rather it also consider both the input and output sides of production, and the decision-making behavior of farm households in production and marketing simultaneously. In addition to this, commercialization is not only cash crops as traditional food crops are also frequently marketed to a considerable extent.The prime objective of commercial oriented households are profit maximization and they are targeting markets in their production decisions (based on market signals and comparative advantage) whereas those of subsistence farmers' production decision are based on production feasibility and subsistence requirements, and selling only whatever surplus product is left after household consumption requirements are met (Pingali and Rosegrant, 1995;Berhanu and Dirk, 2009). Their main objective is to fulfill subsistence requirements. Generalizing the various literatures, commercial orientation can be understood as a transition from subsistenceoriented to increasingly market-oriented patterns of production and resource use.Although the net welfare gain from agricultural commercialization at the household level is universally accepted, there is no common standard for measuring the degree of household commercialization (Moti et al., 2009) As specified by von Braun et al. (1994), there are three types of commercialization indices at household level.The first index measures proportion of agricultural output sold to the market and input acquired from market to the total value of agricultural production. In the second type, commercialization of the rural economy is defined as the ratio of the value of goods and services acquired through market transactions to total household income. Thirdly, the degree of household integration to the cash economy is measured as the ratio of the value of goods and services acquired by cash transaction to the total household income.In addition to the above indices, von Braun et al. (1994), have measured commercialization in terms of proportion of land allocated by farmers to commercial crops and in terms of the value of input and output sales and purchases weighted by the value of agricultural production.In measuring household-specific level of commercialization, Govereh et al. (1999), and Strasberg et al. (1999), used a household commercialization index (HCI), which is a ratio of the gross value of all crop sales per household per year to the gross value of all crop production. This ratio does not incorporate the livestock subsector, which could be more important than crops in some farming systems (Moti et al., 2009). Keister and Nee (2001), have also measured commercialization structure in terms of the degree of allocation of different resources (such as labor and land) to competing agricultural activities and in terms of total sales of agricultural commoditiesRecently Dawit et al. (2006), used four approaches to measure the level of household Commercialization: sales-to-output and sales-to-income ratios, net and absolute market positions (either as a net buyer, net seller or autarkic/self-sufficient household), and income diversification or level of specialization in agricultural production Generally, the measurements of commercialization are expressed broadly by higher proportion of agricultural input and crop output that is marketed for cash and resources allocated in increased amount to this commodities. However, as Moti et al. (2009), argues, although there is relatively rich body of literature analyzing the extent of commercialization for crop production, the commercialization process and its measurements in the livestock subsector have received little attention.The recent move towards market reform in developing countries has renewed an interest in the working of agricultural markets as a source of income, employment and food security (Pingali and Rosegrant, 1995;Timmer, 1997). It is increasingly recognized that the commercialization of surplus output from small-scale farming is closely linked to higher productivity, greater specialization, and higher income (Timmer, 1997). Furthermore, in a world of efficient markets, commercialization leads to the separation of households' production decisions from their consumption decisions, supporting food diversity and overall stability. At the macro level, commercialization has also been shown to increase food security and, more generally, to improve allocation efficiency (Timmer, 1997;Fafchamps, 2005).However, in the face of imperfect markets and high transaction costs, many smallholders are unable to exploit the potential gains from commercialization (de Janvry et al., 1991;Key et al., 2000, Bernard et al., 2010). In the absence of mechanisms to overcome these constraints, smallholders are unlikely to participate in markets or, when they do, to realize the full benefits of participation. These challenges are particularly important in Sub-Saharan Africa, where empirical evidence suggests that the proportion of farmers engaged in subsistence agriculture remains very high. At the same time, those who participate in markets often do so only at the margins because of the high risks and associated costs (Jayne et al., 2006).Institutions are defined in many different ways. The most widely quoted one is by North (1990), which defines institutions as humanly devised constraints, made up of formal constraints (i.e., rules, laws, constitutions), informal constraints (i.e., norms of behavior, conventions and self-imposed codes of conduct) that structure human interactions, and their enforcement characteristics. These constraints and the technology employed determine the transaction and transformation costs that add up to the production and marketing costs.Following North (1990), Dorward et al. (2005) define institutions as \"rules of the game\" that define the incentives and sanctions affecting people's behavior and distinguish institutional as sets of rules and structures that govern particular contracts, and the context within which the contracts are governed.The World Bank (2002), offers a working definition of institutions as rules, enforcement mechanisms and organizations that promote market transactions. These definitions indicate that institutions provide multiple, functions to markets; they transmit information mediate transactions, facilitate the transfer and enforcement of property rights and contracts, and manage the degree of competition.Markets only work because of institutions. Market failures are caused by asymmetric information, high transaction costs and imperfectly specified property rights. These market deficiencies are more pronounced in rural areas with underdeveloped road and communication networks and other market infrastructure. Where supporting market institutions are lacking, rural markets in areas with low market infrastructure tend to be very thin and imperfect. In the absence of institutions that help to coordinate marketing functions or to link producers to markets, the associated high transportation costs and transaction costs undermine the processes of exchange (Kranton 1996;Gabre-Madhin, 2001) and result in limited or localized markets with little rural-urban linkages (Chowdhury et al., 2005). In such circumstances, households produce only a limited range of goods and services for their own consumption because social protection for food security is not provided through markets and government interventions (de Janvry et al., 1991).Shocks and vulnerability to production risk (i.e., weather, pests and sickness) and market risk (i.e., price) that seem systemic to agriculture also lead to imperfect markets and transaction failures (Dorward and Kydd, 2004).When high transaction costs, asymmetric information and incomplete property rights impede the functioning of markets, market players fail to undertake profitable investments (due to the absence of complementary investments) leading to coordination failures that hinder market functions (Dorward et al., 2003;Dorward et al., 2005). Thus, coordination failure along the production to consumption value chain may explain constrained agricultural development and the prevalence of a low equilibrium trap, which is a big challenge to policy (Dorward et al., 2003). Overcoming the effects of such market imperfections in agricultural input and output markets would therefore require a deliberate attempt to strengthen institutions that promote coordination of market functions, reduce transaction costs and integrate markets to facilitate a continual transition to a higher level equilibrium (World Bank, 2002).Various private and public sector market-supporting institutions and institutional arrangements have been proposed to bridge market imperfections, reduce transaction costs, enhance opportunities for the poor in markets and to make the market systems more inclusive and integrated (World Bank, 2002). Among the potential market-supporting institutions that can enhance market functions in rural areas are farmer organizations such as Producer Marketing Groups. Their potential in this process lies in enabling contractual links to input and output markets (Coulter et al., 1999); promoting economic coordination in liberalized markets and in leveraging market functions for smallholder farmers. However, their success in this process depends on their ability in conveying market information; coordinating marketing functions; defining and enforcing property rights and contracts; facilitating smallholder competitiveness in markets (World Bank, 2002) and more critically in mobilizing their members to engage in markets.Different definitions have been given to impact assessment by different organizations and scholars. But the commonly used definition of impact assessment as it is given by Omoto (2003) and Rover and Dixon (2007), is that it is a process of systematic and objective identification of the short and long-term effects-positive and negative, direct or indirect effect of intervention on economic, social, institutional and environments. Such effects may be anticipated or unanticipated, and positive or negative, at the level of the individual, household or the organization caused by on-going or completed development activities such as a project or program.An impact evaluation assesses the extent to which a project has caused desired/undesired changes in the intended users. It is concerned with the net impact of an intervention on individuals, households or institutions, attributable only and exclusively to that interventions (Baker, 2000). Thus, impact evaluation consists of assessing outcomes of research and developmental changes resulting from interventions.According to FAO (2000), impact assessment is done for several practical reasons: (1) accountability -to evaluate how well we have done in the past, to report to stakeholders on the return to their investment, and to underpin political support for continued investment; (2) improving project design and implementation -to learn lessons from past that can be applied in improving efficiency of research projects; and (3) planning and prioritizing -to assess likely future impacts of institutional actions and investment of resources, with results being used in resource allocation and prioritizing future projects and activities, and designing policies.Based on the time continuum, there are two types of impact assessment studies. Ex ante type is about assessing the impact of the likely future environments and of expected impacts from interventions. It is applied to assist in decisions on approval and funding of any project where as ex-post (which this study meant for) evaluates performance, achievements and impacts of the past activities of the project or program (FAO, 2000). The resulting information is used in accounting for the past use of resources, and as a useful input for future planning.According to Ponniah et al. (1996), comprehensive impact evaluation can be undertaken at two levels viz. people (household) and community.People level impact refers to the effect of the intervention on the ultimate users or target group for which the technology is developed and adopted. Impact begins to occur when there is a behavioral change among the potential users. The people level impact deals with the actual adoption of the appropriate technologies and subsequent effects on production, income, environment and/or whatever the development objective may be (Omoto, 2003). The people level impact can be economic, socio-economic, socio-cultural, and/or environmental.Economic impact measures the combined production and income effects associated with a set of research and development activities (Ponniah and Martella, 1999). The economic impact assessment studies range in scope and depth of evaluation from partial impact studies (adoption studies) to comprehensive assessment of economic impacts (FAO, 2000). One popular type of partial impact assessment is adoption studies that look at the effects of new technologies such as the spread of modern crop varieties on farm productivity and farmers' welfare. Economic impact assessments of the more comprehensive types look beyond mere yield and crop intensities to the wider economic effects of the adoption of new technology.Social impacts are important and need to be considered along with the economic and environmental impacts. Social impacts assessment include the effects of intervention of the project on the attitude, beliefs, resource distribution, status of women, income distribution, nutritional implications, institutional implications etc of the community. These can be assessed through socio-economic surveys and careful monitoring. Social impact has the potential to contribute greatly to the planning process of other types of development projects (FAO, 2000). It can assist in the process of evaluation of alternatives, and to help in their understanding and management of the process of social change.In many impact assessment studies these impact evaluations is rarely applied or overlooked especially in agricultural research and development programs and focusing usually on economic and environmental impacts. Only few economic studies have included social impact analysis through qualitative assessments (FAO, 2000).The importance of environment impact assessment is increasing in agricultural research and development interventions due to the growing concerns of land degradation, deforestation and loss of biodiversity around the world. However, there are few countries and research institutions that have formally assessed the environmental impacts associated with agricultural research projects (FAO, 2000).According North (1996), institutions are rules of game and organizations and their entrepreneurs are players. Increasing agricultural productivity, whilst strengthening local institutions, has long been an important goal of agricultural research and development.Organizations play an important role in meeting this goal by improving technologies and knowledge base of the biological, social, economic and political factors that govern the performance of an agricultural system, and by strengthening local institutions' capacity and performance. Most impact evaluation studies are often subjected to rigorous appraisals from economic and environmental perspectives, without giving due attention to the institutional aspect of the interventions (Ponniah et al., 1996).While economic ,environmental and social impact focuses on the impact evaluation of the technological outputs of research and development organizations in the form of new techniques, methods, information and practices of agricultural systems, institutional impact assessment involves the evaluation of the performance of an intervention in non-technical activities such as training, networking, facilitation, development of methodologies, and advisory services in the areas of research and other policies, organization and management.The concrete results and impacts of institutional development can be difficult to see and may take time to emerge. However, information, generated from institutional impact assessment has the great potential to lead to better, more effective actions and institutional performance of a research and development system (FAO, 2000). Institutional and organizational impact is measured in terms of changes in policy, institutional structure, networking, arrangements and achievements in human capacity buildings (Omoto, 2003). If one could observe the same individual at the same point in time, with and without the project, this would effectively account for any observed or unobserved intervening factors or contemporaneous events and the problem of endogeneity do not arise (Ravallion,2005;Gilligan et al.,2008). Since this is not happening in practice, something similar is done by identifying non-participating comparator groups identical in every way to the group that receives the intervention, except that comparator groups do not receive the intervention.To know the effect of a project on a participating individual, we must compare the observed outcome with the outcome that would have resulted had that individual not participated in the project. However, as stated earlier two outcomes cannot be observed for the same individual.In other words, only the factual outcome can be observed. Thus, the fundamental problem in any social project evaluation is the missing data problem (Bryson et al., 2002;Ravallion, 2005).Estimating the impact of a project requires separating its effect from intervening factors which may be correlated with the outcomes, but not caused by the project. To ensure methodological rigor, an impact evaluation must estimate the counterfactual, that is, what would have happened had the project never taken place (Baker, 2000). This task of \"netting out\" the effect of the project from other factors is facilitated if control groups are introduced or constructed form non-beneficiaries. Control groups consist of a comparator group of individuals or households who did not receive the treatment, but have similar characteristics as those receiving the intervention called the treatment groups, the only difference between groups is being project participation. The comparison group should be identical to the treatment group except that the treated group receives the intervention and the non treated ones do not. They make it possible to control for other factors that affect the outcome(confounding factor).Identifying these groups correctly is a key to identifying what would have occurred in the absence of the intervention (Ezemenari et al., 1999;Gilligan et al., 2008).However, this is difficult to achieve for two reasons. First, beneficiaries of the intervention may be selected on the basis of certain characteristics (purposive targeting) based. If these characteristics are observed then a comparison group with the same characteristics can be selected. But if they are unobserved then in principle only a randomized approach can eliminate selection bias. Second, the comparison group may be contaminated either by spillover effects from the intervention or a similar intervention being undertaken in the comparison area by another agency. If these differences that could arise from the non-random placement of the program and/or from the voluntary nature of participation in program (self-selection) is not properly accounted for, comparison of outcomes between program participants and non-participants is likely to yield biased estimates of program impact (Gilligan et al.,2008).In theory, evaluators could follow two main quantitative methods in establishing control and treatment groups namely randomization/pure experimental design and non-experimental/ quasi-experimental design. In practice, in the social sciences, the choice of a particular approach depends, among other things, on data availability, cost, and ethics to experiment (Yibeltal, 2008).Experimental designs, also known as randomization, are generally considered as the most robust of the evaluation methodologies (Baker, 2000). By randomly allocating the intervention among eligible beneficiaries, the assignment process itself creates comparable treatment and control groups that are statistically equivalent to one another, given appropriate sample sizes.In a randomized experiment, the treatment and control samples are randomly drawn from the same population. In other words, in a randomized experiment, individuals are randomly placed into two groups, namely, those that receive treatment and those that do not. In this case observable and unobservable characteristics get uncorrelated thus no selection bias problem arises. This allows the researcher to determine project impact by comparing means of outcome variable for the two groups which yields an unbiased estimate of impact (Nssah, 2006).According to Ezemenari et al. (1999), a random assignment of individuals to treatment and non-treatment groups ensures that on average any difference in outcomes of the two groups after the intervention can be attributed to the intervention (i.e. both observed and unobserved characteristics is the same for both the treated and the control group).Random assignment ensures the two groups are statistically similar (drawn from same distribution) in both observable and unobservable characteristics, thus avoiding program placement and self-selection biases (Bernard et al., 2010). If implemented appropriately, this design ensures that potential confounders are balanced across program (intervention) and control units and therefore any differences in the outcomes between the two can be attributed to the program.Although experimental designs are considered the optimum approach to estimate project/program impact, in practice, there are several problems. It is not feasible in demanddriven programs in which participants make their own decisions of whether to participate and about the kind of activities to do in the learning process (Ravillion, 2005;Bernard et al., 2010). Baker (2000), also argues that individuals in control groups may change certain identifying characteristics during the experiment that could invalidate or contaminate the results. Moreover, experimental designs can be expensive and time consuming in certain situations, particularly in the collection of new or raw dataQuasi-experimental (nonrandom) methods can be used to carry out an evaluation when it is not possible to construct treatment and comparison groups through experimental design. For projects that are often setup intentionally, it is common to only have access to a single crosssectional survey done after the project is introduced (Jalan and Ravallion, 2003). These techniques generate comparison groups that resemble the treatment group, at least in observed characteristics, through econometric methodologies which include matching methods, double difference methods, and reflexive comparisons.When these techniques are used, the treatment and comparison groups are usually selected after the intervention by using nonrandom methods. In some cases a comparison group is also chosen before treatment, though the selection is not randomized. Therefore, statistical controls must be applied to address differences between the treatment and comparison groups and sophisticated matching techniques must be used to construct a comparison group that is as similar as possible to the treatment group (Gilligan et al., 2008).A quasi-experimental method is the only alternative when neither a baseline survey nor randomizations are feasible options (Jalan and Ravallion, 2003). The main benefit of quasi-experimental designs are that they can draw on existing data sources and are thus often quicker and cheaper to implement, and they can be performed after a project has been implemented, given sufficient existing data. The principal disadvantages of quasiexperimental techniques are that (a) the reliability of the results is often reduced as the methodology is less robust statistically; (b) the methods can be statistically complex and data demanding; and (c) there is a problem of selection bias. This study employed this method as there is no base line data and as the project placement is not random.The central methodological challenge in non-experimental evaluation method is that examining outcome response of an intervention involves distilling the effect of intervention per se from that of the factors that affect individuals (Foster, 2003). There are different econometric approach that has been used to avoid or reduce this problem.Method in which one compares a treatment and comparison group (first difference) before and after a project (second difference). Comparators should be dropped when propensity scores are used and if they have scores outside the range observed for the treatment group. In this case potential participants are identified and data are collected from them. However, only a random sub-sample of these individuals is actually allowed to participate in the project. The identified participants who do not actually participate in the project form the counterfactual (Jalan and Ravallion, 1999;Baker, 2000).With this method program impacts are estimated by calculating the difference in outcomes between treatment and control groups after program implementation minus the difference in outcomes between treatment and control groups prior to the implementation. Often, we refer to this double difference or this simple comparison-in-means as the difference-indifference (DID) estimator.The strength of the panel-based-DID estimator comes from its intuitive appeal and simplicity.It can derive an estimate of the impact by comparing the treatment and control groups using the post treatment data (second difference), after we use the pre-treatment data to equate treatment and control groups (first difference). In addition to this, DID estimates are known to be less subject to selection bias because they remove the effect of any unobserved timeinvariant differences between the treatment and comparison groups.However, there are at least two disadvantages that relate to the very simplicity of such a panel based impact assessment. First, constructing panel data sets can be expensive, time consuming, and logistically challenging particularly because we need to collect baseline and follow-up data that straddle the implementation of a program. Second, the design assumes that the potential selection bias (i.e., due to administrative targeting or volunteering) is linear and time invariant such that it can be subtracted off in the first differencing (Jalan and Ravallion, 1999). However, these assumptions might be violated if the time period between two panel data sets is long enough so that the unobservable variables of subjects are altered. In addition, the unobservable variables can be changed as the subjects participate in the program which leads the estimate to be biased.A reflexive comparison: Methods in which a baseline survey of participants is done before the intervention and a follow-up survey, is done after. Here, Participants who receive the intervention are compared to themselves before and after receiving the intervention. The counterfactual group is the set of participating individuals themselves (Jalan and Ravallion, 1999;Baker, 2000).Propensity Score Matching: Among quasi-experimental design techniques, matchedcomparison techniques are generally considered a second-best alternative to experimental design (Baker, 2000). Intuitively, PSM tries to create the observational analogue of an experiment in which everyone has the same probability of participation. The difference is that in PSM it is the conditional probability (P(X)) that is intended to be uniform between participants and matched comparators, while randomization assures that the participant and comparison groups are identical in terms of the distribution of all characteristics whether observed or not. Hence there are always concerns about remaining selection bias in PSM estimates (Ravallion, 2005).On the other hand researchers also usually applied ordinary regression in adjusting preexisting differences treated and comparison households. Although common, such an approach has some limitations. The first is that regression generally assumes a set of linear relationships between the covariates and the outcome of interest. A second, more subtle problem involves the so called common support or distribution of the covariates (Ravallion, 2005). Not only high-and low-treatment groups differ in terms of the means of those variables, but the distribution of those variables could overlap relatively little. In that case, regression essentially projects the behavior of individuals in one group outside the observed range to form a comparison for the other at common values of the covariate. Such projections can be highly sensitive to functional form (Foster, 2003).An alternative to econometric regression is statistical matching methods. With this method meaningful counterfactual (control) group is selected among a large group of nonparticipants, which is identical to the participating group (Bryson et al., 2002;Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008) to match the characteristics of the project population (causality of potential outcomes) as closely as possible. It matches control groups to treatment groups on the basis of observed characteristics or by a propensity (to participate) score; the closer this score, the better the match. A good control group is from the same economic environment and is asked the same questions by similar interviewers as the treatment group. In recent years there have been substantial advances in PSM technique applications (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1985;Jalan and Ravallion, 1999).Unlike econometric regression methods, PSM compares only comparable observations and does not rely on parametric assumptions to identify the impacts of projects and it does not impose a functional form of the outcome, thereby avoiding assumptions on functional form and error term distributions, e.g., linearity imposition, multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity issues. In addition, the matching method emphasizes the problem of common support, thereby avoiding the bias due to extrapolation to non-data region. Results from the matching method are easy to explain to policy makers, since the idea of comparison of similar group is quite intuitive.Matching the treated and the control subjects becomes difficult when there is a multidimensional vector of characteristics (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983). The PSM solves this type of problem by summarizing the pre-treatment characteristics of each subject into a single index variable, and then using the propensity score (PS) to match similar individuals. This constitutes the probability of assignment to treatment conditional on pre-treatment variables (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983).Matching estimates is more reliable if: (i) participants and controls have the same distribution of unobserved characteristics; (ii) they have the same distribution of observed characteristics;(iii) the same questionnaire is administered to both groups; and (iv) treated and control households are from the same economic environment. In the absence of these features, the difference between the mean impact of the participants and the matched non-participants is biased estimate of the mean impact of the project (Jalan and Ravallion, 1999).PSM is not without its potentially problematic assumptions and implementation challenges.First, PSM requires large amounts of data both on the universe of variables that could potentially confound the relationship between outcome and intervention, and on large numbers of observations to maximize efficiency (Bernard et al., 2010) .Second, related to the previous point we can never be entirely sure that we have actually included all relevant covariates in the first stage of the matching model and effectively satisfied the conditional independence assumption (CIA). Furthermore, PSM is non-parametric: we do not make any functional form assumptions regarding the average differences in the outcome. Although the first stage involves specification choices -e.g., functional form like logit and probit, empirical analyses tend to find impact estimates that are reasonably robust to different functional forms.Moreover, if unobservable characteristics also affect the outcomes, PSM approach is unable to address this bias (Ravallion, 2005).Irrespective of its shortcomings, PSM is extensively used in the recent literature on economic impact evaluation (Jalan and Ravallion 2003). It is very appealing to evaluators with time constraints and working without the benefit of baseline data given that it can be used with a single cross-section of data, where this study envisaged to employ.Due to dearth of available information on effect of market development intervention studies, only application of the model used by different researcher is discussed.A number of researchers have applied this semi parametric model to evaluate social programs both in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world. Below are some of the recent studies who have applied PSM in program evaluations particularly in Ethiopia. Fitsum et al, (2006), used PSM in order to analyze the impact of small scale water harvesting on household poverty in Tigray .The main objective here was to assess whether households with ponds and wells are better off compared to those without. Results show that households with ponds and wells are not significantly better off compared to households without, even though they are comparable in essential household characteristics. Yebeltal (2008), applied the model to assess the impact of Integrated Food Security Program in Ibant district of Amahara region. The study found that the program has increased participating households' calorie intake by 30% (i.e., 698 calories) compared to that of nonparticipating households.In assessing the impact of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia on livestock and tree holdings of rural households, Andersson et al. (2009), have applied PSM model. They found that there was no indication that participation in PSNP leads households to disinvest in livestock or trees. In fact, the number of trees increased for households that participated in the program. It could be the case that participation in PSNP (where tree planting and subsequent forest management work on public lands are usual activities) leads to households becoming more skilled in forestry, and that they switch to increased forest planting as a result.In analyzing the impact of social protection on food security and coping mechanisms in Ethiopia's productive safety nets program, Gilligan et al. (2008), used PSM methods and they found that participation in the public works component of the PSNP (defined as receipt of at least 100 Birr) in payments over the first five months has modest effects. It improves food security by 0.40 months and increases growth in livestock holdings by 0.28 Tropical Livestock Units (TLU). It leads to an increase of 4.4 percentage points in the likelihood that a household is forced to make a distress asset sale. Bernard et al. (2010), applied PSM in assessing the impact of cooperatives on smallholders' commercialization of staple crops using the output price offered and proportion of output sold as indicators. They found that cooperatives deliver, on average, 7 percent price premium for their members' output, relative to what these farmers would have received had they decided to market their output individually. On the other hand, the quantity of grain coming to market from this smallholder farmer is less than it would be without the cooperative's services.IPMS project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), was implemented since 2006/7 to assist the MoARD in the transformation of smallholder farmers from a predominantly subsistence oriented agriculture to a more market oriented (commercial) oriented agriculture. It has been implemented by ILRI Ethiopia on behalf of MOARD in four major regions (viz. Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and SNNP). The project adopted a participatory market oriented commodity value chain approach which is based on innovation systems and value chain concepts. Crucial elements in the approach are the value chain instead of a production focus, the linking and capacitating of value chain partners and the assessment, synthesis and sharing of knowledge among the partners, participatory commodity development. The project introduced this approach in 10 Pilot Learning Woredas (PLWS) in Ethiopia with the objective of testing/adopting the approach so that the respective PLW best practice can be scaled up/out nationwide.At the PLW level, the program was implemented by existing public and private institutions, including extension/advisory services, agricultural input/service suppliers, credit institutions, cooperatives and private traders. An important aspect of the project was providing these institutions with new ideas and best practices from Consultative Groups (CG) centers and other institutions outside of Ethiopia in addition to the existing institutions in the country. The project's role in the PLW is to facilitate access to agricultural innovations -technologies, policies and processes as well as strengthening the capacity of institutions to better serve farmers and communities (IPMS, 2007).In Gomma PLW, the project integrates coffee, fruit, apiculture Gomma woreda is one of the 13 woredas in Jimma zone known for predominantly growing coffee. It is located 390 km south west of Addis Ababa and about 50 km west of the Jimma town. One of the coffee biodiversity centers in Ethiopia is found in this woreda. There are 36 peasant associations and 3 towns. The number of agricultural households in the district is 45,567 of which 35,533 are male headed and 10,034, female headed (IPMS, 2007). The total population of the district was 21662 of which 110,448 are males and 106,174 females (CSA, 2007). Gomma is the second most densely populated district in the zone with the total area 96,361.72 ha (96.4 km2) including the two coffee state farms which cover an area of 2704 ha.The woreda has two farming system namely shaded coffee/livestock farming system and cereal/livestock. Thirty-two of the 36 PAs belong to the coffee/livestock farming system.More than 92% of the people in the woreda live in this farming system. On the other hand, cereal/livestock farming system consists of four PAs among the total PAs.The average annual rainfall of the district is 1524 mm with low variability. It is bimodaly distributed in which the small rains are from March to April and the main rainy season lasts from June to October. Hence, crop and livestock production is not constrained by the amount and distribution of rainfall.Agro ecologically, Gomma woreda is classified as 96% Wet Weina Dega (Wet Midland) and and 4% Kolla (lowland). Altitude in Gomma ranges from 1387 to 2870 metres above sea level (masl). Most parts of the woreda lie between 1387 and 2067 masl.The three dominant soil types are Eutric Vertisols, Humic alisols and Humic Nitosols. Among these soil types, Nitosols is the most abundant covering about 90% of the woreda. These soils are young soils and are generally acidic soils. However, farmers grow crops that are acid tolerant. The pH of the soils in Gomma ranges between 4.5 and 5.5. However, the commonly observed problem related to aluminum and magnesium toxicity as a result of low pH is minimal. There are about 5 rivers in the woreda. Even though available land and water resources offer high potential for irrigation development in Gomma, the present utilization level is very poor (IPMS, 2007). Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from secondary and primary sources.Secondary data relevant to this study were collected from Gomma office of agriculture and rural development, Gomma based PLW and other relevant organizations. Primary data were elicited from the respondents using formal and informal survey.Both primary and secondary data sources were used for this study. The primary data needed for the study were obtained from randomly selected farm households. A two stage sampling technique was adopted to generate the required primary data. First 5PAs were selected purposively from 20 project target PAs. Then households were stratified as program participant and non-participants in the selected PAs. Finally, probability proportional to the size was employed to select 100 households from participants and 100 households from nonparticipants which totally constitute the size of the sample to 200.Then after, a structured household questionnaire was administered to 200 sampled households of participant and non-participant households in the selected kebeles 1 . In doing so, training was given to enumerators about the questionnaire and follow up was made to ensure that the process of data collection was smooth. The survey questionnaire was pre-tested before full scale data collection in order to clarify issues in the questionnaire if any. Finally, the survey was conducted from December, 2009 to January, 2010.The survey questionnaire was designed to elicit information from a variety of topics including on household resource endowments, access to markets, agricultural services and demographic characteristics of the respondents both at the time of the survey as well as before-interventions of the program using recall methods. Respondents were asked to recall information on easily remembered household characteristics.In fact, while some household characteristics such as sex are time-invariant, one can easily trace-down pre-intervention characteristics on age, and education given current information questionnaire was designed to elicit information from a variety of topics including on household resource endowments. In addition to formal survey, informal survey was undertaken using PRA tools in different villages of the woreda. Accordingly, community discussions at four different kebeles were undertaken in order to understand the overall community situations and insights about the project activities, its performance, limitations and strength. This information also helps to provide critical insights into beneficiaries' perspectives, the value of projects to beneficiaries, the processes that may have affected outcomes, and a deeper interpretation of results observed in quantitative analysis (Baker, 2000). Furthermore, interview with experts working in collaboration with the project like woreda level agriculture office working on different commodities of intervention were made to broaden the qualitative data base of the study and to enrich the interpretations of the result of quantitative result .Information on changes in organizational and institutional aspect of agricultural market in the woreda were collected from the community using FGD, interviewing for experts in different organizations in the district and reference made to secondary sources which were described and explained qualitatively. This information also used to augment the quantitative analysis results.Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, percentages, graphs and cross tabulations were used in analyzing the data.One of the critical problems in non experimental methods is the presence of selection bias which could arise mainly from nonrandom location of the project and the nonrandom selection of participant households that makes evaluation problematic (Heckman et al., 1998).According to Bernard et al. (2010), there are three potential source of bias. The first one is that participant households may significantly differ from nonparticipants in community as well as household level due to observable characteristics((such as geographic remoteness, or a household's physical and human capital stock) that may have a direct effect on outcome of interest. Secondly, the difference arises due to unobservable community level characteristic.For instance, the existence of a project may be in part driven by particularly dynamic local leaders at community level. At the household level, a household's expected benefits, its entrepreneurial spirit, or its relationship with other program/project may significantly influence behavior. Thirdly, externalities (spillover effect) exerted by project on nonparticipants.As a result of the above problems, differences between participants and non-participants may, either totally or partially, reflect initial differences between the two groups rather than the effects of participating in the market interventions.PSM controls for the households' observable characteristics by comparing the outcomes of program participants with those of matched non-participants, based on similarity in observed characteristics which minimizes the first bias. If not feasible to control for these characteristics, PSM estimation become biased. Having control households from the same communities as program beneficiaries helps to reduce the risks of such bias. However, removing unobservable characteristic remains the main problem of this method.As Ravallion (2005), argues contamination of the control group can be hard to avoid due to the responses of markets and governments. For instance, Bernard et al. (2010), minimize the effect of spillover effect on comparison group by comparing cooperative members to similar households located in other kebeles where there are no cooperatives. Nevertheless, as argued by Heckman et al. (1998), treatment and comparison households should operate in the same markets and should have come from similar agro-ecology (from sufficiently close locations) and socioeconomic conditions in order to ensure the validity of PSM method.In order to achieve objectives 2-5, PSM non-experimental method was employed to know the impact of market development interventions made by IPMS on different outcome variables. It is chosen among other non experimental methods because it does not require baseline data, the treatment assignment is not random and considered as second-best alternative to experimental design in minimizing selection biases mentioned above (Baker, 2000).In our case estimating the effect of household's participation in the markets developed by IPMS interventions on a given outcome (Y) is specified as:Where ߬ ݅ is treatment effect (effect due to participation in the specific market), Y i is the outcome on household i , D i is whether household i has got the treatment or not (i.e., whether a household participated in the market development interventions facilitated by IPMS or not).However, one should notice that Y i ሺD i ൌ 1ሻ and Y i ሺD i ൌ 0ሻ cannot be observed for the same household at the same time. Depending on the position of the household in the treatment This measure answers the question what would be the effect if households in the population were randomly assigned to treatment. But, Heckman et al. (1997), note, that this estimate might not be of importance to policy makers because it includes the effect for whom the intervention was never intended. Therefore, the most important evaluation parameter is the so called Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT), which concentrates solely on the effects on those for whom the program/interventions are actually introduced. In the sense that this parameter focuses directly on those households who participated, it determines the realized impact from the program and helping to decide whether the program is successful or not. It is given by: Conditional Independence Assumption is given asWhere ٣ indicates independence, -is a set of observable characteristics, nonparticipants. Given a set of observable covariates ( ) which are not affected by treatment (in our case, participating in market development), potential outcomes (input use intensity, level of productivity, income, etc) are independent of treatment assignment (independent of how the market participation decision is made by the household). This assumption implies that the selection is solely based on observable characteristics ( ), and variables that influence treatment assignment (market participation decision is made by the household) and potential outcomes (input use intensity, productivity level, income) are simultaneously observed (Bryson et al., 2002;Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). Hence, after adjusting for observable differences, the mean of the potential outcome is the same for D = 1 and D = 0 and EሺY /D ൌ 1, Xሻ ൌ EሺY /D ൌ 0, Xሻ.Instead of conditioning on X, Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983), suggest conditioning on a propensity score (propensity score matching). The propensity score is defined as the probability of participation for household i given a set which is households characteristics PሺXሻ ൌ prሺD ൌ 1/Xሻ. Propensity scores is derived from discrete choice model, and then used to construct the comparison groups. Matching the probability of participation, given covariates solves the problem of selection bias using PSM (Liebenehm et al., 2009). The distribution of observables is the same for both participants and non-participants given that the propensity score is balancing score (Liebenehm et al., 2009). If outcomes without the intervention are independent of participation given , then they are also independent of participation given . This reduces a multidimensional matching problem to a single dimensional problem. Due to this, differences between the two groups are reduced to only the attribute of treatment assignment, and unbiased impact estimate can be produced (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983).The common support is the region where the balancing score has positive density for both treatment and comparison units. This assumption rules out perfect predictability of D given That is:This assumption improves the quality of the matches as it excludes the tails of the distribution of ሺXሻ , though this is done at the cost that sample may be considerably reduced. Yet, nonparametric matching methods can only be meaningfully applied over regions of overlapping support .No matches can be formed to estimate the parameters when there is no overlap between the treatment and comparison groups. It also guarantees an individual with identical observable characteristics to have a positive probability of belonging both to the participants and control group (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983).Given the above assumptions, the PSM estimator of ATT can be written as:Where pሺxሻ is the propensity score computed on the covariates Equation ( 7) is explained as;the PSM estimator is the mean difference in outcomes over the common support, appropriately weighted by the propensity score distribution of participants.According to Caliendo and Kopeinig (2008), there are steps in implementing PSM. These are estimation of the propensity scores using binary model, choosing a matching algorism, checking on common support condition, testing the matching quality.First the propensity score was obtained using either logit or probit models to predict the probability of participation of household. According to Gujarati (1999), both provide similar results. Thus, for comparative computational simplicity logit model was used to estimate propensity scores using households pre-intervention characteristics (Rosenbaum and Robin, 1983) and matching is then performed using propensity scores of each observable characteristics, which must be unaffected by the intervention. These characteristics include covariates variables that influence the participation decisions and the outcome of interest. The coefficients are used to calculate a propensity score, and participants matched with nonparticipants based on having similar propensity scores.In estimating the logit model, the dependent variable is market development interventions by IPMS, which takes the value of 1 if a household participated in the specific market and 0 otherwise. The mathematical formulation of logit model is as follows:Where, P ୧ is the probability of participation for the i th household and it ranges from 0-1 : is a function of N-explanatory variables which is also expressed as:Where, = 1, 2, 3, ---, n = intercept =regression coefficients to be estimated or logit parameter = a disturbance term, and =pre-intervention characteristics.The probability that a household belongs to non participant is:Therefore, the odds ratio can be written as:Now is simply the odds ratio in favor of participating in market development interventions. It is the ratio of the probability that the household would participate in the market development interventions to the probability that he/she would not participate in the market. Finally, by taking the natural log of equation ( 11) the log of odds ratio can be written as:Where ‫݅ܮ‬ is log of the odds ratio in favor of participation in the market development, which is not only linear in , but also linear in the parameters.Estimation of the propensity score per se is not enough to estimate the ATT of interest. This is due to the fact that propensity score is a continuous variable and the probability of observing two units with exactly the same propensity score is, in principle, zero. Various matching algorithms have been proposed in the literature to overcome this problem. The methods differ from each other with respect to the way they select the control units that are matched to the treated, and with respect to the weights they attribute to the selected controls when estimating the counterfactual outcome of the treated. However, they all provide consistent estimates of the ATT under the CIA and the overlap condition (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). Below, only the most commonly applied matching estimators are described.Nearest Neighbor (NN) Matching: It is the most straightforward matching estimator. In NN matching, an individual from a comparison group is chosen as a matching partner for a treated individual that is closest in terms of propensity score (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). NN matching can be done with or without replacement options. In the case of the NN matching with replacement, a comparison individual can be matched to more than one treatment individuals, which would result in increased quality of matches and decreased precision of estimates. On the other hand, in the case of NN matching without replacement, a comparison individual can be used only once. Matching without replacement increases bias but it could improve the precision of the estimates. In cases where the treatment and comparison units are very different, finding a satisfactory match by matching without replacement can be very problematic (Dehejia and Wahba, 2002). It means that by matching without replacement, when there are few comparison units similar to the treated units, we may be forced to match treated units to comparison units that are quite different in terms of the estimated propensity score.The above discussion tells that NN matching faces the risk of bad matches, if the closest neighbor is far away. To overcome this problem researchers use the second alternative matching algorism called caliper matching. Caliper matching means that an individual from the comparison group is chosen as a matching partner for a treated individual that lies within a given caliper (propensity score range) and is closest in terms of propensity score (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). If the dimension of the neighborhood is set to be very small, it is possible that some treated units are not matched because the neighborhood does not contain a control unit. One problem in caliper matching is that it is difficult to know a priori what choice for the tolerance level is reasonable.Kernel Matching: This is another matching method whereby all treated units are matched with a weighted average of all controls with weights which are inversely proportional to the distance between the propensity scores of treated and controls (Becker and Ichino, 2002).Kernel weights the contribution of each comparison group member so that more importance is attached to those comparators providing a better match. The difference from caliper matching, however, is that those who are included are weighted according to their proximity with respect to the propensity score. The most common approach is to use the normal distribution (with a mean of zero) as a kernel, where the weight attached to a particular comparator is proportional to the frequency of the distribution for the difference in scores observed (Bryson et al., 2002).According to Caliendo and Kopeinig (2008), a drawback of this method is that possibly bad matches are used as the estimator includes comparator observations for all treatment observation. Hence, the proper imposition of the common support condition is of major importance for kernel matching method. A practical objection to its use is that it will often not be obvious how to set the tolerance. However, according to Mendola (2007), kernel matching with 0.25 band width is most commonly used.. The question remains on how and which method to select. Clearly, there is no single answer to this question. The choice of a given matching estimator depends on the nature of the available data set (Bryson et al., 2002). In other words, it should be clear that there is no `winner' for all situations and that the choice of a matching estimator crucially depends on the situation at hand. The choice of a specific method depends on the data in question, and in particular on the degree of overlap between the treatment and comparison groups in terms of the propensity score. When there is substantial overlap in the distribution of the propensity score between the comparison and treatment groups, most of the matching algorithms yield similar results (Dehejia and Wahba, 2002).Imposing a common support condition ensures that any combination of characteristics observed in the treatment group can also be observed among the control group (Bryson et al., 2002). The common support region is the area which contains the minimum and maximum propensity scores of treatment and control group households, respectively. Comparing the incomparable must be avoided, i.e. only the subset of the comparison group that is comparable to the treatment group should be used in the analysis. Hence, an important step is to check the overlap and the region of common support between treatment and comparison group. One means to determine the region of common support more precisely is by comparing the minima and maxima of the propensity score in both groups. The basic criterion of this approach is to delete all observations whose propensity score is smaller than the minimum and larger than the maximum in the opposite group. Observations which lie outside this region are discarded from analysis (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). No matches can be made to estimate the average treatment effects on the ATT parameter when there is no overlap between the treatment and non-treatment groups.Since we do not condition on all covariates but on the propensity score, it has to be checked if the matching procedure is able to balance the distribution of the relevant variables in both the control and treatment group. The main purpose of the propensity score matching is not to perfectly predict selection into treatment but to balance all covariates. While differences in covariates are expected before matching, these should be avoided after matching. The primary purpose of the PSM is that it serves as a balancing method for covariates between the two groups. Consequently, the idea behind balancing tests is to check whether the propensity score is adequately balanced. In other words, a balancing test seeks to examine if at each value of the propensity score, a given characteristic has the same distribution for the treated and comparison groups. The basic idea of all approaches is to compare the situation before and after matching and check if there remain any differences after conditioning on the propensity score (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983), Dehejia and Wahba (2002), emphasized that the crucial issue is to ensure whether the balancing condition is satisfied or not because it reduces the influence of confounding variables.There are different approaches in applying the method of covariate balancing (i.e., the equality of the means on the scores and all the covariates) between treated and non-treated individuals. Among different procedures the most commonly applied ones are described below.One suitable indicator to assess the distance in marginal distributions of the X variables is the standardized bias (SB) suggested by Rosenbaum and Rubin (1985).It is used to quantify the bias between treated and control groups. For each variable and propensity score, the standardized bias is computed before and after matching as:Where ܺ ଵ and ܺ are the sample means for the treatment and control groups, and ሺ‫ݒ‬ ଵ ሺܺሻ and ‫ݒ‬ ሺܺሻ are the corresponding variance (Caliendo and Kopeining, 2008).The bias reduction (BR) can be computed as:One possible problem with the SB approach is that one does not have a clear indication for the success of the matching procedure.A two-sample t-test to check if there are significant differences in covariate means for both groups (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1985). Before matching differences are expected, but after matching the covariates should be balanced in both groups and hence no significant differences should be found. The t-test might be preferred if the evaluator is concerned with the statistical significance of the results. The shortcoming here is that the bias reduction before and after matching is not clearly visible.Sianesi ( 2004), suggests re-estimating the propensity score on the matched sample, i.e. only on participants and matched nonparticipants, and comparing the pseudo-R 2 s before and after matching. The pseudo-R 2 indicates how well the regressors X explain the participation probability. After matching there should be no systematic differences in the distribution of covariates between both groups and therefore the pseudo-R 2 should be fairly low.Furthermore, one can also perform a likelihood ratio test on the joint significance of all covariates in the probit or logit model. The test should not be rejected before, and should be rejected after, matching.In our case, in order to test the matching quality of matching estimators the combinations of the above procedures were applied.Testing the statistical significance of treatment effects and computing their standard errors is not a straightforward thing to do. The problem is that the estimated variance of the treatment effect should also include the variance due to the estimation of the propensity score, the imputation of the common support, and possibly also the order in which treated individuals are matched. These estimation steps add variation beyond the normal sampling variation (Heckman et al., 1998). For example, in the case of NN matching with one nearest neighbor, treating the matched observations as given understate the standard errors.Bootstrapping: Standard errors in psmatch2 are invalid, since they do not take into account the estimation uncertainty involved in the probit/logit regressions (pscore). One way to deal with this problem is to use bootstrapping as suggested by Lechner (2002). This method is a popular way to estimate standard errors in case analytical estimates are biased or unavailable.Recently it has been widely applied in most of economic literatures in impact estimation procedures. Each bootstrap draw includes the re-estimation of the results, including the first steps of the estimation (propensity score, common support). Bootstrap standard errors attempted to incorporate all sources of error that could influence the estimates. Abadie and Imbens (2006), argue that using the bootstrap after nearest neighbor matching, until recently a common approach to estimating standard errors in evaluation studies, does not yield valid estimates .In other words, bootstrapping estimate of standard errors is invalid for nearest neighbor matching selection. Thus, calculating analytical standard error is applicable here. Bootstrapping standard errors for kernel matching estimators is not subject to this criticism because the number of observations used in the match increases with the sample size.The distribution of these means approximate the sampling distribution and thus the standard error of the population mean. Clearly, one practical problem arises because bootstrapping is very time-consuming, computationally expensive and might therefore not be feasible in some cases (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008).Recently checking the sensitivity of the estimated results becomes an increasingly important topic in the applied evaluation literatures (Caliendo and Kopeining, 2008).Matching method is based on the conditional independence or unconfoundedness assumption, which states that evaluator, should observe all variables simultaneously influencing the participation decision and outcome variables. This assumption is intrinsically non-testable because the data are uninformative about the distribution of the untreated outcome for treated units and vice versal (Becker and Caliendo, 2007). As outlined in equation ( 5) that the estimation of treatment effects with matching estimators is based on the unconfoundedness or selection on observables assumption. However, if there are unobserved variables which affect assignment into treatment and the outcome variable simultaneously, a 'hidden bias' might arise (Rosenbaum, 2002). In other word, if treatment and outcomes are also influenced by unobservable characteristics, then CIA fails and the estimation of ATTs are biased. The size of the bias depends on the strength of the correlation between the unobservable factors, on the one hand, and treatment and outcomes, on the other.It should be clear that matching estimators are not robust against this 'hidden biases. Different researchers become increasingly aware that it is important to test the robustness of results to departures from the identifying assumption. Since it is not possible to estimate the magnitude of selection bias with non-experimental data, the problem can be addressed by sensitivity analysis. Rosenbaum (2002), proposes using Rosenbaum bounding approach in order to check the sensitivity of the estimated ATT with respect to deviation from the CIA. The basic question to be answered here is whether inference about treatment effects may be altered by unobserved factors. In other words, one wants to determine how strongly an unmeasured variable must influence the selection process in order to undermine the implications of matching analysis.The bounding approach does not test the unconfoundedness assumption itself, because this would amount to test that there are no (unobserved) variables that influence the selection into treatment. Instead, Rosenbaum bounds provide evidence on the degree to which any significance results hinge on this untestable assumption. If the results turn out to be sensitive, the evaluator might have to think about the validity of his identifying assumption and consider other estimation strategies.As noted above, it is not possible to estimate the magnitude of selection bias using observational data, instead the sensitivity analysis using the bounding approach that involves calculating upper and lower bounds, using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. This rank tests the null hypothesis of no-treatment effect for different hypothesized values of unobserved selection bias.The central assumption of the analysis is that treatment assignment is not unconfounded given the set of covariates , i.e., that equation ( 5) no longer holds. In addition, it is assumed that the CIA holds given and an unobserved binary variable : In other words the probability of participation F(⋅) needs to be complemented by a vector U containing all unobservable variables and their effects on the probability of participation captured by .Where ߛ is the effect of on the probability of participation in the program. Assuming that F follows logistic distribution, the odds ratio of two matched individuals (let say m and n), who are identical in observable characteristics, receiving the treatment written as:Equation ( 16) states that two units with the same differ in their odds of receiving the treatment by a factor that involves the parameter and the difference in their unobserved covariates . As long as the there is no difference in between the two individuals or if the unobserved covariates have no influence on the probability of participation ( = 0). This happens if the probability of participation will only be determined by the vector and the selection process is random. >0 implies that two individuals with the same observed characteristics have different chances of participating in the program due unobserved selection bias. In our sensitivity analysis, we examined how strong the influence of or ( U ୫ െ U ୬ ) on the participation process needs in order to attenuate the impact of market development on potential outcomes.Following Rosenbaum (2002), equation ( 16) can be rewritten as:Both matched individuals have the same probability of participating only if ݁ ఊ =1 provided that they are identical in . Consequently there will be no selection bias on unobservable covariates. If =2, one of the matched individuals may be twice as likely to participate as the other agent (Rosenbaum, 2002). If is close to one and changes the inference about the treatment effect, the impact of participation on potential outcomes, the estimated effect is said to be sensitive to hidden bias. In contrast, insensitive treatment effects would be obtained if a large value does not alter the inference about treatment effects. In this sense, can be interpreted as a measure of the degree of departure from a study that is free of unobservable selection bias (Rosenbaum, 2002). Several values of bounds are calculated on the significance level, and hence, the null hypothesis of no effect of treatment on potential outcomes, is then tested.Eventually, using predicted probabilities of participation in the program (i.e. propensity score) match pairs are constructed using alternative methods of matching estimators. Then the impact estimation is the difference between simple mean of outcome variable of interest for participant and non participant households.The difference involvement in market development by IPMS project between treatment and matched control households is then computed. The ATT is obtained by averaging these differences in market development outcomes (ܻ ) across the k matched pairs of households as follows:A positive (negative) value of ATT suggests that households who have participated in market development have higher (lower) of outcome variable non-participants.In the estimation of the propensity score, we are not interested in the effects of covariates on the propensity score because the purpose of our work is to assess the impact of market development interventions by IPMS project on outcome variables. However, the choice of covariates to be included in the first step (propensity score estimation) is an issue. Heckman et al. (1997) argue that omitting important variables can increase the bias in the resulting estimation. In our particular case, variables that determine households' decision to participate in the markets developed by the IPMS project could also affect the outcome variable mentioned above. Here, pre-intervention characteristics, which bring variation in outcomes of interest among program participants and non-participants, were used. In other word, variables which are not affected by being participate in the program or not or those explanatory variables which are fixed throughout are assumed to be used as explanatory variables.There are no general rules for which variables to include in the model (Anderson et al., 2009).However, the evaluator is guided by economic theory and empirical studies to know which observables (explanatory variables) affect both participation and the outcomes of interest (Bryson et al., 2002).Accordingly, different socioeconomic, demographic, institutional and location factors were identified below. Intensification and productivity: This is one of the outcome variables which is measured by the quantity of inputs used for the market oriented commodities of interventions. There are various inputs type supplied by the private traders and sold to the participant households which are necessary for the production, maintenance and management of commodities. In addition to this, extra labor is required in addition to the family labor especially for coffee commodity especially during peak season (picking, harvesting and processing red cherry).Moreover labor is required for land clearing, preparation and transplanting coffee plants.Thus, intensity of labor use is also measured using person days.As input use is increasing the productivity of the commodity usually increases. For food crops especially, and other commodities the effect of an increment in input use is immediately reflected in improvement in the productivity which is usually after one year. Nevertheless, for the perennial crops like coffee and fruits the resulting productivity might not immediately be On the other hand, Berhanu and Dirk (2008), used the proportion of households producing market oriented crop and the proportion of land allocated to them as indicators of level of market orientation in studying market orientation of smallholders in selected grains in Ethiopia.In our study we used the proportion of area under coffee commodity as market oriented indicator. The proportion of sample household possessing improved hives (Kenya Top bar and modern hives) was the other market orientation indicators for the apiculture development intervention. Similarly, number of sheep allocated for fattening either from their own or purchase is an indicator of market orientation for sheep fattening commodity.Before proceeding to estimate the data using logit model, different tests were undertaken. One of the tests is checking the existence of multicolinrarity between explanatory variables. The presence of multicollinearity among the variables seriously affects the parameter estimates of any regression model. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) technique was employed to detect the problem of multicollinearity for the continuous variables (Gujarati, 2004). VIF can be defined as;Where is the squared multiple correlation coefficient between and other explanatory variables. The larger the value of VIF, the more troublesome it is. As a rule of thumb if a VIF of a variable exceeeds10, the variable is said to be highly collinear.Similarly, for dummy variables contingency coefficients test were employed using the following formulaWhere C is contingency coefficient, is the chi-square value and n=total sample size. For dummy variables if the value of contingency coefficients is greater than 0.75 the variable is said to be collinear.Heteroscedasticity exists when the variances of all observations are not the same, leading to consistent but inefficient parameter estimates. More importantly, the biases in estimated standard error may lead to invalid inferences (White, 1980). Heteroscedasticity was detected by using Breusch-Pagen test (hettest) in STATA.Finally, the impact of market development interventions on the outcomes were estimated using STATA 10.0 software using the propensity scores matching algorithm (psmatch2)developed by Leuven and Sianesi (2003).This section consists of three sub-sections. The first one is description of sample households' characteristics. The second subsection is description of the institutional and organizational change of agricultural marketing in the district. The third sub-section is estimation results which include propensity score matching, treatment effect and sensitivity analysis results.Both continuous and discrete variables were used in order to describe the sample households included in this study. As already discussed above, pre-intervention type of variables have been used to describe both program participants and non participants. Table 4 shows, the mean differences between the participants and non-participants were significantly differ in size of owned land, distance to extension agents office ,distance to the nearest market, total family size and dependence ratio. On average, participant households have larger size of land;smaller dependence ratio and family size. Compared to non-participants, participant households are living nearer to the office of extension agent and market place. However, dummy variables described in table 5 are statistically insignificant (p>0.1) between participant and non-participant households. After the implementation of the project in the woreda changes different organizational and institutional aspects of agricultural market change was observed for different commodities of intervention. There are different individuals/organizations that came together for the accomplishment of different activities and discharging their roles in the value chain approach of the project. Though these actors have been there in the woreda, after the start of the project, the synergy and linkage among these actors appeared to be strong and improved. One of the critical problems for the apiculture development commodity in the woreda, which was identified during diagnostic survey, was access to market for both honey produce and inputs (like accessories) which are used to purify the crude honey. There is relatively more production of honey during the harvesting period and during this season prices are drastically lower compared to other times. In order to tackle the marketing problem in the district the project facilitated the establishment of Wojjin Guddana primary cooperatives which is meant for increasing the bargaining power, and access to market information thereby increasing beekeepers' potential for earning better income. This cooperative has developed and ratified bylaws and gets the credential from the woreda cooperative promotion desk.Besides helping the beekeepers to form cooperatives, the project has also tried to link woreda honey producers to potential buyers and honey processors like Beza and Alem Mar. The delegate of these organizations came to the woreda and took the sample of honey from the beekeepers and tested for its quality and then agreed to buy from the producers.The project has also tried to link participant coffee producers to private coffee exporters. Two known exporters from Addis Ababa came to woreda and observed the process of coffee drying using raised bed made from mesh wire. They witnessed that farmer's drying methods are up to the standard and agreed that product could be exported. Auction based coffee selling was also facilitated/arranged by the project where these exporters came to the woreda and bid for buying the special sun dried coffee even though, eventually, the premium offered by the exporter was rejected by the farmers. Similarly, the project has already finalized the process of linking the coffee producers' to Oromiya Coffee Producers Union for better market access.The traceability of the woreda's coffee producers who are drying coffee cherry using raised beds constructed from Mesh wire was prepared using GPS and the Union is currently ready to buy the sun dried coffee from participant farmers.The absence of reliable and updated market information service is one of critical problems in the woreda, as elsewhere in the country. Availability of market information helps to make informed decisions by market participants if effectively and timely conveyed. In order to minimize this gap, the project tried to provide market information through posting weekly or daily market prices on boards where the majority of producers could see and read. But due to high irregularities and spontaneous change in prices, the efforts have not been as such successful and continued though the initiation was very encouraging.The project attempted to improve coffee quality and storage in the woreda by backstopping the producers technically, starting from red coffee cherry picking to selling. Different inputs such as mesh wire for raised drying red cherry coffee, jute sacks for dried coffee storage were supplied which enhance the quality of coffee production.At each village where the project made intervention on coffee quality improvement, coffee quality control committee has been established to monitor and control the respective village starting from coffee picking to drying which is one of the best innovative activities not practiced before.In addition to this, to improve the quality and quantity of apiculture development in the woreda, different hive accessories and other inputs marketing was arranged and some private traders started to bring and sell those inputs to beekeepers. The project facilitated the linkage of these traders to beekeepers and provides credit through OCSSCO. Moreover, since access to improved hives is important in order to keep honey quality and quantity, efforts were made to link beekeepers to carpenters who had experience in manufacturing Kenya Top bar hives which are relatively affordable to the beekeepers than the framed hive.Different experience sharing tours were arranged for selected farmers to acquaint them with production system of market oriented commodities. This has helped them to develop small business running sentiments such as advertising the unique nature of the new variety and overall performance of the varieties of the commodities to other farmers. Participant farmers have already started targeting different holidays, festivals to fatten and sell sheep to fetch better income from sale. Furthermore, farmers have already started multiplying avocado seedlings on their backyard and selling to other farmers and generated additional income.In most developing countries including Ethiopia, financial services and that of market development are largely separated. This finance gap is a key barrier to small-scale farmers' participation in modern markets. Developing innovative financial services that cater for the needs of the small-scale farmer and rural entrepreneur is crucially important to bridge the gap.Prior to IPMS intervention, though there has been a micro finance institution in the woreda, the services rendered to farmers were limited and loan conditions were restricted (IPMS, 2007).Facilitation of credit services for participant farmers by the project which has been channeledthrough OCSSCO is one of the innovative ways especially to serve the purpose of input marketing. The project channeled the credit to the woreda level micro finance branch office and it is this office that disburses the credit and collects the loan as per their rules and regulations. The risk involved during the credit collection was borne by the project and OCSSCO. However, during discussion made with community, farmers were repeatedly complaining the shortage of the repayment period and the large group size that the company requires as peer collateral to provide the loan.Similarly, the project has supplied credit for private traders who do have capital limitations to supply inputs demanded by the producers for production of the commodities. Moreover, the project managed to link these traders to the input importers in Addis Ababa so as to purchase the required quality and quantity of inputs and then supply then to farmers at a reasonable price.During the project's diagnosis study, supply of inputs was identified as a major bottleneck for a market oriented commodities in the PLW. To improve this situation, the project focused its attention on strengthening the private sector including community in supplying inputs used for market oriented commodities and the supply of all other inputs and services. Accordingly, private food oil industry supply cotton meal input which is used as supplementary feed for sheep fattening and with this agro industry linkage was made which helps the fatteners to purchase the required quantity in their nearby town. Moreover, the involvement of private actors such as traders and entrepreneurs in supplying inputs by opening alternative village shops for commodities of interventions especially in supplying input for coffee and apiculture were very encouraging which were entirely the role of the public sector in the previous periods. These private traders were linked to the input importers in the Addis Ababa. The role changes are consistent with the strategy document set by MoARD, which deals with input and output marketing and implementation mechanisms. The document clearly states the need for increased privatization of input supply, while recognizing the role of the government.Lack of seedling of improved fruits, especially avocado, was one of the critical problems in the district. There has been an occasional distribution of seedling through OoARD and JARC though it was not adequate. But after the intervention by the project model farmers were selected, trained and purchased the mother seedling from MARC with the help of the project.After grafting, farmers have been selling improved seedlings to other interested farmers. Due to this encouragement observed on the participants' farmers, currently, there is a great effort in establishing and scaling out the community based improved seedling production, marketing and exchange system which further reduce the shortage of the availability of improved seedling of fruits in the woreda at large.Community Based Safety-Net (CBSN) is a sort of small-scale insurance type established and owned by the sheep fattening groups in the woreda through the facilitation and support of the project. The main purpose of insurance type was to pay compensation to farmers for lost or dead sheep. In order to accomplish the activities the fatteners developed bylaw for its smooth operation.The scheme consists of two committee groups elected by the fattening group in the community. One of the committee is the sub-committee which has a chairman and secretary.The main role of this committee is; to receive claims from fattening group members', to verify the claim using its own mechanism; to collect a written justification from all fattening group members be it for or against the loss cover, to review it thoroughly and passes it to the executive committee with its firm comment. The final report of the sub-committee assessment is completed and submitted to the executive committee only 10 days after the claim is reported.The second type is the executive committee. It consists of chairman, secretary and casher. The executive committee is accountable to the general assembly and undertakes the following activities; reviewing the claim report submitted by each sub-committee and verifying it using its own mechanisms if need be; decide to cover or not to cover the loss; draw the cash saved in the saving wing of OCSSCO and effect payment to the claimer. Payment is effected within 5 days after the sub-committee submits the cases to the executive committee. The scheme covers 80% of the cost of the fattened sheep lost or dead to the claimers.In order to run the scheme each fattener was contributing 10 birr per sheep and this amount of money is deposited in the saving account wing of OCSSCO.This part explains the estimation of propensity score, matching methods, common support region, balancing test and eventually sensitivity analysis.The logistic regression model was used to estimate propensity score matching for participant and non-participants households. As, indicated earlier, the dependent variable is binary that indicate households' participation decision in the market development interventions.Before proceeding to impact estimation, Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was applied to test for the presence of strong multicollinearity problem among the continuous explanatory variables (see Appendix 1). Moreover, by using contingence coefficients(C) multicollinerty between discrete variables were checked (Appendix 2). There was no explanatory variable dropped from the estimated model since no serious problem of multicollinearity was detected from the VIF results. Similarly, heteroscedasticity was tested by using Breusch-Pagen test.This test resulted in rejection of the existence of heteroscedasticity hypothesis as (p= 0.507)and there was no need to make the standard error robust.    As stated before, four main tasks should be accomplished before one launches the matching task itself. First, predicted values of program participation (propensity scores) should be estimated for all households in the program and outside the program.Second, a common support condition should be imposed on the propensity score distributions of household with and without the program. Third, discard observations whose predicted propensity scores fall outside the range of the common support region. And finally sensitivity analysis should be done in order to check the robustness of the estimation (whether the hidden bias affects the estimated ATT or not).As shown in Table 8, the estimated propensity scores vary between 0.12 and 0.98 (mean =0.63) for program or treatment households and between 0.02 and 0.87 (mean = 0.37) for non program (control) households. The common support region would then lie between 0.12 and 0.87. In other words, households whose estimated propensity scores are less than 0.12 and larger than 0.87 are not considered for the matching exercise. As a result of this restriction, 23 households (10 program and 13 control households) were discarded from the analysis.  After choosing the best performing matching algorithm the next task is to check the balancing of propensity score and covariate using different procedures by applying the selected matching algorithm(in our case kernel matching). As indicated earlier, the main purpose of the propensity score estimation is not to obtain a precise prediction of selection into treatment, but rather to balance the distributions of relevant variables in both groups. The balancing powers of the estimations are ascertained by considering different test methods such as the reduction in the mean standardized bias between the matched and unmatched households, equality of means using t-test and chi-square test for joint significance for the variables used.The mean standardized bias before and after matching are shown in the fifth columns of Table 10, while column six reports the total bias reduction obtained by the matching Most of them sold the product to the private traders without significant price difference with conventionally dried coffee. The above Table also shows that on average, participant household get 22% more income than the control one from other commodities of intervention (apiculture, sheep fattening and fruits). This result is also statistically significant at 10%.Labor use is one of the limiting factors for coffee production. There is an extra-household labor demand during peak seasons (during harvesting, processing and selling red coffee cherry). Labor is also required during coffee land preparation and its management.As indicated in the Table13, the result reveals that the intensity of labor use is relatively higher for both treated (144PD) and control (118PD). Program households use 18% higher labor than comparison households which is statistically significant at 10% probability level.This result is consistent with the findings of a study by Samuel and Ludi(2008) ,which was done in the same area, who found more labor demand for coffee production for different a level of commercialized households during peak season Inputs such as mesh wires which are used to construct raised beds were purchased by participating households for drying coffee that further helps in improving its quality.Machetes and Zapas are also other input types which are widely purchased and used by the farmers for coffee production and drying purposes in the woreda. We also estimated the impact of the program and found that number of beds constructed from mesh wire use for program household increased by nearly 90% compared to non participants. Similarly, on average, the number of Machetes and Zapas purchased and used by participant households are 2.31 more than non participant households. The empirical analysis for the productivity of honey indicates that the difference between the two groups does not yield statistically significant effect (P>0.1). As Table 17 shows, the effect of the program on the proportion of households' allocation of land for coffee commodities do not yield significant difference between treated and comparison households. Stated in other words, using land allocation to coffee commodities as indicator of market orientation, our impact estimate does not show significant difference between two groups in their market orientation of coffee production. This result corroborates with the findings of Samuel and Ludi (2008), who found that the proportion of land allocated for coffee did not show significant difference between market participants and nonparticipants in Gomma district.Similarly, our impact estimate for the proportion households possessing improved hives does not yield an effect significantly different from zero. On the other hand, our result of measuring the market orientation for sheep fattening commodity shows that the project has larger and significant impact on number of sheep fattened.  18 presents the critical level of ࢽ (first row), at which the causal inference of significant market development effect has to be questioned. As noted by Hujer et al. (2004), sensitivity analysis for insignificant effects is not meaningful and is therefore not considered here. Given that the estimated market development effect is positive for the significant outcomes, the lower bounds under the assumption that the true treatment effect has been underestimated were less interesting (Becker and Caliendo, 2007)  Finding a reliable estimate of the project impact necessitates controlling for all such confounding factors adequately. In doing so, propensity score matching has resulted in 90 participant households to be matched with 87 non-participant households after discarding households whose values were out of common support region. In other words, matched comparisons of different outcome of interest were performed on these households who shared similar pre-intervention characteristics except the program participation effect. The resulting matches passed on many process of matching quality tests such as t-test, reduction in standard bias and chi-square test. Moreover, the computed parametric standard error was bootstrapped in order to capture all sources of errors in the estimates and finally sensitivity analysis was made.The impact estimation results then indicate that there are significant differences in market development outcomes between treatment and comparison households, which could be attributable to the participation in input and output market interventions. The effect of the program on total household net income for the commodities of intervention is higher for the participant households which are statistically significant except for coffee commodity.Moreover, the program effect on intensity of input use for most of the commodities of interventions is higher for treated households which are measured using different indicators.However, the project has no impact on input use intensity for apiculture and fruits commodities. Similarly, our estimate also reveals that the productivity of improved beehives is not significant between participant and non participant households.The impact of the project on the proportion of produce sold to the market is significant and robust for the commodities considered. Treated households sold significantly large proportion of coffee, fattened sheep, honey and fruit seedlings compared to the comparison ones.The project impact on market orientation behavior of the household also indicates that the treated households who participated in sheep fattening commodities were more market oriented than non fattening comparison households that was measured using number of sheep meant for fattening. But in contrast to this, our estimate result shows that there is no significant difference between treated and control households' land allocation and improved hives possessions for coffee and apiculture commodities respectively.Due to the market interventions of the project, various changes in institutional and organizational aspect of market have been observed in the district that include establishing/strengthening cooperatives primarily meant to access better market, better linkage with potential traders, business orientation of producing commodities, innovative credit provision meant for input and output marketing and community based fruit seedling multiplication and supply/marketing system, establishment of community based insurance system were changes observed . There is relatively better synergy and linkage of various stakeholders found along the value chain in discharging their specific roles and responsibilities. Moreover, private sector involvement, including the agro industries and exporters, in input supply and output marketing become an important change observed which could substitute the public sector role in the long run.The result of Rosenbaum bounding procedure to check the hidden bias due to unobservable selection shows that all estimated ATTs for all significant outcome variables are insensitive which clearly indicate its robustness.Based on the empirical findings reported in this thesis, the following recommendations are forwarded Though the project has facilitated quality coffee sale on auction base, bidders were very few in number which in turn affects in setting competitive premium price for coffee. During the informal survey farmers were complaining to the price the bidders (exporters) set per kilogram was not as they expected and was that not fair price compared to the cost they incurred. The linkage made to the coffee exporters to purchase sundried coffee from the producers was not as such strong too. Thus, there is a need for interventions in the coffee market towards managing high price fluctuations and developing institutional mechanisms that can help coffee growers to better deal with market risks. In this regard, strengthening the linkage between cooperatives and Oromiya Coffee Producer Union is very important.Specialized market requires investing in certification program. In this market, consumers are willing to pay premium price for specialty coffees, organic and environmentally friendly coffee.However, obtaining certification is not easy for poor/individual farmers to meet the cost. Thus, helping the primary cooperatives in obtaining certification for the special sun dried coffee is very important as it has rewarding impacts in the long-term for producers.Apiculture accessories such as honey extractor are becoming very expensive and the majority of smallholder farmers might not afford to buy and use from the private traders. Thus, capacitating (in financial and business management) the established honey producer cooperatives in supplying these accessories and other inputs to members is of paramount important which further enhances the production and productivity as well as the quality of honey.Farmers who have taken credit from OCSSCO meant for innovative market interventionswere complaining about large group size as peer collateral and short repayment period.Revising and searching for appropriate group size and loan payment period could help the beneficiaries in maximizing the return from loans.The impact of the participation in the market development interventions might not be homogenous among participating households. Identifying the factors which contribute to this difference was not covered in this study. Thus, working on identifying the important factors for the variation needs further research. Moreover, evaluating the overall project performance by incorporating other components like environment and gender mainstreaming by having relatively large sample size and coverage, as matching is a \"data hungry\" estimation strategy, is the other research gap that ought to be addressed in the future.","tokenCount":"17948"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7658805511.json b/data/part_1/7658805511.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d4222c488b12be8e59457b00f1f380fe3c48e65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7658805511.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1800258ce66285adacc825829bde3be0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9299bc17-68a5-4f91-8e47-7fe532607642/retrieve","id":"146070534"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ca7c320a-b186-4b1a-9f08-13248fdf612a","pagecount":"20","content":"C'AT is a nonprofit organizat1on devoted to the agricultura! and economic d¡,;velopment of the lowland tropics. The government of Colombia provides support as a host country for CIAT and furnishes a 522-hectare site near Cali for CIAT's h:_,adquarters. In add1t1on, the Colombian Foundation for Higher Education (FES)Jkes avallab:e to CIAT a 184-hectare substation in Ouilichao anda 73-hectare ~ubstat1on ncar Popayán; the Colomb1a n Rice Federation (FEDEARROZ) al so makes ailable to CIAT a 30-hectare farm-Santa Rosa substation-near Villavicencio. C!AT co-manages w1th the Colombian Agricultura! lnstitute (ICA) the 22.000hectare Can magua Resea rch Center on the Colomb1an eastern plains and carries ou t collaborative work on several other ICA experimental stat1ons in Colombia; similar work IS done with national agricultura! agencies in other Latin American countnes.CIAT is financed by a number of donors. most of which are representad in the C:onsultat1ve Group on lnternatlonal Agricultura! Research (CGIAR). During 1985 these CIAT donors mclude the yove rnments of Australia, Belgium. Brazll, Ca nada. france. the Federal Republic of Germany, ltaly, Japan. Mexico, the Netherlands, ~Jorway. th e Pcople's Repubhc of China, Spain, Sweden. Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Un1ted States of Amenca. Organizat1ons that are CIAT donors in '985 1nclude the European Economic Commun1ty (EEC), the Ford Foundation. the : :ter-Americ:¡n Development Bank (IDB). the lnternational Bank for Reconstruction •1d O V•}lr.p'T :nt (18RD). the lnternat1onal Deve lopment Research Centre (IDRC). t\"le ln:ernati• •nal Fund for Agricultura! Development (IFAD), the Rockefeller Foundatlon; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). and the W . K. Kellogg Foundat1on. 'nformation and conclus1ons reportad herem do not necessa rily reflect the position lf < •r:v of the aforementioned ent1t1es. CIATin the l980s revisited A medium-term plan for l986 to l990 CC ~! &J\\IT Bill~LJ SERVICIOS DE ODCUMENTACION Centro InternaciOnal de Agricultura Trop1 cal CCDLJ\\U • ~fi50 CASSAVA PROGRAMCassava is grown throughoutthe tropical are as of the world . In terms of production measured in grain equivalents, it is one of the most important crops in South America, Asia and Africa. In tropical South America it is of almost equal importance to rice and maize. In Asia cassava is-after rice, which is the dominant crop-among the most important crops grown in the tropical areas. In tropical Africa, cassava is the dominant food crop (Fig. 8).Despite its importance in the developing world, cassava has received scant attention from national research agencies. Within the CGIAR system, however, cassava receives funding at a level commensurate with its importance in the developing world. lt should be noted, however, that while many other crops have considerable backup research carried out by research organiz.ations in developed countries, this does not occur in the case of cassava.Cassava is grown in a wide range of tropical environments, ranging from savanna and rain forest ecosystems through the highland tropics up to altitudes of about 2000 meters above sea leve!, and in subtropical areas with cool winters.The cassava plant has certain inherent characteristics that make it well adapted for low-input agricultura! systems under the more marginal conditions of the tropics. Research at CIAT has shown that the plant's direct stomatal response to air humidity leads to very high efficiency in the use of water and also allows it to conserve water during the dry season. This mechanism also allows the plant to survive under conditions of uncertain rainfall. Furthermore, under stress conditions, top growth is greatly reduced while the harvest index is increased. This characteristic leads to efficient use of limited resources such as nutrients and water. Mycorrhizal associations, which occur naturally, greatly increase phosphorus absorption on soils extreme! y low m this essential 113 -V J,, , ;) /!.,_u , . '10iu_•~r nutrient. In these soils, low pH and its associated high levels of aluminum are common. Cassava is naturally tolerant of such conditions. The continuous simultaneous growth of leaves and roots in the plant results in no critical periods, thereby giving the plant high levels of tolerance to sporadic pest attacks. This physiological tolerance to di se ase and pest attack is reinforced by high levels of stable resistance to diseases and pests in sorne clones. Where host plant resistance to pests has not been found, the long growth cycle of the crop has allowed effective use of biological control agents. 114Another important characteristic of the plant is that the economically useful part-i.e., the roots-is not used as planting material for the subsequent crops. Thus when yields are low, farmers do not have to reduce their harvest further by k.eeping a large portion of the economic yield for planting material.All these characteristics have made cassava an excellent crop for traditional agricultura! systems where cassava is often associated with other crops, often under marginal agricultura! conditions.The Brazilian situation is representative of most cassava-growing countries in ternu of farm-size distribution.Data show that average farro size is highly sk.ewed toward a small number of large farmers possessing most of the land. Rice and soybeans are produced mostly by the large-farm sector; whereas cassava is mostly produced by small farmers.In both Latin America and Asia, most cassava is used for human consumption, either as traditional dry cassava products or as fresb cassava. In Asia considerable amaunts of cassava are processed for tbe production of starch; however, much of this starch is later used for mak.ing specialized foods. Ofthe cassava destined for human consumption, by far the greatest amount is for the lower income groups. E ven in tropical Asia, where rice is the dominant crop, cassava makes a substantial contribution to the diets of the lowest income groups.The final objective of any effort to increase crop production must be to ensure that this production is effectively utilized. In the case of a perishable root crop such as cassava, this factor is of paramount importance. In defining cassava research strategies, particular attention is given to a very important characteristic of the crop-its multiple end uses. The more important end uses are discussed briefly as eacb has implications for developing the overall research strategy.Fresh cassava is consumed throughout the lowland tropics. The basic premise of most commodity programs in the IARCs is tbat by improving yields, unit production costs can be decreased, not only allowing farmers to increase their income through the increase in total , ------------------¡----------------.,produclion but also giving consumers access to cheaper food supplies.In the case of dried cassava or cassava starch, this policy has a good chance of working because production costs are the major component of the total consumer price (Fig. 9). In the case of fresh cassava, however, production costs are only a small part of the total consumer price; hence the major constraint on achieving increased farmer incomes and lower consumer prices with fresh cassava is its high marketing margin. Nevertheless, a major question is whether consumers 116 will purchase more cassava if marketing costs decrease and bence prices to the consumer decline. This question has been analyzed, and tbe data suggest that at least in urban are as, fresh cassava is reasonably elastic in its demand.Cassava consumption tends to be lower in urban are as than in tbe rural areas. It could be hypothesized that as the developing countries urbanize, demand for fresh cassava might decrease. Consequently, aggregate demand might not be quite so elastic as it appears from consumer budget surveys. Why does consumption decrease in the cities? One reasonable hypothesis would be that as incomes increase, peopie prefer to purchase food other than fresh cassava. Nevertheless, recent data from Colombia indicate that this is not normally tbe case. A survey of consumer attitudes toward cassava and other crops on the North Coast of Colombia indica tes that consumers find cassava equally as desirable or tasty as pota toes and rice (Table 8). In addition, tbe same proportion of consumers said they would buy more cassava if it were cheaper, as in the case of potatoes and rice. The large difference in preference is dueto factors related to the convenience of cassava as a food. Cassava is highly perishable and therefore rislcy to buy.Analysis of the data from tbe North Coast survey suggests that if the convenience factor score of cassava were increased to 50% of a crop such as yams, for example, then urban consumption would increase by 50%. Hence there is excellent potential for increased consumption if Not only will this storage technology make it possible to increase the convenience of cassava as a food , thereby shifting the demand curve to the right, but it also has the potential to decrease marketing margins significantly. Marketing margins in cassava are bigh, partly because of the extreme risk involved in handling such a perishable crop and partly because of oligopolistic market structures for such a high-risk, lowvolume commodity. 1f perishability is reduced anda storage element introduced, then the marketing margin can be decreased, which can be represented as a shift to the right of the supply curve. As a result, savings to the consumer andan increase in the farmers' gross income as a result of a more competitive market structure can be expected8 lf this technology were adopted in Latín America, there could be very significant savings for consumers on the one hand and increased income to farmers on the other (Table 9). Similar benefits could be expected if this tecbnology were adopted in Asia and Africa. 118Traditional Dry Cassava ProcluctsThe processing technology for these traditional products is generally rather effective. Demand is, however, inelastic and is expec:t.c:d to increase at about the same rate as population increases. As these are the products that are consumed mostly by the abjectly poor in the tropica, any decrease in price of fresh roots leading to a decrease in the price of the fmal product could have significant social benefits for the loweat income strata of the population.In this case, tberefore, the research strategy is to concentrate o o reducing the cosu of the raw material-the fresh roots.lnnovative Dry Cassava Proclucts Dry cassava products can partially replace cereal floun (espccially wheat) for human consumption. The demand for wheat products ia highly elastic in most tropical areas. The major constraints on meeting this demand are the cost of the fresh roots, the cost of the drying systems, and the development of effective linkagea between production and processing. The drying procesa is expensive because moat of the systems that were developed for producing high-quality casaava flour for foodstuffs were developed at a time when fuel costs were relatively low. Increased fuel costs has meant that these systems are no longer economical. E ven ü new, more efficient drying systems were developed, it is stiU essential to have a cheap source of the raw material; i.e., the fresh roots.The primary strategy for removing these ~onstraints is once again to develop low~ost production technology systems and more c:oateffective drying systems. Another major constraint to increased casaava use as a substitute for cereal flours is that many of the competing products are heavily subsidiz.ed. Research is required to give government policy makers the basis from which they can make decisions on subsidies and to inform them of the advantages, in terms of foreign exchange, that would result from the increased use of cassava as a cereal substitute.The potential for cassava to enter these new markets is much greater now than a few years ago. This is dueto the foreign exchange problems most of the countries of the developing world are encountering. Tbe foreign exchange problem has, in fact, already had a major impad on llt certain government policies. For example, cassava production in Brazil increased rapidly during the sixties, during which time the relative price of cassava flour was about 60 percent of that for wheat flour. With plentiful foreign exchange because of easy international credit, the government of Brazil heavily subsidized wheat; subsidies are estimated to have reached levels of about 1 billion dollars in l97~As a result, wheat became only half as expensive to the consumeras cassava flour, which led to a dramatic decline in cassava production. More than 200 cassava flour plants in the state of Sao Paulo alone were closed beca use they could no longer compete. Brazil has now started to remove the subsidies on imported and locally produced wheats; similar situations are occurring in countries such as Ecuador and Peru. Tbus tbe time has never been better to implementa program to produce cassava flour tbat partially substitutes for imported cereal flour.Animal Feed. The demand for animal feed is highly elastic. Tbe major constraints to cassava's playing a significant role in this market are tbe availability of roots at a competitive price and the integration of production, processing and marketing tecbnology by small farmers so that they can enter into tbis growing market.In the past much has been said about the potential for cassava to enter the animal feed market in the form of dried chips or pellets. Tbe Tbai cassava industry, for example, has grown on the basis of exports of pellets to the protected European Common Market; bowever, doubts ha ve been expressed about cassava's ability to compete with grain crops on an equal basis in the tropics. The recent development of a viable commercial cassava drying industry that produces animal feed from cassava produced by small farmers in Colombia at highly competitive prices indicates that tbe potential to enter this market is a reality.Over the years the Cassava Program has contributed to the organized body of knowledge on cassava-its biology and behavior under different conditions, its role in production systerns, and its different end uses. A summary of the major achievements follows:  3.A file on production and consumption has been assembled from disparate sources; and after consistency checks, a systematic set of estimates of cassava production and utilization in Latín America and Asia was developed.The principal characteristics of Latin American cassava production systems bave been defined. Cassava is generally grown on small farms ( 10 ha or less) under so me type of soil/ climatic stress. Almost half the area planted to cassava is intercropped, primarily with maize. Few purcbased inputs are used. Althougb much of rural consumption is based on subsistence production, about 70 percent of the production is marketed.ldentification of economic, biotic, soil, physiological and agronomic constraints to production and utilization have been identified. As a result of the ERP recommendations, CIA T has recently accelerated its studies of the potential demand for cassava in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to determine the future role of cassava in the agricultura! economies of selected countries in Meso-America, the Andean countries, Brazil. Paraguay and the Caribbean. In addition to the direct economic factors, particular attention is being paid to social aspects including equity and creation of employment opportunities. These studies are based on the considerable body o( information that has already bcen obtained. The Asían cassava situation has already been reviewed by CIAT, and the production and demand situation, analyzed.Cassava has always bcen a traditional caloric source in tropical Latin America. As the region urbanizes, the importance of cassava for direct human consumption depends on its market-ability and competitiveness with other caloric staples.In contrast to the rural areas, fresh cassava is more expensive in most urban areas tban the principal grain staples, primarily bccause marketing margins are as mucb as 300 percent of farm-level prices. Where cassava goes tbrougb a processing stage bcfore marketing, as in Brazil. tbe dried product is generally tbe cbeapest caloric source available in urban areas. Thus cassava is a majar caloric source in national diets in Brazil, where most of the cassava is caten in processed form; and in Paraguay, wbere most ofthe population is still rural. At the subnational level, cassava is important in regions such as the North Coast and Santander in Colombia, the jungle region of Peru, and many regio os of tbe Caribbcan. Contrary to tbe commonly held view in developed countries, cassava is not viewed b'y Latín American consumen as a nonpreferred food, only to be eaten in the absence of otber alternatives.A strategy to increase the incomes of small-scale farmers through the development o~ new cassava tecbnology has bcen constrained by the limited demand for cass._va as an urban food, except in Brazil. wbere otber constraints have existed. As previously indicated, cassava, as a carbobydrate source with a low unit production cost, has the potential ll3 toen ter alternatíve markets, as a wheat substitute (suitably enriched), as a carbobydrate source in feed concentrates, as the raw material in etbanol production, and as an industrial starch. Major expansion in demand in eitber the fresh urban market or the industrial markets depends on the relative price of cassava. Government policies aimed at cheap cereals for the urban population tbrough subsidies on grain crops have bad an adverse effect on cassava expansion. Because of the prevailing financia! crisis througbout Latín America, tbese subsidies are being reduced; and this should bave a significant positíve effect on the future demand for cassava. Altbough tbere are a number of complex factors affecting cassava's ability to compete in industrial markets, the price of cassava must be reduced if it is to be competí ti ve in industrial markets in most Latín American countries.Lower unit production costs and tbus cbeaper prices for cassava can best be achieved by applying new technology. In Latín Ame rica and the Caribbean, cassava is mainly grown as a small farm crop. Major production zones include the poorer more acid soil areas, and irrigation is not normal\\ y available. About 40 percent of total production occurs in mixed cropping systems with maize, beans, cowpeas anda multitude of other crops. The technology used is generally labor intensive with very little use of inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Yields average 12 t fha (equivalent to approximately 3.5 t/ ha of cereals in energy terms). Historically, there has been little research on the crop; thus there is great potential for increasing yields from tbeir present low levels. On the other hand, introducing improved cassava production technology witbout complementary pro-cessing technology could satura te traditional markets, resulting in decreased farmer incomes. Introduction of cassava production tecbnology in Latín America must definitely be linked to improved processing technology.In 1984 CIAT and the United Natíons ESCAP Regional Coordination Centre for Research and Development of Coarse Grains, Pulses, Roots and Tuber Crops in Humid Tropics of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP-CG PRT) organized a regional workshop to review the status of cassava in Asia and requirements for future development. The following discussion is based on tbat workshop.124Beyond the central role that rice plays in the food eco no mies of tropical Asían couotries, the agricultura! sectors of the~ countries are very di verse. Cassava production and utilization systems ha ve been adapted to this diversity. It is the differences rather than the similarities that are most strikiog when comparing utilization across countries. Cassava has developed within different types of land constraints, and multiple markets have evolved around the crop, with the particular market structure reflecting the overall development of the economy. lbe rate of development of most of these economies has accelerated o ver tbe past two decades, creating a potential demand for broadening botb cassava production and utilization. The demand for cassava-based products in Asia is quite different from that in Latín America, being more buoyant. lbe crop has moved from being a basic traditional staple to fulfilling its role asan important basic so urce of energy in the forro of carbobydrates.Rapid development of tbe crop will depend, in most cases, on increases in yields, eitber to relieve land constraiots or to be competitive in tbe emerging markets. Within tbe Asían context, where expansion of crop arca is frequently constrained, it is natural that there sbould be a bias toward crops with high yield potential. Very higb cassava productivity is already being achieved in certain are as; but average yields remain well below tbe known potential of tbe crop. What still remains to be determined is the means of achieving high yields across tropical Asia.Obviously, the type of technology wiU vary from country to country. This requires an increased commitment of national resources to develop the level of cassava research that is required in the region if these objectives are to be realized.Given its adaptation to a wide range of upland conditions and its multiple use characteristics, cassava can provide substantial flexibility in developing appropriate agricultura! policies. As has been stressed, the role of cassava in each country's economy will differ; but in eacb case, cassava can be the basis for meeting multiple-policy objectives. Increased cassava production with lowered costs wiU first be used for human consumption in fresb or dried forro. In India and Indonesia, for example, cassava can play a clear role in nutrition policy. As this demand is satisfied, dried cassava may readily move into both local and intemational animal feed markets; the former are increasing so rapidly at present that they can only be satisfied by increased imports of cereal grains.Because of its multiple-marlcet potential, cassava can play a major role as a so urce of income generation for small-scale farmers in upland arcas in all countries in the region, including India and Indonesia. lncreased production will also bring socioeconomic benefits to rural arcas. The level of labor used in cassava cultivation varies widely, with very intensive labor use in southern India and Indonesia. For every two hectares of cassava planted, one more person gains the equivalent of full employment for one year. Moreover, cassava processing is highly labor intensive and uses equipment that can readily be manufactured by local craftsmen; thus processing wiU create employment and stimulate local industry. In Thailand, for example, it has been estimated that 8 to 10 million people are receiving direct or indirect benefits from the rapid expansion of the Tbai cassava industry. A further advantage in satisfying growing domestic marlcets by increased domes tic production is the positive impact on a country's balance of payments. Further marlcet diversification of cassava will, however, require both improved production and appropriate processing technologies, together with better integrated marlcets.The Green Revolution that swept Asia in the late sixties and seventies was limited to irrigated arcas. Expansion of irrigated areas is costly and, in many cases, difficult to accomplish in the near future. The next major challenge is to raise crop productivity and farmer incomes in the upland arcas. With probably limited prospects for further major growth in the world demand for rubber, palm oil and coconut oil; with growing domestic marlcets that could absorb cassava products; and with a growing regional marlcet for carbohydrate sources for livestoclc, cassava is a major, if not tbe major crop in a position to foster income growth in the upland arcas of tropical Asia.Although Africa has slightly more than half the world 's are a planted to cassava, it produces only 37 percent ofthe world crop. Yields tend to be low, ranging fro•m 5 to 9 t / ha in the four major producing countries-Zaire, Nigeria, Tanzania and Moza,mbique. However, as there are more than 7 million hectares planted to cassava, total production is close to 50 million tons. 126In Africa the only important end use of cassava is for human consumption. Cassava provides an average of 230 calories per person per day. Levels of consumption in Zaire and tbe Congo are mucb higher-more than 1000 calories per da y; i.e., about SS percent of total caloric intalce. In arcas wbere rainfall is uncertain andj or locust attaclcs are common, cassava is extremely imponant as a famine relief crop. Of the cassava destined for human consumption, a little more than half is consumed after processing into such products as gari and fufu; the rest is consumed in fresh form.The importance of cassava in Africa as a basic food staple is unquestionable, but the future demand situation as the continent develops has yet to be studied carefully. Althougb normaJiy considered a subsistence crop, cassava can be found in both rural and urban marlcets througbout tropical Africa. Althougb it is impossible to make an accurate estimate of how mucb cassava is traded and how mucb is consumed by tbe growers themselves, it is certain that a significant proportion of African production enters the marlcet economy; and this amount wiU lilcely increase as Africa urbanizes. Because of the very higb rates of population increase, demand will surely increase o ver the coming years.At present, production technology is largely based on traditional lowinput agricultura! systems. As bush fallow periods are shonened, cassava has become more popular because of its ability to fit into these systems. However, recent problems with cassava bacteria) blight, mealybugs and green spidermites in Africa suggest that a substantiaJ research effort is required just to maintain present low levels of production, let alone increase them.At the beginning of the sixties, the role of the IARCs was considered to be that of providing tecbnology based on improved varieties for almost direct application to farmers' fields. This strategy was highJy successful in the case ofirrigated wbeat (CIMMYT) and rice (IRRI), grown under relatively homogeneous conditions with heavy use of inputs to overcome specific local constraints. In the case of smaJJ farmer crops grown under marginal conditions with a wide range of different ecologies, this strategy is unlikely to succeed beca use much of the technology requires adaptation for location-specific conditions, and varieties must be selected with tolerance to these constraints. As a result, the IARCs involved with small farm crops grown under difficult conditions have evolved a strategy in which they form an essential integral part of a global network dedicated to crop improvement.The overall goal of the cassava network is to increase small farmers' food supplies and income, as well asto improve food availability for the overall population. This can be achieved by converting cassava from being mainly a traditional rural staple to a major multiuse carbohydrate source.In order to accomplish these goals, it is necessary to look at the overall research and development network and the roles of its various components based on the comparative advantages of the centers forming the network vis-a-vis the different fields of research. CIA T is the international center with global responsibility for cassava and has comparative advantages in the following areas: scale may be developed by national, regional or international centers.The national centers will oftentimes be the most important sources of sucb information; thus the comparative advantage of disseminating it on a national scale will He withio the national programs. On a global scale, however, dissemination can be more effectively carried out by international centers.The CIA T cassava program has two main components or functions: firstly that of an international center with global responsibilities and secondly that of a center with regional responsibilities in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. In Asia the regional activities are closely interwoven with the CGPRT Centre, which has a comparative advantage in the socioeconomic aspects specific to Asían agriculture. liT A is also an international center, but its function in the case of cassava is tbat of a regional center, serving the vastly important needs of Africa. CIA T's objectives and strategies, first as a global center and secondly as a regional center, are outlined below.In its global capacity, the Cassava Program will provide the followiog major ioputs into the overall research and development effons of the networ.lc: l.3.Maintenance of the world cassava germplasm collection, and from this base, the provision of elite gene pools with .lcnown cbaracteristics to regional and national programs; coupled witb this effort will be the development of improved breeding metbodology.Development of the basic principies for establishing improved production and utilization systems, together witb tbe research methodology required to adapt sucb systems to local conditions.Carrying out of basic research directed to understanding tbe crop and its interaction with enviconmental stresses better.Analysis of tbe future poten ti al role of cassava in the economy of the developing world.Provision of services based on the world 's cassava documentation and informatioo center.6. Organization of training opportunities and meetings for cassava workers from national and regional programs.The following basic activities outline the program's projected plans to fulfill its global mandate.The Role of Cassava in the Economies of tbe Developing WorldThe economics section has carefully analyzed the status quo of cassava production and utilization in the Americas and Asia. From this base the future role of cassava is and will continue to be analyzed in the light of new production and utilization technology. Careful attention will be paid to how cassava can contribute to countries' meeting social goals such as increased employment and equity, as well as economic goals such as foreign exchange savings.In order to acbieve these goals, the economics section will collect, collate and analyze secondary data on cassava production and utilization at a global level. Where data are lacking or totally deficient, primary data will be collected on a, limited scale. The main constraints to cassava productivity will also be studied in order to understand the economic factors affecting the viability of integrated production, processing and marketing programs utilizing dried cassava for the feed industry and composite flours and fresh root storage systems.In addition the economics section will ma,ke both an ex ante and ex post analysis of the socioeconomic benefits of investment in cassava research. The former will include the development and use of simulation models, and the latter will be based on monitoring the diffusion of cassava production and utilization technologies.In order to improve production, a basic understanding of the plant and its reaction to various stress factors is required. Because of budgetary restrictions, however, the plant physiology section was suspended for two reasons: (a) Great advances have already been made in the field of cassava pbysiology, and (b} it is an activity in which continuity of effort is not essential. lt is proposed that this section be reinstated in 1988 in 130 order to continue research to define the optimal varietal characteristic:a for different water regimes, screen for tolerance to long days (photoperiod response}, define plant types for differing soil fertility levels, and develop techniques for synchronous flowering in crossing blocks. It should be noted that although this type of research will not give immediate payoff, over tbe long term it is essential for tbe program.The ultimate objective of germplasm efforts is the adoption of new varieties by farmers as part of the technology package to increase productivity and improve the quality of cassava. The fundamental base for germplasm improvement is the world cassava germplasm bank, which now contains 3,700 accessions and should reach a level of approximately 5,000 by 1990. The germplasm bank is evaluated, catalogued and maintained by CIA T. The information on the bank is available to national programs, which can request and receive clones directly from the bank or sexual seed from specified crosses (national quarantine regulations permitting and when it is con.sidered safe to transfer material).The new production technology for cassava exploits the crop's prodw:tivity under marginal conditions with low inputs. This precludes using high levels of expensive, energy-consuming inputs such as pesticides, soil amendments and irrigation. Rather, new technology is based on improved germplasm, which by itself overcomes many ofthe prodw:tion constraints. Germplasm improvement is directed toward obtaining elite gene pools for each of the major ecosystems in which cassava is grown (Table 10). These gene pools form the basic materials the national programs can use for direct selection of new varieties or for their own crossing programs.At present major emphasis is placed on ECZs 1 and 2; in coming years, however, more effort will be devoted to ECZs 3, 5 and 6, and to providing elite germplasm to Mrican programs through liT A. Thc breeding scheme involves observation of genetic material in each ofthe ecosystems, selection of parental materials with desirable characteristics, hybridization at headquarters, and evaluation of the progeny in the particular ecosystems to which the crosses are directed. As national programs have developed, emphasis has moved away from providing them with a small number of superior clones toward sending large numbers of sexual seeds from crosses directed toward combining the characteristics desired by the individual programs.The germplasm development section will continue cooperating with the IBPGR in the selective collection and introduction of new germplasm. 131 Special emphasis will be placed on collection in ecosystems poorly represented in tbe germplasm banlc. Evaluation of the germplasm will be expanded to the bot burnid lowland tropics and the subtropical regions. Clones witb desirable cbaracteristics for eacb ecosystem will be crossed, tbe progeny tested in eacb of the major ecosystems, and elite germplasm pools developed. Selection of clones for ECZs 1 througb S will continue in Colombia, and tbese clones will be distributed as advanced lines to tbe national programs. In tbe case of ECZ 6, crouea will be made at CIA T; bowever, the breeder in cbarge of this ecosystem will be specifically responsible for ensuring adequate testing of pro gen y and feedback on performance in testing sites sucb as soutbem Brazil Local junior support staff will be bired to maintain the trials. Tbe resulta of tbis worlc will be used to improve tbe germplasm sent to similar regions in otber countries.In Asia the breeder in tbe regional program will continue to assist national programs in selection and ensure tbat tbey receive appropriate materials from tbe germplasm development section at CIAT.Tbe introduction of AMD-resistant materials from liT A will malee it possible for CIA T to provide elite germplasm for Africa. Particular attention will be paid to combining AMO resistance with mite and mealybug resistance.Germplasm development at beadquarters will comprise one senior sta,ff position, pending tbe results of tbe demand studies. D~g this period breeding efforts will be largely limited to ECZs 1 and 2, with reduccd efforts in ECZs 3 and S. If tbe results of tbe demand studies are positive, tbe section will be increased to two senior staff positioos in order to cover tbe full range of conditions under wbicb cassava is grown. One scientist will be responsible for germplasm collection, maintenance and materials for ECZs 4, S aod 6, as well as materials suitable for AMD arcas (Africa and India); tbe other for ECZs 1, 2 aod 3 and provision of crosses for the Soutbem and Eastern Asian region.Major problems in a vegetatively propagated crop sucb as cassava are associated with germplasm storage and production of disease-(ree stock. Tbe tissue culture section oftbe Germplasm Resources Unit baa developed metbods for cbeap storage of germplasm as plantleta in test tubes and for producing planting stocb from meristema. Tbcaeprocedures will be used on a routine basis. Attention will be given to using tissue culture techniques for baploid production, protoplast fusion and, eventually, genetic engineering in support of varietal improvement, with special emphasis on production of HCN-free clones.Production Systems Improved germplasm is not, however, a panacea. The rate of progress in a breeding program is rougbly inversely proportional to the number of breeding objectives. Hence, if progress is to be made witbin a reasonable time, breeding must be used only to resol ve major problems. Control of the many pathogens that attack: planting material should not be resolved tbrough varietal resistance, but rather by using inexpensive chemical protectants. Moreover, some problems cannot be solved by breeding. F or example, varietal resistance to the cassava homworm has not been found, but effective biological control methods have been developed. Improved management practices of general applicability will also be developed.Past emphasis on development of management practices has concentrated on a single crop of cassava. In the future, emphasis will be placed on how cassava fits into longer term agricultura! production systems. Special attention will be paid to the long-term effects of cropping patterns and fertilizer use on productivity and on methods o( erosion control and soil conservation.Research on soil/ plant nutrition in cassava will emphasize areas such as the screening of clones for adaptation to low soil fertility, elucidation of mecbanisms for this adaptation, and the maintenance of soil fertility including the problem of erosion and its control. Particular attention will be paid to developing an overall understanding of how ~ertility can be maintained by modifying cropping systems. Mycorrhizal research will continue to be integrated into all these activities with support from extracore sources when appropriate. The overall objective of the section is to develop principies that can be extrapolated to other ecosystems, rather than to concentrate on more site-specific research.Entomological research on pest control in the crop has concentrated on mechanisms ofhost plant resistance and biological control. The serious 134 pest problem in cassava worldwide, the difficulties related to chemical control in a long-season crop, and the fact that Latín America ís tbe ceo ter of origin of many of the pests are all factors that determine tbat CIAT must continue to show leadersbip in tbis arca. Work of tbe section will concentrate on developing integrated control of major peat complexes (particularly mites and mealybugs, wbich are very serious pests in Africa); assessment of new pest problems that could be faced in new arcas where cassava production may expand; collec:tion and evaluation of natural enemies, and development of rearing techniquea; and the evaluation of bost-plant resistance. A collaborative project witb liT A is under way to advance aspects of identifying and collecting natural enemies in tbe Latín American region.Plant pathology research has concentrated on fungal and bacteria! diseues. More rec::ently, work on virus diseases is being emphasized. Pathological reaearch will concentrate on the developmcnt of new cultivara (in collaboration with the breeders) and cultural pract.ic:es that prevent tbe commonly oblervcd degeneration of cassava varietiea UDder bigb disease preuure wben grown over a series of years at tbe same location. SpeciflCally, activities in tbe pathology section will continue to describe tbe diseuea of cauava, the patho¡ens and tbeir vecton; to study clim.atic and edapbic facton influencio¡ disease develoJ)I*nt; to identify genetic souroes of atable resistance; to develop techniques for the production and testing of patbogen-free planting materials; and to develop methods for providing bigh-quality vegetative and seed material for intemational germplasm exchange.Recent CIA T studies indicate tbat yield losses from viruses are significant in some production zones. One of the new diseasea, tentatively identified as being of viral origin, is capable of causing complete crop failure. In addition, Latin American material is generally not resistant to AMD, which has not yet appeared in the Americas. Tbus additional support for virology within tbe Biotechnology Research Unit has been projected for 1986 in order to deal with viral problems, which are relatively unresearcbed in cassava. It is likely that viral patbogens are transmitted continuously through cassava plantina material. Research on viruses at CIA T is necessary to detect, identify and isolate pathogens in vegetative material. Tbis researcb is particularly important for pbytosanitary control in moving material acrou international boundaries and in producing disease-free seed within countries. Resistance to viral diseases through breeding will also be emphasized if other control methods prove unsatisfactory.A large market exists for low-cost carbohydrate sources.CIAT will concentrate on utilization research contributing to expanded demand for cassava products destined for human consumption, either directly or indirectly. Several other institutes or prívate agencies are involved in processing research for starch or ethanol production and the use of cassava as a substrate for single-cell protein production; thus CIATwill not duplicate their efforts. CIA T wiU, however, produce state-of-the-art bulletins on a wide range of utilization technologies through its utilization and documentation sections even though it is not engaged in active research in these areas.Cassava's high perishability and lack of alternative outlets unless it is processed can lead to rapid saturation of mark.ets and sharp farm price decreases as production increases. This often results in very low prices in one area of a country, while prices are high and demand is not satisfied elsewhere. Consequently, farmers are often unwilling to increase productivity or area planted. Improved technology that permits arbitrage or tbe entry of cassava into more stable mark.ets will produce a more stable floor price, tbereby breaking the vicious circle.The objective of the utilization section is to develop such technology for the following products: l . Fresb cassava. Initial work has shown that simple techniques for fresh storage can be developed. Efforts will concentrate on developing this technology for commercial use, which will allow expansion of the urban marlcet through reduced prices and improved quality and convenience of the fresh roots at the consumer level. Studies on factors affecting root quality parameters will be initiated.2. Cassava flour. Cassava is used widely in a variety of flours made by traditional processes. The potential increased demand for this type of product is limited to the lowest income sectors who will be the greatest beneficiaries of improved technology. On the other hand, there is a great demand for cassava flour as a partial substitute for wheat flour in ba.kery products across all income groups. Higbquality flours can be produced at present; however, tbe drying processes are capital intensive and tend to consume large amounts of energy. The program will develop solar-assisted and otber drying systems tbat will ensure a bigh-quality product ata lower cost more suitable to tbe supply and socioeconomic conditions prevailing in the cassava-producing regions. The program will also coUaborate witb otber agencies on tbe development of new products based upon bigb-quality cassava flour.3. Animal feed. Potential demand for cassava in animal feed concentrates is great; bowever, tbere are several important limitations tbat ma.ke it difficult to enter tbis market: (a) tbe bigh price offreab roots in certain regions; (b) lack of drying systems suitable for bigb-bumidity areas; (e) lack of information on tbe economics of dryingcassava; and, (d) lack. ofinformation on animal peñonnance at bigb levels of cassava intak.e. The program's production researcb continues to concentrate on reducing unit production cost, and tbe utilization section will empbasize researcb to remo ve the remaining constraints tbrougb collaborative projects with national or otber agencies.Tbe successful establishment of a complex network involving a large number of different entities requires an effective means of infonnation exchange among tbe diverse agencies comprising the network. This allows effective transfer of new technology and methodologies and greatly reduces duplication of effort. The fundamental keystone of the network is the documentation center, wbich is tbe information bank. lts role can perhaps be compared to that of the germplasm bank. in varietal improvement.The Cassava Documentation Center at present has more tban 7,000 documents related to cass~va. Abstracts oftbis material are distributed to cassava workers, either free or at cost, depending upon the users' ability to pay for tbe service. In addition literature searches are provided upon request to users of tbe service. Tbe center is also involved in tbe packaging of information. Recently a comprehensive practica} book on :: .. the use of cassava in animal feed was commissioned; in those cases where the expertise exists within the Cassava Program, tbe staff produces monograpbs and bulletins that synthesize the knowledge available on tbemes such as intercropping or field problems of cassava. Not all the information produced by the program or otber agencies is published by CIA T; for example, CIA T staff contributes articles to scientific journals, books and magazines.For effective dissemination of information, it is not only necessary to package the information but also to ensure that it reaches tbose who can use it effectively. The recently established computerized proflle of individual cassava workers makes it possible to distribute tbe information on an individualized basis, so that they receive information tallo red to their own specific interests and requirements.It is crucial to maintain cassava workers informed of the latest advances and concepts if a research and development network is to be effective.Although the aforementioned publications and services can partially achieve this objective, there is always considerable del ay in information exchange. Througb tbe cassava newsletter, whicb describes ongoing research and development projects as well as providing a forum for new ideas, delays are kept to a mínimum.The Cassava Program, tbrougb the Communication and Information Support Unit, will continue to provide tbe services outlined above.CIA T's Regional Responsibilities The economics section will continue to evaluate potential demand for cassava products and tbe price at wbicb tbey could enter tbe market, and estímate tbe costs of production and processing in eacb project.From the results of tbe pilot project, tbe economist will estímate the feasibility of moving to a commercial pbase and in developing generalized methodologies for the implementation of integrated production-processing-marketing projects in cassava. The economist will also be responsible for coordinating the demand studies in Latin America, wbich will be carried out by postdoctoral fellows over a two-year period (1985)(1986).The agronomy section will evaluate tbe production potential of different regions, recommend and evaluate (with tbe national program scientists) cultural practices and cultivars, and integrate new production technology for cassava into local cropping systems. The agronomist will be heavily involved in training of national program staff.The two headquarters breeders will also devote approximately one third of their time to assisting national programs in the selection of new varieties.Tbe utilization section will coUaborate with tbe pilot projects in the establishment of processing plants and in on-site research to improve processing systems in the pilot projects, and work witb the economist in the evaluation of the economic viability of different processing systems in eacb situation.Meso-America and the Caribbean at presentare not important cassavaproducing are as although many of tbe countries are classified as calorie deficient. National cassava programs are now being developed and require considerable assistance in planning and training during their formative years. For many years these areas will depend directly on CIA T -developed germplasm; in most cases they will require fmished varieties ratber than sexual seed, or a large number of populations for selection. An outposted regional cooperation scientist is projected for 1987 to provide support to national agencies in the region. In the interim, a special effort will be made to obtain special project funding for tbis position.Sub-Saharan Afric. aApproximately 40 percent of the world 's cassava is produced in Africa.Because of the great importance of cassava in tropical Africa, liT A has a strong root crops program which devotes most of its resources to improving cassava production on that continent. Recently, liTA and CIA T signed an agreement on cooperation so as to fulfill the needs of Africa better. This agreement recognizes CIAT's global mandate and responsibility for collecting and maintaining germplasm, the world cassava documentation and information service, and the cassava newsletter. Furthermore, UT A's regional responsibility in Africa and CIA T's in the Americas, Southern and Eastern Asia, and Oceanía are clearly defined.The exchange of germplasm has in the past been entirely from CIA T to liT A and almost entirely in the form of sexual seed. More than 70,000 distinct genotypes ha ve been sent in this form and incorporated into tbe liT A breeding program. Most of this material was open-pollinated seed sent in order to enlarge the germplasm base ofthe liT A program. More recently, liTA has requested specific crosses with characteristics such as green spidermite resistance. A major problem with these crosses is their susceptibility to AMO. After a special meeting of an expert committee on quarantine, a methodology including testing of the phytosanitary status of clones in the United Kingdom, was established to transferelite clones with AMO resistance to CIAT so that these can be crossed witb mite-tolerant or highland materials and returned to liT A for testing.Apart from tbe direct tangible exchange of germplasm, tbere is much information generated at both centers that can be useful outside tbeir respective areas of direct responsibility. In the case of CIAT, much of the worlc on the basic physiology of the plant with particular empbasis on drought tolerance, propagation techniques, the new plastic bag storage technology, the epidemiology and etiology of pathogens, techniques for safe movement of sexual seed, and numerous agronomic practices can be applied in Africa. On the other hand, liT A 's expertise on cropping systems and soil conservation can be applied to other continents.Cooperation in the future will be particularly strong in the area of biological control of green spidermites and the cassava mealybug. The two institutes ha ve airead y cooperated on the identification of collecting sites, development of mass rearing techniques and methods of transferring beneficia\\ insects across national borders. Many beneficia\\ agents collected by CIA T are now being actively tested by liT A in Africa.liT A has also agreed to assist CIA T in improving documentation services by both collecting and distributing materials within Africa, as well as by contributing to the newsletter and talcing charge of the version to be published in French: liT A 's regional efforts in Africa could be greatly enhanced through greater liaison with CIAT. This is especially true with respect to genetic resources. It is tentatively proposed to station one CIA T scientist atIlT A, slarting in 1987 ,lo be responsible for germplasm movement from lhe Americas lO Africa and for more rapid inlerchange of information on research and development belween lhe lWO instilules.The overall strategy in Asia is to strengthen national cassava research and development programs through a research network of technical collaboration with CIAT and ESCAP-CGPRT, particularly with respect to the determination of overall government policies towards cassava, development of improved varieties and agronomic practices, and training of national program personnel.The advantages of such a regional research network include (a) effective horizontal cooperation and rapid communication of new methodologies and technological advances; (b) identification and assessment of macrolevel problems that need to be solved through coordinated efforts; and (e) development of young scientists as a resull of opportunities for mutual exchange of information, consultation and training.This project envisages the placement of three senior cassava research scientists in Asia with regional responsibilities: an agronomist, a breeder and an economist.There is a great need for a regional agronomist for the Asían cassava research network, who would be located in Thailand. In collaboration with the breeder and economist, as well as the national personnel in each country, the agronomist would be involved in the assessment of production problems; agronomic research at the nationallevel; crop protection; and general consulting and technical assistance. A cassava breeder is already based in Thailand at the Rayong Experiment Station and is work.ing closely with the Field Crops Division of the Thai Department of Agriculture on developing new clones suitable for Asían conditions. He is responsible for (a) seeing that national programs with established breeding programs, such as those in China, Philippines, Malaysia,India and Indonesia, obtain sexual seed from suitable crosses from both CIAT and the Thai-based regional program; (b) advising national program researchers on selection and testing procedures; and (e) assisting in the evaluation ofhybrids through the process of selection and the final naming or release of new varieties. One of the Thailand-based regional staff will be designated as coordinator. In addition to bis disciplinary duties, he will also be responsible for organizing regional workshops and conferences; coordinating training programs; and facilitating information exchange.Economic research activities on cassava will be centered at the CG PRT Centre in Bogor,lndonesia, a country in which cassava is an important crop. A series of country-by-country coordinated studies on tbe economics of cassava production, utilization and future potential bave already been conducted. With respect to production, the cassava economist will collaborate with the agronomist and national program personnel in identifying the k.ey constraints to increased production in the region including competition with other crops for scarce resources such as land, labor and capital. As new production technology is developed, the economist will assist in onfarm evaluations, focusing on how readily the new varieties and management practices fit into different farming systems and affect production costs.Research in the area of utilization and demand will provide input into the broader planning of cassava development. Of particular importance is the development of an accurate, consistent set of statistics on cassava production, area planted and utilization.Evaluation according to end use (i.e., human food, animal feed, starcb) will also be undertak.en to determine priorities for research in these areas. The economist will undertak.e a macroanalysis of (a) prices cassava will ha veto compete at in alternative markets, and (b) tbe effect of processing costs on farm-level prices, production costs and yield targets, thereby bringing together production and demand research. The economist will also assist the national programs in determining how cassava may contribute to government policy objectives based on an evaluation of the socioeconomic cost/ benefit accounting of the crop 's potential.Of the projected senior staff positions, approx.imately 6.4 person-years will be devoted to the global functions of the Cassava Program (Table 11), all of which will be core funded. As the Latín American and Caribbean regional center, CIAT will have a core-funded total of approximately 3 person-years senior staff time. In addition there will be 1 person-year of spccial project-funded time for the Meso-American and Caribbean liaison officer.Tbe regional center for Asia will comprise one person-year of full-time core-funded staff in the breeder position plus the two full-time special project-funded positions of the economist and agronomist. In Africa liT A is tbe regional center; however, CIAT projects the placement of a liaison officer in 1987 subject to further negotiations with liT A.The program will also receive support from the CISU in terms of documentation; the G R U, in terms of germplasm maintenance and tissue culture; the Biotechnology Researcb Unit (BRU), for virus and basic mycorrhizal work and training services. center-wide budaet cuts.b Pltylioloclst: ThiJ position will be temporarily discontinued in 1985 as a major ( Jatematlonal Acroaomlst: TbiJ position was diseontinued in 1980 upon the body of work has been acbieved, and CIA T has opted for increased activity in tbe tennination ofthe IDRC special project for intemational cooperaúon outreach in aru of cusava utilization. The position is projected for reinstatement in 1988 in Latín America. response to tbe need for further upstream resean:h i. n cusava.1 Acroaomlst (Asia): This position was discontinued in 1980 with the terrnination e Breeden: One breeder position was moved lo lhe Asían Regional Pro8ram in of the IDRC-funded special project. Special projecl fund s are being souahl to 1983; a second breeder is projecled to be reinstaled al headquaners in 1987. This reinstate the position in 198S-86. will allow expa.nsion of breedin¡ efforts in ECZI 3, S and 6 , as well as closer h Acr~t (Caribbeaa): A co-project is presently bein¡ neao1ia1ed with CIP, collaboralion with nalional proarams in lhe final atases of aeleclion.JITA and CIAT as participants in a regional nelwork for all root crops in lhe d Utiliulloa Spedalist: Disconlinued in 1982 as a result of cenler-wide budgel culs , Caribbean. This corelike project should come on stream in 1986-87. l. his posiúon was reinslaled in 198S.This plan is written at a time when, in accordance with the EPR's recommendation, a major study of demand for cassava in Latin America is under way. CIA T's currentl)' projected global responsibilities are in line with the EPR 's recommendations-i.c;., assuming that the demand studies show little hope for a growing demand for cassava in Latin America-that .. CIA T should consider tailoring its program to meeting its responsibilities as a major germplasm center for the world. Such a program would take full advantage of the excellent team of scientists currently work.ing at CIA T and would provide a major resource for training.\" If, on the other hand, the demand studies predict an increasing demand for cassava, particularly in Latín Ame rica, then CIAT projects the full team shown in Table 12.","tokenCount":"9214"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7659738602.json b/data/part_1/7659738602.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..31eda4d6615929f272ad1358e8edff851a84d639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7659738602.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a4a7755bafbe62e183ad95cf4ecc1fe2","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/Articulos_Ciat/Digital/S494.5.I47M48_Mesa_Redonda_Sistema_Interamericano_de_Informaci%C3%B3n_Agr%C3%ADcola,_Agrinter.pdf","id":"-2117964737"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fa0c534d-b4e0-484f-9895-6cad74fbe403","pagecount":"192","content":"ANTfCLDf\"\\ TES La del CIAT, como cUdl'luler b,bhotec' ti ,dlclOn,,1 comenw siendo una fuente de nlfOtlTIdUOn pd.T1 d plr~onal CIU1tlfH .. O d<... IJ m::,tttuclon und SCCClon encdlg•tda de.. la adqulsl Clon de lIbros, re\\ lstas ) fotocopiaS que contLnlan cst 1 mfOlmaClOll, un SltIO de almacend mH,,,nto dt.. mfornlJ.clon entre uso \\ U\"O, un SIstema de mdlZdClon para locdh¿aI la mforma Clon \\ un slsteml de dfChl\\O para ftctlltar el deceso a Id tnfOrrnd.CIOn mccltante el prcstamo de libros 1 d Unld\"d de Biblioteca} Sen ICIO; de ])ocumentáuon todaVla ICalll\" estas aetlvl dades r.l enfoquL tradlLfonal con tmu lt de hecho) este no se puede abandonar, \\ d. que toda\\ Id eXiste el grupo de usuanos que ha, que sefllr l\\las hlen, se ha modIfIcado este enfoque tradl Clona! Pdra sen Ir 1 un rnd\\ or numero de usuanos de manera mas efiCIente }) clTte de esta modl f¡caclOn ha mcluldo la creaClOn de centros de lllformaclOn eSpCCI.llI¿add (CIL) dentro de 1,1 es tmcturd de Id Unld\"d dc Blblrol~ca \\ :'C1\"\\ lClOS de DocumcntaclOn En 1972, el pcrson,'¡ de los sefllCIOS de II1formaclOn c,entlf,ca del CIAT rceonoelO el papel de la mformacwll como und fuerza aetl\\ a antes que pam\" Ld mformaClon se han a dlspomble al usuano en el SitiO donde ella uuhz Ud -su propIo eselltono o hdst I su lugar de trabajo en el campo El usuano, lllformado de esta ffidllen de los ultlmos a\\ anees en su area de 1m estlga ClOll, tendna un.! ma, Of capdcldad de compardr los resultados de otros 111\\ estlgadores con los SU\\ os para reabar una 1m eStlg'lclOn de mejor calIdad, con m<1\\ or rdpldez ) menor duphcaewn de esfuerzos Segun este conccpto1 Id Jnformdclon no se conSIderaba como un recurso \\ alora blc por Si solo SInO como uno de los msumo'i chnes de un Sistema comprenSf\\O ruseñado p rra mejorar 1\\ produetJ\\ld Id agncol¡ (\\Iongé 1979(\\Iongé  , \\longL et al, 1980)   )    Es de conOCIm1ento gtnerd:l que el cien tI !teo cu\"mdo se encuentra en una HcnS1S de mfor muelon!' prefIere consultal . -1 sus t.olcgas Clcnuftcos 0, pOl lo menos uttllzar los recursos que ya conoce, en \\ez de buscar nueVdS fuentes (Gane}, rOllllta &. \\\\oolf, 1974)  Para asegurar que un USUdTIO se fdmLhance )1, por COnSJguIente, cuente con un recurso detennmado, lo cornente es dlstnbrnr penodlcamente este recurso para que el usuano lo conCIba como una 'cantidad re conoclda t \"} ]0 tenga a mano cuando lo neCCSltc Por tal motJ\\o, este concepto de lnformaclon del CIA T rUl canal¡zar el acervo de mfonnaclOll que \"\"lSte en la colcccJOn de la blbhotcca para He, arl\" a cada usuano Se conSIdero fundamen tal que los sen lClOS se d,stnbu\\ eran de manera frable y oportund pard que el usuano se fal11lhanzal1 eon ellos \\ aprendIera a depender de ellos A mas d~ eso, clmarco lllsUlllelOnal del CIAT permJtJo dIos elentIfICOS de los programas ) a los cspt.cIJ..hstas en lnforrndclon ser cvlaboradon.s en la slntLS1S de conOCHnlentos para la ) ) 2 prOUUCClon dt los Ser\\1ClOS de mfm m lClon Lo~ docum.cllt lllstdS sellan espeCialIstas en el e unpo agllcoll pero 1 tmblcn POílll U1 consultdl 1 f¡tomcJor ldUlCS, fJslologos o cntomoIogos p,tr t propOf<.!Ol1dr un 11lJ.\\ Ol en tendlnl1cnto t. ¡nsumos de m [01 m,JClOn La idea de com bmdr el an UISIS tecnlCO de la btuatur'l con un enfoque multlplc dt lti cntt'cgJ. de lnformaclon CICntlflCa \\;)C dtll0011l10 \"lllfonndclon consolld.1dJ.,t El primer ccntlo de 1l1fonuaClon C.SpCCI.llIZ.lda qUé se mlCIO b lJO este concepto fuc el Cenu o de InlormaclOn sobre Yuca, cstdbJeCldo en 1972, segul do por el CenllO de lnfonndclOn sobre FrIJol v luego el Centro de InfornldcJOll sobre Pastos l roplcaks Aunque los cn: sc ,cl.lClonabd\" con cultl\\ os espcclf¡cos, todo; los SU\\lCIOS de m formanon con c\"\"cepclon de documcntaclon lndul m al .Irr07 como uno dt. los componentes oncntddo por productos La onentlclOn por producto refleja la orgaruZ.lClOn de la 1m estlga clon \\ los obJctl\\ os dd CJAl Sm unbargo puesto que el IRRI, the Internauonal RIce Re search lnstltutc, tlene un centro de. lnform lClon sobre anoz, el el --\\T no tU\\ o necesldad de crear un centro de mfotm..tClon espLcllhzadd p tra esH . . producto 1 n 1980, las publicaCIones de la Blbltolcca \\ el Centro de LJocumentdclOll (CENDOC) uldu) eron Pagm\", de ContLmdoTarJctds de resumen VolulTlt.nes acumulatl\\ os de rLsumenLS anuales Boletmes m fOfIl\"la t1\\ os Boletll1 de ulul11ds adqUlsIClOl1LS PubhcJClOneS ocasionales (m.muales tc.cmcos, n. . . produccJon de articulos \\ a pubhcados, dlrCctonos dL 111\\cstlg'ldolCS) Como un centro dL mfonnaclOn espeClallz.1da, el CIAl conSIdero necesano poner el docu mento completo a dlSposlclOn del usuano cUdndo fuera posIble r otOCOplaS de todos los ar tlculos que apdreclan en las Pagmds de Contuudo est.lb,,\" a dlSposlclon del usuano Artlculos conSIderados como da\\ es fuelon reproducIdos \\ dIstribUIdos Se desarrollo una po]¡\\Ica de prestamo mtcrl\"bhotec,lfIo ademas del sen K'O de pre51dll1o Ordll1drJo a los usuarIos del CIAT Como no es practico Cl1\\lJX lIbros o:l otrd.S part<...s del pdlS -) menos donos palses la rnd\\O na del matendl se ha sumuustr.:l{lo SIempre U1 forma de fotocopIa En 1972 cu mdo d C<.ntro ddC¡UIlIO un IUllldtrc\" se pumeron hdcer busquedas retJospec tl\\a5 en el aceno mfollnatl\\o contcllldo en los lcglstros de la Cokcclon de documentos El fLrmdtrcA se b lSd en el pnnclpIo de (,Ulncldcnud OptICd. ) permIte multtplcs puntos de icceso 'lI ... mfOrlTI..tCIOIl pTlmdfla mcdl mlc un slstcm 1 rnecanJLado de almaCCnd.f111cntO) recupcrdclon ) ) 3 d{. lnforrnlCl0n por medw de dtSCnpt01cs (p ti tbldS c1(t\\cs) o COmblnJClOnCS de terminOS Con este rdpldo \\ cÍlcKntc slstem l de recupcluclon de m[unnJCIOn fue posIble flcIlJtal al usuano un tIpO ut\"1mentc lluln ldudhLddo (k ,1CCCSO 11...t colcccwn de documentos Desde el C01111cnLO, la tCspucsta de los usuanos a 1lll1fonnacJon consolIdAda fue mu\\ pOSt tl\\ d \\ los ucntl [¡cos del e1Al y de otr dS mslltuclOUC' obscn dl on qne rCClblan d scn lelO de PagInas de Contemdo, SOhClt.:lb, . . tn fotocopIas de trtIeBlos de rc\\¡stas cuando no podlan suscO blfSC d Jos mIsmos, que las tdlJLLLS de resumenes eran un SCf\\lCIO de Alerta de la hterdtuTd fun dament.li en su cdmpo, que lds pubhcdclones oCdsiondJes lrdll utd,s ') bIen presentadas y que se est.abd aplIcando conOCimientos cspCClÍlCOS a Id complldcJon y entrega de lnformaClon I:VALUACION DI:L GRUPO DI: USUARIOS El Centlo IntemaclOnal de ImeStlgaclOnes para el Desarrollo (CllD), el cual ha fundado un numero de centros de mfOrm.lClOll espcclahz'1da. 11 l mtentado desarrollar una metodologla pa ta e\\ aluar las '1CU\\ ldades de los usuanos hacld d rango de servlclOs, el desempeño de este upo de umdad como un conjunto La Oflcma de PlancaclOll y EvaluaclOl1 del CllD \\ lSltO al CIAT en 1980, realIto, con h a\\ ud\" del personal de CENDOC, un eSludlO y cuestlOnano con el ob Jeto de proporCIonar InfOlmaClon para SLr utIlIzada en esta e\\ aluaclOn Lste c-studlO se coneen tro unlcamente en el Centro de lnfofrndcl.on :,obre YUCd \\hs del 90% de los 177 USUdnos quc teSpondlcl on al cuestiOnano teman tItulo profesIOnal Sus responsablhdddcs de tI '1bd]O mclulan 10\\ eStlgacl0n, docenCld \\ adnllllistraclon El 58% eran emple1.dos dL lnStItucIOnes que tenl'ln un programa de rnveStlgaclon en yuca~ y el 27% dedIcaban mas de tres cuartos de su t1empo a este plograma La md\\ ona eran reSIdentes de palses lat1l10Jmencanos, pero tamblen estu\\ leron representados el Canbe, Afnca, ASIa y el PaCIfICO al Igual que Canada, los I:E UU , Europa\") AustralIa Solo un 13% de los usuanos fue ron de paIses claSIficados por el ellD como \"mdustnallzado,\" (Hardle, 1982) Este esturno no meluyo los suscnptores del CIAT al Centro de 1nformaClOl1 sobre\" uca, Sll1 embargo, se puede dSunur ~ Sln lugar a dudas, que estos son prOfeSIOI1d.lts que dedican su tlcrnpo, pnmordJalmente, d Id tn\\esilgaclOo j que trabdJdn tIempo completo en \\ UC<l Un e&tudlo slmllar de los USUdrIOS del Centro de Infolm lelon sobre FrIjol mdIco una com pOSlClOll muy 'lmllal 10l 100% dc ld muestra tcmJ tItulo profeslOoal, un 45% trabaJdba en ll1 \\Csugdclon, un 21% en docencIa \\ un 25% en adnllnlstrJ.clOll El 9% de Lsta mucstrd se de scmpcna en trdbdJos de c:xtcnslon ) 4 AdCIl1.l:' de estL glllpO (le USUJIIQ:, !orrnall¡; ldo, C\\.lStC Ull bllUpo nUlllcro:,o que recIbe los SU\\ lelOS del e lA r lndIl Lclamen te LI deceso IIldlrecto 1 los ~Ll\\ IClOS por m tcrmccllo de un co lega o un t biblIOteca 1 \\Lees cknomm ,uo el 'efecto Illultlp}¡cldor\", 'le c\\ldCnCIO marcaclamen te en lIS respuestas (k los USlldnos LI can c:,1I1110 qut. por lo menos dos personas, adcmas del suscnptor, tU\\ JLrOn aCCLSO d Id';; talJet l'i de fL'lUll1Cnc<:. \\ loe; volumenc.s acumulltl\\ os en\\ lddos 1 SU:,cllptorcs mdl\\ lclu 11<..5 Bubo, l.dcmas, un IlUmCIO sustJllCI.li de slIscnptorcs IIlStltuclOnales (18% dd grupo total de usu trIas en mdrLO, 1981) al Igual que un gr,m numero de bIblIotecas que rCClben nuestros SCf\\IClOS por canje Aunque el estudIo realu.ado por el cnn no c\\ alUD Lste punto, se considero modLr lda UJ1J. cstIm ICIOI1 de cuall o persondS por suscnpclOn InStItu CIona! begun correspondencld del CIAT con estds ll1stltuclones, muchos de los usuanos son es tudlantes v otros grupos dc USUdnos mcluven 111\\ estlgddores, lI1structores \\ personal de exten slon Lsta dmplIaclOll del grupo dc usuanos tdlll bien se obscn d con PI oductos de lnfonnaclOll menos especIalIzada como lds PaglIlas de Con tLIlldo )-publIcacloncs como los boletInes, los cuales actuan como enllLe en una Ied e!L 111\\eStIg lClOn dctennll1dda Ln la entrC\\lsta por Larta em lada pOI el Centro de InformdclOIl sobre YUCd (CIY), los usua nos tU\\ leron la OpOl tumdad de responder a 11 slglllentc pregunta \"Cu.tles son los aspectos par tlculares que usted \\ J.lola del CIY qUL no son propolclOllddos por ollas selVlClOS de mforrnd clon?\" Sus rcspuestafi mdlcaron que el pnmordlal era la especmhzaclOn del centro)-el hecho de ser una colecclon mundIdl de h htcr ltura sobrL \\ UCd LStd concentrdclon los llevo a sentIrse como pdrte de una comunidad mterndclonal que tr'lb1.Jaba sobre un problemd de lnvestlgaclon en comun ~L ll1dlcO 11 natur l1c7a an 111 tlca dL los rcsumenes \\ 11 rapldez)-regulJ.ndad del ser \\lClO Se CItO la traducclon di cspanol o al mglcs de lLsumenes de tlabaJos en otros IdIOmas, al Igual que Id d\"ponIbIlldad de ti dbaJos de re\\ IStdS poco conocIdas o dlfICllmente aseqUIbles, de mforme~ Ineehtos \\ documentos gubernament1.1es Un centro de mformaclOn espeCIalIzada tiene la oportunIdad de sobresalIr en esta arca Puede proporcIOnar una cobertura a fondo de un area determmada, puesto que no tIene la n.sponsabIlldad de cubnr una amplIa gama de tOpl cos Los centros de mformaclOIl espcclallzadd tamblen tIenen una \\c.ntaJa marcada en campos donde no hay re\\ IStdS onentadds por producto, pero donde la mformdclOn dISpOnIble esta dlS persa en un grdn numero de fuentes el<.. dl\\ersos upos Los USUdno~ tamblcn conSIderaron el sen IClO de fotocopIas dd CIAl como un rccUl so \\ alIoso LV ALUACION LCO'lO~IICA Los encargddos dt. sen ICIOS de mfonnaclOll concuerdan generalmente en que no se puedc cuantlÍlLar el vJ..lor de Id m[ormaClon Sin consldcIdbk unbIguedad, \\ en que redlmente no se puede medIr II <-fecu\\ lddd en leldClOll con el custo ) los benLfIcIos A ptsdr de los esfuer70s ) ) 8 bros de los programas admmIstrdlJ\\ os \\ de 1m CStlgaClOn del CIA r Paquetes en I rcnolo,,! 1 de SClntllas y Admu1lStracIOI1 estan IBJo COl1SIderdC1on pala un futuro Boletll1 BIbhograf:co No todo el matenal que es Importante para el trabdJo del (lentIfICO se encuentra en los ar tlculos de revIstas 1 amblen hay neceSidad de hacer conocer d los USUdXIOS monograflas, obras de referencla v publIcaClones como manuales de adlestr,UTIlento, complL.l.CIOnCS de trabajos Hl ruvIduales presentados a conferencIas, bIbhograftas anotadas, matenal audIO vIsual, etc Las re \\lStas nu\"'-as que se aruclOnan \"la coleccLOn tamblen se anunCIan por medIO de este boletm El Boletm Blbhografico, publIcado mensualmente, ofrece una lIsta completa de los maten.ues mcorpondos ah colecclOl1 \\ Cdt ¡Jogados durante el mes antenor ordenados en grdlldes cate ganas que corresponden al esquema de clasIftC lClon dc la BIbliOteca NaCIonal Agt icola de los Estados Cmdos, y con la Cita compkta y id SIgIl Hura topograf¡ca Ll usuano que Icqulere m\" ) ar mfO! mac¡on sobre un ltbro, por ejemplo, pucde soltcnar IdS p,lgtnas de con tuudo o el hbro en prestdmo pala esturuatlo en 111a\\ or detalle El matcn.u lIldUldo en el ultImo Bolenn B,bho graflco se coloca en una colecclOo de 1 CSCf'\\ a éspcClll durarite un mes pata asegurar que todos los USUdflOS tengan la oportunidad de consult Ido Lsta PUblJC,¡ClOl1 satisfdce 1\" nccesidad de un sen lelO de alerta en el .uea de pllbltC,1ClOnCS no pCllodlCdS, la cual tH..ne una rusemlnaClon mas lenta pero no menos lnformatl\\d Las mayores bma tClOnes pard plcstdl este sen ICIO son, de nue\\ o, los costos de impleSlon y de COlfeo Antenoffilente se produCl Ul dos pubhc tClOnes SlfilIaies Ambas se tltulaban UltImas Ad qUiSlclOnes La pnmera era un1 hsta fotocoplada que se b iCla Clrculal entre el person.u dd CIAT, notificando aceled de la lIegldd de l1Ue\\os hbros La segunda se d,stnbUla entre el perso na! \"} los usuanos externos, pnnclpalmcnte blbhotlC 1S, pal~l notIfIcar sobre 11s adICIOnes a Id coleecIon CIAT Esta presentaba una pOltada lIam,!tl\\a y se producld medlante la fotOCOP1'! de toda t l ftcha eatal0h'raflc1 de cada lIbro nUC\\ o Luego se Impmm ID COplaS para su dlStnhu Clon Lste metodo no requefld de mucho tiempo p'1r 1 Su prOdl.lCClOn, SHl emb lrgo Id pubhCd Clon usu umentc conttnla di-40 '1 50 pJglndS por cdlcton bimestral Los tSlentos se orucnab m alfabetlcanlente por los tP1brr lfos que se 1s1gn 10.111 t e Id.! pubhcdClOll el<... acuudo con la t lbl t dL Le, se meluIl por tanto un gran no de eso,,> U1clbLzamlcntos LI boleun Ul su nue\\o fOl mato se das!flCd por amphds catcgOll'ls, luego SL mi.-L.mogrifld ) S{ reduce en II f010COpwdor 1 antes de pasado 1 lmplcnt t TmU\"l lplO\",HTI ld'lrncnte ocho hOl 1'$ )l-.llll.lf c\"..te trlb!.Jo cddJ. mes, \"\\ d resulLldo es un bokttn de solo uldtro hOJ t3 :'L dmul10 i l portdd 111 undtJ\\ l~ 3m Lln bJrgo, todo el mateHd.l reJu lnte C!:!.t~i dlsponlhle, cun und PClIOdlCtddd mcnsu..tl \\ con dhorros su~tancIales en Jo'! costo~ dl lmpreslOn \"\\ ck cmreo lus CU..tlL~ compenSdIl d Incremento del ) ) 9 tlCmpo de prodUCClOn Revistas de resumencs Estas re\\ lstas de rcsumenes altamente cspccIJ.hzJ.ddS j producIdas por los tres CI1 (\\ UCd, frIJol, pastos trop,cales), se dlstnbm en tres \\ eees por \"ño Los \\ olumenes se d\" Iden en am pllas categonas de matenas V se claSIfican ademas por md,ces de dutores y de matena por descnptor Cada CIta se acompaña de un resumen andhtlCo el cual proporcIona la mfonna elOn fundamental dd trabaJO, para ayudar al usualIO d. decldlf SI nLceSIta consultar el docu mento completo Se mclm en el titulo <.n su ,,\\loma ongmal '; Su tradUcclon correspondIente, los resumenes ; descnptores se presentan en esp,illol, ; en el caso de yuca V ffIJol, en mgles El proposlto de estos \\ olulncncs eS 11. dlSemUl.lClOn selectl\\ d de la lnformaClon Los en ten os de sc1ecClon no son los mIsmos pata cada eJE, ,:lunque todos pn..senran la calactCnstlca de ser altamente especIalizados El Centro de Informaclon sobre Yuca, por ejemplo, tIene como obJctl\\ o recolectar toda 1\" lIteratura sobre la mvesngaclOn en yuca, mdependlenre del tIpO de documento, IdIoma ongllld! o feLha de pubhL3CIOIl Por otra pdrte, el Centro de lnfor maclon sobre FflJol (CIF) se lImIta d. Id ]¡teraturd sobre Pha,eolus vulgmls, \\ en aquellos casos donde se mcluye mfOrrnaCIOTI sobre fnomeJOlarnlento pertmente a P VIl/gU\"', a algunas espe eles estrechamente asocldddS El CIF no lnduvc, pOI eJemplo, 1 L htclaÜtld ra\"\\.onOIUILd \\ tam bIen dllml1'\" aquellas pubhcdclOl1es donde solo ,,, ha u ulIL ,do el fnJol como m ltLnd! de m, es tIgaClon Solo se selecclona la lIteratura !TI 1$ l eCKntc t dlspombk en csp mol, pOI tugues, Ingles, frances o aleman Estos crnenos de selecelon se basan en las pnondades de 1m cstlgaclon de los programas del CIAT V es poco probable que se esta!1rblICLn Los costos d<-produccwn } correo \\ueh en ,1 sel 1qUl susceptIbles de control Alimen!d SIempre el costo de compra de los documentos p,rá la colcCclOn v son hJos el tiempo v Id. ener gla requendos pdra obtener los documentos. Incel los l~SUlnenes, claslilcarlos y tradUCIrlos, el umeo control en esta arca es tener ti certc7a de que St. esta proLesando mfonn lUDU de alt..! 1....1 IIdad En el pisado se daban dos nl\\clcs oc. LobutUlJ. en d ULd dL r('SUn1l.~IH.S lmcltlmcntc 10-& resumenL:' ~e dlstnbunn zTlcnsudlll1cnte en formd de tdl:j'-..tl Los USuarIOS reClblan un S<.T'\\ lela de dlscmm.lclOn dt JnfOrm,lClon mu\\ rapluo \\ e!>pLclfico LIlos POdl Ul J.gregdJ t su propIllO 1cCClOll de dücumen tos .:tqucl1as tu ;LL.lS m lS nJt.\\ .ultLS ..l su <in i de lntLfcS \\ dc'Sc 11 t.Jr o) Como en lndS usu'U hdccr Clrcutu c1 rc..,to \\l fin ti dt. e Ida lilO se produua un \\ olumen 'lcumuL.1t1 \\ o t.ste medIO de consuJt..l plrn1 mente da:;.lfic lb,l los H.sumenlS en gr mdes e \\h.gOfldS de ma * V .. dl i (úta:ncn tl Up<'>:-I tillado por p.o,h¡cto o matcl1a C~J'Lt-lf1\"'J.) hd:;.t t ') (m.tlt 1I.Il tth>1\":ccl • g'~nu ¡J {) d( APO\\ o \\ J. 1n\\C'.ub lC¡(Jn] \"' .. lhpwde {k las fu .. ntes o hht.5 qut s<. Huhan t.JI 14 busqu(.d: Pfudundü por 1, Umrl .... d dL GÜrTtUIII<' '(H>OOl i I , I 5 de lnvest1gaClon, se ha logrado muy poco progreso U1 la C\\ dhldClUl1 CCOnOl:nICa (Kcrcn 8.- Schwuchow, 1981) La cvaluaclOn econonllC,1 rCJ.hada por el CUD se dlv,dlO en dos partes tlempo , costo LI GlID ha fmancIado aet\" Idades de mfOlmaclOn b\"s IIldose en el concepto de que el tiempo es de los recursos mas escasos en cualquIer programa de 1t1\\ eStlgáclon Pilla una meJOl utIliza CIOn de este recurso, los 1n\\ estlgadores deben poder dLdlcar un lninnno de tIempo d la busque da de lnformaClon v maxnUlzar tanto la mforrndclon obtenlda con10 el tIempo dlsponIble para utIlIzarla El centro de mfOlmaClO11 especIalIzada proporciono el medIO pan este ahorro Por ejemplo, SI un centro de documentaClOl1 con seIS personas puede sen Ir a 10002000 usuanos, esto representa una ln\\ClSlOn de 6 12 horas/año por usuano, O sea 7 15 rnmutos por scman 1Puesto que es poco Plobable que cualquIcr l1SUdltO pueda proporclondrse sus propIos sen.lClOS de mfofmaClon en esta canudad de tIempo, Llln\\ crSlon Iepresentand un dholro gencIal, '1lln S1 la cahdad de la mformaClOn no fuera de meJO) cahd Id que Id dIsponlhle p<lra d USU1flO en for ma lnd1\\ tdual DebIdo a que los recursos mstltucl0ndles, mduso los de 111stltuclOnes modestas) son mucho mas exhaustl\\ os que los recurso,> llldl\\ldu'lles~ d c\"-cepc10n de los mas ílCOS} probablemente le suIta muv supenor la calIdad de los m<ltenales proporclonado~ por un centro de lnforrndClon especIalizada El GIL puede tenu acceso a gr,mdes ,edes de mfmrnaclOn, bases de d Ltos sIste mallzadas, colaboradores CIen ti fleos \\ los propIos U1\\ estlgadOlcs mdl\\ Idu&cs DebIdo a su condlClon de centro mtemaClonal, el CI;\\T tIene.. acceso '1 m.aterIales escntos ongtnalmente en muchos IdiOmas )' puede reunir lnfonndclon de fuente~ no ascq\\llble~ ,,1 un cstJgadol es lndl\\ 1 duales Cuando los centlos de rnfonn'1uon cspeCHlhl.ada complLm lllnformaclon hay un'! co bertura ) profundrdad mu\\ ores que cu tndo los usuano~ ucbtn hace-I1o por Si mIsmos La 111 formaClOll que llega al usuano e,ld mdlLdda \\ Chsl[¡Láda \\ tambIUl est 1 dlspomble en forma de almacen lnllcnto pcrnrlnt-ntc 1Yttd su recupcraClon p05tellof r lAS coleccIones pdrtlcuhrcs de lo,')Clentl[¡cos no poseen estas caractenstlcdS En tennmos fmancILfos) el cnn vüuno el costo por lI:\"ll.lllO ('1 pUIlClplOS dL 1981) en ccr ca de e'm $401 ulo La suscnpclOu a una soLl re\\ 1St..! cJeullfica tt-ndn t por lo mU1US ese mIsmo '\\alor, 51 no mJ5 Sm embdrgo, este pru.JO no lndu\\c los costos de 1 i.S suStnpClOnes t muchJ.s rC\\lStdS y fuultcs de rcsumcnc,') m los costos de uuhl..lclon de LI m'l)Ofld de 1 iS rede,') de mfor m4C1on De cualqUier modo se II1curnrn en LstC i.o:-.to b l~lCO pdra poder proporClon lr los ser \\lCjOS tradlClun tlcs de blbhorec1. puo l~k se Lncucntra Ult1C lo~ cnSlü~ mas dlfleIles dL con trolar, V sualmente, ofrece una compIldClon de las PJ.611I1'1S de contenIdo de las fU lstas de mdvor llllpor tanela en las arCdS objeto de la estrategIa de mvcstlgdclOIl del CIAl, la cual se anenta hdCld pro ductos espeCifIcas (arroz, fnJol, Pdstos tropICales \\ \\uca) \\ Ul aquellds arcas de apovo d h In \\CstlgaclOll agncola (blOmetna, slstcmdtlzdClOl1 admmIstracIOIl, llleCdnIZaClOIl, tecnologla) y desarrollo agncola (economla, 50C1010151.1 rural, comunIcaCIones, CIcnClas de la mformaclOn)Las PagInas de Contemdo satisfacen la neceslddd de un sen lCIO de alerta de la lnfornlaclOll mas reCIente en las CienCIaS agncolas Lo~ costos que restnngen este servicIO son los de susenp CIOn, de lmpreSlOl1 \\ de enVIO Los costos de suscnpclOn se controlan medIante la aphcdclOn del pnnclplO de generalIdad Las SUSCrIpCIOneS se re\\lsan anu'llmente, tomando en cuenta tanto las estadlst1cas de uso por el personal del CIAT como las estad1stIcas pald los USUdnos c\"-temos Estos ddtos se tomm de los pedIdos de fotocopIaS sohcItados a tra\\es de lds PagInas de ContenIdo, rt.\\Istas de resume nes y pedIdos ordmallos de la bIbhoteca En LdSO de qUL un 1 re\\ 1std tenga poca consultd, el personal de la SeeclOn de AdquIsIcIOnes) clelltlfIcos de la dlsclplma o producto reldclOllddo con la revIsta reVIsan su renO\\ aCIOn Se cancelan las re\\ Istas que presentan baja demmda, v en tonces las necesIdades especifIcas de InforrnacIOn se satIsfacen proporcIOnando a los ClentIfIcos las pagInas de contenIdo de las re\\ Istas y pOl solicitud de fotocopIa De esta m mera, los recur sos del programa son mejor utIhzados p'ua sen Ir las neccsldadLs del usuallOPor otra parte, los gastos dc producCloIl \\t de coneo se controlan mejor con el pnnupIO de Estaba dIseñado para satIsfacer al USUdllO y no p.::U.I, lestnngrr costos} tctlla Ul1.l dmpha acepraclon entre los usu lrtOS SU1 embdrgo, en 1982 hubo qUl escoge) entre incrCmtntar no tablemente el costo del sen lelO o reduell su nIvel de cobertura Puesto que lo,; usuanos conS1S tentcrncnte expresaban que las lmutacIOnes cconomK..t::\" Lr'ln un problcmd~ se ,1Ceplo con re nuencld. la ultima alternativa Una pdrté de los ahorros se utlhzo en suscnpClones d revIstas, en mayor produ<cclOn de boletmes, v tal como est\" programado p\"ra 1983, en una \"\"'\\ or produc ClOn de blbhograftas anotadds Una forma de controlar los costos en esta area send)<1 utlh¿dClOJ1 de formas de lectura me canICa La slstemaUzaClon de las base\" de datos parJ. docunlentaClOl1 \\ la UtlhZaCIOn de un procesador de palabras para el texto de los resumenes, con su posterlOr cornposIclon utIlIzando los mIsmos regtstros, a\\ udanan ..i redUCIr los costos de produccJon tanto dd lCCurso bdSlCO como de sus productos S111 embargo, en este momento Cr:NDOC no tiene III el equipo nt los programas neccsanos para hacer estoPara asegurdl\" que el USUdno pued~l tener acceso t to<.h la lnfonn1cwn mas leLtcIOll Ida con su \"CrISIS de In{ormaClon 1\" se rCJ.l1zdll busquedds bIbhürsraflLas de la ltterdlUr'lll1 la (,o!ccclOn de documentos v en la colecclon ~eneral Las busqucddS mecanlZ ldas. en Id cole(,Cl,on de docu mentas se hacen con h\"s( en los dcscnptores aSIgnados a los leSumenes Segun IdS neceSIdades del usuano, e,tds busquedas pueden ser generales o CSpCClÍlCdS Lstas busqued~s, dlspombk, a pedrdo, generalmente toman solo uno o dos dldS pala procesarlas La espec¡[lcld\"d y el mar co de ncmpo 14 \\ pedIdo\" de este scn lelO dscgurdJ1 que los usuanos tcndr a11 mtormaClon aun con el corte en el sen lelO de resurnenes A \\ eccs se re.lhzan busqucdlS manu ue~ en la colee ClOn general de la biblIoteca, cokcclOn di;. refen . . ncld \\ r~\\ 1st as de ILsumcnt:.s plr 1 dumcntdJ los resultados de las busgucdas rnec,llll¿dd\"s o solo en el c\"so del personal dd CIA r cu mdo una lnatend nu se puede recuperar de la cükcClon de docull1Lntos debIdo 1 su natuf tict:.t ,tlttmentc cspec1rulZ'lda Cuando sc reClUtO flCCUCIltcS sohutudcs dL UpOb comp lrabIes dI.... ln[onn 1C10n, se combInan los rcsult ¡dos de ln\\ estlg ILIon pdf 1 P! OdUClf b¡blJogr lfllS motad tS CstJ.S se po nen a dlSposlClon ne los USU\"1nos mttresadü1. Junto con los resultados mas tSpeClÍlcos de  Las busquedas en las pllnClp ¡Jes b lses de datos se pueden real l / Ir por tetc\" ut!l1Ldnc!o DIALOG u ORBlf Los costos de tele\\., que son sust<trlCl.uCS, con,lllu}cn el mayor nnpedl mento p\"ra utlll¿ar este proceso Los ClE pueden cfceludr ahoflos conSldef'lbtcs de tIempo y dlnero cuando se dIspone de mejores s:stem tS de tdecomunlcdclon ;,\\Iedmnte La uu117.tc10n de bases de datos agncolds el CIE puede caflechr las susenpclOnes a \"quellas publtedc10ncs de resumen menos utilIzadAs ~ledlante b.s bases de ddtos se pueden re,th7ar busquedas rctrospec Uvas muy detall\"das de Id IIter ,turd en gcnenl Ll acceso mejorado d bases de datos Sls(em!tl zados es un desarrollo que tICne la capaCIdad de e'<pund1r los serV1elOS blbhograhcos La SlStematlzaelOn tamblen ofrece alguna oportumdad de Incrementar el nn el de servIcIo dentro de los centros de mfonndclon espec'dhz ,da dd CIAT Por ejemplo, las busqucdas mdl \\ 1duahZddas se pueden lCal1Zdf en el elA 1 a mte\" al os progr un ldos, tI tlhzando el archl\\ o delAGRIl\\ T[R tl otlas bases de ddtos, 51 se dispone de los pro~'T'I1l,lS de computador V del cspaClO en dlscos Se podllan lCrulLdf busquedas rcttuspectl\\ 15 da\\e~ medIante computddor v luego combmar o separar pala compltu blbI106'Tah,s motad\", Lsn es olla JIed cld\\C para la e\"pan SlOn de! actu,u nl\\ e! de sen lClO Sen lClO de Reforenua La coIecclon de lefen.nela de la BIbhoteca lS un lccurso mu\\ \\ alloso pero no muy conOCI do por todos los usuanos de Id Blbhoteea \\ mCllos que uno tlab-Jle frecuentemente con este tipo de lnformaclon, es poco pl.obablc que se l(,Lucrden mmcebdtamcntc las mCJoles. fuentes de tIpos espeClf1cos de 11lfOrmaClOnEl sen.1ClO de rcferencld ,,1'-uda a eu uqulcr llsuanü qUte bUSCJ.lnfmmaclOn cspcCJfrcd Ul Jos almanaques adas, manulles, cnclclopedlds, (brectmlOS) OtlOS fCCUlSOS de lntorrnaClon dt- [1. colecclon dc referulcla AdclTIdS} los usu lnos reCIben '1S1stencld en el m U1CJO del Cdt.uOgO en fIchas, en el uso de las re, lstas de resun1f. . . ncs. en Id ubh .. aclOH de mait...fld.lu en los estdntes \\ en Id locallzdclon de maten UlS que no se encuentran en los lnl~lnos Los usuano~ pueden rccupe El CIAT produce un bolet¡n para cada uno de sus cuatro productos baslcos Lm CIL se han respomablhzado de la producClOn del Bolenn Informativo de YUC1 V el Bolctll1 Informa tlVO de Pastos rroplCales LI pnmcro se publIca en eSlMilol e lI1gles El proposltO de estas pu bhcaclOnes es el de mantener en cont1cto a Jos lll\\ estlgadorcs de cada producto e mformarlos de los ultllll0S dvances en sus respectIvoS campos ProporCionan un foro palit areas problemas en la ln\\ estlgaclon, dnunCIan futuras conferencIas \\ re\\ lsan la lnerdtur i nue\\ a l\\lantlcnen a la red de lnveStlgaclOll funciOnando como una umdad \\ reducLn la poslb'.hddd de una duphcaoon de esfuerzosLas huutacmnes mas Importantes son la busqueda de la ll1iOrmaClOn a publIcarse} 1 como antes, los costos de produccion y de COlreo Fa el pasado estos boletInes presentabdn la ten dencJa a ser cada \\ ez m<iS te(.nICOS~ pnn~lpalmente ddndo al hecho de que Id lnavona ele Id tnfonnaClOIl recIblda se tomaba prcsra&1 de otros trlh~lJos (eg, lnfonnes, test::,) o era escllta por un cIcnnflco acostumhrado d red letm con un <.-sulo ICCnlCO I:l fonnato utIlIzado no ahorraba lspaCIO y se 'aha dc lnU\\ poco matcIMI \\ ISUal para, tf13I la lpanencn de la p 19I1ll o llamar la atcnCJon del lector Actua:mentl se estd dando \\ 19or reno\\ ado t Jos bolet1l1cSEl romato se ha camblddo por uno mdS t.ompdcto \\ m tl) (hn UUlCO ~t... sollclta un ma' or numero de fotogr~lftas, los artlculo~ se redacttl1 con un t..stllo menos tecHICO y se desau 011.1 un ma\\ of numero de &rrJEc1.s t\\demds, se ha esl'lbleudo cont teto con los mIembros de lds redes para soliCItar m.,Üenal SKndo sus contnbuuonc:, Id cll\\e del C'XltO, es necesano que contmuc un alto ni\\ el de mterdCCIQn con d U~U<lflO pOI este medIO Lstos fm matos \\ al l.In segun cada pubhG1CIOn, debIdo a que lo~ proh1f tinas tIenen obl~tJ\\ O~ un poco dlfclcnLc,<, p'1ra los boletines, pero el PI OpOSitO es plesentar und m~!)or cdlltlddU de lnforrn tCI0n Ln menos espaciO '). por tanto, h:J.cer que la pubhc lelOn se A medIda que se han Ido dL'dllolldndo, los centlos de lI1fOlmdCIOn espeuallzad 1 dd CI ~r han pasado de la recopulclon a II consol1daClon \\ de.. esta, ahora lla 1l1tcgraClOl1 de lnform 1Clon Los plocesos pllI1CIpales U1 LStc modelo de des uloIlo de 10 mos h 1I1 sIdo el cambIO \\ 101 transformaClon, Igual que lo han sIdo en el desdTlollo de sen lelOS de InformJ.uon secundalll durante los ultImas dos sIglos La tf1.nsformdclOIl e lntcgl aClOn ulttnoles pueden d.u como resultado una perspectn a en 1, cUdlla dlSemll1dClon de mf0I111'l(.lOn \\ publILdclol1es SL unan en un solo proceso, \\ los centros de lnfülmaclon espccl1.hzddd desempeñen su papel mas 1m portante dentro de esta cstructurd Intcgl Ida RFFERJ:.NCIAS  Geografra e H,stonaEducacL6n, Extens16n Para la preparacl6n y procesarnLEmto de la informacI6n para la base -* de datos, el Slstema ha desarrollado una serie de normas, metodolo g!as, gufas, manuales, vocabulanos y otros matenales de consulta La producci6n anual de informaCión agrfcola de AmérLca LatlOa y elCanbe, puede estu:na.rse entre ~ 000 y 70. 000 unl~ blbllOgrá:-Ílcas, de las cuales aproxlfnadamente el 500/0 corresponde a docume,g tos convencLOnales (hbros y artrculos de reVlstas) y el resto a doc.!:. mentos no convenclOnales o de dlHcll acceso (docLlmentos, mforlnes, estudIos, tesIS, proyectos, mapas, normas, audLOvlsLlales, traba-JOS presentados a congresos, etc) DebIdo a múltiples problema s en la recolecc16n de mformacl6n, se dlÍlculta su registro e msumo al s istema, el CLlal s610 cubre parcIalmente el volumen de mforITlaclón producida en los pafses, que puede calcularse en lln 300/0 del to tal.El control de la ,nformacl6n prodUCida en la regl6n puede lograrse mediante una dlvisI6n eqUitativa de responsablhdades entre los componentes del Sistema, en la que cada unIdad de mformacl6n se enca!.gue de registrar Sus pllbhcaCLOnes lnshtucLOnales o las de su espectahdad, hacer el ms urno oportuno del slstenla y tratar de colaborar en la Identthcacl6n de otras fuentes generadoras de mformaci6n AGRINTER/AGRlS es un sisterna copartlclpatlvo, por tanto, los co,!!. tos de operacI6n se comparten cl-e la SigUiente manera 1) El núcleo central de coordlnacl6n asume los costos de desarr~ no del Sistema, metodologras, slsternatLzacl6n de datos, xuant!:: nlmlento y explotac16n de la base de datos, producc16n y dlstn-buc16n del Indlce agrrcola y de otros serV1ClOS denvados de la B ase de Datos.Los sistemas naclOnales de información agrrcola de los parses y otras umdades de mformaci6n especlaltzada componentes del slstetúa, asumen los costos del msumo de la inforlllaclón en ho- 3.8,  3 6 AsCS01 ía \\ 3 6 1 n Centlo Interm\"CTlCi'no de f'ocul'lentaClón e In{OITl'lCIÓn i\\grícoh-CP)IA, curpllT'Í 1'1 runcl ón por lnte1 f1edlO ce 'Su represcntacIón oflclal, de 'l~CS01 ar '1 la eSd r.hrecLI1'1 el) aspectos rcl:1clOllJJos con la Jnterpretac16n ce los asuntos lncluidos cn el 1110r1\"<:1\"a de la PelUllón y ld conJucclón de los debates 3 6 2 La ,.es, l)lrCC tI V'l sohn td 1 'Í la lnteTI'enC1Ón del CIDIA en los CdSOS que: ]UZ\"UC nccesan O» 3 7 'iecret'lría 3 7 1 Las t,lrcas de ;,CC} ctarh de la \"cum6n es+'Hán a carpo del COl Hé   \"\"\\ n artlculo D aseso\"'aruento D comerc~al O !..n estJ.gaclón p comW1lCoCl ón D estudlo t\"ó~~co O acphcac.lOO O P'\" /ecto \"-.-1 l' N ~T.e \"'e el\" fo~a Gecrec~ente las fuentes de l.nfOt\"l'aC1OO que más le l.n eresan \" O artículos <le revlst as O seml:t'''.Iarlos. COn fe I\"ehC.l as , etc O :r-es~\"1es O contactos pel\"Sonales con l tres pro-   .:tl\"Q: Twmca! ~{:rvlélO patro\"'íl\"ado cOl\\Junta f\"'I:en\"e 1='t..'1:' el CA1H J la ff:J>\\ del \"ODW'TIO SU..1ú) (' ,..nc\\ cO.Jr1..nac:)T del Gmoo EspeC1f'11zado att !mo-maw6n ForeStal v sohcuaf al t'1geu ero H.lInoc'\"t f~rnér*k Sil!:.. e,~ca:.sac!o de f'\"TI ftRAT, quecon;;Jlte econ a!1 a ... tol'lO-lldes pertülen~ la Q.C'.Iflr1C1bn de lflS poUtlcas y 'o.s ptanes qutt puedan 1>n:: ~c\"'1t:rTVSt' en r 1 t.cton \",(,\"\" ln cocrd:ns,;: Al', (lrl G ...... oc a\\ IfTlpk-r.eni~l.lul ,4t\" \",,1\\ Prob. ... 4 \\'1. QW,\"P{1 v par,'} l..Ivulgar mtenSl'varnenlf' ht .nformaCJon contemda en la te$lS de arado de U1S rnStJ1uCl )!lel, de f'u~{.aCKJ'): !:l-..l-pe .... ot' ti4~tOP4d'i!'> con las AdJunto encontrará var:tos documentos en que se descr1be la :l.ntegrac:.ón de un GFuPO ESPECL~LIZADC DE !~FOP~C!ON rORESTftL, creado para actuar aentl:'O del .nwco del. AGRI?iTZ'{, segíb dec.l.arac ... 5n em~t:tda e. Santo Domlngo, Re pública Domln:.caua f'n J uno de 198::' El CATIE celeb~a la ~lc~ac:l.va o ag~aaece la conf:ta\"za depos1tada en nuestro Cel'tro y ay¡ el colega Jng l,1..\"lherto .rJ.~\"'e;: Sea, al decidir que INFORAT f~era el CJOrdlnador del gr4DO h SJ vez, al:tente a los :tntegran-'les d cont:l.nuar c<)~, la _ded, (e, ~t.e todo su apolo piU'i'\\ la real~zac:l.ón de .l.as act::,v1.daGes pertl.nt\"un>s, <? l1nta a otra~ ~m:~dades y personas a unir sus esfuerzos CO~ i~so+ro~ la ~~~ros dOLument~~~std~ b~Dl~0tecar~os y esp~c~al~stas en ~nforma c:t6\"! de laa áreas fOl'est:ü y agrop\"\"uM.'l.a nal\"l !'lOSt1 ado ~nterés i ha\"! aportado ,al~0~as s~ere'lCla~ i c~~entar~0~ estl.mulantes, que s~rán arall.~ados y d~fu\"!dlJoS po<¡te\"l.or'll't't<; Los int?gra4~e~ del grupo y yc e~~amos m~J ~nt~resaaos e~ conocer sus Opl.~:tOfies aobr1e ... 0$ ¿¡ 1\\.u\"1tO& l.~clul.tlo$ en est:.t comun~cac.!.on:) por lo 'tanto, le st..gl.ero q:..'e, S.l a l>_en to4<et'\\e hacerle) se dlX'.'lJa a Grupo <le Psp\",cl.absta<¡ de Inf\"\"mdc1.6n Forestal Pro:Jlems rola ted to tf¡(' flo,., of wrl tter. lnformatlon among Latln AmerJ.can foresters are brleflv descrlbed. Ewp~aS1S 18 glven to the roJe that unlvcrsltles could play Su¡,¡;estlons are made :en order to resobre or mlnlffilze the problems, l e to olfi;;;:! 1. \\-J,;; l 1. \\~i:' to ass2.gn adB0U'1te bndget., tJF'e al.iotments, and ap¡:>roprlate DersonneL tJ (hSSemlnate dlssertatlon lnfor'matJ.on, to publlSh bulletlns and Jo~rnals, to establlsh ourses on tec!-¡nlcQl wrltlng and lnformatlon utlllzatlon Four Latln Awer'lcan leglonal entltlés deallng wlth agrlcultural lnforn:atlon ane! documentiltlon a,'e descr~bcd The líGRI'HER System, the Speclallzed Group oí l'orestry Dccumentatlon, IJ>. Se presenta una hlsto::'la resumlda del por qué y cómo surgl.6 este trabaJo y se descrlbe brevemente el procedlm~ento segu~do en la comp~lacl6n del materlal y en la preparac.lón de la publlcacJ.6n Se l.ncluyen lnstruCCl.ones para los usuarlOS ~n teresados en consultar los textos completos de las tesls y obtener por correo f0to COplas y microflchas de las teslS Se presentan dos índ.lces alfabétlcoS, uno deautores y otro en el que se comblnan temas, especles forestales y paises, en el se gundo índlcc se .lncluyen 60 palabras claves de temas ,,181 especles y 13 térrnlnosgeográhcos SUMMt.\"<y lncluded ln thlS HO\"': are the SUl'lmarleS of 114 ¡:raduate theses frem students in the l-iatural Ren,wable Resources Departrnent (former Department of Forestry SClences) presented betlVeen 1952 and 1~81 as a requlsl te to obtain the tltle of Maglster SClentlae in che UCR/CATIE Post-Gracuate Progran (former lICA Graduate School) ln Turr.lalba, Costa Rica It conta1.ns a shcrt hlstory ~out why and hcw thls work was lnltlated, and a descr1ptlon of the procedures followed 1n the com;nllng of materials ane preparat10n of the publlcatlon Instruct10ns are lncluded for the users who are lnterested :m publlcatlon has t,.¡o alphabetlcal lndlces, one by authors and the othar comblnlng subJocts, forestry eaeeles and COuntrlOSThe latter contalns 60 key words, 181 specles and 13 geographlcal names Ing For, M S, Especlallsta en Informael6n, CATIE, TUrr'lalba, Costa Rl.ca <ltn ,,\" ~ '\"\"\", I 1\\ \"cJ', 4tH):! :\"!I.(>r~~\"\" \"!'I; d !tr, \",\"k \"l:t: {,,\"\"'ro '¡;'•Ul.f {,t,:r le J,t   .lIt -;re;-; rtAr J --td:v\"7-r::-;r-~--¡:. cl;, l,¡iul11l\" \"*..'lala i~ <;art 'r., tkJtU.\\~1 }~J lnK~, \"\"otl ,,1./ l T'I{I\" (lt \"\" r .. \" 1,0\" .....,. f \\l:tt.2 1:' \\1'1\" ~'I!\\Ml.O:\"') (Gt1..lf'\"' E ..,~,. 1\\ .c:,ft 1.. tj(' 1;, \"'-\"'lIIClO\"\\ 'f'~4:'@ta\\. ~ hti be!\". tót..,..::¡ 1 :l'l fSl't(\"-~\"\";4! te ..... \\'11:\\ 9 Lttl.' Ar .  It ¡\"t,,~q .•\",.\"oj~i \",r-'\"'''' í~, f l:>\"h t'h .0 rn, , i t.. .¡¡'\\t. ,¿ (~\"'J' t4tt tUrt ;,<>'-31:\":'(1:, ~rd .ti!'\" \"1)\"1\":l! ~k, 111ft h. vir f>.11': u \"ltJ>!!S t-~(!:\"IIt'\" th . . . . . r 1) f'e, e\" ~sbu   de Serv~r ce mucho par'a segu~~'\"', C00rdlna Yl 1 al\"\"\") ¡:Todd., id:;.. dct~vlda0e.s de J.;>forrna<..i':)'1 }. arH'-¡ de -psta '1\\l.bl~cac)on de)lCO a que los r I .,rlOS reúni 1 a rrunos de t\", 11COS ~ue p\"\"'eCl..;;::m eSl..a:r ac+-ua 1.1.::;ddo9T3IiibJ fin e:e dl$ +-1 rUf::n ~ Had:¡ COI' Jeter \"'lar lOS qtJ€ redl:l Z::>'1 ~Jerc.l.c . . . . o llheral de Id pro-  La _1\"eaclón de este serVlclO oDedece a la conVenlenC1a de estcib lecer una responsaJnhdad permanente en el contr'ol de los datos aue ata;]en a las C01'H:,c1one!> para q,le el catalogo c01ec1.11l0 constl.tuyd una fuente f'staole de lofo1\"lllaC1Ó'l actualJ:¡:ada ResponbabJ..udad que abarca 1} Adopclón de pl'ocedltnlelltos para la oLtenc1.oo perlodJ.ca de los datos pe1\"t mentes d las VarlaCl.ones de las eKlstenC1.as y de las q ue pud~e ran OCurrl1\" f'n el átf'd de la descrlpclón b~11~ográfJ.cd de las ?ubll-ca~ón :2) Normall~dCl.Ón de \",O\" asentdlluentos en el catálogo La funclón báslca de las blbllotecas especlallzadas o serV1ClOS de documentaclón es la de serVlr de puente entre los usuarlOS, en sus dlferentes nlveles, y los recursos de documentaclón e lnformaclón en sus dlstlntas varledades Sln embargo esta funclón no debe entenderse como el papel paS1VO o estátlco que suglere el lema de que la \"lnformaclón esté acceslble\" Hay otros térmlnos que reflejan hoy un papel más dlnámlco y no sólo el de serVlr de puente Las blbllotecas y centros de documentaclón agrícola tlenen como mlslón esenclal la de \"poner el conOClmlento en acclón\", de actuar como guía de los usuarlOS entre la varledad lnmensa de fuentes de lnformaclón, su volumen y calldad, y más aún, de advertlr y alertar a los especlallstas y la comunldad de usuarlOS en general sobre los documentos, lnformaclón y datos que son de su lnterés La creaclón del Slstema AGRINTER ya lmpl1caba desde su gestaclón la ldea de facl11tar más y mejores serV1ClOS de lnformaclón Esto está muy claro en los obJetlvos del slstema, tales como el tercero y el cuarto -Promover el mejor uso de los recursos humanos, económlcos y documen-tarlOS de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe, por medlo de la coordlnaclón, cüüperaclón e integraclón regl0nal -Hacer acceslble, en cada país, el con el sector agrícola y promover por parte de los dlferentes tlpoS conjunto de lnformaclón relaclonada la utlllzaClón de esa documentaclón de usuarlOSNo obstante 10 anterlor, la acclón de fomentar y establecer el ofreclmlento de serV1ClOS especlallzados y de carácter colectlvo dentro de un enfoque de Red, está orlentada a enfatlzar en la ldea y en la práctlca de hacer llegar los documentos mlsmos al lugar en donde sean urgentemente necesltados Cuando menClOnamos \"los documentos mlsmos\" queremos slgnlflcar que no es suflclente que \"la wformaclón esté al acceso\" n1 que el usuano reclba cantldades de \"cltas blbllográflcas\" dlarla, semanal o mensualmente Lo que deseamos lograr es que, además, el usuarlO cuente con los mecanlsmos que le facl11ten de lnmedlato el acceso a la documentaclón requenda y que la lnformaclón que le llegue sea sólo la relaclonada con sus necesldades específlcas a fln de e~iarle frustraclones que se orlglnan en al ReClblr 11stados tan enormes de referenClas que le crean problemas adlclonales al tener que dedlcar tlempo vallOso a selecclOnar y descartar materlal marglnal e lrrelevante y b) reclblr lnformaclón sobre materlal relevante al cual es dlfíCll tener acceso con la rapldez y en la forma que lo requlere la Soluclón de su problema Un slstema de recuperaclón de lnformaclón solamente podrá ser eflClente 51 asegura a los usuarlOS el acceso a los documentos o a la reproducc16n de las publlcaclones señaladas en los 11stados Sl esto no es pos1ble o es demaslado compllcado, el slstema será una fuente segura de frustraclón para el usuarlO El montaJe y operaclón de modernos equlpos de recuperaclón que no dlSponga de la lnfraestructura de acceso a las colecclones mlsmas no podrán tener un futuro pOSltlVO porque crean falsa espectatlvas e lncertldumbre y pronto plerden el apoyo de los usuarlOS y de las lnstltuclones que en prlnCl-plO apoyan estos slstemas Derecho de acceso y eflclenfla de acceso lo que actualmente se descnbe en térmlnos de \"acceso a la mformaclón\", \"lntercamblo de lnformac16n\", \"dlstrlbuclón de documentos\", \"Document DellVery Systems\", es slmplemente una extenslón de los slstemas de ClrculaClón de las blbllotecas especlallzadas Estas 'nuevas' modalldades y procedlmlentos tlenen en común con aquellos que su obJetlvo esenclal es el de poner la lnformaclón y documentaclón a dlSposlclón de los usuarl0S, en el momento y en el lugar que ellos los deseen La dlferencla está en que este obJetlvo se lnterpreta dentro de un contexto mucho más ampllo No todas las sOllcltudes se podrán satlsfacer con los proplos recursos do-cumentarlOS, por 10 tanto los convenlOS, los lnstrumentos y los mecanlsmos de comunlcaclón entre los componentes de la red tendrán que mantener un alto grado de eflclencla Un slstema de préstamo lnterblbllotecarlo trata de complementar los recursos de un grupo de blbllotecas compartlendo sus colecclones y serV1ClOS Por 10 tanto este serV1ClO ¡mpllea un lntercamblo de documentos entre blbllotecas En un sentldo práctlco el térmlno \"acceso a la documentaclón\" (document dellvery) lmpllca el envío de documentos o su traslado desde su lugar de almacenamlento a donde el usuarl0 10 requlera Al pensar en el dlseño y operaclón de un \"slstema de acceso a la documentaclón\", debemos resaltar y enfatlzar en la velocldad de la respuesta, la cual es uno de los lndlcadores esenclales de la calldad del serV1ClOEl problema báslCO rad1ca en que, en gran número de casos, ésta depende de factores fuera del alcance de los responsables del serV1ClO Esto es, depende de los serV1ClOS de correo, las barreras admlnlstratlvas, controles aduaneros, etc $1 blen muchos autores p1ensan que el empleo de métodos automatlzados y de telecomunlcac1ón reduC1rán el problema, la realldad de nuestro medlo en Amér1ca Latlna y el Car1be, 1ndlca que esto sólo puede lograrse a un largo plazo para una mayoría de nuestras lnstltuclones y a un medlano plazo para un grupo reduc1clo de lnstltuclones altamente prlv1legladas y selecclonadas M1entras tanto será necesarlO perfecclonar la metodología eXlstente pensando en la lntroducC16n de mecanlsmos más eflClentes a med1da que las lnstltuclones part1clpantes alcanzan grados super10res de desarrollo (2,4 ) Surge en este los documentos contexto el \"derecho de acceso\" que el usuarlO Este es a todas luces lnnegable una vez que la tlene a col ec-C1ón o los recursos de lnformac1ón han sldo ablertos al públlCO De otro lado los responsables de las blbllotecas y centros de documentaclón tlenen como responsabllldad báslca corresponder a ese \"derecho de acceso\" con la garant'a de una \"eflclencla de acceso\" En qué conSl ste esta \"eflclenc1a de acceso\"? Para empezar debléramos establecer que Sln lmportar el grado de modernlzaclón alcanzado, en térmlnos de tecnología adoptada en el maneJo de la lnformaclón, el slstema lnstltuclonal debe refleJar lodlcadores de eflclencla que le permltan no sólo atender apropladamente a usuarlOS Slno tamblén su partlclpaClón en redes locales, naclonales e lnternaclonales La eflClencla tlene, pues, que ver con el gradO en que la lnformaclón ofreclda es actuallzada, preclsa, completa, fácl1 de utl1lZar, oportuna y a costos aceptables, etc Una mlrada alrededor de nuestra reglón nos lnduce a creer que este \"derecho de acceso\" no podría ser satl$fecho Sln una real \"eflclencla de acceso\" Para lograr esto es necesarlO la contlnuldad de esfuerzos que permltan a las lnstltuclones compartlr recursos y responsabllldades Aquí nos referlmos a recursos técnlcos, humanos, documentarlOS y económlcos (3,16) Para que esto sea funclonal se requlere báslcamente una voluntad lnstltuclonal que apoye a las unldades de documentaclón en asumlr responsabilidades y poner a dlSposlción de los usuarl0S de otras reglones y países sus propl0s recursos de documentaclón Una economía de escala La sltuaclón económ,ca que tradiclonalmente ha sldo crít,ca en los serVl-C10S de documentaclón e lnformaclón, s610 ha meJorado en una proporclón mínlma de lnstltuc,ones En la mayor parte de ellas el presupuesto operat,vo va de no eXIstente a eXlguo Es esta una de las razones báslcas por la cual se lmpone salvar las barreras, geográf,cas, admlnlstratlvas, organlzatlvas y celos InstitucIonales, a fin de operar una red que faCIl,te aprovechar al máxlmo los recursos lnformatlvos y documentales eXlstentes, de por sí escasos Un concepto que ha SIdo relatlvamente poco considerado en el contexto de la Red es que los costos de las lnstalacl0nes (manuales, mecánlcas o automatlzadas, las bases de datos, etc ) son compensados gradualmente y s610 darán 9a-nanClas a un medlano y largo plazo Es s,ntomát,co de sIstemas lntegrados que los beneficlos reales llegarán únlcamente cuando el slstema total ha sldo lmplementado y en completa operaclón y el número de usuarlOS efectlvoS se ha lncrementado consIderablemente Es un error pensar que esto es poslble lograrlo con sólo la operaclón de algunos de sus componentes Entre más rápldo la Red se ponga completamente en marcha, con mayor celerldad se recogerán los beneflclos Sln embargo es ObVl0 que a largo plazo el prlnclpal obJetlvo de una Red no será el de ahorrar dlnero o trabaJo El benef1C10 más relevante de una red de serV1ClOS será de naturaleza muy d1ferente, como por eJemplo la crea-c1ón de la capacldad de las blbllotecas componentes de la Red, para atender con mayor eflclencla las necesldades camblantes actuales y futuras. meJores y más varlados SerV1C10S, mayor facl11dad de acceso a los documentos, locales, nac10nales e lnternaclonales, la sat1sfacC1ón plena de las autorldades 1nst1tuclonales y de los usuarl0S, un meJor aprovechamlento de los recursos documentarlos y económlcos Al compartlr los recursos y serV1ClOS dentro de un enfoque de red, pensamos en la lntegrac1ón de las capacldades que posee cada centro en forma lndlvldual por med10 de las cuales se pueden establecer funclones y ofrecer ser-V1C10S colectlvos tales como -Búsquedas de 11teratura, locluyendo dlsemlnaclón select1va de 10formaclon -Servlc10s de referencla o consultas que requleren datos o lnformaclón factual -Clrculaclón de documentos SerV1ClOS de publ1caclón de índ1ces, resúmenes o \"abstracts\" -ServlcloS de traducclón o índlces sobre traducc10nes eXlstentes -Centros referenclales o \"Referral Centers\" -Unldades de anállsls de lnformaclón -Servlcl0S de apoyo o consultoría medlante asesores -SerV1ClOS reprográflcos en su ~orma orlg1nal o en mlcroformatos -Intercamblo de lnformaclón y documentos -Prlvllegl0s de préstamo lnterlnstltuclonal -ServlClOs de catálogos colectlvoS -Proyectos de dlstrlbuclón de documentos -Adquls1Clón planlflcada de publlcaclones -Mecanlsmos y canales de comunlcaclón aproplados -Programa conJuoto de publlcaclones -ReprodUCClón de tarjetas catalográflcas para catálogos unldos -FaCl11dades compartld6s de almacenamlento y conservaclón de recursos documentales -Desarrollo de proyectos de lnvest1gaclón en forma conJunta -Copartlclpaclón en el ofreclmlento de capacltaclón del personal de la Red PartlclpaClón conJunta en programas de orlentaclón de usuarlOS -Utl1lzaclón compartlda de serV1ClOS de computaclón y telecomun1caclón -Operaclón y serV1C10 dentro de normas comunes -Estímulo de la mutua utl11zaclón de metodologías y tecnologías de lnformac1ón desarrolladas en la Soluclón de sltuacl0nes slml1aresVoluntad lnstltucl0nal y partlclpaclón en la Red Con base a las decls10nes del ConseJo Dlrectlvo en la Reunlón de Repúbllca Domln1cana (18) se está haClendo una lnvltaclón a todas las lnstltuclones componentes del Slstema AGRINTER para que part1clpen act1vamente dentro de un enfoque de red regl0nalComo cond1clón bás1ca 1n1c1al es necesar10 que las 1nstltucl0nes pongan a dlSposlc1ón de los demás componentes de la red el serV1ClO de fotorreproduCClón de documentos, aJustándose a las tarlfas establecldas por la Red Lo anterlor 1mpllca que la lnst1tuclón pone al alcance de los usuarl0S de la red, sus recursos documentarloS dentro de las normas establecldas en el Acuerdo de Cooperaclón (1,15) No obstante la relatlva facl11dad que eX1ste para partl,1par en la red, se recomlenda que la declslón sea el resultado de un estud10 serlO en conJunto con las máx1mas autorldades de la ,nstltuc1ón que le permlta aclarar una ser1e de lnterrogantes tales como ¿Cúal es el oeneflclo para ml, para ml personal, para ml blbll0teca, para ml lnst1tuc1ón? ¿En qué forma puede una red meJorar los serV1C10S eXlstentes o ampl 1arlos? ¿Cómo puede esta red aumentar la eflc1enc1a de nuestro centro de documentac1ón? ¿Cuáles son las con-slderaClones económ1cas que hacen atractlva nuestra partlclpaclón en una red? ¿Cuál es el apoyo y la voluntad lnstltUClonal que reclblré de m1S autorldades? o o -7 -EvaluaClón de serV1ClOS y productos de la Red Con motlvo de la reallzaclón de la 6 a RIBDA y la 12a Mesa Redonda del Slstema AGRINTER, se anallzaron y evaluaron algunos serV1Cl0S y productos dlsponlbles en la Red para todo el Slstema El uso del \"Indlce Agrícola de Amérlca latlna y el Carlbe fue evaluado en Argentlna, Chl1e, Honduras y Venezuela (6,7,13,21) las evaluaclones perlódlcas del Indlce, son de lmportancla para la Red, porque este es un producto de la acclón cooperatlva de los países mlembros del Slstema Por 10 tanto es un serV1ClO co1ectlvo puesto a dlSposlclón de los usuarlOS de los serV1ClOS colectlvos de la Red Es de esperar que las concluSlones y recomendaclones resultantes de la evaluaclón sean tenldas en cuenta e lmplementadas por todos los componentes de la Red, a fln de que el Indlce sea un serV1ClO cada vez más aJustado a las necesldades de los usuarl0S de los países mlembros del Slstema Tamblén fueron obJeto de eva1uaClón serV1ClOS de nlvel lnstltuclonal en los países, que están dlsponlbles dentro del marco de acclón de la Red de Ser- Blbllograffas cortas y Banco de Datos de Blbllograflas, reproducclón de documentos y mlcroflchas, compendlos, tablas de contenldo de publlcaclones perlódlcas, remlslón a las fuentes (Referral Servlces), dlsemlnaclón selectlva de lnformaclón, redes de serV1ClOS especlallzados de lnformaclón, comerclallzaclón de los serV1ClOS de lnformaclón del AGRINTER Mecamsmos y serV1ClOS colectlVos -Banco de Blbllografías En el caso de los serV1ClOS de AGRINTER ya se han concretado por la voluntad de lnstltuclones partlclpantes algunas responsabllldades como es el caso de BINAGRI-Blblloteca Naclonal Agrícola de Brasll, la cual como un esfuerzo cooperatlvo y aceptando una dlvlslón de trabajo entre los mlembros de la red, asumló la funclón de coordlnar la recoleCClón de datos para el Banco de 61bllOgrafías Agrícolas, así como publlcar y dlstrlbulr perlódlcamente la nueva lnformaclón lncluída en el Banco El CIDrA acaba de publlcar el Suplemento número tres del Indlce Acumulado del Banco de Datos de Blbllografías Agrícolas como una contrlbuclón más a la Red (5,23) -Mlrroformatos A los serV1ClOS de mlcroflchas que ya eXlstían, partlcularmente en Argentlna y Brasll, se ha lnlClado a partlr de JunlO de 1981 la mlcrofllmacfón de los documentos agrícolas de carácter no convenclonal de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe que se reclben en el CIDrA y que son reglstrados en el Indlce Agrícola de Amérlca Latina y el Carlbe Medlante este serV1C10 de mlcroflchas, el cual ha reclbldo el apoyo económlco del rORe-Canadá, ha mlcrofllmado alrededor de 900 documentos en 1200 mlcroflchas Se han dlstrlbuldo Juegos de unas 280 mlcroflchas cada uno, en forma gratulta a Centros de Enlace del AGRINTER en Bras11, Guatemala, Honduras y Nlcaragua, así como al IDRe en Canadá Esta dlstrlbuclón se ha hecho con base a las respuestas de lnterés reclbldas a la oferta del CIDrA, y en atenclón a que los Centros lnteresados poseen el equlpo mínlmo para la conservaclón, uso y reproducclón de mlcroflchas Dentro de este proyecto se están mlcrofllmando las teslS del ¡¡CA/CATIE del programa de posgrado Esto se está haClendo en forma retrospectlva Este mlSmO tlpO de materlal podría ser puesto en mlcroflchas, medlante acuerdos entre las Facultades de Agronomía lnteresadas y el CIDIA La mlcrofllmaclón puede hacerse en mlcroflchas de 105 mm x 148 mm (98 páglnas por mlcroflcha) o en mlcropelícula de 16 mm Se ofrecen tambl én en ml croflcha suscn pe lOnes a 1 a Revl sta \"TURRIALBA\", \"DESARROLLO RURAL EN LAS AMERCIAS' y el \"INDICE AGRICOLA DE AMERICA LATINA y EL CARIBE\" Todo el materlal mlcrofl1mado se hará conocer por dlstlntos medlos promo-cl0nales, medlante un catálogo lmpreso y suplementos perlódlcoS Además en el Indlce Agrícola de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe. se pondrá una nota a cada referencla blbllográflca del materlal,lndlcando que está dlsponlble en mlcrofl chas Una alternatlva COnvenlente para garantlzar el acceso a documentos de dlfíCll adqulS1Clón es a través de mlcrorreproducclones comblnados con slstemas automatlzados No 19noramos que las máqulnas lectoras de mlcroflchas no son aún muy populares entre nuestros usuarlOS Sln embargo es una soluclón cuando el acceso a la publlcaclón orlglnal es muy dlfíCl1 o lmposlble El complemento de estos esfuerzos debe ser el de Oflentar a las autofldades naClonales y a los usuarIos sobre la utlllzaclón de estos medlos, así como hacer la dlvulgaclón necesarla de este tlpO de serV1ClOS (3,22) ServlClOS Reprográflcos Con la lntenc16n de compartlr recursos técnlcos, crear un lnstrumento que facl1lte el acceso a los serV1C10$ y recursos de la Red, la Facultad de Agronomía de la Unlversldad de Buenos Alres está elaborando un Dlrectorlo de Ser-VlCl0S Reprográflcos de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe Un índIce de la demanda y a la vez de la necesIdad de contar con serV1Cl0S eflClentes de reproducclón y envío de fotocopIas, es la magnltud de SOllCltUdes recIbIdas en la blblloteca del IICA-CIDIA en el período comprendIdo entre -10 -JU110 de 1981 y mayo de 1982 Durante este período se reclbleron 541 S011Cltudes de 27 países las cuales generaron el envío de 211 728 páglnas fotocopladas, con un tlempo promedlo de respuesta de dos días para cada SOllC1tud Los 1nformes que presentarán los demás componentes de la Red en la presente Mesa Redonda complementarán estas clfras y ofrecerán una lmagen de la Sltuaclón real de la demanda y las cond1Clones de la oferta de este t1pO de ser-V1C10SEl otro mecan1smo para fac111tar el acceso a la documentaclón agrícola a nlve1 reg10nal es el de los cupones del AGRINTER Este ha sldo promov1do y coord1nado por el rICA y pueden ser utl11zados para el lntercamblo de productos y serV1C10S del slstema tales como fotOCOPlas, mlcroflchas, mlcropelícu1as, blb1lografías, tablas de contenldo, búsquedas retrospectlvas, d1sem1naclón selectlva de lnformaclón, para cubrlr cuotas de aSOClaCl0nes profeslonales y ad-qUls1clón de publlcaclones del IICA (En cuanto a una mayor cobertura en la utl1lzaClón de los cupones del Slstema AGRINTER, los mlembros de la Red han So11cltado se estud1e la poslbl11dad de amp1lar su ap1lcaclón a la adqulslclón de materla1es blb1lográflcos, 11bros, revlstas, etc produc1dos en Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe, en el campo de las ClenClas agrícolas y aflnes En esta forma los cupones se conVlerten en un lnstrumento de cooperac1ón recíproca por excelencla para los países de la reglón Eventualmente los cupones podrían ser utl1lzados tamblén en el contexto de la Red Mundlal de Blb110tecas Agríco1as-AGLINET Estas poslbl11dades serán obJeto de anál1S1S tanto por el centro coordlnador del AGRINTER como por los componentes de la Red de Servlclos Un lnstrumento que facl11ta tamblén la ldentlflcaClón e lntercamblo de la lnformaclón naclonal es el que proporClona el lICA medlante la producclón de \"Blbll0grafías Agrícolas Naclonales\" extraídas de la Base de datos del Slstema AGRINTER En el últlmo año se ha recuperado las blbllografías naclonales de Argentlna, Bo11vla, Co1ombla, Panamá, Perú y Repúbllca Domlnlcana De los 11stados prodUCldos por el llCA y como una acclón compartlda las 1nstltuclOnes naclonales de Enlace del AGRlNTER, edltan, reproducen y dlstrlbuyen las blbll0grafías lmpresasCon el ánlmo de fac11ltar la ldentlflcaClón y el acceso a los documentos agrícol~exlstentes en la reglón el CIDlA ha puesto a dlSposlClón de la Red de Servlclos su Catálogo Co1ectlvo de Publlcaclones Perlódlcas, el cual ha sldo reclentemente actuallzado lncluyendo las colecclones de sus blbll0tecas en Bogotá, San José y Turrlalba (10) ACC1ón futura Los componentes de la Red y en general del Slstema AGqINTER necesarlamente avanzan a rltmos d1ferentes en cuanto a la adopclón de mecanlsmos técn1Cos y organ1zatlvos que ag1llcen una operac1ón homogénea a nlvel reglonal y que garantlce la recuperac1ón de la lnverslón global de la Red en térm1nos de lograr mayores beneflclos para los usuarlOS lnstltuclonales e lndlvlduales Dentro de este marco de referencla se lmpone la necesldad de que los componentes actuales y potencla1es de la Red se lnvolucren lntensamente en el fomento y reallzaclón de actlvldades en líneas tales como I 1 Experlmentaclón y transferencla de conoclmlentos sobre las apllcaclones que las lnstltuclones de mayor desarrollo hacen en el área de la automatlzaclón y la telecomunlcac16n y que lnclden dlrectamente en el acceso a la do* cumentac16n por parte de los usuarl0S (Costos de lnstalaclón, recursos nece-sarlOS, costo beneflclo, capacltaclón, recursos humanos, fuentes de apoyo téc-nlCo, etc) 2 Un programa o programas de capacltaclón y aSlstencla técnlca a varlOS n1veles académlcos, será necesarlO en forma permanente Se reflere prlnclpalmente a cursos especlallzados de carácter lntenslVo, así como a la cooperaclón técnlca de organlsmos lnternaclonales y a la cooperac1ón técnlca recíproca entre componentes de la Red Esto es ~xp11cable debldo a la gran mov111dad del personal no s610 en las autorldades admlnlstratlvas y de apoyo, 51no del oersonal profe510nal y aUX1llar Es eVldente la pr,or1dad de capacltaclón en temas tales como -12 --ElaboraC1Ón y presentac1ón de proyectos de serV1ClOS de 1nformac1ón -ComerC1allzac1ón de productos y serV1C10S de lnformaclón -Areas específ1cas de automat1zaC1ón, telecomun1caclón y serV1ClOS repr09raflcos en cuanto aGue faCll1ten el acceso a los documentos requerldos por los usuar10S 3 Promoc1ón, or1entaC1ón y convenClmlento tanto a las autor1dades adm1n1S-trat1vas como a los usuarlOS sobre la necesldad de partlc1par actlvaMente en el d1seño, elaborac1ón y utll1zaclón de mecan1smos e 1nstrumentos que ag1l1cen el acceso a la documentac1ón por parte de los espec1a11stas y usuar10S agrícolas   -ESTIMULO DE LA PRODUCCION.-COMERCIALIZAcrON AGRICOLA.-SALUD ANr~AL.-SANIDAD VEGETAL.-DESARROllO Se imparte a la comunidad latinoamericana de documentación un nuevo vehl'~ culo que viene a llenar una laguna existente en el proceso actual de comunicación espeCializada.Estando la presente gestión de flDl CLA volcada esencialmente para la inle• gradón de los sectores de información de los países latinoamericanos, se impone como una de sus primeras preocupacio.nes y de experiencias, en la persecución de un diálogo constructivo Y permanente.Como una de las primeras providencias, se alteró l. composición editorial del boletín \"Informaciones FID{CLA\", con el objetivo de at¡ibuirle un papel de   Durante la década del sententa, en los países de América Lalina y el Caribe hubo un reconocimienlo creciente, por parle de los gobiernos, de que 1. informa• ción científica y técnica para el desarra-Do, jugaba un papel primordial en el de-sarroUo agro-socloecon6mico del sector.Para acornpafiar este intere. de 10. paises miembros, el IICA, a lravés de su U• nea de Acción 1: InformaciOO para el Desarrollo Rural, amplió y fortaleció sus responsabilidades en esta área.Un apreciable número de países de la región realizaron y continúan realizando importantes progresos para crear y/u aperacionalizar sus sistemas de informaciOO agrícola.El estímulo del IICA a la creación y . . apoyo de los sistemas de información .,nacionales se complementó con: 1) la creación de un programa de.interes general para Jos países de la regiOO, el Sistema Interamericano Agrícola -AGRINTER, 2) un importante componente de capacitación de personal nacional en la concep-tualizaciOO y adminlstración de sistemas de información, 3) la articulación de los Sistemas de Información Agrícola Nacionales con el sistema regional (AGRIN-TER) Y el sistema mundial (AGRlS) y los beneficios, para cada país, de obtener una retroalimentación informacional de alcance mundial, y minimizar en duplicación de esfuerzos humanos y económicos.En este marco de referencia, en 1977, se identificó la necesidad de que el AGRINTER debía iniciar una nueva etapa de concentraciOO de esfuerzos: lograr que el usuario se constituya en el sujeto de los sistemas de información, en otras palabras, mejorar cuantitativa y cualitativamente ios servicios de informaciOO agrícola.Un análisis de la situación realizada por el ClDIA a través de visitas de observación en más de 15 países, evidenció con carácter genérico, las principales deficiencias que atentaban en contra del ofrecimiento de servicios de información agrícola rápidos, actuales y relevantes:• Deficientes o no existentes mecanismos de coordinación a escala nacional y regional; • Deficiente conocimiento de donde se encuentra localizada la información en el país o en otros países de la región o en el mundo. • Limitaciones en la calidad y cantidad de recursos humanos responsables de ofrecer los servicios de información. • Falta de normalización y coordinación, a nivel nacional y regional, entre las instituciones responsables de ofre• cer servicios,intercambio,de formatos, tarifas y otros.• Existencia de una modalidad pasiva para ofrecer servicios a los usuarios; un limitadísimo número de Instituciones ofrecía servicios de alerta y tablas de contenido especializado, y otros mecanismos activos de servicios. • Deficientes sistemas de comunicación (correo terrestre y aéreo) y mínima utilización de ntros medios (télex O diferentes modalidades de \"vi a poucll\" tanto a escala nacional como regional. • Muy limitados o inexistentes programas de capacitación para los usuarios; y promociOO de servicios. • Falta de concientizaciOO de los reaponsables de unidades de información de la conveniencia de comercializar los servicios así como falta de los conocimiento para establecer programas de este tipo.1.2. Hacia la creación de una Red de Setvicio Regional.El IlCA en consulta con algunos países, acorde al cumplimiento de los obje. tivos arriba enumerados, analizó e iden-Rev_ Lat. Doc. V. 1, nos. 1/2, en.ldic. 1981• tifieó que una estrategia permitiIía: 1) hacer un mejor uso de Jos recursos hum.• nos y documentales existenles en la región, 2) fomentar la articulación y cooperación recíproca entre los países, y 3) mejorar las condiciones de acceso a los documentos por parte de los usuarios in.titucionales e individuales mediante la operación de una red de servicios de informaciOO agrícola de América Latina y el Canoe.  En dicha reulÚón de consulta para la creación de la Red, se analizaron y dis• cutieron los objetivos, polllica y estruc• tun generales de la Red y se procedió a la aprobación final de los Estatutos y Reglamentos Generales de la misma.El objetivo general y los objetivos es• pecíficos de la Red de Servicio. AGRlN-TER fueron aprobados por los participantes de la Reunión de Consulta para la Creación de la Red, en abril de 1978, Y foonan parte integral del ACUERDO.El Cibjetivo general de la Red persigue dar _so, de manera eficaz y eficiente, a los usuarios de América Latina y el Caribe, a tnm!. de uno o más puntos fOClles en cada país de la Región, a toda la iIlfonnaclón agropecuaria de ear.lcter documental, convencional o no, acumulada en los diferentes organismos que tienen como función captar, analizar y difundir, bajo una modalidad dinámica, este tipo de información a los interesados institucionales o individuales.• Bstabelecer un sistema de intercam-blo de información de manera que cada uno de los miembros que integnm. la Red reconozca el acervo documentario de que dIspooen o al que tienen acceso los demú integrantes de la Red.• Establecer normas comunes para el ofrecimiento de serricios que puedan ser otnizados por todos los miembros integrantes de la Red y sus usuarios.• AoaIisar los serricios y los procedindentos que utilizan los distintos miembros de la Red con el propósitu de habilitarlos para mejorar la eficacia y eficiencia de sus OPeraciones.• Crear las condjciones para la adopción de una poIí~ compatibl1lzada de adquisiciones Y reubicación de acervos, si fuera necesario, con el Cibjeto de re• dUCí1 costos y dlspooer de colecciones Jo más completas posible en unidades especializadas de la Red.• Aumentar la captación y disponI. bilidad de Información sobre documentos no convtmCÍOllQ/es, en particular 4 aquéUos generados en América Latina y el Caribe.• Facilitar el acceso. y racionalizar l. utilización. por parte de los Miembros de la Red, de las bases de datos genera• les o especializados disponibles en otras redes o sistemas de información.• Aumentar, progresivamente, el nú' mero de usuarios y capacitarlos en la uti• lización de los servicios de la Red.• Establecer un programa de capaci• tación de personal dirigido a atender, con prioridad, el mejorarruento, la operacioo de la Red y l. promoción y utilización creciente de los serricios que ofrecen sus eompooentes Nacionales.• Estimular el inten:ambJo de metodología y tecnologías de información desarroUados a nivel de los países partidpantes de la Red. A medida que una institución desarro-\\le capacidad para adquirir responsabilidades adicionales, puede optar a un cambio, en su modalidad de participación en la Red.Nos es recomendable que las institu• ciones opten por solleitar participación bl!jo una modalidad euyas responsabilidades no pueden cumplir.Algunas instituciones que son miem• bros. en la actualidad, bl90 cierta moda• lidad. en análisis conjunto de la propia institución, se le reubicará dentro del marco se referencia que le compete, acor• de • las responsabilidades reales que está en capacidad de ofrecer.En el Acuerdo de creación de la Red de Servicios AGRlNTBR se previó que los serricios a ofrecer por la rrúsma serían de crecimiento gradual pero que, idealmente, podrían cubrir todo tipo de ser• vido de documentación para los cuales tuviera capacidad de implementar.Para su etapa inlciaI de operaclfn 1979-79, se detenninó realizar una con• centración de esfuerzos para mejorar la calidad y cantidad de los serricios de fotocopias.Para una segunda etapa, que se inició en 1980, el Consejo Directivo de la Red revisó un esquema de tarifas normalizadas para introducir el servicio de bibliografías a soIlcJtud de los usuarios como un nuevo serricio colectivo que ofreoerá la Red.En 1980, también se revitaliza el \"Ban-cO de Intercambio de Bibliografías del AGRlNTBR que estuvo en operación desde antes de la creación de la Red de Serricios.En conclusión, el espectro de servicios que puede ofrecer la Red no tiene en principio limitaciones; será tan ampUo como el po de capacidad que tengan las institoclones para ofreoerlos.La identificación de cada nuevo ser• vicio que ofrezca la Red y su implemen. tación, formará parte da un proceso gradual de crecimiento operativo.Todos los tipos de serricios de información que ofrece y ofrecerá. gradual• mente, la Red en el futuro, deben ser pigados por los usuarios institucionales o individuales.La Red de Serriéios AGRlNTBR promueve y apoya actividades conducentes a la comen:ializaclón de los servicios de Información tanto a escala nacional como regional.Se prevé, a corto p1uo, ofrecer un Curso Internacional sobre Comercía1iza• ción de los Setvk:ios de Infonnación.Rev. Lat. Doc. V.   Note 1 am expectlng an offlclal conf1rmatlon on thlS FunctlOns \\1111 be dlvlded to cover all lssues regardlng the roundtable Tentatl'Je Program for the Roundtable A prehmlnary program for the roundtable \"las presented and dlscussed lncludlng strategles and methodology (1 am expectlng a copy or thlS fran MaruJa Urlbe (IICA, Bogota) Spec1allzed Agncultural Informabon Networksln the Reglan w1thln AGRINTER Colombla's agrlcultural 1nfonnatlon model (SNICA) 15 consldered as the most advanced ln the reglon Therefore, plannlng on a paper on the subJect to be presented ln the roundtable was d1scussed CIAT 15 a member of AGRINTER and partlclpates also ln SNICA's system AGRINTER conS1ders our doeumentatl0n center as a model and expects our asslstance W1 th our expenences and systems, for other natl0nal documentat1on centers that could be proJected 10 other countnes \"Una nueva dimenSión de cooperación poro el desarrollo de servIcIos biblIotecarios agrícolas en Aménca latrna\", a saber 1 Coordonar e ontegrar a nrvel regIonal los esfuerzos gue real Izan en los poíses las estructuras de documentación en lo IdentifiCaCIón, procesamIento y diseminación de la Información agrícola nocional 2 E,hmular la cooperacIón a nivel nacional y regional poro procurar atenuar los d.ferenc.as de n.yeles de aplicación de la tecnología 3 Promover el melar uso de los recursos humanos, económiCos y documentaflOs de América latina y el Caribe, por medio de la coordinación, cooperación e integración regional 4Hacer accesible, en cada poís, el conlunto de informaCión relacIonado al sector agrícola y promover la utrl,zaclón de esa documentación por parte de los diferentes IIpos de usuar las agrí ca los 5 Apoyar el planeamlento, edUCaCión, Inveshgaclón y desarrollo rural mediante lo aplIcaCIón de métodos modernos poro logar un melor almacena/e, diSeminaCIón y uso de los recursos documentales disponIbles en la reglón Es eVidente que no se troto de mformar por rnformar Se buscar mós bien rntegrar a nivel regional los esfuerzos que real,zan los sistemas nacionales de informaCión agrfcolo, pecuarra, y forestal, atenuar los diferenCias de niveles de aplicaCión de lo tecnología, promover el melar uso de los recursos humanos, faed,tor la utrl,zaclón de la informaCión  Este documento contlene lnformaclón general sobre los resultados de la acclón cumpllda por el tnstltuto Interamerlcano de Cooperaclón para la Agrlcultura ~ lICA, en apoyo al desarrollo de los slstemas de lnformac16n agrícola de los países de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe y a los esfuerzos que rea11zan éstos para lograr una lnterconeXlón efectlva a nlvel reglonal El lnforme cubre el período JunlO 1981~mayo 1982 Los esfuerzos del IICA, a través del Centro Interamerlcano de Oocumentaclón e Informaclón Agrícola (CIOIA) y de las OflClnas en los países, estuvleron dlrlg1dos a 1) el fortaleclmlento de la capacldad operatlva de las unldades de documentaclón e lnformaclón que conforman los slstemas naclonales, 2) el estableclmlento o consolldaclón de las redes naclonales de lnformaclón agrícola en base a las unldades lnstltuclonales de documen~ taClón, 3) la coordlnac16n e lntegraclón de actlvldades cooperatlvas que reallzan los organlsmos naclonales dentro del marco de acclón del Slstema Reglonal AGRINTER, y 4) el desarrollo de mecanlsmos para facllltar la operatlvldad de aCClones cooperatlvas de carácter reglonal Los datos de este lnforme serán ampllados medlante ponenclas e 1nformes específlcoS que se presentarán en re1aclón con la Red de Servlclos y el ManeJO Automatlzado de la lnformaclón COOFfPACION TECNIrA PAPA EL ESTABlECIMIENTO Y FORTAlECIMIENTO lE LOS SISTEi\"1PS lE INFOR' \\I\\CION AGRICDLA, A nlvel de país las unldades del IICA cump11eron las slgulentes actlvldades de apoyo BRASIL -Se cooperó con la Blbll0teca Naclonal de Agrlcultura -BINAGRI en 1) análls1s de la clnta magnétlca de lnsumo para los slstemas SNIOA, AGRINTER y AGRIS y la formulaclón de recomendaclones para compatlbl11zar el lngreso de la lnformaclón de Brasl1 a la base de datos del AGRINTER, 2) revls1ón y comentarlOS de los 8 600 descrlptores que componen la verslón en portugués del En base a acuerdos de cooperaClón establecldos con los centros naClOnales, el CIDIA Sel€CC10nÓ, anallzó y reglstró en hOJas de entrada los datos de 3 447 unldades blbl10gráflcas producldas por los organlsmos del sector agrícola de 27 países de la reglón La estadístlca sobre esta actlvldad del CIDIA muestra una dlsmlnuclón en comparaclón con el año anterlor debldo a la declSlón que tomó el Centro, a comlenzos de 1982, de apllcar el prlnclplo de descentrallzaclón en la preparaClón de lnsumo y de concentrar esfuerzos en \"~\" y procesar la lnformaclón que aportan las unldades naclonales de documentaclón A partlr de la fecha señalada, el personal del CIDIA anallza y reglstra solamente los documentos producldos por el IICA en cualquler país de Amérlca Latlna y el Carlbe Se dlÓ contlnuldad al plan para desarrollar, actua11zar, adaptar, lm-p1ementar y documentar normas y guías para estandarlzar y meJorar los procesos de captaclón, anál1s1s, procesarnlento, almacenamlento y dlsemlnaclón de lnformaclón, el resultado de la acclón del CIDrA es el slgulente La \"Gtúa. paJta lncf..Lzawn\", conJuntamente con el Tesauro Agrícola Mult1l1ngue -AGROVOC forma parte de un paquete metodológ1co que puede ser usado por 105 51stemas Nac10nales para 1ncrementar la capac1dad de anál1s1s y recuperac1ón de la 1nformac1ón 5e espera produclr una vers 1ón def1 nl t lVa de 1 a \"Ma\" en 19822) TESAURO AGRICOLA MULTILINGUE -AGROVOC El CIDIA part1C1pó en la rev1s1ón y complementac1ón de la vers1ón al español del AGROVOC, el cual está en la etapa de publ1cac1ón por parte del AGRI5 A la vez, en forma exper1mental, se h1ZO uso de la ed1c1ón prel1m1nar de este 1nstrumento para el enr1quec1m1ento de títulosLAS CINTAS MAGNETICAS Estos manuales se actual1zaron en base al manten1m1ento constante a que está sometido el fluJo de producc1ón computar1zado y espec1almente deb1do al desarrollo e 1mplementac1ón de la apl1cac1ón de 1515Programas de Computadora 1) 5e d1Ó manten1m1ento a los m6dulos de entrada y val1dac16n de datos me-d1ante el perfecc1onam1ento de 10 programas2) Se 1ntroduJeron mod1f1cac1ones en 22 programas que se apl1can para produc-c16n de la base de datos y para 1mpres1ón de índ1ces3) Se 1mplementó el módulo para recuperac16n XLIR-III med1ante la ad1c1ón de nuevo t1pO de 1mpres1ón de resultados   \\Je are pleased to lnform you that we have started June 1981 to mlcrofl1m the non-conventl0nal agrlcultural documents produced ln Latln Amerlca and the Carlbbean that are recelved at CIDIA's l1brarles (San Jose and Turrlalba) and reglstered ln our Indlce Agrlcola de Amerlca Latlna y el Carlbe As a product of thlS effort we are produclng mlcroflches wlth the follOWlng speclflcatl0ns   formar nuevos profeSIOnales en la preparaclon del Insumo y para asegurar la metodologla para aquellos que ya hablan partIclpado en el prtmer curso a fm de reforzar los conaamlentos ya adqUIrIdos y ha:er mas seguro y de mayor cahdad el msumo de los dIstintos centros cooperan tes Como resultado de los mIsmos se ha logrado motlvar a los partlClpantes de los curs.os para que se hayan responsables de todos los documentos emanados de un atea geograflca determmada o de publIcaclones penodlcas que no son procesadas por otros centros aun cuando no sean de su area de mfluenc13 Esto se ha hecho para asegurar la cobertura de la totahdad de la hteratura sobre CIenOlaS aqropecuanas y areas afmes que se produce en el pals Se tIene cabaJ conCIenCia de que se esta procesando solo un 30010 de la literatura na:::lOnal pero actualmente se estan muluphcando los esfuerzos para que tome un Impulso mayor la producclOn de Insumo en el mterlor del {lalS Como ya se ha expuesto es objetivo pnorItano de Argennna aumentar el volumen del Insumo dé modo que sea un reflejo mas fíe) de la producclon de hteratura pertlnente al sIstema AGRINTER Por eso se esta en la larea de rnotlvac a personas a cargo de blbhctecas dellntenor del palS para que encaren la fanna de captar todo documento que se produzca en su zona en acCIQn conjUnta con los centros ya desIgnados como responsables del tn5llmo De ser necesano se estableceran nuevos centros de manera que pueda cubnrse la totahdad del terntono ya que nuestra evaluaclon acerca de la captaclOn de documentos y locahzaclOn de los ImSnlOS nos Heva a comprobar que eX15ten un gran numero de dcx;umentos que se pIerden para el Sistema AGRINTER Por lo expuesto se esta proyectando la reahzaclOn de un nuevo curso sobre Metodologla de] AGRINTER para capacItar a blbhotecanos en la preparaclOn del Insumo El nusmo servua tamblen para reforzar las bases meto dologlCas de los bIbliotecanos que ya estan partlclpando El uso cada vez mas frecuente de medIOs automatIzados para recuperar mformaclon hace necesano el adles trarmento para la elaboraclon de estrate<J1as de busqueda En este aspecto se contara tamblen con la partlClpaClOn del Dr RIchard Gaeta (IlCA) para cumphr este otro comeudoPor otra parte dada la gran demanda de blbhograflas obtemdas por medIos BU tomattzados se esta onentando al docente para que este vaya elaborando en foOlla afmada Jos perftles de mtefeS y colabore en la confecclon de sus propIas estrateg:¡as de busqueda Esta practIca se Ha l11tenSlÍlcando para lograr la recuperaClon de la tnformaciOn de Se ha comprobado en los UsuarIOS un mayor uso de los mas conOCIdos repertorIOS blbhograflcos como resultado que el cuerpo docente de la Facultad que sohclta estos cursos extge a sus alumnos trabajos practlcOSCOnsls ten tes en busquedas blbhograflcas de acuerdo a temas propuestos por su tltular condlc\\On preVIa a poder dar por aprobados sus trabajos con la Catedra respecuva","tokenCount":"12534"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7660456732.json b/data/part_1/7660456732.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8cc682fbedd8841e74ec321536e8b2949ad3ede0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7660456732.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e2f02e53f20f4a9e0eb8860c06bdada3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8a2f0d7f-16a4-49a6-8538-8f8f62012949/retrieve","id":"216377210"},"keywords":["diet quality","complementary feeding","stunting","inequalities","dietary diversity","food supply"],"sieverID":"7d90b3bb-9574-4460-991b-c72231dcecda","pagecount":"24","content":"This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.With 800 million undernourished, 1.9 billion adults overweight/obese, and about two billion affected by micronutrient deficiencies, malnutrition is now a pandemic affecting one in three people worldwide [1,2]. Women and children in low and middle income countries (LMIC) are the most affected [3]. Poor quality diets, characterized by low diversity are an underlying cause of all forms of malnutrition and affect about three billion people worldwide [4]. For example, poor dietary diversity during the complementary feeding period is consistently associated withstunting-failure to grow to an expected height for age [5,6] and lower micronutrient density of diets [7]. Stunting is a risk factor for diminished survival, impaired childhood and adult health, and deficits in learning capacity and productivity. With the recognition that the adverse effects of stunting (e.g. cognitive deficits) are largely irreversible past the age of two, interventions are focusing on the \"window of opportunity\" from pre-conception to the first two years of life [8].The complementary feeding period of 6-23 months of age, is a critical life stage when energy and nutrient requirements are the highest [9]. It is also the period when growth faltering reaches its peak [10]. Monitoring diet quality during this period is thus critical. To this end, proxy indicators such as the minimum meal frequency (MMF), the minimum dietary diversity (MDD), and the minimum adequate diet (MAD) have been developed and validated in various settings [11,12]. These indicators are relatively easier to implement in large surveys and provide a good estimation of energy (quantity) and nutrient intakes (quality) [12,7]. For example, dietary diversity has been consistently associated with child stunting [13,6]. Indeed, complementary diets that are constituted of as many food groups as possible can support the provision of adequate energy and nutrient intake [11], reduce exposure to food-borne toxins [14], and support flavor and taste learning [15] to acquire children with a broad repertoire of food preferences that could determine food preference, diets, and health later in life [16]. Consequently, dietary diversity is one of the key World Health Organization (WHO) indicators for assessing optimal infant and young child feeding practices [17]; hence, routine surveys like the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) capture this indicator for various LMIC.A recent study re-confirmed the consistent association between stunting and dietary diversity scores by analyzing pooled data from 39 DHS surveys [6]. White et al. [18] recently reported global and regional estimates of complementary feeding practices using the UNICEF global database. However, such regional/global analyses hide within-country heterogeneity in the drivers of dietary diversity. Moreover, the definition of dietary diversity score has been revised to allow more accurate comparisons between countries differing in the prevalence of continued breastfeeding [19,20]. Therefore, updated global, regional, but also country-level estimates of diet quality during the complementary feeding period through widely collected proxy indicators (e.g. dietary diversity) are indispensable to monitor and evaluate changes in diet quality in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) era.Using the largest available, nationally representative, and mutually comparable cross-sectional DHS surveys from 49 LMIC, we investigated proxies of diet quality for infants and young children 6-23 months of age. We used the updated complementary feeding indicators to provide regional and country-level estimates. Missed opportunities in stunting reductions due to low proportion of children meeting minimum dietary diversity were estimated.Data were obtained from nationally representative cross-sectional DHS surveys from 49 LMIC. We used the most recent data from 2010 onwards. The DHS gather data on various child nutrition indicators including anthropometric measures and infant and young child feeding practices. For example dietary diversity, meal frequency, and the proportion of children meeting minimum adequate diet is captured using standardized questionnaires. The DHS uses a multistage stratified sampling design, with households drawn randomly at the last stage.The FAO food supply data (FAO stat) was used to calculate food supply diversity (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/). The 2016 Gross National Income based on purchasing power parity (GNI PPP) was downloaded from the World Bank website (https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/gni-capita-ranking-atlas-method-and-ppp-based) and was used to assess association between countries income and the proportion of children meeting minimum dietary diversity score.Stunting was defined as length-for-age z-scores <-2 SD relative to WHO child growth standards [21]. The proportion of infants and young children meeting the MMF, MDD, and MAD were calculated using the revised UNICEF/WHO indicators presented in Table 1. As part of the DHS survey design, these indicators are collected from the youngest child under two years of age born to mothers aged 15-49 years and for children living with the mother at the time of the survey.Wealth quintiles and place of residence were used as stratification variables in this analysis. DHS uses a wealth index derived using principal component analyses applied to a list of household assets/characteristics, which are country-specific. The first quintile (Q1) represents the 20% poorest families, and the last quintile (Q5) represents the 20% wealthiest families. Quintiles correspond to the relative position of households within each national sample, rather than absolute income for which data are not available for most studies. Because fertility is higher among the poor, the poorest quintile tends to include more than 20% of all children surveyed, whereas the richest quintiles include less than one fifth of all children. Urban and rural residence was classified according to boundaries provided by local authorities. We further explored associations between dietary diversity and national food supply diversity, GNI (PPP), and women literacy. These were included in the analyses because the food supply, income/purchasing power, and consumer behavior, largely influenced by women literacy, are considered key drivers of diet quality [22].The food supply data of the three most recent years (2010-13) for which data was available was averaged and the supply diversity was calculated using the Shannon diversity index. The Shannon diversity index (H) is typically used in Ecology to characterize species diversity in a given area. The Shannon's index considers both richness (number of species) and abundance (how much of each species is present as proportion of the whole population) of the species and was calculated as follows:Where, p i is the proportion of the total production coming from food group i. We considered the same seven food groups used for calculating MDD. Larger Shannon index values reflect higher diversity, whereas values close to zero indicate very low diversity.Using the missed opportunity application in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), we estimated the number of stunting cases that would have been averted if the proportion of MDD (used as a proxy of optimal complementary feeding in LiST) was scaled-up from current to 90%levels. This scenario was simulated by assuming that all other interventions remained at current coverage levels. This modeling approach uses the following assumption:Coverage change x effectiveness x affected fraction = impact …… (2)The LiST model was previously used in the Lancet Nutrition series to estimate the impact of scaling-up nutrition interventions on mortality and child growth [23]. Details about the assumptions, calculations and data sources can be found in earlier publications [24].All analyses were based on publicly available data from national DHS surveys. Ethical clearance was the responsibility of the institutions that administered the surveys. We registered and obtained access to DHS data files from the DHS website. Datasets used did not contain any personal identifiers.Analyses were done using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were presented as mean or median for continuous variables, and as percentage for counts. Inequalities in the proportion of children meeting MDD (%) are presented by wealth quintile and rural/urban using equiplot (http://www.equidade.org/equiplot.php) generated using STATA version 12. Each horizontal line shows the results by quintile or rural/urban for a given country. Normal distributions of the variables were checked using Shapiro-wilk test. Spearman correlations between % MDD and 1) GNI PPP, 2) food supply diversity, and 3) women literacy were run and associations were graphically presented using scatter plots. P-values< 0.05 were considered statistically significant.This work was financially supported by the CGIAR Research Program, Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.A significant proportion of Infants and Young Children (IYC) have suboptimal complementary feeding practices (Fig. 1). There was a high regional disparity in the proportion of children that met the MDD (consumed at least five of the eight food groups), with the lowest value for the Sub-Saharan African region (18 %), and the highest for the Latin America & Caribbean region (54%). MMF figures were slightly better, but followed the same regional trend. The lowest proportion of MMF (Table 1) was for the Sub-Saharan African region (41 %), whereas the highest was for the Latin America & Caribbean region (72%). Although the Latin America & Caribbean region has the highest proportion of children meeting MAD, this represented less than half of the children in the region. Only 9% of IYC's in Sub-Saharan Africa and 40 % in the Latin America & Caribbean region meet the criteria for MAD (Table 1).Burkina Faso had the lowest proportion (5%) of IYC's meeting the MDD, while Peru had the highest proportion (78%) (Fig. 2). Only 4/49 countries had more than 50% of children meeting MDD, and only 11/49 countries had a proportion that was higher than 30%. Complementary diets were predominantly starch-based (Fig. 3). Consumption of food groups like dairy, legumes, and other fruits and vegetables was <30%, irrespective of breastfeeding status. Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) and Vitamin-A rich fruits and vegetables was in the range of 30-40%.Except for Mozambique, Kyrgyzstan and Egypt, the proportion of children meeting MDD in rural areas was always lower or equal to urban areas (Fig. 4). The highest rural/urban disparities were observed for Namibia, Niger, Yemen, Rwanda, and Cambodia, whereas Liberia, Mozambique, Egypt, Tajikistan and the Dominican Republic had the least inequality.There was a high inequality in the proportion of children meeting MDD by wealth quintile (Fig. 5). Except for few cases like Mozambique and Kyrgyzstan, the lowest MDD proportion was always for the poorest quintile and the highest MDD for the richest wealth quintile. In Namibia, Cameroon, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Rwanda and Indonesia there was a stark difference between the poorest and the richest. In Namibia for example there was more than fivefold difference in the proportion of MDD between the poorest and the richest.More than 11 million cases of stunting could have been averted if the proportion of MDD was 90% (Fig. 6). These estimates take into account population size and the gap in MDD relative to an aspirational coverage value of 90%. Cases of stunting averted are generally higher in countries with higher population size and stunting prevalence and a low MDD coverage. About 5 million cases of stunting would have been averted in India, 1.3 million cases in Pakistan, 776,000 in over half-a-million cases in Nigeria and 541,000 in Ethiopia each.The proportion of children meeting MDD in a given country was positively associated with food supply diversity (rho= 0.399; P=0.005), GNI PPP (rho= 0.658; P<0.001), and women literacy (rho= 0.706; P<0.001; Fig. 7).The present study highlights that dietary diversity during the complementary feeding period is low in most of the studied LMICs. Stark disparities in dietary diversity were observed by residence (rural/urban) and wealth quintile. Diet quality during the complementary feeding period was positively associated with country's GNI PPP, maternal literacy, and food supply diversity. A significant number of stunting cases in LMIC could have been averted if the MDD was met by 90% or more of IYC.Despite increased recognition of the importance of early child nutrition and the implementation of various programs and interventions in LMIC, adequate feeding practices during the complementary feeding period remains extremely poor. Positive progress has been slow and for some countries like Armenia, Malawi and Senegal there is downward trend in the proportion of children meeting their MDD. A review of the infant and young child nutrition-related national policies of 163 countries revealed that only in 26% of the policy documents were diet-related targets/goals/indicators mentioned, and MAD was the only indicator cited [25]. Dietary diversity was mentioned as indicator/target in national policies that promote healthy diet, but reference was made in only 18% of these [25]. A more explicit emphasis of nutrition policies on diet diversity and adequate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices is needed. This can happen by integrating IYCF targets/indicators (MDD, MMF and MAD) into the country's policies and programs and developing monitoring and evaluation plans that track these indicators.There is also a need to marry agriculture and health programs at community level. Despite language contained within national strategic documents and the existence of multi-sectoral platforms at national, district and sometimes community levels in many of the countries, thereare few examples of effective joint programming at local level. Many LMIC have complementary feeding counseling, often administered by Ministry of Health that includes promotion of diversified diet as routine interventions. While nutrition education has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on knowledge and practices, it would be advantageous to complement this approach with nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs.Exposure to diversified diet in early life can track to dietary behaviors in later life and thus could reduce the risk of developing non-communicable diseases [26]. Unfortunately, the evidence of such tracking of dietary behaviors comes mostly from a small number of observational cohort studies and the length of the follow-up is often up to later childhood [27,28]. However, evidence from studies reporting adult consumption patterns in LMIC confirm the possibility of tracking as they report similar dietary patterns to children, which are also characterized by low dietary diversity [29,30]. For instance, more than 60% of the energy consumed by adults in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study came from starchy foods, mostly from refined carbohydrates such as white bread or rice. Such diets dominated by highly processed starchy foods and with little fruits and vegetables are associated with increased risk of overall mortality and cardiovascular diseases [29]. Fortifying these refined foods with vitamins and minerals can certainly reduce nutrient deficits, but may do little to prevent the increased risk of mortality and cardiovascular diseases. Stunting in early life is also associated with increased risk of overweight/obesity and non-communicable diseases in adulthood [8,31]. This suggests that addressing diet quality in early life is an essential double-duty action that could prevent all forms of malnutrition. To this end, additional indicators that discriminately capture unhealthy dietary patterns in early life are urgently needed.Addressing rural-urban and wealth inequalities in dietary diversity could help narrow the inequality gap of future generations. Inequalities in diet quality during the complementary feeding period predispose children to stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, poor health, and low productivity in adulthood and thus may be at the center of socio-economic and health inequalities [8]. In rural settings of LMICs, strengthening market infrastructure and making diverse diets accessible and affordable is essential. Access and affordability are intrinsically linked to prices and demand-supply issues that can be positively influenced by ensuring diversity of the food supply in a way that can support consumption of nutritionally-relevant food groups [32,22]. In this regard, governments should review current agriculture policies and incentives, as the focus has been on production and yield of staple crops, while other more nutrient-dense food groups like pulses, fruits and vegetables are under-promoted. This should be complemented with increasing economic wellbeing and access to education, particularly for women, as women's literacy was found to be strongly associated with child dietary diversity.The present study provides a comprehensive overview on children's diet quality in LMICs through the analyses of mutually comparable, nationally-representative, DHS data. However, the following limitations need to be considered when interpreting our findings. First, two or more rounds of data on dietary diversity were only available for few countries, and thus we were only able to provide trends for a limited number of countries. Second, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be made. Third, the quality of the evidence rely on the quality of data available, which may vary between countries depending on the extent and quality of the country customization of questionnaires. Availability of data was variable by region. Fourth, our analyses do not capture seasonal effects on diet quality, and the proxy indicators do not provide quantitative measures of diet quality.Notwithstanding the above limitations, the present study has highlighted that diet quality of IYC in many LMIC is poor and should be substantially improved for both the poor and the wealthy.Women's literacy, food supply diversity, and GNI PPP were all positively associated with better dietary diversity. Interventions that close the gap in dietary quality between the poorest and the richest, as well as the rural and urban are urgently needed to prevent wider, long-term socioeconomic and health inequalities. Ensuring that ≥ 90% of infants and young children meet the minimum dietary diversity score would avert a substantial number of stunting cases. Therefore, such diet quality targets should be set and be monitored routinely to inform design of more effective food systems' interventions that can promote healthy diets and prevent all forms of malnutrition.☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.   ","tokenCount":"2942"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7667516805.json b/data/part_1/7667516805.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..15cd2a2ed2fe216027e8e9c4775bfd267f8b513c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7667516805.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"85958374f09fe90d989fb612c82bea56","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6b0bfc75-b631-4542-a0ca-c48890388a49/retrieve","id":"-1049108053"},"keywords":["Artificial insemination","prostaglandins","exogenous gonadotropins","conception rate","estrus response"],"sieverID":"262a0155-5a06-46ca-aae8-374fc9e82bd5","pagecount":"9","content":"This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different estrus synchronization protocols followed by artificial insemination on estrus response and the conception rate of Abergelle goats. Three estrus synchronization protocols: (i) the standard protocol associating progestogens, gonadotropins and prostaglandins (P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α ), (ii) single injection of prostaglandin (PGF S ), (iii) double injection of prostaglandin (PGF D ) were evaluated and compared to a control group that did not receive a hormonal treatment. Estrus behaviour was monitored in all does and those in estrus were inseminated. The estrous response was significantly higher in P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α does than in counterparts in PGF S and PGF D groups (p < 0.001). Results also revealed an earlier onset of estrus in the PGF D -treated group, a longer duration of estrus for second-and third-parity -does and an earlier onset of estrus in animals having a 3.5 body condition score. Even if the conception rate (CR) was highest when using the PGF D protocol, the lowest kidding rate (KR) was obtained when using this same treatment. The P 4 + eCG + PGF protocol yielded the highest litter size. Farmers' perception surveys revealed that a higher proportion of goat keepers used a controlled mating system and had culling practices and farmers selected PGF D as a preferred protocol.Reproductive technologies are applied to accelerate genetic progress and enhance the reproductive performance of various livestock species (Gizaw et al. 2016). In goats, synchronization of estrus is usually performed using the standard protocol based on the use of progestogen impregnated intravaginal devices for 11 days followed by an intramuscular injection of eCG combined with prostaglandins, or their analogues, 2 days before the withdrawal of progestogen releasing device (Lopez-Sebastian et al. 2007;Holtz et al. 2008). Such a treatment could be used in cycling does, as well as in seasonally anestrus does, to induce or synchronize estrus (Amoah and Gelaye 1990;Wildeus 2000). Although the use of the standard protocol induces generally good fertility in and out of the breeding season (up to 60-75% kidding rate when combined with fixed time insemination; Corteel et al. 1988;Freitas et al. 1997;Leboeuf et al. 2003), the use of alternative synchronization strategies has been investigated (Holtz et al. 2008). In fact, studies have shown that prostaglandins alone and their analogues (as with cattle and sheep) can be used to synchronize cycling females (Whitley and Jackson 2004). Such protocols are easy to use and cheaper than the conventional progestogen-eCG-based treatments which are expensive and non-available in many countries (Flores-Najera et al. 2010). In addition, the intravaginal hormone-releasing device causes vaginal problems, such as vaginitis, the development of anti-eCG antibodies in repeatedly treated animals, which reduces fertility (Baril et al. 1996;Roy et al. 1999) and hampers sperm transport and viability (Hawk and Conley 1975). Coupled with the negative implications of progestogen residues in milk, the development of alternative methods of synchronizing estrus is of great importance (Lopez-Sebastian et al. 2007).Under inter-tropical and equatorial African conditions, where changes in photoperiod and latitude are limited, local sheep and goat breeds have a non-pronounced seasonality and can reproduce throughout the year or may just experience a transient reduction in fertility (Derquaoui and Khaledi 1994;Chemineau et al. 1995). Therefore, the use of alternative estrus synchronizing options is possible.The Abergelle goat is one of the Ethiopian goat breeds, under the rift valley family, having an estimated population of over 300,000 heads, reared mainly along the Tekeze River in Southern Tigray (Tembien and Inderta), Waghimra, Raya Azebo, North Gondar (Simien) and kept by the Agew and Tigray ethnic groups (FARM AFRICA 1996). Along with other livestock species, Abergelle goats may contribute up to 75% to the income of the smallholder farmers in the mid and lowland areas of Waghemira (Wondim et al. 2019). Under the traditional management conditions, the breed features a low body weight, long kidding intervals and low prolificacy. The breed is also known for the good quality of its meat and calm temperament that is very much appreciated by farmers (Alemu 2015).The current study aimed to investigate in Abergelle goats the efficiency of three estrus synchronization protocols using the standard progestogen impregnated intravaginal devices coupled with an intramuscular injection of eCG and prostaglandin compared to two prostaglandin-based protocols (single and double injection) and a control group. Trials were set up in both 'on-station' and 'on-farm' conditions of Waghemira and measured traits were related to estrous response and to reproductive performance after artificial insemination (AI) performed on small cohorts of animals 24-30 h after estrus is detected. Keeper's perception of estrus synchronization and AI technologies at the Community-based breeding programmes (CBBP) villages were also compiled and analyzed.The experiment took place between mid-June to mid-July, which corresponds to the optimal period of the breeding season of Abergelle goats. Two management conditions were involved. The 'on-station' experiment was conducted at Aybra research station of Sekota Dryland Agricultural Research Center in the Eastern Amhara region, Ethiopia. The 'on-farm' experiment was conducted in Workadivno and Bilaqu villages, where community-based Abergelle goat genetic improvement programmes were implemented for the last five years (Table 1).In this trial, 335 does (i) 92 for the 'on-station' experiment and (ii) 243 for the 'on-farm' experiment were used. All the selected does were non-pregnant, aged between 2 and 6 years and had a parity of at least one. They were in a normal health condition, non-suckling and had a body condition score (BCS) from 2.5 to 3.5, scored by palpation of the lumbar region according to Koyuncu and Altıncekic (2013) (scale 1 = emaciated and 5 = very fat). In the 'on-station' conditions, does were allowed to graze and browse daily for 8 h abundant acacia and other browse species around the research site. One month before the beginning of the experiment, each doe was supplemented with a mixture of 300 g of cowpea hay and wheat bran per day. In the 'on-farm' conditions, does were isolated from farmers' flocks and kept by separate attendants according to the treatment group. They were allowed to graze/browse in the communal pasture area and received the same supplementation as the 'on-station' females. Animals were returned to farmers after 10 days of insemination date.Bucks used for semen collection were selected based on their estimated breeding value (Ebv) ranking. They were aged between 3 and 6 years, with normal health conditions, and fit for different morphological criteria. Five and 18 Abergele bucks were used respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'onfarm' trials. For both management conditions, bucks were kept around the research station to graze/browse and exercise for about 4 h daily separately from does. Animals were daily flushed for about one and a half months before the beginning of the experiment with a mixture of 300 g cowpea hay (Gross energy content of 3910 kcal/kg and crude protein content of 28%) and wheat bran (Gross energy content of 4520 kcal/kg and crude protein content of about 15.3%). Before the experiment, animals under both management conditions were quarantined and vaccinated against anthrax, which was common in the study area. The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data and the approval of the ethics committee was provided.For both experimental conditions, does were assigned randomly to four groups with different synchronization protocols. The first group (P 4 + eCG + PGF, n = 25 and n = 73 respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'on-farm' locations) received the standard protocol using intravaginal polyurethane sponges impregnated with 30 mg of fluorogestone (Syncro-part®; CEVA laboratories, Libourne, France) that were placed in the vagina for 11 days. All does were checked (morning and evening) to ensure that sponges remained in place during the treatment period. Fortyeight hours before sponge removal, each doe received an i.m. injection of 1 ml of PGF 2α analogue dinoprost (1 ml Enzaprost®; CEVA Laboratories, Libourne, France) followed by 300 I.U. of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) (Syncro-part PMSG®; CEVA laboratories, Libourne, France) as separate injections. Does in the second group (PGF S , n = 25 and n = 58, respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'on-farm' locations) received a singular i.m. of 5 mg of the PGF 2α analogue dinoprost (1 ml Enza-prost®; CEVA Laboratories, Libourne, France). Does in the third group (PGF D , n = 25 and n = 72, respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'on-farm' management) received 2 i.m. of 5 mg of the PGF 2α analogue dinoprost (1 ml Enzaprost®; CEVA laboratories, Libourne, France) administered 11 days apart. Does in the last group (C, n = 17 and n = 40 respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'on-farm' managements) were considered the control group, did not receive any synchronization and were naturally mated.For does in all treatment groups, pregnancy was checked very carefully using an ultrasound scanner immediately before hormone administration.For all treatment groups, following sponge withdrawal or PGF 2α injection, and for the consecutive 48 h, 6 aproned bucks were used to detect females in estrus and to assess the onset and duration of estrus. Every 4 h, goats were individually teased with an aproned male for up to 5 min at a time. Estrous behaviour, as evidenced by the immobility reflex (the most reliable indicator of estrus), tail flagging (the most conspicuous characteristic of estrus goats), mucus discharge and restlessness were recorded. For the control group estrus was not checked and only data after conception and kidding following natural mating were recorded. Time for the onset of estrus, (when the does started to show estrus) and duration of estrus, (period when the does remain in estrus) after treatment administration were also calculated as reported in paragraph 2.6 (Measured reproductive traits) and recorded. Semen from five proven Abergelle bucks from the research station and 18 bucks from the CBBP villages (trained to serve with artificial vagina, selected on the basis of their estimated breeding value and checked for normal breeding soundness) were collected using an artificial vagina and estrous-induced does. Ten successful semen ejaculates were collected at the station and similarly, 33 collections were obtained from the CBBP bucks.Ejaculates that were retained for artificial insemination (AI) had a mean concentration of 3.17 10 9 ± 0.23 and 3.14 10 9 ± 0.27 sperm ml −1 , respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'onfarm' managements and determined by spectrophotometry (Accucell®, Instruments de Médecine Vétérinaire, IMV Paris, France). The mean of individual motility was 3.46 ± 0.85 and 3.91 ± 0.57 on a scale of 5, respectively for the 'on-station' and the 'on-farm' management conditions using a contrastphase microscope. Immediately after collection, semen was diluted with a commercial sheep and goat-specific diluent (OVIXcell®, Instruments de Médecine Vétérinaire, IMV Paris, France), and does were inseminated cervically with 0.25 ml of diluted semen containing an average 150 × 10 6 sperm. Cervical AI was performed by two well-trained technicians using a speculum equipped with a light source and an insemination gun (Instruments de Médecine Vétérinaire, IMV Paris, France) as described by Evans and Maxwell (1987). Does in all treatment groups were inseminated at 24-30 h after first heat expression and grouped in small cohorts. The control groups were allowed to be mated naturally. The schedule of implementation of the 4 protocols is presented in Figure 1.In each of the two CBBP villages, 46 randomly selected goat keepers owning goats that were included in this study, were approached and interviewed. Twenty-nine had their flocks assigned to one of the synchronization protocols and 17 had their flocks in the control group.Individual semi-structured questionnaires on the issues of the overall outlooks and feedback for reproductive technologies, goat rearing experience, desired goat reproductive characteristics, mating season, reproductive management practices of goats, buck usage and sharing modalities, estrous synchronization and AI technologies were used. The questionnaire was pretested to ensure that questions are socially appropriate, and responses are within the expected bounds.The time of onset of estrus was calculated as the time halfway between the last rejection and the first toleration of a mounting  male, while the end of estrus was set halfway between the last toleration and the first rejection (Holtz et al. 2008). Estrus duration was defined as the time elapsed between the first and last accepted mount within the same estrus period. Estrus response was calculated as [ER = 100 × (number of does expressing estrus/total number of does)]. Conception rate (CR) was calculated according to the formula [CR = 100 × (number of does that conceived/number of inseminated does)]. When lambing occurred, the number of lambs born was recorded and litter size was calculated as [LS = 100 × (number of does having twins or triplets/number of does giving birth)]. The kidding rate was calculated as [KR = number of kids born alive/number of does that conceived].The time for the onset of estrus, duration of estrus, conception rate, kidding rate, litter size, birth weight of kids and farmer's perception data were collected. The collected data were coded and entered into Microsoft excel 2007 software program for further analysis. Gen mode procedure of Statistical Analysis System SAS (9.0) and GLM procedure of the statistical analysis system SAS (9.0) were used for the analysis. Means were separated with Tukey's HSD test and significant differences were tested at α = 0.05. The index technique was used to rank the different parameters of goat breeding and management practices of farmers using SPSS (version 20) and the Likert scale were used to compare farmers' perception of reproductive technologies.Does of the 'on-station' trial show estrus earlier than the 'onfarm' animals (Table 2). Estrous response for P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α does was significantly higher than in PGF S and PGF D (p < 0.001) groups. However, the onset of estrus was earlier in the PGF D does followed by the P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α and finally the PGF S goats (Table 2). In general, the estrous response was not affected by parity or BCS except for does in their second and third parity which had a longer duration of estrus and there was a much earlier onset of estrus for female goats having a body condition score (BCS) of 3.5 (Table 2).While CR was significantly higher when using the PGF D protocol than the 2 other protocols and the control group (p < 0.05), the same protocol yielded the lowest kidding rate. Litter size was highest (p < 0.001) in does receiving the P 4 + eCG + PGF protocol (Table 3). This study revealed also a higher litter birth weight when using PGF S and PGF D protocols than the P 4 + eCG + PGF which is due to a higher litter size when using the latter protocol. Kids of does in the 'onfarm' treatment management condition had a higher birth weight than their counterparts in the 'on-station' conditions. Parity did not influence the different studied parameters (Table 3).A very high proportion of the interviewed goat keepers in this study used a controlled mating system and 84.7% of them had culling practices (Table 4). The higher intensity of culling was obtained on male kids and yearling bucks than weaned females and does (Table 4). From the current result, 78.5% of the does gave birth from October to January, as indicated in Figure 2. Amongst the tested estrus synchronization protocols and AI technologies, farmers selected PGF D, as indicated in Table 5. In this study, does of the 'on-station' experiment showed estrus earlier than the 'on-farm' animals. Differences in nutrition and management conditions could account for the differences in response between the two types of management. In fact, nutrition can modulate breeding activity (Zarazaga et al. 2011a(Zarazaga et al. , 2011b(Zarazaga et al. , 2011c)). This may also be partly explained by the better conditions to watch the animals during estrous control.When comparing the three treatment groups, the estrus response was higher with the use of the standard method associating exogenous progestogens, eCG and PGF 2α than the 2 prostaglandin-based protocols (PGF S and PGF D ). Such a result is not surprising since the universality of this protocol in sheep and goats AI programs is well established and the added effect of progesterone priming in exhibiting estrous response is well-documented in sheep and goats. Our finding is consistent with the study of Hashemi and Safdarian (2017) in which the lower estrus response in PGF-based groups than of progesterone-based groups in Persian downy does in South Iran was reported. Beyond the universal efficiency of the standard protocol, the onset of estrus was earlier using the PGF D treatment than P4 + eCG + PGF 2α and PGF S protocols even if the use of eCG is known to reduce the time to onset of estrus (Omontese et al. 2012). This could be explained by the fact that 2 injections of prostaglandins were more efficient on the corpus luteum than a single injection or that the does were not cycling and a single injection of prostaglandins did not result in luteolysis of the corpus luteum and onset of estrus. The onset of estrus is important in predicting the preovulatory events and in scheduling the appropriate timing of fixed-time artificial insemination (Hashemi and Safdarian 2017). Our result is different from that of Ishwar and Pandey (1990) who reported in Black Bengal goats that the time interval between progesterone or prostaglandin administration and the onset of estrus was nearly the same. Differences between the studies could be related to the nature and way of administration of the different hormones. For the 3 synchronization protocols used in the current work, the time of onset of estrus was not within the range reported by other researchers and was less than that reported in other studies (Pendleton et al. 1992;Romano 1993Romano , 1994Romano , 1998;;Romano and Fernandez Abella 1997;Bitaraf et al. 2007;Holtz et al. 2008). This could be related to breed specificity and to differences in the type of hormones used when synchronizing animals.Although the PGF D protocol was effective in synchronizing estrus, giving higher CR than the 2 other protocols and the control group, P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α and PGF S protocols allowed a higher KR. In addition, the highest LS was obtained when using the standard protocol compared to the 2 other treatments and the control group resulting in a lower litter BW. This is predictable since the administration of eCG has a boosting effect on fertility and prolificacy. Our finding was different from the work of Alli (2000) who found that different hormonal treatments using a controlled internal drugs release device alone or combined with eCG injection and double injection of prostaglandin analogue, did not show any significant difference in litter size. There are conflicting reports on fertility following natural mating or AI when estrus was synchronized in does. Authors reported normal, reduced or improved fertility when prostaglandins are used. For instance, Amarantidis et al. (2004) found that the long-term FGA-treatment, the combination of short-term FGA-treatment and PGF 2α injection (with or without injection of eCG), and the double injection of PGF 2α , 11 days apart had no significant difference on fertility, prolificacy and the birth type (single, twins, triplets) in 120 cycling and non-lactating indigenous Greece does (Capra prisca). Similarly, reproductive performance was the same in Sudanese Nubian does when synchronized by intravaginal sponges or cloprostenol (Ahmed et al. 1998) and in Nadooshani does synchronized with CIDR, fluogestone acetate sponges and cloprostenol during the breeding season (Bitaraf et al. 2007). In our study, the kidding rate was 91.8, 90.9, 85.3 and 100%, respectively for conventional, prostaglandins (single and double) and the control group. Our figures were much higher than the KR obtained in other studies concerning cycling does (Evans and Maxwell 1987;Bitaraf et al. 2007) and this could be explained by the fact that the experiment was carried out from mid-June to mid-July, which corresponds to the optimal period of the breeding season of Abergelle goats.Our study revealed that kids of does in the 'on-farm' treatment management condition had a higher birth weight than their counterparts in the 'on-station' conditions this could be related to the management conditions (feed, health, initial body weight at mating and BCS).In the current study most of the does gave birth between October and January which indicates that the Abergelle goat is almost a seasonal breeder. In fact, under tropical conditions and in the absence of a seasonality of reproduction that is driven by changes in photoperiod, reproductive activity decreases at certain periods of the year, especially in dry and very harsh environments. This reduced reproductive activity could be simply due to very long cycles in some animals or to an arrest of cyclicity as induced by poor nutrition (Gallego-Calvo et al. 2014). The bucks being also under nutritional stress may not fulfil their role in stimulating sociosexual interactions that contribute to the resumption of reproductive activity in anoestrus goats (Delgadillo et al. 2015). In Ethiopia, where the nutritional constraints are exacerbated by the seasonal availability of forages and the recurrent and prolonged drought in the arid and semiarid lowlands of the country (Yami 2008), several studies reported conception peaks of does corresponding to feed flushes and availability of crop residues (Mukasa-Mugerwa et al. 2002). This information concerning the peak of kidding and the corresponding mating season is crucial to optimize breeding management and enhance reproductive performance in the community-based genetic improvement program (CBBP). The other result emerging from this perception survey is the high proportion of farmers using controlled mating and culling practices which is due to their involvement in the CBBP. In fact, they use only bucks selected in accordance with the designed buck usage modality implemented in the CBBP. Finally, goat keepers in this study preferred the prostaglandin-based protocols for estrus synchronization. This result could be associated with the simplicity, the easiness and the lower cost of the prostaglandin-based methods than protocols using progestogen and eCG. The conception rates with prostaglandin-based protocols may have motivated the responses of the farmers. Furthermore, the farmers' ranking for double injection of prostaglandin fits and supports the results of the obtained biological data.  Note: Likert scores were considered as 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = poor and 1 = not preferred.In the present study, the reproductive performance of the Abergelle goats was slightly affected by estrous synchronization methods by an improvement in the CR using the PGF D and in LS and BW using the P 4 + eCG + PGF 2α treatment. Taking into consideration fertility rate, costs and the simplicity of methods, double injection of prostaglandins could be a more efficient method for estrus synchronization in fixed-time artificial insemination programs during the breeding season.","tokenCount":"3764"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7670884041.json b/data/part_1/7670884041.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ac87994006fce9b49dc400559847be4fa5ef520c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7670884041.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"42112b6d109c6f71db51e01a576ef0a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/80b797de-0d50-4165-8e4d-ae38d7c05899/retrieve","id":"2117674071"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"69d4bcf2-693f-4712-b15f-a961c8660322","pagecount":"21","content":"Transfer of Technology Models (TOTEMs) are focussed educational tools providing relevant information and distance training on one specific area of bamboo/rattan management, processing or utilization. They are a means of technology transfer between similar regions throughout the world, with the emphasis on South-South transfer for livelihood development. They enable those involved in the management and use of bamboo and rattan resources to more efficiently and effectively develop and use skills relating to these resources.TOTEMs are primarily intended as practical information resources and teaching aids for those at the local extension level in their communities, who can utilize them to assist local community development. Each TOTEM consists of a detailed written report of the technology, a PowerPoint presentation, a film, and, where relevant, a set of technical photographs. They also include information on target users, financial analyses of sample set-ups from the partner country preparing the report and information on where to source particular technologies (such as equipment). The TOTEM thus provides all the information required for establishing similar technologies within interested countries and regions.• The report contains all the technical details of the particular processes involved, as well as other relevant information for establishing the technology such as costs of business establishment, running costs and cash flows.• The PowerPoint presentation contains details of the relevant technologies and their applications, and is intended to provide an overview of the potential of the technology for development.• The film provides a visual guide to the processes involved and helps to bring them alive in the minds of the learners.The different parts of the TOTEM are targeted at slightly different audiences, via the local extension workers. The report and film are intended to be the main means of extension to the individuals and communities who will implement the technology and who will directly benefit from it. The PowerPoint presentation is primarily intended as a tool for the extension worker to sell the technology and its role in development to those who provide the infrastructural, policy and financial support for its implementation, such as government departments, donors and NGOs.There is considerable flexibility, however. Local extension workers will be able to incorporate the TOTEMs in their own work as they wish and adapt and develop the TOTEM to suit their particular requirements and conditions.This TOTEM on rattan pole steam bending has been produced at the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), Laguna, Philippines. It may be used alone, or in conjunction with the TOTEM on the rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservation unit, which has been produced by the Forest Research Institute, Malaysia (FRIM) and the TOTEM on the rattan furniture manufacturing unit, which has been jointly produced by FPRDI and FRIM.The report part of this TOTEM describes the technology for establishing a steam bending unit for rattan poles for rural development in regions where rattan is available as a raw material. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the illustrative film included in this TOTEM packageThe first part of the report introduces the technology, discusses its development attributes, benefits and applicability. The second part of the report provides detailed information on the technical aspects of steam bending rattan poles.This TOTEM is one of the first to be produced by INBAR/ FPRDI and your feedback is most welcome -kindly contact INBAR or FPRDI with your comments or suggestions.Note 1: This TOTEM has been edited at INBAR and differs slightly from the form in which it was received from the authors.Note 2: All calculations are in Philippine Pesos. At the time of writing P40 = USD $1Why steam bend rattan poles?The production of bent components for rattan furniture and handicrafts is traditionally done by blowtorch. This process results in scorch or burn marks on the surface of the bent component and consequently reduces the quality and sale price of the products. The steam-bending technique eliminates such processing defects.Rattan poles are first straightened using straightening jigs. After selection and grading they are then cut to length and steamed for up to 20 minutes, by which time they are very pliable. They are bent to shape in jigs where they are left for about 24 hours so the bend can set. They are removed, trimmed and can be used in furniture making.A steam-bending unit is best established as a community venture supplying a range of small community-based processors and manufacturers. By providing employment opportunities the unit promotes individual and community development. Steam bending is an environmentally friendly means of bending poles, requiring only water and waste rattan to fuel the boiler.A rattan pole steam-bending unit is relatively expensive to establish, but is also profitable. Initial capital investment of about USD$ 33, 000 is required, of which $ 9, 000 is for the cost of the steam bending equipment. A regular supply of good quality poles is also necessary, as is a secured, skilled workforce. As an intermediary processing stage in the manufacturing of end products, close linkages to the users of the bent poles will be vital to ensuring the unit is sustainable and profitable.Rattan is one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFP) in the Philippines.It is in great demand for furniture and handicrafts for local and overseas markets. The country's exports of rattan furniture alone averaged US$ 119 million per year from 1994-1998.Rattan is a climbing palm with unique physical and mechanical properties. It is light and has good strength properties but the main attribute of the material that influences product designs and quality, whether in round pole or split form, is its flexibility. Round poles can be bent into various forms and shapes for the structural and decorative components of rattan furniture and handicrafts.The bending of rattan poles into the desired shape is traditionally done with a blowtorch. This process produces scorch or burn marks on the surface of the bent items and this consequently degrades product quality and value. The most efficient bending method involves plasticizing the stocks for a suitable period in a steaming chamber prior to bending to the required shape with the aid of appropriate bending jigs. After this the bent pieces are dried to the required moisture content in restrained mode before product assembly. This is referred to as \"steam bending\".The main equipment for steam-bending rattan poles that served as the model for this TOTEM was located inside the plant site at the Asia Rattan Manufacturing Company (ARMC), one of the four privately owned organizations that compose the AWECA group of companies based in Angeles City, Central Luzon. The ARMC and its sister companies have been the major beneficiaries of the technology transfer program of the FPRDI on rattan processing since 1987. ARMC cooperated in the documentation of the rattan pole steam-bending technology for this TOTEM.The main development attributes of the technology are as follows:• Provides employment to rural people • Improves community welfare • Empowers individuals through skills developmentThe main advantages of the technology are:• Prevents surface damage to poles and maintains their quality • Is far more productive than bending with a blowtorch • Uses waste rattan to heat the water for the steam.The main target group are the people that will be employed in the unit. The unit requires mostly unskilled labour with a few technically trained personnel to maintain the steam bending equipment and the local rural people in the community in which the unit is established can provide the workforce. The unit can be established to secondary processing units, such as furniture making factories that can be established concurrently.If set up as a community cooperative the broader community will also benefit.The nature of the work means that it is not so suitable for women. However women are involved in the quality control, sanding and other operations in the secondary processing units.The rattan pole steam-bending technology may be adopted by or transferred to any medium to large-scale rattan furniture and handicraft manufacturers in the urban or rural areas, particularly to those who are still using the traditional bending techniques or have limited knowledge of the technology. Most if not all the cottage or small-scale enterprises are employing the traditional rattan pole bending technique in their operation and there is considerable scope for the adoption of steam bending practices. The steam-bending unit can also be used/installed as a common service facility for groups of cottage or smallscale enterprises within a community.The rattan pole steam-bending technology requires considerable capital for equipment and skilled labor. For this reason, presently the technology is only commonly used by the export oriented, medium to large-scale enterprises that mainly supply rattan furniture and handicrafts to the export market. However, as noted above, establishing the unit as a central facility for a number of small producers may be a feasible option.The essential requirements for a successful rattan pole steam-bending unit are:• Adequate working capital • Sustainable supply of good quality rattan poles • Skilled operators • Proper bending jigs to minimize undue breakage during the bending operation • Proper linkages to the users of the bent componentsConsidering the large investment required for installing steam-bending equipment, research should be done to develop less expensive equipment that is suitable for cottage and small-scale enterprises. The practicality of having common service steam-bending equipment for a group of cottage or small-scale rattan enterprises within a community also needs to be investigated.Rattan pole steam bending is an effective and efficient means of producing bent pole components for use in manufacturing furniture and other items. A steam-bending unit may be established as an integral part of a furniture-making unit or may be established separately. In the latter case proper linkages to the secondary processors who use the bent pieces will be necessary to ensure sustainability of the enterprise.Rattan poles are steam-bent by the following basic steps All rattan species are resilient to some extent when bent if the raw material is properly selected and processed. However, in designing rattan products with curved components it is important to consider at the outset the bend tolerance or smallest degree of curvature to which a certain species can be safely bent. This may be based on previous studies, experience, earlier designs or by trial bending. Forcing the rattan to bend beyond its tolerable radius of curvature results in a high percentage of raw material wastage or rejects during the bending process, due to failures or breakages.Smaller diameter rattan poles are more pliable and have shorter bending radii than large diameter poles. In general, good quality and sufficiently softened rattan can be bent to a minimum radius of curvature 3 to 4 times the pole diameter.The moisture content (MC) and quality of the raw materials are also important factors for successful bending operations. Rattan poles suitable for bending are usually dried to MC levels of around 18-20 percent. Wet or green poles are easier to plasticize and bend, but they need a longer setting period. On the other hand, very dry poles require longer period of steaming or heat treatment to become semi-plastic.High-grade rattan poles are preferred for bending. High-grade poles are mature and free from fungal stains and pinholes caused by insect attack or drying defects such as surface checks and end-splits. Low-grade rattan poles are prone to premature fractures even with slight bending. Immature poles or the top portion of the cane are susceptible to bending compression failures and collapse during drying.The major steps involved in rattan pole steam bending are as follows:Step 1. Select appropriate materials to use.Be sure to pick a suitable species and the right sizes of canes or poles. Ensure the canes are mature and free from fungal stains, pinholes and surface checks (damage). Dry the material to MC of 18 to 20 percent.Step 2. Straighten the poles by the following procedure:First, soften the poles by steaming (a blowtorch may be used but is less desirable). This is done to be sure that when the force applied to straighten the poles is released, the poles will not return to their original shape.Next, straighten the poles manually if there is no straightening machine. Pass the softened pole through a straightening jig. The jig is a straight block of wood of the desired length and about 10.16 cm (4 in) wide and 10.16 cm (4 in) thick on which approximately equidistant square grooves are made. It rests on a stand for the convenience of the user. Each bent or crooked pole is passed through a groove with firm pressing and tugging motions against the sides to straighten the pole.Step 3. Poles should be sorted by size if unscraped poles are required for the end product.If scraped poles are required, feed the poles into a sizing machine for scraping. To obtain uniform-diameter poles next smooth the surface by sanding with 80 followed by 120 then 160 grit abrasive paper.It is best to have poles of uniform diameter and with smooth surface for bending. Uneven surfaces caused by nicks and nodal bumps or depressions induce buckling and compression or tension failure during bending.Step 4. Cut the poles to the required lengths, allowing sufficient extra for trimming the bent component.Step 5. Soften or plasticize the bending stocks by steaming to facilitate bending.Steaming is done in an enclosed chamber with a temperature of 100 0 C under atmospheric pressure. The steaming period varies with the species, moisture content, diameter of the pole and degree of curvature required. A rough guide for determining the length of steaming time is:One-half to one minute steaming per millimeter of pole diameter gives satisfactory plasticization of stocks with 18-20% MC.The steaming chamber should be designed to ensure uniform heating throughout the whole cane piece -that is, throughout its length and from the outside to the core of the pole, without affecting the strength properties.The poles may be steamed in bulk but avoid crowding so that the heat is evenly distributed.Step 6. Remove the poles from the steaming chamber one at a time and immediately bend each one manually or by mechanical means.Hand fashioning of bends is usually done with bending forms or jigs.Bending jigs are made of wooden or metal blocks shaped to the desired form of bend. They are used to hold the bending stock and serve as guides for controlling the bending operation. The use of jigs ensures uniform curvature in the bends.The procedure for bending with jigs is as follows:First, lay and bolt the jig on the bending bench. Bolting allows the jig to be moved sideways or adjusted for other forms of bends without dismantling. This cannot be done if the jig is nailed to the bending bench.Next, secure one end of the pole where bending will start and slowly force the pole against the jig to follow its contour.Slightly overbend the pole to give allowance for spring back.Step 7. Fix and set the bend.Place restraining attachments on the ends to prevent springback by tying them together. This is called fixing the bend.Allow the bend to cool and dry. This is the setting period.The setting period of the bend depends upon the species, size or diameter of the pole, MC of the material, room temperature, and radius of curvature. The bend sets in about 24 hours under ordinary room conditions.Step 8. Remove the restraining attachment and adjust the bend to the required or correct curvature following a set pattern. To facilitate adjustment, soften the pole by passing a blowtorch 3 to 4 times over the bent portion for about 25 to 30 seconds.Step 9. Trim any excess from the ends of the bent piece.The bent piece is now ready for product assembly.All calculations in the financial analysis are given in Philippine Pesos (P). Note that it is difficult to split the steam bending technology from the furniture manufacturing unit of which it was a part in the example used here, and some of the financial information provided reflects this. The exchange rate at the time of writing is P40 = US$1 and assumptions used in the financial analysis are shown in the Appendix.An initial investment of P1.2 million is required to start a rattan furniture making enterprise for a minimum production of 500 chairs per month, if a rattan steam conditioning facility is integrated in the processing system (Table 1). This amount includes a fixed investment of P372, 380.00 (Table 2) which covers the necessary tools and equipment and a steam conditioning facility valued at P325, 000.00. Working capital is estimated at P880, 000.00, which covers inventories for raw materials, labor costs, and accounts receivables covering a minimum number of days. The pre-operating cost is estimated at 10% of fixed investment or P37, 238.00. These include expenses for licenses, registration and other standard operating procedures, and other expenses for preparation of the business or enterprise.Of the P1.2 million investment cost, it is assumed that 60% of the project cost is loaned and 40% is from the owners (or community organisations) equity. Production cost per chair is estimated at P1,160.00. The product can be sold at P1,500.00 per chair. The price can reach P3,000.00 depending on the accessories and finishing materials used. Annual production cost is estimated at an average of P5.7 million (Table 3). 1,500.00Projected Income Statement (Table 4) and Cash Flow Statement (Table 5) were used in analyzing the profitability of rattan steam bending for furniture making. Sales revenue is estimated at P7.5 million per year. Average annual net profit after tax is estimated at P1.6 million or P133,000 per month.Net Present Value (NPV) is positive with a value of P6,188,272 and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 270%. Return on investment is 4.95 and cash payback period is 0.7962. or 9 months.Breakeven point sales volume (BEPSV) was computed at 220 chairs per month while break-even selling price was computed at P1,120.00The assumptions used in the profitability analysis are presented in the Appendix. The commonly used rattan species for making bent furniture structural components are palasan (Calamus merrillii) and limuran or kalape (C. ornatus var. philippinensis). Canes of these species attain more than 5 cm in diameter. Depending on the size and grade the cost is about P40 per pole for lengths between 3.3-4 meters (10-12 ft).There are other large-diameter rattan poles used to a limited extent derived from lesser known species including labsikan (C. marginatus), saba-ong (C. grandifolius), ulisi (C. aidae) and kumaboi (C. discolor). The last three species have relatively higher density and shorter internodes compared to the commercial or traditionally used species. These are also susceptible to surface checks. For these reasons, they are classified as difficult to bend and so the poles are cheaper.Institutional support to backstop development of the unit is extremely important. It is useful to relate the experiences of the AWECA group of companies from Angeles city in the Philippines. They have good links with FPRDI and other support institutions through the Asian Rattan Manufacturing Company (ARMC). Since 1987, FPRDI has been providing technical assistance to the company on \"call or official request\" basis or through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) depending on the nature of assistance needed (i.e. in-plant training, equipment design and installation, consultancy or advisory services). These include technologies on rattan pole steam-bending, pole/wicker drying, bleaching and finishing. A wood-rattan waste-fired Fluidized-Bed Combustor as a source of heat for steaming and drying purposes was also installed in their plant with the assistance of FPRDI. In line with the FPRDI technology transfer program, the rattan steam-bending technique evolved in 1988 into the manufacture of steam-bent wood components for rattan furniture (seat frames, back legs, rockers, etc.)The ARMC or AWECA as a whole is an export-oriented large-scale enterprise. As such, it has established marketing linkages and product outlets in US, Europe, Australia and other foreign markets. Aside from secondary sources of marketing information the company has regular staff tasked with marketing operations and monitoring changes in product designs and market trends, locally and internationally.Product designs, type of finishes and packaging system are normally dictated by the buyers. However, the company continues to develop new designs of products for exhibit in local and foreign trade fairs in order to create new market outlets and diversify its product lines.The company's operation is characterized by great concern for environmental protection and safety standards for its workers. Among actions and strategies being implemented in relation to environmental concerns are the following:Waste disposal. All processing wastes (wood or rattan) are used as fuel in their steamboilers and Fluidized-Bed Combustor.Smoking ban. This policy is strictly enforced inside the plant to prevent fire accidents and safeguard the health of the workers.Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC). The company has an ECC issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which certifies that their operation conforms to necessary environmental policies and standards.Tree and rattan plantation development. To augment its raw material supply the company is currently managing 600 hectares of industrial tree plantation in the province of Tarlac, Central Luzon. Wildings of rattan are interspersed with the tree plantation for future use. Half of their 15-hectare Malino Plant Site is also planted with fast-growing hardwood species to ameliorate environmental condition and scenery around the area.In the Philippines, the technology of rattan plantation development has been recently commercialized. This has prompted the government to prepare policies and guidelines on rattan plantation establishment in different parts of the country. The commercial or massive development of plantation, together with the ban on the export of rattan poles from the country, is expected to broaden the resource base and enhance sustainable operation of the rattan industry.Since the forest-based industry in the Philippines is allowed to export only finished products, the production and utilization policies may, to some extent, promote the intensified use of the rattan steam bending technology in the industry to strengthen its competitiveness in the global market.The technology involves the mass production of high quality rattan bentworks for furniture and handicrafts components to improve productivity and reduce unit cost of production. However, this requires skilled labour, adequate and sustainable raw materials and high investment costs. These features of the technology indicate its suitability mainly for the medium to large-scale rattan processors and product manufacturers. However, rattan pole steam-bending equipment can be used as a common service facility by a group of cottage or small-scale rattan furniture or handicraft manufacturers within a particular community to distribute the cost of the equipment and optimize its operation.","tokenCount":"3700"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7693614201.json b/data/part_1/7693614201.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..305f2174cf024a075ed70e66be249ad1322748ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7693614201.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c684f8e1ed6c600d0c19da1bae4f69a6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c8683327-b5cf-441d-9263-75b368814d29/retrieve","id":"-424809253"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c01dff67-506a-47d5-8ccf-d090ca65b0bd","pagecount":"1","content":"The compilation and development of the National Inventories was the first attempt to inform about material being maintained in ex situ collections in the European countries. In moving from the passport data towards mobilization of characterization and evaluation data, EURISCO focuses on developing the full infrastructure, architecture, to further enable a fully functional network of National Inventories to serve the needs of all users.The primary challenge for the EURISCO is to meet the requirements of all data providers and users through the increasing and enhancement of:• content The design of a distributed architecture empowers countries and institutes, through their NI and NFP, to fully contribute for data gathering, sharing and promote the use of the over one million accessions of biodiversity data. Such an architecture provides the appropriate mechanism for making data from institutions and collections, as well as individuals, publically available and shared through the EURISCO network.Providing users with a wide range of sustainable possibilities that increase their ability to identify and access relevant biodiversity data maintained in the European genebanks and collections, through the EURISCO network, using agreed international standards.National Inventories gather data to address important issues:• Planning • Setting strategies • Decision-making • National and international commitmentsThe National Focal Point (NFP) is the person responsible for the compilation, accuracy, harmonization and uploading of the NI in the EURISCO.Food legumesGenebanks' contribution for information on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture to EURISCO facilitates the studies on: ","tokenCount":"239"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7694135376.json b/data/part_1/7694135376.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..95e12e7a8e920d947d6bf496b21aba12327d5500
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7694135376.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"16cddd6786dabc8c2f5391adab8f5d02","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e3db80a9-946a-490b-af46-2947dfcad11a/retrieve","id":"-1620468750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c7e84f1b-1733-4188-b410-96945fc4bee6","pagecount":"20","content":"innovations (significant products or findings from research) policies, legal instruments or investments to which CGIAR research contributed people trained by CGIAR new varieties with genetic gain made available for use 126 126 (28%) available for uptake 280 280 available for uptake 58 58 taken up by next users 21 21 global policies or legal instruments 14 14 regional policies or legal instruments 113 113 national policies or legal instruments 1,901 1,901 peer-reviewed publications 69% open access 69% 46% 46% women 92% published in international scientific indexed (ISI) journalsTo successfully address the role of food systems in the climate crisis, CGIAR has embarked on a process of change to ensure that it can work to its full potential, deliver impact, and be the best agricultural research resource for partners in the global South. This process involves an ambitious change agenda to create One CGIAR. The changes are underpinned by the recognition that CGIAR's governance and institutions need to be united in order to tackle the complex and integrated challenges to food, land and water systems.CGIAR's original mission -to solve hunger -must now address more complex 21 st Century challenges for food, land and water systems to deliver comprehensive access to healthy diets and decent employment within environmental limits. Climate change is a unifying theme of an urgent food, land and water systems transformation. The accelerating climate crisis threatens the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Agriculture and food systems are a leading cause of climate change, as well as the largest human imprint on biodiversity, land and water systems -but they are also a leading solution to the climate and environmental crises and their impacts on human welfare.To strengthen connectivity to global agendas such as the SDGs, CGIAR is updating its research focus, organization and approach to partnerships to: 1. Reflect a 21 st Century assessment of challenges;2. Clearly explain our contribution to the world;4. Support impacts across multiple impact areas that align with the SDGs.One CGIAR involves a dynamic reformulation of CGIAR's partnerships, knowledge and physical assets. It will build on an energized, interconnected, and diverse global talent pool, and will ensure more unified governance, institutions, country engagement, and funding. Its excellent leaders, scientists and staff can deliver more when they are configured within fewer institutional boundaries and with clearer, more unified and empowered management and governance.One CGIAR aims to drive major progress in key areas where innovation is needed to deliver on the SDGs by 2030. CGIAR research will focus on SDG2 (achieving zero hunger) in particular, and will also work toward delivering impact on SDG1 (ending poverty in all its forms everywhere), SDG5 (achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls), SDG6 (ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all), SDG13 (taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts), and SDG15 (protecting, restoring and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating diversification, halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss).Across the CGIAR System, we aim to reduce poverty, improve food and nutrition security and improve natural resources and ecosystem services. As part of a five-year project (2014-2019), \"Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh\", the CGIAR Research Program on Fish (FISH) activities aimed to improve the resilience of the Meghna and Padma Rivers, coastal ecosystems and the livelihoods of communities reliant on fisheries. Some of the most significant measures included: establishing well-enforced seasonal restrictions on hilsa and jatka (juvenile hilsa) catches, including non-fishing periods; expanding community engagement in the co-management of fisheries; and targeted public awareness campaigns. Fisher families were trained in alternative incomegenerating activities which, together with rice subsidies from the government, increased income security and reduced incentives for catching hilsa during fishing-ban periods.FISH research and activities have resulted in improved hilsa production, with 4,275 households adopting fish management practices; 20,966 people, of whom 45% are women, being assisted out of poverty; and 121,158 hectares of biologically significant freshwater area under improved management. Since the implementation of the project, hilsa catches have increased, the average size of hilsa has improved, and fishers' household incomes have risen. Considered a food security crop, sweetpotato is drought-tolerant once established, and available at times when maize fails. On average, it has a higher daily energy output per hectare than maize.For the past 20 years, the area under sweetpotato has been expanding faster than all other staple food crops in sub-Saharan Africa.In 2019, 150 Outcome Impact Case Reports (OICRs) were submitted from across the CGIAR System, detailing the impact of our innovations around the world.Here is just a selection of the stories behind the science.The CGIAR Research Program on Wheat's (WHEAT) synthetic wheat breeding strategy, which successfully transfers valuable diversity from wild goat grass to modern wheat, is providing farmers with climateresilient, pest-and disease-resistant wheat.READ THE FULL STORY: on.cgiar.org/3jQ2lvNThe This sphere refers to research use and changes in capacity and practices leading to progress towards outcomes as described in the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework (SRF).This sphere corresponds to the direct and indirect benefits, improved well-being and ecosystem health leading to System-Level Outcome (SLO) & SDG impacts.The results dashboard gives users the ability to directly interact with results data from across the 15 CRPs and Platforms from broad and common topics to in-depth personalized data, depending on the user's search parameters and interests. Aspects captured by the dashboard include publications, innovations in management practices, knowledge and technologies and numbers of people trained, among other metrics. For Funders, the dashboard can provide information about CGIAR in an easier and quicker manner.VISIT THE DASHBOARD: cgiar.org/impact/results-dashboard/ To report bugs or suggest improvements please click here.Milestones are a specific point of progress, expected to be reached in the reporting year.SLOs are CGIAR's highest level goals, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Short reports describing the contribution of CGIAR research to development outcomes and impact.Quantitative indicators are used by all CGIAR Research Programs and Platforms to track progress towards impact.The In 2019, the number of policies, legal instruments or investments that had been influenced by CGIAR research increased by 44% compared to the previous year. From a total of 164 policies, 60% (99) showed evidence of research findings being taken up by next users and 36% (59) involved a policy being passed or a law enacted. Seven (4%) demonstrated evidence of impact for the first time in 2019.Policies in 2019 were linked to five key SDGs: SDG1 (no poverty), SDG2 (zero hunger), SDG12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG13 (climate action) and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals). In 2019, 74% (122) of achievements under this indicator were policies and strategies, 13% (21) were budgets and investments, 9% (15) were legal instruments, and 4% (6) were curricula influenced by CGIAR work.Important capacity development contributions were made in 2019. A total of 796,273 trainees (including long-and short-term; 54% men and 46% women) were involved across the CGIAR Portfolio. A total of 538 PhD students were incorporated in CGIAR research initiatives in 2019, 49% (265) of them women. Partnerships are at the core of CGIAR's work. In 2019, CRPs reported external partnerships involving a wide range of partners, from policymakers in governments and international agencies, to research collaborators in research and academic institutions around the world, as well as public-and private-sector companies and non-profit institutions involved in the development and scaling of innovations. From a total of 283 partnerships, 36% were focused on research, 26% on capacity development, 22% on delivery and 13% on policy.In 2019, 1,901 research articles were published in peer-reviewed journals, of which 92% were published in ISI journals and 69% were open access. From 2017 to 2019, the average annual number of peer-reviewed publications has been similar, with a total of 6,002 CGIAR publications produced over this three-year period.As of September 28, 2020, the CGIAR publication with the highest Altmetric Attention Score, 'Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems', published in The Lancet and reported by CCAFS, had a score of 4,756.As of September 28, 2020, there was a total of 1,849 CGIAR information products with Altmetric Attention Scores, with 61,429 total mentions or readers tracked on Mendeley, and 27,557 mentions on Twitter.Open  In 2019, CRPs and Platforms reported progress against annual planned milestones. A total of 459 milestones were reported for the year, 69% of which were reported as complete. Twenty-three percent of milestones were extended, 5% were changed and 3% were canceled. In 2019, 80% of milestones had principal or significant gender relevance.CRPs Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment (MELIA)An external end project evaluation of the Sustainable Transformation of Egypt's Aquaculture Market System (STREAMS) project identified and assessed the results it had achieved. The evaluation revealed that the project supported the 4,297 farms involved by increasing their production (a 16% increase in tons per hectare for average production per farm) and profit (a 57.7% average increase in profit per hectare), creating 3,407 new jobs, and reducing environmental impacts (a 37% decrease in cubic meters per hectare per day for water usage and a 22% decrease in equivalent/tons of CO2 emitted). These were realized through the adoption of productive, efficient, and climate-smart aquaculture production practices developed by FISH research.In Bangladesh, a survey of 48,900 rice farm households was conducted in 2018 to understand the progress of the Bangladesh Zinc Rice Program. Results showed that the Bangladesh Zinc Rice Program was still in a relatively early phase of delivery and scale-up at the time. In the early phase of scale-up, zinc rice growers tend to be those with risk-mitigating characteristics. The efforts to raise awareness have been very successful, with around 2 million rice farmers being aware of zinc rice and liking the yield attribute, but there was a need to boost seed supply. This study was ongoing in 2019 (A4NH).  In 2019, CGIAR System income was $828 million, a 3% decrease from the previous year ($850 million in 2018). System-level results, however, improved from a net deficit of $10 million in 2018 to a net deficit of $7.5 million in 2019. Explore the highlights of our financial performance and funding in 2019, or search our financial dashboards to get a closer look at our books.READ THE CGIAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS: on.cgiar.org/FnnclHghlghtsThere is a wide range in the overall size of program funding: expenditure in 2019 varied from about $27 million to $79 million. The share of W1 and W2 funding in the overall portfolio expenditure is 26%.","tokenCount":"1731"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7703516351.json b/data/part_1/7703516351.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..240caee4ff14cb257e723e7ac38f6897c9259e7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7703516351.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cfee836bd668c1ec649137f38c8d05fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dcbeebb3-c52a-48a8-b2f2-2a13e22b402b/retrieve","id":"-397568393"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34f15207-22b5-4e7e-94e7-fabb1a8fc2d9","pagecount":"56","content":"The publications in this series record the work and thinking of IWMI researchers, and knowledge that the Institute's scientific management feels is worthy of documenting. This series will ensure that scientific data and other information gathered or prepared as a part of the research work of the Institute are recorded and referenced. Working Papers could include project reports, case studies, conference or workshop proceedings, discussion papers or reports on progress of research, country-specific research reports, monographs, etc. Working Papers may be copublished by IWMI and partner organizations.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.Most of the large irrigation projects around the world have been built, are owned, and are being operated and maintained by the governments. The cost recovery from such projects through levy of Irrigation Service Fees (ISF) in almost all the countries presents a dismal picture. The limited cost recovery from ISF in irrigation projects has meant that extensive contributions from governments' public investment and current expenditure budgets have been necessary to sustain irrigation systems. Over the years the underlying conditions have however changed. With government finances coming under increasing pressure they have been unable to provide adequate funds for maintenance of the built infrastructure. They have also failed to increase the user charges from the users of water to any significant level. The widening gap between financial resources required to maintain the infrastructure and that available from government budgets plus that collected as user fees, has led to the deterioration not only of the quality of the built infrastructure but also of institutions managing and governing such infrastructure, creating a vicious circle of low-cost recovery, poor maintenance of infrastructure, inadequate and unreliable water supply, inefficient and corrupt institutions, unwillingness of the farmers to pay and low cost recovery. Breaking this vicious circle requires, apart from other interventions, identifying ways to improve availability of financial resources to keep these systems in perfect working order. Improving cost recovery from all users including irrigators of the water, offers one of the most important avenues for raising financial resources. The present study examines some of the important issues that impinge on improving the cost recovery in canal irrigation and assesses the feasibility of some of the efforts being made to improve cost recovery in irrigation.As in the case of any infrastructure development, in the case of irrigation infrastructure also there are three basic questions relevant to the financing of capital and recurring costs of infrastructure: (1) who pays? (2) how much is paid? and (3) how is the money used? In terms of who pays and who should pay the answer is obvious -not the farmers alone. It has however long been recognized that while farmers may be the primary beneficiaries of the investments in irrigation, they are rarely the sole beneficiaries. From even the most casual comparison of the economic activity in a region before and after the availability of irrigation, it would be obvious that the benefits of growth as a result of the availability of irrigation water are reaped not only by multiple segments of the rural population -both farm and nonfarm -but often by residents of urban areas as well. Some derive these benefits directly, while others derive them indirectly through the benefits of increased agricultural production transmitted to other parts of the society. In addition to the economic benefits accruing to various segments of the rural and urban population, investments in irrigation provide a number of social benefits, such as enhanced food security, lower food prices and increased income-generating opportunities. The fact that some benefits of irrigation are unintended and that some of these benefits accrue indirectly to nonagricultural sectors -does not make them any less real, less valuable or less important. The argument that it is not easy to identify other beneficiaries or to quantify indirect benefits, or the amounts these indirectly impacted beneficiaries are already paying to the government, does not mean that revenue realized from the direct beneficiaries alone can be treated as the sole revenue from the sale of irrigation water. The net must therefore be cast wide so that all the beneficiaries impacted directly or indirectly by the availability of irrigation water and currently paying or not paying must pay for deriving benefits from the availability and/or use of water. The fact that some of them are already paying for this service in a different form to the government and the government accounting procedures do not permit attribution of at least a part of this contribution to the provision of irrigation water should not undermine the contribution of users to this payment. Ways must be found to at least notionally account for counting of a part of such payments as revenue derived from availability of water. It needs to be underlined that payments received from the farmers as ISF should not be treated as the sole revenue from supply of irrigation water.In terms of how much is paid and how such receipts can be enhanced, the obvious answer is that it is partly by increasing low water tariffs and partly through improvement of collection efficiency. Irrigation cost at prevailing tariff rates forms a small part of the revenue derived from the use of irrigation water for crop production and farmers can afford to pay higher tariffs. There is in fact a willingness, on the part of the farmers, to pay higher tariffs provided the services are improved. There is substantial scope for increasing receipts through improvement in collection efficiency of the raised bills. An appropriate institutional arrangement combined with some more powers to the enforcement agencies can help improve collection efficiency.In terms of how the available money is spent there is a substantial scope for more efficient utilization of available financial resources for improved system maintenance by cutting on the cost of salaries of huge and often inefficient bureaucracies in the irrigation departments. There is a need for reallocation of available funds for the irrigation sector by prioritizing operation and maintenance (O&M) of existing infrastructure rather than allocating more and more funds for creation of new infrastructure. There is an increasing realization all around that revitalization of canal irrigation systems and putting the infrastructure and water therein to more productive and efficient use would, as a first step, require rehabilitation of the dilapidated and worn out systems due to years of neglected maintenance and inefficient operations. Once rehabilitated, it would need to be ensured that the systems are maintained on a regular basis so that the rehabilitated systems continue to provide useful services on a sustainable basis. Unless both the components of the revitalization package -rehabilitation of worn out systems and regular maintenance of the systems once rehabilitated -are considered concurrently as a suite, money invested in one component of the rehabilitation package without ensuring required allocations for the other, is unlikely to bring in any significant change from the current scenario in the long run. The two components of the revitalization package however have different financial implications. For system rehabilitation the financial requirements are relatively much larger and need to be invested upfront as a lump sum investment in comparison to financial requirements for system maintenance which require an annual stream of relatively smaller magnitude of financial resources.Revitalization of irrigation systems will thus require huge amounts of money for both rehabilitation of the systems and their improved O&M. Where will this money come from? Closing the cost-revenue gap thus is the first step in the process of revitalization of irrigation systems. The revenues have to come in line with the costs and there is no such thing as free lunch. In a real world, there are only two sources of revenue to pay for the (rising) costs of these services -taxes or user charges. If the governments are not willing to raise either of these, then there is simply no way forward. Given the current scenario of condition of irrigation infrastructure and the levels of cost recovery, the financial gap cannot be bridged in a short period of time. For the foreseeable future, budget support (taxpayers' money) for irrigation would therefore need to continue. But it is also obvious that charges of all users including the irrigators must be increased for a host of reasons, and the revenue should be channeled for O&M of irrigation infrastructure, irrespective of how the collection was made, and by whom. So, it is clear that starting with the idea of increasing user charges (for bad services provided by corrupt and inefficient agencies) will quite reasonably be resisted. For this reason, the idea of bringing tariffs into balance with costs must be seen as the third leg of a triangle in which the first two legs must be 'improve services first,' and 'provide those services in an efficient and accountable manner.' Asking users to pay for the costs of these services can come only after the first two have been clearly done and are so perceived by users. During this transition period the governments would need to provide this bridge financing. The duration of this transition period would vary from system to system based on the prevailing ground situation.Most of the large irrigation projects around the world have been built, are owned, and are being operated and maintained by the governments. The costs incurred in supply of water from such built infrastructure are broadly categorised into two main categories: investment costs and working expenses, though as discussed subsequently, there are other direct and indirect costs incurred in supply and use of this water. Investment costs refer to the upfront costs incurred in building of the infrastructure such as constructing storages, dams and conveyance systems, such as canals for transport of water. The working expenses refer to the annual costs incurred in keeping the created system in good working order and in appropriately managing the water available in the system in the most efficient way. An important difference between the two costs is that while capital costs are one-time lump investments incurred over a short time period, the working expenses are more moderate and are required to be incurred on a regular basis, often measured on an annual basis. The magnitude of annual working expenses required to keep the created assets in good working order are relatively much smaller -around 4-7% of the capital cost of the project.Cost recovery refers to the recovery, from the users of water, of the cost incurred in supplying water. The governments often tend to recover this cost from the users of water through a levy of user charges. Cost recovery is thus expressed as a ratio of charges recovered from the users (revenue realized) to cost incurred (cost of water provision) expressed as a percent. Thus:Cost recovery (%) = revenue realized/cost incurred * 100(1)Cost recovery thus crucially depends on two variables -revenue realized and cost incurred: the higher the revenue realized relative to cost the higher the level of cost recovery. Depending on how the numerator (revenues) and the denominator (cost of provision) are defined and measured, the resultant percent cost recovery figures can vary. There are no agreed to or consistent definitions of what constitutes revenues and costs nor are there any standardized methodologies for measuring them. There is also no agreement on who the users are, who should share the cost and provide revenue and how their shares should be determined. Different countries, different projects within a country, and even within a country over different periods of time, have defined and measured such costs and revenues differently (Malik 2008). As such, a simple comparison of cost recovery estimates, measured as a ratio of revenue to cost (howsoever these may have been defined and measured), spatially and temporally makes them noncomparable. It is therefore important to have conceptual clarity on the underlying variables -costs and revenues -and the methodology to be followed in estimating each of them so that more transparent, uniform, comparable and accurate estimates of cost recovery can be generated. Such a conceptual and methodological clarity is the first step in identifying possible avenues for improving cost recovery. Deriving comparable estimates of cost recovery however depends on the availability of data, which most countries either do not have or if they have refuse to part with.Notwithstanding, for the time being, the differences in concepts used and/or methodologies employed in measuring revenues and costs and thereby in estimating cost recovery by different countries, cost recovery in almost all the countries presents a dismal picture. While the reported range of cost recovery in different countries has varied between a low of 20% to a high of around 80%, most of the countries are near the lower end of this spectrum. The limited cost recovery in irrigation projects has meant that extensive contributions from governments' public investment and current expenditure budgets have been necessary to sustain irrigation systems. Over the years things have however changed. With government finances coming under increasing pressure they have been unable to provide adequate funds for maintenance of the built infrastructure. They have also failed to increase to any significant level the user charges from the users of water. The widening gap between financial resources required to maintain the infrastructure and that available from the government budgets plus that collected as user fees, has led to the deterioration not only of the quality of the built infrastructure but also of institutions managing and governing such infrastructure creating a vicious circle of low cost recovery, poor maintenance of infrastructure, inadequate and unreliable water supply, inefficient and corrupt institutions, unwillingness of the farmers to pay and low cost recovery (Figure 1). This vicious circle has, in large part, been responsible for supply of inadequate and unreliable quality and quantity of water through these dilapidated storage and transmission systems replete with line-losses leading to underutilization and often disuse of irrigation systems built with huge amounts of public money in different parts of the world. Breaking this vicious circle requires, apart from other interventions, identifying ways to improve availability of financial resources to keep these systems in perfect working order. Improving cost recovery from users of the water offers one of the most important avenues for raising financial resources.The present study examines some of the important issues that impinge on improving the cost recovery in irrigation and assesses the feasibility of some of the efforts being made to improve cost recovery in irrigation. The study is based on the data available in the literature and from secondary sources supplemented by limited primary data collected from a sample of eight countries -India, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where IWMI conducts its research. CONCePTUal IssUes -WhICh COsTs? WhICh ReveNUe?Before we discuss the current status of cost recovery and examine ways to improve cost recovery in irrigation, it is important to have conceptual clarity on the two underlying concepts -cost and recovery -on which cost recovery depends. In the following sections we elaborate on these two aspects to bring out their relevance for measuring cost recovery.Depending on the purpose at hand, cost of making irrigation water available can be defined in various alternative ways.Following Rogers et al. (1998) we distinguish three cost concepts -the full supply cost, the full economic cost and the full (social) cost. Figure 2 provides a schematic presentation of the various components of different costs. Each of these is explained below in brief.Full economic The full supply (accounting) cost is equated with the costs associated with the supply of water to a consumer. The full supply cost is composed of two separate items: O&M costs; and the capital charges. Full supply cost however excludes consideration of either the externalities imposed upon others or of the alternative uses of the water.1 Depreciation charges refer to the consumption of fixed assets over time in a way that reflects their reducing value.O&M costs: These costs are associated with the daily operations (running) of the supply system. The illustrative costs include purchased raw water, electricity for pumping, labor, repair materials, and input cost for managing and operating storage and distribution systems.Capital charges: These include depreciation charges (capital consumption) 1 and interest costs on capital charges associated with reservoirs, treatment plants, and conveyance and distribution systems. There are some disagreements on how the annualized capital charges are to be computed. The annualized capital charges coupled with the O&M costs approximate the long-term marginal costs.The full economic cost of water is the sum of the full supply cost as described above, the opportunity cost associated with the alternative use of the same water resource, and the economic (pecuniary) externalities imposed upon others due to the consumption of water by a specific actor.Opportunity cost: This concept of opportunity cost addresses the fact that by consuming water, the user is depriving another user of the water. If that other user has a higher value for the water, then there are some opportunity costs experienced by society due to this misallocation of resources. The opportunity cost of water is zero only when there is no alternative use -that is, no shortage of water. Ignoring the opportunity cost results in undervaluing water, leading to under-investing in water conservation and causing serious misallocation of resources among users. There are however methodological problems associated with the estimation of opportunity cost.Economic (pecuniary) externalities: As a fugitive resource, water results in pervasive externalities. The most common externalities are those associated with the impact of an upstream diversion of water or with the release of pollution on downstream users. There are also externalities due to over-extraction from, or contamination of, common-pool resources such as lakes and aquifers. There may also be production externalities due, for example, to the agricultural production in irrigated areas damaging the markets for upland nonirrigated agriculture, or forcing them to change their inputs. The externalities may be positive or negative, and it is important to characterize the situation in a given context and estimate the positive or negative externalities and adjust the full cost by these impacts.Positive externalities occur, for example, when surface irrigation is both meeting the evapotranspiration needs of crops, and recharging a groundwater aquifer. Irrigation is then effectively providing a \"recharge service.\" However, the net benefit of this service will depend on the overall balance between total recharge (from rainfall and surface irrigation) and the rate of withdrawal of groundwater.Negative externalities, as discussed by Briscoe (1996), may impose costs on downstream users if the irrigation return flows are saline, or where return flows from towns impose costs on downstream water users. These negative externalities should be borne by the water users who impose these externalities on others.The full cost of the consumption of water is the full economic cost, given above, plus the environmental externalities. These costs have to be determined based upon the damages caused, where such data are available, or as additional costs of treatment to return the water to its original quality. Environmental externalities are usually inherently more difficult to assess economically than the economic externalities, but we are of the opinion that it is possible, in most cases, to estimate some remediation costs that will give a lower-bound estimate of the economic value of damages.While theoretical classification of different costs is relatively straightforward, in practice quite often, a clear distinction between the financial costs, environmental costs and resource costs becomes difficult, as there are risks of overlap and even mix-up with the consequence of double counting. As mentioned by Rogers et al. (1998), the distinction between economic and environmental externalities is very narrow. Thus, while keeping the spirit and need for accounting of the various costs as defined by them intact, several researchers have often put the economic and environmental externalities into one broad group of irrigation externalities to include such irrigation-induced externalities as waterlogging and soil salinization, point and nonpoint source pollution associated with the use of fertilizers and pesticides, loss of aquatic habitat, lowering of the water table and the like.Given different ways in which costs are defined and measured which cost should form the basis for recovery? There appears to be a general consensus that full-cost pricing be promoted and implemented and should form the basis for cost recovery (Cosgrove and Rijsberman 2000). Although there are conceptual and methodological problems associated with the estimation of full cost of water, it is still considered important to know the full cost of service provision. Knowing the full cost of water services would bring (among other things) greater transparency in terms of impacts on the environment, the sustainability of the irrigation infrastructure, costs to deliver the service and who should pay (Tardieu 2004). This would also enable to derive more informed estimates of subsidies incurred in supplying water.While supportive of the general principle of full-cost pricing, some analysts have, however, raised apprehensions about using it as a basis for cost recovery. It has, for example, been argued that while full cost recovery may prove feasible in a developed country environment, for example in Australia (Briscoe 1997), it may prove unrealistic in developing economies with subsistenceoriented smallholder irrigation schemes. This is why, while acknowledging that \"the recovery of full cost should be the goal for all water uses, the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) alternatively recommended that in order to achieve sustainability, the full cost of water provision \"need not necessarily be charged to the users\" (Tardieu 2005).Similarly, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) considers \"the recovery of full cost should be the goal for all water uses unless there are compelling reasons for not doing so.\" In the same way, the European Framework Directive for Water asks for \"adequate\" pricing of water, leaving room for charging users a price lower than that required for full cost recovery (Tardieu 2004). Thus using the full-cost principle as a basis for cost determination does not prevent countries from deciding on a level of cost recovery and on the contribution of water users to the recovery of the costs of water services that is below the full cost. The uncovered costs can then be borne by someone -taxpayers or society at large -in the form of subsidies. Though full cost recovery is desirable from the point of view of long-term ability to finance irrigation and promote more efficient use of resources, problems related to practical implementation need to be kept in view.should the entire Cost Intended to be Recovered be Recovered from the Farmers?Irrespective of which cost the governments may intend to recover, should the entire cost so intended to be recovered be recovered from the farmers, the beneficiaries of irrigation water. An important characteristic of many public utilities is that they provide multiple goods and services simultaneously. Most large water-resource projects have this characteristic, providing at the same time some or all of the following services: irrigation water, municipal water supply, flood protection, hydroelectric power, recreation, navigation, fisheries and so forth. While some of these demands are competitive (such as agricultural and industrial consumption), others are complementary. For example, in some cases releases for agriculture can be passed through turbines to generate power and be used by ships for navigation without detriment to other consumers (Perry 1986).In addition to these formally understood multiple purposes for which a project is built, there are several informal uses of the irrigation infrastructure in developing countries which are more difficult to address (van Koppen et al. 2006). These may include informal diversion and use, such as for livestock, fish culture and small enterprises (e.g., brick-making and brewing beer). In Asia, for example, 90% of dams for irrigation are multipurpose (Easter and Liu 2005a). Often, the initial trigger to set up a water project may be one specific factor relating to the control or use of water, yet frequently the combination of factors is such that the achievement of some particular objective may be better promoted by combining other objectives with it. In addition to helping realize the greatest total benefit from the natural resource, the multiple nature of the project also helps make the project more cost-effective, since the sum of marginal costs of each component may be less than the total cost of the project. Thus a multipurpose project may be practicable where a singlepurpose project may be impracticable.A problem arises with regard to the basis for allocation of the total cost of the project to its constituent components. Interest in the problem of fair allocation of joint costs in water-resource projects was stimulated during the early days of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the 1930s, which had to apportion costs of dam systems among participatory uses. In the literature, various methods have since been suggested for allocating joint costs. Fair cost-allocation concepts have been studied extensively in cooperative game theory, which provides various normative approaches to the problem of allocating joint costs (and benefits) among users by taking the strategic possibilities into account. Some well-known concepts include core (Gillies 1959) and Shapley value (Shapley 1953). Since these pioneering studies, several variants and extensions have been developed (see the reviews by Krus and Bronisz 2000;Monderer and Samet 2002) and applied to the allocation of costs in joint projects (Young 1985(Young , 1996)).The traditional methods most commonly used in water-resource planning to allocate joint costs are (1) to allocate costs in proportion to some single numerical criterion, such as use, population or level of benefits; or (2) to allocate certain costs (e.g., marginal costs) directly and divide the remainder on the basis of some scheme similar to the first method (Young et al. 1982). Chief among variants of the first method is the use-of-facilities (UOF) method. This method entails that each of the purposes served by one structure, with uses being irrigation, domestic and commercial water supply, being charged in proportion to the capacity (e.g., acre-feet, cubic-feet per second) to which that purpose is entitled. Such a cost-allocation method is, however, usually not efficient.The fundamental concept of fairness stipulates that for a fair allocation of costs, no user should individually pay more in the joint venture than he would have to pay on his own. This constitutes the minimum incentive for an individual to join. The UOF method however does not promote efficient use of resources in the greatest public interest by assuring a maximum practicable return per dollar invested (Perry 1986). There are also difficulties in relating consumptive to nonconsumptive uses of water (navigation and hydropower, for example). The approach is also highly dependent on disaggregated data, which most irrigation districts or authorities do not automatically generate or retain (Lewis and Hilal 1995). On the other hand, the transparency of the approach is appealing. Among the second group of methods, the two main ones are: (1) alternative justifiable expenditures (AJE); and (2) separate costs, remaining benefits (SCRB) methods (Young et al. 1982;Young 1985;Easter and Liu 2005a). The first approach allocates joint costs based on remaining benefits after subtracting specific costs, where specific costs refer to costs directly attributable to a single purpose (for example, irrigation) and excludes the costs of a change in project design due to the inclusion of a particular purpose. The second approach, SCRB, is similar to the first one. It assigns costs that serve a \"single\" purpose to the benefiting purpose, including the costs of any project design changes required to include the added purpose. The remaining \"joint\" costs are assigned in proportion to the remaining benefits derived for each type of use after subtracting the separable costs (Perry 1986).Unlike methods available for allocation of joint capital cost, methods for allocation of working expenses amongst multiple uses are much less clear. While some projects after construction continue to be operated as multiple use projects, some others are split, for operational and administrative reasons, and operate as individual use entities, though in practice it may not always be possible to treat them as strictly independent entities since they depend on the same water. In such a scenario, the burden of paying for the working expenses often falls on the largest user of water viz the farmers. Farmers are expected to pay for the cost of a service from which several beneficiaries benefit directly and indirectly.There is a whole range of combinations of costs which the governments around the world are currently recovering or like to recover. The costs to be recovered differ not only between different countries but also sometimes even within the same country between different provinces/projects. While some governments look to recover either fully or partly the accounting cost (capital cost plus O&M costs) from the users, a majority of the other countries aim to recover either partly or fully the O&M costs only. There is much less clarity on what constitutes O&M cost, how these are calculated and how in the case of a multiple use project these are allocated amongst different end users. There are some countries which do not seek to recover any amount from users for making irrigation water available. The decision of the governments about aiming to recover only a certain part of the cost from the users is often deliberate and intentional dictated by a number of considerations -political, economic, social, technological, religious and others. Some of these considerations in turn are influenced by a number of factors which include -ability and/or willingness of the farmers to pay, achieving food security for the country, incentivizing farmers to make complementary investments in modernizing agriculture, reducing poverty and improving farmer's incomes, keeping migration under check and, above all, using water price as a powerful political economy tool. It may be important to mention here that aiming to recover, whatever part of the cost the government may intend to recover, is however different from what the governments actually recover or can possibly recover.Based on some of the available literature on cost recovery, which simply report broad countrylevel costs the different countries seek to recover, supplemented by some project-level information which we could specifically collect as part of the present study from a small number of projects in some of the unrepresented countries in the available literature, we separate the countries into three broad categories depending on the nature of cost these countries seek to recover. These three categories are countries/projects a) aiming to recover either in full or in part O&M costs from the users, b) aiming to recover some part of the capital and O&M costs, and c) not aiming to recover any costs from users of irrigation water.The data presented in Table 1 below show that almost all the countries aim to recover at least some part of the O&M costs. In addition to recovery of O&M costs a number of countries also seek to recover either in full or in part the capital cost as well. There are some projects within the same country (as in Ethiopia) which intend to cover only O&M costs while other projects intend to additionally recover the capital cost as well. Similarly, in Nepal while most of the projects aim to recover O&M costs there is a project in Nepal which does not intend to recover any costs from the users.   2 below gives some information on the proportion of O&M costs some of the countries are currently able to recover. While in most of the cases the recoveries have been sufficient to recover only a small part of the O&M costs, in some other cases revenue covers a substantial part of the O&M costs.An exception to the generally low level of cost recovery reported in the case of most of the countries is the set of countries belonging to the European Union which are bound by the legislation of Water Framework Directive (WFD). The underlying idea under WFD is to treat water as an economic good and move towards full cost recovery of provision of water services. The Member States must ensure that the main water users categories -households, industry and agriculture, contribute to cost recovery of water services provision, including environmental and resource costs, according to the \"Polluter-Pays\" principle. It also stipulates participation of stakeholders and the public in the management of water resources.A number of countries have already moved towards 100% cost recovery of O&M and capital cost, while a few others are recovering 100% of O&M cost but less than 100% of capital cost. Still a few others are yet to achieve the target of achieving 100% cost recovery of either the capital cost or of operational cost (Table 3). Concurrent with various complexities associated with defining and measuring 'cost' of providing irrigation water, there are similar intricacies in defining and measuring the other component of cost recovery viz the revenue realized from the sale of water. In the literature on cost recovery for irrigation, the money realized from the farmers, the primary beneficiaries of irrigation water, in the form of irrigation charges is often treated as revenue realized by the government on account of making irrigation water available. However, is this the only source of revenue for the government from the sale of irrigation water? Are the farmers the sole beneficiaries of irrigation water and therefore the sole entities responsible for paying for irrigation water? The experience suggests that while farmers may be the primary beneficiaries of irrigation water, they cannot be regarded as the sole beneficiaries. Who are the other beneficiaries who gain directly or indirectly from the irrigation water made available to farmers? Is the government getting some of its irrigation-related revenues, knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, from some of these beneficiaries? Apart from the revenues realized from these segments of society impacted directly and indirectly by the availability of irrigation water, what are the other sources of revenue for the government from investments made in the irrigation sector?We discuss this issue in two parts. The first part relates to identification of direct and indirect beneficiaries who gain from the availability of irrigation water. We then discuss the various sources of revenue for the government related to supply of irrigation water.Construction and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure involve huge costs and therefore an important concern in making these public investments has always been how the costs of these investments can be recovered and who should pay for them (Sampath 1983;Tardieu 2004). In principle, any cost incurred in providing a service should be recovered from all those who benefit from the provision of these services (Barakat n.d.). So, the first important question is: who are the beneficiaries of irrigation water?While the primary concern for public investment in irrigation infrastructure is to help farmers adopt technological innovations and increase agricultural production, or to help minimize the impact of erratic weather patterns on agricultural production, this can in no way be regarded as the sole purpose for governments to invest in irrigation. In the literature on cost recovery, the difference between the \"cost\" of making irrigation water available and the irrigation charges recovered from the farmers in the form of water tariffs is referred to as a subsidy. The rationale behind recovering the cost of irrigation water (in whatever way the cost is defined) from the farmers is that these investments have been made for the benefit of the farmers and the cost of providing irrigation water should therefore be borne by them and recovered from them. It has however long been recognized that while farmers may be the primary beneficiaries of the investments in irrigation, they are rarely the sole beneficiaries. From even the most casual comparison of the economic activity in a region before and after the availability of irrigation water, it would be obvious that the benefits of growth as a result of the availability of irrigation water are reaped not only by multiple segments of the rural population -both farm and nonfarm -but often by residents of urban areas as well (Marts 1956). Some derive these benefits directly, while others derive them indirectly through the benefits of increased agricultural production transmitted to other parts of the society. In addition to the economic benefits accruing to various segments of the rural and urban population, investments in irrigation provide a number of social benefits, such as enhanced food security, lower food prices and increased income-generating opportunities.The fact that some benefits of irrigation are unintended and that some of these benefits accrue indirectly to nonagricultural sectors -does not make them any less real, less valuable or less important. The argument that it is not easy to identify other beneficiaries or to quantify indirect benefits, or the amounts these indirectly impacted beneficiaries are already paying to the government, does not mean that revenue realized from the direct beneficiaries alone can be treated as the sole revenue from the sale of irrigation water. The difference between the cost of irrigation water and the money recovered from farmers in the form of water tariffs should not be automatically interpreted as a subsidy to the farmers. It is therefore desirable that at least some of these indirect benefits and beneficiaries be identified and properly accounted for, along with direct beneficiaries and the revenue realized from them on account of increased production attributable to the availability of irrigation water.The number of indirect beneficiaries and the amount of indirect benefits in certain situations could be at least as large as, or larger than, the number of direct beneficiaries and the amount of direct benefits (Garrido 2005). In the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, for example, it has been estimated that 15 to 20% of the total benefits of irrigation go directly to the farmer, with the remainder to society (Hill 1985). These benefits are from economic activity and employment beyond the farm -benefits derived from irrigation-related activity. Farm benefits often form a small part of the total benefit and projects become feasible only when all the beneficiaries contribute to the cost. When methods are found to access the wealth created by indirect benefits, projects would become more viable (Hill and Tollefson 1994). That this part of the cost should be borne by other project beneficiaries and other indirect users has been emphasized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2002) and the International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) (Tardieu 2004). While appreciating the need to recover costs from all beneficiaries, it is argued that since \"it is not easy to identify the 'end beneficiaries' other than irrigating farmers, the community as a whole, i.e., the taxpayers could be charged for it\" (Tardieu 2004).The direct benefits and direct beneficiaries have received much systematic study in the literature, and can be estimated within a reasonable margin of error. The procedures for identifying indirect beneficiaries and estimating indirect benefits and how the total benefits of a project have been shared by different segments of the society have been deficient, though some recent studies have attempted to estimate the direct and indirect benefits and identify how these benefits are shared by different sections of the society (Bhatia and Malik 2008). As such, it constitutes one of the most difficult problems in the economics of resource development. This is one of the many key issues which remain to be explored and require further methodological development.Given that the benefits of water projects accrue directly and indirectly to a wide range of beneficiaries, the basis of cost recoveries or revenue realization from these beneficiaries may also be direct or indirect. In the literature on cost recovery of irrigation, the money recovered from the farmers, the primary beneficiaries of irrigation water, in the form of irrigation charges is treated as revenue realized by the government on account of making irrigation water available. The amount of irrigation charges recovered depends upon the price of water, the tariff regime and the efficiency of the water-supplying agency in collecting fees from the users. Apart from revenue realized in the form of water tariffs, the government occasionally also collects from users of irrigation water a fee in the form of a betterment levy (the incremental portion of land taxes attributable to irrigation investments). The government also sometimes imposes export taxes on crops that are cultivated mainly in irrigated areas. Sometimes governments also impose increased crop delivery quotas at controlled prices. These recoveries from farmers along with taxes collected from exporters also generate revenue for the government.Indirect cost recovery refers to increases in government revenue attributable to an irrigation project, whose incidence is not borne by farmers in the irrigated area (Barakat n.d.). Some of these revenues could be in the form of taxes collected from industries on increased turnover realized as a result of higher production attributable either directly to availability of irrigation water or arising as a result of consumption-induced income effects linked to the direct and indirect beneficiaries of irrigation water. In fact, some of these beneficiaries have already been paying these charges in the form of direct and indirect taxes; however, due to a lack of clarity on the nature of these beneficiaries and the accounting systems followed by the governments, these charges are typically not viewed and accounted for as payment towards the use of irrigation water. Simply because this is not an easy task using the prevalent accounting systems of the governments does not mean that these increased taxes should be treated as general revenue and not debited against the cost of providing irrigation water. Some policies, such as an export tax on a cash crop like rice or cotton, may contribute both to direct and indirect cost recovery, affecting both producers and processors of the product. Revenue-realization instruments may also be classified as automatic, to the extent that a project may increase government revenue via existing tax instruments, or discretionary, when it pertains to instruments that are explicitly instituted to increase cost recovery.As mentioned earlier, apart from benefiting, directly and indirectly, various parts of rural and urban society, availability of irrigation is also associated with a number of other social impacts. Enough empirical evidence is available to demonstrate the linkages between some of these variables and irrigation, notably the impact on poverty reduction, employment generation, lowering of food prices and food security. Some of the available evidence suggests that returns to education are much higher in irrigated districts than in nonirrigated districts (Pritchett 2001). While financial quantification of these impacts is beset with methodological problems, the financial implications of these impacts are likely to be even greater than the direct and indirect economic gains demonstrated above.Additionally, there are several other sources of revenue to the government from the supply of water: First, irrigation systems, which consist of dams, reservoirs, main irrigation canals and their distributaries, water bodies formed by seepage, drainage canals and often drainage water storage, offer a diversity of water bodies for fish production. Since the dependence on the canal water in fish farming systems is very high, one can consider these ponds to be an integral part of the irrigation system. There are a number of examples from several countries -India, Pakistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, etc., where irrigation systems are being used for fish production. There is no organized effective data collection system which could assist in determining factors contributing to sustainable use of irrigation systems for fisheries or even the quantity of fish caught in these water bodies. Traditional inland fisheries are managed by an auction system and there is limited licensing of natural water bodies. Also, the fishing rights for each compartment are annually auctioned by the respective agency owning and maintaining the system. Fish production thus provides an important source of revenue.Second, some irrigation projects, even those not forming part of a multipurpose project, have provided opportunities for generating hydroelectric power, a nonconsumptive use of water. In addition, in locations where the gradient and quantity of water available are conducive, canal drops can often be used for hydroelectric plants. The economics of hydroelectric power generation depend upon the prevailing water and power availability policies, and the priorities given to the use of water between the two purposes. In energy-scarce economies, hydroelectric power can provide a valuable adjunct to an irrigation project. The value of hydropower is likely to be higher in situations of easy water availability, where the conflicts between its use for irrigation and power generation are low, and acute power scarcity is prevalent.Third, irrigation reservoirs, dams and canals offer opportunities for water-related sports and offer other recreational options. This helps in promoting tourism. The government derives large revenues from these structures which must be duly accounted for in government accounts as revenues from irrigation.Fourth, economists have generally advocated the use of pollution taxes as a means to address environmental externalities. Following the \"polluter pays\" principle, the externality problem in general is sought to be addressed by imposing environmental levies and taxes on the polluter. In line with this principle, the polluter should pay, or the governments should recover, in addition to the cost per unit of water, an additional charge per unit of water equal to the external damage cost imposed on others (MacDonald et al. n.d.). However, in view of the complexities associated with identifying the polluters it is not known if any country imposes pollution taxes and recovers them from the beneficiaries of irrigation water; however, if it were feasible to do so, this would add to the revenues of the government and need to be accounted for.Last, apart from the quantifiable revenues to the irrigation providing agency, there are a number of other benefits to the government in general, which are difficult to quantify in monetary terms. Enough evidence is available to substantiate that the availability of irrigation water is associated with rural development, a reduction in poverty, improved food-grain availability and food security, lower food-grain prices, improved hygiene and sanitary conditions, improved returns to education, etc.Given so much mix-up in our understanding about what constitutes cost and revenue and how these costs and revenues are estimated and apportioned between different services the project provides, it is not known how the available estimates of cost recovery are derived. Often, the researchers have failed to carefully distinguish between cost recoveries of a project from that of service with the result that it is not clear if the available estimates of cost recovery refer to a project, a service or a mix of the two. While in some cases the cost recovery of a project and of irrigation service may be the same, in other cases the two may differ. If a project provides just one service, say irrigation water, the cost recovery of project and cost recovery of irrigation may be roughly similar. However, if a project supplies water for multiple services such as irrigation water, drinking water, water for industry, etc., then the cost recovery of project would differ from cost recovery of a specific service such as irrigation water. For estimating cost recovery of the project one would need to add the revenue from all the three services to arrive at project revenue and compare this aggregate revenue against the project cost to arrive at the measure of cost recovery. If one were to derive cost recovery for a single service such as irrigation in a multiple use project, then the revenue from the service must be compared with the cost attributable to irrigation service and not the entire project. Quite often, analysts have ignored this distinction while defining and measuring cost recovery for irrigation with the result that the derived estimates of cost recovery are often at variance with its actual measure. We illustrate this with an example.Consider a project providing water for three services -irrigation, drinking and industry. It derives a revenue of USD 1,000 from sale of water for drinking (15% of total water), USD 1,200 from sale of water to industry (20% of total water) and earns USD 800 from sale of remaining water (65%) to irrigation. The annual project cost, howsoever, it may have been defined, is USD 4,000. Thus:Cost recovery of the project = (1,000 + 1,200 + 800)/4,000 = 75% Cost recovery of irrigation (as often measured) = 800/4,000 = 20%This practice of measuring cost recovery of a service by comparing the revenue realized from the service against the total annual project cost is on account of the fact that in project accounts such a cost allocation of the project cost into different services is not done and therefore there is no way of knowing how much cost can be allocated to different services. For the sake of illustration to demonstrate what difference adoption of cost allocation between different services can make in deriving more efficient measures of cost recovery, let us assume as a first approximation that the project costs are allocated to services in the same proportion as water is allocated to different services. Irrigation which accounts for 65% of water is thus allocated 65% of the project cost amounting to USD2, 600. Now if we were to compare the revenue from irrigation against cost attributable to irrigation, the cost recovery will be as follows:Cost recovery of irrigation (as it should be measured) = 800/2,600 = 30% Due to constraints on availability of disaggregated data and overlooking of conceptual differences, the available estimates on cost recovery have often failed to make a distinction between cost recovery of a project and that of a service.Notwithstanding the conceptual and measurement problems associated with attributing and measuring costs and revenue, cost recovery in water resources projects in a majority of the countries is dismal. Efforts at improving cost recovery essentially need to focus on reducing or more efficiently spending the cost incurred and/or in increasing revenue realization. There are several avenues for doing so. In what follows we discuss briefly some of the opportunities for improving cost recovery.The quantum of funds allocated for O&M of a system and how the available funds are utilized determine how well the system is physically maintained, how efficiently it can supply water and what difference it can make to improvement in cost recovery. As discussed earlier, a majority of the countries are targeting to recover only O&M costs of the system. To assess opportunities for more efficient use of O&M funds it is important to understand what constitutes O&M costs, how requirements for O&M funds are determined, how the available funds are currently being spent and then explore opportunities for their more efficient use.Operations costs refer to the costs associated with the operation of a system and include such items as staff costs, management costs and electricity for water pumping (for lift irrigation). Maintenance costs refer to the expenses incurred on actual maintenance of the irrigation system to keep it in working order. Maintenance and renewal costs thus are the costs of maintaining assets in order to provide a good service until the end of their useful life. While on initial considerations, the estimation of O&M costs would appear to be straightforward, in practice this may not always be the case. The O&M costs of a project depend on several factors -size, design, use pattern (multiple vs single purpose), location, age, the physical condition of the system, the quality of construction, the nature of the institution operating and maintaining the system, etc. Due to these differences in characteristics of different projects, the O&M costs of projects will differ from project to project. Often efficient estimates of O&M funds required are not available for a majority of the projects. Separate data on funds required for O&M individually are also generally not available. While some countries keep separate accounts for O&M, often the two are put together as O&M costs in public-accounting systems. Sound data recording and bookkeeping for O&M, however, are of crucial importance in irrigation (Tiercelin 1998) and lack of availability of proper disaggregated records often hampers estimation of these costs.In general, the O&M costs of a system are expected to be met from revenue collected from the users of services provided by the system. Given that commonly the financial requirements for meeting the O&M costs far exceed the modest revenue frequently collected as ISF from users of water, the project authorities have to depend on budgetary support from the government to bridge this gap. In the absence of any information available on O&M cost requirements of different systems, the common practice in countries with large irrigation systems, is to use some measure of an \"efficient\" or a \"yardstick\" cost for O&M (Vaidyanathan 1992). In India, the normative budgetary provisions for O&M costs of irrigation schemes are of late being made on the basis of recommendations of the Finance Commission. Based on the latest norms worked out by the 13th Finance Commission, the suggested norms for 2014-15 work out to INR 1,500 per hectare (ha) for utilized and INR 750 per ha for unutilized potential for major and medium irrigation projects (GoI 2009). The norms remain the same for all the systems irrespective of the revenue collected as user fee from users of services provided by the system, the physical condition of the system, or the O&M requirements of the system. The budgetary support provided for O&M may thus differ by an unknown order of magnitude from the actual O&M cost requirements of the system. No funds are normally available for meeting the deferred maintenance costs.In Pakistan the yardstick for estimating requirements of maintenance funding was prepared for the first time in 1937. Subsequently, the increase in maintenance funding did not keep pace with the inflation, and drastic cuts in O&M funding had been applied from time to time in view of the financial constraints. This resulted in deferred maintenance with a visible cumulative effect. The revision of the yardstick during 1963 provided funds for maintenance but did not provide funds for making up the deferred maintenance. The revised yardstick also did not account for the additional physical needs triggered by the overuse of the system due to trespassing. The yardsticks were revised in 1982 and again in 1992. These revisions also did not provide for deferred maintenance needs and only partly covered the growing rate of physical deterioration.A similar situation as described above for India and Pakistan prevails in most of the other countries with large irrigation systems. In the absence of any systematic procedures for estimating the actual O&M requirements of the systems, the budgetary allocations are made on an ad-hoc basis determined generally on the basis of financial resources available with the government and not on the basis of actual requirements. The funds allocated for O&M by the government and those collected from water users in the form of cost recovery are determined independently of each other.Given the ad-hoc way in which the needs for O&M fund requirements are estimated and financial resources are allocated in the government budgets, serious questions arise relating to the adequacy and availability of funds for O&M and the efficiency of their use. For example, public-sector irrigation agencies are typically overstaffed and most of the funds allocated for O&M activities, actually go towards paying the salaries of staff, leaving very little money for the actual maintenance of the system. Further, as corruption is a factor in these institutions, the actual remaining money spent on maintenance may be less still, thereby affecting the quality of the maintenance provided which ultimately gets reflected in the quality of service provided to the users and the willingness of the users to pay for the service. Few data are however available to assess the gap between the funds required and actually available for O&M.Some of the available data from Pakistan point to the wide gap that exists in O&M funding. In Pakistan, it was estimated that in 1992-93, the shortfall in O&M funding ranged from 24 to 33%. The projected O&M funding gap rose to between 29 and 49% in the next 5 years (Table 4). The data available thus clearly brings out that O&M allocations have been far short of the requirements and the issue of inadequate maintenance funding continues to perpetuate. Notwithstanding the general financial gap that exists between financial resources available and those actually required to meet the O&M costs of irrigation projects, it is important to analyze how effectively and efficiently the available resources are spent. Depending on the system of financial accounts practiced in a given country, the concepts of O&M cost and working expenses (WE), in relation to irrigation projects, may imply either the same meaning or one with a slight variation. While some countries equate working expenses with the O&M costs alone others also include additional incidental expenses also in the working expenses. In the literature on cost recovery in irrigation the concepts of working expenses and O&M costs have been used interchangeably. Quite often it has been difficult to distinguish between the two concepts due to nonavailability of detailed breakup of information on different components that constitute either WE or O&M. Assessing the efficiency with which available financial resources for meeting O&M costs are spent requires access to detailed breakup of resources spent on different components that make up O&M costs. Usually, such breakup of data into different components is not available in many countries. We have had access to some disaggregated data in respect of two South Asian countries: India and Pakistan. In what follows we take a closer look at the way the available financial resources for O&M are spent.In India, the budgetary expenses on infrastructure projects are classified into capital expenses and working expenses. In the case of major and medium irrigation projects, the capital expenditure refers to the money spent to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as construction of concrete and masonry dams, reservoirs, spillways, canals and distributary networks of the irrigation project during the financial year. The term \"working expenses\" (WE) denotes the gross budgetary support to implement infrastructural projects. The WE refers to \"non-plan\" expenditure incurred on direction and administration, machinery and equipment, maintenance and repair and extension and improvement of completed projects, training, research, survey and investigation, and other expenditures during the financial year. Similarly, the gross receipt (GR) is the revenue receipt on account of water charges and other levies as imposed by the state Government from time to time.The annual capital expenditure on major and medium irrigation projects has followed an increasing trend during the period 1990-91 to 2006-07 (Table 5; Figure 3). The annual capital expenditure increased from INR 28.5 billion in 1990-91 to 265.4 billion -a more than ninefold increase at current prices. During the same period the annual working expenses increased fourfold -from INR 24.5 billion to INR 96 billion. The gross receipts from major and medium projects increased almost sevenfold -from INR 2.2 billion to INR 15 billion.The share of WE in total budgetary allocations (CE + WE) remained in the range of around 50% for a fairly long period of time during the period from 1990-91 to 2001-02. From 2002-03 onwards the share of WE declined very substantially even though the total financial allocations continued to increase during the period. During this period the allocations for capital expenditure were much higher than those for WE. Though the GRs during this period have generally shown an upward trend, the proportion of GR as a proportion of WE has varied from a low of 5.8% to a high of 18% during 2004-05. The GR as a proportion of total financial outlay during the year has remained quite low -from 3 to 5% during the entire period. The detailed breakup of WE on major and medium irrigation projects into its various components is available only at the aggregated Five-Year Plan period for three consecutive Five-Year Plans -VIII (1992-97); IX (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) and X (2002-07) (Table 6). An examination of the allocation of WE into its components indicates that the three components -direction and administration, maintenance and repair and, other 2 expenditure (mainly on account of extension and improvement of completed projects and expenditure on unapproved projects) dominate expenses under working expenses in successive plans. The share of the component \"Direction and Administration\" increased substantially from 8.4% in 1992-97 to 22% in 2006-07. The expenses on maintenance and repair as a proportion of total working expenses declined from 46% in VIII Five-Year Plan period to a mere 2% during the X Plan period. In absolute terms, the above values would imply that as against INR 214 billion allocated for WE during the period 1992-97, INR 98 billion was spent on actual system maintenance and repair. However, during the period 2002-07, out of INR 400 billion allocated for WE, only INR 8 billion was spent on system maintenance and repair (Table 7).  Thus, in India, over the years there has been a substantial increase in budgetary allocations for meeting the working expenses, with annual allocations increasing fourfold (at current prices) from about INR 24 billion to INR 96 billion over a period of one and a half decades. However, the allocations for WE, when viewed in terms of proportion of total budgetary support for capital and WE, have declined very substantially from about 50% till early 2000 to about 26% in more recent years. The increase in budgetary allocations for working expenses has not been accompanied by corresponding increases in money being spent on maintenance and repair of the system. In fact, increased allocations for WE have actually led to a steep decline in money being spent on system maintenance. In contrast, there has been a very substantial increase in allocations for meeting the cost of salaries and employees' benefits.For Pakistan we have had access to the breakup of data on working expenses into its components for the last 5 years 2008-09 to 2012-13 (Table 8). Over this short 5-year period although the allocations for total working expenses have increased (at current prices) by 34% the proportionate expenses incurred on repair and maintenance have declined from 42 to 34%. The proportion of expenses spent on employees has increased from about 51 to about 60%. The operating expenses have remained at almost the same 6% level all through this 5-year period. Due to conceptual differences and lack of more disaggregated data it is not possible to strictly compare the proportionate expenditures being incurred on different heads of working expenses in India and Pakistan. However, in both the countries, the proportionate allocations for system maintenance have been declining over the years and the allocations for staff salaries and employee benefits have been increasing. Thus it is not only that the financial resources available for system maintenance fall far short of the requirements, whatever is available is being spent inefficiently in that most of the money goes for payment of salaries. The money spent on actual maintenance is far less and the gap between resources required for maintenance and actually spent would be much larger than resources available aggregately to meet WE and those actually spent on WE.The basic principle for determining user charges is that users must pay for the cost of the service. Irrigation water pricing in almost all the countries, more so in developing countries, however does not follow this basic principle for determination of user charges. Irrigation water pricing has generally followed a public goods supply model. Irrigation water is often being supplied either free of charge or invariably being charged at a level much below what it costs to supply the water. In a majority of the countries there are no uniform sets of principles for determining even these low levels of irrigation water rates. The criteria for fixing irrigation water tariffs have varied not only from country to country but also sometimes within the same country between different regions, different projects, types of irrigation systems (storage vs diversion schemes, lift vs gravity flow schemes, etc.), between different crops, between different seasons, etc. Compounding these criteria are several other considerations that go into determining the level at which irrigation water tariffs are usually fixed. These include such considerations as: benefits derived by farmers from irrigation, ability and willingness of the beneficiary to pay for water, adequacy and capacity of the system to supply water on demand, crop-water requirement, simple tariff structure, etc.Whatever the criterion followed or considerations taken into account in determining irrigation water pricing, water tariffs are consistently far below the cost of supply of irrigation water. The tariffs once fixed are not revised for years with the result that the gap between cost of supply and revenue realization keeps on increasing. There is need for raising the irrigation water tariffs to generate additional resources for system maintenance and improving the availability of water supply.An important argument often advanced for keeping the water tariffs far below their cost of supply and for not raising the water tariffs is the lack of paying capacity of the farmers to pay for higher cost of irrigation. Some of the data available from India enable us to examine this argument more closely. To make an assessment of the paying capacity of the farmers we present in Table 9 data on irrigation charges as a percentage of net value of output, gross value of output and total operational cost of production (per ha) for paddy in a few of the important states in India.From Table 9, it is evident that irrigation charges currently form a very small part of the cost of production as well as revenue generated from the output produced by the use of irrigation water. These figures do provide evidence that there is no lack of ability of the farmers to pay for the irrigation water. In fact, as the XII Five-Year Plan of the Government of India states \"…, more than 50 percent of the farmers in major irrigation projects are willing to pay extra charge for assured water supply indicating that access to water is more important than its cost. It is the lack of willingness to charge rather than lack of ability or willingness to pay that is keeping the irrigation water tariffs at low levels. There appears enough scope for raising additional revenue through raising of water tariffs in irrigation.\" Quite often in large water resources projects, there are a substantial number of users for whom the bills are not raised and therefore are never collected. 3 Additionally there are those users of water who illegally use the water and are therefore outside the formal system of payment of bills. Efforts to cast the net wide and force all such nonpayers to pay for water offer an important avenue for raising financial resources. An associated avenue for raising the revenue comes from improving the collection of bills from those users for whom the bills are raised but do not get collected. This is referred to as collection efficiency. Collection efficiency essentially indicates the efficiency with which the bills assessed and raised are collected from the users of water. The collection efficiency is thus measured as the ratio of amount of money collected to the amount of bills raised expressed as a percent. The collection efficiency is thus measured as follows:Collection efficiency (%) = revenue actually collected or realized/ money value of bills raised It is however important to note that the measure of collection efficiency does not tell us anything about the sufficiency or adequacy of the bills raised or of the amounts collected. A higher collection efficiency also does not necessarily imply larger amounts of money collected -it simply is a ratio of what ought to be collected and what has actually been collected. An increase in percent collection efficiency could come about even if there is a decline in both the amount of bills raised and the amount of money collected.The detailed data on collection efficiency and how it has been changing over time is not available for many countries. The aggregated data on collection efficiency for a given point in time available from some of the available country level studies, supplemented with some of the current project level data collected from a few projects as part of the present study, reveal wide variation in collection efficiency across countries/projects (Table 10).The above estimates of collection efficiency relate to a single point in time. It is however important to examine if there is any systematic trend in collection efficiency and whether the aggregated country level collection efficiency figures represent fairly the situation prevailing in different regions/projects in the country. Nonavailability of disaggregated time series often constrain exploration of this question.We have had access to some spatially disaggregated time series in respect of the two important countries of the region -Pakistan and India. The Pakistan data provide information on collection efficiency for the decade of 2000 to 2009 disaggregated according to the four broad geographical regions as also at the aggregated national level. In the case of India we have had access to State-level disaggregated data (for important states) for a much longer time period spanning over almost two decades 1991-2008. The disaggregated regional-level time series data on collection efficiency in Pakistan show significant variations in collection efficiency across regions. Sindh Province has performed the best in terms of recovering the assessed amount of Abiana, where collection rate has ranged between 76 and 98% during the decade 2000 to 2010 (Table 11; Figure 4). In the most important Punjab Province the collection efficiency has varied over a wide range -between 42 and 87% with cost recovery showing no systematic pattern over the years. The recoveries have been lowest in Balochistan Province.Drawing conclusions about the performance of different regions based on percent collection efficiency based on percentages of revenue collected to assessed, as mentioned earlier, could sometimes be deceptive. Thus even though in terms of percentage recovery, Sindh appears to have done well; however a closer examination of the data reveals that both the assessed and collected amounts in Sindh have declined over this period and the decline in amount assessed has been higher than the amount collected, resulting in higher percentage of collection efficiency. Similarly in the case of Punjab which witnessed an increase in percentage recovery of Abiana from 42% in 2004-05 to 86% in 2009-10, the reduction in gap between revenue collected to that assessed has not seen any appreciable improvement in revenue collected, but this has come about due to a reduction in amount assessed resulting from the introduction of a flat rate system in Punjab during 2003 (GoP 2012).  In India also, a perusal of the time series for different states does not show any consistent pattern in collection efficiency either within a state over time or across different states at a given point in time. In general, in States like Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the collection efficiency has generally remained above 60% during most of the years (Table 12; Figure 5). In states like Orissa, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar the collection efficiency has remained at a much lower level. Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have reported the lowest levels of collection efficiency in recent years. In more recent years, after 2000-01 Maharashtra is the only state which has shown improvement in collection efficiency. For most other states the collection efficiency has either generally followed a declining trend (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh) or a mixed trend with significant year-to-year fluctuations (Haryana, Orissa).A careful examination of the absolute amounts of bills raised and bills collected present an interesting picture. The performance of Maharashtra outpaces that of all other states. In Maharashtra, during the period from 2000-01 to 2008-09 while the amount of assessed bills increased by about 1.85 times (from INR 4.4 billion to 8.1 billion) the revenue realized increased by 3.44 times (from about INR 2.0 to 6.7 billion). This resulted in increase in collection efficiency from a low of 45% to a high of 83%. In contrast, in the state of Andhra Pradesh during the period from 2000-01 to 2007-08 while the amount assessed remained almost unchanged at INR 3 billion, the amount of revenue realized fell from INR 1.2 billion to 0.7 billion. Bihar also present a similar story with assessed amount increasing from INR 1 billion to 2.1 billion, the revenue realized declining from INR 0.16 billion to 0.10 billion. Haryana presents another case where while the amount assessed increased from INR 0.25 billion to 0.31 billion between the period from 2000-01 to 2007-08, the amount collected declined marginally from INR 0.27 to 0.26 billion.Thus the cross-country macro data on collection efficiency and disaggregated time series on collection efficiency in Pakistan and India show that the inability to collect the entire amount assessed is a problem in almost all the countries and different regions, though the magnitudes may differ. While the reasons for low collection efficiency could vary from country to country, and year to year, the evidence available points out significant opportunities for improving revenues by bridging this gap.The low collection efficiency, and thereby low cost-recovery, apart from other factors, are likely to be affected by the institutional arrangements that have been put in place to perform the functions of assessing, raising and collecting the water bills from users of water. The efficiency with which such institutions are able to perform these functions depends on the authority (such as power to stop water supply and impose penalty for nonpayment, etc.) vested in these institutions to effectively perform the assigned job. Institutional arrangements in different countries/regions/projects differ. While in some cases both the functions of assessing and collecting the bills are vested in one agency (such as those seen often in systems which have been handed over to WUAs), in others these functions are entrusted to two different agencies.In India, there is a considerable diversity in the mechanism for the assessment and collection of irrigation revenues. The different states have different systems of assessment and collection of bills. Table 13 (p. 27) gives an overview of different institutional arrangements currently in practice in different states. While in some states, both the assessment and collection of irrigation water revenue are handled by the Irrigation Department, in some others both functions are performed by the Revenue Department. In still some others while one function of the process is performed by one institution the other function is performed by a different institution.  In Pakistan, the Provincial Irrigation and Power Department is responsible for pricing of irrigation water, annual assessment and recovery of abiana (water charges) sometimes directly and sometimes through provincial revenue departments (GoP 2012: p. 14). In Pakistan Punjab, for example, for the purpose of assessing water rates there is an exclusive revenue setup in the Irrigation Department. The revenue wing arranges the initial/final records on which canal revenue is assessed and collected, following an elaborate process. The cropped area of each field is measured along with the complete details of each owner/cultivator, village channel, outlet and field. The data are recorded in the Khasrah (Field Measurement Book) and is subjected to checks and rechecks by a tier of departmental senior officials. Parchas (demand slips) are prepared for the owners/cultivators with details of the crops and the area finally measured and assessed. These are finally delivered to Lambardar (the village headman) for distribution among the cultivators. The Khataunis (demand statements) are prepared from the Parchas. The demand statements are prepared by villages/tehsils/ districts and are supplied to the civil administration for the collection of water rates. The district administration collects revenue through Lambardars who are allowed to retain a certain percentage of the collected amount.In the Aravan Akbura Scheme in Kyrgyzstan and the Khojabakisgan Scheme in Tajikistan, canal management organisations issue the bills while WUAs are vested with the responsibility of collection of those bills. In the Fentale Irrigation Scheme in Ethiopia, while tariff rates are fixed jointly by the Fentale Scheme Administration and Irrigation Cooperatives, bills are issued by the Scheme Administration and collection of the bills is done by the Irrigation Cooperatives. In the Tibila Irrigation Project in Oromia, Ethiopia, fixation of tariffs and issuance of bills are the responsibility of the Oromia Water Works Construction Enterprise, whereas collection is done by the scheme administration. In some of the other schemes in Ethiopia such as Arno, Bedene-Alemtena and Tikurit Irrigation Schemes, which have been transferred to farmers, all functions are vested in irrigation cooperatives. Similarly, in Nepal, where the schemes have been transferred to WUAs, such as the Sunsari-Morang, Babai and Khageri Irrigation Schemes, it is the water users' groups which are responsible for issuance and collection of bills.While different countries/regions/projects have set up different arrangements for raising and collection of bills, little evidence or time series is available to show the efficacy of alternative institutional arrangements in improving collection efficiency in a sustainable manner. Limited data -a combination of cross-section and time-series information that we could collect from different states of India adopting different institutional arrangements (Table 12) enabled us to make some preliminary assessment about the efficacy of institutional arrangements in influencing collection efficiency.The limited data on the amount assessed, amount collected and accumulated arrears over a period of 10-15 years in some of the Indian states suggest that the ratio of accumulated arrears to annual assessment is generally lower in those states where the functions of assessment and collection are performed by two different agencies in comparison to those states where both functions are performed by a single agency (Table 14). Thus in states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh where assessment is done by Irrigation Department and revenue is collected by Revenue Department the ratio of accumulated outstanding arrears to amount of bills raised is much less than that in other states where both the functions are performed by a single agency such as Irrigation Department (Bihar, Gujarat Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, etc.) or by Revenue Department (such as in the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh). Thus splitting the responsibility of assessment and collection of water bills between two institutions is likely to improve collection efficiency as compared to a situation where both responsibilities are given to one institution.Recognizing that much more detailed data than are presented here and many more variables that influence collection efficiency need to be accounted for before drawing any firm conclusion about the efficacy of different institutional arrangements in improving collection efficiency, the analysis presented nevertheless provides an initial assessment for which an appropriate institutional arrangement for raising and collection of bills will offer some avenue for improving collection efficiency.The difference in level of cost recovery across different water resources projects/regions is on account of many factors and the nature of these factors or combinations thereof could vary from project to project. Lack of access to detailed project-level data on underlying factors, in isolation or in various combinations, influencing such differences in cost recovery constrain efforts at trying to understand the roles of different factors in explaining variability in cost recovery across projects. In the literature on cost recovery there are several perceptions about the factors that influence cost recovery; however; quite often either the empirical data to test some of these perceptions is weak or these perceptions are not corroborated by any empirical evidence.As part of this study we attempted to test the validity of some such perceptions in explaining differences in cost recovery across different regions. Since we did not have access to the detailed project-level data on cost recovery 4 working under differing conditions, we attempted to test the validity of some of these perceptions based on opinion of a cross section of relevant stakeholders -the policymakers, the project managers, the researchers, the field-level officials, farmers -from some of our sample countries. Based on a listing of such perceptions, we set up 12 hypotheses around some of these perceptions. The results obtained are summarized in Table 15 and briefly discussed below.The findings of the perception survey show that there is complete unanimity amongst stakeholders on three of the hypotheses and near complete unanimity on two of these hypotheses. There was some degree of disagreement on two other hypotheses while in the case of the remaining five hypotheses there was little commonality of views. The three perceptions on which there is complete unanimity of stakeholders are:• The cost recovery is positively influenced by the nature of crops irrigated by the water made available. The cost recovery is higher in areas/projects where irrigation water is being used to cultivate commercial crops, which give higher value of crop output, as compared to areas/projects where irrigation water is being used for cultivating low-value crops such as cereals.• The cost recovery is also influenced positively by the status of maintenance of irrigation infrastructure. Since a well-maintained irrigation infrastructure is likely to ensure timely and required quantity of water availability, farmers would be willing to pay for the use of their irrigation water as compared to an ill-maintained infrastructure which does not guarantee an assured supply of the required quantity of water.• Transparency does influence cost recovery. Transparency in fixation of water tariffs, often implying consultation with the farmers in setting of water tariffs, and utilization of the money so collected from the farmers through levied water tariffs for improvement of irrigation system, does influence cost recovery.The two perceptions on which there was near complete unanimity of perceptions amongst different stakeholders were:• The collection of water charges is likely to be greater in projects/regions which are dependent exclusively on availability of canal water in comparison to areas where farmers have access to both surface water and groundwater. If famers do not have access to groundwater, either because groundwater of suitable quality is not available or it is expensive to withdraw groundwater, they are forced to rely on availability of surface water and therefore will be willing to pay for the use of the water.• The other popular perception on which there is near unanimity amongst stakeholders relates to the role of institutions in improving cost recovery. The stakeholders felt that the nature of institutions does have an important role -cost recovery is likely to be much higher in areas where WUAs manage the affairs of water allocations, setting of water tariffs, collection of bills and maintenance of local supply infrastructure in comparison to those projects/areas where these roles are being performed by other institutions such as Irrigation Departments.There are two perceptions on which there is some level of divergence of views of the stakeholders.• The first of these perceptions relates to the influence that the intensity of competition for available water can make to cost recovery. It is hypothesized that the level of cost recovery is likely to be higher in regions/projects where inter-sectoral competition for available water is more pronounced than in regions where such competition is not of much significance. The underlying postulation behind such a hypothesis is that farmers in water-competitive areas are likely to be willing to pay a higher price for their irrigation water when they face competing demand for limited water from the other sectors of the economy, in comparison to those areas/projects where farmers do not face such fierce competition. While five stakeholders agree with the hypothesis, two others do not see the difference that the nature of competition in the use of available water can bring about to cost recovery.• Somewhat related to the above, the second perception on which there is some level of divergence between stakeholders relates to the influence that the amount of water availability can make to the level of cost recovery. It is hypothesized that cost recovery is likely to be higher in areas/projects which have limited water available for irrigation as compared to areas where water availability is not constrained. The hypothesis is premised on the assumption that access to life-saving irrigation water has a high marginal value as compared to no irrigation, and so long as the marginal returns from the availability of lifesaving irrigation are more than the cost of getting the water, the farmers will be willing to pay a higher price for irrigation. The opinion of our stakeholders is however divided on the role of water supply constraints in influencing cost recovery with four stakeholders agreeing with the stated hypothesis and three disagreeing. Of the remaining five popular perceptions tested, there does not appear to be any clear agreement/ view. Part of this is due to either lack of much experience on some of these situations or nonapplicability/relevance of some of these situations in some of our sample countries. Thus there is no clear view on the following perceptions influencing cost recovery:• Do size and distribution of landholdings matter? It is not clear if cost recovery is more in areas dominated by large farmholdings as compared to areas which predominantly consist of small farmholdings.• Does the level of water tariffs matter? It is not clear if cost recovery is likely to be higher if water tariffs are kept lower in comparison to a situation of high water tariffs.• Does the political clout of farmers matter? It is not clear if the political clout of farmers influences cost recovery. The common perception that politically influential farmers can dictate payment of irrigation fees and thereby influence cost recovery is not shared by our stakeholders.• Does switching over to charging on the basis of volumetric supply improve cost recovery? Most of our stakeholders did not have any experience with volumetric supply and charging of water and as such were unsure if introduction of such a system will make a difference in cost recovery.• For similar reasons, as in above, there is no firm opinion if introducing a system of water rights and permitting trading in water influence cost recovery.Improving cost recovery in irrigation has been at the center of deliberations on ways to revitalize canal irrigation, and improve both water use efficiency and financial sustainability of irrigation projects. While governments around the world have been experimenting with various options to improve cost recovery, the efforts however have generally yielded little result on the ground. The Government of India as part of its XII Five-Year Plan, has embarked on an innovative scheme to incentivize states to improve cost recovery in irrigation. In what follows we briefly describe the main features of the scheme and make an assessment of its likely impact in improving cost recovery in irrigation.Concerned by the low recovery of ISF and the lack of any initiative by states to improve cost recovery in irrigation, the Thirteenth Finance Commission of Government of India (GoI 2009), recommended setting up an incentive linked ISF collection grant of INR 5 billion per annum as central government assistance to be given to states over a period of 4 years. It suggested that the grant be given to different states based on the improvement in performance that different states bring about in their current ISF collection. The Commission formulated detailed guidelines and conditionalities for its disbursal. Following this recommendation of the Finance Commission, the Planning Commission, during the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17) therefore recommended that the Government of India establish a non-lapsable NIMF, which will reimburse to each State Irrigation Department a matching contribution to its own ISF collection from irrigators on a 1:1 ratio. Inter alia this will require that:1. States desiring to avail of this matching grant maintain their own non-plan allocations to Irrigation Departments at the normal rate of growth of the aggregate non-plan budget of the State; that is, ensure that the Government of India's (GoI) matching support is additional to the State's non-plan budget for MMI systems which will now have more resources for regular maintenance and upkeep.2. States allocate central grant to various MMI systems in proportion to the ISF collection of each MMI system; this would incentivize ISF collection among MMI staff and generate competition in augmenting the incentive provided by the Government of India.3. At the end of the financial year, States desiring to avail of this matching grant will -through their regulator -present a certified, audited statement furnishing detailed data on the actual ISF collected from irrigators from different MMI systems preferably through an independent Water Regulator (or comparable independent agency). The Central Government will have an independent verification undertaken of the claims on ISF collection (including a scrutiny of a sample of vouchers), based on which a central matching grant will be released each year.4. To give strong encouragement to Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the NIMF will provide a bonus on that portion of each State's ISF collection which has been collected through WUAs, as certified by the State's Water Regulator and verified by an independent agency designated by the Central Government. This bonus will be allowable only if WUAs are allowed to keep 50% of the ISF collected by them and their federations at the distributary level and are allowed to keep 20% of the ISF paid by irrigators. This will expand resources with WUAs and their federations to undertake proper repair and maintenance of distribution systems and increase their stakes in water management.5. Similarly, to encourage volumetric water deliveries and ISF collection, NIMF will provide an additional bonus on that portion of a State's ISF collection which accrues through volumetric water supply to WUAs at the outlet level under an irrigation service contract with each WUA.6. Overall, NIMF will act as a catalyst to undertake reforms in the water sector such as improving water use efficiency, participatory-community-based management of aquifers, regulation of groundwater, revamping irrigation/water resources departments and so on.The Planning Commission hopes that such an Irrigation Management Fund (IMF) which incentivizes ISF collection, with proper implementation, will produce a myriad beneficial impacts. In particular, it will: a) enhance resources available with the MMI system managers to augment and broad-base their staff and their competencies; b) improve the ISF collection ratio; c) generate more accurate data on irrigation potential utilized; d) give a strong fillip to PIM; e) speed up command area development (CAD) and WM; f) encourage rationalization of ISF levels; g) encourage volumetric water supply and pricing; h) foster partnership between irrigation agencies and WUAs; and i) in general, help reduce the gap between irrigation potential created (IPC) and irrigation potential utilized (IPU).Will NIMF be able to achieve the intended purpose of incentivizing states to improve the ISF collection and bring in other institutional reforms? Will NIMF prove to be a game changer in contributing towards improved O&M and thereby in contributing to revitalization of canal irrigation in India? Given the slow pace at which reforms take place and given that the XII plan has just started, it will only be a few years from now that one would know if NIMF has, at least, been able to move the states in the desired direction. There is however a long way to go -the two most important institutions for enabling its implementation -the Water Regulatory Authorities 5 in different states, and the system of independent verification have yet to be set in a majority of the states. Notwithstanding these institutional constraints, in what follows, we attempt an estimation of the incentives the NIMF is likely to generate for the states and make an assessment of the impact such additional revenue generation is likely to make in incentivizing states to seriously move on the path of improving their ISF collection.The collection of ISF depends mainly on two factors -the prevailing irrigation tariffs and the efficiency with which these tariffs are collected, that is the efficiency with which the bills based on these tariffs are raised and collected from the users as approximated by the collection efficiency of the raised bills. The governments can choose to increase water tariffs, improve collection efficiency or improve upon both to increase their ISF collection. In a large majority of states the water tariffs have not been revised for years and the currently prevailing water tariffs are out of sync with the 'desired' level at which water tariffs should be fixed. The difference between prevailing and desired water tariffs is very wide. It is thus obvious that the wide gap between water tariffs cannot be bridged either overnight or even during the life of XII plan period of 5 years. The price hike will therefore need to be carried out over a number of years in moderate doses. In fact, even a moderate price hike is likely to be resisted by the farmers unless such a hike follows improvement in conditions of water availability, which most of our worn-out irrigation infrastructure are unlikely to be able to provide at this stage. The usual considerations of willingness and ability of farmers to pay and the possible political fallout of raising water tariffs also need to be factored into in deciding on the quantum of hike in tariffs that is practically feasible.The second avenue of raising ISF is through bridging the gap, for a given water tariff, between what ought to be collected and what is being collected from the farmers -that is by improving the collection efficiency. While it is difficult to hazard how the increase in water tariffs may impact collection efficiency, we nevertheless assume that with the strengthening of the government machinery entrusted with raising and collection of bills from farmers it is still possible to improve collection efficiency not only at current level of water tariffs but also with increase in water tariffs. As in the case of increase in water tariffs the collection efficiency can also be expected to improve only in moderate doses over a period of time.Corresponding with the different options available with the governments to improve ISF collection either through raising of water tariffs, improvement in collection efficiency or some combination of the two, we set up three alternative scenarios (Table 16). To allow for a reasonable time for these changes to take effect and for the results to show up, we consider a time horizon of 10 years. We accordingly set up the following three scenarios:The XII Plan suggests ISF collection during 2011-12 as the base year against which those who make increments in collection of ISF will get rewarded. Similarly, XII Plan stipulates that the eligible increment in revenue has to come in the form of ISF and not in gross revenues so that states do not claim for their increased revenue from other sectors as coming from the agriculture sector. The data on various baseline parameters for the year 2011-12 are still not available. Another important issue to consider is an assessment of the proportion of total gross revenue contributed by ISF since the details of breakup of reported gross revenue coming from irrigation and nonirrigation sectors are not published. Given the data availability constraints we make the following assumptions: Water tariffs are raised every year by 10% from the level of their previous year. Collection efficiency remains unchanged at the level of the base year.Water tariffs remain at the level of their base year during the entire 10-year time horizon. The collection efficiency improves every year by 10% over its previous year subject to a maximum collection efficiency of 100% reached at the end of 10 years.A combination of scenario 1 and 2 above -both water tariffs and collection efficiency are improved by 10% each year over its previous year level -over the 10 year time horizon.1. Since data for 2011-12 are not available we use data of the latest year available uniformly for all the states viz 2007-08 for water tariffs, gross revenue, collection efficiency as our benchmark against which we assess the increased ISF collection.2. The data on breakup of gross revenue from irrigation and other sectors in different states are not available. We could get some estimate of this revenue breakup for the state of Maharashtra. For the state of Maharashtra, Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) estimates that, of the total gross revenue collected, about 62% comes from industry, 30% from domestic and 8% from agriculture (MWRRA 2009). Thus only 8% of gross revenue is contributed by ISF. In the absence of a similar breakup of gross revenue coming from different sectors in other states we make the following assumption: for relatively more industrialized states we assume that the percent ISF contribution to gross revenue is at the same level (say 10%) as in Maharashtra. In other states we assume that the percent ISF contribution to gross revenue is relatively at a higher level, say at 50%.3. Since the collection efficiency can vary from year to year, we use the average collection efficiency rates realized in different states in the last 32 years (2005-06 to 2007-08) as baseline collection efficiency rates.Table 17 gives the state-wise information in respect of some of the relatively more important states on capital outlay, O&M cost outlays and gross receipts for the base year 2006-07. It will be seen that in the base year the gross receipt as a percent of State's O&M expenditure varies between 2.3 and 17.7% while gross receipt expressed as percent of total outlay (capital plus O&M) varies from a mere 0.5 to 8.8%.Table 18 presents the analysis of the three scenarios (outlined above) for increasing ISF collection in States as intended by the XII Plan. The data for Gross Receipts, Working Expenses and total irrigation outlay of each State have been obtained from GOI (2010). The water rate is approximated by the rates for paddy and wheat only, given that these are the two most widely grown crops under irrigated conditions. From the total gross receipts for 2006-07, the gross receipts from ISF are calculated for each of the States based on the assumptions given earlier for industrialized and nonindustrialized States. The estimated water rates and collection efficiency in year 10 are derived based on cumulative annual increase of 10%. Based on these estimates we calculate the likely gross receipts from ISF (in year 10) in all the three scenarios. As per the stipulations of the XII Plan, States would be eligible to receive a matching grant from the Central Government equivalent to the increase in receipts of ISF from the base year. The estimated incentives to different states in year 10 under the three alternative scenarios are presented in Table 18. In a majority of the cases the increase in ISF collection is moderate under all the three scenarios. The estimated incentive as percent of total annual outlay for MMI in different States is presented in the last column of the Table 18. The incentives as percent of total outlay vary between a low of 0.1% to a high of 12.3% in different states under different scenarios. However, in more than 90% of the cases the percentage incentives constitute less than 5% of the states' annual financial outlay for the sector. After accounting for additional staff costs that the states would have to incur to improve the collection efficiency, the actual amount of incentives will be somewhat smaller than this.The estimated small amount of benefits that the states are likely to derive through undertaking these reforms when weighed against the implicit political cost of doing so are unlikely to provide much incentive to states to undertake these reforms. Additionally, the requirements of going through an external independent regulator for assessing the receipts from different sectors might mean too much transparency for a State Irrigation Departments' finances, and may prove to be an additional disincentive. A State deciding to improve cost recovery levels is unlikely to base its decision on such ISF matching grant from the Central government. Instead, it may very well be able to both recover more than the potential grant amount by increasing the volume of water sold to industries without going through the cumbersome process of hiring new staff for collecting ISF and avoid the negative political implications.Notwithstanding the small amount of financial incentives that the States are likely to derive from undertaking the suggested reforms and whether or not the States undertake these reforms, this innovative approach does provide a very useful approach in moving forward in efforts to improve cost recovery in irrigation. As in the case of any infrastructure development, in the case of irrigation infrastructure also there are three basic questions relevant to the financing -of capital and recurring costs of infrastructurewho pays? how much is paid? and how is the money used? In terms of \"who pays,\" there are many reasons why a substantial portion of the costs of public works which provide individual services (such as irrigation water) should be paid for by those who get the service. But in a majority of the countries world over, users of canal water pay a very small part of the bill, which is basically paid by the taxpayer. In terms of \"how much is paid,\" the answer is: much less than the presently configured amount institutions require for rehabilitation and maintenance of the assets and for operations (not to talk of payment towards capital cost). The result is that most infrastructure is in poor shape. In terms of \"how is the money used\" the answer is that first call is for payment of heavily overstaffed bureaucracies, whose productivity is low and whose appetite leaves insufficient funds for system O&M. This reality has given rise to a vicious circle, in which users are not willing to pay for poor and unaccountable services, which means that insufficient funds are available for O&M, which results in the decline of service quality and whereupon users are even less willing to pay (adapted from Briscoe and Malik, 2006). Breaking this logjam would require addressing all the three questions.In terms of who pays and who should pay the answer is obvious -not the farmers alone. The net must be cast wide and all the beneficiaries impacted directly or indirectly by the availability of irrigation water and currently paying or not paying must pay for deriving benefits from the availability and/or use of water. The fact that some of them are already paying for this service in a different form to the government and the government accounting procedures do not permit attribution of at least a part of this contribution to provision of irrigation water should not undermine the contribution of water to this payment. Ways must be found to at least notionally account for counting of at least a part of such payments as revenue derived from availability of water. It needs to be underlined that payments received from the farmers as ISF should not be treated as the sole revenue from supply of irrigation water.In terms of how much is paid and how such receipts can be enhanced, the obvious answer is partly by increasing low water tariffs and partly through improvement of collection efficiency. Irrigation cost at prevailing tariff rates forms a small part of the revenue derived from the use of irrigation water for crop production, and farmers can afford to pay higher tariffs. There is, in fact, a willingness to pay on the part of the farmers to pay higher tariffs provided the services are improved. There is substantial scope for increasing receipts through improvement in collection efficiency of the raised bills. An appropriate institutional arrangement combined with some more powers to the enforcement agencies can help improve collection efficiency.In terms of how the available money is spent there is a substantial scope for its more efficient utilisation for improved system maintenance by cutting on the cost of salaries of huge and often corrupt bureaucracies in the irrigation departments. There is a need for reallocation of available funds for the irrigation sector by prioritizing O&M of existing infrastructure rather than allocating more and more funds for creation of new infrastructure. There is an increasing realization all round that revitalization of canal irrigation systems and putting the infrastructure and water therein to more productive and efficient use would, as a first step, require rehabilitation of the dilapidated and worn-out systems due to years of neglected maintenance and inefficient operations. Once rehabilitated, it would need to be ensured that the systems are maintained on a regular basis so that the rehabilitated systems continue to provide useful services on a sustainable basis. Unless both components of the revitalization package -rehabilitation of worn-out systems and regular maintenance of the systems once rehabilitated -are considered concurrently as a suite, money invested in one component of rehabilitation package without ensuring required allocations for the other, is unlikely to bring in any significant change from the current scenario in the long run. The two components of revitalization package however have different financial implications. For system rehabilitation the financial requirements are relatively much larger and need to be invested upfront as a lump sum investment in comparison to financial requirements for system maintenance which require an annual stream of relatively smaller magnitude of financial resources.Figure 6 gives an interesting illustration of the process example of how revitalization has been attempted in an urban water project in Africa, following a transitional financing approach.  Revitalization of irrigation systems will thus require huge amounts of money for both rehabilitation of the systems and their improved O&M. Where will this money come from? Closing the cost-revenue gap is thus the first step in the process of revitalization of irrigation systems. The revenues have to come in line with the costs and there is no such thing as free lunch. In a real world, there are only two sources of revenue to pay for the (rising) costs of these services -taxes or user charges. If the governments are not willing to raise either of these then, there is simply no way forward. Given the current scenario of conditions of irrigation infrastructure and the levels of cost recovery, the financial gap cannot be bridged in a short period of time. For the foreseeable future, budget support (taxpayers' money) for irrigation would therefore need to continue. But it is also obvious that user charges must simply be increased, for a host of reasons. So it is clear that starting with the idea of increasing user charges (for bad services provided by corrupt and inefficient agencies) will be quite reasonably resisted. For this reason, the idea of bringing tariffs into balance with costs must be seen as the third leg of a triangle in which the first two legs must be 'improve services first,' and 'provide those services in an efficient and accountable manner' (Briscoe and Malik 2006). Asking users to pay for the costs of these services can come only after","tokenCount":"17672"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7707136850.json b/data/part_1/7707136850.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b8b6d5f7a3cb5e0d1c5e9e5224a4a451d5e73c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7707136850.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1080090fc55cec52649c2c8aca4a5400","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/15809fee-f54b-4495-bad3-c5218042b0ad/retrieve","id":"-2136305011"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"79a9a3f8-4d99-4f9a-a00f-2735b0436202","pagecount":"4","content":"Ang Aqua-based Business School (ABS) ay estratehiya o paraan ng pag-aaral na may partisipasyon at aktwal na pagsasagawa upang suportahan ang mga mangingisda na magkaroon ng aktibong pagdaloy ng produktong pangagrikultura o pang-pangisdaan mula sa produksyon patungong pamilihan at makinabang mula rito.Bilang bahagi ng pagpapalakas ng kapasidad, ang ABS ay binubuo ng sunud-sunod na mga pang-grupong aktibidad sa pag-aaral na batay sa isang siklo ng karanasan sa produksyon at pamilihan habang nakikipag-ugnayan sa iba't ibang aktor na may kinalaman sa pagdaloy ng produkto at iba pang may kaugnayan sa pagnenegosyo.Ang ABS ay ibinatay at pinalawak ang saklaw ng Farmer Business School (FBS). Ang FBS ay nilinang ng International Potato Center (CIP) noong taong 2008 sa balangkas ng isang proyekto na pinondohan ng Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) na naglalayong iugnay ang mga nagtatanim ng gulay sa mga pangunahing pamilihan sa West at Central Java, Indonesia.Noong una, ginamit ng proyekto ang Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) upang tugunan ang mga problema sa pagbebenta ng mga magsasaka na humahadlang sa pagsulong ng sektor ng patatas at nililimitahan ang mga benepisyo ng mga maliliit na magsasaka.Ang PMCA ay tumutulong sa proseso ng pakikilahok ng iba't ibang mga aktor sa pamilihan upang hikayating magkaroon ng pagsasanib ng iba't ibang pamamaraan (komersyal, teknolohiya, institusyonal) batay sa mga ibinahaging ideya at pagtitiwala.Noong mid-project review, tinukoy ng mga nagsasagawa ng PMCA ang pagkakaroon ng limitadong kasanayan sa pagnenegosyo at hindi epektibong mga organisasyon ng mga magsasaka bilang pangunahing hadlang sa pagkakaroon ng epektibong kaugnayan sa pamilihan. Ang mga magsasaka ay mayroon lamang kaunting nauunawaan sa mga oportunidad sa pamilihan at hindi sapat na pagkakataon upang makakuha ng impormasyon sa merkado tulad ng mga kalakaran, presyo, at pangangailangan.Mula sa mga bahagi ng Farmer Field School (FFS), isang proseso ng pag-aaral na nakabatay sa grupo na nakatuon sa pagtataguyod ng pinahusay na mga kasanayan sa agrikultura sa larangan ng pagsasaka, ang FBS ay binuo upang umakma sa PMCA. Ang resulta ay isang pamamaraan ng pag-aaral na kinakailangan ang aktwal na pagsasagawa na naglalayong patibayin ang kakayahan ng mga magsasaka na tumugon, indibidwal man o sama-sama, sa mga umuusbong na pagkakataon sa pamilihan.Mga halimbawa ng produkto mula sa Rehiyon 8 na ibinalot at tinatakan na.Ang ABS ay isang estratehiya o paraan ng pag-aaral na kinakailangan ang partisipasyon at aktwal na pagsasagawa upang suportahan ang pakikilahok ng mga grupo ng mga mangingisda at makinabang mula sa daloy ng pang-agrikulturang produkto na ginabayan ng pamilihang-daloy na may balangkas ng kurikulum, sa pamamagitan ng sunod-sunod na mga aktibidad sa pag-aaral sa isang siklo o panahon ng produksyon-pagbebenta, kabilang ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa iba pang mga aktor sa pagnenegosyo at mga namumuhunan.Ang mga kalahok sa ABS ay mga indibidwal na mangingisda sa isang grupong nais na mag-aral o matuto. Ang pamamaraang ito ay tumutulong upang matuto mula sa karanasan sa komunidad at pagsasama-sama sa loob ng apat hanggang anim na buwan na siklo ng produksyon-pagbebenta. Ang kurikulum ng ABS ay maaring ibagay sa iba't ibang kalagayan o sitwasyon at hinihimok ng mga pangangailangan at pagkakataon sa pamilihan. Sa pamamagitan ng ABS, ang mga mangingisda ay maaring (1) bumuo ng mga makabagong pamamaraan o produkto na ayon sa pangangailangan ng pamilihan; (2) magtatag at palawakin ang mga ugnayan sa pamilihan-lokal at pangrehiyon; at (3) lumikha ng mga bago at karagdagang kita sa pamamagitan ng pagdadagdag ng dami at halaga ng kanilang mga produkto. Isang nakikitang resulta ng ABS ay ang mga mangingisdang kalahok ay inaasahan na magkaroon ng aktwal na Noong 2012, ang proyektong 'Food Security Through Asian Roots and Tubers' (FoodSTART) na pinangunahan ng CIP, at ang Second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project (CHARMP2), na parehong pinondohan ng International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), ay magkatuwang na sinubukan at pinalawak ang FBS sa mga grupo ng magsasaka sa Hilagang Cordillera ng Pilipinas. Noong Disyembre 2016, mayroon ng 80 FBS na grupo ng magsasaka na may 1,387 na nakapagtapos (83% ay kababaihan). Sa kasalukuyan, ang CHARMP2 ay patuloy na nagsasagawa at nagpapalawak ng paraang ito sa 18 na panibagong nayon.Ang pangalawang bahagi ng FoodSTART (FoodSTART +, IFAD / EU grant, 2015-2018) ay kasalukuyang sinusubukan ang pamamaraan ng FBS sa pakikipagtulungan sa ilang proyektong pinondohan ng IFAD sa Asia-Pacific: INREMP at FishCORAL (Pilipinas), Megha-LAMP (India), at SOLID (Indonesia). Ang pamamaraan ng FBS ay nagbago sa paglipas ng panahon upang gawin itong mas malawak at mas tumutugon sa mga mahahalagang usapin na nakakaapekto sa lahat tulad ng kasarian at pagbabago ng klima. Ang isa pang mahalagang katangian ng FBS ay maari itong ibagay sa iba't ibang kalagayan o sitwasyon at maaari ring maiangkop sa partikular na konteksto at pangangailangan ng mga katuwang sa pamumuhunanan.Kaya't noong 2017, iniangkop ng FishCORAL ang pamamaraan ng FBS na naging ABS para sa mga mangingisda sa mga komunidad malapit sa baybayin, at ito ay pangunang sinusubukan sa tatlong rehiyon / mga lugar ng proyekto. Ang mga layunin ng pag-aaral ng ABS ay: Bumuo ng mga kababaihan at kalalakihang grupo ng mangingisda para sa pag-aaral at pagsasagawa na nakatuon sa pamilihan.Palakasin ang mga grupong mangingisda sa pamamagitan ng pag-unawa sa mga oportunidad at hadlang na may kaugnayan sa kasarian para sa pakikipagtulungan at pakikipag-ugnayan sa pamilihan.Tukuyin, maunawaan, at makipag-ugnayan sa mga pangunahing aktor sa pamilihang pang-agrikultura/pangisdaan.Suriin at iprayoridad ang mga oportunidad sa pamilihan para sa mga kababaihan at kalalakihan na gumamit ng mga angkop na gamit/pamamaraan, upang madagdagan ang kakayahang kumita sa negosyo para sa mga grupo at indibidwal na mangingisda.Isinaalang-alang ang mga pagbabago na may kaugnayan sa klima sa mga sistema ng produksyon, na maaaring makaimpluwensya sa pagprayoridad ng mga pagkakataon sa pamilihan.Ipakilala ang mga makabagong teknolohiya, komersyal, at institusyunal sa pakikipagtulungan sa iba pang mga aktor sa pagnenegosyo at mga stakeholder upang tumugon sa mga oportunidad sa pamilihan.Bumuo ng isang plano sa pagnenegosyo para samantalahin ang mga bagong oportunidad sa pamilihan sa pamamagitan ng pagpapatibay sa mga makabagong likha.Bumuo ng mga estratehiya para mapahusay ang pagkakaroon ng mga mangingisda at paggamit ng mga serbisyong sumusuporta sa pagpapa-unlad ng negosyo. Magkakaroon ng 17 na mauunang lugar kung saan isasagawa ang ABS: sa Eastern Visayas na nakakalat sa apat na lalawigan na may pangisdaan (milkfish, grouper, rabbitfish-lokal na tinatawag na danggit, sardinella, seaweeds, mudcrab, pusit, mussel), at root crop (kamote at kamoteng kahoy) na mga kalakal. Sa Caraga, may kabuuang limang (5) mga lugar na uumpisahan ang ABS sa dalawang lalawigan na may lobster, mudcrab, sardine, seaweed, at kamoteng kahoy/kamote bilang pangunahing kalakal. Habang sa ARMM, mayroong anim (6) na mga lugar sa apat na probinsya na may mudcrab, seaweeds, at mga produkto ng kamoteng kahoy. Kasabay nito, ang manwal ng ABS ay inangkop sa manwal ng FBS at gabay sa pag-aaral na siyang gagamitin ng mga facilitators. INREMP: Ang FBS ay kasalukuyang sinasagawa na may anim (6) na grupo na tumuon sa mga produkto ng kamote, kamoteng kahoy, at kakaw. Sampu (10) ang mga facilitator ng FBS ang dumaan sa pagsasanay.Megha-LAMP: Labing-walo (18) ang mga facilitator ng FBS na dumaan sa pagsasanay. Ang FBS ay kasalukuyang sinasagawa na may anim (6) na grupo na tumututok sa kamoteng kahoy at patatas. SOLID: Dalawampung (20) FBS facilitators ang dumaan sa pagsasanay. Sampung (10) FBS ay kasalukuyang ipinatupad na mga produkto ay kamote, kamoteng kahoy at pangisdaan.","tokenCount":"1194"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7734223831.json b/data/part_1/7734223831.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1aa11be916b87fab4952bcf30b6593189df2d1a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7734223831.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"56b521b8dff7eef2e0f2e1481e38b740","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b992d70a-5414-4f32-9118-7b56f5246d6e/retrieve","id":"1678364321"},"keywords":["moisture transport","evaporation","precipitation","Pacific region","WAM-2 layer","precipitationshed"],"sieverID":"ceca2dff-dc09-4bbd-8e35-a335173c2bb7","pagecount":"18","content":"This study assessed the precipitation recycling and moisture sources in the Colombian Pacific region between 1980-2017, based on the monitoring of moisture in the atmosphere through the Eulerian Water Accounting Model-2 layer (WAM2 layer) and the delimitation of the area contributing to terrestrial and oceanic moisture in the region is performed using the \"precipitationshed\" approach. The results indicate a unimodal precipitation recycling ratio for the North and Central Pacific and Patía-Mira regions, with the highest percentages between March and April, reaching 30% and 34%, respectively, and the lowest between September and October (between 19% and 21%). Moreover, monthly changes in the circulation of the region promote a remarkable variability of the sources that contribute to the precipitation of the study area and the spatial dynamics of the precipitationshed. From December to April, the main contributions come from continental sources in eastern Colombia and Venezuela, the tropical North Atlantic, and the Caribbean Sea, a period of high activity of the Orinoco Low-Level jet. In September, the moisture source region is located over the Pacific Ocean, where a southwesterly cross-equatorial circulation predominates, converging in western Colombia, known as the Choco Jet (CJ), decreasing the continental contribution. An intensified Caribbean Low-Level Jet inhibits moisture sources from the north between June and August, strengthening a southerly cross-equatorial flow from the Amazon River basin and the southeastern tropical Pacific. The March-April (September-October) season of higher (lower) recycling of continental precipitation is related to the weakening (strengthening) of the CJ in the first (second) half of the year, which decreases (increases) the contribution of moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the region, increasing (decreasing) the influence of land-based sources in the study area.As a result of the interactions between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface, precipitation and evaporation processes are generated. Precipitation over the land surface originates mainly from two mechanisms, advection of water vapor from the oceans and evaporation of surface moisture, whose contribution to the total precipitation in a region is called recycled precipitation [1][2][3]. Most surface hydrology studies are based on analyzing the division of precipitation between runoff and evaporation, describing how water Atmosphere 2022, 13, 1202 2 of 18 molecules fall from the atmosphere to the surface. The concept of recycled precipitation describes a similar division. Still, in this case, it does not analyze where precipitation falls but rather the origin of the water vapor molecules that form it [4]. Although the source of precipitation is difficult to establish due to the variability of the processes that produce it, it is a fundamental factor in understanding the role of the hydrological cycle in the climate system. According to Van Der Ent [5], it is estimated that, on average, 40% of terrestrial precipitation comes from terrestrial evaporation, and 57% of this returns as precipitation over land.In recent years, several researchers have developed new definitions of moisture recycling for studies on continental moisture feedback processes [5][6][7][8]. Among which is the one developed by Keys [8], which introduces the concept of \"precipitationshed\" or \"atmospheric basins\", defined as the surface area of both water and land that provides evaporation to the precipitation of a specific region. This concept has been used to highlight areas where livelihoods depend on rainfed agriculture and where changes in the land use in precipitationshed could have significant consequences on society. The importance of the \"atmospheric basins\" approach is the inclusion of evaporation input in distant areas from the precipitation of a specific region, thus establishing hydroclimatological connections between remotely separated areas, which often overwhelm political-administrative divisions [9,10]. Therefore, terrestrial sources and water vapor sinks represent a particular interest in the hydrological analysis, as well as the understanding of moisture fluxes responsible for the transport of water vapor, a phenomenon that occurs on several temporal and spatial scales that generates a spatiotemporal redistribution of precipitation over the planet [11]. For example, in some regions of South America, precipitation recycling has been explored finding out that varies substantially in dry and wet years and under the influence of phenomena such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) [4,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].Otherwise, Van Der Ent [7] indicates that in the tropics and mountainous lands, the scale of the recycling process can be from 500 to 2000 km, and the timescale ranges vary from 3 to 20 days, except for deserts, where it is much longer. In this regard, Cuartas et al. [2], evidenced that in the Amazon the moisture recycling can represent between 35% and 50% of the total precipitation where the terrestrial recycling of moisture is essential in sustaining regional precipitation [13,21], whereas Satyamurti et al. [12] identified that wet years show about 55% more moisture convergence than dry years in the Amazon basin. A reduction in moisture inflow across the eastern and northern boundaries of the basin and an increase in outflow across the southern border at 15 • S led to drier conditions. For his part, Martinez et al. [20] estimated the variability of moisture sources in the La Plata River Basin (LPB) using an extended version of the Dynamic Recycling Model, finding that 37% of the mean annual precipitation over the LPB comes from the South Pacific and Atlantic tropical oceans. The remaining 63% comes from South America, including 23% from local sources in the LPB and 20% from the southern Amazon.In Colombia, several researchers have tried to explain some of the climatic and hydrological phenomena related to the interaction between the atmosphere and the surface, finding that the climate of the country, mainly in the center and western part, is strongly influenced by the physical interactions that occur in the Pacific Ocean, where moisture influx occurs at the lowest pressure levels (below 800 hPa), mainly due to surface winds or jets such as the Choco Jet (CJ) located at 925 hPa [22][23][24], which transports large amounts of moisture to the region. According to Jaramillo et al. [25], this jet contributes approximately 57% of the total precipitation in western Colombia and the Gulf of Panama. In addition, Gallego et al. [18] indicate that the CJ is deeply related to the dynamics of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the eastern equatorial Pacific and is responsible for up to 30% of the total precipitation in central and northern South America. Furthermore, in addition to the significant influence of the humid oceanic masses on the Pacific region's climate, it has been determined that the Andes Mountain range is the main determining factor of the geographic, physical, biological, and hydrological configuration of the Pacific sub ecosystem. According to Velásquez-Restrepo and Poveda [26], these characteristics make the Pacific an ideal space for understanding the functioning and integrity of the hydrological cycle, mainly on atmospheric interactions with oceanic and surface processes.Cuartas [27] and Cuartas and Poveda [2] indicated that the average value of atmospheric moisture input in Colombia is 5716 mm/year, with an important variability during ENSO phases, coming mainly from easterly and westerly trade winds. On the other hand, they found that, on average, 31% of the total precipitation in the country is due to evaporated moisture from the surface, and for the Pacific region, it is about 18%. Meanwhile, Hoyos et al. [10] evaluated the sources and processes of moisture transport for Colombia, finding that moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and terrestrial recycling are the main sources of moisture in the country; they also found that the CJ plays an important role in the convergence of moisture over western Colombia. Arias et al. [16] examined the primary sources of moisture during La Niña 2010-2012, finding that the main sources were the Pacific Ocean through the CJ and the Caribbean Sea, through the weakening of the Caribbean Low-Level Jet (CLLJ) and the development of southward anomalies toward northern South America.Quantifying the terrestrial evaporation which feeds precipitation over land, i.e., the magnitude of recycled moisture, is of great importance in the analysis of the interactions and feedbacks between surface and atmospheric hydrology, being a possible indicator of climate sensitivity to land use changes [1,4,6,28], which is essential to understand the impact of anthropogenic activities on climate, as they can modify terrestrial moisture fluxes through changes in land use and water management.The understanding of the interactions between precipitation and evaporation has changed over time. There are several models for calculating recycled precipitation; however, most of them are modifications of the generalized one-dimensional model of Budyko [29], which expresses the percentage of recycling in the direction of a single stream of velocity u and length l and as a function of regional evaporation (E) and atmospheric moisture transport (Q). This model was modified by Brubaker et al. [1] by considering the flow input to a region in two directions, for his part Eltahir and Bras [4] proposed a model that calculates the local recycling ratio on a spatially distributed grid for monthly or longer time scales, and Dominguez et al. [30] developed a model derived from the two-dimensional atmospheric water balance equation, which estimates the local recycling ratio for daily or longer time scales and only uses the hypothesis of a well-mixed atmosphere. Finally, Van Der Ent et al. [6] proposed a numerical model based on the atmospheric water balance, estimating the recycling ratio daily. The latter model labels each water particle to be traced back to the origin, determining the spatio-temporal distribution of the moisture origin rather than simply estimating the recycling ratio on a large spatial and temporal scale [7].Among the most widely used moisture tracking models are Lagrangian models such as the 2D Dynamic Recycling Model (DRM) developed by Dominguez et al. [30], the Quasi-Isentropic 3D Backward Trajectory (QIBT) method by Dirmeyer and Brubaker [31], and others such as FLEXPART and HYSPLIT [7]. Furthermore, the Eulerian models allow the tracking of moisture on a global scale [6,7] and are highlighted by the speed of the calculation due to their simplicity, but also due to their Eulerian grid, which allows them to track the origin of moisture quickly in both large and small areas. An example of such an Eulerian trajectory model is the WAM-2 layers (Water Accounting Model-2 layers) [7].Therefore, considering the complexity of the Colombian Pacific region, this study aims to identify the recycled precipitation and moisture sources in the study area by tracking atmospheric moisture through the Eulerian Water Accounting Model-2 layer (WAM-2 layer). This method estimates the recycling ratio of continental precipitation and the contribution of terrestrial moisture sources to the study area's precipitation. Additionally, it delimits the area that contributes both terrestrial and oceanic moisture to the precipitation of the Colombian Pacific under the \"precipitationshed\" approach implemented by Keys [8]. This study contributes to the appropriate management and conservation of water resources in the Colombian Pacific region, increasing knowledge on land-atmosphere feedback and ocean-atmosphere feedback.The percentage of recycled precipitation might be local (ρ), regional (ρ r ) and continental (ρ c ) [4,6,13,21,28,32]. Here, we define surface precipitation as a combination of oceanic and terrestrial moisture sources; this approach makes it possible to analyze the influence of evaporation from remote locations on the precipitation in a particular geographical area. Precipitation is defined as:where P c is continental-sourced precipitation (evaporated from a continent region) and P o is ocean-sourced precipitation (evaporated from the ocean). The recycling ratio of continental precipitation, which shows the dependence of precipitation at a given location relative to continental evaporation, is provided as:WAM-2 layers perform 2D (x, y) moisture tracking, globally and regionally, following the moisture backward (evaporation that will be precipitated in a predefined region) and forwards (precipitation that evaporated from a predefined region) in time. The model splits the atmosphere into two layers making moisture tracking more reliable than vertically integrated moisture fluxes [7]. Van Der Ent et al. [7] showed that the WAM-2 layer model provides similar results to a complex and highly detailed moisture tracking scheme in a regional climate model (RCM-tag) [33] but with a lower computational effort [34]. The WAM single-layer model struggled to estimate the correct moisture flux direction in this case study. However, by adding another layer, the results were closer to the RCM-tag method that directly uses highly accurate three-dimensional water tracking (including phase transitions) within a regional climate model.The shear layer is approximately at the sigma level, corresponding to around 800 hPa. The horizontal moisture fluxes in the lower layer are calculated between the surface and the sigma level, while the horizontal moisture fluxes in the upper layer are calculated from sigma level to 175 hPa. Moreover, the vertical velocity given at the sigma level of around 800 hPa was used to calculate the moisture transport between the lower and upper layers. On the preceding basis, moisture is tracked from where it enters to where it leaves the atmosphere as evaporation and precipitation. Therefore, it is possible to identify when and where precipitation from a specific region entered the atmosphere as evaporation as time progresses.The WAM-2 layer model is open access and requires input data with a daily resolution specified in Table 1. These input data were taken from the ERA-Interim climate reanalysis project dataset provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis (ECMWF/ERA-I) [35,36]. According to Hoyos [10], the ECMWF/ERA-I dataset has a good qualitative, and quantitative representation of the Colombian climate features; depicting more realistically the regional orography when compared to the firstgeneration reanalysis data (NCEP/NCAR and ERA-40), allowing a better representation of regional humidity and atmospheric transport [10,35,37]. Furthermore, previous studies have used this dataset, presenting results suitable for the analysis of climate variability at interannual and decadal scales which affect Colombia [16,38,39]. All variables were obtained for the 1980-2017 period in the region 20 • N-15 • S and 120 • W-60 • W, with a horizontal resolution of 0.75 • × 0.75 • . The moisture source and the average recycling ratio were estimated over the same period. Precipitation and evaporation data at 3 h intervals, specific humidity, zonal and meridional wind velocity at 24 pressure levels (175-1000 hPa) (as required by WAM-2 layer), and surface pressure were used to calculate the vertically integrated moisture flux and precipitable water every 6 h. Surface pressure PaPressure levels variablesThe fundamental principle for the WAM-2 layers numerical model is the atmospheric water balance:where W k is the atmospheric moisture storage (precipitable water) in layer k (either the upper or lower layer), E k is evaporation flowing into layer k, P k is precipitation leaving layer k, ξ is an essential residual to correct the precipitation or evaporation, Q V is the vertical moisture transport between the lower and upper layers, x is the longitudinal direction (zonal component) and y is the latitudinal direction (meridional component). Moisture transport is calculated over grid cell boundaries. The change in atmospheric moisture due to horizontal transport is defined by:where F k is the moisture flow over the boundary of a grid cell in the upper or lower layer, which is positive from west to east and from south to north. The superscript \"-\" represents the west and south boundaries of the grid cell and \"+\" represents the east and north boundaries. The vertically integrated moisture flux (F k ) is calculated as follows:where L is the length of perpendicular cell to the moisture flow direction, g is the gravity, ρ is the density of liquid water (1000 kg•m -3 ), p is the pressure, q specific humidity and u h is the horizontal component in either x or y direction. For the top layer, applies ptop = 0 and pbottom = pdivide. For the bottom layer applies ptop = pdivide and pbottom = psur f ace.Where pdivide is the pressure between the upper and lower layer, which corresponds to 81,283 Pa at a standard surface pressure of 101,325 Pa and can be calculated as follows [5]:Over the surface, the bottom layer represents about 40-80% of the total moisture storage in the column, and 30-70% of the total horizontal moisture flow [5]. Evaporation E enters only the lower layer, so E k = E in this layer while E k = 0 in the upper layer.Precipitation is assumed to be removed immediately from moisture storage (there is no downward precipitation exchange between the upper and lower layer), and the \"wellmixed atmosphere\" condition is assumed for precipitation:where P is the total precipitation and W is the total atmospheric storage in the vertical. The residual ξ is the result of the assimilation of the ERA-Interim dataset and the fact that the decoupled tracking scheme calculates the water balance at gross spatial and temporal resolution. The vertical moisture transport Q V is difficult to calculate because, in addition to the transport by the mean wind velocity in the vertical, there is a scattering moisture exchange due to the convective scheme in ERA-Interim. Therefore, it is assumed that the vertical exchange is the closing term of the water balance. However, due to the residual ξ the water balance cannot be completely closed. Therefore, the closure is defined by the ratio of upper and lower layer residuals, which is proportional to the moisture content of the layers:From the above equation, the vertical moisture transport can be calculated as:where ξ * bottom and ξ * top are the residuals to be considered before vertical transport. The same water balance is applied for tracking moisture from a given origin (continental, regional or local) in WAM-2 layers. For example, the water balance of the evaporation to be tracked (identified by the subscript Ω) in the lower layer of the atmosphere for forwarding tracking (trajectory of moisture from where it evaporates to where it precipitates) is described by:For backward tracking (trajectory of moisture from where it precipitates to where it evaporates) and upper layer calculation, equations similar to the above are used. Van Der Ent [7] found that the vertical flow was too small to adequately represent the vertical transport of the monitored water, which is attributed to the turbulent moisture exchange between the upper and lower layer. Based on Van Der Ent's trial-and-error tests [7], this situation was resolved by keeping Q V as the net vertical moisture flux and using a vertical flux of 4Q V in the net flow direction and 3Q V in the opposite direction during the tagging experiments. Despite simplifying turbulent moisture exchange, the authors considered it a suitable parameterization for the study, and their results were not very sensitive to turbulent moisture exchange. For further details on the application of this model, refer to https:// github.com/ruudvdent/WAM2layersPython (accessed on 22 July 2022). The specific structure of commands applied for the model execution and the division of the variables into atmospheric layers can be explicitly found at https://github.com/ruudvdent/WAM2 layersPython/blob/master/Fluxes_and_States_Masterscript.py (accessed on 22 July 2022).For this study, the Colombian Pacific region was selected as the unit of analysis based on the seasonality of the monthly mean precipitation in Colombia as defined by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) [40] (Figure 1a,b). Out of the 12 regions defined by IDEAM, we used the North and Central Pacific (NCP) and Patía-Mira (P-M) regions covering the Colombian Pacific, as shown in Figure 1a. To determine the recycled precipitation in the Colombian Pacific region, moisture was tracked forward in time, which allows for determining the amount (percentage) of the total precipitation from the region that originated from the evaporation of continental sources.determine the recycled precipitation in the Colombian Pacific region, moisture was tracked forward in time, which allows for determining the amount (percentage) of the total precipitation from the region that originated from the evaporation of continental sources. In this case, the continental precipitation recycling ratio (\uD835\uDF0C \uD835\uDC50 ) was estimated, as described in Equation (2), whose numerical implementation in the model is given by:where, \uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC50\uD835\uDC5C\uD835\uDC5B is the atmospheric moisture storage of continental origin. The storage of atmospheric moisture of continental origin is the humidity coming from the evapotranspiration of the continental (terrestrial) zone. In the model, a layer or mask is added to define the oceanic and continental region of the study area, which in this case is slightly lower than the region where the information is downloaded and corresponds to the 15° N-6.75° S and 98.25° W-60.75° W. The region where the forward trajectory of the moisture is calculated and where the spatial distribution of the evaporated precipitation is obtained corresponds to the above-mentioned region. For the backward trajectory (where the spatial distribution of the evaporation that will be precipitated (precipitationshed) is obtained from the model and based on the loaded layer, the location of the study region (Colombian Pacific region) is specified. In this case, the continental precipitation recycling ratio (ρ c ) was estimated, as described in Equation (2), whose numerical implementation in the model is given by:where, W con is the atmospheric moisture storage of continental origin. The storage of atmospheric moisture of continental origin is the humidity coming from the evapotranspiration of the continental (terrestrial) zone. In the model, a layer or mask is added to define the oceanic and continental region of the study area, which in this case is slightly lower than the region where the information is downloaded and corresponds to the 15 • N-6.75 • S and 98.25 • W-60.75 • W. The region where the forward trajectory of the moisture is calculated and where the spatial distribution of the evaporated precipitation is obtained corresponds to the above-mentioned region. For the backward trajectory (where the spatial distribution of the evaporation that will be precipitated (precipitationshed) is obtained from the model and based on the loaded layer, the location of the study region (Colombian Pacific region) is specified.To calculate the precipitationshed or source region of precipitation in the Pacific, we use the adaptation carried out by Keys et al. [41] to the WAM-2 layer, which allows backtracking of precipitation from the source region (in our case, the Pacific region), to identify the sources of evaporation or humidity. The backtracking method is based on the following approach:where P Ω is the precipitation in the sink region Ω (defined by longitude x Ω , latitude y Ω , area A Ω and shape ∆ Ω ). Specifically, the amount of evaporation E Ω reaching the region Ω, which traveled through the atmosphere, and ends up as precipitation in that region, is calculated for each cell. E Ω is integrated over all grid cells, where i and j are the cell indices and p and m are the cell numbers along the parallel and meridian, respectively. Its numerical implementation in the model is given by:where, W o is the moisture storage tracked or labeled in the lower layer, and W is the total moisture in all layers. To find the precipitationshed with WAM-2 layer, a backward tracking in time is performed from the region defined as a moisture sink, which in this study corresponds to the Colombian Pacific region, whose result allows identifying the area contributing the highest percentage to the moisture that precipitates in this region. Nevertheless, the results of the model on their own do not correspond to the precipitationshed, because each cell, even if it is quite small or distant from the sink area, can contribute to the evaporation estimate; therefore, a threshold must be established to define a spatially explicit boundary of the precipitationshed, based on the evaporation contribution. In this case, the threshold was defined as the cells that contribute 80% of evaporation or humidity to the precipitation over the Colombian Pacific; this is based on the topographic limits of the country that directly affect the behavior of the airflow and on the usefulness of these limits for future analysis of vulnerability to changes in land use and land cover. Moreover, indices of water balance variables, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and moisture convergence (moisture divergence multiplied by -1, hereinafter ConvQ), corresponding to the mean for each region, NCP and P-M separately, were constructed. To examine the variability of the continental recycled precipitation and its relationship with the winds coming from the Pacific Ocean, the CJ index was used as the mean of the zonal winds at 925 hPa in the region between 2 • N and 7 • N along the 80 • W meridian. Several authors used the zonal winds at 925 hPa in northern South America to characterize the CJ and the associated moisture transport on monthly and seasonal scales [15,16,24,38,42].The spatio-temporal variability of water balance variables, including precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (E), moisture convergence (ConvQ), and the ratio between the precipitation and evapotranspiration (E/P) at annual and monthly scales for the NCP and P-M regions between 1980-2017 are presented below.Figure 2a shows the total annual precipitation over the Colombian Pacific, with mean values between 10,000 and 12,000 mm•yr −1 in the northeast of the study area and precipitation close to 9000 mm•yr −1 at the border of the NCP and P-M regions, while in the south the annual precipitation oscillates between 3000 and 7000 mm. The mean annual precipitation in the NCP region was 9611 mm•yr −1, and in P-M, it was 5397 mm•yr −1 , exceeding the country's annual average of 3189 mm•yr −1 reported by Vallejo [11] and consistent with Cerón et al. [43]. They observed three cores of high precipitation over the Colombian Biogeographic Chocó region. On a monthly scale, precipitation processes are conditioned by the latitudinal migration of the ITCZ, which, combined with the orographic effects created by the Serranía del Baudó and the foothills of the Western Cordillera, serve as a natural barrier for the air masses coming from the Pacific Ocean, discharging their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges as orographic precipitation [15,[43][44][45][46]. In the NCP region, there is no defined dry season, and the distribution during the year is relatively uniform (Figure 2b-m); however, from December to April, precipitation is lower (Figure 2b-f), when the ITCZ reaches its southernmost position, whereas, between May and November (Figure 2g-m) the highest precipitation is observed, the moment in which the ITCZ and in general the atmospheric systems record their greatest northward displacement [43,[47][48][49]. Furthermore, in the P-M region, the least rainy season is observed from June to November (Figure 2h-m), when the country's ITCZ is located in its most northerly position.The analysis of evapotranspiration, which is another important component of the water balance, shows slightly pronounced differences in the study area (Figure 3a), reaching similar annual values in both regions, 921 mm• yr −1 for P-M and 855 mm• yr −1 for NCP; the lowest annual evapotranspiration (<650 mm• yr −1 ) occurs towards the center of the region, including the hydrographic zone of the San Juan River and the Pacific coast of the department of Valle del Cauca. The results are consistent with those reported by Vallejo [11], who indicates mean values between 600 and 800 mm• yr −1 . According to Vallejo [11], the low evapotranspiration corresponds to the low amount of solar radiation that reaches the area due to the large-scale convective processes and a constant saturation of the atmosphere, coherent with the high convergence of annual moisture observed in the region (Figure 4a), in agreement with the studies of Velasco and Frischt [50], Zipser et al. [51], Zuluaga and Houze [52] and Jaramillo et al. [25]. On a monthly scale (Figure 3b-m), over On a monthly scale, precipitation processes are conditioned by the latitudinal migration of the ITCZ, which, combined with the orographic effects created by the Serranía del Baudó and the foothills of the Western Cordillera, serve as a natural barrier for the air masses coming from the Pacific Ocean, discharging their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges as orographic precipitation [15,[43][44][45][46]. In the NCP region, there is no defined dry season, and the distribution during the year is relatively uniform (Figure 2b-m); however, from December to April, precipitation is lower (Figure 2b-f), when the ITCZ reaches its southernmost position, whereas, between May and November (Figure 2g-m) the highest precipitation is observed, the moment in which the ITCZ and in general the atmospheric systems record their greatest northward displacement [43,[47][48][49]. Furthermore, in the P-M region, the least rainy season is observed from June to November (Figure 2h-m), when the country's ITCZ is located in its most northerly position.The analysis of evapotranspiration, which is another important component of the water balance, shows slightly pronounced differences in the study area (Figure 3a), reaching similar annual values in both regions, 921 mm•yr −1 for P-M and 855 mm•yr −1 for NCP; the lowest annual evapotranspiration (<650 mm•yr −1 ) occurs towards the center of the region, including the hydrographic zone of the San Juan River and the Pacific coast of the department of Valle del Cauca. The results are consistent with those reported by Vallejo [11], who indicates mean values between 600 and 800 mm•yr −1 . According to Vallejo [11], the low evapotranspiration corresponds to the low amount of solar radiation that reaches the area due to the large-scale convective processes and a constant saturation of the atmosphere, coherent with the high convergence of annual moisture observed in the region (Figure 4a), in agreement with the studies of Velasco and Frischt [50], Zipser et al. [51], Zuluaga and Houze [52] and Jaramillo et al. [25]. On a monthly scale (Figure 3b-m), over the NCP region, evapotranspiration decreases while precipitation increases from May to November (<80 mm•month −1 ; Figures 2g-m and 3g-m), and in coherence with the intensification of moisture convergence in the same period (Figure 4g-m), at the same time that higher evapotranspiration values occur in the P-M region (70-100 mm•month −1 ) when precipitation and moisture convergence decrease in this region (Figures 2g-m and 4g-m). It should be noted that the magnitude of evapotranspiration concerning precipitation and moisture convergence does not show high variability in the two regions, with values below 90 mm•month −1 (standard deviation of 8 mm in NCP and 7 mm in P-M).  According to Cuartas and Poveda [2] and Marengo [53], a region acts as a source (sink) of moisture to the atmosphere when evaporation is greater (less) than precipitation. Additionally, Satyamurty et al. [12] and Do Nascimento et al. [54] explain that when there is moisture divergence (convergence) in a given region, it behaves as a source (sink) of moisture to neighboring regions. The relationship between evapotranspiration and precipitation (Figure 5), as an approximation to the regional moisture recycling ratio, shows that between January and April, the NCP has the greatest contribution of moisture to the atmosphere, between 11% and 17% of the total precipitation (Figure 5a), related to the reduction in the moisture convergence towards the region and with the increase in regional recycling (E/P); the rest of the year, the E/P ratio observed corresponds to 7% of the total precipitation, which indicates that the moisture recycled during most of the year comes from in other regions of the continent. In the case of the P-M region (Figure 5b), the region makes the most outstanding moisture to the atmosphere from June to November (dry season), when the E/P ratio varies between 18% and 23%, while moisture convergence decreases; this regional recycling represents almost 100% of the total, highlighting According to Cuartas and Poveda [2] and Marengo [53], a region acts as a source (sink) of moisture to the atmosphere when evaporation is greater (less) than precipitation. Additionally, Satyamurty et al. [12] and Do Nascimento et al. [54] explain that when there is moisture divergence (convergence) in a given region, it behaves as a source (sink) of moisture to neighboring regions. The relationship between evapotranspiration and precipitation (Figure 5), as an approximation to the regional moisture recycling ratio, shows that between January and April, the NCP has the greatest contribution of moisture to the atmosphere, between 11% and 17% of the total precipitation (Figure 5a), related to the reduction in the moisture convergence towards the region and with the increase in regional recycling (E/P); the rest of the year, the E/P ratio observed corresponds to 7% of the total precipitation, which indicates that the moisture recycled during most of the year comes from in other regions of the continent. In the case of the P-M region (Figure 5b), the region makes the most outstanding moisture to the atmosphere from June to November (dry season), when the E/P ratio varies between 18% and 23%, while moisture convergence decreases; this regional recycling represents almost 100% of the total, highlighting the regional processes of evapotranspiration over precipitation during the driest season, while during the period of higher precipitation, moisture arriving from other regions becomes more important. This is an indicator of the low rate of regional moisture recycling in the Colombian Pacific, which suggests that the region behaves as a moisture sink (E < P).Atmosphere 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 18 the regional processes of evapotranspiration over precipitation during the driest season, while during the period of higher precipitation, moisture arriving from other regions becomes more important. This is an indicator of the low rate of regional moisture recycling in the Colombian Pacific, which suggests that the region behaves as a moisture sink (E < P).   Atmosphere 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 18 the regional processes of evapotranspiration over precipitation during the driest season, while during the period of higher precipitation, moisture arriving from other regions becomes more important. This is an indicator of the low rate of regional moisture recycling in the Colombian Pacific, which suggests that the region behaves as a moisture sink (E < P).   Based on the results of the WAM-2 layer model implementation and ERA-I reanalysis data, results concerning the continental precipitation recycling ratio and the delimitation of the precipitationshed of the Colombian Pacific region are presented. Figure 6a shows the spatial distribution of the annual continental precipitation recycling ratio (ρ c ), being on average higher in P-M with 26% per year and lower in NCP with 23%; these low values ratify the dominance of oceanic moisture sources over continental moisture recycling. Likewise, the annual recycling ratio increases from north to south and from west to east (coast to the mountain range). On a monthly scale (Figure 6b-m), the first half of the year shows a marked latitudinal orientation of the recycling ratio, with the highest values in the P-M region (south) and decreasing towards the NCP region (north), which may be related to the migration of the ITCZ from its southernmost position (December-February; DJF) to the north in the March-May (MAM) quarter. During the second half of the year, the recycling ratio shows a marked longitudinal orientation, with the highest values near the foothills of the western cordillera and the lowest near the Pacific Ocean, highlighting the role of the orographic barrier of the Colombian Andes and the moisture transport associated with the CJ during the second half of the year [23,42]. The CJ intensifies from June and reaches its highest velocity from September to November (SON) with values at its core (centered at 5 • N along 80 • W) of 5-8 m•s −1 , in agreement with the maximum precipitation observed in the region during the second half of the year [16,24,55], and weakens from December to May with velocities between 2 and 3 m•s −1 . The interaction of the CJ with the topography of the western Andes and the trade winds from the east favors deep convection producing large amounts of precipitation [15,22,23,56,57].Atmosphere 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 18Based on the results of the WAM-2 layer model implementation and ERA-I reanalysis data, results concerning the continental precipitation recycling ratio and the delimitation of the precipitationshed of the Colombian Pacific region are presented. Figure 6a shows the spatial distribution of the annual continental precipitation recycling ratio (\uD835\uDF0C \uD835\uDC50 ), being on average higher in P-M with 26% per year and lower in NCP with 23%; these low values ratify the dominance of oceanic moisture sources over continental moisture recycling. Likewise, the annual recycling ratio increases from north to south and from west to east (coast to the mountain range). On a monthly scale (Figure 6b-m), the first half of the year shows a marked latitudinal orientation of the recycling ratio, with the highest values in the P-M region (south) and decreasing towards the NCP region (north), which may be related to the migration of the ITCZ from its southernmost position (December-February; DJF) to the north in the March-May (MAM) quarter. During the second half of the year, the recycling ratio shows a marked longitudinal orientation, with the highest values near the foothills of the western cordillera and the lowest near the Pacific Ocean, highlighting the role of the orographic barrier of the Colombian Andes and the moisture transport associated with the CJ during the second half of the year [23,42]. The CJ intensifies from June and reaches its highest velocity from September to November (SON) with values at its core (centered at 5° N along 80° W) of 5-8 m• s −1 , in agreement with the maximum precipitation observed in the region during the second half of the year [16,24,55], and weakens from December to May with velocities between 2 and 3 m• s −1 . The interaction of the CJ with the topography of the western Andes and the trade winds from the east favors deep convection producing large amounts of precipitation [15,22,23,56,57].  Figure 7a shows the monthly variability of the precipitation recycling ratio for the NCP and P-M regions. A unimodal recycling ratio pattern is observed in both areas, with the highest percentages between March and April, reaching 30% and 34% for NCP and P-M, respectively, and consistent with the spatial pattern shown in Figure 6e,f. Moreover, the lowest recycling season is between June and October, with the lowest percentage of NCP recycling occurring between September-October, with a value between 19% and 20%. In contrast, P-M has its lowest recycling ratio in September, corresponding to 21%. Figure 7b presents the climatological zonal wind values associated with the CJ, showing a greater wind intensity between September and November, and the interquartile distance (3rd quartile minus 1st quartile) is greater than during the rest of the year, while the winds associated with the CJ are less intense from January to April. In this sense, the season of higher (lower) continental precipitation recycling ratio is related to the weakening (strengthening) of the CJ in the first (second) half of the year, which decreases (increases) the contribution of moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the region, increasing (decreasing) the influence of the contribution of land-based sources in the study area. Furthermore, the higher continental precipitation recycling ratio in the P-M region can be related to its higher evapotranspiration concerning NCP and its southern location in the zone of greatest influence of the CJ, which allows the influence of other phenomena such as moisture feedback [7,8,49,58].Atmosphere 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 13 of 18Figure 7a shows the monthly variability of the precipitation recycling ratio for the NCP and P-M regions. A unimodal recycling ratio pattern is observed in both areas, with the highest percentages between March and April, reaching 30% and 34% for NCP and P-M, respectively, and consistent with the spatial pattern shown in Figure 6e,f. Moreover, the lowest recycling season is between June and October, with the lowest percentage of NCP recycling occurring between September-October, with a value between 19% and 20%. In contrast, P-M has its lowest recycling ratio in September, corresponding to 21%. Figure 7b presents the climatological zonal wind values associated with the CJ, showing a greater wind intensity between September and November, and the interquartile distance (3rd quartile minus 1st quartile) is greater than during the rest of the year, while the winds associated with the CJ are less intense from January to April. In this sense, the season of higher (lower) continental precipitation recycling ratio is related to the weakening (strengthening) of the CJ in the first (second) half of the year, which decreases (increases) the contribution of moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the region, increasing (decreasing) the influence of the contribution of land-based sources in the study area. Furthermore, the higher continental precipitation recycling ratio in the P-M region can be related to its higher evapotranspiration concerning NCP and its southern location in the zone of greatest influence of the CJ, which allows the influence of other phenomena such as moisture feedback [7,8,49,58]. Figure 8 shows the monthly variability of the main sources that contribute to precipitation in the Colombian Pacific region and the changes in monthly precipitationshed. The contributions of these different sources change throughout the year, driven by seasonal changes in circulation. From December to April (Figure 8a-e), the largest contributions come from northern sources, mostly the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) and the Caribbean Sea from October to February, and from eastern Colombia and Venezuela; a period when the Orinoco Low-Level jet (OLLJ) exhibits its maximum wind speed, with values around 8-10 m• s −1 during DJF [59]. According to Builes-Jaramillo et al. [59], the OLLJ transports atmospheric moisture from TNA, linked to an area of moisture flux divergence located over northeastern South America. During June to August (Figure 8g-i), the ITCZ migration to its northernmost position results in an area of moisture flux convergence over TNA and the Caribbean Sea, which strengthens the CLLJ and inhibits the entrance of moisture from northerlies; thus, the southerly cross-equatorial flow from the Amazon River basin and the southeastern tropical Pacific predominates, as has been documented by Arias et Figure 8 shows the monthly variability of the main sources that contribute to precipitation in the Colombian Pacific region and the changes in monthly precipitationshed. The contributions of these different sources change throughout the year, driven by seasonal changes in circulation. From December to April (Figure 8a-e), the largest contributions come from northern sources, mostly the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) and the Caribbean Sea from October to February, and from eastern Colombia and Venezuela; a period when the Orinoco Low-Level jet (OLLJ) exhibits its maximum wind speed, with values around 8-10 m•s −1 during DJF [59]. According to Builes-Jaramillo et al. [59], the OLLJ transports atmospheric moisture from TNA, linked to an area of moisture flux divergence located over northeastern South America. During June to August (Figure 8g-i), the ITCZ migration to its northernmost position results in an area of moisture flux convergence over TNA and the Caribbean Sea, which strengthens the CLLJ and inhibits the entrance of moisture from northerlies; thus, the southerly cross-equatorial flow from the Amazon River basin and the southeastern tropical Pacific predominates, as has been documented by Arias et al. [16] and Builes-Jaramillo et al. [59]. In September (Figure 8j), a southwesterly cross-equatorial circulation predominates, converging over the eastern Pacific and western Colombia, consistent with the spatial pattern associated with the easterly low-level jet, also known as the CJ [15,18,23,42]. The CJ transports moisture in the lower troposphere, interacting with the Colombian orography, inducing moisture convergence and convection in western Colombia, which leads to high precipitation over the Colombian Pacific [10,16], with greater intensity during the September to November quarter [23].Atmosphere 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 18 al. [16] and Builes-Jaramillo et al. [59]. In September (Figure 8j), a southwesterly crossequatorial circulation predominates, converging over the eastern Pacific and western Colombia, consistent with the spatial pattern associated with the easterly low-level jet, also known as the CJ [15,18,23,42]. The CJ transports moisture in the lower troposphere, interacting with the Colombian orography, inducing moisture convergence and convection in western Colombia, which leads to high precipitation over the Colombian Pacific [10,16], with greater intensity during the September to November quarter [23].  These seasonal changes in the region's circulation drive a remarkable spatio-temporal variability of precipitationshed (Figure 8), which is significantly more dynamic than the relatively static limits of the surface watersheds since they depend on a defined threshold and the variability of climatic phenomena at multiple scales. Figure 8 highlights the large spatio-temporal variability of the 80% threshold of tracked moisture. The most significant contrast of moisture sources occurs during April and September (Figure 8e,j), representing the highest and lowest continental precipitation recycling ratio (Figure 7a). During April, the largest source region is located on the continent, reflecting the strong influence of northeastern Colombia and Venezuela and the transport of moisture from the Atlantic Ocean; while in September, the continental recycling ratio is reduced, and the moisture source region is located mainly in the Pacific Ocean, and the continental contribution decreases.Even though the ocean is highlighted as the main source of moisture for the delimited atmospheric basin, these regions are located near the continent, which coincides with the results of Van Der Ent and Savenije [14], who found that ocean moisture source areas are more intense closer to the land surface. As shown in Figure 8, terrestrial sources of moisture encompass a larger area than oceanic sources; however, this is not directly related to the amount of moisture input [14]. This finding can also be related to those found for the precipitation recycling ratio, which indicates that in the NCP, this recycling comes from other regions, which are identified according to the precipitationshed as neighboring and in greater extension towards the northeastern part of the study region, covering almost all of the Andean region, the Orinoquia and the Colombian Caribbean.The objective of this paper was to assess precipitation recycling and moisture sources in the Colombian Pacific region during the 1980-2017 period. We have used the atmospheric moisture tracking model WAM-2 layers to track moisture fluxes, as well as used the precipitationshed approach for the delimitation of the area contributing to terrestrial and oceanic moisture in the study area. We summarize our findings as follows: (1) The results show that on average, the Colombian Pacific region acts as a moisture sink (E < P), where convergence is mainly from the Pacific Ocean and represents the largest contribution to the precipitation production, in contrast to the regional (E/P) and neighboring areas.(2) Precipitationshed and its moisture sources present a significant monthly variability, with continental sources from eastern Colombia and Venezuela, and the tropical North Atlantic from December to April; the Pacific Ocean takes preponderance in these contributions during September-October, when the CJ intensifies and the continental contribution decreases; while the Amazon basin and the southeastern tropical Pacific make their greatest contributions during June and August. The importance of the \"precipitationshed\" approach in the analysis of the hydroclimatology of the Pacific region is the inclusion of the contribution of evaporation from remote land surfaces to the region's precipitation, a factor that, to our knowledge, had not been considered before. This could become an input for analyzing the impacts that changes in land cover and land use may have on evapotranspiration ratios in this region. Furthermore, the alterations that climate change could represent, such as variations in moisture transport, could affect the interactions between the source regions and the continental Pacific.Further research could address the analysis of moisture recycling by considering other atmospheric monitoring models, such as those developed under a Lagrangian approach, the comparison of both results will improve the accuracy of the results. In addition, the analysis should be carried out considering the impacts of climate change and climate variability events such as the ENSO phases, which affect the region's climatic conditions and the country to a great extent. Research involving land cover and land use scenarios is recommended to explore the vulnerability of moisture recycling in the precipitationshed of the Pacific region.","tokenCount":"7889"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7766419957.json b/data/part_1/7766419957.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5b25680e5941bb167eca0dc21949165603061e76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7766419957.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7c2f21087c4a00ffaff1be897fde3495","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d7ec7754-096d-4aa8-ad0b-40674092521a/retrieve","id":"-246249096"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ff37656d-9db5-4465-9c15-948e510611ce","pagecount":"4","content":"Following the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Hubei Province in late 2019, starting in late January 2020 the Chinese government imposed draconian lockdown measures across the country to control the spread of the disease (Fang, Wang, and Yang 2020). Most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suspended operations. Then, as the pandemic eased in April, China began lifting the restrictions.To understand the impact of the lockdown on China's SMEs and the extent of their recovery, the Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China (ESIEC) project team led by Peking University conducted two rounds of telephone interviews in February and May 2020 with enterprises that had been surveyed over the previous three years.In general, the survey shows that the vast majority of SMEs were able to reopen and rehire workers once restrictions were lifted, exhibiting a V-shaped recovery. Yet a substantial number of mostly smaller enterprises closed permanently, leaving many unemployed, particularly in rural areas.The survey probed SMEs' work resumption and production situation, the main difficulties they faced, their efforts to adapt, demands for appropriate assistance policies, and the reach of lockdown-related business assistance programs. Below are four major findings.China's February lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 initially hit SMEs hard, a I examined in an earlier piece. By May, economic conditions had greatly improved. As shown in Figure 1, most businesses had reopened. Among those firms, employment reached an average of 86.4 percent of its pre-shock level. This is clearly a V-shaped recovery. Overall, smaller firms reopened at a lower rate in May across all sectors.The V-shaped pattern can also be seen in firm entry data. As shown in Dai, Feng, et al. (2020), the number of firm entries plummeted to a nadir in the first week after the Chinese New Year (the first week of lockdown). By the eighth week after the New Year, the number of entries rebounded to the level of previous years. Thanks to greater demand, agricultural SMEs experienced more rapid recovery in production capacity than did SMEs in other sectors (Cheng and Zhang 2020).Thanks in large part to the rapid recovery, entrepreneurs said they felt much less anxious and were significantly more optimistic in May than in February. Still, some SMEs were hit harder than others, and serious challenges remain for most SMEs.Our analysis shows that around 18 percent of SMEs closed for good between the two surveys.Given that SMEs generate 80 percent of employment in China, an 18 percent failure rate would send a shockwave through the labor market, chopping the national employment rate by about 14 percent. Because most employees of SMEs are from rural areas, which account for 57 percent of the country's population, the rural job loss rate may be as high as 25 percent. According to another recent survey, of more than 700 villages (Wang et al. 2021), 26 percent of rural households reported to have at least one family member who lost a job due to the pandemic and one out of six self-employed businesses were closed. Thus, the two different surveys yield consistent results. Clearly, it is rural people who suffered the most from China's COVID-19 restrictions. Heavy job losses undoubtedly would lower rural residents' consumption. Among rural households, 42 percent reported having cut food expenditures, while 9 percent reduced education expenditures.Residential service firms suffered the highest exit rate. Among the manufacturing enterprises, the failure rate for smaller firms (fewer than eight workers) is 2.5 percentage points higher than larger firms (eight workers or more). Among export firms, smaller ones exited at a rate 4 percentage points higher than relatively larger firms.  In the recovery, the survey shows, the major challenges facing SMEs have been mostly on the demand side rather than the supply side. In February, logistics breakdowns and labor shortages ranked among the top challenges, in particular for industrial enterprises. In May, more than 70 percent of firms listed the lack of demand as the top challenge, while most supply-side problems, such as raw material shortages and labor shortages, had faded away. Except for agricultural enterprises, smaller firms reported more problems with lack of demand than their bigger counterparts.In general, agricultural enterprises recovered more rapidly (Figure 2) than the manufacturing, business service, and residential service sectors, which encountered more serious demand problems. Given there are 550 million rural residents (not including migrant workers who transit to urban areas), heavy job losses in rural areas likely explain the reduced demand for consumer goods and residential services -those affected may have cut back on non-essential spending while trying to maintain their food budgets.In addition, export firms were 10 percentage points more likely to report inadequate demand as their most critical challenge, largely thanks to shrinking international demand as COVID-19 spread to other countries. Despite the high reopening rate, low demand meant that many firms, particularly export firms, were still running at partial capacity.  After the lockdown was imposed, the Chinese government launched various policies to help affected SMEs, including rent relief, tax reductions, postponement of social security payments for employees, and direct financial support. Yet these programs often did not reach smaller firms. Most relief measures did not even apply to self-employed businesses, which, for instance, do not pay much in taxes or social security for workers. Despite a commitment of 1.5 trillion yuan ($223 billion) in financial support for SMEs, on average only 15 percent of SMEs reported accessing some form of government assistance -only 2 percentage points higher than in 2018, when we did our baseline survey. Among self-employed the coverage rate was as low as 9 percent.More than 60 percent of SMEs wished to receive reductions in rent and other fees, yet the penetration rate for this form of assistance was below 30 percent. This is because most landlords are private firms or individuals also struggling amid the pandemic. Unemployment insurance, meanwhile, is only provided for workers at big corporations, and most SME workers do not have it. The survey also shows that small firms received less policy support than larger ones. In general, then, SMEs largely relied on themselves through the lockdown.According to Wang et al. (2021), 98 percent of rural residents had never heard about unemployment insurance. Once SMEs went bankrupt, most of their workers had to return to their home villages, largely unaccounted for in official unemployment statistics.China's initial COVID-19 lockdowns dealt a heavy blow to SMEs, driving up unemployment in rural areas. But once restrictions were eased, many businesses quickly rebounded -showing the resilience of SMEs and offering some hope for how recovery can play out in other parts of the world once outbreaks are brought under control. But China's SMEs still faced ongoing post-lockdown problems, with government assistance largely failing to reach a vast number of them, particularly the very small ones, and low demand persisting. Our survey suggests that policies that stimulate domestic demand by targeting consumers, particularly those with low incomes and the vulnerable in rural areas, would indirectly help SMEs and have broader economic benefits.This paper draws from Dai, Mookherjee, et al. (2020) and Cheng and Zhang (2020).Originally published October 22, 2020.","tokenCount":"1175"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7767941821.json b/data/part_1/7767941821.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a91d6ff01dd65bea117af8c87b9474feab270130
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7767941821.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ca5bc3cee85667a5e093dc3c19da81a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c4cc47cc-35de-42c8-8673-c84a1ac80309/retrieve","id":"1422535490"},"keywords":["cohort","inequalities","developing countries","health promotion","pesticides Cole et al.: Community and household socioeconomic factors associated with pesticide-using","small farm household members' health: a multi-level","longitudinal analysis"],"sieverID":"c8395897-ae51-4c6a-a69e-6c5088a8f529","pagecount":"10","content":"Background: Longitudinal studies using multi-level models to examine health inequalities in lower and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. We explored socio-economic gradients in health among small farm members participating in a pesticide-related health and agriculture program in highland Ecuador. Methods: We profiled 24 communities through key informant interviews, secondary data (percent of population with unsatisfied basic needs), and intervention implementation indicators. Pre (2005) and post ( 2007) surveys of the primary household and crop managers included common questions (education, age, and the health outcomedigit span scaled 0-10)) and pesticide-related practice questions specific to each. Household assets and pesticide use variables were shared across managers. We constructed multi-level models predicting 2007 digit span for each manager type, with staged introduction of predictor variables. Results: 376 household managers (79% of 2005 participants) and 380 crop managers (76% of 2005 participants) had complete data for analysis. The most important predictor of 2007 digit span was 2005 digit span: β (Standard Error) of 0.31(0.05) per unit for household and 0.17(0.04) for crop managers. Household asset score was next most important: 0.14(0.06) per unit for household and 0.14(0.05) for crop managers. Community percent with unsatisfied basic needs was associated with reductions in 2007 digit span: -0.04(0.01) per percent for household and -0.03(0.01) for crop managers. Conclusions: The important roles of life endowments and/or persistent neurotoxicity were exemplified by limited change in the health outcome. Gradients by household assets and community deprivation were indicative of ongoing, structural inequities within this LMIC.Over the last decade, equity in health has moved from a preoccupation of concerned researchers [1], human rights activists and some policy makers to a central part of the debate about improving health globally [2]. At the beginning of the decade Starfield defined equity in health as \"the absence of systematic [and potentially remediable] differences in one or more aspects of health status across socially, demographically, or geographically defined populations or population subgroups [3]. Others have described the embedded nature of inequities in health and their causes, both proximal and distal [4]. The Commission on Social Determinants of Health contributed to understanding of the generation of inequities and the opportunities for societal responses to them [5].Country level research in lower and middle income countries (LMICs) has included description, analysis and theoretical developments. The last has been particularly strong in Latin America with a long history of Social Medicine and Collective Health [4,6]. For Ecuador, early description [7] moved through cross-sectional analyses showing strong gradients in child health outcomes [8] and health care utilization [9] to descriptive work on the broad effects of globalization [10] and tracking change in inequalities at the level of parishes [11]. Multi-level modeling has been employed to account for clustering of national survey data [12].Our own research has focused on smallholder farmers in highland Ecuador. Though we were initially interested in general health, we did not find much variation across farm households. However, neurobehavioral performance did vary substantially across farm households and was associated with farm pesticide use in a measurement intensive cross-sectional survey [13]. Our neurobehavioral measures were part of a World Health Organization battery [14], with proven reliability and validity in measuring neurotoxicity due to organophosphorus and carbamate compounds [15]. These measures are also strongly influenced by lifetime education and age [16]. In a subsequent intervention evaluation, the measures were responsive to reductions in exposure and sub-acute pesticide-related neurotoxicity [17]. In neither of our studies did we find economic gradients in neurobehavioral measures, perhaps due to relative homogeneity within one canton (equivalent to a county). In a subsequent multicase study across seven communities, we observed systematic variation in child nutrition and pesticide related symptom outcomes by production systems and community social resources [18].In the Ecosalud II project, upon which this paper is based, analysis of 2005 baseline data from 24 communities in five cantons and three provinces demonstrated variation in pesticide-related knowledge and practices by the proportion of the cantonal population who were literate or indigenous [19]. We also observed community level variation in pesticide use and related health outcomes (poisoning and neurotoxic symptoms) [20]. After interventions designed to reduce pesticide use and improve pesticide-related practices, we used implementation and 2007 follow up survey data from 18 of these communities to examine change in health promotion outcomes by leadership factors across communities and by asset score across households [21]. The extent to which such interventions decreased, left persistent or aggravated inequities across and within communities [22] remained to be examined.In this paper, we explore the determinants of health inequities in neurobehavioral performance among households in 24 participating communities. Recognizing the difficulties teasing apart inter-related determinants, we nevertheless hypothesized that:1. Community-level health promotion intervention intensity or coverage and associated pesticide-related practice changes would be associated with better 2007 neurobehavioral performance; and 2. Household assets, community deprivation, and community social resources, would each independently contribute to explaining 2007 neurobehavioral performance.Cohort of households in 24 communities, analyzed with multi-level, mixed models [23].Selected zones of potato production in highland Ecuador included five cantons or municipalities: Guano, Guamote and Riobamba in the province of Chimborazo (central); Quero in the province of Tungurahua (central); and Montúfar in the province of Carchi (north) (see United Nations approved map at http://www.un. org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/ecuador.pdf). Within cantons, communities were identified in conjunction with local agricultural technical assistance partners through a preliminary assessment of potato production volumes. Meetings were held with community leaders regarding interest in agriculture-health interventions and then with the broader population in pre-existing community meetings, as a form of community consent [21].Profiles were constructed of each participating community through requests for existing information and key informant interviews with community leaders. We obtained the number of households and, as a measure of community social resources, the number of organizations e.g. sport club, parents' group, youth group, irrigation council, farmers' organization, indigenous organization. As these could vary by size of community, we divided them by a denominator of 100's of households to provide a crude community organization indicator (see table 1).To independently characterize communities, we obtained data from the Integrated System of Social Indicators of Ecuador on the unsatisfied basic needs (NBI) indicator, the most comprehensive poverty indicator [24]. Based on data from the 2001 census (the most recent analyzed) and the fifth round of the national living conditions survey, NBI captures the proportion of the population who suffer persistent deficits in at least one of housing (absence of electricity, potable water, sewage, space), health (access to trained health professionals), education (illiteracy, less than primary school), and employment. NBI is the percent with unsatisfied basic needs so higher values indicate more deprivation (see table 1). Unfortunately a parish is the smallest geographical level available and larger than a community (24 communities were within 12 parishes), so the number of communities per parish varied: 1 community in each of 7 parishes; 2 communities in 3 parishes; 3 communities in 1 parish; and 8 communities in an additional parish.Using Ecosalud II observations during the community interventions, we constructed implementation indices [21]. The intensity index reflected the frequency and focus of the interventions. Frequency was classified as: 1 = once e.g. theatre; 2 = once every 15 days over three months e.g. agricultural workshops; 3 = once every 15 days over 6 months e.g. farmer field school (FFS); and 4 = ongoing e.g. revolving fund. Focus was classified as: 1 = community e.g. field days, revolving funds, health education sessions and theater, 2 = groups where the attendees were members of a farmers' association or were part of concentrated population sector such as schools; and 3 = individual e.g. FFS. The value of the intensity index was the sum of the applicable component values for a particular community. The coverage index was the average of the percentage attendance for each intervention event. The numerator was the average of values extracted from field forms on which health educators and agronomists recorded those present at activities. The denominator was the number of households in the community. Ranges of each index showed good variation across communities (Table 1).The baseline survey was carried out from July to September 2005. Approximately twenty volunteer households (range [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] were interviewed in each community. Inclusion criteria for participants were: between 18 and 65 years old, literate, lived in the community during the past three years, and interested in participating in the research. In keeping with the Bioethics Committee of the National Health Council of Ecuador standards, participants consented in writing or verbally. Different questionnaires were used for those responsible for managing the household and for those managing crops. To ensure the quality of information, a guide for collecting information was used, data collection was piloted prior to full roll out, and the data collection team supervisor reviewed all surveys for completeness. Supplementary visits were made to clarify or revise incomplete or inaccurate data. A repeat survey was conducted in August 2007, six months after the intervention period (last trimester 2006 to Jan 2007) among the same population of households.For each household, we created a household asset score based on 2005 descriptions of the main materials of the house, roof, and floor; the number of rooms; the number of bedrooms; and the type of land ownership (scored 0 (low, poorer household e.g. with dirt floor, many people per room) to 10 (high, wealthier household with metal roof, more sleeping rooms, owned their own land)). In 2007 we asked whether households had engaged in home improvements since 2005, but few had done so.At both times, we asked the crop manager about farm pesticide use, measured as the number of applications and active ingredient/application (weight in kilograms per hectare) during the most recent crop cycle for each crop, and summed across crops. Hazardous pesticide type was classified according to the World Health Organization toxicological classification [25] as class Ib (highly hazardous) and class II (moderately hazardous). Drawing on questions from prior work [26,27] we documented self-reported pesticide-related practices. Household manager practices included: whether clothes used for pesticide spraying were washed with gloves, whether they or other members entered recently sprayed fields, and adequacy of pesticide container disposal. All household manager variables were dichotomized such that better practices (1) were compared to poorer practices (0). Crop manager practices included: washing hands e.g. before eating and before smoking; use of effective personal protective equipment (PPE) for mixing and application e.g. gloves, plastic poncho or rubber pants; and number of body areas usually wet when applying pesticides i.e. more body areas, higher exposure. As the raw ranges of the sum of items for each of these latter indices varied (washing, 4; use of PPE, 5, body areas, 8) we converted each to 0-10 scores. For the first two crop manager scores, higher was better indicating lower pesticide exposure. For the last, higher scores indicated greater pesticide exposure and worse for the person's health.Age (continuous) and education (dichotomized as less than six and six or more years) were measured in 2005. As alcohol-related problems can affect neurobehavioral performance, we used a 10-item Ecuadorian questionnaire from the Alcoholic Rehabilitation Centre which taps drinking behaviors and social disruption potentially associated with drinking. As positive responses were few, we decided to sum items to provide a composite score for this covariate ranging from 0, no problems, to 10, significant disruption [13].For our health outcome, we sought a neurobehavioural measure [14] which had been associated with life endowments (education) and neurotoxic pesticide exposure [13] and which could be responsive to health educational interventions aimed at reducing pesticide use and practicing safer pesticide management [17]. Given our scaling up from three communities in our earlier intervention research to twenty four communities in this project, we also needed a measure which was feasible for a lay person to administer reliably and quickly. We therefore chose Digit Span which taps concentration, attention and shorter term memory with good reliability and validity yet which takes a reasonable amount of time [16]. We combined recall of the number of digits, both forwards and backwards, to achieve greater sensitivity, with the sum ranging from 0-no to 12-high recall.We assessed potential selection biases by comparing characteristics of those lost to follow-up, those participating in both surveys and those excluded due to pairing or missing data (independent t-tests or Chi-square).For categorical practice variables, we constructed a dichotomous improvement variable based on improved practices between surveys. Ordinal scales had sufficient breadth of distributions to be treated as continuous, so difference scores were calculated. The right-skewed distributions of differences in pesticide use required transformation into deciles for modeling purposes, with higher deciles signifying greater reductions in pesticide use. We conducted extensive cross-tabulations of dichotomous and ordinal variables, used ANOVAS and t-tests to link these with continuous variables, and employed correlations among continuous variables to understand patterns in the data.Multilevel models of predictors of 2007 Digit Span were constructed using the MIXED procedure in SAS Version 9.2 with maximum likelihood estimation [28]. We used the default degrees of freedom method (containment). For covariance we used variance components, i.e. estimation of both the variance of intercept and the variance of the residual, which were uncorrelated. We assessed the variance of the slopes for each predictor variable with an unstructured covariance matrix, but these variances were not significant. We ran separate models for each of the household and crop managers, given different social roles within the household [29] and sets of practice variables. All variables were treated as fixed effects. Starting with an empty model, we first added Digit Span in 2005 (Model I) followed by all individual and household variables (Model II), the latter contribute to testing hypothesis 2. Then we entered the community-level variables (Model III) to test hypotheses 1 & 2. Changes in -2 Log Likelihoods were significant until this point but we were left with a number of variables in which the parameter estimate/standard error ratio was substantially below 1.96 (so not significant at the p < 0.05 level), and a host of non-significant interaction terms which were difficult to interpret. Hence, we removed these non-significant variables in final reduced models (Model IV). Although the change in -2LogLikelihood was not significant, the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) improved at this stage i.e. lower AIC/BIC values, indicating better fit. Though we had less than the suggested minimum sample size of at least 30 groups with 30 observations to detect interactions [23], we did test for both within and cross level interactions in our final models [30]. However, we found no interactions were significant at even a relatively inclusive level of significance (p < 0.1), so we did not include them in the final models.Among 477 household managers in 2005, 39 (8%) were lost to follow-up (see dropouts in Figure 1), most commonly due to household dissolution, individual migration out of the area, or the project team's persistent inability to locate them. Drop-outs were younger (mean years ± SD of 35 ± 12 versus 40 ± 12 in cohort, unpaired t-test p = 0.03), and had better digit span scores (4.6 ± 1.8 versus 4.1 ± 1.7, p = 0.07) than cohort participants. Household managers were overwhelmingly women (427/438, 97%). Among 497 crop managers in 2005, 44 (9%) were lost for similar reasons. Drop-outs were also younger (37 ± 13 versus 42 ± 13, p = 0.02) and had a lower proportion with worse alcohol-related problems score (0.16 vs. 0.4, p = 0.002). Crop managers were primarily men (396/453, 87%).In order to use asset information (on the household manager questionnaire) for crop managers and pesticide use information (on the crop manager questionnaire) for household managers, we excluded 2007 households in which only one was present. We paired the household and crop managers for each household (n = 436 households) (see paired in Figure 1). Missings created challenges for several variables, citing the largest numbers here: age, 40 household and 14 crop managers; education, 37 household and 48 crop managers; 2005 digit span, 36 household and 49 crop managers; practice variables, 31 household and 18 crop managers. We were left with 376 household managers (79% of 2005, 86% of available 2007 participants) and 380 crop managers (76% of 2005, 85% of available 2007 participants) with complete data. Differences between those excluded for multiple missing values and those retained were only significant for: higher mean 2005 digit span (4.5 versus 4.1, p = 0.02) and lower mean reduction in highly hazardous pesticide use (-0.5 versus -1.0, p = 0.02) among excluded household managers; and lower mean alcoholrelated problems score (1.1 versus 1.5, p = 0.001) among excluded crop managers.On univariate analyses including all those with responses for that variable, several reported practices changed. A significant improvement was noted in the proportion of household managers reporting wearing gloves to wash spray clothing (0.32 to 0.55, McNemar p < 0.0001). Among crop managers, highly significant improvements (all paired t-tests p < 0.0001) were found in the use of PPE (mean ± SD score of 3.9 ± 1.9 to 4.4 ± 1.8), reduced wetting of the body (5.2 ± 2.3 to 3.9 ± 2.3) and washing face and hands (8.1 ± 1.9 to 9 ± 3.3). Use of highly hazardous (2.0 ± 4.3 to 0.7 ± 1.8 kg/hectare/crop cycle) and moderately hazardous (1.7 ± 3.8 to 0.7 ± 1.8) pesticides also decreased on cohort farms. Among those managers with complete data, overall patterns of change remained the same (see change scores in Table 2)In each set of managers' models (see tables 3 &4), digit span in 2005 played a substantial role in explaining variation in 2007, signaled by both the change in -2LogLikelihood and the coefficients e.g. 0.38 increase in 2007 with each 1.0 increment in 2005 for the household manager. The additional effects of level I variables were also important, particularly age (significant reductions per year).Practice changes had small influences on digit span: reduction in moderately hazardous pesticide use of one decile was associated with an increase in digit span of 0.04 among household managers, while improved washing of the hands and face after application by crop managers was of similar magnitude. Improvement in PPE use, negatively associated with digit span among crop managers, may be due to poor quality, infrequent cleaning, inappropriate use or lack of filter changes in PPE. Community coverage by health promotion interventions was associated with a modest increment in digit span (0.2) only among the crop managers.Both household assets (increases) and the community proportion of households with unsatisfied basic needs (decreases) were significant contributors to 2007 digit span. The latter effect was primarily additional, as very few level 1 coefficients were reduced, many stayed the same and some even increased, such as household asset score.Each of our hypotheses was proven at least partially correct, with some differences between manager roles and some limits to explanation possible. The limited change in mean digit span between survey times likely indicates the influence of broader determinants of health, the stability of the measure, the persistence of pesticide-related neurotoxic effects, and/or limited intervention impacts. For the first, lower digit span was associated with lower education but also increasing age [14], the latter a reflection of lifetime conditions or declining ability. For the second, cross-survey correlations were of medium strength, so additional variance could be accounted for by repeat measurement. Unfortunately, the limited *Although use of pesticides is a household variable, it is assigned to each manager and their n's are different, so values vary across columns number of neurobehavioural measures applicable in low education populations and limited resources impeded our examining this among a larger set of neurobehavioral measures. For the third, most participants had worked in agriculture since childhood, with several decades of pesticide exposure. Cumulative years as well as recent experience working with pesticides are both thought to contribute to neurobehavioral deficits [31]. Unlike long duration cohort studies showing Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's disease impacts of such exposure in the elderly [32], shorter duration cohort studies of neurobehavioral performance are rare.Regarding the fourth explanation (and our first hypothesis), only a few intervention evaluations exist, including our earlier work in which more intensive interventions resulted in more substantial improvements [17]. Community intervention coverage was important for crop managers, being more involved in agricultural interventions, while household managers had difficulties participating in activities [21,29]. Hence hypothesis 1 was only partially supported, due to the multifactorial determination of neurobehavioral performance, the chronic nature of neurotoxic effects, and the limited intensity of our interventions.For hypothesis 2, household assets (positive) and community prevalence of unsatisfied basic needs (negative) both explained variation in 2007 neurobehavioral performance. Rural areas of Ecuador have not experienced the increases in economic consumption occurring in urban areas [11]. Substantial differences in social capital and access to resources occur within as well as across geographic areas [33]. Heterogeneity in social networks and agricultural production methods has been demonstrated in Carchi [34]. From the mid-90's to the mid 2000's, gradients in resources were either persistent (Carchi parishes) or worsened (Chimborazo province), particularly in indigenous cantons (Guamote, Riobamba) (p 26) [11]. We can describe these heterogeneities as inequities Bolded values* significant at p < 0.05 ^AIC = Akaike Information Criteria, BIC = Bayesian Information Criteria, both measures of fit [1] attributable to the combined effects of: a historical legacy of hierarchy and social stratification [4]; persistent ignoring of farmers' rights by politicians and farmers [19]; in-egalitarian social policy for decades [35]; declining productivity among smallholder farmers [36]; and unequal globalization [10], a widespread underlying reason for inequities in health [37]. Our study demonstrates inequities at a more micro level to complement others' more macro findings [7][8][9]11]. On a cautionary note, the need for pairing and missing data reduced our cohort with full data considerably, despite adequate follow-up. Our use of self-report and recall, rather than direct observation and bi-weekly logs [26,27], likely reduced pesticide use data validity. Respondents aware of the broader sustainable and health agriculture goals of EcoSalud II may have reported greater changes than actually occurred. Our community social resources measure, only the number of organizations, does not reflect broader organization types or contributions. We focused on literate populations, in order to use our neurobehavioural measure, and worked with community leadership who were open to cooperating with the project and rural small-holder farm members who agreed to participate in interventions. Hence our communities and households are necessarily selected samples, with only part of the full spectrum of inequities which exist in rural Ecuador or other LMICs. Our results on community deprivation and household assets may be less dramatic than one might expect to exist among those covering a broader range of the spectrum of inequity.Further work should follow our cohort through the period of social policy development occurring in Ecuador, including restrictions on the use of highly hazardous pesticides (July 2010) and implementation of a economic supports for the poor. Combined primary and secondary research in LMICs should continue exploring community or neighborhood level social gradients and their consequences for different health outcomes [38] and interventions [39]. Exploration of the role of rural municipalities in addressing inequities in determinants of health [40] including monitoring of policy adherence [19] should be encouraged. Finally, correcting the current imbalance in social inequities research between High and Low-Medium Income Countries is urgently needed to inform global and national social policies addressing inequities [5].","tokenCount":"3867"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7781475749.json b/data/part_1/7781475749.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8b2abcb2892ae544b177d6e9a1d955b10e30376c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7781475749.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"75f35a47cf9b9ae720e682d50db9a93c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/48360c4f-e8ef-4fc5-91e7-21b039bf92e3/retrieve","id":"853006159"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9fa909a8-b7b8-475f-af52-f0d0387ed594","pagecount":"2","content":"Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) nyaata beeladoota qotiisa xixinnaa Kaayyoo Beeladoota naannoo gammoojjii gogaa keessa jiraataniif nyaata sadarkaa gaarii qopheessuu.Ilbiisaa fi dhibee irraa eeguuf, qoricha ilbiisaa fi fungi itti facaasi. Gadi-fageenya cm 3 tiin facaasi, ykn erga biqilee booda walirraa fageenya m1 tiin biqiltoota wal-irraa fageenya m 2 gidduu jiran keessa toraan dhaabi.Xaa'oo DAP ykn dhoqqee sa'aa baay'ina kg 100/hektaaraatti itti godhi. Aramaa • Dafee waan hin guddanneef, waggaa isa jalqabaa keessa torban afur keessatti si'a tokkicha arami.Erga midhaan haamamee booda dheerina m 0.8 tti muri. Pigeon pean yoo gudisee dheedame hin horoomu. Haala bookkeenya gaarii keessatti waggaatti si'a lama in haamama.Bu'aa dalagaa • Rhodes grass, cynodon dactylon fi molasses grassii wajjin wal-makee dhaabama. Yeroo dheedamuu, wagga isa duraa keessa dafee guddata. Sana booda waan hanqachaa adeemuuf, wagga 4 fi 5 keessatti lammata dhaabamuu qaba. Hektaara tokkicha irraa oomisha toonii 20 eeggadhu; yoo xaa'oo argate garuu kun hektaaratti gara toonii 40 tti ol guddata. Xaa'oon kunis baala pirootiinii %10-15 of keessaa qabuu fi kan mi'aawuun ta'uu qaba.Naannoo sabbata lafaatti iji sanyii harkaan funaanama. Iji sanyii dafee bilchaata, dafees hin harca'u. Oomishi sanyii gara kg 900-1500/ha ti.Midhaan kun namaafis, beeladaafis nyaata in ta'a. Cidiin, qollii fi kosiin midhaan biilaa faayida-qabeessa ta'a. Utuu hin dheechisin, hanga midhaan kun guddatutti eegi. Sana booda suuta suutan ha dheedamu. Muki biqilaa kanaa lallaafaa waan ta'eef, yeroo hunda dheechisuun gaarii miti. Pigeon pea okaa gogaaf in hamama. Yeroo haamtu harka sadaffaa isa gara irraa qofa muri. Akka jalli isaa hin cabne ilaali. Pigeon pea hojii industiriifis filatamaa dha. Okaa jiidhaas in ta'a. Okaattis nyaata mi'anwaa dha.For further information, contact: Fodder Adoption Project fodderadoption.wordpress.com Forage Diversity Project International Livestock Research Institute, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Email: a.duncan@cgiar.org or j.hanson@cgiar.org Information leaflet on livestock feeds and feeding technologies for small-scale farmers developed through collaboration between ILRI and its partners June 2010","tokenCount":"304"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7784694337.json b/data/part_1/7784694337.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b1273ed1496f9026ce6667d323685cb1518d3e99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7784694337.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"852819351f8800f45df2ef092b5d0ae4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0898725f-7b3a-4ae7-a351-003e3f9d9c99/retrieve","id":"1361183034"},"keywords":["climate-smart agriculture","gender","adaption","climate change","decision making"],"sieverID":"4de49a05-0d17-4aa1-b3f4-6db466ed32f9","pagecount":"13","content":"Lutomia C ( ) Gender norms and di erences in access and use of climate-smart agricultural technology in Burundi.Agriculture is an important driver of growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (OECD/FAO, 2016). The sector is dominant in most countries in terms of employment, and its share in GDP formation remains significantly high (Tomšík et al., 2015;Sakho-Jimbira and Hathie, 2020). However, despite its contribution to the economies in the region, agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa remains relatively low compared to the rest of the world (Bjornlund et al., 2020). The low production levels are attributed to factors inherent to Africa and its people. In particular, gender norms and climate change are key contributors to the region's low agricultural production (Bjornlund et al., 2020).Gender norms in Sub-Saharan Africa vary from one community to another. Nonetheless, there are some common similarities. For example, women have limited control over family farms, play a limited role in decision-making, perform household chores, and are restricted from venturing into new activities without the approval of their spouses. These gender norms determine socially acceptable behavior for men and women and, as a result, shape women's empowerment opportunities (Jayachandran, 2021;Bullough et al., 2022). These informal, unwritten social rules influence the gender gaps between men, women, and gender-diverse people because they determine key opportunities for women's empowerment in agriculture.Agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa is also impacted by climate change, and the effects on smallholder farmers are worsened by the pre-existing vulnerabilities. Climate change is a global phenomenon that poses a wide range of challenges, especially on smallholder production systems in the developing regions of the world (Gomez-Zavaglia et al., 2020). As a result, consequences of climate change such as drought and erratic and irregular rainfall patterns exacerbate food insecurity and deny many households much needed revenue. Despite key interventions being implemented in most parts of SSA, climate change continues to pose significant challenges that could destabilize local markets, and heighten agricultural risks for smallholder farmers, particularly the women (Chilunjika and Gumede, 2021;Baptista et al., 2022).In Burundi, the interaction between climatic shocks and gender norms slows down economic growth and development, in part because of the limited women's participation in key areas that determine agricultural production in the country (Warinda et al., 2020;Hillenbrand et al., 2022). The women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, are frequently disadvantaged by gender norms that deny them critical opportunities of empowerment such as decision-making, land ownership, and control over personal decisions. Moreover, women are expected to take care of household chores and are therefore unable to participate fully in agriculture because of time constraints. Given the crucial role of women in agriculture and the rural economy, their disadvantage due to gender norms is particularly concerning in the context of rain-fed agriculture in Burundi, which is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts.The majority of farmers in Burundi practice rain-fed agriculture which is extremely vulnerable to climate change (Berckmoes and White, 2016;Muchiri and Nzisabira, 2020). Irregular rainfall patterns and increased cases of droughts leads to a decrease in crop production, subsequently impacting the livelihood of the majority of farmers. In the literature, smallholder farmers are often the most affected in the region by this scenario due to a wide range of reasons (Warinda et al., 2020;Hillenbrand et al., 2022). First, the impact of climate change is associated with prevalence of pests and diseases which cause a decrease in crop production (SkendŽić et al., 2021). As a result, farmers incur more losses, leading to increased food insecurity due to the decline in crop production.Climate change has exposed farmers in Burundi, especially women to potential threats of crop failure. Severe challenges with food security also exposes women farmers to devastating economic challenges (Campbell et al., 2014;Mangheni et al., 2019;Azadi et al., 2021). The situation is worsened because of increased cases of changing weather patterns, erratic rains, and droughts (Campbell et al., 2014). As a result, agricultural production has been hampered, necessitating the need for interventions to address the problem and uplift smallholder women common bean farmers in Burundi.Second, the majority of the farmers are not wellconversant with emerging climate-smart technologies and therefore suffer from prolonged drought, irregular rainfall, and rising temperatures, which affect agricultural output and consequently livelihoods of households that depend on rain-fed agriculture as the primary source of income (Arbuckle et al., 2015;Kalele et al., 2021). While challenges associated with climate change affect nearly all farmers, women farmers in Burundi are more vulnerable to climate shocks due to pre-existing conditions and gender norms that hinder their agricultural production efforts (Maja and Ayano, 2021;Theodory, 2021). For example, women farmers in Burundi face low economic endowment, which limits their ability to invest in farming inputs and technologies that could improve their yields (Maja and Ayano, 2021). Women also face challenges with land rights, which restrict their access to land and reduce their ability to produce food.Additionally, women have inadequate access to information and resources, including extension services, market information, and financial services (Maja and Ayano, 2021;Theodory, 2021). These socio-economic challenges are unique to specific regions, exacerbating the difficulties faced by women farmers. Addressing these pre-existing challenges is crucial to improving the resilience of women farmers in Burundi and reducing the negative impacts of climate change on their livelihoods. In the literature, the roles of the majority of women in Burundi, are limited to domestic chores while the men participate in commercial activities, resulting in unequal financial endowment between men and women. This scenario leads unequal access to education, economic empowerment, and wider gender gaps (Katungi et al., 2020).Nonetheless, women constitute a significant labor force in agriculture in Burundi, making them major players in agricultural production in the region despite facing a myriad of challenges such as low access to markets, weak institutional policy, low technology adoption, inadequate government support, and poverty, which are among the most common challenges across SSA (Mizik, 2021;Theodory, 2021;Bedeke, 2022). Due to these pre-existing vulnerabilities, women farmers are often unable to adjust and respond effectively to the impacts of climate change and weather variability, which in turn leads to poor crop production (Bunce et al., 2010;Bedeke, 2022;Murken and Gornott, 2022). Consequently, food security becomes a challenge, causing most women to rely on government support, which often does not address all the farmers' needs.Climatic shocks and gender norms have created unfavorable economic environment for small holder farmers in Burundi, and the most affected are smallholder women farmers (Batungwanayo et al., 2023). In response to the prevailing challenges posed by climate change in the country various interventions have been introduced to address the situation, especially among bean farmers. However, there is limited literature on the success of these interventions in helping close existing gender gaps in bean production. Disaggregating the bean production challenges by gender to better understand the plight of smallholder bean farmers in Burundi. This study explores gendered differences in access and use of climate smart agriculture among bean farmers in Burundi to understand how climate smart agricultural interventions are transforming gender norms and practices, building sustainable food systems that support women as equal partners in agriculture.. /fsufs. .. Materials and methodsThe study was conducted in the communes of Kirundo and Bwambarangwe in Kirundo province (1,703.34 km 2 ) and in the commune of Muyinga in Muyinga province (1,836.26 km 2 ) (Figure 1). The commune of Muyinga has an area of 379.94 km 2 , accounting for 20.6% of the area of Muyinga province, while the communes of Kirundo and Bwambarangwe have an area of 207.29 km 2 and 193 km 2 , respectively. According to ISTEEBU (2019), the population of Muyinga province is estimated to be 945,771 people with 460,640 males and 485,131 females while the population of Kirundo province is estimated to be 939,560 people, comprising 454,321 males and 485,239 females. These two provinces were chosen for the study because common bean cultivation is widely practiced. Moreover, various climate smart interventions, including climate information services, soil and water conservation, and early warning system, have also been introduced in these two regions. However, it is not clear whether the gender gaps have been closed or how these interventions are helping transform gender norms to close the gender gap in agricultural production. Therefore, undertaking a study in these two provinces helped understand the role climate-smart technology in transforming gender norms and promoting gender equality in agricultural production in Burundi.A survey was conducted in two provinces, Kirundo and Muyinga. In Kirundo province two communes were chosen: Kirundo and Bwambarangwe, while in Muyinga province only the commune of Muyinga was selected. The choice to work in only two provinces and three communes was made due to budget constraints, while the choice of collines within the communes was motivated by the presence or absence of a bean seed producer, who is a partner to ISABU (Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi). In total, four collines were studied, namely Rambo in Kirundo commune, Bugorora in Bwambarangwe commune, and Rugari and Bwica in Muyinga commune.The sample size was calculated using the following formula.where n is the sample size to be determined. Z is the confidence level with an alpha equal to 0.05. The p is the population proportion in the region that is identified to possess the characteristics of interest for this study. Q = 1-p, while the E is the precision error. The actual population of the bean farmers in the three communes was unknown and so the p value was set to 0.05. Therefore, given that q = 0.05, error set to 0.05 and Z = 1.96, the sample determined from this formula was 384.The study employed a combination of purposive sampling to select participants with specific characteristics (common bean farmers) and random sampling to ensure representativeness of the larger population of common bean farmers in Burundi. This combination of sampling techniques helped achieve a balance between selecting participants with relevant characteristics and ensuring that the study's findings can be generalized to the larger population. A list of farmers provided by local extension officer in the different collines formed the sampling frame from which survey participants were randomly selected. The sampling frame was coded in Excel, where the farmers were randomly selected using the RAND function. The application of this procedure resulted in a sample size of 170 respondents, which is ∼42 households per colline for the four targeted collines in the study.The study used a quantitative research design to collect data from common bean farmers across the four collines. All stakeholders jointly developed and piloted the tool to ensure internal consistency and validity before administering it to the selected farmers. The stakeholders involved in the study, included farmers, researchers, and extension workers who provided input in the development of the questionnaire. They were consulted during the design process to ensure that the questions were relevant and could capture the needed information accurately. The questionnaire was developed based on a conceptual framework that included factors influencing common bean production and adoption of climate-smart interventions. The framework included variables such as household characteristics, access to information and resources, production practices, and decision-making.A semi-structured questionnaire that was designed based on review of literature and consultation with experts was used to collect quantitative data. The data was collected through face-toface interviews with selected farmers. The questionnaire gathered data on household socio-demographic details, including age, sex, education, household headship, occupation, and climate-smart interventions adopted by farmers, such as irrigation, use of improved seed, pesticides use, and conservation agriculture (CA). The survey tool also collected information on land ownership, access, and allocation to bean production across seasons, as well as decision-making about bean production. Data on seed and bean varieties planted by farmers and bean production practices were also collected. The questionnaire also collected data on production constraints and farmers' access to information about bean production, technology, and marketing. The study instrument was programmed in ODK and administered to farmers by trained enumerators from ISABU. The data collection process involved.The enumerators underwent a 2-day training that covered the study's objectives, questionnaire administration, and ethical considerations in data collection. The training also included a roleplay session to help the enumerators practice administering the questionnaire and handling any issues that might arise during data collection. One of the main challenges encountered during data collection was the language barrier between the enumerators and some farmers. The study team addressed this challenge by hiring local assistants who could speak the local language to assist in translation during the interviews. .The frequencies and percentages of farmers' responses were obtained through cross-tabulation of categorical variables. Means and standard deviations were also used to describe numeric continuous variables in the data set. Additionally, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and chi-square test of independence were consequently performed to test for existence of systematic differences in the distribution of continuous and categorical variables, respectively.A multivariate probit model was used to estimate the role of institutional, farm, and sociodemographic factors in influencing access to and uptake of climate smart agriculture by common bean farmers in Burundi. A multivariate probit model was preferred in this case because of because of the need to run simultaneous estimation of regression equations which included improved bean seed, conservation agriculture, irrigation pesticide use. Simultaneous estimation of the four regression equations was critical to allow for comprehensive exploitation of the interrelationships that exist between the climate smart practices/technologies based on the assumption that common bean m > 0 and 0 otherwise ε m , m = 1, . . . , M are the error terms that are distributed as multivariate normal. Each of them has a mean of zero, and variance-covariance matrix V, where the V has values of 1 on the leading diagonal and correlation pjk=pkj as offdiagonal elements. In this case the M refers to the number of climate smart technologies observed (in this case they are four equations). The Xm is the p explanatory variables which consists of sociodemographic variable (age, gender, education, marital status, occupation, and relation to household head), farm characteristics (acres under beans, land accessed, and bean manager), institutional support (group membership and distance to agro dealer), technology (mobile phone ownership and social media membership). Beta β are the parameters that are estimated in the model, and E is the distribution term. The latent Y * m denotes decision to use climate smart agriculture which captures unobservable preferences.. Results and discussionsTable 1 presents the socio-demographic characteristics of the farmers who participated in the study disaggregated by gender: men, women, and youths. According to the Charter (2006), youths are individuals between 18 and 35 years old and include both male and female. Women refer to adult females above the age of 35, while men refer to adult males above the age of 35. Youths were not disaggregated into male and female categories because of the small sample size. Disaggregating the data would have made it impossible to conduct any regression analysis. ANOVA tests results for continuous variables are presented in the probability value (p-value) column for the age of the respondents. For the categorical variables (gender, relationship to household head, education, occupation, marital status, and household type) the chi-square tests are presented.The demographic results show that young farmers were the majority (49%), compared to men (31%) and women (19%). The average age of farmers differed significantly by gender (p < 0.000)young farmers 29 years, women 47 years and men 48 years respectively. There were statistically significant gender differences in relation to household head. All the men were household head, while only 36% of the women and 48% of the young farmers indicated being household heads. The results are consistent with the prevailing gender norms in SSA, where more men are household heads. And so, unlike women, male headship captures socio-economic conditions for most men. Women only assume household headship on rare occasions, such as upon the demise of their spouses (Dungumaro, 2008). These results further confirm that the culture of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) farmers in Burundi is deeply rooted in strong patriarchal culture (Kwizera and Base, 2017). Patriarchal cultures are known to dictate gender roles and consequently place restrictions on women's decision-making abilities, workforce participation, and social mobility (Tamale, 2008;Adisa et al., 2019).When most households in society follow these norms, households headed by women are viewed as outliers and may be side-lined in socio-economic activities. This could, in turn, adversely affect the women's participation in agriculture as well as their overall wellbeing. These societal norms also add obstacles to women's participation in agriculture. For women headed households, this means added time constraints because of the increased burden of working on the farms, maintaining the household, and caring for dependants (Sachs, 2018). Moreover, the result also revealed that education statistically significantly differed by gender (p < 0.00). There were more women (30%) without formal education, compared to men at 18% and young farmers at 8%. These findings can be attributed to the high levels of poverty in most parts of the country which is detrimental to the education of the girls in Burundi (Berckmoes and White, 2016;Muchiri and Nzisabira, 2020;Bedeke, 2022). The results further demonstrate that agriculture is the main occupation for majority of bean farmers in Burundi and attracts all people of working age. 90% of the farmers indicating that agriculture was their primary occupation, with all the women stating that agriculture was their main occupation while men were 85% and the youth 90%.The association between marital status and gender was analyzed using a chi-square test, which revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.000). The results showed that the distribution of marital status significantly differed by gender. Specifically, a higher proportion of men (98%) and youths (95%) were married compared to women (67%). The results are consistent with available literature which asserts that women are. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be widowed, separated, or divorced than men because of gender inequality, cultural norms and practices, and poverty (World Bank, 2017;Moodley et al., 2019;Wanjala, 2021). In most settings in SSA, especially in patriarchal cultures, widows and divorcees may be shunned, dispossessed, and even ostracized (Anyanwu, 2014;Ortega-Díaz, 2020). As a result, divorcees are likely to suffer other forms of disadvantage because of the social norms in the society. The percentage of dual household types was statistically significantly (p < 0.000) higher than the percentages of women-only households (1%), men-only households (6%) and women with absentee husbands (9%). The findings in the in marital status and household type of bean farmers reveal a possible difference in the gender vulnerabilities to climate change and adaptation.Table 2 presents farm characteristic disaggregated by gender. The p-values are presented for land accessed and land under beans. For categorical variables, chi-square tests are presented. On average, women reported that their households owned 4 acres of land. However, more men (38%) than women (24%) and youth (36%) owned land. This finding confirms common narrative that outline some of the existing gender disparities in land ownership and access in Sub-Saharan Africa brought about by prevailing gender norms. These disparities explain the cultural biases that tend to disparage the youth and women while favoring men.Most land holdings in Burundi are acquired under customary law. Whereas the nation's statutory law upholds gender equality in land ownership, customary law in Burundi discriminates against the women (Saiget, 2016;Tchatchoua-Djomo, 2018). Customary law devolves land to male members of the paternal line under intestate succession, while women can have tenure after a will is written documenting their ownership of particular property, such a situation is rare (Saiget, 2016;Tchatchoua-Djomo et al., 2020). Moreover, there is no law on inheritance.  threats to agricultural productions. Its impact is widely felt in various sectors of the food value chain. Some of the prevalent production challenges identified by farmers in this study comprised droughts, flood, pests and diseases, and access to fertilizers and agro chemicals. The production constraints differed significantly by gender (p < 0.000). 25% of the youth, 24% of the men and 31% of the women indicated that drought was a major challenge which majorly affected their bean production. The results show that women were the most affected by drought. Additionally, 15% of the youth, 17% of the women and 16% of the men also indicated that flood was a major problem. More men (20%) than youth (11%) and women (10%) mentioned that pests and diseases hindered bean production. The results show that climate change has disrupted the normal climatic conditions of the regions. Kirundo, Muyinga, and Bwambarangwe are known to exhibit varying degrees of precipitation patterns. The annual average rainfall for Kirundo and Bwambarangwe stands at ∼1,200 mm, while that of Muyinga is around 900 mm. The wettest months for these regions are typically observed between February to May, while the driest months tend to fall between June to August (Minani et al., 2013). Moreover, the climate in these areas is humid. However, with the impact of climate change, there have been significant changes in the ecological conditions in the region.The results on post-harvest constraints faced by farmers significantly differed by gender (p 0.000). Post-harvest challenges, including storage pests, excessive rain during post-harvest, and lack of knowledge on appropriate storage practice, were identified as the most common challenges. The results significantly differed by gender with more men 24% than young farmers (18%) and women (16%) stating that storage pests were a major challenge. Among the major market constraints experienced by farmers include fluctuating market prices, poor means of transport, and distance to markets.Table 4 presents changes made by farmers in response to the consequence of climate change that affected their crop production. Majority of the farmers affected by production challenges stated that they used conservation agriculture, manure, and pesticides as the most common interventions to address bean production challenges. Other responses to bean production challenges were conservation agriculture (minimum tillage) and manure. Farmers also used fertilizers, practiced early planting, changed bean varieties planted, and implemented crop diversification in response to production constraints.Regarding decision making on changes to protect bean production by gender, more youths 65% and men 77% indicated that bean production was handled jointly between the man and the woman (Figure 2). By contrast, more women than men and youths combined stated that decision making on changes to protect bean production was made by women. The high percentage of joint decision-making, as demonstrated in the results, can be attributed to the role of agriculture as a major source of income for most smallholder farmers in Burundi.To address the impact of climate change on bean production, farmers implemented different climate smart practices. The top three practices that farmers implemented were fertilizer use (95%), improved seed (77%), and conservation agriculture (Table 5). Farmers also used pesticides (50%) and irrigation (41%) using water mainly obtained from local streams. Except for pesticide use, there were no significant gender differences in the practices implemented by the farmers.Institutional, technical, and social support services received by farmers are presented in Table 6. The result showed that there  was no significant gender difference in distance to the nearest agro-dealers. The average distance covered by the farmers to reach the nearest agro-dealer was 3.1 kilometers. The result also showed that young farmers had a higher access information via their phones than men and women. Additionally, more youth 46% than men (33%) and women (21%) received training on bean production.The number of farmers on social media platforms was relatively low-youth (8%), women (5%) and men (8%). Nonetheless, more youths (79%) indicated being members of local farmer groups..The multivariate probit coefficient estimates of factors that influenced bean farmers use of climate smart agriculture practices are presented in Table 7. The Wald chi-square test for overall model fit is significant at 1%. This test indicates that the explanatory variables included in the model were jointly significantly different from zero, suggesting that at least one of them had significant influence on the use of climate-smart agriculture. Second, the likelihood ratio test was significant, meaning that the multivariate probit model was appropriate in estimating the influence of socio-economic and institutional factors on use of climate smart agriculture. Five out of six correlations coefficients were positive, implying that the various climate-smart practices are complementary practices. The correlation coefficient between conservation agriculture and irrigation was negative, suggesting that farmers tended to substitute the two practices.The results showed that men and young farmers were less likely to use certified seeds than women farmers. In most countries in Sub Saharan Africa, common bean is considered a women's crop, especially among smallholder farmers because of the number of women involved in its production (Nakazi et al., 2017). As such, most common bean interventions in the past have targeted women farmers. Therefore, it is probable that women are more informed on various climate smart intervention such as the use of improved seeds that can be used to improve bean production in Burundi compared to men and young farmers. In this regard, therefore, certified seed stands out as a key intervention that positively contributes to closing gender gaps in agriculture.A study by Ochieng (2014) explored women farmers' participation in farm management in Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo and found that farms managed by women were less intensive because of women's inability to acquire technological inputs such as fertilizer and improved seed. As a result of these findings most interventions targeted women bean farmers. Furthermore, available reviews on gender in seed systems hint toward two major factors that promote women's access to seed-their roles as seed users and as seed producers ( et al., 2021). Thus, gender responsive seed systems have a significant benefit to women farmers because it recognizes their interests and preferences, consequently helping women overcome barriers to seed access (Mausch et al., 2021).Acreage under common beans had a significant positive influence on farmers use of certified seeds and pesticides. An increase in land area under beans by one acre increased the likelihood of farmers using of certified seeds and pesticides by 0.1 and 0.2 respectively. In Burundi, bean crop is grown for food and commercial purposes (Table 2). As such, based on economies of scale, farmers with large acres of land under beans earn more when they use pesticides and improved seeds compared to those with less acres of land. Majority of small holder farmers thus increase their household earnings through use of certified seeds and pesticides, especially when they have access to more land (Okonya et al., 2019;Megerle and Niragira, 2020). For instance (Langyintuo, 2020), argues enhanced availability and accessibility of seed and other inputs through formal and informal sources boosts smallholder farmers' revenue, making economic sense to expand land area under crop production. Whereas land ownership had a significant negative influence on the probability of farmers practicing irrigation, it positively and significantly influenced farmers' use of conservation agriculture. The results reveal that it that land ownership plays a crucial role in influencing farmers' decisions to practice conservation agriculture and irrigation as climate-smart practices. The positive correlation between land ownership and conservation agriculture indicates that land ownership enhances adoption of conservation practices, while farmers who do not own land are more inclined to using irrigation. Pertaining to conservation agriculture, possessing land can provide farmers, notably women, with a feeling of stability, encouraging them to invest in long-term conservation agriculture initiatives. In contrast, land lease arrangements may motivate non-landowning farmers, predominantly women, to concentrate on irrigation to optimize crop production and revenue. Earlier studies have also demonstrated mixed outcomes regarding the relationship between land ownership and adoption of climatesmart practices. For instance, some studies have identified a positive relationship between land tenure security and climate smart practices (Liversage, 2021), whereas others have reported no significant association or even negative correlations (Nkomoki et al., 2018).Joint bean crop management had a positive and negative significant influence on the use of pesticides and conservation agriculture, respectively. Because of joint management the man and the woman can observe the impact of pests and diseases and therefore jointly agree on the solution. In Table 3, pests and diseases was identified as the most prevalent bean production challenge and hence it could have influenced the joint decision of both man and woman on the use of pesticides as a climate-smart technology. Additionally, relationship to household head had a significant positive influence of farmers use of pesticides. The finding in Table 3 revealed that pests and diseases was a major obstacle to crop production which widens the gender gap between men and women. Therefore, use of pesticides could have a positive impact in the overall bean production per household, consequently leading to an increase in household income and reduction in gender gaps in bean production.Membership to agricultural groups had a significant positive influence on farmers use of pesticides. The result is an indication of significant role of groups influencing farmers to practice climatesmart agriculture. For instance, farmers can get access to critical information on the use on climate-smart practices via groups. In a nutshell, farmer groups in the study area may have been important in enabling farmers to access pesticides or learn application of the chemicals. Examining the findings through gender lens shows that groups may have offered women farmers interaction and with knowledge sharing platforms. Furthermore, farmer groups may have played a significant role in boosting the social capital and capacity of farmers by supporting learning about climate-smart agriculture (Aidoo and Fromm, 2015).The study focused on evaluating disparities among bean farmers in Burundi in relation to access and utilization of climatesmart agricultural technologies and practices, and the impact of these interventions on closing the gender gap in bean production. Adaptation to climate change among men, women, and young farmers was also examined.Findings highlighted differences in land ownership and access based on gender. Men generally owned and accessed more land than women and young farmers. For women, lack of land ownership was a considerable barrier to bean production. However, the use of certified seeds promoted women's involvement in bean production and contributed to joint decision-making within households. Most bean farmers, regardless of gender, participated in joint decision-making on bean production. Furthermore, men and young farmers were less inclined to use certified seeds compared to women.Although women and youth experienced more vulnerability to bean production constraints than men, responses to climatic shocks were similar across genders. Having access to more land increased the probability of using pesticides, with men using them more often than women and youth. Women demonstrated a preference for conservation agriculture over irrigation, likely due to limited land access and ownership affecting their ability to secure financial capital for irrigation activities.Pests and diseases were the primary confronting bean farmers in Burundi. Joining agricultural groups proved to be significantly beneficial for smallholder farmers, providing access to essential bean production information and climate practices that improved crop yield. Membership in these groups also strengthened social capital and fostered learning in agricultural systems resilience. Disparities in mobile phone ownership and participation in social media based on gender impacted access to agricultural information. Men and young farmers were more likely to own phones and access information compared to women. Factors such as land under beans, joint decision-making, land ownership, and group membership enhanced the use of climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices, promoting positive climate change adaptation. Nonetheless, adoption and implementation of climatesmart agricultural technologies were limited by factors such as marital status and distance from an agro-dealer.To increase farming resilience and close gender gaps through the promotion of climate-smart technologies and practices, it is crucial to address gender disparities in land access, digital technology, and land ownership, as well as to support women's literacy via higher education and agricultural extension. Establishing an inclusive land tenure system that removes biases in land systems is necessary to close gender gaps in agricultural production by raising land ownership among women and youth. Enhancing land tenure rights, security, and incorporating digital technologies for sharing climate information are vital for increasing awareness and adoption of climate-smart agriculture.The study acknowledges the influence of various gendered differences on technology adoption, depending on factors such as family dynamics, local context, interventions, and education. Future research should concentrate on addressing these gendered differences to improve bean crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, future investigations should differentiate youth into young men and women to better understand gender gaps in bean production and access to climate-smart technologies.First, the study highlights the need to address gender disparities in land access and ownership to promote the use of climatesmart technologies and practices among all smallholder farmers. Specifically, policy interventions that promote an inclusive land tenure system that eliminates biases in land systems and increases the amount of land owned by women and youth should be implemented. Second, the study emphasizes the importance education, particularly for women farmers, to enhance their awareness and adoption of climate-smart agriculture.Third, the study underscores the importance of promoting membership in agricultural groups and improving social capital to enhance access to information on bean production and climate-smart technologies. Additionally, policy interventions that encourage the use of certified seeds, which have been shown to increase women's participation in bean production and joint decision-making, should be promoted. Fourth, the study highlights the need to address the prevalent challenges of pests and diseases affecting smallholder bean farmers. Furthermore, policy interventions that promote the use of conservation agriculture as an alternative to irrigation for smallholder women farmers who lack access to capital-intensive climate-smart practices should be implemented.Finally, the study recommends that future research should focus on addressing the current gendered differences to enhance bean crop production in SSA. It also highlights the need for future research to explore and understand the gender gaps in bean production between young men, young women, men and women farmers, and access and use of climate-smart technologies.Overall, the policy implications of this study are significant and should be considered by policymakers, development practitioners, and other stakeholders to promote gender equality in agricultural production, enhance the resilience dimension of farming, and close gender gaps in the use of climate-smart technologies and practices among smallholder farmers in Burundi and other similar contexts.","tokenCount":"5649"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7786538432.json b/data/part_1/7786538432.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..042ba55e11eabb4768da869993ff3c80f761b422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7786538432.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1cc04777e411491cac660300a02c1f3a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/814fb3bf-ee00-4fbf-8015-5f99c5f4399d/retrieve","id":"374044611"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34e8d7cf-3cd7-437a-85eb-bade38806a45","pagecount":"11","content":"La yuca es uno de los cultivos básicos de las reglones tropicales y constituye mfis del 50% de la producción total de rafees y tubércul os de estas reglones (Booth, 197~). La producción mundial de yuca en 1980 alcanzó un total de 122 millones de toneladas (FAO, 1981). Se ha estimado (Phllllps, 1974)  que la yuca aporta el 39, 12 y 7% de los requerim ien tos calóricos en la alimentación de las poblaciones de Afrlca, América Latina y el Lejano Oriente, respectivamente. Una de las mayores limitaciones para aumentar el consumo de l a yuca en alimentación humana es el co rto tiempo de conservación de las raTees después de la cosecha; las raTees se deterioran rápidamente, disminuyendo su calidad y por tanto se hacen Inaceptables para el consumo humano y para ot ros usos .Durante los Qltimos anos varias entidades nacionales e Inte rnacionales han realizado investigaciones o rientadas a determinar las causas del deterioro postcosecha de las raf ees de yuca. Además se han efectuado t raba jos destinados a di sminuir la perecibllldad de las rafees mediante tratamientos pre-y postcosecha y a desarrollar sistemas o práct icas de almacenamiento de las raTees.El presente trabajo revisará someramente los diferentes aspectos relacionados con la deterioración postcosecha de la yuca, los fact o re s que afectan la deterioración, los tratamientos para extender la durabilidad de las raTees y las prácticas de almacenamiento de las mismas.La parte más Importante de una rafz de yuca la constituye la pulpa o parénquima que está básicamente constltufda de haces xilógenos (vasos de xilema) distribuidos en forma de estrfas y en los cuales se concentra el almidón de la rafz. En el centro de l a raTz se encuentra el xllógeno fibroso cen tral mientras que en la periferia de la rafz se local Iza la corteza o cáscara constituida de capas superpuestas de tejidos corchosos, fibras esclerenqulmatosas, vasos con látex y cámblum (Figura 1).Los sTntomas de deterioración de l as rafees de yuca aparecen durante los 3 primeros dfas después de la cosecha y se manifiestan por cambios de coloración en los tejidos parenquimátlcos y los haces xllógenos. Estos úl-11 Pos tdoctoral Fellow~ Wye College, London Unlverslty. Trop ical Products lnstitute (T.P.I,¡-CIAT Proyecto Cooperativo de Almacenamiento de rafees de yuca, Fitopatólogo y Bloqufmlco/Nutrfclonlsta , res pectivamente, del Programa de Yuca. \"94 t timos adquieren tonos azulados o azul-oscuro para l uego pasar a colo ra~l6n café o marrón, en f orma de estrfas vasculares que se pueden observar en se~ciones longitudinales de las rafees (Hontaldo, 1973). Las estrfas pueden llegar a tener un color negro, causado por el oscurecimiento de las paredes celulares de los haces xllógenos y por la aparlcl6n de oclusiones de origen parenqulm5tlco dentro de ellas mismas (Rickard, 1982). Los cambios de colo-rac16n pueden extenderse a las células parenqulmátlcas, las cuales presentan un tinte azulado (Averre, 1967) y también pueden mostrar sfntomas de desecación .El Inicio y el grado posterior de la deterioración de las rafees est6 estrechamente relacionado con la presencia de da~os mecánicos, los cuales son normalmente ocasionados al momento de la cosecha. Algunas caractertstlcas varletales (longitud de las rafees, presencia de pedúnculos largos, etc.), la textura y grado de compactación del suelo y las formas de cosecha (manual o mecánica) son algunos de los factores que afectan la incidencia de los da~os mecánicos en las rafees (Cock et al., 1978). Las áreas distal y proximal de las rafees son las más propensas a s~frlr da~s mecánicos. La mayor o menor adherencia de la cáscara de la rafz al parénquima puede Igualmente afectar la susceptibilidad a los da~s mecfinlcos durante la co-s~cha y el transporte post~rlor de las rafees. Por estas razones, los primeros sfntomas de deterloracl6n de las raTees se presentan norma l mente debajo de las áreas donde se ha danado o perdido la c6scara, o en los extremos distal o prox imal.Además de los cambios en la coloración, las raTees pueden también ser atacadas por microorgan ismos que producen pudrición a los 5-7 dfas después de la cosecha (Booth, 1976;Lozano et al., 1978). En estos casos también se presenta el fenómeno del estriado azul/negro que se extiende desde el margen de las reglones podridas en forma similar al deterioro producido por da~os mecánicos.Las lnvestlgacionu realizadas hasta la fecha han permitido definir \" '\" clnse • <In dclrrlorncllín , In • c unl<'~ hnn ~lelo df\"nomlnn<l.\" prlmnrln y ~e cundarla (Booth, 1974(Booth, , 1976;;Rickard and Coursey , 1981). La deterioración primaria o fisiológica se manifiesta normalmente con la presencia de las estrías azul-negras o marrones, con mayor Intensidad a l rededor de la periferia de la corteza. La deterlorac16n secundarla o mlcroblal ocurre después de la deterloracl6n primaria e Implica pudrlcl6n mlcroblal causada por varios hongos y bacterias, los cuales actOan como patógenos de las heridas.Las dos clases de deterlorac16n son Ilustradas en la.flgura 2, en la cual puede observarse que en la deterioración primaria o fisiológica los tejidos afectados forman un anillo de estrTas y células desecadas cerca de la periferia del parénquima, mientras que esta dfstrlbuc16n de estrTas no se observa en las rafees podridas y más bien se nota una ~1ceracl6n de los tejidos en las áreas afectadas por la deterioración microbiana (Lozano et al., 1978). Ha sido ampliamente demostrado que las dos clases de deterioración son debidas a procesos distintos (Averre , 1967;Passan y Noon, 1977;Noon y Booth, 1977). No ha sido posible ai slar microorgani smos de los tejidos afectados por deterioración fisiológica mientras que en el ca~o de la deterioración mlcroblal se han podido ai slar hongos de los géneros Penlcllllum, Asperglllus, Rhlzopus, Fusarlum, etc.Evaluación de la susceptibilidad a la deterioración fisiológica La pereclbflldad de las rafees de yuca es una de las llmltantes más Importantes en el mercadeo y comercialización de las rafees de yuca. Por lo tanto, es Importante evaluar el grado de susceptibilidad de las rafees a la dete rioración postcosecha y pa ra ello es necesario estandarizar algunos factores tales como controlar e l nivel de dano mec&nlco durante la cosecha y el posterior transporte, evitar la contaminación mlcroblal y asegurar condiciones adecuadas de almacenamiento de las rafees.Un método subjetivo, basado en los trabajos de Marrlott y colaboradores (1978), para evaluar la susceptibilidad de las rafees de yuca a la deterioración fisiológica ha sido recientemente desarrollado por el Proyecto Coope rativo CIATITPI. El detalle de esta metodologfa se describe a con~l nuaclón:1) Seleccionar rafees comerciales de tamano medio con un mfnlmo de 18 cm de longitud, sin danos mec&nlcos y sin pudrición precosecha.2) Descartar los extremos distal y proximal cortándolos con un cuchillo, de forma de dejar la sección de la rafz de 15 cm de largo.3) Cubrir el lado distal de la sección de 15 cm con una pelfcula de PVC (plSstlco de cloruro de pollvlnllo) para mantener la humedad y evitar que el deterioro fisiológico comience desde esta superficie (Fig. 3). De esta forma la deterioración se desarrollará solamente desde el extremo proximal.4) Almacenar las rafees en un lugar protegido del sol y de la lluvia, pero expuesto al aire libre. No se recomienda almacenar en bolsas por los cambios de humedad ambiental que se producen y alteran la reacción postcosecha de las rafees.S) Evaluar después de tres dfas de almacenamiento para evitar la contaminación mlcroblal que podrfa presentarse si la evaluación se hiciera m&s tarde. La evaluación consiste en lo siguiente: a. Cortar transversalmente secciones a los 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 y 14 cm a partir del extremo proximal. Se obtendrfa un total de 7 secciones a evaluarse. La deteriorac ión se Inicia desde el extremo prox imal de la sección de la rafz con 15 cm de longitud. Las raíces con mayor susceptibilidad al deterioro fisiológico mostrarán las estrfas características de esta clase de deterioración hasta las secciones más alejadas del extremo proximal . Las rafees con menor susceptibilidad al deterioro fisiológico mostra rán los sfntomas de la deterioración en las secciones cercanas al extremo proximal pero pocos o ningún síntoma en las secciones distantes de dicho extremo.Es necesa rio evaluar entre 10 a 20 rafees de cada tratamiento o var i edad y obtener el promedio de la suma total de los valores en las 7 secciones evaluadas. El deterioro máximo posible será de 70 (100% de superfic ie deteriorada o sea valor 10 de la escala para cada sección); el promedio de la suma total de valores puede por tanto expresarse como un porcentaje (70 • 100%) y esta expresión constituye el \"Porcentaje de Deterioración\" (Wheatley , 1982).El Cuad ro 1 muestra los resultados típ icos obtenidos al aplicar esta metodo logfa de evaluación de la deterio ración fisiológica en raíces de dos variedades , MCol 22 y MCol 113. Puede observarse que las rafees de la variedad MCol 22 muestran mayor susceptibilidad a deterioración que las de la variedad MCol 113.La evaluación de la deterioración tanto fisiológica como microbial requerirá de observaciones de rafees enteras por 1-2 semanas después de la cosecha y se deberá Igualmente estandarizar las condiciones requeridas para extrapolar los resultados a situaciones rea les.Los mecanismos responsables de la deterioración fisiológica de las raíces han sido poco estudiados, pero en los últimos a~os las Investigaciones sobre este tópico han permitido aumentar los conocimientos que sugieren se trata de reacciones bloqufmlcas bastante complejas.Tratamientos apli cados a las raíces después de la cosecha tales como Inmersión en agua caliente (Averre , 1967) , conse rvación a bajas temperaturas (Averre, 1967;Montaldo , 1973), almacenamiento en aire. con bajo nivel de oxígeno o en un ambiente de gas carbónico (COz) (Noon y Booth, 1977) evitan el desarrollo de la deterioración de las rafees y sugieren la participación de enzimas como las peroxldasas (Czyhrlnclw y Jaffe, 1951) en el proceso. la actividad total de las peroxldasas se Incrementa después de la Iniciación de la deterioración de las rafees de yuca (Marrlott et a1.,1980).Algunas condiciones ambientales tales como la temperatura y la humedad relativa afectan la deterioración fisiológica, especialmente con la presencia de danos mec,nlcos (Marrlott et al., 1978(Marrlott et al., , 1979)) y Promedio de secciones de 1¡ raíces e va 1 uadas sobre una escala de O a 10.da~os mecánicos mantenidas e n un ambiente de baja humedad (65-80l) se deterioran más rápidamente que la s mantenidas en un ambiente sat urado de humedad (100% humedad relativa). La res piración de los tejidos se mantuvo a un nivel más alto en un ambiente de baja humedad. Estos resultados demuestran los efectos crftlcos de la pérdida de agua resultante de los da~os mec6nlcos en l as raíces.Estudios citológicos y observaciones con el microscopio electrónico han demostrado que los cambios de co loración constituyen una respuesta de los tejidos de la raíz a da~os o heridas que no quedan locali zada s sino que se extienden rápidamente a l o largo de la raíz (Rickard, 1982}. La respuesta inicial se manifiesta como una oclusión de los haces xllógenos y la producción de compuestos f luorescentes en el parénquima. Las oclusiones contienen carbohidratos, lrpldos y compues t os parecidos a la llgnlna. En las etapas iniciales se encuentran además fenoles 1 lbres, leucoantoc ianinas y catequinas en los haces xilógenos del parénquima. Los pigmentos parecen ser taninos condensados derivados de estos compuestos (Rickard, 1982) .El compuesto con mayor fluorescencia ha sido Identificado como escopoletina , una cumarina (Rickard, 1982;Wheatley, 1982), el cual se encuentra en muy bajas concentraciones en las ratees frescas pero aumenta considerablemente (de< 1.0 a> 250 ~g/g de materia seca) a las 24 horas después de la cosecha (Wheatley, 1982). Este drástico Incremento permite visualizar la escopoletina en los tejidos mismos bajo luz ultravioleta debido a su fluorescencia. La aplicación de la escopo letina en tejidos frescos induce rápidamente los sfntomas de deterioración fisiológica. Las rafees resistentes a la deterioración fisiológica acumulan menos escopoletlna que las raTees susceptibles (Wheatley, 1982) .A pesar del avance en el conocimiento de la deterioración postcosecha aún no se han podido Identificar los mecanismos bioqufmlcos que conducen a la formación de escopoletlna y la aparición de deterioración.Factores que afectan la susceptibilidad a la deterioración fisiológica a.Evaluaciones de la susceptibilidad al deterioro fisiológico de distintas variedades de yuca han mostrado una amplia diferencia (Hontaldo, 1973;Pereíra, 1977;CIAT, 1976CIAT, , 1977;;Lozano et al., 1978). Oe 65 cultivares evaluados Hontaldo (1973) encontró que 2 no mostraban deterioro a los 7 días después de la cosecha, 11 mostraron deterioro mínimo, 45 presentaron susceptib ilidad Intermedia y 7 fueron muy susceptibles. Las evaluaciones del banco de germoplasma del CIAT de la durabilidad de las rafees 7 dtas después de cosechadas han mostrado Igua lmente un amplio rango de valores para las dos clases de deterioración (CIAT, 1976(CIAT, , 1977)). En estos estudios se ha encontrado una correlación positiva entre el contenido de materia seca de las raíces y el grado de deterioración, lo cual dificulta el mejoramiento genético de ambas caracterfstlcas s imultáneamente.Además de la variación inter-varietal existen variaciones int ra-var ieta les. La rigura 5 muestra los resultados de las evaluaci ones de 4 var iedades efectuadas en el CiAT en el período 1979-1980. Se observa que el porcentaje de deterioración en las rafees de la variedad HCol 22 varía desde menos de 20% hasta más de 90%, lo cual demues tra que esta variedad podrfa ser susceptible o resistente según las condiciones de cosecha. También las otras tres var iedades, normalmente consideradas como resi~t~ntes, resultaron a veces susceptib les. Por lo tanto, mientras los factores genéticos no sean los únicos que dete rminen la susceptibilidad o resistencia de una variedad dada, es difícil expresar el grado de suscept ibili da d absoluta de las variedades de yuca estudiadas.Condiciones edafocl lmátlcas (ecosistemas)Eval uaciones de deterioración postcosecha de varios cultivares en cinco lugares de Co lombia con difer entes cond iciones edafoclimáticas han demostrado el efecto de estas condiciones sobre la susceptibilidad a la deterioración (Cuadro 2). El porcentaje de deterioración de cada variedad fue significativamente diferente en los lugares est udiados . Mientras que en CiAT-Palmira y en Popayán se observó un amplio rango del grado de deteriorac ión entre las va r iedades evaluadas, el nivel de deterioro de cada var iedad f ue considerablemente menor en la Costa Norte y todas la s variedades se comportaron como resisten tes al deterioro en Carlmagua. Observaciones de las rafees aún a los 6 días después de la cosecha en Carlmagua no variaron los resultados de las evaluaci ones a los 3 días.En este estudio se encontró una correlación posit iva entre la materia seca de las rafees y la deterioraci ón fi sio lógica solamente en CIAT y Popayán , los dos lugares en donde hubo alto grado de deterioración de las ra íces (Cuadro 3). Sin embargo, la correlación no fue significati va en los otros tres lugares en donde el grado de deterioración fue mínimo.Aunque un determ inado cultivar o variedad puede considerarse susceptible o resistente a la deterioración de las raíces en un lugar determinado, su comportamiento puede variar en el transcurso del a~o posiblemente como consecuencia de los cambios de las condiciones climáticas. El Cuadro 4 muestra los resultados de las evaluaciones de 6 variedades (3 locales o nativas y 3 foráneas) en Popayán; las variedades locales mostraron mayor susceptibilidad a la deterioración postcosecha que las variedades foráneas y la deterioración fue mayor en Septiembre que en las otras épocas de cosecha .Observaciones realizadas en el transcurso de estos estudios indicaban que las plantas de variedades más afectadas por los llamados fa ctores negativos a la producción (FNP) (Lozano et al ., 1980) tales como ataques de Insectos, enfermedades , sequfa, etc ., presentaban un mayor nivel de defol iación pero eran más res istentes a la deterioración fisiológica de las raí ces (Wheatley, 1982). Estas evidencias indirectas implican que los FNP que durante los períodos previos a la cosecha producen defoliac ión de la s plantas y consecuentemente reducciones de la producción de raíces y de l contenido de materia seca de las mismas, inducen por otro lado resistencia 503 ,r ::;:  . a la deterioración fisiológica de las raíces. Ensayos con plantas defolladas manualmente han ratificado esta teoría.Efe e to de 1 a poda de 1 a parte aérea En muchas zonas productoras de yuca de América Latina las rafees de yuca se suelen vender en los mercados adheridas aún a la parte inferior del tallo de las plantas como una práctica que ayuda a conservar las rafees por más tiempo. Ensayos realizados en el CIAT han demostrado que la poda de la parte aérea de la planta antes de la cosecha reduce el nivel de deterioración fisiológica después de la cosecha. Cuando el período entre la poda y la cosecha fue solo de una o dos semanas, las rafees cosechadas y mantenidas adheridas al tallo se deterioraron menos que las rafees sueltas, pero cuando el período fue de tres semanas las rafees mantenidas en una u otra forma fueron muy resistentes a la deterioración. Estos cambios se observa ron en cinco variedades y la susceptibilidad a la deterioración de las raíces procedentes de plantas sin podar no tuvo relación con la de las rafees de las plantas podadas. Las rafees de las variedades HCol 1807 y HCol 22 (Figura 6) fueron las más suscep tibles al deterioro antes y las más resistentes después de la poda (Lozano et al. , 1978). Estos resultados se pueden relacionar con los de la sección (b), la poda siendo una defoliación severa y rápida.Recientemente se ha demostrado que el efecto de la poda sobre la di sminución a la deterioración fisiológica puede prolongarse hasta 9 semanas después de la poda, pero se reduce la cantidad de almidón de las raíces, debido a la utll lzación de las reservas radiculares para sostener el rebrote de las plantas (Whea tley , 1982). Es necesario por tanto comp lementar el proceso de la poda con la apl icaclón de lnhibidores del rebrote vegetativo de las plantas. Además de la reducción del almidón, la textura y cal idad cut inaria de las rafees son Inferiores al de las rafees de plantas sin podar. la poda de las plantas antes de la cosecha mejora la resistencia a l a dete ri oración fisiológica pero afecta adversamente la calidad de las rafees. Se requieren, vor tanto, más estudios para determinar las condiciones adecuadas para mantener la calidad de las raíces.Técnicas de conservación y almacenamiento de las rafees de yuca Hasta la fecha no existe una técnica universal para conservar y almacenar las rafees de yuca a un nivel comercial; las técnicas más sofisticadas de refrigeración tienen s us limitaci ones debido a su alto costo; técnicas más senci llas y menos costosas han demostrado sus ve~tajas y resultados satisfactorios a escala experimental pero ninguna ha sido generalizada en la práctica. El siguiente es un resumen de algunas técnicas reportadas para conservar la s rafees después de la cosecha . b) Silos, cajas y envases. Silos de tierra y paja usados para conservación de papas kan sido ensayados con rafees de yuca; 300-500 kg de rafees de yuca colocadas sobre una base de paj a y cubiertas con paja y tierra con una adecuada ventilación y con una fosa de drenaje kan sido conservadas satisfactoriamente kasta por ocho semanas. En condiciones adecuadas (temperatura menor de 4o•c y buena ventilación) las rafees se curaron con la fonnacl6n de suberina y las heridas o danos sobre la superficie se cicatrizaron (Booth, 1977). La calidad de las rafees se mantuvo cerca de la normal, observ&ndose una ligera d lsmlnucl6n del almld6n y un avmento proporcional de azúcares. El método aunque eficiente experimentalmente no ha sido apl lcado en la pr&ctlca.El empleo de cajas de madera o de cartón es usado en varios lugares para transportar y conservar rafees de yuca, las cuales se mantienen en un amb iente hGmedo utll Izando aserrfn o tie rra humedecidos. Trabajos expe r imenta les usando este tipo de envases han demostrado que aproximadamente un 75% de las ra fees poseen una calidad aceptable después de 4 semanas de almacenamiento, pero la demora de un dfa entre la cose cha y el empaque redujo la cantidad de rafees con buena calidad a 49% (Booth , 1977) . Actualmente este sistema, en comblnacl6n con temperaturas de almacenamiento menores de 15•c, es usado para exportar rafees de Costa Rica y República Dominicana para mercados de los EE.UU. y de Europa.Se han reportado resultados satisfactorios al almacenar rafees de yuca en bolsas pl&stlcas (Averre, 1967;Oudlt, 1976) y en bolsas de papel con un revestimiento de poi letlleno después de tratar las rafees con funglcldas (Lozano et al., 1978). Tiempos de almacenamiento por algo más de un mes han sido conseguidos con tratamiento de las rafees con fungi cldas ; las rafees deben ser protegidas para Inhibir el crecimiento de microorganismos que pueden ocasionar la deterioración mlcroblal. Es necesario asegura rse que los productos qufmicos a usarse estén aprobados como Inocuos pa ra alimentación humana . e) El proceso de paraflnado. Rafees sumergidas por un minuto en parafina lfqulda con 2.2% de un funglclda, secadas y almacenadas a temperatura ambiente pueden ser conservadas por un mes, y talvez por más tiempo, sin observarse una notable reducción del peso de las rafees y conservando una calidad de rafees aceptable. El éxito experimental de este método desarrollado por el Instituto de Investigaciones Tecno16glcas en Bogotá permitió establecer los lineamientos de una planta piloto de paraflnado (Zapata y Rivera, 1978), pero no ha tenido aOn apllcac l6n práctica. d) Refrigeración y congelaci6n. Como la deterioración fisiológica es producida por un proceso enzimitico, es posible Inhibirla mediante el almacenamiento de las raíces a temperaturas bajas.La s pérdidas son muy bajas cuando las rafees se conse rvan a 3•c (Czyhrlnciw y Jaffe, 1951). Almacenamiento a bajas temperaturas permite conserva r las rafees en buenas condiciones , aunque en un caso se ha reportado el desarrollo de un moho azul (Singh y Hathu~ 1953) cuando las rafees se conservaron a 0-2 •c.La congelación es un método bastante efectivo para almacenar yuca pues permite evitar ambas clases de deterioración, si~ embargo, pueden observarse cambios en la textura y calidad culinaria de las rafees. El proceso de congelación de trozos de yuca en bolsas de plástico se emplea en algunos pafses para expendio de la yuca en supermercados que cuentan con facll ldades para conservar yuca congelada. En general los sistemas de refrigeraci ón y de congelación tienen un uso muy limitado debido a su alto costo.Las recientes Investigaciones en la deterioración postcosecha de las rafees de yuca han permitido aumentar el conocimiento sobre la deterioración, la cual se trata primordialmente de un proceso enzlmátlco relacionado con el metabolismo de los componentes de la rafz. En todo caso para prevenir o reducir la deterioración es necesario evitar los da~s o heridas de las rafees que se p&eden producir durante la cosecha o el transporte a los lugares de expendio. Es necesario Intensi ficar los estudios orientados a profundizar en los diferentes aspectos o factores previos a la cosecha que puedan reducir la susceptibilidad de las rafees a la deterioración fisiológica.En cuanto a los tratamientos postcosecha todos buscan Impedir la pérdida de humedad de las rafees para mantener su calidad. El proceso de curación de las ralees requiere normalmente de un ambiente húmedo el cual también favorecerfa e l crecimiento de mic roo rgani smos que podrían aumentar las posibilidades de deterioración mlcroblal. Un sistema de conservación debe permitir el mantenimiento de la calidad de la s raTees por periodos de relativamente larga duración (2 6 más semanas) y debe prevenir ambas clases de deterioración. Paralelamente y quizás el aspecto más Importante es que los slstemas'de conservación sean económicamente factibles y fáciles de aplicar. 510 ","tokenCount":"3954"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7795055012.json b/data/part_1/7795055012.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..923d00b33cb0d4fc5957923842a131dd32043e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7795055012.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b647c5d3aaccabf5fcbe244ddb2d1c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a07a977c-b47e-422d-a8a6-132c41397f7e/retrieve","id":"-946478395"},"keywords":["reciprocal composites","agronomic performance","testcrosses","S 4 lines","SSR","SNP","maize"],"sieverID":"7059ceb7-4ad1-4a12-85b5-c3bc78271717","pagecount":"10","content":"The development of hybrids with enhanced expression of heterosis depends on the genetic background of the source population and the effectiveness of a breeding scheme used to identify and use divergent inbred lines with good combining ability. The present study was conducted to examine the potential of improved tropical reciprocal composites as sources of inbred lines for developing productive hybrids. Thirty-six S 4 lines derived from the third RRS cycle of each composite were crossed in pairs to form 36 testcrosses, which were evaluated along with commonly grown commercial hybrids in Nigeria across nine test environments. Results showed consistent ranking of testcrosses for grain yield and other traits across the diverse test environments. The best 22 testcrosses produced 21% to 51% more grain yields than the highest yielding commercial hybrid. Several testcrosses combined high grain yields with other desirable agronomic traits. The SSR and SNP markers used in the present study detected a broad range of genetic diversity among the 72 S 4 lines, which was structured along the two composites. The two markers portrayed similar trends in determining genetic distance estimates and detecting composite-specific alleles in the S 4 lines. These results highlight the potential of improved reciprocal composites as sources of new and divergent parents for developing productive hybrids and as sources of novel alleles for broadening and diversifying the genetic base of adapted germplasm to sustain genetic gain in productivity of hybrids in WCA.Maize has emerged as a dominant staple food crop grown in diverse agro-ecological zones and consumed by millions of people in West and Central Africa (WCA). Both the area planted to maize and grain production have increased significantly in this region as a result of expanded use of the crop for food, animal feed, and industrial products. The introduction of improved maize cultivars adapted to the diverse agro-ecological zones has contributed to the significant increase in maize production in the various countries in WCA (Alene et al, 2009). Most of the area in this region is planted to improved open-pollinated maize varieties (Rusike and Eicher, 1997) mainly because private seed companies are not well developed in many countries. (Auta et al, 2001) suggests that the development and accelerated deployment of maize hybrids can allow greater increases in maize yields in the major maize producing countries in WCA. Studies have demonstrated that hybrids can increase farmers' maize yields by more than 40% in favourable growing environments and by more than 30% even under stressful conditions (Byerlee and Jewell, 1997).The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) started a hybrid breeding program in 1979 to strengthen involvement of the private sector in the production and marketing of hybrid maize in WCA (Kim, 1997). This program focused on generating hybrids with high yield potential and resistance to specific biotic and abiotic stresses for achieving greater and dependable yields in the major production zones in this region (Efron et al, 1989;Kim, 1997). Inbred lines with desirable agronomic and adaptive traits developed from bi-parental crosses, backcrosses, and broad-based populations improved by intrapopulation selection schemes were used to develop hybrids (IITA, 1992;MIP, 1996). Considering the importance of having hybrid oriented populations and application of selections schemes that maximize expression of heterosis in hybrids, IITA utilized results of diallel studies and promising heterotic patterns of tropical germplasm described by Wellhausen (1978) and Goodman (1985) as the basis to create two late maturing composites known as TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 for a long-term reciprocal recurrent selection program following the comprehensive breeding approach proposed by (Eberhart et al, 1967). This approach was adopted because it allowed exploitation of the genetic gains attained using intra-population improvement methods to create the two composites for enhancing efficiency in generating both open-pollinated maize varieties and parental lines of hybrids with better agronomic performance and adaptation to the moist savannas in WCA (IITA 1992;MIP 1996).The two composites have been subjected to four cycles of reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS) to boost agronomic performance of hybrids formed from inbred lines derived from advanced selection cycles (Hallauer and Eberhart, 1970;Betran and Hallauer, 1996). As RRS requires three years to complete a cycle, assessment of the potential of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 as sources of inbred lines for developing hybrids with superior agronomic performance is important to continue the selection process. Recent studies found reciprocal populations as sources of inbred lines whose single-crosses produced comparable or higher grain yields than the best commercial single-cross hybrids (Jenweerawat et al, 2010;Souza Jr et al, 2010). Performance evaluation of specific combinations of lines derived from advanced selection cycles of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 may thus provide an indication on whether the two composites should be retained and improved as sources of new inbred lines with better performance and adaptation to changing climatic conditions (Carena, 2005).Molecular marker-based diversity assessment of inbred lines derived from advanced selection cycles may also provide an indication about the potential of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 as sources of divergent parental lines for crossing to maximize heterosis in hybrids. Several studies found high levels of genetic divergence between lines derived from advanced selection cycles of reciprocal populations using restricted fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) (Messmer et al, 1991;Labate et al, 1997;Hagdorn et al, 2003;Hinze et al, 2005) and SSR loci (Pinto et al, 2003;Berilli et al, 2011;Romay et al, 2012). Similar results were also reported in reciprocal populations characterized using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers (Gerke et al, 2013). As the SSR and SNP markers differ in their information content, mutational rates, extent of genome coverage, and reliability for genotyping (Hamblin et al, 2007;Jones et al, 2007;Ingelandt et al, 2010), combined use of the two classes of markers may provide robust assessment of consistency of the genetic diversity of inbred lines derived from advanced selection cycles of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4. Several comparative studies in maize found that SSRs did better in separating lines into distinct groups than SNPs although the two classes of markers detected similar genetic structures in diverse inbred lines (Hamblin et al, 2007;Jones et al, 2007;Ingelandt et al, 2010).The present studies were conducted (i) to compare agronomic performance of testcrosses between pairs of S4 lines derived from advanced selection cycles of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 with commercial hybrids and (ii) to examine the patterns of genetic diversity existing among lines derived from advanced selection cycles of the two composites using SSR and SNP markers.Diallel crosses of late maturing maize populations were evaluated in a field trial in multiple locations in 1988 (MIP, 1996). The performance of population crosses observed in this trial followed the heterotic response of crosses between the well known Tuxpeno dent and Caribbean flint races of maize (Wellhausen 1978;Goodman, 1985). The populations belonging to the Caribbean heterotic group, namely TZB-SR and Suwan 1-SR, were then crossed to form a broad-based composite known as TZL COMP3 C0. Populations representing the Tuxpeno heterotic group, namely TZPB-SR, POP 43-DMRSR and POP 21-SR, were inter-crossed to form the second broadbased composite referred to as TZL COMP4 C0 (MIP, 1996). Details about the component populations and the steps followed to constitute the two late maturing composites have been described in the Maize Improvement Program report (MIP, 1996). A reciprocal S 2 testcross selection scheme that requires three years to complete a cycle in Nigeria was initiated in 1989 and 1990 to improve performance of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4, respectively. In the first selection cycle, 1,000 S 2 lines derived from each composite were evaluated in two replications for highly heritable traits including standability, resistance to diseases and ear rots, and other agronomic traits at Ikenne in Nigeria where naturally occurring disease pressure is high. Amongst these, 300 S 2 lines with desirable agronomic features and good levels of resistance to diseases were selected to form testcrosses with the reciprocal composite. Bulk pollen collected from the reciprocal population was used to pollinate the S 2 female rows. The resulting testcrosses were evaluated in replicated trials at two to three locations. The best 40 to 50 S 2 lines of testcrosses identified using a selection index designed to combine high yield potential with acceptable days to anthesis and silking as well as other desirable agronomic traits were inter-mated to form the first selection cycle (C1). During subsequent selection cycles, more than 500 S 1 lines were derived from each composite followed by selection of the best 165 to 250 S 1 lines to form fullsib families. The selected 165 to 250 S 1 were planted in paired rows to generate testcrosses, which were evaluated in replicated trials in three to four locations. Again a selection index generated from mean testcross performance averaged over three locations was used to identify the best 26 to 30 S 1 lines from each composite for inter-mating to form the second (C2), third (C3) and fourth (C4) selecton cycles.The best 26 S 1 lines each selected from the C3 of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 for inter-mating to form the C4 were planted at Saminaka in Nigeria in 2007. More than 10 plants with desirable agronomic traits and good synchrony between pollen shed and silking were self pollinated in each S 1 line. The best 90 S2 lines derived from TZL COMP3 C3 and 67 S 2 Maydica electronic publication -2015 lines derived from TZL COMP4 C3 were planted in single rows at Saminaka in 2008 and desirable plants were self pollinated in each line to generate S 3 bulk seeds. In 2009, 41 S 3 lines derived from TZL COMP3 C3 and 38 S 3 lines derived from TZL COMP4 C3 were selected and planted in single rows at Saminaka in Nigeria and uniform plants with desirable agronomic traits were self pollinated in each line to generate 36 S4 bulk seeds for each composite. The 36 S 4 lines representing each of the two composites were planted in paired rows to form 36 testcrosses in 2010.A trial composed of the 36 testcrosses and duplicate entries of two commercial hybrid that are widely cultivated in Nigeria (Oba Super I and Oba 98) used as checks was planted at Ikenne (3º42´E, 6º54´N, altitude 30 m), Kadawa (8º19'E;12º2'N, altitude 520 m), Saminaka (8º39'E;10º34'N, altitude 760 m), and Zaria (7º21'E;11º7'N, altitude 640 m) in 2010 and 2011 and at Mokwa (9°18'N;5°04'E, altitude 210 m) in 2010. The hybrids were arranged in 5 x 8 alpha lattice design with two replications and were planted in single row plots, 5 m long with 0.75 m spacing between rows and 0.50 m spacing between plants within a row, to attain a population density of 53,000 plants ha -1 . Fertilizer and field management practices recommended for optimum maize production were used at each location.In each plot, days to anthesis and days to silking were recorded as the number of days from planting to when 50% of the plants were shedding pollen and showing emerged silks, respectively. Plant and ear heights were measured in cm as the distance from the base of the plant to the height of the first tassel branch and the node bearing upper ear, respectively. Plant aspect was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = excellent overall phenotypic appeal and 5 = poor overall phenotypic appeal. Ear aspect was scored on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 = clean, uniform and large ears and 5 = rotten, variable and small ears. Puccinia polysora rust (southern corn leaf rust) and Bipolaris maydis blight (southern corn leaf blight) were scored at Ikenne for two seasons on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = slight leaf infection and 5 = severe leaf infection. The total number of plants and ears were counted in each plot at the time of harvest. The number of ears per plant was then calculated as the proportion of the total number of ears at harvest divided by the total number of plants. All ears harvested from each plot were weighed and representative samples of ears were shelled to determine percent moisture. Grain yield adjusted to 15% moisture was computed from ear weight assuming a shelling percentage of 80%.Young leaves were collected from five maize seedlings of each S 4 line grown in the field for three weeks. The bulked leaf tissue samples were lyophilized, ground, and DNA was extracted using a modi-fied CTAB protocol of (Saghai-Maroof et al, 1984). The quality of the DNA for genotyping by sequencing (GBS) was ascertained by digesting the DNA with restriction enzyme HindIII. The genomic DNA was then transferred into a 96 well plate, properly sealed with rubber plate covers, and sent to Institute for Genomic Diversity (IGD) of Cornell University (Ithaca, NY for genotypingThe 57 SSR primers used for genotyping the S4 lines were chosen from the Maize GDB database (http://nucleus.agron.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/ssr_bin.pl) based on their bin locations that cover the ten chromosomes (ch) in the maize genome. The number of the SSR loci ranged from 3-8 per chromosome (Supplemental Table 1). Oligonucleotide primers were purchased from the Integrated DNA Technologies Leuven, Belgium (IDT). PCR reaction conditions, gel electrophoresis and gel visualisation were performed as described by (Senior et al, 1998). Variable annealing temperature, including 65-55°C, 70°C-63°C and 60°C-50°C were used during PCR reactions. The SSR loci amplified were separated on 2% (w/v) superfine agarose gels. The gel was stained with ethidium bromide solution and photographed under UV light attached to a gel documentation system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Only clear and unambiguous polymorphic bands detected with SSR markers were scored manually as present (1) or absent (0) for all the S4 lines to generate a binary data.GBS libraries were prepared and analyzed as described by (Elshire et al, 2011) using the enzyme ApeKI for digestion and creating a library with unique barcodes for each genotype. Raw reads from the sequenced GBS library were called in the GBS analysis pipeline Tassel version 3.0.147, an extension to the Java program TASSEL (Bradbury et al, 2007). The filtered sequences were aligned to the maize reference genome B73 RefGen v1 (Schnable et al, 2009) using the Burrows-Wheeler alignment tool (BWA). This procedure provided 143,415 SNPs covering all the ten chromosomes of the maize genome. Out of these, 2,263 SNP loci having a minimum of 0.05 allele frequency and no missing data, were selected using TASSEL version 4.1.12 and used for analyzing the genetic S4 lines in the current study. Map distribution of the SNP loci on the 10 maize chromosomes (ch) was 355 in ch1, 250 in ch2, 262 in ch3, 224 in ch4, 213 in ch5, 195 in ch6, 221 in ch7, 206 in ch8, 171 in ch9, and 166 in ch10.In the combined analysis of variance for agronomic traits, each location-year combination was considered an environment. The analysis was computed with PROC MIXED procedure in PC-SAS (SAS Institute, 2009) that considered environments, replications and blocks within replications as random effects and test-crosses as fixed effects. The significance of the mean squares for the main and interaction effects were tested using the appropriate mean squares, obtained from the Type-3 mixed model analysis (SAS Institute, 2009). To assess consistency of testcross performance across the nine test environments, Kendall's (1962) coefficient of concordance (W) was computed for each trait based on ranks of testcross means recorded in the nine environments. Repeatability values for agronomic traits were estimated using PROC MIXED procedure in PC-SAS (SAS Institute, 2009) as described by (Holland et al, 2003). To separate testcrosses involving pairs of S 4 lines derived from the two composites based on combination of agronomic traits, principal component analysis was computed in SAS (SAS Institute, 2009) using the correlation matrix of mean values of all traits averaged over nine environments, except grain yield. The first two principal component axes (PC1 and PC2) scores were plotted to visualise the separation of the testcrosses from the commercial checks and to determine the correlation between a combination of traits defined by each component axis and grain yield of the testcrosses.For both the SSR and SNP markers, allele frequency, number of composite specific alleles, gene diversity, polymorphic information content (PIC), and pair-wise Roger's (1972) genetic distance estimates among the 72 S 4 lines were calculated using Pow-erMarker version 3.25 (Liu and Muse, 2005). The difference between mean genetic distance within and between composites was evaluated using t-test. Principal component analysis (PCA) was calculated based on the Roger's genetic distance estimates from the SSR and SNP markers to determine associations among the 72 S4 lines with PC-SAS (SAS Institute, 2009). Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) was also computed to assess the variation within or between the two composites using the ARLEQUIN 3.0 software (Schneider et al, 2000). Significance of variance components was tested using a non-parametric procedure based on 1,000 random permutations of individual S 4 lines using the ARLEQUIN software (Schneider et al, 2000). The level of differentiation between the two sets of S 4 lines derived from the two composites was tested by using pair-wise FST distance comparison with 1,000 random permutations of individual lines between reciprocal composites using the ARLEQUIN software (Schneider et al, 2000).The trial in the present study was evaluated in nine test environments with diverse physical properties and growing conditions that resulted in average mean grain yields varying from 3,740 kg ha -1 to 7,908 kg -1 . In the combined analyses of variance, environment had significantly affected grain yield and other traits, except southern corn leaf rust and southern corn leaf blight (Table 1). The variance among testcrosses was significant for all traits, except for southern corn leaf rust. The testcrosses x environment interaction mean squares were also significant for all traits, except for plant height and ear height (Table 1). However, the variance for hybrids was 4 to 10 times larger than the corresponding variance for testcrosses x environment interaction for all agronomic traits, except for southern corn leaf rust. Further assessment of consistency of the relative ranking of testcross trait means found significant (P < 0.05 to P <0.001) coefficient of concordance (W) for grain yield and other traits (W = 0.26 to W = 0.76) recorded across the nine test environments. Repeatability estimates for all traits varied from 0.75 to 0.91, except for southern corn leaf rust (0.34), indicating detection of considerable levels of genetic variability across the nine test environments (Supplemental Table 2).The testcrosses of pairs of S 4 lines derived from the two composites produced grain yields varying from 3,302 kg ha -1 to 7,637 kg ha -1 whereas the commercial hybrid checks had mean grain yields ranging from 4,718 kg ha -1 to 5,043 kg ha -1 . Amongst the 36 testcrosses, 22 yielded significantly more than the highest yielding commercial hybrid check (Oba 98). These testcrosses produced 1,065 kg ha -1 to 2,594 kg ha -1 more grain yields in comparison to Oba 98. The remaining 13 of the 14 testcrosses had grain yields that were not significantly different from the yield of Oba 98 (Supplemental Table 2). The best 22 testcrosses had anthesis and silking days that were similar to or 1 day later than those of the commercial hybrids (Supplemental Table 2). Also, mean plant and ear heights of the best testcrosses were comparable to or greater than those of the commercial hybrids, whereas mean plant aspect, ear aspect and disease scores of these testcrosses were better than those of the commercial hybrids (Supplemental Table 2).Inbred lines derived from the two composites should impart not only high yield potential but also desirable agronomic traits in hybrids to be successfully used as parents. Principal component analysis was then computed to integrate the major agronomic traits into unrelated component axes in the current study. The first two principal component axes (PC1 and PC2) explained 60% of the total variation in agronomic traits among hybrids (Table 2). Large PC1 axis scores were significantly associated with early anthesis and silking days, poor plant and ear aspect scores, and increased susceptibility to southern corn leaf rust and southern corn leaf blight. The most important traits that contributed significantly to PC2 with positive values were days to anthesis and silking, ear height, and plant aspect (Table 2). Correlation analyses found significant and negative association between grain yield and PC1 axis scores but not between grain yield and PC2 axis scores (Table 2).The scatter plot for grain yields and PC1 axis scores showed a clear separation of the testcrosses of pairs of S 4 lines from the commercial hybrids (Figure 1). Also, the testcrosses of S 4 lines were more dispersed than the commercial hybrids, showing greater genetic diversity in grain yield and other traits. We found several testcrosses between pairs of S 4 lines that combined higher grain yields with desirable agronomic traits including resistance to diseases in comparison to the commercial hybrid checks (Figure 1; Supplemental Table 2).The 72 S 4 lines derived from the two composites were genotyped with SSR and SNP markers. The 57 SSR primers detected a total of 212 alleles whereas the SNPs detected a total of 4,526 alleles across all the lines. As compared to the biallelic SNPs, the SSR primers detected 2 to 6 alleles at each locus with an average of 3.7. The proportion of minor alleles occurring at frequencies of less than 0.25 was 49% for SSRs and 43% for SNPs. Only 16% of the alleles at the SSR loci occurred at frequencies exceeding 0.50 whereas 50% of the alleles at the SNP loci were found at frequencies of more than 0.50 across the S 4 lines. The number of SSR alleles found exclu-sively in a single composite was 30 for TZL COMP3 and 17 for TZL COMP4, whereas composite-specific SNP alleles were 202 for TZL COMP3 and 10 for TZL COMP4. The composite-specific alleles were found at frequencies of 0.75 or less for SSRs and at frequencies of 0.42 or less for SNPs. The PIC values varied from 0.14 to 0.82 with an average of 0.60 for the SSRs and from 0.10 to 0.38 with an average of 0.20 for SNPs. The average gene diversity was 0.65 for SSRs and 0.23 for SNPs.The distribution of the genetic diversity in the S4 lines was determined using AMOVA of the SSR and SNP data (Table 3). The results revealed that more than 80% of the total genetic variance resided within composites with the remaining 14% and 7% of the total variation in SSR and SNP data, respectively, accounting for differences between the two composites (Table 3). The observed genetic differentiation between the two composites using AMOVA was consistent with the results of Wright's fixation index (F ST ) calculated from allele frequencies for SSRs (F ST = 0.1428, P < 0.001) and SNPs (F ST = 0.0783, P < 0.001). To examine the genetic diversity patterns, we computed genetic distances (GD) for pairs of S 4 lines derived from each composite as well as those derived from the two composites using SSR and SNP data (Table 4). Results revealed a broad range of GD estimates between lines derived from each composite as well as those derived from the two composites. The average GD estimates for pairs of lines calculated using SSRs was three times greater than the average GD estimates for pairs of lines computed using SNPs. The average GD estimates for pairs of lines from the two composites was significantly larger than that from pairs of lines derived from each composite tor the two classes of markers. The average GD estimates for TZL COMP3 was significantly larger than that of TZL COMP4 for SNPs but not for SSRs. Simple correlation coefficient between GD estimates based on SSRs and SNPs was 0.41 (P < 0.001) for   The development of hybrids with enhanced expression of heterosis depends on the genetic backgroudnd of the source population and the effectiveness of a breeding scheme used to identify and use divergent inbred lines with good combining ability. In the present study, testcrosses of pairs of S 4 lines derived from selfed progenies selected for inter-mating to form C4 of TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 were evaluated in nine diverse environments. All testcrosses except one produced grain yields that were competitive to or greater than the highest yielding commercial hybrid. The best testcrosses amongst these yielded 21% to 51% more than the highest yielding commercial hybrid. Other studies also showed that hybrids formed from pairs of inbred lines derived from advanced selection cycles of reciprocal populations produced higher grain yields than the commercial hybrids (Jenweerawat et al, 2010; Souza Jr all pairs of S 4 lines and varied from 0.56 (P < 0.001) for pairs of lines from TZL COMP3 to 0.35 (P < 0.001) for pairs of lines derived from TZL COMP4. Principal component analysis was computed to further assess the genetic diversity pattern of the S 4 lines. The first (PC1) and second (PC2) principal component axis accounted for 24% and 10% of the total variance in SSRs and 41% and 8% of the total variance in SNPs, respectively. As shown in Figure 2, the two axes separated the S4 lines into two groups along composite lines, except for a few lines derived from one composite overlapping with lines derived from another composite for SNPs. et al, 2010). The observed superior agronomic performance of several testcrosses in the present study provide evidence that the S 4 lines derived from the two composites contained favourable complementary alleles with dominance effects at different loci, consistent with results in other studies (Keeratinijakal and Lamkey 1993;Stojsin and Kannenberg 1994;Landi and Frascaroli, 1995). It appears that the selection of the best selfed progenies for inter-mating based on high grain yields and other desirable traits of their testcross during the three selection cycles had increased the importance of specific combining ability effects over general combining ability effects in the two composites, which was in agreement with the results reported in other studies (Doerksen et al, 2003;Santos et al, 2007;Souza Jr et al, 2010). Keeratinijakal and Lamkey (1993) found partial to complete dominance effects to be more important than additive effects for grin yield of inter-population crosses between two reciprocal populations. Other studies also detected directional dominance affecting grain yield in the inter-population crosses (Moll and Hanson 1984;Hanson and Moll, 1986;Eyherabide and Hallauer, 1991). Moreover, the testcrosses exhibited consistent ranking for grain yield across the diverse test environments, indicating an increase in the frequencies of favourable alleles for adaptation to diverse test environments (Ordas et al, 2012) possibly because of selecting progenies with superior agronomic performance in different test locations with diverse climatic conditions for inter-mating during the various cycles of RRS.Changes in other traits in addition to grain yield would determine the usefulness of inbred lines as Maydica electronic publication -2015 potential parents of acceptable hybrids to farmers.In the present study, high grain yields of testcrosses were associated with improvements in overall plant and ear appearance as well as increase in resistance to foliar diseases and ears per plant but were accompanied by a significant delay in days to anthesis and silking. Even though the observed time to anthesis and silking of testcrosses of the S 4 lines fell within the range acceptable for production conditions in WCA, these traits should be monitored in subsequent selection cycles to circumvent changes in undesirable direction. The S 4 lines that formed hybrids with high grain yields and other desirable agronomic traits in the present study can then be subjected to further inbreeding and selection to generate homozygous parental lines for use to develop hybrids with superior agronomic performance and adaptation to diverse production environments. Further improvements of the two composites are expected to increase the probability of developing divergent new inbred lines with good combining ability whose single-cross hybrids outperform the best commercial hybrids adapted to the savannas in WCA. Carena (2005) reported that inbred lines developed from broad-based populations were endowed with superior combining ability with inbred lines selected from more than one heterotic group, suggesting that the inbred lines derived from the two composites may combine well with other heterotic groups to optimize expression of heterosis in hybrids in WCA. These lines may also be used as parents to make crosses with elite lines belonging to well defined heterotic groups to develop new maize inbred lines containing novel alleles and multiple desirable traits.The selection of prospective commercial hybrids depends not only on superior agronomic performance but also on the seed production potential of the parents to facilitate hybrid seed production at low cost. Further improvements of the two composites using RRS may constantly supply new early generation lines selected for both per se performance and superior combining ability into the inbred line development process (Betran and Hallauer 1996;Hallauer 2010;Ordas et al, 2012). These lines can be subjected to further inbreeding and selection to develop productive inbred lines with superior agronomic performance in hybrid combinations. There are good examples in which inbred lines derived from populations improved using recurrent selection such as B14, B37, and B73 that have been used extensively as female parents in commercial hybrid development programs (Tracy and Chandler, 2004). The advanced cycles of the two composites have then the potential to be sources of outstanding and unique inbred lines (Carena, 2005) that can be used as parents of pedigree populations and hybrids for emerging and established seed companies in WCA.TZL COMP3 and TZL COMP4 are composites formed by inter-crossing broad-based populations representing two heterotic pools, which were chosen based on the results of diallel analysis of late maturing maize populations (MIP, 1996). The SSR and SNP markers detected a large number of common and some composite-specific alleles occurring at varying frequencies in the S 4 lines derived from the two composites, resulting in a broad range of GD estimates found within the two composites. However, SSRs detected higher levels of GD estimates among the S 4 lines within and between the two composites than the SNP markers, consistent with the findings in other studies (Hambline et al, 2007;Jones et al, 2007;Ingelandt et al, 2010;Frascaroli et al, 2013). In spite of the differences between SSRs and SNPs, the same trends were observed for GD estimates and the number of composite-specific alleles detected with the two marker types. Pairs of S 4 lines derived from the two composites had larger GD estimates than those derived from each composite for both SSRs and SNPs, indicating the potential of the two reciprocal composites as sources of divergent lines for use to develop hybrids. The inbred lines derived from the two composites carrying composite-specific alleles can also be important donors of novel genetic variation for pedigree breeding to enhance allelic diversity in adapted germplasm.In our analysis of the genetic structure of the S 4 lines using SSRs and SNPs, the largest percentage of the total variation at the molecular level was found among lines within the two composites, which is in agreement with results from another study in maize (Heinze et al, 2005). The two types of markers separated the S 4 lines along the two composites, with only a few lines from one composite clustering with lines from another composite when SNPs were used. SSRs were better than SNPs in separating the S 4 lines into distinct groups possibly due to the higher mutational rates of the SSRs that provide greater opportunities for genetic drift to create detectable changes in allelic frequencies between reciprocal composites and the accumulation of campsite-specific alleles (Haasl and Payseur, 2010). The difference in genetic structure of the reciprocal composites observed at the molecular level may be caused by the effects of genetic drift, inbreeding, selection, and hitchhiking of alleles linked with selected alleles (Labate et al, 1999;Pinto et al, 2003;Falke et al, 2007;Rommay et al, 2012).In summary, pairs of S 4 lines derived from selfed progenies selected to form the C4 of the reciprocal composites generated several testcrosses with high grain yields and other desirable agronomic traits. It appears that the reciprocal composites carried different sets of alleles, facilitating the heterozygous condition at loci in inter-composite hybrids, contributing to the superior performance of several testcrosses in the present study. SSRs and SNPs detected a broad range of genetic diversity among the S 4 lines, which was structured along the two composites. Such information may allow potential users to select diverse lines from each composite for pedigree breeding and hybrid development. The inbred lines derived from the two composites may likely have a wealth of useful alleles for agronomic and defensive traits not represented in elite inbred lines and genetic material that are presently exploited by breeders in the national programs and private seed companies in WCA. These lines may then be used not only as new and unrelated parents to existing lines for developing hybrids but also as sources of diverse alleles for broadening the genetic base of adapted germplasm to sustain genetic gain in productivity of hybrids in this region.","tokenCount":"5460"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7797122454.json b/data/part_1/7797122454.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e2997252ed64ce281df98057ab48db2e89861db1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7797122454.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"479cf9a56c69682d5f400c9e9817077e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H046739.pdf","id":"-799704285"},"keywords":["Water management organizations","Institutions","Participatory management","Performance assessment","Uzbekistan","Water users associations"],"sieverID":"ea2c8cd9-331e-4ac8-b722-5f6892f394bb","pagecount":"8","content":"This paper presents a multifactor approach for performance assessment of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Uzbekistan in order to identify the drivers for improved and efficient performance of WUAs. The study was carried out in the Fergana Valley where the WUAs were created along the South Fergana Main Canal during the last 10 years. The farmers and the employees of 20 WUAs were questioned about the WUAs' activities and the quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. This became a base for the calculation of 36 indicators divided into 6 groups: Water supply, technical conditions, economic conditions, social and cultural conditions, organizational conditions and information conditions. All the indicators assessed with a differentiated point system adjusted for subjectivity of several of them give the total maximal result for the associations of 250 point. The WUAs of the Fergana Valley showed the score between 145 and 219 points, what reflects a highly diverse level of the WUAs performance in the region. The analysis of the indicators revealed that the key points of the WUA's success are the organizational and institutional conditions including the participatory factors and awareness of both the farmers and employees about the work of WUA.The research showed that the low performance of the WUAs is always explained by the low technical and economic conditions along with weak organization and information dissemination conditions. It is clear that it is complicated to improve technical and economic conditions immediately because they are cost-based and costinduced. However, it is possible to improve the organizational conditions and to strengthen the institutional basis via formal and information institutions which will gradually lead to improvement of economic and technical conditions of WUAs. Farmers should be involved into the WUA Governance and into the process of making common decisions and solving common problems together via proper institutions. Their awareness can also be improved by leading additional trainings for increasing farmers' agronomic and irrigation knowledge, teaching them water saving technologies andIn Central Asia, water is a very important resource, the environmental key factor influencing all the activities in the region. Uzbekistan is double locked country in Central Asia. It is located between the two main rivers of the Region: the Amu-Darya and the Syr-Darya. Country has population of 29,074,000 people (ADB Fast Facts 2012 estimate) and territory of 448 978 km 2 . Among the population of Uzbekistan there are 34% of people who work in the agricultural sector (World Bank 2010). However, the increasing climate warming can lead to the water scarcity in the future and to the serious challenges in the irrigation sector. In order to improve the irrigation management, all countries of Central Asia, including Uzbekistan implemented the irrigation management transfer from the government to the water users at the on-farm irrigation level. The water users, i.e. the farmers, create the Water Users Associations (WUAs) to improve the water allocation and the water use in the own countries. One of the intensifiable agricultural production region in Uzbekistan is considered Ferghana Valley. The Fergana Valley is shared between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and there are more than 10 million people who live there. The situation with deliver water for irrigation is challenging in the Valley because water should be shared by three countries. The Soviet Union built the intensive irrigation system in the Fergana Valley especially in Uzbek part with the main aim: to support the production of agricultural products, especially cotton fiber. The agriculture in Uzbekistan is supported by the Government especially to cultivate cotton and wheat, the support or subsidy is called quota system in the country. The state buys the harvest for the lower price than the market one; however, the farmers are sure of selling all the yields. Farmers growing cotton and wheat get financial loan and special credits from the government. All transactions with regard to deliver agricultural product according to quota is done via bank transfers. Farmers don't deal with cash in any transactions with the State. Although, there are positive movements to support viable operations of WUAs, there are still cases where poor operation and maintenance of on-farm irrigation system as well as its deterioration, the farmers implement inefficient irrigation regimes which leads to soil salinization and poor participation of water users in the work of WUA. That becomes the reason for progressive fluctuations of the major crops yields (data from SDC Central Asia Integrated Water Resources Management Fact sheet 2012). In the last 10 years there were Water Users Associations created in the Fergana valley in order to perform the decentralization of the water management, to improve the water supply and to move towards a sustainable water use. The main aim of WUAs activity is to deliver effective irrigation and land ameliorative services to water users, such as stable and reliable water supply and creation of favorable land ameliorative conditions of the irrigated lands at all stages of WUA development (source: Guidelines on WUA Business Planning which is produced along IWRM-FV project 2008). However, now, these WUAs perform with a completely different level of efficiency: some of them are much more successful than the others. In order to understand the reasons of the different performance level of the WUAs and to be able to provide recommendations to improve their activity a comparative analysis of the WUAs performance was done. 14-20 September 2014, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea Q. 58 R58.1.?? ` 3The WUAs efficiency assessment is a methodology for the research of the services level in the WUA by means of the limited number of the indicators (Vincent et al 2007). The common problem for Asian countries is a lack of reliable data about the extraction of water from the canals (Bandaragoda 2006). For this reason a methodology was chosen based both on numerical data and farmers' assessment of the irrigation water supply.In the research of the WUAs in the Fergana valley a multifactor approach was applied, i.e. the performance level for 6 groups of factors was analized and compared: water supply (i.e. its sufficiency (Nelson 2002)), timeliness (Burton 2010), reliability (Molden et al 1998) and adequacy, technical conditions (effectivity and technical conditions of infrastructure (Burton 2010)), equipment renewal and water measurement, economical conditions (fee collection performance, financial self-sufficiency, maintenance cost (Koç 2007), percent of the high value crop and economical incentives), social and cultural conditions (readiness of the farmers to pay for the irrigation services, equality of the water supply, disputes ratio (Burton 2010) and number of women members of WUA Council), organizational conditions (annual general meeting attendance, staff professionalism, existence of regulation documentation, execution of the contracts between WUAs and water users, sanctions and penalties system, WUA Council and Chairman elections) and information conditions (farmers' background, skill level and awareness about the WUA's activity, trainings about the use of the new equipment). One of the main objectives of this research was to understand the significance of the organizational and institutional basis and participatory mechanisms for the successful performance of water management at WUA level.After all the indicators were calculated and assessed with a score system (with a different number of maximal points from 2 to 10 for different indicators) the points were summed up to get the final result for every WUA. The possible maximum was 250 point. Then the WUAs with the best points and with the worst points were analyzed in order to see what the preconditions of the successful performance are in the places.In the year 2011 there were 36 WUAs along the South Ferghana Magistral Canal (SFMC) in the Fergana Valley. Figure 1 shows the location of WUAs along the South Fergana Main Canal. As you can see, there were more than 36 WUAs along the SFMC prior to 2011 irrigation season. Some of the WUAs were combined and re-organized. The boundaries of the re-organized WUAs are not drawn in Fig. 1. The SFMC is divided into 10 hydrounits: 6 of them are located in the Andijan province and 4 in the Fergana province of Uzbekistan. On the base of the data from IWMI and Scientific-Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of the Central Asia (SIC ICWC) reports the preliminary assessment of some economical indicators could be done. According to the points that were calculated 20 WUAs were chosen: 2 from each hydrounit, one of them with the maximum of points and another with the minimum. (In one WUA the director was absent for a business trip and it was impossible to get the quantitative information about this WUA's activity, that is why there were finally analyzed the performance of 19 WUAs.) Two types of questionnaires were elaborated both for the farmers and WUAs' employees. These questionnaires were designed to get quantitative and qualitative information about the WUA's activity. The farmers from the head, middle and tail end of the canal were questioned. In the year 2011, according to the farmers' opinion there were no major problems with the irrigation water, that is why farmers did not reveal serious problems with the water supply and were in general satisfied with the WUAs' performance. The Andijan province being in the head part of the SFMC does not experience significant difficulties with the amount of the water for irrigation. Sometimes it can be the reason for the weak organization of the WUAs' activities because there is no pressure for the efficient organization of the water supply. The Fergana province being in the tail part of the SFMC experience difficulties with the water supply and with the even distribution of the water. If there are no WUAs in this region there would be serious problems for the farmers to get the water they need. That is one of the probable reasons for the better WUAs' performance. Almost half of interviewed farmers are engaged in cotton and wheat cultivation, these two kinds of crops go together because of the state order. A quarter of farmers grow orchards and vegetables, which are high value crops and allow the farmers to get the money in time and in cash partially because these farmers don't have a state order. In general, there are some positive trends in the developing of the farmers' opinions and understanding of the problems. Almost all of the farmers that were questioned admit that there must be the fees for the irrigation services of WUA and every consumer of water should pay the service fee. A common problem of the WUAs is the problem of enforcing the on-time payment of ISF either from bank account transfer or in cash, WUAs don't collect funds on-time usually farmers pay once they get yields, and then the WUA does not have enough money to buy some machines, to make the rehabilitation of the canals in time or to pay salary to the staff as well as taxes.The calculation of the indicators and their assessment with a score system are presented in Table 1 After analyzing different groups of factors influencing the performance of the inefficient WUAs in comparison to the efficiently performing WUAs it is clear that as for the water supply, technical conditions and economical conditions, they have almost the same level of performance (Figure 2). However, there is a significant difference in the performance level of the organizational and institutional conditions, social and cultural conditions and farmers' awareness. These groups of factors can be considered as the weak points of the inefficient WUAs (Figure 3). Undoubtedly, the main recommendation should be to renovate the canals, hydraulic installations and pumps and to improve the ISF collection performance. However, it is not an easy task, especially in the actual conditions in the region. That is why there are some other recommendations for the considerable improvement of the WUAs performance via strengthening institutional aspects of water management.1. Every WUA should possess rules and regulations (by-laws, business plan, and etc) and penalties systems for breaking the rules and regulations which are accepted within WUA. It does not have to go necessarily through the court. Sometimes, publishing the picture of the defaulter in a local newspaper can be a strong motivation for this person not to commit the same fault again. In Uzbekistan, the public opinion has a strong pressure on the people in the conditions of the small rural societies. It corresponds to application of the design principles of Ostrom (Ostrom 1990).2. WUAs should involve more farmers into the WUAs Governance, not necessary via formal institutions which are in majority cases are not operational but it could be utilized via informal institutions which have been practiced decades and centuries in the country. Such as the meeting of Aksaqals (old respected people) of the villages. Because, water users in majority situations follow and adhere to the rules and regulations of the informal institutions, one might also consider how to formalize these informal institutions.3. The WUA's activity should be transparent and open to all the farmers of the WUA. It will increase their interest and understanding the water allocation challenges, WUA's budget expenditure and stimulate their participation in the meetings and discussions. 4. Every WUA must choose very strictly staff they hire. They must be professionals in their field of work and must be highly interested in working for the WUA. Especially, it must concern the WUA's director. Majority of interviewed efficient WUAs have strong leadership as a factor of success.The research showed that the low performance of the WUAs is always explained by the low technical and economical conditions along with organizational conditions. It is clear that it is complicated to improve technical and economical conditions immediately because they are cost-based. However, it is possible to improve the organizational conditions and to strengthen the institutional basis which will gradually lead to improvement of economic and technical conditions. Farmers should be involved into the WUA Governance and into the process of making common decisions and solving common problems together. There is need to state that governing WUA as common entity was introduced in the region as a policy just after dismantling of Soviet Union. However, Uzbekistan and rest of Central Asia countries had a endogenous knowledge on governing and managing water resources within community before as well as during the Soviet Union. Study has also revealed that efficient WUAs possess the combination of formal and informal institutions in comparison to inefficient WUAs. Therefore, it would be rational to strengthen within inefficient WUAs not only work of formal institutions such as meeting of WUA Council, WUA Arbitrage and Revision committees but also meetings and work of so called Aqsakals and organization of khashars so called idigenous institutions.The staff of efficient WUA has also shown that majority of them passed the capacity building in technical and institutional aspects of water management. Therefore, it would be rational to conduct more capacity building and awareness activities among inefficient WUAs. Additional trainings for the increasing of the agronomic and irrigation knowledge, teaching them water saving technologies and making them acquainted with the water measuring equipment and its use will be very useful.","tokenCount":"2488"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7801198516.json b/data/part_1/7801198516.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..957fe636b58f5cb993019c5a3afce0106a7c4f93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7801198516.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1917286468b55bc6de9bf8b1f5b1763a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/96f0a77e-7090-4815-88bd-18a0dd8c5211/retrieve","id":"32639264"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"edf1866b-ef49-4c9c-a99f-b46adb0ccccc","pagecount":"78","content":"This publication is copyrighted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Unless otherwise noted, you are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format), adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, under the following condition:ATTRIBUTION. The work must be attributed, but not in any way that suggests endorsement by ILRI or the author(s).For any reuse or distribution, the licence terms of this work must be made clear to others. Any of the above conditions can be waived if permission is obtained from the copyright holder. Nothing in this licence impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Editing, design and layout-ILRI Editorial and Publishing Services, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Citation: International Livestock Research Institute. 2023. Adoption intensity of KCSAP-promoted Technologies, Innovations and Management Practices and their effects on greenhouse gas emission indicators of the dairy value chains of smallholder farms. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. The Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) is a Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives project funded by the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The overall goal of the KCSAP project is 'to increase agricultural productivity and build resilience to climate change risks in the targeted smallholder farming and pastoral communities in Kenya, and in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, to provide immediate and effective response'. To meet this goal, the KCSAP project has the following components:1. Upscaling climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, which supports smallholder farmers to adopt integrated climate-smart Technology, Innovation and Management Practices (TIMPs); 2. Strengthening CSA research and seed systems; 3. Supporting agro-weather, market, climate and advisory services; 4. Project coordination and management; and 5. Contingency emergency response.A consultancy was awarded within KCSAP to the One CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with the objective of developing methods to reliably estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission indicators in conjunction with surveys to:1. Generate baseline estimates of GHG emission indicators for KCSAP; 2. Generate baseline estimates of GHG emission indicators to evaluate the effect(s) of TIMPs adoption; and 3. If possible, use the methods developed as a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool for assessing progress of TIMPs toward meeting KCSAP objectives.To achieve these objectives, ILRI focused on the dairy value chain (VC) in four counties (Baringo, Bomet, Kericho and Laikipia), where it conducted primary and secondary data collections to establish baseline GHG emission indicators for farmers who had adopted or did not adopt TIMPs. Field data was collected indirectly for dairy farms via a survey questionnaire using Open Data Kit (ODK) software on the following topics: animal liveweight; feed and feeding management; locomotion; milk yield; hours worked (for draft animals); feed digestibility; manure management; and TIMPs adopted. Additionally, milk yield, heart girth and a subsample of feeds were measured directly in each county to more accurately assess dairy productivity and GHG emission indicators. Field data collection resulted in a database with 804 farms, of which 566 were usable for analysis. Data analysis was conducted using a combination of R statistical software and the Agrecalc tool using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 methods (for calculating emission indicators).Analyses focused primarily on individual farm-scale adoption of TIMPs, dairy productivity (daily milk yield) and two types of emission indicators: emission intensity (EI) (kg CO2e/kg fat and protein-corrected milk, FCPM) and total emissions (kg CO2e) per farm. Data were analyzed by county and split by production system based on level of intensification into intensive (nograze), semi-intensive and extensive systems.Overall, the 'extensive' dairy production system was most common (283 farms) followed by 'semi-intensive' dairy farming (233 farms). Only around 16% of farms (98 farms) were categorized as no-graze, by far the smallest group among the production systems. Individual TIMPs reported to be used in the surveys were grouped into 12 categories. The most commonly employed were reproduction and fodder improvement TIMPs being used by more than 50% of farms in the four counties. The least commonly used TIMP was related to health (East Coast Fever vaccines) and was scarcely used in any of the counties. Mean daily milk yields ranged between 3.1 litres/cow/day in extensive farms in Baringo to 7.6 litres/cow/day in nograze/intensive farms in Kericho. Milk yields tended to increase linearly with production systems as intensive (no-graze) systems had the highest milk yields, followed by semi-intensive and extensive systems. Overall, daily milk yields appeared to be lower in the counties of Baringo and Bomet compared to Kericho and Laikipia irrespective of production system.Overall, farms across all counties and production systems had an average GHG EI of 2.59 kg CO2e/kg FPCM and ranged from 0.59 to 12.00 kg CO2e/kg FPCM. Total emissions per farm followed a similar pattern to EI, with the average farm having absolute emissions of 8,626 kg CO2e and ranging between 1,291 and 37,858 kg CO2e. GHG EIs varied by county, with the lowest GHG EIs found in Kericho County (2.22 kg CO2e/kg FPCM), followed by Laikipia (2.41 kg CO2e/kg FPCM), Bomet (2.85 kg CO2e/kg FPCM) and Baringo (2.90 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). Total emissions per farm by county followed a similar pattern to EIs: Bomet and Baringo had the highest total emissions per farm at 10,532 kg CO2e and 10,144 kg CO2e, respectively, followed by farms in Laikipia (7,342 kg CO2e) then Kericho (6,878 kg CO2e). These patterns may be related to milk yield and overall production efficiency since Bomet and Baringo both had low average milk yields whereas Kericho had the highest milk yields followed by Laikipia.GHG EIs generally decreased with increasing intensity of production system since extensive systems had the highest GHG EIs (3.04 kg CO2e/kg FPCM), followed by semi-intensive (2.62 kg CO2e/kg FPCM) and intensive (no-graze) systems (2.17 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). The total average GHG emissions per farm were highest in the intensive (no-graze) systems (10,039 kg CO2e/farm), followed by semi-intensive (9,311 kg CO2e/farm) and extensive systems (8,604 kg CO2e/farm). Reductions in GHG EI and increases in total GHG per farm with increasing levels of intensity are likely due to the nature of these systems since intensive systems may have higher production efficiency (leading to lower EI) while also requiring more feed to sustain higher levels of production (leading to higher total emissions per farm).We attempted to examine the effects of individual TIMPs on dairy productivity, GHG emissions and other variables of interest. However, we found that similar to the report by Tegemeo Institute (2019), most farmers adopted multiple different TIMPs. Therefore, it was not possible to isolate the impact of individual TIMPs irrespective of other TIMPs. However, we were able to analyze the effect of the number of TIMPs adopted on production and GHG emissions.The effect of different numbers of TIMPs on milk production and GHG emissions was determined across all counties and dairy production systems. The approach for analyzing the effects of different numbers of TIMPs was to split the number adopted into the following categories: 0, 1-2, 3-4 and >5 TIMPs practices. Regression analysis revealed that the number of TIMPs adopted was a statistical trend for milk yields (p < 0.10), which implies that the number of TIMPs adopted helps explain variability in milk production. There was a linear upward trend in daily milk yield as the number of TIMPs adopted increased since farms adopting >5 TIMPs generally had the highest daily milk yields (4.7 litres/cow/day) whereas farms that adopted 0 TIMPs had the lowest milk yields (3.5 litres/cow/day). Although not statistically significant, milk yields for farms adopting >5 TIMPS was 34% higher than those adopting 0 TIMPs.Unlike milk yields, there was no statistical trend for the effect of the number of TIMPS adopted on GHG EIs. However, there was a downward visual trend in GHG EIs as the number of TIMPs adopted increased. Farms adopting >5 TIMPs generally had the lowest daily EIs (2.1 kg CO2e/kg FPCM or -20%), whereas farms that adopted 0 TIMPs had the highest EI (2.6 kg CO2e/kg FPCM).The lack of a statistical trend or significance may be attributable to the relatively small sample size for each category of number of TIMPs adopted. This resulted in high variability and difficulty detecting statistical trends despite strong visual evidence showing a clear pattern of reduced GHG EIs with increased adoption of TIMPs. Given the strong visual evidence, these results suggest that milk yields increase while GHG EIs decrease as the number of TIMPs adopted increases. Programs such as KCSAP may be able to improve production and reduce GHG EIs of dairy products in Kenya by actively promoting and supporting adoption of climatesmart agriculture practices.Additionally, the largest gains in milk yield and reductions in EI with additional TIMPs adoption were found in extensive production systems. While the statistical trends were not significant, there was a strong visual trend for both milk and GHG EIs in extensive production systems but not in intensive or semi-intensive systems. This implies that most of the overall improvement in production and emission indicators due to adoption of additional TIMPs is explained by increasing adoption in extensive systems. Moreover, to achieve the greatest improvement in productivity and emissions, future work could target more extensive systems (i.e. systems with high levels of grazing) as opposed to systems with more intensive dairy management practices (e.g. zero-graze systems).The Thus, the overall aim of KCSAP is to achieve 'triple wins' from CSA based on implementation of the TIMPs to achieve increased productivity, adaptation and mitigation (reduced GHG emission intensities [EIs] i.e. GHG emission per product).Within the KCSAP project, a consultancy was awarded to the One CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) under the title 'Undertaking baseline data collection on GHG emission by the four KCSAP priority value chains (sorghum, millet, cassava and dairy)' with the objective of developing methods to reliably estimate GHG emission indicators in conjunction with surveys to:1. generate baseline estimates of GHG emission indicators for KCSAP; 2. generate baseline estimates of GHG emission indicators to evaluate the effect(s) of TIMPs adoption; and 3. if possible, use the methods developed as a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool for assessing progress of TIMPs toward meeting KCSAP objectives.To achieve the above objectives and deliverables and as requested by the consultancy, ILRI would:1. Determine the best methodology of verifying and measuring GHG emissions for selected commodity values chains (VCs) based on international best practices to establish GHG emission indicators (net GHG emissions, net GHG emissions per unit [HG intensity of a product], product produced and percentage reduction in GHG intensity) for the project baseline and adoption of TIMs; 2. Undertake primary and secondary data collections and establish baseline GHG emission indicators for selected commodity VCs that did not adopt TIMPs and those that adopted TIMPs; 3. Analyze the data collected; 4. Hold stakeholder workshops to validate findings and build stakeholders' capacity for the collection of data to determine GHG emissions indicators; and 5. Write a final report and submit it together with raw datasets of data collected during this project to the client. After being awarded the consultancy, ILRI personnel met with collaborators from Rothamsted Research (UK), as well as the University of Bangor (UK),to assess the path forward for project implementation. Based on the discussions from these meetings and on existing work on the selected VCs conducted by Tegemeo Institute, we determined the project objectives in the following section.We achieved Objective 1 prior to the start of field data collection by revising methodologies for data collection between May 2022 and August 2022. Specifically, within Objective 1, we revised tools for quantifying GHG EIs, developed questionnaires for data collection, and submitted client reports. For the dairy VC, we determined that the Agricultural resource efficiency calculator, Agrecalc (https://www.agrecalc.com/home/about/) was the best available tool for calculating GHG emissions because our UK collaborators from University of Bangor were experienced in it and were able to automate the emissions calculation for individual farms. In the GLEAM-i online tool, we would have had to enter each farm individually. Further, as both tools are based on IPCC Tier 2 methodology and calculate on-farm emissions, emissions calculated by both tools are expected to be similar. Automation of the emissions calculations in Agrecalc reduced the analysis time significantly as we would have had to enter the data of each of the over 600 farms individually on the on-line platform of GLEAM-i. We developed a survey for collecting data using Open Data Kit (ODK) to collect data for selected VCs. These tools represent a simple and robust method for M&E of changes in dairy production and GHG emission indicators over time and could therefore be used toward meeting the goal of using 'the methods developed as an M&E tool for assessing progress of TIMPs toward meeting KCSAP objectives', which is the third overarching objective of this consultancy, as discussed above.For Objective 2, we undertook primary and secondary data collections in November and December 2022 to establish baseline GHG emission indicators for selected commodity VCs that did not adopt TIMPs and that adopted TIMPs. We collected data for dairy VCs in four counties (Baringo, Bomet, Kericho and Laikipia).For Objective 3, analysis of the data and calculation of GHG emissions indicators were conducted using Agrecalc. Specifically, the collected primary and secondary data were used to calculate baseline measurements of GHG emissions indicators (productivity, GHG EI) for dairy VCs using Agrecalc. Further, we attempted to compare the adopted (treatment) and nonadopted (control) farmer groups to assess the impacts of TIMPs adoption on GHG indicators using Agrecalc.For Objective 4, we conducted feedback workshops to validate data collection for dairy VCs in Baringo, Bomet and Kericho in February 2023 and additional workshops for all four VCs in one humid and semi-arid county in March 2023.The IPCC guidelines specify the data required for estimating GHG emissions for dairy cattle (IPCC, 2019). The guidelines specify that enteric methane (CH4) emissions can be estimated based on feed intake using either direct or indirect methods (Figure 1). Direct methods estimate emissions by directly measuring daily feed intake (kg DM/day), then multiplying by a methane conversion factor (Ym) to calculate enteric CH4 emissions. Indirect methods rely on proxy variables to determine energy requirements of cattle, which is then used to estimate daily feed intake (GE, gross energy). Subsequently, estimated daily feed intake is multiplied by Ym to calculate CH4 emissions, as with direct emissions.The ILRI's KCSAP survey used the indirect methods for estimating feed intake and enteric CH4 emissions for cattle in dairy systems. For this, the survey captured the following proxy:• Liveweight • Feed and feeding management • Locomotion (i.e. animal movement, such as during grazing activity)• Milk yield • Hours worked (for draft animals)With the exception of liveweight and some data of feed and feeding management, these proxy variables can be estimated from farmer recall using survey questionnaires, which we describe in the following section.IPCC 2019 guidelines specify how to perform calculations for manure GHG emissions (CH4, direct and indirect N2O) from dairy cattle, which also rely partially on estimating feed intake from cattle (Figure 1). In general, feed intake and feed digestibility are used to determine manure excretions rates. The amount of volatile solid or nitrogen excreta is multiplied by CH4 or direct and indirect N2O emission factors (EFs), respectively, for the existing manure management systems to determine emissions from manure. As with enteric CH4, the required data can be collected using recall survey questionnaires regarding feed intake proxy variables and proportion of manure management systems.Source: Graham et al. 2022 Survey design and sample size accounted for several logistical constraints and ILRI's unique capacities with respect to the dairy VC. Initially, beneficiary counties for KCSAP were zoned into three groups based on climatic zone: arid, semi-arid and medium-to-high rainfall zones. However, due to logistical issues in arid areas, target VCs were only surveyed in semi-arid and medium-to-high rainfall zones. Counties within these zones were further selected to maximize overlap between the dairy and crop VCs in order to optimize logistics.For the dairy VC, four counties were surveyed in two climatic zones: Baringo (semi-arid), Bomet (medium-to-high rainfall), Kericho (medium-to-high rainfall) and Laikipia (semi-arid). Depending on logistical constraints, farms for conducting surveys were selected from 4-6 wards in each county.In each county, we selected 200 farms to survey a total of ~800 farms across the entire study area. Subsequently, we split farms into two groups (adopted and non-adopted) and selected 100 farms from each group. As discussed in the subsequent section, sample size was determined to maximize the probability of detecting a change in GHG emissions between adopted and non-adopted farms to verify the efficacy of KCSAP-promoted TIMPs. However, it should be noted that, similar to the initial baseline KCSAP report published by Tegemeo Institute (Tegemeo Institute 2020), non-adopted farms had a large number of TIMPs adopted.The main difference between adopted and non-adopted farms was therefore that adopted farms received support from KCSAP whereas non-adopted farmers did not receive project support.The study type for all dairy VCs was a recall survey questionnaire on livestock management practices with some direct measurements (i.e. heart girth, milk yields, feed and feeding management). This was conducted by farmers in collaboration with the field teams and enumerators.In general, we asked farmers about the herd composition (i.e. number of each sub-class of cattle) as well as manure management practices and collected data on heart girth measurements (to estimate liveweight), milk production, feed and feeding management, and adoption of TIMPs. Milk production and heart girth was measured in collaboration with farmers to ensure accurate recording. We also recorded diet composition and collected and analyzed samples of the most common feeds in each county from a subset of farmers.Farm GHG emissions and GHG EIs were estimated for each farm by entering individual farm data into the Agrecalc tool. Farms were classified by the number of TIMPs adopted with 0 TIMPs farms being baseline farms. We used a modified version of the questionnaire based on Kenya national dairy inventory survey using ODK to record data for each farm in the dairy VC survey.For the dairy survey, we used a two-sample normal sample size calculation (at 5% level of significance, with 80% power) (Equation 1) to compare households adopting TIMPs (i.e. treatment) to households without TIMPs (control) for the differences in key parameters observed over time. A minimum difference that we would expect to be biologically important would be a 10% difference in key parameters (particularly methane emissions and milk yields from dairy cows, along with animal liveweights). Using data from previous studies (Goopy et al. 2018;Ndung'u et al. 2018), we calculated the sample size requirement for each of these proxy variables (Table 1) using Equation 1. From this, we took the highest sample size requirement (in this case milk yield) 362 per group and rounded it to account for incomplete data to 400 households per group or a total of 800 households. Therefore, we sampled 100 households with TIMPs adopted and 100 households without TIMPs for a total of 200 households per study site (i.e. county).This sample size was calculated at the project level to answer Objective 2 at baseline between the farmers with and without TIMPs. We also did not account for intra-cluster correlation between households because the households for both TIMP and non-TIMP households were provided to us and we randomly selected from the sampling frame (i.e. list of households in both groups) provided by KCSAP.For these sample sizes, we compared any type of TIMP to non-adopters of TIMP. However, we balanced the sample within the TIMP group across different individual technologies so that analysis could also be able to identify differences between individual practices. • Other dairy management practices. These sections include questions on all proxy variables specified by IPCC 2019 guidelines for estimating feed intake and GHG emissions from dairy cattle, as discussed above. All questions in the original questionnaire were subsequently converted into ODK survey format, which can be used on Android devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets) and without requiring internet connectivity. The survey is available online as an out-of-the-box survey tool that can be used for conducting inventories of dairy cattle in other locations (https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/127288).For the purpose of this survey, we adjusted the survey to fit the specific data analysis and to account for the TIMPs. We kept all sections of the survey questionnaire listed above but removed some subsections to reduce the length of the survey to focus on questions pertaining to proxy variables required to calculate GHG emissions. We removed the following subsections from the original Wilkes et al. (2019) NAMA survey:• Feeding ○ Machinery and fuels used in feed preparation ○ Crop farming (land resources owned) • Other dairy management practices ○ Water. The applied ODK tool can be found online at https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/127288. The updated version of this survey will be uploaded to the foregoing link in March 2023. Further, we surveyed diet composition using Annex Table A9.Following conversion and development of the survey questionnaire, surveys were conducted verbally on individual farms using Android-based tablets or smartphones. In addition to verbal questions, the survey also included direct measurements of heart girth (livestock and cattle: herd structures and dynamics; cows, cow milk production and milk sales sections), milk yield (cows, cow milk production and milk sales sections) and feed and feeding management (feed and feeding management section), which were subsequently entered into the survey. Record sheets can be found in Annex Table A9. Heart girth data was collected to estimate animal weights following ILRI Manual 39 (Goopy et al. 2017).In summary, the heart girth measurement is a very simple approach using a measurement tape. The tape needs to be fixed directly behind the forelegs and the circumference is read from the tape. This is a common procedure on farms and can be used when a weighing scale may be impractical, such as rapid surveys or inventories. To ensure robust data, the field staff handling the animals were trained in heart girth measurements (as described in the following section). Animal weights are important because they are used to estimate animal energy requirements, which in turn determines feed intake and GHG emissions using the IPCC Tier inventory approach.Milk yields were measured using 1-litre plastic measuring jugs. Measuring jugs were given to each farmer, who was instructed to measure milk production for both morning and evening milking (or any other milking times) from all lactating dairy cows. Subsequently, the farmers corresponded with ILRI's enumerators to record the measured daily milk yield in the survey questionnaire.In addition to collecting data on feed and feeding management during the survey, animal diet was noted down and samples of the most common feeds were collected from a random subsample of farmers at each site. At the county scale, we obtained feed samples from at least six farmers in each ward. Subsequently, we divided the feed sampling into two sets within each ward: samples from farmers who had adopted TIMPs versus from farmers who had not adopted TIMPs (0 TIMPs). Each ward therefore had three feed samples from TIMPs-adopted farms and three feed samples from TIMPs non-adopted farms. This resulted in a total of 36 samples per county for the most representative feed type in Baringo, Bomet and Kericho, whereas we only surveyed four wards in Laikipia (24 samples per feed type). Subsequently, feed samples were transported to ILRI's Mazingira Centre for analysis of feed composition. We analyzed feed samples for DM, fibre content, nitrogen and ash content and used results to calculate dry matter digestibility (Annex Table A10).Feed baskets were calculated as the proportionate contribution of a feed item to the diet by calculating the amount of individual feedstuff fed to each livestock category per household, per season. For cut and carry feed stuffs, the amount fed was recorded using the units of quantity provided by the farmer and then converted to kilograms using conversion tables in literature. Fresh forages and concentrate samples were collected for DM content analysis. For pastures, the area available per animal category per season was recorded in acres and the biomass production estimated.Practices (TIMPs) adoptionIn addition to the NAMA protocol survey queries, we created a section regarding adoption of TIMPs to determine the extent of TIMPs adoption and determined the effects of TIMPs on GHG emissions. As discussed in the section below, we initially field tested the survey questionnaire in Kericho. Therefore, we obtained TIMPs being implemented from the KCSAP County Project Coordinating Unit in Kericho. TIMPs for Kericho were deemed to encompass a wide enough range of management practices to capture TIMPs in other counties. We therefore used the TIMPs from Kericho as the basis for survey questions on TIMPs adoption in all four counties. Specifically, we asked about the adoption of the following 30 TIMPs: Enumerators were recruited and trained then they conducted field pre-testing separately for each site (i.e. county) in the dairy survey. For each site, enumerators were recruited from a list provided by KCSAP county level personnel and most enumerators had some background working with KCSAP previously. Recruitment was done prior to visiting each site based on the enumerators' curricula vitae, particularly level of education and prior experience with farmer surveys.For training, each enumerator was given a tablet with the survey questionnaire. All enumerators were then accompanied by ILRI personnel to a 'test' farmer. ILRI personnel then surveyed the test farmer with the questionnaire while the enumerators recorded answers on tablets. Enumerators were permitted to ask clarifying questions regarding the survey and ILRI personnel cross checked answers with all enumerators prior to concluding the survey with the test farmer. ILRI personnel also instructed enumerators on how to perform heart girth measurements and collect milk yield data. After the first test farmer, all enumerators were accompanied by ILRI personnel to a second 'test' farmer. In this case, ILRI personnel supervised the administration of the survey questionnaire by one of the enumerators while the remaining enumerators observed and recorded survey responses. Again, enumerators were permitted to ask clarifying questions regarding the survey and ILRI personnel cross checked answers with all enumerators prior to concluding the survey with the test farmer. This concluded the training and enumerators were subsequently allowed to visit farmers and administer the questionnaire independently, with ILRI personnel providing decision support with respect to any issues with the survey. Field pre-testing was done using the procedure conducted above for training in Kericho County in November 2022. Kericho was the first county to be surveyed and all ILRI personnel were present to ensure the smooth collection of data from farmers. After surveying the test farmers, modifications were made to the survey to ensure that any errors were removed. Modifications were also made to ensure that survey questions were clear for both enumerators and farmers. Questions that might be relevant or cause confusion were added or removed, respectively.ILRI collected data for the KCSAP survey between 24 October and 15 December 2022. Assistance in locating farmers for surveying at each site was provided by KCSAP County Project Coordinating Units (CPCU) at the county level and by Community Driven Development Committees officers (CDDC) at the ward level. Field data collection was conducted in Kericho from 24 October to 5 November 2022. In Kericho, the survey team consisted of four supervisors from ILRI and eight locally-hired enumerators. For the remaining three counties (Baringo, Bomet, Laikipia), surveys were conducted from 21 November to 15 December. In these counties, the teams comprised one supervisor from ILRI and four local enumerators. Data collection was done on a ward by ward basis in each county in collaboration with ward CDDC officers, who assisted in coordinating travel and logistics with ILRI supervisors.Quality control was implemented as part of the survey design by limiting the nature and magnitude of options for responses to survey questions. Additionally, survey results were checked periodically to look for major issues with the data collection process. This periodic checking of the data allowed for feedback between ILRI personnel and enumerators regarding improving data quality and fixing of any potential mistakes. Data quality control was also ensured through field testing of the survey questionnaire, as described in a preceding section.Completion of the surveys resulted in a dataset with 805 entries, corresponding to 805 farms surveyed. This dataset was cleaned by removing outlier values and removing zeroes where necessary, particularly for important variables such as milk yield, animal liveweights, farm household identification number and manure. For manure, there were a number of farms surveyed where manure practices summed to more or less than 100%. Therefore, we corrected all manure practices to add to 100% based on the proportion of manure managed using each individual practice.We removed any farms that did not report milk yield, since this would result in values of infinity for GHG EIs. We removed 10 farms in Bomet, 16 farms in Baringo, 104 farms in Kericho and 8 farms in Laikipia due to lack of data on feed and feeding management. For the GHG analysis, we removed 53 farms which were major outliers for N2O emissions. Farms that did not report milk production were also removed from the data as were farms that reported receiving support from the project but that did not report using TIMPs. This resulted in a total of 566 farms across the four counties for inclusion in the final analysis of productivity and GHG emissions.To assess the effect of the number of TIMPs on daily milk yield and GHG EIs, the number of TIMPs used per farm was transformed into a categorical variable to enhance sample numbers per group and generate a roughly even distribution of samples. To achieve this, the number of TIMPs used by each farm was categorized into the following groups: 0, 1-2, 3-4 and >5 TIMPs. Multiple linear regression models (MLRs) were used to test for an association between the number of TIMPs and daily milk yield and GHG EIs. To account for the effects of farm intensification and socio-economic and agroecological factors on milk yield, and GHG Eis we included 'dairy production system' and 'county' in our regression models as covariates. Dairy production systems were based on the definition of dairy production systems in the 'Inventory of GHG emissions from dairy cattle in Kenya 1995 -2017' (Government of Kenya, 2017).Interactions within the regression models were included for interactions with a p-value <0.50, as such the interaction production system by county and county by number of TIMPs were included in the models. The interaction production system by number of TIMPs was removed (p = 0.80 for milk production and p = 0.54 for GHG EI). MLRs were also applied to assess the relationships between the number of TIMPs and daily milk yield, and GHG EIs separately by dairy production system. In these models, county was included in the regression as a covariate. A post-hoc least significant difference test was applied to indicate which number of TIMPs categories differed from each other at the 5% level of probability. Due to skewness in data both daily milk yield and GHG EIs were transformed using the log function. The estimated marginal means presented in the results have been back-transformed in order to provide results that are comparable to results from the scientific literature. All analyses were carried out within the Rstudio environment version 2022.12.0 Build 353 for R (version 4.2.1) using the ade4 (Dray and Dufour 2007), agricolae (de Mendiburu and Yaseen 2020), ggplot2 (Wickham 2016), dplyr (Wickham et al. 2018), and emmeans (Lenth 2022) packages.Survey data were used to calculate farm carbon footprints using Agrecalc (Agricultural resource efficiency calculator). This was developed by Scotland's Rural College and has been found to be amongst the best-performing carbon accounting tools in terms of transparency, methodology and allocation (Sykes et al. 2017). The tool uses mainly IPCC (2019) Tier 2 methodologies and conforms to PAS2050 supply chain standards (2011). IPCC (2019) Tier 2 country-specific calculations were employed for all livestock enteric CH4 and N2O emissions from excreta deposited on grazing land. CH4 and N2O emissions from manure management also use IPCC (2019) Tier 2 methods which take into account dietary characteristics and climate. Direct N2O emissions from soil following fertilizer application and manure application follow IPCC Tier 2 guidelines. IPCC (2019) Tier 1 are employed for N2O emissions from crop residues and indirect N2O emissions related to volatilization and leaching. Energy use emission estimates were calculated using emission factors (EFs) from DEFRA (2012). Embedded fertilizer emissions were calculated using values described by Kool et al. (2012) and imported feed rations from the Dutch Feedprint database (Vellinga et al. 2013).Standardized emission estimates were reported in units of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) using global warming potential over 100 years (GWP100). Agrecalc uses GWP values from the fourth assessment report (AR4). For CH4, the value of GWP100 is 25 and for N2O the value is 298 (Myhre et al., 2014). Model outputs are expressed as both total emissions per farm and GHG emissions per unit of product e.g. kg CO2e/kg of fat and FPCM.In cases where data were not collected from the survey or where any data were missing, recently published data or standardized estimates were used in their place. For example, milk yields were provided in litres per day, however, emissions are calculated on a yearly basis in Agrecalc in kg FPCM/cow/day. Therefore, a conventional 305 lactation length was assumed to estimate annual milk yields (Kok et al. 2016;Kopec et al. 2021). Similarly, FPCM was standardized to 4% fat and 3.3% true protein in line with other recently published Kenyan studies (Ndung'u et al. 2022).We provide an overview of the results in Tables 2 and 3 below to provide a summary. We conduct a more detailed analysis and discussion of these results in the following subsections. Farms were categorized into three distinct dairy production systems based on the feeding practices used for lactating cows as defined in the 'Inventory of GHG emissions from dairy cattle in Kenya 1995 -2017' (Government of Kenya 2017). Farms that fed at least one of their lactating cows using no graze techniques for at least 70% of the time during both the dry and wet seasons were categorized as a 'no-graze' dairy production system. Farms that used grazing feeding techniques for at least 70% of the time for their lactating cows during both the dry and wet seasons were categorized as an 'extensive' dairy production system. The third dairy production system consisted of a mix of both grazing and no-graze feeding techniques, such that farms fed their lactating cattle with a maximum of 70% no-graze techniques and a maximum of 70% grazing techniques, were categorized as a 'semi-intensive\" dairy production system'.Overall, the extensive dairy production system was most common (256 farms) followed by semi-intensive farms (213). Only around 17% of farms (97) were categorized as no-graze, by far the smallest group of production systems (Table 4). When split by county, a similar pattern was found in Baringo and Bomet, where extensive farms were observed to be most common and no-graze farms were the least common. In Kericho and Laikipia however, while no-graze farms were still the least common, there were proportionally more semi-intensive farms. In Kericho, there were around the same number of semi-intensive as extensive farms (38 and 36, respectively), while in Laikipia there were 40% more semi-intensive farms (84) compared to extensive farms (60). These differences among counties are likely a reflection of many different agro-ecological and socio-economic factors that vary by county. The herd size, measured as the total number of heads of cattle including all cattle types (adults and young, male and female), ranged between a mean of 3.1 heads in extensive farms in Bomet and 4.6 heads in extensive farms in Baringo (Figure 2). No discernable differences in herd size were observed among counties or dairy production system. However, it is noteworthy that in Baringo and Laikipia, extensive farms tended to have more than one head of cattle more than farms in the no-graze production system. Farms from Baringo, Bomet and Laikipia had proportionally more lactating cows (accounting for 27-33% of the herd) compared to farms from Kericho (21%). On the other hand, Kericho farms owned proportionally more adult males (10% of their total herd compared to less than 4% in the other counties) (Table 5). Comparing herd structure among production systems, it was notable that while no-graze farms owned no adult males, extensive farms owned the greatest proportion of adult males (10% of the herd). The reverse pattern was observed for lactating cows, where no-graze farms owned a higher proportion (38%) and extensive farms owned the smallest proportion (24%). Imm. males = immature malesMean daily milk yields ranged between 3.1 litres/cow/day in extensive farms from Baringo to 7.6 litres/cow/day in no-graze farms in Kericho (Figure 3). Average daily milk yield per farm (i.e. including all lactating females) was 12.6 litres/day, with a right-skewed distribution as some farms had much higher daily milk production (Figure 4). Annual milk yields were generally around 3,837 litres/farm/year and formed a similar pattern in the histogram as for daily milk yields per farm (Figure 5). Overall, daily milk yields appeared to be lower in the counties of Baringo and Bomet compared to Kericho and Laikipia irrespective of production system. This pattern appears to reflect the overall contexts of the four counties, where agroecological and socio-economic contexts in Kericho and Laikipia appear to be more conducive to more intensified farming (Table 4). These differences underline the importance of including county as a covariate in the analysis of the effects of TIMPs on milk yield and GHG intensity emissions. In addition to differences by county, as would be expected, a clear pattern was also observable among dairy production systems. In each of the counties, extensive production system farms yielded the least milk per cow per day, while the milk yields from the no-graze farms were always highest. Individual climate-smart farming innovations and techniques that were reported to be used in the surveys were grouped into 12 categories of TIMPs (Table 6). The most commonly employed TIMPs were reproduction and fodder improvement TIMPs being used by more than 50% of farms in the four counties. The least commonly used TIMP was those related to health (East Coast Fever vaccines), which was scarcely used in any of the counties (Figures 6 and 7).There were differences in use of TIMPs among counties. Feed processing was not employed by many farms in Laikipia but was used by 25% or more farms in the other counties (Baringo, Bomet and Kericho). Feed preservation and feed supplement TIMPs were less common in Baringo than in the other counties (Bomet, Kericho and Laikipa) where around 30% of farms used the technique. Fertilizers, by-products feeding, water harvesting and marketing TIMPs were used more commonly (by around 50% or more of farms) in Bomet than the other counties (Baringo, Kericho and Laikipia). Pasture TIMPs were used more commonly in Baringo (by around 50% of farms) compared to farms in other counties (Bomet, Kericho and Laikipia) (around 25% or less of farms). Stall feeding/housing TIMPs, on the hand, were most commonly used by farms in Kericho, closely followed by Laikipia and Bomet, while there were few farms in Baringo using stall feeding/housing TIMPs (Figure 6).There were also broad differences in use of TIMPs observed by dairy production system. There was an observable trend in greater use of certain TIMPs in more intensified dairy production systems, such that more no-graze and fewer extensive dairy production systems used reproduction, feed processing, feed preservation, feed supplements and stall feeding/housing TIMPs. The opposite pattern was observed for pasture and water harvesting TIMPs (Figure 7). These contrasting patterns of TIMPs use appear to closely align with feed and feeding management practices, with no-graze farms tending to use more TIMPs more closely related to stall feeding, while extensive farms were more likely to use TIMPs related to pasture management.  We found that farms across all counties and production systems had an average GHG EIs of 2.73 kg CO2e/kg FPCM and ranged from 0.63 to 12.00 kg CO2e/kg FPCM (Figure 8). The overall frequency distribution of EIs was right-skewed, with most farms falling between 1 and 3 kg CO2e/kg FPCM. Relatively few farms had GHG EIs over 5.0 kg CO2e/kg FPCM and fewer still had GHG EIs above 10. Absolute emissions for individual farms across all counties followed a similar pattern to GHG EI, with the average farm having absolute emissions of 9,115 kg CO2e and ranging between 1,630 kg CO2e and 37,858 kg CO2e (Figure 9). The overall frequency distribution (number) of farms by GHG emission was right-skewed, with most farms falling between 2,500 and 10,000 kg CO2e.Relatively few farms emitted over >15,000 kg CO2e and even fewer >30,000 kg CO2e. We found that GHG EIs varied by county but also that there was considerable variability in GHG EIs within individual counties (Figure 10). The lowest GHG EI were found in Laikipia County (2.41 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). The highest average GHG EI was for Bomet County, which had an average of 3.07 kg CO2e/kg FPCM. This was followed by Baringo (2.93 kg CO2e/kg FPCM) and Kericho (2.55 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). This pattern may be related to milk yield, since surveyed farms in Bomet and Baringo both had similarly low average milk yields, whereas Kericho had the highest milk yields followed by Laikipia. Similarly, extensive systems were more prevalent in Baringo and Bomet but less so in the other counties (Kericho and Laikipia). This could affect not only milk production but also feeds and other farm inputs used, with animals in more extensive systems consuming lower quality feed, leading to higher GHG emissions (see next section). For total emissions at the county level, we found similar patterns to GHG EI. Bomet and Baringo had the highest total emissions per farm (10,848 and 10,288 kg CO2e/farm, respectively) (Figure 11). This was followed by farms in Kericho (8,093 kg CO2e/farm), then Laikipia (7,376 kg CO2e/farm). Unlike for GHG EIs, total emissions were slightly higher for Bomet compared to Baringo, while the order for the other counties remained the same. However, the cause of these differences in average total emissions per farm is likely different from that for GHG EI, which could be explained by milk yield, production efficiency or herd structure.We found that GHG EIs varied between dairy production systems, but with considerable variability within systems (Figure 12). The GHG EIs generally decreased with increasing intensity of production system, since extensive systems had the highest EIs (3.04 kg CO2e/kg FPCM), followed by semi-intensive (2.62 kg CO2e/kg FPCM), and intensive (no graze) (2.17 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). Similar to GHG EIs at the county level, much of the variability between systems could be explained by differences in productivity, since milk yields were generally highest in the intensive systems and lowest in extensive systems. More intensive systems may have access to higher quantity and quality feeds and improved production practices, which could lead to higher efficiency per unit animal production in the semi-intensive and intensive compared to extensive systems. Further, as discussed in the subsequent section, adopting more TIMPs tends to increase milk yields and decrease GHG EIs, so farmers in more intensive systems may be adopting more TIMPs compared to more extensive systems. The large within system variability suggests that substantial mitigation is possible by optimizing system productivity. This is especially important as dairy production systems are often determined by the climatic zones and to change an extensive system to an intensive system is not a practical mitigation approach. Accordingly, mitigation efforts should be focused on optimizing a system. In terms of average total GHG emissions per farm by production system, average emissions were highest in the intensive (no-graze) (10,039 kg CO2e/farm), followed by semi-intensive (9,311 kg CO2e/farm) and extensive systems (8,604 kg CO2e/farm) (Figure 13). This pattern was the reverse of what was observed for counties, where counties with higher GHG emissions also tended to have higher GHG EIs. Here we observed that total GHG emissions went up as intensity of production increased. This is likely due to the nature of these systems, for example, no-graze systems tend to have higher milk yields that require higher feed inputs, leading to higher total GHG emissions. However, despite the higher total GHG emissions, the greater overall milk production of these systems leads to lower EIs. To examine GHG EIs in more detail, we further broke down the GHG EI data by county and production system (Figure 14). Analyzing by county and production system revealed a somewhat broader range of EIs. The highest GHG EI was for extensive systems in Baringo at 3.3 kg CO2e/kg FPCM, while the lowest was for intensive/zero graze systems in Kericho at 1.8 kg CO2e/kg FPCM. These values are largely in line with those presented previously for county and production system but are useful in demonstrating the variability in GHG EIs for farms within KCSAP.Figure 14. Average GHG emissions per kg FPCM/cow/day by dairy production system and county. Asterisk indicates mean value 3.3. Effect of number of TIMPs adopted on production and emissions 3.3.1. Overall effect of number of TIMPs adopted on production and emissions for all farmsWe attempted to examine the effects of individual TIMPs on dairy productivity, GHG emissions and other variables of interest. However, we found that similar to the report by Tegemeo Institute (2019), this was not possible for several reasons. Firstly, most farmers adopted multiple different TIMPs thus there was no 'control' in the experimental design for the KCSAP project for individual TIMPs and it was not possible to disaggregate which specific individual TIMPs were having an impact on milk yields and emission indicators. As a result of the experimental design, with farmers adopting many different TIMPs at the same time, it was not possible to isolate the impact of individual TIMPs irrespective of other TIMPs, even when grouping TIMPs into broad categories. Secondly, farmers provided to ILRI were classified as either 'adopted' (i.e. had received support from the project) or 'non-adopted' (i.e. not receiving project support), with the latter supposed to serve as a 'control' group. However, many of the 'non-adopted' farmers had also adopted TIMPs. Thus, the number of farmers that could serve as a control with none of the identified TIMPs adopted was small and led to an increased variability limiting statistical power to pick up a difference between zero TIMPs and adoption of TIMPs.A comparison between farmers that received support and did not receive support for TIMPs adoption to determine the effect of support on effectiveness of TIMPs adoption was not possible because farm baseline before TIMPs were implemented. However, we were able to analyze for the effect of the number of TIMPs adopted on production and GHG EI, regardless of whether farmers were 'adopted' or 'non-adopted', which we discuss in this section.We determined the effect of different numbers of TIMPs on milk production and GHG emissions across all counties and dairy production systems. In order to have sufficient sample numbers and a roughly even distribution of samples, we found that the best approach for analyzing the effects of different numbers of TIMPs was to split the number of TIMPs adopted into the following categories: 0, 1-2, 3-4 and >5 TIMPs practices (Table 7).Farms were very diverse in terms of the number of TIMPs adopted by dairy production system, with the most common number of TIMPs being 1-2 for extensive systems. The data shows that relatively few farms (46 total) had adopted no TIMPs at all (i.e. 0 TIMPs used) and the no-graze production system had only six farms with zero TIMPs used. The latter figure makes sense, given that no graze systems are more intensified and therefore may have needed to adopt multiple TIMPs in order to reach high levels of intensification (e.g. reproduction TIMPs such as AI and breeding and improved fodder TIMPs). We also found that although the number of farms across all production systems using >5 TIMPs was smaller than those adopting 1-2 and 3-4 TIMPs, there were still a substantial number of farms adopting >5 TIMPs. Moreover, it is noteworthy that while the proportion of farms in each dairy production system reporting the use of 0 TIMPs is relatively similar (6-8%), there was a higher proportion of extensive farms reporting using only 1-2 TIMPs (42% compared to 31% and 35% in semi-intensive and no-graze farms) and a higher proportion of semi-intensive and no-graze farms reporting using 3-4 or >5 TIMPs (61% and 57%, respectively, compared to 50% in extensive farms).These results could indicate that the KCSAP project has been successful in promoting the adoption of TIMPs practices or that farmers in the counties surveyed are generally active in adopting TIMPs, regardless of whether the KCSAP project is actively promoting TIMPs. As will be shown below, the number of TIMPs adopted has important implications for milk production and GHG emissions.To account for the effects of dairy production system and socio-economic and agroecological factors on milk yield, and GHG intensity we included 'dairy production system' and 'county' in our regression models. Interaction terms for dairy production system by county and county by number of TIMPs were also included in the models but the interaction term for dairy production system by number of TIMPs was removed as it displayed a high p-value (p >0.5) (Table 8).We found that dairy production system and county were the most important variables in explaining the variability in milk production, both of which were statistically significant (p <0.001). Importantly, we found that the number of TIMPs was a statistical trend (p <0.10), implying that the number of TIMPs adopted helps explain some of the variability in milk production across all counties and dairy production systems. The two interaction terms -dairy production system by county and county by number of TIMPs adopted -were included in the model but were not statistically significant in the regression analysis (p =0.25 and 0.26, respectively).We found a general upward trend in daily milk yield as the number of TIMPs adopted increased (Figure 15a). Farms adopting >5 TIMPs generally had the highest daily milk yields (4.7 litres/cow/day), followed by farms adopting 1-2 TIMPs (4.0 litres/cow/day) and 3-4 TIMPs (4.0 litres/cow/day). Farms that adopted 0 TIMPs had the lowest milk yield (3.5 litres/cow/day). The visual trend reflects the statistical trend with increasing TIMPs adoption, as the milk yields for farms adopting >5 TIMPS was 34% higher than those adopting 0 TIMPS.Using a post-hoc least significant difference test, we did not find a significant difference in daily milk yield between farms between TIMPS categories, despite the presence of statistical and visual trends. This result can be explained by the relatively small number of the surveyed farms, which led to much higher variability in milk yields in all TIMPs adopted categories. Therefore, there was likely too much variability and not enough samples in any category to determine statistically significant differences with the number of TIMPS adopted. However, the statistical and visual trend for TIMPs adopted compared to the other categories implies that the number of TIMPs adopted still has important implications for milk production (albeit not statistically significant) and that we should generally expect to see milk production increase as the number of TIMPs adopted increases. It is expected that this positive relationship is however non-linear in that the more TIMPs adopted, the smaller the potential improvement in milk yield up to a threshold point.   The same statistical approach adopted for milk yields was used to assess the effect of the number of TIMPs on GHG EIs (kg CO2e/kg FPCM) (Table 9). Similar to milk yields, dairy production system (p <0.001) and county (p <0.5) had a significant effect on GHG EI but not the number of TIMPs (p >0.1). The two interaction terms -dairy production system by county and county by number of TIMPs -were again included in the model but were not statistically significant in the regression analysis (0.05 < p < 0.30).We found a general downward trend in GHG EIs as the number of TIMPs adopted increased (Figure 15B). Farms adopting >5 TIMPs generally had the lowest daily EIs (2.1 kg CO2e/kg FPCM or -20%), whereas farms that adopted 0 TIMPs had the highest EI (2.6 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). Farms that adopted 1-2 TIMPs and 3-4 TIMPs were virtually identical in terms of EIs (2.3 kg CO2e/kg FPCM or -8%). We did not find any statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) using the posthoc least significant difference test between categories of farms adopting different numbers of TIMPs. This may be because the 0 TIMPs adoption category had relatively few samples, resulting in high variability for that category. Thus, the small sample size and high variability may have again made it difficult to detect statistical significance between the TIMPs adoption categories despite large differences in averages for these categories.Although we did not observe a statistical difference at the 5% level of probability with the posthoc least significant difference test between categories for the number of TIMPs adopted, the regression results show a clear pattern of reduced GHG EIs with increased adoption of TIMPs, implying that the number of TIMPs adopted has important implications for explaining variability in GHG EIs across farms. Taken together, these results suggest that GHG EIs decrease as the number of TIMPs adopted increases. This also indicates that programs such as KCSAP can improve production and reduce GHG EI of dairy products in Kenya by actively promoting and supporting adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices (i.e. TIMPs). In addition to the analyses assessing the number of TIMPs on milk yield and GHG EIs, a comparison between farms using TIMPs and farms not using TIMPs can be found in the annex (Figures A9-A12). Similar to the results above, while these analyses revealed no statistical differences at the 5% level of probability between farms that used TIMPs and those that did not according to the post-hoc least significant difference test, they did show that farms that used TIMPs had higher average milk yields and lower GHG EIs than farms that did not use any TIMPs (Figure A9). It is likely that the lack of statistical differences at the 5% level of probability were due to the small sample numbers for farms not using any TIMPs.3.3.2. Effect of number of TIMPs adopted on production and emissions by dairy production system 1 3.3.2.1. Intensive/no graze production systemThe regression model for the effect of the number of TIMPs for the intensive/no graze dairy production system on daily milk yield included 'county' as a co-variate to account for agroecological and socio-economic differences among study sites (Table 10). Neither of the two variables included in the regression were statistically significant and therefore did not explain variability in milk yields for the no graze dairy production system. As can be seen in Figure 16A, there were minimal differences in average milk yield depending on the number of TIMPs used, which resulted in no significant differences depending on the number of TIMPs used for the nograze dairy production system. As with the analysis across all farms, variability was very high for all TIMPs adopted categories within no graze, likely due to the small number of samples within this category. The most likely reason there does not appear to be any effect of the number of TIMPs for no graze is that these systems are already at a high level of intensity and milk production levels (TIMPs adoption e.g. TIMPS that we did not account for in this study) and additional TIMPs have diminishing or minimal returns in terms of impact on milk production.On the other hand, we would expect most intensive/no graze dairy production systems to have a large number of TIMPs adopted, so it is surprising that some farmers in this category responded that they have 0 or only 1-2 TIMPs adopted. Since it is unlikely that intensive farms have adopted no or very few TIMPs, this issue may be related to how the survey question was interpreted, since it is possible that some farms already had TIMPs but answered 'no' when asked because these TIMPs were not adopted as part of KCSAP specifically. The ambiguous manner in which farmers responded to questions could therefore partially explain why some intensified farms seemingly have 0 TIMPs, as well as potentially the lack of a trend in increasing milk yields with increasing number of TIMPs (i.e. farms may already have a number of TIMPs but simply did not respond to the survey as such, resulting in minimal differences between number of TIMPs adopted).  The regression model for the effect of the number of TIMPs for the intensive/no graze dairy production system on GHG EI was the same as for milk production, including 'county' as the covariate (Table 11). Again, neither of the two variables included in the regression were statistically significant. As can be seen in Figure 16B, there was no pattern to the data on GHG EI and no significant differences depending on the number of TIMPs used for the no-graze dairy production system. Most likely, GHG EI were related to milk production for these systems and the lack of effect for GHG EIs is due to the lack of significance for milk yields (i.e. diminishing returns in systems that are already intensified). Similar to the results above, when comparing farms using TIMPs and farms not using TIMPs, no statistical differences at the 5% level of probability were observed according to the post-hoc least significant difference test. Moreover, it is hard to observe any visual trend in the data (Figure A10).The regression model for the effect of the number of TIMPs for the semi-intensive production system on daily milk yield included the following variables: county and number of TIMPs (Table 12). Neither of these variables were statistically significant, and according to the post-hoc least significant difference test there was no significant difference in milk yield between semiintensive farms that adopted different numbers of TIMPS (Figure 17A). However, there was no significant difference between these or any of the other categories for the number of TIMPs adopted. There was also no visual trend of increasing milk production between the first three TIMPs categories (0,1-2,3-4 TIMPs), but there is a large increase in production for farms that adopted >5 TIMPs compared to the other number of TIMPs adopted categories. This lack of a clear pattern may be a result of the relatively small number of farms available for statistical analysis in semi-intensive systems, and there was thus not enough statistical power to resolve statistical differences between TIMP count types. Alternatively, this could be explained by ambiguous responses by farmers to survey questions as to whether TIMPs were adopted as part of KCSAP or were pre-existing, as with intensive/zero graze production systems explained above.  We used the same regression model for GHG emissions as for milk production in semi-intensive production systems, which included only the variables: county, number of TIMPs (Table 13).Unlike the case for milk yields, neither of the two variables included in the regression were statistically significant in terms of explaining variability in GHG EIs within the semi-intensive production system. There were also no significant effect for the number of TIMPs adopted (Figure 17B) However, we did observe that there was a slight visual trend downward, with farmers adopting 0 TIMPs having a 23% greater GHG EI (2.6 kg CO2e/kg FPCM) than farms adopting >5 TIMPs (2.0 kg CO2e/kg FPCM). However, we were unable to determine the effect as statistically significant because variability within TIMPs adoption category was greater than between the TIMPs adoption categories. This was especially true for 0 TIMPs with a sample size of only 16 farms. Still, the visual trend could imply that increasing the number of TIMPs may be a way to reduce GHG EIs in semi-intensive production systems. Nevertheless, while our results suggest there may be this relationship, there does not seem to be enough data in the current study to provide irrefutable evidence about the efficacy of TIMPs in reducing GHG EIs for semiintensive production systems in these counties in rural Kenya.When comparing farms using TIMPs and farms not using TIMPs, no statistical differences at the 5% level of probability were observed according to the post-hoc least significant difference test. However, while small, it is noteworthy that the expected trend where farms that used TIMPs tended to display higher milk yields and lower GHG EIs was present in this production system (Figure A11).The regression model for the extensive production system for both milk yields and GHG EI was the same as reported for intensive and semi-intensive (county, number of TIMPs). For milk yield in extensive systems, we found that county was statistically significant (p <0.001), while a trend was observed for the number of TIMPS (p = 0.1; Table 14). Milk yields appear to increase with an increasing number of TIMPs (from 2.8 litres/cow/day to 3.8 litres/cow/day, a difference of 36%; Figure 18a). Differences among TIMPs groups were also not found at the 5% level of probability in the post-hoc test.  We found that county had a significant effect for GHG EI in extensive systems (Table 15). There was a trend for the number of TIMPs adopted on EI (p = 0.08). This can be seen in Figure 18b where GHG EI decreased by 26% from 3.1 kg CO2e/kg FPCM for 0 TIMPs to 2.3 kg CO2e/kg FPCM for >5 TIMPs adopted. Differences among TIMPs groups however, were not found at the 5% level of probability in the post-hoc test. The regression results and clear visual trends in extensive production systems for both milk yield and GHG EI imply that the effect of increasing the number of TIMPs in the system is fairly strong. Future programs that are similar to KCSAP in scope could therefore choose to target support and promotion of climate smart practices toward more extensive production systems since the positive impact of TIMPs adoption appears to be highest in these systems. As above, when comparing farms using TIMPs and farms not using TIMPs, while no statistical differences at the 5% level of probability were observed according to the post-hoc least significant difference test, there was a clear visual trend. This trend seems to align with the hypothesis that farms that used TIMPs tended to display higher milk yields and lower GHG EIs than farms that did not use any TIMPs (Figure A12).One-day feedback workshops were conducted in Bomet, Kericho and Baringo. These workshops were conducted to validate findings and improve stakeholder understanding of climate change, GHG emissions, and productivity for dairy systems in the KCSAP project counties. Each workshop consisted of 32-42 participants. We invited 24 farmers in each county, who were split evenly between TIMPs adopted and non-adopted farmers. We also invited all CPCU and CDDC staff to attend the feedback workshops. The feedback workshop was conducted by three staff members from ILRI in collaboration with visitors from the University of Bangor in the UK.All feedback workshops consisted of a PowerPoint presentation by ILRI personnel which included the following components:• Subsequently, visitors from the University of Bangor asked workshop participants about the cost of implementing each individual TIMP with assistance and translation by ILRI personnel. This was done to determine the costs of TIMPs implementation in order to calculate marginal abatement cost curves (MACC). The MACC analysis will be done following completion of KCSAP as a separate project and will useful for determining the cost-effectiveness of different interventions (i.e. TIMPs) for mitigating climate change in dairy systems in Kenya.• Promotion of TIMPs should be tailored to each production systems rather than promoting all TIMPs in each production system.o This recommendation is based on the fact that adoption of TIMPs differed by system. There was an observable trend in greater use of certain TIMPs in more intensified dairy production systems, such that more no-graze and fewer extensive dairy production systems used reproduction, feed processing, feed preservation, feed supplements and stall feeding/housing TIMPs. The opposite pattern was observed for pasture and water harvesting TIMPs. These contrasting patterns of TIMPs use appear to closely align with feed and feeding management practices, with no-graze farms tending to use greater TIMPs more closely related to stall feeding while extensive farms were more likely to use TIMPs related to pasture management. The conclusion is that an array of TIMPs is more relevant for some production systems than others.• Promoting the adoption of a larger number of TIMPs increased milk production while simultaneously reducing GHG EIs.o The impact of individual TIMPs was not discernable due to lack of a true control and baseline for the farmers in the counties visited but the number of adopted TIMPs had an effect on milk production and emission indicators (i.e. EIs = emissions per unit of product). Specifically, adopting a larger number of TIMPs increased milk production while simultaneously reducing GHG EIs. Therefore, adopting an increasing number of TIMPs can result in a 'win-win' for productivity and emissions for dairy systems in Kenya. However, it is likely that TIMPs adoption is subject to diminishing returns and that each additional TIMP adopted (e.g. >5 TIMPs) will provide a smaller boost to the 'win-win' scenario than the first few TIMPs adopted and should be evaluated in future studies.• When extension funds are limited, projects that promote climate-smart agricultural practices in Kenya should target extensive dairy systems and explore additional TIMPs that might have bigger impacts on production and GHG EI of no-graze and semiintensive systems.o When breaking down these overall trends by dairy production system, we found that most of the increases in milk production and reductions in GHG EIs were explained by changes in extensive systems (i.e, systems with >70% grazing). By contrast, there was no effect on milk yields and GHG EIs intensive (no-graze) sand almost no effect in semi-intensive systems. This may be because intensive and semi-intensive systems in the study areas have already increased their milk production and reduced GHG EIs through other climate-smart practices, and adoption of additional TIMPs supported in the project had little impact.• Substantial mitigation is possible by optimizing system productivity and closing milk yield gaps.o Variability within dairy production systems and locations was high for both milk yields and GHG EIs in the Kenyan dairy farms surveyed. More specifically, variability was higher within different production systems (zero-graze, semiintensive, extensive) than between the three production systems. This large variability within system suggests that substantial mitigation is possible by optimizing system productivity and closing milk yield gaps. This is especially important as dairy production systems are often determined by the agroecological zones and changing an extensive system to an intensive system is not a practical mitigation approach. Accordingly, mitigation efforts should be focused on optimizing a system rather than converting from one system to another (e.g. converting an extensive to an intensive/no-graze system). To determine what factors help dairy farmers to optimize their production within a system, one could return to the farms to understand the difference between high and low performing farms within a production system.Annex A: Effect of number of TIMPs on milk production and GHG emission intensities by dairy production system and county Baringo Table A1. Number of farms by dairy production system and number of integrated climate-smart Technology, Innovation and Management Practices (TIMPs adopted   ","tokenCount":"11196"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7803005800.json b/data/part_1/7803005800.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..84d7851aa78f13826aadda412940186e0fe14142
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7803005800.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c79f7652dca7da936e23b2f77887bf2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fd1de2de-cb98-429c-acb3-99f2cc992d53/retrieve","id":"-778730899"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b6bf5202-fdd1-4e33-b76a-b51d3db7e506","pagecount":"28","content":"Le magazine du développement agricole et rural des pays ACP http://spore.cta.int N°172 OctObre-NOvembre 2014 L'AgriCuLture inteLLigente fACe Au CLimAt Quand le ciel tombe sur la terre ! CAfÉ De la pépinière à la tasse in te rv ie w Ad im ai m al ag a Ta fu na 'i, co fo nd at ric e et di re ctr ice gé né ra le de W IB DILa conférence Fin4Ag, organisée par le CTA avec ses partenaires en juillet 2014 à Nairobi, a joué un rôle précurseur à bien des égards. Comme l'a expliqué le ministre nigérian de l'Agriculture, Akin Adesina, dans son discours d'ouverture, le simple fait de réunir dans une même pièce les secteurs financier et agricole était déjà une \"révolution en soi\". Les gouverneurs des banques centrales de plusieurs pays africains ont discuté de la question de savoir s'il leur fallait soutenir l'agriculture. L'expérience de leurs homologues asiatiques, également présents à la conférence, les a convaincus qu'investir dans l'agriculture était judicieux. La Ministre ougandaise des Finances, Maria Kiwanuka, a demandé aux ministres de l'Agriculture présents si, comme le préconise la Déclaration de Maputo (2003), 10 % des budgets nationaux pourraient être utilisés efficacement par leurs institutions publiques pour l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire. Bien qu'ils aient répondu \"oui\" à l'unanimité, le débat a démontré qu'il était nécessaire que davantage de ministres des Finances soutiennent pleinement le secteur agricole.Le message clé de la conférence était que les agriculteurs africains financent 90 % de leur production avec leurs ressources propres, mais qu'ils pourraient augmenter leur productivité et capter une plus grande part de la chaîne de valeur s'ils disposaient de financements additionnels provenant d'autres sources. Les opportunités pour la croissance agricole sont énormes, l'essor des villes africaines entraînant une demande toujours plus forte en denrées alimentaires et produits de meilleure qualité.Le CTA a tiré de nombreux enseignements de la conférence. Elle nous a permis de rencontrer un grand nombre d'entrepreneurs et d'innovateurs qui réalisent un travail passionnant dans le domaine de la finance agricole. Elle nous a aussi aidés à identifier des domaines prioritaires pour nos futurs programmes. Nous continuerons à offrir une plateforme pour que davantage de personnes puissent découvrir des modèles de financement efficaces. En outre, le CTA s'efforcera de soutenir la poursuite du dialogue entre les secteurs agricole et financier au niveau des politiques, des capitaux et des investissements. Enfin, nous soutiendrons des initiatives de renforcement des capacités pour développer le savoir-faire des producteurs en matière de gestion financière et celui des financiers dans le secteur agricole.\"A u cours des dernières décennies, des changements du climat ont causé des impacts sur les systèmes naturels et humains sur tous les continents et à travers les océans\", souligne le Groupe intergouvernemental d'experts sur le climat (GIEC). Pour le secteur agricole, l'enjeu est déterminant et crucial pour l'avenir.Le changement climatique est déjà une réalité pour de nombreux petits agriculteurs. Le réseau AfricaAdapt, dont l'objectif est de partager les connaissances sur l'adaptation au changement climatique en Afrique, a recueilli des témoignages des communautés locales à travers l'Afrique, du Burkina Faso au Cameroun en passant par le Zimbabwe ou le Malawi, sur les impacts sur l'agriculture familiale. Des périodes sèches plus longues, une moindre disponibilité en eau, l'accroissement des inondations et de la désertification, l'imprévisibilité de la météo et du changement dans les saisons sont quelques impacts mentionnés par les communautés. Avec comme conséquence une baisse des rendements et donc de la production.Ces communautés se sont toutefois adaptées en introduisant des techniques comme le système d'irrigation goutte à goutte ou de récupération d'eau, l'utilisation de variétés améliorées à maturation précoce, des méthodes de conservation des sols. Mais une façon de s'adapter, voire de survivre, a aussi été de migrer ou de se détourner des activités agricoles. Elles pratiquent, en quelque sorte, une agriculture intelligente face au climat (AIC). Le concept s'articule autour de trois piliers principaux : une augmentation durable de la productivité et des revenus agricoles (sécurité alimentaire) ; l'adaptation et le renforcement de la résilience face au changement climatique (adaptation) ; la réduction des émissions et/ou l'absorption de gaz à effet de serre où cela est possible (atténuation). À travers cette approche, la FAO compte développer les conditions techniques, politiques et d'investissement nécessaires pour parvenir à une agriculture durable répondant aux enjeux de la sécurité alimentaire dans le contexte du changement climatique.Vaste et ambitieux que ce concept d'agriculture intelligente, encore très jeune par ailleurs. Il a le mérite de tenter de répondre à une urgence pour de nombreux agriculteurs et parmi ceux-ci les plus vulnérables, en particulier en Afrique où 95 % de l'agriculture est pluviale.Dans l'AIC, tout n'est pourtant pas nouveau ! Au contraire. De nombreuses pratiques et/ou technologies relèvent d'un développement durable de l'agriculture, d'une meilleure gestion des ressources naturelles et sont parfois basées sur des savoirs ancestraux, revisités aujourd'hui. Des pratiques issues de l'agriculture de conservation, de l'agroforesterie ou encore de l'agroécologie qui permettent de s'adapter au changement climatique : introduire des arbres dans les systèmes agricoles pour capter l'azote ; créer des piscines, barrages ou cuvettes pour récolter et retenir l'eau ; adopter de nouvelles variétés de semences (une variété de riz résistante à la salinité des eaux et aux inondations ou une variété de maïs tolérante à la sécheresse) ; mettre en place des systèmes de culture en semis direct sur couverture végétale permanente (SCV), etc.Afin de limiter la production de méthane et d'oxyde de carbone liée directement aux activités agricoles, des solutions sont aussi possibles. Ainsi, le programme East Africa Dairy Development (EADD), qui aide quelque 200 000 agriculteurs à améliorer leur production laitière et à leur faciliter l'accès au marché, cherche à réduire l'empreinte climatique de l'industrie laitière en changeant l'alimentation des vaches (amélioration des espèces fourragères, plantation de légumineuses pour l'alimentation animale, utilisation des sous-produits agricoles) tout en utilisant le fumier pour produire des engrais et du biogaz.Quand le ciel tombe sur la terre ! Les changements climatiques en cours et à venir vont obliger l'agriculture à se transformer pour assurer la production alimentaire de demain. Pour répondre à ce défi, la FAO et d'autres organisations ont lancé en 2010 le concept d'agriculture intelligente face au climat lors de la première conférence mondiale sur l'agriculture, la sécurité alimentaire et le changement climatique de La Haye. Que recouvre-t-il ?Des pratiques qui pourront être optimisées en mobilisant et perfectionnant les services nationaux et régionaux de météorologie. D'ores et déjà, plusieurs pays produisent des bulletins météorologiques répondant aux besoins des agriculteurs et qui sont diffusés par SMS, en Ouganda ou au Kenya, par exemple, et/ou via les radios rurales. Le Centre africain pour les applications de la météorologie au développement (ACMAD) et le Centre régional AGRHYMET donnent, par exemple, des prévisions saisonnières des pluies.Des exemples de pratiques et d'innovations pertinentes face aux changements climatiques existent dans différentes chaînes de valeur, tant dans les pays développés qu'en développement. Le défi est de les faire connaître, de les diffuser et, in fine, qu'elles soient accessibles, appropriées et facilement adaptables pour les agriculteurs. Le Programme de recherche du Groupe consultatif pour la recherche agricole internationale (CGIAR) sur le changement climatique, l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire (CCAFS) mène plusieurs actions pour atteindre les zones rurales et transmettre aux agriculteurs les connaissances pour \"être intelligents face au climat\". Au Kenya, avec l'émission hebdomadaire de téléréalité \"Shamba Shape-Up\", le CCAFS a touché plus de 3 millions de spectateurs ; au Népal, des \"jingles\" d'une minute sur le thème du changement climatique et de son adaptation sont diffusés à la radio ; au Sénégal ou au Bénin, les radios communautaires communiquent aux agriculteurs des bulletins météorologiques \"sur-mesure\", adaptés à leurs besoins.\"L'information sur l'AIC est primordiale. Au moment où les systèmes nationaux de vulgarisation traditionnels sont faibles, totalement effondrés dans certains pays, des méthodes novatrices pour faire passer le message aux agriculteurs aussi rapidement que possible sont essentielles. Cela est particulièrement vrai étant donné que certaines des techniques sont des technologies naissantes et/ou à forte intensité de connaissances\", remarque Oluyede Ajayi, coordinateur de programme senior, Politiques de développement agricole et rural (DAR) au CTA.Le CCAFS a aussi établi une quinzaine de \"Climate-Smart Villages\" (CSV) en Afrique de l'Ouest, de l'Est et en Asie du Sud, qui ont pour vocation d'être des centres expérimentaux des différentes stratégies d'adaptation, des technologies et pratiques en privilégiant les interactions entre les chercheurs et les populations locales.Si renforcer les capacités des agriculteurs est une étape nécessaire pour s'adapter au changement climatique, instaurer des politiques pour créer un environnement favorable et incitatif est tout aussi indispensable. \"Certaines politiques et dispositions institutionnelles dans une zone géographique donnée peuvent parfois limiter l'adoption de l'AIC. C'est le cas par exemple lorsque le système foncier limite la plantation d'arbres pérennes dans les exploitations agricoles, en particulier lorsque les agriculteurs sont locataires et n'ont donc pas de droits de propriété permanents qui garantissent leur investissement à long terme\", souligne Oluyede Ajayi. Basées sur une approche multisectorielle, ces politiques devront être propices à inciter les paysans à investir dans l'AIC.un concept fourre-tout ?Certaines ONG françaises mais aussi anglaises et néerlandaises abordent l'AIC avec prudence. \"Il s'agit d'un concept relativement flou, où l'on retrouve des pratiques qui sont potentiellement très diverses et certaines sont largement contestées, notamment pour leur impact négatif sur l'environnement et les populations. Par exemple, on retrouve les OGM ou l'usage intensif de pesticides ou d'intrants chimiques\", indique Pierre Ferrand, chargé du projet Développement agricole et filières agroalimentaires au GRET. En outre, il estime que l'AIC fait l'impasse sur l'agroécologie qui tend, de plus en plus, à prouver que l'on peut se passer d'un retour massif aux intrants chimiques et aux OGM. Pierre Ferrand s'interroge également sur la forme que va prendre la future Alliance mondiale pour l'AIC (ACSA), qui devait être officiellement lancée par le secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Ban Ki-Moon, en septembre lors du sommet mondial sur le climat à New-York. \"Sur la gouvernance en tant que telle, il n'y a aucune visibilité sur les acteurs qui piloteraient cette fameuse alliance, aucune définition sur les règles ou la redevabilité des différentes parties prenantes, ni sur la capacité de contrôle sur les pratiques d'investissement qui seront labélisées dans ce cadre\", soutient Pierre Ferrand.L'Alliance pourrait être un moyen de mobiliser des ressources financières pour faire face au coût global de l'adaptation du secteur agricole au changement climatique. Un coût qui serait de 7 milliards US $ selon les estimations les plus basses, mais qui pourrait atteindre jusqu'à 14 milliards US $ par an. Car si des solutions existent, elles constituent un coût pour les agriculteurs familiaux.La guerre les a éloignées des champs, la paix leur permet de retourner pour \"grandir ensemble\" sur ces terres où les légumes remplacent maintenant les mines terrestres \"semées\" par le conflit armé. fertiLiSAtion DeS SoLSLe compostage aérien est une méthode à moindre coût développée par l'institut national de la recherche agronomique du niger (inrAn) pour fabriquer du compost. La technique consiste à mélanger, sur le sol, des débris organiques (résidus végétaux, ordures ménagères décomposables et fumier) suivi d'un arrosage abondant. Le mélange fermente ensuite pendant 4 semaines durant lesquelles il est retourné tous les 10 à 14 jours.Pièges bio contre les insectes une équipe de scientifiques de plusieurs institutions, dont le CirAD et l'uSAiD, a testé avec succès auprès de petits agriculteurs du bénin et du Kenya l'utilisation de filets placés sur les légumes. Ces filets simples et faciles d'utilisation ont permis de réduire de 70 à 100 % les pulvérisations d'insecticides pour les cultures de choux et de tomates.Le cacao dispose de nombreux atouts pour la santé. en 2013, l'Autorité européenne de sécurité des aliments (efSA) avait reconnu l'apport bénéfique des flavanols du cacao à la circulation sanguine. Aujourd'hui, elle reconnaît aux extraits de cacao des bienfaits pour la santé.P rès de 2 500 familles de la province de Malange, dans le nord de l'Angola, sont sorties de la pauvreté grâce à la réussite d'un programme d'agriculture familiale \"Kikula Ku Moxi\" (Grandir ensemble), lancé en 2010 par la Société de développement du Pôle agro-industriel de Capanda. D'un véritable champ de mines, suite aux décennies de guerre dont l'Angola a été le théâtre jusqu'en 2002, le périmètre du Pôle agro-industriel de Capanda, dans la commune de Cacuso, est devenu un champ agricole. Quelque 35 tonnes de produits sont aujourd'hui récoltées, tels que le maïs, le riz, l'arachide, le manioc, la canne à sucre, la patate douce, la batata rena, le haricot, le sorgho et autres légumes. Grâce au programme, le revenu moyen mensuel des familles est passé de 3 000 Akz (22,5 €) à 13 000 Akz (97,7 €).Après quatre années, le programme \"Kikula Ku Moxi\" a permis un développement social et économique de ces familles, souligne l'administrateur adjoint de Cacuso pour le domaine technique, Garcia Alves : amélioration et modification du régime alimentaire de plus de 3 500 personnes, accès à l'eau potable pour plus de 11 000 personnes et réduction considérable de la mortalité infantile qui est passée de 118 décès de nourrissons de moins d'un an sur mille nouveau-nés, à seulement 33.D'ici la fin des 2014, on prévoit une augmentation de production à près de 50 tonnes, qui s'ajouteront ainsi à la distribution de produits dans les principaux centres de consommation (supermarchés, restaurants et cantines) de la région et du pays.Le programme \"Kikula Ku Moxi\", un des nombreux volets du Pôle agro-industriel de Capanda, a pour objectif de promouvoir et consolider l'agriculture familiale dans cette région dont le grand potentiel agricole et agroindustriel est lié aux conditions naturelles du sol et au climat.Le but est également d'améliorer les revenus familiaux, la santé et la qualité de vie des familles actuellement intégrées dans le programme et, au fur et à mesure, d'augmenter le nombre de familles bénéficiaires.Ce dernier objectif est directement lié à l'accroissement de la superficie en terres arables du Pôle agro-industriel de Capanda, qui occupe une superficie de 411 000 hectares, dont 270 000 ha cultivables.râce à une aide du gouvernement rwandais dispensée via des organisations humanitaires et l'institution publique l'Agence des coopératives rwandaises (RCA), les petits agriculteurs peuvent obtenir des prêts bancaires, vendre leurs produits collectivement pour augmenter leurs profits et investir davantage dans la production alimentaire. Le gouvernement utilise aussi les coopératives pour distribuer des intrants agricoles subventionnés aux paysans pauvres, favorisant ainsi une augmentation importante des rendements. \"Les coopératives sont un instrument par lequel les membres peuvent créer de l'emploi, améliorer la sécurité alimentaire partout dans le pays et générer des revenus pour les agriculteurs\", explique Mugabo Damien, directeur général de la RCA.Elles facilitent également l'accès des agriculteurs à des formations sur l'adaptation au changement climatique et à d'autres thématiques dans les domaines de la production alimentaire et de la génération de revenus. \"Avec le changement des conditions climatiques, nous réalisons qu'il est nécessaire de préparer correctement les agriculteurs pour qu'ils aient les bonnes semences au bon moment. Des études ont montré que planter une semaine trop tard peut réduire les rendements de 50 % voire plus\", ajoute Mugabo Damien.Mukankiko Odeth, un petit paysan rwandais du district de Kirehe, raconte qu'avec le changement climatique, si l'on ne dispose pas d'une information pertinente, il est devenu compliqué de savoir quel type de semence planter, quand et comment. \"C'est précisément l'information que nous recevons des coopératives, en plus des formations, des intrants agricoles et de l'accès aux marchés\", explique-t-il.Les agriculteurs membres d'une coopérative ont aussi la possibilité de stocker leurs produits après les récoltes dans des entrepôts communs. Une fois vendus, les agriculteurs sont payés et un petit pourcentage est versé à la coopérative qui s'en sert pour investir ou comme garantie pour emprunter de l'argent à la banque. Ceci permet aux agriculteurs d'obtenir des financements auxquels ils n'auraient pas eu accès autrement.\"En raison du changement climatique, de la pression démographique et d'une conjoncture économique difficile, notre pays souffrait d'insécurité alimentaire il y a quelques années encore\", indique Gasirabo Claver de la Rwanda Development Organisation, une association qui offre des formations et de l'aide à 122 coopératives, en collaboration avec le gouvernement et l'Alliance pour une révolution verte en Afrique. \"Mais maintenant, les agriculteurs regroupés en coopératives produisent assez pour leurs familles et ont même des surplus à vendre sur les marchés.\"Les petits agriculteurs rwandais s'adaptent au changement climatique et relancent leur production en créant des coopératives. mAnioC le maïs hybride aux oubliettes L'institut de recherche agronomique du mozambique a développé des variétés de manioc à haut rendement et résistantes à la maladie de la mosaïque. Ces nouvelles variétés, largement adoptées, sont utilisées par l'industrie brassicole et sont plus populaires que les variétés de maïs hybride car elles sont considérées comme plus résistantes aux conditions climatiques extrêmes et au manque d'intrants.Les couvertures végétales à base de légumineuses et la rotation des cultures limitent les dégâts provoqués par le striga, une plante parasitaire causant des pertes de rendement sur les cultures céréalières à madagascar. Cette technique, qui enrichit aussi le sol en matières organiques, a permis de relancer la culture du riz et du maïs sur les hauts plateaux du pays. fiLiÈre CourteLa fondation cap-verdienne d'action sociale scolaire a commencé à approvisionner les cantines scolaires de l'archipel avec des produits agricoles issus du marché national, réduisant ainsi progressivement les importations. L'utilisation de produits locaux dans les cantines, qui fournissent un repas chaud par jour à plus de 180 000 élèves, encourage les agriculteurs à accroître leur production. biogAZDans le comté de Kiambu au Kenya, plus de 100 familles ont adopté un système de fourniture de biogaz, ʺPay-as-You-goʺ (PAYg), dont le coût d'installation n'est que de 10 000 Ksh (84 €) alors qu'il est de 840 € normalement. Les achats de biogaz se font ensuite par téléphone portable au prix de 0,04 € l'unité. Le système PAYg fonctionne avec un digesteur commun qui est relié au domicile de chaque client et qui fournit à une famille de cinq personnes l'énergie nécessaire pour cuisiner.Le projet Gesforcom, mis en oeuvre à Madagascar, au Mali et au Niger, promeut des techniques permettant d'améliorer la qualité de la gomme arabique et d'augmenter sa valeur marchande. Elles consistent à élaguer régulièrement, et dès sa période junévile, le gommier en commençant par couper les branches de petits diamètres. Puis à partir de 3 à 5 ans, âge où la production de la gomme démarre, l'arbre est saigné quand il perd ses feuilles. Deux périodes sont propices à la saignée : le début de la saison froide, vers le mois de novembre, puis dans le courant du mois de mars. L'opération stimule l'exsudation et permet de multiplier par 5, voire par 6 la production. La qualité de la gomme est par la suite améliorée en la nettoyant, en la triant -en classant les nodules en fonction de leur taille -puis en la séchant dans un endroit ombragé à l'abri de la poussière. Enfin, la gomme doit être conditionnée dans des sacs en jute de 25 à 50 kilos.Des petits exploitants de la coopérative Ejo Heza égrènent le maïs avant de le stocker dans un entrepôt commun.Coopération triangulaire Dans le nord du mozambique, des coopératives de femmes développent des campagnes d'éducation civique destinées à promouvoir le respect des périodes d'interdiction de pêche et l'élargissement des sanctuaires pour les espèces en danger. \"nous craignons que le poisson commence à se faire rare et nous voulons intervenir pour éviter le pire\", affirme Latiza Domingos, dirigeante de l'association dans le district de moma.SoLeiL et gLACe l'énergie solaire pour produire de la glace Le village de pêcheurs de Salamansa, sur l'île cap-verdienne de São vicente, a gagné en autonomie car il produit désormais sa glace grâce à une unité alimentée à l'énergie solaire. Cette unité lui a permis, en outre, de réduire les coûts d'exploitation et de production.Une campagne de marketing et un programme de formation sur l'élevage de tilapia ainsi que la construction d'étangs relancent la production locale à Trinité-et-Tobago.A u début de l'année 2014, une catastrophe écologique a frappé Trinité-et-Tobago : un déversement d'hydrocarbures a pollué les lieux de pêche et de reproduction ainsi que les localités côtières du sud-ouest du pays. L'incident a porté un coup à l'industrie de la pêche, en réduisant significativement la demande en poissons et produits de la mer et en détruisant les stocks de poissons.Bien qu'il s'agisse d'une tragédie pour l'environnement, le déversement de pétrole a toutefois servi de tremplin au tilapia d'élevage. Avant la catastrophe, le ministère de la Production alimentaire avait demandé au Sugarcane Feeds Centre (SFC), un centre local de recherche, d'améliorer le potentiel commercial du tilapia d'élevage produit dans l'île. Dans le cadre de ce programme, les autorités achetaient à des producteurs locaux du tilapia qui était ensuite transformé et vendu aux consommateurs. Suite à la pollution, l'intérêt pour l'élevage de tilapia a explosé.\"L'industrie a été stimulée, offrant un débouché aux producteurs pour leurs poissons ainsi que la possibilité pour les pêcheurs côtiers de poursuivre leurs activités, bien que sous une autre forme\", explique Suresh Benny, directeur de projet au SFC. \"Les consommateurs ont commencé à acheter plus de poissons d'élevage en raison de leurs craintes quant à la pollution qui a fait suite aux déversements de pétrole.\" La production de tilapia entier a ainsi augmenté de 225 à 900 kilos par semaine. Le secteur espère que ces niveaux de production vont contrebalancer les grandes quantités de tilapia importées. Selon le ministère de la Production alimentaire, 100 tonnes sont actuellement importées chaque année alors que la production locale annuelle est seulement de 12 tonnes.L'augmentation de la demande des consommateurs en poisson d'élevage est une raison supplémentaire qui a incité de nouveaux entrepreneurs à se lancer dans le secteur de l'aquaculture. Pour compléter ces efforts pour augmenter la production, le ministère de la Production alimentaire a également construit une écloserie destinée à produire près de 1,2 million d'alevins par an. Cette écloserie devrait satisfaire environ la moitié de la demande nationale annuelle en alevins.Aquaculteurs échantillonnant le poisson dans un élevage de tilapia en circuit fermé.La société civile se mobilise pour protéger les dernières forêts de Guinée Bissau.biofortifiCAtionPour combattre la faim invisible, des produits agricoles résistants au changement climatique et biofortifiés sont développés.A lors que de nombreuses institutions voient l'augmentation de la production agricole comme un moyen de s'adapter au changement climatique, des experts attirent l'attention sur les risques de 'faim invisible' là où la nourriture, certes plus abondante, ne contient pas les micronutriments nécessaires pour la santé. Pour combler ce manque, HarvestPlus travaille avec des centres de recherche nationaux, des ONG, les gouvernements et des partenaires du développement pour développer des produits agricoles résistants au changement climatique et enrichis en nutriments essentiels.Ainsi, au Rwanda, environ 700 000 petits agriculteurs cultivent des haricots riches en fer, et au Nigeria trois nouvelles variétés de manioc enrichies en vitamine A -qui fournissent jusqu'à 40 % de la dose recommandée pour les enfants de moins de cinq ans -ont été lancées en 2013 dans le cadre du Plan pour la transformation agricole initié par le gouvernement. \"Nous nous réjouissons de ces nouvelles variétés de manioc et de leur potentiel de contribution à l'amélioration de l'état nutritionnel des Nigérians, surtout les enfants et les femmes\", explique Paul Ilona, directeur de HarvestPlus pour le Nigeria. L'organisation espère toucher en 2014 plus de 350 000 familles nigérianes avec ce manioc enrichi en vitamine A.Préoccupé par la déforestation dont sa communauté est témoin, Tomas Ebo, né à Guicabo Bengo, dans le nord de l'Angola, a décidé de mettre en pratique une règle ancestrale, simple mais efficace : planter un arbre là où un autre a été abattu. Environ 3o % du territoire angolais connait un risque de désertification en raison des brûlis répétés, du déboisement et des pratiques agricoles. En outre, des milliers d'arbres sont abattus pour la fabrication du charbon. L'initiative de Tomas Ebo constitue un bon exemple de réussite des actions de sensibilisation de l'Institut de développement forestier dont l'objectif est de diminuer l'abattage massif des arbres du pays.Énergie SoLAireC'est avec un grand soulagement que les agriculteurs de la vallée agricole de ribeira da Cruz, sur l'île cap-verdienne de Santo Antão, ont accueilli le démarrage d'un parc photovoltaïque. Ce dernier permet de capter l'énergie solaire pour pomper l'eau qui sert ensuite à irriguer les parcelles. Ceci diminue les coûts de production et augmente les superficies irriguées. reCHerCHe AgriCoLeSitué à Kalambo, près de bukavu (Province du Sud-Kivu) en rD Congo, le centre de l'institut international d'agriculture tropicale en Afrique (iitA), qui couvrira 14 pays d'Afrique, a été inauguré le 5 juin. Doté de 4 unités de production et de transformation des produits agricoles, son laboratoire est le plus grand et le plus moderne d'Afrique centrale.L'institut international de recherche sur les cultures des zones tropicales semi-arides a ouvert un centre d'analyse des sols au Zimbabwe pour développer les connaissances des agriculteurs en matière de fertilité des sols. Le centre offrira des conseils pour améliorer les sols, et expliquera notamment quand et comment choisir et épandre les engrais adaptés et abordables.Maurice informe l'Afrique de l'Est  \"Avant d'être impliquée dans ce projet, j'avais planté une variété de tomate dans mon champ. C'est alors que l'AVRDC m'a convaincue, avec d'autres agriculteurs, de participer à une expérience pour déterminer la meilleure variété de tomate parmi les semences fournies\", explique-t-elle. \"J'ai choisi cette variété pour la texture résistante de sa peau, son goût sucré et son aptitude à pousser dans tous les types de sol et toutes les conditions.\" À Honiara, les gérants d'hôtels apprécient également la nouvelle variété dont la popularité augmente grâce à la forte demande du secteur touristique. Plus de 230 paquets de semences ont déjà été distribués à des agriculteurs intéressés. Selon l'AVRDC, dans les conditions locales, la nouvelle variété peut produire des fruits mûrs, d'un poids moyen de 190 grammes, en à peu près 56 jours à compter du repiquage. Sur base des essais menés en 2013, le rendement commercialisable moyen serait de 16 tonnes par hectare.U n nouveau système a considérablement dynamisé la production d'igname à Santo Antão. Outre des revenus accrus, il permet aux enfants de petits agriculteurs d'aller plus régulièrement à l'école sur cette île du Cabo Verde. Un jeune agriculteur de la petite localité de Tarrafal de Monte Trigo, sur l'île de Santo Antão, a conçu une nouvelle méthode d'irrigation pour la culture de l'igname. Il est ainsi devenu le principal producteur de ce tubercule très utilisé dans l'alimentation des habitants de l'île. Jusqu'à peu, l'igname n'était cultivée que dans le lit des rivières pour faciliter l'irrigation, mais ceci exigeait beaucoup d'eau. Mais tout a changé lorsque le jeune Armando a tenté de planter de l'igname dans des parterres préalablement aménagés afin que l'eau utilisée pour l'irrigation puisse être réutilisée grâce à un système de communication entre les diverses unités de la plantation. Cette méthode a également raccourci le cycle de maturation de la plante, ce qui lui a permis de faire plusieurs récoltes tout au long de l'année.Le système a eu tellement de succès qu'il a été adopté par d'autres petits agriculteurs de la localité qui ont commencé à investir dans ce type de culture. Aujourd'hui, plus de vingt familles de Tarrafal de Monte Trigo, un hameau d'environ 900 habitants, difficilement accessible dans l'arrière-pays de la commune de Porto Novo, font de la culture de l'igname leur principale source de revenus. Ces revenus ainsi en hausse pour plusieurs familles de Porto Novo mais aussi d'autres localités de l'île leur ont permis d'envoyer leurs enfants poursuivre leurs études sur l'île voisine de São Vicente. Certains d'entre eux fréquentent déjà l'enseignement universitaire.Une nouvelle variété de tomate offre une opportunité prometteuse aux agriculteurs des Îles Salomon qui cherchent à augmenter leurs rendements.Un agriculteur invente une méthode révolutionnaire pour cultiver l'igname.Club 3000, un groupe de 629 producteurs de cacao dans la province de madang en Papouasie-nouvelle-guinée, a obtenu la première certification fairtrade pour le Pacifique. il devrait procéder très prochainement à l'exportation des premiers conteneurs de cacao certifié vers l'Australie. Les agriculteurs envisagent de produire 120 tonnes de cacao certifié en 2014, ce qui devrait générer 24 000 $uS de primes.À votre santé ! en ouganda, la société Huntex industries utilise du sorgho pour produire une boisson santé appelée memera qui vient d'être agréée pour l'exportation. Plus de 500 producteurs de sorgho du district de Kabale vendent leur production à cette société. Suite à une formation sur l'apport de valeur ajoutée, les agriculteurs envisagent aussi de conditionner et vendre de la farine de sorgho. tomAteS un pour tous, tous pour un Les exportateurs de tomates kenyans ont créé une association professionnelle qui octroie des prêts pour aider les agriculteurs à étendre leurs activités. Les exportateurs peuvent utiliser leurs économies ou s'en servir comme garantie, et le taux de remboursement est à ce jour de 99,4 %. Quelque 6 000 exportateurs de tomates ont rejoint l'association ; les trois quarts de leur production sont vendus sur les marchés européens. Vincent Lebot, chercheur en poste au Vanuatu et expert scientifique lors du procès, raconte que cette victoire fait suite à une longue bataille qui a eu des conséquences importantes sur les exportations vers l'UE et les États-Unis. \"Cette réaction démesurée a coûté des centaines de millions de dollars aux producteurs de kava du Pacifique Sud. Ils n'ont pas seulement perdu du jour au lendemain le marché allemand, mais aussi tout le marché européen, des pays comme la France et la Suisse ayant décidé d'interdire le kava sur base de la décision allemande\", explique-t-il dans un entretien accordé à Radio New Zealand. \"Et le marché américain, qui était en pleine expansion à ce moment-là, a été fortement affecté.\"\"Ce qui vient d'arriver en Allemagne est une victoire nette pour nous tous qui savons que lorsque le kava est correctement utilisé, en choisissant les bonnes variétés cultivées selon les bonnes méthodes et transformées correctement, il n'est pas un produit dangereux\", ajoute M. Lebot. \"Il est bu depuis des millénaires dans le Pacifique Sud et nous savons qu'il n'y a pas de signes de toxicité hépatique -rien de comparable avec l'alcool.\" Au micro de Radio New Zealand, Tagaloa Eddie Wilson, président de l'International Kava Executive Council (IKEC),-une organisation internationale qui vise à rétablir le commerce du kava entre les îles du Pacifique Sud et les pays de l'Union européenne -a annoncé un retour à la normale de la production dans les trois ans : \"Il va falloir travailler maintenant avec nos producteurs pour relancer et rétablir la production. Il y a des réserves prêtes pour le moment, disponibles immédiatement, mais pas en quantités suffisantes pour satisfaire le marché.\"Vincent Lebot reconnaît toutefois que le commerce du kava dans cette région est menacé par d'importants problèmes de qualité affectant le kava exporté. \"Ce sont les mauvaises variétés et les mauvaises parties de la plante qui sont exportées\", expliquet-il, et \"c'est potentiellement dangereux dans la mesure où exporter du kava de mauvaise qualité vers l'UE pourrait conduire à de nouvelles interdictions\".Une des plus hautes juridictions allemandes a jugé que l'interdiction édictée par l'Allemagne sur les produits contenant du kava était illégale. L'utilisation des TIC pour l'agriculture évolue rapidement, mais nombre de ces technologies peuvent s'avérer complexes et leur coût prohibitif pour les petits exploitants agricoles. Comment surmonter ces difficultés ?À WIBDI, nous sommes en train de créer une série d'applications appelées \"m-Link\" pour faciliter notre projet \"De la ferme à la table\", qui vise à satisfaire 80 % de l'approvisionnement alimentaire des hôtels et restaurants des Samoa avec la production locale. Ce type d'applications, qui ciblent les petits exploitants agricoles, doit prendre en considération les besoins sociaux, économiques et culturels qui leur sont propres. Il s'agit en fait de très bien connaître les communautés et de comprendre leurs perspectives. Cela veut surtout dire qu'il faut que l'application soit aussi simple que possible et, dans une large mesure, accessible hors ligne afin de réduire les coûts et d'en favoriser l'adoption. Nous avons aussi essayé d'intégrer des réseaux mobiles mais avec un succès encore mitigé, bien qu'un réseau ait offert des réductions et continue de discuter avec nous.Comment le développement des applications de WIBDI va-t-il contribuer à fournir des informations et à relier les agriculteurs aux nouveaux marchés ? ADimAimALAgA tAfunA'iAdimaimalaga Tafuna'i,cofondatrice et directrice générale de WIBDI. Améliorer la communication est un élément crucial de cet effort. Les financiers doivent se rendre compte des contraintes auxquelles font face les agriculteurs et ceux-ci doivent mieux comprendre les produits agrofinanciers accessibles aux agriculteurs. C'est un point qui a plusieurs fois été mis en évidence au cours de la conférence. Dans le cas d'Equity Bank (voir Point de vue), l'approche holistique associant les prêts à des services contribue à protéger le portefeuille de la banque tout en aidant ses clients à accéder au crédit et à renforcer leur capacité de remboursement.Il existe des formations permettant aux agriculteurs de mieux comprendre les produits et outils financiers proposés. Par exemple, le programme One Acre Fund offre une palette complète de services (semences, engrais, crédit, formation, gestion après récolte) et un appui commercial, ce qui permet aux agriculteurs de dégager des excédents et d'obtenir des bénéfices de l'ordre de 187 euros par an. Les taux de remboursement s'élèvent à 98 %. One Acre, qui travaille actuellement avec 180 000 agriculteurs, vise à en aider 500 000 d'ici 2016. La compréhension des besoins de la clientèle soustend l'approche choisie par MicroEnsure qui, aujourd'hui, protège environ 60 000 agriculteurs d'Afrique de l'Est et australe par le biais d'une assurance-récolte. Dans les Caraïbes, environ 1 000 agriculteurs ont, en outre, souscrit une assurance indicielle contre les ouragans. L'objectif de MicroEnsure est d'offrir une protection fiable avec des produits simples, innovants et bon marché, voire gratuits. Toutefois, selon Agrotosh Mookerjee de MicroEnsure, il faudrait, pour rendre l'assurance plus accessible aux agriculteurs, que davantage de compagnies changent leur mode opératoire et acceptent de réduire leurs marges bénéficiaires.Les téléphones portables, ainsi que d'autres TIC, révolutionnent la manière dont les produits agrofinanciers et les prestations d'assurance sont fournis, comme l'ont démontré plusieurs séances de la conférence Fin4Ag, dont la journée \"Plug and Play\". Depuis 2009, la messagerie électronique Zoona a traité près d'un million de bons d'échange électroniques pour faciliter des paiements globaux à des fins spécifiques. Au Malawi, les bons d'échange électroniques transmis par SMS ou cartes à gratter permettent à 60 000 agriculteurs, participant à un programme d'intrants agricoles subventionnés, d'acheter des semences hybrides auprès des fournisseurs locaux.Au Ghana, le projet Rice Mobile Finance soutenu par Visa est une plateforme mobile de paiement dont l'objectif est de soutenir la chaîne de valeur du riz, d'augmenter la transparence, de réduire les ventes parallèles, de faciliter les transferts de fonds et de permettre à des milliers d'agriculteurs d'accéder à des produits financiers. Au Nigeria, le système de porte-monnaie électronique aUne approche concluante de la microfinance, appelée Système de financement et d'assurance agricole en Haïti (Syfaah), va bientôt être élargie à l'Amérique latine et à l'Afrique. Financé par le gouvernement du Canada, où un système semblable a contribué à transformer le secteur agricole du Québec il y a 50 ans, le Syfaah associe trois éléments dont Sylvain Dufour, conseiller en matière de crédit pour Développement International Desjardins (DID), estime qu'ils sont déterminants pour sa réussite. Les petits exploitants agricoles peuvent améliorer leurs rendements et gérer leurs risques grâce aux effets conjugués de petits prêts, de produits d'assurance contre les intempéries et d'une assistance technique, ces trois éléments étant adaptés aux besoins des agriculteurs. En mars 2014, le Syfaah travaillait avec 6 300 producteurs haïtiens en fournissant 6 millions d'euros de crédit. D'ici 2018, il vise à étendre le système à l'ensemble du pays. \"Le fait d'employer des agroéconomistes en tant qu'agents de crédit garantit que les bailleurs de fonds ne font pas les mêmes erreurs que par le passé -en insistant par exemple pour que les agriculteurs fassent des remboursements mensuels plutôt que de prévoir des remboursements qui coïncident avec la vente de leurs produits\", dit M. Dufour. Pour autant, même si les TIC révolutionnent vraiment l'agrofinance, ce n'est pas non plus la panacée. Un système de crédit communautaire sur inventaire, simple mais efficace, rassemble à Madagascar plus de 80 000 agriculteurs qui stockent leurs récoltes -essentiellement du riz paddy mais aussi du clou de girofle et du caféchez eux, dans les enclos familiaux. Le système a été adopté sans réserve par deux grandes institutions de microfinance, ce qui a permis d'atteindre des taux de remboursement de près de 100 % et de stabiliser les prix de manière saisonnière.Cette expérience réussie a été mise en exergue dans un rapport transnational commandé par le CTA, l'AFD et ARGENT MOBILE  qu'avec des acheteurs, ce qui leur a permis de devenir plus compétitifs.Toutefois, bien que Taifa SACCO ait proposé des prêts pour l'achat d'intrants et que les membres des VC aient fourni leur co-garantie, certains agriculteurs ont été incapables de rembourser les intérêts. \"Les agriculteurs pauvres ont obtenu des prêts ailleurs ou vendu des articles ménagers pour payer les intérêts mensuels\", affirme Mugo Kamau, directeur adjoint de la commercialisation de Taifa SACCO, qui a ajouté que la charge des agriculteurs avait encore été alourdie par la nécessité de trouver de l'argent pour payer la main-d'oeuvre agricole.Pour surmonter le problème des remboursements mensuels, Taifo SACCO a créé un programme adapté de prêt appelé Small micro-enterprise credit (SMEC, Petits crédits aux micro-entreprises), qui permet aux agriculteurs de rembourser leur prêt une fois qu'ils ont vendu leurs oignons. Selon M. Kamau, ces prêts ont été particulièrement utiles pour aider les jeunes agriculteurs désireux de se lancer dans la culture d'oignons mais qui ne disposaient pas du capital de démarrage nécessaire pour les intrants et la main-d'oeuvre.Taifa SACCO a également dispensé des formations en gestion financière, en création d'entreprise et en tenue de dossiers. Jusqu'à présent, Taifa SACCO a investi plus de 200 millions de shillings kenyans (1,7 million d'euros) pour soutenir les membres des VC cultivant l'oignon. Au fur et à mesure de l'avancement du programme, de plus en plus d'agriculteurs ont surmonté leurs réticences financières en matière d'emprunt. \"L'augmentation des revenus fait que davantage de gens peuvent avoir accès à des crédits bancaires\", déclare M. Kamau.Par exemple, le SMEC a aidé Daniel Gakuu, 46 ans, à agrandir son exploitation d'oignons de 1,6 ha en louant depuis 2009 1,3 ha supplémentaire. Il a d'abord emprunté 200 000 Ksh (1 700 €), remboursables après six mois à un taux d'intérêt de 8 %, pour acheter des intrants et embaucher de la main-d'oeuvre locale. Au moment de la récolte de ses oignons, toutefois, les recettes obtenues par D. Gakuu, soit 250 000 Ksh (2 125 €) pour 0,4 ha, lui ont suffi pour rembourser son emprunt avant l'échéance des six mois. \"Il y a de l'argent à gagner dans la culture des oignons\", s'enthousiasme D. Gakuu.Cette aide financière a aussi aidé Grace Wanjiku Kingori à agrandir considérablement son exploitation d'oignons, de 0,05 ha à 0,8 ha. Auparavant, avec trois saisons de culture de VPL, Grace Wanjiku récoltait environ 900 kg d'oignons. En 2010, après avoir obtenu un SMEC de 10 000 Ksh (85 €), elle a acheté des semences hybrides et des engrais pour sa petite parcelle. Quatre ans plus tard, avec les bénéfices réalisés, elle a pu agrandir son exploitation et augmenter sa production pour récolter 6 000 kg à la pleine saison de récolte, entre octobre et janvier.Après leur emprunt initial, D. Gakuu et G. Wanjiku n'ont pas eu besoin d'obtenir de crédits supplémentaires car leur activité plus rentable de culture d'oignons leur a procuré assez de revenus pour devenir autosuffisants. Toutefois, pour éviter que d'autres nouveaux agriculteurs à faible revenu du VC de Grace Wanjiku ne deviennent tributaires des emprunts, les membres des VC ont établi une règle qui exige que les agriculteurs remboursent d'abord leurs emprunts et leurs intérêts et privilégient l'utilisation des revenus excédentaires pour l'achat d'intrants pour l'année suivante avant de dépenser le reste de l'argent gagné. \"C'est une règle qui vise à favoriser l'autonomie\", dit Grace Wanjiku.En investissant dans des pompes et des kits d'irrigation, les agriculteurs comme D. Gakuu sont capables de réaliser régulièrement trois saisons de récolte par an. \"La culture de l'oignon est devenue commerciale dans la région de Kieni-Ouest et ses retombées touchent plus de 10 000 personnes ici\", dit M. Muchiri. L'amélioration du groupage et de la commercialisation a aussi augmenté les prix à l'achat. \"Ces derniers temps, nous n'avons pas vendu un kilo d'oignons à moins de 25 Ksh, alors que nous étions en situation de surproduction\", témoigne Grace Wanjiku. Selon M. Muchiri, lorsque la demande est forte, un kilo d'oignons se vend localement à 60 Ksh (0,5 €). Ainsi, tout en amont de la chaîne, dans les champs, la mécanisation commence timidement à faire son entrée. \"Depuis 2012, nous soutenons la mécanisation car cela nous permet d'étendre facilement nos superficies et allège la main-d'oeuvre. Un motoculteur nous a été offert par le ministère de l'Agriculture et nous permet de labourer 3 hectares en une journée alors que, manuellement, nous faisons un hectare en deux ou trois semaines. Ceci permet non seulement d'étendre les superficies mais aussi d'accroître les rendements\", explique Rebecca Kamgue, présidente de la Coopérative agropastorale des femmes rurales du Littoral, Ouest et Sud-ouest (Coopaferlos). \"La mécanisation permet aussi de ne plus avoir à payer les \"piapias\", une main-d'oeuvre au coût très élevé. Manuellement, défricher un hectare coûte 40 000 francs CFA alors qu'avec 30 000 francs de carburant, vous pouvez défricher 2 hectares.\"Pour Patricia Ndam Njoya, à la tête d'une des plus grandes plantations privées du Cameroun, à Foumban, l'heure est aussi à la mécanisation. Ses deux motoculteurs, achetés récemment en France, non seulement réduisent le coût de la main-d'oeuvre salariée mais permettent d'éviter à la famille le dur travail de désherbage. Un travail manuel qui -l'expérience le montre -donne du travail mais n'améliore guère, in fine, les conditions de vie. \"Lorsqu'on travaille avec la houe et la machette, les cabanes qui existaient il y a trois générations sont toujours les mêmes. Notre effort personnel permet à peine de vivre pendant un an alors que, si on avait des machines, notre production serait plus importante. Les femmes, notamment, pourraient quitter la plantation et se retrouver à d'autres niveaux de la chaîne de valeur.\"Retrouver les femmes ailleurs dans la filière café, à des postes moins pénibles, mieux rémunérés, plus gratifiants, notamment pour les jeunes ? Et pourquoi pas barista (un sommelier du café) ? C'est un des paris de Patricia Ndam Njoya avec l'ouverture en mai dernier de \"La Maison du Café\", en plein centre de Yaoundé. Un café à la mode où une barista, sa fille, a été formée par une professionnelle, dégustatrice certifiée -un \"Q Coffee Grader\" -, la Kenyane Mbula Kaluki Musau.Une Maison du Café qui a pour slogan \"De la pépinière à la tasse\" car le café servi provient de la plantation de Foumban. Il est torréfié sur place, à la Maison du Café, et consommé notamment par les jeunes Camerounais qui commencent à apprécier le bon café. La filière café au Cameroun a du mal à décoller à l'export. Mais des acteurs, qui croient en son avenir, n'hésitent pas à intégrer la chaîne de valeur, jusqu'à la tasse du consommateur.Le café de Foumban est torréfié à la Maison du Café à Yaoundé.CHAînES DE vAlEuR ■ Les rapports qu'entretiennent les hommes et les femmes à la nature sont différents. Alors que le rôle des femmes dans l'agriculture, tant au niveau de la production que de la productivité, est essentiel, peu de politiques et programmes agricoles les prennent en compte. En Afrique, elles représentent 70 à 75 % de la main-d'oeuvre agricole, réalisent près de 90 % des travaux de transformation des matières premières alimentaires et de collecte de l'eau et du bois, 90 % des travaux de sarclage… Mais moins de 10 % des crédits accordés aux petits agriculteurs leurs sont alloués.Aux cours des quarante dernières années, la perception des femmes face à leur environnement a évolué : de \"prédatrices\" dans les années 70, elles vont devenir des \"victimes\" de la dégradation de l'environnement tout en jouant un premier rôle dans la défense de leur environnement (le mouvement Chipko en Inde ou le mouvement Ceinture verte au Kenya). Puis, dans les années 90, les savoirs des femmes du Sud sont reconnus comme \"garants du renouvellement des ressources environnementales et de la biodiversité, mais aussi comme étant en soi un capital culturel spécifique à protéger et reconnaître\".L'ouvrage, composé de contributions de chercheurs tant du Sud que du Nord, aborde la question du genre et de l'environnement à travers trois grandes parties : la construction sociale des ressources, la mobilisation des femmes dans les organisations paysannes et la question de la préservation et de l'utilisation des plantes sauvages cultivées à travers le monde.       Pensez-vous que la \"révolution\" du financement des chaînes de valeur est véritablement en marche ? Touchera-t-elle de la même façon les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique ?Au cours de ces dernières années, les éléments distincts nécessaires à une approche radicalement nouvelle de l'agrofinance -des produits de gestion des données et du risque aux outils pour la livraison, aux systèmes de soutien au crédit en passant par les connaissances sur l'appui aux structures juridiques et réglementaires -ont été développés. Les TIC et l'échange d'idées et d'expériences font à présent le lien entre ces divers éléments. Dans ce domaine, les progrès seront plus rapides en Afrique que dans les autres régions mais au regard des avantages de l'approche pour toutes les parties concernées, elle s'étendra également aux Caraïbes et au Pacifique. Certes, une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps mais, à bien y regarder, le printemps n'est pas loin vu le nombre d'hirondelles çà et là.Quelles actions de suivi le CTA compte-t-il mettre en place ?Le CTA continuera à jouer un rôle de catalyseur en rassemblant les acteurs lorsque nous pensons que cela peut favoriser le brassage d'idées, la création de nouveaux partenariats et d'autres accomplissements importants. Nous documenterons également les meilleures pratiques afin de faciliter leur reproduction et leur amélioration et renforcerons les capacités afin de permettre à tous les acteurs de la chaîne de valeur de coopérer plus efficacement à la conception et à la mise en oeuvre d'approches de financement innovantes. ","tokenCount":"7661"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7805042404.json b/data/part_1/7805042404.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..176b9a546ed79db66b3824ab5d3d284346d78547
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7805042404.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"869ebdb07825397e467853e691186219","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/303a8dd2-78ed-4142-ab35-e0ab6104a65a/retrieve","id":"-1871655690"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86dbbc95-c5df-416d-968e-bf29b600f328","pagecount":"82","content":"The National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey (NFCMS) is a cross-sectional population-based survey. The primary objective of the survey is to assess the micronutrient status, anthropometry, and dietary intake of women of reproductive age (WRA), aged 15-49 years, including pregnant and lactating women, and children (aged 6-59 months) as well as the micronutrient status of non-pregnant adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) and identify key factors associated with poor nutrition in these populations. The information generated will provide a foundation for the formulation of evidence-informed policies and programmes. In the short-to medium-term, the information will provide a baseline from which to monitor changes over time.• The results show a low coverage of key nutrition interventions. To improve overall nutritional status and maternal and child health, key nutrition interventions and services need to be better implemented across populations. A better understanding of implementation science is needed to address implementation bottlenecks to improve programme coverage, quality, and impact of nutrition interventions.• Dietary diversity is still too low to ensure an adequate supply of micronutrients in women. Innovations in the food system are needed to incentivize the production and consumption of nutrient-rich foods in addition to the familiar staples.• The contribution of animal protein is low and at least >30% of women have not met protein intake requirements. The overall diet (of women and children) is likely to be deficient in essential amino acids, which are important for growth and development.Innovations in the food system are needed to incentivize the production and consumption of more foods with animal protein.• Dietary micronutrient deficiencies remain a problem and are even more serious in women (especially pregnant and breastfeeding women). Food and nutritional policies such as supplementation and fortification, which have been shown to improve micronutrient intake, need to be expanded and maintained.• Staple foods that could provide more nutrients for total nutrient intake are less utilized than foods that serve as ingredients. Strengthen existing policies and create innovative strategies that improve mandatory food fortification at scale, especially for staple foods.• Iron deficiency, inflammation and malaria are associated with an increased likelihood of anaemia in all age groups, while vitamin A deficiency plays an important role in pregnant women and women of reproductive age, and zinc deficiency is a determinant of anaemia in WRA and preschool children. Although these findings provide important insights, further analysis is needed to understand the magnitude of the relative contribution of each risk factor to better inform the design of anaemia control.• The results provide the government and stakeholders with evidence of nutrition vulnerability to prioritise. This provides an opportunity to start the conversation about how to invest in agriculture, nutrition and food systems and who to target.It also provides opportunities for the formulation of evidence-based policies and programmes and a baseline from which to monitor change over time.The primary objective of the survey is to assess the micronutrient status and dietary intake of women of reproductive age (WRA) (aged15-49 years), including pregnant and lactating women and children (aged 6-59 months). The study also assessed the micronutrient status of non-pregnant adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) and identified key factors associated with poor nutrition in these populations. The information generated will provide a foundation for the formulation of evidence-informed policies and programmes. In the short-to medium term, the information will provide a baseline from which to monitor changes over time.The specific objectives of the survey include:1. assess the food consumption of children (aged 6-59 months), excluding breastmilk, and WRA to determine their intakes of energy, protein, fat, and selected micronutrients, as well as the amounts of specific nutrient-dense foods relevant for food-related nutrition policies and programmes 2. determine the adequacy of nutrient intake in children (aged 24-59 months) and WRA to identify populations at risk of inadequate intake 3. assess infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices among children (aged 6-23 months) and compare the nutrient density of their complementary feeding diets with recommendations 4. assess the prevalence, severity, and distribution of specific micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition (e.g. stunting, wasting, overweight/ obesity) among WRA, adolescent girls, and children (aged 6-59 months)5. identify key factors (e.g. infection, blood disorders, supplement use) associated with anaemia in WRA and children (aged 6-59 months) to inform strategies to prevent and treat anaemia in these populations 6. measure the coverage of national interventions to improve micronutrient status and dietary intake in WRA and children (aged 6-59 months), including iron folic acid (IFA) supplements, IYCF counselling, vitamin A supplementation (VAS), biofortification, and food fortification programmes 7. assess the prevalence of food insecurity and identify other key factors at individual and HH levels (e.g., education, SES) that are associated with micronutrient status and dietary intake in WRA and children (aged 6-59 months), and the micronutrient status in adolescent girls.The NFCMS 2021 collected information on four distinct components: (1) socioeconomic and demographic information of household in sample;(2) dietary intake -types and amounts of foods consumed in the last 24 hours; (3) anthropometry -height/length, weight, age; and (4) micronutrient status through a series of biomarkers analyses of the biological samples were carried out in both local and international laboratories that adopted rigorous quality control measures. The order of field operations, and information collected by each component during data collection is presented below.* The line-listing and household SES teams are the same interviewers. # The dietary pre-training and dietary repeat intake teams are the same interviewers. + Only collected for relevant respondents.Step 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5Step 6Step 7Pre-training for dietary 24-hour recall presented separately for children aged 6-23 versus 24-59 months at the national level and by location (urban and rural). For WRA, including pregnant women, data was disaggregated by geopolitical zone and by location (urban and rural) at the national level. In addition, lactating women, with higher energy and nutrient requirements are presented separately. For biomarker and anthropometry, results are presented at the national level, geopolitical zone, and by location (urban and rural) for WRA and children (aged 6-59 months); and at national level and by location (urban and rural) for pregnant women (15-49 years old) and non-pregnant adolescent girls (10-14 years old). Resources to purchase food: Overall 41.5 percent of households did not have enough food or money to buy food in the past seven days before the survey.Coping strategies: Reliance on less preferred and less expensive foods; food borrowing or relying on help from friends or relatives; limiting portion size at mealtimes; restriction on consumption by adult members of the household; and reduction in the number of meals eaten in a day were used.Overall, 59 percent of households had at least one member with an account with a bank or other financial institution (81.5 percent in urban and 43.6 percent in rural.Usual mean energy intake for children 24-59 months: Nationally, the usual mean energy intake for children aged 24-59 months was 1200 kcal (1235 kcal for boys and 1163 kcal for girls).Food sources contributing to energy intake: Refined palm oil (palm olein), rice, and red palm oil were the main contributors to energy intake for both women and children nationally (palm olein, maize flour, and rice main contributors in the Northern zones; rice, palm oil, garri, palm olein, and bread in the Southern zones.Usual mean protein intakes for women of reproductive age: Nationally, nonpregnant non-lactating women and lactating women had intakes of 47 grams and 53 grams, respectively while pregnant women had a usual intake of 49 grams (North Central and North East had an intake of 42 grams and South West had an intake of 53 grams).Protein inadequacy in women of reproductive age: About 35 percent of nonpregnant women have an inadequate protein intake, 58 percent of pregnant women, and 66 percent of lactating women have inadequate intake (51 percent urban and 63 percent rural dwellers for pregnant women).The usual intake of animal-sourced protein among non-pregnant women is 14 grams. Across the zones, it ranged from a low of 8 grams among women living in the North East to a high of 23 grams among South South women.The mean usual intake of protein from plant sources was 35 grams irrespective of pregnancy status while it was different for non-lactating women (34 grams) and lactating women (40 grams). Across the zones, women in the North West had the highest intake of 41 grams, while South South women had the lowest intake of 26 grams.Nationally, the usual mean protein intake for children aged 24-59 months is 29 grams (30.6 grams in urban and 28 grams in rural). Only 2 percent had inadequate intake.The main food sources for protein were rice, maize products, and cowpea products for both women of childbearing age and children 24-59 months.The usual intake is 7 grams and 22 grams from animal and plant sources respectively.Usual intake of Carbohydrates in women: Usual mean carbohydrate intakes were 251 grams for non-pregnant non-lactating women, 280 grams for lactating women, and 255 grams for pregnant women (229 grams in the North Central and 274 grams in North West).The usual carbohydrate intake is 162 grams (170 grams in urban and 158 grams in rural areas).Food sources contributing to carbohydrate intake: Rice, maize, and cassava (garri) products were the major food sources across all groups of women and children 23-59 months. In the case of children, sugar was a higher contributor than bread when compared to women.The mean contribution of carbohydrate intake to overall energy intake was approximately 54 percent across the sampled categories of women (also 54 percent for children 24-59 months).Nutrient intake inadequacy (%) among non-pregnant WRA by residence, zone and wealth quintileUsual mean iron intakes in women: 16.1 mg for non-pregnant non-lactating women and 18.9 mg among lactating women and 17.2 mg among pregnant women nationally (17.5 mg in rural areas and 14.3 mg in urban for non-pregnant non-lactating women; 13.7 mg in North Central and 19.1 mg in North West).Iron inadequacy in women: 45 percent of non-pregnant non-lactating women, 82 percent of pregnant women, and 16 percent of lactating women had inadequate iron intake (59 percent in North Central and 31 percent in North West; 36 percent in the lowest wealth quintile and high 54 percent in the highest wealth quintile).Condiments (mainly locust beans and seasonings used in preparing soups and sauces), pepper, millet, maize, and rice products. Non-heme iron is the major form in the diet. In all the zones.The usual iron intake of children aged 24-59 months is 10.7 mg (9.9 mg in urban and 11.1 mg in rural).Iron inadequacy in children 24-59 months: 18 percent nationally (16 percent rural and 22 percent in urban; 15 percent in males and 20.7 in females).Usual mean zinc intakes in women: the mean usual zinc intake of non-pregnantnon-lactating is 8.5 mg, lactating is 9.4 mg, and pregnant women is 8.8 mg (6.7 mg in North East and 10.9 mg in South South).Zinc inadequacy in women: 46 percent of pregnant women and 26 percent of nonpregnant women had inadequate zinc intake (49 percent in North East and 4 percent in South South for non-pregnant women; 51 percent in rural and 40 percent in urban for pregnant women).The main contributors to nutrient intake of zinc among women and children were garri, rice, maize products, and beef. Products from cowpea, millet, and sorghum were also among the foods that were commonly consumed by women and children.Nationally, the usual zinc intake of children aged 24-59 months is 5.0 mg.Inadequate zinc intake is 3.5 percent nationally (4.4 percent rural and 1.9 percent urban).Usual mean vitamin A intake in women: 924 mg for non-pregnant non-lactating women, 966 mcg for lactating women, and 972 mcg for pregnant women (1567 mcg in South and 629 mcg in North West).Vitamin A inadequacy in women: 26 percent of non-pregnant and 58 percent of lactating women had an inadequate intake (48.3 percent in North West and 1.3 percent in South East.The main food sources of vitamin A are palm oil, banga (palm nut soup), palm olein (a refined version of palm oil fortified with vitamin A). Mango fruit with some leafy and non-leafy vegetables were also notable foods that contributed to vitamin A intake.The usual vitamin A intake of children aged 24-59 months is 575 mcg.Vitamin A inadequacy in children 24-59 months: 12.4 percent had inadequate intake of vitamin A (17.8 percent rural and 0.8 percent in urban).Usual mean vitamin C intakes in women: 61 mg for non-pregnant and 64 mg for pregnant women. Mean intake of pregnant women living in urban areas is 72 mg and 60 mg in rural areas.Vitamin C inadequacy in women: 53 percent among non-lactating women to a high of 87 percent among lactating women (44.7 percent in South East and 67.9 percent in North West).The main contributors among women and children were pepper, tomato, onion, mango fruit, cocoa drink, and tubers like sweet potato and white yam.Usual mean vitamin C intake in children 24-59 months: Mean intake of 41 mg (38 mg in rural and 47 mg in urban areas.Vitamin C inadequacy in children 24-59 months: Low prevalence of inadequacy, less than a tenth (5 percent) of all children.Usual mean vitamin B1 intakes in women: U\\usual mean thiamine intake of women was similar (0.8-1.0 mg) irrespective of residence, zone, and wealth quintile.Vitamin B1 inadequacy in women: Nationally, about 65 percent of non-lactating women and 67 percent of non-pregnant women have a risk of inadequate thiamine intake which increased if the woman was lactating (77.3 percent) or pregnant (86.9 percent).The main foods that contributed to the overall thiamine intake of women and children were bread, products from maize, rice, and millet. Noodles and sorghum products contributed across all age groups.The usual intake of vitamin B1 is 0.5 mg with no substantial difference across the sex and residence of the children.Vitamin B1 inadequacy in children 24-59 months: 32 percent of children have an inadequate intake when compared with recommendations.Usual mean vitamin B2 intakes in women: Riboflavin intake of women across all categories was a mean of 0.7 mg. This level of intake was consistently similar when intake was disaggregated across residence, zone, and wealth quintiles and only reached a high of 0.9 mg among women in the highest wealth quintile.Vitamin B2 inadequacy in women: Intake was generally inadequate in at 80 percent of the women (94.8 percent in North-East and 59.3 percent in South-West).Food sources contributing to vitamin B2 intake for women and children 24-59 months: rice, bread, pepper, catfish, cocoa, and fura da nono were the main contributors to vitamin B2 intake. Among children, cocoa drinks had a higher contribution to riboflavin intake compared to women.The usual mean intake was 0.4 mg.Vitamin B2 inadequacy in children 24-59 months: 59 percent of all children had an inadequate vitamin B2 intake (70 percent among rural and 39 percent in urban areas).The mean usual folate intake of nonpregnant women is 200 mcg; 197 mcg for non-lactating women, and 217 mcg for lactating women (189 mcg for women in the lowest quintile and 208 mcg for women in the highest quintiles).Vitamin B9 inadequacy in women: Inadequacy of vitamin B9 intake was greater than 90 percent across all categories of women with the highest prevalence of inadequacy among pregnant women is 99.9 percent (88.8 percent in South West and 99.4 percent in North East).The main food sources that contributed to the overall folate intake of women and children are cowpea, maize, and millet products, cassava (garri), baobab powder, and rice.Usual mean vitamin B9 intake in children 24-59 months: 122 mcg nationally, which when disaggregated by residence was 131 mcg among urban dwellers and 116 mcg among rural dwellers.Vitamin B9 inadequacy in children 24-59 months: 63 percent of children 24-59 months nationally had an inadequate intake of folate (54.4 percent in urban and 67.6 percent in rural areas).Usual mean vitamin B12 intakes in women: Nationally, the mean usual vitamin B12 intake of non-pregnant women is 2.6 mcg (0.9-1.8 mcg in Northern zones and 4.4-5.0 mcg in Southern zones.Vitamin B12 inadequacy in women: Nationally, 54.2 percent of non-pregnant women have inadequate intake of vitamin B12 (87.9 percent in North West and 8.4 percent in South South).The main food sources of vitamin B12 for women of reproductive age are fish (mackerel, sardine, catfish, and hake), and beef.Children aged 24-59 months had a usual intake of 1.4 mcg nationally (1.2 mcg in rural and 2.1 mcg in urban areas).The inadequacy of vitamin B12 intake was 51.7 percent nationally (60.3 percent in rural and 43.0 percent in urban areas). Only 10 percent received Minimum Milk Feeds which was significantly lower in rural (3.9 percent) compared to urban 19.6 percent). The proportion of children that received the minimum number of milk feeds was 9 percent, 17 percent, and 8 percent for children aged 6-11, 12-17, and 18-23 months, respectively.Egg and/or flesh food consumption: One-third (35 percent) of children aged 6-23 months consumed egg and/or flesh foods the previous day.Nationally, 24 percent of children aged 6-23 months consumed sweet beverages the previous day (33 percent in urban and 20 percent in areas).Unhealthy food consumption: Nationally, 55 percent of children aged 6-23 months consumed unhealthy foods the previous day (70 percent in urban and 47 percent in rural areas).One in six (17 percent) children aged 6-23 months did not consume fruits or vegetables the previous day. No differences were observed by sex or residence.Bottle Feeding: One-fifth of children (20 percent) aged 6-23 months used a feeding bottle with a nipple the previous day. No differences were observed by sex or residence.The mean usual energy intake from the complementary diet was 333 kcal. The usual energy intake was adequate when compared with recommended intakes for this age group.The protein density was 2.7g/100kcal. The protein density of the complementary diet of the children aged 6-23 months was also above the respective desired nutrient densities for each age classification.The mean densities of calcium, iron, and zinc, vitamins B1, B2, and C in the complementary diet of children aged 6-8 months had mean densities that were below the recommended Desired Nutrient Densities.Children aged 12 -23 months had inadequate densities for calcium and vitamin B9-folate.Respondents that consumed selected biofortified foods the previous 30 days Consumption of biofortified crops: Only 3, 5, and 14 percent of the respondents consumed yellow cassava, orange-fleshed sweet potato, and orange maize, respectively in the last 30 days. The consumption of biofortified foods were notably highest in the North east of the country compared to other zones. About 5% consumed at least more than one biofortified food in the previous 30 days with the highest proportion coming from the North East.Consumption was 1 percent in the North West and 8 percent in the North East. No differences were observed by residence (i.e., urban vs. rural) and wealth quintile.Consumption was 17 percent in the North East and 2 percent in all other zones. No differences were observed by residence and wealth quintile.Consumption of orange maize was 38 percent in the North East and between 4 and 14 percent in all other zones. No differences were observed by residence and wealth quintile.Frequency of consuming biofortified crops: Among the non-pregnant women who reported having consumed biofortified crops, the vast majority reported consuming it on 1 to 9 days in the past 30 days (77, 84, and 56 percent for yellow cassava, orange-fleshed sweet potato, and orange maize respectively), whereas few consumed it daily (2, 0, and 16 percent for yellow cassava, orange-fleshed sweet potato, and orange maize, respectively ).Coverage of Selected Food Vehicles among Households of the sampled Non-Pregnant Women at National LevelA high proportion of households of sampled non-pregnant women of reproductive age consumed vegetable oil (90 percent), sugar (88 percent), salt (99 percent), and bouillon (99 percent) in any form.Fewer households of sampled non-pregnant WRA consumed flours in any form (57 percent for maize flour, 29 percent for semolina flour, and 28 percent for wheat flour).The proportion of respondents whose households consumed these foods in a branded* form was 33 percent for vegetable oil, 22 percent for sugar, 13 percent for wheat flour, <1 percent for maize flour, 23 percent for semolina flour, 47 percent for salt, except for bouillon, which remained high at 96 percent.Higher in the northern zones (65 percent North central, 56 percent North East, and 68 percent North West) compared to the southern zones (South East 23 percent, South South 26 percent and South West 32 percent).Key FindingsUsual intake of vegetable oil: The mean usual intake of vegetable oil among nonpregnant women was 27 gramsThe mean usual intake of wheat flour among nonpregnant women was 39 gramsThe mean usual intake of sugar among non-pregnant women was 12 gramsUsual intake of salt: The mean usual intake of salt among non-pregnant women was 4 gramsThe mean usual intake of bouillon among non-pregnant women was 6 grams.The mean usual intake of rice (raw) among non-pregnant women was 61 grams.vegetable oil contributed 13 percent, wheat (8 percent), sugar (5 percent), and rice (25 percent).Fortification status of household food samplesMost samples were fortified at any level. Vitamin A in sugar (74 percent), iodine in salt (100 percent), iron and zinc in wheat flour (100 percent each) while iron and zinc in semolina flour was also 100 percent. Conversely, about one-third was fortified at any level with vitamin A in vegetable oil (31 percent) and vitamin A in wheat flour (26 percent).  Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS): More than two-thirds of women (72.2 percent of non-pregnant women and 69.9 percent of pregnant women) had a GDQS between 15 and 23, which corresponds to a moderate risk of poor diet quality outcomes.The GDR Protect score reflects adherence to global dietary recommendations on healthy components of the diet, and scores can range between 0 and 9. The higher the GDR score, the more recommendations are likely to be met and vice-versa. The mean score was 4.0 for non-pregnant women and 4.1 for pregnant women.The GDR Risk score: The GDR Risk score is used as a proxy for ultra-processed food intake and scores can range between 0 and 9. Across all categories, the score was below 2 ranging between 0.6-1.5.Stunting: Nationally, stunting is very high (33.8 percent) in children 6-59 months, and differs by age category (lowest in the 6-11-months (16.8 percent) and more than double at 39.8 percent in the 24-35-months, residence (rural is 40.0 percent and 20.8 percent in urban areas), zones (14.2 percent in the South East and 48.6 percent North West zone), wealth (47.9 percent among poor and 13.2 percent among wealthy), and level of education completed by caregiver (45.6 percent with none and 14.6 percent with post-secondary education).Severe Stunting: One in six (17.1 percent) children 6-59 months is severely stunted nationally and differs by age (21 percent among 24-35 months and 7 percent among 6-11 months), residence (21.3 percent in rural and 8.4 percent in urban areas), zone (28.1 percent in North West and 5.3 percent in South West), wealth (29.4 percent among poor and 3.7 percent among rich), and level of education completed by the caregiver (25.9 percent with none and 4.8 percent with post-secondary).Wasting: Overall, wasting is high (11.5 percent) and differs by age (25.4 percent in 6-11-months and 5.1 percent in 36-47 months), zones (17.1 percent in North East and 6.8 percent in South West), and wealth (14.3 percent among poor and 8.6 percent among rich).Severe Wasting: Nationally, severe wasting is high (3 percent) and differs by age (6.5 percent in 6-11 months and 1 percent in 36-47 months), and zones (6.3 percent in North East and 1.2 percent in South West).Underweight: One in four children aged 6-59 months (25.5 percent) is underweight, and differs by sex (27.3 percent among males and 23.7 percent among females), residence (29.4 percent in rural and 17.4 percent in urban areas), zone (35.8 percent in North West and 9.6 percent in South East), wealth (36.8 percent among poor and 13.9 percent among rich) and level of education completed by caregiver (33.3 percent with no education and 13.5 percent with post-secondary education).Severe Underweight: Overall, the prevalence of severe underweight in children (aged 6-59 months) was 9.3 percent and differs by age, (11.4 percent among 6-11 months and 6.5 percent among 36-47 months), residence (11.1 percent in rural and 5.4 percent in urban areas), zone (13.7 percent in North West and 2.4 percent in South East), wealth (15.7 percent among poor and 4 percent among rich), and level of education completed by caregiver (14.8 percent with no education and 2.4 percent with post-secondary education).Overweight: Overweight in children 6-59 months was low (1.5 percent) and no significant variation across the background characteristics.Obesity: Overall, obesity in children (6-59 months old) was 0.6 percent and differs by zone (1.7 percent in South East and 0.1 percent in South West and South South).Prevalence of normal weight, thinness, overweight, obesity and stunting among adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years), Nigeria 2021Stunting: Overall, one in five (21.7 percent) adolescent girls aged 10-14 years are stunted and differs by residence (25.8 percent in rural areas and 14.5 percent in urban areas), and wealth (33.2 percent among poor and 9.6 percent among rich).Thinness: Nationally, 15.4 percent are thin and there is no significant variation in the prevalence of thinness in adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years old) across the background characteristics.Overweight: Overweight is very low (3.1 percent) nationally among adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years old) and differs by residence (4.4 percent in urban and 2.3 percent in rural areas) and wealth (5.6 percent among rich and 1.8 percent among poor).Coverage is very low.Use of iron/micronutrient powder is 7.1 percent nationally and differs by zone (10.4 percent in South West and 2 percent in South East.Deworming: Deworming treatment was 27.5 percent nationally and differs by age 33 percent among 48-59 months and 16.9 percent among 6-11 months), residence (41.2 percent in urban and 20.3 percent in rural areas), zone (60.2 percent South South and 7.5 percent in North West), wealth (51.7 among rich and 13 percent among poor), and level of education completed by caregiver (46.2 percent with post-secondary and 17.9 percent with no education).The use of therapeutic foods in the past 12 months is low (2.4 percent) nationally, and differs by zone (0.5 percent in South East and 5.9 percent in North East); overall, 14.1 percent reported using it the day preceding the survey and differs by zone (49.8 percent in South South and 14.1 percent in South West).Nationally, only 2.8 percent received ready-to-use therapeutic foods in the past 12 months and 21 percent of children received it the day preceding the survey.Use of multivitamins in the past six months: Only 8.4 percent of adolescent girls used multivitamins and differs by residence (13 percent in urban and 6 percent in rural areas) and wealth (15.1 percent among rich and 1 percent among poor). There was no significant variation in the use of multivitamins at least once in the past seven days, among adolescent girls across the background characteristics. Use of iron or iron/folic acid tablets in the past six months: Overall, 14 percent of women of reproductive aged took iron or iron/folic acid tablets in the past six months and differs by age (17.9 percent among 40-49 years and 8.6 percent among 15-19 years), residence (18.1 percent in urban and 11.5 percent in rural areas), zone (31.9 percent in South West and 2.2 percent in North West), wealth (18.9 percent among rich and 7.7 percent among poor) and level of education completed (21 percent among those with post-secondary and 8 percent among those with no education).Deworming in the past six months: Overall, 19 percent of women of reproductive aged reported using a deworming treatment in the past 6 months, months and differs by age (22.9 percent among 40-49 years and 16.4 percent among 15-19 years), residence (23.3 percent in urban and 15.9 percent in rural areas), zone (41 percent in South East and 7 percent in North West), wealth (30 percent among rich and 10.4 percent among poor) and level of education completed (28 percent among those with post-secondary and 10.2 percent among those with no education). Frequency of use of multivitamins and iron or iron/folic acid tablets in the past seven days: Among those who indicated using multivitamins and iron or iron/folic acid tablets, 26 percent took multivitamins and 32 percent took iron/folic acid tablets for the entire seven days. Although first trimester visits were adequate (100 percent) as pregnancy progressed, fewer pregnant women obtained adequate antenatal visits (77 percent at the 7 th month).Consumed a tablet or syrup containing iron at least once in the past seven days: 86 percent of pregnant women reported consuming a tablet or syrup containing iron at least once in the past seven days.Consumed a tablet or syrup containing iron and/or folic acid yesterday: 70 percent of pregnant women reported taking iron/folic acid tablets the day before the interview.Overall, 34 percent of pregnant women reported speaking to a health worker or Nationally, 31 percent of pregnant women reported talking to a health worker or community volunteer about breastfeeding their newborn and differs by age (41 percent for 40-49 years and 11 percent for 15-19 years), residence (45 percent in urban and 23 percent in rural areas), wealth (52 percent among rich and 14 percent among poor), and level of education completed (51 percent among post-secondary and 24 among those with no education).Frequency of use of iron tablet or syrup in the past seven days: Overall, 52 percent of the respondents took a tablet or syrup containing iron for the entire seven days.Self-reported morbidity among pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) Overall prevalence of self-reported illness (fever, malaria, diarrhoea, and cough) and hospitalization/clinic visits in the last two weeks among pregnant women, Nigeria 2021Cough in the past two weeks: Overall, 20 percent reported having a cough. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of cough in the past two weeks among pregnant women across the background characteristics.Fever in the past two weeks: Nationally, 40 percent of pregnant women reported having a fever, and differs by residence (43 percent in rural and 33 percent in urban areas), and wealth (58 percent among those in the middle quintile and 25 percent among rich).Overall, 31 percent of pregnant women reported having malaria. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of malaria in the past two weeks among pregnant women across the background characteristics.Only 20 percent reported having diarrhoea. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of diarrhoea in the past two weeks among pregnant women across the background characteristics.The prevalence of hospitalization was 19 percent nationally and there was no significant variation in the prevalence of hospitalization in the past two weeks among pregnant women across the background characteristics.Self-reported anaemia risk factors in children (aged 6-59 months), adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years old), women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years old)Pica children aged 6-59 months: Overall, taking pica was reported among 20 percent of the children 6-59 months seven days prior to the survey and differs by age (P < 0.001) and zones (P = 0.006) Pica, smoking, and previous diagnosis of anaemia in adolescent girls 10-14 years: Nationally, 8 percent of adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) reported taking pica seven days prior to the survey, the prevalence of self-reported smoking is only 0.3 percent, and 4 percent reported diagnosed with anaemia in the past six months. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of pica, smoking, and anaeama among adolescent girls across the background characteristics. Nationally, 5 percent of women of reproductive age reported taking pica seven days prior to the survey, the prevalence of self-reported smoking is only 0.5 percent, and 6 percent reported diagnosed with anaemia in the past six months. There was significant variation in the prevalence of pica by zones (14 percent in South East and 1.3 percent in South West), smoking by residence (0.9 percent rural and 0.1 percent in urban areas), and anaemia by zones (8 percent in South South and 4 percent in South West).Children 6-59 months: Nationally, the prevalence of malaria among children is 24 percent. Significant differences were observed among children by age (30 percent among 48-59 months and 15 among 6-11 months), residence (31 percent in rural and 11 percent in urban), wealth (33 percent among poor and 8 percent among rich), and level of education completed by caregiver (29 percent among those with no education and 7 percent among those with post-secondary).Adolescent girls 10-14 years: Overall prevalence of anemia in this group was high, 34 percent of adolescent girls had malaria, and was different by residence (45 percent in rural and 17 percent in urban areas) and wealth (53 percent among poor and 9 percent among rich).Only 13 percent women of reproductive age had malaria and differed by age (21 percent among 15-19 years and 8 percent among 40-49 years), residence (17 percent in rural and 7 percent in urban), wealth (19 percent among poor and 5 percent among rich), and level of education completed 14 percent among those with no education and 5 percent among those with post-secondary).Pregnant women: 14 percent of pregnant women had malaria. Differences were observed for age (38 percent among 15-19 years and 8 percent among 30-39 years), residence (18 percent in rural and 7 percent in urban areas), and wealth (23 percent among poor and 4 percent among rich).Children 6-59 months: Overall, H. pylori was prevalent among 36 percent of children, Significant difference were observed among children by age (42 percent among 48-59 months and 32 percent among 6-11 months), sex (38 percent among males and 34 percent among females), and zones (52 percent in South East and 36 percent in South West).Adolescent girls 10-14 years: 55 percent among adolescent girls nationally and significantly different by age (43 percent among 11 years and 66 percent among 12 years).Women of reproductive age: 64 percent prevalence among women of reproductive age nationally and differed by age (67 percent in 40-49 years and 62 percent in 15-19 years), residence (68 percent in rural and 59 percent in urban areas), zones (76 percent in South East and 54 percent in North West) and level of education completed (69 percent among those who completed primary and 64 percent in those with none).Pregnant women: 59 percent prevalence among pregnant women nationally and differed by wealth (71 percent among middle wealth quintile and 51 percent among rich).Children 6-59 months: Helminth prevalence was 14 percent among children, A significant difference was observed among children by residence (16 percent in rural and 9 percent in urban areas), zones (24 percent in North Central and 0.4 percent in South East), wealth (21 percent among poor and 9 percent among rich), and level of education completed by caregiver (20 percent among those with no education and 9 percent among those with secondary).Helminth prevalence was 7 percent among women of reproductive age and differed by residence (8 percent rural and 5 percent in urban areas), zones (15 percent in North East and 2 percent in South East), wealth (12 percent among poor and 3 percent among rich), and level of education completed (11 percent among those with no education and 4 percent among those with postsecondary) among women of reproductive age.Pregnant women: Overall, there was a 5 percent prevalence of helminth among pregnant women. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of helminth among pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) across the background characteristics.The national prevalence of elevated plasma glucose among women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) was 0.7 percent. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of elevated plasma glucose across the background characteristics.The national prevalence of elevated HbA1c among women of reproductive age was 16 percent. Differences were observed for age (22 percent among 40-49 years and 13 percent among 20-29 years), residence (21 percent in urban and 13 percent in rural areas), wealth (21 percent among rich and 9 percent among poor), and anthropometry status (34 percent among obese and 13 percent among thin).Adolescent girls 10-14 years: 21 percent of adolescent girls 10-14 years had both CRP and α-1AGP elevated nationally and differed by residence (22 percent in rural and 20 percent in urban) and wealth (27 percent among poor and 16 percent among rich). Mild anaemia: 19 percent of children 6-59 months had mild anaemia. There was a significant variation in the prevalence of mild anaemia among children (aged 6-59 months) by age (25 percent in 6-11 months and 14 percent in 48-59 months), residence (20 percent in rural and 15 percent in urban), zones (23 percent in North West and 15 percent in North Central and South West), wealth (21 percent among poor and 13 percent among rich), and level of education completed by caregivers (22 percent among those with no education and 12 percent among those with tertiary education).Overall, 12 percent of children 6-59 months had moderate anaemia. There was a significant variation in the prevalence of moderate anaemia among children (aged 6-59 months) by age (17 percent among 6-11 months and 8 percent among 48-59 months), residence (15 percent in rural and 5 percent in urban), zones (17 percent in North West and 8 percent in South South), and wealth (17 percent among poor and 5 percent among rich).Severe anaemia: Only 0.5 percent of children 6-59 months had severe anaemia. There was a significant variation in the prevalence of severe anaemia among children (aged 6-59 months) by level of education completed by caregivers (1 percent among those with no education and 0.2 percent among those with secondary education).Any anaemia: Anaemia was present in 20 percent of adolescent girls nationally. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of any anaemia among adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) by age (28 percent in 12 year old and 11 percent in 11 year old) and wealth (27 percent among poor and 15 percent among rich).The prevalence of mild anaemia was 14 percent. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of mild anaemia among adolescent girls by age (22 percent among 12 year old and 7 percent among 10 year old) and wealth quintile (18 percent among poor and 9 percent among rich).The prevalence of moderate anaemia was 6 percent. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of moderate anaemia among adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) across the background characteristics.The prevalence of mild anaemia was 0.6 percent. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of moderate anaemia among adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) across the background characteristics.Any anaemia: Nationally, anaemia was present in 23 percent of women of reproductive age. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of any anaemia among women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) by age ( 21 Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia: Nationally, the unadjusted prevalence of iron deficiency in children (aged 6-59 months) was 10 percent, while the adjusted prevalence was 21 percent and significantly different by age (36 percent in 12-23 months and 8 percent in 48-59 months), zone (28 percent in North East and 9 percent in South South), and level of education completed by caregiver (27 percent among those with no education and 18 percent among those with tertiary education). There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of children (aged 6-59 months) with iron deficiency anemia by age (17 percent among 12-23 months and 1 percent among 48-59 months), zone (13 percent in North West and 4 percent in South South), and wealth (11 percent among poor and 6 percent among rich).Vitamin A: Nationally, the unadjusted prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in children (aged 6-59 months) was 54 percent, while the adjusted prevalence was 31 percent. Significant differences were observed based on serum retinol for age (34 percent among 36-47 months and 24 percent among 6-11 months), sex (34 percent among males and 29 percent among females), residence (34 percent in rural and 26 percent in urban), zone (51 percent in North West and 6 percent in South East), wealth (40 percent among poor and 21 percent among rich) and level of education completed by caregiver (37 percent among those with no education and 22 percent among those with tertiary education). In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of children (aged 6-59 months) with vitamin A deficiency based on MRDR by age (3 percent among 24-35 months and 0.2 percent among 48-59 months) and residence (1.8 percent in rural and 0.1 percent in urban).Vitamin B12: Nationally, vitamin B12 deficiency in children (aged 6-59 months) was low (3 percent). There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of children with vitamin B12 insufficiency (<220 pmol/L) by age (23 percent among 6-11 months and 9 percent among 36-47 months), residence (17 percent in rural and 4 percent in urban), zone (19 percent in North West, North East and 1 percent in South South), wealth (24 percent among poor and 2 percent among rich) and level of education completed by caregiver (19 percent among those with no education and 5 percent among those with tertiary education). Similarly, there were significant differences in children with vitamin B12 deficiency (at risk of megaloblastic anaemia) and defined as serum B12 concentration <148 pmol/L) by age category (8 percent among 6-11 months and 1 percent among 36-47 months), residence (4 percent in rural and 0.1 percent in urban), zone (5 percent in North West and 0 percent in South West), wealth (6 percent among poor and 0.2 percent among rich), and level of education completed by caregiver (4 percent among those with no education and 0.5 percent among those with tertiary education).Zinc deficiency: Nationally, zinc deficiency in children (aged 6-59 months) was 35.2 percent. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of children (aged 6-59 months) with zinc deficiency between residence (41 percent in rural and 24 percent in urban), zone (57 percent in North West and 12 percent in South East), wealth (45 percent among poor and 23 percent among rich) and level of education completed by caregiver (42 percent among those with no education and 20 percent among those with tertiary education).The percentage of adolescent girls with folate deficiency based on analysis of whole blood lysate (Red Blood Cell folate) was 91 percent. There was no significant variation in the percentage of adolescent girls with RBC folate deficiency across the background characteristics. In addition, there was no significant variation in the percentage of adolescent girls with serum folate deficiency at risk of elevated homocysteine or risk of megaloblastic anaemia across the background characteristics.Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia: The unadjusted prevalence of iron deficiency in women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) was 7 percent, while the adjusted prevalence was 10 percent. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years), with iron deficiency between zone (16 percent in North East and 5 percent in South West), wealth quintiles (8 percent among poor and 13 percent among rich), and use of iron/ folic acid supplement in the last 7 days prior to the survey (7 percent among those who used supplement and 10 percent among those who did not use it). There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years), with iron deficiency anemia between zone (6 percent in North East and 2 percent in South West).Vitamin A: 12 percent of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) were vitamin A deficient based on serum retinol, while the prevalence based on Modified Relative Dose Response (MRDR) was 0 percent. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin A deficiency based on serum retinol by residence (15 percent in rural and 7 percent in urban), zone (22 percent in North West and 3 percent in South East), wealth (19 percent among poor and 5 percent among rich), level of education completed (15 percent among those with no education and 5 percent among those who completed postsecondary education), and use of multivitamin supplement in the last 6 months prior to the survey (12 percent among non-users and 8 percent among users). There was no significant variation in the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency based on MRDR among women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) across the background characteristics.The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was low (2 percent). Significant differences in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin B12 insufficiency were observed between residence (14 percent rural and 3 percent urban), zone (21 percent in the North East and 0.5 percent in South West), wealth (19 percent among poor and 1 percent among rich), level of education completed (19 percent among those with no education and 2 percent among those with pose secondary education), and use of the multivitamin supplement in the last 6 months prior to the survey 10 percent among those who did not use and 5 percent among those who used a multivitamin supplement).There was a significant difference in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin B12 deficiency between residence (2 percent in rural and 0.6 percent in urban), zone (4 percent in North East and 0 percent in South West), wealth (4 percent among poor and 02 percent among rich), and level of education completed (4 percent among those with no education and 0.2 percent among those with post-secondary education).Zinc: 35 percent of women of reproductive age were zinc deficient nationally. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) with zinc deficiency between age categories (38 percent among 20-29 years and 34 percent among 40-49 years), residence (41 percent in rural and 27 percent in urban), zone (60 percent in North West and 16 percent in South East), wealth (49 percent among poor and 25 percent among rich), level of education completed (49 percent among those with no education and 23 percent among those with post-secondary education), and use of multivitamin supplement in the last 6 months prior to the survey (36 percent among those who did not use and 27 percent among those who used a multivitamin supplement).The prevalence of folate deficiency based on analysis of serum folate was 47 percent for the risk of elevated homocysteine and 23 percent for the risk of megaloblastic anaemia. There was no significant variation in the percentage of women of reproductive age with serum folate deficiency at risk of elevated homocysteine and megaloblastic anaemia across the background characteristics. Folate deficiency based on analysis of whole blood lysate (Red Blood Cell folate) was 95 percent.Lactating women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years): The overall median level of urinary iodine among lactating women of reproductive age (aged15-49 years) was 217.6 μg/L. This value suggests that the iodine intake was fine considering that around half of the iodine goes to urine and the other has to breastmilk. There was a statistically significant difference in the urinary iodine concentrations of lactating women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) by age ( 279 The unadjusted prevalence of iron deficiency in pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) was about 11 percent, while the adjusted prevalence was about 26 percent. There was no significant variation in the percentage of pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) with iron deficiency or with iron deficiency anemia across the background characteristics.Vitamin A: The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) based on serum retinol was 22 percent. There was no significant variation in the percentage of pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin A deficiency across the background characteristics.Vitamin B12: The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was 12 percent. Vitamin B12 insufficiency: There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin B12 insufficiency between age categories (46 percent in 15-19 years and 5 percent in 40-49 years), residence (40 percent in rural and 17 percent in urban), wealth (52 percent among poor and 10 percent among rich), and level of education completed 47 percent among those with no education and 10 percent among those with post-secondary education).Similarly, significant differences in the percentage of pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) with vitamin B12 deficiency were observed for age (18 percent among 30-39 years and 4 percent among 40-49 years), residence (16 percent in rural and 4 percent in urban), wealth (24 percent among poor and 2 percent among rich), and level of education completed (23 percent among those with no education and 2 percent among those with post-secondary education).The prevalence of folate deficiency based on analysis of whole blood lysate (Red Blood Cell folate) was 85 percent, while serum folate deficiency (risk of elevated homocysteine) was 43 percent and serum folate deficiency (risk of megaloblastic anemia) was 20 percent. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of pregnant women with serum folate deficiency at risk of elevated homocysteine by residence (47 percent in rural and 38 percent in urban).Similarly, there was a significant difference in the percentage of pregnant women at risk of megaloblastic anaemia by residence (23 percent in rural and 15 percent in urban). There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of pregnant women (aged 15-49 years) with RBC folate deficiency by residence (89 percent in rural and 77 percent in urban), wealth (93 percent among poor 70 percent among rich), and level of education completed (95 percent among those with no formal education and 61 percent among those who completed post-secondary education).Children (6-59 months old): Iron (41 percent versus 27 percent), zinc (39 percent versus 26 percent), and B12 deficiency (59 percent versus 29 percent) were all associated with a statistically significant increased probability of any anaemia. Children 6-59 months with chronic inflammation (40 percent versus 17 percent), acute inflammation (50 percent versus 22 percent), helminth (38 percent versus 26 percent) and malaria infection (52 percent versus 24 percent) were all associated with a statistically significant increase in any anaemia.Adolescent girls (10-14 years old): Iron deficiency was the only nutrient associated with a statistically significant increased prevalence of any anaemia (37 percent versus 19 percent); Moderate anaemia was higher among adolescent girls with acute (15 percent versus 5 percent) and chronic (14 percent versus 4 percent) inflammation; and higher moderate and severe anaemia among adolescent girls with malaria infection (11 percent versus 4 percent and 2 percent versus 0 percent, respectively.The key nutrient deficiencies associated with an increased probability of any anaemia among women of reproductive age were iron (44 percent versus 21 percent), vitamin A (34 percent versus 22 percent), zinc (30 percent versus 20 percent) and folate (23.9 percent versus 17 percent). Regarding non-nutritional factors associated with anaemia, the prevalence of any anaemia was higher among women of reproductive age with acute and chronic inflammation compared to those without inflammation (32 percent versus 22 percent and 30 percent versus 22 percent, respectively), and with those with malaria than those without malaria (29 percent versus 22 percent).The nutrient deficiencies associated with a statistically significant increased probability of any anaemia were iron (39 percent versus 28 percent) and vitamin A (48 percent versus 27 percent).Iron deficiency was associated with anaemia in all target groups (2.12 and 1.90 times higher in WRA and Adolescent girls respectively). Among women of reproductive age, vitamin A, zinc and folic acid deficiency were also associated with a higher prevalence of anemia (1.54, 1.47 and 1.38 higher prevalence), while zinc and vitamin B12 deficiency were also all higher children 6-59 months with anemia (1.51 and 2.02 higher), and vitamin A was 1.81 times higher among pregnant women with anemia. Having sickle cell disease was clearly associated with anemia among both WRA and children 6-59 months (4.36 and 3.26 times higher) while having an Hb trait as a genetic blood disorder was also linked to anemia.Children (6-59 months old): Prevalence of stunting, wasting, underweight, overweight, and obesity are significantly higher among children with iron, vitamin A, zinc, and vitamin B12 deficiencies. Both acute and chronic inflammations are also significantly related to all malnutrition indicators. The results indicate that the prevalence of all five malnutrition indicators is almost the same across all three categories of food insecurity and is not significant.Although not significantly different, the prevalence of stunting and thinness is higher among moderately and severely food insecure adolescent girls 10-14 years old, Vitamin A deficiency is related to the prevalence of stunting, overweight, and obesity. Zinc deficiency, on the other hand, is strongly related to stunting among girls.Prevalence of thinness is higher among both, moderately and severely food-insecure women and is significant. Prevalence of obesity and overweight are higher among food-secure women; however, the results are not statistically different . Vitamin A, zinc, and RBC folate deficiencies are strongly associated with all indicators of malnutrition in women of reproductive age (thinness, overweight, obesity) except vitamin A deficiency in overweight women. Acute and chronic inflammations are strongly associated with overweight and obese women.Major Finding Implication Call to actionThe contribution of animal-sourced protein is low and at least >30% of women did not meet protein intake requirements.Overall diet (of women and children) is likely limited in essential amino acids critical for growth and development.Food system innovations are needed to incentivize the production and consumption of animal-based protein foods. Only a fifth of non-pregnant and a third of pregnant women achieved minimum dietary diversity (consumed at least 5 from 10 food groups).Based on recommendations of consultations by several food system dialogues, food system transformation pathways that suit the Nigerian context are recommended for urgent adaptation to incentivize the increased production and consumption of nutrient-dense foods in addition to known staples.Specifically, there should be an expansion in nutrition education programmes to encourage the general population to consume nutrient rich and diverse diets, fortified/bio fortified foods, and reduce food waste at the household level.It is also recommended that quantitative food-based dietary guidelines be developed for informed nutrition education.The data indicate that stunting affects 1 in 3 children aged 6-59 months nationally but some zones are more affected than others.Although country-level estimates are useful for international comparisons and benchmarking, they mask disparities in malnutrition at the lower administrative levels at which most health and nutrition policy planning and implementation occur.Geospatial estimates of malnutrition provided by the survey provide a baseline for measuring progress and should be used for prioritization and targeting interventions to those populations with the greatest need, in order to reduce disparities and accelerate progress.The prevalence of obesity is in double digits among women of reproductive age in certain zones.There is a need to develop comprehensive plans that tackle both undernutrition and overnutrition across different age groups and geopolitical zones.The results reveal low coverage of key nutrition interventions and an even lower co-coverage of these interventions.Improved implementation and coverage of essential nutrition interventions and services is needed across different population groups to enhance overall nutritional status and maternal-child health.A better understanding of implementation science is needed to address implementation bottlenecks in order to strengthen programmatic coverage, quality and impact of nutrition interventions.Malaria, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), helminths, elevated plasma glucose, and elevated glycated haemoglobin (Hba1c)Morbidities are an important public health issues in Nigeria, with H. pylori infection being widespread.These findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions and healthcare strategies to address the high prevalence of these health conditions among specific populations.There is a need to investigate the high prevalence of H. pylori observed as well as public health communication programs that include prediabetes testing in risk populations.The prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency anemia are lower than expectedThe data are evidence of steady progress on an issue long thought intractableEfforts to further reduce anemia are warranted. Documentation of what works, for whom, where, when, why and how is needed to extend transferable principles to other intervention programs.The levels of urinary iodine observed in pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age are fine or above recommended intakes.Suspected high intake of iodine needs to be explored and addressed, and the impact of other interventions supplying iodine (as for example MMS) to be assessed for unintended negative consequences.There is a need to conduct a smaller longitudinal study to document use and intake of iodine fortified products and micronutrient supplements as the findings will have implications for the levels of iodine in fortification programs and fortifiable food vehicles, as well as the introduction of other interventions.The National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey 2021 is the most comprehensive micronutrient survey in Africa, and presents a comprehensive picture of specific micronutrient deficiencies of public health importance, the co-existence of micronutrient deficiencies, and emerging issues of public health importance.The data reveal a high prevalence of folate deficiency among adolescent girls, and pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age.There is a need for agrifood system interventions and innovations to address the deficiencies observed, especially for folate and zinc.Micronutrient deficiencies, infections and inflammation (acute and chronic), and genetic blood disorders were associated with an increased probability of any anaemia in all population groups. Iron deficiency was associated with anemia in all target groups but in a lower proportion than 50%.The results provide important insights into the key drivers of anaemia.There is need to understand the extent of the relative contribution of each risk factor to better inform the design of anaemia reduction efforts to maximize public health impact. ","tokenCount":"9515"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7808666268.json b/data/part_1/7808666268.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..54f588bbe399ed31c5383b556acf4381695bf153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7808666268.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d376a18e0d1e55e75105de7c41266880","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ac85474-ecb7-4635-a078-d6b352e6fd75/retrieve","id":"714042805"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dd0f3f35-1cf3-4f1b-8ee9-af2805a9049b","pagecount":"36","content":"CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.However, a stark reality is hindering growth in the sector. Agribusinesses find themselves chronically underfunded, facing a complex web of challenges that hinder their potential. Two key reasons underlie this financial constraint. First, the lack of access to affordable credit and investment opportunities hampers their ability to expand operations and adopt modern, efficient technologies. Second, market instability and unpredictability deter investors and lenders from engaging with agribusinesses.The CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator presents innovative and effective solutions to strengthen the agribusinesses and support them in delivering impact at scale. By providing a blend of demand-driven, science-based technical assistance and investment-readiness, the program is designed to bridge the gap between potential and progress. By connecting agribusinesses with leading food systems scientists, we are equipping agribusinesses with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to thrive.The results of the 6-month engagement represent tangible evidence of the program's impact. From the development of Africa's first vegan milk made from indigenous fruits, to improved irrigation systems that enhance productivity while reducing environmental impacts, to new product lines for baby food made from soy, these examples illustrate the real-world benefits of our collaborative efforts. This report is a testament to CGIAR's serious commitment to address the funding challenges facing agribusinesses. It showcases our collective determination to create a future where agribusinesses flourish, investments flow, and research translates into practical change. We invite you to explore these success stories and consider joining us in reshaping the future of agribusiness in East and Southern Africa.Thank you for your engagement and support.Food Systems Accelerator Co-LeadThis report presents the consolidated outputs of the CGIAR researchers involved in the first cohort of the CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator. The first half of the report describes the methods that were applied, the second half presents the results.The Food Systems Accelerator was established to bolster Ukama Ustawi, a CGIAR initiative focused on transforming agri-food systems in East and Southern Africa (ESA). This program, spanning from 2022 to 2024, aligned scientists with agribusinesses to bring CGIAR innovations to scale in ESA. It achieved its objectives by providing CSA Technical Assistance to agribusinesses, enabling the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and de-risking their operations. Furthermore, the program offered Impact Measurement and Management support, helping agribusinesses measure and manage their environmental and social impacts effectively. Lastly, it provided Investment Readiness Technical Assistance to increase the agribusinesses' capacity to absorb capital, facilitating their access to funding for sustainable growth and ecological impact. By combining science-driven support and investment readiness, the Food Systems Accelerator Program aims to ensure resilient and sustainable agribusiness development in ESA 1. Ukama Ustawi is a CGIAR initiative developed to transform agri-food systems in East and Southern Africa (ESA) through sustainable intensification through mixed-maize systems and crop diversification to de-risk other systems. The program aimed to empower women, young farmers, and value chain actors to promote healthier diets and protect natural environments from further degradation. Ukama Ustawi was born from the in-depth understanding that some major underlying reasons for poor agricultural performances in ESA are associated with less efficient agricultural value chains, and the systems are characterized by low climate resilience. Numerous agricultural value chains are fragmented and characterized by unstable relationships between off-takers, smallholders, and emerging farmers, and the inefficiencies mostly affect the farmers. Farmers face significant market dynamics and systems hurdles, i.e., affordable inputs, advisories, logistics, finance, and market linkages. Agribusinesses address these challenges through various means, i.e., their products and services and farmer support to improve productivity, income, and resilience to climate change. These are particularly important in ESA, where farmers primarily produce maize, which is vulnerable to climate change. Maize faces a 15% climate-related yield decline without adaptation and challenges from diminished cropland sustainability, poor agronomic inputs and management, and degraded environmental bases with declining soil fertility and degraded water systems 2 .Photography: Ukama UstawiThe Food Systems Accelerator Program was set up to support Ukama Ustawi in designing a Climate-smart Agriculture (CSA) business support program that can be implemented in ESA. The Food Systems Accelerator Program is aimed at creating a demand-driven, responsive to market needs, gender, and youth-inclusive and targets high-growth, high-impact agribusinesses that express demand for technical assistance and links to financing opportunities to strengthen food systems and advance sustainable and inclusive growth. The Food Systems Accelerator Program achieved these objectives through 3 main thematic areas implemented across the four selected countries in ESA over the initiative's duration between 2022 and 2024.The objectives were achieved through:Provision of CSA Technical Assistance (TA): the agribusinesses were provided with coordinated and specialized evidence-based TA support that encouraged adoption, strengthened their CSA practices, and addressed their concrete ecosystem challenges. CSA TA supported the de-risking of agribusinesses (especially those involved in production) and improved their bankability. The CGIAR network of scientists provided this TA.Understanding how to effectively measure and manage impact is critical to ensuring agribusinesses achieve their desired result in contributing towards positive environmental and social impact. The agribusinesses were encouraged to use the IMM data to improve business performance, identify areas where values can be created, and make informed decisions to maximize positive impact while minimizing negative impacts. Further, agribusinesses were advised to use IMM data if impact or responsible investors require it. The CGIAR network of experts provided the training.Funding provides crucial resources enabling agribusiness to develop new products, expand production capacity, and access new markets. Securing financing is essential in establishing a foundation for long-term growth and sustainability. However, agribusinesses must be investment-ready to secure long-term growth and sustainable funding. Management teams were made to understand their growth plan and financing needs to ensure that new funding must support instead of hindering their paths to sustainability. Further, agribusinesses were equipped on how to position their businesses to potential investors and further negotiate with them. This support was provided by the IFDC-2SCALE and its network of scientists. The outputs of this workstream are provided separately.The impact logic of the Food Systems Accelerator Program is to ensure the support and development of sustainable (diversified and di-risked) and resilient agribusinesses across ESA. The unique blend of investment readiness and science-driven technical assistance supports commercial growth while ensuring sustainable ecological and social impact.There were three (3) phases of technical assistance (TA) delivery:Design and diagnostics: In February 2023, the CSA technical team organized in-person design and diagnostic sessions for the agribusiness. The session was instrumental in assessing the company's technical needs; after that, the design and diagnostics sessions' outputs informed the program curriculum's design 3 .As soon as the sessions to identify the company's needs were concluded, the technical team and the agribusiness co-designed a curriculum and structure of TA delivery systems. These included the number of sessions, durations, specific topics to be covered, types of trainers required, and the targeted outputs. The technical team provided a wide spectrum of advisory services throughout the implementation period, using hybrid delivery methods and a mix of group sessions for general training and one-on-one sessions to address more specific needs. To ensure the effectiveness of the co-development phase, the TA experts received prior general guides and recommendations on how best to prepare for training and mentoring sessions from the accelerator team 4 .The agribusiness received training from the TA experts according to the identified needs. The accelerator program provided high-quality TA experts with proven practical experience. Execution-oriented training enabled the agribusiness to deliver concrete and tangible results.Four different workstreams were established to provide a comprehensive support mechanism. Those four workstreams are on the Enabling Environment, Gender and Social Inclusion, Impact Measurement, and Innovation-specific Technical Assistance. Each company has received advisory services across the four workstreams, resulting in various outputs that support the companies in their development. The workstreams are described below, and the results are summarized in Section 3.In successful agribusiness acceleration, a supportive enabling environment is as fundamental as addressing the financing gap. The enabling environment comprises policies, rules, and regulations created by governments that are fundamental for agribusinesses to launch and grow successfully. Challenges in devising a conducive enabling environment reflect upon enterprises with high risks and transaction costs and prevent them from making a profit in return for their investment. Enabling environment technical assistance under the Food Systems Accelerator seeks to help agribusinesses tackle these challenges to the extent it is realistic during the program period. The team thereby adapts a low-hanging fruit strategy that will help address some of the biggest challenges highlighted by enterprises in a time-efficient manner. The prioritized assistance is research-based and shortterm: mapping the policy and regulatory environment and the opportunities for public-private partnerships and market expansion. Examples may include providing demand-driven transparent information regarding quality standards and environmental compliances, bureaucratic processes, and land and water rights and fees. For some enterprises, the action plan includes identifying key partners and public-and private-sector parties and linking them with enterprises to form market and partnership connections. Apart from that, long-term assistance includes policy advocacy, such as working with governments to design incentives and enact export duty and tax exemptions for agribusinesses, driving significant social and environmental change. During the first cohort of the FSA Program, the Enabling Environment Unit supported five agribusinesses.Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) is a key strategic factor that determines the economic, social, and environmental(climate) resilience and sustainability of any business, especially Agribusinesses in Africa. This element of the technical assistance focused on highlighting why GESI should matter to businesses while illustrating why women and youth require additional support to participate fully in agricultural value chains. A business case was made by outlining what strategic benefits the Accelerator partners would enjoy by being more inclusive. An individual GESI Action Plan was developed for each Partner.A GESI Action Plan is a powerful mainstreaming tool that will help the Accelerator Partners derive the benefits and impact of being GESI smart by guiding them and their teams in the development and adaptation of inclusive strategies and practices. Additionally, the plan will help monitor the implementation progress of the same. An effective plan allows the business to attain better performance, manage risk, retain good talent, implement business solutions more effectively and efficiently, and engage with aligned gender lens investors effectively.The following key steps were followed in developing the GESI Action plan. They included baseline data collection, analysis, and development of gender goals and activities.The process began with collecting gender and age-disaggregated baseline data through an online questionnaire guided by the 2X Criteria. Data was collected on entrepreneurship (founding and ownership), leadership (senior management and board positions), employment (internal and external workforce and partners), and consumption (products, services, and communication).The baseline data was analyzed to understand and assess the current gender equality and social inclusion profile of the business. The identified gaps and opportunities for higher inclusion formed the plan's basis.Following the GESI analysis and assessment and identifying inclusion gaps and opportunities, a list of goals and activities was developed and summarized into a GESI action plan presented as a schedule/ table (Section 2.3 in each plan). The targets were developed for the primary themes/gender outputs that guided the collection of the baseline data, as summarized above.Three main frameworks guided the GESI outputs and target development: the 2X Global Criteria, the CGIAR GESI framework, and the gender-responsive business model canvas.The Food Systems Accelerator focused on four specific Innovation Themes. In their application to the program, successful companies demonstrated the ability to scale an innovation that falls into one of the four themes. Through the participatory co-design of action plans, companies and researchers created a TA program that matched the companies' needs with relevant researchers' areas of expertise.The four innovation themes are the following:Mechanization in agriculture involves using machinery to boost productivity, encompassing tools and equipment for farming. In contrast, mechanized irrigation, using pumps and other methods, enhances water efficiency, contributing to climate action through innovations like solar-powered irrigation and storage solutions.Conservation agriculture promotes minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop diversification to enhance natural processes, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and improve overall agricultural sustainability. This approach is based on three principles: minimal soil disturbance, soil cover maintenance, and crop diversification, along with other practices like sustainable intensification, Integrated Soil Fertility Management, and Integrated Pest Management.Nutrition-sensitive, climate-smart agriculture is the solution to decreasing the trade-offs between agricultural productivity, climate change, and human and animal nutrition. They make farming more climate-sensitive and produce more nutritious food while maintaining productivity. Some examples of innovations under this theme include products such as legumes, cassava, livestock, dairy, oil seeds, horticulture (fresh produce and vegetables), and other staples.Agricultural Risk Management (ARM) is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks in agricultural activities, including coordinated and economic applications to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events and maximize opportunities. They make farming more predictable and increase the resilience of farmers. Some examples of innovations under this theme include advisory services, market linkage services, digitizing the value chain, and financial products (microinsurance, savings, lending, and credit guarantees).Measuring and managing impact helps agribusinesses to (i) attract new finance streams, such as climate-oriented impact investors and emerging funds for incentivizing climate-smart business models;(ii) identify risks and opportunities for building the climate resilience of their supply chain(s); (iii) build credibility and competitive advantage on the market; and (iv) periodically revisit and refine their business models to maximize returns and impacts. This technical assistance aimed to improve companies' understanding of and access to practical, science-informed tools to assess their contribution to climatesmart agriculture impacts for smallholder farmers and rural, peri-urban, and urban communities.These impacts refer to (i) sustainable increases in productivity and incomes to ensure food and nutrition security;(ii) reduced vulnerability, increased adaptive capacities, and climate resilience; and (iii) reductions or capture of greenhouse gas emissions 5 . Throughout the technical assistance, the agribusinesses were engaged in a co-design and co-learning process, allowing them to develop tailored solutions while building their knowledge and skills with their peers. The program equipped agribusinesses with the essential steps to measure and manage CSA-related impacts on their business operations. The knowledge and skills were then harnessed to craft robust impact pathways, which showcase how business innovations provide solutions for addressing poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, and climate vulnerabilities by creating new jobs, improving farm productivity, profitability, and livelihoods, by increasing resilience to climate risks and reducing contributions to climate change. These impact pathways are integrated into their business models and foundation for identifying, measuring, and tracking indicators pertinent to each agribusiness. ZAMBIA F orest Africa Zambia Ltd is an entrepreneurial initiative established in 2017 and based in Zambia, focusing on Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), including organic and healthy indigenous wild fruits, i.e., Mabuyu (Baobab), Monkey Bread, and Ngai (False Medlar). The company gathers and processes these organic wild fruits into nutritious fruit juices while upholding the zero-waste principle. Forest Africa Zambia Ltd employs a business model centered around rural community empowerment and commerce to address rural poverty and pressing environmental issues, i.e., deforestation, of the 21st century. The company works closely with over 200 rural households to source wild fruits for juice processing. The fruit powder is processed at the factory into a nutritional organic juice, and seeds are pressed to extract oils for skin and hair products. The baobab fruit's fibrous funicles are also used for making antioxidant-rich tea, while the shells are processed into charcoal briquettes that provide an energy source for the factory.Further, a portion of the fruit seeds is set aside for reforestation purposes 6 . Forest Africa Ltd's indigenous fruit processing model ensures the produce's circularity and that the zero waste principles are upheld. Forest Africa Zambia Ltd. is further collaborating with scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to continuously improve the shelf life of its juice products and further develop other products, including milk from the baobab fruits. The scientists from IITA have further assisted Forest Africa Zambia Ltd. in developing improved standard operating procedures and manuals for raw material handling and processing and new product development (i.e., yogurt from baobab milk). The collective efforts from external scientists have indirectly improved rural income and alleviated poverty of the communities supplying the fruits through the increased company's income and earnings 7 .The Statistical Office 2015 reported that 54.4% of the Zambian population lives below the poverty line of about USD1.09 per day, and about 40.8% of this population is classified as living in extreme poverty. The country's rural poverty is estimated at 76.5% compared to 23.4% in urban areas, and female-headed households are generally poorer than male-headed households 8 . Zambia is endowed with several indigenously growing organic wild fruits 9 . However, the country faces alarming deforestation rates, resulting in forest cover loss of about 300,000 hectares yearly 10 . The alarming deforestation is a climate change response to flood and drought-driven climate affecting agricultural outputs amongst the rural communities. In response to climate change-induced flooding and drought, rural communities often resort to tree-cutting for charcoal production as an alternative source of income. The overreliance on charcoal production has dire environmental consequences, including habitat degradation and deforestation. On top of the deforestation and degradation problem, rural communities often utilize conventional methods of wild fruit harvesting and processing, resulting in waste and unrealized benefits of the potential value chain of wild organic fruits. Furthermore, rural communities cannot trigger fruit demand and require strong market linkages to enhance rural commerce 11 , which may enhance the quality of livelihoods and improve rural poverty.Against the previous context, Forest Africa Zambia Ltd was inspired by the need to explore sustainable alternatives to address the challenges while promoting economic development, potentially reducing rural poverty, and encouraging and supporting healthier consumption choices 12 . Forest Africa Zambia Ltd has successfully established a business model that has enabled it to produce about 15,000 liters of juice per month and supply its products to over 200 retail outlets in and around Lusaka, Southern, and Copperbelt Provinces 13 .RESULTSDr. Idil Ires is a political economist-consultant specializing in agrarian change, trade, and industrialization in East Africa. She will assist the Accelerator Partners by conceptualizing an Agribusiness Enabling Environment (AEE) focusing on targeted technical assistance, mapping, and policy advocacy. This aided in tackling significant operational barriers, prioritization of the agribusiness partner's needs, providing relevant industry associations, and establishing policy harmonization.Forest Africa Zambia has faced hurdles in securing short and long-term financing due to high-interest rates, often up to 33 percent. Such rates have significantly impeded the company's potential to secure working capital to grow its business. Also, its operations are encumbered by an excessive number of mandatory licenses, presenting operational obstacles and inhibiting business growth. Lastly, Forest Africa and other local Zambian SMEs face a lack of monetary or fiscal incentives from the government that are tailored to support them. Current incentives predominantly favor incoming foreign investors and companies, placing local businesses, like Forest Africa, at a disadvantage. In addressing these challenges, the TA team reached out to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). It provided key contacts to Forest Africa for the enterprise to access the Zambia Credit Guarantee Scheme, which can negotiate with financial institutions to secure flexible loan terms and significantly mitigate financial risks associated with loan applications. Moreover, the enterprise is linked with the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment to explore concessional green finance options and investigate funding opportunities from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund. Moreover, a comprehensible summary of the Investment, Trade, and Business Development Act of 2022 has been provided for the enterprise to understand the investment incentives, and it recommended that it contact ZMD to explore concrete opportunities. The company is woman-founded, owned (50%) and led (100% of senior managers are women). 67% of employees are youth, 44% of employees are women, and 90% of their smallholder farmers are women. The product addresses women's specific needs Addresses a problem that disproportionately affects womenProducts do not disproportionately affect women. However, the collection of wild fruits is more conducive for women and youth as it doesn't necessarily require the purchase of inputsThe company has established effective means of communication for women (word of mouth, social media)Company's products are not currently marketed to target womenThe company needs to maintain these standards while making some adjustments to be more inclusive including providing regular gender sensitization training, implementing gender-focused policies (e.g., recruitment activities, marketing), and establishing lactation rooms. The company has yet to set up a board, but once it does, women and where practical youth should be represented. These activities are summarized in the company's GESI action plan.Dr. Alamu O. Emmanuel is an experienced food chemist with over 17 years of research experience and strong analytical skills in food science and nutrition.Forest Africa Zambia Ltd actively participated in the CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator Program under One-CGIAR Regional Initiative (Ukama Utsawi) to seek technical guidance and capacity to improve its operations and market competitiveness. The program had a bespoke approach to providing Technical Assistance to the Accelerator Partners. In the case of Forest Africa Zambia Ltd, one of the key requirements was the need to strengthen product portfolio to increase wild fruit offtake from rural communities and to increase revenue. Forest Africa accumulates a rich repository of baobab seeds in its processing activities. Apart from pressing a baobab seed oil, most of the seed was potentially underutilized. There was clear need to find innovative ways to commercially utilize the seeds other than planting and oil pressing. In order to achieve this level of innovation, critical expertise was missing within Forest Africa's ranks. The product is currently still undergoing local approvals and certification through the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS). The product is expected to be on the Market once certification from ZABS is received.Baobab vegan milk is a nutritious and refreshing beverage that can be easily made using the simple steps involving Sorting, cleaning, Soaking the Seeds, Boiling the Soaked Seeds, blending the cooked Seeds, and finally, adding essential ingredients.With these simple steps, you can enjoy delicious and nutritious baobab seed milk, rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Experiment with the milk by adding flavors like vanilla or cinnamon or using it as a base for smoothies or other culinary creations.Figure 1: Sample of baobab milk produced using the developed recipe.The impact pathway was delivered by Andreea Nowak, a social science researcher at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, with interest in how to improve the assessment and reporting on climate adaptation and resilience. Within the FSA, her interests were to assess the current impact measurements and metrics used by the agribusinesses and develop additional indicators for impact measurement reporting, data collection, consolidation, and fundraising. Together with a team of researchers, she has conducted interviews and workshops and co-designed the below-impact pathway with the agribusiness. ","tokenCount":"3837"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7808731417.json b/data/part_1/7808731417.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d3216f7e51869a75e0a3f30ab64ef242f9f8019d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7808731417.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8b8ebad195f1bfd49a06a73267fa059d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6b3a23b8-431c-4a64-9dc7-bab151ffaf84/retrieve","id":"777606216"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cfee38ff-ff5e-475f-b829-16d507665cfd","pagecount":"7","content":"East African countries are strengthening efforts towards reducing GHG emissions from livestock. In Ethiopia, 7million USD investments from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and World Bank mobilized towards this effort. This follows the 2018 workshop: \"Low emissions livestock: Supporting policy-making and implementation through science in East Africa\" organized by CCAFS, GRA, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Bank, African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and Ethiopian and New Zealand governments.Globally, livestock sub-sector contributes significantly to GHG emissions and can deliver a significant share of the necessary mitigation effort. African countries are taking ambitious actions towards reducing GHG emissions from livestock. In 2018, Ethiopia (2,4,5), Malawi (6,5) and Uganda (3,5,7) joined the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) member countries to develop efficient and sustainable agricultural systems to meet growing global demand for food in the context of a changing climate. This development originates from discussions initiated during the regional awareness raising workshop (1) on Low emissions livestock: Supporting policy-making and implementation through science in East Africa. The workshop was held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between July 2-4, 2018. The workshop organized by CCAFS-EA, the GRA, FAO, World Bank, and ACPC in collaboration with the governments of Ethiopia and New Zealand, focused on climate-smart livestock production and the reduction of GHG emissions. In 2019, CCAFS-EA hosted two CSA platform meetings (6,7) and a workshop on Improved MRV of GHG emissions in the livestock sector with UNIQUE (5) and as a result, Ethiopia has intensified efforts towards reducing GHG emissions from livestock through increased investments from ACIAR and World Bank with support from MoA. This has resulted in several initiatives focusing on developing national and regional institutional capacity to advance the development of validated protocols for MRV systems of GHG emissions from the livestock sector using Tier 2 methods, as well as data gaps and data quality issues, uncertainty analysis of draft livestock GHG inventory. These initiatives include: i) Programme for Climate Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL) with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); ii) Enhancing capacities for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of sustainable livestock actions in Ethiopia with UNIQUE forestry and land use GmbH, the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), MoA; iii) Building capacities for an integrated livestock MRV system in Ethiopia with UNIQUE, EIAR, MoA; iv) Livestock and Fisheries Sector Development Project with WB an MoA; v) Oromia Forested Landscape Program with WB and EFCCC. These projects will be implemented between 2018-2022 with opportunities for technical and scientific exchanges and partnerships towards reducing GHG emissions from the agricultural sector and promoting the efficiency of agricultural systems, particularly livestock systems and developing more efficient MRV systems for the various sectors.","tokenCount":"459"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7818265446.json b/data/part_1/7818265446.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9428118f5133a206d7b9e8d2252dcb992523fe61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7818265446.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7421d15689231f21245f061fb8dc5798","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2e7ff519-4f01-4289-8dd6-a341a62fb7d6/retrieve","id":"-1721951751"},"keywords":["Vi car Gt\"anü Rojo. Cuyut a","Guatemale -1985 A 5'\" Vical'\" Gray¡o Rc","je!.. Caballc:","81<::\\1'''1co","HCind Ixr'as -1985 B Vicar G\\\"\"'anc","Rc",")o.. 5a)'\"! Francis- co del Valle","Honduras -1985 B r","..","g"],"sieverID":"0e7ec81c-9ca8-4f08-94cf-9ae1df2287e5","pagecount":"107","content":"Var\"iadades en estudiel ViCB.r' Negro 1985. ReY'ld i ro i ent GIS prQmed i os de 3 repeticiones, expresados en Kg/Ha al 14\" de humedad, cOT'respondiente a 15 variedades de frijol seMbrada. en 7 localidades de Centroamt3t\"ica y utilizados aY'. el an~lisis combinado de varianza del Vicar Rojo 1985 A. Rendimientos promedios de 3 repetic.'iernes, expresados eY'1 Kg/Ha al 14\" de hUMedad, correspondiente a 15 variedades de frijol sembradas en 10 lücalidades de Centt\"\"(.')eUll~l'''ica y ut i 1 izadas erl el an~lisis combinado de varianza del Vicar Rojo 1985 B. Ar,Alisis combinade! de vat\"'ianza en bloques completos al azar del t'ey,dimientc.. expre.ado eY, kg/ha al 14)1. de hurnedad de 15 variedades del Vicar Rojo 1985 A, plEmtadas en 7 lücal idades de Cet\"tt l''''oam~ '1\" .... i ca\" Ar,!:lisis cCfMbir,adcl de variarlza en bloques cc,mpletc'$ al azar del rendimiento, e~presado en Kg/ha al 14\" de humedad de 15 variedades del Vicar Rojo 1985B, plantadas eY, 10 le.cal idades de Cel'\"lt }'\"loafl16r\" ica~ An~lisis combinado de varianza en blcfques completcls al azar del rendimiento, exp~esado en Kg/Ha al 14% de humedad de 15 variedades del Vicar Rojo 1985, plantadas en 16 lücalidades de CEH'\"'-¡t rClar.wi\"\" i ca.La semilla se tratb cor. Sevin 5)1: + Dithar.e M45, en las de,sisSe fertilizb de acuerdo cor, las recorne't'\"Jdaciclr'les aYI la ZCIl'\"la el localidad, pe,'o en la mayor\\a de los sitie,s se aplic!':, 30 N Y 40 P Kg/ha.Se hizo el cc,ntrol de plagas de acuerde, ee,y, preser,eia de ellas y pero no se hizo ning~n prevent i vo de enfe,'medades, para que expresaran su reaccibn.Para el control de malezas se hicieron dos y hasta tres desyerbas maYH..Iales para evitar efecto de su cornpeterlcia.Er, muy pe.eas localidades hay facilidades de ,'iego pe,r lo sblo se hicieron riegos de complemento parcial en Jutiapa (Guatemala), San Francisco del Valle y Zamorano (Honduras). Nltmero de parcela: Ider,tificacibn seglm sorteo.Ble'ques: Repetícic,,...es (1,2 Y 3).Va,'iedades No., Netme.,o de er,tt'ada.N~tme,'o de plantas cc'sechadas: Total pa,'cela.Rer,dimier,to de granc, en gramos/parcela de 1121 ro2.Enf'e,'medades y plagas presentes.En \"lgur,as local idades que se han tratado de roay,tene,'    --------------------------------------------------------- - GRAFICA 3, VICAR ROJO 1985 +---+----+----+----+-----+----+----+---+----+----4----+----+----+-+ TON/HA• .\\ GRAFICA 4: VICAR NEGRO 1985 +--+-'---+--~--+-_._-+\"'----+-----t .. _- --+------~--+----+----+----+----+-~  218 199  \"J,::..:.  -------------------------------------------------------------  ---~------------------------------------------------~--------  ------------------------------------------------------------ ENT.3 13 12   l,:,.;r .. \"\"\"\"'7_\"\"1  --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------     ------------------------------------------------------------     --------------------------------     --------------------~-----------------------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------    ------------------------------------------------------------   --------------------------------------------------------------  . ..:..:..:..:...::..:..:..:...:....:..:-:..:..::~ ~\"I \"''' ..:....:...::...::..:...:..: ..... ..:..:..:...:..:..:..:...: . ,¡, • ..:..:..:..t..:..: .. ..:...:..;..:..:..:..: . . \"':\":Ñl!J\":\":\":-\"':\":\":\";\":¡l!J\":\":.: .. I ¡ ~K:!'::1'.i~lfl:!n6~t'i:!'l:~mit n I ... -: .... ....:...:....:...:....:-=..:....:...:,.;;,.:...: ... ..:....: .... ...::....:...:..s....:...:....:....:..::...:: ...-'1 i ;m n~~~\"~¡;¡i\"'>'>~~ N~ 1!i~ih , ~~lli::: ....:..;..:....:..:...;...:..:..:..:....:..:....:..:..:.  ....:...:..t...:..:..:..:..:.J....:..:..;..:..: ...;.\".\"!!! m 1-U~UilniiUU~ ~¡:¡ !51!1!!¡¡\" m ..:\"..;..:\".:..:...;..:..:..::..:...:...:..::..::...: . .$$:= i!l 1-UIUinn~u~ ID lIiah ~ ...:..:...!.,.:...!...:..J..:.J..:..!..:..:..:... ' \" \":I!l.l:¡;j I i« ~!~~.M6~~~U~Sl n lS~~i~ l.i5~~¡~ I uu~~~ §u~u~ iª ¡¡ ..:..:..:..,:..:..:..:..:..::...: . ..:..:..: -'\" ..  . ,","tokenCount":"461"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7839880113.json b/data/part_1/7839880113.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b7a4a94a7c476ccf0d31c94be548a4871e9cf859
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7839880113.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6ad615ef37adce4bbc4f0819eee1b7ba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7fc2c3f5-ccff-4625-9dcc-98cb8cc5a7f9/retrieve","id":"889989892"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1f677f43-af20-4f5a-82d3-d01a924c1fb2","pagecount":"96","content":"The CGIAR-CPWF Project \"Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin\" was designed and conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with international and national partners, to address the relative neglect of livestock water needs of crop-livestock farming systems.The primary objective of this project was to optimize the productive use of water in the crop-livestock farming systems of semi-arid areas to enhance livelihoods, reduce poverty, contribute to gender equity, and protect the environment. This was addressed through an integrated approach led by a multi-disciplinary team across three States of the Ganga Basin.)/supply feed (2a -2 and 2b -2 ) in intensive and semi-intensive CLS in the case study districts. * represent intensive; ** represent semi-intensive systems........................................................................................ 28   (Bebbington, 1999)................................................................................. 34     (intensive systems,Hisar)................................................................................................... Table 12. LWP of dairy cows across farm clusters and farming systems (intensive systems,Etawah)................................................................................................ Table 13. LWP of   Whereas the water needs of major grain and cash crops have been extensively studied, scientific knowledge regarding the water requirements of livestock is relatively poor and underdeveloped. Yet mixed farming systems, combining crop cultivation with livestock production, engage a significant part of the world rural population and represent a significant share in the production of agricultural products. Meeting the water needs of these systems is thus essential -not only for food security but as well for sustaining the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers, for whom livestock holds multiple economic and non-economic (i.e. social, environmental and religious) values.This project has increased the awareness of farmers, NGOs, government officials at the district, state and national level, as well as among the scientific community, on the actual water needs of livestock. The key highlights of the study which were communicated to these various stakeholders are the following:• Water scarcity is a major problem experienced on a seasonal or regular basis by more than 80% of farmers in all field sites. Water scarcity is the most acute in the study area with the highest rainfall, where more than 50% of the population experiences water shortage all year round and the remaining experiences significant shortage on a seasonal basis. This is an economic and institutional/physical water scarcity due to lack of infrastructure, poor delivery of public services and inequitable access to water resources.• The present livestock water requirement to produce a unit of product (milk) was higher in the case study areas than the world average. There was a strong variability of livestock water productivity (LWP) not only among different farming systems but also among farmers within the same system. This suggests a large scope for improvement. This scope was confirmed by the wide gap observed between current and potential LWP. For instance, in the semi-intensive system in West Bengal, current LWP was evaluated at 16000 L water per L milk whereas the potential is estimated to be slightly below 800 L water per L of milk. Potential for improvement was found to be particularly high among the poorest farmers of the community with no or poor access to land and water in paddy rice systems. Within the farming systems, the scale of variability across farmers' livelihood typology was system specific and largely influenced by farmers' access to milk and feed market.• There was a great variation of feed availability among and within districts. For example districts with intensive systems had surplus feed (> 30%) whereas feed deficit (>50%) was observed in the district with semi-intensive system. This variation was largely related to the degree of agricultural intensification and to farmers' access to land and water. Mechanisms to improve farmers' access to key assets and their capacity to prepare optimum-mixes of green, dry and concentrated feed needs to be encouraged. Marketing support and the development of feed storage facilities are some of the key interventions that would support a better feed access. In regions where agricultural land per capita is small, it is particularly important to support the protection of existing common grazing land as well as the improvement of waste and fallow land.• Most technological innovations to intensify livestock production at the household level increase women's workload, especially for animal feeding. For instance, in the trans and middle Gangetic zone, stall feeding with zero grazing has increased the workload of women of 1-2h/day in terms of weed chopping and feed mixing.• All proposed interventions require a better adaptation of the interventions of government bodies to local needs and farmers differentiated access to land and water, which could be supported by a greater decentralization of development planning to local elected bodies. A better integration of food-feed water requirements, favoured by a coordinated action among relevant line departments at the state and district level would also greatly support the improvement of water use in crop-livestock systems (CLS).The livelihood of millions of farmers in the Ganga Basin depends on mixed crop livestock farming systems. Livestock is particularly important for the landless and the small landholders for which incomes from land are not sufficient to meet their basic needs.Although water requirements of crops have been the object of long-term and in-depth studies, the water needs of livestock have been, in general, largely underestimated. More particularly, the water requirements for animal feeding have been neglected. Yet they represent the most important part (>90%) of animal water needs and several studies indicate that there is a high potential for water savings by improving animal feeding. Increasing the water use efficiency of animals has thus emerged as a highly relevant research question, all the more topical in the context of increased climatic variability and growing demand for crops and livestock products.The project \"Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin\", funded by the CPWF, was implemented by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with international and national partners, to address the relatively neglected livestock water needs in crop-livestock farming systems.The objectives of the project were: 1. Improve the understanding of total water needs of crops and livestock in croplivestock systems 2. Identify institutional and governance arrangements, and gender and poverty variables that support integration of crop-livestock water needs in the basin 3. Identify viable entry points and practical methods for improved water productivity in crop-livestock systems that are economically and environmentally sustainable 4. Evaluate gender, livelihood and poverty impacts of recommended technological and management options 5. Increase local capacity and develop policy, technology and governance recommendations for improving water productivity in crop-livestock systemsThe project adopted a multi-disciplinary approach combining three pillars: first, a biophysical analysis of LWP at the district and community scale, exploring variability among regions, farming systems and farmers' livelihood typology. This analysis allowed defining entry points for improving LWP. The selected biophysical interventions were proposed with the institutional (including market-based) reforms that are required for their adoption.The second pillar examined the contribution of livestock to livelihoods across farming systems and among different groups of farmers, defined by their livelihood typology. This component also identified the different forms of capitals which are essential for farmers to improve LWP and the differentiated access to these forms of capitals between men and women. Lastly, we evaluated the potential impacts of selected biophysical interventions on livelihoods, poverty reduction and men and women.The third pillar addressed the institutional and political context in which farming systems currently operate and examined to which extent this context is favourable for an efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water in CLS. It particularly explored the issue of access to water, collective action, decentralisation, and integration of crop, livestock and water issues in the state interventions. This component allowed the identification of institutional and political changes which would support improved LWP, poverty reduction and enhanced equity in the Ganga Basin.All objectives were fully achieved as evidenced by the detailed assessment of LWP across regions, farming systems and livelihood typology (Section Objectives 1, 3), the institutional, gender and poverty analysis (Section Objectives 2 and 4), which results were combined for the development of sound recommendations (Section Objective 5).Major findings, presented in the research highlights, emphasised the widespread economic and institutional water scarcity experienced by a large majority of farmers in the case study area. It means that improving water productivity often requires first to improve access to water sources and/or distribution of water. The livelihood and gender analysis indicated that improved livestock and feed management have a high potential to enhance the livelihoods of the landless and land-poor. Women contribute significant labour to livestock activities but their access to the benefits of livestock activities is diminished in some areas by mobility restrictions and by a lack of inclusion in decisionmaking processes at the community and household level.The evaluation of LWP at the district and household level indicated that there was a high potential to enhance water use efficiency in the CLS of the Ganga Basin. It was evidenced by the high variability of LWP across farming systems in the region and among farmers within the same farming system. Furthermore, there was a large difference between observed and potentially achievable LWP values. Results show that higher LWP gains will occur when interventions target the poorest households with low access to land and water and agricultural systems with lower LWP. For instance, by increasing the current milk yield level of mixed herd model to the potential, it is possible to reduce by more than 50% the amount of water used to produce 1 L of milk.We proposed a mix of technical and institutional recommendations for farmers, development practitioners and policy-makers to improve feed, animal and water management in order to support the increase of LWP and improve livelihoods. These interventions are region-specific (e.g. rainfed/irrigated areas) and system-specific (intensive/extensive). Our recommendations were also tailored to farmers' livelihood and notably on their access to land and water and ownership of livestock. We defend the need for flexible interventions adapted to the local biophysical, socio-economic conditions and to farmers' diverse access to capitals. These have a higher potential to achieve their objectives and respond to farmers' differentiated needs and capacities than a state-wise blanket programme or unique intervention.Recommendations are proposed for three domains.1) Feed management: Interventions would include the higher use of agricultural byproducts and crop diversification towards water productive and dual-purpose varieties (e.g. pulses), the treatment of crop residues, such as low cost chaff cutting, chemical treatments, mixing and densification. These actions are particularly relevant for rice systems in rainfed areas for the poorest farmers with no or limited access to water in wheat-cotton, wheat-rice and millet systems of irrigated areas. In regions where agricultural land is scarce, over-seeding of wasted land and communal grazing areas, green fodder planting on bunds and fallow lands could be promoted. Such interventions must be linked with adequate community-led institutions for the management of common land.2) Animal management: To increase milk yield, programs for upgrading non descriptive cows and buffaloes with high yielding indigenous and exotic animals on selective basis could be encouraged. It entails creating efficient service delivery mechanisms for artificial insemination and improving farmers' access to veterinary services, through for instance the training of paravets in villages. Such interventions have to be coupled with better linkages to feed and livestock products markets to offer sufficient incentives for the poor and medium rural households to adopt upgraded breed.3) Water management: Better water management requires first a sufficient, timely and secure water supply -which is not the case for a large majority of farmers in the case study areas, whether in the rainfed or irrigated regions. Access to water is a large issue which goes beyond the scope of this study, but we proposed several recommendations for rainfed and irrigated areas which details can be found in the policy briefs. These include facilitating farmers' access to pumps in the rainfed areas of West Bengal through adequate institutions (e.g. giving/renting at a low rate pumps to Self-Help Groups which would take care of their management and maintenance). Other interventions contributing to water savings include building farmers' knowledge and capacity regarding the adoption of water productive feed, crop rotation and diversification (e.g. agroforestry).The project has certainly contributed to raise the awareness of district level officials, NGO partners and, to a less extent, among national and state government civil servants on actual livestock water requirements and the need for adopting an integrated approach, simultaneously considering crop/fodder water requirements, livestock management and water supply. The participation of NGOs in the project was a crucial element to translate research results into development actions on the field with tangible impacts for farmers. As underlined in Section 2, there are structural and institutional constraints within the current planning process and the sectorisation of state development schemes which need to be addressed for positive changes to occur on a large scale. We advise for more grounded approaches designed at the district level and tailored to local needs proposing an integrated package of interventions such as capacity building, technical and marketing support. Such initiative requires a pro-active dialogue between the Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Horticulture and Irrigation Departments to develop synergies between the development of crop cultivation and livestock activities. It would also be supported by the devolution of funds and decision-making power to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs).These are sensitive political and bureaucratic issues which have been debated for a long time in India -and elsewhere -but we hope that the quantified evidence we provide on the scope for saving water and improving livelihoods through interventions increasing LWP can contribute to further debates. We also hope that the concept of LWP can encourage a coordinated approach among state line Departments. We militate in favor of locally-grounded, integrated approaches to rural development which go beyond considering farmers as passive recipients of welfare action but give them an active role in their development.The Ganga Basin 1 is one of the largest drainage basin areas in the world. Spreading from the Himalayan-Tibetan area in the west to the Bengal Delta in the east, it crosses nine states 2 , covering 1,089,370 km 2 , among which 872,769 km 2 in India, i.e. more than one fourth of the total land area of the country. The alluvial and fertile plains of the basin have been, since the dawn of civilization, one of the most populated and extensively farmed areas of the world.From a macro scale perspective, water and food security have emerged as major concerns for national policy-makers, due to the high population density and growth rates in the region. The gap between water supply and demand in 2030 in the Ganga Basin has been estimated to 53% of the local demand (The 2030 Water Resources Group 2009). The sustainability of current water resource use has also arisen on the policy agenda. In several states, e.g. in Uttar Pradesh, whereas the net canal irrigated area has been declining since the mid-1980s, groundwater use has sharply increased (Shah et al. 2009). Groundwater exploitation is uneven across the basin, with high extraction rates and groundwater depletion, in western states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and low rates, due to high electricity rates and stringent regulation, in West Bengal.Noticeably, these differences are more related with the political economy of the regions rather than with the actual availability of groundwater (Mukherji 2006). Lastly, the Ganga and its tributaries provide water for a large number of competing uses: domestic, environmental, industrial, irrigation and spiritual -with irrigation accounting for around 90% of annual water withdrawals. Competition among sectors is likely to increase over the coming decade.Identified avenues for reducing the water demand-supply gap, meeting food demand and improving livelihoods have included interventions to increase water productivity.Extensive research has been previously conducted to assess crop water productivity (CWP) and to develop practices and techniques that can reduce the number of drops used per crop. However, these studies have usually overlooked the nexus between water needs for crop and livestock. The water requirements of livestock have been either ignored or largely underestimated. Only the drinking water demand of animals has generally been considered, neglecting the largest consumption of water by animals: feed.To address this research gap, Peden et al. (2007) have developed during a project of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food PN37, 'Nile Basin Livestock Water Productivity', in collaboration with the CGIAR Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, the concept of livestock water productivity (LWP) together with a framework to estimate water exchanges between different components of the crop-livestock system. This framework was applied to CLS in the Nile Basin and results indicated that the productivity of both crop and livestock enterprises were low compared to their potential, partly because water crop livestock linkages were ignored and because the multiple needs of water (particularly for growing crops and feeding and watering livestock) had not been integrated. Subsequently, a BMZ funded project improving water productivity of crop-livestock systems, developed Peden et al.'s framework into a quantitative tool for evaluating LWP and exploring the water use implications of various scenarios for improving LWP (Descheemaeker, et al. 2009 under review). This project has applied the operational tool in order to explore the scope to improve LWP in the Ganga Basin. The latter has been often described as a \"low productivity -high potential\" region, with, on the one hand, a high concentration of poverty and, on the other hand, the capacity and capability to increase agricultural production and productivity (Sharma, Amarasinghe, and Sikka 2008).Improving LWP has implications not only for the overall objective of food and water security but also for poverty reduction and livelihood improvement. Most of the mixed CLS are managed by small and marginal farmers. Often, but not always, a source of income, livestock also provide valuable physical assets used for agriculture or as a safety net. Livestock also produce inputs for domestic and agricultural use and form an important cultural (e.g. religious) asset. Water scarcity is a major constraint for the development of these mixed farming systems. Improving the water productivity of such systems through an efficient, equitable and sustainable use of resources thus holds a great potential to contribute to enhanced livelihoods and reduce poverty.The overall goal of the project is to optimize the productive, equitable and sustainable use of water for crop-livestock systems in semi-arid areas to improve livelihoods, reduce poverty and conserve the environment. Although the foundational concept used in this analysis is LWP, productivity has been attached with equity and sustainability, as increase in productivity is neither necessarily equitable nor sustainable. The notion of equity is to be understood as equity between gender, among social classes and water users. The notion of sustainability and the related goal of environmental preservation have been addressed by considering the physical value of LWP together with its financial value. These issues are outlined in the next sub-sections.This section is organized into five sub-sections, according to the five objectives of the project.1. Improve the understanding of total water needs of crops and livestock in croplivestock systems; 2. Identify institutional and governance arrangements, and gender and poverty variables that support integration of crop-livestock water needs in the basin; 3. Identify viable entry points and practical methods for improved water productivity in crop-livestock systems that are economically and environmentally sustainable; 4. Evaluate gender, livelihood and poverty impacts of recommended technological and management options; 5. Increase local capacity and develop policy, technology and governance recommendations for improving water productivity in crop-livestock systems.Before presenting in detail each of these objectives, the methodology and results, the next paragraphs briefly introduce the general methodology which guided all the research activities of the project. It includes site selection and data collection in the case study areas. The study frameworks and specific methodologies that were used for the LWP, gender, livelihood and institutional components of the project are presented later in their respective sub-sections.We selected the study states according to a rainfall gradient in the Ganga Basin (Map 1).Etawah Map 1. Location of case study states and districts in the Ganga Basin along a rainfall gradient Erenstein et al. (2007) assessed crop-livestock interactions from a livelihoods perspective, and mapped their spatial and seasonal diversity. It provided the base to build strata for this study and choose the study districts and villages. The districts were selected depending on climatic conditions, livestock composition and crops grown (Table 1). Major determinants for site selection included the degree of agricultural intensification, access to markets and access to irrigation water (Table 2). Detailed characteristics of the case study districts and criteria for the selection of case study areas are presented in Tables 1 and 2 respectively. In Hisar District, one case study village was chosen in each of the two agro-ecological zones of the district: Mugalpura, in the north-eastern part of the district, part of the Yamuna alluvial plain, characterised by a hot and semi-arid climate. And Basra, in the south-western part (Map 2), in the agro-fluvial plains, characterised by a hot and dry climate.In Etawah District, three case study villages were chosen, Chandanpur and Pachdeoara lying in a loamy plain and canal command area and one, Dadra, in a ravine area (Map 3).In Bankura District, four hamlets were selected in Saltora Block: Chatinbaid, Jhagradihi, Lakhipur and Udaypur (Map 3). All hamlets were selected in this particular block, because of the absence of canal and tubewell irrigation in this area. Other blocks in the Yamuna plain rely on canal and groundwater irrigation, as in Hisar and Etawah Districts.In addition, Saltora Block has a relatively high forest cover compared to other blocks of West Bengal (15% and on average 8% of total land area in 2001 respectively), following a remarkable increase (+25%) between 1991 and 2001 (though forests in other blocks of the state had on average slowly increased by 3% only) (Bankura Primary Census Abstract, 2001). Forests thus play a great role for livelihoods as well as crop-livestock systems -unlike in the sites selected in Hisar and Etawah. This particular block was thus chosen as a representative area of rainfed farming systems with a high reliance on forest resources.Mixed CLS are commonly found across the study villages. In general these villages represent 5 CLS under different intensification gradients and cropping system. The following sections briefly characterize these.a) Paddy rice system (semi-intensive): this system is found in the study area of Bankura District, West Bengal. In this system, a single rice (Oryza sativa) crop is cultivated, with monsoon rainfall as the major water input to the system. Very few households produce paddy surplus and subsistence farming dominates in the area. Farmers manage different livestock species and breeds: cattle (e.g. Bos indicus), sheep (Ovis aries), goat (Capra hircus). Common grazing land forms a major feed source particularly for the landless poor farmers.b) Irrigated wheat-cotton and wheat-rice systems (intensive): these systems are found in the study villages of Hisar District, Haryana, and Etawah District, Uttar Pradesh respectively. Wheat (Triticum durum and Triticum aestivum) are major winter (rabi) crops, while cotton (e.g.Gossypium hirsutum) has significant area coverage in kharif. In the wheat-rice variant, rice (Oryza sativa) dominates in kharif. Irrigation (from canal and ground) is a major supplementary water source for cotton and rice and the sole source of water for wheat. Compared to the paddy rice system, these two systems are characterized by a higher crop diversity and cropping intensity. But Rodell et al. (2009) suggest that the current groundwater extraction exceeds the natural recharge and thus threatens sustainable water use. The dairy structure and the presence of higher milk yielding breed (compared with the paddy rice system) reflect the underlying investment trends in livestock. Shortage and unsustainable use of irrigation water coupled with increasing costs of livestock feed are some of the major challenges in these systems.c) Millet-pulse and millet-mustard systems (intensive): the millet systems studied are pocket areas in Etawah and Hisar Districts. The millet system in Hisar District was originally a wheat-based system which shifted to traditional crops such as millet (Pennisetum glacum) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) mainly because of a shortage of irrigation water. The one in Etawah District has no access to canal irrigation and thus depends on kharif season rain and tube-wells. In both cases, farmers have a better access to feed and milk markets than in paddy rice systems and investments in dairy are comparable with the wheat-cotton and wheat-rice systems.The first stage of fieldwork consisted of a census survey conducted in each case study village to identify basic attributes including land and livestock ownership, off-farm activities, access to water, and water scarcity. Collected data aimed at assessing the level of disparity of these different attributes within each community and between communities. The results of this survey were used to select a sample of households representative in terms of farming system, access to water and livelihood strategy. Selection criteria included size of livestock and land owned, access to water, household size and caste.In a second stage, more detailed surveys were undertaken among the selected sample in each case study site. One component was a detailed questionnaire, to collect in-depth information on cropping patterns and practices, feed access and management, water access and use, as well as other general questions on off-farm activities, physical assets, and social capital. In parallel, semi-structured household interviews and focus group discussions were led with another sample of farmers in each site to explore livelihood strategies, intra-community differentiation of access to capitals and capabilities, characterise the access to gender distribution of labour and income, and identify the key institutions governing access to, control over and management of land, water, agricultural products and outputs and livestock. Interviewed farmers were grouped into similar livelihood typology (poor / medium / better-off) detailed below.Farmers were grouped according to their livelihood strategies and vulnerability. The latter were represented by their access to key forms of livelihood capitals: land, livestock and water.This led to the creation of four groups: 1. Landless without any farming activity (no livestock and who do not produce any crop) -called further in the report \"off-farm poor\" and referred to as Group 0 2. Landless with livestock or who work on land sharecropped in/ rented in -called \"poor farmers\" and referred to as Group I 3. Landowners with 0 to 1 asset -called \"medium farmers\" and referred to as Group II 4. Landowners with 2-3 assets -called \"better-off farmers\" and referred to as Group IIIAssets were the following: 1. Land size above the average of surveyed farmers in the district 2. Livestock Index above the average of surveyed farmers in the district 3. Access to irrigation water Lastly, interviews with stakeholders were led at the district, block and panchayat or village level.1 Objective 1: Understanding livestock feed and water nexus in the mixed crop-livestock systems (CLS) of the IGBThe crop-livestock mixed farming system covers 2.5 billion ha of land globally, and is widespread especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The CLS produces 92% of the global milk supply and 70% of the small ruminant meat and most of the projected future demands for meat and milk are expected to be met from this system. Given the increasing demand for agricultural products and subsequent pressure on land and water resources, how producers in CLS respond to these circumstances and how their decisions regarding the use of natural resources affect Water Productivity (WP) are points of research interest (Singh 2000).There are different degrees of intensification in the IGB, increasing from south-east (e.g. West Bengal) to north-west (e.g. Haryana) (Erenstein et al. 2007). The north-west part has benefited from India's green revolution, a massive agricultural expansion fuelled, largely, by the increased use of groundwater for irrigation (Rodel, Velicogna, and Famiglietti 2009). During the 1960s to 1980s, the planting, in the irrigated fields, of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties, combined with the application of fertilizer, resulted in much improved cereal production. As a result, changes in the livestock functions and herd structure were observed. For example the intensification of dairy production was accompanied by a decrease in the ratio of working animals to milk cows and a more intensive use of water for growing feed and fodder (Singh et al. 2004). The point is whether such intensification pathways are water efficient. Contrastingly, in the south-eastern part of the basin, crop production is mainly rainfed and the increase in yield was mainly achieved from area expansion. Livestock are managed on communal grazing land and mainly provide draught power. Now, both the rainfed and irrigationbased CLS suffer from severe water shortage and degrading soils (Singh 2000). The per capita water availability in the IGB under projected water demand, for 2025, will be less than 1,700 m -3 head -1 yr -1 which is considered as the cut-off point where water stress starts.Increasing Livestock Water productivity (LWP) and Crop water productivity (CWP) are widely advocated strategies to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity (Rodel, Velicogna, and Famiglietti 2009). Recent findings suggest that improving WP is not per se an increase in crop yield or animal products (kg ha -1 ). A sustainability-focused approach must involve interventions that address multiple use of water by identifying an interface between crop and livestock compartments in a crop-livestock mixed system (Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie et al. 2009). This study presents an analysis of the livestock-feed-water nexus across a crop-livestock intensification gradient in the IGB of India. The overarching objectives were to (i) understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, (ii) explore the magnitude of LWP across intensification gradients.The IGB is described as a \"hotspot\" area in South Asia, where increased WP can benefit the basin community at large. Livelihood strategies in the three study districts are predominantly based on crop and livestock production. Based on chief management interventions (e.g. land preparation; nutrients; and water), Gregory et al. (2002), categorize the intensification levels into three. Type I intensification usually follows land clearance for crop production and is characterized by the limited management inputs that are available (\"pre-green revolution\"). Type II intensification is largely dominated by the features of the \"green revolution\", such as high fertilizer and water inputs, use of high yielding crop varieties, etc. Type III intensification (\"doubly-green revolution\") is a reaction to the perceived defects of type II intensification and seeks to provide a production system that is both high-yielding with efficient resource use. In this study, we applied these concepts to group the study districts. Accordingly, the study districts fell under type I (Bankura) and type II (Hisar and Etawah), which we designated as semiintensive and intensive systems, respectively. A detailed production system characterization is reported by Parthasarathy and Birthal (2008) and Singh (2005).Generally, Molden (1997) relates WP to the value or benefit derived from the use of water. For example, CWP is defined as crop production per unit of water used. Recent views in WP of agricultural systems are focusing on producing more food with the same or less amount of water investment. The concept of water productivity (WP) allows understanding the interfaces between different system elements (e.g. livestock and crop) and thus creates an enabling environment for a better understanding of System Water Productivity (SWP).LWP, like its counterpart CWP, is based on principles of water accounting (Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie, Amede, Wagnew et al. 2009;Peden, Tadesse, and Misra 2007;Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie et al. 2009) and is defined as the ratio of livestock beneficial outputs and services to the amount of water depleted and degraded in producing these products and services. The LWP framework is a tool that can be used to explore various researchable issues related to WP. It can be applied at different scales ranging from region to farm. Peden et al. (2007) developed a LWP assessment framework for the Nile basin, with the intent of understanding how livestock affect basin water resources in different production systems. This framework was further developed into a quantitative tool in the sub-Saharan Africa context (Descheemaeker et al. Under review;Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie et al. 2009) introducing other concepts like agricultural water partitioning (between residue and grain, using harvest index) to more accurately reflect the actual water needs of livestock. The authors further developed the quantification of livestock products, to include e.g. manure and other benefits beyond meat and milk. We applied this framework to our study and also introduced methods such as using feed Metabolizable Energy (ME) to partition agricultural water. We further linked the LWP estimation to feed demand-supply balance to explore how it affects the interpretation of LWP values.Livestock data: value of products and servicesIn calculating LWP and CWP, four major data sets were required: livestock, crop/land use, land productivity and climate. Each of these data varied in details and was linked to each other. In the following sections we present detail on how these data were generated for each of the required data sets.The estimation of livestock products and services requires information on the livestock herd structure (Gebreselassie, Peden, and Haileslassie 2009;Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie, Amede, Wagnew et al. 2009). Firstly, therefore, we established the livestock herd structure by breed, age group and level of activity and production (e.g. lactating cows and working oxen) for the period 1992-2003, drawing on district-level livestock-data (Ramachandra et al. 2007). Secondly, we converted these structured population data into Standard Livestock Units (SLU) (SLU equivalent to 350 kg) and Live Weight (LW) using the conversion coefficients employed by Ramachandra et al. (2007).Data for milk production, number of lactating cows and length of lactation period across years derived from DAHDF (2006), which also provides detailed data on meat yield and the number of animals slaughtered at registered slaughter houses for the different animal groups (e.g. large and small ruminants). There are multiple gaps in this data, and the missing values were calculated based on relationships between the variables for other years. To convert these data into financial values, we collected prices for the different products, from every district, and applied a constant value across the temporal scale.Manure production is one major livestock product across the study systems. It is a source of household energy and also a means to recycle and redistribute nutrients among farms and landscape (Erenstein and Thorpe 2009). Manure production and its nutrient concentration vary significantly by season, feed, level of production and animal activity. Complete data sets addressing these variabilities were lacking and thus we applied literature values of dung productivity of different animal groups (e.g. Parthasarathy Rao et al. 2004). We estimated the financial value of manure by converting it to N, P and K and considering respective fertilizer equivalent prices.Draught power is important mainly in the semi-intensive system. The calculation of the value of this service requires variables such as the number of bullocks involved, the hiring costs per day and the number of working days per year. But district scale comprehensive data in this regard are not available. We combined information from the literature (Parthasarathy Rao et al. 2004) and discussions with key informants to estimate the value of draft power.Feed supply-demand and related land uses Ramachandra et al. (2007) reported four main categories of feed supply in the study systems: pasture from native grazing lands, crop residue, irrigated/rain-fed green fodder and concentrates (e.g. bran and cakes). Ramachandra et al. (2007) also calculated feed biomass production from crop yield using harvest index. We converted these data sets, on feed biomass, to metabolizable energy (ME, in MJ kg -1 ) using literature data on energy content (e.g. Kearl 1982 ) and linked to areas required to grow them to calculate the energy productivity (MJ ha -1 Yr -1 ).The total energy requirements of an animal were calculated as the sum of the maintenance energy requirements and additional energy to account for the effect of standing and walking, milk production and body weight gain and draft power. We applied ME estimation techniques for tropical regions as reported in King (1983) Whereby MEx is Metabolizable Energy (MJ day -1 animal -1 ) for maintenance; LW is the bodyweight and was calculated as the standard livestock units and number of animals. K m (MJ kg -1 ) is the efficiency with which ME is used for maintenance and related to forage metabolizability. For each of the study systems, the average dry matter (DM) digestibility value was considered based on the dominant diet quality (i.e. 55% for intensive and 45% for semi-intensive).One of the productive uses of feed energy is for lactation. The ME required for lactation was calculated as in Equation 2(Eq2) ......... K NE * DMy ME l l = in which ME l is Metabolizable Energy for lactation (MJ day -1 cow -1 ); DMy is for daily milk yield; NE is Net Energy for milk calculated as function of butter fat content (g.kg -1 ), and solids-non-fat content (g.kg -1 ). We assumed a constant value of fat content across study regions but differentiated between livestock group (i.e. buffalo and cattle). K l is the efficiency with which ME is converted to milk.In estimating ME requirement for weight gain, we used Equation 3 whereby MEg is Metabilizable Energy for weight gain; LWG is live weight gain (kg day -1 animal -1 ) and W is the actual live weight of an animal (Kg). Calculating the energy requirements of draught animals is data intensive and varies considerably with the duration of work and age of the animal. Given diverse draught power demands subjected to differences in land owned by farmers and cropping pattern, accurate calculation is often difficult. We considered, however, 10% of the MEx as suggested by IPCC (1996). The differences between study sites are captured by the differences in the number of working animals. A certain amount of energy is also required by livestock for walking. But information on these input variables were lacking in the study sites and thus ME for walking was not taken into account.Assuming that all the ME requirements by the different animal groups are satisfied from the current diet composition (i.e. both in quality and quantity), we distributed the total energy requirements to the different feed sources (as a function of their percentage share on the supply side of ME). This was then converted to land requirements for every feed source based on the respective energy productivity of the latter (MJ ha -1 Yr -1 ). The ME supply and demand data was also used to show the feed demand supply and its implication for LWP.In this study, the water lost through evapotranspiration (ET) in the process of feed production, was considered as the water input to livestock feed production. The amount of ET water to produce animal feed depends on several factors: livestock diet composition, crop specific parameters (e.g. Kc), biomass yield, quantity of livestock feed intake, length of growing period and climatic variables in the region where the feed is produced. To calculate ETo, we used the Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo) calculator (Raes et al., 2006). It estimates ETo on a daily basis using climatic variables (maximum and minimum air temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunshine hours). We applied the K c* ET 0 approach (Allen et al., 1998) to calculate the ET. We used Kc values for different crops and feeds as reported in Allen et al., (1998). For those crops without established Kc value, we applied mean values of their family (for example, the mean values of leguminosae for chickpeas). To reach the total ET per cropping season, it is vital to know the length of growing period for each crop's growing stages. We established these based on literature values (Allen et al., 1998) and discussion with farmers in the study area. Length of growing period for different varieties (i.e. short, long, and medium) was not taken into account as the district scale production data was aggregate.The water invested in crop production includes grain and residues (Haileslassie et al., 2009). In order to understand the water productivity of enterprises at household or system scale, partitioning the total ET water between feed and grain is important. Some study assumed that the water used for the production of a unit of grain and residues was equal and thus it applying harvest index to partition total ET (Haileslassie et al., 2009a;Descheemaeker et al., 2010 under review). Other studies apply the ratio of cost of crop byproducts and grains (Singh et al., 2004). The question is whether the harvest index and economic value approaches reflect the differences in water investment for grain and crop by-product.In this study we partitioned total agricultural water using two approaches: harvest index and metabolizable energy. The partitioned water was then linked to the land demand for livestock feed production (see previous section) to establish data on total water demand of SLU per year. Further we linked the partitioned water to the current land use from which the available feed is collected and supplied to the livestock. With those data sets we estimated LWP for both demanded and supplied ME.In the study systems, livestock population showed a high degree of diversity in its composition. According to the 2003 census, aggregated for all study areas, cattle dominated with 1.3 million Standard Livestock Unit (SLU) (51% of total livestock population), followed by buffalo with 1.1 million SLU (44%), goats with 0.94 million SLU (4%) and sheep 0.17 million SLU (1%). At the system's scale, the importance of these livestock groups varied. Buffalos constituted circa 80% in the intensive systems, whilst in the semi-intensive systems cattle had the major share (81%). Analysis of livestock population, for the period 1992-2003 (combined for all study systems) indicated that the total population did not change spectacularly. But when we disaggregated to system scale, a different picture emerged. The mean values for the two intensive systems showed a steep drop in total SLU (with increasing trends for buffalo in Etawah), while in semi-intensive system an increasing trend for all livestock groups was observed.Overall, dry matter and associated ME from green fodder (irrigated, rain fed) and crop residues were the most important feed resources for the study period (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003). For the semi-intensive region, major feed sources were residues (mainly from rice, 29%), greens (mainly grazing and open forest, 61%) and concentrates (5%). In the intensive regions, the feed composition was more diversified and consisted of green fodder (55% mainly irrigated), concentrates (9%) and residues (33%) (Table 3). Between 1992 and 2003, the ME share of concentrates did not show remarkable changes (Table 4). However, in intensive systems, a change in the relative contribution of cultivated fodder was notable (23% increase for Hisar and 29% increase for Etawah). This expansion was attended by a proportional reduction in the crop residues' relative contribution to the overall ME. Between 1992 and 2003, the overall ME demand for livestock in the intensive region dropped by 35% for Hisar and increased by 55% for Etawah District, whilst in the semiintensive systems, it grew only by 3%. The energy balance remained increasingly positive for part of the intensive region (i.e. Hisar District). The energy balance for the semi-intensive system has remained negative since 1992 but with a decreasing magnitude between 1997 and 2003 (Figure 1). The volume of water depleted for livestock feed production varied among the study systems and was highly affected by the type of feed and the attendant agronomic practices (e.g. cropping pattern, yield) (Table 4). The value of depleted water for feed production ranged from 300 to 2300 m -3 ha -1 yr -1 for the intensive system and from 100 to 4600 m -3 ha -1 yr -1 for the semi-intensive system (Table 4). The highest water consumer in the intensive system was green fodder (2350 m -3 ha -1 yr -1 for Hisar and 4190 m -3 ha -1 yr -1 for Etawah), and similar trend was observed in the semi-intensive system (e.g. for pasture from grazing land ~ 4680 m -3 ha -1 ). Contrastingly, concentrates depleted the smallest volume of water followed by residues. LWP is strongly linked to the water productivity of feeds. Most noticeable from our results was the strong variability of feed water productivity across and within systems (Table 4). Overall high mean values were observed for the intensive system. Among the groups of the different diet components, residues showed the highest feed WP values followed by concentrates. The least water productive feed sources were those making up the greens (grass from grazing, fallow land, grazing under forest).The mean value of LWP, using harvest index partitioning and ME demanded for 2003 for all study systems, was USD 0.06 M -3 . For the same year, LWP was ~10% higher for the ME based partitioning approach. The calculated variability of LWP based on ME-required and ME supplied was also remarkable (Figure 2a and b). The supply side LWP value showed lesser values compared to the demand side values for the regions with intensive systems. Contrastingly, in the semi-intensive system, LWP for the supplied ME was higher than LWP from demand side (Figure 2a and b). Differences among the study systems were also prominent, with intensive systems (e.g. Hisar) showing significantly higher value than the semi-intensive one, across time (Figure 3). To explore more in-depth the dairy system of the study areas, we estimated the average water requirement of a cow to produce 1 litre (L) of milk. The mean value was within the reported range (800-5000 L of water per L of milk) indicating both the current low level of dairy water productivity and the potential to increase it. But this system scale is aggregate and a closer look at farm level gives better insight.Past increases in agricultural production in the study systems have occurred as the result of increased use of external inputs (intensive) and expansion of agricultural land (semiintensive systems). In both cases, changes in the structure and productivity of the livestock population have occurred. The impacts of these transformations on land and water requirements of livestock and sustainability of ecosystems have been points of discussion (Gregory et al. 2002). The focus of farmers on a certain livestock group and the resulting modification of the herd structure were influenced by a number of factors (e.g. market for livestock products and feed availability). The point is how does this driver evolved and how does it affected the herd structure and levels of productivity?For example, there was an increase in rice and wheat yield from 0.63 Mg ha -1 in 1995-1966 to 1.37 Mg ha -1 in 1991-1992, in the intensive systems. This has, in turn, expanded available livestock feed from crop residues. As incomes have risen with increasing yields, food habits have changed to more nutritious and more diversified diets (e.g. dairy products) and this has in turn created market opportunities (Molden 2007).The increase in buffalo and cross breed livestock population and the reduction in low milk yielding indigenous cows in the intensive systems could be accounted for by these farmers' investment determinants. Thomas et al. (1997) also suggested that the size of land holding and the level of intensification affected the herd structure. On the farms bigger than 3 ha, more female than male animals were kept and more buffaloes than cows, together with a shift to semi-mechanization. This might explain the observed higher population of working animals in the semi-intensive system, where the arable land holding is low and land preparation based on draught power (Erenstein et al. 2007).The point is understanding implication of such shifts in herd structure and level of specialization on land and water requirement, particularly in terms of losses of multiple livestock functions and increasing focus on irrigated green fodder.Since 1992, the area of land under feed production (e.g. fallow and irrigated green fodder) has increased (particularly intensive system). This contrasts with the decreasing trends in livestock population, in particular, for the intensive systems. The increased rate of green fodder in the animal diet (16% for Hisar and 11% for Etawah) with intent of increasing milk productivity has resulted in additional water requirements per animal.Particularly this is true given the fact that the dry matter yield is low compared to the potential. This is can be also accounted for by the lower WP of green fodder as compared with crop residues-based feed, for which the total depleted water was shared between food grain and livestock feed. Overall, during the last decades, there has been a trend of increased milk production per animal as the result of improved feed (DAHDF, 2006) and, during the same period; there was an increase in water investment per cow to produce 1 L of milk. This also explains that the increase in milk is at the expense of higher water investment( e.g. in intensive system) and such approach departs from the current suggestions of producing more agricultural products using the same or lower quantity of water input (Molden et al. 2001). This evokes the need to optimize increasing agricultural products per unit of area and per unit of water investment and improving the biomass productivity of green fodder.Adequate feed supply largely determines livestock productivity while the way feed is produced affects sustainable use of water (Blümmel et al. 2009). However comprehensive data on feed demand-supply balances are very scarce. The result of this study suggested an overall feed supply increase by ~3% (2.8-2.9 Mg SLU -1 year -1 ) between 1992 and 2003. This gain in feed supply was low compared with the value (37%) reported by Parthasarathy and Birthal (2008) for the whole of India. This difference can be accounted for by a strong counter balance between the increase and decline in feed availability between systems. Similar to the nation-wide feed assessment by Ramachandra et al. (2007), our findings suggest a strongly negative ME balance for the semi-intensive region and surplus ME for the intensive systems.The question is, however, how livestock can survive and produce in states of negative ME balances. Thomas et al. (1997) share these apprehensions and argue that demands might be overestimated and supplies underestimated due to inconsistencies of the methods used. Equally important is the discrepancy and aggregation of dry matter yield for different land uses on annual basis and the demand is also most often aggregated on annual basis and does not match with livestock activities and attendant ME demand which varies seasonally. In general, such wide ranges of values demonstrate the uncertainty in feed demand and supply estimations and the care needed while interpreting the results.The feed sources and the efficiencies with which feed is utilized within the animal determine the amount of water required to produce livestock products and services.Recent studies indicated that an average of 3400 L of water was required for the production of 1 L of milk (Singh et al. 2004). Obviously this quantity can vary based on the livestock feed sourcing strategies: such as feed from food-feed crops or from fully irrigated fodders or pasture from grazing lands. Our results also illustrate that LWP positively correlates with the percent share of crop residues in the diet composition and thereby support the observations reported by Singh et al. (2004). This raises issues about what the sequential impacts of increased uses of crop residues can be on ecosystem services (e.g. protective services like erosion) and how livestock contribute to improved water productivity of a system with minimum tradeoffs. Blummel et al. (2009) argue that focusing on the WP of residues per se does not warrant gain in milk production and therefore does not necessarily improve the livelihoods of the poor livestock keepers. According to these authors, there are two severe disadvantages associated with feeding livestock with crop residues: (a) low levels of livestock productivity because of low intake and feed energy conversion into meat and milk; and (b) high emission of greenhouse gases by the livestock. Therefore, this suggests the need to have closer insight into selective and optimum uses of residues and improved the WP of green fodder. Opportunities exist in focusing on those that have higher digestibility (e.g. pulses) and those that are water productive and supplement low digestible residues. But this requires diversification of the current cropping pattern in semi-intensive system, which is largely dominated by paddy rice. For intensive systems, a recent study suggested that as much as 60% of the residues are burnt every year (Erenstein et al. 2007). These residues could have been traded with feed deficit regions after improving its quality through physical treatment (urea treatment) or could have been used as mulch to reduce the evaporative losses from irrigated fields. In conclusion by taking water productivity, cost and ME density of feed into account, the optimum rationing of available feed resources is important to enhance sustainable use of water resources.We calculated LWP based on the supplied and demanded ME for 2003 (Figures 2a and  2b). The differences of results between the feed demand and supply based calculation were accounted for by the allocation of extra feed to the livestock in case of surplus feed (in intensive system) or share of the available feed by larger number of livestock in feed deficit region (semi-intensive system). In reality, however, the sustainability of both systems is in threat. Therefore, LWP values must be interpreted with care and compared vis-à-vis the livestock feed demand-supply balance.At the system scale, LWP was estimated to be higher in intensive systems (USD 0.11 m -3 in Hisar in 2003) (Figure 3). This value was on the lower range of LWP reported by Haileslassie et al. (2009) using available feed for a strongly feed deficit area in Ethiopia.In addition to variations in climate, cropping patterns and product prices, the differences in LWP values can be explained by its overestimation by the supply-side-based calculation in feed deficit regions.Between 1992 and 2003, LWP values showed a decreasing trend for the intensive systems. Although increase in milk productivity reported by DAHDF ( 2006) contradicts this finding, the following pieces of evidence support our conclusion: firstly, the focus on green fodder and reduced share of crop residues contributed to higher water consumption per unit of products. Secondly, the reduction in multiple uses of livestock such as draught power played an important role in the decrease of LWP over time. This is worrisome in times of increasing concern over water depletion and environmental degradation and suggests a need for optimization and balanced feeding to improve LWP. For this to be realized feed rationing practices must take the water productivity, nutritive value and cost of feed into account.Estimation of LWP values using ME and harvest index agricultural water partitioning approaches showed apparent differences: slightly higher LWP value for ME partitioning.The key points are: what are the logical relations between ME and the volume of water flowing to the different parts of a dry matter and why higher LWP for the ME partitioning approaches than the harvest index?The harvest index approach assumes that water used to produce a unit of dry matter of grain and residue is equal and for major crops the value of the harvest index is higher for residues than for the grain. This implies higher share of water for livestock and thus lower LWP. In reality the concentration of ME in residues is less compared to the grain and thus the actual benefit that goes to livestock is low. Therefore, the water that factored into the LWP needs to consider ME concentration. Also when we look at the process of photosynthesis we comprehend the logical link between photosynthesiswater-energy concentrations in plants dry matter. Energy exists in many forms: such as the kinetic energy, chemical energy, electric city and heat. Among these various forms, conversion occurs. Biological photosynthesis, for example, converts solar photonic into chemical energy forming biomass (Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra, and van der Meer 2009).It is this chemical energy that is used by animal body to yield the different products and services. The availability of fresh water is a prerequisite for the biomass growths and solar radiation is a principal driving force behind transpiration. The fact that the latter is highly related with the quantity of energy produced by plants and available water forms a coherent relation between water investment and energy concentration in different part of biomass (i.e. grain and residues). This argument was revealed in recent quantitative analysis of water foot print of energy from biomass (Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra, and van der Meer 2009). They argued that the water invested in energy carrier crop is not only the function of biomass that is used for energy production; but also it involves combustible energy in the specific biomass. Therefore they combined both the energy content and biomass quantity to estimate the volume of water used to produce energy.The argument here is that the LWP calculation exercise can be benefited from such biomass and energy combining approaches instead of using only the harvest index.Previous studies of LWP evidenced the role of institutional and governance arrangements as supporting factors for the adoption of practices and technologies improving LWP (e.g. Descheemaeker, Amede, and Haileslassie 2009;Mapedza et al. 2008;Amede, Geheb, and Douthwaite 2009). By institution, we mean \"the prescriptions that humans use to organize all forms of repetitive and structured interaction including those within families, neighborhoods, markets, firms, sports leagues, churches, private associations, and governments at all scales\" (Ostrom 2005, p. 3). Institutions are thus distinguished from organisations as emphasised in new institutional economics (North 1990). They include all kinds of formal and informal prescriptions stemming from, among others, legal documents issued by central governments, implicit norms governing policy implementation or collective rules-in-use orally shared by a community.There are four main characteristics of institutional and governance arrangements which we identified as particularly important to explore for this endeavour. Firstly, interventions addressing water productivity have often assumed that farmers have full access and control over water use and management. However, it might not be the case, especially for the poorest farmers. Limited access to and control over water are not only a major constraint for improving water productivity (Amarasinghe, Sirinivasulu, and Samad 2009) but are also often coupled with inequity, vulnerability and poverty.Analysing access to water thus constituted the first step of our analysis.Secondly, collective action has been acknowledged to be in some contexts, a strong determinant of the productivity of farming systems. For instance, farmers might informally exchange agricultural products through monetary or non-monetary payments. They might form groups or cooperatives to sell their products (cf. Brannstrom 2009;Sabates-Wheeler 2002), or to lobby for defending their rights. New form of labour relationships can emerge informally (Assaad 1993) as well as new institutions governing exchange of services. The form and importance of collective arrangements depend among other factors on the degree of competitiveness, importance of monetary exchanges and proximity to markets (Platteau 2006), on the level of trust and cooperation within communities, their size (Agrawal and Goyal 2001), heterogeneity and cultural values (Klooster 2000;Cleaver 2000). To which extent and under which context collective action supports the water productivity of crop-livestock systems was the second focus of analysis of the institutional component.Thirdly, decentralisation policies play an important role insofar they directly determine the degree of choice and control local elected bodies and citizens have over the management of key resources such as land, livestock and water. According to its proponents, decentralisation has the potential to increase downward government accountability and responsiveness, foster participation and adaptation to local needs (Larson and Ribot 2004;Manor 1999). Since the water needs of crop-livestock systems show a high spatial variability and sensitivity to the local context (Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie et al. 2009), it is essential that the institutional and governance structure supports the subsidiarity principle for a better adaptation to these variations and better response to local needs. The outcomes of most decentralisation policies around the world have been mixed because, in reality, little power has been devolved to local governments (Larson and Ribot 2007;Ribot, Agrawal, and Larson 2006). How the current decentralised system of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) in India and the action of state line departments operate together for rural development thus arose as a key issue.Lastly, the strong interactions between water use, crop cultivation and livestock development calls for an integrated and coordinated approach by the concerned actors. Whereas, most stakeholders working in agriculture and animal husbandry recognise the strong interaction between crops and livestock at the farm level, in practise development actions have addressed these components separately with limited dialogue. We have studied (1) whether the current institutions encourage or hinder the integration of interventions from different sectors and administrative bodies and (2) which forms of institutional change could lead to increase consultation and collaborative work (this second aspect will be addressed in section Objective 5).As underlined by Ereinsten et al. (2007), enhancing water, crop and livestock interactions in a way that contributes to decrease poverty and enhanced environmental sustainability requires a thorough understanding of livelihood strategies. Particularly, it is important to assess the potential of livestock as a livelihood option and its contribution to poor people's well being. It entails evaluating how the economic, cultural and social values used to enhance men and women's capabilities to benefit from livestock vary over space and time and understanding the drivers for these variations. Thomas and Rangnekar (2004) indicated that poor farmers have to overcome technical, economic and social constraints to exploit the growing livestock product demand in the market and benefit from it. We assessed the costs that various livestock production systems generate for men and women by analyzing the gendered access to and control of different forms of capitals. The gendered livestock utilization and distribution of inputs and outputs was also linked to governing structures.Because of their tight relationships, institutional analysis and livelihood and gender analysis were conducted simultaneously as related components. For this task, we built a multi-level methodology encompassing a range of analytical tools and methods.The institutional and policy analysis combined two frameworks. The Capitals and Capabilities framework (Bebbington 1999) was used to identify which forms of capitals are the most important to sustain livelihoods among case study sites and different groups of farmers (Figure 4). The framework is based on the five capitals (or assets) upon which people draw to base their livelihoods: the natural capital, produced capital (or physical capital), social capital, cultural capital and human capital 3 . Produced capitals mean man-made capitals and include physical and financial capitals. In addition, it acknowledges the dynamic process of how the different forms of capitals are continuously being used, transformed or reproduced (Figure 4). These capitals are translated into a set of capabilities, among which we specifically examined the capability 1) to access and control over water and, 2) to participate to decision-making and change the rules that govern the use and control of resources (see the decentralisation subsection).  (Bebbington, 1999) This framework was complemented by the Actors, Power and Accountability framework (Agrawal and Ribot 2000) to relate farmers' livelihoods with higher decision-making levels. This analytical tool is particularly suited to explore the actual extent of decentralisation, by assessing three key features of decentralisation: who are the actors to whom power has been devolved, what form of power has been devolved and to whom and to which extent are actors accountable. This assessment was used to investigate how the current governance arrangements are contributing to enhanced access and control over resources, equity and poverty alleviation. Primary data collection was complemented for this specific component by a literature review to characterise the political context and institutional characteristics of each state where the study sites are located.A gendered assessment of crop-livestock systems contributions and costs to livelihoods has been conducted for poor livestock keepers in the Nile basin using the Gendered Sustainable Livelihood Framework (GSLF), developed by Van Hoeve and Van Koppen (2006). We have also used it as a guiding tool to analyze the importance and role of livestock in the livelihoods of rural households. We found of particular interest to apply and test the framework in the Indian context. Though their focus is slightly different, the GSLF and Capitals and Capabilities framework share the same foundation regarding access to different forms of capitals to build upon a common analysis.Van Hoeve and Van Koppen ( 2006) describe the GSLF as a tool that combines the Sustainable Livelihood Framework and the gender analysis framework developed by Feldstein and Poats (1989). The latter specifically addresses three questions for gender analysis: 1. labour; who does what? 2. incentives and benefits; who benefits? and 3. governing arrangements; who has access to and control over resources?Livestock are looked at as an asset and their contribution to livelihoods are considered as productive activity. To undertake livestock keeping men and women use various forms of resources (called capitals) such as land, water, labour or money. The cost to access these capitals is referred to as \"livelihood costs\" in the GSLF (van Hoeve and van Koppen 2006). In return, livestock provides outputs of different values to households i.e. men, women and their relatives and dependants, which support them in pursuing and modifying their livelihood strategies. These are termed as \"livelihood benefits\". Households exhibit variation on entitlement rights (access to capitals) and permission on mobility along gender lines dictated by family and community institutions, like marriage, which affects the optimization and benefit sharing of livestock outputs. To some extent in this study, we have also captured the seasonal trends and shocks which affect livelihood strategies. As our focus is on identifying avenues to better integrate livestock and crop water needs and to improve LWP, we have conducted a detailed assessment of the differentiated access to water, fodder, breeds and veterinary services between men and women and between household groups of different livelihood typologies.In addition to the data collected through surveys, detailed questionnaire and household interviews presented earlier in this report, the livelihood and gender analysis was based on group discussions with farmers using different participatory tools (Table 5). A very large part of the information collected for the institutional, livelihood and gender studies is thus qualitative. The objective was to gain a thorough understanding of the processes and mechanisms behind the figures and trends identified by the quantitative methods.Benefits of livestock to different livelihood typologies First we assessed the contribution of livestock to livelihoods across household typologies and crop-livestock systems (Table 6). There is a clear difference in terms of assets, capabilities and livelihood strategies within and among the case study communities. For the landless households (group I), livestock incomes are solely used to meet daily expenses. There is no extra benefit for investment in agriculture or for savings. Expenses for feed are kept at a minimum. For instance, landless farmers often keep small ruminants rather than cattle (except in Mugalpura village, Hisar, where small ruminants are not found), fed by freely collected grass and leaves or led for grazing on common land or in forest land. In intensive systems, medium households' incomes from livestock are used both for daily expenses and feed purchase. One can note that better-off households in intensive systems use part of livestock benefits to purchase high quality feed like concentrates. Another major difference between medium and better-off farmers is that the former keep animals as a source of power for traction or transport, whereas the latter only keep milch animals for income generation -at the exception of the paddy rice systems where mechanisation is very limited, even among better-off farmers. Lastly, it is important to notice that for Santhal people (paddy rice system) livestock form also an important cultural and social capital. Goats and poultry are used as an object of sacrifice and donation during rituals and festivals. Villagers also identify the number of animals sacrificed or donated as an indicator of wealth and well-being. Apart from their occasional consumption by the family, eggs, goat and poultry meat are also consumed to mark festivities and joy during family gatherings and ceremonies. Lastly, small and large ruminants are used as a bride price.To sum up, as we move along the livelihood/vulnerability line from poor to better-off farmers, the contribution of livestock to livelihoods shifts from non-financial forms of capitals (social, cultural) and cash for subsistence needs to financial capital exclusively for savings and investment in agricultural inputs (e.g. concentrates) As the contribution to financial capital increases, the level of direct interaction between livestock and cultivation becomes weaker, because of the intensification (use of chemical fertilisers) and mechanisation of agriculture -at the exception of the paddy rice system.Farmers derive different benefits from the same activity (livestock keeping) because they do not have similar access to capitals. Table 7 summarises the main constraints regarding access to capitals among groups of households in different farming systems Across all study sites, the most limiting asset for developing crop and livestock activities is water for crop cultivation. Even in irrigated areas, men in all systems (expect paddy rice) reported their inability to shift crops according to market demand because of a poor water supply. The latter results in irrigated areas from a poor public service supply: unreliable or insufficient canal water supply and erratic supply of electricity for pumps in the groundwater dependent areas of Etawah District. In rainfed areas, the major constraint is the lack of infrastructures to store water. In both irrigated and rainfed regions, inequity in water access is the most serious factor affecting the poor and some of the medium farmers' livelihoods.A particular constraint for poor landless farmers and medium small landholders is the lack of access to financial capital. A minimum landholding size of 2 acres of irrigated land or 5 acres of un-irrigated land is one of the eligibility criteria for bank loans. Furthermore, they are also not given the capability to enhance their human capital (information/ knowledge /skills) due to poor extension services. On the contrary, for medium large landholders and better-off farmers, the main constraint to improve the productivity of the farming system and their livelihoods is the sufficient and reliable access to produced capital, e.g. agricultural inputs of good quality. Lastly, poor and medium farmers are more affected by the limited access to public veterinary services than better-off farmers due to their lack of financial capital to pay for private services. The next sub-section examines the gendered contribution of livestock to livelihoods and gender variables which affect men and women benefits. The institutions of marriage and culture define the social positioning of gender in all studied areas. Men are considered as the breadwinner, representative and leader of the household. Marriage and family institutions also govern the division of labour, access, rights to and control of resources, mobility, participation in decision-making and socialization. Different rules operate within the marriage and culture institutions along the lines of socio-economic position and caste. For instance, the mobility of wives in Brahmin families is strictly limited -and their involvement in agricultural labour forbidden, whereas, in the same community, women from lower castes do not have to follow such restrictions.In the districts of Etawah and Hisar, where livestock are stall-fed, livestock keeping is considered to be an activity that productively engages women within the boundary and security of their home. Women thus contribute significant labour for livestock, around 2-5 hours of their time daily. In these districts, there is a clear division of labour between men and women, mostly driven by women's (lack of) mobility outside the village. The role of men in animal care includes the activities outside the home (e.g. fodder production) while women are mostly responsible for home-based livestock activities.Women from poor and medium households fetch water and cut and carry fodder from the fields but within the village settlement boundaries.Variation in women's labour contribution across case studies mostly comes from the type of feed and feeding system and the household typology -women in poor and medium farmers' groups have to spend more time towards livestock activities when their husband or other male members are engaged in off-farm activities (agricultural labour or off-farm activities). The latter often entails daily migration. To which extent women derive benefits and participate in decision-making is the major research question addressed in this section.Money earned from livestock product sale and livestock sale is usually kept under women's custody at home. As shown in Table 7, these incomes are for all members of the household among poor and medium households, as they are used for immediate or future daily household expenses. In better-off households, livestock-derived incomes mainly benefit children and women. For instance, women in wheat-cotton and wheat-rice systems reported that they use between one fourth to half of the income from milk sales for purchasing gifts or giving pocket money to their children. A similar share of money is set aside monthly as a saving for purchase of jewels or dowry. However, some households of better-off farmers in the wheat-cotton system deposit money in a bank account -which is operated by men.As shown in Table 8, though both men and women contribute labour, participation in decision-making for livestock related activities is highly dominated by men.Animal ownership is not clearly defined between men and women. However, the responsibility and decision to purchase or sell the animal lay in the hands of men since they are the breadwinners and investors in assets -including animals.In Etawah and Hisar Districts, women mentioned that the restriction on their mobility and socialization are major constraints to increase income from livestock activities.Because of their confining to home or within village, they have to sell milk to middlemen who go from house to house, although women are aware that middlemen purchase milk at a low price. On the other hand, men reported that it was more cost effective to sell milk to middle men than to sell it on formal markets, where the study sites were not covered by dairy collection units. Another issue of importance for women among poor and medium households is their lack of financial independence. It has limited their capacity to make investments for maintaining good breeds of animals. Women across all farming systems also reported their concerns to be able to keep good breeds because of illiteracy and poor access to information, organisations and schemes which can support them in the management of improved livestock species. Women in the paddy rice system also mentioned their lack of knowledge and skills in maintaining these breeds. They are also not aware of where to purchase these animals and organizations / officers can support them on these issues.Lastly, women expressed that since they are busy throughout the day and also cannot freely move out of the home and village, their participation in social activities, including meetings held by government agencies, is low. Most often government agricultural extension and veterinary officers come unannounced and prefer to talk to men. Door to door or neighbourhood-based training and capacity building could help to overcome these social barriers. The timing should also match with women's limited free time (often afternoon).The following sub-sections investigate the role of institutions and governance in poverty reduction, livelihood improvement and gender.First, we examined to which extent farmers perceive water as a scarce resource. Water scarcity was reported during focus group discussions and household interviews as the major problem that farmers face to sustain their livelihoods, in all case study villages and among all farmer categories (poor/medium/better-off). It was perceived by farmers as the main constraint for good quality feeding and milk productivity. Water scarcity was also evidenced in the census survey led among all households of the case study villages (999 households). The question farmers were asked was whether they usually experience shortage of water for agriculture (1) all year round, (2) only during some periods of the year, or if (3) they do not experience any shortage. Figure 5 shows the results aggregated per district. Despite the case study villages of Bankura being located in the highest rainfall region among the three districts, it is the area where farmers experience water scarcity the most acutely, due to the absence of canal infrastructure and limited groundwater extraction in Saltora Block. It is also remarkable that, even in irrigated areas, a significant number of farmers also experience water shortages either continuously or on a seasonal basis. Access and control over water resources thus emerged as a critical issue to address for improving water productivity of crop-livestock systems and contributing to poverty reduction. It is discussed for the rainfed and irrigated areas respectively.In the rainfed areas of Bankura, there are a variety of sources that farmers use to irrigate their fields: river, dug wells and rainwater harvesting structures (ponds or happas 4 ). Secure access to these sources is important during the monsoon season as dry spells are frequent and seriously threaten crop survival and growth. During the dry season, access to water also makes a significant difference in the range of livelihood options available to farmers as those with water access can cultivate vegetables thereby having a supplementary source of income.One could assume that there is a greater equity to access rainwater than canal water or groundwater, for which inequity problems have been highlighted in previous studies (Pant 1984;Lam 1998). However, the way rainwater is stored and shared might lead to inequities. As shown in Figure 6, forms of access to water sources vary largely among farmers. A high share of farmers relies on CPR. The farmers who rely only on rainfall are those who cannot access to these CPR or to private sources. Household's capabilities to access water for irrigation depend largely on land asset (size, elevation and land type) and on the financial capital necessary to build a structure. It is also suspected that social capital favours access to government subsidies -though there is a lack of evidence to demonstrate this. The access of those who cannot secure such capital depends not only on physical accessibility (location vis-à-vis the water source), but also on the capital required to extract water (pump or cash to rent the pump). It was found during interviews that access to pump is one of the key factors to access irrigation water for the poor (as CPR such as rivulets are otherwise freely accessible). In Lakhipur, several pump owners rent their equipment against a payment of 50-60 Rupees (Rs) 5 /hour (it does not include the price of diesel, around 20 Rs/litre). It is the equivalent of one-day wage of unskilled work in construction. In Jhagradihi, the access to the pump is driven by social capital. Only one pump is available in this small village and the access is controlled by one family. This pump was originally given to the whole community by the government, but the lack of adequate institutions for the maintenance of the pump led to the pump being monopolised by one household. The households who have tight links with the \"pump owner\" have privileged access to the pump. It led to reduced cooperation and collective action in the village (see Clement et al. forthcoming).In the irrigated case study areas of Hisar and Etawah Districts, a large majority of farmers make a conjunctive use of tube wells and canal water (Figure 7). Collected data shows that a very large proportion (70%) of the farmers who have access to canal water also use groundwater. The main reason is that canal water delivery services are poor and do not allow farmers to timely meet crop water requirements. These findings are in agreement with observations from other scholars regarding the decline of canal irrigated command areas and the sharp increase of groundwater extraction in North India (Shah, Burke, and Villholth 2007). Regarding distributional aspects, access to canal water depends of course on the field's location relative to the canal, but the study evidenced that the type of institutional arrangements could also play an important role (Clement et al. forthcoming). It was also observed in Basra Village that the lack of flexibility farmers have over canal water supply affects the performance of the system. According to the rules of the warabandi system fixed by the Irrigation Department, each farmer is allowed to withdraw water once within the period of time water flows in the canal (7 days once a month from November to February). Farmers are assigned a specific time slot by the Irrigation Department. In the minor branches, when the water flow is very low, water takes more time to travel in the system and reaches the tail of the branch after the time slot allocated -the tail farmers thereby lose their access to water.Appendix A presents the different forms of institutions identified in the case study areas, in the following categories: state-led, market-based, community-led, or vested in individuals such as private ownership. Bankura District is remarkable by the importance of collective action and the predominance of informal institutions. These informal arrangements greatly contribute to the improved productivity of the farming system and of LWP. Among relevant examples, households have formed groups for taking animals for grazing. The group either hires a shepherd and shares his salary among the group members, or one person of each member household will act as the shepherd for the group on a rotational basis. When households have limited financial capital, the purchase of animals is shared between two households. The household who keeps the animal will in exchange offer half of the offspring to the co-buyer.Such types of arrangements are less common in Hisar and Etawah Districts. In the latter, exchange of labour among kin group is practised and private sources of water are informally shared among neighbours and kin. An example of collective action was also found in Basra, when villagers decided to collect funds to solve a serious collective issue (drinking water quality problems during the monsoon season). The importance of collective action in Bankura is related with locally-specific factors: the high reliance on common-pool resources, low access to markets, low financial capital, the existence of a customary governance system and the strong homogeneity and norms of the surveyed communities. The replication of similar institutions is therefore highly contingent to the socio-environmental context.In 1992, the Government of India passed a series of amendments to the Constitution designed to empower local political bodies, called the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). These bodies are elected at the district, block (sub-district administrative level) and village (or group of villages) level and called zilla parishad, panchayat samiti and gram panchayat (GP) respectively. The subsequent process of decentralisation has greatly differed among states, with varying degrees of devolution of political, administrative and fiscal authority to local panchayats.. The state of West Bengal has been pioneer in the decentralisation process by devolving discretionary powers over spending and staff to panchayats. Table 9 gives an overview of the PRI structure set up in each study state.   The 73 rd amendment envisions PRIs as key actors of planning for local development. It requests states to form a district planning committee (DPC) at the district level. However not every state has created a DPC. In Uttar Pradesh, the DPCs were constituted only recently following the DPC (amendment) Act 2007. The accountability of the chairmanship also varies, the latter being given either to elected (like in West Bengal to the head of the zilla parishad, the sabhadhipati) or non-elected officials (e.g. in Haryana the deputy commissioner 6 and Uttar Pradesh the district in charge minister).Planning has been decentralised down to the village level. The Government of India has supported through the GPs the design of village development plans. These plans are to be elaborated by villagers, assembled in the gram sabha 7 , and present the interventions that will contribute to the development of their village. Then, the village development plans are sent to the GP, transferred to the block development officer (BDO) and finally integrated into the district plan by the DPC. On the ground, villagers' participation to the meetings of the gram sabha is mediocre. Among the 59 farmers who were asked if they were going to the gram sabha meetings, only 47.5% said they were participating. The primary reason mentioned for their non participation is a lack of interest and a lack of perceived benefits.For most interviewed villagers, the GP does not have any role in planning for the development of their village. For instance, in Bankura, half of interviewed farmers do not know what is the village development plan -though some of them participate to the gram sabha meetings. Some issues of concern to farmers, like water scarcity, are discussed, but farmers feel they have difficulties to make their voices heard (group discussion, January 2010). In the case study area of Bankura, many hamlets are under one GP and there is not a member of the GP in every village. In Etawah District, the participation of interviewed farmers to the gram sabha meetings is relatively higher than in the other districts. Farmers attend the meetings to receive information on crops, seeds and agricultural practices. They do not perceive the GP as a representative organisation responding to their needs but as an executive agent which role is limited to ensure the cleanliness of the streets, install hand pumps and build roads (semistructured household interviews, June 2009). The gram sabha meetings currently do not provide a venue for discussing rural development or the specific issues they feel need to be addressed to improve or sustain their livelihoods. Similarly, interviewed heads of the GP perceive the role of the GP as implementing government schemes and distributing benefits -i.e. a top down approach rather than the bottom up process claimed by the government.From a gender perspective, few women participate to the meetings of the gram sabha.The reservation of 33% of women in PRIs was also observed to be often meaningless, as elected women represented de facto their husband. Therefore, even when the sarpanch of the village was a woman, women reported that local development schemes did not have any benefit for women in particular. There were however exceptions, e.g. among the Santal community which is more egalitarian regarding men and women's roles (Bhattacharya 2004).Even when village development plans exist and represent the voices of the local population, a major limitation is that the local needs expressed in the plan have to fit within existing state and central government schemes. The deputy commissioner of Hisar District was explaining that this was not an issue because: \"There is a scheme for every need\" (interview, May 2009). However, these schemes are generally blanket programmes, with little flexibility and room for adaptation to local specificities. Furthermore, these government interventions primarily focus on infrastructure development, firstly, because it offers an easy way to spend public funds, secondly because a large emphasis has been given to the implementation of the national rural employment guarantee act (NREGA), a major central programme which guarantees 100 days of work to every household in India. The scheme aims at giving employment to poor people in rural areas and limiting seasonal migration by the construction of structures (roads, ponds, etc) which require low-skilled labour force. Most subsidised interventions are thus infrastructures, thereby neglecting other interventions which would contribute to enhanced LWP (see Section 3), such as the development of feed and livestock markets, extension and capacity building, as well as the improvement of public services (e.g. veterinary).At the district level, several state line departments conduct interventions and hold responsibilities related to water. These are the Departments of Irrigation, Horticulture, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Rural Development 8 . Each department separately implements its own programmes (decided at the state or central level) and is concerned with meeting the targets set up at the state/central level. There is thus a lot of room for building an integrated approach of water management. The heads of the district departments have some interaction as they meet once a month under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner. However the objective of these meetings is primarily to review the implementation of the different programmes and these interactions contribute little to develop a strategic and proactive planning. Under the Zilla Parishad, there are no incentives to support a concerted reflection on water management as there is no committee dedicated to water issues.In Etawah and Hisar Districts, the Departments of Irrigation consults the Department of Agriculture to evaluate the water necessary for irrigation depending on crop areas. However, there is no dialogue with the Animal Husbandry Department for integrating the feed and water needs of livestock and addressing local variations. For instance, whereas there is feed surplus in Hisar at the district level, there are areas where farmers have to travel on average 30 kilometres (km) and up to 100 km to buy wheat straw. Such variability could be better addressed by an integrated -or at least coordinated -action from the relevant line departments (Agriculture, Husbandry and Irrigation) with a locally sensitive approach.A new centrally-designed programme, called Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), has been launched recently all over India. It is led jointly by the Departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and is therefore remarkable compared to other schemes for its efforts towards an integrated approach. Furthermore, whereas all government schemes follow a top-down process, district line departments design their own plan under this programme. Lastly, it relies on local capacity building by creating a network of farmers in each block who will disseminate information from the district departments to other farmers.All households across study sites are engaged in livestock activities but the benefits they get in return vary considerably across sites. Notably, livestock-related benefits tend to be non-financial capitals for poor and medium households. Access to and control over water emerged as a crucial issue for improving farm productivity among a very large majority of farmers across all study sites. Because the households who have secure access to water are usually better-off farmers 9 , the water productivity interventions which neglect equity in water access are likely to benefit only the better-off. More efficient use of water by better-off farmers will not automatically result in improved water access for other farmers. Water access is linked to several processes which go beyond the issue of physical availability. Therefore, whereas past state and NGO interventions have focused on infrastructure development, often considering it as a purely technical issue, there is a need to address the structural roots of inequities.Results also show that LWP interventions would benefit a greater attention to mechanisms enhancing collective action in the following contexts: high reliance on CPR, low market integration, low financial capital, or strong norms. This component has been hitherto neglected by research on crop and livestock WP and by government initiatives. Findings also imply that in areas where forms of collective action are more present, it is essential to ensure equity in access to capitals as inequity might reduce collective action 8 Their designation might vary depending on the district. 9 The causal relationship between the two factors is circular, i.e. a better-off farmer usually has access to the required capitals to gain a secure access to water and a farmer who has managed to gain a secure access to water gets more income from agricultural products and usually develops his financial and physical capitals. (Clement et al. forthcoming). Such interventions would also particularly benefit the poor who have fewer private capitals than the better-off.Lastly, because of their limited financial autonomy and decisional power, PRIs are mere executing agencies rather than self-government institutions as initially envisioned by Gandhi. It means that farmers have little power over the management of their resources. It leads to several issues resulting in reduced productivity and equity. For example, in the case of canal irrigation, the rigidity of a top-down water supply can reduce efficiency and equity. What is more, the fact that there is a high variability in LWP values across systems and farmers suggests that locally-grounded approach would be more effective than top-down centrally planned interventions. It would allow the development of interventions adapted to local needs such as the development of feed markets in areas of feed unbalances. In this respect, enhancing democratic decentralisation to PRIs could offer a promising avenue.Firstly, results indicate that there is scope to improve the contribution of livestock activities to financial capital among poor and medium households thereby allowing investments to improve the productivity of their farming system. However, it is important that interventions to improve the financial capital derived from livestock do not undermine the other important roles of livestock for these households regarding for example social and cultural capital.Secondly, women contribute significant labour for livestock activities. This is especially true for women in poor households whose husband and sons are more heavily engaged in off-farm activities. These women are however those who less benefit from livestock activities as livestock-generated incomes barely cover daily household expenses. Women's reduced mobility and participation in decision-making at the community level are essential factors to take into account when designing LWP interventions that benefit women.Thirdly, results show the importance of institutions, notably in ensuring equitable water access, in poverty reduction. Institutions are not only important to consider at the recommendation stage in order to foster the adoption of new practices, but are essential to analyse at the outset of the project in order to identify the drivers of existing practices. Institutional analysis allows understanding the roots of inequities and thus helps to design or select interventions which benefit marginal groups, notably women and the poorest farmers of the communities (Clement et al. forthcoming).The key findings regarding institutions and governance arrangements and the implications for the design and implementation of LWP interventions are summarised below:1. Practices and technologies aiming at increasing water efficiency are likely to contribute to enhance the livelihoods of better-off farmers because they usually presuppose access to water -and do not address the lack of access and control over water. When one aims at reducing poverty and enhancing equity, it is crucial to first promote actions which improve water access of the poor. These go beyond building new infrastructures and needs to analyse capitals and capabilities that different households use to access water and how institutional and governance change impact on these capitals and capabilities.2. Collective action is a key component of farming systems in areas with low access to markets, low financial capital, high reliance on common-pool resources and strong norms. It often enhances productivity and could be promoted or used by water productivity interventions in these contexts.3. The current form of decentralisation does not support enhanced LWP by the lack of flexibility to spatial variations in LWP values and the lack of local means to respond to local needs in an equitable way.4. Despite the recognition of the need for a coordinated and collaborative approach between line departments at multiple administrative levels, the integration of initiatives directed to agriculture, animal husbandry and water management among government organisations remains limited. LWP interventions require a greater dialogue among decision-makers for identifying the optimized strategies for crop and feed production under water resource constraints at the district level.Widespread water scarcity in different parts of the world is expected to be further aggravated by a number of emerging treats, among which climate change and increasing population demand for water. The Ganga Basin, where this study was conducted, shares similar concerns and several studies led in the region suggested that the agriculture sector has to produce more food with less water to mitigate climate change impacts (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009;Singh 2005).Livestock contribute to the livelihood of farmers but also require large volume of water through feed production. The system scale study led in the Ganga Basin (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009) indicated higher LWP values for intensive systems than the semiintensive systems. The authors suggested that the current LWP value is low compared to the potential of mixed CLS and they underlined the need to improve LWP through demand management based adaptive strategies. But, these large scale studies are not well suited to identify viable entry points for water demand management. Usually the results are aggregate and do not allow to consider the community and farming systems, which are the unit of interest for designing practical recommendations. Therefore, the objectives of this study component were: i) to examine the effects of smallholder's access to resources on LWP, and ii) to identify viable entry points to improve LWP and assess interventions' impact on sustainable water use.The concept and practices of LWP have been elaborated by Peden et al. (2009); Haileslassie et al. (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009;Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie et al. 2009;Haileslassie, Peden, Gebreselassie, Amede, Wagnew et al. 2009)and Descheemaeker et al. (2009). According to these authors, evaluation of LWP can be carried out as a ratio of livestock outputs to water inputs (ET) for feed production. In this study, only milk was considered as an output and was estimated as a function of the number of lactating cows in the farm cluster, their lactation period and daily milk production. This was converted to financial values of milk, based on 2009 farm gate price.Estimation of the feed-water requirement of livestock needs linking ME demand of the livestock to ME water productivity of different feeds (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009).The total ME requirement of the livestock (e.g. production, activities and maintenance) was estimated using King (1983). We determined the water flow on the different land uses using the soil water balance model BUDGET (Raes et al. 2006). Data sets required to run BUDGET were collected both from study areas and literature (Allen et al. 1998).BUDGET produced results on water flows (e.g. ET). Normally ET is for grain and residues (i.e. feed). In mixed CLS, crop residues form an important ingredient of livestock feed and therefore total agricultural water (ET) must be partitioned between grain and residues. We used harvest index and ME ratio (of grain to residues) to quantify water that must be factored into the livestock feed and grain (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009). To establish ME water productivity (MJ.m -3 ), the partitioned water was combined with different feed biomass yields in terms of ME (MJ ha -1 ). To estimate volume of water required by livestock, ME demand and ME water productivity were linked. Finally LWP values were estimated using the partitioned water as the denominator and the livestock products (e.g. volume of milk or its financial value) as the numerator.Peden et al. ( 2007) suggested three basic strategies to increase LWP: i) enhancing animal productivity; ii) improving feed sourcing and iii) conserving water. The goals of these strategies and underlying interventions are generally increased milk yield, improved supply of sufficient and quality feed, and improved water productivity of feed respectively (Descheemaeker, Amede, and Haileslassie 2009). After calculation of LWP, we identified key interventions pertinent to these three strategies. We followed a participatory process to understand potentials and limitations of these interventions from farmers' perspectives. For these interventions that were preferred by farmers, we made productivity gap analysis to have insight on the existing and achievable potentials. For the impact (sustainability) assessment, we used the value of these potentials as an indicator and built the same into the LWP spreadsheet model in a scenario fashion.Those scenarios can be summarized as follows:i) Base line: We used the current LWP value as a control.ii) Achieving the potential milk yield: In this scenario we considered achieving potential milk yield of 15L day -1 animal -1 in a mixed herd model (e.g. improved artificial insemination and veterinary services). We separated the levels of milk yield into three: 9, 12, and 15Ls of milk day -1 cow -1 . Blümmel, et al., (2009) suggested that achievements of this potential milk yield can be only through changes in Dry Matter Intake (DMI) from current 2.8% body weight (BWt) to 4.8% for low-medium quality feed. Thus we applied a DMI of 2.8% for the control, 3.6% for 9Ls, 4.2% for 12Ls, and 4.6% BWt for 15 Ls milk yield. The point is whether the increased milk output outweighs the water input from increased DMI.iii) Improving feed quality: In this scenario, we assumed that the improvement in milk yield should be accompanied by good feed quality (~8.5 MJ kg -1 ).According to Blümmel et al., (2009), DMI will be less under good feed quality and they thus suggested a 3.1% for 9Ls, 3.6% for 12 Ls and 4.2% BWt dry matter intake for the 15Ls milk production per day per cow. We applied the same value of DMI at respective level of milk increase. iv) Achieving higher ME per unit of water input: This scenario takes the current crop and feed yield and respective water productivity gap into account. In a mixed CLS where agricultural by-products serve as animal feed, increasing CWP and feed ME water productivity are interdependent. For example >100% gap between current practices and potential yield of rice and wheat is reported in the Ganga Basin. Even stronger gaps are reported for water productivity of green fodder. We assumed 20, 60 and 100% increases in water productivity of ME corresponding to the three levels of milk increase and we used the current level of feed quality feed and applied DMI as scenario ii.Physical and financial LWP for dairy are indicated in Tables 11, 12 and 13 below. Milk water productivity in the wheat-rice, wheat-cotton and millet systems showed higher values than in the paddy rice system. This could be accounted for by the difference in the milk productivity of cows and the feed water productivity. In wheat-rice systems, the volume of water used to produce 1L of milk showed lesser magnitude and narrower range (across breed) when compared with Singh et al. (2004). Contrastingly the values for the millet-pulse system were in agreement with this previous study. In general, the variation can be related to a difference in methodologies. For example, Singh et al. (2004) used life time milk productivity of cows and total irrigation water as an input. It should be also noted that Singh et al. (2004) estimation was on the supply side.What was more remarkable here was the intra and intersystem variation. Although values in the wheat-cotton and millet-pulses systems were in agreement with the higher spatial scale studies (Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009), values for paddy rice system showed a very high volume of water to produce 1L of milk (>16000L). This figure deserves particular attention in times of increasing concern over water scarcity and rainfall uncertainty. Given that the present circumstance prevails, it will be a challenge for farmers in semi-intensive system to cope with the impact of climate change. This is particularly true for farmers in the poor livelihood typology and owners of indigenous cows (Table 3). To explain this trend, we examined the feed sourcing strategies in the different systems and farm clusters. For example, the feed source for the poor (in semiintensive paddy rice system) was primarily focused on communal grazing, fallow land and grazing in forest. These feed sources show the lowest ME water productivity (MJ m -) and thus impact the volume of water required to produce 1L of milk. LWP variations between farm clusters were system specific: in paddy rice system, remarkable differences exist between the better-off and the poor, while, in other study systems, these differences were not strong. The former substantiated the findings of Haileslassie et al. (2009) who studied LWP on farm households with different access to resources in the rainfed farming systems in Ethiopia.In intensive systems, farmers in all livelihood typologies have access to feed and livestock product marketing. From our observation farmers in intensive system sell 25-100% of their milk products while only 3% farmers in the paddy rice system reported to sell milk products (at a share of 20% of the total production). When we look at the market access of feed: in intensive systems 82% and 81% of the sample farmers are trading for dry fodder and concentrate respectively. In the paddy rice system only ~36% sample farmers are involved in dry fodder exchange. We argue the market to be an incentive for the poor farmers to buy feed and invest on high milk yielding breeds and thus maintain LWP comparable with the better-off farms. This means also that, in systems where feed was exchanged, LWP values for the different farm typologies can be interdependent as the feed water productivity at feed sources (i.e. surplus producing better-off and medium farms) may influence the sink (i.e. the landless poor farms). These relations revealed the co-dependency of farm clusters in market-oriented intensive systems and thus suggest the need to improve system level resource flow and virtual water trading to increase LWP and system resilience to climate change.  In the earlier sections, the present values of LWP and their drivers were presented. Many key issues have been raised from this exercise: i) what are the potential and plausible interventions; ii) what will be the impacts on LWP, if these potential can be achieved; and iii) which of these interventions can bring maximum gain in LWP and which of the study systems and farm cluster must be prioritized for higher system resilience at basin scale? The following sections will explore into these issues.Scenario ii) indicated that stepwise improvement in milk yield (e.g. through cross breeding and improved veterinary services) can bring a significant increase in LWP. Despite associated increase in the feed intake and therewith increased water input to the livestock feed, the gain from milk was substantial and thus showed improved LWP values from the current > 20,000L of water per L of milk to 2000L of water per L of milk in the semi-intensive system (Figure 8B). For the intensive systems, we also observed a remarkable increase in LWP (Figure 8A). Among the livelihood typology, those farms in the medium and poor clusters showed a greater gain compared to the better-off in all study systems. The difference in the volume of water saving across intensification gradient can be accounted for by the current low level of ME water productivity. In general our finding suggested that for basin-wide livelihood improvement and higher gain in water saving, interventions at low productivity regions and poor farm cluster are more important. This is in good agreement with the findings from the Comprehensive Assessment on Water Management in Agriculture (Molden 2007). Blümmel et al. (2009) argued that there are considerable opportunities to improve the LWP by focusing on cultivars with higher ME values and Dry Matter (DM) digestibility. This is particularly true when crops like pulses (digestible and energy denser) constitute an important feed ingredient. Sethi et al. (1999) recommended a feeding schedule using locally available feed material in intensive system. When the DM of recommended ingredients was converted to ME values (weighted by their proportion in daily ration), it gave a feed density of 9 MJ kg -1 . This suggested the possibility of achieving medium energy density level with locally available feed sources. This intervention can include Generally, such improvement in feed quality impacts the volume of water required to produce a unit of animal products such as milk. The result showed that as much as 120m 3 of water per year per cow can be saved from this intervention (Figure 9A and 9B). Like for the milk yield scenario, more LWP improvement was observed for the semiintensive system. The gain from this intervention was low compared with livestock and water management based interventions. Cai and Sharma (2009) showed a huge gap between potential and biological yields in the IGB for major food-feed crops. For example, they indicated as high as 6.18 Mg ha -1 yields for rice in bright spots and as low as 1.18 Mg ha -1 in hot spots. According to these authors, the average rice WP in the IGB is 0.84 kg m -3 with minimum and maximum values ranging between 0.2 and 2.4 kg m -3 . However, they showed a mean value of 1.36 for wheat with maximum and minimum ranging between 0.2 and 3 kg m -3 . Our WP study for selected districts representing major farming systems (Hisar, Etawah and Bankura, e.g. Haileslassie, Blümmel et al. 2009) indicated a WP range of 0.19-0.72 kg m -3 for wheat.In terms of feed WP, Singh et al. (2004) reported a considerable variation for the WP of green fodder crops in the State of Gujarat in India. For example for alfalfa, (Medicago sativa) they indicated WP values ranging between 2.3 to 9.1 kg m -3 and for maize (Zea mays) 2.12.to 6.39 kg m -3 . Haileslassie et al., (2009) and Blümmel et al. (2009), reported a huge intra and intersystem variation for aggregated feed ingredients in the study systems. A marked picture was particularly observed between the irrigated and green fodders from grazing lands. Comparing these figures with literature values (Singh et al. 2004) for commonly grown food-feed crops (e.g. ground nut, Arachis hypogaea), which are water productive (14.04 kg m -3 ) and superior in feed quality, demonstrates scopes for feed WP improvement.Achieving potential yield means increasing the ME WP of feed by a similar magnitude. The result of impact assessments of these interventions is depicted on Figure 10A  under the current setting. A more relevant option is to improve access to feed market: feed that is produced through judicious water use. For the paddy rice systems, improved management of CPR -on which the poor in the semi-intensive system mainly dependwill also help improving LWP and mitigating the impacts of climate change.In general the LWP model is more sensitive to change in feed WP compared with improved feed quality and animal productivity. Those findings confirm a previous study (Descheemaeker et al., 2010, under review) which suggests that improvement of WP of feed changes LWP value significantly, compared with other interventions. The overarching objectives of this study were to explore the effects of smallholder access to feed resources on the magnitude of LWP and to assess interventions that can meet livelihood demands and, at the same time, save water. In view of the results detailed previously, the following conclusions can be drawn:The present livestock water use to produce 1L of milk is higher than the world average. However intra and intersystem variation in LWP indicates opportunity for improvement in water demand management and thus increasing community resilience to climate change. By increasing the current milk yield level of a mixed herd model to its potential, it is possible to reduce the amount of water required to produce 1L of milk to values less than the world average.There was a significant impact of feed WP interventions on LWP values. LWP gain from a unit increase in ME WP exceeded the gain from a unit increase of milk productivity for all study systems and farm typology. In general the highest gain of WP as the result of the different interventions was for the poor farm cluster. This shows the important role of CPR management and improving access to feed markets on which the poor farmers depend. We evaluated the potential impacts on gender, livelihoods and poverty of the proposed biophysical interventions on different farm typologies. Selected interventions are summarised below according to the three main categories.Upgrading non descriptive cows and buffaloes with high yielding indigenous and exotic animals on selective basisIncreasing the use of agricultural by-products and diversification of cropping patterns towards water productive and dual-purpose varieties (e.g. pulses).Adopting of the treatment of crop residues, such as low cost chaff-cutting, chemical treatments, mixing and densification of agricultural byproducts Using appropriate fodder varieties Diversifying crops Improving the management of common land through over-seeding of wasted land and communal grazing areas, green fodder planting on bunds and fallow lands 3. Conserving water: Supplementary irrigation and timely water supply.We have examined the differentiated impacts of these interventions on farmers' access to capitals and resulting capabilities and how these interventions are likely to fit within current farmers' strategies. For instance, whereas landless farmers (groups 0 and I) usually try to make best use of available resources to reduce production costs and to diversify their activities to reduce their vulnerability to risks (Ellis 1998), rich farmers with secure access to land and water (type III) mainly aspire to enhance the profit of their farming systems (Rangnekar 2006). Medium farmers (type II) adopt a middle path strategy, trying to expand their income while minimizing risks. In the following results sub-section, we discuss more particularly the impact of proposed interventions on the poorest farmers and on men and women.Landless and land-poor households in intensive systems identified low animal productivity as a major issue affecting their livelihoods during problem ranking exercises. Low animal productivity is a high concern in intensive systems where dairy products are an important component of the household diet and where their sale constitutes an important source of income. In paddy rice systems, cattle and buffaloes are primarily kept for draught power and to some extent for infant milk consumption. Low milk productivity was therefore not highly ranked by farmers in this system during the problem ranking exercise.The presence of crossbred cows is more marked in intensive systems. In the paddy rice system, a large majority of farmers keep desi cattle -only 6.7% of farmers own a crossbred cow and all of them are landowners.In intensive systems, relatively fewer landless households keep crossbred cows compared to landowners, especially in Mugalpura village, Hisar District (Table 14). * Source: we chose to use the results of the census survey for a greater sample size but it did not allow dividing the households into their typology and farming systemDiscussions were held with farmers on the potential cost of keeping high yielding breeds such as Murrah or Holstein Friesian (HF) or crossbred dairy animals.Men and women from landless and land poor household across all farming systems are concerned by the impact of keep high yielding breeds on financial capital. In addition to the initial investment for animal purchase, maintenance costs are higher than for desi cattle, which in farmers' view, is due to the high quality feed and greater healthcare requirements of these animals. Feed supply is a major constraint for landless farmers as, contrarily to better-off farmers, they have to purchase feed off-farm. A cost benefit analysis should thus consider the costs from feed purchase compare with milk sales for different regions, as results depend on local feed availability and local milk marketing conditions, especially farm-gate selling prices. For instance, in regions where milk markets are limited, as in the study villages of Bankura, the adoption of productive animals will lead to increased incomes only if favourable marketing conditions are created (see also Kapse and Patil 1995).Although women do not usually participate in decision-making on breeding (Table 9, Section Objective 2), the adoption of crossbred animals might have an impact on women, especially from groups 0 and I whose husband and sons are regularly engaged in off-farm activities. First, women fear that hybrid animals will necessitate more health care than desi cattle as, for instance, the animals are more sensitive to temperature fluctuation. They are thus concerned by their greater responsibility in case of disease in the absence of men, especially as these animals represent very costly assets. Also a change in feeding and the need to keep animals at a cooler temperature (with water for instance) might create extra work.As a conclusion, the introduction of high milk yielding breeds and crossbred species is likely to benefit more the medium and better-off households unless special support to create fair feed and milk markets are created. This entails not only creating new markets like in Bankura Districts but also improving existing market conditions in intensive systems where middlemen often take advantage of farmers to make higher profit. The introduction of such interventions is likely to increase women's workload. Such interventions should thus be coupled with positive actions to respond to women's strategic needs. It could include providing information and training on AI knowledge for them to be able to take part in the breeding decisions, training and discussions with both men and women about animal maintenance activities, feeding and care to create a greater awareness on gendered labour division regarding livestock activities.Improving feed quality entails either diversifying feed sources or improving the quality of existing feed.Producing green fodder requires a reliable access and control over water -which is a prominent problem for many land-poor farmers. It is also the main constraint for crop diversification in paddy rice systems. Supplementing feed with concentrates is usually advised for lactating cows and buffaloes to improve milk yield as currently practised in intensive systems where feed and concentrates market exist. However high cost hinders many poor and medium farmers in our case study area to purchase concentrates. Further feed products like feed blocks are not commonly used in the study areas as they are not produced or sold locally. Because transportation costs from the supply zone significantly affect sale prices, it is essential to improve marketing and storage facilities to encourage local entrepreneurs to produce such products locally.Most better-off farmers in intensive systems already make a physical treatment of fodder. In paddy rice systems, farmers currently feed animals with rice straw, either raw or cut into shoulder length pieces -but in both cases with no prior treatment. Treatment of low quality feed such as straw with urea (Patil et al. 1993) and the physical treatment of residue such as chaffing or feeding block (Berwal, Lohan, and Yadav 1997) can improve milk productivity but benefits depend on the costs of inputs and milk marketing conditions (Sharma, Dutta, and Naulia 2004). In paddy rice systems, medium farmers usually buy urea as fertilizer on a credit basis therefore the use of urea for straw treatment might not be a cost effective option unless its access is facilitated. For farmers to adopt mechanical processing also requires financial and institutional support to organize joint purchase of chaff cutting machines.In some regions (Bankura and some areas in Etawah), the animals of landless livestock keepers extensively rely on grazing for their feed. The improvement of grazing land would therefore more particularly benefit the poorest farmers of the community. It requires the recognition of communities' access and control over forest land by the Forest Department, as per the Forest Rights Act 2006, GoI. Successful examples of partnerships between communities and state Forest Departments on multiple use of forest land exist. For instance, Gurung and Lama reported the lease of degraded forest for production of forage crop in Nepal through \"The Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project\" (2008).As for animal management, special attention should be given to the gendered division of labour for interventions related with feed improvement. For instance, whereas improvement of grazing land might be gender neutral, the cultivation of green fodder on common land might have a high impact on women's workload, as this might be added to their existing task of cutting and carrying green foliage from the forest for small ruminants along with the fuel wood they collect.Crop rotation and diversification (e.g. agroforestry) was one of the suggested biophysical interventions to improve water use. However, diversification requires a secured access to and control over water, which has not been achieved yet for poor and some of the medium farmers, and particularly in Bankura. Even in irrigated systems, the lack of reliability (regarding timing and quantity) of canal supply is a major constraint for farmers who do not have physical or economic access to groundwater.A major constraint for livestock based activity among landless and land-poor farmers in developing countries is low animal productivity, due to the poor performance of breed and poor access to quality feed, ultimately resulting from socio-economic factors (Akhter et al. 1995). Enhancing animal productivity is thus not only about the adoption of high milk yielding breed, but has to be coupled with interventions on feed and water access. The potential of these interventions to reduce poverty ultimately depends on a better access to water and feed availability, and particularly for landless off-farm households and poor farmers through virtual water trading. Initiatives to improve CPR are likely to have the highest benefits for the landless off-farm and poor households, who do not have access to land and water for fodder cultivation. Creating favourable feed and milk markets and improving access to credits are also critical for farmers to actually benefit from increased animal productivity.For example, Shukla and Brahmankar (1999) indicated in their study of the national dairy programme \"Operation Flood\", also referred to as the \"White Revolution\", that marketing support was instrumental to decrease milk production costs. They also pointed out the importance of access to veterinary services and feed accessibility to improve animal productivity. Lastly, milk marketing conditions are also essential for that milk sale benefits cover farmers' increased production costs associated with high yielding breeds (Shukla et al. 1995).According to better-off households, the creation of several local dairy collection centres would help to improve their bargaining power by enhancing competition. Many farmers, especially women from landless and land-poor households in millet pulse and millet mustard systems, are engaged in an exploitative relationship with middlemen who are also their moneylenders. Milk selling prices at the farm gate are generally low. Such exploitative systems can be broken by improving access to formal credit at market interest rates (Torsten, Otto, and Saha 2003). Such financial support could be joined with technical and marketing support in order to allow farmers to increase their benefits from livestock activities and thereby reduce failures to repay loans.Women are the primary custodian of income from livestock activities and are thus likely to benefit from increased productivity. Most proposed interventions might result in increased workload and responsibilities for women, it is thus important to support structural changes in the division of labour between men and women through discussion with representatives of both genders in the communities. Women's training and capacity building is also important for women to participate more meaningfully in decisionmaking.The impact of all technical interventions depends on social and institutional factors. The most essential requirements to improve LWP are to:-develop institutions to support feed and livestock product storage, exchange and marketing, -support livestock markets -develop credit facilities, particularly for landless and small landholders -improve extension and veterinary services -improve water access -improve control over grazing land The next section Objective 5 discusses how the project team has conveyed these messages to relevant stakeholders.Objective 5: Increase local capacity and develop policy, technology and governance recommendations for improving water productivity in croplivestock systemsTranslating research into practice is a key issue in all rural development projects. In the previous section, we have argued that institutional change is crucial for biophysical LWP interventions to be equitable between poor and better-off and men and women. Bringing up institutional change requires not only building capacity but also proposing sound policy recommendations to national and state decision-makers.This component has built upon regular interaction with stakeholders, e.g. farmers, NGO partners, research partners and local officials throughout the project. The perception of each actor was taken into account in order to offer recommendations which are not only scientifically sound but also socially, economically and politically acceptable for all stakeholders. The involvement of local resource persons in the project activities was favoured whenever possible.Capacity building at the local level was based on the training of students, NGO staff and villagers from the case study sites as part of activities under Objectives 2, 3 and 4. The IWMI research team led a one-day and two-day training for enumerators conducting the census and questionnaire survey respectively. The research team also raised the awareness and knowledge of NGO partners' on LWP issues through several presentations during the project progress meetings.Research activities particularly under Objectives 2, 3 and 4 have been conducted following a participatory approach with significant exchange of knowledge and information between researchers, NGO partners, and farmers. This has sensitized NGO partners to apply new tools and methodologies to enhance the capacity of CLS, farmers to interact with local government officers and innovate in their farming practices. Thirdly, the involvement of national scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the development, validation and quantification of tools has improved their knowledge base thereby strengthening the national research capacity.Integration of the results has occurred at four levels: 1) across disciplines, to integrate the biophysical and social outputs, 2) across research and development practice, to combine scientific expertise with field experience, 3) across scales, to link observed macro-level trends with micro-level practices, and 4) across states to compare findings and draw out generic lessons.Our analysis of LWP in CLS has involved a multi-disciplinary research team composed of animal nutritionists, water and nutrient flow specialist, crop physiologist, agricultural economist, livelihood and gender specialist, and institutional and policy specialist. The integration of biophysical and social analyses has been supported by a regular interaction between the research team members: daily on an informal basis (meeting, phone, email) as well as in monthly meetings.Secondly, a regular interaction between the NGO partners and the researchers team either at distance, in meetings or on the field proved to be particularly insightful in terms of knowledge sharing. Knowledge and experience regarding local politics or historical knowledge of local livelihood conditions have proved very valuable for the research team prior to fieldwork as well as when interpreting data.Thirdly, evaluating LWP at different scales has proved very useful to convince policymakers on the need for locally-grounded approaches. The feed surplus observed in Hisar District proved to hide high disparities within the district -LWP calculations at the community level were confirmed by household interviews and group discussions.Lastly, policy-makers also showed a high interest for inter-state/inter-district comparison. This was a useful exercise to understand the factors explaining LWP variability and convince government officials on the relevance of different types of interventions for a particular biophysical and socio-economic context.The project has followed two parallel communication strategies. The first one, led at the grassroot level, aimed at sensitizing farmers on issues related with LWP. It has included direct interaction with farmers while conducting activities under Objectives 1-4, and transfer of results to NGO partners who work with communities (cf. next section on Outcomes and Impacts).The second one, led with local and national stakeholders, focused on the sensitization and knowledge building of policy-makers and other actors who might directly or indirectly impact on policy-making. Results and policy recommendations were summarised in a set of project briefs (available on internet: http://sawal.iwmi.org/publications--outputs.aspx) which were distributed to stakeholders at the district and national level. These briefs addressed the technical, livelihood and gender, and institutional aspects of LWP.The set of recommended interventions was categorised into the following categories: 1) institutions, 2) extension services and capacity building, and 3) markets. As shown in Table 16, the success of an intervention depends not only on a single type of intervention but rather from a mix of interventions, combining institutional change across several administrative levels together with capacity building and changes in markets (Table 15). It is essential to build capacity for continued learning and uptake of recommendations all along the project activities. In this sense, a major asset of the project was the involvement of local resource persons, national partners, both NGOs and research centres, who can continue development, advocacy and research after the end of the project.The process of designing and disseminating policy recommendations would have probably benefited from a greater involvement of ministries, state line departments, District administrative heads and elected heads as well from the beginning of the project -however it was difficult to take this step considering the time frame (two years) and geographical scope (three states) of the project.Awareness of actual livestock water requirements has certainly been raised among district level officials and, to a less extent, among national and state government civil servants. However, as underlined in Section 2, there are structural constraints within the development planning process and the current sectorisation of state development schemes which need to be addressed for positive changes to occur. These are sensitive political issues which have been debated for a long time in India. We hope that providing quantifiable evidence on the scope for improvement of LWP can contribute to further discussions and militate in favor of locally-grounded, integrated approaches to rural development which go beyond considering farmers as passive recipients of welfare action but give them an active role in their development.The outcomes and impacts pathways followed three main avenues -with three distinct target groups. The first concern was the adoption of technical interventions and changes in practices at the grassroots level. This pathway relied on sharing research recommendations and practices with farmers, building capacity and skills through the involvement of our NGO partners. However, this project has highlighted the importance of political and socio-economic changes to enable farmers to translate recommendations into practice. For instance, interventions related with water management or crop/feed diversification are related with an equitable and reliable access to water. Similarly, adoption of improved breeds requires fair and supportive marketing conditions for animals, feed and livestock products. The second outcome and impact pathway was thus targeted to policy-makers and -to a less extent -to private dairy companies.  Of the changes listed above, which have the greatest potential to be adopted and have impact? What might the potential be on the ultimate beneficiaries?The dissemination of project interventions to farmers through relevant material and field demonstrations by NGO partners will support the adoption of practices by farmers among the communities. But ultimately, the change in perception and knowledge on livestock water needs and lack of/inequitable access to water among policy-makers and NGOs has the greatest potential to lead to improved water use at a macro-scale.What still needs to be done to achieve this potential? Are measures in place (e.g., a new project, on-going commitments) to achieve this potential? Please describe what will happen when the project ends.The potential of actions led by NGOs to be translated into farmers' changes in practice ultimately depends on interventions need the institutional and economic support from state and private bodies.NGO partners have initiated interventions which will continue to be implemented after the end of the project with farmers in selected sites and will continue the dialogue initiated with policy-makers. If successful, they might outscale interventions in other regions of India. NGO partners will also show interventions to district and State officials as successful examples, which hopefully will contribute to improved policies.Each row of the table above is an impact pathway describing how the project contributed to outcomes in a particular actor or actors.Which of these impact pathways were unexpected (compared to expectations at the beginning of the project?)Most impact pathways reached expectations.The project has produced the following international public goods:-LWP physical and economic values under different farming systems and livelihood typologies -A number of papers for international publications on institutional and biophysical issues related with LWP -A dedicated website containing all material and resources on http://sawal.iwmi.org-Refined methodology to evaluate LWP of crop-livestock farming systems -New training material to sensitize and improve farmers knowledge on water use in CLSThe partnership of with the grassroots organisations PRADAN and BAIF and with the Indian research centre for agricultural research (ICAR) proved to be very fruitful, because of the complementary skills and knowledge of these organisations with ILRI and IWMI. PRADAN and BAIF had developed privileged relationships with the local communities, thereby greatly facilitating the interaction of our research team with the farmers. They also provided useful insights on the local context on cultural, social, political and economic aspects. What is more, they played a crucial role in data collection, by conducting surveys and collecting secondary data collection from line Departments at the District and State level. The support of ICAR was also key for liaising with government officials, as they established in Hisar strong relationships with line Departments.During the time of our project, we also created links with other research projects 1. \"Improving water productivity of Crop-Livestock systems for benefiting the poor and the environment\" led by IWMI, ILRI and ICRISAT in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe 2. The Basin Focal Project for the Indus-Gangetic Basin led by IWMI 3. A project on milk water productivity in Punjab, India led by IWMI-Delhi and supported by Nestle A tight linkage was established from the onset of the project with the Project No 1 by defining a similar methodology. The detailed questionnaire we used for our project was adapted from the questionnaire developed by the IWMI/ILRI team in Ethiopia. We also chose the same framework for the analysis of decentralization by Agrawal and Ribot (2000). Two members of the IWMI team participated to one-week writing workshop in Addis organized by ILRI, gathering researchers and students working on Project 1. Findings were shared and discussed among participants from the 2 projects Views and ideas have been shared among the project teams through regular informal interaction in IWMI Delhi offices for projects 2-3, and during workshops and seminars organized by the project teams.A set of ten policy briefs have been designed for each of the districts and for the national level (see http://sawal.iwmi.org/publications--outputs.aspx).• Multi-scale LWP Evaluation in the Indo-Gangetic Basin of India Abstract: The per capita water availability in the Indo-Gangetic basin is projected to be reduced to a level typical for water-stressed areas. Producing more products of crop and livestock, per unit of agricultural water invested, is advocated as one of the key strategies for future food production and environmental security. The objectives of this study were to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, attendant Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) and implications for sustainable use of water resources. We focused on three districts representing typical crop-livestock mixed systems at different degrees of intensification: grouped as intensive and semi-intensive systems. LWP, like its counterpart Crop Water Productivity (CWP), is based on principles of water accounting and is defined as the ratio of livestock beneficial outputs and services to the water depleted and degraded in producing these. In calculating LWP and CWP, four major data sets were required: livestock, land use, land productivity, and climatic data. These data sets were obtained from secondary data sources in the representative districts. To triangulate the information, field observations were made and discussions were held with key informants. Our results showed a higher LWP value for intensive systems. The LWP value tended to decrease with time. This can be accounted for by the shift to a feeding regime that depletes more water despite its positive impacts on milk productivity. This practice deviates from the popular myth of producing more agricultural products using the same or lower quantity of water input and thus urges policy makers to optimize increasing products per unit of area and water Keywords: South Asia; water productivity; feed quality; crop residues; sustainability 3. We selected 203 sample farm households representing intensive and semi-intensive systems. Household survey was undertaken to capture data on land, water and livestock management. For the analysis, sample farms were clustered: poor, medium, better-off. LWP was estimated as a ratio of livestock beneficial-outputs to depleted-water in producing livestock' feed. Impacts of selected interventions, on LWP, were analyzed using a scenario approach. Our result showed different LWP values among farm-clusters and production systems. The intensive system showed higher LWP than the semiintensive. Dairy water consumption to produce a liter of milk was higher than the world average: ranging between 100-1,000 L. Among the farm-clusters, variation of LWP was system specific and affected by farmers' access to virtual water trading (i.e. milk and feed market). Improving milk productivity, feed quality and feed water productivity reduced livestock water demand and thus helps to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This paper reveals that LWP, in the business as usual scenario, is low. But by improving animal productivity, quality feed supply and water conservation, livestock water demand can be adapted to climate change.Keywords: Livestock, Sustainability, Interventions, Climate change, Water saving1. Clement, F., Venot J-P., Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: A co-exploration of institutions and myths (to be presented at the workshop \"Global Environmental Justice: Towards a new agenda\", University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 2-3 July 2010, to be published in a journal special issue with other workshop papers).Abstract: Water development projects punctuate the landscapes of the rural South where water sector reforms are endlessly pursued. On the one hand, these new projects and reforms emerge on the ground that they enhance rural livelihoods and are central for food production and sound use of natural resources. On the other hand, the social and environmental inequalities they can induce are often not properly anticipated or recognized. When acknowledged, these effects are attributed to shortcomings in implementation; the remedy is said to be further reforms and projects. In this way, water projects have locked themselves into a 'business as usual' approach, which we argue is unlikely to succeed in delivering equitable water access and control. We do so by investigating the links between procedural (which say do water users have in water development projects?) and distributive justice (how are the benefits distributed?), based on case studies of water development projects -watershed programs in Eastern India and small reservoirs in West Africa. We draw from the fields of political ecology, development and governance studies and combine institutional and discourse analysis to understand the realities of water projects and their environmental justice dimension. We defend that water projects are grounded in environmental and development narratives that are co-produced by science and policy. Those narratives wield notions of sustainability and justice as universal, hence 'black-boxing\" the realities of water resources management. Crucially, and in contrast with the new vocabulary of development, they continue to regard intended beneficiaries as 'recipients' rather than actors with agency. Water projects induce new and multiple claims over resources thus influencing the distribution of goods and bads and related perceptions of justice. Global environmental justice discourses need to recognize that the fairness of any intervention is shaped by, and depends on, the vantage point considered to effectively address current issues of inequality.2. Clement, F., Haileslassie, A., Ishaq, S., Samad, M., Institutions for equitable and sustainable improved water productivity: The case study of crop-livestock systems in the Ganga Basin (to be presented at the International Conference of the International Association of the Commons (IASC) \"Sustaining Commons: Sustaining our Future\", Hyderabad, India, 10-14 January 2011)Abstract: In the Ganga basin in North India, water shortages are a common issue faced by farmers, even in irrigated areas. Most households in the region rely on farming systems combining crop cultivation and livestock activities. Access to and control over water supply is thus critical not only for agricultural productivity and food security but also for the production of sufficient and high quality feed for animals. Because the water requirements of animals have often been neglected or largely underestimated, scientists have recently explored the scope for increasing the water use efficiency of livestock through improved feed, animal and water management. However, there has been little research on the institutional framework required for these interventions to result not only in enhanced productivity but also in poverty alleviation and reduced inequalities. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the multi-scale and multi-sectoral institutional challenges linked with livestock water productivity interventions in North India. Three major issues are discussed: equitable access and control over water, democratic decentralisation for locally-grounded interventions, and a coordinated and integrated frame for government action. Based on observations and findings from nine case study villages across three districts of the Ganga Basin, a series of recommendations are proposed for policy-makers at district and national level.Keywords: Livestock water productivity; access; decentralisation; cross-sectoral; Ganga Basin 3. Haileslassie, A., Blümmel, M., Clement, F., Acharya, N. S., Radha, A.V., Ishaq, S., Samad, M., 2009. Micro scale livestock water productivity: assessing option for improvement and its impacts on environmental sustainability.Abstract: Analysis of variations of Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) across farm typology is a key element to understand intersystem variability and sets of interventions that help to addresses livelihood demands and environmental sustainability. This study was a continuation of district level study: where we suggested LWP variation across agricultural intensification gradients of crop livestock mixed systems in the Indo-Gangetic basin of India. Here, the overarching objectives were to explore effects of smallholder access to key livelihood capital on the magnitude of LWP and to assess impacts of selected interventions on sustainable water use. Intensive (i.e. higher fertilizer and water inputs e.g. Hisar, Etawah) and semi-intensive systems (i.e. limited management inputs, e.g. Bankura) were selected for this study. We used the different subsystems in intensive (wheat-cotton, wheat-rice, millet-mustard, millet-pulses) and semi-intensive (paddy-rice) crop-livestock systems as a sampling frame. We selected 203 sample farm households: representing the sample frame. A detail household survey was undertaken during 2009 production season to capture data on livestock, land and water management. For the analysis, the sample farms were clustered based on size of land, livestock and their access to irrigation water: described as poor, medium and better off. Our result showed apparently different LWP values among sample farms in different systems and farm typology. The highest LWP value was observed for wheatcotton, wheat-rice, millet-mustard and millet-pulses systems. Among the livelihood typology, variation of LWP was system specific and affected by access to virtual water trading (e.g. milk, feed). In wheat-cotton, wheat-rice, millet-mustard and millet-pulses systems all farm clusters had better access to feed and livestock product marketing. This was the major incentive for the poor to buy feed and invest on high milking breeds and thus maintain LWP values that was comparable with the better-off farms. Contrastingly, LWP values in paddy-rice system showed a contrasting variation among the livelihood groups: with the better-off farmers showing higher LWP values compare to the poor. The differences were accounted for by land holding size, whereby the better-off farm cluster gains more income from draught power uses. Interventions focusing on improved milk productivity, feed energy density and energy water productivity showed a promising impact: impact that demonstrated achieving livelihood demand and environmental sustainability through an integrated approach.Keywords: livelihood capital, water, mixed systems, sustainability, metabolizable energy, energy water productivity, energy density, Indo-gangetic basin 4. Haileslassie, A., Blümmel, M., Clement, F., Samad, 2009. Food-feed crops water partitioning approaches to calculate Livestock Water Productivity: exploring options and limitations for sustainability indicator Abstract: The global agricultural sector is challenged by increasing water scarcity and simultaneously growing demands for food. To contribute to the improvement of agricultural water productivity, Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) Framework was developed by earlier studies. Despite a significant achievement made in practical applications of this framework, methodological complexity deters from an easy use and better understanding of the results in terms of sustainability. For example the approaches to partitioning agricultural water (e.g. between grain and residues) and the units of expression Water Productivity (WP) are inconsistent across number of studies that were published following the framework development. The over arching objectives of this paper is to explore how the values of Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) is affected by water partitioning approaches and how the different units of expressions of LWP (e.g. USD M -3 ; Kg M -3 ) hid the water use efficiencies of livestock. We revisited some earlier data on livestock products and water invested to produce these products, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The total agricultural water presented in these from secondary data was subjected to different partitioning methods: harvest index; ratio of metabolizable Energy (ME) in grain and to ME in residues; ratio of financial values of grains to financial values of residue. Additionally we compared the financial (USD M -3 ) and physical water productivity (Kg M -3 ) units. Our results showed stronger estimates of LWP values for economic partitioning approaches while the lower LWP value was estimated for harvest index (biomass) partitioning approach. The ME partitioning approaches showed an intermediate values and thus can be proposed as a potential method of agricultural water partitioning as it evades the extremes values and also has stronger logical relation with the volume of water used by the different part of the crop. Expression of LWP using financial unit hid the higest amount of water investment per unit of product (e.g. in high price areas) thus give wrong impression on sustainable water use.Keywords: Metabolizable Energy; South Asia; Agricultural Water; Water Productivity Framework 5. Ishaq, S., Clement, F., Samad, M., Acharya N. S., Dey A., Radha, A.V., Blümmel, M., Haileslassie, A., and Khan M. A. Triple burden, dual responsibility and single returns: Assessing roadblocks in dairy livestock improvement of landless and land poor livestock keepers from a gender perspective Abstract: Livestock keeping is an important activity among rural households and the role of women in livestock care has also been well documented. In landless and land-poor households, women usually perform more tasks related to livestock than among large landholders (water-rich farmers). However their benefits from livestock activities are much lower and generated income only meet subsistence needs. In this paper, we assess the constraints that women from landless and land poor households face while undertaking livestock based occupations. The argumentation is based on two case study villages in Hisar and Bankura district in the Ganga Basin. Results indicate that constraints are not only rooted in poor access to resource base and lack of organizational support but also catalyzed by the \"men\" factor.Keywords: livestock; gender; poverty 6. Radha, A.V., Acharya N. S., Clement, F., Samad, M., Haileslassie, A., Ishaq, S., Estimation of livestock feed availability using vegetation reflectance in the Ganges river basin, India Abstract: In the context of an increasing need for information on livestock feed resources availability and a lack of reliable data, there is scope to use remote sensing techniques to fill this knowledge gap. This study focused on using satellite images to estimate the livestock feed availability in three different agro ecological zones of the Ganges basin. Abstract: The per capita water availability in the Indo-Gangetic basin is projected to be reduced to a level typical for water-stressed areas. Producing more products of crop and livestock, per unit of agricultural water invested, is advocated as one of the key strategies for future food production and environmental security. The objectives of this study were to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, attendant Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) and implications for sustainable use of water resources. We focused on three districts representing typical crop-livestock mixed systems at different degrees of intensification: grouped as intensive and semi-intensive systems. LWP, like its counterpart Crop Water Productivity (CWP), is based on principles of water accounting and is defined as the ratio of livestock beneficial outputs and services to the water depleted and degraded in producing these. In calculating LWP and CWP, four major data sets were required: livestock, land use, land productivity, and climatic data. These data sets were obtained from secondary data sources in the representative districts. To triangulate the information, field observations were made and discussions were held with key informants. Our results showed a higher LWP value for intensive systems. The LWP value tended to decrease with time. This can be accounted for by the shift to a feeding regime that depletes more water despite its positive impacts on milk productivity. This practice deviates from the popular myth of producing more agricultural products using the same or lower quantity of water input and thus urges policy makers to optimize increasing products per unit of area and water Keywords: South Asia; water productivity; feed quality; crop residues; sustainability 2. Haileslassie, A., Blummel, M., Clement, F., Descheemaeker, K., and Samireddypalle, A., (2010). Building resilience of rain fed production systems to climate change: livestock water productivity perspectives. Proceedings of the National Symposium of Climate Change and Rain fed Agriculture held at CRIDA, 2010, Volume II 398-400. Hyderabad, India Abstract: The per capita water availability in the Indo-Gangetic basin is projected to be reduced to a level typical for water-stressed areas. This increases the vulnerability of agricultural systems to climate change induced shock. The objectives of this study were to understand the spatial dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, resulting Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) and their implications for systems and vulnerable community groups' adoption to climate change. LWP is defined as the as a ratio of livestock's beneficial outputs (e.g. in physical, financial or energy terms) and services to the water depleted in producing feed for livestock. We compared two districts representing typical crop-livestock mixed systems of irrigated (Hisar) and rain fed agriculture (Bankura). Data on livestock, land use and climate were collected from the study districts (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003). Detailed household survey was conducted in 2009 to have better insight on variability of LWP across farm typology and the most vulnerable group.Our results showed a lower LWP value for rain fed systems compared with the irrigated system. This can be accounted for by lower productivity of livestock and their feed, whereby the latter induced higher water requirements per unit of livestock products. Unlike the irrigated system, in rain fed systems there is less access to virtual water trading (e.g. marketing for animal products and feed) and thus farmers are not enthusiastic to invest in livestock development. This is particularly important for the poor farmers who are more dependent on communal grazing areas for their livestock feed. Therefore improvement in feed productivity, feed quality, livestock management and access to market will help to build rain fed systems' resilience to climate change.Keywords: South Asia; feed productivity; feed quality; crop residues; sustainability","tokenCount":"24753"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7858679371.json b/data/part_1/7858679371.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b49de458b5e96534b03acfe79248055266a24d8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7858679371.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e41c88481d27e8575e75fa68d40dc1fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/570ff8ea-d7d8-4db0-923f-c6d1afa39816/retrieve","id":"-1755224717"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9412b94b-387a-4d8e-aec0-d97d3b78f773","pagecount":"22","content":"As part of the AICCRA project, Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa, IWMI West Africa is working to help smallholder farmers in Ghana by improving access to information and knowledge through technologies developed by the Institute and its partners.The project seeks to enable farmers to better understand their environment to help them act accordingly. Through access to advice and targeted information as well as a connection with the actors in the field, the goal is to propose tools allowing farmers to develop answers to their problems.The AICCRA project in Accra focuses on a co-design process with the private sector: the objective is to launch a mobile application to promote and support irrigation to the targeted audience. This application aims to support decision making in terms of irrigation by connecting stakeholders with farmers and offering solutions adjusted to the user. This report corresponds to the initialization of the project, it presents an overview of digital agriculture solutions for small-scale farmers in Ghana and West Africa and suggests a selection of potential future partners for the design of the application.Digitalization is the latest turning point in the practice of agriculture. This digital revolution follows the transformations of mechanization in the early 20th century and the introduction of fertilizers in the 1960s. It opens up new ways of approaching agriculture, particularly in the context of developing countries. Today, this tool has a major contribution to the evolution of agriculture.specifically, information and communication technologies (ICTs) can empower smallholders farmers and, more broadly, address the issues of food security, sustainability and strengthening of the agricultural sector. The ICT sector has experienced strong growth in recent years, driven by various actors (agricultural stakeholders, mobile operators, NGOs, governments, tech companies, etc). Despite the increasing digitalization of the domain, smallholders farmers are still struggling to benefit from it. To this end, digital advisory services emerged in the 1990s. They have the same role as the extension services deployed by government entities, which they aim to support and complement. It is an effective way to reach out directly to field actors and to empower them with knowledge and information by limiting dependencies and intermediaries.For a long time, services have been delivered by basic channels of communication (SMS or call center for example). But with the democratization of access to smartphones and the Internet, solutions in the form of mobile applications are gaining popularity. Application-based solutions allow for more information to be transmitted and more comprehensive services to be offered. The potential of applications in agricultural advice services therefore seems to be significant.Governments, institutions and organizations are also increasingly proposing programs to promote and support ICT in agriculture in Africa in particular.In sub-Saharan Africa, digital advisory services are the most represented among digital agriculture technologies. The number of these kinds of services has grown significantly in recent years. Financial and marketing services have also grown importantly. There are several reasons for this development, such as the democratization of cell phone use among the population, the use of mobile money to facilitate access to mobile financial services, the increase in internet coverage in previously isolated areas, etc. Figure 3 : Distribution map of digital agriculture services in Sub-Saharan Africa (GSMA, 2020) [1] In West Africa, services are still concentrated in a few countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. They are among the most economically developed countries in the region and are therefore prime locations for the development of ICT technologies that remain advanced solutions (even more for mobile apps).Cell phone access in Ghana is on the rise. The example of the use of mobile payment systems (mobile money) increasingly popular going from 1 million users in 2013 to 10 million in 2017 (GSMA, 2018) [2] is a witness to the importance that the tool is taking in the daily life of the Ghanaian population. This is an interesting base for reaching farmers via this medium. In 2017, the percentage of people with access to a mobile subscription was 67% in Ghana, a high rate compared to the 44% average in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mobile network coverage is high, with 85% of the country having access to 3G and 46% to 4G. The internet penetration rate is 64% in 2019, the second highest in West Africa (GSMA,2020) [3].Mobile communication remains simple but access to smartphones is growing. In 2019, 80% of the Ghanaian population has a phone and 35% of Ghanaians own a smartphone compared to 15% in 2013 according to the French Ministry of Economy (Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, 2019) [4]. The country is therefore to be favored for the development of ICT such as mobile applications. It is a fast growing sector and the number of phone owners is constantly increasing. But there are notable differences between regions. The North is poorly served compared to the South.The example of the USAID ADVANCE II program study (USAID, 2017) [5] is significant.It shows consistent gaps in mobile coverage figures between the Northern, Upper West, Upper East regions (25%) and the Brong Ahafo region in the South (nearly 75%). Mobile coverage is therefore still very uneven and the regions most affected by these deficiencies are the North and the rural areas.For the initialization of the project in Ghana, the initial work focuses on digital agriculture services for small-scale farmers in Ghana and West Africa with a focus on advisory services. The objective is to obtain an overview of the services available in the region and to identify potential candidates among the actors for the future co-design of the irrigation support application.The research was carried out in two main steps. First, it involved building a service database from publicly available information: company websites, information services, scientific articles, etc. We focused on Ghanaian companies and those operating in Ghana, but also on actors present in West Africa whose context is quite similar.The second step was to contact these actors, which numbered about a hundred, through an online survey. The objective of the survey was to obtain more information about the selected services and to allow us to know the companies potentially interested in the project.The survey covers the following general categories:In order to reach a maximum of possible answers and thus touch the most stakeholders, the survey had to be quite short (about 10 to 12 minutes). The information obtained gives an overview of the service, the company, the users reached and their development strategies.The general review of the results of the survey are available and shown later on.Interviews will be required with potential partners to learn more about their services and their potential strengths and weaknesses in the development of the AICCRA project application.Of the 92 companies and organizations contacted, the survey received 34 responses from 27 different stakeholders. Of the 27 stakeholders who responded, 21 expressed interest in the project:N.B.: Some people showed interest in the project but did not respond to the survey for various reasons, which brings the number of interested companies to 23:-EzyAgric -EzyAgric App : Mercy Angela Nantongo (man421@nyu.edu) -Haller Farm -Haller Farmers App Charlotte Bell (charlottembell@aol.co.uk) Eusyline Chapa (eusyline@haller.org.uk) Chloe Ford-Welman (chloe@haller.org.uk)These companies have given their contact as part of future interviews that will allow us to understand their services in a more precise way and to consider possibilities of collaboration. In the analysis part, we will discuss a preselection of some companies that seem to be the most likely to work on the development of the mobile application.The general report of the survey results is available through this link: https://form.typeform.com/report/wmPfb2cG/2iTzxc9omAgi1x42• Communication channels :Most of the organizations and companies contacted offer services through multiple communication channels. More than 75% of the responding companies offer an online service and almost 62% of the services have a mobile application.A significant part proposes systems based on sms and call centers (more than 60%) which remains a simple way to get in touch with smallholders farmers. This multiplication of communication channels within a service is therefore a frequent strategy to reach the most users. There is a tendency to diversify the activities of companies. Thus, to ensure the sustainability of solutions, the services offered are quite diverse within the same solution.Although the majority of companies offer advisory services to small farmers, other services related to marketing and business development are also present.These services are often complementary and this strategy increases the value of the service for small-scale farmers. The irrigation sector remains underdeveloped in Ghana, with a minimal area set aside for the activity. The practice is marginal and Ghanaian agriculture is highly dependent on rainfall, which limits its development. • Irrigation needs :Most regions in Ghana require irrigation to optimize their agricultural practices, especially in the north of the country. Even in the south, the rainiest region, irrigation should be necessary during dry periods. Ghana also suffers from very erratic rainfall, which makes agricultural practices difficult.The risk of drought weighs heavily on crops in the north (FAO, 2005) [7]. Despite the low rainfall, Ghana has significant surface and groundwater resources that could be used for irrigation.This lack of irrigation in agricultural practices can be explained by several factors. The deficit of training and transmission of information is one of them. The example of the Weija Irrigation Scheme (Nalumu, D.J., Mensah, H., Amponsah, O. et al. 2021) [8] demonstrates this type of problems among irrigation stakeholders in a practical case in Ghana.Other factors may also explain the lack of development of the irrigation sector in Ghana such as lack of funding and budgets, costs (energy in particular), low political commitment to the sector, etc (Glitse, P., Nyamadi, B., Darkwah, K., & Mintah, K. 2018) [9] (Glitse, P., Nyamadi, B.V., Mintah, K., & Feruta-Benee, C., 2018) [10].In this context, the development of advisory services related to irrigation seems to be able to play a leading role in the development of agriculture in Ghana. But, a study conducted in 2016 on the use of ICT in agriculture (Francis Yao Anyan, 2016)  [11] in the Bongo district of North East Ghana shows the limited impact of ICT on irrigation practices. Special attention in the design of the application is therefore necessary for the inclusion of the intended users and the achievement of the service objectives.The survey shows that few existing services in West Africa and Ghana offer solutions related to irrigation issues. Only half of the returns from the survey report a link to irrigation and 14 out of 21 services for those interested in following the AICCRA project. In addition, for the majority of services, irrigation is only a small part of the overall business (less than 25%). Only Complete Farmer and Agrodata consider having a service where 25-50% of the activity is concerned with irrigation. The services are mostly related to irrigation scheduling, design and maintenance, and irrigation equipment procurement. The GSMA offers a general guide that aims to support the creation of user-centered digital agriculture products for mobile (GSMA, 2014) [12]. https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/plugins/plugin_m4d_shortcodes//ma gri-report/pdfs/01_mAgri_Design_toolkit.pdfThe use of this guide may be of interest in the continuation of the project as well as their guide (cited later) on the involvement of women in this type of service.The majority of the services aim to benefit small farmers and more than 85% of them address them directly with this objective. But intermediaries are also targeted, with 73% of services also aimed at companies, nearly 65% at extension services and 56% at NGOs.Women are highly represented in agriculture in developing countries, representing 43% of workers. Sub-Saharan Africa reaches almost 50%. Despite the impact they can have in the agricultural world, they do not enjoy the same opportunities as men and the fruits of their labor.The FAO estimates that empowering women at the same level as men in developing countries could lead to a reduction in undernourishment by 17% and lower the number of hungry people by 150 million (FAO, 2018) [13]. Advisory services can have an important role in seeking equality in agriculture and closing the gaps with their male counterparts, but these inequalities are also found in the use of these tools.The World Bank Group (World Bank Group, 2017) [14] identifies several barriers to women's use of ICT. Differences that are found in access to and use of these services:-Cultural and Social Limitations -Time and Mobility Constraints -Finance and Control -Literacy and Education All of these points can be explained by the weak position of women in many societies. If access to ICTs is limited for women, integrating these issues into the design of the service can help reverse the trend and, ultimately, use ICTs to combat the gender gap in agriculture. The factors limiting women's place in agriculture can then be combated by the service itself if the design of the service takes into account the gender issue.To this end, the GSMA has published \"Women in Agriculture: a Toolkit for Mobile Services Practitioners\" (GSMA, 2014) [15] which is a guide for gender-friendly service design to be adapted to the context of each target population and users. The main steps of this guide are as follows:-Define the market -Generate consumer insights -Design products & services -Brand and promote -Distribute & grow -Monitor & improvThe guide therefore proposes a follow-up for each stage of the development of the service and the integration of women in its access and use.In Ghana, access to cell phones and the Internet is a witness to these gender differences. A gap that is also found in the use of ICTs. Knowing that these tools are essential for access to ICTs, the issue of access to services for women is very topical.  [16] For the services surveyed, the majority of users are composed of 25 to 50% women, but a significant proportion of services (more than a quarter) have few female representatives (less than 25%). Inequalities in access are thus reflected in this services. According to the World Bank Group, the potential of ICTs for young people is significant but under-exploited, and their integration requires special attention. Ghana's population is young, with 30% of the population between 10 and 24 years old. Their involvement in the use of agricultural advisory services could therefore be decisive for the development of the agricultural sector.The finding of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA, 2015) [17] is that youth are only marginally engaged in agricultural activities in Africa and generally unsupported and unencouraged to engage in them. According to the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture of Ghana (MOFA, 2011) [18], the youth are poorly involved in agricultural activities in the country. The average age of farmers is 55 years and young people are reluctant to enter the agricultural world because of the image of poverty that it reflects in the country and the lack of information and education on the agricultural world.Several factors hinder young people's access to ICTs in agriculture, such as the cost of these technologies, the lack of access to mobile networks and the Internet, the little power they have in decision-making within their communities, the lack of options and information on available advisory technologies, etc. Some initiatives aim to involve youth in the use of ICTs. For example, USAID's Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement Activity (ADVANCE II) Plan works on this issue (USAID, 2017) [19]. The goal is to promote opportunities and tools for youth in agriculture. Agricultural advisory services are one of the tools that could reach a greater potential if young populations, familiar with this type of communication channels, appropriate them.The survey shows this trend with a strong representation of youth among the users of the services studied. 30% of the services have 25-50% young users and over 40% have more than half young users. The potential of this population to use the counseling service is particularly important to consider in the design to maximize its impact. In this part we will present some companies and organizations whose profile is interesting in the framework of a co-design of the project application.Farmerline is a Ghanaian startup that provides digital mobile solutions to smallholder farmers for farm management on the following topics:-Information sharing and education for farmers -Financial tools for farmers -Supply/demand connection The solutions are provided through different channels (mobile application, sms service, call center).Farmerline is a growing company with approximately 100,000 users.The important points of the service are the following: ","tokenCount":"2708"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7861310061.json b/data/part_1/7861310061.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..353d5bce7edd549ca9e6f912e6cd144dcf91cb31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7861310061.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c2bc3d32e3ac4a7e42862751fb4fc72d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/45a62378-2fa5-4fc4-9fd0-bb8ad0fa0dce/retrieve","id":"784745471"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3fe580da-44b4-4754-8834-1c034f6b03a4","pagecount":"2","content":"Improving food security and farm incomes through sustainable intensification of crop-livestock systems Over a four-year period (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), Africa RISING aims to contribute to Feed the Future goals of reducing hunger, poverty and under-nutrition by delivering high quality research outputs that are relevant to these goals.Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING is creating opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.In Ethiopia, the main aim of the project is to identify and validate solutions to the problems experienced by small-holder crop-livestock farmers. Some problems arise from the difficulties facing farmers in managing natural resources and achieving efficiencies from managing crops, trees, water and livestock together. These efficiencies are often influenced by other factors such as access to inputs and the reliability of markets.To address this complexity, Africa RISING takes an integrated approach to strengthen farming systems. It conducts participatory research that identifies technologies and management practices that work for farmers and take account of contextual issues like markets for inputs and outputs, community and other institutions and of the policy environments that influence farm households.To address the program-wide hypotheses listed in the program framework (https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/25079), the project's research is organized around 5 research components and 7 research themes. The components are: By 2017, the project will have delivered the following:• Knowledge and skills in farming communities will have been strengthened equitably, allowing all family members to benefit.We will see farmers operating systems that are 'sustainably intensified'-that is, levels of production and productive efficiency have increased in ways that can be maintained both environmentally and economically over the longer term. • Improved partnerships among farmers, support services and other value chain actors will have reduced uncertainties about market function; more reliable input supplies will support more resilient production that will ensure a more consistent profit from produce sold at market.The project works in eight intervention kebeles (the lowest administrative units in Ethiopia) in four woredas (districts) of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions.","tokenCount":"352"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7863762981.json b/data/part_1/7863762981.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..22dca1e3b85c1c6d26db796777bac597528c7cdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7863762981.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"94ef5f1eaa7cd69bfb260361f4b38b63","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/66ff371d-5e27-4b26-a505-83aaefe895fd/retrieve","id":"1529289979"},"keywords":["Climate Change","Agriculture","Livelihoods","Food Security","Adaptive Capacity","Bangladesh BCAS Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies CBO Community-based Organisation"],"sieverID":"d628d348-3b22-4b89-b7d9-74b65204cb32","pagecount":"40","content":"This paper analyses data from a household-level survey of 980 agricultural and fishing households in seven sites across southern Bangladesh. We examine the relationship between assets, livelihood strategies, food security and farming practice changes. These households are coping with huge demographic, economic, and environmental changes. The results suggest that the least food secure households are also the least adaptive, and are making few, if any changes, in their agricultural practices. They have relatively few assets, and are producing and selling fewer types of agricultural products than more food secure households. The importance of diversification as a strategy to deal with change is evident -households making more farming practice changes are more diversified in terms of the number of different agricultural outputs produced and sold. Market-related factors are more frequently given as reasons for changes in practices than climaterelated factors. We also see a strong relationship between education and adaptability. Households with more educated members are likelier to be introducing new agricultural practices. The often unrecognized, but important role that women play in agricultural production and livelihood strategies in Bangladesh is also evident. This rich dataset (freely available at: www.ccafs.cgiar. org/resources/baseline-surveys) provides insights into the relationship between household food security and the agricultural livelihood changes being made by rural households in southern Bangladesh. The analysis provides relatively rare empirical evidence supporting the use of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) as a conceptual approach for understanding household food security as well as adaptation of agriculture to climate change. This information is critical and timely for ongoing dialogues on appropriate 'climate-resilient' strategies and policies for increasing the adaptive capacity of households under climate change, and enhancing food security at both household and national levels.Helena Wright is a Doctoral Researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London funded by ESRC. Her areas of speciality include climate change and food security. She has experience in climate change policy and finance.Patti Kristjanson is an agricultural economist and research leader of CCAFS, based at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi. Her expertise includes poverty and livelihood analyses, impact assessment, agricultural system analyses and innovative research approaches for linking knowledge with action. She has 25 years of experience leading and managing multidisciplinary teams from international and national agricultural research centres, in collaboration with universities, donors, private and public sectors across Africa and Asia (p.kristjanson@cgiar.org).Gopal D. Bhatta is a Science Officer in CCAFS South Asia based in IWMI New Delhi, India. His expertise includes farming system analysis, spatial modeling, consumers' preference analysis and organic agriculture. He has almost 10 years of experience in research and teaching in diverse areas of agriculture and socio-economics of farm-families in South Asia.         The IPCC describes how coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and deltaic regions such as Bangladesh have long been recognised as 'hotspots' of vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise due to the low-lying land and dense population (Nicholls et al, 2007). Around 65% of Bangladesh is located in the deltaic plain of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta (Alam, 1996). The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, spanning an area of 87,300km 2 is the largest mega-delta in the world in terms of population, with 111 million people. It is also the second most densely populated delta in the world, with 1,280 people per square kilometre (Ericson et al, 2006). Bangladesh has been recognised as one of the countries in the world most at risk of climate change (Ali, 1999;World Bank, 2010) and tops the list of the most vulnerable countries in the world compiled by Maplecroft (ADB, 2012). The delta suffers from a range of factors which increase sensitivity to climate impacts, including population pressure, tropical cyclones, and regular flooding. Every 3-5 years, two-thirds of Bangladesh is inundated by floods, and around every 3 years a cyclone hits, causing storm surges in excess of 10 meters (World Bank, 2010). Climate change is expected to lead to sea level rise and sea surface temperature (SST) rise, which is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones (Khan et al, 2000). Salinity and sea encroachment into groundwater is also likely to impact on the staple rice yield and affect freshwater supplies.In addition to vulnerability to climate change impacts, parts of Bangladesh already suffer from serious food security issues. Figures from WRI show that 48% of children were underweight between 1995 and 2000 and the average daily per capita calorie intake was 2,201 in 1999 (WRI, 2003). Rice is particularly important for food security in Bangladesh, contributing 63% of calorific intake for urban consumers and over 71% for the rural population (WFP, 2011). Food security has been defined as a situation that exists when \"all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life\" (FAO, 2002). Availability, affordability and access to food have been recognised as crucial. Adaptive capacity is also key for food security (Di Falco et al, 2010), and is defined by the IPCC as \"the ability or potential of a system to respond successfully to climate variability and change\" (Adger et al, 2007).At the household level, food security is closely linked to poverty, as people spend a large proportion of their income on food in Bangladesh; a 2005 national household income survey found that food expenditure accounts for nearly 54% of total expenditure on average, and is 60% in rural areas (FAO, 2002). Agriculture is the single largest producing sector of the economy, making up 18% of GDP and employing 45% of the population (CIA, 2012). Bangladesh is in fact the fourth largest rice-producing country in the world (FAO, 2010). As such much of the food security challenge in Bangladesh has historically been closely linked to the production of, and access to, rice at household level. Agricultural development has been important in recent years in reducing poverty and hunger, and the impacts of climate change have been recognised by the Government of Bangladesh as a key threat to national economic development (BCCSAP, 2008).The household survey data from Bangladesh was collected as part of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) research programme, a global ten-year highly collaborative research programme led by the Consultative Group in International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) (see: www.ccafs.cgiar. org). This baseline survey was carried out with local partners across very diverse rural sites in 12 countries, including 5 sites in West Africa, 5 in East Africa, 7 in Bangladesh, 7 in India and 5 in Nepal. Surveyed sites in Bangladesh are located in the coastal zone, where salinity intrusion is very prominent and crops are frequently lost due to floods or tidal surges. The survey was designed with the intent of developing simple, comparable cross-site household-level indicators, for which changes can be evaluated, of food security, household assets, agricultural production diversity, agricultural sales diversity, changes to farming practices (adaptation/innovation), mitigation and gender indicators (Kristjanson et al, 2011). The 7 Bangladeshi sites (10kmx 10km blocks were chosen based on certain criteria-see www.ccafs.cgiar.org/where-we-work for a site portfolio document with site descriptions) were selected following a salinity gradient. The sites should not be taken as representative of Bangladesh as a whole as they were selected from the coastal rural areas. A random sample was taken of 20 households within each village, and 7 villages within each of the 7 sites, thus there was a total of 980 (n=980) respondent households in the survey sample (Kristjanson et al, 2010).This analysis draws from the conceptual framework provided by the sustainable livelihoods approach shown in Figure 1. It shows that, while a households' choice of livelihood strategies influences their levels of food security and income, levels of food security can also influence which livelihood strategies they choose. According to the sustainable livelihoods framework, assets are made up of human, social, natural, physical and financial capital (DFID, 1999). The sustainable livelihoods concept was developed by Robert Chambers and Gordon Conway in 1991 as a basis for conceptualizing development programs and practices. Following on from this work the 'sustainable livelihoods approach' (SLA) was used by DFID and FAO (Solesbury, 2003). Knutson and Ostwald (2006) argue that it has previously primarily been used in a theoretical sense rather than a practical one, where these relationships are tested empirically. The framework suggests that vulnerability context has a direct impact on people's asset status and livelihood options. Climate change can be conceptualized as one aspect of the vulnerability context.Adaptation to climate change is closely related to agricultural development activities. The IPCC has identified a two-way causality between adaptive capacity and sustainable development (Yohe et al, 2007). This occurs because development influences adaptive capacity, and adaptive capacity also influences the pace and character of development: a lesson applicable to this analysis. Hence development pathways in coastal Bangladesh will likely affect the severity of climate impacts, \"not only through changes in exposure and sensitivity, but also through changes in the capacities of systems to adapt\" (ibid). This paper explores the relationships between assets, livelihoods, adaptive capacity and food security using the CCAFS household baseline survey data.In order to meet the multiple purposes of the CCAFS baseline survey, the number of 'food deficit months' was defined as the number of months that a household has difficulty getting food from any source during an average year (Kristjanson et al, 2010). This is a crude indicator of a very complex concept that is never easily measured (Migotto et al, 2007), and more in-depth food security studies will be used to complement the baseline data. For the purpose of tracking changes over time (the main objective of the baseline initiative), the households were divided into three categories; those with no food deficit months per year, those with 1-5 food deficit months, and those reporting over 5 food deficit months in the year.Similarly, a simple wealth proxy, or 'asset indicator', was derived from asking respondents which assets they owned from a list of 21 possibilities. These included assets related to 1) Energy: Generator (electric or diesel), Solar Panel, Biogas Digester, Battery (large, e.g. car battery for power); 2) Information: Television, Cell phone, Internet access, Computer, Radio; 3) Production means: Tractor, Mechanical Plough, Thresher, Mill (for grinding cereals or oilseeds); 4) Transport: Motorbike, Car, Bicycle; 5) Luxury items: Fridge, Air conditioning, Electrical fan, Bank account, Stove (Barahona et al, 2011). To form the Asset Indicator, the households were divided into three categories; those with no assets, those with 1-3 assets, and those with 4 or more assets.Indicators of the diversity of agricultural production and sales activities were also derived, based on the number of agricultural products being produced on-farm as well as the number of agricultural products being sold by the household (Barahona et al, 2011). Households producing 1 to 4 products were classified as having low production diversification, those producing 5 to 8 products were classified as having medium production diversification, and households producing 9 or more products were considered as having high production diversification. With respect to sales diversification, households selling no products were classified as subsistence, 1-5 products as low market orientation, and 6 or more as high market orientation.Households were also queried about what changes they had made over the last 10 years with respect to a wide range of practices -relating to crop type, variety type, land use and management practices, and farm animals/fish management practices (59 possibilities in all -see survey for details). The idea here is that households that have already been making changes, and introducing new practices, are likely to be more 'adaptive' to weather-related shocks and long-run changes in weather patterns (i.e. climate), than those that have not been able to make adjustments or introduced any new innovations to date.This led to an 'adaptability indicator', defined as the following: 0= zero or one change made in farming practices (i.e. crop, livestock, soil, water, land, and/or tree management practices) over last 10 years (low level); 1=2-10 changes made in farming practices (intermediate level); 2=11 or more changes made in farming practices (high level).The IndicatorsTable 1 shows the percentage of surveyed households found in each category with respect to food security, assets, agricultural production diversification, agricultural sales diversification, land ownership and education. Levels of food insecurity are high, with only 44% of households reporting no periods with food shortages during the year, and 15% facing food deficits for over half the year. Many households own only very basic household assets, with 2/3 reporting having three or less. These households vary in their degrees of agricultural production and sales diversification. Farm sizes are very small; only around one-quarter own more than 1 acre of land. One-third of households have little formal education. Given the high levels of food insecurity reported by respondents, we explored the relationship between household food security levels and the number of assets a household owns. Figure 2 suggests that households with higher levels of food insecurity (e.g. 6 months and above per year, in brown) generally had very few of these basic household assets (three or less). Food secure households are the only ones that reported owning 8 or more assets. Thus it appears that having these types of assets helps these rural households in terms of being able to feed their families throughout the year.Table 2 shows asset ownership by the randomly selected Bangladeshi households surveyed. Cell phones are owned by 70% of households, and almost one-half have fishing nets. Only around a third have bicycles or radios, however. One-quarter own a television or electrical fan. Few (19%) have a bank account. We next explored the relationship between asset ownership and the number of food deficit months. As seen in Figure 3, households with four or more assets are generally more food secure (70% of these households are in the no food shortage category), than are those with less assets.A Chi-square statistical test confirms a strong association between the number of assets owned by the household and the level of hunger reported (chi² = 140.5 (n=980), d.f.=4, p<0.001).Households with more assets report fewer food deficit months in a year; the converse is true for households with fewer assets.As might be expected, households that own higher value assets are more likely to be food secure. 78% of those with a motorcycle, 76% with a solar panel, 73% with a water pump, and 68% that own a television reported no food deficit months. Interestingly, ownership of a boat was not associated with greater food security. In fact, 18% of those who owned a boat reported having more than 6 food deficit months per year. Thus it appears from our data that many households with boats, i.e. likely to be highly dependent on fishing for their livelihoods, are also facing serious food insecurity issues.Separate housing for farm animals 61Electricity from a grid 29Improved storage for crops 13Well/borehole 10 Water storage tank >500 litres 1The enumerators asked respondents whether they had any improved household structures, running water or electricity (Table 3). Few reported having electricity (29%) or running water (29%) in their homes. In terms of a relationship between having these facilities and food security, we found that the few (13) households with a water storage tank of a volume of at least 500 litres reported no food shortages. Households with running water or electricity also appear to be more likely to be food secure. Of the households with running water, 59% said they were food secure throughout the year. For those with electricity, 57% reported having no food deficits. This compares an overall average of 44% for food secure households.Rice was by far the most critical crop, with 64% of households saying it was their most important crop (Figure 4). This question was asked in relation to their overall household welfare and not solely in terms of consumption or income, for example. With respect to their reported 'second most' important crop, there were many cited, with coconut, bananas, garlic, papaya, lentils and betel nut being the most frequently mentioned (Figure 5). Betel nut, coconut, garlic and bananas were reported most frequently as the third most important crop. When the relationship between diversification in agricultural production activities and the level of food security was explored, we found a strong association (chi² = 76.4, d.f.=4, p<0.001). More diversified households had fewer food deficit months in a year; the converse was true for less diversified households (Figure 6). A higher percentage of food secure household (in blue) have highly diversified agricultural strategies than the very food insecure ones (in brown). One-third of extremely food insecure households are involved in very few agriculture-related activities. Figure 6 also suggests that there may be some cause for concern over the fact that more than one-half of households that have more than 6 food deficit months per year fall in the 'medium' diversification category. Figure 7 shows the agricultural sales diversification indicator (which can also be thought of as a market orientation proxy measure), based on the number of different agricultural products produced on-farm and sold. It shows that of the least food secure households, around 35% are selling nothing (subsistence-level), almost 60% sell 1-5 products (low market orientation) and only 5% are selling more than 6 products (high market orientation).Indeed, we confirmed there is a strong association between the market orientation of a household and the level of hunger reported (chi² = 48.96, d.f.=4, p<0.001). Households selling a greater range of products reported fewer food deficit months in a year; and the converse was true for households selling fewer products. Out of the 151 households that reported having more than 6 months of hunger per year, 34% reported that they sold no agricultural products (see Figure 7). A further 74% sold only one or two different agricultural products.Land is considered a form of 'natural capital' under the sustainable livelihoods framework (DFID, 1999b) and is obviously key for sustainable livelihoods and food security. For the purposes of this analysis, households were placed into four categories based on land ownership. Landless households were classified as owning no land, households owning <½ acre of land were classified as having low land ownership, those with ½ to 1 acre of land were classified as having medium land ownership and households owning more than one acre of land were classed as having high land ownership 1 . Figure 8 shows the relationship between land ownership and food security.We found a strong and significant negative relationship between the amount of land owned and food security status (chi² = 164, d.f.=6, p<0.001), with less land associated with low food security/ more food deficit months. None of the landless households had sufficient food for their families throughout the year. In fact, of the landless households surveyed, 42% were food deficit for more 1Note that 1 acre is the equivalent of 100 decimals of land in Bangladesh. 1 'decimal' is equivalent to 0.01 acre or 0.004047 hectare. (Source: ANGOC, 2009) than six months per year (n=19). By contrast, 74% of households (n= 261) that owned more than one acre of land reported having no food shortages at any time of the year. As seen in Figure 8, more than 75% of food insecure households (more than six food deficit months per year) also owned less than ½ acre of land.The analysis shown in Figure 8 does not include access to or use of rented or communal land. For the surveyed households, we found that 65% of households did not rent any land, and 92% of households reported not making use of communal lands. For those households that did rent some agricultural land, the mean size of rented land was half an acre and the maximum size was reported to be seven acres. With respect to agricultural employment, one-half of surveyed households reported having a member that had earned income working on someone else's farm in the last 12 months. There was a strong association between working on someone else's farm and suffering from food insecurity (chi² = 175, d.f.=2, p<0.001). Of those who reported having six or more food deficit months per year (151 households), three-quarters reported that they had been employed on someone else's farm in the past 12 months (Figure 9). In contrast, virtually the same proportion of food secure households reported earning no such agricultural labour-related income.The link between lack of land and employment as agricultural labourers is also clear, as 84% of those with no land (although only 19 households reported being landless), and 64% of those with very little land (567 households had less than half an acre), had a household member working on someone else's farm in the last 12 months. In contrast, of the 261 households that own more than one acre of land, 76% reported no wage earnings from working on others' farms. These households were also less likely to suffer from any food shortage. Agricultural day labour might therefore be seen as a coping strategy for those without any or much land, but it does not appear to be a successful one in terms of ensuring food security.Fourteen percent of the surveyed households were renting out some of their land. As would be expected, those who were capable of renting out their land were less likely to be food insecure -69% of those renting out land reported having no food deficit months, compared to 44% of households overall.One-third of households reported receiving some income from business in the last 12 months. One-fifth received payments from projects or government in the last 12 months. Only 3% reported receiving remittances or gifts in the last year, and only 2% had received any type of payment for environmental services. Seventeen percent received wages from non-agricultural employment in the last year. Therefore, small businesses seem to be a widespread livelihood opportunity for households in these rural coastal areas.Almost one-third of households had taken a loan from a bank or formal institution in the last 12 months, and 47% had received cash or received a loan from an informal credit source. Those suffering from food insecurity were slightly more likely to resort to informal sources of credit than other households. Of the 151 households with high levels of food insecurity (reporting six or more months of hunger per year), just over one-half of them (56%) reported accessing cash from informal sources. This compares to 47% of households overall.Interestingly, not having a bank account does not seem to be a hinderance to accessing formal credit in coastal Bangladesh. Of the 302 households reporting having taken out a loan or receiving credit from a bank or formal institution in the last 12 months, only 64 had a bank account.In terms of the gender division of labour in agricultural work, the survey revealed that male household members were more likely to be engaged in producing food and cash crops, whereas women were more likely to be responsible for processing food crops. Of the 54% of households producing at least one type of food crop on their own farm, 79% stated that the men do most of the work².Seventeen percent of households reported producing a cash crop on their farms (tea, coffee, sisal, cotton, jute, or sugar cane), and of these households, 83% reported the male members did most of the work.Just over one-half of households undertook further processing of a crop at home, and 62% of these households said that the women did most of this type of food processing work, with 18% saying the men did most of it, and another 18% saying that several household members shared responsibility for such work.The work tasks associated with looking after livestock also differed by gender. The vast majority of households reported that women are responsible for most of the work involved in raising small livestock (e.g. sheep, goats, chickens, ducks -found in 89% of households) and producing livestock products such as milk and eggs. For large livestock (cattle and buffalo -found in 44% of surveyed households), one-half of households reported that it was men that do most of the work. Small livestock were likely to be consumed (by 81% of households), and just over one-half reported also selling small animals, but most of the livestock products are being consumed and not sold.Although 90% of households reported that women do most of the work for small livestock in our study, a recent more in-depth gender survey undertaken across Bangladesh, by the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI), shows that many women may not control the income from this, or any other, work. Using the 'women's empowerment in agricultural index', the nationally representative study found that 45% of women were not empowered, and lacked access to, or the ability to make decisions about, credit, while 75% lacked control over use of income (IFPRI, 2012).Fishing was found to be primarily a male activity in coastal Bangladesh. Forty percent of households were producing fish, and 88% said the man did most of the work. Fish is being sold by three-quarters of these fishing households. Harvesting timber is also a task done predominantly by men, as reported by 60% of households.Collection of fuelwood off-farm, by contrast, was a female-dominated activity, with 69% of households reporting that the woman does most of the work. Virtually all respondents said the fuelwood was used by household members and not sold.The survey revealed that most off-farm activities are predominantly activities undertaken by male household members. One-third of households harvest or collect food crops for home consumption, and a similar proportion harvest fruit from areas outside of their farms. Fodder and fish are also frequently harvested or collected off-farm, with 42% of households collecting fodder off-farm, while 49% are fishing outside the farm.Collection of fuelwood from off-farm sources is something that women frequently are responsible for, however. One-half of households are reportedly collecting fuelwood off-farm, and 48% of these said that women were doing most of this work.Respondents were asked to list their three most important crops in terms of household livelihood strategies today versus 10 years ago. Rice was, and still remains, the most important crop (for 78% of households). Farmers today seemed to have shifted away from papaya production, the second most important crop for 16% of households ten years ago and only around 8% now. Coconut, banana, betel nut and garlic were all still being reported as important both 10 years ago and now.The enumerators were trained to probe about what changes in agricultural practices had been made over the last 10 years (including those related to crop types, crop varieties, livestock types and management, and soil, water, and land management practices), and then record the reasons why those changes had been made. Table 4 shows the type and frequency of the various changes reported.In terms of changes in practices, the most common ones we see in these Bangladesh households are the introduction of new crops or varieties, and starting to use or increasing usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Around one-half of households have switched out of growing a particular crop or variety, and planted higher yielding or better quality varieties.Percent of households (n=980)Starting using or using more mineral/chemical fertilisers 61 Stopped growing crop (totally) 52Stopped using a variety 52Starting using or using more pesticides/herbicides 51Planting higher yielding variety 47Planting better quality variety 44Planting shorter cycle variety 32Started using manure/compost 26Started irrigating 20Reduced area 18Introduced/built ridges or bunds 16Introduced improved irrigation 13Planting flood tolerant variety 12We found that widespread mechanisation has been occurring in the last decade in these areas. In terms of strategies that may be helping households adapt to changing environmental conditions, one-third of households report switching to a shorter-cycle crop variety, and 12% are now planting a flood tolerant variety. One-fifth of households introduced irrigation, and another 13% improved their irrigation practices. Intercropping, rotations and use of manure or compost are also new practices for many. Improved land and soil management practices are also seen, with 16% introducing ridges or bunds.The main crop varieties that have been introduced are Aman Rice and HYV (High Yield Variety) Boro Rice (Figure 10). The analysis also shows that for those households that had introduced or were using more purchased inputs (mineral or chemical fertiliser, and pesticides or herbicides) than previously, these are the rice crop varieties to which these inputs are predominantly being applied. Overall, rice is the crop that households have been making the most changes to in the past ten years, reflecting its importance in terms of household food security and livelihoods. However, 266 households had stopped growing rice in the past ten years, and 258 households had stopped growing a variety of Aman Rice. For those households who had started using more pesticides or herbicides, these were also commonly applied to Aman Rice and HYV Boro Rice, as well banana, betel leaf, garlic and pumpkins.In the last five years, virtually all households reported that they had faced a climate-related crisis, but only 36% of them also received some type of assistance to help deal with the crisis. For those that did receive assistance, 84% received support from government agencies, and 44% reported receiving help from NGO's (non-governmental organisations) or CBO's (communitybased organisations). One quarter of these households received help from friends, relatives and neighbours. Support from politicians, religious organisations or local community groups was reported by very few.Thus government agencies appear to be active with respect to responding to and providing assistance during climate-related disasters. At the same time, supportive actions by NGO's and CBO's are also recognized by almost half of the surveyed households.A rough proxy for 'adaptability' was derived by adding up the number of all changes that households have made in the last 10 years with respect to their farming practices -this includes any changes made related to crops, livestock, land, water and soil management practices. The assumption here is that households that have made more changes are arguably more adaptive and will likely be in a better position to deal with a changing climate, for example. To allow for an easy comparison and visualisation of the variation of this indicator across households and sites, 3 categories were chosen (Kristjanson et al, 2010). Households that had made 0 or 1 change were classified as having low adaptability, those who had made 2 to 10 changes were classified as having medium adaptability, and households who had made 11 or more changes were classed as having high adaptability.Are households that are making more changes to their agricultural practices more food secure? As shown in Figure 11, over 50% of the households that had made 11 or more changes to their agricultural practices (in brown) also reported no shortage of food. There is also a strong statistically significant association between the number of changes made in the past ten years by each of the 980 households, and the corresponding number of food deficit months (chi² = 38.4, d.f.=4, p<0.001). Households that had made many changes to their agricultural practices in the past ten years reported fewer months of hunger; and the converse was true for households that had made fewer changes.This suggests that households that are pursuing adaptation strategies are enhancing their food security, as proposed by others (e.g. Di Falco et al, 2010). However, this is not a causal analysis, and it is also possible that it is only when households are food secure that they are able to invest in new agricultural practices. A strong and likely two-way relationship between household food security and adaptability was also found in East Africa (Kristjanson et al, 2012).The relationship between household asset levels and adaptability was also explored using the baseline data. Using the indicators, we see more high asset households in the higher adaptation category (in brown) (Figure 12). Further analysis confirmed a strong positive association between adaptability (number of changes made in the past ten years) and number of assets (chi² = 62.5, d.f.=4, p<0.001). Households that had made more changes to their agricultural practices in the past ten years tended to have more assets; and those with few assets were farming in much the same manner as they have for many years. However, a small percentage of households that had few assets were making a significant number of changes to their agricultural practices, showing some adaptability by even the poorest households. Are more diversified households, in terms of the number of different agricultural activities being pursued, also the ones that are making more changes in how and what they produce (i.e. more innovative)? It appears so, as shown by Figure 13, since almost 60% of the households with high innovation levels (making more than 11 changes in the last ten years) were also producing 9 or more products. Furthermore, all the households with low innovation levels (i.e. making zero or one change to their farming practices in the past ten years) were producing less than four products.Statistical testing confirms the strong association between the number of changes made in the past ten years and the number of different agricultural activities (chi² = 393.3, d.f.=4, p<0.001).Households that made more changes are also producing a wider range of agricultural products; and conversely, those making few changes tend to be the least diversified households. This is likely to work both ways -the least diversified households are not in a good position to try new things, but low levels of innovation may also mean that households are not able to increase their productivity enough to gain sufficient income to re-invest into producing a variety of products.As can be seen in Figure 14, there is a similarly strong association between adaptability and the indicator of selling diversification, based on the number of different agricultural products sold by the household (chi² = 267.97, d.f.=4, p<0.001).There was evidence of a strong positive association between adaptability and the highest education level achieved by a household member (chi² = 96.7, d.f.=6, p<0.001), which can also be seen in Figure 15. The majority of households that had made 11 or more changes in agricultural practices in the past ten years had at least one person residing within the household with either a secondary or post-secondary education. Out of the 440 households that had been classified as being highly adaptable (in brown), 179 of these had a member with a secondary education (41%) and 175 had someone with a post-secondary education (40%). The link between education levels and the adoption and diffusion of agricultural innovations is discussed by Weir and Knight (2000), who suggest that educated farmers are both better innovators themselves, plus they are better able to copy those who innovate and thus enhance the diffusion of agricultural innovations (ibid).Collective action around managing the natural resources that rural households rely on (e.g. water, soils) was surprisingly low. The vast majority of respondents were not members of any type of agricultural or natural resource management-related group. Small numbers of households said they were in groups related to one of the following: irrigation, fishing, shrimp ponds, agricultural productivity enhancement, tree nursery/tree planting, or marketing agricultural products.Fourteen percent of households did report being members of a savings or credit-related group. However, being a member of such a group does not appear to be related to greater household food security. For example, 44% of those in a savings or credit group still suffered from 1 to 5 food deficit months per year, while 12% faced 6 or more hunger months. This was similar to the overall percentages of 41% and 15%, respectively, of all surveyed households.Households were asked to give the reasons why they had made the reported changes in agricultural practices (Table 5). These could be related to markets, labour, land, weather/climate or any others they mentioned. With respect to crops, market-related reasons were more frequently given as the reason behind the change in crop practices than weather or climate-related reasons. Better yields and better prices were cited by just over one-half of households, for example.Climate-related reasons. With respect to environmental or climate-related factors driving adoption of new crops, varieties or crop management practices, higher salinity was mentioned by one-quarter of respondents, and the emergence of new pests and diseases was cited by 21% of households. Eighteen percent of respondents said the changes were driven by more frequent cyclones, 17% said that floods had become more frequent, and 14% felt that there were more cold spells or foggy days than previously. Perceptions regarding changes in the climate thus appear to have already had a considerable impact on agricultural livelihoods in these parts of coastal Bangladesh. While 11% thought that the overall amount of rain had decreased, 5% perceived it as increasing.For respondents that mentioned they thought the frequency of floods had increased, 40% said the Aman rice crop had been affected. Similarly, more than 45% of respondents affected by higher salinity said it was in relation to the Aman rice crop. Coconut has reportedly been affected by more frequent cyclones.Land and labour-related reasons. Changes in availability of land and labour also were perceived by some respondents as a problem (less land and not enough labour). For others, who now had more land (10%) and labour (15%) than previously, these factors created opportunities for adopting new practices. Project or government interventions were seldom mentioned as influencing the changes these farming and fishing households have been making.Market-related reasons. For many respondents, it was primarily HYV Boro rice that had benefitted from technology and market-related factors, such as a better price, better yields and new opportunities to sell. With respect to changes in livestock production practices, 93% of households said that they had introduced new farm animals or fish types, and 56% had stopped keeping one or more types of farm animal or fish. Chickens and dairy cows were most commonly stated as being introduced, while other families stated they had stopped keeping dairy cows and goats. As with changes to crop practices, market reasons were the most frequently cited drivers of changes in livestock production practices. Fifty-seven percent of households stated that higher prices were behind their changes in practices, while 43% said that availability of more productive livestock or fish types or breeds were the reason for making a switch. Forty-five percent of households said new diseases are appearing, requiring adaptations, while 17% of households had noticed more salinisation occurring.This analysis of household survey data from 980 households across coastal Bangladesh supports using the sustainable livelihoods framework as a basis for exploring the many complex factors influencing household food security and adaptive capacity (Haider, 2009). This framework suggests that climate-related, economic and other 'shocks' will have impacts on households' asset base (DFID, 1999b) and livelihood strategies pursued. Different types of livelihood assets (physical, financial, social, human and natural capital) form the basis for households' choices of livelihood strategies, including agricultural practices, which in turn influence their food security status and level of well-being.We find empirical evidence that land (natural capital) and household asset ownership (physical capital) are positively linked to household food security levels. Education (human capital) is closely associated with the adaptive capacity of these households (proxied by the number of farming practice changes they have already made). The results also show that households that diversify what they choose to produce, as well as to sell, are pursuing key livelihood strategies that make them more food secure, and more able to take up new agricultural practices to deal with changing circumstances.In the theoretical diagram below, the sustainable livelihood framework has been adapted to highlight the evidence of strong linkages that this analysis shows. As ours was not a causal analysis, the arrows in Figure 16 are likely to go in both directions. We suggest there are multiple 'learning loops' between assets, livelihood strategies and outcomes. In Annex I, we show the strength of the associations we found between the various indicators. The statistically significant association we found between adaptability and food security supports the view that the poorest households with high levels of food insecurity are less innovative; they are taking up few new agricultural practices. Other researchers have suggested that this is a necessary risk avoidance strategy (Banerjee and Duflo, 2012). In Bangladesh it does appear that food insecure households are simply not in a position to adopt new agricultural strategies in response to climate or market-related changes, thus they are likely stuck in the type of 'poverty traps' discussed by Barrett et al, 2006 and others. It is also probable that this causality goes in both directions in locations such as these where there are few safety nets, i.e. that those that are not changing their agricultural practices are increasingly likely to remain food insecure. Policies that target these food insecure households and provide safety nets in the event of shocks are therefore critical for improved food security. Programs will need to focus on enhancing the food access, availability and affordability situation of the least food secure households, as they are undoubtedly going to be the ones that are the least able to adapt to a changing climate.This evidence also suggests that it may be worthwhile to explore in more detail the specific changes that food secure households are making, as they are likely the most strategic and feasible ones for 'scaling out' efforts. For example, one-quarter of these households are now using compost or manure, and 16% have introduced flood tolerant varieties. Such practices enhance resilience to a changing climate and likely could benefit many more households.The data also provide evidence that households with more diversified agricultural portfolios tend to be both more food secure and more adaptable in terms of taking up new agricultural practices (OECD, 2008;Conway, 2010;Clements et al, 2011). However, diversification by itself to date is not solving everyone's food security issues; more than one-half of households that have more than six food deficit months per year are also somewhat diversified.As the SLF suggests, the viability of adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers will be shaped by the availability of a range of assets. The data show a strong positive relationship between the number of assets owned by a household and the degree to which they are food secure. This indicates that the community-based adaptation to climate change (CBA) approaches being pursued by many development agencies and practitioners may be key to addressing food security issues at the household level, as they are increasingly paying attention to assets and equity, utilizing tools such as participatory community risk assessments (Van Aalst et al, 2008).A recent study on empowerment of women in agriculture in southwest Bangladesh also found that assets are critical to improved well-being of women and their families (IFPRI, 2012). It found that women in households with higher asset wealth are more empowered than those with few assets, although over one-half of women in the top wealth quintile were not yet empowered (IFPRI, 2012). Since women were found to play an important role in agricultural production in this study, including doing 90% of the work for small livestock farming, this supports the view that gendersensitive programmes should be included in adaptation strategies and policies.In the sustainable livelihoods framework (Figure 16), market and climate factors fall in the 'vulnerability context' box. Findings from this analysis suggest that more immediate market and productivity drivers (e.g. higher prices, improved marketing opportunities, higher yielding varieties) have to date been dominant in shaping these Bangladeshi households' agricultural and adaptation strategies. It makes sense that these more immediate and visible drivers have significantly greater influence on food insecure households than do concerns over long-term changes in the climate. It implies, however, that programs and investments coming from new 'climate change' funds will be most valuable if they do not make the false assumption that rural farming households' behaviour is being significantly influenced by climate factors alone. Such market vulnerability factors that in fact are driving behavioural change are priority areas for more in-depth research that will help identify effective adaptive strategies. This finding also suggests that policies and institutional reforms aimed at reducing market risks for smallholder agriculturalists are as important as those that address climate variability and change.In terms of changes in practices already underway, the most common ones seen in these households in Bangladesh are the introduction of new crops or varieties, and starting to use, or increasing usage, of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Around one-half of households have switched out of growing a particular crop or variety, and half have planted higher yielding or better quality varieties.A changing climate is likely already adding, and will definitely add, more impetus and need for even greater changes and adaptations in the future. Too many agricultural households are still facing high levels of food insecurity in southern Bangladesh. Two-thirds of the households surveyed reported that they were on their own in a climate-related crisis, receiving no assistance to deal with the outcomes. Clearly, the poorest households with few assets who are already suffering from food insecurity for many months of the year will be increasingly vulnerable to variability in extreme events and average temperature increases. Differences between households in terms of assets, livelihood opportunities and adaptive capacity demonstrate why equity is such an important consideration in research and development efforts focusing on adaptation to climate change (Smit and Pilifosova, 2001).Although the sustainable livelihoods framework has been shown to be a useful conceptual framework within this analysis, it is also recognised as being limited in so far as it leaves out the role of power, including political power and women's empowerment, and it cannot incorporate historical dimensions or dynamic changes (Adato and Meinzen-Dick, 2002). Power relationships can be conceptualised under the category of 'human capital', but more holistic frameworks incorporating these intangible factors have also been suggested. Jones et al (2010) base their 'local adaptive capacity' framework on five distinct characteristics: the asset base, institutions and entitlements, knowledge and information, innovation, and flexible forward-looking decisionmaking. The analysis of this household-level data does provide some evidence in support of this 'local adaptive capacity' framework, in particular, showing that assets and innovation (as proxied by our adaptability indicator) are indeed key elements of adaptive capacity, at least in terms of household food security. The analysis does suggest that the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach may be a useful basis for developing such metrics and indicators for adaptation and adaptive capacity. The CCAFS baseline also includes village and institutional-level approaches that attempt to address the institutions and entitlements, knowledge and information, and future visions of different community members, so the linking of results with the baseline research efforts being implemented at the three levels will also contribute to filling the gap in empirical evidence regarding what exactly is meant by adaptive capacity, and how best we go about enhancing it.The table below shows a summary of the Chi Square Values obtained through the document and the measure of association in the relationship (using Cramer's V = φc).Cramer's V (measure of association) 1Working on someone else's farm (yes, no) and food insecurity (Figure 9) ","tokenCount":"7800"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7867706594.json b/data/part_1/7867706594.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..37ed5d1ede13476761351378f54dc597d0836952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7867706594.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cf98afb03635f617b2e2790b2de64209","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bf264d1e-33b3-4e55-8b0a-6b141e172426/retrieve","id":"-1146637377"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1da404a8-55c5-4ecd-b2fb-8b99e13490c1","pagecount":"11","content":"The Nutrition, Health and Food Security Impact Area Platform (Nutrition Impact Platform) was incepted in January 2023, with the appointment of Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted as director; and was in operation from May 2023. The Nutrition Impact Platform plays an important role in delivering on the CGIAR mission of transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis, while strengthening impact orientation in, and coherence across all CGIAR research and innovation groups, initiatives, and divisions.Four functions have been identified to guide the work on the Nutrition Impact Platform: Convene communities of practice; Deepen capacity of CGIAR and partners; Amplify CGIAR's external profile and pathways to impacts; and Advise portfolio-level management and strategy. These functions will enable the Nutrition Impact Platform to achieve the CGIAR collective global targets of i) End hunger and enable affordable healthy diets for the 3 billion people who do not currently have access to safe and nutritious food, and ii) Reduce cases of foodborne illness and zoonotic diseases by one third, by 2030.CGIAR Technical Reporting has been developed in alignment with the CGIAR Technical Reporting Arrangement. This Impact Platform report is a Type 1 report and constitutes part of the broader CGIAR Technical Report. Each CGIAR Impact Platform submits an annual Type 1 report, which provides assurance on Impact Platform progress.The CGIAR Technical Report comprises:• Type 1 Initiative, Impact Platform, and Science Group Project (SGP) reports, with quality assured results reported by Initiatives, Platforms and SGPs available on the CGIAR Results Dashboard.• The Type 3 Portfolio Performance and Project Coordination Practice Change report, which focuses on internal practice change.• The Portfolio Narrative, which draws on the Type 1 and Type 3 reports, and the CGIAR Results Dashboard, to provide a broader view on Portfolio coherence, including results, partnerships, country and regional engagement, and synergies among the Portfolio's constituent parts.The CGIAR Annual Report is a comprehensive overview of CGIAR's collective achievements, impact and strategic outlook, which draws significantly from the Technical Report products above. For 2023, the Annual Report and Technical Report will be presented online as an integrated product.and Science Group Project reports reportSection 1: Fact sheet and budget 2Section 2: Progress against the theory of change 4Section 3: Key function progress 8Section 4: Key results 13Section 5: Adaptive management 15On-trackSystems and structures to influence, inform and support effec�ve por�olio management and performance for the CGIAR Impact Areas.Func�onal CoPs influence CGIAR research themes, perspec�ves, advocacy and thought leadership in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security driven by evidence, knowledge, research and capacity exchanges between CGIAR Centers/Alliances and partners.Capaci�es and capabili�es of CGIAR science leadership and partners to adopt, adapt and integrate nutri�on-sensi�ve food systems research methods, innova�ons and solu�ons in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.Strategic scien�fic synthesis and analysis of research gaps to ar�culate, advocate, and influence agenda in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.End hunger for all and enable affordable healthy diets for the 3 billion people who do not currently have access to safe and nutri�ous food.Reduce cases of foodborne illness (600 million annually) and zoono�c disease (1 billion annually) by one third.Global funding agencies and na�onal governments use research evidence in the development of strategies, policies, and investments to drive sustainable transforma�on of food, land, and water systems to meet mul�ple CGIAR impact area targets.One CGIAR-NARS-SME networks use market segments, product profiles and pipeline investment cases to orient variety development and deployment towards those that provide larger scale benefits across the 5 Impact Areas.Na�onal and sub-na�onal government agencies use system transforma�on research to implement policies and programs that reduce emissions and enhance climate resilience and environmental sustainability of food, land, and water systems.Section 2: Progress against the theory of changeThis is a simple, linear, and static representation of a complex, nonlinear, and dynamic reality. Feedback loops and connections between this Platform and other Inititiatives' theories of change are excluded for clarity.Action Area IA Impact AreaNote: A summary of Key Functions progress ratings is provided in Section 3.2023 was a year of new beginnings for the Nutrition Impact Platform, following the appointment of Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, formerly Global Lead of Nutrition and Health Area of WorldFish and 2021 World Food Prize Laureate, to the position of Director of the Platform. The Platform became fully operational as of May 2023, with a wide range of activities implemented to achieve the goals and objectives of the Nutrition Impact Platform, as described here.As the Platform was newly conceptualized, the activities undertaken were guided by the four key functions described in the Systems Council document, while a functional theory of change (TOC) was developed. These four functions also guide the Nutrition Impact Platform's delivery in four interlinked functions, outlined in CGIAR's 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, namely: i) foster global critical thinking, use of evidence, and appropriate metrics around the Impact Area; ii) raise internal capacity across the Action Areas through strengthening and sharing common tools, standards, data sets, cutting-edge science and knowledge management; iii) advise management on the identification and performance management of CGIAR Initiatives; and iv) amplify CGIAR's external profile and voice, engaging in and shaping global policy discourse, and by leading external communications plans to influence well beyond agriculture and food sectors.The Nutrition Impact Platform took the decision to convene a CoP for nutrition, food systems and health practitioners across the CGIAR, at a regional level. We believe that smaller, targeted, functional CoP will be better positioned to streamline research priorities, methods, and impacts, while creating shared opportunities and partnerships, for creating impact at regional and national levels. The first CoP was convened in October 2023, at WorldFish Penang, Malaysia, and saw the participation of 14 CGIAR researchers from Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. The convening brought forth positive results as researchers have better understanding of the food and nutrition security issues in the region; the importance of adopting multi-stakeholder nutrition-sensitive food systems approaches in developing interventions; and the formation of a cross-center communication platform to share information, knowledge resources and investment opportunities for creating impact at the region.Significant investments were made by the Nutrition Impact Platform to develop capacities of CGIAR researchers and partners, especially in the areas of food and nutrition security, food systems transformation, nutrition-sensitive food systems approaches and health. In 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform sponsored nineteen individuals, both within and outside of CGIAR, to participate in high-level global events such as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28), the 6th Micronutrient Forum Global Conference, and the Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia 2023 Conference. Of these, thirteen are youth, and eight of them are women. As the Nutrition Impact Platform continues to grow, more investments will be directed to develop more impactful, sustainable, and long-term capacity development programs, from 2024 onwards. The Nutrition Impact Platform will also benefit from the Netherlands-CGIAR Partnership (NL-CGIAR) Phase II, with potential researchers joining the Platform via the Senior Experts Programme (SEP), in 2024.The Nutrition Impact Platform's efforts to deliver on this function was centered on a series of food systems transformation events, beginning with the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment in Rome, Italy, and culminating with COP 28 in Dubai, UAE. Collaboration opportunities were undertaken by the Nutrition Impact Platform to key agenda shaping events including the ANH Academy Week, the 6th Micronutrient Forum Global Conference, Delivering for Nutrition for South Asia 2023, and co-hosting the Nutrition and Health Day at the Food Systems Pavilion during COP 28. The Nutrition Impact Platform was also represented in UN Water Conference 2023 in New York, MARE People and Sea Conference 2023 in Amsterdam, Africa Food Systems Summit 2023 in Dar es Salaam, Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Iowa, and the World Agri-Food Innovation Conference (WAFI) 2023 in Beijing. While the participants to these various high-level events, conferences, dialogues, and forum differ, the message from the Nutrition Impact Platform remains the same: holistic, nutrition-sensitive food systems transformation towards diverse, equitable and sustainable diets are needed to end hunger for more than 3 billion in the world by 2030.in 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform was deeply engaged with several CGIAR Initiatives, namely Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD), Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHiFT), Fruits and Vegetables (FRESH) and Resilient Cities, to better integrate nutrition-sensitive food systems approaches into the solutions and innovations. Two key evidence pieces, one on global food and nutrition security indicators, and another on CGIAR portfolio contribution to food and nutrition security, were commissioned during 2023, and the results are expected to be presented in 2024. Lastly, an opinion piece, coauthored by Shakuntala and the then Chief Scientist of FAO, Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, emphasizing the need to diversify our investments aside from major staple foods for better food and nutrition security, was published in The Telegraph UK, in conjunction with World Food Day 2023. Community(ies) of Prac�ce ac�vely engage and collaborate with CGIAR community(ies) and partners towards amplifying impacts and outcomes in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.Func�onal CoPs influence CGIAR research themes, perspec�ves, advocacy and thought leadership in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security driven by evidence, knowledge, research and capacity exchanges between CGIAR Centers/Alliances and partners.The Nutrition Impact Platform seeks to deliver on this key function by bringing together CGIAR community across its divisions, centers, and initiatives, and close partners relevant to the areas of nutrition, health, and food security, to facilitate information exchange, enhance coordination, and foster collaboration towards outcomes and impacts.In 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform convened its first CoP for CGIAR researchers in Southeast Asia and Pacific region in WorldFish, Penang. The two-day interactive convening brought together 14 different researchers from five CGIAR entities (ABC, CIP, HarvestPlus, IFPRI, and WorldFish), out of which eight are women, to WorldFish headquarters. The CoP were provided opportunities to present on the various research priorities, agendas, and pathways for the region. Through the convening, the CoP were able to foster better synergy and alignment towards a common agenda for the region: to enable holistic food systems transformation through nutrition-sensitive approaches for the people of Southeast Asia and Pacific. The CoP also recognized the interlinkages between nutrition and gender, and the importance of delivering CGIAR impacts that cut across the two areas. The convening also successfully established a framework of interaction and communication, understanding the need for open, inclusive, and evidence-based information exchanges.The success of organizing small, targeted CoP from the Southeast Asia and Pacific region will inform the convening of similar CoPs across other regions in 2024. The Nutrition Impact Platform will also seek to convene a global interaction, involving all regional CoPs, to better align the food and nutrition security and health research targets, priorities, and metrics for CGIAR.Aside from establishing new CoPs, the Nutrition Impact Platform will also draw upon previous CoPs established by CGIAR  Compedium of resources uptake by CGIAR scien�sts, partners and stakeholders to create impac�ul outputs and outreach in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.Capaci�es and capabili�es of CGIAR science leadership and partners to adopt, adapt and integrate nutri�on-sensi�ve food systems research methods, innova�ons and solu�ons in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.The Nutrition Impact Platform will deliver on key function 2 by supporting the science leadership by providing guidance to staff and projects, helping to identify and fill key skills gaps internally or through partnerships, advancing the use of good research methods, and informing resource mobilization efforts.The Nutrition Impact Platform invested significantly in developing better capacities for CGIAR staff as well as external partners in 2023. Although newly incepted, the Nutrition Impact Platform managed to provide travel bursaries for 19 individuals from CGIAR and partners, of which 13 are youth and 8 are women. The travel bursaries supported their presence, learning and strategic engagement in global conferences and events and leveraged opportunities to strengthen understanding and influence change toward adopting nutrition-sensitive food system approaches in holistic transformations for diverse, equitable and sustainable diets. During the 6 th Micronutrient Forum Global Conference, the Nutrition Impact Platform hosted a session and featured presentations by three CGIAR researchers on their work in improving food and nutrition security. The presenters were selected from an open call across CGIAR that generated 13 abstracts submitted to the Nutrition Impact Platform for consideration.In 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform was involved in negotiations for a NL-CGIAR partnership and will benefit from the SEP program. Calls for the SEP program will be made in early 2024 and opportunities will be created by the Nutrition Impact Platform to collaborate with and host Dutch researchers interested in areas of food and nutrition security, food systems transformation, and health.Key Function 3: Amplifying CGIAR's external profile and pathways to impactStrategic advocacy, outreach and engagement for global agenda se�ng and shaping in areas of nutri�on, health and food security driven by CGIAR evidence, innova�on and solu�ons.High-level engagement pla�orms (e.g. conferences, fora, expert panels, thought leadership sessions), discourse and advocacy opportuni�es to disseminate and magnify CGIAR evidence, solu�ons and innova�on on nutri�on, health and food security.CGIAR evidence-based innova�ons and solu�ons visible within the areas of nutri�on, health and food security, suppor�ng and influencing pathways to impact.Strategic scien�fic synthesis and analysis of research gaps to ar�culate, advocate, and influence agenda in the areas of nutri�on, health and food security.The Nutrition Impact Platform has been mandated to support partnerships and advocacy leadership through coordinating CGIAR's voice and influence on specific topics related to the areas of nutrition, health, and food security, through scientific synthesis, strategic analysis of windows for advocacy and influence, and active outreach with partners, especially in the policy arena.In 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform managed to grow its advocacy and influence footprint in several global events and engagements, beginning with the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment in Rome, and culminating with COP 28 in Dubai. In all these events, the Nutrition Impact Platform articulated the need for holistic food systems transformation towards diverse, equitable and sustainable diets for the 3 billion people suffering from hunger and malnutrition, by 2030. The Nutrition Impact Platform continued to position CGIAR's profile in important events such as the Africa Food Systems Summit 2023 in Dar es Salaam, the 6th Micronutrient Forum Global Conference in The Hague, Borlaug Dialogue in Iowa, and Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia (D4N2023) in Kathmandu. The Nutrition Impact Platform was a bronze sponsor to the MNF conference, and convened a high-level panel discussion that featured Ambassador René van Hell, Director of Inclusive Green Growth, Ambassador for Sustainable Development and Artic, The Netherlands; Dr. Jyotsana Puri, Associate Vice President, IFAD; Ms. Boitshepo Giyose, Senior Advisor for Food and Nutrition Security, AUDA-NEPAD; and Dr. Inge Brouwer, senior research fellow of IFPRI and professor, Division of Human Health and Nutrition, Wageningen University & Research. The Nutrition Impact Platform also sponsored the D4N2023 conference, and Platform Manager, Ben Wismen chaired the session on 'Where we live and what we eat', which featured studies from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Through these various engagements, the Nutrition Impact Platform further emphasized the importance of holistic food systems transformation in facing the challenges of global hunger and malnutrition. These conferences provided opportunities to address global hunger at a global and regional level, as well as examine the various context-specific pathways and methodologies to deliver impact at scale. The Nutrition Impact Platform's biggest undertaking in 2023 was to host the Nutrition and Health Day at the Food Systems Pavilion at COP 28. The Platform partnered with institutions such as EIT Food, FOLU and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and delivered a day of engaging conversations and presentations on topics including nutrition-gender nexus, water in food systems, diversity and food systems, and evolving landscapes. Speakers for these sessions included CGIAR EMD, Dr. Ismahane Elouafi; EDF President, Mr. Fred Krupp; and others. Recordings of the session are available for the public and can be viewed here. Generate, use and disseminate robust scien�fic evidence for informing por�olio development ac�on and investments in areas of nutri�on, health and food security.Systems and structures to influence, inform and support effec�ve por�olio management and performance for the CGIAR Impact Areas.The Nutrition Impact Platform must deliver on this key function by informing managerial decisions on prioritization, design, and implementation of the portfolio to maximize impact, supporting performance measurement and management, and participating in the portfolio performance management team.In 2023, the Nutrition Impact Platform engaged with the CGIAR Research Initiatives on Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHiFT) and Fruits and Vegetables (FRESH) to further strengthen the research impact in the areas of nutrition, health, and food security. The Nutrition Impact Platform also worked with the Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) Initiative, and in particular, Work Package 2, to better amplify its impact and reach for food and nutrition security in the mega-deltas. Platform Director, Shakuntala Thilsted was invited to the AMD Work Package 2 planning workshop, at WorldFish, Penang, and presented a case for better integrating nutrition-sensitive food systems approaches for impact at scale. AMD and Resilient Cities Initiative were also invited to present their findings at the Nutrition Impact Platform-hosted Nutrition and Health Day at COP 28.The Nutrition Impact Platform had commissioned two key evidence pieces, one on global food and nutrition security indicators, and another on CGIAR portfolio contribution to food and nutrition security, as evidence to further inform development of the next business cycle and portfolio. These studies are expected to be published in mid-2024.Lastly, an opinion piece, co-authored by Platform Director and Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, was published in The Telegraph UK in conjunction with World Food Day 2023. In the opinion piece, the authors called for better investments in diverse foods and systems, as opposed to the major staple crops, for improving global food and nutrition security. Opportunity crops such as millet, quinoa, biofortified crops such as orange sweet potato and beans, and diverse aquatic foods, must be given due recognition and better investments in the upcoming CGIAR portfolio, to end hunger and malnutrition for all.This section provides an overview of results reported by the CGIAR Nutrition Impact Platform in 2023. These results align with the CGIAR Results Framework and Nutrition Impact Platform's theory of change. Source: Data extracted from the CGIAR Results Dashboard on 29 March 2024. Percentage of reported results tagged to CGIAR Impact Areas Not targeted: The result did not target any of the Impact Area objec�ves.The result has made a significant contribu�on to any of the Impact Area objec�ves, even though the objec�ve(s) is not the principal focus of the result.The result is principally about mee�ng any of the Impact Area objec�ves, and this is fundamental in its design and expected results. The result would not have been undertaken without this objec�ve. ","tokenCount":"3084"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7874091696.json b/data/part_1/7874091696.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a9d84bae59aee8046723f38b15a9e5f795fa1868
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7874091696.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e9e1261fd0fd9cb3fd39e564860f8563","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c71ee8dd-c9a4-4eba-9821-3a3485c03e3b/retrieve","id":"-337770591"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4f803c01-f2e3-4f9d-99a2-0484c8666c65","pagecount":"11","content":"Preparaoo por: Jaime ~duardo Muñoz (I.A., BiOl~trla -CIAT) y Maria Cristina ÁIlé2XlUJ.ta (Estad. Mat. Mk., Biometrla -CIAT) Fecha: Junio 4 de 1976 l. Introducción: Al escoger un diseño experinEl'ltal se hace énfasis en seleccionar ,aquel que im.nimi.ce la variacifu no controlable por el exper:i.IIEUtador, es decir, que minimice la ~z~.~.l-.error expel.i.l~tal. , Según Lí, Ching Chung (5), históricanente, el Diseño en Bloques Coupletos al Azar, (B. C.A.) fué el prin'er .. diseño válido para probar si los efectos de , 'tratamiento sen significativos bajo cendiciones de heterogeneidad entre las unidades experiIrenta1es, debido a que el af,'t'lIpamiento de unidades ~larogéneas en \"bloques\" permite una estimaci6n de la varianza del error experimental libre 'del efecto de heterogeneidad entre las unidades., Para una adecuada utilización del disefio en B.C.A., se requiere que la variacién entre los bloques sea lo nás grande posible y la variacién deritro de bloque sea mi:n:i.ma. Cuanoo el nÚTero de trat:.::.Jm:ientos ses muy, grande (> 10 según Gómez, K.A. (3), '> 12 según Kellpt:horme (4», es dificil obtener una faja de terreno lo suficientenE!'lte homogénea para que pueda censiderarse com:l un verdadero bloque y el diseño, cro un alto nÚll:ero de tratamientos, en la práctica no puede llevarse a cabo. Esto ocurre en los ensayos para probar variedades de frijol (phaseolus vulgaris) en los cuales se utiliza generalmente un nÚTero grande de materiales genéticos.El índice de heterogeneidad para algunos suelos de la granja. exper:i.lrental , ..   El diseño en Látices 'estima la varianza del error. libre de los efectos de tratamiento, de bloque inoorrpleto dentro de replicación y de. error entre bloques il1corrpletos, caro se nruestra en la tabla del Análisis de Varianza a continuaci6n:, ..•.  D=bido ;¡ .la heterogeneidad de los suelos de la granja exp,~rlnalt.ql del CIAr -Palmira y de algunos sitios donde se realizan ensayos de rendllniento en fríjol, el agrupaniento de tratarrrl.entos en bloques incorrpletos pernrl.te un nnyor control de la heterogeneidad.El coeficiente RHO de Speanmn para correlación de rangos, fuá calculado para uedir la relaci6n ex:isténte enLTe el ordenamiento de uedias de tratarrrl.elltos bajo el diseño en látices con el corresponcliente ordenamiento bajo BCA.A rredida que el valor RHO se aleja de 1. 00 la diferencia entre el ordenanrl.ento de nEdias bajo los dos diseiios es mayor.   '.•","tokenCount":"374"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7876713888.json b/data/part_1/7876713888.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4fde9012e2af59e855000a4c3962693114393e38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7876713888.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d25b9d130e5411a934229b4afd882e74","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0ae3f08c-48a5-4990-988c-86ae4eeeaa42/content","id":"-958893760"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f091ddfb-907a-46cd-9c0e-7dd634c66e8e","pagecount":"1","content":"• Based on the available literature, this is the first report of generating mutant alleles for all three homeologs of Lr67. • Our prima-facie observation shows improved resistance of gene-eited lines against rust pathogen without any other physiological variation.Future direction• We are eager to determine whether 4A and 4B homeologs of Lr67 (4D) phenocopy the latter and, if so, whether • their combinations further augment resistanceWheat Rust : A formidable foe! Wheat rust probably started as early as the domestication of wheat. This disease is caused by a parasitic fungus of genus Puccinia that can be spread by wind over large areas through microscopic spores or by seed.   TMHMM analysis indicated that there are 11 transmembrane domains in Lr67.Using sequence homology, we designed two CRISPR guide RNAs to target at positions indicated by 'X' in Fig. 7. Both guide RNAs target all three Lr67 homoeologs simultaneously.We used biolistic particle delivery method to genetically transform experimental wheat lines such as Fielder as well as elite wheat lines such as Reedling, Baj and Kachu with our CRISPR constructs.Evolution of new rust pathotypes such as UG99 is breaking down the single R-gene mediated resistance and putting wheat cropping at risk.The putative transgenic lines were analyzed by PCR using gRNA and Cas9 specific primers.The mutation in target gene/homeologs were analyzed by Surveyor mutation detection kit and Sanger sequencing. We have generated plants for single, double and triple mutants for all three homoeologs.   ","tokenCount":"238"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7881658930.json b/data/part_1/7881658930.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9298b908027b4d6797a4b50d23c6e0c6ab61996c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7881658930.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b25f7dcac587ec6ea2cfa965cb81a1ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/888746b1-d7c4-4f48-8be1-a8f725b97aee/content","id":"626011001"},"keywords":["smallholder farming","maize","leaf area index","remote sensing","UAV","vegetation indices","random forest algorithm"],"sieverID":"fcd8ef34-6407-4384-8b9a-310fcc34e07a","pagecount":"18","content":"Maize (Zea Mays) is one of the most valuable food crops in sub-Saharan Africa and is a critical component of local, national and regional economies. Whereas over 50% of maize production in the region is produced by smallholder farmers, spatially explicit information on smallholder farm maize production, which is necessary for optimizing productivity, remains scarce due to a lack of appropriate technologies. Maize leaf area index (LAI) is closely related to and influences its canopy physiological processes, which closely relate to its productivity. Hence, understanding maize LAI is critical in assessing maize crop productivity. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery in concert with vegetation indices (VIs) obtained at high spatial resolution provides appropriate technologies for determining maize LAI at a farm scale. Five DJI Matrice 300 UAV images were acquired during the maize growing season, and 57 vegetation indices (VIs) were generated from the derived images. Maize LAI samples were collected across the growing season, a Random Forest (RF) regression ensemble based on UAV spectral data and the collected maize LAI samples was used to estimate maize LAI. The results showed that the optimal stage for estimating maize LAI using UAV-derived VIs in concert with the RF ensemble was during the vegetative stage (V8-V10) with an RMSE of 0.15 and an R 2 of 0.91 (RRMSE = 8%). The findings also showed that UAV-derived traditional, red edge-based and new VIs could reliably predict maize LAI across the growing season with an R 2 of 0.89-0.93, an RMSE of 0.15-0.65 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.13-19.61%. The blue, red edge and NIR sections of the electromagnetic spectrum were critical in predicting maize LAI. Furthermore, combining traditional, red edge-based and new VIs was useful in attaining high LAI estimation accuracies. These results are a step towards achieving robust, efficient and spatially explicit monitoring frameworks for sub-Saharan African smallholder farm productivity.Smallholder agriculture is a critical sector in sub-Saharan African economies and sustains the livelihoods of most of the region's households [1]. According to Mango et al. [2] and Kamara et al. [3], smallholder croplands support about 70% of households and contribute about 15% and 2.5% to Africa's and South Africa's GDPs, respectively. Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important and widely grown grain crop in the smallholder farms of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the maize industry plays a significant role in the region's economy due to its contribution to the formal and informal food systems, thus supporting national and household food security [4]. Due to the crop's importance, regional governments closely monitor crop status to forecast productivity and food security. Often, trained extension officers perform physical crop health assessments at critical phenological stages and productivity. However, these assessments are time-consuming, expensive and at the officer's discretion. Furthermore, due to the remoteness of smallholder farmers, the status and productivity of many maize fields are either estimated through extrapolation or not included in national assessments. Considering the importance of smallholder maize production in localized food systems and their potential to contribute to national food security, there is a dire need to explicitly generate monitoring frameworks for spatially optimizing assessments of maize. Under commercial maize production, secondary traits such as leaf area index and chlorophyll content have been used to assess crop health and productivity [5,6]. These traits could also be applied in smallholder systems.Generally, crop productivity is evaluated based on its constituents, such as leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content concentration and yield. Amongst these constituents, LAI can be monitored to understand crop health status, canopy physiology and nutritional supply [7]. LAI is defined as half the area of all leaves per unit of surface area, and its estimation has long been a research focus for understanding biomass characteristics [8]. This is because LAI significantly influences the plant canopy physiological process, which is closely related to crop productivity. In addition, the total accumulation of LAI is strongly related to biomass accumulation and crop yield [9]. Therefore, monitoring maize LAI in smallholder farms could help assess crop conditions and variation across space and time for the detection of crop phenology and to model biomass and yield to optimize the productivity of smallholder farms. Furthermore, monitoring maize LAI is valuable for diagnosing and assessing crop deficiencies such as water and plant nutrition, which are necessary for optimizing smallholder productivity [10]. Hence, monitoring and estimating maize LAI is vital in enhancing productivity, combating food insecurity and addressing the sustainable development goals of reducing hunger and poverty [11,12].Crop LAI can be monitored and estimated through traditional methods such as field surveys and point sample measurements [10]. Despite the high accuracy associated with the traditional methods, they are time-consuming, labor-intensive and lack spatial representativeness [13]. In contrast, remote sensing technologies have become increasingly popular in agricultural research as they offer fast and non-destructive ways of monitoring and estimating crop productivity parameters [14]. Remote sensing (RS) provides spatial and temporal information on crop responses to dynamic environmental conditions or information that relates directly to LAI. Such RS data have helped derive important crop parameters such as LAI, water use efficiency, chlorophyll and biomass fraction of photosynthetically active radiation [11,15,16].There are numerous ways of using remotely sensed information to estimate LAI. The simplest is establishing an empirical relationship between the remotely sensed data products such as spectral bands, vegetation indices (VIs) and measured LAI [17]. Hence, several earth observation sensors have been used to estimate maize LAI with optimal accuracy. These include Landsat [18,19], moderate resolution imaging spectral radiometer (MODIS) [20,21] and, recently, a Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument (MSI) [7,22]. Despite the optimal accuracies associated with the data from these satellite-borne sensors in LAI estimation, the trade-off between its spatial and temporal resolution limits its use in capturing crop LAI heterogeneity and dynamics at a farm scale [13]. Yang et al. [23] noted that medium spatial resolution products, e.g., Landsat and Sentinel-2, have the potential to miss observations at critical growth stages because of their long revisit time (16 and 10 days, respectively), as well as their coarser spatial resolution, which is inadequate for smallholder fields of less than 5 Ha. In this regard, there is still a need to assess other sources of spatial data that could be cheaper and more flexible while offering very high spatial resolution data suitable for capturing crop LAI at farm-to-field scales.The introduction of UAV remote sensing technology offers valuable remotely sensed data for estimating crop productivity constituents such as LAI [13]. UAV remote sensing technologies offer maximum flexibility in terms of temporal resolution since the flying times are user-determined. Their ability to fly at low altitudes, portability and generation of very high spatial resolution data of up to 5 cm makes them more suitable for farm-scale research than satellite remotely sensed data [17]. It is anticipated that the very high spatial resolution, combined with a multispectral resolution covering the red edge section of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) renowned for mapping the LAI of plants, could optimize the estimation of maize productivity in smallholder croplands. UAVs have been widely used in crop monitoring. For instance, Kanning et al. [24] successfully estimated wheat LAI with an R 2 of 0.79 and an RMSE of 0.18, while Yao, Wang, Liu, Cheng, Tian, Chen and Zhu [14] estimated wheat LAI to an R 2 of 0.80 and an RRMSE of 24% using UAV imagery. Guomin et al. [25] used UAV-derived VIs to estimate maize LAI to an R 2 of 0.83 and an RMSE of 0.05. The proven compatibility of unmanned aerial vehicles with multi-spectral sensors enables daily LAI estimation at high resolution. However, most of these studies have been conducted based on single images in experimental plots outside of the Global South's smallholder croplands. For an accurate estimation and outlook on a specific crop's productivity and yield, multitemporal images are required to understand the growth trajectory of the crop for informed decision making before the harvesting. Hence, there is a need to assess the utility of UAV-derived multispectral data in assessing the productivity of staple crops such as maize in smallholder croplands of regions such as southern Africa, where hunger and poverty are rife and the need for optimizing crop production is imperative.The literature illustrates that combining VIs with robust machine learning algorithms improves the accuracy of crop productivity models. VIs depict biophysical parameters of the plant canopy, such as biomass, greenness and LAI, and are calculated using the reflectance of two or more spectral bands [26]. VIs enhance the sensitivity to a specific crop parameter while suppressing the influence of other factors such as leaf and canopy structure [27]. Additionally, VIs counteract the impacts of soil background, atmospheric conditions, leaf pigment and inclination, among others [28]. Several VIs have been strongly correlated with maize LAI [27] and yield. These include the soil-adjusted VIs (i.e., the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index and Optimized Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) developed to reduce soil reflectance's impact at low LAI. In recent years, due to the advancement in sensor technologies, VIs such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), based on the red edge (NDVIRE), the Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE), the Modified Simple Ratio Red Edge (MSRRE) and the red edge-based Chlorophyll Index (CIRE) have been developed and are now widely utilised [8]. These VIs have proven effective in estimating LAI, especially from moderate to high LAI, and are less influenced by canopy structures [13]. Qiao et al. [29] used UAV-acquired red edge-based VIs to estimate maize LAI to an R 2 of 0.94, whilst Tao et al. [30] concluded that incorporating red edge-derived spectral features significantly improves the estimation of LAI. Nevertheless, most of these studies were conducted in irrigated and controlled experimental plots, not in smallholder rainfed croplands [29,31]. In this regard, their effectiveness in estimating rainfed maize crops with limited control in smallholder subsistence croplands across multiple growth stages remains largely unexplored [32].Hence, this study sought to test the value of using UAV-derived VIs in estimating maize LAI across the growing season and determine its relationship with yield. A robust algorithm, Random Forest (RF) regression, was used to achieve this. This algorithm was chosen because of its high estimation accuracies, computation speed and robustness, as well as its ability to rank the prediction spectral features in order of importance [33,34]. Furthermore, RF is not affected by small sample sizes, as it employs its bootstrapping aggregation mechanism to optimize the samples while circumventing overfitting [35][36][37]. The specific objectives of this study were (1) to reliably estimate LAI using a combination of traditional, new and red edge-based VIs in conjunction with the RF algorithm and (2) to produce a model for the estimation of maize LAI at each growth stage based on UAV images and field-collected LAI measurements.This study was conducted in a maize crop field on a smallholder farm in Swayimane within the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa (29 • 31 24\"S and 30 • 41 37\"E), covering an area of 2699.005 m 2 (Figure 1). The area has a sub-humid climate with hot and humid summers and warm and dry winters. According to Miya et al. [38], the area is characterized by a uni-modal rainfall pattern from November to March with an average precipitation of 900-1200 mm and an average temperature of 20 algorithm, Random Forest (RF) regression, was used to achieve this. This algorithm was chosen because of its high estimation accuracies, computation speed and robustness, as well as its ability to rank the prediction spectral features in order of importance [33,34]. Furthermore, RF is not affected by small sample sizes, as it employs its bootstrapping aggregation mechanism to optimize the samples while circumventing overfitting [35][36][37].The specific objectives of this study were (1) to reliably estimate LAI using a combination of traditional, new and red edge-based VIs in conjunction with the RF algorithm and (2) to produce a model for the estimation of maize LAI at each growth stage based on UAV images and field-collected LAI measurements.This study was conducted in a maize crop field on a smallholder farm in Swayimane within the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa (29°31′24″S and 30°41′37″E), covering an area of 2699.005 m 2 (Figure 1). The area has a sub-humid climate with hot and humid summers and warm and dry winters. According to Miya et al. [38], the area is characterized by a uni-modal rainfall pattern from November to March with an average precipitation of 900-1200 mm and an average temperature of 20 °C. Major economic activity in the area is small-scale sugarcane and maize farming.  The leaves with visible collars were used to discern the maize growth stage. Maize growth stages were divided into two sub-groups; that is, the vegetative (V) and reproductive (R) stages (Table 1) [39,40]. The V stages began with emergence, denoted VE. This stage marked the emergence of coleoptiles from the soil [40]. The following stages were subdivided numerically into V1, V2 and V3. The development of the first true leaf generally marked V2. Meanwhile, V3 was characterized by the establishment of the collar of the third leaf between 10 and 14 days after emergence. The vegetative stages could proceed to V(n) Nth leaf collar depending on the crop variety. The final V stage was the tasseling stage, typically noted by the appearance of a fully extended tassel. The plant at the tasseling stage had developed to a full height and all leaves had emerged. The next stage was the reproductive and kernel development stages, generally denoted using the letter R [40]. The first reproductive stage was R1, silking. At this stage, silks emerged outside the husks with pollen shed at a rate of 1 to 1.5 inches per day [39,40]. This was followed by the blister stage, denoted R2 at approximately 70 days after emergence. At this stage, the blisters occurred most between 10 and 14 days after silking. Small watery kernels were developed, while silks were browning and drying out [39]. The milk stage (R3) occurred between 18 and 22 days after silking. At this stage, the kernel developed a milky fluid inside. The milk stage occurred 91 days after emergence. The dough stage (R4) followed approximately 105 days after emergence. At this stage, the kernels had a pasty consistency. The dent (R5) occurred about 112 days after emergence. At this point, the cobs had been developed. This stage was identified using the milk or starch line (a line separating the solid and the liquid endosperms), which progressively gravitates towards the cob as moisture is being lost and the kernel matures [39,40]. The final stage was physiological maturity, also referred to as the black layer (R6), and occurred approximately 160 days after emergence. At the black layer stage, the milk line had progressed to the base of the kernel and a black line had developed at the kernel base [39]. A polygon map was generated in Google Earth Pro covering the maize field to estimate the maize LAI. The polygon was imported into ArcMap 10.6 as a keyhole markup language (kml) file and used to generate stratified random sampling points and determine the flight path. A total of 63 points were generated and used for this analysis. These sampling points were loaded into a Trimble handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) with an accuracy of 30 cm and used to locate the sampling points in the plot. At each sample point, a maize plant close to the sample point was marked for ease of identification and used for further sampling. Five field surveys were conducted during the vegetative (V) and reproductive (R) growth stages, i.e., V8-V10 (18 March 2021), V10-V12 (31 March 2021), VT-R1 (12 April 2021), R2-R3 (28 April 2021) and R3-R4 (14 May 2021). UAVs were acquired at each field survey.The LAI was determined by using the LiCOR 2200C Plant Canopy Analyzer. The LiCOR 2200C has a fisheye optical sensor with five concentric rings centered at zenith angles 7 • , 22 • , 38 • , 52 • and 68 • measuring radiation above and below the canopy to estimate canopy light interception and transmittance at five angles. The LAI was determined by inverting the Beer-Lambert law [41].A Mica Sense multi-spectral camera (Altum) (Figure 2b) was mounted on a UAV (DJI Matrice 300) (Figure 2a) to acquire multi-spectral images of the study area. The Altum consists of five spectral bands (blue, green, red, red edge and NIR) with a radiometric thermal camera for the thermal region of the EMS, hence acquiring multispectral and thermal imagery in a single flight. More details regarding the platform and the camera are detailed in Ndlovu et al. [4] and Brewer et al. [42]. Before the flights, a flight plan (Figure 2c) was established using the polygon of the study area created in Google Earth Pro and imported as a kml file into the drone controller to generate the flight path (Figure 2c). Calibration was also conducted just before flying the UAV by acquiring images of the radiometric calibration target provided (Figure 2d), which was set to be horizontal and not covered by any shadows. This was performed to account for the illumination and atmospheric conditions prevalent during the flight. The flights were carried out on clear days between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM local time, as it was the most optimum time of the day when the solar zenith angle was minimal and radiation from the sun was at a maximum. The flight altitude was kept 100 m above the ground, obtaining images with a spatial resolution of 5 cm.  Pix4D 4.6 software was used to pre-process the UAV images. This was conducted to account for radiometric and geometric errors. The images were imported into the Pix4D software; after that, relative calibration and radiometric correction were conducted by stitching the images to create ortho-images of the entire study area. Placemarks surveyed before the fieldwork were then employed to improve the geometric accuracy of the acquired images.The UAV bands were used to calculate 57 VIs (Table 2). Specifically, traditional, red edge-based and new VIs (nDVI) based on all possible combinations of the 6 spectral bands were calculated in geographic information systems (GIS). The new VIs were created to evaluate their potential in improving the estimation of maize LAI across the growing Pix4D 4.6 software was used to pre-process the UAV images. This was conducted to account for radiometric and geometric errors. The images were imported into the Pix4D software; after that, relative calibration and radiometric correction were conducted by stitching the images to create ortho-images of the entire study area. Placemarks surveyed before the fieldwork were then employed to improve the geometric accuracy of the acquired images.The UAV bands were used to calculate 57 VIs (Table 2). Specifically, traditional, red edge-based and new VIs (nDVI) based on all possible combinations of the 6 spectral bands were calculated in geographic information systems (GIS). The new VIs were created to evaluate their potential in improving the estimation of maize LAI across the growing season. The UAV-derived VIs were then used to estimate maize LAI across the growing season. The UAV data used in this study are summarized in Table 2. All vegetation indices were loaded in the model computation to estimate LAI, and the RF selected the optimal spectral features as described in Section 2.5 below. We then correlated the LAI with the observed yield data. Before predicting the LAI using UAV-acquired remotely sensed data, we assessed the magnitude of the relationship between field-measured LAI and field-measured yield of maize based on Pearson's product moments correlation after assessing the data for normality. We sought to evaluate whether any changes in LAI (a proxy for biomass accumulation) could be associated with a change in yield. Before conducting Person's correlation test, the LAI estimates measured in the field at different stages were averaged to relate them with grain yield. Grain yield was destructively derived from each sampling plot and measured using a digital scale.The RF algorithm was then used to estimate maize LAI across the growing season. RF is amongst the group of supervised ensemble regression machine learning techniques developed to advance the classification and regression trees algorithm by compiling a huge set of decision trees. RF uses a bootstrap aggregation technique popularly known as bagging. In conducting bagging, RF creates decision trees and then trains each tree using exclusive data samples from the field-measured data (LAI). Data sampling for each tree is conducted with replacements from the main pool. Its popularity is based on optimizing the regression trees (ntree) method by combining a large set of decision trees. Another hyperparameter of RF, mtry, regulates that split-variable randomization feature. This study implemented the RF machine learning technique using the R interface. In R, the doBest function was used to optimize the ntree and mtry parameters to 200 and 5, respectively, as they were the best combination of parameters after testing the ntree values in increments of 100 to 2500 and the mtry values in increments of 1 to 5. The resulting models of each growth stage were then compared to assess the best-performing model. RF conducted the optimal spectral feature selection, and these optimal features were identified using their relatively high variable importance scores.To assess the performance of the models, the dataset (n = 63) was split into 70% training (n = 44) and 30% test (n = 19) datasets. The training data were used to train the model and the test data were used to evaluate the estimation models. The performance of each model in estimating LAI was evaluated using the coefficient of determination, the root mean square error (RMSE) and the relative root mean square error (RRMSE). The RMSE measures the average deviation of the estimates from the observed values or is the square root of the variance of the residuals, while R2 is the fraction of the total sum of squares explained by the regression. In this regard, a model that yielded a high R 2 and low RMSE was then used to create an LAI map for the study site in ArcMap 10.6. The RMSE took precedence over the R 2 in cases where the R 2 was not the highest, but RMSE was the lowest.where the SSE symbolizes the sum of squared errors and MEAN is the average of the field-measured samples. The LAI index mathematical models and the selected optimal spectral variables were then used to create LAI maps using the raster calculator in ArcMap.The descriptive statistics of LAI measured in the field for all the growth stages (i.e., V8-V10, V10-V12, VT-R1, R2-R3 and R3-R4) are shown in Table 3. The highest average maize LAI of 3.44 was obtained from the R3-R4 growth stages, and the lowest was observed for the V8-V10 growth stages, which was 1.78. Furthermore, the R3-R4 growth stages had the highest maximum LAI of 6.29 compared with the rest. The V8-V10 stages had the lowest LAI of 0.47 compared with the rest. The mean LAI increased along with an increase in maize crop productivity. In assessing the general relationship between the maize field-measured LAI estimates and the yield, results showed a significant (α = 0.05) positive correlation. Specifically, a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.74 indicated a strong positive relationship between the yield and the LAI. This implied that an increase in average LAI estimates is associated with a significant increase in yield. Figure 3 demonstrates a significant positive correlationbetween field-measured yield and field measured LAI estimates of maize. Figure 4 demonstrates the model accuracies obtained in estimating maize LAI based on the RF algorithm. The prediction models' accuracy was moderate to high across the different maize growth stages. For instance, the most optimal model for predicting LAI was the V8-V10 growth stages with an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.15 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.13% (Figure 4a) based on ndviB&T and ndviG&B spectral variables (Figure 5a). The V12-V14 growth stages exhibited the second-best model with a maize LAI model with an R 2 of 0.93, an RMSE of 0.17 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.97% (Figure 4b), with BNDVI and ndviB&NIR being more influential for the model (Figure 5b). maize field-measured LAI estimates and the yield, results showed a significant (α = 0.05) positive correlation. Specifically, a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.74 indicated a strong positive relationship between the yield and the LAI. This implied that an increase in average LAI estimates is associated with a significant increase in yield. Figure 3 demonstrates a significant positive correlationbetween field-measured yield and field measured LAI estimates of maize. Figure 4 demonstrates the model accuracies obtained in estimating maize LAI based on the RF algorithm. The prediction models' accuracy was moderate to high across the different maize growth stages. For instance, the most optimal model for predicting LAI was the V8-V10 growth stages with an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.15 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.13% (Figure 4a) based on ndviB&T and ndviG&B spectral variables (Figure 5a). The V12-V14 growth stages exhibited the secondbest model with a maize LAI model with an R 2 of 0.93, an RMSE of 0.17 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.97% (Figure 4b), with BNDVI and ndviB&NIR being more influential for the model (Figure 5b). Meanwhile, the VT-R1 growth stages demonstrated a moderate prediction accuracy in estimating maize LAI (R 2 = 0.91, RMSE = 0.65 m 2 /m 2 and RRMSE = 19.61%) (Figure 4c). The most suitable predictor variables for this stage included ndviNIR&T and ndviR&T (Figure 5c). This was followed by a drastic improvement in the R2-R3 growth stages, with an R 2 of 0.89, an RMSE of 0.19 m 2 /m 2 and RRMSE of 10.78% (Figure 4d). The most influential variables for this prediction were CI and ndviB&RE (Figure 4d). The R3-R4 growth stages also yielded a least model with an R 2 = 0.91, an RMSE = 0.32 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE = 15.22% (Figure 4e). The most optimal variables for predicting maize LAI at the R3-R4 growth stages were ndviNIR&B and ndviB&NIR (Figure 5e).  Meanwhile, the VT-R1 growth stages demonstrated a moderate prediction accuracy in estimating maize LAI (R 2 = 0.91, RMSE = 0.65 m 2 /m 2 and RRMSE = 19.61%) (Figure 4c). The most suitable predictor variables for this stage included ndviNIR&T and ndviR&T   Figure 6 illustrates the spatial distribution of LAI estimated using UAV remotely sensed data at different phenological stages. Following the maize development stages considered in this study, the spatial variation of LAI increased with the increase in the growing stages. Across all maps, the eastern section of the field exhibited slightly higher maize LAI estimates in relation to the western section.Figure 6 illustrates the spatial distribution of LAI estimated using UAV remotely sensed data at different phenological stages. Following the maize development stages considered in this study, the spatial variation of LAI increased with the increase in the growing stages. Across all maps, the eastern section of the field exhibited slightly higher maize LAI estimates in relation to the western section. This study sought to test the utility of UAV-derived VIs in estimating maize LAI across the growing season based on the Altum sensor mounted on the DJI Matrice 300 UAV data. Specifically, this study sought to estimate LAI using a combination of UAVderived traditional, new and red edge-based bands, indices and the RF algorithm across the growing season within a smallholder farm.The results of this study showed that maize LAI could be optimally estimated at the V8-V10 growth stages to an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.15 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.13%, with the most influential variables being the ndviG&B and ndviB&T, derived using the green, blue and thermal spectral variables. This finding demonstrates the sensitivity of maize LAI to the blue, green and thermal regions of the EMS in the early growth stages. The literature notes that the blue section of the EMS is sensitive to green vegetation, as plants use it during photosynthesis, which results in its absorption by vegetation, hence This study sought to test the utility of UAV-derived VIs in estimating maize LAI across the growing season based on the Altum sensor mounted on the DJI Matrice 300 UAV data. Specifically, this study sought to estimate LAI using a combination of UAVderived traditional, new and red edge-based bands, indices and the RF algorithm across the growing season within a smallholder farm.The results of this study showed that maize LAI could be optimally estimated at the V8-V10 growth stages to an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.15 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.13%, with the most influential variables being the ndviG&B and ndviB&T, derived using the green, blue and thermal spectral variables. This finding demonstrates the sensitivity of maize LAI to the blue, green and thermal regions of the EMS in the early growth stages. The literature notes that the blue section of the EMS is sensitive to green vegetation, as plants use it during photosynthesis, which results in its absorption by vegetation, hence its influence in predicting LAI [54,55]. The literature also notes that the presence of bright green vegetation on the ground during the early stages of plant growth results in a high reflectance in the green region of the EMS, which explains the sensitivity of maize LAI to the green section of the EMS at the V8-V10 stages for this study [56,57]. These findings agree with Motohka et al. [58], who noticed a decrease in green reflection when leaves changed from bright green in the early stages to dark green towards the later stages of the season. This is attributed to the end of the formation of new leaves, which was also detected using spectral variables derived from the green section of the EMS. New leaves tend to be thinner and primarily function as a source for plant assimilates. Older leaves are thicker and are actively photosynthesizing and functioning as an assimilation source for the cob. In addition, the thermal band was also amongst the most influential spectral predictor variables. This could be explained by the fact that during the V8-V10 growth stages, there is low foliage density. The literature notes that when there is low foliage density, the soil tends to absorb more heat, resulting in a high reflectance of the thermal region from the ground, which explains the sensitivity to the thermal band during this stage for this study [59].In estimating maize LAI during the V12-V14 growth stages, UAV-derived VIs yielded an R 2 of 0.93, an RMSE of 0.17 m 2 /m 2 and an RRMSE of 8.97% based on spectral variables derived from the blue and NIR regions of the EMS (BNDVI). The results of these growth stages signify the sensitivity of maize LAI to the blue and NIR sections of the EMS to maize LAI during the V12-V14 growth stages. As mentioned earlier, the blue region of the EMS plays an important role in the daily plant photosynthetic process, hence the importance of the blue waveband at this growth stage as well [54]. In explaining the sensitivity of maize LAI to the NIR section of the EMS, the literature notes that this section is significant in vegetation monitoring, as healthy vegetation tends to reflect highly in this section, hence its influence in estimating LAI [13,44,60]. Specifically, maize plants' presence and increased foliage density result in leaves strongly reflected in the NIR section of the EMS. Correspondingly, studies by He et al. [61] and Tunca et al. [10] successfully illustrated the use of leaf optical reflectance in the NIR section of the EMS in optimally predicting LAI with an R 2 of 0.83 and 0.77, respectively. Specifically, the presence and increased foliage density due to leaf and stem elongation result in leaves strongly reflected in the NIR section of the EMS.In predicting maize LAI at the VT-R1 growth stages, UAV-derived VIs produced a prediction model with an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.65 m 2 m −2 and an RRMSE of 19.61% based on the combination of spectral variables derived from the red and NIR regions of the EMS (ndviR&T and ndviNIR&T). The EMS's red and NIR sections were significant in vegetation monitoring. Specifically, vegetation tends to absorb in the red section strongly and, as mentioned earlier, reflects highly in the NIR section, explaining the sensitivity of maize LAI to these sections of the EMS. As in this study, Kanning et al. [24] noted that these red and NIR band-based indices presented a higher sensitivity to crop growth parameters. These sections of the EMS are of great value in explaining LAI because the level of absorption in the red section and reflection in the NIR section reflects on the amount of vegetation present on the ground; therefore, the higher the absorption and reflection in the red and NIR sections, respectively, the higher the amount of vegetation on the ground and vice versa [47].When predicting maize LAI at the R2-R3 growth stages using UAV-derived VIs, a model with an R 2 of 0.89, an RMSE of 0.19 m 2 m −2 and an RRMSE of 10.78% was obtained based on the indices derived using the blue and red wavebands together with the red edge wavebands (ndviB&RE and CI). This indicates maize LAI sensitivity to the EMS's blue, red and red edge sections in the R2-R3 growth stages. The contribution of the red edge could be attributed to the fact that chlorophyll and biomass are sensitive to the red edge [15]. Specifically, LAI is correlated to chlorophyll and biomass, hence the influence of the red edge in predicting LAI [28]. Finally, in the R3-R4 growth stages, maize LAI was sensitive to the blue and NIR sections of the EMS. These produced an optimal model with an R 2 of 0.91, an RMSE of 0.32 m 2 m −2 and an RRMSE of 15.22%. As previously mentioned, the influence of the blue and NIR bands in predicting maize LAI could be explained by the blue band's role in photosynthesis and the strong reflection of vegetation in the NIR section of the EMS.The results of this study show that combining traditional, red edge-based and new VIs produced good LAI prediction models for all the growth stages. This could be due to the sensitivity of the red edge region of the EMS, together with the ability of VIs to enhance vegetation features to the variation in LAI changes [27]. Across the growing season, LAI changes as shown in Table 3. During the early stages (V8-V10 and V12-V14) of the growing season, leaves are small and as maize grows, so do the leaves. This results in the alteration of LAI across the phenological cycle. Therefore, the red edge section of the EMS better detects the spectral reflectance of these growth stages, which shifts with vegetation growth, expanding on the performance of VIs [62]. Additionally, the red edge region of the EMS is also sensitive to chlorophyll content variability, which increases as maize grows. This also contributes to the high accuracy of estimating maize LAI when VIs are combined with the red edge.Meanwhile, VIs are sensitive to distinctive spectral properties of green vegetation in the image caused by the reflectance of maize at various growth stages on particular spectral bands such as the red, red edge and NIR [24]. Furthermore, VIs are highly correlated with LAI. This then boosts the robustness of VIs in estimating LAI. VIs are also sensitive to the LAI variability caused by the different stages of the phenological cycle and the accumulating chlorophyll content throughout the crop's growing season [63]. In this regard, the high estimation accuracies of LAI are realized when the traditional, red edge-based and new VIs are combined. In addition, VIs optimize the characterization of spatial information on vegetation while increasing the range of LAI to optimal levels [61]. The results of this study are consistent with those of Fu, Yang, Wang, Song, Feng and Agriculture [60], who reported that models derived from the combination of VIs and band parameters could effectively increase the accuracy of winter wheat biomass estimation when compared with the performance of bands or VIs as stand-alone data. Another study by He, Zhang, Su, Lu, Yao, Cheng, Zhu, Cao and Tian [61] estimated rice LAI based on a new vegetation index and concluded that the combination of the NIR and red edge bands was the best in predicting rice LAI (R 2 = 0.6, RMSE = 1.41 m 2 /m 2 ).Although the findings of this experimental study address the overarching objective, the caveats of UAV-derived datasets need to be stated, as they negatively impact related studies. For instance, most studies based on UAV remotely sensed data cover small spatial extents due to the battery power's inhibited duration and weight [64]. Batteries that either have limited power or are heavy tend to inhibit the flight plan and time to a small area. This limits these earth observation technologies and associated experimental studies to farm or field scales.The findings of this study illustrate that there are high prospects of mapping and monitoring the LAI of maize in rainfed smallholder croplands at optimal accuracies based on UAV remotely sensed data in conjunction with RF regression ensemble. However, it must be acknowledged that the utility of different machine learning algorithms in different environmental settings and maize varieties may exhibit uncertainties and variations in the accuracy of the derived models. Different environmental settings and maize varieties impact the physiology of these crops, which regulates their LAI, yields and spectral responses spatially and temporally, resulting in model uncertainties. Meanwhile, different machine learning algorithms use different optimization parameters and hyperparameters, which also could compound uncertainties in models derived from different machine learning algorithms. In this regard, these aspects must be considered in interpreting the findings of similar studies. Furthermore, more research efforts are still required to strengthen crop productivity modeling based on UAV remotely sensed data, especially at a farm scale.This study sought to test the utility of UAV-derived VIs in estimating maize LAI across the growing season based on the Altum sensor mounted on the DJI Matrice 300 UAV data in a smallholder farm. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that:Maize LAI can be optimally estimated using UAV-derived VIs across the growing season;The blue, green, red edge and NIR sections of the EMS are influential in estimating maize LAI;Combining traditional, red edge-based and new VIs is useful in attaining high LAI estimation accuracies.Quantitative assessments of maize LAI attained in this study are a step towards developing non-destructive and cost-effective methods for routine and timely monitoring of maize LAI in smallholder farms for improved crop health and productivity estimation. The findings indirectly contribute to a better understanding of maize crop health and crop monitoring efforts for improved food security.","tokenCount":"6460"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7891611508.json b/data/part_1/7891611508.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bb5c1156d1224812f6b3944b4bde4a5fae2606e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7891611508.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3d7c5619fd2b09317ebd527a8178a67","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/FTA/WPapers/FAO-FTA-WP-16.pdf","id":"-472768852"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f5d4bb8f-e1e2-4700-a3ca-25a61f92f8e0","pagecount":"189","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO, FTA, CGIAR or CIFOR in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on the maps contained in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. Dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO, FTA, CGIAR or CIFOR.The Third Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study (APFSOS III: FAO 2019) highlighted the urgent need to conserve primary forests -i.e. forests largely unaffected by human activities -and to sustainably manage other natural forests to safeguard biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the quality and health of the physical environment in the Asia-Pacific region. As a follow-up to APFSOS III, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR -the lead center of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, or FTA) initiated a process to develop a roadmap for primary forest conservation in Asia and the Pacific. This roadmap was developed through an inclusive and participatory process involving key regional stakeholders and technical experts from governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia, and research institutions. The roadmap also builds upon enriching contributions from students and young people involved in forest sectorrelated activities in the region.The purpose of the roadmap is to delineate and inform the process by which decision makers and actors can evaluate the status, diversity and trends of primary forests in the region, identify priority areas for primary forest conservation, assess the threats they face, and explore possible ways to address them.As a central piece of the roadmap, the present study provides a strong evidence base that can help countries and other stakeholders take action at different levels for primary forest conservation. It highlights the huge diversity of primary forest ecosystems in Asia and the Pacific and shows the increasing pressures they face, driven by population and economic growth in the context of climate change. It describes the range of institutions and mechanisms that can be mobilized at different scales and, finally, suggests six key recommendations for decision makers to enhance primary forest conservation in the region.The study provides a wealth of information to help countries understand the dynamics at stake in various forest ecosystems in different contexts, thus helping to better prioritize conservation efforts. However, it also highlights the considerable lack of knowledge about primary forest ecosystems in the region, including their diversity, status and trends, eco-floristic variation within and across forest types, and species distribution and population dynamics. The methods presented in this study can help countries and research organizations fill these gaps and develop large-scale (high-resolution) ecological vegetation mapping in the region, as well as more accurate monitoring of forest ecosystems and the threats they face, to better support and orient land-use planning, management and conservation efforts. Such efforts should be oriented not only towards protecting forests but also towards strengthening connectivity among remaining intact forest fragments. Conserving primary forests requires an evidencebased integrated landscape approach that is coordinated across sectors, actors and scales and involves local actors in decision making, supported by national institutions and international organizations. Such broad engagement calls for building a compelling narrative that acknowledges Foreword v adapted to the specific context, priorities and needs of various forest types, countries and categories of actors.We hope that the release of this publication will mark the beginning of a collective process, possibly led by the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission and its member countries, to further support and enhance primary forest conservation in the region. We stand ready to make available to countries the wealth of detailed information on primary forest diversity, status and trends gathered during the preparation of this study and to help use this information to support primary forest conservation efforts. the importance and diversity of primary forest ecosystems, as well as the specific roles and responsibilities of the range of actors involved in their conservation. It is indispensable to raise awareness, consolidate broad coalitions of actors, and sustain the efforts needed for primary forest conservation. In so doing, we need to be concerned not only about the protection of primary forests but also about the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities and their legitimate development aspirations.To conclude this study, this report suggests a practical process in four steps, through which the recommendations can be articulated at different scales (from regional to local) and This report is about primary forests. A primary forest is defined by FAO as a \"naturally regenerated forest of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed\" (FAO 2018a). This report uses the same definition. National primary forest areas are officially reported in the Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) regularly conducted by FAO through a country-led process that involves different approaches that vary by country. Forest cover data presented in this report is elaborated using a remote sensingbased methodology. This specific approach was necessary to ground the analysis on natural forest degradation, intactness, fragmentation and threats embracing the full geographic coverage of the region across a large timespan with the same method. This study adopts the term 'intact forest' for data and maps generated applying the aforementioned FAO definition of primary forests through our methodology based on remote sensing. The area and geographic extent of intact forests in Chapter 1 of this report may therefore, by construction, be different from the area and geographic extent of 'primary forests' as reported by countries in the FRA, which remains the official data source for primary forests. Similarly, the remote sensing methodology employed in this report provides results expressed in terms of changes and rates of change of forest cover. These results may be different from \"deforestation\" areas, i.e. changes in land use from forest to non-forest as reported by countries in the FRA, which remains the official source for deforestation data.FAO FRA official assessment (country-led)Primary forests cover and data (FRA)Remote sensing method (this study) Intact Forests cover and data (this study)The geographical scope of the roadmap, referred to in this paper as the ' Asia-Pacific region', covers the countries and territories of the FAO region of Asia and the Pacific. 1 It now also includes the Islamic Republic of Iran, previously included in the Near East FAO region, that recently joined the Asia-Pacific FAO region. It also includes five sovereign states in free association with New Zealand or the United States of America (USA), as well as eight Australian, French and USA dependent territories situated in the region. However, it excludes France and the mainland USA, which are situated outside the region. The Russian Federation, despite covering 29 percent of Asia, is also excluded because issues related to Russian forests are usually discussed within the FAO European Forestry Commission. 2 To account for its huge diversity, the Asia-Pacific region is further divided, for the purpose of this study, in four sub-regions, as defined in APFSOS III (FAO 2019):• South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka;This technical paper aims to delineate and inform the process by which decision makers and actors can evaluate the state of primary forests in the region, identify priority areas and priority actions for primary forest conservation, assess the threats they face, and explore possible ways to address them.The purpose of this technical paper is to gather the knowledge that is needed to identify priority areas and to inform actions to preserve primary forests. It is not prescriptive but gathers information and options relevant to the wide range of contexts found in the region,so that government and other stakeholders can determine priorities for action at regional, national and local levels. The diversity of contexts spans four main dimensions, that the different chapters of this paper successively cover: (i) level and trends of preservation and fragmentation of forests; (ii) diversity of vegetation types and ecological diversity of types of primary forests; (iii) diversity of threats and risks to forests; (iv) diversity of governance and policy contexts and means of intervention.The chapters of the study are organized along these dimensions and steps.The Asia-Pacific region is very large and diverse, and to be effective, the list of priority areas will ultimately depend on nationally and locally determined priorities, properly informed by the above-mentioned four dimensions that frame the national and local context. More accurate knowledge and common identification of these priority areas could help develop efficient conservation strategies at different scales and prioritize conservation efforts within broader landscape perspectives. It is also important to anticipate the emergence of new deforestation or degradation hotspots in the future to allow for strengthened conservation and protection efforts before it is too late.Key recommendations for decision makers emerging from this work are presented in the last chapter.1 Remote sensing assessment of primary forest cover in Asia-Pacific FAO, in its Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), defines primary forests as: \"naturally regenerated forests of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of x human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed\" (FAO 2018a).In this chapter, we look at forest cover change, degradation and fragmentation affecting primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region using a consistent remote sensing methodology applied over the FAO/FRA definition of primary forests. This methodology leads to identifying primary forest cover referred to in this study as 'intact forests'. By construction, intact forest areas identified by remote sensing do not necessarily correspond exactly to the 'primary forest' areas as reported to the FRA by each national government (as countries chose their own method and underlying data). This study uses Landsat satellite data to assess historical variation, degradation and fragmentation in natural forest cover between 2000, 2010 and 2020, with the view to subsequently identifying the remaining intact forests. The pertinence of several remote sensing methods was tested to cover very diverse environments, from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan to New Zealand and the Pacific, with tropical and equatorial regions in between.Chapter 1 develops a remote sensing methodological approach to assess primary forest cover as per the FAO definition. Having first identified natural forest cover, this study assesses the degradation within these natural forests, leading to an estimation of so-called intact forests. By assessing the fragmentation of these intact forests, isolating large core areas and excluding forest edge zones, this study identifies contiguous intact forest cover, which is the best possible estimation, through remote sensing techniques, of what can be considered primary forests as per the FAO definition. The results show that natural forest cover in Asia-Pacific decreased from 667 million ha in 2000 to 609 million ha in 2020, a 3% difference compared to the FRA 2020 assessment on average at the regional level. This work also allows the dynamics of forest cover to be visualized and identifies hotspots of deforestation. Intact forest covers 519 million ha, and there is still an important 378 million ha of remaining contiguous intact forest cover across the Asia-Pacific region in 2020, broader than the 140 million ha reported by countries to the FRA as 'primary forests', according to FAO (2019) based on data from the FRA 2015.Chapter 1 also highlights the importance of forest fragments, forest margins and edge effects. Degraded forest margins can still play an important role in primary forest conservation by acting as buffer zones to protect the core intact forest area against further degradation, while remaining forest fragments can act as stepping stones for ecological corridors contributing to ensuring or strengthening connectivity among remaining forest fragments and intact contiguous forests.Chapter 2 highlights the considerable diversity of primary forests in Asia and the Pacific, which vary depending on bioclimatic conditions, altitudinal zonation and soils characteristics. It describes the 30 main forest formations identified across the region, in line with existing classifications, from tropical mixed dipterocarp rain forests to tropical and sub-tropical seasonal forests and temperate or boreal formations, including more specific forest types such as karst, kerangas, peat swamp forests or mangroves, and their variations observed along altitudinal gradients. All lowland forest types are situated in areas that are particularly threatened by deforestation and forest degradation, as are the high elevation formations of the Himalayas. Conservation strategies need to integrate this huge diversity as all and each specific forest type deserve to be preserved.Chapter 2 also points out considerable knowledge gaps regarding the eco-floristic variations observed within each forest type and about the causes of this variability beyond elevation, soil and climate. This study shows, for instance, that very distinct tree species composition can coexist under very similar climatic and edaphic conditions. A lot also remains to be discovered about ecosystem functioning, species distribution, population dynamics, and the conservation status of many important tree species, especially in the tropics.xi At the landscape level, vegetation types are the best surrogates to characterize ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. Large-scale 5 ecological vegetation mapping and related socioecological surveys integrating altitudinal zonation, edaphic conditions and vegetation, including floristic information, also need to be developed and become standard in the Asia-Pacific region. Open-access datasets of high-resolution satellite data, eventually complemented by drone surveys, offer huge opportunities for accurate and near realtime monitoring and allow the production of large-scale detailed vegetation mapping over large areas, long periods of time, using consistent methodologies and at reasonable costs. Wall-to-wall on-screen visual interpretation of the vegetation made by experts will remain crucial to establishing such large to very large-scale ecological mapping. At the same time, it will be necessary to organize capacity building and knowledge management at the country level to ensure wide ownership of outputs.3 Increasing pressures and threats on primary forests: assessing risksThis chapter considers the remaining primary forests, the threats they face, and the dynamics at stake within a broader landscape perspective. Primary forests and natural landscapes in Asia and the Pacific are under increasing pressure and threats driven by population growth, migration, conflict, globalization and economic growth, urbanization, mining and infrastructure development, agriculture and planted forest expansion, forest fires, invasive species, and disease outbreaks. Many of these threats are increasingly exacerbated by climate change.According to the UN's medium-variant projection, the world's population is expected to grow from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion in 2030 (a 10% increase) and 9.7 billion in 2050 (a 26% increase). In the meantime, the population of the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow, albeit at a slower pace, from 4.3 billion in 2019 to 4.6 billion in 2030 (a 7.5% increase) and 4.9 billion in 2050 (a 13% increase). The population of Eastern and South-Eastern Asia is projected to peak at 2.4 billion around 2038, while the population of Central and South Asia could peak later, around 2065, at just under 2.6 billion people. The population of Oceania should continue to grow till the end of the century (UNDESA 2019). Demand for food, feed and wood will grow significantly due to both population growth and economic growth, which will exert additional pressure on primary forests.Agriculture expansion, urbanization and infrastructure development exacerbate forest fragmentation and generate soil, water and air pollution, which can further increase forest degradation. Over-logging and illegal logging are identified as major threats to biodiversity.Climate change induces a vicious circle by accelerating forest degradation, which may in turn reduce the resilience, mitigation potential and adaptive capacities of forest ecosystems.Due to global warming, climatic zones are shifting poleward and upward in mountainous regions. This climatic shift might occur faster than the migration speed of many plant or animal species and particularly threatens mountain forests. Furthermore, climate change is likely to alter rainfall regimes and the availability of water resources, leading to increases in rainfall throughout much of the region, including greater rainfall during the summer monsoon period in South and Southeast Asia. Climate change will likely increase the intensity and frequency of forest fires, typhoons, floods, droughts, species invasion, pests and disease outbreaks.The local impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services are likely to vary across forest types and geographical regions and are very hard to predict due to the low resolution of most climate change models. Chapter 3 includes a detailed risk assessment of forest fires in Indonesia, Australia and the Himalayas.Invasive species affect many natural ecosystems in the region, and their impacts are exacerbated by climate change. Most of these species, especially tree species, have been introduced for economic reasons or through ill-conceived programs of reforestation. Invasive insect pests are often associated with introduced tree species. Islands (including forest fragment 'islands') are particularly sensitive to invasive species. Degradation and fragmentation increase the vulnerability of ecosystems to invasive species, while highly diverse ecosystems, such as tropical rain forests, seem to be more resilient than their temperate counterparts.Traditional knowledge and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), including cultural and religious aspects, play a central role for the conservation of primary forests and for sustainable landscape management in Asia and the Pacific. Many biodiversity hotspots are located in Indigenous Peoples' territories, and deforestation rates are significantly lower in forest areas under the stewardship of Indigenous Peoples. Safeguarding and strengthening the rights of Indigenous Peoples is thus vital to preserving forests and biodiversity and fighting climate change. However, youth out-migration from rural areas affects the transmission of this traditional knowledge, threatening the traditional way of life of Indigenous Peoples as well as the natural ecosystems upon which they depend.Tensions and conflicts over natural resources (land, forests and water) can lead to armed conflicts and even war, further affecting biodiversity and forest ecosystems. The transfer of land is a major threat, especially land grabbing by large corporations in industries such as mining, oil palm, and rubber.Many Asia-Pacific countries still lack the technological, financial and human capacities to monitor and sustainably manage their forest landscapes. Conflicting land uses and mandates, incoherent policies across sectors and scales, corruption, weak governance and weak law enforcement, particularly regarding land access and tenure rights, are also detrimental to primary forest conservation. In some countries, policies still focus too narrowly on timber production only, overlooking the multiple non-timber forest products (NTFPs and ecosystem services that forests can provide.Chapter 3 ends by modeling future deforestation risks until 2050 to identify priority areas for primary forest conservation.4 Governance instruments for primary forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific regionForest governance is both shaped and influenced by a range of actors 6 and institutions operating at different scales (from the local to the international levels), the actions of each group influencing the actions of others. The dynamics at play between actors, including land use and tenure rights and power asymmetries, are determinant for the preservation and sustainable management of a given forest, or for its designation as PA.International agreements and instruments do not usually focus on primary forests as such. Instead, primary forest conservation is embedded in or aligned with more global objectives including: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the climate targets set in the Paris Agreement; the Aichi targets for biodiversity protection; or the forest landscape restoration (FLR) global targets. Regional and sub-regional institutions and instruments provide a bridge between international policies and national actions.Regional cooperation, including South-South cooperation, is critical as some remarkable intact forest massifs cross national boundaries and as many issues related to primary forest conservation and sustainable forest management (SFM) are transboundary in nature. The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) can play an important role in stimulating regional cooperation.National rules and instruments for forest governance and primary forest conservation xiii can include: national commitments that contribute to global objectives; 7 legal protection frameworks; regulation of land tenure and access rights; regulation of logging concessions or even logging bans; prevention of illegal logging and illegal trade of forest products; land use planning to regulate agriculture expansion, urbanization and infrastructure development; legal incentives such as taxes, subsidies and fiscal transfers; and market-based instruments such as certification schemes or payments for ecosystem services.Chapter 4 highlights the need to build synergies across sectors, including agriculture, water management and land use planning, and to adopt a more integrated landscape approach (ILA). National policies, rules and instruments frame and orient governance mechanisms at the local level. The active involvement of local actors, Indigenous Peoples and local communities in decision making around primary forest conservation and SFM is critical because these actors not only heavily depend on forest resources for their subsistence and livelihoods but also often hold the best knowledge of their specific ecosystem. Community-based forestry (CBF) is a successful example of participatory approach that needs to be encouraged in the region for primary forest conservation and SFM. The recognition of customary tenure and traditional systems of governance is fundamental to encourage traditional practices that support forest conservation and the sustainable use of forest resources.Protected areas (PAs) are often seen as the main tool to ensure the protection of primary forests. However, PAs cannot be the only mechanism to ensure the protection of primary forests against deforestation, degradation and fragmentation. First, this study shows that many intact forests and forest types are not covered by national parks and other legally protected conservation areas, and PAs are often established in remote or inaccessible areas (e.g. mountains) with lower levels of threats and of competing demands on land. Moreover, PAs alone are often insufficient to protect the areas where they are established. Hence, while it may be possible in some places to increase the extent of PAs, a range of mechanisms and tools needs to be mobilized at different scales in addition to and in support of PAs.Chapter 5 examines how various mechanisms and tools can be combined to address a diversity of threats and situations. Legal protection remains the main governance tool for primary forest conservation in the region, 8 but existing protections are sometimes weakly enforced. Enhancing ecological connectivity between PAs and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), as opposed to increasing the size of a few isolated PAs, is of paramount importance for effective forest and biodiversity conservation as this facilitates species flow, adaptation to climate change and the provision of ecosystem services. Certification and voluntary agreements can help address commercial agriculture expansion as well as wood over-harvesting, either legal or illegal, both of which have been identified as major threats to primary forest conservation in the region. Innovative technologies and the involvement of civil society and IPLCs can improve forest monitoring by providing accurate, real-time, transparent and accessible information about forest status and trends, threats and their drivers. In turn, such an improved monitoring allows more transparent, flexible and reactive governance, thus supporting primary forest conservation and SFM. Finally, adequate financial resources and innovative financial tools that connect large funds to small projects have been identified as a critical condition for the effective conservation of primary forests.6 Recommendations and roadmap for primary forest conservation in Asia and the PacificFrom the discussions in previous chapters, primary forest conservation requires, among other conditions: (i) an improved knowledge of the different types of forests at finer scales, of their status, trends and functioning, including large-scale ecological mapping and studies on species distribution and species population trends, and the various threats they face, driven by land use, land cover and climate changes; (ii) a compelling narrative, i.e. a shared vision and clear picture of the various values of primary forests and the challenges ahead; (iii) a clear understanding of land tenure and responsibilities; and (iv) efficient mechanisms to connect large funds to small projects. This will allow: (i) the alignment of various sustainable development objectives;(ii) the adoption of cross-sectoral, integrated approaches, particularly at the landscape level, where all of these objectives need to be balanced; (iii) the consolidation and involvement of large coalitions of actors, not only those living close to forests but also distant actors that are somehow connected to forests; and (iv) the harnessing of the potential of innovative technologies to support improved monitoring and reporting, as well as inclusive and participatory governance and decision-making processes.Six areas for recommendations to enhance primary forest conservation in Asia and the Pacific have emerged from this study and from the collective process of elaboration of this roadmap: (i) explore innovative ways to improve monitoring and reporting on primary forests; (ii) improve the knowledge and understanding of the functioning and dynamics of primary forest ecosystems within broader landscapes to orient land use planning, management and conservation efforts; (iii) build a compelling narrative for primary forest conservation and consolidate new coalitions of actors; (iv) ensure policy coherence across sectors and scales and promote integrated landscape approaches for primary forest conservation; (v) align sustainable land use, climate action and biodiversity objectives for the conservation of primary forests; and (vi) strengthen regional and international cooperation for the conservation and management of primary forests.It is a difficult, if not impossible, task to craft a set of recommendations that are simultaneously broad and comprehensive enough to embrace the huge diversity of primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region and of the threats they face, yet precise and operational enough to lead to concrete action plans in specific contexts. These recommendations need to be appropriately articulated, combined and adapted to specific contexts. This is why, beyond the overall framework these recommendations provide, this study also proposes a practical way forward that can help governments and other actors elaborate their own roadmap, adapted to their own context, priorities and needs. This process comprises the four following steps: (i) carrying out an initial assessment, building upon a large scale ecological mapping program, of the current situation of primary forests; (i) developing a strategy: defining priorities and means of implementation for primary forest conservation and protection;(iii) creating an enabling environment for primary forest conservation and protection; and (iv) acting collectively and individually.The Third Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study (APFSOS III: FAO, 2019), launched in June 2019 during the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week in Incheon, Republic of Korea, highlighted that the conservation of primary forests and the sustainable management of other natural forests are urgently needed to safeguard biodiversity, ecosystem services and the quality and health of the physical environment in the Asia-Pacific region. Following up on this outlook study, FAO and CIFOR, lead center of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), 1 have engaged in a collaborative effort to develop a roadmap for primary forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific region.This technical paper, co-published by FAO and FTA, builds upon the scientific literature, FAO and FTA experience and the contributions received during the process. It has been developed through an inclusive and participatory process, involving 425 key regional stakeholders and technical experts from governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, and research institutions, as well as selected students and young people involved in the forest sector in the Asia-Pacific region. Three online expert workshops were organized: the first in July 2020 to launch the process and start building a strong community around it  (Pingault et al. 2020); the second in March 2021 to discuss the diversity of primary forests in the region, identify the main threats they face, and develop recommendations to enhance primary forest conservation (Pingault et al. 2021a); and the last in November 2021 to discuss the main findings and key recommendations of the technical paper and the way forward (Pingault et al. 2021b). Further contributions to the roadmap were gathered through targeted interviews of key stakeholders in the region.This study delineates the overall roadmap and constitutes -together with the inclusive process that led to its finalization -the first step of that roadmap, informing future country-based processes by which decision makers and actors can identify: priority areas of intervention and priority actions for primary forest conservation, as well as potential threats and how to address them. The chapters of the study are organized along these steps. A policy brief was also prepared for decision makers, covering the main findings and concrete recommendations emerging from this work.Primary forests (see Box 1) provide a wide range of ecosystem services that are essential for climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity protection, food security and livelihoods, and human health and well-being. These multiple ecosystem services include: primary biodiversity reservoirs and wildlife habitats, pollination, soil erosion control, water supply (quantity and quality), water runoff control and flood mitigation, carbon sequestration and storage, climate regulation and adaptation to climate change, the provision of food, feed, medicines, fiber, timber and bioenergy, andHowever, studies have shown that definitions and interpretations still vary considerably across countries. First, the lack of operational guidance on primary forest reporting has resulted in the use of proxies that can vary greatly among countries, including legally established protected areas (PAs), national parks, intact forests, or old-growth forests. 1 Second, information is often lacking or insufficient to understand how the national estimates were actually derived. Third, as illustrated above, time series and trends are often missing or, for lack of better data, some countries report the same value for several reporting years. These issues make it highly difficult to draw any sound conclusion on the real trends of primary forest area at global, regional and national levels and to conduct consistent reporting and meaningful comparisons between countries, raising questions about the relevance of the data submitted to FRA for informing policy and decision making.1 The reported primary forest area of some countries may have even increased, as was the case with Japan, when countries use proxies such as protected area or old-growth forest area.representing only 19% of the total forest area in the region, which is much lower than the global average of 32% (see Box 2 for more information on primary forest assessment in the FRA). Degradation and fragmentation further weaken the functionality and resilience of primary forest ecosystems, i.e. their capacity to provide ecosystem services and to cope with external shocks. Hence, halting primary forest loss and degradation must be a priority for all countries in the region now and in the next decade to protect people and the planet, especially in the face of dangerous climate change. Some specific ecosystems, such as mangroves, peat swamp forests, limestone forests, cloud and mountain forest ecosystems, may deserve special attention due to their unique contributions and high vulnerability.Acknowledging these limitations, FAO is currently conducting a special study on primary forests, involving large consultations at global and regional levels, aiming to improve operational guidance on primary forest reporting, as well as the consistency, comparability, completeness and quality of national data reported to the FRA.For more information:• Access all FRA reports and highlights: http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/ The purpose of this technical paper is to gather the knowledge that is needed to identify priority areas and to inform actions to preserve primary forests. It is not prescriptive but gathers information and options relevant to the wide range of contexts found in the region, so that government and other stakeholders can determine priorities for action at regional, national and local levels. The diversity of contexts spans four main dimensions, that the different chapters of this paper successively cover: (i) level and trends of preservation and fragmentation of forests; (ii) diversity of vegetation types and ecological diversity of types of primary forests; (iii) diversity of threats and risks to forests; (iv) diversity of governance and policy contexts and means of intervention. The paper provides a broad picture of the status, diversity, current trends and future perspectives for primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region and suggest key recommendations for policy and concrete actions around primary forest conservation directed to the relevant stakeholder groups. It does so by using a consistent methodology to identify and map priority areas for primary forest conservation and management in the Asia-Pacific region, based on a set of criteria including: size, level of importance and level of threats. The Asia-Pacific region is very large and diverse, making it hard to draw here an exhaustive list of these priority areas. Such as list will ultimately depend on nationally and locally determined priorities, properly informed by the above-mentioned four dimensions that frame the national and local context. More accurate knowledge and common identification of these priority areas could help develop efficient conservation strategies at different scales and prioritize conservation efforts within broader landscape perspectives. It is also important to anticipate the emergence of new deforestation or degradation hotspots in the future to allow for strengthened conservation and protection efforts before it is too late.Chapter 1 describes in detail the extent and trends of natural forests and assesses their intactness and fragmentation level to identify and map the remaining contiguous intact forests. Chapter 2 highlights the diversity of forest ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region and considers them within broader landscapes, analyzing at a fine scale the dynamics at stake in surrounding areas that contribute to shape their evolution. Chapter 3 focuses on the range of pressures and threats facing primary forests, including environmental and anthropogenic threats, socioeconomic drivers, and impacts of climate change. Chapter 4 addresses issues related to governance and governance tools, rules, instruments, initiatives and institutions at international, regional, country and local levels, and considers the range of actors involved. It identifies main challenges but also explores opportunities for good governance. Chapter 5 reviews mechanisms and tools for primary forest conservation and examines how they can be combined to address a diversity of threats and situations. Finally, building upon the findings presented in the previous chapters and the discussions held during the expert workshops, key recommendations for primary forest conservation are proposed in Chapter 6, which is directed towards the main relevant categories of actors. This report therefore contains a picture of the overall roadmap and constitutes the first step of its roll-out at the scale of the Asia-Pacific region. of primary forest cover in the Asia-Pacific region Despite an overall increase of the region's forested area since 2000 due to the establishment of restoration and afforestation programs in some countries such as China, India and Viet Nam, the area of primary forests is declining (FAO 2020), along with the ecosystem services they provide, such as food and medicines, biodiversity, water and soil protection, climate regulation and carbon sequestration, amenities and cultural values.The myth of pristine, untouched tropical rain forest environments has been challenged in the Amazon and Central Africa, with evidence of a more significant human impact than what was previously admitted (Bayon et al. 2012;Levis et al. 2018;de Souza et al. 2018;McMichael et al. 2020;Ellis et al. 2021). However, it is relevant to assess what appear to be the least disturbed forests today, which are generally recognized to be more resilient to global changes 2 (Kapos et al. 2002).In addressing such forest 'integrity' (Evans et al. 2021), several concepts have been gaining traction, such as 'intact forest landscapes', which are seamless mosaics of forest and naturally treeless ecosystems with no remotely detected signs of human activity and a minimum area of 500 km 2 (Potapov et al. 2008;Potapov et al. 2017), 'intactness', which refers to native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities (Watson et al. 2018), the Global Forest Landscape Integrity Index built by combining observed and inferred pressure from human activities (infrastructure, agriculture, deforestation), edge effect and loss of connectivity (Grantham et al. 2020), assessment of 'deforestation fronts' (Pacheco et al. 2021), tropical humid forest degradation (Vancutsem et al. 2020) and tropical forest vulnerability (Saatchi et al. 2021).This chapter looks at the status and extent of primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region, describing the trends in loss of natural forest cover, degradation and fragmentation. This study focuses on primary forests, as per the FAO definition used for the FRA, in Asia and the Pacific. This chapter develops a remote sensing methodology to describe changes in natural forest cover , degradation fragmentation affecting primary forests and their evolution. Having first identified natural forest cover, ensuring that no planted forests are included, this study assesses degradation within these natural forests, including loggedover areas, leading to an estimation of so-called intact forests. In this study, intact forests are defined as \"forest cover that show no remotely-detected signs of biomass degradation or human impact, and is large enough to maintain its natural ecological processes, including viable populations of wide-ranging species\". Intact forests can still be affected by elements of human pressure not visible from the sky (defaunation), but also by natural abiotic damages (such as storm, snow, drought and fire) and biotic damages (such as insects, pests and diseases). Ultimately, by assessing the fragmentation of these intact forests, isolating large core areas and excluding forest edge zones, the study identifies contiguous intact forests, which are the best possible estimation, through remote sensing techniques, of what can be considered as primary forests as per the FAO definition. By construction, the area and geographic extent of these 'intact forests' do not necessarily correspond exactly to the area and geographic extent of 'primary forests' as identified by countries and reported to the FRA (which remain the official data on 'primary forests') because each country has its own method and underlying data. This chapter first assesses historical changes in natural forest cover in 2000, 2010 and 2020 by using remote sensing to identify hotspots for deforestation (Section 1.1). It then evaluates the intactness of this natural forest cover (Section 1.2.1) and its fragmentation level (Section 1.2.2) to assess the remaining contiguous intact forest cover in the Asia-Pacific region.This study uses Landsat satellite data to assess historical changes, degradation, fragmentation and loss in natural forest cover in 2000, 2010 and 2020, with the view to subsequently identifying planted versus naturally regenerated forest before assessing their intactness. 3 The pertinence of several remote sensing methods was tested to cover very diverse environments, from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan to New Zealand and the Pacific, with tropical and equatorial regions in between.As a first approximation, forest cover was analyzed based on global ecological zones (GEZ -FAO 2010) to limit the misclassification of very different forest types in different ecozones (humid, seasonal, temperate, and mountain). In more seasonal areas, remote sensing techniques required the analysis of images in different seasons to determine the best phenological period to identify forest types. In seasonal climate regions, when trees shed leaves during the dry season, grasses or shrubs underneath dominate reflectance readings from satellite sensors, causing forest 3 We used Landsat-5 TM TOA (1996-2000)  cover to be underestimated. The method workflow is detailed in Figure 1 and Box 3.Results are given in Table 1 and Figure 2.Our results show that Asia-Pacific natural forest cover approximated 667 million ha in 2000, declining to 643 million ha in 2010 and 609 million ha in 2020, a 3% difference compared to the FRA 2020 assessment on average at the regional level.The methodology followed in this study applies the FAO definition for forest, except that our minimal mappable area was 1 ha instead of 0.5 ha, and young tropical forest fallow areas (<20 years old), although sometimes taller than 5 m, were not included in our natural forest assessment as they are clearly distinguished on color composite images of Landsat satellite data. Although our forest likelihood product does not relate directly to tree cover density mapping, our results were compared with tree cover density maps from Hansen et al. (2013) for areas with open seasonal forest types, such as Australia and India. The differences were not significant: most of our pixels fell into Hansen's tree cover classes with above 10% of tree cover, meaning our results fulfill the minimal 10% tree canopy cover threshold of the FAO forest definition, although this threshold is questionable for humid tropical landscapes such as those found in Indonesia 4  and Malaysia.In tropical countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, or the five countries of the Indochina peninsula, 5 the specific geometrical features of the plantations allow a distinction between planted and natural forest. This distinction is more complex to render in other regions, especially for more open forest and woodland types in Australia and India, as well as for coniferous forests in China, Japan and Korea. Although reference maps (plantation area mapping, mostly at coarse scale) can be of help in some regions as a guide, we relied on available highresolution imagery to select visually natural and planted forest training samples for details and cross-checking.  We also performed radiometric normalization to identify the same mean vector and covariance matrix for two different images (Landsat TM/ETM and OLI) and used Landsat OLI as the reference.The Random Forest classifier, a popular and efficient machine-learning algorithm (Breiman 2001), was used to produce the natural forest cover map. This algorithm can accommodate a large number of datasets, both continuous and discrete data, and is relatively free from overfitting. The Random Forest algorithm classifies the different samples according to the forest likelihood, i.e. the probability (range 0-1) for the sample to have a forest cover. The initial threshold used to distinguish rain forest from non-forest was 0.5. However, the tropical seasonal canopy has different spectral responses, especially in the near infrared and short-wave infrared bands. Hence, seasonal forest versus non-forest covers are better discriminated at a threshold value of 0.3.The variables fed into the Random Forest model were the near-infrared (NIR), short-wave infrared (SWIR1 and SWIR2 bands), and the simple ratios of the combination of the three bands. These metrics were chosen as they are relatively free from atmospheric disturbances such as haze. We call in this report \"deforestation map\" the spatial visualization of natural/intact forest cover change, using our remote sensing approach (Fig 1). These \"deforestation maps\" for 2001-2010 and 2011-2020 were produced using the same method of forest likelihood but using deforestation samples as dependent variables and per-pixel differences metrics as independent variables. For instance, the 2001-2010 deforestation map was produced using per-pixel differences of all metrics from 2001 (NIR, SWIR1, SWIR2, simple ratios, forest likelihood) and all metrics from 2010 (NIR, SWIR1, SWIR2, simple ratios, forest likelihood). The output was deforestation likelihood, later classified into deforested or not deforested using the thresholding approach.The average threshold to optimally distinguish deforested areas was 0.3.To evaluate how well the classification performed, 30% random samples were used all over the area to assess accuracy at the sub-regional level. The accuracy level was 94% for South Asia, insular Southeast Asia and Oceania, and 92% for East Asia and continental Southeast Asia.The results show a large spectrum of situations in the Asia and the Pacific Region with respect to changes in forest cover, with three main situations : (i) some places with high rates of forest loss in 2010 have kept or even increased these -already high-rates; (ii) in other places, forest loss rates were originally lower but have continued to increase in the last decade, (iii) finally there are areas where a relative stabilization of rates has been observed since 2010.In addition, we tried to visualize the dynamics of forest area change, looking at areas that exhibit statistically significant clustering in spatial patterns of forest loss, which we call in this report deforestation 'hotspots'. We used the Getis-Ord spatial statistic tools (Harris et al. 2017). The Getis-Ord Gi* statistic (Ord and Getis, 1995) can identify the location and degree of spatial clustering of forest loss for a particular grid cell and surrounding cells. We used a grid cell of 3×3 km. This analysis for the two periods distinguishes the areas with new, intensifying or persistent deforestation hotspots. Some areas may experience persistent deforestation hotspots in both periods, indicating that deforestation in these areas is very severe (see Figures 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d).  Forest habitat degradation and fragmentation intensification is a compelling threat to global biodiversity today (Krogh 2019;Fischer and Lindenmayer 2007), particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. In the previous section, the definition of natural forests included former stand degradation such as previous logging operations between 2000 and 2020 or forest regrowth after slash-and-burn agriculture (old fallow forest ≥ 20 years old). This section first assesses the integrity of the remaining undisturbed natural forests, referred to as intact forests. It then analyzes the level of fragmentation of these intact forests, discussing how large is \"large enough to maintain natural ecological processes\" (FAO 2018a). As a result, it identifies the contiguous intact forest cover, that is the best possible estimation through remote sensing techniques of what can be considered as a primary forest as per the FAO (2018a) definition.Criteria used to assess forest degradation vary between countries and actors. However, in remote sensing studies, forest degradation is mainly understood as a change in the structure of the forest canopy, an increase in its openness, a decrease in tree density and reduced carbon stocks, leading to a loss in biodiversity and carbon storage (FAO, UNEP and ITTO in Schoene et al. 2007). The method used to assess forest degradation is described in Box 4.The results (see Figure 5 and Table 2) appeared similar to those of the global forest management mapping approach of the Copernicus Global Land Service (Buchhorn et al. 2019;Vancutsem et al. 2020), with some differences in the assessment and surfaces of the 'disturbed/degraded forest' classes.The method followed in this study appears more suited to large areas than other time series approaches like Breaks For Additive and Seasonal Trend (BFAST: Verbesselt et al., 2012) or Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery (LandTrendR: Kennedy et al., 2018), which are more appropriate to cover smaller areas.This study adapted the approach of Wang et al. (2019) to map cumulative degraded forest cover based on a 20-years time series of Landsat imagery. This approach integrates single-date features with temporal characteristics from six time-series trajectories (SWIR, SWIR2, NDVI, NDWI, NDWI2 and SAVI). 1 We modified the method, using Random Forest as a regression, with forest/non-forest sample data, which will then generate forest likelihood.From the forest likelihood value, ranging from 0 to 1, we determined the threshold to separate intact forest from degraded forest. We chose the optimal threshold by visually comparing the result with reference maps (e.g. Vancutsem et al. 2020;Lin and Liu 2016;Roy et al. 2015). In tropical areas, we found that intact forests were optimally classified using a threshold greater than 0.5, while degraded forests were optimally classified with a threshold below 0.5. This method is illustrated in Figure 4.Figure 4 Method to separate degraded forests from intact forests | 13 and Southeast Asia. A few issues were encountered for some regions of Cambodia, India and Australia, for which most of the seasonal dry deciduous were first classified as degraded forests. Our figures may be overestimates for some parts of India and Australia. It is more difficult to assess forest degradation for seasonal, more open forest types, such as those found in Australia, central India, and some parts of the Indochina peninsula. In the state of Andhra Pradesh in central India, much of the Deccan plateau has patches of dry deciduous forests and secondary scrubland, but also some remnant moist deciduous forests and evergreen forests (Rawat 1997). In such landscapes, it is difficult to assess intactness levels using remote sensing techniques. Moreover, many forests that still look structurally intact may actually be 'empty forests' where wildlife has already disappeared (see, for instance, Malla et al. (2015) on the forest reserve in the northern part of India's Eastern Ghats). This study finds that the remaining intact forests of the Asia-Pacific region still cover 519 million ha and are largely located outside PAs (see Figure 5). The forest degradation assessment method used performs very well for most countries in South Asia Moreover, it is agreed that the ability of ecosystems to support species and habitat diversity and their capacity to recover from disturbance (resilience) is enhanced if they have little or no human interference, as well as if the area is large enough to support core ecological processes (Kapos et al. 2002).Forest fragmentation is another crucial issue that is addressed in the next section.Many studies have carried out syntheses to determine the effects of fragmentation on biodiversity (Fahrig 2017;Gardner et al. 2007;Haddad et al. 2015) and ecosystem services (Crooks and Sanjayan 2006;Uuemaa et al. 2013). Infrastructure development, logging operations and agriculture expansion have significantly fragmented forest landscapes in India (Roy et al. 2013), Southeast Asia (Sodhi et al. 2004) and Australia (Woinarski et al. 2014), altering the movement of species, dissemination of seeds and pollination of plants (Hermansen et al. 2017). Few studies provide a comprehensive overview of forest fragmentation in the Asia-Pacific region despite the alarming rates of biodiversity loss observed, particularly in Southeast Asia, where deforestation rates are among the highest in the world.In scientific discussions around forest fragmentation, the minimal patch size required to ensure viable populations of organisms is still a strongly debated question. Most studies look at fragment sizes, measuring the area of forest fragments in relation to biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Gray et al. 2015;Lucey et al. 2014;Tawatao et al. 2014;Yeong et al. 2016;Mukul et al. 2016;Bernard et al. 2014), while others focus more on isolation and connectivity, edge and core effects (Lucey and Hill 2012;Yue et al. 2015;Gray et al. 2015;Fujinuma and Harrison 2012;Luskin et al. 2017;Nurdiansyah et al. 2016).In their review, van Hoek et al. (2015) warned against the misuse of threshold values and cautioned against the oversimplification and uncritical application of thresholds as conservation targets. Considering the size of the Asia-Pacific region, the resolution used (100 m) and the limitations of available software for fragmentation analysis (FRAGSTATS:McGarigal and Marks 1995; GIDOS: Vogt et al. 2019) when dealing with such large amounts of data, this analysis is limited to an illustration of the changes over time of the spatial patterns of forest fragmentation using GIS, pinpointing dynamics in the number of forest fragments, patch and edge density, mean patch size and largest patch index (Table 3).Several size thresholds suggested in the literature were considered to distinguish contiguous forest from forest fragments. Edwards et al. (2011) stated that large expanses of habitat (variously defined as areas over 20,000-500,000 ha depending on the country) should be protected. At the same time, they argued that future agricultural demand can be met by clearing only forest patches below a 1,000 ha threshold. They therefore recommend the development of a new high conservation value 6 category that will recognize the conservation value of protecting habitat patches of above 1,000 ha within the agricultural matrix. In general, the thresholds used to define intactness in the Asia-Pacific region fall in the range of 20,000 to 200,000 ha (HCV Consortium for Indonesia 2009; Lucey et al. 2017).In their appraisal of 'Intact Forest Landscapes', Potapov et al. (2017) defined a minimal size threshold for intactness at 50,000 ha. However, for a few species, such as raptors, big carnivores, orangutans or elephants, 50,000 ha might be considered too small. For instance, Marshall et al. (2009) argued that a minimal forest patch size of 50,000 to 100,000 ha is needed to maintain genetically viable populations of orangutans. In the case of the Harapan (hope) Rainforest Ecosystem Restoration concession in Sumatra, 100,000 ha appears to be a critical size threshold illustrating the potential starting point of a decay of the forest. A fragment of a former lowland dipterocarp forest extensively logged over the past 20-30 years, this highly degraded rain forest still supported a high diversity of vertebrates, including elephants and tigers (Harrison and Swinfield 2015). However, the concession is nowadays under pressure not only from invasive species (Bellucia pentamera), illegal logging and conversion to oil palm plantations but also from lobbying by| 15 nearby mining companies seeking to build a road across the area 7 (Engert et al. 2021).In an assessment of forest integrity in relation to biodiversity for the FRA 2000, using global datasets at a 1 km 2 resolution, all forest patches larger than 30,000 ha were considered continuous forest (Kapos et al. 2002) while for Tauber (2018), 10,000 ha is an important threshold for which tropical forest fragmentation is near the critical point of impaired percolation 8 on all three continents, point of fragmentation after which management actions to re-establish connectivity are less likely to be successful.Besides fragment size, another important consideration is the width of the edge bordering intact forests. Although most environmental and biological changes occur within 100 m from the edge (Laurance et al. 2002), forest disturbances can take place up to 500 m inside fragment margins, and some authors argue that forest can only be considered undisturbed by external factors beyond 1 km or even 2 km from the edge (Ewers and Didham 2007;Broadbent et al. 2008;Chaplin-Kramer et al. 2015;Fisher et al. 2021).7 Tempo, August 4, 2020 h t t p s : / / r a i n f o r e s t j o u r n a l i s m f u n d . o r g / s t o r i e s / m i n i n g -r o a d -c u t -t h r o u g h -s u m a t r a n -f o r e s t 8 The percolation theory (Stauffer and Aharony 1994) applied to landscape ecology: the configuration state when only small unconnected patches remain in the landscape.Some scientists believe conservation efforts should prioritize larger patches where natural processes still work properly. Others argue that all remnant forests are worth considering and even smaller patches should be protected and connectivity among these patches enhanced, such as through ecological corridors. This is related to a long-standing debate on the effectiveness of few large patches vs several small patches for conservation. Few large habitat patches would conserve more species than several small patches, and this principle is used to prioritize the protection of large patches while deprioritizing small ones, albeit without much empirical support. See Fahrig et al. (2020) for a recent critical review on this matter.Hence this fragmentation analysis considered 100,000 ha, 50,000 ha, 30,000 ha and 10,000 ha as size thresholds. In many countries, forest fragmentation has intensified and intact forest cover has decreased over the past two decades, while the number of small patches, as well as their isolation, has increased. In some countries, forest patches larger than 100,000 ha are the exception. The remaining area of contiguous intact forest is obtained by subtracting the total surface of forest fragments from the total area of intact forests. Following this method, the 519 million ha of identified intact forests in the Asia Pacific region diminish to 378 million ha of contiguous intact forests. This result is broken down at the national level in the following sub-sections, focusing first on the Mean perimeter m Average perimeter of a patch for a given patch type. The patch perimeter is a fundamental piece of information available about a landscape and is the basis for many landscape metrics.Mean patch size ha Average area of a patch for a given patch type.Edge density (ED) m/ha Sum of the lengths of all edge segments involving the corresponding patch type divided by the total landscape area.Largest patch index % Equals the percentage of the landscape comprised by the largest patch. As such, it is a simple measure of dominance.Total edge (TE) m Sum of the lengths of all edge segments of a particular patch type in a given landscape.Source: adapted from McGarigal (1995).countries with the highest deforestation rates, mainly in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Viet Nam and Thailand). In these countries, forest fragmentation has intensified over the past two decades.1.2.2.1 Indonesia (Figure 6 and Table 4)The contiguous forest cover in Indonesia decreased from 81 million ha (47% of the country's total land area) to 69 million ha (40% of total land area) between 2000 and 2020. The number and surface of forest fragments increased on Sulawesi and Papua but decreased on Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java, indicating the imminent disappearance of the lowland forest formations on these three islands.On Kalimantan, contiguous forest area decreased from 26 million ha to 20 million ha, fragmented forest area decreased from 6 million ha to 5 million ha, and the number of forest patches smaller than 100,000 ha also decreased from 584,100 to 494,300, suggesting that many patches were converted to other land uses. The edge density decreased from 113,650 m ha -1 to 94,200 m ha -1 , the mean patch size decreased from 10 ha to 9.8 ha, and the largest patch index decreased from 44% to 31%.Similar fragmentation patterns were observed for Sumatra, while for Sulawesi, the contiguous forest decreased from 8.5 to 7.3 million ha, and the forest fragments increased from 1.6 to 1.7 million ha. The number of forest patches below 100,000 ha increased from 185,000 to 230,800 patches. The edge density increased from 110,500 m ha -1 to 131,200 m ha -1 , while the mean patch size decreased from 8.8 ha to 7.6 ha. The largest patch index also decreased from 42% to 28%, indicating that the fragmentation process produced smaller and more dispersed forest patches during the period.      125 4,924,502 16,012,510 9,787,696 7,180,497 4,616,379 33,061,371 27,189,370 13,775,502 12,061,068 Total area of forest patches below 100,000 ha (ha)  Sharma et al. 2016;Gu et al. 2020;Kotru 2021).In addition, landslides and snowfall also shaped vegetation patterns at higher altitudes (Sahana et al. 2018).Natural forests in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the tropics, have experienced high and even accelerating deforestation rates during the last two decades. This study identified intensifying and persistent deforestation hotspots of immediate concern. Forest fragmentation has also accelerated, with a general increase in the number of smaller patches of the lower size classes (below 30,000 ha and below 10,000 ha). Degradation was also significant, mainly in fragmented landscapes bordering primary forests. However, a noteworthy surface of intact forest remains often, but not always, in remote, steep and difficult-to-access terrains.Most of these intact forests are located outside PAs, often with lower protection statuses such as 'watershed protection forest areas'.The study validates a replicable remote sensing methodology for the analysis of the degradation and fragmentation of natural forest cover at a regional and national scale, producing the first consistent region-wide maps of remaining intact forests and intact contiguous forests in the Asia-Pacific region.Having first identified natural forest cover, ensuring that no planted forests are included, we assessed degradation within these natural forests, including logged-over areas, leading to an estimation of intact forests. Ultimately, by assessing the fragmentation of these intact forests, isolating large core areas and excluding forest edge zones, the study identifies 378 million ha of contiguous intact forest, that is the best possible estimation through remote sensing techniques of what can be considered primary forest as per the FAO (2018a) definition.However, it should be acknowledged that this remote sensing approach -a bird's eye view from the sky -may be biased towards overestimating the extent of some intact forest cover, especially in the drier zones of central and east India, some Australian woodlands, and boreal forests in northern China and Mongolia. In these places, the heterogeneity of the forest landscape mosaic and the lack of reliable information about conditions on the ground make the interpretation of some satellite images difficult. Moreover, many forests that still look structurally intact may actually be 'empty forests' (Redford 1992) where wildlife has already disappeared.Another difficulty encountered in classifying the disturbances was in deciding whether forest fires were natural or anthropogenic in some places. Forest fire is a natural component of the dynamics of some ecosystem types (e.g. fire climax forests in the boreal zone and many Australian woodlands), but human development and climate change have significantly altered natural fire regimes. We focused on the anthropogenic fire zone (Indonesia, Himalayas and Mongolia) to assess degraded forest cover over the past 20 years as a result of fires.Another weakness of our approach was uncertainty in identifying past disturbances, such as shifting cultivation, low-intensity selective logging and even industrial logging before 2000. In the case of industrial logging operations prior to 2000, the assumption is that these lands have already been transformed into agricultural use. These areas followed a well-known land use sequence consisting of logged-over forests being abandoned by concessionaires, followed by intense illegal logging using former logging road networks, until the forest was so depleted that agricultural ministries could justifiably advocate transforming the land into agricultural plantations.Existing primary forests (inside and outside PAs) will not be resilient to climate change if further degradation and fragmentation intensify around them, since the smaller the patch, the lower its capacity to adapt and the more likely it is to be converted to other land uses. This is why the management of forests, within broader landscape, requires a thorough understanding of the various forest types and vegetation of the surrounding matrix. The following chapter will review the state of knowledge in this regard.The first chapter captured trends and the status of intact forests in the Asia-Pacific region, emphasizing features such as natural versus planted, continuous versus fragmented, and healthy versus degraded.Beyond simple forest versus non-forest approaches, ecosystem or vegetation classification and zoning have long been used for conservation prioritization. These can be rooted in biogeographical science (Udvardy 1975;Moronne 2015), looking for phytogeographic or faunistic domains such as endemic bird areas (EBAs; Stattersfield et al. 1998), or using the concept of ecosystem geography science of Bailey (2009) that led to ecological regionalization and the concept of 'ecoregions' (Olson et al. 2001;Olson and Dinerstein 2002;Dinerstein et al. 2017).In line with previous world vegetation or forest formation classification initiatives (UNESCO 1973;Legris and Blasco 1979) and with agro-climatic classifications such as the Global Agro-Ecological Zones Database (GAEZ) (Fischer et al. 2002;Hutchinson et al. 2005), FAO developed a Global Ecological Zones system (GEZ; FAO 2012), adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, the whole principle of conservation priority zoning was recently revised by Sayre et al. (2020) in their global classification of the world's ecosystems at a spatial resolution of 250 m.However, all of these global initiatives and models are only usable at a small to very small scale 9 (1:250,000 and smaller)with recognized limitations when applied to sub-regional or local contexts (Lee 2009).While recognizing the necessity for broad classifications for global purposes, there is a crucial need for larger-scale approaches to classifying forest formations and types for the operational management and conservation of local ecosystems at the landscape level.There is a need to recognize the specificity and relative importance of local types of forests, and to address natural dynamics, species population distribution, and variations in floristic composition within each forest type.Remaining intact forests should not be dealt with in isolation but put into the context of their surroundings, looking at the whole landscape vegetation mosaic. At the landscape level, vegetation types are the best surrogates to define and map the underlying ecosystems in terms of regulating, supporting, provisioning and cultural services (de Boer 1983;Folke et al. 2004;Yap et al. 2010). FAO (2012) recognized this approach, stating that \"an alternative route for a new FAO Global Ecological Zoning map would be to determine EZs independently of the national or regional maps by using a more objective approach, notably by relying solely on climate and altitude data to delimit zones, taking into account potential vegetation, and vegetation classification\".Large-scale (1:50,000 and larger) ecological vegetation mapping is an essential tool for the characterization, evaluation and management of intact forests and their surroundings in the Asia-Pacific region. This information is not yet fully available.After a brief reminder of the biogeographical settings of the Asia-Pacific region, emphasizing complex patterns of species distribution thatare not yet fully understood (Section 2.1), a 2 A remarkable diversity of forest types in Asia and the Pacific Palearctic realms), represents a remarkable cradle of the evolution of many organisms, including the first flowering plants (viz. Amborella in New Caledonia) and first songbirds (in Australia). The region is located at the crossroad of two paleo-continents where Asiatic elements of Laurasia origin meet Australian elements of Gondwanan origin (Turner et al. 2001). Moreover, it contains many endemics that contribute to the region's 10 biodiversity 'hotspots' (the Himalayas, Japan, the Western Ghats in India, Indo-Burma, the Philippines, Sundaland, Wallacea, southwestern Australia, eastern Australia, and East Melanesia, as identified by Myers et al. 2000). 10 The Asia-Pacific region also includes seven of the world's 17 megadiverse countries: 11 Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, and the Philippines.framework for a future larger-scale ecological zoning of the Asia-Pacific forest formations is proposed (Section 2.2), followed by a review of their respective importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services (Section 2.3).A recent phylogenetic classification of the tropical forests clearly distinguished two major floristic regions, the American-African and Indo-Pacific regions (Slik et al. 2018).Biogeographically (Figure 9), the Asia-Pacific region, covering the Himalayas, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania (Oceanian, Australasian, Indomalayan, and  The phytogeographical region of Malesia alone, which stretches the whole length of the Malay Archipelago to the Bismarck archipelago east of New Guinea, comprises 20%-25% of the planet's plant and animal species. This high biodiversity results from its complex geological and environmental history (Woodruff 2010;Lohman et al. 2011;Parnell 2013).The disjunction of the Malesian and continental Asian flora is remarkable and located near the Kra Isthmus, which separates the south of Thailand from Malaysia. There, 375 plant genera reach their northern limit and 200 genera their southern limit (van Steenis 1950). This scholar identified another \"demarcation knot\" between New Guinea and Australia in the Torres Strait, with 644 genera and 340 genera at the southern and northern limits of their distributions respectively. A third break comes north of the Philippines with 265 genera, from a total of 1185 known from the island of Taiwan, that do not occur in the Philippines.Conversely 421 Philippine genera do not occur in the island of Taiwan (van Steenis 1950).The species disjunction of the Kra Isthmus is also valid for birds (Hughes et al. 2003) and mammal species (Woodruff et al. 2009), while the Pleistocene cycles of aridity and sea-level fluctuations of the Torres Strait (Byrne et al. 2008) is still debated (Toon et al. 2017).The origin of the Malesian mountain flora and the presence of disjunct distributions for some species on high mountains sometimes located more than 2,000 km apart (such as for Drapetes ericoides on peaks in New Guinea and also found on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo) is still hard to explain, but the similarities in dry tropical flora between East Java, Flores and Thailand are striking.Audley-Charles (1987) offers a fascinating interpretation of the geological history of this part of the world. Myanmar, western Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra appear to be fragments of the ancient Australia-New| 27Guinea block. The separation took place in the Middle Jurassic (160 million BP 12 ), followed by a period of isolation in the sea of Tethys. At the end of the Secondary and beginning of the Tertiary, Southeast Asia and Sumatra fragments remained emerged for a long time, later orienting from northwest to southeast, allowing a link between the continent and Australia-New Guinea. Rotation continued with the fragments taking up their current positions, and during the collision of the Australian and Asian plates between 15 and 3 million years ago, new land was created at the same time as the Sunda volcanic arc.Since the Quaternary (2 million BP), climatic change oscillations and especially the succession of glacial-interglacial cycles have caused significant variations in sea levels in this part of the world (Woodruff et al. 2010).Although these changes are often invoked as a critical biogeographical driver in the region, any model focusing on Pleistocene events alone should not miss out on important vicariance 13 and dispersal drivers, as rightly pointed out by Lohman et al. (2011) and Wurster and Bird (2014) to explain the distribution of many species.Not all scholars agree on the maximum rise of the waters during the last interglacial period (from 130,000 to about 115,000 years ago).According to Haile (1971) and Geyh et al. (1979), the rise was only 3-6 m higher than present levels, whereas Tjia (1980) claims a difference of up to 50 m was possible. According to Morley and Flenley (1987), former sea levels during the last interglacial period could have been up to 180-200 m lower than present levels. The current consensus is now more around 120 m lower (Voris 2000). A 100 m drop in sea level in this region would have been enough to decisively influence the history and evolution of flora and fauna (Flenley 1979). Under this hypothesis, the sea would have retreated from all of the South China Sea and the Torres Strait, enabling the migration of many species. However, the Sunda (west Malesia) and Sahul shelves (Australia, New Guinea and East Malesia) were never connected (Hamilton 1979, 12 BP: Before the present 13 Emergence of physical or biotic barriers leading to subsequent genetic isolation. Raven 1979). Moreover, the extreme retreat of the sea lasted for a relatively short time, and during the more significant part of the Quaternary, the sea level was probably in the range of 30-80 m lower than today (Voris 2000). Still, the maximum retreat of the sea created a larger continental landmass and changed the position of ocean currents, which doubtless modified the climate. There is abundant evidence to suggest that the Pleistocene refuge theory applies to the Southeast Asian region (Morley 2018).During the last ice age (15,000 BP), the surface temperature of the sea in the region was only 3-4°C cooler than it is now (Max et al. 2012), which means that, at least in lowlands, temperatures remained relatively high. However, Walker (1982) and van Beek (1982) demonstrated that large glaciers were formed at high altitudes on Sumatra during this era. This suggests that the altitudinal temperature gradient has decreased from -0.8°C per 100 m to the current -0.6°C (Morley and Flenley 1987).Although pollen analyses from northwest Borneo lowland sites did not show any replacement of humid equatorial forest by deciduous forest during and since the Tertiary in Southeast Asia (Muller 1972;Whitmore 1981), the presence of 'corridors' of savanna, suggested by Ashton (1972), has recently been confirmed (Wurster et al. 2019).Most palynological studies in the region cover medium-range altitudes (1,000-1,500 m). Maloney's analysis (1980Maloney's analysis ( , 1981) ) covers 18,500 years on Sumatra. Until 16,500 years ago, the Lake Toba plateau was probably covered by a patchwork of subalpine and montane herbaceous vegetation. The oak forest present at this time was maintained until about 12,000 years ago. About 7,500 years ago, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) species predominated, although there seems to be no particular reason for this. From this analysis, it can be shown that before the warming, which occurred about 8,000-9,000 years ago, the altitudinal zonation of vegetation was approximately 350-500 m lower than it is now. This tallies with the findings of James (1985) and Whitehead (1985) in West Sumatra. For the same site, Newsome and Flenley (1988) showed that at the end of the Pleistocene, a coniferous-rich forest was growing around the lake, suggesting an 800 m altitudinal lowering of the vegetation.After analyzing sediments from a small lake, Danau Padang, situated at 950 m altitude, south of Lake Kerinci on Sumatra, Morley (1980Morley ( , 1982) )  In 1860, Hooker recognized the significant biogeographic differences between eastern and western Australian biota. Southwestern Australia is primarily known for its high diversity and endemism. There is also evidence that eastern Australia has been an important migration route for a long time as it was linked with the northern hemisphere through Malaysia. However, the northward migration of Australian elements has been less successful than the southward migration of Malaysian elements (Burbidge 1960).  (Küchler 1949;Dansereau 1957;Webb 1959;Fosberg 1961), biophysical-ecological, mostly bioclimatic (Trochain 1957;Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois 1967;Holdridge 1967;UNESCO 1973;Metzger et al. 2012), or phenologicaleco-floristic characteristics (Legris and Blasco 1979). Notably, not all have been produced for mapping purposes.At the global level, the UNESCO'S International Classification and Mapping of Vegetation (UNESCO 1979;Legris et al. 1985) provides a comprehensive classification framework to be used in vegetation maps at a small scale or coarse resolution of 1:1,000,000 or smaller. In Europe, a long tradition of vegetation science and phytogeography schools (Gaussen 1959(Gaussen , 1967;;Zonneveld 1988;Ozenda 1979;Ozenda and Borel 2000), culminated in the environmental stratification model (Metzger et al. 2005) and the vegetation map of the Pan-European Project (Bohn et al. 2007). Furthermore, the classification of the world formations was revisited by Faber-Langendoen et al. (2016).In the Asia-Pacific region, the original bioclimatic Champion's system (1936) was later revised for India by Champion and Seth (1968) and applied to tropical continental Asia (Gaussen et al.1961;Legris 1963;Mueller-Dombois 1968;Blasco et al. 1996), while the forest classification of the Malay Archipelago introduced by van Steenis (1958) was modified by Whitmore (1975Whitmore ( , 1984)). In the Philippines (Whitford 1911;Bedard 1956), Thailand (Loetsch 1957;Anonyme, 1962), Viet Nam (Schmid 1974;Thai Van Trung 1978;Phuong 2007), Cambodia (Rollet 1972) and Malaysia (Symington 1943;Wyatt-Smith 1964;Fox 1978), the primary classifications were physiognomic, whereas in Indonesia, those of van Steenis (1957), Jacobs (1974) and Kartawinata (1975) were primarily ecological. In Australia, the central systems were physiognomic-structural (Webb 1959), latter evolving as structuralenvironmental (Webb 1968), structuralfunctional (Gillison 1981), and structural-floristic (Specht and Specht 2002).These classifications were produced for mapping purposes. The main vegetation maps available for the region are: the collection of maps published at a 1:1,000,000 scale for India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the series 'International map of the vegetation and ecological conditions' (Gaussen et al. 1961(Gaussen et al. -1976;;Legris and Blasco 1971;Laumonier et al. 1983Laumonier et al. -1987;;Pascal et al. 1982), as well as the maps produced by Paijmans (1975Paijmans ( , 1976) ) for PNG, Dobremez (1971Dobremez ( -1978) at 1:250,000 for Nepal, Roy et al. (2015) for India, SOFR (2018) for Australia, Newsome (1987) for New Zealand, Miyawaki and Fujiwara (1988) for Japan, Su et al. (2020) and Guo et al. (2018) for China.This study lays the foundation for a common framework for the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission to monitor contemporary intact forest and surrounding landscapes, initiating larger-scale datasets and mapping programs to support sustainable landscape management in the region.Different vegetation types occur in climates ranging from warm to cold and from nonseasonal to seasonal. More than a century ago, Schimper (1898Schimper ( , 1903) )   (1936), as well as by the work of Bagnouls and Gaussen (1957), or Walter and Lieth (1960), who combined graphical representations of temperature and precipitation to define climatic diagrams.This study uses a bioclimatic framework based on the principles developed by the Toulouse School of the 'Institut de la Carte Internationale de la Végétation (ICIV)' 15 and the French Institute in Pondicherry (Gaussen et al. 1967). Bioclimates consider the main climatic parameters, such as rainfall and temperature, but emphasize their regime (rainfall distribution during the year) and interannual variability, and the length, intensity and season of occurrence of the dry periods. Also considered are the extreme values of these factors, resulting in conditions unfavorable to biological activity, such as extreme low or high temperatures, low rainfall, or the length and intensity of the drought period.Algorithms derived from the MODIS instrument 16 are available to calculate evapotranspiration (ETP) (Running et al. 2012) and the CGIAR-CSI 17 developed the Global Aridity and the Global Potential Evapotranspiration (Global-PET) Database (Zomer et al. 2008). More suitable for agriculture than forestry, these are statistical datasets that do not reflect the ground situation for any particular year or forest. The local climate data needed for ETP calculation are rarely available, except for large cities where conditions are considerably different from those in the wild.The empirical definition of the dry season adopted here has the advantage of being based on more readily available local data.Classes are drawn by combining the mean annual rainfall (R), the mean temperature of the coldest month (tm), and the seasonality expressed as the number of dry months (see Figures 10 and 11). A month is considered dry when P ≤ 2T or when P ≤ 60 mm. 18 Published regional bioclimatic maps include India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia (Labroue et al. 1965;Fontanel and Chantefort 1978). Gaussen et al. (1967)'s map of the main climatic regions in India and continental Southeast Asia clearly shows that the wettest conditions only occur in small areas (Sri Lanka, southern part of the Western Ghats, Assam, Gulf of Siam, Annamitic Range). In these areas, the annual rainfall usually exceeds 2,000 mm, and the average length of the dry season does not exceed three consecutive months. These are areas covered with tropical evergreen rain forest formations. With the exception of northwestern India and the Deccan Plateau, which are very dry (7-9 dry months), arid (10-11 dry months) or even desert-like, most areas of India and continental Southeast Asia are humid or moderately dry with a mean annual rainfall over 1,000 mm and a dry season of 3-6 months (Blasco 1996). These conditions are suitable for seasonal forests, which have been very much degraded to overgrazed thickets in India or regularly burned woodlands in Myanmar and Thailand. Climatic zones result from complex seasonal wind systems (southwest monsoon: May to September; northeast monsoon: October to March).A mountainous archipelago crossed by the equator, the so-called maritime continent (Indonesia, the Philippines, PNG) harbors complex climatic regimes. With thousands of islands of various sizes, very long coastlines, numerous shallow bodies of water, and many narrow straits controlling the global (Pacific to Indian) ocean circulation, interactions| 31 between land and water are at their highest (Yamanaka 2016). This complexity and the high variability of local air circulation and precipitation with diurnal cycles are reflected in the difficulties of modeling climatic variability and climate change, with many uncertainties in the intensity of the decrease or increase in rainfall in some archipelago regions (Kang et al. 2018).In the southern hemisphere, the Australian continent is predominantly tropical in the north and northeast, subtropical in the east and temperate in the southeast and southwest coastal areas, while the interior has desert-like conditions. The wettest areas are located on the northeast coast, especially in Queensland, with up to 4,000 mm annual precipitation. On the other hand, the entire lowlands are arid, with less than 100 mm annual precipitation in many areas.Tasmania has a distinct maritime climate with mild summers and cool winters with high precipitation in the eastern mountains (Harlfinger 1993).The continental islands of the western Pacific tend to be higher and more extended than the basaltic volcanic islands of the central and eastern Pacific. The climate of the Pacific islands is generally tropical, except New Zealand, which has a temperate climate. Temperature varies from an annual average of about 28°C in Kiribati to an annual average of about 15°C on Norfolk Island (Australia), one of the southernmost Pacific Islands. In addition, most of Oceania south of the equator is impacted by near continuous southeast trade winds and frequent tropical cyclones in the South Pacific islands and is considered particularly vulnerable to climate change, particularly the region's low-lying atolls. Linked to temperature variation with altitude, the altitudinal zonation observed in the distribution of flora and vegetation types should also be carefully addressed in relation with climate change. An upward shift of 30 m has been already observed for many plants in the Alps (Lenoir et al. 2008), but little is known on this matter for the Asia-Pacific region, although some studies have been carried out focusing on the Himalayas (e.g. Gaire et al. 2014;Hamid et al. 2020;Anderson et al. 2020). Other studies deal with altitudinal zonation in the Asia-Pacific region (e.g. van Steenis 1935van Steenis , 1972;;Symington 1943;Whitmore 1975Whitmore , 1984;;Richards 1996;Ives and Messerli 1989;Ashton 2003).Amongst critical local studies, were the works of Ediriweera et al. (2008) for Sri Lanka, Martin (1977) for Sarawak, Hynes (1974), Hope et al. (1976) and Mangen (1986) for New Guinea, Jacobs (1958), Meijer (1961), Oshawa et al. (1985) and Laumonier (1997) for Sumatra, and Meijer (1959) and Yamada (1975-76) for Java. Altitudinally, 800-1,300 m is generally recognized as an important transition zone that differentiates a particular climatic zone where absolute temperature minima become a fundamental limitation for certain animals and plants. This transition from lowland to lower montane forest floristic is gradual (Oshsawa 1991(Oshsawa , 1993(Oshsawa , 1995;;Ashton 2003).In the tropics, if the average temperature of the coldest month in lowlands is around 26°C, the 15°C isotherm is located at c. 1,800 m because the average temperature gradient decreases approximately 0.6°C to 0.65°C for every 100 m rise in elevation (Dodson and Marks 1997;Barry and Chorley 2010). This value is likely to change because | 33 of climate change. The limit of 15°C, used to distinguish lowlands from montane bioclimates and to delineate montane forests on maps, is empirical but not arbitrary.The lowering in altitude of the extent of montane forest on isolated massifs (the \"Massenerhebung' effect 19 ) was observed by Richards (1936) in Sarawak and van Steenis (1935), who stated, however, that this phenomenon only occurs on massifs higher than 2,000 m in altitude, otherwise few or no temperate species can be found.Van Steenis (1961) coined the term 'mountain mass elevation effect' for this phenomenon instead of 'Massernerhebung' and proposed a general zonation for the whole region that distinguishes between two sub-zones, hill and submontane, below what can be considered the real montane zone where the flora displays only temperate elements.Cloud ('elfin') forest is often encountered as low as 600 m in elevation in the small islands of the Pacific but also on coastal middle elevation ranges. For instance, between 1,400 and 1,500 m on the crests of the middle elevation ranges in southwest Sumatra, one passes abruptly from a high forest canopy (35-40 m) of Altingia excelsa, Quercus and Eugenia at 1,200 m into a very low-canopy (5-10 m) elfin forest at 1,500 m on the ridges.The general scheme proposed by Oshawa et al. (1985) and Oshawa (1990) is relevant for the Asia-Pacific region. Comparing tropical mountains with those in higher latitudes, he noted that climatic conditions concerning forest boundaries in the high peaks in Sumatra were similar to those at the latitudinal limit of warm temperate zones. At the same time, in the Himalayas and Japan, they correspond to cold temperate and subarctic zones respectively.19 The Massenerhebung or 'mountain mass elevation' effect describes variations in the tree line based on mountain size and location. It refers to physiognomically and sometimes floristically similar vegetation types at higher altitudes on large mountain masses than on small isolated peaks, especially those in or near the sea. It is best known in the tropics and on the small islands of the Pacific where cloud 'elfin' dwarf forests occur as low as 600 m above sea level. See: https://www.briangwilliams. us/tropical-rainforest/the-massenerhebung-effect.htmlAn analysis of the presence or absence of 1,500 liana and tree species undertaken by Laumonier (1990) enabled the refinement of the general van Steenis (1972) classification. Three important boundaries appeared, situated around 1,800 m, 800 m, and 300 m respectively, and a less well-defined subdivision around 1,300-1,500 m, depending on the orographic situation. This analysis corroborates the findings of Symington (1943) for Peninsular Malaysia and is in line with findings from Kitayama (1992) for Mount Kinabalu in Sabah and Cannon et al. (2007) for the altitudinal zonation of the Sulawesi forests.How exactly does the substratum influences the distribution of vegetation types in a region, and what is the nature of the relationship between vegetation and geology, lithology and soil in plant distribution?If there is a general agreement on the solid relationship between soils and vegetation for mangroves, freshwater swamps, peatlands, acidic sandy soils and limestone ranges, passionate debates have been held on the subject for the tropical lowlands. For example, botanists working in the Malay Peninsula have argued that there was no apparent relationship between the substratum and the distribution of forest tree species (Poore 1968;Kwan and Whitmore 1970), while other scholars have found convincing evidence of close links between soils and vegetation in Brunei Darussalam and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo (Ashton 1972;Baillie et al. 1987).For instance in Sumatra, on well-drained lowland soils under the same climatic conditions, Laumonier (1997) pointed out that although the structure of the forests appeared similar, significantly different floristic composition were linked to the geology. On granite bedrock, for instance, there was relative floristic poverty in some families that were better represented on sedimentary rock layer-developed soils. More than 20 different species of Dipterocarps were recorded for the sedimentary derived soils, while the granitederived soils next to them have less than half this number. The dominant species on granite were Shorea conica and Parashorea lucida.The Hopea and Dipterocarpus genera, which were rare on granite soils, were abundant on sedimentary soils. Laumonier (1997) also pointed out the higher floristic richness of forests on volcanic soils compared with adjacent forests on metamorphic rocks.Limestone and carbonate soils in general are significant in the region (see maps by Williams and Fong, 2010 20 ), but the karstified landscapes themselves are less well mapped (Clements et al. 2006). The strong relationship between carbonate soil and vegetation type observed in temperate regions is much less apparent in the tropics.There is also little evidence of direct soilvegetation relationships in seasonal areas, where many species show great adaptability to soil conditions. The emblematic Shorea robusta (sal), for instance, which, together with teak, is one of the most economically valuable trees in India, is distributed throughout the foothills of the Himalayas and in the eastern districts of central India on a wide range of substrates (Blasco et al. 1996).There are numerous volcanic, metamorphic, granitic, carbonate or sedimentary geological formations in the Asia-Pacific region, which would be interesting to compare in detail for their flora. It would be particularly relevant to carry out this type of study in the framework of a larger scale or higher-resolution ecological mapping regional program.Another challenge for large-scale ecosystem classification is the lack of large-scale soil maps for the region. For global studies, the FAO-ISRIC soil map 21 of the world is still a relevant source, but at larger scales (watershed, district), it is necessary to use surrogates like landform or land unit maps or even geological and/or geomorphological data (Laumonier 1997;Theobald et al. 2015).Wetlands, freshwater and peat swamp areas were first extracted from the ISRIC database (Histosols) and adjusted using the PEATMAP initiative (Xu et al. 2018) and the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture assessments (Ritung et al. 2019) for Indonesia. The Asia-Pacific forest formation map reproduced in Figure 12 is derived from overlaying the 2020 forest cover on a framework using few, widely measured, simple parameters of bioclimatic types occurring in the region (Gaussen et al. 1967;Fontanel and Chantefort 1979), supplemented by modern databases such as WorldClim (Hijmans et al. 2005;Fick and Hijmans 2017), the bioclimates of the world (Metzger et al. 2012), the physiographic Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 30 m digital elevation model (DEM), the Harmonized World Soil Database (Fischer et al. 2008), the 1:5,000,000 scale FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (FAO-UNESCO 1981), and the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Landform dataset (Theobald et al. 2015). We cross-checked with the mangrove state data (Giri et al. 2010) and the PEATMAP (Xu et al. 2018) for the wetlands. The selected altitudinal division is based on the criteria mentioned in Section 2.2.2. The main formations are listed in table 7 and their specificities are briefly described in the next section.Within the ecological framework described in the previous section, 30 forest formations of the Asia-Pacific region have been identified, first by a set of bioclimatic parameters, then by physiography, elevation and specific substrate criteria, in line with existing classifications (Whitmore 1984) (see Table 7 and Figure 12). For each bioclimatic zone, several edaphic types may exist, such as swamp forest, or karst massifs. Most of these types are sharply bounded. It is also recognized that these forest formations include internal cycles of regeneration after tree fall gap events, encompassing the natural disturbance regime that drives the forest dynamics, including episodic catastrophes such as cyclones or droughts. As with other forests in the world, Asia-Pacific forests provide multiple ecosystem services for food security, livelihoods and sustainable development, including serving as a cradle and reservoir for biodiversity, pollination processes, soil erosion control, clean water provision, water cycle regulation, carbon sequestration and climate regulation, multiple contributions to food security and nutrition, social values, and cultural heritage. The region is known for representing three centers of origin of important food and medicinal species (Chinese, Indian and Malaysian), such as many wild fruits including wild mango, banana, rambutan, mangosteen, spice trees of the Indo-Malayan, Pistachio nuts from the woodlands of Afghanistan and wild apples from Kazakhstan, macadamia nuts from Australia, kiwi and goji berries from China, and many more.The approach taken in this section is to review and build upon existing knowledge on the forest formations of the Asia-Pacific region, to elucidate their special characteristics, and to provide basic information to encourage further research into the eco-floristic patterns inherent to each forest type. The main formations and their specificities are briefly reviewed below and knowledge gaps identified.2.3.1 Humid forest formations on welldrained substrateTropical lowland evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forest formations have been grouped into the same class in order to avoid subtle and often subjective phenological distinctions. They are the most luxuriant of all forests, with the most complex structure. They are dominant in western Malaysia (Sunda shelf, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra), where the basic knowledge on their ecology originates from studies from the 1930s to the 1980s, with findings summarized in the classic textbooks of Richards (1952Richards ( , reedit. 1996)), Whitmore (1984) and more recently Corlett (2014), Ashton and Thorogood (2014) and Bruenig (2016).They are known as \"mixed dipterocarp forests (MDF)\" due to the dominance of the Dipterocarpaceae family, with the large majority of dipterocarps 22 occurring under humid climate regimes, with over 2,000 mm of rainfall per year. They are the tallest of all broadleaved tropical rain forests, 23 harbor the highest aboveground biomass and have the highest mean net primary production of any terrestrial ecosystem. They are also the most species-rich, biologically diverse of all ecosystems, a place only being challenged by tropical reef ecosystems. Besides the dominance of trees, big lianas are fairly common, epiphytes occasional to frequent, and bryophytes often abundant. Undergrowth is generally dense, although herbaceous ground vegetation is mostly sparse. Frequent buttresses, cauliflory or ramiflory and a majority of entire mesophylous leaves best characterize this forest type. Richards (1952) first observed small-scale habitat variation within rain forests. It is now widely acknowledged that there are indeed large variations within and between rain forests even on short distances. Clear forest communities have been described, allegedly determined by a variety of factors such as historical biogeography, disturbance (fire, wind, and human impacts), topography, elevation, climate, geology and soil (Whitmore 1984;Laumonier 1997;Slik et al. 2011). A characteristic of the tropical rain forest floristic composition is a large number of species represented by only few individuals. Species associations are much less easy to determine when compared to the monotypic or few mixed species stands of higher latitudes. Whitmore (1984) has extensively discussed these habitat variations in the MDF. He stressed that variations could be observed within a forest, linked to small-scale topography and geology.One example of differentiation is riparian (riverside) forests, which have a number of 22 More than 400 species (Ashton 1982).23 A Shorea faguetiana tree, measured in 2018 in Sabah, reached a 100 m height.associated forest sub-communities. Corner (1978) and Laumonier (1997) have thoroughly described the natural plant succession observed as one travels upstream from an estuary. Outside the reach of tide influence, there are communities of tree species characteristic of riversides, e.g., the rapak formation of Lagerstroemia and Alstonia, followed higher upstream by the empran formation (lowland alluvial) forest type on raised levees, with Eusideroxylon zwageri (Lauraceae) often encountered in that environment. This last species is known for producing very hard and durable wood and is very valuable for local construction. Carbon-14 dating has shown that it can live up to 1,000 years. It also has a very slow growth rate, averaging 0.06 cm per year, which is much slower than the growth rate generally observed or estimated for dipterocarps (Kurokawa et al. 2003). It often develops in pure stands and has very high regenerative capacity.It is unfortunately under very high threat of disappearance despite being protected from commercial logging in Indonesia.Research at the landscape level in the MDF of Sumatra confirmed such high diversity and variations in habitat and species distribution.The lowland and hill dipterocarp rain forests were structurally similar throughout the island, but there were large dissimilarities in tree species composition between, for example, the southwestern and northeastern parts. In the eastern part of the Sumatran plains and piedmonts, there are large floristic variations that cannot be explained by climatic criteria. Very distinct dipterocarp species associations seem confined to very low elevations below 150 m, while others further delineate what can be defined as lower and upper hill dipterocarp forests. On soil over granite rocks, the tree density is lower than on the sediments. The density of trees and lianas, the abundance of epiphytes and the canopy cover are different on slopes, ridges and valley bottoms (Laumonier 1997;Laumonier et al. 2010). There is a very high ecological heterogeneity within dipterocarp rain forest habitats, and the distribution of species and its determinism need to be better understood for conservation and forest landscape management. Since there are no obvious large structural differences, floristic criteria and knowledge of flora are crucial in detecting these variations.There are few examples of forests dominated by a single dipterocarp species. One such monotypic stand type is that formed by Shorea albida on peat soil (Whitmore 1984). It occurs in Brunei Darussalam, Kalimantan and the Malaysian states of Sarawak on Borneo, but logging has reduced its area considerably, and it is now on the global list of threatened tree species. In Sumatra, Dryobalanops oblongifolia is reported forming islets in the middle of swamp forests (Laumonier 1997).There are examples of tree species that become dominant in certain topographic locations, such as the very large Shorea curtisii in Malaysia growing on excessively drained and often nutrient-poor ridges, or the majestic Shorea platyclados stands of the submontane zone in Sumatra. Some distinct forest types have practically disappeared today due to intensive logging and conversion to agriculture. One example is the former seasonal forest of southeastern Lampung in Sumatra. Another is the stands of Dryobalanops aromatica, which used to be dominant on lowland sedimentary rocks in East Malaysia.Examples of large-scale heterogeneity in forest composition have been described for Borneo and Sumatra. The lowland dipterocarp forests of Borneo can be divided into five regions based on their tree species composition. The factors determining this division are considered to be mainly geographic distance and mean annual rainfall (Slik et al. 2003). In the Sumatra lowlands, Laumonier (1990) describes 10 floristic sectors related to geomorphology, climate and dispersal barriers. Using species distribution modelling (SDM), Raes (2009) identified 11 floristic regions on Borneo, more than the six to eight previously recognized (Whitmore 1984;Wikramanayake et al. 2002).The Western Ghats in India represent the western boundary of the range of the Malaysian tropical evergreen rain forest, with a species richness per hectare of 65 species, compared with the 250-300 species per ha on Sumatra or Borneo. The dipterocarps are still present with Dipterocarpus indicus dominant in the canopy and as emergent trees. Lower storeys were also represented by few dominant species, Drypetes longifolia in the lower storey, Reinwardtiodendron anamallayanum in the middle storey, and Poeciloneuron indicum in the upper storey (Ayyappan and Parthasarathy 1999). Other variations of the MDF, with subsequent losses in biodiversity, are seen when entering harsher environments (swamps and colder temperatures at higher elevations).As they contain the most valuable timbers, the MDF have been largely exploited in the Asia-Pacific region through logging operations and, except in very harsh terrain, have experienced large-scale deforestation and conversion to agricultural land use. However, their dynamics, tree species population distribution and ecological functioning remain insufficiently known, with very few experiments and data on productivity, litterfall, water or geochemical cycles. This poses challenges on restoration initiatives. MDF are on the verge of extinction despite supporting the highest biodiversity (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity), hence promoting the functionality of ecosystems (e.g. primary production, decomposition, nutrient cycling, and trophic interactions) and consequently supporting a broad range of ecosystem services (e.g. food production, climate regulation, pest control, pollination and numerous others) (Mori et al. 2017).Unique variations of lowland (hill and mountain) tropical forests are those encountered on the small Pacific islands, brilliantly described by Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg (1998) in their magistral work on the vegetation of that part of the world, where conservation is particularly challenging (Brodie et al. 2013). Lowland tropical rain forests were once extensive on the large islands of Melanesia but scantily represented on the smaller oceanic islands, situated further east, principally in valley bottoms and on narrow coastal strips. This forest has been mostly eliminated or highly altered by humans (Moorhead 2011). Tree canopy species diversity generally decreases with increasing island isolation. At favorable sites, this rain forest extends up onto the lower slopes on the larger islands on windward rainy exposures, where it changes with increasing elevation to a lowstature, shrub-and epiphyte-rich montane rain forest. This vegetation is predominant on moist hilltops and mountain slopes in many tropical islands (Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg 1998).| 39Hill forests are physiognomically and structurally similar to their lowland equivalents, with often higher aboveground biomass, especially on ridges, where impressive tree specimens are often encountered. They remain very dense, with an average canopy height of between 35 m and 40 m and emergent trees reaching 50-60 m. In western Malaysia, this forest type is still categorized as 'mixed dipterocarp forests' since the dominance of this family is still very high (50% abundance and 60% dominance for tree diameters above 30 cm). Diversity also remains very high. Their differentiation from lowland forests (Wyatt-Smith 1963;Symington 1943) has been challenged by Whitmore (1984), who does not consider any altitude-based division to be justified below 1,000 m. A shared flora indeed exists for this range of altitude.Nevertheless, many studies showed significant floristic variations around 300 m to 500 m above sea level. Therefore, from a forestry, agricultural management or conservation point of view, it appears crucial not to consider only a single forest type ranging from 0 to 1,000 m elevation. Some lower elevation species (<300 m) are no longer present or have become very rare, while others, rare in the lowlands, become more abundant uphill. Richards (1936), in a study on MDF in Sarawak, already noted that species composition could vary significantly over short distances, such as between ridges, without any apparent relation to soil conditions or other factors. It has been pointed out that topography, along with the soil types, moisture regimes, and geological formations, are the main factors shaping species distribution (Whitmore 1984). In trying to explain such patchiness in species distribution, passionate debates occurred over whether topography or soil was the main determining factor.The most emblematic forests of humid SE Asia, the lowland mixed dipterocarp forests are the tallest of all broad leaved tropical rain forests, harbour the highest above-ground biomass and have the highest mean net primary production of any terrestrial ecosystem. They are also the most species-rich, biologically diverse of all ecosystems. They are on the verge of extinction (© Yves Laumonier).For some, while certain species can be used as indicators of specific soil conditions, too many appeared to have widespread distribution (Van Steenis 1958;Poore 1964;Williams and Webb 1969). Several studies support this. For instance, forest ecologists working on the Malay Peninsula have argued that there is no clear relationship between the substrate and the distribution of forest species (Poore 1968;Kwan and Whitmore 1970). Many authors maintained that pedological factors in dense rain forests do not affect the production of leaf litter, structure, or biomass (Tanner 1980;Jordan and Herrera 1981;Leigh and Windsor 1982;Proctor et al. 1983aProctor et al. , 1983b)). In Peninsular Malaysia, Kwan and Whitmore (1970) found no relationship between the distribution of species and three types of contrasting soil. They concluded that dispersion and reproduction strategies should be more important in explaining the differences, an opinion also shared by Poore (1968). The same conclusion was reached by Newbery et al. (1996), who found no relation between species composition and soil chemistry while studying understorey species in lowland forests in Sarawak. These authors found no relation between species composition and soil chemistry. Instead, they suggested that the main factor was topography, the gradient from lower slopes to ridges, and the underlying cause might be water availability.The results of Bar-Hen and Laumonier (1998) in the Sumatran hill forests confirmed such findings. In a 50-ha study plot in Pasoh Forest Reserve in Peninsular Malaysia, 60% of tree species were generalists, i.e., they were found in all parts of the plot, and 40% were habitat specialists occurring only in specific soil or topography. From this 40%, 17% were found only in riparian sites, and the same proportion was confined to upland areas (upper slopes and ridges). Only 4% were restricted to one soil type, in this case alluvial soils, and less than 1% was confined to granitic lithology (Okuda et al. 2003).For others, the importance of soil factors is primordial. From a study covering 105 plots in northwestern Borneo, Potts et al. (2002) concluded that abiotic factors were a more important determinant of tree community variation than usually acknowledged. They found that soil types could essentially predict the communities. However, this relationship seemed to depend on the richness of the soil. Predictions were more complicated to make on nutrient-rich than on nutrientpoor sites. Other researchers in Borneo (Brunei Darussalam and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah), found close links between soils and vegetation or between geology and vegetation (Ashton 1972(Ashton , 1982;;Baillie et al. 1987). Austin et al. (1972) confirmed the conclusions of Ashton (1964), who mentioned that species distribution in the dipterocarp forest of Brunei Darussalam was controlled by soil characteristics, although no dipterocarp species were found endemic to ultramafic rocks or limestone (Ashton 1988). Ashton (1978) later concluded that the variability of tree species composition in northwestern Borneo seemed to be related to soil factors only when the phosphorus content was low. According to his observations for the old-growth phase of the rain forest, there are highly niche-specific tree species, and species richness is highest on relatively infertile soils. This was confirmed by the exceptionally high biodiversity encountered in a 6 ha plot on impoverished soil in Sumatra, where more than 300 species with a diameter of 10 cm and greater were found in one ha according to Laumonier (1997). Ashton (1978Ashton ( , 1982) ) and Baillie et al. (1987) concluded that there is an edaphic influence on the distribution of certain species and emphasized the importance of the magnesium content of the soil.Ashton and Hall (1992) considered distinct guilds of tree species even on the level of plots sized about 0.5 ha. Dipterocarp species have relatively narrow niches in terms of soil fertility, and their distribution is mainly correlated with phosphorous and magnesium levels.Another study in Sarawak using ordination to look for associations in tree species composition showed significant correlations with soil factors for alluvial forests and kerangas forests but not for dipterocarp forests and forests over limestone (Newbery and Proctor 1984). Newbery and Proctor (1984) found associations between some soil Other studies indicate a link between soil nutrients, primarily N and P, and tree species composition in dipterocarp forests. Many of these studies have been performed as field inventories with soil sampling. Experiments with nutrient additions have also been conducted in connection to enrichment planting in secondary forests. For example, Palmiotto et al. ( 2004) conducted field experiments with seedlings of six tree species. For four of the species, they found clear responses of the seedlings to local soil conditions. They conclude that their results strongly support the hypothesis that soil variation contributes to the spatial variation in tree species distribution.Eucalyptus deglupta, the only rain forest eucalypt known to occur in the wild in the northern hemisphere, is found at that elevation zone in the Philippines, New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Seram Island also in the lowlands).The forests of the sub-montane zone, a transition zone between lowland and montane flora, are often just as majestic as those lower down. It is still possible to distinguish three or four tree height strata situated at an average of 35-45 m, 20-30 m, 15-20 m, and 5-10 m until an altitude of approximately Other very important stands are those of Araucaria cunninghamii and A. hunsteinii in PNG (Gray 1973) and adjacent islands.Another preeminently important conifer genus, Agathis, has been mapped for New Guinea (Whitmore 1977) and Borneo, mostly as scattered individuals and small pockets.In the central Himalayas, average annual precipitation is greater than  (Guangxi, Tibet, Yunnan). This forest type is the most degraded by humans, with an upper limit of cultivation of 2,000-2,300 m, and the systematic use of fire favoring the development of grasses (Themeda, Cymbopogon, Apluda, etc.) (Dobremez 1973).Due to volcanic activity, vegetation disappears above 3,400 m on Sumatra (Mount Kerinci), while on Borneo (Mount Kinabalu) or on peaks in Papua (Hope 2014), the tree line is between 3,600-4,000 m. In the eastern Himalayas, the tree line is at an average altitude of 3,700 m. Juniperus tibetica holds the record of the tree species found at the highest altitude, up to 4,900 m above sea level, in southeastern Tibet (Miehe et al. 2007), but 400 m lower in the western Himalayas (Pakistan, Kashmir). The dominant genera up to the treeline in the eastern Himalaya are Juniperus, Abies, Rhododendron, and Betula (Singh et al. 2020).These formations are often referred to as broad-leaved, needle leaved or mixed in the literature. Where there is a marked annual dry season, tropical rain forests are replaced by seasonal forests, which are sometimes referred to as monsoon forests. They are found at the fringes of humid areas, especially in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam in the northern hemisphere, in east Indonesia and part of Australia in the southern hemisphere. Compared to tropical rain forests, they are structurally less complex and floristically less rich. Many species are deciduous. 28   In the Indo-Malesian and Pacific regions, they have been reported in India (Pascal 1988), Bangladesh (Zaman et al. 2011), continental Southeast Asia (Bunyavejchewin et al. 2011;Marod et al. 1999), the Australian Northern Territories (Bowman et al. 1991;Russell-Smith 1991;Webb 1959) and some islands of the Pacific (Gillespie and Jaffré 2003;Pau et al. 2009). They have been described as \"moist deciduous forest\" by Schimper (1898), Champion (1936), Burtt-Davy (1938) and Champion and Seth (1968), while, in Indonesia, they have been under-studied (Laumonier and Nasi 2018;Meijer-Drees 1951;Metzner 1977;Cowie 2006), but the definitions of seasonal forests remain quite arbitrary (Leigh 1999). The term 'monsoon forest' is used as a convenient term in the Indo-Malesian and Pacific regions for those forests where water is periodically limiting to plants (Whitmore 1984), e.g. when the vegetation experiences a long dry season followed by a season of heavy rainfall, but this term has been considered rather ambiguous (Russell-Smith 1991).Standardized structural and floristic classifications of these forests are difficult because of the high variability of the intensity of the dry season, the characteristics of the soils, especially related to water retention, and the local micro-climate linked to landforms.Besides the seasonal evergreen type, drier forests in the southeastern islands of Indonesia are quite similar structurally (but not floristically) to those described as \"semi-evergreen forests\" (Beard 1944) or \"semi-evergreen and deciduous vine thickets\" (Baur 1968;Webb 1959;White and Bruce 1986), but the term \"moist deciduous forest\" is preferred here since it is often difficult to define \"semi-evergreen\".Most parts of continental Asia located at low elevation were once naturally covered by seasonal forests. In northern Thailand, Lao PDR, Myanmar and the Ganges lowlands, where the temperature of the coldest month lies between 15°C and 25 °C with a rainfall of about 1,500 mm distributed over six months, moist and dry deciduous forests constitute the climax vegetation. The actual leafless period varies between species and, for a given species, from one place to another. On average, deciduous forests are leafless for at least eight weeks in February and March in India.In the very driest parts of southern New Guinea and also in part of the Palu valley of Sulawesi, there were once patches of natural tree savanna (Whitmore 1984)  (Dobremez 1973).Some seasonal evergreen forests are found in eastern Indonesia and Australia (Laumonier and Nasi 2018;Bowman et al. 1991;Russell-Smith 1991;Webb 1959). In the Tanimbar Archipelago, they are dominated by Intsia bijuga, Manilkara kanosiensis, Pometia pinnata, Canarium spp., and Chisocheton spp.The occurrence of teak and pines mixed with dipterocarps or Fabaceae lead to so-called 'mixed deciduous forest and woodlands' (Blasco 1983;Champion and Seth 1968;Maurand 1965;Meher-Homji 1977;Rollet 1953Rollet , 1972;;Schnell 1970;Seth and Kaul 1978;Werner 1993;Rundel 1999). The Eastern Ghats, a chain of ancient, low hill ranges along the east coast of India, support a diverse array of tropical forests having great conservation value. Much of the Deccan peninsula has dry deciduous forests and secondary scrubland, but the Eastern Ghats also host many remnant patches of evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests (Rawat 1997). Two species of Shorea (Shorea talura and S. tumbaggaia), red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus), and some other associations (Terminalia -Anogeissus -Chloroxylon; Hardwickia -Chloroxylon; and Albizia amara -Memecylon) are unique to these ranges (Legris and Meher-Homji 1982;Nayar et al. 1984).In the same climatic zone, some Pinus stands exist in Thailand, Burma, North Laos, Viet Nam. Most of the moist deciduous forests and woodlands have been considerably affected by anthropogenic factors and were probably once evergreen or semi-evergreen forests. Today most of their constituent tree species are resistant to fire. It is noteworthy to mention that all the genera mentioned above for the Mekong area, and even some species are also found in the eastern part of Indonesia, implying migration of plants beyond the Wallace line.Dry types of seasonal forests (Laumonier and Nasi 2018).Tropical peat swamp forests are mainly found in southeastern Asia, notably eastern Sumatra, along the coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, and in Borneo. They are ombrophilous tropical peats, derived only from precipitation, very acidic and extremely poor in nutrients.They have been thoroughly studied over the past decades (e.g. Anderson 1963;Ashton and Gunatilleke 1987;Cooling 1968;Mani 1974;Maurand 1965, Meher-Homji 1967;Phengklai et al. 1989;Rosayro 1974;Vidal 1979Vidal , 1989;;Werner and Balasubramaniam 1992;Whitmore 1989;Siefferman 1992;Laumonier 1997). They have gained even more traction in the last 20 years because of their advocated crucial hydrological function and high carbon storage, which is released in the atmosphere when they are converted to agriculture (Page et al. 2002(Page et al. , 2011;;Miettinen et al. 2012).The low-lying peat swamps along the valleys described in Sarawak (Anderson 1964), or those of central Borneo, which have developed on the podzols of terraces or badly drained plateaus (Brünig 1974 for the Malaysian state of Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam; Sieffermann 1988 for Kalimantan) are different from peat formations that developed in submerged basins of topographical origin, along the same lines as those described by Morley (1981) in South Kalimantan, which arose through the colonization of swamp grasslands, and 'floating islands' such as those found in the wetlands (Lebak) areas near Palembang (Driessen and Soepraptohardjo 1977).Organic accumulations due to vegetation debris caused dome-shaped peat deposits to form, due to a faster rate of decomposition around the periphery where the medium has a higher mineral content. Polak (1933) mentions peat depths of up to 15 m at Jambi or Riau, although the average maximum depth does not exceed 7-8 m (Cameron et al. 1987).Peat depths of at least 10 m have also been recorded in Borneo (Anda et al. 2021).Peaty soils are usually defined as soils with at least 65% organic matter within a 50-cm-thick layer (Driessen and Rochimah 1977). Their exact surface area has long been debated, with the last agreement for the region synthesized by the PEATMAP initiative (Xu et al. 2018) giving figures of 148,331 km 2 , 22,398 km 2 and 136,963 km 2 for Indonesia, Malaysia and China respectively.Traditionally, the Malay populations of the Malacca Straits gathered timber from these forests (mainly the balam, Palaquium species and other Sapotaceae). They also harvested the latex ('pararubber') and the fruit from the suntai (Palaquium burckii, P. Walsurifolium), from which they extracted an edible oil. Peat forests comprise a large number of species, some of which are attractive to loggers, such as the balam already mentioned, the ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) and several dipterocarps (three species of Shorea, one species of Anisoptera). Where the peat is less than 1 m thick, many perennial crops can be cultivated (Driessen and Sudewo 1977). It is thus very important to be able to map peat thickness. This is a technological challenge for remote sensing, and such maps are still debated. The latest published findings on the matter are given for Indonesia in Anda et al. (2021).The tropical peat swamps occupy regions near the equator where average yearly rainfall is always high (1,500-2,000 mm per year) and relatively well distributed over the year. This distribution influences evapotranspiration and is therefore important in explaining the presence of peat swamps. Dry periods may nevertheless occur, although they are not repeated every year.Irreversible changes can occur in the colloidal structure of peat after excessive drainage. The matrix shrinks, the water retention capacity decreases and, in extreme cases, the terrain subsides (Chambers and Sobur 1979). The peat becomes hydrophobic, and the forests it supports rapidly die. They also become extremely sensitive to fire.These peats are extremely acidic with pH levels of 3 to 4.5, and high humic and fulvic acid content. Suhardjo and Wijaya-Adi (1977) measured pH values ranging from 3.5 to 4.2 in the Kampar region (Riau province, Indonesia). These authors also confirmed that the phosphorus and potassium content were very low. Nitrogen is abundant in the form of nitrogenous organic compounds, which are not easily freed into the environment, nor therefore available to plants. A significant drop in phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium levels is observed as one approaches the center of the peat dome, i.e. as the peat depth increases.The water exuded by these peat formations is black and rich in phenolic compounds, which can be toxic to animals (Janzen 1974), though not to plants according to Whitmore (1984).The flora genuinely specific to peat swamps is fairly limited. Anderson (1963Anderson ( , 1964) ) was the first researcher to observe the way vegetation varies according to peat depth and described a forest type zonation for Sarawak comprising up to five zones distinguished by structural and floristic criteria. It is very important to map this zonation for any management plan. Usually, a distinction between fresh water swamp forest (peat depth below 0.5 m) and peat swamp forest is relatively straightforward in remote sensing analysis, even at Landsat resolution. Several types can also be identified corresponding to differences in peat depth.The structure of these forests is similar to that of the drained lowland forests, with emerging trees attaining heights of 45 m to 50 m and the canopy often situated in the range of 30 m to 35 m above the ground. In Sumatra, the emergent tree species are Shorea uliginosa, S. teijsmanniana (Dipterocarpaceae), Dyera lowii (Apocynaceae), while the canopy includes Tetramerista glabra (Tetrameristaceae), Campnosperma coriaceum (Anacardiaceae), Mezzettia leptopoda, Xylopia fusca (Annonaceae), Durio carinatus (Bombacaceae) and Santiria laevigata f. glabrifolia (Burseraceae).Forest physiognomy changes drastically, and the canopy height diminishes rapidly as one penetrates further inland, diameters tend towards homogeneity, and the stem density is higher. From the floristic standpoint, the extreme abundance of Calophyllum sundaicum is an excellent indication of this zone boundary, where floristic diversity also diminishes notably.Further inland, towards the center of the dome (peat depth of 5-8 m), a few emergent trees with small crowns are still encountered, mainly Freshwater swamp forests are common in Malaysia, Indonesia and PNG (Corner 1978;Paijmans 1975;Whitmore 1984;Bruenig 1991;Laumonier 1997). In continental Asia, they occur mainly in Cambodia on the Tonle Sap. Other freshwater swamps recorded by Champion and Seth (1968) on the west coast of India and by Phengklai et al. (1989) in Thailand, are rather small areas. These types are most extensive in PNG and occur under both humid and seasonal tropical climates.The vegetation map of PNG (Paijmans 1975) records various types of such permanent and seasonal swamp forests, woodlands and grasslands. In Indonesian Papua, they are often classified as peat swamps although the peat layer is shallow and the forests do not resemble at all the peat formations of west Malesia. Many seasonal swamp forests have been converted to agriculture.Mangrove forests, or tidal forests, are primarily determined by very specific soil conditions (Gleysols), combined with regular flooding by sea water and regular input of fresh water leading to unique brackish environment. Globally, they represent only 0.7% of the world's tropical forested area but are highly threatened by the effects of climate change, sea level rise and increasing pressure from human population growth in coastal regions (Bhomia et al. 2016). Mangroves in the Indo-Pacific region are among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics (Donato et al. 2011), but most of them are threatened by conversion for aquaculture, shrimp pounds, or infrastructure (Kanniah et al. 2015;Fauzi et al. 2019;Kanniah et al. 2021) and under high risk of extinction (Polidoro et al. 2015). Under proper management, their sustainability as forests could be secured (Danhof 1946;Murdiyarso et  to the species which announce the end of the mangrove such as Heritiera littoralis, Ficus microcarpa and Oncosperma tigillarium. This is the pattern most frequently encountered on many coastlines, well described by Soekardjo and Kartawinata (1979) and Soekardjo and Yamada (1984).Delta type zonation is a more complex model as the network of small creeks, islands and channels gives rise to a wide range of variations in the texture of the substratum, flooding intensity and salinity. On Sumatra, zonation corresponds with the classic pattern described by Watson (1928) and Van Steenis (1958). A fine example of this model can be found at the Sembilang river mouth in South Sumatra. Two distinct environments are revealed on satellite imagery, enabling to distinguish between communities dominated by Rhizophora apiculata and Sonneratia alba from those dominated by Bruguiera.| 51The back mangrove forest is the ecotone corresponding to the upper limit of the tidal influence. These forest formations have been described by Wyatt-Smith (1963) in Peninsular Malaysia, and Laumonier (1997) for Sumatra.Back mangroves, clearly differentiated on satellite images, have a specific flora which differs from that of mangroves. Back mangroves most widely known characteristic species is the stemless palm Nypa fruticans, which often forms pure stands alongside and up the rivers. It may also be observed delineating circular areas inland of the mangrove or colonizing brackish swamps formed on former lagoons trapped by sand spits colonized by Casuarina equisetifolia.Other characteristic species are Brownlowia argentata, Heritiera littoralis, Intsia bijuga, Cerbera odollam, Excoecaria agallocha, Ficus retusa and Ardisia humilis. Sonneratia caseolaris is sometimes found very far upstream from the river mouth.In other situations, this back mangrove is represented by a very characteristic narrow strip (10-100 m) that very clearly announces the beginning of the fresh water swamp forest. This formation, often dominated by the Nibung palm (Oncosperma tigillarium), is clearly visible on satellite imagery. In such places, hillocks are formed by the action of tunneling crayfish (Thalassina anomala), and are often colonized by the fern Acrostichum aureum.Coastal Melaleuca woodlands are found in back mangrove areas in southern Viet Nam in the Mekong delta (Perera 1975;Spate and Learmonth 1967), and around the lebak swamps in Indonesia's South Sumatra (Laumonier 1997), as well as in South Kalimantan. Kerangas forests 30 are developed on white sandy soils, while Kerapah forests are their waterlogged counterparts. They have been extensively described for Borneo (Richard 1936;Brünig 1974;Whitmore 1984;Kartawinata 1978;Riswan, 1987)   (Whitmore 1984), except in the Moluccas (Indonesia) and Papua, where they occupy very large areas at high elevation. Although their total area is quite small, they harbor unique very fragile ecosystems (Clements et al. 2006). They have been mapped by Laumonier et al (1987) for Sumatra, by Sunartadirdja and Lehmann (1960) for southwestern Sulawesi, and by Longman and Brownless (1980) for Palawan (the Philippines).Their high rate of endemism, plus the natural beauty of the scenery, make them a priority for conservation, but most karst mountain ranges are located outside legally protected areas. The main threat affecting limestone formations is their use as quarries for the cement industry. Moreover, they are also very vulnerable to fires, with irreplaceable loss of forests and soils (Proctor 1995).Although some of the most unusual vegetation types and plant species are found on these limestone formations (Kiew and Rahman 2021), the plant species associations they host are poorly known, often due to the difficulty of accessing cliffs. Dipterocarpaceae was reported only as the ninth most common family in limestone sites in Sabah (Kiew 1990(Kiew , 2001)), potentially because they were subjected to heavy logging in some places (Whitmore 1998). Nevertheless, it seems clear that the vegetation varies largely between sites and that, in some places, dipterocarps are almost absent while in others they dominate the canopy (Laumonier 1997;Proctor 1995).Karst mountains have a wide variety of habitats depending on the slope, soil thickness, the nature of the limestone itself, especially its purity, and also the duration of the erosion processes. In table-like, plateaus| 53 landforms, five morphological units are often distinguished: the bottom of slopes with a 30° to 45° gradient, slopes steeper than 45° beyond the cliffs, crests and crevassed pinnacles, cliffs and \"mesa\" type summits.On Sumatra, the structure of forests on the lower slopes at around 500 m in altitude is similar to those found at the same altitude on non-karst hills. On very steep slopes (circa 55°), at an altitude of 800 m on Sumatra, Shorea platyclados can still be found well developed, albeit rarely, mixed among others with Schima wallichii and other Theaceae. However, on ridges, mesas and karst towers, sharp rocky outcrops are dominant and only larger crevasses retain enough humus to support tree growth. The forest diminishes considerably in size, with a very high density of pole trees with few isolated emergent trees.The floristic diversity diminishes brutally and dipterocarps are absent.Soils are generally shallow on summits and pinnacles. They are dark reddish-brown and finely textured with a granular structure. Water percolates through them very quickly, which may cause a water deficit even during short dry periods of very humid climate.One of the clearest examples of the complex links between geology and plants is the varied communities that occur on the ultramafic ('serpentine', 'ultrabasic') rocks (Proctor 2003;Brady et al. 2005). The soils derived from such rocks are very poor in nutrients with a high magnesium to -calcium (Mg / Ca) ratio and high concentrations of chromium, cobalt and nickel (Richards 1996). In Southeast Asia, ultramafic rocks are found in many areas including Sulawesi, the Philippines, and Borneo, and there is a range of different vegetation types associated with them due to a combination of factors like soil chemistry, fire and drought. One of the most beautiful examples is the vegetation on Mount Bloomfield on Palawan in the Philippines, with very distinct vegetation types that differ clearly from the surrounding vegetation at the same elevation (Proctor 1995). Tall, evergreen rain forests rarely occur on these rock-formations, and low trees, shrub and even grassy vegetation prevail instead.In the Malaysian state of Sabah, in the area near Mount Kinabalu, there are ultramafic rock outcrops that, at least in some parts, host tall dipterocarp forests (Proctor 2003). They are also found in New Caledonia linked to the very high level of plant endemism and speciation (Isnard et al. 2016), and outcrops occur as well in the south of Santa Isabel (and adjacent San Jorge) and southern Choiseul in the Solomon Islands (Lee 1969).After a brief reminder of the biogeographical settings of the Asia-Pacific region emphasizing complex patterns of species distribution, Chapter 2 proposed a framework that could be used by the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) for a future eco-floristic vegetation mapping program, with a review of the main forest formations and types characteristics.As pointed out in Section 2.3, forests entail very distinct tree species composition even under very similar climatic and edaphic conditions. Knowledge of species distribution and population dynamics is crucial to local forest landscape conservation and management at the provincial or district levels. Unfortunately, the geographical range of so many plant species, above all in the tropical zone, is still poorly known.New initiatives, such as species-specific vulnerability maps combining information on species distributions, threat exposure and sensitivity are now being developed for Asia (see Fremout et al. 2020 for the method; Gaisberger et al. 2020). Overall, 74% of the most important areas for the conservation of 63 socio-economically important tree species in Indonesia and Malaysia fall outside PAs, with species severely threatened across 47% of their native ranges, while the most imminent threats were overexploitation and habitat conversion, surpassing climate change impact (Gaisberger et al. 2021). Still, many species ranges are non-congruent, there are few sharp floristic boundaries, and most data available is only on presence-absence, while there is a need for data on long-term tree population dynamics. According to Whitmore (1973) The methodology can easily follow standards and protocols mentioned in the IPCC Good Practice Guidance (Penman et al. 2000) and use tools from the OpenForis platform, such as SEPAL (FAO 2021) and Collect Earth (Saah et al. 2019b). Wall-to-wall on-screen visual interpretation of the vegetation made by interpreters who know the field will remain crucial when establishing such large-to very large-scale ecological mapping. At the same time, it will be necessary to organize capacity building and knowledge management at the national level to ensure wide ownership of outputs. Such large-scale ecological mapping will incur costs and require a longer expected average time for ground truthing linked to detailed ecological studies, as well as longer times for data analysis. However, once the baseline data set and maps are available, monitoring every two to four years will become much easier.While there is still a considerable lack of knowledge today on species distribution and ecosystem functioning, it remains that forests in the Asia-Pacific region are under increasing social and environmental pressures from various threats that need to be addressed without delay.  (Zomer et al. 2015a).A regional climate model for Southeast Asia indicates a projected warming up to 3 °C depending on locations and seasons, with more significant warming at night than daytime for all seasons (Chotamonsak et al., 2011). For East Asia, the annual mean surface air temperature was predicted to increase by 1.8°C and precipitation decrease by 0.2 mm/ day for 2030-2049, although the intensity and occurrence of heavy precipitation events will increase over the Korean Peninsula (Lee et al., (2013).The annual mean temperature is also projected to rise in the Pacific when compared to the 1981-2000 period (1990 baseline level): Annual mean temperatures would increase for all countries in the region, with the 2070 levels consistently higher than the 2050 levels (ADB 2013). Warming is projected to exceed 2.3°C by 2050 relative to the pre-industrial era. PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu are expected to experience temperature increases of more than 2.5°C on average by 2070, with some areas of these countries experiencing an increase of nearly 3°C in the same period relative to 1990 levels (ADB 2013). A recent critical analysis and review of the models published over the past five decades found that these models were highly accurate in predicting subsequent global mean surface temperature (GMST) changes (Hausfather et al. 2020).Furthermore, climate change is likely to further alter the availability of water resources. In the driest areas of Mongolia and northern China, the frequency of drier years significantly impacts the water deficit and related insect and fire threats. Models project increases in rainfall throughout much of the region, including greater rainfall during the summer monsoon period in South and Southeast Asia. However, rainfall is projected to decline during the winter monsoon, which suggests increased aridity (Preston et al. 2006). More intense tropical cyclones and ocean warming are other potential consequences of climate change (Hijioka et al. 2014).Although many model uncertainties remain, the global sea level in the region is expected to rise by approximately 3-16 cm by 2030 and up to 50 cm by 2070 (Preston et al. 2006).Central estimates of the long-term mean sea level rise in Singapore by 2100 were projected to be 0.52 m and 0.74 m under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 35 scenarios respectively (Cannaby et al. 2016). This global sea level rise, in conjunction with regional sea level variability, will affect all coastal areas of the Asia-Pacific region, putting many mangroves at risk and submerging low-lying atolls. Large low-lying agricultural plains and coastal Asian cities such as Jakarta and Bangkok will also be badly affected, with flood risk even underestimated. Due to the lack of long-term in situ monitoring experiments, many uncertainties remain regarding the particular impacts of climate change on lowland and hill tropical rain forests (Ostendorf et al. 2001;Vogt et al. 2016) or peat swamp forests (Cole et al. 2015). In association with rising temperatures, changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration will affect photosynthesis and growth (Clark 2004). Major gaps in our current understanding of key issues still exist, including the thermal tolerances and acclimation potential of tropical species and processes (Corlett 2011).Forest fires are a well-known threat in the region (Wang et al. 2019) Fire risks were assessed for three areas with frequent forest fires: Indonesia, Australia and the Himalayas using the random forest regression algorithm (Box 5).The results (Figures 13 to 15) showed that the most influential variable in all regions was the distance from previously burned areas. In countries with large proportions of burned areas, fires can be categorized into anthropogenic (human-caused) fires or (natural) seasonal wildfires. In regions with mainly anthropogenic fires, such as Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, distance from deforestation was also an important variable, linked to agricultural practices such as swidden agriculture (land clearing through burning) and land opening for large industrial plantations. It was also reinforced by variables such as distance from road and distance from human settlements (lower accessibility to forest). Meanwhile, in regions with mostly seasonal wildfires like Australia, climatology variables appeared more determinant than topographic or anthropogenic disturbance variables. The importance of tropical peatland fires, which account for the most devastating air pollution and health-related problems for the population of Southeast Asia, remains striking (see Table 8).The Random Forest Regression model has been successfully applied to assess fires probability (Milanović et al. 2021;Oliveira et al. 2012) and to identify the most significant determining factors (Guo et al. 2016;Ma et al. 2020). A regression tree is built by recursively partitioning the sample into more homogenous groups. Once a tree has been built, the response for any observation can be predicted by following the path from the root node down to the appropriate terminal node of the tree, based on the observed values for the splitting variable. The predicted response is the final value taken from the average of each terminal node of each decision tree (Grömping 2009).We   The number of invasive alien species (IAS) 36 is rising across the Asia-Pacific region. Most of these species, especially tree species, are introduced for economic reasons or for forest rehabilitation purposes. The Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN) was established as a response to the challenges posed by IAS to the sustainable management of forests. Almost all ecosystems are affected and invasive insect pests are often associated with introduced tree species. In the region, some ill-conceived programs of reforestation have often promoted IAS that can affect regeneration of primary ecosystems (Chazdon and Brancalion 2019;Seddon et al. 2019;Seddon et al. 2020).The invasion of the European woodwasp (Sirex noctilio) appeared to be promoted by fungal infections in the Mongolian pine trees (Pinus sylvestris) of northern China (Wang et al. 2021). In Australia, old-growth forests have been affected by outbreaks of both invasive grasses and animal species.Islands (including forest fragment 'islands') are particularly sensitive to IAS. The notorious invasion of the island of Guam by the brown tree snake in the 1950s led to the destruction of most mammal and bird populations (Mortensen et al. 2008). In highlypopulated Java, national parks are affected, although alien plants appear to remain confined to trails in dense forest habitats (Padmanaba 2007).Forest degradation and fragmentation increase the capacity of alien species to invade (Simberloff et al. 2002), and highly diverse ecosystems such as tropical rain forests appear to be more resilient than their temperate counterparts (Balvanera et al. 2006) Illegal timber trade in the Asia-Pacific region was estimated to be worth USD 11 billion a year in 2018, equivalent to about 30% of the total regional trade in wood products. Illicit logging in the region remains widespread, the major regional producers being Indonesia, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Cambodia, PNG and the Solomon Islands. 44   While land tenure in PNG is a unique case (Armitage et al. 1998;Brown et al. 1990 The pros and cons of such a system on society and environment have been largely documented for almost a century and are still debated (Mertz 2009;Dressler et al. 2017;Li et al. 2014). Burning activities associated with swidden agriculture have been criticized for eroding biodiversity and ecological functioning of the land. Several countries have blamed the practice for causing deforestation, which has led to its ban in several Southeast Asian countries. Negative perceptions, mainly from agricultural departments in the 1990s, stem from the idea that this system did not significantly improve the economic condition of poor upland communities but caused environmental degradation (Brady 1996;Kerkhoff and Sharma 2006). On the contrary, many researchers depicted swidden agriculture as an ideal way of farming in the tropics while conserving the environment and biodiversity (Russell 1988;Cramb 1989;Finegan and Nasi 2004;Mertz et al. 2009;Teegalapalli and Datta 2016), arguing that the ban is based on limited and narrow research that does not take into account the diversity and complexity of swidden agricultural systems, a deeply cultural and traditional practice that has been adapted and shaped by local communities.With increasing population densities, shortcycle shifting cultivation replacing traditional long-cycle swidden agriculture is now threatening even more remote areas of higher elevation since most accessible areas are already cultivated. Shifting cultivation, with a shortened fallow period, is a major threat to forest ecosystems in almost all countries (Henley 2011;Lal 2015).Above all, large-scale commercial agriculture remains a major threat to Asia-Pacific forests, with agricultural commodity tree crops (oil palm, rubber, coffee, cocoa, spice trees) and tree plantations for the pulp and paper timber industry as the main players. In Southeast Asia as a whole, 73% of deforestation is commodity-driven (permanent farming andto a much smaller extent -mining), 19% is due to logging and 8% due to shifting agriculture. In Cambodia, companies grow rubber, sugar and pulpwood on large economic land concessions granted by the government. As well as causing deforestation, such activities have also displaced rural communities (EPRS 2020). In Indonesia and Malaysia, oil palm expansion (large enterprises and smallholders) has caused forest and biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation, CO 2 emissions from land use change, intense soil erosion during the immature phase of tree crops, water pollution from fertilizer application, as well as complex social impacts on local communities (Hartemink 2006;Obidzinsky et al. 2012;Savilaakso et al. 2013;Jelsma et al. 2017;Rulli et al. 2019), sometimes even spreading into PAs, or on unsuitable soils, such as on peatlands, which are prone to regular flooded episodes in the future (Sumarga et al. 2016). While large private enterprises are responsible for the bulk of environmental impacts, the smallholder oil palm sector exhibits higher annual rates of expansion (Lee et al. 2013).Much of the region's high biodiversity is located in the territories of Indigenous Peoples. Youth outmigration from rural areas is affecting the transmission of traditional knowledge, which is often critical for sustainable forest landscape management. The loss of traditional knowledge is an important threat facing primary forests.  The forestatrisk model emphasizes that most new deforestation will happen where recent deforestation occurred. The forests closest to areas of former deforestation are at greatest risk of further deforestation, and the peak probability of deforestation is at low elevation (100-200 m). In the Asia-Pacific region, the altitudinal limit to growing oil palm and many other commercial commodities (with the exception of tea) lies at 1,000 m above sea level. The model shows as well that the risk of deforestation is also higher on gentle slopes as steeper slopes pose technical challenges for companies. The model also highlights risks emanating from existing population concentrations and roads. However, the limitation is that there is no way to predict how the transportation network, planned roads and new railroads will look in 2050.In India, the regions at the highest deforestation risks are the Western and Eastern Ghats, and above all, the northeastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh, with the most drastic loss prediction for Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, where forests will have practically disappeared by 2050. Highelevation regions of the Himalayas are also at high risk, except for Bhutan. In Bangladesh, Chittagong province has the highest risk of deforestation. The landscapes of northern Mongolia and China will also be much affected.In Southeast Asia, the highest deforestation risk is predicted for Myanmar and Lao PDR at the border with China. In Myanmar, Chin district to the west and Shan district at the Chinese border and the northeastern border region with Thailand will see significant losses in forest. In Cambodia, the Khao Kong forest landscape is the only resilient region. All of Lao PDR and the north of Viet Nam are also much affected, as is southwest Yunnan in China. In Indonesia, the highest risk is for Borneo, Sulawesi, and Papua islands. By 2050, the lowland forests of Sumatra will have disappeared, and the landscapes will look like those of Java today. On Java, Bali, and the small islands of Nusa Tenggara Timur, the risk of deforestation is lower since most lowland forests have already disappeared.Looking at forest types, Southeast Asian mangroves still appear to face high threats of destruction. However, numerous efforts have been made through rehabilitation programs in many countries. As already spotted out by Giri et al. (2015) and Richards and Friess (2016), the main causes of mangrove deforestation in South East Asia remain conversion to other land uses (aquaculture, rice agriculture in Myanmar, oil palm expansion in Malesia and Indonesia), but also overharvesting, pollution, a decline in freshwater availability, flooding, a reduction in silt deposition, coastal erosion, and disturbances from tropical cyclones and tsunamis. The most affected areas are the Ayeyarwady delta in Myanmar and Bintuni Bay in West Papua, but many smaller areas are not properly addressed at the scale we worked with.Tropical freshwater swamp forests (periodically inundated), which are very suitable for agriculture development, have practically disappeared from Southeast Asia. Patches can be found in central Cambodia around Ton Le Sap Lake and the Lower Mekong area. Extensive freshwater swamp forests (often wrongly classified as peat swamp) still exist in the Papua province of Indonesia and in PNG.Extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations have also damaged most peat swamp forests in Indonesia and Malaysia. Both countries' policies are based on the narrative of oil palm and other major monoculture commodities as drivers of prosperity and development. However, primary tropical peat swamp forests represent a unique wetland ecosystem of distinctive hydrology supporting unique biodiversity and globally significant soil carbon storages. Nonetheless, they are now very fragmented and at a high risk of fires. This ecosystem is complicated to restore once the original hydrological process has been damaged. Research clearly shows that the debate should be focused not on how to sustainably develop drainage-based plantations but on whether sustainable conversion to drainagebased systems is possible at all (Evers et al. 2017). Few peatlands fall within existing legally protected areas.While much attention has been given to peat swamps for their enormous carbon stock and CO 2 emission when drained, it has overshadowed the fact that lowland terra firma rain forests fade away in silence. As predicted since the beginning of this century (Laumonier 1997, Jepson et al. 2001), the tropical lowland rain forests of Southeast Asia, the unique lowland dipterocarp forest type representing the biodiversity richest terrestrial ecosystem, have almost disappeared in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. A similar bleak future is predicted for Borneo, as shown by trends in Sarawak.Seasonal, moist and dry deciduous forests are poorly represented, mostly in small patches. Sparsely wooded tropical and subtropical woodlands have been much more affected by human influence than denser forest biomes because of earlier human settlements, agriculture, the clearing of land for pastures, and the intensive use of fire for hunting and to improve grassland productivity.Temperate broadleaved and mixed forests are also depleted and fragmented because of high population density and a long history of agricultural development. Boreal forests are not spared, even in very remote areas.A last emphasis should be made on the particular cases of small Pacific islands, which will experience a particularly bleak future. This is the only part of the Asia-Pacific region where the impacts of climate change are occurring faster than the impacts of land use changes.The findings of the previous three chapters highlight the need to assess and monitor intact forests in the Asia-Pacific region under large scale inventories and mapping programs and consider their diversity if the various pressures they experience are to be addressed effectively. Theoretically, PAs will not be affected by deforestation and in many cases are considered the only place harboring pristine, primary forest. Not only have PAs been blamed for the displacement of local communities in many cases, but their effectiveness for conservation has long been debated (Andam et al. 2008;Gaveau et al. 2012;Geldmann et al. 2019) and is very much context-dependent. For instance, if it is recognized in general that PAs have not worked optimally to reduce the effects of deforestation in Indonesia (Brun et al. 2015), they have at least slowed down the process while sometimes only displacing deforestation elsewhere. Although it has been acknowledged in many situations that they represent the last fortresses against conversion to agriculture, they rarely cover all ecosystem types as they are often confined to mountain zones. Although cost-effective solutions have been proposed to expand PA systems, such as in southwestern China (Yang et al., 2019), it would be unrealistic to set up PAs everywhere for prominent logistics and budgetary reasons. Alternatives for the co-management of primary forest and surrounding landscapes should be developed. Priority areas for conservation do not always have to be in PAs: the ecological value and socio-ecological context of the broader landscape also need to be considered. The areas identified as intact forest in the present study represent landscapes where other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) can contribute to ecologically representative and well-connected conservation systems integrated within wider landscapes (IUCN 2019). Since primary forest cover cannot be ultimately reduced to protected forest areas, ways to proactively manage intact forest landscapes must be developed. To achieve this, regional cooperation mechanisms and joint research networks should be created to specifically address and understand the ecological dynamics of primary forests and create practical evidence to manage their surrounding landscapes on a sustainable basis. An integrated landscape approach is advocated to that end (Sayer et al. 2013;Reed et al. 2019), involving all relevant stakeholders in the process, including country experts and other key players such as multilateral and bilateral organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, but also and foremost Indigenous Peoples and local communities through community-based monitoring programs.Resources for conservation of primary forest outside PAs are limited, so they must be used wisely to deliver the greatest possible biodiversity gain, and this cannot go without Indigenous knowledge. A new UN report concludes that deforestation rates are significantly lower in areas where Indigenous Peoples live and bear responsibility for their forests (FAO and FILAC 2021). Safeguarding and strengthening the rights of Indigenous Peoples is thus vital to preserving forests and biodiversity and fighting climate change (Dymond et al. 2007). Indigenous communities are the guardians of forest health and biodiversity (Sheil et al. 2015).Methods have been developed to assess the value of the biodiversity of a region's indigenous forest to help prioritize conservation resources without the need for detailed biodiversity information (Dymond et al. 2007;Lambert and Mark-Shadbolt 2021). At the local level (watershed, Indigenous territory), improvements to low-altitude remote sensing using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) allow the development of basic protocols for large-scale landscape and vegetation mapping linked with guidelines for participatory mapping, while also recording folk classifications, perceptions on landscape, ecosystem services and how biodiversity and forest is perceived.There is a need for transformative change to stop further biodiversity loss. Integrated landscape approaches provide a multistakeholder perspective to facilitate such transformative change by embedding conservation, the sustainable use of biodiversity, ecosystem services and landscape governance as a prerequisite for wellbeing and development in all sectors of society (Shi et al. 2020;Meijer et al. 2021;Brockhaus et al. 2021;Reed et al. 2021;Ros-Tonen et al. 2021).The next chapter presents governance tools that can contribute to the preservation of intact forests both within and outside PAs.One important takeaway from Chapter 1 is that important areas of intact forests exist beyond what is reported by countries to the FRA on the extent of primary forests. These intact forests are faced with the main threats of deforestation, forest degradation and fragmentation, but a large proportion are not covered by PA networks. In addition to the option of considering these areas for PA status, it is important to consider forest protection using an integrated landscape approach, hence the importance of establishing degraded forest areas as buffer zones to protect intact forests against further degradation, and creating ecological networks and corridors to ensure connectivity between areas of fragmented forest. Following upon this, Chapter 2 considers the considerable diversity of forests in the Asia-Pacific region. While there is a lack of knowledge about eco-floristic variation within each forest type, species distribution, population dynamics and the status of many important tree species, especially in the tropical zone, it becomes clear that all different forest types need to be protected. Chapter 3 considers the major threats and drivers of threats to the intactness of forests in the region. It identifies two main categories of threats: climate change and human activities, both inside and outside the forest; forest fires being both generally driven by human activities and aggravated by climate change. Vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is itself often increased by human activities as most studies agree that healthier, nondegraded and less fragmented forests are in a better position to adapt (FAO 2016). Having said that, the most serious and immediate threats to primary forests come from socioeconomic drivers including agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and logging. Primary forest conservation therefore depends on how human activities are managed, both inside and outside the forest.PAs are often seen by many actors as the primary mechanism to ensure the protection of forests. What is clear from previous chapters is that PAs cannot be the only mechanism to ensure protection of primary forests against deforestation, degradation and fragmentation. One reason is that not all primary forests are currently covered by national parks and other conservation areas. PAs do not cover all types of forests, and they are often established in areas where threats (e.g. competing demands on land) are in fact lower. Many intact forests are not protected by PAs and are in fact used for various activities. While it may be possible in some places to increase the extent of PAs, other mechanisms may need to be deployed for these forests. A second reason is that PAs by themselves are often insufficient to protect the area where they are established. For all of these reasons, a range of mechanisms and tools need to be mobilized in addition to and in support of PAs, such as creating buffer zones, to increase the protective role of areas around primary forests and consider the entire landscape matrix for integrated management. Decisions relative to the designation of PAs, the management and effective implementation of the protected status, and the sustainable management of forests that are not protected all depend on governance, including forestry institutions and governance but also interactions and relations to other sectors. These can provide incentives to various actors (including national governments, local authorities, the private sector, farmers, Indigenous Peoples and local communities) to effectively conserve primary forests.4 Governance instruments for primary forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific regionChapter 4 examines the range of actors, and governance at international, regional, national and local levels. Chapter 5 will examine how different mechanisms and tools can be used to address a diversity of threats and situations, illustrated with examples.An enabling environment to protect primary forests depends upon actors, institutions and tools at various levels. Proper governance mechanisms are needed between and across these levels (Figure 21). This chapter presents an overview of forest governance in the region, covering: the main actors and institutions, salient tools and instruments from international and regional to national and local scales, and associated challenges and opportunities for governance.The governance of forests is both shaped and influenced by a range of actors and institutions operating at different scales, from local to national, regional and international levels, the actions of each group influencing the actions of others. State actors and institutions include national governments, state authorities, and intergovernmental organizations. Non-state actors include the private sector (e.g. firms and industry associations), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and academia (Sotirov et al. 2020). Forestry management regimes include: co-management regimes, community forestry, smallholder forestry, largeholder forestry, or companies granted concessions on state lands (FAO 2019b). In the Asia-Pacific region, the interplay and power dynamics between these actors have historically contributed to a decrease in primary forest cover. Examples of issues related to the range of actors and their roles in forestry governance include power dynamics between the public and private sector but also the need to reinforce coordination and coherence between local, national, regional and international decisions and actions.The dynamics at play among actors determine, for example, if a certain area is designated as protected or if a certain forest is sustainably managed. In particular, the conservation and sustainable management of a forest depends on the stewardship role of an actor or group of actors, because it is the steward of the forest that will protect it from external threats, monitor fires and invasive alien species, or alert public authorities of encroachment or degradation perpetrated by external actors. However, to assume such a role, local actors need to have a specific interest to do so, usually drawing benefits (ecosystem services and goods) from the forest. Hence their interest generally depends on their use rights.At the local level, the main actors are the Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) who live in and around, use, and manage forests. IPLCs depend on forests for their livelihoods as well as for cultural and spiritual values. Their range of ability to conserve or manage forest resources is, however, dictated in large part by the influence of state (e.g. through nationallevel legislation) and non-state actors (e.g. the logging industry), particularly as regards tenure and access rights. National tenure regimes are established by national legal frameworks. However, these do not always consider or have not formalized the rights (e.g. customary tenure) of IPLCs to use forest resources for their livelihoods (as opposed The rights of IPLCs can be compromised by private sector actors, as happened in PNG, where special agricultural business leases were given to investors for an area of 5 million hectares in customary land under community ownership for the cultivation of oil palm and other industrial crops, often under the pretext of agroforestry (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). This is why social safeguards are an important aspect of commercial enterprise activity, as highlighted in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs: FAO 2012). IPLCs also manage forests through programmes that have been developed to increase local participation, formalize land tenure and access rights, support livelihoods, enhance the role of non-wood forest products, and acknowledge the importance of Indigenous knowledge, as well as the cultural and spiritual dimensions of forests. Some examples include collective forestry, community forestry and joint forest management (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). The participation of IPLCs is a key element of forestry governance.At the national level, forest governance lies with legal frameworks adopted and decisions taken by the national government and its different line ministries. These include not just forestry but also ministries in charge of, for example, trade, economy, planning, sustainable development, agriculture and environment (including climate change and biodiversity). Governments, for instance, establish PAs and develop and implement regulatory frameworks. They also interact with the private sector, such as through legislation governing timber concessions. At regional and international levels, national governments participate in the negotiation processes that are in place for the development of conventions, guidelines, targets, initiatives, etc. Decisions taken at these levels influence governance issues at the national level as these decisions would then need to be reflected in national legal and strategic frameworks (including national climate change plans or national sustainable development strategies).National policies, laws, rules and decisions must be enforced all the way to the local level as well as between the different actors. This means that governance structures are not enough to enable the different actors to adhere to and be accountable for national decisions. The decisionmaking process must be evidence-based, inclusive and relevant to local populations. In the Greater Mekong Subregion, while supportive policies, legislation and institutional frameworks are in place to enable forest governance, there are still numerous challenges in terms of implementation, enforcement, and compliance (Gritten et al. 2019).Actors in the private sector range from small and medium enterprises to large companies; their different objectives and scale of activity can have variable impacts on forest conservation and management. Small and medium enterprises may have different priorities and interests from large logging companies, as well as different incentives for sustainable timber extraction. Many small and medium-sized forest enterprises operate informally because of challenges associated with operating in the formal system, such as rigid rules and regulations and high transaction costs (APFSOS III: FAO 2021). The imbalances of power and capacities between these actors is another issue. Concessions given for logging can range from small (a few hectares) to larger areas (over 100,000 hectares), and for periods ranging from one to 100 years (Chan 2017). This can create conflicts with local communities over the right to land, as well as reduce opportunities for sustainable forest management (SFM) because of the security of tenure of the logging concession (Chan 2017) There are no international agreements that apply solely to primary forests. Rather, international agreements and instruments that address the conservation of primary forests are either embedded in those relating to the forestry sector or are of a more global nature.In the latter case, these address forestry as an element for achieving sustainable development or other environment-related objectives and goals such as the SDGs and multilateral environmental agreements.While not all agreements or instruments are legally binding, they provide the framework for international governance processes and mechanisms, which guide the implementation of common global goals and national commitments at all levels of governance. Reflecting increasingly recognized linkages between conventions, international organizations and partnerships, the CBD also called for greater integration of the key environmental Conventions -the CBD, UNFCCC, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) -and other international instruments, and gave new emphasis to the importance of primary forests when it noted the \"exceptional importance of primary forest for biodiversity conservation\" and \"the urgent necessity to avoid major fragmentation, damage to and loss of, primary forests of the planet...\" (CBD COP Decision 14/30). 58   The Paris Agreement 59 was adopted in 2015 under the UNFCCC to: limit global warming well below 2°C by reducing GHG emissions; provide a framework for transparency, accountability, and the achievement of more ambitious targets; and mobilize support for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing nations. The Paris Agreement is a legally-binding treaty whose implementation is achieved through countries' voluntary actions, as per their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). REDD+, a climate change mitigation mechanism developed by Parties to the UNFCCC, supports countries' efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), support the conservation and sustainable management of forests, enhance forest carbon stocks, and ultimately contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement.There  73 Forest managers may apply for forest certification for different reasons, such as to earn higher prices for their products, improve their public image, achieve social and environmental goals, or even maintain and increase access to some markets for which certification is essential.Regional and sub-regional institutions and initiatives provide a bridge between international policies and national actions. In the area of primary forest conservation, this is crucial because many issues related to primary forest conservation, including SFM, are transboundary in nature. For example, regional and sub-regional bodies and processes are encouraged to build and strengthen synergies between the global UNSPF 2030 (UNDESA 2019) and their policies and programmes, including in the context of their contributions to the implementation of the SDGs. A number of institutions and initiatives that support primary forest conservation are established in Asia and the Pacific. They include the APFC at regional level, and the Association of South East Asia Nations (AESAN), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Pacific Community, or the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at the sub-regional level.Composed of 34 countries, 74 the APFC is one of six FAO Regional Forestry Commissions. place in Bali, Indonesia and adopted the Bali Declaration to combat illegal logging. ASEAN is also involved in forest management and FLR issues. It represents regional member country positions and common views in international fora.The MRC is an intergovernmental organization for regional dialogue and cooperation in the Lower Mekong River Basin, comprising Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.A major document of the MRC is its Basin Development Strategy (BDS), which aims, among other objectives, to maintain the ecological function of the Mekong River Basin, including forested watersheds. The SAARC addresses issues related to cross-border timber trade and to illegal timber trade in the SAARC area. SPC's Forests and Trees Programme aims to ensure the sustainable management of the subregion's scarce and diminishing forest and tree resources.Lastly, the role of international and regional environmental NGOs, donors, and other financing institutions need to be recognized as actors that play significant roles in supporting the conservation of primary forests. These include the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), IUCN, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Conservation International (CI), The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), and global, regional and bilateral donors, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).The design and implementation of national rules and instruments are key to primary forest conservation. Frameworks related to forests and forest governance are essential, but so too are policies and rules related to the activities that constitute the biggest threats for forest conservation. Agriculture, mining and infrastructure development need to be coherent with the objective of primary forest conservation.Governments are Parties to global intergovernmental fora, such as the SDGs, the CBD, the UNFF or the UNFCCC, where they negotiate and ultimately make decisions on global issues. Examples of country commitments to these global fora include NDCs and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) under the UNFCCC and NBSAPs under the CBD. NBSAPs typically consider forest conservation, while NDCs consider forest rehabilitation and reforestation as a climate change mitigation and adaptation tool. Some NDCs also include commitments to reducing deforestation and land use change. Of the 41 NBSAPs of the Asia-Pacific region countries, 14 specifically refer to the term \"primary forest\", one refers to \"primary vegetation\" and one refers to \"mature forests\". Other terms used in NBSAPs include \"natural\", \"intact\", \"primeval\", \"pristine\", \"virgin\", \"indigenous\", \"native\", \"indigenous\" and \"mature\". For example, in the Republic of Korea where no legal definition for primary forest exists, the proxy term \"virgin forest\" is used. Virgin forests are recognized as environmentally significant areas for conservation under the Forest Protection Act ( 2019) and the Natural Environment Conservation Act (2019). 77   The conservation of these forest habitats is usually addressed through PA targets.National governments are also members of regional and sub-regional fora, prioritizing and strategizing regionallyrelevant decisions on issues that impact forest conservation and management. They implement the commitments and decisions made in global, regional and sub-regional bodies. Finally, governments are responsible for different aspects of good governance at the national and local levels, such as: formalizing tenure and access rights; managing PAs; establishing and enforcing laws and regulations in areas such as logging; and providing legal and market-based incentives. They are also responsible for ensuring and coordinating the enforcement and oversight of these rights, regulations and incentives.77 See reply to 2021 questionnaire on governance sent to forestry experts in selected Asia-Pacific countries.Various instruments can be mobilized to avoid the encroachment of agriculture into forested areas. Most of them generally depend on other line ministries than those responsible for biodiversity conservation and for forestry.A first key instrument is land use planning, a process that regulates the different uses of land, and across different sectors. It can declare areas to be kept as permanent forests, meaning that they cannot be converted to other land uses and more broadly orient the development of economic activities to facilitate a landscape approach to primary forest conservation. Therefore, planning from national to sub-national levels can contribute to the safeguarding of primary forests. In the Philippines, for example, forest land use planning is integrated in municipal comprehensive land use planning, which itself is a \"rational approach of allocating available land resources as equitably as possible among competing user groups and for different functions consistent with the development plan of the area…\" (Philippines Republic Act 7279, Section 3) 78 . Land use planning, particularly at sub-national levels, can support integrated landscape approaches. It can be supported by tools that can show ecosystem services generated by different scenarios of land use, such as Land Use Planning for Environmental Services (LUMENS). LUMENS is a framework accompanied by a publicly available software that allows inclusivity, integration and informed land use planning within a landscape, and has been used in Indonesia, Viet Nam and Papua New Guinea. Another example is the use of scenarios of land use to determine ecological redline areas (ERAs) in Shanghai using ES, biodiversity and ecologically fragile hotspots, landscape structure, and stakeholder opinions to help policymakers select a land use plan for 2040 to inform Shanghai's Urban Plan (2016-2040) (Bai et al. 2018).Governments are responsible for fixing the rules for granting concessions for logging or other land use on land owned by the state. In doing so and in delivering individual concessions, they need to consider potential impacts of these concessions on primary forests, as well as on local populations in the area. The granting of concessions should respect land use planning and orientations and can be done with conditions, on a case-by-case basis, such as integrating sustainable forest management practices, or taking a participatory concession management approach. 79 Economic land concessions (ELCs) are long-term leases granted to concessionaires, allowing them to clear land to develop industrial-scale agriculture. ELCs can be granted for a range of activities spanning from large-scale plantations to cattle rearing. However, in Cambodia, ELCs have caused land disputes between concessionaire companies and local residents and have been the source of land conflicts, including land grabs, forced evictions, and natural resource exploitation.According to the EastAsiaForum, ELCs were even granted in more than 270,000 ha of protected forest areas. 80 The government issued a suspension on new ELCs in 2012, but criticism remains -for example, the suspension does not resolve the issue of land tenure, Indigenous communal land titles, and forested areas were not included. 81   From the perspective of importing countries, the European Commission has taken steps. The Commission recognizes that the expansion of agricultural land is one of the leading drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. As a relevant consumer of commodities associated with deforestation and forest degradation, it put forward an initiative to minimize the consumption of products coming from supply chains associated with deforestation or forest degradation, promote the consumption of 'deforestation-free' products and reduce the EU's impact on global deforestation and  2001). In other instances, weak management controls of the bans caused legal logging to be replaced by illegal logging (e.g. in the Philippines). Illegal logging remains a challenging issue, including in SAARC countries, where illegal cross-border timber trade occurs within communities and by organized groups. 84 Another consequence of logging bans was that countries with limited alternative domestic sources of wood began to import timber from abroad, often from countries with weaker environmental regulations. Hence, given their potentially significant unintended impacts, it is important to undertake a careful analysis and establish an effective governance framework before implementing such logging bans (Durst et al. 2001; APFSOS III: FAO 2019).Wood importing countries are increasingly concerned about the sourcing of timber and, more specifically, whether timber is obtained through illegal logging. Where illegal timber imports are prohibited or criminalized, duediligence requirements are imposed on operators placing wood products on the market. To address this, countries in the Asia-Pacific region use legal incentives, or voluntary market-based instruments such as certification schemes, VPAs or other voluntary standards (see Sections 4.2.3 and 5.2.2). CSOs and environmental NGOs can also play a role: for example, both CSOs and environmental NGOs have a formal role as independent observers of the timber legality assurance system in Indonesia, 84 EU FLEGT Facility. 2017. Briefing Cross-border timber trade in the SAARC area. See: https://www.euflegt.efi. int/publications/cross-border-timber-trade-in-the-saarcarea lending credibility to the voluntary partnership agreement timber legality assurance system and eventual FLEGT licensing (EU FLEG Facility 2017).Legal incentives such as taxes, subsidies, or fiscal transfers have been used for promoting forest conservation. India initiated the world's first ecological fiscal transfer mechanism: India's Finance Commission, which determines the criteria for allocating central tax revenues to states based on measurable criteria, expanded the criteria to include forest areas. Therefore, states that conserved forests received a higher share of resource allocation, incentivizing sustainable management, including afforestation and reforestation (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). Other types of incentives include payments for ecosystem services (PES). Viet Nam developed a national PES scheme in which upland communities are given incentives by hydropower plants and some municipal water and ecotourism companies to protect forests to ensure a clean water supply for power generation, domestic or industrial uses. 85 PES are intended not only for water but also for other ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration.Viet Nam has built upon its experience with PES to develop its Carbon for Forest Ecosystems Services program, whereby the country's largest carbon emitters would pay forest communities and landowners to protect and expand forests. 86 PES schemes are being explored in other countries in Asia as well. Recently, a project was conducted to generate scientific knowledge on the design of effective PES schemes in PNG, the Philippines and Thailand (Kawasaki et al. 2020). The study identified a few areas of information (namely: ecosystems values, community awareness, policies and laws, and capacity) as essential for building a good governance not only of forest resources, but also of the PES process itself. PES schemes require careful consideration before being developed and implemented, especially with regards to ecological, institutional, and cultural preconditions, including tenure clarity and security among ecosystem service providers (Prokofieva 2016).In the Asia-Pacific region, a strong impetus for tenure reform has come not only from domestic sources but also from international processes such as REDD+, the EU-FLEGT initiative, and the VGGTs. The VGGTs (FAO 2012), a guiding framework for addressing tenure issues, were endorsed in 2012 by the UN Committee on World Food Security, to promote secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests with respect to all forms of tenure, be they public, private, communal, Indigenous, customary or informal (FAO 2019b. The VGGTs also note that governance is closely linked to the issue of access, which is in turn defined and regulated through tenure systems that may be based on written policies and laws, as well as on unwritten customs and practices (FAO 2012). The VGGTs also address the role of non-state actors, calling upon businesses to act with due diligence where human rights and the legitimate tenure rights of others are concerned, and thus to address and implement social safeguards as appropriate.Due diligence is extended to transnational corporations, including enterprises owned or controlled by states, or receiving substantial support and service from state agencies (FAO 2012). Clear and secure tenure rights are a necessary condition to ensure participation in processes towards and commitment to primary forest conservation. They can also be seen as a precondition for communities SFM efforts but also for investors to commit funds in forest-related activities such as forest restoration.In the forest sector, and in particular for forest conservation and management, the issue of land tenure is crucial, especially as it applies to local communities and has broad implications with regards to equity, rights, participation in decision making, and resource management. Forest tenure is considered a bundle of five rights for the use of forestland: access, withdrawal, management, exclusion and alienation rights, 87 and strengthening these rights for given stakeholders is part of tenure reform (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). Figure 22 shows the indicators for forest tenure, as extracted from the Governance of Forests Toolkit prepared under the Governance of Forests Initiative. 88 It describes and provides an overview of actors, rules and practices as they apply to the principles of good governance.The recognition of land tenure by governments is an essential basis for the governance of forest resources as a clear allocation of rights will influence the clear ownership of responsibilities. In a regional assessment of three pillars of forest governance for the Greater Mekong Subregion, tenure (under pillar 3) was given a low score -2.2 out of 5 (RECOFTC 2018). In India, community forest resource (CFR) rights are recognized under the Forest Rights Act, transferring collective rights and responsibilities to forestdwelling communities for sustainable use of their customary forests (Gupta et al. 2020).Despite positive examples of tenure reform, the reform is not always implemented to its full potential. In the Philippines, bundles of rights were transferred to local communities to promote the access, use and control of forest resources. However, tenure reform focused mainly on improving forest cover without necessarily generating sustainable livelihood opportunities (Pulhin et al. 2018). Uncertain tenure among customary groups is also a cause for conflict, such as over timber or, in the case of land grabbing, for the production of agricultural commodities (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). The distribution of forest ownership is also an important element in forest legislation 87 Access: the right to enter the forest. Withdrawal: the right to obtain products from the forest (including harvesting timber, non-timber forest products and woodfuel). Management: the right to regulate internal use and transform the forest resource, such as through silvicultural treatments. Exclusion: the right to determine who has access to the forest. Alienation: the right to sell or lease management or exclusion rights and use them as collateral.88 See: https://www.wri.org/publication/governance-forestsinitiative-indicator-framework-version-1| 89as the formal owner of the forest determines who manages and controls the forest. In most Asian countries, the majority of natural forests are owned by the government, whereas in the Pacific, forests are mostly held by customary owners. 89 In some countries, the collective and private or individual ownership of forest lands is increasingly being guaranteed by legislation (FAO 2010). Collective forest tenure reforms are recognized as vehicles for moving towards SFM as well as towards other environmental and sustainable development goals, even if their potential can still be developed (Aggarwal et al. 2021).The NBSAPs of a number of Asia-Pacific countries specifically recognize the importance of tenure and rights of IPLCs and forest dwellers for biodiversity conservation and management objectives and include actions to address this. In Cambodia, the NBSAP 90 aims to \"develop and implement a comprehensive national plan for the management of the forest estate, including (…) protection of resource tenure rights and practices of local communities and 89 In the Asia-Pacific region, public ownership accounts for 87% of forests in South Asia, 91% in Southeast Asia, 58% in East Asia and 57% in Oceania. Local communities in Pacific Island countries own 97% of forests on average (FRA 2015).90 See: https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/kh/kh-nbsap-v2-en.pdfDespite the fact that close to 90% of all land in Fiji is customarily owned, the leasing of land and management of forests have been centralized within government since before independence. This strategy has proven to be relatively unsuccessful, with landowners still very much 'spectators' on the development of their land and forests with few improvements to their socio-economic status despite the damage done to their natural environments. Customary landowners must be empowered to manage their own land and forests to achieve the required objectives as they know the value of their natural resources and are the ones who will ensure their protection/conservation for their present benefit as well as that of future generations. As a start, institutions like the Ministry of Forestry need to re-orient themselves to better focus on supporting customary landowners in this regard.Source: Reply to 2021 questionnaire on governance sent to forestry experts in selected Asia-Pacific countries.indigenous ethnic minorities.\" (Strategic Objective 2.2). Malaysia's NBSAP aims to \"develop policy and legal instruments that  empower IPLCs to be effective custodians of biodiversity\" (Action 2.1). Increasingly, formal tenure rights are being given to IPLCs, most notably in Thailand, Viet Nam and China. Despite this, IPLCs still face insecure rights to their land, for a number of reasons such as the absence of evidence for formalizing claims (APFSOS III: FAO 2019). Yet the role of Indigenous Peoples in forest conservation and management is important, and it is therefore crucial to recognize customary collective and individual rights of Indigenous Peoples to communal lands and natural resources. Many countries have included SFM in their forest policies or set targets for areas of forest land under community-based forestry (CBF). However, achieving these targets has been impaired by a number of factors, including the ability of communities to obtain tenure certificates for their forests (APFSOS III: FAO 2019).Linking national commitments to global processes and translating them into national action needs to be highlighted as a relevant mechanism for primary forest conservation as it can both strengthen national engagement and help attract international support.NBSAPs are the main policy instrument for setting biodiversity conservation targets and implementing the CBD at the national level. 91 The NBSAPs are a planning process addressing threats to national biodiversity. They can be considered a link between international policy frameworks and national policies, legislation and regulations. Sectoral national legislation can be influenced by NBSAPs, while existing legislation can be used to support the implementation of 91 Of the 49 Countries and Territories included in the scope of this document, 41 have elaborated NBSAPs. These have been considered in a rapid analysis of the most recent NBSAP's based on the use of keywords including: \"governance\"; \"tenure\"; \"rights\"; \"logging\"; and \"certification\".NBSAP actions. Bearing in mind nationallevel circumstances (political and institutional arrangements), NBSAPs should be prepared through consultation processes involving a range of stakeholders from line ministries (e.g. environment, forestry, land use planning, finance, etc.), environmental NGOs, CSOs, academia, community groups and the private sector. The Solomon Islands' NBSAP 92 explicitly states that: \"from a mandate perspective, the NBSAP is built from the provisions provided by the existing environmental laws and policies\". Most NBSAPs contain a description of the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country; an analysis of the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss; an overview of national constitutional, legal and institutional frameworks; implementation plans; and an institutional monitoring and reporting mechanism (CBD 2011). In addition to these, two 'core' elements of the national biodiversity strategy are the principles, priorities and targets; and the national action plan. The principles, priorities and targets are the 'highlevel' elements of the strategy that provide the framework for the NBSAP as a whole and include the long-term vision, the main goals or priority areas, and national targets in line with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The National Action Plan provides further details and sets out national actions to achieve the strategy, with milestones. These two elements define intended actions for primary forest conservation, including 'direct' actions such as the establishment of PAs for forest biodiversity conservation, as well as other actions addressing drivers of biodiversity loss (e.g. as applicable to countries: poor or weak governance, insecure IPLCs tenure and use rights, or unsustainable logging).Thirty-six out of 41 countries have explicitly addressed, to some degree, governance as an issue for biodiversity conservation in their NBSAPs. Inappropriate policy and regulatory frameworks (some outdated, and some conflicting with each other), weak law enforcement, and weak institutional capacity were also identified as impediments. Nepal's NBSAP 2014-2020, 93 for example, specifically countries also consider the enabling environment needed for effective PAs. Brunei Darussalam's NBSAP 99 called for \"adequate and permanent reserved forest and marine areas categorized as protected sites for wild flora and fauna protection and conservation in the country\" but also called for strengthening governance to make PA objectives effectivespecifically, that the agencies concerned have \"adequate legal provisions and administrative and technical regulatory procedures.\"NDCs within the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) can offer major opportunities to the forestry sector. FAO conducted regional synthesis of the NDCs in Asia and in the Pacific from an agriculture, forestry and fisheries perspective (Crumpler et al. 2020a(Crumpler et al. , 2020b)). In both Asia and the Pacific, more than 80 percent of the countries include mitigation commitments on forests in their NDCs, mainly: reducing deforestation and degradation; promoting SFM; and reducing forest fires. In both Asia and the Pacific, more than 80 percent of countries that have an adaptation component in their NDCs include measures related to forests, including reducing deforestation and degradation, monitoring forest health, improving ecological connectivity, restoring ecosystems and species, controlling invasive species, and preventing forest fires. Nepal, for example, commits to decrease deforestation with quantified targets. There are also commitments to enhance coastal resilience and explore carbon sequestration in mangrove plantations (Timor-Leste), and to reduce forest fires (Indonesia).NDCs are high-level documents with principles and commitments. Other important documents are National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) that all developing countries (and many others) are preparing and implementing. NAPs assess vulnerabilities and risks and identify adaptation measures to address them on the medium-and long-term. They can also include more precise measures. LGUs were also reminded that under the DENR Memorandum Circular 2011, all municipal/city mayors, through their respective barangay captains, 1 are to conduct upland monitoring \"to ensure that no illegal logging, kaingin (slash-and-burn farming) and other forms of forest destruction\" are taking place within their jurisdictions. They were ordered to report to their regional task forces (RTFs), \"through the Provincial Governor and/or the DILG Regional Director,\" incidents of forests destruction especially slash and burn farming (kaingin) and illegal logging activities. Box 8 Citizens and science -two case studies.In Indonesia, law enforcement on deforestation often relies on field reports from civil society organizations (CSOs) and the public. The use of near-real-time satellite data by HAkA -a grassroots non-profit organization addressing deforestation monitoring in the Indonesian Leuser Ecosystem -allows this approach to be conducted more efficiently. To improve the capability of law enforcement officials, HAkA GIS staff trained police officers and staff members of several forest management units, the conservation unit, and the national park management unit with the financial and technical support of the World Resources Institute (WRI)'s Global Forest Watch (GFW). As a result of HAkA's training program and intensive communication with government officials, GFW and its derivative products have been adopted by the local government and the forest management units as part of their forest monitoring systems. Evidence-based reports from the civil society are acknowledged and accepted for further action by the government agencies in the Leuser Ecosystem. The most widely used mechanism for conserving primary forests is designating them as PAs (Leberger et al. 2020). Although most intact forests are located outside of PAs, as mentioned in Chapter 1, much of the area of primary forest cover is located within PAs according to national reporting. More specifically, the 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) noted that many countries reported their primary forest area by using the area of forest in national parks and their conservation areas as proxies. It should be 5 Mechanisms and tools for primary forest conservation Usually, large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human habitation, which are protected and managed so as to preserve their natural condition.Large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor opportunities.To protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological feature such as a cave or even a living feature such as an ancient grove. They are generally quite small PAs and often have high visitor value.Protecting particular species or habitats and management reflects this priority. Many PAs of Category IV will need regular, active interventions to address the requirements of particular species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category.Where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant, ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value; and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values.To conserve ecosystems and habitats together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. They are generally large, with most of the area in a natural condition, where a proportion is under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non-industrial use of natural resources compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims of the area.Source: (Dudley 2008) main characteristic is that they are largely undisturbed. Globally, existing PAs cover 37% of tropical primary forest and 25% of intact forest landscapes. 117   In Japan, the PA system has evolved over were designated to support simpler and more efficient administration. Thus, the former seven categories were condensed to three more concise and effective categories: (i) \"forest ecosystem reserve,\" primeval natural forests representative of climates or forest zones observed in Japan -corresponding to IUCN Category Ib; (ii) \"biocenosis protected forest,\" for forests with an endemic biological community; and (iii) \"rare population protected forest,\" for forests providing habitat to rare wildlife. The \"forest ecosystem reserve\" is also recognized as a mechanism working to preserve the value of Japan's World Natural Heritage sites and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. Almost the entire land area of the World Natural Heritage sites in Japan (Shiretoko, Shirakami-Sanchi, Ogasawara Islands and Yakushima) has been designated as protected forest. Lastly, the scheme for the administration of protected forests has been made more efficient by consolidating several existing committees into the Committee for Administration of Protected Forests, a unified organization set up for each regional forest office, with subcommittees created when needed.This governance system has led to greater effectiveness and efficiency in protected forest monitoring by allowing different intervals to be set between surveys depending on the specific conditions of each forest. A more integrated landscape approach needs to be adopted.for the protection of primary forestsWide-ranging species need to be able to move over large areas, and connectivity will be essential to maintain genetic diversity and enable populations to migrate in response to climate change (Senior et  • Wildlife conservancies adjacent to national parks or PAs.• Hunting reserves that maintain natural habitats and other flora and fauna as well as viable populations of hunted and nonhunted native species.• Privately managed areas with primary conservation objectives and demonstrated effectiveness that are not reported as PAs in national reports.• Areas of active habitat restoration to restore degraded ecosystems of high value for biodiversity and ecosystem services, e.g. restored coastal wetlands and mangroves.• Some permanently set-aside areas of forest, such as old-growth, primary, or other high-biodiversity value forests, which are protected from threats.The above suggests that, in principle, SFM could be compatible with the OECM definition, hence OECMs offer a new opportunity to recognize positive biodiversity effects of at least some forms of SFM implementation (S. Wertz-Kanounnikoff, FAO, personal communication).In some countries, buffer zones have been established to insulate areas where biodiversity conservation is the primary objective from potentially damaging external influences, particularly from those caused by inappropriate forms of land use (Bennett and Mulongoy 2006). The management of production forests can be used to enhance the quality of PAs, where these forests serve as buffer zones around parks and reserves or provide connectivity at the landscape scale.In this respect, it is important to consider forest types so that plans provide connectivity between patches of a particular forest type, as well as between different types of forest.Global restoration targets offer a huge opportunity to design optimal landscapes and large-scale configuration of forests to meet multiple objectives, including biodiversity conservation. For example, restored forests can be located in and around PAs to enhance • The buffer zone forest is managed through its forest management plan with the technical support of the national park authority.• Buffer zone user groups have constructed artificial conservation ponds to accumulate water for wild animals with the support of Chitwan National Park.• Forests in the buffer zone have been managed with appropriate restoration, conservation and management activities designed by respective forest groups considering forest conditions and requirements. Planting in public and private lands is undertaken as part of forest improvement activities.• Forest quality with per unit tree numbers in the buffer zone area has improved due to several concerted forest activities, including the conservation and protection of wetlands (ponds and lakes) inside core national parks for wild animals. The buffer zone committee and buffer zone forest groups have managed ponds, lakes and rivers for both wild animals and water-based tourism promotion.• Intensive patrolling is organized, and illegally involved people are arrested. Offenders are penalized based on their involvement in illegal activities identified with the rigorous investigation.Nepal's PAs are broadly guided by conservation-related policies. The success of the buffer zone concept in conservation has been largely attributed to the involvement of local communities.  (Meyers et al. 2020). This taxonomy aims to clarify the definition and role of conservation finance to demonstrate the importance of its mechanisms and strategies for addressing the underlying causes of nature loss and contribute to increasing sustainable funding flows to nature conservation.Finally, adequate financial resources and innovative financial tools to connect big funds to small projects have been identified as a critical condition for sustainable management of landscapes, allowing the effective conservation of primary forests (Pingault et al. 2021a).and scales for primary forest conservation.Effectively conserving primary forests requires a combination of technical interventions; not only establishing PAs, but also: establishing them in the right place; enforcing their status; managing the whole landscape of which they are part to enhance ecological connectivity; monitoring changes and threats; and managing risks such as fire, pests or diseases. This requires the engagement and coordinated action of a wide range of stakeholders across sectors and scales with appropriate planification and support, involving multiple levels of governance (Figure 21).As shown in Chapter 3, many of the threats to conservation are found outside the forestry sector. It is thus important to consider ways to reduce these external threats and influence all actors that have an impact on forests.A There is a range of global objectives to which countries have subscribed, and these may also engage private actors to a degree. A key question is how these objectives, which are separated at the strategic level, can come together in implementation.All commitments at the global level create opportunities for local actors to make their voices heard. Governments are committed to delivering results. From this perspective, forests can become a means through which to achieve objectives. This creates opportunities for the forestry sector and those actors depending on it. They can show the contributions they can make to global objectives, the contribution they can make to the objectives of a government or a private actor and claim support to do so -whether compensation or incentive -as well as a better recognition of their role by and through their inclusion in forest governance. For example, because of private sector commitments to achieve net zero deforestation or as part of corporate social responsibility, enterprises may now have an interest in contributing to the conservation of primary forests. Global goals, the publicity around them, the interest of consumers, and the concern of importing countries create an interest for exporting countries and for the private sector to reduce deforestation, and conserve primary forests.The question is: how can this be transformed into an incentive for local actors in the form of better governance, institutions and rules, as well as by specific incentives? This is essential to achieving efficient primary forest conservation. Taking the example of international trade, there can be an interest to protect primary forests because of the concerns of importing countries and of consumers. Another example are NDCs and NAPs: non-forest sectors that benefit from forestry adaptation can provide support (such as financial) to forest restoration and conservation. Mangroves are very emblematic in this respect as they are presented as a way to protect cities or rice fields from sea-level rise, which could incentivize cities to provide financial support for their restoration and conservation. As they reduce costs in other sectors, providing them with benefits, these other sectors could be invited to contribute to their restoration and conservation.There is thus a range of opportunities to strengthen conservation and create appropriate measures for effective primary forest conservation. However, most of the aforementioned commitments are geared towards the conservation of forests in general and are very rarely targeted specifically at primary forests. This may be a point on which to work and make proposals. There are clear biodiversity objectives for the conservation of primary forests but with limited funding options and poor articulation of linkages to other sectors. On the other hand, the climate change mechanisms available are economywide, facilitating cross-sectoral approaches, and have significant funding, but they tend to be blind to biodiversity: a forest is of interest only because it sequesters carbon. An important question is thus how to prioritize forests that are more important to primary forest conservation in forest conservation objectives for climate action. A second key question is how to engage local communities to participate in the protection of their forests if they cannot benefit directly from them. As such, there may be trade-offs between purely protecting areas of forest and allowing some forms of interactions that create an interest in their protection in the long run as part of SFM. Addressing these weaknesses in governance requires coherent intention, planning and action at a range of levels and by a range of actors. In the forestry sector, governance involves social and economic systems that affect how people interact with forests. This includes institutions, laws, policies, traditional norms and culture, forms of land tenure, and markets (Cowling et al. 2014). In responding to the questionnaire on governance sent to experts from the Asia-Pacific region, some indicated that mechanisms (e.g. laws, regulations, voluntary standards) are poorly implemented and/ or enforced because of a lack of capacity, human resources and funds; the misalignment of existing policies and norms; and/or lack of a country-wide overall land use planning.As a result, even if mechanisms are in place, the enabling environment for their governance may be weak (e.g. illegal logging still occurring in PAs, or tenure rights of local communities not formalized or recognized).As illustrated in this chapter, instruments and mechanisms are available to a range of actors to mobilize institutions and action for primary forest conservation.A robust enabling environment is needed to conserve primary forests, both directly and indirectly through SFM and landscape approaches around them; hence the effective, efficient, transparent, accountable, equitable and participatory governance of forests is a critical aspect to be addressed. Any discourse on governance should capture the range and complexity of mechanisms and institutions and the actors involved in shaping and implementing them. Efforts to strengthen forest governance in the Asia-Pacific region must include increasing stakeholder participation, market-based approaches, forest-related conflict resolution, and institutional reform.This section gathers the main areas of recommendations emerging from this study and from the collective process of elaboration of the roadmap (Pingault et al. 2020(Pingault et al. , 2021a)). Some of these recommendations may not seem new. As has been pointed out during the expert workshop, good solutions to difficult problems are rare and need to be repeated until they are widely adopted. They must be appropriately articulated, combined and adapted for specific contexts. Primary forest conservation requires: (i) an improved knowledge of the different types of forests at finer scales, of their status, trends and functioning, including large-scale ecological mapping and studies on species distribution and species population trends, and the various threats they face, driven by land use, land cover and climate changes; (ii) a compelling narrative, i.e. a shared vision and clear picture of the various values of primary forests and the challenges ahead;(iii) a clear understanding of land tenure and responsibilities; and (iv) efficient mechanisms to connect large funds to small projects. This will allow: (i) the alignment of various sustainable development objectives; (ii) the adoption of cross-sectoral, integrated approaches, particularly at the landscape level, where all of these objectives need to be balanced; (iii) the consolidation and involvement of large coalitions of actors, not only those living close to forests but also distant actors that are somehow connected to forests; and (iv) the harnessing of the potential of innovative technologies to support improved monitoring and reporting, as well as inclusive and participatory governance and decision-making processes.Overall, the originality of these draft recommendations resides more in the way they are articulated, the key concepts they push forward, and the means of implementation they promote. They can also contribute to raise awareness on specific points of attention that are already known but need to appear more clearly in the big picture. They are grouped under six broad areas of work.Recommendation I focuses on the need to improve data collection, monitoring and reporting on forest ecosystems, including primary forests, using all means available (including innovative technologies and the engagement of local actors). This improved and, where possible, real-time monitoring and reporting will contribute to improving knowledge and understanding of forest ecosystems and to better orienting land use planning, management and conservation efforts. It is difficult, if not impossible, to craft a set of recommendations that are simultaneously broad and comprehensive enough to embrace the huge diversity of primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region and of the threats they face, yet precise and operational enough to lead to concrete action plans in specific contexts.The set of recommendations below (Section 6.1) provide an overall framework to be used within the deployment of the roadmap (Section 6.2) and to be adapted by governments and other relevant actors to their own context, priorities and needs.I. Explore innovative ways to improve monitoring and reporting on primary forests  (maps, data, plans), to: improve transparency, raise awareness and encourage buy-in; build large coalitions of actors and strengthen ownership across actors and sectors; gain traction on the political agenda and enable policy coherence; attract funding and deliver true impact. 5. Encourage and incentivize landowners and private actors (including remote ones) to contribute to primary forest conservation, through regulation, standards and incentives 6. Strengthen ownership and encourage participation of less powerful actors, including women, youth, IPLCs, in forest governance and decision making processes, and make the forestry sector more attractive to them. 7. Secure the tenure, access and use rights of IPLCs dependent on primary forests for their subsistence and livelihoods.IV. Ensure policy coherence across sectors and scales and promote integrated landscape approaches for primary forest conservation1. Enhance policy coherence over time, as well as between land use policies (forest, agriculture, infrastructures) and other sectoral policies that impact forests (energy, water, mining), at all levels (local, national, regional), and especially at the landscape level where all these policies interact. Contributions (NDCs), the vulnerability of primary forests, as well as their potential for climate action, both adaptation and mitigation. 4. Recognize, in the design and implementation of the NDCs, the specific biodiversity and conservation values of primary forests, in addition to their carbon sequestration potential. 5. Ensure consistency and maximize the synergies between NDCs and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). 6. Consider primary forest conservation objectives in international climate finance mechanisms to orient and prioritize funding.VI. Strengthen regional and international cooperation for the conservation and management of primary forests This process could be implemented and articulated at different scales in a coordinated way: at the regional and national levels on the one hand, and at the local level on the other hand, in each specific forest landscape identified as a priority area for conservation. At the regional level, the APFC, informed by the main findings and recommendations of the present study, could set regional priority areas and priority actions for primary forest conservation. Given the huge diversity of forest formations in the region, and of the threats they face, these regional priorities will have to be adjusted to national circumstances and needs, and each APFC member country could be invited to develop its own national roadmap. This study also contains a wealth of detailed information, relevant at national or even sub-national levels, that can help governments and other actors in the elaboration of their primary forest conservation strategies, at national and local levels. Member countries could be invited to report regularly to the APFC the progress they have made in the development of their national roadmap, as well as the lessons learned and challenges faced during the elaboration and implementation of this roadmap at national and local levels. The APFC could adjust its regional strategy and plan of action based on the feedback received from countries.Starting from the priorities identified at national level, the same exercise could be conducted by local authorities in each primary forest massif identified as a priority area for conservation at the national level, in collaboration with all actors concerned at the local level. Local actors should be invited to discuss and build a shared and integrated landscape approach, embracing not only the primary forest area to be conserved but also the surrounding landscape and its dynamics [see recommendation IV.5]. Such an approach should seek to properly articulate legal protection with the other instruments presented in Chapter 4, considering local circumstances.• Based on the initial assessment, identify priority areas for primary forest conservation, based on criteria including: size, level of importance, or level of threats.• Define a strategy and priority actions for primary forest conservation, including measures for primary forests outside PAs.• Define the means of implementation to be deployed (legal protection, other regulations, voluntary standards, economic incentives and governance mechanisms) and adapt their articulation to the given context.2 Develop a strategy: define priorities and means of implementation for primary forest conservation • Raise awareness and enhance citizen participation in forest monitoring and primary forest conservation [I.3].• Elaborate conducive policies and regulations to address/overcome the threats identified above and enhance primary forest conservation.• Mobilize the resources and develop the infrastructure needed for integrated landscape management that contribute to support primary forest conservation [IV.6] and connect large funds to small projects [IV.7] 3 Create an enabling environment for primary forest conservation• Define the roles and responsibilities of the different actors involved, build a compelling narrative and consolidate new coalitions of actors [III]• Ensure policy coordination across sectors and scales and align sustainable land use, climate action and biodiversity objectives with primary forest conservation [V].• Promote integrated landscape approaches [IV], embracing not only the primary forest area to be conserved but also forest margins, as well as the surrounding landscape and its dynamics [III.3, IV.5].• Exchange knowledge and lessons learned across countries, sectors and actors [VI.1] and adapt strategies and action plans accordingly.• Describe the diversity, status and trends of the different primary forest types, building upon available scientific evidence. • Identify and assess the threats faced by primary forests, as well as their drivers.• Identify the actors involved or to be involved in primary forest conservation (e.g. public authorities, scientists, private forest companies, CSOs, IPLCs).• Assess the performance of existing instruments (regulations, standards, economic incentives) in supporting primary forest conservation and identify the gaps and needs.1 Initial assessment of the current situation of primary forests While the total forest area in Asia and the Pacific has increased over the past decades following reforestation programs in many countries, the primary forest area still continues to decline.This study aims to provide governments and other actors with all the information that they need to guide their decisions in determining priority areas and means for interventions to conserve primary forests.The Asia-Pacific region is very large and diverse, making it hard to draw here an exhaustive list of these priority areas. Such a list will ultimately depend on nationally and locally determined priorities, properly informed by the main dimensions that frame the national and local context, and that the different chapters of this paper successively cover: (i) level and trends of preservation and fragmentation of forests; (ii) diversity of vegetation types and ecological diversity of types of primary forests; (iii) diversity of threats and risks to forests; (iv) diversity of governance and policy contexts and means of intervention.Six areas for recommendations to enhance primary forest conservation in Asia and the Pacific emerged from this study and from the collective process of elaboration of this roadmap: (i) explore innovative ways to improve monitoring and reporting on intact forests; (ii) improve the knowledge and understanding of the functioning and dynamics of primary forest ecosystems within broader landscapes to orient land use planning, management and conservation efforts; (iii) build a compelling narrative for primary forest conservation and consolidate new coalitions of actors; (iv) ensure policy coherence across sectors and scales and promote integrated landscape approaches for primary forest conservation; (v) align sustainable land use, climate action and biodiversity objectives for the conservation of primary forests; and (vi) strengthen regional and international cooperation for the conservation and management of primary forests.Some of these recommendations may not seem new. As has been pointed out, spatial planning and environmental governance issues are typical examples of so-called 'wicked problems' that traditional planning methods fail to resolve. Solutions are few and far between and need feedback loop adaptation until they are widely adopted.Overall, the originality of these draft recommendations resides more in the way they are articulated, in the key concepts they push forward, and in the means of implementation they promote. They can also contribute to raising awareness on specific points of attention that are already known but need to appear more clearly in the big picture.It is difficult, if not impossible, to craft a set of recommendations that are simultaneously broad and comprehensive enough to embrace the huge diversity of primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region and of the threats they face, yet precise and operational enough to lead to concrete action plans in specific contexts. These recommendations need to be appropriately articulated, combined and adapted for specific contexts.As such, beyond the overall framework these recommendations provide, this study also proposes a practical way forward that can help governments and other actors to elaborate their own roadmap, adapted to their own context, priorities and needs. This process comprises the four following steps: (i) carrying out an initial assessment, building upon a large scale ecological mapping program, of the current situation of primary forests; (i) developing a strategy: defining priorities and means of implementation for primary forest conservation and protection;(iii) creating an enabling environment for primary forest conservation and protection; and (iv) acting collectively and individually. This process could be implemented and articulated at different scales in a coordinated way: at the regional and national levels on the one hand, and at the local level on the other hand, in each specific forest identified as a priority area for conservation.This study has been developed through an inclusive and participative process that associated 425 key regional experts and decision makers from governments and international organizations, from the private sector and civil society, as well as from academia and research institutions. Young students and young professionals were given a central role in this process as they will be the forest managers of tomorrow.This process was launched on 30 July 2020, through an online inception workshop that gathered 89 participants from 29 countries (full list of participants in Annex 2). This workshop showed the high level of interest and enthusiasm shared by many stakeholders in the region for the study. It was an occasion to: (i) present the regional context and the two aforementioned topics; (ii) present the participative process of development of the roadmaps; (iii) receive feedback on the two corresponding scoping notes circulated as background documents ahead of the workshop; and (iv) launch and organize the technical work on each topic. Pingault et al. (2020)  A second technical workshop on primary forest was held from 23-25 March 2021 to take stock of the progress made in the study and pursue more in-depth discussions among experts. This workshop attracted an audience of about 100 people from 28 different countries, including regional experts and decision makers, as well as some students and young people engaged in activities related to the forest sector in the region (full list of participants in Annex 3). During this workshop, participants: (i) examined the extent, status and diversity of forest types in the region, as well as the forest typology to be used in the roadmap; (ii) discussed the multitude of threats and increasing pressures faced by different types of primary forests in diverse contexts; (iii) linked threats to forest types to identify priority areas for primary forest conservation; (iv) reviewed the governance mechanisms and measures that can support primary forest conservation at different scales; and (v) worked collectively on broad areas for policy recommendations regarding: classification and mapping of primary forest ecosystems and of the threats they face in the region, and governance strategies and action plans to strengthen and enhance primary forest conservation. The results of this workshop are presented in greater depth in Pingault et al. (2021a). The following colleagues, who actively contributed to the success of this workshop as organizers, speakers, chairs or rapporteurs, deserve particularIn parallel, a web consultation was conducted through a questionnaire on \"Primary forests: Governance tools for conservation and sustainable forest management\" sent to regional experts. Contributions were received from experts in nine countries (Annex 5).At the end of the process, an expert online validation workshop was organized from 23-24 November 2021 to present the main findings and key recommendations emerging from this study and discuss the way forward. ","tokenCount":"34564"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7899038545.json b/data/part_1/7899038545.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..336cc92064f99b659dc965b7eb790daf4cfa70d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7899038545.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d3737ae923b4f8bd6323d2973015e66b","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/articulos_ciat/annual_report/ciat_perspective_2002.pdf","id":"-216132314"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"afa95112-db18-4e22-83e2-e1f59c793ed6","pagecount":"45","content":"Making a living from small-scale agriculture in the tropics is a lot like walking a tightrope in a thunderstorm. Through its biophysical and socioeconomic research, CIAT helps such agricultural acrobats reduce risks and exploit new opportunities that may, like patches of blue sky, appear from time to time amid the turbulence.In this issue of CIAT in Perspective, our annual report for 2001-2002, we look at the multiple risks faced by small-scale tropical farmers and method, now used by about 250 groups in eight Latin American countries, is an excellent way to promote local rural innovation and social capital accumulation, the pillars of farmer resilience.describe research aimed at making rural communities more resilient. Webster's defines resilience as \"an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.\" Among the diverse resources we provide to enhance rural resilience in the face of a constantly changing environment are improved crop varieties, information tools for predicting risk, and social capital based on participatory research.bject poverty is the daily burden of more than a billion human beings. A particularly insidious aspect of this predicament is people's inability to cope with unexpected risks and threats or, in better times, to seize upon new opportunities.I see CIAT's comparative advantage in tropical agricultural research as our capacity to supply a wide mix of international public goods, which can make poor farmers both more resilient in the face of adversity and more responsive to new economic options. Our basket of public goodsimproved crop varieties, pest and disease control measures, soil conservation techniques, and so on-must and does include \"social\" technologies. These are tools and methods for helping poor farmers systematically learn, experiment, and organize themselves for rural innovation. That way, they are able not only to exploit the fruits of formal biophysical research by organizations like CIAT but also to design their own solutions to problems.During a recent trip to the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca, I met a group of farmers who have successfully set up small agroenterprises. Some members are making and marketing high-quality sweaters from locally produced wool. Others grow, mill, and package quinoa, a traditional Andean grain that is gaining popularity among European and North American consumers.What really impressed me was that these and other small-scale entrepreneurs have picked up and applied two of CIAT's social technologies. One is our system of farmer-run local agricultural research committees, best known by the Spanish acronym CIALs, which is also being used by several potato-producing communities (for further details, see pages [17][18][19]. The other is our method for identifying new market opportunities for rural products and building small agroenterprises around those opportunities.Potatoes and quinoa are not part of CIAT's crop research mandate. But through the efforts of two long-time CIAT partners-the Foundation for Research on Andean Products (PROINPA) and the International Potato Center (CIP)-our social technologies have found a receptive clientele among rural Bolivians who produce these commodities, particularly Quechuan farmers. As these indigenous people of the Andes have a strong capacity for community organization, the CIAL method of local agricultural experimentation and sharing of results comes very naturally to them.During our field trip, I was glad to hear a representative of the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) comment that the Bolivian farmer groups provide \"proof of concept\" of the CIAL methodology. This supports CIAT's view that this participatory research cassava farmers, processors, and consumers. It attempts to ensure that the needs and views of these clients feed directly into biotechnology research on the crop.Coordinating what some have referred to as a \"green biotechnology\" network was a role for which Chusa was well suited. As a friend and colleague of hers recently wrote in a Canadian newspaper, \"Chusa was a firm believer that modern s cience could be blended with traditional ingenuity to find local and long-lasting solutions.\"In memory of Chusa and Verónica, IDRC has agreed to provide CIAT with funding for a study fellowship program. It will offer scholarships for young women and me n from developing countries to complete studies in the area of agrobiodiversity and its conservation.Last year CIAT unveiled its strategic plan for 2001-2010. At its heart is a long-term vision of sustainable livelihoods for millions of poor farm families throughout the developing world. To aid them in their arduous exit from poverty, we believe three critical conditions must be met: more competitive small-scale agriculture, improved agroecosystem health, and robust rural innovation.The Center is now implementing the first phase of that strategy through its medium-term plan for [2002][2003][2004]. Below we highlight several innovations in CIAT's research agenda and organizational structure that will shape our work in the coming years.Soil is a living biological system in which agriculture is literally grounded. But it is also one of our most threatened natural resources, particularly in Africa. For many small farmers in the tropics, heavy use of inorganic chemical fertilizers to build soil fertility is not a realistic option because of the expense involved. So it is essential to devise sustainable soil management techniques that make efficient use of local resources like crop residues and forage plants. CIAT's experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America has shown that such methods can be successfully designed and applied when formal soil science is carefully blended with the site-specific experience and knowhow of small farmers.To pursue this approach on a large scale, CIAT has recently completed a merger with the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) Programme and created the Alliance for Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Africa with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF).For CIAT, science is a means to an end: sustainable rural livelihoods. Linking research to grassroots development is therefore a top priority. Our recently launched Rural Innovation Institute pulls togethe r several threads of CIAT's action research. These are projects aimed at helping rural communities and NGOs learn about their local environment, solve problems, and exploit new agricultural technologies and markets. Our ongoing work in the area of participatory research and agroenterprise development have been reassigned to the new institute.\"But the Rural Innovation Institute isn't meant to act as an extension service,\" explains Douglas Pachico, CIAT's director for research. \"It's there to investigate the development process itself and make our other research efforts more relevant and successful. It has the special role of examining how rural communities can build social capital and gain access to information that will help them be more innovative.\"The institute has launched a new project titled Information and Communications for Rural Communities. Among its key outputs will be organizational approaches for gathering and sharing information and knowledge. These include the design of community telecenters and Web-based information systems. The new project will help CIAT consolidate and expand the experience it has gained in these areas during the past few years.In the past most CIAT projects were organized around two broad themes: plant genetic resources and natural resource management. Our new structure integrates these efforts under a single research directorate, allowing for tighter coordination of these two rapidly converging domains.To ensure that our research responds to the needs of our various partner organizations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, three regional coordinators have been appointed. Each will monitor the relevant agricultural and policy environment and ensure that the priorities of national and regional research programs, as well as those of farmer associations and community development organizations, are taken into account in CIAT activities.Growing tropical fruits is labor intensive and can provide steady employment and income even to families with very small parcels of land. The long production cycle of fruit trees also contributes to soil conservation. With demand for tropical fruits on the rise, this type of high-value agriculture represents a strong comparative advantage for tropical countries. CIAT recognizes that targeted R&D in this area has enormous potential to boost small-farmer competitiveness while promoting healthy agroecosystems.To help partners in the public and private sectors promote the production, processing, and marketing of tropical fruits in rural communities, CIAT scientists will develop an interactive Webbased information system that indicates what tropical fruit species can be grown successfully in particular locations, based on agroecological similarities. They will also identify and help develop tropical fruit-based business opportunities.The Tropical Fruits Project will be housed within the Agronatura Science Park at CIAT headquarters in Cali, Colombia. We have created the science park on the premise that research linked to commercial opportunities can generate new benefits for poor farmers. Agronatura currently hosts 18 research organizations, which share the Center's facilities and work with our scientists in joint projects.Global warming is now an accepted scientific fact, and climate change models are giving us an increasingly detailed picture of what is in store. The issue is of particular concern to CIAT, since crop yield reductions are now being predicted for most of the tropics and subtropics where the capacity to rapidly adapt is weakest.Our new climate change project builds on and integrates earlier CIAT research on this topic. It centers on three themes:• The use of geographic information systems and other modeling tools to predict the effects of climate change on agriculture• The design of coping strategies for farmers and agricultural policy makers • Research on the mechanisms by which agriculture either contributes to atmospheric warming (for example, through the release of methane by livestock) or slows it down (as when improved tropical pastures sequester large amounts of carbon in the soil)This CIAT work will feed into any future multi-institutional initiative on climate change undertaken by the CGIAR.In North and South alike, agriculture is a perennial gamble. Farmers have little influence-and sometimes none at all-over the biophysical factors involved in plant growth and the economic conditions that dictate profit or loss. Among the most elusive variables are weather, pest and disease pressures, and commodity prices.Poor people in the tropics make up the vast majority of the world's farmers. They are also the ones most exposed and vulnerable to threats.Yet there are many entry points through which they can gain some control over an otherwise risky livelihood. Adopting new crop varieties that resist stresses, improving family nutrition, and organizing the community for sustained local rural innovation are among the options.In the following pages, we examine some of the key constraints and risks faced by developing country farmers. We then highlight a few examples of how CIAT's research is helping to build rural resilience in a world full of unexpected threats and opportunities.In most industrial economies, support for farmers in their age -old task of coping with risk is just a phone call or Internet search away. Access to timely technical information goes a long way to reducing their vulnerability to the unexpected. Acquiring the latest improved plant varieties, livestock breeds, and chemical inputs also helps. But when such measures fail, there is always crop insurance to fall back on.Small-scale farmers in the tropics do not have nearly as many aces up their sleeve. The art of taking calculated risks is more complex for them and the consequences of being wrong are more brutal. Indeed, total crop failure and seasonal hunger are all too common.To begin with, small farmers in developing countries usually cannot afford the chemical inputs that their counterparts in the North routinely administer to protect investments. While fertilizer application, for example, varies widely across countries and regions, a few numbers from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) illustrate the point clearly. In 1999 industrialized Italy, with 58 million people, consumed 1.8 million metric tons of fertilizers. In contrast, the 41 sub-Saharan African countries for which figures are available together used only 75 percent of that amount. Yet their combined population is 10 times greater than Italy's, and their soil fertility problems are intrinsically worse.Second, small holdings in the tropics are often located on hilly, marginal land whose soil quality, slope, and elevation vary dramatically even between plots on the same farm. Soil erosion and even landslides are a constant hazard.Third, rural communities in the tropics rarely have access to the full array of sophisticated public and private services that farmers in industrialized countries take for granted. Resources for mitigating risk and coping with explicit threats include social safety nets, public and private research, extension agencies, weather offices, crop insurance, marketing boards, and lending agencies.Many such services are, in theory, available to producers in tropical countries. But the sheer numbers of farmers to be served from severely limited resources precludes widescale, equitable coverage. FAO estimates the agricultural population of the developed countries at 100 million, or 7.6 percent of their total population (2000 figure). For the developing world, the figure is 2.47 billion, or more than half its total population. So, for every person in the developed world who needs agricultural support services, there are some 25 such clients in developing countries.That is half the story. The other major element is public fiscal capacity to provide key agricultural services like research. A recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) reveals the enormous fiscal gap between the developing and developed countries. During the 3-year period centering on 1995, the annual average expenditure on public research per economically active person in the agricultural sector of the developing world was $8.50 (1993 US dollars). For the developed countries, the figure was $594.10.One final factor, frequently glossed over in discussion of risk management, is human health. Rural people in the tropics are typically exposed to a dangerous mix of infectious and vectorborne diseases, occupational hazards, and poor nutrition. Malaria, schistosomiasis, sleeping sickness, and diarrheal diseases are afflictions that canola farmers in Canada or vineyard owners in France rarely give a thought to. And, for pharmaceutical companies, they occupy low-level slots on the drug-development agenda. Yet these diseases remain chronically serious in the tropics, particularly Africa. AIDS, pesticide poisoning, iron-deficiency anemia, and mycotoxin contamination of food likewise take a heavy toll in developing countries, reducing the resilience of farm families.While a few such generalizations about the vulnerability of rural people in the tropics are possible, risks vary markedly with time and location. As well, human responses to risks and threats differ according to the level at which they are taken: global, regional, national, or local. As CIAT environmental scientist Manuel Winograd notes, this variability of risk and response demands a concerted research effort if developing countries are to systematically and successfully cope with their vulnerabilities. As a starting point, he says, they need reliable methods for collecting, organizing, and using information to map and assess risks.\"The absence of planning as to how land should be used and where human populations and infrastructure should be located, along with failure to apply precautionary principles, are the main causes of increased risk and vulnerability,\" says Winograd. \"Policies, strategies, and actions are oriented more toward dealing with the consequences of crises than to preventing them.\"In recent years CIAT has designed many information tools to help rural communities and public officials deal with issues like land use planning, biodiversity conservation, soil management, and natural disaster mitigation. While some are simple text-based decision guides, others are CD-ROM-based software packages requiring substantial training and data sets to operate. Such knowledge-intensive products, usually aimed at development advisers, rarely have as direct an impact on natural resource management at the farmer level as our germplasm has had on agricultural production. Yet information is power, and demand for it is growing remarkably fast.Seed-based germplasm is \"biological information packaged in a form suitable for broad-based transmission to farmers,\" says Simon Cook, manager of CIAT's Land Use Project. \"How can we mimic this process for natural resource management technology? Maps? Documents? Guides? Web sites? We need to find ways to distribute this information to users, who are generally community leaders, development professionals, or government officials. While the insights contained in new information tools may be incredibly useful, farmers cannot adopt them directly as they can improved varieties. What we're searching for is the NRM equivalent of the seed.\"In the meantime, CIAT continues to work on a variety of ways to help small tropical producers cope with risk. As two of the following articles illustrate, these include progress toward \"solutionsin-a-seed,\" specifically drought tolerance in beans and enhanced micronutrient content of staple crops. The other two articles look at the use of computer models to estimate the likely impact of climate change on crops and the building of community resilience in Bolivia through farmer participatory research.A new research program to boost the vitamin and mineral content of the world's staple foods is expected to improve the health of millions of poor people in tropical countries. Micronutrient malnutrition, especially lack of iron, zinc, and vitamin A, currently afflicts more than half the world's population. So the potential benefits of this major international R&D undertaking are enormous.The transdisciplinary effort to \"biofortify\" crops is a major intercenter collaborative effort and a candidate for the Challenge Programs to be launched by the CGIAR. The program combines plant genomics and breeding with human nutrition science, social behavior studies, and policy analysis. It draws on the substantial experience gained over the past 7 years by the CGIAR's Micronutrients Project, results of which indicate that biofortification is highly feasible for most crops.The program is intended to complement more conventional measures, such as distribution of vitamin and mineral supplements and commercial fortification of processed foods. Indeed, agricultural and health experts widely recognize that there is no single magic bullet that will wipe out micronutrient malnutrition. Multiple, interlocking strategies are needed.The priority crops of the new program are common beans, cassava, maize, rice, sweet potatoes, and wheat. By the end of the project, micronutrient levels in these crops are expected to be at least 80 percent greater than current levels. Researchers will also conduct prebreeding studies to build the necessary knowledge base for biofortifying bananas, barley, cowpeas, groundnuts, lentils, millet, pigeon peas, plantains, potatoes, sorghum, and yams.The program is coordinated jointly by CIAT and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, D.C. CIAT plays two roles. First, it provides overall coordination of the breeding and related biotechnology work carried out by a consortium of seven Future Harvest centers in collaboration with selected national research programs in developing countries. And second, CIAT scientists conduct micronutrient research on two crops: beans and cassava, the latter in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria. IFPRI coordinates the human nutrition and policy research components, while Michigan State University in the USA will provide leadership in nutritional genomics research in collaboration with other advanced research institutes in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America.As illustrated in the rest of this article, CIAT has been working hard to integrate its longstanding expertise in plant breeding with that in molecular biology, as a way to tap the genetically based micronutrient potential of beans and cassava.Iron deficiency anemia afflicts an estimated 1.5 billion people in developing countries, most of them women, reducing mental ability, creating severe complications at childbirth, and lowering physical capacity. Zinc deficiency, though less well understood, is also known to be widespread in the tropics and is a major threat to children's growth and health.In analyzing the content of these minerals in common bean, CIAT scientists have examined new breeding populations as well as a much wider collection of nearly 2,000 genotypes. In addition, our research collaborators at the University of Nairobi analyzed the mineral content of a set of 70 commercial and farmer-bred bean varieties from six African countries.The results have provided CIAT and other scientists with a substantial inventory of mineralrich bean cultivars. Scientists working jointly with NGOs will soon test some of these high-iron beans in a nutritional efficacy trial involving Kenyan and Ugandan communities at high risk of iron-deficiency anemia. The beans will be combined with vitamin A-enri ched sweet potatoes developed by the International Potato Center (CIP), allowing researchers to examine the synergistic effects of the two micronutrients in a biofortified diet. This work in Africa is part of a 3-year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has taken a lead role in crop biofortification. A component of the CGIAR Challenge Program on biofortification, the work brings together several African research groups and Cornell University.CIAT research has shown that beans possess enough genetic variability-the scientific elbow room so valued by breeders -to make further improvements in iron and zinc content. It has been estimated that breeding could comfortably improve iron content by about 80 percent and zinc by 40 percent.To exploit the genetic potential of beans, CIAT scientists have produced a series of potentially mineral-rich bean populations for chemical analysis and further improvement. Two recognized sources of high iron and zinc content were recruited in the \"backcrossing\" experiments through which this germplasm was developed. One was a wild Mexican bean, the other a cultivated variety, known respectively in seed bank parlance as accessions G 10022 and G 14519. These were crossed with several other popular varieties, which served as \"recurrent\" parents. (In recurrent backcrossing, hybrid progeny are repeatedly crossed with one of the original parents to weed out undesirable traits over several generations.) Chemical analysis of these materials revealed that plants with high iron levels also tended to have a lot of zinc. This suggests that the accumulation of both minerals in beans is to some extent controlled by the same sets of interacting minor genes, known as quantitative trait loci, or QTLs. Thus, breeders may be able to select for iron and zinc simultaneously.Parallel CIAT work based on molecular marker technology supports that view. The molecular mapping work for micronutrient content focused on two bean populations bred for high iron and zinc concentrations. One was a cross between two Andean bean types, the other between two Mesoamerican types. CIAT bean geneticist Matthew Blair and colleagues developed a genetic map for each population, one containing 119 molecular markers and the other 98 markers.These maps enabled the researchers to identify a number of QTLs linked to the accumulation of iron and zinc. The most significant QTLs accounted for up to 33 percent of the variance in iron content and 37 percent for zinc. While some of the QTLs were specific to either iron or zinc, others were positive for both minerals. These double-duty QTLs were found on five chromosomes in the Andean population and on three chromosomes in the Mesoamerican beans.The next step for Blair and his colleagues is to zero in on certain parts of the genome to find out whether the genes for higher mineral content occur at the same locations in other selected bean populations.\"We now need to translate the results of our QTL studies into a practical marker-assisted selection scheme,\" says Blair. To this end he and his colleagues plan to integrate the mapped locations of the QTLs observed for micronutrient content with known locations of QTLs responsible for other traits. Then, a carefully chosen set of microsatellites (a particularly advantageous type of molecular marker) can be used in marker-assisted selection. This will speed up breeding, allowing CIAT's bean improvement team to select simultaneously for high mineral content and other useful traits, like disease resistance and drought tolerance.The World Health Organization estimates that, worldwide, between 100 and 140 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Every year it causes 250,000 to 500,000 children to go blind, and about half of them die within a year.Animal products, mothers' milk, and many edible plants are rich sources of vitamin A. In plants carotenes, especially beta-carotene, serve as chemical building blocks, or \"precursors,\" of vitamin A. These pigments are abundant in dark-green leafy vegetables and in yellow or orange fruits and root crops, including some types of cassava.Cassava roots provide lots of calories to consumers in the tropics, but they do not contain enough carotene to supply the minimum amount of vitamin A needed for good health. While the leaves are up to 100 times richer in carotenes than the roots, and in some cultures are eaten as a fresh vegetable, they account for only a tiny fraction of total cassava consumption.CIAT research has shown, nevertheless, that cassava possesses significant genetic variation for micronutrient content, both of carotenes and minerals. Recent work in this area has been funded by Danish International Development Assistance (Danida). We are confident that, as in the case of beans, we can exploit this natural advantage through traditional germplasm screening, marker-assisted selection, and other methods.The opportunities and challenges involved in biofortifying cassava are somewhat different, though, from those encountered in bean improvement. To begin with, the long reproductive cycle of this crop makes for slow progress in crossing and selection. Breeding is further complicated by the \"heterozygous\" nature of cassava. This refers to the fact that in a matching pair of cassava chromosomes, a given gene on one chromosome is not identical to the corresponding gene on the other chromosome. As a result, it is quite difficult to use standard crossing methods to reorder genes in such a way that specific, valued plant traits are systematically passed from one generation to the next. Even so, an increasing measure of control is being gained through the use of molecular marker technology.Genetic transformation is a faster way to produce beta-carotene -rich cassava, and CIAT is currently investigating this option. In this type of plant engineering, beta-carotene genes from one cassava genotype would be cloned and inserted into another cassava genotype.To do this we first need to improve our understanding of the \"carotene pathway,\" the biochemical process by which cassava plants synthesize and regulate root beta-carotene. CIAT biotechnologists have therefore been studying the cassava genes responsible for the four enzymes that manufacture beta-carotene. These enzymes are widely found in other organisms like flowers and bacteria, and the DNA sequences of the genes that encode for them are public knowledge.During 2001 we used those sequences to design PCR primers. (Primers are short fragments of DNA that complement the chemical structure of target genes and lock onto them-a bit like the action of a zipper.) This allowed us to successfully amplify the four target genes from the DNA of two cassava samples, one with high carotene content, the other low in carotene. Some amplified DNA fragments have now been cloned for comparison and further analysis. Thus, the stage is set to \"fish out\" the enzyme-related genes needed to transform cassava into a better source of vitamin A.CIAT's analytical work has correlated carotene content with a difficulty faced by all cassava farmers: postproduction physiological deterioration, or PPD. \"This oxidation process is a major bottleneck in cassava production and processing,\" says Hernán Ceballos, manager of CIAT's Cassava Project. Although cassava roots keep well when left attached to the plant in the soil, they quickly rot when harvested and exposed to the air. Some CIAT results suggest that high carotene content is linked to lower rates of root deterioration. Four cassava genotypes have been identified that show both high root carotene and low rates of deterioration. \"These findings are very important,\" says Ceballos. \"It means we can use the low PPD rate of yellow, vitamin-A-rich cassava as a selling point to farmers -as long as we also ensure the cassava has a good agronomic background.\"After nearly a quarter century of research, CIAT scientists have succeeded in breeding droughttolerant beans that also incorporate other traits important to farmers. The work is now in the varietal development stage.The achievement is significant because drought is a widespread threat to agriculture and a common cause of crop failure and hunger. It is thought to affect about 60 percent of global bean production. In Latin America, a major bean-growing region, an estimated 3 million hectares of the crop suffer from moderate to severe drought most years.The new beans yield 600 to 750 kilograms per hectare under severe drought. This is roughly double the maximum yield that Latin American farmers currently get from commercial varieties under the same conditions.Led by breeder Steve Beebe, CIAT's be an improvement team used several sources of drought tolerance to produce the promising new lines. These included several highland Mexican beans of the Durango race and a southern Colombian farmer variety of Central American origin. San Cristóbal, a bean from the Dominican Republic that was first identified in the early 1980s as being a source of stable drought resistance, was also used.To see how well the drought tolerance is expressed across different environments, Beebe and his colleagues assembled a \"nursery\" of 36 genotypes, the best of the breeding lines created from the drought-tolerant parents. These were distributed in 2001 to researchers in Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, and Nicaragua for testing. The first block of results showed good correspondence between drought tolerance at CIAT headquarters in Colombia and that recorded by the Pan-American School of Agriculture in Zamorano, Honduras.Developing drought-tolerant beans has been a long-term, complex challenge. This is mainly because drought tolerance in beans and other plants is a genetically complex trait. It is controlled by several physiological mechanisms, which in turn are orchestrated by the interactions of many genes.Greater understanding of the role played by deep-root systems in protecting beans from drought was a major contribution of CIAT plant physiologist Jeff White in the 1980s. More recently, a second mechanism has been identified: the ability of some types of beans to efficiently transport carbohydrates (produced by photosynthesis) from leaves to the edible grain even under the stress of drought. Many of the details of this process, observed in a southern Colombian landrace (G 21212), are being worked out by CIAT plant physiologist Idupulapati Rao, in collaboration with Beebe.\"Nobody at the end of the 1970s believed that common bean had a hope in hell of showing any drought resistance,\" says CIAT agricultural geographer Peter Jones. \"It went against all physiological principles. We were recommended to drop the problem quite a few times along the way. If we had listened to that advice, nothing would have happened. It hasn't cost a fortune, just plain old slogging away.\"Jones and other CIAT scientists note that such continuity in international crop improvement efforts is crucial to the development of practical technologies for farmers. The point, says Jones, was reinforced recently by a Central American scientist visiting the drought-tolerant bean nursery at CIAT. \"As we were leaving the field, he said, 'Thank God for CIAT's breeding work. There's not a national program in Latin America that could have kept this research going for a quarter of a century'.\"CIAT's seed-based solution to what many earlier believed was an intractable obstacle to higher bean production is particularly timely and relevant for Central America. Just 3 years ago, Hurricane Mitch killed thousands of people in Honduras and Nicaragua, flattened homes, and deluged farm fields, destroying bean and other crops in the process. During the following 2 years, rural people again lived the nightmare of food and seed scarcity, but because of drought linked to the El Niño/La Niña cycles. CIAT's new bean lines, into which other good agronomic traits are now being bred, will provide long-lasting benefits to this drought-prone, bean-producing region of Latin America.We are also collaborating with several NGOs and research organizations to distribute seed of improved bean varieties in Haiti. This is part of a major relief project to help this island nation recover from the September 1998 devastation of Hurricane Georges. Over the next few months, the most advanced drought-tolerant lines will be sent there for testing.On a much wider scale, atmospheric warming is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of drought and other severe weather events in much of the tropics in the coming decades. Millions of people in Latin America and central, eastern, and southern Africa depend heavily on beans as a daily source of dietary energy, protein, and micronutrients, as well as income through sales. The future resilience of their rural livelihoods will thus depend significantly on reliable access to drought-tolerant bean seeds made available through CIAT's work.In 2001, CIAT's bean project took another major step forward when it began crossing its droughttolerant bean lines with a selection of other CIAT beans tolerant of low soil fertility and resistant to major diseases. One of these diseases, the bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV), is a serious drawback for Central American bean farmers. Furthermore, it is directly linked to drought because the whiteflies that transmit BGYMV thrive in hot, dry conditions. \"We've move d from a trait development phase to a varietal development phase,\" says Beebe, stressing how important it is to now combine as many genetic advantages as possible in the new germplasm.This multiple-trait breeding work, made more efficient by the use of CIAT-designed molecular markers linked to specific types of disease resistance, focuses on the small black-seeded and redseeded beans so popular in Central America. About 10 percent of the second-generation plant populations from multiple crosses, plus a selection of six simple crosses, have proved highly promising. These have been bred to the fourth generation, and the resulting 200 elite bean populations are now being shared with national research programs and other collaborators in Central America. Parallel work is targeted on African bean-growing areas.Climate change will cause overall annual maize production in Africa and Latin America to drop about 10 percent by 2055 unless remedial measures are taken. That's the prediction of two scientists with CIAT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).\"The simulation results are what we would expect if farmers continue to plant the same varieties in the same areas,\" explains CIAT agricultural geographer Peter Jones. Future changes in crop management and the use of better-adapted varieties should lessen the blow to maize producers.Over many years, Jones and ILRI colleague Philip Thornton collaborated on a method for simulating site-specific daily weather based on data collected by thousands of weather stations around the world. Their aim was to sharpen the ability of standard crop models to predict the behavior of food and forage crops under different climatic and crop management conditions. The fruit of their research effort, a computer tool called MarkSim, was first tested in 2000 and will soon be released by CIAT on CD-ROM.The researchers went a step further by using MarkSim to predict the effects of climate change on crops. They combined MarkSim and a well-known crop model, Ceres-Maize, with a climatechange model called HadCM2, which maps probable future temperatures around the world. Their initial simulation test, described in last year's CIAT in Perspective, examined future changes in yields of a popular maize variety at specific sites in southeastern Africa. More recently, Jones and Thornton expanded the analysis to cover all of Africa and Central and South America. They also increased the number of maize varieties to four, to better simulate smallholders' cropping decisions under different soil and climatic conditions.The latest simulations suggest that the agricultural impact of rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns in the tropics and subtropics will vary widely from one agroecosystem to another and between countries. For example, in wet highland tropical environments of Africa and Latin America, maize yields could increase by 4 to 12 percent over yields simulated for 1990 (the baseline year). Dry lowland tropical areas, in contrast, could see reductions of about 25 percent. \"It's the local effects that are going to hit farmers hard,\" says Jones.In the dry lowlands, temperatures will rise above the optimum for maize, and rainfall may decrease. Large parts of Northeast Brazil and its savannas (the Cerrados) fall into this category. \"The areas where yields will increase are very limited,\" says Jones, \"and comprise only some wellwatered highland areas and a coastal region in southern Brazil and Uruguay.\" Farmers in three of Africa's major maize -growing countries-Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania-would experience maize yield losses in the neighborhood of 15 to 19 percent under this business-as -usual scenario. Yields in Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia, however, would remain more or less stable to midcentury. In Brazil, South America's leading maize producer, yields would drop 25 percent. But in Mexico, the second largest producer, the reduction would be a little less than one -third of that. Only in Chile and in Ecuador are yields expected to hold their own or increase due to climate change.Research on global climate change needs to continue zeroing in on local effects, according to Jones. This will make it possible to arm the poorest and most vulnerable people, those who depend on small-scale agriculture, with site-specific coping strategies. At the same time, scientists need to begin analyzing the impact on whole farming systems, not just single crops in isolation. Future CIAT work will therefore expand the application of MarkSim and related tools to other staple crops and production systems.The CIAT-ILRI maize-modeling work is just one component of a wider international effort to better understand the interactions between tropical agriculture and climate change. CIAT is an active member of the Inter-Center Working Group on Climate Change of the CGIAR. The Group is currently formulating a multidisciplinary research agenda that will form the centerpiece of a major proposal for consideration under the new CGIAR Challenge Programs. In early 2002, CIAT also integrated its various climate change activities into a coherent, high-priority effort. This will allow for better scientific coordination both within CIAT and with our institutional partners.Research on climate change is important for two reasons. First, it will help farmers and policy makers to cope with the impending negative effects of global warming. Second, it will contribute to the development of land-use patterns and farming technologies-so-called mitigation strategies-that help slow the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.\"People in the temperate zones have ambivalent feelings about climate change,\" says Jones. \"Yes, it will bring some uncertainty to their lives. But it also means an increase in temperature of two or three degrees, and for many people that would be rather nice. But when you think about the tropics, it's a completely different s tory. For some tropical crops, there will be nowhere to go.\" Much of the world's rice, for example, is being grown in areas that are already at the temperature tolerance of this staple cereal crop. Global warming could seriously jeopardize flowering and result in major crop failures. \"It's not a situation where we can sit back and say, 'we'll only do something concrete when climate change really starts to happen',\" Jones stresses. \"A ton-per-hectare yield loss when you're only getting 1.5 tons of maize to begin with will be catastrophic! That's not to say we can't do something about it. But we have to act now. We've also got to get policy makers to realize there could be major upheavals in agriculture.\" His message of urgency echoes that of the most authoritative international body on the topic, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In its Third Assessment Report (TAR), published in 2001, the panel says that, in the absence of mitigation measures, the world's average surface temperature will likely rise by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees C by the end of this century. That would be the fastest rate of change in at least the past 10,000 years. The effects of global warming, it says, are already being seen on physical and biological systems: shrinking glaciers, earlier egg-laying by birds, and poleward migration of some plants and animals.The IPCC foresees significant and irreversible damage to natural systems such as coral reefs and polar ecosystems and greater risk of extinction of vulnerable plant and animal species. Water stress is expected to worsen in many arid and semiarid areas. In the tropics and subtropics, crop yields are expected to fall even with small temperature increases.As University College researcher Joanna Depledge recently noted in a review of the IPCC report: \"A key recurrent message is that developing countries will be hardest hit by climate change, as they are more vulnerable to its adverse impacts and have less capacity to adapt.\"Farmers in the tropics are tireless inventors and skilled experimenters-with crops, trees, livestock, soil, water, fertilizers, and farm equipment. This necessity of rural life represents a valuable social resource that for many years was unfortunately overlooked or underestimated by R&D organizations.Recognition that local knowledge systems, backed by formal science, can be a powerful tool for socioeconomic progress is at the root of a bold experiment in participatory research that CIAT launched 11 years ago in Colombia. Our system of local agricultural research committees, or CIALs (the Spanish acronym), has since spread to seven other Latin American countries. As a vehicle for rural empowerment, it has been embraced by hundreds of farming communities, who have helped CIAT refine the system. But it is also being adopted as an organizational model by R&D organizations that support farmers. \"Although our CIAL is a small organization, it's very important to us,\" says Bolivian potato farmer Roberto Merino Montaño, a member of the Primera Candelaria CIAL, based in the township of Colomi. \"Technicians come and go, but we're always here. Right now our mentality is to get ahead, to enter the markets.\"Of the more than 250 farmer-research committees currently operating in Latin America, about 10 percent are in Bolivia. The quest for a better rural livelihood by Merino and his fellow farmerresearchers -in this case via farm-based potato experiments that will help the rural community tap new market opportunities-typifies the aspirations of millions of small farmers in Latin America.In brief, a CIAL is an agricultural research service owned by and accountable to the community, usually at the village level. Local citizens elect a small group of farmers known for their ability and interest in experimentation and their community spirit. Through public meetings, the community diagnoses the priority problem or issue to be tackled. The CIAL then carries out the experiments to establish the best technical options for farmers. Technicians from a public agency or NGO advise the farmers on experiment design and results analysis. In some cases farmers trained as paraprofessional researchers serve this function. Research results are systematically reported back to the community by CIAL members.Being an active member of a CIAL is a demanding job that cannot help but compete with farm, family, and other responsibilities. Merino, for example, has to travel regularly in rural areas to farmer field days and other events. At the same time, he is enrolled in a distance education program at the Universidad Católica Boliviana to become a rural teacher. To make ends meet, Merino works 7 days a week. Besides taking care of his own potato plots, he works on neighboring farms to earn extra income of about US$3 a day.While the day-to-day demands of being both a farmer and community activist are heavy, Merino is clearly inspired by the potential of his CIAL to make a difference in the community. \"We're conducting this trial because native potato varieties face a serious risk of extinction in this area. In the past seed was planted on land that had been fallow for 20 years, land that was rested and fertile. Today we cannot leave land so long without planting because of the growing population. Many people occupy the same land, and to leave the land to rest is a luxury we can't afford.\"While just a few decades ago farms in the area averaged about 10 hectares, today each family has only a tiny fraction of that as a result of farms being divided up among children from one generation to the next. For Bolivia's overall potato-growing population of some 200,000 families, the average holding is currently about two-thirds of a hectare. Thus, finding more productive potato varieties that also have strong consumer appeal is critical to the livelihoods of these small farmers.\"We're now testing 35 potato varieties on land that has been continually sown,\" says Merino. On some of the new potato plots, farmers have recently harvested quinoa and barley, for example. As part of their research, the CIAL members assess production conditions as well as the flavor and cooking time of the harvested tubers.\"We've been experimenting with these varieties for 2 years and have had very good results with several of them.\" Farmers like the variety pinta boca (mouth paint), so named because when you eat this potato, it leaves your mouth a violet color. Another variety is the reddish colored puca candelero. In Quechua, puca means \"red,\" and it is called candelero (candlestick) because of its shape.With the effectiveness of the CIAL method now well established, CIAT has turned its attention in recent years to second-generation issues. These \"institutionalization\" aspects include the financial and social sustainability of existing CIALs, mechanisms for scaling up the method to achieve wider impact in Latin America and beyond, and participatory methods of monitoring and evaluation. This last component involves design and use of multiple feedback loops, among farmer-researchers, community members, technical advisors, municipal and other government planners, and CIAT.But, as Jacqueline Ashby, director of CIAT's new Rural Innovation Institute and chief architect of the CIAL concept, points out, each country is different and solutions will therefore vary. In some instances, second-order organizations -associations of farmer committees at the provincial or national level, for example-will be the main vehicle for sustaining the CIAL approach and ensuring farmers' voices are heard by authorities. This is the pattern emerging in Colombia and Honduras. In other countries, such as Bolivia, new municipal structures can serve as the institutional base. In all cases the role of public research institutes, universities, and NGOs will continue to be critical in providing scientific, organizational, and financial advice to farmerresearchers.As in many developing nations, the government of Bolivia has restructured its public agricultural research system in recent years. The current watchwords are demand-driven services and fiscal responsibility. To these ends, semiautonomous organizations (fundaciones) have been set up to respond to producer, processor, and consumer needs through contracted R&D. CIALs are among the various research-service providers that may submit proposals for funding, mainly in the area of adaptive research.One such organization is Fundación PROINPA, the Foundation for Promotion and Investigation of Andean Products. Originally launched in 1989 as the potato research program of Bolivia's national agricultural research institute, it was reconstituted in 1998 as a national development center for Andean crops.Over the years, PROINPA has helped Bolivian farmers more than double potato yields, from 4 to 9 tons per hectare. It has also been a key CIAT partner and promoter of the CIAL methodology in Bolivia. It provides technical and other support to 10 of the country's 23 CIALs, including Roberto Merino's group, Primera Candelaria.Under new national legislation, the so-called Law of People's Participation and the Law of Dialog, municipalities are charged with responding to local development demands to improve people's living conditions. Grassroots organizations called sindicatos, into which CIALs will be integrated, are being set up to represent community concerns. These changes provide all Bolivians with a government-sanctioned window of opportunity for rural advancement. They will allow the practical inventiveness of CIALs and the scientific expertise of organizations like PROINPA to be meshed with the development projects of municipal governments throughout the country.Besides evaluating past and future research, CIAT's Impact Assessment Unit also monitors trends influencing agricultural science. In 2001, Center economist and research director Douglas Pachico compared three regulatory structures set up to assess the risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including transgenic crops.By 2000, GM crops occupied some 45 million hectares of farmland worldwide. Transgenic soybean, cotton, canola, and maize account for most of the area. Top producers are the USA, Argentina, and Canada, with substantial areas also planted in China, Australia, and South Africa. All populated continents except Europe now have significant sowings of GM crops.Enormous benefits from GM technology have been predicted for both industrialized and developing nations. There is, nevertheless, growing international concern over the environmental and human health risks posed by transgenic crops. Gene flow into wild relatives is a major worry for the environment. So is the possibility of transgenic plants becoming superweeds.CIAT's recent comparative review examined the environmental risk assessment principles and regulations of the Biosafety Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as those of the USA and European Union.The Biosafety Protocol is an international agreement reached in 2000 by over 130 governments. It focuses on the cross-border movement of GMOs destined for release into the environment and regulates the mutual rights and responsibilities of importers and exporters.A guiding principle of the Biosafety Protocol is the precautionary approach set out in the 1992 Rio Declaration. In practice this means the burden of proof is on the exporter to demonstrate scientifically that the GMOs will not have unacceptable or unmanageable adverse effects.The Protocol lays out a procedure of advance notification and informed consent. Exporters supply the biosafety regulatory authorities of importing countries with the scientific information needed to approve or reject a request to import. The Protocol does not require the exporter to demonstrate complete absence of risk, and it allows for socioeconomic benefits to be considered in the regulatory decision. What constitutes an acceptable or manageable risk is left to the judgment of importing countries.The European Union's directive on deliberate release of GMOs into the environment differs from the Biosafety Protocol in several respects. While it too adopts the precautionary approach, it is much more specific about the scientific questions to be addressed in the risk assessment. In addition, it covers issues such as product labeling, postrelease monitoring of GMOs, and risk management strategies.Unlike the Protocol, the European framework does not make provision for including the potential socioeconomic benefits in decision-making. It focuses squarely on avoiding increased risk to human health and the environment.The USA is the largest producer of GM crops. About 50 crop varieties have gone through that country's regulatory system over the past decade. Three government bodies share responsibility for GMO assessment and regulation. Separate approval is needed from each before a GM crop can be commercialized.As in Europe the US system spells out the specific scientific information and testing required to ensure there is no significant risk to people, other animals and plants, and the environment.Assessments cover many factors such as potential for gene transfer to wild relatives and for weediness; allergenicity and toxicity of GM foods; and impact on other organisms.While the first generation of transgenic crops in the USA and elsewhere has benefited producers more than consumers, future gene combinations are expected to take better account of consumer needs like nutritional content. Boosting vitamin A in cassava, a key food staple of the poor in many tropical countries, is one application of GM technology now being investigated by CIAT.We have also developed transgenic rice that resists rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), a major hurdle to rice production in Latin America. Experimental genotypes are now being field tested under strict biosafety conditions. Our planning of future transgenic research needs to take into account the costs and benefits of such biosafety procedures and risk assessments.\"CIAT recognizes that there are environmental risks involved in transgenic crops,\" says Douglas Pachico. \"We cannot allow a technically feasible transgenic solution to be deployed if it creates other problems. We need to take a rational look at those risks.\" In some instances, he says, the costs of risk assessment and other regulatory compliance, as well as those involved in gaining access to patented technology, \"may be so high, and the process may take such a long time, that it isn't worth pursuing the transgenic research.\"As CIAT seeks technological options for alleviating rural poverty, we must keep our finger on the pulse of the evolving regulatory climate. Reviewing GM risk assessment measures is but one element in an ongoing effort to cultivate the institutional foresight demanded by successful, costeffective science.Participatory research methods and gender analysis now figure prominently in the work of the Future Harvest centers funded by the CGIAR. Center resources devoted to these approaches amounted to US$66.2 million in 2000 and the equivalent of 145 full-time staff.\"This is a sizable body of effort, certainly comparable to that of an individual center,\" says Nina Lilja, an economist with the CGIAR's Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA)Program. Recent and rapid adoption of participatory approaches has prompted the PRGA Program, which CIAT hosts, to begin analyzing their benefits and costs.With funding from Germany's Federal Ministry of Cooperation and Economic Development (BMZ), Lilja and two CIAT colleagues, Nancy Johnson and Jacqueline Ashby, recently examined the impact of farmer participation in natural resource management research. They chose three completed projects as case studies. Two projects, during the 1990s, were led by Future Harvest centers: the International Potato Center (CIP) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The third was a project by the international NGO, World Neighbors, that spanned the 1980s.CIP's project centered on the design of integrated crop management (ICM) methods for sweet potato production in Indonesia. Farmers actively participated in all stages of the project, including the development of curricula for farmer field schools. ICRISAT's project in Malawi tested legume-based technologies for managing soil fertility. \"Mother\" experiments designed and executed by researchers were replicated on-farm as \"baby\" experiments by participating villagers. The project supported by World Neighbors in Honduras promoted soil conservation practices in 41 communities.A key finding of the impact analysis was that, while participatory methods do in fact result in more suitable technologies and greater adoption by farmers, they also give rise to learning and change. Among the benefits are the new skills and knowledge gained by individual farmers (socalled human capital) and the emergence of organizational capacity for innovation and action at the community level (social capital). In addition, partner research organizations benefit from collaboration with farmers. Insights and participant feedback sometimes lead these institutions to reset research priorities and improve R&D strategies. \"There are benefits to participatory research over and above the actual technology options eventually offered to farmers,\" says study coauthor and PRGA Program coordinator Jacqueline Ashby. \"Local participation provides building blocks for rural people to improve their lives-by being able to articulate their needs, organize themselves, and apply what they've learned to nonagricultural activities.\"The researchers distinguished between two types of participation in the case-study projects: functional/consultative and empowering/collaborative. With functional participation formally trained researchers interact with farmers to better understand their problems, priorities, and preferences. But the researchers still make all key decisions regarding technology development. The project in Malawi falls into this category.The empowering form of participation goes well beyond consultation. Farmers make decisions about the project focus, objectives, and design, and they are deeply involved in research execution. Researchers work hand in hand with farmers to develop individual and community capacity for local experimentation and innovation. Both the Honduran and Indonesian projects promoted this type of participation to varying degrees. In all three projects, farmer input influenced the technology development process and provided useful feedback to the R&D institutions leading the projects. The effect on the direction of technology development was greatest when farmer participation came early on in the research. In two of the three projects-those in the empowering/collaborative category-user participation was linked to increased technology adoption. In the Honduran project, adoption rates in participating villages ranged from 50 to 100 percent, with an average of 60 percent. In the case of Indonesia, production data indicate that farmer exposure to the new ICM technologies resulted in higher per-hectare income from sweet potatoes.Significant human capital improvements were seen in the Indonesian and Honduran projects. The consultative approach to participation used by ICRISAT in Malawi generated fewer agronomic and economic research results, but there were some observable increases in participants' individual skills. Moreover, researchers became more adept at adjusting their methods to elicit input from farmers.As for the costs paid by research organizations, the study found that participatory approaches increased expenditures for communications and workshops, field work by researchers, and researcher training in participatory methods. However, farmers' own costs of participation tended to replace and sometimes reduce researcher-related costs. Furthermore, expenditures on researcher training are essentially start -up costs. As participatory methods become institutionalized and individual scientists gain experience with participatory methods, these costs should decline.The World Neighbors project was the only case study for which it was possible to roughly estimate cost-effectiveness. For each hectare of land to which farmers applied soil conservation practices, the project cost was US$208. Similar projects that did not use the \"empowering participation\" strategy had much higher costs, ranging from $845 to $6,000.The smooth flow of seeds and other plant genetic resources across national borders has long been seen as vital to the design of better food crops and to the fight against rural poverty around the world. A recent CIAT analysis of the genetic origins and benefits of improved bean varieties that were derived in whole or in part from material in our germplasm bank lends credence to that conventional wisdom.Reported in January 2002, the study lays out the patterns and economic impact of Latin America's longstanding international exchanges of bean genes. Its authors conclude that nearly three-quarters of the more than US$1 billion in regional benefits gained from planting improved CIAT-related varieties of common bean between 1970 and 1998 can be attributed to foreign genetic material.CIAT agronomist Oswaldo Voysest analyzed the pedigrees of hundreds of commercial varieties released in Latin America over the past few decades. This allowed him to weight various countries' genetic contributions to the new varieties. CIAT economists and core searchers Nancy Johnson and Douglas Pachico then used price and production figures to estimate and analyze the economic benefits of these germplasm flows, country by country.For 11 of the 18 countries in the study, more than 70 percent of the genes present in released bean varieties originated in other countries. Colombia was the biggest contributor to the international flow, followed by Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Not surprisingly, the greatest beneficiaries were Brazil and Argentina. These large countries have long been major bean producers and their breeders rely heavily on foreign germplasm. Colombia and the Dominican Republic were the only countries where local sources accounted for more than half the genes making up released varieties.\"Clearly, everyone is both borrowing and lending germplasm for mutual benefit,\" says Johnson who led the study. \"Patterns of country interdependence in sharing bean genes are rather similar to those for maize, rice, and wheat.\"The emerging, often thorny issue of intellectual property rights over plant genes was one of several factors that led CIAT to conduct the study. On the one hand, international agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity explicitly recognize national ownership of these resources. They call for greater fairness in the exchange and use of genetic materials, a domain that until recently was largely unregulated except for measures to prevent the spread of disease. On the other hand, the prospect of countries attempting unilaterally to profit from plant gene sales presents clear dangers. As the CIAT authors note in their 2002 study report, such behavior could end up restricting the international flow of germplasm.The study findings echo those of earlier CIAT research which analyzed the potential benefits of introducing an international system of germplasm royalties. Under such a scheme, user countries would pay source countries a fee, proportional to the latter's genetic contribution to the commercial variety being planted. The analysis concluded that, overall, the economic gains from planting better crop varieties would far outweigh those from any royalty scheme, even at the generous rate of 10 percent of local seed prices. Thus, if any future royalty scheme is to have a positive net effect-namely, a combination of just payment for germplasm and continued improvements in agricultural productivity-it must be designed to promote, not hinder, gene sharing.CIAT and partner organizations are making rapid progress in combining popular African varieties of common bean with advanced breeding materials that yield well, resist diseases and insect pests, and stand up to physical stresses like drought and poor soil fertility. This large-scale crossing work, begun in 2000, is a key component of a new market-driven bean improvement strategy for eastern, central, and southern Africa.The common bean is a major source of protein, fiber, and micronutrients in the African diet. In the Great Lakes region of East Africa, for example, bean consumption is 66 kilograms per person per year, one of the highest levels in the world. With a protein content of about 22 percent, beans are a natural complement to carbohydrate-rich staples like bananas, maize, and sorghum, which African farmers often intercrop with beans.Common bean possesses enormous genetic variation. Over the centuries, this diversity within the species has been exploited by farmers, and more recently by formal plant breeders, to produce a vast array of bean-seed colors, shapes, sizes, tastes, and cooking qualities. However, many popular bean types do not yield well, particularly under pressure of diseases, such as angular leafspot, root rots, and other stresses. The coordinators of national bean programs in Africa surveyed markets in 2000 to determine the main types of beans being grown and sold in their countries and the key constraints on production. The results helped them select the seven most important market classes of beans for accelerated improvement. Since African farmers and other bean consumers are very particular about seed color, that trait provides a practical means of dividing beans into distinct market classes.In most of Africa's bean-growing regions, red beans win hands down, accounting for about half the sown area. These include the red mottled beans, small red beans, and large red kidney beans. The next most important grouping, accounting for 16 percent of land devoted to bean cultivation, is white beans, consisting of small navy beans, especially for export and local canning industries, and large white kidney beans.Under the new bean improvement strategy, focusing on major market classes of beans, plant breeders are developing resistance to multiple production constraints at the same time. In the case of eastern and central Africa, the breeding work is shared among ECABREN members, with strong support from CIAT and the University of Nairobi.For each of several market classes and subclasses identified, the regional program assembled a working collection of germplasm for crossing. Consisting of both local commercial varieties and promising breeding lines under development, these collections come from two main sources: CIAT and national bean programs. Since bean preferences vary widely among African countries and markets, breeding and evaluation for each priority market class is led by a national team that has a particular need for, or experience with, that type of bean. Test sites were selected to represent the major bean-growing environments for each market class. Small groups of local bean growers participate in on-farm tests.CIAT researchers have made crosses for several market classes, and these have been evaluated for yield and resistance to disease and other stresses at various locations. For example, in Kenya more than 300 crosses were successfully made to improve eastern Africa's most widely grown and marketed variety of large red kidney bean, Canadian Wonder. This variety, despite its popularity, gives low yields and is susceptible to angular leafspot disease, anthracnose, and root rots. Various sources of resistance and of higher yield were used as parents in the crosses. Selections from the crosses were evaluated in Kenya, Tanzania (the lead program), and the Democratic Republic of Congo.A single, dominant gene that makes some Nigerian cassava varieties highly resistant to cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is being harnessed to confer that trait on elite varieties destined for Africa, India, and Latin America. Tests by CIAT during 2001 also confirmed that the CMD2 gene is effective against an aggressive form of CMD that resulted in crop failure and famine in parts of Uganda in the 1990s. The Ugandan variant of CMD virus continues to spread in central and eastern Africa.CIAT geneticist Martin Fregene and colleagues have identified several molecular markers associated with CMD resistance. The cassava in their study was provided by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria. Some of the markers identified are simplesequence repeats (SSRs). These give scientists a reliable, fast, and inexpensive way to screen for valuable genes without observing the corresponding phenotype-a technique know as markerassisted selection (MAS).One marker associated with the CMD2 gene accounts for more than 80 percent of the phenotypic variance in CMD resistance observed in the plants with which the study was conducted. The gene is called CMD2 because it is the second resistance gene found so far. IITA breeder Alfred Dixon was the first to observe that several local landraces, or farmer varietiesdesignated the TME series by IITA-showed good resistance to CMD.The first source of resistance, discovered 3 decades ago, is the wild cassava species Manihot glaziovii. It was crossed with cultivated cassava, providing the basis for IITA's initial lines of CMDresistant cassava, the TMS series developed in the 1970s. Although these breeding lines have a good measure of resistance, TMS plants under heavy CMD pressure often develop disease symptoms.Under an IITA-CIAT project launched in 1996 with Rockefeller Foundation funding, four crosses were developed for tagging genes that control resistance to CMD. One of the crosses was made at CIAT by hybridizing the TMS source of resistance with a susceptible Latin American variety. The other three were made at IITA, with two using the TME varieties as the resistance source. In 1999 Fregene and CIAT virologist Lee Calvert, who were collaborating with Alfred Dixon, visited IITA's Onne experiment station in southern Nigeria to field-evaluate the progeny of the CIAT cross incorporating TMS-type resistance. The plants were growing adjacent to Dixon's TME experiment.Fregene and Calvert were disappointed by the uniform appearance of their own plants. \"If there are no differences, then there's no genetics,\" Fregene thought to himself. \"Then, I looked across the fence to the IITA plot. And bingo, there it was! A lot of variation. One row was in bad shape, the next row in really good condition. The 50/50 division fit the model of a dominant gene for CMD resistance.\"Fregene obtained DNA samples from the IITA plants so he could screen them with markers from the CIAT molecular genetic map of cassava. The result was the identification of the CMD2 gene. At the same time, virus-free in vitro plantlets were shipped to CIAT in Colombia. These have since been grown out to produce seed for breeding. Henceforth, only plantlets bearing the CMD2 markers will be transferred to CIAT's breeding program.CMD is found mainly in Africa but also in parts of India. Viral strains vary from one cassavagrowing region to another. In South America, where the root crop originated, CMD is not yet a problem. However, since the whitefly that transmits the virus is rapidly spreading in many countries, scientists fe ar the disease could soon appear in Latin America and parts of Asia. Thus, CIAT is now including CMD resistance in new lines of Latin American cassava as a precaution, made possible by the SSR markers.It's a brave farmer that would hunker down every morning to hand milk a buffalo. The very name conjures up a reputation for awesome strength and unpredictable temperament. But the buffaloes referred to here are not the lumbering beasts of burden that are a ubiquitous part of the Southeast Asian countryside. They are bred in India and Pakistan for their ability to produce milk, and they come with an even worse reputation for capricious behavior than their hulking relatives. They are, nevertheless, the focal point of one of the most unlikely dairying ventures in the most unexpected of places. Former subsistence farmers in Mindanao have formed a rapidly expanding cooperative that supplies buffalo milk to an eager local market. The venture was sparked by the Forage for Smallholders Project (FSP), launched 6 years ago with support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The project is now in its second phase, under CIAT coordination and with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The FSP aims to provide resource-poor upland farmers in seven countries of Southeast Asia with a range of grass and tree species that can be grown as crops to provide fodder for livestock while protecting the soil.One noteworthy as pect of the FSP is the involvement of farmers themselves in the research process. Scientists offer groups of farmers a range of forage species that are suited to tropical conditions and are nutritious for farm animals. The grasses and trees are planted and managed with expert advice, but the manner in which they are used is up to the farmers themselves. The consequences have been both successful and surprising.The village of Pagalungan clings to a wooded ridge in the mountainous countryside west of the southern Philippines city of Cagayan de Oro. For generations its farmers eked a gritty existence from sloping fields laid naked by loggers and subsequently cropped to exhaustion. Their crops of maize, mungbeans, and coconuts provided a bare existence, but their cattle and buffaloes failed to survive the local shortage of fodder. Every day farmers had to either lead them long distances over precipitous paths to rough pasture or cover the same distance to cut fodder and carry it home. Despite such efforts the quality of the feed was too poor to keep the animals in good health.That all changed a few years ago when a local veterinary officer, Perla Asis, entered into collaboration with the FSP. She persuaded about 25 local farmers to plant exotic forage species around their houses. The grim pallor of poverty has since lifted from Pagalungan. There are new houses built of concrete, with fibro-cement roofs. The children are vigorous and bright-eyed. A few hundred feet below the village, the grassy banks of a swift stony river are dotted with carabao.At first, the farmers of Pagalungan were unconvinced of the wisdom of planting what they saw as exotic weeds. But they persevered with the first batch of about 15 different grasses and legumes and quickly recognized the benefits. With the help of CIAT researchers and local collaborators, the range of forage species grown at Pagalungan has risen to more than 30.The number of farmers cultivating the forage species has grown as quickly as planting materials have become available. In 1998 a group of 22 farmers formed the Pagalungan Tribal Settlers' Multipurpose Cooperative. At last count the membership had grown to 60 and was expanding rapidly.Each of the dairy buffaloes gives 1 to 4 liters of milk every morning, and at Pagalungan this currently amounts to about 40 liters a day. The farmers are paid about US40 cents per liter for milk that they claim is richer and more nutritious than milk from dairy cattle. As well, they make big lump sums from the occasional sale of unwanted animals, and there is a big demand for planting material from their forage crops. So virtually every Pagalungan farmer is involved in the new forage trade.Recent CIAT research opens up new opportunities for controlling spittlebugs, the most destructive pests of Latin America's forage grasses. Our strategy for integrated pest management (IPM) combines three lines of attack: host-plant resistance, biological control, and pasture-andlivestock management.Recent screening of our hybrid Brachiaria grasses, for example, has revealed 15 genotypes with good resistance to at least three spittlebug species. And the construction of a molecular genetic map of Brachiaria over the past few years has allowed us to identify two genetic sites (quantitative trait loci, or QTLs) linked to spittlebug resistance. This is a key step toward using marker-assisted selection to improve the efficiency of our forage grass breeding.Spittlebugs have become a grave problem in pastures in Colombia's Caribbean coastal area over the past decade, and recently a species from Central America, Prosapia simulans, has taken a heavy toll on pastures in southwestern Colombia. In this country alone, the economic losses caused by spittlebugs through reduced beef and milk production amount to at least US$40 million annually, according to CIAT livestock specialist Federico Holmann. But the damage extends to a much wider area of beef/dairy cattle and sugarcane production across Central and South America.\"The problem has actually been around for a very long time,\" explains Daniel Peck, insect ecologist and senior research fellow who leads CIAT's work on spittlebug bioecology. \"In the latter part of the 19th century, it almost destroyed the sugarcane industry in Trinidad.\" Spittlebugs, he says, also developed an appetite for Brachiaria. Over several centuries these naturalized grasses, of African origin, have generally adapted well to the Latin American environment. Today they are planted on millions of hect ares of pastureland, especially in Brazil.Spittlebugs get their English name from the frothy, saliva-like mass with which insect nymphs surround themselves as they suck sap from grass plants. Leaves and stems quickly dry out. And as the pasture infestation progresses year to year, weeds begin to fill the ecological vacuum.\"Pasture degradation is caused by mismanagement, lack of fertilizer application, and spittlebugs,\" says Carlos Lascano, manager of CIAT's Tropical Forages Project. \"Farmers have to take cattle out of pasture, and that's a big economic loss. The number of animals per hectare is smaller, so farmers end up converting more forest to pasture to compensate.\"To date, limited host-plant resistance to spittlebugs-such as that found in Marandú, a popular commercial variety of B. brizantha-has been the only weapon available to livestock producers. But Marandú is ill-adapted to the acidic, infertile soils typical of Latin American savannas. CIAT's new hybrids, however, do not have this problem, and some of them combine resistance to several spittlebug species with other agronomic advantages, like robust productivity and high nutritional value for cattle.From the standpoint of both their biology and ecology, spittlebugs present scientists with an extremely diverse target. Within the family Cercopidae, there are dozens of spittlebug species distributed across 11 genera that attack grasses. What's more, the pest's behavior varies widely with climate, local habitat, and host plant. With so many factors influencing the timing, pattern, and intensity of pasture infestations, control methods need to be tailored to each situation. At the same time, CIAT breeders need to know which mix of spittlebug species to focus on in their efforts to improve resistance in Brachiaria hybrids.Over the past 5 years, CIAT entomologists have been systematically building the necessary knowledge base and sharing it with national researchers through workshops. They have identified five contrasting ecoregions within Colombia, CIAT's host country, to serve as living laboratories. The chosen sites are representative of the different kinds of pastureland and rainfall patterns found in Central and South America. This ecoregional approach has allowed the team to profile the distribution of spittlebug species, their life cycles, population dynamics, and feeding behavior.So far, Peck and his colleagues have examined nine previously unstudied species, observing their behavior-even mating \"songs\"-in detail. The resulting profiles are vital to predicting pest outbreaks, designing cost-effective control methods, and timing their use.In the area of biocontrol, a key advance has been the collection of 77 strains of fungi from various spittlebug species. These parasitic organisms, known as entomopathogens, are natural enemies of the insect. Their suitability as biocontrol agents is now being evaluated. To maintain and propagate the fungi, CIAT has established a live collection (a \"ceparium\"), which also houses fungal isolates of potential use against cassava pests.After developing methodologies to screen this collection for effectiveness against different life stages of spittlebugs, researchers confirmed that virulence varied significantly among spittlebug species. Field tests in contrasting ecoregions are now under way to determine just how entomopathogens might be effectively deployed under typical pasture conditions.Brachiaria grass is a perennial and therefore a long-term crop. Replanting vast tracts of pastureland with new spittlebug-resistant varieties adapted to local soil and climate conditions will therefore be a long and expensive process. In the meantime our enhanced understanding of the bioecology of spittlebugs is supporting the development of new biocontrol options, pasturemanagement methods, and ways to best tailor these to the diverse ecoregions where this pest occurs. The solution will undoubtedly involve a complementary mix of these with enhanced hostplant resistance.All traits considered, most wild plants are decidedly inferior to their bred counterparts. For example, Oryza rufipogon, a wild rice from Malaysia, has tiny, unappetizing seeds with dark hulls that shatter easily. It's the last thing rice farmers would want to sow in their fields.Yet hybrids developed by CIAT over the past few years through repeated crossing of this wild plant with elite commercial rice continue to outyield the latter. \"We've been able to show that wild rice species possess genes of great agronomic importance,\" says CIAT rice breeder César Martínez. \"And we've been able to transfer some of them to cultivars.\"CIAT has also been working with an African wild rice, O. glaberrima, which in many areas of West Africa is cultivated by farmers. It tolerates water stress, competes well with weeds, and resists rice blast and crinkling disease. As with O. rufipogon, CIAT breeders have crossed O. glaberrima with elite rice for evaluation.Drawing on wild species like O. rufipogon and O. glaberrima is just one of several strategies CIAT is now using to enrich the rice gene pool at the disposal of rice breeders in Latin America. \"The genetic base of rice in this region is very narrow,\" says virologist Lee Calvert, who leads CIAT's Rice Project. Certain varieties, like Fedearroz 50, have become extremely popular across the region, he adds.The potential of wild and weedy species to boost the yields of related crops was first recognized in 1981. But such superior traits, often controlled by multiple genes called quantitative trait loci (QTLs), could not be directly seen in the scientific twilight of the wild plants' physical appearance and behavior. The lights were finally turned on in 1996 by researchers at Cornell University in the USA. They showed how molecular markers and genetic maps could be used to exploit wildtomato genes for the benefit of commercial processing tomatoes. They went on to design a novel strategy called \"advanced backcrossing QTL analysis,\" which CIAT now uses for rice improvement.Our current research, in collaboration with Cornell, is funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Rockefeller Foundation, and Colombia's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is part of a larger, long-term international project in partnership with othe r Future Harvest centers and researchers in several Asian rice-producing countries.Since the mid-1990s, we have been using conventional crossing of wild rice species with elite cultivars, in tandem with molecular marker technology, to transfer wild genes and track their inheritance. The research has allowed CIAT to simultaneously broaden the gene pool and improve elite rice varieties in Latin America for further development by national programs.To date, a range of traits-not just disease resistance and yield but also nutritional value, grain quality, and cooking qualities-have been examined. However, the most advanced work focuses on yield and yield-related components like grain weight per plant.Over several years we developed two experimental hybrid populations to examine the potential of O. rufipogon for enhancing cultivated rice (O. sativa). One population was bred for the rainfed uplands, the other for irrigated conditions. Upland fields account for 45 percent of Latin America's total rice area. About one -third of the upland rice is cultivated manually, usually by poor farmers.Results of field trials, focusing on yield and related factors in the rice hybrids, were highly encouraging. For each study population, the hybrids outperformed the cultivated parent for most or all traits. What's more, molecular marker analysis showed strong and positive genetic contributions from the wild parent. The CIAT researchers also compared their list of contributing QTLs and their locations on chromosomes with findings from earlier studies by collaborators in China, South Korea, and other Asian countries.Introgression of wild genes into elite lines is a strategy being pursued by all three Future Harvest centers with a rice mandate: the International Rice Research Ins titute (IRRI), the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) and CIAT. Lee Calvert is enthusiastic about future advances through collaboration among the three centers and with other partners.Wild species, Calvert stresses, can be used to improve rice root systems so that they tolerate drought better. This is especially important to poor farmers on small plots who don't have the necessary infrastructure to manage water. Nearly 90 percent of rice producers in Latin America are small farmers with 3 hectares or less, he notes. \"We'll be focusing on traits like drought tolerance because the smaller, upland rice farmers need them.\"With views of the Pacific Ocean, elegant mountain ridges, and irrigated fields, all punctuated by the silhouette of the Santa Ana volcano, western El Salvador presents a handsome landscape to its many visitors, among them CIAT's Francisco Morales. But as the plant virologist points out, the region's Valley of Zapotitán-the \"granary\" for the nearby national capital of San Salvador-is a land under siege by tiny invaders.Morales, who coordinates the Tropical Whitefly Integrated Pest Management (TWF-IPM) Project, refers to the valley as one of Latin America's \"hot spots.\" In recent years outbreaks of whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses have devastated fields of dry and snap beans, tomatoes, sweet and chili peppers, cucurbits, and other crops. Damage occurs mostly during the long dry season, when whitefly populations reach a peak.Heavy and frequent pesticide application, says Morales, is self-defeating, because whiteflies develop resistance and the chemicals destroy their natural enemies. It is also a strategy that local producers can ill afford. In the Valley of Zapotitán, where 80 percent of farms are less than 3 hectares, many families are extremely poor.One small-scale farmer Morales spoke with described the vicious circle he faces in growing snap beans: \"I apply a mixture of methomyl, methamidophos, and imidacloprid every 3 days until harvest. But the plants turn yellow and produce small, distorted pods anyway.\" The disease is caused by bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV), transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci.In collaboration with CIAT, El Salvador's National Center for Agricultural Technology (CENTA) has launched a project to reverse Zapotitán's trend of declining production. Three divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the University of El Salvador, the Latin American Technical University, and five farmer organizations also belong to the partnership.Local farmers are learning that their frequent applications of synthetic pesticides can be successfully replaced by a combination of cheaper and less environmentally destructive control tactics. In the case of beans, the centerpiece of this integrated approach to pest and disease management is BGYMV-resistant varieties of the red-seeded type preferred in El Salvador and other Central American countries. Beginning in 1971, irrigation systems were built in Zapotitán, and today they serve 60 percent of the valley's 3,000 hectares of prime agricultural land. Despite these development efforts, though, production of beans, tomatoes, and peppers has plummeted over the past decade. Horticultural crops have given way to less profitable sugarcane and maize. The shift has caused large seasonal fluctuations in local produce prices. In San Salvador's markets, for example, tomatoes recently sold for US$7.25 a box in November and for more than triple that in April.Under the IPM project, Salvadoran researchers and farmers are testing a full package of pestand-disease control tactics. The target crops are beans, tomatoes, peppers, and loroco, a local plant whose flower buds are eaten fresh, often on pizza, or used in aromatic sauces.IPM components include the virus-resistant bean varieties, physical barriers to insects, minimal use of commercial synthetic insecticides, and substitution of less toxic products for whitefly management. Physical barriers include microtunnels-wire or plastic frames covered with netting. Now being tested as a way to protect tomatoes and peppers during their early growth stage, this option was shown to be successful at another hot spot site in Yucatan, Mexico, and in El Salvador it doubled the national average yield for tomatoes this year.Loroco presents both economic opportunities and special pest-control challenges for Salvadoran producers. It is grown mostly by women as a backyard crop, both for home consumption and for extra income. Produce from half a manzana (0.35 hectares) can fetch up to US$5,000. But loroco is often attacked by whiteflies, as a direct pest, and by aphids, which also transmit viral diseases.A vine native to El Salvador, loroco is cultivated using a system of poles and wires similar to those found in vineyards. One pest-control tactic being tried by the project is the use of household detergent to control the whiteflies, which tend to fly at or near ground level. But aphids, says Morales, require a different strategy because \"they fly high like spy planes scanning for targets.\" His solution was to increase the height of support poles, add another layer of wires above the loroco plants, and cover the grid with palm leaves. This camouflages the crop, thwarting the aphids' reconnaissance behavior. And since loroco is a forest plant, it easily tolerates the resulting shade.The technologies being offered to farmers have enormous potential for recovering large areas of prime agricultural land that are currently left idle during peak months of whitefly infestation. The challenge now is to adapt the new technologies, using participatory methods, to farmers' cropping systems and market opportunities.Recent applications of CIAT's participatory method for designing integrated agroenterprise projects (IAPs) support an emerging consensus: adding value to products before sale and understanding market chains better significantly boosts small-farmer incomes.In Peru producers of black pepper who applied the method ended up with price gains ranging from 20 to 100 percent over prices paid to other farmers . And in Honduras a group of coffee farmers negotiated a 16 percent premium. While world prices have continued to fall since then, project participants were recently earning double for a kilogram of coffee what nonparticipants could get.The IAP methodology is part of a wider CIAT strategy for promoting multiple rural business opportunities in defined geographical regions. This territorial approach has the advantage of building local skills that benefit not just the producers of a specific crop but also the wider community. And by operating within the context of the overall territorial economy rather than a single subsector, says CIAT agroenterprise specialist Mark Lundy, \"we can promote a learning environment that links CIAT research with local development experience and demand.\"A key assumption underlying CIAT's approach is that growing more food more efficiently, based on new technology, is not by itself enough to improve rural livelihoods. In some cases research-driven productivity increases, in the absence of new policies and other measures, have actually led to market saturation, lower farm-gate prices, and continuing poverty. The CIAT approach is thus participatory and market-driven-one in which farmers decide to produce what they can sell rather than sell what they can produce. The strategy stresses the creation of local capacity to identify and establish competitive enterprises that are environmentally and economically sustainable, add value to products, and generate added benefits for the community. Such spillovers include new jobs and better organizational skills.The first step is to identify a local partner group interested in business development. This is typically a consortium of producers and NGOs, sometimes with public-and private-sector participation. The group constructs a biophysical, economic, and institutional profile of its territory and identifies market opportunities. Based on analysis of candidate products and commercial opportunities, some are selected for full-blown IAP development.IAP design involves market chain analysis, with the participation of as many key players as possible: input suppliers, service providers, producers, processors, commercial agents, industrial consumers, wholesalers, retailers, and exporters. Among other things, this allows for identification of bottlenecks in the system-plant diseases or poor transport capacity, for example. In some instances the IAP will include a research component to rectify problems.A permanent system for gathering market intelligence is also created. Project members or service providers systematically collect price and other information vital to commercial success. In addition, the availability of business support services-such as those that provide credit, technical assistance, and legal advice-is evaluated, gaps identified, and improvements designed.At Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon, the IAP exercise showed farmers that the price they were getting for their black pepper was only a small fraction of the end-consumer price paid in the capital, Lima. Price differences in the market chain ranged from 600 to 1,000 percent. Based on this information, 45 small producers formed a private company, Piper S.A., and set their IAP in motion.The farmers moved quickly to improve and standardize pepper grading and presentation. This differentiated their product from that of nonparticipants, leading to a 20 percent price premium in local markets. They also negotiated an agreement with an industrial buyer in the city of Huancayo, netting them a 58 percent increase over the local price for one batch of pepper and 30 percent for another. In other cases they were able to sell their product for more than double the local rate.Imports from Ecuador led to a price drop in October 2001. Nevertheless, the farmers' initial success in improving and repositioning their product helped them set out a clear business vision for the future, says Lundy. They now want to buy a grinder and identify an industrial client in Lima, so they can sell a more finished product at a higher price.Yorito, Honduras, is the hub of another \"territory\" in which CIAT is testing its IAP methodology. A group of 12 coffee farmers there negotiated a 16 percent price premium with an exporter, based on guarantees of high quality. Although falling world prices led the exporter to end the deal, another buyer stepped in with a comparable offer in late 2001. Producers participating in the IAP have been receiving double the price paid to nonparticipants.That positive experience led a group of 45 producers, with the help of a local business development consortium, to begin the lengthy process of having their coffee certified as organically grown. In the meantime they have been negotiating to have their \"transition\" coffee bought by a cooperative at a premium price.CIAT is now drawing on these and other Latin American experiences to fine -tune its IAP methodology. It is also examining ways to involve NGOs and private companies in using and adapting the methodology to multiply positive impact beyond the sites where it has so far been tested.The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts socially and environmentally progressive research aimed at reducing hunger and poverty and preserving natural resources in developing countries. CIAT is one of 16 food and environmental research centers working toward these goals around the world in partnership with farmers, scientists, and policy makers. Known as the Future Harvest centers, they are funded mainly by the 58 countries, private foundations, and international organizations that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).CIAT currently receives funds through the CGI AR or under specific projects from the countries and organizations listed below. We gratefully acknowledge their commitment and contributions. CIAT builds ties with other institutions through research partnerships based on projects. Our expanding circle of partners includes other Future Harvest centers, national research institutes, universities, NGOs, and the private sector. We work with them under a variety of innovative arrangements, such as consortia and networks, at the local, regional, and global levels. Through strategic alliances with advanced institutes, we bring valuable scientific expertise to bear on the central challenges of tropical agriculture.As a service to its partners, the Center provides varied offerings in training and conferences and specialized services in information and documentation, communications, and information systems.","tokenCount":"15098"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7907787287.json b/data/part_1/7907787287.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ead6ed44746f97fd2d00daf90da50333a54b156
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7907787287.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef5bf0bc09cb1b075c412b80167e0286","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2cad87cd-0868-4e7a-9029-41d5d3a2d696/retrieve","id":"-62837285"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5080282b-1cdf-4866-bb76-e2559fe2b7cf","pagecount":"71","content":"THE SEED UNIT REPORT ON 1984-86 The Seed Unit was started in 1979 to ass1st the development of the seed sector in Latin America and the Caribbean with a special emphasis on the crop commodity mandate of CIAT but not lim1ted to those crops Various mechanisms have been developed and are used to collaborate with groups of countries at a subregional level In Central America many activities have been carried out in cooperation with a Regional Technical Committee and a Regional Associat1.on of Seed Technolog1.sts both of which were formed with Seed Unit assistance A similar working relationship has been developed with the Junta Acuerdo de Cartagena  Seed drying conditioning and storage was also found to be inadequate in most of the countries in the reg1on f)Marketing systems particularly for farmers with small holdings were found to be weak and limitedThe task of overcoming these cannot be accomplished quickly       The initiatives taken during the first five years of the Seed Unit activ1t1es were followed up and built upon as the staff worked especially in Central America and the Caribbean and the Andean ZoneThe Regional Technical Committee and the Regional Association of Seed Technologists 1n Central America continued to provide leadership to a     The second aspect of this study was undertaken to evaluate the deterioration of field beans under various combinations of temperature and seed moisture for the purpose of estimating deterioratl.  The Seminar with the leadership of associationa held in cooperation with ALES now FELAS contributed to the strengthening of this seed associat~on network The Seed Unit is in a unique posit~on to assist this procesa because of its links with former course participante and the regional nature of its activitiesThe seed network at the sub-regional level continuas to be assisted by ARTES in Central Americe and the Caribbean as reviewed earlier The formation of ARAS in the Andean Zone offers the potencial of similar benefits in that area Complementing these sub-regional associations are the more official links that need further strengthening Theae ~nclude 1) the Regional Technical Co111111ittee for Central Americe and Panamá 2) a proposed Regional Technical Collllllittea for the Andean Zone ","tokenCount":"354"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7912541798.json b/data/part_1/7912541798.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..86aa642e2d3bbe5c65b70d1ff8eadfe0ef6bc3e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7912541798.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c574fd361e9f3ea7aa92ed619b472236","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb46bfdf-03ea-461d-8970-7162a4d6e0a0/retrieve","id":"-221195770"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ac2c22d-11ac-46cf-a57c-ecda5196dba6","pagecount":"2","content":"Perú está comprometido con la reducción de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) derivadas de la deforestación y la agricultura, y con un desarrollo agrícola bajo en emisiones. Para lograr esto, se deben enfrentar desafíos relacionados con la identificación de prácticas de manejo agrícola que mejoren la productividad y reduzcan su contribución a la emisión de GEI.En el marco de la Declaración Conjunta de Intención (DCI) para el cumplimiento de las metas de las Contribuciones Nacionalmente Determinadas (CND) relacionadas con la reducción de la deforestación y de las emisiones de GEI, el Gobierno del Perú busca establecer coaliciones público-privadas para facilitar la adopción de prácticas sostenibles en sistemas de producción priorizados con el fin de aumentar la productividad en tierras ya deforestadas y reducir la presión de la agricultura en los bosques. Para esto, se proponen coaliciones alrededor de compromisos de cero deforestación y modelos de negocios que conduzcan a la sostenibilidad ambiental, financiera y económica para mejorar los sistemas de uso de la tierra.El proyecto \"Modelos de negocios para abordar los motores de la deforestación en Perú\" desarrollará modelos de negocios cero deforestación y bajos en emisiones en la cadena de palma aceitera y en la cadena de cacao en la Amazonía peruana. Los aliados estratégicos del proyecto serán actores interesados en propuestas de valor que incluyan el compromiso de reducir las emisiones de GEI derivadas de la deforestación y degradación de los bosques y a su vez promuevan el uso sostenible de la tierra de uso agrícola. El proyecto se alinea con los objetivos ambientales y de desarrollo del gobierno nacional y los gobiernos regionales de la Amazonía.• Análisis del contexto específico de las causas de deforestación• Evaluaciones de las emisiones de GEI en las cadenas de valor priorizadas• Diseño de modelos de negocios cero deforestación• Evaluación del modelo de negocio con respecto a su potencial para alcanzar beneficios económicos, ambientales (reducción de emisiones de GEI) y sociales• Desarrollo de planes de implementación de modelos de negocios cero deforestación• Desarrollo de estrategias de escalamiento y financiamiento de los modelos de negocios cero deforestaciónEstrategias de cadenas de valor para palma aceitera y cacao, construidas con los actores, que contengan una visión común acordada en torno a compromisos de cero deforestación y desarrollo bajo en emisiones GEI.Al menos dos modelos de negocios cero deforestación en cacao y palma aceitera implementados.Este proyecto es parte de la Iniciativa Climática Internacional (IKI). El Ministerio Federal para el Ambiente, la Conservación de la Naturaleza y la Seguridad Nuclear (BMU) apoya esta iniciativa sobre la base de una decisión adoptada por el Bundestag Alemán. ","tokenCount":"431"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7926620972.json b/data/part_1/7926620972.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..75af33daf10b1da9487d3f65a3bd448addfcb331
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7926620972.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4deab268e4ec23c5c4f8b0edf13a9b1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4304ed9f-47d9-4f16-8fbf-15a54c483d55/retrieve","id":"69976423"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f16d4bd8-5e39-4eb4-b89b-4d60df3044e0","pagecount":"1","content":"• There is an increasing demand for innovative extension solutions that are more user-oriented and farmer-led. • Scaling locally-led adaptation can unintentionally reinforce the inequitable division of burdens and benefits.We thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.The Challenge• Our positive deviance approach identifies locallyembedded climate smart solutions -in this case on dairy cow feeding practices -led and scaled by \"adaptation pioneers\" . • \"Adaptation pioneer\" households exchange practical knowledge with other farmers, private sector, extension agents and other stakeholders in farmer field days to improve and scale practices through farmer-led knowledge networks. • Scaling with pioneer households integrates genderresponsive planning to increase women's capacities for learning and leading socially-inclusive adaptation.• By the end of 2024, our pioneer positive deviance approach will reach 20,000 households with knowledge about improved feeding practices to support locallyled adaptation. • Farmer-led knowledge networks -including public and private actors -are empowered to lead sociallyinclusive adaptation pathways. • Women's partnerships with extension staff and agency within farmer networks significantly strengthened.• By end of 2024, a suite of methodological innovations to train farmers, extensionists and organizations on the application of pioneer positive deviance approach will support socially-inclusive climate change adaptation. • National and county governments, and international organization will adopt and implement our pioneer positive deviance methodologies in new contexts.","tokenCount":"221"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7928326368.json b/data/part_1/7928326368.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..92c1f25ff3e6759c1a2b4da2c65afa7913d99776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7928326368.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b44b987ebaf165f7aa809167d891aa5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7da688e6-9a2c-4903-8d9a-fc0832bf2951/retrieve","id":"-179295482"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f9ac443b-0c9d-4266-8551-286456610f1b","pagecount":"17","content":"Both global poverty and hunger have increased in recent years, endangering progress towards accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2. The regression has been most pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Meeting the SDG targets requires achieving resilient farm productivity. Although many farm management technologies exist to improve yields, farmers in SSA largely have not adopted these approaches. A long-standing literature about technology adoption identifies multiple hypotheses as to why farmers may or may not adopt new agricultural technologies, culminating in numerous micro-econometric studies. We analyse a metadata set capturing the findings of 164 published studies specifically focusing on SSA and show that 20 out of 38, or 53%, of the determinants commonly believed to influence technology adoption lack empirical support. Eighteen determinantsprimarily related to information access, wealth, group membership and social capital, and land tenure-consistently influence adoption across studies. Wealth remains a significant determinant of fertilizer adoption, despite long-running subsidies in most countries, although it is decoupled from the adoption of improved seeds and alternative crop and nutrient management technologies. We highlight the foundational determinants of adoption and offer guidance to design effective interventions that can decrease poverty and hunger towards 2030.The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim globally to eliminate poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2) by doubling smallholder productivity and incomes, while simultaneously ensuring sustainable food systems. This objective represents a staggering challenge in Africa, where, as of 2019, 239 million people-17.8% of the total African population-were undernourished and another 399 million-29.7%-were moderately food insecure [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated hunger; the economic consequences of the pandemic may increase the number of rural poor by 15% and the number of urban poor by 44% [2]. Radical gains in agricultural productivity to combat hunger and poverty are possible, however. The average agricultural productivity of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is currently about 50% that of other low-and middle-income countries worldwide [3], and average yields reach less than 20% of their biological potential (www.yieldgap.org) [4].Adoption of fertilizers and high-yielding crop varieties at scale in Asia has helped to quadruple yields per unit of land over the past 60 years [3]. In SSA, adoption rates of modern inputs or other agricultural technologies, including some that are traditional such as agroforestry, crop rotations, and manure use, remain stubbornly low [5]. Yields per unit of land have only doubled over the same period [3]. Gains in productivity in SSA have occurred primarily through expansion into natural spaces rather than through enlarging the yield per land area [6]. Current farming techniques, including farming at the extensive margin, fail to deliver sufficient calories and nutrition. Further, they degrade natural resources and exacerbate the region's vulnerability to climate change [7]. Adopting improved agricultural technologies, on the other hand, can help build resilient systems and double productivity and incomes as targeted by SDG 2, and will have cascading impacts on poverty (SDG 1), climate change (SDG 13), and land degradation (SDG 15), among other SDGs.Scientists, often and increasingly together with farmers, have developed and tested myriad ways to enhance crop, livestock, and tree production in SSA [8]. New or improved agroforestry, chemical inputs, crop varieties, intercropping, and protein-rich livestock diets, among many other approaches, have been shown to increase productivity compared to farmers' standard technologies [9][10][11]. Although chemical inputs like nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides may have negative environmental or health effects if overused or misused, they remain underused in Africa, which leaves room for sustainably scaling up best management practices [12,13]. Despite this scientific evidence, relatively few farmers adopt new or improved approaches [5], especially among smallholders in SSA [14,15].Theory suggests that farmer technology adoption decisions depend on complex interactions among a large set of factors including demographics, wealth, agroecology, markets, information, social networks, risk, and uncertainty [16][17][18][19][20]. Partly due to this complexity, empirical results fail to converge around the key determinants of adoption. Most individual studies tend to offer idiosyncratic results presented as specific to a particular farmer group, technology, or location [21,22].The increasing demand for evidence-based policymaking in this realm has led to burgeoning review and synthesis papers [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Earlier efforts largely employ \"vote-counting\" approaches to tally the significance or non-significance of findings describing a determinant's influence on binary adoption decisions (S1 Table ). Only the most recent such publication uses a quantitative meta-analysis framework [28], and none of these studies focus specifically on Africa. We synthesize evidence about what determines the adoption of 97 agricultural technologies in SSA from approximately 30 years of published research. Our goal is to provide guiding principles of adoption that could inform effective policy and programming critical to the wellbeing of more than 10% of the global population.We provide a broad overview of the influence of determinants commonly used to predict adoption in econometric studies of improved agricultural technologies in SSA. Our methods are consistent with best practices for evidence syntheses [29,30] in cases where most publications do not report sufficient data to enable meta-regressions [28].A protocol to search for applied agricultural economics literature about technology adoption in SSA was developed by building on Rosenstock et al. [31]. We use the same search strings to identify improved agricultural technologies that were created to search the literature about the effects of crop, livestock, and tree management technologies on productivity, resilience, and greenhouse gas emissions. We created new search strings to include keywords for determinants of adoption commonly used in applied economics literature (S2 Table ). All searches were conducted in Web of Science and Scopus, accessed at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome. The original search was conducted in 2016 and updated in 2018. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were created to cover the relevance of technologies, determinants, the location (Africa), the type of econometric analysis, and the quality of reporting (S3 Table ). To exclude studies with a strong likelihood of bias, we screened for econometric analyses that (i) targeted at least one of the pre-selected agricultural technologies, (ii) reported primary data about adoption, (iii) reported coefficients for all variables used as determinants in the model, and (iv) had a sufficient sample size. The resulting list of articles was complemented with a recursive search using the reference lists of articles identified during both rounds of searching.The searches yielded 1,113 studies investigating agricultural technology adoption by African farmers. All papers were screened in two stages. First, the titles and abstracts were screened against inclusion criteria. Then, full texts were screened both for inclusion and a recursive search. The 164 articles that met the criteria were included in the final meta-database ( The information extracted from each study included locations, sample sizes, technologies, econometric specifications, adoption determinants, regression coefficients, and the level of significance. An extraction guide was created to establish codes for reference, and all coding was reviewed to ensure consistency across enumerators.The final meta-database includes information from 164 articles-5,427 data points-that analyse the determinants of adoption of 97 technologies in 23 countries in Africa. The data points refer to the estimated coefficients of the determinants of adoption reported in each paper. If multiple technologies were studied, we captured the coefficients from each, and if multiple specifications were presented for one technology, as is common in the literature, we captured the coefficients from the most robust specification.Information about technologies and adoption determinants was standardized. The aggregation of the 97 technologies follows the hierarchical taxonomy set out in Rosenstock et al. [31] to categorize them into agronomic, agroforestry, or livestock practices (S4 Table ). The 384 unique adoption factors, or independent variables, were harmonized and aggregated to three levels: determinant categories, determinant subcategories, and factors (Box 1). Study authors use different terminology to describe adoption factors-that is, the independent variables in regression models. To deal with the large variation observed in the definitions of determinants within the included studies, we aggregated factors for analysis. First, we standardized terms to reduce the 384 unique factors to 43 subcategories. Second, these subcategories were aggregated to form 12 determinant categories that match key hypotheses about adoption (S5 Table ). For example, the determinant categoryVote count. Simple vote-count analyses are used to understand how often an independent variable has a significant positive, significant negative, or non-significant relationship with a dependent variable. Each observation is a coefficient from a multi-variate analysis of the adoption of one of the practices included in the metadata; therefore, reported results control for a set of livelihood characteristics of households. Vote counts are a commonly used and easily interpretable method [25,26]. We present the full vote count results for 43 subcategories of determinants (S6-S8 Tables).Sign test. Simple vote count analyses give all observations the same weight regardless of the sample size and may be particularly subject to publication bias [32]. Because statistical significance within individual studies is sensitive to sample size and the population from which the sample is drawn, we complemented the vote-count meta-analysis with an analysis using the sign test methodology described by Bushman and Wang [22] and used in similar research about the adoption of conservation practices in the United States [19,25]. The sign test examines whether determinants have hypothesized positive or negative relationships with a given behaviour across multiple studies, thus eliminating the shortcomings of focusing only on significant results, which is a common approach in vote counting.The sign test was employed by creating binary variables to indicate whether a given determinant coefficient was consistent with its hypothesized relationship to the dependent variable. Binomial confidence intervals for proportions were then estimated. These confidence intervals were used to gauge the overall positive or negative effect of a determinant on the adoption of practices analysed, where a lower-bound estimate at or below 0.50 indicates the absence of a statistically significant correlation. We present the minimum, maximum, and mean sample sizes along with the number of observations from studies within each determinant category to provide additional information for readers to understand the applicability of results (S9 Table ).Meta-analysis methods are different from those of primary data analyses in important ways. With primary social science data, the unit of analysis is often individual, and the sample is used to estimate population proportions. In the case of meta-analysis, the unit of analysis is a published study, the sample is the entire set of included studies, and the estimates pertain to the sample. This implies that the confidence interval range represents the proportion of studies finding a positive or negative relationship, not a proportion of agricultural producers.Based on literature, we developed hypotheses about the direction in which each determinant in our data would drive the adoption of improved agricultural technologies [17 and S1 Table]. We first tested these hypotheses using positive and negative sign tests for all the improved agricultural technologies in our dataset. For more specific policy insights, we also apply the sign tests to a selected set of determinant-technology combinations to unpack technology-specific and potentially opposing impacts. Given the importance of understanding the determinants of modern input use in SSA, we focus on the potentially opposing relationships between wealth and income indicators on one hand, and the adoption of modern inputs versus called \"information\" includes the following factors: access to information specific to improved agricultural technologies, access to extension, access to general information, farming experience, and previous use of the technologies analysed. The category called \"socio-demographics\" includes the age, education, and gender of the household head, as well as other household characteristics.alternative nutrient and crop management technologies on the other. We select these technologies because the use of modern inputs like seeds and fertilizers remains low in SSA (despite subsidy programmes in many countries), and alternative land management practices have been promoted with mixed results. We emphasize wealth-signalling determinants because they are positively correlated with adoption in many studies [18,26], and they can act as proxies of other behavioural characteristics like risk aversion that can help with targeting [17,33].We test the following two hypotheses using positive and negative sign tests. Firstly, we examine whether indicators of wealth and overall income, such as credit, land size, livestock, off-farm income, overall income, and wealth indices, would positively affect the adoption of improved seeds and fertilizers that require upfront cash investments [15]. Secondly, we explore the corollary to this expectation that is whether these factors would negatively affect the adoption of commonly promoted sustainable practices with negligible cash outlay needs including the use of traditional crop varieties, organic manure, and intercropping.Of the 164 studies in the final meta-database, about 50% used statistically representative sampling designs. The median sample size across all studies was 591 households. The studies spanned 23 countries; however, the bulk of them-47%-were conducted in either Ethiopia (39), Kenya (23), or Nigeria (19). No other country had more than 10 studies. With the exceptions of Burkina Faso (8) and Ghana (8), each West African country was the subject of five or fewer studies (Fig 1 , panel c).The resource endowments and information categories together contribute more than one third of the total data points, or 35% (Fig 1 , panel a). Other determinant categories most frequently included in the dataset are labour availability at 9%; socio-demographic variables such as education (9%), age (7%), and gender (6%); group membership/social capital at 6%; biophysical factors at 11% total, divided into 7% unfavourable and 4% favourable factors and market access, also at 6%. Least frequently used determinants are related to rainfall and temperature, which are increasingly incorporated in this literature given the improved understanding of the importance of the effects of climate change on smallholder agriculture.Regarding technologies, the vast majority of the adoption analyses included, or 89%, focused on agronomic technologies, including water, soil, nutrient, and crop management (Fig 1 , panel b). Agroforestry was addressed in 8.5% and livestock management in just 2.5% of analyses (S4 Table ). Among the agronomy group, 64% of studies focus on the adoption of technologies for grains (including all grains such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, millet, sorghum and teff), and 52% on maize alone. This skewed distribution reflects the importance of staple crops such as maize, rice, and wheat to SSA food security, as well as the historical scientific emphasis on technologies such as improved seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation focusing on a selected number of grains.Although vote-count methods are driven by statistical significance and sensitive to sample size, they are easily interpretable and widely used in this literature [25,26]. We unpack the socioeconomic determinants category to present vote counts separately for age, education, and gender for easier interpretation. The determinants were positive and significant 26-38% of the time on average across the 15 categories (Fig 2). The information access category is the most consistently important; it is positively associated with adoption at least 36% of the time for each of the technology categories. Resource endowments are also consistently positive and significant in driving adoption at least 30% of the time for all three technologies. No other determinant category is consistently affects adoption more than 30% of the time for all technology groups, highlighting the importance of context [21]. Negative correlations between the 15 determinant categories and adoption occurred just 11% of the time on average. The influence of most determinants on adoption is practice-specific. For example, resource endowments (including wealth and off-farm income) and credit access stand out for the adoption of livestock-related practices: they are significantly associated with adoption in more than 60% and 85% of the time, respectively. Credit access is considerably less important outside of livestock management, with only 13% and 25% significant associations with the adoption of agroforestry and agronomy practices, respectively. Similarly, tenure security is never correlated with the adoption of livestock practices but is a significant predictor of the adoption of agroforestry and agronomy practices about 45% and 35% of the time, respectively. Notably, the social capital category (including membership in farmer groups/cooperatives) is equally or more important than education, and is significantly correlated around 50% of the time with the adoption of agroforestry and livestock practices, but to a much smaller extent for agronomy practices.Weather variables, such as current or past rainfall and temperature, are mostly included in the agronomy group, where they were positively associated with adoption 33% and 46% of the time, respectively. The role of rainfall in agroforestry adoption seems to stand out with positive correlations 40% of the time, implying agroforestry is mostly adopted in environments with lower rainfall. Though this information is based on 5 studies only and an equal share of studies found rainfall to be not correlated with agroforestry adoption.Published empirical studies tend to report the direction of impact of a determinant as if it is always positive, negative, or non-significant, primarily because most studies cover one practice in one setting at a time. Equally importantly, however, a determinant can have both positive and negative correlations in different settings, which can only be assessed in meta-analyses and is the most common trend we observe (Fig 2). The distance from a household to markets or roads, for example, is most frequently significantly positively correlated with the adoption of improved agroforestry and livestock practices. In the case of improved agronomic practices, however, 23% of the data points show a significant negative correlation with distance, 14% show a significant positive correlation, and 63% show a non-significant correlation. These seemingly conflicting results among studies stem from the highly context-specific nature of some adoption determinants.This trend holds when considering the more disaggregated determinant subcategories. If a significant association with agronomic practice adoption was found at all, only 4 of 43 subcategories were always positive or negative. Access to information and land pressure always showed a positive association, and distance to water and being single always had a negative association (S7 Table )-though the latter two were included only in 2 studies each. The direction of significant associations for most determinant subcategories includes both positive and negative ones with significant variation across technology groups. Overall, only 38% of all the factors were statistically significant (12% negative and 26% positive). Some of the most widely studied, including age, education, gender, and marital status, had no effect on adoption at least 60% of time.For agroforestry, 6 out of 38 subcategories included had no significant association with adoption at all, while 13 had always positive associations. Notably access to extension, farmer group participation and male household head are included in at least 50% of studies and are positively associated with adoption for more than 40% of the time.To address the methodological shortcomings of vote counts, we also used sign tests to evaluate whether the data supported the generally hypothesized direction of associations between determinants and adoption regardless of significance [21,24]. Of the 30 determinants hypothesized to have positive relationships with adoption, only 18 or 60% exhibited this relationship in a statistically significant way (Fig 3 , S9 Table).Confidence intervals highlight the benefit of using sign tests: although the share of positive results exceeds 50% for all but one determinant, potentially reflecting publication bias,   confidence intervals show that not all are positively related to adoption in a statistically significant way. Significant positive drivers of adoption that can guide policies include both direct policy levers and factors that can be used for targeting interventions. The former include access to credit, general information and extension, farmer group participation, education, tenure security and labour availability, while the latter include wealth indicators (such as land size, livestock assets, off-farm income, and composite wealth indices), shock exposure, and temperature. One factor that stands out among those that were not significantly positively related to adoption is access to practice-specific information, indicating that broader access to information matters more for technology adoption than narrowly focused information about specific practices. None of the determinants typically expected to negatively affect adoption exhibited this relationship in our analysis.Meta-analyses, by definition, group a large set of agricultural practices-97 in our case-as \"improved technology,\" although some determinants may have opposing impacts on different practices. Unpacking these implications can better guide policy. We explore \"mixed effects\" focusing on the impacts of wealth on the use of modern inputs like seeds and fertilizers versus alternative nutrient and crop management technologies. Wealth is positively correlated with adoption of new agricultural technologies in many studies [20], and modern input use remains low on the continent (despite subsidy programmes in many countries), especially in marginal environments [34,35]. The hypothesized positive relationships between four of the wealth-signalling factors-credit, land size, livestock assets, and the asset-based wealth index-and inorganic fertilizer use were supported by sign tests. Regarding the use of improved seeds, however, only the composite wealth index and livestock assets showed the expected positive relationship (Fig 4). None of the hypothesized negative relationships between wealth-signalling factors and other, mostly adaptive and sustainable crop and nutrient management practices occurred more than chance would indicate (S9 Table ).The transformation of SSA agriculture to achieve SDGs 1 and 2 will require hundreds of millions of farmers to adopt improved technologies. History would suggest that catalysing such a change in short order is a daunting challenge [8,36,37]. Our meta-analysis shows that a set of 18 broad determinants generally influence technology adoption. Four relate to policy tools that enable access to extension, information, farmer group participation, and credit. Of those tools, access to general information, as opposed to narrowly focused practice-specific information, and farmer group participation increase adoption most consistently across a range of farming technologies and contexts. Policy and programming that build on these factors, such as digital connectivity and extension, village savings programs, and cash transfers, are therefore likely to effectively increase adoption of improved agricultural technologies. The importance of these factors has also been attested in reviews and randomized control trials [38][39][40][41].The influence of most determinants does not follow a consistent pattern, however. Diverse determinants affect adoption decisions in different ways across varying contexts, creating highly technology-, site-, and adopter-specific circumstances. Nevertheless, broad themes emerge across these idiosyncrasies, allowing the identification of specific determinant-practice combinations that obstruct or enable adoption. For example; tenure was often associated with the adoption of improved agronomy and agroforestry practices. In contrast, no study in our data found land tenure to be significantly associated with the adoption of improved livestock practices. Livestock do not necessarily require private land holdings and may be grazed on communal lands or fed in stalls. Notwithstanding the complexities of conflict between herders and farmers in Africa [42,43], only 8 studies analyse livestock related practices, most of which relate to nutrient management (e.g. improved diet supplements) not directly linked to land tenure. In contrast, agroforestry and agronomy practices necessarily relate to land, and returns on investments come months and/or years later. Informal and insecure land tenure systems are pervasive in Africa, and previous systematic reviews analysing the effects of land tenure on productivity and incomes on the continent were inconclusive [44,28]. Our finding that tenure security positively influences agronomic and agroforestry technology adoption builds on this literature to suggest that greater tenure security can help improve the adoption particularly of sustainable technologies with long time horizons.Technology adoption typically requires up-front investments, and in many cases, meaningful benefits accrue only over extended time horizons. In such cases, exposure to shocks and risk can constrain adoption [45,46]. This negative association is reported in only 8% of agronomic practice adoption studies, while 33% report a positive association suggesting that the  ). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000018.g004 improved practices captured in included agronomy studies are likely perceived as ex-ante risk management strategies by farmers [16,17]. Though livestock is considered as a mobile asset that helps households deal with shocks [47] none of the included studies included this as a determinant. Social networks positively influence adoption of most technology categories (at least in around 30% of cases), this association is most prominent for technologies with high upfront investments and relatively long time horizons-as in agroforestry. This insight reflects growing recognition of the importance of social contexts for adoption decisions and underlines the need to account for them in programming [19,20,51].Previous work has also suggested that environmental conditions influence adoption [20][21][22][23]48]. For example, lower rainfall and higher temperatures have generally been expected to drive adoption of soil-water conservation practices or stress-tolerant crops. We found that higher temperatures-including annual, seasonal, or long-term averages-are more likely to significantly increase adoption, suggesting that improved technologies are perceived as strategies to cope with increased temperature. In contrast, rainfall affects adoption both positively and negatively in all technology groups. The variation in rainfall measurements in included studies-such as annual, seasonal, or lagged totals and long-term averages-and the potentially nonlinear effect of rainfall might explain this finding; though these realities are not captured in most published studies. Farmers' adoption decisions may also be sensitive to crop-specific conditions during the growing season and to historical beliefs [49,50], which need to be properly captured by well-defined rainfall variables in adoption studies.The use of synthetic fertilizers and improved seeds has historically been heavily emphasized in SSA agricultural development; nevertheless, the use of both remains low on the continent. We therefore zoomed in on wealth-related determinants of their adoption with additional sign tests to identify relevant policy implications. We found a clear difference in how wealth affects the adoption of these two technologies. Most wealth indicators significantly increase the adoption of inorganic fertilizers, suggesting that long-standing subsidies in many countries in Africa do not seem to be effective in increasing adoption for those least able to afford these fertilizers. No amount of promotion will be effective without good access to financial services or other incentives. The correlation is much weaker for improved seeds; only the composite wealth index and livestock assets increase the adoption of improved seeds. This distinction suggests that asset-based wealth rather than liquid income is the driver of improved seed adoption. In contrast, wealth indicators do not influence the adoption of alternative soil nutrient and seed management practices, indicating that promotion of sustainable land management practices can make a difference even in low-income settings.Unfortunately, most studies do not capture the intensity of technology adoption nor adoption of multiple technologies at a time; hence this analysis cannot establish whether wealthier households adopt improved inputs at the expense of alternative soil nutrient management approaches. Agricultural households adopt numerous technologies to balance manifold risks across their crop and livelihood portfolios. Methodological innovations to address the endogeneity issues and data requirements associated with analysing the adoption of multiple technologies would drastically increase the relevance of these studies for interventions on the ground.Methodologically, by statistically evaluating hypotheses using sign tests and comparing the synthesized results with previous studies that used vote counting alone, we revealed new insights [20,23]. The sign tests show that the positive association of many determinants with adoption more than 50% of the time in vote-counting approaches is not statistically significant. Of the 30 determinants hypothesized to be significantly positively correlated with the adoption of improved agricultural practices, 18 or 60% exhibited this relationship. The hypotheses for 20 of the 38 categories were not supported by quantitative evaluation, meaning that about 50% of the results defy expectations. Going beyond overall improved technology adoption by using sign tests for specific determinant-technology combinations provided evidence that can support the promotion of improved input use as well as alternative soil and crop management technologies. Similar uses of sign tests may in the future help address some of the critiques of meta-analyses and syntheses in this domain.Simple changes to study methodologies would bring greater insights in future meta-analyses. More sophisticated meta-analyses of large samples are often challenging because key information is rarely reported, such as the number of adopting and non-adopting households as well as the averages and standard deviations of all variables by group. Additionally, the factors driving adoption are not standardized across studies. We aggregated 384 unique factors into 43 broader subcategories with the same direction of influence, although 84 unique factors did not fit into any subcategory because they were too location-specific to be useful beyond the study that included them. The development and use of a standard ontology for determinants could help ensure comparability across studies. This meta-analysis illustrates both the power of and the need for a data revolution to standardize reporting. Movements toward standardization currently occurring in other fields of study may serve as apt examples [51]. The results would be enhanced value of adoption case studies to facilitate more rigorous and revealing meta-analyses that support policy.Our results set the benchmark for understanding agricultural technology adoption in SSA. They support several entrenched beliefs about some adoption determinants while challenging others. We arrived at these conclusions by complementing common vote-counting methods with examination of directional hypotheses. In addition, this meta-analysis highlighted opportunities to help bring order to currently disparate adoption studies in order to generate information that matches realities on the ground. Future studies could focus on the characteristics of interventions and how they interact when multiple technologies are adopted together. Herein we have only considered studies within a quantitative, deterministic framework; this perspective reinforces the importance of context. Employing mixed methods or complex systems approaches could help disentangle the seemingly contradictory influences of factors in econometric studies. Increasing use of behavioural models in agricultural technology adoption studies also have the potential to improve our understanding of farmer adoption in complex and embedded systems [52]. These conclusions complement the literature on leverage points perspectives in sustainability science from a developing country point of view [53]. Meta-analyses of such complex systems embody a quest to simplify behaviour and require a balancing act between site-specific detailed knowledge of a complex system and standardized generalizable conclusions at larger (geographic and time) scales to guide policy. The increase in causal modelling would support greater external validity by revealing new insights about the interactions between social and environmental factors and technology characteristics. If the above methodological recommendations are heeded, such studies would better facilitate policy and programming to meet the herculean challenge of defeating poverty and hunger in SSA.","tokenCount":"4960"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7937668161.json b/data/part_1/7937668161.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..956a74b69adcc604e1df57aab811224142b7d057
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7937668161.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce271c2521d74ece98996c3d56dc49fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9a361f2a-55ea-4b90-af65-230570445362/content","id":"92353678"},"keywords":["Zimbabwe","Food production","Production factors","Soil fertility","Soil management","Soil conservation","Soil classification","Site factors","Research projects","Research networks","Small farms","Rapid rural appraisal","On farm research","Technology transfer","Innovation adoption Participatory research","CIMMYT AGRIS category codes: E14 Development Economics and Policies F01 Crop Husbandry Dewey decimal classification: 338.1406891 participatory methods, soil fertility, local taxonomies, smallholders, Zimbabwe v"],"sieverID":"a4a2797b-a08b-4293-a630-f1cb5f033ac5","pagecount":"24","content":"CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.mx or www.cimmyt.cgiar.org) is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises about 60 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda also comes from many other sources, including foundations, development banks, and public and private agencies.CIMMYT supports Future Harvest, a public awareness campaign that builds understanding about the importance of agricultural issues and international agricultural research. Future Harvest links respected research institutions, influential public figures, and leading agricultural scientists to underscore the wider social benefits of improved agriculture-peace, prosperity, environmental renewal, health, and the alleviation of human suffering (www.futureharvest.org). International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) 1999. Responsibility for this publication rests solely with CIMMYT. The designations employed in the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CIMMYT or contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.Soil infertility is a major constraint to food production in Southern Africa (see Kumwenda et al. 1996). Soils can be very poor, and inorganic fertilizers have become expensive. Furthermore, the low fertility of the soils diminishes the effectiveness of these inputs. The development and adoption of new technologies to enhance soil fertility are important components of improving food security in the region, particularly among smallholders.Smallholders in the region recognize the problems of low soil fertility and have devised ways of coping with them (for Zimbabwe see Huchu and Sithole 1993;Carter and Murwira 1995;Scoones et al. 1996). The new technologies would either improve on those practices or substitute them. Therefore, it is important to understand what those practices are and what are their advantages and disadvantages in order to assess the appropriateness of these new technologies, their adoptability, and, if necessary, to modify them to better suit farmers' needs. Farmers' current practices do not exist in a vacuum. Associated with them is a knowledge system that provides a framework for their application and evaluation. Furthermore, farmers' socioeconomic conditions also heavily influence the use of these practices.An important contribution of farmer participatory research has been the recognition of the value of farmers' knowledge systems in general, and in particular, their potential role in the development, evaluation, and diffusion of new agricultural technologies (Ashby et al. 1995;Bentley 1994). Farmers' taxonomies are a well-documented part of their knowledge systems. The taxonomies include soils and productive environments (Bellon and Taylor 1993;Carter and Murwira 1995;Sandor and Furbee 1996), insects and pests (Bentley et al. 1994), crops and crop varieties (Richards 1986), and soil and water management practices (Lamers and Feil 1995).This study describes the use of farmers' taxonomies of themselves and their soils to identify and understand the options available to them and the constraints they face in managing poor soil fertility in Chihota, a sub-humid (650-800 mm rainfall, Natural Region IIb) communal area in northern Zimbabwe. Soil infertility is the major biophysical constraint to agricultural production in this area.The Soil Fertility Network for Maize-Based Cropping Systems in Malawi and Zimbabwe (Soil Fert Net) began in 1994 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. It is a grouping of agricultural researchers and extensionists from government research institutions and universities in Malawi and Zimbabwe, together with their colleagues in international research institutes. It is coordinated from CIMMYT-Zimbabwe. The Network aims to help smallholder farmers in Malawi and Zimbabwe produce higher, more sustainable, and profitable yields from their dominant maize-based cropping systems through improved soil fertility technology and better management of scarce organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs. In recent years, Network members have become more confident that some of the technologies they are working on will provide benefits to smallholder farmers. The Network is now moving toward fully integrating farmers through initiatives that expose many farmers to promising soil fertility technologies. In addition, this move toward integrating farmers allows researchers to get feedback on the merits and feasibility of the various technologies and to help farmers experiment with them. Network members decided to establish one such major initiative in Chihota during 1998. The participatory work described in this paper was the first step in that initiative and was aimed at learning more about farmers' current knowledge, concerns and opportunities with soil fertility in that communal area.Chihota communal area is located in Marondera district, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. It has nine wards, each with five to six villages. Chihota is relatively close (50-80 km) to Harare, and therefore farmers have important farm and off-farm opportunities. Maize continues to be the most important crop in the region, however, the production of vegetables in gardens, off-farm labor, and migration are important sources of income. From a strategic perspective, these conditions make this area an interesting place to conduct research because it is an area where soil fertility problems and their management options interact with the nonagricultural sector of the economy. If we assume that in the future more farmers in Zimbabwe will have access to these opportunities as the economy develops, our results will illuminate the potentials and constraints of these technologies under changing conditions.Most of the soils in this area are sands of granite origin and many show a catenary 1 association. Under the US Soil Taxonomy system, upper and midslopes are classified as Arenic or Plinthic Paleustalfs or Typic Kandiustalfs and lower slopes as Aquic or Typic Ustipsamments (Anderson et al. 1993). They vary in texture from sands to sandy loams on upper and midslopes to sandy clay loams in the lowest dambo or vlei areas. Soil depth ranges from moderately shallow (>50 cm) to moderately deep. Average crop yields in the area are well below the potential. Low pH is an important constraint in these soils (Dhliwayo et al. 1998:217). Furthermore, considerable research on soil improvement methods including liming, use of inorganic NPK, legume rotations, and green manures has been carried out in the area (Waddington et al. 1998a) .Four wards were selected based on whether or not soil fertility research work had been conducted there, two and two, respectively. In each of the wards, 14 to 23 farmers took part in group discussions; in all, 69 farmers participated, 46% of which were female. Discussions took place during the dry season during a two-week period in September 1998. In an effort to capture the different views of gender groups, the participating farmers in each ward were divided into three groups: male, female, and mixed. The farmers were invited to participate in this exercise by a local officer from the Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex). Members of the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS) and CIMMYT also participated. The discussions were led and recorded by members of Agritex and DR&SS.Group discussions were used to elicit three types of farmers' taxonomies: (1) of farmers, (2) of soils, and (3) of climate. In this paper, we report only on farmers and soils. With those taxonomies as a framework, a discussion followed on management practices to improve soil fertility. The aim was to use farmers' knowledge and perceptions in an open but systematic way to illuminate the problems and opportunities they have with improving soil fertility.Under farmer taxonomy, participating farmers came up with a list of farmer categories, category descriptions, and category strengths and weaknesses. On soil taxonomy, various soil types were listed and described. Strengths and weaknesses of each soil type were explored. Farmers then suggested how each soil type could be improved and discussed their constraints regarding such improvements.Following each group discussion, a short questionnaire was administered to all participants. It solicited information on personal characteristics of the respondent, such as age, education, marital status, as well as household characteristics, which included identifying the head of the household, family size, landholdings, crops grown and area planted to each for the previous season (1997/98), ownership of livestock, and agricultural implements.Participants were asked to rate six different sources of income in terms of their importance to the household during the past five years (e.g., very important, regular importance, not important): cited sources were (1) maize production, (2) production of other crops, (3) animal production, (4) off-farm labor in agricultural activities, (5) off-farm labor in nonagricultural activities, and (6) remittances. Farmers were also asked about their use of six soil fertility improvement practices during the previous season: (1) application of manure, (2) application of chemical fertilizers, (3) application of lime, (4) planting of a leguminous crop in rotation with maize, (5) intercropping of a leguminous crop with maize, (6) planting of green manures. Finally, they were asked whether they had previously worked with the Agritex extension worker in their area or with DR&SS.Knowing who your participants are is a central issue in any type of participatory research.The content and quality of the information elicited and the joint outputs obtained depend on with whom one works. In this exercise, farmers were invited to participate by their ward's Agritex extension worker. As is often the case in participatory research, this was clearly a self-selected and therefore biased sample (involving principally farmers that work in groups with Agritex). Nevertheless, it is important to identify the characteristics of the farmers we work with, and the extent of their similarities and differences. We were able to achieve this through the short questionnaire.To assess the degree of heterogeneity among the informants, we applied a two-stage modified location model (Franco et al. 1998) to generate groups or clusters of farmers that share the same socioeconomic characteristics. The information used to form those clusters included only part of the data set that we had collected, specifically, family size, landholdings, area planted, number of livestock (oxen, cattle and goats) owned, ratings of six sources of income, and ownership and use of agricultural implements. The results of applying the clustering method are shown in Table 1. Five groups of farmers emerged. The group characteristics suggest a gradient of wealth and access to resources. Group A appears to be the wealthiest. Its members have the largest average landholdings, area planted, and number of oxen and cattle. As a source of income, animal production was viewed by the highest percentage of farmers as being \"very important,\" remittances by the lowest percentage, and off-farm agricultural labor by the next to lowest percentage. All of the members of this group own a plough, and most own a cultivator and a cart. This group also has the highest average family size, and therefore the highest potential for family labor availability.Group B appears to be the second wealthiest, in terms of average landholdings and number of oxen and cattle. A high proportion of its members rated maize and animal production as \"very important,\" followed by remittances and nonagricultural off-farm labor. This group seems to have the most diversified sources of income. Most own a plough, and all own a cultivator and a cart. They also have the second largest average family size.Group C appears to be the third wealthiest, following the patterns of the previous two in terms of assets, but with a substantially smaller average number of cattle. The two sources of income that received a high proportion of the \"very important\" rating are maize and animal production. In contrast to group B, other sources of income received substantially fewer votes for \"very important,\" which suggests a higher degree of specialization in agriculture. In this group, the ownership of ploughs, cultivators, and carts decreases substantially, and farmers depend more on either renting these implements or simply do not use them at all.Group D ranks fourth, with less than half the average landholdings and area planted of Group A. Few farmers in this group own oxen, as the average for the group is one head of cattle per farmer. As with groups C and B, the two sources of income that received a high proportion of the \"very important\" rating are maize and animal production; remittances, however, also got a relatively high proportion. No one in this group owned a plough, and only a few own a cultivator or a cart. Most of the Group D farmers either rent these implements or do not use them.Group E, apparently those with the least wealth, was the smallest group with only five members. On average, its members have the fewest agricultural assets of all groups, in terms of landholdings, oxen, cattle, and implements. Maize and other agricultural activities were rated as a \"very important\" source of income by the lowest proportion of group members. On the other hand, off-farm labor, both agricultural and nonagricultural, seem to be important income sources among its members. This group could be viewed as the poorest. Alternatively, given off-farm sources of income, this group may simply be the least involved in agriculture. However, considering that agricultural off-farm labor is usually poorly paid and that ownership of animals is a good indicator of wealth and savings in Shona rural society, it is likely that indeed this group may be the poorest.Table 2 presents other characteristics of these farmer groups that were not taken into consideration in their formation. Female-headed households were found in all groups, except group A; and although their proportional representation varied, they are not necessarily associated with the groups classified as poorer. Not surprisingly, most of the farmers have worked with Agritex or DR&SS in the past; of the groups, Group D had the lowest percentage of farmers who had such contacts.Table 2 also presents the extent of adoption of practices to enhance soil fertility. The application of manure and chemical fertilizer is by far the most commonly adopted practice, both overall and within the groups. The use of legumes in rotation or intercropping with maize shows intermediate levels of adoption, except for group A, in which adoption is high. Finally, lime and green manure are the least commonly adopted practices.In general, the adoption patterns are similar among the groups, however, a few groups display some unique and interesting characteristics. For instance, Group A shows the highest adoption of all the practices, except for legume intercropping. For lime and green manure, adoption is as high as 25% and 20% of its members, respectively. Group D has the lowest proportion of adoption of manure and fertilizer, though this does not hold for the other practices. Group E has a high proportion of members using manure, which is surprising given that few group members have animals. This suggests that they are purchasing this input, probably with part of the income derived from off-farm labor.Although this is a biased sample, the information presented above indicates variation among the participants. There is a gradient of assets and sources of income among them, however even the \"best-off\" farmers in our groups could be considered resource poor by most measures, as average landholdings and number of cattle are not very large. The composition of Group A-better-off male farmers, who have adopted some practices at higher rates than the other groups-suggests that this group is made up of \"master farmers,\" i.e., farmers who have completed a comprehensive training course managed by Agritex and who afterwards agree to undertake \"good\" farming practices. The farmers in these groups classified themselves in many ways. The classifications are based on the presence or absence of an attribute, and therefore are dichotomous. Some of these attributes refer to personal characteristics, such as age and sex, though most involve the ownership or lack of an asset, such as cattle, or access to income or knowledge. Not surprisingly, inherent in most of these classifications are common socioeconomic categories such as age, gender, wealth, and access to inputs and knowledge. However, some of the attributes associated with these \"types\" include value judgments such as laziness and industriousness.The different types of farmers identified by the groups are presented in Table 3.Recognizing that the participants' classification of farmer types reflect common socioeconomic categories, we grouped them by age, gender, ownership of assets, labor allocation and organization, access to cash, knowledge, linkages to the market, and synthetic, (i.e., a type that incorporates attributes from several other types).Age is associated with the ownership of assets, access to family labor, and knowledge. In general, younger farmers are considered worse off than older farmers. Gender is associated with control over labor, assets, and income. Male farmers are in control and, not surprisingly, there seems to be tension between male and female farmers. For example, females believe that they are not rewarded for their labor and that their fields are prepared last.The ownership of assets in general is linked with the timing of farming operations, the ease of performing them, and the crop yield achieved. It is thought that owners perform operations on time and easily, and therefore get higher yields than nonowners. A particularly important asset is the ownership of gardens. Six different groups mentioned gardens in very positive terms. Gardens provide a stable income and are less subject to drought than dry lands, on which income is more seasonal, less stable, and production is more vulnerable to drought. The size of a landholding is another interesting variable. Survey participants thought that farmers owning larger fields tended to spread inputs thinly, while those with smaller fields concentrated them. Agritex advocates farming smaller areas and concentrating inputs in them, even if one has a larger landholding. The authors do not understand why farmers with larger landholdings do not concentrate inputs in smaller areas. On the other hand, maximization of the area under cultivation has been observed in marginal environments in Africa and it may, in fact, be a risk management strategy (Carter and Murwira 1995:82).Labor allocation refers to the ability of farmers working outside the area to hire local labor. This is a process by which those with skills to work elsewhere substitute their own labor with hired local labor, indicating an increased integration of these farmers into the market economy. Another dynamic in these circumstances is labor organization, whereby farmers working in a group cooperate by sharing labor, knowledge and the purchase of inputs.Working in a group may be more common among farmers who work closely with extension, because extension officers promote such group arrangements. One particularly puzzling taxonomy is based on classifying farmers as lazy or industrious. It is not clear whether lazy farmers are actually lazy or rather, poor or sick. The farmer participants recognized such \"lazy\" farmers as a good source of labor. But, if these farmers are indeed lazy, why are they working for others?Access to cash was associated with the timely performance of farm operations, and the ability to purchase inputs and hire labor. Not surprisingly, those with access to cash were considered to be in a better position that those without it.Farmers who possess knowledge are viewed very positively. The groups provided a long list of advantages for those who have knowledge and a long list of disadvantages for those who do not. Knowledge was associated with timely operations, high yield, and crop rotations. The emphasis on knowledge may also be related to the fact that almost all participants work with Agritex, and therefore value access to knowledge-they have been exposed to the message that knowledge is important. One group of farmers also classified farmers into those with and without a Master Farmer Certificate, which, in effect, recognizes the technical training that Agritex provides.Linkage to the market captures the differences between those who sell their produce and those who are subsistence farmers. However, this distinction may not be so rigid, because most likely many farmers are both.Finally, three farmer types recurrently appear, frequently together, as attributes in the other taxonomies: timely performance of farming operations, high crop yields, and planning of operations. These attributes are highly correlated. In the view of farmers, ownership of assets, access to cash, and possession of knowledge lead to good planning and timely operations, which in turn lead to high yields.Farmers in Chihota have a broad and sophisticated soil taxonomy. They recognize ten different soil classes, although not all classes were described by all groups (Table 4). The most widely recognized soil classes with an agricultural use are Shapa, Jecha, Rukangarahwe, and Churu. Rebani (also known as Doro) and Rondo (also known as Chidakha) were mentioned by less than half of the groups, Mhukutu (also known as Bukutu) by two groups and Chinamwe by only one. Two soil classes without agricultural uses were also mentioned: Gokoro and Chibandati.As Table 4 shows, the male groups mentioned slightly more soil classes than the female groups. The mixed groups reported the largest number of soil classes, in many cases twice as many as those reported by the other two groups.Table 5 presents a description of the soil classes and their respective advantages and disadvantages according to the farmers. The descriptions and assessments given by the different groups were very similar. These descriptions are based on texture (i.e., particle size), fertility status, and color (the latter is used to distinguish subclasses). The advantages/disadvantages mentioned by the farmers refer particularly to the water holding capacity of the soil class, the ease of working it, inherent fertility, response to fertilizers and manure, proneness to waterlogging, particular uses (e.g., use in gardens and appropriateness as a building material).The soil classes described by these farmers can be segregated into two classes based on their texture:• Lighter texture soils with high sand content, found in areas where dryland agriculture is practiced and maize is the primary crop. • Heavier texture soils, with high clay content, found where gardens are located, near the bottom of the catena, and usually close to water sources.Based on local perceptions, the two most important soil classes for maize production are the lighter texture soils Jecha and Shapa. Jecha is a sandy soil of low fertility and poor water-holding capacity. It can be easily waterlogged, is easy to work, and is good for building. Shapa is a sandy loam soil, with low to average fertility (yields may be low unless additional inputs are applied), but better water-holding capacity than Jecha. It can also be waterlogged and is easy to work, but it is not good for growing groundnut. The subclasses of Shapa depend • can be used for • difficult to work when too wet capacity, very rice and vegetable hard when dry, production also used in pottery • can be cultivated all year on the position of the soil in the toposequence; they include • the darker soil, which is considered more fertile, located at the lower areas close to the dambo (vlei) areas; • the whitish soil, located in the intermediate areas, in the margins of dambo areas;• and the grayish soil, the least fertile, located at the top of the toposequence.The soil taxonomy elicited from the farmer groups is consistent with findings from other studies in local soil taxonomies. As in other parts of the world, soil texture and color are the most important characteristics recognized by the smallholder farmers. Other characteristics that farmers refer to and that have also been found by others include appropriateness for agricultural use, ease of cultivation, water-holding capacity, and fertility (e.g., Bellon and Taylor 1993:772 for Mexico; Sandor and Furbee 1996:1507 for the Andes). Farmers' distinction between upland and riverbank soils has also been reported for Zambia (Edwards 1987:7) and Zimbabwe (Carter and Murwira 1995:78).Table 6 presents a list of the practices that farmer groups identified as improving soil fertility and the number of farmer groups that cited each practice. These practices may or may not actually be used by farmers, but, nevertheless, are recognized by them. The most common practices include the addition of termite mound soil, cattle manure, and inorganic fertilizer to the soil. Lime was also widely mentioned, however, this may be because the farmers have been exposed to this knowledge through past work with extension, and so it may not be an indicator of widespread use. As Table 2 shows, the adoption of lime is relatively low.  * The churu or termite mound soil can be used to improve other soils, but also can be planted. Therefore there are a few specialized practices for this soil type, which includes: potholing to trap water, add sand, plow when moist.Only one group mentioned the rotation of maize with a leguminous crop as a soil improvement practice. Most of the groups did not recognize it as a soil improvement practice, even though rotations are widely practiced by the participating farmers (Table 2). This may be because of the dominance of the maize cereal crop and the low fertility of the soils where rotations take place, which restrict the production of legume biomass and N fixation, and therefore their beneficial effect on the soils.Similarly, no farmers identified intercropping of maize and a leguminous crop as a soil improvement practice, although it is widely used. Clearly, farmers do not perceive a benefit to soil fertility associated with the use of legumes. This indicates a knowledge gap that must be addressed if research and extension want to promote the use of leguminous crops for soil improvement. It also indicates that this gap may be because current rotations have little effect over the soil fertility in local conditions.Several of the practices the farmers referred to could not be considered as enhancing soil fertility per se, such as early or dry planting, early or deep plowing, draining excess water, raising beds, or timeliness of operations. These practices may be perceived as improving soil fertility because they can interact with more conventional practices, such as the addition of fertilizers or manure, and thereby enhance their effectiveness. For example, early planting may lead to a larger production of crop biomass, particularly if cattle manure or fertilizers are added, which, if incorporated back into the soil will improve soil fertility. The identification by the farmers of practices such as soil analysis and conservation works may result from interactions these farmers have had with extension workers, who in the past promoted, or at least referred to, these practices.There does not appear to be a clear association between the soil improvement practices cited by the farmers and the soil types they recognize, as most they would prescribe most of the practices for all of the soils (or at least Jecha and Shapa, the most important ones). However, there were a few exceptions, specifically the use of deep plowing for Rukangarahwe, raised beds for Rebani/Doro (heavier soils in gardens), and fallow, mostly associated with Jecha.Overall, this would seem to suggest that we should not be overly concerned with trying to tailor practices to farmers' soil classes, at least when dealing with dryland farming. However, such an assumption may be premature because new practices or technologies may not respond equally well to the various soil types and/or the lack of specificity exhibited by the farmers may result from a lack of knowledge. Whether matching soil improvement technologies, current or future, to farmers' soil classes generates additional net benefits, and therefore is merited, requires further thought and research.When farmers were queried about the soil fertility management practices we've been discussing, they were also asked to provide constraints to their use. Table 7 lists these constraints together with their associated practice(s), and notes the number of groups that mentioned it. The constraints reflect a number of underlying themes or issues. The two most common themes are • scarcity of and access to inputs-both local, such as manure and termite mound soil, and purchased, such as fertilizers and lime; and • labor scarcity for the application of inputs, due to the labor intensiveness of the operations or simply the lack of available labor or cash to hire it.A similar theme that emerged was that of priorities given to alternative uses for the input; for instance, the preference for applying manure to gardens rather than field plots, or the low priority given to improving some classes of soil (in this case, Rukangarahwe). The lack of implements and power were also cited as limitations, although these relate to the specific practices of deep plowing and the application of termite mound soil. Also mentioned was lack of land, which limits the frequency and duration of fallows. Several farmer groups mentioned lack of knowledge about application rates for fertilizer and the use of lime as constraints. This was surprising given that, in general, these farmers work closely with extension agents. This suggests that there may be a need for better communication between them. Finally, one group also mentioned soil erosion as a constraint.The overriding theme regarding constraints to employing better soil fertility practices center on the scarcity of the factors of production-labor and capital, and to a much lesser extent land, and also knowledge. Although the sample may include better-off farmers, they are still resource poor. If anything, these constraints may be even more acute in the rest of the farming population.The list of elicited constraints can be incorporated into a scheme for the assessment of new soil fertility improvement technologies. Farmers and researchers would want to assess how a new soil fertility management technology performs with respect to • access to the inputs;• labor intensity, including timing of the labor used;• additional knowledge required to successfully apply the new technology;• requirements for the effective use of implements, in terms of the types of implements, access to them, and timing of their use; • assessments of the new technology as it relates to farmers' current priorities and resource allocation.This assessment involves not only the technology per se, but the infrastructure and institutional setting in which it may be deployed, as well as the changes that would be required for increasing its possibility of adoption.The analysis of the farmers' taxonomies shows that the systems are consistent and logical. There are no glaring contradictions, and the surprises can be explained; for example, the fact that nearly all groups failed to consider crop rotation to be a soil improvement practice. The information contained within these taxonomies provides a framework for understanding the farmers' soil fertility practices.There is great consistency between the themes that emerged from the taxonomy of farmers and the constraints they face in applying soil fertility improvement practices. The ownership of assets (such as cattle and draught power), access to cash to pay for labor and inputs, and possession of knowledge are important categories in the taxonomies of farmers. Indeed, these factors allow or constrain the use of most of the soil fertility improvement practices recognized by farmers. Those with cattle, draught power, and financial resources, i.e., wealthier farmers, should be better able to use soil fertility improvement technologies than those without them, i.e., poorer farmers. Young or female farmers, considered to have less access than others to these resources, are probably in a poorer position to apply these practices. Not surprisingly, the cluster of participants found in Group A, which could be considered the wealthiest, reported the highest rate of adoption of all soil fertility practices. Although this should not be interpreted as definitive evidence, it certainly is consistent.The most recurrent theme cited by the participants is the timing of farm operations, typically a major concern for farmers in areas characterized by unimodal rainfall area. Delays imply decreased productivity. Ignorance of the correct scheduling of fertilizer and/ or lime applications was mentioned as a constraint to using these inputs. Delays are also associated with a lack of assets and access to resources, consequently, such delays should be a greater issue for poorer farmers. Undoubtedly, the factor of timing in the use of soil fertility improvement practices, and the potential for conflict and complementarity between the practices and other farm activities, must be an important consideration in their improvement, design, and assessment.Many of the practices, relationships, and themes identified here have been reported in previous studies, which used different methodologies, in the communal areas of Zimbabwe. Carter and Murwira (1995:78) observed most of the same soil fertility management practices and crops for the Mutoko communal area in northeast Zimbabwe. They also found that gardens are very important for farmers. Huchu and Sithole (1993:45-48) also reported many of the same soil fertility practices for communal areas in other natural regions of Zimbabwe. Crop management and productivity levels among smallholders in the adjacent areas of Mangwende and Mutoko were found to be closely related to cattle ownership (Shumba et al. 1989:446;Carter and Murwira 1995:77). In Mangwende, ownership of cattle was used to identify target groups for potential technologies (Shumba et al. 1989:444). It was found that farmers with cattle had larger arable landholdings. In addition, they applied manure, had better and more timely seedbed preparation, more timely weed control, winter-ploughed and consequently planted earlier, achieved larger crop yields, and earned higher incomes.Another study showed that for maize and groundnut, increased quantities and earlier application of inputs increased grain or seed yield and economic return (Shumba et al. 1990:112). Another study in the same agroecological region showed that late planting of maize is a major contributor to low yields (Waddington et al. 1991:28). Because our results are consistent with other studies in the region and with what \"common sense\" would tell us, we are comfortable generalizing our results, despite the fact that they are based on a self-selected sample of farmers.Given these results, what is the way forward? Many of the factors that constrain the use of soil fertility improvement practices cannot be eliminated through the efforts of Agritex or the Soil Fert Net, for example, those practices that require greater access to draught animals or farming implements. Nevertheless, these constraints should be taken into account in the identification, design, assessment, and promotion of \"best bet\" soil fertility technologies (Huchu and Sithole 1993: 49;Waddington et al. 1998b: 246). The technologies must be compatible with farmer circumstances and interests and where possible should improve the efficiency of resource use. One constraint that Agritex and Soil Fert Net can greatly impact is the knowledge gap. By providing better information on the time of application, quantity, and long-term management of lime and fertilizers, Agritex and Soil Fert Net can help farmers glean the full benefits offered by these inputs.One practice that deserves special attention in future research efforts is the application of termite mound soil. It is one of the most widely mentioned practices, but it carries with it many constraints. Farmers seem to appreciate this practice, despite its high cost in terms of labor, implements, and management. In conversations among farmers, experiments with termite mound soil are frequently mentioned. Clearly, the practice is a very important option for farmers, and they appear willing to invest resources in it. Supply, however, is limited. This suggests the need for further research in the use and management of termite mound soil, particularly in conjunction with farmers, who are already experimenting with it. Furthermore, the application of termite mound soil could be a useful basis for comparison in the assessment of new soil fertility improvement technologies.The farmers in our study area have relatively sophisticated taxonomies, which provide a good picture of the resources, constraints, concerns, and opportunities they have regarding soil infertility and ways to manage it. The farmers' taxonomy of themselves provides a good picture of their socioeconomic environment, while the farmers' soil taxonomies provide important insights into the fertility and management of their soils. The taxonomies provide an important framework for the integration of technical interventions with farmers' requirements, systems, and circumstances. They also provide valuable feedback to researchers on gaps and opportunities for new participatory research on soil fertility technologies.Soil infertility and practices to reduce it are very prominent issues in the minds of farmers. Effectively addressing the issue will require a partnership that brings the best that outside research and extension have to offer together with the time-proven knowledge and practices of the local farmers.","tokenCount":"6015"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7946586081.json b/data/part_1/7946586081.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..229cd17669d5305f4e740fb8ce13fb24cf172347
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7946586081.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d8b7daa3a37aeea0375267334f794701","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1c7fce6a-442d-450b-9e52-391c26ca5108/retrieve","id":"-777899845"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9d0ce87b-d2d9-4cf8-a4d4-de90cfd91141","pagecount":"91","content":"The AICCRA-Ethiopia Project, led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) aims to enhance productivity and resilience of Ethiopia's agriculture in the face of climate change through i) Development of ag-data hubs, visualization tools, Early Warning Systems (EWS), Climate Information system (CIS), climate-informed agro-advisories, Decision Support Tools, and dissemination systems; ii) Integrating these risk reduction measures into the national e-extension systems to strengthen and enhance its reach to under-served groups including women; iii) Strengthen the capacity of National Meteorological Stations to deliver NextGen sub-seasonal and seasonal weather forecasts; iv) Build capacity of public and private sector to deliver EWS, CIS and ag-advisories to end-users; v) Strengthen National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) and building Ethiopia's capacity for effective streamlining of CIS and ag-advisory, implementation and governance; (vi) Development of contextualized climate-smart and gender-responsive CSA packages for priority value chains through participatory engagement with researchers, policymakers and farmers.Under the AICCRA-Ethiopia Project, the International Maize and Wheat Production Center (CYMMIT) is collaborating with the Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) to conduct on-station experiments using popular varieties of Sorghum, wheat, barley, and maize at EAIAR research centers. The partners will collect data from these experiments for model calibration and evaluation and further organize field days for farmers to showcase outcomes of the experiments.As envisaged, the experimentation of these selected cereals is expected to lead to some environmental and social (E&S) risks. In line with this expectation and in accordance with the requirements of the project's Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) guide, the AICCRA-Ethiopia team, in July 2022, conducted site specific screening of plots identified for the on-station experiments.The environmental and social screening exercise conducted on proposed CSA demonstration plots confirmed a range of Environmental and Social (E&S) risks, which if not mitigated, could cause harm to people and the environment. Based on these findings, this ESMP is prepared to clarify (i) the measures that will be taken during the implementation of project activities to eliminate or offset adverse E&S impacts, or to reduce them to acceptable levels; and (ii) actions needed to implement these measures.The purpose of this ESMP is to consider and develop proper measures to decrease the possibility of environmental degradation during all phases of the project, and to provide clearly defined action plans and emergency response procedures to account for human and environmental health and safety.This ESMP provides a practical plan to mitigate and respond to the potential E&S risks identified on the proposed on-station experiments in Ethiopia. The plan specifically details:i.The description of the sites identified for CSA demonstrations and key E&S risks identified. ii.Identifying and addressing relevant national and international legal requirements and guidelines. iii.Describing relevant baseline environmental and social conditions. iv.The measures to be taken during the implementation and operation of a project to eliminate, mitigate or offset adverse environmental and social impacts or reduce them to acceptable levels. v.Developing environmental & social management and monitoring plans in compliance with the relevant environmental laws. vi.Documenting and addressing environmental and social concerns raised by stakeholders and the Public in consultation events and activities.The proposed CSA demonstration under AICCRA Ethiopia involves on-station experiments around popular varieties of maize, wheat, barley and sorghum at 10 selected operational sites of EIAR. The Sorghum varieties selected for experiments are Dibaba and Jiru; Maize varieties are Melkassa 2, Melkassa 4, MH140; Wheat varieties ncludes Kakaba, Dursa, Kingbird, Wane, Daka, Shorima, Lemu, Dandaa and Shaki and Barley varieties are MBHB1963, MBIBON, MBTraveller, and FBHB1307.The experimentation of these crops will be rain-fed and will focus on collecting growth and development data on crop varieties planted. Based on this data, EIAR will run model calibration and evaluation of crop performance in different ecological zones. EIAR will also organize famer-field days at these sites to expose farmers to key innovations to be experimented. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia is the fundamental law of the country that provides the overriding principles for all legislative frameworks in the country. The relevant national and sector legislations, policies, institutional frameworks, and international conventions relevant to crop experiments are summarized below. The E&S risks identified on the planned experiment of maize, barley, wheat, and sorghum are classified as moderate. The moderate risk rating takes into consideration the potential E&S risks anticipated on activities relating to land clearing and ploughing, use of workers to plant and maintain crops, potential use of fertilizer for soil health amendments, potential use of chemicals for crop pest and disease control, and the expected interaction between workers and farmers during farmer field days. The key E&S risks envisaged are as follows:• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Air pollution during tillage and preparation of land for crop planting;• Disturbance of local biodiversity through oil leaks from tractors to be used for ploughing.• Community health and safety issues, including community exposure to pesticides and other hazardous materials, exposure to excessive heat leading to sun burns;• Indiscriminate disposal of solid waste;• Potential surface water and river contamination from pesticides use on crops and washed away by run-offs water.• Infection with a communicable disease (such as COVID-19) which may arise from the interaction of project workers with local communities or between project workers;• Gender Based Violence (GBV) in relation to contact between project workers and farmers.• Potential exclusion of vulnerable groups such as blind and deaf farmers from learning sessions; and• Potential crop losses from invading wild birds.This ESMP considered a number of mitigation measures to eliminate the adverse E&S risks and impacts that were identified. These measures include:• Occupational health and safety principles;• Community health and safety principles;• Integrated pest management principles;• Gender and social inclusion principles;• SEA/SH prevention and response principles; and• Stakeholder engagement and grievance redress mechanisms.EIAR and CYMMIT acknowledges that the activities and operations during the implementation of CSA innovations could potentially impact the environment, workers, and the communities, and is therefore very mindful of its obligations towards the protection of the environment and ensuring the health and safety of the farmers and communities within the project area. AICCRA-Ethiopia will continue to invest in ensuring a safe environment that will assure sustainable farming operations and will also continue to undertake its activities and operations in accordance with the Ethiopia laws as well as the Environmental and Social Framework of the World Bank. As envisaged, the experimentation of these selected cereals is expected to lead to some environmental and social (E&S) risks. In line with this expectation and in accordance with the requirements of the project's Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) guide, the AICCRA-Ethiopia team, in July 2022, conducted site specific screening of the on-station plots. The screening exercise confirmed a range of Environmental and Social (E&S) risks, which if not mitigated, could cause harm to people and the environment.The AICCRA-Ethiopia team has prepared this Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) to guide the mitigation and response to the E&S risks identified on the plots and conduct of the onstation experiments. This ESMP has been prepared in tandem with separate Labor Management Procedures (LMP), Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA)/Sexual Harassment (SH) Mitigation Action Plan, and a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) which includes a grievance mechanism (GM) as a collective set of mitigation instruments for managing E&S risks envisaged for AICCRA-Ethiopia activities.This ESMP has also been consulted upon with key project stakeholders and would be disclosed in all the 10 experimentation sites prior to the commencement of project activities. This ESMP is a living document, which will be updated and re-disclosed as and when new risks are identified, or field activities are expanded. The experimentation of these crops will be rain-fed and will focus on collecting growth and development data on crop varieties planted. Based on this data, EIAR will run model calibration and evaluation of crop performance in different ecological zones. EIAR will also organize famer-field days at these sites to expose farmers to key innovations to be experimented. The table below provides the breakdown of roles and responsibilities of the three key partners that have a role to play on the experimentation initiatives under AICCRA-Ethiopia. The environmental and social screening exercise conducted on sites for on-station experiments of maize, wheat, barley, and sorghum confirmed a range of Environmental and Social (E&S) risks, which if not mitigated, could cause harm to people and the environment. Based on these findings, this ESMP is prepared to clarify (i) the measures that will be taken during the implementation of project activities to eliminate or offset adverse E&S impacts, or to reduce them to acceptable levels; and (ii) actions needed to implement these measures.The purpose of this ESMP is to consider and develop proper measures and controls to decrease the potential for environmental degradation during all phases of the project, and to provide clearly defined action plans and emergency response procedures to account for human and environmental health and safety. This ESMP provides a practical plan to mitigate and respond to the potential E&S risks identified on the proposed crop experimentation in Ethiopia. The specific objectives of the ESMP are to detail the following: i.The description of sites identified for the CSA demonstrations and key E&S risks identified; ii.Relevant national and international legal requirements and guidelines and how they would be addressed; iii.Relevant baseline environmental and social conditions. iv.Measures to be taken during the implementation and operation of a project to eliminate, mitigate or offset adverse environmental and social impacts or reduce them to acceptable levels; v.Environmental & social management and monitoring plans.AICCRA is a World Bank supported project that seeks to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in support of scaling efforts in IDA-eligible countries in Africa. It supports critical knowledge creation and sharing, and capacity building activities to enable regional and national-level stakeholders to take CSA innovations to scale. It will achieve this by further strengthening partnerships between CGIAR and the regional and local research institutes, universities, civil society organizations, farmer organizations, and private sector. AICCRA will facilitate the development of CIS technologies and promote the adoption of bundled CIS and CSA solutions across sub-regions within Africa that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. The project will also support on-the-ground activities in selected countries in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa where CGIAR science has the greatest chance of success in delivering catalytic results, which can be adopted by other countries in the region through spillover effects, and regional engagements.The Project Development Objective is to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in support of scaling efforts in IDA-eligible countries in Africa. Based on this overall objective the project is structured into four components:Component 1 -Knowledge generation and sharing: Supporting the generation and sharing of knowledge products and tools designed to address critical gaps in the design and provision of agricultural climate services, enable climate-informed investment planning, and contribute to the design of policies to promote uptake of CIS and CSA at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.Component 2 -Strengthening partnership for delivery: Strengthening the capacities of key regional and national institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa along the research-to-development continuum for anticipating climate effects and accelerating identification, prioritization, and uptake of best-bet adaptive and mitigation measures. Component 4 -Project management: Supporting day-to-day implementation, coordination, supervision and overall communication and management (including procurement, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, audits, environmental and social risk management, and reporting) of project activities and results, all through the provision of goods, consulting services, nonconsulting services, trainings and workshops, operating costs, and payment of staff salaries for the purpose.AICCRA's Ethiopia project aims to enhance productivity and resilience of Ethiopia's agriculture in the face of climate change through:i) Development of ag-data hubs, visualization tools, EWS, CIS, climate-informed agro-advisories, DSTs, and dissemination systems; j) Integrating these risk reduction measures into the national e-extension systems to strengthen and enhance its reach to under-served groups including women; k) Strengthen the capacity of National Meteorological Services (NMS) to deliver NextGen subseasonal and seasonal weather forecasts; l) Build capacity of public and private sector to deliver EWS, CIS and ag-advisories to end-users; m) Strengthen National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) and building Ethiopia's capacity for effective streamlining of CIS and ag-advisory, implementation and governance; n) Development of contextualized climate-smart and gender-responsive CSA packages for priority value chains through participatory engagement with researchers, policymakers and farmers; designing CSA scaling frameworks and identifying effective best-bet CSA options for wider adoption, implementation and impact at scale. The project will be implemented in partnership with sub-national, national, regional, and international partners in crop and livestock value chains in the highlands and dry lowlands of Ethiopia.The key activities of the cluster are cited below: CYMMIT and EIAR will strictly adhere to and follow the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) as well as the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks of Ethiopia for the onstation experiments. This section provides a brief overview of relevant World Bank standards and national environmental and social policies, regulations, and legal frameworks that provide guidance for the conduct of on-site experiments in Ethiopia.The Constitution of Ethiopia: The constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia provides the overriding principles for all legislative frameworks in the country. The concept of sustainable development and the environmental rights of the people are protected in the constitution. The concept of sustainable development and environmental rights are enshrined in article 43, 44, and 92 of the Constitution of Ethiopia.The fundamental human rights and freedoms of people are also enshrined in the constitution. Among these fundamental rights, a whole range of general principles of labor rights are firmly anchored in the constitution. The constitution provides for principles such as the right of the security of the person (Article 16 of the Constitution), the prohibition against inhuman treatment and the abolishment of slavery and servitude (Article 18 (2)) and forced and compulsory labor (Article 18 (3) and (4) of the Constitution). Article 35 of the Constitution deals with the rights of women, such as equality with men (Article 35(1)), in particular in employment, promotion, pay and the transfer of pension entitlements (Article 35(7), and 42 (1) d)). The Constitution grants the right to maternity leave with full pay, as well as prenatal leave with full pay, in accordance with the provisions of the law (Article 35(4) a) and b)).The foregoing therefore requires the AICCRA-Ethiopia team to implement the on-station experiments in a manner that promotes inclusion, prevents forced labor and promotes sound environmental protection and management.Environmental Policy of Ethiopia: The Environmental Policy of Ethiopia, approved in 1997, is aimed at guiding sustainable social and economic development of the country through the conservation and sustainable utilization of the natural, man-made and cultural resources and the environment at large. The overall policy goal is to improve and enhance the health and quality of life of all Ethiopians and to promote sustainable social and economic development through the sound management and use of natural, human-made, and cultural resources and the environment as a whole so as to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The policy objectives are ensuring that genetic resources and essential ecosystems of the country are conserved, developed and sustainably used, asserting national sovereignty over genetic resources. It also seeks to enrich the country's biological resources through restoration, integrating biodiversity conservation with sectoral and cross-sectoral strategies and programs. The policy also sets parameters for recognizing and protecting community knowledge, ensuring that the local communities share benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and community knowledge and promoting regional and international cooperation.The Policy among other issues recognizes that unregulated discharge of pollutants and improper use of agro-chemicals could cause ecological disturbance, lead to loss of species and ecological services.The AICCRA-Ethiopia Project activities on field may involve the use of pesticides and will therefore need to ensure that the use of agrochemicals do not cause any harm to the local biodiversity.The Government of Ethiopia has initiated the Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) initiative to protect the country from the adverse effects of climate change and to build a green economy that will help realize its ambition of reaching middle-income status before 2025. Ethiopia's green economy plan is based on the following four pillars: (i) Improving crop and livestock production practices for higher food security and farmer income while reducing emissions; (ii) Protecting and re-establishing forests for their economic and ecosystem services, including as carbon stocks; (iii) Expanding electricity generation from renewable sources of energy for domestic and regional markets; (iv) Leapfrogging to modern and energy-efficient technologies in transport, industrial sectors, and buildings.Applicability/Relevance to the Project: This strategy provides guidelines to the AICCRA project team on key climate smart measures that the government considers to be essential in improving crop production practices in Ethiopia, which the project would need to draw from to inform crop experiment activities.The overall policy goal is to ensure fair and sustainable utilization of resources from the economic growth of the country and to reduce poverty significantly, to take social protection measures to ensure access and equitable benefit for the poorest of the poor and vulnerable segments of the society from the social and economic development. The policy gives due emphasis to the following target groups:• Children under difficult circumstances,• Vulnerable pregnant and lactating women,• Vulnerable people with disabilities and people with mental health problems,• Elderly with no care and support,• Labor constrained citizens unable to get basic social and economic services,• Victims of social problems such as beggars, commercial sex workers, drug and medicine addicted, • Citizens affected by HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases that constrain their ability to work, • Segments of the society vulnerable to violence and abuse, • Segments of the society vulnerable to natural and manmade risks, • Unemployed citizens, • Citizens engaged in the informal sector and who have not social insurance coverage, • Victims of human trafficking and repatriated emigrants.Applicability/Relevance to the Project: The AICCRA-Ethiopia Team would need to ensure inclusion and involvement of vulnerable group in the farmer field day learning events that will be organized around the field experiments.Environmental Impact Assessment Proclamation 299/2002: This Proclamation (No 299/2002) aims primarily at making the ESIA mandatory for categories of projects specified under a directive issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate (MoEFC). Accordingly, the MoEFC issued an EIA Directive 1/2008 to determine project that are subject to EIA. The Proclamation makes ESIA mandatory for specified categories of activities undertaken either by the public or private sectors, or possibly, for the extension of ESIA to policies, plans and programmes in addition to projects directive. The proponent of the project (whether it is public or private body) must prepare an ESIA following the requirements specified in the legislation (article 8) and associated guidelines. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change or the sector Ministries delegated by it and relevant Regional Environmental Agencies will then review the ESIA and either approve the project (with or without conditions) or reject it. Schedule 1 under Directive 1/2008 provide the list the following agricultural projects that require ESIA.water management projects for agriculture (drainage, irrigation) • large scale mono-culture (cash and food crops) The proclamation has important provisions on environmental standards, inspection procedures, offences and penalties, etc. In its provision to control pollution, the proclamation states that, among others,• No person shall pollute or cause any other person to pollute the environment by violating the relevant environmental standards,• The Commission or the relevant Regional environmental agency may take an administrative or legal measure against a person who, in violation of law, releases any pollutant to the environment.The AICCRA-Ethiopia Project activities on field may generate wastes (green wastes, non-use pesticides or fertilizers, empty pesticide or fertilizer packaging, etc.) which will need to be disposed of as per the guidelines in the proclamation. ). The proclamation aims to regulate the manufacture, formulation, import, export, transport, storage, distribution, sale, use and disposal of pesticide. This Proclamation:• Covers agricultural, household, public health, and industrial pesticides;• Provides registration and control responsibilities to the Ministry of Agriculture;• Seeks to promote safer pesticide handling and use in the country;• Requires that all pesticides should be registered based on demonstrated product effectiveness and safety for humans, non-target organisms and the environment; • Prohibits importation of highly hazardous, severally restricted or banned pesticides (including most Organo-chlorines); and • Obliges that all pesticides must display labels that meet specific Ministry of Agriculture label requirements.Applicability/Relevance to the Project: The AICCRA-Ethiopia Team would need to ensure that only pesticides and other chemicals approved by the government are used to treat crop diseases during demonstration.The proclamation is decreed to ensure that the water resources of the country are protected and utilized for the highest social, economic and environment benefits of the people of Ethiopia; to follow up and supervise that they are duly conserved; to ensure that harmful effects of water are prevented, and that the management of water resources is carried out properly. It proclaims that all water resources of the country are the common property of the Ethiopian people and the state. It has provisions on general principles of water use and management, inventory of water resources, professional engagement in water resource management and supply. Among other articles, the proclamation clearly indicates the requirements on water bank management and prevention of harmful effects on water resources in the articles 24 and 25 of the proclamation. The supervising body (the ministry), in collaboration and in consultation with the appropriate public body may: (i) Delimit the boundaries of the banks of certain water bodies; (ii) Prohibit clearing and cutting trees or vegetation and construction of residential houses within the delimited banks of water bodies.Applicability/Relevance to the Project: The AICCRA-Ethiopia Team would need to avoid conducting experiments within the delimited banks of water bodies.The Labor proclamation requires an employer to take the necessary measures to adequately safeguard the health and safety of the workers. The new Labor Proclamation No. 1156/2019 is enacted with a view to securing durable industrial peace, sustainable productivity and competitiveness that will contribute to the overall development of the country. The Proclamation has introduced new concepts. It has also modified some of the existing provisions which were unclear, and therefore, prone to various interpretations. Under Article 89 of the Labor Proclamation the statutory minimum age for young workers is 15 years. Beyond the age of 15 years, no person may employ a child for work that is inappropriate or that endangers his or her life or health (Article 89 (2) and ( 3)).Articles 53 and 54 of the Proclamation define \"Wages\" as the regular payment to which the worker is entitled in return for the performance of the work that he performs under a contract of employment. Overtime pay, allowances, bonuses, etc. are not considered as \"wages\". The Proclamation establishes the principle that wage is only paid for work done, except in cases, when the source of the impossibility to work was in the sphere of the employer (i.e. non supply of working material).The pilot of CSA innovations will involve the use of several contracted workers for which the AICCRA-Ethiopia team must follow guidelines provided in this proclamation to ensure sound working conditions for workers and eliminate potential occupational health and safety hazards for all workers. Ministry of Planning and Development will not have any role in the project, as the scope of the CSA demonstrations does not require approval and monitoring of of the ministry.Proclamation 295/2002 requires regional states to establish or designate their own regional environmental agencies. Regional Environment Protection Bureau/offices have been established in all regional states under consideration. The regional environmental agencies are responsible for coordination, formulation, implementation, review, and revision of regional conservation strategies as well as environmental monitoring, protection, and regulation (Article 15).The current set up of the Ethiopia institute of Agricultural Research was created by Proclamation number 79/1997. As per the Proclamation, the objective of EIAR are (1) to generate, develop and adapt agricultural technologies that focus on the needs of the overall agricultural development and its beneficiaries; (2) to coordinate technically the research activities of Ethiopian Agricultural Research System; (3) build up a research capacity and establish a system that will make agricultural research efficient, effective and based on development needs; and (4) popularize agricultural research results.EIAR is responsible for establishing the on-site experiments on selected crops and will therefore serve as the primary institution to screen project sites and ensure implementation of key mitigation measuresThe World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), of which AICCRA-Ethiopia is making conscious efforts to comply with all relevant requirements on Ethiopia activities, guide the design and implementation of the overall AICCRA project. The following Standards are considered relevant for pilot of crop experiments in Ethiopia: These standards, especially ESS-1, set the basis for the E&S screening of project sites and the preparation of this ESMP. They further provide the lens for identifying potential E&S risks, key mitigation measures, and other procedures contained in this document. The Project will be implemented mainly in established agricultural research stations. Project activities are not taking place in areas in which Indigenous Peoples / Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities are present or have collective attachment to a proposed project area. AICCRA-Ethiopia on-farm activities are not expected to affect any cultural heritage sites or lead to involuntary land acquisition and physical displacements as all CSA demonstration activities will occurred on existing EIAR research stations. The financing of the project activities will also not involve financial intermediaries. Therefore, the following ESSs are not relevant to the project. In general, there is great convergence views and similarity between Ethiopia's environmental and social management system and that of the World Bank. The following table makes a comparison between national procedures and World Bank policies. Enforce the project E&S exclusion list on CSA demonstration activities.Strengthen the screening procedures to include a checklist to assess whether a demonstration site has the potential for disturbing and affecting biodiversity.The program will exclude subprojects that have adverse impacts on natural habitats and physical cultural resources.This standard is relevant because the project will involve multiple stakeholders with diverse interest and influence on project activities. Therefore, the inputs and concerns of these stakeholder groups would need to be factored into project design and implementation through meaningful stakeholder engagements. Based on this SEP, a grievance mechanism has been operationalized to receive and manage cases from affected farmers and communities.The AICCRA Environmental and Social Risks Management (ESRM) guide is a management tool that provides guidelines for agricultural research institutions under AICCRA to assess the potential E&S risks and opportunities associated with their research activities towards more productive and climate-resilient agriculture. The Guide provides information on what is needed for project Grant recipients to assess the E&S risks, communicate requirements to agricultural research institutions, as well as monitor and report on implementation. The ESRM guide sets the following E&S exclusion criteria for all grant recipients under the project.1. Production or activities involving forced labor 1 ; 2. Production or activities involving child labor 2 ; 3. Cross-border trade in pesticides, waste, and waste products, unless compliant to the Basel Convention and the underlying regulations 3 ; 4. Research that may lead to environmentally damaging activities, such as inappropriate use of chemical fertilizers; 5. Production or trade in any product or activity deemed illegal under host country laws or regulations or international conventions and agreements, or subject to international bans, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides/herbicides, ozone depleting substances, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), wildlife or products regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); 6. Biotechnology application in genetically modified crops that may involve genetic transformations of the national original crops and/or might generate irreversible environmental impacts; 7. Activities that could introduce invasive alien species and may impact critical habitats and/or legally protected areas; 8. Activities that may result in discrimination against vulnerable groups, including on the basis of gender and disability; 9. Activities involving land acquisition leading to economic or physical displacement; 10. Activities that affect existing land tenure arrangements or cultural heritage; 11. Activities carried out by institutions with a record of unresolved occupational, health, and safety incidents or accidents; 4 12. Activities carried out by institutions with a record of unresolved Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Sexual Harassment incidents; 5Applicability/Relevance to the Project: The AICCRA-Ethiopia team will need to ensure that the pilot of CSA innovations does not involve any of the activities on the project exclusion list.This section provides a brief outline of the environmental and social baseline condition of the Districts/Woreda of EIAR research centers where crop experiments will occur.  Mount Kaka is the highest point in the woreda, Melka Wakena dam, its power stations and lakes are located here and it's a potential area for cereal crops production.None.Mount Chilalo, Katar, Kulumsa, Dosha, Gonde and Walkesa rivers are located in this woreda, known for its cereal and pulse crops production. Adaa District Bishoftu is found in Adaa district, which is surrounded by beautiful lakes. Fish and beautiful birds are found in the lakes. Rivers include the Modjo, Belbela, Wedecha and Dukem. Other bodies of water include the five crater lakes around Debre Zeyit: Lake Bishoftu, Lake Hora, Lake Bishoftu Guda, Lake Koriftu and the seasonal Lake Cheleklaka. Important forests include the government-protected Dirre-Garbicha and the Tedecha and Oude community forests.Most parts of this district are more than 2300 meters above sea level; Gara Bokan is the highest point. Rivers include Wedecha and Belbela, both tributaries of the Mdjo.Awash National Park, which covers an area of 827 square kilometers with most of it at an altitude of 900 meters, and Abijatta-Shalla National Park are located in Adama. 6Negele Arsi Negele (Mankubssa) National Forest Priority Area and the Arsi Mountains National Park which protects a portion of the Ethiopian Highlands, and includes montane forests, subalpine heath, and alpine grasslands and shrublands are located in this woreda. 7 Miesso None.Lake Haramaya, located in the Haramaya woreda was formerly a source of life as well as a sanctuary for birds but is now drying up and confronting other terrible conditions. 8 Data on air quality is extremely scarce. No air quality monitoring data for the sub-project areas was found.  This section provides a brief background of the 10 sites selected for experimentation of CSA innovations on maize, wheat, sorghum, and barley under AICCRA-Ethiopia.Overall, the crop experimentation will be conducted through 10 EIAR satellite research centers across the country. The 10 research centers were carefully selected to lead the experimentation of selected crops in various agro-ecological zones of the country. These centers include Arsi Negele, Melkasa, Asasa, Bekoji, Kulumsa, Debre Zeit, Chefe Donsa, Aleme Tena, Haramaya and Miesso.The physical features of the sites can further be previewed and visualized through this interactive google mapAll the plots considered for on-station experiments are located on a land owned by the respective 10 satellite research centers. The plot selected by each station for AICCRA related experiments is about 5 hectares. These plots are modified farmlands, which have been used by the centers for various farming activities over the past years. The plots are free from encumbrances as they all fall under the ownership of the research centers and for that matter the Federal Government. As part of the project agreement signed with EIAR, the institution committed to voluntarily release these lands for the joint experiments without recourse to compensation or any land lease arrangement. The physical layout of these plots is shown in the photos below.Photo 1: Experimentation Plot at Arsi Negele Research CentreThe potential E&S risks identified during the site screening include• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains.Source: Field visits during E&S screening of plots, July 2022• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Potential interruption local biodiversity through excessive use of pesticides and destruction of soil micro-organism.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people from farmer-field days on the experimental site expire.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains.Source: Field visits during E&S screening of plots, July 2022• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Exposure to community violence through traffic accidents • Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable groups from learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains. • Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2Source: Field visits during E&S screening of plots, July 2022• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains. • Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains. • Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains.Source: Field visits during E&S screening of plots, July 2022• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains.Source: Field visits during E&S screening of plots, July 2022• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains. • Potential sheet erosion on the land gentle slope.• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Atmospheric emissions of combustion by-products from tractors including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx).• Air pollution from dust emissions during land tillage and preparation which could further lead to catarrh and other respiratory diseases.• Inappropriate use of agrochemicals.• Exposure to sun heat and burns.• Inappropriate handling of chance finds.• Potential tensions and conflict between project workers and communities over road accidents and resource control.• Absence or inadequate grievance mechanism.• Potential exclusion of women and other vulnerable people in learning process.• Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Crop loss from bird in the area eating of sorghum and millet grains.The E&S risks identified on the planned experiment of maize, barley, wheat, and sorghum are classified as moderate. The moderate risk rating takes into consideration the potential E&S risks anticipated on activities relating to land clearing and ploughing, use of workers to plant and maintain crops, potential use of fertilizer for soil health amendments, potential use of chemicals for crop pest and disease control, and the expected interaction between workers and farmers during farmer field days. The summary of key E&S risks envisaged are as follows:• Occupational health and safety (OHS) risks relating to poisoning or other injuries from the use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as workplace accidents/injuries, including lack/inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), slip and fall, dust, and traffic accidents; excessive hours of work;• Air pollution during tillage and preparation of land for crop planting. Atmospheric emissions are primarily associated with emissions of combustion by-products including carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulate matter (PM)-resulting from the operation of mechanized equipment or from combustion by-products from the disposal or destruction of crop residues. • Small scale GHG emissions, including methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide from different stages in the production cycle.• Disturbance of local biodiversity through oil leaks from tractors used for ploughing.• Community health and safety issues, including community exposure to pesticides and other hazardous materials, exposure to excessive heat leading to sun burns;• Indiscriminate disposal of solid waste and crop residues.• Potential surface water and river contamination from pesticides use on crops and washed away by run-offs water.• Infection with a communicable disease (such as COVID-19) which may arise from the interaction of project workers with local communities or between project workers;• Potential incidence of SEA/SH cases in relation to contact between project workers and farmers.• Potential exclusion of vulnerable groups such as blind and deaf farmers from learning sessions and decision making processes.• Lack of proper participation and involvement of relevant stakeholders.• Inappropriate methods of involving intended project beneficiaries.• Absence or inadequate grievance resolution mechanism.• Potential for social conflict within and between communities especially over access to resources and opportunities.• Elite capture by members of society leading to unequal distribution of benefits • Risks associated with labor and working conditions including workplace sexual harassment, child and forced labor, lack of contractor compliance with national labor laws and ESS2• Potential crop losses from invading wild birds.• Physical and chemical degradation of soils may result from unsuitable management techniques. Chemical degradation of soil may result from insufficient or inappropriate use of mineral fertilizers, failure to recycle nutrients contained in crop residues, and failure to correct changes in soil pH that result from long-term use of nitrogen fertilizers and excessive use of poor-quality water, resulting in salinization. • Over-consumption of water.• Inappropriate pest management practices (pest management should not be to eradicate all organisms, but to manage \"pests including insect pests, diseases, and weeds that may negatively affect annual crops so that they remain at levels beneath an economically damaging threshold)• Direct and indirect impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. Key direct impacts relate to habitat conversion or degradation, water usage, pollution, introduction of invasive species.The set of CSA innovations and CIS technologies to be piloted meet the E&S exclusion list for the AICCRA project. During the on-farm screening activities, neither flora nor fauna endangered species or at risk nor any protected species or areas was identified next to the experimentation sites. There are no important physical cultural resources nearby, protected areas/forest, or water sources. The CSA demonstration activities will not lead to the introduction of invasive alien species; and will not involve biotechnology application in genetically modified crops. The likelihood of child labor incidence on this activity is very low as both permanent and temporary workers of the research centers are all persons above 20 years. The centers will not recruit additional workers for implementing these experiments so there is no tendency for labor influx. Detailed screening findings on each of the 10 is provided in Annex 1.Based on the key E&S anticipate on the field experiment activities, the AICCRA-Ethiopia Team has considered several measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the project activities. These measures include• Occupational health and safety principles;• Community health and safety principles;• Integrated pest management principles;• Gender and social inclusion principles;• SEA/SH prevention and response principles; and• Stakeholder engagement and grievance redress mechanisms.The table 9 below provides an overview of the potential adverse E&S risks, associated risk rating, proposed mitigation measures, responsible parties, and the estimated costs. • Identify the main pests affecting crops in the region, assess the risks to the operation, and determine whether a strategy and capacity are in place to control them.Select resistant varieties and use the cultural and biological control of pests, diseases, and weeds to minimize dependence on pesticide (chemical) control options.Support beneficial bio-control organisms-such as insects, birds, mites, and microbial agents-to perform biological control of pests (e.g., by providing a favorable habitat, such as bushes for nesting sites and other original vegetation that can house pest predators and parasites).Favor manual, mechanical weed control and/or selective weeding. • Consider using mechanical controls-such as traps, barriers, light, and sound-to kill, relocate, or repel pests.Prior to procuring any pesticide, assess the nature and degree of associated risks and effectiveness, taking into account the proposed use and the intended users. Oil leak/spills from ploughing tractors Interruption and loss of biodiversity.• Inspect the tractor to ensure that there are no fuel and oil leaks before use. • Regularly maintain the tractor to keep it safe for farm use.• Ensure safe keeping of fuel and engine oil for the tractor • When leaks are detected, promptly halt operations to repair the tractor before putting it back to use.Prevent further spread of spilled oil by keeping it away from drains or water ways. With the aid of appropriate gloves, absorb the spill from the soil using spill absorbents. • Store fertilizers in their original packaging and in a dedicated location that can be locked and properly identified with signs, access to which is limited to authorized persons.Ensure that inventories are available at fertilizer storage facilities and available to first responders when necessary.Only purchase and store minimal fertilizer requirements and use older fertilizers first. • Provide safe and suitable toilets and washing facilities, separate for men and women workers, particularly during on-farm demonstrations.• • Provide an overview of the consultative activities planned to be undertaken with the stakeholders identified for the Project • Information Disclosure process to be adopted to ensure transparency and accountability in line with World Bank ESS and UNDP SES standards. $10,000In the event of finding previously unknown sites or features of cultural value during project implementation, the following standard procedures for identification, protection from theft, treatment and recording should be followed.i.Stop the activities in the area; ii.Delineate the discovered site or area; iii.Secure the site to prevent any damage or loss of removable objects; iv.Notify the AICCRA E&S Focal Person who in turn will notify the responsible authorities; v.The Ethiopian National Museum in collaboration with responsible local authorities (where applicable), would be in charge of protecting and preserving the site before deciding on subsequent appropriate procedures; vi.The Ethiopian National Museum will make decisions on how to handle the findings. This could include changes in the layout (such as when finding irremovable remains of cultural or archaeological importance), conservation, restoration, and salvage; vii.The Ethiopian National Museum shall communicate implementation of the authority decision concerning the management of the finding in writing; and viii.Demonstration activity could resume only after permission is given from Ethiopian National Museum or other responsible authorities concerned with safeguarding the cultural heritage.The focus of the CSA demonstration in AICCRA-Ethiopia is to experiment and showcase good farming practices on drought resistance and high yielding varieties of sorghum, millet, maize and barley. In so doing, EIAR recognize that pest and diseases would need to be controlled to ensure production of high yield and excellent quality products. This strategy therefore outlines the integrated approach and measures that will be used to control pest and diseases on the CSA demonstrations.The general approach is to support an integrated and comprehensive pest management, which includes cultural practices, plant nutrition, mechanical controls, and pesticides. The use of pesticides may be the last resort and where the use of pesticides is inevitable; the most environmentally friendly products will be used. In addition, use only pesticides approved for use by Ethiopia Government.Tables below provides the pest management strategy for each of the five selected crops. CYMMIT and EIAR are committed to providing a transparent and easily accessible grievance mechanism for all workers and community members to report complaints relating to disagreement on working conditions, health and safety, discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment, and abuse.Two major grievance mechanisms are currently available for all workers and community members to respectively report labor related grievances including SEA/SH. These include (i) the CGIAR grievance mechanism, and (ii) the project grievance mechanism provided in the AICCRA-Ethiopia stakeholder engagement plan (SEP).The grievance mechanism procedure is primarily open to all staff members of CYMMIT, (covering all types of employment contracts including, but without limitation to regular, consultants, part-time, contract of service and temporary employees), interns, visiting scientists, fellows, contractors, grantees, visitors, donors, volunteers, board members and vendors of the CGIAR centers.The reporting mechanisms under this policy procedure are also available to workers of other grant partners, in this case EIAR although in such cases the investigation procedures may be adjusted in consultation with other relevant legal entities where this may be applicable. All workers will be informed of the grievance mechanism at the time of their engagement on the project including measures put in place to protect them against any reprisal for its use. The mechanism also allows for anonymous complaints to be raised and addressed through providing options for people reporting a grievance to not mention their names, positions or place or workstation.The mechanism handles complaints relating to three broad areas:i.Fraud related breaches: these include embezzlement, theft, bribery, and kickbacks; ii.Compliance related breaches: these include unsafe working conditions, vandalism, falsification of contracts, reports, or records, non-compliance to research ethics, etc.; and iii.Human resource related breaches: these include sexual harassment, discrimination, abuse, bullying, conflict of interest, alcohol, substance abuse, etc.Staff members and all other stakeholders may choose one of two ways to submit their reports:1. Anonymous reporting using a CGIAR wide external service provider known as Lighthouse. The provider has been commissioned by the CGIAR to manage anonymous reporting services for all the CGIAR centers through an ethics hotline. Cases can be reported to Lighthouse anonymous reporting page, Email reports@lighthouse-services.com and Toll-Free number: 844-709-6000. Complaints received by Lighthouse through these channels including cases linked with SEA/SH will be shared with the AICCRA-Ethiopia E&S Focal Person for record-keeping and reporting, and referral of SEA survivors to GBV service providers listed at Annex 6. OR• If there are sufficient grounds to initiate a full investigation, a diverse committee shall be constituted by the Director General or his designate to investigate the matter and recommend the course of action to be taken. During the investigation, the alleged perpetrator(s) may be given the opportunity to represent their argument.• The amount of contact between the individual submitting a report and the body investigating the concern will depend on the nature of the issue, the clarity of information provided, and whether the employee remains accessible for follow-up.• Where breaches of duty are confirmed to have occurred, the investigation report will provide recommendations on what action is appropriate, which may involve disciplinary procedures of the institute. Action will be taken to correct the failure and avoid similar events in the future as well as to address the alleged perpetrator(s) of misconduct.• Management endeavors to conclude on all cases under investigation within a month of the start of the process, although it is recognized that there may be exceptions depending on the circumstances.• At the discretion of the institute and subject to legal and other constraints, the reporter may receive information about the outcome of an investigation.• Should the whistle-blower/reporter still feel either victimized or disadvantaged following the report and subsequent investigation, they may choose to escalate the issue to the next level in the form of an appeal to the next level of authority. Should the issue raised be with reference to the P&OD director, then the whistle blower/reporter shall raise it with the Director General. In the event that the matter is with regards to the Director General, it may be raised with the Chair of the Board and subsequently in cases where the matter refers to the Chair of the Board, the staff member may raise it directly with the Director of the CGIAR Internal Audit Unit.The AICCRA-Ethiopia grievance mechanism outlined in the cluster SEP constitutes an alternative pathway for project workers and community members to report grievances including cases linked to SEA/SH. The mechanism provides several channels for lodging complaints including emails, phone calls, texts, letters, and a toll-free line that will also be accessible to all workers and community members. Information on this grievance will be made available to all workers and community members to ensure that all workers have adequate knowledge on how to lodge a complaint and receive resolution through the mechanism. Further details of the AICCRA-Ethiopia GM can be found in the project SEP approved by the World Bank.In each of the project research centers, two members/farmers (one man and one woman) involved in the project activities will be designated as a focal person for receiving complaints. When designated, the contact details of such persons shall be disclosed and made available to workers and community members. The community focal person will be trained on how to receive and promptly lodge complaints with the AICCRA-Ethiopia E&S Focal Person. Community members will also be allowed to lodge complaints directly during project meetings and consultation sessions with community members.Overall, the AICCRA project has prepared an SEA/SH mitigation and response action plan to detail material measures for preventing and handling potential SEA/SH cases. Based on the measures set out in this plan anonymous reporting channels have been provided as part of CGIAR and AICCRA-Ethiopia grievance uptake points to encourage reporting of SEA/SH related cases. When such a case is reported, the complainant would be provided with information about the available services including confidential appropriate medical and psychological support, emergency accommodation, and any other necessary services as appropriate, including legal assistance. The E&S Focal Person will refer all SEA/SH survivors to the relevant GBV service providers identified by the project. When a case of that nature is reported, the AICCRA-Ethiopia E&S Focal persons will record the case with the following limited information: the nature of the incident, the age and sex of the complainant, and whether the survivor was referred to a service provider.The AICCRA-Ethiopia Grievance committee will review all cases referred to it to determine and agree upon course of action for handling and resolving the case. The appropriate institution that employs the perpetrator will be required to review the case and take disciplinary action in accordance with the employer's code of conduct and the national legislation. Disciplinary actions may include informal warning, formal warning, additional training, suspension, or termination of employment. A survivor may continue to receive support from the appropriate GBV service providers while the employer is handling the case.Information disclosure and stakeholder consultations have been a crucial process leading to the preparation of this ESMP and will continue to be carried out during the implementation of this ESMP and throughout the project lifespan.In April 2022, CYMMIT engaged the leadership and management of EIAR about the proposed collaboration to conduct on-station experimentation of climate smart agricultural innovations. During this engagement CYMMIT introduced the AICCRA project to the EIAR Team, and the scope of the proposed on-station experiments. The EIAR Team offered a constructive input into the experimentation design and further proposed the 10 research centers to be used for the on-station experiments. During the site-specific screening in July 2022, The CYMMIT team together with the AICCRA-Ethiopia E&S Focal Person further consulted the EIAR staff in the 10 research stations on the key E&S risks envisaged on the field experiments and mitigation measures that could be considered. The list of CYMMIT and EIAR staff involved in the preparation of this ESMP is provided at Annex 1.In accordance with the AICCRA-Ethiopia SEP, the project team will publicly disclose this ESMP to all stakeholders and further communicate the content to farmers in host communities in their preferred local languages. Farmers will be educated on the risk mitigation measures at the demonstration sites and what is required of them when visiting the demonstration sites. Various methods such as community meetings, focus group discussions, public announcements, posters would be used to educate farmers and ensure their full participation in the project.Additional measures will be taken to address the consultation and participation needs of vulnerable groups such as women and persons with disabilities. In line with the measures in the AICCRA-Ethiopia • Follow World Bank and national protocols on voluntary land acquisition to acquire plots.• Conduct E&S due diligence on proposed sites to ensure suitability.• Project sites screened • Consider doing land tillage immediately after rains or in the morning when humidity may be high to reduce floatation of loose soil particles in the air.• Air purifying nose masks provided to workers.During land preparation EIAR Project CoordinatorThe following project activities will be undertaken to facilitate the implementation of this ESMP.• Public disclosure of the ESMP in national news papers • Sensitization of project partners, workers and stakeholders on E&S risks mitigation measures contained in this ESMP.• Engagement activities at the community, district, and regional levels to share project updates.• Field monitoring of compliance with mitigation measures in this ESMP.• An E&S audit to ascertain the extent of compliance with the World Bank's ESF requirements and procedures. All the activities outlined above will be financed from the project budget and the estimated cost for implementing these activities are presented in table 13 below. Training/Sensitization of partners, workers, and stakeholders $3,000 3.Stakeholder Engagements to share project updates $3,000 4.E&S audits $8,000 5.Occupational health and safety (OH&S) at all project sites (Protective equipment, first aid boxes, etc.) $5,000 6.Monitoring of project sites $3,000 7.Management of pesticides and other chemicals to be used during field activities $3,000 8. Management oil leaks, harmful exposure to chemicals and potential conflicts.$6,000 9. Safety posters and wastebin at all project sites $1,000 10.Management of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA)/Sexual Harassment (SH) at all project sites $2,000 11. Management of inclusion of vulnerable groups $2,000 12.Operationalization of the GM $2,000 Total $39,200CYMMIT and EIAR acknowledge that the activities and operations to be carried out during the implementation on-station experiments could potentially impact the environment, workers and communities, and are therefore very mindful of their obligations towards the protection of the environment and ensuring the health and safety of the farmers and communities within the project area. These partners will therefore carry out relevant sensitization and capacity building to ensure rigorous implementation of all material actions considered in this ESMP as well as other complementary E&S instruments. The AICCRA-Ethiopia team will operationalize this ESMP as a living document with firm commitment to review, update, and redisclose it as and when project activities or locations change. The Team will further provide biannual updates on implementation progress to the AICCRA program","tokenCount":"10130"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7949646982.json b/data/part_1/7949646982.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..73892261b657ccbb1a81664966de5057c33e2de0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7949646982.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"98de900d9414d7ea889dffc4d7ff94a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9cee5327-110f-4107-b88a-eb0b52b82d29/retrieve","id":"1181645608"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c18e85f8-8ec3-455a-a9f6-0d029ac0e55f","pagecount":"5","content":"• Fanners adop! many cul!ivars and thus increase on-fann biodiversity. In three seasons, the number of varieties grown by Ihe upper-category fanners increased from four lo eighl, and for the lower calegory, from Ihree lo nine. There was significant replacement of Lok 1 by more Ihan one variety.• The proportion ofland planted to new varielies increased significantly, wilh both upper-and lower-calegory fanners (figure 5). Thus, lower-category fanners benefitted from the increased yields of new varielies as much as the better-off fanners.• Out-of-state, nonreconunended varielies Iha! mee! fanners' selection eritería exisl in the country. However, the reeommendation domains delennined by the fonna! system for these varíeties are too narrow.• PVS is a polen! tool forpopularizing recommended cultivars. Variety GW 496 had been released in Gujarat bul its area inereased substantiall y after the PVS programo Participatory on-farm seed priming. Seed priming is a simple, cheap agronomic intervention lO improve gennination and ensure better emergence and proper plant stand, particularly in rainfed agriculture: seeds are soaked in water overnight followed by surface drying before sowing. We extended the approach to the HPPS area ofLunawada to compensate for the late sowing ofwheat because seed priming has been reported to stimulate earlier maturity (Harris et al. 1999).Particípatory experiments on wheat seed priming inHPPS ofLunawada showed a number ofuseful effects (figure 6). Almost aH particípating fanners felt that seed priming induced earlier maturity and that they would use the practice again in the next year. Seed priming a1so increased yield significantly by abou! 5%, since the crop had more tillers per plant and larger spikes from more vigorously growing plants Ihan the control. Participatory crop improvement should be based on a holistic approach to the farmíng system. Baseline surveys are needed to lUlderstand farmers' practices, and following particípatory ínterventions, follow-up surveys are requíred to quantifY changes in the farmíng system. This study has shown that participatory approaches to crop improvement can lead to improved livelihoods and can increase on-farm biodiversity.The study also shows that farmer-participatory approaches are effective in HPPSs (Witcombe 1999), where farmers are benefitting only partially from modem varieties in the period following the Green Revolution. The single intervention of growing a new variety can result in large yield gains. The findings raise questions conceming breeding and extension policies for HPPS, as well as for assuring food security in developing cOlUltries.Rice is the most important monsoon-season crop grown in lhe Punjab. The area under rice has increased progressively over lhe last 20 years, reaching 2.5 million hectares in 1998-99. The average yield of 3.5 t ha• l in 1997-98 (Ihe highest for any state in lhe country) decreased to 3.2 t ha-l in 1998-99 due lo lhe attack of tungro virus rusease. Allhough there has been an increase in the area and total production in lhe state, there has not been any appreciable increase in productivity over the past decade.The increasing area planted lo rice is the result of a decrease in lhe area planted to cotton and other less profitable crops. The increasing area under rice presents a number of problems:• increased water use• problems of soH heallh arising frorn a continuous rice-wheat rotalion• environmental problems, such as lhe effects on human health of chemicals used to control pests and diseases• seasonal use of labor Two features of the large-scale cultivation of rice are relevant lo Ihe present study:l. the widespread transplanting ofrice early in the season, contrary lo extension recommendatíons 2. trends in varietal adoption, such as the widespread cultivation of a single variety We discuss these issues here and presenl evidence in support of an altematÍve approaeh to that of conventional extension: participatory varietal seleetion for new varieties.Time of transplanting is a major factor Ihat substantially ínfluences rice yíe!d. A transplanting schedule has becn recornmended by lhe Punjab Agricultura! University (PAU) to get the highest yie!d and prepare lhe fields in time for the following wheat crop. It is recommended that varieties Jaya, IR8, and aH Punjab rice (PR series) varieties should be transplanted ITom ! 0-20 June, with the exception oflhe early-maturing variety PRI03, which should be transplanted ITom 20-30 June. PAU has issued a general guideline stating lhat where lhe rice area is large, lhe transplanting period should extend equally around 20 June (pAU 1996).Surveys conducted in the Punjab (Singh 1998(Singh , 1999) ) over four years (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999) revealed lhat transplanting in the Punjab starts ITom 1 May (figure 1). By lhe end ofMay, about 22% of the rice erop is transplanted, and by lhe middle of June, about 65% of the crop is already in lhe field. This early planting is more conspicuous in the Patiala district, where about 50% of lhe rice is transplanted by lhe end ofMay and 89% by mid-June.  1996 and 1997, and 100 farmers in 1998 and 1999.) ","tokenCount":"796"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7952499719.json b/data/part_1/7952499719.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dfa54e5080e4069f463d02bfa748f14596b060a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7952499719.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1af18897905ab93c936c88bb7276377a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e76cb8cb-bbed-43f1-b030-19d0439b1866/retrieve","id":"169802760"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"06be5c04-4089-42b2-965e-2da686196e60","pagecount":"14","content":"Multiregional Operative Programme on Farro (POM-B13) .Farro, also known as 'hulled wheats' (einkorn, emmer and spelt) are among the most ancient cereal crops of the Mediterranean region (Perrino et al. 1996). These cereals were popular within the region for hundreds of years and remained a staple food for a long time until they eventually fell into disuse. However, farro is now becoming popular again. In Italy, farro is attracting farmers' interest due to its high commercial potential. The industrial sector is also looking to farro because of its potential in the production of pasta, biscuits and other items.Farro is a strictly ethnobotanical concept, deeply rooted in Italian tradition. The term is used exclusively for three cultivated hulled wheat species: Triticum monococcum (einkorn), T. dicoccon (emmer) and T. spelta (spelt). Its singularity lies in the fact that the berry or kernel retains its hull or husk during harvest. It is also known as wheat with nonthreshable grain. As shown in Table 1, in Italy these three species are known as 'farro piccolo', 'farro medio' and 'farro grande', respectively, meaning small, medium and large. In ethnobotanical approaches, hulled wheats are sometimes regarded as synonymies but in taxonomy not only the non-threshable species of Triticum s.str. may be regarded as hulled wheat but all species that are considered to belong to Triticum s.l., including Haynaldia, Aegilops, Agropyron, etc. (Szabó and Hammer, 1996). Einkorn is a diploid species with wild and cultivated variants. It was the first wheat to be cultivated some 9,000 years ago but is rarely planted today. In Italy, it grows widespread in mountainous areas, particularly in the South Tyrol and Valtellina in northern Italy (www.mulinomarino.it/cereali.htm). One site in particular where einkorn is known to be cultivated is in the mountainous area of the Daunian Apennin, where it was grown by traditional farmers as a fodder crop until the 1990s, but the practice may have been discontinued in the meantime (Perrino, 1996). T. monococcum, the oldest species of farro, produces a clear flour which is used for making bread, cakes, biscuits and pizza (www.tibiona.it).Emmer is a tetraploid species, and was cultivated in ancient times but is no longer used to any great extent. Emmer cultivation began during the Bronze Age, when farmers started selecting tetraploid types (some 7,000-9,500 years ago) from T. dicoccoides, the wild relative of cultivated tetraploid wheats, throughout the Mediterranean basin. In all these areas, emmer wheat has been the most widely diffused hulled wheat until modern times. In Italy, it was found to be the most widespread species of all wheat landraces (55.7%), followed by T. aestivum L. (18.9%), T. monococcum L. and T. spelta L. (Porfiri et al., 2001). T. dicoccon is used for Italian soups, pasta and also for biscuits. In the mountainous Garfagnana area of Tuscany, emmer (known as farro) is grown by farmers as an IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) product, with its geographic identity protected by law (see below). In 2003, the Italian Ministy of Agriculture estimated the surface cultivated with emmer (farro medio) in Italy to be 2000 hectares.Spelt is a hexaploid species cultivated in limited quantities. It originates from hexaploid wheats (T. aestivum) and of the three farro types mentioned, its cultivation was the most recent -approximately 8,000 years ago. Just like T. monococcum, T. spelta produces a clear flour and is used for making bread, cakes, biscuits and pizza. Compared to einkorn and emmer, spelt is more productive and is also grown in lowland areas. It is often sold simply as farro, with no further details as to which grain it actually is (Papa, 1996). In 2003, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture estimated the surface cultivated with spelt (farro grande) in Italy to be 500 hectares.It is very difficult to make a distinction between the three different farros (einkorn, emmer and spelt), particularly as the term 'spelt' and 'farro' are often used as synonyms.As mentioned above, einkorn (T. monococcum) is the least cultivated of the three, in Italy. The cultivation of emmer -which is, today, the most important farro in the country, began in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle-East (Iran, Iraq, Syria and Palestine) some 10,000 years ago. Together with barley, emmer was the dominant crop of the ancient Near East, and spread in the Neolithic era to Europe and Italy in particular. During the Roman period it was the main food source but its cultivation decreased at the beginning of the 20 th century, when it was gradually substituted by the naked wheats (common and durum wheats) because of the free-threshing kernel. As a consequence, the species almost disappeared by the second half of the 20 th century and its cultivation was reduced to a few thousand square meters in the 1970s (Di Napoli and Marino, 2001). It was only in the 1980s, and increasingly at the beginning of 1990s, that for different reasons (more attention being paid to the genetic resources of cultivated species and to biodiversity conservation, diversification of crop systems, rediscovery of local foods, and so on), it regained it earlier importance, both as a crop and as a food.Nowadays, the farro-cultivated surface is estimated at some 2000-2500 hectares, even if there are no official data available. This is because in the farmers' cultivation statement for community contributions (Common Agricultural Policy) -the most reliable source -, this species is not listed separately from common wheat, barley, oats and rye, but is simply lumped together with the rest, as \"other cereals\".In Italy, as in other European countries, all three farro species have experienced a comeback in the past few decades. Whereas in Germany and Switzerland the main species of farro produced is spelt (Dinkel, used for making bread, biscuits or pasta), in Italy emmer has the largest surface coverage. Since the early 1980s, emmer has made a comeback in various regions within central Italy, as the healthy properties of this cereal attract consumers. Emmer contains high levels of fibre and is cultivated traditionally, without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizer. Why has it survived here? Not because the farmers deliberately set out to conserve genetic resources, but because farro, handed down from antiquity, offered something modern wheats could not, in the steep mountain fields: a reliable harvest. Farro cultivation is particularly widespread in the central-southern areas of the Appenines and concerns mainly organic cultivation. This species is characterized by a high agronomical and environmental adaptability, thus permitting it to cope with weeds and to exploit as much as possible marginal and poor soils, escaping fertilizer treatment more than other cereals. The spread concerns both areas where emmer production is 'traditional' and areas where it has been recently introduced. While in the traditional areas, emmer cultivation has never been totally abandoned and landraces have been maintained, in the new areas such varieties are imported either from the traditional areas or from recent plant breeding programs. This situation creates intense market competition resulting in loss of competitiveness of traditional areas, favours the replacement of traditional genetic material, gives no guarantee of product traceability and makes the local production phases weaker (Porfiri, 2006). One option to cope with this challenge is the establishment of geographical identification labels with clear production regulations (see para on Farro della Garfagnana). Today, the main production areas of emmer are: Garfagnana, Valneriana and Altopiano di Leonessa, alte Valli del Tronto and dell'Aterno, valle dell'Aniene, alto Molise, Appennino Dauno and Appennino Lucano (Falcinelli, 2006).During the years 1998 to 2000, the market for farro increased by about 15% per year and farmgate prices increased in the same period to some 30%. This is mainly due to the kind of marketing, as an increasing amount of the production is marketed by farms that also offer accommodation for tourists. The number of farms offering accommodation, agritourism-type has increased from 18 in 1999 to 28 in 2000.Today, one can walk into almost any grocery shop or supermarket in Italy and buy farro, complete with extravagant claims about its antiquity, its nutritional benefits and its role in protecting the environment.It is only in the past few years that farro has reappeared in shops and even in some supermarkets. The more informal market chain from producers through the grain mills directly to the consumers, as displayed in Figure 1, still plays a very important role although it is impossible to estimate the percentage of farro that is marketed through either of these market channels. It must be said, however, that through the increasing importance of holidays 'on-farm' -particularly popular in Tuscany -the sale of farro products to these nature-loving and health-conscious tourists plays an important role. It is impossible to estimate what portion of Italy's total farro production is marketed to the consumers directly by farmers. For sure, those farmers who also offer hospitality to tourists (agritourism) play an important role in the overall farro market chain in Italy. Just by entering the words 'farro' and 'agriturismo' into the Google website, one can get an idea of how many agritourism businesses there are, offering accommodation and selling farro to their clients (39,900 hits).The grain mills displayed in Figure 1 very often play a dual role. On the one hand, they process the grains that are delivered to flour and give it back to the producer against a payment for their service. On the other hand, they often buy the product from the farmer, process it, pack it in different packaging and sell it either directly to consumers or to shops and supermarkets. The processors are also the market chain actors that are the most active in making publicity for farro and farro products. As an example, below the reader can find a brief description of Prometeo (www.prometeourbino.it), an Italian company that has been in the business of processing cereals and legumes produced by organic farmers in central Italy since 1991. The production of hulled wheat is particularly focused on emmer, T. dicoccum.Prometeo is situated in Urbino, in the North of the Marche Region in central-eastern Italy, in an environment that is deeply linked to the traditions of central Italy, and is also closely linked to the North Italian commercial areas. The company concentrates its mainAgritourisms / (Farmers)Agritourisms / (Farmers)work area in the hills of central Italy, where the cultivation and tradition of emmer are still very strong. The factory provides its suppliers with seeds for landraces, carefully selected on their premises, as well as the best techniques for its cultivation. Only a small part of the supply comes from factories that are not direct producers. Prometeo checks fields, assists farmers during growing, and organizes the storage and dispatch of the product. Processors such as Prometeo are also the main actors when it comes to consumer orientation and publicity. Their home page gives a very good example of this.Ninety-four percent of Prometeo's products are made from T. dicoccum (emmer), while southern Italian varieties (soft type) comprise 77% and central Italian varieties (hard type) 17%. Only 6% of their production involves T. spelta (spelt). T. monococcum (einkorn) products are not marketed by Prometeo but there are other companies, such as Mulino Marino (www.mulinomarino.it) or Molino Bongiovanni (www.molino bongiovanni.it), which have einkorn on there product list.Nowadays, farro products are to be found in nearly every supermarket in Italy. The main products are either grains or their flour, and processed products such as pasta, Italian grain soups and a variety of biscuits.In the mid-20 th century, farro was consumed mainly by the poor rural communities that also continued to grow it. As mentioned above, the market for farro developed in Italy in the early 1980s. In the beginning it was mainly health-conscious people in Italian cities who started consuming farro once again but since then this trend has spread to other consumer groups and in other countries, such as the company \"Il Farro\" based in Newport Beach in Canada (www.ilfarro.com).Farro is appreciated by consumers because of the 'nutty' flavour it gives to pasta, biscuits or traditional Italian soups. But it is not just the good taste that has caught the attention of consumers. The grain is naturally high in fibre, and contains significantly more protein than wheat. Farro is also higher in B-complex vitamins, and both simple and complex carbohydrates. Another important benefit is that some gluten-sensitive people have been able to include farro-based foods in their diets. Also, unlike other grains, the husk of the farro protects it from pollutants and insects, and usually allows growers to avoid using pesticides. Flour made from the versatile grain can be substituted for wheat flour in bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, cakes, muffins, pancakes and waffles. Modern cooks are rediscovering the full flavour of whole grain farro pastas and breads, and the subtler flavour and texture of white pastas and flours as well as farro kernels in their dishes (Hoagland, 1998).In order to promote the conservation of hulled wheats and safeguard them from genetic erosion, IPGRI, in 1993, initiated a project on underutilized Mediterranean species (UMS). The project operated largely through four species-oriented networks, covering hulled wheats, rocket, pistachio and oregano. In 1994, a working group and the hulled wheat genetic resources network were established (Padulosi et al. 1996). This network had the following objectives:Promote the conservation and enhance the genetic diversity of landraces of these species; Promote research on and development of landraces of the selected species; Encourage farmers, NGOs, cooperatives, etc. to conserve and promote the utilization of landraces of these species; Develop new products and promote the use of health/special foods from these species.These activities proved very fruitful. The UMS project has contributed to raising the interest of both growers and scientists in hulled wheats with a beneficial impact on their conservation (Padulosi et al. 1996). The UMS project is considered a model for the establishment of other new sub-regional cooperation projects for the conservation and sustainable use of underutilized species (Michalová, 2000).The goal of the SESA project (1997 -2000) with spelt (Triticum spelta) was to support this crop as an alternative culture for sustainable agriculture in Europe, as well as to promote a niche market for special products. The more specific objectives were to test the wide adaptation potential of newly-developed spelt lines from the three breeding programs still existing in Europe. The following 12 countries participated in this project: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.One study in the project included different spelt lines as well as locations and production systems, including organic farming. As a result, it was evident that there exists a large variation within the test set for all the characters analysed, indicating a large genotypic influence.The Multiregional Operative Programme (MOP) \"Farro, a crop to rediscover for sustainable agriculture: evaluating the different varieties and their transformed products for human nutrition (Programma Operativo Multiregionale (POM) Il farro, una coltura da recuperare per una agricoltura sostenibile: valorizzazione varietale e dei prodotti trasformati per l'alimentazione umana).\" The project was financed by the European Union and executed by the National Institute for Agro-Economy (INEA). The primary objectives of the project were:-Adoption of farro varieties with good production and agronomic characteristics adapted for organic production; -Installation of stocking systems and technologies for the transformation of farro into innovative final products, conserving its organoleptic and dietary qualities respecting modern standards of hygiene.Some of the major results of this project:-New mechanisation programmes were developed for the production of pulverized farro for more nutritionally adapted final products -A process was developed for the production of a kind of 'parboiled' farro that includes cleansing and calibration, a cooking process, a process for decortication and a polishing process (Cubadda et al., 2001).In general, farro is very robust and well adapted to the mountainous environment. It can also grow on poor and stony soils where it even tolerates the often strong spring rains in the Italian mountains without bending. This means that very few crop protection chemicals and fertilizers -if any -are used for its cultivation; input markets for these products are thus of minor importance for the producers of farro. So far, there is no Italian national breeding program for this species. The source of seeds for farmers producing farro is either from their own fields or from those of their neighbours, or else from a grain mill or a processor who is also buying the produce from them.Publicity for farro is mainly done by the grain mills or by processors such as Prometeo (see above). The health aspects of farro and the evolving trend of consuming farro products has also been the subject of many articles and has consequently reached a wide public. In The Culinary Trend Mapping Report, published by a well-known journal for food trends, farro is classified as being at stage 2 in market development, which means that it has graduated from stage 1 -where it appears at upscale dining establishments, with creative chefs and diners with adventurous palates -to the stage where the product is featured in specialty consumer-oriented food magazines, such as Gourmet, Food & Wine and Gourmet. (MarketResearch.com, 2005) \"From a cross-country reading of the culinary winds, it appears that farro, an ancient grain believed to have sustained the Roman legions, has finally made it to the New World. Used in soups, salads and desserts, the little light brown grain is an intriguing alternative to pasta and rice. Not that farro has not been in active use in Italy for the intervening centuries: it has, even if only in a few central and northern Italian regions, where it is grown. These are relatively poor areas, where the longevity of the populace is sometimes attributed to regular farro consumption. But now farro (pronounced FAHR-oh) appears to be moving from rustic tables into fashionable restaurants not only in Tuscany and northern Italy (where it suddenly seems ubiquitous on menus), but also in the United States, particularly on the West and East Coasts. Farro dishes are now appearing regularly on the menus of high-profile restaurants...\"New York Times, June 11, 1997The best-known farro products, such as those from Prometeo or from many Agritourism farms, are produced organically with relevant certification. Many of the target consumers buy farro because of its healthy nutritional aspects. These are often the same individuals who prefer organically-produced food rather than food produced commercially. The organic production of farro is not only a very promising option but has already become probably the most important marketing strategy. Moreover, 'farro della Garfagnana' (Garfagnana farro) is produced organically.In the early 1990s, consumers' interest had determined an increase in the price of farro and, consequently, the diffusion of its production from the traditional mountainous areas to the plains. There the yields are higher but cultivation practices do not always follow traditional methods and often consist of a different wheat species, 'spelt (T. spelta)', thus threatening the production on the hills which has been maintained for centuries. In order to overcome this situation and give importance to local production, the Mountain Community of Garfagnana applied for, and obtained, European recognition for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) in 1996. The regulations drawn up for Garfagnana emmer common variety (T. dicoccum), and the description of the genotype which, through the years, has adapted to the local climate and terrain, prescribes the agronomic practices required for its 'organic' production. These include rotation with meadows, prohibition of the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and the mandatory use of seeds from local populations. Compliance with these regulations is guaranteed through the activities of the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture (AIAB), authorized by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture (El-Hage Scialabba et al., 2002).Farro, the traditional cereal planted over the centuries in the Italian mountains, has become popular once again, due to its particular characteristics. It is considered to be a healthier food than other cereals because of its higher fibre and protein content and certain vitamin B complexes. As it is highly resistant to adverse environmental conditions it can also grow without any chemical crop protection interventions and is quite easy to produce organically -which made the production of certified, organically-produced farro become an important niche. These characteristics enable farro to fit almost perfectly into a recent food trend focussing on healthy food with a good taste and a history. The fact that the farro market in Italy has developed so rapidly in the past 25 years is due to a variety of interventions. Some farro pioneer farmers have recognised the potential of selling farro to tourists who frequent the regions where farro is grown. Farro has also received support from the research community that was especially interested in biodiversity conservation. Support to farro production from the political side, through different regional and national projects, envisaged mainly the development of remote rural areas and the improvement of the livelihoods of the mountain population. As farro has become commercially interesting, the private sector -such as processors and bigger grain mills -has also started to market its products, giving it even greater visibility in the market and propagating its health aspects even further. As the farro market becomes more and more commercial, a farmers' cooperative in Garfagnana successfully applied for the PGI label for their farro. This label forms the basis for keeping more of the benefits of this product at the level of the producer while, at the same time, conserving the local variety.","tokenCount":"3538"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7954715988.json b/data/part_1/7954715988.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..18f1d14e2778d89f0ca97cbe75aa6bec8f86d6a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7954715988.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b96618d63b3caffa56f561bf4963d1a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://agritrop.cirad.fr/578469/1/extension%20framework%20operationalised%202014%20v3.pdf","id":"-534474713"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b1cd86e-4cde-4dc4-ac4c-bcad115bcc6b","pagecount":"2","content":"Extension and advisory services (EAS) have evolved, with reforms including privatization and decentralization. Many scholars now view EAS in a pluralistic form, since they are constituted by providers from public and non-public sectors embedded within an agricultural innovation system. Service providers can complement or compete by providing divergent technical or organisational advice to rural actors, depending on their objectives. However, up to now, the most of evaluations have occurred at project or programme level to justify the investment of donors and governments.There is a lack of evaluation clearly linking performance and impact undertaken at national level. The objective of this paper is to discuss frameworks and methods that can help to assess pluralistic extension system and to draw out lessons for future investment at this more global level.We address this gap based on the \"best-fit\" framework (Birner et al. 2009) with the goal to analyse extension systems and EAS for national context. This framework integrates insights from different disciplines in social sciences. It takes into account contextual factors affecting EAS and establishes causal relationships between the EAS characteristics, EAS performance, farm household performance, and impacts. Such a framework is a relevant starting point because it is based on a holistic perspective with an impact pathway orientation. However, it raises questions, and improvements are needed to effectively carry out EAS evaluations.First, there is a need to better analyse public policies that orient service providers' actions and the power relationships among actors explaining the diversity of governance structures and the geographical expansion of EAS.Pluralistic extension systems may operate with possible confrontation, co-existence, or synergies between them at the national and local level. This thinking highlights the crucial importance of better taking into account the diversity and orientation of advisory service.Second, the analysis of the performance of each category of service provider must be carried out by understanding the complex interactions between different components (governance mechanisms that orient service providers' operation, the complexity of funding mechanisms, capacities and managerial style of service provider staff, the methods to provide advice). The combination of these components is specific for each service provider and explains the functioning of each of them, including the question of how they contribute to the integration of new knowledge in the system, from both practice and science.Third, there is a need to improve the analysis of the links between provision of advice, changes in farmers' perception, skills they acquired through learning processes, and the changes in their agricultural, managerial and social practices. This implies the need to deal with the diversity of theories and concepts available for describing these causal pathways of advisory services.Fourth, the framework could be improved by further detailing the impacts on both participants and non-participants in advisory activities. The spill-over and diffusion process of EAS needs to be addressed.Based on this analysis we propose an operational framework and methodological tools to carry out rigorous assessments of complex national extension systems. Such holistic assessment is useful to help decision makers, both policy makers and service provider managers, to improve performance of the extension system (effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and sustainability) by understanding which mechanisms influence which extension system under which circumstances/conditions.","tokenCount":"522"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7956174376.json b/data/part_1/7956174376.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..facac2a11b560fe0316e220bfc2f38d863d711ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7956174376.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eeace4b72650f3d83273e027f07d8b63","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/341f5c45-261d-4c17-9caf-e3ea6c7eb0e1/retrieve","id":"-985205204"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f66bc3e3-2944-4240-a513-1ad8ba4cbd0b","pagecount":"13","content":"Geographical information systems (GIS) assist us in mapping and analyzing outbreaks of diseases in plants, animals and humans. This paper describes how GIS are being usad to model the intensity of the outbreak of a plant virus, bean golden mosaie virus (BGMV) in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. BGMV is a geminivirus affecting beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and is transmitted by a vector, the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaCl). Once a plant is infected by the virus yield losses, at varying 10caUons, can range from 40% to 100%. Plant pathologists can improve upon integrated pest management strategies to monitor virus movement and outbreaks by estimating the likelihood of risk in a cropping systems. For the purpose of this analysis three teehniques were selected (multivariate logistie regression, Fourier transform with principie components analysis and a multi-process boolean analysis) to predict the spatial occurrence of BGMV in beans. The methods selected are based on the localíon of the virus (presence/absence) and the environmental factors determining the distribution of the vector. Too process involves predicting !he distribution of the vector by modeling and mapping the probabilily of occurrenee using environmental variables, such as minimum and maximum temperature ranges, elevation, rainfall and number of dry months. The results of the methods are compared, evaluated and discussed.In Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production is affected by biotic constraínts during the dry season. Of these constraints, besn golden mosaic virus (BGMV) is a major problem (Morales, 1994). The virus ís transmitted by the sweet-potato v.t1itefly, Bemisia tabad, to a wide range of crops, induding induding subsistence crops such as beans and non-traditional export crops such as melons, tomatoes and broccoli.To minimize crop loss, farmers overuse pesticides eausing crop and environmental contamination and tarmer health problems. Pesticides are transported with crop shippers both locally and intemationally. Preventative measures ean be taken to minimize pesticide use by developing a simple model that ean identify areas at risk.Nlapping of disease has had a long history and is becomjng more prevalent with the increased use and avajlability of geographic informatíon systems (GIS). GIS enables researchers to spatially view the localion of viruses at various seales ranging from farm or country lo region or conlinent. The seale of analysis is dependent upon the availability of the data and hardware and software eapabilities of the computer.The majn objective was lo create potential BGMV risk maps using techniques most suitable lo the data avaílabla. For this study the logistic regression, fourier transform with principie componenls analysis, and a multi-process boolean analysis were evaluated. In order lo run the analysis it was necessary to identify the bean-growing regions with and without BGMV and the environmental factors required for predicting the occurrence of the vector, Bemisia tabad.The data on the presence or absence of besn and BGMV information was collected from CIAT and the countries investigated. The information was digitized and analyzed over eleven months using the GIS software, Are/lnto and ArcView3.1.Bean-growing areas were identified using agricultural census data, elevation and temperature ranges best suitad for cultivating beans, interviews of loeal bean breeders, publíeations (ICTA, 1990;Cabrera et al. 1997, Morales, 1994), delineation of bean growing areas by local experts, and existing bean distribution maps.The information was converted into digital dala al the counlry level by extracting dala by elevation or digitizing (larga seale maps) or scanning and digitizing of smaller paper maps. Once each country's bean surface was created, all were combined lo create the final bean surface used in the analysis. The final surface • ¡ ! t J Klass (1999) • Using GIS techniques ro aíd in predicting a plant virus in beans (figure 1) indicates the location of BGMV and non-BGMV areas within the besngrowing regions.Figure 1: Observed location of BGMV and non-BGMV areas within bean-growing region Each country conlains one or more bean growing seasons with one season most susceptible to BGMV outbreaks. For the purpose of this analysis, the beangrowing season with the worst BGMV problems were selec!ed. For bolh Honduras and Guatemala major BGMV problems have been reported to occur between September/Oc!ober to December/January while in El Salvador Ihe season is from November to January.The data used to create the areas containing Ihe virus was obtained from three sources: (1) a publication Mosaico Dorado del Frijol: Avances de Investigacion (Morales, 1994); (2) expert local knowledge drawn on 1:75,000 scale maps, and(3) publications obtained various from bean experts (Cabrera el al. 1997, ICTA, 1990) Maps published (with the permission) in Mosaico Dorado del Frijol: Avances de Investigacion (1994), locating the virus in each country were scanned, registered to existing administrative boundary coverage (CIAT) and digitized. The data sets was created using Arcllnfo. Once the data were rasterized, areas located at elevations greater than 1000 metres aboye sea level were eliminated, since the virus, to date, has been reported to occur at elevations of less than 1000 metres (Rojas et al. 1994, Rodriguez el al. 1994).• Cnmate surfaces were developed at CIAT based on 30 year climate averages I from about 10,000 stations in latin America (Jones et al. 1999). The surfaces were interpolated using \"lhe in verse square of Ihe distance between Ihe five nearest stations and the interpolated point\" (Jones el al. 1999:). The temperature surfaces were \"standardized to the elevation of the pixel in the DEM using a lapse rate model\" (Jones et al. 1999: pp). Induded in the analysis were mean mínimum monthly temperature (Jan to Dee), mean maximum monthly temperature (Jan to Deo), monthly rainfall (Jan lo Dee) and consecutive dry months. Dry months are defined as less than 60 mm of rainfall in a month.The distribution of the vector, Bemisia tabaa is influenced by temperature and host plant (Byme et al. 1991;Cohen et a/.1991). Generally, whitefly populations increase during dry seasons with moderate to high temperatures. A det8i1ed IÍsk classifieation of whitefly occurrence is described in Table 1. These dasses were based upon a classification developed by Amez (1997) and modified by Morales (1999). Source: Morales (1999) based on Arnez (1997) The incidence of the virus is ranked from very low (O) to very high (4) based on elimatie factors favorable to whiteflies. Whitefly-geminivirus transmítting populations are highest (rank = 4) between elevaüons of 500-1000 with less than 1500 mm of rainfall, more than 4 consecutive dry months and a temperatura range of 22°C to 26° C (Morales, 1999).CIAT's administrative boundary coveraga was created in the GIS lab at CIAT in 1996. Boundaries were dígitized country by country and adjustad to the DCW (Digital Chart of the World. Boundary informatíon was obtained from maps of various scales (Barona, 1997).The DEM was developed by the U.S. Gaologieal Survey's EROS Data Center, Síoux Falls, South Dakota, 1996. The elevations are regularly spaced at approximately 1 kílometer (USGS, 1997) and were derivad from eight data sources, both vector and raster. For Central Ameriea, the main source used was digital terrain elevatíon data (OTEO) set with enhancements made by the OCW data (USGS, 1999b; USGS, 1997).Three methods \\N9re se/edad for this analysis and are the logistic regression, fourier transform with principal components analysis and a multi-process boolean analysis.Multiple regression examines the relatíonshíp betlNgen the known values of a dependent variable, BGMV, with the known values of a set of independent variables, the number of dry months, elevation, rainfall, and mínimum and maximum temperature. The data being analyzed are represented by the presence or absence of the virus within besn growing regions, where the dependent variable is discrete and dichotomous, with values 1 and O. TOO areas where the virus is present are coded with a value 1; and bean producing regions withoul the virus are represented by O. Since the dala for the virus was available in a boolean format, a logistic regression was used.The analysis was performed using the GRIO component ofthe GIS software ArclINFO. The logistic regression uses a maximum likelihood estimale to perform the regression and can be represented as:By substituting the coefficienls into the aboye equation, a probability surface is created expressing the areas of virus oocurrence ranging from O lo 1, where 1 is the highest probability of oocurrence. For example, grid cells with the value .95, have a 95% probability of containing the virus, while grid cells closer lo O have a zero to no probability of BGMV occurrence.The logistic regression used values at each sample point ter BGMV and extrapolated values oocurring in each independent layer oocurring at Ihe poin! lacalion. The analysis was run on one bean-growing season because for the months in which the virus does nol oocur, results imply virus oocurrence.The season seleded for Ihe analysis was based on the plantíng seasons reported by experts within each country and varies from SeptemberlNovember to Oecember/January. To compare betlNgen season, Ihe seasonal tímíngs need to be synchronized to a standard time (Jones et al. 1999). This can be accomplished using the Fourier transform (Jones et al. 1999). By synchronizing the season, a probability model (Principal Components Analysis (PCA)) can be used to locate the areas of probability of oocurrence of an event such as a virus (Jones et al. 1997).Normally \\\\tIen performing a boolean analysis the eritena are either true (1) or false (O). By using a multi-process boolean analysis it is possible to use a multicriteria evaluation method for assessing and aggregating many critena. First, it is neeessary to rescale the eritería values into a standard numerical range. By reclassifying each critena it is easier to relate and compare the various layers of different data information. Onee each layer is reclassified, all layers can be combinad and the results analyzed.For each month, the climate surfaees were classified from 0-4 using the rísk classifications defined in table 1. This was accomplished using a booIean process where the factor for a particular rísk group \\\\tIen true is assigned the 'Ialue ofthat risk group, or else it is assigned a NODATA value.Using the reclassified climate surfaees, rísk maps were created for each month by combining the themes by month. The potential risk was calculated using the formula Riskmap1 = (e/evation + temperature + rain + dry_months) /16The final risk map contains fractional values ranging from O to 1, where O is the least favourable and 1 is the most favourable. The new values allows the original risk factors (O to 4) to be assigned a proportion of risk depending on the numeric combinations occurring at a particular location. For example; The results can be compared to the observed BGMV results, as discussed later.If the results of the boolean analysis indicate that there is little to no correlation belween the occurrenee of the vector and the environmental factors, the criteria • for each risk classification, as defined in Table 1, will nsed to be re-assessed,The results obtained were verífied using three methods; (1) visuaUy comparing • the observed (Figure 1) with the expected, (2) calculating the goodness of fi! for • each eel! and (3) calculating the pereent accuracy of prediction.In this saetíon the prediction results obtaíned for each of the methOOs are discussed.The monthly regression surfaces iIIuslrate the months Ihat would be predicted to have the most severe whitefJy problems. In Honduras, the V\\IOrst problema occurred in December; while El Salvador was subject lo whitefly problems for the entíre bean-growing season (Nov -Jan). Guatemala showed the fewest problems occurring duríng September and October ín the south of country, with íncreases in the virus as vectors migrated from north in November and December. A risll. map of the most likely virus occurrence locations can be viewed by combining the regression surfaces.Coefficients obtained from the logistic regressíon reflee! the influence of each factor. For Honduras the min temp and max temp were the mos! importan! fae!ors tor the months of November, December and January. In El Salvador, dry months followed by the max and mín temp showed the greatest ínfluence for the months of December and January. Lastly, in Guatemala, the most influentiaJ factor was max temp followed by dry months and min temp. For alllocations, rainfall and elevation were calculated to have marginal affects. According to the environmental information (Table 1), however, elevation is considered an important factor sinca the virus has no! been reported lo occur above 1000 meters (Rojas et al. 1994;Rodríguez et al. 1994).The results obtaíned by logistic regressíon (Figure 2) were verified visually (Figure 2 vs Figure 1) and using the goOOness of tit at each location. The visual comparison showed a goOO tit for Guatemala and El Salvador where the expected results were similar to the observed. Honduras, on the other hand, was no! as good since the high-risk areas where BGMV has been reported was no! visible in Figure 2.The goodness of tit (figure 3) showed the. best results for the logistic regression were ín Guatemala and El Salvador, while the results obtaíned in Honduras were only good ín the central west.  The Fourier transfonn synchronizes the start of the different seasons and then the peA is run on tIle data points representing the location of the virus. The analysis included all montlls since the program cannot differentiate between the different bean growíng seasons in each country.The result obtained (Figure 4) is coarse due to the resolution of the climate surface and should be usad to obtain possible locations of the virus at a regional or continentallevel. Basad on tIle results obtained from calculating the goodness of frt (rigure 5), areas in which the virus was present in Honduras were quite accurately predicted. The boolean analysis was based on the risk classifications described in Table 1.Each layer was classified from O to 4 and combined to obtain the probability of occurrence at a particular location. 9From Figure 6, most of the bean areas are highly susceptible to BGMV outbreaks with minor problems predicted in the north of Honduras and the highlands of Guatemala. The boolean method over predicted the occurrence of the virus in both BGMV and non-BGMV areas (Figure 6). As iIIustrated by the goodness of fit (Figure7), the boolean failed to accurately predict the occurrence of no-BGMV in non-BGMV areas. Based on the results iIIustrated in Figures 3 -7, the method with the best goodness of fit fer predicting BGMV in BGMV areas was the Boolean. The boolean method, however was terrible at accurately predicting no-BGMV in non-BGMV areas. The logistic regression was good at predicting the occurrence of BGMV and no-BGMV in Guatemala and El Salvador, but with less accurate results tor Honduras. Lastly, the Fourier transform with peA was the better than the logistic and boolean at predicting the occurrence of BGMV in BGMV areas for Honduras.• í ¡ J 10 J Klass (1999) -Usíng GIS techniques to aid in predjctíng a plan! virus in beans A simple method to compare the accuracy of each method is to calculate the pereent of correctly and incorrectly predicted virus occurrenee in both the BGMV and norr.BGMV areas between the observed and expected results.The accuracy of the results. for each BGMV and non-BGMV area was evaluated using a threshold for the probability of occurrenee (p> 0.49). The accuracy tor each method was determined and summarized in Table 3. For each method Ihe error of misclassificalion was calculate. The logistic had the leas! error (21 %) followed by the Boolean (64%) and lastly the Fourier transform (68%). The logistic regression was the most accurate. with 11 % of the virus predicted to occur in BGMV areas and 68% no-BGMV predicted to occur in non-BGMV areas.The logistic predicted 4% BGMV in norr.BGMV areas while predicting 17% no-BGMV in BGMV areas.$econd bes! was the Boolean method that predicted a 28% BGMV occurrenee within BGMV areas and 64% occurring in norr.BGMV areas. The boolean method tended to over-predict the occurrenee of the virus and tended to predict a low occurrence of no-BGMV, 8% in total.Lastly. the Fourier lransform method predicted 16% BGMV occurrenee in BGMV areas with 25% occurring in non-BGMV areas. A total 25% no-BGMV was predicted. with 16% occurring in non-BGMV and a 9% mis-classification in BGMVareas.Of Ihe two presenee/absence methods. the logistic was better at predicting BGMV areas for probabilities greater than 0.49. The Fourier lransform with peA was good at predicting an overview of the problem areas and should be run with aclimate surfaees at finar resolution. Las!ly. the boolean method. although the least accurate. íIIustrates the need to re-asses the risk classifications required tor the virus to occur (Table 2).The techniques used in this study were compared and contrasted to sea which would be the best to use with the data available. The logistic regression can be used in conjunction with the environmental factors required tor the vector. By T I J Klass (1999) -Using GIS techniques to Bid in predicting a pIanI \\lÍflJs in besns 11 comparing and contrasting these, it is possible to improve on the definition of parameters which pradict whitefly occurence.Having completad the initial evaluations, it is possible lo predict the likelihood of the plant virus outbreak. The techniques need to be improvad to develop a elimate-based model for assessing areas of risk within a particular cropping system. Once an accurate modeling technique has been identified this can aid scientists and poIicy-makers in determining critical areas where preventative measures are required.In the future it will be necessary to inelude specific informalion for BGMV such as bean varieties and their resistance to the virus, intensíty of outbreaks at each location and the control practices implementad lo reduce further crop losses.Thanks to the coIlaboration of the following institutas who made it possible to obtain the information required for the analysis.  (1998). This enablad me to visit the study areas and collect the informalion for the analysis. A special thanks lo Dr S. Fujisaka for taking the time to give constructive feedback, adit the papar and make me queslion what I was doing at every step.","tokenCount":"2963"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7960708479.json b/data/part_1/7960708479.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1c4b24bdaa4187ae47c98b7da112f6b250eacfd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7960708479.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d81c0760f30f4be8505b3bbae9348acc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a15f73c6-dd51-4522-a738-ea7e2c05ebec/retrieve","id":"-249764630"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c114076d-90d2-4009-b5b5-24539f547125","pagecount":"11","content":"Some 555 million poor livestock keepers reside in rural areas in the developing world. Their inability to feed their livestock adequately throughout the year is the most widespread technical constraint to increased livestock productivity, better livelihoods, and more sustainable use of natural resources.A critical constraint to increase the availability of animal feed or forage is the lack of profitable and sustainable forage seed companies.The FeedSeed project adopts a public-private partnership approach to help create a sustainable forage seed supply system in Ethiopia. ILRI and its project partners are working with interested and qualified entrepreneurs to start forage seed businesses. The project also works to create a public business incubator that provides training and mentoring to entrepreneurs as they set up and build private seed businesses. The incubator shall be equipped with a seed processing unit which will be used to provide technical training on seed threshing, cleaning and sorting to the entrepreneurs who will invest in and build their seed businesses.The results of the project will include:1. A well-functioning, sustainable forage seed business incubator at EMDIDI; 2. At least 30 seed business entrepreneurs trained over 2 years; 3. At least 20 successful and sustainable seed enterprises established and profitable in 2 years; 4. At least 20,000 poor livestock keepers trained in seed and forage production and thus feeding their livestock better. The trainees were identified from different regions in Ethiopia based on the criteria set for potential forage seed business client selection by the FeedSeed project and agreed upon by key partners. The trainees represented individual farmers, private companies and a womenowned cooperative. The trainees came from four regional states --Afar, Amhara, Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) and Oromia regional state. The training also included plenary discussions, workshop exercises in groups, practical field work and a visit to a privately owned commercial forage seed company called Eden Field Agri Seed Enterprise. The experience sharing visit to Eden Field Agri Seed Enterprise was valued by the trainees. Trainees were able to see how the enterprise planted and managed different species of forage seed using an irrigation system and how to control weeds and pests. In addition, the trainees exchanged ideas with the owner of the enterprise regarding seed quality, market, opportunities and challenges. Absence of regulation to control seed quality, traceability of basic seed sources and nutritional value of different forages, shortage of laboratory facilities and inadequate supply of forage seed were some of the concerns raised by Eden Field.Regarding markets for forage seed, the owner of Eden Field mentioned that currently 50% of its major buyers are NGOs, 48% are regional governments, while individual farmers are only 2%. According to Eden Field, the share of individual farmers is small because farmers are unaware of the importance of feeding their cattle good quality forage; they also lack purchasing capacity. On the other hand, trainees felt that even though purchasing capacity is one of the stated factors, access to seed and awareness of the use of improved forages are the problems that require attention in analyzing and improving markets for forage seed.Trainees commented that there is still a severe feed shortage in their respective regions compared to available supply. This visit provided FeedSeed project clients the opportunity to learn the types of seeds being offered by Eden Field and the price for each species. It is expected that the parties will start doing business with each other. Together, they can also contribute towards resolving the shortage of forage and forage seeds in the country.Trainees were also taken to ILRI's Field Gene Bank located in Zeway town where they were able to see a wide-range of species preserved for future use. All the trainees agreed to start/expand their feed seed business and five of them already purchased basic seed right after the training;  Trainees nominated three people to coordinate joint activities with the FeedSeed project and lead the network they created during the training. The network is to help expand the businesses, share relevant information and for lobbying purposes. The three nominees elected as focal persons are:o Kasahun Daba (for SNNPRS) o Seid Hussien (for Amhara region) o Mohamed Awol (for Afar region)  The trainees discussed the possibility of creating a registered association of their own or joining a similar association. This will be decided after studying the pros and cons of each alternative;  All the trainees found the training useful and educational and were satisfied in taking part (according to their assessment of the training);  Finally, draft Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) between the project and clients were discussed in plenary and all expressed their consent to the roles and responsibilities of each party as stated in the MoU. In the meantime, clients mentioned that the document should bear ILRI's official stamp. The MOUs shall be presented at the next project team meeting for further discussion. Followup to provide on-the-spot technical assistance to trainees to establish proper forage seed farms and plant for the coming season;  Facilitate access to quality forage seeds from sources such as ILRI's Herbage Seed Unit and Eden Field;  Assist seed business entrepreneurs to make their marketing plans, start establishing market linkages, and contact potential buyers of forage seed;  Assist clients in preparing business plans which can be used to secure bank loans, if needed;  Provide post-harvest training before harvest time. ","tokenCount":"893"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7967011821.json b/data/part_1/7967011821.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..919fd6a86f8624b7175daeaf0538d71324b5c76f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7967011821.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"58d37d683d939810fe90eec627b09abe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/70adcd59-5942-458b-9f9d-c5b6cba79c16/retrieve","id":"1457527011"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f0144a8f-008d-4281-ab51-7c3a1ec89662","pagecount":"10","content":"ISBN 978 94 6022 433 1L ivestock are the mainstay of the economy of Somalia, around two-thirds of whose people are involved in the livestock sector (FAO-Somalia, 2014). Many are nomadic pastoralists, moving with their herds in search of pasture and water. Others are agropastoralists, growing a few crops but relying mainly on their animals for food and income. The men typically manage the main herd of camels and cattle, while the women, children and the elderly take care of the sheep and goats, and milk a home herd of camels and cattle.Despite the importance of livestock in Somalia, little has been done to document traditional livestock practices. This study fills part of this gap: it investigates the management of breeding. Because men and women have such different responsibilities in livestock management, we suspected they might also use different breeding practices. Little research has been done on this subject.We conducted a series of participatory rural appraisals in the Tog-Dheer region of Somaliland. This region has a human population of about 400,000, of whom an estimated 65% are nomadic pastoralists, 30% urban and 5% agropastoralists (FSNAU-Somalia, 2011). In each of 20 settlements, we randomly selected households from a list of livestock-keeping households provided by the village elders. We ran separate appraisals for the women and the men in each location, giving a total of 40 appraisals with a total of 506 participants: 252 women and 254 men.The participatory appraisals were facilitated by staff of the IGAD Sheikh Technical Veterinary School and Reference Centre, located in Sheikh, Somaliland, with support from staff of the non-governmental organization Terra Nuova and the International Livestock Research Institute. All the facilitators (equal numbers of women and men) were trained jointly on how to apply the appraisal method. For cultural reasons, the male facilitators ran the appraisals with groups of men; the female facilitators worked with the women's groups.The appraisal generated semi-quantitative and qualitative information on different gender aspects related to the breeding of camels, cattle, sheep and goats. We asked the groups only to respond for species they kept (thus not all groups answered for all species). Where relevant, we tested for differences in responses between the male and female groups (see Marshall et al., 2014 and2016 for details of the statistics used), using a significance level of 0.05. We asked about four specific breeding practices:• The objectives for keeping livestock • Livestock traits of importance • Intra-household decision making on livestock breeding • Criteria used to select or cull breeding animals.Full results of the study are given in Marshall et al., 2014 and2016. Here is a brief summary of our key findings, focusing on the gender dimensions.As expected, the pastoralists keep animals for many reasons (up to 14, depending on the species). They include consuming and selling milk, selling animals for slaughter or breeding, as savings and insurance, eating meat, for transport, drawing water from wells, for ceremonies or dowry, and use of the hides. Many of these objectives are equally important to both men and women, whilst other objectives are more important to either women or men (Figure 12.1).Importance for women The men said that income from selling breeding animals, the consumption of camel meat, and the use of hides, skins and bones were important. The women either did not mention these uses, or saw them as of lower importance. This reflects the gender division of labour and roles that men and women play in Somali society: for example, men sell breeding animals and control the resulting income; they slaughter camels and cook and eat the meat, and use the bone to make soup; and they sell hides and skins to earn money. Women rarely do these things.The women, on the other hand, saw using camels to draw water as more important than did the men: fetching water is generally a woman's task. They also emphasized the consumption of goat milk and keeping animals as a form of savings and insurance. While we did not fully explore the last point, it may suggest that women are more risk-averse, or perhaps are more concerned with looking after the family.Important livestock traits. The pastoralists named many livestock traits they deemed important (up to 11, depending on the species). The most important were high milk production, high market value, high meat production, and adaptation to harsh conditions. Groups of men talked about meat traits (such as quality, taste and fat content) and the animals' coat colours more often than women did; women's groups talked about the use of animals for ceremonies and for drawing water more often than did men (though strictly, these are uses of the animal rather than their traits).Intra-household decision making on breeding. The men made most of the decisions on breeding camels, while women and men said they made breeding decisions jointly for cattle, sheep and goats. This corresponds to the main division of labour for these species. There is a hint (not quite statistically significant) that men thought of themselves as the main decision-makers for Criteria used to select breeding animals. We also found overlaps and differences between women and men on the criteria use to select male animals for breeding. For sheep and goats (where women and men make joint decisions on breeding), the groups named up to 15 selection criteria. Both women and men said they would choose an animal if its forebears were good breeding animals or its mother or sisters produced a lot of milk. Men gave more weight than women to coat colour and high fertility, while women put more emphasis on the hardiness and breeding history of the animal's forebears. There were similar overlaps and differences in opinions about which female animals should be culled rather than used for breeding. It is interesting that the men and women had different opinions even though they said they made joint decisions on these issues.These results suggest that women and men pastoralists in Somaliland have different perspectives on livestock breeding. But we cannot tell for sure, because our female facilitators worked with women pastoralists, while male facilitators worked with men. In statistics, this is called \"confounding\": we have no way of telling how far our findings are influenced by the facilitators rather than the groups. We had anticipated this problem, but the option of swapping facilitators between the male and female groups was not culturally acceptable; nor was doing appraisals with mixed groups of men and women. We tried to overcome the problem by training the men and women facilitators together.A further issue was that the differences between the women's and men's groups were often not clearly observed until afterwards, when analysis was done on the data obtained from the two sets of groups. That prevented us from probing these differences more deeply. Where mixed groups are permitted, we would suggest holding appraisals with men and women separately, and then follow up with a joint discussion with all participants.In this work we stratified our focus group respondents by gender, on the basis of previous knowledge that women and men had different roles in livestock management. However, other socio-economic classifications -such as wealth group, or level of market orientation -may have been just as relevant. Such decisions are difficult given the lack of data as to which aspects have a greater effect on livestock-breeding practices. The build-up of data over time may help, but in the meantime researchers are left to make subjective choices.We found that women and men Somali pastoralists use sensible livestock breeding practices that produce animals that meet both their own needs and the market requirements. We do not recommend any interventions on breeding at this stage; rather, interventions on livestock management (such as feeding) would do more to improve productivity.We found that women and men may have different reasons for keeping livestock, trait preferences and breeding practices. Prior studies have also shown these to differ according to the wealth of the livestock keepers (e.g., Ejlersten et al. 2012). We thus strongly recommend that future studies of this nature give strong consideration to stratification by gender, other socio-economic groups, or combinations of these. In particular, the intersection of gender and wealth may be interesting to explore. Advocacy is needed to promote gender integration into the field of animal breeding and genetics.\"This is one of the first studies of this nature... all the studies on breeding practices don't consider it from a gender perspective\"https://youtu.be/ YEiD2HQpHJUWhilst livestock-keeping objectives do not directly correlate to breeding objectives, they can inform them: the breeding objectives in turn inform the overall direction of a structured breeding programme. If women and men have different breeding objectives, these need to be taken into account by those designing the breeding programme.This project addresses the question of how gendered knowledge, decision-making and preferences affect breeding practices. It does not address how the breeding programmes affect gender relations.• Sex-separate (male/female) focusgroup discussions were done to collect data from and about men and women on gender aspects of breeding camels, sheep, goats and cattle.• G e n d e r a n a l y s i s f o c u s s e s o n understanding gendered preferences in breeding, specifically the importance of livestock traits. This is linked to the gender division of labour and use of various livestock, and the related control over income and other benefits like more meat consumption. The study also touches on the concept of gendered knowledge in relation to criteria for culling and selecting breeding animals. This knowledge comes from practice -from women's daily work demands in animal husbandry. It looks at some aspects of intra-household decision-making on livestock breeding, which is also linked to what men and women do in animal husbandry (the gender division of labor).• In terms of differences and diversity, the study raises the importance of wealth and socioeconomic stratifications alongside gender in terms of understanding breeding priorities. ","tokenCount":"1643"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/7979501404.json b/data/part_1/7979501404.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d24e2b6eb401617cb13db83b11d1c3f71b9afc31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/7979501404.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"68d47b7159416ba0bdd49cba342c6ef1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9a6e152-e828-4ba3-b13f-9f7162ba1762/retrieve","id":"183120865"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c75a7928-6e0c-4953-9046-845469961c96","pagecount":"232","content":"l nombre de la comunidad Pomamanta deriva de las voces quechuas poma y manta, que en español significa lugar de pumas. Los agricultores manifiestan que antiguamente existían muchos pumas en el territorio de la comunidad. En la zona, los pomamantinos son calificados como de \"chaqueros\", para indicar que actúan o atacan en grupo, quizás porque son muy unidos y se defienden entre ellos.La comunidad se encuentra ubicada a 45 km de la ciudad de Concepción y a 8 km del distrito de Comas, en la carretera que une las provincias de Concepción y Satipo, entre los 3 600 y 4 000 msnm (-11.747546, -75.128551). Fue reconocida como comunidad el 20 de octubre de 1989 y titulada el 20 de octubre de 1995. Limita por el norte con las comunidades María Moya y Palala; por el este con Comas; por el oeste con las comunidades Rimaycancha y Chicche y por el sur con la comunidad Racracalla. Pertenece al distrito de Comas, provincia de Concepción, y forma parte de la cuenca del Tullumayo. Tiene una extensión de 5 948 hectáreas y se divide en los barrios de Miraflores, La Florida y Muyuptambo, con 156 familias distribuidas en toda la comunidad (2014).Sus cultivos principales son: papa nativa, papa mejorada, oca, mashua y olluco; complementados con la crianza de ovinos, vacunos, porcinos y llamas. Está rodeada de vegetación arbórea, como eucalipto, sauco, ciprés y pino, y abundante pacha muña y salvia. El régimen de tenencia de las tierras está determinado por la cercanía o lejanía al centro poblado: las tierras de la zona baja, aledaña al centro poblado, son de propiedad individual, y las tierras altas, de propiedad comunal.En la zona baja se siembra papa mejorada, principalmente para el mercado. Las tierras comunales de la zona alta están divididas en 7 turnos o sectores: Cullpapata, Chuñumastana, Tasta, Awin grande, Pacocancha grande, Paucho y Quillcay, con una rotación de 5 a 7 años, y un área aproximada de 10 a 20 hectáreas por turno.Los agricultores mencionan que ahora los turnos se han incrementado en relación a años atrás. En los turnos solo se siembran papas nativas con prácticas tradicionales. La siembra se inicia en crudo (tikpa) entre agosto y setiembre, y consiste en hacer un agujero en el suelo descansado, con ayuda de una chakitaklla, en él se introduce la semilla y finalmente se tapa con un poco de tierra. Al mes de la siembra se \"guanea\" con estiércol de ovino o guano de gallina que se compra en Comas POMAMANTA Comas Concepción Junín Comas Concepción JunínEste catálogo está dedicado a la memoria de Paulina Rodríguez Gamarra, quien en vida fue guardiana de una vasta diversidad de papa nativa en la Comunidad Campesina de Quilcas, solidaria con los demás, comprometida con la conservación, colaboradora de variedades. Su gran conocimiento fue muy útil para este catálogo. Desde muy niña estuvo acostumbrada a convivir entre llamas y papas multicolores, que ella crió con mucho cariño, para que no se resintieran y permanecieran a su lado toda la vida. Al ser madre compartió sus saberes con la comunidad y transmitió a sus hijos su herencia: semillas y sabiduría. Incansable luchadora, hasta el último momento se enfrentó valientemente a una terrible enfermedad. Ahora su cuerpo ya no tiene vida, pero vivirá por siempre el gran recuerdo que dejó en todas las personas que tuvimos el privilegio de conocerla, pues fue un modelo a seguir para su familia, la comunidad y la ciencia.fue muy útil para este catálogo. Desde muy niña estuvo acostumbrada a convivir entre llamas y papas multicolores, que ella crió con mucho cariño, para que no se resintieran y permanecieran a su lado toda la vida. Al ser madre compartió sus saberes con la comunidad y transmitió a sus hijos su herencia: semillas y sabiduría. Incansable luchadora, hasta el último momento se enfrentó valientemente a una terrible enfermedad. Ahora su cuerpo ya no tiene vida, pero vivirá por siempre el gran recuerdo que dejó en todas las personas que tuvimos el privilegio de conocerla, pues fue un modelo a seguir para su familia, la comunidad y la ciencia. Introducción L a papa es un cultivo originario del Perú, donde fue domesticada hace miles de años por los pobladores andinos. Existen evidencias de que la primera especie cultivada de papa fue Solanum stenotomum, hace unos 7 000 años en el área del lago Titicaca, aunque su domesticación probablemente se inició aproximadamente 10 000 años atrás. Las papas silvestres y cultivadas pertenecen a la sección Petota. Las papas silvestres pueden ser encontradas desde el suroeste de los Estados Unidos hasta el centro de Chile y Argentina. Estudios de los taxónomos Hawkes y Spooner sugieren que las especies ancestrales de papa silvestre se originaron en América del Norte o América Central durante las Eras del Cretáceo tardío o Eoceno. Perú es el país donde se puede encontrar el mayor número de especies silvestres y es también el que más especies silvestres endémicas tiene. A diferencia de las papas silvestres, el rango de ocurrencia de la papa cultivada es más restringido: en los Andes, desde el Oeste de Venezuela hasta el norte de Argentina, con una interrupción en su distribución de aproximadamente 560 km en la llanura del centro-sur de Chile, en los archipiélagos de los Chonos y de los Guatecas. Las poblaciones de papas nativas en México y América Central son más recientes, de la época poscolombina. En este caso, todas las especies cultivadas de papa surgieron en Perú y solo una subespecie en Chile.La biodiversidad de la papa es enorme. En el banco de germoplasma del Centro Internacional de la Papa -el más grande del mundo en su género-hay registradas más de 4 000 variedades de papa cultivada de todo el mundo, de las cuales cerca de 3 000 han sido recolectadas en el Perú. Se estima que este número representa solo una parte de la diversidad actual de especies y variedades de papa nativa (especies cultivadas) que las familias manejan in situ en las comunidades altoandinas. La conservación in situ es un proceso dinámico mediante el cual los agricultores manejan sus variedades 10 CATÁLOGO DE VARIEDADES DE PAPA NATIVA DEL SURESTE DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE JUNÍN -PERÚ tradicionales bajo condiciones locales, lo que permite que se sigan modificando gracias a sus prácticas de manejo y selección de cultivos. Constituye una forma dinámica de gestión de los recursos fitogenéticos, que hace posible que los procesos de selección natural y humana continúen actuando en el sistema productivo. Es una de las principales prácticas de conservación y aprovechamiento sostenido de la biodiversidad en las chacras.De acuerdo al último censo (CENAGRO 2012), en el Perú se utilizan 633 923 unidades agrarias (UA) (o 47 248 ha) para el cultivo de alguna variedad de papa y de este total,Setiembre 2017CATÁLOGO DE VARIEDADES DE PAPA NATIVA DEL SURESTE DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE JUNÍN -PERÚ 11 200 300 UA se destinan a la producción de papa nativa. Es importante resaltar que el 58% de las UA sembradas con papa nativa tienen una extensión de menos de 1 hectárea, y el 13% entre 1-3 hectáreas, destinadas principalmente para el autoconsumo. El cultivo de papas nativas en múltiples chacras, como variedades individualizadas y/o en mezclas, asegura la estabilidad de la cosecha y su resiliencia, ayudando a lograr continuidad en el suministro de alimentos. Aspectos como el uso de la diversidad en la cocina campesina y las preferencias finamente establecidas para el consumo de diversas variedades nativas, con texturas, sabores y usos distintos, son impulsores de la conservación in situ y, a la vez, un marcador cultural de la identidad quechua. Por ello es importante reconocer los servicios complementarios que provee la agrobiodiversidad más allá de la nutrición.El Perú es actualmente el mayor productor de papa en Latinoamérica y el duodécimo en el mundo, con 4,5 millones de toneladas anuales. La superficie promedio sembrada con papa es de 315 000 ha, con 19 de un total de 24 departamentos productores de papa. En los últimos 10 años, la producción nacional de papa ha tenido un crecimiento vertiginoso, debido al incremento del área sembrada y a la mejora de la tecnología en la conducción del cultivo. Ello ha permitido que los rendimientos pasen de 12,5 t/ha en el año 2005 a 14,6 t/ha en 2016. Asimismo, el consumo se ha incrementado de 67 k/año en 2004 a 85 k/año en 2016.El Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego, a través de la Dirección General Agrícola, junto con las 14 familias de agricultores custodios de 7 comunidades campesinas, el Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA), el Grupo Yanapai y el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), se complace en poner a disposición de todos los sectores interesados este catálogo, que describe y documenta las características morfológicas, agronómicas, nutricionales, usos culinarios y algunos conocimientos colectivos de 147 variedades de papa nativa del suroeste de la Región Junín, una de las principales productoras de papa del país. Se trata de un documento técnico que brinda la posibilidad de difundir y dar a conocer el potencial de estas papas nativas a los agentes económicos de la cadena productiva de papa, vale decir: investigadores, productores, proveedores de servicios, procesadores, comerciantes, cocineros y consumidores. Además, tiene como objetivo valorar la actividad de protección milenaria de un patrimonio nacional por parte de los productores conservacionistas, orientándola hacia una oferta de calidad, con beneficios económicos, sociales, de oportunidades de negocios y su correspondiente viabilidad de desarrollo sustentable, con impacto a nivel local, nacional e internacional.Prólogo E l Perú es, sin duda alguna, el país en el que crece el mayor número de especies silvestres y cultivadas de papa y también el lugar donde fue domesticada por primera vez. Probablemente uno de los pasos iniciales en la domesticación de la papa fue la selección de tubérculos con bajo contenido de alcaloides y por tanto buen sabor, y el desarrollo de metodologías que permitieran eliminarle esa característica que le da el sabor amargo. Es así que a través de miles de años se han ido domesticando diferentes especies de papa, variedades adaptadas a diferentes pisos agroecológicos, con tolerancia a condiciones extremas y calidades diferenciadas según sus diversos usos, paralelamente a la evolución de diversas estrategias de supervivencia que nos permitirán enfrentar los retos del cambio climático y la seguridad alimentaria.Mirasol, Ucayali, Yana Suytu, Wamanpa Uman, Tarmeña, Runtus son los nombres de algunas de las variedades de papas nativas que se cultivan en el sureste de Junín y que han sido identificadas, caracterizadas y plasmadas en este catálogo a través de un trabajo conjunto entre 7 comunidades campesinas, 14 familias de agricultores custodios de la zona, el Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA), el Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego (MINAGRI), el Grupo Yanapai y el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP).El \"Catálogo de variedades de papa nativa del sureste del departamento de Junín\" constituye un aporte significativo al Registro Nacional de Papa Nativa del Perú, pues incluye la descripción morfológica, características agronómicas, valor nutricional, así como información brindada por los agricultores en cuanto a usos culinarios y otros datos pertinentes de cada una de las variedades descritas. Además, todas estas variedades están acompañadas de una representación gráfica de su perfil genético, o huella genética, inspirada en el ancestral khipu.Como un tributo a la gran labor de las familias campesinas conservacionistas, también se muestran fotografías de las comunidades y de los miembros de las familias dedicadas a conservar estas variedades ya que, gracias al trabajo de ellos y de sus ancestros durante cientos y hasta miles de años, y al conocimiento transmitido de generación en generación, se han conservado no solo las variedades sino los conocimientos asociados sobre su preservación y mantenimiento. La riqueza genética plasmada en este catálogo valora el rol de los agricultores de papa en elSetiembre 2017 manejo activo de la diversidad y representa una línea de base de la diversidad de variedades que se pueden encontrar en una región específica.El catálogo puede usarse de variadas formas: para vigilar el estado de conservación de las variedades a futuro, como una guía para estudiar nuevos atributos de estas variedades, o como registro de potenciales variedades con carácter comercial para la generación de ingresos económicos y que nos ayuden a enfrentar la inseguridad alimentaria. Además, este catálogo pretende estimular entre los jóvenes agricultores custodios, estudiantes, público en general y tomadores de decisiones la conservación de este recurso genético mediante la difusión de sus propiedades, usos y diversidad. Y como nuestra atención también debe estar puesta en la documentación de variedades nativas que son escasas y vulnerables, en este catálogo estamos documentando 17 variedades consideradas escasas en la región y, por lo tanto, en peligro de extinción.Esta publicación es la evidencia de que el trabajo coordinado entre la ciencia y el saber ancestral de las comunidades andinas del país marca una relación virtuosa en la que todos salen ganadores. Esperamos que esta muestra de una parte de la diversidad de papa nativa existente en el sureste de Junín sirva de inspiración a los jóvenes agricultores, quienes tienen en sus manos esta gran herencia y legado de sus antepasados, que es necesario mantener y promover. Además, esperamos que sirva para que cada uno de nosotros, beneficiarios de este tesoro por ser consumidores de papa, reconozcamos que, gracias al trabajo, conocimiento, dedicación y generosidad de cada uno de los miles de agricultores conservacionistas, gozamos de la gran variedad de papas nativas en nuestra mesa, que nos nutre a nosotros y a nuestras familias.Los invitamos a acompañarnos en este recorrido maravilloso por las comunidades de Pomamanta, Racracalla, Masma Chicche, Rangra, Quilcas, Marcavalle y Paca Paccha, para conocer a los agricultores custodios, sus familias y la riqueza que ellos conservan para el mundo. ¿Cómo agradecer un legado? Somos privilegiadas las personas que hemos podido observar de cerca la ternura que ponen las mujeres andinas en la selección de semillas, el esfuerzo que demanda a los hombres voltear la tierra con la chakitaklla, la ardua labor de pisar y lavar los tubérculos cuando se prepara el chuño para asegurar \"pan para mañana\", o el cuidado que tienen los miembros de las familias cuando escogen una papita sancochada de la mezcla de variedades, que luego será servida cuando la familia se reúna para comer. Son escenas de la vida cotidiana en los Andes, que se han repetido siglo tras siglo y de generación en generación. Gracias a estas labores y cuidados es que existe la diversidad que hoy apreciamos en el campo y en los bancos de germoplasma. Y es por ello que miles de agricultores en el mundo, lejos de los Andes, pueden producir variedades que poseen características nuevas que han sido generadas en programas de mejoramiento.La Región Junín cuenta con variedades nativas de papa que constituyen un germoplasma de gran valor que es usado activamente por los agricultores. Los agricultores no \"conservan por conservar\": utilizan las variedades para la adaptación activa a nuevas condiciones de mercado, clima, plagas y enfermedades. Tan importante como las mismasvariedades son los conocimientos asociados sobre sus propiedades, el uso en la cocina y los nombres. Tanto las variedades como los conocimientos están cambiando y según algunos escépticos, estarían incluso en peligro de perderse. De allí la importancia de este catálogo, que trata de recoger las características básicas de cada variedad y el conocimiento que va con ellas. Con una línea de base simple, como se presenta en este catálogo, se puede revalorar el patrimonio del sureste de Junín.En cada zona altoandina de Junín, cada comunidad campesina y cada familia, como parte de este conjunto, mantiene una agrobiodiversidad adaptada a sus condiciones de clima, suelo, sistema de siembra, tipo de uso, mercado. Además, cuentan con variedades autóctonas o endémicas y cosmopolitas o comerciales, así como un conocimiento asociado que, a veces, es exclusivo de ciertas variedades que caracterizan a un determinado productor en una comunidad. El cultivo de papa nativa no sólo forma parte de su vivencia, de su cultura, de sus actividades familiares, económicas y sociales, sino de todo a la vez. Esto es lo que el catálogo de variedades de Junín registra parcialmente. Y por ello agradecemos a las familias y comunidades que participaron en el proceso de documentación. y luego se voltea formando camellones con la chakitaklla. En esta comunidad es costumbre que el takllero y el alchero sean varones, práctica que difiere de otras comunidades donde esta práctica está a cargo de la pareja, conformada por un varón y una mujer. El abono sintético es poco utilizado. El recultivo se realiza a la floración, aproximadamente 4 meses después de la siembra. Con ayuda de una lampa ancha se levanta tierra a la altura del cuello de la planta. Los principales problemas identificados por los agricultores son la rancha, el gorgojo de los Andes, las heladas y las granizadas. Todos ocasionan fuertes pérdidas económicas y a veces ponen en riesgo la seguridad alimentaria de los agricultores.La fiesta principal de Pomamanta se celebra del 27 al 30 de junio de cada año en homenaje a San Pedro y San Pablo, en ella se presentan danzas costumbristas como los \"chutos\". Otra fiesta que celebran las familias desde el 24 de julio hasta fines de agosto es el Santiago, donde marcan al ganado. También, cada 20 de octubre se celebra el aniversario del centro poblado. Las celebraciones finalizan con la fiesta de año nuevo. En estas fiestas se degustan los platos más representativos del pueblo, como el cuy chactado con papas. Otros platos importantes de la cocina lugareña son: la papa a la huancaína, la pachamanca a la olla y la pachamanca en horno de piedra. Dentro de toda esta riqueza de conocimientos, preocupa la pérdida paulatina del idioma quechua, que solo es hablado por las personas de la tercera edad mientras que los jóvenes ya no lo practican.l nombre de la comunidad Racracalla deriva de las voces quechuas raqra, que significa hendidura, rajadura, y calla, que significa estrecha, angosta; por lo tanto, en español significa quebrada estrecha, aunque algunos pobladores señalan que su nombre se debe a un ave, frecuente en la zona, llamada \"laclacallama\".Se encuentra a 53 km de la ciudad de Concepción y a 8 km del distrito de Comas. Políticamente pertenece al distrito de Comas, provincia de Concepción, región Junín. Se ubica en la microcuenca Ticsilpan, subcuenca del Tullumayo. El centro poblado Racracalla (-11.641618, -75.050051) se encuentra a 3 450 msnm, con una extension de 7 638 hectáreas y una población de mil habitantes que viven en los anexos Racracalla, Achin y Bellavista. La temporada de lluvias se inicia en el mes de octubre, intensificándose entre enero a marzo. La temperatura anual varía entre una máxima de 20 a 24ºC y mínima de 5 a 10ºC.La comunidad fue fundada el 14 de enero de 1941, reconocida oficialmente el 20 de octubre de 1989 y titulada el 18 de diciembre de 1995; durante la Reforma Agraria fue socia de la SAIS Cahuide. Limita por el norte con las comunidades campesinas Jatun Huasi y Marancocha; por el sur con las comunidades Pomamanta, Quilcas, Rangra y Saño; por el este con la comunidad Aychana y por el oeste con las comunidades Cochas, Pusacpampa y Cushurucocha. El río principal es el Pisuyo y en su jurisdicción discurren los riachuelos Huamancancha, Quitic, Allpa, Paucho cocha, Chilca y Apacaco, y varias lagunas, como Putcacocha, Panchamaco, Verdecocha, Matacocha, Romanacocha, Yawarpa, Pacaca, Patituyo, Chuspe, Ventanilla, Pauchococha y Cushurucocha. Sus cultivos más importantes son papa nativa, papa mejorada, habas, cebada, trigo, arvejas, hortalizas y pastos cultivados para corte (ryegras, trébol rojo, alfalfa), principalmente para ganado vacuno. En la zona baja la propiedad de la tierra es individual; allí, las familias crían porcinos, cuyes y gallinas. La zona alta, de propiedad comunal, viene siendo usufructuada para la crianza de ovinos, alpacas y llamas; es allí donde se siembra papa nativa en 7 turnos o sectores: Allpa, Milio, Tranca, Tambiali, Quitic, Rodeopampa y Paucho; estos turnos son rotados cada 4 a 5 años desde hace mucho tiempo. Esta siembra se realiza con labranza mínima, con ayuda de una chakitaklla; es costumbre que un hombre y una mujer realicen la ticpiada o volteo.Las plagas son controladas mediante descansos prolongados, pero la rancha es una enfermedad que requiere prevención en cada campaña. Hasta hace aproximadamente 4 a 5 años, esta comunidad sembraba extensas áreas de papa mejorada; sin embargo, debido al alto uso de insumos externos como gallinaza y fertilizantes químicos, se incrementó el gorgojo de los Andes, el epitrix y la polilla. Además, la rancha se volvió más frecuente y tuvieron que aplicar fungicida hasta cada 15 días. A ello se sumó el descenso en los precios del tubérculo en el mercado, todo lo cual provocó un cambio de actividad productiva de los agricultores que ahora son productores de ganadería lechera, lo que posiblemente ponga en riesgo la diversidad genética de papa existente en la comunidad.La comunidad festeja tres fiestas importantes durante el año. En el mes de enero, celebran al Niño Jesús y el aniversario de la comunidad, durante tres días. La segunda fiesta es en el mes de febrero, época de carnavales, denominada Fajina (qashunta). Consiste en el volteo o chacmeo de tierras, con participación de toda la comunidad, que dedica un área comunal a la siembra de papa; antiguamente la cosecha de esta parcela se destinaba a cubrir los gastos de la comunidad, en la actualidad cubre los gastos en que incurre el prioste o mayordomo en las celebraciones. Otra fiesta importante es el Santiago, celebrada entre los meses de julio y agosto, donde los agricultores festejan el aumento del ganado y lo señalan como su propiedad. Así mismo, las faenas comunales siguen vigentes en esta comunidad, permitiendo satisfacer necesidades de la población, por ejemplo, la construcción de locales, mejoramiento de canales, etc.Algunos pobladores aún hablan quechua Wanka, utilizan la chakitaklla -herramienta tradicional-en la siembra de papa nativa y para el aporque y recultivo, y preparan comidas especiales, por ejemplo, mondongo para el desayuno, y para el almuerzo el popular chacteo, que consiste en una tortilla de harina de maíz o trigo que se sirve acompañada de huevo frito y carne sancochada en pedazos pequeños. También suelen servir utunco, que se prepara con harina de kaya (chuño de oca) mezclada con un poco de oca fresca, formando una masa suave con la cual se amasan bolitas que se rellenan con un poco de chancaca para luego sancocharlas. En todas las comidas se sirven rodajas de queso con ají y cancha. Durante la siembra y el volteo los pobladores juegan con los productos que sobran del almuerzo: papas, mashua negra sancochada, maíz molido o harina sirven para frotar el pelo y la cabeza; la mashua negra es especial porque tiñe la piel. Otro plato tradicional es el puchero de papas o ruqru, que es preparado con cuero de chancho, sacha col (Brassica rapa) y papa sancochada con ají. En las partes altas, el dulce de chuño es un plato especial para después de la cosecha, siempre y cuando sea cocido después que la papa se haya helado. Las variedades de papa siri y mauna son especiales para el puchero y la elaboración de chuño.l significado de Masma Chicche se encuentra en discusión entre los pobladores. Para unos, deriva de masma, vocablo quechua que significa olor de cualquier clase, agradable o desagradable, que se percibe a gran distancia. Para otros, deriva de maqma, que significa tinajón de boca ancha que sirve para la elaboración de chicha. Otras versiones señalan que masma puede aludir a un lugar cercado o con sombra, y hay quienes dicen que puede referirse a la abundante presencia de mashua. Por otro lado, la palabra chicche se refiere a una espina (Berberis lutea) que se encuentra en la comunidad o tras la caída de abundante granizo.El distrito Masma Chicche pertenece a la provincia de Jauja, región Junín. Geográficamente se encuentra situado al sur de Jauja (-11.785538, -75.381509), tiene una superficie de 29 km 2 . Limita por el este con el distrito de Apata; por el oeste con los distritos de Mantaro y San Lorenzo; por el norte con los distritos de Molinos, Julcán y Huamali; y por el sur con el distrito de Apata. La principal vía de acceso al distrito es la carretera Ataura -Masma Chicche y la carretera Jauja -Julcán -Masma Chicche. Se encuentra distribuido en tres barrios: El Progreso, La Libertad y 28 de Febrero, ubicados entre los 3 400 y 4 000 msnm. Antiguamente era conocido como Santa Isabel de Masma Chicche y solo tenía dos barrios o \"cuarteles\": El Progreso y Oriente. El barrio Oriente ocupaba los terrenos del actual barrio La Libertad y parte del actual barrio 28 de Febrero. Antes de su reconocimiento como distrito, Masma Chicche era considerada una comunidad indígena; más tarde, durante la reforma agraria, esta misma comunidad sirvió de base para la conformación y declaración como comunidad campesina el 20 de octubre de 1989. La mayoría de la población orienta sus actividades a la siembra de papa nativa, papa mejorada y olluco destinadosal autoconsumo y venta, y a la actividad agrícola mediante la crianza de vacunos, ovinos, porcinos y aves de corral. La campaña agrícola comienza con la siembra, a fines de junio y principios de julio, cediendo luego ante las heladas y escarcha del mes de agosto. En la primera quincena de diciembre los agricultores realizan las predicciones para la cosecha del próximo año. Las predicciones se basan en la observación de la flora y fauna del lugar. De enero a marzo las lluvias se intensifican y traen consigo enfermedades y plagas al cultivo de papa. A partir de abril o mayo cesan las lluvias, signo de la temporada de cosecha. La temperatura en la comunidad varía entre 1ºC y 18ºC; las precipitaciones pluviales van desde 600 mm a 1 170 mm; y la humedad relativa es de 58% en promedio.La comunidad Masma Chicche tiene diferentes celebraciones durante el año. Se inician con la fiesta en honor al Niño Jesús (patrón de la comunidad) en la víspera del año nuevo. La comunidad se concentra en la plaza principal para \"adorar\" y \"velar\" al Niño Jesús hasta pasada la medianoche. En época de carnavales (febrero o marzo), las autoridades de la comunidad campesina con el apoyo de las autoridades municipales organizan una fiesta donde realizan el \"pago\" a los cerros, para que aseguren la salud y la reproducción del ganado, y aprovechan para marcar al ganado. Otro evento es el aniversario del distrito, celebrado en dos momentos: la primera celebración se realiza el 28 de febrero, conmemorando el aniversario de la promulgación de la ley que reconoce a Masma Chicche como distrito; y la segunda se realiza del 10 al 13 de abril, siendo el 11 el día central, en conmemoración del inicio de funciones de la municipalidad del distrito de Masma Chicche. Su organización y éxito depende de las autoridades municipales y locales. Finalmente, en el mes de mayo, las dos cuadrillas que conforman la Hermandad del Señor de las Ánimas de Paca organizan la fiesta de la Cruz de Mayo, en homenaje a su santo patrón. Las áreas comunales están destinadas a dos usos: 580 hectáreas para cultivos, distribuidas en 9 turnos o sectores, donde se siembra papa nativa principalmente, alternada con pastos naturales. Los turnos Canchahuata, Pucacuto,Nievepuquio, Ñahuinpuquio, Jatunhuasi, Jatunchaya, Cullpa, Pucamachay y Umancasha son sembrados una vez cada 9 años, es decir un año de papa y 8 años de descanso para recuperación de los pastizales forrajeros nativos, que sirven para el pastoreo del ganado de las familias.Para cultivar en un turno las autoridades comunales otorgan anualmente a cada comunero entre 2 a 3 parcelas para la siembra de papa nativa bajo el sistema tikpa. Antes de la siembra se realiza la limpieza de las parcelas: se retiran los arbustos y se coloca pasto nativo (Stipa ichu) en los bordes de la parcela. Las principales plagas y enfermedades que ocasionan pérdidas a sus cultivos de papa son: el gorgojo de los Andes, la polilla, el \"utushcuro\" y la rancha (tizón tardío). La comida representativa de la comunidad en las labores de campo es el puchero, un plato que se prepara con papas, col, cuero de chancho y ají colorado.Sobre el abonamiento, el agricultor Samuel Astocuri señala lo siguiente:L a comunidad campesina Quilcas (-11.942573, -75.258826) tiene una superficie de 168 km² y está ubicada a 17 km de la ciudad de Huancayo en dirección noreste. Políticamente pertenece al distrito del mismo nombre, provincia de Huancayo, región Junín. Cuenta con personería jurídica y está constituida por 125 comuneros asentados en los barrios 27 de Mayo, Santa Cruz, Pampa, Llacta y el anexo Colpar. Cuentan con un reglamento comunal y su misión es el manejo y preservación de los recursos naturales y la distribución, buen uso y defensa del territorio comunal. Administran una granja comunal de alpacas y ovinos y bosques de eucaliptos. Utilizan prácticas tradicionales andinas de trabajo recíproco como la faena, la minka, el ayni, el wuajete o uyay. La principal actividad económica de las familias es la agricultura y la crianza de vacas, ovejas y llamas. Su estrategia de producción se basa en el manejo de tres pisos agroecológicos situados entre los 3 300 y 4 800 msnm. En el piso bajo cultivan maíz; en el piso medio siembran papa mejorada, oca, olluco, mashua, cereales, pastos de corte; y el piso alto está destinado a la siembra de papa nativa y pastura natural.Antiguamente, el área agrícola en la zona altoandina estaba distribuida en cinco sectores o \"turnos\": Itañacorral-Tintihuasi, Pucacuto-Cahuituyo, Isla, Sutuli y Malmanera. En la actualidad se ha añadido el turno Tambo-Chacuashachina, destinado a la producción de papas \"regalo\" y/o nativas, papas amargas o siri y algunas variedades mejoradas. El sistema de turnos practicado en estas tierras está reglamentado por la comunidad, desde la repartición de terrenos entre los meses de setiembre y octubre de cada año, hasta la aprobación en asamblea comunal de las fechas de siembra y cosecha. En cada campaña se distribuyen entre uno a tres lotes por comunero, para la siembra de papa \"regalo\", y lotes opcionales para la siembra de papas amargas. Tienen derecho a esta asignación QUILCAS los comuneros activos y los exonerados (mayores de 60 años). Estos sectores son sembrados una vez cada cinco años. Cada familia cultiva entre 10 a 20 variedades de papas nativas, aunque existen familias que cultivan muchas variedades más, las cuales son sembradas en chalo, es decir diversas variedades de papa nativa en mezcla. En la comunidad se han registrado más de 120 variedades que se producen bajo el sistema tipka o siembra en \"crudo\", utilizando la chakitaklla o arado de pie como herramienta para la siembra y volteo; la chakitaklla o lampa para el recultivo, y la herramienta de reja de fierro con mango curvo, llamada allachu, para la cosecha. El uso de agroquímicos está prohibido y solo se permite el abonamiento orgánico, como el guano de corral. El control de plagas está determinado por los años de descanso del turno. La comida que acompaña la siembra y otras labores es el \"puchero\" y en la cosecha se prepara pachamanca en la misma chacra. Al finalizar, se echan las sobras de papas y mashua sobre la cabeza de los participantes, juego que se llama apachicu, que significa enviar encomienda a las personas que no han estado en la cosecha.La comunidad Quilcas celebra cada 21 de enero la fiesta de Santa Inés, en honor a la patrona de la granja de alpacas y ovinos, que anteriormente fue patrona de la Sociedad de Crianderos Santa Inés. La fiesta dura 2 días, el primer día los comuneros se dirigen a la granja a realizar la esquila y marcación de ganado; el segundo día realizan una misa. Luego, cada barrio presenta una danza típica que los caracteriza, finalizando con un almuerzo de camaradería y baile general. En febrero se celebran los carnavales, donde se baila el huaylarsh antiguo y moderno en la plaza principal. Los conjuntos más representativos de huaylarsh antiguo son Uchslla lutuy y Chuno jaluy de Llacta y Tumbos pallay de Colpar, ganadores de concursos regionales y nacionales.Otros eventos importantes son: la fiesta patronal de la Santísima Cruz de Quilcas, (3 de mayo); el aniversario del distrito, (27 de mayo); la octava de la fiesta de San Pedro, (6 de julio). La fiesta de Santiago, celebrada por todos los campesinos en honor al patrón Santiago y a la ganadería, (24 de julio). Ese dia, cada familia realiza la herranza o marcación del ganado poniendo cintas a sus ovinos, vacunos, camélidos y otros animales de carga y silla con rituales de danza, música y canto especial. El 23 de agosto es el día principal de la fiesta patronal en honor al padre san Roque, celebrando la octava de este santo, patrón del distrito. La fiesta dura cinco días y es organizada por los mayordomos quienes contratan una banda de músicos para que acompañe la fiesta. La principal danza es la chonguinada; y como anécdota podemos mencionar que el año 2013 asistieron doce conjuntos de chonguinos. También suelen presentarse cuatro conjuntos de avelinos: siendo los mas tradicionales Su Majestad Cuchiris y Los Canarios son los más tradicionales. A partir del día 24 hay corridas de toros organizada por el conjunto de chonguinada \"Los Marimachos\", el 25 es organizada por la Sociedad de Avelinos Cushiris y el 26, por los Avelinos Canarios; el 27 es el día de los \"cortamontes\", donde los asistentes bailan alrededor de un árbol que van cortando con un hacha, el que tumba el árbol es el prioste (mayordomo) del próximo año.El 2 de setiembre, aniversario de la comunidad Quilcas, se celebra una misa y luego cada barrio de la comunidad hace una presentación de danzas autóctonas. El 8 de setiembre se celebra la fiesta patronal de Colpar en honor a la Virgen de Cocharcas, donde se baila chonguinada, la danza de los chunchos, huaylarsh y la danza de los avelinos. La danza de \"los Janachos\" es una danza que se estaba perdiendo y es bailada por los integrantes del barrio Pampa. Se trata de una estampa que parodia a los fabricantes de tejas y sus andanzas en la venta. Recientemente fue declarada Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación por el Ministerio de Cultura (16 de mayo de 2016), para evitar su desaparición.El anexo Colpar organizó ferias de semillas desde 1999 hasta 2007 con la finalidad de revalorar la biodiversidad local y reconocer a los agricultores con más diversidad. Destacaron familias como la de la señora Paulina Rodríguez, por cuidar más de 80 variedades de papas nativas y muchos tipos de maíz para cancha. La papa y el maíz son dos cultivos emblemáticos de la comunidad. Por otro lado, la comunidad Quilcas, con la finalidad de promover la conservación, sensibilizar a los consumidores y generar ingresos, ha participado en cuatro oportunidades en el Gran Mercado de la Feria Gastronómica Mistura en Lima, y en el mercado saludable de La Molina, distrito de Lima, donde presentan el \"chalo\" en bolsas de 2 kg. Sin embargo, aún no han conseguido vender directamente a los restaurantes debido a que ni esos establecimientos ni los intermediarios reconocen todavía el valor de la agrobiodiversidad que encierra el \"chalo\", prefiriendo unas pocas papas nativas de pulpa de color, que sí son aceptadas en el mercado urbano. La comunidad campesina fue reconocida el 20 de octubre de 1989 y titulada el 18 de setiembre de 1997. Actualmente cuenta con 46 comuneros activos y 120 familias. Siembran más de 200 variedades de papas nativas de las cuales se sienten orgullosos, conocen sus nombres y usos. Afirman que sus papas más antiguas son yana wari, cuchillu paki, acero suytu, wakapa qallun, y winku. De esta última son capaces de identificar hasta siete variedades. También señalan que en sus tierras existe una variedad que no se encuentra en otras MARCAVALLE localidades y que a pesar de no sembrarla, nunca desaparece. Es la papa Kurau o Culao, que tiene estolones de hasta 3 metros de longitud. Según manifiestan, es muy sabrosa pero \"medio gomosa\". Crece comúnmente en los maizales.La siembra de papa en turnos o laymis fue desintegrada, ahora toda la tierra es propiedad privada y cada agricultor decide el momento y lugar de siembra. Para mantener la calidad de semilla siembran a dos altitudes (3 800 y 4 000 msnm) intercambiándolas de una campaña a otra. El sistema de rotación en la parte baja es el siguiente: papa, habas, arvejas, cebada, tarwi, y de 7 a 8 años de descanso. En la parte alta es: papa, cebada y 2 años de descanso. Las zonas o parajes aptos para las papas nativas son: Sillapata, Llutupuquio, Vicuña puquio, Ashna puquio, Colacan, Tayacaja, Yula asha, Huarasnshire, Huayhua, Cullcu, Milu ulum, Yula yacu y Calla lumi. El calendario agrícola de papa nativa se inicia con el chacmeo del terreno entre los meses de febrero y marzo, utilizando chakitaklla o shuki; entre agosto y setiembre se terronea y se siembra, haciendo los surcos con pico para después colocar la semilla, el guano de corral y un poco de fertilizante químico para posteriormente taparlos.Cuando la papa tiene tres hojas, o 10 cm de tamaño, se hace el rashquiteo o deshierbe, con el objetivo de matar los gorgojos; después de un mes se procede al aporque con la finalidad de proteger a la papa y, entre los meses de enero y febrero, se realiza el recultivo, que es una de las actividades más festejadas por los agricultores, quienes se adornan con flores locales, como claveles y dalias, y es animada por una orquesta compuesta por saxos, tenores y un bombo. Esta actividad coincide con las festividades de carnaval y en ella se baila el huaylarsh antiguo o akshu tatay. A partir de entonces se espera hasta la cosecha, que se realiza a mano en el mes de mayo Las papas nativas se siembran en chalo, generalmente para autoconsumo y para mantener las diferentes variedades. Por lo general se siembra un saco a saco y medio por variedad. También se siembran por separado algunas variedades de papa destinadas al mercado, como amarilla, huamantanga, camotillo, peruanita y huayro. La mayoría de agricultores posee la variedad yana wari, la cual es conocida como yana wankuy en otras comunidades. Los principales productores de papas nativas en Marcavalle son Juan López Chucos, Raúl Hinostroza Canchaya y Marina Gabriel Alvino. Durante las actividades de siembra de papas nativas es costumbre comer mazamorra de chuño y calabaza, papa sancochada con japchi, mashua sancochada y segundo de olluco. En el recultivo se consume el patachi, una sopa de trigo aderezada con ají panca que además lleva charqui, carne de res, cuero de chancho, arvejas, habas secas, col, papa, y se acompaña con mote o cancha, como bocadillo para picar, o con un segundo plato, generalmente algún guiso.El calendario festivo de Marcavalle se inicia el 1 de enero, con la entrega de los paños de san Cristóbal -o la ropa de la Cruz-de las autoridades locales a los priostes que tendrán a su cargo la fiesta del santo. La entrega se efectúa en el municipio del centro poblado. Entre los meses de febrero y marzo se celebran los carnavales y es tiempo de huaylarsh y es cuando las organizaciones de jóvenes bailan esta danza celebrando las actividades agrícolas, especialmente el recultivo de papa. En el mes de mayo es la fiesta principal de la comunidad, que se celebra los días 12 y 13 en honor a la Cruz de san Cristóbal. Esta fiesta es realizada por los devotos y no por la comunidad. Para el mes de junio, después de las cosechas, se ha instituido un día para la realización de una feria agropecuaria de granos y tubérculos andinos, que no tiene fecha fija. El 9 de julio la comunidad organiza una celebracion en la que se conmemora el aniversario de los hechos heroicos acontecidos en la comunidad durante la Guerra con Chile y que representaron uno de los pocos triunfos del peruano frente al enemigo chileno. A partir del 24 de julio se festeja el Santiago, fiesta en honor a la fecundidad de los animales, donde se marca al ganado. El Santiago puede durar hasta una semana. Otra fiesta de connotaciones agrícolas es la de san Lucas, que se celebra el 18 de octubre, dando inicio a la temporada de siembra y donde las yuntas son adornadas con banderas peruanas; una noche antes, al interior de cada familia, se vela con caña, coca y cigarro. Por último, el 8 y 9 de diciembre se celebra la fiesta de la Virgen Purísima, una gran fiesta religiosa celebrada por priostes y devotos. Las actividades económicas primarias de Paca Paccha son la agricultura y ganadería. Dos décadas atrás predominaba la propiedad común de la tierra en su más amplia expresión. En cuanto a la división de trabajo, se daba de acuerdo a las diferencias de sexos: los hombres se dedicaban a las labores de arar y picar la tierra, y las mujeres se dedicaban a echar la semilla, deshierbar los terrenos del sembrío, cortar los pastos, etc.; los niños también colaboraban, de acuerdo a su capacidad, en la labor agrícola: desde muy pequeños acompañaban a sus padres en todos los trabajos, los compartían en la medida de sus fuerzas, contactándose de esta manera con la vida del campesino. Su educación era espontánea, adquirida con la vigilancia del ambiente, gracias a una directa y consecuente asimilación de su contorno. El niño se iba formando poco a poco dentro de los moldes reverenciados por el grupo.En la actualidad persiste todavía la comunidad representada por su presidente, pero hay cambios significativos porque la mayoría de los comuneros posee pequeñas parcelas. Ello conlleva a un masivo ausentismo por parte de la niñez, que ahora asiste a la escuela y ya no colabora en las labores agrícolas como antaño, lo que crea incertidumbre sobre el futuro de los terrenos familiares y de la comunidad. Ahora la agricultura se destina solo al consumo de cada familia. Se produce papa, oca, mashua; cereales como el trigo, quinua, cebada, y leguminosas como habas y arvejas. También se siembran verduras, hierbas aromáticas, plantas maderables como el eucalipto, aliso, chihuillo, etc. y plantas frutales como el tumbo, pulo-pulo y otras. Además abundan las rosas, claveles, geranios, cartuchos y otras flores. Asimismo, se dedican a la crianza de ganado vacuno, porcino, equino, caprino y de aves de corral.La siembra de papas nativas se realiza con shuki o con una picota grande llamada callash. La preparación del terreno se hace 7 u 8 meses antes de la siembra, más o menos en los Paca Jauja Junín meses de febrero o marzo; con el inicio de las lluvias comienza la siembra, generalmente a partir del mes de agosto, y la siembra para la campaña grande se realiza entre el 10 y 29 de octubre; el aporque se realiza del 29 de noviembre al 15 de diciembre; la cosecha comienza a fines de abril y se extiende todo el mes de mayo.El campesino varón se viste con sencillez y al alcance de sus recursos económicos; por lo general usa prendas de vestir de lana para protegerse del frio ambiental. Sus pantalones son de algodón o bayeta, al igual que la camisa; complementa su atuendo con saco, gorro de lana y sombrero de paja. Las mujeres usan faldones o polleras, anchas y plegadas, de bayetas o terciopelo, adornadas con grecas; una blusa de algodón con mangas largas, cubiertas con blondas y grecas, una lliklla de lana o seda de muchos colores que llevan en la espalda a manera de una pequeña mantilla y un vistoso sombrero de paja color blanco con una cinta negra. La mujer campesina tiene vestidos de diario y trajes de gala, que usa los días de fiesta.Las festividades más importantes de la comunidad se inician con la fiesta patronal del Niño Jesús, que se celebra del 1 al 5 de enero de cada año con participación de seis orquestas contratadas por los mayordomos o priostes. En esta fecha se baila la danza de la Huaylijia. La fiesta de los carnavales, la mayordomía y labranzas de ceras en honor al Señor de Ánimas de Paca varían de fecha pero se celebran siempre en febrero. Duran dos días y una noche y hay siete mayordomos con sus respectivas orquestas. Se baila la danza de la Pachahuara y el plato principal de la fiesta es el puchero. Otras fiestas de menor renombre son: la fiesta de cruces (20 de mayo); el aniversario de la comunidad, el 26 de setiembre, y el aniversario del distrito, el 30 de setiembre. Aquí, la actividad principal es el desfile de las comunidades. Las comidas típicas de Paca Paccha son el shacta, consumida durante el almuerzo en la siembra de papa. Contiene carne desmenuzada y aderezada con ají colorado acompañado de queso, cancha y papas sancochadas. En la cosecha se prepara la huatia o jullpo con japchi. doña Paulina era una mujer con mucho entusiasmo para conservar las papitas y para coleccionarlas, había heredado de sus padres muchas variedades y un amplio conocimiento. En cada oportunidad que salía a trabajar a otras comunidades, colectaba tubérculo por tubérculo y no solo pensaba en su propia semilla sino también en incrementar la semilla de su hijo y de su nuera. Doña Paulina colaboró con la comunidad brindándole parte de su germoplasma, para que ésta también pudiera incrementar sus variedades. Doña Marina narra lo siguiente: mientras que los demás migraron a Lima, y solo ella y su hijo Marcelino continuaron sembrando; entre los dos cultivaban 250 variedades de papas. Comenta quesu nuera. Doña Paulina colaboró con la comunidad brindándole parte de su germoplasma, para que ésta también pudiera incrementar sus variedades. Doña Marina narra lo siguiente:Esta asociación fue constituída en 1920 y ratificada por sus socios el 20 de diciembre de 1984. Actualmente está integrada por 23 socios: Fortunato Ventura Suazo, Mauro Gaspar Brañez, Marcelo Tiza Rodríguez, Fidel Benito Cuba, Hiliadora Huamán Vásquez, Eulogia Suazo Chiguan, Margarita Rodríguez Gaspar, Justina Cuba Zamudio, Martin Alcocer Cuba, Alejandro Alcocer Gaspar, Fortunato Berrospi Pacheco, Marcelina Ordóñez Rodríguez, Emiliano Ordóñez Berrospi, Domingo Ordóñez Berrospi, Juliana Ponce de Cabrera, Luis Tito Ventura, Lucas Ventura Mendoza, Dionisio Suazo Gaspar, María Alcocer Chávez, Justina Sacarías Zarate, Senen Samaniego Cuba, Saturnina Rodríguez Martínez, Jorge Suazo Medina.Todos ellos usufructúan los pastizales de la zona altina para la crianza de ovinos, alpacas y llamas y de papa nativa. Sus familias poseen un amplio conocimiento en tecnología andina para el manejo de laderas y germoplasma de papa nativa. La fortaleza de la Asociación radica en su solidez organizativa, que le permite cumplir con los fines por los cuales fue constituida.La Asociación trabaja de mutuo acuerdo con la comunidad de Quilcas. Para la elaboración de este catálogo, la asamblea general de esa comunidad autorizó a la Asociación el uso de una parcela para sembrar el germoplasma colectado; por su parte, la Asociación se comprometió al manejo del\" \" germoplasma durante dos campañas (periodos 2010-2011 y 2011-2012). Sus miembros dedicaron tiempo y paciencia a distribuir la semilla en el campo de manera individual y a darle un manejo cuidadoso, facilitando la recolección de la información y contribuyeron con 56 variedades de papas nativas. Al respecto, don Fortunato Ventura Suazo señala:Don Walter Espinoza Portalanza (51 años) vive con su esposa, Hermelinda Palacios Huamán (48 años), y con su hija Yanet Espinoza Palacios (26 años). Él cuenta que hace 15 años comenzó a apoyar la multiplicación e identificación de germoplasma de papa nativa, gracias a una investigación que en ese entonces lideraban el Centro Internacional de la Papa y el Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria. Desde entonces sintió mucho apego a las formas y colores que el chalo (la mezcla) mostraba, y a partir de esa experiencia tomó mucho interés en aprender y recordar los nombres de las papas, porque entendió que en algún momento de su niñez y juventud sus abuelos y padres habían dedicado también mucho tiempo a conservarlas. Con mucha emoción, Don Walter dice:Don Victoriano Esteban Meza Cotera (49 años) vive con su esposa, doña Marciana Mercedes Carbajal Mendoza (44 años), y sus tres hijos: Susan (19 años), Leonel (15 años) y Sani del Pilar (12 años). Don Victoriano colaboró con 55 variedades y con la identificación y reconocimiento de todas las variedades de papas colectadas para este catálogo. Él cuenta que en muchas oportunidades debe dejar las labores agrícolas y salir de Pomamanta a trabajar en obras de construcción o minería para solventar la educación de sus hijos, por lo que muchas veces toda la responsabilidad de la chacra recae en su esposa.\" \" POMAMANTA COMAS CONCEPCIÓN Doña Esperanza Suazo Gaspar (71 años), participó en la identificación de toda la colección de las variedades de papas nativas; ella vive con su esposo, don Lucas Ventura Mendoza (75), con quien tiene ocho hijos: Lucio (54 años), Dionisio (50 años), Fortunato (48 años), Lucas (46 años), Virginia (42 años), Elsa (40 años), Víctor (38 años) y Donato (31 años). Doña Esperanza dice: QUILCAS HUANCAYO Don Magno Tiza Ponce (31 años) vive con su esposa, doña Clemencia Nancy Caimisela Poma (29 años), y con sus hijos Neyla (10 años) y Lizandra (5 años). Ambos cónyuges apoyaron en la identificación de las diversas variedades de papa de este catálogo y poseen muchos conocimientos para seguir trabajando y aportando a nuestra biodiversidad. Don Magno dice:QUILCAS HUANCAYO Doña Marina Loroña Papuico (37 años) y su esposo, don Marcelino Ordoñez Rodríguez (42 años), viven con sus hijos Alex (20 años), Yesenia (18 años) y Josué (5 años). Doña Marina comenta que a veces es difícil seguir sembrando en la altura porque su esposo trabaja lejos y sus hijos estudian en la universidad.Sin embargo, ella teme que sus hijos ya no quieran dedicarse a conservarlas, pues han dejado de ir a la chacra y ya no la apoyan en las labores de campo. Señala que seguirá sembrando mientras pueda hacerlo, y añade: \"aunque deje de ser comunera seguiré sembrando, pero lo haré más cerca de mi casa\".QUILCAS HUANCAYO Don Dionisio Suazo Gaspar (75 años) vive con su esposa, doña Fausta Medina Quispe (67 años); ambos apoyaron la identificación de las distintas variedades para este catálogo. Don Dionisio dice:Don Fortunato Berrospi Pacheco (52 años) y su esposa, doña Antonia Mercado Poma (53 años), siempre han vivido en Llacta con sus hijos Roel (26 años), Lidio (23 años), Máximo (19 años), Eva (16 años), Roxana (14 años), Noris (11 años) y Adrián (9 años). Don Fortunato y su esposa trabajan mucho en la crianza de sus animales y son muy dedicados a la agricultura; ellos apoyaron la identificación de las diversas variedades de papas para el catálogo. Don Fortunato señala:\" \" Torres OropesaDon Rómulo Torres Lino (46 años) y su esposa, doña Rosalvina Huamán Ortiz (45 años), tienen 3 hijos: Leví (22 años), Lía (20 años) e Isaías (18 años). Don Rómulo proporcionó 63 variedades de papas nativas para documentar en el catálogo y apoyó la identificación de todas las variedades. Él comenta: Hinostroza NúñezSon una pareja joven, se observa que es él quien se ocupa principalmente del manejo en la chacra, pero es su esposa quien reconoce las variedades. Crear la primera línea de base de las variedades de papa nativa que se cultivan en el sureste de Junín, con la finalidad de tener un inventario inicial que en el futuro permita monitorear el estado de la conservación de la agrobiodiversidad.Difundir la riqueza de la diversidad genética de las papas nativas y del conocimiento colectivo mantenido por las familias y comunidades en el suroeste de Junín, para que los lectores conozcan este patrimonio de la humanidad.Reconocer a los agricultores custodios y a sus comunidades por su invalorable labor de manejo y conservación de las variedades de papa nativa.A continuación se presenta información general sobre los métodos utilizados en la recopilación de la información descriptiva presentada en el presente catálogo.La categoría \"nomenclatura\" describe el nombre común y el significado del nombre de cada variedad. El nombre común es el nombre más frecuente de la variedad, es decir, el nombre empleado en la mayoría de las comunidades y por el mayor número de agricultores. Los sinónimos son los otros nombres populares registrados y que frecuentemente se refieren al significado literal o simbólico del nombre común, el cual generalmente proviene del quechua. Toda la información ha sido generada a través de encuestas y talleres participativos.La categoría \"información general\" describe la especie y grupo de cultivares al que pertenece la variedad de papa nativa, siguiendo la taxonomía de Ovchinnikova et al. (2011), Gavrilenko et al. (2013) y Spooner et al. (2014), además de su ploidía y abundancia en la región. Los autores reconocen 4 especies de papa cultivada: Solanum ajanhuiri, S. juzepczukii, S. curtilobum y S. tuberosum. La ploidía es el número de juegos completos de cromosomas que tiene una célula. En el caso de la papa, un juego completo está formado por 12 cromosomas. Es así que, por ejemplo, la papa diploide tiene 24 cromosomas (2 juegos completos de cromosomas) y la tetraploide 48 cromosomas (4 juegos completos de cromosomas). La ploidía de cada variedad fue determinada mediante citometría de flujo y sólo en casos de duda se realizó el conteo del número de cromosomas en puntas de la raíz utilizando microscopio. La citometría de flujo es una técnica que permite cuantificar los componentes o características estructurales de las células, fundamentalmente mediante métodos ópticos (De Laat, 1987), estimando la ploidía de las muestras utilizadas. La abundancia se refiere a la frecuencia con que una variedad está presente, vale decir, la cantidad de agricultores que siembran determinada variedad. Se han identificado 3 niveles: escasa, poco común (=intermedio) y común, criterios que fueron determinados a partir del conocimiento local.Teniendo en cuenta la ploidía y claves taxonómicas desarrolladas por Ovchinnikova et al. (2011) se han identificado variedades que perteneces a las especies S. ajanhuiri (2n=2x=24), S. juzepczukii (2n=3x=36), S. curtilobum (2n=5x=60) y a los grupos Andigenum (2n=4x=48), Goniocalyx (2n=2x=24), Phureja (2n=2x=24) y Chaucha (2n=3x=36) de la especie S. tuberosum. La información presentada en el catálogo corresponde a la descripción morfológica de cada una de las variedades, recolectadas en los campos experimentales instalados con agricultores o grupos de agricultores. Se utilizó la lista de descriptores morfológicos de la papa (Huamán y Gómez, 1994) y su respectiva guía y tabla de colores (Gómez, 2000). La descripción del color de la flor, del tallo, de la piel y pulpa del tubérculo, y del brote corresponde a la descripción original realizada en campo. Por ello, puede variar ligeramente con lo que se observa en las fotografías. La categoría \"caracteres agronómicos\" describe:Como las mediciones de estos caracteres se han hecho en los campos instalados para fines de descripción morfológica, no se tienen repeticiones experimentales de las mediciones y por ello se reporta un único valor. El rendimiento y el número promedio de tubérculos por planta fueron medidos al momento de la cosecha en 5 a 10 plantas y en 1 a 3 ambientes/ locaciones (entre 3 200 a 3 900 msnm) sin repeticiones.La reacción a la rancha se refiere a la resistencia de la variedad al daño ocasionado por el oomiceto Phytophthora infestans. Los criterios usados para medir la reacción a la rancha son: susceptible (= débil), moderadamente resistente (= ni débil, ni fuerte) y resistente (fuerte). La reacción a heladas se refiere a la tolerancia de la variedad a heladas o temperaturas por debajo de 0°C y los criterios utilizados son: susceptible, moderadamente tolerante y tolerante. En ambos casos la información que se presenta es el resultado consensual de encuestas estructuradas y talleres, realizados con agricultores expertos propietarios de cada variedad descrita.El tiempo de almacenamiento se refiere al periodo (en meses) que se puede almacenar cada variedad bajo las condiciones tradicionales aplicadas por los agricultores del sureste de Junín. Para ello, se aplicó también el método de encuestas estructuradas con agricultores expertos custodios de la variedad. El periodo vegetativo está referido al número de días desde la siembra hasta la cosecha. Los criterios de medición son: precoz (5 meses), semitardío (6 meses) y tardío (7 meses).El rango de adaptación se refiere específicamente a la altitud donde comúnmente se cultiva la variedad descrita. La información que se presenta es por observación visual y resultado de encuestas estructuradas y talleres realizados con los agricultores expertos custodios de la variedad. Los rangos no son el resultado de ensayos para evaluar interacciones de genotipo por ambiente.El porcentaje de materia seca es una de las características que determina la calidad superior de una variedad nativa frente a las variedades modernas provenientes de los programas de mejoramiento, debido a que en ella se encuentran los compuestos nutritivos. Fue medido por el método establecido por Porras et al. (2014) y se determinó en una sola muestra, la misma que fue analizada para evaluar el valor nutricional.En este catálogo se reportan los valores de los minerales: hierro (Fe), zinc (Zn), potasio (K) y fósforo (P) de cada variedad. Los análisis de estos minerales fueron priorizados debido a que el Fe y Zn son micronutrientes cruciales. Su deficiencia puede llegar a producir anemia e incrementar la susceptibilidad a infecciones, sobre todo en niños y mujeres, que son más vulnerables debido a sus altos requerimientos diarios durante el embarazo y el crecimiento en los niños (hasta los 3 años). El potasio es el mineral más abundante en la papa, es requerido en cantidades relativamente grandes y es importante para el normal funcionamiento del sistema nervioso. El fósforo está también presente en cantidades relativamente altas y su principal función es la formación de huesos y dientes, además de cumplir un rol en la forma que el cuerpo usa los carbohidratos y las grasas, y es necesario para que el cuerpo produzca proteínas para el crecimiento, conservación y reparación de las células y tejidos.La papa es un alimento nutritivo que contribuye con altos niveles de carbohidratos que proporcionan energía, si bien con bajo contenido de proteína, pero con lisina de alta calidad. Contiene vitamina C en cantidad significativa, lo que ha contribuido a que no se registre deficiencia de esta vitamina en los Andes, donde su consumo es alto. Además, la vitamina C es esencial para la biodisponibilidad de hierro y un potente antioxidante. La papa, en especial las variedades de pulpa amarilla, contiene cantidades significativas de las provitaminas A (neoxantina, violaxenthina, lutiena y zexantina) que previenen la ceguera y son esenciales para el crecimiento. En las papas también podemos encontrar compuestos antioxidantes, como los flavonoides y ácidos fenólicos. El ácido clorogénico es el ácido fenólico predominante y en las papas de pulpa rojo-morada contienen antocianinas, que son un tipo de flavonoides. Su fibra es reconocida como de alta calidad, esencial para el buen funcionamiento del organismo.Los valores de Fe, Zn, K y P reportados en este catálogo fueron determinados en muestras cosechadas en las tierras de los agricultores de la comunidad de Quilcas en el 2012, quienes colaboraron con su tierra y trabajo. Las muestras fueron preparadas en el laboratorio de Calidad y Nutrición del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) y enviadas al laboratorio Wayte Analytical Service (WAS) de la Universidad de Adelaida-Australia, para los respectivos análisis. Los métodos de preparación de muestras y análisis están descritos en Burgos et al. (2014) y Porras et al. (2014). Los valores encontrados se reportan en miligramos (mg) por 100 gramos del peso fresco de los tubérculos, que es la forma común en que consumimos la papa. Esta sección describe los principales usos en la cocina local de cada una de las variedades. La información es resultado de encuestas abiertas y consultas con las mujeres y varones de las diferentes zonas de recolección de las variedades. Los criterios para medir el tiempo de cocción de las variedades son:En forma resumida se describe el posible origen, costumbres, comentarios, historias, creencias o datos más resaltantes sobre la variedad. La información que se presenta es observacional y resultado de encuestas estructuradas y talleres realizados con los agricultores expertos custodios de la variedad.(20-30 minutos) Lento (más de 30 minutos)Para cada variedad se presentan un total de hasta seis fotografías: (i) hábito, (ii) hoja, (iii) flor, (iv) bayas, (v) tubérculos, y (vi) brote. Todas las fotografías fueron tomadas con una cámara SRL Nikon D200, con excepción de las fotografías de las familias y comunidades. Es importante mencionar que la mayoría de fotografías se tomaron en el campo, por lo que posiblemente exista un efecto de distorsión generado por la intensidad de la luz natural, que puede hacer variar la imagen observada en las fotografías.El perfil genético de cada variedad ha sido obtenido al analizar 23 regiones que son muy polimórficas en el genoma de la papa, conocidas como microsatélites o SSR (siglas en inglés de simple sequence repeat). El perfil genético, llamado también huella genética, es uno de los métodos más precisos utilizados en la identificación. Este perfil es único para cada individuo, no varía a lo largo del periodo vegetativo de la planta y tampoco depende de la parte de la planta en la que se extrae el ADN, es decir el perfil genético es el mismo si se extrae ADN de las hojas o del tubérculo, y ayudará a identificar con precisión la misma variedad en el futuro (Simon et al., 2014).Para resumir y visualizar mejor el perfil genético de cada una de las variedades del catálogo se ha usado un gráfico inspirado en el diseño del khipu. Los khipus son sistemas nemotécnicos a base de cuerdas de lana o algodón y nudos de uno o varios colores desarrollados por las civilizaciones andinas para fines de administración y contabilidad (Brokaw, 2010). En nuestro caso, en el khipu molecular están descritas 6 características del perfil genético:• En conjunto, representan una combinación altamente polimórfica de regiones genómicas (SSR) comúnmente utilizadas por el CIP, que cubren cada uno de los 12 cromosomas de la papa (Ghislain et al., 2009).• Largo de la cuerda.-está relacionado al tamaño del alelo más pequeño encontrado en cada microsatélite en toda la población, no solo en la variedad representada.• Nudos.-cada nudo en la cuerda representa un alelo encontrado en el microsatélite evaluado (cuerda) en la variedad descrita.• La posición del nudo o alelo en la cuerda indica su tamaño. Es decir que cuanto más arriba se encuentre el nudo en la cuerda, mayor será el tamaño del alelo. De la misma manera, cuanto más abajo menor tamaño.• El color y grosor del nudo indican la frecuencia (abundancia relativa) del alelo en todas las variedades evaluadas. El nudo más grueso es el de color rojo, usado para representar a los alelos raros, es decir aquellos con frecuencia menor al 1% en la población total (450 variedades evaluadas). Los nudos de color naranja denotan alelos poco frecuentes (5%≤ f >1%), los nudos verdes representan alelos medianamente frecuentes (10%≤ f > 5%) y los nudos azules a los alelos más frecuentes (100%≤ f > 10%).A continuación se observan 3 representaciones del khipu. La primera es la tradicional, usada por los incas; la segunda, es el khipu molecular, con información más detallada; y la tercera, es el khipu molecular con información resumida. Es la que aparece en cada descripción de una variedad. Esta última es la que aparece en el segundo gráfico podemos observar cada uno de los detalles mencionados en el párrafo anterior. Por ejemplo, existen 23 cuerdas, cada una de ellas representa un microsatélite, el nombre y posición están indicados en la parte inferior. El significado de cada color y grosor de los círculos está indicado en una leyenda al lado derecho. El tamaño de cada alelo está indicado en una regla al lado izquierdo. La domesticación de la papa empezó en los Andes del altiplano peruano-boliviano (sureste de Perú y noroeste de Bolivia), hace aproximadamente diez mil años, antes que se formaran las primeras civilizaciones (Spooner et al., 2005). La domesticación es un proceso muy largo y en el caso de la papa tiene la peculiaridad de que este proceso continua hasta el presente (De Haan y Rodriguez, 2016). A través de dicho proceso el hombre andino logró perfeccionar las habilidades de selección de variedades de acuerdo a sus necesidades alimenticias, medicinales, costumbres culinarias y rituales. Es por ello que la biogeografía de las variedades en el Perú no es homogénea y cada departamento se caracteriza por tener variedades emblemáticas. Históricamente el cultivo de la papa en Junín y el Valle de Mantaro, su manejo, consumo y almacenamiento fue inevitablemente influenciado por las múltiples tradiciones culturales (D'Altroy y Hastorf, 1984;Hastorf, 1990).La mayoría de las especies botánicas y grupos de cultivares se encuentran en Junín (Cuadro 1). Los agricultores de Junín reconocen los diferentes grupos de papas por sus propiedades o calidades. Hay papas nativas comerciales como peruanita, amarilla del Centro, huayro o camotillo. También papas nativas que se siembran y consumen en mezcla, mayormente para el autoconsumo y que los agricultores conocen como chaqru o wachuy, y que a veces se venden en el mercado mayorista de Huancayo como \"papa ecológica\". La papa amarga se destina a la preparación del chuño y la así llamada papa mejorada o \"papa blanca\" es más comercial y se cultiva en los valles.Solanum tuberosum L. Ambas no eran danzas en sí mismas, sino formas colectivas de producción agrícola. Se convierten en danzas no agrícolas cuando, por diversos factores, los modos de producción fueron alterados.ÍCONO DE PAPA EN JUNÍN:(adaptado de Chinchilla et al., 2015) \" \"En la campaña 2013 la producción de papa a nivel nacional fue de 4 571 miles de toneladas, de las que el 8.8% (404 mil toneladas) fue producida en la región Junín, que ocupa el quinto lugar entre las regiones productoras de papa en cuanto a volumen (INEI, 2010). De las 17 400 hectáreas sembradas en 2012 en Junín, 4 286 hectáreas correspondían a papa nativa y de éstas tan solo 27 hectáreas a papa nativa amarga. Cabe resaltar que el rendimiento en la región es relativamente alto, con un promedio de 23 toneladas por hectárea. Sin embargo, los rendimientos varían mucho entre unidades de producción, dependiendo del grado de mecanización, nivel de intensificación y la variedad producida.Actualmente, más del 75% de la superficie sembrada con papa es ocupada por variedades mejoradas como canchán, yungay, única, capiro, entre otros materiales provenientes de los programas de mejoramiento. Se estima que el 70% del área de papas nativas consiste de variedades comerciales como puka huayro, huayro macho, peruanita, amarilla y camotillo. El 30% restante, que corresponde a un área de 1 285 hectáreas, contiene la mayor diversidad de variedades no comerciales para consumo, que frecuentemente se siembran en mezclas (mezcla de variedades, no monocultivo). Es ahí donde se concentra la diversidad varietal y genética del cultivo, generalmente en las zonas más altas, entre los 3 800 a 4 200 m de altura. Lamentablemente, el área de variedades de papas amargas está disminuyendo rápidamente porque cada vez hay menos personas que procesan y consumen chuño.Con 136 mil unidades agropecuarias, Junín está entre las primeras 6 regiones con más unidades utilizadas con fines agropecuarios, luego de Cajamarca, Puno, Cusco, Ancash y Piura. El 72.7% de estas unidades agropecuarias son menores a 5 hectáreas. La papa es producida en aproximadamente 25 717 unidades de producción agraria, representando la misma cantidad de familias rurales (INEI, 2012). Del total de unidades productoras de papa, el 98% no utiliza semilla certificada y el 45% de los agricultores que siembran papa nativa manifiesta no utilizar agroquímicos (INEI, 2012). En la región central del país y, dentro de ella, en la región Junín, el cultivo de papa se desarrolla a lo largo y en los flancos de las cordilleras occidental, central y oriental, en zonas agroecológicas medias y altas entre los 2 800 a 4 300 m de altura, con climas y suelos variados aptos para su cultivo. En Junín, las zonas productoras de papa se caracterizan por ser húmedas hacia la zona oriental (bosque húmedo montano) y muy secas en la vertiente occidental, donde se encuentran las altas planicies: zonas de puna con una buena aptitud para papas nativas, que son sembradas en su mayoría con labranza mínima denominada tipka, utilizando la chakitaklla o arado de pie para evitar la erosión en terrenos de pendiente.Hasta inicios de los años ochenta, el cultivo de papa nativa en Junín ocupaba las zonas Quechua (2 300 -3 500 msnm), Suni (3 500 -4 000 msnm) y Puna (4 000 -4 700 msnm), según la clasificación de Pulgar- Vidal (1996), y zonas agroecológicas bajas, intermedias y altas (Mayer, 1981). Sin embargo hoy en día, la papa nativa es producida principalmente en la zona alta (Puna) y las variedades mejoradas mayormente en las zonas bajas e intermedias. Además, ahora es difícil encontrar a las chauchas (S. tuberosum Grupo Phujera) o a la papa curao (S. tuberosum Grupo Andigenum), que crece como maleza tolerada en los maizales. Con el cambio climático y la presencia de plagas y enfermedades, la papa nativa ha ido subiendo de piso altitudinal y es así que actualmente la mayor diversidad se encuentra en una franja entre los 3 800 a 4 200 msnm.Las zonas de producción de papa en el sureste de Junín reciben entre 500 a 1 000 mm de precipitación al año. Durante años normales, llueve adecuadamente desde mediados de setiembre hasta fines de abril, mientras que en los flancos orientales -bajando hacia la amazonía-se presenta mayor precipitación. Por ello, las comunidades del lado este de la cordillera siembran de junio a enero, en la así llamada \"campaña chica\", para evitar la alta presión de la rancha (Phytophthora infestans). Sin embargo, la mayor área de cultivo de papa nativa se produce en los meses de octubre a junio, la denominada \"campaña grande\", en la que la mayoría de comunidades tiene papa sembrada y depende exclusivamente de las lluvias, por ello es denominada \"cultivo en secano\". (Ver gráfico página siguiente).Según los pronósticos de precipitación y teniendo en cuenta la pendiente del terreno, el productor orienta los surcos de tal manera que rompe el movimiento del agua y evita la erosión de los suelos. Así, el agricultor decide al momento de la preparación del terreno o siembra si orienta los surcos en forma horizontal, vertical o en cola de pescado. Algunas comunidades en Junín aún usan indicadores biológicos y físicos para la predicción del clima, tales como las pléyades, el llanto del zorro, la floración de ciertas plantas, entre otros (Gerten y Bergmann, 2012;Orlove, 1999). Sin embargo, con el cambio climático, los predictores ancestrales son cada vez menos confiables.Los cambios en el clima en Junín se están haciendo más notorios, los veranillos suceden con mayor frecuencia e intensidad, con temperaturas más altas en el día. Según observan los pobladores, también hay mayor frecuencia de granizadas, con granizos de mayor diámetro. Además, la precipitación tiende a caer tan solo en algunos meses, como una mezcla de lluvia y granizo, o como nieve suave en las partes más elevadas, que no persiste ni se acumula sobre la superficie del suelo. De otro lado, la presencia de nuevas enfermedades y plagas a mayor altitud, a causa del cambio climático, ya está afectando los rendimientos (Giraldo, 2010;Kroschel et al., 2013). En las comunidades que participaron en la elaboración de este catálogo, el uso de pesticidas es mínimo, pero en zonas más comerciales se usan insecticidas y fungicidas para la producción de papa nativa, pero no siempre se siguen las indicaciones del fabricante lo que muchas veces afecta la salud del aplicador. Debido al cambio climático, el Campaña chica (primeriza) manejo de plagas y enfermedades podría representar la mayor amenaza para la conservación de las papas nativas.El conocimiento agrícola y la habilidad de los productores de Junín les está posibilitando adaptar su cultivo a los cambios del clima. Por ejemplo, los sucesos climáticos les están permitiendo reconocer las resistencias y tolerancias genéticas intrínsecas de cada variedad nativa frente a factores bióticos (enfermedades, plagas) y abióticos (sequías, heladas, granizadas). Los agricultores exponen activamente sus variedades a las condiciones del clima cambiante de hoy y así seleccionan aquellas que son aptas para estas nuevas condiciones. Es un proceso de selección natural que contribuye a la adaptación y evolución del cultivo a las nuevas condiciones vigentes.Se podría decir que es un proceso darwinista, en el cual las variedades más adaptadas aumentan en abundancia mientras que las más débiles posiblemente se pierdan.En Junín se usan por lo menos tres sistemas de labranza para la siembra de papa de acuerdo a la pendiente, altura, acceso a mano de obra y cantidad de terreno a sembrarse (Oswald et al., 2009). Primero, la siembra en crudo o labranza mínima (tikpa), usada por muchas familias que siembran papa nativa. Consiste en hacer un agujero en el suelo con la chakitaklla y depositar la semilla. El suelo se voltea solo parcialmente y se coloca la semilla por debajo del nivel de pasto y luego, después de un par de semanas, se voltean los terrones encima del agujero por donde emerge la planta. El segundo sistema es la siembra sobre el prevolteo con la chakitaklla. Consiste en hacer el surco con terrones previo a la siembra. En este caso también se trata de un sistema de labranza mínima, pero la semilla se encuentra encima del nivel del pasto. Y el tercero es el clásico barbecho, donde el suelo en descanso es removido al final de la campaña anterior cuando todavía está húmedo; puede ser con chakitaklla, tractor o yunta. El desterroneo se realiza antes de la siembra, pero el surcado y guaneo en un mismo día. La papa nativa comercial generalmente se cultiva con este sistema de labranza. El barbecho demanda más mano de obra, pero las variedades tienden a rendir más; sobre todo en los valles o zonas más bajas.El sistema de producción ancestral gira alrededor de los así llamados turnos, también conocidos como laymis o aynokas en el sur andino (Orlove y Godoy, 1986). La papa es un cultivo que demanda nitrógeno y fósforo, por esto la producción de las variedades nativas históricamente está asociada a la crianza de animales, particularmente a la crianza de alpacas, llamas y, desde su introducción hace cientos de años, también a las ovejas. La domesticación de los camélidos (auquénidos) andinos y de la papa se dio simultáneamente. Su manejo en conjunto constituye el sistema de producción sectorial -también conocido como descanso comunal-en turnos que hasta hoy en día se mantienen en el sureste de Junín. Las rotaciones largas tradicionalmente abarcan un periodo entre cinco y ocho años, tiempo en el cual el área cultivada se vuelve pasto natural. Es decir, se transforma en zona en descanso destinada al pastoreo.La desintegración de los sistemas de turnos, donde toda la comunidad rota en conjunto, generalmente está asociada a la debilitación de la comunidad como organización campesina. Los turnos se mantienen en casi todas las comunidades que han participado en este catálogo, menos en dos de ellas, Paca Paccha y Marcavalle, donde se ha desintegrado el sistema comunal. Cuando los terrenos son de uso individual y con mayor intensificación, los años óptimos para el descanso Agricultor Fortunato Berrospi.de la tierra ya no se respetan, se incrementa el uso de abonos químicos con lo que también aumenta la presión de enfermedades y plagas. Una variación del sistema de turnos consiste en hacer descansar a los animales en canchones que serán destinados para el cultivo de papas nativas en mezcla, denominados localmente chaqru, chalo o wankuy.Los canchones siempre están bien fertilizados con el excremento y orina de los animales. En otras comunidades, los animales son recogidos cada atardecer y pernoctan en sus pesebres o corrales, donde acumulan el estiércol. Consecuentemente, durante los meses de junio a agosto, el guano de corral es recogido y transportado a los campos de cultivo. Antiguamente se utilizaban hasta 10 sacos de guano preparado por saco de semilla. El abonamiento con guano de corral otorga a la papa nativa su valor intrínseco, relacionado al buen sabor, contenido de materia seca, calidad y aroma.Existen varios tipos de mercado de papa nativa en Junín. En términos de volumen, el más grande está representado por la cadena de valor de papas nativas comerciales. Anualmente se producen en la región entre 60 a 90 mil toneladas de papa nativa comercial. Junín no solamente produce un gran volumen, sino que, además, las plazas de compra y venta juegan un rol importante en la concentración y redistribución de papa de otras regiones como Huancavelica. Junín tradicionalmente ha sido, y sigue siendo, una región que abastece de papa nativa a la capital. Junto con Huánuco y las provincias andinas de Lima, conforman las tres regiones más importantes de provisión de papa a Lima capital (Devaux et al., 2010).Otro tipo de mercado es el regional, de Huancayo, Jauja y Tarma. Ahí, el consumidor encuentra una diversidad apreciable de papas de toda la región. Por ejemplo, entre abril y julio se encuentra la mayor diversidad en el mercado mayorista y mercado modelo de Huancayo. Los consumidores pueden encontrar hasta 30 variedades nativas en esta época, incluso en mezcla. Dependiendo de la estación se encuentran variedades como chaulina, yana wancuy, camotillo, tarmeña, amarilla del centro, peruanita, puka huayro, muru huayro, huamantanga, ambo, entre otras. Del mismo modo, en los mercados y ferias pequeñas de la región comúnmente se encuentran papas en mezcla, chuño, papa seca y tocosh.Venta de diversas variedades de papa en el mercado en Huancayo.Un mercado especial, en el cual Junín siempre ha mantenido una posición prevalente, es el mercado de semilla de papa. Huasahuasi y Jauja tienen reputación por sus grandes volúmenes de papas nativas comerciales, mientras que lugares como Ulcumayo tienen reputación por semilla de variedades diversas y no comerciales. Otro mercado especial que ha emergido durante la última década es el de la cadena de papas de pulpa de colores. Utilizadas por restaurantes en Lima y por procesadores de hojuelas, representa un nicho que ha ido ganando espacio. Incluye variedades como leona, qeqorani y sangre de toro.En muchas comunidades de la región Junín se conserva aún la antigua práctica del intercambio o trueque. Se realiza principalmente en dos momentos: el primero, en mayo durante la cosecha de papa en la zona alta y durante la cosecha de maíz en la zona baja. En ese mes, los productores de ambas zonas realizan viajes transportando productos. Usualmente se realiza el traslado de la parte alta hacia la parte baja y el intercambio incluye también, además de papa nativa con maíz, el trueque por calabaza, frejol y/o frutas. A veces los productores de la parte baja llevan maíz para cambiar con papa y algunos con carne. Usan la medida tradicional: una medida de maíz por dos de papa. El segundo intercambio o trueque se produce en las fiestas de aniversario de cada distrito de Junín, comúnmente en la plaza donde también se desarrollarán las otras festividades. Los agricultores, a partir de las 5.00 a.m., intercambian maíz, calabaza, fruta y pan por papas nativas, chuño, oca, mashua, así como para mantas o sogas de lana. Es una costumbre especial y cada agricultor expone su producto y entabla una conversación sobre las condiciones del intercambio, utilizando muchas veces el quechua Wanka. Estas fiestas también son un lugar de encuentro para las amistades y se establecen compromisos para el próximo año. La afirmación de las relaciones sociales es más importante que el comercio en sí. Hasta hace algunas décadas, se destinaba un espacio grande para los animales cerca a las ferias, principalmente para que las llamas que trasportaban la carga, se alimentaran y esperaran a sus dueños hasta el momento del retorno.Venta de tocosh en el mercado en Huancayo.Muestra de diferentes calidades de papa seca y chuño en el mercado de Huancayo.La provisión de semilla de papa nativa de una campaña agrícola a otra, y de una generación de agricultores a la siguiente, es esencial para el manejo y conservación de variedades. En las zonas altas de Junín, las semillas de diversas variedades de papa aún son recibidas como una herencia o como un presente valioso que los padres entregan a sus hijos e hijas cuando conforman una nueva familia. La semilla de las variedades nativas es mantenida a través de las generaciones bajo este sistema, el cual es la \"ventana\" para su traspaso en el tiempo. Tradicionalmente, cuando se requiere limpiar la semilla, los agricultores vuelven a sembrar las variedades a mayores alturas. El flujo de semilla de zonas altas hacia zonas bajas es un proceso que los agricultores han practicado a través de muchas generaciones. El sistema de semillas de las papas nativas, especialmente en el manejo de un gran número de variedades, es realizado en base a la confianza y al conocimiento local, sin regulaciones formales.El (mal llamado) sistema informal de semilla, en realidad tiene muchas fortalezas, como su carácter descentralizado y calidad aceptable (Thiele, 1999). Las ferias semanales, los mercados y el intercambio de agricultor-a-agricultor son mecanismos importantes de acceso. En la actualidad, la producción de semilla de las variedades nativas comerciales ya forma parte del sistema formal, desde la semilla prebásica hasta la producción de semilla de calidad certificada. Sin embargo, el volumen de semilla certificada no representa ni el 0.5% del flujo total de semilla de papa nativa en Junín, que generalmente es adquirida por instituciones (ONG, municipios) o agricultores medianos a grandes. Por ello, es importante reconocer el sistema de semilla de los agricultores como una fortaleza. Eventualmente se podrían introducir y promover actividades que fortalezcan las prácticas locales como la selección positiva, las ferias de semilla, la protección contra plagas de la semilla en almacén, etc.Caravana de trueque de papas bajando a la ceja de selva de Junín.Auténtica maravilla para paladares exigentes, la cocina de los Andes centrales del Perú es una de las más variadas, exquisitas y contundentes del país (Zúñiga et al., 2012). Con platos insuperables de gran calidad nutricional y supremo sabor, la cocina de Junín demanda diversas variedades de papa. Mirando las suaves colinas sembradas con chacras, que parecen alfombras multicolores, uno se explica el maravilloso sabor de estas papas extraordinarias. La gastronomía es una expresión cultural, y el desarrollo agrícola y tecnológico que alcanzó la cultura ancestral andina fue tan alto, que su riqueza está presente en cada una de sus manifestaciones. La pachamanca es, tal vez, el plato más emblemático, pero existen muchos otros platos típicos de la región, como el delicioso chupe verde, la exquisita papa a la huancaína o el humilde chuño pasi.Una pregunta fascinante es: ¿por qué los agricultores siguen cultivando tantas variedades? La parte central de la respuesta es: por la cocina. La selección de variedades que se usarán en cada ocasión especial o festividad, en cada demostración de afecto, su preparación en diferentes potajes, son actividades dirigidas principalmente por la mujer. Su uso en la cocina campesina es el principal impulsor de la conservación de las múltiples variedades. La papa en la sierra de Junín es el principal alimento de la población. La papa, junto con otros cultivos oriundos, como la quinua, han otorgado seguridad alimentaria desde tiempos antiguos a las culturas pre-Wanka y Xauxa (Matos Mendieta, 1978). La papa es un alimento extraordinario, que contribuye a la dieta con carbohidratos para energía, proteína de alta calidad, y sobre todo con micronutrientes (hierro, zinc), macronutrientes (fósforo, calcio) y vitaminas (B6, C). El porcentaje de proteína en la papa es relativamente bajo (2 a 3%), pero el alto porcentaje de lisina hace de ella un excelente suplemento (Waglay y Karboune, 2016) que complementa a cereales como la avena y la quinua. El alto contenido de vitamina C no solo favorece la biodisponibilidad del hierro, sino que también ayuda a que la población rural satisfaga su requerimiento. Además, la papa posee antioxidantes, sobre todo las de pulpa de color, cuya importancia ha sido reconocida recientemente en investigaciones científicas, al igual que la calidad de su fibra dietética (Brown, 2005).Una característica crucial para la seguridad alimentaria se relaciona con el alto rendimiento de la papa por unidad de tierra, equivalente a un tercio de hectárea, lo cual es suficiente para alimentar a una familia de cinco personas durante un año. La papa no requiere de procesos complicados para convertirse en alimento, porque va de la chacra directamente a la olla o a la pachamanca. La papa puede almacenarse como alimento hasta diez meses sin que se afecte su calidad nutricional. Cabe mencionar que algunas variedades con tolerancia a las heladas -característica clave para los altos Andes, donde puede helar durante el periodo de desarrollo vegetativo de la papa-poseen alta concentración de glicoalcaloides, sustancia amarga y potencialmente tóxica. Las variedades con glicoalcaloides son desamargadas a través de un proceso ancestral de liofilización o \"chuñificación\" en los meses de junio y julio, meses en los cuales generalmente se producen las heladas. El producto final se conoce como chuño blanco o chuño negro, dependiendo del proceso de secado-congelado, y es un insumo tradicional en la cocina de Junín. El chuño tiene la ventaja de ser rápido de cocinar, liviano para transportar (no contiene agua) y se puede guardar por muchos años. Cabe resaltar que hasta inicios de este siglo, el chuño fue el alimento básico de la población altoandina en la región Junín. Sin embargo, durante la última década su consumo y las áreas sembradas con variedades amargas han disminuido considerablemente.Muestra de chuño blanco. Variedad que pertenece al grupo Maki, que se caracteriza por tener los tubérculos digitados como garras de felino. Mayormente se utiliza para el autoconsumo familiar, específicamente para sancochar como parte de un chaqru. Es una variedad aguanosa, de bajo contenido de materia seca comparada con otras variedades nativas. En Quilcas es muy cotizada para el trueque (papa por papa, papa por maíz u otros víveres). Variedad del grupo Ucayali, considerada de origen más reciente que otras variedades del mismo grupo por los agricultores conocedores. Se trata de una variedad muy productiva y de alto rendimiento.Especie: Solanum tuberosum (Grupo Andigenum) Abundancia: Común Ploidía: 2n=4x=48 27.9 0.21 0.25 407 54, considerada de origen más reciente que otras variedades del mismo grupo por los agricultores conocedores. Se trata de una variedad muy productiva y de alto rendimiento. Esta variedad pertenece el grupo Suytu, tiene ojos muy superficiales, generalmente tiene alto contenido de materia seca y es apreciada por su textura harinosa y excelente sabor. Se utiliza comúnmente para trueque por maíz y frutas.Especie: Solanum tuberosum (Grupo Andigenum) Abundancia: Intermedia Ploidía: 2n=4x=48 30.9 0.39 0.56 371 54Suytu, tiene ojos muy superficiales, generalmente tiene alto contenido de materia seca y es apreciada por Es una variedad aguanosa de tallos fuertes que se adapta bien a condiciones extremas por su tolerancia a heladas.Ave \"culi\" de dos colores Es una variedad representativa de los Andes centrales, de pulpa amarilla intensa y de alto contenido de materia seca. Es utilizada en la dieta de personas enfermas y tiene alto valor comercial local y nacional. Los agricultores mencionan que \"cuando envejece es riquísima\". Es una variedad antigua de alto contenido de materia seca, generalmente es sembrada en chaqru.Sancochado, fritura, pachamanca, sopas, ambre. Los tubérculos son muy apreciados por su color amarillo intenso. Se usan en la preparación de múltiples recetas, principalmente en puré y sopas para enfermos, debido a que son de fácil digestión. Esta variedad es precoz, por ello se le conoce como \"papa que salva del hambre\", pues es la primera papa de la cosecha en ser consumida. Es muy comercial y generalmente tiene alto contenido de materia seca. Es una papa que se consume diariamente acompañando las comidas, por ello se llama \"papa de mesa\". Es reconocida como variedad ancestral, de buena producción y es común en Junín. Se utiliza como Número promedio de tubérculos por plantaEl Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) es una organización de investigación para el desarrollo especializada en papa, camote y raíces y tubérculos andinos.Su objetivo es brindar soluciones sostenibles basadas en la ciencia a los acuciantes problemas de hambre, pobreza, igualdad de género, cambio climático y preservación de la frágil biodiversidad de nuestro planeta y sus recursos naturales.El CGIAR es una alianza mundial de investigación cuyo objetivo es asegurar un futuro sin hambre. Su labor científica está dirigida por 15 centros de investigación en colaboración con cientos de organizaciones. ","tokenCount":"14661"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8003492591.json b/data/part_1/8003492591.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ba400edf3e74b189eabe8b748b7294dfd51cda42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8003492591.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5ad392550c9b76f6d3fc4933028cdaf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/be5ef89c-40d3-43ed-83c8-3fe944659268/retrieve","id":"769179628"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bc0b3a2b-1180-4410-86aa-997e5e44b7ca","pagecount":"44","content":"por facilitar mi participación en la realización de esta actividad. También expreso mi agradecimiento a M. Carmen de Vicente (Generation Challenge Program, antes Bioversity International) por su gestión, empeño, estímulo y apoyo para la ejecución de todas las actividades involucradas en el desarrollo de este trabajo; a Molly Jahn (University of Wisconsin, antes Cornell University) por su hospitalidad y por ofrecer las instalaciones de su laboratorio de Cornell University; a Heiber Cárdenas (Universidad del Valle) por la supervisión y constante interés en la conclusión cabal de este estudio; y a Shanna Moore, Mary Kreitinger, Sherry Roof y Michael Mazourek (Jahn Lab en Cornell University) por su disposición de ayuda y apoyo durante la realización de esta actividad. Asimismo, manifiesto mi gratitud a todas aquellas personas que fueron guarda y custodios de este trabajo y de su autor. v TABLA DE CONTENIDO Pag.Pag.Tabla 1. Lista de los genotipos usados en este estudio. Las columnas presentan la especie botánica, la abreviatura usada en los análisis de datos, el grupo resultante del análisis de conglomerados, el nombre del genotipo o el número de la entrada y el grado de picante. 25Tabla 2. Condiciones de amplificación y electroforesis para los 21 SSR evaluados. TE: tiempo de electroforesis en minutos. 28Tabla 3. Datos sobre el número de alelos, número de alelos raros, número de genotipos con alelos raros y múltiples, rango del tamaño alélico, frecuencia alélica más alta y contenido informativo polimórfico (PIC) observados en los 42 genotipos de Capsicum para los 21 microsatélites. Crom.: cromosoma. 30 Figura 1. Relaciones genéticas de los 42 genotipos evaluados, obtenidas con los 208 alelos de los 21 SSR usando el coeficiente de similitud de Dice y el método UPGMA. 33Figura 2. Distribución espacial de los grupos de genotipos, obtenida con el análisis de correspondencia múltiple. 34El potencial genético del germoplasma de ají (Capsicum) está subutilizado y merece más investigación. La selección cuidadosa de marcadores moleculares es un paso esencial para estimular la comparación mundial de germoplasma de Capsicum y para promover su uso y conservación adecuados. Durante este trabajo se evaluó un conjunto de 21 microsatélites, que fueron diseñados para Capsicum, empleando un grupo diverso de 42 genotipos de ají que representaron 12 especies de este género. Se detectaron 208 alelos en los 21 loci evaluados. El nivel de polimorfismo entre los 42 genotipos se evaluó calculando el contenido de información polimórfica (PIC) para cada loci. Los valores del PIC estuvieron entre 0.546 (Ng20) y 0.906 (Ng18), con un promedio por marcador de 0.788. En general, se observaron más alelos raros en los microsatélites que detectaron un mayor número de alelos por locus. La evaluación de las relaciones genéticas entre los genotipos a partir de una matriz de datos binarios, a través de un análisis de conglomerados, permitió la agrupación de los genotipos en grupos que se diferenciaron por su grado de similitud genética y que correspondieron a las diferentes especies taxonómicas. Los análisis permitieron concluir que los 21 microsatélites podrían usarse como una herramienta estándar para la evaluación mundial de la diversidad real del germoplasma de Capsicum que se conserva tanto en colecciones ex situ como in situ. Esta es la primera vez que los marcadores microsatélite son usados para evaluar simultáneamente la diversidad genética de 12 especies del género Capsicum.Palabras clave: Microsatélites, diversidad genética, germoplasma, distancia genéticaLos frutos del género Capsicum son valorados en el mundo entero como especia y hortaliza.Por ejemplo, durante 2005 en los Estados Unidos los ajíes campana y pimienta, los cuales sólo representan una porción de los frutos producidos por las especies de este género, tuvieron en el mercado en fresco un valor superior a los 600 millones de dólares. Esta cifra convirtió al ají en la cuarta hortaliza más comercializada de este país, después del tomate, la lechuga y la cebolla (The National Agricultural Library, <http://www.nal.usda.gov> consulta: Marzo de 2007).Una de las características más sobresaliente del fruto del ají es su sabor picante. Esta condición es conferida por una familia de compuestos alcaloides denominados capsicinoides, la cual es distintiva del género Capsicum (Bosland, 1999). La necesidad de ajíes con niveles diferentes de picante va en aumento debido a la creciente demanda del mercado por productos que contengan capsicinoides. Actualmente se requieren ajíes muy picantes para la preparación de las oleoresinas utilizadas en sustancias de defensa (p.e., para controlar motines) y como repelente de animales (Mathur et al., 2000), también para usarlos como insecticida eficaz en la agricultura orgánica. Igualmente, el mercado demanda ajíes que presenten resistencia a patógenos y variantes en características de color, forma y tamaño. Sin embargo, un prerrequisito para producir variedades nuevas y mejorar los cultivares existentes es poseer un conocimiento amplio del germoplasma existente.El género Capsicum es nativo de América del Sur y América Central (Walsh & Hoot, 2001) e incluye cinco especies domesticadas y unas 25 especies silvestres (IBPGR, 1983)  (Eshbaugh, 1993). La mayoría de los ajíes explotados comercialmente en el mundo pertenecen a la especie C. annuum. El interés por las otras especies está limitado a los mercados locales de las regiones donde son producidas (Eshbaugh, 1993).A pesar de su importancia mundial, la clasificación taxonómica de Capsicum permanece confusa dentro de especies o entre ellas, a lo cual contribuye la utilización de vocablos diferentes (Eshbaugh, 1993)  (Andrews, 1996).Las especies silvestres de Capsicum no han sido muy estudiadas. Estas especies a menudo presentan una distribución geográfica restringida a zonas consideradas ecológicamente amenazadas; sin embargo, su germoplasma es de interés para los mejoradores porque contiene genes potencialmente útiles para la resistencia a enfermedades y la tolerancia al estrés abiótico (Bosland & González, 2000). Según el IBPGR (1983), el germoplasma andino de Capsicum es una fuente imprescindible de resistencia a las enfermedades que afectan a los ajíes cultivados y un surtidor importante para aumentar el picante y variar el color del fruto. Por lo tanto, puede considerarse que el potencial del germoplasma silvestre de Capsicum, que representa una fuente de diversidad genética importante, está subutilizado y merece más investigación.Una colección ex situ debe mantener el máximo número de alelos y ser tan pequeña como sea posible para favorecer su conservación eficaz. Sin embargo, el germoplasma es conservado a menudo sin la evaluación de su variabilidad genética, lo cual ha conducido a la formación de colecciones grandes que contienen duplicados de muchas entradas (Hayward & Sackville Hamilton, 1997).Actualmente existen algunas colecciones grandes de germoplasma de Capsicum, entre las que se destacan las mantenidas por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA, por su sigla en inglés; aprox. 3000 entradas) y el Centro Asiático de Investigación y Desarrollo de Hortalizas (AVRDC, por su sigla en inglés; aprox. 7000 entradas). Además, universidades y otras instituciones de 21 países de América Latina y el Caribe tienen bancos que conservan colecciones más pequeñas de germoplasma de Capsicum (Knudsen, 2000). No obstante, sólo algunas de estas colecciones han sido parcialmente caracterizadas mediante caracteres morfológicos. Además, ciertas especies de Capsicum no están representadas en las colecciones y tal vez nunca serán incluidas, debido a que el desarrollo agrícola y el crecimiento poblacional están reduciendo sus hábitat naturales (Bosland & González, 2000).Las características morfológicas se han usado tradicionalmente para clasificar las especies; sin embargo, éstas no siempre son suficientes para la clasificación adecuada de una entrada específica en una colección ex situ. Por otro lado, este tipo de caracterización requiere gran cantidad de recursos; p.e., espacio y tiempo (las plantas deben crecer hasta la etapa de floración o fructificación), así como de habilidad para determinar la forma del polen (IBPGR, 1983).Alternativamente, los marcadores moleculares se han convertido en herramientas importantes para hacer selección en labores de mejoramiento, en la identificación de genotipos y en estudios de evolución y organización de los genomas vegetales (Dettori et al., 2001). El análisis de la estructura genética puede revelar que un banco de germoplasma contiene entradas duplicadas o proporcionar información útil para tomar decisiones acerca del mantenimiento de las entradas morfológicamente similares (Hayward & Sackville Hamilton, 1997).Entre las herramientas moleculares, los marcadores microsatélite o repeticiones de secuencia simple (SSR) se han convertido en un marcador de ADN usado exitosamente en numerosos estudios; p.e., en la genotipificación de individuos y protección de variedades de olivo (Cipriani et al., 2002), en evaluación de redundancia genética en una colección ex situ de sorgo (Dean et al., 1999), en estudios de genética de poblaciones en mangle (Rosero-Galindo et al., 2002), en análisis de la diversidad genética en variedades comerciales de arroz (Siwach et al., 2004), en estudios filogenéticos de maíz (Matsuoka et al., 2002) y en flujo de genes en arroz (Song et al., 2003), por mencionar algunos. Esta técnica molecular es ideal en el diseño de estrategias para la conservación de recursos genéticos y formación de colecciones núcleo (de Vicente, 2002).Durante este trabajo se evaluó un conjunto de microsatélites, que fueron diseñados para Capsicum (Nagy et al., 1998;Lee et al., 2004), empleando un grupo diverso de genotipos de ají. El objetivo de este trabajo fue seleccionar un subgrupo de estos marcadores como herramienta de caracterización molecular para hacer posible la comparación de colecciones de germoplasma de Capsicum por grupos de investigación en cualquier parte del mundo.Este estudio incluyó 42 genotipos que representan 12 especies del género Capsicum (Tabla 1).El germoplasma fue obtenido de variedades comercialmente disponibles y de la Red deInformación sobre Recursos de Germoplasma (GRIN, por su sigla en inglés) del USDA. Al menos tres semillas por accesión fueron puestas a germinar en invernadero bajo condiciones estándar (16 horas de luz y ocho horas de oscuridad con fertilización semanal) entre seis y ocho semanas, aproximadamente.Se colectaron hojas jóvenes y frescas para hacer la extracción de ADN siguiendo el protocolo de Doyle & Doyle (1987). El tejido foliar de todos los individuos pertenecientes a un mismo genotipo se mezcló para extraer el ADN. La calidad del ADN extraído se evaluó mediante electroforesis en geles al 1% de agarosa usando tampón TBE 0.5X (Tris borato EDTA) y tinción con bromuro de etidio. El gel fue expuesto a luz ultravioleta y fotografiado. Cada ADN fue diluido a una concentración final de 2.0 ng/µL y almacenado a -20ºC hasta su uso.Inicialmente se evaluaron 54 pares de cebadores de microsatélites. El número de fragmentos amplificados, el polimorfismo y la resolución de las bandas fueron los criterios empleados para elegir los 21 microsatélites que luego se utilizaron para evaluar la diversidad molecular de los 42 genotipos incluidos en el estudio (Tabla 2).Los 15 SSR designados en la Tabla 2 como Ng fueron reportados por Nagy et al. (1998) y sus reacciones de amplificación se realizaron en un volumen total de 15.0 µL que contenía 5.0 ng de ADN, 0.5 µM de cada cebador, 0.125 mM de cada dNTP, 1.5 µL de tampón 10X (0.1 M Tris pH 8.3, 0.5 M KCl, 7.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.1% gelatina) y una unidad de Taq polimerasa. Los seis SSR de la Tabla 2 que están nombrados como Bd fueron reportados por Lee et al. (2004) y su amplificación se hizo en un volumen final de 10.0 µL con 6.0 ng de ADN, 0.3 µM de cada cebador, 0.1 mM de cada dNTP, 1.0 µL de tampón 10X (0.1 M Tris pH 8.3, 0.5 M KCl, 7.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.1% gelatina) y una unidad de Taq polimerasa.Todas las amplificaciones se realizaron en un termociclador programable PTC-225 (MJ Research Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) utilizando las condiciones mostradas en la Tabla 2.Algunas amplificaciones se realizaron haciendo ciclos en cascada para disminuir la amplificación de productos no específicos (Don et al., 1991). Las reacciones de amplificación con ciclos en cascada empezaban en una temperatura de hibridación alta que iba disminuyendo en 1ºC por cada ciclo hasta llegar a las respectivas temperaturas de hibridación de los cebadores (Tabla 2).La electroforesis de los productos amplificados se realizó en geles desnaturalizantes con poliacrilamida al 4% con 7 M de urea y tampón TBE 0.5X. A cada producto de la amplificación se le adicionó 6.0 µL de tampón [95% (v/v) formamida, 20 mM EDTA pH 8.0, 0.05% (p/v) azul de bromofenol y xilen cianol FF], y luego se cargaron 5.0 µL de esta mezcla en los pozos del gel.Las muestras se dejaron migrar (2000V, 75W, 50mA) e inmediatamente después se tiñeron con nitrato de plata. El tiempo de electroforesis para cada marcador se muestra en la Tabla 2.Después de la tinción con plata se observaron grupos discretos de dos a cinco bandas (lo que se suele llamar \"tartamudeo\") en la mayoría de los marcadores. El \"tartamudeo\" se refiere a productos de la PCR que difieren en tamaño de la banda (alelo) principal haciendo que cada alelo (banda) observado en el gel parezca ser más de una banda (Litt et al., 1993).Veintisiete muestras se añadieron en cada gel como control para evaluar la reproducibilidad de los patrones y comparar bandas entre geles. También se escogieron al azar 15 genotipos que se amplificaron separadamente y se corrieron varias veces en geles diferentes.Para cada microsatélite se determinó el tamaño (medido en número de nucleótidos) de la banda amplificada más intensamente, con base en su migración relativa a la de los marcadores de peso molecular (escaleras de ADN de 50 pb y 10 pb, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, USA).Las bandas se registraron manualmente en estado presente (1) o ausente (0) y se generó una matriz de datos binarios. El contenido de información polimórfica (PIC), el cual representa la probabilidad de diferenciar dos genotipos con un SSR, se calculó como; donde p i y q j son las frecuencias relativas de los alelos i-ésimo y j-ésimo en un marcador dado, y n es el número total de alelos detectados por el marcador.A partir de la matriz binaria se efectuó un análisis de similitud genética usando el coeficiente de Dice (Dice, 1945) [2a/(2a + b + c)] para hacer todos los pares de comparaciones de genotipos; donde a es el número de bandas presentes simultáneamente en los dos genotipos, b es el número de bandas con presencia exclusiva en un genotipo, c es el número de bandas con presencia exclusiva del otro genotipo, y el factor dos permite diferenciar genotipos con niveles bajos de similitud. La ventaja que ofrece este coeficiente para el análisis de los datos es que cuenta el porcentaje de bandas compartidas entre dos genotipos, dándole más importancia a aquellas bandas presentes en ambos, y excluye las bandas ausentes en ambos genotipos, ya que éstas no necesariamente contribuyen a la similitud. Posteriormente se formaron grupos de individuos por su distancia mínima promedio con respecto al grupo empleando el método de la unión media (UPGMA) (Sneath & Sokal, 1973). El resultado de este análisis de conglomerados se representó en forma de dendrograma, utilizando la opción SAHN Clustering del paquete NTSYS-pc 2.02i para taxonomía numérica (Rohlf, 1998).El anterior análisis de agrupación se complementó realizando un análisis de correspondencia múltiple (ACM) a partir de la matriz binaria. El ACM utiliza el patrón de bandas de cada genotipo para representar en un espacio métrico tridimensional las relaciones entre los individuos. La gráfica resultante muestra la ubicación de los individuos en el espacio, permitiendo apreciar su dispersión y la estructura poblacional de la muestra estudiada. Los cálculos se realizaron con el procedimiento Corresp. Anal. del paquete NTSYS-pc 2.02i para taxonomía numérica (Rohlf, 1998).Se detectaron 208 alelos en los 21 loci evaluados. El promedio del número de alelos por locus fue 9.9, con un rango desde cinco (Ng20; Bd70) hasta 16 alelos (Ng17). La Tabla 3 presenta la descripción cualitativa de los 21 microsatélites según el número de alelos detectados. Los alelos de menor peso molecular (aprox. 82 pb) y de mayor peso molecular (aprox. 800 pb) fueron detectados por los microsatélites Bd22 y Ng15, respectivamente.Los alelos que fueron observados solamente en uno o dos de los 42 genotipos evaluados (<5%) se consideraron alelos raros. Se registraron 102 alelos raros en 20 loci (Tabla 3). La cantidad de alelos por locus y el número de alelos raros mostraron una correlación lineal positiva significativa (r = 0.90; P < 0.0001). Los microsatélites Ng6 (78%) y Ng7 (73%) detectaron el mayor porcentaje de alelos raros.La ausencia de amplificación para una combinación particular genotipo-marcador indicó la presencia de genotipos con alelos nulos en el locus en cuestión. Los alelos nulos son alelos que no son amplificados durante la PCR debido, tal vez, a polimorfismo en los sitios de hibridación de uno o ambos cebadores (Dakin & Avis, 2004). Los ensayos que detectaron alelos nulos se repitieron un mínimo de dos veces para asegurar que la ausencia de amplificación no se debía a un error experimental.Trece de los 21 loci presentaron entre dos (5%) y 10 genotipos (24%) con alelos nulos (Tabla 3). Los dos genotipos de C. rhomboideum mostraron alelos nulos en estos 13 loci; además, estos genotipos fueron los únicos que exhibieron alelos nulos en siete (54%) de los 13 loci. A pesar de la conocida prevalencia de los alelos nulos, su dinámica evolutiva y modelo de variación en las poblaciones no han sido examinados analíticamente; por lo tanto, actualmente se desconoce cuál es su verdadero impacto sobre la estimación de la diferenciación poblacional.Cualquier combinación genotipo-marcador que produjera dos grupos de bandas sugería que el genotipo presentaba heterogeneidad (mezcla de alelos o alelos múltiples). El 62% de los loci evaluados detectaron genotipos con alelos múltiples. En promedio, para cada locus 1.6 genotipos presentaron alelos múltiples (Tabla 3). Los loci Ng4 (6), Ng7 (6) y Ng12 (5)presentaron la mayor cantidad de genotipos con alelos múltiples.En promedio, en un locus determinado el alelo común fue compartido por el 31% de los genotipos evaluados (Tabla 3). La Tabla 3 muestra que hubo una variación considerable en la frecuencia del alelo más común. El número de alelos por locus y la frecuencia del alelo más común en el locus estuvieron negativamente correlacionados (r = -0.66, P = 0.0011).El nivel de polimorfismo entre los 42 genotipos se evaluó calculando el contenido de información polimórfica (PIC) para cada loci. Los valores del PIC estuvieron entre 0.546 (Ng20) y 0.906 (Ng18), con un promedio de 0.788 por marcador. Estos valores mostraron una correlación lineal positiva significativa con el número de alelos (r = 0.77; P < 0.0001) y una correlación baja con el rango del tamaño de los alelos (r = 0.13; P = 0.5835), indicando que los microsatélites que detectaron más alelos fueron los más informativos, sin importar las diferencias de tamaño entre los alelos que revelaron.Los 21 SSR usados en el estudio permitieron distinguir los 42 genotipos evaluados. Por otro lado, el análisis de las relaciones genéticas entre todos los genotipos sugirió la existencia de siete grupos principales que reúnen a 33 de los genotipos evaluados (Figura 1). Al truncar el dendrograma en el 50% de similitud, los conglomerados corresponden principalmente a: A) C.  & Fulton, 2003). Los 21 microsatélites usados en este trabajo permitieron observar un total de 208 alelos, con un número promedio de alelos por locus de 9.9. La correlación lineal positiva significativa (r = 0.77; P < 0.0001) del valor del PIC con el número de alelos por SSR indica que los marcadores que detectaron más alelos serían mejores para hacer genotipificación y análisis de diversidad. Esta correlación significa que cualquiera de estos dos estimadores es útil para determinar el valor de un marcador en estudios de diversidad. El promedio del valor del PIC de este trabajo fue similar al promedio reportado para trigo (0.71) y Brassica rapa (0.71) (Prasad et al., 2000;Suwabe et al., 2002).Los alelos raros son altamente informativos para la genotipificación de variedades (Jain et al., 2004). Ellos pueden ser indicadores de la presencia de variantes genéticas únicas o de poblaciones diferenciadas. Por otro lado, la deriva genética conduce rápidamente a la pérdida de estos alelos. Sin embargo, esta susceptibilidad a sufrir los efectos de la deriva genética convierte a los alelos raros en un instrumento útil para la evaluación de la erosión genética que ocurre durante el manejo de las colecciones de germoplasma. Por lo tanto, varios de los microsatélites evaluados en este estudio podrían ser útiles en la identificación eficaz de variedades o especies del género Capsicum, debido a que detectaron alelos raros; además, ayudarían en la toma de decisiones sobre la forma más eficiente de propagar y mantener colecciones ex situ de germoplasma de Capsicum.El nivel de polimorfismo de los 21 microsatélites, evaluado a través de los valores del PIC, fue muy alto (valor promedio = 0.788; rango desde 0.546 a 0.906). Lo anterior significa que el polimorfismo de estos marcadores microsatélite sería útil para descubrir entradas duplicadas en las colecciones ex situ de germoplasma de Capsicum y en la resolución de disputas relacionadas con la propiedad de semillas. Asimismo, los altos valores informativos y la capacidad de distinguir los genotipos empleados en el estudio, como lo muestran el análisis de conglomerados y el ACM, refuerzan la utilidad potencial que tendrían estos microsatélites para ayudar a diferenciar especies o variedades del género Capsicum.Más del 60% de los microsatélites evaluados detectaron genotipos con alelos múltiples (Tabla 3). Este polimorfismo podría ser: i) el resultado de una heterocigosidad remanente en algunos genotipos o ii) el producto de la heterogeneidad producida por la mezcla involuntaria de semilla. La heterocigosidad residual podría ser el resultado de alogamia y sería una característica previsible en materiales que no hayan sido mejorados para obtener líneas puras.Capsicum es considerado como un cultivo que se reproduce por autopolinización (Allard, 1971). Sin embargo, las tasas de alogamia que presenta sugieren que debería ser considerado una planta con fecundación por polinización cruzada facultativa (Tanksley, 1984). En este trabajo, la heterocigosidad no puede distinguirse claramente de la heterogeneidad, debido a que el tejido vegetal de tres muestras se mezcló para extraer el ADN. Sin embargo, la presencia de variantes alélicas tiene gran valor para encontrar marcadores propios de un genotipo.La mayoría de los genotipos evaluados en este estudio (genotipos 1 al 30) han sido multiplicados por autopolinización en los invernaderos de Cornell University (grupo de trabajo de la Dra. Molly Jahn) durante varios años para obtener semillas que se usan en los programas de mejoramiento. Aunque no se pueden descartar los errores involuntarios durante la manipulación, lo anterior permitiría asumir una probabilidad baja de que hayan ocurrido mezclas de semilla durante el manejo de estos genotipos; en consecuencia, los alelos múltiples detectados en algunos genotipos manejados en Cornell University (p.e., Jalapeño 3575, Jalapeño 1493, PapriQueen y Praetermisum) sugieren que los microsatélites evaluados en este trabajo serían útiles para descubrir nueva variabilidad o variantes alélicas que puedan usarse como marcadores propios de un genotipo.Los genotipos restantes fueron obtenidos del USDA (genotipos 31 al 42); sin embargo, se desconoce de qué forma se han manipulado estos materiales durante su conservación en esta institución. Esto significa que los genotipos con alelos múltiples de este subconjunto (p.e.;53chi, 54chi y 55chi) tal vez están indicando que hubo mezcla involuntaria de semilla durante el manejo del germoplasma o algún error en la asignación del número de introducción (PI) en el banco de germoplasma del cual se obtuvieron inicialmente los genotipos. Por lo tanto, este estudio presenta varios marcadores que se podrían utilizar en los bancos de germoplasma como una herramienta para detectar errores inconscientes que se cometen durante el manejo del germoplasma.La conservación de los recursos genéticos se justifica fomentando la utilización de las colecciones ex situ; sin embargo, el cumplimiento de este objetivo se dificulta debido a que los investigadores de los sectores privado y público tienen necesidades diferentes. Además, los procedimientos experimentales para encontrar marcadores polimórficos pueden variar entre laboratorios y la comparación de los datos puede ser problemática. Por lo tanto, la cooperación entre los bancos de germoplasma es indispensable para alcanzar la máxima eficiencia en el manejo de los recursos genéticos. Tal cooperación implica el intercambio de metodologías y tecnologías para investigar, documentar, manejar y utilizar los recursos genéticos. Debido a que la diversidad genética de las especies conservadas ex situ está distribuida en los bancos de germoplasma, la comparación de diferentes colecciones es importante para determinar cuánta diversidad de un cultivo está siendo conservada y cómo está distribuida entre distintos bancos.Este trabajo presenta un grupo de marcadores microsatélites que son útiles en la evaluación de la diversidad genética del género Capsicum. Debido a su polimorfismo, estos microsatélites pueden usarse para evaluar cambios en la estructura genética de las colecciones ex situ de germplasma de Capsicum. Obtener información cuantitativa sobre las frecuencias alélicas serviría como punto de partida para tomar decisiones adecuadas en la conservación de germoplasma de Capsicum con variantes alélicas de frecuencia baja, en la genotipificación de variedades, en la búsqueda de fuentes de diversidad genética y para analizar la historia reciente de una variedad comercial o del germoplasma propio de un área geográfica.Usar estos marcadores para adquirir conocimiento sobre las colecciones de Capsicum permitirá incrementar el uso del germoplasma ex situ empleado en el desarrollo de variedades mejoradas que se adapten con éxito a diferentes condiciones ambientales y que presenten tolerancia a las plagas y niveles superiores de productividad. Adicionalmente, el conocimiento obtenido servirá para establecer modelos y prioridades en los métodos de conservación de los recursos genéticos a través de la identificación de vacíos y de la evaluación de la representatividad de las colecciones ex situ.Esta es la primera vez que los marcadores microsatélite son usados para evaluar simultáneamente la diversidad genética de 12 especies del género Capsicum. Por lo tanto, el presente trabajo es un punto de partida para la escogencia de marcadores microsatélite que puedan usarse en la caracterización de germoplasma de Capsicum y en la selección asistida por marcadores. Asimismo, este estudio puede ser tomado como la base de futuros trabajos que incluyan más especies y más entradas por especie, con el fin de encontrar más marcadores que permitan tener un conocimiento amplio de la diversidad genética del género Capsicum.  Figura 2. Distribución espacial de los grupos de genotipos, obtenida con el análisis de correspondencia múltiple.","tokenCount":"4300"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8014381159.json b/data/part_1/8014381159.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ba97b4bc9264fa9bfe94f6b0b42d865bd1ac3a88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8014381159.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5dfa4e45a64dec5e9e8734b4198d5317","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9a1b4e66-d777-4635-a99f-af85569225d9/retrieve","id":"-758983307"},"keywords":["small grants","review","water and food technology","understanding adoption","NGO research","researchdevelopment linkage"],"sieverID":"1755c89e-a46e-42d2-84ef-ac19d959f8f0","pagecount":"36","content":"This working paper reviews the experiences of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) with 14 \"small grants for impact\" that were contracted in early 2006 and operated for periods of 12 to 18 months. For a total investment of under US$1 million -less than the equivalent of a typical 3-5 year CPWF research for development project in Phase 1, the small grant projects made significant contributions to identifying water and food technology for specific end users (thus showing the potential of CPWF research in general); to better understanding of adoption; to stimulating research by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and to better connecting CPWF researchers in general to the reality of the development process. Four of the small grants were outstanding in their contribution across all four of these criteria; six others made significant contributions to one or more, representing a high success rate for the original investment. The quality of many of the 126 eligible proposals received was sufficient to have identified at least 20 more projects suitable for immediate funding at that time in late 2005. Unfortunately, other demands on CPWF funding and priorities on research set by the Consortium Steering Committee made it impossible to support these. This review concludes that calls for small grant proposals are an effective way of obtaining local impact and of connecting a wide range of relevant institutions to the efforts of a network such as CPWF.The history of small grantsThe CPWF commenced with a major investment \"the first competitive call\" that led to contracting of over 30 large research-for-development projects starting in June 2004. As these projects commenced, CPWF management became aware of three needs that could be answered by a relatively modest investment in locally focused small projects that concentrated on achieving adoption by small farmers of improvements in the way \"water and food\" were handled. These were:• The need to have immediate examples of the impact that could be achieved by working on better water productivity for smallholders -rather than waiting several years for the first results of the major, large research projects.• A stronger involvement of national NGOs in the CPWF, including the opportunity to make those in large-project research more aware of the reality on the ground by meeting people involved in development.• A better understanding of how adoption of \"water and food\" improvements occurs.The details of the call were prepared by the CPWF From these, 14 high-quality projects (value US$39,900 to 75,000) covering seven of the benchmark basins were approved for funding including three each from the Nile, Mekong and Ganges basins, two from the Andean system of basins, and one each from the Volta, Karkheh and Limpopo basins.More details of the selection process are given in Annex 1.This paper is intended to analyze whether investments in small grants for impact were productive. Through examining the lessons learnt, the paper considers how to improve innovation and downstream impact in the future. In the particular case of the CPWF, it considers how far \"downstream\" (in development terms) CPWF should go as a research program and therefore, how best to work with national NGOs and CBOs.First, the paper individually presents the results of the 12 projects that successfully completed and reported fully, looking at each for the most important result (\"headline result\") as well as for contributions in terms of locally adoptable technology, understanding of adoption (or innovations in seeking adoption), research outputs and contributions to policy ideas. It then considers across the portfolio of small grants the progress made in each of these areas, as well as how the small grant participants influenced the broader CPWF community.Two of the selected projects have failed to provide final reports, and are still being followed up by the CPWF Secretariat: SG 511 (Community-based water management strategies in the Karkheh Basin) and SG 509 (Sustainable water management for food security in smallholder farming communities of Tigray, Ethiopia). They are not included further in this review. 1   1In May 2010, after the conclusion of this review, the CPWF received a final report from SG 511 (available from the Secretariat) that describes initial success in establishing, institutionally and at field level, a participatory plant breeding approach in two areas of Kermanshah Province, Iran.Drip irrigation system with concrete header tank and plastic mulch on vegetable bedsImpact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiative 2011.05.30.CPWF WP-IAS-09.final draftv5Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Africa -Nile Basin SG 503 -Conditions for sustainable adoption of water and moisture system innovations: Case of the Makanya watershed in Tanzania \"Headline\" result: Participatory processes and knowledge-sharing are important for the adoption of innovations that may have been available for many years; the local policy environment is also very important.• Five communities of the Makanya watershed, Same District, northern Tanzania.Technology being adopted:• Farmers were found to be using a wide range of water and moisture system innovations (WMSI), including various forms of local or more extensive contouring, ponds, conservation tillage and mulching and agroforestry. However, most farmers only used one or two of these. A number of examples, identified by villages were promoted further by the researchers as part of the project. Bench terraces, for example, were prepared by 189 households in Malindi Village to permit the cultivation of bananas and vegetables. Locally, it is estimated that the work has the potential to help at least 10,000 households.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• A full report gives a detailed numerical analysis of conditions for adoption, including a separate analysis for male and female farmers and village heads, although unfortunately without quotes from specific farmers. A good, brief literature review of adoption models and influences is also provided.• This very productive project provided a good review paper on water and moisture system interventions in Africa as well as other working papers, proceedings of meetings, trip reports and a paper submitted to the African Journal of Agricultural Research. The three working papers mentioned (on adoption in Same, on the literature review of adoption, and on moisture system interventions in Africa) merit publication as CPWF working papers.• A huge amount of work was done with the limited small grant; the work would benefit from drawing out stories of individual farmers and communities, how they are applying moisture-conserving technologies and what the impact on their livelihoods has been.Ms. Rachel Machuve of Malindi village, Tanzania, in her terraced farming system Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Africa -Nile Basin SG513 -Teaching rural women water-harvesting and conservation to increase food security and combat climate change in southern Uganda \"Headline\" result: Organic farming and capture of roof-water made 90 households food secure and provided dry-season income.• 90 households of Masaka and Rakai districts in southern Uganda as part of a new initiative in the much broader work of the lead organization.Technology being adopted:• Technical orientation on organic composting, contour cultivation, establishment of group nurseries for seedlings and harvesting of roof runoff in polythene-lined pits. Each pit of approximately 3 x 3 x 2 m is sufficient to water approximately 0.2 ha of dry-season vegetables. Methods have already been adopted by a further 50 households, for a total of 140. Already, 43 households have received certification as organic producers..• The project has attracted major attention by skillfully obtaining the visit of the Ugandan head of state who wrote in the visitors' book: \"Thank you for overcoming poverty and ignorance.\" At the time of the final report, 72 groups of local authority leaders and many groups of community leaders had also visited the project sites. The project is based on the great dynamism of the leader (Ms. Josephine Kizza) and over 10 years' experience of the \"St Jude\" organization. The completion report gives a very clear account of the adoption story.• The project was intensely practical in nature, oriented to development results for households. Despite this, research innovations resulted, including technical innovations such as using polythene sheet instead of tarpaulin (subject to rodent damage) and observing how providing water for dryland farming in the dry season saved the formerly-used wetlands from loss through siltation.• A project of great impact and national visibility led by an outstanding communicator and her team. The reporting is straightforward and unassuming. More individual stories, and an estimate of the potential across the whole of Uganda, might be drawn out by an outside reporter. Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Africa -Volta Basin SG 506 -Improving catchment and use efficiency of water for high-value dry-season crops \"Headline\" result: Permanent concrete-lined wells allow water collection for dry-season crops with one-off labor investment without damage to seasonal wetlands caused by traditional \"dug-outs\" that are constructed each season.• Three villages in the Upper East Region of Ghana.• There are two linked initiatives. First, deep wells (depth 7-10 m, diameter 1 m) are hand dug by local farm families and are then lined with concrete by local artisans, according to a relatively low-cost model. These are used to replace shallow \"dug-outs\" in the wetlands that had to be prepared by hand at the end of each wet season and that furthermore encroached on some of the highquality land needed for dry-season cultivation. Three wells would be needed to irrigate 4,000 m 2 of tomato cultivation. • Second, harvesting of rainwater from roofs into five lined tanks per household (total capacity 20 m 3 ) combined with drip irrigation allows household use in the dry season and maintenance of planting material of sweet potato through the dry season.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• The project did not analyze the adoptability and cost benefit of the technologies. In the opinion of this review, the initial investment (about US$350 per household for the domestic tanks) is unlikely to pay for itself through the maintenance of sweet potato vines. No cost estimate is given for the deep wells but, at first sight, it appears that the investment would both require major credit to particular farmers and would be hard to recoup.• A well-written draft working paper has been prepared on the technical issues, but should not be considered for publication unless a cost-benefit analysis and the credit implications are investigated.The reviewer's comment:• Given the investment costs relative to local household income, it is not clear whether scaling up is possible without massive outside investment. The project might have benefited from an ex-ante analysis of the proposals from hydrological and cost-benefit points of view before the grant funds were invested. Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Africa -Limpopo Basin SG514 -Increasing agricultural productivity in Sekororo through rainwater harvesting from roads \"Headline\" result: Forty-eight cisterns of 12-101 m 3 capacity were built to capture runoff from roadways and other hard surfaces.Locations:• Various locations with community schools, disabled communities, etc., in Sekororo.Technology being adopted:• Inexpensive construction of underground concrete storage tanks with the partial participation of community groups.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• There was no study of adoption, or systematic design and promotion of farming methods to use the stored water which anyway is of very limited amount for intensive cultivation of, for example, a community garden.• There were no research outputs. Unfortunately, the project concentrated on investing only in the construction of cisterns rather than in studying how they could be used, or monitoring their actual use.The reviewer's comment:• This unfortunately developed as a project focused on infrastructure development by the NGO concerned. It would have benefited greatly from an ex-ante cost-benefit analysis, planning of how the available water could be used and a research design to follow up the results of installing the cisterns.Impact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiative 2011.05.30.CPWF WP-IAS-09.final draftv5Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Asia -Mekong Basin SG501 -Participatory water resource planning and development through a learning alliance approach in northeast Thailand \"Headline\" result: Community planning of water resources was developed based on the learning alliances of the CPWF multiple-use systems project.• Twelve learning centers and 200 villages in northeast Thailand.Technology being adopted:• No new technology, but many options are already included in multiple use systems used by so-called \"wisdom networks\" in different groups of neighboring villages. Many villages increased plans for installation or improvement of ponds.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• The stepwise improvement of participatory processes for water use planning, from household and community level upward; the adoption of these methods as a model by the National Research Council; one project site was rated as the \"best learning site\" in northeast Thailand.• Action research results on initial testing of a system that links local communities right up to national government level, including modifications to the drafting of the national water law.The reviewer's comment:• The report is couched in the most general terms, citing the need for confidentiality about informal agreements with government, etc. It is therefore difficult to tell how much was actually achieved and how much new ground was covered beyond what was already included in CPWF project 28 on multiple-use water systems. The preliminary nature of these achievements and, apparently, the need for some sensitive agreements to remain tacit rather than explicitly documented, make it difficult to fully evaluate this project from its report. A more explicit Most Significant Change (MSC) story, for example about the details from one village, or a follow up of what has happened after 3 years, would be a great help in understanding better the potential value of this approach.Ubol Ratana Dam, Thailand Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Asia -Mekong Basin SG 502 -Innovative market-based strategies to realize agricultural income through increased on-farm water productivity and market integration \"Headline\" result: Private extension of high-value crops, fertilizer briquettes and drip-kits increased income for Cambodian small farmers.• Two districts (Svat Teap and Svay Chrum) of Svay Rieng Province in eastern Cambodia. In trials 36 farmers were involved; nearly 500 followed up with commercial plots of their own.Technology being adopted:• High-value crops (cucumber, long bean, mustard greens and tomato were the most popular and successful; others were wax-bean, pumpkin and watermelon) with fertilizer briquettes to allow economical exact placement, and low pressure drip kits. Later, market-oriented poor farmers were helped by project lead institution International Development Enterprises (IDE) to identify and develop an opportunity for chili production timed differently from those of Vietnamese imports, both for local sale and for export to Thailand.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• A market-based commercial orientation was used even for the very poor farmers who were involved in this study whose household income was less than 1 US dollar a day. The elements included training of private extensionists who induced farmers to participate, guided them in their cropping and introduced them to suppliers; suppliers of drip-kits and a supplier of briquettes, and links to markets. By the end of the project, IDE still played the following roles: input purchase, product design and testing, market assessments, partial financing of private extension agent (PEA) loans, agronomic support to PEAs and PEA training. Future plans included developing a franchise model which involves the franchiser taking on the duties of product development, market assessments, branding and promotion, bulk input purchasing and quality control, and PEA selection, training and support.• Income of target farmers more than doubled as they increased their effort and inputs in vegetable production. Water use was reduced by about 45% and labor requirements by 71%, although drip-kits used alone were not particularly profitable. The working paper describing the project is concise, well written, with full explanation and good data and should be a high priority for publication by CPWF. It analyzes the development and prospects of the private-oriented systems. The results on briquettes and drip-kits provided inputs to later, larger-scale projects developed with the Australian Agency for International Development, the International Fertilizer Development Center and the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center.The reviewer's comment:• An outstanding, thoughtfully conducted and reported project that covers technological change in water and food, livelihood improvement, novel (private) extension processes and careful analysis of adoption.Impact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiativeBrief Description of Each Small Grant: Asia -Mekong Basin SG504 -Increasing water use efficiency by using mulch under System of Rice Intensification (SRI) practices in northeast Thailand \"Headline\" result: Communities in northeast Thailand were enthusiastic about SRI practices.• Roi Et Province, northeast Thailand, working with 25 extension officials and 200 farmers.Technology being adopted:• Mung bean and cowpea interplanted using SRI concepts, which include alternate wetting and drying.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• As no adoption data were provided it is impossible to determine whether this is a researcher-led, one-off promotion or will become established with farmers, especially since SRI approaches are sometimes described as very knowledgeintensive.Research outputs:• Yields of rice and legumes, and analysis of costs and benefits.The reviewer's comment:• Given the lack of information on adoption it is impossible to state whether the enthusiastic reception by farmers -visible in a CPWF short film from 2006 and in person at the First International Forum on Water and Food -will actually lead to adoption when researchers are not present. Locations:• Mid-hills of Nepal and Maharashtra State, India (more specific information not provided in the report).Technology being adopted:• Technological, promotional and marketing steps for introducing drip-kit methodology to a new NGO and a new area. Beyond this, as an added benefit from an in-person visit to Nepal, three members of the Dilasa staff were highly impressed by multiple water use systems they saw with IDE in Nepal, and they carried these ideas back to Maharashtra.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• The relatively new idea of developing training materials step by step working with an NGO, so that these can then be used for training another NGO elsewhere.• A very comprehensive set of instructional materials is now available for use by other NGOs as well.The reviewer's comment:• A well-designed, successful project that added a different type of water management knowledge. It is notable that the in-person visit was reportedly the most productive part of the whole process, so that study visits should also be programmed wherever possible. CPWF should follow up to ensure that the training materials reach a wide range of NGOs -they should also be made available through the CPWF webpage. Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Asia -Ganges Basin SG508 -Water-efficient farming and groundwater recharge systems for small farmers in Rajasthan \"Headline\" result: Water-saving, income-increasing alternatives to sole-crop cotton were demonstrated to farmers in the dry conditions of Rajasthan.• In Behror, Alwar District, Rajasthan, India 3,000 farmers from a total population of 300,000.Technology being adopted:• Eight cropping \"models\" were tested and demonstrated with farmers including Sesbania-mustard intercropping; small check basins for wheat planting; sprinkler irrigation; furrow-irrigated raised beds; okra as a trap-crop in cotton; cotton-mung bean intercropping to reduce pesticide applications; intercropping of pigeon pea and mung bean; and a model garden including various drought-tolerant fruit trees. Depending on the innovation, from 5 to 225 farmers are reported to have tested each innovation.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• Although there is much talk in the report and working papers of participatory research, and the importance of this work being led by an NGO, it appears that the different \"models\" were in fact researcher-designed, farmer-implemented demonstrations. In the three draft working papers and the report there is no information on independent adoption per se by farmers. The flat-rate payment for electricity for pumping is apparently a barrier to adoption of water saving measures by those farmers who have access to more electricity.• Much information on changes in yields, income and water use is provided, although the level of analysis varies depending on the \"model\" being reported. Note also that audio/video project assessments of several technologies, with farmers, are apparently available through IWMI-India although not included in the report.The reviewer's comment:• Because of the style of reporting, it is difficult to be sure how much farmer participation in design and how much potential for widespread adoption there really is. At one extreme, this might already be a very valuable project with much scaling-up potential and, at the other, it might merely have been a \"typical\" series of technician designed demonstrations with little chance of impact. Unfortunately it is impossible to determine the real situation from the extensive documentation provided. An on-site assessment visit by an impartial observer might therefore be worth the investment.Impact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiative 2011.05.30.CPWF WP-IAS-09.final draftv5Brief Description of Each Small Grant: Latin America -Andean System of Basins SG505 -Enabling endogenous potential for improved management and conservation of water resources in semiarid Andean ecosystems \"Headline\" result: Taking farmers out of their environment (physically and, consequently, mentally) and facilitating experiential learning on basic ideas in water management unleashed creative potential to green the landscape among Andean farmers living in areas that were once well watered but are now semiarid.• River Chota Valley of Ecuador; north Potosi area of Bolivia (San Pedro Buenavista and Sacaca municipalities).Technology being adopted:• Of the 41 farm families in Ecuador and 42 in Bolivia who worked directly with the project and who depended entirely on rainfed production at the outset, all were in the process of installing their own designs of water catchment systems after the 18 month project. There was a wide range of benefits from these household experiences; in the most striking cases, in under two years, the households built \"an oasis in the desert, \" with profitable animal (guinea-pig), fruit and vegetable production that rapidly repaid the initial investment.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• The project approach emphasizes the science developed by communities themselves, supported by technical knowledge, recognizing that \"expert science\" from outside -although it may seem logical to those brought up within that professional culture -does not fit with local experience, in this case, in the Andes that have a long tradition of learning from, and living within, the environment. At the same time, the project hypothesized that local communities have been used to living with water shortage and do not perceive the water all around them -for example, in runoff from roofs, or stored in the soil (even more so when organic matter content is increased). Simple direct experiences (for example, weighing a sock full of soil when dry and again after immersion in water) helped communities to understand these principles and then work from them to develop their own solutions -see pp 3-4 of the SG 505 project report for a more detailed description of concepts and of the differences between \"expert science\" and \"people's science\".• In the practical application of these concepts, the project helped farmers take a step out of their reality, both in training workshops (developing their personal \"map of dreams\") and in field visits to different experiences in water management. Farmer Field School methodology was used to develop water management skills and also to train specialist farmer trainers. In the most striking case, Bolivian farmer trainers who received experiential training in water management in field situations in Ecuador returned to train farmers in their own country. After the project, such experiences had, by 2008, already been carried into third generation trainees (i.e., farmers who had been trained by farmers who had been trained by those farmers who visited Ecuador). Thus, by 2008, the training had reached hundreds of farmers in Ecuador and Bolivia.The project also had an important influence on improving the knowledge of water management among technical people in local organizations and NGOs; to the surprise of the project, they, like the farmers, had very little knowledge of the principles of water management.Research outputs:• The project did not, as the completion report explains, concentrate on conventional \"scientific\" data, although there is baseline information for all the households and communities. Instead there is a wealth of information on action research, much of which has not yet been fully analyzed, from the different options that farmers developed after initial training. The project was also highly influential in stimulating farmers' own research, in developing \"people's science.\"The reviewer's comment:• The completion report is very well written and full of ideas and information on concepts, techniques, results and network opportunities; it should be read in its entirety (22p.). Because soils are relatively fertile, and local markets can offer good opportunities in the Andes, starting a virtuous cycle of water capture and use can rapidly show results. Both this project and the influence on other CPWF members (especially through the contributions made by the project leader at the second International Forum on Water and Food) change the way of thinking about how to develop water and food technologies with farmers, especially the \"Mode 2\" (\"people's science\") approach to development. The approach will need careful handling within CPWF and in other sources of public and technical information since it will not be immediately obvious as a breakthrough to all those who read it. CPWF is left bearing this responsibility of continuity in the Andean region because of the regrettable withdrawal of World Neighbors, the original institutional home for this project. Fortunately, the former project leader is committed to continuing this type of work. As an immediate improved output, the former project staff could be supported to write up all 12 of the outstanding local cases of household water management that are mentioned, and to provide (if it has not already been achieved) a Latin American version of the \"Agrodoc\" training resource on soil and water management originally produced in English by the Wageningen Agricultural University.Impact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiativeBrief Description of Each Small Grant: Latin America -Andean System of Basins SG510 -Associated cropping and enhanced rainwater harvesting to improve food security and sustainable livelihoods of peasant farmer associations in Santander Department, Colombia \"Headline\" result: Crop diversity, intercropping and conservation agriculture were spread through participatory methods and especially knowledge sharing among farmer associations from different communities and even across regions of Colombia.• Eight remote municipalities of Soto province, Santander department, Colombia, connected additionally to farmers from six other regions.Technology being adopted:• Forty traditional varieties of grains, vegetables, fruits, tubers and fodder crops were recovered during farmers' \"collective food banquets.\" Strategies for agroforestry, soil conservation and water management were shared.Innovations in, and analysis of, adoption:• Participatory gender-sensitive methods were used with 250 families across 14 villages. Community to community partnerships in sharing traditional knowledge were important.• In four trials, each with a different design, water harvesting and drip irrigation of intercrops were studied.The reviewer's comment:• The project appears to have set up a powerful knowledge-sharing approach among communities. The immediate results in terms of technical improvements to people's livelihoods are not discussed, but these may be apparent later.Searching for appropriate project sites, Colombia apparently because conceptually they failed to distinguish between situations where a) technicians promoted technology and farmers followed politely without intending to adopt and b) farmers adopted through their own decisions. In future, it may be wise to make more effort to filter out before approval for financing those projects that fail to understand and plan for this distinction.The Five projects (SG 501,502,503,505,and 513) made contributions that are noted in Table 1, that may prove important to policy makers. Two made slight contributions and five made no discernible contribution at this point.One purpose of investment in CPWF small grants was to ensure that NGOs and others working closely with farmers would take part in CPWF and other international meetings and help the mainstream CPWF researchers to be more in contact with grassroots development challenges. This happened by them being chosen to take part in one of the two International Fora on Water and Food; the selection was actually carried out by CPWF management since small grant budgets were insufficient to fund travel.Those projects chosen for one or the other of the Beyond the institutions that participated in the 14 funded small grant proposals, some 300 institutions were added to those that had previously participated in offering proposals to the CPWF; the call thus had a major effect in increasing public awareness of CPWF and its goals, even though, unfortunately, few proposals could be funded.Most of the reviewers provided detailed and insightful comments on the selection process and on the quality of the proposals received that would be very useful in the future for similar efforts. Most were pleasantly surprised by the quality of many of the proposals.Two reviewers who had taken part in screening of the 350-plus concept notes from the first competitive research call of the CPWF commented that as a group the small grant proposals were more focused on reality and relevant to farmers' needs than the concept notes.Perhaps to be expected because of the different nature of the two calls, it is nonetheless striking that a call in which many NARES and national NGOs led the writing produced commendable results.Other comments and suggestions for the future received from the reviewers included the following:• For CPWF, it would be important to develop a critical mass of small grants and to follow them up in specific areas of CPWF basins.• More specific targets should be requested in the proposal format since many proposals were very general and attempted to \"be all things to all people.\"• A number of proposals concentrated on capital investments for a few fortunate farmers; these should be discouraged.• Eighteen months may be too short a time to consolidate local results form such projects• Supporting documentation about NGOs with the proposals would be helpful (this was only requested for those that had been selected for contracting).• Relatively few proposals offered high quality explanations of both technology and process (notably, the best final project reports did manage to cover both).• Women were almost often absent from the staff proposed to conduct the work and were rarely mentioned as end users, which is shocking considering that they are a majority of the end users in much of Africa. A number of the selected proposals were worthy exceptions.• Proposals in the requested area of \"selfmonitoring\" were not well developed and could be helped in the future by more guidance and training in this area.Several of the reviewers congratulated the CPWF on the high quality and institutional diversity of many of the proposals received. They considered that most of the 126 reviewed proposals represented useful and serious potential contribution to the welfare of local communities in a way that was relevant to CPWF goals.As an illustration of this, seven proposals not ranked in the top 15 were considered worthy of special mention by two of their three reviewers, and ten others were commended by at least one.Sometimes these reviewers may have missed severe defects that the less-enthusiastic reviewer(s) may have detected. However, in many cases these proposals were eminently fundable. There were probably at least 20 proposals requiring a further US$1.5 million that deserved to be funded.Impact assessment: Review of the CPWF small grants initiative 2011.05.30.CPWF WP-IAS-09.final draftv5Discussion, with reference to the futureThe very best projects showed that it was possible to combine all the aspects that the small grants program had sought although each of them did this in different ways. These projects were SG 505, SG 503 and SG 502. SG 513 was also rated very highly for highly practical local impact; its documentation was relatively limited, meaning that it was less possible to be completely sure of its contribution to adoption ideas, to policy and to research. The project leader also made an impact in the Stockholm World Water Week where she participated.These four most outstanding projects were led by, respectively, an international NGO, a NARES, and a national NGO. The two least successful projects among those that actually reported (SG 514,SG 506) were led by an international NGO and a NARES. And they were followed by one led by a national NGO (SG 508) whose results may be of considerable significance and use for farmers but whose reporting, that confused successful demonstrations with adoption, devalued the project reports. It is therefore not possible to conclude that particular types of projects make institution more or less successful. Instead it appears that much depends on the quality and circumstances of each institution, whatever its type.Of 14 projects, only two (SG 509 in Ethiopia and SG 511 in Iran) failed to conclude and provide a report while another one or probably two (SG 514 in South Africa and SG 506 in Ghana) could be considered not to have used investment wisely because it was driven by poorly conceived infrastructural investments. 21 Therefore, the other ten could be considered to have been a worthwhile investment, 21 It is particularly striking that SG 514 was ranked much lower (42 nd out of 126) than the other selected projects (which were all ranked in the top 14). It was only included as the top-ranked proposal so as to provide some small grant activity in the Limpopo Basin. Hindsight suggests that it should not have been supported.with benefits for end-users likely and with all ten contributing to understanding of adoption, to research or to policy, or to a combination of these. This is a very high success rate for relatively inexpensive and potentially risky investments, which allows strong advocacy that further small grant investments by CPWF should be considered in the future.The preparation of this review, some two years after the conclusion of the small grant portfolio is a belated recognition that, despite plans originally made, and interest of CPWF management in the topic, the weight of other responsibilities caused under-exploitation of these experiences by the CPWF, although probably they were well used by the organizations concerned.Final documentation provided by small grant projects was very variable in amount and quality.Some of the best documentation was concise.Other projects reported in excessive detail but not necessarily answering the key questions. For example, even though NGOs were reporting, some failed to distinguish between the presence of trials and demonstrations from adoption by a farm family. It seems that NGO staff, even though they are closer to farmers, can be as prone to \"wishful thinking about adoptability as some researchers.\"There are several opportunities for publication of working papers and for public information on the legacy of CPWF Phase 1 projects (Table 2).Small grant investments appear to be a remarkably productive way of investing part of CPWF or similar funds. For less than the cost of a single \"typical CPWF 3 to 5 year research project, \" results from 14 small grant projects included tangible options for farmers  The key information for the 208 proposals received was reviewed by the management team leading to the immediate elimination of 82 proposals because they were ineligible. The principal reasons were that no NGO was included; that no CV was included, that the proposal did not work primarily in a CPWF benchmark basin; and a CPWF benchmark basin coordination institution was not included. Those proposals eligible were spread unevenly across basins (Sao Francisco, 0; Karkheh, 1; Limpopo, 4: Yellow, 7; Mekong, 9; Volta, 13; Andes, 20; Indus-Ganges, 29 and Nile, 41).In advance of the closing date of the call 30 potential reviewers were identified by the CPWF management team based on the following criteria:• Broad international experience and reputation.• Interested in and knowledgeable about research/development interface.• Knowledgeable about natural resources management research.• Knowledge and interest that bridge the biological/social science gap.• Even if involved in other CPWF work, would be perceived to be independent in this review.• Known for rapid, reliable response to commitments.• Likely to be able to give 2-3 days in a 2-week time slot.• No likely connection with institutions that may submit (this was screened carefully when distributing proposals for review). • Unlikely to take extreme positions that would bias an average based on three reviews.Seventeen reviewers were able to accept the invitation to conduct remote virtual reviews of the proposals in the narrow time window available (25 October to 7 November). Once eligible proposals were identified by the secretariat and management team, each proposal was assigned for evaluation by three reviewers based on their geographical areas of expertise. In general, one person with a biological focus, one with an economic focus and one with a social science focus were chosen for each proposal. Where there were fewer than 20 proposals in any basin these were assigned to the same reviewers, so as to increase the quality of discrimination amongst the proposals in each particular basin, except in a very few cases where potential conflict of interest needed to be avoided. Where there were more than 20 proposals, two sets of three reviewers were used, assigning at random the two available in each disciplinary area.The selection criteria were:• Quality of proposal, consisting of quality of methodology proposed; account taken of existing knowledge and experience; probability that impact will be delivered in the time available; and technical feasibility. CPWF projects; possibility of scaling-up and scaling-out, including of other river basins; and using an innovative or original approach to obtain results. • Quality and institutional mix of the team, consisting of appropriate technical skills available, using an interdisciplinary approach; proactive in encouraging stakeholder participation; and evidence of established relationships over at least 5 years in the geographical area. • Value for money.Before studying the results, the management team agreed on the following policy: To begin the best 15 proposals based on mean rank would be selected. However, if any basin had more than three proposals in this group, only the three highest ranked would be chosen. For those basins with no representative in the top 15, the best ranked proposal would be taken from lower in the list provided that it was of sufficient quality.To minimize the effects of differing level of severity among reviewers, the proposals were evaluated by ranking the evaluation score assigned by each reviewer. Where reviewers concentrated in one basin this is highly reliable in ensuring that the most respected proposals are chosen. Where reviewers cover a few proposals in each of several basins because few proposals were submitted (Karkheh, Limpopo, Mekong, Yellow) the proposals from one basin may suffer if they are generally inferior to those in the other basins. This appears to be the case of Limpopo and Yellow rivers so that the management team inspected these proposals with care.Several checks were included to ensure careful selection. First, the comments by each reviewer on each proposal among those potentially selected were studied in detail. In particular, if a reviewer had ranked low a proposal favored by other reviewers, the reasons were investigated carefully. The reviewers were also asked to provide a more subjective impression of the five most outstanding proposals they had reviewed, without necessarily referring back to their scores. These results were compared with those based on ranking. Finally, one member of the management team and the appropriate basin coordinator studied each proposal to check for anomalies such as research that would be impossible in the time available, research that had apparently been done before and was being \"recycled, \" proposals in which no institution had been active in the geographical area for the required five years, and \"convenience NGOs\" created for the purpose of obtaining these funds. A further check on the legal status on the lead institutions and the bona fide nature of the NGO(s) involved will also be carried out before final contracting.The Challenge Program on Water and Food was launched in 2002 as a reform initiative of the CGIAR, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. CPWF aims to increase the resilience of social and ecological systems through better water management for food production (crops, fisheries and livestock). CPWF does this through an innovative research and development approach that brings together a broad range of scientists, development specialists, policy makers and communities to address the challenges of food security, poverty and water scarcity. CPWF is currently working in six river basins globally: Andes, Ganges, Limpopo, Mekong, Nile and Volta.This working paper reviews the experiences of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) with 14 \"small grants for impact\" that were contracted in early 2006 and operated for periods of 12 to 18 months. The small grant projects made significant contributions in a number of areas including: 1) identifying water and food technology for specific end users 2) better understanding of adoption 3) stimulating research by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and 4) better connecting CPWF researchers in general to the reality of the development process. This review concludes that calls for small grant proposals are an effective way of obtaining local impact and of connecting a wide range of relevant institutions to the efforts of a network such as CPWF. Email: cpwfsecretariat@cgiar.org","tokenCount":"6710"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8017500710.json b/data/part_1/8017500710.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..56b71695fa4caf797edc076a12f78ef72da12e02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8017500710.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9dca20dad0e6ae941055224bbb11fdd2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ddaefeb3-ad50-49fe-8f0d-8f79dd1a0f04/retrieve","id":"-1887062035"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c1dd7e79-b79c-4f78-ac90-fc0f61825c28","pagecount":"34","content":"1. Testing improved forages  155 households tried different forage varieties (4 grasses, 3 legumes)  Increased average area with forages per household: Type A villages -from 0.01 ha to 0.06 ha, Type B -from 0.01 to 0.04 ha, Type C -from 0.02 ha to 0.06 ha. 2. Trainings on feed techniques  Farmer trainings with ~180 households in 6 villages  Feed classification, processing, preservation and feeding regimes for cattle and Ban pigs  Cattle/buffalo -silage, urea-treated rice straw; feed mix; Ban pigs -feed mix, feed fermentation using probiotics 3. Local stakeholder engagement  Engagement with local stakeholders ensured successful implementation of flagship activities  trainings support, distributing materials to farmers, field trial monitoring Photo credits: Bui Van Tung & Phan Huy Chuong (NOMAFSI); Chi Nguyen (ILRI)Remote extensive systems in the high altitudes, with low access to market, fragile environment, mainly H'Mong ethnic minorities Mixed crop-livestock system in the mid-altitudes, mainly Thai ethnic minorities Intensive systems in the lowlands with good access to markets and better capacity for innovation What is photovoice?Why photovoice?A picture is worth a thousand words Cameras can be used to \"make visible our everyday life\"• The photovoice is a lively way to engage community • Photos can help to overcome language barriers • Photos can provide lively and stimulating evidences • Photos can be used to stimulate communities' discussion • The 'insiders' understand their issues the best: farmers actively participate in data collection and analyses • By participating in the evaluation process, farmers will be more persuaded to apply what works \"I draw this camera to say that I am happy to be given a camera to take photo of interesting things and learn new things through talking with the person in the photo about what they are doing\" (Quang Thi Ly, Female, Thai ethnicity)• After 2 months:  Sale of livestock was a major coping strategy; but often sale prices were low. Off farm income also disrupted. There was evidence of ongoing disruption, i.e. households did not quickly recover after restrictions were relaxed. Further monitoring recommended. Although the COVID-19 containment measures were successful in reducing spread of the disease, here we quantified the unintended consequences. They are serious and ought to be addressed.  Similar patterns were seen in surveys across East and Southern Africa.  Based on a synthesis analysis we recommend:  i) tiered mobility restrictions with travel allowed for economic reasons;  ii) short-term price guarantee schemes to stabilise the food system;  iii) direct aid;  iv) the timely re-installation of distribution channels for agricultural inputs.","tokenCount":"426"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8021606929.json b/data/part_1/8021606929.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b4fa5765d819c9f13db9d455be4752fa1e6ba986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8021606929.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c09197b9225bb7ba97e5900ccca7d25c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11f9472b-fe3e-4eae-8d5e-4bde958ed094/retrieve","id":"562128722"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6bddda4b-085d-4c1f-87cc-4977de1c3585","pagecount":"12","content":"Management practices to improve soil health influence several ecosystem services including regulation of water flows, changes in soil biodiversity and greenhouse gases that are important at local, regional and global levels. Unfortunately, the primary focus in soil health management over the years has been increasing crop productivity and to some extent the associated economics and use efficiencies of inputs. There are now efforts to study the inter-relationship of associated ecosystem effects of soil health management considering that sustainable intensification cannot occur without conscious recognition of these associated non-provisioning ecosystem services. This review documents the current knowledge of ecosystem services for key management practices based on experiences from agricultural lands in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Here, practicing conservation agriculture (CA) and Integrated Soil fertility management (ISFM) have overall positive benefits on increasing infiltration (> 44), reducing runoff (> 30%) and soil erosion (> 33%) and increases soil biodiversity. While ISFM and Agroforestry increase provisioning of fuelwood, fodder and food, the effect of CA on the provisioning of food is unclear. Also, considering long-term perspectives, none of the studied soil health promoting practices are increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). Annual contributions to greenhouse gases are generally low (< 3 kg N 2 O ha −1 ) with few exceptions. Nitrogen leaching vary widely, from 0.2 to over 200 kg N ha −1 and are sometimes inconsistent with N inputs. This summary of key considerations for evaluating practices from multiple perspectives including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services is important to inform future soil health policy and research initiatives in SSA.Land degradation characterized by soil erosion, nutrient depletion, loss of biological diversity and decreasing quality and quantity of water is a major problem facing many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA; Swift et al., 2006). About 65% of the agricultural land in SSA is degraded due to poor management practices, which induce declines in soil biological, chemical and physical quality; reducing the capacity of the soil to support crop production and provide other ecosystem service (ES; Oldeman et al., 1991;Zingore et al., 2015). Annual nutrient depletion in year 2000 were estimated to reach 38 kg ha −1 (i.e., 26 kg N, 3 kg P, 9 kg K; FAO and ITPS, 2015), leaving soils with serious fertility and other constraints (FAO, 2002). Such degraded lands reduce the annual agricultural productivity by nearly 3% (Zingore et al., 2015), costing the SSA region about USD 68 billion annually. The degradation has stagnated or even declined yields levels of cereal and legume crops (Obalum et al., 2012) at a time when the region's population is rapidly rising. Meeting the growing demand for food, while also supporting livelihoods of 70% of the households in the region depending directly or indirectly on agriculture (FAO, 2002), will be a big problem if the current trend of degradation continues. Furthermore, poverty and malnutrition are likely to worsen as the population grows. Therefore, to address the prevalent problem of degradation, improving soil health, especially in agricultural lands, is a key priority. Soil health is defined as the continuous capacity of soils to function as a vital living ecosystem, within ecosystem and land use boundaries, to sustain biological productivity, maintain the quality of air and water, and promote plant, animal and human health (Doran and Zeiss, 2000). Because it considers the full range of ecosystem services, soil health is broader than soil fertility which mostly considers only the capacity of a soil to grow crops (Vanlauwe et al., 2010).Soil health-improving practices such as conservation agriculture (CA), integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and agroforestry practices positively affect not only the often measured crop production but also contribute to other ES (Blum, 2005). CA is a farming system that minimizes soil tillage, maintains a permanent soil cover of at least 30%, and cultivates a diverse range of plant species in rotation or intercropping to improve soil health. ISFM is the combined use of mineral fertilizers and locally available soil amendments and organic matter in crop production while agroforestry is a land use management system involving growing trees or shrubs among crops. Recognizing that soil health affects other ES, it was proposed that management of agricultural soils must address not only productivity but also environmental effects, such as greenhouse gases, air and water quality (Lal, 2000). Ecosystem services provided by soils include regulation of the atmosphere and climate, primary production, nutrient conservation, carbon sequestration, water purification and erosion control (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 2005). These ES have been grouped into four broad categories namely: provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. The recognition of linkages between soil health and broader ES is not new in SSA. As early as the 1970s, Rapp (1977) appreciated that dense vegetative soil cover under CA can be as effective as forests in controlling soil erosion; a major problem of agricultural landscapes in the region and contributes to high sedimentation of reservoirs (Dunne, 1977).Over the past several decades different studies in SSA have assessed the impacts of some of the common soil health improving agronomic management practices on one or more ES, with major focus on the provision of food and climate regulation. The existing global reviews have focused on linking soils to ES in general, based on the soil physical and chemical properties such as organic carbon and water holding capacity (Adhikari and Hartemink, 2016), and examining the relationship between CA and ES (Palm et al., 2014;Giller et al., 2015). However, there are few studies providing a thorough review on how soil health relates to ES in all defined broad categories in SSA. Given that the promotion and adoption of improved management practices to enhance soil health is gaining momentum in SSA, it is important to understand the impacts of these practices on ES. The objective of the review is to provide current state of knowledge on effects of soil health management on delivery of ecosystem services for human well-being within SSA (See Table 1).This review focused on evaluation of the influences of soil health on ecosystem services in SSA. The region is characterized by high food insecurity, high levels of land degradation and increasing population in addition to the uncertainty of global climate change. Governments in the region have committed to improve land productivity through increased use of fertilizers along with incorporation of soil health promoting practices (like CA, ISFM, or agroforestry).The data and information used in this study was obtained from a literature search conducted from November 2018 to July 2019. There were no restriction placed on publication dates because there are not many studies on ecosystem services in SSA, especially those touching on the regulating, supporting and cultural aspects. Initially, the search in Google Scholar search engine using key words of \"soil health\", \"ecosystem services\" and \"sub-Sahara Africa\" returned 95 publications. Some of the publications were unsuitable as they did not provide the key indicators of interest. The search was therefore refined to include the specific indicators measured as part of ecosystem services targeting the different sub-sections of our study. The keywords included in the refined search in combination with \"soil health\" and \"sub-Sahara Africa\" are food production, fodder production, freshwater soil loss, nutrient leaching, fuelwood production, climate regulation, pest and diseases, pathogens, greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, soil organic carbon, agroforestry, firewood, bioremediation, erosion, conservation agriculture, provisioning services, cultural services, regulating services and supporting services. In each case, the publications were screened to retain only those relating to effects of soil health management interventions. In the end, a total of 93 publications were used in this review, covering 1970-2019. These cover the key management practices used in the region such as CA which consists of reduced or zero tillage, crop residue retention and crop rotations including cover crops (Hobbs et al., 2008), ISFM involving the combination of inorganic fertilizers and organic resources, and agroforestry systems. The publications also cover a wide range of geographies with the extracted data in Tables and Figures covering Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mali, Tanzania and Togo besides several other countries discussed within the text (Fig. 1).Data on specific soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics used in the Tables and Figures were extracted directly from the publications only when several manuscripts contained the data, otherwise the information or data was mentioned within the text. Extraction of carbon data involved retrieving information from graphs, tables or real values reported in different publications. Some data conversions were undertaken for reporting in this study. For example, soil organic carbon (SOC) data was reported for variable periods, from 1 to 40 years. Where necessary, e.g. in Partey et al. (2017) study, we recalculated and presented the SOC data in per annual increments in the text, i.e., equivalent quantities of carbon per hectare on annual basis. For longterm trends, SOC data derived from four research studies conducted in Kenya, Nigeria and Togo were fitted into simple linear regression curves with time of measurement since trial establishment as the xvariable.For systems that had been sufficiently studied or where thorough review already existed, reference to these studies was made without going into a lot of details. The contribution of agroforestry to fuelwood and to other indicators of ecosystem services, such as SOC, have for example been undertaken in Malawi and Zambia by Kaczan et al. (2013) and other sub-Saharan countries by Partey et al. (2017). Under such contexts, only general distributions or average contributions are presented.3.1. Soil health and provisional ecosystem services:3.1.1. Effects on food, fodder, and fuelwood production Improved soil health is often associated with improved crop and fodder productivity (Vanlauwe et al., 2015;Njoroge et al., 2017;Ichami et al., 2019). ISFM technologies are known to increase yields and sometimes tripling and quadrupling production over current farmer practices (Kihara et al., 2017). Evidence from meta-analysis and review studies shows that the use of agroforestry technologies also has the potential to increase crop yields and overall system productivity in SSA smallholder farming systems (Kaczan et al., 2013;Partey et al. 2017;Kuyah et al., 2019). However, improved soil health under CA is mostly concurrent with reduced yields especially in the first 2-5 years of establishment (Thierfelder et al., 2015a), although savings in labor often compensate for this. Where there is yield increase with either CA or ISFM, it is often accompanied by an increase in the crop residues biomass, which are useful for feeding animals (Mugwe et al., 2007;Mupangwa and Thierfelder, 2014). Feed provisioning varying from 7 to 21 t ha −1 yr −1 of above ground biomass under agroforestry using improved fallows, for example, is reported in an SSA-wide review (Partey et al., 2017). Improved soil health is also associated with enhanced microbial activities and enhanced plant access to different nutrients from soil (Smith et al., 2011;Coyne and Mikkelsen, 2015;Berruti et al., 2016) and subsequent nutrient transfer along the food chain (Grusak and DellaPenna, 1999). Therefore, improved soil health influences food and feed quality due to changes in mineral nutrition of crops (Sahrawat and Wani, 2013).Fuelwood provides 80% of energy supply in SSA, with estimated 692 kg per capita per annum of fuelwood consumed in rural South Africa (Dovie et al., 2004). It is an increasingly scarce resource among a large majority of smallholder farmers in SSA. Within agroforestry systems, use of green manure cover crops with woody stems, for instances pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), sesbania (Sesbania spp.) and calliandra (Calliandra spp.) also provide fuelwood (Saxena, 2008;Saxena et al., 2010). The use of nitrogen-fixing agroforestry trees has the potential of increasing fuelwood production by 4-10 t ha −1 year −1 , as has been reported in Tanzania by Iiyama et al. (2014). This is an obvious alternative to deforestation, which opens doors for fast turnover of carbon sequestered over previous decades. A SSA-wide review of the potential of agroforestry in the provision of wood fuel is available from Iiyama et al. (2014).Improving soil health is related to increased crop resilience to climate change (Grover et al., 2009) which is important for continued provisioning of food, fodder and fuelwood. The ability to reduce the impacts of the year-to-year or season-to-season weather variability on productivity is certainly a desirable attribute of improved soil health (Porter and Semenov, 2005). Based on long-term (13 yr) trials, growing maize (Zea mays) in association with legume trees increases production stability relative to conventional practices in southern Africa (Sileshi et al., 2012). In 30 season (15 yr) trials in western Kenya, systems that increase soil health are associated with improved yield stability across environments but are also associated with increasing yields over time andespecially those under CAimproved economics (own data). Yet globally, for some of the CA systems, real benefits, e.g. of rotations reported in Mozambique, are realized only after as much as 20 years (Rusinamhodzi et al., 2011). The benefits are derived from improved soil structure and regulation of water and nutrient flows (Ayuke et al., 2012). Besides having overall higher productivity, intercropping reduces crop failure compared to mono-cropping in farming systems in SSA (Mzezewa and Gwata, 2016;Kermah et al., 2017;Mthembu et al., 2018). While yield and yield stability can be argued for most soil health management practices, the use of some practices, such as fertilizer micro-dosing, induce nutrient mining resulting in overall decline in fertility in the long-run, as observed in Benin (Tovihoudji et al., 2017). Thus, while some soil health management practices result in quick provisioning benefits (yield), some systems require sufficient time of consistent implementation before benefits are realized. However, negative side-effects, such as nutrient mining, must also be considered.Up to 10-25% (Rockström, 2000) or even 50% of rainfall received may be found as runoff on eroded slopes (Rapp, 1977). This leads to heavy soil erosion, especially in conventional tillage systems with prolonged times of bare soil. In the humid tropics of SSA, annual soil loss rates had been estimated at about 50 t ha −1 (FAO, 1995). Lack of soil cover enhances crusting, inhibits rain water percolation, and increases top soil loss (Lal, 1987) often accompanied by nutrient transfers and deposition e.g., into water bodies (Zhou et al., 2014). In Eastern Africa for instance, total nitrogen (N) load of 152,000 t N year −1 is deposited into an already eutrophied Lake Victoria via riverine transport and atmospheric deposition (Zhou et al., 2014). Sediment loads in river water, which in Kenya have been observed to surpass 1000 t km −2 yr −1 , are associated with unsuitable management practices of agricultural land, and are several multiples over those associated with forest lands (Dunne, 1977). Although no data could be found for SSA, there is evidence from elsewhere that under such conditions of deteriorating water quality, degeneration of a multitude of sensitive wetland ecosystem functions occur (Dell'Anno et al., 2002;Chislock et al., 2013), including impaired and in extreme situations loss of aquatic life due to cyanobacteria toxins and decomposing organic matter (Yang et al., 2008). From experiences in Eastern Africa, the associated sedimentation of water reservoirs reduce their total economically viableQuantities of nitrogen leached under different soil management practices in different locations of SSA.Source live spans (period from dam construction to being filled-up with sediment) to not > 25-30 years (Rapp, 1977), costing countries huge investment to reverse the damage. Nitrogen leaching into groundwater is not yet a problem in SSA as fertilizer use is still very low across the region (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), 2016). In paradox, soil infertility is in some cases blamed on leaching losses (Mugwe et al., 2011;Mucheru-Muna et al., 2014). In either case, potential for ground water contamination exists (Table 2). Although manure minimizes leaching relative to synthetic mineral nitrogen (Kamukondiwa et al., 1996), it is the combination of manure (12.5 t ha −1 ) and mineral nitrogen (60 kg ha −1 ) that had the biggest effect on maintaining productivity while minimizing leaching in Zimbabwe (Nyamangara et al., 2003). Whether under short or long-term trials, the leaching potential increases with nitrogen application and yet also varies widely from very low to sometimes > 100 kg N ha −1 yr −1 (Table 2). The extent of N leaching is dependent on rainfall intensity and amount, evaporation rate, soil structure, texture, tillage, cropping practices and the amount and form of N fertilizer applied (Russo et al., 2017).The influence of management practices on nitrate-N leaching is however still unclear (Kimetu et al., 2007;Masso et al., 2017;Musyoka et al., 2019). Galvanizing higher nitrate losseswith rates that are significantly higher than the applied N e.g. in Nigeria, Tanzania and Togoin some years are attributed to increased mineralization of N from organic matter and ammonium in clay minerals, and the possibility of the bulk of nitrates being derived from the soil (Våje et al., 2000;Wong et al., 1992;Poss and Saragoni, 1992). High leaching of nitrate (144 kg N ha −1 in Nigeria) is even observed in cases where there was no application of nitrogen (Wong et al., 1987). This points to uncertainties in the reported data and the need for evaluation of methods used for leaching assessments in the region (See Table 3).What is clear is that a substantial quantity of N lost through leaching is affecting groundwater. In Nigeria, nitrate concentrations in groundwater under fertilized (100 kg N ha −1 ) fields ranged between 12.8 and 24.6 mg/L compared to 2.8-5.2 mg/L under the unfertilized control (Adetunji, 1994). The proximity of the nitrate source (fields, etc.) to water bodies influence the ultimate water nitrate concentrations found in these water bodies. In South Africa, nitrate pollution from fertilized fields and pit latrines were higher where boreholes were situated less than 12 m from the sources, with nitrate concentrations ranging between 2.3 and 36.2 mg kg −1 and ammonium concentrations ranging between 0.003 and 8.30 mg/kg in different boreholes (Vinger et al., 2012). But these nitrogen values are below the 50 mg N/L commonly accepted threshold in drinking water beyond which human health (especially those of infants) is seriously affected under long-term exposure (Aslan and Türkman, 2004).Nitrogen losses/inefficiencies increase with increase in time between application and crop uptake (Musyoka et al., 2019). Proper timing of nitrogen fertilizer application with crop growth requirements, alongside application of N at recommended rates, is critical in enhancing N use efficiency and reduction of losses such as through leaching.Nitrogen supply timed at the beginning of rapid crop growth of maize has been suggested to improve N uptake, increase N recovery efficiency and reduce leaching losses (Kitonyo et al., 2018). Although effects of N timing on crop growth and other parameters were independent of tillage systems, split application of nitrogen at 80 kg ha −1 , i.e., 1/3 at maize planting and 2/3 at four weeks later resulted to 62% more yields in the fertilized than unfertilized control treatment (Kitonyo et al., 2018), pointing to reduced losses and maximum utilization of the applied nitrogen by the crops.Soil health management technologies provide opportunities to reduce, or even completely eliminate, runoff and resultant erosion, providing similar hydrological benefits as forest areas. CA systems with residue cover have high abundance of so-called ecosystem engineers, i.e. soil macro-fauna involved in tunneling and soil aggregation (Fig. 2; Ayuke et al., 2011;de Ferreira et al., 2016), which are important soil  physical properties regulating water movements. As such, CA systems reduce runoff and increase soil water infiltration rates compared to conventional tillage practices. Unfortunately, CA is practiced only to a limited extent in SSAonly about 1 million ha or 1% of arable land in Africa is under CA (Friedrich et al., 2017) and is unlikely to yet confer widespread ecosystem service benefits. Besides CA, use of micro-catchments such as tied ridges increase soil water content, i.e., average of 27.5 mm per week, in Burkina Faso (Hulugalle, 1987) while use of mulch in Zimbabwe increased soil water content in two sites irrespective of tillage systems (Mupangwa et al., 2007). In the Ethiopian highlands, soil moisture improved by 10% in plots planted under Zai pit technology compared to flat planting (Amede et al., 2011). Zai pits are small water harvesting pits traditionally developed and used for rehabilitating eroded fields and increasing yields under water scarcity in Burkina Faso (Amede et al., 2011). In Tanzania, incorporation of mulch as a soil water conservation measure reduced soil erosion compared to where mulch was not used (Mwango et al., 2016). Increasing these types of soil health management practices across the landscape would enhance percolation of water thereby moderating base flows and controlling seasonal flooding and flash floods (Rapp, 1977;Adeboye et al., 2017) that put downstream communities at risk. Implementing soil health management practices in the highlands therefore benefits lowland communities but where direct benefits to the practicing farmers are delayed or not forthcoming, applying incentives such as green water credits, may boost adoption of these practices (Grieg-Gran et al., 2006;Droogers et al., 2006).3.2. Soil health and regulatory ecosystem services:The global soil C stock is at least three times the total atmospheric C (Gougoulias et al., 2014;FAO, 2016). Globally, inappropriate soil management practices i.e., use of inorganic fertilizers without organic inputs, crop residue burning and unsuitable cropping systems e.g. monoculture, have resulted in about 25-75% SOC losses in various agroecosystems (FAO, 2017). It is often assumed that the adoption of CA and ISFM results in SOC sequestration in agricultural systems of SSA. This is based on data that only compare differences between systems without a time perspective (Chivenge et al., 2007;Steward et al., 2018;Martinsen et al., 2019). However, data from long-term trials in Kenya, Nigeria and Togo varying from 10 to 40 years show a continuous loss of SOC in cropland systems under these management practices (Fig. 3). For example, in a 40-year experiment, Kintché et al. (2015) observed declining soil carbon i.e., 32-45% in continuous cropping systems and 46-52% in unfertilized fallows, from the initial conditions. Also, in several other experiments spanning 5-20 years, annual loss rates of soil organic carbon of between 0.5 and 7% are observed among treatments including tillage systems, fertilizer application regimes and dominant cropping systems across West Africa (Bationo et al., 2007). Thus, it appears that compared to conventional systems CA and ISFM only reduce the rates of decline of SOC relative to common land management practices but do not seem yet to be sequestering carbon (Sommer et al., 2018). A possible reason for the observed SOC loss could be the high temperatures and humid conditions that increase decomposition rates beyond what can be compensated for by carbon inputs (Andrén et al., 2007). Although CA and ISFM may in some regions not always results in carbon sequestration, these technologies do help in climate mitigation through avoiding enhanced SOC losses. Actual SOC loss mitigations are reported by different authors, e.g. 0.13 t C ha −1 and 0.78 t C ha −1 yr −1 in Kenya and Zimbabwe, respectively, due to retention of residues (Gwenzi et al., 2008;Sommer et al., 2018) and 0.26 t C ha −1 yr −1 with manure application in western Kenya (Sommer et al., 2018). As far as agroforestry systems are concerned, potential contributions to SOC are included in the review of Partey et al. (2017) where improved fallows (of varying duration from 1 to 5 yrs) sequestered on average 2.2 t C ha −1 yr −1 (minimum 0.7 and maximum 8.3 t C ha −1 yr −1 ). Vågen et al. (2005) provides data for fallow systems, which have the potential to sequester between 0.1 and 5.3 t C ha −1 yr −1 . The temporal changes over time are likely to shift the functioning of ecosystems and delivery of their services (e.g., reducing provisioning of food; Kintché et al., 2015), and missing the goal of turning round agriculture to become a net sink of CO 2 with tough global target of achieving 4 per 1000 sequestration ambition (www.4p1000.org). Clearly, new strategies are needed, if SSA has to reverse the ongoing carbon losses, considering that even short fallows of less than 4 years are insufficient to bring a turnaround (Bostick et al., 2007).Sub-Sahara Africa has a goal of increasing fertilizer use to 7.7 million Mt by 2050 (Drescher et al., 2011). The mere production but also the use of such amount of (additional) fertilizer has implications on greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, although the current contributions to greenhouse gases from the use of mineral fertilizers and manure in SSA is not nearly as high as in developing countries presently (van Loon et al., 2019), the expected growth in fertilizer applications requires an understanding of potential effects. In this region, the contribution of soil health management practices to greenhouse gases in SSA is often studied in the context of nitrogen fertilizer application with or without other nutrient sources. In western Kenya, and over a 3.5 months period, . Hickman et al. (2015) observed N 2 O emissions of 0.012-0.25 kg ha −1 , depending on whether plots where unfertilized or received between 150 and 200 kg N ha −1 . Almost similar values were observed in the subsequent year of the study. In the same region, addition of 30 kg N ha −1 in a maize-Tephrosia (Tephrosia candida) rotation with residue and manure applied significantly increased N 2 O emissions (3.4 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 ) relative to no-fertilizer treatment (Sommer et al., 2015). In contrast, in Mali, combined application of urea and manure increase yields, yet reduced N 2 0 emissions over systems without manure but with urea (Dick et al., 2008). In central Kenya during the 4th week after planting, Kimetu et al. (2007) observed higher N 2 O emissions (12.3 µg N 2 O-N m −2 hr −1 ) following incorporation of Tithonia (Tithonia diversifolia) than under application of urea (1.3 µg N 2 O-N m −2 hr −1 ), both targeting 60 kg N ha −1 although 9% of applied N in urea was observed at lower soil profile (higher leaching potential) unlike only 0.6% with Tithonia. Overall, most assessments are done in the year of fertilizer application and residual effect on emissions are rarely reported; only the study of Dick et al. (2008) reports residual effect of urea applied on both N 2 O and CO 2 emissions.Other studies with management practices, not necessarily linked to nitrogen application only, provide insights on how these practices influence greenhouse emissions. Although CA improves soil health, it often increases emissions of greenhouse gases such as N 2 O (Birnholz et al., 2017;Kaye et al., 2005). The ability of CA systems to conserve soil moisture promotes N 2 O release especially in areas receiving high rainfall (Flechard et al., 2007;Sommer et al., 2015). Tillage increases soil respiration and emissions in Mali (Dick et al., 2008). Besides tillage and residue incorporation increase emissions relative to surface residue applications (i.e., under CA) as observed in Kenya under a short-term study (Baggs et al., 2006), with the climate regime being an important factor especially in the long-term of the CA practice (Six et al., 2004). The contribution of tree/shrub legumes within cropping systems to greenhouse emissions is still unclear due to scarcity of data especially of a long-term perspective (Partey et al., 2017).The increased greenhouse gas emission, e.g. with nitrogen use and ISFM, must be put into context to the increases gained in crop productivity, as discussed earlier. As such, the use of yield per emissions unit instead of just productivity on area basis is proposed. Besides, an increase in productivity of 60% over farmer practices due to NPK application across SSA as is often the case (Kihara et al., 2016) could mean, if put to scale, at least 30% in saving and restoration of the current crop lands and halt further encroachment into fragile lands and pristine ecosystems (Lal, 2000). Further land saving can be achieved through an additional 25% increase in crop yield due to application of secondary and micronutrients (beyond NPK fertilizers; Kihara et al., 2017). In the case of CA, reduced energy consumption e.g. for land preparation (no heavy machinery and tractors required) should be an important consideration (Benites, 2008). It is however not yet documented to what extent land saving can compensate for greenhouse gases evolved from increased soil health/productivity improving practices. Also, use of specialty fertilizers, such as controlled release types, could reduce emissions associated with use of current fertilizers. Since data on soil-based emissions are limited under the widely heterogeneous production environments in SSA, a call for further studies has been made (Rosenstock et al., 2016).Management practices for improving soil health influence pests and diseases in different ways. Implementing these practices, such as CA, is key strategy in promoting the proliferation of soil biota i.e., spiders (Mashavakure et al., 2019a) and beetles (Mashavakure et al., 2019b), that are beneficial to the ecosystem through pest predation, decreasing fungi and weed population as well as organic matter decomposition (Midega et al., 2008). Practicing crop rotation in CA can break the cycle of some prevalent crop pests and diseases, thus boosting food production (Thierfelder et al., 2015b;Pieri, 2002) as has been demonstrated for bacterial wilt in potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana) in Uganda (Lemaga et al., 2001;Kakuhenzire et al., 2013) and Ethiopia (Kassa, 2016). Besides, CA practices reduce prevalence of the parasitic plant striga (Striga hermonthica) i.e., using cover crops with allelophathic effect that lead to suicidal germination of striga (Rusinamhodzi et al., 2012;Thierfelder et al., 2013), responsible for approximately 15-95% of yield losses (Mloza-banda and Kabambe, 1997) especially in nutrient degraded soils (Khan et al., 2002). Push and Pull planting controls stem borer and Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) attack on cereal crops (Khan et al., 2011(Khan et al., , 2018) ) and reduce physical injuries on cobs that often act as entry points of disease causing pathogenic fungi. Incorporating trees and shrubs in agricultural production helps in breaking winds which are associated with spread of pest and disease causing pathogens (Pasek, 1988). Soil health management i.e., residue application with reduced soil disturbance can promote growth of different bacterial groups like Actinobacteria and Betaproteobacteria (De la Cruz-Barrón et al., 2017) and fungal species like Arbuscular mycorrhiza and offer pathogenic protection to their host plants (Schouteden et al., 2015;Berruti et al., 2016). The prevalence of root rot nematodes is reduced under improved soil health (Riekert and Henshaw, 1998). Although there are overall net benefits, there are some cases of observed proliferation of some pests and parasites (e.g. nematodes) with some practices such as CA where surface residue application provides their suitable micro-environment (Thierfelder et al., 2015b;Mashavakure et al., 2018).In very recent years, the use of bio-pesticides is increasing as part of the soil health management practices in response to societal concerns such as human health effects of mycotoxins. Despite very promising results, studies on effects of soil management practices on pests and diseases are overall scant in SSA. For example, soil health management practices, such as the use of atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus is reducing aflatoxins that pose serious health effects to both humans and animals (Wu and Khlangwiset, 2010). With such biocontrol, the number of lives saved and quality of life gained by reducing aflatoxin-induced cancer far exceeds the cost of the biocontrol (Wu and Khlangwiset, 2010;Bandyopadhyay et al., 2016). The use of soil health management practices, such as biocontrol and push-pull, reduces the requirement for agro-chemicals (Midega et al., 2008) in controlling invasive pests and diseases and therefore reduce potential negative effects on consumers and the environment (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2016).Improved soil health is associated with improved crop nutrition and quality of produce. For instance, based on a global assessments including SSA the prevalence of malnutrition has been shown to be tightly correlated with zinc deficiencies in soils (Wessells et al., 2012). Soil health managementin this case either the addition of zinc-containing mineral fertilizer or increasing activity of microbes that solubilize micronutrientsaddresses these deficiencies.Supporting services of soils are those that enhance the function of the whole ecosystem including photosynthesis, nutrient and water cycling. Most of those related to nutrient cycling have been discussed in provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, i.e., supporting ecosystem services cut across all other ecosystem services (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 2005). The achievement of these ES is through the role of soil health improving abundance and functioning of specific functional groups such as P-solubilizing fungi and N-fixing bradyrhizobia (Ferreira et al., 2000). Increased richness and diversity of soil microbes has been observed due to specific management, e.g. the use of farm yard manure (FYM) and its combination with mineral fertilizers (Kibunja et al., 2010) and under CA systems of western Kenya (Kihara et al., 2012). Besides these, soil health influences other processes, such as photosynthesis through Bradyrhizobium strains controlling the opening and closing of stomata (Law and Strijdom, 1989) and other microbes including rhizobia stimulating plant growth such as through production of phyto-hormones and other growth promoting molecules, or by acting as natural endophytes for agronomically important crops (Chaintreuil et al., 2000), for instance clover rhizobia in rice plants of North Africa (Yanni et al., 2001).Improved soil health is associated with appropriate synchrony between nutrient supply and crop demand, avoiding problems of leaching and emissions. Besides, appropriate symbiosis between soil organisms (fungus, bacteria, archaea) and host plants benefit such plants to maximize their productivity (Johnson et al., 1997). Biological nitrogen fixing (BNF) for example can result in up to 400 kg N ha −1 yr −1 fixed through symbiosis while variable quantities are fixed through associative and free-living associations (Barrios, 2007). Biological nitrogen fixation not only improves soil health with subsequent increase in crop yields but also provides relief towards the cost incurred in purchasing inorganic nitrogen fertilisers, not to mention the benefits of reduced energy use (and associated CO 2 emissions) for producing such synthetic fertilizer in the first place.Overall, soil health improving practices may result in positive, negative or no change in different parameters of ecosystem services (Table 4) and period of implementation of a system is important in determining these effects.When land use is changed, e.g. converted to cultivation, quick drops in important parameters across the different types of ecosystem services of supportive, regulative, provisioning and cultural services are observed (Tully et al., 2015). Poor soil health invites land expansion (habitat encroachment), poor recharge of groundwater and human-human and human-wildlife conflicts (Lamarque et al., 2009;Bob and Bronkhorst, 2010). Habitat encroachment affects the biodiversityi.e. large mammals, birds and reptilesimportant for tourism and takes over pristine and culturally-linked sites (Maude and Reading, 2010;Muhumuza and Balkwill, 2013). Conversion of large areas of indigenous forest communities in the Mau forest of Kenya for example has affected cultural ways of life of the hunting and gathering Ogiek community (Chabeda- Barthe and Haller, 2018). Practices that improve soil health avoid such problems and provide recreational benefits as reported in Ghana (Appiah-Opoku, 2011) and Kenya (Gathogo, 2013). Other benefits of soil health include agritourism, a growing industry where urban dwellers visit rural settings to experience farming activities such as farm restaurants, farm lodgings and farm walks (Rogerson and Rogerson, 2014). A study in Cameroon showed that soil health promoting practices, such as CA, also save labor time, which may occupy up to 60% of farmer's time (Biandoun, 2007). This potentially can afford hard-working farmers with more free time, especially women for own recreation and socializations.A multi-dimensional assessment of soil health-promoting practices focusing on a wide range of ecosystem services is important to unravel the entire set of benefits of these practices across the SSA. This study provides an important framework to guide key considerations for such assessments. Clearly, soil health promoting practices in general result in positive changes on a majority of ecosystem services relative to lack of such practices. New indicators of performance of soil health practices should be considered including e.g., productivity per unit of greenhouse gases. Studies are required to provide data for some of the less studied dimensions such as leaching to not only cover more geographical and soil conditions but also understand the currently perceived uncertainties of measurements. Strategies are needed to ensure that ecosystem services resulting from investments in soil health practices are costed, e.g. through green water credits. Such credits would cover tradeoff experienced through reduced crop yield at commencement such as of conservation agriculture. We conclude that soil health practices are beneficial across a wide range of ecosystem services but investments are needed to scale these benefits and support livelihoods and economies in SSA. systems-East Africa Demonstration Site held in Kisumu in March 2019 this work was first presented. The resulting stimulating discussions, ideas and expressed demand by the participants motivated our progress to conclude the study. We also acknowledge Wilson Nguru, a student intern with Alliance for Bioversity International and CIAT, for developing the map of the countries where data for this publication was retrieved.","tokenCount":"6089"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8058135284.json b/data/part_1/8058135284.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f322fd29b148c23e4794999aea871c3e99aff08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8058135284.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91593d97455c6d10404d630b593bfef5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d9253590-0004-4bdd-be3c-aeef402530a1/retrieve","id":"-1700137754"},"keywords":["Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA)","diversity","end-user","simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers","Sweetpotato","traits. These include use in many food and industrial products such as starch","sweeteners","noodles","citric acid","soft"],"sieverID":"9913a048-3b69-4b68-b8b0-9ca3cb05e5e6","pagecount":"14","content":"This study assessed the genetic diversity and differentiation in sweetpotato accessions in Ghana to guide selection for genetic improvement on beta-carotene, dry matter and sugar contents to promote increased utilization. One hundred and fifteen sweetpotato accessions from four different sources, which were the International Potato Centre (CIP) collection, local collection from farmers' field, local improved varieties, and local and exotic collections from the National Agricultural Research Programmes were studied using 40 agro-morphological and physico-chemical traits, and 25 SSR markers. Variability was obtained for 13 agro-morphological traits and all the physico-chemical traits. Significant genetic diversity indicates existence of a high degree of agro-morphological and physicochemical variation. Within Group variation (97%) accounted for most of the diversity indicating a broad genetic base. The divergence indicates that breeders can form different populations with significant levels of genetic variation to exploit heterosis and improvement of populations. A strong negative relationship was found for sugar content and dry matter content and indicates a possible development of non-sweet high dry matter sweetpotato varieties. However, developing non-sweet, high dry matter and high beta-carotene sweetpotato varieties could be challenging due to the strong negative association between dry matter content and beta-carotene content, and the positive association existing between beta-carotene and sugar content. This study has in addition confirmed the breeding potential of sweetpotato accessions in Ghana and the probability of providing useful genetic variation for the development of farmer preferred cultivars.Sweetpotato is a major staple crop in developing countries all over the world because of its diverse uses. drinks, desserts, flour, industrial alcohol, ethanol fuel and livestock feed. Despite its importance, the level of utilization in Ghana is very low and it is not well integrated into Ghanaian diets (Adu-Kwarteng et al., 2002). This is because consumers in Ghana prefer sweetpotato with dry mealy flesh, non-sweet, and high nutritive value (Sam and Dapaah, 2009;Baafi et al., 2015), but locally available varieties are sweet that limits consumption as a staple food (Missah and Kissiedu, 1994). In addition, the recently introduced orange-flesh genotypes, identified as a cheapER source of Vitamin A, are low in dry matter content. These factors have led to the low adoption of the 13 varieties released to date. There is, therefore, the need to incorporate nonsweetness, high dry matter, and/or high beta-carotene contents into the existing genetic background of high yielding and early maturing cultivars which are resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses.A prerequisite for genetic improvement of sweetpotato is knowledge of the extent of genetic variation present in the germplasm. Information on genetic diversity guides selection of divergent parents to broaden genetic base of a breeding population and produce progenies with heterosis (Manosh et al., 2008). Identification of populations with high frequencies of favourable alleles for desirable traits is an important step in the development of improved varieties (Gasura et al., 2008). Understanding the genetic diversity is also critical to find new alleles for desirable traits (Warburton et al., 2002). Since the amount of genetic diversity within populations determines the extent of response in traditional breeding through selection, genetically diverse breeding populations are needed (Bos et al., 2000). Morphological characterization has been used extensively in diversity studies for various crop plants including sweetpotato (Bos et al., 2000;Kaplan, 2001;K'opondo, 2011). Agro-morphological and physicochemical traits are important diagnostic features for distinguishing among sweetpotato accessions. The use of these traits as genetic markers can speed up selection in sweetpotato improvement. SSR markers have been used to study genetic diversity in sweetpotato (Buteler et al., 1999;Diaz and Gruneberg, 2008;Tumwegamire et al., 2011;Somé et al., 2014). SSR markers are multi-allelic, highly polymorphic, highly reproducible, co-dominant and provide rich genetic information with good genome coverage (Kawuki et al., 2009;Sree et al., 2010). The SSR markers are affordable and amenable to most breeding procedures and applicable in public breeding programmes that may not be able to afford expensive diversity assessment techniques (Turyagyenda et al., 2012). Application of both phenotypic and genetic markers is important in obtaining full knowledge of genetic diversity in sweetpotato germplasm.The objective of this work was to characterize sweetpotato germplasm in Ghana using phenotypic and SSR markers with focus on enhancing end-user characteristics of sweetpotato for increased utilization Baafi et al. 4633 in Ghana.Germplasm was collected from the major sweetpotato growing areas in Ghana in 2010. Data collection was done based on the sweetpotato descriptor for field phenotyping (CIP/AVRDC/IBPGR, 1991) as well as storage root quality traits as shown in Table 2. Harvesting was done at three and half months after planting. At harvest, data were taken on storage root yield and its components and a random sample of storage roots (one small, one medium and one large) were taken for physico-chemical analysis. Storage roots considered for the yield data were those over 0.3 m in diameter and without cracks, insect damage or rotten parts (Ekanayake et al., 1990). With the exception of the dry matter content, all the storage root quality traits were determined using the near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) which uses the work flow of the Quality and Nutrition Laboratory of CIP Lima, Peru. Fifty grams fresh sample was used. It was freeze-dried for 72 h using a freeze dryer. Dry matter content was determined after freeze drying as ratio of dry weight to fresh weight of sample expressed as a percentage. These were determined at CIP Laboratories in Kumasi, Ghana and Lima, Peru.Data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis using Genstat version 9.2.0.152 (Genstat, 2007).The PCA was done based on the correlation matrix. Data for betacarotene, dry matter and total sugar contents were subjected to an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using Genstat version 9.2.0.152 (Genstat, 2007). Based on the mean performance of these traits, the top 10 and the bottom 10 accessions were selected to construct a dendrogram and a GGE Biplot using the most important traits for PC1 and PC2. The dendrogram was constructed based on the hierarchical, single link method using Euclidean test. The biplot was constructed to depict the phenotypic relationships among the accessions, their correlation with the traits significant for PC1 and PC2, as well as the association among the traits. The biplot was Table 1. List of the 115 accessions collected and their source.A total of 76 sweetpotato accessions were used for the study (Table 1). This was done at the Molecular Laboratory of the CSIR-CropsResearch Institute, Fumesua using the method of Egnin et al. (1998), in 2012. Two hundred milligram of young tender leaf tissue was weighed into 2 ml Eppendorf tube and was ground to powder after freeze drying with liquid nitrogen. Eight hundred microliter (800 μl) of buffer A [1M Tris HCl (pH 8) = 50 mM, 5 M NaCl = 300 mM, 0.5M EDTA (pH 8) = 20 mM, PVP = 20%, Sodium Metabisulphate = 1 g/100 ml, 20% Sercosine = 1.5] was added and incubated at 90°C for 10 min, and vortexed every 5 min. The suspension was cooled at room temperature for 2 min after which 400 μl of 5 M potassium acetate was added and then gently mixed by inversion 5 to 6 times.The suspension was then incubated on ice for 30 min with continuous shaking, followed by centrifuging at 13,000 rpm for 10 min. The upper phase was transferred to a new Eppendorf tube. One volume of cold isopropanol and 1/10 th of 3 M sodium acetate was added and mixed 10X by inverting the tube. This was followed by incubation at -20°C for 1 h, and centrifuging at 13,000 rpm for 10 min. The supernatant was poured off, the pellets were washed with 800 μl, 80% ethanol, and centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 5 min. The alcohol was then discarded and the pellets were dried. Five Values in parenthesis indicate scale of measurement hundred microliter (500 μl) of 1X TE buffer was used to dissolve the pellets, followed by the addition of 4 μl RNase A, and incubation at 37°C for 30 min. This was followed by addition of 250 μl of 7.5 M ammonium acetate. The suspension was incubated on ice for 3 min, and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for five minutes, and then transferred into a new 1.5 ml tube. Seven hundred microliters (700 μl) of isopropanol was added, mixed by inversion (ice inversion), and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 15 min. The supernatant was discarded and the pellets were washed with 1 ml 80% ethanol by centrifuging at 14,000 rpm for five minutes. Again the supernatant was discarded, followed by drying of the pellets at room temperature. The DNA pellets were then dissolved in 200 μl 1X TE buffer, and its quality was checked on 0.8% agarose gel.The genotyping was carried out at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India in 2012. A 3 ng sample of total genomic DNA from each of the samples was used for the polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). Twenty-five pairs of SSR markers confirmed for sweetpotato DNA amplification (Buteler et al., 1999;Diaz and Gruneberg, 2008;Tumwegamire et al., 2011) were used (Table 3). A final volume of the reaction mixture of 10 μL, which contains 25 mM MgCl2, 10x buffer, 10 mM deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dNTPS), 1 μM M13 FORWARD 700/800, 1 μM forward primer, 1 μM reverse primer, 5 U μL-1 Taq polymerase, 3 ng μL-1 DNA, and a double distilled water were used for the PCR. The amplification conditions were set up at 94°C for four minutes and denaturation at 94°C for one minute; annealing at between 56.0 to 62.0°C (depending on the annealing temperature of the primer); and polymerization at 72°C for one minute.Step 2 annealing was 56.0 to 62.0°C (depending on the annealing temperature of the primer) and was repeated 30 times, and a final extension at 72°C for 7 min. Amplification products were analyzed and read on a computer automated Licor (4300) DNA Analyzer (Licor Biosciences, Lincoln, NE) for 25 pairs of SSR primers.Accessions amplified were noted and used to estimate percent accessions amplified. The number of alleles for each marker was noted and recorded. Markers that showed variation in at least 25% of the accessions were noted and their alleles were recorded as unique alleles. Percent unique alleles were computed as the ratio of number of unique alleles to the total number of alleles. Genotypes were scored for the presence (1) or absence (0) of each fragment. NTSYSpc software version 2.1 (Rohlf, 1993(Rohlf, , 2002) ) was used to run the binary data. Jacard's coefficients (Jaccard, 1908) were used to construct a similarity matrices from the binary data by using SIMQUAL algorithm. This was followed by construction of a dendrogram using the unweighted paired group method average (UPGMA) applying the SHUAN algorithm. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was performed from Jacard's coefficients using Genstat (Genstat, 2007). The polymorphic information content (PIC) was determined based on the approach and method of Weir (1996) as presented below:Where, Pi is the frequency of the ith allele.Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) was also performed using Arlequin 3.1 version computer software (Excoffier et al., 2005), to quantify the genetic variation and relationship existing between and among the sweetpotato and the four population groups studied. The first six Principal Components (PCs) with Eigen values greater than 1.0 jointly explained 54.86% of the total variation in the accessions based on the 40 agro-morphological and physicochemical traits studied (Table 4). The traits of importance for the first component involved root traits of commercial interest. Beta-carotene, dry matter and total sugar contents were of importance for PC2.The mean performance of the top 10 and the bottom 10 selected accessions for beta-carotene, dry matter and sugar contents are presented in Table 5. Significant differences were observed between the accessions for the traits. The range of values obtained for beta-carotene content was 6.83 -33.67 (mg/100 g) DW. For dry matter content the range was 27 -50%, and for sugar content the range was 9.83 -30.34%. Ogyefo and Apomuden had the lowest and highest values for beta-carotene content. Apomuden had the lowest dry matter content whilest FA-10-026 had the highest dry matter content. CRIWAC 19-10 and CIP gave the lowest and highest sugar contents, respectively. The dendrogram separated the selected accessions with a Euclidean similarity distance ranging from 1.00 to 0.93 (Figure 1). At 1.00 level of similarity, all the accessions were distinct from each other except BOT 03-030 and CIP 442896. Conversely, at about 0.93 levels of significance, two clusters were identified with all the accessions being similar except for CRIWAC 12-10. Five The distribution of PC1 and PC2 among the correlated traits, the selected accessions as well as between the selected accessions and the correlated traits are shown in Figure 2. Three groups were observed for the correlated traits. Beta-carotene, fructose, total sugars, calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) were grouped together in Quadrant 1. Storage root yield traits were grouped in Quadrant 2, while only dry matter was found in Quadrant 3. Four groups were detected for the accessions. Beauregard and Apomuden were the most distantly related accessions in Quadrant 1, whilest CIP 440032 and CIP 442264 were the most distantly related accessions in Quadrant 2. The most distantly related accessions in the third and fourth quadrants were Histarch and Ogyefo, and CIP 442850 and TAG 03-030, respectively.Out of the 25 SSR markers used to assess the genetic diversity of the sweetpotato accessions, only 20 produced amplifications. The five markers that did not produce amplification were IbS01, IbS07, IbS10, IbCIP2 and IbR20. A total of 87 polymorphic alleles were observed across the accessions and loci. These ranged from two to six with mean of 4.25. Markers IbS18 and IbR21 recorded the lowest number of alleles while Ib3/24, Ib316, Ib-297, IbC12, IbS11, J10A and J116A recorded the highest number of alleles (Table 6). Out of the 87 alleles revealed by the 20 SSR markers across accessions and loci, 40 (45.98%) were unique alleles and the average number of unique alleles was two. IBCIP-1, IbC12 and J67 produced no unique alleles while Ib3/24 recorded the highest number (5) of unique alleles followed by Ib-297 and J10A with 4 unique alleles. However, Ib3/24 obtained the highest percent polymorphism (83.33%), followed by IbR14 (75.00%). The range and the average percent polymorphism were 0 to 83.33 and 45.50%, respectively. The PIC values were high and ranged between 0.62 for J67 and 0.96 for IbR16 and IbR19, with a mean of 0.84. The highest amplification was recorded by IbR14 (90.91%) followed by IbR316 and J67 with value of 77.92%. IbR16 recorded the lowest amplification. Base range for the markers was highest and lowest for IbR03 (262-277) and J175 (133-147).   IbS11 recorded the highest number of loci (1-6) across accessions followed by IbC12 (2 -6). The lowest number of loci (1-2) across accessions was produced by Ib3-24, IbS18, IbR14 and IBR21. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), which was determined from the similarity coefficients is graphically presented in Figure 3 (showing diversity in sweetpotato accessions), and Figure 4 (showing diversity in the group structure of the sweetpotato accessions). The two axes explained 45.21% of the total similarity (54.79% of total variation) with the first axis (PCoA1) accounting for 28.08% and the second (PCoA2) accounting for 17.13%. The 76 sweetpotato accessions investigated by PCoA did not form clear groups according to the group structure both within and between.The dendrogram constructed separated the 76 sweetpotato accessions into major clusters at different similarity levels ranging from 0.00 to 1.00 (Figure 5). At slightly greater than 0.00 similarity level, two major clusters were observed. CIP 6 (CIP 442462) constitutes the first cluster while the second cluster consisted of the other 75 accessions. At 0.25 similarity level, seven major clusters were observed while 17 were found at 0.50 similarity level. The markers fully discriminated the 76 sweetpotato accessions by the 1.00 level of similarity except for two improved cultivars LOCIMP2 (Santompona) and LOCIMP10 (Otoo). The primers, however, did not fully discriminate the accessions into the different group structures.Significant differences were observed between the sweetpotato accession within the groups (P<0.01) as well as between the groups (P<0.05)   as shown in Table 7. The differences observed within the groups however accounted for a greater percentage (97.12%) of variation observed than that found between the groups (2.88%).Variability was observed in all the physico-chemical traits and 20 out of the 27 agro-morphological traits. This indicates a high degree of agromorphological and physicochemical polymorphism among the accessions. Diversity in flesh colour (beta-carotene content) of sweetpotato cultivars has been reported (Warammboi et al., 2011). Sugar content in sweetpotato is also reported to be cultivar-dependent (Ravindran et al., 1995;Aina et al., 2009), and showed high levels of polymorphism with SSR markers. This confirms the discriminatory capacity of the SSR markers on sweetpotato (Gichuru et al., 2006;Tumwegamire et al., 2011). High level of polymorphism was observed in this study with an allele range of two to six alleles per SSR marker and this is in agreement with Yada et al. (2010). Buteler et al. (1999) obtained high polymorphism with an allele range of 3 to 10. Somé et al. (2014), also reported 1 to 8 alleles. A range of 2 to 11 alleles was reported by Tumwegamire et al. (2011). A lower level of polymorphism, ranging between one and four alleles per SSR locus has also been reported (Hwang et al., 2002). Differences observed may be attributed to the use of different SSR primers, sweetpotato genotypes and annealing temperatures.Varying number of SSR primers used in diversity studies may also account for the differences in observations. Hwang et al. (2002) attributed high level of polymorphism to large genome size and heterozygosity of sweetpotato. It should also be noted that genetic diversity due to heterozygosity in sweetpotato is driven by both the mating system (outcrossing in combination with self-incompatibility) and the high ploidy level of the crop (autohexaploid) (Tumwegamire et al., 2011). The AMOVA and ANOVA results also indicated significant differences within and between the different sweetpotato groups studied. These results demonstrate significant genetic diversity and indicates that meaningful selection and improvement of these traits is possible (Mohammed et al., 2012;Nwangburuka and Denton, 2012). Furthermore, these demonstrate the existence of diversity at the individual genotype level that can be exploited to obtain trait combinations in specific varieties. In addition, the divergences indicate that it is possible to select contrasting parents from these accessions for improvement of beta-carotene, sugar and dry matter contents in sweetpotato. These results agree with results of other researchers (Zhang et al., 2000;2001;Gichuki et al., 2003;Gichuru et al., 2006;Abdelhameed et al., 2007;Grüneberg et al., 2009;Tumwegamire et al., 2011).PIC is a measure of the discriminatory capacity of a marker (Jia et al., 2009). According to Heng-Sheng et al. ( 2012), a PIC value greater than 0.5 is high, and any marker with such value may be effective in genetic diversity study. In this study, the PIC value for all the markers that showed amplification were greater than 0.5. This implies that the values which ranged from 0.62 to 0.96 with mean of 0.84 were very high indicating a high discriminating power of the SSR markers used. These values are greater than range and mean of 0 to 0.88, and 0.72 reported by Somé et al. (2014). Based on the number of unique alleles and the PIC values, all the SSR markers that showed amplification were very effective in discriminating among the sweetpotato accessions. In spite of this, the markers did not discriminate between cultivars LOCIMP2 (Santompona) and LOCIMP10 (Otoo) at 1.00 level of similarity even though these cultivars are agro-morphologically distinct. It is probable that no were repeats found that could differentiate the two cultivars and therefore, more SSR markers need to be used in the future to have a full diversity study.Genetic relationships between traits may result from pleiotropic gene effects, linkage of two genes, linkage disequilibrium and epistatic effects of different genes or environmental influences (Falconer and Mackay, 1996). The strong negative relationship found for sugar content and dry matter content as depicted in the GGE biplot indicates that it is possible to develop non-sweet high dry matter sweetpotato varieties. A similar observation was made by Gruneberg et al. (2009), who also reported that development of non-sweet sweetpotato varieties should not be too difficult. However, developing non-sweet, high dry matter and high beta-carotene sweetpotato varieties could be challenging due to the strong negative association between dry matter content and betacarotene content, and the positive association existing between beta-carotene and the sugar content. Breeding for such cultivars may require many cycles of selection and hybridization to break genetic linkages associated with the traits. However, beta-carotene seems to be controlled by a limited number of genes and should be easy to manipulate.This study provides estimate on the level of genetic variation among sweetpotato accessions in Ghana. Significant genetic diversity was found between the accessions for dry matter, beta-carotene and sugar content. This information can be used in sweetpotato germplasm management and improvement in Ghana. The study also affirmed the discriminatory capacity of the SSR markers, and the agro-morphological and physicochemical markers for sweetpotato characterization especially for breeding programmes with limited resources. Sufficient useful genetic variation is present in the accessions studied which may be exploited to provide for substantial amount of improvement through selection of superior genotypes. The strong negative association between dry matter and sugar content indicates that it is feasible to develop non-sweet high dry matter sweet potato cultivars which are the preferred sweetpotato varieties in Ghana. However, developing non-sweet, high dry matter and high beta-carotene sweetpotato varieties may require many cycles of selection due to the strong negative association between dry matter content and beta-carotene content.","tokenCount":"3584"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8059480118.json b/data/part_1/8059480118.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1bd77fd06accdecbc0635b265b383a90c771c2ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8059480118.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"873f44d346c24d29e52ab40fd860f3ad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/97a5045c-794d-484b-a359-ea47412f64d7/retrieve","id":"-1469319504"},"keywords":["1000 ejemplares Impresión: Editorial Altiplano EIR Ltda (CIDA)","Bioversity International","McKnight Foundation","CIDEAL -España","RAMP -Perú y CONDESAN"],"sieverID":"22cf7c7a-93f6-4936-8126-9c0d02ac5606","pagecount":"25","content":"Crédito fotos portada: Foto Quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Vicente Choquehuanca, Foto Kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus L.) -Jeremy Cherfas, Foto Kañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen) -Michael Hermann.Bioversity International es una organización internacional independiente, de carácter científico, que busca contribuir al bienestar actual y futuro de la humanidad mejorando la conservación y el aprovechamiento de la agrobiodiversidad en fincas y bosques. Es uno de los 15 Centros que auspicia el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAI), una asociación de miembros del sector público y privado que apoya la ciencia para disminuir el hambre y la pobreza, mejorar la alimentación y la salud humana, y proteger el medio ambiente. Bioversity tiene su sede principal en Maccarese, cerca de Roma, Italia, y oficinas en más de 20 países. La organización opera a través de cuatro programas: Diversidad al Servicio de las Comunidades; Comprensión y Manejo de la Biodiversidad; Alianzas Colaborativas de Carácter Mundial; y Cultivos para Mejorar Medios de Vida.El carácter de organismo internacional de Bioversity lo confiere el Convenio de Creación de la organización, que a enero de 2009 había sido ratificado por los gobiernos de los siguientes países: Argelia, Australia, Bélgica, Benin, Bolivia, Brasil, Burkina Faso, Camerún, Chile, China, Chipre, Congo, Costa de Marfil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dinamarca, Ecuador, Egipto, Eslovaquia, Etiopía, Ghana, Grecia, Guinea, Hungría, India, Indonesia, Irán, Israel, Italia, Jordania, Kenia, Malasia, Malí, Marruecos, Mauricio, Mauritania, Noruega, Omán, Pakistán, Panamá, Perú, Polonia, Portugal, República Checa, Rumania, Rusia, Senegal, Siria, Sudán, Suiza, Túnez, Turquía, Ucrania y Uganda.Los programas de investigación de Bioversity reciben apoyo financiero de más de 150 donantes, incluyendo gobiernos, fundaciones privadas y organismos internacionales. Información adicional sobre los donantes y las actividades de investigación de Bioversity aparece en los Informes Anuales de la organización, disponibles en forma electrónica en la dirección www.bioversityinternational.org, o en forma impresa en la dirección: bioversity-publications@cgiar.org.INTERNACIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO AGRÍCOLA-FIDA (IFAD-NUS, por su siglas en inglés). El contenido nutricional de los granos andinos (proteínas de alta calidad y perfil rico en micronutrientes); su robustez; buena adaptabilidad a los estreses ambientales; versatilidad de uso; riqueza de cultura y tradiciones alimenticias asociadas, son algunas de las justificaciones para que tengan un amplio uso en los Andes y gocen de gran aprecio entre las civilizaciones locales desde hace miles de años. Sin embargo, a pesar de estas características positivas, el rol de estas especies en la vida de las personas ha cambiado de manera dramática en los últimos 15 años debido a su poca competitividad económica con los cultivos de cereales comercializados como commodities, a la falta de variedades mejoradas o de mejores prácticas de cultivo, a la difícil tarea de procesar el cultivo y agregar valor al producto, a las cadenas de mercado desorganizadas o inexistentes y a la muy errada percepción general de referirlos como \"el alimento de los pobres\".Hasta ahora, han sido muchos los esfuerzos emprendidos a nivel nacional e internacional con el objeto de contribuir a revertir esta tendencia y revitalizar estos 'cultivos olvidados'. Para ese fin, el 'Proyecto de Especies Olvidadas y Subutilizadas del FIDA' (IFAD-NUS, por sus siglas en inglés) cumple un rol importante en demostrar el valor de las NUS y el desarrollo de las mejores prácticas, metodologías y herramientas para lograr su mayor uso. Esta iniciativa, emprendida en 2001, representó el primer programa mundial apoyado por las Naciones Unidas dedicado exclusivamente a lograr un mayor uso de estas especies, a través de un enfoque internacional participativo, con la intervención de múltiples actores y disciplinas.Con relación a los componentes del proyecto en Bolivia y Perú, durante la primera y segunda fase del proyecto, se han involucrado 34 sitios de intervención cada uno conformado por grupos de 20 a 120 familias. En su totalidad, más de 1170 familias han estado involucradas directamente en la implementación del proyecto, un hecho que resalta la amplia participación de las comunidades en esta iniciativa. La coordinación del proyecto a nivel mundial está a cargo de la organización Bioversity International, con sede principal en Roma (Italia). Asimismo la Fundación PROINPA y CIRNMA son las dos agencias nacionales que llevan a cabo la implementación en Bolivia y Perú, respectivamente, y coordinan las actividades emprendidas de manera conjunta con un extenso grupo de más de 20 actores interesados, entre ellos productores de granos andinos, ONGs, empresas privadas tales como algunas compañías procesadoras de alimentos, universidades, organizaciones de investigación y profesionales de extensión. El alcance de los actores involucrados cubre un amplio espectro de experticia desde la producción del grano hasta el análisis nutricional, conservación, mercadeo, ecoturismo, políticas y estándares de calidad de los alimentos.Los resultados de este Proyecto han demostrado que los granos andinos, como muchos otros cultivos nativos de esta región, pueden ofrecer a las poblaciones locales oportunidades concretas de obtener ingresos siempre y cuando se emplee para su promoción un enfoque más integral y multidisciplinario. Nuestros sinceros agradecimientos a Juan Arce Puican, Consultor ATINCHIK, quien asumió el rol de facilitador durante el evento y aportó una dinámica prospectiva, participativa y vivencial, generando un entorno favorable para el proceso y los objetivos propuestos.A Victoria Rengifo de Bioversity International, Cali, Colombia, por la coordinación, diseño y diagramación de la publicación.A Eliana Montesinos encargada de la transcripción y documentación en el taller, a Alex Cuadros, José Luis Soto, Ana Espillico y Betty Medina del CIRNMA Puno, Perú, por el apoyo en el desarrollo del evento y la logística.viii ix Cuadro 6. Planificación de estrategias y acciones que contribuyen a la solución de los cuellos de botella identificados en el proceso de transformación de granos andinos. Su calidad, características agronómicas, adaptabilidad ecológica y bajo costo -si se compara con otros alimentos-son valores que revisten gran importancia económica real y potencial a nivel nacional, y su alto valor nutritivo y sistema de producción ecológica los hacen cada vez más atractivos para el mercado internacional.Por su tradicional sistema de producción minifundista, los pequeños agricultores suelen destinarlos para el autoconsumo y venta ocasional o canje de sus excedentes en el mercado local. No obstante, se estima que pueden jugar un rol importante en la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición en los ámbitos nacional, regional e internacional, debido a los siguientes criterios:Mejoran la nutrición con dietas variadas, sabrosas y mejor balanceadas por su contenido de proteínas, vitaminas, minerales y fibra dietética Su resistencia ante condiciones de sequía, bajo costo en insumos de producción y fácil almacenamiento Su resistencia a plagas y enfermedades, actuando como barrera ecológica cuando se intercalan con otros cultivos En el sistema de rotación de cultivos, cumple un rol clave en la conservación de suelos y su fertilidad, aumentando al mismo tiempo la productividad de otros cultivos.Su bajo costo de producción y calidad contribuyen a mejorar los ingresos de los pequeños agricultores y a movilizar la economía local y nacional.Su riqueza nutricional fortalece la seguridad alimentaria mediante el autoconsumo y genera condiciones favorables para la venta o canje en mercados locales. Estas orientaciones y la opción de usarlas en tradiciones culturales son la base para la conservación de la amplia variabilidad genética actual y futura Su gran potencial comercial para reducir importaciones de alimentos, estimular la agroindustria y generar divisas a partir de las exportaciones de grano o productos derivados en nichos de mercado Quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.)Kiwicha o Amaranto (Amaranthus caudatus L.)Sin embargo, toda esta valiosa diversidad se encuentra amenazada por la pérdida de sus recursos genéticos y los conocimientos ligados a éstos, a raíz del crecimiento de la agricultura comercial moderna con una alta demanda por algunas pocas variedades, denominadas \"variedades comerciales\"; la falta de políticas nacionales que apoyen y fomenten su producción y comercialización de manera sostenible; la modificación de 3 los patrones de consumo y los cambios climáticos .Con el fin de ampliar el impacto de los resultados del proyecto del FIDA para Especies Olvidadas y Subutilizadas (IFAD-NUS) más allá de sus sitios piloto, Bioversity y sus socios desarrollaron una estrategia para escalar las herramientas y metodologías a través del involucramiento de actores nacionales de la cadena de valor. Un paso importante en esa dirección está representado en el foro de actores denominado \"Lanzamiento de una plataforma multiactoral para promocionar el uso sostenible de los granos andinos\".El enfoque utilizando plataformas crea oportunidades de vinculación directa de los pequeños agricultores con compradores de mercados de alto valor, por medio de la movilización de apoyo a estos agricultores a partir de un rango de instituciones nacionales (e internacionales) a través de la construcción de un capital social fuerte. Esto último juega el papel importante de conector entre grupos y entre individuos, facilitando la cooperación y el establecimiento de relaciones de apoyo mutuo para reducir efectivamente los costos de transacción.Al unir a todos los actores interesados en una sola plataforma, se facilitarán y se mejorarán enormemente las interacciones entre productores de granos andinos, autoridades locales, ONGs, extensionistas, proveedores de servicios, investigadores y compradores. En este contexto, cada actor interesado trae consigo su experticia a la mesa, y al mismo tiempo, enriquece la implementación de la cadena de valor con diferentes perspectivas y/o visión. Al final, esta acción colectiva debería mejorar las posibilidades de los pequeños agricultores en los mercados agrícolas.La plataforma debe ser parte de un programa integral que involucra intervenciones prácticas centrándose en el mejoramiento de la participación de los agricultores de bajos ingresos en cadenas de producción de alto valor, dándoles nuevas tecnologías, promoviendo su organización y acumulación de capital social, e involucrándolos en la \"visión de la cadena de valor\" de la producción y comercialización que los une directamente al mercado. Todas estas acciones facilitan el intercambio de conocimiento, aprendizaje social y desarrollo de capacidades que conducen al mejoramiento de la productividad de los pequeños agricultores, y en última instancia, a la calidad del producto que se le suministra al mercado.Durante este foro, se presentaron estudios de caso de estrategias exitosas de mercadeo y de adición de valor de estas especies (como productos procesados, esquemas de certificación y el potencial de las denominaciones geográficas), y se discutieron con el fin de identificar de manera colectiva las áreas más estratégicas de intervención para favorecer la conservación y uso sostenible de estas especies. El foro también se empleó para compartir entre los participantes los enfoques, las metodologías, los logros y resultados del trabajo llevado a cabo a través del proyecto IFAD-NUS desde el 2001.Se generaron nuevas alianzas estratégicas e innovadoras entre grupos diferentes de actores de la cadena de valor (sector público y privado, organizaciones de investigación, 5 proyectos de desarrollo, asociaciones de agricultores). Adicionalmente, se llevó a cabo un análisis conjunto de la cadena de valor a nivel nacional e internacional junto con el desarrollo de un marco de acción compartido para hacer que las cadenas de valor sean más efectivas, sostenibles y coherentes con las necesidades de los actores de escasos recursos a nivel local.El foro contó con más de 30 especialistas y tomadores de decisiones de diferentes sectores (empresarios, compañías procesadoras, exportadores, expertos legales, organizaciones de agricultores, representantes de comercio justo (fair trade), ONGs, agencias de desarrollo). Los participantes se identificaron con base en su alto nivel de experticia e involucramiento en el área de los Granos Andinos al igual que por su rol complementario, el cual fue decisivo en el desarrollo del plan de acción estratégico.Los retos que enfrentan los granos andinos se pueden ordenar y diferenciar por los rubros de producción, transformación, comercialización, políticas y servicios, así:Siembra de Amaranto (Kiwicha) en Cusco, Perú (R. Estrada, INIA-Perú)En la última década, se evidencia alta variación en los patrones climáticos en los Andes, con severos efectos sobre los cultivos locales. Resultados registrados por el proyecto IFAD-NUS indican un incremento del riesgo productivo hasta del 23% en los cultivos de granos y tubérculos andinos. Por tanto, es necesario y apremiante realizar estudios que permitan enfrentar este fenómeno y comprender mejor su efecto, para utilizar las variedades locales y mitigar los riesgos asociados con los cambios climáticos, en un concepto de resiliencia. Otro reto adicional consiste en potenciar la mayor diversidad en los sitemas de producción y consolidar una producción orgánica certificada. Para ello, se deben implementar tecnologías apropiadas y rentables, y lograr una mayor productividad y calidad de producto. En este marco, la asociatividad de los productores juega un papel clave y también un reto a enfrentar para el logro de estos objetivos.A medida que aumenta la demanda de alimentos funcionales y productos no alimenticios alternativos (como el uso industrial de la saponina) provenientes de los granos andinos, también se hace necesario adelantar investigaciones hacia el desarrollo de tecnologías comunitarias, e intervenir con planes de capacitación con el fin de empoderar a los agricultores para que se beneficien de estas oportunidades que se presentan en cuanto al uso de la diversidad para aplicaciones específicas. Es indispensable el desarrollo de la agroindustria rural, capaz de cumplir con los requerimientos del mercado, inocuidad y sostenibilidad.Es necesaria una mejor articulación de la producción consolidada con los agentes y canales de comercialización, con el fin de aprovechar los nichos de mercado de alto valor haciendo uso de la diversidad. Exportar asociativamente para expandir los mercados puede significar un incentivo adicional para todos los actores. Ambos factores contribuyen a la captación de una mayor parte del valor agregado a lo largo del proceso productivo. Para generar confianza en el consumidor del producto a usar, es importante que los productores logren un mayor acceso a semillas de calidad.La acreditación como País tercero en la Unión Europea para la certificación orgánica facilitaría el ingreso de los productos terminados hacia dicho bloque económico. El ordenamiento del tema de denominación orgánica y certificación ecológica facilitará una mayor diferenciación de los productos en los mercados de destino logrando mejores precios.Se deben crear mayores vínculos entre las regiones de los Andes pobres económicamente pero ricas en biodiversidad y las compañías de turismo, con el fin de promover iniciativas sostenibles de ecoturismo comunitario.Es necesaria una mayor difusión de las normas de calidad para granos andinos y en general el apoyo político para los cultivos de alto contenido nutricional, producidos bajo los principios de la agricultura sostenible. Se deben desarrollar y fortalecer marcas colectivas y promover denominaciones de origen potenciales que sirvan de herramienta empresarial. Se debe reforzar el posicionamiento de los granos andinos en el mercado internacional.Se deben realizar alianzas con empresas y profesionales especializados para promover una mayor difusión de las bondades de los granos andinos y el uso de metodologías apropiadas de capacitación y transferencia de tecnología.Es importante informar de una manera clara y concreta sobre la norma y el Sistema Interno de Control en la producción orgánica. El análisis de las cadenas y complejos productivos es la base para la elaboración de acuerdos de competitividad entre todos los actores.Para el caso específico de la quinua, el aumento en la demanda de exportaciones hacia Europa ha ocasionado un auge en las siembras tanto en Bolivia como en Perú. El peligro es un cambio en los patrones de uso de la tierra (rotación de cultivos, épocas de descanso, etc.), cuyo efecto puede llegar a constituir sistemas de producción bastante insostenibles. El impacto de estas prácticas en los frágiles suelos de la región Andina se debe evaluar con el fin de evitar repercusiones negativas no sólo en los agroecosistemas, sino en la vida misma del poblador rural y de sus futuras generaciones. Se requiere impulsar prácticas de cultivo sostenibles para permitir que los agricultores aprovechen las oportunidades actuales de obtener mejores ingresos, manteniendo tanto la funcionalidad de los escosistemas como su diversidad.Todos estos esfuerzos comparten un enfoque principal: la creación de opciones de mercado para los cultivos locales, los cuales tienen la ventaja comparativa de su idoneidad para crecer en elevadas altitudes combinada con unos excelentes perfiles nutricionales. Las intervenciones estratégicas dirigidas a esta meta son: fortalecer los vínculos con los actores de la cadena de valor, tanto a nivel local como internacional; explorar nuevas oportunidades, incluso el ecoturismo, el cual contribuye a salvaguardar la biodiversidad, el conocimiento cultural y a elevar la autovaloración de la identidad de los miembros de las comunidades locales.Los objetivos planteados para este foro fueron los siguientes:Lograr una mayor comprensión por parte de los actores de la cadena de valor de granos andinos acerca de la importancia de la agrobiodiversidad como herramienta para lograr valor agregado (a través de estudios de casos y oportunidades de mercado para nuevas aplicaciones)Elaborar un diagnóstico participativo acerca del funcionamiento actual de la cadena de granos andinos, sus cuellos de botella, problemas, fortalezas, debilidades, oportunidades y amenazas Analizar con los participantes del foro (ver Anexo I) los métodos, tecnologías y herramientas para hacer un mayor uso de la agrobiodiversidad en sus actividades de negocio Promover un mejor engranaje entre entidades dedicadas a la conservación y al uso de la agrobiodiversidad Discutir los actuales retos, oportunidades y tendencias relacionados con la agrobiodiversidad Analizar conjuntamente el panorama institucional (razón de ser, funciones)Elaborar conjuntamente un plan de acción para fortalecer los nexos entre los actores de la cadena y lograr una mayor competitividad.El esquema de trabajo propuesto permitió la definición de los roles que asumen cada uno de los actores en los diferentes eslabones de la cadena de valor de granos andinos, la identificación de los problemas o cuellos de botella actuales y la formulación de estrategias dirigidas a la solución de estos problemas. Las matrices presentadas a continuación hacen parte de este esquema sistemático y participativo, y sintetizan y resaltan los aspectos principales a considerar de acuerdo a las discusiones e interacción de los participantes al foro.Al iniciar la agenda del foro, los actores participantes elaboraron conjuntamente una matriz que detallaba para cada eslabón de la cadena de valor, el rol que cumplía cada uno en el sistema, los actores con los que se articulaba, los cuellos de botella que percibían y por último las potencialidades u oportunidades hacia futuro.Posteriormente, distintos actores compartieron con el grupo sus experiencias y conocimiento a partir de estudios de caso, investigaciones y proyectos asociados con la producción de granos andinos, su potencial y desafíos, exigencias y tendencias del mercado. La información generada sirvió como punto de partida para plantear estrategias de fortalecimiento y desarrollo de la cadena de valor de los granos andinos. Ver programa en el Anexo II.Como resultado de las presentaciones y la elaboración de la matriz, se lograron identificar distintos actores que intervienen directa o indirectamente en cada uno de los eslabones del sistema productivo. Los cuadros a continuación presentan detalles de: los roles que cumplen los distintos actores para cada uno de los eslabones (ver Cuadro 1), las instituciones, organizaciones e individuos con los que cada actor interactúa en cada eslabón (ver Cuadro 2), los cuellos de botella identificados por cada actor en los distintos eslabones (ver Cuadro 3), y las potencialidades u oportunidades que visualiza cada actor en los distintos eslabones (ver Cuadro 4).Rol de los actores participantes en cada eslabón del sistema productivo de granos andinos. Una vez generada la matriz de análisis situacional, los participantes del foro se dividieron en grupos y trabajaron en la priorización de los problemas o cuellos de botella identificados. Posteriormente se realizó una planificación de estrategias que apoyaran la solución de estos problemas. Se identificaron los actores que podrían contribuir a este proceso y algunas acciones concretas para apoyar la solución de los problemas.Según la priorización realizada por el grupo de actores que trabajaron en Producción, los principales cuellos de botella están asociados a la escasa disponibilidad de semilla e insumos orgánicos, tecnologías limitadas de producción, manejo deficiente de la producción, débil asociatividad, predominancia del minifundio, difícil acceso a créditos, falta de una mayor articulación entre los actores del sistema productivo, y desconocimiento acerca de las demandas/tendencias del mercado y la normatividad.Se estableció la necesidad de formar capacidades, fomentar y fortalecer alianzas, articular entes gubernamentales, financieros y ONGs para la gestión de créditos, y elaborar un plan nacional de granos andinos (ver Cuadro 5).Productores de quinua (R. Valdivia)Cuadro 5. Planificación de estrategias y acciones que contribuyen a la solución de los cuellos de botella identificados en el proceso de Producción de granos andinos. Conducción de semilleros piloto con productores líder semilla convencional y orgánica.Fomentar semilleros piloto usando biodiversidad.Proporcionar semilla genética de variedades de mayor demanda Reglamentación de la producción de semillas de granos andinos Réplica de la conducción líder de semilleros.Manejo productivo, cosecha y postcosecha Gobierno Regional: (Propuesta) Cambios de giro a las donaciones de insumos químicos por tecnología y maquinaria agrícola  Fuente: Elaboración propia a partir de la matriz construida por el grupo de participantes al Foro, conformado por Maribel Supo, Rosario Bravo, Imelda Samohuallpa y Manuel Tejada. Uso de los tallos de quinua (J. L. Soto)En cuanto a Transformación, la discusión se enfocó en temas relacionados con la falta de diversidad en la materia prima, insuficiente conocimiento de las tecnologías existentes y las normativas aplicables, falta de investigación para explorar nuevos productos/mercados y poco capital de trabajo (ver Cuadro 6). La articulación y el compromiso de los diferentes actores cumplen un papel clave para el desarrollo exitoso de las acciones propuestas en cada estrategia, tal como lo evidencia el cuadro a continuación. Cuadro 6. Planificación de estrategias y acciones que contribuyen a la solución de los cuellos de botella identificados en el proceso de transformación de granos andinos.Identificación y difusión de toda la tecnología existente Fuente: Elaboración propia a partir de la matriz construida por el grupo de participantes al Foro, conformado por José Luis Soto, Ashydee Vásquez, Carlos Begazo y Modesto Layme.En términos de Comercialización, los problemas identificados denotan una falta de articulación entre los eslabones del sistema productivo y las demandas y oportunidades del mercado, bien sea por aspectos de falta de información acerca de las normas de calidad y certificaciones comerciales, la poca capacidad de financiación, o por la falta de coordinación y apoyo para la implementación de estrategias dirigidas a mejorar la competitividad de los productos (formar alianzas, expandir oferta, abrir nuevos mercados, exportar, agregar valor, mejoras tecnológicas, ofrecer precios competitivos).En el tema de Políticas, es importante resaltar que para responder adecuadamente a las demandas y cambios permanentes de orden socioeconómico, es vital la inclusión o el fortalecimiento de temas como la promoción y apoyo de estrategias de mercado, la conservación y el uso sostenible de la biodiversidad autóctona, la seguridad alimentaria y la difusión de conocimiento y normas relevantes, en la agenda política en lo que concierne a los Granos Andinos, y un acompañamiento permanente que asegure la sostenibilidad de las iniciativas y el logro de sus objetivos.Priorización de apoyo a la cadena en el nivel Regional y Nacional no es adecuadaLimitaciones en el acceso a mercadosPoca difusión de las Normas Ausencia de estrategias y planes para la prevención, mitigación y adaptación del cambio climáticoPromoción de la Asociatividad sobre la base de los diagnósticos Fortalecimiento e implementación de los sistemas de información de Granos Andinos Gobierno Regional Fortalecimiento de Mesa Técnica a través de la implementación de un Plan EstratégicoOrdenanzas Regionales, por ende reconocimiento institucional MINAG Diagnóstico actualizado y profundo de Granos Andinos Asociatividad.Formación de capacidades en Gestión Empresarial.Implementación de planes estratégicos para Asociaciones.Universidades Desarrollo de metodologías para sistemas de información Regional y Nacional.Inventario de información disponible para un sistema de información Regional y Nacional Cuadro 8. Planificación de estrategias y acciones que contribuyen a la solución de los cuellos de botella identificados en las políticas de apoyo a los granos andinos. Reglamentación para fomentar el uso de los granos andinos en programas nacionales de asistencia.Resaltar el aporte nutricional de los granos andinos en la pirámide alimentaria.Recuperación de la cultura nutricional en base a los granos andinos.Incorporación en los planes de estudio el conocimiento sobre los granos andinos.En el área de Servicios, se identificaron como campos de acción la baja oferta de especialistas y entidades de formación en los diferentes servicios asociados a las cadenas de valor, la falta de información para orientar la toma de decisiones y estrategias, y los altos costos de algunos servicios. Las acciones propuestas requieren el involucramiento y la sincronización de esfuerzos multiactorales.Capacitación en producción orgánica y costos de producción, realizada en Cabanillas Sector Huataquita, Puno (M. Hermann)Cuadro 9. Planificación de estrategias y acciones que contribuyen a la solución de los cuellos de botella identificados en los servicios de apoyo a los granos andinos. Finalizado el análisis en plenaria de los cuellos de botella trabajados por los grupos, se realizó una lluvia de propuestas de acciones para un posible Plan de Trabajo que pudiera resumir los acuerdos de los tres días del Foro. El resultado de este ejercicio colectivo ha señalado cuatro áreas de acción, con responsables y los mecanismos de trabajo para su desarrollo. Se espera que esta propuesta sea liderada fundamentalmente por la Mesa del Producto Granos Andinos, considerando que en ella confluyen los principales actores de la cadena de valor de estas especies en las cuales se deberá incluir quinua, cañihua y kiwicha. Se estima que la implementación de la propuesta pueda, en un mediano plazo de tres años, implementarse paulatinamente. Como conclusión final del foro, es posible mencionar que el escenario actual de la demanda por granos andinos en el mundo ha cambiado de manera positiva en comparación a décadas pasadas. Por ello los participantes vieron con mucho entusiasmo unir esfuerzos para lograr la mayor eficiencia productiva y comercial, de tal manera que sea la base para su propia sostenibilidad. Un referente para ello será el consolidar el grupo que viene interactuando como socios de la Mesa de Trabajo del Producto Quinua y que debe ser ampliado a Granos Andinos. Por lo tanto, cualquier acercamiento a estos rubros económicos o interés que despierte el presente documento, puede ser abordado a través de los directivos de la Mesa.Por su lado, Bioversity debe continuar asociándose con estas Plataformas y manteniendo una alianza (a través de contactos y visitas en la medida de lo posible) con el fin de 1) evaluar la sostenibilidad y las lecciones aprendidas para promover otras actividades similares, 2) proveer asesoría sobre la conservación sostenible y el uso de las especies objetivo, 3) crear/explorar vínculos entre los sectores dedicados a la conservación y al uso. Con la publicación regular de noticias y artículos en su página web, Bioversity intentará dar una mayor visibilidad a este trabajo y actores involucrados, y a la vez estimular su rol proactivo en las plataformas. ","tokenCount":"4353"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8059539228.json b/data/part_1/8059539228.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..89205f1e3928b1d063b74528a0b774132b0883e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8059539228.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c060026aa6c59c1231d31d6e1374085","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4598a0b1-074f-4b1c-b2fd-0520720273a2/retrieve","id":"1058287675"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d998cf01-71b7-4727-9d4a-e82209413a83","pagecount":"2","content":"A batata comum, ou batata inglesa, é cultivada principalmente como uma cultura de segurança alimentar pelos camponeses da região sudoeste do Uganda e do vizinho Ruanda. Os camponeses geralmente vendem batata não classificada nas suas propriedades e, devido à falta de organização e às limitadas condições de armazenagem, o maior volume da produção é vendido no auge da época da colheita. Consequentemente os camponeses recebem preços baixos e tem havido poucos incentivos para o investimento no sector. Porém, com a rápida expansão das áreas urbanas, particularmente em Kampala, os hábitos alimentares estão a mudar. Isto está a criar novas opções de mercado para os camponeses melhor organizados. Um desses grupos de camponeses no distrito de Kabale vende batata seleccionada e de boa qualidade directamente para um estabelecimento de comida rápida em Kampala. Para responder aos padrões rigorosos de qualidade estabelecidos neste contrato, os camponeses introduziram várias inovações a nível técnico, organizacional e de marketing. A realização destas mudanças tem sido possível através do apoio efectivo dos serviços de investigação e desenvolvimento e da capacidade de grupos de camponeses investirem em novas opções usando esta nova fonte de receita.O grupo de camponeses de Nyubyumba localiza-se nas zonas altas do distrito do Kabale, Uganda. O grupo começou em 1998 como uma escola de campo de camponeses focalizada na produção de semente de batata. Em 1999, tornou-se membro da Associação Nacional dos Produtores de Semente de Batata do Uganda (UNSPPA) e, por vários anos, produziu e vendeu com sucesso sementes de batata. Em 2002 a procura da semente de batata começou a diminuir e o grupo procurou assistência junto do Programa Regional de Melhoramento da Batata e Batata-doce (PRAPACE) para encontrar opções de mercados alternativos. A equipa de desenvolvimento de agro-empresas do CIAT proporcionou a um fornecedor de serviços local, a ONG Africare, formação na área de \"facilitação de mercados\" e assistência técnica de marketing para o desenvolvimento de uma nova empresa de batata. O processo foi realizado em 3 fases:O grupo de camponeses trabalhou com facilitadores de mercados da Africare para estudar as mudanças na procura de batata, o estado da produção actual, rentabilidade, pontos fortes em relação a aspectos organizacionais e tipos de apoio que poderiam obter dos seus parceiros de investigação e desenvolvimento. Foi estabelecida uma equipa de marketing composta por membros do grupo de camponeses e dos prestadores de serviços.A equipa de marketing realizou uma análise da cadeia de mercado para avaliar a comportamento e o desempenho dos actores e serviços envolvidos na produção, manuseamento e venda de batata para vários mercados. Este estudo identificou várias oportunidades de mercado para batata em Kampala. Um dos mais promissores foi o \"Nandos\", um restaurante de comidas rápidas multinacional, que compra 5 a 10 toneladas de batata por mês. Baseado nas suas análises iniciais efectuaram-se várias reuniões com o pessoal do Nandos para levar a cabo uma análise de custo-benefício e confirmar a viabilidade das vendas directas. Usando métodos participativos, tais como o mapeamento de mercados (ver a Figura 1) e resultados das sondagens aos mercados, os camponeses e fornecedores de serviços desenvolveram um plano de acção. Eles forneceram 190 toneladas métricas de batata ao Nandos, aumentando a sua receita para Ush 60.000.000 ou, aproximadamente, USD 33.000.A empresa de camponeses de Nyabyumba está agora mais firmemente estabelecida. Apesar de encararem muitos desafios, eles procuram desenvolver estratégias para o seu crescimento. As experiências do grupo demonstram que: • Uma orientação de mercado permite uma boa ligação entre pequenos produtores e sectores de mercado de maior valor, mas o processo requerer apoio a longo prazo de parceiros de investigação e desenvolvimento. Figura 1: Exemplo de um mapa da cadeia de produção e marketing de batata existente em Kabale, concebido pelo grupo de camponeses de Nyabyumba.Estamos gratos pela assistência financeira da CIDA para este trabalho.","tokenCount":"630"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8073519519.json b/data/part_1/8073519519.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b4a6c6dc26722b4a4680c481d4a3a9af5002bc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8073519519.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7abea6a2e3c627e0da8b9cdf4635b549","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/45e03063-2cbf-492a-95b6-506adf40cede/retrieve","id":"826934019"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22dfb8ec-58e4-4e26-9365-17b3658c6340","pagecount":"16","content":"The number of ISFM components used by farmers is higher in sub-humid (1 to 4) than in semi-arid AEZ (0 to 3). Except for SWC used by 40% of farmers in both AEZs, the proportion of farmers using improved seeds (95%) and manure (55%) in the sub-humid AEZ are more than double those using these ISFM components in the semi-arid AEZ. Productivity and economic benefits increase with the number of ISFM components at the expense of higher labour demand. Increasing plot-level ISFM benefits also translate to increased household-level whole-farm income but contributions to human nutrition are unclear. The contribution to SOC by increasing ISFM is insignificant, compounded by strong effects of slope position of the field. Differential access to resources, decision-making and control rights drive the number and choice of the specific ISFM components. SIGNIFICANCE: Understanding of ISFM impacts across domains is essential to guide the scaling of ISFM in Tanzania and beyond and therefore recommended in future studies.• The contributions of ISFM to domains of sustainable intensification are presented.• Number and combinations of ISFM components used by farmers vary widely even in one village. • Intercropping, improved seeds and manure are more commonly used in sub-humid relative to semi-arid zone. • Productivity and economic benefits are affected by number and specific components of ISFM used. • Differential access to resources and decision making influence ISFM components used. The implementation of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) varies widely among farmers, from no ISFM to multiple computations of ISFM components (i.e., improved germplasm, organic resources, fertilizers, and local adaptations e.g., soil and water conservation (SWC)). There is no comprehensive report on farmers' use of ISFM components and their impact on sustainable intensification domains of productivity, economic, social, human condition, and environment and the associated variations across farmer fields and agroecological zones (AEZs). OBJECTIVE: This study 1) evaluated the current implementation status of ISFM by farmers in relation to the various ISFM components and 2) provided multi-dimensional multi-scale evidence of ISFM implications that can guide ISFM investments within SSA contexts, with a specific focus on Tanzania. METHODS: We used data collected from 1406 plots between 2013 and 2020 in semi-arid and sub-humid AEZs.The data are from farmer practices. The plots were grouped by the various combinations of ISFM componentsGlobal challenges of increased food demand amidst climate change present the need for sustainable farming practices to be employed widely by farmers (Garnett et al., 2013;Springmann et al., 2018). Many farming practices such as fertilizer use, agroforestry, and conservation agriculture are being promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and elsewhere to increase yields, income, food security and reduce poverty (Amadu et al., 2020;Hörner and Wollni, 2021;Khonje et al., 2018). Unfortunately, these are rarely assessed simultaneously across multiple dimensions of sustainability, especially the effects on the environment and human condition aspects such as nutrition, food security, and health. On top of that, concerns around farming practices and equity issues do need stronger attention if adoption is to equally benefit women and men and other socially differentiated groups. Women's lower control over agricultural land for instance may constitute a constraint to long-term soil investments such as through soil and water conservation (SWC) practices (Zhang et al., 2021).In the last few years, a sustainable intensification assessment framework (SIAF) was designed to guide the assessment of practices proposed for sustainable intensification through multiple indicators in each of the productivity, economics, environment, social and human condition domains (Musumba et al., 2017). This is a relatively recent framework with only a few applications, for example, in Malawi assessing crop management practices (Snapp et al., 2018) and Ghana on the sustainable production of groundnuts (Abdul Rahman et al., 2020). None of the studies specifically evaluated integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) across the domains and considered multiple farms.ISFM involves combinations of nutrients from organic and inorganic sources alongside improved germplasm, while addressing local constraints such as soil water availability and acidity/alkalinity that impede expected nutrient use efficiencies (Vanlauwe et al., 2010). While farmers should ideally implement several of these components of ISFM in their farming practices simultaneously, this is often hardly the case. This relates to the specific needs due to heterogeneity that exists in smallholder farming systems, 'farmers' differential capitals and assets as well as knowledge and preferences for ISFM and includes gender-specific constraints (Zhang et al., 2021). Benefits of the application of ISFM may depend on the number and specific components of ISFM in use (see Fig. 1). With this recognition, Vanlauwe et al. (2010) suggested the implementation of ISFM components as a stepwise progression building from local practices. However, the actual implementation can be highly varied among smallholder farmers, and multiple combinations of the ISFM components can be expected.The conceptual approach for multi-level assessment of integrated soil fertility management across domains of sustainable intensification as considered in this study.Understanding the implementation status of ISFM among farmers, and the associated system benefits across multiple sustainable intensification domains is important to inform future interventions. While many studies exist on ISFM (e.g., Adolwa et al., 2019a;Hörner andWollni, 2021, 2022), there is a lack of robust knowledge of how the extent of ISFM application by farmers influences commonly studied indicators of productivity and economics domains or the less studied environment, social and human condition domains. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by assessing the association of ISFM adoption with indicators of the five domains.Households practicing ISFM obtain farm/household-level benefits often not captured in most studies which operate at plot-level yet ISFM interacts with other components of the farm/household. For the household-level, it has been well established that men and women living in the same household may not pool their resources nor share their preferences for agricultural practices (Alderman et al., 1995). Therefore, gender differences in access to and control of resources for ISFM need to be considered. At the farm-level, ISFM interacts with other farm components such as livestock through feed provisioning and these are expected to influence overall benefits. The SIAF framework recognizes that implications of a practice or a technology straddle from plot to farm/ household and the community/landscape levels. Applying this framework to ISFM is important to understand ISFM's benefits and tradeoffs.Data collected over 8 years (since 2012), and covering a wide range of farmers and a diverse array of implementations of ISFM provide an opportunity for good understanding of ISFM's contributions to the sustainable intensification domains. The objective of this study was to 1) understand the current implementation status of ISFM by farmers in relation to the various ISFM components and 2) provide multidimensional multi-scale evidence of ISFM implications that can guide ISFM investments within SSA contexts, with a specific focus on Tanzania. We hypothesized that 1) an increasing number of ISFM components is associated with increasing benefits across many indicators of sustainable intensification domains, and 2) the use rate of ISFM components varies within and across AEZs and is strongly affected by socio-demographic factors.This study focused on Tanzania within SSA, a region characterized by high yield gaps, increasing climate variability, food and nutritional gaps, high levels of nutrient mining, and increasing population growth above the growth in food production. The study locations in Tanzania were sub-humid AEZ represented by Babati district in the northern zone (Kihara et al., 2015) and the semi-arid AEZ represented by Kongwa and Kiteto districts in the central zone (Kimaro et al., 2009). The sub-humid district ranges in altitude from 1600 to 2200 m.a.s.l. The soils are mostly ferralsols with limitations of N and P and micronutrients such as Zn and Mn in specific places. Landholdings range from 1 to 2 ha in the upper altitudes (high and medium altitudes) to 3-10 ha in the low elevation areas (own data). The semi-arid districts lie between 500 and 1200 m.a. s.l, have medium-altitude plains with some hill ranges, and soils are mainly medium textured with low to moderate fertility (Mowo et al., 1993). Rainfall (average of 560 mm annually) is quite unpredictable in terms of onset and distribution over time (Mongi et al., 2010), with 48% of the rain sometimes falling toward the end of the growing season (Kimaro et al., 2009). Crop production and livestock keeping are the main economic activities in the study sites. Major food and cash crops are maize and sunflower, as well as beans (for sub-humid) and millet and groundnuts (for semi-arid), and pigeon peas (for both agro-ecologies), and their detailed data based on the baseline are contained in Charles et al. (2016).The study approach used considers that the practice of ISFM across different farmers varies in number of components and has implications on various key indicators related to the various SIAF domains, at various spatial scales as shown in Fig. 1 above (only plot and household level are considered in this study). Four ISFM components are identified as constituting ISFM and these are:1. Use of improved crop varieties. These are associated with better use efficiency of nutrient inputs (see Vanlauwe et al., 2011) 2. Use of organic resources. The organic component was considered when manure, crop residue retention as mulch, or incorporation was observed. Organic resources improve system performance through yields, economics, and environmental benefits (Vanlauwe et al., 2011;Kihara et al., 2020).A study on six crop associations either as cereal legume rotations or intercropping showed a biomass contribution ranging from 2.03 to 4.71 Mg/ha/season and a total N accumulation ranging from 87 to 180 N/ha (Gwenambira-Mwika et al., 2021). The contribution of BNF was on average 52% from pigeon pea or 66% from groundnuts. The significance of such potential contributions necessitates a specific legume focus when considering multiple domains as in our study. We underscore that, compared to cereals, legumes are often of more nutrient density hence a high contribution to nutritional outcomes within the human condition domain. Besides, legumes are often also gendered crops, i.e., influence to social dynamics within households. Therefore, under these domains, and elsewhere in this publication where relevant, the specific contributions of crop association are presented. Use of crop associations (specifically intercropping) is highly practiced in Central and Northern Tanzania (Mugi-Ngenga et al., 2021) with often high land equivalent ratios relative to monocrops (Woomer et al., 2004;Mhango et al., 2017). 3. Use of fertilizers as sources of nutrients. The amount and type of fertilizer used by farmers was not differentiated in this study as this has already been a focus of many other studies (Vanlauwe et al., 2011;Kihara et al., 2020). Instead, only use, or no use categories were considered. 4. Management of constraints to fertilizer responses, including either soil and water conservation (SWC) through ridges, terracing, rip tillage, tied ridging, contour ploughing, stone bounds, mulching, or management of soil acidity/alkalinity. These have influenced productivity, economics, and other domain indicators (Kihara et al., 2020).Although the ISFM is implemented primarily at the plot level, it has effects even at household level such as on food security and nutrition. The metrics for measuring the effects vary depending on the assessment level. The ISFM contributes to the domains of sustainable intensification and might have tradeoff or synergy effects across the domains. For example, efficiency gains in nutrient use support environmental integrity and increase crop productivity and, consequently, economics. Of particular is the social domain, which has to be regarded as a crosscutting domain due to its influence on all other domains, e.g., equity.Plot-level data on maize productivity and use of ISFM components were obtained from measurements in farmer fields and surveys conducted in different years and sites through the 2012-2020 (i.e., the survey and farmer-managed trials in Table 1). Yield measurements were from farmer practices either under farmer-managed trials or local farmer practices when conducting agronomic surveys (IITA, 2014;Kihara et al., 2015; Table 1). The agronomic survey entails focused and detailed data collection on specific crop management practices for specific plots and actual yield measurements (i.e., combining both interviews and yield measurements). The farmer-managed trials consisted of researcherdesigned, farmer-managed trials all in farmer fields. They mainly involved an improved practice where fertilizers were applied, compared with the local farmer practices (data used in this study are for the local practices). Although yields were measured under the farmer practices even within the farmer-managed trials, the yields in such plots are likely higher than those in farmers' fields where there is no contact with researchers. The plots' history was obtained for all the farms to inform the other ISFM components in use. During agronomic surveys of 2013 and 2017, farmer interviews provided crop productivity data for the previous years, i.e., 2012 and 2016, referred in Table 1 as farmer productivity recalls. Household and plot -level data were obtained through farmer interviews during household surveys in 2020. Household-level data is an aggregate of data derived from multiple plots/fields managed by a farmer.Economic assessments were primarily conducted using data from the plot and household survey conducted in 2020, involving 217 plots and 177 farmer fields. A plot is a portion of a farmer field under specific crop/s and managed uniformly from the rest of the plots, and a farmer field has only one or more of such plots. The farmers had been selected randomly from a large pool of ISFM farmers in semi-arid and sub-humid AEZ. A total of 131 plots and 111 farmer fields were selected in semiarid, while 86 plots and 66 farmers' fields were selected in sub-humid AEZ. To measure the contribution of the use of ISFM to the returns to farm production, we used three indicators; (1) gross margins (US$/ha) (2) whole-farm income (US$/capita) and ( 3) labour (man-days/ha). Gross margin is the difference between gross revenues and the total variable costs accrued in crop production and is used to measure potential profitability. The variable costs include purchased inputs (seed, fertilizers, pesticides), labour for land operations such as land preparation, weeding, planting, and harvesting. The gross margins reported are based on all crops (main and intercrops) grown on a specific plot. Besides the 2020 plot and household survey data, other production data such as \"situational analysis agronomic survey of 2013\" and \"fertilizer microdosing\" work of 2017 were also used to calculate gross margins.On the other hand, whole farm income includes all income from crops and livestock less all the associated variable and fixed costs (Mutenje et al., 2019;Torkamani, 2005). Because it combines crops and livestock, we use whole farm income per capita, i.e., whole farm income divided by the household size. Lastly, we estimated the labour associated with using the different components of ISFM. Labour was calculated in man-days/ha (a one man-day is equivalent to 8 h of work per day).Costs and prices used in the economic assessments were specific for each site and year. The analysis included all the crops grown by a farmer.Soil organic carbon (SOC) and active carbon were measured for the top soils (0-15 cm depth) of the 208 farmers' practice plots in the fertilizer microdosing survey of 2017. The soil samples were obtained from 4 points within a plot using a Y-shaped pattern, i.e., one auger hole in the middle and 3 at the ends of the Y. The soils from the four auger holes were thoroughly mixed and a composite sample taken for laboratory analysis. The soil measurements were undertaken at CIAT laboratories in Nairobi using a CN elementar analyser for SOC and a mobile SoilDoc test kit for the active carbon (Weil et al., 2003).Regarding management in all the plots used under the environment domain, land preparation was by animal/tractor ploughing while weeding was by hand-hoes as commonly done in the area. Also, all plots were planted with improved maize varieties mostly (98% of plots) including pigeonpea intercrop. Manure application and slope position characterizing each plot were captured as part of the agronomic survey.Here, indicators address nutrition (household dietary diversity [HDD] and nutritional requirement) and food security (months of food insecurity).To assess the association between the use of ISFM and HDD, we constructed HDD scores (HDDS) based on the plot and household survey data for 2020. In the survey, the households were asked if they consumed any of the following 12 food groups in the last 24 h; cereals, roots and tubers, vegetables, fruits, meat and poultry, eggs, fish and seafood, legume and nuts, oils and fats, sugar and honey and condiments. All the consumption frequencies of the food items were summed; scores ranged from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating better HDD. HDD is highly correlated with caloric and protein adequacy, improved birth weight, child anthropometric status, and improved haemoglobin concentrations (Swindale and Bilinsky, 2006).Months per year of food insecurity, used to assess the frequency of household food insecurity and the months these incidents occur (Musumba et al., 2017), were calculated from the plot and household survey of 2020. Farmers had been asked whether they experienced inadequate food to feed the household and the number of months in which they incurred this incident within one year.Experimental and survey data used in this study, their associated spatial scales, domains and indicators under the two agro-ecological zones. Semiarid α Except for the household surveys of 2020, the number of plots is the same as number of farmers whose fields are studied. Domains 1 = productivity, 2 = economics, 3 = environment, 4 = human condition, 5 = social.Nutrients (protein and Zinc) contained in the harvested crop were estimated from the crop production data and their concentrations, obtained from laboratory analysis (at IITA for maize and common beans) and USDA database (for pigeon peas; https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/). The protein and Zinc were selected because of their relevance to nutrition within SSA. The concentrations were multiplied by the harvests of the respective crops and then summed up. Daily requirements for each variable were used to derive annual requirements to assess the level of adequacy from the production systems. Due to the importance of legumes to nutrition, the assessments compared cereal grown alone and in intercropping with legumes, across ISFM components.The data used to assess social domain indicators were from the plot and household survey of 2020. We focus on the ISFM components and ISFM combinations used by men and women on their separately or jointly managed plots. Gendered differences in the application of soil fertility measures are explored in terms of underlying resource inequities (Marenya and Barrett, 2007;Zhang et al., 2021). Inherent resource inequities between men and women and not gender per se play a big role in the adoption of improved ISFM practices in Kenya (Marenya and Barrett, 2007). Presenting ISFM interactions in the social domain, we not only build upon this insight, but also make use of a conceptual framework that Zhang et al. (2021) developed for the investigation of gender and soil health management. Men and women farmers jointly or separately manage agricultural plots with varying amounts of shared or individual labor, differential access to resources, and decision-making and control rightsall of which may affect soil fertility outcomes and the intra-household allocation of benefits. Since a larger portion of women in Tanzania who manage their plots alone are widowed, divorced, or separated ( UN Women, 2015), we have added womanheaded households to further differentiate the analysis. Apart from that, labour requirements receive specific attention and how they increase with the number of ISFM components.A literature review was conducted and published data on various indicators influenced by ISFM components identified to complement data obtained under the study, across all the domains. In cases such as effects on environment where recent syntheses were available, references to these syntheses are made. In the other cases, a more detailed literature review conducted focusing on studies within SSA, assumed to be similar to conditions in Tanzania. The review ensured that several representative studies covering different geographies are captured. These are presented in Tables otherwise as text through the manuscript. Since these are to complement data from the study sites, the literature review does not represent a full synthesis of all the studies that may be available.Data obtained were analysed with respect to implementation (presence or absence) of the five identified ISFM components and also on the specific component combinations. For each plot whose data are used, the presence or absence of each of the five components was recorded ('1' if in use and '0' if not in use), and the scores were summed up. The more the ISFM components used within a plot, the more the overall score. Using these data, a range of descriptive statistical tools were used in the analysis (e.g., histograms, cross-tabulations, and box plots) to understand the distributions of the extent of ISFM implementation by farmers in the intervention AEZs in Tanzania. For each site, the percentages of farmers implementing a particular ISFM component were calculated as a proportion of the total farmers in the site.The analysis of crop productivity data was done in two steps. In the first step, yield data for the first seasons (2012 and 2013) for the subhumid environment were compared across the number of ISFM components implemented. This was to provide the effect of the number of ISFM components on seasonal productivity. The analysis was done in R statistical software, where the means were calculated, and the bootstrap confidence limits (95% confidence intervals) estimated using the package Boot (https://www.r-project.org/). Statistical comparisons of yields from the components and component combinations was done using Tukey HSD (honestly significant difference) test based on P < 0.05. Comparisons between groups are provided when the number of observations was at least 30 plots. It was not possible to combine data from different seasons and sites without standardization, leading to a second stage of analysis. This was necessary to circumvent the challenge of seasonal differences in yields that would skew means for specific management if the number of observations was high/low for a season with high/low yield. Thus, all data were converted into a ratio by dividing reported/observed yield with the attainable yield for that agro-ecology and specific year. The attainable yield is the highest yield within the particular dataset. The ratio to the attainable yield, referred here as relative yield, is a meaningful measure as it indicates how far the yield under particular management is from the attainable yield. The subsequent analysis was done in R by obtaining means and constructing their confidence limits, and comparisons of means using Tukey as stated above.Gross margins, whole-farm incomes, months of food insecurity, and HDDS were analysed separately for each site and season. The means for each of these and their corresponding standard deviations from the mean were constructed using the summarySE function in R where also the graphs were plotted using package ggplot2. For each case, the associated number of observations was summed up and provided as part of the results. Also, an overall analysis with all the observations of the household survey (i.e., combined whole-farm income per capita data for sub-humid and semi-arid) was conducted with Tukey HSD to determine whether there were significant differences among the ISFM components. The number of observations for groups compared was minimum of 30 except where stated otherwise, e.g. with household survey 2020 under human and social domain where this was the only available study.Cumulative probability distributions of protein available to farmers were built in R. Also, box plots showing distributions of Zinc harvested in produce were constructed in R.Under farmer practices, the number of ISFM components used by farmers varies from 0 to 4 in both sub-humid and semi-arid AEZs. About 50% of farmers implement 1 or 2 ISFM components in sub-humid while 38% of farmers in semi-arid AEZ do not implement ISFM (Figs. 2 to 4). Therefore, both AEZs present huge opportunities to increase ISFM use.The use of ISFM is more in the sub-humid, a medium to high potential agricultural zone, than in the semi-arid zone of low to medium agricultural potential. Farmer that do not apply ISFM in sub-humid AEZ are only 2% but up to 60% in semi-arid AEZ. In sub-humid AEZ, 95% of farmers use improved maize seeds compared to 11% in semi-arid AEZ. High use of improved maize seeds in the sub-humid zone has been reported previously (Kihara et al., 2015;Mugi-Ngenga et al., 2021). Even for manure application, 55% of farmers apply in sub-humid while only 21% apply in semi-arid AEZ. Fertilizer use is low in both AEZs with only 2 farmers (or 1.2%) observed in semi-arid and 13% in sub-humid AEZ in 2020. A previous survey of 2013 observed an average of 3% fertilizer use among farmers in the sub-humid AEZ (Kihara et al., 2015). In general, about 40% of farmers apply SWC practices both in AEZs. In Sub-humid zone, the proportion of farmers using SWC practices are increased for the category of highest ISFM components (91% under 3 ISFM components in sub-humid). On the contrary, no farmers (0%) were implementing SWC as the only ISFM component in sub-humid, unlike the semi-arid AEZ. High productivity due to a more favourable agricultural production environment in sub-humid AEZ is likely the reason for the higher use of some of the ISFM components such as improved varieties, unlike the semi-arid low productivity AEZ. Farmers apply practices where they stand better chances of getting expected results relative to conventional practices. Factors identified to influence adoption of ISFM include access to improved seeds, labour, off-farm occupation, livestock ownership and plot-level variables such as soil carbon, soil texture, slope and plot area (Adolwa et al., 2019a). Both AEZs have a similar share of cultivated land to maize (51%) but higher food insecurity, poverty levels, illiteracy and agricultural shocks of droughts and flooding are reported for the semi-arid relative to the sub-humid zone (Charles et al., 2016). Although data for the semi-arid zone are from one survey, the site, like the sub-humid zone, is characterized by one long growing season and farmers mostly grow crops based on household decision, i.e., there is no specific season for a certain crop or specific ISFM implementation by farmers. Also, the other cereals in the region, i. e., millet and sorghum, are mostly managed the same way as maize. However, if specific rotational systems are followed or crops grown based on agro-advisory, the implementation of ISFM may vary by season.Increasing the number of ISFM components is associated with increased maize grain productivity as observed in sub-humid AEZ in 2012 and 2013 (Fig. 3). In 2012, comparing both 1 and 2 ISFM components, both with at least 30 observations, the 2 ISFM components had 45% higher yield (P < 0.05) than fields with only 1 ISFM component. Considering the specific components, the yield under improved varieties (n = 38) in 2012 are somewhat increased (ns) when also manure (n = 43) are added (data not shown). The application of improved variety (36%) and improved variety+manure (44%) were the most common ISFM practices among farmers. No significant differences were observed in 2013. In the two seasons, farmers with 3 components of ISFM (Fertilizer + ImprVar + Man_Appl) had the highest yields, although these were very few. Only 2 farmers had 3 components in 2013 because fertilizer use was very low (Kihara et al., 2015).Increasing ISFM components from 1 to 2 significantly increased the relative yield, from 0.29 to 0.3.4 in Sub-humid AEZ but were insignificant in semi-arid AEZ (P < 0.01; Fig. 4 a, b). Beyond counting the number of ISFM components, the specific components and their combinations revealed more specific contributions to relative yield (Fig. 4 c,  d). Improved varieties combined with manure application (ImprVar + Man_Appl) significantly increase relative yields over improved varieties (ImprVar) in sub-humid zone. Applying ImprVar + Man_Appl + SWC and ImprVar + SWC only resulted in low median relative to ImprVar + Man_Appl but means are not statistically different. Preferential application of practices such as SWC to sloppy fields of low soil fertility fields can result in the low medians. This may explain also the low relative yield under 3 ISFM since 93% of the fields in this category had SWC. In Semi-arid AEZ, applying 0 or 1 ISFM components results in the same yields (no significant differences). However, ISFM benefit on yield responses is observed with 3 ISFM components that combine improved varieties, manure application and SWC although only few farmers applied these. In this AEZ, moving from no ISFM component to manure application or SWC components did not result in increased maize yield. Only combination of SWC with improved varieties or improved varieties and manure seem to confer benefits. The benefits of applying organic inputs and SWC support crops to utilize better the different weather conditions through water conservation, enhanced fertility e.g., SOC, and mulching effect (Bationo et al., 2007). Farmers' preferential management such as application of nutrient inputs e.g., manure or implementation of SWC to the more deserving fields and not other fields (Chikowo et al., 2014), and the fact that local varieties often have low nutrient agronomic efficiency (Vanlauwe et al., 2011) could explain the lack of manure or SWC benefits over the no-ISFM in one or both sites. The effects of ISFM on yield are observed all over SSA (Vanlauwe et al., 2010). Survey and multi-locational studies involving a large number of farmers across different environments are probably the best representation of the yield gains observed by farmers. Kabambe et al. (2018), using responses from 44 sites in Malawi, observed yield benefits of maize varying from 40% to 220%, following increased ISFM intensity (improved varieties, groundnut residues incorporation, and fertilizers). In our case, combined improved varieties and manure in semi-humid, and further combination with SWC in semi-arid are supporting increased productivity.As with productivity, gross margins generally increase when manure is combined with improved varieties (Table 2). Overall in the sub-humid zone, ImprVar + Man_Appl had significantly greater gross margins than the ImprVar and ImprVar + Man_Appl + SWC. This results from consistently improved gross margins for ImprVar + Man_Appl during specific studies/years, being significantly greater than ImprVar in (farmer recall data). Except for 2016 in farmer-managed trials and where no benefits were observed, combined manure and improved varieties increased gross margins over improved varieties alone by between US$ 73 to US$ 204 in the sub-humid zone. Thus, for the subhumid zone, improved varieties combined with manure application are key to achieving increased gross margins. Although increases in gross margins are observed with ISFM as indicated, it is not always that more components result in more gross margins such as where SWC was applied over improved varieties and manure, again likely due to targeted SWC under specific conditions of sloping fields. Such fields are often of low soil fertility. Also, an SSA-wide study (Sileshi et al., 2019) shows the profitability of organics together with chemical fertilizers is the same as that of either component. Similarly, in a study by Hörner and Wollni (2022) in Ethiopia, the adoption of organic fertilizer and improved seed resulted in the highest net crop income as compared to the adoption of all the ISFM components. This was partly attributed to the high cost of inorganic fertilizer. In another study conducted in Kenya, Adolwa et al. (2019b) found that net maize income was not significantly different at different adoption levels of ISFM, even though the use of any combination of two ISFM components, or where farmers used any combination of three ISFM components significantly increased maize yields.As with plot-level gross margins, the net whole-farm income per capita in Table 2 increased (not significant) under improved varieties plus manure compared to improved varieties alone. Net whole farm income includes all income streams on the farm, including income from all crops, crop residues, livestock, and livestock products, less all costs. Farm incomes increase only slightly as the number of ISFM components increases.The increase in gross margins and somewhat whole-farm income with ISFM is despite the associated increases in labour as demonstrated in several studies (Woomer et al., 2004;Waddington et al., 2007;Rusinamhodzi et al., 2012;Hörner and Wollni, 2022). The increase in costs associated with ISFM can hinder the uptake of ISFM by farmers. However, the returns in our study were sometimes still high enough and compensated the increased associated labor costs. But also, we are cognizant that inequities between men and women farmers in resource access and control may result in gender disparities in adoption rates and income (Marenya and Barrett, 2007; see social domain).Several other studies have estimated the effect of the adoption of single practices and their combinations on household income (Table 3). While the components can increase yields significantly, these may not always have a significant effect on household income as observed in Kenya and Ghana (Adolwa et al., 2019b). Also, Noltze et al. (2013), in their study in Ghana, found no significant effect on the household income of system of rice intensification (SRI) adopters compared to nonadopters. However, Wainaina et al. (2018), Manda et al. (2016), Kotu et al. (2017), and Hörner and Wollni (2021) have observed significant effects of individual or combined ISFM components on household income, similar to the net-whole farm economics shown above. Following such increases in household income, Sanka et al. (2016) show that the adoption of ISFM increased household per capita expenditure, translating into a 32% increase in purchasing power.Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important indicator measured in the current study in relation to the environment domain of sustainable intensification. Based on 210 farmer practice plots in 2017, SOC was the same under Improved variety (1.33%) and Improved variety+ manure (1.36%; Table 4). However, the addition of manure to improved variety increased active carbon by 11% from 284 mg/kg under the Improved variety (not significant). With only improved variety, both active carbon and SOC decrease sharply with slope. However, such decrease in carbon by slope is eliminated with application of manure (ImprVar+Man_Appl). Landscape-level processes such as soil erosion and deposition are usually highly correlated with topographic position (Seibert et al., 2007;Jones et al., 2000). But ISFM practice of manure application interacts with slope position, i.e., the contribution to SOC by increasing ISFM is influenced by slope position of the field. Fourty 8 % of farmers apply manure annually, on average 3.5 t ha − 1 , while 36% do not apply and the rest apply only in some seasons (Kihara et al., 2015).Environmental benefits such as soil loss reduction through local adaptation of farm fields, for example, through insitu water harvesting using furrows and tied ridges, have been reviewed previously (Kihara et al., 2020;Fig. 5). The presence of this component of ISFM reduces soil loss by 40 to 80% relative to conventional systems, translating to 5 to 20 t ha − 1 yr − 1 in the case of Araya et al. (2011). The reductions are also associated with a 25 to 70% reduced runoff and 45 to 90% increased infiltration (Kihara et al., 2020) reduced nutrient losses. The magnitudes of soil loss reduction or infiltration are highly likely influenced by local Note: The numbers after ± are standard deviations. Numbers in the same column followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05). Values contain at least 30 (maximum 152) observations (farmer plots) except for overall average gross margins for sub-humid where number of observations are the same as those in Fig. 4, i.e., up to 423. ImprVar = improved variety, Man_Appl = manure application, SWC=Soil and water conservation.    1 in Kihara et al., 2020). \"Study code\" is an individual study for a specific location. Erosion avoided is calculated as the erosion without intervention minus erosion with intervention.soil and weather factors hence the need to understand them within the local contexts. In Zimbabwe, for example, the use of tied ridges and furrows reduced runoff-based nutrient losses (N and K) by over 300% (Munodawafa, 2007). However, erosion control is hindered by 'women's lower access to resources and information on soil and water conservation and by male-dominated decision-making on agricultural land (Tenge et al., 2004).Fertilizer application contributions to the environment domain relating to leaching and greenhouse gases were not measured in the current study but reviewed previously by Kihara et al. (2020). Based on the scanty data observed for SSA, the amounts of N leached vary from nil to over 250 kg N/ha yr − 1 , influenced mainly by fertilizer (application and also the amounts) among other factors such as rainfall amounts, soil types, and accompanying practices such as residue inclusion. Managing the application rates and local adaptation practices can minimize the leaching tradeoff of fertilizer use. Other researchers have observed ISFM (combination of manure and nitrogen fertilizer) to increase nitrogen uptake, e.g., by 100% over the nitrogen fertilizer uptake only treatment in seasons of application and residual seasons maintaining productivity while minimizing leaching (Nyamangara et al., 2003). These benefits are based on additive ISFM, and Sileshi et al. (2019) showed that even more significant benefits in nutrient use efficiencies are obtained with substitutive ISFM. Manure minimizes leaching relative to synthetic mineral nitrogen (Kihara et al., 2020;Kamukondiwa et al., 1996). Combining fertilizers and organic inputs is associated with immobilization and mineralization processes that synchronize with plant nutrient uptake, reducing losses to the environment (Chivenge et al., 2009). Also, alternative strategies such as legume integrations support biological nitrogen fixation and reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers.Improved varieties, as a component of ISFM, have increased nutrient use efficiencies compared to local varieties (Vanlauwe et al., 2011), indicating better utilization of available resources. The often increased productivity results in increased biomass that, with good tradeoffs, can be targeted for mulching as an organic input to the production system.The two main indicators of the human condition, namely food security and nutritional benefits, are used in this study to evaluate the influences of ISFM.Household food insecurity is, on average 1.0 (range 0 to 3.14) and 2.76 (range 0 to 10.5) months in Sub-humid and Semi-arid AEZs, respectively; and are lowest at the highest ISFM components (Table 5). Adding manure to improved varieties reduced months of food insecurity from 1.4 to 0.95 in sub-humid while still further addition of SWC almost eliminated food insecurity (i.e., 0.4 months). In the semi-arid zone, the use of either manure or SWC did not reduce but rather manure use even significantly increased months of food insecurity compared to the no-ISFM. Being the only dataset providing food security indicators, comparisons are presented for component combinations with at least 10 observations. A significant increase in months of food security is not expected with manure application over no-ISFM. Also, an increased offfarm income of only US$ 10 observed at no-ISFM in the Semi-arid zone does not fully explain their low food insecurity. This presents a research gap that needs to be addressed.Farmers who used more ISFM components in the Sub-humid AEZ achieved higher mean HDDS (see Table 4 above). Adding either manure or SWC to Improved varieties significantly increased HDDS. Elsewhere in Tanzania, the combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers (with or without intercropping) has been associated with an increase in child nutritional status (Kim et al., 2019).Other studies consider Household Food Insecurity Access Score (HFIAS) where households with lower HFIAS are considered food secure (Coates et al., 2007;Diallo et al., 2020). Based on HFIAS scores of 2.92 relative to 3.31, adopters of ISFM (use of improved seeds and fertilizers) are more food secure than non-adopters in Sub-humid Tanzania (Sanka et al., 2016). Similarly, in Ethiopia, in a humid region, adopters of ISFM (using improved seeds, organic and inorganic manure) had an HFIAS of 0.18, compared to 0.33 for non-adopters, but no change was observed for a dry region where crop growth was impeded by climatic conditions.The practice of various components of ISFM also influence the concentration of important nutrients in edible crop parts and thereby human and animal nutrition. For example, combined applications of organic resources and chemical fertilizers (for N and P) increased the concentration of grain Zn in Zimbabwe (Manzeke et al., 2017).While it can be expected that increasing ISFM components is associated with increased human nutrition such as better child growth indices, there are no studies showing this association. The increasing agricultural intensification e.g., through more ISFM components, leads to more available food and nutritional security, but the concomitant increased labour requirements can take away these gains, i.e., negative effects on human nutrition as observed with body mass index in Tanzania (Komatsu et al., 2019). This is especially true if options for reducing drudgery e.g., through draft power, are not available or cannot fit into cropping system in use. Furthermore, age-and genderdifferentiated outcomes of ISFM on nutrition, and food security constitute an important overlap of the human condition and social domain and require further research.Summary benefits of ISFM components on human nutrition indicators in different regions as discussed above are summarized in Table 6. Key practices constituting ISFM components identified in these studies as responsible for the increases in food security include improved varieties, e.g., improved maize (Kassie et al., 2014;Manda et al., 2018;Dibba et al., 2017), and a combination of farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizers (Wanyama et al., 2010). 7 indicate that in MHHs, manure was the most adopted ISFM component on woman-managed plots (55.6%), and SWC technologies on man-managed plots (46.7%). In contrast, most womanmanaged plots in WHHs used SWC technologies. Considering the order of the three most used approaches, the percentage of farmers with no ISFM management was more than those who adopted the ISFM components, with the highest rate for plots in WHHs (51.9%) and womanmanaged plots in MHHs (44.4%). Plots run by women managers in MHHs and WHHs were likelier to have manure and SWC as a single ISFM component than plots managed by men. Women managers concentration on no-ISFM or only one ISFM component could be due to labor Only component combinations with at least 10 observations are shown. ImprVar = improved variety, Man_Appl = manure application, SWC=Soil and water conservation.constraints in WHHs, especially lower access to male adult household labor ( UN Women, 2015). The fact that men managers in man-headed households (MHHs) more frequently indicated combinations of at least three components than women managers especially those of womanheaded households may relate to a larger labor force in this household type.Improved varieties constituted an important ISFM component for plots in MHHs that men farmers manage exclusively (45.0%) or with a spouse (51.7%). They were almost always applied in combination with other soil fertility measures. In contrast, women in MHHs and WHHs ranked improved varieties lower among the most used components. This may be explained by women's lower income (or in MHHs, lower access to and control of household income) as compared to men as established in other surveys for semi-arid and sub-humid AEZs (Fischer et al., 2021;Fischer et al., 2020). For MHHs, higher levels of male income control may well be associated with men's preference to purchase improved seeds for plots on which they have more input in decisions on how yields are used. In the survey, 26.9% of the respondents in MHHs indicated men to have sole income control, 14.2% reported women to have sole control and 59.0% saw husband and wives as sharing income control (data not shown). Recent studies warn that the response variables \"joint\" or \"shared\" need to be read with caution and do not automatically denote equal input in decisions. For instance, Acosta et al. (2020) unpack the meaning their respondents assign to \"joint decision-making\" and find that the term is also understood as discussions in which women's ideas are heard, but men have the final say. The finding that men use higher amounts of improved seed (as compared to women plot managers) is in line with Makate and Mutenje's (2021) results for Tanzania. There were no statistically significant differences between the three respondent groups regarding extension services received and the perceived usefulness of extension advice (results not presented).SWC technologies (as a component) are frequently employed in manmanaged than woman-managed plots of both MHHs and WHHs. Besides labour availability, this imbalance may be based on predominantly male land ownership in Tanzania (Tenge et al., 2004). Women in MHHs may be reluctant to invest in these technologies because of low tenure Most used ISFM components and ISFM approaches by gender of manager and household type (in the percentage of plots) averaged across sub-humid and semi-arid AEZs as observed in 2020. N denotes the number of plots. In MHHs, plot sizes (mean) ranged between of 1.2 ha for men, 0.7 ha for women, and 1.1 ha for jointly managed plots. Women heads had an average of 1.6 ha at their disposal. security (Zhang et al., 2021). On the other hand, women managers in MHH more frequently recorded manure application on their plots (55.6%) than other plot managers (36.2% for jointly managed plots, 31.6% for man-managed plots and 22.2% for plots managed by women in WHHs). This rather counterintuitive result for women in MHHs is confirmed by other surveys in the study area (not published and not used for this paper). Gender differences in manure access and application are an important research question to pursue further. Ndiritu et al.'s (2014) study in Kenya for instance shows that woman-managed plots had a lower application rate for manure. Ndiritu et al. (2014) interpret their finding as potentially associated with the laborious transport of manure to the plots and women's lower livestock ownership and access to manure.If ISFM is conceptualized to include organic material from crop associations to carve out a holistic picture of gendered soil management dynamics at the household level, crop associations are more commonly applied than manure, alone or in combinations regardless of who manages the plot (Table A1 in the appendix). Plots run by women managers (in both household types) were more likely to have crop associations as a single ISFM component than plots managed by men. In woman-headed households (WHHs), crop associations were in 37.0% of plots, followed by no ISFM management (14.8% of plots) and combinations of two components. Combinations of more than two components ranked very low. The order of the three most used components and approaches in Table 7 for the most part remains the same or shows minor variations even when crop associations are considered.As expected, labour demand rises with the number of ISFM components for men and women (Fig. 6). Women labour is significantly higher at 3 and at 1 ISFM components than at no-ISFM. Also, for men, labour at 3 components is significantly higher than at all components <3, while also two components have significantly higher labour than no-ISFM (0 components). Total labour follows the same pattern as men labour except that also labour with 1 component is significantly higher than at 0 ISFM (i.e., no ISFM). This underlines that the movement toward adopting more ISFM components can be labor-intensive. The results are consistent with those of other studies, such as Teklewold et al. (2013), who found that combinations increased labour more than the use of a single ISFM component for both men and women in Ethiopia. Beyond component counts, labour was not statistically different across the specific ISFM component combinations, disaggregated by AEZ (Table 8). Nevertheless, applying either manure or SWC attracted additional labour of at least 75% in the semi-arid AEZ and no clear pattern in the semi-humid AEZ. In general, there is more labour applied in sub-humid relative to semi-arid AEZ.Irrespective of gender, several studies confirm that the adoption of ISFM and related practices increase labor demand (Table 9). Adopting more components of ISFM can invite more labour than the adoption of less components, and both increased labour compared to non-adoption of ISFM (Horner and Wollni 2020). Rusinamhodzi et al. (2012) and Waddington et al. (2007) observed that intercropping increased labor demand during weeding by 36% compared to sole cropping due to increased plant density. The adoption of some practices under ISFM e.g., minimum tillage, can reduce labor requirements (Jaleta et al., 2016) through reduced labor in land preparation and weeding compared to conventional practices. On the other hand, some practices, such as planting basins, are associated with increased labour for their establishment (Rusinamhodzi et al., 2012). The labour reduction, therefore, depends on the context of the application of the local adaptation. Understanding these perspectives is essential since the adoption of ISFM practices is influenced by labour (De Groote and Coulibaly, 1998;Kassie et al., 2011;Kamau et al., 2014;Kassie et al., 2013;Kanyamuka et al., 2020). How ISFM practices relate to women and men's different labor roles and burdens and how they may be increased or reduced to achieve more equity must be part of this effort.The range of plot and household level indicators due to ISFM influences are quite varied. A summary of ISFM component benefits on households is shown in Table 10. Although a good case is provided for Tanzania and from the literature cited, other dimensions, e.g., rural household poverty, may be impacted and not well studied. One study  shows that adopting conservation agriculture and improved maize varieties both in isolation and in combination reduced the probability of rural poverty by 29-40% compared to non-adopters (Khonje et al., 2018). Some of the questions for further research include understanding the proportion of farmers who implement ISFM for specific deliberate goals such as improving soil health, and how the ISFM component effects vary across different soil types. Also, the variability among the specific ISFM practices by farmers, e.g., type and nature of intercropping and reasons behind those, amounts of fertilizer and how that vary for example by use of improved varieties, require further studies.Our study did not assess if the additional income from ISFM is reinvested into more ISFM, nor whether the saved labour (with less ISFM) and off-farm income are of any spinoff value to the households. Also, where and what level of diminishing returns are observed at increasing levels of ISFM components and what SIAF domains could be compromised if farmers stopped increments of ISFM components is insightful. Indeed, looking beyond just manure and fertilizer application to also amounts of application could perhaps give more insights into trends within or across domains, i.e., the specific ways that ISFM is implemented should be given proper attention. For example, the productivity gains of ISFM depend on the application of good management practices such as timely planting. In Semi-arid AEZ, early planting increased mean yield by 19% to 37% relative to delayed/late planting (data not shown). In Sub-humid AEZ, every day delay in planting reduced maize grain yields by 3 kg/ha relative to early planting (Kihara et al., 2015). While good agricultural practices are important, these have been covered in other studies and were not the focus of our study.The benefits of ISFM are observed across multiple sustainable intensification assessment framework domain indicators and increase with increasing ISFM components practiced by farmers. Increased ISFM components are associated with increased labour and increased gross margins/ economic gains that often compensate the labour costs. Farmers in either Sub-humid or Semi-arid and Kiteto did not use all the five components of ISFM considered in this study, with the majority using a maximum 1 or 2 components. There are clear opportunities for increasing the number of ISFM components, since more ISFM comes with more yield, gross margins and nutritional benefits. Although increasing implementation of ISFM by farmers has demonstrated benefits across multiple SIAF domains, it is influenced by socio-economic issues such as affordability and labour demands that need to be addressed through other studies and policy interventions. More attention should be directed to supporting woman-managed households to enhance their adoption of ISFM with more components. Concomitant analyses of ISFM impacts across domains are recommended in future studies that should also address the identified research gaps, especially for data deficient environment and social domains.  ","tokenCount":"8550"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8077697147.json b/data/part_1/8077697147.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2edcc562b308bf2cbee776f585ce0d73ec8a9480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8077697147.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b8fc416e92eed1ee8ee875eedc13bba1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/89fa0494-14e9-4901-9379-b499713cdc30/retrieve","id":"-862117383"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"20a328e3-109c-4d8a-82a7-967e0692f862","pagecount":"13","content":"The conservation and effective use of crop genetic diversity are crucial to overcome challenges related to human nutrition and agricultural sustainability. Farmers' traditional varieties (\"landraces\") are major sources of genetic variation. The degree of representation of crop landrace diversity in ex situ conservation is poorly understood, partly due to a lack of methods that can negotiate both the anthropogenic and environmental determinants of their geographic distributions. Here, we describe a novel spatial modelling and ex situ conservation gap analysis modelling framework for crop landraces, using common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as a case study.The effective use of crop genetic resources-including both traditional farmer varieties (or \"landraces\") and wild relatives-is important in efforts to overcome challenges related to human nutrition and agricultural sustainability (Burke, Lobell, & Guarino, 2009;Esquinas-Alcázar, 2005;Khoury et al., 2016). Progress in plant breeding and crop diversification is dependent on crop understanding and utilizing the available genetic resources (Glaszmann, Kilian, Upadhyaya, & Varshney, 2010;Hajjar & Hodgkin, 2007). The erosion of genetic diversity within many common crops has occurred over the last century through a combination of land use change, habitat degradation and the ongoing adoption of improved crop varieties or the substitution of crop species by farming communities (Hoisington et al., 1999;van de Wouw, Kik, Hintum, Treuren, & Visser, 2010). In some crops, only a fraction of the genetic diversity once present is still found today in farmers' fields, for example wheat landraces in the Fertile Crescent (Gepts, 2006;Harlan, 1975).Consequently, ex situ crop genebanks have become essential not only for distributing of genetic resources to various users (e.g. breeders, other genebanks), but also for their conservation of such resources (Gepts, 2006;Hoisington et al., 1999).Understanding the representation of crop diversity in ex situ repositories provides a foundation for conservation planning (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;García, Parra-Quijano, & Iriondo, 2017;van Treuren, Engels, Hoekstra, & Hintum, 2009). Methods to assess the current degree of representation, and to inform further collecting efforts, have increasingly been developed for over more than a decade [e.g. Rodrigues et al., (2004); Maxted, Dulloo, Ford-Lloyd, Iriondo, and Jarvis (2008)]. Due to the general lack of genetic data, these methods are generally based on ecogeographic methodologies as a proxy for assessments of genetic diversity (Khoury et al., 2019;Ramirez-Villegas, Khoury, Jarvis, Debouck, & Guarino, 2010). Such methods have proved useful in estimating the representation of wild relatives and other wild species in genebanks in comparison with standing extant diversity in their natural environments (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;Khoury et al., 2019;Syfert et al., 2016). However, their application to cultivated plants, whose spatial distributions are determined by anthropogenic factors as well as environmental drivers, is limited (Fuller, 2007;Hilbert et al., 2017;Morris et al., 2013). This represents a critical gap, since cultivated materials are generally preferred over wild relatives for use by plant breeders (Camacho Villa, Maxted, Scholten, & Ford-Lloyd, 2005;Hammer, Knüpffer, Xhuveli, & Perrino, 1996).Here, we present a conservation gap analysis modelling framework for cultivated crop diversity, that improves on current ecogeographic methods, using landraces of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as a case study. As opposed to previous analyses of the distributions of cultivated crop diversity [e.g. Upadhyaya, Reddy, Irshad Ahmed, and Gowda (2012), Upadhyaya et al. (2017)], our methods explicitly aim to include anthropogenic drivers in the modelling of the distributions of landraces. The results predict geographic areas that are likely gaps in ex situ landrace conservation collections and provide metrics that can be used to track conservation progress. These results are supplemented with expert knowledge, which is vital for elucidating spatial patterns and drivers of range change that are difficult to model.Common bean is the most widely human-consumed grain legume, playing an essential role in food and nutritional security, particularly in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa (Beebe, 2012;Broughton et al., 2003). Two independent domestication events of wild P. vulgaris have been identified-one in Mexico and Central America, and the second in the Andes mountains of South America (Gepts, Osborn, Rashka, & Bliss, 1986). Significant movement of genetic material and gene exchange between genepools has occurred since domestication, with considerable overlap in current geographic distributions, both in the Neotropics and across other major cultivation areas (Singh, 1989;Singh, Gepts, & Debouck, 1991). These processes have resulted in recognized secondary regions of diversity in Brazil, Europe, Africa and Asia (Escribano & De Ron, 1991;Lobo Burle et al., 2011;Logozzo et al., 2007).Globally, there are some 250 ex situ collections of cultivated P. vulgaris, with the largest and most diverse maintained at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) with ~40,000 accessions, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Genetic Resources Program with ~15,000 accessions (Debouck, 2014). Here, we assess the representation of common bean landraces in such major genebank collections, including estimating overall conservation and identifying gaps.Our modelling framework first necessitates the defining of the study area, gathering of landrace occurrence and characterization data, and compilation of environmental and socioeconomic spatial predictor information. The modelling and conservation gap analysis is then performed, consisting of five main steps: (a) determining relevant landrace groups using the literature to develop and test classification models; (b) modelling the potential geographic distributions of these groups using the occurrence and predictor data; (c) calculating geographic and environmental gap scores for current genebank collections; (d) mapping ex situ conservation gaps; and (e) compiling expert inputs. The overall process is depicted in Figure 1.Crop landraces have been defined as \"dynamic population(s) of a cultivated plant that has historical origin, distinct identity andcommon bean, crop diversity, gap analysis, landrace, plant genetic resources lacks formal crop improvement, as well as often being genetically diverse, locally adapted and associated with traditional farming systems\" (Camacho Villa et al., 2005;Casañas, Simó, Casals, & Prohens, 2017). A landrace can be further classified as autochthonous when grown in the original location where it developed its unique genetic and socioeconomic characteristics through grower selection and allochthonous when introduced from another region and then locally adapted. \"Secondary\" landraces may also be recognized, developed by the formal plant breeding sector but now maintained through repeated farmer selection and seed saving (Zeven, 1998).While landraces cultivated over time in any given location may possess novel traits useful for plant breeding, our distribution modelling method rests on the premise that these varieties have distinct, local environmental adaptations (see 2.4.1-2.4.2). As adaptation to environment is developed over time, the geographic areas where landraces have occurred the longest-the origins and primary regions of diversity-would be considered to have the most significant association between environmental adaptation and genetic variation (Khoury et al., 2016). For this reason, landrace distribution modelling may focus foremost on autochthonous ranges.For our case study, we focused on the Americas as the centre of domestication and primary region of diversity for P. vulgaris (Gepts et al., 1986). We included all areas extending from the southern United States to central Chile and northern Argentina, including the Caribbean, as this broadly includes the two reported domestication events and distributions of the progenitor and close relatives of the species (Chacon, Pickersgill, & Debouck, 2005;Gepts et al., 1986). We also included Brazil since it is geographically close to the putative regions of domestication and because existing evidence suggests clear relationships between Brazilian bean landraces and Andean and Mesoamerican types (Lobo Burle et al., 2011;Lobo Burle, Fonseca, Kami, & Gepts, 2010).Our distribution modelling and conservation gap analysis modelling framework requires geographic occurrence (presence) data for landraces and information on the locations where these landraces have been previously collected for conservation ex situ, as well as characterization data on the landrace accessions. To assess the world's common bean landrace collections, we compiled available genebank accession-level passport (i.e. site where collected) data from major online germplasm databases, including the Genesys plant genetic resources portal (Global Crop Diversity Trust, 2019)  Additional occurrences were gathered from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (GBIF.org, 2019), which contained 25,670 observations from herbaria, botanic gardens and other plant repositories, to provide independent data from non-genebank sources. We compiled the datasets into a single database and performed a thorough quality check of all records.Duplicated observations were eliminated with preference to maintain original data, for example, USDA-GRIN or CGIAR records included in Genesys or WIEWS were discarded. Coordinates were corrected, or if not possible, eliminated, when latitude and longitude were equal to zero, located in inland water bodies or in the ocean, located in the wrong country, had an inverted sign in the latitude and/or longitude or had low coordinate precision (i.e. with less than 2 decimal places). Our full occurrence dataset for P. vulgaris is available in Dataset S1.With the aim of compiling a robust global dataset of important environmental and anthropogenic drivers of the geographic distributions of crop landraces, we gathered and/or calculated spatially explicit (gridded) information for a total of 50 potential predictors, including climate, topography, diversity and domestication and socioeconomic variables (Table S2.1). For climate, we used a total of 40 variables, derived from a combination of the WorldClim version 2 (Fick & Hijmans, 2017) and the Environmental Rasters for Ecological Modelling (ENVIREM) (Title & Bemmels, 2018) databases. We included topography from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) dataset of the CGIAR-Consortium on Geospatial Information (CSI) portal (Jarvis, Reuter, Nelson, & Guevara, 2008;Reuter, Nelson, & Jarvis, 2007). Two crop genetic diversity and domestication proxy variables were included, namely the distance to known common bean wild relative populations and the distance to human settlements before year AD 1500. Regarding socioeconomic variables (8 in total), we included datasets on the geographic distribution of ethnic groups (Weidmann, Rød, & Cederman, 2010); crop yield, harvested area and crop production quantity (You et al., 2017); population density (CIESIN, 2018); population accessibility (Nelson, 2008); distance to navigable rivers (Natural Earth, 2019); and percentage of area under irrigation (Siebert, Henrich, Frenken, & Burke, 2013).All spatial predictor data were scaled to or computed on a common 2.5 arc-min grid, using the geographic coordinate system (GCS) with WGS84 as datum. A complete description of these data sources and their justification for inclusion is provided in Text S2.1 and Table S2.1. The full dataset of ecogeographic and socioeconomic variables is available in Dataset S1.Crop landraces are domesticated, locally adapted varieties of crops, developed through farmer selection over time in specific agricultural ecosystems (Camacho Villa et al., 2005;Jones et al., 2008) and, for most crops, are considered to number in the thousands (Harlan, 1975;Jones et al., 2008). Crop landraces are associated with specific local adaptation traits and farmer preferences, and an understanding of these drivers is important to modelling their potential distributions. Given the large number of landraces and the knowledge necessary to distinguish their biocultural and ecological differences, our method seeks a compromise between the recognition of this complexity and performance of spatial modelling at scales which are feasible and permit comparison with existing genebank collections.Therefore, the first step of our modelling method was to identify recognized groups within the crop that could be tested for whether they have distinct environmental and socioeconomic niches. We used Google Scholar™ to identify and review publications that, through morphological, physiological, chemical, genetic, nomenclatural or other characters, establish or propose groups of landraces (e.g. by identifying genepools, races, domestication centre(s), genetic clusters or other acknowledged groupings) (Table S2.2).We then used classification models to test the significance of these classifications. The classification models allowed us to determine whether the classes identified could be predicted on the basis of the spatial predictors from Section 2.3. This process used data from the occurrence database (if the distinguishing characters of the identified landrace groups were reported in the database) or from training datasets containing both characters and geographic coordinates, compiled from the literature review. For this analysis, we used random forest (RF) (Pal, 2005), support vector machine (SVM) (Meyer, Leisch, & Hornik, 2003), K-nearest neighbour (KNN) (Guo, Wang, Bell, Bi, & Greer, 2003) and artificial neural networks (ANN) (Dreiseitl & Ohno-Machado, 2002). The response variable in all models was the group in which a given accession was assigned, whereas the explanatory variables were the spatial predictors.Models were combined into an ensemble using the mode (i.e. the most frequent predicted value amongst models) and tested using 15-fold cross-validation (80% training, 20% testing). We accepted a given classification if each of its classes was predicted with an average cross-validated accuracy of at least 80% (i.e. 8 of every 10 accessions are predicted correctly). Finally, we used the trained models to predict the corresponding class for any records in the database missing such information.The objective of this step was to develop a Landrace Distribution Model (LDM) which describes the probability of occurrence of the landrace groups derived from Section 2.4.1. To predict the probability of occurrence for each landrace group, we fitted a MaxEnt model (Elith et al., 2010;Phillips, Anderson, & Schapire, 2006) using the \"maxnet\" R package (Phillips, Anderson, Dudík, Schapire, & Blair, 2017). We chose MaxEnt as a standard and very commonly used tool for species distribution modelling (Costa, Nogueira, Machado, & Colli, 2010;Elith et al., 2006). MaxEnt has been demonstrated to yield robust results when compared with other species distributions modelling algorithms (Barbet-Massin, Jiguet, Albert, & Thuiller, 2012;Elith et al., 2006;Giovanelli, Siqueira, Haddad, & Alexandrino, 2010).Variables used in the model were sub-selected from the environmental and socioeconomic predictors using a combination of the variance inflation factor (VIF) and a principal component analysis (PCA) to control for unwarranted model complexity and collinearity between explanatory variables (Warren & Seifert, 2011). We first removed any variables that did not contribute significantly (defined as contributing <15% to the first component) to the variance in the PCA and then discarded any variables with a VIF greater than 10 (Braunisch et al., 2013). The list of variables selected (or alternatively eliminated) for use in modelling are available in Table S2 Background points (pseudo-absences) were generated based on the three-step method of Senay, Worner, and Ikeda (2013). In short, we took a random sample of pseudo-absences from areas that (a) were within the same ecological land units [as reported by Sayre et al. (2014)] as the occurrence points, (b) were deemed as potentially suitable according to a support vector machine (SVM) classifier that uses all occurrences and predictor variables and (c) were further than 5 km from any occurrence. The number of pseudo-absences drawn was equivalent to 10 times the total number of unique occurrences for a given landrace group.MaxEnt models were fitted through a fivefold (K = 5) cross-validation process in which 80% of the occurrences (and pseudo-absences) were used to train the models, and the remaining 20% were used for testing. For each fold, we calculated the area under the receiving operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity and Cohen's kappa as measures of model performance. To create a single prediction that represents the probability of occurrence for the landrace group, we computed the median across models. Finally, any areas above the probability value at the maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity were considered the final Landrace Distribution Model (LDM).We developed three scores that compare the geographic and environmental diversity in existing ex situ conservation collections against the LDM, revealing ex situ conservation gaps.The accession connectivity score (S CON ) was formed with Delaunay triangulation (Lee & Schachter, 1980), that is, triangles linking every three (closest) accession occurrence locations, using the \"deldir\" R package (Turner, 2019). For each 2.5 arc-min pixel within each Delaunay triangle, we computed S CON following Equation 1.where, A T−i is the area of the triangle (km 2 ) where the pixel is located (i.e. the i-th triangle), max (A T−i , … A T−n ) is the area of the largest triangle amongst all triangles, D C−i is the Euclidean distance from the pixel to the centroid of the triangle where it is located, normalized by the longest distance (using all pixels) within the given triangle, D NV−i is the Euclidean distance from the pixel to the nearest vertex of the triangle where it is located, normalized by the longest distance (using all pixels) within the given triangle.From Equation 1, it is clear that S CON for any given pixel is largest (i.e. increases the likelihood of gaps) when the triangle is large (i.e. high area), when the pixel is close to the centroid of the triangle (i.e., where there are no accessions) and when the distance to the vertices (where the accessions are located) is high.The accession accessibility score (S ACC ) was calculated by computing travel time from each pixel within the LDM to the nearest genebank accession, following Weiss et al. (2018). Travel time was in this case estimated through a product of the distance and the speed of travel (defined by a friction surface). Once the travel time from each location was computed, it was normalized by dividing pixel values by the longest travel time within the LDM, to derive a metric in the range 0-1, with high values reflecting long travel time.The environmental score (S ENV ) measures how well the environments where the landraces are distributed are represented in ex situ collections. We first performed a hierarchical clustering analysis (Ward's method) for the pixels in the LDM using the predictor variables used to construct the LDM. On a per cluster basis, we computed the Mahalanobis distance between each pixel and the environmentally closest germplasm accession. The distance was finally normalized (0-1), with high values indicative of large distances to sites with similar environments that have previously been collected for ex situ conservation.Spatial ex situ conservation gaps were calculated from the conservation gap scores using a cross-validation procedure to derive a threshold for each landrace group and each of the gap scores (S CON , S ACC , S ENV ). To do so, we created synthetic (artificial) gaps by removing genebank occurrences in five randomly chosen circular areas of 100 km radius within the LDM. We then tested whether these synthetic gaps could be predicted by our method and determined the threshold value of each gap score that would maximize the prediction of these synthetic gaps. Performance for each of the five synthetically created gaps was assessed using the AUC, sensitivity and specificity. Finally, the average threshold value of each gap score, cate gaps for all metrics (highest confidence gaps). We termed this 3-value area our \"final gaps map.\"Once the final gaps map was calculated, we estimated the coverage of existing germplasm collections. The coverage is simply the area considered as gap divided by the total area of the LDM. We compute only the coverage resulting from the agreement of the three gap metrics, as an upper-level coverage estimation.Gap analysis is a tool for assessing collection completeness as well as to plan collecting (García et al., 2017;Marinoni, Bortoluzzi, Parra-Quijano, Zabala, & Pensiero, 2015). Collecting based on model predictions may require extensive discussion with local institutions and crop experts including botanists, collectors, agronomists and breeders. This is because agricultural landscapes are highly dynamic, and areas predicted with gaps may have been subject to recent land use change, varietal replacement by improved or foreign material or significant genetic drift, resulting in loss of uncollected genetic material predicted to be of value (Hammer et al., 1996;van Heerwaarden, Hellin, Visser, & Eeuwijk, 2009;van de Wouw et al., 2010). This means that while the \"final gaps map\" resulting from Section 2.4.4 provides a detailed regional picture of collecting priorities, the planning of collecting missions will effectively require discussion with experts and further analysis (Greene et al., 1999a(Greene et al., ,1999b;;Jarvis et al., 2005). In this sense, gap analysis results are a discussion support tool that aims at guiding, rather than prescribing where and how collecting may be done. Here, we illustrate this by conducting a semi-structured interview process with two relevant crop landrace experts.These inputs were used to add additional value to the model results.Our literature review indicated that a single major classification system based on genetic, morphological and physiological characteristics has been accepted for common bean landraces. This system, first proposed by Singh et al. (1991), classifies beans into two genepools-Andean and Mesoamerican. The Andean genepool, derived from the domestication event proposed to have occurred around Peru, Chile and Bolivia, is composed of typically largerseeded genotypes. The Mesoamerican genepool, derived from the domestication event in Mexico and Central America, is typically composed of smaller-seeded genotypes (Singh et al., 1991). These and subsequent authors divide these genepools into races according to morphological criteria, agro-ecological adaptation and genetic data (see Table S2.2 for a complete list of publications reviewed).The Andean genepool is divided into races Chile, Nueva Granada and Peru, whereas the Mesoamerican genepool contains races Guatemala, Durango-Jalisco and Mesoamerica (Blair, Díaz, Hidalgo, Díaz, & Duque, 2007;Blair, Díaz, Buendía, & Duque, 2009;Singh et al., 1991).We tested a variety of accession-level data pertinent to common bean genepools, including seed protein type; seed weight, colour shape and brightness; and landrace names. Based on degree of acceptance in published literature and availability of accession-level data with geographic coordinates, we ultimately based our training data on genepool designations given in the CIAT accessions dataset and specific accession numbers gathered from the reviewed literature (Table S2.2).Our average classification accuracy at the genepool level was 86% (88.3% for Andean and 85% for Mesoamerican landraces), indicating that these two genepools have distinct environmental and socioeconomic signatures, with Mesoamerican beans being present in lower, drier and hotter places compared to Andean beans. Identified predictors (see Figure S2.1) for the classification models agree with previously reported predictors of domesticated and wild bean distributions (Cortes, Monserrate, Ramirez-Villegas, Madrinan, & Blair, 2013;Ramirez-Villegas et al., 2010). At the race level, the classification accuracy was low 58.5% as a mean across all races and hence deemed not informative. Based on these results, we concluded that the genepool level was the most appropriate for all subsequent distribution modelling and conservation gap analysis steps. Hence, in all following sections we show results separately for Andean and Mesoamerican common bean landrace groups.Figure 2 shows the predicted geographic distributions of Andean (Figure 2a) and Mesoamerican (Figure 2b) landraces. Cross-validated MaxEnt models performed well with mean AUC values of 0.973 (Andean) and 0.996 (Mesoamerican). The MaxEnt-based LDMs also indicated that 23 variables were important for the geographic prediction of landrace presence. Importantly, seven of these are nonclimatic variables (Table S2.1), and amongst these, we find that accessibility and the geographic distribution of ethnic groups contribute substantially to the model.As expected, Andean landraces were predicted to be mostly distributed across the Andes mountains and to a lesser extent in Mexico and Central America. The converse was true for Mesoamerican landraces. Andean landraces were also predicted to occur in Brazil, which is considered a secondary diversity centre for common beans (Lobo Burle et al., 2010, 2011). Overlap was particularly evident in the geographic intermediate zone in Central America, (Beebe, Rengifo, Gaitan, Duque, & Tohme, 2001;Beebe et al., 2000) and in some areas of Peru.Conservation gap maps, displaying the overlap of results for the three gap scores per pixel, are shown in Figure 3. Andean bean variation is considered less diverse compared to South America (Becerra Velasquez & Gepts, 1994;Beebe et al., 2001), gaps were identified in the states of Oaxaca and to a lesser extent in Chiapas. Gaps were also predicted for Andean beans in Guatemala and Panama.For the Mesoamerican genepool, the largest overlapping predicted gap was found in the area around Belize-Guatemala-southern Mexico (state of Campeche). Smaller overlapping gap areas were predicted in the states of San Luis Potosi, Jalisco and Sinaloa in Mexico. Across South America, southern Peru is predicted to be a gap.To illustrate how gap analysis results may be used to discuss collecting priorities, semi-structured interviews were carried out with two national and international Phaseolus scientists from the study region. One expert, Daniel G. Debouck (DGD), member of many collecting missions for the genus across many countries in the Americas, and expert in bean taxonomy, ecology, domestication and diversity and conservation (both in situ and ex situ) (Freytag & Debouck, 2002). He discussed both Andean and Mesoamerican beans for the entire Americas. Many areas were also identified by the two experts as unlikely to be considered collecting priorities. There were many areas, especially for Andean beans, where the experts indicated that it is likely that landraces are already lost due to traditional cropping practice replacement. This is the case in northern Chile and in southern and coastal Peru, where beans have been replaced by grape cropped for wine and pisco. Other areas were considered by experts to not be collecting priorities since these are mostly \"documentation\" gaps (e.g. central Brazil for Andean beans); this is because these materials are mostly in national collections, and passport information (including coordinates of collection sites) from these collections was not available or had insufficient quality for inclusion in our analyses.Here, we documented the development of a novel modelling framework to predict the distributions of crop landraces and to identify gaps in ex situ germplasm collections with relation to geographic and environmental variation in their distributions. We base our framework on the rationale that the distributions of landraces can be predicted using environmental and socioeconomic drivers, and that important conservation gaps can be identified by characterizing the geographic (accessibility and connectivity) and environmental space across which previous collecting has been carried out.Previous studies assessing gaps in landrace collections only used climate drivers and did not explicitly assess gap prediction robustness (Upadhyaya et al., 2012(Upadhyaya et al., , 2017;;Upadhyaya, Reddy, Irshad Ahmed, Gowda, & Haussmann, 2010) nor introduce expert inputs to prioritize collecting.Our analysis suggests that both genepools of P. vulgaris are relatively well conserved and that progress towards comprehensive representation ex situ may be relatively fast if targeted collecting is performed in the areas outlined in the results. This contrasts with results for common bean wild relatives, for which research indicates that about two-thirds of the wild species in the genus need further conservation action, and about half are considered high priority for further collecting (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;Ramirez-Villegas et al., 2010).For Andean beans, gaps were predicted throughout most bean-producing countries in South America, with the highest priority being Chile, Peru, Colombia and specific spots in the Venezuelan Andes. For Mesoamerican landraces, the results target regions of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and to a lesser extent South America (mostly Peru) for further collecting. While current common bean collections already hold substantial diversity from across the Americas (Beebe et al., 2000(Beebe et al., , 2001)), our results, supplemented by expert opinion, indicated that further collecting is warranted, especially where valuable traits such as phosphorous use efficiency (Beebe, Lynch, Galwey, Tohme, & Ochoa, 1997) or heat stress tolerance (CGIAR, 2015) may be found.Our ongoing review of other crop landraces indicates that the classification approach, based on recognized groups, can be widely applicable to other crops (van Heerwaarden et al., 2011;Lasky et al., 2015;Ndjiondjop et al., 2018). Moreover, the continuous generation of new genetic diversity data and related knowledge (Crossa et al., 2016;Halewood et al., 2018) will facilitate the further application of our methods, which are ultimately dependent on the availability of robust classification, occurrence and characterization data.While our framework contributes to revealing existing gaps in current germplasm collections and to highlighting geographic areas where novel diversity may be collected, the question remains as to the extent to which the results can support on-theground collecting work. Our discussion with experts indicates that priorities for collecting can be drawn using our predicted gap maps. Moreover, previous ecogeographic analyses have proven useful for collecting planning (García et al., 2017;Jarvis et al., 2005;Marinoni et al., 2015). To further translate our results for action, designing tools for real-time collecting mission support (e.g. route tracing) that combine the outputs with existing technologies for map visualization and navigation would be advantageous.Predicting the distributions of cultivated plants, whose ranges are determined by anthropogenic along with environmental drivers, presents a challenge that has not been fully resolved in geospatial sciences. While we attempted to gather the widest range of quality input occurrence and predictor data and used state of the art approaches to ensure high species distribution model (SDM) performance, several further improvements can be suggested.With regard to occurrence information, particularly for genebank collections, we incorporated data from the two central global repositories for such information (Genesys and WIEWS) and in addition (due to our focus here on common bean) insured the full compilation of data from the world's two largest P. vulgaris collections (CIAT and USDA). This said, these sources are not fully representative of all common bean collections worldwide, including collections such as the Agricultural Research Institute (CIAP) in Cuba. Ongoing initiatives, such as Genesys that list in a single location passport and (eventually) characterization data for many genebanks (Global Crop Diversity Trust, 2019), may help resolve this data challenge in the future. On the other hand, national policies influencing germplasm distributions hinder the international accessibility of many such \"low-visibility\" collections (Castiñeiras, Esquive, Lioi, & Hammer, 1991;Lobo Burle et al., 2011).We also note that coordinate information, which is an essential input into our methods, is missing for many current genebank accessions. Further efforts to georeference records missing coordinates but possessing locality information, and to make this information easily available online, will facilitate a more robust assessment of the state of conservation of crop landraces ex situ.Distributions of crop landraces are influenced by factors beyond the environmental and socioeconomic predictors used here.These may include other abiotic (e.g. soil parent material and other edaphic characteristics), biotic (e.g. mycorrhizae, pathogens and pollinators), and agriculturally relevant socioeconomic (e.g. farm sizes and farming systems) factors. Further development of high-resolution global datasets will be needed to incorporate such information into our analyses. Similarly, we note that model uncertainty can be a challenge and highlight the need to use model results as a \"discussion support\" tool to prioritize collecting. Finally, while we employ a widely used distribution modelling algorithm, it is possible that incorporating other methods, or forming ensembles of multiple methods, could improve our prediction of gaps (Grenouillet, Buisson, Casajus, & Lek, 2011).The high value of crop landrace diversity in breeding programmes and for farm-level resilience (Camacho Villa et al., 2005;van Etten et al., 2019;van de Wouw et al., 2010), and the evident erosion of these resources in their primary and secondary centres of diversity (van Heerwaarden et al., 2009;Mekbib, 2008)  Recently, Khoury et al. (2019) proposed an indicator to track the conservation of useful wild plants, which furthers tested gap analysis methodologies for wild flora (Ramirez-Villegas et al., 2010).Here, we developed a coverage metric that, if implemented for a sufficiently large number of crops, could be used to track progress towards the conservation of cultivated plants for SDG 2.5, Aichi 13 and other important international goals.This work was carried out under the CGIAR Genebanks Platform ","tokenCount":"5088"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8096459697.json b/data/part_1/8096459697.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..583e723c4c6ae22cbcd5b0c31e77aee6fb221794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8096459697.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"24b0cebf55fda4ff883ba21e63501c3b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7ca23054-a357-48a0-ba12-01e05db97560/content","id":"-1846590877"},"keywords":["cereal aphid","salivary protein","plant immunity","RNA interference","aphid performance"],"sieverID":"d32e3cb2-17a4-4fed-80d2-827d3575c81d","pagecount":"13","content":"Aphid salivary effectors play important roles in modulating plant defense responses. The grain aphid Sitobion miscanthi is one of the most economically important cereal aphids worldwide. However, little information is available on the identification and functional analysis of salivary effectors of S. miscanthi. In this study, a candidate salivary effector Sm9723 was identified, which was specifically expressed in aphid salivary glands and highly induced during the aphid feeding phase.Transient overexpression of Sm9723 in Nicotiana benthamiana suppressed BAX and INF1-induced cell death. Further, Sm9723 overexpression inhibited N. benthamiana defense responses by reducing pattern-triggered immunity associated callose deposition and expression levels of jasmonic and salicylic acid-associated defense genes. In addition, the salivary effector Sm9723 of S. miscanthi was effectively silenced through nanocarrier-mediated dsRNA delivery system. After silencing Sm9723, fecundity and survival of S. miscanthi decreased significantly, and the aphid feeding behavior was also negatively affected. These results suggest salivary effector Sm9723 is involved in suppressing plant immunity and is essential in enabling aphid virulence, which could be applied as potential target gene for RNAi-mediated pest control of S. miscanthi.Aphids are one of the most economically important agricultural and forest pests because they directly draw phloem sap from sieve elements and vector various phytoviruses [1,2]. Prior to feeding, aphid stylets must penetrate the plant epidermis and mainly follow an intercellular pathway toward their feeding sites in sieve elements [3]. During probing and feeding, aphids secret two types of saliva: gelling saliva that hardens to form a sheath around the stylets, which may form a protective function, and watery saliva containing a complex mix of proteins that can be injected into the plant vascular system [4][5][6][7][8]. Aphid saliva performs important roles in modulating aphid-plant interactions [9][10][11]. Recent evidence suggests that aphids, like plant pathogens, present conserved molecules in saliva similar to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP), which are perceived by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) on the plant cell membrane and trigger PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Aphids then secrete effectors to suppress this and other types of plant defenses, thus promoting effector-triggered susceptibility. Nevertheless, these effectors deployed to suppress host defenses are recognized by plant resistance (R) proteins, activating a strong immune response, namely an effector-triggered immunity response, typically including a hypersensitive response [12][13][14].Studies have demonstrated the capacity for aphid salivary components to induce plant defenses, whereby infiltration of watery saliva (3-10 kDa) of the green peach aphid Myzus persicae resulted in reduced aphid performance and upregulated expression of genes involved in plant defense signal pathways [15]. Similarly, transient expression of M. persicae salivary proteins, Mp10, Mp42, Mp56, Mp57, and Mp58, in tobacco Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in reduced aphid fecundity, highlighting their roles in inducing aphid resistance [16,17]. Armet overexpression in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum and infiltration of purified Armet protein in N. benthamiana induced salicylic acid-mediated defense in plants, enhancing plant resistance against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, but not aphids [18]. However, to date, little is known about the role of PAMP-like molecules from aphids in plant-aphid interactions.Aphid saliva also contains several effectors that suppress plant defense responses and enhance plant susceptibility during infestation. For example, C002 is an initial effector described in A. pisum essential for aphid continuous phloem feeding [19,20]. Transit MpC002 overexpression in M. persicae and Me10, Me23, and Me47 of the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae in N. benthamiana enhanced aphid fecundity, suggesting these effectors could contribute to suppressing plant defense [16,[21][22][23]. Recent studies show Me10 contributes to defense against non-adapted aphids, interacting with the tomato 14-3-3 isoform (TFT7) [24]. Expression of candidate effectors RpC002 and Rp1 from the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi in transgenic barley lines enhanced plant susceptibility to aphids by suppressing plant defense responses [25].The grain aphid Sitobion miscanthi is a globally distributed sap-sucking specialist of cereals and the dominant species in wheat-growing regions across China, which has previously been misreported as Sitobion avenae [26]. S. miscanthi can induce huge yield losses by directly drawing phloem sap and transmitting various plant viruses, such as barley yellow dwarf virus [1,27]. Infestation of S. miscanthi can upregulate expression levels of many defense response genes in wheat [28,29] and the watery saliva secreted by S. miscanthi can induce aphid resistance in wheat [30]. In addition, transcriptomic analysis of S. miscanthi salivary glands identified 526 transcripts predicted to encode secretory proteins and 114 salivary proteins were identified in the watery saliva of S. miscanthi using tandem mass spectrometry [31,32]. However, few studies can identify the role of these salivary proteins in interactions between S. miscanthi and wheat. Here, a salivary gland specifically expressing salivary protein Sm9723 of S. miscanthi was selected as a candidate effector. The aims of this study were (i) to detect the effects of transient overexpressing Sm9723 in N. benthamiana on plant immune responses using agroinfiltration; (ii) to investigate the impact of Sm9723 silencing via nanocarrier-mediated RNAi on S. miscanthi performance and feeding behavior; and (iii) to identify the crucial roles of Sm9723 in prompting aphid fitness on wheat.The full-length cDNA for the Sm9723 gene contains a 798 bp open reading frame and encodes a polypeptide of 265 amino acid residues (Figure 1A) (GenBank accession number: ON783485). The first 21 amino acids constitute the signal peptide, with cleavage predicted between residues 21 and 22 (Figure 1A).BLAST analyses revealed that Sm9723 has no strong matches to any protein of known function or to any predicted protein outside of the family Aphididae. The amino acid sequence analysis showed Sm9723 shares the highest identity (77.74%) with the A. pisum ortholog but only 38.49% sequence identity with Cinara cedri ortholog, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Sm9723 and the A. pisum ortholog were closely related, clustering into an independent clade (Figure 1B).Phylogenetic analysis showed that Sm9723 and the A. pisum ortholog were closely related, clustering into an independent clade (Figure 1B).  Sm9723 expression in different aphid tissues, including salivary glands, heads, thoraxes, abdomens, and midguts of apterous aphids, was detected using RT-qPCR. As shown in Figure 2, relative expression of Sm9723 in the salivary gland was 370.12 ± 71.99 times higher than the whole body and was significantly higher than other aphid tissues, indicating this gene was specifically expressed in the S. miscanthi salivary gland.Sm9723 expression in different aphid tissues, including salivary glands, heads, thoraxes, abdomens, and midguts of apterous aphids, was detected using RT-qPCR. As shown in Figure 2, relative expression of Sm9723 in the salivary gland was 370.12 ± 71.99 times higher than the whole body and was significantly higher than other aphid tissues, indicating this gene was specifically expressed in the S. miscanthi salivary gland.To further characterize changes of transcript profiles of Sm9723 at different aphid feeding time points, transcript levels of Sm9723 were analyzed using RT-qPCR. The results in Figure 3 showed that expression levels of Sm9723 were significantly induced during infestation of wheat host plants and peaked at 12 hpi with an approximately 3.44-fold increase. These results suggest Sm9723 was significantly induced during aphid feeding and may contribute significantly to aphid virulence.  To further characterize changes of transcript profiles of Sm9723 at different aphid feeding time points, transcript levels of Sm9723 were analyzed using RT-qPCR. The results in Figure 3 showed that expression levels of Sm9723 were significantly induced during infestation of wheat host plants and peaked at 12 hpi with an approximately 3.44-fold increase. These results suggest Sm9723 was significantly induced during aphid feeding and may contribute significantly to aphid virulence. We examined the potential roles of Sm9723 in suppressing BAX and PAMP INF1induced programmed cell death (PCD) in N. benthamiana. As shown in Figure 4, transient We examined the potential roles of Sm9723 in suppressing BAX and PAMP INF1induced programmed cell death (PCD) in N. benthamiana. As shown in Figure 4, transient overexpression of both BAX and INF1 in tobacco activated obvious PCD, but overexpression of GFP, Sm9723 and Sm9723 -SP did not induce PCD, whereby overexpression of Sm9723 and Sm9723 -SP could significantly inhibit BAX and INF1-induced PCD in N. benthamiana. As a negative control, GFP overexpression did not influence PCD symptoms. We examined the potential roles of Sm9723 in suppressing BAX and PAMP INF1induced programmed cell death (PCD) in N. benthamiana. As shown in Figure 4, transient overexpression of both BAX and INF1 in tobacco activated obvious PCD, but overexpression of GFP, Sm9723 and Sm9723 -SP did not induce PCD, whereby overexpression of Sm9723 and Sm9723 -SP could significantly inhibit BAX and INF1-induced PCD in N. benthamiana. As a negative control, GFP overexpression did not influence PCD symptoms.  For PTI suppression assays with N. benthamiana, the GFP and the Sm9723 -SP : GFP construct were transiently expressed in leaves by agroinfiltration followed by injection with 20 µM Flg22 at 48 hpi. As shown in Figure 5A, aniline blue staining showed less callose accumulation in N. benthamiana leaves expressing Sm9723 -SP : GFP than in leaves expressing GFP at 12h post infiltration of Flg22. Further, the number of callose deposits (per mm 2 ) induced by Flg22 in leaves expressing Sm9723 -SP : GFP was significantly less than control groups (Figure 5B).At 12h post infiltration of Flg22, expression levels of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid-related defense genes, such as PAL, PR1a, LOX and WRKY12 in Sm9723 -SP : GFPoverexpressed leaves were significantly lower (0.35-0.51-fold change) as compared to control leaves expressing GFP (Figure 5C). These results indicate that Sm9723 can suppress callose deposition and defense responses in N. benthamiana. groups (Figure 5B).At 12h post infiltration of Flg22, expression levels of jasmonic acid and salicylic acidrelated defense genes, such as PAL, PR1a, LOX and WRKY12 in Sm9723 -SP : GFP-overexpressed leaves were significantly lower (0.35-0.51-fold change) as compared to control leaves expressing GFP (Figure 5C). These results indicate that Sm9723 can suppress callose deposition and defense responses in N. benthamiana.  (C) Relative expression levels of SA responsive genes PAL, PR1a, and JA-related genes LOX and FAD in N. benthamiana leaves transiently expressing Sm9723 -SP : GFP or GFP after infiltration with Flg22 were examined using RT-qPCR. Data are presented as mean ± SE. Three biological replicates were performed for each treatment. Asterisks above bars indicate significant differences between controls and treatments (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; Student's t-test).A schematic diagram of the transdermal dsRNA delivery system with nanocarriers is shown in Figure 6A. Here, 0.1 µL dsRNA formulation with 200 ng/µL dsSm9723 was dropped onto the aphid abdomen. RNAi efficiency of nanocarrier-mediated RNAi on the Sm9723 gene was then detected using RT-qPCR. As shown in Figure 6B, expression levels of Sm9723 in S. miscanthi decreased (0.42 ± 0.14-fold change) significantly following treatment with dsSm9723 for 24 h compared with controls. After 48 h of treatment, the transcript levels of Sm9723 were further reduced to 0.27 ± 0.097-fold, which were significantly lower than controls.dropped onto the aphid abdomen. RNAi efficiency of nanocarrier-mediated RNAi on the Sm9723 gene was then detected using RT-qPCR. As shown in Figure 6B, expression levels of Sm9723 in S. miscanthi decreased (0.42 ± 0.14-fold change) significantly following treatment with dsSm9723 for 24 h compared with controls. After 48 h of treatment, the transcript levels of Sm9723 were further reduced to 0.27 ± 0.097-fold, which were significantly lower than controls.(A) (B) As shown in Figure 7A, the number of nymphs produced by Sm9723-silenced aphids was significantly less than controls. In addition, Figure 7B showed that survival of Sm9723-silenced S. micanthi reduced to 63.75 ± 13.33% after feeding on wheat plants for two days, which was significantly lower than controls (dsGFP). This rate further decreased to only 39.17 ± 13.11% at eight days.(A) (B) As shown in Figure 7A, the number of nymphs produced by Sm9723-silenced aphids was significantly less than controls. In addition, Figure 7B showed that survival of Sm9723silenced S. micanthi reduced to 63.75 ± 13.33% after feeding on wheat plants for two days, which was significantly lower than controls (dsGFP). This rate further decreased to only 39.17 ± 13.11% at eight days.dropped onto the aphid abdomen. RNAi efficiency of nanocarrier-mediated RNAi on the Sm9723 gene was then detected using RT-qPCR. As shown in Figure 6B, expression levels of Sm9723 in S. miscanthi decreased (0.42 ± 0.14-fold change) significantly following treatment with dsSm9723 for 24 h compared with controls. After 48 h of treatment, the transcript levels of Sm9723 were further reduced to 0.27 ± 0.097-fold, which were significantly lower than controls.(A) (B) As shown in Figure 7A, the number of nymphs produced by Sm9723-silenced aphids was significantly less than controls. In addition, Figure 7B showed that survival of Sm9723-silenced S. micanthi reduced to 63.75 ± 13.33% after feeding on wheat plants for two days, which was significantly lower than controls (dsGFP). This rate further decreased to only 39.17 ± 13.11% at eight days.(A) (B)  As shown in Figure 8, feeding behavior of S. miscanthi was negatively affected after inhibiting Sm9723 expression. The time to the first probe activity of aphids treated with dsSm9723 was not significantly longer than that spent of the control groups. The number of non-probing (np) waveforms of Sm9723-silenced aphids on wheat plants was significantly greater than controls. Further, durations of the non-probing and C phases of Sm9723silenced aphids feeding on wheat plants were significantly longer, but duration of phloem ingestion (E2) was significantly shorter, than aphids treated with dsGFP.As shown in Figure 8, feeding behavior of S. miscanthi was negatively affected after inhibiting Sm9723 expression. The time to the first probe activity of aphids treated with dsSm9723 was not significantly longer than that spent of the control groups. The number of non-probing (np) waveforms of Sm9723-silenced aphids on wheat plants was significantly greater than controls. Further, durations of the non-probing and C phases of Sm9723-silenced aphids feeding on wheat plants were significantly longer, but duration of phloem ingestion (E2) was significantly shorter, than aphids treated with dsGFP. We found that a functional uncharacterized salivary protein from S. miscanthi possessed a signal peptide and it was highly induced during early feeding stages of aphids on wheat plants, suggesting that Sm9723 might be involved in modulating aphid-wheat interactions.Transient overexpression of salivary proteins in model plants, such as Arabidopsis, tobacco, and tomato, using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient transformation system is the most commonly used approach to identify aphid effectors [16,17,21]. INF1 is a PAMP from Phytophthora infestans and can trigger PTI-related PCD in N. benthamiana [33]. We determined that the expression of Sm9723 plus or minus signal peptide suppresses BAX-and INF1-triggered PCD in N. benthamiana, suggesting that Sm9723 can We found that a functional uncharacterized salivary protein from S. miscanthi possessed a signal peptide and it was highly induced during early feeding stages of aphids on wheat plants, suggesting that Sm9723 might be involved in modulating aphidwheat interactions.Transient overexpression of salivary proteins in model plants, such as Arabidopsis, tobacco, and tomato, using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient transformation system is the most commonly used approach to identify aphid effectors [16,17,21]. INF1 is a PAMP from Phytophthora infestans and can trigger PTI-related PCD in N. benthamiana [33]. We determined that the expression of Sm9723 plus or minus signal peptide suppresses BAX-and INF1-triggered PCD in N. benthamiana, suggesting that Sm9723 can suppress PTI-associated PCD. A previous study showed that the signal peptide sequence is necessary for XEG1 of pathogen Phytophthora sojae to trigger plant defense including cell death [34]. Our results suggest that peptide signal sequence is not necessary for the involvement of Sm9723 in the suppression of plant defenses. Flg22, a PAMP derived from bacterial flagellin protein, can be recognized by transmembrane pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) and activates callose depositions in plants [35,36]. In addition, callose deposition induced by aphid feeding is involved in sealing sieve pores as a phloem defense strategy that prevents nutrients flow to piercing-sucking insects [37]. Our results show that Sm9723 overexpression in N. benthamiana leaves inhibits PTI-related callose deposition.In addition, jasmonic acid and salicylic acid are two important phytohormones conferring plant resistance against aphids [38,39]. A previous study demonstrated that the expression of the candidate effector Rp1 from the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi in transgenic barley lines enhanced plant susceptibility to aphids by suppressing JA and SA defense pathways [25]. We also found that the overexpression of Sm9723 in tobacco leaves suppressed the expression levels of JA and SA defense-related genes PAL, PR1a, LOX, and FAD, indicating Sm9723 is involved in suppressing plant defense as an effector. Cereal plants, such as wheat, are the host plant of S. miscanthi, hence the roles of Sm9723 in modulating wheat plant defense merits further investigation. However, Agrobacteriummediated transformation is inefficient in cereals. An alternative approach to analyze the function of wheat aphid effectors is delivering proteins into cereal plant cells using a plant pathogen type III secretion system (T3SS), a method that has been successfully applied in the delivery of fungal effectors into wheat or barley [40]. For example, the candidate effector Pst_12806 of the fungal pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici can suppress PTIassociated callose deposition and defense-related gene expression in wheat when delivered by the P. fluorescens EtHAn delivery system [41].Delivery of dsRNA to silence genes has also been successfully applied to analyze the roles of candidate effectors of hemipterans on host adaptability. For example, gene expression of M. persicae effector MpC002 was knocked down by up to 60% after feeding on transgenic N. benthamiana and A. thaliana plants expressing dsRNA, and silenced M. persicae produced less nymphs, suggesting this gene is essential for aphid development on plants [42]. Salivary effector Bt56 in whiteflies B. tabaci was silenced by feeding with artificial diet containing dsRNA, resulting in significantly reduced whitefly performance on host plants and shorter phloem feeding durations [43]. Nanocarrier-mediated RNAi is a practical delivery system for silencing target genes of hemipteran insects, such as soybean aphid Aphis glycines and M. persicae, and is considered a promising strategy for gene function characterization and pest control [44][45][46]. In this study, to further examine the roles of Sm9723 on S. miscanthi fitness, the Sm9723 gene was silenced following application of the nanocarrier-mediated transdermal dsRNA delivery system. Our results show Sm9723 expression levels decreased significantly after application of dsSm9723/nanocarriers/detergent, and its transcript levels reduced by more than 60% compared with controls, suggesting nanocarrier-mediated RNAi is an effective gene function analysis method for S. miscanthi.Furthermore, we found survival and fecundity of Sm9723-slienced S. miscanthi decreased significantly, and feeding behavior of S. miscanthi was dramatically affected after gene silencing. For example, the non-probing phase and extracellular stylet pathway of the Sm9723-slienced S. miscanthi had a longer total duration, but duration of passive ingestion (E2 wave) of Sm9723-slienced S. miscanthi was shorter than controls, indicating aphids had trouble continuously feeding from the phloem for extensive time periods when feeding on wheat, resulting in reduced aphid performance. These outcomes suggest Sm9723 is essential for aphid adaptability to host plants as a salivary effector. Spray application of dsRNA pesticide shows great potential in controlling M. persicae and several plant pathogens [46,47]. Further, previous studies demonstrated that host induced gene silencing (HIGS) in transgenic wheat and barley plants targeting essential genes of S. avenae can successfully confer resistance against aphids [48,49]. Therefore, Sm9723 could be an ideal RNAi target gene for aphid control either through spray induced gene silencing (SIGS) or HIGS.In summary, the salivary protein Sm9723 of S. miscanthi was shown to be involved in the suppression of plant immunity by inhibiting callose deposition, JA and SA associated defense signaling pathways. Silencing of Sm9723 via nanocarrier-mediated RNAi resulted in significant negative effects on aphid performance and feeding behavior. The results of the current study suggested that Sm9723 plays important roles in suppressing plant defense as effector and could be potential target gene for RNAi-based aphid control.Clones of S. miscanthi were initially established from a single aphid collected from a wheat field without any pesticide application in Langfang city (39 • 51 53.21 N, 116 • 61 45.96 E), Hebei province, Northern China, which was maintained under laboratory conditions (L:D = 16 h:8 h; 20 • C ± 1 • C; 70% relative humidity) on aphid-susceptible wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L. Mingxian 169) for more than four years.Multiple alignment of amino acid sequences was performed using ClustalOmega (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalo/) (accessed on 24 April 2021). Signal peptides were predicted using the SignalP 4.1 server (http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/SignalP/) (accessed on 24 April 2021) and iPSORT (http://ipsort.hgc.jp/) (accessed on 24 April 2021). A phylogenetic tree was constructed by the neighbor-joining method via MEGA7.0. Bootstrap values were calculated as a percentage from over 1000 replications.The full coding sequence of Sm9723 and sequence excluding signal peptide (Sm9723 -SP ) were cloned into pCAMBIA1300-GFP respectively, and A. tumefaciens GV3101 carrying pCAMBIA1300-Sm9723-GFP or pCAMBIA1300-Sm9723 -SP -GFP constructs were infiltrated into N. benthamiana leaves as described in [16]. A. tumefaciens cells carrying BAX/INF1 were infiltrated into the same site 24 h later. Photos of leaf symptoms were taken three days after BAX/INF1 inoculation. Leaves were decolorized using ethanol, and three biological replicates were performed for each treatment. A. tumefaciens cells carrying GFP were used as negative controls. Primers used for gene cloning are presented in Table S1.Cells of A. tumefaciens carrying pCAMBIA1300-GFP (control) or pCAMBIA1300-Sm9723 -SP -GFP constructs were infiltrated into N. benthamiana leaves as described above. After 24 hpi, 20 µM Flg22 solution was injected into the same infiltration sites, and leaves were collected after 12h infiltration. Callose deposition in N. benthamiana leaves was visualized using aniline blue staining according to protocols reported previously [50]. Callose deposition was observed and photographed with an Echo Revolve Hybrid Microscope (Echo Laboratories, San Diego, CA, USA) using a DAPI filter. Fifteen sites (1 mm 2 /site) were selected from infiltrated areas of each treated leaf, and callose deposits was counted for each site. Three independent biological replicates were conducted.dsRNA specific for the Sm9723 gene was synthesized and purified using a Tran-scriptAid T7 High Yield Transcription Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions using the primers listed in Table S1. The star polycation (SPc) nanocarrier was gently mixed with dsRNA at a recommended mass ratio of 1:1, and 0.05% detergent (surfactant and softened water) was added to reduce surface tension of hydrophilic nanocomplexes [44,51]. The 0.1 µL dsSm9723/nanocarrier/detergent and dsGFP/nanocarrier/detergent (Control) formulations with 200 ng/µL dsRNA were dropped on aphid notums and adsorbed immediately under the presence of detergent. Aphids were then collected at 24 or 48 h and the whole body of aphids was washed by sterilized H 2 O three times to remove nanocarrier/detergent residue and detect transcript levels of Sm9723 following dsRNA treatment.To examine the effects of Sm9723 silencing on aphid performance, five apterous adult aphids were treated with dsSm9723/nanocarrier/detergent formulations, and treated aphids were transferred onto wheat plants in a plastic cage (2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 cm) to avoid escape. The number of nymphs produced by the aphids was recorded daily for five days. Fifteen replicates were conducted for each group. In addition, ten apterous adult aphids treated with dsSm9723/nanocarrier/detergent were also transferred to plastic cages, and the number of surviving aphids on plants was counted daily for eight days following dsRNA treatment. Ten biological replicates were performed and aphids treated with dsGFP/nanocarrier/detergent were included as the control.Feeding behavior of the Sm9723-silenced adult apterous S. miscanthi on wheat plants was recorded using EPG (DC-EPG Giga-8, Wageningen, The Netherland). EPG monitoring was performed from 09:00 a.m. to 15:00 p.m. every day and recorded continuously for 6 h in a Faraday cage in the laboratory (20 • C ± 1 • C, L:D = 16:8 photoperiod, 70% RH). Each aphid and plant were used only once. The visualization and manual labelling of feeding waves were performed using Stylet + a. Aphid feeding waveform patterns were identified as described in [52]. Ten independent biological replicates were conducted for each treatment.Total RNA of aphids and wheat leaves was extracted using TRIzol reagent according to the manufacturer's instructions (Invitrogen, Waltham, MA, USA). 1 µg total RNA was used to synthesize the first strand cDNA using the HiScript III 1st Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (+gDNA wiper) (Vazyme, Nanjing, China). Different aphid tissues, including the salivary gland, midgut, head, thorax and abdomen, were dissected in PBS buffer (pH 7.2) using a microscope. Expression levels of Sm9723 in different aphid tissues were then examined using RT-qPCR analysis [31]. β-actin and NADH hydrogenase were used as internal reference genes [53]. Changes in gene expression levels involved in SA and JA defense signaling pathways, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), pathogenesis related protein-1 (PR1a), lipoxygenase (LOX) and fatty acyl desaturase (FAD) of N. benthamiana overexpressing Sm9723 -SP -GFP and GPF were also detected. RT-qPCR was performed on an ABI 7500 Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems, Waltham, WA, USA) as described in [30,31]. All primers for RT-qPCR are presented in Table S1. All reactions were performed with three biological replicates, and the differential expression was calculated using the 2 -∆∆CT method [54].All data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 20.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Differences among groups were examined using Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, followed by Duncan's multiple range test. EPG data were analyzed by a Mann-Whitney U test. p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.","tokenCount":"4162"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8165844959.json b/data/part_1/8165844959.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..697e76b22da2bd875ff3944a1f1cd0a10d56881e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8165844959.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4681dbf0b649922eaeba78d3092149a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a44de053-1a08-4135-9bdc-1d295f2edbf9/retrieve","id":"1272965189"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4f7b07d2-93b4-48b5-ad3a-7b7b99cf1b3c","pagecount":"2","content":"The Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Project has been proposed at a site 2km below the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers, two major tributaries of the Mekong River in Northeast Cambodia. The resulting dam reservoir would inundate large area of forests, human settlements, and river channels, requiring resettlement of thousands of people. Moreover, access to water resources will be fundamentally transformed for the local communities both upstream and downstream of the dam, affecting their livelihoods and daily lives in many different ways, including bathing, washing, transportation, and fishing. When downstream hydrological changes are taken into consideration, the impact zone extends well beyond the geographic areas covered by the EIA. The value of water from the river, in its various uses, should be assessed before the construction starts, so that a wide range of stakeholder groups, potential losses, and trade--offs can be clearly identified, and unanticipated negative impacts can be avoided or mitigated. In reality, the resettlement program focuses on compensating the direct loss of household assets. Through an integrated water valuation framework we assess the current value of water derived from these rivers both at the household and sub--basin levels, before the dam is constructed. Hydrological changes after the construction will be estimated and provide a basis for analyzing future trade--offs, losses, and benefits. Documenting the variety of water uses and values, often overlooked in cost--benefit analysis of hydropower project, the study will provide information for improving the future hydropower development strategy and EIA processes.","tokenCount":"246"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8168512351.json b/data/part_1/8168512351.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6c6e6e7b784e5c0fabc81ab34058d1f0dcf24bcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8168512351.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c6d09fc9c33468fbfeecb8ee36bf2535","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/876b4e70-662a-4c08-a77f-eea0729a5b76/retrieve","id":"-362403639"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ce666145-eec4-4cca-af9c-7439b9f3fa2e","pagecount":"13","content":"Humidtropics was a CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics that aimed to help poor farm families in tropical Africa, Asia and the Americas boost their income and livelihoods through agricultural development. The CRP used participatory and collaborative approaches involving a wide range of local stakeholders as partners in R4D. As one of the three CRPs 1 that undertook integrated systems research, Humidtropics, along with drylands and aquatic systems, had the challenging task of looking at agriculture in a holistic manner. This meant identifying, understanding and addressing the multiple issues of productivity, natural resources management and institutional constraints across the entire system (Humidtropics 2012), as well as the interactions, trade-offs and synergies of potential innovations at household, community and policy levels (Öborn et al 2017). To facilitate this, Humidtropics adopted a multistakeholder approach that focused on bringing research, government, development and business partners together to identify key constraints, and to prioritize, design and implement innovative approaches to overcome them. Multistakeholder platforms were established, operating either at the local community level and focusing on concrete issues (e.g. the platform on commercial vegetables established in Northwest 1 Following a comprehensive review of the CGIAR system's structure and activities in 2008, 15 research programs were implemented in the first CRP phase (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016): seven CRPs that focused on a particular crop or commodity; five cross-cutting CRPs; and, three agricultural systems CRPs. The second CRP phase (2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022) will have eight agrifood systems (AFS) CRPs, four global integrating programs (GIP), and three technology and data platforms. Viet Nam), or operating at a higher regional level and targeting the more structural policy barriers for agricultural innovation in the agricultural system. Working with multiple stakeholder groups was proposed for three main reasons (Schut et al 2016). First, different stakeholder groups can provide a diversity of insights about the biophysical, technological and institutional dimensions of the problem, and what type of innovations are technically feasible, economically viable and socioculturally and politically acceptable (Schut et al 2014). Second, stakeholder groups become aware of their fundamental interdependencies and the need for concerted action to overcome common constraints and reach their objectives (Leeuwis 2000). Third, stakeholder groups are more likely to support specific solutions when they have been part of the decision-making and design process (Faysse 2006).Originally conceived as a 15-year research program, the Humidtropics' R4D activities began in 2013. Two years later, the CGIAR announced that in its second CRP phase starting 2017, the systems CRPs would be absorbed into the more value-chain oriented agrifood systems CRPs. Although it is unfortunate that Humidtropics as an independent research program was to last less than five full years, numerous and significant R4D activities were implemented and partnerships were forged at field sites in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. This book provides readers with a glimpse of the R4D activities and partnerships in the Humidtropics Central Mekong Action Area 2 led by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in close partnership with international and national partners in five countries in mainland Southeast Asia. In doing so, our goal is to provide the results of our endeavours to support ongoing and future integrated agricultural systems research in Central Mekong and elsewhere.A systems research program that focuses on the humid tropics has several significant aspects. The humid tropics are important for their biodiversity and constitute many of the world's biodiversity hotpots (cf. Myers et al 2000). Covering almost 3 billion hectares of land, the humid tropics are home to approximately 2.9 billion people, most of whom are poor smallholder farmers (Humidtropics 2012). Considering that agriculture is a major livelihood in the humid tropics, sustainable agricultural development is essential to enable numerous challenges to be addressed, not just in environmental conservation but also in dealing with the human element in the equation. Without addressing issues such as poverty, food security and market access in these regions, it is not possible to address threats to the environment and to adapt to global changes including climate change. The Humidtropics CRP thus aimed to take a systems perspective to deal with such issues comprehensively by implementing 2 Situated within the larger 260 million ha geopolitical boundary of the Greater Mekong subregion, the Central Mekong Action Area covers an area above the Mekong delta and below the high mountainous temperate zone (Humidtropics 2012). See also map on page ix of this book.R4D that contributes to enhancing agricultural production and productivity while at the same time improving smallholder livelihoods and reducing the environmental degradation that often arises from intensified agriculture.The theory of change within the Humidtropics CRP was based on the hypothesis that the region's inherent potential is best realized through an integrated systems approach involving participatory action across stakeholder groups. Humidtropics addressed this by enhancing capacity to innovate at farm, institutional and landscape levels, and engaging with women, youth and marginalized groups. The increased innovation capacity would result in systems interventions that improve productivity and natural resource management and links to markets. This way, Humidtropics contributed to delivering on the three main goals of the Strategy and Results Framework of the CGIAR (CGIAR 2015):• Reduced poverty: through increased productivity and resilience to shocks, leading to increased incomes and employment opportunities. Enhanced access to markets for smallholder farmers and increasing the resilience of the poor are also important components.• Improved food and nutrition security: through improved diets, food safety, and human and animal health through better agricultural practices.• Improved natural resource systems and ecosystem services: by ensuring that natural capital is enhanced and protected from climate change and overexploitation, as well as other forms of abuse. Enhanced benefits from ecosystem goods and services, and more sustainably managed agro-ecosystems, are also key components.Ultimately, the Humidtropics objective was to contribute to achieving these outcomes by 2023 by increasing staple food yields by 60 percent, increasing average farm income by 50 percent, lifting 25 percent of poor households above the poverty line, reducing the number of malnourished children by 30 percent, and restoring 40 percent of farms to sustainable resource management (Humidtropics 2012). In the extension proposal for 2015-2016, Humidtropics was further developed and its goals and targets refined in three, six, and nine-year targets (Humidtropics 2014).The research program was organized into three Strategic Research Themes (SRTs) as demonstrated in Figure 1.1:1. SRT1 focused on systems analysis and global synthesis, by establishing the baseline situation and synthesizes progress towards the expected outcome situation.2. SRT2 worked on integrated systems improvement, by researching and mainstreaming promising systems interventions related to productivity, natural resource management, and markets and institutions. This theme also included use of modelling tools and analysis, gender considerations, research-development interactions, and scaling-out dimensions. Sustainable intensification and diversification are key drivers.  The Central Mekong Action Area covered six countries in mainland Southeast Asia (Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam), with diverse topography, farming systems, ethnic populations, markets and sociopolitical systems. The region is undergoing intense social, economic, and ecological changes that offer many economic opportunities, yet also pose potential threats to ecologically sustainable livelihoods. The area is characterized by expanding infrastructure and markets, and government policies and programs that promote rural and agricultural development; all these present opportunities to improve livelihoods. At the same time, government policies that enforce rapid conversion to specialized and intensified forms of agriculture and other land uses (Than 1998, Rerkasem et al 2009), and rapid population changes, have created significant challenges in upland agricultural systems. These include: sedentarization of agriculture and settlements; environmental degradation, including rapid deforestation and erosion of farming lands; limited and inequitable access to markets; decreasing productivity and total farm income; inequitable access to natural resources, including water; ecosystem services that do not benefit the poor; and, marginalized ethnic minorities (Rerkasem et al 2009, Friederichsen and Neef 2010, Drahmoune 2013, Fox and Castella 2013).Humidtropics activities in the region were officially launched at a workshop in Hanoi in May 2013. Field implementation was planned within three transnational Action Sites sharing common agro-ecological and sociocultural systems and challenges, as delineated in the map of the Central Mekong Action Area on page ix of this book. Delineating the action sites took into consideration the potential for cross-border learning and transboundary research, and also existing research activities by the Humidtropics core partners.A timeline of the main events in the Action Sites (Triangles) and field sites in the Central Mekong is shown in Figure 1.2 below. ICRAF coordinated the R4D activities in the Central Mekong. The Action Area Coordinator was initially based in Kunming, China, and then in Hanoi, Viet Nam from April 2013. A Core Team was formed with a representative from each of the eight Humidtropics core partners in this region. These were:• Bioversity International• International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)• International Potato Center (CIP)• The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)• Wageningen University (WUR)• World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg)The Core Team met twice a year to provide a) a coherent and effective management structure across partner organisations; b) a transparent and auditable joint decision-making process to prioritize, plan and implement the R4D activities in line with Humidtropics objectives and impact strategy; and, c) facilitate the effective implementation of cross-cutting activities within the Central Mekong Action Sites. In addition to the regular Core Team meetings, the researchers gathered in November 2013, 2014 and 2015 to plan activities and budget for the following years. Regular monitoring and evaluation (M&E) based on resultbased management were implemented by an M&E officer based at ICRAF Viet Nam.  1 above), coping strategies combining field trials and participatory approaches are described. The authors conclude that to ensure productive agriculture and food production for future generations, the central challenge is how to best harmonize income generation from commercially-oriented, specialized tree and monocropping systems with the benefits of more diversified farming systems that allow soil and water to be better conserved. Solutions that address this challenge require long-term commitment in field sites, working especially closely with ethnic minority communities.Chapter 4 summarizes and evaluates tools and approaches used to address nutrition in Central Mekong and presents diet and nutrition data and analysis from four case studies from Northwest Viet Nam and the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. After a review of R4D activities implemented in Central Mekong (see 2. and 3. in Table 1 above), the authors conclude that nutrition was not prioritized by the multistakeholder platforms or during the situational analyses, which led to R4D projects and activities that did not work directly to improve nutrition. Furthermore, the wide range of nutrition indicators and data collection methods applied in the nutrition-inclusive R4D activities highlights the need for more coordinated guidance and design at the program level.In the final chapter, the conclusions and lessons learned from the three thematic chapters are synthesized, and the key achievements of more than four years of active integrated systems R4D implemented under Humidtropics along with some of the major lessons learned are presented. Despite numerous challenges, we conclude that our four years of integrated agricultural R4D activities in the Central Mekong resulted in significant research and development achievements. The partnerships and collaborative relationships made through our work, and our collaborative work with local partners on the ground to identify and test innovations, will continue beyond Humidtropics, and may be scaled up in other CRPs in the second phase. We believe lessons learned through our experience will contribute to strengthening our collective effort towards improving the income and livelihoods of poor smallholder farmers through sustainable agricultural development.","tokenCount":"1908"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8188849447.json b/data/part_1/8188849447.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..705e41351ba9769cc70494988a9e2cd4e990b044
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8188849447.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a0a20cfaef10075721e2c5b05cc1805c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9a9ce67-fd77-4d19-bf35-123a2e43f91c/retrieve","id":"624826578"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1bc07e3d-75d6-44bf-bb2a-f35a6096b960","pagecount":"2","content":"Rainfed coastal saline areas of Eastern India are mostly mono-cropped, with rice in the wet season and fallow in the dry season. During the dry season, only limited area is planted to rice using rainwater harvested in small ponds and ditches. Majority of farmers in these areas have marginal to small landholdings and are resource poor owing to low agriculture productivity and frequent crop losses due to abiotic stresses (salinity, drought and submergence) and natural calamities (storms and cyclones). Introduction of less water consuming non-rice crops in the dry season could enhance land and water productivity and farmers' income. This shift from rice to non-rice crops will also help expand the cultivated area and increase cropping intensity.In an ICAR-IRRI collaborative project on salinity funded by the Challenge Program on Water & Food, on-farm trials were conducted during 2005-06 in Ersama block of Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, India, to evaluate performance of selected non-rice crops. In 2005, sunflower, Basella, watermelon, chilli, pumpkin, groundnut, tomato, bitter gourd and okra were evaluated under high and low-to-medium salinity in a sandy loam soil. The ECe of soil, ground water and irrigation water were 9.Rs.45090 ha -1 ) and chilli (7.45 t ha -1 and Rs.24022 ha -1 ) in the other location with clay loam soil. The B:C ratio of these crops was 2.5-9.5 in the first location and 3.5-7.1 in the second location. Water productivity was the highest for pumpkin (20.4) followed by watermelon (17.9) and groundnut (9.45) in the first location and watermelon (59.4) followed by okra (14.3) and chilli (13.9) in the second location. The EC e of soil, ground water and irrigation water of the two locations with medium salinity were 2.0-15.0, 2.4-10.3, 0.8-5.8 dS m -1 and 4.6-17.0, 4.3-9.9, 0.6-1.8 dS m -1 , respectively.There was wide location-wise variability in performance of some crops owing to soil type and quality of irrigation and groundwater. Based on crop productivity, economics and water productivity, watermelon, chilli, pumpkin and sunflower are probably the most promising crops for both medium and high salinity areas, while okra is suitable and most remunerative under medium salinity conditions. Sunflower and chilli produced consistent yield across the locations and were preferred by farmers because of better prospects for local consumption and storage for longer duration.","tokenCount":"378"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8188935739.json b/data/part_1/8188935739.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..15ddf4af7e746f6369e95e04c9f6d29688460a7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8188935739.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"26618b71e63c8d36d5ec571f67d565c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/269e8c08-8a5e-47e1-9bbc-32a5325576c8/retrieve","id":"1057219338"},"keywords":["DRIS","soil","ear leaf","nutrient balance","maize"],"sieverID":"108151f1-8319-4be9-a282-d2516303c95b","pagecount":"15","content":"Improper nutrient management reduces the yield and affects the nutrient status of crops. This study aimed to diagnose the nutrients limitation in maize. A three-year multi-location (348 sites) nutrient experiments were conducted in randomized block design to analyse nutrients limitation for maize production under conventional fertilizer recommendation system in Nigeria using DRIS, and to identify soil factors that influence DRIS indices using random forest model. DRIS indices for nutrients were calculated from the results of ear leaf samples collected from the experimental plots. The DRIS indices were summed, and used to cluster plots using k-means cluster algorithm. The results show large differences in average yield between the clusters. The clusters also differed based on frequency with which nutrients are most limiting. B was the most limiting in cluster one and three, Mn in cluster two and K in cluster four. Random forest results show that soil pH, B and Mg had the largest influence on DRIS indices in cluster one. DRIS indices were most influenced by soil N and B in cluster two. To a lesser extent, the soil Fe, K, Mg and S contents also influenced DRIS indices in cluster two. Soil K, B and Zn were the most significant factors influencing the DRIS indices in cluster four. Bulk Density, Fe, Na, ECEC, and organic carbon had a moderate influence on the indices in this cluster. Nutrient limitation in plants can be diagnose using the DRIS. Soil properties have a definite influence on maize nutrient status.The area where maize is cultivated in Nigeria has remarkably increased over the last three decades (FAOSTAT 2019) due to availability of different stress-tolerant varieties (Kamara et al 2019). Consequently, maize cultivation has become more preferred among dominantly sorghum and millet farming communities. The northern Nigeria region (the savannas) is the foremost maize production zone in the country due to relatively more favorable production conditions (Shehu et al 2018). The region is characterized by sufficient solar radiation, optimum temperature and well-defined rainy season which allows for adequate drying of maize. This region produces a combined 80% of the 10-11 million metric tons of maize annually produced in the country (Knoema 2021).While several studies (Garba et al 2020, Rurinda et al 2020) have reported potential yields of > 6 t ha −1 in experimental fields particularly within the savannas of Nigeria, national average maize yield for long has been ranging from < 1.8 to 2.5 t ha −1 ; equivalent to < 30% of the potential yield of the area (FAOSTAT 2019). Low soil fertility in the area (Jibrin et al 2012, Aliyu et al 2020) which is compounded by improper management strategies to maintain soil nutrient stocks, and to improve yield response to nutrient application (Shehu et al 2018) are considered the most critical factors limiting maize productivity in the region and in Nigeria as whole. Following existing blanket recommendation which ignores spatial variability in soil nutrient (or soil fertility) status and the sub-optimal application of fertilizers may further contribute to depletion of soil nutrient stock and low fertilizer use efficiency in the region (Garba et al 2020). Studies by Shehu et al (2019) and Rurinda et al (2020) showed that fertilizer recovery efficiency was < 20% for nitrogen (N), < 15% for phosphorus (P), and < 30% for potassium (K) in some parts of the northern savanna areas. Low nutrient use efficiency reflects that a substantial portion of the nutrient(s) applied through fertilizer is not taken by the crop and either lost through leaching or being fixed in the soil.Although the blanket recommendation acknowledges the application of secondary macronutrients and micronutrients (SMNs), most of emphasis are directed mainly towards three main essential macronutrients; nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (FFD 2012). In long-term experiments in the savannas of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, Nziguheba et al (2009) reported that Ca, Mg and Zn are principally deficient as indicated by their strong negative DRIS (Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System) indices. Biwe (2012) also similarly reported that the levels of Zn (0.26 mg kg −1 ) and Cu (0.36 mg kg −1 ) in soils of Bauchi state of North-eastern Nigeria, are far below the levels required for maize production. Weil and Mughogho (2000) reported the deficiency of S in most parts of the Guinea savanna of Nigeria, especially under the current intensifying agricultural systems. The deficiency of those nutrients can be partly attributed to the observed suboptimal response of crops like maize to NPK fertilizers leading to a reduction in crop quality and yields.Addressing the low maize yield in Nigeria should therefore target identification of the limiting soil nutrients and applying them in a balanced manner. Soil testing can indicate potential soil supplying capacity of nutrients, however, it is not a good indicator of actual nutrient uptake by plants, as other factors interplay with nutrient uptake process (Fixen et al 2005). Therefore, to effectively diagnose limiting plant nutrients, soil test needs to be complemented with plant tissue nutrient diagnosis (Roy et al 2006, Mugo et al 2020). Plant tissue nutrient diagnosis is based on the fact that maximum yields are associated with an optimum concentration of nutrients in the plant tissue (Maia 2012, Mangale et al 2016). But because nutrient concentration in plant tissues is growth stage dependent (Reuter et al 1997), and also affected by the availability of other nutrients (nutrient interaction), nutrient diagnosis based on single nutrient concentration (absolute concentration), e.g., the case of critical value approach and sufficiency range, cannot be confidently applied to diagnose plant nutrient disorder (Beaufils 1987). To overcome this defect, a bivariate nutrient diagnosis method 'Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System' (DRIS) was proposed by Walworth and Sumner (1987). The DRIS methods diagnose nutrients in dual ratios (relative concentration), to reflect nutrient status as a function of interaction with other nutrients (Walworth and Sumner 1987). Also, because nutrient ratios in plants are fairly constant throughout crop development stages, the sensitivity of changes in nutrient concentration due to plant age is reduced using the DRIS (Singh et al 2000, Harger et al 2003).Moving away from the conventional method of generating fertilizer recommendation alone based on yield response to fertilizer application, soil or foliar analysis respectively, this study aims to complement the tissue diagnosis using the Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) with soil analysis under the conventional blanket fertilizer recommendation of NPK in the savanna zones of northern Nigeria. Combining the two approaches will give the opportunity of applying nutrients in a balanced manner, and promote synergistic uptake of plant nutrients for better productivity of crops and soils. The specific objectives of this paper were: (i) to diagnose the nutritional status of maize under conventional blanket NPK recommendation, and (ii) to identify the principal soil properties influencing the maize DRIS indices in the savanna zones of northern Nigeria.The studies were conducted in the southern Guinea, northern Guinea and the Sudan savanna zones across three States in northern Nigeria (Kano, Kaduna and Katsina States, shown in figure 1). The Sudan savanna (SS) has varied range of soil from Regosols to Ferric Luvisols.The SS has a length of growing season of around 120 days lasting from May to October with total of 753 ± 171 mm of rain over 57 ± 9 rainy days. Average minimum and maximum temperatures are 20.0 °C and 33.7 °C respectively. The SS is bordered by the northern Guinea savanna (NGS) in the southern extremes. The NGS climate is characterized by a longer growing season and larger number of rainy days (63 ± 9 days) and higher total annual rainfall amount (998 ± 133 mm) than the SS. It has a growing season of 140 days, and soil is mostly Dystic Gleysols and some Lithosols towards the southern part. Average minimum and maximum temperatures are respectively 19.2 °C and 31.6 °C. Lithosols is the most dominantly found soil type in the southern Guinea savanna (SGS). The SGS is the wettest zone of all the savannas with an annual total rainfall of 1541 ± 270 mm and length of growing season of over 150 days covering April to October. Average minimum (21.1 °C) and maximum (32.4 °C) temperatures are similar to that of the SS. Description of the zones are based on 30 year averages from 1980-2009 as reported by Tofa et al (2021). These zones together present the most suitable maize growing area in Nigeria and are part of the larger maize belt of Nigeria as described by Aliyu et al (2020).Two different field experiments were conducted across the study area from 2015-2017 rainy seasons. The first set of experiment was the nutrient omission trials (NOTs) that were conducted is the three consecutive experimental years. The sites for the NOTs were selected such that the varying maize cropping conditions across the study area are well represented. The site selection was explicitly reported in Shehu et al (2018Shehu et al ( , 2019) ) for 2015 and 2016. Modification of the spatial sampling frame work for 2017 is reported in Aliyu et al (2021).Ninety-five (95), 103 and thirty (30) experiments were established on farmer fields in 2015, 2016 and 2017 growing seasons respectively. The experiments in 2015 and 2016 consisted of six nutrient treatments (field layout is shown as supplementary material figure S1), which comprised of a Control (no nutrient application), PK, NK, NP, NPK and NPK+ treatment which had Mg, Ca, S, Zn and B nutrients added to NPK. In 2017, the NPK+ treatment was split into NPKS, NPKB, NPKZn and NPKSZnB in addition to the treatments in 2015 and 2016. During each year, the N, P and K nutrient were applied uniformly at 140 kg N ha −1 , 50 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 and 50 kg K 2 O ha −1 respectively at all trial sites. Nitrogen (N) was applied in three equal splits, i.e., at planting (basal), at 21 and 42 days after sowing (DAS), while full dosages of P and K were applied at planting. The nutrients S, Ca, Mg, Zn and B were basally applied at the rates of 10-24, 10, 10, 5-10 and 5 kg ha −1 respectively, (more description of the NOTs is provided in table S1). The maize variety SAMMAZ 15 is the most widely adopted variety within the experimental area because of its' tolerance to drought, Striga and maize streak virus infestation was used throughout the study. Two seeds per hole were sown at 0.25 m spacing, and later thinned to one plant per in all the studies.In each year, each treatment plot consisted of six ridges constructed 0.75 m apart, each measuring 5 m long given a plot area of 22.5 m 2 . Yield was estimated from a plot area of 9 m 2 , defined by disregarding 1 row from each side of the plot and 1 m from either row side of the four middle rows. All cobs and stover in the net plot area were harvested and weighed fresh. Five cobs were then sub-sampled at random for determining moisture content, shelling percentage, and harvest index. Grain yield (in kg ha −1 ) was expressed on a dry weight basis at 15.0% moisture content adjustment using a grain moisture tester.In the second experiment, a fertilizer response trial (FRT) was established in the 2017 rainy season. This experiment was conducted across the larger maize belt of the Nigeria savannas across eight States with site selection procedure fully described by Aliyu et al (2020). The trial was established in 935 farms from which 120 sites which belong to the focal area for this study were considered in this study. The FRT treatments included NPK, NPKSZnB, NPSZnB and a Control where no nutrient was applied. The whole plot for the NPK was made up of 20 rows of 10 m × 15 m lengths spaced at 0.75 m (field layout is shown as supplementary material figure S3). The net plot was determined by leaving out the first two and last two rows of each plot and 1 m each from both ends of each row. Thus, maize yield was estimated from a plot area of 8 m × 12 m = 96 m 2 . The same maize variety used in the NOTs was used in this experiment. Planting, fertilizer application and crop management practices were the same as the NOTs.The NPK treatment was common between the two studies because it is the dominant/recommended fertilizer management practice in the study area (FFD 2012). Therefore only data of the NPK treatment across the experiments were used and reported in the study.Prior to establishment of the fields, soil samples were collected at 20 cm depth from representative spots at each experimental site and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. Total soil organic carbon (OC tot ) was determined using modified Walkley & Black chromic acid wet chemical oxidation and spectrophotometric method (Heanes 1984). Total nitrogen content (N tot ) was measured using micro-Kjeldahl digestion method (Bremner 1996). The pH (soil/water ratio of 1:1) was measured using a glass electrode pH meter. Available phosphorus, available sulphur, exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B) were extracted by Mehlich-3 procedure (Mehlich 1984) and read through inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES, Optima 800, Winlab 5.5, Perkin Elmer Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) was calculated as the sum of exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and exchangeable acidity (H + Al). Soil texture was analyzed using hydrometer method (Gee and Or 2002).For ear leaf analysis, ten maize ear leaves were randomly collected from the second and fifth rows immediately at the beginning of silking stage (female flower initiation stage) in the NOTs. For the FRT, first ear leaf was sampled from a plant selected arbitrarily at the centre of the plot. The second and third ear leaves were sampled from the fifth plants to the left and right in reference to the first sampled plant. Two rows perpendicular to the first sampled row from both sides were selected and same procedure was repeated. The tenth sample was randomly collected from within the plot.The samples were washed with distilled water and air dried. The dried samples were then ground with agate pestle and mortar and analysed for nutrient contents. Nitrogen was analyzed by digesting the samples in hot sulphuric acid solution in the presence of Se as catalyst, followed by colorimetric N analysis using autoanalyzer (Technicon AAII, SEAL Analytical Inc.) following indophenol blue method. For the determination of Sulphur, ball-milled samples were digested with nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and the nutrient contents in the digest were determined in Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES Optima 3300 DV, Perkin Elmer, Norwalk, USA). Phosphorus (P), K, Ca and Mg and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B) were analyzed by first dry-ashing the samples for four hours at 550 °C and then prepared and read on ICP-OES Optima 800, Winlab 5.5 (manufactured by PerkinElmer Inc., Waltham,MA, USA).Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) (Beaufils 1987) was used to assess the nutrient balance index in maize using the results of the ear leaf analysis. First step in DRIS analysis is the establishment of DRIS nutrient norms. The norms are the average nutrient pair ratios of the high yielding (reference population). The reference population was determined by sorting the data according to yield in decreasing order and a cut-off yield was determined. In this study, the cut-off point was determined at mean yield +0.5 × standard deviation (Aliyu et al 2021). Using this criterion, plots with yield 5645 kg ha −1 were considered high yielding and were used as the reference. The reference sub-population constituted 27% of the entire dataset. The Mean value for each nutrient pair, their corresponding coefficient of variation (CV), and variance (σ 2 ) were then calculated separately for the two sub-populations. The mean value of each nutrient pair ratio in the high-yielding population were considered as the norms (Walworth and Sumner 1987). For calculating the DRIS index, we expressed all possible forms of nutrient pair expressions i.e., A/B, B/A and A×B. Accuracy of DRIS diagnosis depends on the variability of the nutrient pair ratios for the high versus the low yielding sub-populations. Thus, we again calculated the variance (σ 2 ) for each form of nutrient pair expression separately for each subpopulation. It is hypothesised that the data of the low yielding sub-population is more imbalanced and therefore should have larger variance than the high yielding one. Therefore, we divided the variance of the low yielding sub-population by that of the high yielding sub-population. Finally, the nutrient pair ratio expression that present the highest variance ratio between the low and high yielding sub-population was selected among the three nutrient pair expressions, and was used for calculating the DRIS index. The DRIS index for each nutrient was calculated as bivariate relationship between that nutrient and all other nutrients.As explained by Walworth and Sumner (1988), If we consider hypothetical nutrients A, B through N, then:Where a/b is the norm for the ratio of nutrients A and B, and CV is the coefficient of variation associated with that norm expressed as percentage. A/B denotes the ratio of average concentration of the ten ear leaves collected per plot for nutrients A and B, n is the number of nutrients considered in the diagnosis, and f (A/B) is a function of nutrients A and B ratio. The 1000 multiplier in equations (4) and (5) comprises of a factor 10 to give the resultant indices a convenient magnitude and a factor 100 to express the CV as fraction rather than as percentage.A DRIS index value for given nutrient close to zero ('0') indicates nutritional balance for that given nutrient relative to other nutrients in the diagnosis. A negative index value for a given nutrient, indicates lower amount relative to other nutrients and further indicates that the nutrient is yield limiting. On the other hand, positive index value of a nutrient indicates excess presence of that nutrient relative to others and could also affect yield negatively (Walworth and Sumner 1986).After generating the DRIS nutrient index value for each nutrient, the values were summed across all the diagnosed nutrients for each plot to obtain overall nutrients DRIS index value for each plot. K-means cluster analysis was performed on the summed DRIS index of each field so that, fields with similar overall nutrient DRIS values are grouped to allow for an in-depth analysis of major soil properties influencing the DRIS index values for each cluster. Selection of optimal number of clusters used in this study was guided by highest cubic clustering criterion. This analysis was done in JMP Pro version 14 statistical package (SAS Institute Inc. 2017). Between each of the identified clusters, analysis of variance was used to compare the average levels of soil properties. The mean contents of the soil properties were separated using least significant difference (LSD) method.Random forest (RF) regression was used to assess the major soil properties influencing maize DRIS indices in each of the identified clusters. The model considered all the analyzed soil properties as predictor variables using random forest regressor in XLSTAT statistical software. The RF model was trained with 50% of the observations, 30% was used for model validation and 20% for model testing. Feature importance was used to explain the influence of various soils properties on overall DRIS index values for each cluster. Errors in the models training were monitored using out-of-bag (OOB) (Janitza and Hornung 2018). Choice of the two models here, that is, the K-means and RF for this study is largely due to their robustness in handling large data set; especially of multivariate nature.Apart from soil pH and texture, other chemical properties of the soils across the environmental fields varied widely (table 1). Average value of the pH (5.88) is considered moderately acidic using Esu (1991) classification of Nigerian savanna soils. About 77% of the fields however varied within the moderate to slightly acidic conditions. Few fields (19%) with pH values ranging from 4.80 to 5.50 fell within the strongly acidic condition, while the remaining 4% were either of neutral or slightly alkaline class. Average soil textural class across the sites is sandy loam according to USDA (1975) classification, this is common in about 40% of the fields. The CVs of sand (23.3%), silt (27.2%) and clay (26.4%) indicate a fairly consistent distribution pattern across the study fields.Although there was a moderate variation in total N, organic carbon, available P and ECEC contents, their average values indicate that they in low levels across the sites. Only less than 8% of the fields have moderate contents of these properties. The average contents of K, Mn, Zn and Fe are rated high, but this was highly inconsistent across the fields.According to the CV values, the variation in ear leaf concentration of all the analyzed nutrients is of moderate nature according to Wilding (1985) procedure. The kurtosis and skewness values of all the nutrients were also within the acceptable limits of asymmetric data dispersion (table 2). For N, the mean concentration was 23.89 g kg −1 . This value was also quite similar to those of the other measures of central tendencies (median = 23.85, mode = 23.0). These values were below the critical level of N in the ear leaf. The skewness and kurtosis were respectively −0.12 and −0.33. Average ear leaf concentration of P was 2.43 g kg −1 , and this also seem to be moderately consistent (CV = 28.6%) across the sites. Average K ear leaf concentration was 18.2 g kg −1 with slight difference across the data set. Concentration of ear leaf ranged from 2.3-9.70 g kg −1 for Ca, 0.3-4.96 g kg −1 for Mg and 0.0-3.10 g kg −1 for S. Among the micronutrients, average ear leaf concentration of Cu was 6.05 mg kg −1 , 74.39 mg kg −1 for Mn, 13.69 mg kg −1 for Zn, 3.27 mg kg −1 for B, and 139.43 mg kg −1 for Fe.For establishing the DRIS norms, nutrient dual ratios that present the highest variance among the three possible expressions (direct, indirect and product) were selected for every nutrient pair combination (table 3). The direct and Indirect forms of expression were selected in equal cases (46.7%) for the nutrient pairs. In just 6% of the cases, the product form of the dual ratio expression (Mg × Ca, Mg × Fe and K × Zn) was selected. The results of the variances calculated for each nutrient dual ratio across the fields indicated a higher variance ratio in the low yield sub-populations than in the high yield sub-population group. This resulted in a variance ratio 1 when the variance of the low yield was divided by that of the high yield sub-population (table 3). The variance ratio was usually higher when macro and micro nutrients were paired. The CVs were also likewise higher when a micro nutrient was involved, and again the CV of Mn/B for the low yield sub-population was the highest (76.71%) among all the (table 3).The results of the DRIS nutrient diagnosis indicate that the average indices for the individual nutrients widely varied across the experimental sites (figure 2). Although in few cases, nutrients like Mg, K, Ca, S, and Zn have the near '0' DRIS indices, they however show negative DRIS indices in many cases across the fields. The average index of N was only positive in one field across the experiment; however, N was only the most limiting nutrient in just 3% of the fields (figure 3). The DRIS indices of Mg and Zn were the most inconsistent across the experimental fields, with values range of 1.9 to −10.5. Copper (Cu), Mn and B had the most negative DRIS indices across the fields. Across the experiments, the DRIS analysis indicated that nutrients which were not applied (B, Mg, Mn, S and Zn) showed a consistently negative DRIS indices at individual sites (figure 3). In most cases (31%), Zn was found to have the most negative DRIS index among the nutrients (figure 3). Magnesium (Mg) and Mn with 15.4 and 14.4% respectively were the second most limiting set of nutrients, and followed by B in around 10% of the fields.Based on attaining high cubic clustering criterion, four distinct clusters were selected using the multivariate k-means cluster analysis to best represent the highest homogeneity and heterogeneity within and between the clusters respectively. Cluster one and cluster two were the largest with 139 and 119 fields respectively. Cluster four was the third largest with 98 fields while cluster three was the smallest with 18 fields. Below are the attributes of the selected clusters in terms of soil, grain yield and DRIS indices.Results of analysis of variance on the soil (table 4) indicated that levels of pH, ECEC, available P and S, Ca and B did not significantly vary among the clusters. The pH condition on average was moderate across the clusters. In general, ECEC, available P and S, and B were low, while Ca level was moderately high across the clusters. Although the contents of N and Mg in cluster four were below the critical soil levels, the cluster seem to have the  higher contents of K, Cu, Mn and Na. Cluster two is the second more fertile environment with dominantly higher organic carbon level, although the organic carbon was also yet below the critical level. Cluster three had higher Zn level among the clusters. This cluster had the highest and lowest contents of sand and clay respectively. The cluster is rated the least fertile and it is characterized by lowest contents of organic carbon, N, K, Mg, S, Cu, and Na.Grain yield generally varied moderately within each cluster except cluster one which varied widely (figure 4). Highest yield was obtained from cluster two, with a mean yield of approximately 7,000 kg ha −1 . Yield of cluster one and four did not significantly vary. Also statistically, distribution of yield was identical between the two clusters. The cluster three had yield between 2,000-8,000 kg ha −1 , and mean yield of 4,700 kg ha −1 , which make it the second highest yield cluster after cluster two (figure 4).When the DRIS indices for the nutrients were clustered, the result show that Mn and B were the most important limiting nutrients with lowest DRIS indices (most negative indices) occurring in 27.34% and 25.18% instances respectively in cluster one (table 5). Mg (18.71%), P (13.67%) and K (10.07%) were also found to limit maize productivity in this cluster. For cluster two, Mn (26.89%) and Mg (21.01%) were the dominant limiting nutrients according to the DRIS analysis. Boron (B) and Fe were the second important yield limiting nutrients in 13.45 and 10.08% of the sites in the cluster two. The third group of limiting nutrients in this cluster include P, K, Ca, S and Cu. Cluster three had the lowest number of limiting nutrients. In this cluster, B was the most important limiting nutrient in 43.75% of the fields. Each of P and Mn was found as most limiting in 25% of the fields in cluster three. Yield is indicated to be limiting by almost all nutrients in the same magnitude in cluster four. The indices of K were the most negative in 18.37% percent of the fields in the cluster. That of P, Zn and Fe were second after K with each recurring in 12.24% of the case.Results of the random forest regression analysis show that the algorithm stopped growing trees for clusters 1, 2 and 4 when the trees reach 200. For cluster four, the prediction error reduces and stabilized after more than 800   The means under each soil property with different letter(s) across the clusters indicates significant difference. Means within the same column not followed by any letter are not significantly different. All means comparisons were made at 5% level of probability. In this study, some of the diagnosed nutrients which were found in lower levels (negative DRIS indices) in the maize plant tissues were actually in sufficient levels in the soils. This finding is relatively novel in the study area as previous studies on plant, soil, and nutrients interaction are few in Nigeria, and the focus was mainly on outcome produced by individual factor. How these factors interact to produce a given outcome have not received a significant attention.   populations for nutrient diagnosis may likely complicate the diagnosis and compromise its' quality and reliability. In this study we used population which had received similar nutrient treatment so that the difference in performance of the crop may be attributed more to variation in soil properties. Our findings indicated a wide variation in inherent soil properties across the experimental fields. Previous studies on soils (Aliyu et al 2020) indicated a wide variability of soil nutrients within the major maize production domain in Nigeria. Relative response to nutrient application has also been reported with a high variation across a study area by Shehu et al (2018), Garba et al (2020) and Aliyu et al (2022). Nziguheba et al (2009) used the DRIS to diagnose nutrients that limit maize yield in Nigeria. Variation in pH is the lowest among the soil properties. Over 77% of the fields are within the suitable pH limit for maize production (Shehu et al 2019). The fields with lower pH values (strongly acidic condition) are few across the study fields and could have resulted from improper application of mineral nitrogen fertilizer over time which usually leads to soils becoming more acidic (Schumann 1999). These specific fields have high sand content, and it is possible the situation would worsen with continuous application of high nitrogen since sandy soils have low buffering capacity (Nelson and Su 2010). Our study environment is generally low in nitrogen, organic carbon and P contents. This finding is consistent with that of Ekeleme et al (2014). Aliyu et al (2020) reported a high correlation between organic carbon and N, and highlighted that their availability is dependent on pH condition of soil. The same study also attributed the variability of the N, P and K to inherent soil forming minerals. Therefore, our sites present a suitable environment for conducting nutrient experimentation.Deriving our experimental data from the uniform treatment set had helped in reducing variability in ear leaf nutrients across the fields. However, the small variability was also sufficient to allow for data categorization in the diagnosis process. The ear leaf concentrations of N, P, B, Zn and S were below the critical levels established by Reuter et al (1997). The concentrations of K, Mg, Ca, Fe and Cu are notably within the sufficiency levels established by Reuter et al (1997). While some of the values for the ear leaf nutrients; N, P, Cu and B were similar to those reported by Aliyu et al (2021), those of K, Ca and Fe were significantly higher in this study.The overall variability of the DRIS indices across the experimental fields could be attributed to the variability of the soil and ear leaf nutrient concentration. Nutrient DRIS index is direct reflection of tissue concentration of the nutrient (McCray et al 2013). Magnesium had the highest variation in of the DRIS index across the experiment and this can be related to higher range of distribution of the nutrient, both in the soil and ear leaf across the fields. On the contrary, lower variation in N DRIS index across the fields is attributed to the low variation of soil nitrogen across the fields. The highest occurrence of Zn as the most negative nutrient in the diagnosis is contrary to the findings of Aliyu et al (2021) under the NPK treatment. However, this is possible because Zn had the most consistent negative DRIS indices distribution across the sites. In addition, the soils across the fields were uniformly low in Zn content. A similar finding of low Zn in these soils was also reported by Huising and Mesele (2021). Zn was predominantly the most negative nutrient irrespective of treatments in the long-term experiment reported by Nziguheba et al (2009). Aliyu et al (2021) also reported that application of Zn did not significantly increase Zn ear leaf content, thus resulting in negative DRIS index of Zn in many cases. The case of negative B and Mg indices corresponds to low soil contents of the nutrient as also reported in other studies (Garba et al 2020). The high percentage of negative Mn DRIS index despite high amount of Mn in the soil could be attributed to high antagonistic effect of Fe (content of Fe in our experiment fields was high) on Mn during uptake as discovered by Kobraee and Shamsi (2011).The DRIS indices for the nutrients in cluster one was mainly influenced by pH and B, and to larger extent Mg, ECEC and Sand. Highest number of negative DRIS index of B could be linked to the low soil B content of the cluster. Cluster one is the least fertile among the four clusters and it is therefore not surprising to also found that almost all nutrients have negative DRIS indices in this cluster. The ECEC and soil pH are highly correlating soil properties (McKenzie et al 2004). Low ECEC in this cluster is the result of high sand content which easily leach away the cations, this is the reason that this cluster is associated with low levels of the cations. The yield limitation and high negative DRIS indices of Mg could have been created by the low Mg levels in the soil. In addition to that, the cluster has sufficient levels of K and Ca and both have stronger binding affinity which gives them edge over Mg at the exchange site during uptake. This situation was more aggravated because of the higher level of pH of the cluster (René et al 2017).Nitrogen and B appears as the major influencers of the DRIS indices of cluster two. This cluster had a sum of −22.94 (not shown) DRIS balance index. It is clear that this cluster is responsive to nutrients going by the highest mean yield recorded. The high nutrient response in this cluster seems to be related with low amount of nutrients and the ability of the soil to hold nutrients due to higher clay content. Boron being another important influencer of the DRIS indices could also be explained by its very low content in the soil. The pH is the most important soil property in cluster three. The nutrients with highest number of negative DRIS indices in this cluster were P, Mn and B. These nutrients were in low supply in the soil and they therefore contributed to the cluster having the highest overall negative DRIS balance index of −155.Cluster four had the second lowest grain yield though it has the highest contents of most of the soil fertility properties. Soil K, B and Zn were the dominant factors that influenced the DRIS indices of the nutrients. Low yield in this cluster could be related to luxury consumption of nutrients by the maize. This is reflected in the overall nutrient balance index of this cluster going up to 27.4. Luxury nutrient consumption had been reported to decrease nutrient use efficiency in maize (Janssen et al 1990, Shehu et al 2019). The roles of K and B in plants are similar and they interact synergistically to influence the uptake of each other (René et al 2017). In this cluster, K was in very high amount in the soil and possibly upset the nutrient balance of the other nutrients in the diagnosis.In this study, we understand that nutrient diagnosis using both soil and plant tissue methods are compliments to holistic insight on plant-soil interaction as regard to maize nutrition. Most of the results of the DRIS diagnosis in this study agrees with that of the soil. For example, nutrients (like nitrogen) which were found in low amounts in the soil showed consistent negative DRIS indices. Also, nutrients (B, Mg, Mn, S and Zn) which were not part of the treatments of this study continuously showed negative indices, indicating their relative lower availability in the soil. Due to the high variation of the nutrients across sites and DRIS indices, the cluster analysis on the DRIS indices helped to group fields with similar DRIS indices, thereby providing a more precise dimension on the nutrient limitations. The clusters differed based on frequency with which nutrients are most limiting. B for example was the most limiting in cluster one and three, Mn in cluster two and K in cluster four. Both high (more positive) and low (more negative) DRIS indices resulted to low maize yield respectively, likely due over and under supply of nutrients respectively. Random forest results show that different soil properties influenced the DRIS indices in different ways depending on the cluster. This indicates that soils at different location varied when it comes to fertility management, thus hinting that the NPK fertilizer recommendation being promoted to farmers need to be reviewed and focus should be more on site-specificity depending on the soil resources.","tokenCount":"6162"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8199123125.json b/data/part_1/8199123125.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6aef5f08ccfac66b96e9ac8ca4ed4bc2955d5241
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8199123125.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bee00e5623ee1e7009099b80c8f97337","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/883cd2e0-10ec-4a2a-aa55-104c1b6fcc3b/retrieve","id":"-704386919"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f5508846-e056-4f13-8868-17bfc76f1709","pagecount":"148","content":"PIM provides targeted analysis to strengthen the evidentiary base for better policies, stronger institutions, and well-functioning markets. This ambitious agenda can only be achieved through the concerted efforts of many partners. This note explains the approach that the program takes to partnerships.financial institutions (such as FAO, IFAD, OECD, the World Bank, and WFP); development partners (including a range of bilateral aid agencies); nongovernmental and community organizations (Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Technoserve, World Vision International (WVI)); civil society (including farmer organizations); foundations; and the private sector (for example, Unilever (value chains), Croplife International (seed policy and regulation), Banco de Seguros del Estado, Uruguay (insurance)).In Phase 1, research partners represented the largest category of partnerships reported by the PIM researchers, followed by implementation partnerships. 1 However, over the course of Phase 1, the number of reported knowledge-sharing partners increased significantly, which is likely to further strengthen PIM's impact and influence on the ground (see Figure 3.2.1).The modalities of the PIM partnerships are linked to the critical integrative functions that PIM fulfills within the CGIAR portfolio. PIM assists other CGIAR programs to identify synergies on policy and institutional matters; develops common and shared messages on policy issues; contributes to the development of key public goods (including new tools and methods for policy analysis and open-access datasets); and hosts communities of practice that draw together researchers working in other programs.Participation of research partners in PIM ranges from major involvement in several flagships to limited involvement through discrete activities. In Phase 2, there will be three categories of partners -managing partners, strategic partners, and collaborative partners. Managing partners are large contributors and may play roles in flagship or cluster leadership. They include three external organizations (Michigan State University, Wageningen University and Research Centre, World Vision International), and five CGIAR Centers: IFPRI, CIAT, CIFOR, CIP, ICRAF. Managing partners were selected based on their participation in PIM in Phase 1 and expressed interest to contribute at a significant level in Phase 2. They bring strong research skills, or, in the case of WVI, implementation presence, and have demonstrated commitment to the objectives of PIM. They are engaged across several flagships, and in some cases already serve on the Management Committee. Managing partners will nominate two shared representatives to the PIM Management Committee, and sign Program Participant Agreements (PPAs) or other contractual agreements with IFPRI as Lead Center of PIM. Strategic partners contribute more selectively to the program, and do not participate in program management. Strategic partners, as managing partners, bring strong research skills and implementation engagement, but engage in flagships or activities, rather than across the program. Among those are external partners (e.g., ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF, FAO, FARA, IFAD, OECD, World Bank) and CGIAR Centers (Bioversity International, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ILRI). Strategic CGIAR Centers will work under contracts that entail fewer transactions costs than PPAs. Collaborative partners include CGIAR Centers with a focused contribution in a limited number of activities (AfricaRice, ICARDA, IITA, IRRI, IWMI, WorldFish), and hundreds of other organizations. Collaborative partners are distinguished from strategic partners by the size and scope of their engagement, and, in some cases, by the duration of joint work. During the course of Phase 2, and taking into account performance assessment and available resources, PIM will reassess its levels of partnerships with the different CGIAR Centers as priorities evolve (for example, through site integration planning).In Phase 2, PIM will strengthen linkages with the other CRPs. PIM's prioritization of research topics and locations is informed by other CRP interests. Communication channels and communities of practice, which in Phase 1 were mainly directed to Centers, will in Phase 2 more strongly feature CRPs. The initial specific areas of collaboration between PIM and other CRPs are described in Sections 1.0.7 and 3.0.7.PIM is committed to developing partnerships within CGIAR and with national research, development, private-sector, and government organizations to support national agricultural development targets in selected CGIAR countries of collaboration. Annex 3.7 describes PIM's participation in the consultations in CGIAR countries of collaboration. Many key development and research challenges raised by national participants align with PIM's objectives. PIM will strengthen coordination of policy research in Bangladesh, Ethiopia (see Table 3.2.1), Ghana, India, Malawi, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam, building upon the IFPRI Country Strategy Support Programs in countries where such a program is in place. PIM's strategic partnerships in Africa contribute to the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa. Prioritization of PIM's activities in support of this process is established through high-level discussions with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the African Union Commission (AUC). PIM provides continued support to FARA, ASARECA, and CORAF to develop an agricultural technology platform for Africa (see Table 3.2.3). PIM's research is also aligned with continental development initiatives such as the CAADPled national agricultural investment plans and AGRA's agricultural development strategy. PIM will build on the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) support to national agricultural investment plans under CAADP to provide evidence for policy and institutional priorities in selected CGIAR countries of collaboration. Discussions with AGRA have identified a strategic area of collaboration on seed and variety regulation reforms. Additionally, together with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and CAADP, PIM supports efforts to increase regional trade.Finally, a number of strategic partnerships are formed around thematic areas. These partnerships often span research and development, generating high-quality outputs and outcomes. One example is PIM's work on agricultural growth and transformation: on this topic, research partners Cornell University, Michigan State University, and Tufts University contribute to understanding of landholdings dynamics, employment patterns, and agricultural investment used by implementation partners: for example, FAO in its programs on employment and youth, and the World Bank and IFAD in their strategies to promote inclusive growth. There are many similar research-to-development partnerships in the value chains (see Table 3.2.5), social protection (see Table 3.2.6), natural resource governance (see Tables 3.2.7a and 3.2.7b), and gender (see Table 3.2.8) areas. Foresight modeling constitutes another example of a strategic partnership, which involves all 15 CGIAR Centers and links to other CRPs, along with Wageningen University, the University of Florida, Oxford University, Purdue University, FAO, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)which bring in skills on topics such as nutrition and health and crop modeling (see Table 3.2.2).PIM will host the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, which will extend partnerships in advancing gender research methods to all CGIAR Centers and CRPs and to a large number of national partners.Among the PIM partners, private-sector partners play an important role. PIM researchers working in the area of seed policy, input supply, and regulation of biotechnology interact with seed companies and dealers to understand the regulatory constraints they face. Researchers addressing policies in the biofuel sector interact with private firms to understand their responsiveness to price changes and adjustments in the mandates and the implications of regulatory change for the industry. Researchers working in the area of extension and advisory services assess the role of private firms in provision of information to smallholders, including public-private partnerships in communication and information management. An internal analysis of the Phase 1 partnerships has recommended that PIM be proactive in strengthening partnerships with the private sector, and this is an objective for Phase 2.Sustained partnerships require adherence to the following guiding principles: Agreement of partners on key goals and objectives  Commitment to engage in an inclusive, transparent, and trustworthy manner  Commitment to ensure that the partnership contributes effectively and adds value  Identification of clear, mutual benefits for each partner  Adherence to mutual accountability, respect, and recognition of contribution  Acknowledgement that roles and expectations are clearly understood among all partners  Practices that reflect emphasis on value addition, as opposed to seniority and hierarchy Information gathered through PIM's Window 1-2-funded activity progress reports will continue to be summarized for an annual report on partnerships. This information provides an overview of PIM partnership trends, including some of the strengths and potential challenges that may be associated with the different types of partnerships in which PIM is engaged, and is expected to provide guidance for sustaining the development and strengthening of strategic and successful partnerships.PIM's external evaluation demonstrates the program's capacity to carry out a successful partnership strategy. As part of the evaluation, respondents to a survey of PIM partners rated the performance of PIM project teams uniformly highly in terms implementing partnerships. PIM has built strong communities of practice within CGIAR, resulting in an increased number of Centers participating in PIM. In addition, PIM has contributed to linking CGIAR Centers to external centers of excellence in a number of thematic areas (for example, foresight modeling). Phase 1 also saw the strengthening of partnering activities along the PIM impact pathways, including with global organizations, national governments, NGOs, and the private sector. PIM puts a high level of investment into these partnerships; conversely there is high demand from implementation organizations for PIM to support their planning or implementation efforts (for example, from ASARECA for technology adoption tools, from IFAD for strategy support, from the G20 for the Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste, and from the World Bank for strategy support) (see Section 1.0.9).PIM collects information on partnerships on an annual basis, and conducts analyses to determine if planned partnerships are on track. PIM's partnering capacity is supported by the Partnerships and Business Development Office of the Lead Center.Of the amounts allocated to all CGIAR Centers (including the Lead Center), approximately 25% is contracted to external research partners.The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture convenes the partnership with the IFPRI Country Strategy Support Program (CSSP). PIM coordinates additional research efforts to support the identified agenda. Specific focus and objective Support the Government of Ethiopia in reducing rural poverty and increasing agricultural growth. Science agenda PIM supports the Government of Ethiopia in several ways: Through a Country Strategy Support Program (CSSP) that addresses 9 thematic areas of interest identified by the Ministry of Agriculture (productivity and agricultural transformation; markets and value chains; food prices; risk and insurance; land and water management; poverty, nutrition and safety nets; support for the Growth and Transformation Plan; rural transformation and non-crop income; agriculture and nutrition linkages). The CSSP has generated more than 50 analysis pieces for the Government over the past 3 years. There is also a significant capacity development component to build national expertise in policy analysis. In Phase 1, PIM has supported the activities noted above. In Phase 2, PIM will assume a larger role of streamlining policy engagement in the country in coordination with the CSSP. This will contribute to improved coordination across CGIAR, and to a stronger PIM portfolio in the country. Key CGIAR partners and their roles  IFPRI manages the CSSP, leads the evaluations of the PSNP, the AGP, and land tenure reforms, and supports the ATA.  ILRI hosts the value chain hub, and engages in livestock value chain research in Ethiopia.  ICARDA conducts research on small ruminant value chains in Ethiopia, with linkages to the value chains hub.  The three Centers work on postharvest loss research in Ethiopia. World Bank, USAID, and the World Food Programme (WFP), which use the findings to shape their own programs and investments in the country in consultation with the government. The World Bank increased its funding of the PSNP based in part on evidence provided by PIM on the impact of the program. USAID is the main donor for the CSSP, and outputs of the program are chosen to support the Feed the Future program and other USAID programs. WFP uses safety net mechanisms tested by IFPRI/PIM researchers. The main external research partner is the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI). EDRI is one of the prime development policy think-tanks in the country, and has strong links with government policy processes. In recent years EDRI has expanded its research capacity through recruiting several young PhDs (with degrees in US, European or Australian universities), and its weight in national policy design and decision making is likely to increase in the future. EDRI is managed by the senior economic advisor to the Prime Minister, which facilitates linkages with policy making processes.Ethiopia is a priority country for PIM, and the Government of Ethiopia is a key user of the evidence generated by the program. Overall, the set of research activities contribute mainly to Sub-IDO CC3.1.3 Conducive agricultural policy environment, while individual elements of research contribute to Sub-IDO CC4.1.2 Enhanced capacity in partner research organizations, 1.2.2 Reduced market barriers, and 1.1.1 Increased household capacity to cope with shocks.Convener of the Partnership and their role PIM Flagship 1 convenes the partnerships with regional and national partners in Africa in support of development of the Virtual Information Platform for Africa.Develop the Virtual Information Platform component of the African Agricultural Technology Platform, a concept endorsed by the G8 and included in the MOU signed between the CGIAR Consortium and the African Union Commission. Science Agenda  Assess major informational needs of partners for support in technology diffusion and adoption. This occurs through interaction at regional and national levels, especially with ASARECA and CORAF and organizations in three pilot countries: Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda.  Develop methods and tools for collecting and analyzing the required data.This includes: (a) developing a technology ontology to facilitate the organization of the data, (b) developing cost-effective methods for tracking adoption of technologies, (c) identifying key adoption factors for targeting of technology, (d) testing how the system's data can be updated and connected to other databases.  Establish an easy-accessible platform, and build capacity of key partners to use it. Geographical focus / location Africa, primarily eastern and western Africa, with initial focus in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda.PIM provides W1-2 funding to complement bilateral/W3 funding. The Flagship 1 team plays a leading role in communications with key partners, testing of methods for tracking of adoption, and initial testing of the platform in the pilot countries. Key CGIAR partner(s) and their (its) role(s) IFPRI develops the tools and databases building on the HarvestChoice tools, and leads the testing of cost-effective methods for tracking adoption of technology in eastern Africa together with ASARECA. Key 'external' partner(s) and their (its) role(s)  ASARECA is a both a research partner (tests methods for tracking of technologies, using case studies of climbing beans and quality protein maize) and an implementation partner/client for the platform.  A CIRAD junior associate based in Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (Dakar) works with CORAF on the mapping of seed diffusion in West Africa.  Partnerships are in the process of forming with the NARS in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda. As part of the pilot testing, together with ASARECA and CORAF, national partners will discuss key needs for an information platform and jointly explore how the platform can assist in decision making.  FARA has the overall mandate to move forward the African Agricultural Technology Platform, and PIM consults regularly with them to discuss implementation.This partnership is developed at the cusp of research and implementation, and is envisaged as a key vehicle to increase the rates of adoption, primarily through improved targeting of dissemination. The partnership is highly relevant to supporting increased adoption of technology (SLO Target 1), through IDO 1.4.2 Closed yield gap through improved agronomic and animal husbandry practices and 1.4.3 Enhanced genetic gain. The activity supports and is complementary to the research on development of technologies by the AFS CRPs. Generate high-level research outputs on emerging issues related to agricultural transformation and rural incomes to support policy reviews and reforms in the areas of incomes and employment, productivity, gender and youth equity, and the enabling environment; and strengthen policy analysis capacity of regional and national institutions. Science Agenda Questions addressed include: What are the driving forces in farm land size dynamics, and how do these affect land access, particularly for youth and women? How does farm size influence smallholders' decisions to adopt technologies and engage in off-farm employment, and affect the dynamics of agriculture and food systems? Methods used include econometric techniques with household and farm-level data, spatial approaches using geo-referenced data, and economy wide modeling.Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia).PIM funding ensures that the IFPRI-MSU partnership is connected with research on the drivers of agricultural transformation conducted in PIM flagships and in the AFS CRPs. PIM also brings to the partnership a global and comparative perspective on agricultural transformation issues across CGIAR countries of collaboration to complement the flagship's country-level and subnational focus. Finally, PIM's participation strengthens coordinated policy engagement in CGIAR countries of collaboration. Key CGIAR partner(s) and their (its) role(s) IFPRI collaborates with MSU on research related to farm size dynamics, rural transformation, and political economy of policy change.Key 'external' partner(s) and their (its) role(s) MSU contributes to research outputs in Cluster 2.1 (Agricultural Transformation and Rural Incomes) and 2.3 (Political Economy and Policy Processes) of Flagship 2, and facilitates the achievement of policy outcomes through long-standing relationships with governments, universities, and research institutes in Africa. MSU serves as a managing partner in PIM.This partnership contributes to the four main IDOs of Flagship 2 (1.3 Increased incomes and employment, 1.4 Increased productivity, CC2.1 Equity and inclusion achieved, CC3.1 Enabling environment improved) through research, policy dialogue, and capacity building. High-quality research will be generated on land and labor dynamics, which are major contributors to agricultural productivity and have substantial generational and gender aspects, and on political economy and policy processes. Continuous policy dialogue with government partners and stakeholder organizations in countries where MSU and IFPRI have long-standing country programs will ensure that research outputs are demand-driven and informed by the specificities of local contexts. By developing the capacity of national research institutes, regional networks, universities, and beneficiary organizations to use the findings and methods from the research, the partnership also facilitates the creation of a more conducive policy environment. The Ag-Incentives Consortium, including FAO-MAFAP, IDB, IFPRI, OECD, and the World Bank, works on measurement of distortions and strategies for addressing them. There is also close collaboration on methodological and data issues, with IFPRI providing quality control of the outputs of the computation of agricultural distortions by the international organizations, in order to influence changes towards improved practices.The partnership leads to improved research methods on value chains. Research results and practical innovations are taken up by the private sector, NGOs and governments. Some of the tools are specifically aimed at enhancing the participation of the poor and women in markets. All tools are directed towards improving the efficiency of markets, which relate most directly to Sub-IDOs 1.2.2 Reducing market barriers, 1.2.1 Improved access to financial and other services, and 1.   (CFA) to foster collaboration between IFPRI and various units in WFP, including the Policy Division in Rome and country offices worldwide, to undertake program-and policy-relevant research on how to design effective food assistance programs. This CFA was developed after years of successful collaboration between WFP and IFPRI on prior research projects on social protection. In addition, IFPRI and PIM researchers have a Long Term Agreement (LTA) with the WFP Office of Evaluation to provide impact evaluation services to the WFP Policy Unit and to country offices.The key objectives of the partnership as laid out in the CFA include: Create evidence to fill knowledge gaps on the impact and cost-effectiveness of various food assistance strategies and social protection programs implemented by WFP.  Create international public goods in the form of reproducible results, strategies and lessons relevant to donors and governments around the world.  Increase the program and policy relevance and global impact of IFPRI's research.  Strengthen WFP's capacity to design and undertake applied research and evaluations to fill knowledge gaps.The teams design and conduct rigorous experimental impact evaluations as learning exercises to measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of WFP programs related to social protection and food assistance. Some of these programs are conducted in humanitarian settings, while others are development programs. A major research collaboration between IFPRI and WFP that was integrated into the CFA was a threecountry experimental study of the relative impact of cash transfers, food rations and food vouchers on household food security and dietary diversity. These transfer modality studies were conducted in Ecuador, Uganda and Yemen. Later, parallel studies in Niger and Bangladesh were added to complement the evidence. Research has addressed the impact of the various transfer modalities on food security, intimate partner violence, and child cognitive development (Uganda). This research shows how differences in source of income can affect food consumption patterns and child nutrition. Other work conducted under the partnership includes formative research in support of R4, the WFP initiative to provide food assistance, credit, savings, and insurance instruments in the same settings. IFPRI is collaborating with the WFP R4 pilots in Zambia and Malawi.The primary geographic focus is Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia, but research collaboration is possible in any of the more than 70 countries in which WFP operates. Research projects have been conducted in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Malawi, Niger, Uganda, Yemen, and Zambia. Role of the CRP/FP in the partnership IFPRI/PIM researchers work closely with WFP country offices and the Policy unit to identify and design impact evaluations that contribute to this broad learning agenda. IFPRI/PIM researchers lead the data collection and analysis, produce international public goods (reports and peer-reviewed journal publications), communicate the research findings, and strengthen capacity of WFP staff in country offices.Key CGIAR partner(s) and their (its) role(s) IFPRI is the only CGIAR Center involved in this partnership. Key 'external' partner(s) and their (its) role(s) WFP contributes to framing the research, and adjusts its social protection programs based on conclusions of the research. A variety of external partners also participate in this effort. For example, 3ie provided additional funding to support a crosscountry study on the effect of the transfer modalities on patterns of food consumption. Other institutions contribute, including the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine for the Ecuador study component on intimate partner violence, and Makerere University in Uganda for the development of measures of child cognitive development.Because the WPF Policy unit and a total of five country offices were involved in the evaluations on transfer modalities, the findings from the study have been broadly shared within WFP. The research directly contributed to an objective in the WFP medium-term plan to learn about how to design effective food assistance programs using cash transfers or vouchers rather than food rations. The results, which showed that cash and vouchers can be highly effective at improving food security, have supported an expansion of the use of these modalities at WFP. PIM convenes a CGIAR community of practice, and hosts CAPRi -which connects more than 400 organizations with interests in tenure issues. PIM evaluates the effectiveness of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure. PIM supports the African Union Commission in their assessment of the impact of land tenure reforms as part of the Land Policy Initiative for the continent. PIM validates the metrics used in the Land Governance Assessment Framework implemented by the World Bank. In Phase 2, PIM will increase the scope of its research on tenure, with forest tenure research moving from FTA to PIM. Key CGIAR partners and their roles Bioversity International, CIFOR, ICRAF, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IFPRI, ILRI, IWMI, and WorldFish all have ongoing research on tenure and/or governance of natural resources within PIM. Each of these Centers contributes to developing research methods on tenure, and generating syntheses from their application on different tenure resource issues and in different contexts. IFPRI plays a coordinating role among the Centers, and leads dissemination efforts. CIFOR leads efforts to synthesize and disseminate results related to forest tenure. Key 'external' partners and their roles FAO leads efforts on implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure. The African Union Commission leads the Land Policy Initiative for the continent. The World Bank leads the implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework. The International Land Coalition disseminates research findings to a large number of organizations, including civil society organizations. Other partners include the Access Initiative, Rights and Resources Initiative, the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, and the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Tropical Forests and its members. Each of these contributes to disseminating research findings on land and forest governance to large audiences and promoting the use of results in policy advocacy.A major role of this partnership is to connect CGIAR research outputs to the broad development and policy communities that will use them. Some of the connections have been formalized through participation in governing councils or through Memorandum of Understandings (see Table 3.2.7b). The major Sub-IDOs to which this partnership contributes are: 1.4.5 Increased access to productive assets, including natural resources, 3.2.1 More productive and equitable management of natural resources, and CC2.1.1 Gender-equitable control of productive assets and resources. PIM convenes a CGIAR community of practice, and hosts CAPRi -which connects more than 400 organizations with interests in tenure issues. In Phase 2, PIM will increase the scope of its research on tenure, with forest tenure research moving from FTA to PIM. Key CGIAR partners and their roles IFPRI is a founding member of ILC. Since 2004, IFPRI serves on the Coalition Council, representing tenure research across CGIAR through the CAPRi program. Through this and increased CGIAR membership in ILC, the appreciation of the contributions of research to ILC's mission of advocacy and building the capacity of governments and civil society organizations to strengthen tenure security of the poor has increased. In particular, CGIAR's contributions have encouraged ILC to focus on collective land tenure, rather than on individual tenure only. IFPRI plays a coordinating role among the involved Centers, and leads dissemination efforts. CIFOR, ICRAF, ILRI, and IWMI are members of ILC. Bioversity International has strong working relationships with ILC. IFPRI and ICRAF represent CGIAR on the ILC Coalition Council. ILRI hosts a joint appointment with ILC focusing on pastoral land tenure. Each of these Centers contributes to developing research methods on tenure, and generating syntheses from their application on different tenure resource issues and in different contexts. CIFOR leads efforts to synthesize and disseminate results related to forest tenure. Key 'external' partners and their roles International Land Coalition is a global organization with 207 members in 67 countries, including key intergovernmental agencies and civil society organizations. Among those members, FAO leads efforts on implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure. The African Union leads the Land Policy Initiative for the continent. The World Bank leads the implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework. The Land Portal (started by ILC, now a separate foundation) provides a centralized platform for disseminating reliable information on tenure; PIM tenure research is featured on the Land Portal, giving it higher visibility.ILC has set up regional networks of civil society and intergovernmental members to discuss key regional issues, and national \"land observatories\" which monitor progress on tenure security. The latter are particularly important for uptake of the PIM research methods and findings. In 2016, ILC co-convened the Global Call to Action on Community and Indigenous Land Rights, drawing on evidence provided by CGIAR research.The ILC provides a key mechanism for PIM to build partnerships with a large number of key actors involved in advocacy and implementation of tenure reforms. ILC has been an active partner in shaping the development of PIM Flagship 5, drawing on its membership and the 2015 Global Land Forum to identify the key emerging issues in tenure for which research is needed. Through ILC, PIM's research findings on land and resource governance reach key stakeholders (e.g. national Land Alliances) who can use them in policy advocacy and implementation -thus contributing to Sub-IDO CC4.1.4 Increased capacity for innovations in partner development organizations and in poor and vulnerable communities. The partnership with ILC plays a key role in linking PIM's work to the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure (Sub-IDO CC3.1.3 Conducive agricultural policy environment). As the reforms are implemented, they lead to Increased access to productive assets, including natural resources (Sub-IDO 1.4.5); More productive and equitable management of natural resources (Sub-IDO 3.2.1); and Gender-equitable control of productive assets and resources (Sub-IDO CC2.1.1). This research aims to identify best practices for measuring men's and women's time use, control over assets, and agency -three key constructs in women's empowerment, known both for their centrality in current policy debates on gender equality and for the challenges posed by their measurement. Specific goals include: (a) assessing the relative quality of existing methods for measuring time use, control over assets, and agency, (b) designing and testing new methods, and (c) generating evidence on which measurement methods are most appropriate for specific contexts and policy and research questions. Geographic focus/location Global relevance, with initial focus on Africa Role of the CRP PIM supports all components of this partnership, and will take the lead on a review of methods for measuring ownership, control, and use of assets. PIM will also help design and assess methodological innovations, drawing from the team's experience with vignettes and survey experiments. Key CGIAR partners and their roles Building on their experience designing and implementing the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), and particularly the module on time use, the IFPRI team will lead the review on methods for measuring time use, and development and testing of different methods. Key 'external' partners and their rolesThe Gender Innovation Lab's experience in measuring gender gaps in economic outcomes and IRC's expertise in developing psychological indicators equip them to take the lead in reviewing and testing best practices for methods of measuring agency. The LSMS team will work with PIM to identify best practices in asset measurement and, more broadly, will contribute their expertise in implementation of nationally-representative surveys and methodological experiments. This collaboration will ensure cross-country and cross-sectoral comparability by testing methodological innovations in a variety of contexts and across population groups, from rural farmers to refugees and from adolescent girls to entrepreneurs.This partnership includes organizations who can use the results directly in their own work (e.g. the World Bank), as well as exert influence on other organizations. Through the use of better methods, the partnership contributes directly and indirectly to all of the Sub-IDOs of focus in Flagship 6. In particular, improving the reliability of sex-disaggregated data on ownership, control, and use of assets will improve the capacity of CGIAR and partners to identify interventions that effectively reduce gender gaps in control of assets (Sub-IDO CC2.1.1 Gender-equitable control of productive assets and resources). More accurate measures of time use will enhance ability to design and evaluate interventions to reduce women's drudgery (IDO CC2.1.2 Technologies that reduce women's labor and energy expenditure developed and disseminated). Better measures of agency will increase the understanding of how to promote women's involvement in decision making (IDO CC2.1.3 Improved capacity of women and young people to participate in decision making). In addition, this partnership will enable the transfer of know-how and learning across institutions, and expand the network available to disseminate the results of the proposed experiments (IDO CC4.1.1 Enhanced institutional capacity of partner research organizations; CC4.1.2 Enhanced individual capacity in partner research organizations through training and exchange).Introduction: PIM's approaches to capacity development PIM contributes to increased capacity of two main groups: researchers, and implementation partners. Researchers are provided with new analytical tools and training in how to use them; they also receive training in how to convey their results to actors in the policy process. Implementation partners receive assistance in translating the research findings into strategies, programs, and policies and in monitoring impact. Capacity building contributes to the four channels of influence of PIM described in Section 1.0.3. PIM does not engage in downstream capacity building directly serving farmers and local market agents, since that is already a strong focus of extension services, NGOs, and large private companies.PIM is well positioned to build policy research capacity within CGIAR through the PIM-led cross-Center/CRP communities of practice (for example, foresight modeling, value chain analysis, and gender research). In Phase 2 PIM will convene an annual meeting of CGIAR social scientists to strengthen professional connections and share results. In addition, PIM endeavors to strengthen policy research capacities of national research institutions, including independent policy think-tanks, policy analysis units in governmental bodies, universities, and national agricultural research organizations. PIM's research capacity building activities span the national, regional, and global levels. Priority is given to selected CGIAR countries of collaboration (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania), but PIM also invests in developing policy research capacity in other countries where the demand is strong for an increased evidence base for agricultural policy reforms and which possess a pool of skilled national policy analysts (in the Middle East and North Africa, for example).Engagement in strengthening the capacity of researchers to communicate outputs to policy makers, and the capacity of immediate users (for example, government bodies, NGOs, and the private sector) to take up these results, has been evaluated as particularly successful in countries where PIM's Lead Center (IFPRI) has a Country Strategy Support Program (CSSP) (Kuyvenhoven 2014). Success derives from the sustained relationship and on-the-ground presence. PIM leverages the in-house analytical capacity of international organizations and NGOs, which have their own capacity but put primary emphasis on operational work. These organizations include FAO, IFAD, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, and World Vision International.In Phase 2 PIM is launching a new research cluster on understanding the political economy of policy change (Cluster 2.3, see Flagship 2 narrative). This work will increase the capacity of CGIAR and partners to influence policy outcomes through research. Research capacity strengthening is critical for the fourth channel of influence, which aims to improve research quality in PIM thematic areas. Capacity strengthening on communicating research outputs and on using them is essential for PIM's research to be able to inform policy debates. This type of capacity strengthening is also very important in PIM's mechanism of influence at the local level: developing innovations that help the private sector and NGOs to address challenges in strengthening value chains for the poor, to manage natural resources in shared landscapes, and to implement effective social protection programs. An improved institutional policy environment through the work in Cluster 2.3 is expected to increase the value of PIM outputs in decision-making processes and to lead to more assured outcomes. Capacity strengthening further down the impact pathway, such as training of beneficiaries (for example, farmers and market agents) on how to engage with research and innovation, is better left to extension systems, development organizations, and private-sector firms, which have the appropriate mandates, incentives, and resources for large-scale capacity development activities. Thus, such activities are not conducted by PIM.      The Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) project provides the only comprehensive source of sex-disaggregated data on agricultural research staffing in developing countries. On average, less than one quarter of agricultural researchers in developing countries are women, and women are generally concentrated at lower job classification levels (Beintema 2014), confirming that PIM's efforts to strengthen agricultural R&D systems must include attention to gender imbalances within NARS.During Phase 1, work on extension methods in Mozambique showed that men point-of-contact farmers were less likely to train women than men farmers in their villages, and that training women contact farmers increased training of women farmers (Kondylis et al. 2014). Other PIM research from East Africa found that Volunteer Farmer Trainers (VFTs) can reduce the gender gap in access to information (Franzel et al. forthcoming), mainly because of gender biases in hiring public extension staff which to some degree are overcome by VFT programs. Phase 2 will continue research along these lines to assess the extent to which innovative extension methods not only improve access to information for women, but also lead to outcomes such as increased adoption of technology and productivity. FAO has expressed interest in partnering with PIM on the issue of gender and extension.In Phase 2, PIM will invest in generating gender insights within its foresight modeling work and in the support to the Virtual Information Platform for Africa, two areas where not much progress on gender was made in Phase 1. Both activities are exploring links to microlevel datasets to enable larger-scale analyses to be linked to distributional effects across gender, age, and poverty levels. This cannot be done at a global level due to data limitations, but will be explored in priority countries. To support these efforts, work on expanding the understanding of gender preferences in the demand for and adoption of technology will be intensified (this research was initiated in Phase 1, but analyses are not available at the time of proposal submission).Flagship 2 focuses on job creation for young men and women, and addresses the factors that affect occupational choice. The work identifies systemic barriers (for example, in access to land, finance, and information) that constrain livelihood strategies, and examines how these differ for young men and women. This flagship also investigates the differential impacts of public expenditures on men and women, the degree of women's inclusion in the design and advocacy of policies, and methods to lift barriers to women's involvement.In Phase 1, research analyzed migration patterns and their implications for agriculture. While women's responsibilities on the farm increase with the migration of male household members (de Brauw et al. 2013), their engagement in decision making regarding agricultural investments may still be restricted. Some studies in Asia indicate that women, as migrant breadwinners or managers of migrant households, may gain control over resources and determine the end usages of expenditures (Mueller et al. 2015).Research in Phase 2 will assess how gendered migration patterns and off-farm employment trends in Asia and Africa influence women's bargaining power, agricultural investments, and resulting productivity (in conjunction with Flagship 6). In addition, the team will seek to understand the genderrelated employment opportunities in agriculture and nonagricultural sectors, with attention to the constraints faced by women beyond intrahousehold decision making. The constraints explored will include economywide factors, such as policies affecting land access and labor mobility, and linkages between urbanization and dynamics in rural livelihood diversification. This will enable analyses of policy effects to better reflect gender outcomes.Flagship 3 identifies interventions that increase gender equity in control of assets and in opportunities for employment along value chains. In addition, this flagship develops tools for gender analysis in value chains, which will be disseminated through the value chain hubs.Research from Phase 1 confirmed the hypothesis that asset endowment is critical to successful participation in value chains (Johnson et al. 2016;Stoian et al. 2016;Donovan and Poole 2016), with important implications for women -who typically have lower resource endowments. A recent PIM compendium of value chains case studies concludes that \"gender issues need to be considered specifically in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions\" (Devaux et al. 2016). In Phase 1, PIM supported an analysis of the ability of quantitative tools to measure gender differences within value chains (Madrigal et al. 2016), as well as the incorporation of an explicit gender lens into the PIM value chains tools (e.g. LINK, PMCA and 5 Capitals); the gendered version of these tools will be further validated and disseminated for wider use by the private sector and NGOs in Phase 2. Interventions to address gender inclusiveness in value chains will aim to overcome poor endowments of resources (such as land) and constraints in accessing credit and inputs (for example, through testing of contract farming arrangements). Attention will be accorded to creation of wage work along the value chain and gender implications of wage employment.Flagship 4 studies how social protection programs assist women and men, change intrahousehold dynamics, and include gender in targeting and choice of instruments for delivery. Previous research has demonstrated that social protection programs can be an effective mechanism for increasing women's control over household decisions in the spheres of child education and health and durable goods purchases (de Brauw et al. 2014;Ahmed et al. 2009). In Phase 2, researchers will explore how transfers may also improve women's control over agricultural plots and the associated harvests.A review featured in the FAO/IFPRI book Gender in Agriculture: Closing the Knowledge Gap suggests that financial products designed to allow women to save, borrow, and insure are essential for strengthening their roles as producers and broadening their opportunities (Fletschner and Kenney 2011). In Phase 1, PIM explored this issue through experimental research. In a study in Burkina Faso, Delavallade et al. (2015) found that female farm managers were less likely than male farm managers to purchase agricultural insurance, and more likely than male farm managers to invest in savings for emergencies -perhaps because women are usually the ones who have to deal with health risks associated with fertility and childcare. These differences were associated with higher productivity on farms managed by men farmers than by women farmers, showing that the offering of insurance products alone may exacerbate gender inequities. On the other hand, a PIM study in Bangladesh (Clarke and Kumar 2015) found men and women equally likely to state intent to purchase index-based weather insurance, though women were less literate on issues of finance and risk, putting them at a disadvantage in purchasing insurance. In Phase 2, PIM will strive to identify the circumstances that explain these different results, and to identify the best contextspecific approaches for addressing gender. This flagship will also examine the effects of integrated social protection and agricultural interventions to assist men and women to manage shocks and risks, while at the same time being able to invest in agriculture and build assets.Flagship 5 explores pathways to strengthen tenure security of particular groups, especially women, drawing on assessments of promising innovations. Research in Phase 1 contributed to better understanding of gender-based differences in tenure security and decision making over resources as well as how interventions can reduce inequities.PIM's research in Phase 1 contributed to the development of methods for measuring tenure security at intrahousehold level. For example, land tenure survey modules developed for Nigeria were adapted for the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) in other countries. These instruments allow disaggregation by gender and age. In Phase 2, PIM will analyze these data and expand the development of sex-disaggregated data to include collective/community land tenure as well as rights to other resources such as water, trees, and fish stocks.Phase 1 studies from Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Nigeria show the need for pragmatic and contextspecific approaches to land policy and governance interventions to improve tenure security for women (Hagos 2012;Ghebru et al. 2014;Ghebru and Holden 2013). Putting women's names and photos on land certificates in Ethiopia can contribute to their tenure security and investment in land, provided that women know about these provisions (Kumar and Quisumbing 2015). Community-based legal assistance is an innovative approach to increasing women's likelihood of understanding and acting on their rights to land (Behrman et al. 2013;Billings et al. 2014). This work builds upon existing research suggesting that enhancing women's roles can open new opportunities for institutional change (Ratner and Smith 2014). These initial results show promise for identifying useful approaches to strengthening the tenure security of women; in Phase 2, PIM will continue to validate and support their introduction with governments (mainly in connection with the Land Policy Initiative of the African Union Commission).With regards to governance of resources in landscapes, ICRAF, CIFOR, and WorldFish have found that multistakeholder processes build trust, diminish power asymmetries, and better align divergent interests in ways that can yield more equitable outcomes for resource policy and institutional reform. At the same time, disadvantaged groups need support and assistance to engage effectively in key forums (Leimona et al. 2015;Ratner et al. 2014). In Phase 2, PIM will build on case study work to more systematically understand how different models for governance of shared resources can accommodate interests and benefit multiple stakeholders, including women.In Phase 1 PIM invested significantly in development of gender research methods, and produced guidelines for collecting sex-disaggregated data and a review of qualitative gender research methods (Rubin forthcoming). In Phase 2, as leader of the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, PIM will be well-positioned to disseminate these guidelines widely.PIM, IFPRI, IRC, and the World Bank are reviewing methods of measuring men and women's time use, asset control, and agency. In Phase 2, the team will analyze existing data on these topics, and implement and assess measurement innovations in order to facilitate more informed policy recommendations to enhance gender equity.Numerous partners used the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture (WEAI) questionnaire in Phase 1. Availability of additional WEAI data will allow continued validations of the tool and research on women's empowerment in Phase 2. The team will explore new applications of the WEAI in the areas of labor force participation, technology adoption, and agricultural productivity.The book \"Gender in Agriculture: Closing the Knowledge Gap\", the result of a collaboration between FAO and IFPRI during Phase 1, presents the evidence base on gender in agriculture, and highlights the many gaps that remain. PIM also analyzed sex-disaggregated data on landownership and management in Africa and Asia, finding large gender gaps, data gaps, and discrepancies in the reporting of indicators (Doss et al. 2015;Kieran et al. 2015). FAO's Gender and Land Rights Database has adopted PIM's conceptual framework and indicators of these gaps (De la O Campos et al. 2015). In Phase 2, PIM will continue to work with FAO to learn from the use of these indicators and improve other gender indicators.Findings from Phase 1 indicate that households commonly report men and women's \"jointness\" in decision making, actions, and asset ownership. Since existing gender analysis has tended to focus on differences between men and women, little is known about the importance of jointness, and this topic will be emphasized in Phase 2.Starting in Phase 1, PIM researchers are asked during the research design stage to determine whether gender is relevant to the proposed research. If not relevant, they are asked why. If relevant, they are asked to classify the extent to which deliverables incorporate gender. This facilitates monitoring of both strategic and integrated gender dimensions of the program. 2 The leader of Flagship 6 -a gender expert from outside CGIAR -also plays a strong gender coordination role for the entire PIM portfolio. With assistance from two full-time junior scientists, the leader of Flagship 6 ensures that gender issues are addressed, where relevant, in all flagships, and that there is coherence and communication across all activities with a gender dimension. In addition, the gender team provides guidance and feedback on gender research questions and methods, thereby building the capacity of researchers to conduct rigorous gender analysis. The leader of Flagship 6 will oversee the work of the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, and the Platform Coordinator will also report to a Steering Committee to provide for independent oversight (see Section 2.6.1.12 of the Flagship 6 narrative).The Program Management Unit monitors gender work across the portfolio by collecting indicators of progress in the annual activity progress reports (see Table 3.4.1). These reflect the proportion of activities collecting sex-disaggregated data, as a percentage of activities collecting primary data; the percentage of activities analyzing sex-disaggregated data; and the proportion of activities using findings to reduce identified gender inequities or to explicitly target women, girls, or both. In compliance with the CGIAR Gender Monitoring Framework, PIM's goal in Phase 2 is for all individual-level data to be sexdisaggregated. The information collected in the activity progress reports also helps to identify areas of the portfolio that may need increased attention from the gender team to address methodological issues. In response to recommendations from the PIM external evaluation team, self-reporting by researchers will be augmented by selective verification.A subset of PIM outcomes will be assessed to determine the role of gender analysis in achievement of outcomes. This work will start modestly, and expand over time. In addition, selected impact evaluations will be conducted to measure the effect of various interventions on relevant gender gaps. These impact evaluations will usually be undertaken with the implementation partners funding and administering the projects. As reflected in Figure 1.0.6.2 (Section 1.0.6), PIM's research portfolio is designed to support growth of agriculture and the rural economy, sustainability of the natural resource base, and inclusion of women, young people, and marginalized groups. Attention to youth employment is important for all three. Where the population is growing rapidly, successful integration of young people into the labor force yields a \"youth dividend\" as new entrants bring energy, talent, and enthusiasm to try new things. If young people cannot be well integrated, they instead raise the dependency ratio, and act as a drag on investment and growth. Young people can contribute to sustainability by adopting new technologies that have low carbon footprints and use natural resources more efficiently. Conversely, unemployed young people, especially young men, are prey to gangs and militias, with resulting resource-destroying conflict. Inclusion of young people is particularly important for poverty reduction, since today's excluded young people are tomorrow's poor. The emphasis on inclusion highlights the linkages of work on youth with the work on gender. PIM's work on youth is less mature than the gender work, but can be expanded using many of the approaches developed for gender research. Factoring both gender and age into the analysis is often necessary, since, for example, the remedies for poverty and exclusion of elderly women differ from those for young women.As can be seen in Figure 3.5.1, demography determines the size of the youth cohort and its location. In the period up to 2035, the number of young Africans between 15 and 24 years old will expand significantly, that in South Asia will roughly stabilize, and the number in East Asia and the Pacific will drop. By 2050, the rural population in Africa south of the Sahara will still be growing, while that in East Asia and South Asia will decline by 50% and 10%, respectively (Losch, Fréguin-Gresh and White 2012).The youth bulge in Africa is appearing at a time when jobs in labor-intensive manufacturing are growing too slowly to absorb the increased supply of young workers, expansion of the service sector will be pinched by the slow-down in the commodity boom, and opportunities to migrate are closing. Agriculture will need to absorb the waves of new workers reaching adulthood in rural areas. The challenge to do so without pulling labor productivity down (and hence exacerbating poverty) or over-taxing natural resources is unprecedented historically. PIM's work on youth in Phase 2 therefore focuses on Africa.Meeting the challenge will require strong leadership based on good analytics of the underlying processes and real-time empirical evidence to track developments. PIM is well-placed to make a contribution to this effort. Depending on the interest of national counterparts and development partners, detailed work will be undertaken in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and/or Zambia. Young people who farm a subdivided family parcel need skills and capital to shift to higher-value agriculture, as well as good access to markets. To assist young people engaged in this type of employment, research is needed on modalities for delivery of extension and financial services and interventions to improve the efficiency of value chains. PIM undertakes such research in Flagships 1, 3, 4, and 6. Flagship 1 addresses methods of communication and extension that facilitate successful adoption of technologies and management practices that perform well within given agroecological conditions. Flagship 3 examines options for efficient contracting with buyers and processors. Flagship 4 addresses insurance and financial instruments that can assist in managing the higher risk inherent in high-value agriculture. Flagship 6 examines the gender-based labor demands of different technologies and extension techniques, gender dimensions of contracting and group formation, and gendered preferences for instruments of risk management.Type 2: Full-time on new holding. Young farmers who establish new and separate holdings need land, start-up capital, and advisory services or training. In addition to the research noted above, analysis of land tenure, land markets, and changes in the age and sex distribution of landownership are very important for this employment path to be successful. PIM contributes to this work through Flagships 2, 5, and 6. This includes evaluating gender and age effects of options for strengthening tenure security and land markets.Changes in farm size and structure with rural transformation are addressed in Flagship 2, as are shifts in demand for farm labor and mechanical power as wage rates change. Type 4: Off-farm wage work along the value chain. Expansion of transport and food processing generates jobs; the latter particularly creates opportunities for young women (Maertens, Minten and Swinnen 2009). Employment along the value chain is examined in Flagship 3. Employment prospects more generally and demand for labor are addressed in Flagship 2.In selected countries, PIM will work to clarify the relevance of the four types of employment noted above, and assess which ones are more prevalent and why.PIM's comparative advantage in work on youth employment is to address the systemic constraints to entry of young people into agriculture in Africa south of the Sahara. This approach complements that of AFS CRPs, NGOs, and development agencies, many of which are piloting different types of interventions to create opportunities for selected individuals. PIM's systemic overview and emphasis on policy and institutional barriers also complements the work of implementation partners that are investing in projects to address youth employment, such as AfDB, AGRA, FAO, IFAD, the MasterCard Foundation, and the World Bank. PIM has established partnerships with the main agencies, and strong working relations with national counterparts through IFPRI's Country Strategy Support Programs (CSSPs) in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria, and similarly strong partnerships of other Participating Centers.PIM's work will achieve impact through contribution to key policy processes (such as regulations affecting land markets; Sub-IDOs CC2.1.1, 1.4.5 and 3.2.1) and input into the design of national programs in areas relevant to the four types of employment presented above. In addition, the program will draw attention to the linkages between the youth agenda and other issues that are now addressed to a large extent separately, such as the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa. Faster growth of total factor productivity is essential if African agriculture is to absorb more labor without depressing returns to labor; progress in implementation of the Science Agenda has been slow and must accelerate. The rhetoric about \"making agriculture attractive to young people\" is rarely paired with emphasis on investment in agricultural science. PIM's work in Flagships 1 and 2 is designed to draw out this linkage, and bring the separate \"youth\" and \"science\" agendas together. This work will achieve impact by influencing investment in agricultural science by national governments and their development partners (all Sub-IDOs under IDO CC4.1). Efforts within Flagship 3 to strengthen value chains and create opportunities for young people will also achieve impact by facilitating job creation at nodes of the value chain where young people are well represented (Sub-IDOs 1. as opposed to those designed specifically as youth employment programs. So far, more attention has been accorded the latter approach, although little evidence has been gathered to determine which approach is most effective (that is, affirmative action within general programs or purpose-designed youth programs).Very little rigorous monitoring and evaluation of youth employment programs has been undertaken (IEG, World Bank, 2012). PIM works with development partners to address this weakness. In light of the poor knowledge base for understanding systemic constraints to youth employment, the major tasks for M&E are (a) providing reliable evidence on livelihoods (levels and sources) of young people in selected countries through survey work; (b) providing a monitoring framework for development partners and managers of national development programs to track the age distribution of beneficiaries of programs; and (c) adding to the knowledge base on effectiveness of interventions to raise youth employment.Approximately one third of the work in Flagship 2 relates to youth employment, for a total of $6.9M. About half of the gender analysis in Flagship 6 is age-disaggregated to capture life cycle impacts for both men and women; this represents approximately $1.8M. For the other flagships, the level of intensity in addressing youth issues can be estimated at 10%, that is a total of $6.5M for Flagships 1, 3, 4, and 5. The total youth budget for 2017 is estimated at $15.2M, or 16.4% of the total budget (Table 3.5.2). The different types of PIM resultsPIM results encompass outputs, outcomes, and contributions to Sub-IDOs, IDOs, and SLO targets.The CGIAR Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) describes results-based management (RBM) as \"a management strategy focusing on performance and achievement of outputs, outcomes, and impacts.\" PIM distinguishes between \"research uptake\" outcomes, which correspond to the initial use of outputs by target clients such as national governments, private-sector companies, funding agencies or NGOs; and more downstream development outcomes, that is, changed behaviors of these clients resulting from the first type of outcomes. These outcomes at flagship level (see flagship sections on \"Objectives and Targets\") feed into higher-level program outcomes resulting from the contribution of several flagship outcomes (Figure 1.0.3.1, Section 1.0.3). Flagship outcomes and PIM outcomes both contribute to Sub-IDOs, which in turn are expected to have downstream effects on IDOs and SLO targets as indicated in Sections 1.0.2 and 1.0.3.While the collection of high-quality data on indicators is not straightforward, it is even more challenging to determine which portion of the changes in the values of indicators can be attributed to PIM's research.In addition to tracking outcomes and impacts, a credible RBM system therefore needs to include proper research designs to be able to assess PIM's contributions to those. PIM recently published a paper on best practice methods in impact assessment of policy-oriented research. Based on this paper, Table 3.6.1 shows the different stages of the policy research process and, for each, the methods used by PIM to assess outcomes and impacts from its research.At the onset of policy research, a critical first step is to identify target outcomes and impacts and to build a clear theory of change around those. The PIM Phase 2 proposal includes a description of program-and flagship-level theories of change and indicators. Individual projects need to identify their contribution to the PIM and flagship-level indicators, and develop a plan for facilitating the uptake of research outputs.The PIM project information templates already included some questions to that effect in Phase 1; in Phase 2, links with the PIM and CGIAR results frameworks will need to be spelled out even more specifically by project teams at the planning stage.Both PIM researchers and external evaluators play an important part in collecting and analyzing data at various stages of the research-to-outcome-to-impact pathway. PIM will make use of external experts to assess PIM's contribution to policy outcomes and to review PIM's overall analyses and interpretations of contributions to higher-level outcomes and impacts. Tracking outputsPIM has a well-established mechanism for tracking research outputs, and will streamline the mapping of these to intended and realized outcomes by moving to an online integrated monitoring system in Phase 2. Experience from Phase 1 shows that principal investigators did not sufficiently track outreach activities and gather evidence of initial use of outputs by target clients. PIM started to strengthen this component in 2015-2016 through discussions with flagship and cluster leaders and update of project report templates, and will use early lessons from this approach to provide guidance to teams for mainstreaming tracking of these components into all projects in Phase 2.The monitoring of outputs will be more systematic and at a more detailed level for Window 1-2-funded projects than for bilateral/Window 3 projects, which undergo separate monitoring via the Centers through the bilateral/Window 3 contracts.The tracking of PIM outcomes in Phase 1 has produced variable results. In 2016 PIM introduced a specific template for collecting information on outcomes, and is reinforcing communication towards the teams on the importance of tracking and reporting to PIM on outcomes -including outcomes of legacy and bilaterally/Window 3-funded outputs. Increasing the evidence base around the outcomes is a major component of PIM's M&E approach, and flagship teams are encouraged to do so. PIM outcomes will be featured on the PIM website and at PIM-organized impact-oriented events. Tracking the indicators listed in Table 3.6.2 does not reflect PIM or CGIAR's contribution to them. For example, CGIAR may have a significant positive influence even if the value of an indicator decreases -in this case the trend without CGIAR's contribution would have been even less favorable. Likewise, a positive trend is not an indication that CGIAR has a positive influence. To understand CGIAR or PIM's influence, it is necessary to conduct a proper impact assessment study using an appropriate counterfactual. Impact assessment faces conceptual challenges common to all of CGIAR's research: (a) the need to demonstrate a contribution to an outcome (for example, policy change, technology adoption); and (b) the need to demonstrate the more downstream outcomes and impacts arising from that initial outcome. In practice, most impact assessment studies of policy research in CGIAR focus on the first challenge, and only a minority of them include more downstream impacts of policy change. On the other hand, studies of impact of technologies most often focus on the second challenge, because demonstrating the CGIAR contribution to the development of a technology is usually a straightforward task.PIM will continue to address the first challenge, that is, use evidence to document PIM's influence on policy (and other outcomes) because that is a necessary first step. However, an increased number of other PIM studies will take up the second challenge, that is, assess the qualitative and quantitative impacts of policy outcomes on SLO targets and other important variables.Studies of PIM's contribution to policy outcomes ideally take place soon after policy outcomes have occurred, so that testimonials may be obtained and key actors may be interviewed while the policy process is fresh on their minds. Thus, assessment of policy outcomes and assessment of policy impacts ideally take place at different points in time, which means that synthesis work will be needed later to pull together the two levels of analysis. Cases for policy impact assessment will be selected when policy outcomes are validated and before impacts are realized, so that proper baselines can be measured and changes over time can be observed.Both outcome and impact studies require that counterfactuals be identified. In the case of outcome studies, the counterfactual is the absence of the research outputs produced by PIM. External assessments have often found that the appropriate counterfactual is that the policy outcome would have happened but much later than in the presence of the research. In terms of impacts, the most frequently observed counterfactual is the alternative policy that the policy makers would have established (a continuation of the current one, or a different new one, for instance). Models (the same models used by researchers to inform policy choices) are often used for these assessments.Even if a study demonstrates PIM's contribution to a policy outcome, PIM needs to be mindful of policy makers' sensitivity in claiming a contribution to outcomes. Some governments may not want to acknowledge the contributions of \"outsiders\", and such claims from PIM could jeopardize future collaborations. However, as much as possible governments will be encouraged to provide some acknowledgement of PIM's work. In CGIAR countries of collaboration, it may be useful to negotiate with governments at CGIAR level so that future commitments of CGIAR in these countries are predicated in part on governments' willingness to provide an assessment of the contribution of CGIAR.External evaluations will be used for the following purposes: To assess the degree to which PIM's research contributes to policy change and other first user outcomes: As discussed above, this is a critical first step in evaluating PIM's impact, and there is no point in assessing higher-level impacts if PIM's contribution to changed behaviors of policy makers and other direct users of PIM outputs has not been demonstrated. Past external evaluations of IFPRI's and PIM's work have shown that contribution or attribution of policy research is not easily reflected in the available documentation because policy makers rarely cite the research findings that have helped them make decisions. In such cases, investigations from independent external evaluators are essential for sorting out the contributions of various inputs into policy making. IFPRI and PIM have developed a roster of skilled evaluation professionals, who rely to a large extent on interview techniques. This type of evaluation will cover each of the PIM flagships, and include capacity development. To validate PIM's impact assessment design strategy and assess the degree to which PIM had achieved downstream outcomes and impacts: The quantitative assessment of impacts requires a significant level of training, especially in the area of policy, where sectoral or economywide models may be needed to develop counterfactuals. External evaluators should partner with PIM researchers to ensure that appropriate designs, assumptions, and methods are used, and to get inputs on overall interpretations. These types of external evaluations may be flagship specific, tracing through the effects of flagship-specific outcomes (for example, the expanded use of value chain solutions). They may also cut across flagships, in cases where more than one flagship helped to achieve outcomes or impacts, which may be particularly relevant in CGIAR countries of collaboration.Selection of topics for such evaluations will cover different elements of the PIM portfolio, with some case studies being selected randomly in order to represent a particular topical area.Recognizing that several thematic areas, including high-value agriculture, capacity development, social protection, science policy, and country programs, have been evaluated by PIM and IFPRI at the end of Phase 1 and that the evaluation of the PIM program devoted particular attention to the models for foresight, international trade, and national policy analysis, candidates for early evaluation in Phase 2 are research on insurance products and natural resource governance. To assess the degree to which PIM is performing its integrative role: As one of the Integrating CRPs, PIM is expected to perform integrative functions. A potential role for evaluators is to assist PIM in developing a set of indicators for this integrative role. For instance, some of these indicators could quantify the performance of the various PIM-led communities of practice.Similarly, PIM will benefit from an early independent assessment of the performance of the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research. An assessment of the role of PIM in the national policy coordination in selected CGIAR countries of collaboration would lend itself well to an external evaluation. All ICRPs have confirmed their intent to conduct these types of evaluations jointly. To assess the performance of PIM's governance and management functions: It is planned that the new PIM governance structure will be evaluated after two to three years of operations. The performance of the management team, including use of the new M&E online tool (see below), will also benefit from a review. Other potential areas for external review are PIM's communications and partnerships.Because risks vary according to policy context, the task of monitoring risks and assumptions mainly lies with the principal investigators. To keep reporting requirements at a manageable level, principal investigators are not formally required to report on risks at the activity level; however, as they report on progress towards outcomes they will be reminded to consider the assumptions that they had made (explicitly or implicitly), and whether these were validated or not. Annual flagship reports (see below) will summarize these reflections at the flagship level. At program level, an analysis will be made across flagships for PIM's countries of focus, reflecting the importance of these to the PIM impact pathways and contribution to SLO targets.Opportunities for learning and adjustment are present at each stage of the research process (see Table 3.6.1).PIM's approach to learning includes annually producing the following documents in order to review progress towards outcomes in a systematic way:  Cluster-and flagship-level assessments of progress towards outcomes  Impact assessments and external evaluations conducted during the year  Overall summary and assessment by PIM M&E unit and PIM DirectorThe following activities are planned to disseminate these outputs to PIM researchers and partners:  Share learning information through blog posts on the PIM website  Create space for learning discussion at PIM extended team meetings  Hold panel discussions with external and PIM experts involved in impact assessments/evaluations  Organize training sessions on planning for outcomesIn addition, PIM will ask cluster and flagship leaders to document changes to work plans as a result of this learning process. The corresponding documents will be reviewed by the Program Management Unit (PMU) prior to submission of the annual CRP Plan of Work and Budget. Changes to activity-level work plans based on learning will also be encouraged. Reflection on the effectiveness of outreach outputs will form a critical element of the PIM learning.Following a recommendation from the evaluators of PIM, PIM's approach towards performance-based planning and budgeting will be formalized in Phase 2. PIM will use a program planning and monitoring tool in common with the other Integrating CRPs (building upon the current CCAFS tool, see below), which will facilitate monitoring and assessment of performance by flagship, activity, and Center. The level of funding will be based on a number of criteria, including quality of science (e.g. number of ISI publications), timing and cost of outputs, quality of partnerships, contribution to PIM outcomes and impacts, mobilization of bilateral funds, relevance to PIM's target countries and regions, contribution to PIM's integrating role, and quality of reporting. Teams that show strong contribution to science and outcomes will be financially rewarded, and penalties will be established in situations of significant under-delivery of outputs, lack of attention to outcomes, or both. The details of how PIM will measure performance and use the results will be finalized following the constitution of PIM's new Management committee and Independent Steering Committee.The functions of the PIM M&E unit include oversight of planning and reporting systems; support to flagship, cluster, and activity leaders for development of theories of change; coordination of impact assessments and external evaluations; and participation in the CGIAR MEL CoP to develop common indicators and methods. The PIM M&E unit is hosted in the PMU.Flagship and cluster leaders play an important role in ensuring that activity work plans include appropriate outreach activities to facilitate uptake of outputs, reviewing and assessing progress towards outcomes at the activity level (in relation with activity leaders), providing information on outputs and outcomes (especially initial, qualitative outcomes) at the flagship/cluster level, and contributing to design of downstream studies of outcomes and impacts.A tool to operationalize monitoring and learning in PIM: MARLO (Managing Research for Learning and Outcomes)At a meeting in February 2016, the four Integrating CRPs, PIM, A4NH, CCAFS, and WLE, agreed on the fundamental characteristics of a single, integrated online M&E platform. The advantages of cross-CRP collaboration on this topic include reduced transaction and management costs, standardization of nomenclature and frameworks, and, in the longer term, aggregation/integration of data across the participating CRPs. This tool is expected to benefit both the CRPs involved and CGIAR as a whole in streamlining the planning and reporting processes and production of key operational documents (POWB, annual reports), while also facilitating the monitoring of progress towards the SRF SLOs. The system will be interoperable, enabling data to be accessible and usable by other CRPs and the System Office.The online M&E platform covers the CRP program management cycles, including pre-planning and planning, monitoring, reporting, and synthesis. The platform is structured around the theory of change at programmatic, flagship/cluster, and project levels, enabling the inclusion and review of key results and assumptions on a periodic basis. The platform, called Managing Research for Learning and Outcomes (MARLO), is currently under development based on the existing CCAFS planning and reporting system.The aim is to have the platform ready to meet the needs of the four CRPs for the 2017 planning phase.The PIM M&E budget for 2017 is estimated at $5.1M. For more information and a disaggregated view of these costs, see Table 1.1.6.1: M&E and impact assessment budget components, Section 1.1.6, CRP budget narrative. For details of site integration, see http://gcard3.cgiar.org/uganda/ PIM contributed to the site integration document.PIM has engagement on issues of technology adoption and natural resource management. PIM will engage more broadly on policy issues as the demand from the Ugandan side to the CGIAR group as a whole is clarified.For details of site integration, see http://gcard3.cgiar.org/vietnam/ PIM was represented in the national consultation by an ICRAF scientist working with PIM and based in Vietnam. PIM also contributed to the site integration document.PIM has a limited presence in Vietnam, focused primarily on natural resource management. Additional engagement will be considered as needed through the CGIAR collaboration and as resources allow. repository to enhance accessibility. All PIM data are published as open access as long as the privacy and confidentiality rights of human subjects are maintained.In Phase 1, harvesting PIM outputs from the centers other than IFPRI and cataloguing them in the IFPRI repository in a timely manner has been a challenge. In addition, some of the IFPRI publications produced within PIM in 2012-2014 were initially missing the PIM tag in the metadata, mostly due to the lack of acknowledgement of PIM in these publications. The PIM PMU and the IFPRI KM team have worked together to check the IFPRI collection for such omissions and retroactively correct the metadata. The situation has improved, for both IFPRI and non-IFPRI publications, since the release of the PIM's Branding and Acknowledgement Guidelines in June 2014. In Phase 2, the new PIM communicators group (see Communications Strategy) and the development of an online tool for monitoring and reporting that will link to the IFPRI Repository should help address these difficulties.PIM publications are stored using the CONTENTdm digital collection management system. CONTENTdm uses the Dublin Core (DC) standards; supports the following data exchange protocols: XML, JSON, and OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting); and has a REST API and RSS feeds. 3  Linked Open Data (LOD) capacity is in the process of being added. The IFPRI repositories mentioned above are compliant with the CG-Core metadata schema. Standard controlled vocabulary (AGROVOC, CAB Thesaurus, STW Thesaurus of Economics, and Library of Congress [LOC]), taxonomy, and ontology concepts are used where possible to synchronize and harmonize distribution across multiple outlets. For instance, the LandPortal.net, FAO's AGRIS database, ifpri.org, and ReSKASS Asia websites harvest content from the IFPRI repositories (the first two using OAI-PMH and the last two using API).In Phase 1, exporting data from the IFPRI repository to the CGSpace repository has been hampered by the lack of compliance of CGSpace with the API standards. As a consequence, only a small fraction of the PIM Phase 1 outputs is currently visible in the CGSPace PIM collection. It is hoped that in Phase 2 this interoperability issue will be resolved at the CGIAR level.Both the publication and dataset repositories have automatic file transformation systems in order to ensure long-term preservation. Data file types uploaded in the \"IFPRI Datasets\" are also converted into text files for long-term storage and preservation. Given that the scope of IA management for PIM is the same as OA management, PIM will not put in place any CRP-specific IP governance/oversight mechanism, but instead will work with the IFPRI IP Focal Point on all matters related to the implementation of the CGIAR IA principles (and especially to implement the best practices shared through the CGIAR Legal/IP Network). The CGIAR IA Principles will be incorporated by reference in all partnership agreements, and partnership agreements will include appropriate wording on intellectual property rights.For the reasons explained above, the budget for IA management is the same as the budget for OA management (See Section 3.9).Phase 2 full proposal addresses comments and recommendations on the pre-proposal received from the ISPC, the Fund Council, and the Consortium's SPPCThis document includes:  the main comments made by the ISPC on the PIM pre-proposal on September 28 (Section I),  comments made by the ISPC on September 28 on other CRPs' pre-proposals/platform EOIs that refer to PIM (Section II),  comments made by the ISPC on October 14 on the overall portfolio that relate to PIM (Section III),  comments made by the SPPC on October 19 on the overall portfolio that relate to PIM (Section IV),  and caveats to the preparation of the full proposals included in Annex 1 of the December 19, 2015 full proposal guidance document that relate to PIM (Section V) Comments at program level Comment Response Emphasize and outline a plan for engaging in a transparent and systematic exercise to establish priorities and achieve greater focus, with particular attention to PIM's comparative advantage.PIM management has carefully assessed PIM's comparative advantage and taken into account recommendations from reviewers and the PIM evaluation to develop the proposed portfolio for Phase 2. We have justified the choice of topics within each flagship, and highlighted the topics that were covered in Phase 1 and dropped in Phase 2, with explanations (Sections 2.5 of flagship narratives). We have reviewed draft proposals from other CRPs to identify demand for input from and co-investment with PIM (Annex 3.7). We have gleaned early priorities from country and regional consultations in CGIAR countries of collaboration (Annex 3.7). The available information about large bilaterally/W3-funded projects was used to ensure leverage and complementarity between the different sources of funding within the portfolio.Define optimal linkages across and within flagships; show more clearly and present a more coherent rationale for the flagship structure and the value of linkages between clusters within each flagship.Section 1.6 addresses linkages within flagships, and the positioning of each flagship within the growth-sustainability-inclusion framework shown in Figure 1.6.2. The flagship narratives emphasize both the linkages with other flagships and the linkages between clusters of the flagship.End or substantially reduce some legacy projects and further consolidate the portfolio.Sections 2.5 in the flagship narratives explicitly note lines of work that are dropped in Phase 2, and explain the rationale for this choice.Response Better articulate theories of change (ToC) at the CRP and flagship levels, and describe assumptions and risks within each Impact Pathway. PIM does not present an explicit ToC for the whole CRP. A ToC would provide a consistent overall structure, map out how FPs complement each other and thus help prioritize the FPs, placing the six FPs as the impact pathways to achievement of the overarching CRP outcomes (instead of the Global/ National/ Program/ Methods impact pathways provided). In the section that addresses PIM's impact pathways (pp. 11-12), there seems to be little or no emphasis on a support role within the CGIAR.The generic theory of change for the program as a whole is described in Section 1.3. Gender, youth, capacity development, and climate change are addressed in this section. Table 1.3.1 includes a list of outcome-related risks and planned mitigation actions. The breadth of the agenda for policy and institutional reform prevents developing a more specific theory of change at program level. Sections 2.3 of the flagship narratives contain more specific ToCs at flagship level, including underlying assumptions. Table 1.3.1 shows how the flagship level outcomes contribute to the overall CRP outcomes. Section 1.6 describes the overall coherence of the program and the contribution of each flagship to its objectives. Section 1.3 emphasizes PIM's support role within CGIAR.Reconsider topics missing from the policy agenda, e.g., related to input and output (especially seed) markets, farm size dynamics. There is hardly any reference to analysis of agricultural policies that have been widely debated in recent years, e.g., related to fertilizer subsidies, irrigation, seed systems and taxes. Subsidies are mentioned only a few times. There is virtually no discussion of seed system policies, food safety, water management or land degradation (although the latter two are implicit in FP5). It seems that some of the most basic areas of policy analysis have dropped off PIM's agenda -especially those having to do with input and output markets and the corresponding distortions.Input and output markets are covered at a general level in the Flagship 3 narrative Seed systems are given ample coverage in the Flagship 1 narrative (Cluster 1.2). Farm size dynamics will be a new area of focus for Flagship 2 in Phase 2, linking to previous PIM work on agricultural mechanization, youth employment, and the role of agriculture in structural transformation. Linkages with the work of Flagship 5 on land tenure are mentioned in the Flagship 2 narrative. Fertilizer subsidies have been fully covered in recent work, and additional research would not have much impact. Subsidies and taxes more generally are covered under the work on distortions in Flagship 3, and picked up at the country level in Flagship 2, particularly in work on the policy process and decisions related to public expenditure. PIM has elected not to invest heavily in irrigation policy (covered by WLE), food safety policy (covered by A4NH), and land degradation (covered by FTA and WLE). Some work on land degradation and water is undertaken in Flagship 5, with emphasis on institutional mechanisms for management of NRM, but technical dimensions of these agendas are understood to be within the competency of other CRPs.Define more clearly PIM's linkages with other CRPs, through impact pathway schematics. While some information as to how PIM will work with other CRPs is provided under each FP, at the CRP level it is insufficient.Discussions have been held with most CRPs to specify the topics for collaboration spelled out in Annex 3.7.Response More explicit reference to the grand challenges would be useful to see in the full proposal.References to the SRF grand challenges are made in Section 1.1 and in the flagship narratives (Sections 2.1). Climate change receives specific coverage in Sections 2.8 of the flagship narratives. Post-harvest losses are addressed in the Flagship 3 narrative (Cluster 3.2). New entrepreneurial and job opportunities are addressed in Flagship 2 and Annex 3.5 on youth.There are other PIM functions -such as data management and distribution -that fall outside the domain of any of its flagships. For example, there is no discussion of the management and dissemination of household survey data collected by PIM and its collaborators.Data management is handled through procedures of the Participating Centers, and we have explained in Annex 3.9 that PIM will not establish separate (and possibly duplicative) procedures. Sections 2.11 of the flagship narratives address management of PIM data in accordance with the CGIAR guidelines on intellectual asset and open access management. It is the responsibility of the research teams to make data available; the Program Management Unit will contribute to dissemination to potential users as part of the PIM Communications Strategy. The PIM full proposal would benefit markedly from more detailed references to work completed under Phase 1 and how Phase 2 builds on that previous effort. These references can be found in Sections 2.5 of the flagship narratives and Annex 3.4.There is no mention of youth at the CRP level, which may need to be addressed in the full proposal.Youth at the CRP level is extensively covered in Section 1.5 and Annex 3.5 of the proposal.Response Does the foresight work belong in PIM? Some of these functions can be performed with more independence outside this CRP, and this FP seems duplicative of work already taking place or intended to take place elsewhere in the System.The IMPACT model, its assumptions, and its applications should be more transparent to potential users.We believe that PIM is the best home for this work within CGIAR. Independence of the research from material interests of PIM is not an issue. This concern has been raised several times in the past, and we would welcome a discussion with ISPC to understand and address it. The new coordination model including the roles of PIM and other CRPs in the foresight modeling effort in Phase 2 is described in the Flagship 1 narrative and in Annex 3.7. The IMPACT model is more transparent than available alternative modeling systems. A user guide to the updated version of IMPACT was released end of 2015.The work on technology adoption and impact assessment duplicates work in other CRPs. Technology adoption is an issue of obvious relevance to the CGIAR, although PIM's comparative advantage in this area isn't obvious. An alternative approach would be for PIM to play a minor supporting role with respect to other CRPs, rather than defining it as a CoA within PIM. On the adoption side, there are external entities such as ATAI and 3ie that are addressing many of the same questions about constraints to adoption with far more resources and rigor. It is not clear what role this cluster intends to perform, other than helping to develop a community of practice and enhancing internal coordination and quality-which would indeed be useful.Following this advice, we have scaled back this part of the program's agenda. PIM will support a community of practice focused on method development and learning. In addition, PIM will lead studies in areas where collaboration across CRPs and with SPIA is key, such as gender and technology adoption. 3ie and ATAI do not necessarily conduct research on CGIAR priority topics and countries of collaboration, which calls for a concerted effort to do so within CGIAR.It is not always clear where the demand comes from (e.g., ASTI). A specific question arises with ASTI, which does not seem like an obvious component of the CGIAR research portfolio.Statistics from the ASTI website and the ASTI ex post assessment study attest to the high demand for the ASTI data. These data are essential for understanding the capacity of our NARES partners, for tracking the relative contributions of CGIAR and partners to growth in total factor productivity, and for measuring returns to agricultural research. If our NARES partners are to improve their capacity, they need to have the comparative data on levels of investment (coupled with evidence on impact) to show their Ministries of Finance that additional budget allocations are required. This is a critical input to the various sub-IDOs related to capacity building, and perhaps the only indicator of changes in capacity that can be measured with existing data.Response Gender issues are not addressed in depth in this flagship.ASTI data on scientists employed within the NARS at various levels are age-and sexdisaggregated, and thus amenable to analysis of issues related to gender and youth. Flagship 1 research takes into account (a) gender considerations in the selection of technologies, policies and investments for foresight analysis, and the potential for gender dynamics to influence drivers of change in agriculture and food systems, (b) links to other models (including country-level CGE models with household data, where sexdisaggregated data are available) to analyze impacts of selected scenarios on employment and other variables, (c) potential gender implications of the results of selected scenarios through links to existing gender-focused research, (d) a strong gender lens on the analysis of access and provision issues in agricultural extension systems, (e) gender dimensions of technology adoption trends, determinants, and impacts, particularly with respect to seed systems and markets, and (f) the role of men, women, and various age cohorts in the conduct of science in agricultural research organizations. See Section 2.9 of the Flagship 1 narrative and Annex 3.4.How do CSSPs fit into PIM's research agenda? It is disturbing to see that there does not seem to be much attempt to build strategically on questions and issues that arise in the CSSPs. If there is no feedback from the CSSPs into the program, then they should probably be moved to another institutional location.Integration between PIM and the IFPRI CSSPs is addressed in the Flagship 2 narrative, especially for the CGIAR countries of collaboration where a CSSP is active (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria).This flagship seems to have a research agenda that is distinct from what the rest of the CRPs are doing, yet it deals with issues that arise in almost every one of the AFS CRPs. This flagship needs to reach out more to other CRPs. To the extent that collaboration is discussed, it is envisioned as a one-way flow, with no real sense that PIM hopes to learn from other CRPs or to define its research questions in relation to issues arising in the field. Indeed, the text of the document says at this point, \"… [A] number of AFS CRPs have expressed intent to examine rural-urban linkages. PIM encourages these CRPs to explore tools available within PIM, especially the countryspecific SAMs and CGE models, before they invest in alternatives.\" This does not come across as a serious effort to engage in mutually beneficial collaborative work.Relevance to the AFS CRPs has informed the choice of topics to be addressed by Flagship 2 in Phase 2. Linkages between Flagship 2 and the other CRPs will be much more developed in Phase 2 than in Phase 1, and are described in the Flagship 2 narrative.Response A number of key issues around inclusive growth seem to be absent: issues around farm size and land distribution, remoteness and the economics of investment in marginal areas, inclusiveness of employment in large-scale farming and agri-processing, and contract farming and its ability to meet the livelihood needs of smallholders. It is not clear that the omission of these issues reflects a strategic choice, i.e., relevance for the CGIAR, as opposed to an agenda based on funding opportunities or current expertise inside PIM.Issues of land distribution and farm size are covered in Flagship 2 and Flagship 5. Intersectoral labor flows and employment through mixed livelihoods are addressed in Flagship 2. Employment along the value chain is addressed in Flagship 3.Issues associated with inclusive growth that both attract bilateral funding and draw on staff capacity receive preferential treatment in Flagship 2, which is consistent with comparative advantage and the constrained funding environment.The full proposal should flesh out how the first cluster will cover the landscape more strategically. Currently, this flagship agenda seems poorly developed, lumping together without explanation a wide range of topics.The coherence and presentation of Cluster 2.1 has been improved (see Flagship 2 narrative).In the case of the first cluster, it is surprising that there is so little information on the proposed methods.Methods used in all three clusters of Flagship 2 are described in Section 2.4 of Flagship 2.For the second cluster, there are some reservations about the use of SAM/CGE approaches to thinking about the prioritization of public investments. The results of this analysis will be heavily dependent on the assumptions that are made. Scientific discourse accommodates differing views about the relevant methodologies. Public investments are decided through various policy processes, and the analysis using SAM/CGE models is but one input. SAM/CGE tools are designed to explore options (for investment inter alia), and how they are affected by different underlying assumptions. The availability of micro-level data has dramatically improved in recent years; thus the parameters to be used in the SAM/CGE modeling will increasingly come from micro-level empirical analyses. Some of the assumptions can also be relaxed through scenario analyses and simulations with alternative assumptions; e.g., about substitutability of factors.Response The comparative advantage of PIM with respect to compiling SPEED indicators on national government spending is not clear. Work on prioritizing public investment veers somewhat close to consulting work. It would make more sense to focus on developing the tools for this analysis and then making them available to other organizations for implementation in specific countries.The SPEED data are made available to a wide array of users for applications. Downloads from the SPEED website attest to the high demand for the data (Section 2.10 of the Flagship 2 narrative). Making data and tools available to national partners for use in policy analysis is a priority, and capacity strengthening is a key component of Cluster 2.1 and Flagship 2 in general.There are many other providers of analysis on employment issues in developing countries, especially when it comes to impact evaluation of different employment interventions, infrastructure investments, job training, etc. such as J-PAL, 3ie, the World Bank, and many university-based researchers. If this is the focus of the cluster, PIM should explain its comparative advantage in the full proposal.The inclusion in the CGIAR SRF of IDO 1.3 on Increased incomes and employment presumably carries the assumption that CGIAR will undertake research on this topic. The focus of PIM is on rural livelihoods, and how agriculture contributes to them, with special emphasis on youth employment (Section 1.5 and Annex 3.5), and intersectoral flows of labor with structural and rural transformation (Flagship 2 narrative). We do not focus on employment more generally. We are not in agreement with the statement that youth employment interventions have been extensively evaluated (although we do not intend to make this a major focus of PIM). The 2012 report of the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group on youth employment programs emphasizes the dearth of rigorous analytical assessment of the performance of such programs. There is surprisingly little about gender in this flagship on \"inclusive growth\".Gender dimensions have been heightened (See Section 2.9 of the Flagship 2 narrative and Annex 3.4).Response The ISPC sees deficiencies in how the clusters are presented. A stronger rationale is needed in the full proposal.We hope that the rationale for and presentation of Flagship 3 is improved in the full proposal.This flagship seems to have a research agenda that is distinct from what the rest of the CRPs are doing, yet it deals with issues that arise in almost every one of the AFS CRPs. To make this a more viable activity for the CGIAR, PIM must seriously engage with other CRP social scientists in collaborative research on value chains and the corresponding small and medium enterprise sector. Value chain analysis elsewhere in the CGIAR is focused on understanding the opportunities for value addition to increase the incomes and well-being of women and the poor. As presented, there is little here to support those CRPs that are primarily focused on domestic value chains. In spite of that, the pre-proposal seeks US $20 million annually. One could imagine a budget that is perhaps a small percentage of that, but the current allocation seems excessive.The evaluation of PIM pointed out that PIM has developed a multi-center community of practice for value chain research, with strong linkages to other CRPs. Discussions have been held with all CRPs to provide more details on cross-CRP collaboration on value chains in the full proposal (see Annex 3.7).Most of the outputs of the work -tools and results -posted on the PIM value chains web site pertain to domestic value chains, and specifically to inclusion of women and poor producers. One key investment in Phase 1 was to develop tools that better address the gender dimensions of value chains. These products will be used by other CRPs in Phase 2. It seems that the text of the pre-proposal failed to convey this; we have tried to improve this in the proposal. See Flagship 3 narrative and Annex 3.7.The science quality for the first cluster is moderate. To some extent it seems to draw on an old and problematic method for defining implicit taxation of producers. This method tends to conflate transport and transaction costs and quality differences with actual policy distortions, whereas the literature in more recent years has grown less confident in the notion that the Law of One Price should hold in all cases.When price gaps (i.e., rejection of the law of one price) are large in developing countries, it is often not easy to see how much is contributed by traditional policy distortions, and how much by investment lacunae and market imperfections. The recent PIM work on implicit taxation does not assume that all gaps are due to policy distortions; rather the measurement exercise allows policy makers to zero in on the markets and value chains where the problems are greatest. The purpose of the research is precisely to diagnose what is causing the large price gap, and what interventions would reduce it most costeffectively. This work is very important to help colleagues in the AFS CRPs see the factors depressing incentives for adoption of superior technologies developed within the AFS CRPs.Response Trade: There is arguably less interest in this topic today than previously, since discussions of agricultural trade now have an institutional home in the WTO (which was not true during the peak era of this activity).Work on international trade is highly relevant, particularly in addressing price volatility and the benefits of CGIAR's investment to consumers (who may be a hemisphere away from the producers). ISPC has regularly questioned the relevance of PIM's work on international trade. We hope that in this proposal we have succeeded in showing its relevance to the PIM agenda and to CGIAR more broadly. The WTO addresses international trade, but the representatives of developing countries in the WTO are very weak on agricultural issues. IFPRI and PIM have an established record of assistance and capacity building in this area. It should be noted that other CRPs are upon occasion asked to assist clients and partners on agricultural trade issues, and do not have the tools to do so. For instance, AfricaRice recently approached PIM with regard to a request from ECOWAS on tariff policy for rice. In addition, PIM is using the tools of analysis of distortions developed for trade negotiations to diagnose breakdowns in domestic value chains, so that interventions can be steered toward the breakdowns that are most costly. Much of the work within the trade cluster has very clear domestic applications relevant to smallholders and poor consumers, as well as regional and global applications. We hope that the new presentation of Cluster 3.1 (Flagship 3 narrative, especially Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, and 2.8) makes a strong case for including trade in PIM in Phase 2.The third cluster seeks to identify \"best-bet options for scaling innovations.\" This too is vague and hard to assess, but seems to verge very close to development implementation. There is not enough information to judge it effectively. It is not possible to assess the quality of the science in CoA3 since the methods are unclear.We have revised accordingly in the full proposal.A significant amount of gender work has in fact been done in Flagship 3, and will continue in Phase 2. This is reflected in the full proposal (section 2.9 of the Flagship 3 narrative, and Annex 3.4).Capacity building receives very little attention. See Section 2.10 of the Flagship 3 narrative, which gives detailed information about two capacity development examples: value chains hubs, and AGRODEP.Response It is not clear that this subject area forms an obvious element of the CRP portfolio or indeed of the broader CGIAR portfolio. Social protection schemes are undoubtedly important for reducing poverty, but they do not have an obvious link to agricultural science or agricultural research. Comparative advantage of the CGIAR is at issue here. The pre-proposal does present a compelling case based on past work and current expertise, but there are now many other providers of this work, including university-based researchers and other development organizations. This is particularly true of the work on financial inclusion, which is a huge area of research outside the CGIAR. One might be more sympathetic to this work if the FP were able better to connect it to issues of more central concern to the CGIAR, such as technology choice and input use; or rural-urban population movements; or food demand and consumption patterns; or nutrition.The recommendation of the ISPC to link PIM's social protection work with agricultural interventions has been followed, and this new orientation is described in the Flagship 4 narrative. Comparative advantage and relevance to CGIAR are elaborated in Section 2.7 of the Flagship 4 narrative.A topic that may deserve more attention here is the extent to which social protection strategies allow for better uptake of technology by poor farmers or easier out-migration. This is mentioned in the section introduction but not given further attention. Linkages between PIM and FTA are elaborated in the Flagship 5 narrative and in Annex 3.7.There is some overlap in the objectives of A4NH and PIM, as much of the nutrition and health agenda operates through policies, institutions and markets. It would be helpful to be more explicit about the allocation of responsibilities and scientific specialization between these CRPs, in terms of which kinds of data, methods and research outputs each aims to produce. Further, the ISPC would have expected to see strong links with PIM regarding the intention to mainstream biofortification into policy.The ISPC would encourage more discussion of interaction around value chains with PIM and other CRPs. Flagship 5 on Integrated programs to improve nutrition would also do well to provide input to the other FPs, for example Biofortification, Food Safety, and to the policy-oriented FPs and PIM.PIM does very little explicitly on nutrition policy. In the interest of selectivity we prefer not to expand this work. A4NH has the technical expertise to address regulatory issues associated with biofortification.Linkages and the division of labor between PIM and A4NH are elaborated in Annex 3.7 and in the narratives of Flagships 4 and 6.The ISPC notes the overlap in objectives and personnel with the 2nd cluster of activities in FP 6 of PIM. The ISPC considers there needs to be a strong case (added value over what already exists) to justify the creation of a new platform and considers that the case has not been made by the EoI proponents as to why the activities described in the expression of interest need to be implemented by a separate gender platform. The ISPC recommends that the functions proposed in the EoI which are complementary to those proposed in PIM Flagship project 6 are folded into the full proposal for the PIM CRP.Based on guidance received from the Consortium Office and ISPC on February 18, 2016, the Gender Platform is now included as Cluster 6.2 in Flagship 6 (See Flagship 6 narrative section).Response There are numerous activities on foresight and prioritization at a range of levels within the CGIAR System without a common framework to capture synergies and avoid duplication.See Section I of this document.Impact assessment, particularly ex-post, is still generally under-budgeted across the CGIAR System, and seldom referred to in the CRP pre-proposals. The ISPC is concerned that there is still too much reliance on the work undertaken by SPIA. As the Portfolio as a whole becomes more integrated it would be good to see a strategy for how this could be co-ordinated across the System at the time of submission of full proposals. PIM's plans for impact assessment are described in Annex 3.6 on Results Based Management.Response CRP7 Policies and Markets -in which the current PIM program is re-articulated to contribute to CGIAR horizon scanning and to enabling policy frameworks for output delivery and human welfare benefits in CGIAR target countries.While we do indeed plan to orient significant investment into countries of CGIAR collaboration, we also will maintain research that informs regional and global policy decisions, as well as some national level research outside of countries of CGIAR collaboration. See Sections 1.1 and 1.3 of the program-level narrative, and Annex 3.7.To include 6 Flagships as per the pre-proposal with appropriate revisions as recommended by ISPC, and also to incorporate the Gender expression of interest.See previous sections of this document.Response Greater attention to discerning the role of regionally focused yield-gap closing/sustainable intensification research in the system, as distinct from and a complement to global public goods research in areas such as crop breeding, livestock health, food policy, and others.As described in Sections 2.2, 2.6, and 2.8 of the Flagship 1 narrative, Flagship 1 makes a strong contribution to Sub-IDO 1.4.2 'Closed yield gaps through improved agronomic and animal husbandry practices'.Crosschecking that consolidation at the cluster of activities or flagship level has not delivered unintended adverse consequences such as removing clarity for key research priorities and/or increasing transaction costs.Two PIM clusters have been merged between the pre-proposal and proposal stages: former Cluster 1.2 on \"Agricultural Science and Technology, Genetic Resources, and Innovation\" and former Cluster 1.3 on \"Enabling Adoption of Technology\" are now part of the reconfigured Cluster 1.2 \"Science Policy and Technology Systems for Sustainable Intensification\". This consolidation is in line with the questions previously raised by the ISPC about the need for a separate cluster on technology adoption. It is also consistent with the expansion in Phase 2 of the work on seed systems, which overlapped the two former clusters. The merger will result in an efficiency gain, and no loss of priority topics has been identified. Providing a clearer understanding of National Partners' requirements, and how the scientific and financial program elements support them.Partnerships with national partners are featured throughout the proposal. Flagship 2 is devoted almost exclusively to work at the country level in response to demand from national partners. See also Annex 3.2 and PIM's Communications Strategy. Setting out more clearly the interconnection and resources available for the proposed Communities of Practice in gender/youth and capacity development, with particular attention to ensuring engagement of partners in the respective Communities of Practice. Specifically, ensuring that the proposed communities of practice operate in a way that will result in meaningful progress towards sustainable engagement and impact.Based on guidance received from the Consortium Office and ISPC on February 18, 2016, the Gender Platform is now included as Cluster 6.2 in Flagship 6 (See Flagship 6 narrative section).Reducing as many transaction costs as possible, particularly regarding management burden.As described in Section 1.12, a lean Program Management Unit will continue to handle operational and administrative aspects of the program. As much as possible processes and tools will be common to several CRPs (the monitoring and evaluation tool common with CCAFS, WLE, and A4NH is a good example of economies of scale). PIM management costs are estimated at 3.5% of the total budget, which is at the lower end of the usual range for such programs.Response Seek explicit prioritization within CRPs (and also between CRPs); balancing research on 'upstream' science with research on how to scale out and up relevant new knowledge and technologies (while leaving the delivery of impact at scale to organizations with that remit).PIM has clarified its contribution in relation to scaling up value chains interventions in Flagship 3: PIM does not intend to engage in scaling activities; these activities are the domain of key public and private development partners with a clear remit for value chain intervention. Rather, PIM, in collaboration with AFS CRPs and other partners, will conduct rigorous research to identify scaling typologies, to develop methods for evaluating interventions operating at scale, and to document results of what works, where, for whom, and under what conditions. See the Flagship 3 narrative for more details.Important to capture synergies between CRPs so that the System delivers more than the sum of the CRPs (the One System One Portfolio mantra).Discussions have been held with most CRPs to specify the topics for collaboration spelled out in Annex 3.7.Clearer explanations of what W1&2 funding will be used for. Principles for the use of W1-2 funding are provided in the program level budget narrative (Section 5). The ISPC is glad that PIM has agreed to take on the role of co-ordination of a Systemwide platform or Community of Practice for gender work, although we hope that it will be possible to reinstate the original budget. It is hoped that down-rating gender Final 2nd Call Full Proposal Guidance from a Flagship to 'Cross-cutting work' does not reflect diminishing importance of gender.Based on guidance received from the Consortium Office and ISPC on February 18, 2016, the Gender Platform is now included as Cluster 6.2 in Flagship 6 (See Flagship 6 narrative section).The CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) leads action-oriented research to equip decision makers with the evidence required to develop food and agricultural policies that better serve the interests of poor producers and consumers, both men and women. Regular and efficient communication to support the work of PIM's researchers and partners and to share results of this work is critical to achieving this goal. This document outlines PIM's Communications Strategy.The overarching objectives of this strategy and of the PIM communications function are to support PIM in achieving impact through the program's channels of influence and to facilitate efficient delivery of the program. convey research results to raise awareness about the role of good policies, strong institutions, and well-functioning markets in achieving poverty reduction, improved nutrition and health, and good stewardship of natural resources,  inform global and national policy processes,  share knowledge and support learning among PIM collaborators, partners, and beyond,  share best practices and lessons learned within CGIAR to support joint learning and cross-CGIAR collaboration,  demonstrate accountability to donors and partners,  help secure funding for realization of the program's agenda,  inform collaborators and partners on program developments,  provide opportunities for feedback on the program as part of the continuous monitoring and learning plan,  support implementation of the PIM partnership and capacity building strategies.PIM communications efforts are guided by the following principles: Accuracy: PIM communications products are based on rigorous research and accurate information.  Collaboration for targeted communications: Creation and sharing of knowledge is a joint effort of all PIM collaborators. Researchers and communicators work together and with PIM partners to synthesize research results and craft tailored messages and communications products that are clear, interesting, and useful for different target groups.  Open access: Outputs of PIM research are international public goods (see Annex 3.9), and PIM facilitates access to its knowledge products to all interested parties.Alignment with PIM's channels of influence, target audiences, and communications tools Table 3.11.4.1 summarizes key target groups within each of the channels of influence described in PIM's theory of change (Section 1.0.3), and provides examples of communication tools to deliver relevant knowledge. In Phase 1, PIM's communications activities at the program level have been coordinated by one full-time Communications Specialist in the PIM Program Management Unit (PMU). The main areas of focus have been on establishing the program's internet presence (program website and selected social media channels 4 ); sharing PIM news with collaborators, partners, and donors (PIM newsletter 5 , blogs 6 ); producing two \"18-months progress reports\" 7 ; internal communications (web-based collaboration platforms, 8 PIM extended team meetings); supporting PIM's engagement in external events; developing PIM's Branding and Acknowledgment Guidelines and monitoring their implementation; and coordinating with researchers and IFPRI's Knowledge Management (KM) team to ensure efficient harvesting and proper cataloguing of the program publications, datasets, and other knowledge products in the IFPRI elibrary (the main repository of PIM outputs, see Section 3.9). IFPRI's Communications and Knowledge Management (CKM) team has been a key source of support for outreach, events, publications, knowledge management, and web development.Among the lessons learned in Phase 1 is the conclusion that this arrangement has not been adequate to support communications with the researchers based in the Centers other than the Lead Center. To act on this lesson, PIM will establish a PIM communicators group that will include: Centers' communications specialists supporting research activities within the PIM portfolio; dedicated staff in each flagship; managers of the websites and social media of the PIM-supported projects; communications representatives of the PIM managing partners; and representative of IFPRI's CKM team. The group will be coordinated by the PIM Communications Specialist, and will convene electronically on a regular basis to share information and experience, plan future activities, and discuss results. A specific area of focus for this group will be the implementation of the program's Branding and Acknowledgment Guidelines, to ensure that all PIM outputs are appropriately branded and tagged to PIM (see Section 3.9).Additionally, PIM will seek to strengthen its communications through formalizing annual plans for communications at the program and flagship levels, developing a relevant Monitoring and Evaluation system for the communications function, and ensuring that flagship leaders, activity leaders, and principal investigators include communications in planning and budgeting.The main program-level communications activities in Phase 2 will include: Making PIM research results and knowledge products publicly available and visible through effective knowledge management and further development of the program website, blogs, and social media channels.  Facilitating PIM engagement in the global policy dialogue through publicizing key research findings and tools to support decision making; organizing of and participating in policy events; and interactions with the media. Demonstrating accountability to donors and partners through regular reports on program results, delivery, and costs.  Supporting program communications through collaborative web-based platforms, team meetings, and regular updates on the program developments, including major external and internal news (website, newsletter).The flagship-level communications activities will be defined in accordance with the annual plans of work.Based on the experience from Phase 1, in most cases big flagship-level communications activities (for example, events or publications) will be owned and organized by a hosting CGIAR Center. Additionally, flagship leaders will appoint a staff member responsible for liaising with the PMU on communications (flagship representative in the PIM communicators group, see above), including coordination regarding the following flagship-level communications activities:  Sharing flagship news and updates with other PIM colleagues to support joint learning and coordination (specifically through regular contributions to the PIM newsletter and blogs).  organizing knowledge-sharing and capacity building events on the topics of the flagship research, especially in the CGIAR countries of collaboration.  Representing PIM at local/regional events.  Supporting application of the PIM Branding and Acknowledgment Guidelines.The PIM communication budget for 2017 is estimated at $3.6M, which represents 3.9% of the total PIM budget. This includes: (a) flagship-level budgets (including publications and workshops and 0,3 FTE of a Communications Specialist for each flagship); (b) $310K in the management and support costs to support the program-level communications strategy (see Table 1.1.4.1, Section 1.1.4, CRP budget narrative). Foresight modeling and innovation systems 3.11.6 List of PIM 2012-2016 ISI publications This document can be accessed here.3.11.7 PIM's contribution to SLO targets: methodology note  The poverty headcount is important, but relying on this indicator alone misses important contributions that agricultural growth makes to reduction of poverty. The depth of poverty is measured by the poverty gap, or the distance to the line. Where the poverty gap is large, this is the measure that is most relevant for human welfare, and it is not captured in Table A. Nor is it reflected in the second target for SLO 1 (SLO target 1.2), which is framed solely on the headcount. As shown in Figure 3.11.7.1.2 below, the additional income required to move the average poor rural person in East Asia (where the gap is small) out of poverty is $9 per year, while the amount required for the average poor rural person in Africa south of the Sahara is $85 per year. The combination of low headcount poverty and small gap in East Asia means that an incremental income stream of as little as $10 annually targeted to the poor could essentially eliminate poverty (as measured by the international line). A broadly shared agricultural growth process that increases annual incomes in Africa south of the Sahara by $50 would have an enormous impact on household welfare, but bring only a modest reduction in headcount poverty. With the above caveats in mind, the PIM team has approached Table A in three ways, and triangulated the findings to arrive at the numbers presented. The first approach is basic rate-of-return analysis, with assumptions about where returns are generated and how they are used. A second approach calculates the direct income effect on smallholder producers due to adoption of improved technologies and management systems. A third approach amplifies the second by adding indirect effects of agricultural growth (see Section 1.0.1) through linkages with economywide impacts.The four SLO targets that PIM influences most are: SLO target 1.1: 100 million more farm households have adopted improved varieties, breeds or trees, and/or improved management practices  SLO target 2.1: Improve the rate of yield increase for major food staples from current < 1% to 1.2% -1.5% per year  SLO target 1.2: 30 million people, of which 50% are women, assisted to exit poverty  SLO target 3.3: 55 million hectares of degraded land area restoredThe target rate of yield increase for staples is quite close to the rate already observed in recent years according to FAO data. If the target is attained and not exceeded, food staples would provide little of the income growth needed to meet the poverty target. Much of the direct income effect of agricultural growth would have to come from the livestock sector, and shifts to high valued products (and away from staples).As noted in Section 1.0.2, PIM research overall aims for a modified internal rate of return (MIRR) of at least 12%. As noted in Hurley et al. (2014), this is consistent with observed rates of return to agricultural research, and on the conservative side. One could take a very simplistic interpretation of the rate of return as the earnings of the investment that can be harvested each year as income transfers for poor people, without touching the principal, which remains as the knowledge capital to raise capacity in the future. Using (a) a formula that includes an increasing effectiveness of research investments up through 10 years, after which they depreciate but continue to provide returns; (b) a steady annual research investment of just under $100 million; and (c) a target MIRR of 12%, we calculate a perpetual income stream that is produced by the cumulative research investment that can be applied to reduce poverty. This amount is estimated to be from $90 to $140 million each year depending on assumptions of returns to research (including depreciation rates). 9 If all of this were applied to poverty reduction in India, about 5 million people would be moved over the poverty line. The numbers in Africa south of the Sahara would be close to 1 million (because of the larger poverty gap). If the transfers were concentrated among those closer to the poverty line, numbers would increase correspondingly.A pure transfer would not necessarily put recipients sustainably over the poverty line, but one could refer to the literature on entry and exit from poverty to estimate numbers who would remain out of poverty. Not all benefits of PIM's research, however, can be assumed to go to the poor. Many accrue to nonpoor smallholders, other actors in value chains, and consumers who are above the poverty line but below the $3 per day line. The income growth that these people realize contributes to rural transformation and affects the poverty headcount indirectly, through linkage effects. With a smaller number of people moved out of poverty directly, but larger numbers affected by income growth and rural transformation, the reduction in the headcount would still be in the order of 2-5 million people, depending on assumptions about regional distribution.An alternative approach to estimating PIM's quantitative impact starts with assumptions about households reached, adoption of technology, yield increase, and incremental income earned. The first three SLO targets listed above are linked in terms of PIM's impact pathway. The methods to estimate impact are therefore explained together. The land restoration target is reached through a different impact pathway and is described separately. In each case, we draw upon national data for key PIM countries to establish an estimate of PIM's contribution in that country. We then use these results, in combination with estimations of impact through influence in other countries, to establish a total contribution. Table 3.11.7.3.1 below indicates the total number of rural/farming households, which is the population from which the PIM contribution to all three targets is drawn. Among the target countries are several with very large rural populations, including India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The second column gives the number of rural households under the poverty line of $1.25 (2005 PPP) per capita per day. The third column provides information on the proportion of farming households or land area (in the case of India) with improved varieties of major food crops. This variable can be viewed as a proxy for baseline adoption of technology and management practices, and reveals that for each country there is potential for increase. The fourth column shows the mean rate of fertilizer use per hectare nationwide, a proxy for the level of intensification. This is an important component of yield growth, and the potential for increasing use of purchased inputs is part of our formula to estimate PIM's contribution. The potential for PIM research to increase yield growth through increased use of inputs is much less in countries such as Bangladesh and India, where input use is high, than it is in the African countries. The mean and recent trend growth in yield of the major crop in each country is an indicator of the scope for yield increase, given potential and recent experience. Finally, an estimate of total factor productivity (TFP) 10 growth in agriculture over the past 16 years is presented. This shows the potential for acceleration through technology and policy interventions. PIM contributes to adoption of technology through foresight analysis (which identifies promising technologies), research on regulatory reform for release of new varieties, tools for targeting release of varieties, research on extension methods to understand how to convey to producers information about the technologies, testing of interventions in value chains that improve returns to farmers, research to increase tenure security of smallholders, research on innovations to enhance women's empowerment, and evaluation of policy options to create a conducive policy environment for farmers. Adoption is not straightforward to measure, especially at scale, and in Phase 2 PIM is investing in improved tools for that purpose. For the present analysis, we use adoption of improved varieties of the major crops as a proxy for technology adoption.The complete formula for our estimation of PIM's contribution to yield growth is:Each of these pathways contains a subjective element (i.e. PIM's likely contribution) and an element that can be bounded by results of empirical studies (i.e. effect of technology on yield and effect of input use on yield).Research by Fuglie (e.g. Fuglie andRada 2013, Fuglie et al. 2012) demonstrates some important patterns and relationships. First, total growth of agricultural output has been rising at about 3.4% per year in developing countries since the 1980's. Land area expansion accounts for about 1% of this throughout the period, with the remaining 2.4% considered to be yield growth. Of the yield growth, input intensification was the key explanation during the 1980's, but has been superseded by total factor productivity (TFP) growth since then. During the early 2000's, TFP accounted for about 2% of the 2.4% yield growth, and input intensification for only 0.4% 11 . This is in part due to the plateauing of input use in many Asian countries, the continuing low use of inputs in Africa, as well as higher adoption rates of technology.Given the current scenario, future yield increases in India and Bangladesh will need to be achieved wholly through TFP increases, while in PIM target African countries, in the medium term (including 2022), there will be a balance between input intensification and TFP contributions. Since PIM aims to influence both TFP and intensification, the balance selected does not affect much our estimate of contribution; for that reason we assume that each will play an equal role (50%) in yield increase in the period 2017-2022 for Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania.Although the evidence produced by Fuglie and FAO (see Table 3.11.7.3.1) suggests a higher annual rate of growth in yields in recent years, the SRF SLO target aims for an increase from a baseline of < 1% to 1.25%. In our calculation, we assume a baseline rate of yield growth of 1% to conform to the SRF, and then compare a \"PIM-influenced\" rate against this in the five countries and in the rest of the world. Since the current yield growth rate appears to be significantly larger, we assume that reasonable increases above the baseline of 1% are clearly achievable. Table 3.11.7.3.3 shows the results of our estimation. It draws upon the estimated number of households adopting new technology from Table 3.11.7.3.2. We further assume that where input use is at present low, the same households will intensify their input use as a result of PIM's work on technologies and the enabling environment. Thus benefits of new technologies and better use of purchased inputs are restricted to the adopting households. This conservative approach is likely to underestimate the impact.We assume that the rate of yield growth for adopters is double the rate of those who do not adopt. In both cases we assume the rate of increase is 2% (which given the empirical studies is clearly attainable).In concrete terms, this means that in the base scenario of 1% growth, a yield of 1 ton/ha in 2017 would rise to 1.06 ton/ha in 2022. A farmer adopting a new variety would see yield increase to 1.13 ton/ha, while a farmer adopting a new variety and intensifying input use would see yield grow to 1.27 ton/ha.PIM's effect on yield growth in each country is given in Table 3.11.7.3.3. Contributions are higher in Africa, where new technology and input intensification occur together. There, baseline growth is raised to between 1.18% and 1.29%. The corresponding figure is only 1.02% and 1.06% for India and Bangladesh respectively. The population-weighted average for the 5 countries is 1.07%. We also estimate a contribution to the rest of the world, which for the PIM program is mainly in Africa. This contribution is based on the average estimate from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania, but factors in a reduction due to less intensive efforts from PIM in the other countries (which results in a lower proportion of \"influenced households to total households\" in that aggregate group of countries). Finally the global average is shown to be 1.07%. This shows that PIM alone, with budget limitations, cannot by itself increase national yield growth rates above the target of 1.25% in the time frame of 6 years. Nonetheless, it can make an important contribution, which can help CGIAR as a whole achieve the target. Further gains can be achieved through collaboration with other CRPs. For example, collective engagement on removing seed system regulatory barriers could expand the number of households \"influenced\" in a country, while research by the AFS CRPs on technology development ould increase the productivity for those households which are positively affected by policy reforms. The cost of lifting one (average poor) person out of poverty is relatively low in rural India, at $22 per year, reflecting the fact that most of the poor are near the poverty line. Ethiopia is next lowest, at $34 per person per year. Next come Bangladesh and Tanzania, at $56 and $63 respectively. At the high end is Nigeria, where the estimated transfer needed to lift the average rural poor person out of poverty is $137.CGIAR seeks not only to assist people who are below or near the poverty line, but to significantly raise income levels for farming households who are at or modestly above the poverty line. Thus, while our analysis examines the extent to which we are able to assist people to exit poverty, it is important for CGIAR to also assess the extent to which we are able to significantly raise incomes of the poor and contribute to rural prosperity.Rural incomes derive from many sources, including own-farm production, wage work on other farms, nonfarm employment (formal or informal), and safety net programs and other risk-reducing mechanisms (see Section 1.0.1). Agricultural income is most closely aligned with the concept of net returns, i.e. the value of output less the cost of purchased inputs. This can be increased through expanding area under agriculture or raising the value of production on a fixed piece of land. The latter can be accomplished by increasing total factor productivity (e.g. new technologies), optimizing the use of inputs (e.g. fertilizer), or raising the price of output or lowering the price of inputs (e.g. through better policies). We focus initially on the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) growth and exit from poverty, which is an important relationship for CGIAR.Table 3.11.7.3.4 shows first the annual growth rate of total factor productivity (using FAO data) across the five countries. We analyze the effect that these productivity growth rates would have on future poverty levels. To do this, UN population projections to 2050 are used to calculate the base scenario of number of poor in 2050, assuming that the poverty rate is unchanged over time and that there is no agricultural growth. This increases the number of poor in the five countries from 574 million today to 831 million in 2050. If the current TFP growth rates are included, the number of poor in 2050 will be less, at 780 million. This means that TFP growth at current levels contributed to an exit of 51 million people from poverty.Several implications can be drawn from this: 1. The ability of agricultural productivity growth alone, even accelerated growth, to enable farming families to exit poverty is limited. Direct income effects are significant, but modest. 2. All else equal, countries with large poverty gaps are less able to reduce poverty through agricultural growth alone. Nigeria, with a TFP growth of almost twice that of India, has fewer people exiting poverty than India over the period of time, because many individuals have incomes far from the poverty line. 3. Any single CRP is likely to have a small incremental effect on TFP, which would represent a fraction of the 51 million people exiting poverty by 2050 solely through growth in TFP in this analysis. A -For this analysis we are assuming these households have adopted technology partly from policies and interventions from at the beginning of the period. This is not unreasonable if one considers pre-PIM and Phase 1 PIM legacy work by IFPRI. B -We provide estimates of social protection impacts only for Ethiopia and Bangladesh, the two countries with clear influence from IFPRI research. In Ethiopia, we assume that one-third of poor rural households are included in the program, which reflects coverage estimates. In Bangladesh, the figures are based on an evaluation which demonstrated the number of poor households able to find employment through the program.C -We simply apply the same rest of world to five country ratio as in the previous table.This calculation differs from the rate of return analysis, because it assumes that these same households have realized income gains consistently over the 6-year period of Phase 2. Their cumulative benefit is thus several times the poverty gap, and thus the calculation reflects not only the amount required to move across the poverty line but also the income needed to stay over it. When social protection benefits are added from two key countries of PIM research, the number exiting poverty increases to just above 3 million.Drawing from studies across a number of countries, each dollar of direct income growth from agriculture generates an additional $1 through indirect effects. The indirect effects will not all accrue to the poor, but if 25% do, then the number of people exiting poverty would increase accordingly (by another 620,918).  Grand total 10,000,000 2,000,000 1,260,000 3,400,000 5,363,243A -With a multiplier of 1, this is column B multiplied by column D to obtain total amount available. This is then multiplied by .25 as the assumed share to poor households.Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) Phase 2 Proposal: 2017-2022(July 31, 2016) ) 146 | P a g eA baseline estimate of degraded land from Bao et al. (2014) classified by land use type is shown in Table 3.11.7.4.1. For each country, we evaluate the number of hectares of restored degraded land to which PIM will contribute, via direct \"action research\", and to a much larger extent through partners -e.g. through work with the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) in India).This will come from two primary sources:  Restored common and forest land through improved governance (Cluster 5.2 primarily)  Improved farm land through adoption of sustainable management practices (Cluster 1.2) in conjunction with tenure reforms and management changes (Cluster 5.1) Table 3.11.7.4.2 summarizes these effects for the different countries. Notes: India is the country with the highest target because of a longstanding relationship with FES -which is already in the process of extending PIM work into 1,000 villages. The CSISA project has been extended to a second phase, which will help to bring sustainable land management practices to farmers in India and Bangladesh. IFPRI's Country Strategy and Support Programs in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Nigeria will further support the adoption of sustainable practices in these countries.","tokenCount":"22002"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8206778135.json b/data/part_1/8206778135.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..570604c920696809ced5fd2f4364e5c7bba15416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8206778135.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"479e69f89e5c972c0b2205efa18f08b1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/69122d43-bbfa-49d9-9d8c-2c49250f8872/retrieve","id":"-1958483849"},"keywords":["carotenoids","chick liver assay","provitamin bioavailability","retinoic acid retention"],"sieverID":"d6b84d67-5ada-45cf-a969-f8a6b047ea9e","pagecount":"11","content":"The β-carotene content of five cassava varieties and products as well as β-carotene bioavailability in cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 were undertaken using 240 one-day old Arbor acre broiler strain randomly divided into eight groups of 30 birds each. Each group comprised a triplicate of 10 birds each assigned in a completely randomized design. The eight dietary treatments were: Diets 1 and 8 had yellow and white maize respectively as the main energy source, while diets 2, 3 and 4 had maize replaced with cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 at 25%, 50% and 75%. Diets 5, 6 and 7 also had the maize contents similarly replaced with 25%, 50% and 75% grits from TME 419 respectively. Yellow maize, white maize, grits from TME 419 and TMS 01/1371 contained 238. 33, 13.33,  6.67 and 108.33. β-carotene in the peeled fresh tuber of TMS 01/1412 (468.33), unpeeled fresh tuber (425.00), dried peeled tuber (391.67) and dried unpeeled cassava (323.33) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the corresponding values inCarotenoids are natural pigments which are responsible for yellow to red colour observed in plants and vegetables (Mortensen, 2006). Carotenoids are important for its various roles in human and animals, these include immune functions, decrease in the risk of disease and antioxidant function (Johnson, 2002;Rao & Honglei, 2002;Hinds et al., 1997). There are over 700 carotenoids (Junpatiw et al., 2013); one of which is the β-carotene. β-carotene can be metabolized to vitamin A through the action of the enzyme 15-15 monooxgenase. β-carotene provides 66% of vitamin A in the diets of humans in the developing countries (Rasaki & Abimbola, 2009;Ayasan & Karakozak, 2010).Vitamin A deficiency is of global health significance in under-privileged communities of the world (Ajaiyeoba, 2001;Mama Project, 2010). Sommer et al. (1983) established that vitamin A deficiency increased the risk of childhood morbidity and mortality in humans and reduced production in animals (Beach, 1923). The increased vitamin A deficiency has led to development of food fortification to correct the underlying low intake of vitamin A (UNICEF, 2007).The erstwhile vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa was due to poor intake of provitamin A (Tee, 1995). Cassava products are among the most consumed foods, its tuber products are major sources of nutrients to human and animals (Tee, 1995;Ayasan, 2010). The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in their stride at reducing the prevalence of avitaminosis A in Sub-saharan Africa recently announced (IITA, 2011) cassava varieties widely acclaimed to be high in β-carotene (TMS 01/1368, TMS 01/1371 and TMS 01/1412). However, in obtaining products from cassava for humans and animals use, cassava must undergo various processing methods that could result in the losses of most of the acclaimed carotenoids (Pinheiro San'Ana et al., 1998a;Idah et al., 2010).Cassava grit is a product of cassava patented in Nigeria (Tewe, 2005) which is normally used as energy ingredient in the diet of animals. Reports (Adegbola & Asaolu, 1985;Bamgbose et al., 2011;Sarkiyayi & Agar, 2010) have been on the proximate composition of various cassava products and by-products with scanty documentation (Aniedu & Omodamiro, 2012) on the carotene profile. The level of carotene in yellow cassava varieties and products is also yet to be documented. There is therefore the need to quantify the carotene content of cassava products and also to determine the bioavailability of β-carotene in cassava grit for broiler production. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the β-carotene content of five varieties of cassava and products as well as the bioavailability of β-carotene in cassava grits for broiler chicks.The experiment was carried out at the Poultry Unit, Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria located on latitude 7 o 20′N, longitude 3 o 50′E, and 200 m above the sea level, in tropical rain forest vegetation zone. The laboratory analyses were carried out at the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan.Tubers from five cassava varieties (TME 419, TMS 01/1368, TMS 01/1371, TMS 07/0593, and TMS 01/1412) and their leaves at 12 months of age were obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. Products and by-products from the 5 cassava varieties were prepared and processed from the cassava tubers for proximate and beta-carotene content determination. A sufficient quantity of cassava grits was processed from two cassava varieties TME 419, the conventional variety and TMS 01/1371 notable for β-carotene.Leaves of cassava with no evidence of structural, insect and microbiological damage were randomly sampled from each cassava variety plot and then oven dried at 65 o C. Cassava peels were obtained from respective tubers. Tubers were water-cleansed and then carefully sliced by sloughing the covering to reveal the cream or whitish inner root skin colour. Cassava peelings were obtained from cassava roots by mechanically peeling the ring-like covering of the cassava tubers. Cassava garri flour was the solid fibrous residue that remained after the water content has been extracted from the grated peeled tubers which was then oven dried at 65 o C.Cassava grits flour was processed from the whole tuber following the steps; weighing, washing, detailing, grating, bagging and pressing and oven dried at 65 o C as described (Tewe, 2005). Cassava grit was processed from the respective tubers as documented (Tewe, 2005). The processed cassava grit was thereafter used as test samples in formulating experimental diets.A total of 240 one-day Abor Acre broiler chicks of 59.7±2.6 from Amo Hatchery, Awe, Oyo, Nigeria, was used for the study. The chicks were randomly distributed to eight dietary treatments. Each treatment was in triplicate of ten broilers per replicate. Birds were raised in a deep litter with separate feeder and water trough. Feed and water were given ad libitum, the offered and residual feeds were weighed.Test cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 and TME 419 were each incorporated to replace yellow maize on weight for weight basis at 25, 50 and 75%. Other diets were the yellow maize based diet (T 1 ) as the positive control and negative control (T 8 ) which also contained white maize as well as liquid paraffin at 5 g/Kg diets. *Each 1.25 kg vitamin/mineral premix contain: vitamin A-10,0000,0000 I.U, vitamin D 3 -22000000 I.U., vitamin E-10,000 mg, vitamin K 3 -2,000, Folic Acid-500 mg, Niacin-15,000 mg, Calpan-5000 mg, vitamin B 2 -5,000 mg, vitamin B12-10 mg, vitamin B1-1500 mg, vitamin B6-1500 mg, Biotin-20 mg, antioxidant-125,000mg, selenium-200 mg, iodine-1000 mg, iron-40,000 mg, cobalt 200 mg, manganese-70,000 mg, copper-4000 mg, Zinc-50,000 mg, choline chloride 150,000 mg and yolk colorant.The feeding trial lasted 14 days, during which feed consumption by the experimental chicks were quantified on daily basis. The quantity of feed offered and those not consumed were recorded. The chicks were weighed at the start of the experiment and subsequently on weekly basis. The weight gain was calculated as the difference in the initial and final weights. Feed intake was estimated as the difference in the total weight of feed offered daily and the left over while the feed conversion ratio was calculated as: Total feed intake/weight gained by the chicksThe proximate analyses of cassava, products and experimental diets were undertaken according to AOAC (1995). β-carotene (µg/100g) concentration of fresh cassava tuber, cassava products and by-products (grits, garri, pulp, leaf, peelings, peels, and the experimental diets) were determined spectrophotometrically (AOAC, 2005)  (1)(2)At week 2, two birds per replicate were randomly selected, sacrificed and carefully dissected to harvest the liver which was immediately protected from light, chilled and thereafter analysed spectrophotrometrically for vitamin A (retinol) concentration (AOAC, 1990). Vitamin A (µg/g) as retinol was calculated using the formula:. 1Absorbance of standard Conc of standard Absorbance of sample  (3)Data were subjected to analysis of variance in a complete randomized design using (SAS, 2002). Data were also subjected to correlation and regression analyses at α 0.05 .β-carotene content of cassava grits from TME 419, TMS 01/1371, yellow maize and white maize are shown in Table 2. Results showed that there were significant variations (P < 0.05) in the β-carotene of maize and grits. Yellow maize recorded the highest β-carotene value of 238.33 μg/100 g while cassava grits from TME 419 was lowest with β-carotene value of 6.67 μg/100 g.The β-carotene content (μg/100 g) of tubers and cassava products from the five cassava varieties are shown in Table 3. Results showed that there were significant variations (P < 0.05) in the values of β-carotene of the entire cassava tuber and products from different cassava varieties. Peeled cassava tuber of TMS 01/1412 had significantly higher (P < 0.05) β-carotene (468.33 μg/100 g) content while cassava grit flour and peels from TME 419 were lower (3.33 μg/100 g) (P < 0.05) compared to others.TMS 01/1412 cassava tuber and products recorded the highest β-carotene while the lowest level was recorded for cassava varieties from TME 419 when compared to other varieties. β-carotene composition in peeled fresh tuber, garri, garri flour, grit, grit flour, peelings, peels and leaves of both TMS 01/1371 and TMS 01/1368 were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Performance characteristics of broiler chickens fed cassava grits based diets are shown in Table 4. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in the final weight of birds on diet 1 which had the highest final weight (408.64 g) while those on diet 8, the least final weight (192.75 g). Significant differences (P < 0.05) were also recorded in total weight gain and daily weight gain. Chicks on Diet 1 had the highest total weight gain of 353.67 g and daily weight gain of 25.26 g followed closely by dietary treatment with 50% inclusion of cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 with 300.31g of total weight gain and 21.45 g of daily weight gain. The least total weight gain (132.45 g) and daily weight gain (9.46 g) was recorded in chicks on diet 8.The total feed intake and daily feed intake of birds were significantly different (P < 0.05) with chicks on diet 1 having highest total feed intake (531.50 g) and daily feed intake (37.96 g) while those on diet 8 had the lowest total feed intake (296.13 g) and daily feed intake (21.15 g) per birds. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) among experimental chicks were significantly different (P<0.05), Chicks on T1 had lowest FCR of 1.50 while those on diet 8, the highest.The main effect of cassava grit varieties and level of grit inclusion on performance of broiler chicks are shown in Table 6. Results showed that there were significant variations (P < 0.05) in the values obtained for all performance indices (final weight, total weight gain, daily weight gain, total feed intake, daily feed intake and FCR), Cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 as well as the chicks on 50% inclusion had overall favourable effect on performance indices measured in this study. Dietary β-carotene and chicks liver retinol (μg/g) of chicks are shown in Table 7. Significant differences (P<0.05) were recorded for β-carotene content of the experimental diets. β-carotene content of experimental diets (μg/100g) were 13.33, 10.00, 13.33, 16.67, 6.67, 10.00, 11.67 and 3.33 for diets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively. The liver retinol (μg/g) (9.69, 9.57, 10.25, 9.93, 9.89, 9.97, 10.04 and 9.74 for chicks on diets 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively) were not significantly different (P>0.05) Carotenoids such as β-carotene are known to enhance immune system (Navara & Hills, 2003), reduce the risk of degenerative disesases (Cooper et al., 1999) and scavenge the free radicals (Mortensen et al., 1997) due to the antioxidant properties. All yellow cassava varieties investigated contained higher quantity of β-carotene compared with the white varieties which may be indicative of their higher potential antioxidant roles. Eleazu and Eleazu (2012) also noted that white cassava varieties had lower carotenoid when compared with the yellow varieties. β-carotene content from fresh cassava tuber obtained by Aniedu and Omodamiro (2012) ranged from 52.8 μg/100 g for TMS 30572 to 387.6 μg/100 g in NR 07/0326. This result is however similar to those presented in Table 3 for peeled fresh tuber, unpeeled tuber, dried peeled tuber and dried unpeeled cassava but β-carotene content of dried peeled tuber of TMS 01/1412 was closest to fresh root of cassava varieties NR 07/0326.The β-carotene was highest in fresh peeled tuber of TMS 01/1412 (468.33 μg/100 g) and lowest in cassava peels and cassava grit flour of TME 419 (3.33 μg/100 g). It was however observed that β-carotene content of the sample decreased with processing as earlier suggested (Idah et al., 2010;Pinheiro San'Ana et al., 1998a). Pinheiro San 'Ana et al. (1998b) also reported some degrees of α-carotene and β-carotene losses in carrot after cooking. Water cooking without pressure was identified as the most appropriate processing method which provided highest retention of α-carotene, β-carotene and total carotenoid in carrots compared to steam-cooking, water-cooking with pressure and baking. Higher cooking temperature was more effective in reducing losses of carotenoid than absence of water during cooking (Pinheiro San 'Ana et al., 1998b). Harrriet and Gretel (1997) however opined that carotenoid losses during cooking was dependent on the type of container used and that food cooked in open container had higher losses regardless of methods. Rasaki and Abimbola (2009) also reported a value of 93 μg/100 g β-carotene content in white garri sampled from market which differed from garri of white variety of TME 419 in Table 3. This difference could however be adduced to probable production of garri from the different cassava varieties which may include yellow varieties.The reported β-carotene content of yellow market garri (321 μg/100 g) samples (Rasaki & Abimbola, 2009) contrasted with the corresponding garri prepared from yellow cassava tuber TMS 01/1412, TMS 01/1371, TMS 01/1368 and TMS 07/0593 with the values between 31.67-106.67 μg/100g. This variation would probably be ascribed to palm oil which is habitually added to market garri during production for aesthetic. Palm oil is a notable source of carotenoid (You et al., 2002) and the yellowish taint imparted by its addition has been one of the tools aimed at influencing consumers' choice. This factor may have affected the reported values by earlier authors (Rasaki & Abimbola, 2009). The varied β-carotene content of garri flour and high quality cassava flour produced by Aniedu and Omodamiro (2012) could however be attributed to different processing methods as their high quality cassava flour required sieving of the dried flour, not done in garri flour. Lower β-carotene recorded (P < 0.05) in TME 419 (5 μg/100 g) and the corresponding higher value in TMS 01/1412 (30 μg/100 g) were the highest levels obtainable in cassava leaves at 12 months age of harvest as reported (Wobeto et al., 2006).The FCR of 1.50 recorded by Goodarzi et al. (2013) for starter birds fed control diet was similar to that obtained from broilers on diet 1 (1.50) and those on 50% inclusion level of cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 (1.56). It was observed in Table 6 that birds on 50% inclusion level of both varieties of cassava recorded better performance in terms of weight gain than birds on control diets.The main effect of inclusion level of both varieties and level of grit inclusion on performance of broiler chicks presented in Table 7 showed that broiler chicks fed 50% inclusion of cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 performed better in terms of weight gain and FCR. Significant differences (P > 0.05) were recorded in β-carotene of the diet showed that higher inclusion level of cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 resulted in significant increase in β-carotene content of the experimental diets.There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the liver retinol, though chicks fed 50% inclusion of TMS 01/1371 and 75% inclusion level of TME 419 had the highest liver retinol. The closeness in retinol content could however be due to the sufficient amount of vitamin A from the vitamin mineral premix as posited (Higdon, 2005) that conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A decreased when body store of vitamin A is high. The processing methods of grit also resulted in decreased β-carotene content of grit and resultant similarities in dietary β-carotene content except for diet 8 which had 3.33 μg/100 g. The liver retinol obtained in this study was relatively lower compared to 13.22 μg/100 g reported for the liver of chickens by Schindler et al. (1987). This observed variation could thus be attributed to the differences in the age of birds.Dietary β-carotene negatively correlated only with grits inclusion levels (P < 0.05) from TMS 01/1371 (r = 0.40).The relationships of β-carotene content of the diets and the inclusions levels of grits from TMS 01/1371 were both negative (P < 0.05) linearly and quadratically. The regression equations were: Y = 15.333 -0.0530x (R 2 = 0.16) (1) Y = 13.667 + 0.147x -0.003x 2 (R 2 = 0.36) (2)Bio-availability of β-carotene in cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 cassava variety and β-carotene content of some selected cassava products were determined. Cassava grit from cassava varieties TMS 01/1371 and TME 419 at various inclusion levels were fed to broiler birds. There were strong indications that cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 was better when compared to TME 419.The β-carotene determination for cassava tubers and products indicated that tuber from TMS 01/1412 had the highest β-carotene in all the products quantified and TME 419 was least. TMS 01/1412 fresh tuber had the highest β-carotene while grit flour and peels of TME 419 were the lowest.Replacement of maize with up to 75% cassava grit from TMS 01/1371 and TME 419 in broiler ration had no deleterious effect on birds' performance. Also, 50% TMS 01/1371 substitution for maize resulted in better performance indices of broiler chickens in two weeks. Cassava products from yellow cassava varieties have potentials to contribute and assist the vitamin A status of animals.The following recommendations were made: Cassava grits can partially replace maize up to 50% percent without any deleterious effect. Labour saving production and processing of cassava grits need to be developed. There is the need for increased awareness on the use of yellow cassava grit in poultry industry. There is the need for the development of high dry matter cassava tuber. Production and processing of β-carotene cassava grit should be done in a less exposed environment for better retention.","tokenCount":"3016"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8211403990.json b/data/part_1/8211403990.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c6dfddf2e38c6f36cbe984f37ef60286aee5d3d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8211403990.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9de23a1e8bab9740d8b4381b09c7100e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4e3e2781-fd07-4d94-a7a4-36ee7d5481c3/retrieve","id":"-171824151"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dae2559e-c4be-4249-afff-cf5a17f50936","pagecount":"12","content":"Women play a crucial role in agriculture and food systems, and their involvement in farm production and management is growing with increasing male out-migration.But effective water management poses a huge challenge due to tidal hydrology, salinity, waterlogging, and climate stresses such as cyclones and droughts.In response to the water challenges, the government of Bangladesh implemented a community governance approach in the early 1990s by establishing Water Management Groups.In the policy, the executive committee of the water management groups must include 30% women members. The primary goal was to promote user participation in decision-making process in water management.Women need water for agricultural production and postproduction, but their participation in water governance has been undermined.Formal structures, including quotas, have an increased representation of women in water management groups.But effective participation in water management decision-making is restricted by: Time poverty Cultural normsWomen's participation in water governance has positive outcomes on the water management, agricultural productivity, and livelihoods.To promote effective women's participation in water governance in polder zones, a holistic approach is needed, encompassing: ","tokenCount":"170"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8258762942.json b/data/part_1/8258762942.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3e225d78fe3cdbdf62a2e7e4a4e331ca491a37be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8258762942.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2adce8b8f3b23b75a97fc232fd72e779","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ef07315-1291-422a-ad8f-6785061dff83/retrieve","id":"-457131919"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1c8420ad-3739-4bf4-909b-bae17aca7bc5","pagecount":"1","content":"Besides the notable impact of cattle value chains on the total greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) within food systems, there is an increasing apprehension regarding the persistent prevalence of globalized value chains and their environmental pressure across the supply network.Nevertheless, comprehensive assessments of the extent to which cattle contribute to GHGE have predominantly concentrated on farm-level management and animal feed intake efficiency, rather than delving into the structure and expansion of the beef supply network. This perspective offers valuable insights into enhancing our comprehension of the overall food system' s carbon footprint (CF).Measuring the GHGE and CF associated with beef transportation within the Colombian supply network, while also evaluating its environmental efficiency, and subsequently comparing these metrics with alternative animal proteins such as chicken and pork.The beef supply network in Colombia displays a fat-tail distribution, indicating that numerous supplying regions dispatch beef to a limited set of trading partners (depicted as red circles). Furthermore, the network demonstrates high centrality, with specific nodessuch as Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali, Medellín, Cúcuta, and Cartagena -concentrating trade relationships and supply linkages.Our results underscore the necessity of formulating comprehensive approaches and strategies aimed at curtailing emissions stemming from livestock production. These efforts should encompass a holistic consideration of factors such as the beef supply network, transportation distances, infrastructure, and technology. This broader perspective is vital for addressing GHGE from the cattle sector beyond the confines of the farm.The pronounced intensity and reliance observed within the beef supply structure unveil potential vulnerabilities and risks inherent in the system, particularly in the face of external disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic. With an intermediation rate of 40%, it is evident that out of 100 cargo trips, 40 culminate in the same producing municipalities. This phenomenon is a consequence of public health measures that forced the closure of numerous informal slaughterhouses and beef markets, thereby emphasizing the situation. This matter is resurfacing in the political discourse, as governmental plans to revise regulations aim to enable the functioning of municipal slaughterhouses. This strategic move, designed to curtail beef prices, holds the potential to influence the carbon footprint associated with transportation.The study focuses on the transport routes for carcass beef, originating from municipal-level wholesale markets and culminating in major cities such as Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, and Medellín -areas densely populated by consumers. The period of analysis is 2019 to 2022.  The weighted average distances covered by carcass beef to reach the primary cities exceed 120 km. In contrast, chicken surpasses 170 km, and pork goes beyond 350 km.Between 2020 and 2021, there was a decline in the volumes transported for all three meat categories, possibly attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market rebounded in 2022, with chicken taking the lead in transportation with over 68,000 tons, trailed by beef and pork at 51,000 and 26,000 tons, respectively.The analysis reveals that, despite the relatively shorter distances and moderate volumes transported, beef transportation accounted for the most substantial environmental impact. The CF stemming from beef transportation measured 0.347 tons of CO2eq per ton of carcass weight moved. In contrast, chicken registered a CF of 0.234 tons, while pork stood at 0.22 tons per ton of product mobilized (refer to Figure 3). ","tokenCount":"532"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8267777575.json b/data/part_1/8267777575.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0eeb941f4ab44e9663499f2cd25532ac82575668
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8267777575.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"acee9d9bc01f6ccc10a4101925f93a3f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/10cb569d-ee90-4cf1-b364-bc3d7626b1cd/retrieve","id":"167623356"},"keywords":["Agriculture","greenhouse gases","dairy farm","mitigation options","sustainable agriculture"],"sieverID":"4ce69cb6-9c30-417e-a930-281876e39b8e","pagecount":"96","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.This report is a result of the project \"Piloting and scaling of low emission development in large scale dairy farms in China\". This project was funded by the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). It was executed by the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA), that is part of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), by the College of Animal Science and Technology that is part of the China Agricultural University (CAU) and by Wageningen University and Research (WUR). In this project researchers from these institutes have collaborated on developing tools and best practices on farms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the large-scale dairy sector in China. This report is one of the results of the collaboration between the three participating institutes. It is the result of a three-years period during which we gradually collected more detailed information about mitigation options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Chinese dairy farms. The shared expertise of all the three institutes created wonderful opportunities to collect research results on many mitigation options and to describe the results in a way that is tailor made for Chinese dairy farms. Livestock emissions contribute to global warming. To mitigate this impact from the Chinese dairy sector we have collected and selected options that can be applied on farm level to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). The relevant GHG on farm level are carbon dioxide CO2, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). The objective of this report is first of all to create more awareness amongst researchers, consultants and other stakeholders within the dairy sector about ways to reduce GHG. This report contains 27 of these options that can be applied by farm managers to reduce GHG emissions on the dairy farm. The second objective is to list qualitative as well as quantitative information about these mitigation options to support the actors in understanding the feasibility of the different mitigation options as well as the expected reduction in GHG they may deliver. This information is available for most of the mitigation options, but not for all. The users can use this information to apply mitigation options in a more tailored way.For all mitigation options we have strived to provide information about these aspects:Technical principlesAdvantages and disadvantagesReferences Not all aspects could be filled for all the mitigation options. This is why this information is sometimes lacking.This report is in fact a collection of fact sheets about mitigation options containing for every option the information of the aspects mentioned above. The mitigation options are group in seven main categories that reflect the main domains in managing GHG on dairy farms:1. Herd management 2. Crop production 3. Feeding and feed management 4. Stable 5. Manure management 6. Energy managementThe above numbers are also the chapter numbers in this report. Within every chapter you will find multiple mitigation options. Chapter 7 only has one. All mitigation options that are presented in separate paragraphs within the seven chapters can be read as a stand-alone fact sheet about that option.Increasing herd and animal efficiency can be achieved by improving herd and animal health management, extending the productive life of animals, and improving reproduction rates to reduce the number of animals kept for herd maintenance rather than production. Reducing the prevalence of common diseases and parasites would generally reduce emissions intensity as healthier animals are more productive, and thus produce lower emissions per unit of output. However, the mitigation potential from health interventions remains poorly quantified, largely due to limited disease statistics and barriers to the adoption of existing disease control mechanisms.Marion de Vries and Sha WeiLivestock health is an important aspect of animal welfare, food safety, human health, and production efficiency. Healthy animals are more productive and hence more efficient in using the offered feed and other inputs and care to generate the desired products.Unhealthy animals tend to have a lower milk yield, growth, fertility and longevity, resulting in higher emissions per unit of animal product. The most common dairy health issues include clinical and subclinical mastitis, foot lesions, ketosis, calf diarrhea, and calf pneumonia.Improving animal health can thus reduce emissions per unit of animal product, while also improving productivity, with important positive consequences for food security, farmer income, animal welfare, food safety and public health.The impact of health improvements on GHG emissions and economic performance depends on the farm-specific prevalence of diseases, pathogen type, farm management, and prices (e.g., milk and feed).Diseases in dairy cows can result in lower milk production and poorer reproductive performance and longevity. It also leads to increased GHG emissions, poorer animal welfare, and reduced income of farmers due to reduced milk yields, more discarded milk, treatment costs, a prolonged calving interval, and removal (culling or dying) of cows. Particularly the reduction in milk yield has high impact on economic performance, whereas cow removal and discarded milk have a high impact on GHG emissions (Mostert, 2018).The magnitude of impact varies per type of health disorder (ADAS, 2015). For some diseases, increases in GHG emission intensity of cows have been quantified:Subclinical ketosis: 21 kg CO2eq/t FPCM (2.3%) per case (Mostert et al., 2018a) Subclinical mastitis: 3.7% per case (Gülzari et al., 2018) Clinical mastitis: 58 kg CO 2 eq/t FPCM (6.2%) per case (Mostert et al., 2019) Digital dermatitis: 4 kg CO2eq/t FPCM (0.4%) per case (Mostert et al., 2018b), White line disease: 39 kg CO2eq/ t FPCM (4.3%) per case (Mostert et al., 2018b), Sole ulcer: increase 33 kg CO2eq/ t FPCM (3.6%) per case (Mostert et al., 2018b), Heat stress abatement did not have significant impact on GHG EI in a study in Austria (Herzog and Winckler, 2021), but more impact is expected in case of higher average temperatures and when in reproductive performance and culling rate are included in analysis.At population level, impact depends on the country-specific prevalence of diseases. For example, combined effects of ketosis, mastitis, and foot lesions were estimated to increase GHG emissions of the Dutch herd population by 0.37 Mton CO2eq/ year (i.e., about 3.4% of total sector emissions; Mostert, 2018). A higher impact will be reached when other diseases are included as well, but to our knowledge quantitative effects have not yet been investigated (e.g., displaced abomasum, metritis, subacute ruminal acidosis). Wei Wang, Marion de Vries and Jelle ZijlstraIdle cows refer to low-productive or unproductive animals in a herd. Removing idle animals is a direct and simple approach because it can reduce the emission intensity (Ei) through reducing the number of animals in a herd while maintaining the performance (kg of milk produced) of the whole herd.Rearing idle cows in a herd means extra feed purchases and increased density of the animal housing. Therefore, identifying the low-productive animals should consider 1) the genetic potential of an animal (in case of young stock); 2) the real production of the animal in former lactations, 3) the expected future production. Therefore, keep good records on each cow's production would be useful when making decisions. General guidelines for culling can be helpful to reduce the number of low productive cows in the herd and to increase profitability.A relative high share of non-productive or low productive animals in the herd is often observed on smallholder farms where cows also are kept for other reasons as just milk or beef production. E.g., cows can be kept for savings.Since this report is focusing on large scale dairy farms in China with relative high milk production per cow levels, the issue of idle cows is not very common. For this reason, we do not elaborate this topic. The impact of removing idle cows has overlap with some other mitigation options: improve health management, improve longevity and mitigation options related to feeding.Jelle ZijlstraLongevity here stands for the productive lifespan of dairy cows. Longer living dairy cows will reduce the culling rate of the herd and result in lower GHG emissions because of less young animals that have to replace culled cows. A substantial amount of GHG emissions is produced during the period between birth and first calving. The GHG emissions for this period are allocated to the produced milk. By keeping dairy cows for a longer period in herd, less calves have to be grown and subsequently the GHG emissions will reduce. Next to that: a dairy herd with a higher average age will have a higher average milk production because of a lower share of first-calf dairy cows. The group of first-calf dairy cows usually has a lower milk production than older cows. The higher milk production per cow will in general reduce the emission per kg milk.A higher longevity of the dairy herd can be achieved in many ways. These are the main factors that determine the longevity performance of a dairy farm:Improvement of the health status will result in less cows with diseases. Mastitis, leg and claw problems and fertility are important reasons for culling cows on dairy farms. More emphasize on prevention of diseases, early warning and successful medication are ways to improve animal health and welfare. Housing of animals with due consideration of animal welfare conditions will usually pay off in longevity. Soft bedding, enough eating space and dry floors are some of the requirements to offer welfare to the animals.Balanced rations and high-quality feed are important underlying factors to achieve healthy cows.Successful young stock rearing requires quality feed and attention to health and welfare.This will result in a high growth rate of the young stock resulting in a dairy cow with a higher potential for a high life span and high lifetime production.In more and more countries breeding values for longevity are available and offer an extra opportunity to improve this indicator.Improving longevity works best if a combination of the above-mentioned measures is taken.A farm assessment for the factors mentioned above can show the most limiting factors to improve longevity.A higher longevity will lead to higher revenues form milk sales because of the higher average age of the cows. The costs of rearing young stock will be reduced. The overall profitability will be improved.Less young stock rearing on a dairy farm because of a higher longevity will result in more young calves available for meat production and less meat coming from cull cows. When ultimately this would lead to less meat production from animals originating from dairy farms, it could lead to an increase in meat production from other animal meat producing sectors when the demand for meat will be unchanged. Therefore, benefits of extended lifespan of dairy cattle may be limited when culled cows play an important role in beef production.All the knowledge to increase is internationally available. It may require extra skills from dairy farm workers and managers to adopt management practices in favor of a longer cow life. Improvement of animal welfare may require investments in housing: optimal cubicle size, implement soft bedding in cubicles, more m 2 per animal, better ventilation, more feeding space per cow, etc.Productivity and economic benefits will likely remain the main drivers for improved animal health. However, making the link between animal health status and GHG emissions intensity more explicit could help re-direct and coordinate resources from agriculture, development, food security and climate change perspectives.Based on literature evaluated by De Vries et. al. 2018. the reduction on Dutch farms is estimated to be:10-20 g CO2-eq per kg FPCM for every extra year life span of cows 1.4 % reduction on farm level (based on average emission in The Netherlands of 1100 g CO2-eq per kg FPCM)Wei Wang and Marion de VriesHealthy heifers are the fundament of productive dairy cattle. Good management and feeding of heifers can ensure optimal growth prior to first calving and help reducing calving difficulties and stillbirths.Key factors to good young stock management include aspects of animal health, housing, feed ration meeting nutritional needs in different growth stages, and mating management.To reduce the calf mortality rate, the following measures can be taken:Feeding pregnant cows according to their feed needs.Feeding minerals to dry cows during the last eight weeks of pregnancy.Vaccination against scours.Implement hygiene plan.Feeding colostrum as fast as possible after birth.A well-managed young stock rearing system results in improved animal performance, minimal disease and mortality, optimum growth rates to achieve target live weights (important for milk production and fertility, and to minimize calving difficulties), and lower costs of inputs (e.g., feed, animal health costs, etc.). Proper development of the heifers reduces age at first calving and increases productivity and longevity of the mature cow. In addition, a lower survival rate of heifers implies reduced beef output (Zehetmeijer et al., 2014. and less opportunity for genetic improvement in the herd: when a heifer dies, there are fewer opportunities to replace unprofitable cows in the herd (Moran, 2009).To our knowledge integral and direct effects of improved young stock management on GHG emissions of dairy production have not been investigated. Soberon et al. 2012. found that an increase in preweaning growth of young calves was significantly correlated with milk production in the first lactation. Every 100 gram of extra preweaning daily growth delivered between 85 and 111 kg of extra milk in the first lactation. Knowing that extra milk per cow per year results in reduction of the emission intensity, it will be clear that better young stock care will contribute to a decrease in GHG emission. Meanwhile, a low survival rate of heifers is expected to have a significant effect on increase of GHG emissions because of rearing emissions and omitted beef and milk output. In beef cattle systems, reducing calf mortality have shown to reduce emission intensity by 3% (Samsonstuen et al., 2020), but obviously these systems (thus mitigation potential) differ from dairy production systems.Wei WangReducing age at first calving can save the energy required during the young stock period then reduces the unproductive period of a cow and therefore contributes to the mitigation of GHG.Young stock should have a certain weight before they are recommended to be inseminated.In the Netherlands the recommendation is to inseminate at a live weight of heifers of about 360 kg. The objective is to reach this weight at an age of 14 months, so that is also the time to start with insemination. This will lead to an average age at first calving of about 24 months. In case of a reduced growth rate of the young stock the stage of 360 kg will be reached at a higher age of the heifer, and this will in turn lead to a higher age at first calving.So, aiming at a lower age at first calving starts with better feeding practices that will improve the growth rate of young stock. Clear goals for growth rate as well as the target weight at first insemination are basics of young stock management. Once started with inseminating heat detection and the number of inseminations needed to get heifers pregnant are the next determining factor for age at first calving.Reduction of the age at first calving requires good quality feed and skilled farm staff to work with feeding schemes that are aiming at live weight targets at a certain age of the heifers.Weighing cows (or alternative: measuring height that is correlated to weight) is a precondition to monitor growth rate and to make sure that insemination is started at right weight.Reducing the age at first calving is in general considered as an option that contributes to profitability. The main reasons for this are more productive days during the cow's life span.Wei WangTransition period from gestation to lactation is one of the most challenging periods in dairy cattle management. Poor status at transition period could lead to high incidences of metabolic and infectious diseases such as ketosis, milk fever, displaced abomasum, etc., and results in high culling rate, mortality and loss of production in this reproductive cycle or even the lifetime production.Good management in transition period can decrease the morbidity and involuntary culling rate. This requires the best quality of feed and extra careful attention to the metabolic status of cows. To improve the health of transition cow, the following points should be considered:Make sure the body condition score should between 3 to 3.25 (scale 1-5).Check the urine pH to confirm the calcium status of cows at calving and evaluate the necessity of supplementing anionic salts in the transition diet or providing low calcium diet, to avoid milk fever.Minimize heat stress.Supplementing yeast or rumen protected choline to enhance the rumen fermentation.Provide good quality and sufficient amount of roughage.Keep certain amount of DMI before and right after calving.Keep a clean and dry environment during calving.The transition period is extremely important in ensuring future health, milk production, and reproductive success of the dairy cow. Maintaining proper rations and management practices before calving are critical to how well the cow performs in the early lactation period and even the whole lifetime.If ketosis occurred during the transition period, the GHG emission intensity of cows can be increased by 21 kg CO2-eq per kg FPCM (2.3%) per case (Mostert et al., 2018a). Therefore, a well-managed transition period can help avoid this potential emission. Besides this,Michael AldridgeDirect selection for lower methane production is still in the development stage. The small amount of direct selection at the moment is under experimental conditions and until recently has been based on high and low samples. Direct selection for traits facilitates the greatest potential in genetic gain. However, before this can be achieved there are still some gaps that need to be filled including the genetic relationship with other important traits, a cheap and easy method of large-scale recording, and enough animals have to be phenotyped.For direct selection to be effective you need to record the trait of interest, or you need a good indicator of the trait. There is still debate in the literature about which will be the most effective trait to reduce methane production. Here the assumption is methane production as g CH4 / cow / day would be most effective.There are a number of methods that can be used to measure methane production. However, they are not suitable for animal breeding purposes which requires large numbers of animals to be phenotyped. The most accurate measurements would be with respiration chambers, but they are expensive, require a large amount of labor, are stressful for the cows, and have a very low throughput. For similar reasons, other methods that have been suggested for breeding are still limited, including: SF6 (a halter and harness are attached to a cow which measures methane with sulphur hexafluoride tracers) and systems like GreenFeed (using infrared sensors and environmental measurements; the manufacturer C-Lock Inc., USA, recommends only a maximum of 25 cows should be measured by one unit, and to record for a minimum of 7 days). There are currently no products that record methane production that allow for large scale recording and are cost effective. Perhaps as the technology matures this will change but in the meantime researchers and industry have been exploring infrared spectroscopy or 'sniffers'.Sniffers allow for large scale and continuous recording, but the disadvantage is they do not record the air flux which limits the measurements to methane concentration (ppm). The correlation between methane production and methane concentration is high (between 0.51 and 0.96) and is currently the best candidate as an indicator trait for direct selection. It is now a matter of recording methane concentration on enough cows, to estimate the required parameter estimates of heritability, repeatability, genetic and phenotypic correlations, which can then be used to estimate breeding values and be incorporated in a selection index. Current estimates indicate a low to moderate heritability (0.12 to 0.45) and unfavorable correlations with production traits and methane intensity. This does not mean we can't select for higher productivity and lower methane production. It just means the progress will be slower.Mentioned several times now is the need to record methane on enough individual cows. It is common practice that before a trait can be included in a selection index, the reliability of prediction should be above 0.40. Using the literature means of the currently available parameter estimates it is predicted that measurements on approximately 20,000 cows would be required. This also assumes that all cows are genotyped (de Haas et al. accepted 2021). Assuming an average herd size of 150 cows, this target could be achieved in two years with 100 farms. While this would provide confidence in including the trait in a selection index, the measurements could be used by individuals to benchmark and rank their animals sooner resulting in some progress.Selection for lower methane production will only have an economic impact if there is a large, desired gain or a high carbon price. Also of note, is that with higher carbon prices the weight placed on methane in a selection index will be greater and the rate of genetic gain will increase.Selection should not be made only on methane production due to the unfavorable correlation with other traits. Therefore, if too much weight is placed on reducing methane, other traits such as milk production will decrease in genetic gain.The largest issue currently faced with direct selection, is that it is still an early adoption trait.That means the technology required for measuring individual methane is still expensive and still needs large scale investment to be able to record on enough cows. That means there is still no dairy population in the world that has enough phenotypic records and genotyped animals that would allow breeding values to be estimated with a high enough accuracy.Recent literature has shown that methane production is heritable and the required genetic and phenotypic correlations with other production traits are starting to be estimated.However, before methane can be included in a selection index the correlation matrix needs to be completed.One of the benefits with genetic selection is that the methane reduction made is cumulative and permanent. Direct selection can be used to maintain the current production of methane per cow, which means the undesired increase in methane production from the indirect selection would be offset, while still improving methane intensity and methane yield. To achieve the highest rates of genetic gain and to actually reduce methane production, an economic value from a carbon price or desired gain needs to be included. It is highly likely that dairy farms in China and around the world are already mitigating methane with indirect selection on this trait and that farmers are unaware of this way to reduce methane emission. Indirect selection can reduce methane in one out of two ways, (1) using traits that can reduce methane intensity, methane yield, or residual methane production, or (2) using traits that are easier to measure as an indicator of total methane production (g or L CH 4 / day). In this paragraph, only way 1 will be considered. Way 2 is easier to explain in the context of direct selection (described previously in paragraph 1.7).Selection for traits that increase production efficiency will reduce the amount of methane produced per kg of milk (g CH4 / kg milk, methane intensity) or per kg of feed intake (g CH4 / kg DMI, methane yield). The two most obvious traits that increase efficiency are milk production and feed efficiency, and others can include health and fertility traits.The easiest trait for breeding that would reduce methane emissions selection is milk yield. It is a relatively easy trait to measure and is highly economically important. The main reason for methane mitigation with increasing milk production is because fewer cows are required to produce the same amount of milk. If the herd size is maintained or increased, total methane production will still increase but the methane intensity of the milk will decrease.Selecting for improved feed efficiency also mitigates methane. By selecting for improved feed efficiency, the same amount of milk can be produced with less feed thereby decreasing the methane yield (g CH 4 / kg DMI).Selecting for health and fertility traits are beneficial because they also improve the efficiency of the dairy. They help to achieve the maximum milk production and feed efficiency and thereby help to reduce methane intensity and methane yield but to a lesser degree than milk yield or feed efficiency.An important point to consider about improving animal breeding is that selection is almost never made for only one single trait. The reason for this is that milk production and feed efficiency traits tend to have unfavorable genetic correlations with other important traits.This was observed with the historically heavy selection on milk yield which resulted in a reduction in fertility and health traits. Recent selection experiments on sheep in NewZealand have shown that the rumen of animals selected exclusively for lower methane have smaller rumens, it is not yet clear if this will cause other issues or if there could be other unintended consequences (Bain et al., 2013). It is for this reason that breeders use selection indexes and breeding goals with multiple objectives, therefore the traits mentioned should be included as part of a breeding objective that is not designed only for methane mitigation.To make selection decisions accurate estimated breeding values are required. The models used require pedigree and/or genomic information, and a suitable number of animals need to be phenotyped. It is standard practice, and it is relatively easy to collect the required milk production information. Feed efficiency traits though are not as simple and harder to implement. The feed traits require the feed provided and the remaining feed to be weighed for each individual animal, which requires a significant amount of time and infrastructure investment.The traits mentioned for indirect selection are not targeted at their methane mitigation potential. Indeed, they are used because they are very important economic traits. They increase net income by providing more milk, lower feed costs, fewer replacement cows, fewer treatment costs and reduce dry periods.Indirect selection for components of methane intensity and methane yield will help limit the amount of methane produced per unit of production. Methane intensity, methane yield, milk production, and feed efficiency are unfavorably positively genetically correlated with methane production. So, the amount of methane produced per kg of milk or feed is decreased, but individual cows will produce more methane (unless methane production is selected for directly).Results from selection indexes are specific to the production system, the defined breeding goal, and the economic value or weight given to traits. To achieve the highest rates of gain an economic value or desired gain should be added to methane production. Crop production (sometimes also called fodder production) includes the crop planting and processing processes on the farm. The emissions from crop planting and processing include CO2 emissions from the production of N, P, and K fertilizers, direct and indirect N2O emissions from the application of N fertilizer during planting; CO2 emissions from the decomposition of urea in N fertilizer, CO2 emissions from the production of agricultural film and pesticides, CO2 emissions from diesel oil and power consumption for mechanical planting and irrigation, and CO2 emissions from the transportation of agricultural materials such as feeds and fertilizers. Among the emission sources, the direct and indirect N2O emission sourcing from the land application of N fertilizer and the CO2 emission sourcing from fertilizer production were the two most important contributors of GHG emissions for the feed production process, occupying 49.5% and 17.9% of the total emissions, respectively, based on a LCA case in an intensive Chinese dairy farm in Shandong Province (Huang, 2015). Therefore, the GHG mitigation in feed production process should be targeted at reducing the N2O emission from N fertilization and reducing the amount of the fertilizer can also contribute much to the GHG mitigation.Yue Wang and Sha WeiIt's a quite severe issue that fertilizer was highly overused in China. The degree of overfertilization of rice, wheat and maize in China (the three main crops in China) were respectively 43.5%, 34.6% and 32.8% (Kong et al., 2018). The high overuse not only leads to a substantial waste of the resources, but also causes high N2O emission. It's reported that when nitrogen application exceeds the optimal application rates of maize and wheat, cumulative and unit yield N2O emissions increase exponentially (Song et al., 2018). elements they lack and how much they need to supplement, so as to realize the balanced supply of various nutrients and meet the needs of crops. The purpose is to increase the fertilizer utilization rate and the reduce fertilizer consumption, combined with the appropriate application way. Meanwhile, for reducing the fertilizer consumption, planting catch crops like clover can also reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers.The soil testing and formula fertilization technology including the following processes:Select the sampling area based on the whole crop planting region and collect enough soil samples; analyze the organic matter, total nitrogen, hydrolyzed nitrogen, available phosphorus, slow-acting potassium, quick-acting potassium, and medium and trace elements of the sampled soil, and thus providing basic data for formulating the appropriate fertilizer and field fertilizer experiments.Design field fertilizer plot experiments with different fertilizer dosages, and different ratios of topdressing and base fertilizers, thus, to find out basic parameters such as soil fertility, soil nutrient correction coefficient, crop fertilizer requirement and fertilizer utilization rate. The next step is to propose the suitable fertilizer formulas such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and mineral and trace elements, and also recommend the best fertilization time and fertilization method. Usually, deep application is a good practice for fertilization.There are mainly two modes for producing the needed formulated fertilizer: one is that farmers buy various basic fertilizers according to the formula and apply them together;the other is that the formula fertilizer is processed by fertilizer companies according to the formula, and the farmers directly buy and use it.Establish a soil testing and formula fertilization demonstration base to show the effect of this technology, and guide farmers to use the soil testing and formula fertilization technology.Using the soil testing and formula fertilization technology can avoid the excessive use of fertilizers, thus reducing the cost for the farmers and also reducing the waste of the natural resources such as phosphorus. The application of fertilizer based on the crop needs will help reduce the waste of fertilizer, and thus reduce the fertilization induced environmental issues, such as reducing the NH3 emission, and the N leaching and runoff.The disadvantage is that the process is quite complex, and quite labor intensive and requires specific equipment. For (the most common) small farms in China, it's not attractive in doing so much extra work for using this technology. It should first be popularized with the support of local government.Based on an assessment of Professor Zhang Fusuo in China Agriculture University, the fertilizer utilization rate can be increased by 5-10% and the yield increase rate can reach 10-20% by using soil testing and formulated fertilization. Zhang also showed that by maintaining current crop yields and balancing fertilizer input with crop uptake, China could reduce nitrogen fertilizer input by 10 million tons. The reduction in fertilizer input could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 77 to 128.5 million tons.Yue WangN2O emission is the most important contributor to the GHG emissions during feed production in the field. The rapid development of new fertilizers and inhibitors provides some options for mitigating N2O emission from fertilization. The new fertilizers and inhibitors include slow and controlled release fertilizers, nitrification inhibitors and urease inhibitors.Slow and controlled release fertilizer refers to fertilizers with a slow nutrient release rate and a long release period by controlling the water solubility of conventional fertilizer. It realizes one-time fertilization to meet the needs of the whole growth period of crops, thus avoiding the N surplus which causes the excessive N2O emission and improves the fertilizer utilization efficiency.Nitrification inhibitors are chemicals that inhibit the bioconversion process of ammonium nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen, thus reducing the nitrogen loss in the form of nitrate and reduce the N2O formation during the nitrification process.Urease inhibitors refer to a class of chemical agents that can inhibit urease activity in the soil and delay urea hydrolysis. It can reduce the NH3 emission directly, thus contributing to the reduction of indirect N2O emission.Meanwhile, mechanical and deep application of fertilizers can reduce the nitrogen remained in the topsoil, thus reducing the N2O emissions. Indirect N2O emissions can also be reduced as the NH3 emission was substantially reduced by using mechanical and deep application of fertilizers.Slow and controlled release fertilizer:• Choose the right type of slow and controlled release fertilizer which can meet the nutrient demand of specific crop.• Slow and controlled release fertilizer must be used as base fertilizer or during the early topdressing period, that is, when the crop is sown or in the seedling growth period after sowing. For corn, it can be applied at the time of sowing or before six leaves of a seedling.• It is suggested that the applied amount of slow and controlled release fertilizer per unit area of crops should be 80% of the amount applied in previous years and should be increased or decreased appropriately according to different target yields and soil conditions.• Application of controlled release fertilizer should be applied into the soil depth of about 10 cm.The effect of nitrification inhibitors varies greatly with different application conditions. It can increase the yield on most of the irrigated grain crops (Liu et al., 2016). However, the nitrification inhibitor was not recommended for leguminous crops as it may be harmful to the agrobacterium tumefaciens, thus decrease the yield (Pi, 2010).Some types of urease inhibitors and their decomposition products may be toxic to some type of soil microorganisms or crops, such as hydroquinone was found to be carcinogenic (McGregor, 2007). Therefore, farmers should pay attention to the used crops and the according ecological conditions, thus avoiding the side effects.Different types of mitigation measures can be combined to achieve a better integrated mitigation effect.Applying slow and controlled release fertilizer can improve the utilization rate of chemical fertilizer and reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer. Meanwhile, it can reduce the number of fertilization times, resulting in saving labor. However, this type of fertilizer was not suitable for dry land and sandy land. In the absence of water, nutrients cannot be released effectively, which may result in crop failure due to the inability to absorb available nutrients.In addition, the plastic wrapping agent may cause secondary pollution.Nitrification inhibitors are beneficial to reduce nitrogen leaching loss and greenhouse gas (nitrogen oxide) emissions, and they have positive effects on improving fertilizer efficiency under certain conditions. However, nitrification inhibitors have not been widely used due to their costs and environmental impact. It is necessary to find some nitrification inhibitors with good inhibition effect without polluting the environment.Urease inhibitors may not be a reliable option for direct N2O mitigation. Urease inhibitors can reduce the NH3 emission, thus contributing to the reduction of indirect N2O emission.However, some type of urease inhibitor was found to be toxic to the environment.Mechanical and deep application of fertilizers can reduce the NH3 emission and N leaching and runoff, however, the specific fertilizer machinery was needed for applying this technology. over the entire study duration of two years, and by 82 to 96% during periods of peak loss from surface applications of unamended granular urea (Rawluk et al., 2001). Based on IPCC (2006) guideline, 1% of NH3-N would be transferred to N2O-N, therefore, the huge reduction of NH3-N loss means that to a certain extent indirect N2O emission can be avoided. However, some literatures reported the urease inhibitors may not be a reliable option for direct N2O mitigation (Abalos et al., 2016;Volpi et al., 2017).Yue WangAfter the main crop is harvested, and before the planting of the following main crop, the idle land can be used to plant the catch crops. In south China, the idle land in winter can be used to plant wheat, barley, rape, beans, peas, potatoes, winter green manure crops, vegetables, etc. In north China, the idle land in summer can be used to plant buckwheat, millet, soybean, summer corn, etc.Planting the green manure crops is a good option. Legume crops such as clover, Vicia villosa Roth variety is the widely used type of green manure. It can absorb and fix nitrogen, thus contains a variety of nutrients and a large amount of organic matter in the stem. After growing for a certain period during the idle periods, it can be cut off and directly returned to soil, thus being a natural fertilizer, which can improve soil structure, promote soil ripening, and enhance soil fertility.The sowing amount of catch crop should be increased appropriately, which can be two or several times of the conventional sowing amount. Increasing the density appropriately can increase the absorption area and improve the yield of straw.The purpose of planting catch crops is not to harvest grain, therefore, the growth period should be shortened in order to not affect the optimal time of planting of the next crop.The catch crop can absorb and utilize the remained nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, thus reducing the leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus.After being returned to the soil, the catch crop would decompose quickly and thus become a natural fertilizer, which can help improve soil structure, promote soil ripening, and enhance soil fertility. The amount of applied synthetic fertilizer can be reduced and thus reducing the cost of farmers.On the basis of burying Vicia villosa Roth (15 000 kg /hm 2 ) to the soil, the maize yield can be increased by 19.92% (p<0.05) when the synthetic fertilizer was reduced by 15%; when the synthetic fertilizer was reduced by 30-45%, the maize yield was not reduced. It was found that on the basis of burying Vicia villosa Roth (15 000 kg /hm 2 ) to the soil, reducing the amount of fertilizer 15% can help achieve the highest income of farmer, by increasing by 11.5% compared with the 100% fertilizer group.Sha Wei and Yue Wang  (Mueller et al., 2012).The breed of the fodder crop, better management of irrigation, fertilization, sunshine, and also the improvement of mechanized planting, should all be improved to achieve an increased crop yield.Increased crop yields not only benefit to the GHG mitigation from feed production for dairy, but also contribute a lot to ensuring food security, and realizing the target of Zero Hunger.The present GHG emissions of whole maize, wheat and rice production chain were 4052 kg CO2/ha (0.48 kg CO2/kg), 5455 kg CO2/ha (0.75 kg CO2/kg) and 11881 kg CO2/ha (1.6 kg CO2/kg) (Zhang et al., 2017). Increased crop yields will reduce the GHG emission from fodder crop production based on keeping fodder crop consumption of dairy farms on a constant level.Feeding costs are the most important contributors to the total cost of milk production and it is also the most determining factor for the enteric methane (CH4) emission of the dairy herd.The enteric methane emission is the largest contributor to the total direct emissions of GHG of a dairy farm. The inputs of purchased forages and concentrates feed are responsible for a large part of the indirect (off-farm) fossil energy use and GHG emissions. Therefore, improvements in feeding management can make important contributions to the reduction of the direct and indirect GHG emissions of a dairy farm and in many cases at the same time will improve profitability. The main cornerstones of improved feeding management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are precision feeding through balanced rations, formulation of cattle diets with a focus on low enteric methane emissions and the use of feed ingredients and additives that modify rumen fermentation by suppressing methanogenic microbial populations or act as a sink for hydrogen in order to inhibit ruminal methanogenesis.Optimizing dairy cattle rations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved through precision feeding and manipulation of the rumen fermentation through dietary carbohydrates and fats and the use of feed additives.Feeding above or below the net energy and protein requirements is unbeneficial.Overfeeding is unnecessary input of purchased concentrate feeds resulting in increased feeding costs and off-farm greenhouse gas emissions. Underfeeding prevents the animal to express its genetic potential for growth and milk production. A severe negative energy balance (NEB) or obesity (fat cow syndrome) resulting from under-or overfeeding, increases the risks of metabolic disorders, reduced fertility and impaired immune response (Roche et al. 2009). Feeding excess of dietary protein results in an increase of the excretion of urinary nitrogen mainly as urea. During storage of the liquid manure (feces with urine), urea is converted to ammonia by microbes with urease activity. A considerable part of this ammonia is lost due to volatilization.Precision feeding is a tool to establish the nutrient requirement and intake of the animals and to control these. Subsequently, with a given nutrient requirement and dry matter intake, the farm manager formulates rations that fulfill the nutrient requirements of the animals. The choice of feed ingredients and the concentrations of NDF and NFC (non-fiber carbohydrates) in the ration, influence the volatile fatty acid production (VFA) and determine to a large extent the enteric methane emissions.Furthermore, feed additives such as nitrates, sulfates, 3NOP, ionophores, secondary plant metabolites (e.g., essential oils, condensed tannins) may in potential reduce enteric methane production through influencing metabolic pathways in rumen fermentation.Precision feeding is about getting the right nutrient to the right animal at the right time. For precision feeding it is necessary to know the nutrient requirements (energy, protein, minerals) of an individual animal at any age or stage of lactation and to have an insight in the nutrient supply and intake (Subnel et al. 1994). In order to calculate the animals nutrient requirements recording of health and reproduction data, growth (live weight), milk production and milk composition of individual animals is an indispensable prerequisite. This information allows the farmer to create homogenous feeding groups of animals with a similar age, stage of lactation and milk production and thus similar nutrient requirements.Housing animals in homogenous feeding groups has the advantage that a tailormade TMR ration can be composed and fed to each group. Group feeding allows easy control over the amount of feed (TMR) delivered and consumed. In order to have a good control over the nutrient supply intake it is also necessary to keep records of the composition of the TMR (Subnel et al.1994). That is, recording the amount and proportions of each ingredient in the TMR. Furthermore, routine analysis of feed composition (i.e., ash, crude protein, ether extract, fiber, water soluble carbohydrates, starch, minerals) and determination of feeding values (net energy, metabolizable protein) is crucial. In summary, monitoring the nutrient intake relative to the requirements, gives the opportunity for the farm manager to adjust the ration in the right way in order to prevent dairy cattle from over-or underfeeding and thereby reducing both off-farm green gas emissions and feeding costs.Precision feeding requires an infrastructure on the farm to collect and process electronic data (animal data, electronic milk recording, body weights, feed weight recorders), and a well-educated staff able to handle farm protocols for recording feeding (feed delivered and consumed) and feed sampling to assess feed quality. Furthermore, methods for rapid feed analysis must be available. It is also very important that rations are carefully formulated and composed. Feed mixers must be fitted with accurate weighing equipment. Not only to weigh the correct amounts of roughage and concentrates, but especially when feed additives and minerals are used and added to the feed mixtures. Feed additives and minerals are expensive and therefore require accurate dosing to avoid the risk of overdosing (toxicity) or underdosing (low effectivity, deficiencies). In addition, automated weighing systems and weight recording may support the farm manager to keep records of the amounts of feed used and in stock. This provides useful information to control feeding costs and feed utilization.Proper grouping (e.g., young calves, heifers, pregnant cows, transition cows and lactating cows in different lactation stages) in a herd is of great importance when it refers to providing cows a suitable diet to meet the requirements. Therefore, farmhouse layout and animal routing should be organized in a way that it is possible to separate animals in groups according to their nutrient (energy, protein) requirement, age and physiological state.To pursue a high milk yield, cows may be overfed with large quantities of concentrates.However, the marginal response in milk yield diminishes with the increase of each unit of concentrate intake according to the law of diminishing marginal returns. This may result in lush diets with overfeeding as a result. This will cause negative effects on profitability as well as on GHG emissions. Precision feeding can prevent from overfeeding and underfeeding.However, precision feeding requires investment in new technologies, and corresponding knowledge and management practices. Access to information and up-skilling of farm managers requires knowledge transfer and training programs; successful implementation can also depend on adequate supply chains and infrastructure.Diet composition has a major impact on enteric methane which is the major source of greenhouse gases from dairy farming. Methane represents an energy loss for the ruminant constituting 3 to 10% of its gross-energy intake (Niu et al. 2018). Enteric methane production is closely associated to the profile of VFA formed during fermentation. There is a positive correlation between enteric methane production and the ratio of ruminal acetate to propionate (Russell, 1998). Propionate is a hydrogen sink in rumen fermentation, whereas acetate and butyrate yield hydrogen that can be utilized by methanogens to reduce CO2to CH4 (Janssen, 2010). Therefore, stimulating rumen fermentation towards more propionate and less acetate and butyrate production may reduce enteric methane emissions. This can be achieved by increasing the proportion of starch (concentrates) in the ration (Hristov et al., 2013) or by reducing of NDF relative to non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) in the ration (Bannink et al., 2006).Important starch sources are concentrates based on cereal grain (e.g., maize, wheat, barley and oats) and roughage like whole crop corn-silage and wheat-silage. Compared to other cereals starch from corn is relatively slowly degraded in the rumen (Nocek and Tamminga, 1991;Huntington, 1997). Therefore, a substantial part of the starch in corn is by-pass starch that reaches the small intestine unfermented. Starch in the small intestine is digested enzymatically to glucose adding to the energy supply of the cows without fermentation losses of energy associated with methane production (Dijkstra et al., 2011). Therefore, increasing the starch content in ruminants' diet is an effective measure to reduce methane emission intensity (Hristov et al., 2013). Whole-crop corn silage is the most important roughage-based starch and the major energy source in dairy cattle rations. Increment of the proportion of corn silage is a viable option to reduce enteric methane and to improve the roughage quality (van Gastelen et al. 2019). Higher organic matter digestibility and crude protein content and lower NDF content in grass silage is associated with a lower enteric methane production and methane production intensity (CH4/kg ECM). Similarly, corn silage quality by reducing the NDF content resulted also in a lower methane yield (van Gastelen 2019).Increased dietary fat concentration may also reduce enteric methane production (Beauchemin et al., 2009;Moate et al., 2011). Dietary fat reduces methane production through reduced fiber degradation and thereby reducing activity of methanogens, and act as a hydrogen sink through biohydrogenation of unsaturated fats.Another, often overlooked measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is a reduction of the losses of feed during storage. The direct emission from silages are only 0.2-0.3% of the total emissions of greenhouse gasses (van Schooten and Philipsen, 2010). However, the losses of dry matter, energy and protein during ensiling, fermentation, storage and feed-out can be considerable with poor silage management. Good silage management involves that lactic acid bacterial fermentation must be promoted. This means that maintaining anaerobic conditions, sufficient water-soluble carbohydrates for lactic acid bacteria and promotion of a high osmotic pressure which favors lactic acid bacteria compared to clostridial bacteria. This means in practice that the ensiling phase should take at maximum one day. During ensiling, the silages must be compacted with heavy equipment. Silages must be airtight sealed immediately. Do not open the silages before the fermentation process has ended (at least 6 weeks). Maintaining an undisturbed silage face (use silage cutters) is also a way to avoid feed losses.Manipulation of the composition of dairy cattle diet is focused on shifting rumen fermentation towards more propionate production in the rumen, by means of reducing NDF to NFC ratio, more starchy roughages (e.g., corn silage, whole crop cereal silage), and more digestible roughages. Therefore, it is important that roughages have the desired quality and composition. This requires that roughages are harvested at the right stage of maturity. Prior to harvest, crops should be monitored regularly. The optimum stage to harvest grass for silage is just before heading. Alfalfa should be harvested when the first flowers appear (maximum 2 % flowers). Corn silage should be harvested at least 2/3 milk line (approximately 50-60% DM in cob, 34-38% DM in the whole crop). Improvement of roughage quality is a typical 'no regret' option. Additional treatment on the roughage can also improve the forage digestibility, such as chopping, grinding of straw, and steam treatment.Improvement of diet composition and roughage quality is a typical 'no regret' option. A better roughage quality together with more efficient use through precision feeding results in lower inputs of purchased concentrates per unit milk and an increased feed efficiency (less feed DM per unit milk). Both a reduced input of concentrates and an improved feed efficiency may result in less food-feed competition (e.g., less cereal grains in concentrate feed). Use of some feeds with multiple roles in food production could negatively affect regional food security through land-use changes and food prices and increase indirect emissions off-farm. Furthermore, improvement of the roughage quality and feeding value of home-grown roughage may reduce the imports of good quality of roughages like alfalfa, oat hay and soybean from abroad.The provision of better-quality feed ingredients and better feeding management is beneficial for improvements in forage digestibility and nutrient quality. Improvement of feed quality can be achieved with low investments but requires high competence of farm management staff.Recently, van Gastelen et al. ( 2019) reviewed the effects of different feeding strategies, roughages, rations and additives to mitigate enteric methane emissions. Improvement of feed quality of corn silage and larger proportions of corn silage in the ration showed that enteric methane emission intensity (methane/kg ECM) can be reduced in a range between 5 and 20%. Improved roughage quality of grass-based roughage resulted in 10-20% lower enteric methane emission intensity, whereas improved roughage quality in corn silage resulted in a 5-10% % lower enteric methane emission intensity. Replacing grass pasture, grass silage, or alfalfa silage with corn silage generally decreased methane emission intensity around 8% (Van Gastelen et al. 2019).Feed additives may also be helpful to reduce methane emissions. There is solid evidence that adding nitrates and sulphates as an additive to ruminant rations reduces ruminal methane production within in a range of 10-40%. The mode of action of nitrates and sulphates is that they compete for hydrogen with methanogenesis in the rumen (Zijderveld et al. 2010(Zijderveld et al. , 2011)). Feeding nitrate additives should be done with caution. In animals not adapted to nitrate, it may increase the risk of nitrite accumulation in the rumen. Nitrite converts blood hemoglobin (Hb) to methemoglobin (MetHb). The MetHb molecule is incapable of transporting oxygen to the tissues resulting in methemoglobinemia, which may depress animal performance.Recently, Duval and Kindermann (2014) invented the feed additive 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP). This additive blocks the last step of methanogenesis in the rumen by oxidizing the enzyme methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Duin et al., 2016). Adding 3 NOP tot the diet of dairy cows reduced methane emission by 19 %, together with higher apparent total-tract digestibility and improved metabolizable energy supply (van Gastelen et al. 2020).Essential oils, such as garlic, cinnamon, rhubarb and frangula, may have a suppressing effect on methanogens. However, most evidence on the methanogen suppressing effect of essential oils is based on in vitro experiments. Unfortunately, in vivo methanogen suppressing activity of essential oils has been equivocal to date. Probably because rumen microbes may adapt to these essential oils and degrade them (Benchaar and Greathead, 2011;Benchaar, 2020).Saponins and condensed tannins in the ration may also influence rumen microbial populations, rumen fermentation and methane emissions. However, the efficacy of saponins to manipulate enteric methane emissions is not clear. Holtshausen et al. (2009) concluded that saponin did not provide a viable option to reduce enteric methane emissions. Plant tannins, as feed supplements or as tannin rich forage, have shown a potential for reducing enteric methane emissions (Waghorn et al., 2002). However, the effects on antimethanogenic potential of tannins have been inconclusive to date, probably due to a large variation of the structural characteristics of the tannins (Verma et al., 2021). Furthermore, tannins have antinutritional properties which result in a reduced absorption of amino acids in the small intestine (Waghorn, 2008).Feed additives are usually fed in very small quantities sometimes less than 50 grams per animal per day. Therefore, proper dosing can be very challenging in farm practice. When additives are mixed through a TMR a proper mixing is essential. Uneven distribution of the additive through a feed mixture may result in underdosing or overdosing. In case of underdosing, the efficacy of the additive is insufficient. Overdosing may affect animal health and feed intake. Overdosing of nitrates may result in methemoglobinemia. Whereas overdosing of tannins, which are in fact antinutritional agents, have a negative effect on feed intake and utilization of protein. Therefore, when feed additives are used as a mitigation measure for enteric methane emissions, procedures must be available to guarantee the exact dosing of additives. In addition, accurate weighing and dosing equipment must also be available in order to avoid over-or underdosing.The main advantage of feed additives is that immediate results can be achieved with regard to the reduction of enteric methane emissions. Provided the additives are actually effective.In situations in which the possibilities of reducing enteric methane emissions via the composition of the ration (e.g., increasing the proportion of maize silage) are available, that option can also be a useful measure.It should be taken into account that additives only reduce enteric methane emissions but have no effect on off-farm emissions of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, it is important to point out that additives are not a substitute for measures such as precision feeding, optimization of the ration, and improvement of the nutritional value and digestibility.The feed additives 3NOP and nitrates may reduce enteric methane emission intensity around 20-25%. Secondary plant metabolites have variable effects. Tannin extract may reduce methane emission intensity with 10%, whereas saponins are not effective. However, it should be noticed that tannins may have an adverse effect on intake and protein digestibility.Water is an essential nutrient for life and plays an extremely important role in the metabolism of dairy cow. Water occupies about 65% of the dairy cow weight and accounted for about 87% of the raw milk. Water quantity and quality has important influence on the health of the dairy cow, and also on the milk production. It's reported that 3.5-5.0 kg of drinking water would be consumed for lactating 1 kg of milk (Qi et al., 2010). Therefore, enough water is the prerequisite of high milk production efficiency. Meanwhile, the water quality will also influence the quality of the lactated milk. If the nitrite or nitrate content in the water exceeds the standard, the nitrate nitrogen in raw milk will exceed the standard;when nitrate in water reaches 221 ~ 660 mg/L, cows drinking this water can be in danger or even die (Qi et al., 2010).In general, the drinking water demand of a dairy cow is 100-150 kg/day in summer and 50-70 kg/d in winter. Dairy farms should install autodrinker in the barn and yard so that cows can drink water ad libitum. If there is no autodrinker, water can be supplied regularly every day, usually 5-6 times in summer and 3-4 times in spring and winter. High-yield cows should be supplied with an increased amount of drinking water. Drinking water should also be supplied in the playground to ensure the water will be available to the dairy cows at any time.Keep drinking water clean. Wash water trough daily and disinfect it regularly. The suitable temperature is also important for the health of dairy cows. The suitable water temperature is 12-14 o C for adult dairy, 15-16 o C for lactating cow, and 35-38 o C for calves below one month old.Keep enough and clean water to dairy cows will help to keep dairy cows healthy and will also increase the milk production of the cows.Stable is an important source of GHG emission in the dairy sector, because of the enteric fermentation by the cows in the stable and the manure management practices that take place in the stable. In recent years, the free-stall type stable is generally adopted by large scale Chinese dairy farms. The main source of CH4 in a dairy stable is rumen fermentation, so the concentration of CH4 in dairy stable is mainly related to the metabolic activities of dairy cows. Good metabolic activities will increase the health of cows and then increase the milk yield. The higher milk production per cow means less emissions per kg milk. Therefore, well managed stable environment such as keeping low barn temperature (cooling to reduce heat stress), better bedding material, and reduction of manure accumulation (through better floor type or more frequently manure removal) can help improve animal health and performance, which in turn reduce the GHG emission.The stable system may affect GHG emissions through the construction and through the methods used to collect, store, litter and remove manure. Farmyard manure and deep litter manure handling systems tend to produce higher N2O emissions than slurry-based systems.Straw-based bedding and solid manure handling systems also tend to increase N2O emissions compared with liquid manure handling systems. In general, manure storage systems in which manure is stored for prolonged periods of time, produce greater NH3 and CH4 emissions compared with systems in which manure is removed daily. Slatted floor stables tend to decrease GHG and NH3 emissions compared with deep litter systems.Sha Wei and Yue WangCooling facilities prevent or alleviate heat stress to cows in a high temperature environment.Heat stress reduces the feed intake of dairy cows, resulting in reduced milk yield and poorer reproduction cycle of dairy cows (Dash et al., 2016) that will lead to a higher emission intensity. Mechanical ventilation with wet curtain and evaporation cooling (including covering a wet straw curtain on the roof of stable, spraying cold water on and around the stable floor, spraying water directly onto the cows and brushing the cow with cold water) are the main cooling methods. For animal welfare reasons the ventilation capacity should be sufficient to provide fresh air, sufficient humidity and to remove unwanted gases.The considerations relevant for the implementation of cooling system are as follows:When using cooling methods, the relative humidity of the stable should be monitored in time and should not be higher than 80% to hinder dissipation of the cow body by evaporation.Evaporation cooling methods are suitable for areas with relatively dry climate. Excessive air humidity will decrease the evaporation rate and reduce the effect of evaporation cooling. It is not recommended to use it in humid and warm areas.Cooling methods using fans combined with spraying water is recognized as an effective way. The suggested cooling option in stable is using fans when the temperature is higher than 21℃ and using fans combined with spray when the temperature is higher than 25℃. The suggested cooling option in milking parlors is using fans combined with spray when the temperature is higher than 21℃.In free-stalls cows can walk freely and manage themselves, and the animal welfare level is high. Compared with tie stalls (where cows are tethered) with playground, the free stall occupies less area and has higher feed conversion rate.In addition to the cooling effect, there are the following benefits for water spraying combined with fans: (1) dust abatement;(2) additive products can be sprayed simultaneously with water; and (3) cleaning of slatted floors is easier. Spraying water is also expected to reduce GHG emissions from manure on the (slatted) floor.The fogging system at medium pressure (< 70 bar) has a good cost efficiency but presents risks of litter moistening. The fogging system at a high pressure (> 70 bar) is more sensitive to the water quality and the clogging of the nozzle.The better animal health and lactating performance achieved through cooling during hot weather conditions is expected to result in a lower GHG emission intensity, for the sameSha Wei and Yu ZhangThere are different methods for collecting/removing manure from a barn floor namely using scraper, flushing, slatted floor and litter system. The manure removal frequency, the share of feces and urine in the manure are different for different manure collecting methods, which has a significant impact on CH4, NH3 and N2O emissions produced by the barn or stable. Here are some more details about the two main collection/removal systems in Chinese dairy farms:• Scraper for frequent manure removal on solid and/or slatted floors Slurry is removed frequently (e.g., daily or more times per day) by a scraper to the manure pit at the end of barn. The scraper is driven by a stationary mechanical or hydraulic power unit. Housing systems with slatted floors collect manure in liquid form, which is commonly stored for longer periods of time and therefore tends to increase the production of CH4 (Wang et al., 2017).• Manual dry collection on bedding floor is the main collection/removal system.The manure in housing systems with solid floors that use hay or straw for bedding is usually collected manually, as this manure usually has higher DM and is commonly stored in piles creating conditions conducive for nitrification and denitrification resulting in higher N2O emissions.Reducing slurry surface and the frequent removal of slurry from barn to an external store and separation of urine from feces will reduce NH 3 and GHG emissions. The slat material, frequency of removal and smoothness of the pit floor all contribute to the reduction of emissions. The functioning of the system is vulnerable due to the wear of the floor. The addition of a coating on the scraped floor is recommended in order to achieve a smooth surface.Operating the scraper requires energy. The power consumption of scraping varies with the frequency. Frequent maintenance is required for this type of equipment, with a consequent increase in the demand for labor resources.A GHG emission measurement campaign was carried out by Baldini et al. (2016) for 27 months in four naturally ventilated dairy cattle buildings with different floor types, layouts and manure management systems, representing the most common technologies in the north of Italy. The results showed that the CH4 emission from perforated floor (slatted floor) was the highest, which was 38.71 mg/m 2 /h, followed by scraper on concrete floor and flushing, which were 21.59 mg/m 2 /h and 19.12 mg/m 2 /h. The highest N2O emission was also found in the perforated floor, which was 0.91 mg/m 2 /h, followed by scraper on concrete floor and flushing, which were 0.32 mg/m 2 /h and 0.22 mg/m 2 /h. impregnated with manure. Meanwhile, cows on an improved playground can fully relax and exercise, increase feed intake, prolong the peak time of lactation, so as to improve milk yield. Appropriate playground floor can also enhance the physical fitness, improve body condition, reduce the incidence of limb and hoof and improve the cure rate. Playground is an animal welfare improvement measure.30% of manure in summer and 10% of manure in winter was drained in the playground. If manure is not cleaned in time, the discharged manure will runoff to the surface water and leach to the ground water after rain. The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the aquatic environment has the potential threat.Among three surface materials (bark, sand and soil), the average CO2-eq flux from bark(3188 mg/m 2 .h) was 2.5-3.0 times greater than sand or soil (Powell and Vadas, 2016). The type of the playground affects the milk yield. The average annual milk yield of cow raised on day manure playground was 6-15% higher than that of brick-faces playground (Cong et al., 2012), therefore, the according GHG emission intensity per kg of milk reduced.Manure management includes all activities involving the handling, storage and disposal of urine and faces (other than manure deposited directly onto pastures by grazing animals).Sound manure management is important to mitigate GHG emissions, but also offers important benefits for reducing nutrient losses from manure and reduces other detrimental environmental impacts of livestock production such as air and water pollution. Manure management accounts for 39% of total livestock GHG emissions, being lower than the enteric fermentation part (MEE of China, 2019). However, it offers technologically mature opportunities for GHG mitigation in livestock sector, and the good management of manure can also deliver benefits from economic, social and environmental aspect.Poor manure collection and storage results in loss of valuable nutrients in manure. Improved manure storage facilities -with proper floors and roof coverage to prevent run-off and volatilization, and well managed practices such as solid-liquid separation for reducing the DM of manure in slurry, reducing manure storage time and storage temperature, using manure aeration to reduce anaerobic condition for CH4 forming, and customized technologies to apply manure to land would enhance production of food and feed crops. In addition, improved manure storage improves the hygienic conditions for animals and humans and enables the recycling of nutrients. Capturing biogas and using it as a source of energy provides a cost-effective low-carbon energy source and supports access to energy in remote rural areas; the benefits of it depend on herd size, housing system and initial capital investment costs.Manure management techniques are mostly mature technologies, with customized improvements for all systems already available. Transferring the basic principles, education, information, policies and an enabling environment (financial and technical infrastructure) are fundamental to the success of improving manure collection, storage and application.Especially for small-holders, customized training programs are needed (in combination with training on health/hygiene, feeding, access to finance, opportunities to share equipment, etc.). Broader environmental regulations (for odor and water quality) can be important drivers for adoption of manure management practices, as can be energy access through the use of biogas digesters in remote rural areas.It is common practice for farmers to have storage facilities for dairy slurry or liquid manure with a sufficient capacity to hold the slurry/liquid manure until further treatment or application is carried out. The required capacity depends on the climate, and the duration of the periods in which land application is not possible or land area for application is not enough available. GHG emissions during the storage period can be reduced by applying the measures given below related to the design and management of the slurry/liquid manure store.Ministry of Ecology and environment of the People's Republic of China. 2018.The Third NationalCommunication on Climate Change of the People's republic of China. Beijing, 2018.Sha Wei and Yu ZhangThe main abatement technique to reduce CH4, NH3 losses and odor from slurry storage consists of covering open storages, which reduces emissions to atmosphere. A distinction is made between covers, as various types of covers can be applied. The main types are rigid covers, tent covers, floating covers, or a floating layer of straw or natural crust.Rigid covers are tight covers (e.g., a roof or a lid) which are made from inflexible material such as concrete, fiberglass panels or polyester sheets with a flat deck or conical shape.A cover made from flexible or pliable sheet material such as reinforced plastic sheeting or strong canvas that is stretched taut over the store. The main types include tent covers, dome-shaped covers and flat covers.Floating covers comprise a substance or material that rests on the surface of the slurry.There are different types of floating covers, including natural crust, straw (crust), peat, light bulk material (e.g., LECA, LECA-based products, perlite, zeolite), plastic pellets (polystyrene balls), oil-based liquids (e.g., rapeseed oil), floating flexible cover (e.g., plastic sheets, blankets), geometrical plastic tiles, and air-inflated cover.Care must be taken to prevent the temperature of the slurry from rising to a point at which biochemical reactions can occur, otherwise these may result in unwanted odorant production and a degradation of the quality of the slurry.Closed impermeable covers prevent rainfall diluting the slurry, so that a reduced volume of slurry is achieved, and an increased effective storage period is provided by the storage. In areas with moderate to high rainfall, these types of cover can be cost-effective, limiting transportation and spreading costs.Given that the collected CH 4 from manure storage is highly flammable, the safety measure should be considered. Some small openings (which do not undermine the minimum sealing required), or a facility for venting, are needed to prevent the build-up of such gases.Plastic sheeting is well tested on small earth-banked lagoons. Plastic sheets can be difficult to fit and manage on larger lagoons. If lagoon walls are not accessible or structurally sound to allow anchoring of the plastic sheet, secured covers cannot be used; then the application of floating materials is possible. Therefore, plastic sheets may not be applicable to large existing lagoons due to structural reasons.Straw and light bulk materials may not be applicable to large lagoons where wind drift does not permit the lagoon surface to be kept fully covered.Agitation of the slurry during stirring, filling and emptying may preclude the use of some floating materials which may cause sedimentation or blockages in the pumps. Natural crust formation may not be applicable in cold climates and/or on slurry with low dry matter content. Natural crusts are not applicable to lagoons where stirring, filling and/or discharging of slurry frequently disturbs the surface.In China, funds from the County-wide Promotion Project will be used to support sealed or covered storage of liquid manure from 2020 onwards (MARA and MF, 2020).Covering reduces or eliminates the oxygen exchange between manure and air and results in an increase of temperature of the slurry by approximately 2°C. Under these conditions, CH4 can be formed; its recovery and use for energy production is possible such as the application of black membrane biogas digester.Semi-permeable storage covers are useful for reducing CH4, NH3 and odor, but tend to increase N2O emission because the aerobic conditions for nitrification at the cover surface and at the same time create a low oxygen environment just below the cover favorable for denitrification and production of N 2 O.Impermeable membranes, such as sealed plastic covers, is an effective mitigation option if the CH4 captured under the cover is collected for energy or electricity production, otherwise it can be burned using a flare system.All kinds of cover material have a significant emission reduction effect on NH3. The cover material of straw, wood cover and straw + wood cover combination reduced NH3 emission in liquid manure storage by -13.1% ± 19.8%, -36.9% ± 8.9% and -43.2% ± 21.7%, respectively (Amon et al., 2006;Clemens et al., 2006). However, different coverings have different effects on the emission reduction of CH4 and N2O, and some even promote the release of CH4 and N2O. Wood mulching and straw mulching combined with wood mulching could reduce CH4 emission in liquid manure, which were -15.0% ± 1.5% and -19.3% ± 7.8%, respectively.However, straw mulching alone could promote CH4 emission in liquid manure (mean ± 9.1% ± 6.1%; Amon et al., 2006;Clemens et al., 2006). Straw mulching had a certain promoting effect on N2O release from liquid manure of dairy cows and increased the N2O release by 37.7% ± 20.6% (Amon et al., 2006;Clemens et al., 2006). Wood mulching and the combination of straw plus wood mulching had different effects on N2O release in different seasons.Sound storage should be supported with good cover (concrete, wood or possibly as simple as banana leaves), although implications on emissions are complex and variable as effectiveness depends on cover permeability, thickness, degradability, porosity and management. Semi-permeable covers decrease NH3, CH4 and odor emissions, but can increase N 2 O emissions. Impermeable covers give the opportunity to flare CH 4 or collect as biogas. For Dutch dairy systems, frequent manure removal to a closed manure storage with thermic oxidation of methane is expected to reduce CH4 emissions from manure by 75% (Lesschen et al., 2020).In the storage tank, manure is also aerated and homogenized by injecting compressed air, to prevent sulphate ions changing into noxious hydrogen sulphide and to improve the fluidity of the slurry as part of the dry matter content is degraded. In the case of acidification inside the slurry storage tank, due to foaming of the slurry, a freeboard of 0.8-1 m is required in the tank; therefore, the storage capacity of the tank cannot be fully utilized.In commercial operations, the pH is often brought down to a value of 5.5, in consideration of the instability of acidified slurry and its varying buffer effect. The target pH depends on the time span from acidification until spreading on the land. Therefore, slurry that is acidified to below 5.5 in cases when the slurry is not spread on the fields within 21 to 90 days. If spreading of the acidified slurry is delayed more than 90 days, then the pH should be verified in order to ensure that it is still less than 6.0, or more acid should be added. a pH below 6.0 should be applied as fertilizer within 24 hours; the pH should be maintainedIn theory, methane emissions from housing and outdoor storage could be substantially reduced, due to inhibition of methanogenic bacteria at the low pH. Similarly, potential nitrous oxide emissions from storage could be reduced, if acidification prevents a surface crust formation, due to the reduced microbial activity in the slurry.Moderate decrease in manure pH through acidification significantly reduces NH3 volatilization and CH4 losses from stored manure. The effect on N2O emissions following soil application is not well studied and may be increased if the inverse relationship between NH3 and N2O emissions holds in this case.Emissions of VOCs and odors from the oxidation reaction occur due to the addition of a strong acid. Manure acidification leads to qualitative changes in odor emissions, rather than an increase in overall odor. Odor peaks can arise as a result of daily aeration/mixing and pumping of manure. There is a potential for gaseous hydrogen sulphide emission if sulphate is reduced to H2S in stored slurry, provoking odor problems (Denmark, 2012). If acidified slurry is used in a biogas plant, there is a theoretical risk of bacterial inhibition based on the high proportion of acidified slurry.digestion takes 12-14 days. However, the technology is more expensive, since more energy and more sophisticated control instruments are needed. The advantages of thermophilic plants are higher levels of biogas production, faster throughput, improved hygienisation of the digestate, and lower viscosity during the process, facilitating mixing.The condition necessary for the successful formation of methane is minimum water content of 50% in the initial substrate (373, UBA). The biogas production potential depends largely on the type of manure. Around 14-25 m 3 of biogas production per m 3 of slurry may be obtained (or even higher when pig slurry is digested), containing around 60-65% methane.Calculations for biogas plants in Denmark show an average production of 22 m 3 of biogas per ton of pig slurry containing 6% dry matter (on average).There are a few side notes that should be considered related to this measure:• The digestate manure at the end of biogas production process is still biologically active and contains large amount of degradable organic matter, thus causing the high remained CH4 producing potential during the latter storage period. The CH4 emission from the storage of the digestate and digested slurry should be eliminated such as using cover or acidification.• Biogas installation requires investment in technological equipment. For industrial-scale biogas digesters used to produce renewable energy for towns, sound infrastructure is needed.• In regions with high temperatures, fermentation processes go faster, and gas production can be high. Many practical initiatives currently focus on providing biogas installations.However, maintenance of such installations and knowledge needed to operate the installation is a point for attention. By contrast, in regions with average temperatures below 15°C, anaerobic digesters are not recommended without supplemental heat control, since lower temperatures reduce the production of biogas (Sommer et al., 2007).An airtight vessel can prevent anaerobic methane from being released into the environment.Using digested slurry instead of raw slurry can reduce NH3 emissions during land spreading stage (Chantigny et al. 2007), and NH3 is the indirect emission resource of GHG. Meanwhile, anaerobic digestion improved bioavailability of nitrogen, leading to decreased use of mineral fertilizers which can reduce GHG emission caused by mineral fertilizer use. Odors during both the slurry storage period and manure land application period will be reduced after anaerobic treatment (due to lower dry material content).Ammonia emissions from storage of the digested slurry can be high. The higher content of NH 4 -N can lead to higher ammonia losses from storage and/or land spreading, compared with raw slurry. Due to the reduced content of organic matter, a natural crust is seldom formed on top of the liquid when it is stored in tanks, leading to a higher potential for emissions to air. Other typical uncontrolled losses of CH4 from biogas production systems, including gas leakages and gas collection areas, were reported to range from 5 to 20 percent of total biogas produced (Bjurling and Svärd, 1998;Sommer et al., 2001). Storages should be covered and/or slurry should be immediately cooled.Due to the general manure management required by the anaerobic digester, it is estimated that total farm emissions are reduced by 40% for ammonia, while odor and methane are reduced by 80% (Santonia et. Al., 2017). N2O emissions associated with anaerobic digestion are reported to be negligible, compared to the overall annual N2O emissions from the farm.Sha Wei and Yue WangComposting is the controlled aerobic degradation of organic matter. Solid manure, mixed or not with vegetal organic matter is used in the process. The aim of the technique is to facilitate naturally occurring microflora to degrade cellulose and other carbon compounds in the manure to produce a material that is friable and sufficiently stable for storage and transport and that has a reduced volume. Composted solid manure (following manure separation into solid and liquid fractions) is also being used as bedding in some dairy production systems to reduce cost of bedding material and provide cow comfort.Different composting systems include: (1) composting with mechanical reversal of heaps, (2) static aerated piles, and (3) composting in-vessel (with forced aeration). For heap composting, the manure is usually arranged in windrows (long heaps with a trapezoidal or triangular section, typically 1-3 m high, 2-5 m wide and of indeterminate length) and monitored for temperature and moisture. The windrows are turned over and mixed periodically using conventional loading machinery (e.g., a bucket loader) or another available farmyard machinery (e.g., windrow turner). Static aerated pile is an alternative method, which uses air supplied by perforated piping or a porous floor below the pile, therefore avoiding the reversal and mixing. Aeration can be forced (air is forced into the composting material) or passive (convective movement of air into the composting material). For composting in-vessel, composting is carried out in closed, aerated vessels (e.g., concrete silos/tanks, channels or film). The bottom of these modules is equipped with a system of perforated pipes, allowing forced aeration by blowing air into the substrate.The key operating parameters and transformation requirements are reported below: (1)Moisture content between 40% and 70%; (2) Oxygen supply > 0. The technique requires enough space available for windrows to be established. Compostingshould not be carried out on filtering soils, on waterlogged soils, or on sloped land. The process is relatively simple and can be applied on small-scale individual farms, using standard farm equipment, but it needs proper control to avoid anaerobic processes that could lead to an odor nuisance.Air scrubbing systems for manure composting facilities are well tested as an additional method to reduce NH3 emissions from this source but have substantial costs. No composting installation at the farm scale is reported to be equipped with air cleaning systems.Hardened ground or anti-seepage measures are necessary for heap composting. If the heap is put on soil and not on an impermeable base, part of the nitrogen that sinks into the soil is evaporated, and plants use part of it after removal of the heap. Depending on the amount of run-off, the soil surface and the soil type, part of the nitrogen may also leach into the surface waters or groundwater.Composted solid manure has little odor, is more stable, contains fewer pathogens and is relatively dry. This improves handling, storage, transportation and land spreading without the risk of transferring diseases (e.g., land spreading on ready-to-eat crops) and bring additional farm income (TWG ILF BREF 2001;DEFRA 2011). Transport costs are reduced due to the significant reduction of mass due to water evaporation.In partly aerobic conditions, such as in unsealed manure heaps, a part of the inorganic nitrogen (10-55 % of the nitrogen) is lost through volatilisation as ammonia emissions. N2Oemissions and NO3-losses as leachate may also occur (IRPP TWG 2013).There is an obviously trade-off by using composting. Aeration of composting heap reduces CH4 emissions (Thompson et al., 2004;Jiang et al., 2011b;Park et al., 2011) but can increase NH3 and N2O losses (Tao et al., 2011). Depending on the intensity of composting, NH3 losses can be particularly high, reaching up to 50% of the total manure N (Peigné and Girardin, 2004).30% DM, 53% C, and 42% of the initial N are being lost during composting of straw-bedded manure. Methane losses accounted for 6% of the C losses and N2O losses represented 1 to 6% of the total N losses (Hao et al., 2004). Usually, N2O is the major contributor of GHG during manure composting process (Pattey et al., 2005).It was found that CH 4 emission could be reduced by increasing the frequency of turning every 1, 3 and 7 days (Jia, 2015). Increasing the turning frequency from 1 to 2 times a week results in 50% reduction in CH4 (Jiang et al., 2011;2015). Reducing turning frequency not only reduce NH3 and N2O emissions, but also increase CH4 emissions.When the ventilation rate increased from 0.18 L/min/kg DM to 0.54 L/min/kg-1DM, CH4 was reduced by 90% (Jiang et al., 2011;2015).When the material moisture content is 60%-70%, it is beneficial to N2O emission reduction (Wu et al., 2012). Increasing water content from 45% to 66% resulted in 49-60% reduction in N2O emission (El Kader et al., 2007).Sha Wei and Seyyed Hassan Pishgar-KomlehManure (liquid or solid) land spreading, and the irrigation of wastewater are commonly applied techniques. Slurries and solid manures are valuable fertilizers but may also be potential sources of pollution. Different amounts of valuable mineral elements (i.e., plant nutrients) contained in the manure can be lost as emissions during and after land spreading, if land-spreading is not done properly. Typically, solid manure is applied to the soil surface.Liquid manure or slurry can be applied to the soil with different methods including i) surface spreading, ii) surface spreading + tillage, where the applied manure is tilled into upper layer of soil, ii) shallow injection, and iv) deep injection to a depth more than 10 cm. These approaches can be applied before planting (or after harvest season) and during growing period (just between rows). However, tillage is not an option in perennial crops due to root damage. Surface spreading is a common practice of manure application but results in the loss of N and P components (e.g., loss of ammonia due to volatilization and phosphorus runoff) and can cause odor issues. Placing manure below soil surface reduces these environmental issues. Before application of manure on land, various factors such as storage conditions (temperature and duration) can have influence on organic matter content, nutrients and also emissions after application of manure on soil. Manure application is the last stage of farm manure handling and represents a crucial step to reduce emissions.Besides application methods, some other parameters such as manure composition and soil conditions (soil type, moisture and management) play important roles on the emission potential of manure applied to soil. Therefore, a set of factors (pre-application treatments and soil and manure conditions) along with the method of applying manure on soil should be considered to reduce GHG emissions of manure. Generally, CH4 and N2O (direct and indirect) are the main gases produced due to improper manure application methods. Emissions of CH4 after application on soil is not significant due to large losses from enteric fermentation and manure storage. Manure application method has impact on direct and indirect N2O emissions and dilution, and injection are the most common approaches to reduce GHG emission potential during manure application on soil.Besides the application method, some other strategies can be considered which in combination with the application method will lead to lower level of GHG emissions. Applying manure based on the needs of the plant reduces the N2O losses. Manure application timing is also important. The emissions are high when the manure is applied during autumn or winter seasons. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to shift the application to spring season as the nutrient can being absorbed timely by the plant. Emissions can also be reduced by avoiding manure application on wet soils. Urease and nitrification inhibitors have been shown to be effective in reducing N2O production and also reduce nitrate leaching, with important co-benefits for water quality, though the identification of some inhibitor residues in milk has raised concern about food safety.Overall, lowering the concentration of N in manure, preventing anaerobic conditions or reducing concentration of degradable manure C are successful strategies for reducing GHG emissions from manure applied to soil (Gerber et al. 2013). As it has been mentioned, preapplication treatments have impact on effectiveness of manure application methods. For example, separation of manure solids, dilution and anaerobic degradation pre-treatments can mitigate CH4 and N2O emission from subsurface-applied manure, which may otherwise be higher than from surface-applied manure. Injection of manure slurries into the soil results in anaerobic conditions and together with the high degradable C pool increases the production of CH4 and N2O compared to the surfaces applied methods (Amon et al. 2006;Clemens et al. 2006). Timing of the manure application (e.g., avoiding application before a rain) and maintaining soil pH above 6.5 may decrease N2O emissions.The main advantage of manure injection into soil is reduction in production of CH4 and N2O from applied manure. Sub-surface injection leads to higher control on the amount of available nitrogen for nitrification and denitrification in soil as well as the availability of degradable carbon and soil oxidation reduction-potential which reduce N2O emissions.Injection of manure can greatly reduce odor issues compared to spreading of manure on land. Liquid manure injection in a proper time (prior to seeding or during the growing season) reduces N volatilization losses and provides the plant the required N. Therefore, indirectly it reduces the consumption of N fertilizer on arable lands. Injection also reduces the risk of P runoff and loss of particulate P due to less tillage operation. Since for manure injection no tillage operation is needed, it allows farmers to apply manure to the growing crops such as grass, alfalfa, etc. Injection preserves more soil organic matter compared to the tillage-based manure application methods. Besides the advantages, there are some disadvantages or limitations regrading manure injection method. Initial investment of injection equipment is high. Moreover, manure injection is a time-consuming operation.Compared to surface manure application, ground speed of machinery is lower, therefore injection requires more time, fuel and labor. It also may delay planting crops. Applying manure injection machineries and equipment requires high skills and farmers may need extra training for applying the manure with related equipment.One of the main advantages of manure injection is reduction of N losses (in forms of NH3, NO3-and etc.) during land application. Emissions of NH3 can be minimized if the slurry/manure was incorporated into soil immediately after being applied on the soil. Based on previous studies around 40-90% of total NH3 lost on the first two days after surface application of cattle slurry (Menzi et al., 1998;Meisinger and Jokela, 2000). Deep injection of slurry reduces NH3 losses to 0.02 of total N applied on average which is equal to a 90% reduction compared to surface application (Rotz, 2004). On grasslands, shallow injection leads to around 70-73% reduction in NH3 losses (Rotz, 2004;Misselbrook et al., 2002).Regarding the direct N2O losses, the soil condition (moisture content) plays an important role where the results of Sistani et al. (2010) and Flessa and Beese (2000) have shown that slurry injection decreases N2O losses in dry soil (well drained soils) while in moist soils, anaerobic conditions facilitate N2O production. However, improper management during manure injection results in increasing N2O emissions of manure in soil as the formed anaerobic conditions together with the high degradable C pool increases the production of CH4 and N2O compared to the surfaces applied methods (Amon et al. 2006;Clemens et al. 2006). Dilution, solid separation and anaerobic digestion pre-treatment reduces the availability of degradable C and leads to reduction of N2O emissions. The potential use of heat produced by cogeneration of heat and power using biogas and the use of other biogenic energy or renewable energy (wind, solar and geothermal energy) to cover part of the energy demand of the farm are also options with positive effects on the environment.Solar or wind-driven generators are more frequently installed in China. Solar radiation can easily be converted into heat, either being used for heating water or generating electricity.Solar power supply depends very much on the weather conditions, while windmills attached to a generator can supply power, particularly in areas with relatively high wind speed. For an animal farm, biogas can be easily achieved if the produced manure was treated by anaerobic fermentation. The resulting biogas (approximately 50-75 % methane and 30-40 % carbon dioxide) provides a source of renewable energy. This power can replace fossil fuel use, which can be used for heating and/or for generating electricity, thus reducing the CO2emission sourcing from the fossil fuel use.Solar heating panel technology used for electricity is unsuitable for use in areas with low light intensity and short sunshine duration, meanwhile, the technology can't be used in areas with hard water.Solar and wind power may not be steady because of the weather conditions. The biogas production was usually abundant in summer, while the biogas production would be low in winter especially in small farms with no advanced technology and infrastructure; leading to the situation that the biogas production can't meet the demand of the farm in the winter.Therefore, the fossil fuel and electricity should be supplemented timely under these conditions.For the livestock farms located in rural areas with no adequate supply of electricity, but with abundant solar energy or wind power, this renewable energy can help the development of the livestock farming in these areas. The produced energy can be used to substitute the purchased fossil fuel or electricity, which help reduce the cost of the farm, also reducing the fossil fuel and electricity caused GHG emission. Meanwhile, the solar heating panel can be installed on the roof of the barn, which can avoid the extra land needed; the panels on the roof can also protect the barn from direct sunshine, thus helping to cool or giving shade for animals during hot summer periods.Besides the unsteady production of the energy, the high investment of the infrastructure is also a disadvantage of these technologies. Sha Wei and Yue WangThis paragraph is about measures to reduce the use of fossil energy, as well as the selection and application of appropriate equipment and proper design of the animal housing.Measures taken to reduce energy use often also contribute to a reduction of the annual operating costs.The opportunities for savings in energy use can be ranked as reported:The energy demand can be reduced in hot climates, where there is a need to cool the buildings, by trees with a shadowing effect, preferably native species, planted along the long sides of the sheds. Such trees also favor the reduction of dust emissions and the dilution of odor emissions as well as mitigating the impact on the landscape.Control of ventilation rates is the simplest method of controlling the indoor temperature of animal housing. Energy-saving fans can also be part of the application of measures for cooling the cows in the buildings.• to replace conventional tungsten incandescent bulbs with more energy-efficient lights, such as fluorescent, sodium and LED lights.• to use dimmers for adjusting artificial lighting.• to adopt lighting controls using sensors or room entry switches.• to apply lighting schemes, for example using intermittent lighting of one period of light to three periods of darkness instead of 24 hours of light per day reduces the amount of electricity used by 30-75 % [ IRPP TWG, 2011].• to allow more natural light to enter, e.g., by the installation of vents or roof windows.Other consumption• The energy consumption level is also linked to the high-pressure cleaning devices for livestock houses and the removal of manure. The latter includes the stirring devices used to mix the manure in the storage tank before spreading.Where electrical heating and lighting installations are still manually controlled, the adoption of simple thermostatic controls with 'dimmers' can return considerable energy savings. The use of automatically controlled management systems yields further energy savings.Investment costs and cultural resistance to the use of such equipment (which is often viewed as complex and difficult to operate) are impeding uptake.Electricity demand can be significantly reduced if houses are equipped with natural ventilation, rather than with forced ventilation systems. However, this is not always possible or desirable for every livestock type, in all climate zones and for all farm types.The achieved energy savings are significant when the ventilation rate is properly managed.IRPP TWG 2011. Comments to Draft 1 revised The BAT reference document (BREF)Theun VellingaSoil organic carbon (SOC) is part of the soil organic matter (SOM); SOC is about 50 % of the SOM. SOM is very important in agricultural soils, it improves the soil structure, increases the soil fertility and increases the water holding capacity. Another important role of SOC is the sequestration of atmospheric carbon, which can help to mitigate climate GHG emissions.The basic principle of SOM is the balance between addition of fresh organic matter to the soil and the mineralization of existing SOM (Tang et al, 2019). When addition is larger than mineralization, the soil acts as a sink, otherwise it is a source of atmospheric CO2. The increase in SOM is not infinite, in the case of stable management situation and land use, there is a long-term equilibrium of SOM. This implies that C sequestration is only a shortterm solution for mitigation (for a few decades).This ultimate equilibrium depends on:• the land use type (C stocks in forest, grassland or arable land will differ)• the soil type: clay soils have a higher equilibrium than sandy soils• climate (rainfall and temperature): the more rainfall, the higher SOM equilibrium value, the warmer the lower the SOM equilibrium.• soil management: practices to change inputs and to change mineralization rate Land use type and soil management can be affected by the farmer or other land users.Due to the large variation in soil types, climatic conditions, location etc., it is necessary to tailor general guidelines.Management options to increase SOM content in soils General: a) avoid soil compaction, b) promote use of organic manures or other amendments, c) apply balanced fertilization (reduce high N applications, take care of P, K and other nutrients)Grassland: a) keep permanent pastures as they are. Don't change to rotation of grass and arable crops; b) grazing: see special section below; c) prevent grassland renovation; d) if necessary, deep rooting grasses can be used, although the benefits of these grasses can be offset by the higher fertilizer application rates.The impact of grazing is often discussed. Due to a wide variation in local conditions (soil, climate etc.) the optimal stocking rate can be variable. Preventing overgrazing and shifting to light or moderate grazing is important. Stocking rates at an annual basis have to be adjusted, continuous grazing or rotational grazing are both applicable. The core is to reduce the perturbation by grazing animals to levels allowing the grass sward to recover. C4 grasses (warm season grasses) are more resilient to heavy grazing then C3 grasses (cold season grasses). Hence, customized solutions are necessary.Arable land: a) no tillage or reduced tillage (with risk of increased N2O emissions). This is not possible or risky for certain crops such as potatoes, onions etc. Some authors mention the need of low frequency tillage; b) crop selection or crop rotation; pay attention to the organic matter balance per crop and decisions about leaving crop residues in the field; c) application of cover crops/green manuring; d) irrigation, via the increase in biomass production, but also via addition of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , acting as components of soil inorganic carbon (SIC).Use of biochar is often mentioned. Biochar is biomass after pyrolysis. Biochar converts fresh organic matter to a very stable C product. Effects of biochar can be positive till neutral.Biochar production in general competes with fresh organic matter and in case of biofuel production with animal feed (protein rich residues). Hence, advantages at a micro level can have its trade-offs at the macro level (Jeffery et al., 2015).All practices mentioned above are ready for implementation. The key is careful management, organic matter balances at micro and macro level and tailoring practices to local conditions.cropping, the choice of a crop and the application cover crops as green manure are important factors.• Monitoring of SOC changes in soils is difficult: measurements show large variations within fields and over time (within one year) and the annual SOC additions are small compared to the standing stock, changes in SOC are often within the uncertainty range of the measurements. So, monitoring can (for now) only be based on calculations in relation to farm specific data on carbon balances and management. Hence, the monitoring is currently an uncertain basis for payments of bonuses or fines connected to the change in SOC on farm level.Expectations about mitigation potential are high. Many publications, especially from commercial businesses, pretend to produce carbon neutral milk or beef due to carbon sequestration. This is not correct as shown by Garnett et al. (2018): even at low stocking rates the C-sequestration per ha will not outpace C-emission per ha caused by methane coming from enteric fermentation (see also table below).Due to variation in local conditions: collecting knowledge of local conditions, estimate sequestration potential and develop customized solutions, based on the aforementioned recommendations.Commitment to apply these solutions for a long time and land use has to change drastically compared to the current situation.Reduction in CO2-eq per kg FPCM and in percentagesThe mitigation potential in CO2-eq per kg of milk is related to the stocking rate. Garnett et al (2018) have reviewed global studies and found a range of 0 -3 tons of CO2equivalents per ha per year in grasslands. The higher values will occur when current carbon stocks are low, e.g., on degraded pasture or former arable land.With a milk production of 7000 kg per cow per year, the carbon footprint of the milk is about 1.5 kg CO2-eq per kg. With an assumed stocking rate of 1 cow including replacement stock per ha, the total GHG emissions per ha will be 10500 kg CO2-eq. The maximum sequestrationLife cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for evaluating environmental effects of a product, process, or activity throughout its life cycle or lifetime, which is known as a 'from cradle to grave' analysis. In this report about the LCA of milk the system, boundaries are \"from cradle to farm gate\". This means the whole life cycle of raw milk from the production of inputs to products leaving the farm-gate, i.e., excluding transport or processing of raw milk. Related transport associated with the production of purchased inputs was included.In the context of climate change, the mitigation potential is the number of emissions reductions that could be -but are not yet -realized over time. In this report, the mitigation potential is given as those emissions reductions that are technically feasible at relatively low costs, but without taking account of barriers that may make it difficult to achieve those emissions reductions in practice.Amount of output obtained per unit of production factor. In this report, it is mostly used to express amount of product generated per unit of livestock and time (e.g., kg milk per cow per year).Ruminants are mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach (the rumen) prior to digestion, principally through bacterial actions. The process typically requires the fermented ingesta (known as cud) to be regurgitated and chewed again. The process of rechewing the cud, which further breaks down plant matter and stimulates digestion, is called rumination. Major ruminant animals considered in this report include cattle, sheep and goats. See also Monogastric.The percentage of adult animals in the herd replaced by younger adult animals each year.The negative effects that a policy or measure aiming at one objective might have on other objectives. For example, the primary goal of a change in farm practice may be to increase profitability per hectare, but it may result in increased leaching of nitrate into waterways. CCAFS research is supported by: CCAFS is led by: Science for a food-secure future","tokenCount":"16897"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8269139123.json b/data/part_1/8269139123.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..80433c9ad8211d900ecdeff35dd549a8c113b710
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8269139123.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"67b06ad83588859815a88711557ceb9c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f719189-5ecd-4513-b342-a523d6eb833f/retrieve","id":"445084777"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b9c9869-cec9-4c01-bb02-94b1f9171f34","pagecount":"2","content":"Climate change will have both positive and negative impacts on agriculture in different parts of the world. In areas where climate conditions are expected to be favourable in the future, farmers can benefi t from increased agricultural production. But adaptation to progressive climate change is vital in negatively impacted areas. CCAFS has developed a 'climate analogue tool' which connects regions around the world based on current and future climate conditions.The CCAFS team in collaboration with research teams from Oxford University and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and local partners initiated the 'Farms of the Future' fi eld-based research program in the Indo-Gangetic Plains in 2012. The team used the climate analogue tool in the 'Farms of the Future' sites identifi ed by CCAFS. By connecting analogue sites, the research aims to enable farmers to better envision how their site-specifi c agricultural future might look like. It helps them test climate resilient cropping systems and technologies in farmers' fi elds.• To establish, test and validate a farmer-to-farmer learning methodology for strengthening the adaptive capacity of small-holder farmers.• To identify and connect climate analogue sites and encourage farmer-to-farmer exchanges to improve understanding of local practices and available technologies.• To identify cultural, economic and institutional obstacles to climate change adaptation for small-holder farmers.Rupandehi District (Beora), NepalOxford University, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)• A study site is selected based on its vulnerability to climate change and climate variability. Researchers liaise with farmer groups to facilitate the farmer exchange visits.• The latest climate projections for specifi c target sites are incorporated into the CCAFS' climate analogue tool in order to identify analogue locations that will in the future have a similar climate.• One or two analogue sites are short-listed for farmer exchange visits based on distance, cultural similarity and willingness of farmers to participate.• Existing climate change adaptation initiatives in the target sites are identifi ed.• Farmer exchanges are conducted as exploratory scenario exercises and embedded in a broader strategic capacity development program. The visits, usually lasting a week, help farmers familiarise themselves to a broad set of adaptation options practised by farmers in the analogue site. Local leaders and private and public sector partners are also involved in the knowledge exchange program.• In Nepal, climate analogue sites for farmer-to-farmer exchanges were identifi ed in Rupandehi district.• Networks were established between the analogue sites to foster farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange visits and establish connections with government agencies and other organizations.• Community members in the sites participated in trainings to improve their understanding of climate change adaptation practices and available technologies.• On-the-ground testing of climate resilient agricultural practices and technologies were carried out.• Farmers have shared their experience and knowledge from their study tour with their own communities.• A model for community-to-community knowledge exchange in climate change adaptation and the potential to scale out in the region and beyond has been set up.The ","tokenCount":"479"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8270879370.json b/data/part_1/8270879370.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a0b1570b68cd1bd441d1e6bb231d4ae688b57f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8270879370.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"da44aa1cb1efd5ac9d1bc916df46c33e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/98326962-7710-4180-93be-f6f883f2cc4d/retrieve","id":"1725307440"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"abf6780d-f384-493c-9c51-ccaf695a318b","pagecount":"45","content":"En noviembre de 1979 el entonces Programa de Frijol del CIAT despachó a solicitud de la Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno (UAGRM) un paquete de 10 kg conteniendo 50 lineas y variedades de frijol que por entonces se ensayaban en el Vivero Internacional de Adaptación y Rendimiento de Frijol (IBYAN) del CIAT Ese lote de frijol fue el comienzo de un trabajo de investigación con un cultivo nuevo. Fue también el comienzo de una conjunción de esfuerzos de muchas instituciones y personas de Santa Cruz, cada una asumiendo un compromiso y ofreciendo su experiencia y habilidad. No es fácil participar en forma armoniosa en una empresa y menos lo es cuando ésta ofrece más riesgos que oportunidades. La incertidumbre puede ser un elemento que desaliente a muchos pero nunca es un freno para los soñadores o los intrépidos que saben lo que quieren y tienen el valor de emprender la aventura de hacer realidad lo que parece una quimera. Ciertamente empezar un trabajo con frijol en Bolivia fue una aventura pero tanto las instituciones agrícolas de Santa Cruz, lideradas por la UAGRM como los pobladores del Altiplano, la mayoría mineros, que un día partieron para los montes del Oriente ilusionados con la politica de colonizacion del gobierno o simplementeo aprovechando la penetración caminera, decidieron embarcarse en esta aventura que felizmente arribó a buen puerto como lo pnleban los resultados que muestra este estudio llevado a cabo por el CIAT Veamos algunos ejemplos, recogidos en este trabajo, de lo que ha pasado con el frijol 20 años despues de su introducción en el departamento de Santa Cruz.• Antes de 1979 en el departamento de Santa Cruz no se sembraba frijol; en 1999 el área sembrada está cercana a las 20 mil hectáreas • Bolivia ahora exporta frijol a siete países. En 1997 las exportaciones alcanzaron un valor de casi 9 millones de dolares • Gracias al frijol los campesinos entraron a la economía del mercado: el 61 % del total de frijol producido se exporta • El frijol creó nuevas fuentes de trabajo. Se estima que entre 450 a 500 mil jornales directos por año derivan de la actividad frijolera • El frijol generó una foente de trabajo importante para el agricultor y su familia: el 58% de los jornales utilizados son aportados por la familia campesina • El 50% de los jornales se emplean en labores de cosecha y el ama de casa aporta la mitad de ellos • El frijol se convirtió en la mejor opción de cultivo de invierno para los colonos de escasos recursos ocupando el 86% del área cultivada en invierno en las zonas de colonización, la mayor área comercial de producción de frijol en Santa Cruz • Gracias al frijol se redtijo sustancialmente la necesidad de emigrar a otras regiones en invierno en busca de trabajo • En Santa Cnlz no se consumía frijol. En 1999 se estima que el consumo alcanza el orden de 9 mil toneladas por año  El objetivo de introducir el frejol en Santa Cruz fue el de involucrar a Bolivia en la producción de un alimento que contribuyera a mejorar los estándares nutricionales de lo s consumidores y proporcionar al agricultor nuevas opciones de ingreso y de uso del suelo.Los agricultores a los cuales se enfocó el trabajo de frejol fueron básicamente aquellos localizados en las áreas de penetración de la selva amazónica, quienes habían emigrado desde el altiplano boliviano hacia la llanura de Santa Cruz buscando oportunidades para su subsistencia. A la fecha se estima un asentamiento de cerca de ocho mil familias emigrantes, con 50 mil personas quienes ocupan unas 300 mil hectáreas de selva.Despues de 20 años de iniciada las acciones para introducir el cultivo de frejol en Bolivia, los integrantes del Proyecto ( PROFRlZA y la UAGRM) contratan un estudio de evaluación de adopción e impacto. La evaluacion busca definir la situación de la producción y de los productores antes y despues de la introducción del frejol, así como el impacto en el consumo doméstico, en el mercado de exportación y en algunos indicadores macroecónomicos de la región.En la actualidad la llanura de Santa Cruz dispone de 1.2 millones de hectáreas en cultivos de tipo agroindustrial -caña de azúcar, sorgo, soya, algodón, maiz, trigo, etc.-los cuales muestran W1a dinámica de expansion alta (Fig. 1). En la última década el área agricola de Santa Cruz se incrementó en 375 por ciento a expensas de la selva.Los cultivo agroindustriales son explotados básicamente por grandes agricultores o empresas. Según un estudio del Centro de Investigación y Manejo de Recursos Naturales Renovables de Bolivia, el 90 por ciento de la tierra en producción es explotada por grandes agricultores que sólo representan el 5 por ciento de los cultivadores.Dentro de este contexto el frejol ocupa sólo W1 1.5 por ciento del área pero involucra a gran número de pequeños agricultores situados en las zonas de penetración.• j Se definen varios niveles de estudio: producción, consumo urbano y rural y comercialización.A nivel regional se obtiene información secundaria para analizar la participación del frejol en la producción agrícola, su evolución y sus mercados.A nivel de los productores se captura información primaria para analizar los cambios introducidos por el cultivo del frejol en el uso de la tierra, de la mano de obra y otros recursos de la producción, asi como también trata de identificar y evaluar el impacto en el bienestar de las familias de los agricultores involucrados en el cultivo.A nivel de los consumidores se captura información primaria para analizar la incorporación del frejol a la dieta alimenticia y su importancia relativa en la ingesta calórica y proteica.En el Cuadro 1 se muestran las fuentes consultadas o encuestadas y el tamaño de la muestra manejada.CUADRO 1 . Fuentes de información consultadas para el estudio de adopción e impacto de frejo 1. -Infonnación base para <= identificar indicadores de bienestar Dara la zona 1994, año a partir del cual la adopción se acelera llegando a un alto nivel de adopción con un 90 por ciento de agricultores cuhivándolo (Fig. 2).El proceso de adopción es muy estable y se evidencia en el hecho de que un 70 por ciento de los agricultores lleva mas de 5 años cultivando frejol y que el área ha venido creciendo hasta llegar a un promedio de 8 hectáreas por finca.  !Il !13Del lado de consumo, la adopción del frejol como producto alimenticio es del 50 porciento en farnilias del sector urbano y del 75 porciento en el sector rural de la zona de colonización (Fig. 3). .i 50% 50%COnlUJn.e 25% 75%La superficie en frejol se estima para 1998 en cerca de 23mil hectáreas, con base en los datos de consumo doméstico y exportaciones. El volúmen de producción se estima en cerca de 25 mil toneladas.La presencia del frejol en la región ha tenido las siguientes implicaciones: a) Creó una nueva fuente de divisas para el país. En 1997 las exportaciones alcanzaron un valor de 8.8 millones de dólares y representaron el 61 por ciento del frejol producido b) Paralelo a la exportación se generó un consumo doméstico del orden de 9000 toneladas/ año que equivalen a un 34 por ciento de la producción (Fig. 4 ).c) El consumo doméstico generado ha permitido ubicar los excedentes de exportación, con beneficio para los productores y exportadores al reducir la inestabilidad en los precios que crea una mercado único.d) Mejoró eficiencia en el uso de la tierra incorporando a la producción la estacion de invierno, época para la cual no existían opciones de cultivo para los agricultores pequeños.e) Amplio la frontera agricola para el pequeño agricultor sin condicionarla a la tala del bosque como ha sucedido con los otros cultivos introducidos a la región.f) Creó fuentes de trabajo importantes. Se estima con base en los datos de la encuesta que el frejol requiere unos 30 jornales por hectárea y que en total la actividad de producir frejol generó entre 450 mil a 500 mil jornales directos por afio ( ver cuadros anexos).g) Como efecto colateral a la actividad ecoDÓmica el frejol promovió a los pequeílos agricuhores de las áreas de penetración de selva hacia una agricuhura comercial, al aglutinarlos alrededor de ASOPROF ( Asociación Nacional de Productores de Frejol ), entidad que viene ejecutando funciones de mercadeo interno y externo de insumos y productos y realizando alianzas estratégicas con la Universidad y el sector privado para financiar investigación técnica para el cultivo.h) En 1997 ASOPROF participó con el 16 por ciento del valor total de las exportaciones de frejol.i) El frejol redujo los costos de producción de los cuhivos de verano al bloquear las malezas que proliferaban durante la estación invernal. Se estima que el gasto anual en control de malezas para los cultivos de verano se redujo en 1.5 millones de dolares desde que el frejol entró como rotación. La tecnología puede tener efectos positivos en la productividad y en la producción y no traducirse en bienestar de los agricultores involucrados en su adopción.Uno de los efectos negativos de la tecnología se da cuando el precio del producto baja como consecuencia de los incrementos en la oferta resultantes de la innovación tecnológica. En el caso del frejol, por su característica de producto foráneo Sin un mercado doméstico, no se enfrentaron problemas de precio como el referido.Situaciones de competencia por recursos productivos con otros cultivos no se dieron al cultivar frejol, por que esta actividad se desarrolla en una época marginal para los cultivos tradicionales.Por estas razones, muchos de los impactos valoradas son absolutos y no hacen relación con situaciones predichas.A continuación se describen las innovaciones y cambios introducidos por el frejol a) Con base en los datos de la encuesta se estima que en el área de producción comercial de frejol (Provincia Ñuflo de Chavez), un 63 por ciento de jefes de hogar estan vinculados al frejol como agricultores o como jornaleros.b) La mano de obra representa el 50 por ciento del costo de producción de frejol (Fig. 5 ) e) Los pequeños agricultores han encontrado en el frejol una opción de cultivo para el invierno: un 86 por ciento del área cultivada en esta estacion lo es con frejo!. Antes de su introducción sólo un 8 por ciento del área cultivable era explotada en el invierno.d) El frejol redujo sustancialmente la necesidad de emigrar a otras regiones para obtener trabajo en el invierno con evidentes beneficios para la estabilidad familiar y labora!. Un 90 por ciento de los entrevistados ya no emigran en busca de trabajo e) El ingreso por frejol representa un 43 por ciento del ingreso total de los agricultores entrevistados. Este nuevo ingreso debe compararse con el obtenido al emigrar por trabajo, deducidos los costos inherentes a ese desplazamiento. Este ejercicio demanda conocer las condiciones de trabajo en que viajaba el agricultor tales como tarifas, seguridad en la contratacion y condiciones de trabajo e implicaciones familiares. No se dispone de dicha información pero es claro que el balance a favor frejol es bueno, como lo evidencia la baja migración por trabajo que se da actualmente. g) El frejol incorporó al ama de casa rural en la actividad de producción. El 50 por ciento de los jornales empleados en el cultivo son debidos a las labores de cosecha y el ama de casa campesina aporta la mitad de ellos. j) El suministro de alimentos en la jornada laboral, es un pago en especie. La preparación de los alimentos para los jornaleros es realizada por el ama de casa. Este costo no monetario es aportado por el ama de casa campesina k) El componente de la mano de obra familiar, que representa un 30 por ciento del costo de producción del frejol, reduce la inversión monetaria en el cultivo y permite al agricultor una protección ante el ri esgo de pédidas monetarias frente a los cambios de precio y de rendimiento.1) Se estima que aún en condiciones de bajo rendimiento, 15 quintales /ha que equivalen a 750 kilogramos/ha, situación en la cual el ingreso neto del agricultor promedio de 8 hectáreas seria negativo, la producción de frejol le significa un ingreso monetario de 549 dólares en la cosecha como consecuencIa de vender su mano de obra al cultivo (Fig. 6).m) El frejol enfrentó a los pequeños agricultores de la región al mercado sacándolos de una producción de subsistencia. El 92 porciento del total producido va al mercado y un 61 por ciento se exporta n) El mercado externo se originó con Brasil como UnICO comprador. Actualmente se comercia con 7 países ( ver figura en la seccion Anexos)F1g. 6 Impacto de cambios en rendimiento de lrejo) sobre el Ingreso del agricultor Sua Cnu.B,1riL~J.oJamIa(TlCllbotfM\"i:a)Bolivia es el país de América que registra el consumo de frejol mas bajo. Según las estadísticas de la FAO, el país muestra un consumo de 1.1 kilos per cápitaJ año, referido casi totalmente al género V igna ungiculata. que en Bolivia se conoce como frejol camba o cumandá Su vecino Brasil llega a los 18 kilos y aún países de bajo consumo como Colombia y Venezuela con cerca de 4 kilogramos per capita año son superiores a Bolivia El impacto de la introducción de este género de frejol sobre el consumo en el departamento de Santa Cruz se analiza en base a:-Cobertura y estabilidad -Cantidades consumidas -Importancia relativa en la ingesta nutricional -Cambios ocurridos en el consumo de otros alimentos Importancia relativa en la in gesta nutricional Dado el alto contenido de proteínas del frejol (20 a 22 gramos de proteína por cada 100 gramos de semilla), su incorporacion a la canasta familiar ha conllevado efectos positivos en la ingesta nutricional: a) En el sector rural el frejol aporta una tercera parte de los requerimientos diarios de proteina. (Cuadro 2). b) En el sector urbano los consumidores más pobres de la población suplen con el frejol un 17 por ciento de los requerimientos proteicos diarios c) Para una población joven como la de Santa Cruz, donde más de la mitad de los habitantes son menores de 18 años, los beneficios de una mejora en la ingesta proteíca son obvios ( ver composicion de la población en cuadros Anexos).Cambios ocurridos en el consumo de frejol y de otros alimentos a) El consumo de frejol en Santa Cruz ha venido creciendo desde su introducción en los años 80s (Fig. 7) .-para 1992 se encontró que el conswno había alcanzado los 4 y 6 kilogramos per capita año en el sector urbano y rural respectivamente.-para 1999 el crecimiento en el conswno rural se cuadruplicó y el urbano se incremento en un 50 por ciento b) El crecimiento en el consumo de frejol no ha significado cambios sustanciales para el otro frejol conswnido, el Camba ,Vigna unguiculata, (Fig. 8 Y 9.). c) El consumo inicial del departamento de Santa Cruz, anterior a 1988 se estima en cerca de 3 kilogramos per cápita año, referido únicamente a frejol Camba.d) En la actualidad, 1999, los dos géneros de frejol alcanzan la cantidad de 34 y 10 kilogramos per cápita año en el sector rural y urbano respectivamente.e) El nuevo frejol superó al tradicional: el consumo de frejol es un 50 por ciento superior al Camba en el sector urbano y un 118 por ciento en el sector rural. f) En el sector urbano se observan decrecimientos en el consumo de algunos alimentos desde la entrada del frejo!.g) Los alimentos identificados como sustitutivos del frejol en el sector urbano son lenteja, came de res y los fideos de trigo. Como complementario el arroz h) La disminución más alta corresponde a la carne de res y la lenteja que disminuyeron en un 8 porciento con respecto al consumo anterior.i) En el sector rural no se evidencian cambios significativos en el consumo de otros alimentos. Las variables mas frecuentemente mencionadas por las entrevistadas fueron:, 15 obtener una educación para los hijos superior a los padres obtener una alimentación mas nutritiva disponer de un panel solar para obtener energía eléctrica tener agua conducida por acueducto tener una casa de material con techo de teja y no de palmas tener la tierra descepada (libre de troncos de arboles) no tener que emigrar por trabajo. tener un tractor para preparar la tierra. tener un camion para trillar y sacar la cosecha. tener de una fumigadora para las labores de cultivo.Con base en la frecuencia se determinó un valor para cada variable que iba de cero a uno. El promedio de la suma de todas las variables constituyó la meta de bienestar para cada localidad ( Cuadro 3).CUADRO 3. Metas de bienestar definidas por las familias rurales de Santa Cruz.San Julián Colonia Berlín Mejor educación para los hijos Se encontró que hay similitudes en la definición de las variables que constituyen el bienestar en las dos comunidades estudiadas, sin embargo las expectativas son ligeramente inferiores para la Colonia Berlín La Figura. 10 ilustra las diferencias entre localidades y el peso relativo de los indicadores de bienestar.Area nnI, IocaJldades Ile San Ju1ian Y Colonia BerlínEs evidente que hay una búsqueda de mejoras en varios aspectos de bienestar en las localidades estudiadas. Con excepción de la compra del camión y el tractor que tienen indicadores bajos y diferentes las demás variables tienen un peso alto y similar dentro' JI entre localidades.Un segundo paso en el análisis fue identificar los logros en bienestar obtenidos en los úhimos cinco años por las personas o fumilias entrevistadas. El logro conseguido en cada familia y para cada variable, se enfrentó con la expectativa promedia de todas las familias de la localidad en dicha variable estableciendo un porcentaje de cumplimiento.Tres variables obtienen alta calificación en consecución de logros y son las mismas en las dos localidades: mejorar la nutrición, no tener que emigrar en busca de trabajo y disponer de una fumigadora.Este úhimo indicador, diponer de una fumigadora, está estrechamente ligado con la actividad de producir frejol ya que el cuhivo exige el uso de fungicidas para la roya Se observa que las dos comunidades trabajan en la búsqueda de soluciones para este problema lo que evidencia también la importancia del cuhivo. En las Figuras 11 y 12 se consigna la información pertinente. Mejoras en calidad de vida que incluye educación para los hijos mejor a la de los padres, mejoras en la nutrición de la familia, disponer de energía eléctrica con un panel solar, poseer acueducto, poseer una casa de material y no tener que emigrar en busca de trabajo. (ver fig 13) Mejoras en infraestructura de trabajo que incluye poseer tractor, camión y fumigadora, tener la tierra destroncada o descepada.Es claro que las búsquedas en calidad de vida son mas numerosas y le dan mayor peso a este grupo indicadores de bienestar Es interesante anotar que los habitantes de estas localidades son casi todos propietarios ya que fueron beneficiados con las asignación de tierras en áreas de penetración de selva. Esto explica el porque poseer una finca no es un indicativo de bienestar. La búsqueda para ellos es la mejora de la tierra que poseen, consistente en eliminar los troncos de los árboles que preceden la agricultura en la región.Tambien la forma de suministro de agua es la búsqueda y no el agua misma, por que disponen de ésta desde hace muchos años, extraída con bomba de pozos perforados a unos 90 metros de profundidad. Durante la entrevista con las amas de casa rurales se buscaron explicaciones para las mejoras en bienestar conseguidas, las cuales pueden resumirse así: a) Los logros en nutrición se asocian con el frejol por la incorporación de este leguminosa en cantidades apreciables a su ingesta alimenticia a raíz de las campañas de promoción del consumo que incluyeron formas de preparación e información sobre su calidad nutritiva.b) La notable reducción en la necesidad de emIgrar en búsqueda de trabajo es una ganancia que ob viamente está relacionada con el cultivo del frejol que es prácticamente la única opcion productiva para estos agricultores en el invierno, época en que se daba la migración. c) La posibilidad de acceder a infraestructura de producción (maquinaria, equipos y mejoramiento del terreno) fue facilitada por la disponibilidad de mayor ingreso y mejor flujo de dinero para el agricultor.d) La posibibilidad de dar educacion a los hijos, mayor que la que ellos recibieron de sus padres se reportó por las amas de casa como una posibilidad muy remota antes de disponer del ingreso que da el frejol por los pagos periódicos que la educación demanda.e) Igualmente la adquisición del panel solar que implica una erogación mensual se hizo viable al disponer de una actividad en la primera mitad del año.Estas apreciaciones de las amas de casa son corroboradas con la información recogida con los agricultores de la región sobre el comportamiento económico del cultivo. La encuesta a los productores determinó que el frejol aporta cerca de la mitad del ingreso de agricultor y genera un ingreso monetario importante en la estación marginal para la agricultura en la región En la Figura 1 S se puede observar la correlación que existe entre el indice de bienestar alcanzado para cada familia con los años que lleva produciéndose frejol, variable que está relacionada directamente con el área cultivada en frejo!. Para concluir recordemos los objetivos definidos por qUlenes trabajaron en la introducción del frejol a Bolivia:\"El objetivo de introducir el frejol en Santa Cruz fue el de involucrar a Bolivia en la producción de un alimento que contribuyera a mejorar los estándares nutricionales de los consumidores y proporcionara al agricultor nuevas opciones de ingreso y de uso del suelo\"Es claro que allí se involucraban varios propósitos:-Inducir a la producción de un nuevo cultivo en una región dada.-Inducir a sus habitantes a consumirlo -Ofrecer a los agricultores nuevas altemati vas de producción.-Mejorar el ingreso de los agricultores Estos objetivos se cumplieron ampliamente para la región y se haria largo y repetitivo retraer las cifras contenidas a lo largo de este trabajo, que además muestran efectos colaterales no contemplados en los objetivos predefinidos y que son importantes para la región y para el país como la generación de divisas, de fuentes de trabajo, de manejo de restricciones a la producción agricola de verano, de mejoras en el bienestar de los productores, que si bien implícito en cualquier esfuerzo de mejora en el ingreso de los productores, pocas veces tan significativo.Más importante que resumir aquí el impacto del frejol parece el tratar de entender la razón del éxito alcanzado con el proyecto en Santa Cruz, Bolivia.Es conocido que muchas tecnologias buenas han enfrentado tropiezos insalvables al llegar a los usuarios, lo cual las descalifica como buenas y otras han sucumbido en el camino despues de un éxito inicial y de aquí la necesidad de entender y analizar las razones de los logros.Avalar futuras entregas de tecnologia es de interés para quienes trabajan en la investigación agricola máxime cuando los fondos destinados a ella se han venido reduciendo drásticamente.Además la introduccion del frejol (Phaseolus vulgaris) a Bolivia conllevaba quizás mas condiciones para el fracaso que para el éxito:Se trataba de:Un cultivo desconocido. Un mercado doméstico no sólo nulo sino antagónico hacia el consumo de este alimento.Un receptor de la tecnología muy sui generis:el potencial receptor era un emigrante de una zona del altiplano boliviano con mas vocación minera que agrícola. un emigrante con la tendencia a conservar una organización social basada en [a asociación sindical, sin norte real para su nueva actividad la agricultura en tierra propia, donde ya no existe el patrono con todo lo que esto presupone de positivo y negativo. trabajando en una región dificil, de selva con una condiciones de temperatura precipitación y suelos totalmente diferentes a su región de arratgo con una tradición de consumo de frejo[, antagónica a este alimento. con poco o ningún acceso al mercado por su baja capacidad económica. con un nivel de pobreza que lo constituyen en objeto de ayuda de ONGs que confluyen a Bolivia tratando de ayudar, con soluciones no siempre plausibles y de toque paternalista.Frente a este agricultor nos encontratoos con un grupo de visionarios que aspiran a través del frejol a rescatarlos en parte de su pobreza.Para entender y resumir el proceso se ha elaborado un esquema de la situación de los productores y la de los actores que tuvieron que ver con la introducción del frejol a Bo[ivia, definiendo el rol que jugaron.Es fácil observar que confluyeron una serie de factores, instituciones y alianzas estratégicas que jugaron un papel importante en la viabilidad del proyecto frejol en Bolivia y que no fue la tecnología por si sola quien pudo sortear las dificultades.CIAT Y PROFRlZA fueron determinantes en la oferta tecnológica atendiendo e[ suministro de germop[asma y el adiestramiento del personal local en e[ manejo del germoplasma entregado, delegando a la universidad (UAGRAM) la relación directa con el agricultor.Los agricultores a[ crearse ASOPROF se constituyeron en actores dinámicos y participativos del proceso incorporándose en varios segmentos de la cadena productiva: mercadeo de insumos y productos, participación en la producción técnica de semilla, generación de mercado doméstico, búsqueda de mercados internacionales.Las campañas de divulgación de la calidad nutritiva del frejol que se acompañaron con información culinaria, fueron atendidas y apoyadas por ASOPROF, MEDA y la UAGRM, generando una demanda doméstica para el frejol con efectos colaterales sobre la nutrición de los consumidores rurales y urbanos.La cooperación internacional tuvo un rol invisible pero protagónico a [a vez para el éxito de esta aventura. Sin e[ apoyo económico de COSUDE habría sido imposible acometer esta empresa con un cultivo nuevo sin mercado interno.Por útimo, pero no menos importante es necesario resaltar que los agricultores a quienes estaba llegando la tecnología disponían de tierra para realizar sus sueños y los de quienes emprendieron esta exitosa aventura.   ","tokenCount":"4274"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8302457219.json b/data/part_1/8302457219.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae80d6d438930eb1f1b2e786d8c448b6e4a9670c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8302457219.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c053ea3dc15f9b6c77229d0ac343518e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de0bb3e6-2659-4d2a-abc1-9863e01bd60c/retrieve","id":"444720325"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2c8d9a85-63f0-4f59-868d-b1943a829cfb","pagecount":"1","content":"The Crop Ontology development Trait Dictionary template • Developed by the Crop Ontology and the Integrated Breeding Platform to support the creation of ontologies • Populated by breeders with their traits, observation methods and reporting scales The Crop Ontology online tool features: • The publication of ontologies from the Trait Dictionary template or OBO files • The browsing of term definitions and relations • An Application Programming Interface to provide databases and web applications with ontologies in Excel, OBO, RDF, JSON formats http://www.cropontology.org (https://github.com/bioversity/Crop-Ontology) The Breeding Management System uses the Trait Dictionaries to: • Create breeders' fieldbook • Annotate and store breeders' data http://integratedbreeding.net/Online visualization  Thus, a plant phenotype had to be annotated with 3 identifiers for the trait, the method and the scale, respectively. Yet, breeders' fieldbooks and phenotype databases are often designed to annotate a datapoint with only one identifier.In May 2015, Crop Ontology has consequently been revised to integrate the variables. In the Breeding Management System:In Nextgen databases:: Addition of the variable","tokenCount":"165"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8314135212.json b/data/part_1/8314135212.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cc90c60ca41e04bf9254d977adc105b2dc91bcc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8314135212.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1c01a4bbf424263a6a5a172899c5fb1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4a61c26c-8641-4bcc-a5ed-7463083eb3b8/retrieve","id":"1551671968"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5fbf677d-0767-4e9d-bcf8-7190505da0be","pagecount":"19","content":"In addition to the focus countries, regional engagement and a series of virtual events and stakeholder interviews have been synthesised into the knowledge series. We would like to thank the time and expertise from stakeholders for interviews, workshops, regional events and sharing their insights towards this important project. In addition, thank you to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for providing results of research undertaken in 2021/22 in Sudan and Ethiopia in phase 1 of the project.The strategic objective 3 on inclusive growth and structural transformation of the economy which aims to create an environment conducive to economic diversification and strong and inclusive growth, while promoting a sustainable, modern and competitive agricultural sector. Strategic objective 4 on building resilience to climate change focuses on environmental protection and on strengthening Mali's population to the effects of climate change. Specifically, interventions aim to a) build capacities for risk and natural disaster prevention and management, and b) improve populations' capacity to adapt and ecological, economic and social systems' resilience to climate change effects.Decentralisation Law 96-050 on the Principles of Constitution and Management of Local Authorities (1996) This law outlines local authorities' prerogatives in decentralised natural resources management. The law is made up of 40 articles divided into 2 parts: 1) the constitution, definition and description of the public and private domains of local authorities; and 2) the management provision extending to the management of the agricultural, forestry, pastoral, fish-farming, wildlife, habitat and mining domains, on the guidance of a development plan. The pastoral domain of local authorities includes grazing areas; fallow land more than 10 years old; pastoral routes; and water points. The pisciculture domain of the territorial collectivities includes the hydraulic and pisciculture installations as well as the public waters conceded to them by the State.Between 2000 and 2018, Mali's land degradation rate was estimated to be 10%, contributing to the decline in productivity that affected more than 22 000 km 2 of land between 2000 and 2013, as well as its ability to halt 570,000 tons of carbon loss between 2000 and 2015. To reverse these trends, the country committed to achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 through the restoration of 10 million hectares (ha) of degraded land and the prevention of degradation of non-degraded land. Specifically, by 2030, LDN targets aim to: 1) reduce by 35-20% the 2000-2015 land coverage conversion rate causing forest, pasture and cropland degradation, 2) reduce annual deforestation by 25% (i.e. 125 000 ha), 3) increase forest area by 10% (i.e. 200 000 ha) through reforestation and afforestation, 4) reduce forest, cultivated land and pasture area affected by a decline in land productivity by 50% (i.e. 1 million ha), and 5) preserve wetlands from further degradation.These voluntary targets envision to increase forest area to 26% of the national territory, reduce the proportion of land converted annually for agriculture and affected by erosion and decline in productivity by approximately 2.5 million ha, reduce the annual loss of forest area by at least 25% (i.e. approximately 125,000 ha) and ultimately improve agricultural production, preserve ecosystems and improve land vegetation coverage by 10%.The guiding principles of neutrality are based on a hierarchy of responses to degradation already observed or assessed during the reference period 2000-2015. These principles are further based on indicators related to the country's percentage of land cover, net productivity and level of soil organic carbon.Mali National Drought Plan, 2021Plan, -2025Plan, (2020) ) Mali's National Drought Plan (PNS-Mali) aims to provide the country with an effective institutional and legal tool to respond and manage natural hazards, through an integrated system for the detection and management of drought while ensuring gender equality and gender equity. The plan will contribute to taking stock of the phenomenon and its impacts and to preparing response strategies accordingly. The specific objectives of the plan are threefold: to set up drought monitoring and early warning systems; assess drought vulnerability and risk; and implement measures to better respond to drought and limit its impacts.Actions suggested to achieve these goals include i) the identification of key drought triggers, ii) drought impacts assessment; iii) an inventory of the most vulnerable socio-economic sectors; iv) prevention and/or adaptation measures; v) measures to strengthen adaptation and resilience capacities at all levels; and vi) appropriate policy and institutional framework for effective drought management. Actions are prioritized according to their urgency, feasibility and effectiveness, as well as their relations to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).This national document articulates the country's 2025 development vision, which is to 'combine wisdom, authenticity and dynamism to make Mali a prosperous, efficient and modern nation whose people will know how to resolutely invent their own future, remain a people united in its rich diversity, focused on a common goal with unwavering faith in its future'. Specifically, the country envisions i) a nation united based on diversified and rehabilitated cultures, where ii) the political and institutional infrastructure guarantees development and social peace, and iii) democracy is part of the State's and citizen's daily life and represents a real force for progress; iv) the quest for sustained economic growth is made with concern for the protection and preservation of natural resources and the improvement of the people's living environment; and v) good economic performance boosts real social progress. This national development vision will be achieved through five strategic objectives, amongst which objectives 3 and 4 focus on various agricultural and environmental issues.CREDD is Mali's new national development strategy that seeks to consolidate and amplify the results achieved in the main implementation areas and sectors of CREDD 2016-2018. Its vision is to achieve, by 2040, 'a well-governed Mali, where harmonious cohabitation of the different components of society is restored, peace consolidated, and collective and individual security ensured in unity, cohesion and diversity, where wealth creation is inclusive and respectful of the environment and where human capital is valued for the benefit of young people and women in particular'. CREDD contributes to achieving the 2030 SDGs and is articulated around five strategic directions, including 1) governance, and political and institutional reforms, 2) promotion of inclusive growth, 3) development of human capital and social inclusion, 4) environment, climate change and sustainable development, and 5) diplomacy, international cooperation, and partnership. Strategy and Action Plan for the Implementation of Mali's Great Green Wall (2012) Mali's Great Green Wall (GGW) implementation strategy aims at strengthening agricultural, forestry, pastoral, fisheries and wildlife production to increase people's resilience to recurrent episodes of famine and food insecurity. It revolves around five strategic directions: 1) strengthened stakeholders' institutional, technical and financial capacities to cope with the impact of climate change on sustainable land management, particularly at the local level; 2) research, communication/ knowledge management, capitalisation and dissemination of successful experiences; 3) protection, rehabilitation and sustainable use of land according to national priorities and international environmental conventions; 4) development of support/investment activities, including credits and subsidies, and promotion of income-generating activities; and 5) coordination, monitoring/evaluation and management of the GGW programme. Each strategic domain is implemented through various programmes, including the promotion of good governance and sustainable management of natural resources at the local level; the mainstreaming of climate change into local (municipal) development planning and building of local authorities and communities' capacity to adapt to the adverse impact of climate change; the improvement of agroforestry production and food security by restoring degraded land, developing agricultural and pastoral production systems, and mobilising groundwater and runoff drainage water for use; the promotion of new agricultural, pastoral and wildlife farms and the strengthening of traditional production systems; the development of non-timber products and the promotion of income-generating activities for the benefit of women, as well as the development of savings/credit activities.Framework for Sustainable Land Management (2007) The Sustainable Land Management Action Plan and Strategic Investment Framework (CSI-GDT) follows a multisectoral approach to achieve its vision: \"By 2025, Mali's strong political commitment has enabled the reversal of the continuous trends of land degradation, the improvement of people's living environment, and poverty reduction, thus making Mali a model country in terms of sustainable land management (SLM)\". The SLM Action Plan promotes various sustainable agricultural practices, such as assisted natural regeneration and agroforestry, to sustainably reverse land degradation trends, fight desertification, promote climate change adaptation and agricultural sector development. In addition, the action plan pursues specific objectives of scaling up good SLM practices to combat land degradation and biodiversity loss, and adapt to climate change as well as to strengthen the actors' technical and financial institutional capacities to mainstream SLM into the country's development policies. CSI-GDT is implemented through six strategic investment areas: 1) Support for the activities of scaling up the framework; 2) Strengthening of the enabling environment for SLM; 3) Strengthening of advisory and business services in support of SLM; 4) Development of effective SLM knowledge acquisition and management, monitoring and evaluation, and information dissemination systems; 5) Implementation of a communication strategy to support SLM ownership and adoption of best practices, as well as 6) Building of stakeholders' capacity to promote SLM implementation.The National Environmental Protection Policy (PNAE) is a comprehensive and multisectoral policy framework for effective and sustainable environmental management and planning. It aims to mainstream sustainable natural resources and environmental management into any decision that affects the design, planning and implementation of development policies and programmes. PNAE is based on principles of equity, participation, prevention and precaution. PNAE seeks to contribute to the country's sustainable economic and social development, and food security, and to fight against pollution, natural resource degradation and desertification. PNAE is implemented through regional, national and local programmes and projects. Amongst its 7 strategic priority areas are the prevention of further resource degradation (area no. 3), the promotion of land restoration and recovery of degraded sites (area no. 4), the strengthening of national capacities for environmental protection (area no. 6) and the establishment of an environmental control, monitoring and surveillance system (area no. 7).Mali's National Strategy and Action Plan for Biological Diversity aims to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity resources for the benefit of present and future generations. The strategy's vision is to ensure that development activities preserve its biodiversity and the originality and beauty of its landscapes for present and future generations. The strategy stands on four guiding principles: 1) biological diversity considered as a national and global heritage; 2) equity in sharing costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation; 3) participation and partnership in biodiversity conservation, and 4) long-term understanding and monitoring of ecological systems and biodiversity.The strategy plans to map agricultural lands, protected areas and important ecosystems as well as pastoral lands for sustainable and equitable management, and to apply the ecosystem approach in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture when developing high biological potential areas. Regarding livelihood resilience strenghtening, the strategy encourages local people, including women, to design and implement remedial measures in degraded areas and where biodiversity has been depleted through afforestation and agroforestry.Mali's National Forestry Policy (PNF) and its action plan for 2018-2022 aim at contributing to social, economic and ecological sustainable resource management. The social dimension aims to empower rural people for sustainable management of forest, wildlife and fish resources. The economic dimension aims to promote and guarantee land investment by co-financing initial investment with resource managers, securing investments, mobilising funding for national, regional and local programmes. The ecological dimension aims to preserve biological diversity and to restore ecosystems. PNF seeks to improve the resilience of livelihoods in the face of threats and crises affecting agriculture, nutrition and food security, through a biodiversity conservation strategy and the restoration of ecosystems. In addition, it intends to undertake actions to combat desertification as well as climate change. PNF recognizes landholders' rights with regard to the management of the trees in the agricultural sector.Rural people will have all decision-making powers concerning the exploitation (felling or pruning) and conservation (assisted natural regeneration, planting, pruning, etc.) of trees, including protected species.For inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, PNF plans to promote and guarantee land investment by co-financing the initial investment with resource managers; securing investments; and mobilizing funding for national, regional and local Programmes. For sustainability purposes, PFN seeks to set-up a co-managed subsidy fund within the framework as a partnership between a state-local authority and external sources of funding, to finance the initial costs of the forest management plans.Law 10-028 Regulating the Management of National Natural Resources (2010) This law determines the fundamental principles relating to the management of Mali's national forest resources. It defines the conditions for the conservation, protection, exploitation, transport, marketing, development and sustainable use of national forest resources. In 7 sections, the law states that: • Populations can declare user rights over state and territorial collectivities as well as over private urban and peri-urban forests. User rights relate to the forest canopy, fruits and products from the natural forest, grazing and domestic animals' pastural areas.• Commercial exploitation can be established under the management of forest services through the issuance of cutting, harvesting or collection permits. Movement and storage of products and international trade in forest products is subject to a CITES permit or certificate.• Advisory bodies (a national council for forests and forest products and professional loggers' organisations) have been established.• Procedures, offenses and penalties for noncompliance exist.Mali's Agricultural Development Policy (PDA) summarises the evolution of Mali's agricultural and food systems policy frameworks into major time periods, categorised by major events. This overall sector development was also marked by the droughts that occurred during the agricultural campaigns (1982-83, 1985-86, 1992-93, 1995-96, 2000-2001 and 2004-2005) and the 2004-2005 locust invasion in the entire Sahel region. During these various developments, an important place was given to agriculture in the budgetary allocations (particularly from the CSCRPII), attaining 10% of the state budget in some years, as per the Maputo Declaration recommendations. However, these policy reforms were not able to effectively address structural difficulties such as vulnerability to climatic factors, natural resource degradation, weak development of agricultural industries, and rural poverty. A major reason for such mixed results relates to political instability characterised by discontinuity in policy measures when regimes and governments change, thus posing the challenge of coherent and sustainable agricultural policy.Below are more details on key policy documents:The Agricultural Development Policy (PDA) was adopted in 2013. The implementation strategy for this policy provides for two major areas:• Support for the resilience of small-scale producers through the AGIR initiative and the country resilience priorities, and• The \"Agropoles\" agricultural growth pole approach. It aims to promote a sustainable, modern and competitive agriculture based primarily on family farms and recognised professional agricultural organisations, as well as agricultural enterprise development.Its objective is to increase the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and to limit food dependency, while generating jobs. Specifically, PDA aims to ensure food security, rational management of natural resources and the environment, taking into account climate change; to modernise agricultural production systems and improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector; to ensure technological innovation through agricultural research and vocational training; to promote the status of farmers and build stakeholder capacity; and to reduce rural poverty.The Agricultural Orientation Law (LOA) constitutes the guiding and unifying basis for all legislative or regulatory provisions affecting the agricultural and peri-agricultural sector, notably agriculture, livestock, fishing and fish farming, aquaculture, beekeeping, hunting, forestry, harvesting, processing, transportation, trade, distribution and other agricultural services, as well as their social and environmental functions. LOA also aims to secure land tenure for farmers and to adopt a social protection system for rural producers, adapted to the country's needs and capacities. It has included these elements in the formulation of Mali's PDA.Mali's National Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (PNISA) is a sectoral document with a national scope. Its main objective is to make the rural sector the national economy's driving force, ensuring food and nutritional security for urban and rural populations, and generating jobs and significant income for sustainable development. PNISA takes root in the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and reaffirms Mali's commitment to the 2003 Maputo Declaration to dedicate at least 10% of total public expenditure to agricultural development and to achieve agricultural productivity growth of at least 6% per year.PNISA is structured around five components, namely capacity building, investment, production and competitiveness, training and research, and food security. The programme is hosted by the Ministry of Rural Development, and includes the following interventions:• Social protection against short-term food and nutritional insecurity and resilience-building to food and nutrition crises;• Enhancing of sustainable productivity through the preservation of biodiversity, water and soil conservation, development and preservation of forests and wildlife reserves;• From independence (1960) to 1980: Agricultural policies were characterised by the promotion of communal/collective land use and the agricultural production system. There was a focus on export crops and centralised governmental advisory services' provision and trade management.• 1980 -1987: IMF structural adjustments led to the privatisation of agricultural products, production and marketing (agricultural inputs provision, crops' pricing, etc.), the end of the state control over agricultural and food systems, and the re-organisation of rural agricultural actors and schemes.• 1988 -1993: Macro-economic and sectoral reforms led to the withdrawal of the state from production and marketing activities, and the strengthening of the role of the private sector.• 1994 -2006: The CFA franc devalued significantly; the Common External Tariff was established. Agriculture faced a great cotton sector crisis in 2000-2002. The government subsequently established the Reinforced Food Security System to reduce food risk by improving the operating conditions of staple food markets. In addition, in December 2001 Mali adopted the Agricultural Policy of the West African Economic and Monetary Union. In 2006 the Agricultural Orientation Law (LOA) was adopted. There was renewed political will to unify all the legislative and regulatory mechanisms relating to agriculture, livestock, fishing and forests. LOA emphasizes a new distribution of stakeholders' roles, including from civil society organisations, and promotes the professionalisation of the sector. Mali's Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (CSCRP, 2007(CSCRP, -2011) ) and its Strategic Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development (CREDD) integrate this political orientation to make agriculture the country's accelerated growth engine. The global financial crisis occurred during this period and had negative effects on the agricultural sector.• Enhancing of economic competitiveness of agricultural, agro-silvo-pastoral and fishery sectors through support to programmes for Agricultural Growth, Poverty Reduction and Environmental Protection (PDCARPPE), integration of sustainable agriculture into local development plans (PDSEC), support for gender activities, land security and mechanisation of agriculture, and• Improving of livelihood resilience through strengthened climate mitigation and adaptation activities (i.e. promotion of reforestation), operationaliaation of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, through assisted natural regeneration of degraded forests and development of community forests.The Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) Plan identifies specific priority intervention areas and actions that are aligned with Mali's climate and agricultural strategies. CSA objectives are three-fold, namely to increase agricultural productivity, to adapt and build resilience to climate risks and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (the triple wins of sustainability, resilience and emission reductions). CSA is the culmination of the country's engagement with the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, the elaboration of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), support from the Adaptation of African Agriculture Initiative, the World Bank, as well as technical assistance from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, the World Agroforestry Centre and the CGIAR Agriculture Research Programme, CCAFS and other partners.This plan provides priority interventions for climatesmart agriculture in Mali through the development of an investment plan (PIAIC). The plan aims to provide a fundamental technological base for the agricultural system, with real-time monitoring of weather conditions, improved soil information, ecological extension service, restoration of degraded land and promotion of a range of climate-smart key value chains. The CSA portfolio is clustered into twelve investment areas and includes a roadmap to create a coherent monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This mechanism allows for a country-wide assessment of needs, systems and opportunities.Mali's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2016 was revised and strengthened in 2021 by the Agency for Environment and Sustainable Development. The revised NDC now includes a roadmap for its implementation. This policy document focuses on mitigation and adaptation measures in the forestry, agriculture, livestock and energy sectors. Climate change mitigation measures focus on three agricultural sectors, which are irrigated rice cultivation, fertiliser management and livestock farming. For the livestock and chemical fertiliser sub-sectors, the mitigation measure focus on the substitution of urea with high-nitrogen organic manure. In the forestry and land use change sector, actions are based on existing policies, plans and programmes such as the National Policy on Climate Change, PDA, PNF and PNAE, as well as Mali's other national climate change strategies and action plans. Within the NDC, various adaptation measures are suggested, including the development and dissemination of climate-resilient varieties of crops, animals and fodder species; the promotion of cereal banks; income-generating activities; small-scale agricultural developments and land conservation; the use of meteorological products and information; support of vulnerable municipalities' adaptation; pastoral management; and strengthening of climate change resilience of women producer groups and vulnerable communities. Mali's NDC also envisions technology transfer, market mechanism incentives, research and capacity building.Mali's National Policy on Climate Change (PNCC) vision is to define, by 2025, a framework for sustainable development that integrates the challenges of climate change in all sectors to improve the populations' well-being. The overall objective is the fight against poverty and the promotion of sustainable development by providing appropriate solutions to climate change-related challenges that could limit socio-economic development efforts.PNCC is structured around ten sectoral orientations related to rural development (agriculture, water resources, forests), infrastructure (energy, transport, regional planning), environment (health, sanitation), industry and mining. For the agriculture sector, mitigation and adaptation interventions will revolve around the development of modern and diversified sustainable agriculture and the promotion of SLM. In the forestry sector, the strategic orientations concern promotion of reforestation for wood energy, conservation of plant and animal diversity, promotion of income-generating activities, and restoration of degraded ecosystems. PNCC's specific objectives are to facilitate better integration of climate challenges into sectoral policies and strategies for socio-economic development and into planning processes at national and territorial level; to strengthen the adaptive capacity of populations and the resilience of ecological, economic and social systems in the face of climate change by integrating adaptation measures primarily in the most vulnerable sectors; to strengthen capacities for risks and natural disaster prevention and management; to contribute to the stabilisation of global greenhouse gas emissions, and to promote international and regional cooperation; to promote national research and technology transfer on climate change, as well as to build national capacity on climate change.The National Adaptation Programme of Action (PANA) is Mali's overall framework for climate change adaptation. Its general objective is to promote sustainable development and poverty eradication through the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate variability and change on the most vulnerable populations. The PANA priority programmes are the improvement of fodder and main food crop production (rice, millet, sorghum and maize), as well as aquaculture facilities' development. PANA also has the ambition to improve food availability, early warning systems, and prevention and response to climate-sensitive diseases. Adaptation measures include the use of meteorological information to improve agricultural production, new and diversified cropping systems, development of improved, drought-resistant and adapted crops as well as innovation capacity building. It also includes the development of market gardening activities for women, the creation of local savings and loan funds to improve women and young people's access to loans and their economic capacities. Likewise, it also focuses on the strengthening of sustainable management of forest and wildlife resources through participatory prevention and fight against bush fires to improve the resilience of peoples' livelihoods.At the local level, the PANA priority activities will be under the supervision of the state sectoral technical services, and at the national level under the National Directorate of Meteorology, which is Mali's focal point for climate change. The plan's effectiveness will be monitored through programme implementation's indicators and field reports.Law on Agricultural Land Tenure (2017) This law (no. 2017-001) on agricultural land applies to all national agricultural land and spaces. In six chapters, the law defines the agricultural land tenure system which includes state, municipal, community and private agricultural land. It specifies the terms and conditions of access to these agricultural lands for individuals and rural communities through transactions that can take the form of donation, loan, rental, sharecropping, ordinary or emphyteutic lease, lease with promise of sale or assignment. It creates agricultural land management bodies for land security and conflict litigation. Land registers are kept with national and municipal level land management officers. Any customary agricultural land right holder can request legal recognition of his/her rights and the issuance of a certificate of customary land possession. Transhumance (moving livestock from one grazing area to another) is authorised in compliance with the rangelands' capacities and local arrangement between the different resource users.The agricultural land management bodies include the village land commissions and bodies responsible for consultation, management and monitoring of agricultural land. The National Agricultural Land Observatory is responsible for contributing to the documentation and monitoring of the Agricultural Land Tenure Law and land practices in rural areas. Finally, the law provides guidance for agricultural land litigation which includes the prevention of conflicts and prior conciliation, and the distribution of powers between judicial and administrative jurisdictions.The objective of Mali's Agricultural Land Policy is to ensure equitable access for all Malian producers and other users to well-managed and secure farmland, in an environment of good land governance, in order to promote controlled public, community, individual and private investments that are likely to make the various forms of exploitation more efficient and viable in a perspective of sustainable food sovereignty.The objective of this plan is to support farmers in managing their land fertility and to promote sustainable and economically profitable production systems. It seeks to promote sustainable production systems by restoring, maintaining and improving soil productivity and by adequately managing water resources; to create and develop favourable markets for the supply of inputs, in particular fertilisers; and to build stakeholder capacity. The plan aims for a holistic approach to soil productivity issues in relation to water through support for national institutions and farmer organisations, and through strengthening of private sector engagement and implementation of regional action plans. National Gender Policy (PNG), 2009PNG is a sectoral policy of national scope which aims to build a democratic society, accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty and improve the well-being of its entire population. The policy reference to food and nutritional insecurity includes plans to implement a rolling ten-year health and social development Programme which should reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. The Programme also aims to fight against rural poverty through the improvement of rural women's work profit in key sectors (agriculture, livestock, fishing), informal, and entrepreneurship; through the expansion support services to women to increase their income (microfinance, access to training, technical inputs and technologies and access to information technologies); through the integration of women into productive circuits and equal access to employment opportunities and productive inputs. To promote more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the policy envisages improving rural transport to better connect production and consumption areas and ensure women' access to basic social services.This plan aims to respond to the immediate food and nutritional needs of vulnerable populations, to strengthen populations' livelihoods through recovery and resilience-building activities, to reinforce the stakeholder mechanism for coordinating, monitoring and assessing the vulnerability of food and nutritionally insecure populations. The general objective is to promote sustainable development and fight against poverty through the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate variability and change on the most vulnerable populations. Its priority programmes are the improvement of fodder and main food crops' production (rice, millet, sorghum and maize) as well as aquaculture facilities' development. The plan also has the ambition to improve food availability, early warning systems, as well as prevention and response to climate-sensitive diseases.Land restoration and agroforestry projects are cited among priority actions for adaptation to climate change. Suggested adaptation measures include the use of meteorological information to improve agricultural production, new and diversified cropping systems, the development of improved, drought resistant and adapted crops as well as the strengthening of innovation capacities. The development of market gardening and fattening activities for women, the creation of local savings and loan funds to improve women and young people's access to loans, and their economic capacities.Focus is on climate change adaptation with a view to align the suggested adaptation measures with the Rio convention. However, clear synergy is needed with the climate change policies that were elaborated afterwards, and the land degradation neutrality which all share similar concerns. The overall objective is to support farmers to effectively manage their land fertility and promote sustainable and economically profitable production systems.: i) the establishment of a national policy for the sustainable management of soil fertility; ii) the promotion of sustainable production systems by restoring, maintaining and improving soil productivity and by the adequate management of water resources; iii) the creation and development of favorable markets for the supply of inputs, in particular fertilizers; iv) stakeholders' capacity building. The plan aims for a holistic approach to soil productivity issues in relation to water through the following activities: i) support for national institutions, ii) support for farmers' organizations, iii) strengthening of the private sector, and iv) implementation of regional action plans. The National Drought Plan of Mali aims at providing the country with effective institutional and legal tools to better cope with natural hazards to reduce the country's vulnerability to drought, through putting in place an integrated drought detection and management system involving all the required competences while ensuring gender equality and equity. The plan stands on 3 pillars which are: 1) establishing drought monitoring and early warning systems; 2) assessing drought vulnerability and risk; and 3) implementing measures to better respond to drought and limit its impacts.Identification of key drought triggers, drought impact assessment; inventory of most vulnerable socio-economic sectors; proposal of prevention and/ or adaptation measures; proposal of measures to strengthen adaptation and resilience capacities at all levels; proposal of an appropriate policy and institutional framework for effective drought management. Actions are prioritised according to their urgency, feasibility and effectiveness as well as their relations to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In addition, it provides a proactive, gender-sensitive approach to better circumscribe the effects of drought and improve resilience at municipal, local, regional and national levels.Reference is made to the overall policy context of addressing climate change in the country but no strong link is made to how the actions intended in the drought plan contribute to national CC policy, targets. Numerous stakeholders are involved in drought management, yet there is a lack of procedures that clearly show the roles and synergies between these parties in drought management, as well as a coherent funding mechanism that helps mutualise resources among them. The main objective is to contribute to the implementation of the national policy for the preservation of the environment and health.Pollution control, waste management, waste disposal, pesticides, data collection/reporting, certification, international trade, international agreement implementation. The aim is to contribute to the realisation of the vision of the National Prospective Study \"Mali 2025\"; consolidate decentralisation which is at the centre of the country's development policies, contribute to reducing disparities in levels of development and ensure perfect control of space.Consolidation of national unity, intra-and inter-regional solidarity, and regional and sub-regional integration; support for economic activities modulated according to territorial space; environmental protection and development of national ecological heritage; promotion and creation of a national database on wetlands.Environmental protection, biodiversity and the fight against the effects of climate change feature in strategic area 8. concentration of industrial activities in a limited number of urban centres, with a view to promoting better control of pollution phenomena; strengthening the regional integration process by setting up connecting infrastructures and by interconnecting regional urban systems;safeguarding the natural environment and threatened ecosystems.Climate change is mentioned as a contextual element that will impact the effectiveness of the decentralisation process.Areas are identified to help address the effect of climate change, however, technical and budget restrictions are likely to limit the implementation and impact of these actions. The policy aims to substantially increase the share of mining products in the country's GDP and to improve Malian social well-being through a fair distribution of income from the sector. Specifically, it aims at: strengthening and adaptation of the regulatory framework for the country's mining and oil sector; optimising the exploitation of Mali's mining potential in space and time; meeting infrastructure needs for the development of the mining and petroleum sectors; better compliance with regulations and standards as well as preservation of the well-being of local actors and populations; development of synergies between the mining sector and the rest of the economy. The mining sector will ensure the protection and preservation of the environment.While ensuring the protection and preservation of the environment, the mining policy aims to substantially increase the share of mining products in the country's GDP to improve the social well-being of the Malian people through a fair distribution of revenue from the sector and to promote sustainable development for the communities living around the mines.Environmental preservation is a major theme in the policy. Climate change is not mentioned, while this sector is part of the targets for LDN and climate change mitigation and adaptation in NDC and NAPA. Meet water needs, in quantity and quality, of a growing population, as well as those of the various sectors of the developing national economy; Contribute to the development of agro-sylvo-pastoral activities by securing them against climate hazards, in order to take an active part in the fight against poverty and the achievement of food security; Ensure the protection of people and property against the aggressive action of water and ensure the protection of water resources against various forms of pollution; Reduce the burden of the water sector on public finances, through joint burden-sharing between public authorities, local authorities and users; Promote regional cooperation for transboundary water management in order to prevent conflicts related to the use of water resources, and against aggressive water actions, and ensure the protection of water resources against various elements of pollution.Implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) Establishment of a water information system, Strengthening of capacities in monitoring and evaluation of water resources and their uses, Reduction of water-related risks.No mention of the role of forests and trees for watershed protection and prevention of erosion. Climate change is mentioned as a constraint for livestock development including food and water availability. However, the strategies for the sector's development do not consider climate-resilient practices found in the agricultural and forestry sector, hence illustrating the siloed approach which misses synergy and policy effectiveness.","tokenCount":"5764"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8326915266.json b/data/part_1/8326915266.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e995a68638e14eae9038d668f8303c5be4740cce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8326915266.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d613013de55cef268260ee382a79d2ae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7bea3e09-b6f6-4d3a-bd61-3e73fd51f68f/retrieve","id":"-1588142214"},"keywords":["Plant descriptors 9","Abiotic stress sensitivity 10","Biotic stress sensitivity 11","Biochemical markers 12","Molecular markers 13","Cytological characters 14","Identified genes"],"sieverID":"330bf508-2e48-491a-955e-7d5ee3b53862","pagecount":"72","content":"Bioversity International is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well-being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. Bioversity has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Commodities for Livelihoods.The international status of Bioversity is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2006, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria,Definitions and use of the descriptorsBioversity uses the following definitions in genetic resources documentation:Passport descriptors: These provide the basic information used for the general management of the accession (including registration at the genebank and other identification information) and describe parameters that should be observed when the accession is originally collected.Management descriptors: These provide the basis for the management of accessions in the genebank and assist with their multiplication and regeneration.Environment and site descriptors: These describe the environmental and site-specific parameters that are important when characterization and evaluation trials are held. They can be important for the interpretation of the results of those trials. Site descriptors for germplasm collecting are also included here.Characterization descriptors: These enable an easy and quick discrimination between phenotypes. They are generally highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are equally expressed in all environments. In addition, these may include a limited number of additional traits thought desirable by a consensus of users of the particular crop.The expression of many of the descriptors in this category will depend on the environment; consequently, special experimental designs and techniques are needed to assess them. Their assessment may also require complex biochemical or molecular characterization methods. These types of descriptors include characters such as yield, agronomic performance, stress susceptibilities and biochemical and cytological traits. They are generally the most interesting traits in crop improvement.Characterization will normally be the responsibility of genebank curators, while evaluation will typically be carried out elsewhere (possibly by a multidisciplinary team of scientists). The evaluation data should be fed back to the genebank, which will maintain a data file.Highly discriminating descriptors are highlighted in the text.The following internationally accepted norms for the scoring, coding and recording of descriptor states should be followed:(a) the Système International d'Unités (SI) is used;(b) the units to be applied are given in square brackets following the descriptor name;(c) standard colour charts, e.g. Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, Methuen Handbook Rice of Colour, or Munsell Color Chart for Plant Tissues, are strongly recommended for all colour characters (the precise chart used should be specified in the section where it is used);(d) the three-letter abbreviations from the International Standard (ISO) Codes for the representation of names of countries are used;(e) quantitative characters, i.e. those that are continuously variable, should preferably be measured quantitatively. Alternatively, in cases where it is difficult to measure quantitatively, it is acceptable to score instead on a 1-9 scale, where The authors of this list have sometimes described only a selection of the states, e.g. 3, 5 and 7, for such descriptors. Where this has occurred, the full range of codes is available for use by extension of the codes given or by interpolation between them, e.g. in Section 10 (Biotic stress sensitivity), 1 = very low sensitivity and 9 = very high sensitivity;(f) when a descriptor is scored using a 1-9 scale, such as in (e), 0 would be scored when (i) the character is not expressed and (ii) a descriptor is inapplicable. In the following example, 0 will be recorded if an accession does not have a ligule:Ligule shape 0 Absent 1 Acute to acuminate 2 2-cleft 3 Tip round or truncate (g) absence/presence of characters is scored as in the following example:Terminal leaflet 0 Absent 1 Present (h) stages: this refers to the stage of development when the descriptor is recorded.(i) blanks are used for information not yet available;(j) for accessions that are not generally uniform for a descriptor (e.g. mixed collection, genetic segregation), the mean and standard deviation could be reported where the descriptor is continuous. Where the descriptor is discontinuous, several codes in the order of frequencyDefinitions and use of the descriptors could be recorded, or other publicized methods could be used, such as Rana et al. (1991) or van Hintum (1993), that clearly state a method for scoring heterogeneous accessions;(k) dates should be expressed numerically in the format YYYYMMDD, where YYYY 4 digits to represent the year MM 2 digits to represent the month DD 2 digits to represent the day (l) leaf descriptors: unless otherwise specified, all descriptors for leaves and their components (ligule, auricle, collar, sheath and blade) are recorded on the penultimate leaf, i.e. the highest leaf below the flag leaf;(m) biosafety and wild rice: some species of wild rice are invasive weedy species able to crosspollinate with cultivated rice. As such, they are subject to strict biosafety regulations in many countries. They should be characterized only in suitable containment facilities, and are therefore normally grown in pots rather than plots. This restriction influences how plants may be characterized (e.g. for assessment of culm strength);(n) Glossary of morphological terms Illustrations of the terms below are available in an online IRRI training course at www. training.irri.org/courseware/online/morphology/Morphology.pdf.Awn: a fibrous bristle present in some cultivars, formed as an extension of the midrib of the lemma.Caryopsis: the fruit of grasses, consisting of a single seed with the seed coat fused to a thin dry pericarp. In rice, the caryopsis is commonly called brown rice-the structure that remains after dehulling the grain and before milling.Floret: in grasses, the reproductive unit of a spikelet, consisting of a lemma and a palea around a small single-ovule flower.Glume: in grasses, any of several types of bract in a spikelet, including the lemma and palea.Grain: a mature grain of rice consists of a caryopsis enclosed within a lemma and palea.Lemma: the larger (lower) of two bracts that contain the flower. The lemma and palea provide a protective covering for the flower as well as for the seed after ripening, and together are known as the hull of the seed.Palea: the smaller (upper) of two bracts that contain the flower and later the seed.Pericarp: the fruit wall. In grasses, the pericarp forms the outer surface of the caryopsis and is fused with the seed coat.Spikelet: the flowering unit of grasses, comprising one or more florets with two bracts (glumes) at the base of the spikelet. In rice, the spikelet is reduced from a basic three-floret structure, in which only a single apical floret remains functional. This is bounded by two 'sterile lemmas', the only remaining vestiges of two lower florets. The two glumes at the base are highly reduced, rudimentary bracts.All descriptors listed under Passport, belonging to the multicrop passport descriptors category, are indicated in the text as [MCPD].. Accession descriptors .[MCPD] Code of the institute where the accession is maintained. The codes consist of the three-letter ISO 3166 code of the country where the institute is located, plus a number. The current set of institute codes is available from the FAO Web site (www.fao.org).This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions within a genebank collection, and is assigned when a sample is entered into the genebank collection. Once assigned, this number should never be reassigned to another accession in the collection. Even if an accession is lost, its assigned number should never be reused. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the U.S. system; a prefix of IRGC indicates an accession from the genebank at IRRI)..Name of institution or individual responsible for donating the germplasm. Genus name for taxon. Initial uppercase letter required...Specific epithet portion of the scientific name in lowercase letters. The abbreviation 'sp.' is used if the species is unknown....Provide the authority for the species name...Subtaxa can be used to store any additional taxonomic identifier....The rank of the subtaxon name. The following abbreviations are allowed: 'subsp.' (for subspecies); 'convar.' (for convariety); 'var.' (for botanical variety); 'f.' (for form)....The infraspecific epithet of the scientific name (i.e. the epithet following the indication of the infraspecific rank in the name string)..Provide the subtaxon authority at the most detailed taxonomic level. Either a registered or other formal designation given to the accession. First letter uppercase. Multiple names separated with semicolon without space. For example: Rheinische Vorgebirgstrauben;Emma;Avlon.Include here any previous identification other than the current name.Collecting number or newly assigned station names are frequently used as identifiers...Name of the crop in colloquial language..0 Acquisition date [YYYYMMDD][MCPD] Date on which the accession entered the collection where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day. Missing data (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required.This field is used to add notes or to elaborate on descriptors with value '99' or '999' (= Other). .Original number assigned by the collector(s) of the sample, normally composed of the name or initials of the collector(s) followed by a number. This item is essential for identifying duplicates held in different collections. It should be unique and always accompany subsamples wherever they are sent..[MCPD] Collecting date of the sample, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day. Missing data (MM or DD) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required..Code of the country in which the sample was originally collected. Use the threeletter abbreviation from the International Standard (ISO) Codes for the representation of names of countries..Name of the primary administrative subdivision of the country in which the sample was collected..Name of the secondary administrative subdivision (within a province/state) of the country in which the sample was collected..[MCPD] Location information below the country level that describes where the accession was collected. This might include the distance in kilometres and direction from the nearest town, village or map grid reference point (e.g. 7 km south of Curitiba in the state of Paraná)..Latitude of collecting site [DDMMSSH] 1[MCPD] Degrees, minutes and seconds followed by hemisphere, N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 103015S). Missing data (minutes and/or seconds) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 10----S)..[MCPD] Degrees, minutes and seconds followed by E (East) or W (West) (e.g. 0762552W). Missing data (minutes and/or seconds) should be indicated with hyphens. Leading zeros are required (e.g. 076----E).. Name given by farmer to crop, cultivar, landrace, clone or wild form. Use Unicode text to specify the name using the standard script of the local language. This serves as the definitive version of the name..Specify local language and/or dialect of the name.... Preferred transliterated local vernacular name (Roman script)The preferred anglicized ASCII equivalent of the name in 2.15.2. (Note: in some of the richer scripts, more than one distinct name in 2.15.2 can be transliterated to the same ASCII text. Therefore, the anglicized form must not be treated as a unique name.) Describe briefly particular characteristics of the rice cultivar (e.g. popularity).Describe farmers' perceptions on hardiness of the cultivar in relation to main stresses...Information on main associated biotic (pests and diseases) and abiotic (drought) stresses. Estimated slope of the site The direction that the slope on which the accession was collected faces. Describe the direction with symbols N, S, E, W (e.g. a slope that faces a south-western direction has an aspect of SW) As detailed a classification as possible should be given. This may be taken from a soil survey map. State class (e.g. Alfisols, Spodosols, Vertisols, etc.)...Should be assessed as close to the site as possible..Provide either the monthly or the annual mean..Provide either the monthly or the annual mean. .Growth cycle traits can be recorded as days from effective seeding date or as actual dates [YYYYMMDD] of events in the growth cycle. If actual dates are used, the effective seeding date must also be recorded.Date when seeds were first moistened; this is the date of soaking for pre-soaked seed, or the date of sowing for dry seed sown onto a wet seedbed, or the date when rain or other moisture becomes available to seed sown dry on a dry seedbed. Measured from ground level to the base of the panicle. Record the average of five actual measurements, to the nearest cm. Stage: cultivated species after flowering to maturity; wild species 7 days after anthesis. See Fig. 6. Alternatively, cultivated species can be coded as follows: 1 Very short (<50 cm)  Estimated by observing all leaves below the flag leaf for their retention of greenness. Stage: at harvest 1 Very early (all leaves lost their green colour before grain maturity) 3Early (all leaves have lost their green colour at harvest) 5Intermediate (one leaf still green at harvest) 7Late (two or more leaves still green at harvest) 9Very late (all leaves still green at harvest)   Record the average length of five spikelets. For spikelets with symmetrical sterile lemmas (i.e. sterile length the same on both sides), record the length here. For spikelets with asymmetrical sterile lemmas (i.e. sterile lemma on one side longer than that on the other), record here only the length of the shorter sterile lemma (see 7.5.11 for the longer sterile lemma). May be coded as: Measured as the distance from the base of the lowermost glume to the tip (apiculus) of the fertile lemma or palea, whichever is longer. On awned cultivars, measure to a point comparable to the tip of the apiculus (exclude the awn). Preferably, measure with calliper or photo-enlarger. Average of 10 representative grains. Percentage of solids lost when parboiled.Ratio of cooked rice length to milled rice length.. Notes Specify here any additional information.. Abiotic stress sensitivity and their recording stagesThe table below summarizes the cross-references of descriptors to other systems and their recording stage, as follows:Other systems Key: \"*\" marks characters included in the minimal subset of UPOV ( 2004) Technical Guidelines for rice UPOV Number: descriptor number in UPOV (2004). A negative number is given (in parentheses) where the descriptor states in UPOV differ significantly from those presented here IBPGR-IRRI: descriptor number in the 1 st edition (IBPGR-IRRI 1980). Two or more descriptors share the same original number in cases where an original compound descriptor has been resolved into its components in the revised descriptors. For example, intensities of green, presence of anthocyanin and distribution of anthocyanin were combined into a single descriptor in the 1 st edition, but are separated into different traits for this edition.The growth stage at which the descriptor is recorded under three systems ","tokenCount":"2476"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8335893059.json b/data/part_1/8335893059.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bcc65b502716e1990bb515b0de6b1d3e92ca6da6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8335893059.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6802e9969dd10d7f35b03f17f134ac06","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d100df2c-f9a0-4d6b-a7fc-0f69580320b1/content","id":"902543156"},"keywords":["Yield Forecasting","CRAFT","Food Security Monitoring and Planning","Crop Outlook"],"sieverID":"ffc7190c-3103-472a-b9a3-717ad3ec2fd5","pagecount":"34","content":"The unpredictability of crop yields in climate vulnerable regions is damaging in many ways, negatively impacting food security as well as imports, exports, food prices, and people's livelihoods. The CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecasting Toolbox (CRAFT) is an open source, flexible crop-forecasting platform that includes a crop simulation module, a weather and seasonal forecast simulation module, and a geographic information system module. The toolbox aims to provide information to ensure better management of agricultural risks associated with increased climate variability and extreme weather events. It uses historical databases of weather and crop yields and current weather to estimate yields of various crops.Advances in crop forecasting technology and crop modelling help with the estimation of inseason crop yields under a variable climate, which enables stakeholders such as policy makers, line agencies, cooperatives, extension workers, and farmers to better prepare the mitigation strategies to cope with risks. From November 2014 through December 2016, CRAFT was implemented in Nepal to forecast yields of wheat and paddy; forecast levels aligned closely with Ministry estimates. Currently, CRAFT is being tested for yield forecasting at the sub-national level in Nepal. The main objective of this paper is to present the status and performance of CRAFT for food security monitoring in Nepal. It presents the data inputs, the methodology and structure of the model, results and performance, limitations, and assumptions made in forecasting the yields of paddy and wheat for different seasons in Nepal.Crop yield forecasting refers to the prediction of the crop yield or production prior to the time of harvest. Amidst the ongoing climatic uncertainty, crop yield forecasts provide crucial information to many agricultural and food security policies, including food assistance, social safety net and emergency relief programs, agricultural insurance, and management of the agricultural inputs and credit supplies. Yield forecasting depends on data from various sources such as meteorological data (rainfall, temperature, humidity, bright sunshine hours, wind speed, wet spell, etc.), agro-meteorological data (phenology), soil data (water holding capacity), remote sensing data, and agricultural statistics. Models that simulate plant-weathersoil interactions in quantitative terms predict the crop yield over a given area, prior to the harvest, provided no extreme (statistically infrequent) conditions occur. These models are based on a \"common sense\" assumption that weather conditions are the main factor behind the inter-annual (short-term) variations for the de-trended crop yield series (Gommes et al., 2010).Existing early warning tools for food security CRAFT is being used in Nepal, where process-based crop models were used with geospatial databases for arriving at crop forecasts. The tool is also being piloted in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India.Limited comparison of alternative methods suggested that using a statistical model to condition the output (e.g. simulated yield) of a crop simulation model on seasonal forecasts is simpler to implement and less prone to systematic error than the various methods that have been tested to condition crop model weather data inputs on seasonal forecasts (Hansen and Indeje 2004;Hansen et. al, 2006). The approach used in CRAFT builds on an earlier study that using principal components linear regression to link CGM-based seasonal precipitation forecast fields with model-based estimates of wheat yields in the state of Queensland, on a set of polygons with historic station weather records and dominant soil data, the study predicted yields as a linear function of the first principal component of general circulation model (GCM) seasonal rainfall fields, over a spatial domain extending north and east from Queensland. Prediction skill was tested with hindcast analysis, employing leave-one-out cross-validation to ensure that observations from the year being predicted did not influence the statistical model. Predictions were updated four times, at monthly intervals, starting before the earliest planting in the state. In each case, the model was run with observed weather from the year being predicted through the forecast date, and then with all other years of available weather data from the forecast date until harvest. The forecast distribution was based on the cross-validated hindcast residual distribution (see Hansen et al., 2006).CRAFT uses the same general approach, but is designed to work with gridded input data. The IRI's Climate Predictability Tool (CPT; Mason and Tippett 2016) runs in batch mode in the background, providing the multivariate statistical modelling used to downscale appropriate seasonal predictors (e.g. GCM output fields and observed or forecast sea surface temperature fields) into yields simulated with historic gridded weather data. CPT has more than 15 years of development and has been used by many national meteorological services and regional climate outlook forums to produce, downscale, and evaluate seasonal forecasts. It supports canonical correlation (treating predictor and predictand as spatial fields), principal component regression (treating predictor as a spatial field and predictand as independent points), and cross-validation to avoid over-fitting and the risk of artificial skill.Once yields are predicted or simulated for grid cells containing the target crop, aggregate production is estimated by summing the product of grid cell yields and the fraction of the grid cell devoted to the crop, while ensuring that the grid cell forecast probability distributions are aggregated properly.CRAFT includes the client application with a user-friendly interface and database implementation (Vakhtang et al., 2015). CRAFT integrates two different external engines: a crop simulation model for spatial crop simulations and another for seasonal climate forecasts using the CPT.The crop simulation engine, the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT; Jones et al., 2003), consists of crop simulation models for cereals and many other crops, and the tools to facilitate effective use of the models. DSSAT simulates the crop-soilweather interaction and gives crop yield as output. Likewise, the CPT is a tool that produces seasonal climate forecasts using model output statistic (MOS) corrections to climate predictions from GCM, or for producing forecasts using fields of sea-surface temperatures or similar predictors (IRI, 2017).The workflow in CRAFT starts with management, soil and weather inputs in gridded forms which are utilized by the crop simulation module under DSSAT to produce yields. The CPT module then produces seasonal climate forecasts and integrates with the DSSAT simulated yields to provide seasonally forecasted yields for each of the grids. These gridded yields are aggregated to the domain of interest by a GIS module inside CRAFT. The yields are then compared and calibrated externally against observed data to obtain the final yield forecasts.  The CRAFT architecture uses gridded data schemes for spatial variability with predefined reference grids of 5 arc minute resolutions. Spatial inputs of weather, soil, cultivar and crop management inputs representing the reference schematized grids are initialized and incorporated into the crop simulation model (DSSAT CSM). The crop simulation engine then simulates the crop growth and yields for each individual grid cell based on the predefined inputs. If seasonal predictors are available, the yields are then adjusted using statistical downscaling as described in the previous section. Through spatial aggregation and probabilistic analysis of the forecast uncertainty for both short-term and long-term periods, predicted yield can be determined for a region at different spatial resolutions. (Vakhtang et al., 2015). CRAFT allows hindcast analysis, de-trending, and post-simulation calibration of model predictions from historic agricultural statistics. It includes further options for risk analysis and climate change impact studies on crops. Analyses of the simulation results can be conducted through comparing different scenarios, reviewing the output statistics and visualization with thematic maps.The inputs are added to CRAFT in gridded formats. The pre-processing of the data to assign to each grid was done in Arc-GIS interface. Basically, two types of data inputs are used in CRAFT: spatial and spatio-temporal inputs. Brief explanation of the data is given below:The spatial inputs include soil data, cultivar type, crop management inputs and irrigation mask. These data are more or less constant for a given period of time. Specific details of the inputs used for different seasons are presented in Table 1.The Soil and Terrain Database (SOTER) for Nepal was used as the soil source and the respective properties, such as texture, depth, soil moisture content, bulk density, infiltration  Crop management practices including dates of sowing/planting, irrigation, and fertilizer applications were defined for the crops based on ecological belts: mountains, hills, and plains (Terai). These assumptions were based on the studies conducted by Gautam et al. (2011), Hobbs et al. (1996), Adhikari et al. (1999), and Amgain and Timsina (2005). Details are given in Table 1.Data on crop variety and more importantly the cultivar coefficients are the most important parameters governing the reliability of any crop model. Due to the absence of a clear crop varietal distribution in a spatial scale in Nepal, the crop varieties were chosen as the popular cultivars for each ecological zone. RR-21 for the hills and NL-297 varieties for the plains (Terai) were selected as the popular wheat cultivars. For paddy, Jumli Marshy was selected as the popular cultivar for the mountains, Khumal-4 for the hills, and Mansuli for the plains (Terai). Regarding the cultivar coefficients, calibrated genotypes obtained from the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) were used as the cultivar coefficients.The spatial distribution of irrigated areas across the grids constitutes this input data. Ministry of Agricultural Development's (MoAD) statistics on the district level irrigated area were used for irrigation mask. The ratio of irrigated area to the total area for each district was calculated and this proportion was uniformly distributed to each grid within a district to get irrigated area mask for Nepal.The spatio-temporal inputs include more time variant inputs such as weather data and crop acreage data. Specific details of these inputs used for different seasons are also presented in Table 1.Weather is the major driver of the CRAFT model, and the reliability of climatic parameters determine the reliability of model outcomes (i.e. the yield and production forecasts).Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) ground station data for precipitation and temperature for a time period of 1981 to 2009 on a daily scale were used in the model run.The precipitation data was taken from 163 stations and temperature from 45 stations across Nepal. The stations were selected based on the availability of the weather parameters. These data were interpolated in 5' x 5' schema grids using the nearest neighbourhood method.Near-real time data is a prerequisite to get reliable yield forecasts. Since the availability of near-real time data is lacking in Nepal, the satellite based weather products were opted for supplementing the existing historic climate data till the date of simulation. Beyond 2009, the weather data was supplemented using other satellite precipitation and temperature estimates.The supplementary weather data used was 0.1° RFE v 2.0 data.This data includes the spatial distribution of the areas under cultivation. Crop masks are periodically created for Nepal using the MoAD's district-level statistics on a crop grown area for different stages within a crop season. The ratio of crop grown area to the total area for each district was calculated and this proportion was uniformly distributed to each grid within a district to get a distributed crop mask for Nepal. Due to the absence of reliable high resolution remote sensing products, the statistical area data from MoAD were incorporated.ICIMOD's MODIS based cropped area distribution maps were tried but the data was later rejected due to the poor spatial resolution of MODIS.For the forecast, the crop masks were used twice in a season. The data was availed by the MoAD, once the information from all the districts were collected at the central level. Based on these data, the forecasts were made once during the maturity period and the other towards the end of the season (prior to or immediately after the harvest based on the availability of crop mask). The CPT tool within CRAFT v 2.0 could not be run due to technical issues. As a result, workaround was devised to infill the crop season so as to run the crop model over the season for predicting seasonal yields. As an alternative, the near-real time weather information available from the DHM 1 of 20 synoptic and aeronautical stations across Nepal were used to interpolate the weather conditions for each grid and supplement the weather information until the day of forecast. The weather information for the remainder of the year (the forecast year) was infilled using the data from previous year. These years were assumed as those years with similar annual precipitation from the same station or a nearby station within the nearest elevation. With the complete series infilled for the year, CRAFT was then run to obtain the yield estimates. As the season progressed, the results were assumed to be less uncertain.Lack of available information on crop varietal distribution and management datasets at the grid level was another major limitation to the model. In the absence of information on crop varieties, irrigation, fertilizer input, and cultivated and irrigated area, the model run has been limited to the national level aggregation only. Thus generic management practices quoted in different studies at the ecological zones (mountains, hills, and plains) were selected for the model. Most popular cultivar varieties obtained through field consultations and reports were used in the model based on the ecological zones. This varietal information was further limited by the availability of the field verified cultivar coefficients. Cultivar coefficients available from the NARC were used in the model.Due to unfavourable conditions in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in April-May 2015 and the cross-border trade disruption with India during monsoon season of 2015, the agriculture sector was significantly affected. A resulting fuel crisis reduced irrigation application during sowing and crop growth. The condition was further worsened by a weak monsoon (2015) that reduced soil moisture during sowing. To simulate these unfavourable 1 The near-real time data were obtained after an MoU with DHM following a series of discussions between WFP and DHM. 20 conditions, it was assumed in the model that the irrigated areas were reduced by 25% and the sowing was delayed by 10 days. The sowing dates for the hills ecological belt were assumed to be December 11 and for the plains (Terai) to be December 2. The summer and winter, crop assessment missions also affirmed the late sowing of wheat due to insufficient soil moisture.The results from CRAFT are disseminated on a periodic basis in forms of advance estimates, as well as a dedicated section in Nepal Food Security Monitoring System (NeKSAP) publications such as Crop Situation Updates, Food Security Bulletins and CRAFT Reports.Advance estimates obtained through CRAFT were also shared with MoAD and other related stakeholders regularly. The results from CRAFT were also picked up by national media outlets and featured in news articles.CRAFT has performed well with good results at the national scale. With this success, the stakeholders are now demanding its applications at the sub-national level. This, however, suggests the need for further improvements in data inputs as well as the model.Once the aforementioned spatial-temporal inputs were prepared and entered into the model, CRAFT was used first to compute wheat yields by hindcasting to establish the validity of the model across the historical time series, prior to forecast. The model was run to hindcast the production for each year from 1983 to 2013 and the simulated values were compared against the reported production from MoAD for the corresponding years. Hindcasting for each past season was done by allowing the model to run through the corresponding season from the date of simulation for the same year. Due to a lack of adequate information on crop management and varieties over the time series, it was assumed that the varieties and management practices remained constant throughout the years. This has been the key limitation of the hindcast study. run showed a strong correlation between the observed and the simulated yields in Nepal. The scatter plot between the observed and simulated production and coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.88 also indicate that the model performance is satisfactory (Fig. 3). The year-wise hindcasted production values are given in Fig. 4 and Appendix. Similar to the wheat model, CRAFT was used to hindcast the rice production levels from 1991 to 2014. The methodology was same. The simulated values were compared against reported rice production values for each year. With a corresponding coefficient of determination 0.6657, the results suggest that the model still has some room for further improvement (Fig. 5). The year-wise hindcast production values are given in the Appendix.Since paddy is highly sensitive to the climatic inputs, the model results require further calibration (especially with climate parameters) to establish a very sound validity for model application for paddy. This would be a focus of future research where high resolution climatic datasets (e.g. satellite precipitation) will be used to improve the forecast skills for paddy. signalled the end of paddy plantation. The updated forecast is presented in Fig. 4. As shown in the figure, based on the updated area estimate of 29 August 2015, a production of 4,181,298 tonnes was forecasted from a planted area of 1,370,212 ha (a 4.5% reduction from last year). At 4,181,298 tonnes, the forecast was a 12.3% reduction compared to 2014, in the post-earthquake scenario in Nepal. Likewise, in comparison to the normal level, the forecast was a 12.4% reduction.CRAFT was used to forecast the national level wheat production for 2014-2015 for the first time. Two outlooks were provided at different stages of cropping season.For the preliminary wheat outlook 2016 season, the forecast was for production of 2,230,660 tonnes, an increase of 18.5% compared to 2013-2014 and an increase 27.3% compared to the five-year average or normal level.   The results from CRAFT suggest a good applicability at the national level as the final outlooks have adequately matched the MoAD's estimate that is disseminated almost a month after the harvest. These advance estimates have the potential to inform food security related decisions in Nepal. Despite the data limitations, the model has shown good prediction capability for crop yields.As discussed above, the major limitation was the climate data, which has been addressed by using the satellite-based products. However, for a better representation of Nepal's climatic scenario, DHM's station data should be used. Lack of capacity and technical issues surrounding the CPT was another major obstacle in assessing the in-season climate required for the production estimate. Workarounds were devised for further application of CRAFT, it included alternatives to the seasonal forecast module, interpolated gridded climate and soil data. However, there is room for improvement regarding the current limitations on climate data. With the newer versions of CRAFT, a working CPT module would be highly relevant in putting forward 'actual' seasonal forecasts in the estimation process.Likewise, the absence of real-time satellite based crop-masks have restricted the application of CRAFT to the MoAD's district-level area estimates, which has limited the CRAFT capabilities to the district level as the smallest unit of prediction instead of grids. The scenario is similar for irrigation masks.Crop varietal information has been gradually improved as more and more stakeholders are sharing their information regarding varietal mapping in Nepal. The soil database is also being continually explored to ensure better inputs to the model. Frequent transfer of the CRAFT trained focal points in the MoAD and NARC has also been a hindering factor. Regarding the results, the model has been showing good prediction for wheat compared toThe first phase (November 2014 -December 2016) of CRAFT has seen challenges ranging from technical data and input oriented issues to a more managerial issue in uptake from the counterparts as well as capacity development. Amidst these challenges, CRAFT has increasingly gained its recognition as a potential yield forecasting and decision support tool in Nepal.The progress made towards the aforementioned specific challenges during the first phase of CRAFT implementation are discussed below:The quality of model output depends upon the quality of data available. Hence, the model output can still be improved with more precise inputs especially on weather, crop mask, cultivars and crop management. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for downscaling the model outputs to sub-national (regional and district) levels. However, availability of disaggregated inputs/data at those levels remains a challenge. The following sections briefly highlights the data issue vis-à-vis refining and downscaling the model outputs.In the absence of a mechanism for regular data provision from DHM to NeKSAP, the real- Another major data gap was the availability of reliable crop acreage data. So far, the MoAD's estimated crop area within the season is being considered as a reference in the model as it is the case with the irrigation coverage. On the other hand, the variety specific crop management data (irrigation, fertilizer application, planting, etc.) is not available at the desired subnational scale. This is also one of the major factors limiting the model capability at the district for CRAFT, with strong demand from the government for sub-national scale prediction, there is need for a coordinated effort by national government agencies and international partners to improve Nepal's crop forecasting system. As an important tool within NeKSAP, there is strong organizational support from the MoAD, DoA, and NARC, which has put forwardCRAFT at the implementation level. However, for a full-scale implementation of CRAFT as a planning tool, the following recommendations for future work have been identified:Climate data: Further research on the climate aspects is highly important. Incorporation of DHM station data wherever possible and inclusion of reliable satellite estimates like CHIRPS, RFe, after adequate blending with station data, is one of the research aspects identified for the next phase. Capacity strengthening of CRAFT personnel and DHM on seasonal weather forecasting using CPT is also a necessity to provide reliable estimates at the sub-national scale. CRAFT is an integral part of it. The enhanced network of trained personnel and students will also help overcome the data constraints.A multi-stakeholder driven network for running CRAFT is envisioned as a technical user group. The group will be comprised of representatives from MoAD, DoA, DHM, NARC, FAO, IRRI, CIMMYT, AFU, TU, and so on, convening each season to run CRAFT and provide production estimates for the season.This will enhance the organizational coordination and will provide a solid basis to work in closer collaboration and share resources and ownership. ","tokenCount":"3650"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8350101962.json b/data/part_1/8350101962.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b325fb6743a21b061f5ddbb7cd74cc1d48d5f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8350101962.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"da558a6b363e2a1af1eb0b3f69790d4d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/79e5407a-fe8f-4dbf-a5b9-d6f532d082b1/retrieve","id":"-622648682"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"39fd55d9-ebd4-4b9d-88fc-8c9eec82979e","pagecount":"5","content":"L'environnement agricole national est quant à lui caractérisé par un faible niveau de prise en compte de la problématique du financement de ces exploitations familiales dans les politiques et programmes de développement rural, mais aussi par l'inexistence de l'assurance agricole au niveau des politiques agricoles. C'est dans ce contexte que le programme GIIF a été mis en oeuvre. Ce programme de la Société financière internationale (SFI) consiste à soutenir le développement de l'assurance indicielle dans les pays en développement.Le projet pilote GIIF a pour objectif d'apporter des solutions d'assurances innovantes au secteur agricole en Afrique. Le but est de permettre aux populations vulnérables exposées à l'insécurité alimentaire de gérer les risques financiers liés à leurs activités agricoles. Il permet de mettre à la disposition des producteurs et exploitations familiales un outil pour la gestion des risques climatiques. Le programme est initié pour faire face aux aléas climatiques, aux difficultés d'accès aux produits et aux services financiers offerts par les IMF du fait de l'importance des risques. Ce projet pilote d'assurance agricole est le premier du genre au Burkina Faso pour pallier les aléas climatiques et offrir un système de sécurisation des producteurs.E ssentiellement pluviale et saisonnière, l'agriculture burkinabé repose principalement sur les cultures de rente et les cultures vivrières céréalières telles que le mil, le sorgho ou le maïs. La production agricole en général, et céréalière en particulier, est caractérisée par des performances assez limitées, voire des tendances à la baisse. Cela s'explique par l'irrégularité de la pluviométrie accentuée par les changements climatiques (sécheresses et inondations) compromettant les rendements des cultures et exposant ainsi les producteurs à l'insécurité alimentaire et au risque de non-paiement des crédits de campagne. Cela a pour effet un appauvrissement des exploitants familiaux, qui ne parviennent pas à effectuer les remboursements des différents crédits contractés.Pour faire face à la vulnérabilité des producteurs agricoles au Burkina Faso, Oxfam Intermon, en partenariat avec la Fédération des professionnels agricoles du Burkina Faso (FEPAB), a initié un projet pilote d'appui à la valorisation des produits agricoles locaux (PAVPAL), financé par la Junta de Andaloucia, de 2012 à 2016. Composante de ce projet, l'assurance agricole basée sur le modèle du Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) visait à réduire les risques liés aux aléas climatiques auxquels sont confrontées les exploitations familiales.Ci-contre L'assurance agricole est une nouvelle expérience dans le monde agricole au Burkina FasoLes résultats obtenus se sont révélés satisfaisants pour la plupart des acteurs. En effet, on note une bonne appropriation du processus par les acteurs ainsi qu'une bonne connaissance de la spécificité et des avantages de l'assurance indicielle par les organisations paysannes (OP). Cette connaissance de l'assurance agricole s'est traduite par un nombre élevé d'adhérents (8 931 souscriptions dont 1 730 souscriptions féminines toutes années confondues) et par la prise de conscience par ces derniers que leur souscription ne constituait pas une perte s'ils ne subissaient pas de sinistres puisqu'elle contribuait à sauver d'autres producteurs dans d'autres contrées. Le projet a permis l'accompagnement des producteurs et femmes productrices de niébé avec des techniques agricoles et la possibilité d'obtention de crédits intrants. Au total, 1 665 producteurs ayant subi des poches de sècheresse en 2013, 2014 et 2015 ont été indemnisés. Ceux qui avaient contracté un crédit de plus de 200 000 FCFA ont reçu un remboursement compris entre 60 % et 75 % dudit montant.Une meilleure connaissance de l'assurance agricole, le nombre important de producteurs et productrices formés et sensibilisés, de membres d'équipe et de participants impliqués dans le processus ainsi qu'un renforcement des capacités de Oxfam et FEPAB en matière d'assurance agricole ont constitué des facteurs de réussite de l'expérience au Burkina Faso.Dans le cadre de son opérationnalisation, un accord tripartite de partenariat a été signé entre Oxfam, PlaNet Guarantee et la FEPAB en 2012 pour une durée de trois ans. Cet accord vise à formaliser le cadre de collaboration entre les trois partenaires en vue de la formation, de la sensibilisation et de la distribution d'un produit d'assurance indicielle auprès des organisations paysannes. C'est ainsi qu'à travers le projet PAVPAL, une composante assurance agricole a été initiée. Plusieurs activités ont été réalisées telles que les sessions de formation des acteurs, les campagnes de sensibilisation des producteurs ainsi que leur souscription à l'assurance et les ateliers bilans. Cette souscription est volontaire et individuelle, les producteurs étant libres de souscrire en fonction de leur revenu.L'assurance agricole est une nouvelle expérience dans le monde agricole au Burkina Faso. Elle permet d'améliorer l'accès aux crédits par les producteurs mais aussi d'intensifier leur production. Pour mettre en place ce dispositif, il s'est avéré nécessaire de mobiliser les ressources (experts, données satellitaires, etc.) dès le départ. Une fois la saison terminée, les indemnités sont calculées d'après une formule linéaire basée sur la somme des précipitations de chaque décade. Trois niveaux de garanties ont été définis (phase de germination, floraison et maturation) estimées toutes à 80 % de la somme assurée. En effet, le système d'assurance indicielle est rentable (les primes couvrent les indemnités et les frais de gestion), mais son développement et sa mise en place sont extrêmement coûteux. Bien que ces coûts soient amenés à diminuer avec le temps, rien ne garantit que les bénéfices dégagés parviennent un jour à couvrir ces frais et rendent l'assurance indicielle plus intéressante financièrement que l'assurance classique.« J'ai rencontré des difficultés du fait du manque de pluie pendant la campagne. S'il y a une baisse de rendement, nous essayons de la combler par la vente des biens pour rembourser les crédits agricoles. Par exemple, j'ai vendu mon cheptel (quatre têtes de petits ruminants) pour 330 dollars. J'ai été très surpris lorsque l'assurance est venue m'apporter la nouvelle des indemnisations dans mon village. J'apprécie maintenant l'assurance récolte et souhaite que les promesses faites sur l'indemnisation soient effectives. Cela permettra à tous les producteurs qui étaient réticents au départ, comme moi, d'adhérer au produit. » Barthélémy Kohoun, membre de la FEPAB et président de la section provinciale du Mouhoun « Je m'appelle Madame Sanou, née Adjara Dao. Je suis membre de la FEPAB et productrice à Bédougou. J'ai souscrit à l'assurance agricole Niébé car cela nous aide en cas de sécheresse. J'ai connu des membres qui ont été indemnisés. Avant l'assurance agricole, il n'y avait rien et on travaillait à risque. Je suis prête à sensibiliser les autres producteurs sur les bienfaits de l'assurance. Cependant, je voudrais que l'on puisse revoir les périodes de souscription afin d'éviter qu'elles coïncident avec l'achat des intrants et tenir compte des villages éloignés. » Adjara Sanou, membre de la FEPAB et productrice à Bédougou L'assurance agricole est une nouvelle expérience dans le monde agricole au Burkina Faso. Elle permet d'améliorer l'accès aux crédits par les producteurs mais aussi d'intensifier leur production.Malgré ces résultats positifs, nous avons constaté un désintérêt des producteurs vis-à-vis de l'assurance agricole à un certain moment du processus. Nous sommes passés de 1 636 adhérents en 2013 à 1 408 en 2014, soit un taux de déperdition de près de 7 %. À la fin du projet, en 2017, nous n'avons pas enregistré d'adhésion car les producteurs ont lié leur souscription à la suite du projet qui n'a pas été bien définie. À partir de la deuxième année, les producteurs notent une indemnisation faible ou inexistante lors de la survenue de poches de sécheresse. En effet, le sinistre étant rapporté à la zone et non à l'individu, les producteurs victimes n'étaient pas systématiquement dédommagés, ce qui a constitué une source de démotivation. En outre, les producteurs ont lié l'assurance à l'accès aux intrants et donc, sans appui en intrants, ne voulaient plus y adhérer. Il y a également eu une discordance entre les données satellitaires sur la météo et les réalités du terrain.Le projet GIIF a donc rencontré plusieurs défis liés d'une part au fait que l'assurance agricole ne couvrait pas tout le spectre des risques agricoles (non prise en compte des risques liés aux attaques par les chenilles légionnaires, les oiseaux ravageurs, les inondations, etc.) et à son inadéquation avec les réalités du terrain (période de souscription non adaptée car coïncidant avec le moment où les producteurs n'ont pas ","tokenCount":"1350"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8351472111.json b/data/part_1/8351472111.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0eab26d013a4bdb134fc65139e91db74dd8e0ffc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8351472111.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4e0f95f91bc92d7ef9903423d770ef25","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/050a4070-1e70-40dc-9790-61b6fb162f0c/retrieve","id":"759532228"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"290a8ccb-340c-4a59-af4e-d193e96f7a5a","pagecount":"11","content":"Fortalecimiento de la coherencia de las políticas a nivel nacional y en toda la cartera de las iniciativas del CGIAR Pilotando la coherencia de las políticas nacionales y de las políticas dentro del CGIAR (Paquetes de trabajo 1,2,3 y 4) Herramientas de respuesta rápida, red de expertos y evidencia Comunidad de prácticas políticas (Paquetes de trabajo 1,3 y 4)Fortalecimiento del desempeño analítico de las instituciones de los países Enfoque en la capacitación y herramientas fáciles de usar (Paquetes de trabajo 1,2 y 4)Principales áreas de impacto de NPS: Jonathan MoschellPaquete de trabajo 1 (en 2022-2023): Análisis de coherencia de las políticas públicas y las intervenciones de las iniciativas del CGIAR a nivel nacional en los temas alimentos, tierras y aguasAnálisis del panorama político, análisis institucional, economía política.✓ Tablero de investigación y participación de políticas de las iniciativas del CGIAR.✓ Marco de análisis del panorama de políticas e instituciones y la coherencia entre las narrativas gubernamentales y los instrumentos de política.✓ Informe y base de datos sobre políticas e instituciones de alimentación, tierra y agua.Enfoque coherente del CGIAR en el país que apoye la adoptación de políticas.Alineación de las partes interesadas (incluidas las iniciativas) con políticas y prioridades gubernamentales.Paquete de trabajo 2 (en 2022-2023): Integración de los instrumentos de política e inversión a nivel nacionalMatrices de contabilidad social (SAM), análisis y diagnóstico de equilibrio parcial y general, microsimulaciones.✓ Capacitación para la construcción de una SAM y una nueva SAM para Colombia. ✓ Kit de herramientas simples para la proyección de la agricultura ✓ Análisis conjunto del gasto público con instituciones asociadas a nivel nacional y local ✓ Análisis diagnóstico del sistema agroalimentario utilizando el modelo RIAPA Serie de Talleres de Intercambio de ConocimientosTransferencia de capacidad y propiedad de la SAM en el país.Evidencia de transformación del sistema agroalimentario y prioridades de gasto público conocidas y utilizadas por los responsables de políticas.Paquete de trabajo 3 (en 2022-2023): Análisis de políticas y medición de resultados para la gestión y respuesta a crisisEconomía política, evaluación de impacto, evaluación de procesos, métodos cualitativos.Evidencia sobre mitigación de crisis: Qué hacen los países en el momento de una crisis para mitigar los efectos negativos (ex post).Kit de herramientas de respuesta rápida para los responsables de políticos que utilizan herramientas de economía política que se basan en una comunidad de práctica del CGIAR, así como en la evaluación de procesos y el análisis cualitativo.Mejora de la eficacia y la relación costo-beneficio de los programas/políticas relacionados con la respuesta rápida a las crisis.Paquete de trabajo 4 (en 2022-2023): Respuesta rápida a las crisis y comunidad de práctica política (enfoque de la política alimentaria/energética)Cualitativo/cuantitativo, narrativas de impacto de crisis y monitoreo de respuesta política.NPS Serie de Seminarios con investigadores colombianos, responsables de políticos nacionales, ONU, sector privado, el CGIAR y otras partes interesadas.Establecimiento de una Comunidad de Prácticas Políticas (CoPP) centrada en los sistemas alimentarios, de tierras y agua para apoyar en la construcción de instrumentos de políticas eficaces.Intercambio de conocimientos sobre el modelo de microsimulación de respuesta a crisis de los hogares (desarrollado en el marco del WP2) y la vinculación con el futuro diseño de políticas de respuesta a las crisis.Al compartir lecciones a nivel nacional y regional y a través de iniciativas, el CoPP de Colombia apoya un mejor diseño de políticas y programas.Mejora de la coherencia y de las respuestas colectivas a las crisis a nivel nacional y regional.","tokenCount":"563"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8357875978.json b/data/part_1/8357875978.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e3d84a9d57e79a1f68d18b4678251792d385408d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8357875978.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6a5f132d43a5e5a5dc05c7352902592b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0411665a-2556-4e0e-90aa-b0491cd1c224/content","id":"-588897985"},"keywords":["carbon sequestration","climate change mitigation","geographically weighted regression","iSDA","smallholder agriculture","soil carbon","sub-Saharan Africa Ewing","P. M.","Tu","X.","Runck","B. C.","Nord","A.","Chikowo","R.","& Snapp","S. S. (2023). Smallholder farms have"],"sieverID":"d73f2bf7-6763-462a-a20f-65baa7db7617","pagecount":"13","content":"Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is increasingly targeted as a key strategy in climate change mitigation and improved ecosystem resiliency. Agricultural land, a dominant global land use, provides substantial challenges and opportunities for global carbon sequestration. Despite this, global estimates of soil carbon sequestration potential often exclude agricultural land and estimates are coarse for regions in the Global South. To address these discrepancies and improve estimates, we develop a hybrid, data-augmented database approach to better estimate the magnitude of SOC sequestration potential of agricultural soils. With high-resolution (30 m) soil maps of Africa developed by the International Soils Database (iSDA) and Malawi as a case study, we create a national adjustment using site-specific soil data retrieved from 1160 agricultural fields. We use a benchmark approach to estimate the amount of SOC Malawian agricultural soils can sequester, accounting for edaphic and climatic conditions, and calculate the resulting carbon gap. Field measurements of SOC stocks and sequestration potentials were consistently larger than iSDA predictions, with an average carbon gap of 4.42 ± 0.23 Mg C ha −1 to a depth of 20 cm, with some areas exceeding 10 Mg C ha −1 . Augmenting iSDA predictions with field data also improved sensitivity to identify areas with high SOC sequestration potential by 6%-areas that may benefit from improved management practices. Overall, we estimate that 6.8 million ha of surface soil suitable for agriculture in Malawi has the potential to store 274 ± 14 Tg SOC. Our approach illustrates how ground truthing efforts remain essential to reduce errors in continent-wide soil carbon predictions for local and regional use. This work begins efforts needed across regions to develop soil carbon benchmarks that inform policies and identify high-impact areas in the effort to increase SOC globally.Carbon is among the most consequential and contentious substances on earth. Responsible for much of human wellbeing through powering economic activity, it is also the greatest threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem function by driving global climate change (IPCC, 2022). Carbon sequestration in agriculture offers a means to address this threat while also supporting food security. While some agricultural practices such as soil cultivation and residue removal contribute to soil carbon depletion (Martínez et al., 2008;Paustian, Collier, et al., 2019), agricultural soils also may have more potential than natural lands to sequester carbon with changes in management (Six et al., 2002). Agricultural soils with higher soil organic carbon (SOC) tend to be more productive and better able to withstand climate change-enhanced shocks than those with lower SOC (Droste et al., 2020;Oldfield et al., 2019;Williams et al., 2016). However, human activity has caused an estimated loss of 133 Pg C since the beginning of agriculture (Sanderman et al., 2017), around 10% of remaining global stocks (Scharlemann et al., 2014;Walker et al., 2022).In a win-win scenario, sequestering carbon to increase SOC stocks in agricultural soil mitigates climate change and enhances the adaptation capacity of agriculture.Unfortunately, a soil's potential to sequester carbon is highly variable and difficult to predict. The potential for sequestering carbon has two components. The first is the rate at which carbon can accumulate in a soil. Global estimates of rates vary widely within agricultural lands, for example, between 0.9 and 4.8 Pg C year −1 (Griscom et al., 2017;Zomer et al., 2017); at the field scale, published C sequestration rates in surface soils range from +0.4% to +17.6% per year, depending on region, climate, management, and baseline (Corbeels et al., 2019). The second component, the quantity that a soil might accumulate, is the difference between the current stock and the potential stock-the carbon gap. The potential stock is limited by climate, edaphic, and critically, management factors that can be altered to increase potential stocks. In general, cropped soils have lower potential carbon stocks than uncropped soils of the same series (Matus, 2021;Minasny et al., 2017). Although the sequestration potential of agricultural soils is limited per unit area, agriculture is the dominant land use globally, so quantifying and locating agricultural carbon gaps is essential for climate change mitigation. Those locations with large carbon gaps are likely to have higher potential storage rates than those with smaller gaps and are more likely to benefit agronomically from increases in carbon stocks (Corbeels et al., 2019;Six et al., 2002). As a result, large-gap sites are high priority for carbon sequestration interventions.Yet, predicting carbon gaps on agricultural lands remains so difficult that agricultural soils continue to be excluded from highprofile estimates of the global potential to sequester carbon (Walker et al., 2022). Identifying large-gap soils requires accurate, highresolution soil maps to estimate current stocks and a robust method to estimate potential stocks. This is especially true in the Global South, where widespread, small-scale management amplifies variation in existing carbon stocks of old, management-sensitive soils (Snapp, 2022). Maps estimating soil carbon stocks have improved over the past decade to predict stocks at field-scale (30 m) resolution (Hengl et al., 2015(Hengl et al., , 2021)). However, prediction models still are generated at the continental scale; as a result, these maps may not be accurate or precise at policy-relevant scales of fields to nations (Ewing et al., 2021). Investment in field-scale soil carbon data to better understand and manage sequestration on cultivated lands may overcome this (Beillouin et al., 2022). The other major challenge is setting a standard or goal. One approach is based on texture, which is used to estimate the total organic carbon that could associate with fine silt and clay particles (Hassink, 1997), although this value is still sensitive to management (Fujisaki et al., 2018) and also excludes large, management-sensitive pools such as particulate organic matter. Alternatively, nearby natural lands are used as a primary data source for mapping stocks or estimating potentials (Guillaume et al., 2022;Kempen et al., 2019). While land use change from agriculture to natural lands may allow a field to reach the ecological potential of carbon stocks, such a tradeoff with food production likely is unacceptable. Estimating a field's potential carbon stock assuming continued agricultural management avoids this tradeoff but lacks an obvious standard.We propose solutions to these dual challenges of map accuracy and the estimation of sequestration potential of agricultural soils, with Malawi as a case study. For the first, we create a national adjustment to the International Soils Database (iSDA) maps of Africa using a dataset of 1160 fields, as suggested by Hengl et al. (2021).For the second, we borrow a benchmarking approach from the soil health literature (Karlen et al., 2019;Nunes et al., 2021) to estimate the sequestration potential of Malawian agricultural soils within edaphic and climatic contexts. Based on previous experience (Ewing et al., 2021), we expected: (a) that SOC stocks would be higher and more variable than predicted by iSDA; (b) that soils would show a greater potential for carbon sequestration than predicted by iSDA; and (c) that adjusting iSDA could mitigate these biases and aid the identification of fields with high storage potential. The outcomes are high-resolution maps of current and potential SOC stocks and SOC gaps at 30 m resolution to support targeted investments in locations where carbon sequestration has the most storage potential. We conclude by discussing the continued need for sampling to verify carbon sequestration and carbon gaps and the utility of this approach for (a) setting local to regional policy goals and (b) directing investment toward those areas with the greatest potential to sequester carbon.Data were collected from 1160 smallholder fields as part of the Africa RISING project (Tu et al., 2022). Sites were selected by stratified random sampling from two villages within each of eight extension planning areas in three districts. The villages span thevariation in soil conditions across Malawi (Figure 1). Soils were collected in 2016 as previously described (Ewing et al., 2021). Briefly, samples were collected to a depth of 20 cm and composited from eight locations per field. Samples were air-dried, sieved to 2 mm, and stored until analyses. Total carbon and nitrogen concentrations were measured with a Leco Tru-Mac CN Analyzer (Leco Corporation). pH was measured in a 1:2 soil:water slurry. Texture was measured using the micropipette method (Burt et al., 1993).Soils were assumed to be free of carbonates due to generally acidic conditions; this was confirmed on a subset (n = 148) of samples which were assessed for carbonates by change of mass upon acidification with 1 M hydrochloric acid (Allison & Moodie, 2016).In 2020, 74 of these sites were revisited to measure soil bulk density. Five centimeter diameter cores were carefully taken per field F I G U R E 1 (a) Sample locations against a backdrop of land suitability for agriculture (Li et al., 2017). Lower numbers and darker colors indicate higher suitability. Black dots are sample locations and districts containing those points are highlighted in color. Panel (b) shows distributions of soil properties at visited fields (black) or across Malawi based on 5000 randomly selected points (gray). All properties are estimated from iSDA or the SRTM-90 digital elevation model. Densities indicate the proportion of points along the x-axis. Map lines delineate study areas and do not necessarily depict accepted national boundaries.to avoid compaction, three from the row and three from the interrow to account for management-induced differences in these locations. The six cores were then composited, oven dried, and weighed.Layers of estimates for soil properties in Malawi were downloaded from the Innovative Solutions for Digital Agriculture database (iSDA;www.isda-africa.com;Hengl et al., 2021) following OpenLandMap instructions (https://gitlab.com/openl andma p/afric a-soil-and-agron omy-data-cube) within R 4.0.2 for Malawi and transformed to SI units. Soil properties were mass fractions of total carbon, organic carbon, sand, silt, clay, plus bulk density, pH, and carbon stocks for the 0-20 cm depth. Agricultural suitability classes were acquired from Li et al. (2017). Malawi political boundaries were acquired from Database of Global Administrative Areas (www. gadm.org). Elevation (SRTM 90 m) and MODIS reflectance indices were acquired via Google Earth Engine (Didan & Huete, 2015;Jarvis et al., 2008).All analyses were performed in R 4. 1.1 (R Core Team, 2021). Unless noted, graphs and maps were made using ggplot2, geospatial analyses were conducted with sf, terra, and stars, and other statistics were completed using base functions (Hijmans, 2022;Pebesma, 2018Pebesma, , 2022;;Wickham, 2016). Geospatial analyses were conducted in the WGS84(2007) datum, while maps were projected in NAD83 UTM Zone 36S. Code for adjusting iSDA layers, deriving benchmarks, evaluating prediction error, and predicting potentials is available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.We used an equivalent-depth approach to estimate and compare carbon stocks at all measured sites (Rovira et al., 2022). We first derived a pedotransfer function to predict soil bulk density at those sites where bulk density was not measured. Properties were selected using stepwise linear regression to minimize Akaike information criterion (AIC; Bozdogan, 1987). Potential properties were soil texture, total carbon, elevation, slope, and pH. The resulting function was:where SOC is measured in g kg −1 soil and sand in g g −1 soil. This pedotransfer function performed comparably to other published regressions based on root mean squared error calculated with 10-fold cross-validation (Table S1) and had a relative prediction error of 6.3%.We next estimated potential carbon stocks at field sites using quantile regression. The approach assumed that soils with similar properties and with identical long-term management should support similar carbon concentrations. First, we identified climate and edaphic properties that were associated with total soil carbon using LASSO penalized regression in glmnet (Friedman et al., 2010).Potential properties included soil texture, elevation, mean annual precipitation, and mean land surface temperature; these were chosen due to their low sensitivity to management relative to other parameters like soil pH and crop canopy reflectance. Only soil texture and elevation had important associations with soil carbon.We then identified the 80th percentile of SOC concentrations across these gradients of soil properties using the function rq() from quantreg (Koenker, 2022). By this definition, 20% of soils were determined to have a carbon gap of zero Mg ha −1 . The 80th percentile was selected as feasible yet ambitious, a classification that is admittedly arbitrary. For comparison, Idowu et al. (2009) use a 75th percentile as a minimum \"ideal\" level of indicators such as organic matter where more is generally better. Soil class-based benchmarking in France found a threefold increase in national carbon sequestration potential when using the 95th percentile versus the 80th percentile (Chen et al., 2019).Finally, we calculated carbon stocks and potential carbon stocks at field sites using the pedotransfer function and quantile regression relationships. Carbon gaps were calculated as the difference between potential and current carbon stocks.We compared these calculated stocks, potential stocks, and gaps with those predicted by iSDA. We calculated iSDA carbon stocks based on bulk density and soil organic carbon due to the known lack of carbonates. The quantile regression relationship to estimate potential carbon concentrations was also re-derived using iSDA predictions of soil properties. We finally assessed iSDA's predictive power by comparing it to empirical measurements.To extrapolate our SOC stock estimates to unmeasured locations we derived regional adjustments to iSDA soil properties. We compared three methods for this (Figure S1), all of which allowed a secondorder polynomial relationship between iSDA estimates and field measurements of soil properties. The first, a \"stationary, top-down\" approach, simply correlated empirical and iSDA carbon stocks and assumed that this relationship was stationary across the study area.The second approach relaxed the assumption of stationarity and instead used geographically weighted regression (GWR) to derive local relationships between iSDA and empirical carbon stocks-hereafter, \"GWR, top-down.\" This was implemented using the gwr.basic() function in GWmodel (Lu et al., 2014). Neighborhoods were defined adaptively with 138 neighboring points using a Gaussian kernel and the bw.gwr() function with great circle distances. Finally, a \"stationary, bottom-up\" approach began by deriving adjustments to iSDA predictions of texture, bulk density, and carbon concentrations, and then re-calculating stocks and storage potential from these corrected component layers.For each approach, we used cross validation to adjust iSDA values and assess prediction quality. Cross-validation groups were geographically defined as each of eight extension planning areas.Prediction quality indices included root mean squared prediction error (RMSPE), the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), and spatial (1) Bulk Density = 1.29 − 0.00722 × SOC + 0.344 × Sand, autocorrelation of error (Moran's I) (Moran, 1950). R 2 was calculated to test a 1:1 prediction:observation relationship:where SS error is the sum of squared prediction errors and SS total is the sum of squared, mean-centered data. Negative values of R 2 are possible under this definition and indicate that predictions are less reliable than the average of the empirical data. Moran's I was calculated based on inverse distance weighting using Moran.I() of ape which also tested significance using permutation (Paradis & Schliep, 2019).We further evaluated adjusted iSDA stocks for their ability to identify locations with large gaps-those field sites with the top 25th percentile of carbon gaps. Classification of sites as high potential sites was assessed by calculating sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies, by calculating receiver-operator characteristics with the roc() function of pROC (Robin et al., 2011), and by correlation among methods. Here, significance was tested using permutation and errors calculated by bootstrapping (n = 999).Finally, we used the best-performing iSDA correction to predict carbon stocks, potential carbon stocks, and carbon gaps across Malawi. The best performing model was that with low overall prediction error, low spatial autocorrelation of prediction error, and high classification accuracy.To estimate the continued utility of local measurements of carbon stocks, we first compared iSDA predictions of carbon stocks to those we measured in the field. We found iSDA stocks were consistently larger by 28.1 ± 0.4 Mg C ha −1 (p < .001) due to a substantial amount of inorganic carbon in iSDA predictions. In contrast, none of the soils we sampled contained inorganic carbon. This, combined with the low potential to manage soils to increase inorganic carbon, led us to focus on the comparison between measured SOC and iSDA-predicted SOC.Measurements of SOC stocks were consistently larger than predictions across all extension planning areas within the study region, by 8.7 ± 1.0 Mg C ha −1 on average (Figure 2a). Average current stocks ranged from 18.7 ± 1.3 Mg C ha −1 in Nsanama (Machinga district) to 48.8 ± 3.7 Mg C ha −1 in Linthipe (Dedza).We further wanted to identify how much carbon soils could store under optimal, agricultural management. In general, higher elevation and finer textured soils contained more SOC, in agreement with previous studies (Matus, 2021; Figure 3). Using datasetspecific quantile regression equations (Table S2), we found that potential carbon stocks in agricultural soils also were larger than iSDA predicted and averaged within extension planning area were as high as 54.4 ± 4.6 Mg C ha −1 in Linthipe (Dezda).Finally, we found a consistently large gap between current and potential SOC stocks that was substantially higher than iSDA predicted (4.42 ± 0.23 Mg C ha −1 ) and exceeded 10 Mg C ha −1 in Linthipe and Nyambi (Machinga). Investigation at the field level revealed an underprediction of current and potential SOC stocks and gaps in the iSDA dataset, especially in fields with more than 20 Mg C ha −1 . This was consistent across the sampled region (Figure 2b) and consistent with previous, independent ground truthing of continental soils databases based on remote sensing (Ewing et al., 2021).While iSDA predicted carbon stocks poorly (R 2 = .162; Table 1), pre- The bottom-up adjustment method performed worse than both top-down methods, but still was more accurate than the unadjusted iSDA predictions for predicting stocks and potential stocks.This improvement in prediction of the magnitude of carbon stocks with an iSDA adjustment translated to better identification of sites with large SOC gaps (Table 2). We defined these fields as those with gaps in the top 25th percentile and they accounted for 50% of the total SOC sequestration potential across sampled F I G U R E 3 Measured SOC stocks across gradients of elevation, measured silt, and measured clay content. Black points indicate fields that are at carbon storage potential, at or above the 80th percentile using quantile regression. Gray points indicate fields that could sequester more carbon. The dashed line approximates this 80th percentile across the indicated gradient.  S2).With field data corrections of iSDA, we generated updated predictions of carbon stocks, potential carbon storage, and the subsequent carbon sequestration potential in agricultural land in Malawi (Figure 4) and errors of these estimates (Figure S3). Overall, we estimated that the 6.8 million ha of land suitable for agriculture in Malawi has the potential to hold 274 ± 14 Tg SOC in the top 20 cm of soil, an increase of 33 ± 14 Tg C from current stocks, with changes in land management but not land use. These estimates are larger than those predicted by iSDA by 53% for potential stocks and 89% for SOC gaps (Figure 5; Figure S4). These maps highlight that much of the agricultural land in central and southwestern areas of Malawi is near our definition of saturated for soil organic carbon, while the northwest, southeast, and pockets of the Dedza district have high sequestration potential of greater than 15 Mg C ha −1 . While carbon stocks and gaps are negatively correlated (r = −.43), some carbonpoor soils including lakeshore, low altitude areas in southern Malawi also have low carbon sequestration potential. These observations have implications for directing the investment in practices that build soil carbon and setting expectations for potential increases in agronomic production and stability that accompanies increases in soil organic matter.Based on these results, we recommend the top-down, stationary approach for developing regional adjustments to iSDA SOC stock predictions in agricultural lands (Figure S1). First, evaluate the relationship between iSDA predictions and empirical measurements of SOC stocks, where iSDA predictions are based on iSDA predictions of both SOC concentrations and bulk density. Next, identify edaphic and climatic factors that define soils with similar SOC-limiting properties-here, elevation and iSDA-predicted soil texturethrough variable selection-here, by LASSO regularized regression.Use the selected factors to develop a quantile regression relationship between iSDA SOC stocks and the covariates at the threshold of choice, which thus represents an expected upper limit or potential of carbon stocks given soil covariates (here, the 80th percentile).With this quantile regression relationship, predict potential carbon stocks across the region of interest and then calculate carbon gaps as the difference between current and potential stocks, with a floor of zero. An Rmarkdown notebook (Xie et al., 2019) demonstrating this workflow is included in the supplementary information.Carbon sequestration happens at the scale of management. In smallholder agriculture, management occurs in fields often smaller than 1 ha (Snapp, 2022). Incentivizing carbon sequestration is more efficient with knowledge of which fields have the potential to store carbon and how large those carbon gaps are. However, a recent synthesis of 192 meta-analyses of SOC highlighted the lack of SOC data at local scales and limited numbers of studies in the global south (Beillouin et al., 2022). Our findings emphasize the persistence of this challenge and demonstrate a solution. Overall, we found that iSDA underestimated the current carbon stocks in Malawian agricultural fields, the potential carbon stocks of these fields, and the amount of carbon that could be sequestered as organic matter in these soils. Adjusting iSDA revised the value of filling carbon gaps in Malawi upwards by USD 1375 ha −1 on sampled fields, based on a carbon price of USD 85 per ton of CO 2 e, the price in the European carbon credit market as of August 3, 2022 (https://carbo ncred its. com). Scaling this across Malawian land suitable for agriculture, we estimate the value of the 33 Tg carbon gap to be USD 10.4 billion.Revising these carbon gaps is consequential for organizations investing in green development strategies because the value of these strategies is essential to the socioeconomic viability of carbon-based development strategies (Polak & Snowball, 2019).We begin this discussion by emphasizing the continued, global need for sampling to estimate carbon stocks and gaps at local and regional scales to inform policy, investment, and management. We TA B L E 2 Ability of iSDA adjustments to identify large-gap a sites then discuss efficient ways to estimate potential stocks and gaps by setting context-specific benchmarks. We conclude by developing scenarios that highlight the policy implications of updated estimates of stocks and gaps in Malawi within the context of national and global emissions and potential sequestration rates.We found that iSDA, which as of writing provides the highest resolution predictions of soil properties in Africa, was able to identify fields with high storage potential in its current form-if stocks are recalculated using iSDA predictions for bulk density and SOC. However, adjusting iSDA slightly improved sensitivity and resolved a systematic underestimation of SOC gaps. Armed with such identifications of fields, we expect that policies and entrepreneurial activity aimed at improving carbon stocks or capturing carbon credits will be more effective at targeting farmer-partners. Additionally, local adjustments to regional databases can provide an accurate prediction of carbon stocks and gaps within administrative districts.Still, adjustments to regional databases do not obviate the need for on-site sample collection for quantifying carbon sequestration potential in agricultural soils at the field scale. Rather, such sampling remains an important component of farmer engagement toward increasing SOC stocks. One reason for the difficulty in accurately predicting carbon stocks and gaps-even with datasets augmented with locally collected data-may be that in this region, management varies from plot to plot; as a result, land degradation can be both extreme and highly asymmetric at the scale of tens of meters due to soil's sensitivity to management practices (Li et al., 2017;Moebius-Clune et al., 2011;Snapp, 1998;Tittonell et al., 2005). Continued sampling therefore serves multiple purposes. The first is scientific, to aid the development of regionally specific databases to use in benchmarking to estimate carbon gaps. Additionally, local sampling will validate whether fieldsMaps of carbon stocks, potential stocks, and sequestration potential in agricultural soils in Malawi. Gray areas mask water or land not suitable for agriculture (category 5 of Li et al., 2017). Map lines delineate study areas and do not necessarily depict accepted national boundaries.predicted to have large carbon gaps do have large carbon gaps, allowing quantification of the monetary value of carbon sequestration, improving decision making, and facilitating farmer buy-in (Maynard et al., 2022). Repeated sampling will validate successful carbon sequestration and identify practices that sequester carbon in smallholder settings.Repeated, standardized, field-scale sampling is increasingly feasible in logistically challenging and poorly financed settings.Regarding the type and quantity of measurements, bulk density, texture, and SOC are required at multiple sites to develop iSDA adjustments and carbon storage benchmarks. Texture estimates might be estimated using touch by well-trained technicians (Salley et al., 2018). Bulk density, while labor intensive, varied by around 15% in this study. This sampling can be minimized; in this study, 6.4% of sampled fields were used to adjust iSDA bulk density, which was sufficient to improve iSDA's relative prediction error of bulk density to 7%. Alternatively, locally valid pedotransfer functions might be used to predict bulk density. Finally, the equivalentmass approach is preferred for tracking changes in SOC stocks with management, which obviates recurring bulk density measurements (Mikha et al., 2013;Rovira et al., 2022). Soil carbon, meanwhile, is increasingly easily estimated using non-destructive, in situ methods. For example, a field-portable and low-cost reflectometer predicted carbon in these same soils with relatively high precision (R 2 = .57-.69 depending on supplementary data; Ewing et al., 2021). These advances dramatically lower the cost of future studies quantifying carbon stocks, creating benchmark sequestration goals, and critically, tracking and verifying progress toward meeting those goals.The quantification of carbon storage potential is a difficult problem. A combination of edaphic, climatic, biological, and management factors combine to lead to different equilibrium amounts of carbon. In general, converting land from natural areas to F I G U R E 5 Upward adjustment in stocks, potential stocks, and organic carbon gaps from iSDA predictions by the stationary, top-down method. Gray areas mask water or land not suitable for agriculture (category 5 of Li et al., 2017). Map lines delineate study areas and do not necessarily depict accepted national boundaries.agriculture leads to a rapid loss of carbon until a new equilibrium is reached (e.g. Moebius-Clune et al., 2011). This depletion of SOC with land use change suggests that carbon stocks pre-conversion represent the carbon storage potential. While the natural lands comparison is common in the scientific literature, it is unrealistic using current technology because it implies a massive return of agricultural land to unmanaged or pastureland, with dramatic food security and farmer welfare implications. Additionally, a return to original, unmanaged habitat may not lead to a full restoration of carbon stocks due to, for example, crossing soil degradation thresholds (Gao et al., 2011). Finally, the \"natural\" state of land use may not maximize soil carbon stocks.In contrast, we set achievable, data-driven goals for carbon sequestration in agricultural lands using benchmarking.  (Chen et al., 2019;Nunes et al., 2021).For acting upon benchmarking results, it is acknowledged that soil C sequestration in tropical farming systems faces challenges, including rapid SOC loss under intensive cultivation with minimum organic residue return; a loss exacerbated at high temperatures (Fujisaki et al., 2018;Moebius-Clune et al., 2011). At the same time, studies have identified locally effective practices that increase SOC (Cheesman et al., 2016;Corbeels et al., 2019;Luedeling et al., 2011;Nord et al., 2022). Conservation agriculture in Southern Africa involves fine-tuning of practices to fit local conditions, including minimum tillage, crop diversity and management practices, and consistently delivers gains in SOC and soil function (Cheesman et al., 2016). Assessments conducted through on-farm research and monitoring of cultivated lands in Malawi point to residue return, organic manures and compost, and crop diversity as positive determinants of SOC (Snapp et al., 2018;Tu et al., 2022).West Africa is a particularly challenging environment with sandy soils and high temperatures, yet the same suite of practices promote SOC gain in medium-to long-term field experiments (Nord et al., 2022).Context is important for interpreting benchmarking systems as they do not necessarily translate well across regions or cropping systems (Roper et al., 2017). While our sites were limited to maize cropland in south-central Malawi, they captured the range of edaphic conditions in the country in which 44% of annual agricultural land is devoted to maize (Figure 1; Malawi Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security-Planning Department, 2016), which bolsters our confidence in iSDA adjustments and benchmarks. However, a Malawian adjustment may not be valid in neighboring countries; indeed, a preliminary analysis suggests that Tanzania requires a very different iSDA adjustment (Nord et al., unpublished). Explaining this, iSDA was built with different training data depending on availability, data which tend to vary among countries and was collected using varying methods (Hengl et al., 2021). Future studies in other regions of Malawi should validate the iSDA corrections and carbon benchmarks, particularly within specific types of cropping systems, with locally collected data. Studies external to Malawi might use the method described here to develop country-specific adjustments and benchmarks.We Of course, implementing these conservation practices across all of Malawian agricultural land immediately is unrealistic. A more strategic approach might focus on the most degraded soils.Because these soils tend to have the largest carbon gaps and also the lowest productivity potential, restoring carbon has disproportionately large benefits to both climate mitigation and food security (Corbeels et al., 2019). For example, Burke et al. (2020) found that soils in Malawi with lower than 9.4 g SOC kg −1 soil were so degraded as to likely be unresponsive to fertilizer. This leads to agronomic productivity challenges and may limit carbon fixation by plants, which can reduce carbon sequestration (Schlesinger, 2000).After adjusting iSDA predictions of organic carbon concentrations, we estimate that 47% of land suitable for agriculture in Malawi falls into this non-responsive category. Restoring these soils to the 9.4 g SOC kg −1 soil threshold (Burke et al., 2020) ( Burke et al., 2022;Snapp et al., 2018). Because degraded soils often sequester carbon proportionally faster with proper management than soils near carbon saturation (Castellano et al., 2015), these results might be realized in substantially less time.Global interest in tackling food security and climate change has never been higher, as evidenced by the continued development of carbon offset markets and increasingly generous aid programs to support agricultural development in food-insecure regions. Building soil carbon is well-known to address both challenges. Accurate predictions of carbon stocks and storage potential are critical to this.Our collective knowledge of where soil stores carbon is more precise and accurate than ever thanks to remote measures. Nonetheless, this study highlights how ground truthing remains an essential component of policy and intervention by reducing errors in continentalscale predictions of soil carbon. Relevant soil carbon benchmarks are essential to framing policies and locating high-value areas for investment and interventions.Effective benchmarking depends on the development of a regional database of agricultural soils, which this work begins. Such a database might follow the model of continental iSDA, which aggregates data from across government, nonprofit, and for-profit stakeholder sources (Hengl et al., 2021), but in contrast with iSDA's extensive reliance on legacy data, focus specifically on contemporary samples collected recurrently from agricultural soils. Such a momentous data collection effort could be facilitated by advancements in soil testing and data aggregation through smartphone-enabled crowdsourcing and low cost, field-portable instrumentation (Ewing et al., 2021;Herrick et al., 2013;Kelly et al., 2022). Doing so could create a robust and broad set of ground measures from samples taken across the region (Paustian, Collins, et al., 2019;Snapp, 2022).Beyond sub-Saharan Africa, this information could be incorporated into continental and global databases to support work in agriculture broadly, and carbon investment specifically.Understanding the potential for carbon storage is critical not only for smallholders in Malawi, but also for global adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Higher carbon soils would likely improve smallholder productivity which, when coupled with payments for carbon storage, could also increase household economic security, enhancing overall wellbeing in a country where over 80% of people live in rural areas (Malawi National Statistical Office, 2016).","tokenCount":"5321"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8358026541.json b/data/part_1/8358026541.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c873cbab554993e7473b744e7091dbe342828122
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8358026541.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5151cb8d1d9691b36526bd803c914a52","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1b11302f-9df5-4e10-bc34-bb78ab159e16/retrieve","id":"-483134126"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22bb8052-312d-468a-845e-2dc2bbd2d092","pagecount":"10","content":"Understanding of how well the agronomic solution, the MVP, performs technically under actual farming conditions.Is the new solution superior to what is currently available to farmers and extension agents? Using the example of a fertilizer recommendation decision support tool (FR DST), we want to understand whether the fertilizer recommendation of our DST outperforms the current practice of fertilizer management in the target crop.The validation exercise is based on side-by-side comparisons in the form of a \"consumer test\" where typically the test plot and the control plot are located side by side in a farmer's field. Both are managed by the farmer applying their normal practice, except for management aspects that are inherent to the test component. In the example of the FR DST test, all aspects pertaining to fertilizer application and management (including weed management) would be part of a simple protocol that the research team and the farmer agree upon. To ensure that the agreed protocol can be followed, an extension agent (EA) is engaged to work with a cluster of farmers to oversee critical implementation steps and collect data. When testing the FR DST, the farmer may, for example, decide about the land preparation, tillage and soil shaping treatment according to their practice (flat vs ridged, etc..).One farm represents one replicate in the validation exercise. Ideally, one EA oversees a cluster of farmers (e.g., 10) who host one side by side comparison each. The test sites within these clusters should be close to each other (e.g. within a diameter of 5 km) to facilitate management through the EA and similar weather and, ideally, general environmental conditions.One validation exercise comprises several clusters that are spread across the target intervention area of the partner. To allow for approximate coverage of the environmental conditions across the target area, the clusters are distributed following environmental clusters. These clusters are established in the procedure on sampling frames. The number of environmental clusters, or the heterogeneity of the target area partially determines the total number of side-by-side comparisons. Other aspects are expected loss of sites (e.g., thru floods, cattle damage, mismanagement, etc…); 25 to 50 % of the initially implemented sites may turn out as not usable for evaluation and analysis.The participating farmers need to be selected with some care and reconcile the need for random site selection within an identified cluster with a certain set of farming skills and being perceived as a reliable counterpart. The number of participating farmers per cluster needs to be proportional to the importance or size of the cluster in the target area. Each Use Case also targets a certain clientele, the Add-On Farmer Segmentation assists in creating a typology that should overlay the bio-physical environmental clusters to capture the effectiveness of the agronomic solution across different farm types of interest. And lastly, the selection depends on the willingness of a farmer to participate.How often, in our target environment, do we outperform the control? The key performance indicator (KPI) here will usually include yield but should also measure profitability and have a risk assessment component, e.g., less than 10% of the participating farmers would have suffered a yield/profit loss. So, answering the question: How does the tested solution perform in relation to the KPIs that were identified for the specific use case? The KPIs that may be relevant in EiA for a Use Case are Yield, Yield stability, Profit, Nutrient-use efficiency, Water productivity, Labor productivity, Soil organic carbon, yield-scaled GHGs and Product quality. Depending on the Use Case objectives other KPIs can also be specified and added.We call the validation exercise, exercise and not trial, as the nature of its implementation is inherent to imprecise measurements. So, the strength of this exercise is the relative performance and not the generation of precise yield data. Nevertheless, because the validation exercises are conducted in high numbers across different environmental conditions, the results may also aide the generation of hypotheses, for example the improvement of the agronomic solution, or trigger the development of additional components.We are testing the new agronomic solution against what is currently available to farmers. In the example of the FR DST, are farmers applying fertilizer? If so, what guides them? This requires understanding what is currently available: Before diving into the validation exercise a careful analysis of the Add-On surveys should guide the decision making; e.g., Current Practices and Yield Gap Decomposition. However, depending on the type of MVP the other Add-Ons may be equally relevant.Example of fertilizer recommendation 1. Farmers do not use fertilizer, but we expect our MVP to increase yield and profit.➔ Reference: farmer's practice = no fertilizer application 2. Farmers use fertilizer according to their own best knowledge, recommendations from extension etc. are not making a great impact on farmers' fertilizer management, but we expect our MVP to increase yield and profit. ➔ Reference: farmer's individual practice 3. Farmers apply fertilizer following a (regional) blanket recommendation, but we expect that our (more site specific) MVP will increase yield and profit. ➔ Reference: (regional) blanket recommendation 4. Farmers apply fertilizer according to their best knowledge, a (regional) one or more blanket recommendations also exist, but we think that our (more site specific) MVP outperforms farmers' practice and the blanket recommendations. ➔ Reference: farmers' practice and the relevant blanket recommendationsClearly defined references: Farmer's practice of no fertilizer application and (regional) blanket recommendations. These can be easily tested in the side-by-side comparisons once it has been established that they are the relevant reference points thru the Add-On surveys or own efforts.References that are not clearly defined: Farmer's individual practice, e.g. the individual farmer's fertilizer management for the target crop. This is a complex and challenging situation as the reference can become a moving target.Some discussion points we had in Use Cases around the use of the individual farmer's practice:1. Challenge of recording the individual farmer's practice:o When the farmer is interviewed on this with the perspective of participating in the validation exercises, they may adjust their practices to what may seem as more promising in the current context.o The farmer's practice may not be \"written in stone\" and is flexibly adjusted to the current situation.o Translating the farmer's practice from field scale to small plot size could also create a bias with possibly higher input going into the small plot. Resolving these challenges by summarizing the individual farmer's practices into (regionally) generalized farmers' practices. The Add-On surveys may guide this process and ensure that the identified generalized farmers' practices remain meaningful. If relevant and desired, farmers' individual practice may be captured by implementing the MVP plot within the farmer's field and conduct a crop cut in combination with recording the farmer's practice in their main field (challenges as listed above may still apply).o We compare the performance of our MVP against a reference that is different for each farmer where we implement the validation exercise. This makes it difficult to impossible (when the number of sites is not extremely high) to understand what hinders the performance of the MVP (e.g. poor response to fertilizer application) as this may relate to interactions of diverse management interventions and biophysical conditions. To be able to trouble shoot, we need to be able to generate hypotheses and test these for example thru an improved version of the MVP.o If we are lucky, our recommendation performs almost always better, but this is a snapshot in time.Farmer's practice change -the relative performance of our tool will change. So, the need remains to summarize/average the specific farmers practices into one or several categories for comparison (this can probably also be done after analysing the current practices and be used for formulating generalized practices for testing purposes)• Good basis for hypothesis generation, especially if management options are along an intensity gradient.• Easy to add a replicate of one treatment if these validation exercises are required to test associated hypotheses. • Evaluation of correct DST advice is a bit more complex as the treatment that most frequently performs best may not coincide with the recommended treatment. The performance of the MVP/ DST can be evaluated in terms of false positive and false negative recommendations, e.g., the farmer incurs a loss due to the recommendation or they miss out on increased profit by following the recommendation.• The recommendation is developed based on the farmer's current specific practice. For example, recommendations on cost efficient land preparation considering ploughing and soil shaping. • Advantage: directly relevant for the specific situation, allows to evaluate the \"direction\" of the recommendation (e.g. an intensification of the operations was justified -best done on revenue) • Disadvantage: the combination of factors is very variable. To allow the technical assessment of the individual factors a very high number of replicates is required. • Better: consider packaging this in defined treatments and choose a 3 or 4 plot design with fixed controls .A new agronomic solution or MVP will often measure yield increase. In the example of the FR DST, the question would be how often this DST leads to increased yield. However, more interesting for the farmer is whether that also leads to an increase in profit. In the example of land preparation above, the yield is of secondary interest. The primary interest is the saving of costs that are invested in land preparation. Other MVPs may focus on labour or other factors and the relevant measures need to be identified.Next to the immediate target metrics of the MVP, other related factors need to be considered and assessed when considered important.1. The KPIs in EiA: Which apply to this MVP at the validation stage and how can they be assessed? 2. Important \"side factors\" like ease of implementation, additional cost implications, produce quality, general acceptance and liking of the recommendation by the farmer. 3. Socioeconomic co-innovations that are required to enable/facilitate the MVP. For example, if the MVP is about timely field preparation for early season planting -are tractor services available?Although the validation exercises focus on the technical performance of the agronomic solution, the MVP is at this stage for the first time exposed to a larger group of farmers. This is an important opportunity to capture, next to technical factors, how the MVP is perceived by the end user and intended beneficiary. Therefore, including information on points 2) and 3) above at this stage is important to enable early discussions and feedback loops with partners. Tools to capture this are available thru this framework (see below). For this reason, we would also advice organising field days with demand and scaling partners alongside the validations.What are the acceptable thresholds for the performance of the MVP?• Higher yield in 75% of the cases?• Lost profit in less than 10 % of the cases?• Minimum average yield increase?Thresholds that are related to profit are influenced by the price/cost dynamics of the market. In times, areas, or commodities where price dynamics are high the biophysical performance (e.g., yield) may need to be brought in context with economic price/profit margin modelling that will also take the risk of applying the recommendation for the farmer into consideration. The scaling support team of Deliver will facilitate the required contacts.The team acknowledges the critical efforts of Dr. Pieter Pypers in developing the validation protocol as part of the ACAI project. The content of this document is inspired from his work. ","tokenCount":"1879"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8358281558.json b/data/part_1/8358281558.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f77d04013a6ef9ccacb2f25021ec125ce835ca09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8358281558.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aa90e2f47ca4fc29db53157b66540592","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/SCE_2023-02.pdf","id":"1984352404"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8ffcd250-6b81-4bef-80d8-83338b37299f","pagecount":"78","content":"1.1 Philosophical foundation of PAR 1.2 Definitions of action research and PAR 1.3 Impacts of Covid-19 on PAR 2 Augmented PAR and guidelines 2.1 Augmented PAR 2.2 A guide to augmented PAR 3 Iterative process for developing sustainable business models for communities 3.1 Background and objectives 3.2 Sustainable Business Model for the Community: A how-to guide 3.3 Further development of the business model 4 Implementing augmented PAR for fire prevention and peatland restoration 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Village selection process 4.3 Reflection and co-elevation phase 4.4 Co-creation and planning phase 4.5 Connected actions phase 4.6 Co-monitoring and learning phase 4.7 Lessons learned from augmented participatory action research References This tool is the second part of the Toolbox for Community-based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration. It aims to provide guidelines for conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) on community-based fire prevention and peatland restoration in the digital age. Forest and land fires on peatlands can be prevented by rewetting and revegetating peatlands, and by developing alternative livelihood sources for communities living in or around peatland areas. Without the involvement of these communities, peatland restoration will be ineffective. Such involvement is only possible if restoration efforts benefit the communities involved. Benefits can be achieved through the development of business models for peatland restoration where communities play key roles in their planning and implementation. This tool provides clear, step-by-step guidelines on implementing PAR, and how information and communication technology (ICT) can be used to leverage participation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it became impossible to conduct PAR in the traditional way through personal, direct engagement. Consequently, it was necessary to develop a new augmented form of PAR involving the use of ICT to enable non-co-located and remote participation. Augmented PAR improves on traditional PAR by replacing its loops of reflection, planning, action and monitoring with new loops of reflection and co-elevation, co-creation and planning, connected actions, and co-monitoring and learning. In augmented PAR, reflection is for gaining insight from studies and discussions for co-elevating communities and stakeholders' understanding of identified problems. They then work together to co-create solutions and establish clear plans for their implementation. Actions can be implemented collectively or individually in a connected manner. The outcomes of these actions are then co-monitored to provide lessons learned for improved implementation in the second loop of the augmented PAR process. Internet-based technologies and platforms like Zoom, MS-Teams, Google Meet and WhatsApp became instrumental in facilitating virtual meetings and discussions. The initial challenge for PAR researchers was how to make digital interaction effective Preface vi Preface in achieving the goals of restoring peatlands and developing and implementing business models. At first, communities in villages struggled with internet access, but later managed to organize themselves with shared internet connections. Face-to-face meetings between community members and local facilitators posed few problems, but online platforms became essential for communicating with researchers from other regions. The resulting augmented PAR succeeded in overcoming initial problems with non-co-located participation, and, ultimately, in deepening PAR processes. This tool was prepared for local communities, business and private sector actors, civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, academics and researchers to provide insight and guidance on conducting PAR and developing business models in the digital age. It was written based on experiences we gleaned from conducting PAR on fire prevention and peatland restoration in Riau Province during 2017-2023. The research was funded by Temasek Foundation and managed by Singapore Cooperation Enterprise.The authors would like to thank all the communities, regional governments, villagers and CSOs involved in this action research, and Temasek Foundation for supporting the development of this tool. We hope it can prove useful for fire prevention, peatland restoration, business model creation, and livelihood development efforts. In a wider sense, we also hope it can contribute to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), combatting the climate crisis, alleviating poverty, and fostering worldwide collaboration.Bogor, 17 August 2023Science has travelled from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment; from modernism to postmodernism. The Renaissance was a period of rebirth in art, science and culture, and is usually associated with Italy. With it came increased use of reason in the study of astronomy, anatomy and medicine, geography, alchemy, mathematics and architecture. It usually refers to the period in European history from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.The intellectual movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, known as the Enlightenment, involved the emphasis and celebration of reason, where individuals sought to understand the workings of the universe and enhance their own circumstances. The aspirations of rational humanity encompassed the pursuit of knowledge, freedom and happiness. The Enlightenment culminated in modernism.From the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, modernism promoted the idea of universal scientific truths in all aspects of life, with reason and science providing accurate, objective and reliable bases for knowledge. The rationale was that reason would lead to universal truths that could be embraced by all cultures. Science would provide an objective means of understanding nature, and its application could improve our lives. Truth existed apart from human consciousness and could be known through the application of reason.Postmodernism, in contrast, challenges the idea that reason and science are universal, seeing them instead as ideologies created by humans. Reason is considered a specific Western tradition or ideology that competes with other traditions such as faith and cultural knowledge. While postmodernism acknowledges that truth may exist independent of human consciousness, it rejects the notion of an objective means for defining it. Postmodernism favours small narratives rather than the grand or universal narratives advocated by modernism (Purnomo 2022).Natural resources and the people associated with them are as unique as they are common, so we need to take both a modernist and postmodernist approach to researching natural resource management. There are two possible positions for researchers. First, as outsiders external to natural resource systems; and second, as insiders entering the complexities of those systems. The first position necessitates objectivity in observing the system, as entering that system may introduce bias in assessing and improving it. The second position demands that real decisions taken to improve the system will not stem from responding to outside suggestions (Sayer and Campbell 2004). Lewin (1946) expressed the importance of being an insider by saying, \"If you want to know how the system works, try to change it.\"The first position refers to positive realism which considers the universe described by science as real and independent of how it is interpreted by others. Positive realism is a positive epistemic attitude to scientific theories and models, where the observable and unobservable worlds can be explained by science. The second position refers to constructivism, which holds that existence depends on a perspective that is not determined by objective facts, where the perspective of a real person builds reality. Natural resource researchers must be able to navigate from positive realism to constructivism or vice versa to have evidence and influence in understanding and improving natural systems. Prabhu et al. (2022) suggested that, among other things, a new paradigm in natural resource management would involve: (a) approaches based on systemic thinking; (b) better interaction between local and wider scales; (c) recognition that farmers and other rural populations have key contextual information, experience and knowledge that deserve respect (Figure 1); (d) recognition that marginalized groups exist within society and vis-à-vis other national and international actors; and (e) understanding how differences in power can have disastrous results when policies are (or are not) developed and implemented.The Participatory Action Research (PAR) method satisfies this new paradigm and is implemented using an Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM) approach. We believe this new paradigm underscores the importance of constructivism without neglecting positive realism.Action research and PAR are methods proposed by Sayer and Campbell (2004) for protecting and preserving natural resources, that consider them to be interrelated to and inseparable from the communities that use them. While the behaviour of biophysical resources can be understood objectively, resource-owning communities must be approached differently with respect to how they perceive those resources.   Despite their popularity, there are many misconceptions about action research and PAR. Some research endeavours claim to be action research, but do not involve intentional, planned and observable actions on an appropriate and representative scale. Some may encompass traditional research with an additional training phase, while others may involve developing demonstration plots with practices for farmers to emulate. Neither of these, however, is action research. PAR, in particular, necessitates the active involvement of communities as core investigators in learning, acting upon, and monitoring collective actions. Collaboration is an essential element of PAR, and is emphasised to a greater degree than in conventional action research (Prabhu et al. 2022).The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we live and conduct research. Prior to the pandemic, intensive engagement with communities and stakeholders was possible. Purnomo et al. (2014a) conducted PAR in South Sumatra, Indonesia through four years of active engagement (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) to empower local communities and institutions, and develop a more equitable partnership with a large pulp and paper company. As conflicts had broken out between community members and between communities and the company, it was necessary and mandatory to establish a field house (secretariat) with a field facilitator in the vicinity. This field house served as a place for community members and stakeholders to meet, discuss problems and work together to find solutions.Following four years of PAR in South Sumatra, a level playing field and improved partnerships between local communities and the company were established. The authors of the research report credited the success of the PAR to five factors: a clear local demand for intervention; support from all stakeholders throughout the entire process; institutionalization of a multistakeholder forum; better communication and interaction between stakeholders; and discussions on improving partnerships for acacia tree rotation into the future (Purnomo et al. 2014a). It was hard to imagine these being possible without face-to-face communication.Another PAR conducted in Jepara Regency in Central Java from 2008-2012 was aimed at developing the institutional capacity of small-scale wooden furniture manufacturers and developing regional regulations to promote sustainable small-scale furniture industries that benefit local communities, the environment and women. The PAR team conducted intensive engagement with both male and female artisans to reflect on problems, find solutions and act together at different scales. A joint secretariat was established in the Jepara Furniture Design Center (JFDC) building to act as a contact point and meeting and discussion hub for those concerned with furniture issues. The PAR succeeded in influencing value chains and improving the livelihoods of small-scale furniture manufacturers. By forming a representative association, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were able to strengthen their bargaining positions, connect to a wider market, and increase government trust and support. Many participants along the chain deemed the PAR a success, as demonstrated by measurable increases in income and an enhanced social network between small-scale producers (Purnomo et al. 2011(Purnomo et al. , 2014b)). Engaging with actors along the furniture value chain in and around Jepara to build trust and agreement was key to the success of the PAR. This would not have been possible during the pandemic.During the Covid-19 pandemic, from early 2020 we changed the way we do PAR.As intensive engagement through face-to-face meetings, surveys and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in the field were rendered impossible due to government-imposed travel restrictions and social distancing, radical adaptation was necessary. This required a transformation whereby traditional occupational research processes, business models and workforce structures would have to undergo rapid change to prepare for the future (Ferrazzi et al. 2022).Covid-19 led to the transformation of traditional PAR (TPAR) into a new incarnation aided by internet technology, remote connections and new ways of implementing collaboration. Internet-based technologies and platforms such as Zoom, MS-Teams, Google Meet and WhatsApp became instrumental in facilitating virtual meetings and discussions (Figure 3). The term 'Zoom' is now commonly used to generalize internetenabled non-co-located meetings. Facilitators and community members can now convene and engage in discussions at their convenience. These new technologies have posed certain challenges, however, particularly in places where internet connectivity is unreliable. Many people in the field rely on cellular phone signals, and may need to find certain spots in their villages to secure stable connections to participate in online meetings.Over time, people have adapted and become used to using such technologies. Meetings and discussions with and within communities can now take place despite travel restrictions. While Zoom cannot replace the depth of face-to-face interactions, it does offer several advantages. In post-pandemic life, often called the 'new normal' or digital age, these internet technologies remain an integral part of PAR, and will continue to do so as people have become accustomed to the convenience they afford. WhatsApp groups between researchers and communities and within communities continue and serve as cheap, easy and efficient means for communication.Traditional PAR primarily focuses on local communities through direct interaction and communication with co-located community members. As planning and actions are only possible through direct, in-person engagement, traditional PAR can have limited geographical coverage, and collective action is limited to those able to meet directly. It is highly dependent on the knowledge of facilitators and local community members. In contrast, augmented 1 PAR is influenced by knowledge from diverse sources connected through digital technology. Digital social media platforms have had a more significant impact than ever before since the pandemic. While social media can be beneficial, it can also pose challenges by creating noise or threatening PAR processes through distractions, misinformation or misunderstandings. Table 2 illustrates the differences between traditional and augmented PAR.1 Made greater, larger or more complete (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/augmented) Instead of just using the word \"reflection\", which literally means \"to think about something carefully\", we now use the words \"reflection and co-elevation\". Co-elevation means how thinking about something can elevate the understanding of those participating in the PAR process. This co-elevation is accomplished by sharing data, perspectives and understanding through the principle of non-dominance. The term \"planning\" in traditional PAR has been updated to \"co-creation and planning\". 2 Co-creation is \"making or discovering something new together with one or more other people\". Here, co-creation means creating ideas and models followed by planning. The co-creation element involves collaboration and co-designing of ideas and models (Figure 4).\"Action\" in traditional PAR, which generally meant collective action, has been updated to become \"connected action\". Connected actions can be performed between individuals or groups. The complexity of reality and opportunity constrains collective action. \"Collective action\" means \"actions taken by a group (either directly or on its behalf through an organization) in pursuit of the shared interests of its members.\" While \"connected actions\" are actions carried out by individuals or groups -separately or jointly -to pursue common interests. Individuals do not need to be in the same place at the same time to perform connected actions. The key is how to connect and synergize individual actions (Figure 5).2 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/co-createInstead of using \"monitoring\", in augmented PAR we use \"monitoring and colearning\". Monitoring means \"routine, often episodic measurement, performance analysis, or monitoring of processes, activities, or functions for the purpose of detecting and correcting changes or deviations from desired levels\". 3  Co-monitoring means that monitoring must be carried out jointly by those participating in PAR and by relevant stakeholders, which means it cannot be done partially (Figure 6). Meanwhile, \"learning\" is \"the process through which individuals gain knowledge, skills and attitudes through experience, reflection, study, or instruction.\" 4 Learning should take place after joint monitoring. The outcomes of this learning are acted upon in the augmented PAR spiral (Figure 7).  Augmented PAR consists of a spiral of (a) reflection and co-elevation; (b) co-creation and planning; (c) connected actions; and (d) co-monitoring and learning phases. The spiral in this sense is continuous and involves the gradual betterment of a situation relative to the condition at the outset. When an augmented PAR process is about the environment and livelihoods, it involves improving environmental and livelihood conditions through the repetition of steps of (a), (b), (c), (d), (a), (b) . . . etc. External reinforcement can strengthen actions and improve augmented PAR processes. This can be facilitated by connecting the augmented PAR with external parties through the help of internet technology. Outsiders can be in different regions, provinces or countries as long as they share a common interest with the problem and interest of those who run the augmented PAR.First, those who run and participate in an augmented PAR process must be clearly identified and explicitly disclosed. These participants are called co-researchers, and may comprise scientists, facilitators, community members, village leaders and others. These research colleagues should be treated and respected as equals and have a concise agreement on issues and objectives they wish to achieve. Second, they must commit to carrying out the augmented PAR for a specified period of time to improve an environmental and/or livelihood situation by applying the phases in the spiral.The aims of this phase are to identify and agree upon issues and relevant stakeholders, and to increase the levels of understanding of those participating in the augmented PAR process. A \"problem\" is defined as the gap between an ideal situation and reality. While ideals depend on people's perspectives and general rationality, the reality on the ground can be measured in more objective ways. This reality can be determined through surveys and the mapping of biophysical, social and economic conditions. Examples of biophysical surveys are of peatland vegetation and water tables (Figure 8). Livelihood, market and value chain surveys can be conducted to understand people's well-being, and markets for products and services. Various stakeholder mapping and social network analysis methods can be used to understand which stakeholders are relevant to the \"problem\" that constitutes the target of the augmented PAR. Such surveys can be conducted either through faceto-face interviews or online. A baseline study is conducted during this phase to deepen understanding of the problem, and to serve as a means for gauging results. Comparing the ideal situation stakeholders wish to achieve with the existing reality will help in determining what problems they are facing.Co-elevation can be done through online and/or in-person meetings and focus group discussions (FGDs), where baseline studies and survey results can be shared. Those who have more information on and understanding of a problem can share it transparently with others by recognizing that co-researchers have different backgrounds, and may have different perspectives, rationales and interests. It is important to avoid blaming stakeholders, e.g., the government or private sector in this process, and rather to gain a more in-depth collective understanding of the problem and aims. This co-elevation process is not easy, and must involve a lot of discussions. Local or tacit knowledge must also be scrutinized and must not be underestimated. By the end of this phase, the co-researchers should have reached agreements on problem and aims, and these agreements should be backed up by relevant data, information and knowledge. Agreements should extend to which stakeholders need influencing and are impacted by the problem, as well as potential solutions.This phase is aimed at creating solutions and developing plans together. Planting peatlands and mangroves, developing new businesses or protecting nature can be solutions for the environment and livelihoods. In-person FGDs are a great way to co-create solutions and plan how to achieve them. Online FGDs using tools such as Miro or Mural digital boards 5 can reach co-researchers in different locations more easily. Inviting participants to online FGDs is often easier and cheaper than conducting FGDs in person.Co-creation can be assisted by various tools in line with the problem and solutions being pursued. For green business model development and peatland or mangrove restoration we suggest utilizing the Business Model Canvas (BMC) introduced by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010). The BMC consists of nine elements (Figure 9). At its core, it aims to identify and understand customers, enabling businesses to ascertain the value they are willing to pay, and to benefit from that knowledge. Details on how to use this BMC framework are discussed in Section 3.Co-creation with BMC should be followed up with planning to establish \"who does what, when, where, and how\". The Gantt Chart tool, which can help visualize, organize and determine agreed action plans, is discussed in Section 3 below. In the context of augmented PAR, such plans act as hypotheses to be tested. Criteria and indicator (C&I) sets for monitoring that are sensitive to changes resulting from actions should also be developed during the planning stage. Criteria are standards by which something can be judged or decided, while indicators are qualitative and quantitative measurements that can show trends if monitored regularly, and can measure outputs, outcomes and impacts. Outputs are tangible documents or regulations; outcomes are changes in behaviour; and impacts relate to biophysical, economic, and social evidence such as water quality and quantity, vegetation cover, reductions in CO₂ emissions, and people's incomes. Benchmarks or reference numbers for achieving goals or successes can be represented in the C&I set. The plans resulting from the collection, analysis and discussion of data should be implemented through various interconnected individual and group actions. Actions defined in planning do not need to be placed together, but are arranged to achieve common goals. If a plan constitutes a business as defined in the BMC, the action involves executing the Key Activity using the Key Resource together with the Key Partner to create the Proposed Value, then sending it to the Customer to earn Revenue. In-person and online meetings can facilitate discussions about how certain actions are carried out. Linking planned individual and group actions is as important as collective action. It may also be more appropriate in the postpandemic digital new normal, where connecting dots is more likely to produce greater results than having a single, large dot.Action research is doing research and acting, linked together by monitoring and critical learning. In this phase, actions are monitored by co-researchers and relevant stakeholders. C&I sets for monitoring are observed on an annual or semi-annual basis, and monitoring results are then gauged against benchmarks of success. Gaps between reality and the ideal situation should be ascertained and studied to ensure further planning and actions can close those gaps.Iterative process for developing sustainable business models for communities 20Dry and degraded peatlands are susceptible to fire (Turetsky et al. 2015;Miettinen et al. 2016;Osaki et al. 2016). One means for stopping recurring fires is the restoration of degraded peatlands; an approach that has become a national agenda in Indonesia. To address this issue, Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency or Badan Restorasi Gambut (BRG) has developed a 3Rs approach, comprising Rewetting, Revegetation and Revitalization of livelihoods (BRG 2016). The latter falls outside standard restoration concepts, which are generally limited to ecological aspects. BRG's inclusion of a human dimension to peatland restoration is rational since Indonesia's peat ecosystems have faced intense anthropogenic pressures for decades (Puspitaloka et al. 2020). Extractive and destructive business or livelihood activities, including mining (Dommain et al. 2016), logging (Dommain et al. 2016;Hergoualc'h et al. 2017) and expansion of agriculture and large-scale plantations (Page et al. 2011), have all involved drainage and extraction, and left peatlands degraded and fire prone (Joosten et al. 2016). In the context of restoration, livelihood transformations for communities living in peatland areas are essential. Any such transformations should be capable of generating income and providing livelihood options for communities, while simultaneously assisting the recovery of degraded peatlands and preventing recurring fires (Figure 10).CIFOR and partners incorporate business models as tools for developing sustainable alternative livelihoods on peatlands. Business models form integral parts of business plans, and describe specific processes of creation, delivery and capture of value from producer to consumer (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010;Teece 2010). They can provide comprehensive illustrations to help pitch businesses to investors (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010). Additionally, they can be tools for identifying radical and systemic innovations that businesses may need (Boons et al. 2013).Adapting Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), we developed the Sustainable Business Models for Communities (SBMC) tool, which incorporates values needed in peatland restoration. We observe the needs for a transformation to sustainable practices; for advocating the benefits of restored peatlands and necessary restoration interventions; and for exercising collective action. All of these are vital in supporting the mobilization of voluntary efforts in peatland restoration, and halting further degradation on peatlands. The SBMC tool is tailored to facilitating participatory business development at the community level in the hope of developing collective action among community members. It upholds and builds upon the pillars of participation, sustainability and transparency (Puspitaloka et al. 2020(Puspitaloka et al. , 2022)).In contrast to the conventional Business Model Canvas, SBMC accommodates a costbenefit sharing component to ensure the division of responsibilities and rights is agreed between all parties involved. It also encourages the identification of pre-and postproduction activities for goods or services to facilitate brainstorming on sustainable production practices on peatlands that also minimize waste. Land preparation (a pre-production activity) on peatlands, for example, should avoid drainage and use of fire, while organic waste can be composted and used as fertilizer (a post-production activity). In addition, it acknowledges the direct and indirect costs associated with business development for peatland restoration. For example, a business developed in a community to restore a degraded peatland may require additional costs for canal blocking. In such a case we would expect the tool to be used to trigger discussions on the intangible benefits of the peatland that might provide revenue streams to the community, e.g., from carbon sales and/or tourism. With this, we hope to motivate the community to look at the benefits the restored peatland would provide. This tool was initially developed in the Participatory Action Research on Community-Based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration (PAR CBFPR) project in Dompas Village, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province. 6 We then tested and refined it in PAR on Community-Level Business Models in West Pinang Sebatang Village, Siak Regency and Kesuma Village, Pelalawan Regency; both in Riau Province. 7  This section describes the refined process of business development using SBMC drawing from our recent experience in Phase 2 of PAR CBFPR with Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat villages, Siak Regency, Riau Province.The tool describes an iterative process of business model development at the community level, where exercising alternative livelihood options on peatlands can support peatland restoration and community welfare improvement. Users might include, but not be limited to, local facilitators assisting communities in developing livelihoods and businesses; community groups managing peatlands; and local governments implementing livelihood and peatland restoration programmes.A how-to guidePrior to developing a business model, the community needs to have a group or groups, a shared vision and an understanding of context. The community group(s) will provide key human resources capital in planning, managing and implementing multi-objective businesses for peatland restoration. Such groups should consist of community members who share similar interests and ideas and have a common purpose. Having an organized group is often a prerequisite for receiving programmes, facilitation and grants. In the fire prevention and peatland restoration context, the government encourages the development of voluntary Fire Care Community or Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA), Peat Care Community or Masyarakat Peduli Gambut (MPG) and Independent Peat Care Village or Desa Mandiri Peduli Gambut (DMPG) groups for enabling mobilization of resources and rapid response to fire incidents. To different extents, these groups also participate in fire suppression, fire prevention and peatland restoration. Depending on the situation and community consent, we could either strengthen an existing community group or establish a new one as necessary.It is essential to encourage group members to have a shared vision before a business model and any further activities commence. This shared vision should be a depiction of an ideal situation the group wishes to attain in the future. This process is expected to foster a sense of belonging and provide a coherent basis for guiding plans and activities within the group. In the context of peatland restoration, it is important to foster the development of shared vision that focuses not only on economic benefits, but also on advocating or promoting the achievement of well-being from the peatland ecosystem through restoration. It is also important to reiterate this shared vision during all stages and processes to embed it coherently in guiding activities and planning (Figure 11).As peatland soils are specific and different to mineral soils, an understanding of context is key to successful peatland restoration. Another critical step is determining what goods and services to develop as these will influence the practices employed in managing the peatland, e.g., whether they will necessitate drainage. As different peat depths may necessitate specific uses, referring to Najiyati et al. (2005) and Agus et al. (2016), we compiled four different peat type and depth typologies : 1) shallow alluvial peat with depths of 0.5-1 metre and containing sulphides that can be used for farming; 2) shallow alluvial peat with depths of 0.5-1 metre with no sulphides that can be used for annual horticulture, upland rice, grains, pulses and tubers, medicinal plants, annual crops, plantations and forestry; 3) peat with depths of 1-3 metres that can be used for horticulture, plantations and forestry; and 4) peat with depths exceeding 3 metres that should be conserved and utilized for forestry trees. Further references on suitable commodities for different peat types and depths can be found in Ministry of Environment and Forestry Decree No. P16/2017 on Technical Guidelines for Peatland Ecosystem Restoration, and the Peatland Restoration Agency's guidelines for revegetation or replanting on peatlands (Wibisono and Dohong 2017). Literature on different agriculture and forestry commodities is also available for guiding sustainable peatland management (Najiyati et al. 2005;Giessen 2013;Uda et al. 2020).Factors in choosing goods and services for a business model include: economic aspects (market opportunity, scale, potential revenue stream) (Figure 12); social aspects (community interest, knowledge and capacity); technical aspects (availability of sustainable practices on peatlands); and environmental aspects (ecological suitability of cultivation on peatland, peat depth considerations). In some cases, other factors, such as land ownership, may prevail in determining goods and services. For example, a community group in Dompas Village working on co-managed land 8 tended to favour short-term crops in addition to long-term crops and tree planting. As the co-managed land was not owned by the group, and was subject to a time-bound management contract, its members considered shortterm crops providing immediate benefits to be more beneficial.8 In this instance, the co-managed land was privately owned by a villager outside the group (landlord). The community group managed the land collectively under a time-bound management contract that specified profit-sharing between the community group and the landlord. The SBMC framework comprises eleven components derived from the nine Business Model Canvas elements developed by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010). These components are: 1) value proposition; 2) customer segment; 3) customer relationship; 4) channel; 5) key activities (pre-, during and post-production); 6) key resources; 7) key partners; 8) costs structure (direct and indirect costs); 9) costs sharing; 10) revenue stream (from tangible and intangible goods/services); and 11) benefit sharing (Figure 13). This framework positions value proposition as the most critical component in business model development. Value proposition describes the value that the business/goods/services will offer to the customer. In peatland restoration, it is important to encourage the community group to develop a value proposition that acknowledges sustainability as a competitive advantage.The following are guiding questions for using the SBMC framework for business model development:What is the value that the customer needs and wants to pay for? Are the sustainability principles and practices reflected in the proposed value?Who is the targeted customer? Does the customer want to pay a premium for sustainably managed products? What is their preference?What are the actions and strategies needed to maintain a good relationship with the customer?What channel can be utilized to reach the customer?Box 1 Guiding questions for co-researchers: Shared vision and understanding of context• What are the critical environmental, social and economic issues you would like to focus on? • What would you like to accomplish in the long term?• How do you envision the future of the environment, community and economic conditions in your area? • What are the potential goods and services that could be developed on peatlands?• How do those goods and services fit with economic, social, technical and environmental aspects?What are the pre-, during and post-production activities required to produce the goods/services? What are the implications of these activities on the environment? Is there any potential activity that can minimize or optimize the use of waste resulting from the production process?What are the key resources to implement the key activities? Are there any threats that may affect the sustainability of the supply? What is the action or plan to ensure efficient and effective use of resources?  To realize the business model, it is necessary to develop an implementation roadmap.It should summarize necessary activities to be performed or milestones to achieve. It has to specify a timeline and expected output or target (Figure 14). A Gantt Chart can be used as a tool for developing an implementation roadmap (Table 3).• How is the proposed value and business model aligned with the sustainability and circularity principle, socio-economic context and peatland restoration objective? • How does the business model and its proposed value resonate with the shared vision? Business model development should be seen as an iterative process that allows the community group managing the business to revisit and refine the model continuously as a response in adapting to the changing context (Figure 15).Our experiences with communities in Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat villages helped us to embrace uncertainties and complexities, and to use them as opportunities for learning and improvement. In Action Arena 3 in Kayu Ara Permai, for instance, the community group initially intended to develop an agroforestry system with rubber, coffee and ginger. However, the arena was affected by heavy flooding during the rainy season due to the degraded peatland having lost its water holding capacity. As a consequence, the group modified its plan and offered the ginger to a women's group to plant in an alternative location. Meanwhile, in Action Arena 1 in Penyengat, as there was growing interest in the community to cultivate longan, the group revisited its business model and action plan. It reflected on the change, and made the necessary adjustments to the planting design. These experiences illustrate the importance of monitoring and evaluating progress in implementing business models.• What is your next step?• When are you going to start the activities?• What support do you need from the key partner(s)?• How can progress be tracked? As the business model will be part of the business plan, consider performing further financial, external factor and risk analyses (Figure 16). Financial analyses are for calculating cost and benefit components within the business cycle while considering discount rates. The components should then analysed against business feasibility criteria such as Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback Period (PBP). External and risk analyses can be approached using SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analyses to identify internal and external factors relating to the business.Augmented Participatory Action Research (PAR) has been ongoing in Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat villages in Sungai Apit Subdistrict, Siak Regency, Riau Province since 2021. Peatland restoration activities in the villages are focused on nine action arenas covering a total of 8.45 ha across the two villages, with an additional four action arenas in community home gardens. On-the-ground activities are implemented within an augmented PAR framework consisting of four phases: reflection and co-elevation; cocreation and planning; connected actions; and co-monitoring and learning. The main objective of the augmented PAR in these two villages is to reduce fires by restoring peat and to improve community well-being.Determining prospective PAR locations was a challenge due to government-imposed restrictions on mobility as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, CIFOR and research partners agreed to continue the process of determining prospective locations through proper procedures by conducted a series of online consultations from higher, down to site levels, to ensure legitimacy and secure Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from key stakeholders. We also deployed Riau-based local facilitator to support the PAR process. FGDs held with regency government agencies in Siak were aimed at securing information on priority locations. Criteria used in doing so were: fire history; size of peatland area; village development indices; accessibility; and level of conflict. This process resulted in Sungai Apit Subdistrict being proposed as a prospective location.Discussions with the Sungai Apit Subdistrict Government using the same criteria resulted in five villages being recommended. Initially, we narrowed these down to three villages by adding two more selection criteria: level of priority from government; and presence of similar activities by other institutions, then finally agreed on the villages of Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat. We then held discussions with governments and community leaders in both villages to request their FPIC for PAR. Both villages responded enthusiastically and welcomed the idea. Kayu Ara Permai is a new village resulting from the division of Sungai Kayu Ara. It has 1,716 ha of peatlands, 389 ha of which were affected by fires from 2015-2020. Penyengat is populated by an indigenous community, and has 45,898 ha of peatlands, 2,223 ha of which were affected by fires during 2015-2020. Maps showing peat depths and fire histories are presented in Figures 17 and 18. Activities began with communities reflecting on current conditions, problems and potential solutions through co-elevation to secure a more holistic understanding. To ensure all co-researchers had a comprehensive understanding of the prevailing situations, we collected baseline data and information by conducting interviews and surveys of institutions, households, commodities and business potential, value chains, and biophysical conditions in the peatland ecosystems. The results of these baseline studies provided input for carrying out the subsequent phase.Paperless/digital institutional and household surveys were carried out in both villages using Koboform and Open Data Kit (ODK) open-source mobile data collection platforms that need to be used complementarily (Figure 19). 9 One of the main advantages of these platforms is their ability to store data locally, which can then be uploaded to a server once internet access becomes available. This feature is invaluable for data collection in remote areas with limited internet access. These platforms can also store data in various forms, including text, images and location.We used snowball sampling for household surveys by targeting respondents in two 'rings'. Ring 1 was defined as members of institutions surveyed in the institutional surveys, who would potentially be participating and involved in the planning phase and beyond. Ring 2 was defined as villagers not involved with the surveyed institutions. Those in both Ring 1 and Ring 2 were involved to some extent in land-based activities. Data resulting from the household surveys were analysed based on research questions on fire and peatland restoration related issues, and livelihood assets/capital comprising human, social, natural, physical and financial capital. These five assets were the modalities used for measuring vulnerability and access to assets.The research team developed a database of recommended commodities suitable for cultivation on peatlands. The list, which contained 123 commodities, was sourced from scientific publications, government manuals and applicable regulations (Najiyati et al. 2005;Giesen 2013;Wibisono and Dohong 2017;Uda et al. 2020). From this list, the team conducted commodity surveys and shortlisted commodities based on their development status, state of supply, source of supply, demand, overall market opportunity, and interest from the communities (Figure 20).We then carried out business profiling and value chain surveys as a part of our consideration for Revitalization of livelihoods (the third of Peatland Restoration Agency's 3Rs) in peatland restoration and fire prevention intervention. During the business profiling surveys we mapped and profiled businesses in the villages by focusing on numbers of workers, sources of capital, etc. In the value chain surveys, we selected several focus commodities based on shortlists, consultative discussions with partners, discussions with community groups and village governments, and preliminary field observations.Kayu Ara Permai is located near the coast, and has sloping topography and shallow peat with depths of less than three metres. Results of the institutional survey in the village showed most community groups being relatively new, having been established less than five years earlier. Group members were predominantly ethnic Malay with a few Javanese, and most groups were funded either by membership fees or the state. Only one farmer group was funded by membership fees and business proceeds. Community group members had relatively high levels of formal education, and many of them had also undergone training organized by the government.The highest livelihood asset values for respondents in Ring 1 were horticultural sources and oil palm plantations, with other livelihood sources being rubber plantations, timber, fisheries and ecotourism. Other businesses with significant economic potential were honey farming and mangrove ecotourism, both of which would be likely to succeed as they were supported by the necessary physical infrastructure and an extensive network of farmer groups.Generally, community members still used fire in preparing land for farming, a traditional practice they refer to as \"memerun\". Despite the inherent risk of land fires and being aware of regulations prohibiting the use of fire for land clearing, they still practiced memerun saying it makes peat soil fertile, and is easy and cheap.With the exceptions of aquaculture (Figure 21) and rubber plantations, most businesses in Kayu Ara Permai had been established less than five years earlier. Nevertheless, these agricultural, industrial and service-based businesses were all growing. These included small enterprises with capital of under IDR 100 million, medium enterprises with capital of IDR 100 million to IDR 1 billion and large businesses with capital of more than IDR 1 billion.Most community groups in Penyengat had been established five to ten years earlier, with only a few being any younger. We identified ethnic Batak, Nias and Malay peoples in the village, together with the more predominant indigenous 'Anak Rawa' or 'children of the swamp'. Most groups had no funding, though some were either funded by the state or reliant on membership fees. Most of the population were of productive age, with formal education to elementary school level, and a few who had graduated from high school. Few villagers had previously attended any form of informal training. Generally, respondents in Ring 1 had high livelihood asset/capital values, while respondents in Ring 2 had medium asset/livelihood capital values.Peatlands in Penyengat were mainly covered with horticultural crops and oil palm (Figure 22), with around 90% of farmers in the village cultivating pineapples. Many businesses were small to medium-scale agricultural enterprises that had been running for more than eight years, none of which had received any bank funding.The number of respondents still using fire or practicing memerun for land clearing was higher in Penyengat than in Kayu Ara Permai, despite most being aware of regulations and advisories prohibiting the use of fire. Those still practicing memerun said they did so because it was a form of local wisdom, was beneficial for the land, and was fast, easy and cheap.During biophysical surveys, we ground checked peat and measured peat depths. The resulting peat depth maps of Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat are presented as Figure 23. During these surveys, we also investigated potential sites for action arenas in the two villages (Figure 24). Following the baseline studies and discussions with co-researchers in the two villages, all agreed to take action to restore degraded peatlands by developing sustainable business models that could bring economic benefits to the communities. Types of land identified as having potential to become action arenas were: degraded public land; degraded cultivated land (public and private); and degraded private land (home gardens/house lots).This phase employed focus group discussions (FGDs) with the following themes: developing a shared vision; selecting action arenas and action arena managers; developing landscape/biophysical engineering plans; developing business models and cost-benefit sharing mechanisms; and developing activity timelines. These FGDs took place online as well as in person. Most participants were connected virtually, though we also provided meeting points to facilitate those with technical constraints such as poor internet connections or software difficulties. We used the video conferencing application Zoom and online discussion tool Miro (Figure 25). Prior to commencing this phase, we also set up communication groups to facilitate scheduling, sharing of materials and discussions through the messaging application WhatsApp. The FGDs were supplemented with field visits and interviews for follow-up and data collection (Figure 26). Prior to the co-planning process, we facilitated community discussions to help the groups develop their shared visions. These visions, which described the ideal future situations the community groups wished to achieve, were developed collectively to encourage a sense of belonging and provide coherent foundations for group activities. These discussions took place online using Miro, an online workspace for innovation that enables teams of any size to create concepts in real time. 10 The community in Kayu Ara Permai collectively agreed on \"Protected peatlands, a prosperous community\" as their vision (Figure 27), while the community in Penyengat collectively envisioned their village becoming \"Developed, modern, independent\" while \"Conserving the customary forest\".CIFOR and partners -the Riau University Centre for Disaster Studies (PSB UNRI) and NGO consortium, Sedagho Siak -facilitated restoration activities in six action arenas in Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat villages covering a total area of around 8.5 hectares (ha), excluding home gardens. Most of these action arenas constituted fireprone abandoned land dominated by dry scrub. This phase resulted in the following agreements on the management of action arenas in Kayu Ara Permai: the Fire Care 10 https://help.miro.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017730533-What-is-Miro-Community group, a conservation group and farmer group would manage 2 ha of public land as KAP-Action Arena 1 by employing ecotourism and agrosilvofishery business models; one farmer group would manage 1.9 ha of private land as KAP-Action Arena 2 using an agroforestry business model; and another two farmer groups would manage a further 2 ha of public land as KAP-Action Arena 3 through an agroforestry business model that involved enriching an existing rubber plantation (Figure 28). In Penyengat village, it was agreed that the Fire Care Community group would manage 2 ha of public land as PGT-Action Arena 1 employing a forestry business model; more than twenty Indigenous customary institution members would manage their home gardens as PGT-Action Arena 2 developing various agroforestry business models; and the indigenous customary youth organization would manage 0.6 ha of public land as PGT-Action Arena 3. Maps of action arenas in both villages are presented as Figure 29 and Figure 30.As each community group had its own interests in developing livelihoods, we facilitated the selection of commodities for each to develop (Figure 31). We also explained the results of market surveys, topographical mapping and peat depth surveys conducted around Siak Regency, asking the community groups to identify and select commodities or services they would be interested in developing further in their action arenas. Each group realized the importance of understanding and considering economic, social, technical and environmental aspects. The discussions and decision making on goods or services selection involved stimulating questions relating to value proposition for further in-depth exploration in preparing the business models.The community groups in Kayu Ara Permai agreed to plant different combinations of timber and non-timber commodities on peatlands. The Fire Care Community, conservation and farmer groups managing KAP-Action Arena 1 chose pineapple, taro and ginger; the farmer group in KAP-Action Arena 2 chose hybrid coconut and pineapple; and the farmer groups in KAP-Action Arena 3 chose to enrich their monoculture rubber plantation with liberica coffee and ginger.The groups in Penyengat also agreed to plant combinations of timber and non-timber commodities. The Fire Care Community group managing PGT-Action Arena 1 chose 'matoa' (Pometia pinnata) trees (Figure 32); the indigenous institution in PGT-Action Arena 2 chose hybrid coconut; and the customary youth organization in PGT-Action Arena 3 chose to plant 'tampoei' (Baccaurrea borneensis), longan and banana.After agreements were reached on choices of goods and services, the facilitators began explaining business model concepts. Together with the community groups, we adapted Osterwalder and Pigneur's Business Model Canvas (BMC) for planning the sustainable business models. Guided by the facilitators, the groups identified and filled in each BMC component. Their ideas were organized around eleven key components (see section 3) to make it easier for them to understand the bigger picture for the models and to formulate action plans.The groups formulated different business models to apply and learn from in their action arenas. Despite these models being far from perfect, especially in terms of consistency for these activities would include the procurement or purchasing of seedings and supporting equipment; costs for land preparation, planting, maintenance and harvesting; construction costs for support facilities; and operational costs (cost structure). CIFOR would help in covering some of these costs for the duration of the project, while the action arena managers would contribute to costs and labour (cost-sharing).Finally, to realize the business model, the managers planned to partner with the government tourism office and education office, CIFOR, companies and the university (key partners). The ecotourism Business Model Canvas for Action Arena 1, including its cost-benefit sharing mechanism, is shown in Figure 36.The Action Arena 3 managers in Penyengat planned to plant banana and fruit-bearing trees including tampoei and longan (value proposition). They would sell harvested fruits to the local community and villagers beyond Penyengat (customer segment) through markets and by utilizing social media (channels), and would establish partnerships with merchants and intermediaries to reach and maintain relationships with customers (customer relationship).The managers envisioned the business model generating revenue from selling banana, tampoei and longan fruits (revenue streams). Profits would be shared between the managers and members based on attendance and performance (profit sharing). Capital, land, human resources, seedlings and fertilizer (key resources) would support land preparation, planting, maintenance, harvesting, fertilizer application, and canal blocking (key activities).Cost would include those for land preparation (Figure 37); training; purchasing seedlings, fertilizers and support equipment; costs for planting, maintenance and harvesting; construction costs for canal blocking; and operational costs (cost structure). CIFOR would help cover some of these costs for the duration of the project, while the action arena managers would cover any remaining costs (cost sharing).Finally, to realize the business model, the managers planned to partner with households, farmer groups and the village government (key partners). The agroforestry Business Model Canvas for Action Arena 3, including its cost-benefit sharing mechanism, is shown in Figure 38.These two examples show social media being the communities' chosen channel for promoting their products and businesses. In today's all-digital era, social media plays an essential role in marketing businesses as it helps them reach a wider audience than conventional methods are able to. Digital marketing is also more cost-effective and scalable.By using a participatory approach, the communities could convey their aspirations, reflect on who they considered important actors and partners, determine their respective roles and responsibilities, and identify potential challenges or obstacles, and solutions for dealing with them. The most important thing was that these discussions resulted in commitments between village governments, landowners and community members, with CIFOR and PSB UNRI as facilitators.The groups could then establish action plans and schedules. The essence of good business models and action plans lay in how they could be implemented, monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis for further reflection and refinement.Table 4 summarizes the results of co-creation and planning phase activities in the two villages.   Activities to be carried out in the action arenas included the 3Rs: Rewetting through the construction and repair of canal blocks; Revegetation (replanting) through cultivation training and building nurseries, clearing land without burning, and planting selected trees and commodities; and Revitalization of community livelihoods through the implementation of goods-and services-based business models (Figure 39).The community groups had already developed their shared visions during the cocreation and planning phase. To realize these visions, the groups in Kayu Ara Permai initially developed four business models and action plans for the village's three action arenas, while the groups in Penyengat developed a different business model and action plan for each of their village's three action arenas. As community interest grew, however, we accommodated two women's groups in Kayu Ara Permai and one in Penyengat to manage three additional action arenas. Consequently, during the connected actions phase, CIFOR and partners facilitated five action arenas in Kayu Ara Permai spanning nearly 5.9 ha not including villagers' home gardens, and four action arenas in Penyengat covering 2.6 ha of land excluding the home gardens in Action Arenas 2 and 4.To commence actions with the implementation of action plans and business models, CIFOR and partners facilitated a series of training sessions and discussions on sustainable cultivation on peatlands, fire-free land preparation, and canal blocking.The training also focused on the commodities selected for cultivation in the action arenas (Figure 40,41). Cultivation training in Penyengat focused on hybrid coconut, banana, longan, matoa, areca nut and rambutan, while in Kayu Ara Permai it focused on liberica coffee, red ginger, avocado, guava and taro, as well as snakehead murrel (gabus) propagation.Discussions between facilitators and community members highlighted three fire-free land preparation techniques. Mechanical land preparation using heavy equipment was the most widely used technique by farmers with significant capital, especially in developing oil palm plantations. The heavy equipment clears undergrowth and piles up organic waste in rows in a process known as stacking. Another technique was manual land preparation, which is used for relatively small areas of land as it is highly labour intensive. Lastly, a widely used technique due to its effectiveness, affordability and perceived sense of safety, was herbicide application to eliminate understory growth. This required around five litres of herbicide priced at IDR 500,000, and labour costs of IDR 600,000 for each hectare of land, with the process repeated at least three times. The facilitators always shared the results of discussions and training materials on commodity cultivation through WhatsApp groups set up for each village. This allowed people to discuss issues and exchange information anytime and anywhere. Screenshots of WhatsApp group interactions between community groups and facilitators in the two villages are shown in Figure 42.Rewetting was carried out in several arenas, and involved pond construction and canal blocking. Three ponds/reservoirs, each measuring 5 x 50 metres, were constructed in KAP-Action Arena 1 (Figure 43) as the arena had a high risk of recurring fires. As the area drains to the coastline, we felt shallow ponds would be beneficial for storing water in anticipation of future peat fires. The ponds/water reservoirs were positioned in the lower lying part of the arena to ensure water availability during dry months, whereas during the wet season, they could be used for agrosilvofishery activities. We built four canal blocks in the most fire-prone action arenas in the two villages: three in Penyengat in Action Arenas 1, 2 and 3; and one in Kayu Ara Permai in Action Arena 3. We built seven-metre-wide permanent canal blocks with spillways 40 cm below the peat surface to slow down the flow of water and keep peat wet during the dry season. Canal block construction in Penyengat is shown in Figure 44.After community groups had received training on cultivating their chosen commodities, they undertook business model activities with revegetation (replanting). These commenced with the construction of two nurseries in each village, which villagers could use as examples for any future independent nurseries, or for receiving seed assistance from different programmes and institutions (Figure 45).Land preparation was carried out manually without burning, in combination with limited and controlled use of herbicides (Figure 46). Each group planted commodities they had selected for their business models during the planning phase. In KAP-Action Arena 1, for example, managers planted 2,000 'geronggang' (Cratoxylum arborescens), 5,000 pineapple and 1,000 red ginger seedlings, and used ponds to propagate snakehead murrel. The managers also built a hut to serve as a shelter for visitors to the action arena. Their actions will create a green open space for ecotourism. The planting layout in KAP-Action Arena 1 is shown in Figure 47.Women's farmer groups in the two villages have also applied agroforestry-based business models by planting in their home gardens. The 15-member women's farmer group in Penyengat planted 30 rambutan, 30 areca nut and 30 hybrid coconut seedlings. Meanwhile, the women's farmer group in Kayu Ara Permai Action Arena 5 planted 60 avocado, 60 guava and 1,500 ginger seedlings on their own land. The aim of the co-monitoring and learning phase was to monitor medium and longterm outputs and impacts. Groundwater monitoring requires tools for groundwater level measurement, while crop monitoring requires bar codes for plant inventories. The aim of groundwater monitoring was to compare water levels in action arenas where canal blocking had taken place with those in control (unblocked) areas. Crop monitoring, meanwhile, was aimed at determining plant numbers and survival rates.The online monitoring systems facilitated participatory monitoring with the community groups. CIFOR has developed an online platform for monitoring trees, peat and the environment called the Community-Based Restoration Monitoring System (CBRMS), which is discussed in a separate publication. Figure 48 shows water levels in an action arena in Penyengat where revegetation and rewetting interventions had taken place being higher than those in control land where no interventions had been applied.The research team and community groups also monitored community institutions and economic changes. The aim of institutional monitoring was to determine the impacts of PAR on institutions in each of the villages. Meanwhile, economic monitoring was aimed at calculating any additional benefits for managers after implementing business models in their action arenas.During this phase, the research team and community groups involved in augmented PAR also 'learned' about any challenges or difficulties emerging in implementing the action plans. Obstacles encountered in implementation processes were due to weather factors, with the villages experiencing high rainfall during 2022, which caused flooding and waterlogged soil. As seeds planted in such conditions can rot, and any fertilizers applied will dissolve and drain away before plants can absorb them, managers frequently postponed planting and fertilizer applications to minimize risks.Each group made commodity adjustments in the action phase for a number of reasons.In PGT-Action Arena 2, for instance, managers had not originally planned to plant matoa trees, but during the action phase, the managers decided to do so to establish an agroforestry system with trees that bear fruit that could be sold to provide additional profits. The groups in KAP-Action Arena 1 also made an adjustment in deciding to plant more geronggang due to its suitability to peat swamp conditions.Pest infestations proved to be a significant challenge to revegetation by killing planted seedlings. This was the case with some of the red ginger planted by a women's group in Kayu Ara Permai. Another challenge arose with recording numbers of seeds entered and planted. In Penyengat, where there is a very strong sense of kinship between residents, particularly among the indigenous population, arena managers were reluctant to refuse others from outside the action arenas asking for seedings for fear of creating social envy. As a result, they would frequently have to recalculate seedling requirements.Table 5 below provides summaries of PAR activities in the two villages. Where conventional PAR required face-to-face meetings, augmented PAR now utilizes digital platforms in the implementation of each of its phases. This has made PAR processes more efficient and effectiveAugmented PAR has enabled communities to utilize digital technology, thereby proving that community-based peatland restoration processes do not necessarily have to be conducted face-to-face, but can be integrated using existing digital technologies. The use of digital technologies in augmented PAR has proven capable of maintaining PAR's potential to encourage communities to become drivers of actions that provide environmental, economic and social benefits, and reduce fire risk.A participatory approach is important for providing science-based and locally appropriate recommendations for sustainable practices on-the ground. The augmented PAR approach helps researchers capture local situations, needs and dynamics, as one size does not fit all.The Canvas Business Model (CBM) is a helpful tool in developing integrated sustainable business models for communities. It can be applied in participatory settings, and helps make key aspects of business planning understandable for communities (Figure 49). We hope it can serve as a reference for actors involved in sustainable peatland management and restoration in reconciling ecological, social and economic objectives.The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) envision a more equitable world where trees in all landscapes, from drylands to the humid tropics, enhance the environment and well-being for all. CIFOR and ICRAF are CGIAR Research Centers.Sedagho Siak","tokenCount":"10018"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8370943259.json b/data/part_1/8370943259.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..823a96beb6076b5cccf8a7219e37875e9fce165d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8370943259.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c459ef8cfe2a308ce99cd44c260399ae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5db6ac31-c982-4e2e-81b2-ebf473e4e241/retrieve","id":"118401873"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"13de5fbf-4be9-4c99-8e53-469672b38a89","pagecount":"3","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute, Columbia University (IRI) organized three parallel capacity building workshops in the context of Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa project (AICCRA) project. The objective of the training was advancing the availability, access, and use of high-quality climate information to anticipate, manage, and respond to climate-related disasters and longer-term climate change. The three workshops were as follows:1) The Climate Data Tool (CDT) and Automatic Weather Station Data Tool (ADT);2) The IRI Data Library and Maproom; and 3) Seasonal Forecasting Approaches. The training as in the table above was attended as follows:The aim of this workshop was to provide advanced training on the Climate Data Tool (CDT) to national meteorological service staff.CDT is an open-source, R-based software with an easy-touse a graphical user interface used for data organization, quality control, combining station data with satellite and reanalysis data, evaluating merged and inputs datasets, performing an array of analyses, and visualization. By the end of the training, which was training of trainers (ToT), participants were be able to pass along expertise and cultivated skills related to the above objectives. The workshop also provided an opportunity to demonstrate a web-based application called Automatic Weather Station Data Tool (ADT). This application, initially developed by the IRI in the context of Rwanda, helps to manage challenges in accessing and processing AWS data collected by different systems/networks (Vaisala, Edkon, KOICA, etc.), which are on different servers and in different formats, by enabling data quality control, processing, and visualization.By the end of the training, participants were able to:1. Review the different functionalities of the CDT tool 2. Use CDT for data preparation, quality control, combining datasets, validation, analysis and visualization 3. Understand the use of ADTThe aim of this workshop was to provide training on the navigation, understanding and Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) maproom for national meteorological service staff. In particular, the training demonstrated the use and potential applications of existing maproom products, including how best to communicate maproom information with a range of users.By the end of the training, participants were able to:1. Explain some of the statistics, maps, and graphs used in the maproom 2. Navigate through the different components of the ENACTS maproom 3. Understand the specific use of some of the maproom products 4. Explain maproom navigation and use to non-technical users The workshop provided an opportunity to learn about some new and upcoming features of the IRI Data Library software, namely maproom developed in Python, which will increase the ease with which national meteorological service staff could troubleshoot and update their own maproom and tools for systems administrators that facilitate installation and maintenance of the software.The aim of the hands on training was to provide both theoretical background and practical skills towards generating high-skill seasonal climate forecasts, using both the \"NextGen\" approach combined with a regression approach developed through the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre. Specific objectives that were achieved included:1. Reinforcing knowledge of seasonal predictability for East and Southern Africa 2. Reinforcing knowledge around seasonal forecast methods including relevant statistical methods 3. Outlining the inputs to the NextGen forecasting system 4. Running PyCPT and explaining how to configure it to make the best forecasts in participants' home country, including forecast verification 5. Combining NextGen outputs with ICPAC regression methods to produce the bestavailable seasonal forecasts On behalf of the Zambia Meteorological Department Director who is also World Meteorology Organisation -WMO country representative, the participants would like to appreciate the support from AICCRA project Lead and team for the good collaboration to have made the training be a success through the financial support. The participants were trained as trainers of trainers (ToTs).There is need to deliver the same hands on skills to other members of staff as a way of scaling up at national level.The training was successful and served as a stepping stone to a better climate science understanding.","tokenCount":"665"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8402299863.json b/data/part_1/8402299863.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..23b30deebb48dc38d087043f2700ed5d16f46bb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8402299863.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6687eb6a77d6057d7755f9f005a90279","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9c8a6906-143a-4329-96c3-f964dac68ea3/retrieve","id":"1432724411"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"83eb28cf-db2c-4397-abca-6c956abfe826","pagecount":"2","content":"CIP is a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato and Andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. www.cipotato.org CIP is a CGIAR research center CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centers in close collaboration with hundreds of partners across the globe. www.cgiar.org CIP thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. https://www.cgiar.org/funders/Investor: DFID (2018-19) The nutrition kitchen incorporates sweetpotato and other vegetables into kitchen garden interventions in Nigeria, benefiting 35,000 households with children under five by 2018.Root, tuber and banana crop for end-user preferences Investor: BMGF (2017-22) Operating in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, this project helps determine the needs and preferences of men and women farmers for sweetpotato, potato, yam, cassava and banana. Getting this data to crop breeders will ensure future varieties possess the characteristics (disease resistance, taste, etc.) wanted by farmers and consumers, facilitating greater adoption.Feed the Future Rwanda OFSP for income and nutrition Investor: USAID (2015-18) This Feed the Future project improved smallholder incomes and the nutritional uptake of women and children under five through increased production and consumption of OFSP in ten districts in Rwanda, reaching more than 207,000 new households directly and 144,000 households indirectly, through partnerships.Investor: BMGF (2015-19) A multi-CGIAR center collaboration, BNBF drove the delivery of biofortified crops-bean, cassava, maize and sweetpotato -through public awareness raising activities, helping reduce malnutrition and increase the incomes of 94,000 households in Nigeria and Tanzania. Private, public and development partners subsequently made investment commitments of USD 6.5 million to catalyze availability and demand for highly nutritious foods. Genetic gains (increased yields) that took breeders 36 years, can now be achieved in 5 years using improved conventional breeding, and average productivity rates have risen from 10.9 to 18.5 tons/ha under rainfed conditions. Efforts have expanded farmer access to quality planting material, improved farming practices, and created demand through the development of sweetpotato products, vastly expanding its production and consumption in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ghana.  successful in improving their vitamin A consumption and food security that phase II sought to institutionalize the approaches in the two regions. Ethiopia's five main agricultural vocational education colleges incorporated CIP modules into their training courses and sweetpotato recipes have been adopted by 10 government health bureaus as part of their nutritious cooking demonstrations. CIP is currently working with the government on the development of a national potato and sweetpotato strategy to drive impact at scale.Investor: USAID (2018-20) This project builds on earlier work to improve the food and nutrition security of at least 21,000 drought-affected farmers in the SNNP and Amhara regions by facilitating production of improved potato and sweetpotato varieties. Teams support farmer training centers and groups with access to irrigation, production and post-harvest technologies, quality planting material, and training in nutrition.The project helps improve the nutrition status of families with young children in the SNNP region with orange-fleshed sweetpotato: a reliable source of vitamin A and energy. It builds the capacity of extension agents to train specialized farmers to produce quality planting material for biofortified sweetpotato varieties and disseminate it to other farmers in their area. By early 2019, the project had reached 33,000 farmers with quality planting material and training enabling them to maximize yields and produce enough for their families and a surplus to market. ","tokenCount":"613"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8407838539.json b/data/part_1/8407838539.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6895dbd5b4ca15ad3573e3d384f90e86d9d7dcb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8407838539.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9570f6392a0d45f3491f479cfc240212","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/47f2cad9-6ddc-44c5-bf8e-7e3cbd9cb86e/content","id":"1097112646"},"keywords":["achieving","wheat","self-sufficiency","Brazil"],"sieverID":"c44e843d-4517-416f-8b98-c7259e582e49","pagecount":"5","content":"Brazil is a leading grain producer and exporter, producing on average 6.6 million tons (Mt) of wheat per year from 2013 to 2023 [1]. However, to meet its average annual domestic consumption of 11.1 Mt over the same period, the country continued to rely on imports of 4.5 Mt of wheat each year (figure S1). This dependency on imports leads to high wheat prices in Brazil compared to the global average. Notably, in years when domestic wheat production is low, such as 2012, prices in Brazil can surge to 90% higher than the global average (figure S2), with the risk of pushing millions of Brazilians into hunger [2]. To reduce the impact of external dependence and wheat price volatility, the country needs to increase domestic wheat production.Currently 90% of the national wheat production is concentrated in the southern region (figure 1(A)) including Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul (RS) states [1]. Sufficient year-round rainfall, for example at a farm in RS (figure 1(C)), favors the cultivation of wheat over winter, and it is generally sown between April and July [3]. However, challenges like reduced solar radiation, frost damage, and plant diseases during winter impact grain yields, along with high year-to-year weather variability including droughts and heatwaves due to the climate phenomenon El Niño Southern Oscillation [3]. Between 2013 and 2021, the average grain yield for the region was 2.5 t ha −1 [1], lower than the global average grain yield of 3.4 t ha −1 for the same period [4]. Beyond low yields, Brazil's wheat production deficit relative to consumption is exacerbated by farmers' limited motivation to increase wheat production, primarily due to low profitability. This circumstance leads farmers to choose alternative cereal crops, such as maize and barley, due to more favorable economic prospects.The predominant grain production system in Brazil is the soybean-maize double cropping system, and wheat is emerging as a viable complementary crop within this context. There are over 20 million hectares (Mha) of degraded planted pastureland in the Cerrado region in central Brazil [5] which if converted into cropland could be given over to production of soybean, maize, and wheat. Wheat cultivation has already started to expand into these vast Cerrado areas (figure 1(A)), with an impressive 8-fold increase in production since 2001 [1], promising to stably augment national production [8].A typical Cerrado site in Goiás (GO) state has abundant solar radiation and air temperature around 21 • C even during the winter months (figure 1(B)) due to its low latitudes. In the summer, from November to March, the GO site receives an average monthly precipitation of over 100 mm (figure 1(B)). Significantly less rain falls during the winter with an average monthly precipitation from June to August (1981-2022) close to zero (figure 1(B)).The dry Cerrado winters pose a significant challenge to wheat production and expansion [8]. Rainfed wheat crops are usually sown in February in the Cerrado region, following the harvest of the summer crop (usually soybeans grown from mid-October to mid-February). This timing allows wheat anthesis to occur in April when there is still an average accumulated rainfall of around 20 mm (figure 1(B)), ensuring moister soil than if sowing is delayed so anthesis and grain filling happens during the dry month of June. However, a disadvantage of sowing wheat before winter is the high relative humidity during the wheat The current wheat planted area was obtained from IBGE. [6], and monthly temperature and precipitation from NASAPOWER [7]. growing season that increases the incidence of wheat blast (Pyricularia oryzae pat. Triticum), a major cause of yield losses in Brazil [9]. For example, field experiments with rainfed wheat in Cerrado consistently show yields below 2 t ha −1 with early March sowing, while yields sown later than April reach up to 5 t ha −1 , a difference attributed to reduced incidence of wheat blast in the drier period [8][9][10][11]. Mostly without irrigation, the average wheat yield in Cerrado currently (2013-2023) is 2.6 t ha −1 [1].If fields in Cerrado are irrigated, wheat sown in the dry period of May can yield more than 6 t ha −1 [10]. It is noteworthy that a wheat yield of 9.6 t ha −1 was recently achieved in Cerrado after a 119 day growth period with irrigation, setting a world record for daily productivity of 80.9 kg ha −1 d −1 [12]. Expanding irrigation could therefore greatly facilitate the success of wheat cultivation in Cerrado and all states in this area have the capacity to increase their irrigated area. The Mato Grosso state has the greatest potential to increase its irrigated area-expanding from 200 000 ha to 3.9 Mha, the potential increase could be up to 1900% [13].In deciding how much wheat to sow, farmers in southern Brazil are strongly influenced by the wheat commodity price in Brazilian currency (Real R$). In this region, wheat production increases by 0.37 Mt for every R$100 increase in the price per t (figure S3) in October of the year preceding cultivation. The average price per t of wheat has been R$850 since 2013 [14], coinciding with the aforementioned yearly average production of 6.6 Mt. In subsequent years following those with high wheat prices in October, production can exceed 10 Mt (figure S3). In 2022, with unprecedented high prices, Brazil's wheat production reached 10.5 Mt, with the Cerrado region contributing 8% (0.9 Mt) to the total wheat production [1]. If the Cerrado could have produced an extra 1 Mt of wheat, Brazil would have achieved national wheat self-sufficiency in 2022 by meeting its 11.5 Mt domestic demand. As the Cerrado average yield was 2.7 t ha −1 , an additional 0.37 Mha of wheat area would have been needed.When wheat prices are low, achieving wheat selfsufficiency in Brazil faces another major challenge. In 2006, when the price dropped below R$400 per t, wheat production fell to less than 3.5 Mt, although this was also attributed to a combination of extreme weather events [3]. Nevertheless, when prices are at approximately R$400 per t, the wheat production in southern Brazil is usually around 4 Mt. To meet domestic demand in such a scenario, the Cerrado region would need to produce 7.5 Mt, requiring an extra 2.5 Mha of planting area in addition to the 300 000 ha currently cultivated.Future population growth and climate change pose additional challenges to the objective of wheat self-sufficiency in Brazil. Since 1975, wheat demand per capita in Brazil has averaged around 52 kg per person (figure S4). The current population of 210 M is projected to increase to 230 M by 2050, potentially raising the national wheat demand from 11.5 Mt to 12.8 Mt in this period (figure S5(S)). After 2050, the Brazilian population is likely to stabilize and then decline to 180 M by 2100 [15]. With higher temperatures and increased drought frequency, climate change may decrease wheat production in southern Brazil by 22% by 2050 and potentially by up to 60% by 2100 [3]. Increased demand together with the projected negative impact of climate change make it imperative to expand wheat areas in Brazil to minimize future dependency on imports.To estimate the required land area for wheat selfsufficiency, we considered both irrigated and rainfed scenarios, while accounting for variations in population, climate change and wheat prices in the southern regions of Brazil. Our analysis suggests that transforming at least 0.5 Mha of the agricultural areas of Cerrado into irrigated wheat fields could meet Brazil's wheat demand until 2035 (figure 2). This is compared to transforming over 2 Mha of rainfed fields that would be needed to achieve the self-sufficiency with no irrigation (figure 2). These values are based on an average wheat price. This framework implies that only the planted area in the southern region of Brazil varies according to the wheat price and with that national wheat production, necessitating adjustments in the planted wheat area in the Cerrado for achieving wheat self-sufficiency. For the Cerrado, we assume an average wheat yield of 2.6 t ha −1 in rainfed and 9.0 t ha −1 in irrigated systems, regardless of the wheat price.As climate change gradually impacts yields in southern Brazil, the extra wheat area needed to achieve self-sufficiency could rise to 3.5 Mha by 2050, if prices are low and crops are rainfed. For wheat selfsufficiency beyond 2050 as the population declines, Brazil's reliance on Cerrado land area would range from 0.4 Mha of irrigated fields when the wheat price is high to 3.1 Mha of rainfed fields when the wheat price is low.To become self-sufficient in wheat as proposed, Brazil needs to consider how to support policy and investment in the Cerrado. Promoting sustainable wheat cultivation on existing farms and degraded lands, while preventing deforestation, is crucial. Research on drought-tolerant wheat varieties suited to the Cerrado's dry winter climate is also essential [8]. Investments in irrigation infrastructure and knowledge transfer are vital for successful wheat farming in the tropics. Combatting climate change in Brazil and elsewhere through sustainable practices, including reforestation [16,17] and greenhouse gas emission reduction, is critical to decelerate the trend toward more frequent extreme weather events that threaten Brazilian wheat production [3]. Affordable crop insurance programs can aid farmers during extreme low wheat production seasons [18], and might encourage more investment in agriculture.The expansion of wheat in Brazil is primarily concentrated in the central Cerrado region, but research indicates an even greater potential in north and northeast Brazil, which includes some Cerrado lands [19] that could also be converted into productive croplands [20]. Ongoing explorations into Brazilian vertical wheat farms [21], with a potential yield of 1,940 t ha −1 per year in a 10-layer farm [22], promise to reduce agricultural pressure on newly transformed areas. Brazil can achieve its wheat selfsufficiency despite climate change by embracing a combination of innovative technologies and adaptive agricultural practices with sustainable expansion into the Cerrado.","tokenCount":"1641"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8425554512.json b/data/part_1/8425554512.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e0ea8edac7197558e1019784d641ca4eda4be525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8425554512.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73db3cfa81f9c78bf454cb8688bb17cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/21b12b30-ca14-4804-b6a5-c9f9bba694ab/retrieve","id":"1201297643"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7dd52763-4378-4669-aab7-2823672eee94","pagecount":"22","content":"Answer: We are quite confident that we will be able to release the vaccine. Together with the stakeholders and collaborative partners we will manage to distribute the vaccine. There is no reason to doubt this effort 4 .Question: How will it be packaged? Answer: Currently the vaccine is packed in 40 doses per straw.On 19 and 20 August 2014, 45 participants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, United Kingdom, Belgium and Ethiopia (Annex 2) participated in a workshop on the 'Distribution, delivery and improvement of the Infection and Treatment Method (ITM) vaccine for East Coast fever (ECF)'. The participants included representatives of Departments of Veterinary Services, regulatory authorities, international development organizations, research institutions, and private and public partners involved in the delivery of the vaccine. The workshop was held on the campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.The workshop was organized against the background of an increasing demand for the ITM vaccine, the result of the numerous efforts over the past three decades to promote the sustainable manufacture, availability and safe and effective delivery of the vaccine. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain and the workshop was designed to bring together various partners, stakeholders and field implementers to share practical knowledge, information, and good practices concerning the development and delivery of the vaccine.Workshop participants reviewed experiences in the production and delivery of the ITM vaccine in eastern and southern Africa. They further identified a preliminary list of research improvements related to the current product and the process to manufacture it.After two days' deliberations, the workshop generated the following recommendations for action by all stakeholders as per their respective responsibilities.Considering the continued socio-economic impact of ECF in the affected countries, Empathising with livestock farmers, who continuously need to be made aware of and require access to the vaccine in order to improve adoption, Recognizing the wide array of partners and stakeholders involved in the ECF ITM domain, Realising the need for a coherent partnership framework encompassing both public and private sectors for effective and efficient management of the ECF ITM vaccine, Reflecting on the roles by various stakeholders and the need for better, more regular networking and information sharing on ECF ITM, Recognising the significant progress that has been made in the recent past on ECF ITM vaccine in terms of manufacturing, registration and distribution, Aware of the imminent launch of a new batch of the vaccine from Centre for Ticks and Tickborne Diseases (CTTBD), Malawi, Understanding that the availability of a new generation vaccine is several years from reality, Accepting that significant improvements can be made to the current ECF ITM vaccine and the production technology, Acknowledging the need for further targeted research on ECF ITM and its production, marketing and adoption, Aware of the need for regulatory harmonisation through mutual recognition protocols for affected countries for use of the vaccine, the workshop concluded that:1.Although the ITM vaccine manufacturing process is complex, the production process can be improved (in the short term) resulting in quicker and cheaper manufacturing processes.A next generation vaccine is under active research but has about a 10 year horizon, emphasizing the need to continue to improve the ITM vaccine and production technology, and to acquire further knowledge on the socio-economic impact of the vaccine and its effect on the epidemiology of the disease.Improvement is desired in the way that liquid nitrogen is handled in the field at all stages of the delivery chain, in the thermostability of the diluent (preferably stable at room temperature) and in the current dose presentations, which are not optimal. 4.The allocation of vaccine to countries and distributors must reflect a fair market distribution governed by transparent and reliable processes.Standard operating procedures for vaccine delivery need to be established, based on best practices derived from field experience. 6.Centralized and uniform training and certification of vaccinators is essential to ensure that the vaccine is delivered safely and effectively. 7.Filling the vaccine supply gap in the short term is a critical issue to address. 8.The registration process in the various countries is key to ensuring wide availability of the vaccine and requires appropriate actions now. 9.An emerging, demand-driven research agenda for the ITM vaccine must be developed and pursued.Further to the conclusions above, participants identified several short-term actions needed to take this work forward:1. A clear timetable for the vaccine availability to distributors is urgently needed. The ITM procedure employs well-characterized live sporozoite forms of theilerial parasites which are administered to cattle simultaneously with a long-acting formulation of the antibiotic oxytetracycline. Without the antibiotic treatment, the sporozoite inoculation would be lethal, but the oxytetracycline suppresses the infection, by a largely unknown mechanism. The result is an asymptomatic or mild episode of ECF, which induces a life-long immunity to the disease.ITM was initially developed and refined at the former East African Veterinary Research Organisation (EAVRO), at Muguga, Kenya, between 1967 and1977. Since then, various versions of the vaccine have been developed, each differing in the strains of theilerial parasites used in to inoculate cattle. The most widely used version is known as the 'Muguga cocktail', a combination of three parasite stabilates. The combination of strains is believed to be necessary because of the heterogeneity in field populations of T. parva, although this is yet to be formally established. ILRI produced the first commercial batch of the Muguga cocktail ITM vaccine in the mid-1990s, at the request of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). A decade later, this time at the request from regional stakeholders convened under the auspices of the African Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), ILRI produced a second batch, which is now being used in eastern Africa. A third batch is currently in production at CTTBD in Malawi, facilitated by GALVmed and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and using tick and parasite seed stabilates transferred from ILRI.To date, over one million cattle have been immunized with the ILRI-produced vaccines. These have been delivered by commercial distributors, in particular VetAgro Limited who pioneered the commercial feasibility of the vaccine in pastoral areas in northern Tanzania.The vaccine has been registered in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania, and is approved for use in Uganda pending official registration.Production of the live ECF vaccine is complicated, time-consuming and expensive. To produce one million doses of vaccine requires 130 cattle that have not previously been exposed to the disease, 500 rabbits and at least 600,000 ticks. The entire process of making, testing and releasing a batch takes up to 18 months. The product then requires a cold chain and careful handling throughout storage, distribution and delivery, before being administered by trained veterinary personnel.Other strains have also been used in field vaccination of cattle. The Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) undertook commercialization in Kenya of an alternative version based on the Marikebuni isolate of the parasite. The vaccine was sold under the trade name of ECFiM. In southern Africa, where the diversity of parasite strains is thought not to be as great as in eastern Africa, single local isolates have been used in the vaccine. In Zimbabwe, funds from Belgium and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) allowed production and use of locally isolated parasite stocks throughout the country. In Zambia, with support from Belgium, two stocks were identified that have formed the basis of that country's vaccination program.The August 2014 meeting 1The meeting in August 2014 was organized 2 by GALVmed and ILRI to bring together key parties involved in ITM. The objectives of the meeting were twofold: to provide an update on the production of the next batch of the ITM vaccine, and to address the challenges in the delivery of the vaccine. The specific aims of the meeting were to: provide information on future vaccine production  share and document experiences in delivering the current ITM vaccine for East Coast fever  identify and recommend best practices for the delivery and application of the vaccine  guide the development of a research agenda to improve the vaccine, both the product itself and the process to manufacture it  identify further research required to provide an evidence base on the impact of the vaccine Participants (Annex 2) were drawn from a wide mix of organizations and represented distributors and vaccinators, Departments of Veterinary Services, regulatory agencies, researchers, vaccine manufacturers, and facilitators. It was perhaps the first such meeting of the full 'vaccine chain' for East Coast fever.The meeting agenda is provided in Annex 1. The first day was essentially dedicated to the 'delivery' side of the vaccine while day 2 focused more on the continuing research agenda.George Chaka of CTTBD gave a presentation on the current status and plans for sustainable production of the ITM vaccine 3 .He explained the process to produce bulk Theileria parva stabilate as well as infected Rhipicephalus appendiculatus adult ticks. He emphasized that it is a long, drawn-out process of about 18 months which:  Closely follows the natural life cycle of the parasite in both cattle and tick  Uses fairly low level production technology  Is labour-intensive  Has not much changed in the last 30 years  Does not employ much automation of the production processesIn terms of the production timetable, he explained that the aim is to release a first batch of between 270,000 and 300,000 doses in late 2014, with a second batch to be released in September 2015 (around 1.5 to 2 million doses).Questions from the audience focused on product quality and packaging as well as its availability to distributors.Patrick Traill from GALVmed provided an update on the current status and plans for supply, registration and distribution of the vaccine.He explained that the current batch of the vaccine is registered in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi and used under special permission in Uganda. Investigations to potentially register the vaccine are taking place in South Sudan, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Mozambique.As CTTBD indicated, new batches of the vaccine are in preparation. Limited stocks of the current vaccine are available with some distributors; ILRI has a small stock for research purposes. He presented some data on the size of the market; the table below shows vaccination uptake projections based on current cattle populations and past uptake of the vaccine. He explained the process by which the LTR are appointed in each country by CTTBD to allow for vaccine to be available within the country and as part of the registration process. The current LTR status is:In terms of registration:• Full registration and submission of CTTBD's ECF ITM dossier is ongoing • This occurs in conjunction with LTR appointment • In the short term to ensure vaccine availability it will be necessary to apply for a temporary/special/emergency import permit within Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda.The LTR process generated some discussion. It was made clear that the product owner, in this case CTTBD, is the one who appoints the LTR. The LTR must have qualifications to run a pharmaceutical company. Being a LTR does not imply sole distributorship; it means the organization is the sole agent of the owner of the product. The LTR facilitates distribution and wide access to the vaccine. It also has a role in quality control.After the orienting presentations, participants formed groups to discuss lessons and good practices that could benefit distribution and uptake of the vaccine. In the first round, groups were formed to discuss critical factors and promising practices around different issues. A second 'synthesizing' round brought participants together according to their role in the vaccine chain. They were asked, from their perspectives, to prioritize activities to be undertaken. The outputs as recorded are presented below.  harmonized, formalized system for distribution: confidence, especially with cross border trade -clear user instructions for both users and distributors -training of vaccinators -proper use of vaccine to achieve efficacy  vaccinators could convince farmers of economic benefits of the vaccine  documentation addressing the quality control of cold chain during distribution and recording/ reporting back through LTR and registration authorities. Patrick Traill synthesized the main messages from this session as: Availability -we need vaccines  Awareness -there needs to be a campaign to sensitize stakeholders  Vaccinators have a key role -needs to be reinforced  Having standard operating procedures essential within the country process  Practical elements of the straw size -a critical issue in packaging of the vaccine  The issue of smart partnerships, having a forum like this, on a regular basis is very critical The image below is a word cloud generated (via http://www.wordle.net) from the text in this section. Larger terms represent increasing frequency of use of that term.Before engaging in the discussion on research priorities for the ITM vaccine, it was important to obtain an overview on the prospects for an alternative vaccine against ECF. Vish Nene gave a presentation looking to the 'next generation' ECF vaccine 6 .Research at ILRI and elsewhere has demonstrated that there are two major entry points for development of a subunit vaccine for the control of ECF. The first is through generation of antibodies that have the capacity to neutralize sporozoites, the infective life-cycle stage of T. parva. The second is through priming of cytotoxic T cells that kill schizont-infected lymphocytes, the pathogenic stage of T. parva. Candidate T. parva vaccine antigens have been identified and under laboratory conditions they induce immunity to ECF in 30-50% of vaccinated cattle.In January 2014, an inception workshop was held at ILRI to bring together leading experts in ECF and infectious disease research from more than eight institutions to work together to obtain proof-of-concept for a subunit vaccine for ECF. This Consortium is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Normal Borlaug Commemorative Research Initiative of the Feed the Future program of USAID-USDA-ARS and the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom 7 .The ECF Consortium will harness new science and undertake various research activities to fill current knowledge gaps. This involves testing of existing antigens to improve their efficacy, identifying new antigens, mapping bovine responses to infection and vaccination and a genomics approach to understand more about how the pathogen genome is evolving. The primary objective in this four-year research Consortium is to demonstrate immunity to ECF in 70-80% of a defined type of cattle given a defined parasite challenge, with a second phase to provide broad-spectrum immunity. In the interim, the ITM vaccine is the only vaccine solution available for the control of ECF and various research activities are being undertaken to improve the manufacture and delivery of this live, parasite-based vaccine.Is this team dealing with process improvement? Not directly, but the team is working on developing methods to determine infective sporozoite counts. Such methods will be transferred to CTTBD who will then use them to accelerate process improvements.A lot of resources are being used to develop the vaccines, have you ever considered looking for a vaccine for the vector? Would it be cheaper or faster? ILRI is assessing a potential role of vector vaccines as a means of research on developing an ECF vaccine.Is there the possibility of removing Liquid Nitrogen from the process? This does not seem likely in the short to medium term.Have you found cattle populations that are more resistant to ECF? There is currently little evidence to support resistance/tolerance to ECF in the same manner as there is for cattle resistance to trypanosomosis.The process At dinner during the evening of day 1, participants were asked to describe briefly the most needed improvement in either the ITM product or manufacturing process. A clustered list of the responses is attached at Annex 3.In the morning of day 2, participants reviewed clusters of products and process improvement ideas that had been documented the previous evening. Groups were asked to work on these ideas, to prioritize them and to assess the likelihood of success and the time required for development. A summary of the discussion and main ideas is provided below, separated according to whether the improvement will change the product or the manufacturing process.The need for a cold chain was viewed as a major hindrance in the delivery of the vaccine. The cold chain operates at several stages: Vaccine -making the vaccine stable at room temperature is considered a longterm, high-risk undertaking at present. In areas where there is a reliable supply of liquid nitrogen, storage at -20°C or at 4°C may be less reliable due to irregular electricity supplies  Diluent -it was recognized that a simpler diluent would be cheaper and more stable at room temperature. Activities are already under way at CTTBD to develop such a diluent. A desired stability would be six months at room temperature. Post-reconstitution stability -it is currently recognized that the sporozoites can be kept at 4°C for up to four hours without affecting vaccine performance. The need for increased time is less important if a smaller dose (5 -10) package is available. Improve stabilizers to keep stabilate viable from 4 to 12 hours post thawing would be highly beneficial. Previous research indicated that the stabilate can be used for up to 12 hours post reconstitution (Musisi et al., 1991; communicated by B. Di Giulio)The need for OTC adds considerably to the cost of the vaccine. Extra labour is also required as the dose of tetracycline depends on the weight of the animal. In addition, the approval of different brands of OTC requires in vivo testing. It was therefore suggested that research should be undertaken to explore ways of attenuating the parasite to make it self-limiting. One approach is by irradiation, as has been used in the closely related malaria organisms.The current straw contains 40 doses, which is not suitable for smallholder areas, where a presentation of 5 -10 doses is desirable. There are two ways to achieve this: a) Filling with a diluted stabilate at the time of manufacture, together with the use of a smaller straw. This requires an estimate of the potency of the vaccine stabilate at the time of filling and the proportion of the batch that should be packaged in the smaller preparation. There will be increased storage costs due to the greater number of straws. b) Post manufacture thawing of the routine, larger straws, diluting and re-packaging.There will be some loss of sporozoite viability during the process, but this method has the advantage of knowing the potency of the batch through the dosedetermination assessment on the routine straws and the ability to make according to demand.The smaller dose straw would cost more on a per dose basis, although this would be offset by the reduction in wastage and the fact that the target animals are high value ones. Data on cost versus convenience is needed. Sensitization of farmers on the change in packaging is essential to avoid suspicion.Evidence is available indicating that the Muguga cocktail does not fully protect cattle that share pastures with buffalo in some areas, whilst other reports have indicated that the vaccine is effective against buffalo-derived challenge. Lack of protection limits the wider use of the vaccine and poses a reputational risk for the vaccine. It was requested that more epidemiological research be undertaken on the importance of buffalo (i.e. how many cattle are exposed to the buffalo-derived parasites, and how can the vaccine be changed to protect against the challenge of buffalo-derived parasites).Vaccination with ITM can induce a carrier state in immunized animals, which allows the parasites in the vaccine stabilate to be transmitted to other animals. The effect of this on the existing parasite population is not known.A single vaccine stabilate that could be applied in all regions where ECF exists would provide efficiencies of scale in the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine. However, due to the existence of strain variation among the T. parva parasites, there are concerns as to whether broad immunity in the field can be induced by a vaccine composed of a single stabilate.The issue of how to determine the safety and efficacy of the ITM vaccine prior to introduction into new countries or regions was also mentioned. There is currently no agreed procedure for this.1. Decrease the number of animals used in the production process.The current procedure requires a large number of animals for the production of the vaccine and also for pre-release testing to ensure safety and to determine the potency (doses/straw) of the vaccine batch.a. Vaccine production The alternative for using animals in the production process is the use of in vitro culture of the parasite. This is considered very challenging from a technical perspective and not for immediate application.b. Potency testing.The current protocol for determining the dose of each batch requires three rounds of testing, plus an initial infectivity trial. This should be re-examined to see if it can be reduced. It was also noted that work is ongoing to establish an in vitro correlate of infectivity, which could be use to asses the potency of each batch and reduce the amount of in vivo testing required.Concern was expressed about the current time required to produce a batch of the vaccine (up to 18 months), particularly with the expected increase in demand of the vaccine. The most immediate way to reduce the time is to decrease the number of rounds required for dose determination (as mentioned above). The use of staggered production cycles should also be considered.It was noted that increasing the number of sporozoites produced in each production would help to meet the expected increase in demand. Potential ways to achieve this include looking at alternative tick strains to increase sporozoite yields, to improve grinding methods to increase recovery of sporozoites from ticks and to improve the freezing process to allow for better sporozoite viability rates on thawing.The following improvements were suggested for the diluent container- Change from a glass container to a plastic one  Use a unique cap colour for each batch  Ensure that the size of container is suitable for the amount of diluent required for each batch of straws (which is related to the number of doses per straw).Phil Toye synthesized the main research priorities identified in this session as: Improve the thermostability of the diluent and possibly the vaccine  Remove the need for the use of oxytetracycline  Produce the vaccine at a suitable number of doses per straw  Undertake further epidemiological research especially on the role of buffalo and the effects of the vaccine on current parasite populations  Reducing the time and the number of stages required for production of each batch of the vaccineDirk Geysen compiled a first set of conclusions, as follows.1. The ITM vaccine manufacturing process is complex; the processes can be improved (in the short term) resulting in more doses produced more quickly and at lower cost. 2. A next generation vaccine is on the way, but with at least a 10-year horizon. 3. Inadequate impact studies: more information is needed on what happens after vaccination. 4. Packaging of the doses; more adapted to different demands and customers. 5. The diluent is going to become more user-and distributor-friendly. 6. There is scope for research to reduce the need for OTC. 7. Liquid nitrogen: various options are needed to better manage and handle this in the field. 8. Allocation of doses to countries and distributors: there needs to be fair market distribution as well as transparent and reliable processes. 9. Standard operating procedures: These need to be built upon, based on existing best practices. 10. Vaccinators -certification and training is essential to enhance results on the ground. 11. Filling the vaccine gap in the short term is a critical issue to address 12. The registration process in the various countries is key to ensuring wide availability of the vaccine and requires appropriate actions now. 13. An emerging research agenda for the current ITM vaccine is apparent and should be taken up.Further to the conclusions above, participants identified a series of short term actions needed to take this work forward.1. A clear timetable for the vaccine availability to distributors is urgently needed.Information is also needed on any planned controlled release or field testing -for both batches (CTTBD). 2. LTR roles as well as those of in-country distributors and importers need to be finalised (GALVmed/CTTBD) 3. It would be useful to better document and explain the various roles and support provided by GALVmed, CTTBD, ILRI and others in the development and distribution of the vaccine (GALVmed). 4. Compile, validate, extend and share all the proposed delivery improvements (GALVmed/CTTBD) 5. Compile, validate, extend and share all the proposed process/product improvements/research agenda (GALVmed/ILRI/CTTBD) 6. Follow up a joint ECF communication process to catalyze and support continuing sharing and awareness and exchange of already existing materials and other information across countries -by newsletter, websites, etc. (GALVmed/ILRI). 7. Evaluate these actions after a set time to reevaluate priorities (GALVmed/ILRI/CTTBD)","tokenCount":"4113"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8437724780.json b/data/part_1/8437724780.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d22c6d00e8181e753d52089a98d856e5f2246951
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8437724780.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0f9a8c9d64434f3341a9174b76540dd5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f6cc7c55-ac8c-43bf-85c4-0301ca7f0cbe/retrieve","id":"270967508"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"63137e8c-48aa-4d86-abcb-746131388a5f","pagecount":"1","content":"• Livestock disease control requires a multifaceted approach integrating data from host, agent and the environment.• As such, records play a pivotal role in disease surveillance.• Abattoirs are key sources of data on livestock diseases basing on antemortem and post-mortem findings.• Abattoir data provides clue on• Diseases of public health importance • Diseases of economic importance • Compliance with legislation on drug residues • Animal welfare • Accuracy and timeliness of recorded data is key.• Paper based disease surveillance systems are dogged with a lot of challenges ranging from bulkiness, slow and poor retrieval of data.• We are piloting an electronic mobile syndromic surveillance system as an alternative model of collection, storage and retrieval of data on livestock diseases at abattoirs. • This will help in timely collection, processing and sharing of information for timely intervention• Some diseases were localized e.g. Cysticercosis was reported in Kitgum and Gulu 22 September 2022 ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.The submitted data can be used to generate disease risk maps for Uganda and is a QUICK way to generate reports when needed.①To develop capacity in electronic syndromic disease surveillance ②To establish a disease data base in slaughter animals in Uganda ③ To develop capacity in meat inspectionManual Data Collection ","tokenCount":"219"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8459534644.json b/data/part_1/8459534644.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ad23dad079a13d53b1b9f4fa301df095ac27f3ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8459534644.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e30dfdef0592c7a48f08c213e1651725","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b7c88974-be1c-4cfb-af93-d9f25940763a/retrieve","id":"-471161646"},"keywords":["Climate Change","Digital Extension Tools","Agriculture","Agroecology","Farmers","Social Inclusion","Climate Change Mitigation","Performance Assessment"],"sieverID":"dd267ab2-998e-48dd-8f1e-965ebdff54fc","pagecount":"36","content":"The Agroecological transitions for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systems (TRANSITIONS) programme is funded by the European Union through its DeSIRA initiative and managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). This publication was produced by the Inclusive Digital Tools to Enable Climate-informed Agroecological Transitions (ATDT) Project under the European Commission grant agreement No. 2000003773.Agroecological transitions are increasingly seen as a means for improving the sustainability of food systems by applying ecological principles to agriculture and generating ecosystem services while also improving socially equitable decision-making. At the same time, climate change adaptation and mitigation are increasingly being integrated into agroecological transitions to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Agroecological transitions in these contexts involve supporting farmers to shift to more climate-resilient and intensive production systems while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts, for example from greenhouse gas emissions, toxic pesticides, or inefficient nutrient use.Social movements for agroecology and donor funding have been the primary drivers of agroecology to date.As advocates and donors seek to scale up agroecological transitions, digital tools can help rapidly provide technical support and performance assessment for large numbers of farmers. Yet digital tools for scaling up practices or assessing outcomes have not been widely used by smallholders, women, the rural poor and other marginalized groups in LMIC due to a lack of digital literacy or access to digital infrastructure. Involving farmers in the co-creation of knowledge is a key principle of agroecology. If digital platforms are to be a major driver for scaling up agroecology, it is essential to support more inclusive use of tools and co-design of practices by farmers to address needs in LMICs.In addition, technical guidance for agroecology in tools is often weak and climate change adaptation and mitigation are not regularly integrated into practices.To support scaling of agroecology, the Socially Inclusive Digital Tools Project (ATDT) of the Agroecological TRANSITIONS Program aims to support use of digital resources and citizen science to empower farmers to co-create, adapt and innovate practices for climate-informed agroecological outcomes at large scales. The project is one component of the CGIAR's Program on Agroecological Transitions for Building Resilient, Inclusive, Agricultural and Food Systems (TRANSITIONS), which aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions through the development and adoption of holistic metrics for food and agricultural systems performance, inclusive digital tools and transparent private sector engagement.This report summarizes a global review of digital resources relevant to climate change-informed agroecological transitions.The goal of the review was to identify exemplary features of digital tools for socially inclusive and climate-informed agroecological transitions. We cataloged digital resources available globally that provided either technical advisory services or performance assessment, as functions that directly support scaling up new practices. We reviewed the tools' functions (i.e., the purpose of using a tool) against indicators for exemplary features (i.e., the channels through which a user can engage with the tool). To address social inclusion, we gave special attention to farmers' co-creation of knowledge for onthe-ground practices.We defined digital tools as programs or applications used primarily on devices such as cell phones, computers, or tablets, and that that allow users to engage in defined target activities, in this case agroadvisory and performance assessment. We did not include analog tools with a digital component, such as in-person extensions services with follow-up via SMS. We also did not include digital platforms or processes.We selected tools with either agro-advisory or performance assessment functions and that had agroecological or climate change content or features. Tools were classified as technical advisory resources if they delivered any recommendations regarding farming practices and as performance assessment resources if they included assessment of farm outcomes, status or operations.Exemplariness was defined as tool features that best fit the requirements of the target users and best addressed agroecological and climate change mitigation or adaption outcomes. We developed 87 indicators to characterize tools and their exemplary features for the following functional or content areas: technical advisory, performance assessment, agroecology, climate change adaptation and mitigation, social inclusion and co-design, and scaling (see Annex 1). These indicators provided a framework to identify and evaluate exemplary features of digital tools that could support socially inclusive agroecological transitions.The 12 agroecological indicators (i.e., principles) were adopted and refined from the FAO 10 Elements of Agroecology (FAO, 2018), HLPE (HLPE, 2019), and TAPE (FAO, 2019)  The exclusion criteria eliminated tools that:▪ Solely related to precision agriculture (e.g., agricultural drones, in-field sensors, variable rate input application technology, etc.), ▪ Solely related to market access or digital finance, and Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions ▪ Did not provide enough information online.Each tool was reviewed by one analyst by accessing the tool, when available, or by reviewing materials online. A second analyst validated individual indicator responses when subjectivity in responses was an issue. Indicators were marked as 'unknown' when subjectivity in responses persisted or when information was not available. The results are publicly available in a published database (Dittmer et al. 2022a).The tools for agroecology and tools for climate change were then analyzed and results published in separate policy briefs (Burns, et al. 2022;Dittmer et al. 2022b). The climate change policy brief examined the intersection between agroecology and climate change functions. These results are shared below. The statistical analyses for these briefs are provided in Annex 2 and Annex 3 respectively.Many digital tools are available to provide farmers agricultural advice and assessment of their farm performance. Increasing interest in agroecology has created a demand for digital tools that can include agroecological principles such as farmer co-design, diversity, and whole farming system transitions.Digital tools can also be a means of rapidly scaling up agroecological practices. Our analysis aimed to answer two questions:▪ How well do available digital tool features in agriculture support agroecology practices?▪ To what extent do these digital tools' features also support farmer co-creation and smallholder farmer inclusion?To answer these questions, we identified existing digital tools that provided agro-advisory services or performance assessment and reviewed their features against indicators for socially inclusive, agroecological transitions relevant to smallholder farmers in LMIC.Of the 61 tools that we assessed, 43 included agroecological components, including 37 that provided agro-advisory services and 14 that provided performance assessment. While productivity is an Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions agroecology principle, we did not consider tools that only addressed productivity as having an agroecological component. This analysis covered tools for a wide range of geographical areas, target users, and intervention strategies. Analysis across tools was complicated by differences in what was exemplary for different target users and contexts -a smallholder farmer often has different literacy requirements, incentives, and training needs compared to a researcher. The transition of industrial agriculture to agroecological practices requires different approaches than a smallholder farmer seeking to improve their livelihood.Reaching smallholders may include more than just one tool, and appropriate implementation of tools may depend on the broader digital ecosystem of enabling conditions and combined use of other tools such as FarmStack for secure data transfer, Amplio talking book for e-extension, and FarmOS for farm management. Tools that are geospatially enabled, provide local environmental data, or connect to local weather information services are key features for supporting contextually relevant solutions.We explored three exemplary features or functions of digital tools for agroecology in our review: (1) the extent to which tools comprehensively addressed agroecological principles, (2) features for technical agro-advisories and performance assessment, and (3) how well tools supported farmer communication and access to tool content. A summary of the tools and their features may be found in Table 1.We considered tools more exemplary to the extent they reflected a more complete set of agroecological principles. We defined agroecological completeness as the degree to which tools addressed 12 agroecological principles, based on Barrios et al. 2020 andHLPE 2019 (Figure  1). Tools were classified as agroecological if they included four or more agroecological principles and complete if they included all twelve. A tool was counted as addressing a principle if it included content or features related to agroadvisories or performance assessment related to this principle. Examples include sending short message service (SMS) messages on how to apply fertilizer appropriately (agro-advisory for efficiency/input reduction) or collecting information in an app about gender representation in farm roles (performance assessment for gender and youth).Agroecological completeness was weak among the tools reviewed. Most tools (65%) addressed four or fewer agroecological principles. Only three tools in our sample were complete: F-ACT: Farm-Level Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions Agroecology Criteria Tool, Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), and Access Agriculture.Most tools addressed sustainability issues at levels of granularity that did not capture the nuances or multiple scales of agroecology. Use of agroecological principles at social scales, such as culture and food traditions or governance were rare for the types of tools we reviewed. Productivity was the primary principle covered by most tools.The most frequently represented agroecological principles among the 43 tools reviewed were productivity, income, and their stability over time (81%), co-creation and sharing of knowledge (58%), and efficiency/input reduction (56%). Agro-advisory tools reflected a similar pattern, while performance assessment tools included productivity, income, and their stability over time (93%), followed by efficiency/input reduction (64%), with co-creation and sharing of knowledge in under half of the tools (43%). All four tools with only one principle included co-creation and sharing of knowledge, farmerrelevant content (67%). Given the low number of tools available for agroecology, one approach for tool implementers is to identify the priority agroecological principles for application in each community or region to guide selection of tools, or use a combination of tools, rather than seek a single tool. For example, overuse of toxic agrochemical inputs may be an issue requiring urgent attention in some places and tools could be selected that address this content.Tool developers that want to improve the agroecological completeness of an existing tool should look to see which principles are included in the tool as it exists and which agroecological principles are most appropriate for improving the tool. They can then work to pilot and test modifications that include those principles. We suggest that, in this process, agroecological completeness should be flexibly defined according to the tool's objectives and local contexts for its application. Advocates for agroecological principles should be considered another \"stakeholder\" and their interests weighed carefully against those of targeted tool users and farmers.Exemplary features of the 37 agroecological agro-advisory tools included context-specific technical options, use of videos, integration with people-based support systems that included coaching and hotlines for questions, and two-way communication. Agro-advisories require accessibility and actionability of information at the farmer-level. The goal of co-creation requires farmer input into the development of these advisories.Exemplary features of the 14 performance assessment tools included collaborative definition of indicators with farmers and other stakeholders; distinguishing between characterizing agroecological transitions and farm performance according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); options for use of multiple languages; options to modify tools to fit users' needs; easy to use spreadsheets (for researchers) and easily digestible, quick view reporting such as pie charts.Spreadsheet tools can provide meaningful evidence for policymakers and other decision makers, collecting data across the agroecological principles. An exemplary feature such as a spreadsheet, while suitable for researchers or farmers in wealthy countries, could be a prohibitive feature for a smallholder, marginalized farmer who usually would not have access to a computer.Data privacy issues of farmers should be considered with digital tool design and implementation. This information was not readily available for each tool reviewed, but experts interviewed noted this concern.Features that improved farmer communication such as targeting farmer subgroups, farmer-driven content, and use of human intermediaries were exemplary features for socially just inclusion of farmers and farmer co-creation of farming solutions. Both social inclusion and farmer co-creation are core tenants of agroecology. Social inclusion is defined here as \"the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society-improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity\" (World Bank 2013). We use co-creation to mean the collaborative process of developing and implementing knowledge about farm practices among farmers, advisors, and researchers.Communication features of the 43 agroecology tools reviewed that supported inclusion and co-design enabled farmers to provide input, feedback, direct the type of information they received, or enabled two-way communication. Features included IVR, SMS, and sometimes audio and video (Table 2). SMS and video or non IVR-audio were most common. Tools with these features also included the most agroecological content. Only 21% of tools offered more than one way of communicating. Other exemplary features for communication were use of local language, tailored recommendations, and group chats and SMS messages.Few tools were designed to target specific sub-groups such as women or youth (19%) or include citizen science (16%). Farmer-driven content was possible in 26% of the tools.Many smallholder farmers, women, and other marginalized groups in LMICs have limited literacy and access to technology, which often requires the role of an intermediary to facilitate their access to digitally available information. The enabling environment and how a tool is used to support inclusion and co-design is as important as digital tool features. For example, the lack of wireless internet access, digital literacy, and access to devices are major barriers to social inclusiveness. Some experts told us they were better able to reach smallholder farmers when tools were designed for intermediaries rather than farmers themselves.Many tools in this review were primarily used by farmers' support organizations such as farmer unions, extension agents, or community NGOs. As a trusted intermediary, these organizational agents around the farmer provide opportunities for use of technologies that farmers may not have access to or the capacity to use. For example, Digital Green partnered with the Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture and Cooperation to facilitate the production of farmer videos. The community video framework is an important innovation, and the collaboration with the state government, and the focus on the Andhra Pradesh Community Natural Farming (APCNF) practices, allowed them to reach 300,000 smallholder farmer households with climate-resilient agronomic practices.As with any user, tools that have farmers as the target user should add value for the farmer to use them and reflect a strong understanding of the context in which the farmer is working. Value-for-farmer examples include improved income, digital inputs layaway, e-extension services through video recordings, and e-extension via web and smartphone applications.There is an opportunity to improve the agroecological completeness of digital tools and the inclusion and co-design features of digital tools for smallholder farmers in LMICs. Increasing farmers' use of tools will also require finding ways to make tools compelling to use and financially or culturally meaningful.▪ Identify how a digital tool is intended to support agroecology before evaluating which tool to use or feature to improve. Is it a priority of the project to address all agroecology principles? Recognize that more than one tool may be needed.▪ Work with a trusted intermediary to connect to pre-existing groups of farmers, such as farmer unions, trade groups, or established governmental and nongovernmental organizations.▪ Review existing tools and their use to identify exemplary features that might be relevant to the project's objectives and local context.▪ Improve the number of performance assessment tools by improving existing tools or adding agroecology components to performance assessment tools.▪ In existing tools, incrementally build up agroecological completeness. If currently 3 or 4 principles are covered, see how to make it to 5 or 6 as opposed to unreasonably stretching to cover all 12.Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions ▪ Create digital tool features related to social-scale agroecological principles such as governance or culture and traditions. Agro-advisories and performance assessment tools currently focus on onfarm aspects of agroecology such as productivity and input reduction.▪ Include multiple and innovative ways of engaging the farmer or end user such as SMS, IVR, mobile app, or other.▪ Consider the appropriateness of replacing existing in-person interactions such as extension work with digital options, which may not always be appropriate or best for the farmer. Agrisuite NEO Decision support information system for crop and livestock production, market information. Adapts seamlessly to the smaller displays of multiple devices.Assesses a project's alignment with agroecological principles. Provides a structured and graphically intuitive way to identify the focus and agroecological character of an initiative.Traceability system applied to agroecological systems. Developed via participatory research and citizen science. Strengthens a circular economy by committing to products at fair prices that provide quality of life to all those involved.Traceability, carbon and water footprint calculator. Monitors nine core sustainability topics related to 12 SDGs. Strong focus on women and youth.Personalized crop calendar, weather based advisory, crop advisory. Soil health reports printed and sent to farmers. Timely notifications on the preventive steps to be taken at the farm based on the weather conditions. Video and chat/call support.Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions Sowing App Insights around soil health, fertilizer recommendations and seven-day weather forecasts using AI and crop modelling tools.Stepwise Helps farmers adopt best farming practices in small increments and decreases investment burden.Participatory tool to assess the multidimensional performance of agroecology. Informs various dimensions of sustainability: land tenure, productivity, income, added value, exposure to pesticides, dietary diversity, women's empowerment, youth employment, biodiversity, and soil health.Chatbot that serves as a nexus between farmer and extension officers. Integrated thorough WhatsApp. Enables the farmer and extensionist to interact and access information from multiple sources (satellites, weather services, soil testing and logistics).Farm management recommendations, farm data collection, independent field-zone specific agronomic advice. Map generation for multiple assessments (soil conditions, seeding, fertilization, crop protection, growth regulator and yield).Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions Digital tools to support farmer innovation are becoming more widespread. At the same time, farmers are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change and the demand for climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture is growing. Digital tools can play a role in scaling up practices, yet digital tools for agriculture often lack the technical content needed to support practices related to climate change. In addition, many smallholder farmers lack access to digital technology, electricity, or mobile networks in LMICs, limiting digital tool's impacts. For example, only 28% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa use mobile internet (GSMA, 2021). Smallholders generally have slower internet services than larger farms even when they do have access (Mehrabi et al., 2021).To gain insight on the state of digital tools for scaling up climate-resilient and low-emissions agriculture, our analysis aimed to answer two questions:Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions To answer these questions, we identified digital tools that provide technical advice and performance assessment and reviewed their features related to climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture and food systems. We identified 39 tools based on web searches, expert interviews and platforms such as the CGIAR Evidence Clearing House and Digital Agri Hub. We relied primarily on information available online. Tools were classified as technical advisory resources if their primary function was to deliver recommendations regarding farming practices and as performance assessment if their primary function was to report on farm outcomes, status or operations. See Dittmer et al. (2022a) for an in-depth description of the methodology.Our review identified 39 digital tools that addressed climate change mitigation or adaptation related to technical advice or on-farm performance assessment (Table 3). Although we included all relevant tools identified in our search and interviews, this set of tools should be considered as a sample, since some tools are not publicly available online.Among the 39 digital tools reviewed in this study, 24 provided technical advice, 11 provided on-farm performance assessment and four provided both technical advice and performance assessment on climate change adaptation or mitigation. Twenty-three (59%) were initiatives of private companies. Over two-thirds of the tools were free or had free versions available.Tools for technical advice more commonly supported climate change adaptation than mitigation. The most common tool function related to climate change was providing access to weather or climate information, or early warning systems for hazardous weather-related events (58%). Farmer information exchange (46%) was the second most common function for technical advisory tools, followed by water conservation or use efficiency (33%). Our review did not find any technical advisory tools related toGlobal digital tool review for agroecological transitions  Tools that allowed farmers to exchange information were also exemplary as they enabled peer-to-peer learning, exchange of context-specific information and knowledge sharing. Examples of such tools included community videos where the production and dissemination of videos made by the community allowed farmers to share knowledge with one another in local languages (Digital Green and Access Agriculture), two-way communication between farmers and extension services via voice messages (Ushari), or a free hotline that leveraged previous farmer-caller data (customer journey, location, agronomic context as well as their profile including gender) to provide timely information for farmers (CubicA).The most common performance assessment tools related to climate change were calculators for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Calculators varied in the sources of emissions they covered. The most common sources of emissions covered among calculators were rice production, land use change and energy use. Only one tool calculated GHG emissions for food loss and waste (ACE). Calculators were almost evenly split between estimating emissions at the farm or landscape level and the value chain.One performance assessment tool provided mitigation recommendations, assessed water conservation or use efficiency and pest or disease outbreaks, and will link users to carbon payments in future development (Extension Solution). Performance assessment tools did not necessarily inform users about priority actions for scaling impacts or the significance of the level of mitigation and adaptation impacts.Exemplary features for GHG calculators included the ability for users to input their own emission factors (i.e., Tier 2 or 3); comprehensive Scope 1, 2 and 3 reporting for value chain products; complete accounting of significant GHG sources and sinks; minimized data needs for estimating GHG emissions; Exemplary features for performance assessment tools that might be improved and used in digital tools more often in the future are (1) comprehensive assessment of food security and sustainability indicators, (2) agri-intelligence services or \"watch dog\" functions to alert decision makers about deforestation or other negative impacts, (3) functions for linking payments or finance to assessment of avoided emissions or sequestered carbon, and (4) recommendations for mitigation practices in performance assessment tools.We found only four performance assessment tools with climate change adaptation functions (Mergdata, Carbon Benefits Project Toolkit, Extension Solution, AtSource). Three tools assessed water conservation or use efficiency (27%), two tools assessed product diversification (18%) and one tool had pest and disease information or early warning systems for pest and disease outbreaks (9%).Most tools that provided both technical advisory and performance assessment covered a wider range of climate change adaptation functions. One tool (SmartFarm) covered five of the seven adaptation functions (access to weather information or early warning systems, production diversification, crop insurance, water conservation or use efficiency, access to pest and disease information or early warning)and one mitigation function (linking to carbon benefits or finance). Other tools (Cool Farm Tool, DataGreen, Sustainable Coffee Verification) covered two to three adaptation functions and up to one mitigation function.The Cool Farm Tool was exemplary for its farmer and sustainability focus, orientation towards action, and interaction functions. The tool began as an on-farm Excel-based GHG calculator but was adapted to the web to include modules for measuring water footprint, soil carbon and biodiversity management using robust quantification methods responsive to farm-and field-scale management decisions. The tool enables minimal data entry and supports farmers, the primary user, to plug in their farm characteristics and get immediate results and feedback on the impact of different farm management decisions using \"what-if\" scenarios. This was one of two tools that explicitly stated that users retain ownership of their assessment and personal data.Twenty-five of the 39 tools (65%) identified farmers as either the sole end-user or as one of the endusers; most were technical advice tools (22). Only three provided farmer-facing performance assessment. The primary function of most ( 17) of the twenty-five tools was weather information or early warning systems for hazardous weather-related events. Gaining access to reliable and localized weather information has become increasingly important for smallholders in LMICs given the unpredictability of weather events due to climate change. A study in Colombia, for example, found that SMS weather information services enabled smallholders to reduce crop losses by 11-14% (Camacho and Conover, 2019). In Ghana, a digital agronomy and weather advisory service providing time-sensitive information helped farmers adapt to changing rainfall patterns (Barnett et al., 2019).Aside from access to weather information or early warning systems, farmers were also using digital tools that provided functions related to agro-advisory services, farmer learning, and farm management. Such services included climate-related agronomic advice (e.g., diagnosing crop diseases, information on optimal use of fertilizers, water harvesting techniques, etc.), market price information, market linkages, and insurance coverage through local languages and features including SMS, voice SMS, IVR, call centers, and community videos.Farmers are more likely to use tools that provide clear benefits and reflect a strong understanding of the context in which they are working (Rose et al., 2016). Digital tool functions that provide value to farmers included improved income, digital inputs layaway, e-extension services through video recordings, and eextension via web and smartphone applications. Tools that reflect a strong understanding of local context often involve farmers' peers or trusted contacts. For example, Digital Green Community Videos have been highly successful in part because of the inclusion of local farmers and extension officers in the instructional videos, which creates a sense of trust and familiarity in the delivered content. Involving human intermediaries such as hotlines and coaching services linked to tools provide opportunities for farmers and experts to interact and design solutions best suited to farmers' needs.Climate change tools generally did not support functions related to agroecology, as indicated by the Food and Agriculture Organization's Ten Elements of Agroecology. Only one tool (Access Agriculture)Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions captured a substantial number of agroecology functions (12). Ten tools did not cover any agroecological functions. The most common adaptation function for tools that included agroecology practices was information or assessment on water conservation or use efficiency, followed by production diversification and pest and disease information or early warning. About half of these tools have farmers as the primary end-user.Productivity, income, and their stability over time were the most frequently represented function (60%), followed by efficiency or input reduction (43%), co-creation and sharing of knowledge or farmer relevant content (40%), and system transformation or practice (35%). Synergies (i.e., enhancing positive ecological interactions), circular and solidarity economies, and responsible governance were the least represented agroecological function (13%, respectively).There is an opportunity to improve climate change digital tools and to enhance the access and usability features of these tools for smallholder farmers in LMICs. Based on this review, we suggest to:▪ Support exemplary features for climate change adaptation and mitigation in digital tool development for agriculture and food systems, considering the tools' objectives and the contextual needs of farmers.▪ Address gaps by improving the number of digital tools that provide technical advice for safety nets and climate change mitigation, and farmer-facing performance assessment tools.▪ Bundle technical advice and performance assessment to encourage farmer action and adaptive management. For example, bundle functions that provide recommendations for farmer action with weather information, early warning systems, or GHG estimates.▪ Localize technical advice or performance assessment through farmer input.▪ Provide \"coaching\" tools so farmers can weigh the trade-offs of their decisions and add context on how to achieve and sustain change.▪ Design digital tools for scale. Achieving scale for climate-informed digital tools does not just mean increasing farmers' access to tools, but also supporting action recommendations in tools and identifying priority, large-scale impacts in terms of the level of climate risk mitigated and resilience built, or climate change mitigation achieved.Global digital tool review for agroecological transitions   ","tokenCount":"4629"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8510484264.json b/data/part_1/8510484264.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..07808f2b12720a56b54ea8be30979fd45fed6b59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8510484264.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3680c229a2782dda1195800b621aa217","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/84a0e7a9-9979-43dd-b322-33e9cc68a084/retrieve","id":"1973460637"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e31da53f-be0e-42be-8115-038cd82c9075","pagecount":"14","content":"Water footprints have been proposed as sustainability indicators, relating the consumption of goods like food to the amount of water necessary for their production and the impacts of that water use in the source regions. We further developed the existing water footprint methodology, by globally resolving virtual water flows from production to consumption regions for major food crops at 5 arcmin spatial resolution. We distinguished domestic and international flows, and assessed local impacts of export production. Applying this method to three exemplary cities, Berlin, Delhi and Lagos, we find major differences in amounts, composition, and origin of green and blue virtual water imports, due to differences in diets, trade integration and crop water productivities in the source regions. While almost all of Delhi's and Lagos' virtual water imports are of domestic origin, Berlin on average imports from more than 4000 km distance, in particular soy (livestock feed), coffee and cocoa. While 42 % of Delhi's virtual water imports are blue water based, the fractions for Berlin and Lagos are 2 and 0.5 %, respectively, roughly equal to the water volumes abstracted in these two cities for domestic water use. Some of the external source regions of Berlin's virtual water imports appear to be critically water scarce and/or food insecure. However, for deriving recommendations on sustainable consumption and trade, further analysis of context-specific costs and benefits associated with export production will be required.Agriculture causes by far the largest direct human water use, including large amounts of green and blue water required to grow food and other crops (Shiklomanov, 2000;Foley et al., 2005;Rost et al., 2008;Döll et al., 2012). Green water is the plant available soil water directly from rainfall, supporting terrestrial ecosystems and most agricultural systems, while blue water is the water in rivers, lakes and groundwater, available for irrigation and other purposes, for example, municipal and industrial use. With globalization, trade in food commodities is growing faster than food production (Anderson, 2010;WTO, 2010), facilitating spatial separation of consumption and production, also beyond country and continental borders (Erb et al., 2009;Hoff;2009). Consequently, the gap in the physical trade balance between net food importing (in particular industrialized) and net food exporting countries has been widening (Bruckner et al., 2012). The EU for example has doubled its net food imports from countries outside of Europe over the past decade (von Witzke and Noleppa, 2010).Globally, the amount of water consumed for producing export food commodities, so-called \"virtual water\", which is associated with traded goods, has doubled over the past 2 decades (Dalin et al., 2012). With growing food trade, and more recently also foreign direct investment in land and water (Anseeuw et al., 2012), local resource exploitation -and Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.in some cases also degradation -is increasingly driven by external food demands, dietary preferences and purchasing power. The outsourcing of food production to distant, potentially water-scarce and food-insecure regions raises questions about the sustainability of consumption, production and trade patterns (Lenzen et al., 2013;WWF, 2012). Sustainable management of water resources is no longer a local or national issue only.Water footprints have been proposed as sustainability indicators (Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2004;WWF, 2009;Daniels et al., 2011), because they trace flows of commodities and associated virtual water from the regions of production to the regions of consumption. While flows of virtual water between nations have been quantified by several authors (e.g., Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2004;Hanasaki et al., 2010;Liu and Yang, 2010;Fader et al., 2011), there is little information on \"true\" water footprints in the sense of Ridoutt and Pfister (2010) that is, the \"impacts associated with water appropriated into product[s]\" in the source regions, which would require analysis at sub-national scale. Such true water footprints would need to include detailed information on water scarcities and water-related opportunity costs of food production in the source regions (Daniels et al., 2011;Ridoutt and Huang, 2012;Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2012). As an initial step towards local impacts of food production in the source regions, Hoekstra and Mekonnen (2011) and Pfister et al. (2011) computed blue water scarcity at the river basin scale, by comparing consumptive blue water use to availability. However, they did not relate the water scarcity indicators in the source regions to virtual water flows across grid cells, basins or country boundaries for determining water footprints that are caused by the consumption of goods outside of the source region.Our analysis of water footprints (understood here as the water-related impacts in the domestic and international source regions, the latter being called \"external water footprints\") generates new information in support of sustainable consumption and production. We computed and analyzed globally, at high spatial resolution of 5 arcmin, green and blue virtual water flows related to food crops among and for the first time also within countries. The goal was to identify in more detail source regions of virtual water flows and consumption hotspots such as cities. Our analysis is consumption based. It calculates the water required in the source regions for producing primary crop commodities consumed in the importing regions (not including however the consumption of commodities which are primarily traded in processed form, such as sugar cane). Consumption of food crops also includes their use as livestock feed or for producing bioenergy. Livestock feed other than food crops and imports of livestock products are not included in our analysis, neither do we account for non-food crop commodities such as cotton.Cities with their high population density are centers of consumption and net imports of food (note that we use the term \"import\" also for inflows into cities from domestic sources). They already host 50 % of global population (on only about 2 % of the global land area - Bicheron et al., 2008), projected to reach 70 % by 2050 (UNPD, 2012). Their water and other resource demands are growing faster than national averages, not only because of further urbanization, but also because of their more rapid economic development and changing lifestyles and diets, for example, higher fractions of livestock products (e.g., Liu and Savenjie, 2008). The immediate hinterland of many cities can no longer fulfill their water (and other resource) demands for food production, so that their water footprints expand rapidly, also into other countries and continents. While cities also use water for producing non-agricultural goods and services, these uses are mostly non-consumptive and smaller than food water demands.In an exemplary manner, we applied our analysis to Berlin (Germany), Delhi (India) and Lagos (Nigeria), which represent food consumption and import patterns of a developed, a newly industrialized, and a developing country, respectively. Taking into account additional local information, we demonstrate the effects of different diets, countries' integration in world markets, and crop water productivities and local conditions in the source regions, on water footprints.In our analysis, we distinguished green and blue virtual water flows, as the impacts of blue water use from surface and groundwater for irrigation are different from the impacts of green water use directly from precipitation. In particular in water-scarce areas, blue water use is more detrimental to other direct human water uses and to aquatic ecosystems, while green water use for cropland competes with the demands of other terrestrial ecosystems. Additionally, both types of water use may lead to water pollution, which often aggravates water scarcity, depending on farming practices.While previous analyses (with the exception of a few national case studies, e.g., Faramarzi et al., 2010;Verma et al., 2009;Ma et al., 2006) addressed virtual water flows only between countries, our novel approach identifies globally at grid cell level (5 arcmin resolution) crop production surpluses relative to local demand and from that potential export grid cells. By combining those with grid cell specific crop-water use and bi-national trade data, we determine detailed flows of primary crop commodities and associated virtual water within and between countries (Fig. 1).For calculating crop production and crop water use, we applied the Global Crop Water Model (GCWM) (Siebert and Döll, 2010). Distinguishing rainfed and irrigated crops according to Portmann et al. (2010) and green and blue crop water use, GCWM computes the virtual water content (the amount of water required for producing a unit Step 1 (further described in Supplement S1)-Cleaning of bi-national trade flows from re-exports by constraining exports of each country to other countries by its domestic crop productionStep 2 (further described in Supplement S2)-Calculation of domestic commodity and virtual water flows between grid cells (flows not crossing country boundaries) by levelling out imbalances between crop production and crop consumption -Calculation of virtual water content in commodity exports -Calculation of international virtual water flows between grid cells -Calculation of total commodity-and virtual water balance for each grid cell and of virtual water footprints of cities of crop harvest) for 19 major crop groups: wheat, barley, rye, maize, rice, sorghum, millet, pulses, soybeans, groundnuts, sunflower, rapeseed, potatoes, cassava, grapes, citrus, dates, cocoa, coffee (in our analysis for the period [1998][1999][2000][2001][2002]. These crops covered 71 % of the global harvested cropland during this period. In GCWM, simulated drought stress on yields in rainfed agriculture is used to disaggregate national and sub-national crop production and statistics as compiled by Monfreda et al. (2008). Thus, crop production computed by GCWM is harmonized at country level to FAO production statistics around year 2000. More information on GCWM and the data generated by GCWM can be found at: http://www2.uni-frankfurt.de/47878452/6_GCWM_output.Crop consumption within each country was computed by adding imports of the respective crop commodity to domestic crop production and then subtracting the corresponding commodity exports (Supplement S2). Supplement S1 explains how GCWM crops are related to commodities listed in the COMTRADE database -http://comtrade.un.org/ (last access: 27 January 2013). Therefore, we did not distinguish between food and feed use of these crops, and we did not account for grazing, nor for crop residues as livestock feed. Per capita consumption of each crop was assumed to be the same for all people living in a country (including cities). Production surpluses per crop occur in those grid cells that have a higher per capita production than the country average per capita consumption (calculated from total country production minus exports). Virtual water flows from production surplus (source) areas to deficit (import) areas, in particular cities and other densely populated areas, were calculated according to the following assumptions:-surplus food production is distributed to the nearest local and national deficit cells first, before the remaining surplus is going into international export; and -international imports are distributed to the grid cells of the importing country according to their respective share of country population (Supplement S2). When all demands in deficit cells within a country were met from the nearest national surpluses, the remaining surplus cells were identified as export cells for international trade.Green and blue virtual water exports were determined as weighted averages of crop virtual water contents from these surplus cells, according to their respective contribution to the country's total international export (Supplement S2).Bi-national commodity trade data for the period 1998-2002 were taken from the COMTRADE database and cleaned from re-exports to the extent possible, constraining commodity exports of each country by its domestic crop production. If the reported crop export was larger than crop production, the exports related to this difference were deleted from the trade flow database and flows redirected from producing to importing countries (Supplement S1). Germany, for example, exported coffee to 31 countries in the year 2000, although coffee is not grown in Germany. Therefore these trade flows were replaced by flows between the countries from which Germany imported coffee and countries to which Germany exported coffee. Application of this iterative procedure reduced total international virtual water flows by about 12 %. Note that we did not analyze effects along the processing chain or related to re-export which might change virtual water contents of commodities. That would require additional tool such as life cycle analysis or input-output analysis and additional assumptions on the composition of processed products and the origin of their ingredients (see Sect. 5.4).With that, imports of each crop commodity and associated virtual water can be traced back to the source countries and further to the surplus grid cells in the respective country. From that, we calculated volumes and transport distances of green and blue virtual water flows associated with each crop commodity, within and between countries and towards the selected cities Berlin, Delhi and Lagos (Supplement S2).We then characterized some of the main international source regions of imports to Berlin in order to assess local impacts of export production. Note that source regions for Delhi's and Lagos' virtual water imports are mostly domestic, involving little international trade and hence there are only very small external footprints. First we determined for the main source countries of Berlin's imports their green and blue water availabilities for food production as well as their own food water requirements, using results from the dynamic global vegetation and water balance model LPJmL, which simulates the water balance, crop water use and crop production (as well as biomass production of other ecosystems) at 0.5 degree resolution and also at catchment level (Rost et al., 2008;Gerten et al., 2011). We used the LPJmL model for comparing water availability, which is not calculated by the GCWM model, consistently with water demands for food production. Due to the coarse resolution of LPJmL (0.5 • , compared to the 5 arcmin resolution of the GCWM model) it could not be applied to individual cities. Moreover, LPJmL does not calculate the important crops cocoa and coffee.Green water availability for food production was calculated by LPJmL as evapotranspiration from cropland and partly from grazing land. Blue water availability was calculated per river basin, distributing total basin runoff over the grid cells in a basin according to their fractional discharge. Of that, 40 % was assumed to be available for food production (i.e., for irrigation). This estimate of 40 % accounts for environmental flow requirements as well as for spatio-temporal mismatch of water availability and demand (Gerten et al., 2011). Food water requirements were calculated for a typical diet of 3000 kcal per capita and day containing 20 % livestock products (ca. 1/3 of which is assumed to be provided from grazing, the rest from feed crops), based on current crop water productivities of the respective national crop mixes, as calculated with the LPJmL model (Gerten et al., 2011). In addition to food water availability and requirements in the source regions, we also used national indicators such as malnutrition and stunting of children to address food insecurity and water-related opportunity costs of export production. Undernourished population was taken from the FAOSTAT hunger database -http://www.fao.org/ hunger/en/ (last access: 27 January 2013), and nutritional stunting from the WHO database on child growth and malnutrition -http://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/en/ (last access: 27 January 2013).Grid cells are net importers of virtual water if their consumptive water use for food crop production is less than the demand for virtual water due to food crop consumption. They are net exporters of virtual water if the opposite is true. The global maps of food-commodity related blue, green and total virtual water flows (Fig. 2) reflect the major crop production regions (or rather crop surplus regions) on the one hand (blue color in Fig. 2a and c, and green color in Fig. 2b) and population concentrations (or crop deficit regions) on the other hand (red color). For example, most grid cells in the eastern United States show higher crop demand than production, while the Midwest of the US has mostly production surpluses. In most regions the pattern of total virtual water flows (Fig. 2c) is dominated by the effects of green water, but in selected regions blue water (i.e., irrigated agriculture) dominates total virtual water flows, in particular in India and China. The mapping of virtual water flows at 5 min resolution (about 9 km × 9 km at the equator) also enables the identification of larger cities such as Berlin as being net importers, both of green and blue virtual water flows (Fig. 2d).Cities are net importers of food-crop-related virtual water. When comparing total virtual water imports of the three cities Berlin, Delhi and Lagos, we find significant differences in (i) contributions of different crop commodities to the total imports, (ii) the respective virtual water contents of these crops and (iii) their origin (domestic vs. international) and transport distances. Accordingly, per capita imports of virtual water and also green and blue water fractions vary significantly among the three cities (Table 1).For consistency with our virtual water flow analysis, we summed up the population of all those 5 min grid cells that were assigned to the respective city, hence population figures deviate somewhat from official statistics. Virtual water imports with livestock forage (grass, clover, alfalfa, etc.) or with livestock products are not included here.The contribution of blue water to the total virtual water import is about 0.5 % for Lagos, 2 % for Berlin and 42 % for Delhi. The average importing distances of virtual water to Lagos and Delhi (neglecting here Lagos' very small imports of blue virtual water, which originate from very large distances) are 200-800 km and hence within the respective country, while in the case of Berlin the source regions are on average more than 4000 km away and hence outside of Germany and even outside of Europe. Berlin imports more than 60 % of its virtual water from abroad, Lagos only 3.5 % and Delhi 1.4 %. Accordingly the supply from the immediate hinterland (sources within 100 km from the city) is higher for Delhi and Lagos -20 % of total virtual water imports -than for Berlin -less than 5 % (see also Fig. 3).Virtual water contents of crops (or the inverse, crop water productivities) vary by up to a factor of 10 between crops produced in Germany, India and Nigeria and imported by Berlin, Delhi and Lagos, in line with yield differences of similar magnitude (Table 2). Staple crops imported to Berlin from Germany and neighboring countries are particularly low in virtual water contents, thanks to beneficial climate and management conditions. The two major staples wheat and barley imported by Berlin have average virtual water contents of 498 L kg −1 (global average for wheat: 1469 L kg −1 ) and 639 L kg −1 (global average for barley: 1183 L kg −1 ). The main staples imported to Lagos, sorghum and millet, have virtual water contents of 5700 L kg −1 and 6600 L kg −1 , respectively.Berlin's per capita import of virtual water is only about half of that of Lagos, but almost 50 % higher than that of Delhi (Table 1). That higher per capita import of Berlin relative to Delhi -despite much higher crop water productivity in Germany (see Table 2) and also in Germany's neighboring countries (not shown here) -is largely due to the strong contribution of water intensive livestock feed (soy) as well as stimulants (coffee and cocoa), which together account for almost 50 % of Berlin's total water footprint (Fig. 3a). Berlin's largest imports of virtual water are associated with coffee, soy, wheat and barley, and cocoa (in that order). Coffee, soy and cocoa are imported from source regions which are on average 6000 km or more away, while wheat, barley, rapeseed, rye and maize are produced within an average distance of less than 400 km from Berlin (i.e., largely within Germany), where crop water productivities are much higher than world averages and virtual water contents accordingly very low. The only significant blue virtual water imports are associated with citrus, rice and potatoes, contributing 0.7, 0.4 and 0.3 %, respectively, to Berlin's total virtual water imports. Note that since we have not included cotton (nor any other non-food commodities), a significant part of Berlin's total blue water footprint (Pfister et al., 2011) is not accounted for in our analysis. While the resulting per capita blue virtual water imports of 15 m 3 yr −1 (Table 1) are very small, they are still comparable to the 42 m 3 yr −1 of per capita domestic water use (115 L d −1 , www.bwb.de), considering that this analysis did Delhi, due to its development status, but also its vegetarian tradition, has the lowest meat consumption of the three cities (3.9 kg per capita and year in India, vs. 8.5 kg in Nigeria and 84 kg in Germany) for the year 2000 according to FAO Food Balance Sheets -FBS, http://faostat3.fao.org/home/ index.html (last access: 27 January 2013) and also the lowest calorie supply (2264 kcal per capita and day in India vs. 2611 kcal in Nigeria and 3423 kcal in Germany, FAO FBS). In addition, very little coffee and cocoa is consumed (9 kg per capita in Germany vs. about 0.1 kg in India and Nigeria, FAO FBS). Note that tea is a more common beverage in India, but its per capita consumption is still about 10 times lower than coffee consumption in Germany according to FAO FBS, and its virtual water contents is about 8 times lower than that of coffee, Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2003). The two main staples rice and wheat (transported less than 200 km on average) together account for more than 50 %, blue virtual water with rice alone for more than 25 % of Delhi's total virtual water imports. When adding millet, sorghum and maize (average transport distance at or below 1000 km), 75 % of Delhi's virtual water imports are accounted for. Soy, a typical livestock feed, contributes only 6 % to Delhi's total virtual water imports (compared to 19% in Berlin), and coffee only contributes 0.2 % (compared to 28 % in Berlin).Lagos has the highest per capita imports of virtual water with crop commodities of the three cities, which is a result of the very low average crop water productivities of Nigeria (Table 2) and of its immediate neighbors (results not shown). The three staples, cassava (transported less than 200 km on average), sorghum, and millet (about 800 km average transport distance) together comprise more than 50 % of Lagos' total virtual water imports. As in the case of Delhi, soy (< 3 %) and cocoa/coffee (0.1 %) hardly contribute to the city's virtual water imports. Nigerian diets are low in livestock products and stimulants (less than 10 % of German per capita consumption according to FAOSTAT -http://faostat3. fao.org/home/index.html (last access: 27 January 2013)).Figure 3 shows virtual water imports with crop commodities (x axis in m 3 cap −1 yr −1 ) and average import distances (y axis in km) for Berlin (a), Delhi (b) and Lagos (c). Not depicted are commodities contributing less than ca. 10 m 3 (50 m 3 in Lagos) green virtual water and less than ca. 1 m 3 (Berlin), 10 m 3 (Delhi), and 0.1 m 3 (Lagos) blue virtual water per capita and year. Bubble sizes depict real commodity imports in kg for each city. Green and blue virtual water import volumes per crop are additive, but real crop imports are equally depicted by same green and blue bubble sizes of the respective crop. Open circles serve to keep other bubbles underneath visible.Bubble sizes in Fig. 3a indicate the following: wheat 164 kg cap −1 yr −1 , soy 53 kg cap −1 yr −1 , coffee 9 kg cap −1 yr −1 , cocoa 3 kg cap −1 yr −1 . Average virtual water contents of Berlin's imports are the following: wheat 498 L kg −1 , soy 1755 L kg −1 , coffee 15 000 L kg −1 , cocoa 20 000 L kg −1 (not shown).Bubble sizes in Fig. 3b indicate the following: rice 122 kg cap −1 yr −1 , wheat 66 kg cap −1 yr −1 , pulses 12 kg cap −1 yr −1 , soy 5 kg cap −1 yr −1 . Average virtual water contents of Delhi's imports are the following: rice 1900 L kg −1 , wheat 2100 L kg −1 , pulses 3200 L kg −1 , soy 4200 L kg −1 (not shown).Bubble sizes in Fig. 3c indicate the following: cassava 227 kg cap −1 yr −1 , sorghum 50 kg cap −1 yr −1 , rice 33 kg cap −1 yr −1 , soy 3 kg cap −1 yr −1 . Average virtual water contents of Lagos' imports are the following: cassava 983 L kg −1 , sorghum 5700 L kg −1 , rice 3800 L kg −1 , soy 6800 L kg −1 (not shown). The small amounts of blue virtual water with rice and blue and green virtual water with wheat are imported from average distances > 9000 km, which is not shown to scale here.Figure 3a-c also reveal large differences between a crop's contribution to total virtual water imports (in m 3 , expressed by its position on the x axis) vs. its contribution to total real commodity imports (in kg, expressed by its bubble size), due to the differences in virtual water contents between crops and between source regions (driven by differences in climate and agricultural management). For our further analysis of water footprints, the virtual water import (depicted on the x axis) is the relevant parameter.Berlin's virtual water imports originate on average more than 4000 km away (Fig. 3). A more detailed analysis of the source regions of the crop commodities depicted in Fig. 3a reveals that Germany itself is still the largest source country, contributing 39 % of Berlin's total virtual water imports, with wheat from Germany contributing 15 %, barley 11 %, rapeseed 5 % and rye 3 %. Only 0.5 % of Berlin's virtual water imports from Germany are blue. Figure 4 provides an overview of the other major source countries (indicated by thickness of the arrows) and the primary export product to Berlin per country. Brazil is the 2nd largest contributor, providing ca. 14 % of Berlin's virtual water, 2/3 of which is associated with soy beans and the rest with coffee (0.6 % of total virtual water imports from Brazil are blue). After the US as number 3 (ca. 8.5 % of Berlin's total virtual water imports), Ivory Coast is number 4 (ca. 5 %). As in the case of Ghana (ca. 1.5 %) and Nigeria (ca. 1 %) more than 95 % of the virtual water imports from these three West African countries to Berlin are associated with cocoa (blue water fractions of imports from these 3 countries to Berlin are 0, 0 and 0.03 %, respectively). The largest blue virtual water imports to Berlin are associated with citrus (0.7 % of total virtual water imports) primarily from Mediterranean countries and rice (0.4 % of total) 3/4 of which are from USA, Spain, and Italy combined. WWF (2009) confirms the large virtual water contributions from Brazil and West Africa (to Germany).In order to improve water footprint analyses (i.e., to quantify impacts of consumption, trade and export production in the source regions), we characterized some of the main source countries and regions within these countries, which are producing food for Berlin, in terms of their water scarcity and other indicators such as undernourishment and stunting. Table 3 lists the main non-industrialized exporting countries of virtual water to Berlin in descending order (and Germany for comparison), with some key water and food-security related parameters. Water scarcity at national level is expressed as the ratio of green plus blue water availability for food production divided by total food water requirement (according to Rockström et al., 2009). Please note that these food water requirements were calculated according to the crop water productivity of the respective country (Gerten et al., 2011). Five of the listed export countries have ratios close to or even lower than one and hence are food water scarce. Only in 3 of the countries, blue water contributes significantly more than ca. 1 % to food production. Most of the countries listed have 10 % or more undernourished population and nutritional stunting rates (children under 5) of more than 30 % and hence can be considered food insecure. Note that industrialized countries are excluded from Table 3, because they are assumed to be able to mitigate water scarcity through investments (Vörösmarty et al., 2010).Table 3. Characterization of Berlin's largest non-industrialized virtual water source countries in descending order: total (green plus blue) water availability for food production and food water requirement (m 3 per capita and year), ratio of total water availability to food water requirement (or water-limited food self-sufficiency potential), blue water fraction in food production, prevalence of undernourishment in total population, and nutritional stunting among children under 5 yr.Food Often export food production is concentrated in certain regions of a country, so that national averages (e.g., of water scarcity) are not sufficient for deriving true footprints (impacts in the source region). Hence we characterize in more detail the situation in export regions of Brazil and the three West African countries Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria (the last two having food water availability to demand ratios close to 1).Brazil, the largest international provider of virtual water for Berlin, is also the least food-insecure source country listed in Table 3. Also, Brazil is not water scarce at national level (nor is Brazil overdrawing its bio-capacity according to WWF 2012). However, when zooming into the main soy export production region, the Cerrado, per capita green plus blue food water availability there is much lower than national average, close to that of Germany (ca. 1100 m 3 cap −1 yr −1 , based on LPJmL calculations). While currently 98-99 % of soy production in Brazil is rainfed (Brazilian National Water Agency; http://www.ana.gov.br (last access: 27 August 2013); Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2010), dams, water transfers and irrigation schemes are increasingly coming online, intended to reduce dependence on rainfall variability. So, the rapidly growing exports (Brazil's soy exports to Germany for example have more than tripled between 1990 and 2010; FAOSTAT; http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html (last access: 27 January 2013)) are also beginning to compete for limited blue water resources in the Brazilian Cerrado.Berlin's virtual water imports from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria are primarily associated with rainfed cocoa (and to a minor extent also with coffee). National-level data on food water availability and requirement, as well as food insecurity (see Table 3) indicate that export production may compete with demands for local staple crop production. However, cocoa and coffee are primarily grown in the humid (and subhumid transition) zone(s) of these countries, where rainfall is relatively high, crops are not irrigated and food security is higher than in the drier north which often has prolonged hunger phases associated with droughts.So in the case of soy from Brazil, water stress in the main export production region is higher than national average, in the case of cocoa and coffee from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria water stress (and food insecurity) in the main export production region is lower than national average. Initial comparison of export production regions as identified by our global top down analysis with those from bottomup local and national data, shows relatively good agreement in the case of soy production in Brazil (Figure 5a), and for cocoa production in Nigeria (Fig. 5b), but a significant mismatch in Ivory Coast and Ghana where the globally available production data (from Monfreda et al., 2008) as presented on the left hand side do not match the actual spatial distribution as derived from local data (right hand side of Fig. 5b). Expert consultations confirmed these discrepancies between global crop data sets and sub-national crop production patterns.Note that for Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana only production data, but no specific export production data are available, which is not a problem though, given that there is negligible domestic consumption (while in Brazil 30 % of soy production is not exported but domestically consumed; FAOSTAThttp://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html (last access: 27 January 2013)).Our analysis of virtual water flows at high spatial resolution (5 arcmin) allows for the first time to globally consistently assess and separate domestic and international virtual water flows, and accordingly also flows from and to smaller regions at sub-national scale, such as cities. Of the three cities analyzed, only Berlin imports the major share of its virtual water from abroad, consistent with the fact that Germany's total food imports are much higher than those of Nigeria and even those of India, despite its much smaller population (FAOSTAT -http://faostat3.fao.org/faostat-gateway/go/ to/download/T/TP/E (last access: 5 January 2014)). But it should be noted that Delhi and Lagos may soon also depend on international imports, given that Delhi's population is projected to grow from 15 million to about 50 million and Lagos' from 10 million to about 40 million by 2050 (see data for these cities in UNDESA, 2011), while domestic water resources for food production are already largely exploited (see Table 3). Our results are in line with the results of Fader et al. (2011) who also show much higher international contributions to Germany's food water requirements, compared to India and Nigeria, only their results are less pronounced since they did not include coffee and cocoa which together account for 28 % of Berlin's virtual water import. The fact that Berlin's per capita virtual water imports are only half of those of Lagos', but 50 % higher than Delhi's can be explained by a combination of (opposing) factors, that is, the much higher water productivity in large parts of Berlin's source regions, the higher per capita kcal consumption, and a much larger fraction of water-intensive soy (livestock feed) and coffee and cocoa imports to Berlin, compared to Delhi and Lagos. We have not accounted in our analysis for imports of livestock products for which soy (or other feed crops) may have been used, which would have increased the footprints further. Vanham et al. (2013a) estimate for the EU that the consumption of livestock products is responsible for more than half of the total water footprint related to the consumption of agricultural products. WWF (2009) largely confirms this analysis, ranking coffee, cocoa, other oil seeds, cotton (not included in our analysis), and soy as the top five commodities in terms of virtual water imports (to Germany).We find that the conventional assumption of growing dietary water requirements with higher income (e.g., Lundqvist et al., 2008) up to a certain saturation level, needs to be modified somewhat, by balancing higher water demands of more luxurious diets (more livestock products and more luxury foods such as coffee and cocoa) with the higher crop water productivities in some of the main food source regions (Brauman et al., 2013). Germany produces 8 times more kcals per liter of consumptive water use (under current crop mix) than Nigeria, 12 times more than Ghana, 6 times more than Ivory Coast, and 5 times more than India (Gerten et al., 2011).Our analysis also differentiates between green and blue virtual water imports, because these two types of water, associated with traded crops have different opportunity costs and cause different footprints in the source regions. Only about 0.5 % of the virtual water imports of Lagos and 2 % of those of Berlin but 42 % of Delhi's imports are based on blue water consumption (i.e., associated with irrigation water withdrawals). Hence Delhi's food consumption and imports impact blue water resources in the source regions much more strongly and directly than consumption and imports of Berlin or Lagos. Imports based on rainfed agriculture compete in the source regions with other land uses and ecosystems and their services (Foley et al., 2011) also for the green water they consume. But rainfed agriculture also affects blue water availability, either negatively or positively through (i) changes in land surface hydrology (agricultural intensification for export production or as a result of foreign direct investment can increase evapotranspiration and hence decrease blue water availability, compared to previous land uses such as grazing or extensive agriculture, see e.g., Bossio et al. (2012) and Ridoutt and Pfister (2010) for how to account for that effect) and/or (ii) reducing the need for blue water use for irrigation, if rainfed crop productivity and production can be increased (Rockström et al., 2009). The impacts on water scarcity and the opportunity costs of green and blue crop water use for export agriculture strongly depend on the specific local context in the source region.In order to move beyond \"shoesizes\" (Pfister and Hellweg, 2009) (i.e., volumes of virtual water associated with bilateral trade flows) towards true footprints (i.e., impacts of consumption and export production), we have assessed the water-and food-related context in some of the source regions of Berlin. We found that significant fractions of its virtual water imports originate from water-scarce and/or foodinsecure countries (Table 3), as driven by comparative advantages that these countries have in climate (e.g., cocoa and coffee only being produced in tropical climates), land (e.g., Brazil's land availability -measured as the ratio of biocapacity to ecological footprint -being much higher than that of Germany, WWF, 2012), labor, capital or other production factors. Moreover commodity prices do not always reflect resource scarcities in the producing regions, due to subsidies and other market distortions. Given the very low blue water fractions of Berlin's major international virtual water imports, associated with coffee, soy and cocoa (not considering cotton with a high blue water fraction), separate footprint analysis for blue virtual water exports is not necessary. Since national averages (in particular for large countries such as Brazil) are not suitable for deriving local impacts of export production, we further assessed the local conditions in some of the main source regions in Brazil and West African countries. While at national level the per capita water availability for food production is much less constrained in Brazil than in Germany (Table 3), it is much lower in the main soy exporting region (Cerrado, see Fig. 5a), comparable to that of Germany. Given that crop water productivity of soy and other major crops grown in Brazil is only about half of that of major crops grown in Germany, the Cerrado is in fact relatively more food-water constrained. Furthermore, water quality degradation from industrial soy productionwhich is responsible for about 25 % of total Brazilian pesticide use (Altieri and Pengue, 2005) -reduces the availability of clean water further. Mekonnen et al. (2010) propose to include water pollution in footprint analyses (calculating so-called \"grey-water footprints\"), but there are methodological difficulties involved, when integrating real quantities of water consumed with potential quantities of water required for diluting pollution. Furthermore, so-called \"leakage\" or indirect land use change, caused by expanding soy production in the Cerrado, pushes other land uses such as cattle ranching deeper into neighboring Amazonia, where it causes rapid deforestation with potentially far-reaching consequences for moisture recycling, precipitation and water availability in other parts of South America (Nobre and Borma, 2009;Marengo et al., 2009). These indirect waterrelated effects of export production add another layer of complexity to water footprint analyses.Food production in Ghana and Nigeria is significantly more water constrained at national level than in Germany, due to much lower agricultural water productivities (Table 3), caused by lower agricultural inputs, underperforming extension systems and other factors. However, cocoa and coffee export production are concentrated in the more humid (and also more food secure) parts of these West African countries (see Fig. 5b), which have higher water availabilities for food production than the national average. These gradients of water availability (and food security) within the respective source country point at another (economic) facet of \"local context\": the capacity to distribute food surpluses internally from well-endowed to critically scarce regions, which depends in particular on transport infrastructure, and which could be measured, for example, by the travel time to markets (Nelson, 2008). When this internal food distribution capacity is low, resource exploitation for export production may aggravate water scarcity or food insecurity of the local -in particular the most marginalized -population. Travel distances may also be suitable for our own analysis as an alternative to Euclidean distances, when distributing surplus crop production to other grid cells (see first assumption in the Methods section). In some countries, infrastructure may also determine distribution of imports more strongly than population fractions in the respective grid cell (second assumption in the Methods section). Our assumption that per capita food consumption is the same everywhere within a country may somewhat bias the analysis, as in large countries like India diets in one part may be quite different from those in another part (e.g., wheat versus rice as staple crops). In addition, this assumption is likely to underestimate food consumption of cities in developing countries, as the diet there is richer in meat and other water-intensive products than in the rest of the country (e.g., Romanik, 2007). So this assumption will have to be further refined for different country contexts, once consistent global data become available. However, we did not find evidence that the assumption does not hold for Berlin, a city in a developed country.A closer look at production systems shows that cocoa in Nigeria is mostly shaded by other trees, some being remnants of former forest vegetation. These systems are not high yielding but have been stable over more than 50, sometimes 100 yr. In Ghana and Ivory Coast on the other hand, most cocoa systems are younger, planted with improved varieties and less shaded or in open light. Yields are usually higher in these younger systems (and hence they reduce competition for green water and land with local staple crop production or other ecosystems), yet pesticide and fertilizer inputs and associated water quality degradation are also higher than in traditional shaded systems. The long-term sustainabilityanother determinant of local impact and water footprints -is potentially traded off against yield maximization.We have limited this water footprint analysis to opportunity costs, but of course there are also benefits derived from export production. For example in Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria the cash crops cocoa and coffee are important sources of income and foreign exchange earners, at equal or higher economic water productivity than staple crops. A comprehensive footprint analysis has to weigh environmental and socio-economic costs and benefits.The Global Footprint Networks describes the objective of footprint analyses as \"allow[ing] to track a city's. . . demand on natural capital, and to compare this demand with the amount of natural capital actually available. . . .shed light on the region's constraints or future liabilities in comparison with other regions of the world\" -http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/ footprint_for_cities (last access: 27 January 2013).Our analysis contributes to this goal, aiming at operationalizing water footprints for guiding sustainable consumption and production. We find that water footprints of luxurious diets such as those of Berlin materialize to a large extent in distant, sometimes water-scarce and food-insecure countries or regions thereof. These countries may not be in the position to fully ensure sustainable water management through the appropriate policy making at national level, as suggested by Wichelns (2010), given that they are subject to strong external pressures on their water resources, driven by globalization, trade and foreign direct investment. These pressures, which cause resource exploitation and in some cases also degradation, must be addressed, when striving for more sustainable consumption and production.We have identified indicators to measure the sustainability of consumption, by specifying in more spatial detail than previously available the origin of crop commodities and associated virtual water flows, and the local conditions in the source regions. A case in point is the (over-) consumption of meat by wealthier populations and population groups, which is responsible for a large fraction of water footprints of their diets (Vanham et al., 2013). Berlin's footprint of meat consumption (for which we use soy import for livestock feed as a proxy) puts water resources in the Brazilian Cerrado, in the adjacent Amazon, and beyond at risk. Accordingly, Berlin's footprint can be reduced by lower meat consumption.However, the case of Berlin also demonstrates the difficulty of deriving recommendations for sustainable consumption from footprint analyses, for example, when assessing the large water footprints associated with cocoa (and coffee) consumption, which materialize in West African countries.While cocoa export production there competes for land and green water with staple crop production for domestic use and also with other ecosystems and their services, it also provides income and hence a means for improving access to food for the local population and eventually also for improving agricultural productivity through better management. Hence it is unlikely that reduced cocoa consumption in Berlin and subsequent reduction of export production in West Africa and re-allocation of water to staple food crops for local consumption would solve the region's food security problems. These socio-economic impacts of export production are yet to be integrated with environmental impacts in water footprint analyses.We introduced crop water productivity (the reverse of virtual water content) in our water footprint analysis, explaining that way the much lower per capita water footprint of Berlin compared to Lagos, despite its more luxurious diets. The low water productivity in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa is primarily explained by agricultural management and climatic factors. Fertilizer inputs are very low (Potter et al., 2010) and area equipped for irrigation is at or below 1 % of cropland (Portmann et al., 2010) in the three West African countries assessed in this study, missing large opportunities for increasing water productivity (and hence reducing footprints) under the given climate. Agro-ecological research has identified diverse and multi-functional (domestic and export production) systems, for example, cocoa or coffee production shaded by banana trees, for sustainably increasing overall resource productivity and system resilience (Tscharnke et al., 2012). Export production and also foreign direct investment can contribute knowledge and technologies for such type of sustainable intensification (Hoff et al., 2012). However, there are no blanket solutions, but opportunities are very specific to the respective natural resource (and socio-economic) context. Global top-down approaches to water footprints need to be complemented by context-specific analyses of local costs, benefits and opportunities of export production. Opportunities for sustainable consumption and production (often separated by large distances) are linked through the food supply chains along which many additional opportunities for reducing footprints (also other than water) arise.There are a number of uncertainties in the above analysis, for example, related to grid-level crop production and export production, re-exports, sub-national variation of diets in particular differences between urban areas and the rest of the country, and local impacts of export production. Hence further operationalization of water footprints, for identification of opportunities for sustainable consumption and production, critically hinges on improved data availability on 1. sub-national export production pattern, improving our initial (top-down) analyses of virtual water flows at high resolution;2. sub-national and context-specific conditions in source regions (e.g., green and blue water scarcity and opportunity costs, production systems, and food insecurity) for identifying opportunities for more sustainable production; and 3. specific diets of cities and population groups, in cases where these deviate from national averages, and additional food characteristics beyond kcals such as nutritional value, for identifying opportunities for more sustainable consumption.Moreover, water footprint analysis to date has almost exclusively been based on bi-lateral trade flow data for the major commodities (one exception is Feng et al., 2011). This is not sufficient in view of the increasingly complex multi-national (and also multi-sectoral) supply chains, from primary crop production, through various processing steps, to the final consumer. A way forward towards fully consumption-based accounting and detailed tracing of virtual green and blue water flows through these supply chains and also comprehensively taking care of re-exports may be provided by multiregional input-output (MRIO) analysis. Initial work of that type can be found, for example, in Lenzen et al. (2013) or Hoff et al. (2013). Lastly, for guiding sustainable consumption and production, \"multi-dimensional\" footprints will be required (see Galli et al., 2012;Ridoutt and Pfister, 2013). Green and blue water footprints as described here need to be harmonized and integrated with land, ecological, nitrogen, carbon and possibly other footprints -also acknowledging the interdependencies among the different natural resources as input factors in food production and their utilization in the respective source regions. There is still a long way to go in terms of data consolidation, method development and harmonization of different footprint approaches (Vanham and Bidoglio, 2013b). Nevertheless, awareness raising and education on footprints should occur even without having a perfect database. This could be initially focused on informing consumers in developed countries about the (water and other) footprints of meat consumption and associated environmental externalities in the source regions (e.g., via certified and labeled products). New scientific knowledge has to feed into these indicators for sustainable consumption and production as it becomes available.Supplementary material related to this article is available online at http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/ 18/213/2014/hess-18-213-2014-supplement.pdf.","tokenCount":"8060"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8510706925.json b/data/part_1/8510706925.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ec00e51f598afa6836ebfe613f629fbbf3e731e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8510706925.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"877988617f4cb3d102c686e8732e5875","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/81538e05-fcb3-4e85-aa3a-6efd9ab7070e/content","id":"1072562946"},"keywords":["ASV, amplicon sequence variant","Cmin, 24-h potential carbon mineralization","PERMANOVA, permutational multivariate analysis of variance","NAPESHM, North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements Microbial community Potential carbon mineralization Tillage Soil health"],"sieverID":"70bea3f2-4bb4-46dd-b54f-0368eb077a10","pagecount":"11","content":"Potential carbon mineralization (Cmin) is a commonly used indicator of soil health, with greater Cmin values interpreted as healthier soil. While Cmin values are typically greater in agricultural soils managed with minimal physical disturbance, the mechanisms driving the increases remain poorly understood. This study assessed bacterial and archaeal community structure and potential microbial drivers of Cmin in soils maintained under various degrees of physical disturbance. Potential carbon mineralization, 16S rRNA sequences, and soil characterization data were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). Results showed that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disturbance, and soil pH influenced microbial sensitivity to physical disturbance. Furthermore, 28% of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were important in modeling Cmin, were enriched under soils managed with minimal physical E.L. Rieke et al.   disturbance. Sequences identified as enriched under minimal disturbance and important for modeling Cmin, were linked to organisms which could produce extracellular polymeric substances and contained metabolic strategies suited for tolerating environmental stressors. Understanding how physical disturbance shapes microbial communities across climates and inherent soil properties and drives changes in Cmin provides the context necessary to evaluate management impacts on standardized measures of soil microbial activity.Over the past few decades numerous biologically based measurements have been designed to assess how reducing physical disturbance in row-cropping systems impact soil functioning (e.g., cycle nutrients, decompose organic matter) and overall soil health. Current measurements used by the scientific community to evaluate soil heath include microbial biomass, available carbon and nitrogen pools for microbial consumption, and potential carbon and nitrogen mineralization (Acosta-Martinez et al., 2018;Culman et al., 2012;Gonzalez-Quiñones et al., 2011;Li et al., 2020;Norris et al., 2020). Greater values recorded in systems with reduced physical disturbance, when compared to intensively disturbed fields, are commonly interpreted under the assumption, \"more is better\" (Andrews et al., 2004;Haney et al., 2010Haney et al., , 2018;;Moebius-Clune et al., 2016). However, greater values from these measurements are difficult to interpret because the measurements are not directly tied to increases in soil function, such as providing adequate plant nutrition or improved ecosystem health (e.g., increased carbon storage, reduced nitrogen losses) (Fierer et al., 2021). Understanding why these widely use measurements respond positively to adoption of reduced physical disturbance will allow for appropriate interpretations of the measurements and therefore allow stakeholders to understand how management choices affect soil function.One measure of potential microbial activity related to soil health is potential carbon mineralization (Cmin). Soil microbial community members respire carbon dioxide as a metabolic waste product while degrading organic matter and cycling nutrients. Standardized Cmin assays report carbon dioxide fluxes following rewetting of air-dried, sieved soil under aerobic conditions (Zibilske, 2018), such as from either a 24or 96-h incubation, among other modifications (Haney Soil Health Test or the Cornell Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health, respectively) (Haney et al., 2010;Moebius-Clune et al., 2016). Potential carbon mineralization values are generally greater in systems employing reduced tillage across many soil types and climates (Nunes et al., 2020). However, the greater Cmin measurements identified in the standardized laboratory assay conflict with in situ carbon mineralization measurements, where soils managed for reduced physical disturbance respire less carbon dioxide than their less disturbed counterparts (Abdalla et al., 2016). Nonetheless, Cmin is often interpreted as in situ basal mineralization (Haney et al., 2018). Mineralization resulting from standardized Cmin assays are a combination of the consumption of newly lysed cellular material, fresh metabolic material exuded during rewetting, and newly available organic residues following pretreatment of the soils (Fierer and Schimel, 2003;Kaiser et al., 2015). Identifying the groups of organisms responsible for driving greater Cmin values in soils managed for minimal physical disturbance will help provide a scientifically backed interpretation of this already widely used measurement, rather than relying on the assumption, \"more is better.\"While Cmin generally increases in soils managed for minimal physical disturbance, the impact of physical disturbance on microbial community structure has varied among site-specific studies. Many studies of physical disturbance and community structure report significant changes in both community structure and community diversity in response to disturbance treatments (Ceja-Navarro et al., 2010;De Quadros et al., 2012;Schmidt et al., 2018;Sengupta and Dick, 2015;Srour et al., 2020;Z. Wang et al., 2016), while just as many others report a significant change in only one of the two metrics (Navarro-Noya et al., 2013;Ng et al., 2012;Schlatter et al., 2019;Schmidt et al., 2019;Smith et al., 2016;Yin et al., 2010). Such variability may be associated with differences in sampling time, tillage equipment, cropping system history, sample processing, statistical analyses, inherent soil properties, and climate factors. Understanding the impact of physical disturbance on soil microbial community structure across a range of climates, cropping systems, and inherent soil properties (e.g., texture, pH) may enhance interpretation of divergent results from site-specific studies.Assessment of microbial community structure is capable of identifying changes in community composition due to agricultural management, but it does not provide context as to how the change affects soil functioning. Measuring change in microbial community structure and function, in unison, provides context as to whether changes in agricultural management alter microbial function as well as the potential drivers responsible for changes in function. To date, a number of studies have attempted to link management driven changes in soil microbial community composition to changes in carbon mineralization (Guo et al., 2019;Khanghahi et al., 2019;Liu et al., 2018;Malik et al., 2018;Mbuthia et al., 2015). These studies indicate that analyzing soil microbial community composition in addition to inherent soil properties and other biological measurements enhances the predictability of carbon mineralization. However, the goal of these studies was to uncover drivers of basal soil mineralization, which may differ from the organisms responsible for driving the burst of mineralization recorded in standardized Cmin incubations. Uncovering the microbial community members responsible for driving greater Cmin measurements in systems with reduced physical disturbance may provide much needed context to the measure, which in turn will allow stakeholders to appropriately synthesize their results in the context of building soil health.The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of reduced physical disturbance on soil bacterial and archaeal community members and their potential influence on greater Cmin measurements recorded in long-term reduced disturbance systems across major agricultural areas in North America. We hypothesized that bacterial and archaeal communities that were enriched under minimum physical disturbance would be important predictors of Cmin. We first explored relationships between disturbance intensity and changes in bacterial and archaeal community structures. We identified a subset of ASVs which were enhanced in systems employing minimum disturbance management across a range of inherent soil properties and climates. Finally, we identified a suite of bacteria and archaeal taxa, which were enriched under minimum disturbance and important predictors of Cmin models.Data used in these analyses were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). NAPESHM sites were chosen based on the presence of treatments to test the management effects of tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, nutrient amendments, irrigation, and livestock stocking rate and intensity. A full description of the project can be found in Norris et al. (2020). The project consisted of 2032 experimental units from 688 replicated treatments located at 124 long term experimental agricultural research sites across North America (Fig. 1). Out of the 688 replicated treatments, 568 treatments contained at least ten years of consistent crop rotations and agricultural management practices (e.g. tillage, cover cropping), while 120 treatments contained between six and ten years of consistent practices. Detailed treatment and site information is located in Table 1, Supplemental Table 1, and in Norris et al. (2020).Sites were predominantly sampled in spring of 2019 prior to fertilization, spring tillage, and planting. Five-year detailed management histories were collected for each treatment. Soil sampling for each experimental unit was performed using a sharpshooter shovel and soil knife. A total of 18 knife slices (15-by 4-cm) were collected uniformly to a depth of 15 cm from six locations across each experimental unit in a zig-zag pattern and placed on ice. Samples were composited in a bucket prior to bagging and shipping. Sampling equipment was cleaned and sterilized with isopropyl alcohol between experimental units. Additionally, sterile nitrile gloves were worn during sampling and sample processing.The Hargreaves Climate Moisture Deficit was calculated to capture the combined effect of precipitation and temperature (Hargreaves and Allen, 2003). The moisture deficit calculations included a monthly estimate of precipitation deficit averaged from 1991 to 2020 (T. Wang et al., 2016). The monthly deficit for a given location represented the difference between reference evapotranspiration and precipitation, and the deficit is considered zero for any month where precipitation is greater than reference evapotranspiration.For each experimental unit, composite soil samples were sent to the Soil Water and Environmental Lab 1 at Ohio State University for measurement of particle size distribution, pH, total nitrogen, total carbon, inorganic carbon, and Cmin. Particle size analyses were performed using the pipette method and sands were wet sieved (Gee and Or, 2018). Soil pH measurements were made using a 1:2 soil:water slurry with a pH electrode (Campbell et al., 2018). Total nitrogen and carbon were measured by dry combustion (Nelson and Sommers, 2015). Inorganic carbon was measured using Chittick gasometric calcimeter a (St. Louis, MO, USA). Soil organic carbon was calculated as the difference between  1 Name is given to provide specific information and does not constitute endorsement by the authors over other entities that may be equally suitable.total carbon and inorganic carbon (Dreimanis, 1962). Soil samples used in Cmin measurements were air dried and passed through a 2-mm sieve prior to incubation. Potential carbon mineralization was measured as accumulation of CO 2 -C following rewetting by capillary action and a 24-h incubation period (Zibilske, 2018).Composite moist soil samples from each experimental unit were passed through a sterile 8-mm sieve and shipped overnight on ice to the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing at Oregon State University for DNA extraction and subsequent sequencing. From each experimental unit, 0.25 g of soil was weighed for DNA extraction. DNA extractions were performed using a Thermo KingFisher Flex robotic magnetic bead system a (Swindon, UK) with Qiagen MagAttract Power Soil DNA kits a (Germantown, MD, USA). A Zymbiotics microbial community standard was included on each DNA extraction plate. DNA concentrations were quantified fluorometrically using the Invitrogen Quant-iT dsDNA High Sensitivity Assay Kit a (Waltham, Massachusetts, USA) and read on a BioTek Synergy HT microplate reader a (Winooski, VT, USA).Following Earth Microbiome Project protocols (Caporaso et al., 2018), the V4 region of 16S rRNA was amplified and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform a . The QIIME 2 platform was used for classification of reads to taxa counts (v. 2019.4). Adapters were trimmed with the qiime cutadapt trim-paired tool. Read pairs were merged with qiime vsearch join-pairs with a maximum merge length of 256 base pairs and removing any reads with any Ns present. Reads were filtered for a minimum PHRED score of 20. QIIME deblur denoise-16S was used to denoise the reads by removing reads that did not have a sequence similarity of 60% to the 85% OTU GreenGenes database and reads were trimmed to 250 base pairs or discarded if shorter. Results were tabulated with the qiime feature-table tabulate-seqs. Taxonomy were assigned with the QIIME feature-classifer classify-sklearn using the silva database classifier version 132. Data was exported from QIIME2 with QIIME tools export. Amplicon sequence variants that were observed less than three times in 5% of samples were removed. Remaining samples were rarified to 8000 sequences using the function rarify_even_depth in the R package phyloseq (McMurdie and Holmes, 2013). Rarified samples were used in all downstream analyses. Demultiplexed sequences were deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Sequence Read Archive with the following accession number: PRJNA762046.In addition to treatments that represented management changes, sites included in the study cover a broad range of climates, inherent soil properties, and organic matter. To identify significant differences in community structure as a result of differences in inherent soil properties and climate, permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMA-NOVA) with distance matrices was performed using the Adonis function in the R package vegan (Dixon, 2003). Canonical correspondence analysis was also performed to visualize how inherent soil properties and climate were related to community structure using the ordinate function. Alpha diversity was assessed by calculating Shannon Diversity Index values for all experimental units. Shannon Diversity and richness were calculated using the estimate_richness function in the R package phyloseq (McMurdie and Holmes, 2013) Experimental units with extreme Shannon Diversity and richness outliers were removed from the dataset.A subset of replicated, paired tillage treatments was selected from nineteen sites for specific disturbance-based analysis (Fig. 1, Table 1). For this analysis, only sites which contained at least twelve experimental units evenly distributed across two or more tillage regimes were included in disturbance analyses. Furthermore, treatments were only included in disturbance analyses if a paired treatment existed, that is the only difference in management was physical disturbance through tillage. Treatments were classified into minimum, moderate, or intense disturbance categories. Minimum disturbance included experimental units whose only physical soil disturbance occurred during planting, commonly referred to as \"no-till\". Moderate disturbance encompassed a wide range of reduced or conservation tillage practices, including strip tillage, row cultivation, and chisel plow. Intense disturbance included experimental units from treatments commonly described as \"conventional tillage\" where practices are among the most disruptive tillage practices for a given cropping system and climate. Sites included in tillage analyses were assigned a six-digit unique identifier (Supplementary Table 1). Additionally, treatments that only differed by tillage were assigned a two-digit unique identifier to ensure direct comparison of the treatments in downstream analyses. To visualize differences in community structure among disturbance categories, detrended correspondence analyses (DCAs) were performed with bray-curtis distance matrices to account for non-linear relationships. Significant differences in community structure as a function of physical disturbance at individual sites were assessed using adonis function in the vegan package (Dixon, 2003). If a site contained a factorial design (e.g. tillage and cover cropping), the non-tillage factor was accounted for using the strata argument to ensure the direct comparison of treatments that only differed by tillage regimes. Permutational analysis of multivariate dispersions were assessed prior to implementing PERMANOVA using the betadisp function in the vegan package (Dixon, 2003). Non-significant values (p > 0.05) confirmed that the paired treatments contained similar within treatment variances, indicating significant differences in beta diversity were due to differences in physical disturbance treatments.Experimental units from sites with significant differences in community structure due to physical disturbance, were used to identify ASVs whose abundances were significantly enriched in reduced disturbance treatments across all sites. Enrichment of specific ASVs was determined by differential expression analyses based on the negative binomial distribution (Gamma-Poisson), performed using the function Deseq from the R package DESeq2 (Love et al., 2018) with Wald tests as the test argument. Amplicon sequence variants were considered differentially expressed when p < 0.05. Three separate analyses were performed to identify: 1) ASVs that were in enriched in minimum disturbance treatments in relation to intense disturbance treatments, 2) ASVs that were enriched in minimum disturbance treatments in relation to moderate disturbances treatments, and 3) ASVs that were enriched in moderate disturbance treatments in relation to intense disturbance treatments. The analysis was performed on rarefied experimental units due to large differences among experimental unit library sizes (~10x) (Weiss et al., 2017). Lastly, differences in alpha diversity were assessed separately between the three disturbance comparisons described above using the lm function contained within the base R package. In each analysis, disturbance category was set as a fixed effect and tillage treatment comparison as random effect using the assigned two-digit unique identifiers, therefore permitting comparison of treatments which only differed by physical disturbance. Model outputs were assessed using the anova function, contained within the base R package, to identify significant differences between disturbance categories.Random forest regression models were employed to identify microbial drivers of Cmin measurements. Thirty random forest regressor models were fit to the full set of 689 experimental treatments to help sort and filter ASVs that were most highly associated with Cmin. In each model run, Cmin was the response variable, with ASVs as predictor variables. The ASVs included in the final set models were pruned by average abundance until total model permutation importance began to decline, resulting in 328 ASVs contained in each model. Training and testing datasets were built at random for each model iteration, with experimental units from 586 to 608 treatments randomly selected for inclusion in the training dataset, resulting experimental units from 80 to 102 treatments placed in the testing dataset. The set of fitted models had an average R 2 of 0.58 predicting on testing data sets, which were held out from model training. The average ASV importance across models was used to estimate the relative utility of each ASV for predicting on testing data sets. Here, ASV importance is the difference between the initial prediction fit and the prediction fit after randomly permuting the respective ASV data. These analyses were performed in the Scikit-learn Python module ( (Pedregosa et al., 2011); version 0.23.1, https://scikit -learn.org/stable/). The maximum number of ASVs allowed in any regression tree was 18 (328 ½ ), with minimization of the mean squared residual error as the model criteria. The relationships between individual ASVs contained in the top decile of importance and Cmin were explored using linear regression. Code for analyses is located at https:// github.com/erieke/NAPESHM-tillage-mineralization.Experimental units covered a wide range of inherent soil properties and climates (Table 2). Following rarefaction, 1924 experimental units remained in the dataset, consisting of 5322 unique ASVs. Twenty-seven phyla were identified in the dataset, with major contributions from Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrocomicrobia. Shannon's diversity index ranged from 4.36 to 6.70, while observed ASV richness ranged from 342 to 1580. Greatest diversity and richness were observed at moderate pH values (5.5-7.5) and humid climates (Fig. 2). The PERMANOVA among communities across the continent indicated pH and climate moisture deficit explained more variation than clay, sand, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen (Table 2). Furthermore, the canonical correspondence analysis results suggest that climate and inherent soil properties predict only a small fraction of microbial community structure (Supplementary Fig. 1).An in-depth analysis of Cmin in relation to climate, inherent soil properties, carbon-based soil health indicators, and agricultural management can be found in Liptzin et al. (Liptzin et al., n.d.). Briefly, measures of Cmin ranged from 4.7 to 126.7 mg C kg − 1 d − 1 , with a median of 49.0 mg C kg − 1 d − 1 . Potential carbon mineralization and soil organic carbon were moderately related (r = 0.58). Prediction of Cmin with inherent soil properties and climatic variables using multiple linear regression resulted in a R 2 value of 0.27. Clay, pH and precipitation were positively correlated with the measurement, while temperature was negatively correlated. Response ratios of paired treatments indicated significantly greater Cmin in systems employing reduced tillage, cover cropping, application of organic nutrients, or residue retention.Out of the 14 sites that contained at least 12 experimental units with minimum and intense disturbance comparisons, 11 contained significantly different microbial community structures (p < 0.01) as a result of differences in disturbance, which were identified using the adonis function (Fig. 3, Supplementary Table 2). The three sites with nonsignificant differences (p > 0.01) all contained wheat-centric rotations (Table 1). Differential abundance testing of the 214 experimental units from the 11 sites identified 717 ASVs whose abundances were significantly greater in minimum disturbance experimental units (p < 0.05). The associated ASVs represent 119 of 242 families identified in both minimum and intense disturbance experimental units. On average, the ASVs accounted for 16% of sequences associated with intense disturbance experimental units, and 33% of sequences were associated with minimum disturbance. The 717 ASVs were confined within 14 phyla, with most sequences associated with Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimondetes, Proteobacteria, Rokubacteria, and Verrocomicrobia (Fig. 4). Alpha diversity, represented by the Shannon Diversity Index, and richness were not significantly different (p > 0.10) between minimum and intense disturbance categories (Supplementary Fig. 2).While most minimum and intense disturbance comparisons returned significant differences in community structure at the site level, comparisons between minimum and moderate disturbance returned mixed results. Among the minimum and moderate disturbance comparisons, four of seven sites had significant differences (p < 0.01) in bacterial and archaeal community structures which were identified using the adonis function (Supplementary Table 3). The four sites with significant differences in community structure all contained a site average pH ≤ 5.7 or pH > 6.5 (Supplementary Table 3). Differential abundance testing of the 76 experimental units from the four sites returned 242 ASVs whose abundances were enriched (p < 0.05) in minimum compared to moderate disturbance. In general, the resulting ASVs accounted for 14% of ASV relative abundance in minimum disturbance and 4% of ASV relative abundance in moderate disturbance. Of the 75 bacterial and archaeal families enriched under minimum disturbance compared to moderate disturbance, 73 were also enriched in minimum compared to intense disturbance. Lastly, alpha diversity and richness were not significantly different (p > 0.10) between minimum and moderate disturbance (Supplementary Fig. 3).Sites with moderate and intense physical disturbance comparisons returned a similar percentage of site level differences to minimummoderate disturbance comparisons, with four of eight sites containing significant differences due to disturbance (p < 0.01) (Supplementary Table 4) identified using the adonis function. The four sites with significant differences in community structure all contained a site average pH ≤ 5.7 or pH > 6.5 (Supplementary Table 4). Additionally, differential abundance testing of the 74 experimental units from the four sites identified a similar number of enriched ASVs. However, the 282 ASVs, comprised of 77 unique families, enriched under moderate disturbance compared to intense disturbance accounted for similar relative abundances in the two treatments. Like minimum-intense and minimummoderate comparisons, alpha diversity and richness did not significantly differ (p > 0.10) between moderate and intense treatments (Supplementary Fig. 4).Three hundred and twenty-eight ASVs remained in the respiration model training dataset, post pruning, and on average, accounted for 44% of sequences in rarified experimental units. The respiration model had substantial predictive power (R 2 = 0.58) between predicted and actual respiration values. Amplicon sequence variants belonging to Proteobacteria contributed the most to variable importance, followed by Acidobacteria, and Verrocomicrobia, (Supplementary Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 5). Of the 328 ASVs included in the respiration model, 90 were significantly enriched in minimum disturbance systems compared to intensive disturbance systems (Supplementary Table 6). Additionally, 44% of the ASVs with model importance in the top decile were enriched in minimum disturbance systems compared to intensive disturbance systems (Fig. 5). Furthermore, all but one ASV contained in the top decile of important sequences contained weak, but significant relationships with Cmin (p < 0.01), which were identified through individual linear regressions, with r 2 values ranging from 0.01 to 0.15. The vast majority of ASVS that were enriched in minimum disturbance and contained within the top decile of model importance contained significant (p < 0.01), positive relationships with Cmin (Fig. 5).The majority of sites analyzed for shifts in community structure in relation to minimal and intensive disturbance comparisons exhibited significantly different shifts in community structures. The three locations with non-significant differences in community structure had predominantly wheat-based rotations. Previous site-specific studies consistently reported significant differences in community structure because of physical disturbance in corn-based rotations (De Quadros et al., 2012;Sengupta and Dick, 2015;Smith et al., 2016;Srour et al., 2020). However, prior results from wheat-based rotations are less definitive, with differences in community structure varying by location (Essel et al., 2019;Ng et al., 2012;Schlatter et al., 2019;Yin et al., 2010). Insignificant differences in microbial community structure due to disturbance in wheat-based rotations may stem from greater root density and/or composition associated with wheat plant roots compared to other crop rooting systems included in the study (Yamaguchi and Tanaka, 1990). Increasing below ground biomass decay may enhance microbial access to nutrient rich organics in a similar fashion to residue incorporation following tillage operations.Significant differences in minimum-moderate and moderate-intense disturbance comparisons were less consistent in this study, with just over half containing significant differences in community structure due to differences in disturbance treatments. Differences in physical soil disturbance between minimum-moderate disturbance and moderateintense disturbance treatment comparisons were not as extreme as minimum-intense comparisons. However, trends in significance between these treatments were identified in relation to pH. Minimummoderate and moderate-intense site level disturbance comparisons did not contain significantly different (p > 0.01) microbial community structures at locations where site average pH ranged from 5.7 to 6.5, while locations with site average pH ≤ 5.7 or pH > 6.5 contained significantly different community compositions (p < 0.01). Average alpha diversity, measured as Shannon's Diversity Index, and richness were slightly greater at tillage sites with pH ranges from 5.7 to 6.5. Increasing diversity has shown to enhance resilience in some microbial systems, but not in others (Shade et al., 2012). Resiliency in microbial communities is defined as \"the rate at which a microbial community returns to its original composition after being disturbed\" (Allison and Martiny, 2008). The insignificant differences between less disruptive comparisons are indicative of microbial resilience to physical disruption in slightly acidic soils. This differential response to moderate changes in disturbance when grouped by pH, may be indicative of a link between archaeal and bacterial diversity and resilience driven by inherent features and part of the reason why some soils are less susceptible to changes in function as a result of changes in management (i.e., soils below pH 5.7 or above 6.5). However, this resilience to changes in management may be less evident in soil fungal communities, which are less dependent on soil pH when compared to bacterial communities (Lauber et al., 2008).The sampling strategy employed allowed us to identify management conditions capable of creating divergent soil microbial community structures. Significant differences in bacterial and archaeal community structure among non-wheat based, minimum-intense tillage comparisons demonstrate community divergence as a result of repeated tillage over multiple years. Differential abundance testing of minimum-intense tillage treatments with significant differences allowed us to identify ASVs responsible for the change in community structure across locations. ASVs identified as Pedosphaerales, contained within the phylum Verrucomicrobia, were highly abundant and enriched under minimum tillage conditions when compared to intensive tillage. While Verrucomicrobia is a dominant phylum in soil (Bergmann et al., 2011), accounting for over 50% of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences in native tall grass prairie soils in the USA (Fierer et al., 2013), their functioning in soil remains poorly understood. Although much remains to be uncovered regarding Pedosphaerales functional potential, the order has been identified as an indicator of large macroaggregates (Bach et al., 2018), as well as enriched in permanent raised beds when compared to tilled raised beds (Jiménez-Bueno et al., 2016). Coupling indicators of soil health and relative abundance of microbial community members can shed light on the mechanisms behind why practices enhance soils' ability to function. Work has shown that minimum tillage systems compared to intensive tillage generally: 1) increase macroaggregate stability (Al-Kaisi et al., 2014;Zhang et al., 2018), 2) increase soil organic carbon (Nunes et al., 2020), and 3) enhance relative abundance of Pedosphaerales. Furthermore, tall grass prairies and other minimally managed perennials contain greater measures of aggregate stability and soil organic carbon than row cropping systems that utilize soil health promoting practices (i.e., reduced tillage, cover crops, organic amendments) (Grandy and Robertson, 2007). Together this indicates that in the top 15 cm of soil the repeated pulse events of tillage shift the microbial community and soil structure away from organisms known to exist in unmanaged, natural systems. Conversely a major reduction in physical disturbance can redirect the community structure, back toward a naturally functioning soil.Reducing tillage often leads to increases in stable aggregates (Al-Kaisi et al., 2014;Zhang et al., 2018). Stable aggregates form niche microbial communities, capable of supporting oligotrophic lifestyles (Bach et al., 2018). ASVs matching Acidobacteria Subgroup 6 were highly abundant, enriched under minimum disturbance, and important sequences in modeling Cmin. Acidobacteria are present in a wide range of habitats across the globe and constitute on average 20% of bacteria in soils (Janssen, 2006). Although Acidobacteria are present across a variety of environments, relatively little is known about the phylum due to difficulties related to culturing individual isolates. The first Subgroup 6 isolates were cultivated in 2011 and characterized as slow growing, adaptive to very low nutrient concentrations, and produced uncharacterized extracellular polymeric substances (George et al., 2011). Sequencing efforts of Acidobacteria Subgroup 6 have revealed the presence of cellulose synthesis genes and a multitude of high molecular weight proteins with excretion pathway motifs, which are postulated to be involved in extracellular polymeric substance production (Kielak Fig. 5. Top 10% of most important amplicon sequence variants included in the random forest regression potential carbon mineralization model. Sequences are labeled by finest level of available taxonomic classification. Importance was calculated as the average reduction in mean square error across thirty model simulations. Asterisks above a given sequence importance indicates the sequence was enriched under minimum disturbance when compared to intensively disturbed systems. Plus symbols above a given sequence indicate the sequence had a significant (p < 0.01), positive relationship with potential carbon mineralization. Negative symbols above a given sequence indicate the sequence had a significant (p < 0.01), negative relationship with potential carbon mineralization. Relationships were identified using linear regression. et al., 2016). Extracellular polymeric substances are largely responsible for building biofilm structure and function (Wingender et al., 1999) and are highly correlated with aggregate stability (Redmile-Gordon et al., 2020). Additionally, extracellular polymeric substance production helps regulate osmotic pressure faced by bacteria under changing moisture regimes (Roberson and Firestone, 1992). Bacteria and archaea capable of producing extracellular polymeric substances have demonstrated higher survival rates when subjected to desiccation (Anderson et al., 2012;Tamaru et al., 2005), which may indicate they are better equipped to resume activity following the drying and rewetting in Cmin measurements.Candidatus Udaeobacter, contained in the phylum Verrucomicrobia, was also enriched under minimum disturbance conditions and was an important contributor to the Cmin regression model. Candidatus Udaeobacter is widespread in soils, but has not yet been successfully grown in the laboratory (Poehlein and Schöning, 2020). However, a recently published metagenome-assembled genome revealed enriched amino acid transporter and protease gene concentrations in Candidatus Udaeobacter compared to other soil bacteria with larger genomes (Brewer et al., 2016). The authors speculated the bacteria is able to prosper in resource limiting conditions through acquisition of amino acids and vitamins contained in the soil environment, rather than internal biosynthesis (Brewer et al., 2016). One proposed mechanism for Cmin bursts measured following drying and rewetting of soil is consumption of cytoplasmic substances exuded by bacteria to regulate changing osmotic pressure upon rewetting (Fierer and Schimel, 2003). Candidatus Udaeobacter and other bacteria capable of utilizing expelled cytoplasmic substances may contribute to greater standardized Cmin measurements in minimum tillage systems when compared to an intensively tilled soil.Results from NAPESHM indicated Cmin was significantly greater in systems managed for minimal physical disturbance when compared to systems with greater physical disturbance (Liptzin et al., n.d.). However, these results are not indicative of in situ carbon mineralization in similar cropping systems where mineralization is lower in systems managed for minimal disturbance (Abdalla et al., 2016). Potential carbon mineralization measured in the laboratory rewetting incubation is a result of the consumption of cells lysed during drying, fresh metabolic waste, and newly available organic residues resulting from physical disruption (Fierer and Schimel, 2003;Kaiser et al., 2015). Soils managed for minimal physical disturbance generally contain greater amounts of organic carbon in the top 15 cm than highly disturbed counterparts (Nunes et al., 2020). Increases in organic carbon may be partially attributed to increases in aggregation, which can lead to organic residues becoming physically unavailable for microbial consumption (Paustian et al., 2019). Disruption of aggregates through sieving prior to the incubation releases an unknown fraction of organic residues previously unavailable for microbial consumption. The diverse set of bacterial and archaeal taxa whose abundances were important in predicting Cmin are indicative of the broad range of newly available organic compounds available for microbial consumption. Furthermore, within the top 15 cm of soil, many bacterial and archaeal community members reside in aggregates containing unique sets of organisms, which adapt to organic matter resources, pore-space networks, and water and oxygen availability (Bach et al., 2018). Disruption of these habitats during the sieving and drying process may alter access to water, oxygen, and organic matter resources, depending on the soil in question. Understanding which bacteria and archaea are capable of thriving post drying and sieving and the mechanisms they employ (e.g., biofilm formation, alternative nutrient consumption) will provide further context as to why soils managed for minimum disturbance report greater Cmin than their disturbed counterparts. Sequences deemed important when modeling Cmin and enriched under minimum disturbance provide a starting point for understanding the microbial community members which influence Cmin.The unique sampling design incorporated in this study elucidated a set of ASVs that were enriched in soils under minimum tillage management across soil types and climates. Results from this study indicate that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disruption, and soil pH all influence the degree of archaeal and bacterial sensitivity to tillage. The multiple factors capable of affecting bacterial and archaeal community structure may explain divergent results among site specific studies and underscore the importance of limiting interpolation of individual studies to a broad scale. These results indicate a benefit to performing analyses across a range of agricultural soils to capture how core microbial members respond to changes in agricultural management.The subset of ASVs enriched under minimum disturbance management and identified as important variables in random forest regression modeling, provide insight into the bacterial and archaeal community members who may be responsible for increases in Cmin measurements in systems with reduced tillage. While many biologically based soil health measurements are sensitive to management, few are tied to changes in soil function. Better understanding the microbial drivers of widely used soil health indicators, such as Cmin, rather than interpreting increases in measurements as an indication of increasing soil health, provides stakeholders context as to why the measures increase in soils managed for minimal disturbance. Soils with reduced disturbance foster bacterial and archaeal organisms with diverse lifestyles as a function of niche diversity developed within stable aggregates. Stable microbial communities formed in aggregates in soils managed for minimal physical disturbance represent communities capable of functioning in the absence of nutrient rich amendments. Understanding how soil microorganisms adapt and function in agricultural systems managed for minimal physical disturbance may provide the appropriate context for stakeholders to interpret Cmin results and help guide adoption of the practice.","tokenCount":"5783"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8532975251.json b/data/part_1/8532975251.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..16a0355ad7a6ce17cb12942e3ded04effd1e4e25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8532975251.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6782509a3d5d613cbccdab2b406e4c12","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/72f52d39-2470-46de-8f5a-25449fc4f23e/retrieve","id":"-525787888"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ae2b592-e4eb-4cf9-b844-225c4ca6ce7f","pagecount":"1","content":"• Lack of sufficient quantity and quality feed is one of the major productivity constraints for smallholder dairy farmers. Improved forages provide an opportunity for sustainable intensification • However, forage technologies will only be adopted if they contribute to whole farm performance, thus reducing tradeoffs between productivity, socio-economics and environment • Ex-ante impact assessment and scenario analysis can assist in prioritizing and targeting of development investmentsWhat has been done in the past -the MilkIT projectStudy site is Lushoto, located in the Usambara Highlands of northeastern Tanzania. High soil erosion due to continuous cropping on steep slopes (Fig 2)What needs to be done -the new BMZ/GIZ project i) Analyze feed gaps and identify entry points for sustainable intensification; ii) Assess potential impact and tradeoffs of forage technologies at farm to landscape scale using FarmDESIGN and LandscapeIMAGES models; iii) Explore adoption potential of forage technologies using the QAToCA method; iv) Raise awareness among stakeholders to improve prioritization of interventions. Keeping livestock is a common practice, complementing arable cropping. However small land sizes pose challenges to livestock feeding thus the bulk of the feed basket is constituted by low quality natural grasses (Fig 3). ","tokenCount":"191"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8535726038.json b/data/part_1/8535726038.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3960ff5d8b14d8ca4741d657749e413265a6fdab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8535726038.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ecc2a419eea4358dc70b51a4c01f9521","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d4b50648-4f22-4144-93d3-bc2b0ada6c89/retrieve","id":"1608407587"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1d38f6b8-3898-4f37-8270-0fef6914d5bb","pagecount":"2","content":"Description of the innovation: Field Calculator (FC) is a decision support tool for sustainable rice production. The Field Calculator is a web-based application for data collection and impact assessment of inputs and practices in rice production with the aim to provide insights and options for optimization towards sustainability. Functionality of FC: (1) collect day-to-day farmer rice crop management information and ( 2) calculate SRP standard scores and performance indicators for use by CORIGAP NARES partners and SRP adopters New Innovation: No Innovation type: Production systems and Management practices Stage of innovation: Stage 1: discovery/proof of concept (PC -end of research phase) Geographic Scope: Global Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Applicable> Description of Stage reached: Beta version of FC developed and shared with stakeholders for feedback. Assessment and discussion on fuller development incorporating this feedback is currently ongoing. Currently identifying service provider for next iterations, including CropIn/Buhler, Akvo, AgImpact, FarmForce, and Khethinext. Non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between IRRI and 2 contractors signed.","tokenCount":"161"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8536155949.json b/data/part_1/8536155949.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..34c4db90617e7df12cdc51fde892a6511b4877bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8536155949.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"748ccbe126a14bdef8a89a047e08dc3f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e6038bf6-3573-4cfa-91cd-7d138f94536c/content","id":"564090437"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2b393393-d206-4fa9-805d-d61dde9f5d89","pagecount":"2","content":"Smallholder mechanization is the call of the day in southern Africa. Learning from 30 years of experience in Bangladesh, CIMMYT has adapted a to the conditions of southern Africa to drive transformational change in rural areas. For sustainable uptake of mechanization, it is important to focus only on introducing the appropriate scale machinery but implement a full mechanization package solution including essential training and capacity building (machinery operators, mechanics, and manufacturers/suppliers), and establishing after sale services and spare parts supply network. This model and the equipment involved are following the philosophy of no free hand outs, farming as a year-round business and climatesmart agriculture. Where can all this machinery be purchased? ","tokenCount":"111"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8556367866.json b/data/part_1/8556367866.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6d20df56fb3232ec42152cb888d9613c7cddcf6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8556367866.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4005b61d626af7a8cac7b86f61862f4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee9ff7cc-f56e-429f-b41e-970a0e52e3c0/retrieve","id":"1510032830"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f34a2d5d-af3c-413c-beb3-b57a97ab3bc0","pagecount":"9","content":"• En la mayoría de los países de América Latina, el pago por servicios ecosistémicos (PSA) puede ser una estrategia útil para la restauración y conservación del medio ambiente, aumentando la productividad y promoviendo el desarrollo sostenible.• A pesar de estos beneficios plausibles, la implementación de PSA puede ser un desafío debido a los marcos contextuales (por ejemplo, debilidad institucional en las etapas de implementación y monitoreo, conectividad limitada entre las partes interesadas, bajos niveles de tecnificación agrícola).• En Colombia existen iniciativas en la implementación de PSA, sin embargo, su implementación aún es insuficiente, principalmente por limitaciones técnicas, institucionales, financieras y regulatorias.aEl presente estudio pretende traslapar la teoría con la práctica, estableciendo reflexiones y recomendaciones para el diseño exitoso de incentivos enfocados en Sistemas Silvopastoriles (SSP) para el sector ganadero colombiano y considerando los contextos, situaciones y dinámicas particulares de la ruralidad del país.Se realizó un meta-análisis de la literatura considerando:Las experiencias realizadas con esquemas de PSA para conservación, (bio)diversidad, paisajes, secuestro de carbono y organizaciones productivas en países en desarrollo Las experiencias realizadas con esquemas de PSA específicos para SSP en Colombia e iniciativas similares.Las definiciones y enfoques teóricos sobre PSA Se realizaron entrevistas cualitativas en profundidad a actores clave de instituciones que han participado en la planificación y ejecución de proyectos de PSA en Colombia. La desigual distribución de la tierra, la apropiación violenta e ilegal de la misma y el conflicto armado en Colombia han impedido el buen desarrollo del proyecto.• La tenencia de la tierra se prefigura como una gran limitante en los proyectos de PSA. Los proyectos de SSP han diseñado mecanismos para incluir propietarios y productores que tengan contratos de arrendamiento verbal, propiedades con más de un propietario, o incluso figuras como titulares de buena fe. • La asimetría de información entre los actores puede causar una distribución injusta del ingreso neto y por ende, desanimar a los proveedores de servicios, ya que en muchos casos los PSA buscan vincular las actividades agrícolas con los mercados.• La identificación de riesgos también es útil para la identificación de oportunidades. • Por ejemplo, los proyectos de SSP identificaron los altos costos de los insumos (por ejemplo, de las semillas) como una barrera estructural y, con base en eso, uno de los esquemas de pago del programa de secuestro de carbono se destinó a proporcionar semillas, cercas y postes, creando oportunidades para la beneficiarios. • A medida que cambian los contextos ambientales, socioeconómicos y políticos, también cambian las señales creadas por los mecanismos basados en incentivos. • Los posibles cambios futuros deben ser considerados al diseñar esquemas de PSA.• Los esquemas de PSA para SSP son útiles para cambiar el comportamiento o las prácticas de los productores, pero no deben entenderse como una solución independiente.• Las experiencias realizadas con PSA para SS denotan una marcada preferencia de los productores por la asistencia técnica sobre los pagos monetarios, así como la provisión de materiales para la adecuación de sus fincas, destacando que los pagos realizados no solo deben ser monetarios sino también en especie. • Es necesario integrar en la planificación de proyectos el valor cultural de la ganadería, las dinámicas de traspaso generacional, los conceptos de familia y género, y los cambios experimentados en el tiempo. • La información de los proyectos colombianos muestra que existe cierto efecto de los incentivos sobre el cambio de prácticas de los beneficiarios y, en consecuencia, se observan cambios en la biodiversidad a medida que aumentan las áreas bajo SS. ","tokenCount":"579"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8588540872.json b/data/part_1/8588540872.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d8f1182490d3fa628f49d73f20e8818a235a90d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8588540872.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b751916414a145548671c7a1e056fac5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5b998743-27f2-4797-ad60-b098d10649b4/retrieve","id":"-1665285174"},"keywords":["small reservoirs","water quality","temporal and spatial"],"sieverID":"036ff680-f3a7-46ff-9e69-be7d11560127","pagecount":"1","content":"Pollution of small reservoirs is a major environmental and health concern in rural areas. A study was conducted to determine the effects of temporal and spatial variation in small reservoir water quality in Mzingwane catchment. Water samples were collected from four reservoirs, three small reservoirs Sifinini, Avoca, and Bova, and from one medium sized reservoir Siwaze, which was the control. The water samples were collected in March and April to monitor the physical, chemical and biological water quality for irrigation, livestock and domestic use. The replicate samples for each dam were analysed for pH, N0 3, EC, Hardness, total faecal streptococci, E.Coli and faecal streptococci. All the four dams had high pH (8.47 to 10.78), and high N0 3 (60.55 mgl -1 to 79.67 mgl -1 ) concentration compared to the WHO livestock and irrigation guidelines of (5.5 to 8.3 and 6.5 to pH 8.4. respectively) and the WHO drinking water guidelines of (50mgl -1 ) respectively, however the N0 3 concentration were lower than the WHO livestock guidelines (100 mgl -1 ). The water in all four dams was soft and within the conductivity range of the specified guidelines. There was a positive faecal coliform count in all the four dams indicating that the water comes into contact in plant and animal life. It was concluded that pollution of the small reservoirs was mainly due to non point sources, and a more reflective water quality analysis should be done during in the dry season when there is little or no dilution effects from rainfall, this period also coincides with high water demand.","tokenCount":"263"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8591239505.json b/data/part_1/8591239505.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d36cdaa3cea5151666b8efa9978f408df403086c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8591239505.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cebde14c5a6ae85f50721cb6a96bd1eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/45f86206-cf63-415b-951b-686791a7905e/retrieve","id":"-1813437003"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8021e409-ce0b-4753-9c23-efbc326f1b54","pagecount":"48","content":"RECHERCHE 10 | Prévenir les crises alimentaires à Madagascar 11 | Pour une fertilisation équilibrée NUTRITION ET SANTÉ 12 | La sécurité alimentaire menacée 13 | Des technologies mobiles pour la nutrition ÉCONOMIE BLEUE 14 | L'énergie solaire contre le gaspillage 15 | Améliorer la sécurité des aliments 16 | INTERVIEW Monique Barbut : gérer les terres, une priorité mondiale N°182 SOMMAIRE 30 | CHAÎNES DE VALEUR Optimiser l'usage des TIC pour mieux vendre 32 | COMMERCE Vent de jeunesse en Afrique 34 | BUSINESS Des partenariats pour l'adaptation 35 | FINANCE Les promesses du financement mixte 36 | PUBLICATIONS 29| Économie 17 | Dossier Biotechnologie : les avancées de l'ingénierie génétique Pour en savoir plus, voir Spore 175, reportage en Côte d'Ivoire : http://tinyurl.com/zqgsc96 ICTUpdate, n° 69 sur Crowdsourcing et mobilisation http://ictupdate.cta.int/fr/(issue)/69 Si vous ne parvenez pas à télécharger la publication, contactezSPORE 182 | 1 Dans de nombreux pays en développement, le manque de financements abordables est l'un des principaux obstacles à la transformation de la petite agriculture en entreprises rentables. Le déficit financier annuel est évalué à 140 milliards d'euros pour l'agriculture. Le montant actuel des prêts des institutions formelles de financement s'élève à 13 milliards d'euros, dont seulement un milliard provient des banques commerciales. Tout cela pourrait changer avec le financement mixte -un plan de financement utilisant des fonds publics pour réduire les risques liés aux financements agricoles et catalyser ainsi les investissements et prêts du secteur privé. Les instruments utilisés sont le capital risque et les garanties, ainsi que le renforcement des mécanismes contribuant à la gestion des risques en agriculture, comme l'assurance contre les intempéries (voir aussi Spore 181 : Le financement mixte : une nouvelle approche pour financer les chaînes de valeur agricoles). L'utilisation des financements publics pour mobiliser efficacement -plutôt que déplacer -des fonds privés est employée pour le financement d'infrastructures depuis la fin des années 1990. Mais le \"mixage\" des financements pour l'agriculture n'a pas encore soulevé beaucoup d'intérêt -une étude de l'OCDE/FEM de 2015 montre que seulement 4,7 % des financements mixtes sont destinés à l'alimentation et l'agriculture. Tout cela est en train de changer avec la nouvelle Initiative pour le financement de l'agriculture de l'Union européenne -AgriFI. Le CTA et ses partenaires ont travaillé avec les banques centrales africaines pour contribuer à déverrouiller les financements du secteur privé pour l'agriculture par des mécanismes de mixage innovants. Les gouvernements et organismes de financement étudient comment toucher un plus grand nombre d'agriculteurs et de petites et moyennes entreprises grâce à une utilisation judicieuse des instruments de mixage. Le financement mixte de l'agriculture est plus complexe que celui des infrastructures parce qu'un mécanisme d'agrégation est nécessaire ; pour qu'une transaction commerciale soit viable, il faut regrouper des dizaines de milliers de petits producteurs. Cela exige une coopération entre des organismes capables de toucher un grand nombre d'agriculteurs (comme les grosses entreprises agroalimentaires et les banques des pays en développement) et les financeurs publics. Le CTA organise une conférence sur le financement mixte de l'agriculture à Bruxelles, en Belgique, en novembre 2016. Elle rassemblera d'importants décideurs et conseillers participant à des opérations de financement mixte et des financeurs du secteur privé (banques, fonds d'investissement, agroentreprises) qui pourront élargir leurs activités de financement de l'agriculture. La conférence permettra de partager plus largement les enseignements et meilleures pratiques et favorisera des débats sur les opportunités innovantes de partenariat, dont de nouveaux mécanismes de financement pour les petits agriculteurs réunissant les financeurs publics des pays développés et en développement.Pour plus d'informations sur la conférence, visitez : http://blending4ag.org/fr ÉDITORIAL Le financement mixte pour l'agriculture Michael Hailu, directeur du CTA TENDANCES 2 | Crowdsourcing : la collecte F ace à l'augmentation spectaculaire de l'utilisation des téléphones mobiles, beaucoup explorent les possibilités de ce réseau connecté. Chaque utilisateur devient un potentiel informateur capable de transmettre rapidement des données, grâce à des applications ad hoc ou à de simples SMS. Cette idée de tirer parti des connaissances ou des compétences du public a un nom : le crowdsourcing. Cet anglicisme est difficilement traduisible, tant il recouvre des pratiques différentes, de l'externalisation d'un service à de la production participative, à l'instar de la science participative qui s'appuie sur un réseau d'observateurs amateurs. Quoi qu'il en soit, les TIC transforment la collecte, le traitement et la diffusion des informations, des activités jusque-là complexes et très consommatrices en temps.Dans le secteur agricole des pays ACP, de nombreuses initiatives faisant appel au crowdsourcing ont vu le jour ces dernières années. Selon Krishan Bheenick, coordinateur senior du programme Gestion des connaissances au CTA, la diversité de leurs usages et applications Magali Reinert témoigne de leur vitalité : \"Certaines initiatives, centrées sur la collecte des prix, se destinent aux systèmes d'information de marché et aux politiques alimentaires. D'autres prolongent les sciences participatives, en utilisant les TIC pour faciliter l'implication des participants. D'autres actions encore, issues des mouvements de justice sociale, renforcent les communautés rurales pour soutenir leurs revendications. Elles s'appuient en particulier sur les nouveaux outils de travail collaboratif ou participatif disponibles sur Internet.\"Les organisations internationales misent sur la collecte à grande échelle des prix pour mieux informer les politiques de sécurité alimentaire. Summer Allen, de l'Institut international de recherche sur les politiques alimentaires (IFPRI), explique cet intérêt : \"Utiliser des données fournies par un large nombre d'individus peut aider à atténuer les biais et fournir un aperçu des contraintes sur les marchés en termes d'accessibilité et de disponibilité des produits alimentaires, ainsi que sur la volatilité des prix.\" L'IFPRI conduit un projet pilote sur le sujet. Autre initiative similaire, celle de la Banque africaine de développement, en collaboration avec le Centre commun de recherche de la Commission européenne, qui a lancé l'Africa Food Prices Collection Project. Depuis 2015, des réseaux d'informateurs sont formés et payés pour envoyer régulièrement les prix pratiqués sur les marchés de trois capitales africaines : Nairobi au Kenya, Kampala en Ouganda et Freetown en Sierra Leone.Avec le développement des systèmes d'information de marché (SIM) en Afrique subsaharienne, différentes ONG, comme par exemple Afrique verte ou Rongead, expérimentent aussi des modèles de collecte des prix agricoles. Beaucoup rémunèrent leurs informateurs, un fonctionnement souvent tributaire de financements extérieurs. Rongead a choisi de ne pas payer ses contributeurs et son pari est réussi, selon Julien Gonnet, expert de l'ONG, grâce à la qualité du service rendu. \"Rongead fournit un service original. Au-delà La collecte participative au service de l'agriculture Qu'est-ce que le crowdsourcing ? Cette méthode de collecte de données peut-elle servir l'agriculture des pays ACP et comment ? Tour d'horizon des pratiques…SPORE 182 | 3 d'une information sur les prix, nous fournissons des analyses de marchés qui intéressent les commerçants et justifient leur investissement dans le projet. Gratuitement\", précise Julien Gonnet. Le fonctionnement repose aussi sur des collaborateurs locaux organisés (voir encadré). L'acquisition de données sur les prix est certainement un des secteurs qui ont le plus rapidement évolué. Pour preuve, des start-up se sont mises sur ce marché prometteur. L'entreprise californienne Premise a ainsi constitué un large réseau de collecteurs de prix. Ces derniers envoient des photos des prix des produits agricoles prises sur les marchés ou dans les magasins et reçoivent une contrepartie financière. Sur son site, la start-up annonce sa présence dans 30 pays, en particulier dans des grandes villes africaines.Elle met en avant plusieurs études de marché basées sur son crowdsourcing, comme par exemple l'influence du virus Rongead propose depuis six ans un service d'information de marché en continu, N'kalo, destiné aux filières agricoles en Afrique de l'Ouest et centrale. Selon Julien Gonnet, expert en TIC de l'ONG, le succès de N'kalo repose sur une approche originale qui, au service d'information de marché classique, intègre des éléments novateurs (tendances, prospective, contexte régional et international). Comment Rongead assure-t-elle la collecte des données dans les cinq pays couverts par le service (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Sénégal et Tchad) ? Grâce à la qualité du service fourni et aux partenaires de terrain, répond Julien Gonnet. Les collaborateurs locaux, qui diffèrent d'un pays à l'autre (organisations professionnelles agricoles, ONG locales), récupèrent les informations par e-mails. Dans tous les cas de figure, les données sont fournies gratuitement par les acteurs, en échange d'une information décryptée sur l'état du marché dans diverses filières : noix de cajou, karité, sésame, maïs, oignon, arachide, manioc, igname, banane plantain, gomme arabique. Les TIC sont mobilisées pour diffuser efficacement l'information : des SMS, un service de consultation des prix et tendances sur mobile, un bulletin hebdomadaire par filière transmis par e-mail, un site Internet spécifique, des conseillers disponibles en permanence par téléphone.Ebola sur les prix alimentaires des marchés de Monrovia au Liberia ou les variations de prix de la viande et des sucreries pendant le ramadan au Nigeria. Premise vend ses services aux investisseurs privés et à tout autre acteur intéressé par la situation des marchés.La participation des informateurs est ainsi souvent assurée par une contrepartie financière ou un crédit téléphonique. Mais si l'intéressement financier augmente les contributions, il ne garantit pas leur qualité. Un système de contrôle est donc mis en place pour valider les données envoyées.La fiabilité est mesurée de deux manières, automatiquement par un logiciel (qui compare la donnée avec les autres pour vérifier sa cohérence) et manuellement par un modérateur qui valide ou pas chaque donnée reçue. \"C'est important de fournir un paiement basé sur la qualité de la donnée pour encourager une collecte de données de grande qualité\", insiste Summer Allen. Cette organisation qui repose moins sur une participation volontaire que sur un réseau constitué et rémunéré est parfois nommée par les anglophones \"crowdfeeding\", pour la distinguer d'une collecte participative.Les expériences participatives issues des mouvements d'open source (ou \"en exploitation libre\") et de justice sociale offrent aussi des exemples intéressants de mobilisation des acteurs. Le logiciel open source Ushahidi, qui signifie \"témoigner\" en swahili, est né en 2008, lors des violences consécutives aux élections au Kenya : quatre jeunes blogueurs kényans vivant aux États-Unis ont développé ce logiciel dans l'objectif de recueillir des témoignages précis de la situation sur place. \"L'idée est de rassembler des informations de différentes sources en mode participatif, par différents moyens : e-mails, SMS, tweets, etc., sans application à télécharger. Cet outil est particulièrement adapté lorsqu'une communauté préexiste : on s'enregistre pour recevoir une alerte, n'importe qui peut faire cela\", explique Nathaniel Manning, de Ushahidi. L'application cartographique permet à ses utilisateurs de décrire et de géolocaliser sur une carte interactive les situations dont ils sont témoins. Là encore, le logiciel prévoit que le contenu soit approuvé par un administrateur.Aujourd'hui, ce système de gestion qui permet de traiter tout type d'information est développé en 45 langues différentes et compte 100 000 usagers dans 160 pays. Concernant ses usages en agriculture, Nathaniel Manning cite l'exemple de producteurs argentins qui ont utilisé Ushahidi pour suivre les maladies et ravageurs de cultures. Ou encore d'agriculteurs indiens pour localiser les accaparements de terres : face au dévelop-pement des projets miniers au nord de l'Inde, les agriculteurs témoins ou victimes d'éviction de terres envoient leurs témoignages qui sont ensuite compilés sur une carte de la région.À l'image de l'utilisation d'Ushahidi en Inde, les données géolocalisées permettent de documenter facilement l'occupation et l'usage des sols. En Afrique comme dans les Caraïbes et le Pacifique, le CTA appuie des Systèmes d'information géographiques participatifs qui, à l'instar de la modélisation participative en 3D (MP3D) permettent à des communautés rurales de mieux s'approprier et défendre leurs territoires (voir encadré p. 5). Autant d'initiatives qui soulignent la place des outils participatifs dans les dynamiques d'émancipation des communautés rurales. Des expériences ont également été conduites dans des contextes d'intervention humanitaire. Le Programme alimentaire mondial a ainsi distribué des téléphones mobiles dans les camps de réfugiés pour qu'ils puissent témoigner, à travers des enquêtes mensuelles, de leur situation alimentaire. Et l'ONU a travaillé avec Ushahidi pour pro-SPORE 182 | 5 duire des cartes interactives qui évoluent en temps réel à partir de témoignages de civils sur la situation en Libye.Toujours parmi les acteurs de l'open data, l'Open Data Kit (ODK) propose des kits gratuits pour collecter et traiter des données. Développés par des chercheurs de l'Université de Washington, ces outils préconçus permettent aux utilisateurs de construire des formulaires ou des enquêtes, de collecter les réponses grâce aux téléphones mobiles et de les extraire ensuite au format adéquat. Cette approche plus statistique et moins collaborative que Ushahidi a intéressé des acteurs institutionnels comme l'African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).Sur le versant agronomique, Pierre Bonnet du Cirad cite comme exemple réussi de crowdsourcing les relevés d'observation de terrain pour le suivi de pathogènes des cultures. Les agriculteurs envoient depuis leur portable des photos de formulaires papier avec la date, le lieu et le type de pathogènes rencontrés au centre de recherche concerné. En échange, ils reçoivent les informations sur l'évolution des maladies. \"La participation des agriculteurs est ainsi motivée par une meilleure prise en compte de leurs problèmes agronomiques et par leur implication à améliorer le système de lutte\", observe Pierre Bonnet.Pierre Bonnet est une des chevilles ouvrières du projet Pl@ntnet, une application mobile de reconnaissance d'images de plantes. Les utilisateurs identifient les plantes grâce à l'application mais contribuent aussi à recenser la flore locale en mettant à disposition leurs photos géolocalisées et datées. Si de nombreux utilisateurs sont des botanistes amateurs, des agriculteurs se sont aussi saisis de l'outil pour la reconnaissance des adventices de cultures. \"La reconnaissance en temps réel des plantes invasives permet une lutte mieux ciblée\", souligne Pierre Bonnet.Depuis son ouverture au grand public en 2013, l'application a été téléchargée 2 millions de fois sur mobile et compte plus de 20 000 utilisateurs quotidiens en moyenne. \"Cette communauté génère des volumes de données impossibles à produire seulement par les chercheurs\", explique l'ingénieur de recherche du Cirad qui reconnaît que l'équipe a été surprise par le succès de l'application. Pl@ntnet répertorie la flore dans plusieurs régions du monde, dont l'océan Indien (Maurice, Comores, Seychelles). D'ici un ou deux ans, les Caraïbes et l'Afrique tropicale seront aussi couvertes.Le chercheur insiste sur l'importance de la qualité de l'expertise fournie par les différents organismes de recherche associés au projet. Côté botanique, les équipes étendent les régions couvertes et affinent la reconnaissance à différents stades de croissance de la plante. L'expertise informatique est aussi déterminante pour ouvrir le service à un maximum d'utilisateurs : application gratuite, pas trop lourde à télécharger, utilisable hors connexion pour limiter les coûts (même si bien sûr une connexion est nécessaire au moment de l'échange de données), etc.Mais la prolifération des données numériques n'est pas sans poser ques-tion quant à leur utilisation. Le crowdsourcing n'y échappe pas, d'autant moins que les utilisateurs partagent leurs localisations et leurs données. Par exemple, les utilisateurs de l'application Ushahidi restent anonymes, protection des sources oblige.\"On ne peut savoir précisément qui sont les usagers. Beaucoup des sujets sont liés aux Droits de l'homme, il faut donc respecter l'anonymat des usagers\", explique ainsi Nathaniel Manning. Et quand les ingénieurs d'Ushahidi travaillent avec l'ONU pour produire des cartes dans des pays en guerre, elles sont cryptées pour éviter de fournir des informations aux militaires.La position d'Ushahidi rappelle ainsi que les organisations internationales, ONG, entreprises qui collectent des données doivent aussi aborder la question de leur confidentialité. A fortiori dans les pays ACP, où il existe peu ou pas de réglementation sur la protection des données personnelles et où les risques d'une utilisation détournée sont encore plus forts.Jeunes, vieux, femmes, hommes, tous les membres de la communauté sont impliqués dans la cartographie participative, un processus de synergie créative qui fait appel à une forme de crowdsourcing. Dans une première étape, une carte de base du territoire à analyser est élaborée à l'aide d'un système d'information géographique (SIG). Dans l'étape suivante, chacun est appelé à décrire l'utilisation et la couverture des terres avec des punaises, des fils, de la peinture, pour établir une maquette en 3D. Enfin, les données générées par les membres de la communauté sont importées dans un SIG et partagées, en fonction de l'utilisation envisagée : planification et gestion des ressources naturelles, adaptation au changement climatique, etc. Pour chaque projet, la communauté mobilisée gagne en autonomie grâce à la Modélisation participative en 3D (MP3D), outil pour l'analyse, la prise de décision, le plaidoyer, l'action et le suivi. Au Samoa, dans le parc national Maugas Salafai, sur l'île de Savaii, un projet de MP3D appuyé par le CTA a ainsi permis aux habitants de prendre conscience des impacts négatifs de leur incursion (agriculture, élevage) sur des terres protégées et de leurs conséquences et risques sur l'environnement.Pour en savoir plus télécharger gratuitement l'ouvrage du CTA Le pouvoir des cartes. Quand la 3D s'invite à la table des négociations. http://tinyurl.com/zto6z3hPrès de 3 000 producteurs timorais ont testé et répliqué les nouvelles variétés de semences.Wendy Levy E n 2002, lors de l'Indépendance du Timor oriental, des années de lutte pour l'autodétermination avaient laissé l'agriculture locale dans une situation difficile. La guerre avait isolé les petits exploitants (plus de 63 % de la population) des progrès et avantages de la recherche agricole. \"Le mieux que nous pouvions faire, c'était d'assurer un accès à de nouvelles variétés du monde entier\", explique le Dr Rob Williams, agronome. Quatorze ans plus tard, le projet innovant Seeds of Life mis en oeuvre par le Centre australien pour la recherche agricole internationale (ACIAR) a produit 18 nouvelles variétés à haut rendement. Ces semences de manioc, d'arachide, de maïs, de riz, d'igname, de haricot mungo et de haricot rouge ont été expérimentées, testées et reproduites par des agriculteurs timorais, en tenant compte des conditions locales. Pour constituer un stock de céréales de niveau international à des fins expérimentales, les responsables du projet ont lancé un appel à une série de centres du GCRAI. Ils ont ainsi reçu des semences du monde entier et associé quelque 3 000 petits producteurs timorais à la recherche initiale. Celle-ci a permis de recueillir des informations sur les rendements, les capacités de stockage, les goûts, etc. \"Nous voulions savoir s'ils pouvaient produire davantage en optant pour d'autres variétés -sans autre changement et sans intrants\", précise R. Williams. En utilisant une nouvelle variété, certains agriculteurs ont vu leurs rendements doubler dans des délais réduits de moitié.Plus de 4 000 expériences ont été menées dans des exploitations afin de tester la pertinence des nouvelles variétés pour différentes pratiques agricoles, saisons et zones agroécologiques. L'objectif était de mettre en évidence les gains de rendement, l'adaptabilité agronomique et les impacts sociaux, environnementaux et sur les questions de genre. Le ministère timorais de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche (MAF) a rebaptisé les meilleures semences avec un nom timorais et en a fait un lancement officiel. Six tonnes de semences ont été produites à usage communautaire à partir d'une tonne. Cette méthode a été utilisée pour construire le système semencier national des variétés homologuées, l'objectif étant de donner aux petits agriculteurs les moyens de produire des semences et de les distribuer eux-mêmes. Desle Centre australien pour la recherche agricole internationale a produit 18 nouvelles variétés de cultures vivrières à haut rendement.ix fermes pilotes utilisant la technique de production \"raisonnée\" ont été mises en place à Maurice pour travailler sur des solutions alternatives aux produits chimiques qui sont utilisés dans l'agriculture. Le but est de réduire et de maîtriser l'utilisation des pesticides, des herbicides, des fongicides et des insecticides dans les cultures locales. Ce mode de production prend en compte les objectifs économiques des producteurs, les attentes des consommateurs pour des produits plus sains et le respect de l'environnement.Initié par la Chambre d'agriculture de Maurice, ce projet consiste en trois niveaux de rupture de dépendance aux substances actives. Au niveau 1, on optimise l'utilisation des produits phytosanitaires, avec une meilleure compréhension, un meilleur dosage, une meilleure application, une meilleure utilisation pour un meilleur résultat. Au niveau 2, on remplace les produits phytosanitaires par des produits alternatifs comme des produits de biocontrôle ou on introduit des insectes pour lutter contre les maladies. Et au niveau 3, on repense le système de culture en s'appuyant sur les principes de l'agroécologie, la diversification des espèces sous culture et l'introduction de variétés résistantes, et des techniques alternatives comme des pièges ou des rotations de culture. L'utilisation de produits phytosanitaires ou d'engrais est ainsi limitée au strict nécessaire. La Chambre d'agriculture vise une réduction d'environ 75 % des résidus de produits phytosanitaires dans l'air, le sol et les produits alimentaires.Alternatives aux pesticides kits de démarrage semencier, une bâche de semis et des cuves de stockage ont ainsi été distribués. \"Il s'agissait généralement de projets familiaux, capables de transformer 5 ou 10 kg de semences en 200 kg de semences\", indique R. Williams. En 2009, une centaine de tonnes de semences avaient été distribuées à 20 000 familles de producteurs.Le MAF engage actuellement des multiplicateurs en vue de produire 30 tonnes de semences certifiées. Celles-ci sont fournies aux 69 groupes de producteurs semenciers commerciaux présents dans le pays. Les semences sont achetées par le MAF, la FAO et des ONG pour être distribuées aux petits producteurs. Ces derniers peuvent également s'en procurer dans les magasins gérés par leur groupe local de production. En 2014-2015, les producteurs commerciaux avaient produit un stock suffisant pour remplacer 75 % du volume d'importation de semences du pays.Le programme semencier du Timor oriental a réduit les périodes de famine et a presque doublé la production, se félicite le Dr Eric Huttner, responsable des recherches sur l'amélioration et la gestion des récoltes à l'ACIAR. En outre, il a été démontré que les semences de qualité des nouvelles variétés apportaient des rendements de 15 à 131 % supérieurs aux variétés traditionnelles.Toutefois, le climat macro-économique est en train de changer et les jeunes agriculteurs quittent les campagnes pour aller travailler à Dili, la capitale. \"Si les rendements ont augmenté, certaines cultures ont enregistré un recul, notamment celle du riz. Les coûts de production restent en effet trop élevés, comparés aux importations à bas prix de riz originaire du Vietnam et de Thaïlande\", précise-t-il.Pour en savoir plus : http://bit.ly/28MtCtj  L'accès à des informations météorologiques précises concernant la pluviométrie, la température, l'humidité du sol, la vitesse des vents et leur direction et le rayonnement solaire est essentiel pour les agriculteurs. Ces données peuvent les aider à prendre les décisions qui s'imposent en vue de protéger ou d'améliorer leurs cultures et leur productivité, de minimiser les pertes et de réduire les coûts de production. Ces éléments, désormais collectés par sept stations, sont transmis à un serveur hébergé par le portail du gouvernement mauricien. Ils sont présentés sous forme de tableaux et graphiques qui sont accessibles gratuitement en ligne. Ils servent par ailleurs à alimenter le système d'alerte du FAREI diffusé par téléphone portable, principalement en cas de découverte d'une épidémie ou d'une quelconque maladie dans une région particulière.Selon Indoomatee Ramma, chercheuse au FAREI, \"les agriculteurs peuvent planifier leurs opérations aux champs lorsqu'ils sont au courant des conditions climatiques qui prévalent dans leur région. Comme, par exemple, économiser l'eau en stoppant l'irrigation lorsque les données leur indiquent que la pluviosité est suffisante dans leurs régions. Ils vont pouvoir utiliser les fertilisants de manière optimale, gérer les ravageurs et les maladies plus efficacement et aussi améliorer leur productivité\". Des cultures entières peuvent être sauvées si la bonne décision est prise au bon moment.Ces données météorologiques, constituées au fil du temps, servent par ailleurs à identifier des tendances et mieux comprendre la réaction des cultures face au climat. \"On peut, par exemple, prévoir la floraison du litchi et de la mangue ainsi que le comportement des insectes et le développement des maladies\", indique la chercheuse.Vijay Chutturdharee, un agriculteur de Triolet, dans le nord de l'île, se réjouit de cette initiative. Il indique avoir changé ses dates d'ensemencement du piment en mars dernier à la lumière des informations en provenance de ce serveur qui prévoyaient des pluies torrentielles pendant deux semaines dans sa région. \"Mes semis sur deux hectares environ auraient été détruits par les grosses pluies si je n'avais pas obtenu ces informations à temps\", témoigne-t-il. Le changement climatique, ayant un impact négatif sur la sécurité alimentaire, oblige l'île Maurice à avoir recours à un volume grandissant d'importations, avec une facture alimentaire qui atteint plus de 900 millions d'euros par an. \"Ce qui est beaucoup trop pour une petite économie comme la nôtre et une île sans grandes ressources\", souligne le ministre de l'Agro-industrie et de la Sécurité alimentaire, Mahen Seeruttun. Selon le directeur du FAREI, Ramesh Rajcoomar, ce système d'aide à la décision devrait augmenter la production agricole et réduire le montant de la facture alimentaire de l'île.Sept stations météorologiques transmettent les informations à un serveur accessible gratuitement, un service précieux pour les producteurs.est basé sur l'obtention de données météorologiques en temps réelRomain Loury R esponsables de 90 % de la déforestation africaine, les combustibles ligneux (charbon de bois, bois de feu) ont plus que jamais la cote : selon la FAO, le continent serait déjà à l'origine de 60 % de la production mondiale de charbon de bois, de 35 % de celle de combustible ligneux.Utilisé par 77 % des ménages ruraux et 43 % des urbains, le charbon de bois est devenu un moteur de l'économie africaine, rarement légal. Moins coûteux que l'électricité (dont l'Afrique est encore peu équipée), ce combustible, issu du brûlage d'arbres vivants, est plus pratique que le bois mort, qui s'éteint facilement.Selon des projections du Programme des Nations unies pour l'environnement (PNUE), la demande africaine pourrait doubler, voire tripler, d'ici 2050. Un niveau insoutenable pour la forêt africaine, qui connaît déjà une diminution rapide : couverte à 35 % de forêts et terres boisées, l'Afrique en a perdu environ 75 millions d'hectares entre 1990 et 2010, avec une accélération au cours de la décennie écoulée (-0,5 % de couverture forestière par an). Les menaces pour l'environnement sont multiples : érosion des sols, perte de biodiversité, émission de gaz à effet de serre entraînant un réchauffement climatique dont l'Afrique sera l'une des premières victimes. Mais une utilisation toujours plus importante de charbon de bois aura aussi un fort impact sanitaire : la combustion, souvent confinée au domicile, dégrade la qualité de l'air intérieur. Or, selon l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), cette pollution domestique est l'une des principales causes de décès dans le monde : 4,3 millions de décès par an, dont 600 000 en Afrique, principalement du fait de maladies cardiovasculaires et de cancers.Outre Combustible à bas coût, le charbon de bois menace les forêts africaines. Sur le continent, sa consommation pourrait doubler, voire tripler, d'ici 2050.Les combustibles ligneux sont responsables à 90 % de la déforestation en Afrique.Madagascar connaît des crises alimentaires récurrentes. La télédétection permet de mieux y faire face en mesurant notamment les surfaces cultivées.techniques et des ressources disponibles et prédire les conséquences agrégées des grandes modifications de gestion des activités et des espaces.Dans cette perspective, des recherches ont été réalisées dans la régiond'Antsirabe sur les hautes terres malgaches, à 60 km de la capitale, Antananarivo. Il s'est agi, notamment, d'élaborer la cartographie de l'occupation du sol, plus particulière-S ur un territoire vaste et parfois difficile d'accès, la télédétection constitue une alternative aux dispositifs de terrain pour évaluer la production agricole. L'imagerie satellitaire, la modélisation spatiale et les bases de données spatialisées sont utilisées pour mieux caractériser l'organisation spatiale des milieux et des activités, optimiser la répartition spatiale des alternatives ment du domaine cultivé et des systèmes de culture, en exploitant les images satellitaires de différentes sources. Les chercheurs ont ensuite conçu des méthodes d'estimation des rendements de la culture du riz en analysant des séries temporelles d'images satellitaires et en effectuant des modélisations spatiales, afin de préciser les meilleurs moyens de lutter contre la diffusion de maladies dans les cultures.Les recherches ont abouti à au moins trois résultats des plus instructifs. Tout d'abord, pour la saison culturale octobre 2014 -mai 2015, le domaine cultivé sur la zone d'étude d'Antsirabe a été cartographié avec une très grande précision. Cette précision est d'autant plus importante dans un contexte de grande fragmentation du domaine cultivé, avec des parcelles de petite taille, entourées de végétation naturelle. La cartographie des systèmes de culture (l'ensemble des procédés utilisés pour exploiter la terre), plus complexe, a pu être réalisée avec une précision de classification moindre, mais améliorable. Les chercheurs ont, dans un second temps, obtenu une estimation des rendements rizicoles. Les \"séries temporelles d'indices de végétation\" (NDVI) calculées à partir des images satellitaires ont permis de retracer le cycle de croissance des parcelles cultivées en riz. Ainsi, les premiers modèles d'estimation du rendement du riz par télédétection (estimant à la fois la biomasse totale, la paille, et le poids de grain plein) sont encourageants. Enfin, des chercheurs, étudiants et partenaires de développement ont été en mesure de suivre une formation à l'utilisation du logiciel de gestion de données géographiques QGIS (Quantum Geographic Information System). Ces activités de recherche, en grande partie financées par le Centre national d'études spatiales français (CNES), sont intégrées dans un réseau de recherche international sur le suivi de la production agricole par télédétection, le réseau JECAM (Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring, en français : expérimentation conjointe pour l'évaluation et le suivi des cultures). La disponibilité prochaine d'images de la nouvelle constellation de satellites d'observation de la Terre à haute résolution de l'Agence spatiale européenne, dont les données sont gratuites, \"Sentinel-2\", devrait permettre d'accroître considérablement les capacités de caractérisation des systèmes agricoles malgaches. Lors d'un symposium de l'Institut international de la potasse, le Dr Gidena Tasew, du Centre de recherche sur les sols de Mekele, a déclaré : \"Dans le passé, on pensait que les sols éthiopiens contenaient certains nutriments, qui, en fait, en étaient absents -notamment le potassium. Ce genre de méprise est désormais évitable, depuis que les chercheurs du pays ont lancé ce projet de cartographie numérique de la fertilité des sols.\"\"EthioSIS permettra d'introduire une meilleure approche de la fertilisation\", estime le Professeur Tekalign Mamo, responsable du programme EthioSIS. \"Tout comme les enfants ont absolument besoin d'une alimentation saine pour grandir, il faut garantir la présence de nutriments dans le sol, par le bais d'une fertilisation équilibrée.\" Ce projet est coordonné par l'Agence éthiopienne de transformation agricole (ATA). Le responsable de projet, Tegbaru Bellete, explique : \"Nous utilisons une technologie de pointe qui fournira aux petits producteurs des conseils sur les engrais à utiliser en temps utile.\" L'ATA prévoit de faire de ce projet un programme permanent du ministère de l'Agriculture et des Ressources naturelles. Une approche différente est actuellement déployée au Kenya, où plus de 6 000 petits producteurs bénéficient des services de quatre laboratoires mobiles. Ces laboratoires, exploités par SoilCares, ont analysé plus de 10 000 échantillons de sol depuis leur mise en place en 2013. Chaque analyse coûte environ 12 € aux agriculteurs. Grâce à la télédétection, les résultats sont accessibles dans les deux heures, ce qui permet aux agriculteurs de prendre des décisions bien informées en matière d'utilisation d'engrais.Les visites des laboratoires mobiles sont annoncées par le biais de SMS envoyés aux utilisateurs enregistrés de SoilCares SMS service ainsi que sur les médias sociaux.Fin 2016, SoilCares introduira également les SoilCares Scanners, des dispositifs plus petits, plus légers et plus faciles à utiliser que les grands laboratoires. Vendus environ 2 000 €, ils sont essentiellement conçus pour les négociants agroalimentaires, les agents de vulgarisation, les coopératives ou les sous-traitants.Un projet de cartographie des sols en Éthiopie et des laboratoires mobiles au Kenya aident les petits agriculteurs à utiliser les engrais à meilleur escient. EN AFRIQUE, la recherche se mobilise pour trouver une alternative aux sacs en plastique à partir d'une ressource locale : le manioc. L'amidon de manioc permet en effet de produire un emballage biodégradable intéressant. Mais les chimistes doivent encore améliorer la résistance de ce matériau fragile et soluble dans l'eau. Au Cameroun, le laboratoire de chimie inorganique de l'université de Yaoundé a obtenu des résultats concluants grâce à l'ajout de kaolinite (un silicate d'aluminium). À Madagascar, l'entreprise GasyPlast produit déjà des bioplastiques à base de manioc à l'échelle industrielle grâce à un transfert de technologie avec la Chine.Au Kenya, les laboratoires de SoilCares ont analysé plus de 10 000 échantillons de sol depuis 2013.Le réchauffement climatique ne va pas seulement diminuer les rendements, il devrait aussi accroître le risque de toxicité des fruits et légumes.ors de son assemblée annuelle de Nairobi en mai dernier, le Programme des Nations unies pour l'environnement (PNUE) a attiré l'attention de la communauté internationale sur les dangers potentiels de la toxicité des produits agricoles. Dans un rapport intitulé Frontiers, le PNUE y voit une importante menace environnementale, au même titre que la pollution par le plastique, et les maladies émergentes.Parmi les principaux agents toxiques, sont évoquées les mycotoxines, liées à la contamination de plantes par des moisissures. Cette famille de molécules compterait environ 400 membres, dont les plus connus sont les aflatoxines, l'ochratoxine A et les fumonisines, retrouvées notamment sur le maïs, le blé, le sorgho et l'arachide. Selon le PNUE, 4,5 milliards de personnes y seraient exposées dans les pays en développement, via des aliments ne faisant l'objet d'aucun contrôle.Si ces toxines peuvent, à forte dose, empoisonner le consommateur, elles ont des effets cancérigènes à doses plus faibles mais régulières. En Afrique, 40 % des cancers du foie seraient liés aux aflatoxines : \"C'est le fléau n° 1 des pays chauds et humides\", estime Didier Montet, spécialiste de la sécurité sanitaire des aliments au Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), qui dit avoir observé sur le terrain des doses de mycotoxines 1 000 fois supérieures aux normes internationales du Codex Alimentarius, un ensemble de normes alimentaires internationales éditées par l'OMS et la FAO, notamment destinées à protéger la santé des consommateurs.Or le risque de contamination des plantes pourrait s'accroître en raison du réchauffement climatique. Selon Catherine Bessy, experte en sécurité sanitaire des aliments à la FAO, \"lorsque la plante est stressée et en mauvaise santé [par exemple en raison d'une canicule ou d'une sécheresse], elle devient plus vulnérable aux invasions fongiques\". Autre possibilité, certaines moisissures envahissent la plante au niveau de blessures infligées par des insectes, qui devraient proliférer avec le réchauffement.\"Le réchauffement climatique doit nous rappeler qu'il faut des systèmes de surveillance des maladies et de la contamination des aliments\", poursuit-elle. Pour surveiller les aliments déjà sur le marché, mais surtout pour agir en amont, notamment en sensibilisant les agriculteurs sur les bonnes pratiques. \"Il existe de nombreuses techniques très simples pour réduire ces contaminations, par exemple en séchant bien les graines, en évitant de les entreposer directement sur le sol. Mais de nombreux pays n'ont pas le budget pour la formation des agriculteurs\", regrette Didier Montet.La toxicité des plantes cultivées pourrait avoir des impacts économiques, sur les exportations et sur l'élevage. Dans son rapport, le PNUE évoque ainsi l'accumulation de nitrates dans certains végétaux soumis à la sécheresse, qui peut empoisonner les ruminants, au risque de ruiner les éleveurs.Le risque de contamination des plantes pourrait s'accroître en raison du réchauffement.de personnes seraient exposées aux mycotoxines dans les pays en développement.Rita Vaz da Silva E n Afrique subsaharienne, plus d'un tiers des décès d'enfants de moins de cinq ans (1,5 million par an) sont liés à la malnutrition, affirme l'OMS. En Angola, pas moins d'un enfant sur cinq n'atteint pas l'âge de cinq ans. Bien d'autres souffrent d'un grave retard de croissance, ce qui les empêche de devenir des adultes en bonne santé et actifs. Les enfants nourris exclusivement au sein jusqu'à l'âge de six mois sont en meilleure santé et plus robustes. Malheureusement, en Angola, seul un bébé de moins de six mois sur dix est nourri au sein.Pour contribuer à la lutte contre la malnutrition en Angola tout en exploitant l'un des taux de pénétration des téléphones portables les plus élevés d'Afrique (74 abonnés sur 100 habitants), People in Need (PIN), une organisation sans but lucratif tchèque, a lancé un projet de santé mobile (mHealth). L'organisation avait déjà mis en oeuvre avec succès une initiative similaire au Cambodge.\"Ce projet de santé mobile lancé en Angola vise à améliorer la santé et la nutrition des nouveau-nés et à réduire la mortalité infantile\", explique Claudia Oliveira, de PIN Angola. \"Chaque semaine, nous envoyons des messages préenregistrés de 90 secondes aux mères et aux soignants. Les informations communiquées concernent le développement de l'enfant, la nutrition, la vaccination, la prévention des maladies et l'hygiène. Ils sont envoyés aux mères jusqu'à ce que leurs enfants aient six mois, une période clé pour l'amélioration de la santé et de la nutrition des nouveau-nés\", explique-t-elle. Les sages-femmes traditionnelles, qui assistent plus de la moitié des naissances en Angola, n'ont généralement qu'une formation limitée et ont des habitudes culturelles parfois risquées pour les mères et les nouveau-nés. Elles sont aujourd'hui plus de 350 à avoir bénéficié de la formation de PIN axée sur l'amélioration de leurs pratiques dans le domaine de la santé. Elles sont à présent en mesure de surveiller les femmes enceintes et de les envoyer chez un médecin spécialisé lorsqu'un problème dépasse le champ de leurs compétences. Les sagesfemmes ayant été formées recevront bientôt les premiers messages de santé néonatale. D'ici septembre 2017, PIN espère atteindre au total 60 000 mères de six municipalités des provinces de Bié, Huambo et Huila. Si les projets mHealth sont de plus en plus répandus en Afrique, une étude menée en 2015 dans 10 pays d'Afrique par la fondation GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation montre que seuls 8 % des projets de santé mobile, comme cette initiative de PIN, sont axés sur la nutrition.DIVERSES CAUSES expliquent la malnutrition, comme le manque de diversité alimentaire. Dans les prairies inondables du Barotseland, en Zambie, les habitants vivent de maïs et de riz lorsque les eaux se retirent, de la pêche lorsqu'elles sont hautes. Or ce mode de vie est menacé par le changement climatique et la raréfaction du poisson. Pendant trois ans, l'organisme de recherche Bioversity International a aidé la population à définir des régimes plus variés pour combler ses carences et assurer sa sécurité alimentaire. Retracée sur le site de Bioversity, cette démarche d'éducation à la nutrition \"peut marcher partout : elle est adaptée à une communauté, pas à un aliment ou à une carence en particulier\", indique l'organisation.SIX CENTS PETITS producteurs de São Tomé et Príncipe qui avaient abandonné leurs terres ont été encouragés à revenir à l'agriculture, grâce à une initiative qui les relie à des crèches et des écoles publiques. Le projet, mis en oeuvre par deux ONG -Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr, et la Fédération des ONG de São Tomé-et-Principe -, aide les producteurs à fournir ces établissements en oignons, tomates, choux, etc. Cette initiative a permis à 45 000 enfants de bénéficier de repas améliorés à la cantine tout en fournissant des moyens de subsistance aux familles d'agriculteurs. Par ailleurs, elle est mise en oeuvre au moment où le Programme alimentaire mondial se désengage peu à peu du pays, bien que la sous-alimentation touche plus de 30 % des moins de 5 ans.En Angola, des messages audio sont envoyés par portable aux mères et au personnel soignant pour lutter contre la mortalité et la malnutrition infantiles.© TEREZA HRONOVA Des messages pré-enregistrés de 90 s. avec de précieux conseils sur la nutrition, la vaccination, la santé infantile, sont envoyés aux mères et sages-femmes par téléphone mobile.Des communautés de pêcheurs du Cameroun, du Cabo Verde et du Malawi bénéficient de nouveaux systèmes de séchage et de stockage à l'énergie solaire.n nouveau système de séchage du poisson, en forme de \"tente solaire\", diminuant considérablement le nombre de poissons perdus au cours du séchage, est actuellement testé par les transformatrices de poisson du lac Malawi. Les scientifiques estiment qu'aujourd'hui quatre poissons sur dix pêchés dans le lac Malawi sont perdus au cours du processus de séchage traditionnel, en raison de l'humidité, de la poussière, des insectes ou des animaux. Ce dispositif solaire de séchage, construit à partir d'un cadre de bois recouvert d'une épaisse bâche transparente en polyéthylène, ressemble beaucoup à une ombrière utilisée pour faire pousser des fleurs ou des cultures.Des chercheurs de l'université du Malawi et du département de la pêche sont à pied d'oeuvre sur cinq sites du lac Malawi pour améliorer le processus de transformation du poisson sur une période de 30 mois. Ce nouveau dispositif permet de produire du poisson séché de qualité et de le vendre aux supermarchés avec une marge bénéficiaire plus intéressante. Pelina Bande, transformatrice de poisson à Cape Maclear, est l'une des premières à l'avoir testé. \"Il est facile d'emploi, car on y est à l'ombre, contrairement au mien. Et je peux tourner le poisson sans problème.\"Une fois que l'usage de la tente se sera généralisé, l'équipe de recherche pourra savoir si son utilisation, en lieu et place du séchage en plein air, est financièrement rentable et quelle taille doit avoir la tente pour garantir les bénéfices les plus élevés. Garantir l'accessibilité financière et la rentabilité des tentes pour les transformateurs et d'autres entrepreneurs est une autre priorité du projet. Ce travail, qui se poursuivra jusqu'en avril 2017, bénéficie du soutien de Cultivate Africa's Future Fund, une initiative financée conjointement par le Centre de recherches pour le développement international du Canada et le Centre australien pour la recherche agricole internationale.À Limbe, au sud-ouest du Cameroun, plus de 2 000 pêcheurs utilisent des fours de séchage et des réfrigérateurs à énergie solaire pour la transformation du poisson. En 2015, sept associations de pêcheurs des villages de Batoke et Idenau se sont vu offrir chacune deux fours à énergie solaire et 30 réfrigérateurs par la société de conseil African Resource Group-Cameroon, qui travaille en association avec des conseils locaux.Par le passé, de fréquentes coupures d'électricité avaient été à l'origine de pertes très importantes durant les processus de fumage. L'utilisation des technologies solaires a toutefois permis à un grand nombre de travailleurs du secteur d'améliorer leurs revenus, passés de moins de 38 à 60 € par jour. L'énergie solaire a également réduit les risques pour la santé associés au fumage du pois- De nouvelles mesures de sécurité sanitaire des aliments devraient permettre aux pays caribéens d'accroître leurs exportations vers l'Union européenne (UE). onique Barbut tire le bilan de la COP 21, et présente les priorités de la CNULCD. Outre la gestion durable des terres, la résilience des populations rurales et la sécurité alimentaire figurent parmi les multiples objectifs de l'institution.Fait historique, un accord a enfin été conclu entre tous les pays Parties pour contenir l'augmentation des températures bien en deçà de 2 °C. Et pour la première fois, la capacité de séquestration de carbone par les terres a été reconnue. Cela constitue une avancée majeure pour faire de la gestion durable des terres une priorité sur toute la planète. Ainsi, les terres doivent jouer un rôle pivot dans la mise en oeuvre de l'article 5 de l'accord de Paris sur les puits de carbone et je m'en réjouis vivement. Les terres constituent le socle de tous les biens et services rendus par les écosystèmes. En réhabilitant 12 millions d'hectares par an jusqu'à 2030, nous pourrions séquestrer jusqu'à un supplément de 3,33 gigatonnes de carbone par an. Les producteurs ACP auront un rôle majeur à jouer dans ce contexte, à travers l'amplification des bonnes pratiques de gestion durable des terres.Atteindre la Neutralité en termes de dégradation des terres (NDT), c'est permettre le maintien voire l'augmentation de notre capital naturel capable de soutenir les services écosystémiques essentiels à notre bien-être, comme la nourri-ture que nous mangeons, l'air que nous respirons, l'eau saine que nous buvons... Le concept sous-tend à la fois l'espoir de stopper complètement les pertes nettes de terres productives et d'en récupérer. La prise en compte des terres et de la neutralité de leur dégradation comme cible spécifique de l'objectif 15 des Objectifs de développement durable (ODD) appelle la communauté internationale à renforcer ses actions en faveur de la gestion durable des terres et de la restauration des terres dégradées. Mais atteindre la NDT répond également à plusieurs autres ODD, tels que la réduction de la pauvreté, la sécurité alimentaire, la séquestration du carbone dans les sols.Développer et mettre en oeuvre une initiative d'une ampleur telle que celle de la GMV requiert du temps et des ressources humaines et financières. La première conférence de la GMV qui s'est tenue à Dakar, en mai 2016, a abouti à d'importantes avancées, avec une forte mobilisation des pays. Je crois fermement que la création de revenus et d'emplois verts ruraux à travers tout projet basé sur la gestion et la restauration durables des terres dans les zones rurales permettra notamment de renforcer la résilience des communautés face aux changements climatiques et à la désertification, d'assurer la sécurité alimentaire et de ralentir l'exode rural. Ceci constitue un véritable espoir pour toute l'Afrique subsaharienne.La CNULCD recommande plus de 250 bonnes pratiques de gestion durable des terres et de l'eau utilisables dans des écosystèmes variés. Entre autres : l'agriculture de conservation, l'agroforesterie, le non-labour… De nombreux exemples probants existent.Dans le sud du Niger, plus de cinq millions d'hectares de terres dégradées ont été remises en état grâce à la régénération naturelle assistée par les agriculteurs. Celle-ci a permis de produire 500 000 tonnes de céréales de plus par an. À ce jour, cette technique a amélioré la sécurité alimentaire de 2,5 millions de personnes environ.  Par exemple, ces dernières décennies, la sélection végétale et animale a été radicalement transformée par le développement de la sélection assistée par marqueurs (SAM), qui accélère l'identification des caractères souhaités grâce à l'utilisation d'un gène marqueur (ou séquence génétique) unique étroitement En 2015, 28 pays dans le monde produisaient des cultures GM sur 179,7 millions d'hectares -soit plus de 10 % des terres arables ; l'Argentine, le Brésil et les États-Unis sont les plus gros producteurs de cultures GM. Aux États-Unis, plus de 90 % du soja et du maïs sont GM. En Europe, une seule culture GM est autorisée et produite -un type de maïs résistant à la pyrale d'Europe. En Afrique, des cultures GM, surtout du coton Bt, sont produites en Afrique du Sud (2,3 millions d'hectares), au Burkino Faso (0,4 million d'hectares) et au Soudan (0,1 million d'hectares). Des ECMC ont toutefois été menés pour diverses cultures GM au Ghana, au Kenya, au Malawi, au Nigeria, en Ouganda, en Tanzanie et au Zimbabwe (voir infographie).Toutes les cultures GM ne sont pas produites par des techniques transgéniques. Par exemple, la pomme de terre résistante au mildiou (Phytophthora infestans) a été créée par cisgenèse, un processus qui prélève des gènes résistants chez des plantes apparentées sauvages. \"Nous avons transféré des gènes de plantes sauvages apparentées à la pomme de terre -Solanum bulbocastanum et S. venturiidans des variétés appréciées des agriculteurs et obtenu d'excellents résultats\", a déclaré le Dr Andrew Kiggundu, directeur du Centre national de biotechnologie agricole de l'Ouganda à Kawanda. L'avantage de cette technique est qu'elle ne transfère que les gènes désirés, sans le phénomène d'\"entraînement génétique\" qui se produit dans la sélection conventionnelle et nécessite plusieurs générations de rétrocroisements pour éliminer le matériel génétique indésirable. Le principal objectif de la cisgenèse est de transférer des gènes de résistance aux maladies aux variétés vulnérables afin de réduire sensiblement l'application de pesticides, comme pour le mildiou. Aux États-Unis, la cisgenèse est pour l'instant régie par la même législation sur les OGM que la transgenèse. Les chercheurs de l'Université de Wageningen, aux Pays-Bas, qui ont mis au point cette technologie, et le gouvernement hollandais qui a soutenu la recherche plaident fortement pour que la cisgenèse soit réglementée comme les plantes conçues de manière conventionnelle.La majorité des technologies de modification génétique sont utilisées pour améliorer et renforcer certains caractères des cultures, mais les nouvelles techniques d'édition des gènes sont maintenant appliquées à l'élevage. À l'Institut Roslin de l'Université d'Édimbourg, les chercheurs ont produit des porcs potentiellement résistants à la peste porcine africaine, une maladie très contagieuse transmise par les tiques, endémique dans toute l'Afrique subsaharienne où elle tue jusqu'aux deux tiers des animaux infectés. Tandis que les technologies génétiques émergentes estompent la distinction entre la sélection végétale conventionnelle et la sélection génétiquement modifiée, une nouvelle étude, Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects, publiée en mai 2016 par les académies nationales américaines des sciences, d'ingénierie et de médecine, soutient que les cultures génétiquement conçues sont aussi sûres pour l'environnement que celles sélectionnées de manière conventionnelle. Les éléments analysés par le comité d'étude révèlent aussi que, bien que les cultures GM aient été économiquement rentables pour de nombreux petits agriculteurs pendant les premières années de leur adoption, la durabilité et la généralisation de leurs gains dépendront des appuis institutionnels qu'ils recevront -accès au crédit, intrants abordables, services de vulgarisation et accès à des marchés locaux et mondiaux rentables. La Société royale anglaise a aussi publié un nouveau guide, GM Plants: Questions and Answers, qui plaide pour que les cultures GM soient jugées sur leurs mérites individuels. Parmi les évolutions récentes figure l'amélioration de la valeur nutritionnelle des cultures, y compris une banane orange GM dotée de niveaux élevés de bêta-carotène, actuellement testée dans l'Iowa, un manioc enrichi en bêta-carotène récemment distribué au Nigeria et des haricots enrichis en fer au Rwanda (la biofortification sera traitée dans Spore 183). En Afrique, la réglementation sur la biosécurité est encore en cours de développement. Après trois tentatives et des années de débats, le Nigeria a adopté une loi nationale sur la biosécurité pour réglementer les OGM. L'Agence nationale de gestion de la biosécurité (NBMA) est chargée d'encadrer l'application de la loi. Ainsi, Monsanto Nigeria a récemment présenté à la NBMA une demande pour pouvoir distribuer du coton et du maïs Bt. D'autres pays africains pourraient tirer des enseignements de l'exemple du Nigeria.  Koumbia, une des principales zones de production cotonnière dans l'ouest du Burkina Faso, Boyou Bognini prend de l'avance. Président de l'Union départementale de Koumbia et secrétaire général de l'Union provinciale des producteurs de coton du Tuy, il exploite environ 20 hectares de coton. \"J'ai déjà labouré quatre hectares et j'attends la pluie\", dit-il. D'un pas lent, il parcourt le périmètre, s'arrête de temps à autre pour arracher les quelques tiges de coton encore debout malgré le labour au tracteur. \"Cela fait huit ans que je cultive le coton OGM. J'allais entamer ma neuvième année\", confie-t-il d'un ton maussade. Boyou Bognini le dit sans détour, le retour à la culture du coton conventionnel ne l'enchante pas. \"Le coton conventionnel multiplie les problèmes\", soutient-il. Pour lui, c'est Coton OGM : abandon ou repli temporaire ?SPORE 182 | 25 SPORE 182 | 25 tout simplement un retour vers \"des pratiques qu'on a abandonnées durant des années et maintenant on revient là-dessus. Ça ne se fera pas sans difficultés\".Cette année, le pays prévoit 700 000 tonnes de coton, contre 581 000 tonnes récoltées en 2015/2016. \"Va-t-on atteindre nos prévisions avec le retour au coton conventionnel ? Je me pose sérieusement la question\", ajoute Boyou Bognini, qui dit craindre une chute des rendements dans la mesure où \"la majorité des producteurs ne maîtrise plus l'itinéraire technique du coton conventionnel qu'ils ont abandonné pendant des années\". \"Personnellement, le coton OGM était plus avantageux. Si ce n'est le prix, qui vient de chuter sur le marché mondial, j'avais de bons rendements avec le coton OGM. Tu n'as qu'à semer et, une fois le sarclage effectué, tu n'as plus besoin d'intervenir sur la parcelle\", déclare Boyou Bognini.Quelques kilomètres plus à l'est, dans le village de Kari-Lonkuy, Lohan Wanhoun est plutôt rassuré par l'abandon du coton génétiquement modifié. \"C'est en 2012 que j'ai commencé à cultiver le coton OGM, sur sept hectares où je cultivais le coton conventionnel. À la fin de la campagne, j'ai constaté que mon crédit campagne avait augmenté, tandis que ma récolte avait stagné\", dit-il. Il s'arrête un moment, comme pour trouver les mots justes, puis ajoute : \"Avec le coton conventionnel, mon crédit campagne ne dépassait pas huit cent mille FCFA (1 220 euros). Mais avec le coton OGM, pour la même récolte, mon crédit s'élevait à plus d'un million de FCFA (1 524 euros).\" Malgré ce premier essai plutôt douloureux pour le producteur, Lohan Wanhoun tente à nouveau l'expérience la campagne suivante. \"Ça n'a pas marché. Mon rendement a chuté. Alors que le coton OGM était supposé résister aux chenilles, mon champ en a été envahi, et les traitements sont restés sans succès. J'ai abandonné le coton OGM en 2014. Je suis revenu au coton conventionnel et j'ai récolté sur la même superficie plus d'une tonne de plus que ce que je gagnais avec le coton OGM. J'ai conclu que le coton OGM n'était pas bon du tout pour le producteur\", explique Lohan Wanhoun.Pierre Bangou, lui non plus, ne boude pas l'abandon du coton génétiquement modifié. Il est le délégué des producteurs de coton biologique de Fada N'Gourma, dans l'est du Burkina Faso. \"Je me suis lancé dans la production du coton bio en 2004, et je continue à produire depuis lors. J'ai fait le choix du coton biologique, parce que j'ai jugé cette culture respectueuse de l'environnement et aussi de la vie humaine\", annonce-t-il d'entrée. Selon le producteur, l'introduction de la culture du coton génétiquement modifié a eu des incidences sur la production de coton bio. \"Le bio et l'OGM sont deux productions qui ne vont pas ensemble. Des mesures ont été prises pour minimiser les contaminations, imposant une distance de 50 à 100 mètres entre un champ de coton bio et un champ de coton OGM\", explique Pierre Bangou. \"Les producteurs de coton bio faisaient de leur mieux, mais il y avait toujours la contamination. On ne sait pas d'où ça venait, mais on avait ce problème\", ajoute-t-il. Or les contaminations occasionnent des pertes pour les producteurs biologiques. \"Lorsqu'il y a contamination, la production biologique est déclassée et vendue comme du coton conventionnel. Pour le producteur, c'est une perte nette puisque les revenus du coton conventionnel sont de 28 % plus bas\", souligne Pierre Bangou.C'est en 2003 que le Burkina Faso a autorisé les essais sur le coton génétiquement modifié, encore appelé \"coton Bt\". Puis, en 2008, la culture était généralisée. Les semences mises au point par l'entreprise américaine Monsanto étaient supposées résister aux attaques du ver du cotonnier qui minait la production depuis plusieurs années.En avril 2016, l'Association interprofessionnelle du coton du Burkina (AICB), qui regroupe l'union des producteurs et les trois sociétés cotonnières, a décidé de suspendre \"la production du coton OGM jusqu'à nouvel ordre\". L'une des raisons est que, comparativement à la soie produite par le coton conventionnel, celle issue de la variété OGM est plus courte, et s'avère moins prisée et moins rémunératrice sur le marché international du coton. Cela a occasionné des pertes s'élevant à 50 milliards de FCFA (76,22 millions d'euros) au bout de cinq campagnes. Un montant que l'AICB réclame à Monsanto à titre de dédommagement. L'association exige aussi qu'une \"solution technique puisse être trouvée par Monsanto ou par tout autre partenaire\" avant d'envisager le retour au coton génétiquement modifié.Boyou Bognini, pour sa part, espère un retour rapide du coton Bt. \"Si l'année prochaine on dit que le problème est résolu, je suis prêt à me remettre à la culture du coton OGM pour voir ce que ça va donner\", dit-il. Quant à Lohan Wanhoun, il réclame un dédommagement pour les pertes qu'il a encourues. \"Les responsables de la filière nous ont dit que, lorsque Monsanto aurait remboursé les pertes, ils reviendraient vers nous. En tout cas on les attend, on les a à l'oeil\", conclut-il. Bien que l'Ouganda soit à la pointe de la recherche en biotechnologie en Afrique, les agriculteurs ne pourront en bénéficier tant qu'une législation sur la biosécurité ne sera pas adoptée.Peter Wamboga-Mugiryan mai 2016, le 9 e Parlement ougandais (2011-2016) n'a pas approuvé la proposition de loi nationale sur les biotechnologies et la biosécurité (LNBB), initialement présentée en 2013. Bien que le pays dispose depuis 2008 d'une politique sur ces questions, il a besoin d'une loi pour orienter la mise en oeuvre des biotechnologies et garantir la sécurité de la recherche et du développement dans ce domaine, tant pour la santé humaine et animale que pour l'environnement. En Afrique, l'Ouganda est le seul pays sans loi sur la biosécurité où se déroulent des essais au champ en milieu confiné (ECMC) pour des cultures génétiquement modifiées (GM). Si les recherches sur ces cultures et les ECMC sont permis dans le cadre de la Loi de 1990 du Conseil national ougandais pour la science et la technologie (UNCST), aucune variété GM ne peut être commercialisée ou diffusée pour utilisation dans les champs cultivés.Il existe en Ouganda une riche tradition de recherche en biotechnologie ; l'Organisation nationale de recherche agricole (NARO) effectue des recherches sur les cultures GM sous l'égide du Comité national de biosécurité de l'UNCST. Depuis 2007, la NARO a créé 17 variétés GM pour six cultures vivrières de base (banane, manioc, pomme de terre, riz, maïs et patate douce) et une culture commerciale (coton) résistantes aux ravageurs, maladies et conditions environnementales difficiles comme la sécheresse (voir encadré).L'Ouganda est particulièrement connu pour ses recherches en biotechnologie sur la banane. Les premiers travaux ont porté sur le développement d'une résistance à la maladie fongique de la sigatoka noire (SN) (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) grâce à un gène de chitinase dérivé du riz qui confère une résistance à l'infection.Entre 2004 et 2007, les Laboratoires nationaux de recherche agricole (NARL) de Kawanda ont réussi à mettre au point une variété de banane Gros Michel résistante à la SN. En 2007, le premier ECMC -pour toutes les cultures GM en Ouganda -a permis d'enregistrer deux lignées résistantes sur les 105 lignées plantées. Selon le Dr Andrew Kiggundu, directeur du Centre national de biotechnologie agricole de la NARO et principal chercheur ougandais en biotechnologie pour la banane, ces travaux novateurs ont permis de renforcer les capacités de manipulation et de gestion des technologies des chercheurs ougandais en matière de cultures GM.Une autre grave maladie de la banane sévissant dans toute l'Afrique centrale et de l'Est est le flétrissement bactérien mortel du bananier ou banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW). Cette maladie bactérienne dévastatrice, détectée pour la première fois en Ouganda en 2001, touche tous les cultivars de banane, elle rend le fruit immangeable et tue les plantes infectées.Malgré la mise en place de mesures sanitaires pour contrôler la maladie, le BXW frappe maintenant les principales régions de production bananière en Ouganda mais aussi au Burundi, en République démocratique du Congo, au Kenya, au Rwanda et en Tanzanie. La NARO estime que la maladie fait perdre 385 millions d'euros à l'Ouganda chaque année. Pour lutter contre le BXW, la modification génétique de la banane consiste à utiliser un gène de poivron doux qui a déjà démontré sa résistance à la maladie dans plusieurs autres cultures. Les résultats des ECMC sont encourageants et confirment la durabilité de cette caractéristique.Ces dernières années, les scientifiques ougandais ont étendu les recherches sur les cultures GM à d'autres cultures de base diversement touchées.\"Nous avons renforcé les capacités humaines et en infrastructures de génie génétique dans nos deux principaux instituts de recherche avec notamment des laboratoires de pointe en biologie moléculaire et culture tissulaire, et des serres grillagées à niveau II de biosécurité\", souligne le Dr Kiggundu. \"Nous avons développé nos technologies grâce à différentes méthodes de génie génétique. Elles sont évaluées au cas par cas par le Conseil national pour la biotechnologie qui mesure leur efficacité, leur sécurité et leurs performances par rapport aux problèmes qui ont justifié leur autorisation.\"Par exemple, de récents ECMC réalisés sur le maïs dans le cadre du projet Maïs économe en eau pour l'Afrique (WEMA) ont testé des lignées avec gènes accumulés pour la tolérance à la sécheresse ou gènes Bt pour la résistance au foreur des tiges. Le responsable des ECMC du WEMA à Kasese, le Dr Michael Otim, affirme que les lignées plantées à l'essai en mai 2016 évoluent bien : \"Il est trop tôt pour déterminer leurs résultats pour la tolérance à la sécheresse parce qu'elles n'ont pas encore traversé de période de sécheresse. Mais concernant la résistance du maïs Bt au foreur des tiges, il résiste bien dans cette zone de grave infestation.\" Depuis octobre 2015, les premiers ECMC sur des pommes de terre GM pour résister au mildiou ont été réalisés à Kabale, dans le sud-ouest de l'Ouganda. Selon le Dr Kiggundu, 12 plants de pommes de terre cisgéniques GM des variétés Désirée et Victoria ont démontré des niveaux élevés de résistance par comparaison avec des plants non GM des mêmes variétés. \"Nous avons transféré des gènes de plantes sauvages apparentées à la pomme de terre -Solanum bulbocastanum et S. venturii -dans des variétés appréciées des agriculteurs et obtenu d'excellents résultats\", s'enthousiasme-t-il.Néanmoins, bien que les progrès réalisés sur les cultures GM dans les ECMC soient prometteurs, aucune variété ne peut être diffusée commercialement auprès des agriculteurs sans l'approbation de la LNBB par le parlement ougandais. Pour sensibiliser les agriculteurs aux cultures GM et leur permettre d'interagir avec les chercheurs et décideurs, des agriculteurs intéressés par les questions de biotechnologie et de biosécurité ont récemment formé le Forum national des agriculteurs sur les biotechnologies et la biosécurité agricoles (NAFFABB). Son président, Dominic Etullu, ancien chercheur agronome et classé parmi les plus importants exploitants agricoles d'Ouganda, affirme que le forum encouragera ses membres à devenir des \"ambassadeurs des biotechnologies\" dans tout le pays et à pousser les agriculteurs ougandais à exiger de leurs députés l'adoption de la LNBB, qui permettrait la Depuis 2007, en Ouganda, la NARO a mis au point 17 cultivars GM de six cultures de base présentant une résilience aux ravageurs, maladies et conditions environnementales difficiles comme la sécheresse.Le plus important programme biotechnologique de la NARO est consacré à la banane, une culture de base cruciale en Ouganda. Les recherches les plus récentes portent sur une biofortification en provitamine A. Ces travaux sont financés par la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates et réalisés en collaboration avec l'Université de technologie du Queensland, en Australie. \"Nous avons extrait des gènes de renforcement de la teneur en vitamine A de la banane asiatique Asupina (riche en vitamine A) et les avons insérés dans nos variétés locales de matooke hybride M-9 pour multiplier par six le niveau normal de vitamine A\", déclare le Dr. Jerome Kubiriba, directeur du programme national de recherche sur la banane. Ces nouveaux cultivars riches en vitamine A devraient contribuer, avec la patate douce à chair orange, à réduire la malnutrition infantile en Ouganda.diffusion des cultures GM des centres de recherche vers les champs des agriculteurs.Un échange de vues -le premier du genre -portant sur la recherche en biotechnologie en Ouganda et l'objectif de la LNBB a récemment été organisé pour offrir des informations factuelles et fondées sur les cultures GM aux nombreux députés nouvellement élus (64 %), suite à l'élection générale de 2016. Des visites des ECMC ont aussi été organisées par la NARO. Le nouveau ministre d'État à l'agriculture, Christopher Kibanzanga, s'est engagé à soutenir la recherche sur les cultures GM et l'adoption de la LNBB, déclarant que \"ces technologies de cultures GM sont très prometteuses pour nos agriculteurs et en particulier la résilience aux maladies dévastatrices de la banane, du maïs, du manioc, de la patate douce et de la pomme de terre\".L'innovation dans la recherche ougandaise a reçu un appui supplémentaire en mai 2016 avec la création, par le président Yoweri Museveni, d'un nouveau ministère des Sciences, de la Technologie et des Innovations.En juin, le président a demandé que des décisions rapides soient prises pour soutenir le travail de l'innovation scientifique ougandaise. En octobre 2015, il avait blâmé le manque de connaissances des parlementaires en biotechnologies modernes et leur incapacité à les apprécier, considérant la lenteur de l'adoption de la LNBB. Néanmoins, M. Matia Kasaija, ministre des Finances, de la Planification et du Développement économique, dont le portefeuille inclut les sciences jusqu'à leur transfert formel au nouveau ministère, a assuré au président que \"nous allons engager l'adoption de la loi avant que je transmette les questions scientifiques au nouveau ministère. Les chercheurs et autres parties prenantes peuvent compter sur moi pour défendre la science\". Parallèlement, la loi reste une priorité du gouvernement qui va la représenter au 10 e Parlement. Il est vain de donner des informations aux agriculteurs s'ils n'ont aucun moyen de les exploiter, souligne Ben Addom. L'état pitoyable des routes dans de nombreuses régions d'Afrique rurale et l'absence de systèmes de conservation font que, souvent, les produits s'abîment avant d'arriver aux acheteurs.Au Nigeria, la plateforme Chowberry remédie à ce problème en aidant les agriculteurs à trouver des acheteurs pour les produits sur le point d'être périmés. Les distributeurs et détaillants répertorient tous les produits -des fruits et légumes aux conserves -sur ce site par ordre de date de péremption, avec un prix dégressif. En créant une \"voie rapide\" entre La plateforme G-Soko compte plus de 1 000 agriculteurs inscrits dans sa phase pilote et sera disponible pour plus de 5 millions de membres du Conseil des céréales de l'Afrique de l'Est.Les applications TIC transforment l'accès au marché pour les agriculteurs des pays ACP. Elles permettent de trouver des informations sur les prix et la demande, se passer d'intermédiaires et explorer de nouveaux marchés.SPORE 182 | 31 producteurs et consommateurs à faibles revenus, comme les orphelinats et les maisons de repos, Chowberry contribue à réduire le gaspillage et à lutter contre la pauvreté. Elle aide aussi les agriculteurs à prospecter de nouveaux marchés pour leurs produits, explique le fondateur Oscar Ekponimo.Le chemin de l'agriculteur à l'acheteur est jalonné d'intermédiaires qui sont utiles, mais compriment les marges déjà ténues des agriculteurs. Réduire la nécessité des intermédiaires est l'un des objectifs clés de la plateforme sénégalaise mLouma, qui utilise notamment web et SMS pour établir une liaison directe entre les deux parties, explique Aboubacar Sidy Sonko, fondateur de mLouma. Le système de messagerie d'AgroCentral permet aussi aux entreprises agroindustriel de contacter les producteurs lorsqu'elles ont une commande à passer. Les agriculteurs peuvent alors répondre directement par message texte.Les producteurs sont souvent en position de faiblesse lorsqu'ils traitent avec de gros acheteurs et négociants, surtout en face à face, explique Andrianjany Rasoanindrainy, de l'association FTA (Farming & Technology for Africa) à Madagascar. Ce problème est souvent exacerbé par le faible niveau d'alphabétisation des agriculteurs et leur sentiment d'avoir un statut socioéconomique inférieur à celui de leurs acheteurs. La plateforme Rural eMarket de FTA permet aux agriculteurs et acheteurs d'annoncer leur offre et demande respective, et les met automatiquement en relation. Négocier via une interface IT \"sans visage\", exclusivement fondée sur les données d'offre et de demande, contribue à mettre tout le monde sur un pied d'égalité, affirme A. Rasoanindrainy.L'expansion géographique demeure un défi conséquent pour les plateformes TIC axées sur l'agriculture, car nombre d'entre elles éprouvent des difficultés à dépasser le stade pilote, indique Ben Addom. Lancé en 2014, le projet \"Développer des modèles viables de prestation de services TIC4AG\" du CTA vise à identifier les obstacles communs et dégager des solutions. Pour pouvoir étendre leurs plateformes avec succès, les développeurs doivent intégrer des producteurs ou négociants dès le départ. Leur adhésion totale et leur pleine compréhension s'avèrent donc essentielles, souligne Ben Addom.Établir des partenariats avec des organisations de producteurs dans l'objectifà long terme -de leur confier la propriété des projets est un autre modèle en cours d'essai par le CTA en Ouganda. Lancée l'année dernière, l'initiative MUIIS est un service d'information fondé sur les TIC qui offre aux producteurs des conseils et des services spécifiques, tout en intégrant des informations sur les marchés. Son objectif est d'atteindre 350 000 agriculteurs d'ici trois ans.De nombreux développeurs TIC doivent en outre tester de multiples approches avant de trouver celle qui leur convient. AgroCentral visait initialement plus de 5 000 utilisateurs pour la fin 2016. Elle n'a toutefois atteint qu'environ 10 % de ce chiffre et a donc décidé de se concentrer sur la recherche d'une \"recette secrète qui fonctionne partout\" avant de procéder à une extension, témoigne Janice McLeod. La plateforme a commencé par cibler des agriculteurs mais, suite aux difficultés rencontrées pour travailler efficacement avec un groupe aussi disparate, elle s'est tournée vers des entreprises de transformation déjà en lien avec de nombreux agriculteurs. \"Ce fut une expérience d'apprentissage permanent\", ajoute J. McLeod. \"Aujourd'hui, notre situation est totalement différente de celle de départ.\"Réussir son expansion rime avec adaptation. Et c'est précisément ce qu'a démontré l'association FTA à Madagascar, en reconcevant sa solution Rural eMarket pour répondre aux besoins de différents clients. Réalisée en partenariat avec un réseau de conseil pour les petits producteurs (le CEFFEL), son application SIEL, par exemple, n'utilise que certaines des fonctions de Rural eMarket. Malgré trois-quatre premières années difficiles, Rural eMarket a survécu face à des projets similaires bénéficiant de bailleurs de fonds importants et a obtenu son premier retour sur investissement en mars 2016, se félicite A. Rasoanindrainy.Si la couverture Internet dans les pays ACP s'étend à vive allure, rares sont les producteurs des zones rurales reculées disposant d'un accès à celui-ci. Ils ne peuvent donc pas bénéficier des avantages offerts par les innovations TIC. Ce n'est plus un problème pour mLouma, dont le nombre d'utilisateurs a grimpé en flèche depuis le lancement, en 2015, d'un service qui ne requiert pas de connexion Internet. Alors qu'il a fallu près de trois ans à mLouma pour rallier quelque 500 utilisateurs sur sa plateforme initiale -qui fonctionne comme une bourse aux produits agricoles pour acheteurs et vendeurs -, le service USSD totalise déjà près de 100 000 utilisateurs, indique Aboubacar Sidy Sonko. En composant un numéro à trois chiffres sur leur téléphone, les agriculteurs peuvent chercher les prix actuels sur les marchés du Sénégal et transmettre à la plateforme de mLouma les détails relatifs à la quantité de produits qu'ils souhaitent vendre ainsi que le prix qu'ils en demandent. Les acheteurs peuvent obtenir par SMS les contacts des agriculteurs vendant les produits qu'ils recherchent. Grâce à la simplicité de ce service, les producteurs situés dans les zones les plus reculées du Sénégal sont désormais visibles pour les acheteurs et peuvent interagir avec eux directement, explique Aboubacar, ajoutant que les sociétés de transport pourraient aussi l'utiliser pour identifier les clients potentiels. Le tournant de mLouma s'est manifesté en 2014, quand la plateforme a remporté l'Orange Developer Challenge pour la région Afrique, Moyen-Orient et Asie et est parvenue à intégrer les interfaces des applications développées par l'opérateur français pour générer des revenus plus efficacement. D'ici fin 2016, mLouma envisage une extension pour couvrir 10 des 14 régions du Sénégal, contre 7 à l'heure actuelle. À partir de début 2017, la plateforme devrait se déployer dans les pays africains voisins où Orange est actif.t si la boisson la plus consommée au monde devenait africaine ? Tel est le rêve des fondateurs de Bana-Bana, entreprise de production et distribution de jus de fruits fabriqués au Sénégal. Il faut aller dans le 18 e arrondissement de Paris pour rencontrer Youssouf et Mamadou Fofana, 55 ans à eux deux, qui viennent d'ouvrir leur boutique, Les oiseaux migrateurs, autour de leurs premiers projets : Bana-Bana (distribution de bissap dans un premier temps) et Maison Château rouge (ligne de vêtements en wax). Pour Bana-Bana, le bissap est entièrement fabriqué et embouteillé au Sénégal, en partenariat avec Esteval, PME sénégalaise experte dans ce secteur, dans une usine qui emploie une dizaine de personnes. L'approvisionnement en hibiscus se fait auprès de 800 femmes de la région de Thiès et Kaolack. Bana-Bana connaît un franc succès notamment par la vente à travers des événements parisiens, ce qui amène les créateurs à se poser la question de l'augmentation de leur capacité deIls sont jeunes, audacieux, ils se lancent…Très médiatisés, ils pourraient faire bouger l'environnement entrepreneurial africain dans le secteur agroalimentaire. En matière de formation, de multiples initiatives émergent, à l'instar des startups bus où, au cours d'un périple en bus, ponctué de rencontres avec des entrepreneurs inspirants, les créateurs en herbe affinent leurs projets en groupe. Ces lieux d'innovations et de partages existent aussi en virtuel, notamment avec le Global Youth Innovation Network (Gyin), un réseau international de jeunes au service des jeunes adossé à l'université de Columbia, aux États-Unis, et à des organisations internationales comme le CTA ou le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA). Gyin intervient également dans la négociation de prêts pour les jeunes au moment de la création d'entreprise, ce qui permet d'obtenir des taux plus attractifs. De même, l'International Trade Center, à Genève, a lancé, fin 2015, un cours en ligne (en anglais) destiné aux jeunes souhaitant se lancer dans le montage d'une PME. Enfin, la fondation Tony Elumelu, qui propose aussi un programme d'entrepreneuriat sur 12 mois et a l'ambition de créerdes 199 millions de chômeurs dans le monde en 2014 étaient des jeunes, selon l'OIT.10 000 startups créées en 10 ans, tel est l'objectif de la fondation Tony Elumelu à travers son programme d'entrepreneuriat.productrices sénégalaises fournissent le bissap pour le jus bana-bana.Étiquetage du jus de bissap au SénégalLa coopération entre les gouvernements, le secteur privé et la société civile peut s'avérer très efficace pour créer de la valeur.Susanna Cartmell-Thorp À travers des partenariats publicprivé (PPP) innovants, les entreprises commerciales présentes en Afrique contribuent à l'augmentation de la production agricole et des revenus des petits producteurs. Elles facilitent leur accès aux dernières technologies afin qu'ils puissent s'adapter à la variabilité du climat.À titre d'exemple, Sourcing for Growth est né d'un partenariat entre le gouvernement éthiopien, l'ONG TechnoServe et la brasserie Meta Abo, une filiale de l'entreprise mondiale de boissons alcoolisées Diageo. Meta Abo a collaboré avec l'Agence pour les transformations agricoles du gouvernement éthiopien en vue de renforcer la chaîne de valeur de l'orge. Un réseau de plus de 6 000 agriculteurs a ainsi été créé qui fournit désormais des semences et de l'engrais, dispense des formations en agronomie, et permet d'assurer les récoltes. Plus de 50 % de la matière première de la brasserie provient actuellement des petits producteurs. L'objectif est d'atteindre les 100 % d'ici 2017, malgré les sécheresses de 2016.Afin d'aider les agriculteurs africains à s'adapter aux chocs climatiques, Diageo soutient la production de cultures locales, telles que le sorgho ou le manioc, plus résistantes au climat. Sur le continent, plus de 50 000 agriculteurs fournissent actuellement 70 % de la matière première de Diageo. Toutefois, comme l'affirme David Croft, directeur du développement durable au sein de l'entreprise, bien que le PPP soit un élément essentiel à long terme, il doit profiter à l'ensemble de la chaîne de valeur. \"Les producteurs doivent être encouragés. Pour instaurer une véritable collaboration, il faut rassembler tous les partenaires autour de la table, y compris les autorités politiques, afin de consolider les accords.\"Cependant, créer des partenariats fructueux représente souvent un défi. Les petits producteurs ne sont généralement pas bien préparés pour négocier efficacement avec les acteurs de la chaîne de valeur, en particulier en ce qui concerne l'établissement des prix, l'exécution des contrats, les questions réglementaires, les modalités de paiement, de propriété, ou encore de coordination Le Fonds européen de financement solidaire pour l'Afrique (FEFISOL) est un fonds public-privé, créé par la fondation italienne Etimos, la SIDI française et ALTERFIN en Belgique pour injecter du capital dans la microfinance et dans les organisations de producteurs en Afrique. Outre un mélange de financement privé-public, l'assistance technique subventionnée est essentielle pour la réussite du FEFISOL, soutient Davide Libralesso, responsable des relations internationales chez Etimos.L'African Agricultural Capital Fund (AACF), un fonds de 25 millions de dollars US (22,4 millions €) de Pearl Capital Partners, combine le financement par l'Agence des États-Unis pour le développement international (USAID) avec l'argent de fondations privées et est également soutenu par un mécanisme d'assistance technique de 1,5 million de dollars US (1,3 million €).La plupart des 63 fonds mentionnés dans un prochain rapport de la FAO sur les fonds d'investissement agricole pourraient être qualifiés de mixtes -comportant une part d'IFD ou de fondation privée -, selon Toshiaki Ono, responsable du secteur Agrobusiness (finance et investissement) dans cette organisation. Or, malgré le rôle important des mécanismes d'assistance technique subventionnés pour identifier les organisations de producteurs ou les petites et moyennes entreprises dans lesquelles investir, très peu ont attiré des montants significatifs d'argent privé, fait remarquer T. Ono. Un défi important pour les fonds d'investissement agricole est la difficulté de mesurer l'impact -une préoccupation essentielle pour les IFD, ainsi que pour de nombreux investisseurs privés, souligne T. Ono. Les fonds d'investissement agricole sont souvent relativement récents, ce qui signifie que peu de données historiques concernant leur impact sont disponibles. Le recrutement de spécialistes pour mesurer l'impact a un coût que les fonds doivent absorber et répercuter en réduisant le rendement. Les fonds mixtes doivent définir clairement leurs objectifs dès le départ pour harmoniser les attentes de toutes les parties, souligne J. Parks.Par exemple, une ONG peut accorder la priorité à la rapidité du paiement, tandis qu'un investisseur privé préfère attendre pour obtenir un meilleur rendement financier. Puisque les différentes parties d'une construction de finance mixte utilisent des critères différents pour mesurer leur réussite, la satisfaction de tous les participants nécessite un exercice d'équilibre très prudent, admet V. Natarajan. Lamon Rutten, en charge de la finance agricole au CTA, explique que le secteur est semblable à celui du financement structuré des produits de base à ses débuts, quand les principes de la redistribution des risques étaient compris, mais les institutions de soutien étaient encore faibles et les connaissances peu répandues. Selon lui, le financement mixte deviendra une pratique courante d'ici quatre à cinq ans. Le CTA consacrera une rencontre à ce sujet prometteur à Bruxelles, les 7 et 8 novembre.Pour plus d'informations sur la conférence, visitez : http://blending4ag.org/frLes fonds d'investissement agricole sont de plus en plus nombreux à adopter le financement mixte. Un sujet traité lors d'une conférence organisée par le CTA à Bruxelles, les 7 et 8 novembre : \"Blending4Ag, innover dans la finance agricole\".Helen Castell M algré un marché en pleine croissance, la filière cacao n'est durable ni pour les producteurs, ni pour l'environnement. Comment changer la donne ? Entretien avec Marc Dufumier, agronome.Il existe en fait plusieurs filières de production, collecte et exportation des fèves de cacao. Celles-ci dépendent beaucoup des capacités de négociation des producteurs et de leurs éventuelles organisations, face aux entreprises de fabrication de chocolat et produits chocolatés. Mais force nous est de constater que nombreux sont les exploitants agricoles qui, pour diminuer leurs coûts de production et rester compétitifs sur le marché international, ont mis en oeuvre des systèmes de culture peu respectueux de l'environnement et des droits humains, avec notamment pour résultat une intense déforestation et la mise au travail d'enfants dans les plantations de cacaoyers. Le mouvement du commerce équitable s'efforce d'inverser cette fâcheuse tendance en assurant un prix minimum garanti aux producteurs et une prime de développement à leurs coopératives ou associations. Ces avantages sont normalement conditionnés au respect de mesures favorables aux droits humains et à la protection de l'environnement. Mais la mise en oeuvre de ces mesures n'est pas identique dans tous les pays et dépend surtout de la capacité des organisations de producteurs à résister aux injonctions des sociétés transnationales. Ainsi continue-t-on d'observer en Côte d'Ivoire la pratique de la cacaoculture sans ombrage, avec des effets délétères sur les potentialités productives des agroécosystèmes.L'agroforesterie consiste à associer différentes cultures sous couvert arboré dans un même champ. Cette superposition de plusieurs strates de végétation cultivée vise à faire en sorte que tous les rayons solaires soient interceptés par les cultures pour les besoins de la photosynthèse.Elle contribue aussi à protéger les sols de l'érosion pluviale et peut limiter la propagation des insectes nuisibles et agents pathogènes. Le cacaoyer, originaire de zones forestières humides, se prête particulièrement bien à de tels systèmes de cultures associées sous couvert arboré. La diversité des productions peut assurer des revenus élevés à l'hectare mais au prix parfois d'un travail accru à l'unité de surface. Soucieuses de rentabilité à court terme, les compagnies chocolatières préfèrent quant à elles bien souvent collecter les fèves de cacao dans des bassins de production spécialisés dans la cacaoculture.Oui, elles montrent que, lorsque les Marc Dufumier, qui préface une étude sans complaisance intitulée \"La face cachée du chocolat\", défend la mise en place d'une filière cacao plus durable pour les producteurs et pour l'environnement. Le risque est de voir une extension de nouvelles plantations aux dépens de forêts primaires, avec des effets néfastes sur la biodiversité et les climats locaux. La rénovation de plantations anciennes au sein d'agroécosystèmes détériorés peut en effet se révéler trop difficile et coûteuse.Acheter du chocolat équitable peut contribuer à inverser cette tendance en assurant aux paysans un revenu décent et résilient. Il est important de démontrer que la pauvreté et la dégradation peuvent être enrayées avec un commerce plus équitable. Une bonne raison pour exiger de nouvelles modalités, plus favorables aux producteurs, dans les échanges de produits agricoles à l'échelle mondiale. Le manque de financement pour les innovations TIC et la lenteur de l'adoption des TIC dans les organisations sont parmi les principales contraintes rencontrées par les contributeurs ; ce sont des domaines qui ne doivent pas être laissés au hasard. Mais les TIC peuvent aussi être une partie de la solution. L'inclusion financière des communautés rurales, par exemple, est vitale pour les producteurs. Or l'accès au financement leur a toujours été difficile. Pour gagner la confiance des institutions de financement, ils doivent pouvoir tenir une comptabilité précise et fiable, ce qui peut se faire grâce aux TIC. Les TIC peuvent aussi permettre aux producteurs d'être plus respectueux de l'environnement, en aidant à un usage précis des ressources agricoles, permettant ainsi de réduire le gaspillage et maximiser la production des petites exploitations.Centrées sur huit pays africains, parmi lesquels le Ghana, le Kenya, le Rwanda et le Sénégal, et caribéens, comme la Barbade, la Jamaïque et Trinité-et-Tobago, les études balaient la chaîne de valeur agricole, depuis la préproduction et la production jusqu'au financement, au marketing, à la vente et la consommation. Dans chacun des cas, les jeunes entrepreneurs décrivent ce qui les a motivés à innover, les défis auxquels ils ont dû faire face et les stratégies qu'ils ont développées. L'ouvrage témoigne du fait que les innovations basées sur les TIC peuvent transformer l'agriculture en un business moderne, lié à la finance, adapté aux besoins de ses usagers, et représenter un avenir professionnel enviable pour les jeunes gens les plus brillants et ambitieux. Lire ces parcours réussis sera sûrement source d'inspiration pour bon nombre de jeunes désireux de relever le défi et de jouer leur rôle dans la transformation agricole.Face aux préo c c u p a t i o n s vitales que sont la sécurité alimentaire, la protection de l'environnement et le maintien des conditions de vie, le jardin propose un concentré de solutions. À l'école, son usage est encore plus intéressant, pour former des citoyens attentifs à l'environnement et capables de produire leur alimentation. Cette publication de la FAO suit ainsi un certain nombre de principes : la culture des aliments pour promouvoir de bonnes habitudes alimentaires, l'environnement (culture biologique), la maîtrise du processus (une planification adéquate étant source de multiples apprentissages), la famille et la communauté (le jardin devant être mis en place en lien avec les familles des écoliers) et la motivation (dans l'objectif de réunir l'adhésion de l'ensemble des acteurs au projet).Ce manuel vient en complément de l'ouvrage \"Créer et diriger un jardin scolaire\", et propose une mise à jour de la publication de 2010.Destiné aux professeurs, il offre, en près de 200 pages, de multiples clés pour créer un jardin à l'école. Organisé par groupes de leçons, il propose aux enseignants une démarche progressive, depuis l'organisation d'un cours sur le thème \"Aurons-nous un jardin ?\" jusqu'aux façons de célébrer la récolte. Truffé d'astuces et de conseils, cet ouvrage est un outil indispensable à tout bon jardin scolaire. Les \"super-pouvoirs\" des légumineuses sont classés en cinq grandes rubriques qui méritent que l'on s'y attarde : nutrition, santé, changement climatique, biodiversité, et sécurité alimentaire. Riches sur le plan nutritif, pauvres en graisses, les légumineuses sont très intéressantes pour la nutrition et la santé. Et cela n'est pas sans intérêt, à l'heure où le monde compte 793 millions de personnes en sous-alimentation chronique et 500 millions d'obèses. Économes en eau, leur culture aide à la lutte contre le changement climatique… Elles favorisent notamment la rétention de carbone dans les sols, et limitent les émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Bon marché, elles contribuent à la sécurité alimentaire mondiale de façon incontestable. Mais malgré toutes ces qualités, elles sont encore trop méconnues. Pour contribuer à leur diffusion, l'ouvrage a invité dix grands chefs cuisiniers de différentes régions du monde à livrer leurs recettes préférées, alliant tradition et modernité. On découvrira ainsi la recette du envisageant la dégradation sous l'angle de ses conséquences sur les activités anthropiques et le bien-être humain. Sont ainsi pris en compte les effets positifs potentiels des interventions humaines sur les écosystèmes. Pourtant, et si la notion de services écosystémiques est omniprésente dans les débats sur la biodiversité, sa définition ne fait pas encore consensus.Voici un des principaux intérêts de cet ouvrage, qui s'attaque à la question de savoir de quoi on parle lorsque l'on évoque les services écosystémiques. En se basant sur un programme de recherche de cinq ans, les auteurs cherchent également à comprendre De la prédation à la protection classique houmous, aux côtés de plats moins connus mondialement, comme la tranche de haricots blancs polenta. De multiples photos nous conduisent à travers un beau voyage dans le monde des légumineuses, comme nous y invite le sous-titre de l'ouvrage, par ailleurs disponible en anglais, arabe, chinois, espagnol, russe. Un outil indispensable à la mobilisation mondiale portée par la FAO qui organise, dans le même temps, des événements tant régionaux que mondiaux pour sensibiliser la population à l'utilisation et la consommation des légumineuses. Le site du livre comporte ainsi un petit film de présentation de l'ouvrage particulièrement dynamique et dense, une riche infographie ainsi qu'une rubrique présentant des astuces pour faire manger des légumineuses aux enfants… le secret de l'adoption de ce super-aliment par les générations futures.Le développement durable n'est pas un vain mot. Dans ce domaine, 2015 a été une année propice, sur les plans politique et diplomatique tout au moins, avec les sommets d'Addis-Abeba, sur le financement du développement, de New York, avec l'adoption des Objectifs de développement durable, et la COP 21 de Paris où fut adopté en décembre l'accord sur le climat. De leur côté, les filières tropicales, quelles qu'elles soient, connaissent un développement important, qui n'est pas sans interroger sur leurs impacts en termes de développement durable. Quel est leur véritable rôle dans ce domaine ? Comment mieux l'expliquer, le comprendre et l'évaluer ? Tels sont quelques-uns des objectifs, ambitieux, que se fixe cet ouvrage. Coédité dans la collection \"Agricultures et défis du monde\", du CIRAD et de l'AFD, il présente des analyses et points de vue de près de quatre-vingts chercheurs de tous horizons et disciplines du CIRAD et d'agents de l'AFD. Le développement durable est abordé à la fois comme un cadre de transformation des pratiques liées aux filières et comme un cadre en permettant l'évaluation. Le lien entre filières et développement durable est quant à lui appréhendé à travers plusieurs prismes : les filières comme vecteurs de développement, comme espace d'innovation, comme objets d'évaluation et comme arène de régulation. Après une première partie présentant les filières dans une perspective historique, tant en Afrique francophone qu'au Vietnam, les auteurs multiples terrains. Réalisé en collaboration avec trois unions départementales de producteurs de niébé du Burkina Faso à l'issue d'un travail de capitalisation, il est publié par deux ONG françaises, FERT et l'ACCIR. D'emblée on sent la proximité du terrain, avec des informations pratiques, claires et illustrées. Déroulement de l'animation, arbres à problème et à solution, fiches thématiques illustrées se succèdent, avec des dessins à la fois simples et clairs. \"Qui est fou ?\" C'est sur cette question et une planche consacrée à ce thème que s'achève le manuel. Car, derrière les conseils techniques et pistes de travail qui pourraient parfois sembler relever Animer des formations nécessite un savoirfaire. Mais cela requiert aussi des outils adaptés. Ce guide, outil d'animation sur l'agroécologie, en est un, qui pourra servir sur de du bon sens, l'enjeu de l'ouvrage est aussi de montrer que cultiver en agroécologie n'est pas le fait de doux rêveurs, mais qu'au contraire il importe de s'engager dans ce sens, aujourd'hui. Zaï, haies, compost, agroforesterie, ces techniques, c'est prouvé, sont bonnes pour l'environnement, et pour les rendements. Contribuer à changer les mentalités est ainsi l'un des objectifs de ce guide, à l'attention des agents de vulgarisation et animateurs d'organisations paysannes. ","tokenCount":"14734"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8598595103.json b/data/part_1/8598595103.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2266669158766042ec43615991706f34060de72c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8598595103.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"48406dfca15989891b83e121c1d92274","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2efaf749-153a-4e9f-9da5-dd633d7b8746/retrieve","id":"330534068"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"305c5900-49ba-4edd-8339-e1654866725b","pagecount":"14","content":"✔ In Latin America, women represent only 20% of the agricultural sector. In Guatemala, only 1 in 10 individuals working in the agricultural sector are women.✔ 8 out of 10 backyard producers are women.✔ Low participation of women in agricultural activities results in less political representation, institutional support, resources and economic opportunities.✔ Women empowerment through access to credit, land and livestock improves food security and nutrition.✔ Participation in livestock activities represents an opportunity to obtain income from by products (e.g., eggs) and increases empowerment.✔ Examine the cultural and economic barriers that are preventing women from participating more actively in the agricultural and livestock sectors and identify opportunities to increase their participation.✔ We follow a qualitative approach involving focus groups discussion with women in vulnerable communities in Guatemala. • Guatemalan Secretariat for Food and Nutritional Security (SESAN) selected municipalities and Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA) selected communities.• Subsistence farmers: maize, beans for self-consumption. ✔ Provide extension services in production, storage, marketing, administration and accounting that accompany women in their economic activities.✔ Interventions that build agency capacity through existing women's groups to make women take more active roles in other activities.✔ Future work: replicate study in communities with cash-crop farmers.","tokenCount":"197"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8622340413.json b/data/part_1/8622340413.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..74edb0db1ae7f5fbabcdc3f819598b9cec13001d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8622340413.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"052c3b6604ccc5cf5011da8ef833a03c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/18318262-3c7c-4180-8173-9ad49139b5f4/retrieve","id":"-1867459191"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"276366f6-930f-46f4-b64e-d0f76ab96cdc","pagecount":"272","content":"of PRlGA along a systematic set of themes. The reflections were asked to be critical , provocative, and based on felt needs arising from practical experience: for R&D in cornmunities; for defining intemational and national research programs; and for shaping policies that determine what type of research paradigms need to be institutionalized. This introduction is divided into two major sections. The first one highlights five ofthe more general conceptual issues with which participants grappled. These helped prepare the stage for papers and substantive discussions on challenges faced by researchers using PRlGA approaches. The second part outlines the agreed-upon research agenda in several areas: participatory methods in plant breeding (PB), in natural resource management (NRM), and gender analysis (GA), specifically as it cross-cuts PB and NRM.Enhancing the participation of users-especially poor rural women-m the process of technology development for smaH farmers is an important strategic research issue, vital to achieving an impact that benefits poor people. Household food security (and child food security) is strongly linked to women's access to income-generating technologies. User participation in the early stages of technology design ensures that new technologies can be adopted rapidly. The \"feminization of poverty,\" a trend which is driving rural women in particular to form an increasing proportion of the very poor, makes it imperative that a high priority be given to strengthening, consolidating and mainstrearning both participatory research and gender analysis (PRlGA) in intemational, national and local agricultural research.From September 9-'11, 1996 a group of fifty researchers and development professionals attended an intemational seminar and planning meeting in Cali, Colombia to identify methodological issues in PRlGA needing further research, and to set in motion a research prograrn on PRlGA approaches for different technologies and socioecological contexts. They represented IARCs, NARIs, universities, NGOs and donors, and carne from Asia, Latin America, Central America, Africa (east, west, south and north), South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Farmers were not present, although the conference organizers thought hard about how farmers might be included in a meeting conducted in the languages of English and specialized science. Inviting a few local farmers or sc1ected heads of farmers' organizations (most of whom have little truck with research) seemed neither meaningful nor dignified.While aH present at the meeting had a keen interest in PRlGA approaches, not al! were convinced of their utility. As one research manager commented in reference to participatory plant breeding (PB): \"Is this a positive response to a new opportunity or a backlash caused by an institutional breakdown? It's clear that classic breeding hasn't addressed the problems of marginal environments. But do we need participation-or simply a breeding prograrn which starts to do its job properly?\" With the stimulus of this debate, participants scrutinized the rigor of current approaches, weighed their costs and benefits, and identifled important gaps for consolidating existing experiences as well as scaling up the use of effective approaches.The proceedings of this meeting present the participants' reflections on key questions for understanding the usefulness of participatory research and gender analysis in the process of technology development. AH told, the participants represent literally hundreds of years of PRlGA experience. The papers they were invited to present were designed to be a stimulus to debate and analysis. Speakers were asked to reflect on the unresolved problems or challenges Introduction Identifying and Working with Stakeholders \"Stakeholders\" refers to all those who might help shape a research agenda, be directly involved in carrying out research, or who are going to be affected by, or use, the results of the research. Using this definition, a huge range of potential stakeholders can be associated with the development of technology, and different groups may be allied with different research stages. (For example, in participatory plant breeding, consumers and middlemen are involved later in the process than farmers). As it is not feasible, (nor probably equitable) for each stakeholder group to cast a single vote at each stage, some hard choice s need to be made about who participates, and at what stage, and what weight is to be given to different groups of stakeholders. A number of questions related to this issue preoccupied the participants in the meeting.The first question concemed the degree of stakeholder differentiation needed to get a useful product. Do all potential categories of stakeholders have to participate directly in research to get products which they will find specifically useful? Do all need to be involved during the full sequence of research (i.e. priority setting, experimentation, evaluation)? Within stakeholder groups, should participatory programs aim to work with a representative set (of users) or would a focus on involving users with specialized expertise give more targeted results--in terms of efficiency?The second issue centered on the costs of differentiating stakeholders and conducting research with different groups. Is it more expensive to consider the needs of six differentiated stakeholder groups than of two? Are the costs of differentiating users outweighed by differentiated benefits? Are there cut-off points for the aggregation or disaggregation of stakeholders which yield the maximum benefits? Are the cut-offs different when the program is aiming at equity or empowerment than when its goal is research efficiency? Third, the group debated the kinds of methods and mechanisms which are available for addressing concems of stakeholder differentiation. Do we know how to identify effectively the full range of stakeholders? Do we have tools to ensure the participation of 'invisible groups' (such as women, in some cultures)? How can participatory processes be managed when there is conflict among stakeholders? This is a big issue, particularly in managing larger natural resource units, such as watersheds. Are there methods for measuring how the inclusion of different stakeholders affects the outcome of research? Are there mechanisms which should be put at the disposal of stakeholder groups themselves so as to make their participation effective.(e.g., research funds or opportunities to sit on influential committees?)Although, in answer to many of these questions, participants could make inventories of possible tools, methods, and mechanisms on offer, few felt that the options had been rigorously evaluated. How can adequate \"quality control\" be exercised on existing tools? Are the well-developed gender-analysis tools equal1y applicable for other variables which differentiate users? Is there an inherent bias in certain tools towards \"extractive\" applications? Does this matter for the outcomes of functional participation? for end-users and for the efficiency of the research process. While seminar participants only touched on specific procedures for evaluating participatory field research and the impact of the initiative as a whole, they did raise fundamental questions which will shape the evaluation ofimpact.There was a debate among the participants about whether the primary impact of participatory research is embodied in a product--such as a better set of adapted technologies or a more efficient research organization-or in a process, such as the strengthened ability of a cornmunity to solve their own problems. The definition of outputs has implications for determining impact, and also for determining exactly what needs to be scaled up: the learning process itself or the products emerging from participatory research? Discussions showed that impact may be defined as both the process and the product: one of the conclusions of the NRM research group was that the \"prodl..lct\" might be a knowledge-intensive technology which requires a participatory leaming and management processes for farmers to use it.Another issue related to defining impact was the relative importance of achieving local or sitespecific impact vs. extracting generalizable lessons and methods. There need not necessarily be a conflict between the two objectives. Thorough, site-specific research can both deliverParticipatory research and gender analysis for technology development irnmediately usefuI products and. involve rigorous analysis of methods used and generallessons learned. As research budgets are generally falling, attention to both results (site-specific impact) and methods which help achieve those results wouId seem to go hand in hand. This means that the costs of participatory research and gender analysis need to be related to the benefits. If the cost of this new paradigm puts it out of reach of all but the most well-endowed research institute or system, then it is a luxury. This is a danger that must be consciously guarded against.Scaling Up and Institutionalization: Two Heads 01 the Sarne Snake?Achieving impact, scaling up and institutionalizing participatory approaches and gender analysis were seen as intimately linked. Indeed, sorne participants proposed that impact indicators be devised according to whether an approach could or could not be scaled up. Costbenefit ratios aIso, it was suggested, need to be multiplied by the scale on which the PRlGA approaches will ultimately be used in order to get a full assessment of research efficiency.Start-up costs may be high, both in terms of methodology development and initial entry into a pilot community. However, sorne suggested that replications mignt be less costly if PRlGA research were to be implemented in many locales. This still needs to be proven.There were very varied perspectives expressed in the meeting on the interdependency between scaling up participation and institutionalization. Sorne participants conceived of the research procedure as a series of di serete steps: i.e. first, get the methods right, then institutionalize them, and third, work on scaling them up. Another perspective suggested that methods deveIoped first at a small-scaIe may not be suitable for scaling up (they may, for example, be too labor intensive, with few economies of scaIe). From the beginning, techniques, organizational models and research methods may have to be deveIoped at the scaIe at which they wiIl ultimately be used. For exampIe, would a PR approach be multiplied by adding more small groups on the same scale as the initial groups worked with; or would it be multiplied by expanding the approach used with a few small groups to a Iarger, watershedscale group; or would it start out at the scale of invoIving all the relevant stakeholders in a large-scale participatory effort, for example, in a whole watershed?Are institutionalization and scaling up the same? Certainly, methods can be institutionalized, that is, they can be made routine, but remain restricted to a very few sites or themes. Does effective institutionalization, imply widespread use of the approach and require scaling up? One of the challenges for this initiative is to analyze separateIy the degree to which methods and approaches have been institutionalized and the degree to which they have been scaIed up, and the critical success and failure factors for each.The section below outlines the precise research directions which participants in the Cali meeting felt needed to be taken further in three substantive realms: participatory plant breeding; participatory research in natural resource management and gender analysis. Their goal is to create a set of worldwide comparative studies which will address the needed methodological issues across crops, farming systems, populations and socioenvironmental contexts.The incorporation of participatory methods into plant breeding began in the mid-1980s when farmers were invited to become involved in the evaluation of pre-release materials. The gap between users' and breeders' criteria for acceptability of new plant types identified through participatory research is now stimulating plant breeders to introduce user participation at still earlier stages in applied research. The effects of this are marked; sorne breeders perceive participatory methods as comparable to biotechnology techniques in terms of their potential for opening up new frontiers in breeding (Kornegay et al., 1996;Ceccarelli et al., 1995;Zimmermann, 1996;Hardon, 1995;Iglesias and Hernández, 1994).The working group on participatory plant breeding at the Cali meeting included many active practitioners involved in participatory plant breeding (PB) programs such as: ILEIA's (the lnformation Centre for Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture's) work supporting farmer rice breeding in the Philippines; the Ecuadorian national program's innovative participatory selection approaches for potato; and ICRISAT's (lnternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics') collaborative work with lndian NGOs in screening segregating pearl millet materials with poor farmers in Rajasthan. This was the second formal meeting bringing together PPB practitioners, the first being sponsored by IDRC (the International Development Research Centre, Canada), F AO, IPGRI (the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) and the Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands, in July 1995. Many participants had attended both and thus were already familiar with each other's work; this allowed the group to identify a focused work plan in a relatively short period of time.Assessing participatory breeding methods. The plant breeding group identified four major thrusts for the global research programo The first is to assess and develop participatory breeding methods the11.lselves. Most of the existing applications of participatory approaches in plant breeding involve farmers in relatively downstream selection of advanced lines or finished varieties. Pre-adaptive participatory research in breeding is an area in which methodologies are still incipient; at present it is difficult to determine the degree of user participation that is appropriate at a given stage in the breeding process and in any given environment.To develop methodological guidelines targeted at specific types of crops (for example, self pollinated, open-pollinating or elonally-propagated) and specific environments, the working group proposed a series of comparative empirical studies. These will involve farmers in selecting parents, in making selections from segregating populations, in evaluating advanced lines on-station or on-farm, and in decisíon makíng about the production ofpreferred varieties of seeds. At each stage in this process, the different selections made by breeders, men and women farmers (and perhaps other stakeholder groups, if relevant) can be contrasted. Once farmer selection strategies are understood, ways in which breeders can help to support and enhance these can be developed. One set of empírical studies will explore how farmers can most effectively be involved in the formal research process, a second set will look at the role of scientists in strengthening farmers' own breeding efforts.User and gender differentiation in the seed technology development chain. Secondly, the plant breeding group suggested that a more critical look should be taken at the issues of user differentiation and gender analysis all along the seed technology development chain. Those involved inelude direct users of seeds, seed producers, processors of resulting crops and final consumers. At present, not all ongoing participatory breeding projects have been incorporating gender analysis and user differentiation ¡nto their work, despite the fact that it is recognized by most that women are ofien the plant breeders in small-farm production systems. They are responsible for domesticating wild species, selecting germplasm and saving seed. The need to better differentiate just which users should be involved in the research process and to specify which users and ;takeholders actually benefit from research was identified as one of the most important cross-cutting methodological challenges of this novel initiative.Organizational options and decentralization of plant breeding. For research. to be effective, it is necessary not only for methods, but also for organization, to be appropriate. User participation may require that research must be decentralized in order for user groups to be involved and to meet the demands of site-specific adaptation. Therefore, as a third thrust, the plant breeding working group will explore different organizational options, ineluding altemate divisions of labor within the breeding process. Studies in this area will assess the cost-effectiveness of different ways of organizing participatory plant breeding and the implications of increased involvement by different partners: for instance; what might be the advantages or constraints for each collaborator if farmers' groups or NGOs take a lead role in adaptive research? Certainly, this will vastly increase the scale of testing which is feasible, but the costs attached to such a strategy need to be better understood before it is widely operationalized.Decentralization may be the sine qua non for participation but a number of questions about its implementation urgently need to be answered. For example, what degree of decentralization is required for tackling a particular plant breeding problem and environment? What are the financial and logístical means by which decentralization can be achieved? What are the new lntroduction skills required for the management and implementation of a decentralized participatory plant breeding program? What are the implications of decentralization for research quality?The pro~ucts of participation and support services. Finally, the plant breeding working group proposed looking at the implications of decentralization for the design of seed support services. If resource-poor farmers are to benefit, it is not enough just to alter the orientation of technology development. itself. The distribution systems which move the products of participatory breeding must also take new shape. The focus will be on finding ways of strengthening and working with local seed systems and seeking opportunities for collaboration between formal and informal seed systems.Sorne of the expected outputs from research conducted by the plant breeding working group appear in Box 1.Box 1: Specific outputs from methodology and organizational development in participatory plant breeding• Participatory research methods and gender analysis tools developed suitable for integrating farmer crop-development systems with advanced breeding techniques. • Participatory breeding strategies refined for a cross-section of species, with guidelines developed on appropriate breeding populations, field techniques, and suitable biotechnology tools. • Knowledge and skills of rural men and women specialized in germplasm management are recognized, strengthened and linked to research. • Varieties acceptable to farmers which incorporate traits derived from local landraces and global germplasm developed. • Cost-effective organizational forms for different kinds of decentralized plant breeding research identified. • Analysis conducted of the ability of the formal and informal seed sector to deliver the products of participatory plant breeding.Dntíl the meeting in September 1996, participants in the Natural Resource Management (NRM) working group, unlike the plant breeding group, had never before come together to consider the relevance of available participatory research and gender analysis methods to NRM research. This, and the generally broader and less well-defined subject area which was under discussion, meant that the group undertook a wide-ranging discussion of priorities for action.Stakeholder groups, collective action and conflict resolution. Like the plant breeding group, the NRM group saw participatory methods and gender analysis as critical for mobilizing local knowledge and users' criteria--which may often be women's knowledge and criteria--in order to make decisions about the acceptability of technologies. Sorne of the toughest methodological challenges for participatory NRM research are concemed with how to link farmers' knowledge and interests with those of other stakeholders at different scales (from the field to the farm, community, and supra-community or watershed level). Stakeholders must first be identified, then mechanisms which enable them to contribute to the research process need to be developed. It is highly likely that conflict will develop between different stakeholder groups and thus conflict resolution techniques and skills will be at a premium.Overall, the NRM research working group focused on issues relating to the management of natural resources by various individual s and stakeholder groups, rather than on the material technologies themselves. NRM technologies (such as soil conservation practices, nutrient management and integrated pest-management techniques) are often knowledge-based, management-intensive and require collaboration or collective action if they are to be effectively employed. Where there is a diversity of microenvironments and stakeholders, solutions to resource management difficuIties are largely situation-specific. Arrangements which are mutually beneficial with trade-offs acceptable to the different stakeholders must be tailored to the local environment. This highlights the importance of local-Ievel capacity development. Local people must be able to develop sustainable institutions to manage collective action and must also be in a position to analyze resource constraints, to monitor evolving resource processes and to adapt strategies for technical innovation to changing environments over relatively long periods of time.Impact measurement. The NRM working group related this concem with management to impact measurement. Measuring the impact of participation is considerably harder in natural resource management research than it is for plant breeding, both because of the nature of the technologies themselves (which are often effective only as part of an entire system of management) and because of the time scale over which they would be expected to reap fruit (which may be a longer period than it takes to develop and disseminate new varieties). The long-term nature of resource management research adoption and impact makes it particularly vital that participatory evaluation mechanisms are developed and refined to sustain adoption. Farmers themselves must be the judges of success over the longer termo Thus enhancing the capacity and understanding of cause-and-effect relationships by farmers must be a priority for participatory methods applied in a learning process approach. The NRM working group linked this focus to the need for better methods for facilitating an interface between formal science and farmers' own experimentation.Learning and scaling up. The NRM working group signaled that participatory methods and the participatory research process have to create a joint learning environment between scientists, farmers, and other stakeholders as well as among different categories of resource users. This iterative research and development process is particularly important in natural resource management research because of the complex range of trade-offs between conservation and productivity which it entails, and because of the high potential for conflict among stakeholders.Scaling up participatory approaches to the development of knowledge-intensive technologies, was identified by the NRM research working group as a major methodological challenge and organizational issue. The group's emphasis on the objectives of participatory research as learning by doing--both on the part of researchers and farmers-raised as a major challenge the issue of whether concrete technologies would be replicated on a large scale at reasonable cost using participatory approaches. Experiences with participatory technology transfer, especially using farmer-to-farmer approaches, give some idea of how this might be done. These also underline the importance of working with, and building on, existing local knowledge systems, and of giving support to local experimentation.Some of the expected outputs from the work of the NRM working group appear in Box 2.The group noted that new methods are expected to be developed only where existing methods are not satisfactory.• Methods assessed and developed for user participation in design of knowledge-intensive technologies. • Methods for short-and longer-term resource monitoring by farmers as well as researchers.• Methods assessed and developed for encouraging collective action, conflict resolution and negotiation at different scales. • Technologies acceptable to farmers for increasing productivity while protecting the environment. • Options for organizational innovation and links for managing natural resources at different scales. • Strategies for strengthening and catalyzing local and durable organizations which can lead site-specific management of resources. • Strategies for scaling up knowledge-intensive technology development and ensuring its spread.Participants in the meeting agreed that the differentiation of categories of users--both in the participatory research process itself and in assessing its benefits-should run as an integrated thread throughout both the plant breeding and the natural resource management research.scientists remain to be convinced; 'proof, it is felt, does not travel well from one case to another. If the research program can help overcome this problem, it will already have made a valuable contribution in the area of gender analysis.As these proceeding go to press, field programs in Asia, Africa and Latin and Central America and the Middle East are already being initiated to explore the cutting-edge issues in participatory research and gender analysis (PRlGA) which form the rationale for this comparative research programo A Steering Committee composed of joint partners--NGO, NARS and IARC representatives--has been formed to guide the overall agenda, and mini-workshops--among farmers--are being planned to ensure that farmer experts in the South are given a voice in the how, whens and whys ofthe global PRlGA research debate.While the methodological and institutional issues being addressed in this emerging \"Systemwide Program\" are formidable, participants believe that the sharp focus on the \"how to\" of participatory research should deliver practical, targeted guidelines on when to use the varied and developing PRlGA strategies. Guidelines can only emerge from rigorous evaluation of the technical, social and economic impacts of diverse methodological and institutional options-and comprehensive evaluation of the usefulness of PR and GA is being built into the heart of the program strategy. Impact workshops on PRlGA are being organized, and evaluation components are being integrated into many of the field research programs. \"Participation\" and \"participatory\" have become such fashionable terms recently that any kind of activity involving a group of people is termed \"participatory.\" As these terms embrace a multitude of meanings, and their meaning becomes correspondingly dilute, a serious threat is posed to the use of the term \"participatory research. \" This is the threat of trivializing an approach which, in its more rigorous forms, fundamentally challenges the conventions of westem empiricism which still underpins most applied agricultural research, and which has demonstrated the potential to revolutionize the way in which public-sector agricultural research serves resource-poor farmers in difficult environments. The risk is that a catch-all definition of participatory research is destined to fall out of fashion and to be discarded as fashion changes, without ever receiving the serious scientific eValuation of its potential that a rigorous but less trendy use of the term would invite.Concem about this risk is a major reason for convening this meeting as is the proposition that efforts need to be pooled globally among the multifarious practitioners of participatory research, to ensure that when the fashion for everything participatory changes--as it inevitably will do, the valuable contributions of this approach have been well documented and are not discarded without there having been a serious assessment of their impact. The objective of this short paper is to stimulate discussion and a closer definition of \"What do we mean by participatory research in agriculture?\" in order to make the case that a serious evaluation based on greater clarity in the definition of what is meant by participatory research has much to contribute to defining the new frontiers with which this meeting is concemed.The paper begins with an overview of the issues that need to be considered when we ask the question \"What do we mean by participatory research?\" Each of these issues will be considered in tum, and in conclusion their implications in terms of the need for evidence and for the future directions of research, are considered.What Do We Mean by Participatory Research: Issues ofDefinition?When the term participatory research is used nowadays to describe an agricultural research activity, it may refer to any one of numerous diverse approaches ranging from an informal survey with a dozen individual farmers to rapid appraisal with thousands of small groups, to a process of group empowennent in a village, to fonnal experiments designed and conducted by fanners' co-operatives all over a country, just to give sorne examples. In order to really understand what is being described as \"participatory\", a number of issues need to be clarified by addressing questions like the following.What type of participation is involved: are the participants involved in making decisions, or is their participation more of a consultative type in which their opinions are sought? What is the degree or strength of the participation of researchers and fanners: are researchers leading and inviting fanner input; or are fanners setting up the investigation and seeking researchers' contributions? What is the participation for, what is its objective: is it to help set priorities, for example, or is it to demonstrate solutions?How is the participatory process managed: is it functional participation that has a useful result for the researchers but which is not designed to build any particular capacity in the fanners participating? Or is it designed to be primarily a learning and an empowennent process? At what stages of the research continuum are fanners involved: in pre-adaptive research when technologies are being designed; in adaptive research when basic design principIes are fixed and fanners are making adjustments to fit special circumstances; or in validating technologies already proven in their locale? Who is participating: are the participants extensionists, researchers involved in preadaptive research, expert fanners, consumers, traders, or representatives of a special interest group, like poor women?In whose \"backyard\" is the participation occurring: is this a research process in fanners' fields or home gardens, with an objective and \"treatments\" defined by the people who manage those spaces; or is this a research process on experimental plots defined by researchers, whether in fanners' fields or on experimental stations?What are the criteria for successful participation: what makes it worthwhile, how do the participants evaluate the process and the results?There is no a priori correct answer to these questions, but there are very different answers and there are different positions as to what is correct. Different answers imply different starting points, objectives, and criteria for success. Different starting points and criteria for success require very different approaches to assessing impacto In order to be able to say what is useful to research and what is useful to fanners, what works where and when, what is fashionable rhetoric, what is of scientific merit, and what is authentic empowennent, it is essential to be c1ear about the objectives and criteria for success that each different approach implies. The next section of the pafler looks at these issues in more detail.Types oC ParticipationThe need to distinguish different types of farmer participation in agricultural research has been recognized in the literature for sorne time. Usually three or four types are identified: nominal participation (farmer lends land and labor to researchers); consultative (farmers' opinions are sought); action-oriented participation in which farmers are involved in implementing sorne steps of the research; decision-making participation in which the farmers have a role in deciding what is to be done and how to do it, as well as in carrying it out.Research also distinguishes a type called collegial participation in which researchers are involved in strengthening farmers' own research.Decision-making participation can involve different levels. Farmers may have one representative on a planning body which ineludes representatives of several other interested parties to the research; and they may have one vote, or simply a veto. Or farmers may constitute the majority in a planning body, with researchers in a minority or in an observer and non-voting role.It can also be important to identify whether farmers have any accountability for the results of the decisions they are participating in, and to whom are they accountable. Farmers may be involved in making decisions as a minority on a planning body over which they have no means of exercising accountability. In this instance, the objectives of farmer participation are more akin to consultation-getting farmers' insights and opinions into the decision-making process. Decision-making participation which has empowerment as an objective will be structured in order to link decisions with accountability for outcomes. The difference is important because the criteria for successful outcomes will be different. The impact of consultative participation-albeit in a decision-making forum-will depend on the quality of farmers' unique insights and objectives input into the decisions. The impact of empowering decision-making participation will depend on the capacity for reaching decisions which can be enforced, or for which there are effective sanctions for non-compliance in farmers hands.In terms of research, this may meal) that farmers will have sorne control over the financial or other resources used for the research and will be involved in evaluating the performance of those carrying out the research.In formal experimentation, there is a recognized hierarchy of levels of farmer participation: researchers lead the design and implementation and invite sorne farmer participation; researchers and farmers have unique contributions depending on their area of special expertise. This approach is more like a form of team-led research; farmers lead and invite sorne researcher input.\"Informal experimentation\", which is more akin to what farmers do independently of any contact with research institutions, can be initiated and led by researchers, or it can be What do we mean by participatory research in agricu/ture? farmer-led with researchers involved as observers, or actively helping to monitor and analyze the results.Clearly there is no formula for deciding 'Yhich level of participation is \"best.\" The level chosen wiIl depend on the objectives of the activity, as well as the type of crop, livestock enterprise or technology the research involves. It is clearly important, however, to distinguish c1early which of these levels of participation we refer to when research is called \"participatory. \"AH knowledge generation, whether by scientists in formal research systems or by farmers using their own modes of empirical testing, involves an interactive, and usually nonlinear process which can be divided into the stages listed in Box 1. Typically, farmer participation has been in the stages of diagnosis, evaluation, and validation of technology in a consultative role. More adventurous applications of participatory methods have involved farmers in prioritizing solutions, and designing how to test them.Seldom are farmers involved in evaluating the success or efficiency of a research program, which reflects on the issues of accountability raised in the introduction to this papero Farmers participate, but the managers of the research they are participating in are se Ido m accountable to them; and the farmers themselves are not accountable for the success or efficiency of the programo Box The stage of technology development in which participatory research takes place is fundamentally related to the question of how the division of labor between farmers and researchers is defined in the process of research and development. In part, this division oflabor depends on the level of respect and legitimacy accorded to farmers' knowledge by researchers. But it a1so depends on the type of problem, constraints, or innovation which is being researched. For example, in participatory breeding, farmers' knowledge of quality characteristics, and of plant types for adaptation to specific production systems, is notably more specialized than that of researchers; whereas the scientific knowledge of pests and pathogens and biological control, or the genes which confer desired quality characteristics require a level of specialization beyond the empirical understanding that farmers can bring to the process. Identifying the appropriate division of labor between scientists and farmers in a research task is a critical first step in aehieving efficient funetional participation.For this reason, this question ofthe stages ofreseareh that are undertaken, and the division of labor among researchers and farmers being praeticed in a given stage, needs to be asked when we answer the question of what do we mean by participatory research in agriculture. A first step is to ask what the role of farmers can be in pre-adaptive research: this is a stage of technology development when problems are still being conceptua,1ized in terms of the causeeffect relationships and prototype solutions are still being designed. A second step is to ask what is the role of farmers and researchers in adaptive research: this is the stage when a proven solution has to be tested for a specific location. A third step is to ask what is the appropriate division of labor in the extension or massification of a 10caHy adapted solution to aH other potential beneficiaries in a similar locale.It is possible to understand more clearly the criteria for success and expected impact of a given type of participation, by first differentiating the level (Le., whether this is in a farmer-Ied or researcher-led process), and by then distinguishing which stage(s) of technology development it involves, and the division of labor between farmers and scientists being realized within a given stage-specifically with respect to the responsibilities they take in the different activities usually involved in eompleting a researeh task (listed in Box 1). For example, farmer decision-making in planning a farmer-Ied process of farmer-to-farmer extension of known varieties has very different expeeted impact and eriteria for judging its success from farmer deeision making in planning a farmer-Ied process of pre-adaptive plant breeding in which farmers manage breeding populations. A farmer-Ied process of consulting other farmers about ways to test different IPM components is very different from a researcher-Ied process of consulting farmers about ways to test IPM components: the first type of participatory research has a strong element of building the capacity of farmers to do research, and success in building this capacity may be a criterion for judging the success and utility of the approach; the second does not.Who Participates: Gender and Other Variables Two aspects of who participates in a research process need to be clarified in order to interpret the nature of the process. One is whether the participants are representative of a population or populations of end-users, and why representativity is relevant for the goals of the participatory process. The second is whether the participants bring relevant expertise to the process. In sorne partieipatory research, it may be necessary to satisfy both conditions: expertise and representativity. For example, research aims to develop technology for nomadic pastoralists and needs to include representatives of those practicing traditional as well as adaptive forms of pastoralism in order to design technology for both situations; in addition, knowledge of traditional livestock veterinary practices may be crucial to the research, so the involvement of pastoralists with this specialized knowledge is required. Functional partieipation may emphasize specialist participation to the detriment of the empowerment of the broadly represented population. A process which has empowerment as a primary goal may prioritize representative participation.The issues of representativity and speeialist knowledge are at the heart of the need to apply gender analysis as an integral part of any partieipatory proeess. Gender is a basie determinant of representativity, because men and women in agricultural societies fulfill such different roles and responsibilities; and gender therefore, ofien determines specialized domains of knowledge related to gender-differentiated functions-for example, saving seed as a womenls funetion, which means that women ofien seleet the next generation of plants.Gender is also eros s-cut by wealth (or poverty): poor laboring women may have more in cornmon with poor laboring men in terms of their criteria for technology design than poor and well-to-do women. Therefore, representativity and specialized expertise need to be used as criteria for distinguishing who participates, in the eontext of other variables like gender and wealth.The classification of different types and levels of participation, the researeh aetivities in which they take place, and the stage of technology development involved, need to be earefully placed in the eontext of the overall goals of the participatory researeh process being analyzed. These may be several: getting technology adopted by farmers (a goal of functional participation); building the capacity of farmers to make demands on the formal research system (relevant to both functional and empowering participation); strengthening farmers own research by providing inputs to it (can be relevant to both functional and empowering); conserving indigenous knowledge generation processes.A hypothesis intended. for further analysis in this meeting is the following: that these goals are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and can be mutually reinforcing, but exclusive emphasis on one can delay or damage progress in another. Thus a participatory research process that emphasises exclusively functional goal s of getting farmers to test, validate and adopt researchers' best-bet technologies may weaken or delay the development of farmers' own research eapacity. Achieving a balance among the three goals may be important for achieving rapid technical change and efficient research. Conversely, exclusive emphasis on capacity building may weaken or slow down the rate of technical change which might otherwise occur in a participatory research process. These are questions which require empírical assessment, because the answers will be important as guidelines for use of participatory approaches as part of normal science.Means and ends, methods and goals are, of course, intimately related. How we do participatory research is fundamentally related to the end we have in mind. One way to do participatory research, which is highly popular and being rapidly taken up by development agencies, can be described as \"have tool kit, will travel\" , commonly called PRAparticipatory rapid appraisal. The early practitioners of this approach are now increasingly uneasy about its use to extraet information from rural people for use by outsiders, without any capacity building or long-run eommitment to action as a result of the PRA. Another way to do participatory research is to involve the participants in an analysis which leads to their better understanding of their situation and to a basis for joint aetion, if appropriate, with outsiders. The costs, time-frame and criteria for success of capacity-building approaches are not well systematized, nor have they been easily replicated or sCaled up, unlike PRA. It is not clear whether this lack of ready replication and scaling up is inherent in the approach, or whether it reflects the need for more work to systematize these approaches. This is potentially one of the key challenges for the future, especially if it can be shown that the payoff to capacity-building approaches is significant.A hypothesis for further analysis is that capacity-building approaches may have the highest payoff for technical innovation in agriculture in difficult environments (poor marginal populations, fragile ecosystems).What is the Payoff to Participatory Research io Agriculture?In order to survive the trivialization and dilution of the concept, it is imperative that the question of payoff to using participatory approaches be addressed empirical1y, beeause evidence on this is still sadly laekiog. If we accept that it may be useful to develop a form of classification or typology of approaehes along the lines suggested aboye, the question remaios: what are the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches? In what eireumstances does a participatory approach have clear advantages over a non-participatory approaeh? Several questions on which evidenee and guidelines need to be formulated are surnmarized in Box 2. To answer questions like these, unambiguous criteria for what eonstitutes suceess or impact and payoff must be defined.There are several such criteria. One will clearly be the impact on technical change, both the number and diversity of technologies that are generated or transferred horizontally throughWhat do we mean by participalory research in agriculture?participatory approaches, as well as the rate of adoption achieved. A second will be the effect of participation on the cost-effectiveness of research: is involving farmers merely an expensive gesture towards democracy; is it a highly efficient way of fine-tuning adaptive research; or is it a way of avoiding costly dead ends and white-elephant technologies no farmer wants to adopt in the pre-adaptive stage of research; or is it a cost-effective way of identifying imaginative new breakthroughs that combine different kinds of knowledge about a problem and its possible solutions?Box 2. Need for evidence and guidelinesWhat degree of user participation is appropriate at a given stage in the R & D process? 2.What approaches to FPRlGA are most effective for different types of technology? e.g. knowledge or management intensive.Are FPRlGA tools and techniques broadly applícable, or do sorne tools bias outcomes with respect to different kinds of impact? 4.How do we measure benefits and monitor performance in relation to different goals? 5.What are the costs?Other criteria might be related to the empowerment for farmers as an end in itself; or as a key element of a cost-effective research system. As farmers become empowered and their capacity to take on research functions increases, does research cost efficiency go up? Or do cost structures simply shift with the same net overall cost of the research process? Are there significant spill-overs to other sectors (such as health, child nutrition, schooling) from empowerment and capacity building in an agricultural research process ?Another way to look at empowerment and capacity building through participatory research processes, is in terms of social capital formation, or building more effective ways of organizing and working together. If farmers and researchers involved in participatory research build social capital, does this lower the transaction costs of, for example, adaptive research and extension efforts?Other aspects of payoff might be in improving the effectiveness of research in reaching the most needy, or other groups specifically intended to benefit from an agricultural research and technology development process. Do participatory approaches result in more accurate targeting of a technology design to meet the needs of a beneficiary group like poor rural women, for example? Targeting may not be more accurate than that achieved by other approaches, but it may be achieved more quickly and at lower costoThe new frontiers of research in this field must be mapped by addressing sorne of the questions related to the critical issue of payoff if the potential of participatory approaches is to be realized.Intemational Development Research Center 250, Albert Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada KIG 3H9In this paper 1 wiIl reflect on the development of participatory research methodology through a brief analysis of the Intematíonal Development Research Center's (IDRC) intellectual and financial support for participatory-oriented research projects. IDRC is a so-called crown corporation, a donor agency funded by the Canadian government. but with an independent, intemational board of govemors. Last year the Center celebrated its 25th anniversary; the funding of participatory research projects dates back to the middle of the 1980s.In the first part of the article, 1 will give an overview of the evolution of the Center' s policy and programming conceming participatory research methodology highlighting a few issues of particular mterest. In the second part, 1 wiIl present some of the lessons leamed about the use and impact of this methodology, combining my own ideas and experiences, reflections made by IDRC coHeagues (published in a number of papers and reports), and critical thoughts provided by a number of outsiders (consultants to the Center). To illustrate some ofthe points that 1 am making here, a few currently IDRC funded projects will be presented in sumrnary formo\"Empowerment through knowledge\" in developing countries by developing countries' researchers (in the South by the South), is in a few words what the Intemational Development Research Center is aH about. Tbrough financial and technical support to applied, development-oriented research projects, the aims of the Center are to provide the means to people to learn how to:1) study their own situation, problems, constraints and potential; 2) gather and analyze relevant data conceming the above; 3) propose actions and execute plans and projects that wiIl solve identified problems and improve the livelihoods of the people efficiently and effectively; 4) assess the outcomes of the research and intervention process, and to leam from these outcomes for the benefit of future projects and programs. These objectives are very much in line with the general goals of participatory research which emerged, to put it simply, to make science respond more directly to the ideas and needs of people most affected by underdevelopment. It is important to state here that this does not only mean the development of (better) technologies (agricultural or other), a position that sorne seem to defend (e.g. Bentley, 1994: 142). Apart from newand improved technologies and increased capacity to do research, more functional forms of organizations or institutions and better policies are also seen as responses to the problems of underdevelopment. In other words, participatory research is seen as a process to better understand the complexities of sociallife and, as such, to pro vide a sounder base for action.At the heart of this approach is a collective effort by professional researchers and nonprofessional researchers to; 1) set research priorities and identify key problems and issues; 2) to analyze the causes that underlie these problems and issues, and; 3) to take action to find both short and long-term solutions for the identified problems. It is expected that such an approach will have a positive impact on both effectivity (an increased use and acceptability of research results), and efficiency (making better use of resources/reduce costs of project execution and delivery of results  (Rueda, Zandstra and Li Pun, 1994: 48-49;CONDESAN, 1996, 2).Evolving from disciplinary and commodity-oriented approaches as well as farming systems research, the Consortium seeks to combine technical, institutional and poliey researeh at several levels (farm, municipality, watershed, ecoregion) using democratie procedures, decentralized management and participatory research and development approaches. The consortium model is expected to generate synergies among partners and to aehieve goals that institutions on their own would not be able to accomplish. Co-operation instead of competition is seen as a means to solve problems and make more efficient use of human and financial resources.One important participatory technique used by CONDESAN partners is the mesa de concertación, a kind of round table that brings together municipal authorities, NGO staff, university personnel and farmers --all seen as stakeholders in the sustainable management of the natural resourfile base --to openly discuss problems, analyze conflicting or diverging interests at the local level and find agreements or solutions (which is the meaning of the Spanish verb concertar). The mesas serve both as a space and as a process to join forces and develop new initiatives with the use of locally available resources and, if required, outside expertise. In Ecuador, there also exists a mesa at the nationallevel to convene CONDESAN, partners and jointly plan consortium activities. External evaluators of CONDESAN who recently completed a review of the Consortium (May-June 1996), were very enthusiastic about this innovative participatory technique used in Ecuador and Peru, both in terms of effectivity and as a new tool for the democratization process in Latin America (Mateo, Brown and Weber, 1996: 17-18).IDRC has reviewed and documented, either internally or through consultants, its support for participatory-research-oriented projects in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1995. Tne publicatiort of these reports in itself could be seen as a sign of the times: an increased interest in and reflection on the usefulness and limitations of participatory research methods by Center staff.From these reviews we can learn the following.Within IDRC, support for participatory research originated in the Social Science Division.Staff in this Division saw participatory research as bringing ethnography one step further: incorporating local people actively into the research process itself. A similar change took place among colleagues in the Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Sciences Division. Here, staff aimed to bring farming systems research one step forward by looking at the interrelatedness of the physical, biotic and sociocultural aspects of rural life. They also wished to explore ways ofblending farmers' and scientists' knowledge, recognizing that farmers do experiment with crop varieties, planting and harvesting techniques, and tools (see also Bentley, 1994: 141). In addition, staff acknowledged that scientists' knowledge and experiences are limited (lDRC Working Group, 1988: 8). This move toward more participatory research has gone hand in hand with more emphasis on interdisciplinary projects (Thompson, 1994: 6-9;Kapila and Moher, 1995). This evolution is reflected by the creation in 1995 of one single Programs Branch to replace the former disciplinary-based research divisions ofthe Center.These changes were motivated by the reflections of IDRC program staff on Center-supported projects and also by changes taking place at a polítical and econornic macrolevel, e.g. the emerging and growing critique of the Oreen revolution and its negative impact on the environment. There was a growing awareness that technology-oríented projects with agendas set by researchers, and experíments carried out on-station, were not having the expected impact (see for a general discussion, Chambers, 1993: 62-63).In the Health Sciences Division, it turned out to be more difficult to support participatory research projects, which was explained by IDRC staff who pointed out that: 1) those who possess the power ofhealing in the health sector do not give up control so easily, 2) medicine is seen by most people as full of mysteries 'and thus as difficult to \"tackle\", and 3) it takes people a while to contribute a new meaning to health, Le. to see health beyond diseases, services and facilities (Grisdale: 1989: 18).In tenns of classifYing the types of participatory projects that IDRC has funded and continues to fund, most projects make use of a \"mobilized participation\" methodology, in which a strong role is played by non-local, professionally trained researchers.Second: the opening page of the 1988 report describes participatory research as \"a mode of research which is attracting growing attention from agencies of development assistance but which remains exploratory in many scientific domains\". (IDRC Working Group, 1988: 1). This trend has continued, and what we now see is that participatory research is gaining ground in other institutions, including the World Bank and the Canadian Intemational Development Agency (CIDA! ACDI). This is encouraging and hopefully will allow for interaction and exchange of experiences with IDRC-funded projects.Third: the same 1995 report also concludes that \"while participatory research has [now] become more widespread, considerable confusion abounds conceming tenninology, types of participatory research, theoretical underpinnings, and operational practice\". (Found, 1995: 70) The problem of confusion about concepts and operationalization was also identified in an earlier IDRC report (Grisdale, 1989: 12). Both the 1989 and 1995 reports have recornmended the need to classifY the types of participation being used or aimed for in projects, but given that in a six-year period not much improvement has been made, this seems to be a difficult issue to handle.  (CIAT: 1993(CIAT: , 1995)). The Program is innovative because it moves beyond \"traditional\" crops research on the one hand and farming systems research on the other. Its multistakeholder approach and focus on community organization give the program a clear action-oriented dimension (Ashby el al., 1995).The Prograrn is carried out in a number of watersheds, along a continuum from more intensively exploited and longer-established settlement areas such as the Ovejas River in Colombia to a more recently deforested and newly settled hillside \"frontier\" such as the La Ceiba region on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras (Humphries, 1995). Two participatory research techniques used by the Hillsides team are of special interest: the so-called CIALs or Local Agricultural Research Committees (see Ashby el al, 1995) and the creation of the CIP ASLA or Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture in Hillsides. The Prograrn is identifying stakeholders within the watershed and bringing them together, through the CIPASLA consortium, to discuss and develop a common agenda for the sustainable management of the natural resource base, taking into account both intra-watershed and supra-watershed interests. CIP ASLA is a unique interinstitutional alliance or consortium of 14 government and nongovernment organizations that promotes sustainable hillside agriculture. This is done through a planning-by-objectives process leading to a strategic plan, by the regular co-ordination of activities and the execution of a coherent set of projects (Munk Ravnborg, 1995: 121-130).The idea of establishing CIPASLA first emerged at the end of 1992 when researchers, NGO workers and government officials all working in the northem part of the Cauca department carne together for two days at CIA T to explore the feasibility of improving the co-ordination of their interventions in the area of natural resource management and cornmunity research and development. CIPASLA has currently financed 13 projects focused on reforestation with multiple use trees, organic fertilizers, biological disease control methods, the establishment of rural agro-industries, and the documentation of local values and culture conceming natural resources, arnong other things.Developing on a parallel line with CONDESAN's mesas redondas, the keyword here is concertación, which means respecting each other and reaching agreements/consensus without losing one's own identity and comparative advantages. CIPASLA members strongly believe that through the sharing of ideas and resources they can move forward. \"Concertación\" also means that local communities match contributions made by institutions and by CIP ASLA, financially, through labor, or otherwise. Giving away resources and services for free is no longer common practice. Magnolia Hurtado, the dynarnic technical co-ordinator of CIP ASLA, describes the building of trust and solidarity as a process of forging a new common CIP ASLA-identity (personal communication, October 1995). She acknowledges that this is not an easy task for any of the participating organizations (NGOs, government agencies, CIAT). Conflicting or opposing agendas still exist, the duplication of efforts still occurs and, in general, organizations still operate in a supply-driven way. At the community level, farmers participating in projects funded by CIP ASLA experience similar problems. As Don CJlimo from Pescador, one of the outstanding farmer-experimenters explains: \"People are still very much enrolled in their own shell. Moving forward is not so much a question of money, but of mentality\". (personal communication, October 1995) Strengthening community ties means dealing with the problem of representation. An attempt is made to c1assify stakeholders in terms of their relative poverty and to analyze how these poverty profiles relate to the degree of participation in decision-making processes (e.g. within the CIALs or the watershed users association known as FEBESURCA). So far, critical monitoring of the organizational process has shown that there are clear differences in participatíon. For example, the farmers from the upper and middle altitude zones in the watershed tend to domínate the agenda setting of FEBESURCA at the expense of the lowerlevel farmers. Gender differences are also apparent. Women are clearly under-represented which points out the need to look at how the new organizational structures such as FEBESURCA and the CIALs put pressure on the available skills, time and other resources of women and men in different ways. We may as sume that existing inequalities in resources and power influence the ways in which FEBESURCA and the CIALs are being organized, and the kind of activities that they carry out.Fourth: reviewing more recent policy statements of IDRC that reflect new programming directions such as, for example, the Theme statements on Food Systems under Stress, and Biodiversity (see box), we can observe a strong emphasis on stakeholder involvement combined with an ecoregional focus. Increasing concerns about the (mis)management of the natural resource base stimulated the development of ecoregional approaches in which problems are addressed at a more aggregated level of analysis, e.g. a watershed. This approach allows people to deal more systematically with the interactions among components of an ecological system and the various productive activities carried out in a defined geographic area (e.g. farming, fishing, forestry). Stakeholder involvement refers to the active participation of small farmers, large farmers, entrepreneurs, municipal authorities, NGO staff and policy makers who together analyze problems and define research and development initiatives reconciling conflicting or diverging points of views and interests (Vernooy, 1993;Li Pun and Koala, 1994: 10).In particular, the active involvement of \"non-traditional\" stakeholders such as NGO-s, municipal governments, grassroots groups and farmer associations is a new feature of IDRC projects. Currently, IDRC is supporting a number of large projects that use an ecoregional approach and that experiment with various forms of stakeholder participation in planning and decision making. We could mention CONDESAN and the Hillsides Program described in this article, as well as the East-African Highlands Initiative.In other words, in methodological terms this approach implies a shift away from methodological individualism (Whatmore, 1994: 36) towards the analysis of geographic interdependencies and of social and political relations and tensions between multiple actors whose ideas, interests and identities constitute the actual practice of farming in a given agroecosystem. These' relationships include the new and slowly emerging links between government and non-government agencies active in the field of agricultural development (Bebbington and Farrington, 1993: 199-219). It also means looking at farming as part of the wider agrofood chain that includes institutions that structure agricultural production, distribution and consumption.In the closely related area of agricultural biodiversity, IDRC is supporting projects that aim to develop community conservation and utilization strategies (for example, the Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation Program, see Walter de Boef in this volume) as well as projects that use participatory plant breeding in combination with decentralized selection (see for example, Salvatore Cecarrelli in this volume). Both approaches aim to give the end users a more meaningful voice in the research and development process (Voss, 1996: 6-7).The Fifth: although there is a growing awareness at IORC about the need to fully integrate gender perspectives into programs and projects, in practice progress has been slow. As Waafas Ofosu-Amaah observed in her 1994 external review report on the gender diffusion process wíthin IORe (1994: 4), most of the projects that program staff consider to be gendered, are actually projects designed especially for women and do not necessarily deal with gender roles, perceptions and conflicts. This is confirmed by a more recent review of the degree of gender sensitivity of projects approved by the Center in 1995-1996 (Bromley, 1996), although it is fair to point out that there are a number of projects that appear to accept the importance of both women and men in the development process -from the conceptualization of problems and research projects, through the design, implementation, analysis and postproject evaluation process. Generally they also appear to recognize the various locations, roles and positions held by women and men within communities which provide and direct participation and interaction in the development project (Bromley, 1996: 10-11).Mainstreaming a gender approach within IDRC and in Center-funded projects is still a high priority.The Food Systems under Stress in Africa project involves five interdisciplinary research teams from Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and a number of resource persons from Canadian Universities and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, England. The network aims, through a process of participatory research, to involve local groups in focd-focused action research at a variety of levels, from the household to the community to the nationallevel (FSUS in Africa proposal, 1993;Pottier, 1995: 254).The network brings together academic researchers, national policy makers, community workers, extension officers, district-level officers and a cross-section of rural people living in environmentally fragile areas to express and reflect on local perceptions of food stress and to develop activities to turn food insecurity into food security. The methodology used by the network so far consisted of, among other things, a series of focus group meetings and plenary sessions on food stress and household-Ievel food security, seasonal calendars, gender-specific daily activity profiles, problem ranking, wealth ranking, Venn-diagrams, transect walks, and theater plays.Experiences from the five countries so far are very diverse, but encouraging. The Ugandan team, working in the semi arid district of Soroti in the north-eastern zone of the country, obtained during their first participatory workshop a good insight ¡nto social differentiation based on unequal access to natural resources and labor, as well as an idea of different gender roles and the changing bargaining powers that women and men employ in getting access to food and money at the household leve!. The team also found out that, at the above-mentioned workshop, the poorest people in the area were absent. As Orone and Pottier reported (1995: 3), selection by the sub-county chief of participants had obviously left the poorest out. Asimilar problem occurred in Zambia where the so-called nakalyas or have-nots/most food insecure (as identified by the local peopIe themselves) were under-represented (Sikana and Simpungwe, 1995: 93).In Zimbabwe, during a similar participatory workshop, the project team discovered that a group of village chiefs had managed to steer a resource mapping exercÍse to ¡nelude only certain villages with the elear expectation that these villages would receive (project) benefits (and others would not). The team was forced to sit down with the chiefs and address the question of \"whose needs will be mapped?\" (Mararike, Dzingirai and Pottíer, 1995: 65) During the same workshop, the team also discovered that the local people were identifying the researchers as being very close to the government. As one of the farmers observed, instead of having to go through the long route of kraal head to ward couneilor to district authority to ministry of agrieulture, \"the government was now next door\". (ibid.: 65)In Botswana and Tanzania, participatory techniques proved to be very powerful tools in bringing people from different backgrounds together to express their ideas and reaet to views formulated by others. In Botswana, these interactions also made government oflicíaIs realize that food inseeurity in the Kgalagadi district where the project is carried out, is closely linked to social problems sueh as alcoholism, divorce and teenage pregnancies (Lebohang, 1995: 123). As 1 had the ehance to observe personally, it was truly an eye-opener for most ifnot a11 of the ofliciaIs to become aware of these links.Lessons Learned: Key Factors in Success/failureThe review of past IDRC investments and experienees with participatory research and experiences of and reflections on ongoing projects such as CONDESAN, the Hillsides Program and the Food Systems under Stress in Africa network, allow us to identify a number of factors that appear key to the successes or failures of a participatory methodology. We could group these factors in two categories: factors eoncerning human resources and the building of partnerships, and factors concerning environmental, socioeeonomic and polítical contexts. Without assigning priority, these factors are the following.Factors Concerning Human Resources and Human Resources Development 2. for time for the emergence of partnerships. This requires frequent face-to-face interaction and a medium-to long-term project time frarne.3. The availability 01 sufficient time and labor, and hence the dedication or commitment on the part of aH stakeholders involved in the projects, is crucial for effective participatory research. This seems unfavorable to grassroots groups, farmer associations and NGOs who often lack money, time and human resources, although these are the organizations that most likely to use participatory research methodology (Grisdale, 1989: 16). This points out to the need to set aside funds and staff to support local level initiatives or accept the involvement of\"outsiders\".A shared common background by the (prolessional) researchers themselves: this factor needs further validation, but it has been noted that wherever such a common academic or professional background exists, the participatory process will be more effective.4. The jit 01 the project with local cultural circumstances, in terms 01 values but also institutional presence. If farmers and researchers have different departure points, i.e. relatively well-off versus poor, urban versus rural based, access to outsiders versus isolated, and if these differences are unrecognized or not understood by the researchers, participation is more likely to be a failure. As a result, seemingly sound technologies developed by projects will not be adopted by farmers (Ayling, 1995: 106-107). There is a need for researchers to be on the same wavelength as local people. This implies that researchers need to challenge their own thinking and question their assumptions (\"cultural baggage\") and material (class) interests. This means that researchers need to situate themselves (Pottier, 1995: 257-258). This is also underlined by other researchers, e.g. Bentley (1994: 144) who points out that social distance between farmers and researchers is a major limitation on effective participatory research.5. Specificity 01 dejinition 01 who participates and how participation takes place: the more arnbiguously participation is defined, the more likely it is that the process wiIl be ineffective (IDRC Working Group, 1988: 19).6. Closely linked to the question of who participates is the degree 01 heterogeneity lhat can be lound at the locallevel and, to make things more complicated, al rhe regionallevel.Here the question we need to ask ourselves, is how effective will stakeholder approaches be? \"References to >village people= and >local cornmunities= may well mask the realities of social heterogeneity which exist among project participants.\" (IDRC Working Group, 1988: 21) As the HiIlsides Prograrn research tearn has experienced, researchers need to be aware that the participatory research process is part of the construction of these R. Vernooy realities; and that, in most cases, this means that they wiIl become enrolled in the \"projects\" and alliance making efforts of sorne individual s or groups (Pottier, 1995: 258).7. Environmental conditions: the Híllsides Program, CONDESAN and the Food Systems under Stress in Africa network show that difficult environmental conditions do not seem to be a limiting factor. This seems to be confirmed by other IDRC-funded projects in fragile areas, but more case study analysis and comparison would be needed to strengthen this conclusion.both context and outcomes can be favorable or negative.9. The scale of the project does not seem to be a relevant factor, although this also needs further validatíon. So far, ambitious programs such CONDESAN and the Hillsides Program seem to have created the space for effective forms of participation. The Food Systems under Stress network demonstrates that participatory approaches also work at a more reduced scale.As both the CONDESAN and the Hillsides Program demonstrate, participatory research for sustainable natural resource management is very much about the building and strengthening of local organizations. These organizations are the ways in which local people become empowered and empower themselves to have a greater say in decision making about the use and long-term management of soil, trees, water and animals. People perceive this clearly as a process of learning by doing which is usually advancing step by step. Planning by objectives which implies taking and giving, and building consensus while keeping one's identity, are key elements of these processes. The chaIlenge is now to consolidate these new organizations and to strengthen their community roots and tiesoTo conclude, 1 would like to reiterate that PartlCIPatOry research is, aboye aH, about commitment, honesty and reflection. As one of the Zimbabwean farmers in one of the Food Systems under Stress in Africa project workshops questioned us: \"Do you know the python? It comes unexpectedly and shows you its beautiful colors, then ít disappears and you may never see it again. Researchers should not be like the python.\" (Mararike, Dzingirai and Pottier, 1995: 72). The same could be said for distríct-level policy makers, extension officers and donor agency representatives. Modero agricultural research is organized, administered and managed according to a particular research paradigm. Based on empirical evidence and observations, hypotheses are formulated, then tested according to the rigorous rules of the scientific method. Standard conditions, replication and repeatability are fundamental to the process. The establishment of modero agricultural experiment stations during the 19 th century allowed agricultural science to develop, and permitted its practitioners to apply the scientific method to the sloppy and variable natural world. The move from the site-specific, infinitely variable farmers' fields to a more uniform environment yielded more precise estimates of different trealment effects. This shift from a hit-or-miss to a more systematic approach yielded handsome returns. The tremendous productivity of modero agriculture and the success of modero plant breeding in particular, bear witness to the strengths ofthis approach.Given the nature of the process, it should not be surprising that the greatest plant-breeding successes have been in rather uniform and \"favorable\" environments. Environmental uniformity allows the expression of superior performance over large areas under conditions similar to those found in experiment stations. Favorable environments provide a natural resource \"buffer\" to less-than-optimal crop management, in addition to allowing varieties to express their potential under improved management.Despite its success in favorable environments, modero agricultural research, and plant breeding in particular, have had limited impact in less favorable environments. Farmer participation in plant breeding is proposed as a means of developing improved varieties adapted to harsher, heterogeneous and more variable environments. In its most extreme form, it is almost a complete reversal of the application of the scientific research paradigm to plant breeding. Experimental stations were designed precisely to avoid and eliminate the problem of conducting research on production farms. Agricultural scientists carne into being because of the enormous cornmitment in time, education and experience required to execute successful strategic, applied, and adaptive research. We must examine with care the rationale for developing farmer participatory breeding (FPB) approaches and evaluate their effectiveness critically before discarding present practices.It is essential to debate the question of whether the scientific approach is inadequate to meet the needs of resource-poor farmers living in difficult environments, or whether the scientific method has simply been improperly or inadequately applied to the more difficultImplementíngfarmer participatory plant breeding: A research management perspective environments. Unfortunately, this question is beyond the scope of this paper. For discussion purposes, 1 will as sume that the rigors of scientific proof will still apply to the assessment of the performance of varieties developed under farmer participatory breeding; however, application of the scientific method may require drastic changes. Within this context, 1 will address sorne research management implications of adopting FPB.AIthough there is a bewildering array of FPB approaches, most share a number of features, and these have major research management implications. FPB tends to be decentralized to a rather large number of different sites, usually distant from research centers. PIot sizes are small, and even though upland fields are notoriously heterogeneous, space constraints typicalIy limit replications to one per site. Management of fields is often left to the farmers; but, even researcher-managed fields receive less close scrutiny than experiment station fields, due to travel constraints. The distance from dispersed plots often limits the number of traits that can be evaluated, the frequency and precision of evaluation and the timeliness of the evaluations. In-season data collection and the harvesting of lines may be done by farmers alone, with the consequent implications for purity and accuracy. The environmental conditions during the growing season are usually monitored onIy at a very superficiallevel, if at aH. Evaluations of materiaIs may depend heaviIy on farmer perceptions, with crosscomparisons of farmer statements becoming a serious methodological challenge in culturally diverse target regions.There are really two different management components to research that are impacted by adoption of FPB. Research administration is the institutional support mechanism to enabIe efficient and timel}\" execution of research. Research management is the identification and prioritization of research issues, the identification and execution of appropriate research protocoIs, the evaluation and interpretation of research outputs, and the assessment of the impact of research, based upon the original priorities and upon which the research program was based.Existing institutional research administration and management structures are designed to fit and facilitate the execution of the classicaI breeding paradigm. There are administrative units and procedures to execute the paradigm, there are budgets assigned to particular components, there is infrastructure, and there are the associated capital investments and maintenance costs associated with the paradigm. Perhaps most telling for the long-term future of FPB, there are careers associated with the existing breeding paradigm. There are careers that were made and nicely advanced within the old paradigm, and there are new careers pinned to the oId paradigm. It is significant that senior administrators and managers probably reached their positions based on their perceived successes with the old system, and successful junior scientists are, in many cases, their protégés.Current research budgets for plant breeding anticipate an experiment station-centered breeding programo Budgets for infrastructure construction and maintenance, seed stores, machinery, labor pools, agricultural chemical purchases, support laboratorles and personnel, are typically structured to support large populations of segregating and advanced breeding lines. Costs for off-station work are typically limited to those for multilocation testing of very advanced breeding lines, ofien in satellite research stations. More extensive multilocation, on-farm testing is limited to very few lines, and is ofien under the responsibility of a different organization, such as extension services, NGOs, and farmers' associations. Thus, with current structures, the additional costs of on-farm research are administratively isolated from the costs of breeding per se.Adding an FPB component to a breeding program poses a dilemma for research administrators. FPB wiIl incur costs of a different nature from those incurred by current breeding. As it is highly unlikely, and in my opinion unwise, that an on-going breeding program will be dismantled and replaced with an untrled FPB program, a research institution will incur net additional costs by adopting FPB. These wiIl be costs associated with additional travel, agricultural chemicals, possible land leasing, additional vehicles, and additionallabor, etc. In today's environment of ever-shrinking budgets, this money will have to be taken from within current budgets. Initiating a FPB program has the potential to cause internal conflicts and strife due to an increased competition for scarce resources.For the research manager, FPB can present sorne monumental headaches. We will assume that the difficult environments have already been given a suitably high priority to justify their own research effort. The research manager then must ask if plant breeding is among the most likely tools to impact on the targets? If so, is there sufficient evidence to suggest that the current paradigm, if suitably adapted to the target environment, wiil not yield satisfactory results? If there is reason to believe that a significant FPB activity should be initiated, which of the numerous approaches should be adopted, and how will success be evaluated?There are well-understood outputs from classical breeding that a non-specialist can understand and weigh relatively objectively. Allocation of resources between classical breeding and FPB, especially at the outset, will be a major challenge -especially if no additional resources can be tapped.Perhaps one of the most serious scientific problems that a research manager faces involves monitoring the research progress and the quality of the output. There are well developed lmplementíngfarmer particípatory plant breedíng: A research management perspective scientific and statistical procedures to measure, monitor, evaluate etc. the old paradigm. However, FPB poses sorne serious problems. In the case of single replicates over a diverse environment, can real performance and improvements be reliably estimated? Statistically, how are major site-to-site and year-to-year differences handled? If the environmental conditions at the different sites are not carefully monitored, can performance differences be meaningfully compared? Without such comparisons, how can the FPB investment be evaluated, and is it yielding as much information as it can?A varietal release program expects that its products will be of interest to a set of farmers several orders of magnitude greater than those who participated in varietal development. But, given the constraints of FPB, how do breeders interpret varietal performance beyond the conditions ofthe site of origin? Research managers will have precious little information upon which to base choices between which FPB programs, sites, targets etc. to support. If the beneficiaries of FPB are onIy to be the participating farmers, it is questionable whether there is even a role for the public sector.In many FPB programs, farmers develop \"varieties\" based on bulk selection from fields. While this is suitable for the participating farmers, it is almost impossible to enter such materials into a formal varietal testing, evaluation and registration programo These almost always require a factual, documented, statement of parentage, and the selection program and performance of the original lines against a predetermined set of criteria. These requirements were developed over many decades to protect farmers and assure that the new varieties offered an improvement over existing materials. With no clear original material, varietal purity and integrity cannot be assured. Breeders were also protected in that their contributions were recognized and that their intellectual property, in sorne case~, was protected.The greatest research difficulty will be encountered in attempting to manage the coexistence of the two paradigms. Trying to fit the new into the old will impose a huge stress on the system. In fact there may be such fundamental incompatibilities that it will be impossible.But what are we to do? Most people would agree here that there is an important, if not central, role for the foreseeable future of classical plant breeding. And that what is required is the addition of a participatory dimensiono But, is this realistic?The solution of convenience is to add a separate structure to accornmodate the new. The danger is that this parallel structure then competes with the old, and aH sorts of funny things can happen ... funds and other resources sufficient only for one (i.e. originaHy assigned to the old paradigm) are divided between the two, in-fighting becomes rampant, sabotage of research can occur etc. This solution of convenience was applied to farming systems research, and may have contributed to its demise ... that, plus, of course, the cornmandeering of a multidisciplinary approach by one or a few disciplines. In many cases, farming systems research programs that were set up paralle1 to or independentIy of, classical agronomic research programs died a slow, painful, and costly death. Or worse, they linger on as yet more appendages to already bloated and inefficient agricultural research bureaucracies.Thomas Khun in his book \"The Structure of Scientific Revolution\" concluded that true breakthroughs are inspired by intuitive leaps, not by painstaking, incremental experimentation. Before the new paradigms (he's the one we have to blame for this much overused term!) overthrow the old, however, the flashes ofbrilliance are verified: the intuitive leaps are fiHed in ex post by painstaking, incremental experimentation. FPB may well be such a breakthrough in agricultural science. If so, a critical analysis of FPB is called for. The challenge of this system-wide initiative will be to generate clear data sets that will enable research managers to make informed decisions as to when FPB is appropriate, which types of approaches to use, and under which circumstances to use them. NGOs working in communities, encounter many factors that can affect the approach they take in identifying and confronting, in a participatory manner, the needs and opportunities for the development of target groups. These factors can be favorable or unfavorable. The acknowledgement of both is of importance, as they will have an effect on the development of methodologies to be used at community, household and technician level. Ultimately, one of the objectives of our work as an NGO would be to help communities and individual farmers recognize their problems and participate in the search for solutions based on the use of their own resources. Our work should be developed in such a way that, long afier we have lefi the community, people can continue to solve problems by themselves based on their analysis and the identification of opportunities.The main advantage for NGOs working at grass-root level is the empathy or bond that exists between them and the community. As in the case of Grupo Yanapai, this comes from years of being present in the community. The fact that a level oftrust and confidence in the NGO has been developed facilitates communication with the community and, therefore, the use of participative methods to identify development needs.NGOs have acquired an even more important role in development work and technical support in communities in the past years, because of the reduction of government extension services caused by the present tendency towards privatizing all services.The NOO can serve as a link between the community and other institutíons due to its direct contact with farmers. F or years, governmental, educational and prívate institutes have done research within their own compounds, far removed from the real needs of farmers. Development, Evaluation and Use of Certain Methods: Importance of Gender Analysis Methods used to create consciousness within the community should involve the participation of all members, of both genders and of a11 ages as everyone participates in the production process. Men and women prioritize problems in a different way, according to their role within the household and the community. They can complement each other when analyzing information about the production system. The NRM evaluation can help bring out this type of information.In conversations with male and female farmers about the resources the cornmunity had and how they were managed, the use of diagrams to illustrate what they were talking about proved to be of great help.Although each gender knows its role within the production system, this is in an implieit rather than an explicit manner. A diagram can help record and reflect this knowledge and provide a course for further reflection. It is like expressing an idea orally and in written formo When somthing is written down, a person can reflect.on what he/she has written and put the ideas in a more orderly manner, which makes it clearer for both reader and writer.NRM methodologies can be used for planning and monitoring research and developm~nt activities for both technicians and farmers. They help technicians to better understand how communities use their resources, and what lies behind the various practices that are followed and therefore, they improve their links and relationship with cornmunities. On the other hand, with the use of these methodologies, communities have a better grasp on their own resources. They can plan future activities based on the information obtained and monitor changes occurring through time. The methodology can also be of use during the cornmunal meetings in pointing out conflicts or problems to be tackled or in identífying weaknesses within the communal organization.With regard to building capacities, NGOs can work not only with farmers but also with educational organizations, both at elementary and higherl levels. Unfortunately, because of the prevailing educational system, students do not have the opportunity to come in contact with the peasant community and their production systems, and therefore know littIe of the reality in the fieId. Education should be totally oriented towards the reality of each regíon so that it can be an \"education for community service\".On the basic level, rural elementary schools could create an awareness on the importance of the rational use and preservation of local resources, and could develop knowledge and skills that will help pupils to live better and produce more efficiently in the future.Grupo Yanapai has had the chance to work in natural resource management workshops where undergraduate students of different disciplines such as animal science, agronomy and anthropology have participated. These workshops were opportunities for them to exchange information and learn from the farmers, hopefully creating in them awareness about farmers' problems and the need to make a more efficient use of existing local resources.Many students who participated in these workshops, are now willing to continue participating actively in follow-up activities and have even formed their own groups of resource management studies. What they need now is a continuation of these activities (maybe vía practice periods with an NGO) so they do not lose their motivation.In the Central Andean Valleys, Grupo Yanapai's work zone, working with cornmunities is important, especially when it comes to natural resource management. Large amounts of the resources belong to the cornmunity and it is the community who decides how their resources are to be used, as in the case of water and land.However, there are drawbacks: namely a weakness in the cornmunity organization and, lack of continuity. As a result of years of social turmoil, most cornmunity leaders have disappeared and therefore there is a weakness in the community organization. Usually, when a cornmunity leader changes, there is a ??? in the continuity of any work plan the former leader might have hado When it comes to decision making, the same thing happens. How can the community make compromises in order to participate in development or research activities when their leaders cannot? One example is the availability of water. To be able to diversify crops in a community, people need better access to water resources. This however, does not only depend on them but mostly on cornmunity leaders who must first find the means to finish the water channels and then organize a cornmittee to control the equal use of water by the whole community. Without a strong organization and a sense of continuity, they cannot confront government authorities in order to negotiate their needs.Out of the many challenges that might exist, probably the more outstanding ones are:l. How can we confront community organization weaknesses? They can represent an obstac1e when it comes to development. In what way can we overcome them?2. NGOs can have an active role in education in creating awareness in the younger generations on the importance of conservation and the rational use of their local resources, and in linking cornmunities with students.3. How can research be guided towards more realistic problems? Why are there still problems in associating NGOs with research? After aH, they can be an excellent mediator in improving the flow of information between researchers and farmers.4. The greatest dilernma for NGOs working in cornmunities is:When working with resource-poor cornmunities, how can you satisfy their everyday needs and at the same time work to preserve their ecology? What incentive is there for them? How can you convince them to work for the future when they have to eat today?A review and analysis of existing PR methods for their appropriateness in the cultural context of Zimbabwe has the objective of identifying or modifying andJor developing suitable, effective and acceptable PR methods for research and development in Zimbabwe. However, tittle is known of their cultural appropriateness, let alone their effectiveness in different cultures in Zimbabwe. The Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR & SS) in Zimbabwe is seeking ways of creating partnership with farmers in research and development.Women farmers in Zimbabwe by virtue of their numbers and their important role in food production, food security and natural resource management are a critical factor in rural development. Therefore, when attempting to develop appropriate crop production practices and help farmers understand and deal with their problems, it is necessary to develop techniques for identifying major constraints and to develop means of achieving an equitable balance of males and females Le. gender analytical tools. Although women are the major actors in small-scale agriculture in Zimbabwe, particularly in the cornmunal areas, PR methods have not emphasized the role of women as the crucial factor in rural development.DR & SS aims al developing appropriate gender analysis and research and development as a step toward improving the quatity of life by trying to satisfy basic human needs, especially the needs of women farmers.The legacy of the colonial period still characterizes the practices of agricultural production systems in the communal areas of Zimbabwe today. Women's knowledge of plant production and protection have been effectively discouraged and relegated to one side and replaced by imported technologies for which women farmers do not have the appreciation, knowledge, educationltraining, technological capacity or resources to adopt completely. Moreover, most development programs have been run solely from a technical intervention basis, often using a showing an increased awareness of the need to change the manner in which development services are delivered, so as to take into consideration the specific needs of the various categories of farmers, particularly women farmers. Since 1992, Agritex has been engaged in gender agricultural extension in which gender issues within agricultural development have been designed to enhance better extension services to the majority of smallholder farmers in eight districts. DR & SS also sees the need for integration of GA into R&D, based on FAO guidelines for project design, implementation and evaluation. These guidelines call for the integration of women into research and projects based on the needs of women as perceived by themselves.Small-scale farmers of Zimbabwe live and operate on marginal soils and have limited inputs. Low and erratic rainfall and poor soíl fertility are the two major environmental constraints to agricultural productivity. These constraints are most acute in the semi-arid areas where the majority of communal areas are located, necessitating more exact management in agricultural production. DR & SS is seeking ways to maximize and stabilize production through PR, especially for women farmers who have the poorest resources. The areas should be under sustainable productivity using indigenous farming practices to avoid over-exploitation and serious degradation of the environment. The crucial point in developing technologies for these areas is to appreciate that economic and environmental sustainability are more closely linked to the evolution of systems than to revolutionary interventions. It is therefore, necessary that DR & SS researchers be equipped with the knowledge of the ecology in itstotality and with social dimensions such as the recognition of indigenous societies and their environmental knowledge and technological capabilities.Zimbabwe's initiative on participatory research and gender analysis demands the reorientation training of farmers, researchers and extension workers in dealing with environmental constraints and socioeconomic problems faced by small-scale farmers, particularly women farmers in the cornmunal areas. There is a lack of methodologies for assessing many of the aspects of women and development such as the social and economic contributions that take up the major proportion of the time and energy of women. This calls for gender sensitization of all levels of research and development programs. It is therefore, imperative to involve women in the planning, implementation and evaluation of research and development projects. Women, as the main actors in agricultural production, are better placed to monitor projects on a daily/most frequent basis than extensionists and researchers. Women, with their vast store of indigenous knowledge, are also best placed to evaluate the comparable advantages/disadvantages of a new innovation over existing technologies, particularly as it relates to the farmer's inputs and production environme~t. Therefore, evaluation and impact assessment criteria should inelude women's own priorities and values as specified by them. DR & SS is working on a national strategic plan for research in Zimbabwe with an emphasis in small-scale farming on marginal areas and this needs a strong element of GA.Tbe majority of rural farmers are women, while research and extension staff are mostly men whose own training and cultural disposition do not lend themselves to full appreciation of women's plant production problems as specialist areas, such as postharvest technologies and women's crops. For example, an in-house assessment by DR & SS of the contribution of agricultural research to the development of traditional or pre-colonial crops has revealed the so-called women's crops such as rice, sweet pOtatoes, cowpeas, pumpkins and melons were the least researched. Tbis suggests that women's knowledge and experience have been seriously undermined through neglect by both research and extension. Tbis calls for development institutions to recognize farmers' knowledge, experiences and aspirations since this knowledge is an important basis from which to understand how a farmer perceives hislher environment especially in relation to food security. Tberefore, the overall approach of research and extension should be both participatory and diagnostic for the scientists to discover the indigenous technology systems and understand their rationale. DR & SS proposes to work closely with Agritex, Zimbabwe Farmers Union, NGOs, and other players in gender planning and providing strategies for strengthening women's involvement in agricultural development.In spite of the major role played by women in agriculture in Zimbabwe and other developing countries, the importance of gender roles in agricultural development was not realized for a long time. Whatever the reasons for this discrepancy, there is now a need for gender awareness which requires a rational approach based on knowledge and a deliberate effort that acknowledges the role and experience of women. The process of creating awareness demands a great deal of sensitization at every possible level. Since women are the ones who perform most of the agricultural activities, it is appropriate for DR & SS to consider gender awareness planning in order to ensure that women's needs and opportunities are incorporated into PR and extension activities for sustainable agricultural production.Most of the research, which has been conducted by DR & SS and other research organizations in the communal areas of Zimbabwe, has been based on single disciplinetechnology-transfer using a top-down approach. The impact of these efforts on target groups has been mínimal, often because the technology did not address the priorities of the resourcepoor farmers, at least within the socioeconomic setting. Tbis scenario indicates that explicit attention should be paid to technology development and transfer and capacity building. In the harsh environment of the communal arcas, farmers usually face a variety of constraints to agricultural production, and this calls for multidisciplinary approaches in developing However, in order to avoid the top-down approach and/or dependency syndrome, these linkages should ensure that farrners• participation would lead to the empowering of the rural poor for self-reliance in order to achieve their goals within their environment and use their practices.In the past, most IARCs have dealt principally with the core of the NARS. i.e. publicly funded institutes, mostly on the subject of increases in agricultural productivity. The COlAR 1996 research agenda now calls for new partnerships at both national and regional levels with IARCs, TAC and with COlAR as a whole. GA methods and DevelopmentTOTforGuidelines for Integration of GAintoR&DMapping ofNR EndowmentsModules andMonitoring andResearch, Extension,Farmer PartnershipsGender SensitizingCapacity BuildingNARSsCG X Center PartnershipsResource Pool of Trainers The challenge to agriculture --and agricultural research --has never been greater. As the agricultural frontier in developing countries disappears, there is an increased need to produce more food from less land; to maintain greater stability in agricultural production from less predictable growing conditions;and at the same time to help fight poverty, conserve agricultural resources and protect the environment. Research, in concert with other stakeholders in civilsociety, must help develop technologies, resource management strategies,policies and institutional arrangements that help attain cornmonIy sharedproductivity -sustainability goals. Effective research on natural resource management (NRM) will be critical. NRM research that is effective produces useful results, influences large areas, and benefits a large populace --in a reasonable time span.One response to these challenges lies in better integration of farmers and farm families in the research process. There is an emerging consensus thateffective farmer participation in research on NRM --and in many instances farmermanagement of such research --is critical to Íts success (Bunch and Lopez 1995; Biggs 1989; Chambers and Ghildyal 1985; Collion et  al. 1992; Lightfoot and Noble 1992; etc.). The effectiveness of NRM research is further enhanced whenparticipation extends to all relevant individual s within farm families -including women. Another part of the response, then, is increased and more systematic use of gender analysis (Feldstein and Jiggins 1994).Research managers, however, often find it difficult to marshal and organize NRM research resources to effectively address sustainability problems. In general, the capacity to understand and solve such problems requires a wide range of research skills, and further requires that these skills be coherently organized and integrated. Addressing sustainability issues through NRM research is like putting together a puzzle with many pieces. The whole picture is most clearly seen when the pieces fit together. This paper argues th~t farmer participation and gender analysis (FPGA) are two critical pieces of the NRM research puzzle --but that other pieces are also important. The paper goes on to suggest that success in NRM research may depend on the proper use of FPGA methods --but that success also depends on a suitable integration of these methods into a broader framework. That is, success is likely to depend on a sensible matching of methods --FPGA among them --to the research functions that need to be served.First, however, the paper compares two views of FPGA: as a means to an end --more productive and sustainable agroecosystems --and as an end in itself. After a brief review of the current abundance of FPGA methods, and a discussion of the matching question raised aboye, the paper concludes with a discussion of important issues that must be resolved if NRM research is to be truly effective --and potential contributions of FPGA in resolving them.There seems to be little doubt that farmer participation and gender analysis (FPGA) can improve the effectiveness of research on NRM. FPGA can help researchers better understand and solve problems of resource degradation or stagnating productivity in agroecosystems; help find opportunities for sustainable intensification or diversification of those systems; and foster wiser use of land, water and biodiversity resources. In this way it can be seen as a means to an end --more productive and sustainable agroecosystems, and a better environment.In other ways, however FPGA can be seen as an end in itself. By facilitating the empowerment of communities to define and address their own problems, a decentralized process can be generated whereby rural peoples take increased responsibility for their own progress and development. At times, this may embrace the introduction of more productive and sustainable agroecosystems, and the wiser management of resources.The aboye distinction is illustrated by comparing caricatures of two points of view. Sorne practitioners of FPGA see it as a means to an end --these are referred to as doctors. Other practitioners see FPGA as an end in itself --these are referred to as lawyers. No disrespect is intended to doctors and lawyers in the broader sense.In this comparison, doctors are disciplinary scientists conducting research on sustainabilityproductivity problems in agroecosystems. Doctors tend to rely heavily on their own skills in diagnosis and in the prescription of interventions. At their worst, doctors can become mired in endless diagnostic tests, heedless of the ravages of disease (resource degradation, stagnating productivity). Or they may become mad scientists, dabbling with their patients' systems and prescribing the latest interventions (new technology) in order to see what happens, regardless ofpossible si de effects on their clients' health (unintended longer-term or off-site consequences).For the most part, however, doctors in agricultural research are caring professionals who are deeply concemed with maintaining (agroecosystem) health over the long termo Sorne of them are skilled specialists, conducting strategic research to find better ways to understand, díagnose and cure illness (re so urce degradatíon), or foster _ wellness _ (sustainable improvements in productivity). Others are general practitioners, who involve their patients (through participatory research) in designing and assessing solutions to important problems. For the most, doctors see participatory research as a useful to01--but only one among many.Continuing the comparison, lawyers are individuals dedicated to fostering the empowerment of rural cornmunities to define and address their own problems. Community problems may or may not be related to the productivity and sustainabilíty of agroecosystems or the conservatíon of resources. Lawyers see participatory research as the hallmark of a healthy development process, an end in itself. At their worst, lawyers can be scientific Luddites, rejecting the notion that doctors can be of any use in working with farrners to understand and address productivity and sustainability problems in agroecosystems. Or they may be ambulance-chasers, looking for opportunities to cash in on doctors' (real or perceived) deficiencies and malpractice. For the most part, however, lawyers are dedicated individuals who help foster processes whereby communities can leam to understand and solve their own problems. That is, they are also teachers. Doctors and lawyers are at their best when they also are citizens. A worthy citizen is concemed about the cornmon good, the achievement of broad social goals and objectives. There is a place for doctors as well as lawyers in FPGA, especially in their common role as citizens. This, each of us can ask ourselves --with respect to FPGA, am 1 a doctor or a lawyer --and am 1 also a good citizen, acknowledging the appropriate place of my fellow professionals in helping solve the problems of civic society?There has been substantial recent progress in developing specific methods and techniques for FPGA. At present, scarcity of such methods do es not seem to be the problem; indeed, there is a richness of altematives. Here is a brief (and incomplete) summary of available methods and tools for FPGA. Note the very considerable overlap among the categories and methods, and the need for a gender lens as each method is applied.Interview Techniques: semi-structured surveys, key informant interviews, the use of focus groups, individual interviews (e.g., Beebe 1985, Byerlee and Collinson 1980). Assessment of Local Knowledge Systems: folk taxonomies, farmer classification of land types, traditional systems of organizatíon, oral histories, status distinctions, decision point analysis (e.g., Warren and Cashman 1988, Tamang 1993, Harrington el al. 1993).Community Exploration Techniques: community appraisals, group treks, participatory workshops, rapid site descriptíon, transects, biophysical assessments, indigenous indicators (e.g. Chambers and Ghildyal 1985, Conway et al. 1987, Chand and Gibbon 1989). Mapping Techniques: sketches, historical pattems, agroecosystem zoning, (e.g., Scherr et al. 1995, Chambers 1990). Diagramming Techniques: resource flow díagrams, seasonal diagrams, decision trees, problem-cause diagrams (e.g., Lightfoot et al. 1989, Gladwin 1995, Harrington et al. 1992). Time Flow Analysis: seasonal calendars, time Hnes, time allocation studies (e.g., Maxwell 1984, Triomphe 1995). Setting Research Príorities: triage, planning of experiments (e.g., Trebuil 1992, Collion et al. 1992). Farmer Experimentatíon: farmers' adaptations, farmer managed experiments, farmer selection from among multiple altematives (e.g., Ashby 1987, Fujisaka and Garrity 1988,  Lightfoot and Noble 1992, Quiros el al. 1991, etc.).Given this abundance of FPGA methods, it_s conceivable that the principal challenge for researchers does not líe in the development of new methods (although there is still room for progress in this arena). Possibly, the major challenge for researchers lies in more consistent and systematic use of these methods when they are warranted by the work at hand. Such decisions need to be guided by a framework that describes the functions of agricultural research as it contributes to the achievement of productivity -sustainability goals. That is, success in NRM research may depend on the suitable integration of FPGA methods into a broader framework --the _ matching_ of methods to functions. In the next section, one such framework is described, and roles for FPGA methods --and for non-FPGA altematives --are discussed.This sectíon summarizes current thinking at CIMMYT on a framework for dealing with sustainability issues in maize and wheat systems. It is a problem-solving framework, wherein problems are understood to include resource degradation processes, as weU as untapped opportunities to sustainably diversify or otherwise improve the productivity of these systems in ways that protect the environment. Rather than attack individual problems in isolation, the framework emphasizes interactions among problems and opportunities in defined environments.Underpinning this framework is the notion that certain functions must be performed --certain questions must be answered --if research (not restricted to FPGA) is to help understand and address sustainability concems. Nowhere in the framework is it suggested that CIMMYT -or any other institution -is capable of taking the lead in all phases of research. Like most other institutions, CIMMYT does not contain within itself the full range of required skills.As described below, the framework is comprised of research phases, with each phase corresponding to a different set of functions. Phases should not be interpreted as being linear.Movement to any particular phase is not conditional on success in previous phases. Rather, each phase receives a variable level of attention over time, according to the evolving understanding of sustainability problems and how to address them. In the following paragraphs, the different phases are described, and possible contributions from research --FPGA as well as other research methods --are discussed.Understanding and Defining Problems -Biophysical Processes Specific (and often quite complex) biological, physieal and chemical proeesses underlie most resource degradation problems. Understanding these processes ean be essential to designing new prototype solutions. FPGA --Indigenous technical knowledge (often incomplete). Non-FPGA --Strategic disciplinary researeh on biophysical processes; process modeling.Problems may have different consequences --on-site or off-site, near-term or longer-term, economic or environmental. Problems also may affeet sorne community groups (e.g., women) more than others (Tisch 1994). The consequences of a problem may unfold rapidly or slowly. An understanding of eonsequences and the pace at which they evolve is criticaI to setting research priorities. FPGA --Indigenous indicators of changes in resource quality or agroecosystem health, retrospective community information, time flow analysis. Non-FPGA --Quantitative indicators of change, modeling, long-term triaIs, farmer monitoring.Understanding the incidence of problems is essential to assessing their relative importance and to targeting research to relevant areas. Incidence may be assessed in terms of farm-Ievel niches (Chambers 1990) or may be mapped out at broader (watershed, regional) levels. FPGA --Community resource mapping. Non-FPGA --Database development, GIS.Problems of resource degradation or stagnating productivity are normally associated with particular farmers-practices. Well-focused diagnostic research normally can uncover a chain of causes and effects whereby particular farming system interactions, or specific polieies and institutional arrangements, are identified as causal factors for the problems of concem. FPGA --many of the diagnostic methods deseribed above. Non-FPGA --policy analysis.Problems whose processes, consequences, pace of change, incidence and causes are understood may be said to be well-defined. However, practical researchers are always eoneemed with finding suitable solutions to important problems, whether these are welldefined or noto Part of the process of finding suitable solutions lies in expanding the range of options, and the menu of potential technical prototypes. Prototypes may take the form of improved germplasm, berter erop management practices, improved land management practices within farms, or changes in regional land use partems. Policy or institutional changes may be required for them to be feasible. FPGA --farmer-developed praetiees; community-developed adaptations to eommunity resource degradation. Non-FPGA --technical prototypes developed by research or known from the teehnical literature.A prototype is a technology that stiU retains a considerable degree of plastícity. To be useful in the context of a defined production environment or farming system, the prototype must be adapted --tailored, changed, reshaped and adjusted to fit local farmers' circumstances. FPGA --participatory adaptive experimentation. Non-FPGA --researeher-managed on-farm adaptive experimentation (ofien ineffective).It is not enough to have a well-defined problem and a range of prototype solutions being adapted to particular circumstances by farmer groups. Researchers must also understand the factors that govem adoption Cor laek of adoption, or even disadoption) in order to: identify potential extrapolation areas for different technologies (to identify conditions favorable for participatory adaptive research, and findingout where these conditions prevail); and to identify opportunities to accelerate adoption through ehanges in policy formation, policy implementation or institutional arrangements. FPGA --local knowledge on factors goveming adoption, and how praetiees are matched to ecological niches; initiatives in collective action.Non-FPGA --formal adoption studies, including economic analysis; polícy workshops to foster policy change.Any research approach ~at seriously aims to meet the challenge of fostering sustainability and productivity in agriculture cannot be content with small-scale ventures in a couple of sites. The impacts of research must be cornmensurate with the challenges being faced. For research on sustainable systems to be truly worthwhile, the difficultíes associated with scaling up must be confronted and overcome. These difficulties include questions of how to: combine and synthesize research results across sites within defined production regions; extrapolate technologies to Iarger areas where farmers may find them attractive; and understand links and interactions among levels of system hierarchy (e.g., plot, field, watershed, region).Non-FPGA --modeling, GIS, decision-support systems.No research program is complete unless it features an integrated process of monitoring and evaluation. • more systematically apply ~ gender lens; • pay more attention to the mainstreaming ofknown FPGA methods, while • continuing to develop new ones.However, if NRM is to be truly effective --if it truly is to develop a capacity to handle important productivity -sustainability challenges --then progress needs to be made in two specific areas. It is not clear if FPGA wiIl have a leading role in either one.First, NRM research must become much better at understanding and dealing with external consequences of problems (or of technical change), and impacts on the environment and on future generations. Why should we expect FPGA to help us understand siltation of dams used in hydroelectric power generation? Changes in soil microbiological diversity? Indirect market-Ied consequences of technical change on employment? Trends in food security in the decades to come? Second, and most important, NRM research must become mucho better at scaling up. It must become better at combining and synthesizing research results across sites within defined production regions; at extrapolating technologies to larger areas where farmers may find them attractive; and at understanding links and interactions among levels of system hierarchy. Any research approach that seriously aims to meet the challenge of fostering sustainability and productivity in agriculture cannot be content with small-scale ventures in a couple of sites. If research on NRM is trulysite-specific as many claim -if no principIes can be extracted -then the notion of effective NRM research may be no more than a fantasy.The challenge to agriculture --and agricultural research --has never been greater. Research, in concert with other stakeholders in civil society, must help develop technologies, resource management strategies, policies and institutionaI arrangements that help attain commonly shared productivity -sustainability goals. Effective research on natural resource management will be critical if we are to achieve these goals. How, then, do we make NRM research more effective?One way is to better integrate farmers and farm families into the research process. Researchers need to take fuller advantage of the rich array of farmer participatory research/ gender analysis (FPGA) methods. They need to mainstream them more systematicaIly into on-going work.Another way is to better integrate FPGA methods into a broader research and development framework and, in the process, foster a better match between FPGA methods and the research functions they are intended to serve. Researchers need to develop a capacity to judge when a particular FPGA method is more suitable to the task at hand than a non-FPGA method --and vice-versa.A third way is to improve the capacity of NRM research to scale up --to synthesize research results across sites and to foster the extrapolation of technical prototypes --including new productivity-enhancing resource-conserving practices --to suitable areas. If NRM research is truly site-specific, it may be condemned to irrelevance. FPGA methods may prove to be of little help here.Farmer participation in research can be seen (correctly) as an end in itself. It also can be seen (equally correctly) as a means to an end --more productive and sustainable agroecosystems, and improved food security for the poor. Clearly, this paper was written from the point of view of the doctors, not the lawyers --by a doctor who also wishes to be a good citizen.Formal plant breeding has been beneficial to farroers who either enjoy favorable environments, or could profitably modify their environment to suit new cultivars. It has not been so beneficial to those farroers (the poorest) who cannot afford to modify their environment through the application of additional inputs (Byerlee and Husain, 1993). Poor farroers in marginal environments continue to suffer from chronically low yields, crop failures and, in the worst situations, malnutrition and famine. Because of past successes, conventional plant breeders have tried to solve the problems of poor farroers living in unfavorable environments by simply extending the same methodologies and philosophies applied earlier to favorable, high-potential environments. Moreover, farroers in favorable environments who use high quantities of inputs are now concemed about the adverse environmental effects and the 10ss of genetic diversity.The essential concepts of conventional or classical plant breeding can be surnmarized as follows: l. Selection is highly centralized and is conducted under the high-yielding conditions of experimental stations;2. Cultivars must be uniform (e.g. in seIf-pollinated species they must be pure lines), and must be widely adapted over large geographical areas; this is achieved by selecting for average performance in multi-Iocation testing; 3. Locally adapted landraces must be replaced because they are low yielding and disease susceptible;4. Disseminating the seed of improved cultivars must take place through mechanisms and institutions such as variety release cornmittees, seed certification schemes and governmental seed production organizations. The requirements of these mechanisms and institutions are so strict that one wonders whether breeders are more concemed about the requirements of the formal seed systems than those of the farmers;5. The end users of new varieties are not involved in selection and testing; they are only involved at the end of the consolidated routine (breeding, researcher-managed trials, verification trials), to verify whether the choices made for them by others are appropriate or not.In situations where the objectives are to improve yield and yield stability for poor farmers in difficult environments, plant breeding' programs rarely question the efficacy of this conventional approach. The implicit assumption is that what has worked well in favorable conditions must also be appropriate to unfavorable conditions, and very little attention has been given to developing new breeding strategies for low-input agriculture in less favorable environments. There is mounting evidence that this assumption is not valid, and that, in fact, the special problems of marginal environments and their farming systems must be addressed in new and innovative ways.In those few cases where applying conventional breeding strategies to marginal environments has been questioned, it has been found that:1. Selection in well-managed experimental stations tends to produce cultivars which are superior to locallandraces only under improved management and not under the low-input conditions characteristic ofthe farming systems (Galt, 1989;Sirnmonds, 1991;Ceccarelli, 1994Ceccarelli, , 1996)). The result is that many new varieties are released, but few, ¡fany, are grown by farmers in difficult environments; 2. Poor farmers in difficult environments tend to maintain genetic diversity in the form of different crops, different cultivars within the same crop, andlor heterogeneous cultivars to maximize adaptation over time (stability), rather than adaptation over space (Binswanger and Barah, 1980). Adaptation over time can be improved by breeding for specific adaptation, Le. by adapting cultivars to their environment (in a broad $ense) rather than modifying the environment to fit new cultivars. Since diversity and heterogeneity serve to reduce risk of total crop faiIure due to environmental variation, fanners may not abandon traditionaI cultivars; 3. When the appropriate cultivar ís selected, adoptíon ís much faster through non-market methods of seed distribution (Grisley, 1993), and, indeed, for many crops in difficult environments the informal seed supply system is the maín, if not the only, source of seed, particular1y for small fanners; and 4. When fanners are involved in the selection process, theír selectíon criteria may be very different from those of the breeder (Hardon and de Boef, 1993;Sperling el al., 1993).Typical examples are crops used as animal feed, such as barley, where breeders often use grain yield as the sole selectíon criterion, whíle fanners are usually equally concemed with forage yield and the palatabílity ofboth grain and straw.Because the concepts of conventional plant breeding are not questioned, the blame for the non-adoption of new cultivars is variously attributed to the ignorance of fanners, the ínefficiency of extensíon servíces, and the unavaiIability of seed of improved cultivars. Thus, enormous resources continue to be invested in a model of breeding which is unlikely to succeed in unfavorable agroclimatic conditions.The contrast between the reality of the fanning systems and the plant breeding philosophies is particularly striking in developing countries. This is not surprising. Most of the breeders from developing countries have received their training in those rarely-questioned breeding principIes enshrined in developed countries.Interactions between genotype and environment (GxE) are almost universally accepted as being among the major factors limiting response to selection and, hence, the efficiency of breeding programs (Ceccarelli, 1989). GxE interactions become important when the rank of genotypes changes in different environments. This change in rank has been defined as a crossover GxE interaction. When there is GxE interaction of crossover type between experimental stations and fanners' fields, it is not surprising that selection in high-input experimental stations does not allow the identification of the best gepotypes for poorer conditions, and promotes genotypes which are, in fact, inferior in stressful conditions.Formal breeding has taken a negative attitude towards GxE interactions of crossover type, in the sense that only breeding lines with low GxE interaction (that is high average grain yield across locations and years) are selected, while lines with good performance at some sites and poor performance at others are discarded. Because lines with good performance in unfavorable sites and poor response to favorable conditions have a low average grain yield, they are systematically discarded. Yet they would be the ideallines for fanners in unfavorable locations. What this implies is that specific adaptation to difficult conditions must be found through direct selection in the target environments -not just on experimental stations.To accommodate the concept of specífic adaptation in a breeding program with an intemational mandate, we started to decentralize selection to NARS in specific geographic areas in 1991. The first geographic area to be chosen was North Africa beeause of its importance (it grows nearly 5 million heetares of barley), and because in the entire area only six-row barley is grown. In the five North African countries the seheme shown in Fig. 1 is now fully implemented.This deeentralized seIeetion of earIy segregating populations in the target environment large1y avoids the danger of usefullines being disearded because of their relatively poor performance at the experimental station (Ceecarelli et al., 1994). It will be noticed from Fig. 1 that decentralization begins as earIy as the F3 bulks (when enough seed is available), without any seIection at ICARDA headquarters in the F 2 •Decentralization from intemational to national breeders is also much \"greener\", because it adapts crops to an environment, rather than vice versa, fewer chemieal inputs are needed and biodiversity benefits because it favors the deployment of more varieties. Decentralization from intemationaI to national programs is in faet a drastic departure from the traditionaI oneway, \"top-down\" interaction between intemational and national programS (Simmonds and Talbot, 1992).Crosses are made at ICARDAThe best F However, our decentralized barley breeding for North Africa, although achieving NARS participation, does not necessarily involve farmers. Therefore, this type of decentralization may not respond to the needs of resource-poor farmers if it is only a decentralization from the experimental station of the IARC to the experimental station of the NARS; the latter is ofien no more representative of the difficult environments where the erop is grown. If we are to exploit the potential gains from speeific adaptation, selection needs to involve farmers under their own conditions. Therefore, at ICARDA, farmers' partieipation is viewed as neeessary to achieve aH the potential advantages of decentralization.Farmers' participation in the ICARDA barley breeding program to date has been oceasional and has consisted of discussions during field visits and oceasional inspection and selection by farmers of breeding lines. The most significant outcome so far has been the inclusion by the breeders of plant height under drought and sofiness of the straw as selection criteria in breeding barley for dry areas.A erop which remains tall even in very dry years is important to farmers, beeause it reduces their dependence on costly hand harvesting, while soft straw is considered important in relation to palatability. It is obvious that these two eharacteristics represent a drastic departure from the typical selection eriteria used in breeding high-yielding cereal erops -short plants with stiff straw and high harvest indexo Cultivars possessing the two characteristics considered important by farmers in dry areas would be unsuitable for high-yielding environments because of their lodging susceptibility, and in a traditional breeding program will not be made available to farmers -a further indication of the importanee of specific adaptation.In 1996 we began testing the possibility of incorporating farmers' participation as a . permanent feature of a breeding program addressing difficult environments and low-input agriculture. We are doing this through a three-year research project supported by the Bundesministerium fúr Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ).This research is condueted in the northern part ofthe Fertile Crescent lying in the Syrian Arab Republic. The area has average annual precipitation between 350 mm and 200 mm and encompasses a range of agroecological conditions, all of whieh may be eonsidered as lowyielding environments for cereal production. Arable land is predominantly cultivated with barley landraees. The landraee barley cultivars are two-row, and known locally as Arabi Abiad (white-seeded) and Arabi Aswad (black-seeded). The first is common in slightly better environments (between 250 and 350 mm rainfall) and the seeond in harsher environmentsDecentralized-particípator}' plant breeding: A link between formal plant breeding and small farmera (less than 250 mm rainfaIl). Considerable phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity exists both between landraces collected in different farmers' fields (even if designated by the same name) and between individual plants within the same farmer's field (Ceccarelli et al., 1987(Ceccarelli et al., , 1995)).The secret of bar!ey's popularity among farmers and its continuing spread across the agricultural landscape, despite the failure to improve yields, líes in its adaptation to very harsh conditions and in its use as feed for small ruminants, essentially sheep and goats. Barley grain and straw are the most important source of feed for the small ruminants, which are the main source of meat, milk, and milk products, particularly for the rural populations.Farmers consider that the quality ofboth the grain and the straw ofthe black-seeded landrace is better than that of the white-seeded. However; this has never been tested either in the fie~d or under laboratory conditions, and the linkages between desirable qualities and specific uses are not clear.The adoption of new, improved barley varieties has been virtually nil in Syrian rainfed agriculture. So this crop and this environment seem to be a good model to test the efficiency of decentralized and participatory breeding in comparison with decentralized but nonparticipatory, centralized and participatory, and centralized and non-participatory models.A common set of 208 tines and populations (200 breeding lines representing an extremely wide range of germplasm plus eight fan:p.ers' cultivars) will be grown as unreplicated nursery with plots of 12 m 2 (8 rows at 20 cm distance, 7.5 m long) in three types of locations: a typicalIy well-managed experiment station (Tel Hadya, ICARDA headquarters), an experimental site managed as a farmer's field and used in the past for decentralízed nonparticipatory breeding (Breda), and eight farmers' fields under farmer's management practices.The number of breeding Hnes used in this research is much higher than the one used in previous studies of this type. This is due to the need to include as much diversity as possible for traits such as row type (two-vs. six-row), phenology (early, medium and late-maturing types), plant height (taIl vs. dwarf), lodging resistance (susceptible vs. resistant), disease resistance (susceptible vs. resistant), seed color (from white to black), stem size (from thin to thick), and others. AIso, there was a need to include both landraces and modem varíeties with sufficient diversity within each group. The breeding lines include both pure lines and heterogeneous populations to test the attitude of farmers towards heterogeneity, as opposed to the conventional breeders' propensity for homogeneity.Discussions with farmers, as well as previous occasional participation of farmers in the selection of breeding Hnes in the experimental stations, would indicate that the number of lines used in participatory work does not necessarily have to be small. Probably the optimum number varíes in different environmentslcountries and cannot be standardized.Field locations represent a wide range of environments, in tenns of both physical (soil type and fertility, elevation, rainfall, etc,) and fanners' practices (fertilizer use, rotations, date and method of sowing, land preparation, etc.). The co-operating fanners, \"host farmers\", who will host the breeding plots and will make individual selections, have been recruited from the pool of participants in previous on-fann research as part of the long-standing Syria-ICARDA bilateral co-operative research programo Before selection, groups of local \"expert farmers\" wiIl be identified and recruited on the basis of reputation, key fanning contacts, past perfonnance, representativeness of producer and consumer categories, and self-selection. The expert-fanner groups, together with the host fanners, will perfonn group selections from their respective host fanner's gennplasm collections.During selection, the traits that fanners select for (and the criteria they use in their selection) will be recorded by the breeders, economists ano anthropologists, and compared with objective measures of traits, including the yield and quality of grain and straw, by barley breeders and by animal nutritionists.There will be four types of selection (see Fig. 2):Centralized Non-participatory Done by the breeder at Tel Hadya.Decentralized Non-Participatory Done by the breeder at Breda and at each of the eight fanners' fields.Done by each of the eight fanners at T el Hadya Done by each fanner at Breda and in their own field (each fanner only selects in his field)The timing and the frequency of selection will be based on the infonnation obtained in a parallel study of indigenous knowledge. Following a group selection procedure similar to that used by ICRISAT in Rajasthan, the expert fanner groups will be asked to select material from amongst those grown by their host fanners that they think would be useful for them and other fanners in their area. The selection wiIl be conducted in such a way as to reveal the criteria being used by members of the groups when they make their choices. There will be detailed discussions, including both the expert fanner groups and the host fanner and breeders, regarding the cultivars selected and the criteria used in selection, fanner observations, expected perfonnance, and crop management practices.In the second year, all host fanners will grow the lines selected by the breeder in Tel Hadya and in Breda. In addition, each fanner will grow the lines he/she selected in Tel Hadya, those he/she selected in Breda, those he/she selected in hislher field, and those selected by the breeder in hislher field. Grain and straw yield data will be collected at each host fanner's field and at the experimental stations. Response to selection will be evaluated using the fanner's cultivar as reference. In the second and third years, selection will be done, as in the first year, on the lines resulting from the first and second cycle of selection. However, in the experimental station, each host farmer will onIy select from the material grown at his/her site. Thus, during the second and third cyc1e (year) of selection, the farmers and the breeders wiIl be exposed to the material selected by each other. During the selection process, the criteria of both the farmers and the breeders wiIl be monitored and compared. Of particular interest will be the frequency with which the farmers, in the second and third year, select from among the material they selected themselves in the first year and from among the material selected in the first year by the breeder. This will give not only an indication of the consistency of farmers' selection criteria, but also an indication of the possible effects of fluctuations in environment over years on genotype performance and farmers' perceptions of these effects.The research project described in the paper will help to clarify sorne of the methodological issues in relation to participatory plant breeding, intended as participation of farmers in the selection of earIy segregating populations. From a breeding point of view, sorne of the most important questions that will be answered are:1. Do farmers and breeders use similar or different selection criteria? 2. Which is more important -the environment where the material is grown or the person who does the selection? In other words, what is the key factor in increasing breeding efficiency: decentralization or participation? 3. Does participation increase the number of varieties adopted and the rate and the speed of adoption more than decentralization?The answer to these questions would provide the basis for a very different type of breeding, characterized by a continuum between the formal breeder, with his/her capacity to generate large amounts of variability on experimental stations, and the farmer, with his/her S. Ceccarelli et al.comparative advantage in exploiting that variability in his/her own farming system and for his/her specific needs (Fig. 3). To be completely effective, participation should become a permanent feature of plant breeding programs addressing crops grown in agriculturally difficult and climatically challenging environments. For crops grown in remote regions, or for those considered as minor crops and therefore neglected by formal breeding, this could be the only possible type of breeding.most important source of variation to consider in technology design, it is an ooderlying or hidden eIement. (Sarin) and the implications of technology and agreements about resource use shouId be clearly understood with that eIement constantly in mind.One thing we do know about participatory research and shifiing the demand for research and accountability to farmers' groups, is that participatory approaches are usually used with groups, ofien with the cornmooity at large. What we know about gender relations alerts us to the fact that the group process and joint decision making in a public setting ofien registers a consensus woven by the most powerful, while the voices, knowledge, and choices of other members of the community are not heard. This may have pemicious effects on obtaining adequate information and assessing technology options (losses in research efficiency) and may mean that the needs and preferences of siIent groups are not addressed at all (equity).There are four methodologícal challenges facing those who are interested in assuring that all the relevant voices are heard and considered in decisions about technology development:1. ídentifying distinct (and overlappíng) and relevant stakeholders or users; 2. finding ways to ensure that each category or group is part of the process of articulating its knowledge and priorities as well as collaborating on design and assessment if it is a relevant stakeholder in the issue in question; 3. determining priorities among andlor facilitating negotiations between stakeholders or stakeholders' choices; 4. measuring the contribution made to research outcomes by including stakeholders, and assessing the value of this.These are the directions indicated by gender analysis: learning 'who does what'; who has access to or control of resources; suggests sets of questions which can be asked of key informants earIy in a research project, or even as part of a group exercise with activities or calendars. With respect to germplasm enhancement, this may be sufficient to identify who is the most knowledgeable and who will be chiefly responsible for different aspects of the production and use of that cornmodity. But one must be attuned to both the questions and the answers. In Peru, according to Maria F emandez', it took more than ayear for the research team to hear 'who does what' and identify women as the experts on livestock and men on field production. In the Indian situation described by Madhu Sarin (see below), women did not see themselves as stakeholders, yet their interests were severely affected by decisions made by others.In natural resource management, the identification of stakeholders is likely to be more complicated depending on (a) what level is being addressed: field, farm, or watershed and cornmunity, and (b), the nature of the problem. For technologies designed to improve water retention and soil organic matter at the field and farm level (what 1 call NRMl), 'who does what' within the household may suffice to indicate the relevant stakeholders. Where investments in land improvements are considered, differential control of land may affect the actual as compared to the optimal pattern of such investments. Are the costs and benefits of the proposed solutions distributed equitably? Margreet Zwarteveen of IIMI has just written an award-winning paper on the association of women's land rights with productivity in Burkina Faso. In households where at least one woman has a plot of irrigated land in addition to that owned by her husband, both the productivity of land and the productivity of household labor on both plots is greater than in households where only men have plots, i.e. where women have no guaranteed benefits from irrigated production.When a larger landscape is operative, such as a watershed or the use of common property resources (NRM2), there are externalities involved and a wider group of stakeholders to identify. For instance, consideration must be given to upstream and downstream users of an irrigation system or to residents of different niches in a common watershed. This will require a more probing set of questions to key informants or community groups, both to identify, or to allow people to self-identify, their different interests and knowledge with respect to the NRM questions at issue.How do we identify users? There are two overlapping dimensions which may help us distinguish between the various kinds of users and stakeholders. There are categories of people who share certain characteristics, such as female-headed households (though there are important elements of differentiation among them), or hired male laborers, or the landless. They are particularly important to us when they have a particular relationship to the research problem, such as responsibility for the crop in question, or for a particular task, like weeding or ploughing. Researchers and policy makers may faH into this category with different interests at stake in solving a particular set of problems. Second, there are groups of people which are organized, have sorne internal cohesion and a sense of COmmon purpose. Groups may be organized around (a) particular resource or set of tasks (irrigation management), (b) an institution such as work groups, church, savings association, kinship groups or neighborhoods; or, for researchers, their national and local research and extension institutions.But the use of categories needs to be done carefully, with an awareness of the complexity of individual allegiances. For instance, the use of gender as a differentiating variable does not imply the homogeneity of women or men or children. For example, women may be differentiated by whetper they are cultivators (owners) or hired labor, OR hired labor may be differentiated by whether it is male or femate. Gender categories -men, women, children, household position and life cycle stage -are cross-cut by wealth, ethnicity, caste, and so forth.Hilary Sims Feldstein The goal of this system-wide initiative is to develop, test, and refine methodologies of participatory research and gender analysis as they apply to the development of new technologies in germplasm enhancement and natural 'resource management. The objective of this paper is to suggest• what the researchable issues are for improving methodologies and providing guidance in PRandGA;There are many different degrees or kinds of participation which will be discussed more generally here. The important element from a user and gender perspective is whether or not:• different kinds of stakeholders have an equal or fair chance of being involved;• partícular kinds of stakeholders get the priority attention they need.In the discussion which follows, 1 am drawing upon my own experience in attempting to introduce gender analysis and a gender perspective into IARC research agendas and protocols as well as a continuing conversation with the MERGE4 project at the University of Florida which is addressing similar issues with respect to natural resource management.Gender analysis has been around for a while, but its uptake has been slow. What is needed to improve the methods for, and uptake of, gender analysis and user-differentiated participatíon as a research tool?• More 'proof that gender or other differentiation makes a dífference. Quality examples from excellent sites are frequently met with scepticism because it is not the researcher's regíon or commodity or what have you. Therefore more Center and NARS research in collaboration with farmers and NGOs which indicates positive benefits in research outcomes from using gender analysis and als takes account of different users or stakeholders, will help to build a body of Center and NARSs experience more easily learned by others operating in the same framework.• Better understanding of the efficacy of different methods or refinements to ensure that different stakeholders' interests are heard and considered equal1y. • Guidelines for different circumstances, such as cultural or regional contexts or the nature of the research problem. • Better understanding of how addressing the needs of particular groups may have benefits for wider groups (in addition to trickle-down, which is the standard assumption).By addressing these issues systematically and across a number of sites, this system-wide initiative wiIl make considerable progress in improving methods and uptake of user differentiation as a research tooL 'Ibis paper is about user differentiation, but 1 will start with reviewing the different interpretations of gender analysis. First, l want to be sure we understand the differences and do not talk at cross purposes. Second, the task of bringing women into the category of relevant users or particípants is not always straightforward or easy, and it has lessons with respect to differentiating and including users differentiated by other variables, such as wealth, ethnicity or caste.There are three different ways in which gender analysis is usual1y considered:1. Gender analysis in agricultural research has generally been interpreted as referring to the roles and resource use of categories of people differentiated by age and sex, Le. who does what. It provides a snapshot of who does what in order for researchers to identify the most appropriate collaborators, i.e. who has specíal knowledge or responsibility or sorne other stake in the particular research question, whether it be a commodity or resource management. This is the efficiency argument and is at the heart of the issues addressed in this system-wide initiative.2. Increasingly, there is a wider acceptance of interpreting gender analysis to inelude an understanding of the gender relations between men and women in order to understand how those relations -differences in resources and in power -affect men's and women's choices. This use of the term, widely used as such in Europe and in the South, is more equity oriented and has an inherently polítical dimensiono It also focuses our attention on structure and power relations within a wider community.3. Going even further with respect to equity and often addressing issues of empowerment, is the recent priority given by the CGIAR to technology development which is relevant to and meets the needs of poor rural women. T AC expects to review upcoming MTPs with regard to that dimensiono Whatever the reasons for bringin in gender analysis, we know that it is a powerful to01 for fmding out who are the stakeholders in any particular situation. We know that gender is an impQrtant variable in every society. Even when it is not immediately visible not even the• What methods are best for identifying different stakeholders? 'Hidden' stakeholders?• What are the appropriate levels of aggregation or disaggregation of user categories?Ihis is the heart of the challenge which lies before uso As Louise's work has shown, identifying that women grew beans in Rwanda emerged relatively simply from 'who does what; who knows what'. Enlisting the right women , those recognized by their peers as experts, took considerable footwork. It also meant overcoming considerable hesitation on the part of sorne of the women and sorne of their husbánds about their involvement in such a public and distant domain as the research station. In a later attempt to enlist women to assess bean varieties in Zaire, already organized women's groups were asked to elect a representative to come on station. This election did not always mean that the representatives had expertise, and once again, sorne of them ran up against male reluctanée for women to move 'out oftheir place'.Madhu Sarin recently presented a paper on the F AO email conference on Conflict Management with respect to women and marginalized people. She demonstrates in two case studies how decisions made at the community level were dominated by male or higher caste groups, ignoring the relevance of their decisions to the work they expected to their wives or to lower caste communities. In this case, to protect the forest for commercial timber purposes, no cutting was allowed. Women, whose responsibility it was to get fuelwood for cooking, had to go much farther, often entering the forest preserves of another community and putting themselves at risk of being caught by forest guards. An NGO worked carefully with the women to help them make their circumstances and needs visible to the wider community. Ihis resulted in new arrangements which addressed more realistically the women's need for firewood and the protection of certain species for timber. Sarin makes the point that women were stakeholders, but to themselves and their husbands, their stake was invisible. lt took careful observation and discussion for their stake to be visible and taken into account.Ihere are a number of common constraints on inclusion of women and other marginalized groups in participatory research related to technology development:• They are not included in the public domain; and are literally or metaphorically restricted to the private domain. • Ihey are shy in the public domain and will not reveal their knowledge or concems.• They do not self-identify with the research question, even though they may be involved in the enterprise or landscape at issue. • They are not allowed to speak to male researchers, especially one to one.• They speak a locallanguage rather than the more widely used lingua franca of researchers and cornmunity leaders. • Their own schedule s are very busy and it is difficult to find where and when to work with them. • They require husband's or senior male's or mother-in-Iaw's permission to engage in work or discussions outside their usual tasks.Several strategies and modifications of existing participatory methods have been devised to ensure that women's or other stakeholders' voices are heard:• Interviews or exercises are conducted separately for men's and women's groups: maps, transepts, matrices, life histories, focus or cornmunity interviews, wealth ranking, venn diagrarnming, etc. A number of examples of this are shown on the IIEO film: A Question of Oifference. Results of the separate exercises can then be compared by the larger cornmunity to identify cornmon and different knowledge or interests. • Separate trials and fieId days are held to test technology options and discuss results.• Researchers engage in participant observation in places where women work and with tasks done by women. • Female researchers, field assistants, and enumerators are included on the team. • In joint or separate meetings, questions are asked about tasks or enterprises which are known to be in the women's domain. For instance, questions may be asked about home gardens which may be experimental plots for crops grown in fields. • Researchers collaborate with pre-existing women's groups • Researchers work with NGO partners who already have access to women's groups These constraints and the means for overcoming them (and others, I hope, generated by the group here) may apply to other sets of users, particularly those who come from marginalized groups. How necessary extra measures are, how culturally specific, how effective in different circumstances and at which stages they are important is something we will want to compare across sites. We know already that the questions of access and visibility for women as collaborators varies considerably between regions.Finally, the effort taken to ensure distinct voices are heard will be as naught unless the knowledge and other insights they provide is considered in a disaggregated form, whether by researchers or the community.• How can we insure the participation of \"invisible\" or lowly regarded groups? • What kind of participation is appropriate at different stages of research?Sarin describes communities as a'dynamic hierarchy of social relations which determines [each group's] relative ability to exercise power and authority' (Sarin 1996). Current power relationships and local perceptions of relevant interest will shape the initial investigation. They will depend a great deal on the relative roles of (particular) farmers or community leaders and researchers. They may be configured by the narrowness or breadth of the mandate and capacity of the research organization, and the stage of research in question. For instance, we wouldn't expect potential for conflict to be as great in germplasm enhancement as it would be in natural resource management. Priorities also may be shaped by the concem of donors for particular groups. They may depend on the relative contributions of, and the perceived distribution of benefits by, different groups.For instance, in Botswana, the Appropriate Technology Improvement Project determined through on-farm testing, that ploughing before rains would result in better water retention after rains and a bigger boost to the germination and growth of sorghum. However, ploughing was generally done by men whose priority enterprise was cattle; the benefits of this technique -increased productivity of sorghum and reduced weeding -accrued principal1y to women, who were responsible for crop production. There was therefore a reluctance by the men to contribute their cattle for timely ploughing. Recognizing their inability to change these interests, the research team began work on other strategies which would increase women's sorghum production and were not dependent on men's input (Baker 1989).In a paper discussíng methodologies for ídentifyíng and weíghing the importance of different stakeholders in community forest management, Colfer, Wollenberg, and Prabhu have come up with a matrix model. On the left are different kinds of stakeholders identified by early diagnostic activities, in this case, ethnic groups. Cross-cutting these categories are 'dimensions' of relatedness to community forest management, e.g. proximity, local knowledge, dependency, power vis-a-vis other stakeholders, etc. Each stakeholder category or group was rated from 1 (high) to 3 (low) withregard to the six dimensions. The average scores for each stakeholder were computed and the stakeholders were then ranked for their relative importance in respect of community forest management. Some such scheme might be use fuI for identifying stakeholders in the proposed PPB and NRM research where different interests may be in conflict.In some situations, a careful estímate of the collective costs and benefits and decisions about compensatory mechanisms across the landscape have been negotiated between various groups.With the objective of working out plans for community-managed conservation by communities. and conservation groups interested in preservation of particular areas of biodiversity, the MERGE group, based at the University of Florida, has begun by training Partícipatory research and gender analysis lor technology development community trainers in community planning in participatory workshop format. In using each technique, gender and other variables are taken into account. The format ineludes specific attention to gender issues, making visible everyone's roles, priorities, and stakes in the plan.For agricultural research, identifying different stakeholders and addressing what may be different interests ánd preferences is a relatively new area. It isn't tidy. It may bring us directly up against our personal values and politics. We need to explore further to find what approaches other groups may have tried. As we find these situations in the pilot sites, we should be testing and documenting different approaches and the context and issues in which they are addressed.• Who should establish priorities? • How should the relative merits or value of different stakeholders be assessed? • What methods or strategies will improve negotiations among, and reduce conflicts between, stakeholders?With regard to assessing the value of ineluding gender or other differentiated users in participatory technology development, it is difficult to have a 'with' and 'without' situation.Given location specific variability, it is difficult to reliably compare the 'without' situation to the 'with' situation. A preferred means of assessment would be. to undertake transparent and systematic documentation of the decisions and actions taken to inelude different users in the development of specific technologies, ineluding the management of natural resources management.In such a strategy, participants and researchers would undertake a preliminary, diagnostic gender analysis (ineluding other variables) to determine who are (potential) stakeholders at this site, on this problem, with sorne indication of what their stake might be. The next step is to determine and record why which stakeholders should be involved in the intended research.The research begins then with a base line on who is doing what and the choices and reasons for focusing on specific groups. From then on, we should document and cost out each step of the research process as it proceeds including any extra or reduced costs of different methods of ensuring the partic;ipation of the various stakeholders and the contributions that such methods or refinement bring to the analysis of the problem and to the design and testing of technical solutions. Next, we should document the impact along the dimensions Usted below.For each site, there will be a record ofthe pathway, steps taken, their costs and contributions.A comparison can be made by comparing the costs and benefits of the additional information, reliability, ownership, etc. to project outcomes and impact. Cross-site comparisons will depend to sorne degree on their variability as to region and kind of research objectives. Sorne modifications, such as including female researchers, or working separately with women's group participatory exercises, may be more necessary in one region than another and will help in providing guidelines as to which methods may be most useful in different circumstances.What are the expected results from participatory, gender and user-sensitive technology development? How can we measure them? There are seven dimensions to be explored. These are all objectives of intemational agricultural research and of user and gender-sensitive participatory approaches, though we may differ as to which are most important. This initiative provides us with an important opportunity to measure impact in several dimensions.Let us see what these methods contribute to each:• The acceptability by farmers as measured in the rates, extent and speed of adoption.• Reduced costs, greater cost-effectiveness of reseaich.• The efficacy of various user-differentiated participatory methods in various contexts.• Contributions of the technology to productivity-enhancing and resource-conserving sustainability; retention ofbiodiversity; measuring all three technically. • The impact on family welfare or livelihoods as measured within the household and within the community. • The impact on, or relevance to, specifically, poor rural women and other marginalized groups (i.e. improves their livelihoods and welfare; equity). • The impact on the position of poor rural women; that is, their ability to access resources and make decisions about their own livelihoods is improved. (empowerment).To do this, 4 steps are suggested:1. Document the context--region, cultural, scale, type of problem addressed, etc.; 2. Identify criteria and associated indicators for each of the aboye impacts along with baseline data for indicators to be collected at the beginning of our work in pilot sites. (cf. CoIfer, Wollenberg, and Prabhu 1995); 3. At each site and for each stage of research, document the methods used and reasons why, in order to identify, ensure the participation of, and consider the priorities of different stakeholder groups; 4. Document the actual involvement of different stakeholders at each stage of research along with the costs and estimated benefits of their involvement. Such benefits include contributions to research as well as changes with regard to the group's identity or power.An anaIysis of the steps taken and the pathways tracking the methodologies and refinements used through to the research contributions and resuIts could be summarized as in Figure 1 and compared across sites.• Who should assess impact?• What should we measure?• How shall we measure it?Figure 1. Example of tracing pathways on the use oí gender analysis and other methodologies for the identification and inclusion oí differentiated stakeholders and their contributions to technology design and project impact A new and complementary paradigm for agricultural research, development and extension has emerged. This paradigm has some roots in the recognition of the failures of conventional paradigms by groups of scientists, mostIy active in social science and development-oriented research. A major component of the new paradigm is the recognition of the capacity of farmers themselves in research and technology development (Chambers el al., 1989). Farmers in complex, diverse and risk-prone agricultural systems can hardly be considered clients of technologies generated in the institutional sector, since such technologies are mostly not appropriate. In many cases, those farmers are resource-poor and do not have the income to purchase inputs. Farmers' own capacity in research and technology is therefore the primary innovative component in such low-external input agricultural systems.Different approaches to participatory research have evolved over the last decade. This range of approaches varies along with the objectives of the actors involved in participatory research. Following an introduction on farmers' experimentation, the paper introduces three perspectives to participatory research. We will use these perspectives to analyze different participatory approaches in relation to farmers' own research and show how they can be strengthened. The case of seed system development and farmers' research in the management of seeds and varieties is elaborated. This case gives insights on the different roles of actors in such a field. Various approaches in participatory plant breeding are evaluated for the type of interaction with farmers.Our personal and professional commitment in the present field is to contribute to the emergence of participatory and integrated approaches in the management and utilization of plant genetic resources, plant breeding, seed supply and related regulatory frameworks. The organizers of the seminar have asked the discussion openers to contribute to the debate in a rather provocative manner. Many of the participants involved in social sciences, plant breeding or development-oriented/activist NGOs may find our contribution biased and inadequate. That is the price that we have to pay in fulfilling the request of the organizers. It is a1so a price that we pay in the world of science and development, balancing between plant breeding and plant genetic resources management on one hand, and grass-roots development on the other band. So be it.Farroers have always experimented to produce locally appropriate technologies and practices.An important illustration of the dynamic nature of farroers' innovative capacity is the fact that when they are faced with a new technology or practice, they rarely adopt or reject it irnmediately in its introduced format. If technologies are appropriate and fit the specific conditions, farroers may consider adoption. If not, they may try, if possible, to adapt in a continuous process of experimentation, or they may eventually reject.Formal conventional research cornmonly does not consider farroers as experimenters.Farroers are assumed to be conservative by nature. This image results in research which characterizes, analyses, validates, and enhances \"static\" farmers' practices. Such approaches in studying farroers' experimentation obtain snapshots of a complex and dynamic process (Pretty, 1994). Farmers' knowledge is viewed as primitive and unscientific. Conventional research and extension take the attitude that development requires that farmers' knowledge be transformed and replaced by scientific knowledge. Science appears to be synonymous with or a precondition of development.An altemative approach to farroers' experimentation considers farroers' knowledge to be a valuable resource. Farmers' knowledge can be collected, evaluated and merged into development activities. This approach is elaborated and advocated in Farroer First approaches in participatory research and Participatory Technology Development (Chambers el al., 1989;  Reijntjes, el al., 1992). Another altemative approach has emerged within this context. Farroers' local non-westem general science is regarded as being unitary \"bodies\" or \"stocks\" of knowledge. Farroers' and scientists' knowledge are regarded as different epistemological constructs within particular agroecological, sociocultural and political economic settings (Scoones & Thompson, 1994); they change constantly and evolve within society. These changes depend on the dynamic interactions between actors and institutions, and the power relations between them. Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one of the approaches addressing these power relations. The third approach to farmers' experimentation provides a different understanding of the functions of scientific and farroers' knowledge and of proce.sses of agricultura} innovation (Pretty, 1994).Why do scientists get involved in participatory research? What is their goal? To answer these questions, three perspectives to participatíon will be elaborated, each reflecting on the interaction between farmers and the external actors (scientists, extensionists or development workers). These perspectives vary according to the function ofthese external actors, and their goals in working with . farmers. The first perspective is primarily focused on research efficiency. The scientists' goal is to enhance the efficiency and impact of their research activity and, they envisage a better efficiency through the involvement of their clients in the research process. The second perspective has a diversity focus. Approaches with this perspective build partially upon farmers' research capacity to develop a range of solutions (basket of options) to the complexity of problems. Approaches with the third perspective are built on empowerment and polítical goals. Participation is considered an instrument to empower farmers in their access to and management of information and resources.Improvement of the efficiency of the research process is one of the goals for scientists to inelude participatory research in their technology development activities. The foundation for this approach is that increased involvement of the clients in the research process facilitates the development of more appropriate technologies. Participation is used as a tool to increase elient orientation, and this aims at a higher adoption of technologies by farmers. Farmers participate in various stages of the research process. The scientist -farmer interaction can be characterized as nominal, contractual and consultative modes of interaction (Ashby, 1990;Biggs, 1988). A very cornmon form of \"participatory research\" within this perspective is researcher designed and implemented, and conducted on farmers' fields. The flow of information within approaches with this perspective is primarily directed by the scientists, as the main goal of the approach is to improve the efficiency of their research work.The generation of a range of options (technologies or options) to a diversity of problems and conditions is another reason for scientists to become involved in or initiate participatory research. Farmers' research capacity in experimentation is recognized and utilized in the scientists' research process. The \"basket of options\" (Chambers, 1993) developed in such participatory approaches is expected to provide farmers with technologies which are better adapted to complex, risk-prone and diverse environmental conditions. A larger number of farmers in more diverse environments can benefit from the technologies and information generated in sucha participatory process. Farmers and researchers collaborate in various stages of the research process and, the scientist -farmer interaction is of a consultative and collaborative nature. Scientists have a key role in the prioritization and design of the process (Biggs, 1988). Participatory Technology Development (PTD) is an example of such an approach, in which the knowledge and research capacities of farmers are joined with those of scientifie institutions. PTD at the same time aims to strengthen local capacities to experiment and innovate (Haverkort et al., 1991; Reijntjes et al., 1992). Information within this approach to participation flows more equally between scientists and farmers. The intensity and direction of the flow of information and the level of control over the resources involved depends on the stage of the research process. Scientists control and utilize information obtained through participation in the early stages of the researeh, in the later stages the flow of information and resources is directed more by farmers.A third perspective on participation treats the farmers' own innovative and experimental capacity as a form of inquiry in its own right. Within approaches based on this perspective, farmers' research is not valued according to the criteria of Westem science. Such approaches change the roles of and the relationships between researchers, extensionists, development workers and farmers. It is a process of mutual learning as colleagues with different contributions (Chambers, 1993). Such approaches create opportwiities for the development of methodologies for sharing farmers' innovative capacity with other farmers and with researchers, each on their own terms. Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one of these approaches in which the empowerment of rural people is the major goal. Such approaches are operationalized through conscientization (Freire, 1970), activism or confrontation (Fals-Borda & Rahman, 1991). PAR promotes local-Ievel learning, analysis and action. In tbis setting, the external actor (researcher or development worker) is still influential, but the research is so bound up in the action that the influence is seen as part of a participatory, empowering and political process (Cornwall et al., 1994). The interaction between scientists or development-workers and the farmer has a much more collegiate character (Biggs, 1988).Research activities are an element of the empowerment process. Farmers and scientists make joint decisions in the research process and in the management and control of resources and information.Participatory approaches mean different things to different scientists, development workers and activists. Their perspectives to participation are highly dependent on their institutional and political background. Similar interactive, visual tools and techniques developed in various participatory approaehes ean be used in diverse settings. They can be used to deliver an extension message to people and to extraet farmers' knowledge and information within the process of \"external\" research and teehnology development. In action research, they may be used as tool in a joint learning proeess empowering rural people.The approaches within the three perspectives are not mutually exclusive. An iritegrated approach drawing on the strengths and potentials of each is the best option. The research efficiency and diversity perspective are used by researchers involving farmers as partners in their research. When farmers' research is made central to the activities (as in the ws. de Boe! N.P. Louwaars and C.J.M Almekinders empowerment perspective), external actors strengthen farmers' capacity to assess and solve problems themselves.The institutional and professional environment of research needs to be addressed when strengthening farmers' research and technology development. This is central to participatory research. Interactions between the actors, a stimulating leaming environment, and negotiation in joint planning and implementation in action-oriented research require new professional attitudes. The institutíonal environment needs to encourage the spread of participatory approaches between and within institutions, thus giving innovators the credit and freedom for acting and sharing (Pretty & Chambers, 1994). Approaches and methods developed within this perspectíve to participatíon would signify a change in research, moving initiative, responsibility and action downwards in hierarchies, especially towards farmers and rural people themselves (Chambers, 1993;Cornwall el al, 1994).Scientists within different organizations like the CGIAR institutes, NARS, universities and NGOs have very distinct roles in the diversity of participatory approaches. The skills and scientific expertise of individual scientists should be valued and not be drowned in interdisciplinarity and participation. It is the art of interdisciplinary and participatory research to acknowledge and utilize specialists in their own fields. These specialist should, however, have the communication skills to work together in teams with specialists from other disciplines, and have the capacity and desire to work with farmers in a collaborative and collegiate mode of interaction (Mettrick, 1993). The realization of participatory activities involving different actors in research and development should be based on joint action in different stages of the research.Local crop development is described as the continuous and dynamic process in which farmers manage crop diversity within a specific agroecological and socioeconomic environment (Hardon & de Boef, 1993). Elements of local crop development are: the exchange of varieties (seed flow); their maíntenance and utilizatíon (variety selection); theír enhancement (variety adaptation); and seed multiplication, processing and storage (Bellon et al., 1996). Varieties are maintained, adopted, adapted, displaced and exchanged. Local crop development is built on farmers' knowledge •and capacity to experiment with germplasm and seeds. The farmers' knowledge develops through the utilization of reproductive material for crop production (de Boef el al., forthcoming).The development of private and public seed sectors has resulted in the establishment of what could be described as an institutional seed system parallel to the local seed system. Components of the institutional system are conservation in gene banks, breeding, seed production, processing and marketing, and regulatory frameworks for varieties and seeds.Varieties are developed in a linear process in the institutional seed system. In priva te companies, information on client preferences is obtained primarily through marketing channels. Such channels are less prominent in public organizations, in which government policies are given higher priorities than client preferences. Source material for plant breeding is obtained from gene banks, which have collected most of these resources in local seed systems. The products of the institutional seed system -seeds of improved varieties -are distributed through marketing channels. The entire process of variety development and seed production takes place within the institutional system with little interaction with local systems ( de Boef et al., forthcoming).This presentation of parallel local and institutional systems puts seed development in a somewhat black-and-white perspective; it does, however, reveal how the institutional seed system ignores farmers capacity to experimento The institutional seed system has strong roots in the transfer-of-technology-paradigm of agricultural research and development. It has put farmers at the end of tnedinear process of variety development. On the other hand, one of the main products of the institutional seed system -modem varieties -has been adopted by local seed systems even though many of the components of the chain (seed multiplication and dissemination) are weak. Modem varieties, once proven to have a higher productivity or valued qualitative traits, are easily and quickly spread among farmers through the local seed system. The fact that modem varieties have been disseminated amongst farmers rapidly through the local seed systems is hardly recognized.Various approaches in linking up with farmers' experimentation in crop development have evolved in the institutional seed system over the last decades (Van der Heide et al., 1996).The conservation of plant genetic resources on-farm and in situ is becoming recognized and integrated as a complementary strategy (Bellon et al., 1996;Hardon & de Boef, 1993;IPOR!, 1993;1996;FAO, 1996). Participatory plant breeding and participatory varietal selection aim at involving farmers in the plant breeding process (Berg et al., 1991;Eyzaguirre & I wanaga, 1996;Hardon, 1995;Sthapit, et al., 1996;Witcombe & Joshi, 1996). Integrated seed supply systems are proposed, building linkages between formal and informal seed supply systems at various levels (Almekinders et al., 1994).The regulatory frameworks for varieties and seeds are restricting the potential interaction between farmers and researchers. Elements for open legislation are being developed which promote and permit participatory and integrated approaches in seed system development (Louwaars & Ohijssen, 1996;Tripp & Louwaars, forthcoming;Tripp & Van der Burg, forthcoming).Participatory approaches in plant breeding have primarily developed within the efficiency and diversity perspectives on participation. Interactions with farmers are used to evaluate w.s. de Boej. N.P. Louwaars and G.J.M Almekinders breeders' selection criteria, to improve the process of plant breeding, and to increase the adaptation of varieties to farmers' conditions. The different approaches in participatory plant breeding have been developed from different components of the breeding cycle (Weltzien et al., 1996).The perspectives elaborated earlier are used to reveal the goals for participation in these participatory plant breeding approaches. Box 1 presents the different approaches as interactions between institutional and local seed systems. The different perspectives give an indication what the expected outputs are for the different actors involved in the participatory aetivity.The perspective of the plant breeders in many of the participatory plant breeding activities is to recognize, validate and extraet farmers' research eapacity and to eollaborate with farmers in plant breeding. When the diversity and empowerrnent perspeetives are used, aceess to inforrnation and materials for the farmers involved is thought to inerease remarkably. This increased access to inforrnation and material s can be considered a secondary output of interaction. Although the involvement of farmers in the research process may result in democratizing plant breeding activities, the farmers' influence on the research process using the empowerrnent perspective is limited. The goals of plant breeders with regard to participation are rooted in the perspectives of increasing the efficiency of their plant breeding work and enhance the development of diverse and more appropriate materials.Activities as elaborated in the Cornmunity Biodiversity Development and Conservation (CBDC) Program are built with a strong empowerrnent perspective on participation. The primary objectives ofthe program are to strengthen and support the local (cornmunity) seed system and, where appropriate, involve institutional partners (CLADES el al., 1994;Montecinos, 1994). The assessment ofthe local seed system in sorne ofthe CBDC projects is organized in an integrated manner, identifying the constraints and developing ways in which these problems can be solved by the cornmunities themselves. Where necessary, scientists within the institutional seed system will be approached by the local organization to support the cornmunity-based research process. While sorne of the tools and methodologies used in CBDC appear similar to those developed within NARS and CO institutes for participatory research, the perspective and setting are completely different. The emphasis on empowerrnent within CBDC is rooted in the strong development orientation and activist background of the NOO partners in particular within the CBDC program (Manicad, 1996).Approaches in Participatory Plant Breeding 1. Inventories of problems, constraints and potential solutions in farmers' seed systems are an important basis for many grass-roots and development-oriented seeds and PGR-projects. On the basis of these inventories, opportunities for the development and enhancement of the local seed system can be identified. Research activities (involving scientists) are initiated following the assessment (CLADES et al., 1994). Farmers set research agendas in these activities ami, on the basis of these, scientists Ihen become involved 2. (Re-) introduction and direct distribution of germplasm lo farmers by gene banks is considered an element ofin si/u conservation (Bellon el al., 1996;Worede & Mekbib, 1993); (re-) introduction increasesfarmers' access lo genetic resources and thereby stimulales and strengthens local seed systems (CLADES el al., 1994). 3. Teaching farmers lo identifY good parents for breeding and to make crosses themselves is a way of stimulating farmers' research in crop development. Specialist farmers may be partners in such activilies, which are elemenls of projects where there is primarily an empowerment perspective (Berg, 1996;CLADES et al., 1994;Salazar, 1992). Putting the basis ofthe breeding process in the hands of farmers directs the interaction with plant breeders towards strengthening local capadties (joint learning and action) and, for example, towards providing farmers with materials (interesting \"foreign\" genetic resources). 4. Running participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) to identifY farmers' priorities and selection criteria is used as a diagnostic tool for plant breeders to identifY and validate their goals in planl breeding (Joshi & Witcombe, 1995;Weltzien et al., 1996). PRAs were originally developed to empower people to articulale constraints and identifY potential solutions. 5. Involving farmers in selection practices on-station is another example of utilizing farmers' capacity in the breeding cycle. Such involvement in on-statíon selection partially empowers the farmers involved; it increases their access to materíals and informatíon (Ceccarelli et al., 1996;Sperling & Loevinsohn, 1996;Zimmermann, 1996). 6. Disseminating segregating materials (varying from F2 to F8J to farmers is a way oftesting these farmers (CLADES et al., 1994;Slhapit et al., 1996;Weltzien et al., 1996) . A collegial interaction between breeders and farmers in such activities results in a learning process both for farmers and breeders. Such approaches democratize selection. Theyalso increase farmers' access lo advanced materials. The interactions between the breeders and farmers provides learning opportunities for enhancing capacities and directions in selection.supported by farmers in the identification of appropriate advanced lines or varieties for release (Ceccarelli et al., 1996;CLADES et al., 1994;Cordeiro, 1993;Weltzien et al, 1996 Participatory approaches in the seed and plant breeding sector are primarily developed with the efficiency and diversity perspectives on participation. Control in the planning, design and implementation are, basically in the hands of researchers (de Boef et al., 1996). Approaches strengthening farmers' experimentation in local crop development and elaborated in other sectors of development have hardly been employed at all in the institutional seed sector (Van der Heide el al., 1996). F armers' experimentation in the local seed system is no really recognized as a valid system for crop development by actors in the institutional seed system. The potentials for the development and improvement of the local system are underestimated, especially with regard to complex, diverse and risk-prone environments (de Boef el al., forthcoming). Actors in the institutional seed system can link directly or through development organizations to this local system.An integrated approach puts activities in the fields of conservation, breeding, multiplication and marketing into a different perspective. The function of the institutional system within the empowerment perspective on participation evolves from being a generator of technologies to a facilitator in the enhancement of the local system. Methodologies for empowering farmers in their research may coincide with those applied within the perspectives on participation aiming at increasing research efficiency and developing a diversity of material s and technologies. In this way, an increase in farmers' access to scientific knowledge (a.o. in selection procedures) and material s (a.o .. germplasm, segregating populations, advanced lines and released varieties) can result from the different interactions. Activities such as . strengthening decentralized seed production, processing, storage and exchange, and the support to small seed enterprise development are other elements of an integrated and empowering approach.Participatory approaches in the institutional seed system have mainly developed in isolation from other similar activities and from the core (breeding) programs of the institutional seed system. Strengthening farmers' research in the local seed system requires cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary and integrated approaches. Activities such as the on-farm management of PGR can not take place in isolation from participatory plant breeding activities (de Boef el al., forthcoming). The problems of agriculture in complex, diverse and risk-prone environments can not be solved by participatory programs implemented in isolated departments or projects of NARS or CG centers. Participatory research activities need to be integrated in the core programs of these organizations.The different actors in the institutional seed system (NARS, CG institutes) and development organizations like NGOs play specific roles in an integrated seed system development of this kind. Acknowledging the specific roles of the different actors in such a development and recognizing the actors' different perspectives on participation are preconditions for fruitful collaboration in support of farmers' research in the local seed system. Methodologies can be developed or adapted within this collaboration. They will stimulate the development of integrated and participatory approaches to seed system development, by means of which a sustainable production and use of reproductive material s in complex, diverse and resourcepoor agricultural systems can be supported.Louise Sperling and Jacqueline A. Ashby5 The methodological challenges of institutionalizing participatory research and development (R &D) will be highly dependent on the \"model\" of participation adopted. The authors believe that participatory research has to be largely shaped, even controlled, by farmers and other stakeholders if the resource-poor are indeed to have more than a token voice in the intemational agricultural system. In addition, institutionalization ultimately mean s that the process wiIl have to be scaled up. The paper below, including the key questions, reflect these perspectives.Participatory R&D has sorne unique characteristics which will affect its institutionalization in the agricultural sector.First, it is client-driven. This means that farmers'6 knowledge, needs, criteria, and preferences have weight in decisions about technical innovation. It also, more fundamentally, implies that farmers are actively involved in decision making about innovation, not just at the very late point in time when adoption (or rejection) occurs, but early in the process when the agenda for research is set, when specific themes are proposed, and when design features are determined.Client-driven agendas differ markedly from those geared toward basic, long-term research.Clients have differing needs, specific to their own agronomic and socioeconomic situation. Farmers, when themselves exploring management techniques or specífic technical products have always done so in a given locality with particular constraints and opportunities in mind.Addressing client needs means that the R & D process itself must be sufficíently decentralized to meet diverse farmers' goals and to allow for site-specific, local adaptation. Such decentralized technology development suggests other features central to particípatory R&D.To anticípate diverse client needs, research has to develop a capacity to generate options or 'menus' not only 'on the shelves', but actually in the fields, watersheds, and woods. Research programs and regional experiment stations need no longer aim for final recommendations. Instead, to facilitate decentralized technology development, researchers and farmers need to work together early in the research process to develop 'prototype designs' which will then be Methodological chaltenges for institutiona/izing participatory research and development shaped or contextualized to fit specific client niches. This second feature of participatory research, the development of prototypes, rather than finished products, may start involving clients at a series of different early stages. To take an example from participatory plant breeding (PPB): farmers have been taught to more effectively handle crosses themselves (Komegay et al., 1996); they have be en involved in screening segregating populations (Sthapit et al., 1996 ); and farmers have been brought directly onto experimental stations (Sperling et al., 1993) and onto farm sites (Weltzein et al., 1996) set up for screening prereleased Hnes.Effective decentralization of technology testing is a task beyond most public sector research services. Testing of many different 'menus' tailored to different preferences and localities sets the third major feature of participatory research: the shift to farmers of major responsibility for adaptive testing. Farmers take the lead in organizing experimentation, evaluating results, and transmitting local recommendations. Such a shift potentially allows for increased scale of testing, better targeting of varieties, and more realistic variety evaluation.Is the participatory R & D framework really very different from classic farmer-sensitive research approaches? Figure 1, again focused on the breeding paradigm, suggests sorne important conceptual and practical differences. In the classic model, researchers make all major decisions on germplasm creation and promotion from the initial stages when germplasm choices are wide through the varietally-narrow stage of on-farm testing. Screening criteria, by necessity, focus on areas of breeder expertise: usually yield and adaptation in controlled experimental plots and sometimes tolerance to regionally-important diseases.Client feedback takes place right before varieties are to be released for diffusion--if it comes at aH. At this on-farm stage, farmers' only option is to accept or reject sorne two or three finished cultivars. Finally, formal research most often works with individual farmers, with the notion that once the variety is \"okayed\" it can be multiplied and diffused by a separate seed and extension system.As the figure below shows, a PPB approach enhances farmers rights', involvement, and responsibilities. The initial germplasm pool is directly shaped with strong client input. Screening criteria fan out to include farmers' quality concems and local production requirements, e.g. a specific maturity cycle or plant architecture so as to fit varieties into multicropped systems. As farmers' screen or help develop a subsequent prototype pool, they are generally exposed to a more diverse range of germplasm and, to meet their different needs, the PPB screening format has to be decentralized to farmers very early on. This farmer leadership in adaptive can potentially shift sorne of the costs away from the formal research system, with farmers more effectively integrating select experimentation into their ongoing farm management practices. Group work, ear1y in the technology development process usually also has important spin-offs: promising entries are multiplied and diffused with speed, variable entries are shifted to fit more appropriate production niches, and the losers are discarded with efficient speed. Finally, in a PPB system, it is c1ients who make the first cut selections, with researchers then adding (or not) the supporting blessing. Client-sensitive pool ' \\ 1The rest of this note poses sorne of the key methodological questions tied to institutionalizing these three facets of a participatory R & D approach.In setting a client-driven agenda, one of the most commonly raised issues is how to reconcile the diverse, and ofien competing priorities and preferences of different client participants. Cattle ranchers will have different demands from nomadic pastoralists; women farmers have different priorities from men; cornmercial farmers differ from semisubsistence producers. A nightmarish vision eould be painted of literally thousands of different demands for localízed research 'menus' being artieulated by participating farmers; and the question is posed 'how can researeh systems respond to this?' .Two meehanisms have generally been proposed to inerease client's influence on the research agenda. The concems have been to give farmers a voice, but also to help resolve competing interests among the various groups of clients themselves.One strategy suggested ís to give farmers representation in the research arenas where decisions are continually beíng made: e.g. on the boards of national and intemational research institutes--or even on the Technical Advisory Committees. To do this, several optíons have been proposed: farmers could participate directly in planning exercises; researchers could act as proxíes for farmers; or pre-planning meetings could be held in select farming cornmunities with research priorities then fed back to the decision-making fora (Merrill-Sands and Collion, 1993). Within this model, research agendas would be negotiated within a centrally  (Collion, 1995).What are the key methodological questions for institutionalizing the notion of client-driven agendas? In both the centralized and contract scenarios, clear policy guidelines are needed to ensure that the representation is neither token nor biased. Issues to be resolved: 1) how to identify which user groups are represented, or in the contraet case, should get a chunk of the financial pie (those most important to economic growth? Those most needy? Those with the highest political profile?); 2) how to develop the eapacity for client groups to express demand as aggregates rather than as individuals? and 3) how to improve the effectiveness of existing organizations to represent the range of client needs?By what overall mechanisms/methodologies can participatory research become more \"clientdriven\" (Le. how can farmers be given a central voice in setting priorities at the local, regional, national and internationallevels?).On what methodological basis will client groups be chosen to participate in setting the agenda?L. Sperling & J. AshbyRather than focusing on fine-tuning a limited number of products and then verifying them on selected sites, a prototype approach suggests that a number of options need to be developed in the early stages of R &D on which are then tested and may be modified to suit specific needs and circumstances. Such an orientation means that scientists working on experiment stations should have a relatively good idea of the broad range of client needs and constraints at the beginning of the technology development process. It also suggests that scientists have to be prepared to part with their technologies at a relatively earlier stage in their product development--before they have 'the' answer.There are two central questions related to institutionalizing a prototype approach:First, what are the most effectíve methods for getting farmers involved in R & D at the prototype stage? As prototype designs may not be finished, significant efforts may be needed to help c1ients conceptualize what the end product may be. In the case of varieties, farmers may have had direct experience with segregating populations and with extrapolating the performance of varieties from one environment to another. However, environmental prototypes are very different in that they are often knowledge-intensive and may have few physical manifestations in the early stages. In addressing tbis concem, sorne researchers report good experience with exposing farmers to general technological models, outlined verbally rather than physically (Sumberg and Okali, 1989). Are there other special methods which might help farmers project from early stage technology?What are the most effective methods for getting farmers involved in R & D at the prototype stage?Second, are there added risks of involving farmers at the prototype stage? As an example, much of the debate on prototype screening in plant breeding has focused on projected negative consequences of early involvement, and, specifical1y, early access to varietal material, and increased risks. Fears expressed are wide-ranging: disease incidence will rise; yields will decline; farmers will lose confidence in Research; farmers will receive material s that are no longer uniform ... ,and so on. In thinking about prototype approaches, researchers have to ask first if these concems are valid ones, and, if so, reflect on how they might be mitigated, that ís, develop methods to proactively anticípate possible new risks.Are there added risks in involving farmers in prototype design? If so, what conscious research strategies and methods can minimize these risks?Methodological chal/enges lor institutionalizing participatory research and developmentOne of the challenges of prototype screening is to find the most efficient \"intellectuaI tI division of labor between scientists and farmers and clarifying their respective roles wilI be key. In many contexts, their comparative advantage may He principally in screening 'exotic' options and anticipating 'dangers' that farmers cannot 'see'. For exampIe, in selecting germplasm, scientists might screen for disease-susceptible or anti-nutritional genetic traits which may not be immediately apparent to farmers. Farmers would then take the lead for all other factors, including 'targeting varieties to environments. Certainly a related goal of prototype-focused programs should be to identify the stage in prototype screening which is most cost-effective. For example, if screening of stabilized varieties brings significant results to a range of farmers, it may not be necessary to push the direct collaboration to earlier developmental stages.What might be the parallel divisions of labor for natural resource management (NRM) technologies? Will the scientist and farmer responsibilities differ by the type of technology? Will they differ by the scaIe needed to achieve results? Will the division be shaped by the time horizons required to achieve results? The issue of prototype (preadaptive) screening in NRM is still very much at an incipient stage.Institutionalizing farmer participation involves developing a community-based adaptive research capacity, achieved by working with groups of farmers (rather than individual s) and often with producer organizations. While the participation of farmer groups in localized R & O facilitates farmer-to-farmer training and rapid transfer of information about innovations, it also presents a series of challenges.For national and intemational agricultural institutions, the fundamental question surrounding farmers' role in adaptive research is the qua lit y of testing achievable with farmer participation. When farmers are involved in trial design and management, data sets can be heterogeneous within and among locations --although such results may be realistic of actual farming practices. Should participating farmers be encouraged to standardize their own designs? Should farmers be taught to intemalize and manage westem scientific methods? Following this latter logic, farmers, independently, could generate locally reliable and adoptable recommendations. The costs and pay-offs of different approaches need to be addressed empirically (see Ashby, 1986). Is there a trade-off between standardization and stimulating local creativity? Is there a trade-off between standardizatíon (or lack of) and interpretability? --and for whom?What ís the quality of data possible with farmer participation and what might be the trade-offs of adopting controlled v. freer research paradigms?A second concem focuses on which type of groups to work with in adaptive testing: that is, if farmers are to take the lead, how should adaptive testing be organized? The research system, in order to met its own responsibilities, certainly would have a wish list of traits for its partners. Minimally, local partner organizations would represent the clients research feels it needs to reach, and such local groups would work on a scale which allows for results to be extrapolated. The major issues in impact assessment for farmer participatory research are: determining the reasons for measuring impact; the people who will measure it; the products or processes to be measured; and the methods used for measurement. We measure impact first to know if the activity is worth the effort involved. Once that has be.en ascertained, we want to know if we are operating in the most efficient manner possible-is there a better way?In the case of FPR, there are many potential ways in which it can have an impacto For example, FPR may increase agricultural productivity, improve the management of natural resources, or lead to a wider dissemination of innovations. FPR may also be more effective in reaching specific target groups, and it may reduce research costs and develop community capacity. AH of these ultimately improve human welfare. FPR may not achieve all of these objectives in all cases. The researcher conducting impact assessment must decide which of the outcomes of FPR are worth measuring in any specific case.According to the circumstances, impact will be measured by different groups, and for different reasons. FPR practitioners will want to evaluate their strategies to determine when farmer participatory research works, and how. Farmers will evaluate to decide ifthe research is truly serving them. Policy makers must ascertain whether projects in participatory research are worth their investment.When the time comes to carry out an impact study, the assessors face a number of decisions.The first is: what to measure? As noted aboye, FPR may yield a variety of outputs, or intermediate outputs followed by the final results. The impact chosen wiIl depend on the motive for the evaluation: the evaluators wiIl take into account the objective of the FPR intervention and also their own intentions for the study. An effort to improve FPR techniques will result in a different focus than would a review of the effectiveness of specific agricultural innovations.Depending on the output chosen, the researchers will then determine how to measure it, selecting an indicator that wiIl accurately assess the progress made. The progress will be measured against a baseline, comparing the situation either in terros of time--comparing a situation both before and afier the research was done--or comparing a situation with improved conditions against the situation without that improvement.At this point in the assessment, researchers must ensure comparability of factors, avoiding comparisons of factors or conditions that are not truly related. They must also take into account factors that might intervene and prevent a true evaluation. For example, a drought or civil problems could interrupt successful completion of the research or technology adoption. A primary output to be measured would be the monetary benefits accrueing to the farmers from the results ofthe research. Other important outcomes are increased community capacity, improved nutrition, or greater benefits to specific target groups. It is not always possible or practicable to assess the final outcome, either because of the long research lag, or because of the delay in adoption or in the onset of benefits. In these cases, the researchers can measure progress indicators or intermediate outcomes.In a typical case applying FPR to inerease productivity through technical change, initial outputs could inelude types of technology, which might encompass new varieties of germplasm, or methodologies for integrated pest management, crop management, or post harvest. But the ultimate outputs would be the results of applying these improvements, manifested in increased yields, reduced production costs, greater stability, or improved sustainability .It's important at this point to distinguish between the different types of FPR. Many people consider FPR to be the process of introducing existing technologies to farmers to try them on their farms. This \"adaptive\" FPR occurs at the end of the research process; it is an advanced form of extension. \"Preadaptive\" FPR comes early in the research process, and makes it possible to better identify farmers' needs, and from there to elaborate a research program to meet those needs.Preadaptive FPR results in improved technology designo This, in turn, can have the consequence of producing impacts more rapidly, -or impacts that are Iarger; or impacts that reach more peopIe. Intermediate resuIts of preadaptive FPR inelude a better diagnosis of problems or constraints, better results from triaIs, and changes in the research agenda.One of the objectives of FPR, improving resource management, tends to be a broad area that affects many people and can be complicated to measure. Better resource management can, for example, improve or protect soils, water, or biodiversity. It affects resources both on farms and beyond them, and means many things to many different people. The smallholders at 2,000 m will have a very different relationship with their water supply than will urban dwellers, but a project to protect water supply at 2,000 m can affect users at many levels. This may make measuring impact much more difficult. The time frame can also be more complex when evaluating resource management projects, as sorne have a very long-term impacto Types of impact to be measured may inelude enhanced diffusion, measured in terms of increased rapidity, spatial distribution, or diversity of users. It's important to ascertain that the technologies are reaching the people who need them: especially those without other resources, women, ethnic groups, or people in marginal areas.Another impact to be measured is the reduction of costs to the public sector. Traditional onfarm research requires an enormous amount of monitoring by scientists and technicians.Efficient FPR can replace much station research, thereby reducing costs. It also place s a lot of the research procedure in the farmers' hands, which relieves the work load on scientists and field workers; this is a way of sharing costs, although the farmers contribute through their efforts rather than fmancially.A final impact to keep in mind is the development of community skills: social capital. As the farmers learn and take over the research procedure, the impetus passes into their hands. AIso, indigenous research capacity is improved. As farmers set their own research agendas, the NARS become service providers. Institutions that follow the needs of the farmers are more likely to have vital and sustainable programs.A final consideration for the FPR developer or researcher: planning an impact study. Such studies may just address the specific results of a particular project, which is obviously necessary for evaluating the project's results. But it would be more important for a systemwide program to study the actual dynamics of the FPR process, in order to arrive at an ever-better understanding of which methods and processes work in which circumstances and for which purposes.Introduction 'Scaling up' is an ill-defined term which tends to convey distinct and dissimilar impressions to different people. Its essence is that it is increasing the successful elements of a project or a prograrnme, but whether this is increasing depth or breadth of efforts, or a combination of the two, is ofien unspecified.In order to clarify this issue, we have -briefly -to go one step back and think about the purpose ofparticipation. The proposal to the TAC submitted by CIAT/CIMMYTIIRRI details the functional or efficiency benefits of participation (better technologies, more widely adopted, more quickly). For others, the main objective of participation is to empower marginalized people and groups so that they can make claims on others (whether research and extension organizations, sanitation departments etc.). The two are not mutually exclusive; functional participation can be empowering, and empowering participation may lead to functional efficiency gains in technology development. However, the two do imply different spending priorities and time horizons, the quest for empowerment generally demanding more intensive participation over a longer time period than the quest for functional efficiency gains in a particular area. They also imply different indicators for project monitoring.For present purposes, let us assume that we are dealing primarily with functional participation of ~hich the empowerment of client groups is a valuable and perhaps deliberate corollary. The purpose oí the participation is then to increase the ratio between the benefits and the costs oí spending on agricultural research or rural development more broadly. For a given amount of expenditure (the amount being politically determined if in the public sector or determined by the effectiveness of fund raising and internal priority setting if conducted through NGOs), participation is expected to generate greater benefits than would a nonparticipatory approaclÍ. Participation itself may be very expensive but (at least if it is valued on a functional basis) it must also be cost-effective both for the financing agency and íor those who are participating.The second issue which must be clarified is what exactly we are aiming to scale up. Is it the results of the process of participatory technology development? Or is it the methodology for participatory technology development itself? Both are feasible.If a particular variety has been developed in a participatory fashion, one version of scaling up would be to seek other areas with similar needs which would find the variety acceptable (even optimal, if the similarity is very great). If such an area were to be identified, the benefits generated by a given investment would grow.In plant breeding this task may be done for us, assuming that phytosanitary barriers do not get in the way (e.g. if exchange is cross border) and that local distribution channels (either market or exchange driven) are adequate. Planting material can be moved, exchanged and experimented with at relatively low cost and with little labor investment. This is les s true for NRM technologies. Soil conservation techniques, for example, can generally not travel independently ofkey, well-informed individuals 7 (either the farmers who are utilizing them or supporting extensionists or project staff) and even where they do travel as 'finished products' (rather than as ideas which require further participatory, adaptive research) they may be greeted with scepticism. This is because they tend to be labor intensive and often to require group action to reap the full benefits, which themselves may not be observable over the short termo Participation in NRM tends therefore to be les s oriented towards pure technology development and more oriented towards demonstrating benefits in order to ensure adoption . . Unplanned scaling up of such technologies is therefore more rare.If technologies developed through farmer participation are to be deliberately scaled up, we need to develop a method to help us determine when and in which areas this is likely to be possible and beneficial. We must seek critical biophysical and socioeconomic indicators of 'adequate similarity', where adequate similarity' is the minimum level of similarity that must be achieved if replication of technologies themselves, rather than arepetition of the participatory process of technology development, is to be cost effective. It must be acknowledged up front that such indicators are most likely to be satisfied in relatively betteroff areas which can be unified through the use of fertilizers and irrigation and where residents have sorne capacity for investment.If they are to be successful, these critical indicators must be developed in conjunction with the 'prototype' technology itself, drawing on the information gathered during the participatory process. Information relating to their achievement might then be gathered through use of GIS imaging, targeted surveys or by drawing on existing work of other agencies (for example NGOs working in the area). We also need to monitor pattems of adoption in successively more different areas (or with successively more different farmers) to ensure that we have both selected the right indicators and defined 'ádequate similarity' neither too broadly nor too narrowly. Finally, we need to accept that this is a short cut which we are willing, or which limited budgets make it necessary for us, to take. Usually the preferable option -and probably the only option for the poorer, more complex and more risk-prone areas -is to engage in deep participatory exercises with all communities to ensure that we are offering optimal technologies. However, this is often simply not feasible.If there were no limit on funds available, the preferable option would be to scale up the methodology itself, to increase the number of times that the participatory and gendersensitive research exercises are conducted so that better technologies could be developed. Indeed, one question to be addressed is how we are able to determine when it is more appropriate to scale up a technology and when it is more appropriate to scale up the methodology.Demonstrating the benefits of participation. If the decision is to scale up the methodology and if scaling up is to be significant (ie. if much participatory research is to be conducted), there may exist a prior stage in which decision makers must be 'converted' or 'won over' to the benefits of participation. This is a question of changing attitudes. During this stage the benefits of participation must be clearly demonstrated. This is easier in some areas than in others. In plant breeding, for example, the benefits of participation are relatively easily measured over the short to medium term (rates of adoption, yields etc.). The benefits of many NRM technologies are by contrast hard to measure (whether they involve participation or not), and certainly so over the short to medium termo However, if budgets for participatory research are to be maintained, this is not a challenge whieh can be avoided. More effort therefore needs to be put into measurement and recording of costs and benefits as a eore dimension of methodology development itself.Designing methodologies with a view to scaling up. In its extreme form, scaling up the participatory methodology implies that participation becomes the normal frame of reference; we end up talking not about distinct participatory exercises, punctuated by periodic retums to the 'old style' of research, but a continuing dialogue between scientists and their clients. Further developments are required if this point is to be reaehed. In particular, participatory approaches must be designed with a view to seaHng up.Neglect of the need to analyze eosts and benefits, coupled with a desire on the part of some donors and NGOs to sponsor an ever more 'perfect' participatory exercise, has led to a situation in which many efforts at participation are so resource-intensive that they are never even notionally amenable to scaling up. This tendency is exacerbated by the faet that, while relatively well-resourced NGOs and donors frequently pioneer participatory approaches, it is usually the severely resource-constrained public sector which is called upon to take responsibility for scaling up. The frame of reference in investment decision making thus changes part-way through the process of scaling up.The critical change, if scaling up of methodology is to be achieved, is that all agencies involved should recognise that this is a valid goal and should be prepared to modify their approaches accordingly. 'Best practice' should be based not on the methodology for the most intensive individual participatory research exercise, but on examples which are replicable or institutionalizable on a wide scale. While 'cutting edge' research into participatory methods should still continue, it, too, should be conducted with an eye to expanding the se ale over the longer termo If NGOs are to conduct this type of research, they need to understand what it takes to scale things up, in which case they need to put far more effort into understanding the way in which the public sector -or the rest of the agricultural technology system -functions, and the constraints under which it operates. For its part, the public sector needs to open itself up to scrutiny and to acknowledge the value of developing partnerships with NGOs as a mechanism for seeking both depth and breadth in participation.The overall objective in scaling up is to increase the benefit:cost ratio associated with investment in agricultural technology development. Fortunately, whether we are scaling up products or methodologies, there are two forces at work which help us to do this: tht> propensity to move upwards along the learning curve (learning by doing) and the related existence of economies of scale. If we make deliberate efforts to nurture these fOfces, our benefit:cost ratio is likely to fise more rapidly.These occur when the same final product is produced more effectively because of cumulative experience in production. This is a slightly complex concept when talking about participatory technology development, because, by definition, the product (ie. the teehnology itself) is unknown at the beginning of the research proeess and two products (Le. technologies developed in a participatory way) are rarely the same. However, ifwe reeognize this faet and focus on the methodology, it is 10gicaI that the skills ofthose implementing it should increase with cumulative experience. Indeed, learning curves tend to be steeper when initial skill requirements are high, but few implementers have the skills at the outset. This is certainly the case in social mobilization for participatory researeh. Indeed, laek of trained researchers has been one of the major constraints on the expansion of participatory approaches. Therefore as researchers gain experience (first as implementers and then as trainers) the ratio of benefits:costs in participation should increase. This increase will be magnified if similar learning takes place in developing critical indicators for 'adequate similarity' so that scope for exploiting economies of scale relating to the technology itself expands.Economies of scale occur when the sarne productlmethodology is produced/enacted on a larger scale. They are usually associated with high fixed costs of production. Therefore, on the product or technology output side they would be expected to be large (given the large initial investment in participation), if further areas in which the technology is applicable can be identified. If thousands of hectares are planted to a new variety, the development cost per hectare is far lower than if just a few hectares are grown. Indeed, it is because of this that participation (to ensure that thousands rather than tens of hectares are planted) is espoused in the first place. Expansion in the initial investment costs is desirable if the payback is sufficiently large.Participatory technology development is a people•intensive (rather than hardware intensive) process. This means that on the methodology side there are few economies of scale to be captured. The length of time required for participation does not usua1ly fall with successive experiments and the number of hours an individual can work in a day does not rise. Learning is important, but that has been covered in the previous section.While economies of scale might be more evident on the technology side, 'product development' has, paradoxically, more scope on the methodology side. This is because in participatory technology development the product or output technology is unknown at the outset. 8 It cannot be 'developed' in isolation from the methodology. Rather, improvements in methodology should in turn generate a better product or technology. While in industrial reseatch and development investment is made in both product development and process development, in participatory research only process development is viable. If however, we take the methodology itself to be an intermediate product (as we have done here), then the nature of product development becomes clear. It occurs when a methodology is honed through successive replications or feedback from performance monitoring. This suggests, however, a linear trajectory in methodology development which is certainly not what we should be aiming foro The objective is not to find a single blueprint methodology for participatory research. Even makers of commercial products espouse different engineering processes. Indeed, competition between different manufacturers with different products and processes leads to innovation. While competition has little place in the world in which we are working (although it is certainly observable), it remains desirable to experiment concurrently with a variety of different approaches to participation so that comparisons can be made and elements of each can be drawn upon.In economic terms this is known as 'learning with spillovers'; the benefits of learning spill over and are shared. It is these spillovers which we should be trying to capture if our learning process about participatory methodologies is to be accelerated. While learning in this manner is necessarily fragmented, our learning about participatory research methodologies is probably too fragmented at present. Insufficient information exchange about methodology development (failures as well as successes) takes place and too few spillovers are being captured. Indeed, one reason why we have come to this seminar is to rectifY this. Just as there may be certain industry standard s for manufacturing in relatively mature industries, so we should be looking for cornmon ground in methodology for farmer participation (since participatory research methodologies are now achieving a degree ofmaturity). This is not to say that all ground will be common, for by the very nature of participation, the methodology for any single participatory research program must be adapted to suit local circumstances. However, we might envisage and work towards a list of common features -a good practice guide with wide applicability -which can be coupled with lists of variations and permutations as well as indicators as to where these are likely to apply. This list, too, would develop, but in the meantime it would provide an anchor for our learning, which should, if it is to be effective, be focused on particular areas. In particular, expanding the breadth and the depth of participation.Given the diversity and complexity of rural people's needs, the more people who are drawn into the research process, the better the results should be. 9 However, the danger is that an expansion in nutnbers participating leads to a reduction in quality of participation or a linear (possible exponential if poorer people are to be reached) increase in costs. This is where groups are assumed to have a lot to offer: if groups can act as intermediaries and take on sorne of the costs of cornmunication with members, then they can generate efficiency savings in the process of participation.Over the past decade, much hope has been pinned on formally constituted farmers' organizations or unions as potential intermediaries in the technology development process. They are assumed to have direct, 'insider' access to members which gives them intimate 9 Although the faet that a researeh system cannot respond to infiníte variability in demand probably means that the ¡necease in benefit per person eonsulted beeomes sueeessively smaller after a certain mínimum number of people have been eonsulted.knowledge of members' needs and preferences. This knowledge is then pooled, prioritized and presented to other technology suppliers (either in discrete partnerships or at the level of technology policy development). In this way formal farmers' organizations are expected both to increase the efficiency of the technology development process and to raise the 'voice' of farmers in the agricultural technology system.Research conducted by ODI (with ISNAR at the outset) over the past two years indicates that our expectations of such formal farmers' organizations have probably been too high. Weak internal cornmunications and a lack of emphasis on technology mean that they are rarely able (or willing) to speak with legitimacy for their members on technology matters. While they might be able to bring general attention to the fact that members' needs are unmet, large, formal farmers' organizations are seldom the best partners for intensive, adaptive research partnerships. Furthermore, they often neglect the needs of their poorest members and have done little to increase the lateral spread of technology or research skills between members. While sorne express an interest in becoming involved in the technology area, few other than those which are directly involved in marketing members' produce (and which are therefore able to prioritize by reference to the market), have the capacity or resources to. do so.When we are thinking about 'best practice', more thought therefore needs to be put into this area. Groups are not the magic solution we had wished for, yet, too often, they are still treated as such for want of better ideas. We therefore need methods to help us to distinguish which types of groups are appropriate for which types of task. Support and capacity building is also likley to be an important area of work.Another option is that, rather than increasing the number of people who participate, we focus on increasing the intensity of participation. Arguably, if clients participate earlier on in the technology development process, then the scale impact of their participation will be greater. Thus if a given farmer, or group of farmers, participates in technology priority setting, the overall impact -in terms of capturing the benefits of client orientation -will be far greater than if the same farmer or group of farmers participate in the final stages of adaptive research. Similar benefits might be captured if farmers were drawn in to evaluation (an area of participation which has been relatively neglected), which would then feed back into project or program designo Up to the present, participatory methodologies have focused almost exclusively on needs diagnosis and downstream research areas.However, extending participation to the priority-setting phase has been tried in sorne places, for example with research users' groups in Mali and in the sugar industry in South Africa. The results so far have been modest; few changes in priorities have been observed. This may be because the research agenda is fully satisfactory, but this seems unlikely. A variety of other reasons can be identified. First, technology priority setting as a whole is poorly understood, by long-time as well as new participants. This makes changes hard to bring about. Second, this is perhaps the area in which scientists and c1ients are most likeIy to find that they have irreconcilable differences and where conflicts over the relative allocation to short-term vs. Iong-term research are the most common. Mechanisms for resolving these conflicts have not been developed. Third, those who are being asked to participate may not be fully aware ofthe options available or the potentiaI scope for change which science offers (if they have never benefited from technology themselves, this is hardly surprising). Fourth, much prioritysetting is based on precedent and, by the time participation is invited, key budget allocations have already been made.Significant capacity building (through participation in the first instance in smaller-scale technology initiatives, and familiarization with the research system as a whole) is likely to be required before the full benefits of participation in priority setting are likely to be reaped. The danger that should be avoided is that earIy participation by farmer representatives is ineffectuaI but means that the potential future contribution that farmers can make is discounted.Other, perhaps more successful, ways of increasing the intensity of participation include finding ways to change the incentives to participate so that earlier participation makes sense. Notable in this area are schemes to compensate farmers for the risks they take in participating in technology development. This is another area in which we need to pool our experience and develop guidelines for best practice.A1though we may try to avoid it, we are deaIing in our discussion with inherently political issues. In particular, national priorities feed down into research priorities and overall budget allocations are usually made at the polítical level. In principIe, one way of achieving widescale impact is to work through polítical bodies rather than to restrict the focus to line departments and members of the agricultural technology system itself. If politicaI bodieswhich are notionally fully participative through the electoral process -can be persuaded to put their support behind participation as an overall policy, then scaling up is likely to be a less arduous process.PoliticaI support can change the environment for participation. It can make line departments answerable to decentralized political bodies for their funding, giving the population as a whole (dominated though it might be by elites) a far greater say over activities. It can also put in motion changes in incentives in the public sector so that rewards are based on indicators of participatory research rather than exc1usively academic excellence. Finally, it can mean that policy is formulated in a participatory manner. If information gathered in participatory research exercises gains credibility (through political support) then it is more likely to be used, aIbeit with sorne necessary abstraction, in policy formulation. This policy, in turn, will have a vital enabIing (or disabling) influence on the practice of participatory research.How To Move Forward From these many and complex issues 1 wish to raise the following key questions for further consideration:Scaling up technologies: How can progress be made in developing critical indicators for 'adequate similarity!? This includes reaching sorne consensus on the minimwn benefit:cost ratio we wish to achieve with participatory research. Scaling up methodologies: What does it mean to develop a prototype methodology with a view to 'scaling uP!? How should we adapt our indicators to take tbis into consideration? Increasing the number ofpeople who participate: How do we move forward in working with groups or supporting them to help us achieve the efficiency benefits we are seeking in participation? In particular, how can we assist them to prioritize members! diverse needs? Focusing on the policy aspects of participation: What scope is there for working with political bodies to ensure that research is progressed in a participatory manner? How much of a problem is elite dominance likely to be (and how distinct are the needs of the elites from those ofthe masses) if greater alignment with the polítical process is sought?The benefits from farmer participation in breeding cross-pollinated crops have been the focus of even less a Hentian than self -pollinated crops, possibly because most of these breeding efforts are geared towards breeding hybrids where the opportunities for farmer involvement are less obvious. In planning and targeting participatory breeding projects for cross-pollinated crops, it is crucial to envisage what role the newly generated genetic material may have in the local system of variety use, seed production and sced availability. Will the new variety be used in mixtures with existing varieties? Is there any local capacity to maintain the purity of specific varieties? Or will new varieties serve as a source of new genetic variation within the traditional system of seed selection and seed management. Better understanding of these issues will help to identify specific steps in a variety-development program which would benefit from farmer participation. Furthermore, a better understanding of the local seed management system will facilitate the linkage of the participatory breeding efforts with the local system of seed production and dissemination.Local systems of seed management in many parts of the world, and for many crops, are very poorIy understood (van der Heide and Tripp, 1996) and plant breeding efforts have thus far rarely been designed to address the identified needs of such local systems. Generally, plant breeding programs are oriented towards the replacement of local varieties, with the implicit assumption that the local systems of seed management will also be replaced by regulatory frameworks and cornmercial seed enterprises. Farmer participatory breeding, in contrast, provides opportunities for integrating scientifically based plant breeding efforts with the farmers' reality. In order too facilitate this integration, it is necessary for farmers and scientists to cornmunicate effectively.Cornmunication between scientists and farmers presents challenges that are rooted in cultural differences. These differences affect the applicability of terminology used by the scientists to analyze situations, as well as the ability of scientists to fully understand and interpret farmers' concepts and explanations. Cornmunication tools that help to visualize the outcomes of discussions of farmers with scientists are an effective approach in overcoming these barriersParticipatory plant breeding in cross-pollínated crops: Method%gica! issues ¡or ¡uture research to effective communication, especially in the case of oral cultures. The development of such communication tools has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years, and these have been widely adopted in rural development projects as well as in research: RRA, PRA, simulation exercises, etc. (Chambers et al. 1989;Gabathuler, 1991;Scoones and Thompson, 1994).There is therefore plenty of scope for the further development of such communication to01s on this basis, focusing on an improved understanding of local systems of seed management, and on experiences with similar communicatíon tools in other fields of research and technology development. New communication tools may target approaches to understanding farmers' concepts of a varíety, farmers' strategies for the selection, processing and storage of seed, or the traditional channels for, and barriers to, seed exchange.The effects and the effectiveness of sharing responsibilities between farmers and scientists in the process of plant breeding have rarely been explored, especially in the case of crosspollinated crops. Farmers' participatíon in the process of variety development has been proposed for every step in this process, ranging from generating variability to the testing of finished experimental varieties (Sperling, 1996, Weltzien et al. 1996;Witcombe and Joshi. 1996). The most important issue in developing and testing breeding methodology for crosspollinated crops is to identify those stages in the breeding cycle during which farmers' participation would lead to the development of more acceptable and appropriate varieties in a shorter time, with a shortened timelag for initial adoption. Breeding methodoIogies that rely on farmers' comparative advantages in fulfilling specific objectives of the breeding cycle need to be developed and tested, so that the effects of sharing specific responsibilities, and the effectiveness of this compared to non-participatory approaches can be quantified.Evidence from pearl millet in northwestem India (Weltzien et al., 1997), and from maize in central America (Louette and Smale, 1996) suggests that farmers are actively seeking the diversificatíon of their seed stocks, as well as the improvement of specific traits related to productivity, yield stability and quality. These findings support the notÍon that there is scope for sharing responsibilities between scientists and farmers in the initial stages of variety development and the generation of new variability as well as in the later stages of the selection and testing of experimental varieties.For cross-pollinated crops, where outcrossing occurs naturally, a role for farmers could be envisaged in the generation of new variability as a basis for further genetic improvements. It may be worthwhile considering using population crosses and random matings initiated by farmers by mixing seeds of two different varieties and growing them in their fields. Potentia1 benefits from the extent of recombination and the effectiveness of seIection could be obtained under farmers' fieId conditions with the very large population sizes, and therefore, with high selection intensities for traits and trait combinations most preferred by farmers. Natural selection would help to eliminate genotypes unadapted to the most severe stress factors. This could be more efficient than making similar population crosses under non-representative, frequentIy off-season conditions, and with severe limitations on the number of plants that can be handled per population cross. Breeders could then use these farmer-generated population crosses for the targeted improvement of specific traits, which farmers cannot easily select for on a single-plant basis (e.g. grain yield, sto ver yield or disease resistance) without having to spend a great deal of effort on selection for yield components and adaptive or quality traits.The primary role of the breeder in this process would initially become one of making useful new source material available to farmers for use as the parents of new population crosses with their own local varieties. For farmer-breeder interactions to be successful at this Stage of the breeding cycle, farmers would need to be involved in evaluating a much larger range of material and genetic variability. It would also be beneficial ifthere was a better understanding of the combining ability of farmers' local cultivars with other sources of germplasm that farmers may want to use. Later on, the role of breeders would be to ensure that these new population crosses achieved desirable levels of performance for key traits, like productivity or disease resistan ce.Similarly, it couId be envisaged that farmers would take on sorne of the responsibility for the improvement of existing established populations, e.g. by mass selection in farmers' fields.Mass selection is an effective method of improving the local adaptation of breeding populations (Rattunde el al. 1989). The main advantage of mass selection is the high selection intensity that can be applied. Under farmers' fieId conditions, this advantage could be more fully exploited than frequently happens in research stations. In merging the farmers' experiences with selection for specific traits with the scientists' understanding of the biological and agronomic significance of these traits and their inheritance and interaction with each other and with the environmental conditions, progress from a mass selection program could be significantIy enhanced. In this context, one specific methodological issue wiIl need to be studied: how the frequently strong seasonal variations in the growing conditions and the effects of these on the population improvement process can be addressed so as to arrive at a balanced adaptation across a wide range of growing conditions over years and, hopefully, a wide range of locations. Farmers' experiences with different plant types, and their adaptation to specific growing conditions could provide insights here as well as the initial hypotheses for this kind of analysis (van Oosterom el al. 1996).In specific cases, it may be possible to involve farmers in progeny-based selection procedures for population improvement. In situations where hand planting is common, progeny trials could possibly be conducted in farmers' fields, and evaluated by farmers or farmer groups as well as by scientists. Farmers could also assist with selection in progeny trials conducted onstation.Thus, for cross-pollinated crops, a wide range of options and degrees of participation by farmers in the process of variety development appears possibIe, and could be meaningful.Carefully planned research is needed to c1arifY the benefits of the various degrees and typesPartieipatory plant breeding in cross-pollinated erops: Methodological issues lor future research of farmer participation in this process in order to achieve increased productivity and yield stability, particularly for poor farmers. The role of women in this process needs to be investigated, because, in many cultures and for many crops, women bear the main responsibility for seed management and grain storage, as weIl as providing food for the family. Thus, working with women directly on these issues may open up new avenues for research on crop iniprovement and its impact on the food security ofthe rural poor.To date, there are only a few examples reported in the literature where gains in efficiency for the variety development process could be attributed to the participation of farmers (Sperling el al. 1993). Part of this problem is that variety development programs are rarely evaluated directly for the usefulness of the new varieties to farmers (Ashby and Sperling, 1995). The most common indirect evaluation criteria are numbers of released varieties, or area cultivated with varieties from a specific programo These indicators have long time lags, and thus are not expected to be available from any comparative studies initiated recently. Therefore, research aimed at evaluating obtained benefits from farmers' participation in the process of variety development may need to develop other types of indicators for success. Thus, while the most important methodoJogical issue is to actually develop effective models for participatory breeding approaches for cross•pollinated crops, methods for overcoming specific constraints and measuring impact are closely interlinked with this methodology development process.The success of participatory approaches to plant breeding ultimately depends on linking these to seed production and dissemination systems. For cross•pollinated crops, this linkage to a locally appropriate seed system is particularly important, because special efforts wiIl be required to maintain the identity and purity of products from any type of breeding effort. The formal seed sector can fulfill this role effectively in many cases. Thus, linkages between participatory breeding and the formal seed sector need to be explored fully whenever there is an opportunity. However, in many conditions, Le with many of the subsistence-oriented, marginal production systems, the local system of seed production and distribution will be the only' basis for making the new varieties bred with farmers' participation more widely available. This may require the development of new institutional forms, so that traditional channels of seed distribution can be fuUy exploited and barriers to seed movement overcome.On this basis, three main areas for methodology development for effective participatory breeding programs foro cross•pollinated crops have been identified:1. Development of communication tools to understand the local systems of seed management. 2. Development of approaches for effectively sharing responsibilities in the process of breeding open-pollinated varieties of cross-pollinated crops.3. Development of institutional mechanisms and linkages to disseminate these new genetic materials effectively.Carlos Iglesias and Luis A. Hemández R. A.A. 6713,Cali,Colombia Root and tuber crops are the most important group of species propagated through vegetative means, and for which 'several Centers in the CG have responsibility for germplasm development and diffusion. From the breeding point ofview, vegetative propagation provides the advantage of immediate fixation of desirable heterozygous gene combinations, without the need to get involved in the development of inbred lines and commercial hybrids. The main disadvantage of this type of species is that, by using cuttings for propagation, the transmission of pests and diseases is facilitated from one crop cycle to the following. This results in the end in the \"degeneration\" of landrace cultivars, and their imminent disappearance in the medium to long termo With the exception of potatoes, where several improved varietíes from developed countries are cultivated over large areas in the world, farmers have been responsible for developing the genetic base which supports root and tuber crop cultivation. Improved material s produced from the recombination of germplasm accessions held by the intemational centers or the most advanced National Programs in the tropics have only recently been released and are now spreading. The majority of the root and tuber crops are used for human consumption, either directIy or after sorne form of processing. Animal feed and industrial uses of root and tuber crops have been promoted more recently. This means that any new genotype that is released for eultivation must have an arrangement oftraits that are desirable both for the farmers who produce the erop, as well as for the people who are going to consume it (most of the time these two groups coincide).Most of the intemational and national program efforts for breeding root and tuber crops focused on a top-down green-revolution approach, concentrating on the enhancement of rootyield potential and the resistance to the main biotic and abiotic factors. Later, it was realized that production was not the only bottle neck for farmers and marketing was just as important. Therefore, our programs concentrated on devising altemative market uses for the crops, and developing varieties targeted to those systems.In the case of cassava, landraces have been seleeted for centuries for specific uses (boil-andeat, farinha, etc.). Landraces not only have excellent quality, but, generally, they maintain that Method%gy development issues lar participatory p/ant breeding al root and tuber crops quality over extended periods of time. Most landraces show intermediate to low root-yield potential, and that has been the reason for concentrating efforts in that area.The process of adoption of \"improved varieties\" has not been as dynamic as expected. In most cases, farmers are not willing to trade quality for production. When we talk about quality, it is a complex trait which goes beyond flavor, taste and texture; it also includes flesh and external colors, storability, etc. The \"improved varieties\" have been relatively easily adopted by farmers producing for industrial purposes (starch, cassava flour, etc.). Another situation that has promoted the adoption of \"improved varieties\" is the case of certain ecosystems where there is a biotic problem attacking most of the existing landraces and causing losses of up to 100% of the crop. That has been the situation in Northem Brazil, where root rots destroy cassava plantations; in that case, farmers are willing to adopt varieties that may not comply with aU their wishes, but offer the possibility of producing under those particular circumstances.In conclusion, we can say that the diffusion of new varieties through the traditional schemes has been slow and difficult, mainly due to the assumption that farmers are mainly interested in increased production, and because we are not sure about the set of traits that the farmers have in their minds as a \"desirable variety\". This has opened the door for the development and application of methodologies that involve farmers in the process of varietal selection and diffusion.Root and tuber crops present certain characteristics that make the application of participatory techniques desirable. First of aU, their cropping cycles are usually long (Le. cassava 9 to 18 months); therefore, any conventionaI breeding effort, where at least 6 crop cycles are necessary to evaluate genotypes for their adaptation and production potential, wiIl take 8 to 10 years to develop genotypes that wiU then be put up for public consideration. Participatory evaluation allows for the intervention of farmers early in the breeding cycle, so that they can select the most desirable genotypes and these can immediately be multiplied.The propagation rate of root and tuber crops is much lower than cereal crops. Making genotypes available for farmer evaluation and selection early on wiIl result in faster diffusion of the preferred varieties.As previously mentioned, propagation by cuttings can promote the proliferation of pests and diseases. Aside from that, the nutritional status of the planting material has a direct relationship to the production potential of the crop. Participatory breeding trials can serve as a vehicle for training farmers in the selection and improvement of planting material. They also serve as a vehicle for introducing \"In-vitro clean\" planting material.In the case of those vegetatively propagated crops that retain the ability to produce sexual seed profusely (Le. potatoes and cassava), farmers in certain regions are in the habit of isolating seedlings that sprout in their production fields, growing and evaluating them, and, if they see any potential, adopting them. In certain regions, due to the environmental conditions or a shorter crop cycle, there are fewer chances for the crop to flower and produce seedlings in the fieId. SuppIying farmers with an array of genotypes from early generations in the breeding program can provide the genetic basis for farmer selection. It will also represent an important step for broadening the genetic base of the crop. In the case of cassava, certain Iandraces tend to dominate, according to the region (i.e. Venezolana in the North Coast). The traditional varietal releasing scheme usually considers the release of two varieties at the most, and usually one of them tends to domínate. Involving farmers earlier in the selection process wiIl favor the selection of genotypes with specific adaptation to particular combinations of environment, soils cropping practices and market preferences, thus diversifying the crop genetic base.This case is discussed in more detail in a poster presented for this meeting. One of the important stages in the process is the diagnostic phase, where the main production and marketing problems are defined. Our experience, both here and in Brazil, tells us that farmers are expecting varieties to solve most of their problems. Varieties are a relativeIy cheap technological component that they can adopt and multiply without much additional expense.It is a component that, once it is adopted, will sustain its impact for a certain time without recurrent cost. Therefore, we start from the point that evaluating varieties is something that farmers want.It was decided that a maximum of 10 varieties including 1 or 2 local landraces, will be provided to farmers. One important aspect is the source of planting material. The tendency is to provide planting material produced at the experimental station level for the \"improved genotypes\", and that the farmers wiIl supply planting material for the local landraces. That usually sets a differential performance due to the better nutritional and phytosanytary status of the planting material multiplied at the station. Through the yearS, these genotypes will decline in their performance and tend to equal the one for the Iandraces. We shouId make every effort to provide planting material produced under similar conditions for all the evaluated genotypes, so that the bases that the farmer has for comparison are equal.The on-farm evaluation has to be conducted under representative farmer conditions. It means that, on the one hand, we need to explain carefully the purpose of the trials and how they will be conducted as part of their cornmercial planting. On the other hand, FPR provides a very important tool for us to leam the cultural practices applied by farmers, and their rationale. This can have very important implications for a breeding programo Our experience with the participatory evaIuation of cassava varieties in semiarid Brazil will serve to illustrate this.Semiarid environments are characterized by 3-4 month rainy periods, with the rest ofthe year being dry. The normal practice for cassava production is to plant in the middle of the rainy season and leave the crop for 15 to 18 months until it passes through a second rainy periodo Our breeding program had the objective óf selecting genotypes that could be harvested in one-year cydes. When we explained tbis to farmers, they agreed that it would be very nice to have varieties that produce well in one year, but that they did not believe that was possible, and therefore suggested'that part ofthe plots should be left for an 18-month harvest. We were able to demonstrate that our \"improved varieties\" could produce more than the local ones with a one-year cyde. But they were able to show us that, at 18 months, the crop could double its production, and, best of aH, improve the quality for farinha production tremendously. AIso, at 18 months, the difference between \"improved\" and landrace cultivars was much less. In consequence, we have incorporated the 18-month harvest into our conventional breeding program, in order to select genotypes that do well at both 12-and 18month harvests.With respect to the evaluation and the information which we collected and analyzed, it is very important not only to gather the subjective data provided by farmers when they react to a genotype, but also to gather as much quantitative descriptive information as possible to interpret farmers' expressions. Farmers do not use a uniform terminology to refer to the same aspects (Le. paluda, aguada, vidriosa); therefore, there is a need to develop a glossary of these terms. As an example of the importance of collecting both types of data, we have seeen that, after the analysis, those cultivars referred to as good in terms of starch content had an average of 36.7% starch, wbile the ones referred to as bad only averaged 32%. That provides a very important selection criterion for us in the conventional breeding programoParticipatory evaluation of elite genotypes has provided good feed-back information on selection criteria applied by farmers in relation to the adoption of new varieties in root and tuber crops. There are certain considerations that need to be taken into account in order to analyze the perspective of this methodology in the broader spectrum of agricultural development.a) The methodology has to be refined in order to get the maximum information out of the participating farmers, not only with respect to present cropping practices or markets, but in relation to their expectations and ideas. b) The idea that the genotype alone can do mirades is seldom valid in the present day; therefore there is a need to integrate varieties and altemative cropping practices to be evaluated on farms. e) Be sure the comparison among local and introduced genotypes is done on a similar basis, and not biased towards the latest.d) Do not collect only subjective information, but conduct your usual breeding evaluations parallel to the evaluation by farmers. This may help you to interpret farmers' decisions from the quantitative point of view. e) The production chain does not usually stop at the farm gate, there are also intermediaries (who are particularly interested in the quality and storability of roots), processors (interested in the starch content) and final consumers in the towns (interested in the quality), and these need to be integrated into a participatory breeding scheme. f) Breeding cycles can be shortened by incorporating farmers' evaluations much earlier in the process. This wiIl result in a mosaic of genotypes being adopted in a region. One aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is whether this procedure and its outcome is in accordance with National Program schemes for varietal release. g) We should not limit ourselves to the information provided by farmers in terms of desirable traits, because we can handle genetic diversity that is not in their hands and therefore, they may not know about the potential of certain plant type (Le. dwarf cassava) or certain root quality (Le. waxy roots).In participatory varietal selection (PVS) farmers evaluate near-finished or finished products.Varietal selection was first used in the literature on farmer participatory approaches by Sperling et al. (1993). It describes a technique that Hes within participatory plant breeding (PPB) as a whole lO • However, in the same way that it is more informative to call someone who breeds plants a plant breeder rather than a biologist, so it aids clarity if PVS programs are referred as such, and not as PPB programs. The division of participatory crop improvement into PVS and PPB programs has been found helpful in this paper in analyzing the possible experimental approaches to separating the benefits of farmer participation from decentralization. Finally, it should be noted that successful PPB programs will finish with PVS-the selection amongst finished products.This discussion paper draws particularly on experiences with a high altitude rice breeding program in Nepal (Sthapit el al. 1996), on a collaborative breeding program in maize between the KRIBHCO Rainfed Indo British Project West (KRIBP(W»II and Gujarat Agricultural University, and on a PVS program in KRIBP(W) (Joshi and Witcombe, 1996). This paper examines the role of farmer participation and decentralization in breeding programs. It then looks at the comparisons that can be made in PVS and PPB to separate the effects of decentralízation and farmers' participation. Finally, sorne general issues conceming research methodology are discussed.Farmer participation is invoked for many reasons. Of the types of farmer participation described by Biggs (1989) Le., contractual, consultative, collaborative and collegial, most frequently collaborative approaches are used (Table 1). Goal setting is consultative participation and Ashby et al. (1996) are involved in collegial participation-scientists working to enhance the ability of groups of farmers to carry out research and development for themselves. Witcombe et al. (1996b) assume that PPB will always involve the use of locally adapted germplasm, as this is the most obvious strategy to employ when the breeding goal is local adaptation. They also argue that, under sueh eireumstances, only a small number of crosses have to be made. They discuss sorne ofthe advantages ofPPB:• at least one parent of any cross is well-adapted to the local environment, • genotype x loeation interaetions are greatly reduced, beeause selection is always in the target environment, • the impact of genotype x year interactions is probably reduced sinee the local parental material is already adapted to the year to year variation that is likely to be encountered, and • because few crosses are made, large F 2 and F3 populations can be grown to increase the possibility of identifying transgressive segregants that give rise to desirable F 4 to F 5 progeny.They point out that 'AH these advantages apply to decentralized breeding regardless of whether increased farmer participation is employed. The role of farmer participation is to reduce demands on research station land l2 , and eliminate the need for breeders to do singleplant selection in many of the generations. Most importantly, it ensures that aH farmerrelevant traits, including post-harvest ones, are evaluated. PPB is particularly efficient when post-harvest quality traits are involved that are difficult to assess in the laboratory. Farmers are able to select for such traits because farmers and their families are the ultimate judges of quality in any cultivar. budgets, or decentralization may only be at the activity level, with all of the decision making retained centrally. The sCale of decentralization can refer to very different processes, e.g., decentralization from intemational to national' from national to regional, and from regional to sub-regional levels. The decentralization can also involve very different levels of farmer participation, so dec~ntralízation and participation are usually confounded. For example, the following components typical of participatory programs could be involved in decentralized breeding:• the use of local parental materials;• the use offarmers' fieIds;• farmer management of test sites;• the use of farmers' observations and opinions;• the use of complex selection criteria.This confounding of decentralization and farmer participation is a recurring theme in this paper, and the major obstacle to separating out the effects of decentralization and participation.In the literature, these aspects are ignored, because decentralization is simply justified on the grounds of controlling genotype x environrnent interactions. The purpose of decentralization is to exploit 'cross-over' interactions (Ceccarelli, 1994;Ceccarellí el al., 1994;Simmonds, 1984Simmonds, , 1991;;Virk and Mangat, 1991), to produce cultivars adapted to more specific environrnents. Cross-over interactions can theoretically occur between any level e.g., between countries, between regions and between sub-regions. However some decentralized programs may fail to exploit cross-over interactions because they are still insufficiently decentralized.Ceccarelli el al. (1996) gives an example of the first level of decentralization in a CGIAR center intemationaI breeding programo Instead of sending the same material to each country in the expectation of wide adaptation, different genetic material, all involving locally adapted material, is sent to different north African countries. The choice of parental material is decentralized on a country basis, and the crosses are sent to the countries for which they are .targeted so that selection is in the appropriate environrnent.In a conventional multilocational testing system of finished products, any attempt to select for specific rather than wide adaptation is decentralization. This can be achieved in national programs by dividing multilocational triaIs into zones or into trials for specific plant types. For example, the AH• India Co-ordinated Crop Improvement Projects (AICCIPs) are decentralized to the extent that most of the programs have multilocational trials that are divided into zones (Table 2). Clearly, some programS are more decentralized than others depending on the number of zones that are employed. Another mean s of decentralizing is to breed for specific adaptation by having trait-specific trials. Hence, in the AICCIPs there are tríaIs for specific maturities, e.g., in rice, sorghum and pearl millet; for crop types, e.g., in groundnut and wheat; for agro-ecosystems, e.g., in rice; and for late and early sowing in Decentralization versus farrner participatíon in plant breeding. Sorne rnethodology issues.wheat (Virk et al., 1995). They argued for the need for more decentralization to increase the probability of obtaining more specifically adapted genotypes for low-resource farmers. This should be done by creating more trials for:• early, mid-Iate and late-maturing genotypes;• target regions and specific agro-ecological situations;• genotypes having specific traits identified by farmers as desirable, such as high fodder yield. This process of decentralization encourages greater genetic diversity in the use of parental material, as breeders select different types of germplasm for different trials. Without decentralization, material with wide adaptation has to be selected. This results in a restricted range of genotypes that flower at the same time across a wide range of photoperiods and thermal environments. Witcombe and Virk (1996) describe decentralization in a number of case-study countries. They found that 'Research stations usually are situated in the range of agro-ecological situations in any country, but ofien there is only a single location per agro-ecological zone. Hence, the number of trial sites per trial may be as low as one in sorne triaIs in Nepal, and initial trials are carried out in only 2 locations in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bolivia. In India, the number of locations per zone can be as low as four in groundnut and chickpea trials. Although there are more test sites in the later stages of testing, it is clear that the number of test sites in any trial in any country is not adequate to represent the diversity of any particular regían.' In all these decentralized systems the role of farmers is restricted to the testing of a small number of scientist-identified cultivars in minikíts and adaptive tríaIs, usually at a very late stage in the program, or afier release.Decentralization per se allows a change in selection strategy, without any change in the degree of farmer participation. However, 'the most extreme decentralization is farmers' participation in selection under their own conditions' (Ceccarelli et al., 1996). Decentralization is, therefore, ofien discussed only in the context of a having a participatory component (e.g., Eyzaquire and Iwanaga, 1996).Moving varietal testing from research station trials to farmers' fields is almost always (but not necessarily) a process of decentralization. It can be decentralization from a prograrn previously targeted at wide adaptation, or further decentralization of an already decentralized programo There are various forms of participatory varietal selection, aH of which involve collaborative participation as the varieties are grown by farmers on their fields, although the reliance placed on farmer evaluation can vary (Table 3). Only two types of PPB programmes, consultative and collaborative, are considered here out ofthe four types offarmer participation (contractual, consultative, collaborative and collegial) defined by Biggs (1989). In this paper, consultative and collaborative research is separated by whether farmers are involved in growing genetic material themselves. In consultative breeding programmes, farmers are consulted at every stage in order to set goals and choose parents that are entirely appropriate. However, the crucial point is not just the frequency at which farmers are consulted but how much voice they have in the final decision. In collaborative programmes, farmers grow the early, variable generations and select the best plants amongst them on their own fie1ds. In consultative breeding, collaborative research is employed once finished products are given to farmers (ofien those that were involved in the consultation process). However, in coHaborative programrnes, there is no discontinuity between the end of breeding new products and the start of selection amongst finished products.The choice of consultative or collaborative methods will depend on the crop (e.g., inbreeding or outbreeding) and the availability of resources (e.g., access to farmers keen to collaborate). However, there is a gray area between consultative and collaborative programs, when farmers are brought to research stations and asked to make single plant selections in the breeders' trials (e.g., de O. Zimmerman et al., 1996).The degree of farmer participation in collaborative PPB can differ greatly, although it is always an important component (Table 4). The contributions of centralized and decentralized, participatory and non-participatory collaborative and consultative participation, and PVS and PPB allow for the classification of breeding programs into many categories (Table 5). However, many types of programs are not possible or are unlikely, such as centralized PPB (it has to be decentralized) and collaborative centralized breeding. Centralized collaborative? Can eollaborative partieipation be used without decentralization?Centralized witbout farmer participation. Target traits are those that give wide adaptation (e.g., dwarf height, photothérmal insensitivity, and bland grain quality appealing t6 the largest group of consumers).Centralized consultative. Consultative methods can, with sorne difficulty, be applied to centralized programs. Farmers are consulted on target traits. Parents are chosen to breed for wide adaptation, so farmer participation helps little. Farmers are brought onto researeh stations to evaluate early-generation trials, but they can only evaluate phenotypic traits and not wide adaptation. The more eonsultation, the more the tendeney will be to decentralize.Centralized collaborative? Can eollaborative participation be used without decentralization?DecentraJizatíon versus farmer partícipation in plant breeding. Some methodology issues.Considering aH of the above methods, any comparisons are possible including:• Centralized versus decentralized programs, neither of which have farmer participation. This is a topic which is not pursued in this paper, but it would allow the benefits of decentralization per se to be evaluated. • Participatory decentralized methods versus non-participatory centralized methods. In this comparison, the roles of decentralization and farmers are confounded. • Participatory decentralized methods versus non-participatory decentralized methods. This is the only comparison that allows for an unconfounded assessment of the role of farmers.Comparisons that can be made to examine the roles of decentralization and farmer participation will be considered first for varietal selection, and then for plant breeding. However, the considerations that follow conclude• that the objective should not be a comparison of two strategies with the same levels of an inexactly defined decentralization with different degrees of an inexact concept like participation. Rather, specific innovations should be tested, just as with any methodological development, and the cost and benefits of participatory programs evaluated.To separate experimentally the benefits of decentralization from those offarmer participation, two programs having the same objectives of highly contrasting levels of farmer participation could be compared. This is most feasible when testing finished products by comparing nonparticipatory varietal selection (selection using data from multilocational yield trials) with participatory varietal selection (selection using participatory trials on farmers' fields with farmer management). The target area of the non-participatory multilocational trials of a decentralized program would be identified, and, within that same region, the same genetic material in the multilocational trials would be tested in farmer participatory trials.As a control, the non-participatory method must not be consultative but use the most common selection strategy employed by breeders Le., the least farmer-oriented selection criterion, an almost total reliance on selection for yield. However, it would be interesting to see ifbreeders modify the selection procedures in their multilocational trials, once the results from farmers are seen. The easiest change to make is from non-participatory centralized breeding to a consultative participatory one. It is very simple to modify selection criteria for promotion of entríes from one trial stage to the next. Selection could be for multiple traits of importance to farmers, such as a combination of grain yield, stover yield and maturity. The more fanners' criteria are used in the selection, the more the program becomes consultative participatory research.To the author, at least, the outcome of such an experiment and the benefit from farmer participation can be predicted easily from prior experience:• Farmer participation would result in the selection of more appropriate varieties. Farmers would prefer different varieties to those that perform 'best' i.e., yield the most, in the multilocational trials • Farmers would adopt atld grow a greater range of genetic material. They would be exposed to a greater choice than the restricted set of varieties that would be released from nonparticipatory multilocational trials. • The uptake of new genetic material by farmers would be greatly aecelerated.The experimental difficulties, as well as the benefits of farmer participation, can also be anticipated:• How would resources be equalized between the participatory and non-participatory methods (see below for a more detailed discussion on this topic) • How could institutional issues be resolved to obtain a fair comparison? For example, the breeders conducting the multilocational trials would have to be unaffected by an influx of participatory workers, but be prepared to collaborate by providing genetic material. Alternatively, the participatory workers would have to conduct the multilocational trials as a control, but multilocational trials can be conducted well or badly.However, is an experimental approach required? It should be sufficient to demonstrate the benefits of farmer participation, whilst costing the resources required to involve farmers.Can comparisons be made with equivalent decentralization? In participatory breeding, the decentralization may be more extreme than in non-participatory decentralized methods because it restricts the breeding process to only a few villages or farmers. It may result in the benefits of PPB being more geographically restricted. If true, it would represent a major disadvantage of a participatory approach. For example, Sthapit et al. (1996) carried out PPB in two villages in Nepal with 18 farmers and Kornegay et al. (1996) used three farmers from one district of Colombia. De O. Zimmerman (1996) used farmer visits early in the breeding program to three researcher-managed locations in Brazil. At the F 7 generation, 10 farmers were involved in testing the lines. Resource requirements clearly restriet the number of farmers and. villages, and hence the number of environments. However, this does not necessarily lead to highly specifically adapted products as compared to using nonparticipatory methods. In non-participatory, as well as participatory programs, selection in segregating generations tends to be restricted to very few locations. AIso, in both types of program, finished products can be tested more widely than the products of earlier generations. For example, Sthapit et al. (1996) entered Machhapuchhre-3, a product ofPPB, into national rice research program trials in Nepal. As a result of its successful performance, it has been released officially.Farmer participation per se does not mean that decentralization has to be more extreme. It is thus theoretically possible to separate the role of farmer participation from the role of decentralization by comparing programs with equal decentralization. However, even if this can be achieved, can the two treatments, farmer participation and no farmer participation, be established?Can a comparison be made witb clear differences in farmer participation? A comparison is required of farmer involvement or non-involvement in plant breeding. However, it is difficult to create, for comparative purposes, a meaningful non-participatory decentralized plant breeding program:• Should decentralized breeding deliberately not use locally adapted parents? Even though centralized breeding rarely employs locally adapted material, many would argue that decentralized breeding should involve local material (e.g., Ceccarelli et al., 1996).However, this cannot be done without involvíng farmers-at the very least they need to be consulted about what they are growing, and material has to be collected, indirectIy vía a gene bank or directly from them . • Should the decentralized breeding program ignore farmers' preferences for qualitative traits? It would be unrealistic to allow this error in a comparison of methods. It would be known from the outset that the decentralized program was doomed to fail, if the material in the program did not match farmers' preferences.Therefore, unless these two important elements of consultative participation are incorporated in the decentralized program, thus reducing the impact of the comparison, there is a likelihood that the whole experimental comparison would not be justified. It would be known very early in the comparison that the non-participatory method was doomed to failure.From such considerations, it appears that a simple, straightforward comparison of decentralized breeding, with and without farmer participation, is not possible. Essentially, this is because any truly decentralized breeding program must have sorne consultative participation. Comparisons can only be made of decentralized breeding programs having different amounts and types of farmer participation.Collaborative participatory breeding-comparing farmers' and breeders' selections. One experimental approach is to test the role of farmers in collaborative breeding programs. The effectiveness of selection by farmers and breeders can be compared. In Colombia, a comparison has been made between farmers' and breeders' selections in beans (Komegay el al. 1996). Breeders tended to select for yield and stress tolerance while farmers placed greater emphasis on quality traits. Farmers' selections and breeders' selections for beans in Rwanda were compared, and farmers' selections were found to be more successful (Sperling el al.  1993). However, tbis study was facilitated by what may be an unusual set of circumstancesa group of researchers working both with farmers and with plant breeders. It may be more usual and more cost effective to expect breeders to make comparisons between methods. However, once breeders are involved with farmer selection, it is difficult to make a strict comparison; farmers leam from breeders and breeders Ieam from farmers, so their selections will become increasingly close as their selection criteria converge. Indeed, Sthapit el al. (1996) found excelIent agreement between farmers' and breeders' selections 'because farmers were carefulIy chosen for their skills, and breeders had been exposed to farmers' preferences.'It is safer to assume that, once participatory methods are adopted, breeders and farmers will leam from each other so that their selections will increasingly converge. The research issue would then involve a comparison as to the costs involved in achieving these results. To compare costs, the genetic material, total population size, and the numbers of populations in the two schemes ought to be equal. The question has to be resolved as to what population sizes and numbers are used in the comparison, as the comparative advantages of farmers and breeders could differ greatly, depending on the pararneters chosen. It may be that breeders have the greatest advantage when there is a large number of smaller populations and efficient trial designs are used, and farmers when there is a small number of large populations in which single plant selections are be made. Inevitably, comparisons have to be made with arbitrarily selected numbers. In the study by Komegay el al. (1996) 18 F 2 populations were evaluated and it was decided that both farmers and breeders would continue with the best five.The extent of farmers' involvement in planning and in the provision of parental material can be varied, but whether comparative studies are worthwhile is debatable. For exarnple, farmer consultation will usually lead to the identification of locally adapted, farmeracceptable genotypes and their use as parents. There is limited experimental evidence that the use of local material is a superior strategy because rarely is the required control treatment used in participatory methods Le., crosses where none of the parents have specific adaptation to the target environment. However, Komegay el al. (1996) show that the best Hne was from a cross between a locallandrace and a CIAT modem variety: 'Only two lines were selected from crosses between modem varieties; the rest carne from crosses of modem varieties with local materials. This shows that the inclusion of local varieties in breeding prograrns is necessary to recover quality traits appreciated by farmers.' Of course, such conclusions are highly case specific, because it will depend on the genetic variability available in local and exotic materials. Various authors argue strongly for the inclusion of local material as parents (e.g., Ceccarelli el al., 1996 and Witcombe el al. 1996b). It appears that research into this topic is, therefore, not of the highest priority, and is only likely to confirm that the use of locally adapted material is a valuable part of a decentralized breeding strategy.In the same way, the value of using selection traits identified in consultation with farmers is also not in question. If it were to be tested experimentally, it would be easier to do so in a PVS program than a PPB programoA cornmonly encountered criticism of the involvement of farmers in breeding research is that the products of any participatory program will be narrowIy adapted, thus reducing the cost effectiveness of any research. This issue can be examined by testing the adaptation of the products of PPB, and by comparing them to the products of conventional breeding.The size of cultivar domains. The benefits of a PPB program will depend on how widely adapted its products-the Iarger the area to which a cultivar ís adapted (its domaín) the more cost effective PPB will be. Witcombe et al. 1996b argue that 'Even though PPB is not targeted at broad adaptation there is no reason to suppose that the products of PPB will have very narrow domains. In conventional breeding, many breeding programs are based at only one Iocation, and multilocational tríaIs are used to test and select the finished products. In PPB, early-generation, multilocational testing can be employed using farmer participation to ensure that cultivar domains are not too narrow. ' Sthapit et al., (1996) used this approach in their PPB program by replicating the same early-generation material in two villages.As part of the PPB programs in rice in Nepal and maize in India, we are attempting to find out how large the cultivar domains of the products are. Machhapuchhre-3 rice from Nepal performed well in multilocational trials and is presentIy being tested outside of the villages where it was bred (Sthapit et al. this conference). The breeding products, white-grained, earIy composites, GDRM 185 and GDRM 186, from the maize-breeding program will not only be tested in multilocational trials, but also with many farmers in the three districts of the project in westem India, in eastem India and in NepaL Plans are also underway to distribute material to Zimbabwe.Comparing the outputs from PPB with those from centralized breeding. Varieties of a participatory plant breeding program for rice grown at high altitudes in Nepal were compared with those from a conventional centralized system (Sthapit et al., 1996). 1'11e variety from the PPB program was far better adapted to high altitudes then any of the varieties from conventional, centralized breeding. In a decentralized breeding program for maize in India (Witcombe et al. 1996b) new maize varieties are yielding more than those that have come from an already partially decentralized breeding programoThe use of case studies to draw more general conc1usions has been used effectively in natural science research (e.g., Cromwell and Wiggins, 1993;Ostrom, 1990). Obviously to use this approach, case studies are needed, but there are not many published reports on participatory varietal selection and even fewer on participatory plant breeding.In the author' s opinion, the usefulness of participatory plant breeding can only be established by having many more examples. In these examples, comparisons of the products of participatory breeding need to be compared with those from less participatory, centralized breeding. Materials produced from different types of program should be tested with farmers over several years. When there are many examples of PPB programs from many crops, in many countries, the value ofparticipatory methods can be established or disproved. However, all such case studies wiIl confound the role of farmer participation and decentralization unless deliberate, and inevitably expensive, attempts have been made to enable comparisons.Can Resource Al/ocation Be Compared Easily between Participatory and Non-participatory Methods?If the efficiency of involving farmers in breeding is to be determined, then methods involving different levels of farmer participation should be compared. To draw valid conclusions on which is the best method, each method (experimental treatment) should have the same resources allocated to it, but how can this be achieved? Decentralized breeding without farmer participation uses research station land or land rented from farmers, is heavily dependent on technlcal breeding skills, and uses limited amounts of travel. Participatory methods use less research station land and do not involve paying rent to farmers, involve social as well as natural scientists, and more off-station travel. Costs of these components will vary greatly according to circumstances.It would also be impossible to say whether the quality of scientific endeavor in the two approaches is equal because different skills are needed in the two methods.Participatory methods are much more cost effective when pre-existing linkages between farmers and existing organizations (OOs and NOOs) are used. However, there will be a marginal cost for the use of such pre-existing linkages. The time wiIl be required of salaried personnel of the 00 or NOO that agrees to collaborate in a participatory breeding programo On the other hand, there wiIl also be difficult-to-quantify benefits to the organization, such as increased awareness of issues relating to the seed of improved cultivars.Decen/ra/izalian versus farmer participation in plant breeding. Same methadology issues.Costs. As far as the author is aware, no economic analysis of a participatory plant breeding program has so far been published 13 • Even for conventional programs costs are not readily available, and costs of participatory methods have not been published. Ashby el al. (1996) discuss the costs of labor for trials managed on-farm by extension services and by farmers' research committees (CIALs). They found that the farmer participatory approach led to great savings in salaried labor, particularly when the members of the CIAL were fully trained.In Nepal, a decentralized breeding program with active farmer participation was underway using land rented from farmers. A decision was made to involve farmers in the selection of segregating material from the viewpoint of saving costs in land rent and in the costs of salaried labor in carrying out single plant selections (Sthapit et al. 1996). However, no formal analysis of cost savings have been made of this increased farmer participation. In Kenya and Bolivia, participatory methods are used to reduce the costs of on-station testing (Witcombe and Virk, 1996). The varietal triaIs are run on farmers' fields by the researchers to increase in a cost-effective way the number oftesting sites.These examples of cost savings using participatory methods may appear surprising, as a common criticism of participatory methods is the increased costs that they entail. However, these appear to be genuine examples of cost savings, and more research is required on the costs of involving farmers inresearch.In contrast, in a PPB program for an open-pollinated crop, maize, the high cost of farmer participation caused a reduction in participation from that originally planned. This program is being carried out in India as a collaboration between K.RIBP(W) and Gujarat Agricultural University. Farmers' practices needed to be changed for time of sowing and the selection of fields for maize cultivation. This was because the experimental maize plots need to flower at different times and be separated physicalIy from other plots. This created demands on salaried staff time in arranging this practice, and burdens on the farmers involved as they had to make radical changes to the way they farmed their land. AIso, during single-plant selection in the maize populations, many plants had to be removed before flowering. The rejected plants do not produce any grain (unlike the case of self-pollinated crops where plants can be rejected afier harvest).The collaborative approach was abandoned because of the transaction costs of persuading farmers to remove plants before flowering, and the transaction costs of arranging suitable compensation. Nonetheless, there has been consultative participation. Farmers have been consulted to set objectives, to identify parental material, and to identify important traits for selection. To an extent, the program is also collaborative, as farmers are evaluating the acceptability of unfinished products from the breeding programo Farmer selection may be reintroduced into the program once the maize populations in the breeding program are more uniform, so they require less roguing, and seed is available in much larger quantities so that larger plots can be grown to avoid the need for isolation.Success versus failure. A successful participatory program is more cost effective than a program that fails farmers, to produce any product that is adopted by farmers because it ignores them. If farmer participation results in desirable material being produced and adopted by farmers, then any increased costs caused by farmer participation can be justified. Again, this underlines the need for more ease studies, to see how often PPB succeeds where existing systems have failed.Among the many reasons why farmers are involved in participatory research is to increase biodiversity and empowerment (Table 1). Both biodiversity and empowerment should inerease more in the villages in which participatory plant breeding is undertaken than in villages whieh are not directly involved. The impact of farmers' participation can, therefore, be evaluated in a participating village, and compared witha control that is in nearby nonparticipating villages with a similar socio-economic and agro-ecological environment. Costs, as well as impact, need to be measured. The impaet of empowerment wiIl be much more difficult to measure than biodiversity.The speed at which research results are adopted has an important influence on the cost benefit ratio of the research. If farmers grow newer, superior cultivars than would be the case under non-participatory methods they gain an economic benefit that is related to the extent of their superiority. Sthapit et al. (1996) point out the greater speed at which the results ofPPB can be applied compared to non-participatory methods. 1n a eonventional breeding system, material such as Machhapuchhre-3G and Machhapuchhre-3C would have still been in very preliminary stage of varietal screening in very small plots and still at least 7 years away from being given to farmers for them to grow in minikit tests. A release proposal can be submitted three years earlier than in the conventional system, even if time is allowed to select for greater uniformity within a farmers' cultivar to satis:fY seed certification requirements.'Farmer participation, :t:ather than decentralization, leads to faster uptake and release of cultivars. This benefit of farmer participation, as opposed to decentralization, can be quantified. Again, there is a need for more case studies that can be analyzed in this way.The mandate of an institutional crop breeding program is usually to raise national food production. It is, therefore, logical that it concentrates its efforts on the high production environments where higher yields are possible through improved varieties as compared to marginal environments. Yet the major challenge in plant breeding today is how to address the problems of resource-poor farmers in marginal environments, who have often contributed important genetic diversity to the institutional system with little benefit in return.Few researchers questioned whether the present system of generating varieties and testing (research process) addresses farmers needs. There is growing evidence that plant breeding strategy and seed regulatory frameworks in developing countries are neither sufficiently responsive to the needs of resourcepoor farmers nor adequately adapted to the changing institutional environment of national' research and seed sectors (Tripp & Reíde, 1996;Witcombe and Virk, 1996), Evidence suggest that current seed regulatory frameworks are inadequate and often detrimental to farmers' welfare, particularly that of marginal farmers.There is now substantial evidence that farmers maintain and improve their Iandraces in a continuous process of selection. Greater participation of farmers in selection process has resulted positive impacts in variety selection and crop improvement in Colombia (Komegay et al., 1996), India (Joshi and Witcombe, 1996), Nepal (Sthapit et al., 1996;Joshi el al., 1995), Peru (Valdivia et al., 1996), and Rwanda (Sperling el al., 1993).Where plant breeding is not well developed but scope exists to obtain varieties extemally, farmers can be involved in participatory variety selection (PVS) trials. Witcombe el al., (1996) suggested that PVS is a more rapid and cost-effective way of identifying farmers-preferred cultivars if a suitable choice of cultivars exists. Altematively, Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB), in which farmers select varieties from segregating material under their own target environment (Witcombe et al., 1996, Sthapit el al., 1996), is one of the ways forward to meet the needs of economically deprived groups of farmers.The methodologies reported are variable and no efforts are being made to institutionalize and legitimize PPB approaches. Various approaches reflect the individual judgments and experiences of the plant breeders concemed and their institutional flexibility to newinitiatives. Sorne of these case studies were documented in sorne recent proceedings (Sperling and Loevinsohn, 1996;Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga, 1996).There are many PPB methods that have different degrees of farmer partícipation. Most works are concentrated• in self-pollinated species such as rice, barley, beans;• on marginal and stress environments;• on locallandrace as one of the parents;• on a selection under target environments (specific adaptation);• on decentralization of testing procedures.There are cases where PPB work has been done in open-pollinated crops such as maize (Joshi and Witcombe, 1996) and pearl millet (Weltzien, 1996). Valdivia ef al., (1996) used a PPB approach in vegetatively propagated crops such as potato. In the majority of cases, large varietal options were provided by breeders by exposing farmers to advanced lines or segregating populations or composites. In self-pollinated crops, segregating populations ranging from F2 lines to F5 bulk populations are given to farmers for testing. In rice, Thakur (1995) screened F2 materials in farmers' fields, but subsequent generations were selected by researchers. In the Philippines, farmers themselves are involved in crossing and selection from the progeny of crosses between traditional and improved cultivars of rice (Salazar, 1992). In India, Weltzien (1996) has set up on-farm sites for screening prereleased lines of pearl millet. Joshi and Witcombe (1996) have started PPB in open-pollinated maize crop with the fourth random mating generation of a composite created from six farmer-accepted, open-pollinated cuItivars. In Syria, Ceccarelli el al. (1996) al so screened Iarge numbers of segregating lines of barley under target environment using landrace as one of the parents. These case studíes provide an interesting range of different approaches to PPB.In Nepal, farmers set the breeding objective and screened F5 materials in their fields and promoted after series of field and postharvest evaluation (Sthapit ef al., 1996). Sthapit ef al., (1996) demonstrated that varietal diversification has been achieved within three years in Chhornrong and Ghandruk villages (1800-2200 m asl) in Nepal and, this approach also offered the immediate benefit of such resources to the farming communities. These case studies have demonstrated that PPB helps to create genetic diversity in farmers' fields and to conserve biodiversity, as the process leads to the development of different varieties by different farmers. These methods have been shown to be very successful in a stress environment but there is a good possibility that they can be applied in high potential are as as well.In recent years, the uptake of participatory variety selection (PVS) and PPB in Nepal is very positive. Formal sectors are also showing :willíngness to try the methodology as a pilot • involves farmers at the initial stage for setting breeding objectives;• identification of farmers needs;• uses locallandraces as a parent;• uses very few carefully selected crosses;• offers large options to diverse farming groups;• farmers manage and evaluate the materials in target environment;• farmers decide about adoption or rejection;• farmers have control over the material;• testing methodology is simple.Recently, the Variety Release and Registration Committee (VRRC) of Nepal released Machhapuchre-3 (Fuji 102/Chhomrong Dhan) the first variety hred through PPB in Nepal (Joshi el al., 1996). This work was done at Lumle Agricultural Research Center, an ODA-funded multidisciplinary agricultural research station. Owing to mandate change, LARC no longer works in high-altitude rice. The PPB process was well-documented (Sthapit el al., 1996), and the monitoring of varietal spread by U-BIRD with the participation of Community Based Organization (CBO) is in progress. In a conventional breeding system, material such as M-3 which is at F7 stage when released, would have stiU been in very preliminary stage of varietal screening in a very small plots and still at least seven years away from being given to farmers for them to grow in farmers' field and minikit tests. The economic and social gains which farmers will forego due to the cultivation of inferior quality crop varieties are significantly large. This example has clearIy demonstrated the comparative advantage of PPB over conventional methods in terms of speed of varietal spread, and genetic diversity.Concems for Link Between Seed Systems and PPBOne of the concems of PPB is the management of seed supply issues by fonnal sectors. Since different fanners wiIl develop different types of varieties, issues of official release, seed production and their maintenance can pose a potential problem. However, this as such may not be a problem to fanners. Breeders and seed specialists tend to take a very technological view of their discipline and would like to see unifonn, easily identifiable plots of released varieties. Varietal unifonnity is designed for mechanized and high chemical input fanning.There is no logic for following the same set of standards for subsistence fanning.PPB leads to the development of different varieties by different fanners. This system would not necessarily require a fonnal means of seed supply; seed can be supplied by the same local system already used by fanners. There is no doubt that this is a cost-effective and sustainable system of seed supply at locallevel. But it has sorne pitfalls too.It is well established that the outflow of seed will decline as the distance from the source increases (LARC, 1995). It is a reality that fanner-to-fanner seed exchange of new seed is not as quick as anticipated. Sthapit et al. (1996) found that the spread of varieties occurs within the individual fann and then between the relatives within the village and then outside the villages within the family members. It may not address the equity aspect of benefit sharing amongst clients. Economically disadvantaged fanners' groups such as KDS indicated that they do not have access to new seed from the economically stronger groups.We found that fanners exchange or seU new seeds outside the village after fourth year of the introduction. This is unacceptably long for new seed and could be the main problem if we depend upon the local system alone. If the PPB outputs are not to be limited to fanner-to-fanner spread (local system), then the economies of scale of the more fonnal or infonnal seed sector networks of eBOs and NGOs need to be exploited. Furthennore, the difficulties of fanner-to-fanner spread of open pollinated cultivars such as maize wiIl add complexity.The question is also raised that if the system of PPB works, then there wiIl be an unmanageable number of varieties released that need to be handled by a fonnal institution.Existing seed regulatory frameworks will not be able to cope up with this additional responsibility. This is an unfair críticism because, even in the present system, the fonnal sector meets only 10-15% of the total national seed demand, and the rest is met by the fanners' traditional seed production and supply network (Cromwell et al., 1993 and Joshi et  al., 1995). Our PPB experience from Nepal also suggests that there is no need to fonnally release all varieties, but a few exceptionally good varieties with broad domains 'such as Machhapuchhre-3can be considered for release. Fanners who have selected varieties for flniche fl or 11 specific requirement\" wiIl constantly maintain and improve their variety in a continuous process of selection. There is no need to conduct multiplication tríals to find out wide adaptation, this can be identified from the rate of farmers' seed demand, rate of spread within farm and between farm, and adoption rateoThe formal sector ofien deals with limited officially released varieties of major food crops, As a result, the c0!ltribution of formal seed sector to overall food security is small. In this context, the formal sector should emphasize the improvement of traditional varieties or farmers' varieties identified by PPB, and the responsibility for the modern high-yielding variety should go to the prívate sector. If modern HYV are not acceptable to farmers, they will not survive in the market.It is also equally important that the successful case studies are demonstrated in different crops, different institutional setups and different ethnic and cultural settings to influence policy makers, as they are usualIy \"hooked with the system culture\".The following are sorne of the major concerns:• The formal sector is less interested in promoting PPB products because of the large number of location specific varieties which wiIl be released. The small size of the seed market and high management cost will not provide market incentives unless the government pro vides a subsidy. • Products ofPPB are usually bulk seed. Farmers' varieties are much less distinct, uniform, and stable than formal sector-bred modern varieties. They will face seed certification and seed regulatory problems unless the system is refined for PPB products. • Strengthening the local seed system is the only reliable way to link PPB. Slowness of farmer-to-farmer seed distribution and the inequitable sharing ofbenefits suggest the need for an altemative strategy for seed supply. • The reform of seed regulatory procedures will be required to accommodate decentralized breeding and variety testing, release and registration procedures. • There are strong institutional and policy constraints on legitimizing and institutionalizing the PPB approach. The role ofGO and NGOs sectors in PPB is still a gray area.Many governmental programs see PPB activities as contradictory and competing with rather than complementing their own efforts to strengthen and expand the institutional system of breeding and seed production. These problems are the root causes in the way of strengthening relationship between GOs and NGOs. They call for fundamental changes in attitudes, by creating awareness through training at all levels, especially at the level of research management and decentralization in breeding.PPB will flourish if formal sector decentralizes PPB approach through both GO and NGO linkages. Decentralize here refers to the efforts of formal breeders to work with farmers in the improvement of their genetic resources within their complex, diverse, risky (CDR) environments and social conditions.Initially, three levels of decentralization are possible: the first is at the national level trom Intemational Agricultural Research Institutes to NARS, and the second is possible by zonation within NARS, and the third, from NARS zones to NGOs. This third level should be the focus of the NARS' initiative.The formal sector should encourage two strategies. First, strong formal breeding programs can be the main source of segregating lines or advanee lines to NGOs for implementing location-specific PPB. The formal sector can assist the capability building of CBOs and NGOs and can monitor the spread of the varieties, and NGOs can offer the best materials to be nominated for muhilocational tríaIs for nation-wide testing. To avoid confusion and any conflict of institutions, the role ofNGOs, CBOs and the formal sectors, including seed sector, need to be clearly spelled out.Second, if institutional breeding is weak, then the formal sector should have a poliey to encourage professional NGOs to carry out PVS and PPB. Such an approach means legitimizing PVS and PPB through NGOs. The main partners in PPB are clearly the farmers and farming communities. Their ability and knowledge of breeding have been generally undervalued, if not ignored, by professional plant breeders and researchers. As a result, NGOs can playa major role in this regard in mobilizing community support for PPB using material s from NARS activities. However, informal networking with NGOs and their CBOs will be essential, in order to share information and promising materials.To address the aforementioned problem of the slowness of farmer-to-farmer seed supply and the equity issue, NGOs, Area Projects, and CBOs can multiply new seed as a income generation activity and seU locally or outside through NGO networking. This is possible where farmers are involved in PPB and CBOs and could organize themselves to explore these new avenues. In Nepal, local NGOs like U-BIRD have initiated networking with different CBOs and NGOs to share the information from the PPB, and requests for seed have been accommodated. Farmers' groups are encouraged to multiply seed at local level and seU at a premium price. Breeders can also produce breeder seed from farmer-selected varieties to meet the minimum requirements of variety release procedures. Sorne of these seeds are distributed to neighboring CBOs for further multiplication.NGOs, Area Projects and CBOs are usually more innovative and go for new initiatives. The contribution of these institutions in organizing seed production, disseminating new crop varieties and enhancing total food production is well documented (Joshi et al., 1995). Besides Area Projects and CBOs, there are more than 4300 officially registered NGOs in Nepal, and this networkcan be explored to promote new crop varÍeties developed through PPB. This new initiatives may require institutional support and wiIl get stronger as PPB becomes more successful and widespread.In most cases, few farmers have adopted improved cultivars, ofien because they have not been exposed to acceptable options to their best available variety or simply because they are not suitable for their conditions and need. To rectify this, farmers should be involved in the selection process from early stages, and the methodology should be very simple. In Nepal, at Lumle Agricultural Research Center, an IRD program was used to overcome the problems caused by a weak extension network that generally gave farmers poor access to new crop varieties (Joshi and Sthapit, 1990). Joshi et al (1995) have found this methodology is an effective approach to variety testing and evaluation in several crops. It is a kind of participatory variety selection (PVS), in which farmers are encouraged to select the varieties in their own target environment. The key is to identify similar niches and socioeconomic domains for the varieties. This approach will create a demand for seed for CBOs and help to identify suitable varietal domains.Further enhancement in the dissemination of crop varieties through IRD is al so possible. The recipients of successful IRD seeds may be motivated to supply handfuls of seeds at least to a few interested farmers (2-3) free of cost, and this can have large multiplicative effect. The approach may need regular monitoring for a few years in order to find out the effectiveness.The Nepal case demonstrated that the products of PPB can also be entered into the formal trÍals and that farmer-breeder selected variety can be officially released (Joshi et al., 1996).The breeder can pick up the most widely accepted material from PPB and introduces this cultivar into multilocational co-ordinated varietal trials to test for wide adaptation and yield potential relative to the standard checks.Witcombe et al., (1996) suggest that cultivar release and seed production is still a very desirable end product to make the results of the PPB more widely available and gain the benefits of the large-scale seed multiplication of successful released cultivars. From the Nepal case studies, farmers have selected many varieties adapted to specific niches and conditions, but those varieties which perform better across locations are entered into the formal testing systems. There is a need to simplify testing procedures, varietal release and seed regulatory framework policy to speed up the process. For participatory approaches to be more cost effective, data on farmer perceptions, rate of varietal spread and demand for seed also need to be considered as legitimate by varietal releasing committees, rather than the almost total reliance presently placed on co-ordinated yield data from researcher-managed yield trials (Sthapit, 1995).Questions are raised ong the need for varietal release for PPB products as tbis is mainly designed to facilitate the seed regulatory framework in the formal seed multiplication and supply network. Once a variety is released, NGOs, Area Projects and CBOs can legally multiply seed and distribute it vía their own channel. The perceived advantage for variety release and registration is that the formal sector wiIl take care of breeder seed maintenance, and production and seed distribution. Information and passport data will be officially documented and can be available in future.The proposed approach may• sound radical, but if it is institutionalized it can be expected to benefit national crop breeding programs by providing yet another method by wbich they can pro vide a service with the acceptable outputs to a large number of clients.The process wiIl also demonstrate that researchers and farmers can effectively collaborate early in the process to generate farmer-acceptable varieties. This is expected to give them mutual confidence in each other' s capabilities and a better understanding, leading to a fruitful collaboration. As a consequence, the new approach wiIl provide more food security to socially and economically disadvantaged groups of the community. Provided that national breeding programs appreciate the method and use it widely, the potential beneficiaries may also be the many farmers in high-yield potential areas ofthe country. The empirical evidences generated from the field will be a good reason to forge ahead with the simplification of the variety release system and the decentralization of the breeding program as well as the liberalization of the variety release system.The institutionalization of changes is the most challenging issue. Policy makers, research managers and researchers themselves have to accept the institutionalization of the decentralized research process. If the success of these initial efforts is to be su~tained, research management should ensure a congenial environment for field staff who work in difficult areas. This is often forgotten by policy makers or research managers, who have tried to replicate successful and innovative approaches from elsewhere.Crop improvement and conservation in most countries of the world exist in two settings -formal and informal. The formal setting links ex-situ gene banks and institutíonal and prívate industry breedíng and seed production. The informal setting is where farmers and communities use and develop local varieties, integrating genetic conservation and utilization in dynamic systems of on-farm crop improvement and seed production. The formal system of breeding has been mostly geared to farming in optimal conditions and is highly dependent on external inputs and technology, the informal system, on the other hand, sustains productive genetically diverse farming systems in marginal and resource-poor environments. The two exist in parallel forms but are not connected.The development of high-yielding plant varieties coupled with good farm management helps raise crop productivity to high levels. Formal plant breeding has also been able to build into cultivated varieties a broad spectrum of resistance to diseases and pests as well as to soil stresses and toxicities. Varieties have also been selected for their efficiency in extracting and utilizing nutrients from the soiL However, formal breeding has failed to adequately meet the needs and requirements of marginal environments. There are many resource-poor environments in which improved varieties did not express increased yield potential or did not satisfy other user requirements. This stems largely from the fact that breeding is mainly directed at increasing yield in more favorable environments. The cultivars are developed under conditions of artificially high nutrient levels and excellent water control. Pest problems are reduced to a mínimum by an excessive use of chemicals. Many of the new varieties were selected for high harvest index, raising yields but ignoring other traits which are crucial for the survival of the farm households that cultivate them. Selections were frequently made on research stations with near-optimum conditions. These conditions are very different from the circumstance of small farmers.Enhancing farmers' participation in plant breedíng: Sorne methodology issues and concernsFarmers have been found to employ their own taxonomic systems, encourage introgression, use selection, occasionally hybridize, make efforts to see that varieties are adapted, multiply seeds, employ simple cell-tissue culture techniques to produce new plants, field test, record data, and name their varieties (Salazar, 1996) Farmers are assiduous if not opportunistic plant breeders, evaluating food plants as crops, as sources of family nutrition, and commodities. The existence of several hundred native potato varieties in the Peruvian Andes with a wide range of characteristics is due to the careful selection and subsequent evaluation by farmers of naturally occurring crosses (Prain et a1.199 1 ). Indigeneous people in the world-famous rice terraces in Ifugao, another Philippine province, contributed 530 out of 1870, or about 28%, of the Philippine rice accessions sto red in the IRRI Germplasm Bank.Farmers in the Mekong and Red River Deltas have developed and maintained local varieties that suit their adverse agroecological conditions. Traditional rice cultivars are grown on 1.42 million hectares of 1.92 million hectares devoted to rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta.Since farmers in Bohol province, Philippines like to eat red rice, they were reported as having produced red ricelines from white rice varieties released by the government. The farmers find it unacceptable that plant breeders call this \"varietal deterioration\" simply because the rices are nicer to eat (Salazar,1996).The MASIPAG ( Farmer -Scientist Partnership in Agricultural Development) initiative in the Philippines on rice breeding effectively develops 88 advance lines suited to low external input conditions. The breeding objectives are set by farmers and the selection process is done by farmers in a number of trial farms all over the country. Farmers were given training on plant breeding and encouraged to breed cultivars adapted to their own farming system. Hybridization techniques had also been popularized with 28 farmer families in the town of Roxas in North Cotabato, Philippines.Three farmers were able to follow the breeding methodology recommended by CIAT researchers and successfully develop advance lines from early segregating populations of the common bean over a 3-year period (Kornegay et al., 1995).Farmers participation in formal plant breeding spans a very broad set of activities along a continuum ranging from the involvement of farmers in helping plant breeders to develop the plant ideotype, to decision making about the release of varieties and seed production (Ashby, et al. 1995). Farmers were involved by plant breeders in planning and in decisions on what to cross, in tine selection from bulk populations provided by breeders and in the final stages of variety testing or screening of breeders' lines (Berg, 1995). They participate in on-station progeny triaIs and variety triaIs of pearl millet (Weltzien et al., 1996) and in the evaluation of 10 parents and 18 F2 populations of the common bean (Kornegay el al., 1995). Farmers' invoIvement in the evaluation of advanced lines, whether in breeders' nurseries, on station, or in muItilocation varietal trials on-farm, is increasingly recognized as a usefuI way to generate timely feedback t9 breeding programs about the potentiaI acceptability of new materiaIs (Ashby et al., 1995).Enhancing farmers' participation in plant breeding requires addressing farmers' priorities, incorporating their ideas into the breeding agenda and building on their knowledge of the crop and the environment. It entails the adoption of innovative breeding approaches, the use of breeding methodologies that farmers can understand and easily put into practice, the use of locally adapted germplasm, and the criticaI involvement of farmers in the whole spectrum of activities in the breeding process --from varietal development to actual crop and seed production. The challenge is for the farmers to undertake most of the breeding work without losing the rigor of scientific research.Seed is an input in agriculture which for the most part, represents only a small fraction of the total cost of production, processing and distribution. However its impact goes way beyond its costs. The genetics of the seed determines in part where, when and how the crop is grown and the way it is processed and handled. The seed could be used to influence farming as a whole, particularly the type of farming where the resources in the hands of the farmer are extremely limited (Javier, 1984).Farmers wanted crop varieties that were suitable or adaptable to their production system.The realities of farming proved that the conditions for growing crops are, most of the time, far from ideal. Crops are now grown in less and less hospitable environments. Farmers need varieties that adapt themselves to les s than ideal or marginal environments. They need varieties that are responsive to low external input conditions. Most of the time, farmers could not ~ake the conditions of their farm match the requirement of crops. Attempts should be made, therefore, to adapt crops to the environment. It can be doné by choosing those naturally adapted to these conditions and/or by breeding and deliberately selecting varieties better adapted to the farmers' environment.Varietal development .should use complex, integrated farming systems as its starting point, instead of developing varieties that encourage monocultures. Farmers prefer varieties that wiIl perform well under multiple cropping and integrated farming sÍtuations. Farmers are asking for varieties that can provide adequate returns when intercropped or rotated with their main crops. They are looking for varieties which could provide products and by-products for other farm enterprises and household needs.Enhancing ¡armers' participation in plant breedíng: Sorne methodology issues and concernsPlant breeding emphasis should be put on open-pollinated varieties that farmers can reproduce rather than on nonreproducible hybrids. The norm in developing countries is for farmers to save their crop seed for subsequent plantings. They multiply and save seeds of either traditional or commercial varieties for their own use. They aim either to maintain the characteristics of the original plant or to continually improve the seed stock and, therefore, actual1y do a form of plant breding or crop improvement through selection.Hybrids are highly uniform and generally expensive. They normally require high levels of external inputs to perform well. Hybrids lack the genetic variability to tolerate multiple stresses in marginal environments. The seeds are also not recyclable. The succeeding generations ofhybrids are highly variable and different from the original variety.Open-pollinated plants are produced through natural crossing and are composed of more variable plants within a population. Self-pollinating species have varieties with genetical1y uniform plants (purelines or inbreds). Unlike hybrids, and as in clones and' open-pollinated varieties, purelines can be recycled for several generations. They could be made genetically diverse in the field by planting together different varieties or populations of the species.Conventional plant breeding strategies encourage breeding for uniformity. Varieties are bred for general adaptability. The introduction and widespread cultivation of these varieties destroys the diversity of local varieties. Before the introduction of the Green Revolution in the Philippines, farmers were planting thousands of different rice cultivars in about 3 million hectares ofrice fields in the country. After the Green Revolution, farmers could count on their fingers the number of varieties being planted nationwide. This breeding strategy induces cropping systems that are ecologically unstable and prone to pest and disease outbreaks.Farmers are not interested in wide adaptability. Their concern is stable yields on their farms and stable crop performance over seasons. They are not looking for the ideal variety. The evidence suggests that farmers want to manage an ideal range of varieties which answer their food system needs. Individual varieties are selected in terms of their fit, both with diverse ecological conditions and other uses. They are often allocated specific ecological niches where positive characteristics flourish and negative aspects occur less often (Prain et al., 1991).Farmers breed for agromorphological diversity, which is largely in response to use and preferences, and for diversity in the crops' adaptive characteristics. In genetic terms, 'this adaptation is not based on single characters but is multilocus with complex inherÍtance or coadapted gene-complex (Eyzaguirre & Iwanaga, 1995). Prain et al. (1991) reported 39 criteria which farmers consider in their evaluation of varieties. Breeders can never hope to to satisfy this diversity in one variety. It is not only the numbers that are daunting. In sorne cases, the actual desired level of a particular criterion is variable.In plant breeding, the most valuable and basic raw materials are the genetic resources or germplasm. These consist of traditional varieties, elite breeding lines, introductions, mutants and wild species.One major problem encountered in adopting the conventional process of varietal development is the rapid breakdown of the cultivar. This can be due primarily to the practice of crossing together elite lines which possess a narrow genetic base. The narrow genetic base decreases the alleles available among parents for the continued improvement of species. This condition of genetic uniformity increases the potential of being uniformly vulnerable to stress (Cayaban, 1990).Solving the problem of the narrow genetic base requires a geneticalIy diverse breeding population. A genetically diverse breeding population offers a high potential of introducing favorable alleles that may permit the improvement of the crop. The potential advantage of mating genetically di verse parents is that each may contribute unique alleles which, when combined together, may result in a superior individuaL Traditional cultivars can provide this diversity if included in the breeding population. These cultivars are results of over a thousand years of natural and bulk selection, making them superbly adapted to their environment for long periods with no major change.The yield of a variety under optimum conditions is a very poor indicator of its likely adaptability or acceptability. Breeders are generaIly aware ofthis problem and attempt to test their clones under a range of environments. Although, the adaptability of a clone can be evaluated through testing under variable farm conditions, acceptability will depend on a wide range of farmer evaluations. Farmers base their selection of varieties on a detailed knowledge of ecological and economic variation. They select varieties bases on their performance in different soils, in different climate pattem, and, in different levels of farm inputs, etc.In marginal environments, genotype x environment interaction exerts great influence on varietal performance. The high degree of interactions make it difficult for plant breeders to identify cultivars suitable for farming systems that are characterized by high variability in social, economic, edaphic and biological conditions. In these situations, the best recourse is to direct selection in the target environments. Ceccarelli el al. (1995) evaluated their breeding materials in the target environments using farmers' agronomic practices. Komegay el al.Enhancingfarrners' participation in plant breeding: Sorne rnethodology issues and concerns (1995) inc1uded three farmer-managed farmers' fields as sites for evaluating 10 parent material s and 18 F2 crosses of the cornmon bean.In order to optimally capture the variability and locational attributes of the farming environment where the varieties are to be grown, varietal development should be done less and less in laboratories and research stations and more and more in farmers' fields. Germplasm enhancement and the improvement of farmers' genetic resources within their diverse environments and social conditions would result in the continued and succesful use of landraces and in the improvement of their social and economic value. Furthermore, farmers' participation in plant breeding under their own environmental and agronomic conditions will speed up the transfer and adoption of new varieties without the involvement of the complex, bureaucratic and ofien inefficient mechanisms of variety release, seed certification and production (Ceccarreli, el al., 1995).Farmers' breeding is generally through mass selection techniques. The farmers select seeds from their own fields, either before or afier harvest. Selection is based cm a direct assessment of either the whole plant or the economic part of it. Observed variations are caused by the combined influence of environment and genetics. In self-pollinated crops like rice, farmers encourage introgression or the mixing of genes by mixed planting of varieties.Multiple Crosses Kawano and Jennings (1983) suggested, as an approach to farmer-Ied breeding, the use of wide and multiple crosses among varied germplasm sources. Thousands of multiple crosses in one year in one location may be equivalent to natural crossing over many years in many locations. That, combined with modified bulk selection, may be a realistic approach to participatory breeding in marginal environments.Genetic diversity in the farmers' fields, will be greatly enhanced if breeding institutions will release segregating populations and not finished cultivars. If local breeders and farmers access these heterogeneous, segregating and earIy generation materials and graft them on to local landraces, a plethora of region-specific and even village-specific cultivars, rather than just a few cultivars, wiIl be made available to farmers.One of the reasons why breeders are reluctant to give the farmers a chance to practice plant breeding is the complexity of handling segregating populations. There are several methods of doing this. The most widely-used are the pedigree and bulk methods.The pedigree method is the most satisfying of the several procedures open to plant breeders. It permits the plant breeder to exercise his skill in selection to a greater degree than any of the other main methods. Record keeping in pedigree can serve the breeder better in his future researches. Thus, pedigree is best suited to those doing research work. However, this method of selection is falliij.g into disfavor largely because ofthe prohibitive cost of accomodating the desired volume of segregants.The pedigree method is too complicated to be readily adopted by farmers. Farmers only want to develop their own varieties by means of effective selection in a generally diverse population. This can be readily achieved in a bulk-developed population.Genetic variability is better maintained in the bulk method. With the aid of natural and artificial selection, several genotypes within a population can survive. This is not possible with the pedigree method. Although every individual plant has an assurance of being represented in the next generation, only one or two ofthe best lines will be maintained. This is done primarily to avoid the selection of closely related individuals, whose probable worth is nearly identical. In the case of severallines belonging to the same population produced by the bulk method, their performance can be more flexible due to the interplay of natural selection, environment and genotype. Bulk methods provide more choices in selecting cultivars for specific environments (Cayaban,1990).The bulk population breeding method would discriminate against genotypes with high harvest index because oftheir low competetive ability (Kawano and Jennings,1983). Ceccarelli, et al. (1995) evaluated segregating populations as bulks for three years, taking advantage of the large year-to-year variation in total rainfall, rainfall distribution and temperature patterns. The evolution of experimental design from the randomized complete block design to the lattice design and later to the lattice experimental design, progressively improved their control of environmental variability. Sarkarung (1995) suggested the use of modified bulk and pedigree methods as a mediumterm approach to participatory plant breeding. For the long-term approach, he suggested using the population improvement method. In addition, Sarkarung (1995) cited the use of anther culture techniques for the mass production of double haploid lines as the best alternative approach. This approach may be preferred by farmers since the doubl~ haploid lines are uniform but offer a wide range of phenotypic diversity from which farmers can select for their own conditions.Enhancing ¡armera' participation in plant breeding: Some melhodology issues and concernsScientists have always been the ones involved in aH phases of varietal development. The process commences at parental selection, through ,hybridization, seleetion and the setting-up of different yield trials to the release of cultivars. Alternative breeding strategies, however, advocate that farmers be given a chane e to develop their own varieties.One potential strategy is the creation of a farmer-seientist partnership. Scientists would provide the teehnical support while the farmers would do the eoHection, seleetion and hybridization. Farmers would also seleet parentallines for breeding and evaluate how far the new material fit the different segments of their farming system. Sarkarung (1995) outlines the following breeding process where farmers can participate :1.Evaluation of segregating populations (Fl onwards in target environments); 11. Practice basic plant breeding such as single plant selection and/or modified bulk in Fl and the following generations until the populations/ lines become nearly fixed; iii. Evaluation of the material as lines through observation yieId triaIs with or without replication; iv. Organization of replieated yield trials of the seleeted lines by farmers in different key locations; v. Multiplication of the seed of the selected lines; vi. Recommendation of cultivars for release.In addition, Sarkarung included the evaluation of a diversified set of breeding lines and the documentation of farmers' pereeption of eultivars traits/eharacters as activities in the later stages of the breeding proeess.Farmers should be given training and other technicaI support on plant breeding. They should be taught the basics of plant breeding. They need to be introdueed to different plant breeding techniques. Farmers in the Philippines given training on hybridization were able to crossbreed different rice cultivars, seleet plants that were true to type and document the charaeteristies ofthe cultivars. They did this not only in community-managed trial farms with the guidance of professionals, but also in their own farm and by themselves.Farmers manage the tri al farms. They identify and study the cultural management of traditional rice varieties and improved cultivars. They select and purify promising crops. They conduct yield trials and do actual rice breeding. In all the activities, men and women have made equal contribution. It should be noted, however, that women appear to have more c.s. Basilio interest and skill than men in rice-breeding techniques. Y oung farmers were also encouraged to be more involved in the breeding work because they have c1earer eyes and steadier hands.Scientists can pro vide farmers with access to institutional germplasms from a wider source. Farmers, on the other hand, can give scientists samples of local landraces that are still cultivated. They can also provide information regarding the outstanding characteristics of the varieties they are using. Scientists can carry out research, characterization, evaluation and the long-term storage of germplasms .Enhanced by the documentation and understanding of its genetic composition and expression, the germplasm can be returned to farming cornmunities. Farmers will have available to them enhanced germplasm of the type they have traditionalIy selected and bred. They wiIl have access to such germplasm from a wider range ofhabitats beyond their own.A review of recent literature in participatory plant breeding indicated that farmers' participation in plant breeding can be enhanced by focusing breeding activities on genetically diverse and locally adapted open-pollinated crops. Breeding activities should be done mostly in the farmers' fields and as little as possible in cornmunity-managed farms. Farmers should be given training on plant breeding. With adequate training and guidance from the scientists, farmers are capable of carrying out hybridization and of handling segregating populations by the bulk or modified bu1k method. The scientific rigor of plant breeding activities in farmers' fields is optimized by the use of lattice and lattice experimental designs.Participatory plant breeding aims to link formal -sector breeding with the farmers' breeding, selection and conservation of plant genetic resources. It also attempts to combine the best of scientists' and farmers' knowledge in research and development and it seek to maximize both agrobiodiversity and productivity (Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga,1995) Participatory plant breeding is not so much about developing plant varieties. It is more about putting plant breeding into the farmers' hands.This is not only for the farmers to be able to develop planting materials according to their different agroecological conditions and according to their different needs, but also for them to be able to respond creatively to the changing ecological environments. In these situations, to wait for favorable morphological and agronomic traits derived from accidental introgression or mutations is, increasingly, not a viable option.The sooner the farmer takes the lead in crop improvement, the better the chances ofplant breeding ofbecoming more relevant to sustainable agricultural development. Cassava is the most reliable and affordable food source in over a third of the world's poorest countries. Cassava's harvest of starchy roots and high-protein leaves can be produced even on infertile soíl with irregular rainfall, where cereals fail. Cassava is grown primarily by small farmers in unfavorable or marginal environments. In Africa and Amazonia, cassava is traditionally a women's crop.In addition to ¡ts vital role in food security, cassava can be used as a low-cost, high quality raw material for small and large-scalé enterprises whose products have growing markets. Initial processing must be done near the fields because cassava roots are bulky. This creates local employment and opportunities for rural entrepreneurs. Economic activity in cassava-dependent areas is stimulated, contributing to food security and the quality of rural life.Cassava has another distinction: it is the only major world food crop neither grown in the temperate zone, nor used there in recognizable formo Yet it is in the temperate zone--the \"North\"--where most technically-advanced countries are located. As a result, the communities who depend on cassava have been separated from research capacity by both space and tradition. For biotechnology to help cassava users, linkages are needed where they did not before exist.Why a Network App~oach is Appropriate and Essential for Cassava Biotechnology?During the 1980s, CIA T, with lITA and a group of researchers in other development organizations, became concemed that cassava was being left out of contemporary crop improvement research. Cassava farmers, already among the poorest, stood to faH yet farther behind into marginal subsístence, as other crops captured new opportunities though advanced F ostering cassava biotechn%gy impact ¡or national programa and small-sca/e ¡armers research. The research task involved in reversing this situation was too great for any one institution to accomplish alone.CBNIs founders saw a need and an opportunity. Although most investment in agricultural biotechnology research capacity is located in the North and focused on tempera te crops, there is excess capacity which can be captured for an underinvested tropical subsistence crop such as cassava. A network could enlist the best labs in the North; make cost-effective use of existing investment;iin research; and stimulate research links between North and South, as well as stimulating piotechnology development in the South.A network was needed to entist intemational capabilities to conduct globally-relevant cassava biotechnology research around a cornmon strategic agenda. Based on this conviction, CBN was founded in 1988.CBN co-ordination activities for the past four years have emphasized the participation of cassava user groups in the assessment of cassava's research and development needs. Information exchange between biotechnology researchers and cassava researchers in national programs was also given high priority. CBN correspondingly expanded its activities with farmers and national programs in assessing needs, setting priorities, and transferring technology, becoming active throughout the full cassava R&D cycle. The linkages CBN has established permit strategic cassava biotechnology research to be correctly targeted and effectively transferred to benefit cassava users. In the cassava research and development cycle (Fig. 1), the research of CBN members is a \"Step 2 activity\". Therefore, impact wiIl depend on how well CBN is integrated in the R&D cycle. In support of a strategy of integration, CBN activities include:• conducting farm and village case studies with cassava users;• interacting with other groups working with cassava users, esp. small-scale farmers and processors and rural enterprise development; • awarding small Grants in priority areas for cassava biotech research; • organizing scientific meetings; • planning and integrate biotech research projects with on-going cassava R&D world-wide.In support of its strategy of creating linkages between disciplines and groups, CBN has awarded about 40 Small Grant Projects in the following areas:• case studies with farmers and village processors; • strategic research in developing countries and advanced labs; • operational funds for applied and strategic cassava biotech research in national programs; • transfer of biotech tools to developing countries; • pilot projects with farmers and processing co-ops.CBN members include about 350 active cassava biotechnology researchers, of whom about 200 (about 2/3) work in 26 developing countries, 130 in 13 developed countries, and 20 in two intemational centers. Members work in about 100 independently managed and funded activities or projects. A similar additional number of CBN members are national program cassava researchers in disciplines ranging from sociology and anthropology to agronomy and crop sciences, product development and marketing.Although CBN has been involving cassava farmers and processors in research priority setting for sorne time, their participation in research for development of cassava biotechnology applications is an area CBN is just beginning to explore. For sorne of the cassava biotechnologies, this is the result of the newness of the technologies itself. CBN's first collaborators in exploring participatory research will be the CADETs and Comités Campesinos fostered by CIAT Cassava Program and CORPOICA in Colombia; the COPAL farmer research cornmittees fostered by CNPMFI EMBRAPA, Brazil; and NARO, Uganda with its collaborators Vision Teruda, Action Aid, and World Visiono Biotech tools available for use include:• tissue culture (avaílable for sorne time); • molecular markers (newly available);Fosteríng cassava bíotechnology impact for natíonal programs and small-scale farmers Fanner observation time starts earlier in variety history. Instead oftough sturdy stakes, fanners would manage a first generatíon of delicate plantlets requiring shade and water for sorne time (= ínputs).A powerful scoring method for traits presently dífficult to manage because they are polygenic, have high environmental interactíon, or are expressed late in Jife cycle (Examples: yield, drought tolerance, postharvest deterioration). Also, a new and precise tool for maximízing genetic diversity at any desired level of uniformity for one or several traits (i.e., cooking quality).Farmer-technician collegial partícípatory breeding programoRequíres identíficatíon of contrastíng types, undesirable as well as desirable.Requires understanding that the use of markers in selectíon is a second step after two-three years field testing to develop the markers; marker development populatíons per se may, or may not, contain potential selected clones.Requires discard of large proportion of seedlings based on confidence ín lab resúlts. Experíence with keeping full population (\"selected\" and \"not selected\") could be used at first so farmers can evaluate worth of the method. Requires (for any breeder) c10se collaboration with a lab for marker visualizatíon and data analysis; lab need not be nearby.To Potato is a staple in the Ecuadorean diet and an important source of income for numerous farmers, retailers, and processors. Of all the crops around the world, potato is the most susceptible to pests and diseases, generating very high production costs. For example, in 1992 (a dry year), the estimated cost of applying fungicides to control late smut was US$ 2,324,427, a cost that could easily double in a rainy year.Until 1990, potato breeding, a sophisticated process, was vertical, that is, scientists carried out research and passed their findings on to users. Because of limited user participation, technology ofien did not respond to demandoSurnmarize the experience of the INIAP Potato Program in selecting clones with user participation by comparing the traditional system of selection and dissemination with the experiences of selecting and releasing potato varieties through participatory research.Offer researchers of other INIAP programs better opportunities for making the participation offarmers and other users in the adoption ofnew cultivars more effective and timely.That participatory research can be used to increase the flow of information on potato research, and that this methodology is more readily accepted by farmers than the vertical type.Before the participatory approach was applied, potato breeding was a long and expensive process that took more than 10 yearS to release one variety, the characteristics of which usually reflected more the taste of the researcher that of the client. The Program's strategy was to estabIish tríaIs to validate recommended technologies. Farmers provided plots and labor. Their participation was minima! as their relationships with researchers were vertical.In the 1980s, international centers did not play an interactive role in the variety of potato clones on offer. Materials released did not have the characteristics valued by local markets, and therefore their success was limited. In particular, tuber quality presented several problems in the preparation of local dishes. The Potato Program therefore had to look for materials suitable for consumers, crossing local materials with others maíntained in the Ecuadorean Potato Collection. Breeding, however, was time consuming, and feedback from experiment stations to the research centers was difficult.Even now, native varieties still rank among those most accepted by consumers because of their excellent culinary characteristics and because their market price is 25% higher than that of improved varieties. Of the improved varieties, INIAP-Gabriela, released in 1982, is the most outstanding. Although it now accounts for 21 % of the national market, ít took about 12 years to entero The variety's acceptance is based maínly on its pink-and-cream skin. Other improved varieties, such as 'INIAP-Maria' (much oIder), had a much slower commercial growth and did not respond to specific markets.The National Potato Program is now ínterested in identifying users' needs in order to offer solutions that can be adapted by productíon systems. Trials are carried out with farmers on new potato clones to assess early maturity, culinary quality, and disease and pest resistance.From the beginning, farmers provide the socioeconomic context, defining opportunities and limitations. They particípate actively in the planning and execution of trials, evaluating and finally selecting the best alternatives together with the researcher. The continuous contribution of ideas and modifications through the comparison of varieties is a dynamic process.The new breeding scheme clearly determines that farmers should participate in the early stages-when they provide broad criteria (through open-ended evaluations)--and in the final stages-when they give directed opinions (ranking matrix) (Andrade et al., 1995). The new scheme is supplemented by culinary quality tests given to both rural and urban consumers. Finally, agro industrial specifications are considered, which are well defined for characteristics such as dry Q1atter content and reducing sugars.The Proyecto flFortalecimiento de la Investigación y Producción de Semilla en el Ecuador -FORTIPAPA\" has used techniques such as (1) absolute evaluations in the earIy stages; (2) criteria-based ranking matrix in the second selection cycle, once a series of criteria has been defined; and(3) open-ended evaIuations to record and classify the spontaneous reactions of farmers to a technology.Mini-surveys. These were used during the first year in localities with the least number of test clones, and were supplemented by absolute evaluations.Colored flags. To conduct this evaluation, each farmer was given green flags 10 indicate selected clones and yellow flags to indicale clones that should be tested a second time.Materials not marked with flags were discarded. This technique was used mainly with those farmers with little formal schooling who spoke Quechua.Absolute evaluation. The use of a scale of 1 (bad), 3 (regular), and 5 (good) to classify clones was nol successful because the intermediate value caused indecision. The scale was therefore modified to that of 1 (bad), 3 (good), and 5 (very good).Main component analysis was used to examine the information collected from farmers, and the correlation of qualitative and quantitative clone characteristics was also analyzed.Tables 1 and 2 show the potato clones selected from two areas and for different types of users. The process began in the 1992/93 cycle.During the early stages, farmers contributed significantly to issues related to plant size, commercial production, response to diseases, and tuber color and shape. During the advanced stages, farmers indicated the commercial importance of, and market requirements for, tuber colors and shapes.  Tubers with pink skin and cream-colored flesh; high yielding (50 tlha).Tubers with cream-colored skin and flesh; high yielding (47 tlha); good for homemade dishes (soups).Tubers with intensely pink skin and yellow flesh; high yielding (47 tlha); used in agroindustries and for fresh consumption.Tubers with intensely red skin and yellow flesh; good yields (39 tlha); used for fresh consumption.from Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias -INIAP's technology validation and transfer units.Participatory research complements the scientific method. The incorporation of farmers' viewpoints into research and the broadening of researchers' understanding of farmers' behavior not only catalyzed the research, but also promoted the interest of users in the formulation and attainment of agricultural research objectives. Users thus increased their own ability to seek solutions and evaluate and apply research results to their condition, while accelerating the dissemination and adoption of technologies.The technical team lacked sufficient expertise in participatory research to ensure impact.Researchers must be skilled in formulating timely questions that respond to prevailing information needs. Etlective feedback to research centers was also needed.The Potato Program has already obtained four new potato vanetles by using this methodology. The low cost of its application has also been verified, and benefits for farmers were clear, especially for those who discovered that they could test a small number of clones on their farms. Once farmers understand the selection process and recognize that they are solving a cultivation problem, they are able to keep their own records and obtain results. They also beco me responsible for disseminating successful new varieties within their communities.Farmers feel that research responds to their needs and priorities. Women are also given the opportunity to participate in the evaluation of clones, and their knowledge and expertise are taken into account. Links between different community groups are al so strengthened, and the work of technicians is more effective.Participatory research can help identify concrete problems that can be resolved in each production zone. Technological altematÍves can be tested in environments differing from that of the experiment station. Research objectives can be adapted to the clientele's changing needs.Helle Munk Ravnborg A.A. 6713,Cali,Colombia Natural resource management problems related to agriculture often transcend field or farm boundaries and can only be understood or solved if a broader perspective is adopted, Le., a landscape or watershed perspective. Pest management is one example. The presence and severity of crop pests and diseases do not only relate to the management ofthe individual plot (the agroecosystem); they also depend on the way the landscape is structured in time and space in terms ofplot sizes, intra-and interspecies diversity, habitat connectivity, etc. (Altieri 1987;Barrett 1992). Soil erosion is another transboundary natural resource management problem (Burel el al. 1993). Cropping practices, including the use of erosion control mechanisms on upstream plots, directly affect soil and water movements on the plots below. To tack1e problems occurring in one part of a landscape or watershed, action might have to be taken in other parts. Conversely, to assess the impact on natural resources of specific management practices, implemented in certain parts of the landscape, measurements might have to be taken in other parts or from other crops or resources.This interdependency makes natural resource management research different from the crop improvement research that typically focuses on plot-Ievel effects and measurement of resource flows at the plot-or farm level. AIso from an actor-oriented or participatory perspective, natural resource management research differs from crop improvement research. Crop improvement research typically focuses on the individual farmer, or perhaps a number of individual farmers seen as representing distinct types of farmers and farming conditions. In contrast, the temporal and spatial interdependency that characterizes many natural resource management problems implies that sorne form of collective action among landscape or watershed users to co-ordinate how the management of individual plots becomes essential in improving natural resource management. Collective action is here understood as action that emerges from a process of individual s deciding to voluntarily co-ordinate or concert their behavior, in tbis case natural resource management practices. A central issue in participatory natural resource management research, therefore, is how to foster and facilitate such collective action. This introduces organizational issues, including the issue of scale, into the participatory research agenda. This paper argues that the appropriate unit for collective natural resource management has to be found within the community: apart from being neither a biophysical unit showing the biophysical interdependencies as, for example, a watershed, Beyond lhe [arm and within lhe community: Issues o[ colleclive action in participatory NRM research nor a social unit, the cornmunity tends to be too large for mutual understanding and trust to develop among its members.A second implication of the biophysical interdependency that exists within a landscape or watershed is the importance of involving the totality of users in efforts to improve natural resource management and to adequately appreciate the different views, interests, concerns, etc. that individual s or groups of landscape or watershed users might have on their own or others' use of the landscape. Failing to inelude sorne landscape users -or stakeholders -and their concerns might hamper efforts to improve natural resource management due to the biophysical interdependency. Methodologically, the challenge is how to identify stakeholders relating to a particular landscape and adequately elicit their concerns, interests, etc. Obviously, in most cases, there will be both internal and external stakeholders. In this paper, however, 1 shall only deal with issues related to internal stakeholders.Measuring, or even observing, the effects of particular resource management practices at the landscape or watershed level is inherently complicated both for landscape users and researchers. This is the third implication of the biophysical interdependency that exists in time and space between the different patches of land and resources within a landscape, and it reduces the irnmediate incentives for landscape users to engage in efforts to improve natural resource management. The third challenge to participatory natural resource management research is to improve land literacy, i.e. helping people to read and appreciate signs of health (or ill-health) in a landscape (Campbell 1994), and to devise a process or a set of tools through which this can be done.In the following, 1 shall deal in more detail with each of these challenges for participatory research arising from shifting the focus from crops to natural resources, from plot to landscape or watershed, and from farmers as individual actors to farmers as actors in a group. Rather than dealing with participatory research as a set of methods or techniques, 1 shall focus on the participatory research as an action-oriented process. On the one hand, the aim of this process should be to enhance landscape users' awareness and understanding of natural resource management problems and their ability to act upon these problems, drawing on their own as well as external resources. On the other hand, the aim should be to identify generic organizational process-oriented lessons or principIes for participatory natural resource management to be applied elsewhere.Rural landscapes, particularly in hillside regions such as the Andean hillsides or the East African highlands, tend to be managed by numerous individual landholders. Most of them own small patches of land which, together with other natural resources and perhaps daylaboring on neighboring farms, provide the major part of their livelihood. Decisions on how to manage land, water and other natural resources are taken individually and tend to be govemed by concems related to securing the household livelihood rather than considering the landscape and aH the landscape users. This does not onIy mean that landscape users lose sight of important landscape properties and that related natural resource management problems are aggravated there. It also means that opportunities for improving production are missed, even in the short-term.A number of factors might explain this apparent mismatch between potential gains from collective action on the landscape or watershed level on the one hand, and its absence or inadequacy on the other: the fact that people tend to get used to the status quo and not question it; the lack of individual willingness or capacity to assume the transaction costs related to initiating collective action; and the lack of information about the attitudes and willingness of other landscape users towards collective action (White and Runge 1995). Altering this situation is likely to require a stimulus and input from outside. This is where the role of participatory research becomes important. Sorne key elements of this kind of process of change can be identified, based on experiences reported in literature as well as my own work conducted in the Río Cabuyal watershed in the Andean hillsides of southwestem Colombia.Firstly landscape users must be encouraged, on an individual basis, to appreciate the need for collective action for solving the problems that they are currently facing by drawing their attention to landscape interdependencies. In the Gal Oya case in Sri Lanka where farmers organized in order to improve irrigation water management (Uphoff 1992), so-caBed institutional organizers were visiting farmers on an individual basis, asking about their problems with regard to irrigation and how they could solve these as individuals. This made farmers recognize the need for collective action and laid the ground for group meetings. In the case ofLos Zanjones, a 44-hectare watershed in Río Cabuyal, Colombia, users were asked to analyze a drawing of a fictive landscape with a number of ongoing activities such as tomato cultivation and the associated application of chemicals; fishing; the incautious use of buming for land preparation, exposing neighboring fields to danger; the pollution of water by sewage outlets; etc. (see figure 1). Watershed users were specifically asked to make observations on how individual activities were affecting the others and to relate this to activities taking place in their own watershed.Individual expectatíon of gains is an important precondition for collective action. However, as pointed out by both Uphoff, based on the Gal Oya case, and by White and Runge in their study of peasants engaging in collective action to control transboundary erosion in Maissade, Haití, gains should not be interpreted in a strictly economic sense. Gains in terms of personal satisfaction derived from contributing to the improved well-being of others -altruism - (Uphoff 1992), or in terms of banking favors and building (or honoring) debt c1aims with neighbors (White and Runge 1995) often act as important motivations for individual s to participate in collective action.Beyond the larm and within the community: lssues 01 collective ac/ion in participatory NRM researchThe second element in fostering collective action is to provide an opportunity for face-to-face contact between landscape users, and thereby assume an important part of the initíal transaction costs assocíated with inítiating collectíve action. Agaín, based on the Gal Oya case, Uphoff describes how simply bringing people together created a public forum where before there had only been private communication. It facilitated new flows of information about what neighbors do and think, and created pressures for faírness, legitimacy, status and values that together prepared the ground for collective action. However, for such face-to-face contact to be practically possible and effective in building up mutual trust and understanding among landscape users, the number of users and, therefore, the landscape or watershed should be relatively small (Cernea 1988;Uphoff 1992;1994), Le. up to 20-30 users or families which in a smallholder context would typically mean an area of less than 100 hectares. The appropriate unit for fostering collective action is therefore likely to be found within the community.Yet, for many natural resource management problems such as pest management, 100 hectares will often be considered too small an area of intervention due to the related biophysical processes taking place on a wider scale. To reconcile these concerns with the importance of mutual trust and understanding among landscape users as a precondition for collective action, a more successful strategy would seem to be to link small base-Ievel groups which have the benefit of face-to-face contact into a multitiered type of organization rather than to go large scale from the beginning (Uphoff 1994;Ostrom 1994). This, moreover, signals the importance of starting work in a landscape by addressing problems that are solvable or ameliorable at the small scale besides being important to landscape users. Once these have been sorne success at this level, it might be possible to embark on problems that require the co-ordinated management of Iarger areas and with larger numbers of users, by means of contacts with users in neighboring landscapes or watersheds.Collective action in landscape or watershed management is likely to have to take place in the context of diversity. Landscapes typicalIy contain a multitude of common and privateIyowned resources such as crop land, pastures, vegetation, animals, and water. Each resource has an associated complex of often conflicting interests held by stakeholders inside as well as outside the watershed. As an illustration of this diversity, the 20 families using the 44-hectare watershed, Los Zanjones, comprise four ethnic groups, two religious groups, cornmercial as well as subsistence farmers, land renters and land' owners, etc. Due to the biophysical interdependency between the resources within the landscape, successful landscape management depends on the identification and understanding of different stakeholders and their resource use.Scaling up from plot to landscape and from crops to natural resources implies that characterizing users according to dimensions such as resource endowments, gender, degree of market invoIvement, etc. is no longer sufficient. Many more aspects are likely to be in play such as the nonagricultural uses of landscape, the particular position of a pIot, a crop or a practice within the landscape, the degree of attachment to the land, religion, ethnicity, etc. Moreover, the interests of externaI stakeholders relate to and influence how landscapes are managed, though to varying degrees.Methodologically, the challenge is that the specific factors shaping the existence of different, particularly internal, stakeholder groups are likely to vary between landscapes and may depend on the particular issue within landscape management. This precludes, or at least complicates, a priori stakeholder identification based on a predetermined checklist of possible factors. Instead, stakeholder identification has to be contextual and calls for openended constructivist inquiry or exploration (Guba and Lincoln 1989). The constructivist inquiry consists of a process by which landscape users are invited, on an individual basis, to relate their concerns, ideas, values, and issues relating to the landscape and the management of resources taking place within it. Following each interview, central themes, concepts, ideas, values, concerns, and issues proposed by the respondent are analyzed by the inquirer into an initial formulation of the respondents' construction. After the following respondent has volunteered his or her perception, the themes suggested by the preceding respondent(s) are introduced and the respondent is invited to cornment on those themes. The constant comparison and contrasting of divergent views in order to achieve a higher-level synthesis of them aH, is a salient feature of constructivist inquiry (Guba and Lincoln 1989) and seems essential to any attempt to meaningfully identify and appreciate the existence of conflicting interests.To ensure that al! stakeholder groups are identified, landscape users are \"sampled\" according to what could be called a \"contrast\" or \"maximum variation\" sampling procedure, where each respondent afier the interview is asked to nominate another landscape user who, in the respondentts view, would be likely to hold ás contrasting a perception as possible from his or her own. The process of interviewing and soliciting nominations for new respondents is repeated until the information being received either becomes redundant or falls into two or more constructions that remain at odds in some way. Each of the emerging constructions indicate the existence of a stakeholder group. At this point, it is useful to bring together the \"members tl of each stakeholder group to discuss the eonstruetion and affirm its credibility as a joint construction of landscape management issues for that particular stakeholder group. These joint stakeholder group constructions form the basis of subsequent negotiation and the formulation of the action plans that are to take place between the different stakeholder groups identified within the landscape.A crucial feature of successful stakeholder identification seems to be that it is based on interviews with individuals and departs from the individual respondent's personal concerns, etc. Asking groups of landscape users to identify different interests or stakeholders within the group or directly asking individual s to identify conflicts, would mean them distancing themselves from their neighbors in the presence of the group, something which is ofien not socially acceptable. A case in point from the Andean hillsides --claims of homogeneity and agreement with respect to landscape management made in group sessions were later found to cover various types of disagreements, disapproval of others' resource use and even open conflict between landscape users, when individual interviews were held.The difficulty of measuring or even observing the effect of particular resource management practices at the landscape level and the interaction taking place between different patches or species within a landscape or watershed, affeets landseape users as well as researchers. For landscape users, it reduces the immediate incentives to engage in efforts to improve natural resource management. For researehers, it seriously questions conventional approaches to experimentation. Requirements of controls and replications at experimental plot level which are central elements of eonventional experimentation and involve a relatively limited amount of data-eolleetion, become virtually impossible to maintain in Iandscape-level research. Instead, large data sets on many landscape features related to the issue in question are needed from different landscapes thatare, at best, similar (Firbank 1993). This is costly.The increased involvement of landscape users in the monitoring and analysis of spatial and temporal changes in key features within the landscape such as water quantity and quality, the severity of pest attacks, etc. rnight offer a practical solution both for landscape users and for researchers. For landscape users, it would not only improve land literacy, i.e. the ability to read and appreciate signs of health (and ill-health) in a landseape, and to understand the condition of the environment .around them (Campbell 1994); it also would enhance the possibility of planning interventions in terms of scale and timing efforts, as well as prioritizing between possible alternative solutions (Ravnborg and Ashby 1996). For researchers, the involvement of landscape users in monitoring would provide a feasible way of obtaining the large and therefore expensive, sets of data required to properly analyze natural resource management problems at the landscape leve!. As shown by an example from Australia, schools and landcare groups, i.e. groups of farmers working together to develop more sustainable systems of land management, gathered and analyzed tens of thousands of water samples from creeks, rivers, reservoirs, irrigation channels, and bores. Each school or landcare group analyzed its data and sent it to a central agency for processing. In return, they received a computer-generated overlay map of water quality in the whole district which served for interpretation, discussion, and the planning of further actions such as rehabilítation projects. Apart from enhancing land literacy, involving landcare groups and schools in water monitoring meant that a larger amount of data from more sampling points could be gathered than was conceivable for government agencies paying professional staff. (Campbell 1994). This point is even more pertinent in developing countries where the authorities responsible for natural resource management tend to be inadequately staffed and hence even less able to perform such data collection than their Australian counterparts (Ravnborg and Ashby 1996).Many of the so-caBed rapid rural appraisal (RRA) techniques would be useful in such efforts to involve landscape users in landscape monitoring, particular mapping techniques and techniques that allow for the seasonal analysis of a particular problem or phenomenon. More emphasis will, however, have to be placed on devising procedures for continuous monitoring rather than the present one-off appraisal of the state of resources, and for compiling this information in a way that permits local as well as external analysis of the information. The tool developed by ICLARM for monitoring and assessment of small farm integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems, RESTOREIS, which combines participatory research procedures with computer-based analysis, might provide a basis for the development of tools to capture re so urce dynamics at the landscape or watershed level.Moving from plot to landscape, and from focusing on crop production in isolation to crop production in conjunction with natural resource management, does not only raise issues related to social research centered around collective action as discussed in this paper, but also issues related to biophysical research aimed at understanding landscape-Ievel dynamics and designing natural resource management technologies. Two issues stand out. The first issue, which has already be en touched upon, relates to scaIe and how to move between scales. As Beyond the larm and within the community: lssues 01 collective action in participatory NRM research described in the case of weed management studies (Firbank 1993) and the control of water run-off (Burel et al 1993), observations made at one or a few points within a landscape cannot be extrapolated to the entire landscape due to the interdependencies existing between the different patches. Thus, for many natural resource management problems, it is necessary to take the landscap~ as the unit of study. This rarely happens today.The second (related) issue is that of the role and mode of experimentation. Experimentation in a conventional sense is often practically impossible at the landscape level. Moreover, it may be unjustifiable to the extent that people depend on a particular landscape for the satisfaction of their present and future needs. Instead, the design of natural resource management technologies will increasingly have to rely on large sets of data collected jointly by researchers and landscape users in real-world landscapes and analyzed through the use of different types of multivariate statistical procedures (Jongman et al. 1995), geographical information systems and modeling. Real-world experimentation at the landscape level wiU, on the other hand, have to be limited to issues and areas where local landscape users are motivated and organized to undertake such experimentation through collective action.Michael E. There are a multitude of ways in which a particular agricultural landscape can be described, depending on one's purpose and perspective. The system perspective that 1 would like to take up is one that considers the dynamic, changing pattem of practices that farmers employ in their use of the land and resources they manage. 1 suggest that a theoretical framework that looks at this pattem as the outcome of a continuing process of evolution, and that borrows sorne of the concepts of generic evolutionary theory can be helpful to us, and for two reasons. First, it can throw up new insights into what we observe and what we understand of indigenous change in agriculture, and, in particular, why it proceeds slowly in sorne situations and much faster in others. Second, which comes to the purpose of this W orkshop, such a perspective can suggest new methods, both analytical and practical, for researchers and other actors who wish to associate with and stimulate these indigenous processes. This framework is not comprehensive -it makes no pretense, for example, of explaining why farmers innovate in the directions they do -though it can usefully complement approaches that attempt to do so. Even on its own, however, it may go sorne way towards providing the \"conceptual frameworks and methods that permit the description and analysis of local experimentation and information exchange\" that Okali et al. (1994) see as essential if a working relationship is to be established between formal and informal research.In what follows, 1 would like to briefly outline how an evolutionary perspective 16 can be applied to the problems of agricultural change and to the \"design choices\" that participatory research faces when it attempts to enhance the speed and efficiency of indigenous processes. 1 use efficiency here in two senses: the extent to which different types of farmers are reached and the thoroughness with which potential solutions are explored.Evolutionary changes occur on at least two levels in agriculture (Table 1). On the first, natural selection operates on the plants and animals that are the objects of production, as well as the pests and beneficia! organisms that are associated with them. People influence much ofEvolving agricultural systems and the design ofparticipatory research that evolution, directly or indirectly, but change still occurs through five basic, interacting processes. (i) Novelty is generated through mutation in the local population or vía irnmigration from elsewhere. (ii) Selection acts on the variation that is thus created: organisms with different traits survive and reproduce with varying success. Those producing the greatest number of offspring are betler represented in future generations. This demographic test is the heart of natural selection. (iii) Mechanisms of recombination, within and between individuals, give rise to new combinations of traits, combinations which together may constitute complex characteristics. The cycle is repeated, leading over time, and in principIe, to a population increasingly adapted to local conditions. In practice the race can never be won, because conditions are continually changing. (iv) Consistent gains in adaptation are possible only because genetic inheritance perpetuates successful traits and is far more often faithful than it is corrupted by mutation. (v) These gains are brought to other localities through diffusion mechanisms, assisted by, or independent of, people. The second level at which evolution can be seen to operate in agriculture is the social.Although the application of Darwinian concepts to this realm has a long and often acrimonious history, an increasing number of scholars are finding that the basic processes, if not the underlying genetic mechanisms, can shed light on the evolution of concepts, tools and practices (e.g. Toulmin 1972;Durham 1992;Plotkin 1994). In many ways, agriculture offers one of the clearest applications of evolution because variation in the population of practices employed by farmers is generally readily observed and because what constitutes adaptation to local conditions is fairly evident, certainly more than, say, with respect to artistic concepts (Toulmin 1972). Using the same framework of processes as for natural selection, evolution in the social realm can be seen to involve the following mechanisms (Table 1). In what follows, 1 focus on indigenous processes of innovation, leaving to the final section the contributions of the formal sector.Novelty in an agricultural practice is the product of human invention, be it a simple change in the depth of planting a crop, or a more complex change, say in the rules by which water is managed in a communal irrigation system. Such novelty creates variation, the raw material on which selection can act. The rate at which novelty is generated is one of the key determinants ofthe speed of evolution. We still understand relatively little about what affects this rate, but several factors clearly playa role. The propensity to think up and, more to the point, to try out a new practice is affected by security of land tenure or of rights to the resources it requires.The ability to innovate and the direction this takes are also affected by what farmers know and understand of the natural processes at play in their fields and of market conditions. Generation is, in a broad sense, costlier and hence slower for complex and \"bulky\" practices, those that have a minimum scale, that require co-ordination among farmers or that yield benefits only afier sorne time, than for simple ones.The means by which farmers test and compare varíant practices are still little understood, though increasingly studied. However, sorne generalizations appear justified. FirstIy, farmers generally do not take on a new practice until they have tested it themselves. The decision to retain, abandon or modify the practice is seldom made in relation to the performance of a contemporaneous control. Performance of the new practice in relation to what the farmer expects to obtain, based on past experience, appears to be a comrnon yardstick. Farmers are also keenly aware of what neighbors are doing and commonly compare their own practices with theirs. The size of the neighborhood within whích farmers make such comparisons and from which they can access innovations if they appear superior is an important determinant of the speed and efficiency of evolution. If farmers are extremely stratified and isolated, by, for example, wealth, gender or caste, if their physical or economic conditions are highly heterogeneous, or if they tend not to move very far from home, the scope for comparison or for accessing innovations will be limited. Change on an individual farm wiIl then be determined by the rate at which the farmer on her own generates new practices, which may be glaciaL Scale-dependent practices, for example, those related to resources managed collectively, can suffer a similar fate:' farmers may live their lives within only one approach and have no experience of variation. In contrast, simple practices that can readily be modified by individual s will tend to have a larger neighborhood for comparison. Where physical or economic conditions among farms are similar, and communication and exchange between farmers relatively free, a promising innovation on one farm will quickly be noticed, tested and taken up by a large number of neighbors. Population genetics has developed the conceptsEvolving agricultural systems and the design ofparticípatory research of \"genetic neighborhood\" and \"effective population size\" to account for similar factors in the dynamics of genetically-determined innovations. Adaptation of these concepts, and of sorne of the related mathematical analysis, especially the underlying demographic approach, may help to make sense of the dynamics of agriculturál practices. 1 return to this in a later section with sorne illustrations.Recombination processes play a crucial role in the development of complex innovations in agriculture, those that do not spring fully-fledged from an innovator's mind. Integrating fish culture into an existing farming system, for example, may require shifts in the planting dates of associated crops, changes in plant protection and irrigation practices, and possibly altered labor arrangements within households, all of which can be considered as elements of the \"fish culture practice\". Finding a productive and feasible combination of these elements takes time, certainly more than one season, and repeated testing.There has been little concerted study of recombination in farming cornmunities. However, exchange and discussion among farmers are clearly important. There is sorne evidence that the development of complex innovations is enhanced where farmers form cohesive, selforganized groups with a history of cornmon action. On the other hand, where farmers have a low tolerance for the poor, initial results that are inevitable in developing complex practices, successful innovation is less likely.Agricultural praetices that are found to be adapted to local conditions and preferences are maintained through learning and taught to others, in the same or following generations. The \"soft\" parts of resource management practices, such as rules for sharing irrigation water, may be enforeed and proteeted by sanctions. The perpetuation of the material elements of innovation, sueh as seed or tools, is assured by storage and exehange meehanisms that operate at both the individual and cornmunity level. Innovation may require that both sorts of mechanisms be altered, which can affeet the speed of change.The spread of practices beyond the neighborhood where they evolved typieally oceurs through the agency of travelers or migrants who spread knowledge of new practiees and disperse the seed of new crops or varieties. Local markets can be an important point for exchange of ideas and for the trade of seeds of new varieties or crops. These informal mechanisms may be supported, or ignored, by other sources of information and material, notably input dealers, extension agents, the seed industry and print and broadcast media.The evolutionary perspective can be of use to those engaged in participatory research in several ways.Firstly, and most fundl\\lmentally, it provides a framework that can integrate disparate observations about the functioning of indigenous agricultural systems. It draws attention to the processes and mechanisms that underlie change within them, sorne of which, notably recombination, are ofien overlooked. In contrast to sorne approaches, an evolutionary perspective makes clear that indigenous innovation relies on more than experimentation per se. The perspective may help PR practitioners to see what they do in a new light, as an attempt to enhance evolutionary processes, and may suggest to them new ways of working. It may also help them to forge links with researchers in other areas of the natural and social sciences where evolutionary models are being used, with important possibilities for crossfertilization.Secondly, the evolutionary perspective provides analytical tool5 with which to diagnose the constraints to innovation within agricultural systems and to evaluate the impact of interventions. In particular, demographic methods can help explain why certain innovations spread quickly and others not at aH, or why a given innovation spreads at very different rates in different environments. The speed at which an innovation spreads, positive, zero or negative, can be seen as the balance of two counteracting forces, \"birth\" and \"death\". A \"birth\" occurs when a farmer employs a new practice, or a group of farmers do so in the case of a collectively managed practice. A \"death\" results from a farmer or a group abandoning or possibly losing the innovation. Features of the physical and social environments, as well as the nature of the innovation itself, affect both \"birth\" and \"death\" rates. Box 1 illustrates the application ofthe demographic approach to an impact evaluation problem.Thirdly, the evolutionary perspective suggests indicators with which to monitor the effectiveness of different methods or designs of participatory research. Here, the concern is not with the spread of particular innovations, but, more immediately, with the extent to which interventions enhance the underlying evolutionary processes. Earlier, it was pointed out that the evolution of complex and scale-dependent practices is likely to be slowed by difficulties in generating new options and by the need to recombine component innovations in order to create adapted, feasible practices. Box 2 illustrates the use of quantitative Índicators for these two processes and shows how they can help in choosing between methodological options, in this case whether one works with loosely or more closely structured farmer groups. Other options might include measures to reduce the cost of experimentation for bulky, scaledependent options (e.g. by creative use of research stations, or through interactive models or games). Success in enlarging the selection neighborhood, for example by enabling farmers or groups to visit colleagues sorne distance away, would be indicated by, among other things, the appearance in their fields of innovations originating in those areas.Box 1: The demography of novel bean varieties in RwandaResearchers of the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda conducted trials with farmers on 3 bean varieties in 3 regions ofthe country. This occurred before formal institutions had begun to multiply or promote the varieties, so that farmers' assessments of their worth and the frequency with which seed was passed from farmer-to-farmer determined their rate of spread.Researchers visited the original farmers at least three seasons afier they had received the seed to assess whether they were still growing the variety and, if not, when and why they had abandoned it. Researchers also asked whether, when and to how many other growers the farmer had distributed seed. Estimates of survival probabilities and death rates were derived from the first set of information; birth rates were estimated from the second. Death rates in part reflected farmers' judgments of the varieties (which had been assessed independently). But deaths also occurred for reasons unrelated to a variety's characteristics. Farmers might lose a variety they valued due to flood or drought, or they might be forced to eat the seed. These involuntary los ses occurred most frequently in the first seasons afier a farmer received the variety when she was still growing it on a small area, and affected poorer farmers disproportionately.Reproduction, resulting from a farmer distributing seed to a neighbor, friend or relative, usually began two or more seasons afier the farmer received the variety. Once they started, distributions were ofien limited in number and restricted socially to relatives and close friends. Differences in birth rates among varieties were marked.The rate of spread, the balance between birth and death rates, was estimated using a standard demographic model (Figure 1). Sorne varieties are se en to move hardly at all or even to regress; others spread rapidly. The favorableness of the agricultural environment and farmers' appreciation of the variety appear to be key factors.Note that the estimates of spread take no account of the degree to which different social groups may be lefi out of distribution. Other evidence from Rwanda suggests that the poor are ofien se en as unequal and undesired partners in seed networks\" (From Sperling and Loevinsohn 1993).The birth and death of resource management practices will be subject to other factors than are varieties. For example, the spread of a new approach to managing irrigation collectively will depend on the speed with which people leam of it by word of mouth or get to see it in operation for themselves, and then act on that knowledge. Achieving consensus on trying the new practice will likely take sorne time. A group may drop the practice because it doesn't perform satisfactorily or for unrelated reasons e.g. because of civil strife disrupts collective action. A project of the Ministry of Agriculture involved researchers and farmers in the search for ways to intensifY production in highland valleys in southem Rwanda. Discussions identitied a number of possibílities, sorne. from farmers' experience, others suggested by researchers. Among the Iatter were severaI on which no formal applied research had yet been conducted in the country. One such was the use of local Sesbania species as green manures. The trees were well known to farmers, but not the practice of green manuring. The basis ofthe research relationship was that farmers were free to try and test whichever option they chose and implement them as they saw tit. Researchers undertook to provide advice and seed for farmers' triaIs. But they stipulated that they couId only work with groups, however these were organized. Four groups, of two types, agreed to work with the researchers. Two were \"coopératives\", formalized groupings which had been in existence for several years and which cultivated collectively, though sorne plots were assigned to individuals. The other two were newly organized, informal associations of field neíghbors who collaborated as and when necessary. Researchers attempted to stimulate innovation by several means: through weekly visits where experiments were discussed; by organizing \"traveling seminars\" in which, once a season, groups visited each other to observe and discuss the experiments they were conducting; and by bringing farmers to a lower altitude station where experiments were proceeding in parallel.Farmers rapidly found and adopted solutions to several problems, such as how to integrate rice into díverse farming systems. Progress was slower with green manuring. The idea of tuming under a crop was unfamiliar and fertility was not perceived as a major constraint in the valleys. Initial trials al so encountered numerous obstacles: germination and nodulation were often poor, drainage often impeded Sesbania's growth and pest infestations were at times devastating. As Figure 2 illustrates, the rate at which innovations were generated and tested was low in both coopératives and associations, but relatively higher in the former, and it remained higher ovér 3 years. The coopératives persevered in the face of the difficulties, recombining ideas about when, where and how to grow Sesbania in order to produce a usefuI ! quantity of biomass. The close and long-standing relatíonships among the coopératives' members helped maintain a common purpose when the interest of sorne individuals waned. After the leader of one coopérative told researchers the group was no longer interested in Sesbania, they heard the next week, from another member, that the group still wished to pursue sorne ideas. It was this group that eventually identified what appeared the most promising option, in which Sesbania was sown between sweet potato mounds, then incorporated in situ or in neighboring fields. Maize yield was increased 30% in this way in one trial. The results suggest that self-structured groups with demonstrated cohesion and regular contact make more persistent and dynamic research partners than those whose members have little ongoing • relationship. That advantage may be particularly important in difficult areas of natural resource management. Experience in the valleys indicated it was less significant in research on a more straightforward technology like rice varietal selection. (From Loevinsohn et al. 1994 ).Evolvíng agricultura! systems and (he design 01 participatory research  ------------_  Fourthly, the evolutionary perspective provides a basis for ex ante assessments of the impact of different interventions. The processes of generation, selection, recombination etc. can be described in models which may then be used to simulate the effects of different assumptions and actions. One question that is frequently debated by FPR practitioners is whether and how one shouId attempt to improve farmers' experimental practices. The assumption is that by neglecting to employ a control, by implementing what are in essence radically incomplete factorial designs and by other sins, farmers are making bad decisions.It might be said fírst that the importance of the question merits empirical investigation. In one of the few studies to examine the issue, farmers in eastem Africa were found to make good use of information, including sorne that researchers ignored. The conclusions farmers drew from a field trial correlated well with those of the researchers, but had greater specificity, as farmers took account of environmental variation that had not been controlled for in the experimental design (CIAT 1992). But even in the absence of data, models may be helpful to sharpen our thinking.Assume the worst, that with their existing experimental practices, farmers are able to extrapolate correctly the performance of an innovation in a small test plot to that of the whole farm only 50% ofthe time (no better than flipping a coin), while researchers' practices enable them to do so 95% of the time. At first glance, there would appear to be justification in attempting to reform local practices. But on reflection, and a model can help to make this c1earer, one can see that the existing situation may not be so bad. Farmers do not make their decisions in isolation. If my neighbor tests a new practice and rejects it, when in fact it is superior to his existing practice, while 1, flipping my coin, correctIy judge it superior and then proceed to use it over my whole field where its superiority is clear, both he and 1 can profit from the knowledge. Space does not alIow a fuII development of this idea, but it can be shown that if a relatively few farmers, who make poor experimental decisions relatively independently of each other, are able to see the consequences of their decisions at full scale, they can, together, be more efficient than a very precise but solitary researcher l7• Other issues, such as the question of how mány farmers or groups a researcher should aim at collaborating with (is more in fact better?) might also be examined with such a model. It should be noted here that models of evolutionary processes are being developed by a growing number of researchers. The questions of \"design\" that they investigate relate not to real-life situations in nature or society, but to \"genetic\" or \"evolutionary algorithms\" that are used, on computers, to solve hard computational problems that tax conventional analytical methods (Holland 1975, Paton 1994). That seems a long way from the design of participatory research, but the models that are being used may, with sorne tinkering, prove to be helpful analogues of the evolution offarmers' practices.Critical adaptation, rather than simplistic borrowing, must guide the application of evolutionary theory and methods to the problems of agriculture. But beyond being useful in our work, this framework may help to attract the interest of a wider range of scientists to participatory research. At present, participation floats several meters aboye the ground as far as many natural scientists are concerned. It finds no resonance in the theories and research approaches they Iearned, it was seldom used in the work of their teachers and mentors, and bears no reIation to the disciplinary questions they assumed in their apprenticeship. Perhaps it is thought of as a convenience, but not something to take too seriously. By linking participation to one of the most successful theories of modern science and by providing it with a rigorous and, if necessary, mathematical basis with which to think about how one \"does\" it, an evolutionary perspective can raise the profile of participation among natural scientists and provide a wider bridge to the social sciences. Lack of stature is far from the only factor limiting the use of participation by research institutions, but it is not an insignificant one.A.K. This paper describes an experiment in participatory research for sustainable development.The experiment relies upon certain crucial underlying assumptions. The traditional models of on-station development of technology and its transmission to farmers are no longer feasible, since high ecological variability demands niche-specific solutions. Local solutions developed by farmers themselves need to be identified and their scientific bases understood. The valueadded scientific principIes have to be shared back with farmers, who would then be able to develop technologies through their own research and experimentation, thus transferring 'science' and not just technology (Gupta, 1989a(Gupta, & 1994b)). Supporting and devCloping such experimentation is an important task for scientists and outsiders. Perhaps the most crucial challenge is for scientists to realize how they can participate in people's programs rather than asking how people can participate in formal outside initiatives.The paper is organized in four parts. The introductory part deals with the context of participatory research and provides a brief description of the Honey Bee network which is based on the principies outlined above. The second part describes the process of participation and the various methods used by the network for participating in people's research programs.The third part presents a contingent framework of participatory research. The final section deals with sorne reflections on learning from women innovators and stresses the importance of identifying and transferring science in order to enable farmers to develop their own technologies.It is well known that the crow incubates and hatches the eggs of the koel (a species of cuckoo). But will the koel hatch the crow's eggs? Farmers have tried out scientists' ideas in the pasto Will scientists now be willing to hatch the ideas of farmers? This is the direction in Participatory research: Will (he koel hatch (he crow 's eggs?which participatory researeh will have to progress in the future. It implies a patient, persistent, ethieal and accountable learning route to the development and diffusion of technologies. The need to find universally-applicable and quick soIutions, ofien eneouraged by the power of aid in the form of \"participatory\" methods like RRAlPRA, unfortunately militates against such an approach. The faet that hitherto insensitive and indifferent bureaucracies the world over find these methods legitimate, should itself have made everybody skeptical about them. We will not dwell further on this issue.The participation of people in research programs aimed at developing sustainable technologies is considered inevitable today. This change in outlook, within less than three decades of the onset of the green revolution, is a result of the increasingly complex interactions between local socioeeological and institutional conditions, and externallyinduced teehnological change. In other words, the chállenge technology designers face today is how to move away from delivering fully-tailored cloth towards supplying semi-stitched cloth whieh may be taÍlored by users themselves, keeping local specifications in mind. This requires both an understanding of the tailoring process on the part of the people, and an understanding of local preferences, criteria and specifications on the part of researchers.Another reason for seeking participation is that it provides opportunities to scientists to recalibrate their scales of measurement and co-ordinates of perception. Perhaps what is more important is developing in scientists the ability to leam how to participate in the plans, programs, experiments and missions of farmers themselves (Gupta 1980(Gupta , 1987b(Gupta , 1995d)). Ashby et al. (1987) had rightly criticized the excessive emphasis on the so-called diagnostic research methods that treated farmers as objects of investigation and in the process 10st the farrners' voice. She emphasized that participatory research should involve farrners as coinvestigators and researchers, and demonstrated, through farrner-managed trials, creative ways of understanding farmers' criteria for selecting varieties. Gupta (1987d), while describing the dynamics of homestead utilization by women, provided examples of the criteria used by poor women in the management of sweet potato seedlings, that had never formed a part of formal scientific research. There are many other examples, including the excellent research of Richards (1985Richards ( , 1987)), that demonstrate the need for scientists to participate in farrners' own research programs.However, any process of collaborative learning can be meaningful and mutualIy enjoyable only when the classificatory schemes or taxonomies used by the partners are matched. It is not necessary to synthesize these taxonomies, but it is essential to understand the various vectors on which each knowledge system organizes information and generates patterns of knowledge. Does it matter in a dialogue between farrners and scientists in Peru whether the potato is distinguished by its local name, Puka suytu, or only by its Latín name, Solanum tuberosum (Vasquez 1996)? It does not when two classificatory schemes are mere tools to highlight the strengths of the knowledge systems on which they are based. But when one system's superiority is asserted, or when scientists use scientific language to mask their inability to understand the richness ofthe vemacular, there is a problem.A second aspect of matching taxonomies is the need for formal scienee to realize that an indigenous taxonomy would be extremely rieh when the variance in any phenomenon critical for the survival of that community is high. The community breaks down the phenomenon into a larger number of discrete categories, and characterizes eaeh category by a different name. Thus, for instance, Eskimos have a large number of words for snow, and fisherfolk many names for varieties of waves. Each category symbolizes not only a pattern but also a theory underlying the classification and interrelationship of different eategories.Collaborative learning is not limited to just matching taxonomies. It raises the fundamental issue of the relevance of research. Scientists are \"futurists\", in the sense that they have the potential to shape the future (Latour 1983;Gupta 1987d). But by associating themselves only with particular user groups (for instance, better endowed farmers) or by following particular notions of \"usefulness\", issues concerning disadvantaged farmers may be pushed to the periphery.  (Verma & Singh, 1969;Nand & Kumar, 1980). The need for ensuring relevance through building linkages between formal and informal research and development systems has been stressed by Biggs (1984) and many others including Chambers, Richards, Gupta, Ashby, Warren, Juma and Atte.Finally, collaborative learning also implies that language does not become a barrier. Most research is published in English, with the result that local people do not get a chance to read and criticize. Sharing in the local language, at all stages of research, is an ethical dimension of participatory research as well as a means to achieve efficiency. That is what became the point of departure in the Honey Bee network.The purpose of the Honey Bee network is to bring together people engaged in eco-restoration and reconstruction of knowledge about precious ecological, technological, and institutional systems. The network specifically aims at identifying innovative individuals or groups who have tried to overcome technological and institutional constraints with the help of their own imagination and effort. The innovations developed by such people are based on low external inputs, are ecofriendly and have the potential to improve productivity at a low costo The values that underpin a network of such innovative people --the spirit of excellence, critical peer group appraisal, competitiveness and entrepreneurship for self-reliant development -would generate pressure for sustainable development that will counter the externally-driven and patronizing initiatives ofthe \"people-as-victims\" developmental paradigm.The Honey Bee network brings out a newsletter of the same name in six languages in India (English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu)  Honey Bee insists that two principies are followed without fail: (a) whatever we learn from people must be shared with them in their language, and (ii) every innovation must be sourced to individuals/ communities with names and addresses in order to protect the intellectual property rights of the people. Such a process of learning and sharing implies that one has to realize that the boundaries between formal and informal knowledge systems may often be falseo The informal system may have formal rules waiting to be discovered. The formal system may have informal beliefs or conjectures that may provide an impetus for further mqUlry.More than five thousand innovative practices, mainly from dry regions, have been documented over the last six years. Disadvantaged people may lack financial and economic resources, but they are definitely rich in knowledge. The label 'resource-poor farmer' is one of the most inappropriate and demeaning contributions from the West. At the same time, we realize that the market may not be pricing people's knowledge properly today. For instance, out of 120 plant-derived drugs, 74 per cent are used for the same purpose for which the native people discovered their use (Farnsworth 1988), implying that the basic research to link cause and effect had been done successfully by the people in a large number of cases. Modern science and technology can help by improving the efficiency of the extraction of the active ingredients or by synthesizing analogs (Gupta 1991a).A second feature of this large collection is that people' s knowledge systems need not always be considered infonnal just because the rules of the formal system faíl to explain innovations in another system. The hazards of pesticide residues and their adverse effects on the human and ecological systems are well known. In the second issue of Honey Bee, out of the 94 practices reported, 34 dealt with indigenous low-external input plant protection methods. Sorne of these practices could extend the frontiers of science. For instance, sorne farmers cut 30 to 40 days-old sorghum plants or Calotropis plants and put these in irrigation channels in order to control or minimize termite attacks in light dry soils. Perhaps the hydrocyanide and other toxic elements in sorghum and Calotropis were responsible for the effect.It is possible that private corporations may not have much interest in the development and diffusion of such alternatives which pass control of knowledge into the hands of people. However, an informed, educated and experimenting client always spurs better market innovations as is evident from the experience of the computer industry. Therefore, we do not see a contradiction between the knowledge systems of people and the evolution of market rules to strengthen and build upon them. However, such market model would have to be highly decentralized, competitive, open and participatory. Honey Bee, in that sense, is an effort to mold markets for ideas and innovations, but in favor of the sustainable development of high risk environments.Of course no long-term change can be achieved if the local children do not develop values and a worldview ~onsonant with the philosophy of sustainable development. Therefore, members of the network have also involved themselves in educational activities like holding biodiversity contests for school children. At another level, sustained change would demand a much higher scale of networking. The concept of Knowledge Centres! Networks (Gupta 1995) was developed as a model suitable for the multilevel, multinodal and multichannel networking of individuals and institutions involved in sustainable development.As stated earlier, the Honey Bee approach uses local solutions, developed by the people themselves in spite of technological and institutional constraints, as the basis for participation. Such a solution-augmenting strategy requires not just searching for local problem solvers, but also understanding their heuristics. The Honey Bee network has emphasized the role of innovative individuals far more than that of creative communities, not because the latter is less important but because the former has received much less attention in most Southem countries. The culture of compliance and conformity has also made many community structures less tolerant of local dissent, even if the latter is constructive. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the innovations of a particular farmer are ofien not known even to his neighbors.The methods that have been tried to identify and record innovations are listed below:• survey of innovations (through students and innovators);• competitions: (a) students (b) Govemrnent Officials;• biodiversity contests; • fairs and festivals;• workshops;• dissertations produced by students;• participatory Institution-building initiatives;• scanning of old literature. our message through metaphors and the students' own examples, communication becomes very efficient. The students then go to the villages, identify innovators and record their experiences. They also collect addresses of a few farmers who either know about the innovator ami/or have fields adjoining the fields of innovative farmer. We write letters to these contacts later to have a first round of confÍrmation. Later, each practice is revisited by another student/field investigator to avoid any error in the process.Survey through innovators. This approach has been used to identify innovative artisans, through a process similar to \"snowballing\". In sorne cases, the innovators themselves have traveled to look for others of their kind. This process has been very rewarding in identifying innovations in farm implements and soil and water conservation.Competitions have been organized in two Indian states (Gujarat and Rajasthan) among students of agricultural colleges and grassroots-Ievel government functionaries. Workshops were first organized to provide sorne background about the prior research and to illustrate many of the innovations that had been identified by village level workers. No reference was made to any of the so-caBed \"rapid\" methods for the simple reason that the ability to scout around for innovators depended far more on one's framework of understanding rural creativity than on any particular method. The entries sent in by the participants were evaluated and the winners awarded prizes. The innovators were also honored. One positive impaet of sueh honorihg has been the inerease in the esteem that such innovators now cornmand in their own villages.Biodiversity contests were organized among school children, and in sorne cases, out-ofsehool children and adults. The aim of these eontests is to identify the eeological knowledge of children in order to recognize altemative knowledge systems in dry and forest areas.Children are asked to bring samples of plants they know about, on an appointed day. They are quizzed about the uses of the plants, the plants they know about but did not find, and other nature-related aspects. The first contest was organized in Madurai, India, by SEV A. Similar contests were organized in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in India and in Vietnam and Bhutan. What was most remarkable about these contests was the faet that young children from very disadvantaged backgrounds showed an extraordinary ability to inventorize biodiversity and its local uses. Mahadev K. Sodha of Tadav village in Gujarat, 12 years of age, listed as many as 305 plants. Ankita Patel, a ll-year old girl of Valawada village identified 165 plants. Several lessons have been leamed from these competitions, but one of them needs to be specially highlighted (Vijay Sherry Chand, Shukla & Gupta 1996, Gupta 1993, Gupta 1994a).,In one of the villages, Virampur, Karimbhai, a potter by profession but knowledgeable about local herbs, was invited to give away the prizes. After the function, we offered him sorne utensils as a token gift. T o our surprise, he refused to accept the gift. He was willing to sen his pots. But in his role as a biodiversity expert, he would not aceept any payment because he had never charged for his healing services. He is an extremely poor person and had to withdraw his elder son from school in order to manage his business.Sorne of the other lessons are listed below:• The ecological ethics of sorne of the poorest people were far stronger than one would assume. However, one cannot keep people poor in order to conserve diversity or the ecological ethics. It should be possible to maintain ethics without deprivation. • The sacred dimension of one's belief system is compatible with the secular goals of the innovators. It is this blended culture which has to guide the spirit of enquiry of young minds. • Little children have sometimes shown a far greater spirit of participation than adults. For instance, when a 12-year handicapped, out-of-school girl brought a single leaf as an entry it became obvious that winning a raee certainly was not uppermost in her mind. How do we sustain this spirit when ehildren grow up? • Older boys seem to know much more about biodiversity than girls. Perhaps the additional household responsibilities of older girls restríct their biodiversity-related pursuits. • Children from the so-called baekward castes seem to know more about plants. Children from other eastes obviously spend less time grazing animal s or eollecting forest produce. • Children less than 12 years oId have already traveled halfthe intellectual distance covered by the most knowledgeable adult in the eommunity. The tragedy is that the formal education system does not offer opportunities to such children for furthering their skills in nature-related fields. Unless they leam 'A for apple, B for Boy, C for Cal', there is very little future for these children. • Ironieally, high biodiversity areas also show high rates of drop out from primary schools.Such areas are also high in poverty and the migration of males. The proportion of femaleheaded or managed households, consequently, is high. If we generate incentives which accrue only to those who are educated, or are male, or do not migrate, the poor may be left out. • In one of the contests held in Kerala, children brought not just the lists of plants but also the seedlings. The school administration decided to give sorne of the seedlings as prizes and living mementos to the participants. The result was that shuffling of the local biodiversity took place. This is an experiment which has enormous potentiaI to promote a people to people exchange of knowledge as well as diversity. • In a recent modification, ecological indicators were collected through such contests. More than sixty indicators related to prediction of rainfall and other climatic parameters, disease and pest attacks, fertility of soil, performance of animals and crops, were identified. Many of these indicators would have to be validated through systematic observation, crosscultural testing and scientific appraisal. What is important is that many of these indicators embody wisdom encoded in the form of easy-to-interpret signals. This knowledge can blend very well with scientific knowledge.Fairs and Festiva/s: Message to the MassesWe had not used the various religious and cultural fairs and festivals organized in different parts ofthe country to communicate the Honey Bee message till December 1995, when we set up a sta11 in a faÍr meant for trading donkeys, camels and bullocks. Many farmers visited the stall and purchased copies of Lok Sarvani (Gujarati version of Honey Bee). The stall a1so had a computer for demonstrating the database on innovations in the local language. Farmers searched the databas e for solutions to their problems. They also offered solutions which they knew about but did not find in the database.In another fair organized in Junagadh, we displayed an innovative bullock cart developed by Mr. Amrutbhai Agrawat, an artisan. As many as 400 farmers showed interest in buying the bullock cart and registered their names for getting further information. Reeently an agricultural university placed the first order for the cart.Participatory learning through peer group interactions. We have been organlzmg workshops for innovative artisans, farmers and local healers. Scientists also usually attend.Before the workshop, reports on the innovations are circulated to the participants. During the workshop, innovators articulate the processes they followed and their difficulties. Other participants offer critical comments, altematives or variations known to them. In a recent workshop of traditional veterinary healers, the participants themselves developed an agenda for conserving the medicinal plants they used.Traveling seminar. Given the critical importance of farm implements in rainfed regions, we organized a workshop of blacksmiths and carpenters. Since most artisans do not make drawings of their implements, it is difficult for a lay person to understand the uniqueness of an innovation. We realized that there was no escape from traveling together to the work places of the artisans. Thus was bom the idea of traveling seminar. The concept was used earlier by Jock Anderson in 1968-69 as part of his institution building efforts in the wheat breeding program in Bangladesh as a part of CIMMYT support to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (Gupta,1985a).In an on-going experiment with the Mahila Gnim Vidyapith, Nardipur, Gujarat, undergraduate students of dairy science have been writing dissertations on technologieal and institutional issues conceming indigenous veterinary knowledge. Different subjects like indigenous animal breeds, selection eriteria, veterinary healers, institutions for the maintenance of pastures, breeding bulls, sharing animals and indigenous dairy products have been studied.In most of the natural re so urce management research programs involving group action, one of the most obvious weaknesses is the lack of attention to institution building. Technological choices in the absence of institutional anchors may not be sustainable, particularly if they require periodic renewal and reaffirmation by the group. We have tried several approaches to ínstitution building over the last six years:• ínvesting in localleaders;• legitimization of local experts as gatekeepers for external resources;• stakeholder involvement in the network building process;• embedding new ideas in existing institutions;• establishing (experimenters' network).The last approach is the one which appears to be the most promising. One of the most controversial aspects of institution building is the definition of the boundaries of the group or collective. It has ofien been assumed, almost axiomatically, that the local village boundaries are the most suitable. However, an appreciative peer group is very important for generating, criticizing, nurturing and sustaining creativity and the long-term visiono It is usually difficult to find a critical mass of such experimenters in one village. A network like the shodh sankal provides the pulverization that any soil needs in order to make sowing possible. It also provides the optimal resistance to an idea as well as the critical appreciation for it. The meetings of this network are held in different villages.A sense of history is extremely important when blending different knowledge systems and ideas. An old indigenous reference generates more interest and involvement among scientists and farmers than any logical discourse. For instance, a lecture entitled \"The Gospel of Dirty Hands\" by a former cabinet minister and a man of literature, Dr. K. M. Munshi, very effectively communicates the principIe of how middIe class scientists and extension workers could lose their touch with the soil and the small farmers by not trying to soil their own hands. Similarly, an old book by Gangaben (1894) ofMansa in Gujarat, provides an excellent example of what woman's creativity can accomplish. She was a young widow when she wrote a book in 1893 that included 2080 recipes for self employment for rural youth. Many herbal pesticides, vegetable dyes, ways of storing grains are among the various ideas she wrote about. It is said that 1000 copies of this book were sold in just the first three days afier publication. A reference to this book in our various meeting s generates tremendous enthusiasm among field workers and farmers and communicates the need for documentation and dissemination.Another advantage of old literature is that it generates humility. When one tries to assume a heroic role, it becomes difficult to be self critical. On the other hand, when one claims to merely extend a long tradition (say of participatory research), there is less resistance to the idea of collaborative learning. Way back in 1907, a book called Fortune in Formulas for Firms and Farms was published in North America. It continued to be published till 1943. This book was similar to Gangaben' s in that it contained a large number of recipes for private or commercial use. There may be similar traditions in other societies and thus the first step in participatory research should be to trace the living traditions that are rooted in local culture and history. Instead of grafting on an alien terminology, concepts grounded in local philosophy, culture and traditions should be used as the initial building blocks. It is not our argument that local traditions can always provide sufficient scope for experimentation and innovation. However, there are always streams of resistance, innovation and experimentation which may be identified.Reciprocal Framework oC Research: Contingent Perspective on ParticipationWe began with a question about whether the koel will participate in hatching a crow's eggs. It is now time to question whether such participation is necessarily superior to the participation of the crow in hatching a koel's eggs. Often, uncovering the farmers' own experimental approaches and heuristics may be sufficient to help them to redefine the problem and devise appropriate solutions (Gupta 1989c, Gupta 1989d, Pastakia 1995). But in sorne cases, farmers cannot devise solutions on their own. On-station research becomes necessary and farmers will have to merely participate in evaluating results or monitoring the experiments for any counter-intuitive observations. Normatively, we should not consider one form of participation superior to the other. Thus, farmers' participation in the scientists' own experiments need not necessarily be superior to scientists' participation in farmers' research. Both forms have their own advantages and limitations. In order to evolve a contingent framework, it is necessary to match the different methods of participation with the different approaches to defining the purpose of participation. The same method, say on-farm research, may not address all kinds of problems.It is a truism that the proper definition of a problem is balf the solution. And yet, very often, we do not know whether our definition of the problem is correct or not. Let us take the case of weeds, which are considered to be a menace in rainfed crops. In the conventional definition, weeds are plants out of their place. But in nature, no plant can truly be out of its place. It is possible that we may not know the significance or role of a particular weed as a companion plant. For instance, the distribution of mineral s in a fieId may help certain plants grow faster or slower. Thus, weeds may act as indicators of soil mineral properties (Hill & Ramsay, 1977). If we know the variability in the soil nutrient profile, we can follow precision farming which will lead to economy and efficiency in input use. Once the existíng heterogeneity of nutrients is known, it is possible to study the reasons and take remedial aetion. Another way to look at weeds is to ask ourselves why farmers are seleetive in removing weeds. They obviously must be reeognizing the allelopathie interactions of various plants. A good example is a weed (eompanion plant) called Sama (Echinocloa colonum) which grows on its own in paddy fields, or is cultivated in certain parts of the country. Why would farmers conserve a 'weed'? There may be several reasons: (a) it is an extremely nutritious grain suitable fór consumption during fasting (b) a review of literature shows that it provides an altemative host for a few insects including leaf roller which do not affeet paddy crop but get attracted to Sama and (c) sorne other ecological function which we are not aware of as yet. It is not without significance that farmers have conserved this weed through sociocultural mechanisms such as a particular festival, Sama pancham, when only grains like Sama are eaten. If sustainability requires a long time frame and a wide varlety of heuristics through which our choices should be processed, then a strong case exists for understanding how farmers define a particular problem (Gupta 1981, Gupta et al., 1995).Termites or white ants are known to be a serious problem in farming as well as in households. However, like many organic farmers, Mulchand Haria of Kachchh district, an arid region of Gujarat, sees termites as a resource. His contention is that termites never attaek green living tissue. They act as scavengers and attack only tissues that have died due to sorne disease or physiological problems. He has been nurturing termite mounds in his organic field. He does not even allow people to cross his fields because various beneficial organisms residing in this field may be disturbed. In eertain parts of West Africa, pits are dug in the fields which are to be reclaimed. Various kinds of organic matter are dumped inside and termites introduced. Soon the fieId is converted into a fertile pIot of decomposed organic matter (TASA system).Once, during a discussion with sorne farmers on the reasons for growing different varieties of paddy in seemingly similar adjacent plots, a Bangladeshi farmer mentioned that one of the two varieties gave a better yield and fetched higher prices, while the other was good for consumption. The latter variety swelled in the stomach afier consumption, giving a satisfactory feeling of having eaten. He suggested that the pangs of hunger were more debilitating than nutritional imbalances. The ability of grain to swell in the stomach may not have been a criterion or a problem to be studied by the scientists so faro Let us take another example. Storability is a characteristic of sorghum which has not been given enough attention by those who have designed the protocol of germplasm characterization in ICRISAT (Bush and Lasey 1984). When one ofus (Gupta 1991 b) inquired about this characteristic from the former head ofthe gene bank (Dr. Mangesha) in ICRISAT, it was mentioned that it was not important. But millets and sorghum are not procured for the public distribution system because the improved varieties of these crops do not have good storability. Contrast this with a particular variety whose name in the Tamillanguage is irungu cholam. The word irungu is derived from irumbu which means iron. Obviously, if farmers chose to name a red sorghum variety having high storability in this fashion, the importance they attach to the storability character is evident. The etymological roots of the names of many other local varieties may reveal similar insights about germplasm characterization. Defining a problem is a process in which whatever effort is made will always appear inadequate. Yet it is an area in which we have made very little headway.Establishing a Causal Connection: Can Farmers Do the Right Things for the Wrong Reasons?Often people's knowledge is decried on the grounds that it is deficient in the area of causeeffect relationships. It is not realized that many modem technologies were developed with the causal basis for the effect observed remaining a mystery. Aspirin helped in reducing headache. Why it did so was not known till recentIy. Farmers in parts of Haryana in northem India grew coriander around the chickpea crop. They believed that it helped in repelling pests. At our suggestion, Pimbert (1989, personal communication to Anil Gupta) pursued research on this practice in ICRISAT and found that coriander did not repel the pests but actually attracted the predators (Gupta, Patel & Shah, 1986).In the mid-fifties, paddy-growing Chinese farmers were suffering from the deadly disease, Schistosomiasis, which was caused by blood fluke. It affected 250 million people in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. Scientists studied the life cycle and found out that the snail was the intermediate host that helped in completing the life cycle of the blood fluke. Scientists communicated these findings to people through films, radio talk and other media.Once people knew about the habits and life cycle of the organism as well as the intermediate host, they devised numerous ways of checking them (Jousa, 1969).In the case of the guinea worm, farmers could not identify the causal mechanism and therefore failed to control it. They did the next best thing, which is to cope. They developed methods of extracting the worm out of the body without breaking it. When scientists researched the problem, they found that people should not drink water from the ponds in which they washed their hands and feet. The worm spent part of its life cycle in the human body. By double filtering the water, the eggs could be screened out. Many more examples may be given of the role of participatory research, formal as well as informal, in understanding causal mechanisms.Primarily drawing upon the Honey Bee database, Pastakia (1996) studied grassroots innovators involved in sustainable pest management in order to understand their decision making processes. He identified two particular heuristies whieh were not reported in the formal seientific repertoire: (i) use of inseet and plant material for repelling pests and (ii) increasing the growth of a erop to minimize economic damage by a pest instead of controlling the pest itself. The heuristies that the innovators used to derive such solutions included various combinations of materials, methods and products, each of which had a sustainability dimension determined by the renewability of the resourees involved (Figure 1). Old methods, old material and old p~oducts. Old methods, old materials and old products signify the traditional wisdom which may have relevance even for the contemporary contexto For instance, Virda is an age-old technology for conserving rain water in a saline arid region with saline ground water. In a predominantly flat region, rain water gets stored in minor depressions or tanks. Within these tanks, the pastoralísts dig shallow wells lined with frames of wood of Prosopis juliflora and grass. Just ten ¡nches of rainfall provide sufficient fresh water which remains aboye the saline ground water inside the wells. The virdas are covered with silt and sealed. They are opened, one at a time, depending upon the need. The water remains sweet for two to three months, after which it turns satine due to the upward movement of saline water. This technology has enabled the pastoralists in Banni pastures to survive for several centuries. The season's rain may fall within a few days, hence the need for a robust, efficient and adaptive strategy (Chokkakul & Patel,. 1994;Ferroukhi & Suthar, 1994).In such a case, modern science does not merely he1p explain the functional viability of the technology, but also p,rovides a basis for abstraction and generalization. For instance, once the properties of wood and grass, the pressure that the walls will need to cope with, the infiltration rate and the functions of the saline soil in holding the salts are explaíned, the search for other materials and methods for similar outputs may begin. There is very little advantage that the prior art of knowledge in modern science can pro vide while dealing with such complex questions of survival in difficult regions.Participatory researeh: WiIl the koel ha/eh /he crow 's eggs?Old methods, old materials and new products. The hair which constitutes the mane of camels is known to be very hardy and resistant to corrosion. TraditionalIy, the pastoralists make different kinds of ropes, carpets and bags out of this hair. Once science figured out the use of these carpets as oil filters in oH refineries, a new product was developed from the old method and material. Similarly, sisal rope has been used in various activities, both for commercial and domestic purposes. It was found that these ropes can withstand corrosion better than any other material in the sea. Thus a new use for material grown in poor soils is generated. The processing of sisal is very painful because of the various tannins released into the water in which sisal plants are immersed for sorne time. When the fibre is taken out, these tannins cause blisters on the hand. Simple technologies have been developed to take the fibre out without hurting the hands. Modern science can blend in with the traditional methods while leaving other choices intact.New methods, old materials and old products. In many of the cumin-growing regions, farmers had observed that the plots on the roadside were more productive than the ones in the interior. They figured out that the dust which settled on the plants saved them from certain pests and fungal diseases. Sorne other farmers observed a similar phenomenon near brick kilns. Dusting with ash or fine soil thus became a new method for controlling pest and fungal diseases in this crop. In many other crops, the use of ash as a dusting material is well known.Similarly, the case of termite control using cut immature sorghum stalks in irrigation channels, reported earlier in this paper, opens up a new field of research. So far, sorghum breeders had been looking for landraces with a low hydrocyanide contento This innovation opens up the opportunity for selecting high hydrocyanide content sorghum lines. If this technology works in different parts of the world, dry farmers may very welI grow a small patch of such sorghum for pest control purposes.Old methods, new materials and new products or uses. Sorne innovative farmers have used a drip of castor oil (a tin box with a wick hanging over an irrigation channel). The oil drips into the water and spreads into the soil, adding luster to the banana crop. This drip is also used in other crops for soil-based pest control.Examples of the other combinations may also be found. What these examples show is that farmers can be extremely creative in solving local problems. But the issue is whether their knowledge systems can be blended with formal scientific research. One block may possibly be the tension between the farmers' interest in solving the problem and the scientists' interest in developing a new theory. For instance, a farmer, Khodidasbhai, afier reading about three different practices for controlling a pest in a local version of Honey Bee, used all three on the same crop, in the same season, but sequentially. It is quite possible that scientists would not attempt such an experiment in order to avoid a complicated design with confusing results. Learning to break old rules, which formal training does not easily permit, can be a useful purpose of participatory research.Institutional constraints can be precursors of technological change and vice versa. In fact the process may even be cyclical, with an• institutional constraint providing a spur for technological solutions, which in tum lead to an institutional innovation. Sometimes, both technological and institutional change may take place simultaneously. It has been argued that technology may be likened to words and institution to grammar (Gupta, 1991d). We cannot make much sense of one without the other. In the literature on participatory research, the interface of institutions with the process of technology generation has not been adequately addressed. Therefore, we will provide illustrations from the Honey Bee database in order to strengthen the case for modifying the framework for participatory technology development (Tables 1 and 2). The cases presented in Tables 1 and 2 show that technology and institutions are interdependent and trigger changes in each other. The changes may be simultaneous or may follow a sequence. For instance, the failure of village institutions to protect crops from grazing animal s led to the innovation of seed treatment with butter milk. This treatment, however, led to another institutional change, the development of a sanction against the innovator, since there was a risk of the death of animals due to accidental browsing on the treated plants. Again this sanction may encourage innovative pastoralists to find out sorne way of identifying the treated crops. This sequence of constraints in one subsystem leading to innovation in another may continue till the limits of ingenuity are reached. The challenge is to determine whether one should adapt to a given technological constraint through an institutional innovation or evolve a technological solution to what may essentially be an institutional problem.  (Gupta, 1985b;Gupta, 1992;Sinha el al., 1996).A key factor in understanding institutional dynamics is uncovering the actual preferences visa-vis the articulated ones at the level of the individual as well as of the group. For instance, Sanghi and Rao (1982) and Sanghi (1987) tried to re1ax each of the constraints that farmers reported for not trying a dryland technology. When each constraint had been relaxed, and the technology was still not being tried, it became obvious that farmers were skeptical about the suitability of the technology. Sanghi and Rao (1982) provide a good example of how institutional dynamics can be facilitated by incorporating traditional knowledge in the technology development process. They found that sowing the crops with the pre-monsoon rains, as practiced by sorne farmers, ensured the efficient utilization of mineralized nitrogen, avoided pests like shoot fly and ear 'bug in sorghum, and ensured the timely sowing of subsequent crops. In surnmary, the understanding of the interaction between technology and institutions is an essential aspect of developing a participatory research programo the lending can be constrained in the monsoon season, input supply may be erratic and inventory level low or nil in kharif season, the banking disbursements may be clustered around the financial year-end even if results are suboptimal Sectoral: loans for nonfarm purposes, rainfed crops, small ruminants, long gestation investments like watershed treatments, etc., may be highly restricted. Credit for various purposes may be clustered even though there may not be a rational justification for such a portfolío Procedural:high margins, insistence on collaterals, shorter repayment schedules (even though this practice may eventually increase the default risk) , Background risks:A.K. It is obvious that one cannot incorporate the entire range of risk adjustment choices in any one programo However, it wiIl be use fuI to jointly identify those risks that are important and agree on how to cope with them, without minimizing the potential for teehnologieal upgradation.Scientists can evaluate the experiments of the farmers and vice versa. Ashby et al. (1987) deseribed ways in whieh farmers evaluated the potential of different varieties developed by the scientists. It is not just the judgments that one can leam from participatory exercises; the opportunity to leam about the eriteria for making judgments is much more important. One of the methods that has been suggested for developing an empirical understanding of the local variance in resource use and coping strategies is a kind of manual discriminant analysis together with ecological mapping (Gupta 1987a(Gupta , 1988)).The manual discriminant analysis (MDA) reHes upon a simple premise, which is that, in any distribution, if we can compare and contrast the observation on the tails (i.e. extremes), we can understand reasonably well plus or minus one or two standard deviations. For instance, we can array the current resource-use pattems in a spreadsheet for each plot of every household. Having done that, we can look at the extreme values. Then, for instance, we can ask the five farmers who had sown earliest to explain individually why the five or ten such farmers who sowed last actually did so. Having asked about the reasons for a practice which is opposite to one's own, the frame of reference of the respondent farmer can be calibrated. Afier this, if we ask the same farmer to explain the reasons for his early sowing, we would probably get much more authentic information. This process may help generate hypotheses for further on-farm research or surveys. In a study on matching farmers' concems, technologies and objectives (Gupta 1986b), it was found that, contrary to common belief, the criteria for specific choices such as sowing time in a rainfed crop may be determined to a greater extent by ecological factors rather than socioeconomic or cultural factors. In this study, an interesting determinant of the sowing time of mustard was the fallowing in the previous season, and not the access to credit or land or other inputs.Similarly, ecological maps can help us identify the niches for different varieties. Ifthe macro environment and local land races are closely inter-linked, by mapping one, say the varieties, we have mapped the other, Le., the macro environment (Gupta, 1989a;Gupta, 1989b).Just as different scientists have varying aptitudes for doing pioneering or repetitive research, different farmers also have a variety of attitudes to the development or scaling up of the teehnology. Sorne are content with whatever work they have done. Identifying the farmers who may like to scale up a technology need not necessarily mean identifying the privileged or big farmers.If we do not read the 'book of diversity' embedded in local knowledge properly or adequately, we stand to lose mueh of the information available in nature and within local communities. Most breeders have not documented information regarding the providers of landrace resources or the culinary characteristies perceived to be important by local people.They ofien find it difficult to recall the seleetion criteria used by the local communities. This has resulted in inadequacies in the passport information sheets maintained in the gene banks.In the absence of information about providers, it would be very difficult to revisit the exact sites and to ensure that any benefits that may arise as a result of value addition are shared. SRISTI arranged an informal network meeting last year with scientists of GAU to correet these problems (Anonymous, 1995). We are keen to establish contact with other groups working on similar ideas.In the case of animal germplasm, the situation is even more serious. Unlike erops, where a small sample of seeds, seleeted properly, may capture a large part of the variance of the population, a very large sample is needed in the case of animal s to achieve the same resulto Most ex-situ gene banks have very fewanimals of different breeds. The passport information sheets for animal germplasm are even more inadequate than those for plants.The Honey Bee network has tried to address these gaps in the characterization of germplasm.The recent F AO initiative on developing DADIS (Domestic Animal Diversity Information Systems) is trying to overcome these inadequacies in a very participative manner.Building upon local knowledge: towards participative breeding. The challenge, however, is how to make gene bank information accessible to the local cornmunities in a form which is easily understandable and comprehensible. AIso, information should flow back in such a form that breeders take note of people's knowledge. An important issue is the access of local people to material that would be useful for their own breeding programs. If cornmunities and individuals have been developing distinguished landraces and animal breeds in the past, there is no reason why they cannot continue to do so in the future. The challenge of participative breeding is important for several other reasons:• A very small proportion of the landraces available in a local gene bank is used in the breeding program of a crop. • Ecological heterogeneity in rainfed regions and the location-specific differences even in irrigated regions (arising as a result of mineral deficiencies, changes in the water table, pest and disease regimes, drainage profile) require that breeding for local specificity becomes a paramount goal. • Formal institutions all over the world are under severe resource constramts. lt is unlikely that they will have the resources to expand on-station research facilities. Participatory onfarm research is thus inevitable. • A large amount of improved genetic variability in the form of F7 or F8 generationsl advance lines is rejected today because of its inability to surpass the available checks (control varieties). Many of these lines may prove to be suitable for different locations. • The selection criteria of farmers, which may be dífferent from those of scientists, may provide sources of variability for ímprovement prograrnmes. In a study on Matching Farmers' Concerns with Technologists' Objectives (Gupta, Patel & Shah 1986), we found that the harvest index in millets preferred by marginal farmers was much lower than that preferred by the bigger farmers. This realization has dawned on the institutional scientists only recently. • Farmers might prefer technologies that reduce risk, not necessarily to the scientificallyacceptable levels of 95 per cent, but maybe to lower levels of 80 or 75 per cent, if the associated increase in cost is not too mucho • Participatory breeding also makes it possible to incorporate the women's perspective on farm operations, postharvest processing and cooking attributes. • Farmers' innovations for the management of pest and disease, nutrients, weeds, documented through the Honey Bee network, could be screened using the farmers' criteria. This wiIl help us in developing varieties which respond to nonchemical external inputs. It may also mean re-ordering breeding priorities in sorne cases. The example of cut stalks of sorghum to control termites was mentioned earlier.Participatory researeh: Wíl/ the koel hateh the erow's eggs? What has been said aboye about the benefits of participatory breeding raises certain larger issues about the exchange of germplasm and conservation of diversity. The dangers of a narrow genetic base in the high-yielding varieties of paddy are well known. But sueh dangers are not new. The potato blight of the lrish Famine of the mid-19th century, and the corn faílure in USA in 1974, are well-known examples. But the publie response to such issues is always very slow. Even after the CBD, F AO Undertaking and many other national and international meetings on the subject, public poliey remains very muted. Assuming that this situation is likely to change in the post GATTI WTO environment, we must address the following issues:• What are the biological, social and cultural bases of the exchange of germplasm among farmers? What is the role of farmers' knowledge about seed and soil-borne diseases, root exudates and their effects on seed specific mierobial diversity, in triggering sueh exchanges? • Seed exchanges aeross cultures and cornrnunities were part of the rituals in several cornrntinities. How has the erosion of these ritual s in the process of modernization affected the exehange proeesses? • The seleetion eriteria for different crops have involved ingenious ways of ineorporating agroecosystems and socioecologieal requirements into the selection process. The example of millet selection was mentioned aboye. How should the ehanges in the farming systems be related to the changes in the selection eriteria? • Will the restrictions on seed saving and exehange rights under UPOV 1991 affect the traditional diversity-creating processes? In which regions and crops are these restrictions likely to have maximum effect (allowing for the fact that the restrictions wiIl apply only to protected seeds)? • How does the frequency of exchanges, within and among cornmunities, depend upon the degree of variance in the gene pools of the' respective populations? Can one hypothesize that, higher the variance in a given crop culture, higher will be the tendency for seed exchange? If so, can one use this practice as an index of the buffering nature of the population? • Not everyone in a village grows the local landraces. Conservation strategies cannot be developed without understanding the nature and the extent of the buffering of gene populations in a given landrace, over space and time. Should one conserve, in one or two villages, all the ecotypes grown, or should a sample of plots in different villages spread over large areas be used? How should such a sample be selected? These questions have not been empiricaIly answered. They are also relevant if we have to develop incentive systems for growers of landraces. • Since much of the production in the high biodiversity and economically poorer regions is organic, compensation systems for landrace growers may include (i) organic certification systems in order to add value to the production and (ii) market research for generating demand? These steps imply that consumers will pay directly for conserving diversity. In any case, no long-term strategy can be developed for conserving diversity unless consumer demand for diverse tastes, shapes, colours and smells is generated and promoted by the elite role models.A differential price incentive system could be tried. Thus, growers of landraces in a specified area could be paid the additional income they would have got if they had replaced the locallandraces with high-yielding varieties.The value addition in local varieties through decentralized units may also contribute to the conservation of diversity. The example of French wines, often made from grapes grown on very small and specific plots, is a rare case of market forces contributing positively to the conservation of diversity (Gupta 1991a).• Can multimedia data bases on local diversity, for different regions and crops, be developed so that farmers could make selections from the available gene pool and undertake multilocation trials? Other approaches to achieve the same end may also be tried: different groups of male and female farmers may be taken to research stations to make selections from the ex situ gene banks; pursuing parallel selections by breeders as well as farmers and taking both the populations to advanced generation to see whether sorne distinct genetic advance is achieved by farmers' intuitive as weIl as explicit selection criteria, and so on. Maurya (1988, personal cornmunication to Anil Gupta) tried to give the excess seeds of the advanced lines, afier matching their characteristics with the local varieties of paddy, another chance in the farmers' fields (it is a pity that Bottral and Farrington in a joint paper with Maurya tried to put far more method into this simple and innovative approach of Maurya' s and distorted the actual process and its implications). He monitored the farmer-to-farmer diffusion of such seeds and assessed the suitability of different advanced tine seeds for the farmers' microclimatic niches. The assumption was that such a variety of conditions would not be available at research stations. Unfortunately, due to the interference and opportunism of the donor agency concemed, a very useful approach was prevented from being fully developed. The selections of farmers from the material wruch the breeders had rejected, were perhaps not taken up for systematic trials at the research stations. This is an approach which does have merit and needs to be further developed. • Studies have shown that breeders have no incentive for breeding varieties with limited potential for diffusion. In other words, improvement programs do not reward conservation or the augmentation of diversity. How should incentives be developed so that breeders are not rewarded only for varieties that diffuse over a large areas? • T o enhance variability in a crop complex, farmers in many cases plant different species of the same crop together to promote sorne kind of interspecific hybridization as shown in the case of paddy species in Sierra Leone (Richards 1985). Similarly, sometimes farmers realize the relationship between crop diversity and the so-called weed (or companion plant) diversity. In such cases, one could not consider conserving crop diversity without understanding and maintaining the diversity of companion crops or plants. How we should relate these two kinds of diversity is an underexplored issue. • Variations in crop populations can be reduced or enhanced by various innovative strategies. Dr. Richaria has reported that, in a tribal region of Madhya Pradesh, a traditional healer, afier following certain rituals, gave a particular kind of seed to different farmers as a sort of blessing. These seeds were to be grown along with whatever variety of paddy the farmers cultivated. It was later discovered that the distributed seeds were of a male sterile line which enabled a kind of hybridization in the farmers' fields. Dr. Richaria has also shown that by following the clonal propagation method, farmers selected the best plant and filled the entire field with the tillers of the same mother plant. This technique created a positive stress and enhanced the yield. The conservation of germplasm will require a careful study of such strategies of enhancing or reducing diversity in a field, and possibly increasing diversity in the populations.There are many other issues in conservation, variation, selection, and exchange of germplasm which have not received adequate attention in the literature. Farmers' groups have been known to reward outstanding breeders of local varieties in farmer fairs in different parts of the world. Thus a culture of excellence does exist among the farmers. These issues need to form part of the agenda of participatory breeding research.The foregoing paragraphs have dealt with a framework of participation that inc1uded defining the problem, working out causal links, examining the altemative choices open to farmers, combining the interplay between technological and institutional factors, strengthening riskadjustrnent strategies, the issues of evaluation and interpretation, the question of the scaling up of technology and participatory breeding research. In the rest of trus section, sorne of the models of participatory research experimented with by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) are described.The absence of a venture capital fund is a major handicap in testing out the small-scale innovations of farmers and artisans. An example of an innovation that has the potential to become commercially viable, and an experiment in supporting the development of the design of an innovative bullock cart are described brief1y below. Apart from the ethical requirement that cross-communication among farmers takes place, the practical spin-off may also be of help. A native American farmer, Janice Blue, afier reading about a particular horticultural practice, did an experiment on her own. Similarly, a farmer from Puerto Rico, Judith von Riper wrote to us about the possible use of the bullock cart described aboye in her country. Apparently, there is no North and South when it comes to sustainable technologies.Often, the idea of one farmer may be modified by another farmer, and operationalized by yet another farmer. For instance, Badribhai wanted to develop a bullock-drawn sprayer for herbal pesticide. However, we found out that such a contraption did exist. Without this crossconnection, he and his artisan friends would have wasted their resources. A workshop of artisans and professional scientists was organized to discuss what modifications could be made to the design of the pulley used by millions of women daily for lifting water from wells.It was realized that when women draw water they use up energy not only in lifting the bucket, but also in holding it in its place while taking deep breaths.In many cases, when grassroots innovators and biodiversity experts will not accept any monetary compensation, setting up trust funds provide a way of augmenting local experimental knowledge systems. Karimbhai, whose example was cited earlier, is one such innovator under whose leadership a trust fund was set up. Such funds can be of use when group-based experimentation has to be undertaken.Many ideas developed by farmers may require further research. Organizations interested in value addition and the commercialization of technologies can help in this regard.Unfortunately, building partnerships with the private sector has not received adequate attention.Compensating or rewarding people who have conserved natural resources, even while remaining trapped in poverty, has become an important issue, especial1y after the discussions on the Uruguay Round and the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The desirability of evolving stronger intellectual property laws has been questioned by sorne people who perhaps believe that the continuation of a patronizing and protective regime is what the poor want to see. These people have no faith in the native genius and they argue that since we have never won a global struggle in the past, there is no guarantee that we will do so in the future. But those who have faith in the intellectual richness of local communities and individual s would like to use the evolving• intellectual property regime to ensure higher returns for the innovators through a system of patents, trade secrets, contracts, licensing and soon.We have been pleading for a global registration of local innovations, traditional knowledge and practices for the last several years (Gupta, 1991;Gupta, 1995c). The Third World Network also endorsed this idea, but restricted its application to collectives only. In contrast, we believe that individual innovators do exist, even in communities where communitarian knowledge is strong. These people would need to be compensated for their efIorts. The proposed registry, International Network for Sustainable Technological Applications and Registration (INSTAR), would result in the foIlowing benefits:• acknowledging individual and collective creativity;• entitling innovators to a share of the returns from future commercialization;• linking investments, enterprise and innovations --the three corners of the triangle of entrepreneurship. This kind of networking wiIl make it possible for small innovators to take advantage of the benefits of scale; • regulating access to contracts by an autonomous authority that has a strong representation of local community representatives. This authority can keep copies of all contracts and monitor the sustainable extraction of resources; • coding each entry in the register. This should include the postal code of the innovator, so that identifying the location of the innovator is possible; • to begin with, the entries may only acknowledge the creativity and innovation. Later on, sorne of the innovations may be awarded inventor certificates or a petty patent that afIords limited protection for a limited period of time; • inventor certificates should also help in obtaining concessional credit and risk cover, so that the transition of the inventor into a producer or marketer is possible; • the registration should also become a part of the Knowledge Network mentioned earlier.The Network can serve as a clearing house for various communities.The registration system is only one aspect of a system of incentives and rewards to innovators. A broader framework of compensation would include the following elements (Gupta, 1995a(Gupta, , 1995b(Gupta, & 1994c)): (illustrative examples are provided for each category)Sorne of the ways of generating revenue for the various incentives are the following:• a cess or tax on the sales of seeds derived from germplasm conserved and contributed by specific individuals or communities; • a share in the turnover of commercializable plant-derived products, like herbal pesticides, veterinary medicines, dyes, antioxidants; • a tax on the market arrivals in grain markets in the green revolution areas;• • a license fee to be collected from public and private sector companies for using germplasm still conserved by cornmunities in backward regions, even if this germplasm is available in national and intemational gene banks; infrastructural investments in education and other basic needs .There could be other ways of generating revenue. The crucial point is that one cannot expect poor people to conserve natural resources for ever and ever, while they remain in poverty. This final section summarizes sorne of our reflections on the relationship of gender with indigenous knowledge, in the context of participatory research. These are tentative and cannot be treated as definitive. There are certain pattems in knowledge systems on account of gender, and there can be no doubt that the pararneters of a technology that minimizes the vulnerability on account of gender andl or poverty in the market place will have to receive greater attention while developing innovations.It is a truism that women have much better grounded knowledge of the practices in which they are primarily engaged. Thus, seed storage, postharvest processing of grains, livestock hygiene and husbandry, the marketing of certain kinds of trinkets or farm produce, household recipes, are examples of this kind of specialization. Whether the knowledge so produced is affected more by the specialization or gender is not an easy question to answer. Two examples which illustrate sorne of the issues are presented below.In Tangail district 01 Bangladesh, we (Gupta, 1987d) observed one woman who had set up a nursery 01 sweet po tato on a small patch olland She planned to transplant the sweet potato in land which she hoped to get on lease. In case she did not get the land, she wouli continue to grow the crop so that she could feed her family sweet potato when rice became difficult to get. While cutting the sweet potato vines, she was also de-rooting them at the nodes, leaving only one or two roots. Her reason for leaving only one or two tubers at each node was that this practice resulted in rounder tubers which had thick skins. The round shape was preferred by consumers and the thickness of the skin helped in prolonging the storage life of the tuber. These criteria were not incorporated in the selection criteria of sweet potato at either nattonal or international research institutes. Obviously, the practice made a lot 01 sense and helped overcome some very specific constraints.Ms. Dilruba, an oilseed breeder, made a case study of women farmers in northern Bangladesh. She lound a very interesting practice for providing moisture to arecanut trees during winter when there was hardly any rain and the sandy soils created dry conditions. A banana plant was plan~ed between four arecanut trees. The suckers of the banana absorbed moisture during the rainy season and released it to the roots 01 arecanut during the winter season. Obviously, this is a very sustainable practice (Gupta 1987e).Participatory research should not merely emphasize the work that women do. Not because the work women do is not important, but because an emphasis on work detracts from the very necessary recognition of the intellectual contribution of women. Many women develop insights during the course of their work; these will become available for building upon only when there is a valorization of the intellectual capacities of women. F or instance, the eriteria for seleeting seeds, practices of animal care, food processing and the consequent preferences for different kinds of blending of various food materials, are useful starting points for building in women's perspectives in research. We have also seen that the artieulation of women's knowledge ofien best takes place within women's own networks. There is no judgment involved in this statement; it just so happens that the way in which society has developed in the past perhaps makes this option optimal, at least for the present. Of course, this cannot be generalized for all cultures.One should not try to ascribe a value base to women' s practices that is entirely different from the one that is ascribed to meno For instance, women money-Ienders are known to be as unfair to poor women borrowers as men money-Ienders (Gupta, 1983). Similarly, women can be as secretive about their recipes as men are. However, the different experiences of women, and the culturally-specific socialization processes that they undergo, do make for a uniqueness in women's perception of the relationship between nature and day-to-day existence. To that extent, a case for the feminization of the research agenda can be made. This is essential in order to correct the prejudices that have mndered the rate of technological change in many of the activities that women perform. A good example, reported aboye, is the design of pulley used by millions of women for drawing water from wells. It should be possible to make a ratchet mechanism wmch reduces the burden that women have to bear while pulling up buckets of water. Unfortunately, we are not aware of any large scale use of improved pulleys. The workshop of artisans, cited aboye, did suggest sorne changes, but they need to be followed up. Sorne of the approaches which appear necessary in a gender-sensitive participatory research agenda include the following:• F ocusing on the problems of the regions, sectors and enterprises in which women have to bear the highest burden; 1920 • Identifying differences in the relative weights that men and women attach to the different kinds of consumption ofthe various family members;21 • More involvement of women in the management of certain enterprises, like livestock, food processing, seed processing, may result in the development ofunique skills,22 Many women distinguish between the waters of different wells; for instance, the water of a particular well may be used for cooking pigeon pea, which takes a long time to cook; • Recognition of the differences in the articulation of preferences, individually or collectively, spontaneously or through iterative interaction;23 • Gender aspects need not necessarily only imply contrasts, they may also indicate complementarity .We have been arguing for almost a decade now that the very model of technology development and transfer needs to change as' far as the problems of high-risk environments are concemed. The essential argument is that, given the high ecological variability in such environments, developing technologies for different niches through the c1assical mode1s of on-station research is impóssible. Budgetary constraints prevent large-scale on-farm research by the public sector scientists. What, then, is the choice?We have to identify the best solutions, derived locally, to any technological problem, understand their scientific bases, add value to them, and then share the vaIue-added scientific principIes with the farmers. The technologies will be developed by the farmers through their own research which may or may not be monitored by scientists. This approach is different from the farmer-back-to-farmer or similar approaches, because the emphasis here is on transferring science, and not technology, to farmers. Also, as argued eIsewhere (Gupta 1980), it is not enough to Iook at just two-way communication between farmers and scientists. One must convert this pattem into a genuine two-way power arrangement in which reciprocities may be ensured. A brief example would illustrate this point. In southem Bangladesh, we observed that paddy farmers íncreased the number of hills per square metre and also the number of seedlings per hill as the transplanting was postponed due to a delay in the recedíng of the water. Their aim was to optimize the number of ear-bearing tillers per unít area. Scientists then calculated an equation by which one could work out by how much the number of seedlings and hills per unit area needed to be increased, for a given period of delay. The other contingent conditions that influenced this coefficient were also specified. In other words, an approach which takes the route of farmer innovation-science-farmer innovation is desirable for promoting sustainable development.The real challenge for sustaining the intellectual participation is to nurture and build a culture of experimentation. SRISTI and the Honey Bee network have been trying to meet this challenge through initiatives like the shodh sankal (network of seekers or experimenters). Such fora can provide a space for innovators to share their successes and failures. They can also identify and reward innovators. We hope to intensify our efforts in strengthening such networks.Final1y, we would like to state that an excessive reliance on the c1assical research approach is like driving with the help of only a rear view mirror. We can see the road traveled, but the road ahead will not be visible. The excessive focus on the politically well-organized farmers of irrigated and input-intensive regions has darkened the front view glass. Thus, in addition to recalibrating our route maps, we need to perhaps redesign the vehic1e itself. In this context, the given topie 'free experimentation versus eontrolled experimentation using user participation' has to be approaehed from a conceptual level, departing from the development philosophy. There is no blueprint adviee on the design to choose. A number of eriteria which all depend on the goals and on the eontext have to be applied as a basis for decision making. Sorne stimulating thoughts wiIl be discussed in this papero Some Criteria for Decisions on Research DesignsSeveral issues deserve consideration when clarifying research goals:What are the goals and the anticipated output of the research? The quality of researeh outputs eould be at three different levels:• knowledge (e. g. a contribution to the understanding of processes); • a product (e.g. a new variety); or • a shared responsibility for an overall practical impact at the target group level (e.g. increased food security, poverty alleviation)The choice of the output level can depend on funding eriteria and on personal interests and objectives of researchers and their institutions. From the definition of the output level, the Issues 01 research design: Free experimentation versus controlled experimentation invo/ving user participation identification of whose questions should be answered is evident and the indicators for success will further determine the relevant bottom line where research should become active at a technicallevel. For example, in order to improve animal production in communally-owned lands, the impact of research on the metabolism of small ruminants will most probably yield less direct impact than research geared towards improving the collective management of the grazing lands which might directly improve the feed source.How does this affect the choice of the research design? The clarification of the priorities and the desired goals would allow for the precise definition of the required research results and thus the type of research. The closer the focus is on the practical impacts, the greater user participation (up to free experimentation) might be required.When defining the research design, one should clarify whether one works within the 'Transfer of Technology' (TOT) model or whether research should be a part of the users' learning process. Within the TOT model the responsibility of research is limited to providing scientifically valid research results to extension, which would translate these results into messages to be transferred to farmers. The involvement of farmers into the research process then has the function of improving the efficiency of research in the development of appropriate solutions. User participation has a functional and instrumental character (e.g. adaptive trials to verify a certain technique).The re-thinking of the TOT model is of fundamental importance if research is to take a shared responsibility for an overall impacto The limitations of the TOT model have been emphasized again and again (particularly in marginal areas with a highly diverse and complex environment). The diversity of conditions in such environments casts doubt on the development and spreading of blueprint solutions which can be successful in large-scale farming but make little impact in smallholder farmer conditions. A good example is provided by the contour ridges in Zimbabwe which have been promoted for several decades. In more than 90% of the fields, contour ridges were dug, but the result of a recent survey indicated that 66% of them have actually accelerated erosion rather than stopped it (Hagmann 1996). Therefore, research and extension in NRM, in particular, has shown that successful conservation is more than the adoption of certain techniques, and an impact can therefore only be made by building the users' capacity. The users must be able to understand the biophysical processes and be motivated to monitor their own fields and choose or creatively generate their own appropriate options to solve the identified problems at plot level within the fields. In addition, only collective efforts have shown promising results. Collective efforts can be facilitated through collective and social learning processes which then become an integral part of research and extension (Roling 1996).What are the implications of a learning process? The diversity requires that the users enter a learning process (learning by doing) in which the joint development of technologies yielding appropriate solutions as options and an increased problem-solving capacity in the user is the goal. In this case, the development of human capacity through learning and empowerment is the focus. The research objective is then not to generate ready-made technologies as 'products'. Instead the focus is the development of prototype approaches and technologies, learning about technologies and the understanding and the interaction of factors which contribute to success and failure of technologies. These results can be fed back to farmers as a basis for their decision making and to inspire participatory learning and action.The interdisciplinarity of this type of research is obvious. There are three central research elements: the technical questions and problems, communication and pedagogic aspects and the sociocultural context. It is evident that sound technical and social competence is central to the joint development of technologies. This will require a new quality of interdisciplinarity, namely, that each researcher will have to internalize both perspectives in order to be able to understand the sociotechnical environment. A new 'professionalism' as stated by Pretty (1995) might be required.Impact-oriented research will also require institutional changes. Once researéh takes a shared responsibility at the target group level, research and extension cannot be separated artificially and rigidly any longer through mandates. Research will have to inc1ude other actors if the agricultural knowledge and information system and spreading of information among the stakeholders and networking are to become specific research topics.How does this affect the choice of the research design? When choosing the research design, the mode of operation is a crucial determinant. If one works within TOT, controlled experimentation involving user participation contributes to the immediate goal of improving the research efficiency. In most cases, however, an in-depth analysis will show that a learning process approach (e.g. participatory technology development (PTD) or participatory action research (PAR) is required to create an overall impact. If research shares that responsibility, the encouragement of farmer experimentation and free experimentation is a crucial tool to revive and build up farmers' knowledge and confidence. This enables the joint development of innovations in a research process, as the users will come up with their own ideas far more openly than in a researcher-dominated controlled experimentation process where the user is simply a participant.An important criteria in the choice of the research design is the technology to be worked on.Research in biotechnology will in most cases allow less space for a user-driven process than, for example, research in NRM. Accordingly, the question of free experimentation or controlled experimentation has to be evaluated with regard to an obvious pay-off of free experimentation or of standardizing experiments.Free Versus Controlled Experimentation: 'Either -Or', or Better 'As Well As'?Free experimentation and controlled experimentation do not necessarily have to be exclusive. A combination of both is possible and migot increase the total pay-off of the participatory research. The key to research sharing the responsibilities for an overall output is the definition of the research questions and the research agenda. Tbis is a continual process of negotiation among the stakeholders. Research questions have to arise out of the analysis of the users' problems and needs.Free experimentation by the users with local ideas and s01utions can be a starting point, likewise a brainstorming with ideas. The need for further research can be formulated based on farmers' and researchers' evaluation and the promising techniques can be selected, either by the users or jointly and tested in a slightly more controlled environment together with both farmers and researchers. Simple designs can serve the purpose of a learning to01 (learning through comparing the performance of crops with the conventional and the new technique). Simultaneously these designs can fulfill the criteria for a reasonable statistical analysis, in which case, both partners have their benefits and can learn about their different evaluation criteria. Farmers' qualitative evaluation as well as researchers' quantitative evaluation can pro vide valuable information to understand the performance of the techniques. In case of uncertainty about biophysical processes, even controlled on-station research is valuable if it arises out of the research questions being dealt with on-farm. The main point is the feeding back ofthese results into the experimentation cycle.To illustrate a concept which integrates a participatory community development process, an extension loop and a research loop is shown in Figure 1. This was developed on the basis of practical experience in the AgritexlGTZ Conservation Tillage Project in Masvingo/Zimbabwe Hagmann et al, 1996). Research activities of that nature should be set up for at least 5 years, so that answers to the specific research questions and solutions to the problems occurring during the process can be found. Besides technology development, these research activities should also have the character of approach development out of the learning process. A detailed process documentation and analysis is essential for a synthesis of lessons learnt in a concept which other actors can apply and adapt in other areas. The leading goal and principIe in the research process is the achievement of an overall impact at target group leve1. The issue of research design is basically a question of the vision and the research goal. Once these have been set, the question of the research design can be dealt with at a very pragrnatic level and the research and experimental design becomes a tool and is not an end in itself. In the case of impact-oriented research, user participation becomes more than an experimental design question.There is a great concem among researchers, develop~ent agencies and policy makers about the degradation of natural resources (soil, water and natural vegetation) and its potential impact on the sustainability of agricultural development in dry areas. Increased food demand, due to a rapidly growing population and rising income levels, requires high rates of resource use which could lead to irreversible degradation. Conflicts arise among altemative land uses (permanent tree crops, grazing, rainfed cropping, urban expansion, etc). As pressure mounts on limited land resources, farmers adopt intensive production systems with little regard for future consequences. Cereal production encroaches into the marginal areas traditionally reserved for extensive grazing. Furthermore, due to the increasing demand for livestock products, livestock numbers continue to increase and the subsequent overgrazing degrades rangelands. Traditional conservation practices and supporting institutions are disappearing, causing accelerated soil erosion and the siltation of dams. Communal grazing systems in the dry areas, traditional mountain terraces in Yemen and jessours in Tunisia are examples of this. Other environmental impacts of land degradation inc1ude the los s of natural biodiversity which endangers the potential future crop improvement.Policy makers are becoming increasingly aware of the degradation of natural resources, its implications for rural poverty, and its social and polítical repercussions. The direct linkage between resource degradation and poverty is becoming more obvious. Poverty in the marginal areas is caused by low productivity, which , in turn, causes farmers to overlook the long-term effects of resource degradation while struggling with their immediate or short-term needs. The rural-urban population migration, which is a result of increasing rural poverty, causes substantial social and environmental costs such as congestion, unemployment, pressure on social services and health risks. To counter these challenges, the efficient use of available natural resources is now an integral part of rural development strategies in many countries. Public land rec1amation and development projects are undertaken and private investment in land rec1amation and improvement is encouraged, for example, in Syrian, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. The objectives of these policies are to increase agricultural productivity, ilJlprove farm income and improve the well-being of rural communities and hence help to reduce rural-urban migration.Although public awareness of the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources is increasing, the adoption of proper resource management practices is inadequate for various reasons. First, natural resource management research falls to the bottom of research priorities in most national research programs. Thus, most national programs have insufficient capacity to conduct interdisciplinary, problem-solving research in resource management. Secondly, local people who are directly affected by resource degradation and who ultimately make management decisions are not fully consulted, which discourages their much-needed cooperation. The wealth of indigenous knowledge locally available is not fully incorporated into the research process; but, without community participation, research and extension systems are unlikely to develop useful solutions for resource-poor farmers who make decisions under complex and risky environments in the dry areas. Thirdly, policies and programs sometimes contradict and send the wrong signaIs to resource, users which would undermine sustainable resource management.The Intemational Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), in collaboration with several national agricultural research systems (NARS) in the West Asia and North African (W ANA) countries, initiated, in 1990, interdisciplinary and participatory resource management research under the umbrella of the Dryland Resource Management Project (DRMP). The project now covers 6 countries in the region where NARS have organized multidisciplinary research teams to conduct this research. Most teams work on soil and water management problems, but the emphasis depends on local conditions. The common linkage among teams is the interdisciplinary approach and farmer participatory methodologies. Integration of different disciplines allows different specialists (biophysical and socioeconomic) to formulate a holistic approach and assess priorities for the complex problems of land and water management, while the participatory approach ensures that the perspectives and views of individualland users and communities, who will ultimately have to make resource management decisions, are heard and their indigenous knowledge incorporated into the research process. Users' participation enables researchers to appreciate farmers' role and the complementarity between their knowledge and skills and those of researchers. The teams share these methodologies through workshops and field tours.DRMP was founded on the premise that resources allocated for adaptive resource management research in the NARS of W ANA region are inadequate because priority in the use of limited financial resources is always given to productivity enhancement research.  (Tripp, 1991a). Onfarm research, which was an essential component of FSR, enhanced farmer participation in the technology development process (Tripp, 1991b). Biggs (1989) described different forms of farmer participation such as contractual, consultative, collaborative and collegial. In conventional participatory approaches, researchers use group meetings, individual interviews, participatory rural appraisals (PRAs), and formal surveys. Farmers also participate in the management of on-farm trials. While those methodologies .increase researchers' understanding of the farming situations and, to a certain extent, include farmers' constraints and preferences in the research process, they do not sufficiently enhance a cornmunity' s capacity to conduct experiments itself. Although farmers have experimented with different practices since crops were domesticated, and accumulated knowledge has been passed on by the generations, formal experimentation still remains the researchers' initiative.An alternative approach for farmer participation is presented by Ashby et al (1995). This focuses on the ability of research and extension services not to transfer technologies but rather to transfer the knowledge of how to do experiments which could be initiated and managed by cornmunities with the support of professional staff. The approach aims to increase the capacity of local communities to generate technologies by using both indigenous and modern knowledge and skills. It, therefore, involves a new partnership between research and extension professionals and farmers which enables researchers to spread their time over a large area; thus increasing research efficiency. The question is whether such an approach presents a greater opportunity for adaptive natural resource management research?Although farmers' consultative participation in research is now widely practiced through formal and informal surveys, by PRAs and by discussions with cornmunity leaders and farmer groups, the collaborative participation whereby farmers are involved in making decisions on the research agenda, prioritization, design and implementation, has been less frequently used in adaptive NRM research. Partcipation through farmer groups (Heinrich, 1993)  resource-poor farmers are immensely diverse and the probIems complex, so that any recommendation developed under a given situation will be bound by location-specific conditions. Research and extension systems do not have the resources to develop technologies and management systems which are appropriate for each and every situation. This dilemma could be solved by decentralizing research through collaborative participation.Secondly, resource management is often affected by institutional as much as technological factors. The Development of institutional innovations, for example for collective action or conflict resolution, definitely needs greater community involvement. But national research systems face many challenges before participatory approaches can be effectively institutionalized. A few of those chaIlenges are discussed below.One of the reasons why research systems are slow in adopting FPR methodologies, in general, and collaborative (or decision-making) participatory approaches, in particular, may be due to the belief that participatory research is very costly (Farington and Martin, 1988). However, Ashby et al. (1995) reported that researchers' time requirement has been significantIy reduced when community experimentation was used instead of conventional onfarm triaIs. The cost-effectiveness of participatory research is important for research managers and donors. Impact assessment is increasingly becoming a requirement in research projects. Effective participatory methodologies in adaptive NRM research require innovative ways to forge new partnerships between farmer organizations/groups, research and extension services, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development agencies and intemational agricultural research systems. Those new partnerships involve ways of sharing costs and responsibilities among stakeholders. The cost of research, however, has greater implications for NRM research for which results may not be obtained for several years, and, in sorne cases, long-term monitoring may be necessary. The unanswered question is: how much enthusiasm wiIl farmers have in initiating such research without any short-term benefits in sight?Researchers' attitudes toward farmers are fundamental in any successful participatory research. Researchers in many national research systems are' hesitant or unwilling to appreciate farmers as researchers in their own right and to respect their acquired knowledge. Farmers have, over the years, accumulated wisdom and knowledge about their environment which could contribute to potential solutions. Researcher training through practical experience (learning-by.-doing) and networking with other researchers can help change attitudes and improve farmer-researcher relationships.lnterdisciplinary Team WorkAdaptive research on soil and water management needs the co-operation of different disciplines. Interdisciplinary team work is not easy. Most researchers, trained in specific disciplines, seek single component solutions or fixed package solutions to problems according to their own perspectives. FIexibility in research approaches is needed to accomodate different situations. F ew researchers are trained or experienced enough to present options to resource-poor farmers making difficuIt resource management decisions, or to encourage farmers to identífy their own problems and particípate in the design of tríaIs. Nor do researchers necessarily have the organizational and managerial skills required for effectively invoIving farmers in research. Social scientists, who are trained in these skills, are ofien scarce.In the absence of external effects, participation normally involves one user when a resource is owned by an individual (private property). However, in many situations, resources are managed by communities (common property) or by the state (public property), or resources are open to all users (open access), or the effects of management practices of individual s or groups of users spill over to other users (external impact). Participation is much wider in these situations, involving an array of decision makers and local institutions. Nonetheless, different individuals and groups within any community may ofien have conflicting interests, depending upon access to resources, gender and ethnicity (Farrington and Martin, 1988). Local institutions and mechanisms by which formerly those conflicts were resolved and collaboration ensured are changing, due to the changing socioeconomic environment, with consequences for resource management. The challenge is to understand the dynamics of these changes and foresee the future shape of these institutions and, therefore, anticipate how that will affect the participatory approach to be used.1nslilulional CommitmentAs mentioned earlier, productivity enhancement has dominated the research agenda of most national research systems, and a relatively lower priority has been given to NRM research. Adoption of participatory approaches to NRM research has also been lagging behind that in commodity research, following NARS research priorities and commitments and the donors' funding structure. Greater institutional commitment from NARS and funding from donors is needed if participatory methodologies are to be effectively employed in adaptive NRM research. This ineludes allocation of resources, training of researchers and proper promotion and incentive structures in the research system.Southern Tunisia is dry with a long-term average rainfall of around 200 mm. The landscape consists of undulating hilIs and mountains denuded of natural vegetation. Soils are poor and extremely shallow and rocky. The jessours, based on the principie of water harvesting, are ancient indigenous systems. They consist of a series of stone and earth walls, called tabias, built across the stream beds of narrow valley watersheds. The tabias collect and retain soil washed down hillsides by the torrential rains, forming terraces arranged in stair-step fashion down the natural slope. The rainfall runoff collected on these terraces permits the cultivation of olive and barley (traditional crops), as well as chickpea, faba bean, lentils, watermelons and vegetables. More recently, due to increased demand, new fruit trees like figs, grapes and apple have been introduced into the system in the relatively higher rainfall Matmata mountains. This intensification of the jessour production systems makes the efficient use of available rainfall water even more important. It also raises the stakes of any damage to the system.While poverty is more prevalent in rural areas of Tunisia than in urban areas (Ayadi and Matoussi 1995), the situation in Southern Tunisia is exacerbated by low natural resource endowments. Agriculture, which is the main economic activity, faces low and erratic rainfall, increasing pressure on marginal rangelands by overgrazing, and accelerated soil erosion ( IRA 1993). Many of the traditional jessour systems are not being well maintained, resulting in increased run-off during torrential rain storms which destroy those systems with substantial environmental and economic costs. Although water is a major factor limiting agricultural development, available water from rainfall is not efficientIy utilized because of the run-off losses. This run-off, in turn, accelerates soil erosion, further deteriorating the agricultural resource base, reducing its productivity and threatening its long-term sustainability.Furthermore, as agriculturalland is degraded and productivity drops, communities seek other ways to support their 1ivelihood, and this region has been affected by a mass out-migration. As a result, labor shortage has increased the cost of production and of land conservation practices. However, even though many farmers have neglected their fields, there are signs of increasing land stewardship among some farmers, reflecting increased land values following the introduction of new crops and production intensification.Tunisian researchers at the Institut des Regions Arides (IRA), located in Medenine in South Tunisia, have been developing techniques to optimize the use of water resources and minimize soilloss due to water erosion in the jessour production systems. Researchers at IRA have concluded from earlier studies that traditional and conventional techniques used to manage run-off water and reduce soil erosion can be improved to withtstand the intense rain storms that occur in Southern Tunisia (Chehbani 1990 and1996). Researchers have developed water retention and erosion control measures, using a computer-based watershed run-off modeL These measures include additional terraces and planting medicinal and forage plant species on the degraded hilltop to capture surface run-off and reduce soil erosiono Other techniques include flood-water discharge systems, subsurface stone-filled pockets for irrigating fruit trees with increased water-use efficiency and reduced evaporation losses, and the construction of cisterns to capture run-off water for the supplementary irrigation of fruit trees and crops. Sorne of these measures were tested at experimental sites, but without any farroer participation. The measures were, nonetheless, found to be technically feasible and more effective than traditional and conventional techniques currently used by farroers and by the soil and water conservation service (SWCS), in capturing run-off water, minimizing soil 10ss and reducing the likelihood of major damage to the system from very intensive rainstorms.Farmers' concerns voiced. An interdisciplinary team of IRA researchers have conducted a comprehensive socioeconomic study during the first phase of DRMP. This study and subsequent rapid participatory diagnosis using individual interviews, group meetings and brainstorming sessions with farroers conducted by ICARDA and IRA researchers, in the second phase of the project, has revealed that researchers, farroers and SWCS staff have diverse views and perceptions of the problems, their solutions and the socioeconomic viability of the researcher-suggested techniques. First, farroers considered those techniques very expensive and impractical because they were designed to protect the jessour systems from the damage of rain storms with intensity up to 200 mmlhour, which is more than the recorded maximum in the study area (110 mmlhour). Secondly, farroers reported that they generally expect to experience a major storm every 15 to 20 years and expect then to repair any damage to the system. So farroers rationally determine their investment levels and accept a certain degree of risk. Thirdly, there is a great interdependence of individual fields in the cascade of tabias in any jessour system. Farroers use the unproductive upland simply as catchment and the runoff is diverted, through elaborate traditional canals known as Bamala, to the productive lowlands. Those farroers consider this runoff vital to their production. Lowland users rely on the runoff which spills over from their upstream neighbors through specially designed spi1lways known as masraf constructed on the tabias for that purpose. But lowland farroers do not have the right to claim compensation from upstream users for losses from reduced spíllover or damage from increased floods. Any improved technique should, therefore, take these local arrangements and system interdependence into account. Because of the system interdependence, collective willingness to co-operate in overall system improvement is crucial. In addition, there are unanswered questions about the property rights and local arrangements for access to different resources. F or example, do aH farroers have access to the water collection area on the hillside and the run-off delivery systems (hamala) , and how would that affect the viability of improved practices? And, finally, the improved soil and water conservation techniques have not yet been subjected to any ex ante economic evaluation by users and social scientists.Farmers' participation changes research plan. Farroers' main concerns were the cost of investment, because farroers have no access to financial resources, and the risk inherent in the recurrent droughts in the region. Other concerns included lack of finance (government not responding to their requests), labor shortage (most young people migrate to urban centers and Participatory natural resource management research in lhe dry areas: Cha/lenges and opportunities abroad), diseases of new crops, poor land leveling, poor run-off water distribution and occasional destruction of labias during torrential rains. To meet these concems, researchers proposed adjustments to the research plan. The experimental designs generated by the computer model will not be introduced as a whole to farmers' fields. Instead, farmers wiIl be exposed to the teclmiques in a field tour for evaluation, and will then freely select what they think wiIl fit their situations. Farmers' preferences were key elements in determining which techniques wiIl be tested on farmers' fields. Only simple techniques wiIl be selected for testing. The computer model designs wiIl be subjected to ex-ante economic analysis using different rainfall intensity levels and distributions. Detailed cost benefit analysis of the suggested improvements wiIl be carried out, and due consideration wiIl be given to traditional mechanisms and interdependencies of the system.Farmers' selection of techniques. A group of farmers were invited for a field tour to visit the pilot site where the techniques were being tested. After the visit and discussions with researchers, four farmers were selected to test a few techniques on their fields. These experiments are currentIy underway. The techniques tested in collaboration with farmers inelude: a water cistem which stores run-off water for supplemental irrigation with an easyto-use control tap at the bottom; a subsurface stone pocket for the irrigation of fruit trees and other subsurface irrigation techniques using plastic tubes; and a floating system designed to evacuate excess run-off water collected behind the labias in the jessour systems to avoid breaking. Participating farmers are enthusiastic about the enhanced water availability and plan to introduce new crops that the researchers did not anticípate.Although the work in South Tunisia is only at an initial stage, it shows how farmers' involvement has changed research design and demanded flexibility on the part of researchers in implementing a collaborative participatory approach in NRM research. However, it is obvious that individual farmer participation will not solve the problem where collective action is necessary. The research team has currently adopted a watershed perspective, where groups of farmers using several jessour systems in a rnicrowatershed are identified and their collective action is utilized. The comparison will then be between two jessour systems (improved against control) rather than between two fields. Researchers also plan to examine the significance and contribution of the participatory methods to the technology development and adoption process. The research will also assess the potential of this approach for scaling up the use of improved 'soil and water management technologies in this region.The Tunisian case study did not use a participatory approach blueprint. It was a learning process, in which interaction between researchers and farmers shaped the research designo With greater institutional commitment, adequate funding and proper researcher training in participatory methods, this process could be accelerated, yielding benefits to poor farmers and enhancing resource and environmental conservation.The Soil and Water Conservation ofthe Ministry of Agriculture is involved in this work with IRA, partially covering the cost of the experiments. Because of this, the two agencies are now seeking ways of formalizing their co-operation in involving farmers in the adaptive testing of technologies, to serve the interests of both. The Tunisian case study was used as the venue for a field workshop attended by researchers from 6 countries in the W ANA region. The case study generated stimulating debate among participants and between researchers and local Tunisian farmers.Develaping sail and water management technalagies far small-scale farmes in ¡he semi-arid areas tillage systems in southern Zimbabwe. The conservation impact of the best system only became apparent in the sixth year (Chuma & Hagmann 1995). Thus, in the first five years, the benefits of conservation tillage were not apparent. AIso, the benefits of soil management technologies, particularly in terms of crop performance, are masked by other agronomic activities and the impact tends to be farmer and site specific. This can also be illustrated by the results of on-farm evaluation of a conservation system in Zimbabwe. Yields on farmers fields were highly variable between farmers and seasons. In 1992/93, grain yield on sandy sites was 6% higher on ridges than on conventional flat. In the same year, grain yield on periodically water-logged sites was 22% more on the new technique (tied ridging). In 1993/94, tied ridges on waterlogged sites yielded 66% more than the conventional technique and, on upland soils, ridges yielded only 16% more than on the conventional technique.Methodologically, the question here is how to separate the impacts of soil management technologies from the effect of other agronomic practices and farmers' management skills? Researchers are looking for quantitative results, while the high degree of variability of yields of the same technology from farmer to farmer is a reality. Highly sophisticated research designs, however, would compromise farmer participation. Another important question is how to reconcile long-term objectives of soil management with the short-term requirements of crop production.A possible solution is to apply a land husbandry approach which implies the care, management and improvement of land resources as a positive approach, and where soil management technologies are applied as an integral component of land management this, however, requires addressing several problems/issues at the same. The question here is whether it is possible to address all the important issues from different disciplines simultaneously, for example, when applying research funds? Maybe prioritizing the issues could help in the initiation of a land husbandry approach, but again the question is, how to get the right priority for farmers and the soil.Farmer circumstances tend to be dynamic which makes the understanding of farmers' social environment rather difficult. The importance of understanding farmers' circumstances and their decision-making criteria is crucial in technology development on how to extract the impacts of soil management technologies from the effects of other agronomic practices. A combination of evaluation methods that includes formal surveys, informal discussions and technical measurements has been recommended to help researchers understand farmers' social environment, particularly the decÍsion making process (Chuma 1994). Our work in Zimbabwe has shown the importance of incorporating gender as an integral part in the technology development process (Hagmann et al 1996), however, it also clearly revealed that the social environment is highly dynamic. For example, household headship can change from male de facto to de jure in ayear. Considering the long-term nature of experiments on the development of soil technologies, an experiment started under the circurnstances of a maleheaded household ends up under different conditions and might have to be changed.Related to this issue is the dynamic nature of production eonstraints partieularly in the semiarid areas. For .example, in a drought year, water harvesting teehniques are a key to soil management, whereas, in a wet year, water harvesting becomes totally irrelevant and waterlogging beeomes a problem. The challenge for the development of soíl teehnologies here is to build in flexibility during implementation while maintaining scientific quantitative results. The development and applieation of the appropriate monitoring of diversity is a key challenge in participatory research.How ro Deal with Diversity ofSoil Management Problems?Problems to be addressed with soíl management technologies tend to be diverse and the objectives depend on the seale of operation. For an individual farmer, the objective to achieve appropriate land management is at the fieId level, and for a eornmunity the scale is at the eatehment level. The objectives of the individual and those of the eornmunity are not neeessarily always equal, but the effeetiveness of individual efforts in conservation can only be suecessful if farmers in a eornmunity or watershed are eo-operating. Now, whose objeetive (cornmunity or individual) should be addressed by farmer participatory researeh? Who is putting up the research agenda? Who is the driving force? Who owns the researeh? AIso, the eriteria for the evaluation of technologies differ depending on degree of market orientation, gender, wealth, etc. Whose criteria are to be used for evaluation? Farmers' pereeptions of problems is highly diverse. For example, sorne farmers attribute low soil fertility to spiritual effeets, while others believe in casual-rational terms, etc. The oYerall question is how to take these issues on board in participatory research.This paper only shows a limited number of methodological concems in farmer participatory research on soil technologies. These concems apply when utilizing a research approach based on positivistic science, which is often the case in classical fariner participatory research. However, if take farmers' reality as a starting point in technology development, and do not seek for quantitative data but more for a learning process, the methodological concems are different. In our work in Zimbabwe, we tried to combine a learning process and simple quantitative research. The methodology and the results have been docurnented (see references).A general framework for addressing key issues of methodology development Friday September 13 08:00 -13:00 7.Plenary progress report of woks groups and task forces 8.Program evaluation Plenary presentations 9. Speeial groups on organisation 10.Proposed special eroups on oreanisation:1.Criteria for inclusion of projects in SWI 2.Steering Committees -PPB, NRM, Gender eriteria for membership, TOR 3.Training needs 4.Communieation network, networking, seminars, e-mail (íe. howare we going to keep in touch?) 5.Others if proposed 20:00 Poster session -videos","tokenCount":"78365"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8658971038.json b/data/part_1/8658971038.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cc3c712c649eaeb8d49b7c0b74c0aa25a95fd6d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8658971038.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b9d33c271feaba38cd4d4ee64e13c33f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/79159436-5b38-4c7a-8bd3-1c34bc696ebb/retrieve","id":"-671143865"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"01495a55-9740-41f2-9db5-207f1581ff12","pagecount":"2","content":"• Agricultural development, including livestock, is crucial for national economic growth and to guarantee nutritional security. • The CLEANED approach, using the CLEANED R tool, explores alternative ways to increase productivity and well-being while minimizing the amount and distribution of negative environmental and well-being impacts across the chain. As such, this contributes to sustainable water and land use management.• The approach allows local government and value chain actors to translate national policies such as the Agricultural Sector Development Programme Phase II into plans for implementation that are locally relevant and agreed on by all actors. • In high potential areas, the approach can be used to refine strategies of livestock improvement, while in agro-pastoral areas the approach can contribute to conflict resolution over land use for livestock production.The Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment and sustainable Development (CLEANED) approach is a computer-assisted participatory learning process that aims to understand the opportunities and constraints for sustainable livestock production in a local context. By combining the CLEANED tool with a Transformation Game, local stakeholders can explore productivity, environmental, equity and well-being in different livestock futures. It identifies trade-offs and synergies between productivity, environmental and wellbeing impacts associated with different livestock value chain options. This helps to design a locally supported, shared vision of an ambitious, realistic livestock sector.The CLEANED approach seeks to strike a balance between being implementable within a short time and being sensitive to a specific context. It does this by combining existing data with local and expert knowledge. The aim is to capture locally relevant livestock value chain dynamics so as to produce meaningful information for decision making.Steps 1 and 2 are a reconnaissance tour by a facilitation team with stakeholder interviews and a participatory stakeholder workshop aimed at understanding the context well with local expert knowledge.Step 3 is the set-up of the CLEANED R tool, a computer simulation that computes water, greenhouse gas, biodiversity and soil nitrogen impact for the specific context by combining expert knowledge and geographical data.Step 4 is a second workshop in which stakeholder groups play a board game that facilitates development and evaluation of possible livestock futures.The Agricultural Sector Development Programme Phase II (ASDP-II) emphasises that agricultural development is crucial for national economic growth and nutritional security. It calls for enhanced agricultural productivity with sustainable water and land use management, in other words sustainable intensification. The livestock sector is critical as it provides: (1) important nutrients for a diverse diet, (2) high value food and non-food products, (3) risk mitigation for smallholder farmers and (4) manure for soil health. However, livestock keeping is resource intensive and can cause environmental damage if poorly managed. A three-country project (ResLeSS) has shown how, by using the CLEANED approach, local governments and value chain actors can explore alternative ways to increase livestock productivity, to produce more animal sourced food while maintaining or even reducing the pressure on their local environment.The CLEANED approach was used in Lushoto district to explore different scenarios for improving livestock breeds for dairy production, namely local breeds (kienyeji), cross-breeds (chotara), and mostly exotic breeds (kisasa). The scenario for 2030 agreed by the stakeholder groups showed that an increase of 160% of milk production is possible without increasing the existing animal density, but the trade-off would be 50% reduction of staple food production. Participants felt that they had no competitive advantage in staple food production and already need to purchase food. Getting more income from milk will improve producers food security as well as fulfil their other objectives.Improved breeds require more management in terms of housing, veterinary services and high value feed. High value feed means more planted fodder, which competes with food production and more concentrates such as brans or oil seed cakes which need to be purchased. The stakeholders agreed that a move to improved breeds therefore means competition for limited financial resources, such that emergencies may even require families to sell land to maintain good livestock management.In addition, the move to purchased concentrates, that do not require local land, will reduce the overall pressure on land and the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions and water needed per unit of milk will be reduced compared to the current situation.Farmer participants learned to look beyond their own farm and assess benefits of moving to more intensive production together. This is because their joint increased demand for veterinary services and livestock-related inputs will increase the provision and quality of these services as costs of providing them will reduce.Tanzania's livestock master plan is ambitious in terms of animal sourced food production, especially in the high potential areas. Yet it does not take the local resource base or the environment into account. Neither does it suggest how to mobilize actors on the ground.The CLEANED approach can be used to: \"Down-scale\" the Livestock Master Plan to the local context, to develop a shared vision among the different actors of how they can contribute to national development.Develop a locally relevant road map to a realistic implementation of the national master plan, in collaboration with local and international businesses and knowledge partners. For sustainable implementation, the CLEANED approach should be a complement to capacity building of local institutions and communities.The Government of Tanzania to pilot the CLEANED approach in other districts to assess results in different settings. The focus in high potential areas can lie in improving dairy value chains through management and breeding, making use of a parametrisation of the CLEANED R tool similar to Lushoto. For drylands, the focus can be on tackling the conflict between farmers and pastoralists, making use of a version of the CLEANED R tool for agro-pastoral areas similar to that developed in Burkina Faso, but adaptable to the Tanzanian context.","tokenCount":"950"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8669717091.json b/data/part_1/8669717091.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5735586031b5ddd15249588f927db668a0f08e44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8669717091.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9ff5ca2fad06baa13d77d93ac68cc1fd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4886daf3-6d1d-4eab-92d3-b0ca81ab2cc1/content","id":"-1127151557"},"keywords":["high-throughput phenotyping","satellite","wheat","maize","breeding","normalized difference vegetation index","optimized soil adjusted vegetation index"],"sieverID":"d1208d6e-9d20-4b15-940f-58673d2bffd8","pagecount":"7","content":"Advances in breeding efforts to increase the rate of genetic gains and enhance crop resilience to climate change have been limited by the procedure and costs of phenotyping methods. The recent rapid development of sensors, imageprocessing technology, and data-analysis has provided opportunities for multiple scales phenotyping methods and systems, including satellite imagery. Among these platforms, satellite imagery may represent one of the ultimate approaches to remotely monitor trials and nurseries planted in multiple locations while standardizing protocols and reducing costs. However, the deployment of satellite-based phenotyping in breeding trials has largely been limited by low spatial resolution of satellite images. The advent of a new generation of highresolution satellites may finally overcome these limitations. The SkySat constellation started offering multispectral images at a 0.5 m resolution since 2020. In this communication we present a case study on the use of time series SkySat images to estimate NDVI from wheat and maize breeding plots encompassing different sizes and spacing. We evaluated the reliability of the calculated NDVI and tested its capacity to detect seasonal changes and genotypic differences. We discuss the advantages, limitations, and perspectives of this approach for high-throughput phenotyping in breeding programs.Climate change causes widespread changes in weather patterns and therefore poses new challenges for plant breeders (Stamp and Visser, 2012;Xiong et al., 2022). To strategically plan for future crop genetics, plant breeders must consider how to assess germplasm performance in locations that better represent their future environmentsi.e. climate analogue siteswhich are likely further from their research stations and possibly in another country or continent, where frequent data collection may be challenged by the availability of trained personnel, travel, logistics and equipment. In addition, multi-environment trials (METs) are needed to enable prediction of genotype reaction-norms (van Eeuwijk et al., 2019;Cooper and Messina, 2021). These prediction models tend to be based on markers, big data and machine learning approaches, and they strongly rely on a standardized, quality-controlled set of data from many different environments. Since the contribution of a gene to a trait can vary depending on environmental conditions, the results of genomic selection, genome wide association studies (GWAS) and other genomics-driven breeding and research methods will be more precise and relevant if run using phenomic data from numerous locations representing the diversity among growing environments (Korte and Ashley, 2013;Jarquıń et al., 2014).Accurately linking genotypes to phenotypes requires large populations of replicated genotypes, which can be costly to evaluate, especially at multiple locations (Furbank and Tester, 2011). Furthermore, bias due to differences in specifications of instruments or their handling, human error, as well as poor plot quality due to irregular emergence and soil heterogeneity can render big data analyses useless. These challenges limit the scalability of current phenotyping techniques across diverse environments, especially when linking the phenomic data to genomic data. Genetics-based breeding technologies, such as genomic selection, speed breeding and gene editing (CRISPR/CAS), offer ways to accelerate breeding, but their value is limited by the quality and relevance of phenotypic data. Consequently, standardized phenotyping of experiments or nurseries grown at different locations has remained a bottleneck for the use of phenomic data in genomic analyses (Crossa et al., 2021).High resolution satellites may contribute to address this bottleneck, and have been recently tested for monitoring small plots (Tattaris et al., 2016;Sankaran et al., 2020;Sankaran et al., 2021). However, apart from being relatively costly, the resolution of the multispectral bands used to be coarser than 1 m. This changed with the launch of the Pleiades (Airbus, 2022) and SkySat (Planet, 2022a) constellations. The fleet of 21 high resolution (0.5 m) SkySat satellites became fully operational in the fall of 2020. Daily acquisitions attempts are now guaranteed, resulting in at least one cloud free image every 7 to 10 days for most regions on Earth. This opens up the opportunity to monitor and phenotype breeding plots across diverse environments over an entire growing season with identical measurement protocols.2 Perspective: harnessing multitemporal high resolution satellite images for monitoring breeding plots in diverse environments Many of the variables collected in crop phenotyping can potentially be generated from satellite images. The SkySat sensors have 4 spectral bands: blue, green, red and infrared. They can be used to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is a measure of the amount of vegetation and its greenness, and other bio-physical parameters, including plot establishment, and various canopy traits, such as ground cover (fCover), leaf area and chlorosis (Jin et al., 2021). Using a time series of standardized images, date of emergence, end of leaf growth (which is an approximation of heading or tasseling date), and senescence or maturity can also be estimated (Jönsson and Eklundh, 2004;Peŕez-Valencia et al., 2022). From a series of images covering the entire growing period, the performance of selected lines can be evaluated under specific weather conditions around the time that they occur, such as cold or dry spells and heat waves. In this context, satellite-generated phenotypic data from METs can be easily complemented with information on the dynamics of the environments retrieved from weather station networks or the global ECMWF Reanalysis products AgERA5 (Boogaard et al., 2020) and ERA5 (Hersbach et al., 2018). These products provide daily or hourly weather data at a resolution of either 10 or 30 km in close to real time, allowing better enviromics for the optimization of prediction models within the framework of the modern plant breeding triangle (Crossa et al., 2021;Resende et al., 2021).Satellite images would enable breeders and researchers to monitor their field-plots in a single time-point (for each image), across a time-span (multiple images), and collect performance data on germplasm throughout a season at locations around the globe. In addition, since each satellite image covers an entire research field, genotypes across a field trial can be effectively compared without the potentially confounding effect of time (compared to physically carrying a hand-held tool to each plot in the field while ambient conditions are drifting). Plot level data collected by satellites can also be used to compare plot quality and to perform statistical correction for spatial heterogeneity in the field that can otherwise confound the expression of yield and other traits. They also allow for quality control and verification of reported data, such as date of sowing and management of the plots according to protocol. The use of satellite data will ultimately allow for the inclusion of larger nurseries (more lines) and more locations. Biases due to differences in instruments, human or other experimental errors will be reduced, resulting in standardized, multi-temporal data sets that allow for comparisons among sites in close to real time.However, nursery plots for wheat and maize, as well as for other crops, tend to be relatively small. Plots tend to measure 2 or more meters in length, but plot width might be a bottleneck for the use of satellite images. For maize, breeders plant 1 or 2 rows, whereas for wheat, plots usually consist of 2 to 6 rows. This results in plots that tend to be between 0.7 m (one row of maize) to 1.2 to 1.6 m wide, which may pose some challenges for the use of 0.5 m satellite data to capture pure vegetation pixels and avoid mixed pixels affected by the signal from soil surfaces or neighboring plots. The native resolution, or ground sampling distance (GSD) of SkySat images depends on the view angle of the satellite among others. The resolution of the multispectral bands at nadir is 0.81 m for SkySat-3 to 15 and 0.72 m for SkySat-16 to 21 (Planet, 2022b). To align the satellite images with each other, they need to be orthorectified (Leprince et al., 2007). During the orthorectification process, the images are being resampled to a standard resolution of 0.5 m. Thus, a SkySat, or any other pixel of a satellite image, is not an exact representation of the area it covers on the ground (Saunier et al., 2022). Other technical factors such as radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction and the point spread function of the sensor can also affect the quality of the data, being especially relevant when using time series and multi-environment comparisons. To assess the potential and limitations of the use of SkySat images for phenotyping, we conducted separate field campaigns in Mexico and Zimbabwe.We used time series of SkySat imagery to estimate the NDVI (NDVI SAT ) from wheat breeding plots. The NDVI SAT values were evaluated in terms of their reliability-i.e. capacity to detect genotypic differences, and how observed seasonal changes were related to crop phenology-and how they are affected by the plot size and spacing; all this while comparing NDVI SAT to NDVI calculated from a UAV (NDVI UAV ) at different moments during the growing cycle in wheat and maize, respectively.A dedicated wheat experiment for assessing the effect of plot size and spacing in NDVI SAT was planted at CIMMYT headquarters, Texcoco, Mexico (19.5338°N, 98.8428°W, 2,278 masl), under optimal growing conditions. A spring wheat panel comprising 10 genotypes from the Roots Anatomy panel was planted in six treatments resulting from the combination of two plot widths of 0.8 and 1.6 m (referred as small and big plots) and three spacings between plots of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.5 m in all directions (Figures 1A, B). The small and big plots had two and six rows of plants, respectively, and the same plot length of 2.5 m. Each treatment had an a-lattice design with two replicates, resulting in twenty plots per treatment. This experimental design is commonly used in breeding trials. The experiment was sown on 27 May and harvested on 5 October 2021. Aerial high-resolution multispectral images (GSD ~0.017 m) were collected at 25 m altitude using a RedEdge (Micasense, USA) multispectral camera mounted on a UAV (Matrice 100, DJI, China). The images were georeferenced using ground control points distributed along the field, and the spectral reflectance was calculated using a calibration target (Micasense, USA). A commercial software (Pix4D, Switzerland) was used to mosaic the images from which NDVI UAV was extracted for each plot. The UAV images were collected across the cycle as close as possible to the satellite acquisitions (Supplementary Table S1).Time series of SkySat multispectral images were collected over the wheat experiments starting from canopy closure. The acquisitions targeted a revisit frequency of 7 to 10 days. In order to limit BRDF effects (Royer et al., 1985) and distortion in GSD, maximum view angle was restricted to 16°. NDVI SAT was calculated using the RED and NIR bands from the SkySat surface reflectance product (Planet, 2022b). Additionally, the Optimized Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (OSAVI, Rondeaux et al., 1996) was calculated to mitigate the potential impact that soil brightness can have on NDVI, especially with larger plot spacing. A total of six satellite acquisitions were obtained during the cycle (Supplementary Table S1). For the extraction of NDVI and OSAVI, we first manually drew the plot boundaries based on an accurately geo-referenced UAV image. Using ArcGIS georeferencing tool, we then shifted the satellite images so that they would align with the plot boundaries. For this we employed sharp edges in the scenery as references, such as road corners and trial boundaries. After applying a 15 cm in-side buffer to the plot boundaries, we extracted the NDVI values with the R-library raster v3.6.3 using the normalizeWeights option, which accounts for the proportion of each pixel that falls in a polygon. The best linear unbiased estimators (BLUEs; Bernal-Vasquez et al., 2016) of the remote sensing data were calculated for each genotype using the R-package \"asreml-R\" version 4.1.0.160.We also collected satellite images over maize breeding nurseries located in Muzarabani, Zimbabwe (16.3972°S, 31.0160°E, 498 masl). Three images were collected over the cycle starting from mid vegetative stage. However, UAV measurements were not available on site and satellite data could only be compared to NDVI readings measured with a hand-held optical sensor with adjustable arm (GreenSeeker, Trimble, USA). Therefore, details on the maize experiment and results are presented as supplementary material (Supplementary Figure S1).A visual assessment of satellite images indicates that individualization of plots represents one of the challenges for extracting quality phenotypic data. Wheat plot boundaries were visually evident only for plots with a spacing of 0.75 m and 1.5 m (Figure 1B). In general, the increase of plot size and plot spacing resulted in higher and more significant correlations between satellite and UAV data, possibly due to better plot individualization (Figures 1C, D). In maize, plots were sown without spacing in between, hindering the visualization of plot boundaries. But the ranges as well as the edges of the experiment were clearly visible (Supplementary Figure S1B).Given the satellite resolution and plot size, NDVI SAT is expected to be affected by mixed pixels. The values of NDVI SAT were much lower and showed a larger range between treatments in comparison to NDVI UAV in all the dates (Figure 1C). While NDVI UAV showed values close to saturation after canopy closure, NDVI SAT ranged between 0.45 and 0.65, suggesting a degradation of the signal due to contamination from the neighboring bare soil. The OSAVI SAT also showed lower values than OSAVI UAV, except for the treatments with 0.5 inter-plot spacing where values were within the same range (Figure 1D). When plot spacing was increased, OSAVI SAT decreased considerably to values much lower than those calculated from the UAV. A small inter-plot spacing facilitates the pollution of pixels by neighboring plots in the satellite data, which could explain the higher NDVI SAT and OSAVI SAT in plots with 0.5 m distance compared to wider plot spacing. In contrast, adding space between plots may imply a larger mixing of vegetation and bare soil spectra, decreasing the NDVI SAT and OSAVI SAT . Conversely, the higher resolution of the UAV imagery can help avoid the effect of mixed pixels. However, increasing the plot spacing also decreased the values of both NDVI UAV and OSAVI UAV (although to a lesser extent than for NDVI SAT and OSAVI SAT , respectively; Figures 1C, D). This suggests that mixed pixels may not be the only factor affecting the spectral signature when increasing the distance between plots. One possibility is that the larger spacing changes the illumination conditions within the plot due to more lateral light penetration.Mixed pixels may also limit the capability of NDVI and other spectral indices to detect phenotypic variability from satellite imagery. In the small plots, the reduction of plot spacing resulted in lower average heritability values for NDVI SAT and OSAVI SAT (Table 1). In larger plots, the heritability values were higher than in small plots but there was not an evident effect of the plot spacing. This suggests that genotypic variability detected in larger plots may be affected by other factors such as heterogeneity within the plots, and that differences in heritability between treatments may be more related to weather and field conditions during data collection. In the UAV data, the heritability values were much higher than those from satellite data. However, the plot size and distance did not show a clear effect across dates. Instead, differences in UAV-based heritability between treatments and dates may be better explained by changes in environmental and operating conditions.Slight variations in factors such as illumination conditions, wind or view angle, among others, can affect the accuracy of the spectral measurements causing great impact in the calculated heritability.The time series of satellite images collected the wheat experiment also depicted the influence of phenological stage on NDVI SAT and its variability within each treatment. The phenotypic variability of NDVI and OSAVI from both platforms, and the correlations between them, were lower or not significant during the first two measuring dates (Figure 1C), coinciding with a time of highest biomass development during stem elongation. The correlations and variability increased later, from booting and during the grain filling, when decreases in green biomass and the onset of senescence may have maximized the differences in the spectral signature between genotypes. These phenological changes were more contrasting when plot spacing was larger, with the bigger plots always showing the highest heritability and the best correlations between both platforms on all dates.The consolidation of satellite platforms as tools for highthroughput phenotyping in breeding trials relies on many factors, among which the spatial resolution plays an important role. As expected, for plots with widths close to the sensor GSD low accuracies were observed. However, the results indicate that high resolution satellites hold promise for phenotyping plots commonly used in wheat (1.2 m) and maize (1.5 m) breeding.In addition to the spatial resolution, other sensor specifications can have great impact in the usability of this data for plot phenotyping, and should be considered carefully for interpretation. Saunier et al. (2022) performed a deep analysis on the performance of the SkySat constellation, revealing a high signal-to-noise ratio, high geometric accuracy, and confirming that the spectral and spatial resolutions were compliant with the specification of Planet.Nevertheless, the same study detected some sources of uncertainties, such as variations in the quality of the data coming from different sensors and changes in the spectral signature due to resampling. This has implications for the interpretation and comparison of time series data or data collected from different locations, especially for small plots, as images may be collected from different satellites and from a different view angle (i.e. differences in native spatial resolution). In this sense, the implementation of plotlevel models to characterize trait changes over time, such as the ones suggested by Roth et al. (2021) and Peŕez-Valencia et al. (2022), can be used to smooth time series of data, helping to reduce noise coming for systematic or random errors while improving the genotypic variability at key phenological stages. The atmospheric correction of SkySat imagery also presents limitations that can affect the quality of the data (Planet, 2022b;Saunier et al., 2022).Modifying the plot spacing helped us realize the extent to which neighboring surfaces affect the plot spectral signature. We demonstrated that increasing plot spacing helps with the identification of individual plots and improves apparent heritability. Similarly, working with larger plots improved the accuracies. However, these solutions are not suitable for breeding programs, which tend to comprise several hundred plots. Pleiades Neo (Airbus, 2022), as well as the upcoming Pelican fleet of satellites (Planet, 2022a) will offer multispectral data acquired at a resolution close to 0.3 m. Hence, limitations set by the resolution are likely to become less of an issue. A remaining challenge will be the accurate delineation of the plot boundaries. This can be achieved with high-resolution UAV imagery, although a UAV may not always be available, especially in under-resourced programs or in remote regions. An accurate geometric layout of the plots, possibly with the help of an RTK GPS, together with placing fixed ground control points that can be identified in the satellite images, will facilitate the image-to-image registration and lining up with the plot boundaries. Nursery trials are generally sown in flat areas; hence a perfect alignment can be achieved by a simple shifting of the images, a process that can be automated. The SkySat images were able to capture spatial heterogeneity in the small areas covered by our trials. Similarly, the temporal changes in the spectra agreed with the phenology of the crops. This, together with the possibility of capturing images on demand, opens the possibility of using the satellite information to characterize the field level spatial variability in models for prediction of genetic value (Araus and Cairns, 2014;Smith et al., 2021), and to remotely monitor the development and management of the trials for quality control at a low cost.The successful collection of six satellite images during the rainy season in Central Mexico, while monitoring in parallel a maize trial in Zimbabwe, amply demonstrate the flexibility of this tool. With the imminent improvement of the spatial resolution, a remaining challenge will be the development and fine-tuning of operational procedures that ensure high quality, standardized data that will enable us to harness the benefits of the modern breeding triangle.","tokenCount":"3311"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8683534759.json b/data/part_1/8683534759.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..68fe659800ea5992efb781af776f612f168cc6cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8683534759.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bf4807eb4d9d59613378fafec54e2683","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b82e2a62-9a57-4a97-8b82-17b4760694cf/retrieve","id":"-166049773"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e97cbdb0-436c-48c3-8caf-f5d532240369","pagecount":"83","content":"CTA's working document series consists of material that, in view of its immediate relevance and practical utility to specific readerships, the Centre wishes to make available without the delays inherent in the formal publication process. These working documents have not yet undergone technical editing by CTA and should be cited accordingly. Comments on matters of substance are welcome, and should be addressed directly to CTA.Over the last five years, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has been actively involved in promoting the establishment of effective market information services (MIS) at the local, national and regional level. This has resulted in a number of initiatives such as the setting up of a number of MIS pilot projects in Africa and the Caribbean. Although these projects have been largely successful in meeting their initial objectives, future growth and development of these services will ultimately depend on the level of their sustainability and the degree to which they can collaborate with private and public sector institutions, which have a stake in the process.The technical consultation on the 'Integration of statistical services and agricultural market information services', which was organised by CTA, provided an excellent opportunity to tackle the above-mentioned concerns. The workshop was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands in November 2001 and its main objectives were to:• Share information and experience with regard to:-MIS for the use of farmers;running an MIS.• Define the pre-requisites for an adequate 'Monitoring and Evaluation' system for MIS• Develop a framework for:public-private; -national-international cooperation for performance and sustainability of the MIS.It must be noted however, that although the technical consultation was primarily concerned with the integration of statistical services, it was acknowledged by the participants that the scope of the workshop should be broadened to include all the stakeholders in both the private and public sector as this would be more in keeping with the needs of the MIS. need for the services to expand and become commercially viable systems, thereby adding a new dimension to the CTA modified model, which states that:To be effective and useful, MIS should be demand driven, community or sector-specific, with maximum participation of private and public sector beneficiaries.One way of going about this, was to add the private-public collaboration component, in particular, that of the statistics department, since it was the most obvious public sector body that could support the MIS. However, there are other public agencies and private sector organisations, which can and should be involved, such as, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Agriculture, trading bodies, etc. Further, there was also a need to find an approach to monitor and evaluate MIS which is cost effective, and can be used and applied in a straightforward way.Dr N. Poole (Imperial College at Wye) gave the keynote speech. His presentation drew heavily on elements of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) school of thought as it relates to issues important to the provision of market information. Small farmers often face uncertainties and higher transaction costs because of limited information, and as such, institutions have a role to play in reducing these costs and influencing the organisation and development of economic activity through the 'making, monitoring and enforcement of contracts ' Hubbard, (1997: 242). Much discussion ensued after, and some of the issues/ questions that came to the fore included:• How can one use technologies to empower small farmers?• Who is it that one seeks to empower and how in practice?• How can one work through communities?• What role is there for traditional leaders in developing community approaches?• Within any specific scheme, clarity is needed on what information should be collected and how it should be analysed and disseminated so as to promote and facilitate real transactions.• The issue of the role of traders was discussed. The centrality of the role they play and the importance of cooperating with farmers were stressed.The other presentations on the first day took stock of existing experiences in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Key issues for the performance and sustainability of the pilot projects were discussed some of which included:• the lack of personnel with the required expertise to run an MIS;• poor infrastructure;• the question of availability of further funding and donor support;• prevailing macro-economic environment to support an MIS;• lack of willingness on the part of some governments to support MIS at the policy level;• lack of commonality in the terms and concepts used.Based on the discussions, which took place in the plenary sessions, two Working Groups were established to look at the following themes:• How to make MIS work for farmers;• How to make MIS work in terms of performance and sustainability;• What are the requirements needed for a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system?Following on the discussions, an alternative definition for market information services was established. Important areas on which to base the development of MIS for poor farmers in ACP countries were also identified by the participants. Broadly, they were:• Design: The design of the service should be based on a deep understanding of what was needed. One way of doing this, is to draw up clearly defined and focused objectives based on the findings and experience of others in the field.• Output: This is largely determined by the design of the service. It should be timely, reliable, accessible and affordable.• Implementation: The service should be functionally autonomous and professionally managed. All the stakeholders should commit to providing resources and there should be a clearly established stakeholders' agreement with respect to ownership and governance.• Performance: Clear measurable performance indicators should be identified. A clear distinction needs to be made between internal performance measurements (related to how data are collected, collated, disseminated and utilised) and external performance measurements to assess the impact of MIS on actual transactions.• Sustainability: This is strongly affected by the choice of target group. If the target group is poor farmers, it will be much more difficult to generate and collect user fees for the service and this has profound implications for the financial sustainability of the service beyond some form of public or donor financing.• Monitoring and evaluating the service should be conducted on a regular basis so as to guide the decision-making of the service. The core elements of an M&E system were identified as:clearly defined objectives of the service; The technical consultation concluded that there was a paradigm shift in terms of the concepts and terminology used in MIS and that there is no unique model applicable across countries. Further, MIS should be seen within its proper context, as a management tool, which can be used to promote production and trade. M&E provides a way in which the MIS can move forward to meet the needs primarily of the farmers as well as other stakeholders such as traders, and consumers.The main recommendations of the workshop included the need:• to develop mechanisms to quantify the impact of MIS on end-users;• to promote financial sustainability, by further analysing the mechanism for internal revenue generation by a community/sector-based MIS.• to monitor and evaluate operations of traditional/ informal MIS in order to improve the delivery of support to such systems.• for increased linkages between MIS and statistical services and other related public sector agencies. MIS should foster collaboration with other relevant institutions in order to facilitate efficient data collection and dissemination of information. The 'option-tree' should be explored, which entails exploring various avenues for developing different levels of collaboration as well as public-private sector partnerships.• for CTA to play a catalytic role in promoting the development of MIS and act as the focal point for ACP-MIS networking.Smallholder farmers in developing countries (DCs) face multiple marketing and exchange problems, among which informational constraints are much cited but little researched, and still less resolved. My paper will restate the problems of information and the difficulties in finding effective, efficient and equitable solutions to information problems. Many of these ideas have emerged from previous work conducted in Ghana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe (Poole, Kydd, Loader, Lynch, Poulton and Wilkin, 2000;Poole, Kydd, Lynch and Poulton, 2000;Poole, Seini and Heh, 2000), but are also drawn from reflections of other work in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), years in South America, and relatively new research on agri-food and forest products marketing in Mexico and India.In the second section, as I have been requested, I would like to introduce some theoretical insights into information problems from the New Institutionalist School on economic thought now very much in vogue, and that was integral to the research for my PhD on vertical coordination in the Spanish citrus industry (Poole and Del Campo Gomis, 1998;Poole, Del Campo Gomis, Juliá Igual and Vidal Giménez, 1998;Poole, 1999;Poole, 2000).In the final section, an effort is made to move away from the theory towards practical solutions, thinking particularly about the business relationships between smallholder farmers and their buyers, and the opportunities afforded by new information and communication technologies (ICTs). These ideas are based on current action research proposals being negotiated with the UK Department for International Development.Producers experience a weak bargaining position vis-à-vis traders because often they do not have:• timely access to salient and accurate information on prices;• locations of effective demand;• preferred quality characteristics of horticultural produce;• alternative marketing channels.Barriers to market access and information flows may be structural and behavioural.Structural barriers of a horizontal nature may be gender, family, educational levels, ethnicity and other social factors. Physical access to markets may be exacerbated by remoteness and poor roads and that means that even information that is available may not result in a response to market opportunities. Information that is available to rural communities may not be equally distributed, and smaller scale producers are more disadvantaged. Vertical characteristics of markets and marketing include personalised repeat dealing, exclusivity, trust and reputation effects.The results of informational barriers are unexploited market opportunities, seasonal gluts and produce with inadequate quality specification and control, inequitable returns to producers, peri-harvest (in field pre-, and post-harvest) losses and fundamentally poor returns to the production and marketing system as a whole. In vegetable and fruit markets, the economic problems are magnified compared with other markets, such as those dealing with staple grains, due to high product perishability and other technical aspects of the products.Market information is usually regarded as data on prices and quantities exchanged, duly processed and made available to market participants. The primary functions of market information services (MIS) are to collect, process and analyse such market data systematically and continuously, and to ensure delivery of information on a timely basis to all market participants (Poon, 1994). It is evident that information provision is a complex operation. Data collection is made difficult by the lack of uniform weights, measures, common grading and quality standards for agricultural products. The analysis of data requires technical skills and data need to be converted into information that is useful to the target population. Delivery involves technical and conceptual problems where information needs to be disaggregated to be meaningful in markets that are often segmented geographically and culturally.Shepherd has distinguished market information, which consists of data on prices and quantities, from marketing information -'a much wider concept, which is likely to include details on potential market channels, payment requirements, packaging, quality and a whole host of information required by a producer to make a successful sale, including market information' (Shepherd, 1997: 5) (emphasis in original). Shepherd then disaggregates market information into current and historical market information:• current market information is data on current prices prevailing, and quantities traded, at different levels of exchange such as retail, wholesale, and farm-level;• historical market information is data on market prices and quantities traded, compiled over an extended period of time and analysed.The expectation of the work conducted on these issues is that better flows of information concerning supply, demand, prices, and quality characteristics will serve to moderate intra-seasonal market disequilibria in supply and demand and smooth price fluctuations. Better informed farmers may experience enhanced market access and make more appropriate business decisions. Efficient MIS should also provide advice to local government and other marketing bodies. Overall, more market information should promote more transparent and efficient market systems for all market stakeholders i.e. producers, traders and consumers.The bulk of the literature on market information in developing countries is founded on the assumption that there is a role for public market information services (or systems), because market information is a 'public good'. MIS are expected to make markets more 'transparent' (Schubert, 1993) by making more information more widely available. In practice, few MIS in developing countries have been able to provide either reliable quantity data or historical market information to market participants. Shepherd (1997) highlights problems both in the collection of market data and information dissemination. Data processing also requires a high level of organisational resources, often absent in public sector organisations in DCs. In the current climate of economic adjustment, there must be considerable scepticism about the potential to overcome the problems associated with the public provision of market information.That is not to say that the state does not have a role in managing information in agricultural markets. Data on prices and quantities are important for staple foods and information needs on relatively non-perishable commodities can be handled more easily than other agri-food products. According to Galtier and Egg (1998), the role of the public sector is likely to be limited to local interventions targeted at local objectives. They suggest that these may be specific informational needs, or appropriate institutional developments to reduce informational and other transaction costs, for example, contracts (Poole et al., 1998).Latterly, the research focus has shifted towards other information needs of a more entrepreneurial nature. McLeay, Martin and Zwart (1996) focused on marketing behaviour and strategic management including 'market knowledge'. This was described as:• understanding market requirements and distribution channels;• awareness of new crops and crop varieties;• monitoring market signals;• simultaneously planning production and sales activities.In Zimbabwe, Poulton et. al. (2000) found that vegetable farmers expressed a clear preference for information on crops and market opportunities, rather than current price information. It was reported that 'You have to have the right crop at the right time if you want to get a good price'. It is this type of information and this business approach that enables farmers to be responsive to market conditions, that is, to be demand-led.The acquisition of such 'market knowledge' is possible through a range of formal and informal sources, the relative importance of which is likely to vary between producers and production and marketing systems, for a multiplicity of reasons, such as economic, social, cultural, political, and infrastructural.Let us now examine the role of the government. It is accepted that market informationor some kinds of information, are a 'public good'. Economic theory reminds us that real markets are not perfectly competitive markets, but characterised by imperfections such as uncertainty for a number of reasons. As noted, generally there are low levels of information. Information is also asymmetric, that is not equally shared -producers are likely to be poorly informed compared with traders. Traders are the specialists, traders live and work in markets. Unlike farmers and Ministry of Agriculture officials, traders are professionals. Moreover, information is costly to acquire, and there are always incentives for both traders and farmers to give out misinformation, either through ignorance or through opportunism (a nice word for cheating!). Also, information has other economic characteristics -it is neither 'excludable' nor 'subtractable'. All these reasons suggest that information is a public good and should be provided by the government.Information as defined above is also a private good, a source of competitive advantage.Traders do not act independently; rather, they function within networks that extend both horizontally and vertically. There are many examples of how traders try to deal with other traders whom they know and trust, as they hand goods over upon part payment, only receiving the balance once the buyer has sold the goods on. Market information also flows through these informal networks. Such flows of information within informal trading networks are, from a public policy perspective, second best to free and open flows of information in the 'public domain'. However, the transmission of relevant market and marketing information through these networks is often more effective (for network members) than dissemination through the official MIS.The benefits of information are private. It is expected that farmers and traders who are well informed can be more effective business people and that trade should be more profitable. Information is power in bargaining, and because it is costly to collect, it is not willingly shared -except under unusual patterns of business cooperation. Therefore, information (or at least some kinds of information) is also a private good, and private sources should be part of the solution to information needs. And perhaps there are circumstances under which it is possible to envisage cooperative business behaviour between farmers and traders. Is it possible, or just naïve, to think that farmers might link with traders' networks?NIE has come to the fore as an analytical approach to tackling problems of inter-firm relations in market systems. The information problems discussed above are closely linked to how firms relate to each other up and down supply chains. This section of the paper will therefore tackle coordination concepts and buying and selling (transactions) and discuss the way theory, particularly the transaction cost economics (TCE) approach and ideas about organisations and institutions are helpful in understanding market coordination problems.Vertical coordination is the preferred term for the linkages up and down the supply chain of buyers and sellers, and is a more comprehensive concept than vertical integration, capturing market, contractual and ownership coordination (Marion and NC117 Committee, 1986;Frank and Henderson, 1992).Mighell and Jones published the seminal work on the use of contracts as mechanisms of vertical coordination in the food system in the early 1960s (1963). By vertical coordination, Mighell and Jones meant 'all the ways in which the vertical stages of production are controlled and directed, within firms (by the administration) and between firms (by the price/market mechanism) ' (1963: 10). The means of vertical coordination include open market prices, government controls, use of different forms of contracts, and integration.Barkema and Drabenstott expanded the taxonomy of agricultural vertical coordination mechanisms to cover the continuum from pure external to pure internal coordination.To this have been added some generalisations about the nature of products traded and the types of information needed, refer to Table 1. None NoneThese ideas concern market structure, but coordinating the transactions between buyers and sellers is more than structure. Farmers and traders make decisions about buying and selling their goods and services, so business strategy is important in determining the flow of goods through the market. However, here the concern is not just with flows of goods, but also resources -financial flows, i.e. payments from traders to farmers, maybe also credit and inputs, and certainly the coveted information that has been discussed above.The concern of TCE is how best to organise exchange and improve the flows of resources through the supply chain. The focus on transactions and not just the price and quality of goods has its roots in history -the study of transactions is attributed to the US political economist John R. Commons. Commons was searching for an economic theory of the part played by collective action in the control of individual action. The three constituents of collective action were conflict, dependence and order. The unit of investigation that would encompass these three constituents was the transaction -'so I made the transaction the ultimate unit of economic investigation, a unit of transfer of legal control' (Commons, 1934: 4).Commons was one of the foremost members of what is now referred to as the Old Institutional Economics (OIE) school. The fundamentals of OIE concern the organisation and control of the economic system. The forces governing economic outcomes were regarded as mediated not first and foremost through the price mechanism, but through power relations, legal rights and the role of the polity -or government. In an era of market liberalisation, and within the context of this discussion on the public and private nature of information, this is an interesting idea. The operation of the price mechanism was not disputed, but institutions were held to supersede prices in importance. 'It is simply not true that scarce resources are allocated among alternative uses by the market. The real determinant of whatever allocation occurs in any society is the organisational structure of that society -in short, its institutions' (Ayres, 1957: 26).A fundamental tenet of OIE is that economic power is an important factor in the allocation of resources and in the distribution of gains from exchange. This has already been highlighted above in terms of relative bargaining power and access to information. Also, OIE emphasises behavioural assumptions that are not simply self-maximising. That is to say, although people are sometimes selfish, and may cheat, they do not always do so. Cooperation sometimes happens, even in agri-food markets! OIE is now largely forgotten, but bestowed this concern with transactions that was subsequently taken up in the new guise of NIE.In TCE it is the transaction rather than the commodity that is the unit of analysis. As noted above, a transaction is a process linking various functions, involving the exchange of information, goods, services, such as packaging materials, input supply and creditmoney and property rights. Transaction costs are the costs of these exchanges. Hobbs (1996: 17) states that 'Transaction costs are simply the costs of carrying out any exchange, whether between firms in a marketplace or a transfer of resources between stages in a vertically integrated firm…' They arise whenever there is any form of economic organisation, be it within a vertically integrated firm, in a market or in a command economy (in which transactions are largely absent).There is broad acceptance that transaction costs are of both an ex ante and ex post kind:• ex ante costs -those incurred before the transaction is effected:searching for potential buyers or sellers;screening potential buyers or sellers for characteristics such as honesty, creditworthiness;bargaining over terms of exchange and price determination.• ex post costs -those incurred after the transaction is effected:transferring property rights;monitoring compliance with contractual terms;enforcing sanctions in the event of non-compliance.The true costs of exchange therefore comprise:• the orthodox neoclassical transformation costs associated with the production and distribution of goods and services; and• the transaction costs of searching, measuring, mediating and monitoring during the exchange process incurred in order to bring together buyers and sellers and complete the exchange of ownership.The total costs of economic activity are then made up as follows:costs total = costs transformation + costs transactionThe source of transaction costs is the complexity and uncertainty of the real economic environment -'The ease or difficulty of contracting, and the types of contracts made, are determined by the level and nature of transaction costs, underlying which is the extent of imperfect information involved in making a transaction' (Hubbard, 1997: 240).The basic concepts underlying TCE are certain assumptions about behaviour, and certain dimensions of transactions. The sources of uncertainty are:• behavioural assumptions: there is a human propensity to opportunism, or cheatingsomething not exclusive to either traders or farmers; and bounded rationality, or the notion that the capacity of the human mind for formulating and solving complex problems is very small compared with the size of problems in the real world;• technical characteristics of products: unlike manufactured goods, agri-food products are characterised by a high level of variability in supply. For example, quality and quantity vary seasonally, and between producers and regions; some products are capable of differentiation, and most are perishable to some or to a great extent;• characteristics of markets: business attitudes of individuals vary, but sometimes in a systematic way; ethical practices are one example; as noted, price levels and the degree of price fluctuations are variable; and from a consumer perspective there is usually variability in demand;• transaction dimensions: site specificity refers to the physical location -exchange on a farm may have a different dynamic to exchange in the market place; physical assets are those such as packaging material in which producers and traders have to invest; human asset specificity refers to the skills and business relationships that are generated in part through trading experience; and the frequency of transactions matters -how often do producers and traders deal with the same people?• informational asymmetry is something that has been already referred to; also agency problems are those associated with delegating a task to someone else and how to ensure that employees or sub-contractors fulfil their responsibilities.NIE enthusiasts agree with Commons that it is the formal and informal institutions (the laws, regulations, practices, and expected modes of behaviour), which govern transactions and affect the level of transaction costs. In fact, economic power is centrally rooted in institutions. North's thesis is that 'Institutions... are created to serve the interests of those with the bargaining power to create new rules' (1994: 360-1). Where there is a sophisticated business environment with a complex array of institutions, such as grades, standards, contract law and ethical practices, transaction costs are low. Where these are absent, then the cost of doing business is high, and can be so high that farmers and traders may choose not to engage in the market. Farmers might choose to produce for subsistence purposes if they cannot agree on satisfactory prices, or there are doubts about when or whether they will be paid agreed prices. Under such circumstances, the market fails to operate.The interplay of ordinary production costs facing a farmer and the transaction costs incurred to overcome uncertainty can be demonstrated in the graphical model, Figure 1. Therefore, it is the availability of information about products and markets and buyers and sellers that reduces the cost of doing business. It is not the price paid and received for the goods and services that finally determines the value of the transaction. Lack of information means that the total cost of doing business may be more than the price of the goods sold. Some of this information is available in farming communities; much of it is available in the trader community. Some information is public, some private. Some information can be collected by the government and disseminated in appropriate ways, and in some instances, information is voluntarily shared in order for buyers and sellers to engage more profitably in business.In this section, practical information needs are highlighted in the first part, while suggestions on the ways in which communication will help to overcome the problems are explored in the second section.Fresh produce, fruits and vegetables have been selected in preference to staple cereals, livestock, fish or forestry products, because they pose particular technical and information problems in marketing in terms of their variety, seasonality and perishability.The information and communications media are many -apart from word of mouth, they include newspapers, state-owned radio, private commercial radio, television, private high frequency radio systems, landline telephones. Finally, there are new technologies such as telecentres, e-mail and the Internet, VSAT, satellite and cellular (mobile) telephony. If the types of technology available are matched with the information delivery system (the medium) and the information needs for agri-food products, a matrix of information and communication technology can be generated, see Table 2. The information requirements are complex for marketing the type of products mentioned above. However, it is important to note here the importance of interactive communication in providing that information, and that telephony (mobiles) is an appropriate way to deliver that information. MIS need a substantial level of organisation, but can (mass) distribute information, or, increasingly, offer the opportunity for others to (mass) access data using information technology (IT) systems.There is a place for radio dissemination and billboards alongside other rural services such as health and education. However, this needs to be accompanied with farmer training in record keeping and business practices and the targeted dissemination of information on market opportunities. It is important to note that through the mass media, the quality of communication is restricted to information that can be derived from traditional market data. Alternative market channels cannot be easily covered, and no deals can be sealed.Interactive means that two individuals discuss market conditions and negotiate together and agree terms (not face-to-face, but over the telephone). By telephone, the farmer can explore different market channels, by calling market traders, central market organisations and officers, or even family and friends in the market.There is growing evidence that the use of mobile telephones is growing even in poor countries. For example, a recent newspaper survey stated that there are now 100 cellular networks in SSA and that in 17 countries, more consumers use mobiles than the dilapidated fixed line networks. Even in Africa, where one might have thought that the technology would be least advanced because of the poverty of many countries, there is a new breed of telecommunication companies and no lack of investment (Financial Times, 2001c;Financial Times, 2001a). To be sure, the telecommunication companies are investing for profitable purposes, not altruism, and also not specifically to improve the levels of market information in rural areas. There are also problems with the socioeconomic heterogeneity of rural areas and differential access to the technology. But the technology is already in place in many areas, and is spreading rapidly. The number of mobile subscribers is forecast to exceed 100 million by 2005 (Financial Times, 2001b). Moreover, much wider social and civil benefits will accrue from better access to telephones.Government agencies and the telecommunication sectors in DCs need to establish and implement policies whereby telecommunications can be rolled out into rural areas in such a way as to alleviate, not exacerbate, poverty. Researchers will have an important role to play in supporting this, as new knowledge is needed on both technology and institutional innovations (such as private/ public partnerships and community participation). Experience is limited in this area, but the current commercial environment and the rate of technological change offer both opportunities and threats for poverty alleviation (Dorward, Poole, Morrison and Urey, 2001).This research proposal concerns a shift away from formal MIS towards using new technologies to develop relational contracting between farmers and traders with a view to overcoming the costs of doing business. The advantages of relational contracting in theory are many:• increased frequency of transactions;• reduced incentives for opportunism;• product characteristics are more easily specified;• market preferences are communicated to suppliers;• transaction assets are invested in contractual relations; to use the 'livelihood' concept:human assets -'human' and 'social' capitals physical assets -'financial' and 'physical' capitals transactions interlocking credit, input and output markets become possible.The intention is to pilot ICT solutions involving community organisations and user groups. The impact of the technology needs to be monitored for its socio-economic impact and poverty neutrality as well as the effects on agricultural marketing.We are also keen to work in other areas such as using written contracts as a form of institutional innovation to overcome transactions and information costs. But that is another story!In brief, the view propounded here is that solutions to information problems are unlikely to come only from the public sector. The nature of information problems is such that there must be linkages with the fast-expanding ICT media, and also linkages with commercial sponsors who are often perceived by national governments as having some social responsibilities.Information comes from the experts, professionals and from other stakeholders within local market systems, such as:• producers and producer organisations;• traders and wholesalers and intermediary organisations;• local commercial and municipal organisations.It is necessary to encourage the private provision of market information and develop mechanisms that will promote the cooperative sharing of information between farmers and traders.Finally, there is still a need for traditional information systems, and these need to be developed in order to coordinate information access with other rural services such as health, education, input and financial markets.Ghana is centrally located in West Africa, 750 kilometres north of the equator. It has a total landmass of 238,538 square kilometres and shares boundaries with Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Togo and the Atlantic Ocean. In 2000, the population was estimated at 18.8 million.The agricultural sector plays a critical role in the Ghanaian economy. It accounts for 60% of the labour force and one of the main crops grown, cocoa, is a major source of foreign exchange. For more than a decade however, growth within the sector has been declining, moving from 5.1% in 1998 to 4.0% in 2000. Although several factors impede agricultural growth in Ghana, the lack of market information has been identified as one of the major factors contributing to the poor performance of the sector.The Ministry of Food and Agriculture's (MOFA) Statistics, Research and Information (SRI) directorate, which operates the only national agricultural MIS, is ill-equipped to provide the services required to serve the sector adequately. Further, over the last four years, SRI has had budget cuts. For example, in 1999 its budget was 1 210 million and in 2000 it was reduced to 170 million. Other problems facing the institution include:• over-worked and underpaid data collectors;• lack of training for data collectors;• lack of vehicles and equipment -personal computers, weighing machines, calculators, fax; • long delays in information dissemination -minimum of 30 days;• information dissemination is restricted -mainly to policy-makers and researchers; small-scale farmers hardly receive timely information on commodity prices from the MOFA (SRI) MIS; • questionable quality of MOFA data in light of its constraints.The small-scale market information service was started in November 1999. Its main objective was to design and establish a pilot MIS based on a single local assembly market in Ghana.Currently, market information is disseminated weekly through three FM stations in three regions. There are now nine project data collection centres (in the early stages there were six centres) and these new centres have been established in Koforidua, the capital of the Eastern region and in Greater Accra (Ada, Accra) and Central (Kasoa), see Figure 1 below. The main beneficiaries of this information are mainly small-scale farmers. • There is ongoing collaboration with the MOFA-MIS directorate in designing project expansion.• The project is liaising with the New Edubuase District Assembly of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which has offered to provide office space and furniture effective 2002.• There is ongoing exchange of information with the Ghana Agriculture Information Service.• A functioning MIS has been established which now operates in the six original centres.• The project has been further extended to three markets (major ones) in three regions -Central, and Eastern and Greater Accra.• Timely provision of market information on five major commodities is sent to various stakeholders on a weekly basis.• Information is disseminated using the radio and billboard in three local languages, spoken by 6.63 million (36%) Ghanaians who live in the three regions.• An average of 72 farmers and traders visit the project offices every week for information and requests.• Middlemen (\"CARRIERS\") at two markets (Asesewa and Akateng) have been cut-off the food marketing chain. Farmers in the two markets now have direct contracts with traders.• Seven new fish traders and four new maize buyers have been introduced to the Asesewa and Akateng markets.• An undergraduate student is presently conducting research on the MIS project.• There is difficulty in maintaining VHF communication equipment in areas without electricity.• It is difficult to find and recruit literate women in the area where the project was first initiated.• Effective marketing of project to stakeholders is essential prior to commencement of any project.• Collaboration with other governmental agencies is essential for project success.The project has been extended to another district/region. However, there is still the need to develop the skills of the project staff.To ensure sustainability, the MIS will therefore need to expand to make it more attractive for donor funding. As a consequence, the MIS has been made a part of the Agribusiness Institute of Ghana, a new NGO, which has been set up with the support of donor funding for three years as well as assistance from local corporate sponsors. Further, financial support to ensure long-term sustainability is expected to come from the sale of services to large farmers, traders, associations, large-scale processors, researchers and consultants as well as contribution from various districts assemblies.The main objectives of the institute will be to:• Design and manage Ghana's agricultural market information service in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development -MOFA.• To conduct independent analyses and research of contemporary agribusiness issues relevant to Ghana.• Disseminate the results of the studies among policy-makers, agribusiness stakeholders and the public through informed debate.• Advise the government and other public institutions such as Parliamentary select committees on agribusiness matters.• Provide agribusiness advisory services to stakeholders.• Publish or assist in publishing briefing papers, background papers and articles or books on selected agribusiness issues studied by staff of the Institute.• Organise seminars, workshops, conferences and lectures on agribusiness issues relevant to Ghana and where necessary related to African and international communities.• Increase the cooperation and coordination of activities with similar institutions within and outside of Ghana.The Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE)/ CTA pilot market information serviceAdrian Mukhebi (KACE)The objective of this KACE/CTA pilot project is to establish a commodity information system to provide relevant and timely market information to stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Kenya, focussing in particular on two of Kenya's staple food crops -maize and garden beans. The project, initiated in April 2000, involves providing partial financial support to two KACE market and information centres (MICs) in western Kenya, the main maize and beans producing region in the country. The MICs are linked into the KACE headquarters in a regional commodity trade and information system (RECOTIS). Clients, especially smallholder farmers, go to the MICs to receive as well as provide market information. Current information consists mainly of commodity offers, bids and prices from local, domestic, regional and global markets.Two MICs are operational and linked into RECOTIS. The exchange of market information is occurring as frequently as new information is obtained, sometimes several times a day. Working in collaboration with a Local County Council (Government) at one of the MICs, activities are underway by KACE to extend market information exchange to local rural markets under the jurisdiction of the Council.Rural markets are often the first contact point of smallholder farmers with the formal market and KACE plans to establish information booths or kiosks at the markets, where market information will be made available on bulletin boards and print-outs. KACE staff will also be available to provide, explain and receive information.There are about 500 clients in the RECOTIS database, from 25 countries, but largely from the eastern and central Africa region. Information exchange through RECOTIS occurs as soon as new offers or bids are received, often several times a week. The clients in the RECOTIS database include farmers, farmers' organisations, traders, processors, government policy-makers, development and relief agencies, NGOs, etc., in the different countries.• A Local County Council: for the collection and dissemination of market information in local rural markets. • The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: for receipt by KACE of weekly market price information collected by the Ministry from some domestic markets where KACE has no presence. • The FOODNET Uganda: for the exchange of some weekly market price information between Kenya and Uganda. • The Ministry of Agriculture Tanzania: for receipt by KACE of some weekly market price information collected by the Ministry from some markets in Tanzania.The project is responding to the needs of farmers for market information, albeit inadequately. This is reflected in the increasing number of:• visits by farmers to the MICs (50 per month at the start in mid 2000, to about 200 per month currently);• commodity offers and bids received and disseminated through the MICs (about 20 per month initially to about 60 per month currently);• invitations to the MIC managers to participate in the Ministry of Agriculture's extension meetings and workshops in the districts (about 3 invitations per month).However, the two MICs cover only a small proportion of farmers in the country, and hence the majority of the farmers are not yet benefiting from the project. KACE is inundated by requests by farmers in other areas to open up MICs in their areas so that they can also benefit from the project.Two outputs stated in the project proposal were:Output 1: An established and functioning commodity market and information system linking KACE with two rural MICs, and over 300 contacts in the eastern Africa region and beyond.Output 2: Relevant and timely commodity market information frequently made available to stakeholders in the agricultural sector through the KACE-MIC-RECOTIS information network.Both of these outputs have been attained.With only one and a half years since the inception of the project, it is still too early to evaluate the impact of the project in comprehensive quantitative terms. Nevertheless, the KACE-MIS is providing relevant market information to a variety of stakeholders, especially the smallholder maize and beans farmers, (who are negatively affected by the current forces of market globalisation and liberalisation, and cannot afford to access on their own), so that they can make better informed decisions about the production and marketing of their produce. It is also linking them to regional as well as global markets, currently in 25 countries.KACE is receiving positive and encouraging feedback from MIC as well as RECOTIS users. Many say that the information service is useful and recommend that it should be extended to cover wider agricultural areas in the country, see Box1. I think it could be marketed to many donors, policy-makers and policy analysis institutes. I would add a larger number of donor personnel to the list and cultivate that market in that way. Other relief agencies could be useful targets for this information because they are attempting to increase their purchases in the region. This information is useful to donors and this may be its prime value. It would be interesting to hear the responses that you receive from farmers and traders.The information could also be eventually expanded to include information on grades, standards and regulatory obstacles/ requirements. How much might KACE be able to tell a potential exporter or local trader about the issues he may encounter in transacting a sale? This could also include brokerage, finance, and transport and storage issues.COMESA may also be a potential client for this information. You may want to explore this with them.A user at USAID, Nairobi, KenyaFirst, congratulations for all the efforts you are putting into RECOTIS. I think the recent work shows a highly practical way in which market information plays an important role within the food security and economic growth equation. Linking buyers and sellers is key to making markets more efficient and this is surely one way of achieving economically sustainable food security.I believe more and more that locally managed trade based food security is something that offers the best hope for stepwise growth in the region. This goal is achievable, although not popular with many poverty-focused donors and agencies, and improvements in trade can be accelerated if the right production technologies and business support tools are available to producers, traders and processors.RECOTIS is certainly focused on the trade issue and I support my colleague's view that this type of activity needs more profiling.As a private sector activity, KACE-MIS is designed to be self-sustaining after an initial period of system development. The KACE-MIS is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. That end is agricultural trade. The MIS is meant to facilitate agricultural trade through KACE as a commodity exchange. KACE charges two percent commission on the sale value of a transaction concluded through its services. This is the envisioned main source of revenue for sustaining the MIS when sufficient trade volume has been built up through the exchange.The main obstacles encountered in setting up the KACE MIS were:• Accessing local telephone lines for phone, fax and e-mail communications. It took several months to be allocated lines from local government post offices.• Costly telephone lines: the land-based phone system is inefficient and costly. Often, monthly bills are inflated.• Irregular power supply: Even when phone lines are working, power supply interruptions are a common, almost daily, feature.• Small-scale nature of farmers: the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers, who face dis-economies of scale in marketing.• Market liberalization still is unfinished business in the minds of potential clients: farmers still expect intervention by the government, especially to control market prices.• Unfavourable macro-economic environment: a stagnant economy; high commercial bank interest rates and low business potential; limited income generation by KACE for attaining financial self-reliance for the MIS in the short-term.• Limited KACE institutional capacity and coverage: the KACE-MIS is accessed by a limited number of clients. Extension in institutional capacity and coverage would improve business potential.Two outputs were achieved as indicated above. First, two MICs were established and are operational with the help of CTA funding -one in Bungoma town in the western region of Kenya, and another in Eldoret town in the Rift Valley Province. Second, relevant and timely commodity market information is frequently exchanged among stakeholders in the agricultural sector through the KACE-MIC-RECOTIS information system.As indicated above, the end of the KACE MIS is to facilitate agricultural trade through the exchange. Sufficient trade volume through the exchange is designed to generate sufficient revenue to sustain the MIS and other KACE services. However, there has been limited generation of income to-date due to some of the obstacles highlighted earlier. The general unfavourable macro-economic environment is perhaps the greatest obstacle to revenue generation. For instance, the high commercial bank interest rates discourage working capital borrowing for trade. Expected improvement in the macroeconomic climate in the country in the coming two years offers great potential for the success and sustainability of the project. In addition, the MIS is still a young institution and relatively unknown by potential clients. Sensitisation and promotion are ongoing.• Most of the clientele do not yet appreciate that market information has monetary value, which they should be willing to pay for.• Smallholder farmers need to achieve economies of scale in marketing through groups/associations.• ICTs are costly to access and apply in rural areas.• Most of the clientele are still ICT unconnected / illiterate.• It is costly to a private sector agency to disseminate market information via radio and television.• Collaboration/ networking with other organisations shares the cost of information access and dissemination.• Prognosis is positive: the future for improving agricultural market access, competitiveness and efficiency depends on MIS.• System development: extension of MICs coverage; development and use of a Website.• Capacity development: in staff numbers and quality.• Development of collaboration / networking with other complementary organisations / institutions.• Pursuance of business creation and income generation.The Ugandan market information service The FOODNET market information service project started formally in September 1999, after the collapse of the Market News Service, and forms part of the activities of the Regional FOODNET project for Marketing and Postharvest Research in Eastern and Central Africa. In 2000, the local micro-scale MIS was started with the financial assistance of CTA. The aim of the FOODNET MIS is to collect, tabulate, analyse, interpret and disseminate market data and intelligence on a timely and accurate basis to the farming and trading community in Uganda. The main objective of the service is to:• improve market access, transparency and efficiency;• increase market competition.The service is a pilot project designed to test a model for the provision of market information to small-scale actors in the agricultural sector.The Macro-MIS collects information on prices of 32 agricultural commodities from 17 districts on a weekly basis. Information on prices and traded volumes is collected on a daily basis from three major wholesale markets in Kampala.Further, primary and secondary information is collected on weather conditions and forecasts, supply and demand conditions, road conditions, import and export activities and regional and international; markets for products produced in Uganda. Dissemination of the information is primarily through the radio, e-mail, newspaper and the Internet to elite statistical users.Any organisation wishing to provide appropriate, timely and accurate information, designed to strengthen the bargaining position of small-actors in the Ugandan agricultural sector is faced with the following constraints:• there are several languages spoken in Uganda;• the level of literacy is just slightly above 50 per cent;• the way in which markets operate is not generally understood;• different groups of market actors require different types of information depending on the kinds of crops they grow, their location and the degree to which they cooperate with one another.Given these problems, IITA-FOODNET in conjunction with CTA designed and is currently promoting a new model for the provision of market information based on extensive research over the last four years.The model has the following components:• Collecting market information on a decentralised basis, i.e. from the sub-county and then integrating this with the national market information service, along the lines of the government of Uganda's policy document entitled 'Plan for the modernisation of agriculture,' (PMA).• Targeting information at the district level or a cluster of 2-3 districts.• Collecting information on relevant crops for that area.• Disseminating information:in the local language;through local FM stations;to inform on the use of market information in negotiating for better prices; and to assist farmers in collective marketing activities and building community awareness.• Collaborating:through information exchange using e-mail, Internet, workshops and radio to small-scale farmers, traders and processors • The three pilot projects have been well established, see Figure 1.• Data are collected on prices, volumes trades, market demand and supply conditions, trade news etc., at the assembly and wholesale level.• Information is disseminated on a regular basis in the local language, using local FM stations to more than 5 million people.• There is training for farmers -there are courses such as 'Farming as a business' presented by Agricultural Co-operative Development International; 'Understanding and use of market information', FAO; and 'Collective marketing and bookkeeping' given by the Community Enterprise Development Organisation.• There is also an effort to facilitate farmers and traders in linking up with larger traders and new markets.• A limited range of commodities is covered, for example, data on horticultural products, fish and livestock are not collected.• There are poor records on volumes traded. After the privatisation of the markets in Uganda, the new administrators did not see the need to keep records on volumes traded.• In order to operate the collective market properly, there needs to be wider application and more expertise is required.• More robust methodology is needed with respect to M&E.There remains much to be done to increase the level of services at the micro-level, such as:• Expanding the commodity range, which is planned in partnership with specialists in the livestock sector such as the International Livestock Research Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya and private sector agents involved in the processing industry.• Increasing coverage, so that all major district clusters are supported with a localised information service in a given country. This may mean scaling up or down service data points.• Developing the link with collective marketing agencies, so that producers and traders can aggregate commodities and introduce grades and standards in collaboration with the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA).• Private sector linkage/ investment via radio, mobile telephone networks (MTN), local market management such as the Owino Market Traders and Transporters Association. This also has implications for future investment in MIS in the long-term and possible privatisation programmes.• Utilising new applications of dissemination technologies -FM radios, mobile short messaging service (SMS), push and pull data systems, structured query language (SQL) databases, streaming servers for global markets, market pagers etc.•  There are several factors which continue to constrain the development of MIS in Uganda, namely:• Lack of government support for local initiatives.• Lack of investment from the donor community in support of the Second Tier Policy Reforms.• Lack of market facilities to support commodity grading and standardisation.• A return to managed markets, to avoid the 'adding-up problem' where farmers are encouraged to produce more in order to get higher incomes, but in the end receive low prices for their commodities due to an oversupply of the produce.• Continuation of market collusion amongst traders.• Lack of real policy reform at the regional level. Governments continue to sign agreements without really implementing them, e.g. lack of commitment to free trade.• Since project implementation, there has been interest in micro market information.• Elements within the private sector have been cooperating with radio stations, which give the project airtime at subsidised rates to broadcast market information.• Larger projects within Uganda have started requesting greater MIS input, for example, CLUSA, the Investment in Developing Export Agriculture, Technoserve and WFP.• There is a general shift of NGOs to the market driven approach.• Expansion possibilities of the project are real, due to the government policy of decentralisation.• MIS has been given high priority in the government policy framework i.e. under the PMA. There is now a Marketing and Agro-processing sub-committee.• Given the high priority that the government has attached to MIS in its PMA policy framework, the potential for local fund-raising is increasing.• Mobile SMS telephone possibilities are increasing.• Real time price queries are now on-line and can be linked to other applications via European partners (i.e. coffee).• Price data can also be linked to production datasets.The Jamaican experience: Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA)Charles Reid (JEA)The Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA) is a non-profit private sector organisation.Over 200 exporting companies are primarily involved in trading products such as fresh produce and ornamentals, processed foods, apparel, chemicals, beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronics, furniture, giftware and craft. Service providers (e.g. insurance, banks, airlines, shipping lines, laboratories and box manufacturers, etc.) also form part of the membership. A board of directors governs the Association and daily activities are carried out by a Secretariat comprising 11 staff members headed by a chief executive officer.The goal of the association is to sustain growth and enhance the competitiveness of the export sector and in doing so, improve company operations and efficiencies through training and the provision of financial, technical and marketing services.One of the mandates of the JEA is to enhance the competitiveness of its clients by providing marketing information and intelligence to the export sector. A case in point has been the development of a marketing information system for the fresh produce export sector through the provision of marketing intelligence and trade facilitation services.Initially, the marketing information system was designed for the benefit of export companies only. However, it was quickly realised in the implementation phase that this service had to be extended to farmers, if the sector was to operate efficiently, responding to the demands at the market place. Since the farmers are the ones responsible for producing and supplying products to the exporters, it was therefore critical that they had access to market information, which would enable them to make informed decisions.The strategy employed, involved the collaboration of both the private and public sector.The JEA had certain advantages such as:• access to market information;• analytical and publishing capabilities;• IT expertise; and• resources to acquire computer hardware and software packages.In the case of the public sector, the Ministry of Agriculture had the requisite manpower and other resources necessary to collect production data from farmers. They also had personnel stationed at the ports who could collect export data from exporters on presentation of their export documents for inspection.In many developing countries, market information systems tend to fail because they are carried out largely as project activities with external funding and expertise, having a limited lifespan. At the end of project, donor support also stops and more often than not, the government does not have the requisite resources to pay staff at the usually higher rates to continue with MIS activities. Cognizant of this, rather than hiring new staff or paying existing staff at higher rates, the job descriptions of personnel within the existing organisational structure directly involved in the MIS were adjusted to accommodate the new activities. The staff workers involved did not view this as additional responsibilities, but instead recognised the benefits as capacity building given the level of collaboration, training and technical assistance provided, which allowed them to become more efficient and effective in carrying out their jobs as well as make their work easier and less tedious.To collect the trade data, computers along with the appropriate software were provided to the Plant Quarantine officers stationed at the ports. Data on all products exported are entered directly into the computers by these officers on presentation of the export documents by the exporters, who have had their products inspected for approval for export. The data are then sent electronically to the JEA for analysis and reports (monthly, quarterly and annual) are generated and distributed. In this way, the public sector department benefits by not having to collate and tabulate their monthly reports manually. Further, the reports produced are more accurate and are completed on a timely basis.The Ministry of Agriculture also asks farmers to register their crop production at the group meetings it organises on a regular basis. This strategy has served to complement the existing arrangement where extension officers on a regular basis visit farms islandwide to collect production data.Farmers are somewhat removed from the market and as result, the Association has embarked on a number of strategies to bring the market closer to the producers. Surveys are conducted and the findings presented to exporters and farmers in separate forums. Market information such as food safety standards and regulations are communicated to farmers and exporters through regular Town Hall meetings held at the local district level.Meetings are arranged where exporters and farmers can actively discuss which crops are in demand, in which countries and when there are periods of high prices and demand for certain products. The JEA also responds to daily inquiries from farmers, exporters, media houses, researchers, students, consultants and service providers. Information is also accessible via:• newspapers;• radio (early morning farmer programme);• talk shows;• special programmes (e.g. during export week);• telephone queries;• Internet -Websites (JEA and Ministry of Agriculture)• reports -monthly, quarterly and annual;• monthly bulletins;• newsletters.The type of information disseminated includes:• weekly wholesale terminal market prices (New York, Miami and Canada);• domestic terminal prices;• production data by location;• product forecasting by location indicating availability/scarcity and price);• farmgate prices;• export trade statistics;• market survey reports;• market profiles;• market access requirements;• quality assurance protocols;• marketing intelligence and trade facilitation services to JEA clients.The Association has forged strong linkages with public sector agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Planning Institute of Jamaica, Statistical Institute of Jamaica and the Jamaica Information Service (a government media house). Various institutions utilise JEA data for further input into analytical reports and to substantiate various views.The information is accessible to exporters, government agencies, farmers, students, banking and insurance institutions, universities, consultants, international funding agencies and service providers to the export sector such as box manufacturers, trucking companies, airlines and shipping agencies. The information is sold to most of the end users with the exception of farmers, government agencies and students. Exporters who are members of the Association have free access to some information but pay reduced fees for other types of information.The JEA is also financed by subscriptions paid by its members and other income generating activities such as hosting trade shows; conducting training seminars for its clients with the presenter often being paid by a private company; hosting luncheons featuring speakers on topical issues etc. The Association also sources development funding to address trade related issues affecting exporting companies and farmers.In addition to forming strong alliances with the local public sector in delivering marketing information to farmers and exporters, the Association has established a collaborative relationship with the Caribbean Agribusiness Marketing Intelligence and Development Network (CAMID) to enhance trade with other Caribbean states. Through this network, JEA exporters and farmers will have greater access to regional and extra-regional market information and intelligence. In addition, it is expected that such an arrangement will facilitate joint export marketing strategies for the North American and European markets.CAMID network: Regional integrated marketing development strategy In 1996, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government at its Barbados meeting responded to the declining fortunes of the agricultural sector by calling for a Regional Transformation Programme (RTP) for the sector, which involved the need to:'to transform the sector to international competitiveness, improve the incomes of all participants and contribute to more equitable income distribution through the application of modern, scientific, research methodologies for improved agricultural productivity and the development of sustainable and ecologically balanced production systems which protect the natural resource base'.The aim of the RTP is to coordinate the identification and implementation of priority national and regional sub-programmes and projects under the following programme headings:• agricultural policy support;• agribusiness development;• fisheries;• forestry; • human resource development;• institutional arrangements;• marketing development;• technology generation, validation and transfer;• water resource management.A number of regional and national institutions were given responsibility for leading each of the above programmes. CARDI has lead responsibility for the technology generation, validation and transfer and marketing development programmes and support responsibility for the agribusiness development programme.In executing this responsibility, the Institute consulted with sector participants and other collaborating agricultural development agencies, particularly CTA to identify the major constraints to marketing development. The following were identified as significant constraints:• inadequate or inefficient market monitoring and intelligence systems;• insufficient and inconsistent supply of the required products for trading;• absence of or inefficient application of quality assurance systems;• inadequate export transportation service and supporting infrastructure;• inadequate level of technical support to the production process;• inadequate marketing management, given the dynamics of agricultural marketing;• regional culture of national and individual action as against regional and collective action;• inadequate financial resources to support the 'learning' phase of the marketing transformation process.Based on the above, a regional workshop of participants from the regional agribusiness sector, held in Tobago in 1997 agreed that a marketing development services programme should be established, comprising three components, namely:• marketing intelligence;• trade facilitation;• quality assurance.An analysis of experiences in implementing similar programmes, nationally and internationally, suggests that for such a service to be effective and sustainable, it should have the following features:• private sector driven, affordable, accessible, timely and accurate;• show proof of economic value to the public and private sectors;• financed largely by the public sector, but with significant private sector input.CARDI and its collaborators therefore sought to develop a strategy that could satisfy these conditions.It was concluded that a networking strategy would best satisfy the above prerequisites and as such, the CAMID network was conceptualised and officially launched in May 2001.The CAMID network comprises national, regional and international public and private sector agribusiness entities that are willing to actively collaborate in the provision of a sustainable market intelligence and trade facilitation service to the agribusiness sector in the region.The mission is to increase the competitiveness and growth of Caribbean agribusiness through the provision of marketing intelligence and trade facilitation services that are timely, accurate and affordable utilising collaborative strategies and state-of-the-art information, quality assurance and trading technologies.Its ultimate goal is to be the main source of agribusiness information and trade facilitation service in the region. This vision will be achieved by adhering to the principles of providing a service that is scientifically sound, driven by customer demand, places high value on collaborative relationships, operates ethically and utilises state-ofthe-art technologies.Private and public sector entities in the agribusiness sector within and outside the Caribbean that have an interest in the Caribbean agribusiness sector will benefit from the services. However, the most direct benefits will accrue to network members, farmers, agro-processors, fresh produce buyers and sellers in the region. Network members, particularly the marketing staff of the Ministries of Agriculture, will have their capacity to meet the needs of their clients greatly enhanced through the increased access to information and trading services provided by the network members. They will in effect have their staff increased since each member will be able to call on other members for assistance in the execution of their marketing development responsibilities.The overall strategy of the Network is to put in place:• A marketing system driven by a number of centralised national, public and private sector packinghouses/processors servicing domestic, regional and international markets.• Caribbean warehouses in selected international markets with the capacity to meet the requirements of the B2B e-trade as well as the B2C consumer gift market trade.• The joint promotion of a common Caribbean brand.• A support programme to ensure the efficient functioning of the Integrated Marketing System.The pack houses/processors will be the nerve center of the marketing strategy. They will be provided with the technical support to ensure their ability to find markets, coordinate production, organise shipping and deliver products to customers' specifications. In addition, these pack houses/processors will work together in undertaking a joint exportmarketing programme, which will allow for:• consolidation of products to satisfy volume requirements of large buyers;• consolidation of financial resources to jointly promote products;• consolidation of procurement efforts to reduce unit costs;• sharing of information to reduce costs;• negotiation for freight space;• stronger lobbying voice.The support programme will consist of:• an e-commerce trading facility;• national product supply and demand forecast service;• weekly market situation reports;• quality assurance protocol development;• grades and standards development;• agricultural marketing and production database;• commissioned marketing research, industry studies and business plans.The underlining issue in all the discussions is the Regional Integrated Marketing System and the roles that the e-commerce software and product supply forecast software are expected to play in satisfying the objectives of the system.Activities, schedules and respective responsibilities for the implementation of the system and more particularly the e-commerce and forecast software will also be determined.Building on this, the nature of the relationship between the CAMID Network and Venture Promotions Inc (VP Inc) will also be discussed and the elements of a draft Memorandum of Agreement developed.With reference to the e-commerce and forecast software developed, the following are the specific issues that that should be addressed, with a view towards arriving at a consensus position:• AGRICAST;• user needs/requirements and objectives of AGRICAST;• data collection plan;• data entry plan;• data aggregation;• data storage plan;• data dissemination plan;• cost recovery/sustainability.The process envisaged, involves most farmers completing monthly farm situation forms. This will include forecasts with respect to supply over the next four months with the first month being done on a weekly basis, as well as project plantings for the next three months. The forms will also allow farmers to indicate what kind of assistance they require from extension officers in terms of production related problems. The forms referred to here are to be delivered to schools and given to the children to be completed in the household.Extension officers collect the forms and input the data using AGRICAST software. The software should have the capacity to aggregate the data for that extension district in terms of farmer production history, district production totals, country production totals and Caribbean production totals. The question here is whether the aggregation of individual farmer data should be done on or off line. The costs and benefits of storing this information on line is a concern, and the time to query and download information is likely to be prohibitive. It would appear that only the summary of each district, along with the national and regional totals for each product need to be on line.The summarised data could be disseminated both on line, by hardcopy or through public media:• E-COMMERCE;• User needs/requirements and objectives of caricomproduce.com;• Operation of an on-line shopping cart facility;• Cost recovery/sustainability.The process envisaged involves:• Those certified farmers who have access to the Internet will post their offerings and bids to fill requests directly on the site for potential buyers (pack houses, processors and other intermediaries). Certified pack houses and processors will also post their offerings directly on site. They will ensure their supply capability by their access to individual farmer forecasts (obtained from AGRICAST and from their field staff) and will be required to put their own system in place to monitor the status of individual farmer supply situation.• Where domestic trade is concerned, certified domestic buyers (inclusive of hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, processors and exporters) will be able to place request-tobuy based on their requirements (reverse bid) and/or bid on the offerings of pack houses and certified farmers. It should be noted that in the domestic market, it is the pack houses and the certified farmers that will bid on the 'request-to-buy' postings from buyers.• Where regional trade is concerned, regional buyers, that is, buyers in other countries (inclusive of pack houses, processors and other importers) will place normal and reverse bids with pack houses. Note that farmers will not be allowed access to regional trade unless they become certified packers.• Where international trade is concerned, the model employed for regional trade will be adopted. In addition, Caribbean operated warehouses based in extra-regional marketplaces will form part of the supply base provided by the Caribbean pack houses. The extra regional warehouses will allow for both B2B and B2C trade. The B2C trade will be largely confined to the gift market.In designing the regional marketing development programme, which is the mandate of the CAMID Network, the need to develop a sustainable programme has always been a critical issue. Most components in the programme consist of supporting projects and activities that do not lend themselves to revenue generation. The e-commerce facility provides the only consistent potential source of revenue. It is therefore imperative that the manner in which this programme is implemented allows revenue to accrue to the network.It is recognised that significant revenue will also have to be expended in the promotion of the e-commerce site nationally, regionally and internationally. At the national (and by extension regional) level, it is anticipated that governments will finance this activity through their many farmer education programmes delivered by the Ministry of Agriculture communication units. At the international level however, funding will have to be sourced from the private sector, government and donor agencies to meet the substantial costs that will be involved. These very two reasons i.e. the need to generate revenue and the high cost of promotion based largely on public sector financing, makes a compelling case for CAMID membership to own the e-commerce site.As a consequence, the following arrangement with Venture Promotions Inc. has been proposed:• The CAMID Secretariat will purchase the 'caricomproduce.com' domain name at a fee to be negotiated with VP Inc. Failing this, the CAMID Network will purchase its own e-commerce domain name.• Venture Promotion Inc will license the CAMID Network to utilise its software. The licensee arrangement will be established with the individual CAMID members in each country. A fee of x% will be paid to VP Inc. based on completed transactions. The transaction will be deemed to be completed when sellers have collected revenue. The CAMID members with whom the agreement will be established (the e-commerce administrator) shall not be involved in trade in order to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure fair play. The role of the e-commerce administrator will involve the identification and certification of farmers, pack houses and buyers, the monitoring of transactions between domestic sellers and all buyers, the collection of fees and general overseeing of the e-commerce operations.• VP Inc. will maintain responsibility for the maintenance and upgrading of the ecommerce software.• CAMID Secretariat will promote the use of VP Inc. software regionally and internationally through its extensive linkages with international public and private sector collaborators.After the Keynote presentation, the participants had the opportunity to ask questions and raise various issues of concern. The presentation was thought provoking as it offered a new perspective on looking at the role of institutions and how MIS and in particular, farmers can benefit from improved arrangements. The discussion that ensued was stimulating and some of the key points and emerging issues, which came to the fore, were:• Market information systems are a means to an end not an end in themselves. As such, it is very important to define the end to be served.• Implicit in the CTA supported initiatives is the need to improve the market and broader economic position of the poor, so as to contribute to broader poverty reduction goals.• The scope of the definition of the poor to be targeted was raised. Is it just poor farmers or can it include small traders and poor consumers?• Issues related to the impact of MIS on poverty reduction through the stimulation of trade per se were also implicitly raised.• The need to identify the target group who are intended to benefit from the MIS.• The need to establish the baseline position on the situation of the target group.• The need to establish the baseline position on the production patterns within the target group.• The need to establish clear targets for the improvement the market position of the target group.• The need to establish clear indicators to measure progress.• It emerged from the discussion that different MIS initiatives were targeting different socioeconomic groups, in order to promote poverty eradication.• The issue of the role of traders within MIS initiatives was raised, since traders play a critical role between producers and consumers and are a vital source of information. Traders like farmers and processors are market participants and are consumers and providers of information for an MIS.• The importance of broader infrastructural and organisational considerations to the success of any MIS initiatives was highlighted.• While it was felt to be important that government and the private sector collaborate on MIS initiatives, the extent and context for such collaboration will vary greatly between countries and regions. Given these variations, no general conclusions emerged, with the exception that governments tend not to be responsive enough to the timeframes of private sector operators. Consequently, the private sector should lead information dissemination and transaction facilitation related initiatives.• Market information systems or marketing information systems have very different requirements depending on the nature of the production. If producers are producing primarily for the market, then different types of information and different types of relationships need to be built in compared with those situations where MIS are trying to improve the returns on incidental surpluses produced in the context of subsistence orientated production systems.The primary task of the Working Groups was to identify the main elements important to the development of an MIS, drawing on the case study experiences shared during the course of the workshop. Special attention was to be paid to the needs of small farmers, the more disadvantaged segment of the target groups as well as the need for the MIS to be sustainable and have a monitoring and evaluation component. Further, the CTA modified model 1 that was developed in the previous MIS workshop in 2000, was to be used as a framework on which to build on. As a consequence, three themes were identified and discussed in detail:• How to make an MIS work for farmers;• How to make an MIS work in terms of performance and sustainability;• Determination of the requirements for an adequate M&E system.As a precursor to formal discussions of the session themes, time was spent on establishing a clear understanding of the definition of a 'market information service'.The groups agreed to the following definition:MIS is a service, which collects, processes and disseminates relevant information to enable the farmers and market intermediaries to make informed decisions on the choice of products, pattern of production and saleability of the products. It is a service operated by stakeholders (both governmental and non-governmental) which involves the collection on a regular basis of marketing information on widely traded agricultural products from rural assembly markets, wholesale and retail markets, as appropriate, and dissemination of this information on a timely and regular basis through various media to farmers, traders, processors, government officials, policy-makers etc., and others including consumers. The MIS should lead to an overall improved efficiency of the market.This definition, the groups believed, would take into account the various models of MIS discussed in the plenary meeting. It also contrasts with the FAO definition of MIS 2 which was first put forward to the Working Groups, in that it does not assume public sector funding. It also allows for groups other than farmers (i.e. intermediaries) to be target beneficiaries of an MIS service. This is because the groups felt that various groups of intermediaries (traders, processors, transporters, warehousers, etc.) also often needed to be informed about market conditions in order for them to react to farmers' needs. It was also thought that the MIS should facilitate the sharing of information among communities as well as target specific communities or sectors.There was much debate at the workshop on whether the focus of the discussions should be on market information systems or on marketing information services, given the experiences shared in the case studies. However, it was ultimately agreed on that market information services and marketing information services should be seen as part of a continuum as systems and integration into the market become more developed.Six components were identified as important to the success of the MIS for poor farmers:• how it is designed;• the type of service offered (output);• how it is implemented;• performance of the service;• sustainability of the service;• the need to monitor and evaluate the service on a regular basis.The group felt that the most important stage of MIS provision for farmers was in the design of the service. If the initial design was based on a deep understanding of what was needed, then the output and operation of the service were likely to become more self-evident.2 FAO, 1997: MIS is 'a service, usually operated by the public sector, which involves the collection on a regular basis of information on prices and, in some cases, quantities of widely traded agricultural products from rural assembly markets, wholesale and retail markets, as appropriate, and dissemination of this information on a timely and regular basis through various media to farmers, traders, government officials, policymakers and others including consumers.'The group agreed on the following fundamental necessities of MIS design:• Clearly defined and focused objectives. These should be based on sound research findings and be informed by the experience of others in the field and on a stakeholder and gap analysis.• Design of the database is important in terms of:the source of data. One needs to be proactive by going to the farmers, buyers, sellers in order to determine their information needs as well as determining the information that they can supply;the type of data to be collected;method of collecting the data; -the method of dissemination i.e. telephone; farmer group meetings; newspaper, libraries, Websites, reports etc.• The service should be gender sensitive and include a delivery mechanism to ensure this. For example, look at the ways in which information becomes accessible to women and develop the appropriate mechanisms that will facilitate this.• Stakeholder and client commitment should be built into the design. The group was convinced that the success of the service needed to be predicated on clear stakeholder and client signals that the service was needed and that stakeholders and clients would be prepared to actively participate in and support the service.• Dissemination strategy based on the most appropriate communication mechanism.The group was unwilling to prescribe specific forms of communication as this would depend on factors peculiar to the environment of the intended service -existing systems, degree of stakeholder sophistication, language, literacy, etc.• There should be an information feedback mechanism (interactive) to allow for constant evaluation and modification where necessary. The group believed that no MIS service could remain sustainable or remain responsive to stakeholders' needs unless it contained an interactive system of information feedback, which would be constantly available to those stakeholders and in which such feedback would be analysed and acted upon.The group agreed that output would be defined by the design of the service. However, it was thought that it was self-evident that information provision should be timely (current information delivered at appropriate times), reliable (not influenced by outside interests), accessible (language, written or verbal, delivered to point of need, etc.) and affordable (to funders/stakeholders).Here again, the group agreed that the design of the service should be reflected in how the service was implemented. However, it was also agreed that the task of running the service needed to be carried out efficiently, honestly and cost effectively. For this reason, the group advised that the service should be:• Functionally autonomous. Once the design and output objectives had been met, the daily operation of the service should not be the concern of funders, government or outside interests or disproportional interests of any group of stakeholders, subject, of course, to monitoring and evaluation and regular stakeholder requirements. When in a sustainable condition, the group felt that the service could be managed by beneficiaries if they were properly trained.• The MIS should be professionally managed, (i.e. run by appropriately trained personnel who can ensure data integrity).• Stakeholders/clients should commit to providing resources particularly in terms of information, (linked to the feedback mechanism discussed under Design).• Ownership and governance should be clearly established with stakeholders' agreement. The issue of ownership could not be resolved in the group and would depend on local circumstances.• Clearly and specifically defining the objectives of the MIS in relation to the target groups was acknowledged by the group as critical to the development of the MIS. This would then allow the objectives to be easily measurable. Baseline data as it relates to the assessment of the objectives may however, need to be gathered.• Key markets should be defined based on geographic location or consumer groups.• Definitions of the major commodities traded and reported on should be put in place.• Clear measurable performance indicators should be identified. A clear distinction needs to be made between internal performance measurement (related to how data are collected, collated, disseminated and utilised) and external performance measurement to assess the impact of MIS on actual transactions. External performance measurements will vary according to the objectives of the MIS. However, it is essential that in the design phase, baseline data are collected and realistic benchmarks are established for measuring the impact of the MIS on actual transactions. If the external effects of the MIS cannot be measured, then it is not possible to determine whether or not the MIS is effectively assisting the target group.On the issue of sustainability, this is strongly affected by the choice of target group. If the target group is poor farmers, who produce incidental surpluses (i.e. are primarily orientated towards subsistence production) then it will be much more difficult to generate and collect user fees for the service. This has profound implications for the financial sustainability of the service beyond some form of public or donor financing. This needs to be taken into account when looking at the sustainability of any initiative and the whole approach to institutionalising any MIS.This section was the result of both Working Group and plenary discussions. The topic generated much debate given the diverse experiences of the participants and the various stages of the MIS represented ranging from those in their infancy to those at the regional level. A basic framework was eventually agreed on, and areas of commonality outlined.• The members of the workshop felt it was important to first discuss who and what an M&E system was for. The distinction was made between M&E, as it is understood in development projects, on the one hand, and normal business auditing and internal efficiency analysis on the other. It was agreed that it was likely that an M&E system for the MIS service would be needed for reporting purposes by the financers of the service. These may be development agencies or NGO donors, government agencies or private sector stakeholders. However, the principal purpose of the MIS should be for the decision-making, management and enhancement of the service. M&E must be seen as a management tool.• Definitions in terms of the services offered by the MIS must be agreed on. It is based on these services that the M&E can be carried out. However, the M&E must not be too basic.• Different conditions require different designs and different approaches towards the sustainability of the MIS. The model approach for all does not exist.• MIS is only a tool within a more complex context where the implementing institution and its mandates matter, not the MIS as such. MIS is part of a marketing continuum. Therefore, the preconditions for the success of the MIS should be established. This helps to get the design right.It is important that the design is right and this involves setting preconditions with defined basic assumptions. This includes:• contractual and legal framework;• understanding the existing MIS system based on stakeholder analysis;• good infrastructure;• the need to know the capacity of the institution to effect the MIS. Human resource development should be put on the agenda;• the need for a dynamic and open approach (creative) rather than a static, closed (dogmatic) approach when designing an MIS.Key elements identified were:• clearly defined objectives;• internal and external measurements of performance;• proper record-keeping as a tool;• the type of qualitative and quantitative indicators should be discussed and agreed on to ensure that they are based on what is of benefit and value to the farmer.• Involve stakeholders and those who pay into the governance of MIS in the M&E process.• Rate of cost recovery is an appropriate measure in determining the sustainability of the service.• The systems approach is being advocated where the choice of target groups should not be restricted to one sector or community, rather it should be wide enough to ensure adequate financial contributions.• The information gaps are so diverse that one system cannot bridge them all.The groups identified some key indicators to be used in the M&E process. These were:• Proper and relevant record keeping and analysis.• Qualitative and quantitative indicators. Indications of how well (or badly) an MIS service is fulfilling its objectives need to be gathered quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative analysis of indicators over time, such as farmer income, farm-gate/retail price comparison and traded volume are unreliable as the effects of MIS cannot be disaggregated from other effects such as market changes, transport improvements, weather, etc. Spatial arbitrage opportunity analysis (the price differences between markets in different geographical locations) should offer a useful quantitative indicator. Qualitative analysis is likely to be carried out by survey.• Transaction time / transaction cost. That is the time taken to supply a given volume of information and the cost of delivering that information.• Rate of usage. That is a changing measure over time of how many intended beneficiaries are making use of the service.• Rate of cost of recovery -level of financial sustainability / level of organisational sustainability. That is a measure of the financial contributions to the running of the service and whether these contributions will be maintained in the future. Also, the sustainability of the method of organisation of the service -supply of qualified staff and managers and training, etc.• Range of commodities traded.• Local Authority revenue -cess charged/ effect on revenue collection.• Price stability.• Numbers of producers/ traders requesting information.• Ease of entry and exit from market.• There is a paradigm shift in terms of the clarification of MIS concepts and definitions being used.• There is no unique MIS model applicable across countries and regions.• The design of any MIS must be linked to the environment in a holistic way (taking the economic, political, and social factors into consideration).• Sustainability of the MIS is not confined to financial considerations but also involves institutional arrangements.• Look at sustainability of an MIS from an institutional perspective and not just a project-based service.• MIS must serve as a management tool.• MIS support must be based on the individual needs as identified before programme design.• MIS must not be seen in isolation of the general marketing development programme.• M&E provides a way in which an MIS can move forward, especially in the face of challenges and mistakes.• Networking is a valuable means of improving MIS systems. There is value in the sharing of experiences, for example, an MIS in one country can learn from MIS in other countries. Mechanisms for sharing information should therefore be explored.• A way needs to be found where practitioners who operate in isolation can contact others and share their particular concerns. Perhaps one way of doing this would be to set up e-mail communication between networks so that there can be continuous feedback and support.The organisers of the workshop thought that it would be an excellent opportunity to expose the participants to an example of a highly efficient and developed market information service within the Netherlands. Although the service could be considered to be at the high-end of the spectrum in terms of the objectives of the workshop, it would nevertheless prove useful in demonstrating that it is possible to build sustainable workable systems on a private basis but with public sector collaboration. In addition to this, it was hoped that lessons could be drawn and applied to any future development of an MIS.Prior to the field trip, the participants received guiding questions, which were later discussed in the plenary session. Below are the questions given and the feedback.• What were the most striking features of the exchange?• Which factors contributed to the growth and success of the flower auction?• Do the growers feel that the information they receive is reflective of the real market?• What lessons can be drawn from the exchange in terms of its usefulness and applicability (to us) with respect to:producers (farmer);sustainability of the system (how are they financially supported)?When the participants were asked to give their impressions of the flower market, their responses were spontaneous and enthusiastic:• amazingly huge;• top-down auction;• useful to achieve higher prices for the commodities (e.g. some French producers sold their produce there because the prices were more attractive, so there were cases where the produce was transported from France to the Netherlands, then back to France);• tremendous amount of available displayed information;• producers and buyers were competing for the best prices;• developed mechanisms on contracting payments, arbitrage;• completely run by the private sector;• huge effects of economies of scale;• value-added for buyers and producers;• wide variety of products;• the auction is a symbol of the power of the organisation;• future: Systems may have to change to a virtual one, although the human factor is still in demandThe flower auction and MISThe participants felt that some of the main reasons responsible for the success of the auction included:• its usefulness to producers;• its role in linking producers to buyers;• the transparency of the system;• provision of access to product testing and research and development including innovations;• high level of consciousness of the producers.Reasons for the high performance and sustainability of the system are linked to the following:• the participants (buyers and sellers) see the value-added in being part of the system and this contributes to its sustainability;• the commodity is in demand;• there is a high turnover;• favourable transportation costs.The participants were asked two questions:• What did you like in the discussions at the workshop?• What do you want to be added to the process of further development of MIS?In general, most of the participants enjoyed the exchange of experiences, the information shared and the frankness of the discussions. The discussions were lively and there was equal consideration of views put forward. Further, the experiences of practical solutions were appreciated in light of the various stages of MIS in the different countries.The workshop also served to strengthen the information base in MIS and facilitated networking among the participants.Other points brought forward by the participants with respect to additions to the process of further development of MIS included:• The need for deeper thinking on the design of MIS and the M&E component.• More emphasis on research.• Further analysis of client tracking/ monitoring mechanism and systems.• More systematic focus on specific issues (option tree).• CTA should take seriously the issue of studying the way forward ideas provided.• The discussion should tackle all the stakeholders of the MIS, not just farmers, i.e. there should be more integration of the MIS.• Institutional arrangements should be discussed.• There is need for ongoing/ regular exchanges in MIS among the various ACP countries, (i.e. continuous networking).• CTA should further facilitate exchange and development of MIS.• CTA should facilitate funding partnerships with other agencies for new projects and facilitate further networking of various MIS.• M&E should be incorporated in MIS activities in order to improve MIS development.• Definition of the marketing programme in which MIS is to be posited.• CTA should assist in developing projects on MIS in the Pacific Islands.• An effort should be made on the part of those implementing MIS to make it sustainable. Do not depend on external assistance. ","tokenCount":"15408"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8687714120.json b/data/part_1/8687714120.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..16626c3cbb918507da096e1a7dc814c4f12ec313
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8687714120.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8bc12dcc8a9828800786e4ccdaf84c3b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1460d49f-a832-46d6-8f50-7833244d5c80/retrieve","id":"1258659031"},"keywords":["Small Scale Fishery","Resilience","Environmental development","Technological innovation","data-poor situation"],"sieverID":"11ab01c8-733b-4cf5-87d7-15875a9590cd","pagecount":"35","content":"The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.The sustainable exploitation of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity are two of the growing challenges of this century, along with the global eradication of poverty (Hall et al., 2013). Fishery, as a typical system based on the exploitation of renewable resources, is very illustrative of such a challenge. Three quarters of the world fish stocks are estimated to be fully or over-exploited (Garcia and Grainger, 2005;FAO, 2012), and 95% of the people depending on these fisheries are small-scale operators living close or sometimes below the poverty line in low and middle income countries (Heck et al., 2007;Béné et al., 2007;Mills et al., 2011). Although poverty in small-scale fishing communities is not explained only by the status of the resources (Yari, 2003/04;Béné and Friend, 2011), the link between resources and fishers' well-being is important.Fisheries are also recognized to be a critical source of \"rich food for the poor\" (Kawarazuka and Béné, 2010;Béné et al., 2007;Allison, 2011). Both producers (small-scale fishers) and poor consumers in rural and increasingly in urban areas, depend on fish as a critical source of animal protein, micro-nutrient, vitamins and beneficial fats (Kawarazuka and Béné, 2010;High Level Panel of Experts, 2014). In this context, improving management of the world's fish stocks in such a way that available resources can better contribute to both poverty reduction and food and nutritional security in a sustainable manner is a priority (Andrew et al., 2007;Allison, 2011). Food security, poverty alleviation and resource conservation should therefore be the three main and inter-related objectives of fisheries management in the developing world. Yet identifying strategies which promote these three objectives remains challenging. This challenge is in many places further compounded by factors such as encroachment of markets, rapid population growth, increased demand for fish, and environmental change and degradation (High Level Panel of Experts, 2014).Our objective is to explore these issues of inter-connection between natural resource conservation and development in the case of fisheries; and we propose to use the small-scale fisheries in the Solomon Islands as our main 'ground level laboratory'. For Solomon Islands' communities, marine resources constitute a unique and critical pool of available high-quality protein and an important source of household cash. However, like many countries in the Pacific region, coral reefs around Solomon Islands exhibit many signs of localized depletion of finfish stocks (Green et al., 2006;Brewer et al., 2009). A critical question therefore is: to what extent and under which conditions can these marine resources continue to fulfil their socio-economic functions (cash, livelihood and food provision), and at the same time be exploited in a manner that does not threaten their current or future ecological capacity? To address this question we developed a novel approach where we combine elements of viability theory with aspect of resilience, and use a bio-economic model designed and calibrated with local data to explore the system dynamics.Viability (or viable control) approach (Aubin, 2009) is a dynamic system-based approach that has now been recognized as an insightful modelling framework in relation to natural resource management (Cury et al., 2005;Eisenack et al., 2006;Doyen and DeLara, 2010), especially in fisheries -see, e.g., Béné et al. (2001); Doyen and Béné (2003); Martinet and Doyen (2007); Bene and Doyen (2008). Under this viability approach the objective is not to identify optimal or steady state paths for the co-dynamics of resources and their exploitation, but rather to identify desirable combinations of states and associated controls that keep the system's viability conditions satisfied 1 . In our Solomon Islands' case-study, these viability conditions relate to marine resource conservation, food security and poverty alleviation.When considered together, these constraints delimit a multi-dimensional space called the 'viability domain'. In this specific context the aim of the viability approach will be to analyse the compatibility between the dynamics of that system and the state constraints, and to determine the set of controls (or decisions) that will maintain the system's trajectories within this viability domain.The concept of resilience will then be used to further explore the behaviour of the system around the boundaries of this viability domain. Many definitions of resilience have been proposed in different disciplines -see Manyena (2006); Bahadur et al. (2010) for reviews of these definitions. Most definitions share in common the basic idea that a resilient system is able to continue functioning effectively even after a shock. Quantifying or measuring this ability is however methodologically difficult (Armitage et al., 2012;Frankenberger and Nelson, 2013;Béné et al., 2012). In our case, we follow Béné et al. (2001) and Martin (2005) who, in a dynamic context, propose to link resilience to the concept of 'time of crisis'. The 'time of crisis' is the time it takes for a dynamic system to come back into its viability domain, following a shock. The more resilient a system is, the shorter the time of crisis will be. This approach is in fact relatively close to some of the earlier 'engineering' definitions of resilience as proposed by, e.g. Holling (1973) who defined resilience as the \"ability of a system to bounce back or return to equilibrium following disturbance\". In our case these disturbances will be considered by introducing stochastic elements in both the ecological and human dynamics of the system. The true novelty of the approach, however, comes from the fact that so far (to the best of our knowledge) linking viability to resilience and using the mathematical concept of time of crisis as a way to quantify the system's resilience in an 1. From an ecological viewpoint, the so-called population viability analysis (PVA) (Morris and Doak, 2002) is remarkably close to this viability approach as it focuses on extinction probability in an uncertain (stochastic) environment. The Tolerable Windows Approach (TWA) proposes a similar framework on climatic change issues (Bruckner et al., 1999).The Solomon Islands' archipelago presents ecological and socio-economical characteristics that are relatively illustrative of the Melanesian context. On an ecological perspective, the Solomon Islands are situated within the Coral Triangle (see Fig. 6) and as such display one of the highest levels of marine bio-diversity in the world, with astonishing levels of primary productivity. The local artisanal fishers exploit diverse coral reef and pelagic species. The principal families amongst the reef resources include Serranidae (sea basses and groupers), Lutjanidae (snappers), Lethrinidae (emperors), Acanthuridae (surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes) and Scaridae (parrotfishes). The pelagic catches are dominated by the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). Once landed, reef and pelagic fish are either consumed by fishers and their families, or sold locally (Sulu et al., 2000). Other exploited products include sea-cucumber, trochus, and shark fins. Those, however, will not be considered in this paper as their influence on the system is minimal at the present time: the shark fin market has not (yet) fully developed in Solomon Islands (compared to other places in the Pacific), the sea-cucumber fishery has been closed since 2005 due to strong evidence of overfishing (Ramofafia, 2004) and the trochus fishery has never really recovered from overexploitation 200 years ago and represents only a negligible part of landings and fisher cash (Foale, 1998(Foale, , 2008)). Our work will therefore focus on the reef fish and skipjack tuna resources.From a livelihood perspective, households in Solomon Islands engage in fishing for two main reasons; subsistence (self-consumption of fish to complement the home garden and contribute directly to food security) and cash-income to purchase other commodities: foods (e.g. rice) and essential goods (clothes, pieces of furniture, kitchen utensils, etc.), (Kile, 2000). In fact the country is characterized by one of the highest fish consumption rates of the region (35 kg/person/year (Bell et al., 2009)), but also the highest demographic growth rate in the Pacific region (between 2.3 and 2.8% (CIA, 2001)) and the lowest Human Development Index of the region (143/186). In those circumstances, the small-scale fishery represents the only economic opportunity for many (rural) households and stands as a keystone sector.In Solomon Islands all fishers -essentially male head of rural households-are engaged in reef fishing, and to a lesser extent outside the reef in inshore sea fishing. These fishers split their fishing time (around 15 hours per week) between the two fisheries (Aswani, 2002, 2. The work of Duer-Balkind et al. (2013) addresses the conciliation between sociological drivers and ecological drivers under a quantitative approach of resilience. Although they do not take into account the economical constraints that drives the fishing efforts. Such economical constraints can be actually considered through the socio-economic viability constraints.  1998), but with a marked preference for the reef fishery. The limited number of outboard engines and their relatively high operating costs also reduce considerably the number of local fishers who can access the tuna resource on a regular basis. As a result, a typical fisher would be mainly involved in coral reef fishery, with approximately only 10 % of his fishing time spent outside the reef targeting the tuna resource (Aswani, 2002(Aswani, , 1998)). The two types of resources, coral and pelagic, imply different fishing techniques so we distinguish two fleets; the reef fleet which restricts its operation to reef areas (fishers using dugout canoes or fiberglass boats without outboard motors); and the tuna fleet, which operates outside the reef (dugout canoes without outboard motors and a few fiberglass boats with outboard motors). In these conditions, the development of small-scale inshore moored FADs which would attract pelagic tuna closer to the reef and make this resource more accessible to smallscale fishers is considered as one possible option to increase the fisheries system's productivity (Bell et al., 2009(Bell et al., , 2015)). In other parts of the Pacific region for instance a growing number of inshore FADs are currently being tested (Désurmont and Chapman, 2000;Prange, 2009).Yet, at the time of the study, inshore FADs were still not widely used by the small-scale fisheries in the Solomon Islands (Prange, 2009) -despite a growing interest in their use (pers comm.).In this context, the objective of this research was to explore further this FAD option and to determine in particular the extent to which in-shore FADs could increase the resilience of the fisheries system. For this the study was designed to compare two scenarios, relying on our bio-economic model: one scenario with in-shore FADs and one without. The main effect of introducing FADs in the fishery is assumed to be an increase in the catchability 3 of the tuna resource. A SPC report (Langley and Hampton, 2008) reports for instance a 3-fold increase in tuna catchability from 1982 to 2006, during a period when a substantial number of new FAD were deployed within the national seas. In another FAD study Albert et al. (2014) also observes substantial increases in catchability of pelagic fish around off-shore and in-shore FADs.Our bio-economic model is purposely simple in order to make the results analytically trackable. The resource dynamic of the model is based on a Lotka Volterra function (Volterra and Brelot, 1931) determined by two main sets of biological parameters; (i) the intrinsic growth rate r i of the groups of species included in the model and (ii) the matrix S i,j that captures the trophic relationship between groups i and j (positive if j is a prey of group i, negative if j is a predator of group i, and nil if there is no interaction) with both i and j ∈ {1, 2, 3}. The two sets of parameters are assumed to be homogeneous across the whole Solomon Islands' archipelago and its surrounding region. In addition the model accounts for the differential impacts of the fishing efforts e k (t) imposed by the two fleets (where k=1 for the coral reef fishery and k=2 for the off-shore tuna fishery) through catchability parameters q i,k . A fleet refers to a gear specification; one fisher is part of the two fleets using two combinations of gears, mainly drop line and spear gun above the reef and in the lagoon and different types of trolling lines outside the reef. Thus, the biomass B i (t + 1) of group i at time t + 1 depends on previous stocks' biomass level B i (t), trophic interactions with other groups through S i,j , the impact of the fishing efforts e k (t) and the number of fishers l k (t) engaged in the fleet k (fixed all along the simulation), through the dynamic relation 1.Although we restrict our analysis to include only reef and pelagic fish resources, the full range of interactions among these groups remains complex and largely unknown. Here we model a simplified system focusing only on the most important interactions. In the datapoor context that characterizes most developing countries (including the Solomon Islands),3. Catchability is the proportion of the stock that is removed by 1 unit of fishing effort over 1 unit of time the most ecologically robust assumption is to categorize prey and predator species into separate groups in an attempt to capture the main heterogeneity and diet dynamics of the species considered (Larkin and Gazby, 1982). The Solomon Islands' reef fish resources were therefore split into two groups; (i) piscivors (essentially the Serranidae family 4 ) and (ii) herbivors (Lutjanidae, Lethrinidae, Acanthuridae and Scaridae). In the rest of the article, the piscivors are considered as predators and herbivors as prey. Skipjack tuna were considered a third separated group since this species does not interact directly with reef fish (Fernandez and Allain, 2011;Buckley and Miller, 1994).The fishing efforts e k (t) are expressed in hours/fisher, the catchability q i,k in 1/hours, and the biomass B i (t) in kg/m 2 . We assume that the intrinsic growth rate r i and catchability q i,k are subject to stochastic fluctuations following two independent uniform laws U r and U q .All parameters and initial conditions are listed in Table 3 in Appendix.Using a standard Schaefer production function (Schaefer, 1957), the catch H(t) is estimated by:with area k corresponding to the national fishing area (Spalding et al., 2001) (see Table (3) in Appendix). The catch is then used for two purposes, the subsistence (quantity of fish for direct consumption) and cash (value of the remaining fish sold on local or regional markets).The allocation between the subsistence and the cash is determined by the parameter α. The individual households' subsistence is therefore:while the individual cash is:where p i (t) is fish local market prices and c(t) stands the mean cost of effort. Both price and cost vary during the simulation according to the inflation p(t) = p(t 0 ) • Inf l t and c(t) = c(t 0 ) • Inf l t with Infl being the month inflation coefficient.Time unit for the model was month and and the simulation was run over a period of 15 4. Serranidae family accounts for the highest trophic level on the coral reef system. In this family we will focus on the medium size individuals since the number of big individuals have been reduced by the fishing activity. years (i.e. t 0 = 2011 and t f = 2026). Each simulation was based on thousand trajectories.For each trajectory, the biomass of each group was computed using equation 1 and the stochastic functions 5.Our bio-economic model relies on data collected during six months of fieldwork (March to August, 2011) complemented by existing secondary anthropological studies (Aswani et al., 2007;Aswani, 2006;Sabetian and Foale, 2006) and two biological databases (Langley and Hampton, 2008;Green et al., 2006). Details of the different steps followed to construct such a model in a data-poor situation are provided in Figure 6 in the Appendix. The socioeconomical parameters reflect the 2011 context, while the latest skipjack tuna biomass estimation was made in 2006 (Langley and Hampton, 2008) and the coral reef fishes assessment in 2004 (Green et al., 2006). The fieldwork in 2011 within four communities (Ove, Maleai, Gou'Ulu, Lilihina) in various places of the country, however, has brought some questionmarks about the validity of the stock assessments. The biomass might be 20% lower in 2011 compared to 2004 levels. Therefore a combination of different initial conditions B i (t 0 ) was used for the three groups (reef fish; prey and predators; and tuna) with lower and higher ranges of resources considered in the range [0 ; 2] of the 2004 and 2006 levels (i.e. +/-100%). Such high variation also does help to explore more comprehensively the dynamic of the system.The intrinsic growth r i and the trophic matrix S i,j are calibrated in accordance with previous studies. For the first two groups (reef predator and reef prey), the trophic matrix were derived from Doyen et al. (2007) whose approach 5 was based on group' equilibrium biomass B eq i . The equilibrium biomass B eq i was assumed to occur when stocks have reached their relative carring capacity, estimated to be 2 * B i (2004) (Green et al., 2006) assuming that no fishery operate. When the biomass are constant with no capture the expression (1) becomes r i (t) = 3 j=1 S i,j • B eq j (t), which helps to compute the r i (t) once the S i,j are known. For the skipjack the values are derived from Hardy et al. (2013), while the others (S 1,3 ,S 2,3 ,S 3,1 ,S 3,2 ) are set to zero (no trophic interaction between tuna and reef fishes).The calibration of the uniform law U r relates to the maximum variation range which results in a 20% annual fluctuation of the Serranidae biomass. This is in line with Sabetian's estimation of the natural annual fluctuation (Sabetian, 2003). In the absence of 5. The terms S i , j have been calculated using the stomach content of the predators through the method of Doyen et al. (2007) with diets V ol i taken from the FishBase database (Serranidae average diet with 30% to 40% of fish for medium size individuals), weights W i equal to the biomass B i (2004) divided by the densities D i (2004) (Green et al., 2006) (see Table (3) in Appendix) and groups' equilibrium biomass B eq i more information, we assumed a similar level of fluctuation for the other groups and tested different intrinsic growth levels with variation ranges from [-10%,10%] to [-100%,100%] 6 . We introduced therefore a random law U r (−0.8, +0.8) to the model, whereby a random r value is drawn from an uniform distribution within the interval of -0.8 to +0.8. In addition to these ecologically-driven fluctuations, we assume that the catchability parameters q i,k also fluctuate stochastically. In this case, the amplitude was arbitrarily set at U q (−0.2, +0.2).Introducing this medium level of fluctuation was justified also in the case of the skipjack tuna stock, as this species is highly mobile and capable of migrating from Papua New Guinea to the north of Australia (Lehodey et al., 2003), inducing fluctuation in the availability of the stock at the local level. We therefore have the following stochastic conditions for the biomass growth rate and the catchability:The rest of the parameters have been calibrated using the field work data of the four communities of Ove, Maleai, Gou'Ulu and Lilihina together with the information derived from the existing literature. Each of these communities are very distinguishable in terms of fishing and consumption habits although some common features are identifiable such as the way the catch is used. In those communities fish is shared with other members of the extended family including other fishers' households. This redistribution process is expected to provide the necessary amount of fish to satisfy protein needs for all. Wild fish remains the most accessible and the cheapest source of animal protein -the canned tuna is four time more expensive (per kg) and chicken and eggs are not so available in remote villages.The household cash also depends heavily on the fishing activity through regular selling in local markets as the economic alternatives are very rare in those rural areas. Overall this means that both levels of subsistence and cash are closely linked to the level of fishing activity. Schwarz et al. (2007) estimates that in the case of rural population approximately 60% of the catch is home-consumed, and the remaining 40% is sold. We therefore use the parameter α = 0.6 to represent fish self-consumption and 1 − α = 0.4 for fish sold for cash.The subsistence is thus more important although some more cash-oriented behaviors are emerging progressively and the subsistence allocation is expected to have decreased. In this context the α might continue to evolve in the near future and we have taken this eventuality into account: different α are tested from a strong subsistence based economy with α = 0.8 to a strong cash based economy with α = 0.2.6. In fact, a high variation range of [-80%,80%] is necessary to reach a 20% annual biomass variation when no fishing occurs (e 1 = 0).The linear cost c included in the cash expression account for the average operating costs.The latter is estimated to be around 2.5$SB per hour per fisher ($SB = Solomon dollar) for the majority of fishers operating with dugout canoes rather than outboard motors (Kronen, 2007). The fish price was calibrated by taking the average price between rural and urban markets (since fishers sell to both) for the three main fish groups as follows: 5.5 SBD/kg for piscivors, 4.5 SBD/kg for herbivors and 5 SBD/kg for skypjack tuna. The three main national market were also assessed through a 4 weeks observation, asking cost and price to fishers/resellers in the market of Honiara (one week), Auki (one week) and Gizo (two weeks) which have given equivalent figures. The inflation impacting the cost and the price are fixed according to the report on international inflation which estimated an inflation level Inf l = 1.0083 on a month basis (Dept, 2014).A maximum fishing effort of 90 hours/month was introduced to reflect the maximum number of hours each fisher can engage in fishing activities per month, while still contributing to other important social and livelihood activities (family, gardening, social interactions, etc.). This limitation is in line with figures proposed by Albert et al. (2014). On the other hand, fishing effort is never equal to zero because of residual or illegal fishing happening even during temporary or permanent fishery closures. We assume that this residual fishing effort is a minimum of 2 hours/month/fisher. This means that the condition:defines the overall fishing time for each fisher. The catchability coefficients are derived from the work of Hardy et al. (2013), and are in agreement with fieldwork observation. Fieldwork observation consisted in the estimation of the fish catch on sporadic time spent on the landing sites waiting for fishers to come back as well as records during fishing trips conducted by the main author. As mentioned above the effect of the offshore FADs on the tuna catchability of industrial fleets is assumed to lead to a 3-fold increase (Hardy, 2014). We suppose this value to be effective for the small scale fishers at 10 miles from the shore, i.e. the maximum distance to the coast in terms of accessibility.The resilience index is inspired by the work of Béné et al. (2001) derived from the concept of 'time of crisis' introduced by Doyen and Saint-Pierre (1997), and further adopted by Martin (2005) and Deffuant and Gilbert (2011). The basic idea behind the concept of time of crisis is to measure the time it takes for a dynamic system to come back into its viability domain, after at least one of its viability constraints has been violated.We needed first to identify the viability constraints that delimit the viability domain. In our case these viability constraints were defined by three thresholds:(i) the ecological threshold with minimum biomasses above which the stocks have to been maintained to ensure the renewability of the resource; (ii) the food security threshold with a minimum fish catch that ensures individual household' food security; and (iii) the cash poverty line threshold with a minimum cash level derived from fish sale that is necessary to maintain households above the cash-poverty line. When considered together, these three constraints delimit the system's viability domain within the space of the system's possible trajectories.The ecological constraint is linked to the minimum biomass levelabove which it is necessary to remain to secure the sustainability of the resource i. In our case, we arbitrarily set the B lim i at 30 % of the B i (2011) biomass. We suppose the stocks to be on average at 70% of their carrying capacities' levels (implying a diminution of the carring capacity level due to habitat degradation), the 30% of the current level implies a vulnerable level of 21% (0.3*0.7=0.21) of the carrying capacity level K i , i.e.This figure is slightly above the 20% (or 80% reduction) of initial levels mentioned in the critically endangered criteria under the condition A.3. (Species Survival Commission, 2000).We have therefore the first viability constraint:Food security constraint The second constraint relates to the the minimum fish consumption level Sub lim necessary to ensure food security at the household level (HH). The FAO (1981) report recommends a weekly amount of protein of 0.8 g/kg, which is equivalent to 21 kg of fish for an average 70 kg person (60 kg for women and 80 kg for men) or 9.5 kg/household/month (based on the figure of 5.2 persons per household in Solomon Islands (National Statistic Office, 2008)). We assume that fresh fish is the cheapest protein favored by people close to the food insecurity threshold. We also assume in general that at least half of the fish is consumed, half is leftover 7 (bones, head, tail, intestines, scales and gills). The second viability constraint (which is slightly above the recommendations proposed by Bell et al. (2015)), is:7. This estimation corresponds to fieldwork observation.The third constraint of the system relates to the minimum cash level Cash lim required to maintain people above the relative poverty line. The National Statistics Office and UNDP, Pacific Center ( 2008) indicate a weekly cost of 225 $SB per households for the highest quintile, and a weekly basic need poverty line of 47 $SB per household. This last figure is equivalent to 204 $SB/hh/month. This condition induces a third viability constraint for the system, namely:Crisis function The simulation is based on 1000 trajectories associated to an initial condition B i (t 0 ). Amongst these 1000 trajectories, the model identifies every trajectory with either total or partial violation of the viable constraints ( 7), ( 8), or (9) and calculates the number of months during which these violations occur. The 'worst' trajectory Cr(B 0 , e(t))which is the trajectory with the longest time of crisis, is then identified using the following algorithm: 7), ( 8) and ( 9) hold true 0 otherwise (10)For the 15-year simulations, fishing effort choices are made at the start of three 5-year distinctive decision periods. The 5 year period accounts for the adaption potential of the communities, it also illustrates the resilient potential after big event such as the ethnic tension in 2000 and the tsunami in 2007 (Schwarz et al., 2010). At the start of the first decision period (at t 0 equivalent to 2011), the choice of both fishing effort e 1 (t 0 ) and e 2 (t 0 ) is assumed to depend only on the information on the initial state B i (t 0 ). Using e 1 (t 0 ) and e 2 (t 0 ), we produce 10 trajectories corresponding to a 5-year simulation. Each trajectory relies on a 'non-anticipative' stochastic control (Shapiro et al., 2009). At the start of the second decision period (at t 1 equivalent to 2016), we have 10 new states of biomass B i (t 1 ).For each of these new states B i (t 1 ), fishing efforts are chosen for both e 1 (t 1 ) and e 2 (t 1 ). To continue the simulation to a 10-year period, we increase the stochasticity and compute 10 new trajectories for each B i (t 1 ). All the trajectories are generated through a stochastic procedure incorporating 10 new sets of monthly random variations derived from expression (5). We proceed in the same way to decide for both e 1 (t 2 ) and e 2 (t 2 ) for the third decision period (at t 2 equivalent to 2021). We obtain at the end 1000 trajectories equal to 10 different replicates of the first period times 10 different replicates of the second period times 10 different replicates are not fully resilient without FADs, the introduction of in-shore FADs (Fig. 2b) with α = 0.4 and 0.6 creates a number of resilient combinations.Within the FAD scenario, one further difference appears in relation to α. In particular the figure indicates that a lower α value (around 0.4) is associated with larger blue zone.This tends to indicate that in the presence of FAD, increasing the share of sold reef fish (i.e. diminishing the level of self-consumption from the current 0.6 to 0.4 ratio) would be an important driver of resilience improvement. Below 0.4 however the trend seems to reverse, with the resilience disappearing rapidly. The relation between resilience and α appears therefore to be non-linear. System trajectory evolution While Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b depict the overall outcomes in terms of resilience, they don't provide the detailed information concerning the system's 'internal' dynamics which leads to these different outcomes. The details of the different indicators (resource biomass, cash and subsistence levels) based on the 2011 values are depicted in Fig. 3 for the non-FADs and in Fig. 4 for the FADs scenarios. All trajectories are depicted and show why the current situation without FADs is not resilient.Starting with 2011 condition we can see that the coral reef sub-system is already low in terms of biomass. Fishing effort cannot be increased without risking any further degradation and so the coral reef fishing pressure is reduced to its minimum during the first 5-year period under both scenarios (with and without FADs). During the second period, the scenario with FADs indicates that fishers accessing the FADs do continue to fish at a minimum level within the lagoon while other fishers start to take advantage of the growing coral fish biomass generated during the first period (see Table 1). In contrast with no FADs option, the piscivors are continuously under pressure by fishers forced to stay around the reefs. The low quantity of resources is enough for the subsistence constraint to be satisfied but not sufficient to get enough fish to sell. The cash seems effectively to be the main constraining factor here. Figure 3: The detailed evolution of the system without FADs for coral reef fish biomass B 1,2 (t), skipjack tuna biomass B 3 (t) and the two socio-economical indicators, the subsistence index Sub(t) (abbreviated Si) and the cash index Cash(t) (abbreviated Ci), all possible trajectories are drawn (The first period of 5 years includes 10 trajectories, the second 100 trajectories and the third 1000 trajectories).  2a and Fig. 2b related to the current initial situation (2011). The efforts of the first period represent an average of the 10 combinations, the efforts of the second period represent an average of the 100 combinations, the efforts of the third period represent the average of the 1000 combinationsProvincial comparison The analysis presented above for the Solomon Islands archipelago as a whole can be disaggregated into provincial assessments by using the provinces' respective resources biomass estimates. While the tuna biomass is assumed to be exploited homogeneously among all provinces of the country 9 , the values of provincial percentage of the coral reef fish biomass estimated by Green et al. (2006) are used to find the respective local abundance multipliers (table 2). The level of uncertainty of the initial coral ref fish is assumed to be the same however between the provincial and the national level. The results of the provincial analysis (with and without FADs) are shown on Fig. 5 with the current α (α = 0.6). Incidentally, Isabel province's situation corresponds exactly to the national situation in 2011 with a local multiplier of 1.0. The resource levels in the Central and Makira provinces are also relatively close to the national average and these provinces are therefore located close to the central point (1:1). The other provinces (Choisel and WesternProvince on the right-hand side; Guadalcanal and Malaita on the left-hand side) are located away from that central point with positions reflecting the reef fish resource status. Fig. 5a indicates that without FADs, Choisel and Western Province exhibit no resilience, suggesting that the coral reef fish biomass of these two provinces would rapidly become unable to bear the high population pressure if no technical solution is proposed. The introduction of FADs (Fig. 5b) in these two provinces 'boosts' their resilience as they get included in a dark blue zone.In contrast, the Malaita and Guadalcanal small-scale fisheries remain no-resilient even after the introduction of FADs. The extension of the blue zone however strengthen the outcomes for the other provinces since the uncertainty of the initial coral reef biomass is largely taken into account.9. The skipjack tuna assessment used for this analysis was conducted by region (Langley and Hampton, 2008) with a special emphasis on migration. This demonstrated high levels of skipjack tuna migration between all provinces within the sub-region of Solomon Islands. Coral fish (B1(t0) and B2(t0))Tuna (B3(t0))Ch. W.P. I. Ce. G.Mal. Mak.Resilience index with FAD (b)Figure 5: Resilience index R(B 0 ) with α = 0.6 for configuration without FADs (a) and with FADs (b) under different combination of coral reef fish initial biomass B 1,2 (t 0 ) and skipjack tuna initial biomass B 3 (t 0 ) with an amplitude from 0.2 (20%) to 2 (200%), the provincial situations are depicted by their relative coral reef fish biomass as a proportion of the national multiplier unit for Choiseul (Ch.), Central (C.), Gadacanal (G.), Isalbel (I.), Makira (Mak.), Malaita (Mal.) and Western Province (W.P.)The resilience index proposed in this paper is based on a robust viability framework (Doyen and Béné, 2003). This index integrates the basic human needs that mediate households' decisions (food security and need for cash) with the minimum biomass level that ensures the sustainability of the resource, to define a multi-dimensional domain within which the whole system viability is satisfied. In this context the resilience index measures the ability of the system to stay in its viability domain within a finite period of time. Such an index provides insights into the dynamics of the system in the context of uncertainty, technical innovation, and provincial specificities. This work confirms the observations of Albert et al.(2014) and Roeger et al. (2016) on the potential of pelagic resources and the importance of technical innovations through a dynamic quantitative approach and a resilience framework.A first important result that emerges from the analysis is that the reference (2011) situation in the Solomon Islands fisheries is not viable and that this lack of viability jeopardizes the resilience of the system. The analysis suggests in particular that the main limiting factor is the low level of cash generated by the households through selling a share of their catch.The simulations indicate that this cash barely maintains households above the poverty line.The simulations also indicate that this low level of cash is, in turn, the consequence of the degraded reef resources, leading to poor catch and income-poverty.The system will remain only partially resilient unless some of these constraints can be relaxed. The option explored in this paper is the introduction of in-shore FADs which are expected to make the tuna resource more accessible to local small-scale fishers. The simulations show that by increasing the catchability of the tuna, the FADs allow these fishers to ease the pressure on the reef fishery. This strategy enables them to increase their cash and move away from the viability cash threshold, thus providing more resilience to the system (Fig. 4). As such the implementation of FADs effectively promotes the socio-economic viability of the system (both cash and subsistence). The overall status of the resource seems also to improve, even though the skipjack tuna resource decreases slightly under the FADs scenario. Pauly et al. (1998) propose the ratio between the biomass of all prey and all predator species to be the best indicator or reef fish community health (the higher the proportion of preys over predators, the worse the resource condition). Our model differentiates between piscivors and herbivores, and thus provides insights into the health of the reef system. Without FADs, the reduction of effort in the coral reef fishery, induced by low reef fish biomass, has a beneficial effect on prey while the predators biomass struggles to recover. With FADs, the reduced effort benefits the balance of the reef fish system with prey and predator in dynamic equilibrium.In the context of small scale fisheries in developing countries, with high fishery dependence and universally low enforcement capacity, such reductions in effort is more likely to happen if other resources are available such as the skyjack tuna. The communities studied by Roeger et al. (2016) have illustrated how the pelagic resource could be exploited as an adaptive strategy. These communities however are close to the city of Auki which constitutes a big market to sell a part of the catch, especially a mono specific catch. According to Hardy et al. (2016), the most populated area are often the least resilient. The presence of a tuna market in a reachable city could therefore encourage the fishers to go for a pelagic resource and reduce their effort in the lagoon. Nonetheless, under tuna fishing specialization, the small-scale fishery might become more vulnerable to exogenous stock fluctuations. In terms of impacts of the industrial fishery, the model accounts already for a high variation through a calibration using industrial fleet data from 1996 to 2006. Finally, as the fishers noticed, it takes two to three weeks for the FAD to \"recover\" from industrial seine fishing and reach again the original fish density (personal data). As a matter of fact, the tuna resource is present all year round and it takes less that a month to come from low to sufficient stock' levels which again tends to argue for the resilience of the tuna species (Bertignac et al., 2000).Within least populated areas, and even with the introduction of in-shore FADs and the increased focus on the tuna resource, the reef fishery will remains a critical cultural and socio-economical element in the system. Some occasional fishers will continue to fish with elementary gears and with a minimum effort of 2 hours per month, sometimes more, as the control is impossible to implement, although the subsistence driven fishery seems to discourage the 'race for fish' dynamics (Hardy et al., 2016).To some extent these results are in line with a recent analysis completed by Hardy et al. (2013), in which the authors also conclude that the introduction of FADs in the Solomon Islands' small-scale fisheries would provide an alternative option to strengthen the viability of the system, but only under stringent conditions. These authors' analysis shows in particular that in order to remain viable in the future the Solomon Islands fisheries will not only have to introduce FADs, but also accept some initial reduction in fishing effort and a progressive increase over time in the commercialisation of the fisheries, with a larger proportion of the catch sold for cash and less retained for home-consumption. Our model suggests that the greatest increase in system resilience will be achieved if the increased yield available through the introduction of FAD is sold (rather than consumed by fisher households) to improve cash. This is because the subsistence catch is currently reasonably above its viability threshold in Fig. 4, suggesting that there is some 'space for manoeuvre' (flexibility), and that indeed a larger share of the catch could be sold. The subsistence is a fundamental component of the global resilience for fishers' communities through fish distribution (Hardy, 2016). This crucial social role of fish is guarantee only if α (the percentage of catch retained by fishing households for consumption or barter) is above 40 % (Hardy et al., 2013). Since alpha is equal to 60% in this study, a small change in the alpha would prevent a poverty situation while continuing to supply all people connected to a fisher social network. Yet, Albert et al. (2014) shows how much the household and community lifestyle can be seen as threatened when more individual fishing enterprise favor cash rather than subsistence.In sum, it seems that the FADs option, as a technical innovation, does modify the system dynamics in such a way that a resilience 'space' is created (indicated by a dark blue zone in Fig. 2b compared to Fig. 2a). Such result brings new insights on pelagic small scale fisheries where the resilience is provided by new fishing technique, and then strengthened by socioeconomical adjustments around the subsistence use / commercialisation of the catch (Kenter et al., 2011).While these different results are encouraging, they come with an important caveat regarding the minimum biomass of tuna. This minimum biomass could eventually become threatened if the tuna resource were to be exposed to a higher fishing pressure induced by the growth of the industrial fishery and the coastal pollution. Both elements are mentioned by locals (personal observation) but no studies have assessed exactly these factors and their detrimental effects on the stocks. Several analysis present the skypjack tuna as a relatively robust specie, largely due to a high spawning capacity (Hunter et al., 1986). However, the situation and the habitats might change rapidly in a near future. In this context, the challenge for resource managers in the Solomon Islands is therefore to reduce pollution and provide an inshore FADs' network among the coasts while at the same time look for international arrangements to secure an inshore tuna stock.The disaggregation of the national data into provincial sub-analyses provides further information that has relevance from a management perspective. Our use of provinces as a spatial unity is equivalent to the approach adopted by Kronen et al. (2010)  to Guadalcanal, one event that is said to have been partly responsible for the ethnic tension that occurred in 2000 (Schoorl and Friesen, 2002).The strong urban migration that occurs in Guadalcanal, is also a probable reason why this main province is far from the resilience zone.Furthermore, the seas surrounding Guadalcanal present the lowest tuna density compared to the other provinces (Langley and Hampton, 2008), which might also contribute to the poor resilience of the province.In contrast, our model suggests that the introduction of FADs does change the status of the other provinces. Three of them (Isabel, Makira, and the Central province) whichwere not resilient based on the 2011 conditions become resilient once FADs are introduced.The last two provinces (Choiseul and Western Province) are the most resilient with FADs.Incidentally, these two provinces are known to be characterized by the presence of larger reef areas relative to the number of fishers, and as such their reef fisheries alone may already be more resilient. These two provinces are not isolated, however, and their economic connection with Guadalcanal is known and has been studied by Brewer et al. (2012) who reports an important reef fish exchange. At the present time, however, it is difficult to know if the skypjack tuna will replace the coral reef fish within this intra-country exports.Yet our analysis also concurs with those of Fasey et al. (2011) in the Makira province 10and Albert et al. (2014) 11 when it shows that the establishment of FADs, while providing some clear benefits (see above), is not a 'silver bullet' for improving small-scale fishery system production and resilience. Other alternatives as poultry development 12 will have to be proposed to assure that the three core issues of biodiversity/resource conservation, food security and poverty alleviation in the South West Pacific are resolved (LaFranchi, 1999;Shearman, 1999;Hardy et al., 2013).Fisheries, in particular small-scale fisheries, play a critical role both in relation to poverty alleviation and food security (Béné, 2006). Yet three quarters of the world's fish stocks are estimated to be fully or over-exploited (FAO et al., 2012) and marine biodiversity is increasingly threatened in many parts of both developed and developing world's (Worm et al., 2009;Butchart et al., 2010;Cardinale et al., 2012). In this article we explored these issues in the context of the small-scale fisheries of the Solomon Islands. For Solomon Islands' communities, marine resources constitute a unique and critical pool of available protein and an important source of cash. However, like in many other places in the Pacific region, there is evidence of localized depletion of finfish in several parts of the Solomon' archipelago (Green et al., 2006;Brewer et al., 2009).To explore these issues, we developed a bio-economic model and calibrated it using Solomon Islands' data. We were in particular interested in exploring the extent to which in-shore Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) could increase the resilience of the fisheries system and help reconciling social, economic and ecological priorities. The underlying approach used for this builds on the viability approach as initially developed by Aubin (1991) and others.10. Fasey et al. (2011) also address the relationship between subsistence and cash earnings through the use of marine resources with a certain emphasis on the demographic factors which tend to question the protein self-sufficiency and the local cash opportunities.11. While Albert et al. (2014) prove the acceptability and the utility of the FADs, the authors highlight some socio-economic limitation of the FADs' implementation in a near future, mentioning impacts and tradeoffs notably on a customary perspective with subsistence and cash obligations.12. ACIAR, 2003. Feeding village poultry in the Solomon Islands, project number LPS/2003/054 (In a case of a poultry development, the results of this project can be integrated in the same sort of stochastic biotextc-economic model trough an extra resource which interactions with the fish stocks relates to pollution effects as eutrophisation) used to explore multi-objective problems in relation to natural resource management and conservation (Baumgärtner and Quaas, 2009;Pereau and Doyen, 2012;Cissé et al., 2013) or to biodiversity valuation (Bene and Doyen, 2008). This study illustrates its potential to address data poor situation. It also illustrates its relevance in the wider context of development, and in particular in relation to critical issues of poverty and food security, and highlights the extent to which these are intimately linked, in developing countries, to the conservation of natural resources. Fishers population 79625 79625 (National Statistic Office, 1999) q 1,k ( * 10 −8 ) Catchability 3 0 q 2,k ( * 10 −8 ) Catchability 0.4 0 q 3,k ( * 10 −8 ) Catchability 0 0.3 area k ( * 10 10 ) Area 0.0575 2721.008 (Hardy et al., 2013) Table 3: Compilation of the economical parameters to be integrated in equation ( 1) and (2) of the model ","tokenCount":"7854"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8689372297.json b/data/part_1/8689372297.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..561194bfccaf95aa2cbb1d8f06874593869c4627
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8689372297.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d390b1e4627d31b4c6b3a3155a27946b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_5715.pdf","id":"1997837429"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e9a30732-5018-48d5-8d3b-329c4d6bbaf1","pagecount":"47","content":"Irrigation Management i n Pakistan Mountain Environments \"The small irrigation schemes in the less developed regions, such as Baluchiscan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), h.ad lammu and Kashmir (AJ&K). Kohistan and Northern Areas (NA) arc as important as the integrated development of large irrigation systems in the settled areas of the lndus Basin.\" Governmenr of Pakisrun (COP), The Sixrh Five Year Plan yes yes planned no no no no Yes no planned Yes Yes yes no no Lengthy Irrigation channel ? at night ? no no yes Yes Ye5 no no Yes no ?Hunza-Gojal survey villages: irrigation channels and water sources.Variables in the presence or absence of chowkidar for irrigation channel maintenance.Although the mountains of northern Pakistan are, in large measure, the source of water for the large irrigation systems that dominate the Indus Basin, comparatively little isknown about irrigation systems there or elsewhere in the mountains of Pakistan. However, Pakistan's mountain environments are increasingly becoming the focus of substantial rural development projects that seek to expand or strengthen the agricultural base of the economy in what are, arguably, the poorest regions of the country. Such programs are likely to requireadifferentapproachtoimgationsystemdevelopmentaswellasamore comprehensive water management strategy if the objective outcomes of such projects are to be sustained. This paper is an initial attempt to determine the extent of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan's mountains, to focus attention upon changes already underway in some areas as a result of irrigation development activities, and to identify important knowledge gaps that will need to be tilled by more systematic and multidisciplinary research.Tms PAPER IS concerned with irrigation management, a poorly understood and largely unstudied aspect of agriculture in Pakistan's mountain environments. Given the concentration of national agriculture in the Indus Basin and the crucial importance of the enormous irrigation infrastructure there to sustained agricultural production, it should not surprise us that most imgation research in Pakistan has been focused upon the Indus Basin imgation systems and their problems. After all, Pakistan's mountain environments are found peripheral to the \"heart\" of the nation. They are not readily accessible and distances are great, their population is sparse and dispersed. These mountaineers are contemptuous of, if not hostile to, outside interventions; while their cultivated areas are tiny relative to spatial extent, their irrigation systems are decidedly small-scale, often having more the appearance of meandering ditches in violation of accepted design norms than me canals and watercowses. Altogether, this is the sort of agricultural environment that has attracted comparatively few research professionals and even less research resources, scarcely any of which have been focused upon irrigation systems and their management Current signs would seem to indicate that part of the void of past neglect is being rather rapidly filled by ambitious development programs. National and provincial agencies, supported by both indigenously and internationally mobilized resources, are actively initiating projects designed to establish and/or improve the agricultural infrasfructure in the mountain environments of Baluchistan, North West Frontier Province, the Northern Areas, Federally-Administered Tribal Areas and h a d Kashmir. Some projects are irrigation-development focused, (e.g., the Baluchistan Minor Irrigation Developmen t Projec t), whereas others are multi-faceted but with a significant irrigation development component, (e.g., the Chival Area Development Project). In virtually all instances, however, detailed and reliable information about the performance of existing irrigation infrasuucture, institutions, and irrigation management practices in these mountain environments, is sparse or totally absent.A potentially undesirable consequence of this condition is that development interventions planned to improve the productivity and sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan's mountain environments may fail to achieve their objective in any of several ways. For instance, new irrigation infrastructure may be established using inappropriate design criteria and thus fail to deliver water in sufficient amounts at desirable times for planned service arms or cropping patterns. Managementrequirements Cor new or rehabilitated systems may not match existing institutional capabilities orpractices. Scarce resources may be poorly utilized or wasted as government agencies assume responsibilities for irrigation management activities previously carried out by farmers and perhaps best continued to be carried out by them.Irrigation management in Pakistan's mountain agriculture systems will be considered in this paper in the following way: First, there will be a brief examination of thegeneral state of available informationon mountain irrigation systems in Pakistan. Next, there will be a review of some recently completed research that sought to identify general characteristics of surface irrigation systems and their management in the mountains of northern Pakistan, as well as changes in them stimulated by recent interventions. Lastly, the discussion will conclude with some suggestions for how continuing gaps inourknowledge and understanding of irrigation performance in these environments might be expeditiously and effectively filled in order to provide a more substantial base for development activities that seek L o sustain the productivity of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan's mountainous periphery.Small-scale irrigation systems dominate the developed irrigation potential in the mountainous environments of Pakistan, meeting the irrigation requirements of small farmers in the country's least developed and, until now, most isolated areas. In a real sense, they constitute the \"arteries\" along which the greater productivity potential of irrigated agriculture is made available to the extremities of the national agricultural system. In addition to their comparatively small command or service areas, these systems commonly reflect characteristics that contrast sharply with those of the large-scale irrigation systems of the Indus Plains. Typically, they are farmer-constructed, often having articulated forms of group ownership and management, and usually possessing cooperative mechanisms for distributing water and minimizing conflicts.In the rugged mountains of Pakistan Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindu Kush, nearly all irrigation is done through hhls, small, often lengthy channels usually constructed and maintained through the collective efforts of farmers and villagers. Kuhls cany water directed through crude intake \"structures\" from mountain streams fed by snow melt, glacial melt and/or springs for distribution through watercourses to clusters of small, often terraced fields plantedtofoodgrains, vegetables, fodder, orchardsandtrees. In basic physical appearance and characteristics, these kuhl systems differ little from thousands of others encountered throughout India and Nepal Himalaya.As The absence of reliable data on irrigated area, system type and other relevant irrigation statistics for mountain agriculture in Pakistan virtually defines one priority research issue on the subject, which is an accurate inventory survey of irrigation systemsand their commandareas in themountain peripheryofPakistan. In themeantime, wemust fall backuponexistingpartial data from a variety of sources, supplemented by estimates of experienced observers, togainsome measureofinsight into theextentofirrigated mountain agriculture in Pakistan. One must be mindful, however, that these data are limited, are sometimes contradictory, and are subject to unknown errors.For example, in the Northern Areas, more than 48,800 hectares (ha), 95 percent of which was identified as irrigated by kuhls, were classified as irrigated area by the 1980 Agricultural Census. About 18,000 ha of that total was in Gilgit District. where more than 9,000 ha of irrigable area have been apparently added by irrigation system development activities covering 166 irrigation schemes supported by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) initiatives in the disnict through 1987 (AKRSP, 198752). InveStigab~s recently carried out by the Water and Power Development Authority identified another 30 feasible irrigation schemes with potential to add a further 4,000 ha to the imgable area in Gilgit (WAPDA, 1988 11 1).In Chitral District, more than 1,000 small, communally-owned irrigation channels reportedly irrigate more than 18,000 ha, and larger North West Frontier Province Irrigation Department schemes command another 1,500 ha.Proposed irrigation development activities over the next 10 years through the Chitral Area Development Project target the addition of 11,000 ha to this total (International Fund for Agricultural Development, 198631-3, Annex II). The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme is assisting 105 small-scale irrigation projects already underway, and their completion will bring about 8,000 ha of uncultivated land under irrigation command (AKRSP, 198737).In Baluchistan, the area irrigated by karezes and springs is reported to be 58,800 ha: wells and tube wells command an additional 113,000 ha (Kahlown, el. al., 1988:l-2). At least 50 percent of this total irrigated area lies within the mountain environment of the province. If the more than 30 small systems proposed to be developed through the Baluchistan Minor Irrigation Development Project in the mountainous districts of Zhob, Loralai, Quetta. and Khuzdar are implemented, over 15,000 ha of new irrigation command will be created. The total area irrigated by private canals in the North West Frontier Province is reported to be 360,000 ha (GOP, 1986a:79). Again, an assumption that 50 percent of this area is in the mountain regions of the province would not be unrealistic.Federally Administered Tribal Areas were reported to have slightly more than 62,000 ha imgated in 1983, and the 6th Plan targeted an increase in irrigated area to nearly 101.000 ha by 1988 through small surface system and tube well development (GOP, 1986b3241). Imgated area in Azad Kashmir in 1983 was 10,000 ha.estimatedatabout6percentofthecultivablearea; several new irrigation schemes were expected to be developed through the 6th Plan, adding perhaps 8,000 ha to irrigation command (GOP, 1986b244.334).In sum, it is possible to tentatively conclude that the existing irrigated area in Pakisfan's mountains is at least 400,ooO ha. This is probably an underestimate, because we know that the area irrigated by small-scale, farmer-managed systems in other countries in the Himalayan zone is poorly demarcated and surveyed,andthereis scantreason toassumeadifferentcondition for Pakistan.Irrigation development activities planned or already underway seem likely to increase the total by another 55,000 ha in the next few years. To be sure, this extent is dwarfed by the more than 13 million ha area commanded by the Indus Basin systems. Nevertheless, in absolute terms, the irrigated area in Pakistan's mountain regions is not uifling.The literature on mountain irrigation systems in Pakistancharacteristics, performance, management and problems of the systemis not extensive. In terms of system \"types,\" available evidence suggests that small-scale surface irrigation systems (kuhls) predominate, but in the larger intermontane valleys, large-scale public and private systems are moreimportant. Karezes, traditional wells and \"hill torrent\" systems are probably less numerous than kuhl systems as well as more environmentally-specific: modem tube well systems, also highly localized, are rapidly growing in numbers. In the following discussion, the focus is upon the kuhl systems common to the Himalaya-Karakoram environment of northern Pakistan where a substantial program of mountain irrigation development has been underway for more than six years.The deep valleys cut by the Gilgitand Hunza rivers and their tributaries as they drain the Karakorum Mountains are the locus of permanent settlement in Gilgit District, in villages perched precariously on river terraces or the sides of alluvialfans, often threatenedby unstabletalusesjustabove. Theclimateisdry continental, characterized by a great range in average temperatures, 45OC or more between January and July, and annual precipitation is meager, averaging 145 millimeters (mm)/year at Karimabad and 132 mm/year at Gilgit. Moreover. annual variability is high in aregion largely in the rain shadow of the greatest concentration of mountains in excess of 6,000 meters found anywhere in the world. Only at higher altitudes -above 3,000 meterswhere more precipitation falls and is accumulated as snow do annual amounts substantially exceed 500 mm.Throughout Gilgit Districtand elsewhere in the Northern Areas and Chitral Districtagriculture depends upon irrigation water supplied through small. farmer-constructed gravity-fed systems. Water in these irrigation systems is derived primarily from snow or glacial melt. Less frequently, they are fed by perennial springs, the scarcest but most reliable water source, or by small rivers. Generally, glacier-fed irrigation channels show the least year-to-year variability in discharge. However, water from glacial melt often carries large quantities of suspended silt much of which is subsequently deposited in farmers' fields as a mixed blessing. During the period of seed germination and seedling growth, there is the risk that seeds will become buried too deeply to achieve a satisfactory germination rate or that seedlings will become coated with silt, inhibiting normal metabolism (Saunders, 1983:46). On the other hand, silt is often important in the soil-building process, especially for improving the soil structure.Although channels supplied by springs dependent upon winter-spring recharge reflect some discharge variability, perennial spring water has several advantages over other irrigation sources. It is free of silt, it does not experience great variability, and, as noted by Whiteman (1985:15), it may be \"up to 5 degrees C warmer, which has asignificantadvancing effect on spring growth\" ofcrops. Springs, however,are ascarcesourceof irrigation water in the region.Thegreatest flow variation is foundinchannels exclusively dependent upon snowmelt, the least reliable irrigation source. Farmers from snowmeltdependent villages report a severe shortage of irrigation water once every four to five years and general problems of considerable year-to-year streamflow variability.River-fed irrigation systems are also more vulnerable to annual variations in precipitation and are affected by seasonal fluctuations in river flow as well.Achannel intake structureconstructed to divert river water for irrigation during crop planting in March may be inundated or washed out when glacial melt subsequently increases river discharge in May-June. Later in the summer, the river diversion may have to be relocated further upstream to sustain irrigation supplies as river discharge diminishes.Capturing water for irrigation is only part of the task of establishing and sustaining agriculture in Hunza-Gojal. Equally, perhaps even more arduous is the concomitant and longer process of land development. In bringing land under the cultivation of the principal crops for human and animal consumption grains (wheat, barley), vegetables, potatoes, fruit trees (apricot, apple), fodder (alfalfa), and trees for fuel and fodder (poplar, willow, Russian olive) soils have been drastically modified.)In this region, imgated crops are largely confined to three landform environments and their associated soils. In the valleys of the Hunza River and its tributaries, river terraces and alluvial fans have the greatest agricultural significance. The deeper, better-developed soils found on old river terraces are more important than those on terraces of more recent origin. The lower portions of alluvial fans formed by small streams and hill torrents are more intensively cultivated than are the upper areas because of the small proportion of coarse soil materials found in the lower area. In either instance, better soils are commonly the locus of grain and vegetable crops as well as orchards.Poorer, less-developed soils tend to be used for fodder crops and trees for fodder and fuel, respectively.Cone-shaped scree slopes produced by mass wasting of the surrounding barren cliffs and hills below 2,100 meters are another locus of imgated agriculture. Because of the inherent instability of these slopes, however, their agricultural developmentpresenm special problems and tends to be both more recent and slower. The upper portions where finer materials are concentrated are cultivated first, usually with slope-stabilizing tree and fodder crops?Initial irrigation system development in Gilgit District was a highly localized activity, concentrated in locations where water from glacial and snowmelt sources was easily developed by small groups of fanners using locally available technology and resources. Later, traditional chiefs, such as the Mirs of Hunza. began to exercise their growing feudal authority to mobilize a larger population for the construction of new kuhls in more difficult locations, the rehabilitationofolder systems,and for thedevelopmentofnew land. Although a portion of the increased production resulting from enhanced and more reliable water supplies wasextracted by acompulsory agricultural tax, the Mirs A recent survey by the Water and Power Development Authority in Gilgit District of 25 localities in the Gilgit River sub-basin of the Gilgit River and 34 localities in the Hunza-Hispar River sub-basin of the Hunza River identified 221 kuhlssupplying irrigation watertodevelopedagriculturallands (WAPDA, 1988: Appendix I).' By far, most kuhls had perennial flows, but seasonal discharge variations between low and high flows as high as 20 times were reported, reflecting that in more than 85 percent of the surveyed localities, the water source for kuhl systems was a combination of snowmelt or glacial melt and springs.Kuhls identified in the survey varied greatly in channel length between sourceof water supply andcommandarea, from amoretypical2or3kilometers to as much as 18 kilometers in the case of Parri kuhl.8  They also varied substantially in size. The discharge range between the smallest kuhl and the largest was 7 liters/sec 0.25 cusecs) to425 liters/sec (15 cusecs), although more than one-halaf of the kuhls carried dicharges between 7 literdsec and 28 literdsec (1 c ~s e c ) . ~ For systems in 44 villages reported in the survey, it was possible to callculate a water supply per unit of cultivated area relationship (Table la and   lb). In slightly less than one-half the number of these villages, kuhl systems dellivered less than 0.7.5 liters/sw/cultivated hecrare ( ~6 . 5has mm per day), ranging as low as 0.13 liters/sec/ha (1.1 ha mm/day.lDAt such water supply levels, water isapparently scarcerelative toland,andone wouldexpect system and field level water management practices reflecting such conditions. For 7 other villages, systems supplied between 0.75 liters/sec/ha and 1.25 liters/ha (10.8 ha mm/day). In general, kuhl systems in Hunza-Hispar villages varied more widely in water supply per cultivated area ratios than did those surveyed the Gilglit River sub-basin. Also, for roughly one-third the number of all villages, kuhl systemsapparently supply waterinrelatilvely abundant amounts, suggesting that in those locations, it is land suitable for agriculture that is more scarce than water.In 1987, a rapid field survey of imgation systems was conducted in the upper Hunza River basin, a part of Gilgit District known as Gojal (Figure 2 [ Dani, et. al., 1987:251). The survey was confined to seven villages -Soust, Gircha, Jamalabad, Morkhon, Ghalapan, Khaiber and Passuin Gojal.Results of this survey provide a more detailed insight into some of the characteristics of kuhl systems in Gilgit (Vander Velde and Husain 1988).l1 25 imgation channels were identified in these villages, of which 20 predate the' Aga Khan Rural Support Programme's activities (Table 2).12 Between 1983 and 1987, the Aga Khan Rural Suppat Programme-initiated Village Organizations in these villages completed seven irrigation projects -5 new kuhls and 2 improved kuhlscommanding more than SO0 ha of potential agricultural land.This will approximately double the previously irrigable area once the timeconsuming process of new land development is completed.Successful irrigation channel conskuction in Hunza now involves a combination of local wisdomknowledge derived from generations of past experienceand contemporary engineering technology. Alone, neither source of knowledge nor skills is sufficient now to guarantee success. Instead, the failure to utilize Command area both frequently leads to the construction of poorly performing or failed syslems, typically after an expenditure of substantial and scarce resources.For example, the traditional method for determining the slope of a channel was the use of water as a level. Beginning from the source, water flowed along thechannelasit wasdugonacarefullyestimated,butunsurveyedline, withthe objective of achieving thedesiredcommand. Theapproach \"worked\" solong as the scheme was physically possible. Thus village elders were commonly consulted for advice on past glacial movements, avalanche and mud flow paths, and stream flows from glacial and snowmelt or springs. However, if an impassable outcrop was encountered during construction, or the velocity of water flow dropped so low that command was lostconditions often discovered only after kilometers of channel have been constructedthe project had to be redesigned or abandoned (Hudson, 1983:4). 13 Alone, modem engineering science has produced scarcely better results. In the mountainous environment of the Northern Areas where physicalconditions vary greatly within short distances, or from one season to another, the failure of engineering surveys and irrigation system designs to draw upon detailed lwal knowledge greatly increases the probability of failure. The high proportion of unsuccessful irrigation channels in Gilgit District designed and constructed by the Northem Areas Public Works Department since 1974 without local consultation or participation substantiates this conclusion. '' In its intervention strategy of assistance to fanner-managed irrigation system development, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme purposely links local knowledge with modern engineering skills in the planning, design, and construction of new kuhls. Joint surveys of new system or improved system sites are carried out by engineers and knowledgeable farmers from the village and may involve several field visits. During channel construction, frequent consultation continues between farmers and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme engineers to solve unanticipated problems. This collaborative approach has resulted in the successful implemenbtion of several irrigation projects in Gilgit District previously thought too difficult to implement. Two such projects have been completed in the surveyed villages of Passu and sou st.'^Warabandithe practice of irrigation turns taken according to an established rosteris used in Gojal systems, as it is elsewhere in Gilgit District, to equitably allocate water and ensure irrigation turns during periods of water scarcity in the irrigation system, notably between March and May. When the period of water scarcity is over, or where water scarcity is not a problem (e.g., the older irrigation systems in Passu), water distribution generally follows a relatively informal system of irrigation turns as and when needed. Field observations confirm that the warabandi generally remains a durable, and not easily changed irrigation management practice in Gilgit.Under the warabandi system, each household in the kuhl command takes its irrigation turn on a specific day, at a specified and equal period of time.I6 Between farmers whose turns are close to one another, there may be frequent informal trading or exchange of water. Generally, food crops are given priority in wateruse, followed in orderby foddercropssuchasalfalfa,andthen by trees.Thus, where night irrigation is practiced, it is usually for trees; food and fodder crops are commonly irrigated during the daytime. Amongst food crops, vegetables typically take priority over food grains, even to the point where an operating warabandi can be interrupted out of turn should a farmer plead the necessity of water for a vegetable plot.''Maintenance of small-scale irrigation systems in Gilgit reflects their common property origins and a continuing collective management basis. Traditionally, the general principle followed for maintenance of the common portion of the irrigation channel was an annual contribution from all farmers served, either in the form of labor or produce. The principle continues to be applied, albeit with cash contributions now also acceptable as a fanner's contribution. Normally, spring is the time for general annual maintenance, before the first irrigation for the new crop year, and when water flows are low or non-existent. On channels where silt loads are heavy, all farmers also may participate in a oneor two-day mid-season desilting operation. Maintenance of lateral or field channels not common to the system is the responsibility of individual farmers.Some villages employ a chowkidar or watchman during the irrigation season to patrol the common portion of the channel to adjust and clear debris from the channel intake, to plug leaks, repair small breaches, and otherwise monitor water supply conditions.I8 In systems where chowkidars are not employed, farmers take regular turns patrolling and maintaining the common channel, usually at the time of their irrigation turn. Whenever a major breach or other maintenance emergency occurs, all farmers on the channel participate in its repair.The rationale for the presence or absence of a chowkidar during the irrigation season is somewhat uncertain. There are several possible explanations for the practice, for instance, channel length, the amount of silt load in the channel, and whether or not night irrigation is done. An examination of these conditions for the surveyed systems (Table 3) suggests that channel length is the most common variable in the employment of chowkidars. Insofar as channel length reflects both the quantitative nature of the likely maintenance requirement and the cost of walking to the head to regulate the discharge at various times during the day as well, this is not surprising.lg For new kuhl systems, whether or not there previously was a chowkidar in the village also appears to be significant. Other system conditions seem to be somewhat less important.Other system physical infrastrucmre is generally straightforward and not elaborate. Sets of flat(ish) stonesareoften used aschanne1,and fieldditchdrop StTuctures. Rudimentary but functional turnouts are usually constructed from selectedrocks; on occasion, carefully fitted wooden turnout \"gates\" or small pipe outlets are encountered along channels. Sedimentation tanks or stilling basins have been built at the head of the main channels in kuhl systems in Soust and Passu to reduce heavy silt loads carried by the glacial-origin water. The tanks on Soust kuhl are meant to trap rock debris canied in the glacial melt as well and they must be desilted from time to time during the irrigation season, a task done collectively by the irrigation community. Several farmers in Soust have dug hallow stilling basins close to their fields. Here removed silt  is mixed with animal manures and is spread on the fields to improve both soil StTucture and fertility.In two older kuhl systems in Soust and Nazimabad overnight storage tanks have been built. These permit the augmentation of channel flows during daytime irrigation. However, such infrastructure is not as widespread among H u m kuhls as might be anticipated, perhaps because inexpensively consaucting tanks of sufficient size for irrigation water that will not leak is difficult (Hudson, 1983:7).20Along with the substantial increase in command area created by renewed kuhl development, considerable attention has been focused upon the process of bringing new land into actual production. Some observers have thought the process inefficient and perhaps too slow (WB, 198754). The new system in Passu illustrates the situation. A kuhl completed in 1985 commands at least 273 ha, an area sufficient to increase the average landholding fivefold in Passu.However, more than 3 years after channel construction, less than 10 percent of the command was actually developed. Northern Area farmers know from experience that regardless of how well designed and constructed, a new irrigation system will not immediately \"fit\" its environment. An initial period of adjustment is commonly required, and farmers in the new Passu system are engaged in that process. Since the construction of the new kuhl, they have relocated the intake to compensate for glacial retreat and to improve the bed slope condition in the upper reach of the channel: because of substantial leakage which affected the Karakoram Highway, a-100 meter reach of new channel was lined with cement and stone. Lastly, the new channel required stabilizing or \"hardening,\" a process encountered elsewhere in new systems in Hunza-Gojal.Each year as silt from the glacial melt water fills soil interstices along a longer reach of the bottom and sides of the main channel, discharge at the system head is gradually increased. Stabilizing or \"hardening\" the kuhl in this way reduces the likelihood of major breaches occurring that would be difficult and costly to repairF2 Clearly, new land cannot be brought under irrigated agriculture ahead of adequate water supplies, and Passu farmers estimate that it will be another four or five years before they can confidently operate their new system at full supply levels.The chowkidar is a traditional and familiar figure in kuhl irrigation systems in northern Pakistan. Over time, a chowkidar develops a highly detailed knowledge of the irrigation system in which he works. He is accountable to the farmers; they willingly pay him because he provides economies of specialization for an essential service. However, should he fail in his duties, they also are likely to replace him quickly with another. In three Gojal villages -Soust, Morkhon. and Passuland not immediately adjacent to already developed command areais being supplied water through lengthy newchannels. Rathersurprisingly, none of these villages have a chowkidar for their new channels as yet, although farmers on the new Soust kuhl say they plan to hire one. Older systems in Morkhon or Passu do not have Cowkidars.On the new channel in Khaiber, however, a variation of the chowkidar system has emerged in conjunction with another innovation, the Village Organization's decision to collectively develop the command area for at least the first five years of operations. The new Khaiber kuhl commands land located two to three kilometers from the village. Because new land remains in collective owncrship, there are no specific individual responsibilities for irrigation, and this situation required Khaiber farmers to devisea new approach to managing irrigation of the new land. Of the two obvious possible solutions, which are irrigation done by small groups of farmers on a rotational basis or a modification in the traditional patrolling and maintenance responsibilities of hired chowkidars, Khaiber farmers chose the latter. At a monthly salary about equal to the local wage labor rate, three men were hued for the fourmonth agricultural season to do daily field irrigation activities in the newly commanded area. These \"specialist chowkidars\" also continue to perform the other tasks traditionally associated with them.Itwas earliernoted thatwarabandiisoneofthemostdurable watermanagement techniques in farmer-managed irrigation systems in Gilgit. Although in its details the warabandi often varies from system to system and is poorly understood, it can also be rather flexible. Both characteristics are revealed in the warabandi adopted for the new Soust kuhl. Here, within the same time of the channel's operation, a different water allocation procedure is followed for the smaller terraced fields of fruit trees and intercropped fodder on steep slopes, than is made for the larger, more level fields below planted to annual grains. although both are being imgaled simultaneously. In allocating water for the command area of the new Soust kuhl, there was also an unusual revision in water rights of the two older systems in Soust and Nazimabad. Formerly, in periodsofwater scarcity,thesetwo kuhlsreceived wateron alternate days;now when water is scarce, each command area receives its turn every third day.In general, and in contrast to land use patterns in older irrigated areas. most of the developed land commanded by new kuhl systems in Gojal has been planted to treesand fodder. This situation undoubtedlyreflectsthepresentphysiologic environment of many newly commandedareas, for instance, steep scree slopes or newer river ierraces, poor soil structure with high infiltration rates and low fertility, which conditions can only be changed rather slowly. Plantations of fuel aees, fodder crops and orchards on the scale now underway also constitute an unusual phenomenon in Hunza-Gojal, and there is interesting evidence of farmer innovation and experimentation in field-level water management practices to better fit current conditions.In Morkhon and Jamalabad, farmers have adopted a different technique for irrigated cultivation of crops planted on the scree slopes in the new kuhl command. Instead of constructing the usual and costly stone-walled terraces and using basin irrigationpractices,fieldditchesconstructed along thecontour deliver irrigation water to trees and alfalfa planted on shallow reverse slope terraces. This appears to bean adaptation of furrow irrigation practices already used for potato cultivation on less steeply sloping fields. In several locations in the command area of the new Soust kuhl, another modification of furrow irrigation is evident on steep slopes. There, in a few individual holdings, field irrigation ditches have been made as a series of linked \"S\"s down slope, and small drops have been fabricated from stone and polyethylene to reduce soil erosion as water is carried from one terrace level to the next one lower.To the casual observer or non-specialist, the foregoing discussion may appear to have focused unduly upon modest developments. However, it is clear that the changes described therein reflect both significant initiative and willingness on the pan of farmers in this mountain region to improve or \"fine tune\" their use-efficiency and management of scarce water and land resources. It also demonstrates the resilience and flexibility of some traditional institutions in adapting to an environment of rapid social and economic change. This leads to one important, initial conclusion, perhaps even a principle one: existing irrigation systems and farmers who manage them are a critical resource to be utilized in any effort to develop irrigation potential in Pakistan's mountain environments.u The program of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in the Northern Areas has already demonstrated the utility of grasping this point. Unfortunately, one cannot be confident in the case of Pakistan's formal irrigation bureaucracy, that it is yet even perceived, much less understood or heeded.On the other hand, it is clear that many gaps remain in our knowledge and understanding of small-scale surface irrigation systems in the mountains of northern Pakistan. For example, although several surveys have been made recently of irrigations systems in Gilgit District, there continues to be an absence of systematic information about how well older kuhl systems perform, either physically 01 instilutiolonally, in sustaining a productive irrigated agriculblre.'The inference is that these systems perform reasonably well within their environmental contexts, but that does not leave us with much insight as to their potential for sustaining a more productive irrigated agriculture. Nor do we know anything about how long it may take before such a system begins to perform reasonably wella matter of considerable importance in the context of new system development activities in northern Pakistan.=In general, we can conclude that there are three priority needs that must be tilled in the near future if successful imgation development strategies that fit the mountain ecosystems of Pakistan are going to be designed and implementeda6 One of these needs was alluded to earlier in this paper, which is an inventory of mountain irrigation systems that would provide reliable information on system type and service area. Targeted rapid appraisal reconnaissance studies combined with careful interpretation of aerial photographs and, perhaps, remote sensing imagery analysis provide a ready means for filling this knowledge gap relatively quickly.A second need is for a modest set of studies that would systematically examine how farmers manage their irrigation systems in different mountain environments in Pakistan. Such studies should be comparative for a few examples of each type of irrigation system, and they should focus upon three sets of management activities, those for water (e.g., allocation anddistribution), those for physical structures (e.g., design, construction, and maintenance), and those for organization (e.g., resource mobilization, communication, and conflict management). Of course, there is interaction between these sets of activities and the processes for those interactions need to be clarified as well.Finally, thereisaneedforarelatively morerigorousbody ofknowledgeon how well irrigation systems in the mountains of Pakistan are managed.Research that ascertains system performance and system constraints is needed if we are to accurately identify potential foci for improvement These studies of different mountain systems should include measurement of water flows and determination of irrigation efficiencies, assessments of crop yields and evaluations of institutional arrangements. Such studies will demand a set of multidisciplinary competencies in both research design and implementation that, in itself, will break new ground in irrigation management research in Pakistan.I . See Muhammad Ashraf and Muhammad Asif Khan, Irrigation Directoly;Sind and Baluchistan (1978). Irrigation Directoly; North West Frontier Province (1981). and Irrigation Directory; F'unjab (1984). In the case of the North West Frontier Province, civil canals that have been l i e d into larger agency-managed canal systems and their command areas a x identified. '. A description of the numerous steps in the land development process is provided by M. Alim Mian in Conway et al. (1985:lO-11). 4. Seasonal agricultural activities also occur at higher elevations, but usually do not involve irrigation. Between 2,100 and 3.300 meters, soils have developed in widely scattered locales fromphysical, chemical, and biological processes acting upon parent material, These locations support uees and grasses and serve as summer pastures for the animals of villages at lower elevations. '. Kreutzmann (1988: 246-50) provides the best historical overview of the origin and development of irrigation systems in Hunza. 6. The primary objective of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme is to facilitate the development of suong, broadly-based village organizations that can continue to undertake a wide range of rural development activities on a permanent. locallysustainable basis. This objective is accomplished through a unique intervention strategy that encourages each village to identify and propose a single \"productive physical infrasuucture\" project which will increase the incomes of most village households. Implementation is hen funded by a grant from the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. Irrigation-focused productive physical infrastructure projects have proven to be effective foci for the institutional development process. Because irrigation in Gilgit. Baltistan. and Chieal depends almost entirely upon irrigation. developing and sustaining irrigation systems in this difficult environment continues to require a high degree of organization and collectivemanagement. Irrigation systems more frequently meet the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme's criteria of consensus support than any other potential infrastructure development as well and they comprise about 60 percent of projects assisted by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gilgit as well as in Chitral andBaltistan. Theaveragecost tothe AgaKhanRuralSupportProgrammefor small systems developed in Gilgit has been Rs 139,090 (approximately US%8.175) per project. 7. Kuhls also supply water for domestic uses and to meet livestock needs. Many also deliver water to small-scale hydropower units.*. The total length of channel and all field ditches in these irrigation systems is easily a great deal more. For example, h e Hopar community of 5 village settlemenu in the Hunza-Hispar River sub-basin is reported to have more than 300 km of irrigation channels supplying meltwater to 440 ha (Butz, 1987:7). 9. Data reported in the Water and Power Development Authority survey must be approached with considerable caution. although they may still reasonably reflect the ronge of irrigation system conditions in the Giligit District. Cultivated area data for villages were taken fmn the tehsii records, a sometimes unreliable source. Unfortunately. it is not known wheher or not reported kuhl discharge data were based upon actual measurements, and, if they were, where in the system measurements were made. Nor is it possible tobeconfident that thesedataareconsistentlyrelated to eitherminimumflow or maximum-flow conditions. In the discussion that follows, minimum-flow condition was osswned to be the case in calculating water supplycultivated area relationships. which were, in fact, unknown. lo. By way of perspective, in the Lower Chenab Canal system of the Rechna Doab, Punjab, the range of sanctioned allocations of irrigation supplies was 0.26 -0.35 liters1 sec/ha. fora water deficit designedsystem. These figures havebeendoubled or trebled by supplies from public tube wells in fresh groundwater areas. ' I . The objective of this survey was to learn more about adaptations, institutional changes and technical innovations in irrigation management practices in Gilgit kuhl systems as the process of managing the expansion of irrigation capacity and realizing its benefit proceeds. Developmenu here may have potential for wider dissemination and adoption in other kuhl systcms elsewhere in the mountains of Northern Pakistan.of the total number of households, now present in the sNdy villages on the land, which are thereby supplied with irrigation.Ip. For example. Passu villagers reported seven failed earlier attempts at channel construction using such techniques to tap the melt of Batura Glacier. 14. Ofthe twenty schemesundertakenby theNorthem Areas Public Works Department, at an average cost of Rs 1.85 million. only one is reportedly still functioning (Hussein, 1986 p.3). \", Overal1,ofthe 166AgaKhan Rural Support Programme-assistedinigationprojects implemented to date in the Gilgit Dismct. only one channel is identified as a complete failure.For example, in the waraband; for command area of the old Soust kuhL 24 households aredividedinto twoequal groups. Onegroupirrigates between0600 h and 1200 h; the other from 1200 h to 1800 h. On Nazimabad kuhl a 4-day rotation is vegetable plots are traditionally the focus of cultivation and irrigation activity by women, whootherwise donotshareinthecommonmanagementof irrigationwaterin Hunza-Gojal.Is. In such cases, the entire water user community on a channel will employ the chowkidar with each household making an equal contribution to salary. usually on a seasonal basis. Payment is typically in kind, a combination of food grains (wheat) and fodder. At 1987 market prices, the range of the value of such paymenu was Rs 900 -Rs 1400 per season.19. A weir at the head of a kuhl system usually requires modification when the melting rate of snow or glacier increases the discharge at the source (early afternwn) or when the irrigation demand is minimal (after sunset). m. Night irrigation, of course, is the commonly practiced alternative to overnight storage during periods of water scarcity. zl, To obtain a discharge of about 28 liters/sec/40 ha command area, a bed slope of 1:300-400 was found to be appropriate.22. Anotherelement in the process of \"hardening\" achannel is theplanting of saplings of fast growing willow and poplaralongthe embarkments toestablishreinforcingroot systems. n. Rapid appraisal methodologies adapted to gathering such information for irrigation systems are readily available and are already tested in mountain environments. See, for example, Yoder and Martin, 1985. u. Therecentthesis study byButz(1987),judgingframanabstract,mayvery wellhave begun to fill thisgapfortheGilgitsystems. Unfortunately.itisunpublishedasyet,and copies are not easily available in Pakistan.25, In collaboration with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, IulI Pakistan will begin a research project designed to measure the performance of fanner-managed irrigation systems in Hunra-Gojal in March, 1989. Both old and new systems will be selected for a wmparative study of their irrigation efficiencies.%. I have drawn considerably here upon a thoughtful general overview of research issues in fanner-managed irrigation systems by Martin. Yoder and Groenfeldt (1986) and on arecent working paper by Coward. Johnson and Walter (1988)that focusedupon ways to improve government policies and programs for small-scale irrigation systems in Asia.","tokenCount":"6737"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8699325644.json b/data/part_1/8699325644.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9201d529da0e42ba170c8f2e759f4c2c764a53ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8699325644.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b5a2e48db02b0a1a2011b109ab9be7c1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H045056.pdf","id":"-110618056"},"keywords":["Aid fragmentation","water users associations (WUAs)","Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT)","Central Asia","impact evaluation","quasiexperimental design","mixed methods","qualitative-quantitative debate","attribution"],"sieverID":"a13be0f6-b959-4f91-a974-d4a64eced053","pagecount":"3","content":"The topic of the paper falls under either of the following 2 themes of the NONIE 2012 meeting:-Mixed methods/ alternative design approaches/ methods for addressing the challenge of attribution; -Policy use/ how IE influences policy.Since their independences the newly established transition economies of Central Asia -Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -have been struggling to bring irrigation management in their respective countries in line with the realities of faster moving agricultural reforms. Most of such efforts have been driven and widely supported by multiple international development aid providers. Despite this, irrigation management reforms in most of these countries have remained slow and patchy. This has been especially the case with multiple donors' support of irrigation management transfer (IMT) efforts aiming at the establishment of water users associations (WUAs). As a result quite a confusing mix of different approaches to WUA establishment have been implemented to date without really knowing what works and what doesn't. So this paper argues that a major comparative impact study of all such 'piecemeal' approaches is needed to better inform and consolidate the overall IMT reform in each respective country. Placing the discourse within the larger evaluation research domain and drawing on the lessons of an impact evaluation exercise completed for a specific IMT project in Central Asia this study looks into the ways, approaches and tools that can inform the design and implementation of the proposed larger sector-wide evaluative effort.Literature on impact evaluation and IMT reforms suggests there is a considerable gap both globally and locally with development projects, as a whole, and IMT projects, in particular in measuring and evaluating the impacts. Despite the global push from major international aid agencies for quality impact studies based on mixed methods designs the latter are still lacking. One of the reasons is the continued qualitative-quantitative debate in the field of impact evaluation with both research traditions claiming the sole superiority of their own methods. As a result, there is no clear methodology or approaches that would allow effective combining of both methods in a single impact study. Or if they do exist they are often short of details, not explicit and would normally address the needs of single projects only. So designing and conducting a sector-wide comparative impact study with multiple projects involved might represent an additional challenge for those who want to do so.As improving irrigation water management is most likely to be the common denominator for most IMT projects in the region at the outcome level the paper presents a specific ex-post impact study case of an IMT project in the region funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the International Water Management Institute in collaboration with its major regional partner. The study used a mixed methods quasiexperimental design sequentially involving both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. At qualitative stage an explicit and elaborate impact theory of the intervention as well as a conceptual framework for measuring project effects on water management from the perspective of project's ultimate beneficiaries, the farmers was developed. These were further used to formulate a set of big and smaller evaluation questions and design a survey tool for the ultimate quantitative phase of the impact study that was conducted.DISCUSSION AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Based on literature review and the case study presented the paper concludes that impact evaluations are best designed and conducted when both, qualitative and quantitative, approaches and methods are meaningfully combined. Despite the rekindled qualitativequantitative debate there is growing understanding in real world practice that each methodology has its own comparative advantages and as such both are perfectly complementary and synergetic. In fact, the more complicated is a research issue in question the more it is likely that using only one of the methods would produce less convincing and credible evidence than if used in combination. Considering that a sector-wide impact study of different WUA approaches as proposed by this paper poses a considerable methodological challenge the success case mixed methods (SCM) approach developed by Brinkerhoff ( 2005) can be a way to go as it seems quite fitting well the purpose. With this in mind this paper argues that regardless of the philosophies underlying quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry both are equally good to be used and as such can be effectively combined to produce both representative and contextually in-depth impact findings to inform and facilitate the key policy level decision making regarding more consolidated IMT reform.Drawing on the SCM approach a 3-phase mixed methods design can be suggested for the proposed sector-wide impact study. The design comprises qualitative exploratory phase 1, quantitative explanatory phase 2 and qualitative in-depth follow-up phase 3. Phase 1 will focus on collecting and reviewing all documents and reports pertaining to WUA projects in each country concerned. At this stage a complete database of major WUA projects and models with detailed description of project contexts, interventions and change drivers will be generated. This documentary review phase will also allow consolidating and refining the underlying impact theory for the whole bunch of different WUA projects and settings. Based on the impact chain model representing a program theory a major quantitative survey will be prepared and implemented at phase 2 to get the representative picture and at the same time identify the most and the least successful IMT cases. Ultimately all such cases will be followed up by an indepth qualitative inquiry at phase 3 to for deeper insights into what worked or didn't and for what reasons.Besides the methodological difficulty facing the design and implementation of the proposed sector-wide impact study as outlined above, making the entire evaluation planning and implementation process as inclusive as possible also represents a significant importance and challenge. A broad coalition of all those concerned -most importantly, governmental and donor agencies as well as other key stakeholders, will need to be mobilized and built for the evaluative effort to be effective, credible and successful. Ideally the study should be placed under the auspices of a national water agency or other key governmental body in each country concerned. Once completed and properly communicated, the proposed study will also provide an additional impetus for improving donor coordination, collaboration and the ultimate effectiveness of allocation of aid money.","tokenCount":"1029"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8710245607.json b/data/part_1/8710245607.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2901145a5e1abe3341c04e7c1f3067f74c5d86ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8710245607.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5277c1e2eaf29f81fd3c2b73e4bef157","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b1bf4372-cdde-4d74-9359-58d294412b82/retrieve","id":"-311069902"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a70d7d1e-a8c5-483d-a746-3c4b1aafbe92","pagecount":"1","content":"The parasite Theileria parva claims the life of approximately 1 million cattle every year. Immune animals to the parasite develop a lifelong immunity based on a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response with a strong immunodominance restricted by the bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA) class I molecules. In our goal of developing a next-generation vaccine against T. parva, we have undertaken to identify new CTL inducing antigens that can be included in a recombinant vaccine. A peptide library of 18-mer peptides overlapping by 12 amino acids and covering 500 genes of the whole parasite genome was synthesized; giving approximately 40,000 peptides aliquoted in pools of 50 peptides. Genes were selected based on the presence of a signal peptide, abundance, and divergence to the related parasite T. annulata, as well as by a selection using immunoinformatic tools predicting, by artificial neural network, peptides binding with strong affinity to the BoLA class I molecules present in cattle of Africa. A bank of ten CTL lines from cattle immunized with the live parasite expressing different BoLA class I specificities were screened by IFN- ELISpot assay. Among these cells, four secreted IFN- in the presence of a different peptide library pool. Peptides from these pools were synthesized and positive individual 18-mer peptides were identified. Dissection of the minimal epitope is underway using IFN- ELISpot, cytotoxicity as well as peptide-BoLA class I flow cytometry assays. These newly identified antigens will hopefully allow us to develop a vaccine towards T. parva giving wide coverage in cattle population with diverse BoLA class I molecules.","tokenCount":"255"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8720195698.json b/data/part_1/8720195698.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4e00bffda46b9891b7a1f90607d4ca7d96279295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8720195698.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"985ea703a3d3454b07f2362ce82362eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/files_new/research_projects/EffectiveGender_BothEnds.pdf","id":"1772323464"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bbf26ad1-f4ae-4c6b-8275-c8d32a59d8d0","pagecount":"29","content":"The Both ENDS Working Paper Series presents preliminary and unpolished results of analysis that are circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Quotation and other uses of a Both ENDS Working Paper should take account of its draft character. The series provides a fast-turn-around outlet for work in progress and research carried out by Both ENDS staff, often in cooperation with partner organisations. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to partners and/or donors or its affiliated organisations.This report summarizes and synthesizes the main findings of the project \"Effective gender mainstreaming in water management for sustainable livelihoods: From guidelines to practice\", a collaborative project of the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), Both ENDS (BE) and the Comprehensive Assessment of water management in agriculture (CA). An important concern that the project addressed was the widely felt gap between 'paper' recognition of gender issues in water management in policies and projects, and (1) the lack of real on-the ground efforts to effectively address gender differences and inequities in water and (2) the absence of meaningful integration of gender questions in mainstream water analyses and discussions. Gender remains very much a side-issue or an after-thought and is not, as yet, seen as belonging to the core of the water management profession. An important part of the project, therefore, consisted of further substantiating and explaining this gap in an effort to identify ways of improving gender mainstreaming in water management in the future. This synthesis report starts with a description of the background and process (section 2), in terms of activities, of the project. The different outcomes and write-ups of these activities are consequently used, first of all (in section 3) to further refine and sharpen the diagnosis, i.e. the existence of gaps between intentions and practice in gender mainstreaming in water: to what extent do these gaps exist, where do they occur, what are important manifestations of these gaps? This diagnosis is linked to a brief discussion of different definitions of gender mainstreaming, and of different ways of achieving it -a discussion that helps frame the rest of this synthesis report. The following sections of the report roughly follow the questions formulated in the original project proposal (August, 2005 -see the list in section 7) and uses the information gathered in the project to answer these questions. This effort starts with an analysis of why gender mainstreaming is not happening in water management (section 4). It continues, in section 5, with an analysis and discussion of the adequacy and relevance of the available knowledge base and then proceeds (section 6) with conclusions and recommendations on how to facilitate gender mainstreaming in water management, written in the form of a minimum agenda expressing the consensus among the consulted group of experts. In the last section (section 7) a list can be found of the separate outcomes of the different project activities on which this report is based. This section also provides some insights in planned and possible follow-up steps to further develop and implement the proposed minimum agenda.Para una traducción al español de la agenda mínima propuesta para transversalizar el enfoque de género en la gestión del agua (Sección 6) y una relación de los documentos de antecedentes e ideas de seguimiento (Sección 7), ir a la página 19.Pour une traduction française de la proposition d'agenda minimal pour l'intégration du genre dans la gestion de l'eau (section 6) et une liste de documents d'arrière-plan et d'idées pour le suivi (section 7), prière de se référer à la page 25.In a collaborative effort to understand the issues, concerns and resistances to gender analysis in water management for agriculture, the Comprehensive Assessment on water management (CA), Both Ends (BE) and the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA, gathering 500 members interested by gender mainstreaming in water in more than 80 countries), have engaged in a series of interactions with professionals, academics and policy makers involved in water management in 2005 and 2006. Five distinct activities were undertaken. The project was financed by Oxfam Novib.A first project activity consisted of involving twelve gender experts in the external review of the different chapters of the CA synthesis and asking them to participate in the preparation of the synthesis itself. Each of these experts reviewed one or more CA chapters, often more than once, and four of them participated in the review and synthesis workshop that was held in September 2005 where all the chapter writing teams met to look at their chapters after a month of external review. The workshop enabled initiating a dialogue process with a first set of face-to-face meetings per chapter.The second interaction initiated and facilitated by the project was an e-survey conducted to find out the extent in which existing guidelines and manuals on Gender Mainstreaming are used. This e-survey was addressed to the networks of the three project partners, providing an outreach to both gender specialists and non-specialists. Forty-four (44) people responded to the survey, the results of which revealed that although a number of manuals and guidelines exist for agriculture and irrigation specialists, they are not used because they are either not easily accessible, or are not suitable to the changeable needs of practitioners who work in the field. In addition to the e-survey, two of the gender experts who had also participated in the review and synthesis workshop, held interviews with practitioners at different levels in the field in India (45) and Nepal (30). Results of the e-survey and the field interviews were summarized and analyzed the findings in a report that was shared among the network members.A third activity consisted of a workshop organized by BE, gathering ten gender experts and representatives from field-based civil society organizations working on local water resources management from across the world in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The workshop, entitled \"Towards a Minimum Agenda for Effective Gender Mainstreaming in Water Management\" aimed to (1) further examine current impediments to gender mainstreaming in water management for agriculture, and 2) analyze key issues, dilemmas and opportunities for gender mainstreaming in water management for agriculture.Following this workshop, and as a fourth activity, the three organizations facilitated an open online discussion on gender mainstreaming, in the second half of February 2006. About 50 people, from different disciplinary and professional water backgrounds, participated in this discussion. It generated some important insights and helped establish the 'common ground' in terms of gender mainstreaming in water management in agriculture, as well as the most important points of divergence and disagreement.As a fifth activity, the minimum agenda was presented to participants at the World Water Forum 4 (March 2006, Mexico) as a starting point from which to build recommendations to improve gender analysis in the field of water management.There are different ideas and opinions about what gender mainstreaming is. A definition that is least threatening to the status-quo sees it as the recognition of existing divisions of labor, rights, resources and voice -and in adjusting water projects, interventions and policies to these divisions. An understanding of gender mainstreaming that is more often used by gender analysts, and one that is adhered to by many UN organizations, explicitly includes objectives of gender equality and recognizes the need for transformative measures to change existing inequities. It recognizes that some contentious changes are required to achieve real gender equity, such as land-and water rights reforms. Gender mainstreaming, therefore, not just consists of integrating women (or gender issues) into an already defined and established mainstream water agenda, but it also consists of transforming this agenda to better reflect women's needs and gender concerns.Effective gender mainstreaming in water management for sustainable livelihoods can be defined as the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequalities are not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality, but adequately recognizing and addressing gender divisions, roles and identities also contributes to the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of water management.Mainstreaming includes gender-specific activities and affirmative action, whenever women or men are in a particularly disadvantageous position. Gender-specific interventions can target women exclusively, men and women together, or only men, to enable them to participate in and benefit equally from water development and management efforts. These are necessary temporary measures designed to combat the direct and indirect consequences of past discrimination. Mainstreaming is not about adding a 'woman's component' or even a 'gender equality' component into existing activities or projects. It goes beyond increasing women's participation; it means bringing the experiences, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on the water development agenda.Gendered beliefs are deeply embedded in educational, political and economic systems and gender belongs to the core ways in which people identify themselves and others. This is why gender mainstreaming is an intrinsically time-consuming activity; it involves changes in norms and values, in cultural styles and normal ways of doing things, in traditions and beliefs, in people's sense of self and in their understanding of others. Such changes often meet with resistance, also because there are vested interests to uphold and reproduce existing ways of doing things.Because gender mainstreaming is about changing the normal and cherished ways of doing things, it requires additional financial and human resources and high-level political will. Gender mainstreaming is not something that can be consigned to 'watchdogs' in one specialized office, but all water professionals and researchers must have knowledge and awareness of the linkages between gender and water, so that they can -as a minimum -identify and recognize where and how gender matters in their areas of work.Gender mainstreaming is a process that can be roughly divided in three consecutive phases. It starts, in a first phase, with mere awareness of existing gender divisions and with efforts to take these into account when planning water projects and when managing water. A second phase of gender mainstreaming consists of a gradual questioning of these divisions, and may consist of activities to redress existing imbalances and inequities. Increased awareness of gender may, in a third phase of gender mainstreaming, lead to a questioning and transformation of the very objectives and models of water management.What gender mainstreaming is also depends on the context of mainstreaming: politically contentious questions about for instance land-and water redistribution, about the legitimacy of water authorities, or about the validity and reliability of water knowledge are not likely to be taken up by employees of state water agencies -who are bound by the mission and targets of their organization -or by researchers who strongly identify with established water authorities. State-employed water managers are not likely to consider objectives of gender equity or the empowerment of women as belonging to their professional responsibility. To be effective, gender goals should therefore be translated in terms and goals that do fit with their professional mandates. Likewise, the private sector is likely to engage in gender mainstreaming efforts only if there is a chance that it increases profits, such as for instance when women are recognized as consumers or as cheap providers of labor. Many NGOs and researchers can take a more critical distance from the water status quo, and are in a position to challenge existing ways of doing things. The more critical and questions that are related to challenging the balance of power will have to come from them. A good example here is the experience from the Licto project in Ecuador, where women irrigators after having gone through a process of consciousness raising initiated and facilitated by an NGO asked for a change in the ways in which water titles were allocated to allow for titles in the names of both wives and husbands.This section uses the project activities to explore and substantiate the existence of a gap between intentions in terms of gender mainstreaming, as for instance expressed in policy documents, and actual practice as manifested in water writings and projects. The two main manifestations of this gap, already referred to in the introduction, are investigated:1. the absence of meaningful integration of gender questions in mainstream water analyses and discussions; 2. the lack of real on-the ground efforts to effectively address gender differences and inequities in water.Both the draft CA chapters and Both ENDS final report River Basin Management: a Negotiated Approach were reviewed by gender experts on the inclusion of gender issues. It was clear that there was insufficient presentation of awareness, knowledge or analysis on gender in both these initiatives. In the case of the CA review, gender experts commented on two versions of each chapter and met with the authors. This process helped the chapter authors to improve the gender content of their chapter, but failed in some cases by lack of references 1 . Although it proved not easy to integrate gender in a meaningful way, the process led to fruitful discussions and insights, some of which are summarized below.The views of the gender specialists on how the lack of gender awareness manifests itself in the analyses include: A lack of recognition that women are water-stakeholders and -actors, too. A lack of recognition, and an undervaluation, of the importance of women's skills, knowledge and labor contributions to water management. An uncritical, unspecified and undifferentiated use of the words 'farmers', 'water users', 'fishers' or 'irrigators' -and a tendency to associate these terms with men. Men and women are often seen as pawns in the game, ignoring their power to actively look for solutions to their problems themselves (and other forms of human agency). An implicit belief in, and identification with, the powers of (technocratic and centralized) state agencies or authorities to allocate and manage water according to rational and scientific principles. The overall neglect of power and politics from the analysis, which for instance shows in a strong preference for deductive methods and ideal-typical models.A tendency to reduce gender to an attribute of a social category of people (women or men) and making it impossible to see gender as social relations.Rather than to unwillingness or persistent biases of individual water analysts, the difficulty to see women and gender in water is linked to different views on how to conceptualize, and make abstractions about, water realities:The traditional subject matter of water analysts is 'non-social'. Water knowledge is primarily concerned with 'the resource' water. The physical, biological and chemical characteristics of water constitute the heart of much water knowledge.Although efforts are increasingly made to also include social questions in the analysis of water problems, preferred scientific languages and methods continue to be derived from the physical sciences and are not always best suited for understanding the behavior of human beings and their interactions.A different type of problem is caused by the realization that gender is a deeply contextual phenomenon, and that what gender is -and what it means to be a man or a woman -is dependent on time and place, and also varies depending on class, caste, religion or ethnicity. This realization makes it difficult to make general statements about men and women in relation to water. It is also difficult to reconcile with a desire for generic truths and universally applicable solutions.Analyzing gender and analyzing water not just seem to require different ways of ordering and making abstractions about reality, but the levels and units of analysis may also be difficult to reconcile. Manifestations of gendered inequities and injustices in water occur, or are most clearly visible, at the level of the end-users.If the unit of analysis is a river basin, or a large surface irrigation system, the group of end-users is so large that it becomes conceptually difficult to do justice to all diversities and differences, including those based on gender, between stakeholders and actors. This is even more so because water interests and needs are not usually clearly gendered; although women may have specific water interests, they are usually not a homogeneous group in terms of water.The field interviews in Nepal and India and the e-survey, on the use of manuals and guidelines for gender mainstreaming in agriculture, water and environment revealed a different set of dimensions of the gap between intentions and practice in terms of gender mainstreaming. A large set of guidelines and manuals exists, which are developed to assist water practitioners and policymakers in addressing gender questions. And yet, the surveys and interviews show that: There are still many water and agriculture professionals who believe that gender has nothing, or only very little, to do with their work. Many water and agriculture professionals, especially those working in national and international research organizations and those working in government agencies, are unaware of the existence of gender manuals and guidelines or do not use them.Instead of belonging to normal water professionalism, gender often continues to be the responsibility of specially assigned staff and is seen as a separate concern.The lack of gender awareness or lack of commitment to work on gender has several reasons: Existing manuals and guidelines are not always easily accessible or available in the water and agriculture networks, even if they were originally developed for this group.Most existing guidelines and manuals are not translated in the working languages of water and agriculture professionals. This hugely reduces their accessibility and applicability at field levels.The manuals and guidelines are phrased in general terms, often use jargon, and do not include examples with which professionals can identify and that they recognize. Their applicability to local situations is therefore often limited.The need to address gender concerns and questions is often not identified by staff working inside water organizations, but by external donors. Institutional incentives and rewards for addressing gender concerns are often lacking, especially in government agencies. Staff is not held accountable for their performance in terms of gender, gender goals are seldom explicitly formulated, planned or budgeted, and their achievement is also not routinely monitored or assessed.One interesting finding is that the extent of gender ignorance varies with the level at which professionals are working. Those working closest with water users in rural areas generally have practical and hands-on gender awareness in that they know through their everyday experience that water is also very much a women's business. They often meet with and talk to women, and many of them rather matter-of-factly deal with gender questions in their everyday work. Those water professionals working farther from real-life situations, for example staff in government bureaucracies, in general find it much more difficult to recognize and address the importance of women, and to understand the linkages between gender and water.One recurrent reason given by water professionals and policymakers at different levels why gender issues are not addressed is that the information and knowledge required to do so is lacking. The diagnosis of knowledge gaps is of course directly linked to the assessment of what kinds of information and knowledge are needed. Important here are the changing ideas and approaches in the water world about the role of water managers: the conventional emphasis on 'managers who know it all' is slowly making place for a view of managers as cautious actors who operate in contexts rife with uncertainties, and whose decisions and actions are constantly negotiated and contested by different civil society groups and researchers. For a better understanding the following description is of two models, which in practice may not occur quite so extreme.The model of water management and governance that supports the 'manager who knows it all' is based on a belief in the possibility of full information and total controllability, with decision makers as (patriarchal) rationalists who synthesize the available information in order to arrive at informed and objective decisions within constraints imposed by an external unruly world. To those in the water world who adhere to this rationalist, top-down model, detailed gendered water information needs to be collected and made available for synthesis by those decision makers who sit at the top of water management hierarchies. This often proves difficult, if not impossible, not just because the required information is not available but also because gender is such a 'slippery' concept in that its meaning differs and changes with time and place, and with ethnicity and class.In contrast, those in the water world who approach water management as a much more open, non-linear and on-going process of social dialogue and debate, tend to ask for an entirely different type of gendered water information, emphasizing the identification of gendered constraints and barriers to participation in water decision making and focusing on ways to effectively include all possible actors involved in water. In general, this 'management and policy as process' approach is much more conducive to dealing with gender questions, also because of its more explicit recognition of power and politics as inherent to water management.In what follows, different types of knowledge that are needed are listed, followed by an assessment of the availability of this knowledge.1. A first type of information that is required is general information about numbers of women and men in relation to water. Figures about male and female labor contributions to (irrigated) farming and to construction and maintenance of water infrastructures, time spent by women and men on fetching water, on other waterrelated activities such as watering cattle or washing clothes, etc. are needed and useful to establish, at a general level, how water responsibilities are divided between men and women and to formulate general ideas about the composition of target groups in water related interventions and projects. 2. In addition, information is useful about how water-rights and powers are divided between men and women, because such information helps to obtain a first idea about the extent of the 'gender-gap' in water: the existing inequalities in rights, resources and voice.3. Information about trends in (1) and (2). Of particular relevance here are trends related to migratory labor. In the Philippines and Sri Lanka, for instance, many rural women migrate to other countries (Thailand, the Middle-East) to work as domestic servants. In other countries (Nepal, Bangladesh, India, the Andean countries and countries in Southern Africa), mostly men leave rural areas to work in cities or in other countries. 4. To allow more refined and useful assessments of the relevance, meaning and causes of gendered divisions and gaps in labor, rights, resources and voice in water, more qualitative information is needed to establish intra-household and inter-household patterns of organizing water rights and responsibilities, and of managing agricultural and livestock enterprises.Some of the gender knowledge referred to above is available, but mostly in the form of quite detailed anthropological case studies. Such case studies provide interesting and useful examples of gendered patterns in using, accessing, controlling and managing water, but do not usually present information in forms that are easily used by water analysts.Indeed, there are epistemological and methodological differences between gender analysts and water analysts that form a real barrier to gender mainstreaming, and that may explain why gender-and-water studies are not easily integrated with regular water analyses. Explicit discussion about such differences between gender experts and water experts, and about ways of overcoming them, is needed.5. Information is also needed to assess gender-gaps at other levels than that of the end-users. Numbers of male and female students in water education, numbers of female and male water professionals in government and non-government sectors, and numbers of male and female water policymakers at different levels. 6. To better understand the causes and meanings of the numerical dominance of men in water education and professions, more in-depth studies are required to look into how the water profession has been historically constructed as a masculine domain, and how ideas of good professionalism are linked to cultural masculinities.So far, few systematic efforts have been undertaken in the water sector to routinely collect this information, and to monitor the extent of the 'masculinity' of the water profession. Gender research attention so far has tended to focus on understanding the end-users. While useful and needed, the recognition that the resilience to gender mainstreaming in the water sector also partly stems from the rather strong associations between professional water identities and masculinities underscores a need to also study and understand the gendered-ness of water realities at other levels.There is no longer any doubt that water rights, rights to irrigated lands, and rights to water infrastructure and technology are predominantly vested in men. Nor is there any doubt that water decision making, at all levels, is dominated by men. It has likewise been clearly established that in many areas and countries, women provide a large amount of water labor that is generally not or under-remunerated. And it is well known that water and agriculture education continues to attract more men than women, and that the water profession continues to be one that is dominated by men, although this is changing in some countries. In this sense, the lack of knowledge can never be a legitimate reason not to pay attention to questions of gender.At the same time, however, precise figures to establish the extent of gender gaps between rights and responsibilities, and to quantify the masculinity of water education and professions, are often lacking. Within water analyses the information about gendered divisions in labor, rights and voice and about numbers of students and professionals is often not routinely collected. Regular water databases likewise do not normally include this type of information. On the other hand, most gendered water information is available in the form of anthropological case-studies which provide indepth accounts of gendered divisions of labor, rights, responsibilities as linked to gendered identities and structures and that allow for nuanced understandings of the shifting and contested meanings of gender. The knowledge and information generated through such gender analyses are often not in a format and form that is easily used by water researchers. There is, in other words, a lack of congruence between the information that water analysts and policymakers need and the type of knowledge produced by gender analysts.The experience of the CA exercise in bringing together gender experts with other water professionals are promising in this regard, and were appreciated by most involved.As mentioned in the previous section, there is a wealth of gender and water information available in the form of checklists and guidelines that may help guide water professionals in asking the rights questions, properly identifying and including different stakeholders and assessing impacts of water interventions for different groups. Specially assigned gender specialists in international research and donor organizations, or in development banks and universities, are usually aware of the existence of these guidelines and some use them more or less regularly.However, the project findings show that the mere existence of guidelines and checklists, irrespective of their quality, is not enough to make water professionals at different levels use them. A review of the guidelines and checklists revealed that many of them have their use, and some are clear and comprehensive, but most are not geared towards the specific contexts in which they are used. Most are also not available in local languages, which hugely reduces their applicability.Intensive gender trainings are needed to instill some basic gender awareness in staff, and adequate accountability mechanisms for monitoring progress need to be established. Rather than just training lower-level staff, it is important that some basic commitment to addressing gender questions is also present at higher levels, and gender awareness training is therefore also needed here. Some important lessons can also be learnt by improving the information and communication flows from the field to higher-level managers and policymakers, because field-level staff often has quite some hands-on experiences and know-how about gendered problems and solutions.Addressing and mainstreaming gender in water is easier when water management and policy are treated as open, non-linear and on-going processes of social dialogue and debate. A flexible, bottom-up and participatory approach is more conducive to recognizing women as water actors, and to identifying gender concerns, than more hierarchic and prescriptive top-down policy models.Full gender mainstreaming efforts are likely to be more successful when part of: an approach that recognizes the dynamic interlinkages between physical water resource systems, farming systems and the larger social, economic and institutional context within which they are managed. a wider and explicit recognition of the large variety of actors whose individual or collective decisions influence water use patterns and, ultimately, water management needs and options. an approach to understanding water management that recognizes the centrality of the question of the balance of power, because when the balance of power within society is weighed against those most affected by water problems, effective strategies to management are unlikely to evolve. an approach in which questions about the divisions of the costs and benefits of water investments, about priorities for water allocation; about how these priorities come about and about the legitimacy of water authorities are central. an approach that recognizes that water management is intrinsically political and therefore contested, because it deals with the allocation of (public) resources.Gender mainstreaming requires the recognition of different types of water actors that are, in an ideal world, in dynamic and creative engagement with each other. In particular, the project clearly shows that bridging the gaps between (1) field level staff (and their experiences) with higher level water professionals and policymakers; and(2) gender experts and other water specialists is a key priority to enhance the success of gender mainstreaming efforts.First of all there is a need for all to:-Demonstrate how a gendered approach to water management in agriculture by increased contributes to increased efficiency, visible impact and sustainability. -Document pathways taken to overcome difficulties and constraints.-Raise awareness and share experiences and lessons learned. -Involve all local stakeholder groups -men and women of different age groups and classes through a facilitated dialogue process from the start. -Involve social/gender experts in projects and programmes from the design stage.-Share expertise and knowledge among practitioners and give feedback to academics and policy makers on gender issues and mainstreaming efforts. -Lobby at higher political levels to stimulate the right environment for social changes enabling equity.To be able to do this they need:-Practical tools for comprehensive social analyses -Access to information on rights and responsibility for women and men regarding natural resources. -Essential social sciences training, including facilitation skills and appropriate methodologies and terminology to use (tailored to local contexts). -Documented evidence of gender mainstreaming's impact on efficiency.-Financial, institutional and legal support from policy makers to mainstream gender.-Avoid gender neutrality in policies, laws and budgets by making the impact and benefits for, and rights and responsibilities of men, women & other socio-economic groups explicit. -Base their policies on comprehensive social analyses, including sex disaggregated data and gender impact analysis through a dialogue process, with the ability to take corrective actions. -Reflect social diversity in policies, laws, financing agreements and institutional arrangements for the development and management of water for agriculture. -Build upon existing studies and cases and use the expertise at the local level.-Facilitate equity and gender mainstreaming efforts with financial support.-Stimulate institutionalized learning and sharing between practitioners, academics and policy makers on gender issues and mainstreaming efforts.-Ensure the right to information on rights for women and men regarding natural resources as well as the right to be informed. -Integrate gender mainstreaming in the formal and non-formal education streams.-Develop mechanisms to reward positive gender practices with regard to water management for institutions and individual practitioners and build these into performance appraisals.-Clear arguments for and cases of gender mainstreaming in water management in agriculture -Expertise/case studies tailored for policy and decision makers -Training of staff on key elements of social sciences to allow for gendered policies (skills in collecting sex-disaggregated information, analyzing data sets, and monitoring).-Always include gender specific and disaggregated data in all disciplines, analyses and document findings. -Enhance the gender content of disciplines, by: updating conventional social sciences with state-of-the-art gender studies;updating existing curricula to include social issues especially in technical training courses. -Make sure that research is participatory involving all stakeholders, including women, from the onset and recognizing that local men and women are also experts with relevant knowledge. -Respect women's difficulties in participating in meetings by taking into account the time and place most suitable to them. -Ensure that researcher's knowledge does not remain in isolation, but is shared with local people and policy makers (tailored for their needs). -Work in multidisciplinary teams, including social scientists and gender experts and share knowledge and expertise among researchers of different disciplines and with practitioners.To be able to do this they need:-Guidance on a minimum set of specific & gender-disaggregated data for different scientific fields. -To assess lessons learned from existing \"gender projects\" in their discipline to identify gaps.Gender experts should at least: -Focus on revising methodologies and tools for different audiences, and as per context and community needs. -Always attempt to view the water management situation from the perspective of the water technician for better communication, avoiding the use of gender jargon. -Contribute to improved integration of gender in disciplines in the formal and informal sectors by: updating conventional social sciences with latest gender studies approaches; updating existing curricula to include more social and gender issues especially in technical training courses. -Raise awareness and create sensitization on what difference a good gender approach can make in water management and agricultural growth, as well as the inherent dangers of not mainstreaming gender in policies and decisions on water management and agriculture. -Communicate information, cases, experiences, and research, using gender study centers. -Provide tailored training/capacity building according to specific needs of projects, institutions; -Suggest pathways to involve stakeholders on the ground and at different levels from the design to the implementation and evaluation phase of projects.-Lobby at all levels to get the appropriate environment for social transformation.-To get regular feedback from non-specialists on tools, approaches and methodologies. -Revisit existing tools to make them accessible to non-specialists by tailoring and contextualizing them to specific local needs, users and uses (changing the language and guidelines with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams).This report is based on the outcomes of different project activities. The separate reports of these project activities and the original project proposal are listed below. These can all be downloaded from our websites at: www.bothends.org, www.genderandwater.org, or www.iwmi.cgiar.or/assessment.- The minimum agenda presented in this report should be seen as a living document. What is needed is to substantiate this agenda with demonstrative examples and case studies and supportive tools, and to stimulate different stakeholders in the water sector to start working with this agenda in their respective roles and activities.GWA, CA and BE will continue to put efforts in disseminating the agenda and discussing the possibilities to implement it with all stakeholders involved. As became clear during the process of this joint project, much more constructive and honest dialogue on gender mainstreaming between different groups in the water sector is needed: between local water practitioners and higher level professionals and policy makers, but also between gender specialists and water experts. The project showed not to underestimate the different perspectives and 'languages' spoken by gender and water experts. Such a process takes time and is difficult. Recognizing this is important and steps should be taken to come to a more 'common language' to build mutual understanding. This way, water professionals can better tailor and translate the issues raised by gender experts to their specific field or context, and gender experts are better equipped to support water professionals and develop guidelines and advice in a language and format that they are able to understand and use.The minimum agenda will also serve as a base for Both ENDS, GWA and CA partners in their respective strategy processes to strengthen the integration of gender in their organization and work, and we hope it is of use also for other organizations that are developing similar exercises.Abordar y transversalizar el enfoque de género en la gestión del agua resulta más fácil cuando la gestión y las políticas del agua son tratadas como un proceso abierto, no lineal y permanente de diálogo y debate social. Un enfoque flexible, participativo e impulsado desde abajo, tiene mayores probabilidades de conducir al reconocimiento de las mujeres como actores del sector de agua y a la identificación de las preocupaciones de género en el sector, que los modelos de políticas más jerárquicos, prescriptivos e impuestos desde arriba.Los esfuerzos integrales de transversalización del enfoque de género son más susceptibles de tener éxito cuando forman parte de:un enfoque que reconozca las interconexiones dinámicas entre los sistemas físicos de recursos hídricos, los sistemas agrícolas y el contexto social, económico e institucional más amplio dentro del cual se gestionan los primeros; un reconocimiento más amplio y explícito de la gran variedad de actores cuyas decisiones individuales y colectivas influyen en los patrones del uso del agua y, al final, en las necesidades y opciones en relación con la gestión del agua; una comprensión de la gestión del agua que reconozca la centralidad del tema del balance de poder porque, cuando el balance de poder en una sociedad es desfavorable a los sectores más afectados por los problemas de agua, es poco probable que se desarrollen estrategias de gestión eficaces; un enfoque en el cual adquieran una importancia central las preguntas referidas a la repartición de los costos y los beneficios de las inversiones en el sector de agua, las prioridades en relación con la asignación del agua, la forma en que se establecen dichas prioridades y la legitimidad de las autoridades del sector; un enfoque que reconozca que la gestión del agua es intrínsicamente política y por lo tanto controvertida, dado que tiene que ver con la asignación de recursos (públicos).La transversalización del enfoque de género requiere del reconocimiento de distintos tipos de actores del sector de agua que, en un mundo ideal, interactuarán entre sí de una manera dinámica y creativa. En especial, el proyecto ha revelado claramente que acortar las distancias entre (1) el personal de campo (y sus experiencias) y los/las profesionales y diseñadores de alto nivel de las políticas del agua; y (2) los expertos/as en género y los/las especialistas en recursos hídricos, es clave para incrementar el éxito de las iniciativas dirigidas a transversalizar el enfoque de género.-Demostrar cómo un enfoque de género en la gestión del agua en la agricultura contribuye a incrementar la eficiencia, visibilizar el impacto y lograr la sostenibilidad. -Documentar los cursos de acción que hayan sido tomados para superar las dificultades y restricciones. -Generar conciencia y socializar las experiencias y las lecciones aprendidas.-Efectuar un análisis social exhaustivo en todos los casos, el mismo que debe incluir: un análisis de interesados: quién participa o quién es impactado, quién hace qué; un análisis de organizaciones cooperantes: formas y estrategias para acceder a recursos, tanto formal como informalmente; un análisis de usuarios/as del agua: quiénes son los usuarios/as (no solamente en la agricultura sino también para fines domésticos y otros fines); cuánta agua reciben y cómo; qué agua usan (superficial, subterránea, salina, aguas residuales); cuáles son sus ámbitos de influencia.-Recolectar y utilizar datos desglosados por género y diversidad en el diseño, la ejecución y el seguimiento de los proyectos de agua en la agricultura. -Involucrar a todos los grupos de interesados locales -hombres y mujeres de diferentes franjas etarias y clases sociales, por medio de un proceso de diálogo facilitado desde el principio. -Involucrar a especialistas en temas sociales y/o de género en los proyectos y programas desde la etapa de diseño. -Intercambiar experticia y conocimiento entre ejecutores/as de proyectos y programas y proporcionar retroalimentación o insumos a académicos/as y diseñadores/as de políticas en relación con los temas de género y las iniciativas de transversalización del enfoque de género. -Realizar acciones de cabildeo a niveles políticos altos, a fin de impulsar un entorno adecuado para cambios sociales favorables a la equidad.-Herramientas prácticas para realizar análisis sociales exhaustivos.-Acceso a información sobre los derechos y deberes de las mujeres y los hombres en relación con los recursos naturales. -Capacitación básica en ciencias sociales, lo cual incluye destrezas de facilitación y metodologías y terminologías apropiadas para ser aplicadas (adaptadas a los contextos locales). -Evidencia documentada del impacto de la transversalización del enfoque de género en términos de eficiencia. -Apoyo financiero, institucional y legal de quienes diseñan las políticas para transversalizar el enfoque de género.Quienes diseñan las políticas deben:-Evitar la neutralidad de género en las políticas, leyes y presupuestos, explicitando el impacto y los beneficios para, así como los derechos y los deberes de, los hombres, las mujeres y otros grupos socioeconómicos. -Sustentar sus políticas en análisis sociales exhaustivos, que incluyan información desglosada por sexo y análisis del impacto de género, a través de un proceso de diálogo y manteniendo la capacidad para emprender acciones correctivas. -Reflejar la diversidad social en las políticas, las leyes, los convenios financieros y las disposiciones institucionales para el desarrollo y la gestión del agua en la agricultura. -Aprovechar los estudios y casos existentes y capitalizar la experticia a nivel local.-Facilitar las iniciativas de equidad y transversalización del enfoque de género otorgando apoyo financiero.-Estimular el aprendizaje y los intercambios institucionalizados entre quienes ejecutan proyectos, académicos/as y diseñadores/as de políticas en relación con los temas de género y los esfuerzos de transversalización del enfoque de género. -Garantizar el derecho a información sobre los derechos de las mujeres y los hombres en relación con los recursos naturales, así como el derecho a ser informados. -Integrar la transversalización del enfoque de género en las corrientes educativas formales y no formales. -Desarrollar mecanismos para premiar las prácticas de género positivas en relación con la gestión del agua en instituciones y ejecutores/as individuales de proyectos e incorporar dichos mecanismos en las evaluaciones de desempeño.-Argumentos claros a favor de la transversalización del enfoque de género en la gestión del agua en la agricultura y casos representativos de este proceso. -Experticia/estudios de caso especialmente adaptados para diseñadores/as de políticas o instancias de decisión. -Capacitación del personal sobre elementos clave de las ciencias sociales para favorecer las políticas con enfoque de género (destrezas de recolección de información desglosada por sexo, análisis de conjuntos de datos, y técnicas de seguimiento).Los investigadores/as y capacitadores/as deben:-Incluir en todos los casos datos de género específicos así como datos desglosados por sexo en todas las disciplinas, análisis y hallazgos de documentos. -Enriquecer el contenido de género de las diversas disciplinas, mediante una: actualización de las ciencias sociales convencionales con estudios de género de última generación; actualización de la currícula existente a fin de incluir temas sociales, especialmente en los cursos de capacitación técnica. -Cerciorarse de que las investigaciones sean participativas e involucren a todas las partes interesadas, incluyendo a las mujeres, desde el inicio, y reconozcan que los hombres y las mujeres locales también son especialistas que poseen conocimiento relevante. -Respetar las dificultades de las mujeres para participar en las reuniones, teniendo en cuenta los horarios y lugares más adecuado para ellas. -Cerciorarse de que el conocimiento del investigador/a no permanezca encapsulado, sino que sea compartido con la población local y con quienes diseñan las políticas (adaptándolo a sus necesidades). -Trabajar en equipos multidisciplinarios, que incluyan a científicos/as sociales y especialistas en género entre sus miembros, e intercambiar conocimiento y experticia entre investigadores/as de disciplinas distintas, así como con las personas que ejecutan los proyectos.-Orientación sobre un conjunto mínimo de datos específicos y desglosados por sexo para los diferentes ámbitos científicos. -Evaluar las lecciones aprendidas de los \"proyectos de género\" existentes en sus respectivas disciplinas, a fin de identificar los vacíos.Los expertos/as en género deben mínimamente:-Concentrar sus esfuerzos en revisar las metodologías y herramientas a ser utilizadas con diferentes destinatarios, adaptándolas al contexto y a las necesidades de la comunidad. -En todos los casos, intentar enfocar la situación de la gestión del agua desde el punto de vista del técnico/a del agua a fin de lograr una mejor comunicación, evitando el uso de terminología de género especializada. -Contribuir a mejorar la integración del enfoque de género en las disciplinas del sector formal e informal, mediante una: actualización de las ciencias sociales convencionales con enfoques derivados de los últimos estudios de género; actualización de la currícula existente, a fin de incluir más temas sociales y de género, especialmente en los cursos de capacitación técnica. -Generar conciencia y crear sensibilización respecto de la diferencia que puede marcar un buen enfoque de género en la gestión del agua y en el crecimiento de la agricultura, así como de los peligros inherentes a la no transversalización del enfoque de género en las políticas y decisiones referidas a la gestión del agua y la agricultura. -Comunicar información, casos, experiencias e investigaciones, por intermedio de los centros de estudios de género. -Ofrecer capacitación/construcción de capacidad adaptada a las necesidades específicas de los proyectos e instituciones. -Sugerir cursos de acción para involucrar a las partes interesadas sobre el terreno y a diferentes niveles, desde la fase de diseño hasta las fases de ejecución y evaluación de proyectos. -Realizar acciones de cabildeo a todos los niveles, a fin de generar el entorno adecuado para una transformación social.-Recibir retroalimentación regular de no especialistas respecto de la idoneidad de las herramientas, enfoques y metodologías. -Revisar las herramientas existentes para hacerlas accesibles a personas que no son especialistas, adecuándolas y contextualizándolas de acuerdo a las necesidades, usuarios/as y usos locales (modificando el lenguaje y las pautas con equipos multidisciplinarios y multiculturales).El presente informe se basa en los resultados de diferentes actividades del proyecto. Los informes individuales de dichas actividades así como la propuesta original del proyecto se encuentran consignados en la lista a continuación. La agenda mínima que presentamos en este informe debe ser enfocada como un documento vivo. Lo que se requiere es dotar de sustento a esta agenda, con ejemplos y estudios de caso demostrativos y herramientas de respaldo, e incentivar a los diferentes actores del sector de agua para que empiecen a trabajar con esta agenda en sus respectivas funciones y actividades.GWA, CA y BE continuarán realizando esfuerzos para difundir la agenda y discutir las posibilidades de implementarla con todas las partes interesadas. Como salió a relucir en el proceso de este proyecto conjunto, se necesita multiplicar sustancialmente un diálogo honesto y constructivo en torno a la transversalización del enfoque de género entre los diferentes grupos que participan en el sector de agua: no solamente entre los técnicos/as locales y los/las profesionales y diseñadores de políticas de alto nivel, sino también entre los/las especialistas en género y los expertos/as en recursos hídricos. El proyecto demostró que no hay que subestimar las diferentes perspectivas e \"idiomas\" que utilizan los expertos/as en género y en agua. Un proceso de esta naturaleza toma tiempo y es difícil. Reconocer este hecho es importante, y se tienen que dar los pasos necesarios para llegar a un \"idioma común\", a fin de arribar a un entendimiento mutuo. De esta manera, los y las profesionales del agua podrán adaptar y trasladar mejor los temas planteados por los expertos/as en género a sus respectivos campos o contextos, mientras que los expertos/as en género estarán mejor equipados para apoyar a los y las profesionales del agua y desarrollar pautas y brindar asesoría en un idioma y en un formato que éstos/as puedan entender y aplicar.La agenda mínima servirá también de base para que los socios, Both ENDS, GWA y CA, fortalezcan sus respectivos procesos estratégicos de integración del enfoque de género en sus organizaciones y en su trabajo. Esperamos que sea igualmente útil para otras organizaciones que estén desarrollando procesos similares. -Assistance pour l'obtention d'un minimum de données spécifiques et ventilées sur le genre pour les différents domaines scientifiques. -Evaluer les leçons apprises des « projets genre » existants dans leurs disciplines pour identifier les failles.Les experts en matière de genre doivent au moins:-Se concentrer sur la révision des méthodologies et des outils destinés aux différents publics, selon le contexte et en fonction des besoins de la communauté -Toujours essayer de voir la situation de la gestion d'eau d'une perspective de technicien de l'eau pour une meilleure communication, en évitant d'utiliser le jargon spécifique au genre -Contribuer à améliorer l'intégration du genre dans les disciplines des secteurs formels et informels en : Actualisant les sciences sociales conventionnelles avec les approches des études les plus récentes ; Actualisant les programmes éducatifs existants pour incorporer plus de questions sociales et celles liées au genre particulièrement dans les cours de formation technique -Sensibiliser sur la différence que peut engendrer une bonne approche genre dans la gestion d'eau et dans la croissance de l'agriculture, ainsi que les dangers inhérents à la non intégration du genre dans les politiques et les décisions sur la gestion de l'eau et de l'agriculture -Communiquer les informations, les cas, les expériences, et les recherches en utilisant les centres d'étude sur l'aspect genre -Offrir des formations adaptées/renforcement des compétences selon les besoins spécifiques des projets, des institutions, -Suggérer des voies pour impliquer les parties concernées sur le terrain aux différentes phases, à partir de la conception jusqu'à la mise en place et l'évaluation des différentes phases du projet -Faire pression à différents niveaux pour assurer un environnement adéquat pour la transformation socialePour pouvoir mener cela à bien, ils ont besoin de :-Régulièrement recevoir les réactions des non-spécialistes concernant les outils, les approches et les méthodologies; -Revoir les outils existants pour les rendre accessibles aux non spécialistes en les adaptant et en les contextualisant aux besoins spécifiques, aux utilisateurs et aux usages locaux (changer la langue et les instructions avec des équipes pluridisciplinaires et multiculturelles).Ce rapport est basé sur les résultats de différentes activités de projet. Les rapports séparés de ces activités de projet et la proposition de projet originale sont listées cidessous. Ils peuvent être téléchargés de nos sites web à: www.bothends.org, www.genderandwater.org, or www.iwmi.cgiar.or/assessment.- l'Agenda minium présenté dans ce rapport devrait être perçu comme un document vivant. Ce dont il est besoin, c'est d'établir le bien fondé de cet agenda par des exemples démonstratifs et des études de cas et des outils de soutien, et de stiuler les différentes parties prenantes du secteur de l'eau à se mettre à travailler avec cet agenda dans leurs activités et rôles respectifs.GWA, CA et BE continueront à fournir des efforts pour disséminer l'agenda et discuter les possibilités de sa mise en oeuvre avec toutes les parties prenantes impliquées. Ainsi que cela s'est clarifié durant la mise en oeuvre de ce projet commun, beaucoup plus de dialogue constructif et honnête est nécessaire sur l'intégration du genre entre les différents groupes du secteur de l'eau : Entre les praticiens locaux de l'eau et les professionnels de plus haut niveau et les faiseurs de politiques, mais aussi entre les spécialistes du genre et les experts de l'eau. Le projet a montré qu'il ne fallait pas sous-estimer les différentes perspectives et \"languages\" tenus par les experts du genre et de l'eau. Un tel processus prend du temps et est difficile. Reconnaître que ceci est important et effectuer des pas en avant devrait être fait pour aboutir à plus de \"langage commun\" afin de bâtir une compréhension mutuelle. De cette manière, les professionnels de l'eau peuvent mieux ajuster et traduire les problèmes soulevés par les experts du genre à leur terrain ou contexte spécifique, et les experts du genre sont mieux équipés pour soutenir les professionnels de l'eau et développer des Directives et procurer des conseils en un language et format qu'ils pourront comprendre et utiliser. L'agenda minimum servira aussi de base aux partenaires de Both ENDS, GWA et CA, dans leurs processus stratégiques respectifs de renforcement de l'intégration du genre dans leurs organisations et travail, et nous l'espérons utile également à d'autres organisations qui développent des exercices similaires.","tokenCount":"8606"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8773151499.json b/data/part_1/8773151499.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fa0665383246445f3bc9396d1f495ba683225bb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8773151499.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04d0987078fd6a5547a222de1203e572","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f589bb0-c03f-465a-a255-2460a2ee1089/retrieve","id":"1450860717"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"65bde885-c7bb-4782-b157-7abaec69cd54","pagecount":"1","content":"Even though bean farmers would tend to purchase new seed only every 3 years (sowing seed from their own harvests in most years), commercial bean seed production is still potentially profitable.In 2008, a large, red mottled bean known as KK8 was bred by the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), using germplasm from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia. KK8 is resistant to bean root rot, gives high yields, cooks quickly, and tastes good.But until 2 years ago, many farmers had never heard of KK8, reflecting previous neglect of beans, even though they are among Kenya's most important food crops, second only to maize. Bean breeding, seed production, and distribution have largely remained in the public domain.A new public-private partnership, brokered by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and led by KALRO, is getting improved bean varieties into the hands of more farmers. The catalyst for change was a disease outbreak that devastated maize in western Kenya during 2012.Hundreds of thousands of smallholders affected were working with One Acre Fund, which had a crop insurance scheme but also scaled up plans to diversify into other crops. For beans, they ran into a hurdle: seed availability. Of Kenya's 35 private seed companies, only a few sold bean seed, and not one could meet the demand.Bubayi Products Ltd., a family-run seed business in Kenya's North Rift Region, had the capacity to produce quality seed and was willing to take the risk. While Bubayi tested bean varieties for yield and disease resistance, One Acre Fund tried out the new seeds with farmers: They selected KK8.The seeds -certified to ensure quality -are proving popular. In 2013, Bubayi supplied 100 tons of KK8 seed to One Acre Fund. The following year, demand among One Acre Fund clients grew by 8%, demonstrating that farmers are willing to invest in bean seed.","tokenCount":"309"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8785252424.json b/data/part_1/8785252424.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c9cd0fad77f4e980b5d41261c67426300503aa8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8785252424.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7d81af6a6c3a5a035b02336e1d32e538","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6bec36a6-9d53-4a6b-bca1-af7abbf0396b/retrieve","id":"-1208792973"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7ad88c0e-f7eb-4b73-9df8-7cd1373771ef","pagecount":"32","content":"Livestock farming constitutes the bulk of the economy of Samburu County (Figure 1), with over 60% of the population practicing pastoralism and 30% practicing agro-pastoralism.The main climate risks in the lowlands of Samburu are heat stress and drought, which both affect crop and livestock productivity. At higher altitudes, flood risk is projected to be a key hazard in the future.Despite on-and off-farm efforts to increase resilience in the face of climate change, farmers' adaptive capacity is low and agricultural yields have decreased in recent years.To reduce food insecurity and poverty increased employment opportunities in agriculture and sustainable alternative livelihoods must be developed. The county has recently experienced climate changes with hazards such drought, heat stress, floods, and erosion. Overall climate change effects in Samburu include unreliable, erratic, and inadequate rainfall; recurring and prolonged droughts; high and increasing temperatures; and declining water levels. The successful implementation of climate adaptation strategies requires strengthening the institutional and financial capacities of stakeholders, delivering basic resources, and introducing agricultural incentives. Kenya County Climate Risk Profile Series Republic of Kenya Kenya County Climate Risk Profile: Samburu County Highlights Figure 1: Map of Samburu County Development of Methods Data Collection ■ Methods and Context Coordination ■ Literature Review Collected Statistics Report and Validation ■ Report Drating ■ Review (Internal and External)Figure 6: Elevation (left), historical  annual mean precipitation in mm (center), and historical  annual mean temperature in °C (right) for Samburu County for the long rainy season -------14Figure 7: Historical monthly mean temperature and precipitation for Samburu County. The long rainy season is the 100-day wettest period from January to June, while the second, short rainy season is the 100-day wettest period from July to December. Bars represent total monthly precipitation and lines represent maximum (red) and minimum (blue) monthly mean temperatures (average 1985-2015) -------------------14Figure 8: Annual total rainfall trends for the long rainy and short rainy seasons in the past  and in the future (2020-2040 and 2041-2060 --------------------------------------------------------------------------15Figure 9: Annual mean temperature trends for the long rainy and short rainy seasons in the past  and in the future (2020-2040 and 2041-2060) -------------------------------------------------------------------------15Figure 10: Historical (left), future projected (center), and projected change (right) for the number of CDD for the long rainy season --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16Figure 11: Historical (left), future projected (center), and projected change (right) for maximum 5 days running average precipitation for the short rainy season -----------------------------------------------------------17Figure 12: Climate variabilities and adaptation options across selected value chains in Samburu County ------------25List of Tables Table 1: National policies targeting climate change adaptation and mitigation in Samburu County --------------------26Table 2: Institutions that are currently supporting and implementing agricultural interventions in Samburu County -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27The mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives is to create an enabling environment for sustainable development of agriculture and co-operatives for economic development. This objective underpins our desire and commitment to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment as envisaged in our development blueprints, the Kenya Vision 2030, the Big Four Agenda and the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTSG 2019(ASTSG -2029)). The sector remains high on the national development agenda in terms of food and nutrition security, income generation, employment creation, saving and investment mobilization and export earnings. To realize the country's aspirations of food and nutrition security, the Government through this Ministry is implementing the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) with the support of the World Bank. The development objective of the project is to increase the agricultural productivity and profitability of targeted rural communities in 21 counties and in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, provide an immediate and effective response.The agriculture sector is however, highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Responses that would enable the country to cope with these risks are outlined in the Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Strategy and in the commitments of the Kenya Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In 2010, the Government developed the National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) which recognized the impacts of climate change on the country's development. This was followed by the development of the National Climate Change Action Plan in 2012. The focus of these initiatives include the development of county-level climate risk profiles to mainstream climate change perspectives in programs and development plans at county level. The Ministry has developed county climate risk profiles in 31 counties and NARIGP is supporting the development of profiles for an additional 14 counties. The purpose of the profiles is to inform county governments and stakeholders on the climate change risks and provide opportunities for integration into respective county development plans and processes.This climate risk profiles study will be used as a basis to climate proof projects or any other developments in fourteen counties (Samburu, Turkana, Kitui, Narok, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Muranga, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Vihiga, Kisii, Nyamira and Migori). The study provides information on current and possible future climate scenarios, climate-related vulnerabilities and risks for key major agricultural value chains, policy landscape and the institutional capacity to deliver adaptation programs. Each profile presents adaptation and risk reduction options that can transform and reorient agricultural systems in the counties to increase productivity, enhance smallholder farmers' resilience and mitigate against climate change.Finally, I call upon all stakeholders for their cooperation and support for adoption of CSA production practices that maximize the triple wins: increases productivity, enhanced resilience and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Through the adoption of new technologies and improved practices, we will realize the desired goal of Kenya being a food and nutrition secure country, fostering socio-economic development and improved livelihoods of Kenyans. Climate change is becoming one of the most serious challenges to Kenya. The country is susceptible to climate-related events, and projections indicate that climate impacts will continue to affect the country in the future. In many areas, extreme and variable weather is now the norm. Rainfall is irregular and unpredictable; some regions experience frequent droughts during the long rainy season or severe floods during the short rains. Arid and semiarid areas are particularly vulnerable to these extreme changes, putting the lives and socio-economic activities of millions of households at risk.The Kenya Vision 2030 is a national blue print that seeks to transform Kenya into a newly middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment. Agriculture sector has been identified as one of the key sectors to contribute to the projected annual national economic growth. However, it has been constrained with inadequate access to quality inputs, marketing inefficiencies, non-conducive investment environment, declining soil fertility, low mechanization, land fragmentation and more significantly climate change.In 2010, Kenya developed a National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS), which recognized the importance of climate change impacts on the country's development. The Alliance undertook the assessment in a set of interrelated stages (Figure 1). It first initiated a desk review of the conceptual and analytical contexts of climate change risks at the national and county levels.It made efforts to involve a wide range of institutions that have worked on climate change at the national and regional levels. The team used globally available data sources like the Kenya Open Data Portal and county development plans, and collected information from relevant government departments, such as the Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing, the Kenya Meteorological Department, and the Drought Monitoring Centre. The team also collected data through focus group discussions, key informant interviews with carefully selected experts, climate modeling, and three days of sub-national stakeholder workshops. The final reports were then presented and validated by national-and county-level stakeholders.This document presents the Climate Risk Profile for Samburu County. It is organized into six main sections, each reflecting an essential analytical step towards understanding current and potential adaptation options in key local agricultural value chain commodities. The document first offers an overview of the agricultural commodities key to food security and livelihoods in the county, and then lists major challenges to agricultural sector development in Samburu. In the second section, it identifies the main climate hazards, based on an analysis of historical climate data and climate projections. These include scientific assessments of climate indicators for dry spells, extreme rainfall, moisture stress, and heat stress, among others. Third, the report continues with an analysis of vulnerabilities and risks posed by these climactic hazards on the identified value chains. Based on these vulnerabilities, the fourth section discusses current and potential on-farm adaptation options and off-farm services. In the fifth section, the report also provides snapshots of the enabling policy, institutional, and governance contexts for the adoption of resilience-building strategies. Finally, the sixth section presents pathways for strengthening institutional capacity to address climate risks. Agriculture forms the backbone of Samburu County's economy, contributing around 60% across three sub-sectors, namely, crop farming, livestock rearing, and fisheries. Around 85% of the population lives in rural areas. The agricultural sector is important for poverty reduction and the creation of employment   2018). The main livelihood activities in the county are crop farming, livestock rearing, fishing, harvesting non-wood products and, to some extent, mining. The majority of households that are rural depend on the livestock sub-sector as their main source of household income. Nationally, the country is ranked 42nd in terms of contribution to poverty, with 71.4% of the population living below the poverty line (defined as living on USD 1.90/day).The  (%), and the involvement of economically and socially vulnerable groups (poor, women, and youth) in the VCC (low to high). Each value chain was assessed against all criteria, and the value chains with the highest percentage of the population involved-with special attention on women and the youth-were selected. The four VCCs chosen for this report are cattle (beef), local chicken, small ruminants (sheep and goats), and apiculture (Figure 4).The livestock subsector contributes significantly to the economy of Samburu County since cattle meat is one of its main livestock products. Beef cattle contribute to household income and nutrition, as well as providing major opportunities for self-employment along the VC. Production has, however, remained low due to inadequate and low-quality feeds, low-quality breeds, poor husbandry practices, and high incidence of pests and diseases. More than 80% of the population in Samburu is engaged in the beef value chain. The participation of women and youth is low to medium scale, compared to the highly involved male population. Service providers and merchants supply inputs.The key activities in this stage are agrovet services, veterinary services, feed acquisition, and improving livestock breeds through artificial insemination (AI). At the on-farm production stage, farmers use acaricides for tick control, conduct vaccinations, feed their stock, and deworm the cattle. The actors at the post-harvest stage are farmers and the processors. Key activities are transporting live animals to the slaughterhouses, slaughtering, and meat processing. The marketing stage involves farmers, intermediaries, retailers, and wholesalers; its key activities are linking farmers to cattle buyers, selling, pricing, and promotion.Indigenous chickens are common in the rural areas of the county where they play a key role in enhancing household food security. They are primarily kept in traditional, free-range systems. Keeping local poultry is a low-cost activity that requires basic skills and small resources but in exchange provides eggs and meat. Local chicken can be profitable if managed well. Chicken production thus presents an alternative source of high-quality nutrition and of income, especially for women and youth. Eggs and meat contribute directly to household protein needs, alleviating malnutrition and offering food security. Women and youth own and manage most local poultry; they combine a free-range system with protection of chicks from predators and bad weather. Feeding indigenous chicken is necessary to increase their production of meat and eggs. Inadequate feed and water intake reduces resistance to disease and parasites and leads to chicken mortality. The cheapest way to supplement poultry diets is to use local resources like leftover maize grains, wheat, grass, insects, and vegetables.The local chicken value chain engages 41-60% of the county's population, with a center in central Samburu. Suppliers and agro-vets are the main actors at the input supply stage. They supply feeds, veterinary medicine, chicken equipment (feeders, drinkers), breeding stock, and information. Their activities are important for overall production, the provision of technical advice, and the prevention of disease. At the on-farm production stage, farmers are the main actors, and they engage in feeding, cleaning, bulking, vaccination, feeds supply, and slaughtering activities. These are important for preventing diseases, promoting good hygiene, ensuring optimum chicken production, and providing manure as a by-product.There are not large-scale poultry processors in the county, so small-scale actors engage in slaughtering, linking farmers to intermediaries, and transporting live birds and eggs. Transporters play an important role in moving poultry from various production points to the final consumers. Producers, brokers, and small-scale retailers transport birds from farms or intermediate markets to end markets. At the marketing stage, the main actors are wholesalers and retailers. Their activities include linking farmers to buyers, pricing, and selling. The activity is important in strengthening market information and selling. The commercial market in Samburu is characterized by a growing urban population and expanding food retail sector that includes fast-food outlets, supermarkets, and restaurants. A ready market exists for free-range eggs and chicken meat within the county.Small livestock production provides income opportunities and promotes self-sufficiency, particularly for women and youth. Small ruminants are versatile and adaptable to extreme weather, have undemanding feeding habits, accept low-value feed, and possess high production value considering their size. Small ruminants are capable of enduring prolonged water deprivation and can withstand heat stress better than cattle. Small ruminants play an integral part in the welfare of many families and communities. In mixed systems, goats and sheep are multipurpose animals, producing offspring, milk, meat, hide and fleece. The goat and sheep meat sector significantly contributes to the economy of Samburu County.Over 80% of the county's population is engaged in the small ruminant value chain. At the input supply stage, actors include service providers and suppliers. The key activities in this stage are agroveterinary services for the provision of feeds, mineral supplements, and drugs; the provision of veterinary services; feed acquisition; and crossbreeding services. At the on-farm production stage, farmers and service providers are the main actors; they feed and fatten, spray, vaccinate, and de-worm. At the post-harvest stage, farmers and the processors engage in bulking and fattening of animals, transporting live animals to the market, and slaughtering. At the marketing stage, the main actors are farmers, intermediaries, service providers, wholesalers, and retailers. The key activities at this stage are linking farmers to buyers, selling of live animals, and provision of market information.Beekeeping is a low-cost activity requiring only basic skills and small resources. Bees can be kept in temperate, semi-arid, and tropical conditions as long as there is abundant, flowering vegetation available for long periods throughout the year. Bees require access to water. Famers in Samburu mainly keep bees for honey, beeswax, royal jelly, propolis, and pollen production. Bee products are used as food and as a source of household income. In Samburu, bees are kept in both traditional and modern beehives, such as Langstroths or Kenya top bar hives.Across the country, 20-40% of households participate in the beekeeping value chain. With the support of NARIGP, most farmer groups are now embracing the project. Men are the primary participants in the local beekeeping value chain. At the input supply stage, suppliers offer modern beehives and equipment, such as harvesting kits and processing materials, to support farmers. Most of the suppliers come from outside the The key activities at this stage are sourcing beehive equipment, assessing beehive locations, and setting up and installing beehives. At the on-farm stage, farmers engage in hive inspection to monitor progress and assess timing for colony splitting. At the post-harvest stage, farmers and processors are engaged in collection of bee products, bulking, transporting, storage, and value addition (processing). Wholesalers, retailers, and farmers are engaged in the output market. Their key activities are promotion of bee products, marketing, and selling the products. Farmers have organized themselves into beekeeping groups across the three sub-counties and they sell their crude honey to Samburu Bee Keeping Cooperative for processing (Samburu County Government, 2018).Agricultural production in the Samburu County has not yet reached its potential. Changing and unpredictable rainfall patterns have greatly affected farmers' ability to plan their farming activities. Farmers continue to use outdated and ineffective farming technologies and efforts to increase agricultural productivity have been constrained by research extension farmer linkages that are inadequate. Crop production is constrained by limited access to agricultural farm inputs (fertilizer, seeds, chemicals, and machinery) and agricultural finance services (credit and insurance), high incidence crop pests and diseases, and inappropriate farming practices. Extension service is a critical agents of change necessary to transform subsistence farming into modern, sustainable agriculture that promotes household food security, improves income and reduces poverty. However, access to extension services is currently limited due to a shortage of agricultural extension services and officers. Poor rural road conditions have led to high transport costs for agricultural inputs and products. Livestock feed supplementation is limited due to their cost and the inaccessibility of input markets (Samburu County Government, 2018).The main challenges to the livestock sub-sector include the prevalence of livestock disease outbreaks, inadequate grazing resources, a low level of value addition, insufficient early warning information, a lack of cooling facilities, disorganized markets, frequent droughts, conflicts over water and communal grazing areas, and cattle rustling. Most of grazing areas in the county are in gazetted forests, reducing pastoralists' access to pasture, especially during periods of extreme climatic conditions. The main barriers include poor governance of the rangelands-largely due to the absence of an appropriate legal framework for land tenure, a weak framework for disaster response, and inappropriate or inadequate social and financial service systems (Samburu County Government, 2018).More specifically, the beef cattle and small ruminant value chains in Samburu County experience challenges including inadequate modern abattoirs and holding grounds; high breeding costs; weak and uncoordinated marketing; exploitation by intermediaries; market inefficiencies; and lack of market information. The county does not have adequate capacity, in terms of physical and human resource capital to manage all the livestock markets effectively and efficiently. The poultry sector is constrained by inadequate marketing information; the failure of producers to take full advantage of existing opportunities; inadequate technologies and facilities to process or extend product shelf life; poor product handling; lack of regulated pricing; high transportation costs; exploitation by intermediaries; poor road infrastructure and long distances to input and output markets; expensive power tariffs for processing and storage of chicken products and inputs; lack of certification for chicken input suppliers and products; and lack of timely access to inputs.Apiculture is constrained by inadequate processing technologies that extend honey shelf-life and increase returns; a lack of product certification; poor market linkages; inadequate supply of beekeeping equipment; a lack of value-addition infrastructure; and the inability of farmers to meet the rigorous local and international market requirements. Limited access to quality beekeeping inputs and equipment is an important challenge to apiculture in the county.In generating this profile, we assessed past trends and future projections of precipitation and temperature, and computed several related hazards from these two variables. These hazards included extreme hydrological events (including flash floods), drought, moisture stress, heat stress, and the start and length of the growing seasons. The growing season was defined as follows: the first season (long rain) is the 100-day wettest period from January to June, while the second season (short rain) is the 100-day wettest period from July to December (KMD, 2020).We used Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5, one of the four greenhouse gas concentration trajectories adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014. Future climate projections were generated based on an ensemble of multiple Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models (Taylor et al., 2012), using RCP 8.5 for two future periods, 2030 and 2050. 2To assess droughts and dry spells, we focused on the maximum number of consecutive dry days (CDD), defined as days receiving rainfall measuring less than 1mm (precipitation < 1 mm day-1). We determined heat stress by measuring the total number of days with maximum temperatures greater than or equal to 35°C (NT35). Growing days are the days during a season when average temperatures are greater than or equal to 5°C and precipitation exceeds half the potential evapotranspiration. The start of the growing season was determined by the occurrence of 5 consecutive growing days, while the length of the growing period (LGP) was determined as the total number of growing days.For each season, heavy precipitation events were captured with the 5-day running average of rainfall, indicative of floods, and the 95th percentile of daily precipitation, indicative of extremely high rainfall over a short period of time, indicating flash flooding risk. The 95th percentile of daily precipitation distribution, based on the 100 wettest days per season per year, was calculated for each pixel.To assess the degree adequacy of rainfall and soil moisture to meet the potential water requirements for agriculture, indicators for drought stress were examined in terms of the number of consecutive days in each season where the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration (ETa/ETp) is below 0.5. This was calculated for each pixel per season per year by evaluating soil's water capacity and evapotranspiration to define the number of days that could undergo a certain level of stress.Historic and Future TrendsSamburu County has historically seen monthly temperatures varying from 15-30°C (Figure 6). The county has two main rainy seasons. The first growing season (the long rainy season) runs from February to June; the second season (short rains) occurs between August and December. Dry seasons are experienced in two annual phases; the first phase occurs in January and February and the second phase usually falls between June and September (Figure 7).The annual rainfall trends does not show any significant increase in the past but some variability. By 2040, rainfall will decrease slightly during the long rainy season while during the short rainy season, rainfall will significantly increase (Figure 8). The annual mean temperature trends showed an increase from 1985 which will continue towards 2060, in both season (Figure 9).Past trends and future projections of climate hazards identified drought, heat stress, floods, and erosion risk as the major hazards in the county. Risks in the county are modulated by topography: while temperature and precipitation risks are both expected to increase in the future, flood risk is a moderate hazard in the second season for higher elevations, while the risk of heat stress is more urgent at lower elevations. Overall, the second season is expected to become more suitable for crop growing.Historically (defined as the period 1985-2015), the number of CDD in Samburu County was 50 or fewer in the first rainy season and less than 70 in the second. Our future projections (for the period 2021-2061), suggest that the county could experience an overall increase of up to 30 additional CDD in the first rainy season, suggesting a significant increase in the incidence of drought. In the second rainy season, projections indicate far lower incidence of CDD with an overall decrease of up to 35 CDD (Figure 10).Historically, the P5D values indicated a low risk of flood risk throughout the county. Future climate projections indicate that P5D values may increase at higher elevations regions by 8 mm or more, suggesting increased flood risk in areas like Maralal, Porro, Kisima, Wamba, the Matthews Range, the Ndoto Mountains and Mount Nyiro. In the second rainy season, there could be an increase of around up to 15 mm precipitation over the future period (Figure 11). Future climate projections indicate that 95 th percentile of daily precipitation (which is an indicator of heavy rainfall) will somewhat remain the same, with a variation between 7.5 mm on either side.In the first season, historically the total number of days with a maximum temperature greater or equal to 35°C varied between 10 and 20. In the future, the total number of days will significantly increase in lower elevations, suggesting future extreme heat events.     Expected future climate variation and change pose serious threats to the agricultural value chain commodities selected for analysis in this study. Based on the historic and future climate scenarios for the indicators presented in the Samburu workshop 2 , participants identified drought and floods as the most important hazards to all four selected value chains. To assess climate vulnerabilities across the selected value chains in Samburu further discussions were carried out with relevant actors in the 3-day stakeholder workshop.In separate value chain commodity groups they identified two most important climate hazards for their value chains and assessed key risks across the value chain stages i.e. input supply, on farm production, post-harvest/production and product marketing. The results are presented in the next sections.In addition to the aforementioned climate hazards that affect Samburu County, the locust invasion has also hit the county in the recent past. Billions of insects have devoured crops and grazing lands (browse and pasture), threatening the food security and livelihoods of a population in a region already weakened by extreme-climate events and conflicts. In particular, the cattle (beef) value chains and the small ruminants (goats and sheep) value chains have been most affected (Reach Initiative, 2021; FAO, 2020).The sections below highlight the major climate risks that they pose to the major value chains.The At the post-harvest stage, flooding leads to a low number of animals to be collected at high prices and high transport costs due poor road networks as result of flood damage. The severity at this stage is moderate. The market stage sees selling and pricing affected positively by flooding, which causes higher demand than supply. The severity at this stage is moderate to severe. Along the value chains all genders are impacted.Local chicken production in Samburu County is most severely affected by drought and floods. The most affected by the risks are youth and women. A notable consequence of drought at the input supply stage is feed scarcity; reduced supply and high cost of raw materials and fluctuations in feed quality reduce the production of local chicken. Periods of drought also reduce farmers' access to veterinary services due to low supply and result in insufficient capital for equipment (feeders, drinkers). The severity at this stage ranges from minor to high. At the on-farm production stage, drought adversely affects production activities.Feeding is reduced due to feed costs, leading to health deterioration; vaccination activities decline, leading to high mortality rates. The severity of these consequences is minor to major. At the post-harvest stage, the consequences are increased costs of transportation. The bulking of chicken by processors becomes a problem due to high demand and the low prices of by-products. The severity is moderate to major at this stage, with women and the youth heavily impacted. The market stage is affected by low supply of live chickens and eggs, which sell at low prices. The severity is moderate to major at this stage.At the input supply stage, floods affect local chicken by delaying feeds supplies and the provision of equipment and veterinary services due to compromised infrastructure. At the on-farm stage, crop destruction also reduces feed availability. During flooding, disease outbreaks increase, and the cost of vaccination and treatment is higher. The severity is major. At the post-harvest stage, poor roads delay the supply of live chickens and eggs. Similarly, market demand for chicken declines due to insufficient supply reducing slaughtering activities. Floods also increase operational costs in the collection and bulking of chicken. The severity is major at this stage, with heavy impacts on women and the youth. Similarly, marketing activities are affected by low supply levels for local poultry. The severity is major.Drought and extreme rainfall events most affect the small ruminant value chain in Samburu County and impact all genders. The consequences of drought at the input supply stage are feed shortages, which in turn lead to low meat production, increased conflict over resources, limited veterinary services, low breading rates, and high mortality rates. The severities of drought consequences at the input production stage are severe. At the on-farm production stage, the impacts of drought on production due to limited spraying, deworming, and vaccination activities, all of which lead to increased incidence of disease and mortality. Drought also results in low production of meat and milk. The severity is moderate to severe at this stage. At the post-harvest stage, bulking and fattening, transportation, and slaughtering are all affected by drought. Bulking and fattening are reduced due to feeds of inadequate quality and high cost; low supply; and increases in the operational costs for collecting and transporting animals to market. The consequences are severe at this stage. At the output market stage, drought leads to reduced market linkages and provision of market information, both due to low supply and demand. The severity is severe at this stage.The consequences of extreme rainfall at the input supply stage affect the small ruminant value chain positively, as the rainfall increases feeds, water, the quality of breeding. Extreme rainfall also carries risks, however, such as the limited provision of veterinary services, higher disease incidence, and increased animal mortality. Impact severity is moderate to severe at this stage. Extreme rainfall increases incidence of tick and worm infestations, thus increasing demand for acaricides. Because extreme rainfall damages road networks, inputs (vaccines and drugs) become more expensive or even unavailable. The severity is moderate at this stage. At the post-harvest stage, the impacts of extreme rainfall on production are generally positive, with increases in bulking, fattening, and slaughtering activities due to availability of highquality feeds, high market prices, and high supply and demand. However, negative effects at the marketing stage include poor roads, high operational costs, and high mortality rates due to transportation delays. The severity is moderate at this stage. At the market stage, selling and the provision of market information are reduced. The severity is moderate at this stage with all genders and traders impacted.The notable climate hazards affecting beekeeping are drought and extreme rainfall. The effect of drought on beekeeping at the input supply stage is severe, as it reduces time for siting suitable beehive locations. Men are most impacted at this stage, due to their involvement in this activity. At the on-farm stage, beehive inspection, colony separation, and harvesting are limited due to the shortage of bee swarms and deforestation that has cleared forests and depleted naturally available bee plants that reduce production of honey products. Effects are severe at this stage, with primary impacts on men and the youth. At the post-harvest stage, farmers suffer severe impacts from drought, which affects storage, transportation, and processing activities due to reduced honey yields.Men and youth are impacted at this stage. Promotion, selling, and marketing at the market stage are also affected by the effect of drought due to low yields and reduced supply of honey products. The severity is severe at this stage with men impacted.The consequences of extreme rainfall at the input supply stage impact beekeeping by reducing suitable land for the establishment of apiaries due to floods and poor road infrastructure. Floods can also render hives inaccessible or destroy them. The severity is moderate with men mostly impacted. At the on-farm production stage, extreme rainfall has moderately negative impacts on beehive inspection, colony separation, and harvesting; this leads to delayed on-farm activities and reduced honey production. Farmers in Samburu County currently employ a wide range of adaptation measures to increase the resilience of their production systems and livelihoods in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate (Figure 9). Some of adaptation strategies are specific to certain value chains, while others are cross-cutting. On-going adaptation measures by farmers in the livestock value chains include: controlled grazing patterns; fodder production, harvest, and storage; disease control; using AI; increasing slaughterhouse numbers in all markets; bulk-feed purchasing; digging cut-off drains; training farmers on vaccine handling; routine deworming; using herbal medicines; routine spraying; providing feeding supplements; mass vaccination; disease surveillance; fodder conservation; and using drugs and vaccines.Apiculture adaptation strategies include bulk collection and storage of honey; utilizing queen rearing to trigger reproduction colony splitting; constructing modern beehives; making beehives outer cover that provides weather protection; promoting flow hive technology; using settling tanks to separate honey and wax; planting bee-friendly trees in the apiary sites; and providing syrup in the apiaries.To deal with the locust invasion in their communities, most of the residents in the area have resorted to chasing and shouting at them while some other actors that include the government, non-government and community actors have resorted to aerial and ground spraying to control their sizes of the devouring pests. Moreover, they have also implemented desert locust surveillances, reseeding of range lands and cash assistance to the affected households.Potential adaptation practices include trainings and on-farm demonstrations on sustainable land management practices; livelihood diversification (e.g. beekeeping); livestock marketing and rangeland management; promotion of the leather craft and dairy industries; building awareness about the importance of destocking; and fodder production and conservation.Other initiatives include enhancing agricultural mechanization; increasing access to agricultural insurance services; and promoting horticulture and increasing crop productivity through the provision of subsidized farm inputs. Investment in basic public services such as the provision of potable water, improved road infrastructure, expanded electric networks, and education could help reduce poverty among farmers.Reduced poverty would enable farmers to invest in activities that secure their livelihoods and help them to adequately use agricultural inputs for the increase of productivity and incomes.Farmers' current practices will be enhanced through increased access to information, technology, and improved inputs. Print and electronic media, Information, and Communication Technologies (ICT) can improve access to market, climate, and production information in the county. A comprehensive meteorological communications system is necessary for the county. This could be developed into an effective early warning system that can be coupled with information about coping strategies. Adopting electronic extension (e-extension) to cater to the diverse needs of stakeholders; modern communication technologies like radio, mobile phones, websites; e-marketing; and e-technology for disease surveillance and tracking will enhance Samburu's climate change adaptation response.Farmers would benefit from enhanced insurance cover for livestock. It is also important to boost entrepreneurship, diversify investment across sectors, increase employment opportunities for the growing numbers of youth, and invest in high-value crop varieties and livestock breeds. For the apiary subsector, adaptation strategies should include building capacity for honey producers at value chain stages involving honey processing, packaging, transportation, stocking, and marketing and providing other services such as hive crafting. Efficient extension services for cattle rearing, management, and marketing will be required to cope with and adapt to changes in climate and the resulting impacts. The county requires more trainings on adaptation to climate change, greater access to agricultural insurance services, and improved access to socially inclusive financial services.To control and contain the locusts, it is important to strengthen early warning systems for locust invasion, to bolster the surveillance capacity as well as have the necessary equipment and staff for aerial and ground spraying of chemicals. Climate changes in Samburu County are causing decreases of agricultural productivity. The County supports the formulation of policies and acts to support the implementation of appropriate climate change programs. In response to climate variability and change, the county has developed and implemented several policies and programs with a focus on adaptation and mitigation (Table 1). Establishing farmers' associations, marketing groups, and cooperatives to pool resources will enable farmers to set their own prices, sustainably manage their production levels, and improve on transportation systems.The county needs to build the capacity of producer organizations to use good management practices; it also must improve the handling of products, targeting different market segments achieve premium value for. Producers also need to become more profit-and business-oriented, with stronger negotiating capacity to improve their access to farming inputs, technologies, agricultural services (including extension and finance), and markets. This will improve their ability to plan, implement, manage, and monitor community-level micro-projects.A review of existing legislation is essential for the creation of an enabling environment for climate resilience. This review will reflect the current challenges and opportunities identified at local level. Potential benefits will accrue vertically through shared information and horizontally by facilitating long-term mechanisms for capacity building and knowledge sharing among key stakeholders and policy makers. Creating a policy, regulatory, and institutional framework that will improve technical and technological interventions in the pastoral meat trade subsector and market is essential. Attention should be paid to improving natural resource governance; enhancing access to markets (through infrastructure, providing appropriate credit facilities, livestock insurance, and cash-or assetbased assistance); and provision of basic services like education.Climate change: a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external circumstances such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions, and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use (IPCC, 2018).The potential for consequences where something of value is at stake and where the outcome is uncertain, recognizing the diversity of values. Risk is often represented as probability of occurrence of hazardous events or trends multiplied by the impacts if these events or trends occur. Risk results from the interaction of vulnerability, exposure, and hazard (IPCC, 2018).The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend or physical impact that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems, and environmental resources (IPCC,2018).Climate variability: Variations in the mean state and other statistics (such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc.) of the climate on all spatial and temporal scales beyond that of individual weather events (IPCC, 2018).Drought: a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall leading to a potentially disastrous shortages of water.Dry spell: a short period of low rainfall, usually not more than a month.Heat Stress: physiological stress experienced as a result of excessive heat.The Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs): Four greenhouse gas concentration (not emissions) trajectories adopted by the IPCC for its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The four RCPs, RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5, are named after a possible range of radiative forcing values in the year 2100 (of 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 W/m2, respectively)","tokenCount":"6412"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8796477554.json b/data/part_1/8796477554.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b5a3cfe4380ea4c2bcecbdac2e9772920e005eb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8796477554.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fd19d39727b40492c51def7ed4f1f604","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/db6fd85c-5ffa-42f8-b197-d7a644a62c9a/retrieve","id":"-1744621502"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"48a1842e-d439-47ba-856e-e2c86b143c13","pagecount":"4","content":"multiple disciplines carrying out research on zoonotic emerging diseases. The project, known as EcoZD (see definitions) aimed to build Ecohealth capacity and learn about the process of adopting the Ecohealth approach in the country contexts.This brief focuses on one aspect of this adoption process -engaging stakeholders -and its influence on emerging zoonotic disease awareness, management and control.Ecohealth is an approach that recognizes there are links between humans and their biophysical, social and economic environments that are reflected in an individual's health. Ecohealth brings together physicians, veterinarians, ecologists, economists, social scientists, planners and others to understand how ecosystem changes are negatively impacting human health and to provide practical solutions to reduce the negative health impacts of ecosystem change.More than 6 out of 10 human infectious diseases come from animals (zoonoses) 1 , and for those diseases which are new and emerging, as many as three in four have jumped species from animals to people.Zoonotic diseases occur at the intersection of human and animal health sectors. But in addition, emerging zoonotic diseases have causes and solutions outside of health. Globalization, population growth and climate change are just some of the new factors driving disease emergence; understanding economics and behaviour is important for sustainable management of emerging zoonotic diseases.Therefore, health problems with many and complex causes and solutions require involvement of many stakeholders representing multiple disciplines, levels of government, organizations and communities. But examples of how researchers have successfully linked with stakeholders to conduct research and improve local zoonotic disease management are rare, particularly in Southeast Asia, which is considered a hotspot for emerging zoonotic diseases.From 2008 to 2013, an action research project on zoonotic diseases worked in six countries in Southeast Asia. Each country team comprised individuals and institutions with knowledge of Ecohealth (see definitions), representing The project provided six practical lessons learned for stakeholders to consider.When it comes to emerging zoonotic diseases, policymakers, the livestock sector and the public often don't have access to the evidence they need to make best choices. A principle of Ecohealth is that policymakers and other stakeholders should be involved in research. This helps ensure that the right research questions are asked. Stakeholder involvement also increases the likelihood that the research findings will be used.The team in Thailand focused on hygiene in small-scale poultry slaughterhouses. Recognizing the complexity of the problem, the team successfully applied the Ecohealth approach to identify research questions and stakeholders.From the design phase, the team consulted with officials from the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) at both provincial and regional levels. When the team presented findings that indicated low awareness among small-scale slaughterhouse owners about slaughterhouse hygienic management and understanding gaps between national-level and provincial-level DLD officials on smallscale slaughterhouse requirements, DLD officials received the findings positively. Furthermore, the collaboration is likely to push forward concerns related to hygiene and food safety without harming the interests of small-scale slaughterhouse owners.Small-scale slaughterhouse owners were also involved in research. The lead researcher made an effort to build trust with the owners, even giving them his personal telephone number so they could ask questions about animal health and slaughterhouse management. The research team developed a manual for small-scale slaughterhouse owners that described how changes to slaughterhouses could be made to improve hygiene without being too costly for owners. As a result of this good relationship, some owners were receptive to using the manual. Furthermore, the team was able to convince some owners to register their slaughterhouses with the DLD, allowing them to continue to operate without suffering any loss to their livelihoods.In southern Vietnam, the team obtained new funding from the provincial government to expand the research activities beyond the study sites in the same province. This demonstrated government confidence in this novel research approach and findings will add to the understanding of the health burden of leptospirosis in Vietnam.Similarly, in Indonesia, provincial-level leaders came to recognize the value of community-based rabies control as the team shared project activities and findings related to their Villages Rabies Working Group (VRWG) model. As a result, a legal decree was made to adopt the village rabies cadre system by officially appointing two persons to serve in this capacity in each of the 723 villages in Bali. In addition, the EcoZD team partnered with the provincial-level leaders to provide technical training for the rollout of VRWGs in 30 rabies hotspot villages.In most countries, different health stakeholders are not used to working together. In all the countries where we worked, there was no existing or effective mechanism to bring together the stakeholders who needed to be involved in emerging zoonoses research or management. Hence, the first task was to identify the partners who had interest in and capacity for working together. The composition of the country teams not only brought different research disciplines together but also reflected the Ecohealth principle of involving policymakers and communities in research.Although the country teams saw a lot of advantages in working together, without a mechanism for bringing stakeholders together, the type of coalition developed remains dependent on external support. Selecting a zoonotic disease challenge and agreeing upon a common understanding was the logical first step for the teams. An initial scoping study found that priorities for emerging zoonotic diseases were often set by outsiders and did not reflect either the local burden of disease or the concerns of stakeholders. A key innovation of EcoZD was to introduce systematic and participatory approaches for identifying priorities. Although it required more time in the beginning, we found that the involvement of stakeholders in these discussions through disease prioritisation exercises was worthwhile. Stakeholders had a better understanding of the scope and research objectives of the projects and were able to clearly communicate these within their ministries or communities.For example, one team in Vietnam, which included representatives from animal health, medical science and agriculture, reviewed the surveillance data for human zoonoses and equivalent data from the Department of Animal Health, before they decided to undertake fieldwork in leptospirosis.After the teams were formed, one of their first tasks was to develop a list of people and institutions they would need to engage if their research results were to be used to influence decision-makers and change behaviours that would improve the control of emerging zoonotic diseases. Through workshops focusing on desired change, the teams were challenged to think beyond their disciplinary silos and narrow the list down to a few key partners that would be targeted for engagement throughout the project.Although their primary research focus was on brucellosis and toxoplasmosis, the China team observed poor hygienic conditions during fieldwork in communes in Yunnan Province. The team shared their observations with commune leaders and discussed practical ways the leaders could increase awareness on toilet use and toilet waste systems that did not discharge directly to the river, for example. By making a contribution to other village health priorities, the team improved their relationship with frontline workers who play a very important role in disease control.Outcome mapping is a participatory and actor-centred monitoring and evaluation framework used to capture changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviours among populations and to assist research teams in learning from outreach experiences.The mainly laboratory scientist and academic team in China successfully built strong relationships with village doctors, village veterinarians and village heads in Yunnan Province. The team designed health education materials specifically for these partners to use to raise awareness about their target zoonotic diseases (brucellosis and toxoplasmosis) among farmers, workers in commercial farms and the community at large. The team observed increased understanding of brucellosis and toxoplasmosis in these communities and improved collaboration between village doctors and village veterinarians. The local collaboration between animal and human health is likely to extend beyond the life of the project to other emerging zoonotic disease issues.The team in Indonesia focused on rabies. They used information that was being collected by village groups to monitor the birth rates of puppies over the course of one year. They developed a simple formula to estimate changes in the annual dog population at the village level and predict times when more puppies are born. Provincial-level officials adopted this formula to improve their mass vaccination campaigns, specifically to better define vaccination targets, timing for mass vaccination, and needs for intensive puppy vaccination and/or birth control.Local health workers and leaders like village veterinarians, village doctors, paraprofessionals and village heads have relationships with local communities that put them in a good position to share disease management messages.In Indonesia, participatory research in two pilot villages in Bali informed the development of a community intervention called the Village Rabies Working Group (VRWG), which built upon the village cadre system and supported the rabies control efforts of the Livestock Service Office.The VRWG was a paraprofessional group equipped to raise awareness about rabies in schools, village meetings and small groups in their own homes using materials like brochures, posters, a film and songs.General information on rabies and what it means to be a responsible dog owner encouraged communities to register and vaccinate their dogs, two evidence-based ways to control rabies. Moreover, the model encouraged villagers to report dog bite cases, which improved case reporting to the local government, and both human health and livestock services. Not only did the VRWG build local capacity to prevent and control rabies, the education efforts empowered communities in ways that could be applied to addressing other zoonotic diseases in a sustainable way.We supported the teams to develop strategic ways to share research results with their stakeholders. The outcome mapping process (see definitions) helped researchers to increase their understanding of the needs and perspectives of their stakeholders. As a result, throughout the research process, the teams were critically examining what they were learning and thinking, and which results and messages would be most effective to communicate to different audiences. Policy makers can:1. Help ensure that research findings are relevant by getting involved in the design of research projects. 2. Encourage the active participation of all types of stakeholders in the research process. 3. Support research prioritisation which takes into account the importance of zoonotic disease to human health and agriculture. 4. Create demand for research which leads to positive changes in policy and practice that improve zoonotic disease management. 5. Improve the uptake and reduce the costs associated with zoonotic disease management by involving local health workers and leaders. 6. Engage regularly with researchers and stakeholders to facilitate moving zoonotic disease research into action.  ","tokenCount":"1728"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8799341931.json b/data/part_1/8799341931.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..44bc2c9aaf5a852cfa95105852dc76c42ea43645
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8799341931.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1fb4d1fa39558448043dc9066645f009","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/61b7edd6-52db-4ab3-8c13-6977f66be2eb/content","id":"1573378049"},"keywords":["wheat","grain yield","quantitative genetics","genomic prediction","genotype x environment"],"sieverID":"dd4b3751-c05f-4ed7-908f-b320588fc029","pagecount":"16","content":"Breeding for grain yield (GY) in bread wheat at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) involves three-stage testing at Obregon, Mexico in different selection environments (SEs). To understand the efficiency of selection in the SEs, we performed a large retrospective quantitative genetics study using CIMMYT's yield trials evaluated in the SEs (2013-2014 to 2017-2018), the South Asia Bread Wheat Genomic Prediction Yield Trials (SABWGPYTs) evaluated in India, Pakistan, and  Bangladesh (2014-2015 to 2017-2018), and the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYTs) evaluated in several sites globally (2003-2004 to 2016-2017). First, we compared the narrow-sense heritabilities in the Obregon SEs and target sites and observed that the mean heritability in the SEs was 44.2 and 92.3% higher than the mean heritabilities in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively. Second, we observed significant genetic correlations between a SE in Obregon and all the five SABWGPYT sites and 65.1% of the ESWYT sites. Third, we observed high ratios of response to indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon with a mean of 0.80 ± 0.21 and 2.6 ± 5.4 in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively. Furthermore, our results also indicated that for all the SABWGPYT sites and 82% of the ESWYT sites, a response greater than 0.5 can be achieved by indirect selection for GY in Obregon. We also performed genomic prediction for GY in the target sites using the performance of the same lines in the SEs of Obregon and observed moderate mean prediction accuracies of 0.24 ± 0.08 and 0.28 ± 0.08 in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively using the genotype x environment (GxE) model. However, we observed similar accuracies using the baseline model with environment and line effects and no advantage of modeling GxE interactions. Overall, this study provides important insights into the suitability of the Obregon SEs in breeding for GY, while the variable genomic predictabilities of GY andIncreasing the grain yield (GY) potential of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and developing resilient varieties are critical to ensure food security amidst the low (0.9%) global average rate of increase (Ray et al., 2013) and escalating challenges like fluctuating temperatures, low precipitation, erratic rainfall patterns, and extreme weather conditions (Wheeler and von Braun, 2013;Curtis and Halford, 2014;Trnka et al., 2014;Tack et al., 2015;Zampieri et al., 2017;Hatfield and Dold, 2018). However, the identification of high-yielding widely adapted varieties is constrained by the interactions of genotypes with the environments (GxE interactions) that result in genotype rank changes across environments and reduce the response to selection (Haldane, 1946;Allard and Bradshaw, 1964;Eberhart and Russell, 1966;Knight, 1970). To stave off GxE induced uncertainties in varietal yields and the impending risks of crop failure, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) performs intensive three-stage GY testing at its primary yield testing site, the Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Research Station, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico (27°29′N, 109°5 6′W) and also analyzes GY data returned by collaborating national partners from its target population of environments (TPEs) to identify lines with temporal and spatial stability over a range of environmental conditions (Crossa et al., 1991;Fox, 1994;Cooper and Byth, 1996;Cooper et al., 1997;Braun et al., 2010). These strategies adopted by CIMMYT have bolstered the development of high-yielding, widely adapted stable wheat lines (Rajaram and Skovmand, 1977;Braun et al., 1996;Singh and Trethowan, 2007;Lage et al., 2008) that have a remarkable impact globally, especially in developing countries (Byerlee and Moya, 1990;Heisey et al., 2002;Lantican et al., 2005;Lantican et al., 2016).The GY selection-environments (SEs) in Obregon are well tailored to represent different planting systems, irrigation systems and abiotic stresses in the spring bread wheat target megaenvironments (MEs) (Rajaram et al., 1993;Braun et al., 2010). The first year/stage (Stage 1) of GY testing in Obregon involves the evaluation of about 9,000 lines that were selected from the headrows in the fully irrigated bed planting environment (Stage 1 irrigated BP). The second year/stage (Stage 2) involves the evaluation of 1,092 lines (~12% of 9,000 lines) selected from Stage 1 in six environments including the fully irrigated bed planting (Stage 2 irrigated BP), fully irrigated flat planting (Stage 2 irrigated FP), reduced irrigation (Stage 2 reduced irrigation), droughtstressed (Stage 2 drought), early-sown heat stressed (Stage 2 early heat), and late-sown heat stressed (Stage 2 late heat) environments. The third year/stage (Stage 3) of testing involves 280 lines (~25% of 1,092 lines) selected from Stage 2 that are evaluated in three environments including the fully irrigated bed planting (Stage 3 irrigated BP), drought-stressed (Stage 3 drought), and late-sown heat stressed (Stage 3 late heat) environments. In parallel with the Stage 3 of GY testing in Obregon, the first GY testing at CIMMYT's major TPEs in South Asia is done through the South Asia Bread Wheat Genomic Prediction Yield Trial (SABWGPYT). This trial initiated in 2014 comprises 540 lines (~50% of 1,092 lines) selected for high GY from Stage 2 of yield testing in Obregon, that are evaluated in fully irrigated flat seed beds at the following main wheat growing regions of South Asia: (i) Pakistan, Faisalabad (31°25'N, 73°4'E) (ii) Bangladesh, Jamalpur (24°55′N, 89°57′E) (iii) Research stations of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia in India, including Ludhiana, Punjab (30°54′N, 75°51′E, representing the North-Western Plain Zone), Pusa, Bihar (25°59′N, 85°41′E, representing the North-Eastern Plain Zone), and Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (23°1 0'N, 79°55'E, representing the Central Zone).The lines with high and stable GY relative to checks in the fully irrigated trials at the South Asia TPEs and in the Obregon SEs that also possess good to moderate drought and heat tolerance are selected and comprise the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYTs). This includes 50 lines distributed globally on request every year that are targeted to the irrigated wheat growing environments with mostly favorable temperatures during the main crop season, including the Northwestern Gangetic Plains of South Asia, Egypt, Northwestern Mexico (Obregon), various spring wheat-growing areas of Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. In addition to the ESWYTs, three other international wheat yield trials including the semi-arid wheat yield trials, high-temperature wheat yield trials and the high rainfall wheat yield trials targeted to the drought-stressed, heat-stressed, and high rainfall regions, respectively are also distributed annually by CIMMYT (Trethowan and Crossa, 2007). While CIMMYT's international yield trials have proved to be extremely useful for characterizing relationships between selection and target sites, genotype adaptations and GxE interactions (Krull et al., 1968;Byth et al., 1976;Peterson and Pfeiffer, 1989;DeLacy et al., 1993;Trethowan et al., 2001;Lillemo et al., 2004), an extensive retrospective quantitative genetics study focusing on understanding the GY heritabilities and genetic correlations (GCs) and their effect on the response to selection for GY is lacking.Heritability is a key parameter in quantitative genetics that is important to plant breeders as it expresses the correspondence between GY phenotypic and breeding values and determines the response to selection (Fisher, 1918;Falconer, 1960;Piepho and Möhring, 2007). While the broad-sense heritability represents the phenotypic variance that can be attributed to both additive and non-additive genetic variance, the narrow-sense heritability represents the proportion of phenotypic variance that can be attributed to the additive genetic variance (Jacquard, 1983;Nyquist, 1991;Kruijer et al., 2015). Two other critical quantitative genetics parameters that are pivotal in understanding the efficiency of selecting in a few SEs for a wide range of TPEs include: (i) the genetic correlations (GCs) which determine the extent to which GY in two environments is influenced by the same genes and (ii) the ratio of correlated response to indirect selection in the SEs relative to direct selection in the TPEs (Falconer, 1960;DeLacy et al., 1996). In addition to understanding the quantitative genetic parameters associated with GY, it is also essential to evaluate genomic approaches that can minimize the adverse effects of GxE interactions on the response to selection for GY. In this regard, genomic selection (GS) where the genomic-estimated breeding values (GEBVs) of lines obtained from genome-wide markers are used in selecting individuals (Meuwissen et al., 2001) has been found to be promising for improving GY in wheat (Zhao et al., 2013;Charmet et al., 2014;Juliana et al., 2018;Lozada et al., 2019). Since it has the potential to increase the selection accuracy and reduce the costs associated with phenotyping (Heffner et al., 2009;Crossa et al., 2014;Voss-Fels et al., 2018), it can be very beneficial in effectively selecting lines for the TPEs.Recognizing the importance of quantitative genetic parameters in understanding the efficiency of CIMMYT's yield testing strategies, we designed this study with the following key objectives: (i) estimate the GY narrow-sense heritabilities using 36 trials evaluated in the SEs of Obregon and 534 trials evaluated in the TPEs, (ii) estimate the GCs and the rates of response to selection using four cohorts of breeding lines evaluated in the SEs of Obregon and in the SABWGPYTs and two cohorts evaluated in the SEs of Obregon, SABWGPYTs, and ESWYTs, (iii) cluster the sites in the TPEs based on their GCs to identify sites where the lines have similar patterns of GY performance to facilitate better targeting of lines for those TPEs. In addition, to evaluate the prospects of implementing GS for targeting lines to the TPEs, we first determined the genomic prediction accuracies (PAs) for GY in the target sites using the GY of the same lines in the SEs in Obregon for 1,424 selection and target environment pairs. For this we used a GxE model with genomic effects, environment effects, and genotype x environment effects that has been shown to boost the PAs (Burgueño et al., 2012;Heslot et al., 2013;Crossa et al., 2016;Jarquıń et al., 2017;Peŕez-Rodrıǵuez et al., 2017), and compared the PAs to those from a baseline model with only the main effects of the environment and the lines (EL model) to understand the advantage of modeling GxE interactions. Moreover, we also compared the PAs from the GxE model with the phenotypic correlations between the environments to comprehend the relationships between them. Furthermore, we also partitioned the phenotypic GY variance between the selection and target environments into genetic, environment, genotype x environment, and error variance to decipher the relative contribution of these components towards GY.The yield trial lines used in this study were developed by the CIMMYT wheat breeding program using the selected bulk breeding approach, which involves early generation visual selection for phenological traits, agronomic type, rust resistance, tillering capacity, spike fertility, grain size, and overall grain health. GY in all the trials was measured in tonnes/hectare obtained from the plot-based harvested grain weight. In the Stage 1 of GY testing in Obregon,6,408,7,987,and 8,182 lines were evaluated in the irrigated BP environment in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 cycles, respectively. The lines were sown on raised beds during the optimum planting time from the third week of November to the first week of December and they received an optimum irrigation of about 500 mm of water in five irrigations throughout the cycle. The trials were laid out in an alpha-lattice design with two replications and two checks.In the Stage 2 of yield testing, 1,092 lines were evaluated each year during the 2013-2014 to 2016-2017 cycles in all the six environments, except in the 2015-2016 cycle where the lines were not evaluated in the Stage 2 early heat and Stage 2 late heat environments. The lines evaluated in the Stage 2 irrigated BP and Stage 2 irrigated FP environments were planted in raised and flat seed beds, respectively, during the optimum planting time and received a total of about 500 mm of water in five irrigations. The lines evaluated for drought-stress in the Stage 2 reduced irrigation and Stage 2 drought environments were planted in raised and flat seed beds respectively, during the optimum planting time. While the Stage 2 reduced irrigation environment received a total of about 250 mm of water in two irrigations, the Stage 2 drought environment received a total of 180 mm of water through drip irrigation. Evaluation of the lines for GY under high temperatures during the juvenile growth stage (Stage 2 early heat) and during the heading and grain-filling stages (Stage 2 late heat) were achieved by sowing the lines early in mid-October (30 days before he optimum planting time) and late in the last week of February (90 days after the optimum planting time), respectively. Both the heat-stressed environments received a total of 500 mm of water in five irrigations. In the Stage 3 of yield testing, 280 lines were evaluated each year during the 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 cycles in the irrigated BP, drought, and late heat environments, as described above.The 540 lines in the SABWGPYTs were grown in an alphalattice design with two replications during the 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 cycles. While the lines were evaluated in India Jabalpur, India Ludhiana, and India Pusa during all the cycles, they were evaluated in Bangladesh Jamalpur during the 2016-2017 cycle only and in Pakistan Faisalabad during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 cycles only. The 24 th to the 37 th ESWYTs comprising 700 lines with 50 lines in each ESWYT (46 lines, three CIMMYT checks, and one local check) were evaluated in two replications in several sites during the 2003-2004 (24 the ESWYT) to 2016-2017 (37 th ESWYT) cycles. However, all the ESWYTs were not evaluated in all the sites due to several factors like the lack of capacity for GY testing, the importance for bread wheat in the site etc. (Lage et al., 2008) and hence only the 60 sites that had been evaluated at least five of the 14 ESWYTs were included in the analysis. This included sites in 17 countries including Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, and Turkey that are described in Supplementary Table 1.To obtain the best linear unbiased estimates for GY in all the datasets, we used the below mixed model in the ASREML 'R' package (Gilmour, 1997):where y ijkl represents the unadjusted GY, m represents the overall mean, g i represents the fixed effect of the genotype, t j represents the random effect of the trial assumed to be independent and identically distributed (IID) (t j e N (0, s 2 t )), r k(j) represents the random effect of the replicate within the trial assumed to be IID (r k(j) e N (0, s 2 r )), b l(jk) represents the random effect of the incomplete block within the trial and the replicate assumed to be IID (b m(jk) e N (0, s 2 b )) and ϵ ijkl is the residual assumed to be IID (ϵ ijkl e N (0, s 2 ϵ )). The GY BLUEs for all the lines in the Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 of yield testing, the SABWGPYTs and the ESWYT sites are given in Supplementary Tables 2 and 3.Genome-wide markers for all the lines used in this study were obtained using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method (Poland et al., 2012). The marker polymorphisms were called using the TASSEL (Trait Analysis by aSSociation Evolution and Linkage) version 5 GBS pipeline (Bradbury et al., 2007;Glaubitz et al., 2014). We then performed single nucleotide polymorphism discovery by filtering for a minor allele frequency of 0.01, followed by aligning the resulting 6,075,743 GBS tags to the reference genome (RefSeq v1.0) of bread wheat (IWGSC, 2018). Further filtering of the tags as described in Juliana et al. (2019) resulted in 78,662 markers that passed at least one of the filters. We then filtered the markers with greater than 60% missing data, minor allele frequency lesser than 5% and heterozygosity less than 10%, and also the lines that had greater than 50% missing data. This resulted in the following number of lines and markers for the different yield trials in Obregon and the SABWGPYTs: Similarly, in the 14 ESWYTS, the number of lines and markers after filtering ranged from 36 to 43 and from 7,742 to 12,441, respectively. Marker missing data was imputed using the linkage-disequilibrium based k-nearest neighbor imputation method in TASSEL (Money et al., 2015) and the unfiltered genotyping data is available in https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare. 12609368.v2.To understand the GY performance of lines in the SABWGPYTs (2014-2014 to 2017-2018) and in the ESWYTs (2003-2004 to 2016-2017), we performed statistical analysis of the GY BLUEs within each yield trial and calculated the mean, median, range, standard deviation, standard error of the mean, and variance. We then estimated the line mean narrow-sense heritabilities for GY across replications in the SEs and in the target sites using the formula:where s 2 g represents the genetic variance, s 2 ϵ represents the error variance, and nreps represents the number of replications. The genetic and error variances in each trial were estimated using the average information-restricted maximum likelihood algorithm (Gilmour et al., 1995) in the 'R' package 'heritability' (Kruijer et al., 2015). The datasets that were used for the estimation of heritabilities include: We estimated GCs from the genetic covariances calculated in the 'R' package EMMREML (Akdemir and Okeke, 2015) using the formula (Falconer, 1960),where r A represents the genetic correlation of GY in two environments, cov XY represents the covariance for GY in the two environments, and var X and var Y are the variances for GY in the two environments. The function 'emmreml Multivariate' in EMMREML accounts for the additive genetic (co)variance matrix of GY in different environments, that is calculated using markers and solves a multivariate Gaussian mixed model with a known covariance structure.The GCs between GY evaluated in the Stage 1 and Stage 2 SEs and the target SABWGPYTs were evaluated in four sets of breeding lines or cohorts, as follows:  2014, Stage 2 2014-2015, Stage 3 2015-2016, SABWGPYT 2015-2016, and ESWYT 2016-2017. In addition, we also obtained the GCs between the SABWGPYT sites across the years, the 69 sites in the ESWYT 2015-2016, and the 71 sites in the ESWYT 2016-2017. The significance of all the GCs were tested and the p-values for the test of significance were obtained. We then used the GCs between the 44 ESWYT sites that had evaluated both the 36 th and 37 th ESWYTs to cluster the sites using the hierarchical clustering approach and the dendrogram was cut into five branches and visualized using the 'R' package, 'pheatmap' (Kolde, 2012). The clustering patterns of the ESWYT sites in the two different years were then analyzed to identify consistent patterns.To understand the effectiveness of indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon relative to that of direct selection in the TPEs, we calculated the ratio of response to indirect vs direct selection using the formula (Falconer, 1960):where CR X is the correlated response to GY selection in the target environment (X) resulting from selection applied to GY in the SE, R X is the direct response to GY selection in the target environment, r A is the GC between the selection and target-environments, i Y and i X are the intensities of selection in the selection and target-environments, respectively (which we assumed to be the same), and h Y and h X are the narrow-sense heritabilities for GY in the selection and targetenvironments, respectively.Genomic Prediction for Grain Yield in the Target Sites Using Their Yields in the Selection-Environments of ObregonThe ability of GY evaluations in the SEs of Obregon to predict GY in the target sites was assessed using four cohorts of lines in the SABWGPYTs and two cohorts of lines in the ESWYTs. To model the effects of the genotypes, environments and the GxE interactions in a GxE model, we used the reaction norm framework (Jarquıń et al., 2014) and the model can be represented as:where y represents the vector of GY BLUEs; m represents the general mean; Z y represents the incidence matrix for the environment; b y represents the random effect of the environment assumed to be multivariate normal b y e MN(0, s 2 y I); Z g represents the incidence matrix connecting the lines with the GY BLUEs; u 1 represents the random effect of the lines; u 2 represents the GxE interaction assumed to be multivariate normal u 2 e MN(0, s 2 gy (Z g GZ 0 g ) (Z y Z 0 y )), where # denotes the Hadamard product (cell-by-cell) of the two matrices in parentheses (Jarquıń et al., 2014), and ϵ represents the residuals assumed to be multivariate normal and distributed as ϵ e MN(0, s 2 ϵ I). We also performed GY predictions using the EL model with environment and line effects and can be represented as:where y represents the vector of GY BLUEs, m represents the general mean, Z y b y and ϵ represent the same as in Equation 5, Z l represents the incidence matrix for the lines and b l represents the random effect of the lines such that it is multivariate normal b l e MN(0, s 2 l I), and s 2 l represents the variance of the lines. Both the GxE model and the EL model were fitted in the BGLR 'R' package and the Pearson's correlations between the predicted values and the observed values were calculated as the PAs. To understand the relationships between PAs and the phenotypic correlations between the SEs ad TPEs, we also obtained the Pearson's correlations between them and visualized them using the 'R' package ggplot2 (Wickham, 2009).Statistical analysis of the GY data (Supplementary Table 4) indicated that in the SABWGPYT sites, the highest mean GY in all the years was observed in India Jabalpur where the mean GY across years ranged between 6.5 and 8.3 t/ha, followed by India Ludhiana (5.4 to 7 t/ha), India Pusa (4.4 to 6.1 t/ha), Pakistan Faisalabad (3.4 to 4.6 t/ha), and Bangladesh Jamalpur (3.1 t/ha). The mean GY from the 2014-2015 to the 2017-2018 cycle had increased by 27.3% in India Jabalpur, 31.2% in India Ludhiana, and 40.5% in India Pusa over the base mean GY in the 2014-2015 cycle. Similarly, the mean GY in Pakistan Faisalabad had increased by 36.8% across the two cycles (2015-2016 and 2016-2017).In the ESWYTs, the mean GY across 14 years had increased by 24% from 4.6 ± 2.5 t/ha in the 24 th ESWYT to 5.7 ± 2 in the 37 th ESWYT. The highest mean yields in the most recent ESWYT analyzed were observed in Turkey Adana (11.1 t/ha), Egypt Sids (10 t/ha), Egypt Gemmeiza (8.06 t/ha), and Egypt Ety-El-Barud (7.9 t/ha). We also observed highly variable and nonlinear GY trends across the years in several ESWYT sites (Supplementary Figures 1 and 2). However, a clear increasing trend in the mean GY (considering the mean GY in the first evaluated ESWYT and the highest mean GY of the two most recent ESWYTs) was observed in several sites including, (i) Afghanistan Darul Aman: 5.5 fold or 445.5% increase in 12 years, (ii) Canada Swift Current: 3.8 fold or 279% increase in 12 years, (iii) Pakistan Bahawalpur: 2.8 fold or 176.5% increase in 10 years, (iv) Pakistan Tandojam: 2.5 fold or 151.2% increase in 10 years, (v) Pakistan Islamabad: 2.1 fold or 111.8% increase in 13 years, and (vi) India Gurdaspur: 2.1 fold or 106% increase in 9 years.The relative performance of the highest yielding ESWYT line in each year over the GY of the local check in that year was analyzed in 12 sites where the ESWYTs were evaluated in a higher number of years (12-14 years). We observed a clear superiority of the highest yielding ESWYT lines over the local check (Figure 1) in 144 out of the 152 (94.7%) site-year combinations. While the mean increase in GY of the highest yielding ESWYT line over the local check in the 144 site-year combinations was 1.1 ± 0.7 t/ha (29.5 ± 28.6% increase), it ranged from 0.03 to 3.54 t/ha (0.6 to 237.2% increase). In addition, we also observed a clear increasing trend in the GY of the highest yielding ESWYT line in most sites from the 24 th to the 37 th ESWYT.The highest mean narrow-sense heritabilities were observed in the SEs of Obregon (0.75 ± 0.11), followed by the SABWGPYT sites (0.52 ± 0.13) and the ESWYT sites (0.39 ± 0.29) (Supplementary Table 5). The mean narrow-sense heritabilities in the Obregon yield testing stages were: 0.65 ± 0.06 in Stage 1, 0.79 ± 0.1 in Stage 2, and 0.7 ± 0.12 in Stage 3 of GY testing. In the SABWGPYT sites, the highest mean narrowsense heritabilities were observed in India Ludhiana (0.56 ± 0.08), followed by India Pusa (0.55 ± 0.14), India Jabalpur (0.53 ± 0.16), Pakistan Faisalabad (0.49 ± 0.15), and Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.32).Among the 60 ESWYT sites, 16 (26.7%) had mean heritabilities greater than 0.5, 24 (40%) had mean heritabilities between 0.3 and 0.49 and 20 (33.3%) had mean heritabilities less than 0.3. In addition, we observed high variabilities in the site heritabilities across years and considering all the 519 site-years, 251 site-years (48.4%) had heritabilities less than 0.3, 141 siteyears (27.2%) had heritabilities between 0.31 and 0.6, 107 siteyears (20.6%) had heritabilities between 0.61 and 0.95, and 20 site-years (3.9%) had unrealistically high heritabilities between 0.95 and 1 (Figure 2).The GCs between the Stage 1 and Stage 2 SEs in Obregon and the SABWGPYT sites (Figure 3, Supplementary Table  In the 36 th ESWYT sites, the highest GCs with an Obregon SE were significant in 46 out of the 69 sites (66.7%) at a p-value threshold of 0.05 (the threshold was relaxed because of the small sample size). The highest GCs of these 46 sites with an Obregon SE ranged between 0.3 and 0.4 in 22 sites, between 0.41 and 0.5 in 12 sites and between 0.51 and 0.67 in 12 sites. The 36 th ESWYT sites that had the highest GCs with the Obregon SEs included Canada Swift Current (0.67), Algeria Setif (0.66), Turkey Adana (0.65), Egypt Sids (0.62), India Wellington (0.62), and Ethiopia Adet (0.58). The SEs that had the highest significant GCs In the 37 th ESWYT sites, the highest GCs with an Obregon SE were significant in 45 out of the 71 sites (63.4%) at a p-value threshold of 0.05. The highest GCs of these 45 sites with an Obregon SE ranged between 0.3 and 0.4 in 24 sites, between 0.41 and 0.5 in 16 sites, and between 0.51 and 0.67 in 5 sites. The 37 th ESWYT sites that had the highest GCs with the Obregon SEs included Canada Swift Current (0.66), Afghanistan Dehdadi (0.56), Argentina Pergamino (0.56), India New Delhi (0.56) and India Jalander (0.52). The SEs that had the highest significant GCs with the target sites included the Considering the 44 sites where both the 36 th and 37 th ESWYTs were evaluated, the mean of the highest GCs of these sites with an Obregon SE ranged between 0.15 and 0.3 in 18 sites, between 0.31 and 0.4 in 18 sites, and between 0.41 and 0.67 in 8 sites (Figure 4).  The sites that had the highest mean GCs with the Obregon SEs and low standard deviations across the two ESWYTs included Canada Swift Current (0.67 ± 0.003), Afghanistan Dehdadi (0.54 ± 0.02), India New Delhi (0.53 ± 0.02), India Hoshangabad (0.47 ± 0.01), India Indore (0.42 ± 0.06), Iran Safiabad (0.42 ± 0.07). and Nepal Khumaltar (0.41 ± 0.03). However, only two among the 44 sites had the highest GCs with the same SE in both the years including China To understand the selection abilities of the SABWGPYT sites in India and Pakistan and the Obregon SEs with the target sites in India and Pakistan, we obtained their GCs with 11 ESWYT sites in India and 6 ESWYT sites in Pakistan that were evaluated in both the 36 th and the 37 th ESWYTs (Figure 5). In the 36 th ESWYT, the highest GCs of eight of the 17 target sites were with the SEs in Obregon that included India Gurgaon, India Hissar, India Hoshangabad, India Indore, India New Delhi, India Pantnagar, Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan, and Pakistan Pirsabak. In the 37 th ESWYT, the highest GCs of 10 target sites were with the SEs in Obregon that included India Dharwad, India Hissar, India Hoshangabad, India Indore, India Karnal, India New Delhi, India Pune, Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan Islamabad, Pakistan Peshawar. The four sites where the SABWGPYT sites had a higher GC compared to the Obregon SEs in both the ESWYTs included India Karnal Syngenta (0.59 with India Ludhiana in the 36 th ESWYT and 0.65 with Pakistan Faisalabad in the 37 th ESWYT), India Varanasi (0.46 and 0.49 with India Jabalpur in the 36 th and 37 th ESWYT respectively), Pakistan Bahawalpur (0.52 with India Jabalpur in the 36 th ESWYT and 0.28 with India Ludhiana in the 37 th ESWYT), and Pakistan Sakrand (0.27 and 0.33 with Pakistan Faisalabad in the 36 th and 37 th ESWYTs, respectively).The GCs between the target sites in the SABWGPYTs, 36 th and 37 th ESWYTs were analyzed to identify consistently correlated sites (Supplementary Tables 7 and 8). In the SABWGPYT sites, high mean GCs were observed between India Pusa and Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.75), Pakistan Faisalabad and India Pusa (0.68 ± 0.14), Pakistan Faisalabad and India Ludhiana (0.59 ± 0.24), Pakistan Faisalabad and Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.57), and India Pusa and India Ludhiana (0.54 ± 0.16). However, the mean GCs of India Jabalpur with Pakistan Faisalabad (0.44 ± 0.04), India Pusa (0.42 ± 0.18), Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.35), and India Ludhiana (0.22 ± 0.05) were moderate to low.In the two ESWYTs, the highest mean GCs and low standard deviations across the two ESYWTs were observed between the following target site pairs: Turkey Izmir and Egypt Gemmeiza (0.67 ± 0.01), India Karnal and India Hissar (0.52 ± 0.005), Turkey Izmir and Mexico Las Margaritas (0.52 ± 0.08), Canada Swift Current and Afghanistan Dehdadi (0.48 ± 0.09), Turkey Adana and Turkey Kahramanmaras (0.44 ± 0.09), China Laomancheng and India The ratios of response indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon relative to that of direct selection in the TPEs were calculated for the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites (Supplementary Table 9, Figure 7). For the SABWGPYT sites, the highest ratios of response to indirect selection in Obregon ranged between 0.52 and 1.14 across all the site-years, with a mean of 0.80 ± 0.21. Considering the individual sites, the highest ratios of response to indirect selection in the different years ranged as follows: Bangladesh Jamalpur: 0.98, India Jabalpur: 0.53 to 1.14, India Ludhiana: 0.64 to 0.86, India Pusa: 0.  In the ESWYT sites, the mean of the highest ratios of response to indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon across two cycles was 2.6 ± 5.4. In the 36 th ESWYT, the ratios of response to indirect selection were greater than one for 34 sites (49.3%) and greater than 0.5 for 50 sites (72.5%). While the highest ratios of response for indirect response (greater than five) were observed for Ethiopia Adet, Morocco Marchouch, Zambia Lusaka, Iran Gachsaran, Libya Misurata, and India Wellington, sites like Angola Chianga, Iraq Bakrajo, Pakistan Bahawalpur, and Spain Castilla Y Leon had the lowest ratios. The Obregon SEs that had the highest ratios of indirect selection response for the 36 th ESWYT sites included Stage 2 early heat (11sites), Stage 2 drought (10 sites), Stage 3 drought (10 sites), and Stage 2 irrigated FP (8 sites). In the 37 th ESWYT, the ratios of response to indirect selection were greater than one for 31 sites (43.7%) and greater than 0.5 for 52 sites (73.2%). Sites like Nigeria Birnin Kebbi, Afghanistan Takhar, India Nagpur, Turkey Kahramanmaras, Egypt Sids, Nepal Khumaltar, India Hoshangabad, and Afghanistan Urdokhan had the highest ratios for indirect selection, while the lowest ratios were observed for sites like Turkey Adana, Egypt Gemmeiza, Afghanistan Shesham Bagh, and Iran Gorgan. The Obregon SEs that had the highest ratios of indirect selection response for the 37 th ESWYT sites included the Stage 2 early heat (20 sites), Stage 2 drought (11 sites), Stage 2 late heat (10 sites), and Stage 3 late heat (9 sites) environments. The means of the highest ratios of response to indirect selection in sites with two years of evaluations indicated that 66% of the 44 sites had mean response ratios greater than one and 82% of the sites had ratios greater than 0.5. Overall, across both the ESWYTs, the Obregon SEs that had the highest ratios of indirect response to selection were Stage 2 early heat (20 site-years), Stage 2 drought (13 site-years), Stage 2 late heat (12 site-years), and Stage 2 reduced irrigation (8 sites) environments.The ability of GY evaluated in the SEs of Obregon to predict GY in the target SABWGPYTs and ESWYTs were evaluated for 1,424 SE-TPE pairs and compared to the phenotypic correlations between the environments (Supplementary Table 10). In the SABWGPYT evaluation sites where the GY of 487 to 515 lines were predicted from their corresponding Obregon yields, the mean of the highest PAs from the Obregon SEs using the GxE model across the five South-Asian sites was 0.24 ± 0.08 and the mean PAs were the highest in India Ludhiana (0.28 ± 0.1), followed by Pakistan Faisalabad (0.28 ± 0.11), India Jabalpur (0.27 ± 0.08), India Pusa (0.19 ± 0.01), and Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.13). The Obregon SEs that had the highest PAs for the SABWGPYT sites included the Stage 2 irrigated BP environment (7 site-years) and the Stage 1 irrigated BP environment (3 site-years) (Figure 8). A strong relationship between the PAs from the GxE model and the PAs from the EL model (correlation of 0.98) and the phenotypic correlations (correlation of 0.98) was observed and there were no significant differences between the PAs from the GxE model and the EL model (p-value of 0.47) and between the PAs from the GxE model and the phenotypic correlations (p-value of 0.73).To further understand the PAs from the GxE and EL models, we partitioned the GY variance between the SABWGPYT sites and the Obregon SE that had the highest predictability for each site into the genetic, environment (including year and site), genotype x environment, and error variance components and obtained the ratios of the variance components relative to the genetic variance (Table 1). We observed that the environmental variance between the Obregon SEs with the highest predictabilities and the SABWGPYT sites were high and as follows: Bangladesh Jamalpur (23.8 times the genetic variance), Pakistan Faisalabad (7.3 to 19.2 times the genetic variance), India Jabalpur (3.6 to 37.1 times the genetic variance), and India Pusa (5.6 to 9.4 times the genetic variance). However, the environmental variance between the Obregon SE with the highest predictability and India Ludhiana was low (1.1 to 3.3 times the genetic variance). We also observed that the GxE variance was 0.4 to 1.8 times the genetic variance, and the error variance was 0.8 to 3.8 times the genetic variance across the sites. The mean narrow-sense heritabilities between the SEs with the highest predictabilities and the SABWGPYT sites were high in India Ludhiana (0.47 ± 0.12), followed by India Pusa (0.22 ± 0.05), India Jabalpur (0.2 ± 0.16), Pakistan Faisalabad (0.15 ± 0.08), and Bangladesh Jamalpur (0.08).In the 36 th ESWYT, where the yields of 42 lines were predicted from their corresponding yields in the Obregon SEs, the mean of the highest PAs from the GxE model was 0.29 ± 0.11 (ranged between 0.06 and 0.56) and the best predicted sites were Venezuela Los Bagres (0.56), Afghanistan Dehdadi (0.52), Pakistan Quetta (0.51), Iran Safiabad (0.5), and Afghanistan Urdokhan (0.49). The Obregon SEs that had the highest PAs for the sites in the 36 th ESWYT were: Stage 2 irrigated FP (19 sites), Stage 2 drought (8 sites), Stage 3 irrigated BP (8 sites), and Stage 2 early heat (7 sites). In the 37 th ESWYT, where the yields of 43 lines were predicted, the mean of the highest PAs from the GxE model was 0.29 ± 0.1 (ranged between 0.01 and 0.63), and the sites that had the highest PAs included Argentina Pergamino (0.63), Canada Swift Current (0.5), India Karnal (0.47), and Egypt Nobaria (0.44). The Obregon SEs that had the highest PAs for the 37 th ESWYT sites included Stage 2 early heat (16 sites), Stage 2 reduced irrigation (10 sites), Stage 1 irrigated BP (9 sites), Stage 2 drought (7 sites), and Stage 2 late heat (7 sites). Considering only the target sites where the ESWYTs were evaluated in both the years, the mean of the highest PAs from the Obregon SEs using the GxE model was 0.28 ± 0.08 (Figure 9). On comparing the PAs from the GxE model with the baseline EL model across both the ESWYT sites, we observed a high correlation (0.95) and a negligible mean increase using the GxE model (0.01 ± 0.03), despite significant differences between the pairwise accuracies (p-value for the test of significance of differences between them was 4.05e-5). We also observed a high correlation between the PAs from the GxE model and the phenotypic correlations between the environments (0.94) and insignificant differences between them (p-value for the test of significance of differences between them was 0.02).We have performed a large retrospective quantitative genetics study that provides excellent insights into the effectiveness of the current GY testing strategies adopted by the CIMMYT wheat breeding program and the screening ability of CIMMYT's key GY testing site. A remarkable increase in the mean GY (ranging between 27.3% and 40.5%) from the base GY in 2014-2015 was observed across four years at the SABWGPYT sites, clearly indicating continuous GY improvement at the target South Asia sites by indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon. While we also observed a 24% increase in the mean GY across 14 years in the ESYWT sites, the high non-linear trends across years in some ESWYT sites stemmed from the different biotic and abiotic stresses prevalent in the sites in different years, changing environments (Braun et al., 1992), variable trial management, and agricultural practices across years etc. Nonetheless, the 445.5% increase in mean GY at an ESWYT site over 12 years and the outstanding performance of the highest yielding ESYWT lines over the local check varieties in 94.7% of the 152 site-year combinations, affirm the high GY performance of the ESWYT lines as also observed in previous studies (Rajaram and    , 1977;Trethowan et al., 2002;Singh et al., 2007;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2017) and indicate progress made from indirect selection for GY in Obregon.In the SEs of Obregon, we observed consistent narrow-sense heritabilities across years ranging from 0.5 to 0.94 and the mean heritability in the SEs was 44.2% and 92.3% higher than the mean heritabilities in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively. On the contrary, only a small percentage (26.7%) of the 60 target ESWYT sites had mean heritabilities greater than 0.5, and there were tremendous variations in the heritabilities across years. We also observed significant GCs between a SE in Obregon and all the SABWGPYT sites, 66.7% of the 36 th ESWYT sites and 63.4% of the 37 th ESWYT sites, clearly demonstrating the efficiency of indirect selection in Obregon. While most SEs had high GCs with several target sites, the observed low GCs between the Stage 2 late heat environment and the target sites was expected, because this SE was not designed to select lines for the optimum environments, but only for environments vulnerable to terminal heat stress.Our results indicated that except for one SABWGPYT site (India Ludhiana) and two ESWYT sites (China Laomancheng and Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan) that had high GCs with the same SEs in Obregon across years, all the other target sites had high GCs with different SEs in different years. In addition, we also observed non-repeatable GCs between the selection and target environments in different years. For example, the Stage 2 irrigated FP environment that had high GCs with 11 sites in the 36 th ESWYT had high GCs with only two sites in the 37 th ESWYT. Likewise, the Stage 2 early heat environment which had insignificant GCs with several SABWGPYT sites had the highest GCs with a large number of ESWYT sites. All these observations clearly indicate that the identification of optimal or few SEs that will have high GCs with the target sites in all the years is not feasible and highlights the importance of multiple SEs in breeding for unpredictable changing environments with high year-to-year variations.We also investigated the relative GCs of the SABWGPYT sites in India and Pakistan and the SEs in Obregon with target sites in India and Pakistan and observed that the SEs in Obregon had the highest GCs with 47% of the sites in the 36 th ESWYT and 59% of the sites in the 37 th ESWYT. The SABWGPYT sites had the highest GCs in both the ESWYTs with some sites like India Karnal Syngenta, India Varanasi, Pakistan Bahawalpur, and Pakistan Sakrand, which is expected because of the geographical proximities of these locations and the similar wheat growing conditions in some of them. While these results indicate that earlier screening in the SABWGPYT sites provide useful information in selecting lines for some target sites, we also present substantial evidence for the consistent and competitive screening ability of Obregon, which also has the capacity to screen a larger number of lines than the SABWGPYTs.The GCs between the target sites were also used to understand the similarities between them based on the discrimination of genotypes and to determine the repeatabilities of site clusterings, both of which are important for designing efficient germplasm targeting strategies (DeLacy et al., 1993;Mirzawan et al., 1994;Lillemo et al., 2004). While we observed inconsistent GCs across several ESWYT sites in the two years indicating high year-toyear variabilities and a marked tendency of the sites to change into a different ME due to climate change (Braun et al., 2010), we also observed high and consistent GCs and similar clustering patterns between sites in different MEs like Canada Swift Current (ME6) and Afghanistan Dehdadi (ME12 and ME9), China Laomancheng (ME 6) and India Karnal (ME 1), Afghanistan Dehdadi and Ukraine Kharkov (ME 11), Pakistan Pirsabak (ME4, ME8) and India Pune (ME 5), etc. This provides striking evidence to the wide adaptability of the ESWYT lines to very different geographical regions and MEs (Krull et al., 1968;Braun et al., 1992;Crespo-Herrera et al., 2017), thereby exemplifying the successful GY testing strategies of CIMMYT.We have reported high ratios of response to indirect selection in the SEs of Obregon with a mean of 0.80 ± 0.21 and 2.6 ± 5.4 in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively. Furthermore, our results indicating that greater than 0.5 ratio of response to indirect selection in Obregon can be achieved for all the SABWGPYT sites and 82% of the ESWYT sites, provide strong evidence to the selection ability of the Obregon SEs. The high ratios of correlated response to indirect selection in Obregon were driven by the moderate to high GCs with the target environments and the high heritabilities in the SEs compared to the TPEs (Falconer, 1960). However, it should also be noted that the ESWYTs used in this study are small populations that were not designed for research purposes (Fox, 1994) and larger populations are necessary to obtain more precise estimates of the response to selection. Nevertheless, these results imply that CIMMYT's strategy of GY testing in a key site for a range of target environments is appropriate and an ideal strategy considering the cost and resources that will be needed for large-scale GY testing in multiple sites.We also performed genomic prediction for GY in the target sites using the performance of the lines in the SEs of Obregon and observed moderate mean PAs of 0.24 ± 0.08 and 0.28 ± 0.08 in the SABWGPYT and ESWYT sites, respectively using the GxE model. However, we observed similar PAs using the baseline EL model and no advantage of modeling GxE interactions in this scenario similar to the results reported by Dawson et al. (2013), but contrary to some studies that report a marginal increase using GxE models in other scenarios (Burgueño et al., 2012;Heslot et al., 2013;Jarquıń et al., 2017). Moreover, the partitioned phenotypic GY variance components also indicated a high environmental variance (1.1 to 37.1 times the genetic variance) and low GxE variance (0.4 to 1.8 times the genetic variance) in accordance with previous observations (Fowler and De la Roche, 1975;Goodchild and Boyd, 1975), which explains the similarity in PAs using both the models. These are key findings in our study substantiating that environmental variabilities constituted by fluctuating factors like temperature, nutrient, edaphic, rainfall patterns, stresses, and management conditions (Hill, 1975;Bell and Fischer, 1994;Storlie and Charmet, 2013) play a larger role in determining GY compared to GxE interactions. Furthermore, our results also imply that a line's GY performance in a new environment is predictable only when the effect of the environment is known beforehand, and the effect of GxE interactions do not add much value to the predictabilities. Further studies on evaluating genomic prediction for GY in earlier generations where GY testing is not feasible due to limited seed are needed to understand the application of genomic prediction for GY testing. Overall, this study provides extensive quantitative genetic evidence on the suitability of the Obregon SEs in breeding for GY and provides important insights into the genomic predictabilities of GY in different environments. The high year-to-year fluctuations observed highlight the nonfeasibility of breeding for every micro-environment (Rajaram and Skovmand, 1977) and affirm the necessity to breed for GY stability and wide adaptability by multi-environment testing across time and space (Finlay and Wilkinson, 1963;Hurd, 1969;Eskridge, 1990;Kang and Pham, 1991).","tokenCount":"7552"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8834625123.json b/data/part_1/8834625123.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a40f2db8f80b44b9e64e41492eb27a2ef000bdcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8834625123.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2d53662f3c0cfb2a7c0462fe8bee060f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee36e470-dbfc-4f78-8b55-49c40117baba/retrieve","id":"-1345358773"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"32e7d0b3-185b-4a32-bf33-ce49659dd9da","pagecount":"1","content":"Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is still a big problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. The orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) crop has been documented to significantly contribute to combat this VAD. Erratic rainfalls, poor soil fertility, virus diseases, weevil incidence, and animal destruction are often experienced by farmers in drought-prone areas. Sprouting in stores can contribute to rapid weight loss of roots (Chakraborty et al. (2017). All of these can disrupt crop production. Many sweetpotato farmers live in drought-prone areas and are often resource-poor. Food insecurity can be a problem. Lack of high quality planting material at the onset of rainy season is a major constraint to sweetpotato production. Storage in sand and sprouting technology recently introduced aims to extend the shelf-life of sweetpotato storage roots at room temperature. This is an innovative technology in the sweetpotato seed systems. Healthy and clean roots are kept in dry sand either in a basin (Namanda et al., 2013) or in a bigger container (Abidin, et al., 2016) for a few months during the dry season. At the start of the rainy season, good numbers of clean planting materials are readily available, while farmers also have fresh roots in their food stores during the hunger season. Sand storage scaling trials were conducted in Ghana between July 2017 and June 2018. This research built on findings from work initially done from 2011 to 2016 also in Malawi.OFSP can significantly contribute to the fight against VAD in Sub-Saharan Africa. Erratic rainfalls, poor soil fertility, virus diseases, weevil incidence, and animal destruction are often experienced by OFSP farmers in drought-prone areas, disrupting crop production. There is a need for suitable \"seed\" systems that assure planting material access when farmers need to plant, to maximize yields. Farmers can also benefit from improved storage systems for table stocks, ideally up to the next harvest season. Between 2011 and 2018, studies were conducted in Northern Malawi and Ghana on a technique using sand to store fresh sweetpotato roots. Various types of sand, and some indigenous storage techniques were investigated. After storing for 4-6 months (depending on the location), the sprouted roots could be planted to produce vines for planting and unsprouted roots consumed or sold. Using the sand storage technique, vine producers generated income from vine sales and farmers had improved food security during hunger periods. They could sell roots to buy other food items or household needs. The technology provided producers with the flexibility to maintain and produce vines on demand, not restricted to the onset of the rains. Farmers realized market prices 100-300% higher for their stored roots compared to the peak harvest season, when prices are low due to glut. In conclusion, sand storage effectively helps reduce poverty, improve food and nutrition security and mitigate the effects of climate change.Acknowledgement: Irish Aid, USAID-OFDA funded the research in Malawi and Ghana, Jumpstarting OFSP project in West Africa, Dr. Richard Gibson, farmers, MoFA and NARS, and CGIAR-RTB   et al., 1993). Price of roots after storage was thrice that during harvest. v 59% of roots out of 52% for food were premium quality. 27% sprouted for vine production, and only 21% losses (N = 3,412). Typically 90-100% of losses occurred within 2-3 weeks after harvest. High percentage of sprouts began at 18 th week (45% out of 1,973 roots) and loss only 1%. v Each sprouted root provides 40 sprouts at 1st harvest, and 80 -100 sprouts at 2nd harvest, a month later. ","tokenCount":"570"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8838168273.json b/data/part_1/8838168273.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..95ac23c59dbab799c46a2ea699cf7290d2f1dedd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8838168273.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6e4c5736ab56ac5a84c5fda35c18a344","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34a32324-70f9-4749-b77c-38bc09a89be3/retrieve","id":"-512882671"},"keywords":["banana","cassava","potato","sweet potato","gender division of labor","decision-making"],"sieverID":"657df149-3682-4ca4-bad6-7dbda3f6cb01","pagecount":"15","content":"This paper evaluates the determinants of decision-making in relation to the production of four crops (banana, cassava, potato, and sweet potato). Understanding the division of labor and decision-making in crop management may lead to designing better interventions targeted at improving efficiency in smallholder agriculture. In 2014, the research team conducted a quantitative household survey with heads of households involving 261 women and 144 men in Burundi and 184 women and 222 men in Rwanda. Most of the decisions and labor provision during the production of both cash crops (potato and banana) and food crops (sweet potato and cassava) were done jointly by men and women in male-headed households. Higher values for 'credit access', 'land size', and 'farming as the main occupation of the household head' increased the frequency of joint decision-making in male-headed households. A decline in the amount of farm income reduced the participation of men as decision-makers. A reduction in total household income and proximity to the market was correlated with joint decision-making. Gender norms also contributed to the lower participation of women in both decision-making and labor provision in banana and potato cultivation. Although a large proportion of decisions were made jointly, women perceived that men participate more in decision-making processes within the household during the production of cash crops. Increased participation by women in decision-making will require an active and practical strategy which can encourage adjustments to existing traditional gender norms that recognize men as the main decision-makers at both the household and community levels.Root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops are important for food and income security in the African Great Lakes region. They are an important staple food, and some are rich in micro-nutrients. As such, Sustainability 2019, 11, 4304; doi:10.3390/su11164304 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability they are vital, not only for alleviating poverty among resource-constrained smallholder farmers but also in reducing malnutrition, especially among pregnant women and children [1]. Except for potato, which is grown at mid-to-high altitudes, banana, cassava, and the sweet potato are cultivated in nearly all provinces of Rwanda and Burundi. In Rwanda and Burundi, bananas and potatoes are both food and cash crops while sweet potatoes and cassava are cultivated mainly for home consumption.Bananas are important for cash-generation in both Rwanda and Burundi, especially the beer-banana type, which farmers process into several types of beverages [2]. Annual production values for RTBs in 2017 (Rwanda and Burundi) were as follows: Banana (1.73 million tonnes (MT)); 1.24 MT, cassava (1.04; 2.29 MT), potato (0.85 MT; 0.15 MT), and sweet potato (1.08; 0.71 MT) [3]. Globally, Rwanda has the highest per capita consumption of sweet potato roots at 89 kg compared to the global average of 14 kg [4].Although RTB crops are important for both producers and consumers in Rwanda and Burundi, agricultural productivity and on-farm yield are generally low [5]. Low productivity rates are a result of a diverse set of productivity constraints, including crop management as well as biotic and abiotic stresses [6][7][8]. Smallholder farm households predominantly produce RTB crops in mixed farming systems [9]. There are important gender differences in intra-household roles and responsibilities with regards to RTB production, processing, and commercialization in the African Great Lakes region. Men and women have distinct sets of tasks and different levels of control over these crops [2,[10][11][12]. Sikod [13] states that the intra-household division of labor is an economic strategy to position the household to meet its needs, although households often divide labor in ways that can constrain development. Other authors argue that the intra-household division of labor and control over crops is primarily subject to power relations and gender norms rather than economic considerations [14,15].Studies have illustrated that dominance in labor provision to the management of a specific crop does not always translate into dominance in control over this crop in terms of decision-making [16][17][18]. Understanding who in a household makes decisions on crop management or sales and who provides labor is important for policy-makers, program managers, agricultural researchers, and agricultural extension workers to address constraints causing low productivity in RTB crops in Rwanda and Burundi.The question of who in the household makes which kind of decisions, in the cropping system, is important because it affects the household's crop productivity. A process of negotiation, knowledge of others' preferences, gender norms, as well as power dynamics [19] are also referred to as 'bargaining'. Bargaining depends on the endowments of the parties [20]. Some of these endowments and entitlements are based on social norms [20].Intra-household decision-making power is associated with the bargaining power of a given household member. This power is dependent on a number of complex factors including access to agricultural land and inputs, training, and financial loans through formal and informal credit institutions [20]. Access to these physical and financial resources, however, cannot be disentangled from gender, because women's differential and disadvantaged access to these resources and services as compared to men's is thoroughly documented throughout the world and specifically for smallholder farm households in developing countries [21][22][23][24][25]. The authors in [26] even suggest that because of unequal gender norms on an institutional or collective level, women's increased access or ownership of resources and assets might decrease their intra-household decision-making and bargaining power. Moreover, gender norms also influence decision-making processes in the home, which, in turn, affect the ability of women to access training opportunities [23]. Lack of access to training is particularly problematic since according to Anderson and Feder [27], agricultural extension is assumed to lead to better decision-making, improved agricultural performance, and better outcomes. When women do not have access to this information and training, they cannot effectively participate in decision-making or make informed decisions.In many countries, certain crops have been loosely categorized as either a 'male crop' or a 'female crop' depending on either the gender of the household head, the owner of the land on which a crop is grown, or the gender of the person who keeps the proceeds from crop sales [21]. Research evidence suggests that women are more likely to control the production and output of the subsistence crops for home consumption, whereas men may have more decision-making power over the production and output of the household's cash crops [21,28].While food production is extremely important, it has been noted elsewhere that the agrarian activities on which women spend most of their time are often undervalued or associated with nurturing and helping roles because masculine agrarian ideology dictates what is to be valued [29]. A study in Nigeria found that following the introduction of cassava markets and better processing technologies, men began to participate in cassava activities that had previously been dominated by women [30]. Padmanabhan [31] argues that every new innovation which enters the agricultural arena challenges the gendered division of labor (GDoL). Based on this argument, we should emphasize that GDoL tends to be dynamic over time. This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on the role of gender in RTB farming and focuses specifically on the gender division of labor and intra-household decision-making with regards to RTB in Rwanda and Burundi.Rwanda has a population of 10.5 million, of which 52% are women, and 71% of the total population lives in rural areas [32]. The population of Burundi was 8.05 million in 2008, with nearly 90% of people living in rural areas and depending on subsistence agriculture [33]. In most parts of rural Rwanda and Burundi, formal credit does not exist, and households rely on informal or semi-formal borrowing from institutions such as microfinance institutions, cooperatives, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), village savings and loan associations (VSLA), and input suppliers [34,35]. The amount of credit borrowed per capita per year in Rwanda is relatively small. On average, it ranges from US$34 for informal sources to US$55 for semi-formal sources. Some studies in Burundi have reported average credit sizes of US$70 from VSLA groups with most of the loans not exceeding US$12 [35]. Male-headed households (MHHs) in Rwanda are less credit-constrained than female-headed households (FHHs) [34].Most policies in Rwanda are gender-sensitive, and women's legal rights are strengthened by a set of laws aiming to promote gender equality such as the 2004 National Land Policy, the 1999 Inheritance Law, and the 2005 Organic Land Law that advocate for gender equality and anti-discrimination [36]. Additionally, Rietveld and Farnworth [12] reported that after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, many men had fled, were killed, or were imprisoned due to war crimes spending many years away from their homes. Consequently, women had to take up more responsibilities both in the public sphere (50% of seats in parliament are for women) and within households. Even when men returned from jail or exile, women maintained their positions. In Burundi, unlike in Rwanda, no national land and inheritance laws exist but rather more general international laws. Laws are waiting to be passed by the national assembly, which makes it rather easy for the government to implement them locally, hence giving room to apply local customary rules that limit access to-and inheritance of-land by women [37].Average land size in Rwanda and Burundi is very similar and often less than 1.25 ha [38,39]. In both countries, land scarcity and continued land fragmentation are enormous challenges [39]. At the moment, most of the farm activities for RTB crops in Rwanda and Burundi are labor-intensive, manual, and time-consuming, which also contributes to the small average acreage cultivated. For instance, land preparation (ploughing), hilling, or ridging is done by a hand hoe. Planting, fertilizer application, and harvesting of potatoes are similarly done by hand. Poverty levels are high in the two countries, with over 50% (Rwanda) and 70% (Burundi) of the population living on less than 1 US$ per day.This study sought to answer three research questions: (1) What are the intra-household dynamics regarding decision-making on crop production? (2) What is the gender division of labor? and (3) which factors influence decision-making and labor allocation within a household? This study defines decision-making as 'the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem' [40]. Joint decision-making involved husband and wife in the same household to decide together on a given crop production activity. For the purpose of this study, the banana and potato were grouped together and considered as cash crops since they are often sold for cash whilst cassava and the sweet potato are primarily grown for household food. Data were analyzed using STATA software (Version 14) and descriptive statistics; means, percentages, and frequencies were used to describe the socio-economic demographics. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze factors influencing decision-making in relation to production of RTB crops in a household. The dependent variable was the decision-maker in the household, either male, female, or joint. The independent variables assessed included the size of land owned by the household, household size, distance to the main road, access to extension services, type of crop grown (cash crop, food crop), age of the household, years of education of the household head, occupation of the household head, gender of the household head, total household income, farm income, access to credit, and the distance to the market. Several diagnostic tests such as Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA), Multicollinearity, and Heteroscedasticity were conducted (Table 1). T-tests were used to identify significant differences between the means of variables among male-and female-headed households such as education, age, and the main occupation of the household heads. Data for this study were collected in 2014 through a cross-sectional survey of RTB crop farmers in the Ruhengeri watershed of Rwanda (covering Musanze, Burera, Gakenke, Ngororero, and Nyabihu districts) and the Rusizi watershed of Burundi (covering Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza, Cibitoke, and Muramvya provinces). The study provinces were chosen since they all cultivated the four RTB crops. In each watershed, 27 villages where the Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) project had a weather station were purposely selected based on altitude [41]. This study was part of a more extensive questionnaire that examined the impact of pests and diseases on the livelihoods of rural smallholder farmers through the PRA Project 'Management of RTB-critical pests and diseases under changing climates, through risk assessment, surveillance and modeling' (see questionnaire at https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/3/400/s1). Within each village, 15 households were randomly selected for interviews and enumerated with the help of local community leaders. In total, our sample comprised 811 households, including 405 (261 women and 144 men) respondents in Burundi and 406 respondents (184 women and 222 men) in Rwanda. This sample size is representative of farmers of RTB crops in Rwanda and Burundi.Quantitative data on banana, cassava, potato, and sweet potato production and marketing were collected using a structured questionnaire with either the household head, the spouse to the household head, or any adult in the household who was responsible for the production of bananas, cassava, potatoes, or sweet potatoes. Pre-testing of the questionnaire was done prior to formal data collection in districts outside of the study area. Enumerators were trained before conducting the interviews and were supervised by the first author. Local languages (Kinyarwanda in Rwanda and Kirundi in Burundi) and French were used by enumerators to conduct individual farmer interviews.Quantitative data were collected on the following: Who in the family was a member of a farmers' organization; who was trained by the agricultural extension worker; who received credit. Data were also collected on who decided or did the following farm activities: (i) Land preparation, (ii) input purchase, (iii) selection of the variety to plant, (iv) planting, (v) weeding, (vi) application of chemical pesticides, (vii) harvesting, (viii) transporting the harvest to the market, (ix) processing the harvest, and (x) selling the harvested crop or the planting material (seed). Enumerators explained the objectives and methods of the study to farmers and sought verbal informed consent. Enumerators only conducted interviews with farmers that consented.Prior to econometric analysis, data were tested for independence from irrelevant alternatives, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity as follows:The IIA test assumes that the inclusion or exclusion of categories does not affect relative risks associated with the covariates in the remaining categories. The IIA property requires that the relative probabilities of two options being selected are unaffected by the introduction or removal of other alternatives [42]. In this study, the Hausman test was carried out to determine IIA. The choices (male, female, or both) gave a p-value of unity, implying the presence of IIA. If IIA was violated, other statistical methods which relax the assumption, including Multinomial Probit, Nested Logit [42], and Random Parameter Logit models [43] were used.Multicollinearity in data arises when there are correlations between independent variables. To test for the presence of multicollinearity, the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) method was used. This VIF method estimated artificial ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with each of the decision-makers as the 'dependent' variable and the rest as independent variables [44]. A mean VIF value of <10 for the independent variables indicates that the estimated variables are not highly correlated and there is no multicollinearity. A mean VIF value >10 indicates that the estimated variables are highly collinear. In the current study, the estimated model variables had an average VIF of 1.82, indicating that they are not highly collinear.Results for testing of heteroscedasticity of variances were as follows: Ho: Constant variance, Variables: Fitted values of RTB decision-maker, chi 2 (1) = 0.01 and Prob > chi 2 = 0.9344. In the regression model, skewing of regressors or measurement errors can result in error terms not having a constant variance, in which case they are said to be heteroscedastic [45]. Heteroscedasticity causes the variances of regression coefficients to be under or overestimated. To ensure that the variances of regression coefficients were not under or overestimated, a Breusch-Pagan method was employed to test the null hypothesis that the error variances were all equal versus the alternative that the error variances were a multiplicative function of one or more variables. In the current study, using fitted values, the null hypothesis that there is constant variance was tested. The chi-square value was 0.01, and the p-value was 0.934. Therefore, we failed to reject the null hypothesis and concluded that there is constant variance, which means that there was no heteroscedasticity in the model.Most households surveyed were headed by men: A total of 80% in Burundi and 84% in Rwanda. It is implicitly assumed that for every household in which an adult man is present (often the husband and father), he is the household head. Whereas Male-Headed Households (MHHs) had a significantly larger household size (5.5 persons) than Female-Headed Households (FHHs) (4.6 persons) in Rwanda, no such statistical difference was observed among households in Burundi (5.9 vs. 6.4 persons) (Table 2). Education levels were also generally very low; i.e., <6 and <5 school years in Burundi and Rwanda, respectively. Family members within MHHs had, on average, received more years of formal education than those in FHHs. Both farm and off-farm incomes in FHHs in Rwanda were less than half of those of MHHs although there was no such difference in Burundi. Although no significant difference was observed in the age of men in Rwanda and Burundi, female household heads in Rwanda were older than their male counterparts. Farming was the main occupation for both men and women in male-and female-headed households in the two countries. However, the average number of FHHs engaging in farming as the main occupation was significantly higher than for MHHs. This might mean that men tend to engage in non-farm activities as an alternative that offers higher incomes. Although there was no significant difference in the farm and off-farm income of male-and female-headed households in Burundi, MHHs in Rwanda had a significantly higher farm and non-farm income than FHHs. In the sampled households, we could hardly find people over 60 years of age, and the 1994 genocide could be responsible for the young population in Rwanda [46].Perceptions about decision-making and labor allocation within female-and male-headed households in Rwanda and Burundi were quite different. More of the members in MHHs reported joint decision-making and joint labor provision than of male or female alone respondents who grew potatoes and bananas (Figure 1, Table A1). Even in those FHHs growing potatoes and bananas in the two countries under study, male household members made most of the decisions and provided most of the labor.Sustainability 2019, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 16Perceptions about decision-making and labor allocation within female-and male-headed households in Rwanda and Burundi were quite different. More of the members in MHHs reported joint decision-making and joint labor provision than of male or female alone respondents who grew potatoes and bananas (Figure 1, Table S1). Even in those FHHs growing potatoes and bananas in the two countries under study, male household members made most of the decisions and provided most of the labor. In MHHs for both countries, men dominated decision-making (45% of respondents) and labor allocation related to varietal selection (64% respondents). Weeding was the main activity where women in MHHs participated the most, 16% in decision-making and 14% in providing labor.Most of the joint decisions (55%) and joint labor provision (57%) in MHHs were made during pesticide application for farmers of potatoes and bananas. However, when male and female respondents within MHHs were compared, we noticed that male respondents perceived themselves as making more decisions and providing farm labor across all activities in the production of potatoes and bananas.In female-headed potato and banana growing households in Rwanda and Burundi, men were perceived to provide labor most of the time, and this effect was most striking during variety selection (83%). In the same households, the highest proportion of women making decisions (18%) and providing labor (16%) was during weeding. The highest proportion of respondents in FHHs who jointly made decisions (20%) and provided labor (22%) was during land preparation. When comparing men and women in FHHs growing potatoes and sweet potatoes, men were perceived to make more decisions and provide more labor than their female counterparts.Interestingly, for decision-making and labor provision in all activities regarding food crop production (sweet potato and cassava), these were mostly done jointly in nearly half of MHHs than FHHs (Figure 2; Table S2). In FHHs, the same trend of male household members taking most of the decisions and providing labor was also observed among farmers of food crops. Although most of the decisions and labor provision among both cash and food crops were done jointly by both men and women in Rwanda and Burundi in MHHs, male household members were perceived to make more decisions and provide more labor during cash crop production. During food crop production in MHHs, female members were perceived to make more decisions than their male counterparts during land preparation, variety selection, planting, weeding, harvesting, transporting, and selling of the harvested crop. In terms of labor provision in MHHs, a higher proportion of females than males were In MHHs for both countries, men dominated decision-making (45% of respondents) and labor allocation related to varietal selection (64% respondents). Weeding was the main activity where women in MHHs participated the most, 16% in decision-making and 14% in providing labor.Most of the joint decisions (55%) and joint labor provision (57%) in MHHs were made during pesticide application for farmers of potatoes and bananas. However, when male and female respondents within MHHs were compared, we noticed that male respondents perceived themselves as making more decisions and providing farm labor across all activities in the production of potatoes and bananas.In female-headed potato and banana growing households in Rwanda and Burundi, men were perceived to provide labor most of the time, and this effect was most striking during variety selection (83%). In the same households, the highest proportion of women making decisions (18%) and providing labor (16%) was during weeding. The highest proportion of respondents in FHHs who jointly made decisions (20%) and provided labor (22%) was during land preparation. When comparing men and women in FHHs growing potatoes and sweet potatoes, men were perceived to make more decisions and provide more labor than their female counterparts.Interestingly, for decision-making and labor provision in all activities regarding food crop production (sweet potato and cassava), these were mostly done jointly in nearly half of MHHs than FHHs (Figure 2; Table A2). In FHHs, the same trend of male household members taking most of the decisions and providing labor was also observed among farmers of food crops. Although most of the decisions and labor provision among both cash and food crops were done jointly by both men and women in Rwanda and Burundi in MHHs, male household members were perceived to make more decisions and provide more labor during cash crop production. During food crop production in MHHs, female members were perceived to make more decisions than their male counterparts during land preparation, variety selection, planting, weeding, harvesting, transporting, and selling of the harvested crop. In terms of labor provision in MHHs, a higher proportion of females than males were involved in variety selection, weeding, harvesting, and transporting of the harvested crops to the market.  From the results of both cash and food crops, we also observed a trend in the differences of perceptions by both men and women irrespective of the sex of the household head and crop. Men tended to say that decisions are mostly jointly made, whereas women tended to say that decisions are made mostly by men. This difference in the perception of men and women may reflect a different understanding regarding the nature of joint decision-making. However, a consistent feature of the dataset is the correlation between decision-making and labor provision, where the higher the labor provisioning, the more likely a household member is to make decisions. It was surprising to see that men in FHHs took most decisions and provided most labor related to crop production and management, especially for the two cash crops. This may imply that men are de-facto decisionmakers in these households, especially regarding these cash crops. Possibly these men are only decision-makers in name as they are the official owners of the land (according to customary law) that they inherited from their father. Widows may sometimes stay on the farm of their late husband but often do not have owner's rights.In our analysis of the marginal effects of factors influencing decision-making in production of RTB crops by male, female, or both decision-makers within a household, access to credit was positively related with the frequency of joint decision-making (Table 3). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze factors influencing decision-making in relation to production of RTB crops in a household. To better evaluate the effect of a unit change in covariates on the dependent variable, the marginal effects were examined [45]. Table 3 presents the marginal effects of factors influencing decision-making in relation to production of RTB crops in a household. From the results of both cash and food crops, we also observed a trend in the differences of perceptions by both men and women irrespective of the sex of the household head and crop. Men tended to say that decisions are mostly jointly made, whereas women tended to say that decisions are made mostly by men. This difference in the perception of men and women may reflect a different understanding regarding the nature of joint decision-making. However, a consistent feature of the dataset is the correlation between decision-making and labor provision, where the higher the labor provisioning, the more likely a household member is to make decisions. It was surprising to see that men in FHHs took most decisions and provided most labor related to crop production and management, especially for the two cash crops. This may imply that men are de-facto decision-makers in these households, especially regarding these cash crops. Possibly these men are only decision-makers in name as they are the official owners of the land (according to customary law) that they inherited from their father. Widows may sometimes stay on the farm of their late husband but often do not have owner's rights.In our analysis of the marginal effects of factors influencing decision-making in production of RTB crops by male, female, or both decision-makers within a household, access to credit was positively related with the frequency of joint decision-making (Table 3). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze factors influencing decision-making in relation to production of RTB crops in a household. To better evaluate the effect of a unit change in covariates on the dependent variable, the marginal effects were examined [45]. Table 3 presents the marginal effects of factors influencing decision-making in relation to production of RTB crops in a household.Distance to market was positively and significantly associated with the probability of a man being a sole decision-maker. With every increase in the distance to the market by a kilometer, there was a significant change in the likelihood of a man being the main decision-maker. Distance to the market negatively influenced the probability of joint decision-making. This negative coefficient implies that the closer the household is to the market, the more likely a man and a woman can jointly be decision-makers. The further away the market is from home, the less involved women are in decisions regarding RTB crops. As farm income increased, the frequency of joint decision-making and provision of labor also increased significantly in both countries. Farm income was negatively and significantly associated with the frequency of male decision-making. The pattern for total income was the inverse, however, as increased overall income was associated with more male decision-making and fewer joint decisions.The type of RTB crop grown by the household influenced the decision made by the household head. In the current study, the production of food crops was positively and significantly associated with the frequency of joint decision-making by men and women. Land size was negatively associated with the frequency of joint decision-making. The likelihood of male and female household members jointly participating in decision-making increased significantly when the main occupation of the household head was farming.It was noted that gender norms exist in Burundi that prohibit girls from preparing fields for bananas and planting bananas because they do not own the land. This prohibition is reflected in the folk song called 'Imana yarandiye itangize umuhungu yaba nari umuhungu noteya agatoki ku rugo kwa data: ni umwarama bigeni' loosely translated as 'If I were born as a boy, I would plant bananas on my father's land'. Such beliefs could explain why men were perceived to dominate decision-making and labor provision in most of the activities related to banana production in the current study. Sweet potato was believed to be 'a woman's crop', and men were not interested in harvesting the roots because roots were usually not sold. Although this culture is changing, results of this study show that women in MHHs are making more decisions and doing much of the variety selection, weeding, harvesting, and transporting of the harvested crops to the market during the production of food crops.Gender-based violence had led to some women respondents in our survey avoiding certain activities such as selling of the crop harvest or using the proceeds from crop sales before asking for permission from their husbands. One woman commented, 'never ask your husband where he has put the money from crop sales if you want your marriage to be peaceful'. It is therefore imperative that men, rather than women, in rural central African settings such as those examined during this study, need to be continuously sensitized and enlightened about the need for increasing the involvement of women in agricultural decision-making and to desist from using violence against their wives. Once men appreciate the role and significance of women making decisions and handling the cash from crop sales, then cultural norms as a gender-based constraint may gradually dissipate.In polygamous marriages, however, we observed that women had separate plots from men. In these cases, the women made all the decisions regarding what to grow on their plot and controlled the proceeds. The income from crop sales, however, went to taking care of the home and paying school fees for their biological children.There were several positive accounts of gender relations amongst the RTB farmers. One potato farmer in Kinigi village, Musanze district, Rwanda expressed how he takes care of his spouse: 'My wife can rent out some rooms of this house or get a bank loan using our land title as collateral and can survive when I am gone.' This spirit should be encouraged by setting policies that give equal rights to the ownership of production assets by both men and women in a marriage.The study reported here has illustrated the connection between gender division of labor with decision-making within a household in smallholder agriculture. Similar to the findings reported by Doss [47], in Ghana, that men participate more in cash than food crop production, our results showed that men are perceived to dominate labor provision and decision-making during the production of potatoes and bananas. This finding is in line with Sikod [13], who suggested that 'the types of activities members of households are involved in, impact on their contribution to household welfare and decision-making abilities.' For example, women were more engaged in activities and decision-making for food crops while men dominated crops that are more frequently sold for cash. Additionally, more men than women were involved in activities such as land preparation, buying of farm inputs, planting, pesticide application, processing, selling, and transportation to the market-even for food crops [48]. Our results for some activities, such as pest and disease control, align with findings from elsewhere in East Africa. For example, Erbaugh [49] reported that pesticide application is mainly done by men in Uganda. Other studies have also shown that women are less likely than men to adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices that require more labor, although they are likely to be involved in fetching water for men to use in mixing the chemicals for spraying [50]. Little [29] linked this to the issues of traditional agrarian ideologies where masculine pride is associated with doing hard physical labor while 'feminine pride' relates to nurturing and helping roles, which could explain women's dominance in sweet potato and cassava crops which communities under study mostly regarded as food crops.It has been noted elsewhere that 'family labor is not a simple factor of production' [51] but is influenced by variables such as age and gender. This study showed this clear division of labor and decision-making power across crops by gender. It was also evident that women and men tended to invest most of their labor in crops where they had more power to decide. Although from the nature of our study, we cannot explain these differences, studies elsewhere have suggested that 'women tend to invest their labor where they are likely to receive most returns. Women's labor is not automatically controlled by the household head' [52]. It is possible, therefore, that women in Rwanda and Burundi were investing their time in sweet potatoes and cassava (food crops) because that is where they could get most returns. In a similar vein, Bryceson [53] suggested that 'when choice is exercised, there are fracture lines by gender and generation that serve to delimit coordination or cooperation of decision-making amongst household members'. However, while it is not clear from our study whether men and women in Rwanda and Burundi had a choice, the findings seem to suggest that in a significant proportion of households, decisions did not follow the model of cooperation and coordination but were made by one individual. In almost half of these households, decisions were made by women, who also had the lowest access to and engagement with extension workers. This may have implications for policies aimed at improving women's lives and well-being. It should also be noted that the low participation of women, especially in banana production, is a consequence of the cultural norm through which women are often not allowed to grow bananas by their husbands. Growing a semi-permanent crop, such as bananas, may be perceived as claiming land ownership [12]. However, this threat on land ownership is not posed by the two main food security crops of sweet potatoes and cassava because they are typically grown for periods of less than a year and are seen by men and women farmers as serving an important function in protecting household food security. Additionally, there is a strong cultural sentiment that women do not need to handle cash, particularly in Burundi, and this could have reduced the participation of women in buying inputs and marketing.The finding of land size being negatively and significantly associated with the frequency of joint decision-making could be because most men in households that own small pieces of land do not mind their wives being co-owners (dual land ownership) mainly in Rwanda. However, as land size becomes large, men tend to start making decisions singly.It could also be that when cropped land is large, especially for large-scale commercial farmers, a single manager is given full responsibility to oversee all the crops grown and spouses provide support to manage the crops. Another possible explanation is that most men with large pieces of land are polygamous, administrators of estates of their late parents, or clan leaders and are not obliged to jointly make decisions with their wives due to cultural reasons and a large scope of responsibilities. The huge difference in incomes by gender observed in Rwanda but not Burundi could be explained by the proximity of the study area in Burundi (10-30 km) to the country's capital Bujumbura, unlike the study site in Rwanda which is about 100 km away from the capital Kigali. We think that proximity to Bujumbura offered women more opportunities for off-farm income (salary or casual employment), and this could be the reason why incomes of women in Burundi were virtually the same as those of the Burundian men and slightly more than their counterparts in Rwanda.Since the findings of the current study consistently showed that men were more likely than women to state that both men and women equally participated in decision-making over crops, this may suggest the need to look deeper into the area of decision-making to find out how decisions are made and who decides what. For example, in Kenya, Okitoi [54] stated that while both men and women made decisions regarding poultry, women's decisions were limited to non-cash decisions while men dominated cash-related decisions. In general, our study showed that men dominated cash-related decisions on purchase of farm inputs and marketing. This indicates a bias towards men in terms of control of cash income and decision-making.Our results challenge the established notion that women provide most of the labor in agricultural production in Rwanda and Burundi [48,55]. Although women contribute to all stages of each farm activity, men generally still lead both in decision-making and labor provision. Our findings provide empirical evidence demonstrating that it is not true that women provide 60-80% of the agricultural labor force. At least for Burundi and Rwanda, this is simply a myth for these four RTB crops under study [56]. The proportion of agricultural labor provided by women in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has been reported in household surveys to be quite variable, ranging from 24% in Niger to 37% in Nigeria and 56% in Uganda [57]. Some activities in the production chain, such as pesticide application, are dominated by men in many countries of east Africa [49]. The dominance of men, particularly in potato and banana production in Rwanda and Burundi, may be because a high percentage of these crops are cultivated for sale.This study found that labor allocation to RTB crops of household members in Burundi and Rwanda is aligned with the gender of the household member. There were also marked differences between men and women in relation to control over the different RTB crops and patterns of decision-making. Men make most of the decisions for bananas and potatoes, which are the most commercialized of the RTB crops. When asking men and women about 'joint decision-making', men classified decision-making processes within their household much more often as 'joint' than women did. This difference in perception raises questions about the nature and significance of so-called joint decision-making. There tends to be more joint decision-making in households with a raised income from farming, smaller land-sizes, and in the production of the food crops sweet potato and cassava. Overall, this study represents a landmark assessment of the role of gender in the cultivation of RTB crops in the Great Lakes region of Africa. As such, it provides a vital base on which to design future studies of gender in agriculture, both in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world.We recommend that future studies should not just stop at capturing the role of women in crop production and management but should identify and analyze the drivers for culture-specific gender roles that bring about the differences in the division of roles between men and women reported in the current study. A positive observation from a gender perspective is that the level of joint decision-making by both men and women in cash crops was higher than sole decision-making by men or women. An interesting follow-up study would be to assess the division of labor in household tasks. It may be that men do not participate at all in child care, home maintenance, and day-to-day household chores, which leaves women with little time to participate in farm activities. If this is the case, it could explain why men dominate both decision-making and labor provision in RTB crops. Efforts to identify the different constraints limiting the participation of men and women in food production would merit examination in future studies since this will increase household food production and hence, food security. Capturing the exact number of hours spent by each household member per activity during the cropping season, though challenging to record, would provide quantitative data on the exact amount of time allocated to each task. Such an approach would eliminate instances of under-reporting or undervaluing of women's labor.  ","tokenCount":"6648"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8943375036.json b/data/part_1/8943375036.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cb00241d237c16c6cd9a982ffd3fa1b89907a9fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8943375036.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"88e51e3ed0e0a75ff7c842e8123aa0a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f1ae028a-b660-4d38-ba03-49587199abe4/retrieve","id":"785134446"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0bccde84-6e4e-4e76-9bed-84a4a0489eb7","pagecount":"1","content":"Despite the growing interest in organic agriculture in Africa, it is evident that the transition towards organic management and marketing systems is complex and constrained by a range of biophysical, economic and social factors. We propose that any organic initiative therefore needs to centre on three related paradigms, (i) strengthening biological processes through optimising nutrient cycling and maximising nutrientthe efficiency of their use, (ii) building farmer's capacities to learn about biological and ecological complexity, using participatory approaches and involving farmers in experimentation and learning and (iii) embedding rural innovations in the 'resource-to-consumption' system and developing forward and backward linkages between natural resource management, agriculture production and organic markets. This four-year research project will develop, implement and evaluate strategies for linking farmers in pilot research sites in Uganda and Mozambique to domestic, regional and international organic and other niche market opportunities. The project will use decision support tools to improve farmer's learning to adapt organic technologies within a resource-toconsumption context. The project will aim at directly addressing the specific research issues that arise from ongoing organic outreach programmes through partnerships with national research programs, NGOs and Universities. Capacity building through student thesis, networking for information sharing within and between sectors and the development and dissemination of policy briefs are inherent components of this project.","tokenCount":"213"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8970700688.json b/data/part_1/8970700688.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..87847bcd463134fea166fdabfd217317c3942d6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8970700688.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"737087677cc274cab8ce4f7d0f93fd2a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/03e3d492-ab2d-4baf-b1d6-27b0d5b56b85/retrieve","id":"-1859631706"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3bcc788b-e217-4537-8bb0-27d8f9a83435","pagecount":"2","content":"The January-February issue of 'Livestock Matter(s) presents a round-up of livestock development news from ILRI and its partners.The World Economic Forum (WEF) invited ILRI to prepare a white paper on the future of livestock. Published under the auspices of the WEF's Shaping the Future of Food initiative, which focuses on how to develop inclusive, sustainable and nutritious food systems, ILRI's paper addresses opportunities for the livestock sector to sustainably meet the growing demand for animal source foods in developing and emerging economies to 2030 and beyond.This morning on the Nairobi campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the first partners meeting of a new CGIAR Antimicrobial Resistance Hub will be opened. Scientists working at this hub aim to help reduce agriculture-associated antimicrobial resistance in low-and middle-income countries. Working in a wealth of partnerships with national governments and agencies, the hub will apply one-health approaches to managing agriculture-associated antimicrobial risks.A world where livestock are part of the solution-Ethiopia state ministerThe recent EAT-Lancet Commission report includes many valid points about livestock, but misses an opportunity to contextualize diverse food production systems outside rich, developed countries.The UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are supporting four new research projects to address a broad set of robust and large-scale research priorities to guide program and policy efforts to improve food safety in Ethiopia. This will be achieved through a consortium of national and international research partners working together to support the country's ongoing efforts.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) supports women in livestock development by ensuring that they benefit and are empowered through livestock. It does this by developing the capabilities of women to benefit from livestock production. Capabilities in this sense can range from developing capacities to access and use productivity technologies to developing aspirations for women to run livestock enterprises. This is in line with the institute's strategic objective of increasing the capacity of ILRI and its key stakeholders to make better use of livestock science and investments for better lives through livestock. To enhance the capacity of its women scientists, ILRI has benefited from the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program over the past 10 years.Assessing sustainability of smallholder dairy and traditional cattle milk production systems in Tanzania Both in the scientific community and the media, there are a lot of talks about sustainable livestock systems, what they are and how to promote them. A sustainable farming system is one which is economically viable, socially acceptable, environmentally friendly and transferable to the future generations. But achieving sustainable smallholder milk production systems in developing countries, including Tanzania, is limited by many constraints including low cow productivity, shortage of feed, limited access to inputs and outputs markets and degradation of natural resources.Despite over two decades of civil war and instability, livestock remains the leading economic sector in Somalia where domestic and export of animal products continue. In Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia located in the north, there are two main types of livestock production systems, nomadic pastoral and agro-pastoral. In the region, livestock production accounts for between 60-65% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), employs over 70% of the population and contributes 85% of export earnings. In 2014, a total of 3.4 million heads of livestock were exported, of which 3.1 million were sheep and goats, 0.25 million cattle and 60,000 camels.Capacity development is integral to successful livestock research for development that delivers outcomes and impact. Guided by its gender team, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) uses research to develop livestock-and evidence-based solutions for investment by the global community in enhancing the capacities, livelihoods and roles of women and girls in their communities.As 2018 turned into 2019, the Rural Household Multiple-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) servers continued to spin and process data from rural households around the world. We are excited to announce that on Wednesday 9 January, the total number of households in the RHoMIS database passed the 20,000 milestone. The government has launched a Sh200 million plan to eradicate a highly contagious and deadly disease affecting goats and sheep.Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a viral disease, affects both domestic and wild small ruminants and is endemic in Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia, Baringo, Turkana, Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River, West Pokot, Meru and Tharaka Nithi. First ever global scientific eating plan forgets the world's poor A team of 37 world-leading scientists from 16 countries have just released the world's first ever scientific eating plan. The \"planetary health diet\" is designed to be healthier for people and more environmentally friendly.In January and February we welcomed the following staff: ","tokenCount":"769"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/8976454913.json b/data/part_1/8976454913.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..644d0be52038861d7965a008d7d213b12656bcf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/8976454913.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b10a658f0b9ef93f81eade2642f5c24a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H040688.pdf","id":"883054146"},"keywords":["informal water economies","water institutions","institutional environment","irrigation management transfer","groundwater markets","groundwater recharge","energy","fishery","fluoride","India","China","Mexico"],"sieverID":"c67fd79f-0e2c-4023-b426-f5883279f12c","pagecount":"31","content":"The past decade has witnessed a growing sense of urgency in reforming water sectors in developing countries like India faced with acute water scarcity. India, like many other developing countries, is still focused on building water infrastructure and services, and making these sustainable in all senses of the term. The new wave of ideas is asking it to move from this supply-side orientation to proactive demand management by reforming water policy, water law and water administration, the so-called 'three pillars' of water institutions and policies. But making this transition is proving difficult in India and elsewhere in the developing world. Here, making water laws is easy -enforcing them is not. Renaming regional water departments as basin organizations is easy -but managing water resources at basin level is not. Declaring water an economic good is simple -but using the price mechanism to direct water to high-value uses is proving complex. This chapter explores why.It distinguishes between Institutional Environment (IE) of a country's water economy, which comprises the 'three pillars', and the Institutional Arrangements (IAs), which refer to the humanly devised rules-in-use, which drive the working of numerous informal institutions that keep a vibrant economy well lubricated. The relative influence of IE and IAs varies in high-and low-income countries because the water economies of the former are highly formalized, while those in the latter are highly informal. In high-income countries' formalized water economies, IE has an all-powerful presence in the water economy; in contrast, in highly informal water economies of low-income countries, IAs have a large role with the IE struggling to influence the working of countless tiny players in informal water institutions. The emerging discussion exhorting governments to adopt demand-side management overestimates the developing-country IE's capacity to shape the working of their informal IAs through direct regulatory means, and underestimates the potential for demand management through indirect instruments.Demand-management reforms through laws, pricing and rights reforms in informal water economies are ill advised, not because they are not badly needed but because they are unlikely to work. The real challenge of improving the working of poor-country water economies lies in four areas: (i) improving water infrastructure and services through better investment and management; (ii) promoting institutional innovations that reduce transaction costs and rationalize incentive structures; (iii) using indirect instruments to work towards publicpolicy goals in the informal sectors of the water economy; and (iv) undertaking vigorous demand management in formal segments of the water economy such as cities and industrial water users. Facilitating these requires that water resources managers adopt a broader view of policy and institutional interventions they can catalyse to achieve policy goals.A recent review of institutional changes in the water sector in 11 countries by Saleth and Dinar (2000) deals with water law, water policy and water administration, as the three pillars of institutional analysis in national water economies. This focus on law, policy and organizations as central themes of institutional analysis has been the concern of many analysts and practitioners of water resources management (see, e.g. Bandaragoda and Firdousi, 1992;Merrey, 1996;Frederickson and Vissia, 1998;Holmes, 2000;Saleth, 2004). However, if institutional change is about how societies adapt to new demands, its study needs to go beyond what government bureaucracies, international agencies and legal/regulatory systems do. People, businesses, exchange institutions, civil society institutions, religions and social movements -all these too must be covered in the ambit of institutional analysis (see, e.g. Livingston, 1993;Mestre, 1997cited in Merrey, 2000, p. 5).The current chapter takes this broader view in attempting a preliminary analysis of water institutions in India and elsewhere (see Fig. 5.1). In doing so, it draws upon the vast emerging field of New Institutional Economics (NIE) whose goal is to 'explain what institutions are, how they arise, what purposes they serve, how they change and how -if at all -they should be reformed' (Klein, 2000). We begin by borrowing from North (1990) the notion of institutions as 'formal rules, informal constraints (norms of behaviour, conventions, and self-imposed codes of conduct) and the enforcement characteristics of both'; and also the notion that 'if institutions are the rules of the game, organizations are the players'. It is also useful to borrow the important distinction drawn in the NIE between institutional environment (IE) and institutional arrangements (IAs). IE refers to the background constraints or 'rules of the game'formal and explicit (constitutions, laws, etc.) and informal and implicit (norms, customs). Thus aspects that Saleth and Dinar (2000) include in their 'institutional analysis' represent, mostly, IE. IAs, in contrast, 'are the structure 66 T. Shah that humans impose on their dealings with each other' (North, 1990).In the Indian context, then, IE would include various government agencies at different levels that directly or indirectly deal in water, international agencies, governments' water policy and water-related laws and so on. And institutions or IAs -what Williamson (1985) calls 'governance structures' -refer to entities like groundwater markets, tube well cooperatives, water user associations (WUAs), Tarun Bharat Sangh's johad (small pond) movement in Alwar (Shah and Raju, 2001), groundwater recharge movement in Saurashtra (Shah, 2000), tank fishery contractors in Bundelkhand (Shah, 2002), emergence of defluoridation plants in the cottage sector in North Gujarat's towns (Indu, 2002), private lift irrigation provisioning on a large scale from Narmada canals in Gujarat (Talati and Shah, 2004) and from government reservoirs in the Upper Krishna basin in Maharashtra (Padhiari, 2005), and urban tanker water markets operating throughout cities in India and many other developing countries (Londhe et al., 2004) and so on.We begin with three propositions:• Water institutions existing in a nation at any given point in time depend critically upon the level of formalization of its water economy; by formalization, we mean the proportion of the economy that comes under the ambit of direct regulatory influence of the IE. 1, 2 • In this sense, water sectors are highly informal in poorly developed economies and become more formalized as national economies grow. • The pace of water sector formalization in response to economic growth varies across countries and is influenced in a limited way by a host of factors but principally by the nature of the 'state' 3 (i.e. how hard or soft it is) (Myrdal, 1968). How much difference these other factors make is unclear; what is clear is that India or Tanzania cannot have Netherlands' level of formalization of its water sector at their present state of economic evolution.The level of formalization of a country's water sector is best indicated by the low level of interface between its water IAs and its water IE -or by what North (1990) calls the 'transaction sector' 4 of the water economy. Informal water economies, where the writ of 'the three pillars' does not run, are marked by heavy dependence of water users on self-provision (through private wells, streams, ponds), on informal, personalized exchange institutions or on communitymanaged water sources. In contrast, in highly formalized water economies -as in Europe and North America -self-provision disappears as a mode of securing water service; all or most users are served by service providers -privatecorporate, municipal or others -who form the interface between users and the institutional environment. Volumetric supply and economic pricing are commonly used in highly formal water sectors for cost recovery as well as for resource allocation. Here, water emerges as an organized industry easily amenable to a host of policy and management interventions that become infeasible in informal water economies.Just how informal the water economy of a developing country can be was explored by a large nationwide survey (NSSO, 1999b, p. 46) carried out in India during June-July 1998. Based on interviews with 78,990 rural households in 5110 villages throughout India, its purpose was to understand the extent to which they depended upon common property (and government) land and water resources for their consumptive and productive uses. The survey showed that only 10% of water infrastructural assets used by survey households were owned and managed by either a public or community organization. The rest were mostly owned and managed by private households or owned by the government/community but not managed by either. 5  If receiving domestic water from a 'tap' is an indicator of getting connected to a formal water supply system, the same survey also showed that over 80% of rural households were not connected with any public or community water supply system: they self-supplied their domestic water needs. In urban households (sample = 31,323 households), the situation was the reverse: 75% were connected to a public water supply system.A somewhat different 2002 survey (NSSO, 2003) showed that, of the 4646 villages covered, only 8.8% had a public/community water supply system. People living in the rest of the villages depended on wells or open water bodies for domestic water supply. A strong imprint of economic growth was evident too. The proportion of villages with a public water supply system increases rapidly as we move from a poor state to a relatively rich one. In Bihar, one of India's poorest states, none of the 364 villages covered had a public/community water supply. In the somewhat richer Haryana state, over half the villages surveyed had a public water supply system and, in still richer Goa, every village surveyed had a public water supply system.The irrigation economy of India is equally informal. A 1998 survey of 48,419 cultivators around India showed that nearly 65% used irrigation for five major field crops cultivated by them. For nearly half of these, the source of irrigation was informal, fragmented pump irrigation markets (NSSO, 1999b, p. 42), which are totally outside the ambit of direct influence of the 'three pillars'. In a 2002 survey of 4646 villages around India (NSSO, 2003), 76% of the villages reported they irrigated some of the lands. However, only 17% had access to a public irrigation system: the rest depended primarily on wells and tube wells, tanks and streams.All these surveys suggest that rural India's water economy -both domestic and irrigation use -is predominantly informal, based as it largely is on self-supply and local, informal water institutions. It has little connection with public systems and formal organizations through which the 'three pillars' typically operate in industrialized countries. 6  Figure 5.2 presents a clutch of empirically verifiable hypotheses -a set of 'iron laws of economic development' 7 -about how the economic organization of a country's water economy metamorphoses in response to economic growth and the transformation of society that comes in its wake. It is difficult to find a country in, say, sub-Saharan Africa with a modern water industry of the kind we find in a European country. South Africa is an exception: white South Africa -inhabiting its towns or operating large, commercial farms in the countryside -is served by what approximates a modern water sector. In the rural areas of the Olifants basin, for example, only 0.5% of thisT. Shah formal sector -some 1600 registered users in a population of 2.5 million -uses 95% of the water resources (Cullis and van Koppen, 2007). The former homelands, where half of South Africans live, are served by a water economy even more informal than India's.Water institutions that exist in a country or can be expected to be successfully catalysed by external actors depend upon, besides several other factors, the stage of formalization of its water economy which, in turn, depends upon the overall economic evolution of that country as outlined in Fig. 5.2. Water IAs we found in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh -such as, say, pump irrigation markets or urban tanker water markets -are unlikely to be found in Australia or Spain because they would serve nobody's purpose there. Likewise, water IAs that are standard in industrialized countries -multinationals managing a city's water supply system -would not begin to work until Dhaka has a water service market evolved, at least, to the level of Manila or Jakarta. 8In understanding how societies adapt their institutions to changing demands, Oliver Williamson (1999) suggests the criticality of social analysis at four levels. At the highest level (say L1) of social embeddedness are customs, traditions, mores and religion, which change very slowly because of the spontaneous origin of these practices in which 'deliberative choice of a calculative kind is minimally implicated'. At the second level (L2), evolutionary processes play a big role; but opportunities for design present themselves through formal rules, constitutions, laws and property rights. The challenge here is getting the rules of the game right through better definition and enforcement of property rights and contract laws. Also critical is the understanding of how things actually work -'warts and all' in some settings, but not in others. However, it is one thing to get the rules of the game (laws, policies, administrative reforms in the IE) right; it is quite another to get the play of the game (enforcement of contracts/property rights) right.This leads to the third level (L3) of institutional analysis: transaction costs of enforcement of contracts and property rights, and the governance structures through which this is done.Governance -through markets, hybrids (like public-private partnerships), firms and bureaus -is an effort to craft order, thereby mitigating conflict and realizing mutual gains. Good governance structures craft order by reshaping incentives, which leads to the fourth level (L4) of social analysis -getting the incentives right.L1 and L2 offer possibilities for change only over the long term. 9 Sectoral interventions aiming to achieve at least L2 level changes 10property rights on water through a permit system or reorienting the bureaucracy -are not uncommon; but it is virtually impossible to enduringly 11 transform only the water bureaucracy while the rest of the bureaucracy stays the same. All things considered, L3 and L4 comprise the most relevant playing field for institutional reform in the short term.An important question that New Institutional Economics (NIE) helps us explore is: 'Why do economies fail to undertake the appropriate activities if they had a high pay-off?' (North, 1990). The response to this question depends largely on L3 and L4 levels of institutional analysis. India's water sector is replete with situations where appropriate activities can potentially generate a high pay-off and yet fail to be undertaken; in contrast, much institutional reform being contemplated or attempted may not work, in the current context, because, among other things, high transaction costs make them inappropriate to undertake.An institutional change creates a 'structure' of pay-offs with gains varying across different groups of agents and, therefore, inviting different 'intensities' of responses. A small group of agents each threatened with large loss may put up a stiff resistance to a change that is beneficial for the society as a whole, and vice versa. Likewise, different groups of agents in IAs as well as in IE may experience different levels of incidence of transaction costs attendant on a change. In NIE, transaction costs are seen to include: (i) costs of search and information; (ii) costs of negotiation, bargaining and contracting; and (iii) costs of policing and enforcement of contracts, property rights, rules and laws.Our key proposition in this chapter is: for a policy or institutional intervention, all these three increase directly with the number of agents involved as well as with the strength of their preference for or against the intervention.All three costs come into play in determining the 'implementation efficacy' of an institutional intervention because each depends on the number of agents involved in a transaction, which in an informal water economy is large. Just take the case of groundwater regulation in a country like Mexico which, in some parts, faces problems of resource over-exploitation similar to those of India and the North China plains. Mexico's new Law of the Nation's Water provided for the registration of all groundwater diverters and issue of 'concessions' to each, with an entitlement to pump a permitted quota of water per year. Nearly a decade later, the 'implementation efficacy' of this policy regime has varied across different segments of groundwater diverters: municipal and industrial diverters -all large, visible entities in the formal sector -have been promptly and effectively brought within the ambit of the new Law because these large diverters are few in number. Household wells -far too numerous, and each diverting small quantities -were wisely kept out of the ambit of the law; the transaction cost of regulating them was not worth the gains in 'implementation efficacy'. 12  The real problem was with over 96,000 agricultural tube wells, some of them abstracting up to 1 million m 3 of groundwater each per year. Having registered agricultural tube wells, Mexico's CNA (Comisión Nacional del Agua) found it impossible to police and enforce concessions with the staff and resources at its command. To reduce policing and enforcement costs, CNA created COTAS (Comités Técnicos de Aguas Subterráneas), assuming that farmers would police each other better. A slew of recent studies, however, have shown that Mexico's new Law of the Nation's Water, its national water policy as well as institutions like COTAS have had no perceptible impact on groundwater abstraction for agricultural use (Shah et al., 2004b).If Mexico is serious about groundwater regulation, it will need to either find effective ways to reduce policing and enforcement costs of tube well concessions or else allocate much larger resources to absorb the high costs of policing and enforcement of groundwater concessions on 96,000 tube well owners scattered over the countryside. And if India were to try a similar strategy, it would need to provide for policing and enforcement costs for some 20 million private tube well owners scattered over 600,000 villages.One core NIE idea -especially, of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) branch -is that economizing on transaction costs is a key determinant of the nature of IAs that economic agents evolve. Our proposition is that players in IE of sectoral economies too are sensitive to transaction costs in designing, implementing or abandoning institutional interventions. This implies that the state too indulges in transaction cost-economizing behaviour. This is indicated by the fact that water regulations in most countries exclude small users from their ambit. Mexico's Law of the Nation's Water does not apply to anyone who stores less than 1030 m 3 of water. Australia's water law excludes users who irrigate less than 2 ha (MacDonald and Young, 2001). Water withdrawal permits instituted in South Africa and many African countries in recent years exclude domestic users, homestead gardening and stock watering (Shah and van Koppen, 2005).One rationale for leaving these out is that these represent lifeline uses of water. But another equally important reason is that the inclusion of these would hugely increase search, information and policing and enforcement costs involved in implementing the new intervention. Under its new water law, China has instituted a system of water withdrawal permits to be obtained by each tube well owner. But, in reality, except in selected provinces such as Beijing, Hebei and Shandong where tube wells are deep and heavy duty, the permits are issued to the village as a whole. Doing this defeats the intent of the law but it reduces transaction costs (Shah et al., 2004a). When transaction costs of implementing an institutional intervention become prohibitive, players in IE relinquish it rather than enforcing it at any cost.Alternatively, IE players discover wellthought out approaches to drastically reduce transaction costs. Provincial and city water bureaus in eastern China have for long tried to regulate pumping of urban groundwater aquifers that are under great stress. An array of regulatory measures -imposition of a water withdrawal fee, increases in water price, sealing of urban tube wells, etc. -failed to control urban groundwater depletion. More recently, many cities have begun sourcing water from distant reservoirs and supplying it to urban water service providers. Alternative water supply assured, many cities have quickly brought urban groundwater diverters within the regulatory fold (Shah et al., 2004a).Another example of 'transaction cost economizing' behaviour of IE players is the Mexican government's decision of levying a penal charge for electricity use by tube wells withdrawing groundwater beyond the concessioned volume. Having failed to police and enforce groundwater abstraction concessions through COTAS, the CNA found the second best approach, whose key merit is that it imposed little 'incremental' transaction cost because metered electricity use already provided a good surrogate of volumes of abstraction (Scott and Shah, 2004).In analysing the Indian institutional experience in the water sector, then, our key propositions are embodied in Fig. 5.3. It suggests that several kinds of institutional reform tried or suggested in the Indian water sector have tended to have entailed either high transaction costs (quadrant 2), low pay-offs (quadrant 4) or both (quadrant 3). In contrast, institutional changes that have quietly occurred because pay-offs are high and transaction costs low (quadrant 1) are either ignored or thwarted or, at least, not built upon. In the following sections, we briefly analyse a sample of situations in each of these four quarters in Fig. 5.3 before drawing some general implications arising from this analysis.Efficacy (Quadrants 3 and 4)When policing and enforcement costs of an intervention are high, the tendency often is to design frivolous interventions without serious intention to implement them or to abandon an intervention even if designed with serious intent. International pressure has often led to a persistent demand for a modern legislative and policy framework for orderly and effective management of the water economy and sustainable husbanding of the resource. Conditionalities imposed by donors sometimes oblige developing-country governments to agree to interventions without a local buy-in.One possible reason they submit to such pressures is their dependence on them for financialReforming Informal Water Economies 71 resources; however, it may also be that donors can pressurize governments to make laws but not to enforce them. Even if governments had a genuine intent to enforce, in a predominantly informal water economy such as India's, the transaction costs of enforcing a 'strong' water law effectively are so high that these attempts often remain cosmetic, essentially setting 'targets without teeth'. Indeed, laws and policies are often written to minimize transaction costs by progressively removing clauses that bite and are likely to be extensively violated, thereby reducing the effective regulatory powers of a law. When this is not done, decision makers responsible for enforcement shy away.The Model Groundwater Law developed by the Government of India circa 1970 is a case in point; it has been tossed around for 35 years across state capitals but it has found no takers, not only because of the virtual impossibility of reasonable enforcement but also because of the invidious political economy of rent-seeking that it may create at the local levels. The Gujarat assembly passed the law but the Chief Minister decided, wisely, not to gazette the act in view of high transaction costs of enforcing it. 13  The chief ministers of some other Indian states were, however, less transaction costsavvy. So in 1993, Maharashtra made a law with a limited ambition of disabling irrigation wells within 500 m of a Public Water Source during droughts, with a view to protecting drinking water wells. Ten years after its enactment, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) commissioned a study of the enforcement of this law (Phansalkar and Kher, 2003). The law provides for stern action against violation but has a 'naughty' clause requiring that the law be invoked only when a 'gram panchayat (village council) files a written complaint' (which, at one stroke, reduces to a fraction the transaction costs as well as the potency of the law).The study found numerous cases of violations of the 500 m norm, yet not a single case of legal action has resulted because gram panchayats have failed to file a written complaint. It concluded that: 'There is a near complete absence of social support for the legislation. The rural lay public as well as the office bearers of gram panchayats appear inhibited and reluctant to seem to be \"revengeful\" towards those who are doing no worse than trying to earn incomes by using water for raising oranges.'Instead of invoking the law, supply-side solutions in the form of upgraded drinking water facilities and water tankers during droughts are preferred by people, gram panchayats as well as zilla parishads (district councils). IWMI also did a quick assessment of the Andhra Pradesh Water and Trees Act (Narayana and Scott 2004), 14 and concluded on a similar pessimistic note. A similar exercise has been the formulation of the official Government of India Water Policy of 1987 and 2002. Both these pieces are an excellent example of bland, almost tonguein-cheek, enunciations that are not designed to change anything in any manner. 15 As a result, they have low transaction costs, but also no pay-off.Other widely espoused proposals entail high transaction costs and promise doubtful benefits -at least in the prevailing circumstances. A good example in India is the effort to introduce volumetric pricing of electricity supply to groundwater irrigators after having given up on it decades previously. It was the high transaction costs of metering over a million irrigation pump-sets -which involved installing and maintaining meters, reading them every month, billing based on metered consumption of power but, more importantly, controlling pilferage, tampering with meters with or without collusion with meter readers, etc. -that obliged State Electricity Boards (SEBs) to switch to a flat tariff during the 1970s (Shah, 1993).A flat tariff, collected based on the size of the pump horsepower rather than on the metered consumption of electricity for pumping, succeeded in reducing transaction costs of serving a market where derived demand for electricity was confined to periods of peak irrigation requirements. It would have been a viable system if SEBs had learnt to ration power supply to agriculture and gradually raise the flat tariffs to break-even levels. However, neither happened; farmer lobbies have managed all along to prevent upward revision in the flat tariff while compelling the SEBs to maintain electricity supply to the farm sector. The invidious nexus between energy and irrigationwhich has contributed to the bankruptcy of the Indian power sector and rampant over-exploitation of groundwater -has been discussed by Shah et al. (2004c). We simply summarize its conclusion here.In the thinking of SEBs and multilateral donors about ways out of this imbroglio, a return to metering power is critical, even if it means taking on farmer lobbies. Several chief ministers have tried to bite the bullet in the past few years. But farmers' opposition has been so strong, swift and strident that they have been either felled or obliged to retract. Some, as in Punjab and Tamilnadu, have done away with farm power tariff altogether. Recommending metering farm electricity in today's setting is asking politicians to do hara-kiri.But even if a politician were to succeed in metering farm power supply, it would probably change little because, if anything, transaction costs of metered power supply are much higher today than they were in the 1970s. Most states have at least eight to ten times more irrigation tube wells today than they had during the 1970s; and farming livelihoods depend far more critically on electricity today than 30 years ago. If metering must work in the India of today, we must learn from the Chinese experiments, which always stuck with metering, and then focus on modifying the incentive structures to address many of the problems metering faces in India (see Shah et al., 2004a).Surprisingly, the electricity-irrigation nexus is not a subject of discussion in China at all. The Chinese electricity supply industry operates on two principles: (i) total cost recovery in generation, transmission and distribution at each level, with some minor cross-subsidization across user groups and areas; and (ii) each user pays in proportion to their metered use. Unlike in much of South Asia, rural electricity throughout China was charged at a higher rate than urban; and agriculture paid more than domestic and industrial use until a few years ago (Wang et al., 2004).Until 1997, the responsibility for operation and maintenance of the village electricity infrastructure and user charge recovery lay with the village committee. The standard arrangement in use was for the village committee and the township electricity bureau to appoint and train one or more local farmers as part-time village electricians with dual responsibility for: (i) main-taining the power supply infrastructure in the village; and (ii) collecting user charges for a transformer assigned to him/her based on metered individual consumption from all categories of users. The sum of power use recorded in the meters attached to all irrigation pumps had to tally with the power supply recorded at the transformer for any given period. The electrician was required to pay the township electricity bureau for power use recorded at the transformer level.This arrangement did not always work easily. Where power supply infrastructure was old and worn out, line losses below the transformer made this difficult. To allow for normal line losses, a 10% allowance was given by the township electricity bureau to the electrician. However, even this must have made it difficult for the latter to tally the two; as a result, an electricity network reform programme was undertaken by the national government to modernize and rehabilitate rural power infrastructure. 16  Where this was done, line losses fell sharply, 17 and among a sample of ten villages I visited in 2003, none had a problem tallying power consumption recorded at the transformer level with the sum of consumption recorded by individual users, especially with the line loss allowance of 10%.It is interesting that the village electrician in Henan and Hebei provinces in North China is able to deliver on a fairly modest reward of US$24-30/month plus an incentive bonus of around $24/month (Zhang, 2004), which is equivalent to the value of wheat produced on 1 mu (or 0.67 ha) of land. For this rather modest wage, China's village electrician undertakes to make good to the township electricity station the full amount on line and commercial losses in excess of 10% of the power consumption recorded on the transformers; if he can manage to keep losses to less than 10%, he can keep 40% of the value of power saved. This generates a powerful incentive for him to reduce line losses.In the way that the Chinese collect metered electricity charges, it is well nigh impossible to make financial losses since these are firmly passed on downstream from one level to the next. Take, for example, the malpractice common in South Asia of end-users tampering with meters or bribing the meter reader to under-report actual consumption. In the Chinese system, it is very unlikely that such malpractices could occur on a large scale, since the village electrician is faced with serious personal loss if he fails to collect from the farmers electricity charges for at least 90% of power consumed as reported at the transformer meter. And since malpractice by a farmer directly hits other farmers in the village, there is likely to exist strong peer control over such practices.In making metered power pricing work, China's unique advantage is its strong villagelevel authority structure. The village committee, and especially, the village party leader, is respected and feared. These factors ensure that the electrician is able to do his or her job. In comparison to China's village committees, India's village Panchayats are utterly devoid of power, as well as authority, as institutions for local governance.In India a similar experiment was tried out in Orissa, where private companies in charge of distribution first experimented with village vidyut sanghas (electricity cooperatives) by forming 5500 of them but are now veering around to private entrepreneurs as electricity retailers. Mishra (2004), who carried out an assessment of Orissa reforms for the IWMI-Tata programme, visited a number of these sanghas during 2003 and noted that: 'None of the village committees were operational.' These worked as long as the support organization hired to catalyse them propped them up with constant visits and organizational work; as soon as the support organization was withdrawn, the village vidyut sanghas became defunct. Mishra (2004) wrote: 'The situation today is quite similar to that [which] existed earlier before the interventions were made through the Committee.' Sanghas having failed, power distribution companies appointed three private entrepreneurs as franchisees on terms similar to those facing China's village electricians. These have resulted in sustained and significant improvements in billing and collection of electricity dues.The Orissa experiment and the Chinese experience suggest that, in principle, it is possible to make volumetric pricing and collection of electricity charges work if private entrepreneurs are given appropriate incentives. However, in Orissa, the electricity use in agriculture is less than 5%. If the same arrangement were to work in Punjab, Haryana or Gujarat or several other states where electricity use in the farm sector is 30% or more, farmer resistance would be greater and commensurate with the effectiveness of the volumetric pricing. And one thing that private power retailers in Indian villages would have to do without is the authority of the village party leader that helps China's village electricians to firmly pass on all costs to farmers. In the absence of such authority structures, private entrepreneurs would expect very high margins to assume the role of retailing power on a volumetric basis. This -as well as farmer propensity to frustrate metering -would raise transaction costs of metering to very high levels. If the ultimate purpose of volumetric pricing is to improve the finances of electricity utilities, I doubt this purpose would be achieved.In a recent paper (Shah et al., 2004c), we have argued that, in making an impossibly bad situation better, a more practical course available to SEBs and state governments is to stay with flat tariffs but to rationalize them through intelligent management of power supply. Farmers' needs for power are different from those of households or industries: they need plentiful power on 30-40 days of the year when crops face acute moisture stress. However, in most states, they receive a constant 8-10 h/day of poor-quality power supply throughout the year. If SEBs were to invest in understanding that their farmers are customers, it should be possible for them to supply 20 h/day of good-quality power to farmers on 30-40 days of peak irrigation need while maintaining 3-4 h/day supply on other days. In order for such an approach to work, the nature and capabilities of the power utilities have to change; so also does the thinking of donors and governments.In sum, in improving the working of India's water economy, many policy and institutional interventions -already tried and watered down, or on the discussion table -are of little value because its predominantly informal nature makes its policing and enforcement costs prohibitive. India is not alone in devoting energies and resources to these.In Africa several countries have, during recent years, experimented with demand management ideas such as pricing of water, instituting water withdrawal permits and restructuring regional water departments as river basin organizations. Although it may be too early to write a report on these, countries like Ghana are already having second thoughts. The concerns are of five kinds: (i) most reforms have remained largely unimplemented, especially in the informal segments of the water economy that encompass most of the users and uses; (ii) nowhere have the reforms produced evidence of improved performance of the water economy, except in countries with a large formal water economy; (iii) implementation of reforms has disrupted customary arrangements for water management that was robust enough to, at least, survive the test of time; (iv) when zealously implemented, reforms -especially water permits and water taxes -hit poor people in remote rural areas hard; and (v) 'demand management reforms' deflected national IE players from pursuing water sector priorities important to them, namely improving water infrastructure and services to their people (Shah and van Koppen, 2005).Rather than evolving organically from the unfolding situation on the ground -and therefore being demanded by stakeholders -many of the reforms currently being pursued in India, such as Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT), River Basin Management and metering of electricity are actually promoted aggressively by both researchers and funding agencies, 18 and are sometimes out of sync with the prevailing Indian context. By far the most frequent are situations where institutional interventions proposed would yield high productivity pay-offs if successful; but they rarely succeed because of high transaction costs.In independent India's history, the 'communitarian ideal' -the notion that villagers will instantly come together to take over the responsibility of participatory, democratic management of virtually anything (land, water, watersheds, forests, irrigation systems, river basins) -has been behind innumerable abortive institutional interventions. What has helped fuel this enthusiasm for participatory irrigation management (PIM) by farmers are occasional examples of such models having worked reasonably well either in the industrialized countries or in India itself, but under the tutelage of an inspired local leader or an industrious NGO. Its having worked in a few situations in exceptional conditions becomes the basis for designs of major programmes of institutional interventions, commonly bankrolled by a supportive donor.One classic example of ideas in this genre is PIM (or its cousin IMT) which has been, for the past four decades, the ruling mantra for improving the productivity of irrigation systems in India. What is extraordinary about this preoccupation with PIM (or IMT) is the sway it has continued to hold on players in water IE, despite virtually no evidence of it having succeeded anywhere else except on an experimental scale, that too with facilitation of nonreplicable quality and scale. 19  The idea of farmers managing irrigation canals is not new; the British tried hard in the late 19th century to get farmers from the Indus and Ganges areas to participate in irrigation management but without much success, except in enforcing warabandi (rotational methods for equitable allocation of available water) in the Indus canals (Whitcombe, 1984). More recently, since 1960, WUAs (Water Users' Associations) have been tried out on small irrigation systems. Uttar Pradesh tried sinchai samitis (irrigation committees) way back in the early 1960s on irrigation tanks and reservoirs; following that, Madhya Pradesh too tried it on thousands of its minor irrigation tanks.Other states have been trying to make pani panchayats (water councils) work. But sinchai samitis of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have disappeared without trace; and so have pani panchayats in Gujarat and elsewhere. Yet, Orissa recently made a law that transferred all its minor irrigation systems to instantly created pani panchayats. Gujarat introduced joint irrigation management programmes as far back as in 1983, but the 17 irrigation cooperatives lost money and became defunct. In 1991 it made another attempt, this time around with assistance from NGOs; 144 irrigation cooperatives were formed to cover 45,000 ha of irrigated area (Shukla, 2004); however, it is difficult to see precisely in what way these areas are better off than other command areas.Indeed, a core idea of Command Area Development Agencies (CADAs) in the early 1980s was to involve farmer organizations in the management of irrigation projects. But we see no trace of CADAs or their beneficiary farmers' associations (BFAs), even in Kerala where thousands of these were formed under a 'big bang' approach in 1986. An assessment by Joseph (2001) in the late 1990s suggested that, even in this land of strong traditions of local governance, good education and high levels of public participation, BFAs were a damp squib. 20  As in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh overnight transferred the management of all its irrigation systems to over 10,000 WUAs created by the automobile company Fiat and a World Bank loan; this 'big bang' approach to PIM has attracted all-round interest; however, now that the World Bank funds retailed to WUAs for maintenance are over, field observers are beginning to wonder precisely what the WUAs are doing better (Jairath, 2001). 21  The central assumption underlying PIM/IMT is that, once irrigation management is transferred from remote bureaucracies to WUAs, the financial viability of the systems would improve and so would the quality and reliability of irrigation. Physical and value productivity of water and land would increase. As a result, irrigation systems would better achieve their potential for food and livelihood security for farmers in their command. PIM/IMT programmes have belied many of these expectations, even in countries like Turkey, Mexico and Philippines where they are known to have succeeded. As a result, early expectations from PIM/IMT have been increasingly moderated and IMT is now considered successful even if it just 'saves the government money, improves cost effectiveness of operation and maintenance while improving, or at least not weakening, the productivity of irrigated agriculture' (Vermillion, 1996, p. 153). The drift of the IMT discussion then, in recent times, has been more towards getting irrigation off the back of the governments than towards improving the lot of the farmers and the poor, the original goal at which much public irrigation investment has been directed over the past 50 years. Some over-arching patterns emerge from a reading of the international experience. IMT has tended to be smooth, relatively effortless and successful where:• The irrigation system is central to a dynamic, high-performing agriculture. • The average farm size is large enough for a typical or a significant proportion of the command area farmers to operate like agrobusinessmen.• The farm producers are linked with global input and output markets. • The costs of self-managed irrigation are an insignificant part of the gross value of product of farming.These are the conditions -all of which enhance the pay-offs, reduce transaction costs or both -obtained in Mexico, the USA and New Zealand, from where emerge the resounding success stories we hear about IMT 22 (Shah et al., 2002). In South Africa the commercial farming sector, which satisfies all these conditions, took naturally to PIM through its irrigation boards; but the same logic when applied to irrigation systems serving smallholders in former homelands met with resounding failure because these met none of the conditions that irrigation boards satisfied (Shah et al., 2002).Even where all conditions are satisfied and PIM/IMT declared 'successful', researchers have presented a mixed picture of resultant impacts. For example, an exhaustive global review carried out for IWMI of IMT impacts by Douglas Vermillion, a pioneer in IMT research, showed that impacts are significant and unambiguously beneficial in terms of cost recovery in Turkey, Mexico, the USA and New Zealand. Fee collection has improved; agency staff strength has declined. But the impact of management transfer on agricultural productivity and farm incomes is far less unequivocal even in these countries (Vermillion, 1996, p. 153). In Philippines, the Mecca of IMT and PIM, recent studies show that productivity gains from PIM have not been sustained (Panella, 1999).None of the conditions outlined above are obtained in a typical Indian surface irrigation system. Most farmers in the command have small-holdings, subdivided further into smaller parcels. A typical major system has hundreds of thousands of smallholders, making it well nigh impossible to bring them all together to negotiate. Over 90% of the surface water irrigated area in India is under field crops yielding Rs 15,000-18,000 (US$325-400)/ha of gross value of output, compared with US$3000-7500/ha in high-value farming in industrialized countries. Irrigation systems are at the heart of the farming economy of command areas. However, the mushrooming of wells and tube wells, and booming pump irrigation markets in command areas and in the neighbourhood of irrigation tanks have reduced farmers' stakes in managing surface irrigation systems. Head-reach and tail-end farmers almost always have opposing motivations when it comes to management reform, with the former interested in preserving the status quo and the latter interested in change.All these, together, raise the transaction costs of implementing management reform through PIM/IMT-type interventions. The prospects become worse because, almost everywhere, the agency's purpose in promoting PIM is to get WUAs to assume arduous responsibilities -maintenance, fee collection, mobilization of voluntary labour for repair and maintenance works, etc. Moreover, farmers are generally quick to figure out that PIM often means increased water fees without corresponding improvement in service quality. These reduce the perceived pay-offs from reform.All in all, decades invested in the hope that PIM or IMT would spearhead productivity improvements in public irrigation are decades wasted. PIM has not achieved any significant success on a meaningful scale anywhere in India, and it will indeed be a great surprise if it does in the existing IE marked by hopelessly low irrigation fees, extremely poor collection and poor main system management.There are similar institutional misadventures in other spheres. In growing regions where fluoride contamination of groundwater is endemic, governments and donors have tried setting up village-based reverse osmosis-type plants or Nalgonda-type defluoridation plants to control the growing menace of dental and skeletal fluorosis. Again, the management model chosen is communitarian, and these have invariably failed. In Gujarat, out of dozens of such plants set up during the 1980s and 1990s, not one has operated for more than a few months.An older experiment with a communitarian model has been with inland fishery cooperatives. Numerous local water bodies controlled by irrigation departments, zilla panchayats, taluka panchayats (sub-district councils) and gram panchayats can potentially sustain a vibrant inland fishing enterprise and livelihood system. However, government policy has always been to give away monopoly lease rights to registered fisher-people's cooperatives. Thousands of such cooperatives are registered; but probably a very small fraction -in my surmise, less than 1 or 2% -operate as dynamic producer cooperatives as, for instance, the dairy cooperatives do in Gujarat.In South India, which has over 300,000 irrigation tanks, a decades-old concern has been about the breakdown of traditions of maintenance of bunds and supply channels, orderly distribution of water and protection from encroachment. Several donor-supported projects first aimed at 'engineering rehabilitation' and restored tank infrastructure to their original -or even a bettercondition. However, when rehabilitation of tanks again declined and needed another round of rehabilitation, planners found something amiss in their earlier approach. Therefore, in new tank rehabilitation programmes -such as the new World Bank project in Karnataka -an institutional component is added to the engineering component. But the institutional component invariably consists of registering a WUA of command area farmers. Except where such WUAs have been constantly animated and propped up by support NGOs -as in the case of the Dhan Foundation in Madurai, Tamilnadu -it is difficult to find evidence of productivity improvements in tanks because of WUAs on any significant scale (Shah et al., 1998).Besides the problem of high transaction costs of co-coordinating, negotiating, rule making and, above all, rule enforcement and improving the management of tanks -more in North India than in South India -face some special problems. One of them is of aligning conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders. Command area farmers have a direct conflict of interest with tank-bed farmers; and well owners in the neighbourhood of tanks are a potential threat to all other users because they can virtually steal tank water by pumping from their wells. Then, there are fishing contractors whose interests also clash with those of irrigators, especially during the dry season (Shah and Raju, 2001). Registering a WUA of command area farmers and hoping that this 'institutional intervention' would increase productivity of tanks is extremely naive. Improved management of public irrigation systems, tanks and fishery represents opportunities for high pay-off but has failed to be realized because the institutional models promoted have high transaction costs.Ignored (Quadrant 1)The core of New Institutional Economics is the notion that productivity of resources in an economy is determined by technology employed and institutions. And if 'institutions affect economic performance by determining transaction and transformation (production) costs', then the Indian water sector is brimming with institutional changes occurring on the margins that are doing this all the time, and yet are either glossed over (or even frowned upon) by the players in the IE. Most such institutions we explore in this section are invariably swayambhoo 23 (self-creating and spontaneous); they have come up on a significant enough scale to permit generic lessons. These invariably involve entrepreneurial effort to reduce transaction costs; they serve an important economic purpose, improve welfare and raise productivity; they are commonly faced with an adverse or unhelpful IE. Crucially, these constitute the instrumentality of the players of the game, and sustain as long as they serve their purpose. The emergence of tube well technology has been the biggest contributor to growth in irrigation in post-independent India; and the spontaneous rise of groundwater (or, more appropriately, pump irrigation service) markets has done much to multiply the productivity and welfare impact of tube well irrigation. The Indian irrigation establishment is probably out of touch with the changing face of its playing field: it still believes that only 38% of the gross cropped area is irrigated, 55% of it by groundwater wells. But concerning the reality of Indian irrigation at the dawn of the millennium, the tail has begun wagging the dog. 24 IE in the Indian water sector has little or no interface with either the 75% of Indian irrigation occurring through tube wells or with the institution of water markets.The working of groundwater markets has now been extensively studied (see Shah, 1993;Janakarajan, 1994;Saleth, 1998;Singh and Singh, 2003;Mukherji, 2004 for a good survey of the literature). These studies analyse myriad ways in which their working differs across space and time. But common elements of groundwater markets everywhere in the Indian subcontinent are the features we listed at the start of this section: (i) they are swayambhoo; (ii) they operate on such a large scale as to account for over one-quarter of the Indian irrigated areas; (iii) water sellers everywhere constantly innovate to reduce transaction costs and create value; (iv) water markets are the instrumentality of buyers and sellers of pump irrigation service, and not of society at large or the IE; (v) as a result, water markets are unrepentant when their operation produces externalities such as groundwater depletion or drying up of wetlands; and, finally, (vi) despite their scale and significance, the IE has been blind towards the potential of water markets to achieve larger policy ends. When they take notice of their existence and role -which is seldom -water policy makers are often unable to decide whether they deserve promotion or regulation.Much the same is the case with many other water institutions. In the previous section, I mentioned tens of thousands of fishermen's cooperatives that are lying defunct. However, pond fishery entrepreneurs have sprung up everywhere who use 'paper' cooperatives as a front for operating profitable culture fisheries. Why don't fisher cooperatives exploit the economic opportunities that these contractors are able to? The most important reason is the transaction costs of protecting their crop. Culture fishery is capital intensive but affords a high yield. In common property village or irrigation tanks with multiple stakeholders, in order to remain viable the fishermen should be able to meet many conditions. They should effectively defend their rights against poachers, and against irrigators who may want to pump tank water below the sill level during dry periods to irrigate crops, or against tank-bed cultivators who want to empty the tank so they can begin sowing.In South Asia, fisher communities are commonly from the lowest rung of the village society. They would not only have difficulty in mobilizing capital to buy seedlings and manure but also in protecting the crop from poaching from outsiders, from the local bigwigs as well as from their own members. Fisher cooperatives, as a result, always underinvest. Reserving fishing contracts for fisher cooperatives is therefore the best formula for sustained low productivity of the inland fishery economy.We discovered just how high the transaction cost of protecting a fish crop was when we studied who precisely the fishing contractors were in two separate studies in central Gujarat and Bundelkhand. We found that, in both the regions, the key characteristic of people who emerged as successful fishing contractors was a painstakingly cultivated image of a toughie, or a ruffian capable of enforcing his rights even by using violence. In Bundelkhand, 'Everywhere the fishing contractors involved stopped farmers from lifting water from the tank once the last five feet of water was left. They had invested in fish production and now were making sure they get their money's worth' (Shah, 2002, p. 3).In central Gujarat, fishing contractors often have to resort to violence and even undergo a jail term to establish that they meant business when it came to defending their property right. 25 Despite this unsavoury aspect, I would not be much off the mark in suggesting that the explosive increase in inland fishery in India during the past 40 years is the result of two factors: (i) introduction of new technologies of culture fishery along with its paraphernalia; and (ii) gradual emasculation by the fishing contractors of the idealized fisher cooperatives as monopoly lease holders on water bodies. Had the cooperative ideal been enforced vigorously, India's inland fishery would not have emerged as the growth industry it is today.How changing IE policy unleashes productive forces in an economy is best illustrated by the evolution of Gujarat's inland fishery policy over the past 30 years (Pandya, 2004). Following early attempts to intensify inland fisheries during the 1940s, Gujarat Government's Fisheries Department began supporting village panchayats to undertake intensive culture fishery in village tanks during early 1960. However, the programme failed to make headway, partly because of popular resistance to fish culture in this traditionally vegetarian state and partly because of rampant poaching from local fisher-folk that village panchayats, as managers, could not control. In a modified programme, the Fisheries Department took over the management of tanks from the panchayats to raise fishery to a produce-sharing basis; but the Department was less effective than the panchayats in checking poaching. In 1973, a special notification of the Government of Gujarat transferred inland fishing rights on all water bodies, including village tanks, to the Fisheries Department, which now set about forming fishermen's cooperatives in a campaign mode. The idea was to entrust the management to the community of poachers themselves.In the Kheda district of Gujarat, for example, 27 such cooperatives were formed to undertake intensive culture fishing. However, these were none the better when it came to controlling poaching -including that by their own members; and the gross revenues could not even meet the bank loans. Members lost heart and cooperatives became defunct, a story that has been endlessly repeated in various fields in India's history of the cooperative movement. While all manner of government subsidies were on offer, what made culture fishery unviable were three factors: (i) a lease offered for only 3 years, a period considered too short to recoup the investment made; (ii) only registered cooperatives could be given a lease and the process of registration was transaction-costly; and (iii) rampant poaching and the high cost of policing and preventing it.All this time, culture fishery productivity was steadily rising. Although fisher cooperatives were not doing well, culture fishery was, as entrepreneurs began using cooperatives as a front to win leases on common property water bodies. Doing this entailed significant transaction costs; office bearers of cooperatives had to be paid off, and gram panchayat leaders kept in good humour so that the lease would be renewed. Even then, whenever a gram panchayat leadership changed, the new order would terminate the contract to favour a new contractor. This dampened the contractors' interest in investing in high productivity.In 1976, the government began setting up fish farmers' development agencies in each district to implement a new Intensive Fish Culture Programme. Terms of lease began to undergo change: private entrepreneurs were, in principle, considered for giving away leases but there was a pecking order of priority where first priority was for a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family, followed by a local poor fisherman, then a local cooperative and, if none of these were available, to any entrepreneur who bid in an open auction.Earlier, the government had paid a puny rental to the gram panchayats for using their tanks for fish culture. Now that entrepreneurs were allowed, gram panchayats began quoting an 'upset price' derived as an estimate of the 'fishing value' of the tank, which was often 20 to 30 times the rental panchayats received earlier from the Department. Even so, as soon as leases were open to entrepreneurs, many came forward. A later change in policy gave cooperatives some discount in the 'upset price' and other benefits. In general, the IE's outlook constantly remained favourable to cooperatives and suspicious of entrepreneurs. In 2003, a series of new changes in the policy framework gave a further fillip to productivity growth: the lease period was extended from 3 to 10 years, which reduced the contractors' vulnerability to changes in panchayat leadership. It also made investment in productivity enhancement attractive. The new policy also removed the last vestiges of special treatment to cooperatives, and provided for a public auction of the lease after open advertisement.During 1971-1998, the inland fishery output of Gujarat increased sixfold from 14,000 mt (metric tons) in 1971 to over 80,000 mt in 1998-1999(Government of Gujarat, 2004). Considering that Gujarat had hardly any culture fishery before 1950, it must be said that the credit for this growth rightly belongs to the government's efforts. The government invested in subsidies, organizing inputs, bringing in new technology, extension and training and much else. All these played a role in expanding the fisheries economy. However, perhaps, the most important impact has been produced by two factors: (i) the changes made at the margins in the leasing policies of water bodies that have shaped the transaction costs of setting up and operating a profitable culture fishery business; and (ii) the high costs of controlling poaching, which has ensured that, besides several entrepreneurial qualities, successful fishing contrac-tors also have to acquire and deploy muscle power.Several less sensational examples can be offered of spontaneous institutions that operate on a large scale to serve purposes for which water establishments often promote copybook institutions such as WUAs. I briefly mentioned earlier how hundreds of defunct community reverse osmosis (RO) or defluoridation plants set up by governments and donors to supply fluoride-free drinking water to village communities have failed under community management. However, in North Gujarat, as a demand curve has emerged for fluoride-free drinking water, some 300 plants selling packed desalinated water have mushroomed in the cottage sector. Over half of these have been set up since 2001, mostly in mofussil (small towns) to serve permanent customers, as well as to retail water in polythene pouches. 26  The RO cottage industry of Gujarat was quietly serving a growing demand when the 'IE' caught up with it. In 2001, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) made it compulsory for cottage RO plants to achieve the ISI mark. 27 This entailed that each plant had to invest Rs 0.3-0.4 million ($6500-8670) in an in-house laboratory and pay an annual certification fee of Rs 84,000 ($1870) to the ISI. This single move immobilized the emerging RO water cottage industry; 200 operators had to close their businesses because the new announcement doubled their cost of production. Yet, setting up an in-house laboratory and paying an annual certification fee implied no guarantee of quality assurance because BIS inspectors hardly visit plants, if ever. Many customers (Indu, 2002) interviewed wondered if the ISI mark -like the AGMARK (standardized certification for agricultural food products) ghee and honey -can by itself guarantee quality unless BIS itself put its act together in the first place.Likewise, many state governments are struggling, in vain, to cut their losses from operating mostly World Bank-funded public tube well programmes by trying to transfer these to idealized cooperatives registered under the Cooperative Act. If the purpose of a cooperative tube well is to enable a group of farmers to mobilize capital, to install and operate a tube well for the mutual benefit of members, such tube well groups have existed for decades in North Gujarat. The difference is that, having been created to serve the purpose of their members, their ownership structure and operating rules are designed to minimize the transaction costs of cooperating on a sustained basis (Shah and Bhattacharya, 1993). The Government of Gujarat tried hard to transfer its public tube wells to idealized cooperatives but, thanks to the very high transaction costs relative to the pay-off facing potential entrepreneurs, the programme made no headway until 1998 when the terms of turnover were rewritten. 28  Basically, the requirement that a cooperative be registered under the Cooperative Act was dropped; the lease period was extended from 1 to 5 years; and changes were introduced that made it possible for one or few major stakeholders to assume the role of tube well manager and residual claimant. These minor changes suddenly gave a fillip to the turnover programme and, over a 3-year period, over half of Gujarat's public tube wells, some 3500 in all, were transferred to farmer groups. An IWMI-Tata study of turned-over public tube wells (Mukherji and Kishore, 2003) showed that, within 1 year of the turnover, the performance of turned-over tube wells, in terms of area irrigated, hours of operation, quality of service, O&M and financial results improved. Two years after the turnover, it improved dramatically.In opening this section, I talked about the significance of groundwater markets in India's irrigation. However, private provision of water services is also an important part of India's urban reality. In an IWMI-Tata study of six cities -Indore, Jaipur, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai - Londhe et al. (2004) found that municipal agencies supplied only 51% of the demand calculated at 80 l per capita per day.In Chennai and Ahmedabad, formal organizations served only 10 and 26%, respectively, of the 'normative' demand, the balance being either self-supplied or served by informal sector players. 'Tanker markets' supply 21, 12 and 10% of the demand in Chennai, Indore and Jaipur, respectively. In Chennai, tanker operators have year-round operations and even have an association. In other cities, tanker markets emerge during the summer and quietly disappear as the monsoon arrives. Londhe et al. (2004) estimate that some 3000 tankers in the six cities operate a water trade worth Rs 203 crore (US$45 million)/year. Despite being key players in urban water sectors: 'There is no record with any government department about its size, scale and modus operandi. There is an absence of any government regulation on groundwater withdrawals. Except in Chennai, municipal authorities refuse to even acknowledge the existence of such markets' (Londhe et al., 2004).Tanker markets operate much like any other market, and serve those who can pay for their services. The IWMI-Tata study estimated that 51% of consumers in the six cities are from high-income groups, 43% from middle-income groups and only 6% from low-income groups. Contrary to belief that the poorest pay the most for water, the IWMI-Tata study showed that the poorest pay the least, even when transaction costs and imputed cost of labour and time in fetching water are factored in (Londhe et al., 2004).One more case of institutions that 'planners propose and people dispose' that I want to discuss briefly concerns the world-famous Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on the Narmada river. SSP must be one of the world's mostplanned projects. One of SSP's key planning premises was that the Project would construct lined canals with gated structures going right up to the village service area (VSA), comprising some 400 ha of command. A WUA would be organized in each VSA that would simultaneously construct the sub-minor and field channels to convey water from the pucca (lined minor) to the fields. When SSP water was first released to some 80,000 ha of the command just below the dam in 2001, the Project managers registered, on a war footing, WUAs as cooperatives in some 1100 VSAs. When the water was finally released, however, the villagelevel distribution structure was not ready in a single village.And it will never be, as we learnt in the course of a quick assessment of farmer preparedness to receive Narmada irrigation (Talati and Shah, 2004). The perceived sum of the transaction and transformation cost 29 of constructing village distribution systems seemed by far to outweigh the benefits people expected of SSP. There was, however, a flurry of activity as SSP water began flowing into minors.According to our quick estimates, several thousand diesel pumps and several million metres of rubber pipes were purchased by water entrepreneurs to take water to their own fields and to provide irrigation services to others.The trend for new investments in diesel pumps and rubber pipes gathered further momentum in 2002 and 2003; and we found that village communities were none the worse for having violated the SSP planning assumption. The Government of Gujarat is, however, adamant on constructing a 'proper' village distribution system in the SSP commandnever mind whether it will take 50 years to complete the canal network. 30  The swayambhoo institutions I have discussed in this section are all driven by opportunism. However, large-scale swayambhoo institutions are often driven by more complex motives including long-term, collective selfinterest. The decentralized mass movement for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge that the Saurashtra region of Gujarat saw from 1987 until 1998, when it became co-opted by the state government, is a good example of such an institutional development (Shah, 2000).The movement was catalysed first by stray experiments of 'barefoot hydrologists' in modifying open wells to collect monsoonal flood waters. Early successes fired the imagination of a people disillusioned with ineffective government programmes. Soon, well recharge was joined by other water-capture structures such as check dams and percolation tanks. With all manner of experimentation going on, a kind of subaltern hydrology of groundwater recharge developed and became energetically disseminated. Religious leaders of sects like Swadhyaya Pariwar and Swaminarayana Sampradaya ennobled this work in their public discourses by imbuing it with a larger social purpose. The gathering movement generated enormous local goodwill and released philanthropic energies on an unprecedented scale, with diamond merchants -originally from Saurashtra but now settled in Surat and Belgium -offering cash, cement companies offering cement at discounted prices and communities offering millions of days of voluntary labour.In neighbouring Rajasthan, Alwar was also undergoing similar mass action; but it was far more limited in scale, and was orchestrated by Rajendra Singh's Tarun Bharat Sangh, a grass-roots organization. Saurashtra's recharge movement was truly multicentric, unruly, spontaneous and wholly internally funded with no support from government, international donors or the scientific community -until 1998, when the Government of Gujarat became involved and proceeded to rid the movement of its quintessentially swayambhoo and voluntary character by announcing a subsidy programme (Shah, 2000;Shah and Desai, 2002).It is difficult to assess the social value of this movement, partly because 'formal hydrology' and 'popular hydrology' have failed to find a meeting ground. Scientists want check dams sited near recharge zones; villagers want them close to their wells. Scientists recommend recharge tube wells to counter the silt layer impeding recharge; farmers just direct flood water into their wells after filtering. Scientists worry about upstream-downstream externalities; farmers say everyone lives downstream. Scientists say the hard-rock aquifers have too little storage to justify the prolific growth in recharge structures; people say a check dam is worthwhile if their wells provide even 1000 m 3 of life-saving irrigation/ha in times of delayed rain. Hydrologists keep writing the obituary of the recharge movement; but the movement has spread from eastern Rajasthan to Gujarat, thence to Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Protagonists think that, with better planning and larger coverage, the decentralized recharge movement can be a major response to India's groundwater depletion problem because it can ensure that water tables in pockets of intensive use rebound to pre-development levels at the end of the monsoonal season every year they have a good monsoon.Table 5.1 offers a comparative view of a sample of six 'high pay-off-low transactioncost' institutions that have emerged in India's water sector in recent years. If we judge institutions by their contribution to increasing productivity and welfare, all six can be considered successful. Each can be found to operate on a significant scale, thus permitting generic lessons. One notable aspect is that each institution has arisen spontaneously and flourished as an instrumentality of its players, serving a purpose important to them though not necessarily of the IE players. Each has devised its own methods of reducing transaction costs and managing incentive structures. Finally, each is widely viewed in the IE -by government officials, NGOs, researchers, international experts and even local opinion leaders -as a subaltern or inferior alternative to the mainstream notion of an institution considered ideal but that has not worked on a desired scale or in a desired manner. As a result, far from recognizing the potential of these subaltern institutions to further larger social goals, the outlook has been to ignore their existence and social value, or even to emasculate them.The repertoire of institutional arrangements that operate on a large scale includes numerous 'successes' of varied types and scales produced by exceptional local leaders and industrious NGOs. By virtue of exceptional and highly scarce resources at their command -such as reputation, social status, allegiance of people, funds, goodwill, influence in the IE, skilled manpower -local leaders and NGOs are often able to drastically reduce transaction costs of fostering institutional change of a certain kind in a limited setting for a limited period. Out of hundreds of thousands of irrigation tanks in India that can produce large pay-offs from improved management, there are but a few hundred in which exceptional local leaders have established and sustained novel institutions for upkeep, maintenance, management and use of tanks to improve the welfare of the community. The IWMI-Tata Programme studied some 50 of these during 2002-2003(Sakthivadivel et al., 2004) ) and found that, while the architecture of institutions (as rules-inuse) varied from case to case, the common aspect of all successful tank institutions was a leader or a leadership compact which, by virtue of the sway they/it has over the community, is able to drastically reduce the transaction costs of enforcing an institutional arrangement that would neither work in their absence nor survive them.Successful NGOs similarly create islands of excellence by reducing transaction costs artificially and temporarily. The Sukhomajri experiment with watershed institutions in Haryana in the mid-1980s -Vilas Rao Salunke's pani panchayats in Maharashtra, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme's irrigators' association in Raj Samadhiala, Dhan Foundation's Tank User Federations, Development Support Centre's WUAs in Dharoi command in North Gujarat, community-managed tube wells that came up in Vaishali and Deoria in Eastern UP, Anna Hazare's Ralegaon Shiddi, Rajendra Singh's profusion of johads in Thanagazi, Alwar district, Chaitanya's conversion of irrigation tanks into percolation tanks in Rayalaseema -all these are examples. That the transaction cost reduction in all these was artificial is indicated by the absence of spontaneous lateral expansion/replication of these experiments despite the high pay-offs they are seen to have produced. That it was temporary is evident in that many of these institutions disappeared, stagnated or declined once the 'transaction cost reducer' was removed from the scene, as in Sukhomajri, Salunke's pani panchayats and others.A more important source of ideas -than the NGO-inspired islands of excellence -about what institutional change should occur and can sustain are the swayambhoo institutions that have already emerged and are thriving, as we explored earlier in the section under Vibrant Institutional Arrangements Ignored (Quadrant 1). These have found ways of reducing transaction costs in ways that are more natural, enduring and upscalable. This is evident in that these institutions multiply on their own, and are able to sustain and grow as long as they serve purposes important to the participants in the transactions. In my understanding, these offer six useful lessons (given under the following six headings) about how to make institutional change work in the Indian water sector.The first, and most obvious, is that institutional change which multiplies and sustains is invariably an instrument of the exchange of participants, and not of the players in the IE who often design institutional interventions. 'Opportunism with guile' is the driving force, even when high ideals and social goals are laboriously espoused as raison d'être. Trite as it may sound, design of incentive structures is amongst the most commonly ignored aspects in most institutional development programmes. Ideas like community-based groundwater demand management propose organizing cooperatives whose sole task would be to persuade their members to reduce their farming and incomes. Similarly, programmes to revive traditional community management of tanks commonly overlook the performance-based rewards offered to neerkattis (tank water distributors appointed by command area farmers) and focus primarily on generating voluntary contributions of time and effort for the greater good of the community. For institutional change to work it must serve a private purpose important to agents involved; otherwise, they will withhold participation or even work to defeat it.Institutions fail to emerge to take advantage of high-pay-off situations often because incentives are diffuse or even perverse, but the transaction costs of implementing change are concentrated in one or a few persons. In fishermen's cooperatives I discussed earlier, members faced perverse incentives: the cooperative stocked the pond but members stole the catch. The secretary had no incentive to make enemies by stopping poachers. When incentives became concentrated in the contractor as the residual claimant, he was willing to control poaching and invest in higher productivity. Gujarat's public tube wells had no takers until the opportunity arose for incentive concentration. That only a fraction of the surplus created by management improvement needs to be concentrated in the manager as a reward was shown 40 years ago by Amartya Sen (1966). In traditional tank institutions in South India, only a portion of the surplus output was offered to the neerkatti, who absorbed the bulk of the transaction cost of orderly distribution of tank water.This principle is at the heart of irrigation reforms in China. Except where traditional PIM/IMT is supported by a donor loan, China's strategy of making canal irrigation productive and viable consists of changing the incentive structure facing the 'ditch manager' (Shah et al., 2004a;Wang et al., 2005). A pre-specified volume of water is released into a reservoir and is charged for at a certain volumetric rate. The reservoir manager's remuneration includes a fixed component and a variable component, the latter increasing with the area irrigated from the same total volume of water. Like the Chinese village electrician who is able to perform a high transaction-cost role for a fairly modest reward, the ditch manager too is able to improve water productivity for a modest bonus, if recent studies are any guide (Shah et al., 2004a).Experimenting with the Indian equivalents of Chinese village electricians and ditch managers would be an interesting study. From the transaction cost viewpoint, however, there are two key differences between the Chinese and South Asian villages: first, the Chinese in general, thanks perhaps to the Confucian ethics, are more respectful to State authority compared with South Asians. Secondly, and more importantly, the village committees and the village party leader in a Chinese village enjoy far greater power and authority in the village society compared with India's gram panchayats and sarpanch. This has great implications for transaction costs. North (1990) suggests that: ' … institutional setting depends on the effectiveness of enforcement. Enforcement is carried out by first party (self-imposed codes of conduct), by second party (retaliation), and/or by a third party (societal sanctions or coercive enforcement by state).' Transaction costs facing an institutional change are determined by the ease of enforcement. A Chinese village electrician or ditch manager backed by the village committee and party leader can enforce the new rules by both retaliation and recourse to coercion through the party leader.In India, by contrast, Orissa's model of franchisees for rural billing and collection of electricity bills has attracted many entrepreneurs whose core competence is represented by their muscle power (Panda, 2002), because they have no effective local authority to either discipline them or to which they can turn to in order to defend their rights. For the same reasons, a typical culture fishery contractor has recourse only to retaliation to enforce his property right against a poacher. The high transaction cost of second-party enforcement of rules is perhaps the prime reason why entrepreneurs fail to come forward to make a business out of operating a canal or tank irrigation system.Catalysing effective local IAs is then a matter not only of designing appropriate incentive structures that entice entrepreneurs to undertake activities with a high pay-off but also of putting into place community sanction or authority structures that: (i) enforce his/her right to do so; and (ii) establish the boundaries within which he or she operates.Here is where a community organization has a role in providing legitimacy or sanction and boundary to a service provider, thereby reducing his/her transaction cost of self-enforcement of rules. It is difficult to overemphasize this point, which is commonly overlooked in programmes of creating participatory institutions. In the muchacclaimed traditional tank management institutions, all tank management was carried out not by the community but by the neerkatti, who had the sanction and legitimacy given by the community and a reward for services that was linked to the benefits they produced for the community. A self-appointed neerkatti would find it impossible to enforce rules of water distribution amongst ayacut (command area) farmers.A recent study of neerkattis by the Dhan Foundation shows that, for various reasons, many tank communities have begun withholding their sanction and questioning the legitimacy of the role neerkattis have played for centuries; as a result, the institution of neerkattis has begun to decline (Seenivasan, 2003). However, in those few tanks where we find traditional community management still working, it becomes evident that it worked through a clear specification of the 'governance' role of the community organization and the community-sanctioned, well-defined 'management' role of the neerkatti, a service provider whose rewards were linked to his performance. 31  The value of this lesson for improving the quality of 'social engineering' is evident in the Gujarat government's public tube well transfer programme; after getting nowhere for a decade, it suddenly took off the moment entrepreneurial service providers were offered concentrated incentives coupled with some legitimacy and sanction for undertaking service provision. On these counts, I predict that such service providers have failed to come forward to provide improved water distribution in surface irrigation projects because neither concentrated incentives nor legitimacy and sanction are on offer for local entrepreneurs who would contemplate taking up such roles. Equally, the entrepreneurial service provider model toosuch as the culture fishery contractor -operating without the sanction, legitimacy and boundary provided by a community organization is bound to be fragile.Finally, the IE can have a profound impact on what kind of IAs are promoted or discouraged, and what welfare and productivity impacts these produce (Mansuri and Rao, 2004); however, they do not have such impact because often they neither understand their working nor how to influence it. Informal pump irrigation markets, the fishing contractor and a decentralized groundwater recharge movement 32 are spontaneous and seemingly autonomous; but each of these is amenable to strong positive or negative influence from the IE.Gujarat's cottage RO industry fell in a single swoop of the Bureau of Indian Standards; and the working of pump irrigation markets can change overnight if policies related to electricity pricing and supply to the farm sector were to change (Shah et al., 2004c). Gujarat's Public Tube Well Transfer programme ploughed along without success for a decade and then suddenly took off because an actor in the IE changed the key rules of the game. And the culture fishery contractor faced drastic reduction in his transaction costs of doing business when the leasing policy for water bodies was changed at the instance of some actor in the IE. How well actors in the IE understand extant and potential institutions, their net welfare and productivity impacts and their backward and forward linkages determines how much they can influence or manage them.According to North (1990), institutional change is inherently incremental and path-dependent. It invariably grows out of its context; transposing institutional models that have worked in other, different contexts therefore seldom works in catalysing institutional change. India's state governments would probably have found it easier to manage metered electricity supply to farmers had they stayed engaged with the problems of metering rather than abandoning it the 1970s. Now that they face a huge groundwater economy based on the 'path' of flat tariff, their here-and-now options for change are tied to this path. The notion of 'path-dependence' has particular relevance to popular institutional notions, such as the Integrated River Basin Management, which have worked in highly formalized water economies in recent years. It is doubtful whether such models would work in the same way in the Indian situation, simply because by far the bulk of the Indian water economy is informal and outside the direct ambit of the IE.A reader who comes to this stage of this chapter will surely remark, as did John Briscoe, World Bank's Asia Water Advisor: 'But I find very little in the chapter that would help me if I am a Secretary for Water in Gujarat, or in the Government of India, for that matter …' This response is entirely understandable; however, on the contrary, this analysis does offer useful advice for action that should always focus on the 'art of the possible'. Allan (2001) has wisely suggested that: 'The mark of effective research, advice and policy making is the capacity of those involved to know the difference between what \"should\" be done, and what \"can\" be done. This can be expressed in another way as awareness of \"when\" what \"should\" be done, \"will be able\" to be done'.The upshot of this chapter is that all the things that a Secretary of Water Resources at the state or federal level is enjoined to do by the current discourse to promote improved demand management -imposing price on water resources (rather than water service), enforcing a groundwater law, making water the property of the state and stopping unlawful diversion from nature, instituting water withdrawal permits and assigning water entitlements, managing water at river basin levelwould be well nigh impossible to implement on any meaningful scale in a predominantly informal water economy such as that of India. Instead, governments of low-income countries should focus their effort on areas where they can produce significant impacts, which in my view are four (given under the following four headings):This already is a high priority and will remain so for a long time, even as opinion in the rich world is turning against investments in certain kinds of water infrastructure such as irrigation projects. There are several issues to be addressed such as mobilizing capital, improving the coverage of user households -especially from poorer classes, cost recovery, and so on. The point of attack, however, is the performance of public systems, which has tended to be abysmally low, be it irrigation systems or water supply and sanitation systems.Public systems' performance often responds strongly to demand for better performance not from users but from administrative or political leadership; however, such performance gains are transient, and become dissipated when demand slackens. To achieve sustainable performance improvements, institutional innovations are needed that restructure incentives and reduce transaction costs.In its enthusiasm for direct management of water demand -through pricing, rights and entitlements, laws and regulations -the current discourse is overlooking numerous opportunities to achieve comparable aims using indirect instruments. True, the Secretary of Water can do little to manage water demand directly. However, in the particular situation of India, the Secretary of Energy controlling the State Electricity Board can do a great deal for groundwater demand management, through pricing and rationing of electricity to tube wells.Finally, pricing and full cost recovery, tight water law and regulations, and water rights and entitlements are definitely indicated in the predominantly formal segments of the water economy. These are to be found in cities, excluding the slums and shanty towns; and in the industrial sector where users are large and easily identifiable. It will probably take Delhi and Mumbai years before they can establish a water supply and sanitation system that can match those of Abidjan or Tunis. However, given increasing political support for management reforms, India's cities -especially, high net-worth cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore -offer by far the most fertile ground for water IE and urban governance systems for the introduction of global best practices in urban water supply and sanitation systems. In summary, then, how formal a country's water economy is determines what kind of policy and institutional interventions are appropriate to it. In a predominantly informal water economy, where self-supply is the rule and water diversion from nature is everybody's business, regulating the actions of all water diverters is extremely costly in terms of search, information, policing and enforcement costs. As a water economy formalizes, self-supply declines and a few, visible, formal entities specialize in diverting, processing and distributing water to users; in such an economy, the range of things public policy makers can do to improve water demand management becomes much larger. The pace of formalization of a water economy is a natural response to overall economic growth and transformation of a society. This pace can be forced to a limited degree by an authoritarian state or by investment in water infrastructure and services management. However, unless this process keeps pace with what the market can bear, it will face sustainability problems.The current global water policy discourse focusing on direct demand management is misleading in two ways for developing countries like India with a highly informal water economy: (i) it is enjoining it to institute policy and institutional reforms that are good in principle but present insurmountable implementation difficulties; and (ii) in contrast, it is deflecting attention away from things that need and can be done with a better understanding of the working of the water economy, warts and all.1 Formal and informal economies are a matter of elaborate study in institutional economics. Fiege (1990) summarizes a variety of notions of informality deployed by different researchers.According to Weeks (1975), cited in Fiege (1990, footnote 6): 'The distinction between a formal and informal sector is based on the organizational characteristics of exchange relationships and the position of economic activity vis-à-vis the State.Basically, the formal sector includes government activity itself and those enterprises in the private sector which are officially recognized, fostered, nurtured and regulated by the State. Operations in the informal sector are characterized by the absence of such benefits.' According to Portes et al. (1987, cited in Fiege, 1990, footnote 6): 'The informal sector can be defined as the sum total of income-generating activities outside the modern contractual relationships of production.' According to Portes andSaassen-Koo (1987, cited in Fiege, 1990, footnote 6), in the formal sector activities are 'not intrinsically illegal but in which production and exchange escape legal regulation'. To most researchers, an informal economy is marked by the 'absence of official regulation' or 'official status'. 2 In most countries, the proportion of water use in the informal sector would move in tandem with the proportion of water users. However, in countries marked by high levels of income inequalitysuch as South Africa or Brazil -this would not be the case. In South Africa, for instance, 95% of the water diversion and use are in the formal sector but over 99% of the users are in the informal sector.T. Shah  North (1990) defines the transaction sector as:'that part of transactions that goes through the market and therefore can be measured' and, according to him, rapid growth in the transaction sector is at the heart of the transformation of a traditional economy into a modern one. 5 The survey estimated that approximately 36% of all rural households (which include farmers, farm labourers and households dependent on off-farm livelihoods) used some means of irrigation. Of these, 13.3% (i.e. 37% of irrigators) used their own source (well/tube well  11 A charismatic and energetic political or bureaucratic leader does often produce significant attitude and behaviour changes; however, these generally fail to last for long after the leader has been removed from the scene. In this sense, such change is not enduring. 12 Because the law did not apply to anyone who diverted less than 1030 m 3 of water/year. 13 Anil Shah, an illustrious former bureaucrat of the Government of Gujarat, fondly tells the story about Gujarat's groundwater bill, which was passed by the assembly in 1973. When the Chief Minister was required to sign it into the government gazette, he refused to do so because it required that every irrigation well be registered. His curt response to Mr Shah was: 'Can you imagine that as soon as this bill becomes a law, every talati (village-level revenue official) will have one more means at his disposal to extract bribes from farmers?' This is the reason there are no takers for the draft Groundwater Bill that the Ministry of Water Resources of Government of India has been tossing around to states since 1970. 14 The Andhra Pradesh law tried harder to come to grips with rampant groundwater over-exploitation in Andhra Pradesh by emphasizing the registration of wells and drilling agencies and stipulating punitive measures for non-compliance. 15 The 1987 Water Policy to Saleth (2004, p. 29) is '… such a simple non-binding policy statement'. 16 Although the Network Reform Programme is a National Government programme, the government contributes only a part of the resources, the balance being contributed by the village committee. Just to give an example, Guantun village in Yanjin County of Henan got a grant of Y60,000 (US$1.00 = Y8.33) under this project for infrastructural rehabilitation. To match this, the village also contributed Y60,000; of this, 60% came from the funds from the village collective, while the remaining 40% was raised as farmer contributions by charging Y80 per person. All the power lines and other infrastructure were rehabilitated during recent years under this national programme. New meters were purchased by the township in bulk and installed in users' homes on a cost-recovery basis. A system of monitoring meters was installed too. 17 The village electrician's reward system encourages him/her to exert pressures to achieve greater efficiency by cutting line losses. In Dong Wang Nnu village in Ci County, Hebei Province, the village committee's single large transformer that served both domestic and agricultural connections caused heavy line losses, at 22-25%. Once the Network Reform Programme began, he pressurized the village committee to sell the old transformer to the county electricity bureau and raise Y10,000 (partly by collecting a levy of Y25 per family and partly by a contribution from the village development fund) to acquire two new transformers, one for domestic connections and the other for pumps. Since then, power losses here have fallen to the permissible 12%. 18 Saleth (2004, p. 30)   Mansuri and Rao (2004) have reviewed a much larger body of evidence from several sectors to assess the extent to which community-based and community-driven development projects for poverty alleviation were effective, and have concluded that: (i) these have not been particularly successful in targeting the poor; (ii) there is no evidence to suggest that participatory elements and processes lead to improved project outcomes and qualities; (iii) community-based development is not necessarily empowering in practice; and (iv) 'There is virtually no reliable evidence on community participation projects actually increasing a community's capacity for collective action' (p. 31). 22 Even in middle-income countries, huge inequalities in landholdings seem to have helped IMT. In the Andean region of Colombia where IMT has succeeded, according to Ramirez and Vargas (1999), farmers 'mostly grow crops oriented to the external markets, mainly banana and oil palm'; and while 66% of the farms have 5 ha or less, 40.3% of the land is owned by 2.8% of large farmers owning 50 ha or more. In South Africa, numerous Irrigation Boards -WUAs par excellencehave managed irrigation systems successfully for a long time; but their members are all large, white commercial farmers operating highly successful citrus and wine orchards. In Turkey, 40% of the irrigated area was in 5-20 ha holdings with a strong focus on high-value commercial crops for export to Europe. Here in Turkey, it can be argued, IMT has succeeded because, as with South African irrigation boards, in many respects there was already a 40-year old tradition of farmer participation in the maintenance of the canal system through an informal, village-level organization. Equally, irrigation fees under self-management in Turkey were 2% or less of the value of production per ha, 3.5% or less of total variable cost of cultivation and less than 6% of gross margin (Svendsen and Nott, 1997). 23 Sanskrit for self-creating or spontaneous. 24 A large survey, covering over 48,000 farming households throughout India during January-June 1998, suggested that over 66% of India's Gross Cropped Area under the five most important field crops (which account for over 90% of the Gross Cropped Area) is irrigated; only one-quarter of irrigated area is served by government canals. Amongst other interesting things it suggests that every fourth Indian farming household probably owns a diesel or electric pump; and the area irrigated through groundwater markets is as large as the area irrigated by all government canals (NSSO, 1999b). 25 As North (1990) aptly notes: 'If the highest rates of return in a society are to piracy, the organizations will invest in knowledge and skills that will make them better pirates; if the pay offs are … to increase productivity, they will invest in skills and knowledge to achieve that objective.' 26 An IWMI-Tata study (Indu, 2002, unpublished report) surveyed a sample of 14 such plants that served 4890 households. Reverse osmosis (RO) water in 10 and 20 l cans is delivered daily at the customer's door step; charges are levied on an annual basis (Rs 1500 (US$33) for a 10 l can daily; Rs 2500 (US$55) for a 20 l can). Plant capacities vary from 500 to 2000 l/h. In addition, most plants also retail RO water in pouches at bus stops, railway stations and crossings and market places. Consumers of pouches are typically lowincome buyers; retailers are also poor youth working on commission. In sum, this institution serves a demand by transforming 800-2000 ppm TDS water into 150-300 ppm TDS water, and fluoride levels reduced to 0.25-0.50 mg/l. People had no way of ascertaining the quality, but 60 customers surveyed by Indu (2004, unpublished report) asserted that the taste of RO water was distinct. Many also claimed relief from the pain of skeletal fluorosis after adopting RO water. 27 The seal of the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), the national agency for quality control in all manufactured products.28 Registering a cooperative itself meant a great hassle and cost in time and money. The policy also required that two-thirds of the command area farmers submit a written no-objection declaration for the transfer; past defaulters on water fees must first pay up their dues. In addition, several conditions specified that the violation of any of those would qualify the government to reclaim the tube well. 29 Transformation cost would include the cost of labour and material in creating a lined sub-minor and field channels plus the cost of acquiring land.Transaction cost would basically involve persuading farmers to give up their land for making channels and to give right of way to carrying water to downstream farmers. 30 In the North Krishna basin in western Maharashtra, a similar groundswell of numerous private irrigation service providers has created an institutional dynamic that challenges orthodox notions of how irrigation systems should be designed. The Bachawat tribunal's decision on the division of Krishna water between Maharashtra and Karnataka made Maharashtra's share contingent upon the amount of water it could develop and use by 2006.To maximize its share, the Government of Maharashtra went on a reservoir-building spree.Strapped of funds, it chose not to build canal systems; instead, it encouraged private entrepreneurs to set up numerous lift irrigation systems.In the command of one such small reservoir, Padhiari (2005) found 1200 such private irrigation service providers serving an area larger than was originally designed to be commanded. These entrepreneurs resolved most key problems that canal irrigation faces in India: while most canal projects are unable to collect even 3-5% of the gross value of crop output they help farmers produce, private service providers in the Upper Krishna basin regularly collect 25% as irrigation charge. All in all, in the smooth management of the tank, the neerkatti plays the pivotal management role; he is the operating system of the institution; the CoE, mostly invisible and unobtrusive, vests in him the authority and sanction to play that role on behalf of all the members. A tank management institution without a CoE or the neerkatti would be a far lesser institution. 32 In the Vadodara district, several leases given to fishing contractors were withdrawn because the communities rejected the contractors. In one case, for instance, the contractor used dead animals as manure, a practice that offended the community. In another, the chemical fertilizers used by the contractor ended up in a drinking water well within the tank foreshore; when this was discovered, the village refused to renew the lease. Such aberrations would not occur if the contractor had to obtain the legitimacy and sanction of the community to operate.T. Shah","tokenCount":"16143"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9000513997.json b/data/part_1/9000513997.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df2200ff5f354337b18507cd72b6ea743cc09b3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9000513997.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"17ace5cb3bc11c5e984c9d64863b2977","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/77092566-876d-4fdc-b8c9-f8843675b9d1/retrieve","id":"-2135922872"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"70bcba9b-c06f-4ee0-b47c-bf0c200febf7","pagecount":"42","content":"Recognizes that adaptation is a global challenge faced by all with local, subnational, national, regional and international dimensions, and that is a key component of and makes a contribution to the long-term global response to climate change to protect people, livelihoods and ecosystems, taking into account the urgent and immediate needs of those developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Priority mitigation activities include (but not limited to these) ; ❑ Increasing of renewables in the electricity generation mix of the national grid.❑ Enhancement of energy and resource efficiency across the different sectors.❑ Make progress towards achieving a tree cover of at least 10% of the land area of Kenya ❑ Clean, efficient and sustainable energy technologies to reduce overreliance on fossil and non-sustainable biomass fuels.❑ Low carbon and efficient transportation systems. Carbon footprint -the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.Carbon sequestration -The capturing, removal and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the earth's atmosphere. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate changeCarbon cycle -constant movement of carbon from the land and water through the atmosphere and living organisms, which is important for earth's processesCarbon sink -Reservoirs that retain carbon and keep it from entering Earth's atmosphere.o ","tokenCount":"233"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9027212505.json b/data/part_1/9027212505.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1078ced5238c7cc6fcb7c2c36efee0ecbf6a06cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9027212505.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3a55bb87462bb2a34199cc46af2f0836","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1d46092a-2ac0-4c2e-a67e-c3725c588929/retrieve","id":"1199482923"},"keywords":["Adeola","A.A.","Bakare","H.A.","Bamgbose","O.O.","Obadina","A.O.","Afolabi","W.A.O.","2 5 3 6 Adegunwa","M.O.","Akerele","R.A.","Otesile","I. and Alamu","E Storage","Biscuit","Breadfruit","Edible fish meal","Wheat"],"sieverID":"d23d66c7-4afc-46e1-87aa-479425e0c05a","pagecount":"12","content":"The use of indigenous crops in the preparation of nutritious snacks such as biscuits has been reported as a means of alleviating the perennial problem of malnutrition among Nigerians, especially children. However, storage has been recognised as a factor affecting the attributes of these biscuits. This study investigated the quality changes of biscuit produced from fish meal enriched-composite flour of breadfruit and wheat. Freshly harvested seedless variety of breadfruit, matured catfish, wheat flour and other ingredients were procured from local outlets in Ogun State, Nigeria. Breadfruit flour (BF) was produced by washing, manual peeling, washing, grating, bagging, dewatering, pulverizing and drying. Edible fish meal (EFM) was produced by washing, eviscerating, steaming and drying Catfish. Five blends of BF, WF and EFM were obtained from the optimised solutions of the D-optimal mixture design. Samples were stored (HDPE; 28 ± 2 °C) for 12 weeks. The proximate and mineral compositions, rancidity, texture profile and microbial counts of the biscuits were determined. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and independent sample t-test. The means from ANOVA were separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test at p ≤ 0.05. At the end of the storage period, the biscuit blends were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different in moisture, protein, fat, fibre, ash, carbohydrate, calcium, iron and zinc. Increased levels of EFM in the blends led to increase in protein, fat, calcium, peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acid (FFA) value of the biscuits. At the end of the storage period, moisture increased, while fat decreased. The PV and FFA of most samples increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with storage, and were within the maximum permissible level. Total bacterial and mould counts also increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) and exceeded the permissible level after 4 weeks of storage. Hence, the biscuits are suitable for consumption within 4 weeks under the investigated storage conditions.Biscuits are one of the mostly eaten bakery products by all age groups, especially children. They are readily available, affordable and have a long shelf life (Klunklin and Savage, 2018). They are also ready-to-eat, widely consumed snack with good eating quality (Hasmadi et al., 2014;Adeola and Ohizua, 2018) and can be more readily produced from composite flour than bread. Wheat flour is a common ingredient in biscuit making. However, wheat flour lacks some essential amino acids such as lysine, tryptophan and threonine which are required by school age children who are the major consumers of biscuit (Gayas et al., 2012). It is also necessary to explore the use of non-wheat adjuncts in biscuit making. Nigeria's wheat imports may grow at 5 per cent per annum and the country could be importing as much as 10mmt per annum by 2030 (AEGIC, 2015). Incorporation of non-wheat adjuncts that can play complementary roles in reducing protein energy malnutrition and having potentials to alleviate associated social problems is therefore highly desirable in biscuit production. Breadfruit is an underutilized indigenous crop in Nigeria with less competing uses (Bakare et al., 2012;Bakare et al., 2014). It has also been reported to be good source of fibre, calcium, magnesium thiamine and niacin (Ragone, 2003). It has greater yield per tree per year that can be sustained for many years; an averagesized tree reportedly produced 400 to 600 fruits per year. Its horticultural features can also be explored at household level to mitigate the effect of climate change in addition to its economic advantage. Breadfruit is enzyme active even during processing to flour. It is therefore necessary to improve the quality of its flour by modifying processing procedure and reducing processing time.Fish is an important source of high quality protein (Ohen and Abang, 2007), providing about 16% of animal protein consumed by the world's population (FAO, 1997). It provides 40% of the dietary intake of animal protein of the average Nigerian (Federal Department of Fisheries, 1997). It also supplies essential amino acids such as lysine and methionine that are deficient in plant protein (Tibaldi et al., 2015). Catfish is highly nourishing (contains lysine and vitamin A that is necessary for healthy growth). It contains some quantities of calcium, phosphorus, fat and other nutrients needed for human growth and health (Kwasek et al., 2020). Catfish is a major source of protein to an average Nigerian home. Catfish farming is presently undertaken by a large number of people especially the small-scale farmers in Nigeria (Kareem et al., 2008) who needed to be encouraged by expanding the value addition chain for their product. Fish has been used in different forms (concentrate, powder, fillet, etc.) in biscuit production (Ibrahim, 2009;Mohamed et al., 2014;Abou-Zaid and Mohamed, 2014;Abraha et al., 2018). However, its use as means of nutritional enrichment presents storage stability problems (Mohamed et al., 2014) that need to be monitored along with other technological challenges associated with product development efforts in biscuit making.Herb and spice have been incorporated into biscuit making recipes (Manley, 1983). This may have been as a result of changes in food habits of different countries, appreciation of the phytochemical functionality of its nutraceuticals, and phenolic constituents (Bakare et al., 2016). African and Asian countries are phyto-active in their dietary practices. Development of biscuits with spicy characteristics for segments of such market would therefore not be unusual. Spices contain important antioxidant properties that are useful to human health, extend shelf life of food product and also reduce the level of microorganisms in food items (Klunklin and Savage, 2018).Storage is an important aspect in the production, distribution and consumption of food products, as it causes changes in their quality attributes (Chowdhury et al., 2012;Nagi et al., 2012;Olunlade et al., 2013;Rios et al., 2014;Godase et al., 2020). Development of nutritionally enriched biscuits may therefore require the profiling of some of its microbiological characteristics and chemical indices that may affect its stability during storage. This study evaluated the effects of storage period on some quality attributes of biscuit produced from the blends of Improved Quality Breadfruit Flour (IQBF), wheat flour (WF), Edible Fish Meal (EFM) that were formulated from predicted optimised solutions of D-optimal mixture design. Specifically, it monitored the proximate, some mineral (calcium, iron, zinc), microbiological quality of the biscuit during storage, some of its index of rancidity (peroxide value, free fatty acid value) and textural properties.About 600 pieces of freshly harvested seedless variety of Breadfruit (Artocarpus communis Forst) and matured Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were procured from farms in Idiroko and Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria respectively. The Honeywell brand of wheat flour (WF) and other ingredients were obtained from shops in Abeokuta.This study was part of an earlier experiment (Bakare et al., 2020) where the nutritional and other technological qualities of biscuit were profiled and predictions about possible optimisation solutions were made. The predicted solutions were validated by producing five new formulated samples of biscuits on the basis of the optimized solutions and subjected to storage studies. Changes that were monitored during the 12-week storage period were proximate (moisture content, crude protein, fat, fibre, total ash, carbohydrate), some mineral (calcium, iron, zinc), microbiological (total bacterial and mould counts) qualities, textural properties and rancidity (peroxide value, free fatty acid value) profile of the biscuit. Earlier in the study, D-optimal experimental design was used to show the effects of each component {Improved Quality Breadfruit Flour (IQBF), wheat flour (WF) and Edible EFM (EFM)} of the blends of flour on biscuit quality. The design consist of sixteen (16) sets of experimental runs with five replications at the central point, which allows for estimation of pure error sum of squares. The coded and actual variables at the three levels (-1, 0 and +1) in which attributes of each of the factors {IQBF (60.00, 80.00 and 100), WF (0.00, 20.00 and 40.00) and EFM (0.00, 20.00 and 40.00)} at high, central and low levels were chosen based on preliminary experiments. Fitness of each of the models were analysed to identify the model that can best be used as a response predictor. The models were assessed for their adequacy for the experimental conditions and significant terms in each of the models were identified and numeric optimisation of the mixture blends done on the basis of set targets. The five optimised predicted solutions from the study thus served as the baseline for this storage study.A modified method of Bakare et al. (2012) was used to produce IQBF. The production was done within 24hrs of harvest. The method of production involved washing, manual peeling, washing, grating, bagging, dewatering, and pulverizing. Drying of the pulverized mash was done in a flash dryer (Nobex Flash dryer, Nobex Technical Company Limited, Idimu Lagos, Nigeria) with the following conditions; loading time, tube temperature, and inlet air temperature were 10 min, 180°C and 200°C respectively. On the other hand, the feed moisture content, density and rate were 45%, 1,380 3 kg/m and 820 kg/hr respectively. The powder was allowed to settle and discharge at every 10min. Milling of the dried breadfruit was done using a locally fabricated hammer mill, sieved (W.S. Tyler, 8570 Blvd, Mentor, OH, United States) through a 250-μm mesh sieve, and sealed in polythene bags prior to analyses.Formulated Instant Spice mixture (ISM) was prepared as described by Bakare et al. (2016). and added to confer flavour and functionality properties on the biscuit.EFM was produced as described by Bakare et al. (2020), with some modifications. About 500g Catfish was washed, eviscerated, steamed at 95°C for 25min, and dried in forced convectional air dryer [Nexus, NX-AF3100(2), Deekay Group (Nig.) Ltd, Nigeria] at 180°C for 45min and pressed. The dried catfish was left to cool, milled to powdery form using locally fabricated Hammer mill, sieved (W.S. Tyler, 8570 Blvd, Mentor, OH, United States) through a 250-μm mesh sieve, packed in an airtight container, and stored for subsequent use.The IQBF, WF and EFM flours were blended as presented in Table 1.  The biscuit was produced as described by Manley (1983) and modified by Bakare et al. (2014). The biscuit recipe (%) includes: blends of flour (63.5), sugar (12.7), fat (15.9), invert syrup (6.35), sodium bicarbonate (0.5), baking powder (0.5), and ISM (0.6).All analyses were performed in triplicates. Moisture (AOAC method 950.46B), ash (AOAC method 920.153), protein (AOAC method 955.04), and lipid (AOAC method 991.36) contents were determined according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists procedures (AOAC, 2012). Carbohydrate levels were calculated by the equation: % carbohydrates = 100% − (% moisture + % protein + % ash + % lipid). Crude fibre content of flour was determined by trichloroacetic acid method as described by Entwisted and Hunter (1949). Mineral content of the biscuit samples was determined using the method described by Adeniji and Tenkouano (2008). In the analysis, 1g of sample was weighed into a pyrex glass conical flask and 10ml of concentrated nitric acid was introduced into the flask with a straight pipette, then 5ml of perchloric acid was also added. The mixture was heated until a clear digest was obtained, then the digest was cooled to room temperature and diluted to 50ml with distilled water.The diluent was filtered into a plastic vial for atomic absorbance spectrophotometer analysis. The free fatty acid (FFA) content of oil was determined by dissolving the test sample (1g) in 1:1v/v ethyl alcohol and titrated with potassium hydroxide (0.1N) using phenolphthalein indicator. Blank sample was subjected to similar treatment and FFA calculated thus;Where:V-Volume of KOH utilized by sample, B-Volume for blank and N-Normality of KOHThe texture of the biscuits was determined as described by Bakare et al. (2020) using the Universal testing machine (model M500-100AT, Testometric, England). The parameter measured were hardness, chewiness, gumminess, cohesiveness, springiness, stringiness, and force at the peak, deformation at the peak, energy to peak, adhesiveness and energy to break.Aerobic colonies in the biscuits during storage; bacterial, yeast and total mould counts were carried out using the method described by Rinku et al. (2017). The stock solution of the biscuit was prepared by dissolving 1g of sample into 9ml distilled water and allowed to stand for 30min and serial dilution was made for each sample. Nutrient (7g) and potato dextrose agar (10g) were weighed separately and suspended in 250ml of distilled water and then autoclaved at 121°C for 15min.It was allowed to cool to about 45-50°C before pouring into sterile petri dishes. One milliliter of appropriate dilution was pipetted into sterile petri dishes and sterile agar was poured, rocked and allowed to gel before incubating at 37°C for 24h. The bacterial and fungal colonies were counted and recorded in colony-forming unit (cfu/g).Prepared biscuits were packed and kept under ambient conditions (28 ± 2 °C). The moisture content, peroxide value, free fatty acid and microbial quality were monitored at 2 weeks interval over the period of 12 weeks, while the proximate and mineral composition th and texture profile were measured at zero and 12 week of storage.Data on the various responses were subjected to independent sample t-test and analysis of variance.Differences between mean values were separated using a Duncan multiple range test (Duncan, 1955) using the statistical analysis package SPSS 17 for Windows (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA).Food products rich in protein content are nutritionally important for reducing the incidence of protein malnutrition (UNICEF, 2015). Protein is required for growth, development and maintenance of health. Proteins build and repair body tissues, play major roles in regulating various body functions, and provide energy when there are insufficient carbohydrate and fat in the diet (Elango and Ball, 2016;Roth, 2011;Wardlaw and Kessel, 2002). The crude protein content of the biscuit ranged from 6.41 to 12.73% with samples containing 20.5% EFM and 0.0% EFM with significantly (p ≤ .05) higher and lower protein values respectively (Table 2). These observations agreed with previous reports of Ibrahim (2009), Mohamed et al. (2014) and Abou-Zaid and Mohamed (2014) Results of . independent t-test indicated that the protein content of the biscuit did not change significantly (t = 0.026, df = 8, P = 0.98) during the 12 weeks of storage.Fat, apart from its nutritional value, is also a functional ingredient in achieving the desired texture, mouthfeel and the crispiness of biscuit (Davidson, 2019). The fat contents of the biscuit samples ranged from 13.67 to 20.95% and were similar to those reported by Kumar et al. (2016) and Omran et al. (2016). The fat content of the biscuits increased significantly (p < .05) with the inclusion of EFM, indicating appreciable contribution of the EFM to the fat content of the biscuit samples (Table 1). The fat content of the samples also decreased significantly (t = 3.42, df = 8, P = 0.009) during storage. This observation was in agreement with Rinku et al. (2017) who reported that fat content of the biscuit produced from wheat supplemented with fenugreek seed powder decreased with storage time. Reduction in the fat content during storage may be due to hydrolysis and oxidation of oil component in the biscuit (Lee and Cho, 2012;Khatun et al., 2016).Fibre is known to aid digestive system of humans (Li and Komarek, 2017). The crude fibre content of the biscuit samples increased as the inclusion of breadfruit flour increased, except the sample prepared from blend 2 (60.00:39.51:0.49; BF:WF:EFM). The range of value (0.66-1.06%) obtained in this study (Table 2) was lower than values reported by Usman et al. (2015) but higher than 0.47-0.80% reported by Agu and Okoli (2014). The fibre content of the biscuit samples did not change significantly (t = 0.71, df = 8, P = 0.49) during storage.The ash content of food materials could be used as an index of mineral constituents of the food. It is the inorganic residue remaining after water and organic matter have been removed by heating (Samia et al., 2018). It is also an indication of the mineral composition of food materials. Except for POS 2 (60.00:39.51:0.49; BF: WF: EFM), the ash contents (1.74-4.05%) of the biscuit samples increased with increased inclusion of BF and EFM in the blends (Table 2). The increase in the ash content can be attributed to the effect of combination of fish with breadfruit, which is a good source of calcium, potassium, zinc and iron (Ragone, 2003). The reduction in the ash content (Table 2) of the biscuit during storage was not significant (t = 1.76, df = 8, P = 0.12) enough to alter the mineral quality of the biscuit.The carbohydrate content of the biscuit samples were within the range (53.39-75.19%) reported by Omran et al. (2016). The lower the content of EFM in the blends, the higher the carbohydrate contents of the biscuit samples (Table 1). The range of values obtained from this study was higher than the range of 42.10-42.99% reported by Kumar et al. (2016). The carbohydrate contents of the blends did not change significantly (t = 0.36, df = 8, P = 0.73) during storage.Minerals are essential for the maintenance of the overall mental and physical development of bones, teeth, tissues, muscles, blood and nerve cells (Wardlaw and Kessel, 2002;Ohizua et al., 2017). This study analyzed calcium, iron and zinc which have been reported as being essential for the vulnerable age group. Calcium is essential for teeth formation, muscle contraction and maintenance of cell membrane (Sharif et al., 2009;Muhammad et al., 2018). The calcium contents of the biscuit samples increased as the level of EFM increased in the blend with POS 5 having significantly higher value than other POS. The range of values (Table 2) for calcium was in agreement with that reported by Tsikritzi et al. (2014). The reduction observed in the calcium contents of the samples during storage were not statistically significant (t = 0 .12, df = 8, P = 0.91) to infer negative changes in biscuit quality during the storage period. In spite of probable utilization of some nutrients by microbes during the storage period, consumption of 100g of the biscuit can still provide up to 24.5% of recommended allowance of 1,200 mg (NRC, 1989) for children within the ages 11 to 24 years and 36.8% for older age groups.Iron is a constituent of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and a number of enzymes and, therefore, is an essential nutrient for humans (Muhammad et al., 2018;Bothwell et al., 1979). It is also stored as ferritin and hemosiderin in the spleen, liver, and bone marrow, while a small amount is associated with the blood transport protein t r a n s f e r r i n . T h e i r o n c o n t e n t r a n g e d f r o m 81.15mg/100g (POS 4) to 134.2mg/100g in POS 2 (60.00:39.51:0.49; BF: WF: EFM) and can adequately meet up with the 10 to 15mg/day (NRC, 1989). The reduction in the iron contents of the samples during storage were not statistically significant (t = 0 .48, df = 8, P = 0 .65).Zinc is essential for good immune system, hormone secretion, mental wellbeing, foetus growth and normal development of humans (Vidyavati et al., 2016). The range of values (9.25 to 20.50mg/100g) obtained in this study for zinc was similar to that reported by Tsikritzi et al. (2014). Although these values decreased during storage, there was no significant (t = 0.95, df = 8, P = 0.37) difference between samples at the end of the storage period.Rancidity is a term generally used to denote unpleasant odours and flavours in foods resulting from deterioration in the fat and oil portion of food. Rancidity can be hydrolytic (reaction of fats with water) or oxidative (reaction of fats with air). According to Vaclavick and Christian (2005), hydrolytic rancidity (or lipolysis) is catalysed by heat and enzymes (lipases), while oxidative rancidity (or autoxidation) is catalysed by heat, light, certain metals (iron and copper) and enzymes (lipoxygenases). Oxidative rancidity reduces the nutritional quality and safety of food (Nawar, 1985).Peroxide value is used to detect the onset of oxidative rancidity in food (Abraha et al., 2018). The peroxide value of the biscuit (Table 3) increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with storage time for all the samples. The results agreed with reports on previous studies on peroxide value of biscuit during storage (Rinku et al., 2017;Takeungwongtrakul and Benjakul, 2017;Omran et al. 2016). The mean peroxide value ranged from 1.50 to 2 . 4 6 m e q / k g w i t h P O S 4 ( B F : W F : E F M ; 66.2:36.8:0.00) and 5 (BF: WF: EFM: 79.45:0.00:20.5) having the lowest and highest values respectively. This implied that samples without EFM (Table 1) have reduced tendencies to oxidative rancidity, while the onset of oxidative rancidity is more pronounced with increasing inclusion of EFM. The peroxide values of samples were not significantly different except for POS 5 containing 20.5% EFM. The values obtained in this study were below the values reported by Mohamed et al. (2014) but higher than that of Abraha et al. (2018) for biscuits containing fish protein concentrate. However, peroxide values of the biscuit at the end of the storage period were below FAO Codex standard value of 10 meq/kg (FAO, 1999). The lower the peroxide value the better the quality of the biscuit.Free fatty acid value is used to determine hydrolytic rancidity. It indicates the extent of decomposition of glycerides by lipase action (Onwuka, 2018). The free fatty acid value of the biscuit increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with storage time for all the tested POS (Table 3), but the rate of increase was more pronounced with increase in EFM. Similar observations were reported by Nagi et al. (2012) and Kumar et al. (2016). Free fatty acid in biscuits from POS 5 were significantly different (p<0.05) from other samples (Table 3). The free fatty acid values, however, were within the FAO Codex standard value of 1% maximum (FAO, 1999), except for biscuit from POS 2 (60.0:39.51:0.49; BF: WF: EFM) and POS 5 (79.45:0.00:20.55; BF: WF: EFM). This suggested a storage period of less than 10 weeks for biscuit containing these levels of EFM inclusion.Texture is a very important quality attribute that influences consumer acceptance of biscuit. Hardness is the peak force measured during the first bite (Hussein et al., 2018). The lower the values obtained for hardness, the softer the biscuit. The hardness of the biscuit (Table 4) ranged from 343.9N to 1633.5N in POS 2 and 5 respectively. It increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) as the inclusion level of breadfruit increased in the samples. There was a significant reduction (t = 3.14, df = 18, P = 0.006) in the hardness values of the biscuit during storage. Morais et al. (2018) also reported a decrease in the hardness of biscuit during storage.Chewiness is the energy needed to masticate solid food to a state of readiness for swallowing (Karaoglu and ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adeola, Bakare, Bamgbose, Obadina, Afolabi, Adegunwa, Akerele, Otesile & Alamu Kotancilar, 2009;Pereira et al., 2013;Chandra and Shamasundar, 2015). It is directly related to hardness as it is estimated as the product of hardness, cohesiveness, and elasticity (Rosenthal, 1999). The samples were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) in chewiness property. The values obtained for chewiness of the biscuits ranged from 19.4N to 434.47N in POS 3 and 5 respectively. In spite of the reduction in values observed in most of the biscuit samples, results from t-Test was unable to establish a significant difference (t = 1.02, df = 18, P = 0.323) in the chewiness properties of the biscuit before and after storage.Gumminess is the product of hardness and cohesiveness which simulates the energy required to disintegrate a food product before swallowing (Hussein et al., 2018). The gumminess values of the biscuit samples ranged from 242.2N to 964.49N with POS 2 and 5 with lowest and highest values respectively. The observed reduction in the gumminess of the samples during storage was not significant (t = 1.06, df = 18, P = 0.309) enough to establish a difference in the gumminess property of the biscuit before and after storage.Cohesiveness reflects the strength of the internal bonds binding the food particles together and suggests how well the biscuit withstands a second deformation relative to its resistance under the first deformation. The higher the cohesion value, the greater the ability of the biscuit to break when subjected to stress (Bakare et al., 2020;Hussein et al., 2018). The cohesiveness values of the biscuits ranged from 0.41 to 0.67 in POS 3 and 2 respectively. These results were within the range (0.59-0.78) reported by Pereira et al. (2013) for Maria type cookies, but higher than that (0.01-0.02) reported by NoorAziah et al. (2012). There was no uniform trend in the changes observed in the cohesiveness values of the biscuits during storage. The cohesiveness values of biscuits prepared from POS 2, 3 and 5 increased, while those obtained from POS 1 and 4 decreased during storage. It could however be concluded that the biscuit samples were significantly different (t = 2.59, df = 18, P = 0.018) before and after storage. The lower the cohesiveness values of biscuit, the higher its fragility (Pereira et al., 2013).The total bacterial count of the biscuit samples is presented in Table 5. The total bacterial count of the 1 biscuit samples ranged from 0.5 x 10 in POS 2 to 1.5 x 1 10 in POS 3, 4 and 5. In all the samples, the bacterial load of the biscuit samples increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) during storage. The value obtained at 12 weeks of storage period was more than the maximum accepted value of 10,000 cfu/g (UNICEF, 2017).Mould growth was not detected before storage of the biscuit samples. According to Frazier and Westhoff (1986), baking temperatures are usually high enough to kill all mould spores in and on baked foods. There was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) difference in the total mould count of the biscuits during storage. At 2 weeks of storage, 1 total mould count ranged from 1.50 x 10 to 3.00 x 1 10 cfu/g. The total mould count of the biscuit samples produced was found to increase with storage period for all the blends. The total mould count of the biscuit samples at 12 week of storage was higher than the maximum allowable level of 300 cfu/g (UNICEF, 2017). The significant increase in the total bacterial and mould counts during storage may be as a result of increase in moisture content and the permeability of the packaging material. The moisture content of the samples at the commencement of storage ranged from 4.77 to 5.73% and was significantly different from each other with POS 5 and 1 having the lowest and highest values respectively. It increased significantly (t = -27.68, df = 8, P = 0.00) by about 100% after 12 weeks of storage which implies possible permeability error in the packaging material used or as a result of syneresis associated with high setback viscosity property of breadfruit flour (Bakare et al., 2020). The high final viscosity, setback viscosity and swelling power of 636.00±47.02 RVU, 204.21±13.38 RVU and 891.56±1.59 observed for the IQBF used in this study was relatively higher than values for conventional breadfruit flour (Bakare et al., 2014). These have implications on the re-association and retrogradation, or of starch molecules of the biscuit made from it during cooling and storage. Setback viscosity of flours had also been correlated with the texture of various products (Adeyemi and Idowu, 1990;Michiyo et al., 2004). This may also explain the significant changes observed in the texture (hardness) of the biscuit at the end of the storage period.The study evaluated biscuits produced from five predicted optimized solutions of an earlier study, stored in high density polyethylene at 28 ± 2 °C for 12 weeks and evaluated for changes in some of its nutritional [proximate and mineral (Ca, Fe and Zn)] quality, rancidity (peroxide value and free fatty acid) profile, texture (Hardness, chewiness, gumminess and cohesiveness) and Microbiological (total bacterial and mould counts) qualities. Moisture content of the biscuits increased (t = -27.68, df = 8, P = 0.00), fat content decreased (t = 3.42, df = 8, P = 0.009) and the texture quality [Hardness (t = 3.14, df = 18, P = 0.006) and cohesiveness (t = 2.59, df = 18, P = 0.018) were significantly altered. The peroxide value (1.50-2.46 meq/kg) and free fatty acid (0.38-0.69%) increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with storage, but were within the bench mark standard of 10meq/kg and 1% respectively specified by UNICEF for high energy biscuit. The microbiological integrity of the biscuit could only be sustained within 4 weeks of storage as the total bacterial and mould counts increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with storage, and exceeded the permissible level of 10,000cfu/g and 300cfu/g respectively after 12 weeks of storage. The quality attributes within the storage period were moisture (4.77-5.73%), protein (6.41 to 12.73%), fat (13.67 to 20.95 %), fibre (0.66-1.06%), ash (1.74-4.05%), carbohydrate (57.41-71.64%), Ca (42.50-310.0 mg/100g), Fe (81.15-134.2mg/100g) and Zn (9.25 to 20.50 mg/100g).- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nigerian Agricultural Journal Vol. 52, No. 1 | pg. 9Adeola, Bakare, Bamgbose, Obadina, Afolabi, Adegunwa, Akerele, Otesile & Alamu","tokenCount":"4808"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9058120854.json b/data/part_1/9058120854.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e6b499d23f7a80b348589a939fa3d2ae747d18d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9058120854.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a198d011431a31ca2065be779aebf817","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6e4561da-317b-4efe-ad81-27b2e091c3f6/retrieve","id":"-1709553676"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"886f57c3-1c2c-4e29-9406-f1e28cb6b853","pagecount":"53","content":"The CIA T and DGR have several assets that make 1t nearly uruque on an IDtematiOnal scale and Will allow CIA T to maiDtam a strong mtematiOnal pos1t10n The extens1ve germplasm collectiOn the vast field and greenhouse space, and the staff to support these fac1ht1es offers the opporttm1ty to study and mcorporate germplasm from WIId spec1es and landraces IDto pre breedmg stock Recent studtes have 1Dd1cated that such transfer of nat1ve germplasm IDto pre-breedmg stock can be done relatlvely rap1dly (the QTL approach ofTanksley) thus makmg the germplasm resource of CIAT drrectly access1ble to development and assurmg CIA T a smgular ruche m trop1cal agnculture 3The research obJectlves of the DGR have recen ti y broadened and ID elude areas such as m s1tu conservatlon soc1o econom1c cons1deratiOns and nauve biOd1vers1ty that were not tradltlonally a maJOr focus or strength of CIAT At the same time the change from program to proJect format has resulted m sc1enufic obJectlves that are short term and often tled to spec1fic fundmg opporturutles Fmally budget cuts have resulted ID a decrease ID staff All of these 1ssues together are begmrung to blur the focus of the research act1V1t1es The staff 1s very eamestly tryiDg to accomphsh these multlple obJectlves and 1s s1mply spread too thm, both ID human resources and m expert1seIt 1s unperatlve for the maiDtenance of CIAT s central pos1t1on m mternat10nal agnculture that tlus Sltuatlon be remed1ed CIA T s reputatlon 1s based on past accomphshments ID the development and d1stnbutiOn of new vaneues BreediDg actlVltles are now beiDg tumed over to NARS With the except10n of sorne reg10ns m Afnca CIAT needs to very carefully define 1ts new role ID IDtematiOnal agnculture so that 1t remams a consp1cuous player and so that 1t reta1ns the attentlon of 1ts donors In tlus hght the obJecuves of DGR need to be very carefully defined and managed so that the ex1stmg research staff can produce outstandmg research that w1ll not only stand up to mtematiOnal standards but also mamtam the central role of CIA T m mtematlonal agncultiiTe Such research already extsts at CIA T the QTL work on nce ts a good ell.ample and such an approach could be ell.tended to other crops Changes m the nature of fundmg appear to have an effect \\\\ell beyond JUSI the reducuon m support The ught hnkage of fundmg to speclfic obJecuves and donor support has both broadened the range of research and narrowed the flextbthty and dtscretwn of work wtthm the umts Moreover the comrmtrnent for support ts necessanly shortened reducmg the hkehhood oflong term projects that may well have the greatest ulumate benefit for CIA T Many aspects of SB-01 and SB 02 do not fit well wtthm the proJect format The clearest example ts the germplasm conservatwn acttvtttes whtch are a baste mandated functwn of CIAT mdependent ofproJects However the panel agrees wtth the ratwnale behmd the change from programs to proJects The pro1ect format does not necessanly preclude adequate support and flextbthty Portwns of the core budget could be set astde for support of the germplasm conservatton and for support of core SB-02 actlvtttes thus provtdmg secunty and f!ell.t bthty whtle mamtauung accountabthtyA final aspect of fundmg ts stgmficant Because of the mcreased need to tdentlfy outstde funds a natural tendency extsts to expand the range and nature of research at CIAT CIA T must necessanly respond to tts donors However tf fundmg opporturuues are not carefully evaluated m the context of CIA T s obJecttves and current work, the umts wtll become dtffuse and tt wtll be dtfficu!t to tdenufy maJor accomphshments wtth CIAT The panel alreadv detects a tendency towards producmg small studtes m a wtde range of are as CIA T ts by defimtwn an mtemattonal facthty Yet CIAT ts mcreasmgly tdentlfied wtth Co!ombta It ts appropnate that Colombta s mterest ts acknowledged as host country Colombta s changmg agncultural basts and tts destre to emphastze troptcal frmts are al! reasonable concems for CIAT However Wtth the proposed estabhshment ofthe Bwdtverstty Assessment Regwnal Laboratory and the current dtscusstons Wlth the Von Humboldt lnstttute CIA T Wlll need to morutor tts mtematwnal representatwnThe proposed Btodtverstty Assessment Regwnal Laboratory presents a wmdow of opporturuty for CIA T Because of the change m emphasts m CIAT from development of new vanettes to agrobwdtverstty the estabhshment of such a facthty Wlll provtde both sctenttfic and fundmg flextbthty The DGR has a clear set of gutdelmes to determme whtch spectes and a ven u es of research wtll be pursued Importan! mformatton and tools (processes and gene sequences) related to modero btotechnology are now protected by mtellectual propertv nghts (IPR) Pnvate multmatwnals or nattonal pubhc organtzatlons are usually not eager to provtde htgh-cost research products or processes to CIA T beca use such products would have to be released free of charge to th1rd parlles thus reducmg the1r own potentlal royalty return As a result mcreasmgly more pnvate and pubhc mstl.tutlons m DCs and LDCs request assurance that theu IPR w¡ll be honored and that results of any JOmtly developed research WIII also be protected Accordmg With the DRAFT VERSION 5 presented to JCER for comments CIAT IS currently rev1smg 1ts IPR pohc1es The mam obJeC!Ives are under the prev&lmg IP enVIronrnent to perrn1t exchange of genet1c matenals and techruques and to ensure that the results of proJects reach the m tended benefic1ar1es m developmg countnes CIA T should choose to exerc1se legal protectwn 1f such actwn 1s needed for developmg cnt1cal strateg1c research alhances or to prevent appropnat10n of products mtended to reach partners m developmg countnes The draft docurnent presents four protocols to be used m each particular case dependmg on what matenal or process IS bemg exchanged However CIAT 1s also begmmng to be lughly pmsed m the Latm Amencan reg10n for the trammg courses and m serv1ce trammg lt has prov1ded smce 94 Through these mechamsms CIAT has made ava!lable to partners a range of genetlc matenals, culture !mes molecular maps probes vector strruns genorruc and cDNA hbranes and state-of -the-art methodologies Tlus effort has to be contmued because 1t g1ves to sc1entlsts and laboratones m the regwn the comparat1ve advantage of learmng m the1r own language With less expens1ve travel and housmg costs 9Extemal Reviews We would hke to comphment CIA T for the excellent documents presented to the Panel and for the presentatiOns prepared by members of the T earn Their wiihngness to present theu prOJeCt results made our analyses mucb easier to prepare However we would hke to comment on the length ofthe reVJew With the amount ofmformatiOn that a Panel has to analyze It would be useful to add two extra days to the Panel work That would certamly allow for a more profound review of the scienufic aspects of every Ime of researcb and to allow the panel to reflect on Its fmdmgs Receivmg the documents VJa e-maii would allow more time for readmg and would also speed up the process on amval lt may be a good Idea to InVIte at least one ofthe members oftlus Panel to the next review givmg tlus person the very good opporturuty to review the progress and the ImplementatiOn of our recommendat10ns• Estabhsh a posltJon ass1gned to SB 01 for computer/data base support Tlus posltlon was ehmmated dunng budget cuts but Js essenual for the JmplementatJon of the recommendatJOns from the 1995 CGIAR genebank rev1ew panel• Prov1de addJtJonal expertJse ID the area of populatJon genet1cs and evolutJOnary b10logy e1ther by collaboratJve arrangements or by future staff posJtJons• Stab1hze a molecular b10logy posJtJOn ass1gned to SB-02 prOJect• Estabhsh frrm and formal hnks w1th IARCs to draw frorn state-of-the art research• Pubhsh the conservatJon rnethodolog1es developed at CIA T m IDtemauonal joumals so that these technolog1es becorne WJdely d1ssemmated Include these and other methodolog1es on CIAT s Internet Home Page when poss1ble• Contlnue ngorous peer rev1ew to prornote research of mtemauonal standards• Estabhsh a computer based morutonng system for gerrnplasm conservatJon operatJons• ProVIde core budget support for the germplasrn actJVJtJes of SB-0 1 so that budget stab1hty JS aclueved and that the UpgradiDg plan can be aclueved• ProVIde more flextble core budget for the strateg1c gap-filhng approach m the bJOtechnology very fast moviDg field The research goals and pnont1es are clearlv set by the urut and 1t adequately measures 1ts progress towards these ob¡ecttves The frrst pnonty of the wut ts to conserve 1ts germplasm collect10n accordmg to mtemat10nal F AO standards Table 1 mdtcates the conservatton goals for seed and other categones of the SB-0 1 Records of number of access1ons placed mto storage measure progress towards thJs goal Qualtty of conservatton technologtes ts measured by momtonng of vtab1hty of stored matenal Figure lis an example ofthe urut s conservation strategy shoWJng the management of germplasm for Phaseolus and tropical forages Table 2ts an example ofthe type of morutonng SB-0 1 undertakes for the qualtty of stored germplasm Thts example shows the percent of germmatton for stored Phaseolus and forages over the last 4 years The second area \"ofwork for SB 01 dtstrJbutiOn of germplasm resources !S also well documented by records Records of pubhcatwns and tallymg of hands-on tra.Jnmg actLVitLes courses conferences and posters momtor the thJrd and fourth aspects of the umt s work research and human resources  The research ofthe SB-01 program 1s m severa! d1Stlnct areas umted by the theme of conservat10n of genetlc resources The umt has the s1gmficant and maJor respons1b1hty of proV1dmg for germplasm conservatlon wluch mcludes both the mtroductwn and propagatlon ofnew accesswns mto the collect10n and the mamtenance ofthe current collect!on Tab1e 3 g1ves the current status ofthe germplasm collect10n at CIAT Mamtenance of the collectwn 1s accomphshed e1ther by long term storage of seeds (beans and forage) or by tlssue culture and field plots (cassava) There has been s1gmficant recent progress m tlus area by the modermzatlon of fac1ht1es ( cold storage seed germmatlon room) and by the mput of data m the SINGER system and the use of GIS data Wlth passport mformatwnThe SB-01 umt also has the respons1b1hty of d1str1but1ng germplasm to NARS and other org3nlzatlOns Tab1e 4 11lustrates th1s functwn for the d1stnbut1on offorage germp1asm Tlus work mvolves propagat10n ofthe matenal and cert1ficat10n ofthe health ofthe germplasm so that lt can be safety uuhzed (Without d1sease or pathogen) m another regwn The umt assures the safety of maten al by the seed health laboratory and by t1ssue culture productwn and momtonng of cassava Another responsJbJhty of the umt Js to develop new conservatlon technologJes The umt has close collaboratJons WJth SB-02 and severa] types of genetlc markers have been used to momtor the collectJOn for duphcates ( electrophoretJc markers DNA fingerpnntmg and AFLP s) Other s1gmficant actJvJtJes mclude m vztro preservatJOn for cassava storage effects on seed dormancy (cassava) zygouc embryo culture for safe mternatJonal transfer ( cassava) and pathogen detectJOn m seeds (beans) The groups ha ve also collaborated on stud1es of genetlc dJversJty WJth both cult1vated and WJid germplasm of beans and cassava SB-01 has also been actJvely mvolved m trammg ofresearchers and m transfenng the technology for germplasm conservatlon de\\eloped at CIAT Table 5 shows the recent trammg actJvJtJes of the umt The oroposed research actJVJtJes and methodologJes m general are appropnate to aclneve the exoected outouts The GRU has good procedures m place for the placement of germplasm mto the collectJOn, for the mamtenance ofthe collecuon and for Jts dlstnbutlon The work of SB-0 1 can serve as a model for future research on genetJc dlversJty for a WJde range of agnculturally 1mportant spec1esThe proposed research of the umt Js m the area of assaymg bJOdJversJty for appropnate collectlon strateg1es and m developmg (m collaboranon WJth SB-02) geneuc markers Both of these areas of research are flounslnng and are prov1dmg clear contnbutJons to the general area of agrobJOdJversJty The stud1es of natJve and culuvated bean bJOdJversJty and the JdentJficatJon of separate gene pools m severa! nat1ve spec1es JS an advancement that WJII have dlrect apphcatJOns for the germplasm collect1on In v1ew of these mterestmg bas1c scJentJfic d1scovenes Jt JS cunous that there JS very hnle d1rect collectJon of new access10ns by the umt Because of the mass of bas1c genetJc mformatJon gathered on wJ!d bean spec1es the scJentJsts of SB 01 are clearly m the best pos1t10n to mount additlonal collectmg tnps They have the greatest understandmg of genet¡c dJVeTSity of Phaseolus m the wlld and 1t JS the umt s missJon to preserve biOdJversJty G1ven the rap1d depleuon of nauve germplasm llis urgent that access10ns be collected expedJUously The umt has expressed a keen mterest m mcreasmg 1ts collectJon actJVJtles Another 1ssue rests WJth the nature of the collectiOns One 1ssue that needs to be carefully addressed 1s the nature of samphng for a g1ven spec1es or crop At one end of the spectrurn JS the 1dea that onh a smgle mdJvJdual need be sampled because 1t represents the gene\" ofthe spec1es and that muluple access10n add httle Such concepts of germplasm collecuons are reflecuons of spec1es concepts m the past and are m 1gnorance of the mass of data, wlnch md1cates the h1gh degree of vanat1on WJtlnn spec1es The other f'xtreme 5uggests that every populat10n and every vanety 1s d1stmct and ought to be coJlected and preserved Such concepts do not reflect current under5tandmgs on the reuculatlng nature of lmeages CIA T, because of 1ts bas1c work m dJstnbutiOn of geneuc vanauon, JS m a good posJtJon to deterrmne how samphng and collectiOn should be done based on the genet1c structure of gene pool In the case of Wild Mamhot 5pec1es the germplasm collecuon JS often repre5ented by only a few acce55IOns and 5hould be bolstered m collaborauon WJth NARS2 Is the research ongmal and IS the balance between bas1c and 5trateg1c research adequate? ls the proposed sc1ence ngorous, of mternat10nal standards, and IS a peer rev1ew process m place to assure those standards? SB-01 appropnately balances bas1c and 5trategJc re5earch The non-curatonal aspect of the umt s work prov1des new conservat10n methodologJe5 to other orgaruzatlons and thus Wlll have a WJde effect on how conservatlon 15 practlced The work on genetlc d1vers1ty m secondary and tertlary gene pools has 1mportance both for bas1c and 5trateg1c re5earch, 1t furthers the understandmg of bas1c plant genetlc5 and 1t prov1des an example of how geneuc vanauon 15 structured w1thm a spec1es Severa! of the studJe5 are h1ghly ongmal The study of AFLP vanatiOn to assess vanatJon and domestJcatiOn m Phaseolus was the first study to use the5e new markers m 5uch a marmer The 5tud1es of germplasm genetlc chvers1ty at CIAT use a WJde var1ety of molecular techmque5 reflectlng the 5trength of the SB-02 umt Many of these stud1es now rest WJtlnn the field of populat10n geneucs In tln5 area CIAT would be greatly helped by addJUonal experuse m the area of genonuc and populatlon geneuc analvs15 Many of the Jssue5 m populat10n stud1es re5t not so much on techruque as on 5amphng and data analys15 The 5CJence conform5 to mternauonal standard5 A peer rev1ew process 1s m place manu5cnpts are g1ven to a comnuttee oftwo anonymous colleagues who evaluate and comment on the manuscnpt before 1t 1s 5ent for pubhcauon !73 Are past research results and rev1ew recommendat10ns used m present and planned actJvJhes?The prooosed prograrn and research of SB-0 1 ts strongly mfluenced by past research results For example the proposal for more mtense germplasm samphng m Phaseolus stems from the research on AFLP markers that have mdtcated separate gene pools m se\\ eral spectes Ltkewtse research results mdtcate evtdence for gene mtgrattOn between culttvated forms of Phaseolus and some ofthe wtld ancestors Such work can also be used to drrect collectmg efforts to weed-crop complexesThe proposed actJ.vtttes ofthe SB 01 have also made use ofpast revtew recommendat10ns The response ofthe SB 01 to the comments and recommendattons of the extemal revtew panel of the CGIAR genebank operat10ns of CIA T are dtscussed below 4 Have the recommendatJons ofthe rev1ew ofthe genebank been 1mplemented?The extemal reVJew panel ofthe CGIAR genebank operattons made severa! recommendatJ.ons m tts 1995 revtew of the genebank Many of these have been tmplemented and several have not We dtscuss only those areas where tmplementatJ.on ts not completeA. The Panel recogmzed thatjinancwl constramts are l1m1tmg CIAT s operatwn but thought that m relatwn to the Center s total budget the GRU 1s undefinedThe current panel1s of the oplDlon that financtal constramts are st•llltmttmg the operatJ.on ofthe genebank The genebank ts the core acttVJty ofthe GRU (SB-01) and 1s an actJ.VJty that 1s essentJ.al for CIAT' s role m CGIAR We vtew the genebank as the smgle most tmportant acttvtty of the Dtvtston of Genettc Research Stndes ha ve been made to mcrease facthtJ.es but several key areas need attentJ.on add!t10nal cold storage for seed, renovatJ.on of seed cleanmg areas and most tmportantly attentton to computenzatJ.on and mecharuzat10n of the work    V ) A cryopreservauon techmque for cassava was developed usmg chemtcal cryoprotect10n and dehydrauon-coohng to recover v.able plants from shoot u ps of a range of cassava vanettes • The culture and dehydrauon of shoot llps befo re cryoprotect10n and freezmg, and the use of cytolumns m the recovery medmm were cnucal to the successful recovery of plants from hqmd mtrogen Plan! recovery van es from 1 0% to 70% dependmg on the genotype • Recalcttrant genotypes have been studted and thetr response to crypreservat10n stgmficantly tmproved • A raptd freezmg protocol was recently developed and ts currenth bemg evaluated for genotyptc response along Wlth the use of encapsulat10n ( algmate beads) of shoot llps VI) Evaluauon ofthe geneuc stabthty of cassava cultures conserved m vztro forJO years has shown no apparent genotyptc vanat10n at DNA leve! VII ) An advanced backcross method was tmplemented for nce The method ts based on a successful demonstrauon by Tanksley m !ornato of mcreasmg ytelds by recovenng pos1t1ve alleles from WI!d spec1es usmg molecular markers that otheTW!se would be overlooked based on the phenotype ofthe parent and 1denllfymg molecular markers for the alleles of mterest to atd the1r mcorporat10n • Mappmg popu!atlons from ehte 1mgated and upland nce var¡eues and three w¡Jd spec1es (O rufipogon, O barthu andO glabemma) were developed Sorne BC2F2 farmhes showed a transgress1ve segregauon for y¡eld resultmg m mcreases of as much as 15% The data were confirmed on BC2F3 fam¡hes Prehmmary QTL analys1s prov1ded mformallon on the putatlve hnkage between RFLP markers and yteld components VIII ) A methodology for generatmg transgeruc md1ca nce was developed • Curren! res1stance to RHBV (Rice HoJa Branca V1rus) m commerclal var1et1es !S controlled by a smgle gene therefore broademng the res1stance base agamst RHBV 1s of great IIDportance Constructs contammg the RHBV -nuclear protem for cross protectlon, and the ant1-sense RHBV-NS4 maJor protem both vrral genes were placed under the control of the 35S CaMV promoter and mcorporated m transgemc plants usmg b10hS11cs • More than !50 plants were obtamed from severa! transformat10n events Southern analys1s md1cated smgle and multtple gene msert10ns Segregauon of 3 1 among offspnng oftransgemc plants was obtamed These plants were challenged Wlth RHBV m the greenhouse Res1stant plants were selfed and the1r progeny challenged agam With the v1rus S1gruficant delay of d1sease development and reduced symptom occurred m transgemc plants compared WI!h the nontransgemc control • A few plants showed tmmumty to the v1rus IX ) Rice anther culture breedmg has been estabhshed at CIA T for speedmg up gene pool development recovenng the fertthty of wtde crosses and producmg permanent mappmg populat10ns for genettc taggmg The response ofmdtca nce genotypes to anther culture by mod1fymg of the culture condtttons was 1mproved demonstratmg that genes controllmg response m Japomcas can be mtrogressed mto mdtcas m ) The feas1b1hty of selectmg and 1mprovmg cassava genotypes With 2 rng/g of beta carotene m the roots and 30 times more m the leaves was demonstrated Genetlcally the transport of beta-carotene to roots seems to be under the control of maJOr genes and 1ts accumulatlon, !S under quantltatlve genet1c control Molecular marker-ass1sted select10n could contnbute to breedmg for h1gh carotene cassava IV )A rap1d non-destruct1ve Simple assay for cyanogemc potent1al m cassava v.as recently developed Usmg the enzyme-based d1p stlck' techn1que cyanogemc potent1al of more than 1 00 progemes was measured rangmg from as low as 1 00 to as h1gh as 2000 mg HCN!kg m root dry WI Gene mappmg can now be mtegrated With breedmg V ) Ac1d sml tolerance 1s a key tralt for developmg supenor Brachzarza forage germplasm A collaborauve proJect IS searchmg for mechamsms result m Brachzarza tolerance to sml ac1d1ty The overall approach mcludes • des1grung a mult!ple stress nutnent solut10n to s1mulate ac1d sml cond!tlons • mvesttgatmg a number of tratts that mtght contn bu te to dtfferenual actd sotl adaptat10n to P and N defictenctes wtth spec~al focus on root archttecture • constructmg a cONA hbrary ennched for actd s01l stress mduced genes from roots of the best adapted (B decumbens) culuvars Iruual results mdtcate • stgruficant mcrease m cttnc actd m root ttssue m response to the presence of Al was detected Cttnc actd apparently does not accumulate only m root aptces but also m mature partS of the root axes where 11 could be mvolved m Al detoxlficat10n • AI-P mteract10n m root aptces and a posstble hnk between Al-toxtctty and nutnent uptake capac1ty And, root actd phosphatase actlVlty stgmficantly mcreased m B ruzzz1ens1s only when respondmg to nutnent hmtted cond!l!Ons ObJectJve 3OUTPUT 3 1 Networks, conferences, workshops, and trammg courses on agrohtodtverstty and btotechnology orgamzed and conducted m cooperatton wttb partuersThe orgaruzatJon and promot10n of and the partlClpauon m b10technology networks 1s a key CIAT strategy for developmg effecuve collaborat10n With msututJons from both developed and developmgs The network approach prov1des opporturutles for acqumng mformat10n, capac1ty butldmg and trammg on most aspects ofb10technology for a particular crop or group of crops In 1988, CIA T trutJated the Cassava B10technology Network (CBN) m 1990 CIAT founded the Beans Advanced Research Network (BARN) and smce 1985 CIAT ts an active member of the Rice B10technolog) Program a global effort by the Rockefeller FoundatJon For CBN a full-tJme coordmator mamtams contact W!th stakeholders pubhshes newsletters, orgaruzes sctenufic meetmgs, and coordmates developmg country partlc1patJon m capac1ty-buddmg programs and hnkages WJth ARls and CG centers especial! y CIA T and liT A The CBN has encouraged and/or promoted the partlcJpatJon of ARls m cassava btotechnology research these have grown from a handful of laboratones m 1988-1990 to nearly 50 m 1996 1997 The CBN has orgaruzed three mternanonal sctentJfic meetmgs on three contments and a small-grants program for promotJng cassava b10technology research through collaborauon on top1cs of lugh pnontyThe CBN memberslup has grown to more than 300 persons two thtrds ofwhom work m 26 cassava-groWJng countnes mcludmg collaborators from apphed dJsctplmes and from NGOs and farmer processor organ¡zat!OnsAs a bas1c element of ClA T s role to bndge b10technolog' research w¡th developmg countnes, more than 650 sc1ent1sts or technlc1ans from 25 developmg countnes paruc1pated m mtemat10nal conferences regiOnal workshops spec¡al¡zed trammg courses and m-serv1ce trammg • Research too ls CIAT has generated or acqmred and adapted a range of research tools mcludmg genetlc stocks genes gene constructs hnkage maps and probes culture hnes clonmg vectors, bactenal strams, and the correspondmg mformauon and databases These 'matenals\" (about 22 classes m all) have been fully available to CIAT partners under vanous transfer arrangementsTo accomphsh 1ts nuss10n and obJeCtives, the CIAT B10technology Research Urut, now the ProJect SB-02 has developed a Wlde spectrum of formal and Informal collaboratlve mecharusms both w1thm CIA T and Wlth mst1tut10ns pubhc and pnvate developed and developmg countnes •Lmkages Wlth other CIAT proJects geneuc resources conservat10n (SB-01) mcreasmg product1v1ty (IP 1 IP 2 IP 3 IP-4 and IP-5) mtegrated pest management (PE-1), s01l conservatlon (PE-2) Iand use (PE 3), regiOnal cooperauon (SN-2), and part1c1patory research (SN 3)• Lmkages Wlth pubhc mst1tut10ns • 12 hnkages mvolved formal cooperatlon (sorne through projects)Durmg 1994-1997 a range of organ¡zauons (mcludmg mtemat10nal foundauons mtemanonaJ¡nstltutes govemmental bod1es and regional agencies) funded the actlVItles ofProJect SB-02 A total of22 speclfic research acuvltles were funded by 17 organ~zauons Nme actlv¡t¡es rece1ved one time donatlons, three proJects ended m 1996-1997, wlule the extens10n of another IS bemg negotlated Does tbe researcb responds to stakebolders needs? G1ven that the large commumty wluch IDteracts With CIA T ranges from small farmly-farmers to IDdustry dnven large farmers from pubhc funded research mstltutions (NARS ARls) to pnvate multiDatwnals located ID LatiD Amenca Canbbean As1a, and Afuca, SB-02 has tned to maiDtaiD a h1gh leve] of respons1veness to stakeholders wlule keep1Dg as close as poss1ble to the CIA T misswn Are mllestones wellmd1cated and can the1r ach1evements be momtored? SB 02 mtlestones are somewhat flmd ID time dueto the nature of the research bemg developed However the ach1e vements can be clearly 1dent1fied ID all three maJOr obJectives as seen above Are research obJectJves feas1ble w1tbm tbe md1cated t1me frames?Research objectives are clear bu! ID sorne cases very amblllous The time frame IS feas1ble g¡ven sorne extra support m personnel (see Sect10n lll) and that the mamtenance of fundmg can be secured Is the proposed researcb fully reflected m tbe proJeCt documents and do the workplans represent the proJect obJectlves?The research proposals are fui! y reflected ID the workplans and represent the respective obJectives However there IS a great angmsh among the sc1ennsts dueto the very short penod covered by fundmg ID each of the core funded activities (e g av&labthty offunds reevaluated every January) Usually biotechnologtcal resttlts do not mature m short time penods and 1fforced todo so can lead to lo\\\\er qual1ty resttlts Are proJects output and 1mpact well defined and feas1ble?The SB-02 armual report covers the 94-97 penod The proJeCt outputs and 1mpact have been well defmed and presented Most ofthe research !mes Witlun ObJecuves 1 and 2 presenta proposal for feas1ble future actiVItles g¡ven that the funds can be prov1dedAre the proposed research actiVlhes and methodolog•es used appropr1ate to ach1eve the expected outputs ? Mamhot Brachwrw and Oryza Prehmmary steps were taken to Idenufy the best t1ssue for transfonnat10n of Phaseolus Only With more expenmental work Will the group be able to understand fully the complexity of mtroducmg new genes mto commercial vanetJ.es and be able to observe the pleiOtrophic effects caused b) the creat10n of many new loc1 Due to funds hmltation and m order to mcrease the mteract1on w1th partners CIA T could contact NARS and other Inst1tutes m the reg10n (e g Cenargen!r.mbrapa (Br), Cmvestav (Mex)) wh1ch are developmg state-of-the art transfonnat10n protocols for crops of the reg10n Tlus could av01d duphcat10n efforts and speed up the outputs of proJects Aspects regardmg the IPR of the geneuc matenal will be d1scussed m the appropnate sectJ.on Regardmg the cryopreservauon techmque for cassava and the nce anther culture rnethodology CIA T has to be congratulated for the effort m developmg the protocols that have reached a phase that they can be transferred to any mterested partner The same 1s vahd for the enzyme-based d1p st1ck techmque for the detectiOn of the e\\ anogemc potentJ.al m cassavaThe results of the use of the advanced backcross method (T anksley method) as apphed to nce and beans deserve to be ment10ned as sorne ofthe most convmcmg results shoWIDg the unportance ofthe new DNA technology when apphed as support for the use of genes from WI!d spec1es for y1eld 1mprovementIs the research ongmal, and 1s the balance between bas1c and strateg¡c research adequate?The research proposals are ongmal to our knowledge In B10technology 1t becomes very ddlicult to assure anyone for more than three to s1x months that the research 1s total! y ongmal The bas1c areas are covered Witiun CIA T mandate crops but m sorne cases prOJects Will have to broaden theu focus Genom1c mteract1on ofthe novel genes m transgemc plants scientlfic nsk assessment upon envuonmental release of genetJ.cally mod1fied plants apphcauon of QTLs m ddferent geneuc backgrounds and are sorne ofthe areas that need to rece1ve much more attenuon gn en the quahty of research results CIA T should mamtam V IeWIDg strateg1c research as ' research whtch has a strategy asto how to develop the desued products and dehver them to those who need thern (G J Persley CIAT BRU Rev1ew Report 1992) SB 02 has tmproved the contact With partners m the Latm Amenca and Canbbean reg10n m Europe and m the Umted States through personal contacts dunng whtch the team leaders have taken good advantage of the opporrumtles to gam new knowledge and capabiiltlesThe transfer oftechnology to NARS and other organ1zat1ons m LDCs has been developed mto a honzontal collaboratlve actlvity wh1ch has evoh ed as much as poss1ble for collaborative research proJects As part of th1s cooperat10n wnh NARS conferences workshops, and trammg courses const1tute a strong componen! of mformatwn and technology d1ssemmatwnThe Cassava Bwtechnology Network (CBN) developed a strong onentat10n towards end-user needs and perspect1ves It has camed out or promoted severa! case stud1es of pnonty settmg and 1mpact assessment With the part1c1pauon of farmer orgaruzauons NGOs, and NARS Sorne findmgs have become recommendauons for research and development Withm and outs1de the Networ!,.However we feel that much more can be done m that duect10n g1ven that sc1entJsts can use suffic1ent funds to travel and partiCipate from mtematwnal meetmgs and mtennsutuuonal agreements Is the proposed scJence r1gorous, of mternatJOnal standards, and 1s a peer rev1ew process ID place to assure those standards? See comments on SB-01 for peer rev1ew and above for comments on scJentJfic ngor Are past research results and rev1ew recommendat10ns used ID present and planned actJVJnes?Taken as a mliestone the CIAT BRU rev1ew repon (1992) many ofthe recommendauons have been followed m the scJenufic rev1ew of the proJects However probably due to changes m the modus operandr from prograrns to proJects due to the growmg mternal demand from the Natural Resources newly created Duectorate and to the changmg miSSJon from apphed breedmg to agrobwdJversJty screerung and prebreedmg 1t seems that SB 02 has spread 1ts actJvJtJes much too thm and therefore lost focus A pnonty settmg exerc1se 1s takmg place w1thm the group as proposed m the document Genome Research m AgrobiodJVerslty at CIAT' presented to the ICER Panel and should be contmued Is research progress adequate and accordiDg to proJected outputs and unpact?Research progress could be more adequate 1f SB-02 teams could complement sorne posJtlons WJth postdoctoral fellows and m sorne cases h1re a new very spec1ahzed person (see Secuon 111 ) As d1scussed before SB-02 was structured m the second half of 1996 and camed most of the prOJected outputs and 1mpact of the Bwtechnology Research Urut (BRU) The outputs presented m the Annual Report mtroduce all the results obtamed m the 94 97 penod w1thout a time scale reference Therefore 1t became very dJfficult to mdiv!dually JUdge the outputs As outputs hsted for the next three years SB-02 hsts Genetlc structure charactenzed Wltlun and between gene pools of Phaseolus and Mamhot usmg molecular markers Genettc dtvemty of cassava bactenal bhght pathogen charactenzed and reststance genes tdenttfied usmg molecular markers Genettc dtverstty of nce blast pathogen charactenzed and resistance genes Identdied usmg molecular markers Molecular mapp1Dg of apomiXIS gene(s) and genes for resistance to spittle bug ID Brach1ana AgroecologtcaliDformatton mtegrated WJth genetiC dtverslt) usmg GIS and molecular markers (beans cassava and tropical forages) Transgeruc nce WJth resistance to RHBV field tested ID Latm Amenca and IDcorporated mto IPM schemes Novel genes (Bt protemase mhtbttors etc ) accessed and utihzed ID IPM schemes for JDSect reststance by genetlc transformatlon m cassava beans nce and Brach1ana Novel genes (starch quahty carbohydrate metabohsm posthan est conservatton seedlmg VIgor etc ) accessed and utthzed for qualtty modificatwns, USIDg genettc transformatton of cassava beans and nce Apomtxts gene(s) Isolated and cloned for homologous (Brachwna) and heterologous ( other crop spp ) transformatwns QTLs for yield and qualtty tratts tdenufied and utthzed m nce beans and cassava Useful tratts (btottc/abwuc stress reststance) transferred through IDterspectfic hybndtzatton m Phaseolus Fteld studtes ofnsk assessment (bwsafety) orgaruzed WJth the cooperatton ofthe btotech pnvate sector and NARS Cellular and molecular genellc techmques developed for assessmg and enhancmg agrobwdtverstty (novel DNA markers bwmolecular stallsttcs genettc engiDeenng) Databases maps probes strams assembled and made available to partners Capactty butldiDg acttvmes m conservat10n technologies and processes orgaruzed WJth nattonal partners Awareness programs and capactty butldiDg of NARS organized for assessmg and enhancmg agrobJOdtverstty through molecular and cellular techmques How are research outputs used and by whom?The lllUIIedtate chents of SB-02 are CIA T sctentists workiDg ID germplasm development, sustamable producttvtty and natural resources management proJects Transfer oftechnology m thts case IS through mvolvement ofCIAT scienttsts, as early as posstble ID the process of acqumng and develop1Dg research Once a gtven technology has been developed for routiDe use tt IS shtfted to other CIA T pro1ects or unlts Sorne more baste aspects of the technology remam under ProJeCt SB 2 as a way of savmg capttal and operatwnal resources Is the quanttty and quahty ofthe vartous research pubhcahons adequate?The average number ofpubhcat10ns per sctenttst belongmg to SB 02 could be htgher gtvmg the quahficattons of research members and the mfrastructure avatlable However we understand that the group has many more actlvtlles such as organtzatlon of the extemal tratmng workshops m house tratmng productwn ofnumerous reports preparattons for revtews and of many proJeCt proposals for externa! fundmg We find the group vel\"} geared to produce more and better pubhcatwns 1f they could only see sorne ofthe heavy bureaucraucal burden reduced Is the research work adequately hnked w1th the work ID the IP-prOJects ?As shown ID the Annual Report 94 97 and ve!\") clearly marked ID the Med1urn Term Plan 1998 2000 SB proJects IP proJects and PE proJects are p1aned to corre1ate well both by usmg parually ded1cated common persormel and research resultsAre the proJects makiDg adequate use of socJo-economJc 1Dput ? SB-02 benefits from the d1rect contact that CIA T mamtams w1th stakeholders A maJor contnbuuon comes from CBN m the case of cassava where maJor deciSions have oc-en taken based on drrect demands from the small farmer For the other crops pnonty JS g1ven to prOJeCts wluch are hkely to have maJOr socw-econom1c 1mpacts lll RESOURCES AVAILABLE Is the nght orgamzatmn ID place and can the expected outputs be dehvered With the avallable resources (facilities, staff) ?As clearly explamed m the MTP 1998 2000 (p 80) CIAT has undergone a stepWise rev1ew of 1ts mtemal orgaruzatJon At the moment the proJect based management 1s m place WJth poss1ble altemauves such the formatlon of Sc1enufic Uruts' under d1scussJOn because scJentJsts felt that proJects alone would not be enough to sustam the mtemal orgaruzat10n However a sc•enufic umt 1s an affimty group rather than a formal operat10nal entlty' ICER was presented w1th a proposal bas¡cally prepared by SB 01 and SB-02 sc¡enllsts (Agrobwdlvers1ty Team) wluch mtroduces a more formal des1gn to orgaruze the mfrastructure management and account for new mtemal and externa! demands that are forcmg CIA T to respond to new challenges To accommodate changes the docurnent suggests the mamtenance of the Genehc Resources Umt to g1ve support to SB-01 and other related proJects and the establishment of two ent1t1es the Genome Research Laboratory and the Bmd!Verstty Assessment Reg10nal Laboratory m substJtutJon for the actual BJOtechnology Research Umt wluch at present g1ves support to SB O 1 SB 02 and other related proJectsThe Genome Research Laboratory WIII house act!VIUes lmked to genome character!zation, genome mod¡ficatJOn and clona! propagatJOn of plants and Will be run WJth CIA T s approved budget wh1le the BJOdiversity Assessment RegiOnal Laboratory Will be 1mplemented and eqmpped through JOI111 partners contnbuuon to house actiV!tles related to crops outs1de CIAT s mandate It WJll depend on addilional resources prov1ded by outs1de sources We find that the proposed structure wdl give the Agrobwdiverslty Team the extended flexibihty they need to participate m the very fast mo\\ mg bwtechnology world It wdl re-focus their actiVIties to mandate crops allowmg at the same time for the operung of a new wmdow of opponumties whiCh WIII signa] to the mtemal and externa! pubhc (donors and partners) that whde prepared to respond to the challenge the Team wiil only do It If outside fundmg and human resources can be contemplatedThe document also proposes the change of the curren! SB-02 proJeCt tittle to 'Genome Researchfor Prom/Slng Trop1cal CropsThe domam of tlus proJeCt mcludes basic responsibihtles at CIAT, such as momtormg advanced research m plant molecular and cellular bwlogy worldWide, brmgmg to CIAT and developmg countnes selected outputs with potentJ.al pay off m tenns of apphcatJ.ons outsourcmg of specml services m pubhc and pnvate ARis (e g large-scale sequencmg genet1c constructs for transformation etc) bwsafety m DNA research and testmg of transgemc plants, and updatmg and trammg of CIAT personnel m bwtechnology The genom1c work carned out m th1s proJect wJII be hnked through proJeCts With the research ofnatwnal mstltutwns m developmg countnes In dealmg With nonmandate crops, the role of prOJeCt SB 02 wdl cons1st of prov1dmg the necessary bwtechnology mputs for mtegratlon mto crop 1mprovement at the natwnal and regJonallevels Thls proJect Will use molecular/cellular geneuc tools for assessment, modrlicatJ.on, and mass propagatwn of agrobwdiversJty m research areas such as analys1s of dJversJty and relatlonslup With the spatJ.al dJstnbutwn of genet1c resources genotypmg genetJ.c resources With value m prebreedmg strateg1es JdentJficatwn and localJ.ZatJ.on of genes, gene combmatJ.ons, and chromosome parts respons1ble for agronormc tra!ts development of marker ass1sted selectJ.on strateg1es genet1c transformatJ.on usmg smgle genes first later on more complex transformatwn usmg map based cloned genes clona! multJ.phcatJ.on of plants by bwreactor and art1ficml seed technologies Staff SB-02 compnses a team of 11 75 scJenllsts/year composed of 5 sc1entJ.sts from the core and 6 75 sc1entJ.sts belongmg to spec1al proJects To be able to respond to the new demands descnbed above the Team needs to mamtam the present posJtJons and assure the openmg of at leas! three postdoctoral positlons Spec¡fically the mamtenance of the molecular geneucs and the plan! breedmg (Q1Ls) pos1tJ.ons are cntJcal for the development of on-gomg mandate crops related !mes of research The suppon of a population genetiCISt !S strongly needed and the acqws1tlon of a molecular bwlog1st !S reqmred to respond to the groWing demands If the later !S not poss1ble due to fundmg contmgenc1es the Team needs to garantee tlus suppon by ' outsourcmg With ARls or Withm the CG system Budget (see general comments) How do projects explmt strateg1c alhances w1th NARSs, UmversJtJes, NGOs and pnvate sector ?To meet the challenges posed by the apphcatlon of bJotechnology to agrobJOdJversJty, ProJect SB 02 has developed collaboranve hnkages WJth a range of mstJtiJtlons worldWJde Dunng 1994-1997 the folloWJng hnkages* were estabhshed by Project SB-02 (see detruls m the Annual Report 94 97)(1) W1th pubhc-sector partner mstJtutlons • 5 IARCs and 3 other mtemauonal orgaruzat10ns The 1997 ICER Will concern the research area \"SaVIng Agro-b10d1vemty\" whlch 15 mamly concentrated m proJeCts SB 1 (lntegrated conservanon ofneo-trop1cal genetJc resources) and SB-2 (Crop gerrnplasrn developrnent through mcreased unhzat10n ofb!Odlvers1ty) Thls mcludes rnost of the gerrnplasrn conservan en and b10technology actlVlties of the center The reV!ew WIII also cover pre breedmg actlVlties (broadenmg the genetlc base of the mandate crops ofthe CIA T commod111es beans, cassava, nce and trop1cal forages) wluch forrns part of proJects IP 1-5The event 1s scheduled to take place Novernber 17-21 Tlus date was chosen as the earher proposed date would have comc1ded w1th rnaJor mternatlonal bwtechnology eventsThe consultants to conduct the ICER WIII be reqwred to dehver a wntten report oftherr findmgs With recornrnendatJ.ons at the end of therr ass1gnrnent The1r rev1ew shal1 respond to the followmg concerns 1 Establ1sh a pos1t10n ass1gned to SB-01 for computerldata base support Th1s pos1t1on was el1mmated dunng budget cuts but 1s essent1al for the 1mp/ementat1on of the recommendat1ons from the 1995 CGIAR genebank reV/ew panel Tha posrt1on of documantat1on spec1ahst was ma1nta1ned but unfilled dunng tha raorgamzatlon when projects wera formed lt w1ll be upgraded and used for computar documantat1on ma1nly to umfy the germplasm databases and monrtor germplasm flows through the extens1on of bar cod1ng F1lhng th1s pos1t1on w1ll be s1multaneous w1th the reass1gnmant of computar spac1ahsts for each collact1on Thase spec1ahsts ware 1mt1ally work1ng for the commod1ty programs but wera transfarred to the 1nformat1on systems umt T1me 1s allocated by the Informaban Umt to prov1de the requ.red operattonal support to the upgradtng plan Update 1999 Tha demands for th1s exceeded the t1me ava1lable from tha lnformat1on Umt Thus start1ng 1n 2000 a documentat1on spec1ahst w111 be work1ng full-t1ma 1n tha GRU 2 Prov1de add1t10nal expert1se m the area of popu/at1on genet1cs and evo/ut1onary b1o/ogy e1ther by col/aborat1ve arrangements or by future staff pos1t1onsTh1s pomt was also ra1sed dunng the Rav1ew of the B1otechnology Research Unrt 1n 1992 Us1ng funds from the Strateg1c Research lmt1at1ve the Agro-b1od1vers1tyTeam estabhshed a collaborat1va research act1v1ty w1th Purdue Umvers1ty 1n populat1on genet1cs for the penad 1996-97 That scheme wlll be contlnued and could serve as a model for other consultanc1es 1n spec1ahzed areas such as evolut1onary b1ologyThe populatlon b1ology consultancy w1ll be shared w1th one on blo- 5 Publtsh the conservatton methodologtes developed at CIA T m mtemattonal ¡oumals so that these technologtes become wtdely dtssemmated lnclude these and other methodolog1es on CIA Ts Internet Home-Page when posstble Novel sc1entlfic results related to 1mprovements 1n germplasm conservat1on techmques (e g safe protocols for the cryo-conservatlon of cassava) are bemg pubhshed Gwdehnes for the management of field collectlons are be1ng copubhshed w1th IPGRI The Manual of the genebank at CIAT 1s also under preparat1on and to be pubhshed CIAT w111 rev1ew what matenal 1s appropnate to make ava1lable on the InternetThe gUJdehnes for the management of field collecbons are bemg copubhshed WJth IPGRI (currently m proof readmg stage) The Manual of OperatJons of the Genebank at CIAT 1s bemg preparad 1n both Spamsh and Enghsh, and wlll be ava1lable first m a paper form, by m1d 1999Update 1999 GRU has planned to develop a web s1te 1n 2000 wh1ch w1ll also 1nclude documentat1on on conservat1on methodolog1es the GRU database the MTA 1ntemet germplasm request opt1ons etc 6 Contmue ngorous peer revtew to promote research of mtemat1onal standards D1fferent peer rev1ew mechamsms are 1n place such as annual rev1ews w1th extemal observers CCERs etc In add1t1on manuscnpts are often sent to extemal rev1ewers 1n add1tlon to the CIAT Pubhcat1on Comm1ttee and pnor to the joumal peer rev1ew process No further updates 7 Establlsh a computer based momtonng system for germplasm conservat1on operaflons Th1s recommendat1on hnks w1th recommendat1on # 1 above The log1cal frameworl< of all germplasm conservatlon operat1ons that w1ll serve programmers has already been estabhshed for bean and forage collectJons lt has been developed for the m vttro cassava collect1on The 1nteractJve hnk w1th the field genebank w111 be developed soonestThe computer-based mon1tormg system for the 70,000 access1ons held at CIAT 1s now under development w1th the help of the Informaban Umt of CIAT, and w11l be well advanced m 1999 lt matches w1th the flow chart of operatJons lt Wlll also hnk w1th the bar codmg system requested from the 1999 CIA T cap1tal fund Update 1999 Progress has not been made as planned The modules 1ntroduct1on first mult1phcat10n and d1stnbut1on are developed whlle three others are under development 8 Prov1de core budget support for the germplasm acflvlfles of SB-01 so that budget stab111ty 1s ach1eved and that the Upgradmg plan can be ach1evedTh1s po1nt was also ment1oned by ICER 95 The yearly cap1tal budget allocatlon w1111nclude prov1s1on for 1mprovmg facJhtJes and eqUJpment needed to comply w1th the upgradmg plan In 1997 the seed V1ab1hty and dry1ng facJhtJes were greatly 1mproved Th1s year the cold store area WJII be expanded Core support rema.ns ava1lable for the rout.ne operat1on of the GRU lmt1al steps taken for the development of an endowment fund shall be pursued further 1n clase contact w1th IPGRI and the System-w1de Program on Plant Genet1c Resources (SGRP) Cap1tal allocatlons perm1t upgrad1ng of the fac1htles But the budget to execute the upgrad1ng plan rema1ns extremely tlght Altematlve fund1ng sources are sought, such as ass1stance through spec1al proJects, System-Wide Genetlc Resource Program, spec1al donor support, etc Update 1999 The system-w1de 1nvestment plan as requested by TAC has been preparad and add1t1onal fund.ng was prov1ded to detall the cost of the genenc resources unrts of the CGIAR and the cost of the upgrad1ng of all access1ons to FAO standards Th1s process 1s term1nat.ng early 2000 and should result 1n the search for fund1ng to execute the up-grad.ng proposed 9 Provtde more flextble core budget for the strategtc gap-fillmg\" approach m the btotechnology very fast movmg field Th1s recommendat1on 1s related to recommendat1ons 2 and 3 CIAT agrees that add1tlonal resources are reqUired for b1otechnology research espec1ally to prov1de more flex1b1hty to respond to needs and opportumt1es CIAT 1ntends to allocate .ncreased core resources to SB-2 At the same t1me 1t wlll pnontLze fund ra1s1ng through spec1al proJects for such research The concept of a core nucleus complementad by a rotatlng research capac1ty to respond to spec1fic needs and opportun1t1es wlll be pursued The placement of all cassava clones 1n the m v1tro collectlon 1s done systematrcally smce rt serves as a back-up to the field 9enebank In add1t1on, all countnes wrll only accept v1tro plants 1n 9ermplasm exchan9es due to phytosanrtary re9ulat1ons Untll cryo-conservat1on has been fully developed and 1mplemented the cassava collect1ons wtll be mamtamed both as '\" v1tro collect1ons and 1n the field 9enebank The latter shall allow to cont1nue w1th 9ermplasm charactenzatron marnly for novel tra1ts (e 9 root shape starch charactenst1cs mrcronutnent content carotene content etc) No further updates 12 Estab/1sh a p1/ot program for field collect¡ons of essent1al gennp/asmThe research proposed for core fundrn9 mcludes tar9eted 9ermplasm explorat1ons s1nce 9enet1c eros1on contmues 1n urban areas 1n Latrn Amenca (relevant for Wlld beans and fora9es) and alon9 seashores around the Canbbean or 1n the southem Amazon basrn (relevant for Wlld cassava) The plans also took 1nto cons1derat1on new needs by commod1ty pro¡ects (e 9 for add1t1onal 9ermplasm of Arach1s Brach1ana Cal/1andra, etc ) Wild bean gennplasm has been conectad rn Costa Rrca thrs year around San Josa, and the recently created network for plant genetJc resources of the Canbbean has been contactad about collectJng cassava specres rn coastal areas wrth the collaboratJon of IPGRI Update 1999 Natronal 9overnments are mcreasm9ly reluctant to perm1t collect1on m1ss1ons or place new collect1ons under ausp1ces of the FAO Thus CIAT has placed emphas1s on the up9rad1n9 of ex1st1n9 collect1ons and less so on new collect1ons unt1l the ownersh1p of 9enet1c resources has been clanfied13 Develop a user-fnendly GIS system to allow for methodology to be transferred to partners and Nards The current GIS system that has been developed at CIAT rehes on the umque 1nformatron about chmate so1l phys1cal 9eography and land use wh1ch can be extremely helpful for regenerat1on of germplasm access1ons to adv1se users about the nght ecolog1cal vanants gUJde further germplasm exploratJons hnk w1th genet1c compos1t1on of samples antrc1pate 9ermplasm evaluat1on for ab1ot1c but also b1ot1c factors etc The mak1ng ava1lable of these databases through the GIS system to pro¡ect staff and research partners 1s overdue Graph1cal user Interfaces are be1ng developed to make these tools access1ble to CIAT and NARS staff Current staff changas 1n the relevant Pro¡ect should allow us to comply w1th th1s recommendat1on by late 1998 Update 1999 The FLORA MAP 1s now ava1lable on CD format analyz1ng germplasm collect1ons on a geograph1c base Th1s 1s advert1sed on the web The 20 years of pasture evaluat1on data are be1ng hnked w1th the GIS database to enable NARS and others to target germplasm request accord1ng to adaptatlon to defined geograph1c areas Progress 1s made We expect access v1a the mternal network early m 1999 14 Establlsh the Genom1c Research Reg1onal Laboratory and 1mplement the gwdelmes that have already been wntten (Genome Research m Agrob10d1vers1ty at CIA 7)The establishment of the B1od1vers¡ty Assessment Reg1onal Laboratory should be seen 1n the context of the document Genome Research 1n AgrobJodJverslty at CIAT'', presentad to the ICER Panel The focus of the research w1ll be on the charactenzat1on and mod1ficat1on of genomes and the conservat1on of genetlc resources Themat1c research on agrob10d!vers1ty w1th CIA T's mandate crops wdl form the bas1s for extend1ng genom1c methodolog1es to other prom1s1ng tropical spec1es General themes of th1s research w1ll 1nclude assessment of genetlc d1verslty and ldentlficat¡on of useful genes mod1ficat1on of plant genomes for broademng crop genet1c bases and 1mprov1ng germplasm conservatlon strateg1es Spec1al attent1on w1ll be g1ven to w1ld relatlves and land races as sources of genet1c vanab1hty for 1mprov1ng econom1c tra1ts  Steps have been taken along thrs recommendatron wrth the pubhcatron of results about space gradrents of genetrc drversrty for sorne wrld bean specres and selected forages That rnformatron has been sent te the Brodrversrty lnstrtutes rn Latrn Amenca whrch are often the technrcal bodres for the rmplementatron of m sttu conservatron pohcres (e g the selectron and locatron of protected areas) Another hne of research has been developed wrth a focus en m sttu conservatron practrces and management wrth a first paper pubhshed en wrld-weed-crop complex and the management of rural drsturbed habrtats Such research wrll contrnue as we have rdentrfied these two maJar hnes of research as feasrble and wrth a hrgh probabrhty of rmpact rn the near future Addrtronal research collaboratron rn rn-srtu conservatron wrll be sought A spec1fic example of th1s year rs the collaborat1ve work between the Umvers1ty of Costa R1ca, the bean network PROFRIJOL and CIAT Threatened areas Wlth valuable wlld (mamly bean) germplasm were 1denbfied and recommended for protect1on The w1ld material was also collected as a safety measure Update 1999 J01ntly w1th IPGRI an mtemat1onal course was conducted m 1999 en rn-s1tu conservatron rn Bohv1a17 Establtsh wtth urgency an agreement on btosafety wtth Colombta takmg mto fu// account mtemattonal/y establtshed procedures such as OECD gwdelmesOnce Colombia has 1ssued the b1osafety regulatiOn and 1mplementat1on pohc1es formal apphcat1ons for field test1ng of genet1cally mod1fied orgamsms (GMOs) w1ll be presented to the Nat1onal B1osafety Comm1ttee In add1t10n SB-01/02 wlll where appropnate contmue research on field stud1es assoc1ated wrth GMOs A proJect on gene flows between crops and the1r w1ld relat1ves 1s currently under development lt w1ll 1nvolve NARS of Lat1n Amenca w1th an 1mportant technology transfer componen! 1n v1ew of needs 1n regulat1on pohc1es for the 1ntroduct1on and management of transgemc plants The proposal bUIIds on CIATs prev1ous works on gene flow and expenence w1th molecular markers UntJI the Colomb1an b1osafety regulat1on IS m place, we are makmg preparatlons to move to Peru and/or Costa R1ca for field testmg of transgemc nce CIAT management contmues to encourage Colomb1an authontJes to adopt b1osafety regulatlons soonest We are subm1ttmg a proJect proposal on gene flow as a strateg1c step for b1osafety nsk assessment m the reg1on Update 1999 The Colomb1an b1o-safety regulat1ons are now 1n place CIAT has submrtted an apphcat1on for testmg transgemc nce and cassava under field and greenhouse cond1t1ons respect1vely A proJect proposal on gene-flow analys1s has been approved for fundmg to start 1n 2000 18 ReV/ew formal mteracttons wtth NARS based on the broader mtsston of C/A T CIAT sc1ent1sts act1vely part1c1pate m the orgamzat1on and conduct of the b1annual meet1ng of the Latln Amencan b1otechnology network Such meetmg w1ll prov1de an opportumty to present and d1scuss to CIAT partners the research projects of 581 and 582 Also th1s year a planmng meetmg has taken place w1th EM8RAPA diVISions 1nvolved w1th Genet1c Resources and B1otechnology A JOint actlon plan 1s m preparat1on S1m1lar contacts w1th Colomb1an mst1tutes are made frequently We w111 seek to expand such mteract1ons to other countnes of Central Amenca and the Andean reg1on CIAT also part1c1pates 1n the debates w1th the CG pnvate sector comm1ttee wh1ch has a b1otechnology b1as Plannmg meetJngs w1th NARS of Colombia and Braz11 contmue, but 1mplementatJon for other countr1es has been slow due to lack of resources No further up-date 19 Combme when posstble externa/ ~vtews to reduce the burden on the staff CIAT 1mplements th1s pract1ce ICER Annual Rev1ew and spec1fic conferences or courses are hnked to the max1mum poss1ble to reduce burden of staff and rev1ew a particular aspect of our research program from d1fferent angles Nevertheless we are aware that the burden of rev1ews and donar report1ng remams heavy No further updates","tokenCount":"8734"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9064645424.json b/data/part_1/9064645424.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..20b01d78f248d0fc38402a1d542f704a22f870ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9064645424.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a5cff682c641a545b22b30f07af2d708","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/43d056e6-c25f-49d1-8fb3-2464d9d1e61d/retrieve","id":"-208698327"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50a7f4f6-a7d0-4a60-b5bf-347bc8c73e56","pagecount":"1","content":"To study the effect of photoperiod changes on flowering induction and seed yield in U. humidicola genotypes.•All treatments induced flowering on Genotype 1, indicated by the increased number of spike/m² (Tukey HSD, α = 0.05, Fig 3).•We conclude that the best treatments correspond to 24 h and 16 h of red light and white light respectively (Figure 3).•The results showed that while red light triggers a faster development of flowering, white light allows for an increase in the number of inflorescences and a higher seed yield (Figure 4 and 5).•Our results suggest that longer photoperiods can be used as a potential speed-breeding tool in U. humidicola breeding program under tropical conditions. •Once established, the optimized methodology will reduce the time between breeding crossing seasons from 12-16 to 6-8 months.•Corroborate identified methodology over a wide panel of genotypes. •Light spectra: red, white and natural.•Photoperiod length: 12, 14, 16, 20, 23.5 and 24 light hours.•Genotypes: 2Traits evaluated in both trials:Florian-Vargas D; Hernández LM; Espitia P; Castiblanco V; Cardoso JA; Jauregui R. Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Cali, Colombia CONTACT: r.jauregui@cgiar.org     ","tokenCount":"179"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9066907102.json b/data/part_1/9066907102.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..46a3d12c59565585531e2aff12a9eb9fa64d8eba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9066907102.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8b89f55faef41581cc372653d795f7f9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/573e9564-4c8f-4c7a-be38-044b39850dd9/retrieve","id":"1588807647"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"33d6ca80-1cd6-4000-a15b-cb65f066cd77","pagecount":"12","content":"Las BPG son las actividades recomendadas que al realizarlas disminuyen los riesgos físicos, químicos y biológicos en la producción primaria de alimentos de origen animal, protegiendo la salud humana y animal. Su implementación favorece y promueve la sanidad, el bienestar animal y la productividad de los predios, así como la protección y conservación de los recursos naturales.En Colombia, el ICA establece las normas para la implementación y certificación de las BPG en la producción de leche, carne, porcinos, ovinos, caprinos y equinos. Los predios dedicados a la explotación ganadera tipo leche pueden obtener la certificación en BPG, mediante la implementación de las actividades establecidas en la Resolución ICA 67449 de 2020.Las buenas prácticas ganaderas priorizan algunos criterios según su relevancia e impacto en la inocuidad, seguridad y salud de los humanos y animales. Esta clasificación consiste en los criterios:Esta cartilla es una guía para la implementación de las Buenas Prácticas Ganaderas, por lo que solo se mencionan los criterios fundamentales. Se aumenta la productividad, mejorando cada uno de los procesos de manejo y generando productos diferenciados para nuevos mercados y oportunidades de negocio.• Conservación y protección de los recursos naturales, disminuyendo los impactos ambientales generados por las actividades productivas. • Genera un cambio de cultura ambiental en los ganaderos y fomenta el bienestar animal. Los criterios establecidos por el ICA se enmarcan en 8 puntos de control según su naturaleza, esto permite abarcar todas las áreas en la producción ganadera, facilitando la dirección de las acciones requeridas para dar cumplimiento a los criterios:Art 5.1Se refiere a todas las acciones que se tienen en cuenta para garantizar un buen estado de salud de los animales y disminuir el riesgo de exposición, contagio, y diseminación de enfermedades que causen problemas a los animales.El componente de sanidad animal debe contar con: Úlceras, vesículas y ampollas en boca y pezuñas.Dificultad para desplazarse y alimentarse, afecta la producción y el comercio.Pérdida progresiva de peso, debilidad, falta de apetito, fiebre inestable y tos húmeda.Consumo de productos animales por parte del bovino.Origen bacteriano, contacto con animales enfermos, al toser o consumir leche contaminada.Origen viral, se encuentra en secreciones, excreciones, puede estar presente en leche.Origen bacteriano, contacto con mucosas, via digestiva, respiratoria.Posibilidad de transmisión a humanos. Afecta la producción.Posibilidad de transmisión a humanos. Afecta la producción.Cambios de conducta, incremento de la agresividad, parálisis progresiva hasta la muerte.Origen viral. Mordida de murciélago vampiro con virus.Posibilidad de transmisión a humanos. Afecta la producción. Muerte del animal.Pálpulas en el hocico, boca y orificios nasales.Origen viral. Contacto con saliva y vesículas rotas.No brindar como alimento productos animales al bovino.Pruebas de diagnóstico y sacrificio de animales enfermos.Vacunación según resolución nacional.Vacunación según resolución nacional.Vacunación según resolución nacional. Control de murciélagos. In El predio debe contar con una zona en donde permanecen los animales antes del ordeño, con las condiciones higiénicas adecuadas, lo que permita una producción de leche libre de agentes contaminantes. Esta área debe estar limpia, y con un buen drenaje.Realizar una rutina de ordeño, con al menos los siguientes pasos: Los utensilios de ordeño deben ser de uso exclusivo para la rutina, estar en óptimas condiciones, Las vacas en tratamiento de mastitis y con leche anormal deben estar identificadas y ser ordeñadas al final.Procedimiento documentado de la rutina de ordeño, en un lugar visible.Aprende más a detalle sobre las buenas prácticas de ordeño mediante un video guía:http://bit.ly/3vIqbneUsa tu cámara para escanear este códigoLa leche es un alimento muy sensible a los medicamentos aplicado a los animales, es por esto que hay que ser muy cuidadosos cuando tratamos las vacas de ordeño para evitar que estos medicamentos vayan a los consumidores de leche y queso en el país.Utilizar únicamente productos veterinarios con registro ICA.Verificar la fecha de vencimiento de los productos veterinarios, sin cambios físicos del producto.No hay presencia de sustancias prohibidas (Cloranfenicol, Nitroimidazoles y Nitrofuranos)Todos los medicamentos son formulados por un médico veterinario.Se evidencia el que el tiempo de retiro es el indicado.No hay materias primas para uso como factores de crecimiento o con fines terapéuticos.Todos los tratamientos deben de ser registrados y anotados.Ve nc e: 20 30 Co m po si ci ón :La alimentación del ganado es vital para conseguir un buen estado de salud animal y calidad de los alimentos producidos.Registro ICA de todos los alimentos comprados y almacenamiento en buen estado.Correcto almacenamiento de los productos agrícolas, insumos para fumigar o abonar las pasturas, y que tengan su registro ICA.Respetar los tiempos de carencia de los productos agrícolas.No administración de harinas de carne, sangre, hueso u otros tejidos de mamíferos en la alimentación de los animales.Art 9Art 11.1Aprende más a detalle sobre el bienestar animal leyendo este blog:El cuidado y confort de los animales garantiza productos de buena calidad, mejora el rendimiento y reduce el riesgo de enfermedades. El bienestar animal es la relación armónica entre el hombre, el animal y el medio ambiente. El personal que maneja el predio debe estar en una continua mejora. Por medio de capacitaciones u actividades para adquirir o fortalecer habilidades. El manejo de los animales, aplicación de medicamentos, manejo de praderas, etc.La Alianza, en asocio con Red Adelco e ICCO Cooperación, implementarán el Programa Rutas PDET para la estabilización, el cual es financiado por la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo para la Paz y liderado por el Gobierno Nacional, que responde a las necesidades y prioridades de los PDET de las comunidades identificadas en el territorio.El programa es una apuesta con un enfoque integral, diferencial y territorial, cuyo propósito es consolidar la cadena láctea en el departamento del Caquetá, en los municipios de La Montañita, El Paujil, San Vicente del Caguán y Puerto Rico. Su operación es a través de cinco ejes principales: el mejoramiento de la infraestructura vial, el fomento al encadenamiento productivo, el apoyo a la aceleración empresarial y financiera, el impulso a la innovación tecnológica y la promoción de alianzas estratégicas.Este trabajo está autorizado para su uso bajo la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)2023-02. Diseño: I. Rivas (CIAT).Esta guía hace parte de la iniciativa de Ganadería y Clima de OneCGIAR. Nos gustaría agradecer a todos los donantes que apoyan nuestro trabajo globalmente mediante sus contribuciones al sistema CGIAR.","tokenCount":"1025"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9077021331.json b/data/part_1/9077021331.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..260b730e2fedc5b5e03ef6f8852e77b352691007
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9077021331.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"108e673c1850c4f08ff63995bdb26be4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/39b36e58-427f-468a-bcb5-d768c0fa78e0/retrieve","id":"943381923"},"keywords":["silvestres","Phaseolus vulgaris","marcadores moleculares","hibridaciones"],"sieverID":"0bb0bf92-26b2-435b-8932-7427482923ea","pagecount":"2","content":"La introducción y manejo de cultivos geneticamente modificados, desde la perspectiva de seguridad ambiental, suponen entre otros el conocimiento del impacto sobre la composición genética de poblaciones de variedades tradicionales y de parientes silvestres geneticamente compatibles. Esto conlleva a preocuparse de fenomenos de flujo de genes mediante polen, y a estudiar la ubicación de poblaciones posiblemente receptoras, la actividad de agentes polinizadores, la efectividad del flujo y sus consecuencias sobre el 'fitness' de las poblaciones receptoras a mediano y largo plazo. Se usó el fríjol común (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) como planta nativa y modelo de estudio en Costa Rica desde 1987, para precisar la ubicación de cada población silvestre, así como de posibles complejos 'silvestre-maleza-cultivo' como resultante de posibles hibridaciones resultantes de flujo. A la fecha se conocen 22 poblaciones del pariente silvestre (representando quizás el 90% o más de las poblaciones) distribuidas en cuatro cuencas hidrográficas alrededor del Valle Central de Costa Rica. También se han ubicado seis casos de flujo, y algunos de los complejos han podido ser estudiados a lo largo del tiempo. Se utilizaron tres marcadores moleculares: faseolinas, isoenzimas y microsatélites para evaluar la contribución del genoma nuclear en el flujo de genes. La dirección del movimiento de genes se determinó mediante RFLP-PCR de ADN de cloroplasto. El 98% de los individuos fue intermedio, seleccionados con base en la evaluación morfológica, eran producto del flujo de genes. Además, se estableció que la dirección principal del flujo de genes había ocurrido desde el polen de materiales silvestres hacia materiales cultivados (82%). Aunque la dirección en sentido contrario se evidenció en baja frecuencia su porcentaje fue significativo (18%). El flujo de genes fue observado principalmente entre formas biológicas del acervo genético mesoamericano (92%). El 8% de los materiales con características intermedias eran el resultado del flujo entre el acervo mesoamericano y el andino. Las metodologías empleadas en este estudio para identificar los individuos resultantes de flujo de genes y para caracterizar las poblaciones (silvestres, cultivadas y de características intermedias) fueron las adecuadas.","tokenCount":"334"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9102745862.json b/data/part_1/9102745862.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..37c004e50ff188e49adb3cd30a1aa56a03dbeb10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9102745862.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3cc5ccf07e7d83cc29897b0a3f01f961","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb3a7b4b-ebe3-48ee-93a3-e870eb2d883c/retrieve","id":"-1576712733"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4eec86c8-7ed8-401d-ab65-a69105c49cc3","pagecount":"10","content":"Experienced team which ensures that the right product is bought from the right place at the right time and right price. SLS core objective from FY 12 is to supply agri-based raw materials for large to medium corporates.  SLS acts as buying agents to source agri commodities on their behalf based on quality specifications required by the client.Season pricing is a pre determined.Processing plant that is well equipped and structured to conform with international standards.SLS to set up primary processing facilities for various products for domestic or export markets Primary processing adds a lot of value to existing products by cleaning, grading, sorting and testing Large scale production to pull smallholders and have a benchmarking platform Enhance dryland farming Pull production by creating demand ","tokenCount":"125"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9116911275.json b/data/part_1/9116911275.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd49dc6870b1c032cfdd605ff104000cd6e44234
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9116911275.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"092ccbe812f818fac970152cbe5c8ea4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e06824cd-3b5a-4630-81dc-94173e5aa603/retrieve","id":"1390338284"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"82cd2ed6-0433-42e5-9f7e-6eb0a31c109f","pagecount":"25","content":"Food safety is gaining traction in Kenya due to growing public health concerns for domestic and international trade. Past efforts to establish a food safety management system and a coordination mechanism have not borne fruit. Thus, ongoing efforts and advocacy initiatives are seeking greater science-based evidence to convince policy makers and stakeholders to take the issue of food safety more seriously. This report reviews the process adopted by the Government of Vietnam in developing its food safety policy framework with the view of drawing lessons and best practices that Kenya could consider in its own efforts to develop a modern food safety policy framework.The process followed in Vietnam was driven by the felt needs of the general public. These needs attracted the political will and leadership of the highest office in the land to initiate an inclusive agenda to improve food safety management in the country (domestic and export market). The Kenya process requires: i) building on the big four agenda-that includes access to adequate safe food (food security) and health for all-to which the country's top leadership is committed; ii) convening of an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach with the participation of local and international players in food safety to drive a modern food safety framework using science-based evidence to target priority food safety issues of the key value chains for domestic and international markets; and iii) establishing an effective, well-coordinated, accountable, adequately resourced and responsive risk-based food safety control system (with a clear policy, legal framework, institutions, fit for purpose laboratories and a monitoring system) and a foodborne diseases/illnesses surveillance system. The Food Control System should be supported by sustainable capacity development and retention to guarantee effective delivery.Food safety poses public health and human well-being challenges, especially in developing countries where food insecurity is endemic. It is gaining increased attention globally due to public health concerns. The key drivers of the growth in food safety concerns include increasing consumer population and unprecedented growth in international food trade. The effective management of food safety awareness and intensification of food production to meet the needs of a high and growing population are therefore necessary for public health, food and nutritional security and sustainable development.Kenya sits at the heart of this global challenge as a result of rapid urbanization and increasing awareness of food safety issues; growing agricultural intensification; economic reliance on agriculture; food imports and exports; and the absence of an effective food control system.Additionally, most food consumed in Kenya is produced and traded by smallholders whose ability to maintain effective food control standards is questionable. This viewed against the backdrop of disjointed institutional arrangements, a weak policy environment and lack of a sustainable coordination mechanism portrays a population exposed to foodborne hazards. Kenya is endemically food insecure and therefore would benefit from a structured approach to food safety management. The country therefore faces the dual imperative of assuring access to sufficient and safe food for its population. This cannot be realized without a dedicated well-meaning policy framework.Kenya's top leadership has identified health and agriculture among the big four agenda as key priority areas for the nation's development agenda. Although the effective management of food safety may ideally involve more actors, these two sectors form the foundation for an effective food safety management system.In walking the path of developing a food safety management system, Kenya has the opportunity to learn from countries with a similar context that have gone through a similar experience. The process used by Vietnam is especially relevant for Kenya. Vietnam like Kenya is a developing country with aspirations to middle income status, has a largely rural population where agriculture is the economic mainstay, and bears similarities in governance structure and value chain operations. The country conducted an elaborate exercise to successfully establish a national framework for food safety management. This review draws on the lessons learnt and best practices from the Vietnam process and makes recommendations for Kenya.This study is an engagement by the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) of the International Food Policy Research Institute of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (IFPRI/CGIAR) to support civil society organizations advocacy on food safety policy with science-based evidence. Civil society organizations are engaging policy makers at national and county levels, private sector actors and consumer organizations to develop and implement interventions to enhance food safety. This report therefore lends support to these efforts. The purpose of this part of the assignment is to review how Vietnam developed and implemented a food safety framework, draw parallels with the situation in Kenya, and recommend the best practices that Kenya could adopt.A representative survey in Vietnam found that food safety was one of the two most pressing issues for people, more important than education, health care or governance (World Bank, 2017). This felt need by the Government of Vietnam and the general public led to the formation and convening of the multisectoral Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) by the Deputy Prime Minister of the country. International agencies and bilateral organizations were also represented in the FSWG. This was reinforced by frequent media reports and programmes featuring food safety concerns and highlighting incidents.On attaining middle income status, Vietnam has seen a change in food preferences among its middle class and an increase in consumption of more animal source foods. The food system has also become more integrated regionally and internationally, both exporting and importing considerable volumes of food and therefore requiring greater attention to food safety and quality controls.Due to heightened food safety concerns from both consumers and policy makers (Mai 2013;Hung Nguyen-Viet 2015;World Bank Vietnam 2016), the government requested an assessment of prevailing food safety risks in Vietnam, based on international best practice of risk assessment methodology to generate evidence and draw lessons.The Government of Vietnam adopted a multipronged approach to address the food safety problem. Besides using decrees and establishing institutional structures across the country's governance landscape, the government requested international stakeholders for an urgent assessment of prevailing food safety risks, based on international best practice of risk assessment.The Vietnam Government was ready to embrace an evidence-based approach to address the problem. This spawned an extensive consultative process facilitated by the World Bank and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with the active participation of the FSWG. The key interventions in the process included a round table discussion on food safety which entailed consultation with leading experts, practitioners, researchers, officials and businesses community, review of databases, policies, publications and reports, visits to government and private sector institutions and other actors, and finally a stakeholder consultation workshop to present the technical report and collect feedback from key partners. This generated a detailed situation analysis report which was summarized into a policy note that served as key findings and recommendations to the Government of Vietnam and other food safety stakeholders.A legal framework (the Food Safety Law 2010) was promulgated by the National Assembly to address the country's growing concern on food safety risks and its impacts on trade and public health. It is a modern framework that aligns with international standards and approaches to food safety management. The law states that food safety management must be conducted throughout the course of food production and trading on the basis of food safety risk analysis, thus covering the entire food chain 'from farm to fork', in line with the World Bank Group Toolkit Pillar 1.Food safety responsibilities were assigned to three ministries, namely the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT). Each ministry was assigned control of specific products across the entire food value chain, that is, from primary production, preparation, processing, storage and import-export to wholesale and retail distribution of these products. MOH, through the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA), had the overarching responsibility for food safety in addition to its other specific roles.The MOH, has over-arching responsibility for food safety and was responsible for several commodities, food ingredients and packaging material. It has overall responsibility for the safety of food and drug production, food hygiene in the domestic market, unifying food safety policy, coordination of implementation and providing information about the safety of food in the country.MOH is also responsible for setting standards and technical regulations on criteria and safety limits; tools and materials used for packaging and containing food; coordinating periodic reports from ministries, branches and provincial people's committees (public participation governance structures) on the management of food safety; and coordinating public awareness activities, responding to food safety emergencies and warnings on any food poisoning incidents coordinating with MARD and MOIT to develop joint actions on food poisonings when necessary.MARD is responsible for food safety in agriculture, agroforestry and aquatic subsectors in the food supply chain, including related industries and wholesale wet markets. MOIT is responsible for some commodities and for retail marketing of food, namely markets and supermarkets. It is also responsible for safety of liquor, beer, beverages, processed milk, vegetable oil, powder and starch-based processed products and other products under the government's regulations, trade aspects of exported products, some industrial food products and the labelling of goods.Besides these three ministries, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is responsible for laboratory accreditation and the development of standards and methods for quality control of imported and exported goods. The Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) is responsible for standardization, metrology and the quality of goods and products, harmonization with international standards and laboratory accreditation under the auspices of the STAMEQ Bureau of Accreditation and the Vietnam Laboratory Accreditation Service.Food safety management is decentralized between national and local governments at all levels (from provincial governments to district and commune levels of government), especially for the domestic sector. Local level management is carried out through People's Committees which promulgate local technical regulations, develop and organize implementation of regional master plans and take responsibility for food safety controls in respective areas.However, the framework for decentralization is not standardized and varies between ministries and even between departments under ministries. The national ministries cannot enforce the norms or procedures at provincial and lower levels as accountability is largely horizontal and departments only report to the relevant government level People's Committee. Reporting vertically by departments to the responsible ministry may happen, but this is neither formalized nor aligned across ministries and departments at national level. Vietnam has mandatory and voluntary national standards. Mandatory national technical regulations are issued by MOH (but are developed in collaboration with other ministries) while Vietnamese national standards are issued by MOST and are voluntary. In addition, each ministry also develops its own voluntary standards which generally relate to good practices, namely Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Agricultural Husbandry Practices (GAHP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and adoption of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). The technical regulations cover areas such as limits of aflatoxins, heavy metals, microbial contamination, etc. and are mostly aligned with the Codex Alimentarius Commission.There is no formal manner of carrying out a risk assessment. However, some small-scale research initiatives have carried out risk assessments on heavy metals, aflatoxin in nuts and related products and Salmonella in chicken, among others.This strategy was set out through a decision at the Prime Minister level to: (i) ensure safety of food for consumers and emphasize the responsibilities and rights of the organizations and individuals producing and trading in food and of every citizen; (ii) implement the provisions of the Food Safety Law in a synchronized way through inspection, testing and management of food safety; and (iii) strengthen information and communication on food safety. The general objective of the strategy is that food safety master plans are implemented from production to consumption.Four specific objectives are laid down with specific targets for each to:1. Improve knowledge and practice of food safety among the target groups 2. Strengthen capacity of the food safety management system 3. Significantly improve food safety assurance in food producing and processing facilities 4. Effectively prevent acute food poisoningThe Vietnam National Codex Committee (VNCC) Board (six members) consists of leaders from relevant ministries (Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, and Science and Technology). Members of VNCC (46) include representatives from government agencies, food businesses, associations, universities and research institutes. The VNCC is the national liaison on all Codex Alimentarius Commission matters within the VFA. Generally, Codex standards are adopted in the country.A risk-based approach has been specified under the law. However, risk-based food control management is not being implemented uniformly across responsible ministries, departments and provinces. Following a risk-based approach across the board would ensure the best utilization of resources and lead to an effective food control system in the country.In practice the three ministries follow different approaches and interpretations of the regulations.They also have different priorities in their inspection and enforcement strategies. While a national target programme has been developed under which the minimum target inspections have been specified for each ministry, no coordinated national framework or strategy exists that addresses the whole of the food chain in a risk and outcome orientated approach. MOH coordinates this national target programme and collates six-monthly reports. For products under the control of more than one ministry, inter-ministerial inspection teams are commissioned and overseen by the inter-ministerial steering committee. Inter-ministerial inspections are also conducted when there are complaints or food safety incidents or during special occasions/functions.Although MOH has overarching responsibility for food safety, it has no authority to direct other ministries in their work to ensure that highest risk foods are targeted and prioritized. Similarly, MOH does not have capacity to set requirements for the quality and depth of reporting as this is based on the priorities and programmes of the different ministries. The major high value export streams are given far greater scrutiny and attention than domestic foods and food supplies.MARD follows a risk-based approach for exports with food businesses being categorized into three-A, B and C-in order of increasing risk, depending on whether they meet the stipulated requirements. Focus is then targeted towards improving Category C businesses. The export sector is handled at the national level by National Agroforestry Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD). For the domestic sector, MARD develops protocols for implementation at provincial and district levels and sends monthly reports to NAFIQAD. For imports, NAFIQAD has worked out risk profiles for products under its supervision.The VFA operates through the inspection department at the head office, sub-departments in the provinces and clinics and health centres at the district level. VFA is also responsible for monitoring food safety incidents, overseeing imports and large national or transnational food businesses and for ensuring the quality and safety of bottled drinking water. The provinces are responsible for enforcement and inspection of larger food business operators who produce for large-scale distribution and of catering systems and larger restaurants. The food safety enforcement at district and commune levels is mostly on the small-scale and street food sectors.The Bureau of Market Management under MOIT is responsible for inspection of large businesses at the national level while the smaller businesses are inspected at the provincial level by MOIT.The businesses are inspected, and licenses issued, followed by regular at least once yearly or ondemand inspections. Inspection is not risk-based. Laboratory testing is only done to confirm compliance against importing country requirements or imports where the cost is covered by the importer. Most domestic inspection and enforcement activities are qualitative in nature and are not supported by regular laboratory analysis. The laboratories used are those of MARD and MOH in addition to private accredited laboratories.At the market level, wholesale markets are supervised by MARD and retail markets and supermarkets or convenience stores are covered by MOIT. Inspections are complemented by training consumers to identify safe food and enhance sustainability of the good practice schemes.Vietnam still lacks a comprehensive national food safety surveillance system. Efforts in surveillance by different agencies are fragmented, weakly coordinated and poorly integrated. The data collected by different ministries through routine monitoring are not collated for joint use by ministries for risk-based food safety surveillance and controls. The country still needs to ensure that surveillance activities are consistent with international standards and that reliable information exchange systems are developed between provincial and national organizations. Surveillance systems are expensive and there are limited possibilities to recover costs from the private sector.Hence, lack of operational funding is a serious constraint for setting up an effective surveillance system in Vietnam. Laboratory capacity and funding are insufficient for routine surveillance or enforcement of related testing. There are laboratory data on exports and imports and some data from domestic inspection activities under the different ministries, but there is no overall plan or collation of national data for analysis and monitoring of foodborne diseases and food safety. An active food safety surveillance system in Vietnam is at the formative stages of development. It has components of integrated food safety surveillance such as market surveillance, surveillance of food business operators in manufacturing and service establishments, surveillance of imported products and surveillance of incidences of foodborne diseases. MARD and VFA carry out surveillance independently for their respective areas of responsibility. For MARD, residue and contaminant monitoring programmes are regularly implemented by NAFIQAD for the fishery sector due to its export focus. For MOH, surveillance systems for foodborne disease are under the authority of VFA. All health staff, whether they offer public or private services, are responsible for notifying food safety agencies at district or provincial levels when a suspected foodborne disease outbreak occurs in their area. When cases of foodborne disease are admitted at a health facility, the facility has to report the incidences of these cases regularly to a higher-level authority and ultimately to VFA. In severe outbreaks or those leading to deaths, preventive medicine services, health facilities or district food safety agencies are permitted to share data and reports beyond their jurisdictions. Statutory surveillance systems and outbreak investigation reports maintained by public health authorities in Vietnam are mainly passive. Foodborne and waterborne diseases are reported from lower level preventive medicine centres to higher level centres and ultimately to the general Department of Preventive Medicine at the MOH. VFA and food safety agencies mainly receive reports of food poisoning or gastroenteritis outbreaks where food transmission is suspected.In Vietnam, only reports of outbreak investigations and hazard surveillance systems are used to monitor foodborne diseases. Other aspects of surveillance systems (such as notifiable foodborne disease surveillance, syndromic surveillance, behaviour risk factors, complaints and antimicrobial resistance systems) are not developed.Commodities come into the country through both formal and informal channels, hence the need for controls. The respective ministries are responsible for their products using the standards applicable for domestic purposes. The import control process is not well implemented, leading to concern among domestic producers who feel that they are not protected from cheap imports and consumers who doubt the safety of imported products. There is also no systematic reporting of non-conforming products detected at the borders, making it difficult to tell what in the market is safe or not.The MOIT adopts some level of risk-based inspection in which products that consistently passed at accredited laboratories get the benefit of simplified procedures for the next year. There is zero tolerance for illegal imports. The MARD applies risk profiling for all imported products and, based on the same procedures, the levels of checks for imported products are determined.Vietnam does not have pre-export inspections in exporting countries, but it accepts test certificates of accredited laboratories of exporting countries. Good coordination exists with customs who inform the relevant departments on the arrival of consignments.For exports, the respective ministries are responsible for their groups of products. The standards used are those of the importing country. Major exports by value are fish and fishery products, coffee, cereals (rice), fruit, processed foods, vegetables and flour-based products. Each ministry handles its export control role differently. For MOIT related products, the food manufacturers are responsible for their product outcomes. They apply for externally audited International Organization for Standardization (ISO) HACCP programmes. The manufacturers are responsible for monitoring primary raw product producers. Each food business enterprise in the value chain, from farm to processor to export markets, is responsible for actively managing food safety through a preventive risk-based approach so that the next downstream business can maintain food safety. Failures at any stage pass food safety risks to the downstream clients. Government inspection ensures manufacturers and primary raw product producers comply with government regulations and with international ISO HACCP programmes required by international importers.Each ministry (MOH, MARD and MOIT) has its own network of food safety related laboratory systems consisting of ministry or department laboratories, research institutes, professional centres and university laboratories. Some large provinces have their own experimentation and analytical service laboratories, for example, the Centre for Preventive Health Care and Technical Scientific Services on food safety. In addition, private laboratories provide experimentation and analytical services. The Deputy Prime Minister through MOH is in charge of the overall laboratory structure. The National Food Safety Laboratory (NFSL) network is the main diagnostic arm of MOH and plays the role of reference laboratory in food safety in Vietnam. It consists of laboratory units working at national, regional, provincial and district levels. The National Institute of Food Control (NIFC) based in Ha Noi is the national reference laboratory in the area of food safety under MOH. It also provides training for regional and provincial laboratories in advanced testing methods, supports provincial laboratories in developing and implementing ISO 17025 requirements, and provides proficiency testing programmes and reference material for food testing laboratories. There are 4 regional laboratories and each of the 63 provinces has a preventive medicine centre, although these have limited capacity to test for residues and contaminants. There are laboratories with limited capacities at the district level.To get accreditation, laboratories are required to implement quality management systems in compliance with ISO 17025. The laboratory is required to report its policy, organization, training activities, facility, equipment, method selection, standard operating procedures, sample treatment and competence assessment. live in cities and this is increasing the incidence of food insecurity in low-and medium-income countries. Thus, Kenya, just like Vietnam, needs to be concerned about domestic food safety.The Vietnam Government showed political leadership in: i) prioritizing food safety as an issue that required addressing; ii) inviting international partners to assist financially and provide human capacity to address food safety; iii) accepting to use the best practices-science-based evidence according to the international norms; and iv) forming a national food safety working group (NFSWG) that included not only nationals but also international partners and hosted and chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister.Kenya can successfully develop a food safety policy framework by adopting an inclusive, consultative stakeholder engagement approach that incorporates local and international stakeholders (World Bank Group, WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Trade Organization, The World Organization for Animal Health OIE, etc).Vietnam initially had food safety policies and laws that were implemented by different ministries.It became clear that this resulted in overlapping mandates and wastage of resources. The country through the NFSWG adopted one food safety policy/law which identified the various ministries that had a stake in food safety and their roles.Kenya needs to develop a National Food Safety Policy and consolidate the food laws to avoid overlaps and to properly coordinate food safety. We recognize the new development in trying to set up a Kenya Food and Drug Authority which will have mandate over food safety amongst others. A casual look at the preliminary proposals in this document reveals lack of stakeholder inclusivity (it is wholly regulatory agencies) in the formative stages and over-consolidation of agencies under the KFDA which could be a hindrance to smooth transition. What has been lacking is an overarching framework for coordinating the multiple agencies currently involved in food safety. Multiple institutions working in a coordinated manner bring greater benefits of collaboration, synergy and resource (capacities, infrastructure, financial, technical) sharing as is the case in Vietnam.Vietnam adopted a multi-agency model to address food safety issues. Kenya has a similar model, where many ministries have differing and sometimes overlapping mandates on food safety. To avoid turf wars which derail a well-meaning policy, the Government of Vietnam policy created an overarching agency anchored in food safety law (VFA) to coordinate the various ministries in delivering on food safety. An Inter-sector Steering Committee [ISSC) on food safety that reports to the overarching agency was formed to coordinate efforts. This committee is similar to the proposed inter-ministerial council proposed under the Kenya Food and Drugs Authority law, currently being drafted.Currently, Kenya has the National Food Safety Coordinating Committee (NFSCC) which seems to have taken some of the functions of the proposed Inter-Ministerial Council. However, NFSCC as currently constituted is an ad hoc entity that cannot request for deliverables from other institutions.Targets were developed to audit how the country was achieving the goals set in Vietnam. These were unambiguous and clear for the very different levels of governance. The Kenya food safety framework should give ample opportunity for the implementing bodies to develop targets for different levels of government for purposes of accountability.The Vietnam standards body developed standards based on evidence gathered by the FSWG during two case studies (vegetables and pork value chains) and other studies in the country. While the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) develops standards for products in Kenya, inspection and compliance monitoring is missing to ensure the products meet the standards.The body setting food standards should adopt a risk-based approach to standard development.Where evidence is lacking, precautionary regulation should be developed awaiting commissioned evidence gathering work.The strategy developed by the Government of Vietnam offered various commitments by the government on how to achieve national food safety to reduce foodborne illnesses. These included: i). recognition that safe food is a human right for all; ii) the overarching goal of preventing acute foodborne infections and poisoning; iii) implementation of food safety should start from farm and move to fork; iv) commitment to strengthen the food safety control system (setting up of food laboratories, accredited, inspection and where possible inter-sector inspections); and v) establishing a surveillance system with proper reporting mechanisms from communes to the overarching agency-Vietnam Food Authority. In line with what the Vietnam Government has done, a food safety strategy with an explicit approach to risk communication and information, education and communication (IEC) should be developed for food safety in Kenya, just as the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) and the Strategy for Revitalization of Agriculture (SRA) were developed to guide Kenya's economic recovery in the past.The Government of Vietnam established a surveillance system backed by competent fit for purpose laboratories that would collect, collate and report data to enable response to be taken.The country categorized products based on the degree of risk and the risky products were sampled more often while the less risky were sampled regularly at least once a year. This riskbased surveillance enabled proper utilization of resources. Kenya's food safety control system has a surveillance system (institutions, laboratories and processes) but it is neither adequately resourced nor implemented. What is important to note is that in Vietnam, surveillance has been cascaded to commune level and this can equally work for Kenya if there is adequate resourcing and implementation commitment.","tokenCount":"4517"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9119780845.json b/data/part_1/9119780845.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df33115ad5bea6852bb3a041b18d34c77df47333
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9119780845.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f9ef4b372b03685534c8e16c4ac63201","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7a30517a-01ab-40fe-814c-f02da58f5038/retrieve","id":"-1731426749"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3eaf0b71-e267-40d9-b409-f33fd88e93d4","pagecount":"56","content":"≥1500 vascular plant species per 10,000km 2 ≥15 crop species harvested per pixel Both i ii Bioversity International of ces Cristián Samper Board Chair M. Ann Tutwiler Director General 3The World Health Organization estimates that one in every four children under 5 years old suffers from chronic malnutrition. At the same time, 2 billion people worldwide suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, and over 1 billion are overweight, with 300 million obese. Bioversity International is helping to address this double burden of malnutrition, by providing evidence on how food diversity can contribute to healthy and sustainable diets.Here are some highlights from 2013.The food choices you make for a healthier you and a healthier ecosystem must consider nutritional, environmental and cultural trade-offs. In the same way, choices being made by farmers and manufacturers must ensure that food is accessible, affordable, nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable, and respects the environment by optimizing the use of natural and human resources. The emerging and exciting research area on sustainable diets looks at food and food systems, taking into account food diversity and how it can be produced and acquired across all seasons and under different economic circumstances.Research by Bioversity International is contributing to the understanding and promotion of sustainable diets. In particular, we are looking at how whole food systems -including policies and investments throughout the food value chain -can provide people with access to safe, diverse, nutritious and healthy food throughout the year. This represents a shift away from relying on single nutrients or foods to treat nutrient deficiencies, towards using the best combinations of foods to maintain good nutrition and health over the long term.In 2013, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health adopted whole-diet approaches within its research strategy for the first time. Moreover, Food Tank named Bioversity International in its list, '40 organizations that are shaking up the food system'.\"We should put people at the centre of research on sustainable diets as food is an expression of their culture,\" said Bioversity International researcher Céline Termote at the conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in May. \"Understanding local knowledge on the wealth of plants and animals that people use but are losing is necessary if we are to respect and promote diverse food cultures.\"In September, Bioversity International and the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation held a symposium Sustainable Food and Diets: From Theory to Evidence-based Successful Practice, at the IUCN 20th International Congress of Nutrition in Spain. It highlighted our ongoing work to establish a community of practice on metrics and indicators to understand and quantify the sustainability of food systems -much-needed tools in this complex and evolving cross-cutting field. This work has been the basis of active involvement with universities, research organizations, foundations, governments and even large food companies.By emphasizing the nutritional qualities and environmental resilience of agricultural and forest systems, as well as their cultural relevance, Bioversity International is leading the way as to how certain combinations of many healthy -and sometimes forgotten -foods can secure a safe, culturally appropriate and sustainable food supply for both present and future generations. This research area contributes to the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.The Contribution of Forests to Sustainable Diets was one of seven background publications for the international conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, held in Rome at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN during May 2013. Co-written by Bioversity International researchers Barbara Vinceti, Céline Termote, Bruce Cogill, Danny Hunter and CGIAR partners, the paper highlighted the potential for trees and forests to contribute to food security and better nutrition.Affordable, nutritious and culturally important, forest foods can supply the micronutrients, fibres and other key components that have been found to be missing from local diets in several developing countries. And it is not just fruits and nuts: populations around the world consume leaves, mushrooms, roots, insects, wild animals and eggs to complement staple food and as a way to cope during food shortages. This is especially important for rural men and women who often have limited livelihood options.\"But despite these benefits, the reduced access and increasing perception of indigenous foods as old-fashioned or inferior can discourage their consumption,\" says Barbara Vinceti. \"In order to overcome the issues, there is a need for sustainable management and strong awareness-raising campaigns.\"As a result of these and other issues discussed during the conference, participants developed the policy brief Towards food security and improved nutrition: Increasing the contribution of forests and trees, which summarizes their main policy recommendations.Forest foods from Cameroon. Credit: Bioversity International/ L.SnookLaunched in 2012, the Global Environment Facility-funded initiative 'Biodiversity for Food Nutrition' (B4FN) is finding ways to mainstream agricultural biodiversity into national and global policies and programmes tackling nutrition and food security.B4FN is working to address growing concerns over the rapid disappearance of traditional crops and wild species by promoting and lobbying for the use of nutritionally promising species, as well as by documenting the knowledge associated with the preparation, storage and cultural use of these foods. It is led by four countries -Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey -with implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This year, Brazil took great strides to promote the enhanced use of biodiversity for food and nutrition while effectively meeting national obligations as a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to revise its National Biodiversity and Action Plan (NBSAP) by 2015. Building on the country's 2012-2015 multi-year development plan, six national ministries and various institutes analyzed gaps between the development and biodiversity plans, identifying new partnerships and making available new budgets to assess the nutrient content of 40 promising species of Brazilian flora.The revision of the NBSAP is bringing together different sectors that do not normally work together, with B4FN partners firmly integrated into this process. But this approach also brings challenges. Camilla Oliveira, Environment Analyst for the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil and national B4FN manager explains: \"One big challenge is that many programmes in Brazil have a relationship with the B4FN project but don't integrate well. We need to integrate and learn from best practice and avoid duplication of effort and we need a policy framework and platforms for enhancing biodiversity conservation.\"In March, Bioversity International marked another milestone for the B4FN initiative with the publication Diversifying Food and Diets -Using Agricultural Biodiversity to Improve Nutrition and Health (see box below).The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative is coordinated by Bioversity International and contributes to the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.A new book, Diversifying Food and Diets: Using Agricultural Biodiversity to Improve Nutrition and Food Security, explores the latest research on the role of agricultural biodiversity in improving diets, nutrition and food security. It identifies research and implementation gaps that need to be addressed to promote the better use of agricultural biodiversity in food-based approaches that tackle malnutrition and food security. It also includes 12 case studies from around the world that showcase success stories.Diversifying Food and Diets includes forewords by Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity, and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, who comments: \"This book is important and deserves a wide readership. Only once governments are convinced of the importance of agricultural biodiversity shall they implement the policies that are urgently required to move away from the direction of agricultural development that is dominant today.\" Danny Hunter, Bioversity International scientist and co-editor of the book series comments: \"It is essential to understand how the global agricultural system and the benefits derived from agricultural biodiversity influence the drivers of global dietary consumption patterns, nutrition and health status, in particular in the developing world … As this book highlights, local biodiversity has the potential for contributing to food security and nutrition, as well as for enhancing adaptation to global climate change.\"Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity, a book series published by Earthscan/Routledge in association with Bioversity International, is the only series of its kind devoted to reviewing the current state of knowledge on agricultural biodiversity and how it can be used to improve people's well-being and food and nutrition security. The series identifies research gaps, summarizes lessons learned and offers recommendations for future research and development planning.There are now six books in the series, on topics including conservation of genetic resources and the social, policy and legal aspects of managing biodiversity in agriculture. All are available for free download from the Bioversity International website. More book titles will be published in the near future.Diversity of vegetables produced in home gardens, Nepal. Credit: LI-BIRD/ A.SubediHome gardens play a big role when it comes to improving dietary diversity, bringing in extra income, and improving family well-being through the use and conservation of biodiversity. Often part of a larger farming system, they are usually tended by rural women, who manage to coax from the soil a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, flowers, fodder and even building materials. Yet these productive gardens are often overlooked by mainstream policy and agricultural development priorities when assessing the nutritional diversity and livelihood options of poor rural communities.With support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Bioversity International started a home garden initiative in Nepal in 2002 to study how these small plots contribute to biodiversity, food security, nutrition and household income. Working with Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and other partners such as the Department of Agriculture, we aimed to understand the scientific basis of the management of agricultural biodiversity in home garden ecosystems in Nepal -a true agricultural biodiversity hotspot.Towards the end of the third phase of the project in 2013, a thorough impact assessment study was conducted in two districts to analyze changes in livelihood, nutrition and homestead biodiversity, both in participating homes and control groups.Thanks to the project interventions, home gardeners saw their yields nearly triple from 300kg per year to as much as 900kg per year in some households. More households were selling their garden products as well. Biodiversity increased in the home gardens of participating households, with 66 species under cultivation as compared to fewer than 40 species before the project began. Farmers now maintain higher plant diversity on farms and cultivate a greater range of plant groups -vegetables, fruits, spices, medicinal herbs, fodder and ornamentals -and a larger variety of different vegetables. Participating households doubled their overall consumption of produce, including the amount of green leafy vegetables, and have increased their intake of vitamin A-rich foods like mango and papaya by 36%.After the successful scaling up of the project in 16 districts with our partners -the Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development; Tuki Association Sunkoshi; Rural Development Tuki Association, Dolakha and Group of Helping Hands (SAHAS) Nepal -the Government of Nepal is now planning to mainstream the home garden initiative in 20 districts as part of its efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. LI-BIRD has integrated home gardening in all its projects to contribute to women's empowerment and family well-being.Diverse banana varieties for sale in Uganda. Credit: concretedreams.be, courtesy of Musarama 9Vitamin A deficiency is a common nutrition problem throughout the world, and severe deficiency is the leading cause of acquired blindness in children and increased mortality from diarrhoeal diseases. Bananas could hold the key to preventing vitamin A deficiency in places where they are consumed as a staple food.Studies on vitamin A-rich banana varieties from the Pacific show that eating just one banana a day can provide the entire requirement of provitamin A carotenoids -the precursors used by the body to produce vitamin A.To date, we have screened more than 400 banana cultivars for elevated nutrient content, and 12 cultivars show promise for their content of provitamin A carotenoids. These varieties, originally from the Pacific, are now undergoing trials in Eastern Africa to see how they perform under different agroecological conditions, both to measure their nutrient content at different stages of ripening and to see if local communities will accept them as part of their diet.The trials have shown that five of the cultivars have great variability in provitamin A content across the different growing conditions. When ripe and raw, the selected cultivars have significantly higher levels of vitamin A than other varieties. Importantly, six out of nine cultivars are able to meet more than the daily recommended vitamin A content for children aged 1-3 years -a level similar to that of Pacific cultivars.Testing for acceptability of the cultivars involves groups of equal numbers of men and women trying different recipes to create local dishes. Dishes are scored using various attributes such as taste, aroma and appearance. So far, six new nutrient-rich cultivars have been rated as equal to or better than local varieties, with five new cultivars planned to be officially released in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo next year.Many farming communities depend on ecosystem services and agricultural biodiversity for their livelihoods -yet that diversity faces threats from changes in land use, habitat destruction and climate change. Bioversity International is helping to increase scientific understanding of the value of ecosystem processes for agriculture and human wellbeing, taking into account insights from traditional knowledge.Here are some highlights from 2013.in sustainable, resilient and productive farms and landscapesSocio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes are areas of mixed land-use patterns, including villages and farmland adjacent to forests, grasslands, wetlands or coastal areas. Shaped over centuries by humannature interactions, these landscapes have proven they are sustainable, maintaining their biodiversity while providing humans with goods and services needed for their well-being.To understand what makes these landscapes resilient and to help communities continue to adapt to new changes, Bioversity International and the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Study of Sustainability developed a set of 20 indicators of resilience as a collaborative activity under the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative.These indicators help measure a landscape's capacity to adapt to change by providing a tool for local communities to plan strategies to strengthen their resilience. The indicators are spread over five broad categories: landscape/seascape diversity and ecosystem protection; biodiversity (including agricultural biodiversity), knowledge and innovation; landscape/ seascape governance and social equity; livelihoods and well-being.\"One unusual thing about our indicators is that rather than focusing on eco-biological traits -species, habitats, etc. -they are more holistic, and emphasize the need for strong institutions to support communities and enhance resilience,\" says Pablo Eyzaguirre, lead scientist of the Bioversity International research team.Because they also include social and economic aspects, the indicators are better accepted by communities. \"They find the link between conservation and socio-economic issues more relevant for them,\" says Diana Salvemini, coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme's 'Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative' (COMDEKS) project.COMDEKS has been piloting the indicators in 20 countries since 2011, and Bioversity International has conducted its own field tests in Bolivia, Cuba, Kenya and Nepal with the help of local NGOs such as Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and Fundación para la Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos (PROINPA). New insights on how to make communities and landscapes more resilient have already come out of the trials.The indicators have been well received by participants, but their success is clearly dependant on external factors: for instance, good facilitators and translators are essential, and the language must be tailored to the community's context.The indicators are being refined in the field to develop a user-friendly toolkit that will be launched later in 2014, and a forthcoming paper by Bioversity International will compare results from the different field test sites. This work is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems.Pollination, pest control, clean water, erosion reduction and flood prevention -these are all ecosystem services that contribute to human well-being.But not all ecosystem services are produced or consumed at the same scale, and many are provided by ecological drivers at multiple scales. Some ecosystem services, such as soil nutrient cycling, are very local -they can be directly affected by the actions of farmers, who are often the primary beneficiaries of their actions. Water storage and purification, on the other hand, are affected by many users and across a larger area, such as a river basin. Action plans such as reforestation, riverside forest conservation or agroforestry systems can improve water storage and filtration. But to be effective, these interventions need to be executed and coordinated at a greater scale, with benefits manifested over a longer time period. To summarize, various lags in time and space exist between the production and consumption of different ecosystem services.To show how these differences can complicate governance options, Bioversity International scientists and partners recently published a paper emphasizing the importance of matching ecological, social and governance scales when developing incentive mechanisms for ecosystem-service management.The science from the paper was also used to develop the concept for a video game that helps people understand how appropriate, adaptive management of agricultural ecosystems can improve the delivery of ecosystem services across different scales.Ecosystem restoration is now a global priority. It contributes to biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and helps combat desertification. Forests that have been cut down for mining, agriculture or other reasons are clear targets for restoration, but genetic quality or diversity is often overlooked in the selection of replacement species. This is a major oversight. Deforested areas often exhibit harsh environmental conditions that make it difficult for seedlings to survive. The success of restoration initiatives hinges on the careful choice and combination of tree species with particular genetic qualities -such as native tree species. Native species are not only more likely to thrive in their original environment, they can also provide ecosystem services and support local livelihoods.Abarco, also known as Colombian mahogany, is critically endangered in Colombia. Originally widespread in the northern Colombian lowland, abarco's exceptional sturdiness made it a prime target in the construction industry. It has been identified by the International Tropical Timber Organization as a promising species for enrichment planting in the restoration of degraded primary forests. Now, more than 80% of the original populations are gone. Assessing conservation of forest genetic resources in Europe is hampered by the fact that the distribution ranges of many European forest trees extend across large geographical areas and cover many countries with diverse forest management traditions and practices. Because of this, it is difficult to identify gaps in conservation efforts and to develop genetic conservation strategies for forest trees at the pan-European level.A new article 'Translating conservation genetics into management: Pan-European minimum requirements for dynamic conservation units of forest tree genetic diversity', written by experts from the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN), which is hosted by Bioversity International, offers solutions to these problems. In this paper, EUFORGEN experts present minimum requirements for implementing genetic conservation of forest trees in a coordinated manner across different countries and situations. They are based on a dynamic conservation approach that aims to maintain evolutionary processes and adaptive potential across generations, instead of preserving a static sample of genetic diversity. Currently 34 countries are applying the minimum requirements through practical conservation work. This article provides other regions with a useful example on how regional collaboration can foster the conservation of forest genetic resources. In late 2013, fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4) was found for the first time in Africa. Widely considered to be one of the most devastating diseases in agricultural history, fusarium wilt (also known as 'Panama disease') has wreaked havoc on the commercial banana industry for decades. It is lethal, persistent and attacks a wide range of hosts. Now TR4 is threatening the Cavendish subgroup of bananas, the most widely grown group of bananas for international trade and domestic use. While it is a serious threat for large-scale producers, TR4 causes problems particularly for smallholder farmers who grow Cavendish bananas, as they lack the technical and financial resources to cope with such epidemics. Unlike large-scale producers, they don't have the option of relocating when their farms become severely infested.Bioversity International is researching ways to prevent the spread of TR4, as well as disease management strategies, including the use of resistant cultivars.In 2013, we conducted field trials in the Philippines on a resistant type of Cavendish from Taiwan known as GCTCV 219, which is helping to safeguard the livelihoods of TR4-affected smallholders. Although the bunches of GCTCV 219 are slightly smaller than those of the most popular Cavendish cultivars and the plants take longer to bear fruit, it is a sweeter banana and has been well received by farmers who have successfully exported the variety. The next step is to increase the production of planting material and to collaborate with the private sector to help farmers meet the growing demand for GCTCV 219.In 2011-2012, anticipating the possibility that the disease might make the jump to Africa, we started looking at how African bananas would react to the virulent fungal strain. The tests showed promise: East African highland bananas were less affected by the disease in field trials in China and the Philippines.Preventing the spread of TR4 is paramount. If it were to reach Latin America -the world's largest exporter of bananas -it would devastate both commercial exporters and related local economies. To raise awareness of the disease, we organized 11 workshops on quarantine pests with an emphasis on TR4, as part of the contingency plan for TR4 published by OIRSA (see box, below). In 2013, the Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA), an international organization for plant and animal health in nine Mesoamerican and Caribbean countries, published the first contingency plan for banana production in Latin America.The TR4 fusarium strain is now considered the greatest threat to banana production. After cutting a swath through Southeast Asia's Cavendish banana plantations, TR4 was recently found in Jordan and Mozambique (see main story, above). So far, it has not been detected in Latin America, but its threat is of greatest concern to these countries, which represent 80% of global banana export and are host to cultivars susceptible to TR4. An outbreak of the disease could have devastating impacts on the livelihoods and food security of millions of people.The contingency plan outlines what countries need to do to identify, eradicate, contain and/or properly handle any case of TR4. Lead author Miguel Dita, scientist with Bioversity International, along with Plutarco Eliás Echegoyén Ramos of OIRSA and Luis Fernando Pérez Vicente of the Instituto de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal in Cuba and an honorary researcher with Bioversity International, structured the plan according to existing plant health standards. The publication details the steps to be followed in the event of a suspected or confirmed TR4 case, and offers guidance on how to organize and run eradication and containment/deletion programmes. CIALCA's research investments in agricultural system productivity and resilience have paid off: impact assessments have found the programme helped increase household incomes and protein intake, improved farm productivity and created demand for new agricultural technologies. CIALCA also strengthened national scientific capacity, engaging and supporting 20 PhD and more than 30 MSc students in CIALCA research. Several CIALCA alumni now hold senior public positions in their respective countries, providing new vision and leadership in agricultural research management, and contributing to the development of home-grown solutions to national agricultural challenges.A 2011 study of the programme's organizational model found it to be highly organic and adaptable to local contexts. Importantly, partners felt entrusted with ownership and treated as equals, increasing their enthusiasm for engaging in joint innovation and learning.CIALCA has shown that agricultural research can provide insights and innovations that guide investments in a more food-secure future. In the years to come, Humidtropics will build on CIALCA's achievements to further reduce household vulnerability to climatic shocks, high food prices, crop pests and diseases, and declining soil fertility.Farm households and rural communities are increasingly dealing with environmental changes such as shifting weather patterns and land degradation -increasing access to a diverse range of quality seeds and planting material can help them cope better. Bioversity International is carrying out research to give farmers access to a greater range of quality planting material, including important neglected, underutilized and wild species.Here are some highlights from 2013.Giving farmers choices: 'Seeds for Needs' \"Earlier we used to have only a few choices in wheat and rice farming. With Bioversity, we came to know how many types are available for our use and some of them are really performing better than our regular ones,\" says one Indian farmer, describing how Bioversity International's 'Seeds for Needs' initiative has introduced him to more crop varieties.The idea behind 'Seeds for Needs' is simple: farmers who have access to more information and a wider range of crops and varieties can make better decisions based on their knowledge of local conditions -and can better cope with climate variability.In recent years, the initiative has adopted a crowdsourcing approach, where local farmers become citizen scientists. Each farmer grows a different combination of three varieties drawn from a broader set of ten. The farmer then ranks them according to different characteristics such as early vigour, yield and culinary quality. Researchers then combine the rankings and share the results with the farmers so that they can identify the best varieties for their conditions and preferences. The approach was launched in 2011 in India with 30 farmers. News spread by word of mouth, and there are now over 5,000 citizen farmers in the country, joining another 3,000 around the world.Capacity strengthening is another key aspect of the initiative. Farmers are trained in data collection, cultivation practices and seed saving techniques. As of 2013, the initiative is also training partners and extension agents in GIS climate modelling (see box below). The year also marked the launch of iButtons (see box opposite) to measure local temperature and humidity in farmers' fields to correlate with crop performance (such as frost or heat resistance). Finally, 'ClimMob', a computer program that analyzes data and processes the feedback from and for farmers, will be released in 2014.Both men and women are involved in the research, with household surveys and focus groups being conducted together and/or separately.In most cases, women involved are responsible for their own trials or are part of a women's group. Closing the weather data gap with iButtons iButtons are small, steel-encased computer chips that can record temperature and relative humidity. Economical and user-friendly, these coin-sized weather sensors are rugged enough to withstand harsh environments, and can be set up in the field to monitor weather conditions over time. They are especially useful for investigating microclimates in hilly areas, where local weather data can fluctuate drastically over short distances.Bioversity International scientists are using iButtons to characterize local climates as part of the 'Seeds for Needs' initiative (see main story, opposite) across East Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia. Using iButton data in combination with farmers' observations, researchers are getting a more complete picture of the climate adaptation capabilities of different varieties and crops.In 2013, we published the manual Collecting weather data in the field with high spatial and temporal resolution using iButtons, by Bioversity International scientists Sarika Mittra, Jacob van Etten and Tito Franco. The manual, which is also available in Spanish, describes in detail how to use iButtons for research purposes in the field.Bioversity International is strengthening the capacity of its partners to use climate monitoring and modelling tools for crop adaptation, as well as international information systems to identify potentially useful germplasm. Workshops are ongoing, and we have also been developing various training materials over the year.We are currently finalizing a resource kit on resilient seed systems, featuring a series of research processes that countries need to carry out in order to identify, acquire, test with farmers, conserve and evaluate seeds that are adapted to climate change.In collaboration with CCAFS, we trained partners in the use of new monitoring and modelling tools for climate change adaptation for different crops, including underused ones. Thirteen scientists participated in a long-term training programme, and nearly 4,500 trainees -an equal number of men and women -attended 33 short programmes on climate-smart agriculture. The short programmes included farmers, scientists and extension specialists from over ten countries, including Bolivia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nepal and Tanzania.To date, about 100 researchers, genebank managers and extension agents have also been trained in the use of GIS and climate modelling tools and techniques applied to crop experimentation.This training relates to the 'Seeds for Needs' initiative (see main text, above) and our policy work with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.The United Nations designated 2013 as the International Year of Quinoa. Quinoa is an ancient crop that has been cultivated for centuries in the Andean region of South America. It is high in protein, contains all of the essential amino acids and it is also rich in minerals, fatty acids and vitamins. The International Year represented a great opportunity to raise awareness of how quinoa can help fight food and nutrition insecurity and help eradicate poverty.Bioversity International and partners have been researching quinoa and other Andean grains for over a decade. This work has provided a better understanding of the genetic diversity of these crops and their conservation status, and has developed methods, approaches and tools to enhance their use to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmer communities.In July 2013, Bioversity International participated in the Fourth World Congress on Quinoa and the First Symposium on Andean Grains in Ecuador. The symposium examined how Andean grains such as quinoa can improve nutrition and boost incomes, as well as ways to better conserve crop diversity through farmer incentives. Two publications were also launched by Bioversity International at the event, Biodiversity of andean grains: Balancing market potential and sustainable livelihoods and Descriptors for quinoa and its wild relatives.We also unveiled a travelling exhibition on quinoa to mark the International Year at the symposium. 'Quinoa: From the Andes to the World' is an exhibition that tells the story of the origin, history, characteristics and current state of quinoa. It also highlights sustainable ways to realize the full potential of the crop through new products to improve livelihoods for Andean communities. Created in several languages, it was also displayed at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) as part of World Food Day celebrations, as well as at international food fairs in Germany. The exhibition will continue to be used to raise awareness and promote quinoa cultivation and consumption. In 2013, as part of activities to mark the 2013 International Year of Quinoa, Bioversity International and FAO released Descriptors for quinoa and its wild relatives in Spanish and English. This work is a revision of the original descriptors list published by Bioversity International in 1981, which provided a minimum set of key descriptors for characterization and use, including nutritional aspects. The 2013 revision, which now includes quinoa wild relatives, aims to contribute to studies focusing on the analysis of genetic diversity, germplasm management, the definition of new varieties and useful traits for crop improvement. During the review process, more than 50 quinoa scientists from 11 countries and different organizations provided their expert advice.Descriptors provide an international language for exchanging data on plant genetic resources, allowing researchers across the globe to describe, store, manage and share information about their plant resources, whether they are stored in genebanks or grown in the field. More than 100 crop descriptors are now available.The 2013 publication is a result of collaboration with Fundación para la Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos (PROINPA), the Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria y Forestal and IFAD, with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation through the Semillas Andinas project.New book puts the spotlight on Andean 'super grains'Launched at the Fourth World Congress on Quinoa held in 2013 in Ibarra, Ecuador, the book Biodiversity of andean grains: Balancing market potential and sustainable livelihoods focuses on the Andean 'super grains' -quinoa, amaranth and cañahua. These highly nutritious and resilient crops are important for the food and nutrition security of people of the Americas and the world. The book launch was part of celebrations for the 2013 International Year of Quinoa.\"With this book, we hope to provide food for thought on the occasion of the UN 2013 International Year of Quinoa, and serve as guidance for the future promotion of the currently underutilized crops,\" says co-author Stefano Padulosi, Senior Scientist at Bioversity International.In the book, Padulosi and other authors examine the current use of these grains from the perspective of smallholder farmers and researchers, highlighting the trade-offs involved in the transition from traditional to commercial agricultural systems. They also address research gaps in assessing local knowledge related to super grains, as well as in their commercial value, taking into account the livelihood assets of local communities.This year neglected and underutilized species found the spotlight: 2013 was designated the UN International Year of Quinoa (see related story, page 19), and Professor M.S. Swaminathan, World Food Prize laureate, called for the United Nations to devote a year to the world's \"forgotten crops\".Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) are species that have fallen under the radar of mainstream research and development, which typically focuses on just a few staple crops -rice, wheat and maize. This lack of attention means their potential value is often underestimated. This in turn leads to their marginalization, reduced use and ultimate disappearance from the market and our tables. Yet these species are often better adapted to cultivation on marginal lands and in changing climates, are more nutritious, and require less pesticide and fertilizer than their staple counterparts.The 3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species -for a Food-secure Africa, which took place in Accra, Ghana, in September, was co-organized by Bioversity International. Participants from 36 countries shared research results and debated policy issues around the resilience of agricultural and livelihood systems, developing value chains and creating an enabling policy environment.In 2013, we also saw the completion of a 3-year initiative to assess the market potential of chilli pepper in Peru and Bolivia -home to the world's chilli diversity. While chilli pepper is not an underutilized crop as such, it is little studied and its diversity holds market potential for smallholder producers. There is also growing interest from food companies as consumers demand more exotic and spicy flavours. Work to collect and characterize chilli varieties stored in genebanks carried out in Bolivia and Peru assessed commercially valuable traits to identify the most promising varieties. Improved cultivation practices, harvest and post-harvest methods were developed, and innovative value-added products such as jams and a speciality cheese were successfully commercialized.Bioversity International has worked with partners on NUS for over 10 years, contributing to a better understanding of their genetic diversity, as well as further determining their conservation status, traditional and potential uses, and potential contribution to the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities. We also advocate for policies to support the conservation and sustainable use of these crops in many countries. Apple, apricot, almond, cherry, grape, pistachio and walnut are some of the many temperate fruit trees that originated in Central Asia. Yielding fruit and nuts even on poor land, these perennial trees can transform the surrounding landscape to encourage the growth of other crops. They are also culturally, nutritionally and economically vital to the region.Bioversity International is promoting the in situ conservation (on farm and in the wild) of biodiversity in fruit tree species in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Our goal is to help conserve the wild relatives of native fruit crop species, improve farmers' access to germplasm, land and water resources, and explore ways in which farmers who conserve genetic resources in situ can share in the benefits derived from their use.Since this UNEP-GEF-funded project was launched in 2006, Bioversity International has been helping to strengthen the capacity of farmers in agronomic techniques, improving their access to varieties through nurseries, and pushing for benefit-sharing policies. In 2013, the project launched its website.Over 50 fruit tree nurseries have been established to date, producing more than 1.5 million traditional variety seedlings annually of apple, grape, pomegranate and other fruit and nut trees. The project trains 300 farmers each year in soil, water and crop management practices. All of this has led to better produce, market linkages and the establishment of farmer associations that have improved local incomes and livelihoods.One unexpected benefit was seen in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where areas planted with traditional varieties have helped to restore degraded lands. This is now being researched further in new projects in the region.In 2013, the Convention on Biological Diversity recognized a publication developed by Bioversity International, Guidelines: Access and benefit sharing in research projects, as an important tool to help countries and policymakers implement the Nagoya Protocol.Gender-specific knowledge is a key aspect of work with fruit trees in Central Asia (see story in Gender, page 29). Through gender-responsive participatory research in two villages in Kyrgyzstan, we found that women of varying ages hold significant knowledge that can contribute to biodiversity conservation. Engaging both women and men in participatory research allows for knowledge sharing within the community as well as with researchers.The reduction of agricultural biodiversity in global food systems is an increasing concern. During the last two decades, policymakers and scientists have recognized the complementary roles of conservation in genebanks, on farm and in the wild to safeguard vital agricultural biodiversity. Bioversity International promotes global actions to conserve, assess and monitor priority agricultural biodiversity, and provides information on priority traits of useful crop and tree species.Here are some highlights from 2013.Custodian farmers: The 'go-to' people for agricultural biodiversity Supporting custodian farmers is a big part of many of Bioversity International's conservation and availability initiatives, both on farm and in the wild. Custodian farmers are defined as \"those farmers (men and women) who actively maintain, adapt and disseminate agricultural biodiversity and related knowledge, over time and space, at farm and community levels and are recognized by community members for it\".In 2013, three workshops were held with partners in Bolivia, India and Nepal to share this definition of custodian farmers, to bring these farmers together to share experiences and knowledge, and to discuss their roles, challenges and needs in order to strengthen on-farm conservation. Bioversity International published this definition in a publication featuring 20 custodian farmers from South and Southeast Asia.Custodian farmers are also being supported through initiatives such as the UNEP-GEF 'Conservation and sustainable use of cultivated and wild tropical fruit diversity' project, which works to strengthen the capacity of farmers through community-based management.Dattatreya Hegde, a farmer in a remote village of India's forest-rich Karnataka state, was elected as the Custodian Farmers' Ambassador for 2013. Having shown an interest in diversifying fruit crops since childhood, he resisted planting his family plot with the cash crop betel nut, choosing instead to invest in a fruit for which his family has a deep cultural attachment. \"Since 'appe mango' is a delicacy in our daily meals, I have been naturally inclined to conserve more of the traditional varieties of this species,\" he explains. His wife, Bharathi Hegde, produces a brand of 'appe' mango pickle for local markets as part of a community self-help group.Although we strive to include more women in the list of custodian farmers, many find it difficult to leave their household responsibilities to travel to workshops. Efforts are currently under way to identify and support more custodian farmers (both men and women) in Asia and Latin America. A selection of common bean varieties from Latin America. Credit: Bioversity International/J.Corondel 24 Strategic Action Plan for Mesoamerica: A 10-year roadmap Bringing more than 100 regional stakeholders together, Bioversity International and partners have spent over a year gathering data and discussing how the agriculturally biodiverse region of Mesoamerica can best use its plant genetic resources to adapt to climate change. The result is a strategic action plan that is now available in both English and Spanish: SAPM -Strategic action plan to strengthen conservation and use of Mesoamerican plant genetic resources in adapting agriculture to climate change.The Strategic Action Plan for Mesoamerica (SAPM) has been adopted by the Ministers of Agriculture who make up the Central American Agricultural Council, and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) pledged support for its implementation. In fact, IICA has already begun to implement actions included in the SAPM, and its Programme on Agriculture, Natural Resources Management and Climate Change has emphasized that the SAPM will guide their actions regarding plant genetic resources for food and agriculture over the next 10 years. The plan is also influencing the development of the national seed legislation of Guatemala, and several projects of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). This rapid uptake of the SAPM by policymakers, regional organizations, NGOs and others is attributed to the plan's inclusive consultation process and scientific assessment, which included geospatial analysis, genebank questionnaires, relevant policy reviews and farmer consultations to understand the status of ex situ, in situ and on-farm conservation of plant genetic resources. The geospatial analysis resulted in more than 3,000 maps of 384 cultivated species and their wild relatives.The unprecedented consultation process invited representatives from multiple sectors of national governments, universities, regional and international agriculture organizations, farmers, civil society and donors from all countries in the region. Some were not even aware that they were stakeholders until they were invited.\"Not only are we creating alliances between different sectors,\" says Juanita Chaves from ITPGRFA, \"but the SAPM is saying that you have to be more consistent with each other, strengthen capacity, and improve not only the collection and understanding of your genetic resources, but also document it better and make that information open access.\"The SAPM is one of Bioversity International's main contributions to supporting the implementation of the ITPGRFA in the Americas (see opposite). It also contributes to CCAFS -the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.Climate change is already forcing farmers around the world to find substitutes for currently grown crop varieties that cannot tolerate changing weather conditions. One approach is to look for varieties and species that have evolved under climatic conditions that are similar to the 'new normal'. This calls for cooperation on a global scale. Bioversity International is bringing together its work on locating adapted germplasm for use in vulnerable agroecosystems affected by climate change with policy research focusing on the implementation of international access and benefit-sharing agreements. Bioversity International's 'Genetic Resources Policy Initiative' (GRPI) is helping to strengthen the capacity of national partners in eight countries -Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Nepal, Rwanda and Uganda -to combine climate data, geographic information, genebank collection coordinates and data on crop suitability to identify potentially adapted genetic resources from collections around the world. These activities provide a pretext for the same countries to explore institutionalizing mechanisms to participate in the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). Through the multilateral system, the 130 member states of the ITPGRFA have pledged to pool and share the genetic diversity of a range of crops and forages for the purposes of conservation, plant breeding and training. So far, few countries have put mechanisms in place to use the multilateral system, so GRPI's support in this regard is novel and welcome. During its fifth session in September 2013, the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA passed a resolution where it expressed appreciation of Bioversity International's work in this regard.Two national-level policy outcomes of GRPI work in 2013 were particularly notable: (1) Rwanda's confirmation and notification to all other treaty parties about the germplasm it is making available through the multilateral system; and (2) Nepalese partners submitting proposals to the ministries of agriculture and environment to amend the National Agrobiodiversity Policy and the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to create legal space for the multilateral system. Teams in the other six countries are also developing draft policies and administrative guidelines so they can participate fully in the multilateral system. At the same time, they are learning how to use information systems and climate and crop modelling tools to identify adapted germplasm that they can obtain through the multilateral system. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) commit their member states to implementing very different access and benefit-sharing systems. One system, under the ITPGRFA, encourages international pooling and sharing of genetic diversity. The other system, under the CBD, maximizes each country's sovereign control over their genetic resources. Progress in domestic implementation of both systems has been relatively slow. One factor contributing to delays is that policymakers in many countries are uncertain about how to address the interface between these two systems.In a recent paper in Law Environment and Development Journal, Michael Halewood, head of the policy group at Bioversity International, and his co-authors provide a decision-making tool for policymakers implementing the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing. The paper highlights points of intersection with mechanisms developed at national levels to implement the CBD and its Nagoya Protocol. The authors also analyze factors contributing to the lack of coordination between the national public environment and agriculture agencies responsible for implementing these agreements. The paper has laid the conceptual framework for a meeting in 2014, co-organized by Bioversity International, the Access and Benefit Sharing Capacity Development Initiative and the secretariats of the CBD and the ITPGRFA to bring together the National Focal Points for the CBD/Nagoya Protocol and ITPGRFA from 20 countries to ensure cooperation and harmonious implementation of these agreements. The Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC) holds the world's largest collection of banana (Musa spp.) germplasm, and in 2013 it marked 10 years of cryopreservation -deep-freezing biological tissue so that its genetic material can be used at a later time. Now with over 1,400 samples of edible and wild species of banana held at KU Leuven in Belgium, the ITC is well on its way to meeting its goal of conserving the entire banana genepool for the benefit of future generations.Seedbanks are the more common way to conserve plant genetic material, but the bananas we eat don't produce seeds -they need to be propagated vegetatively through stem cuttings. Years of selective breeding have produced one of the world's most important crop groups, depended upon both as a staple food and an important commodity by over 400 million people throughout the tropics and subtropics.The raw materials for banana breeding are the wild Musa species and diverse varieties found in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These are the genes that may help sustainably improve production in the face of pest and disease attacks and changing environmental conditions, and cryopreservation is the best way to store Musa tissue over the long term.Cryopreservation involves plunging plant material in liquid nitrogen (-196°C) or storing it in its vapour phase (-150°C). The process avoids the formation of harmful ice crystals, no sophisticated freezers are needed, and the material can be kept safely for hundreds of years in liquid nitrogen tanks without any biological changes taking place.In 2003, the ITC began to apply a cryopreservation protocol for banana that is efficient and applicable to all Musa accessions in the ITC collection. The protocol proved to be very robust and was successfully applied to 30 different plant species -one of the reasons the ITC is now recognized as a centre of excellence in cryopreservation. To improve crops and adapt them to changing environments, researchers need access to a broader pool of information on plant genetic diversity, which not only explains the interaction between a genotype and its environment, but also identifies its genetic basis and heritability of its adaptive traits. To address this gap of knowledge, eight CGIAR centres and their national partners developed Crop Ontology. This open-source tool provides scientists and breeders with a common language that describes crop phenotypes and interprets descriptions provided by farmers for the performance of the varieties they prefer.Led and developed by bioinformatics experts at Bioversity International, Crop Ontology houses standard lists of crop traits, methods and scales for breeders' field books and crop information systems. Currently, it boasts trait descriptions for 17 crops: cassava, banana, barley, chickpea, common bean, cowpea, groundnut, lentil, maize, pearl millet, pigeonpea, potato, rice, soybean, sorghum, wheat and yam. A total of 146 breeders, students and professors were trained in the use of the field book to record field evaluation data in 27 countries using the Crop Ontology traits.Crop Ontology is currently being used for data annotation by the International Cassava Database, Wageningen University and Research Centre, and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security's repository of evaluation trials.Currently more than 7.4 million plant accessions are conserved in more than 1,750 ex situ conservation facilities around the world. To a large extent, the use of this germplasm depends on the quality and quantity of data available about each accession.Detailed eco-geographic, environmental, biotic and climate information was and still is necessary to improve breeders', scientists' and farmers' knowledge about the accessions, and to further increase their use.In the 1970s, a global plant genetic resources conservation movement arose from the concern that genetic diversity was being lost. Bioversity International, then the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, was part of this movement. In 1974 we began to send plant collectors from national and international institutions on worldwide collecting expeditions. By 1995 more than 200,000 samples had been collectedtoday they total 226,618.Reports on each of the 559 collecting expeditions were stored at Bioversity International's headquarters. In 2013, based on this Collecting Missions Files Repository, Bioversity International launched an open-access online database through which one can access an interactive map and query by species, country, collector's name, mission title and other topics. Passport and traits datasets are also available for download.Of the 7,000 edible species in the world today, one in seven is under threat. Since there aren't enough resources to save all of them, policymakers need to decide which species to focus on. Bioversity International researchers Aurelia Samuel, Adam Drucker and Maarten van Zonneveld, together with colleagues from the University of Copenhagen and the Georg-August University, took up this challenge in a study published in Ecological Economics.The authors applied the Weitzman approach -previously used to prioritize the conservation of wild animals and livestock -to clusters of cacao species, using existing molecular markers. Cacao was used as a case study because it is an important crop for smallholder farmers and also because its diversity has been well documented, including revealing signs of genetic erosion.In Development of a cost-effective diversity-maximizing decision-support tool for in situ crop genetic resources conservation: the case of cacao, the authors estimate the maximum diversity that can be conserved using different clusters of cacao species.They conclude that the Weitzman approach can indeed allow the outcomes of different plant genetic resources conservation strategies to be assessed according to their differentiated impacts on overall diversity. The identification of an appropriate choice of diversity and risk measures (such as inbreeding or climate change) is also shown to be a crucial first step in informing such assessments.Men and women have different knowledge, roles and responsibilities with respect to agriculture and the use of tree and forest products. They also have different priorities, skills and access to resources and knowledge.Bioversity International includes gender as a cross-cutting theme in all its work. In particular, we explore the roles that women and men play in our agricultural and food systems, and in conserving and using diversity in our fields, farms, gardens and forests.Women play an enormous role in agriculture worldwide, and many female smallholders also conserve and sustainably use their agricultural resources in ways that promote biodiversity. Tree food products complement agricultural crops to enhance nutrition and food security, and often it is women who put them on the dinner table. Rural people gain roughly 27% of their income from wild resources, mostly from forests and woodlands, compared to 28% from agriculture.Men and women value, collect and use different forest products, gather the same products in different spaces, or use the same product in different ways. Women are traditionally the main collectors of fuel wood, medicinal and aromatic plants and other non-timber forest products from forest and agroforestry landscapes, and can generate more than half of their income from forests, compared with about one-third for men.Whereas both men and women play active roles in the management and conservation of tree and forest resources, they do not benefit equally from these resources or from efforts to sustainably manage them.In 2013, Bioversity International launched a 1-year research fellowship programme to study how differences in men's and women's knowledge of trees and forests, access to forest resources, and tree management practices can affect the conservation and management of forest genetic resources and associated livelihood benefits.Five research fellows are examining these themes in five African and Asian countries to discover how gendered knowledge, roles, rights and responsibilities affect the conservation and management of forest genetic resources. The goal of this participatory research is to develop genderresponsive recommendations for the sustainable management of forests and for increased social equity.For example, in South India early findings show that traditional genderspecific knowledge is playing a crucial role in the conservation of the 25 native fruit tree species, including several varieties of wild mango in the Western Ghats. Women in Kyrgyzstan contribute to sustainable biodiversity management and conservation of walnut forests -but they are often excluded from meetings relating to forest management and have difficulties accessing information. Bioversity International's genderresponsive participatory research in the country engages both men and women in discussion to improve knowledge sharing and co-learning within the community, as well as with researchers (see page 21 on promoting fruit tree diversity in Central Asia). Bioversity International's Gender Research Fellowship Programme contributes to the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.Bioversity International's good financial health and stability continued in 2013. With robust internal controls and a risk management framework that engages the Board, management and staff, Bioversity International received an unqualified audit option from PwC systems and process assurance.Revenue in 2013 amounted to US $39.3 million (2012: $37.7 million) against expenditure of $38.3 million (2011: $37.1 million) resulting in an operating surplus of $1 million for 2013. Financial support for our research programmes comes from a wide variety of government, foundation, corporate and private partnerships, with about half of our support received through our participation and membership in the CGIAR Consortium. A list of our funding partners can be found on page 33.Our business plan calls for substantial growth over the next several years to deliver scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security.We are seeing positive signs that our funding partners continue to invest in the important agenda Bioversity International is pursuing. Some highlights of investments by funding partners include:• The Government of Italy for renewed generous support for Bioversity International's entire research agenda.• The Government of India for significant support to Bioversity International's research agenda and our strategic research for development partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.• The Global Environment Facility for financing a wide range of initiatives, such as a project to use biodiversity as a buffer in the face of unpredictable environment change in the Nepalese Himalaya.• The International Fund for Agricultural Development for its expanded commitment to improving smallholder farmers' food and nutrition security through sustainable use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity.• The Government of Belgium for its steadfast partnership and major financing of the Bioversity International-managed International Transit Center (the banana genebank).• The Government of Austria for the strategic, long-term assistance to our forestry projects, with our newest project exploring methods to ensure forestry practice enhances livelihoods and sustains forests in Mesoamerica.We also successfully completed a 3-year project to link capsicum smallscale producers with production, processing and marketing companies that supply local and international markets through generous support from the Government of Germany.Finally, at the policy level, the Government of the Netherlands continues to support our 'Genetic Resource Policy Initiative', now in its second phase, which is assisting national multi-stakeholder research teams to implement the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Furthermore, the Government of Switzerland continues to serve as an important partner for the promotion of underutilized crops and improving seed systems for smallholder food security. Looking Ahead to 2014The Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services have all recognized the importance of agricultural biodiversity to achieve global food and nutrition security. We are reaching the midpoint of the UN Decade on Biodiversity, and the Sustainable Development Goals will soon be finalized.As Bioversity International celebrates 40 years of research, we look ahead to 2014-2015 to build on the rich history of work through the implementation of our sharpened strategy. This strategy has been a collaborative process for our entire organization and external stakeholders. As you can see from this annual report, our work is focused on how we consume, produce, plant and safeguard agricultural biodiversity. Our vision is for agricultural biodiversity to nourish people and sustain the planet.To accomplish this vision, Bioversity International will focus on delivering scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security. We will continue to work with partners in countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience and climate change adaptation.Bioversity International's sharpened strategy will ensure that agricultural biodiversity contributes to four strategic objectives:1. Low-income consumers have expanded access to, and use of, diverse, affordable and nutritious diets.2. Rural communities have increased the productivity, ecosystem services and resilience of farming systems, forests and landscapes.3. Farm households and rural communities have increased access to a diversity of quality seeds and other planting materials.4. Policymakers, scientists and rural communities have safeguarded, assessed and are monitoring priority agricultural biodiversity.Our four objectives are synergistically linked, responding to the global community's ongoing interest in and concern about global food and nutrition security, particularly in the lead-up to the post-2015 development agenda. This set of objectives builds on Bioversity International's strong track record in the management of plant genetic resources and incorporates a deeper focus on adaptive systems management. With this set of objectives, we are confident that Bioversity International will deliver innovative solutions to shepherd the global food system towards \"The Future We Want\".Looking ahead, partnerships will be more critical than ever in our work to achieve this global mission, and we look forward to our continued partnership with you and your organization in 2014.","tokenCount":"9779"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9126294038.json b/data/part_1/9126294038.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..778582065bd749314ac8978b3aa5f16d7480df0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9126294038.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d367db3028c35a0385f98544c2f21c9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/382973b3-6ab0-4651-8ecf-ac0cc7434d4b/retrieve","id":"156641259"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"84099e96-cc0d-44ad-8734-7f41736811e6","pagecount":"20","content":"Le CTA est financé par l'Union Européenne Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) a été créé en 1983 dans le cadre de la Convention de Lomé entre les États du Groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et les pays membres de l'Union européenne. Depuis 2000, le CTA exerce ses activités dans le cadre de l'Accord de Cotonou ACP-CE.Le CTA a pour mission de développer et de fournir des services qui améliorent l'accès des pays ACP à l'information pour le développement agricole et rural, et de renforcer les capacités de ces pays à produire, acquérir, échanger et exploiter l'information dans ce domaine.Gestion locale ou gestion étatique ? Depuis l'époque coloniale et ensuite après les indépendances, l'état a tenté de prendre un contrôle plus ou moins direct sur les terres et les ressources renouvelables sous prétexte d'une meilleure mise en valeur ou d'une gestion plus rationnelle. Cette procédure a donc permis d'affecter des terres à qui peut les mettre en valeur au détriment souvent des ayant droits locaux. De plus, bien souvent, la loi de l'Etat et les règles locales sont en total décalage et différentes instances de gestion ( les autorités coutumières ou administratives, les services techniques) co-existent sans que leurs rapports soient clairement définis.De plus en plus un consensus semble se dégager dans de nombreux pays à savoir que la gestion étatique des terres et des ressources naturelles a souvent contribué à aggraver la situation. On prône donc de plus en plus une gestion locale, plus adaptée aux réalités autant agro-pastorales que sociales. Mais les avis diffèrent sur ce que veut dire « gestion locale », en particulier sur le partage des pouvoirs entre états et populations. La gestion communautaire découlant d'une « logique coutumière » s'appuie sur l'appartenance à la famille ou au lignage et ouvre des droits d'usage sur les ressources qu'elle contrôle : Le chef de terre ou le chef de segment de lignage répartit les ressources entre les membres de la communauté mais peuvent affecter des droits d'usage à des « étrangers ». Les états modernes, eux, ont proclamé que la terre appartient à celui qui la travaille ce qui a provoqué une course à la terre, des défrichements accélérés et intempestifs souvent et une réduction substantielle des jachères. Par des lois en décalage complet avec la réalité, les états ont donc contribué à accélérer la dégradation de l'environnement et à susciter des conflits.Cette volonté de « rationaliser » la gestion des terres résulte en partie d'une mauvaise compréhension des pratiques locales mais elle renvoie surtout à des enjeux politiques et économiques : une gestion étatique qui nie les autorités locales, donne en effet à l'état la possibilité d'imposer son pouvoir sur le monde rural et permet aussi de nombreux passedroits : L'immatriculation des terres, procédure coûteuse et lourde permet aux personnages influents au sein de l'appareil de l'état de se faire attribuer gratuitement des domaines. L'accès libre aux forêts permet aux charbonniers, de mèche avec les services des Eaux et Forêts, d'approvisionner les villes à bas prix sans se préoccuper des conséquences sur l'environnement. Les cadres de l'administration se font attribuer des parcelles grâce aux procédures de distribution des terres sur les aménagements. Voilà pourquoi des législations inapplicables comme les codes forestiers perdurent aujourd'hui ! Les effets pervers des législations foncières et l'échec de la gestion étatique sont maintenant reconnus par tous et des réformes sont en cours, du moins du point de vue législatif car les règles foncières ne sont rien sans la volonté politique de les mettre en oeuvre. Et puis la dualité des instances de gestion (coutumières et administratives) existe toujours : C'est l'enjeu des processus de décentralisation en cours dans plusieurs pays d'Afrique francophone mais les logiques d'intérêt qui ont abouti à la situation actuelle ne disparaissent pas miraculeusement sous prétexte que les maître-mots sont « participation », « gestion des terroirs », « responsabilisation des populations » et on constate partout qu' une véritable gestion décentralisée des ressources, se heurte encore à de profondes résistances.Les conflits sont des processus sociaux normaux et l'ordre social ne dépend pas de leur absence mais de la capacité de la société à bien les gérer. Mais les litiges qui se sont fait jour en Afrique depuis l'indépendance entre communautés d'origines différentes ou entre communautés aux intérêts concurrentiels vis a vis des ressources, comme agriculteurs et pastoraux sont pratiquement chroniques. En Cote d'ivoire la généralisation pendant l'époque coloniale des cultures de cacao et de café dans le Sud Est du pays attira une main d'ouvre originaire des savanes, en particulier de Haute Volta, mais aussi des autres régions de Cote d'Ivoire comme le centre (Baoulé) ou l'ouest forestier (Bété). Certains de ces migrants s'installèrent définitivement. Mais le front pionnier prit une ampleur sans précédent à partir de l'indépendance et de la politique systématique de mise en valeur de la rente forestière de l'ouest et du sud ouest du pays. L'appel à la main d'oeuvre étrangère et son établissement progressif comme colons agricoles ne firent alors que s'amplifier. De tels mouvements de colonisation agraire ont bien évidemment occasionné des conflits récurrents qui se manifestent aussi bien sur les droits d'occupation de la terre que sur les modes de cohabitation entre les différentes communautés. Au Burkina Faso pasteurs et agriculteurs ont toujours cohabité et exploitaient les ressources en bonne entente mais l'expansion récente des terres cultivées provoque de nombreux problèmes pour le déplacement des troupeaux : Et bien que le gouvernement ait officiellement adopté une politique de protection des couloirs à bétail, de nombreux conflits éclatent encore mais ils sont souvent résolus de façon « locale », c'est à dire en adaptant de façon pragmatique les normes et les procédures officielles. L'Etat valide alors le plus souvent ces décisions ainsi intervenues au niveau local.Les droits « délégués » ou droits secondaires désignent l'ensemble des arrangements qui permettent aux populations d'accéder à la terre par l'intermédiaire d'autres personnes, généralement sans lien de parenté et pour une durée limitée. Ces arrangements prennent des formes diverses telles que la location, le fermage, le métayage et les prêts. Ces termes masquent toutefois une grande diversité au sein de ces arrangements. Pourtant dans de nombreuses régions d'Afrique, plus de la moitié des terres agricoles est exploitée dans le cadre d'arrangements de ce type. Ces droits délégués ont été le plus souvent négligés par les pouvoirs publics et les législateurs car le débat concernant l'occupation et l'administration des terres est généralement axé sur les questions de propriété et de titre. Pourtant il existe en Afrique francophone deux principes opposés mais tout aussi importants selon lesquels les populations font couramment valoir leurs droits à la terre : Le premier repose sur la colonisation initiale et le défrichage de la terre et le second s'appuie sur l'idée que l'investissement d'efforts crée des droits, à tel point qu'au fil du temps les exploitants acquièrent un droit sur les terres qu'ils travaillent. En général les chefs coutumiers ont fait valoir l'importance du premier principe car il renforce leur contrôle foncier. En revanche les gouvernements ont cherché à favoriser le second principe car cela leur permet de réfuter les droits revendiqués par les chefs coutumiers et de désigner les ayants droits. Mais là aussi une évolution se fait jour, accélérée par la pénurie et par une valorisation croissante des terres, aussi bien dans les zones rurales que péri-urbaines.  Et donc les populations ont vu que elles ne pouvaient plus continuer comme ça. Il y en a qui se sont réunis et qui ont dit \"Bon voilà, on met en place un Cadre de Concertation avec plusieurs articles. Deux ans après, quel est le bilan que vous faites, vous qui êtes sur le terrain ? Est ce que il y a encore des conflits sur le terrain Cissé Lamine Je ne dirais pas qu'il n'y a pas de conflits parce que les conflits sont des éléments naturels qui accompagnent et qui cohabitent avec la population seulement il y a eu deux éléments qu'on peut tirer : il y a eu une baisse notable des conflits et puis il y a eu aussi le renforcement des capacités par rapport à l gestion de ces conflits. Ça veut dire quoi? Beaucoup de conflits liés a certaines ressources quand même ont disparu. On rencontre peu de gens qui se disputent autour de la terre parce que ça m'appartient, ça t'appartient ..je suis faible, tu étais le fort. On rencontre peu ces cas. Dans la région sud-est du Togo, extrêmement peuplée, les chefs des différentes collectivités ont l'habitude de louer les terres collectives a des populations le plus souvent venues d'autres contrées : c'est une pratique connue sous le nom de \"Odémé\" ou \" Odé o Mé\" qui veut dire en langue locale, \"cultiver et partager\", autrement dit il s'agit d'une forme de contrat de métayage. Ceci aboutit à une raréfaction des terres et donc à un exode rural généralisé pour les personnes originaires du village. Une enquête faite à Badougbé par le BERAF, un bureau d'étude spécialisé dans les questions foncières et la gestion des terroirs, a ainsi montré que la majorité des 130 grandes fermes de la région, appartiennent à des personnes ne résidant pas dans ce village. Pour en savoir plus sur cette pratique Odémé, Honoré Blao a interrogé Sedalo Tévi François, socio-économiste et responsable du Bureau d'étude le BERAF.La pratique c'est que la personne prend le terrain sous forme de bail et la personne devait verser les frais de location mais il arrive que certains locataires jusqu'à 5 ans d'avance parce que chaque fois que le propriétaire qui a loué le terrain a besoin de l'argent, soit pour les funérailles soit pour d'autres cérémonies, il s'adresse à la personne pour prendre de l'argent ..alors ce qui fait que certains ont déjà payé jusqu'à 10 ans d'avance. Les tentatives de résolution des conflits ont été nombreuses :1954, 1986, 1993, 1996, 1998 et  Malgré les textes garantissant en principe un accès normal à la propriété, les femmes demeurent en Afrique les grandes oubliées du foncier. Ainsi au Togo quelques 25 ans après la réforme agro-foncière, il ressort que les lois existent pour la forme et que l'accès à la terre est toujours réglementé par le droit coutumier qui interdit aux femmes d'hériter, notamment la terre. Les femmes peuvent certes obtenir une parcelle pour cultiver mais ne peuvent pas être propriétaires. Pour faire le point sur la situation des femmes face aux lois foncières, Honoré Blao a rencontré Madame Kuwonu Kafui, juriste, présidente de la section togolaise du WILDAF (Women in Law and Development in Africa).Il y a le Code Civil qui s'applique, le Code Civil français qui s'applique également au Togo et qui réglemente par exemple toute forme d'acquisition, à savoir l'achat, la donation etc. Mais il y a également le Code des Personnes et de la Famille qui réglemente l'acquisition par voie successorale donc parler de lois qui s'appliquent en matière d'accès à la terre pour les femmes. Je crois qu'il faut se référer à ces deux dispositions légales principalement. Le Code Civil s'applique à tout individu que ça soit homme ou femme, mais vous connaissez les conditions des femmes africaines : pouvoir acquérir de la terre, pouvoir acheter, c'est bien mais est ce que elles ont les moyens de le faire ? L'autre façon de l'acquérir, je l'ai dit tantôt c'est la voie successorale, c'est à dire par le fait d'hériter de la propriété mais il faut rappeler qu'en Afrique, la terre appartient à la communauté et parce que la terre appartient à la communauté, on ne peut pas dans les principes l'aliéner. Et donc les femmes éprouvent des difficultés pour pouvoir avoir accès à la terre surtout que elles n'héritent pas en Afrique. Une femme, qu'elle soit fille ou qu'elle soit épouse, ne peut hériter des biens, surtout de la terre, venant de sa communauté d'origine ou bien de sa communauté d'alliance, c'est à dire là où elle est allée se marier. Et face à cela, elle peuvent hériter d'une parcelle de terre pour cultiver à un moment donné, mais à tout moment elles ont des droits précaires, on peut les chasser de ces terres là, leur retirer ces terres là. Mais le Code des Personnes et de la Famille dit que, homme ou femme, peut hériter et lorsque le Code le dit, la femme alors peut, selon la loi, hériter de la terre mais malheureusement cette même ordonnance qui régit les personnes et les familles dit que, pour que les dispositions du Code qui sont très favorables aux femmes, puissent être appliquées, il faudra que celui là de qui viendrait le droit de pouvoir céder la terre à la femme, ait renoncé à l'application de la Coutume de son vivant, ce qui est difficile à faire. Maintenant venant à la loi de sur la Reforme Agraire, c'est une loi qui a des dispositions très favorables et qui pourrait résoudre le problème de la femme, parce que il est dit que toute personne non propriétaire peut exploiter toute terre sur l'étendue du territoire mais cette loi, à priori s'est confronté à la réticence des populations parce que à priori on pense que les gens qui sont les véritables propriétaires, peuvent être dépossédés. Parce que quand on regarde de très près les modes d'acquisition de terres dans le droit moderne, si on ne fait pas attention, on peut être propriétaire mais on peut à un moment donné, sous certaines conditions être dépossédé de ces terres là. Voilà ce que je pourrais dire rapidement en ce qui concerne la loi ou bien les dispositions légales qui s'appliquent en matière d'accès des femmes à la terre.","tokenCount":"2267"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9126682366.json b/data/part_1/9126682366.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ba165c5c2191505c6572728f2f852ce85b54b886
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9126682366.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"add9b0468bc1b2bd5dc24af959efb760","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/35abf6d1-5511-42a3-8d83-a5c3437eb9d3/retrieve","id":"-1534451905"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6bf42871-b785-4edb-8a1f-00560a9b724a","pagecount":"18","content":"This paper takes as its starting point that in the cycle of pastoral systems research (PSR) the existing system has been adequately inves tigated, described, and analysed and that the constraints on the further development of the existing system have been identified.The next stage in the cycle is to identify the scope for improvement.Identifying the scope for improvement may imply different things. To some people in some situations, there seems to be almost no scope for improvement. Although the present system is one of low productivity, it seems that nothing can be done to improve it except at a cost which is far in excess of potential benefits. In such circumstances identifying a possible improvement is a most challenging task and enormous effort is spent in designing and redesigning re search and development work in order to try to reduce costs and increase benefits.To other people in other situations there seems to be a wide range of improvements, each of which offers promise. Identifying the scope for improvement then appears to be more a case of selecting from among the many alternatives those options which offer the greatest promise. In such cases the main task is estimating the likely consequences of alternatives.Although this paper is relevant to both sets of circumstances, it has a number of different alternatives primarily in mind. In both cases decisions in principle are made on possibilities for improvement and the ideas about the improvements are refined to the point where they can be the subject of on-f arm/range, on-research station,•V component research, or the subject of further study of some other appropriate kind. This paper is concerned with the social and economic aspects of the identification and assessment of improvements.In particular situations potential improvements are likely to induce some combination of changes in technology (technological change) and in organisations, institutions, or in other economic, administrative or social conditions (hereinafter collectively termed \"social change\"). One extreme example, involving no change in technology but substantial social change, would be the expropriation of individually-owned and managed water points (on communally grazed land) and the substitution of group-ownership and management by an elected committee of pastoralists. Such a change could lead to improvement both in overall productivity, through the establishment of a mechanism to control the number of livestock permitted to graze an area of land, and in the equity of distribution (between members of a pastoral society) of access to water and so to grazing. At the other extreme there may be a potential for substantial changes in technology, e.g. by the introduction of an effective vaccination against contagious bovine pleuropneumonia conferring immunity for life, which will require no direct social change but which can be applied through, for example, existing arrangements for anti-rinder pest vaccinations.Most potential improvements will require some combination of substantial amounts of both new technology and social change. Both the technological and the social changes required will usually be of two sorts; firstly the direct intended change, which is a funda mental part of the improvement, and secondly the indirect changes, often unintended, unforseen and, sometimes, unwanted, which are brought about by the direct changes. Direct technological changes may lead to indirect social (as well as technological) changes, and vice veicsa. The indirect changes may be as important, in both their costs and benefits, as the direct.Tasks in identifying the scope for improvement This paper will discuss the tasks to be done principally from the point of view of ILCA. However other organisations carrying out PSR are faced with essentially the same obligations and constraints and so, with minor amendments, what is written here about ILCA is appli cable to other organisations.In order to fulfill its mandate, ILCA needs not only to identify potential improvements but also to make some assessment of ILCA's mandate states that it should seek to increase livestock production and to improve the quality of life in sub-Saharan tropical Africa. In assessing potential improvements it needs to look at their likely impact in terms of these two criteria. It also, in order to prevent resources being wasted on research whose results are not implemented, needs to assess the ohances of adoption of potential improvements. Partly this is a matter of looking at the objectives of the other parties involved in development, e.g. of the host government or of the pastoralists of the area concerned, to see whether what seem to be improvements in terms of ILCA's criteria will also seem to these other parties to be improvements that they should encourage rather than frustrate. Partly it is a question of assessing whether, with the best will in the world, the parties and institutions concerned are capable of introducing the improvements within a reason able period of time. Finally ILCA needs to ensure that at least some of the improvements that it develops will bear fruit rapidly. Host governments, pastoralists and donors will all need early reassurance of the capacity of PSR to yield useful results if their initial enthusiasm and support is not to wane. Some improvements are not only important but also, because of their very nature, have very long pay-off periods. They need to be complemented by others which even if not inherently so important can serve to sustain interest.There are, then, four things to be done: to identify potential improvements, to assess the probable impact of each, to assess the probability that an improvement will be adopted and to estimate how rapidly an improvement will bear fruit. It is convenient for analytical purposes to classify them as separate activities although in practice they will often be carried out more or less simultaneously and by a single person, sometimes through a series of iterations that modify initial ideas into something more appropri ate and feasible.In some cases the next step in the development of improvements lies with ILCA (or other organisations carrying out PSR) alone, e.g.where a new technology has to be devised or adapted for a specific location and where ILCA can itself carry out the necessary technical component research. In other cases some specific social change, which can only be brought about by someone else, normally a part of the host government, is required, either on its own or as a necessary concomitant to an ILCA derived change in technology. Even where someone else must take the next step ILCA needs to assess the likely impact and chances of adoption of the improvement, and the probable rapidity of its fruition so as to provide that someone with adequate information on which to base their own decision. In some cases what is required is research by someone else; in other cases further research will not be useful and what is needed is the implementation of development forthwith.If, for example, an initial analysis of the system indicates that marketing is a constraint then this signposts the need for an improvement in marketing. \"Identifying a potential improvement\" is the process of looking at the critical stage or steps in the marketing process and tentatively selecting things which could be done, in the way for example that Bekure, Evangelou and Chabari (1982) have identified supply of credit, weighing and grading, and sale by auction, as potential improvements in livestock marketing in Kajiado, Kenya.The assessment of impact of an improvement merits some further con sideration. Essentially this is a predictive activity, or an attempt to forecast something which may follow on from research; it is not monitoring or evaluating something which is already taking place.Assessment of impact has so far been described in terms of the likely direct and derived technological and social changes which will be associated with an improvement, but at this stage it is necessary to go further and evaluate the changes according to ILCA's criteria, i.e. in terms of their consequences on production and on the quality of life. ILCA will not be interested, of course, in improvements which simply maximize output regardless of cost. ILCA's mandate to increase output implies the rider \"at reasonable cost\". On the other hand at this stage in the PSR cycle precise prediction of costs of improve ments in relation to benefits is impossible. The same is true of other kinds of impacts. Since research has not yet taken place the quantity of the potential benefits (yields) is not yet known and the volume of costs (inputs) is equally obscure. Moreover, since the improvement is still some way off in time from introduction to pastoralists, the relative prices of outputs and inputs will probably be subject to considerable changes, but ones which are largely unpre dictable in direction or size. Analyses of various degrees of sophistication and complexity can, and should, be done to explore the combinations of yields, inputs, prices and other factors which give rise to impacts which are on balance favourable or unfavourable.These should permit an assessment of the probable long-term average overall impact. Another element in the assessment of the increased production is the extent to which increases in average (over different sites or different periods) production is matched by increased risk (variation) .ILCA's mandate also requires it to improve the \"quality of life\" -an expression which is in some ILCA documents rephrased as \"standard of living\", although in common usage there are important differences between the way the terms are used. The latter usually implies much more emphasis on material welfare, particularly on the consumption of goods and services, whereas the former embraces not only material welfare (clean air, low infant mortality) but also satisfaction of a less material kind, e.g. harmonious social re lations.In practical terms, ILCA can assess the probable impact of potential improvements on the quality of life in a number of important ways. The impact on the natural environment is one of these; a second is to assess to what extent the potential improvements proposed will benefit all sections of the community, i.e. all kinds of households -\"kinds\" in terms, for example, of wealth and power, occupation or ethnicity. Certain kinds of both technological and social changes, even if their benefits are not intended to be restrict ed to particular socio-economic classes, are in practice more likely to benefit or be adopted by some classes and this may positively injure others. ILCA, both out of a proper concern for social equity, and from a need to avoid the resentment against itself which will arise if it is thought to favour only certain groups, should aim to avoid developing improvements which are likely to benefit only certain ethnic groups in an ethnically mixed region, or the strong at the expense of the weak. Thus, as far as is practicable, ILCA should develop a package of improvements at least some of which should offer benefit to every kind of household. An early assessment is required of the likely impact on relative welfare of different groups, since once research has been sucessfully carried out it will not be possible to suppress its results even if their impact is inequitable. A third important respect in which the impact of a potential improvement on the quality of life can be assessed is in terms of the way it affects the distribution of benefits and burdens within households -in particular its effect on the nutrition of children and on the work pattern of women. There are, of course, a number of other aspects to the quality of life which may be relevant to particular potential improvements, but those mentioned here deserve consideration in respect of every improvement.Assessing the chances of adoption of potential improvements ILCA needs not only to assess the probable impact of improvements if adopted, but also to assess the chances of desirable improvements being adopted. It is not a sufficient condition for an improvement to be adopted that it has desirable impacts in terms of output and quality of life. There may be difficulties involved, for example difficulties in the procurement and distribution of high technology inputs, which are unlikely to be solved even if ILCA convinces everyone concerned about the urgency of their solution. Social constraints, in the form of traditional institutions and value systems, have often been cited as causes of the failure to adopt new technological improvements. The possibility of such social con straints can not be denied, possibly in the form of fundamental divergencies in values between, for example, ILCA and a progressive government on the one hand and a traditionally-oriented pastoral society on the other. But in many cases in the past where agricul tural researchers and extension personnel have blamed such social factors, the real problem has subsequently been found to be that the researchers were advocating unprofitable technology or had failed to grasp the full complexity, e.g. in respect of risk, of their clients' decision-making process.As already noted, ILCA needs to include in its package of improvements some which will yield early evidence of the usefulness of PSR, even if these are of only modest importance. Otherwise there is a danger that essential support by other parties, i.e. host governments, pastoralists and donors, will be withdrawn prematurely from more important improvements which can be developed and yield results only over a longer term. The early development and introduction of some improvements, even if only modest ones, can help to sustain interest and support while the more long-term, and possibly more important, improvements are still being worked on.Who should identify the scope for improvement?The techniques for assessing the impact, probability of adoption, and speed of fruition of potential improvements are overviewed in a later section. This section examines who should do the identification and assessment. A \"natural\" solution appears to be that as far as improvements implying primarily technological change are concerned the first task of identifying the potential improvements should be by the natural scientist in that specialist field (e.g. soil science, forage agronomy, genetics) most concerned, and that in the subsequent task of predicting the indirect changes and the impact on production and the quality of life, social scientists (including economists) should also play a substantial part. The implication of this approach is that it is primarily the staff and consultants of the PSR organisation itself (e.g. ILCA) who will be involved.However there are two shortcomings in this point of view.Firstly the probability that a host government will take the necessary steps that will allow a successfully tested improvement to be adopted subsequently will be directly proportional to the degree of its own involvement early in the process of decision making that led to the development of the improvement. Such early involvement by the host government will not only lead to its greater sense of commitment to the introduction of the improvement and to an earlier awareness of the institutional changes it may subsequently have to make, but also to its providing ILCA earlier with information about the host govern ment's own intentions that may affect the chances of adoption. That is the positive aspect. The negative aspect is that unless the host government's involvement in decision making on the improvements to be designed and tested is to be merely token window-dressing, then ILCA risks being prevented from developing improvements, which could be highly beneficial, by host government officials who may not have the training or time to be able to appreciate an improvement's real potential. Host government involvement may be either a help or a hindrance .The other shortcoming is that an important argument raised in favour of a systems research (FSR/PSR) approach is that it more closely considers small farmers' /pastoralists ' point of views and is more influenced by their values and opinions than are other research approaches. Clearly this \"advantage\" is in danger of being lost if, at a critical stage when decisions are being made about the improvements to be tested or studied, farmers' /pastoralists ' opinions are not directly canvassed but are only \"represented\" by what natural or social scientists think farmers ought or are likely to think.Consideration needs to be given as to how the opinion of pastoralists might be incorporated into the selection of improvements for testing.The \"literature\" on FSR is somewhat silent or opaque on this subject. Most of the discussion in the literature about farmer's par ticipation in FSR is about their involvement in identifying con straints, in carrying out on-farm trials, and in subsequent adoption of innovations. Literature dealing specifically with the issues of the institutional devices required to incorporate farmers '/ pas toralists ' opinions into the process of identifying improvements cannot be identified.Three points are worth making here. First the staff of many government services for implementing development are unlikely to represent farmers ' /pastoralists ' opinions any better than research scientists. In many countries, indeed, especially where FSR/PSR has been willingly adopted as an approach by the research services, the researchers are more likely than are the agents of the often 'top-down' oriented extension services to be able to understand farmers' points of view. Secondly, in seeking pastoralists' opinions care has to be taken to obtain an adequate cross-section. It is not enough to consult political leaders, or leaders of pastoralists' associations, or \"prominent\" or \"progressive\" pastoralists. Such people are likely to be drawn from among the better-off and are likely neither to understand well the problems of the less well-off, nor, if they understand them, to represent them if such views are contrary to their own interests. Nor is it enough just to call a public meeting to discuss selection of improvements. At such public meetings the interests of the less well-off, even though they attend, are unlikely to be strongly defended.The third main point is that if pastoralists are to make the contribution to identification of improvements that is needed of them, -373This is inevitably time-consuming and will not lead to published articles in internationally referreed journals in the way that conventional disciplinary research (even if subsequently ignored by pastoralists) will yield. But it is more likely to lead to the design and testing of innovations which will subsequently be adopted.The point is that pastoralists cannot be expected to grasp immediately all the implications for their pastoral system of a potential tech nological change. Little in their own experience will have fitted them to know what sort of questions one needs to ask about new tech nology.But if scientists and pastoralists will sit down together to thrash some of the issues out, from the union of their past, separately inadequate, experience something useful may emerge. In the case of the participation in decision making by both pastoralists and officials of the host government's service for implementing devel opment, care has to be taken to establish a proper institutional framework for that participation and to ensure that participants are adequately oriented and briefed so that their participation is both genuine and has positive results.This section of the paper deals briefly with the kind of techniques available for assessing the relative merits of different potential improvements once these have been identified.Early on in the preparation of this paper the idea was discussed that it ought to be possible to make generalisations, about impact, about probability of adoption, about rapidity of fruition, based on broad categorisations of, on the one hand, \"types of impro vement\" and on the other \"kinds of situations\" in which the improve ments are to be introduced: for example, \"individual land tenure\" areas would be one kind of situation, \"communal tenure\" areas would be another.Categorisation of improvements could be by a number of different criteria. One of these would be in terms of western concepts of disciplinary boundaries, and would lead to a categori sation as follows.1. Improvements to the primary productivity of the natural vegetation leading to better animal nutrition.2. The growing of introduced grass, browse and other forage.3. The supply of supplementary feed (minerals, protein, energy etc. ) from non-rangeland sources.4. Improvements in animal health.5. Genetic improvements (whether from imported genes or by intra-area selection) .6. Improvement in water supplies -leading to more frequent watering, with higher quality water at less energy cost in watering.7. Improvement in animal husbandry (e.g. breeding seasons, weaning practices, housing etc.); i.e. improvements in the care of individual livestock kept not subsumed under 1 to 5 above.8. Improvements in that lead to greater market efficiency, convenience and equity.Categorisation by disciplinary boundaries did not lead to many useful generalisations. Possibly the only important one was about rapidity of fruition. In many pastoral areas the full scope of available animal health technology has not yet been exploited and quite short periods of survey, followed by short trials on pastoralists' herds, can lead to rapid results on a wide scale. Although improvements on the health side may not substantially affect the overall productivity of the pastoral system unless the nutrition constraint is also overcome, they can provide early and dramatic evidence of the efficacy of PSR as far as the productivity of indi vidual animals is concerned.A possible categorisation of improvements in terms of those which are susceptible to testing by standard experimental techniques and those which are not was also considered. The distinction is not absolute but one of degree (more or less) . Most technological changes are susceptible to standard experimental techniques when tested on a research station, and some of these, for example, forage crop trials on individually owned fields, weight gains of individual animals due to supplementary feeding, can also be tested in this way \"on-farm\" (\"on-range\") . In other cases, however, because of difficulty of measurement, e.g. in the case of milk yields of cows with calves at foot, or because of difficulty of experimental control, e.g. with different range management techniques on communally grazed land, even technological improvements are barely testable in \"on-farm\" experimentation. Most social changes are not susceptible to standard experimental techniques of the kind applied to technological inno vations because it is simply not possible to conduct a controlled experiment with them. However, it should not be concluded that experimentally testable improvements are legitimate and important and that untestable ones are not. On the contrary, many experimen tally testable improvements may offer only trivial advantages whereas the major scope for improvement may be through untestable innovation.Although it cannot be concluded that improvements which are experimentally testable are, ipso facto, likely to be more or less important than those which are not, they have some advantages when it comes to reducing the risk of failure in large-scale implemen tation. With improvements that are experimentally testable there will be some points, short of full-scale implementation, at which the impact of an improvement on increased production can be verified.Of course, even in this case what will be measured, when doing experiments, are changes in output under conditions of experimental control or of supervision or guidance by scientists. These may comprise rather different conditions than would be the case in the event of large-scale adoption by pastoralists at a later time. Onfarm testing, if done for long enough and on a large enough scale, can also in theory involve assessments of risk and the inter-class and inter-household distribution of costs and benefits. In practice it seldom can be done for long enough or on a large enough scale to achieve this.However the scope for success in the introduction of improve ments will be determined more by the characteristics of the particular situation (in time and space) on which PSR and development are focused rather than by the category of improvement. Particular situations differ from each other in so many different ways (environ--376 mental, economic, social, political etc.) that useful categorisations and generalisations are not possible here. Categorisation by one criterion (e.g. rainfall) cuts across categorisations by another (e.g. social structure) in a way that yields a myriad of sub-cat egories. In other words, the assessment of potential improvements cannot be done simply by reference to simple rules of thumb (gener alisations applied to broad categories of improvements and situations) but will require specific analysis in each instance.Thus, in assessing potential improvements, broad generalisa tions based on categories of improvements and of situations cannot be relied upon to predict likely impact and probability of adoption.Rather reliance will need to be wholly on case-specific predictive models. In a few cases, if it is decided to select that improvement for subsequent component research, some experimental evidence will subsequently become available to shed light on the validity of the original models.The models can be of varying degrees of complexity depending on the time and resources available to construct and test them and on the input data available. At one extreme of simplicity, the model may be no more than a \"back-of-the-envelope\" calculation (simple \"partial budgeting\") to decide whether the average cash cost of, say, a mineral block is likely to be exceeded by the average value of extra liveweight gained as a result of using it.A first step improvement on the \"back-of-the-enveloppe calculations model would be one which:1. estimated probabilities of different values of net cash returns, thereby taking at least partial account of the substantial impact of variability in pastoral, systems on the pay-off from an improvement.2. included a cash flow exercise which estimated how the period and financial deficit between the time at which cash costs are incurred and cash returns are received might be bridged by different classes of pastoralists. than \"gross margin per hectare\" analyses. For example in the case of irrigated land whereas land can be allocated at most to three different crops in succession each year, i.e. once every four months, competition between activities for labour occurs on a much more frequent basis.The types of models discussed so far are extremely simple and for the most part are economic models. If time and data allow far more complex models can be used. In agropastoral enterprises, linear programming maximizing models have already been used (e.g. by Eddy (1979) and Delgado (1979)) but not yet for purely pastoral enterprises except at an excessively aggregate scale, e.g. it has been done for the Sahel as a whole (Picardi, 1974). Konandreas and Anderson (1982), building on work by others, have devised a simulation model which can be used to forecast some of the changes in livestock systems which will spring from changes in technical parameters. Both these kinds of models are essentially economic ones, are expressed in mathematical terms, can be computerised, and deal with rather few relations and variables at a time (the Konandreas and Anderson model contains some 25 key equations) . On the whole, the economic models developed so far are best at predicting the impact of improvements on net output (production less costs) and are not directly concerned with the probability of adoption or the effect on the quality of life as spelt out in this paper. Most anthropological models are verbal, not math ematical, and are much more complex but correspondingly less precise.They are much more concerned with questions of adoption and of inter personal equity. A feature of all complex models is that they require considerable time and effort not only to collect data but also to manipulate the model and consider its results.There are four main tasks to be carried out when identifying the scope for improvement: identification of potential improvements and then, in respect of each of those identified, prediction of the likely impact in terms of at least two criteria (increase in net production, change in the quality of life), prediction of the probability of adoption and of the rapidity with which the improvement will bear fruit if adopted.These are not very radical suggestions but they are seldom practised.Furthermore it has been suggested that when identifying scope for improvement not only should the natural and social scientists of the organisation practising PSR itself be involved, but also pastoralists and officials of the implementing agencies of the host government should participate as well. For such participation to be fruitful, however, thought, trouble and time have to be devoted to ensure that their participation is genuine and properly structured and informed.In making predictions, generalisations based on categories of improve ments and categories of situations in which the improvements are to be introduced are of very limited use. Case-specific analysis will be required which will use predictive models of varying complexity and from different professional disciplines. Because the predictions are being made in advance even of on-station research, they cannot be precise but can only be estimates of probabilities concerning the balance between benefits and costs or between positive and negative factors . ","tokenCount":"4726"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9133339423.json b/data/part_1/9133339423.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6428f7aec643bc142630e9c1c0b72d46f7d368eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9133339423.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2e6c689a0c233c3625502b728203fd7e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d97fc7b9-6821-4cf3-a4ec-b402ee5f54ad/retrieve","id":"-2046947585"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1e7f5543-fab1-4abb-b613-df3065dcbe72","pagecount":"35","content":"The development of mankind over the past decades has gone through a number of historical stages. The process of development entails exploitation of natural resource with the purpose of converting it into usable form. For example, human activities such as land tillage, forest clearing, and irrigation are all aimed to increase food production in order to feed the people, who are ever increasing. In many cases, most of development activities conducted in unplanned way have resulted into serious land degradation. Land degradation means a reduction or loss, in arid and dry sub humid areas of biological or economic productivity or complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes. These processes include those arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as soil erosion caused by wind and or water, deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils as well as loss of natural vegetation and biodiversity. A number of studies have been conducted to assess the various kind of land degradation in Tanzania (see for examples Dejene et al., 1997;Majule et al., 1997;Boesen et al., 1999;Majule and Mwalyosi, 2003). Kilimanjaro being one of the potential areas in Tanzania in terms of natural resources and agricultural production, studies on land degradation, and their implications on biodiversity and the livelihood of the people in the area are inevitable in order to have sustainable management of resources.Kilimanjaro region is endowed with a number of natural resources such as fresh water, fertile volcanic soils, wildlife, forests and pastures. Smallholder agriculture under a typical Chagga system known as kihamba, dominates in the highlands in areas that formerly supported natural forests. This system, however, favors land fragmentation because of the kinship and land inheritance system that prevails even today. The land is intensively used due very high population density, which exceeds 500 people per km 2 in some places. The lowland zone, which in the past was sparsely populated due to low and unreliable rainfall, poor soil fertility and poor physical environment such as high temperatures, was mainly used for grazing livestock. Over time, however, this zone is increasingly becoming settled and cultivated due to high population pressure in the highlands. Land scarcity in the highlands has forced people to move down to the lowlands. This has increased pressure on the land leading to changes in patterns of land use and land degradation in some parts.Cultivation on Mount Kilimanjaro is believed to have taken place as long as people have inhabited the slopes of the mountain probably more than 2000 years back in time (Masao, 1974). Over time, however, changing land use patterns across ecological gradients, particularly over the last 150-200 years, driven by a variety of social, economic, political and natural processes have become characteristic of the mountain slopes. These changes have resulted in land cover changes that affect biodiversity, water, land productivity and other factors, that cumulatively affect the biosphere. Understanding the effects of land use and cover changes on the degradation of natural resources particularly soils and biodiversity is very important in the planning for the sustainable management of natural resources. This paper, therefore, explores the impact of land use and cover changes on land degradation, particularly deterioration of chemical, physical and biological properties and their linkage to biodiversity loss.A survey was carried out along two transects traversing through three different agroecological zones on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro (Figure 1). The overall objective was to find out how different land use practices affect plant biodiversity and consequently land degradation. The two transects ran from the forest belt to the lowlands where people are engaged in irrigation agriculture. Of the two transects, one transect along Machame route started at an altitude of 1840 metres above the sea level down to Kikafu Chini which lies at an altitude of 770 metres. The Mbokomu transect started from the forest belt at around 1830 metres down to Mabogini at an elevation of 686 metres. Comparatively, the Machame transect was much longer and it crossed several land use types than the Mbokomu transect. Topographically, Mbokomu transect traversed very steep and rugged hillslopes, such that it was in some cases impossible to lay quadrats where the sub-transects fell.Along each transect, 12 sub-transects which ran perpendicular to the main transect were established such that for each major agro-ecological zone there were 4 sub-transects. The major agro-ecological zones encountered included the upper coffee/banana highland zone, the middle highland zone and the lowlands where the main activity was pastoralism and irrigation agriculture (Table 1). The mountain zone, which lies above 1800 metres was not included in the sample. The lengths of sub-transects were variable depending on how close different land use categories were found, but generally sub-transects covered 500 metres on either side of the main transect.During the sampling exercise, a minimum of two quadrats representing each land use category were sampled, and in some cases up to 3 different land use categories could be found in one sub-transect. In case where there was only one site representing a specific land use category, the site was also sampled in order to capture maximum variability of biodiversity in each sub-transect. Data on land use and cover types, soils and plant species were recorded in each quadrat. Composite soil samples were collected from the different land use/cover plots and were later analysed in the laboratory using the standard procedures for cation exchange capacity, pH, organic carbon, exchangeable bases and total nitrogen by following methods outlined in Majule (2003). Soils were also described in terms of their physical properties, such as soil color, moisture, erodibility and textural class, by finger feel method. Field observations of different plants on a particular soil was also undertaken in order to explain relationships between soil fertility and crop growth.The proportions of different land se and cover types along the transects per zone were all listed and their proportions calculated in-terms of their occurrences. Their proportions were plotted in graphs, with a detailed description of representative land use and cover types presented in a tabular form. Soil degradation particularly soil erosion per land use/cover type was assessed by classifying into different erodibility classes such as 0=E0, 1=E1 and 2=E2 meaning no visible evidence of erosion, slight moderate sheet wash and moderate-severe sheet wash respectively. Major nutrients (C, N, P, K) in soils and soil pH were compared with the national standards (NSS, 1993) in order to get different fertility ratings per transect and per land use/cover types.Vegetation survey In accordance with the sampling protocol outlined in the LUCID cookbook, different sizes of quadrats were used depending on the type of the vegetation, the criteria being the vegetation height. For example woodlots were sampled in 20 x 20 square metre plots, whereas coffee/banana plots were sampled in 10 x 10 square metre quadrats. Monocultural crops such as maize at different stages of development, as well as herbs and grasses were sampled using quadrats ranging from 1 x 1 square metres to 4 x 4 square metre plots. A total of 40 quadrats were sampled along Mbokomu transect with eleven land use categories and with coffee/banana as the major land use type. The information obtained by calculating species diversity (H'), evenness (E) and species richness (S) of the plots sampled along Mbokomu transect was later on used to plot graphs on effects of land use change on biodiversity. For Machame transect where there were more land use categories, a total of 81 quadrats were sampled with an indication that maize and coffee/banana were the major land use categories of this area.In the sampling procedure, individual plants were identified to species level, counted and recorded, and contribution of each species to percentage cover was estimated and recorded. Specimens that were difficult to identify in the field were collected, pressed and transported to Dar es Salaam for confirmation of their identity. Such unidentified specimens were properly determined at the University of Dar es Salaam Herbarium by matching with preserved herbarium specimens or by keying using floras and manuals.A questionnaire was administered to a number of people along each transect in order to obtain information on the economically important plant species found in the area and their current status, to indicate whether they were declining or increasing over time. Information was also sought about species that have become extinct in the study area, their possible cause of the extinction and habitats where such species were found.The vegetation data were combined with the soil analysis results in multivariate analysis in order to reveal the indicator species of different soil conditions. Calculation of species diversity was done using the Shannon & Wiener Diversity Index (as in Magurran, 1988) from the relationship H' = -∑p i lnp I , where p i is the relative proportion of the ith species in the sample. Evenness (E) or equitability which is a measure of how individuals are distributed for each species was calculated from the relationship E = H'/lnS, where S is the species richness. Similarity between samples of the same land use category was calculated based on Sørensen's (1948) Similarity index from the relationshipWhere, C are species common to samples A and B, A and B are total number of species found in sample A and B respectively. Multivariate analysis of the data was performed using the programme PC-ORD Version 4.20 (McCune & Mefford 2000). The data were analysed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN). The data matrices used were the species/plots data x soil/altitude/plots data that served as the environmental variables.The nomenclature used in this study follows that of Turrill & Milne-Redhead (1952-) in Flora of Tropical East Africa and that of Exell & Wild (1960-) in Flora Zambesiaca.Although sampling technique that employs square quadrats is becoming obsolete nowadays (see account by Stohlgren et al., 1995), the team adopted square quadrats in order to obtain comparable data with the Kenyan counterparts, who did their field-work much earlier. The use of different size quadrats suggested in the LUCID cookbook, however, was a serious problem to data interpretation. Effective comparison of the data could not be done for different land use categories because each vegetation type was sampled using quadrats of different sizes. For example it was possible to compare graze land, fallow land, maize fields, paddy fields and fodder since these entities were sampled in 2 x 2 m 2 quadrats.The Impact of Land Use Change on Biodiversity and Land Degradation Human activities have increasingly modified the environment over time and space. In fact, their role in environmental change overrides natural changes to ecosystems brought by climate variations of the past few thousand years (Turner, et al., 1990). These activities include cultivation in various forms, livestock grazing, settlement and construction, reserves and protected lands and timber extraction, among others. These and other land uses have cumulatively transformed land cover at the local and global scales, with significant consequences for land cover, biodiversity, soil condition and water and sediment flows (Turner, et al., 1994).The patterns of land use and cover change along the Machame and Mbokomu transects are presented in Tables 2 and 3.Much of the present day cultivated land (the home gardens and shambas) in the highlands, an area referred to by Allan (1965) as Chagga land proper, was initially forestland. With the establishment of settlements in the areas, the forests were cleared for cultivation of bananas. Settlement started in the middle zone up to 1400 m (Iliffe, 1979). However, according to Holland (1996) and Illife (1979), there was still plenty of cultivable land on Mount Kilimanjaro during the 19 th and beginning of the 20 th centuries. There was enough room to extend the area where banana, the staple food, was grown as the population increased. Thus with population increase, settlements coupled with cultivation extended to the upper zone. Historically, grazing of livestock and the collection of fodder was more extensively practiced in the upper zone (O' Kting'ati and Kessy, 1991). As human numbers in the middle zone expanded, increasing numbers of people moved into this zone to cultivate. Two different types of land use emerged, the Kihamba or home gardens where houses were built and multi-purpose trees were intercropped with food crops, mainly bananas, and later with coffee, introduced during the German colonial period  and the shamba land (small fields in-between the different vihamba) where food crops like maize, beans, yams, finger millet and grass for livestock were cultivated (Anderson, 1982). This farming system was supported by a sophisticated irrigation system using traditional fallows. According to Soini (2002), in 1961 there was still space in the home garden area for small fields of sweet potatoes, other vegetables and small patches of grazing lands. With increased population, however, the small fields were converted to Kihamba. There was also establishment of European estates mainly for coffee, although many of these were established in woodland and bushland zones in the upper lowlands. Some of these estates have now been converted to maize farms.With the emergence of Kihamba system and introduction of coffee, many indigenous trees were replaced with exotic tree species, such as Grevillea robusta, Eucalyptus spp., Persea americana, which were planted for various purposes, such as timber, shade, fruit and animal fodder. Eucalyptus was mainly planted for fuelwood supply and poles. Some indigenous species, such as Albizia schimperiana and Newtonia buchananii were, purposely retained in the farms for soil conservation. These are leguminous plants, which fix atmospheric nitrogen and therefore add nutrients to the soil. A total of 111 plant species, ranging from trees, food crops, fodder and medicinal plants, were recorded in home gardens in Hai District on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro (O' Kting'ati et al., 1984). This is an indication of prevalence of high diversity of plants in the Chagga home gardens.There has been continuity of land use on the mountain in time and space. The two types of land use, the home gardens (Plate 1) and shamba, have remained a characteristic way of Chagga farming until today (Holland 1996) although many of the small fields in the highlands have been converted to kihamba. For example, by 1982, as the population pressure increased on the upper slopes, most of the open spaces had been taken for building new home gardens (Soini, 2002) The upper slopes became more uniformly covered by home gardens while in the lowlands, more bush land was opened up for food production at the same time period.Until the 1980s, the Chagga home gardens covered about 1200 km 2 on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro (Fernandez et al., 1984). Because of sub-division between the sons of the family, home gardens have, however, become increasingly fragmented. Today, land in the upper and middle zones is so fragmented that there is no further room for expansion. The home gardens have become so fragmented that they are now too small to sustain a family (Soini, 2002). The average size of holdings ranges between 0.5 ha to 2 ha, with some households having less than 0.25 ha (0.5 acres) while others have over 2.2 ha (4 acres) (Oyan, 2000). Because of land scarcity and the limited opportunity to expand agriculture in the upper and middle zones, farmers have opted to diversify their crop production. Thus cropping patterns have changed over time. In some areas, coffee is being replaced with maize, vegetables, horticultural crops like tomatoes and onions and flowers. In other areas, cropland has been converted to pasture land. The shamba system has now, been extended to the lowlands due to scarcity of land in the highlands.Plate 1. A typical Chagga home garden (Kihamba) in Materuni village, consisting of a mixture of coffee, bananas, yams, trees (Grevillea robusta and Albizia gummifera) Draceana usambarensis and fodder grass.The past decades have also been characterized by an expansion of farmland towards the rivers. Deforestation arising from such expansion seems to have taken place before 1962 because as reported by Holland (1996), in 1962 there were large areas in the river valleys in Mwasi Juu and Mwasi Chini between Uru East and Mbokomu without woody vegetation.From 1962 to 1992, however, the open areas along the rivers decreased more than 50%. This may be due to the agroforestry system practiced in river valleys where the farmers cultivate perennial and seasonal crops in-between the trees. They also collect fodder and harvest and plant trees (Holland, 1996).Although grazing was taking place in open areas on the slopes of the mountain, it has now become very restricted because of the increase in population and expansion of cultivation in the former grazing areas. Consequently, the number of livestock has gone down tremendously and the open grazing system has been replaced by zero grazing. Changes in land use and subsequent decline in access to pasture and shortage of fodder are believed to have led to decline in livestock numbers (Moore, 1986). Holland (1996), for example, believes that the decrease in the number of cattle may be attributed to the introduction of coffee trees.Although cattle used to be the main source of wealth and the main symbol of high status, the increase in income from coffee production made ownership of land to become more important than the ownership of cattle. The shortage of pasture in the highlands has subsequently led to the emergence of sale of fodder, something that was, according to O'Kting'ati and Kessy (1991) virtually non-existent in the 1960s. In the past, women used to carry bundles of grass from the lowlands to the Kihamba. Today, however, pick-up trucks are seen carrying loads of grass from the lower areas. This has resulted in transfer of nutrients from the lowlands to the highlands, with wider implications on land management.The lower slopes that bordered settled areas and the plains were mostly covered by woodland and bushland (Holland, 1996). The major crops grown in the lowlands were maize, beans, finger millet and vegetables. Cotton was also being produced in some areas of Moshi District as a cash crop on a smallholder basis. Because of the drastic drop of the price of cotton since the 1980s, however, many people turned to the production of coffee (Sevaldsen, 1997). But due to the increased scarcity of water and the fact that many people did not have the required shady environment to make the coffee trees thrive, many farmers have been forced to turn to new crops such as tomatoes, other vegetables and sunflower. Since the mid-1980s, tomatoes have gained significance as a cash crop and have even become the number one cash crop for people in Makuyuni ward (Sevaldsen, 1997). However, because of the perishability of the crop and the limited market as many people have become involved in the production of the crop, the prices are no longer favorable, although they are still much better than the coffee and cotton prices.In the dry low-lying areas (rainfall less than 700mm), pastoralism has always been the main land use type, which is practiced mainly by the Masai herdsmen. Near the rivers, irrigated agriculture for crops such as rice and vegetables is common. Over the years, there has been a lot of encroachment on the grazing areas by agriculture particularly by people who are migrating from the densely populated highland areas. This has led to expansion of areas under agriculture and a decrease in grazing areas and has been a major source of conflict in these areas.Impact of land use changes on ecosystems and floristic diversityInformation from questionnaires revealed that a number of plants are very useful and are used in various ways. A number of people cited among the uses as medicinal plants, timber trees, fodder, shade trees for coffee and others have great cultural significance among the Chagga. Among the ailments treated using herbal medicine were stomach upsets, persistent coughs, ethno-veterinary use for both livestock and chicken, treating wounds, fever, fungicidals and many others. A total of 15 species were cited from Mbokomu transect as being economically useful, whereas in Machame about 24 species were enumerated. A complete list of plants, their uses, their level of abundance and their common species names are provided as Tables 4 & 5 below. These species and their uses compare well with those identified by O' Kting'ati et al. (1984) on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.The interviews further revealed that there has been a tremendous loss of biodiversity of economically useful plants due to habitat fragmentation in the recent years and the practice is still going on to date. This trend of loss in biodiversity can be explained by the existing land tenure system among the Chagga, which results into fragmentation of the land. By this it implies that the traditional system of distributing part of the family shamba (locally known as Kihamba) to every boy born in the family, results into less land available for cultivation in favor of building houses, and consequently results into fragmentation of the natural vegetation. Fragmentation of land is more pronounced in the lowlands that in the high altitudes. This is partly due to the reason that not all land is suitable for agriculture due to ruggedness and very poor skeletal soils. Such fragmented habitats, that are very common along the Machame transect are only used for grazing of livestock. In the context of this work, we consider species of conservation concern as any of the species, which fall in any one of the categories: endemic species, overexploited species for timber, species with narrow range of distribution, medicinal plants of which their harvesting mode was not sustainable, species difficult to propagate and keystone species. An example of keystone species are the figs, which have, fruits all year round and so are the cultivated fruit crops. Among the timber trees, Olea welwitschii, Cordia Africana, Albizia schimperiana and Albizia gummifera were species subjected to overexploitation in the range where they occur.Although two of the cited trees are coffee shade trees, they are declining in number due to timber production. Such species tend to decrease in number as one moves from the high altitudes to the lowlands.On the issue of sustainability of harvesting medicinal plants, at least for four species cited, the harvesting mode is not sustainable because harvesting involves total de-barking of the individual plants or by obtaining the roots. This in fact has an effect of killing the trees and could be disastrous where only few individuals of the species are present. It was noted that Erythrina abyssinica, Grewia burtii, Lannea stuhlmannii and Terminalia sericea were species most affected by this unsustainable mode of harvesting. Such species could be grouped under CITES categorization as data deficient (DD) species, since they are becoming overexploited in their natural habitats all over the country and their amount remaining in the natural habitats is not ascertained.Generally, the diversity of medicinal plants was highest in the uncultivated land than in the cultivated land, specifically with scrubland having the highest density. Elsewhere in Tanzania, the species cited above are already on the verge of extinction and therefore there is an urgent need to promote the conservation of their populations wherever they occur.In view of this study, it is recommended to carry out intensive studies for all those species that are likely to disappear in the near future. Such studies should include their ecological and silvicultural aspects, and also to find out the distribution pattern of their populations wherever they occur in Tanzania. Such useful data could be used in future to update CITES appendices.Each land use category was characterized by certain group of plants, which served to indicate the prevailing soil conditions of the area. As an example, the maize fallows seemed to be of very poor soil fertility and showed a decreased species diversity. The fallows were dominated by a number of weed species to include Trichodesma zeylanicum, Argemone mexicana, Physalis peruviana, Euphorbia hirta and Solanum incanum. In areas, which were used for pastoral activities, a number of annual grass species were encountered such as Eragrostis superba, Pennisetum polystachion, Heteropogon contortus and Eragrostis aethiopica were common. Presence of the annual grasses and a number of unpalatable shrubs is a reflection of high grazing pressure exhibited in the area.In the coffee/banana zone, the species diversity was also very low and this is accounted by land management practices. A number of species were common as indicators of cultivation and of humid soils such as Oxalis corniculata, Bidens pilosa, Senecio abyssinica, Setaria homonyma, Digitaria scalarum and Launea cornuta. Together with such weeds, were some cultivated crops such as Ananas comosus (pineapple), Helianthus annuus (sunflower) and Carica papaya (pawpaw).The relationship between soil factors and species diversity for both Machame and Mbokomu transects is rather complex in that all four axes of the ordination space accounted for the observed relationship. However, axes I and II explain more than 60% of the observed variance, and so only these two axes will be considered in the discussion. The most influential variables, which accounted for the observed relationship are pH, altitude and organic carbon.The first axis of the ordination space explains the observed variance by ca. 36.2%, and it depicts decrease in altitude from the forest belt through the coffee/banana zone to the lowlands where irrigation agriculture is practiced (Figures 2 & 3).Generally, at agro-ecological zone level, species diversity and richness were observed to increase with decrease in altitude and also increase in the soil pH. This implies that the undisturbed lowlands, including the scrubland and the shrubland, which were used as pastureland were much more diverse having a number of grass species and shrubs which were not encountered anywhere in the highlands. The notable shrubs included Commiphora africana, Boscia angustifolia, Croton pseudopluchellus, Grewia burtii, Solanum incanum, Hyptis suavelons and Ocimum suave. Such species may serve to indicate overgrazing in the area. A number of palatable annual grasses in this vegetation type include Eragrostis superba, Pennisetum polystachion, Heteropogon contortus and Eragrostis aethiopica. Thus, with a decrease in altitude, the lowlands were favorable for grazing activities and to some extent cultivation of cereal cash crops such as maize, rice and a number of vegetables. At the transect level, there was no any definitive pattern of change in biodiversity and similarity of sites exhibiting the same land use along a gradient from high altitude to the irrigable lowlands at lower altitudes. This may lead to a suggestion that diversity observed along transects is dictated by factors such as soil conditions, amount of precipitation and land management system rather than altitude.There was a tendency of decreasing species richness and diversity from uncultivated land to cultivated land along transects (Figures 4 and 5). At sub-transect level, the variation was not noticeable. This discrepancy can be explained by the management practices in cultivation of weeding which eliminates unwanted species and partly can be explained the use of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides which modify the soil conditions, thereby favoring selectively specific species.  Machame transect (Figure 4) is much more diverse in terms of land use categories, species diversity and species richness compared to Mbokomu transect (Figure 5). Precipitation among other factors dictates the type of vegetation to be found in an area. The Machame transect is presumably wetter than the eastern side of the mountain hence can support high diversity of plants. In line with this it is possible that the coffee/banana zone can further be extended down the lowland depending on the availability of water. Prior to the commencement of the Lower Moshi irrigation scheme, there were neither banana nor coffee crops in the lowland, but now they are common.Along Machame transect below 1000 metre altitude, there is very arid degraded vegetation confined to shallow skeletal soils, which may be termed as scrubland. This is an important zone where people practice agro-pastoralism. The unique feature of this land use type is a very high diversity of palatable annual grasses such as Eragrostis superba, Pennisetum polystachion, Eragrostis aethiopica and Heteropogon contortus. Research has shown elsewhere that intensive grazing has an effect of increasing the diversity of annual grasses in a rangeland (see O'Çonnor & Pickett, 1991), increasing seed influx passively into the area (Lyaruu, 1999) as well as reducing the perennial grasses which are obligate seed producers.Another important feature of the scrubland is the presence of spiny, unpalatable woody herbs and shrubs that are left deliberately by the grazing ungulates. As for ecosystem integrity, overgrazed areas tend to loose palatable grass species that are overgrazed and gain unpalatable species that of not much economic use. Such species include Hyptis suavelons (Lamiaceae), Ocimum suave (Lamiaceae), Solanum incanum (Solanaceae), Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae), Argemone mexicana (Papaveraceae), to mention a few. These species, particularly Argemone mexicana and Solanum incanum wherever they occur are indicators of skeletal and very unfertile soils. Moreover, Argemone mexicana is a weed known to have a persistent seed bank and is a very inferior competitor with agricultural crops. This is a probable explanation as to why such species surface in farms after harvest of the crops.The agricultural practice of tilling the land selectively favors certain groups of plants that feature as weeds. Secondly the practice of turning the soil exposes seeds to optimum germination conditions, thereby increasing the short-lived ephemerals. This is the reason why cultivated land contained much higher species diversity of weedy species.Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the effect of monoculture and poly-culture on plant species diversity along Machame and Mbokomu transects, respectively. In both cases, species diversity is low in monoculture and high in poly-culture systems. Possible explanation to the observed loss of biodiversity in monoculture can partly be to changes in the land use practices in Kilimanjaro.To cite an example, horticulture is now a lucrative business when compared to traditional coffee farming system due to the high market price of horticultural crops. People are clearing coffee farms and replacing them with tomatoes, onions, cabbages, sweet potatoes etc. Generally, vegetable farming requires a lot of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides that consequently have detrimental effect to the plants biodiversity. Also the practice of using blue copper (copper sulphate) and thiodan in coffee farms has an effect of increasing soil acidity and consequently favoring certain groups of plants. Probably the domination of the weed Oxalis corniculata throughout the Coffee/Banana zone could explain the acidic conditions of the soil. Available records show that there has been a general decline of livestock numbers during the last three to four decades. A study by O'Kting'ati and Kessy (1991) showed a decline in the number of cattle, sheep and goats per farmer between 1960's and 1980's. They attributed this to the conversion of open pasture areas to agricultural production. Accordingly, in the middle zone, women and children were forced to travel up to 10 km in search of fodder. Moore (1986) also attributed this decline to changes in land use and subsequent decline in access to pasture and shortage of fodder. As observed by Moore (1986:130-131), \"…Cattle keeping seems to have substantially declined over the century. Cattle are expensive, and the absence of pasture in the banana belt, land shortage, and the increasing distance woman must go to obtain fodder have made the maintenance of cattle much more difficult that it used to be.…The large herds of hundreds of cattle said to have been held by some chiefs in the pre-1919 period have not been held by anyone, chief or not, for many decades. All evidence suggests that the number of beasts per capita has continuously decreased….\"The decrease in the number of cattle has also been attributed to the introduction of coffee, which replaced cattle as a source of wealth. Today, farmers in the middle zone keep about 2-3 cattle per household, on the average, which are stall-fed. Poor farmers have a tendency of keeping more goats and sheep, presumably because these are less expensive to buy and less demanding on fodder resources than cattle (Oyan, 2000).A similar situation has been observed in the Kitendeni corridor, where the average number of livestock per person at present is reportedly low compared to previous years (Noe, 2002). Majority of the people own between 1-5 cattle while only a few own between 5-20 cattle. The decline in livestock production over the years has been attributed to limited pastures following the expansion of agriculture into grazing areas, long periods of droughts and outbreak of disease in 1970s (Noe, 2002).Although there is paucity of data on the impact of land use changes on wild animal numbers and their distribution, the probability of local extinction and displacement of wild animals is high because of loss of forest, conversion of bush land into farms and settlements and blockage of migratory routes, which in turn lead to isolation of animals. As remarked by Newmark et al. (1991), forest loss and conversion have adversely affected the distribution of montane fauna and the size of these species, and thus in the near future the rare montane forest species could be seriously threatened by these activities. They, for example, report of the local extinction of the klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus and the mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula) during the last 45 years due to increasing isolation of Kilimanjaro National Park/Forest reserve. The Black Rhinoceros has become extinct on Mt. Kilimanjaro. The forest zone, however, is home to the largest known population of abbot's duiker, which is globally threatened.Apart from loss of fauna, Newmark et al. (1991) also note that seven species of large mammals -the Lepus crawshayi (Crawshay's hare), Papio cynocephalus (baboon), Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena), Canis mesomelas (black-backed jackal), Canis adustus (side-striped jackal), Ichneumia albicauda (white-tailored mongoose) and Phacochoerus aethiopicus (warthog) had been added to the mammal species checklist for Kilimanjaro National Park and Forest Reserve. This may be explained by tree falling and fires at the lower elevations of the forest, which have converted the habitat in some places into a secondary disturbed bush land and have thus permitted these species, which were formerly not found in the national park and forest reserve to enter the reserve.Available literature also indicates that wildlife was quite abundant on the lower southern, eastern and western slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro until about the 1930's (Newmark et al., 1991). Large mammals, including elephants, baboons, impala, spotted hyaena, white-tailored mongoose and warthog, among others, have, historically, been recorded in these areas. However, the heavy disturbance of and encroachment on forests for agriculture, logging and other human activities, have led to loss of fauna. Elephants, leopards, impala and baboons that were found in the lowland zone on the eastern, southern and western sides of Mount Kilimanjaro had by mid-1970's virtually disappeared (O'Kting'ati andKessy, 1991). Today, these animals are found only on the northern side of Mount Kilimanjaro. The expansion of agricultural activities and human settlements over time, have, largely, been responsible for the disappearance of wildlife formerly found on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and particularly in the lowlands.Other studies, such as Millard (1954) and Child (1965) have shown that in the 1950's, the elephant population in the Kilimanjaro-Amboseli Ecosytem in the north-western part of Mount Kilimanjaro was in the order of 1,500. Millard (1954) also noted the existence of rhinoceros in the forest and around Kitendeni. Over the years, however, there was a drastic decline in elephant numbers, particularly since the late 1960's. Grimshaw and Foley (1990), for example, reported a decline in the Kilimanjaro elephants between 1970 and 1980. Recent records, however, suggest a recovery and steady increase in elephant population (MNRT, 2001) A recent study by Noe (2002) in the corridor that links Kilimanjaro and Amboseli National Parks has also shown an increasing trend for such animals like elephants, buffaloes, velvet monkeys, zebra, eland, giraffe, warthogs, antelopes and rodents. This was confirmed by 81% of the respondents, who, during her survey, commented about the increase of some wild animal species while others were extinct. New species of antelopes, described as gerenuks, are reported to have been coming into the farms and eating crops, especially beans. Species like leopards, lions and ostrich, however, are reported to have decreased in the area while the rhinoceros had become extinct.Although land use changes have contributed to increase, decline or loss of faunal species diversity, the impact of land use changes on the animal populations is not very distinct and straight -forward. This is because many other factors, like poaching and hunting, operated in the area during the same period when land use changes were taking place. As such it is difficult to attribute loss of faunal diversity sorely to land use changes. The increase in species diversity, however, can be said to result from habitat changes arising from changing land use and its impact on forests.Impact of land use change on land degradation 3.5.1 The influence of land use and cover changes on soil fertility An assessment of soil chemical fertility in the study area (Machame and Mbokomu) is shown in Figure 8a and b. Three major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus organic carbon contents) and pH have been used to describe chemical properties across the different agroecological zones per transect.  A increased from 4.7 in the upper zone to 5.0 across the Machame transect (Figure 8a). The soil pH range is classified as very strongly acid. A slight increase in soil pH is probably due to deposition of basic cations associated with erosion and irrigation. Soil organic carbon declined across the zone from medium range in the highland to very low range in the lo zone. A decline in organic carbon is due to vegetation clearing; burning and transfer of organic materials particularly crop residues to the upland areas. Under extreme acid conditions, most of soil nutrients such as N, P, Ca, Mg and K became unavailable and toxic elements like Al, Mn and Cu became more available to toxic levels. Total nitrogen content ranged from high to low in the upper and low zones, respectively. This can be link with decline in soil organic matter, which is a major source of nitrogen (Reuss and Johnson, 1986;Rowell, 1993).Upper and lower zones respectively (Figure 8b). A slight increase is probably due to basic cation (Ca, Mg and K) accumulation in the lower zone due to erosion and irrigation. The variation in soil pH is largely influenced by the land use and cover types within zones acro transect (Figures 8a and 3b). It decreased from medium range (1.68%) in the upper zone to low range (0.99) in the lower zone. A decrease in soil organic matter is negatively related with soil erosion across the zone. Soil total N% is much lower in Mbokomu than in Macham transect. Available nitrogen is released to the soil through the process of organic nitrogen mineralization (Sakala, 1998;Majule, 1999).Available phosphorus declined across the Mac e hame transect compared to the Mbokomu ansect (Figure 9). However, the available phosphorus is well above the high level (> 20 nd ver the past few decades there has been a number of landuse changes in the region ssociated with changes in agricultural practices (O'Kting'ati and Kessy, 1991). The effects er types on soil degradation along the Machame transect are clining in other landuse types is very ongly acid (pH 4.5-5.0). The amount of soil organic carbon (%) is within the medium dium it arbon also followed a similar pattern while soil total N low in all landuse types. Broadly, soil degradation is marked in woodlots followed with ion. Low soil pH is probably due to nitrogen transformation associated with tr mgP/kg). Along the Mbokomu transect, soil available phosphorus declined in the upper a middle zones. An increase in the amount of available phosphorus in the lower zone is probably due to high levels of phosphorus application, particularly in crop fields.  10a through 10c). One of the indicators of land degradation is de soil fertility (Rowell, 1993;Majule et al., 1997). An assessment of the few key chemical soil fertility indicators (soil pH, OC% and total N%) reveled a variation in soil chemical characteristics associated with different landuse categories.According to NSS (1993), soil pH in upper Machame is extremely acidity (<4.5) in pastureland and this restricts annual crop cultivation. Soil pH str range. Soil nitrogen is very low in pastureland and woodlots increasing slowly to me range in forest and grazing land.In middle Machame (Figure 10b), the soil is extremely acid in woodlots. However, it is a b high in other landuse types. Organic c is grazing land.In the lower Machame (Figure 10c), extremely soil acidity was observed in the soil under paddy cultivat flooding of rice fields (Rowell, 1993). There is a marked regeneration in soil organic carbo in soils with the exception of the grazing land.Organic carbon contents, soil pH and total N% i n n the land under coffee/banana is relatively table due to the following reasons; s through mulch application gThe a zing and mulches which was ery common along Machame transect should, therefore, be encouraged as a means to ies acity, s• Application of animal manures and crop residues • Prevention of leaching processe • Proper agronomic practices such restricting burnin pr ctice of using organic manure resulting from zero gra v improving soil quality as well as increasing soil pH and consequently productivity and spec diversity. Organic fertilization not only increases soil fertility and soil water holding cap but it also buffers the soil against pH changes. Soil fertility also can be regenerated as the land is being converted from agriculture to controlled grazing (zero grazing), which is restricted near Chagga home gardens. Declining soil fertility in the lower Machame is probably due to intensive land utilization associated with overgrazing and transfer of organic matter to the upper potential areas. There are no remnants of natural forest, which could serve as a mean of regenerating soil fertility rough cycling of organic matter.hat land degradation is a serious problem along the Mbokomu transect as compared to Machame transect. Historically, after clearing the natural forest in most parts of the upper Mbokomu, the land was cultivated with different crops. Depletion in soil nutrients and acidification forced farmers to abandon their fields and converted them into woodlots dominated with Eucalyptus spp. or Grevillea sp planted for the purpose of demarcating field plot boundaries and to provide shade to coffee plants. Soils in upper Mbokomu (Figure 10d) under woodlots are extremely acid (pH < 4.5). Soils under other land use types are strongly acid (pH 5.1-5.6). The availability of other nutrients is also high in similar soils (Table 4).Soil organic carbon (%) is low (<0.6%) in the soil under Eucalyptus woodlot and medium range in other landuse types (Figure 10d). Total nitrogen is low but is lowest in the land use under Eucalyptus woodlots. In the middle zone (Figure 10e), there is an improvement in soil pH in most land use types (strongly acid). An improvement in soil pH is probably due intensive management of soils through increased organic matter applications. Organic matter is low in the soil under cassava indicating degradation of nutrients and it is in the medium level in soils under woodlots and in mixed farming (coffee and banana).In the lower zone (Figure 10f), soil pH is very strongly acid in the land under coffee and maize alone. Other land use types have their soil pH slightly large within the strongly acid range. The acidity in the coffee/maize farming systems is probably due to the application of artificial fertilizers and copper fungicides in treating coffee berry disease. Field observation also indicated low organic matter content in the lowland and this is validated by laboratory test, which revealed very low soil organic carbon in all land use types (Figure 10f). Total soil nitrogen is low in all land use type categories.In order to assess the magnitude of soil erosion in different zones and land use types, a criterion was set based on field observation (Table 6). In this case E0 means no visible evidence of soil erosion, E1 means slight erosion, E2 means moderate soil erosion and E3 severe soil erosion.  Soil erosion prevalence in Machame transect was common in all three major agro-ecological zones. The magnitude of soil erosion that is mainly due to water movement toward the slope direction varies with land use types. Based on field observations, soil erosion in Machame transect varied with land use types. In the upper Machame soil erosion was moderate in woodlots and banana fields. It was not visible in the pasture and in coffee/banana land use types.In the mid Machame, there is no visible soil erosion in most land use types with the exception of land under maize and fallow land use types, where erosion is slight (E1). In the lower Machame a similar pattern was observed.High soil erosion in the upper zone was probably due to high slope and destruction of soil structure by woodlots particularly Eucalyptus spp. Field observation indicated that there is evidence of some gullies developing in the land under woodlots. Poor cycling of organic matter was also observed and this can be linked with soil structure deterioration. Poor soil structure in the land under pure maize and banana farming also contributed to soil erosion. On the other hand, land covered with grasses and field densely populated by coffee and banana had no marked soil erosion.Observed soil erosion in the lower zone particularly in the land under pure maize is probably due to land preparation practices such as use of tractors, which tends to loosen soils and thus creating chances for both water and wind caused soil erosion to take place. Soil erosion in fallow land is probably due to severe degradation following intensive cultivation of the land and overgrazing.The magnitude of soil erosion also varied across zones and land use types along the Mbokomu transect. Soil erosion in the upper zone was almost similar to that of Machame In mid Mbokomu, there is no evidence of erosion in the soil under pasture and coffee/banana. Erosion increased in pure mono-cropping (maize, banana) as well as in woodlots. In the mid and lower Mbokomu, soil erosion followed a similar pattern like that of Machame. In view of the number of land use types assessed in the field, broadly soil erosion increased along the transect from E0 to E2 values probably due to remove of vegetation cover and overgrazing particularly in the lower zones. Soil erosion was much on the higher side in the Mbokomu transect as compared to Machame transect.The linkages between land degradation and Changes in Biodiversity .7. .0 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS ltivated areas, with the Chagga agroforestry system characteristic of the me gardens characterizing much of the landscape. This is a mixture of trees (both planted ve in e diversity following the diversification of crops y the farmers. It has been shown that some farmers were uprooting coffee trees and planting tomatoes, onions and other vegetables instead because of favorable prices. Where there is monoculture, the tendency has been for species diversity to decrease compared to polyculture system.een spec soil erod ted in Fi s in obtained du the fieldwork. Gene y, there are more specie in Mbokomu than in ect particularly in the per zone. Results ind te a negative correl ween species richnes d soil erosion in both nsects. Soil erosion gradation, it manifes il fertility and water a lability to the plants. An erosion tends to rem the fertile topsoil tha etation on land throu h a have a signi nt impact on the num and distribution of s ies available. Changes i s (decrease by 14) alo the Mbokomu transe eem to be much high as achame. This is prob due to soil stability water availability in th ect. From the findings of this study, it is evident that the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro have undergone significant land use changes over the past decades, and that these changes have had significant impacts on both floral and faunal diversity and on land degradation. It has been shown that the previously forested areas in the middle and upper zones have been transformed into cu ho and indigenous) interplanted with crops and fodder grass. The exotic plant species ha many cases replaced indigenous species except where the latter were purposefully left standing in the fields either for shade, timber, fodder, fuelwood or for soil and water conservation. In the lowlands, bushland has given way to agriculture, which has expanded at the expense of grazing land.Changes from natural vegetation to cultivated land have, however, led to decrease in indigenous plant species richness and diversity and an increase in exotic plant species. At th same time, there has been an increase in crop b Alth h it is not possible to link directly the decrease in animal numbers to land use ch oug anges e ing, available data indicate ridor. e mic d soil This is a reflection of poor land management. Therefore, soil erosion can significantly be reduced by proper incorporation of organic residues, sustainable agronomic practices such conservation tillage and controlled grazing.A negative correlation between species richness and soil erosion, a form of land degradation, has been established in both transects. This implies that there is more plant species in the land with low soil erosion probably due to suitable soils and water availability. Increased soil erosion from E0 to E2 ratings, however, tends to decrease species richness. Bare soils associated with vegetation clearing are one of the major causes of species loss.From the above, it can be concluded that land use changes and associated land cover changes have led to changes in biodiversity of both floral and fauna with the number and diversity of some species having increased while others have become lost or even extinct. Land use changes have also been associated with land degradation reflected in the loss of soil fertility and increased soil erosion. These have in turn negatively affected species richness.becaus of the interplay of other factors such as poaching and hunt that while some animals have decreased in number or even disappeared, others such as antelopes, warthogs and monkeys seem to have increased, particularly in the wildlife cor In the lowlands, however, all wild animals that were previously recorded there have disappeared completely because of increased human activities such as agriculture and settlements. Records also indicate a decrease in number of domesticated livestock, particularly cattle in the middle and lowland zones.With regard to land degradation, it is evident that soil erosion incidences are common in both transects and in the three major ecological zones. Although soil erosion is a function of slop whereby it decreases with slope, much soil erosion in the lower zone is due to poor agrono practices, overgrazing in marginal land and burning. Land under Eucalyptus woodlots an pure mono-cropping, particularly maize and banana are vulnerable to erosion due to poor physical conditions.","tokenCount":"8433"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9142555753.json b/data/part_1/9142555753.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3691975a228841eb4a55f3a4c66901d067650671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9142555753.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7a45e27644c9bc3abb5bcde6774d9241","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/02521544-e056-4ede-9ce8-6cb95ad5f927/retrieve","id":"-384302598"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"331dd776-5c65-4225-9a9c-c1931dbeaf3a","pagecount":"6","content":"Achieving world food security is more complex nowadays. It is not only necessary to pay attention to the availability of food, but also to the way in which it is produced, paying special attention to the impact of the food production systems on climate change and natural resources sustainability.The challenge is to produce a diversified basket of nutritious food in sufficient quantity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing the impact on natural resources. Accomplishing these diverse goals requires an integrated strategy that takes into account increased productivity and the environmental sustainability of food production systems with a focus on efficient use of land, water, fertilizers and energy.Trade offers an effective solution to this challenge, since the endowment of natural resources available for sustainable food production presents large global imbalances. Similarly, the different production systems and the use of production technologies present different environmental impacts depending on the case. Therefore, a fair and transparent international food trading system not only has the potential to ensure global food security but can also reduce the environmental impact of global food systems.The last six month of 2021 were marked by the realization of the Food System Summit, the COP26 and the postponement of the WTO twelfth Ministerial Conference. In these three forums, the inclusion of environmental issues and trade are present. Today, it is important to understand their nexus and trade offs to better design the necessary interventions needed to achieve a sustainable global food system.The climatic conditions and the endowment of natural resources (edaphic conditions of the soil, availability of renewable fresh water, etc.) for the sustainable production of food and other agricultural products are not the same all over the planet. Some regions have clear agroecological advantages that allow the generation of more environmentally sustainable food production systems.First, the carbon endowment in soil is not the same around the globe. Most of the carbon accumulated in the soil is in cold regions, not suitable for agriculture. However, croplands and grasslands account for more than 20 percent of the accumulated carbon in soil (savannas and shrublands accumulated anotherMARCH 2022 25percent) (FAO, 2017). The potential for carbon sequestration in agricultural lands is high, but this depends on cultivation techniques and the use of more sustainable technologies.Second, not only is the distribution of carbon in soil different around the globe, but also the land with potential for sustainable production also differs around the globe. In fact, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa represent 50 percent of the land suitable for sustainable crop production globally. These two regions have 2,100 million hectares with the potential to practice sustainable agriculture out of a total of 4,188 globally (FAO, 2011).Third, the availability of renewable water for agriculture differs around the planet. In some regions, the lack of physical availability and the use of irrigation for agriculture is putting pressure on the availability of water resources for other uses. Again, these two regions have 50 percent of the world's renewable water resources for agriculture. Combined, Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia possess 22100 km2 of water renewable resources. (FAO, 2011).Given the unequal distribution of global renewable water resources, food trade plays a fundamental role in allocating global water resources efficiently, thereby maximizing sustainability. Considering that 70% of the global freshwater withdrawals is destined for irrigation (FAO, 2017), food imports can respond to the pressures of the agri-food systems of some countries on their water resources.The virtual water trade 1 associated with food is composed of the quantity of water utilized for the production of the crops exchanged on the global market. Evidence shows that approximately 39% of VW volumes are exported from countries with higher indices of water scarcity than the one of the destination countries (Vallino et al, 2021).Lastly, the use of production technologies that reduce environmental impact vary widely throughout the world. Most of current world crop production is conducted under production systems which are not environmentally friendly. During the last decades, increases in production and productivity in most regions have been based on the use of high amounts of fuels and fertilizers that have deteriorated the natural resources and are contributing excessively to global warming.Only some regions in the world have managed to increase productivity through sustainable production systems through a sustainable intensification strategy, which is associated with no-till systems, soil covers, crop rotations, precision farming; improved seeds; new chemical molecules in agrochemicals; integrated plague control; intensive use of information and communication technology; satellite-image support; logistic innovations like silo bags; post-harvest management; precision nutrition; integration of pastures with forestry for extensive livestock production and others.The use of conservation technologies can do a lot to improve the environmental sustainability of food systems. For example, the no-till strategy reduces soil erosion, increases carbon sequestration, improves rainwater storage in the soil and maximizes productivity, while reducing oil consumption and GHG emissions. Less than 10 percent of total world crop production is under the \"no-till management strategy\", and only five countries (United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Australia) account for 92 percent of the total (FAO, 2011).Therefore, given these differences in the endowment of resources and in the use of conservation technologies, food trade can generate improvements in the global indicators of sustainability of agri-food systems.However, efforts to tackle food security, natural resources sustainability and global warming should not be limited exclusively to trade: it is necessary to revise all the production systems conducted in the main producing countries to a \"sustainable intensification strategy\", that promotes production growth while preserving natural resources and reducing the greenhouse gases emissions (GHGE) per unit produced.Achieving a reduction in global emissions is an immediate necessity. This applies to all sectors, and agriculture does not escape these demands. Between 1994 and 2014, agricultural emissions grew 16 percent (measured in MtCO 2 eq.), while emissions from Land-Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) fell 18 percent during the same period. Based on this performance, the share of agriculture in global GHG emissions fell from 13.2 percent in 1994 to 10.49 percent in 2014, with a continuing downward trend (Elverdin, 2018). 2 It should be highlighted that, even in a context of an increase in the world food production of about 65 percent between 1994 and 2014, 3 agriculture and LUCF increased their GHG emissions by only 0.11 percent during the period. This shows great improvements in agricultural productivity and in the use of 2The share of Land-Used Changes and Forestry (LUCF) dropped from 11.2% in 1994 to 6.3% in 2014, albeit with some acceleration of emissions in the last five years.more environmentally sustainable production systems (emissions by the agricultural sector, measured individually, increased 15.8 percent in the same period).However, efficiency in emissions mitigation in the agricultural sector is associated with the use of more sustainable production techniques and technologies. Unfortunately, the impact is not the same in all countries.For example, MERCOSUR countries have been substantially reducing carbon emissions in relation to gross agricultural product, showing a remarkable improvement in production efficiency in terms of emissions as shown in Figure 2 (Viglizzo, 2021). Given the differences in the environmental impacts of food systems around the planet, any proposal should utilize a global approach, not limited to what happens in the food production value chains within a country or a region, but also taking into consideration that the trading system is crucial to respond to the challenge of global sustainability.It is clear the endowment of natural resources is not equitable between countries and regions. Agroclimatic conditions also differ and create greater (or lesser) natural conditions for sustainable food production.At the same time, the use of technological packages and agri-food production systems also varies around the globe. Many of this variation in technological packages are associated with agroecological and edaphic soil conditions. Additionally, there are disparities in production techniques and in access to technology that threaten the global sustainability of agri-food systems.Given these conditions, it is necessary to seek comprehensive solutions to reduce the pressure on natural resources and provide a prompt response to climate change. Promoting the adoption of more efficient production systems globally is necessary. Greater sustainability cannot be dissociated from the need to increase the global supply of nutritious food for a growing population. In this sense, \"sustainable intensification\" seems to be the appropriate answer.However, given the disparities in the endowment of resources available for food production and the current and future national imbalances in food supply and demand between regions, trade plays an essential role in responding to this challenge. Food trade, with the implementation of the right local policies to properly address natural resources management (e.g. forest protection laws), is an efficient way to give greater sustainability to global food production.A fair and transparent international food trading system not only has the potential to ensure global food security but can also reduce the environmental impact of global food systems.","tokenCount":"1465"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9145457399.json b/data/part_1/9145457399.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f933cd9ea70e34a5d84f32e912eaffaf3f371b1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9145457399.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bf6bd12432340d0c0b51a8469d6f2fdf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b89c60d4-1bbe-47fb-ad7f-67b97945c069/retrieve","id":"-592120815"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ac7537a1-3948-45b9-96d2-75aeafcb83fd","pagecount":"25","content":"• This study shows that in Kenya climate variability is associated with higher conflict risks. Decreased rainfall is linked to more frequent violent conflicts through an increase in the percentage of stunting children, with each unit increase in below-average rainfall anomalies associated with an 8% increase in foreseen violent conflicts per grid as mediated by malnutrition. • More specifically, below-average rainfall anomalies computed over 12 months prior to the households' interviews are associated with an 18.8 percentage point increase in the households with at least one stunted child. Moreover, malnutrition contributes to an increase in violent conflicts, with a one percentage point increase in malnourished households associated to a 0.4% increase in average foreseen violent conflicts.• Below-average rainfall anomalies computed over 12 months do not directly affect conflict risks, but only indirectly through malnutrition, implying that, when considering long-term periods, nutrition insecurity may become a dominant channel mediating the climate-conflict relationship in Kenya. • Findings also suggest that climate variability, when considering shorter time periods, is likely to have a significant direct effect on conflict risks through channels other than malnutrition.Kenya, recognized as one of the most vulnerable African countries to climate change impacts, faces significant challenges from extreme weather events and shifting climatic patterns (World Bank Group, 2020). These include heavy rainfall, heatwaves, dry spells, and droughts, which have severe consequences for the country's crop and livestock systems, as well as for income, employment, and food production across the entire population (Government of Kenya, 2018).These shifting climatic patterns have a profound impact on natural resource availability, leading to food insecurity and malnutrition (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018). Droughts and heavy rainfall increase the risk of soil erosion, crop water logging, and water-borne diseases, posing challenges to land availability, and nutrition security, particularly among the most vulnerable groups, such as young children (World Bank Group, 2020;Wainwright et al., 2021;USAID, 2019). Inadequate health services, poor hygiene, lack of knowledge about proper feeding practices and extreme poverty levels further exacerbate disease susceptibility and malnutrition (Rarieya & Fortun, 2010). Pastoral communities in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) are among the most affected, particularly in marginalized cross-border agricultural areas, where 3.1 million people experienced food insecurity in early 2022 (FEWS NET et al., 2022). Factors such as below-average rainy seasons, decreased crop and livestock production, localized conflicts, and high food prices further worsened their food and nutrition insecurity levels (IPC, 2022).Kenya's vulnerability to climatic stressors is further compounded by socio-political tensions, including pre-and post-electoral violence, weakened administration and governance systems, and inadequate land management regulations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018; Rarieya & Fortun, 2010). Cross-border conflicts, particularly in the Northeast counties such as Garissa, Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit, and Isiolo, have escalated due to resource competition, livestock raiding, refugee crises, small-arm proliferation, and poverty (Chome, 2016).Addressing the complex interplay between climate change and conflict dynamics in Kenya requires multifaceted approaches that take into account all the different sociopolitical and environmental dimensions. To explore these relationships, especially the one linking climate variability, malnutrition, and conflict risks, we use a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the direct and indirect linkages between the variables involved.Climate variability in Kenya is captured using negative rainfall anomalies from TerraClimate. The anomalies have been estimated by subtracting the long-term monthly mean from the monthly climate data and dividing the result by the long-term standard deviation (Helman et al., 2020;Maystadt et al., 2014). The main variable of interest takes the absolute value for the anomalies with negative deviations and sets the positive anomalies to 0. A negative anomaly implies that rainfall is less abundant than the historical average, whereas a positive anomaly indicates the opposite 1 . The preferred model specification includes twelve-month anomalies. 2The dependent variable for Kenya is a count variable based on the average number of foreseen violent conflicts per grid experienced by Kenyan households within approximately 50 kilometers from their geographical location. Foreseen violent conflict is defined as the average number of violent events registered three to nine months after the DHS interview3. The foreseen violent conflict variable specifically accounts for Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) violent and armed events such as violence against civilians, battles, explosions, and remote violence.Child stunting is used as a proxy for food security and malnutrition extracted from Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The presence of stunted children in the household is calculated using the height-for-age z-score (HAZ<-2) to assess stunted growth, also known as chronic malnutrition. Stunting is considered one of the most accurate indicators of children's wellbeing as well as a valid parameter for capturing social inequalities (de Onis & Branca, 2016).Stunted growth is indeed thought to be the result of a combination of poor nutrition and suboptimal health conditions, which can increase morbidity and mortality in children, having a devastating impact on their future health (Ibid.). Climate change, along with these factors, is increasingly recognized as a contributor (Hasegawa et al., 2015;Llyod et al., 2011;Cooper et al., 2019). Additional malnutrition indicators, like wasting and underweight, are also tested.Moreover, other food security indicators are tested in addition to malnutrition. WFP average wholesale maize prices KES/KG are included to assess whether and how they are impacted by climate change, as well as how they can contribute to an increase in the risk of violent conflict. Maize prices are associated with DHS clusters based on the proximity of food markets and capture the average maize price per KG in Kenyan schillings at the grid level. Food prices are measures of access to food and thus are good indicators for capturing rising food stress (Grace et al., 2014). This is particularly true in Kenya, where maize is one of the most common and least expensive staple crops, and rising maize prices are having an increasing impact on the country's droughtaffected marginalized agricultural areas (FAO, 2022). By eroding real incomes, this trend is widely acknowledged to have the potential to reduce the opportunity cost of people engaging in violent activities as well as civil violent conflict.Table 1 in the Annex presents important information about the main variables examined. The data shows that households with stunted children make up 36% of the sample, highlighting a significant nutritional issue. In comparison, underweight and wasted children represent approximately 20% and 10% of the sample, respectively. These statistics are consistent with the findings of the USAID Kenya Nutrition Profile 2018, which highlights that stunting continues to be a significant problem. Furthermore, the table reveals that 73% of the sample comprises households that own livestock, indicating a dominant presence of pastoral or agro-pastoral communities.For a comprehensive understanding of the database construction and methodology, please refer to the work by Belli et al. (2023).We employ the Structural Equation Model (SEM) to identify: (i) the indirect effect that links climate to conflict through malnutrition, and (ii) the residual effect that links climate to conflict through any other channel that is not correlated with nutrition insecurity. To test these effects, we follow Baron & Kenny (1986) and estimate a system of two simultaneous equations, as follows: where \uD835\uDC36 (\uD835\uDC56,[\uD835\uDC5E+1,\uD835\uDC5E+3]) is the average number of violent conflicts at the grid \uD835\uDC56 and quarter-year \uD835\uDC5E level that occurred in Kenya one to three quarters [q+1,q+3] after the DHS interviews; \uD835\uDC47\uD835\uDC34 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61 are the climate anomalies averaged over the n months before the DHS interviews (included), where n varies from 3 to 12 months; \uD835\uDC40 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC5E is the nutrition mediator; \uD835\uDC7F \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC5E is a set of control variables; \uD835\uDF19 \uD835\uDC60 and \uD835\uDF1B \uD835\uDC5E are the location (state) and time (quarter-year) fixed effects, to respectively control for unobserved time-invariant state heterogeneity, as well as temporal changes, and common shocks in a given quarter; \uD835\uDEFF \uD835\uDC56 are the random effects at grid level employed to capture systematic unobserved heterogeneity at grid level through a random intercept term. Lastly, the error term is \uD835\uDF00 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61,\uD835\uDC5E is clustered at the grid level. For more information, please refer to the work by Belli et al.(2023).In the above system of equations, the indirect effect is captured by \uD835\uDF37 \uD835\uDFCF * \uD835\uDF41 \uD835\uDFD0 and the residual effect is given by \uD835\uDF41 \uD835\uDFCF . The specific variables employed as climatic indicators, food security and nutrition mediators, and conflict variables are described above.Table 2 in the Annex presents the main results of the analysis. Climate variability in Kenya has been found to have a strong and significant relationship with child stunting, with a one-unit increase in 3 to 12-months below-average rainfall anomalies associated with a significant increase of 5 to 19 percentage points in the Kenyan households with at least one stunted child 4 . Rainfall failures and shortfalls have exacerbated nutrition insecurity by interfering with agricultural and livestock production (Grace et al., 2012;Grace et al., 2022). In addition, scholars have also emphasized how various socio-economic factors such as poverty, dietary diversity, feeding and caregiving practices, access to adequate sanitation, disease, and politics and governance (KNBS, 2018;Dayton, 2016;Grace et al., 2012) can all play an important role in these dynamics. Human health is indeed perceived not only as a function of environmental stressors but also of human society (Grace et al., 2012). Recent studies have shown that in countries where the average income of the poorest is low and food is less affordable, country-level stunting is likely to worsen due to climate change impacts (Lloyd et al., 2018).Furthermore, malnutrition has been found to contribute to an increase in violent conflicts across the different time periods considered for below-average rainfall anomalies (Pinstrup-Andersen & Shimokawa, 2008). Our study reports that a 1 percentage point increase in the share of malnourished households with at least one stunting child results in a 0.4% increase in the average number of foreseen violent conflicts. Additionally, climate-induced stunting is linked to more frequent violent conflicts, indirectly mediated by decreased rainfall (WFP USA, 2017). Thus, every unit increase in below-average rainfall anomalies generates an average of 8 percent increase in foreseen violent conflicts (Table 2). These findings are consistent with the current understanding of the topic, which holds that food insecurity and malnourishment, combined with poverty and a lack of economic opportunities, can drive people and communities to act in desperation and engage in violent activities or confrontations, usually over scarce natural resources (Koren & Bagozzi, 2016). However, disentangling the direct and indirect effects, climate-induced stunting affects conflict only when twelve and six-month below-average rainfall anomalies are considered 5 .The study also found that below-average rainfall anomalies computed over 12 months do not directly affect conflict risks but influence them only through malnutrition, namely stunting. Even if it is important to investigate other context-specific dynamics and variables beyond food and nutrition insecurity, in the long term, malnutrition seems to be a predominant mediator in the climate-conflict relationship.Some controls are also reported as significant (Table 2). Urban residency, employment, and characteristics of households' heads exhibit a negative and significant relationship with malnutrition. A higher proportion of urban households is associated with a lower prevalence of malnourished households, indicating that urban areas have a lower likelihood of experiencing chronic malnutrition compared to rural areas. Additionally, an increase in the proportion of households with both men and women engaged in various economic activities is linked to a decrease in the share of households with at least one stunted child. This trend holds for households with a higher proportion of working-age heads as well. At the same time, when looking at violent conflicts as a dependent variable, employment and ongoing violent conflicts are positive and significant. This suggests that a growing share of households with men and women working in different economic activities can increase the frequency of violent confrontations. These results can be explained considering that ACLED conflicts in Kenya usually cluster in densely populated areas such as western counties, or urban and peri-urban areas in the most remote counties.The study examined other malnutrition indicators, such as wasting and underweight (Tables 3-4).Findings show that twelve-month below-average rainfall anomalies have a significant impact on increasing nutritional insecurity, particularly when considering underweight. This suggests that prolonged drought conditions can affect various forms of child malnutrition, ranging from chronic to acute malnourishment. Looking at the effects of malnutrition on violent conflicts, the findings are not consistent across all malnutrition indicators tested. The percentages of wasting and underweight do not appear to contribute, either directly or indirectly, to rising levels of violence.This can be explained by first looking at Kenya's malnutrition rates. According to USAID (2018), stunting is the most common form of malnutrition affecting Kenyan children (26%), while underweight and wasting are less common (11% and 4%, respectively). Second, child stunting is a chronic form of malnutrition that is highly defined by rising poverty rates. Given the links between stunting and long-term deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, stunted growth may be more likely to channel into increasing conflict risks than other indicators that may emerge as a result of recent shocks (like wasting).When testing different climatic anomalies (Tables 5-6), such as above-average maximum temperature and above-average rainfall, the effects on child stunting were found to be not significant. Decreasing precipitation levels were identified as more important than other measures of climatic variability in determining children's nutritional status in Kenya.The study also explored the impact of climate variability on maize prices as a proxy for food and nutrition insecurity (Table 7). We found that a one-unit increase in six-month below-average rainfall anomalies 6 can increase the average wholesale maize price KES/Kg by 61%. Results demonstrate that below-average rainfall anomalies, particularly captured by six-month periods associated with rainy seasons, can significantly increase maize prices by undermining agricultural productivity. Prolonged drought conditions over multiple wet seasons had a stronger impact on food prices, while short-term effects (three-month anomalies) were not significant, indicating that prolonged droughts have a more significant influence on food prices. At the same time, the model shows that rising maize prices, as well as a maize price increase caused by climate anomalies, can increase the frequency of violent conflict in Kenya (Table 7). First, a 1% increase in average wholesale maize prices results in a 0.23% increase in the occurrence of violent conflict. Second, every unit increase in below-average rainfall anomalies increases the frequency of violent conflict by 0.14% as mediated by prices.In conclusion, this study reveals a strong and significant association between climate variability and child stunting in Kenya. Below-average rainfall anomalies are linked to a substantial increase in the prevalence of stunted children within households. The study further demonstrates that malnutrition contributes to an escalation in violent conflicts, with climate-induced stunting indirectly mediating this relationship through decreased rainfall. These findings align with the understanding that food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty, and limited economic opportunities, exacerbated by climatic changes, can drive communities to engage in violent activities, particularly in the pursuit of scarce natural resources. Notably, climate variability, mainly when considering long time periods (twelve months anomalies) does not directly affect conflict risks but exerts its influence through socio-economic pathways, specifically malnutrition. Further exploration of context-specific dynamics and variables beyond food and nutrition insecurity is crucial to enhance our understanding of the climate-conflict nexus in Kenya. Simultaneously, policies and interventions addressing food and nutrition insecurity are critical to preventing escalating conflict risks that threaten peace.    ","tokenCount":"2519"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9158688419.json b/data/part_1/9158688419.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4109a5ca24ede78da4d20eec91079a7df3218885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9158688419.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec8250cae465682fdb935eed938d8b62","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/59f14913-6f88-42f7-9713-e3ae2970cabe/retrieve","id":"-1361483689"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cec325ac-295e-4dcc-b87f-2f7665647ec0","pagecount":"2","content":"Akka haala guddina isaatti, sesbanian dheerina cm 50-75 tti waggaa tti si'a 3-8 tti in haamama. Sesbanian erga dhaabamee ji'a 3-4 keessatti haamamuu in danda'a. Garaagarummaa torban 8 gidduutti yoo haamame oomishi isaa guddaa ta'a.Kaloo kan biraa caalaa sesbanian dafee hundee horata. Waggaatti hektaara tokkicha irraa oomisha toonii 20 eeggachuun in danda'ama. Qabiyyeen pirootiinii kaloo kanaa %25 dha.Oomishi sanyii hanga t 1-2/ha ta'uu in danda'a. Sanyiin kun ilbiisatti guddisee saaxilamuu in danda'a.Biqiltuun kun biyyoo foyyeessuu/gabbisuuf in fayyada. Baallii fi dammeetiin sesbania pirootiinii hedduu qabu; garaa beeladaa keessatti dafanii daakamu. Sesbanian akka kaloottis beeladoota biratti jaallatamaa dha.For further information, contact: Fodder Adoption Project fodderadoption.wordpress.com Forage Diversity Project International Livestock Research Institute, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Email: a.duncan@cgiar.org or j.hanson@cgiar.org Information leaflet on livestock feeds and feeding technologies for small-scale farmers developed through collaboration between ILRI and its partners June 2010","tokenCount":"141"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9159375652.json b/data/part_1/9159375652.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..28f2d66172a1022f466e812e81701a82ed50d29d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9159375652.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d9d8201753da76a1ac631c53d06e9d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/372bc67c-8e8b-495d-9f73-02c598e59553/retrieve","id":"460532795"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"12ad6177-81db-45fe-9ace-5b6e52bdc509","pagecount":"4","content":"Using the stakeholder participatory prioritization exercise of CCAFS and experiences for climate-smart villages, 7 provincial governments of Nepal have made climate investment plans to scale up climate-smart agriculture and have started allocating budget for its implementation• 601 -Nepal's Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Pledged to Establish 200 Climate-Smart Villages (https://tinyurl.com/2r34rx2f)• 73 -Two state governments in Nepal (State 5 and Gandaki) have so far made an allocation of 700+ million NPR investments for scaling climate-smart villages (https://tinyurl.com/2o63te6s) The key CGIAR innovations are the climate-smart village approach and the stakeholder prioritisation framework used in the Climate Smart Village (CSV) approach. The funding from CGIAR-CCAFS played a crucial role in generating initial evidence together with local partners. Seeing the initial success the acceptance and adoption of the CSV approach have come from provincial as well as the federal governments. The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document of Nepal also highlights the adoption of the CSV approach. CCAFS-South Asia also regularly engaged with scientists and researchers, policymakers at national and sub-national levels, investment partners, development institutions, farmers, and political leaders to inform Climate-Smart Village project activities, outputs and use in climate change adaptation policies at national, sub-national and local levels. Communication and engagement at the level of stakeholders played a major role in scaling up/out of CGIAR-CCAFS's Climate-Smart Village approach in Nepal (Reference 1). Unfortunately, because of Covid related restrictions in the last two years, its validation and implementation plans could not be fully operationalized. However, despite this, the program has resulted in state governments already allocating 5.7 million USD equivalent investments. The federal government (Ministry of Forest and Environment) has developed Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Implementation plan where they have targeted to promote over 200 Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs), 500 climate-smart farms and 500,000 improved cattle shed by 2030 (Reference 2). Gandaki Province is successfully implementing the Chief Minister Climate-Smart Model Village Program across the province to scale up the CSV approach initiated by CCAFS (Reference 3).","tokenCount":"322"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9196678734.json b/data/part_1/9196678734.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..237d6f96650399a7c6790764b17eb3edf0eaa8ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9196678734.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0214dedb4d8909f549bcbf23b8d7bbed","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/28a453c3-e76d-49de-b4ee-b21783b072e9/retrieve","id":"-1705190346"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"989f25f2-4b0e-4fd5-9996-8617d25cdfda","pagecount":"6","content":"An urgent challenge for Africa is to enhance the capacity of the rural poor to innovate in the face of rapidly changing conditions. The new paradigm of integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) is an effective mode for accomplishing this end. It features a broad research agenda that addresses a chain of interactions, from natural resource management (NRM) to production systems, markets, and policies. Using this approach, a programme called Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) is helping communities in eastern and southern Africa bolster food security and raise incomes through more competitive agriculture. ERI is a partnership of national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and CIAT, working together with rural communities. ERI aims to strengthen social organisation and entrepreneurial skills in rural communities, encouraging farmers to produce what they can market rather than market what they produce. The programme works toward this goal by enhancing the ability of rural communities to conduct research that links technology development to market opportunities and to improved management of soils and other natural resources. In their research communities draw on scientific expertise as well as farmers' own knowledge.As farmers experiment and learn, communities create a collective capacity for innovation.improving the management of soil and other natural resources. We hypothesise that increased income from markets, in addition to enhancing farmers' wellbeing, will provide them with stronger incentives to adopt new technologies and invest in better NRM.The ERI approach is based on four key concepts:1. A resource-to-consumption conceptual framework. As indicated in Figure 1, the framework features two-way linkages between community assets (natural, human, social, physical, and financial) and production-to-consumption aspects, which include post-harvest handling, processing, marketing, and household consumption. It thus extends the commodity chain to include NRM, specifically linking integrated soil and nutrient management to market opportunities.In deciding what to produce, rural people face difficult decisions about allocating scarce household resources. ERI's approach helps them achieve an appropriate balance between activities that increase household food security and those that generate income through market-oriented production.Natural Social Human Physical FinancialFood IncomeFigure 1. The resource-to-consumption framework.a market culture at the community level. The ERI approach involves taking the following steps with communities and partner organisations (Figure 2):1. Engage appropriate R&D partners and reach agreements on methods, sites, and the roles and responsibilities of each partner and community in managing interventions.Figure 2: Key steps for enabling rural innovation.2. Conduct a participatory diagnosis of factors such as community assets, finances, current income opportunities, potential options, access to services, skills, degree of cooperation, access to new technologies, and organisational structures. The diagnosis also provides an opportunity to create a shared vision of the community's future, to explore development options, and to develop collectively an action plan for change.3. Form farmer and market research groups. These groups should participate actively in selecting, testing, and evaluating marketing strategies and technology options. They should also make decisions about experimentation and about the information needed to develop viable business options and improve NRM.4. Conduct participatory analysis to identify market opportunities for competitive products that will increase farm income and employment.5. Prioritise opportunities and select agroenterprise options based on social differences, including gender and wealth.6. With farmer research groups, plan and implement experiments on options for developing agro-enterprises and bolstering food security.7. Give the community and R&D organisations feedback on results and identify research questions related to rural innovation.8. Establish participatory monitoring and evaluation systems in communities and with service providers to strengthen learning and the capacity for self-reflection, and to encourage documentation of experiences. 9. Scale up the ERI experience through farmer organisations and R&D agencies at the local, national, and regional levels.10. Strengthen access to information for decisionmaking at every stage of the process, through formal facilitation mechanisms and diverse communications media.Developing a core of professionals, including scientists and development partners, is crucial for enabling rural innovation and achieving impact on a large scale. ERI applies a group mentoring approach to capacity development, which we refer to as a \"learning alliance.\"This approach uses experiential learning methods to form interdisciplinary, multi-institutional teams, build new skills and knowledge, develop action plans, and The approach was developed specifically to facilitate processes of institutional change and capacity building, and to accelerate the uptake of concepts, methods, and technologies aimed at making smallholder production more competitive. The approach is based on four key principles:1. Training materials need to be adapted to different client groups.2. Different learning mechanisms should be used with diverse groups of partners. These include rural women, extension agents, NGO managers, and national and international researchers.3. Each situation and community is different.The ERI approach cannot, therefore, be used as a simple blueprint, although its principles can be applied across sites.Partners thus need to ensure that the main elements of ERI are in place to enhance the prospects of success.Successful innovations result from strong interactions and knowledge flows within networks of stakeholders. Effective local partnerships between researchers, extension workers, NGOs, and rural communities are central to the success of ERI. Partners are selected not only for their interest in the approach, but also on the basis of an institutional assessment that covers their working relationships with local communities, objectives, and potential to achieve large-scale impact.Gender, equity, and women's empowerment are central concerns at all stages of the ERI approach. Proactive strategies and gendersensitive facilitation skills are used to build the capacity of both men and women to identify and evaluate a diverse range of market opportunities, and to experiment with a range of technologies for crop and soil fertility management. Our strategy is to encourage the active participation of men and women in project activities, while creating gender awareness at the community level through the use of interactive adult learning methods. With the ERI approach, participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) tools are applied to support self-reflection and continuous learning in communities and projects. Community-based PM&E systems support and enhance group processes, improve local decision-making, and enhance participation. These systems also enable communities to develop indicators Women's empowerment is a central concern at all stages of the ERI approach.The Nyabyumba Farmers' Group of Kabale District, Uganda, was formed in 1998, with 40 members. The Group, supported by Africare (an international NGO), focused on producing improved potatoes from clean seed provided by the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).In 2000, the Nyabyumba Group formed a farmer field school to improve their technical skills in potato production and increase yields. In 2003, equipped with the necessary skills for producing highquality potatoes in large quantities, the group decided to increase their commercial sale and requested support from Africare, NARO, the Regional Potato and Sweetpotato Improvement Network in Eastern and Central Africa (PRAPACE), and CIAT.Through this consortium of partners, the Nyabyumba Group received training in identifying and analysing market opportunities and developing a viable business plan for the potato enterprise. From the market study, the group identified Nandos, a fast-food restaurant based in Kampala, and local wholesale markets, also in Kampala.The Group set up a series of committees to manage, plan, and execute their production and marketing processes. To provide a constant supply, the farmers set up a staggered planting system to ensure that as much as 5-10 tonnes of potatoes were available each month, from which they then selected the best quality tubers to send to the Kampala markets. To date, the Group has supplied more than 76 tonnes of potatoes to Nandos and a similar amount of lesser quality tubers to wholesale markets.The Group has been receiving a steady income and now has savings of nearly 1 million Ugandan shillings (US$600). These funds are being used to build a store and buy irrigation equipment to expand the business. The Group's success is based on (1) long-term support from a consortium of research and development partners, (2) increased technical skills in potato production and marketing, and (3) collective marketing.for measuring change, collect and analyse data, and decide how to use results.Communities can use PM&E systems to hold R&D institutions accountable through communication, feedback, and community involvement in project monitoring. Within projects PM&E has been applied to strengthen institutional learning and to enhance stakeholder participation. Building effective PM&E systems in communities and projects ensures that lessons are documented and shared.Pilot learning sites are needed to test and adjust methods, and to develop skills and confidence. To reach larger numbers of people, however, a scaling-up strategy must be mapped out from the start with carefully selected partners. This involves (1) encouraging lateral movement of the approach and lessons learned from pilot sites to other farmer groups and communities in the area, for example, through farmer visits;(2) institutionalising the ERI approach within initial partner organisations, and building the capacity of new partners to apply the approach; and (3) influencing policy makers within the government, NARES, and NGOs to support ERI initiatives.To create knowledge and approaches that are applicable across national boundaries, the ERI Programme conducts research on the innovation process. Through this research we extract lessons learned from experiences across pilot sites, and we gain a clearer understanding of principles and guidelines As an aid to scaling-up the ERI approach, a set of training materials are being developed that includes manuals, guides, supporting documentation, and case studies. As these materials are completed, they will be made available on the ERI Web site (www.ciat.cgiar.org/africa/eri).The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is a not-for-profit organisation that conducts socially and environmentally progressive research aimed at reducing hunger and poverty and preserving natural resources in developing countries.CIAT is one of 15 food and environmental research centres working towards these goals around the world in partnership with farmers, scientists and policy makers. The centres are funded mainly by the 58 countries, private foundations and international organisations that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).www.ciat.cgiar.org","tokenCount":"1620"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9203225855.json b/data/part_1/9203225855.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..af0286352677fd52eb6245e80c06f087b3ff06c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9203225855.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fb997d0c5c5e0e99d32e9e2885005354","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b0485b42-3ae7-4976-82d1-151bebf86a9c/retrieve","id":"-943720372"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"06e6f1b3-5983-4b1b-a605-178d44fb00d8","pagecount":"38","content":"ender relations shape identities, norms, rules, and responsibilities for women and men, and mediate access to, use, and management of water resources, as well as ownership, tenure, and user rights to land and forests (and related infrastructure, services, technologies innovations and interventions). Natural resource management (NRM) interventions thus have important implications for women's labor, time, decision-making, and transformational gains.In the current context of fluid economic and political changes, together with changes to climate, the gendered dynamics of natural resource use, allocation, and management are also evolving. There are rapid shifts in livelihoods, mobility, and migration for women and men, as well as differing vulnerabilities and capacities for resilience in climate change processes and emergencies. Gender in its intersections with class, race, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, and other dimensions of difference determines who gains and who loses \"in the rapid restructuring of economies, ecologies, cultures and polities from global to local levels\" (Rocheleau et al. 1996, 3). These intersecting inequalities point to the complex and dynamic character of spaces of assumed common interest, such as \"the community\" and \"households,\" as well as to the plurality in interests, needs, vulnerabilities, and agency of diverse groups of women and men (Elmhirst 2015).The upcoming decade of 2021-2030 is dedicated globally to restoring the ecosystem: \"to scale up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems as a means to fight the climate crisis and enhance food security, water supply and biodiversity.\" 1 The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicate a broad policy consensus among development actors that the ecological resilience of the planet is not disassociated from people's well-being.This narrative is mirrored in several other international agreements and conventions, for example the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the International Labour Organization Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries and more recently the Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure of Lands, Fisheries, and Forests.These declarations and guidelines all draw some attention to equality and inclusion-and call on nation states to ensure more equal access to natural resources. Since the first United Nations Summit dedicated to the environment (1972), which marked a turning point in the development of international environmental policies, 2 there has also been progress in articulating the links between gender and who engages, benefits, or is excluded from processes of natural resource governance and management. While this is a hard-won gain, we discuss below the enormity of tasks that still remain in ensuring inclusive natural resource governance.This chapter tackles the question: How has NRM research for development (R4D) contributed to gender equality? In addressing this, the converse question inevitably surfaces: What impacts has gender theory and discourse had on natural resource management? However, the former is the main focusdrawing on an extensive review of natural resource-related research.The first section looks at how and why gender came to matter in the management and governance of natural resources. It offers an analytical positioning for the chapter and explores the confluence of several bodies of work that have informed the gendered dynamics of natural resources, from political ecology analyses of nature-society intersections, to the political economy of environmental agendas and mandates, to feminist analyses of environmental change processes. Together, these insights help explain the connection between the two questions posed above.The following three sections each provide an in-depth analysis of how innovative thinking and action on natural resources-forests, water, and land, in particular-was crucial vis-à-vis impact on gender equality. These three natural resources have shared as well as distinct characterizing features. Forests are geographically and also administratively contained, and land is a fixed asset, with easy-to-define dimensions of ownership. Water, on the other hand, is fluid and dynamic because it is inherently mobile and transitory (Meinzen-Dick et al. 1997, 1307). Analyzing the gendered nature of the management, governance, and rights to these natural resources makes for an interesting comparative analysis.Approaches to NRM and governance and recognition of agriculture-environment intersections have grown in promising directions, providing opportunities to address gender equality and inclusion. However, we need to critically reflect: Are we doing enough? Are complex and intersectional gendered inequalities in rapidly changing social, political, economic, and ecological contexts understood and addressed? This is a pressing concern, especially given the peripheral mention of gender in the upcoming Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which aims to \"prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide\" (Elias et al. forthcoming). Gender and the environment (or natural resources) still tend to be treated as distinct and parallel agendas across R4D institutions, with simplistic understandings of \"nature\" as an \"economic resource\" and \"gender\" as being mostly \"about women.\" This explains why gender power imbalances persist in the economics and politics of NRM.In the conclusion of this chapter, we critique progress on gender equality in relation to natural resources, and highlight challenges for transformative change, as well as the potential for forward-looking research agendas.Overlapping processes laid the foundation for unpacking gender dimensions of natural resources, bringing attention to \"gender and other forms of social difference as relational, dynamic\" and making links \"between environment, human and nonhuman others across scales and spaces\" (Clement et al. 2019a, 5). Breakthroughs included seminal research on plural (von Benda-Beckmann 1979, von Benda-Beckmann et al. 1997, 1998), customary usufructuary rights (Fortmann andBruce 1988, Fortmann 1990) to land, water, and other natural resources; and polycentric governance, collective action, and management of the \"commons\" (Ostrom 1990(Ostrom -2007)). These trajectories are discussed at length elsewhere. Here, we discuss the cross-fertilization of these ideas with the CGIAR System-wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) (see Meinzen-Dick 2017, Meinzen-Dick et al. 1997).Another strategic milestone was the critical review of irrigation design, infrastructure, management, and outcomes in South Asia. This body of work helped shape water policy discourse from \"management\" to \"governance\" of water, consequently demonstrating the gendered nature of access to, use of, and decision-making in irrigation systems and services (van Koppen and Mahmud 1995, Zwarteveen 1997, Meinzen-Dick and Zwarteveen 1998). Similar socio-political interventions helped change the focus from forests as commercial timber harvesting sites, to forests as environmental resources to be conserved as collectively owned and used natural resources (Agrawal and Ostrom 2001, Otsuka and Place 2001, Colfer and Capistrano 2005, Larson et al. 2010). Attention to the voice and agency of marginalized communities and rural women in forest management significantly highlighted the gendered dynamics of forest access and use (Jackson 1995, Leach et al. 1999, Leach 2007, Mwangi and Dohrn 2008, Mwangi et al. 2009, Mwangi et al. 2011, Colfer 2011).Work is emerging around intersectional inequalities in the case of forests and of water (Locke et al. 2017, Clement and Karki 2018, Colfer et al. 2018, van Koppen 2018, Clement et al. 2019a, Elias et al. forthcoming). This research, influenced by political ecology scholarship, highlights environmental politics: how environmental changes and challenges are not mere by-products of biophysical changes to the ecosystem but rather outcomes of economic, political, and social interests and mandates (Haraway 1991). The distinctions between the terms \"environment,\" \"nature,\" and \"natural resources,\" and how we use them, have long been recognized as neither casual nor without implications (Harvey 1993). In other words, in the framing of NRM, \"values entered [and significantly impacted] processes of scientific reasoning\" (Lapniewska 2016, 143).After the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit, natural resources were defined as \"natural assets\" (raw materials) that can be subject to economic production or consumption. 3 The intent to manage nature (land, water, forests) as a resource with ascribed economic values and implications is an outcome of deep-rooted economic and political agendas (Harvey 1993). This narrative, an outcome of a \"partial perspective,\" is precisely what Haraway (1988) said needed to be critically reviewed as the \"Science Question in Feminism.\" Policies, strategies and interventions to manage water (as well as land and forests) have historically been guided primarily by managerial and economic perspectives (see Mosse 1997Mosse , 2002Mosse , 2008)). It is only relatively recently that nature-society interrelations-that is to say, how ecosystem functioning is an outcome of multiple uses, knowledge/s, and social relations between diverse groups of people-have questioned natural resource mandates, innovations, investments, and technologies.A focus on gender equality and inclusion helps connect environment and natural resources, as well as agriculture and food security agendas. CGIAR-the largest agricultural innovation network globally and framed as \"food commodity-centric\"-started more than two decades ago to unpack agriculture-environment intersections and reverse environmental degradation. This shift to addressing the agriculture-environment interface was critical in understanding how addressing poverty and vulnerability required looking beyond agriculture to understand diverse rural livelihoods that rely on a wider subset of natural resources.Recent reforms in CGIAR have been shaped by growing critiques of a narrow focus on developing land and water resources to intensify production of certain commodity crops (Rockström et al. 2017). The links between poverty, hunger, and intensification have long been questioned outside CGIAR but not necessarily with a focus on gender (Sen 1980, Chappell 2018). It is in this context that we draw attention to CGIAR research analyzing women's empowerment through sectoral lenses: agriculture and women's empowerment (IFPRI 2012), women and irrigation management (IWMI 2017), or women-forest relations (CIFOR 2016).In sum, diverse bodies of work across multiple disciplines and diverse trajectories enabled a shift in focus within CGIAR agriculture-natural resources. These change processes brought women's agency and empowerment-more than simply engagement and participation-into the frame. In analyzing these trajectories, we point to how innovations geared toward improving the functionality of natural resource interventions have contributed to broader goals of gender equality and inclusivity-despite this not always being deliberate. These trajectories have been influenced by feminist analyses of masculinities, patriarchy, and exclusions in natural resource policies and interventions.This chapter does not aim to delve into the scope and breadth of these feminist analyses of NRM and governance processes; however, to very broadly set the context here, ecofeminists put \"women\" on the NRM agenda and pointed out that women's inherent wisdom and commitment to nature had been overlooked in the patriarchal and neoliberal design of natural resource appropriation and accumulation. Engineered by male-dominated institutions and mandates, such an approach to natural resources was identified as detrimental to the well-being of both women and nature (Mies and Shiva 1993). Feminist political ecologists have critiqued the singular focus on women-pointing out that gender was but one construct of difference, divide, and inequality in the politics and economics of natural resource access, use, and governance (Agarwal 1995, Rocheleau et al. 1996, Jackson 1993), and that tying nature to women was often detrimental to them (Leach 2007). Feminist researchers argued that the focus should be on reversing structural inequalities and not just on \"fixing women\" (Mies 1986, Jackson 1993, Kabeer 1999, Leach 2007).Recent echoes of this argument by mainstream institutions (WEF 2020) are promising but we should not overlook the differences between academic, activist, and R4D scholarship on the topic of natural resources and gender. In other words, the synergies have not always been deliberate and this is precisely why a depoliticization of gender-power dimensions of commons management persists (Clement et al. 2019a). The point we make here, is that, without the essential cross-fertilization of thinking between natural resource interventions and feminist analyses, there would have been little progress on gender and natural resources. Gender researchers within the CGIAR system have represented a conduit, facilitating these critical intersections. However, much remains to be done.The first shift in natural resource thinking we highlighted above concerns Ostrom's work on environmental governance. Post-World War II, structural adjustment interventions promoted nationalization and a corresponding state accumulation of natural resources across the global South (Bromley and Cernea 1989). In this context, Ostrom powerfully argued that water bodies, forests, and pastoral grounds were essentially common pool resources and thereby best governed and managed by plural institutional arrangements of and by local communities (Ostrom et al. 1994). Unsurprisingly, these ideas met considerable resistance, as collective property and actions or collectives themselves were perceived as obstacles to efficient development of natural resources (de Soto 1986(de Soto , 2001).Ostrom's work, which demonstrated how the flow and benefits derived through plural politico-legal arrangements and collective action improved efficient and equitable management of, access to, use of, and control over these resources was useful in influencing NRM policy and practice. The importance of plural rights and norms, asset endowments, and politico-legal arrangements of natural resource governance made a strong business case for going beyond technocratic approaches to natural resources. 4 This entailed a pivotal discursive from state management to more shared governance of natural resources (McCulloch et al. 1998, Lemos andAgrawal 2006).Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development Framework provided strategic entry points for CGIAR researchers, working under the broader umbrella of CAPRi, to examine the gendered dynamics of natural resources, including collective institutional arrangements of NRM (Knox and Meinzen-Dick 2001, Meinzen-Dick et al. 2011, 2014, Doss and Meinzen-Dick 2015). Ostrom's work had far-reaching outcomes-as water, forests and large areas of land in the global South were (and are still) managed under plural management and politico-legal arrangements (Zwarteveen and Meinzen-Dick 2001, Mwangi et al. 2011, Wily 2011). Most prominent of these was the setting-up of community-based natural resource user groups and associations, which expanded the scope to consider gender in decision-making spaces (Lemos and Agrawal 2006).Through the various overlaps discussed above, gender is today an important variable in the structure and functions of NRM collectives; and \"good governance\" of natural resources has come to be associated with principles of inclusion, participation, transparency, and accountability-as opposed to the earlier focus on effectiveness and efficiency. These shifts in inclusive natural resource governance have also been widely acknowledged as essential to achieving co-determining social, economic, and environmental outcomes (UNDP 1997, FAO 2012, Davis et al. 2013, Arts 2014).However, while Ostrom's work transformed the dynamics of natural resources from technocratic management interventions to more \"polycentric governance, collective action and commons management… creating legitimate space and authority for grassroots structures to self-govern the commons\" it blurred the heterogeneity and inequality that characterize \"commons,\" \"collectives,\" and \"communities\" (Clement et al. 2019a, 2). This, too, is changing slowly but surely as we write, with increasing attention to rights, recognition, power relationships, and norms that shape gender inequalities (Badstue et al. 2018). The focus on gender within CGIAR itself today concerns not only who does what in terms of roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels but equally how gender dynamics are at play in natural resource institutional arrangements and policy directives, as well as natural resource investments and innovations (CGIAR GENDER Platform 2020). The latter especially are key strategic gains.The second discursive shift we discussed above related to how rights to natural resources are defined by institutional arrangements-who are rights-holders, the scope of rights, and the types of responsibilities and benefits one may obtain from resources (Agrawal andOstrom 2001, Schlager andOstrom 1992). Rights to land, forest, and water resources are plural and diverse-and determined by informal more than the formal rules and norms that authorize the exercise of these rights (Schlager andOstrom 1992, Meinzen-Dick et al. 1997). Rules are institutional arrangements that sustain claims and legitimize rights at different levels. For instance, the nation-state can establish formal rules through legal regulations on land, water, and forests while communities or resource user associations may have local rules concerning who gets to use which resources, and how (Zwarteveen andMeinzen-Dick 2001, Meinzen-Dick andMwangi 2009). These rules, however, may or may not be recognized by statutory or customary law, and different sets of regulations often overlap, and can even be contradictory. In other words, what is the rule is not always the outcome, in practice.A groundbreaking body of work showed how plural and often co-existing politico-legal frameworks and arrangements shape social differentiation; it opened new windows to analyzing gendered disparities in relation to natural resources (von Benda Beckman and von Benda Beckman 2009;von Benda Beckman et al. 2006). Research along these lines showed how nature-society relations are continuously subject to negotiation and contestation, often marginalizing certain groups of resource users in diverse local contexts (Perreault 2014, Roth et al. 2015). Power struggles, conflicts over resources, and exclusions from access to and use of natural resources are essentially about the recognition of rights-and issues related to agency or voice often have an impact on this.Legal pluralism, which explains the relevance of why and how of the co-existence of multiple legal arrangements in legitimizing claims over resources, proved crucial to understanding the social dynamics of NRM (Meinzen-Dick and Pradhan, 2002). CAPRi work on natural resource research showed how women's rights or their exclusions from rights to resources are entangled with their ability to participate in, and their agency to inform, natural resource decision-making (see Were et al. 2008). This work continues to analyze, inform, and monitor inclusivity in natural resource interventions with particular attention to women's individual and collective agency.There is a great deal of discussion and differing opinions on whether and to what extent clear, secure rights to natural resources are key in addressing poverty and food insecurity (Agrawal 1994, Larson et al. 2010, Sunderland et al. 2014, Meinzen-Dick 2017, Bose et al. 2017). On the one hand, nuanced studies on natural resource governance and institutional arrangements show that understanding people's choices, their ability to benefit and decide on how to use these, and the outcomes derived from these resources is as key to understanding and achieving women's empowerment as is securing formal rights (Kabeer 1999). This argument is supported by analyses that show that rights to natural resources are not dependent only on formal recognition but also embedded in social relations that legitimate claims over resources (von Benda-Beckman and von Benda-Beckman 2000). Our intent here is not to further analyze these arguments but to simply state that the focus on natural resource governance, institutional arrangements for NRM, and rights to natural resources have all been central to analyzing the socio-political dynamics of natural resources, and thereby to drawing attention to gendered inequalities, as well as intersectional vulnerabilities-nested in kinship, community, and other social relationships (Li 1998, Kabeer 2005, 2017).The issues discussed above, coupled with feminist analyses of natural resource policies, institutions, and outcomes, significantly influence the current transformative agenda of \"fixing the system\" and not just attempting to \"add in women, and stir.\" This shifts the focus from \"only\" monitoring the extent to which women benefit from natural resource access, to critically analyzing issues of power, politics, and difference, including participation and representation in natural resource governance institutions, policies, and narratives at scale. This was precisely the feminist agenda for change in development policy and practice (Mies 1986).The focus on natural resource governance, institutions, and rights has thus been a game-changer not just for women but equally for diverse marginalized groups. In the next sections, we discuss in more detail how these conceptual shifts took root in forest, land, and water policies, strategies, and interventions. In doing so, we discuss how institutional arrangements unfolded at different levels, from policy decisions to institutional arrangements of planning, implementation, and practice at the community and household levels-and how all of these were in turn informed, as well as reiterated, by gendered norms, behaviors, opportunities, challenges, choices, and redefining values.The diverse value of services and goods that forest ecosystems provide to both humans and non-humans, as well as the relational value of these ecosystems to local communities, were largely invisible in early programs on forest management (Scott 1998). Management approaches that focused on the economic returns from timber commercialization were promoted by colonial administrations, and even facilitated by scientific forestry institutions. Additionally, agricultural intensification facilitated by the mechanization and modernization of agriculture resulted in increasing deforestation (Angelsen and Kaimowitz 1999). These approaches led to rapid and widespread loss and degradation of forests 5 in the global South.In the late 1990s, there was an overwhelming call for alternative solutions, driven by two key arguments. First was the need for a sustainable forest management paradigm that emphasized not commercialization but rather conservation of forest resources (Sayer andPalmer 1994, Noble andDirzo 1997). Second, there was a strong call to involve local people in collaborative governance of forests-enabling different perspectives, plural rights, and shared roles and responsibilities of diverse stakeholders to define forest management (Colfer et al. 2005, Sunderlin et al. 2005, Porter-Bolland et al. 2011, Arts 2014, Seymour et al. 2014). Today, the vast majority of the world's forests are under state custodian ownership, with overlapping customary user rights and tenure regimes. This has been a significant change, even though it needs to be acknowledged that these two legal systems are far from harmonized in most cases (Meinzen-Dick et al. 1997, Agrawal et al. 2014).In the case of forest governance, much more so than for land and water, grassroots initiatives that led to community collectives were significantly impacted by feminist movements. The women-led Kenyan Green Belt movement in sub-Saharan Africa saw the award of a Nobel Peace prize for its proponent, Wangari Maathai. Similarly, in India, the famous Chipko (\"to get stuck to\") movement, where local communities protested and prevented state-led commercial logging by hugging trees, is said to have been essentially led by women-that is, the ecofeminist discourse of women nurturing nature 6 (Shiva 1988). However, as we discussed above, there are feminist critiques of this narrative.The consideration of gender in forest management was significantly influenced by shifts toward collaborative governance of forests, which called for the recognition of the plural rights of forest-dependent communities, including indigenous and customary groups (Agrawal and Ostrom 2000, Larson et al. 2010, Agrawal 2014). As discussions around forest governance policy and practice began to translate to interventions that favored decentralization of authority over large forest areas-and shifting responsibilities from central to local governments-several questions needed answering. Who should manage forest lands and resources? Who should be involved in which activities? Who should have the right to govern forests and who should set the rules for governance (Ribot and Larson 2005, Ribot et al. 2006, García-Ferández et al. 2008)?An analysis of 290 forest user communities in Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia and Mexico highlighted the importance of involving forest-dependent, often marginalized, communities in technical and policy discussions, and called for interventions based on the participation of resource users (Colfer 2011). Several other analyses showed that enabling spaces created for local communities-initiatives that built the skills of both men and women in adopting new technologies, monitoring practices, managing conflict, and enhancing cooperation-were more likely to contribute to sustainable practices and more effective management of forests (Mai et al. 2011, Mwangi et al. 2011, Sun et al. 2011, Seymour et al. 2014, Notess et al. 2018).The importance of clear tenure rights to forests is increasingly an important precondition in the implementation of currently popular interventions related to Payment for Environmental Services (van Noordwijk and Leimona 2010, Blundo-Canto et al. 2018) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD+ (see Duchelle et al. 2017, Sunderlin et al. 2014, 2018). Recent analyses of these interventions both within and outside CGIAR highlight the need to critically review potential impacts of such interventions on diversely unequal local communities, including negative implications for local people's livelihoods and strategies, institutions, and socio-cultural systems (Elias et al. forthcoming). These analyses draw attention to gender power issues in relation to unequal benefit-sharing, food insecurity, introduction of new powerful stakeholders, illegal land acquisition, unfair free prior and informed consent, and the introduction of monoculture plantations (Bayrak and Marafa 2016).In local communities, gender, social status, and membership are significant determinants of who can benefit from acquired forest rights and influence perception around rules, tenure security, and livelihood outcomes (Colfer 2011, Larson et al. 2019a). Having a voice in the management of forest or other common pool resources increases women's recognition in their community (Colfer et al. 2015), although the converse may also be the case-that is, women with more recognition in the community are more likely to have a voice in the management of common pool resources (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2019;Balasubramanya et al. 2019). Additionally, securing tenure rights of forest resources for women can provide security in cases of loss of rights to privately owned assets (land) through death of or separation from their spouse (Quisumbing andOtsuka 2001a, Doss andMeinzen-Dick 2018); enhance their engagement in public processes of negotiation and thereby their selfdetermination (Larson 2010, Larson et al. 2015); and improve their agency in collective rule-making processes.Attention to how reforms are being implemented provides not only the opportunity to address inequalities in resource access and participation in decision-making but also insights on gender equality in general. For instance, in Burkina Faso, forest regulations that prevent grazing in forests and customary rules and regulations around land have resulted in serious constraints for women, minorities, and migrant groups (Coulibaly-Lingani et al. 2009). Alternatively, there are many examples of how formalizing community rights to forests has allowed women to be recognized in communal by-laws, usually by establishing mechanisms for their participation in collective decisions around forest resources (Larson et al. 2019b).For instance, Uganda's Forest Policy ( 2001) is explicit about increasing tenure security for women, encouraging their active participation in decisionmaking, resource management, and benefit-sharing. It also goes a step further in initiatives to promote changes in attitudes and organizational cultures in order to break down gender barriers (Banana et al. 2012). Similarly, in Peru, the National Forest Law and the Law of Subnational Governments adopts equity and social inclusion as important principles-although the guidelines to monitor these changes are missing (Larson et al. 2019b).Social forestry initiatives have thus provided an opportunity to review how collective action in forest management has paved the way to open the institutional spaces for women to engage in forest decision-making processes (Agrawal and Ostrom 2001, Colfer and Capistrano 2005, Colfer et al. 2005, Ribot and Larson 2005, Coleman and Mwangi 2013). The combined outcomes of ecofeminist discourses and grassroots-led forest management interventions have resulted in better understanding and addressing intersecting inequalities.In sum, rethinking forests as communal, shared spaces has been instrumental in reshaping gender equitable rights to forests, and, in some cases, broader gender equality gains for women. Rights have proved important preconditions for effective management and inclusive governance-that is, collective action and institutional arrangements, processes of rule-making, provision and allocation of resources, monitoring, enforcement of compliance, and decision-making arrangements at scale.Yet caution is needed in integrating gender into these studies and interventions. Gender stereotyping-that men are the public face for decisions relating to forests management-is pervasive and entrenched among official, non-governmental, and private actors (Nightingale 2011, Elmhirst et al. 2017). This is also evident in the way extension services prioritize men and address limitations. It calls for reviewing the way training, capacity-building, and extension services are being organized to ensure different needs are being addressed at the local level (Nightingale 2006). Similarly, there has long been feminist critique of positioning women as formidable environmental stewards (Jackson 1995, Leach 2007) and a call for more nuanced analyses of women's relations with forests (Gururani 2002).From water management to water governance: the outcomes for gender equality and women's empowermentIn 2000, the Global Water Partnership referred to the world water crisis as an issue of governance. This did not imply that the availability of accessible water was not an issue or that the technical and financial aspects of service delivery were unimportant. Rather, it emphasized that, the distribution and allocation of water and related services reflected distribution and allocation of power in society. Therefore, addressing water problems required paying attention to issues of power, politics, and inequality (UNDP and SIWI 2005, 3). This shift in focus from water development or management to water governance significantly paved the way for looking at issues of gender inequality and empowerment in relation to water.Here, we discuss how CGIAR research informed the shift to water governance from the planning and implementing of water development interventions informed (only) by economic or engineering perspectives. Looking more critically at the complexity of water-society interrelations at scale, in other words, \"Who gets what water, when and how, and who has (what kinds of) rights to water and related services, and their benefits\" (UNDP and SIWI 2005, 3) has contributed to furthering gender inequality. We also look at how scholarship on legal pluralism has helped raise attention to gender inequalities.Research on the legal pluralism of water surfaced the incoherence between what is said-that is, outlined in policies, formal laws, and institutional approaches vis-à-vis what actually happens in practice-how diverse local communities accessed, managed, and governed water through pluralistically informal ways. This scholarship helped address the ambiguity on the rights to water in state-led irrigation interventions, and challenged the narrative that managing irrigation systems effectively and ensuring agricultural productivity required intervention by engineers to \"modernize\" water development-its capture, transport, allocation, and delivery to farmers (Roth et al. 2015). The framework for interdisciplinary, legal anthropological approaches made the \"legal pluralism\" around everyday water access, use, and management visible. In time, it became very evident that a co-existence and interaction between multiple legal orders such as state, customary, religious, project, and local laws were what determined and influenced claims to water rights and the use of water locally (Meinzen-Dick and Pradhan 2002).In parallel, research at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) demonstrated different dimensions of the gendered dynamics of water's legal plurality. Research in Bangladesh showed how groups of poor, landless women managed water boreholes to sell water to other water users (van Koppen and Mahmud 1995). While the source of water might determine its accessibility, ownership does not disable water use or its asset value. Those driven by sheer need and poverty, like poor landless women in Bangladesh, had found ways to access and use common pool water resources. Similarly, research in Nepal pointed out that the exclusion of women from irrigation water user associations was not necessarily negative for the women (Zwarteveen and Neupane 1995). The excluded women actually informally accessed (as \"free-riders\") the irrigation water, which they used for multiple purposes, without having to abide by the financial obligations of association membership (ibid).In sum, water's fluidity and legal plurality make negotiations on access, use and control dynamic, as well as spatially and temporally contextual (Bruns and Meinzen-Dick 2000). The growing recognition that water access and use is somewhat disassociated from ascribed formal rights not only helped reshape water management and governance in development policy and practice but also set the stage to focus on gender. More recent research on the plurality of interconnected land and water rights in sub-Saharan Africa has helped define approaches that reconcile customary law and formal water regulations in new tools for equitable water allocation (van Koppen et al. 2017;van Koppen and Schreiner, 2019). This work proposes combining customary rights with formal permits to prioritize water access and use in South Africa and Zimbabwe to ensure water to vulnerable groups.Even if inherently fluid, water has also been managed and governed historically and traditionally through centralized approaches (Joshi 2015). Colonial governments appropriated traditional and autonomous governance structures for water resources, for centralized management and control to meet economic agendas across the global South (Agarwal and Narain 1997, Shiva 1988, van Koppen and Schreiner 2018). These changes-especially evident in relation to water for irrigation and urban, industrial use-have persisted post-colonization, and are exacerbated by neocolonial liberal agendas of growth and development involving powerful outside actors and forces (Verzijl et al. 2017). Water policy reforms in the 1980s transferred management from government agencies to community-based governance initiatives, and widely promoted the creation of water users' associations as alternatives to centralized management.Research led by IWMI in the 1990s assessed the viability and functionality of these shifts, and showed how these interventions were shaped by policies that did not \"explicitly consider the possibility that women are water users.\" They also proved to be based on assumptions that \"all users are equally able to pay for water\" and consequently, \"impact studies\" did not assess the links between inclusivity and functionality (Zwarteveen 1998, 301). Such assumptions were challenged by the earlier mentioned studies paying attention to women's irrigation work, and the exclusion of women from irrigation management led to women becoming 'free-riders'-practical realities which, among other things, affected irrigation management performance (Zwarteveen and Neupane 1995). Further research pointed out that, while women might informally access and use (irrigation) water, their lack of formal rights and the mediation of their access to water through relationships with male rights-holders-husbands, fathers, or other male relatives-could reinforce structural gendered inequalities (van Koppen 1990). More importantly, initiatives to involve women in water management did not address complex intersectional inequalities (Joshi 2011).Research conducted by IWMI in Sri Lanka in the 1990s also showed the mismatch between interlinked domestic/productive water needs of rural communities and sectorally planned and designed water services (Bakker et al. 1999). Because women's roles and responsibilities vis-à-vis water span domestic and productive sectors, the mismatch has implications especially for women's health, nutrition, and gendered social relations (van Koppen and Hussain 2007, van Koppen and Smits 2010, van Koppen et al. 2017, Mitra and Rao 2019). The alternative, Multiple Use Water Services (MUS), is now an established policy intervention and strategy for water resource planning in several countries and inspires further innovations. For example, in remote, rural Nepal, MUS-informed micro-hydropower projects meet electricity, irrigation, and domestic water supply needs of local communities, targeting lower-caste Dalit households and poor, marginalized women (Shah 2016).CGIAR researchers have analyzed how policy shifts and financial investments in irrigation system rehabilitation and decentralization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to find that, \"Rights to irrigation land and water were rarely vested in poor men, and even less in poor women\" (van Koppen 1998, 361). This work on irrigation and gender is continuing in interesting ways in evolving socio-political and socioeconomic landscapes (Balasubramanya 2019).Unresolved water-gender-poverty links have impacts on health, nutrition, and food security for women and marginalized communities and households (Hussain and Giordano 2003). For the poor, including women, to be counted in and gain from these interventions, it was necessary to include poverty and gendered barriers to land and water rights early on (van Koppen 1998, 361). However, this was easier said than done. \"Entrenched masculinities\" in the water sector are a key reason for persistent gender water inequalities, and lack of attention to these issues in water planning, implementation, innovations, and investments. That water management organizations in most countries are almost entirely staffed by men is an outcome of deep-rooted social inequalities, and is the reason water infrastructure and technology are not geared to address gendered patterns of water roles, rights, and responsibilities (Zwarteveen 1994(Zwarteveen , 2008)). Gender equality outcomes are not achieved merely by focusing on women, without addressing how increasing their participation in water management, implementation practices, institutional arrangements, and policy-and decision-making is nested in cultures of masculinity (Shrestha et al. 2019).CGIAR-led research that critically engaged with the dynamics of water access, use, and control, especially in relation to irrigation, has had strategic implications for gender equality. The focus on multiple-use water resources has not only exposed the limitations of sectoral water interventions but also, and more importantly, the fact that these limitations have by far the greatest impacts on the poorest and most marginalized of women. On another note, the focus on institutional arrangements beyond the community-looking into masculine structures and cultures of organizations implementing irrigation projects-has led to an emerging body of work on masculinities in relation to water. Going forward, water is key to achieving the SDGs of sustainable agriculture intensification and ecosystem restoration. The work described in this section challenges interventions to seriously reconsider narrow, sectoral technocratic framings and perspectives, calling for more nuanced understandings of the complexities of gender-power inequalities informed by feminist perspectives (Joshi et al. 2018).Unlike forests and water, which are essentially common pool resources, land is a fixed asset and can be classified as public, private, common, and communal property (Bromley 1992). The formalization of private land rights makes land less likely to be a common pool resource. However, as we discuss below, this is not always the case.Nonetheless, much of the discussion on land in terms of agriculture is in terms of formal ownership. In this section we look critically at narratives and interventions related to women's formal ownership of land-identifying that these interventions do not simplistically lead to equitable outcomes, increased empowerment, or improved agency. This is especially so because gender and the intersection of other social identities-for example race and ethnicitydetermine entrenched inequalities, which are deeply nested in institutional structures and cultures and therefore governance systems (Joshi et al. 2018, van Koppen et al. 2017).Historically, restructuring ownership of and control over land, together with agricultural production, was a key driver of the colonial agenda. In India, for example, colonialism set in place land reforms, new revenue systems, and processes of taxation that irreversibly altered its agrarian economy and society-in the process also creating different types of disparities along ethnicity, caste, and religious lines (Baviskar 2005, Datar 2017). However, in India and elsewhere, land dispossessions through accumulation and appropriation of \"common lands\"-land not demarcated as private-have been widespread and raised challenging questions. The colonial appropriation of land resulted in unequal rights to and use of land in both the global North and the global South, and led to large-scale displacement and marginalization of local people (Frankema 2010).North America and sub-Saharan Africa in particular saw wide-scale dispossession of customary, traditional rights to land and the forced displacement of indigenous communities. In areas where feudal and patriarchal histories had already established disparities in ownership and control of land, colonialism further entrenched exclusionary systems. In Africa, the severity of land scarcity is linked to the colonial appropriation of land, promotion of commercial agriculture, and urban sprawl (Whitehead and Tsikata 2003). All these impacts were also distinctly gendered. While this is not discussed in great detail, there is evidence that colonialism resulted in irreversible changes to more equitable traditional practices and systems of inheritance that recognized women's land ownership and use (Akinola 2018).Land tenure thus refers to larger bundles of highly dynamic land rights, including rights not only to land but also to trees, irrigated lands, water, and woodlands. 7 CGIAR research in the early 2000s on the evolution of land tenure institutions, in Ghana, Indonesia, Uganda, Nepal, Viet Nam, Japan, and Malawi, provided evidence on factors that enabled an understanding of the impacts that changes in land tenure institutions have on NRM (Otsuka and Place 2001). CGIAR research has also paid attention to the gendered impacts of changes in customary land systems. In Indonesia and Ghana, land inheritance systems evolved from matrilineal systems to systems in which both daughters and sons inherited (Quisumbing and Otsuka 2001a).These studies show that gender-land interrelations are complex and contextual. In Indonesia, women's ability to improve their incomes was impacted by their educational levels, regardless of their inheritance of land (Quisumbing and Otsuka 2001a). Nonetheless, these insights do not dilute concerns-that, regardless of the contextual nature and meaning of land ownership, globally women not only own disproportionately less land in comparison with men (15:85 percent) but also own smaller and less productive pieces of land. Women are also reported to be less able to capitalize on other gains from the ownership of this fixed and vital asset; for example, they have disproportionately less access to agriculture extension services, institutions, credit, and value chains. 8  In 1994, Bina Agarwal's research in India observed the lack of access to, ownership of, and control over property as the most critical influence on the gender gap, along with how it affects women's ability to improve well-being, social status, and empowerment. This work was key in shaping development interventions to secure women´s rights to land, through both individual and joint land titling initiatives. Later analyses of statutory and customary land tenure systems demonstrated that it was not only women in Asia who were disadvantaged in their access to and control of land but also women in Africa and Latin America (Lastarria-Cornhiel 1997, Deere et al. 2012, Kieran et al. 2015).A broad consensus has since then emerged that strengthening women's property rights over land and resources is important for both poverty reduction and equitable growth (Kieran et al. 2015). To address the need for accurate and reliable statistics to monitor these rights, gender researchers from the Policy, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) program developed an analytical framework to assess landownership, in order to expand the statistical content of the Gender and Land Rights Database. They used five indicators: distribution of agricultural holders by sex; agricultural owners by sex; incidence of male and female agricultural landowners; distribution of agricultural land area owned by sex; and distribution of agricultural land value owned by sex.The application of this framework in different ecological and socio-political contexts is beginning to show large and complex gender gaps in landownership across countries (Doss et al. 2015). While there is wide variation across countries and regions in women and men's ownership of land, the value of land owned by women is disproportionately lower than that owned by men or that owned jointly (ibid.). In Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Viet Nam, and Timor-Leste, gender gaps in land ownership exist, and they vary, especially across the diversity of land tenure systems (Kieran et al. 2015(Kieran et al. , 2017)).In general, the ownership of cultivated land, including irrigated land, evolving toward more individualized, mainly private forms of property, has had different gendered impacts. A growing body of work is showing that increasing women's ownership of land is unlikely to narrow and reverse the gender gap or deliver empowerment of women (Jackson 2003). First, with women less likely to be listed on ownership documents, and more likely to hold fewer land titles in cases where joint ownership is promoted, a simplistic focus on \"title\" to land misses much of the reality regarding land tenure, access, and use (Doss et al. 2013, 77). Second, transferring ownership of land to women on its own does not increase productivity if other structural constraints, such as access to and use of other inputs, technology, and credit, are not addressed (Quisumbing et al. 2001b). Landless poor women, who rely on agricultural labor as a means of livelihood, are more likely to benefit from improved wage labor and work conditions as opposed to land ownership per se, especially because a small parcel of land by itself is adequate neither for subsistence nor for productive agriculture (Whitehead and Kabeer 2001).The allocation of separate land titles for women has also been found to be problematic in patriarchal contexts, as this can result in a loss of social capital for women (Rao 2010). A case study from Kenya showed how formalization of customary rights, through individual titling, resulted in new forms of exclusion, because plural, multiple claims to different types of rights were reduced to singular rights (Meinzen-Dick and Mwangi 2009).Many other questions remain unanswered around uncultivated lands or \"resources\" that are dangerously ambiguous-sometimes under communal property regimes as \"commons\" but more often as land (with resources) to be developed. These were lands that were historically appropriated and colonized to form plantations of tea, coffee, cotton, sugarcane, etc. (Ely 1918). This trend of appropriation of ambiguously co-owned lands continues and is precariously linked to a so-called \"development\" of natural resources, or what is known as \"carbon colonialism\" (Lyons and Westoby 2014). This is precisely why Ahlers and Zwarteveen (2009, 409) question the agenda for \"individualization and privatization of resource rights as offering possibilities for confronting gender inequalities\" vis-à-vis \"challenging the individualization, marketization and consumer/client focus of the neo-liberal paradigm.\"Recent research in Africa explores the challenges of implementing reforms to ensure gender equality in land governance, including access to services (Ghebru 2019). This work highlights the need for analyses that consider how gender, in conjunction with age, ethnicity, religion, and other factors, affect both individual and joint land ownership, as well as how these intersecting social categories, in turn, influence access to government services, relate to empowerment, and are linked to domestic violence. The pro-WEAI tool (see Chapter 9, this volume) is an attempt to capture some of these dimensions (Malapit et al. 2019). This tool includes 12 indicators that measure three types of agency: intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with) in relation to a wide subset of resources (including land). As such, it captures important dimensions of the diversified assets and livelihoods of women, either individually or collectively.However, standardizations in measures of empowerment can be challenging (see Chapter 9, this volume). Data from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tajikistan, using WEAI illustrate further questions that need to be considered in relation to gender and land (Clement et. al. 2019b). For example, how can dynamic and evolving changes be assessed? How to assess local meanings and values of gendered norms, roles, and identities? How to analyze structural barriers at scale that keep both marginalized women and men unequal and food-insecure (ibid.)?In sum, \"the land question\" in relation to gender, while strategic to women's empowerment, is complicated, and calls for nuanced and transformative analytical frameworks that go well beyond looking at what happens within households and communities (Jackson 2003). In other words, these analyses will need to \"articulate with wider political-economic structures and historical dynamics [as well as how these are] characterized by new ways of capitalist expansion\" into natural resource regimes (Ahlers and Zwarteveen 2009, 409).CGIAR-led research on NRM has been instrumental in demonstrating the limitations of managerial approaches that see local communities as being composed of rational individuals who are driven by economic necessities and compulsions; they focus on income or livelihoods. Research that distinguishes management from governance of natural resources has helped capture the plurality of rights and the lived experience of diverse local communities. It underlined the fact that NRM landscapes are multifunctional spaces that cannot easily be compartmentalized into binary categories such as public/ private, rich/poor, biophysical/social, material/intangible, human/nonhuman, or masculine/feminine. Today, it is no longer possible, at least within CGIAR, to conceive natural resource initiatives without attention to gender equality: a significant achievement.We now stand at a pivotal time in development history where there is increasing consensus to \"fix the system\" rather than \"fix women\" (WEF 2020). It is now well acknowledged that securing access rights for women and calling on their participation in NRM does not automatically translate into improved agency and material, political, and social gains to women-that is, to women's empowerment. Research on forest tenure reforms, water user associations, and land reforms shows that, while changes in laws and provisions may provide the basis for more equitable access, use, and management, they do not always guarantee the ability to exercise these rights. Research increasingly shows that natural resource policies and reforms are nested in colonial legal systems and in institutional structures and cultures and driven by neoliberal agendas (Ahlers and Zwarteveen 2009;Joshi et al. 2018, van Koppen andSchriener 2018, Elias et. al. forthcoming).While it is important to continue to analyze gender and land ownership, tenure, and outcomes (Doss et. al. 2015) and, in general, the efficacy of natural resource interventions and investments (Banana et al. 2012, Colfer et al. 2018, Shrestha et al. 2019), the writing is on the wall: we need to go well beyond popular women-environment narratives. Rights and access to, and control over, natural resources have the greatest impact on the poorest and most marginalized women and men: simply \"adding in women and stirring\" will not achieve the SDG of reaching the furthest behind (Harding 1995). As we move ahead with much more political agendas of transformative change, it is important to acknowledge that we need to push for approaches that will tackle root causes and the systemic and structural barriers to gender inequality (Hegde et al. 2017, World Fish 2018, Elias et al. forthcoming).Addressing inequalities across scale, incorporating intersectional approaches, and addressing systemic barriers to gender inequality are all integral to pushing the boundaries toward a next generation of gender and natural resource research. Natural resource governance must speak to and address interconnected and structural dynamics of gender inequality in rapidly changing social, political, and environmental contexts. Nuance as to these complexities needs to continue to inform the study of property rights and collective action, and of formal and informal networks, including social arrangements. When the ground reality is complex, solutions can hardly afford to be simplistic.This requires a more conscious and deliberate synergy between natural resource R4D agendas and feminist approaches. While instrumental in sharpening the focus on the meanings of gender equality and inclusion, feminist approaches have, until recently, exerted influence only from outside of the R4D arena. Our analysis shows that research findings, data, frameworks, and/or guidelines alone do not easily make a dent in the entrenched cultures, practices, and values of policy and practice related to NRM and agricultural R4D. Masculinities persist not only in social relations but equally in institutions at scale, and in the very definition of what constitutes science (Haraway 1988). And, intersectional inequalities are scalar and deeply entrenched too (Joshi 2011) The challenge of tackling change in the structures and cultures of organizations engaging in R4D remains, alongside resistance to feminist approaches. That said, several CGIAR centers and research programs now focus on analyzing ways to \"transform\" complex, dynamic, and resilient social and gender norms at scale (see Chapter 10, this volume). This is the start to synergizing natural resource R4D agendas and feminist calls for \"re-politicizing\" the power structure and political order of change (Batliwala and Dhanraj 2004) in \"integrating power and politics in the analysis of the commons\" (Clement et al. 2019a, 1). These shifts are aligned with the \"transformative\" implications of the SDG agenda, and with calls to \"fix the system\" rather than just \"fixing women\" by the drivers of the systems themselves (WEF 2020).It is promising that recently published work and work in progress within CGIAR explains why the process of \"integrating\" gender by way of statistical and technocratic solutions that \"tackle only the symptoms\" of inequality is not enough (Arora-Jonsson and Basnett 2018, Elias et al. forthcoming). Ensuring a focus on gender equality is now well embedded in natural resource agendas. This may work to prevent \"gender evaporation,\" whereby gender priorities are lost in the articulation of wider development goals and sectoral interventions, and between the formulation of a promising policy and its implementation. However, without intersectional analyses, gender policies are still likely to be diluted. To address systemic constraints, we must continuously rethink our framing of gender equality and empowerment, and avoid instrumentalist interpretations. This requires mediating the focus from being just on women and binary framings of inequalities between women and men.To conclude, natural resource governance is inherently political. Most contemporary interventions-like Payment for Environmental Services and REDD+-tend to commoditize nature, blur complex social differences and disparities in overtly simplistic narratives of \"local communities,\" and reduce multiple, plural rights and access to natural resources through convenient project framings of \"rational, technical\" institutional arrangements (Rodríguez de Francisco et al. 2013). Feminist scholarship and research asserts that no substantive progress can be claimed unless gender, power, and inclusion are synergistically and systematically incorporated in the design and implementation of natural resource programs and reforms (Sweetman and Ezpeleta 2017, 363). We note with optimism that, given the long and entwined history of gender and natural research within CGIAR organizations, the network is in a good position to rethink politically and strategically how to embrace feminist agendas and \"fix the system.\" First and foremost, this needs to begin by looking inward at our own institutions, research programs, and agendas.  1990 1991-1999 2000-2005 2006-2010 2011-2015 2016-2021 Timeline for references cited a gender-natural resourCes tango: water, land, and forest researCh 245","tokenCount":"8548"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9216293717.json b/data/part_1/9216293717.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..460295f056048d0e584340cc3f1be691d9c33c70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9216293717.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8374d1b2068feb393dde3567fb6b0107","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f26114e3-8d4a-4a56-bba3-947b4d08bd77/retrieve","id":"-676483452"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fa448c75-f3f1-4f7c-9652-eb3ca8690e5e","pagecount":"22","content":"The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). It aims to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management. It comprises five linked projects examining: 1) Learning from the past; 2) developing integrated rainwater management strategies; 3) targeting and scaling out of rainwater management innovations; 4) assessing and anticipating the consequences of innovation in rainwater management systems; and 5) catalyzing platforms for learning, communication and coordination across the projects.The NBDC is implemented by a consortium comprising theEarly 2011, the Nile Basin Development Challenge (Nile BDC) initiated a National Platform on Land and Water Management along with key national players. There was a widespread agreement that a well negotiated national platform can be a relevant mechanism to minimize duplication of efforts and enhance communication between actors and across sectors for improved land and water management in Ethiopia.On 19 December 2011, the second national Platform meeting on Land and Water Management was held at the Addis Ababa campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). About 30 participants representing governmental organizations and ministries, non-governmental organizations and development associations, universities and research organizations came together to talk about the objectives, functions and structure of the national platform, and to identify priority areas and approaches to address them.While National Platform meetings are expected to take place twice a year, the idea is to have thematic working groups develop an action plan around priority areas with several activities throughout the year that will feed back to the national platform meetings. These meetings are also meant to invite other organizations and networks to introduce various initiatives of relevance to each group. After an introductory presentation on the platform itself, the MERET program and RiPPLE presented their experiences linking local practices with national planning.Inspired by the presentations and suggestions made by the steering group of the national platform, five thematic working groups were formed to develop further action:The participants developed draft action plans for each of these groups and identified champions to lead small working groups around each theme from January 2012 onwards.The working groups are expected to identity key issues and challenges, document ongoing experiences and disseminate information that is already available, identify research gaps etc. In addition to a common agenda across the groups, each group may have it own priorities and activities. The Nile BDC will initially support the platform through providing facilities and infrastructure, but over time additional sources will have to be mobilized, hence the importance of building upon existing initiatives.Since the platform intends to become the nationwide forum for information exchange, learning and innovation on land and water management, by linking local experiences to national planning, it is of great importance that organizations and institutes working on land and water management in Ethiopia actively participate and contribute to the working groups and the national platform.To play an active role in role in one of the working groups or to keep informed about the national platform, please contact Tsedey Ayalew (t.ayalew@cgiar.org) or Kees Swaans (k.swaans@cgiar.org).The workshop was opened by Adane Kassa, executive director of Water Action and Chairperson of the steering committee of the National Platform on Land and Water Management of Ethiopia.Adane Kassa referred to the 1 st National Platform Meeting that took place at ILRI campus on the 8 th of April 2011. During that meeting, there was a widespread agreement that a well negotiated national platform can be a mechanism to minimize duplication of efforts and enhance communication between actors and across sectors for improved land and water management in Ethiopia. Following that meeting, a steering committee (SC) of key players was established on the 26 th of July to discuss the overall objectives, functions and structure of the platform (see annex 1). He reminded however that despite its support, the success of the national platform depends on action and the contribution of its members.To take the initial ideas for the national platform further, it was decided to focus the program on the establishment of a framework for action. Besides the presentation of the overall structure for the national platform, and two presentations by the MERET program and RiPPLE, priority areas and approaches to address these featured the agenda (see annex 2).Almost thirty organizations were represented. The group was highly diverse with governmental organizations, NGOs/CBOs, universities, and research organizations represented, covering both implementers and policy makers, working from the local to the national level; still it was striking that there was no representation from the private sector and only a few women were present (see annex 3). This may encourage the organizers, but also the members of the platform to pay more attention to these aspects in the follow up activities.2. The National Platform: objectives, functions and structure Kees Swaans of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) provided a short presentation on the national platform, its function, and structure (view the national platform presentation).During the 1 st National Platform meeting, the following vision was formulated:Ensure a healthy, sustainable, and equitable use and management of natural resources for improved productivity, livelihoods and ecosystem serviThe objectives were: Improve sectoral integration, communication and cross-institutional learning  Create optimal conditions for (demand driven) capacity in research, development, academia and policy development  To improve access to knowledge and resources  Provide an enabling environment for sustainable and equitable value-added production systems and functional market linksTo realize these objectives, various national platform functions were identified during the 1 st national platform meeting and the meeting with the Steering Committee: Information sharing a place for dialogue  Bring experiences together from different sectors  Serving as a knowledge base by documenting experiences, lessons, best practices  Communicate experiences, lessons, best practices to other actors  Link best practices to capacity building through training and education  Improve co-ordination amongst organizations within and across sectors through harmonized approaches  Ensure institutional linkages between local, regional, national level (and flows between them)  that can be tested, replicated, scaled out and up  Create interface between practitioners and policy makers; highlight issues that are important to policy  Serving as stepping stone for the formation of regional platforms and link to other platforms in synergistic way (e.g. SLM platform) Key to carry out the functions is a structure that brings people from different type of organizations, across sectors and at various institutional levels together. The structure for the national platform is presented in figure 1.The national platform consists of a steering committee, represented key players in the field of land and water management from both the governmental and non-governmental organizations, and supported by the Nile Basin Development Challenge. The national platform intends to link local experiences with national planning, and open opportunities to engage with policy makers. While the National Platform meetings are expected to take place twice a year, it is envisioned that the platform leads to the establishment of thematic working groups with several activities throughout the year.To stimulate the discussion on priority areas for the working groups and what those working groups could do to address some of the challenges, the MERET program and RiPPLE were asked to each give a 15-20 minute presentation. MERET was asked for a presentation on the evolution from a WFP-supported food-forwork to an integrated management program, the different triggers of change and how MERET has managed to transfer the management of watersheds from government-led to community-led landscape governance? What were the experiences to connect local action with higher levels, what has been the impact, and what were the key challenges experienced? Ripple was asked for a presentation of their work and approaches used to link local action with higher levels, especially in relation to approaching policy, the methodologies and lessons learned, the types of adjustments made in approaches and gagement on policy, if any.The for decision-seeing is believing integrated watershed management approach and linkages, and synergy-focused partnerships among stakeholders.The program also faces various challenges such as resource limitations for scaling up and out, lack of cash for promoting income-generating activities, absence of impact studies and documentation of best practices, limited exposure to innovative technologies from elsewhere, institutional instability and frequent staff turnover (View the MERET presentation).RiPPLE presented its experiences and lessons working through multi-stakeholder processes in the field of water and sanitation, integrated water resource management and climate learning and practice alliances re interconnected platforms of stakeholders working together to learn, innovate and scale up. LPAs are organized as linked platforms operating from woreda level all the way to national and international level. The main focus is on action research, information and documentation, capacity building and training, and linking policy and practice.The factors influencing the sustainability and success of RiPPLE include: working closely with interested partners who directly benefit from the alliance, institutionalization of activities and approach in governmental organizations, working on key challenges by building on existing initiatives and using experienced process facilitators, ensuring linkages to implementation projects, organizing regular training courses for Training and Vocational Education Centers and other parties. The whole RiPPLE approach has been followed with an eye for ensuring institutional and individual commitment through shared ownership (View the RIPPLE presentation).Inspired by the presentations and suggestions made by the steering group of the national platform, five priority areas were identified for further action:The priority areas form the basis for thematic working groups; as there was no time to discuss approaches and this stage of the process, they were discussed in the next session. The descriptions here form a first impression of the discussion that took place during the workshop. Dr. Tilahun Amede, leader of the Nile BDC, discussed the way forward in plenary. The following action-items were raised: Co-funding. There is a need to convince donors about ideas and initiatives of the platform. Concrete steps to take are to consolidate these ideas and convert them into something sellable. It takes time, but NBDC can develop a generic proposal and ask working group leaders to submit their ideas and feedback, and then share it with members of the platform to submit to donors. Some informal discussions have started but opportunities need to be explored further to find donor support for those opportunities. It is important to ralize that some members of the platform have the .  Institutionalize. The discussions that take place in the platform should go beyond individuals. Each member has to link this discussion with his/her institution; hence participants are asked when they go back to their institutions to give feedback about  Team building. It is important that the working groups build a team around their specific theme. Champions are asked to come back with people with similar ideas etc. and to provide feedback on who they like to build their working group/agenda/proposals with.  Strengthening communication. With the ILRI communication team it should be possible to do a better job in terms of communication and create linkages to ensure that we complement each other, e.g. on the NBDC website. Other suggestions made were to use emails to exchange information and develop thematic work online, put the info together, inform all about how it is working, and possibly extent NBDC Yammer network to the platform.  Thematic working groups. Working groups are expected to develop their own action plans, but at the same time, they need to be in line with each other. Therefore guidelines will be developed and shared with the champions in each group. The exact format for sharing will be communicated in January 2012.  Assess progress and performance. It will be important to think about an M&E system to keep track of changes among members and the platform. This will be followed up by the NBDC.Finally, the workshop was closed by Dr. Betru Nedessa, vice-chair of the steering group of the National Platform. ","tokenCount":"1965"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9217276220.json b/data/part_1/9217276220.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..76349b4bfd0056e3aa693c2496aa5aec1e4188e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9217276220.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df62d1624497103a7acd2af934606188","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ec613812-ebe1-4019-8caa-2a5f78b72450/retrieve","id":"-862363491"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86a31005-9504-4f5f-b0ac-89999c79c4e8","pagecount":"4","content":"• Les petits commerçants en bétail itinérants constituent des acteurs clés dans les pays exportateurs de bétail (le Burkina Faso, le Mali et le Niger) qui achètent généralement cinq à six animaux par voyage directement à la ferme et les conduisent aux marchés à bestiaux frontaliers. Les fonds de roulement représentent une contrainte limitative parce qu'il convient habituellement de payer comptant et en espèces au moment de l'achat.• Le commerce du bétail entre les pays est moins compétitif que le commerce local au sein des pays exportateurs, ce qui entraîne une rente de marché pour les larges exportateurs estimée à 11,9 millions de $US par an pour les exportations de bovins à partir du Burkina Faso et du Mali.• Les frais de transport transfrontalier reviennent deux fois plus cher que les frais de transport et de manutention locaux et ce, en dépit d'une meilleure infrastructure au niveau des autoroutes et des voies ferroviaires transfrontalières.• Les flux du bétail indiquent que les producteurs et les commerçants exploitent les circuits de distribution qu'ils considèrent les plus rentables. Pour les producteurs, les bénéfices sont influencés par la proximité des marchés et la disponibilité d'informations sur les prix du bétail.• La majeure partie du commerce du bétail et les prix les plus élevés se pratiquent pendant les mois d'avril à septembre. Le commerce suit son cours durant le reste de l'année, bien que le nombre et les prix des bovins diminuent pendant la période entre octobre et mars.• Les commerçants exportateurs paient une prime pour les zébus castrés et solidement bâtis qui affichent un excellent état physique. La production d'un bétail de cette qualité permettrait de générer 34% supplémentaire en viande de boeuf ; ce qui pourrait accroître la valeur du commerce du bétail de 39% (50 millions de $US) par an à partir du même nombre d'animaux.• Un investissement accru dans les programmes d'embouche pourrait servir à combler les pénuries de boeuf saisonnières (d'octobre à avril) et à accroître les rendements du commerce intra-régional.• La mauvaise diffusion des informations sur le marché permet aux commerçants d'imposer les prix, surtout ceux pratiqués à la ferme, ce qui a un effet dissuasif sur l'accroissement de la production du bétail.E n 2000 -01, l'Institut international de recherche sur l'élevage (ILRI 1 ) a réalisé une étude visant à identifier les contraintes économiques, institutionnelles et politiques de la commercialisation transfrontalière du bétail en Afrique de l'Ouest. Cette étude a été effectué dans le cadre de l'étude des politiques économiques du projet financé par CFC intitulé «Amélioration de la commercialisation et du commerce intra-régional du bétail en Afrique de l'Ouest». On a procédé à l'étude de marchés à bestiaux frontaliers -des marchés stratégiquement situés le long de la frontière des pays limitrophes pour faciliter le commerce transfrontalier -au Mali (Sikasso) et au Burkina Faso (Bittou et Niangoloko) pour identifier les circuits de distribution du bétail à partir de l'exploitation agricole d'origine jusqu'aux marchés de destination finale dans les pays côtiers de la Côte d'Ivoire, du Ghana et du Nigeria. On s'est également intéressé aux opérateurs économiques et aux flux du bétail au sein de ces circuits ; ainsi qu'aux variations saisonnières et aux facteurs déterminant les prix du bétail. Les conclusions, résumées dans la présente synthèse, indiquent que les producteurs et les opérateurs peuvent faire des bénéfices économiques considérables en augmentant la production de viande et la valeur commerciale du bétail par l'amélioration de l'accès aux crédits et à une meilleure information relative au marché.Les petits producteurs ruraux qui vendent leurs animaux à des commerçants en bétail itinérants directement à la ferme sont au sommet des circuits de distribution du bétail en Afrique de l'Ouest. Les petits producteurs ont parfois recours aux marchés collecteurs -marchés ruraux locaux qui occupent une position centrale et qui desservent des groupes de villages -pour vendre et acheter des animaux destinés à la reproduction ou à l'embouche, ainsi que des animaux de trait (Figure 1). Les commerçants itinérants s'en servent aussi pour vendre du bétail aux commerçants exportateurs ou pour en acheter en vue de le revendre sur les marchés secondaires (frontaliers). Ces derniers forment un point de rassemblement des animaux achetés en amont et destinés à l'exportation, ainsi qu'un lieu d'achat pour les commerçants exportateurs et les agents de marché (collecteurs) qui achètent et revendent aussi des animaux dans un but lucratif. La commercialisation nationale du bétail prend fin à ce stade ; alors que la partie transfrontalière du circuit s'étend jusqu'aux marchés (côtiers) de destination finale en Côte d'Ivoire, au Ghana et au Nigeria.   2) et à Niangoloko, ainsi que 71% des transactions à Sikasso (Williams et al, 2004).Les arrangements commerciaux varient dans toute la région. Par exemple, tous les bovins destinés à l'exportation étaient achetés au marché frontalier de Bittou alors qu'à Sikasso, la plupart des bovins destinés à l'exportation étaient achetés directement à la ferme et sur les marchés collecteurs (Figure 3).Les agriculteurs gagnent plus d'argent en conduisant leurs animaux sur pied vers les marchés frontaliers et préfèrent le faire lorsque leurs exploitations agricoles se trouvent à moins d'une journée de marche de ces marchés, comme dans le cas de Bittou qui enregistre la plus grande proportion de bovins vendus directement par les agriculteurs sur les marchés frontaliers. A Sikasso, les producteurs ont la possibilité de vendre un bovin de 250 kg pour 96.700 FCFA 2 comparé au prix à la ferme de 89.500 FCFA. Le prix moyen à la sortie d'exploitations associé au marché frontalier de Niangoloko était de 83.500 FCFA.Les producteurs font donc plus de bénéfices en traitant directement avec les commerçants exportateurs que lorsque les transactions ont lieu à la ferme (Sikasso et Niangoloko) où les commerçants sont plus susceptibles d'imposer les prix. Si des informations régulières et fiables sur le marché du bétail parvenaient aux exploitations agricoles, les producteurs auraient plus de pouvoir et cela leur permettrait d'accroître leurs revenus.• Le commerce à crédit augmente. Directement à la ferme, le paiement se fait habituellement comptant et en espèces au moment de l'achat. Les commerçants donnent parfois des avances en espèces aux petits producteurs en guise de contrat afin de s'assurer un approvisionnement régulier. Sur le marché frontalier, on accepte généralement une combinaison de paiement en espèces et à crédit. Environ 24% de toutes les transactions étudiées sur les marchés frontaliers étaient à crédit ; 56% utilisant une combinaison de paiement en espèces et à crédit ; et les 20% restants payant en espèces. Cela implique que les fonds de roulement deviennent une contrainte limitative pour les commerçants itinérants qui opèrent principalement à la ferme.• L'infrastructure routière s'améliore, mais les frais de transport reviennent à plus du double. La conduite des animaux sur pied est le mode de transport local le plus répandu en raison d'une infrastructure routière rurale insuffisamment développée. Toutefois, malgré le fait que l'infrastructure routière et ferroviaire s'améliore considérablement pour le transport transfrontalier, le coût moyen de 48 FCFA par kilomètre, pour transférer l'équivalent d'une tonne de viande de boeuf des exploitations agricoles au Burkina Faso de Djefoula jusqu'à Niangoloko, augmentait jusqu'à 172 FCFA par kilomètre entre Niangoloko et Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire). Des transferts locaux similaires de Niéna à Sikasso (Mali) et de Tenkodogo à Bittou (Burkina Faso) coûtaient respectivement 88 FCFA et 40 FCFA; alors que les frais de transport transfrontalier s'élevaient respectivement à 153 FCFA et à 83 FCFA par kilomètre pour aller de Sikasso à Abidjan et de Bittou à Accra. L'augmentation des frais est partiellement due aux frais de documents, aux taxes élevées sur les carburants, et à la taxation routière illégale qu'il faut payer lors de transferts transfrontaliers (Synthèse 3). La conduite des animaux sur pied aussi loin que possible avant l'usage du transport routier ou ferroviaire constitue donc une stratégie commerciale plus rentable; en particulier, parce que le transport par camion dans le passé quand il y a avait moins d'autoroutes et que les camions étaient moins adaptés au transport de bétail était souvent associé 2 Lors de la réduction de cette synthèse, 1 $US = 550 FCFA. à la mortalité, aux ventes forcées et à la perte de poids des animaux (Delgado, 1980). Néanmoins, le recours à la conduite des animaux sur pied est de plus en plus menacé par l'accroissement de la population humaine et associé à l'expansion de l'agriculture qui empiète sur les routes du bétail existantes -routes qui sont spécialement conçues pour faciliter le déplacement des animaux et l'accès à l'eau pour éviter les dégâts causés aux cultures et aux propriétés. En réalité, l'expansion agricole limite aussi les chances de concevoir de nouvelles routes du bétail. Il faut donc établir des politiques qui diminuent les frais transfrontaliers de transport et qui développent de nouvelles routes du bétail tout en protégeant celles qui existent.• La compétitivité s'atténue entre les commerçants en bétail. La concurrence est rude entre les commerçants en bétail sur le marché local. Cependant, les gros commerçants dans la partie transfrontalière du circuit ne subissent que peu de concurrence étant donné le gros investissement de capitaux que cela exige. Les marges de commercialisation pour les commerçants dans la partie nationale du circuit se situaient entre 2,7 à 5,5% du coût final de l'animal ; alors qu'elles oscillaient entre 11,6 et 14,3% dans le circuit transfrontalier (Synthèse 4). Cela se traduit par une rente économique de 6,5 milliards de FCFA par an captée par les larges exportateurs de bétail du Burkina Faso et du Mali. Cela indique que la disponibilité en crédits pour les petits commerçants en bétail pourrait être une précieuse option pour améliorer la performance du marché.Il existe deux périodes de commerce du bétail, à savoir la période de pointe (d'avril à septembre) et la période de creux (d'octobre à mars). Le nombre de transactions et les prix offerts par kilo vivant augmentent tous deux pendant la période de pointe par rapport à la période de creux.L'embouche du bétail pour stimuler l'offre. Les transactions de bovins enregistrées ont atteint leur maximum en août 2000. Les ventes d'animaux étaient environ deux fois plus importantes pendant la période de pointe que pendant la période de creux (Figure 4). En 2000, la viande de boeuf était produite à un prix mondial de 1.900 $US par tonne (Banque mondiale, 2001) et de 2.500 $US et 3.100 $US respectivement pour les marchés américains et européens (Boutonnet et al, 2000). Le système de production de l'Afrique de l'Ouest dépend presque entièrement des pâturages naturels et peut donc produire de la viande de boeuf aux prix mondialement compétitif de 1.500 $US par tonne. L'offre en nourriture animale relativement abondante pendant les saisons des pluies et de récolte coïncident avec une offre plus élevée en animaux pendant la période de vente de pointe ; ce qui indique que le volume du flux des animaux dans les circuits de distribution est davantage influencé par les contraintes de production que par la demande. On peut combler l'insuffisance de l'offre saisonnière en encourageant des stratégies alimentaires et d'embouche visant à stimuler l'offre en animaux destinés à l'exportation pendant la période de creux (sèche).Une forte demande. Même quand l'offre était à son maximum pendant la période de vente de pointe, les prix ne chutaient pas mais continuaient plutôt à augmenter ; ce qui indique une demande forte et soutenue. A Niangoloko et à Bittou, les prix offerts par kilo vivant de bovin étaient respectivement plus élevés de 45 et de 36 FCFA pendant la période de vente de pointe (Tableau 1). Cela s'explique en partie par la prime payée pour des animaux en excellent état physique (Figure 5).Faible diffusion des prix du bétail. L'analyse des prix du bétail hebdomadaires par paires de marchés dans la zone d'étude a confirmé que la diffusion d'informations sur les prix du bétail est insuffisante. La communication d'informations à jour sur les marchés aux acteurs impliqués dans le secteur de l'élevage par le biais de la radio, de la télévision, des journaux ou d'autres moyens constitue une stratégie possible en vue d'améliorer le commerce et la commercialisation du bétail.Pour les 11.419 transactions de bovins enregistrées sur les trois marchés frontaliers qui nous occupent, on a rassemblé les informations sur les caractéristiques biologiques suivantes : l'âge, le sexe, l'état physique et la race. Les résultats montrent que les commerçants exportateurs paient une prime pour les zébus castrés bien bâtis et en excellent état physique. Les prix payés par kilo vivant variaient de 200 FCFA pour des bovins très maigres (197 kg) à 475 FCFA pour des bovins pesant 340 kg en moyenne. Il n'y a que 14% des bovins commercialisés qui étaient en excellent état physique.On estime qu'une hausse de 34% en quantité de viande de boeuf peut être obtenue à partir du même nombre d'animaux, si tous les bovins commercialisés étaient élevés jusqu'au moment d'atteindre un excellent état physique. Etant donnée la prime payée pour des animaux de qualité supérieure, on pourrait obtenir une hausse de 39% de la valeur du commerce du bétail sans pour cela accroître le nombre de bovins commercialisés. Les prix moyens par kilo différaient entre les périodes de pointe et de creux selon un niveau de signification de 0,001% (voir le rapport complet pour plus de détails).Il existe un potentiel considérable permettant d'augmenter la valeur du commerce du bétail dans le corridor central de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. On peut y arriver, en partie, en entreprenant les actions politiques suivantes :• En améliorant la disponibilité en crédit pour les commerçants en bétail afin d'accroître la concurrence et la performance des marchés dans la partie transfrontalière du circuit ;• En protégeant les routes du bétail existantes et en en développant de nouvelles pour leur rôle en tant que réseau efficace de transport du bétail ;• En réduisant les coûts élevés du transport transfrontalier (Synthèse 3) ; • En encourageant les programmes d'embouche pendant la saison sèche, surtout parmi les petits exploitants où ils sont plus rentables et plus susceptibles d'avoir un impact positif général sur le bien-être social ;• En développant plus de marchés secondaires pour offrir plus de choix commerciaux (circuits de distribution) aux producteurs dans un périmètre raisonnable;• En développant un réseau régional de systèmes d'information sur le marché du bétail à travers la restructuration et le renforcement des capacités des systèmes existants ; ainsi qu'en en établissant de nouveaux au sein de marchés à bestiaux frontaliers secondaires qui sont situés à des endroits stratégiques.Par exemple, 523.000 bovins ont été commercialisés dans le corridor central en 2000. S'ils avaient tous été en excellent état physique, on aurait produit 17.000 tonnes supplémentaires de boeuf et la valeur du commerce des bovins serait passée de 150 millions de $US à 208 millions d'$US pour cette année-là.Il faut stimuler l'embouche. De récentes études au Mali montrent que les programmes d'embouche sont rentables avec des taux de coûts-bénéfices de 1,85 et 4,08 pour les opérations d'embouche pour les grandes et petites exploitations (Diarra, 1997). Les programmes d'embouche ont le potentiel de :• Accroître les revenus des producteurs ;• Augmenter la valeur du commerce du bétail ;• Améliorer l'offre en boeuf pendant la période de creux en alimentant les animaux de façon stratégique en cours d'année ;• Améliorer la production afin d'obtenir un surplus exportable et de participer au marché mondial lucratif de la viande rouge tendre (en supposant que l'on satisfasse aux exigences sanitaires et phytosanitaires (SPS) et à la réglementation technique telle que l'emballage et l'étiquetage).Cette publication est issue du rapport final du projet «Amélioration de la commercialisation et du commerce intra-régional du bétail», financé par le Fonds commun pour les produits de base (CFC). Les opinions énoncées dans ce document ne sont toutefois pas nécessairement celles du CFC ou CILSS.   ","tokenCount":"2595"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9222889991.json b/data/part_1/9222889991.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6ad81638e590f867b7a5ecf4944b3703546356d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9222889991.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f970e077649627346efac7affe259900","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3080de77-9b3c-4dad-b82d-f709b28c92a8/retrieve","id":"342616530"},"keywords":["Vietnam","baseline","household survey","livelihoods","agriculture products"],"sieverID":"7c887dfe-eaaa-4030-8e7b-646d9c9b9565","pagecount":"32","content":"The tools and guidelines used for implementation of the household baseline study across all CCAFS sites can be accessed on our website (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/resources/baseline-surveys).Ngo Thi Thanh Truc, PhD. She works at the Department of Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, School of Economics and Business Administration, Can Tho University. She has more than ten years experience in conducting socioeconomic studies. She has works covering rice regions in Mekong Delta, Vietnam and in Central Luzon, Philippines.Alice Joan G. Ferrer, PhD. She is a faculty member of the Divison of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. Her research background is in policy analysis, gender, health policy and economics, and fishery social science.Bui Tan Yen, PhD. He is the Science Officer of CCAFS program in Southeast Asia, based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He has 20 years experience in agronomy, Geographic Information System, and land use planning.   The objective of the household baseline survey was to gather household level data that include basic indicators of welfare, information sources, livelihood/agriculture/natural resource management strategies, needs and uses of climate and agriculture-related information and current risk management, mitigation and adaptation practices. The main aim was to capture some of the diversity in the landscape, across communities and households, with sufficient precision in some of the indicators to capture changes that may occur over time. The same households covered by the household baseline survey will be revisited in 5-10 years.The household baseline survey was conducted in December 2014 to January 2015 in seven (out of 23) randomly selected villages in the research site including Tra Hat CSV and covered 140 households. Figure 1 shows the location of the survey area. Among the seven selected villages, six are in Vinh Loi district and one is in the Hoa Binh district, Bac Lieu province.The Tra Hat CSV is a village in a block of 10km x 10km located at the tail end of a primary canal on Quan Lo Phung Hiep system (QLPH), the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. It is located near the coastal area and protected by dykes and a sluice gate system of QLPH. It has two pronounced dry and rainy seasons. The main farming systems in the village comprise of two or three-rice crop per year and small livestock such as pig, chicken, and ducks. Mixed fruit garden and cash crops were common in residential areas. The village has not been affected by saline intrusion for the last 15 years.The HBS questionnaire was divided into 10 sections, as follows: Household respondent and type; Demography; Sources of livelihood, Crop, farm animals/fish, tree, soil, land and water management changes; Food security; Land and water; Input and credits; Climate and weather information; Community groups; and Assets. Questionnaires were translated into Vietnamese to facilitate communication with farmers. Training for data collection and refining questionnaire were done before implementing the actual survey.This report provides a summary of the main findings of the analysis of the household survey data. The three main sections are Introduction, Results and Conclusions. The Results and Discussion section has 10 sub-sections following the sections of the questionnaire used (see Section 1.2).For the full details of the survey process and villages surveyed, see Appendices A and B. The questionnaire and training materials use, including data entry and management guidelines, can be found at www.ccafs.cgiar.org/resources/baseline-surveys.Among the 140 household survey respondents, 65% were males and 35% were females. In terms of household headship, however, 78% of households were identified to be male-headed. Almost all of the survey participants (97%) belonged to the Kinh ethnic group and only few belonged to Hoa or Khmer groups (3%).It should be noted, however, that statistics on the general population of Vietnam and particularly in Bac Lieu province, showed more women than men. In 2012, male population in Vietnam was 43,912.6 while female population was 44,860.3 (General Statistics Office, 2014) 1 . In Bac Lieu, male population was 434,600 while female population was 439,000.Household size (number of persons staying in the household during survey time) ranged between 1 and 10 members or, on average, five members (Table 1). In terms of distribution, 21% of the households had one to three members, 70% had four to six members, while 9% had seven to 10 members. For every 10 households, three had children aged less than five years old and also had members older than 60 years old. Most of the households (81%) had most of their household members (60% to 100%) aged between 5 and 60 years old (Figure 2). Few (3%) households had less members (20% to 60%) aged between 5 and 60 years old. Two-thirds of the households had a member who attained secondary education (Table 2). One-fourth of the households had a member who attained more than secondary level of education (i.e., high school, vocational school training, or reached college/university). Still, there were households with members who only attained primary education (9%) or no formal education at all (1%). Generally, the households engaged in on-farm production for consumption and for sale. Only two households were identified to be subsistence households (i.e., they produce crops and livestock for consumption only).Households practiced product diversification. The number of products produced by the households ranged between one and 10 (Table 3). Among the households, near onefourth (24%) were producing two or three products, while more than the majority (63%) were producing four to six products. Few households (6%) were producing seven to 10 products.% of households (N=140) One product 7.9 2 or 3 products 23.6 4 to 6 products 62.9 7 to 10 products 5.7Table 3 and Figure 3 show that the popular products were food crops, fruits, small livestock, fish, and wood for fuel. Most households sold (97%) and consumed (87%) food crops. Rice was the predominant food crop and considered as the most important source of both cash income and food supply for households. Although income from rice production may sometimes be less than the income from livestock or off-farm activities, the rice was still considered as the most reliable product by most of the households.Livestock was important in the farming system of households. More than 75% of the households raised small livestock for consumption (66%) and for the local market (56%). Swine fattening was considered to be the second important source of income. Chicken and duck raising was considered more important to the households during occasions (e.g. new year, birthday, anniversary). The main problems with chicken and duck raising were disease control and low market price.No large livestock or cattle was reported in all villages. The likely reason for this was the highly mechanized farming system in the low land where the seven villages are located. Near three-fourth (72%) of the households produced fruits and mainly for home consumption (72%). Only one-fourth of the households (26%) reported selling fruits. The fruit trees were grown around the residential areas or on field border. Common fruit trees were coconut, star apple, durian, and jack fruit. Households were also undetaking fish farming (64%) in small ponds. The fish they produce were mainly for consumption. Only 11% of the households reported selling fish. No fishing in marine waters was reported.Despite the lack of forest and tree cover in the area, 43% of the household s reported collecting wood for fuel, which likely in residential area, and for own consumption (42%). Meanwhile, vegetables were produced by only 30% of the households and mainly for consumption (30%), with only 11% of the households selling them.As a result of land allocation policy applied in Vietnam since 1990s, land use right was awarded to individual households. Few resources were open access, including rivers or swamps. Only 35% of the households reported having produced and consumed off-farm produce (i.e., harvesting from the wild or communal lands), with fish as the common produce (86%) (Table 5). Fishing was conducted in rivers or swamps. A production diversification index was created by summing up the total number of products harvested on-farm: 1 = 1 to 4 products (low production diversification); 2 = 5 to 8 products (intermediate production diversification); 3 = 9 or more products (high production In terms of commercialization index based on the number of products sold, near twothirds of the households belonged to low commercialization index and one-third belonged to an intermediate commercialization index (Table 7). As shown in Section 3.2.1, most of the produce by the households were for consumption Farm work was predominantly done by men (42%). The women also work with men (16.4%) or work alone (15%) (Figure 4). Farm work was also reported to be shared by several individuals (26%).Women were reported to be responsible for taking care of small livestock and gathering wood for fuel in 37% and 24% of the households, respectively. For the other products from own farm, women's participation in production was reported by less than 15% of the households. In 39% of the households, the women were reported to be not responsible for the production of any product from own farm. Similarly, children were reported by all households to be not responsible or involved in any production.In contrast, production off-farm was predominantly shared by the men and women (77.9%) (Figure 5). Still, there were production activities where the responsibility rested on the men alone (15.7%) or the women alone (2.9%).About 92% of the households reported to have off-farm cash income (Table 8). Onethird of the households had one or two sources of off-farm cash income. One-fifth of the households had at least three sources of off-farm cash income. No household reported having a new source of off-farm cash income for the past 12 months.The top sources of off-farm cash income reported by the households include other paid work (48%), formal loan or credit (34%), other payments from projects/government (27%), business (23%), and working on someone else's farm (21%). Few households received cash income from an informal loan or credit (13%), remittances (8%), and renting out own land (3%) or farm machinery (1%). Few households (8%) reported not having other sources of cash. The results imply that farming, particularly rice farming from own land, and small livestock raising were more important to the households as sources of food and income. With low crop and commercialization index, income is low for these activities. Households diversify income sources by working on someone else's farm, engage in off-farm work for wages, and migrating to other cities or to Thailand to find work. This has an effect in the rural area such as shortage of farm labor.Recent changes in crop, farm animals/fish, tree, soil, land, and water managementAlmost all households (97%) made changes to one or more important crop over the last 10 years. Most households (80%) changed a crop, which was mostly rice (Table 9). Among the households who made changes in their farming practices, 97% cited multiple reasons for the changes they have made. These reasons were related to the markets (82%), weather (46%), land (49%), labor (25%), pest/diseases (60%), and project (3%) (Table 10).The market reasons provided included new opportunities to sell (85%), better yield (61%), and better price (49%). Near the majority (49%) cited land-related reasons that included availability of more land. This, however, was negated by 35% of the households who cited less land. Near one-fourth of the households also cited as a reason the \"land as becoming less productive.\" Almost all households (98%) made changes to their most important crops because of climate reasons. Among the climate-related reasons, \"more overall rainfall\" was cited by almost half of the households (49%). This, however, was negated by one-third of the households who cited \"less overall rainfall.\" For every 10 households, four cited \"more cold spells or foggy days\", and three cited \"higher temperatures\" or \"strong winds\".The common changes in farm practices for the last 10 years were cropping-related and soil-management related. Among the households who made changes in their farming practices, 92% introduced cropping-related changes, which include one or more of the following: introduced intercropping; earlier land preparation and earlier planting; late planting; expanded or reduced area of cultivation; started using pesticides/herbicides; integrated pest management; integrated crop management; growing fodder crops; and started to use greenhouse or polytunnel (Table 11). Also, 91% of the households introduced soil management changes that include one or more of the following: stopped burning; introduced intercropping, cover crop, micro-catchments, ridges or bunds, terraces, stone lines, hedges, contour ploughing, and rotation; and started using more mineral/chemical fertilizers or manure/composite. Near half (42%) of the households reported introducing new crop or variety for the last 10 years. One-fourths of the households reported changes related to trees or Agroforestry. That means, only those households have planted or protected trees within the year. Very few households adopted water management, which include using irrigation and introduced microcatchments, improved irrigation, mulching, and improved drainage.For every 10 households, eight reported at least one animal type being domesticated (Table 12). The distribution was as follows: one type, 18%; two, 29%; and 3 or more, 31%. Only four of every 10 households reported having made changes in farm animals being domesticated in the last 10 years (Table 13). The adoption of new animal types/breeds was low, with only 17% of the households reported to have adopted at least a new animal type or breed. One-third of the households introduced herd-related changes that include an increase in herd size and change in herd composition. Only one of every 10 households introduced animal management-related changes that include introduction of stall keeping, fencing, and cut and carry. No feed-related changes (such as growing fodder crops, improved pastures, and fodder storage) were reported.Explaining about reasons for changes in livestock rearing practices, the majority of the households (54%) provided multiple reasons for the changes they have adopted on livestock rearing practices. These can be categorized into labor related (45%), pest/diseases-related (45%), market-related (35%), and weather/climate-related (24%) (Table 14). To most of the households (86%), the reasons were not limited to climate and markets. Specifically, only 13% of the households cited weather/climate-related reasons. The top weather/climate related reasons were \"more overall rainfall\" (44%), strong winds (39%), higher temperatures (39%), and \"less overall rainfall\" (39%). Similarly, only 19% of the households cited market-related reason such as \"new opportunities to sell\" (89%), and \"better price\" (50%).Results show that most households (81%) belonged to the intermediate level in terms of adaptability index (Table 15). An adaptability/innovation index was defined as the number of changes made in farming practices over last 10 years, as follows: low level = 0 to 1 change; intermediate level = 2 to 10 changes; high level = 11 or more changes. Several climate mitigation-related behavioral changes were used to create the indices that include tree management, soil amendments, input intensification, and a productivity index (Table 16). Results show low mitigation among the households. Tree management was adopted by only one-third of the households. Soil amendments (applying fertilizer to the soil) were adopted by almost all households (99%). Input intensification was adopted by almost all households: low (39%) and high (60%). Half of the households reported in increase in productivity. The results imply that the market remains as a major determinant in the households' decisions related to changes in crop and farming practices. It was also implied, however, that the climate is becoming an important factor, which could explain the intermediate adaptability level found among households. More effort, however, on mitigation was needed. Application of more fertilizers on the soil was a common practice among households to increase production. Meanwhile, decisions related to livestock rearing were more influenced by factors other than the market or the climate.Food sources throughout the year of households were either their own farm or offfarm. Three-fourths of the households depended on their own farm as a source of food for all months in a year. One in every five households source food from own farm for the period between 7 and 11 months. All households reported securing food off-farm for less than 7 months in a year. Two-thirds of the households reported that they have not experienced hunger throughout the year. One-third of the households reported having experienced hunger at least one month in a year. Relatively more households experienced hunger in the months of November to January.With households having about a half hectare of land to cultivate, hunger was out of the question. As mentioned in Section 2, crops and livestock were the main sources of food and income of the households. The results imply that the supply of food in terms of quantity (quality is another matter) was enough to prevent hunger to be experienced by most of the households. The practice of having two to three rice seasons in a year was likely to have contributed to the sufficient supply of food in the area. It was recognized, however, that the months before harvest season were the difficult months likely because the households are running out of cash and food at home.Three out of 10 households reported having experienced a climate related crisis in the last five years (Table 17). Among them, only 44% received assistance. Among the 20 persons who identified the source indicated that they all received assistance from government agencies.Experienced climate-related crisis in the last 5 years (N=140) 32.9 Received assistance for climate related crises (N=46)Government agencies 100.0Irrigation was the most common source of water for farming (99%) (Table 18). This was followed by boreholes (30%). Few households sourced water from water ponds (6%), and water pumps (1%). The establishment of the dyke system in the region was considered as one of the important interventions that improved the irrigation system. This enabled the shift from one to two or three rice croppings in a year. Irrigation water was the source of water for agriculture in the region. Farmers mostly use water pumps to water their fields. They often need to pump water out during traditional seasons (two-crop system) and springwinter (three-crop system).Almost all households received a weather/climate-related information in the last 12 months (94%). The different types of weather-related information that households were using and the recipient, and the use of the information were examined.Four of every 10 households reported receiving information on extreme weather events (Table 22). The television was their main source of information (100%), followed by friends/relatives/neighbors (33%). Few households received information from technical experts, other forms of mass media (newspaper, radio, internet), and other sources. The men (62%) or both the men and women (33%) receive information, but few women alone (5%).Almost all who received extreme weather information (92%) reported that the information included advice on what to do and they were able to use. As a response to the information, many households changed the inputs (86%), changed the timing of farm activities (64%), or engaged in feed management (23%). There were other responses adopted by few households. Nine of every 10 households reported receiving information on pest or disease outbreaks (Table 23). The main sources of information were television (96%), from traditional forecaster/indigenous knowledge (34%), friends/relatives/neighbors (26%), and local technical people (20%). Three-fourths of the households reported that the men were the recipients of information, while 19% of the households reported that both men and women received the information.Among those households who received the information, 95% reported that advice was included in the information received and 97% of them reported that they have used the advice given. Their main actions were changed in inputs (99%) and changes in timing of farming activities. One of every five households reported receiving information about the start of the rain. All of them received the information from the radio (Table 24). Other sources include friends/relatives/neighbors (21%), local technical people (14%) and own observations (10%). Two-thirds of those who received the information reported that the men received the information, and one-fourth of them reported both the men and women. Almost all of them (97%) reported that advice was included in the information and they have used it. Their main actions were to change the timing of farming activities (89%) and the change in inputs (82%). Nine in every 10 households reported to have received weather forecasts for the next 2 to 3 days (Table 25). All of them cited the television as the source of information. The other sources were friends/relatives/neighbors (14%) and radio (11%). Less than 10% of the households source information from multiple sources. The men were reported to receive the information (72%), or both the men and women (20%). Advice was included according to 94% of the households who received the information. The main actions to the information they received were to change in inputs (72%) and timing of farming activities (61%). Only two of the 140 households reported having received weather forecast for the next 2 to 3 months (Table 26). They received the information from television. They were male and female. One of them reported that advice was included in the information. Their actions to the information were to make changes in inputs or to change the timing of farming activities.  The results regarding information show an area for intervention to help farmers in the face of climate change challenges. The kind of information they received is reflective of what is available and also of their interest over need. For instance, most of them have received information on pest and diseases because aside from this is important, the show is also available on TV. Also, most have received information on weather forecast of 2-3 days because this is regularly given on TV. Relatively less number of households indicated receiving information on extreme weather and very few received information on weather forecast for 2-3 months, which could help farmers make decisions about the future.Meanwhile, TV remained as the common medium to reach the farmers. With word-ofmouth or farmer-to-farmer information as another significant route of information, provision of correct information to even a small group of farmers can likely have a significant effect on the decision-making of the farmers. This also highlights the need of technical assistance from government staff in charge of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials in farming and for the materials to be easily understood by the farmers.Membership in community groups was very low with only 11% of the households reported membership in any community groups (Table 27). There were nine community groups identified that include those related to farming (e.g., irrigation, soil improvement, crop introduction, seed production, and vegetable production), savings and credit, tree planting, and productivity enhancement group. This does not include the common community groups such as the farmers' association (which work for productivity enhancement, seed production, vegetable, other group related to soil, water and land management, tree nursery), women's union (savings and credit), and youth union. The assets the households likely owned were divided into five categories: energy (generator, solar panel, biogas digester, battery); information (radio, television, cell phone, internet access, computer); production means (tractor, mechanical plough, thresher, and mill); transport (bicycle, motorbike, car or truck); and luxury (refrigerator, air conditioning, fan, bank account, improved stove).Results showed that that 94% of the households belonged to high level in the Asset Index (Table 28). The number of assets per category owned by the households is shown in Table 29. Relatively more households owned information and transportation assets. The common assets per category included the motorcycle (89%) and bicycle (39%) for transportation; water pump (51%) or motor powered spraying tank (54%) for production assets; LPG (78%) for energy; television (98%) and cellular phone (94%) for information; and electric fan (89%) for luxury items.As expected in Viet Nam, ownership of the motorcycle was high at 89%. It was previously shown that farming was more mechanized and yet ownership of productive assets, particularly machineries have been low. This result implies that rental of farm machineries was likely to be common. A typical household was characterized by male-headship, relatively bigger than the national average, and low education. Farming, particularly rice farming from own land, and small livestock raising were the main sources of food and income. Farming, however, is characterized by low crop and commercialization index. Households diversify income sources by engaging in off-farm work within the area or migrate to cities or to Thailand to find work.Farmers made changes related to crop practices primarily in response to market signals. They, however, have low control over timing of harvest and price of their produce. This was especially true among farmers who purchased or rent farm inputs via credit. Farming was highly mechanized in the area, but less than half of the households owned production assets. On the other hand, decisions related to livestock rearing were more influenced by diseases and pest or factors other than the market or the climate.Challenges brought by changes in climate, however, are becoming a factor in the farmers' decision related to crop changes. The adaptability of households needs enhancement from the current common measure of fertilizer application. Mitigation was still not given the needed attention. Providing farmers with correct and timely information on extreme weather events, start of rain, on weather forecast in two to three months will benefit them in making decisions about their farming activities in the future. Although TV remains as the common medium by which farmers access information, it is still limited to pest and diseases. Farmers need more information to guide and help them make decisions. Provision of correct information to even a small group of farmers can have significant impact given information travels faster via information sharing among farmers. Helping farmers form farmers' group can also enhance the sharing of knowledge and best practices.Access to land among the households, two to three rice cropping a year, and few natural disasters in the area are likely reasons for food supply (in terms of quantity) to be enough for most of the households. The establishment of the dyke system has improved the irrigation system that contributed to higher farm production.","tokenCount":"4292"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9243079430.json b/data/part_1/9243079430.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..26013f8f84c161652cb9cb22e4b7d23901ae58a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9243079430.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"43444a0f2d5eab482e5ae9488a6f2ad8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/89d250e9-1984-4c54-bfad-d54f4c5abd28/retrieve","id":"1181895864"},"keywords":["Roberto Quiroz","Land Use Systems Specialist","Division Leader Fernando Ezeta","Agronomist","Regional Leader","CIP ESEAP Kumari Gurusamy","GIS Specialist","JPO Sarath llangantileke","Postharvest Specialist","CIP-SWA Regional Representative (CIP-Delhi) Carlos Leon -Ve larde","Agricultural Systems Analysis Specialist"],"sieverID":"eb993efd-5307-42d6-b4b6-24967301dc97","pagecount":"89","content":"6 that we completed in 2003. Renewal in the sense that the process of management succession was completed and the leadership of CIP will be assumed early in 2005 by the chair of CIP's Vision, Dr. Pamela Anderson . Buoyed by a history of solid research achievement, CIP is also now on a secure financial footing. Our income continues to grow, with the increased restricted and unrestricted funding reflecting the confidence of our donors in the Center. Through good management practice, our financial security also increased during the year.Although this report deals with the highlights of the year 2004, I am writing this introduction in March 2005. I will be retiring in April, not with reluctance, because I know the future of the Center is secure, but with great emotion. For the past 14 years my life has been inextricably bound up with CIP and I am proud to have had the opportunity to direct its course for so long. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our donors fo r the commitment they have shown to our work. I would also like to acknowledge my debt to our many partners, without whom we could not operate, and CIP's staff, in headquarters and in the regions, who show levels of dedication and brilliance I could never really demand. My wife Ilse and I will be retiring to Canada, but we will be taking a piece of Peru, and CIP, with us in our hearts.With thanks and best wishes for the future .:rom the director general demand our attention, among the poor, hungry and sick in the developing countries.With such a wide demand, we are looking closely at where we direct our work, as well as making efforts to carefully measure our impact. CIP, in fact, was the first of the CGIAR centers to base its work on the Millennium Goals.By realigning our program to match the objectives of the Millennium Goals, it is clear that we are pursuing economic gains to reduce poverty and improve living standards. The innovative participatory market chain approach that Papa Andina is pioneering as a way of adding value to a product is a good example of this. It is also becoming clearer that the operation of our Partnership programs can add value and increase earnings by including products and processes other than those we have traditionally dealt with. The relationship of sweetpotato and pigs or the nexus of potato production and mountain resources management illustrate the value of extending our mandate.During the year, the reorganized research and program structure generated some significant advances in knowledge that contribute directly to the crucial aspects of food security and poverty alleviation. The research program made fundamental advances in the fight against late blight and considerable progress against bacterial wilt. We also saw the security of CIP's germplasm collection increased through the work of the \"Potato Park\", a local initiative dedicated to in situ conservation of potato biodiversity.The Partnership programs, which are, in fact, extensions of the research process, are often applying the results of Divisional work directly in their operations. For example, the Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) program is linking breeding activities of orange-fleshed sweetpotato with active health programs in the community, blurring the lines between mandated research and operational development.2004 was a year of consolidation and renewal for CIP. Consolidation in the sense that we were able to concentrate on our core work, guided by the visioning exercise The Genomics Revolution is producing plants specifically designed and bred to overcome the difficult conditions found in smallholders' fields and marginal environments and so improve the quality and quantity of these farmers' yields.It has been fueled by technological advances that have allowed scientists to unravel the genetic code of an organism and draw up maps of the entire genome, with landmarks locating genes associated with particular characteristics, such as adaptability, disease resistance or environmental tolerance. And as the genetic maps are filled with ever-finer detail, breeders are cross-referencing the maps of different species (see illustrations on opposite page and following). In this way, the genetics of whole families of plants can be compared. Thus the existence of genetic information on a particular trait can be predicted in one species, from the detailed genetic studies of another. This is a major advance, making it possible to explore the relationship of gene sequence to function across species, further expanding the opportunities for significant breakthroughs and delivering the promise of the Genomics Revolution .Up to now, plant breeding has been as much an art as a science. A highly successful art with an honorable pedigree, true, but always a subjective exercise, based on the experience and skill of the plant breeder to choose parents for crosses and to select out, either visually or by means of empirical tests, improved individuals from among the progeny of those crosses. There are notable exceptions, in which a few identified genes have had a dramatic effect when bred into other varieties (for example, the directed introduction of dwarfing genes in wheat and rice was responsible for the increased productivity of the Green Revolution), but comparative genomics has the capacity to make these exceptions the rule and, ultimately, to change the plant breeders' art into an objectively based science.       .....__A.n expeosi~e-.~-.~~ disease Ra/stonia solanacearum, the bacterium that causes bacterial wilt, can survive in small numbers in even the worst circumstances, and then proliferate rapidly when conditions allow. Low concentrations are enough to sustain a viable population in the soil, and a potato planted in such ground will very quickly become infected. As the plant grows, its vascular system becomes clogged with the rapidly multiplying bacteria. The plant wilts and dies; the bacteria retreat to the soil and the tubers, there either to concentrate as a pus-like mess in the vascular ring that causes the tuber to rot, or to adopt its latent state.The latent state of Ra/stonia solanacearum is the most difficult. The bacteria are invisible to all but specialized testing. The tubers appear healthy, but will spread the disease wherever they are planted. They can be eaten, since mammals are immune to the organism and its latent form does not affect the taste or nutritional value of the tubers. This may seem a blessing, but the bacteria can survive a journey through the digestive system. Even sewage treatment plants do them no harm, and when they reach water, aquatic plants serve as staging posts for further proliferation as they disperse via irrigation systems and back onto the land.Ra/stonia solanacearum is thought to have evolved on native Solanum species in the Andean region of South America . Europe was invaded by virulent strains of Ralstonia in the 1990s. Now all of Western Europe maintains a rigorous system of quarantine, testing and certification. More recently, the arrival of potato-like strains in the United States on Geranium was an immediate and potentially serious threat to the huge US potato industry.States cost millions and maintaining a quarantine on the disease is a massive recurrent expense, but there is a lot at stake. A huge industry, supplies of a staple food and many livelihoods depend upon the continuing viability of potato production. And in developing countries it is often a matter of life and death.    PMCA seeks to generate group innovations in a shared decision-making process that defines and implements joint activities. Commercial innovations that bring added value to nativ potatoes drive technological and institutional innovations that are achieved through its implementation.The first phase begins with diagnostic research, accomplished through extensive inte views.These interviews allow researchers to get to know and understand the key people and , roups in the market chain and to understand their interests, problems and ideas. Based on thi research, small working groups are then formed of members with shared areas of intere t .The working groups exchange ideas and experiences in meetings, collectively identif ing and evaluating challenges and opportunities with a strong demand-oriented focus. \"This isPhase 1 To get to know the different market chain actors, their activities, interests, ideas, problems, etc.To analyze potential market opportunities using participatory methodsTo implement joint innovations:• new market products when everyone talks about their problems,\" says CIP's Andre Devaux. Specialists may be called in to support the process, but the idea is that the members of each group select the problems they feel are most pressing, the best opportunities and together agree on actions to take. In the process, confidence and trust is At the end of the process, the participants present the positive outcomes of their activities. More than just a ceremony, the event is actually intended to capitalize on the project's outcomes to help the actors move forward with their initiatives. By inviting media representatives, politicians and donors, the organizers generate interest in the larger community and fuel continuing support. \"The idea is that we pass full responsibility over to the actors,\" says Devaux, \"helping to ensure that they have what they need to sustain the innovations, of which they are now the proud owners\". .,. The actual amounts of vitamin A and other micronutrients required by the body are very small but, overall, micronutrient deficiency is a notorious \"hidden hunger\" of the developing world . And along with the health issue there is an inevitable economic consequence. By affecting the learning ability of children and sapping the energy of working-age people, micronutrient deficiency causes billions of dollars of lost productivity in countries that can least afford it.It is only since the 1980s that nutritionists have assembled compelling evidence that the diets of many children (especially young children) and adults in developing countries do not provide healthsustaining amounts of essential vitamins and minerals. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most prevalent problems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where \"severe vitamin A deficiency has very high fatality rates (60 percent),\" according to World Bank nutritionist JudithMcGuire, and \"even sub-clinical deficiency is associated with a 23 percent increase in pre-schooler mortality in areas with endemic vitamin A deficiency.\"A massive international effort to combat vitamin A deficiency has been underway since the early 1990s. Emphasis in many countries was initially placed on supplementation programs, believing that the distribution of vitamin capsules could solve the problem quickly. However, experience has shown that although supplementation can be cost-effective, it must be repeated every six months and thus can be difficult to implement in countries with poorly developed health and road infrastructure. A second approach, that of fortifying common foods with a micronutrient, has been used successfully in some instances (iodized salt successfully treats iodine deficiencies, for example). But in countries where markets for food are not well developed, it has been difficult to identify appropriate foods to fortify and ensure they would reach the consumers who are most at risk.A third approach is to improve dietary quality and quantity through diversification. Here the aim is to achieve and maintain an adequate intake of vitamin A (and the other essential micronutrients)as part of an adequate total diet. A food-based approach such as this requires an inter-sectoral perspective, which means providing agricultural and educational inputs, together with a keen awareness of cultural, socio-economic, market and health conditions -a challenging proposition but likely, economists believe, to be the most sustainable of the three available options. The advantage is that once achieved, food-based approaches are self-sustaining and by far the lowest cost approach.the community, people were keen to buy roots from Saracoto has yet to be scheduled for connection .Meanwhile, its residents must buy their water from private suppliers, and it is not cheap .The municipality is not Urban Harvest provides strategic information and practical technology to practitioners and policy makers inv ' lved in urban agriculture. Its research is designed to enhance food security, augment nutrition and help urban famil es improve their earning capacity. In the process, Urban Harvest aims to reduce environmental pollution and m igate the health risks stemming from poorly managed urban production. Fundamentally, its mission is to promote the view that urban and peri-urban agriculture, when practiced sustainably, is not only productive but can also ake a valuable contribution to the development and wellbeing of the world's urban centers.\"Urban Harvest is a response to a pressing need,\" says anthropologist Gordon Prain, who coordinates th initiative from CIP's headquarters in Lima . \"The past 30 years have seen an explosion in urban populations a d urban poverty. Urban agriculture provides an important opportunity for new migrants to supplement house old food supplies and earn cash incomes. It can make a valuable contribution to the nutritional status and inco e of vulnerable households. But it is vitally important to ensure that it is supported and recognized by local gov rnment policies and regulations, and contributes to a healthy environment.\"Focusing its activities on large, rapidly growing cities with significant concentrations of poor people and a high proportion of food and nutritional insecurity, Urban Harvest has established platforms for stakeholder dialo ue and policy analysis in a number of locations. \"Stakeholder dialogue is crucial,\" says Prain. \"All parties must discus the issues with one another. Often there is misunderstanding, sometimes hostility, but urban agriculture offers p sitive opportunities on many levels, and once that is understood and accepted, people begin working together to ards a resolution .\"  \"This is something we are working on,\" he says .And then there is Luis    The international community has emphasized its  In .,.  ","tokenCount":"2234"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9315933356.json b/data/part_1/9315933356.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..524892260809a5910d7382c643f8f044368b3abd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9315933356.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dc2dd773fd4648008ff1ca68ab967efc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d914fe4e-7dc6-4bf0-8e86-7ab506c006e8/content","id":"91449375"},"keywords":["Gender and diversity","Environment (built and natural) -Agriculture, Food security","Labour and livelihoods -Poverty reduction"],"sieverID":"936c9911-1ab2-4a2d-917d-3078dde3d133","pagecount":"8","content":"Local gender norms constitute a critical component of the enabling (or disabling) environment for improved agricultural livelihoodsalongside policies, markets, and other institutional dimensions. Yet, they have been largely ignored in agricultural research for development. This viewpoint is based on many years of experience, including a recent major comparative research initiative, GENNOVATE, on how gender norms and agency interact to shape agricultural change at local levels. The evidence suggests that approaches which engage with normative dimensions of agricultural development and challenge underlying structures of inequality, are required to generate lasting genderequitable development in agriculture and natural resource management.Strong evidence and compelling arguments have been marshalled to demonstrate how addressing gender disparities in agriculture contributes to poverty reduction and food and nutrition security. Agricultural research and development interventions have sought to address \"gender gaps\" through sex-disaggregated data collection and analysis, and increased integration of gender considerations in project design, aiming to improve women's access to new agricultural technologies, knowledge and inputs. Why then do ingrained patterns of gender inequality persist in so many agricultural contexts? What is constraining lasting change?Progress has been achieved in agricultural research for development (AR4D) identifying and targeting women's needs, thus seeking to address the visible symptoms of inequality. However, such approaches often overlook the ways in which social norms, attitudes, and distributions of power and resources differentially frame women's and men's perceptions of, and capacities to seize, opportunities. Inequalities remain, and are sometimes reinforced by AR4D, as those who are well positioned to take advantage of new opportunities do so, while others fall further behind. As Kantor (2013, 3) puts it:These approaches can offer no assurance that women will be able to take advantage of or benefit from new opportunities or technologies because society's understandings of what is acceptable for women and men to be, do, own and control may continue to impose barriers.In this viewpoint we draw on recent research to argue for approaches that stimulate and build space for normative change as vital to processes of agricultural innovation that enhance gender equality. Insufficient appreciation of how underlying social institutions and structures, such as gender norms, perpetuate gendered inequalities means that interventions often fail to achieve lasting benefits for women. In the worst cases, they may inadvertently reinforce gender disparities, thus hampering progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 -\"empowering all women and girls and achieving gender equality\"and other SDGs. As we show, systematic concern for the strong normative influences on agrarian development will enhance the relevance and effectiveness of AR4D and its contributions to the SDGs.Gender norms constitute the social rules that frame what is considered typical and appropriate for a woman and a man to be and do in their society. Across much of the world, gender norms attach submissive and reproductive roles to women, and authority and productive roles to men. These normative frameworks profoundly shape how women and men perceive and act on opportunities in their lives, as well as how institutions function at various scales. An often-used metaphor is that of an iceberg: like the base of an iceberg, gender norms are powerful, dynamic and mostly hidden, but they underpin what can be observed at the surface. More than other dimensions of social differentiation, such as ethnicity, caste or religion, expectations related to gender reach deeply into the private sphere and govern an individual's most intimate relations (Ridgeway and Correll 2004).Gender norms are learnt and internalised from a very young age and maintained and reproduced in different ways; for example, when we see others conform to and value these societal expectations, and perceive that our own social approval hinges on compliance (Bicchieri 2006). Social pressure, public surveillance and sanctioning practices also play important roles in maintaining norms.Yet, social norms about gender are not static. They vary across contexts and over time. In their dayto-day lives women and men negotiate, resist and sometimes redefine confining dictates when they constrain or no longer hold much relevance. Other times, gender norms are invoked to demonstrate or encourage compliance or to maintain the status quo.Representing deep beliefs and expectations of what is considered normal, dominating gender norms infiltrate everyday social life and practice, and are embedded in the institutions and structures that organise societies. Heise et al. (2019) show how gender norms shape different pathways to health outcomes, including through formal institutions and structures, and in the very health research system itself. Along similar lines, we hold that gender norms are part of the enabling (or disabling) environment for agricultural interventions and greatly influence who is able to learn about new things in agriculture, try them out, adopt or adapt them, and benefit from themand who is not. Agricultural markets, extension services, agricultural development programmes and research systems are shaped by and tend to uphold dominating gender norms.During 2014-18, a group of social scientists working within international AR4D carried out a global comparative research initiative -GENNOVATEto analyse how local social contexts, and especially gender norms, condition who can (and cannot) access, adopt, and benefit from agricultural innovations (Badstue et al. 2018b).Innovation is understood as a social construct that can include technical, socio-economic, institutional or organisational change (Badstue et al. 2018a;Badstue et al. 2018b). Whether externally introduced or developed by farmers themselves, agricultural innovation not only requires strong agency (the ability to make strategic decisions concerning one's own life and to act upon them), but is contextually embedded and shaped by gender norms as well as other dimensions of what can be described as the local opportunity structure. This comprises the specific combinations of agricultural and natural resource management (NRM) technologies, infrastructure, institutions, social organisation and other resources in a local context. Together, these dimensions set the conditions for whether and how local actorswomen and men with different capacities to pursue their interests search out space for manoeuvre to improve their lives (Figure 1, left side).In the middle of the diagram, local women's and men's exercise of agency is illustrated with the shape of a sparkor an explosion, which pushes against the opportunity structure and existent normative practices, and eventually results in change in people's ability to act and to drive institutional and structural change. Meanwhile, the right side of the figure calls attention to the links between expansion of agency and the process of empowerment and other desired outcomes, which, in turn, feed back into the local opportunity structure.Many conceptions of innovation de-emphasise the importance of agency and how this may differ for women and men. Our model provides for diverse types of changes in the opportunity structure, illustrated with fuzzy lines, but emphasises the agentic \"spark\" that is indispensable for inclusive and empowering innovation processes. Factors such as new agricultural technologies, jobs, education or ICT may enlarge women's agency without necessarily having much effect on the norms that underpin gender roles and relations.GENNOVATE research teams conducted focus group discussions and individual interviews with more than 7,500 women and men from 137 communities in 26 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (Petesch et al. 2018a). Study participants reflected on questions such as:-What qualities make a woman a good farmer? And a man a good farmer? -What are the differences between a woman who is innovative and likes to try out new things and a man who is innovative? -How would a typical couple in your village decide how much of the wife's home garden produce to sell and how much to keep to feed the family? Would the wife decide? The husband? Would they decide together?Here, we highlight findings that illustrate different interactions in the opportunity structure, with emphasis on the mutually influencing relationship between gender norms, and local women and men's ability to exercise agency and innovate in their agricultural and NRM-based livelihoods.Across study communities, men and women mainly report a growing capacity to take important decisions as well as declining poverty (Petesch et al. 2018c). While agricultural innovation is seen to contribute to these trends, the ability to innovate remains widely conceived as men's sphere of action. Where acknowledged, women's agricultural activities are widely framed as small endeavours or \"helping men\". As part of the local opportunity structure, normative expectations often prevail that women should defer to men's authority, shoulder the family's housework and care burdens, and guard their physical mobility, social interactions, and use of resources.Despite the prevalence of many restrictive norms, GENNOVATE also uncovered how women exercise agency to engage with innovations in agricultural production, post-harvest processing, and marketing across study geographies. Some women are innovating and influencing important agricultural decisions in their households, and actual practices in a village may be some distance from local norms that discourage women's economic agency. However, processes whereby some norms relax while others remain restrictive, proved quite variable both within and across study communities.In women's focus groups from 43 diverse wheat growing communities, gender-related restrictions associated primarily with limited physical mobility and reproductive work burdens was the secondmost frequently mentioned barrier to innovation by women, after lack of money/poverty (Badstue et al. 2017). In varied contexts, different norms also discourage women from doing certain agricultural tasks, such as land preparation or use of machinery, and they face barriers if they lack access to men's labour or hired labour (Farnworth et al. 2019).Gender norms also influence formal institutions in the local opportunity structure. For example, women and men alike testify that agricultural extension services continue to bypass most women. Women's access to extension is often limited by household demands and constraints on their physical mobility and social interactions. An analysis of 336 innovative men and women's experiences from 19 countries finds that although women appreciate extension services, only 26% consider these services significant for their innovation success, compared to 39% of male innovators (Badstue et al. 2018a). In cases from Nepal, women are increasingly managing farms due to high rates of male outmigration, but extension support often continued to be offered predominately to men (Farnworth et al. 2019).GENNOVATE analyses especially forefront the fluidity of gender norms, and how they vary within and among communities. Norms relax and tighten as women and men move through their life cycle and change positions within their household; and they differ across caste, ethnic, religious and socio-economic groups (Cohen et al. 2016;Locke et al. 2017;Aregu et al. 2018;Petesch et al. 2018b). At the same time, young people spanning diverse contexts widely report strong gender inequalities in their opportunities to learn about and try out new farming practices (Elias et al. 2018).Analyses from GENNOVATE bring to light how women's innovation processes often require negotiation of local norms, and receive limited recognition and returns. Yet, selected cases also reveal contexts where local opportunity structures are benefitting from a catalytic mix of dynamic markets, infrastructure investments, men's migration and more equitable gender norms for women's productive roles, and these dynamics are driving local innovation and strong empowerment and poverty reduction (Petesch et al. 2018c). The diverse norms that hinder women's economic participation may relax relatively quickly, and innovation in contexts of growing gender equality can unlock transformative processes of social change.If norms matter for agricultural development, how do we stimulate normative change and support the evolution of institutions that nurture more gender-equitable processes of agricultural innovation? Gender transformative approaches to research and development focus on fostering deep, structural and systemic change in gender-based power relations, at multiple levels, such as in households and communities, and various institutional domains (Hillenbrand et al. 2015;Galiè and Kantor 2016;Wong et al. 2019). Gender relations are the focus rather than men or women as independent entities. Pursuing gender transformative approaches requires pushing the agenda beyond merely reaching or benefiting women and men equally, to explicitly supporting initiatives that reduce institutional barriers to women's empowerment and to gender equality, including through enhancing women's access to and control over a range of resources, their voice in decision-making, and fostering a more equitable intra-household distribution of domestic and care work.Gender transformative approaches are change-oriented: they identify, support learning from, and strengthen institutions and practices that support equality, and conversely, they challenge and change social structures and norms that justify and uphold the persistence of gender inequalities (Figure 2).Reflexivity and institutional change are core pillars of gender transformative approaches. Reflexivity requires acknowledging that, as scientists operating within AR4D, we are part of the rural economy and the agricultural systems that (re)produce patriarchal norms and gender inequality. AR4D has long been complicit in overlooking women's roles as (skilled) farmers and their contributions to natural resource management.The need for more multi-faceted partnerships and intervention models to support both women and men to access opportunities is clear. For instance, an evidence review of gender interventions finds strong benefits from locally tailored projects that combined farmer groups, financial services, processing and storage technologies, and training; and while these programmes targeted women, they also \"involved male partners and community leaders\" (Buvinic, Furst-Nichols, and Courey Prior 2016, 40). Normative change requires coordinated shifts among community members in support of women's economic independence, voice and leadership. The public health sector has developed valuable research and intervention designs that draw on social norms theory and community-based education and mobilisation strategies to reduce harmful practices, such as gender-based violence and female genital cutting (e.g. Cislaghi, Manji, and Heise 2018). In the field of AR4D, however, gender-transformative research is still relatively new territory, with great need for increased attention.Gender norms research is part of a wider shift in paradigms that examine and learn from the interdependent elements and evolution of local institutions, as well as the central role of local actors in processes of social change and development (Cunningham and Jenal 2016). This paradigm shift exemplifies the need for rigorous and inclusive learning initiatives to better understand and support local innovation processes that both poor women and men deem to be empowering.To progress further, a transition from exploratory studies to applied research models on gender norms and institutional innovation is required. Components of an invigorated research agenda include: critical self-reflection and introspection among research institutions on the norms they bring to the research process; partnerships with civil society and other organisations with longterm, trusted local presence; engagement with both women and men from different social groups on the structures and mindsets that hinder and enable equality and local people's empowerment; sufficient time and resources to accompany a process of social change; and mechanisms to scale advances made using gender transformative approaches. With these elements as part and parcel of agricultural research and development, agriculture and NRM could be a key axle for enhancing gender equality in rural livelihoods.","tokenCount":"2407"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9357254851.json b/data/part_1/9357254851.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2dfa596e2a1ca81eba854c2ee103087c49a643ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9357254851.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"566f19d62161d0bb3807837a21e48937","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b2e5156a-1ab9-4e5f-9fab-5f9e77a21c96/retrieve","id":"-1168415994"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fb70163d-b89c-49bf-b160-7b2cd5c17ec5","pagecount":"21","content":"Dr Pramod aggarwal started the proceedings by welcoming all guests and briefly talking about the CCAFS program in South Asia.Shri Nagan Prasad remarked that IBFI was a new concept on the field and it was good to see stakeholders working in water sector who are involved in flood related work like BSDMA, FMISC, insurance indutries and experts come together for the conference. He elaborated a little on FMISC (Flood management Improvement support centre) which comes under water dept of Bihar state govt. A national hydraulic project is being launched in the basin with WB support in bihar and other states where efforts are being made to collect the data on a real time basis across major river basins. While assessing index insurance one must also keep in mind the socio-economic conditions and income periods, for example some farmers might not be recieving continous income and might have loans.Shri C P Thakur in his opening address mentioned that the work on floods in Bihar requires a lot more attention and is a root cause of poverty. Along with research, the team should also keep in mind the ground realities of the state and how to link the poor to insurance.After the inuaguration, presentations were made which were relevant for the project.Dr Giriraj Amarnath who is the project leader gave a brief presentation on the project, its objectives and outputs to the participants. Dr. Amarnath also highlighted the need to link insurance product with Disaster Risk Reduction, Poverty and Sustainable development in the region to ensure the IBFI product has scaling potential and business model that suits government, insurer and farmers. Need to stregnthen how diaster emergency response funds and post-disaster relief funds can be effectively utilized in the form of paying premium before flood disasters and insurance payouts funds for reslience building among communties that are regularly exposed to floods. The programme is first of its kind to develop PPP model for successful implementation of IBFI to achieve desired targets.Dr Nihar Jangle, Director Climate Change Program at MIA (Micro Insurance Academy) made a presentation which touched upon challenges in insurance marketing, MIA's agri index and model for agriculture insurance. Key points in the presentation - Duplication of product linked to agricultural loans without due regard for local risk  Trust deficit between end users and insurance companies. Complicated process and regulatory constraints  MIA developed an alternative model. In traditional model, a readymade product is sold by insurance companies to the end users who are farmers / govt agencies  In the alternative model, with the technical help of MIA, the community who are end users of the product is involved in robust process to design the insurance scheme which will be provided to the insurer / re-insurer for implementation.Three main types of risks -water stress, water logging and excess heat represented by various parameters comprising of climatic and non-climatic types. Dominant parameters are bridged to form a cumulative index called CCC  Comparison with traditional insurance yielded 75 % cheaper premium and high correlation co-efficient  water stress, water logging and excess heat -Index based insurance  Hail storm and livestock -indemnity type  Government involvement need to be much larger, communities should have larger say in final product design and link insurance with value-added services Mr Sebabrata Sarkar from SWISS RE presented an introduction to Swiss Re, overview of the Index based agriculture insurance and work in Bangladesh. Some key points from the presentation - This project is being touted as an example of successful IBFI pilot / implementation studies in South Asia.Dr PK Joshi from IFPRI pesented briefly on the role of IFPRI in this project along with business models and scaling up possibilities. The results and lessons learnt of the Scoping assessment of IBFI and Farmers consultation undertaken was elaborated. Key takeaways include - Huge economic loss due to floods affecting crops in Bihar. It is a recurrent scenario.  Existing crop insurance schemes covers millions of farmers in India. Compared to the uninsured farmers, the coverage is moderate.  Complexity -Single parameter does not adequately describe the flood impact on crops and a multiple parameter based index is complex. Lack of data  Premium price -affordability among marginal farming communities a major issue.Government subsidy needed  Awareness -Awareness about the benefits of insurance in the public are lacking  An appropriate loss model representing the risk to crop during various growth stages for various depths and duration of flooding needed.  Lack of weather / flood parameters will be major hindrance along with policy delays in pay-outs In this session facilitated by Dr Pramod Aggarwal, a group of insurance company representatives were given a set of questions to elucidate their perception and experience on the topic.The objective of this format was to get some feedback from the industry about the challenges existing and to reflect their interest in a product of this nature. A summary of some points made during the session - Swiss Re on current state of agriculture insurance in India and lessons learnt and challenges -Mentioned about GoI scheme callled BKBY (Bharatiya Krishi Bhima Yojana) which categorically mentions that it covers pre sowing planting risk, post harvest risk and localised risks like floods in the scheme. At present stand alone flood insurance schemes does not exist. The structure of the model of how we want to reach out to the beneficiary is something to be thought about and factors like these should be considered-micro level cover, integration with other schemes, meso-level cover where a community based organisation could reach out to policy holder (the advantage here is that the disbursement of scheme becomes easier and faster) or Macro level insurance where govts buy insurance which might help in linking with DRR and Climate Change Adaptation. Adverse selection is big challenge especially for a high flood risk zone, how do we club other than crop factors like household, livestock with flood insurance as the loss is differentHaving a good index is not sufficient and doesn't guarantee that the product would be accessible, the key is to create a demand from the consumers end. we need to empower communities to manage the insurance. ICICI -Comprehensive flood insurance product -Flood insurance is not just for agrculture but should consider whole livelihood.Incentive would be based on the the product design factors like -Risk zones -high low, flood maps and payouts. Scaling out through cooperative like IFFCO would be useful. TATA AIG -which PPP index insurance would you like to highlight as a model WBCIS data parameters, weather stations, data system which is above disputes and helps in settling claims quickly. TATA is working with GoB for earthquake and flood insurance, taken up as part of CSR activities. Bajaj Allianz-market or potential for flood insurance and how to make it more successful Potential is big as the occurence of the natural disaster especially flood has become more. Need to come up with quality product. AIC -future of IBFI Mentioned that NAIS was modified into BKBY, which was made into a full fledged scheme. AIC will definitely partner for this project. Raised doubt about positioning of this IBFI product as in NAIS or modified NAIS, flood is already covered in BKBY and assessment is at a farm level. Govt is already thinking of a boradbased scheme UPIS (Unified Package insurance scheme) for the farmers which would combine nine features including health insurance with mandatory crop insurance.Also mentioned that pilot should be chosen in such a way that ulitimately it becomes a success so that it can be scaled up. So if sites which are perenially flooded are chosen then actuarial premium would be very high with frequent losses which would raise the premiums. Probably government would have to heavily subsidize the scheme. so some distributed sites which are not that perenially flooded could be chosen.Some other points raised - We need to be clear who are the buyers ad whom are we designing the product for?  Bundling is important and whether the product should be acturial or integrated into a social security scheme.This session was focussed on progress and research highlights made in the program till now.Rajesh Pandey from IWMI presented on Site Priortization and district selection for development of IBFI through skype. Couple of questions were raised in his presentationinstead of crop insurance alone whether it can be a comprehensive insurance which can be include livestock and fisheries, secondly in site prioritization if all the risk zoning or possible zonation falls under the selected location. Key points - Integration of data from multiple sources  Hydrological, agriculture, economic and physical data from IWMI data base, state and central government agencies like CWC, FMISC, BSDMS, etc  Hydrological -Long term rainfall data from IMD, inundation map from MODIS, flood characteristics data from multiple government sources.  Inundation data from MODIS revealed Dharbhanga, Muzafarpur and Sitamarhi to be highly flood prone.  Assessment of data from submerged total area, crop area, crop loss provided Samastipur, Darbhanga and Madhubani as priority area.Luca Brocca, IRPI-CNR from Italy made a video presentation on Rainfall Runoff modeling to derive flood flows and explained the combination of hydrological and hydrological model for prediction of rainfall and flood forecasting to derive the flood flows as well as to work out the depth of submergence through model like Mike 11 which shows these kinds of tools can be used for the pilot area. Some aspects raised in the presentation - MISDc hydrological model will be used to estimate the discharge hydrograph along the river by using rainfall and air temperature as input.  Estimated discharge will be used in Mike 11 hydraulic model to derive flood characteristics.  Flood forecasting system will provide flood inundation maps for the region of interest from which flood characteristics will be automatically extracted.Karthikeyan Matheswaran from IWMI presented on Flood hazard modeling to derive flood parameters. Key points raised - How much water and how long? -Depth and duration of crop submergence due to floods  Also called as flood characteristics  Flood hazard model : Input -River network, cross sections, longitudinal profile, DEM and discharge data.  Output: 1D-water level at different river locations, 2D-flood depth over area of interest.  Flood hazard map of Muzzafarpur district revealed sections of Bagmathi to be flood prone covering Katra, Aurai and Gaighat.  Mike Flood model will be created for this section of River Bagmathi.Zhiwei Shen, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin made a recorded presentation on Flood loss module and index development for the pilot area. Some aspects touched upon - Traditional insurance payments are based upon actual losses incurred  Index based payments are based on observable indices like rainfall, temperature, flood depth etc.  Derive flood characteristics from hazard model, relate crop yield with index and payout as a function of threshold breach  Single / multiple parameter index -complexity increases as number of parameter increases  Pricing the index through assessment of multiple methods based on product requirements (ex: Burn analysis, index value simulation and daily value simulation)Feedback from the chair-The stage of crop which is very sensitive to the depth of submerge. Also crops are not sown in one day, it is done in a staggered manner so the stages also changes according to the region. As we add precision to the model more complexity would be added.Srinivasa Rao from eeMausam presented IBFI Implementation strategy and Components in detail.Nitasha Nair presented on communication and uptake activities. The objectives of the presentation included elaborating what we mean by communication and uptake in the context of the project and to get a feedabck from the group of how to make the research more effective through information and knowledge sharing.The group was divided into three group to discuss below questions or so, and then summarized the discussion in plenary using chart boards.Group I: Technical aspects and key challenges on development of flood insurance products and Role of Flood Insurance in Disaster Risk Management?Group II: What Policy and Economics analysis are needed for implementation of flood insurance product? Could the group also focus on need for robust business model and Institutional framework for scaling potential?Group III: The group will focus on engaging farmers and addressing their basis risks and need to develop strategy to address livelihood, improving agriculture resilience. Further the group will focus on communication strategy, engaging PPP model and capacity building and awareness programme.    (masuri, khesari). On enquiry about rice production farmers intimated good production fetches about 22 quintal/acre (1 acre=22 kattah) and 10-12 q/acre on an average. Since the rice production is below the country's average yield of 20-25 q/acre, the reasons were asked from the farmers. They explained it is due to scanty rainfall in June-July, late raising of nursery, short supply of power, flooding and standing water over the crop, pest attack etc. Dr. Tagyi wanted to know the depth of flood water and the duration upto which paddy can sustain. Farmers experiences reveal that 4-5 feet water standing over (even 6 -10 inch height of paddy) for 5-10 days imposes no problem, 11-15 days 10-15% damages and over 15 days the whole crop fails. If flood comes in October damage would be more.We visited the site on 1st August but the area was facing scarcity of rain and if this continues transplantation would be impossible. On enquiry farmers told that small flood of 3-4 feet depth every year is a boon as it carries silts and improves soil fertility and no chemical fertilizer is needed. Further it raises the bed of the flood plain. Thus the area may be flood prone but farmers are happy with floods of small depth of 4-5 day duration except the severe floods like that of 1987, 2004 and 2008. Farmers reported that they incur losses in paddy cultivation in rainfed condition (cost of cultivation Rs.500 and earnings are Rs. 1000 per kattah) but constrained to do so being the profession.Insurance experts gathered information from farmer's about their interest towards insurance cover and tried to familiarize them with flood, crop damage and insurance. Farmers are acquainted with KCC and weather based crop insurance but not satisfied on settlements. Assessment by block level officials are whimsical and damage reported are not as per actual. Block level reports on crop cutting experiments is not justified and time over run (more than a year) to get claim has created loss of creditability. Dr. A Upadhaya, Principal Scientist, ICAR, Patna thereafter interacted with farmers and talked in their languages and clarified farmer's doubts. Farmers were satisfied but we need a way out to sort out the complex issues of flood indexing, damage assessment procedure, easy and quick settlement so that farmers appreciate our motive. Once farmer's confidence is gained they will adopt and advocate the scheme in neighboring villages but seeing is believing.In this context we recommend the following:1. Definition of flood damage of crops need be revisited. Dr A. Upadahaya expressed incorporation of waterlogging at crop root zone (rise in sub surface water table due to infiltration of flood water) as a parameter of flood indexing for sensitive crops.2. Insurance cover should be comprehensive and add on for example damage of livestocks/property/heatlh etc need to be considered.3. Procedure to bypass block level harassment to farmers and easy settlements. A robust procedure of damage calculations and fixing responsibility (to whom?) to be decided.4. Establishment of Gauge at defined river cross section at various locations of the reach and generate own data employing local village people. Assign responsibility for upkeep of the instruments paying honorarium.5. Formation of self help group and let the people understand and keep the project operational on completion of the scheme. Training in this regard needs to be provided. This is the beginning. Let us think Big, act Wisely and get Results. The meeting ended with vote of thanks from Dr. Anoj Kumar and group photograph was taken with the farmers. We ended a successful farmers meet and exchange views among ourselves, friendly relation developed.Action Arising from the workshop 1. Completion of site prioritization report in Bihar that includes risk zoning at district level, engage stakeholders discussion to set up pilot trials; 2. Collaboration with NIH, Patna in support for development flood hazard model, establish guage stations through communtiy engagement; 3. Coordination with CWC -New Delhi, Patna for water level data sharing in settting up flood hazard model and insurance index development; 4. A draft scoping report on IBFI in South Asia need to be compelted by IFPRI/IWMI for sharing among partners; 5. MoU among multiple partners project lead-re(insurer)-implementer for designing the product and implemention in pilot trail; 6. The revised Operational Matrix for the project to be shared to all team members; 7. Completion of detail work plan among partners (including IWMI) and need to be submitted to PL for review and finalization. This will be reviewed and compiled to develop project level plan (partitioned according to activity and country). Workplans received from partners will form the basis for the ToRs. 8. Communication &Uptake Plan needs to be further fine-tuned taking on board input from the workshop and prioritizing the handful of key strategies (Nitasha/Giriraj) including promotional materials (e.g. video clip, blogs, websites); 9. Follow up stakeholder engagmenet workshop to be held in Dhaka possibly in the October 2015 to initiate project activities; Already IWM is initiate the modeling activities and engage and briefing other partners to stregnthen activities;Annex 2 -List of participants The workshop served to inform relevant stakeholders on the steps toward the commencement of the full scale project in the pilot regions identified, introduce the project team and establish a key working group made up of government, experts, NGO and private insurance company stakeholders. \"Through this project we want to increase the agriculture resilience of the vulnerable farmers in flood prone regions. This is a first of its kind attempt at such a large scale, we are hoping that this project will lead the way for more effective catastrophe insurance in a natural disaster prone region\" Said Giriraj Amarnath, Project Leader and Senior Researcher at IWMI. For further information please contact Giriraj Amarnath (a.giriraj@cgiar.org) or Nitasha Nair (n.nair@cgiar.org)The Indian media coverage also extensively covered this event which can be viewed here -https://storify.com/nnair/ibfi-inception-workshop.","tokenCount":"3032"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9362936252.json b/data/part_1/9362936252.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f7405ad5d13b6ebc46bfcd148323c740e92fa178
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9362936252.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"077e9f646824d181b1548b11dfabd9fa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e280bef5-da32-4431-b261-fd7febe1d850/retrieve","id":"1073335404"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f11535fd-227b-4c34-9687-b8a3ed6900b9","pagecount":"6","content":"Indices reflecting the double burden of malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa are increasing. Evidence to support this claim in households of Africa's most populous country-Nigeria-is scant. is study, therefore, presents results from a study of mother-child pairs sampled from Akwa Ibom State in the southern region of Nigeria. Anthropometric measures for 660 mother-child pairs were collected according to standard procedures. Indices were expressed as the standard deviation of units from the median for the reference group. Chi-square analysis was used to test significant differences in proportion, and p < 0.05 was taken as significant. A total of 37.4% of the children were stunted out of which 19.8% were moderately stunted, and 17.6% were severely stunted. Prevalence of wasting was 13.1%, 6.2% were moderately wasted, and 6.9% were severely wasted. Mean maternal body mass index was (23.54 ± 4.60) kgm 2 . 9.0% were underweight mothers, 23.2% were overweight, and 9.3% were obese. e co-existence of undernutrition among children and overnutrition in women of child-bearing age is prevalent in this population. We recommend that more effort be placed on active nutrition surveillance to ascertain malnutrition prevalence and periodically reassess priority challenges.One of the most critical global disease burdens is malnutrition presenting as deficiencies and excess [1]. is burden accounts for at least 9 million deaths per year in children less than five years of age [2]. It is a significant public health problem, most notably in developing countries [3][4][5] where 90% of the world's undernourished children live. More troubling is the co-existence of both undernutrition and overnutrition in the same population, which is currently becoming a significant health problem globally [5]. is trend is more challenging in developing countries that are still tackling endemic undernutrition causes and effects [6,7]. Poor nutrition during the early formative years has been implicated to result in significant morbidity and mortality and delayed mental and motor developments [8]. In the long term, it has been linked to impairments of intellectual performance, work capacity, reproductive outcomes, and overall health [9]. Unfortunately, a significant cause is poor maternal nutritional status, which can harm the offspring, thus leading to a vicious cycle of malnutrition from one generation to another [3]. us, the nutritional status of mothers is essential both for her health and that of her baby. e consequences of poor maternal nutritional status are reflected in high infant and maternal morbidity and mortality, as described by Black et al. [3], Elshibly and Schmalisch [10], and Ugwa [11]. Nutritional deficiencies could manifest as either protein-energy malnutrition or micronutrient malnutrition (hidden hunger). Hidden hunger is much more difficult and expensive to assess. However, anthropometric measurements are practical and realistic tools for rapid assessment of the nutritional status of populations in developing countries and have been adapted in assessing both women and children [11][12][13]. Evidence has been established proving that the effects of undernutrition and overnutrition occurring concurrently in an individual, household, or population can be damaging [14]. Its occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa has been reviewed [3]; however, the evidence is still lacking from Africa's most populous country-Nigeria. In 2001-2003, the Nigerian food consumption and nutrition survey revealed 42% stunting among children under the age of 5 years, underweight was 25%, and wasting was 9% [15].Similarly, according to the 2008 Nigerian National Demographic and Health Survey, 41% of Nigerian children less than five years were stunted, 23% were underweight, and 14% were wasted [16] (NDHS 2008). e NDHS 2013 [17] survey reflected a mild drop in these indices (especially stunting) but still gave reports of nutritional status that signify public health challenges. Scant studies have probed this challenge in mother-child pairs in Nigeria. A recent study examined the underlying causal factors of malnutrition in obese mother/stunted child pairs [18]. A review of the literature reveals several studies around Nigeria have investigated the challenge of protein-energy malnutrition in children [18][19][20][21][22] and women [23][24][25]. A study [26] presented results of nutritional parameters in mother-child pairs in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, with the sole aim of probing vitamin A intake to justify the introduction of biofortified cassava (rich in carotenoids which is a vitamin A precursor) considering that the state has the highest consumption of Nigeria's chief carbohydrate crop-cassava. While this study expatiated on hidden hunger rates in the selected population, anthropometric information was not critically reported in this population. A closer look into these anthropometric indicators is justified by results of the Nigeria demographic health surveys in the past decade that have established that women in the southern regions were having highest rates of overnutrition which had increased from 26.7% in 2008 [16] to 32.05% in 2013 [17]. As have been found in similar populations [7,18], these increases suggest that in the same household where the child may be undernourished, the mother (or primary caregiver) may be experiencing another form of malnutrition.is study was thus conducted to assess anthropometric indices among women of child-bearing age and children 6-59 months old in Akwa Ibom State, South-South region, Nigeria.is was a descriptive cross-sectional study to assess anthropometric indices of women of childbearing age and children aged between 6 and 59 months. It was conducted alongside the study on vitamin A status of women of child-bearing age in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.Akwa Ibom State, which is located in the South-South geopolitical zone and the humid forest agroecological zone, was selected as the project state. Earlier surveys had established that the state has the highest consumption of cassava and a high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency.e estimation of sample size for this study was based on the prevalent data on vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and iron and zinc deficiencies obtained for the state from the National Nutrition survey [15]. e prevalence of wasting, stunting, and underweight obtained from the National Demographic and Health Survey [16] was included in the estimation of sample size. e sample size was calculated based on the following criteria and assumptions:(i) e confidence level of 93.5 (precision of 6.5%) (ii) Power of 80% (iii) Estimated malnutrition among children of 30% (iv) A design effect of 2.5 (v) e individual response rate of 85% (vi) Seven individuals per household on average (vii) Sixteen percent of the population being children of 6-59 months of age (viii) A sample size of 660 households was estimated us, a total of 660 households with women of childbearing age and children of 6-59 months of age were selected for the study.e sample was selected using a multistage selection scheme consisting of three levels: selection of local government areas (LGAs), enumeration areas (EAs), and households. Akwa Ibom State has 31 LGAs, made up of 16 rural, 5 urban, and 10 periurban areas. In Nigeria, the current official designation of rural, urban, and periurban is based mainly on population. According to the National Population Commission of Nigeria, a community with less than 5,000 people is regarded as rural, between 5,000 and 20,000 people is regarded as periurban, and above 20,000 is regarded as urban. Since malnutrition is prevalent in both urban and rural centres and dietary habits cut across all sectors of urbanization, ten (10) LGAs were selected using the probability proportionate to size, such that the likelihood of an LGA being selected was proportionate to its size. is resulted in the selection of 5 rural, 1 urban, and 4 periurban areas. A random selection of three EAs within each LGA was made. erefore, a total of 30 EAs were sampled. At least 22 households were sampled randomly at the community level from each EA totalling 660 households.and children were collected in the study to provide outcome measures for nutritional status. Weight and height for both mothers and children were collected according to standard procedures, which included tared weighing procedure and length (recumbent) measurement for children under 24 months, while height measurement (standing) was carried out for children above 2 years and their mothers [16].2.6. Data Processing and Statistical Analysis. Data entry was done using MS Access and MS Excel. Data verification, screening, and editing were carried out to ensure that the entry errors were corrected. Double entered data were compared using the compare procedure of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) to identify erroneously recorded data which usually cannot be easily verified or corrected. Weight and height values were used to calculate and classify body mass index (BMI) for mothers based on the World Health Organization classifications. Mothers within the teenage category were classified using WHO-Anthro Plus software, 2006, using the BMI-for-age classification [27]. Height-forage, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height were determined using WHO-Anthro Plus software, 2006.e results obtained were compared with reference values from the population of well-nourished children. Indices were expressed as the standard deviation of units from the median for the reference group.Outlier values such as implausible values for anthropometric indices were excluded from the dataset. is accounts for variation in reported frequencies. Frequency of each variable was conducted to ensure that values are within the acceptable range. Essential basic descriptive statistics and plots on distribution were conducted using SAS version 9.2, Cary, NC, USA. e chi-square test tested the significance of differences in proportion, and p < 0.05 was taken as significant.Health Research Ethics committee based in the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja. Ethical approval was also obtained from Akwa Ibom State Research Ethics committee in the Ministry of Health. Written informed consent was obtained from the women who participated in the study after the study objectives had been explained. ere was no significant difference in the mean age between boys and girls (p � 0.17). Mean weight among children was 12.70 ± 3.78 kg, that of boys was 13.03 ± 3.76 kg, and girls had a mean weight of 12.36 ± 3.76 kg. ere was a significant difference in mean weight between boys and girls (p � 0.041). Five hundred and forty-three children had data on height, and the mean value was 87.28 ± 13.39 cm. Mean height for boys was 88.29 ± 14.57 cm and that of girls was 86.28 ± 12.04 cm. As presented in Table 2, a total of five hundred and ninety-six children were assessed for heightfor-age; of these, 295 (49.5%) were boys, and 301 (50.5%) were girls. ree hundred and seventy-three (62.9%) children had normal height-for-age; of these, 183 (30.7%) were boys, and 190 (31.9%) were girls. e total prevalence of stunting among children was 223 (37.4%); of these, 112 (18.6%) were boys, and 111 (18.7%) were girls. Prevalence of mild/moderate stunting was 118 (19.8%), and that of severe stunting was 105 (17.6%). ere was no significant difference in stunting between boys and girls. A total of 593 children were assessed for weight-for-age; of these, 294 (49.6%) were boys, and 299 (50.4%) were girls. e total prevalence of underweight among children was 108 (18.2%), comprising 67 (11.3%) moderate underweight and 41 (6.9%) severe underweight. Of the total number of underweight children, 53 (9.0%) were boys, and 55 (9.2%) were girls. ere were no significant differences in underweight between boys and girls (p > 0.05). A total of five hundred and fifty-one children were assessed for weight-for-height. Results showed that a total of 72 (13.1%) of the children were wasted. Of these, 34 (6.2%) were moderately wasted, and 38 (6.9%) were severely wasted. Again, there was no significant difference between boys and girls in wasting. As presented in Table 3, the mean age among mothers was 27.28 ± 6.85. Mean weight and height were 58.43 ± 12.05 kg and 157.52 ± 6.56 cm, respectively. Anthropometric data from 620 women were used to calculate maternal BMI. Highest body mass index (BMI) was 45.45 kg/m 2 ; the lowest BMI was 14.55 kg/m 2 , and the mean BMI was 23.54 ± 4.60 kg/m 2 . A total of 58.71% of the women had BMI values in the normal range. About 55 (8.87%) of the respondents were underweight, and 142 (23.39%) were overweight. Also, 57 (9.03%) were obese with a BMI higher than 30 kg/m 2 . Table 4 presents the crosstabulation of mothers' BMI status in comparison with children's anthropometric indices. e mother-child comparison showed that 105 (16.94%) moderately stunted and 94 (15.16%) severely stunted children had 45 (8.25%) and 18 (2.90%) overweight or obese mothers, respectively. Among the 44 (7.13) children who were severely underweight, only 11 (1.78) and 4 (0.65) had overweight and obese mothers, respectively. For the weight-for-height index, 30 (4.89%) experiencing mild wasting and 37 (6.04%) of the children who were severely wasted had 15 (2.45%) overweight and 7 (1.14%) obese mothers. ere was no significant (p > 0.055) relationship between mother's BMI and any of the children's anthropometric indices.is study thus presents information on the occurrence of double burden malnutrition after assessing anthropometric assessments in mother-child pairs living in Akwa Ibom State. e result of this study indicated a high prevalence of stunting and wasting among the children in Akwa Ibom State.e underweight levels were, however, of medium severity. e stunting levels in this study were lower than a report [22] in which children living in Makurdi, a northcentral area of the country, were surveyed. is stunting level in this study is, however, higher than those reported by literature [25,28] from the southwestern part of the country.e rural study location may have contributed to this disparity. ese stunting values presented in this study are consistent with national estimates of stunted children in Nigeria [17]. Prevalence of underweight among children was comparable to results reported in the literature [21,29]. e wasting levels of children in this study can be considered to be of public health significance which suggests an occurrence of severe acute illness. ere was no significant difference in stunting, underweight, and wasting between boys and girls observed in this study. Several factors can be implicated as contributing to child undernutrition [30]. e Nigerian Demographic Health Survey has described these factors to include child sex, age, location, and socioeconomic status of the household which consists of factors such as parents' occupations and education with particular reference to maternal education [16]. Several other factors contributing to the high prevalence of undernutrition among children could include severe food shortage or suboptimal complementary feeding practices, and inadequate household sanitary facilities which can lead to illnesses and growth faltering [28]. Among Ethiopian children, Tessema et al. [31] stated that the prevalence of undernutrition was different across age groups of the children, which implies that each  stage of growth has its peculiarity. e mean height of the women falls within the short maternal height range described by the WHO collaborative study [27,32]. It is vital since it can be used to identify women with obstetric risks and predict reproductive outcomes [33]. Even though the maternal undernutrition in this study is low, undernourishment in women is always a situation of public health concern [34]. e more prevalent form of malnutrition among women in this study was overweight, which can be classified as a problematic situation of public health significance.In comparison to national estimates, the values in this study confirm a rise in the prevalence of overweight/obese women of child-bearing age [17] which could indicate suggestions of nutrition transition [7,35] which could have both short-and long-term implication for maternal and child health [10,11,36,37]. If the whole population is thus considered, there is a high prevalence of undernourished children and overweight mothers which indicates the existence of a double burden of malnutrition in the same population. is observation is similar to findings locally [18] and globally [7,14].Contrary to usual expectations that in low-middle income settings, malnutrition is unidirectional (undernourishment), this study thus asserts that it can be in two directions.is occurrence even raises the questions of the possibility of hidden hunger being present in the same population. At the household level, this occurrence is not apparent and expectedly was not statistically significant as presented in the results. However, the existence at population level confirms reports by Popkin et al. [7,38] who explained that variations still exist in the severity across the nations of the world. However, the existence is real, and interventions to reduce the burden should be expedited.Prevalence of malnutrition expressed as stunting, underweight, and wasting is high among the children involved in this study, so is maternal overnutrition which is prevalent among mothers.ere was no significant difference in stunting, underweight, and wasting between boys and girls.is prevalence indicates that in the same population, the presence of different forms of malnutrition exists. However, this trend is particularly worthy of note since Nigeria is still grappling with the challenges of undernutrition, and most of the interventions are usually focused in this direction. e evidence presented gives support to the growing list of reports that the existence of binary forms of malnutrition is manifesting at the household level, especially in areas of low economic status. Also, it provides a basis for strengthening any existing intervention to eradicate factors associated with double malnutrition, specifically in the South-South region and generally Nigeria. Besides, there was no relationship between the mother's BMI and any of the children's anthropometric indices.is report, therefore, recommends that more effort be placed on active nutrition surveillance to ascertain the prevalence and periodically reassess priority challenges. We also recommend that nutrition education in the areas of healthy eating for weight control for women and interventions on infant and young child care be implemented and strengthened.ese interventions should be carried out synergetically and not in parallel forms.","tokenCount":"2877"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9363539665.json b/data/part_1/9363539665.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..16725225bdbb5205714a8f9a8a87530bbe08ac82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9363539665.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c43795698a28506d9b565f674260b484","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/92b62d7d-82a0-4e6c-97a1-07bb4f97c5cf/retrieve","id":"1773997088"},"keywords":["Conservation agriculture","infiltration rate","soil moisture","maize"],"sieverID":"21e53f21-0fb0-45a5-8e14-8a5a65a57ccf","pagecount":"1","content":"The negative impacts of mid season dry spells on the productivity of rainfed cropping in the smallholder sector of southern African is a well documented. One way of mitigating these impacts is the promotion of conservation agriculture to enhance infiltration and soil water retention. This on farm study was carried out in ward 1 of Insiza District, Zimbabwe. A short season maize (Zea Mays L.) variety SC403 was grown under three tillage practices (farmer practice, planting basins and clean ripping), on two soil types: sandy silt loam soil (Soil A) and clay loam soil (Soil B). Cumulative infiltration, soil moisture retention and grain yield were determined for each treatment.The total rainfall received during the season was 490mm and 513 mm for site A and site B, respectively. For both soil types, cumulative infiltration was highest in planting pits and lowest in clean ripping. Soil A had the highest cumulative infiltration compared to Soil B, yet soil B retained the most moisture. Planting pits showed the highest moisture retention capacity in both soil types. However, clean ripping retained more moisture than farmer practice in soil A, and the least for soil B. Statistically, there was no significant difference in either the cumulative infiltration and the soil moisture retention in the three tillage practices for the same soil type.In the sandy silt loams, yields of 1648 kg/ha, 1815 kg/ha, 700 kg/ha for farmer practice, planting pits and clean ripping respectively, were observed. For clay loam the yield was 663 kg/ha, 798 kg/ha, 525 kg/ha for farmer practice, planting pits and clean ripping, respectively. There was no significant difference in the yields obtained in the three tillage practices for the same soil type but there was a significant difference in yield between the two soil types. Sandy silt loams had the highest yields.It was concluded that, planting pits enhance infiltration and produce the highest yields in both soil types and that the lack of statistical differences could be attributed to the above normal rainfall received. It was recommended that additional weeding operations be carried out in the clean ripping practice in the first year as these outgrow the maize crop.","tokenCount":"357"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9377262508.json b/data/part_1/9377262508.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2cdfdee8f278e5a393395fd8bdc72ce686a28cb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9377262508.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"95fca2d2e7799843e3afba87e5d00af3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d7569a3a-407f-4afd-8a0f-ddc928407f09/retrieve","id":"832209764"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1fc30185-098e-44ea-974f-497ebe3c169a","pagecount":"60","content":"Pakistan's rich soil and four seasons are favorable for horticulture. The country's horticultural sector: (a) benefits from favourable and diversified agroecological conditions; (b) geographically and strategically well placed to enhance its exports to highly competitive but lucrative markets like Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Central Asian Republics, Europe and Far East; and (c) plays a major socioeconomic role in Pakistan, in particular for women's economic empowerment. While Pakistan is a major producer of horticultural products, its tremendous export potential remains largely untapped. The sector's structure, the characteristics and varieties of the Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) grown locally, and the way in which F&V are being cultivated, aggregated, and transported have a huge bearing on the sector's trade performance and have a tremendous impact on its competitiveness. The production base is highly fragmented, with approximately 85% of the orchards having an area of less than 12.5 acres.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.  Houses, Quality Seed Inputs, and access to credit; (v) reaching out to existing growers through regional Horticulture Farming Associations and Clusters for support with regards to developing reliable farm feedback systems; and (vi) increase real incomes for small and resource-poor farmers and create employment for educated youth and women.Specific targets of the Policy may include: (i) creating enabling environment for Private Investors willing to invest in Horticulture based Business Enterprises; (ii) exposing horticulture producers and private entrepreneurs to modern horticulture techniques and means of horticulture financing; (iii) modernize and improve the value chains in horticultural industries with participants receiving fair market-based returns for their investments; (iv) supply safe, quality products to domestic consumers and export markets; (v) internationally competitive producers and exporters of horticultural products; (vi) produce, transport and process horticultural products giving minimum environmental harm and, where possible, improving natural and man-made environments; and increase sustained, gainful employment and incomes in rural areas;(vii) improve R&D relevance and output for horticultural industries, especially by strengthening farmer-extension-research collaboration and better focused R&D agendas and programs; (viii) reduce post-harvest losses and encourage value addition along the supply chain; (ix) reform markets and marketing systems, including adoption of ICTs accessible to producers, traders and processors including provision of quality crop forecasts and international market information by the Government and establishing knowledge base regarding horticultural industries; and (x) improving network to transmit information vertically and horizontally between markets and farmer while improving Department's existing ability to develop reliable crop estimates.Agriculture Policy Framework Update: It is opportune time to review the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agriculture Policy 2015-2025 in terms of achievements, changing domestic and global demand and variety trend in horticulture, emerging challenges, and opportunities such as locust, climate change, etc., international best approaches and explore the measures needed to integrate with the global value chain. The Department may need update the Agriculture Policy for the next ten years, say 2023-2032. The Policy Update must reflect on the key policy measures and activities to benefit from the potential opportunities arising through cooperation for agriculture sector development envisaged in Long Term Plan for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (see Box 1).The literature suggests strong relationship between infrastructure development, particularly connecting the farms to markets, and agricultural output. CPEC can play an important role in accelerated development of agriculture and horticulture sector and their output in Pakistan including KP and increase the supply. Secondly, rising income and living standards, increasing urbanization, changing diet habits, and food safety concerns have fueled China's agricultural imports since 2001.It is now the world's largest agricultural importer, surpassing both the European Union and the United States with imports totaling to US$ 171 billion in 2020. 2 Increasing 2 https://agra.org/news/chinas-agricultural-policy-digest-edition-2/The key areas of cooperation in Agriculture Development include biological breeding, production, processing, storage and transportation, infrastructure construction, disease prevention and control, water resources utilization, conservation and production, land development and remediation, ICTenabled agriculture, and marketing of agricultural products to promote the systematic, large-scale, standardized, and intensified construction of the agricultural industry. It includes:→ Promoting the transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture in the regions along the CPEC to effectively boost the development of local agricultural economy and help local people get rid of poverty. → Strengthen the upgrading of agricultural infrastructure in the regions along the CPEC. → Promoting the construction of water-saving modern agricultural zones and increase the development and remediation of medium-and low-yielding land to achieve efficient use of resources. → Strengthening drip irrigation technology for water efficiency. → Strengthening cooperation in the fields such as crop farming, livestock breeding, forestry and food growing, and aquatic and fishery in the regions along the CPEC, with the emphasize on technical exchange and cooperation in the fields of development of comprehensive agricultural production capacity, construction of farmland water conservancy facility and agricultural products circulation facility. → Collaborate in forestry, horticulture, fisheries and livestock medicines and vaccines. → Strengthen production of horticulture products. → Improve post-harvest handling, storage, and transportation of agricultural products, and innovate in marketing and sales models. → Improve water resources operation and management, strengthen development of pastoral areas and desert, and promote application of remote sensing technology. → Strengthen production of agriculture inputs particularly pesticides, fertilizer, machinery, and support services including agriculture education and research.x demand for healthy foods is driving fruit and tree nuts sales higher. China's fresh fruit import increased to US$ 10.3 billion in 2020. 3 The top nine fruits in order of import value were fresh durians, cherries, bananas, mangosteens, fresh grapes, dragon fruit, longans, kiwifruit, and oranges (fresh and dried). The Chinese fruits import growth between 2016-2020 was recorded at 23 percent, third highest in the world after USA and Germany.To enable horticulture farmers as well as other agriculturists to gain from CPEC, Special Economic Zones with agri-development hubs along the CPEC route are required. Multiple special economic zones (SEZs) are being established along the CPEC route. However, almost all of them are primarily focused on energy and industry. CPEC offers substantial opportunity for exports in some horticulture products. There is an increasing trend of per capita fruit consumption in China. It is the need of the time to capture the potential of Chinese market by upgrading the quality of fruits produced and bringing them at par with the global standards. Studies suggest that consumers in China are ready to pay a price premia for high quality fruits 4 . Chinese domestic production will be constrained in the long term with the exhaustion of resources and therefore, while China may continue to export temperate fruits, its demand for imported tropical fruits would continue to rise. The second phase of CPEC should include the KP horticulture value chain and may consider building SEZs which can provide incentives to Pakistani and Chinese investors for collaboration in producing high quality horticulture.Commitment to COP27 and Nexus Gain: Water, land, energy, forests, and biodiversity (WEFFB) are strongly interconnected and are critical to rural livelihoods as well as food and nutrition security. Nevertheless, the WEFFB ecosystem is increasingly under stress and vulnerable to climate change and other factors. The challenges are more noticeable in South Asia's breadbasket basins because of glacier melting, changing hydrological and ecological regimes, climate change, transboundary water conflicts, unsustainable (ground)water abstraction, deforestation, biodiversity loss, rapid urbanization shrinking cultivable land and reliance on fossil fuel putting 8 percent of world's food production at risk. It is important that all relevant institutions in the public sector, key stakeholders in the private sector, farmers, academia, nongovernmental organizations in the sectors to make the next Agriculture and Horticulture Policy Framework more inclusive and well synergized for: (i) enhancing water productivity and efficiency in the agriculture sector; (ii) increasing water, energy, food and nutrition, and environmental sustainability; (iii) developing more sustainable and equitable food system in KP; and (iv) developing horticulture sector and value chains, through knowledge products, practical learning tools and guidelines, science policy dialogues, effective agriculture innovation system and advisory services and leading the policy implementation.The Government and horticultural producers must demonstrate their commitments to COP26 and COP27 goals for net zero emissions and limiting global warming to 1.5oC. Measured emission reductions targets have become mainstream not only for big emitters but for suppliers.Institutional Framework: Horticulture including floriculture sector has proved to be a key to diversify land use. Over time, the sector has established its credibility for improving productivity of land, generating more employment, and providing nutritional security to the people. The objective of establishing knowledge base for inclusive horticulture growth is to design integrated solutions and address the constraints and opportunities for competitiveness and inclusive value chains as elaborated above. This may also highlight the measures taken to filling key knowledge gaps regarding standards, certification, market information, international trade opportunities, potential areas for investment, integrated water management, legal and regulatory environment for domestic and international markets for horticulture produce from KP.  8 Due to the adoption of multi-pronged strategies adopted by the Indian government to revitalize agriculture sector tremendous improvements has been observed. Indian agriculture sector has faced a decline in the use of human and animal power from 66 percent in 1971 to about 12 percent in 2013-14 whereas during the same period increasing the use of mechanical and electrical sources form 34 percent to 88 percent.The Indian government recently adopted demand-driven strategies of \"Uberization\" and \"Custom Hiring Model\" under an existing project of National Mission on Agriculture Extension and Technology (NMAET). The model was designed to facilitate rural small farmers with advance machinery and services related to its operations on \"pay per use\" basis. Such strategy helped to reduce the cost of production and post-harvest losses related to mishandling of farm output ensuring the three pillared criteria of efficiency, inclusiveness, and financial sustainability. Furthermore, under the custom hiring model, various customer hiring centers (CHCs) and high-tech hubs on subsidized rates were established in rural areas to provide technical assistance to rural farmers for operating equipment's and high-tech machinery. To facilitate the farmer further, Indian government also introduced CHC farm machinery app to assist farmers in terms of accessing farm equipment's and machinery with in a 50km vicinity. By 2019 total 44,233 service providers has been registered on this app with around 120,000 farm equipment available for rent which is a huge success.The Government of KP must encourage farm mechanization where possible by taking advantage of federal concession on imported farm machinery and agricultural equipment at reduced tariff (Custom Duty 0-2 percent and GST 7 percent).d. Integrated Pest Management: Developing countries are highly prone towards food insecurity and therefore are more concerned about improved farm management practices to generate a sustainable supply of agriculture produce and xvi avoid challenges associated with non-availability of staple food commodities. The farmers/producers of horticulture need to be trained in integrated pest management in line with key global standards for exports. There is a significant statistical evidence that farmers' level of knowledge scores on chemical, biological and cultural control methods of pest with extension contact was higher than others. 9 These results reflect the significance of extension-farmers' contact in providing farmers with knowledge in integrated pest management and international best practices for productivity enhancement.e. Access to Credit: Access to formal financing is yet another area that needs substantial improvement, particularly for smallholder farmers. A recent study of micro-credit programs in district Mardan revealed that only 9.5 percent of all formal credit flows went to small farmers. 10 Another study (2012) 11 also suggested that credit dispersed for seeds, irrigation, and tractors is correlated to increased yields and revenues for farmers. Access to formal financing is even more difficult in the NMDs as more farmers rely on informal debt for farming. A survey in 2019 that almost half of the households (49 percent) contracted a debt in the preceding six months to pay medical expenses and to purchase food. 12 Farmers with access to credit can potentially enhance their incomes and crop yield by over 25 percent 13 . Strengthening farmers' access to credit, especially smallholders, through public and private sector credit institutions to invest in horticulture will be a key to promote and expand horticulture in KP.DigiFarm is a success story of farmer's financial inclusion in Kenya where Mercy Corps, together with Master Card Foundation implemented a wide-scale farmers digital inclusion program through Kenyan M-Pesa mobile network. Digi Farm provides easy access to loans for purchasing agriculture inputs and harvest cash loans by using the mobile application. It also includes educational program for the one million registered farmers 14 .Digital platform can also provide access to farm-gate through which farmers can fetch higher prices of their produce-like in Kenya where they on average receive 60 percent higher prices than usual. It is estimated that the small potato farmer holders of Kenya have been able to increase their annual income by USD 1400 due to this financial inclusion-accruing a combined benefit of approximately USD 1.1 billion per annum 15 . A similar initiative can be undertaken for the smallscale fruits and vegetables farmers in KP and NMD by utilizing the vast spread network of Easypaisa. Telenor Pakistan is already running a microfinance bank that can provide easy loans to farmers for purchasing inputs and machinery through Easypaisa mobile app and maintain a credit score for each farmer. The credit limit can be successively enhanced with the increase in credit rating over time.Credit provision can also be linked with the already existing mobile application \"Agriculture Extension KP' designed by the Department of Agriculture, KP providing real time market prices and weather information to the local farmers. As the provincial government is already invested in digital inclusion of the farmers, enabling farmers to receive loan directly to their Easypaisa account through this app can be a gamechanger.Research and Development: It is vital for the government and academic research institutions to develop solutions to challenges facing the horticulture sector in collaboration with local horticultural producers and to promote technology adoption for commercial horticulture. It is equally important to disseminate and access to information by the industry, horticulture producers, and markets.Productivity Enhancement: It is important to focus on productivity improvement and innovation to enable the sector becoming more competitive and resilient. It will require an in-depth analysis of availability of quality inputs, particularly for diversification, yield and production and cost structure of horticulture industry of KP to identify structural and other issues that affect the competitiveness of producers in domestic and overseas markets including producers' knowledge, skills, and market awareness. 12.Product Diversity: The domestic and international markets are now seeking greater choice across seasonal conditions. This diversity is derived both geographically and in products, using different technology. It requires investment in research and development and innovations to generate new cultivars to produce diverse varieties.Many countries, such as Australia, grows a full range of horticultural crops.Quality Assurance: Huge focus on quality including meeting quarantine and biosecurity (SPS) measures and compliance to standards and protocols is ensured to mitigate risks arising from additives, toxins, and contaminants as well as meeting specific market requirements.Post-Harvest Losses and Value Addition: Post-harvest part of the value chain requires immediate focus. Lack of appropriate product grading, waxing, cooling, packaging, storage, cold-chain systems, temperature/humidity control, poor farm to market infrastructure in rural areas and an efficient collection system through proper scheduling of the harvest to ensure availability adequate transport severely limit the ability of fruit produce to sustain consistent supply of high-quality products and result in high losses. Controlling these losses has the potential to increase the income of farmers from fruits by at least 25 percent in KP. It not only needs investment by the government as a catalyst but also substantial engagement of the private sector. Since most fruits and vegetables are perishable, significant physical and quality losses at postharvest stage lack of a robust cold-chains system from farm to wholesale and retail markets, and processing and export exit points. While considerable improvements have been made in the grading, processing, storage, packaging, labelling and transport of fruits and vegetables around the country, these areas still require public and private investment in KP including NMDs. There is now an increasing demand of organic production of selected high-value fruits and vegetables, but a large community of farmers are unaware about the potential increase in revenues associated with organic farming.The hub and spoke model for processing activities has proved to be an efficient and sustainable model for reducing post-harvest losses in India 18 and has the potential of being successfully implemented in KP (Figure 2). Efficient and sustainable cold-storage system is vital for transport of large volume of horticulture commodities in a consistent manner. Post-harvest losses in KP's top fruits such as peaches and tomatoes take away 20 to 27 percent of the produce-mainly due to picking, handling, storage and transportation of the fruits and vegetables. Hub and Spoke model in India included both, an establishment of food parks by multiple firms and few are run by a single firm. However, hub and spoke model is more likely to be efficient when under a cluster as it reaps the benefits of economies of scale and optimum utilization of resources through sharing of warehousing, blast freezers, and cold storage.In a hub and spoke model, joint facilities can be constructed along with building usual infrastructure such as water supply, roads, and power back-up. The temporary storage facilities and small-scale activities are carried out near the farm gate while the large-scale storage and processing facilities are constructed near hubs. Hubs are built at strategic locations providing easy access to both markets and farms.Joint storage and processing facilities can be constructed along with building usual infrastructure such as water supply, roads, and power back-up. The temporary storage facilities and small-scale activities are carried out near the farm gate while the large-scale storage and processing facilities are constructed near hubs. Hubs are built at strategic locations providing easy access to both markets and farms. Hub and spoke model, fruits and vegetables are transported in four phases i.e., from farmers to buying centers (spokes), buying centers to hub, from hub to large retailers and from retailers to the end consumers. This system not only ensures reduction in post-harvest losses but also offers competitive and transparent prices to farmers as well as buying centers. Reducing Agro-Wastes: The countries are now developing techniques for reducing, reusing and repurposing agro-wastes to enhance profit margins to encourage participation of private sector. It is important to innovate techniqures that not only minimize and reuse agro-waste in horticulture but also repurpose agro-waste for crop production as well as food and non-food industrial processes such as cosmetics, household products, packaging, mechanical, and construction applications.Promoting Agro-Processing and Value Addition: Value addition through processing is not very strong as less than 10 percent of the total production of fruits and vegetables is processed in KP 20 , thus loosing higher returns. Promoting agro-processing units in KP can stimulate and strengthen horticulture sector through value addition, steady demand, quality control and supply chain linkages. Establishment of small and medium-size agro-processing operations near fruit production areas are expected to generate employment, economic development of the rural locations and serve as market outlets for surpluses.Promoting Dried Food Industry: The establishment of a dried fruit industry in KP may be the most logical type of value added. The technology for drying is quite simple and initial cost is not too high nor the supply of raw material is a constraint. The current technology use includes controlled temperature forced air ovens to maintain quality 19 Ibid. 20 KIAPIP Project Appraisal Document, The World Bank, 2019 and freshness of the produce. Nevertheless, it needs timely information regarding potential markets, demand, technical know-how for drying process and a supply consolidation mechanism. A public-private sector initiative can pilot it using modern technology and ensuring international standards requirements.The frozen food market is among the largest and most dynamic segment among other agro-industrial segments.International trade patterns show a significant increase in trade of frozen commodities in past years. The global frozen fruits and vegetables market reached US$ 25.4 billion in 2021 and expected to reach to US$30 by 2027. 21 Common commodities traded under this category include frozen potatoes, peas, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, sweet corns and some other variety of vegetables and fruits. Growing international market of frozen vegetables and fruits provides an attractive opportunity for local private investors to promote agriculture production and initiate an agro-industrial unit for value addition. It will further open door for local farm producer to sell their surplus produce to the agribusiness entities without wasting them due to post harvest mishandling.Pakistan's share of fruit exports is increasing annually reflecting the existing potential of frozen fruit and vegetable industry in international market. Recently, Fauji Fresh n Freeze has adopted IQF technology to produce frozen potato fries, peas, strawberries, and other green vegetables however, the firm is facing constrains in obtaining quality inputs from farms necessary for smooth industrial processing.The development of such an industry will promote plantation of high value fruits like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Fruit juices, nectars, and other types of preserves (jams, jellies, and marmalades) are also widely consumed throughout the country. However, it will require strong grading system, labelling standards, processing, storage and packaging and continuous supply of fresh fruits. The products that can be considered for quick freezing may include potatoes, bitter gourd, carrot, okra, mango, citrus pulp, apricot, etc. The ready to cook (RTE) food segments has stimulated the rise in frozen food companies in Pakistan which are catering to the needs of tier-1 cities.The Government of KP needs to incentivize the stakeholders to strengthen various elements of horticulture value chain including processing fruits and vegetables including dried, frozen, preserved, juices and pulps which increase shelf life of the raw product, collaboration with international import companies for developing quality branding, arrangements for blast chilled processing systems and cold storage units for 21 https://www.imarcgroup.com/frozen-fruits-and-vegetables-market xxii transportation, along with effective marketing and distribution system. This function can also be assigned to the proposed Agribusiness Innovation Authority and incentivization can be done through Agribusiness Innovation Fund.Round the Year Supply of Horticulture Products: Consumers now expect yearround supply of safe, nutritious fruits and vegetables. It is important to consider extending the production season, expanding controlled environments for horticulture locally, and develop specific cultivars and production systems with rapid breeding. Techniques for precision genetic manipulation, such as targeted gene editing, can significantly increase breeding efficiency, particularly for those characters that are genetically controlled by a few major genes, such as resistance to pathogens (Xu, 2022) 20.There is a need to establish pre-cooling centers, proper cold-storage with blast cooling system, and management and operation of storage facilities must be a priority to strengthen the horticulture value chain. This can be initiated through public-private partnership.Smallholder Horticulture Growers: Opportunities for smallholder growers are often limited in the domestic or regional markets in the developing countries. These smallholders can be trained in producing products for the niche domestic or regional markets and meeting minimum standards and quality. Easing credit access to smallholders who are already in the value chains, either directly through buyers or wholesalers can minimize financial constraints to upgrading their production and supply system and facilitate them in accessing market information. They can be integrated with Farm Service Centers.Climate Smart Agriculture and Horticulture: The horticulture policy needs to adopt climate smart agriculture practices. Case studies from developing countries show that women participation in agriculture sector has significant impact on adapting climate smart agriculture practices and improving the socio-economic status of households involved along with a strengthened role of women in decision making attributes. For example, a pilot study Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) conducted in Maharashtra, India adopted a multi-pronged approach for adopting climate smart agriculture practices while incorporating gender role in agriculture. Climate smart irrigation techniques were adopted including drop irrigation, sprinklers, farm ponds and more tree plantations resulted in formation of a more efficient water management mechanism in the region. The government also facilitated them with required dripirrigation equipment at subsidized rates, further reducing the consumption of water to an efficient level. Female farm growers were further trained by agriculture extension departments for using advanced techniques of soil testing, seed preservation, land mulching, water testing and use of seeds that are not affected by less rainfall.This woman led climate smart pilot study resulted in increase in crop yield by 25 percent. 22 Moreover, households where woman were involved in agriculture farming saved 497 US dollars of their food spending per year. Whereas more than 200 acres of land was cultivated using organic seeds which contributed towards household savings in terms of reduced spending on expensive seed varieties available in market. It further strengthened the decision making and leadership role of women farmers.KP must also adopt similar multi-pronged techniques of climate smart agriculture by incorporating gender role in rural agriculture farming. The government needs to develop extension centers in rural areas of KP where staff ensures the provision of trainings to female farmers and adopt to a more useful climate smart irrigation and cultivation mechanism to foster the generating threat of water scarcity in the country and ensure food security in the region. This will help in improving the socio-economic status of rural households and enabling women in terms of decision making to a greater extent.Market Reforms: It is strongly proposed to further reform the agriculture produce markets and strengthen the Farm Service Centers to bring innovation to agricultural marketing system and making them more efficient, competitive, and transparent as well as ensuring equitable margins for the producers and address the welfare aspect of the consumers.Branding and Packaging of Fruits: A key ingredient to the success of horticultural crops in the United States, Turkey, Australia and Chile has been their success at building a reputation for quality, safety and reliability extending beyond the reputation of individual firms and farms within the industry. 23 While the world knows variety of products as per its origin such as New Zealand Kiwi, Ceylon Tea, Kenyan Avocado and Indian mango etc., there is no such recognition for any Pakistan fruit or vegetable. Company brand is not the same as country brand. Case studies from the developing world show that there is huge return associated with marketing and branding of horticulture products with country name as foreign buyers are usually unaware of the quality, nutritional value and taste offered by the exotic fruits and vegetables. Branding reduces consumers' search costs and enhances suppliers' marketing efficiency as a brand acts as a symbol of product attributes.Chile is now the top exporter of various fruits to China, although this was not the case a decade ago. During the past decade, Chile worked extensively on branding its horticulture products as Chilean and selling it at a premium. Chile came up with a single 'Chile Fresh Fruit logo' and ending various logos used by different suppliers of fruits. Multiple logos create confusion among buyers and single logo helped in ease of identification 24 .Building a country brand requires a joint effort between the government and private exporters. Private firms individually do not have any incentive to invest heavily in building a country brand because other firms will enjoy free riding at the cost of their investment. The initial investment remains higher and requires support from government bodies and trade agencies. KP government can also work on the following branding strategy for its top three fruits and vegetables. This should begin with conducting regional and global studies for identification of plausible region-based or farm-based fruits and vegetable brands. In the next stage, it is essential to identify the potential markets and value chains required to develop the brand. This would also require stakeholders in KP to develop targeted marketing programs for identified markets focusing on international consumers experiencing KP's apple, peach and dates. Further, KP government would also have to immediately start working on the developing the intellectual property rights for the planned products.Contract Farming and Crop Insurance: Since the farm size is generally small in KP except for some areas, contract farming by linking the farmers with the value chain for quality inputs, product variety, credit, creating revolving funds, extension services, increasing production, and meeting other standards needs to be considered to promote horticulture in the province. Encouraging contractual (future markets) production and vertical coordination can ensure a fair share of the producers in price spread along the supply chain. Additionally, initiating crop insurance may be a good step forward in terms of mitigating risks that small farmers are averse to take. Diversification of horticultural products may also require resource-providing contracts with guaranteed purchasers to share the risk between smallholders and exporters or seller in the domestic markets.Contract farming practices across the world have shown a significant impact on farm productivity and associated agro-industrial units. Among other success stories, PepsiCo is one such example. PepsiCo launched its tomato based agro-industry in India with an aim of producing export quality tomato paste and puree. However, neither the quality nor the quantity supplied in the market was up to the mark to promote exports and to utilize the total capacity of installed industrial unit. Moreover, lack of modern farm practices, modern input varieties and lack of an efficient logistic mechanism were the prevailing bottlenecks for operating a successful agro-industry in the region. To catalyze the process and increase the supply of farm inputs, PepsiCo undertook a backward linkage with farm growers in Punjab, India. PepsiCo entered into a contractual agreement with the farm owners using their lands for cultivating better crop varieties of tomato by adopting more robust agriculture practices. The success parameters of the contract were: (i) use of advanced agriculture technology, (ii) enhanced R&D, (iii) use of quality seeds and fertilizers and (iv) adoption of modern agriculture practices, which all together yielded better farm outputs in a shorter span of time. Along with identified parameters of success, the company undergone strategic partnerships with Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) and Punjab Industries of Corporation Ltd and made the contracts successful with the farm growers. The results showed tripling of yield levels in chili and tomato from 6.0 tons/ha to 20 tons/ha and 14 tons/ha to 52 tons/ha respectively. 25 Hence, it appears that contract farming is a viable and efficient alternative farming model which assures reliable input services for farmers and a desired output for the contracting firm.KP government also needs to adopt to such ventures and encourage a greater private sector entry in the horticulture value chain to emulate farm growers and horticulture enterprises mutual benefits particularly in KP horticulture sector.Promoting Competition: KP farmers and qualified processing firms may be allowed to freely engage in the exporting business to create a competitive environment for their products. The government may adapt Small and Medium Enterprises policy for supporting SMEs to develop value chains to be competitive.Processing and Transportation: The Government of KP needs to incentivize the stakeholders to strengthen various elements of horticulture value chain including processing fruits and vegetables including dried, frozen, preserved, juices and pulps which increase shelf life of the raw product, collaboration with international import companies for developing quality branding, arrange for blast chilled the processed products and cold storage units for transportation, and effective marketing and distribution system. This function can also be assigned to the proposed Agribusiness Innovation Authority and incentivization can be done through Agribusiness Innovation Fund.The Government of KP must invest in developing government and horticultural value chain led information system to familiarize the horticultural producers with market trends, global demand, and the outlook for key agricultural/horticultural commodities. At the same time, this system is required to create public awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables, thereby influencing tastes and preferences and to get feedback of consumers.Food Safety and Standards Governance: Consumer awareness and concern for food safety is growing not only in Pakistan but more so in international markets, particularly in Europe and Gulf countries. They are now more concerned about chemical residues on fresh fruits and vegetables, biosafety, and phytosanitary conditions and are demanding for strict enforcement of food safety laws and regulations. Additionally, supermarket chains are now exerting significant influence over the entire value chain and command the production, harvest, transportation, processing and storage of fruits and vegetables apart from ensuring quality and standards compliance. The Government of KP has enacted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority Act, 2014 as well as Regulations in 2017, there is a need to take necessary measures to enforce national and international standards for horticulture as highlighted in Table 1 above. In addition, the province of KP may also consider legislating on the lines of Punjab Agriculture, Food, and Drug Authority to address the issue of chemical residues on fresh produce. Directive 90/642/EEC stipulates that each EU Member State must implement a program to monitor pesticide residues in fresh produce and other foodstuffs. 30 It may be noted that these standards reflect an interface between requisite laws, associated institutions, their structures and effectiveness, business strategies of producers and entrepreneurs, and consumer preferences as illustrated in Figure 3.In most countries like Pakistan and market segments, the primary focus of consumers is price while in many market segments, primary preference is quality, safety, and other attributes of fresh produce while price is a sector consideration. Many of these standards are demand driven, therefore the regulatory landscape is fluid and is prone to short-term changes. The Department of Agriculture may take necessary measures to train farmers and value chain workers to meet national and international standards and establishment of appropriate institutional sanitary and phytosanitary framework at provincial level. Similarly, the Government of KP may incentivize healthy competition by providing enabling environment and address those barriers that impede competitiveness and value addition activities.Categorization of Exporters of Fresh Horticulture Produce: The horticulture industry around the globe is transforming rapidly and so are the trading operations as producers-exporters or exporters are moving towards vertical and horizontal integration in response to demand for quality, standards, and compliance to various protocols. The Government of KP may need to categorize these producers-exporters or exporters within the province or the country for trade linkages to unleash the potential of KP horticulture produce. This tentative categorization is at Table 2. Integration into Global Value Chains (GVCs): GVCs has historically resulted in significant returns for developing as well as developed economies, as for the consumers and the firms. Welch and Luostrainen (1988) have identified four pathways to facilitate firms to participate in Global Value Chains: 31 (i) Supplier linkages with international firms: firms can domestically produce and supply goods or services to international firms, such as, multinational corporations or domestic exporters, which will in turn export those products to the international market; (ii) Strategic alliances with MNCs (coproduction): firms can coproduce goods or services together with MNCs, which will then use those inputs in their global production networks; (iii) Direct exporting: firms can domestically produce goods or services and sell them directly on the international market; and (iv) Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI): firms can use OFDI to move part of their production facilities abroad or to establish an overseas sales affiliate, thereby internationalizing their production and most likely their sales. The pre-requisites for internationalization of horticulture produce include:a. an international partner or domestic exporter to source local inputs for export oriented production and willing to establish a new affiliate with local partner and share part of its technological knowledge.b. a domestic firm with ability to produce and supply goods and services that meet the standards required by the partner through international certification and reliable supply at competitive prices; proven experience in production for the domestic market, knowledge of local institutions and regulatory mechanisms and willingness to engage with a foreign partner to upgrade and expand its business; or c. a domestic firm which has the minimum production capabilities, quality, and productivity, to compete internationally and sufficient global markets knowledge, market experience, financial solvency and are willing to establish its foreign subsidiary and to tailor its products to international demand.The horticulture industry in most developing countries is organized through strong linkages between firms which are either producer-exporters or only exporters buying produce from independent growers. In GVC integration, producer-exporters usually consolidate vertically through (i) backward integration of exporters to production and increased dominance of large farms; (ii) contracted supply from out-growers whereby the farmer may receive inputs, credit, technical assistance, and guaranteed sales from the exporters; and (iii) noncontracted supply from the dependent growers 32 . On the demand side, large supermarket chains are the leading actors in key fruit and vegetable GVCs recognize that food is no longer grown, transformed, and consumed at the same location. Australia is one such case study where agriculture contribute minimal in the overall economy and contributes just one percent in the global agriculture market but has a significant share in the downstream industry. One of the examples is Australian wheat. About eight percent of wheat exports value came from importing inputs from around the world. These inputs include fuel, machinery, fertilizers etc. to be used on the wheat farms. The wheat is then transported to Indonesia for milling, where it is transformed into flour. The flour is then used to produce various final goods such as noodles, which are consumed both locally as well around the world 33 . The Asian noodles market now represent more than 33 percent of the Australian wheat exports 34 .Integrating into GVCs would hold numerous benefits for the KP horticulture sector-mainly in terms of growth in output and exports. Right now, KP horticulture sector is largely disconnected with the GVCs and integrating with GVCs is imminent for growth. Growth in output is achieved through greater market access and due to improved technology and inputs use, transforming the way fruits and vegetables are produced. This contributes to increase in yield and productivity. Moreover, with time, access to large consumer markets will provide incentive to farmers in KP to invest in the horticulture business which later results in achieving economies of scale.Role of Gender in Horticulture Sector: Agriculture is an important engine of growth and development which can contribute efficiently towards poverty reduction in the country. The role of women in agriculture sector is significant but this resource is underperforming in many countries due to several constraints. shows that women comprise 43 percent of the agricultural labor force globally and in developing countries. 35 In Pakistan, women participation in agriculture sector is only 20 percent 36 due to the existence of several social and cultural impediments. Majority of the rural women face challenges in acquiring access to various valuables resources such as education, skills, markets, and occupational mobility. A study by ACIAR (2021) 37 found an effective role of woman in dairy value chain industry where nestle has successfully established a holistic mechanism by involving rural woman in developing its value chains. The women involved in the value chains are given variety of skills related to animal health and nutrition. They ensure the quality and supply of milk from rural producers to industrial unit for processing and earn livelihoods for their family. These skills clearly impacted the socioeconomic status of these households and strengthened the decision-making role of women.KP is underperforming in women participation which is a crucial resource in agriculture economy and a major portion of rural economy. An important contributor towards lesser women participation is the existence of cultural barriers in KP which needs to be addressed timely by the government to reap the benefits of women participation in strengthening agriculture value chains. Workshops and seminars showcasing the importance of women participation in strengthening agriculture sector must be conducted by KP agriculture departments. Moreover, field visits of female surveyors in rural areas of KP to provide useful insights to females and their male members about the importance of gender participation can also pay a crucial role for its development. Pakistan's rich soil and four seasons are favorable for horticulture. The country's horticultural sector: (a) benefits from favourable and diversified agroecological conditions; (b) geographically and strategically well placed to enhance its exports to highly competitive but lucrative markets like Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Central Asian Republics, Europe and Far East; and (c) plays a major socioeconomic role in Pakistan, in particular for women's economic empowerment. While Pakistan is a major producer of horticultural products, its tremendous export potential remains largely untapped. The sector's structure, the characteristics and varieties of the Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) grown locally, and the way in which F&V are being cultivated, aggregated and transported have a huge bearing on the sector's trade performance and have a tremendous impact on its competitiveness. The production base is highly fragmented, with approximately 85% of the orchards having an area of less than 12.5 acres.The country produces more than 28 types of fruits including temperate, tropical, and subtropical fruits (Table 3). The climate of the country also suits the production of more than 30 types of vegetables. Summer vegetables include arum, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, brinjal, cucumber, ginger, hot pepper, mint, okra, potato, pumpkin, sponge gourd, squash gourd, sweet pepper, sweet potato, tomato, turmeric, etc. While, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, coriander, garlic, lettuce leaf, mustard, onion, peas, potato, radish, spinach, turnip, etc. are produced in the winter season. These fruits and vegetables are not only produced for domestic consumption as well as exports. The tunnel farming has also boosted production of off season vegetables. ) is in infancy stage but one of the potential areas of horticulture as the profits are very high with large export market in USA, Europe, and Japan.Investment in fruits and vegetables production holds significant potential and an assured growing market because of their rising demand due to growth in world population and per capita income. The global exports in fruits and vegetables has quadrupled during the past two decades. It has increased from USD 56 billion in 2001 to USD 283 billion in 2020 (UNComtrade, 2020, Figure 4). Trade has increased by 461 percent for fruits and 326 percent for vegetables since 2001. Table 4 shows the most traded horticulture commodities across the globe in 2020.Pakistan has not capitalized on this global growth in horticulture products because of inadequate investment in required infrastructure. This includes variety diversification aligned with global demand, grading and standardization, packaging houses, cold chain, marketing, proper logistics and processing units. Currently, approximately 91 percent of the fruits produced in the country are consumed locally. The remaining 9 percent is either exported (6 percent) or processed into value-added products such as pulps, concentrates, frozen and preserved products (3 percent).Of the top 5 fruits exported globally, Pakistan has export share in citrus and banana. Apple and grapes plantation lack the quality and varieties demanded in the export markets and are generally just suitable for domestic consumption. Similarly, among the top 5 vegetables exported globally, Pakistan shares export of potatoes and onions. Tomatoes are enough to meet the domestic demand.  Figure 6 shows that citrus (orange) is the highest exported commodity in value terms, followed by potato and dates. While for citrus and potato, Pakistan's share in world exports is 1.5% and 2.8% respectively in 2018, for dates the share stands higher at 5.8% because overall global trade for dates is low. Furthermore, frequent regional trade disruptions with India, a major export destination for dry dates, results in volatility in its exports 41 . Pakistan can only achieve marginal gains by exporting mango as a commodity.   Expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages accounts for 36 percent of the total consumption expenditures in Pakistan. 43 Further 20 food items contribute 87 percent of the total expenditure on food (GoP, 2020). At the Pakistan level, total demand for Banana and citrus (mossaumi etc) is estimated as 11,662 and 4533 thousand tons with the production of 135.1 and 2351.4 thousand tons, respectively. While apple demand is estimated at 662,06 thousand tons against the production of 649. The country produces 28 different types of fruits (Siddique & Garnevska, 2018). Per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables in Pakistan is low compared to Europe, America, Central Asia, Middle East, and Southeast Asia, but it is approximately at par with South Asia comparators like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Consumption of vegetables in India and Nepal is higher because of the high vegetarian population. Per capita consumption of vegetables was 21 kg in Pakistan compared to 254 kg in Turkey, 377 kg in China, and 192 kg in Kazakhstan in 2017 (Figure 7) indicating a high potential for exports. In Pakistan, tomato is found to have high income elasticity, thus, increase in the per capita income has resulted in increased demand from consumers. 44 The high demand for tomato can be partly explained by the shift in consumption pattern of urban population especially the preference for fast food with increased incomes and rapid urbanization. Demand for horticulture products has been on the rise in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The total demand for Banana and citrus (mossaumi etc) is estimated as 1389.93 and 848.46 thousand number, respectively against the production of 13 thousand banana and 30.3 thousand tons of citrus. Demand for apple is estimated at 110.85 thousand tons and for other fruits, the demand is 225.97 thousand tons. Apple production in the province is 69.3 thousand tons and production of other fruits is 384.2 thousand tons. Similarly, potato, tomato, onion, chilies, and other vegetables are annually demanded at 486.05, 349.62, 328.30, and 856.98, against the production of 152.6, 124.8, 222.4, 0.4, and 410.1 thousand tons, respectively (see Table 6).  Diversified agro-climatic condition of KP is conducive for producing varieties of crops, fruit, vegetables, floriculture, and medicinal herbs. The diverse variety of fruits and vegetables produced in KP creates the need to identify the major fruits and vegetables and also study the potential for new ones. This is particularly important for investment in their value chains, both horizontally and vertically, directly improving the livelihoods of farmers, processors, and marketers. Towards this end, analysis is carried and presented in the next section to identify three major fruits and vegetables at the provincial and regional levels.Fruits Produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The total area under fruits was 36.2 thousand hectares in 2016 (Table 7), producing 339.4 tons of fruits. The settled areas account for 86 percent of fruit area while merged districts contribute the rest (14 percent). Similarly, settled areas and merged districts account for 80 and 20 percent of the production of fruit, respectively. Major fruits include peach, apples, melons, and guava, while banana, mangoes, pomegranate, figs, etc. are the minor fruits. Peaches and persimmons, plums, dates, and apples are the leading fruits in the province accounting for 22.1 and 21.4 percent of the fruit area and 15.3 and 26.3 percent of total production. No other fruit contributes more than 20 percent to this level of area and production in the province. These fruits are equally important in the settled and merged districts. 8. The total value of fruits in 2016 in KP was Rs. 22.6 billion. Settled areas account for 73 percent while merged districts account for the rest. Table 8 show that apple and peach contribute about 45 percent to the total value of fruits produced in the settled districts of KP, while the merged districts account for 9 percent. Plums make the third biggest fruit produced in settled areas accounting for 14.4 percent. The third-largest fruit produced in merged districts is almonds accounting for 7.3 percent of the total value produced in merged districts.Vegetables Produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The agroclimatic condition of KP is conducive to the production of a variety of vegetables. Vegetables were grown on 14.2 and 17.9 thousand hectares during 2016-17, producing 167.6 and 166.3 thousand tons in Rabi and Kharif seasons, respectively. The settled areas of the province account for 80 and 83 percent of the total area for vegetables in Rabi and Kharif season, while the rest come from the merged districts (Table 9). The settled areas account for 86 percent of vegetable production in Rabi season and 88 percent in the Kharif season. The major Rabi vegetables grown in KP include tomato, turnip, peas, spinach, and cauliflower while turnip, spinach, cauliflower, tomato, radish, and carrot are the main Kharif vegetables. The production of both of tomatoes and turnips during the Rabi season accounts for 56 percent of vegetable production during the season. Tomato is the leading Rabi vegetable in the settled districts, followed by turnips and peas. However, turnip is the leading Rabi vegetable in the merged areas, followed by spinach and tomato. Similarly, tomatoes and okra jointly account for 56 percent of the area in the Kharif season, accounting for 52 and 73 percent of the area in the settled districts, and 11 and 13 percent respectively in the merged areas of the province. Hence, based on the area and production, tomatoes, turnips, and okra are the leading three vegetables produced in the province. Market Value Vegetables Produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The market values and contribution of different vegetables to the provincial economy are obtained by using wholesale prices of 2016-17 and are presented in Table 10. Major Rabi vegetables of the province, tomato, and turnip jointly account for 56 percent of the value of Rabi vegetables. Tomato alone accounts for 34 percent and turnip 20 percent of that value in the settled districts of the province. Turnip accounts for 54 percent of the total value of Rabi vegetables in the merged areas, which is followed by spinach (14 percent) and tomato (13 percent). The horticulture sector in KP faces various challenges during flow of product from farm to consumer at different stages: (i) pre-planting, (ii) growing, (iii) post-harvesting, (iv) technology, (v) agro-processing, and (vi) transportation, marketing, and export. Each of these challenges are discussed below:Non-Availability of Germplasm (seed): Horticulture in KP mostly relies on years old plant varieties, leading to a lack of crop diversity that limits product varieties for marketing. Global demand has shifted to newer planted fruit varieties. This puts the horticulture sector of KP at a serious competitive disadvantage compared to other countries, including the neighboring competitors of China, Iran, and India. It is important that the Federal Government may consider loosening restrictions on import of germplasm, of course, with necessary safeguards as prescribed under various international conventions.Intellectual Property Rights: Ineffective intellectual property rights regimes and institutional weaknesses are restricting access to newer plant varieties. International companies are reluctant to provide private-domain cultivars because of insufficient intellectual property rights assurances in Pakistan and ranked low on plant variety protection despite enactment of Plant Breeders' Rights Act, 2016. 45The approval process of new varieties is time consuming and at times, takes many years, so international horticulture producers start commercial planting in other countries leaving Pakistan behind. It is important for KP to have access to and plant the appropriate varieties which have strong global demand to be competitive internationally. For this to happen, latest developed and globally planted fruit and vegetable varieties may be experimented in both the government research stations and private sector Model Farms.Low Yield: Insufficient availability of disease-free certified fruit and vegetable seeds and certified nursery plants is a key issue. It compromises the yield and crop quality. Stronger certification and effective extension services are important for better yield and globally competitive crop quality. Figure 8 indicates that the yield in key commodities is about three times lower than the average of top three producing countries, except for potatoes, which is approximately half the world's average. Poor On-Farm Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Standards: One of the factors which inhibits the export of farm produce is the present level of health and hygiene conditions at the farm level. The absence of clean farmworker apparels, facilities for cleanliness such as washrooms and toilets, disposal of packing material of hazardous agrochemicals, etc. discourage foreign buyers from importing fresh and processed horticulture commodities and products from Pakistan. Given its high cost, the Government may design an incentive package to encourage the farmers to follow these standards.The challenges at farm production stage can be summed up: (i) old and unhealthy fruit trees prone to disease; (ii) low density of trees per unit of land as opposed to high density planting in many countries; (iii) proliferation of nurseries with substandard and unhealthy saplings; (iv) inadequate fertility management and application of balanced fertilizer and micronutrients; and (v) lack of knowledge of integrated pest management and indiscriminate use of plant protection agrochemicals.The vital support elements during growing stage include: (a) effective extension services (growing skills, pruning, pest management); (b) orchard and vegetable management; (c) irrigation management; and (d) post-harvest care (waxing, grading, cooling, packing). The water requirement for horticulture crops is higher compared to field crops such as wheat. Supply based irrigation system (Warabandi) is not adjusted to allocate additional water suppliers for horticulture crops. Therefore, technical assistance and effective extension services are vital at the growing stage. The cultural practices of rootstocks, soil preparation, plant establishment, irrigation method, fertilization, pollination and pest management, modern technology, and information about domestic and global demand, need substantial improvement. Extension Services department also requires horticulture specialist as fruit and vegetables crop issues are unique and requires services of specialists rather than agriculture specialist. It is also equally important to establish a formal link between the agriculture university, research institutes and provincial government's extension programs.Orchard management is predominantly in the hands of untrained farm managers with low skill level at some places. There is a general trend to lease out the orchards to contractors who in turn depend on the Commission Agents (Arthis).Capital Investment and Uncertain Weather: Horticulture, more so, fruits cultivation requires significant investment as fruit trees require four to five years to mature and produce fruits. Given this gestation period, not all farmers have the capacity to invest in fruits and vegetables, which is a major hurdle to significant expansion of horticulture area and increasing produce. It certainly needs an effective credit system. Weather uncertainly, such as, untimely rains, hailstorms, windstorms, frost, and temperature variation as well as erratic market prices also restrain the smallholder farmers' choice to shift to horticulture.Post-harvest losses are a critical issue across the horticulture sector. These losses not only have financial costs for the actors in the value chain but are also responsible for malnutrition and reduced national income (Hussain, 1993) Hussain (1993) conducted a study to calculate the losses in non-perishable, semi-perishable, and perishable crops and estimated losses of 10-15, 15-30, and 25-40 percent, respectively in these categories. The analysis clearly shows that postharvest losses increase with the perishability of the commodity. Hence, there is more potential for horizontal and vertical value chains in perishable crops. Vertical integration involves more control by either farmers or marketeers over the steps in the production and/or distribution chains. Naturally, it increases the margins for firms accumulating such powers. Vertical integration could be backward, gaining control of an input supplier/company; forward controlling the postproduction areas, and balanced mix of the two. Horizontal integration involves increasing market share. It could potentially involve acquisitions/collection of products to create monopoly/monopsony powers in output/input markets, respectively.He estimated losses of 23 percent in the supply chain of peach in Pakistan. Khan (2017) reported post-harvest losses of 7 percent in peach at the farm level, while 3 percent, 6 percent, and 7 percent, respectively at wholesale, retail, and consumer levels, in the supply chain of peaches. Peaches are a major fruit in KP and require investment at appropriate levels to decrease the losses.  2007) also explored losses during the transportation of bananas. In their research, they reported the highest losses of 43 percent for banana transported from Hyderabad followed by losses in banana transported from Mirpur Khas (39 percent) and Nawab Shah (37 percent). These post-harvest losses occurred in fruits and vegetables due to a lack of proper knowledge and improper handling at various levels of the marketing chain. According to Osman et al. ( 2009) improper infrastructure, resources, knowledge, and attitude are the factors which contribute to postharvest losses by 52 percent, 39 percent, 37 percent, and 50 percent, respectively. According to an estimate, these losses can be reduced by 24 percent by adopting proper packaging techniques and materials. Saeed and Khan (2010) showed that poor packaging contributed most to the deterioration of tomato, at 25 percent, followed by transportation which led to a further 10 percent deterioration, while distribution further contributed to losses of 5 percent.In his analysis, the highest losses were at the farm level (72 percent of the total losses) followed by the wholesale level (25 percent) and then, the retail level (3 percent). Siddique and Garnevska (2018) reported almost 30 percent post-harvest losses in Kinnow while Khan et al., (2016) reported losses of 20 percent occurred during picking. Shahzad et al., (2013) presented the marketing channel of plums to quantify post-harvest losses in district Swat, with losses of 22 percent across the marketing channel. Out of these losses, 5 percent were reported at the farm level, 1 percent at wholesale, 6 percent at retail, and 9 percent at the consumer level.The losses in vegetables were also reported by various researchers. Rehman et al., (2007)  reported postharvest losses of 20 percent occurred mainly during picking, handling, transportation, etc in tomato crops in Peshawar, while Awan et al., (2012) estimated that post-harvest losses of 24 percent in tomato crops were mainly caused by fungal and viral diseases.Post-harvest activities include packaging, pre-treatment, pre-cooling, washing with water and sorting. Packaging protects the produce from physical injury, contamination, moisture loss, and helps in ethylene absorption. Pre-treatment protects the fruits from decay, chilling injuries, and ripening. Pre-cooling reduces temperature of fruits and slowing metabolism resulting in extended shelf life. Cleaning removes foreign materials such as dirt, soil, pesticides etc. from fruits and vegetables. Sorting involves removing the already injured and infected fruits and vegetables from the produce to limit extending their infection. It also helps in grading of the produce as well.The extent of use of these practices determines post-harvest losses occur at various stages of the value chain.According to university and industry sources in KP, an estimated 30 to 40 % of the harvested fruits (quantity) goes waste during harvesting, handling, post-harvest care, transportation, packaging, and storage. Shehzad et. al., (2013) reported 21.5 percent post-harvest losses in plum produced in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The losses at the farm level were 5.1 percent, followed by 1.5 percent at the wholesale, 6.3 percent at the retail and 8.7 percent at the consumption levels. These losses are primarily contributed by inappropriate placing of the stair damaging fruits during picking, over maturity of fruit, hasty and inappropriate packing, exerting pressure on the box while nailing wooden packaging box damaging fruit, lack of cold storage facility and the rush to sell the product as the fear of product being left unsold grips producers. The study reports that storage facility is the single most important factor that could substantially reduce post-harvest losses in plum marketing. An incentive to labours for reducing the losses during picking of the plum will reduce losses as well. The study recommends proper grading before packing plum (Table 11). Saeed and Khan (2010) reported that packing, which is supposed to protect tomatoes from injury, is also the major cause of its damage and causes 27 percent post-harvest losses. Transportation cause about 10 percent of the losses while losses in storage, grading and at retail level are minimal and account for only 3 and one percent each, respectively. Collectively these losses account for 42 percent of the post-harvest losses in tomatoes marketing in Lahore. Tomato primarily consists of water, and it cannot replace the lost water once harvested. High temperature, exposing tomato to sun and low humidity cause water loss and as a result marketable weight loss. Due to weak outer skin, tomatoes are also prone to physical injury, resulting in biological processes such as ethylene production at an increased rate causing deterioration of the produce.Osman et al., (2009) identified factors responsible for increasing post-harvest losses. The activities and practices adopted in various zones responsible for post-harvest losses were also studied. The main factors responsible for losses in the marketing chain were inappropriate methods of harvesting, packaging material, infrastructure, non-availability of cold storages, and over maturity of the product (Shahzad et al., 2013). Ahmed et al., (2015) also observed that experience, picking time, and picking method were the significant factors effecting losses at the farm level. At the wholesale level, the loading technique, storage place, and experience showed a significant effect on losses while at the retail level, the type of retailers and the amount of left or unsold quantity were the significant factors. The handling of tomato is the main factor that is responsible for most of the losses. Bulk packaging in wooden crates and time lags in transportation are mainly responsible for the increased losses in tomatoes (Shahzad et al. Packaging is a key contributor in marketing horticulture produce. Different packaging material, such as wooden and plastic crates, cardboard cartons, plastic bags, jute bags and baskets is used for fruits and vegetables. 46 Cardboard packaging is less costly and may earn 45 percent price premium for their fruits. The benefit cost ratio of a cardboard carton is 4.56 as compared to 3.49 of wooden box. 47 They further explored that post-harvest losses were less in cardboard cartons (10.49 percent) compared to wooden crates (14.24 percent). At the farm level, losses in cardboard cartons were 2.90 percent versus 6.10 percent in a wooden crate. At the wholesale level, losses occurred in cardboard carton were 1.45 percent as compared to 1.43 percent in wooden crates. While losses at the retail level were 6.14 percent in cardboard cartons as compared to 6.71 percent in a wooden crate. Despite low losses at different stages, the cardboard carton is not good for storage because it tears easily after absorbing moisture (Shahzad et al., 2015; Khan, 2017). It requires development of packaging houses adopting modern packaging best practices and improvement in cardboard boxes quality with plastic coating to withstand storage atmosphere, fungus susceptibility, and moisture resistance at affordable cost. Nevertheless, it will remain a major challenge.Compliance to safety standards and health certification protocols is essential to enhance market share. The Plant Protection Department requires the exporters to purchase their produce from SPS Certified farms approved by them, the enforcement of health and safety protocols, such as, HACCP, EuroGAP, Minimum Residue Level for pesticides (see the international and country. In addition, lack of traceability enforcement, prevalence of disease, and unchecked use of pesticides limits KP and Pakistan's access to international markets.The important role of technologies in the agriculture sector cannot be over emphasized. Understanding the factors determining the adoption and management of agricultural technologies is vital due to their impact on output and subsequently on income. Memon et. al., (n.d.) and Chohan and Ahmad (2008) investigated various technologies used in the supply chain. The quality of fruits and vegetables remains stable and postharvest losses are significantly reduced by supply chain technologies such as pre-cooling, grading, packaging, storage, and transportation. Khan et al., (2016) reported that the provision of storage is an important factor for reducing postharvest losses and stabilizing the price of horticultural crops, especially citrus. They reported that 70 percent of farmers did not have access to storage facilities and proper transport facilities. Memon et. al., (n.d.) focused on the factors which affect the use of available technologies in peach farming. Significant links were found between the adoption of appropriate technologies and a lack of funds, information, knowledge of and access to improved varieties, and the high cost of fertilizers. A Logit model analysis showed that education has a positive effect while age has a negative influence on the adoption or use of ICT at the production stage (Waqar et. al., 2018). Shahzad et al., (2018)  revealed that the probability of adoption will increase with the size of the orchard, availability of packaging boxes in various sizes, and distance to the market. For cardboard packaging, experience and cost were significant factors for non-adoption.In light of the findings of various studies on post-harvest losses, especially in fruits and vegetables, strategies and new tools have been developed to alleviate losses in the post-harvest chain of fruits and vegetables in Pakistan (Iram & Ahmad, 2013). Awan et al., (2012) analyzed various aspects with a focus on the use of technologies in the value chain of tomato in Gilgit-Baltistan. Different varieties of tomatoes were used. Also, wooden crates were used by most farmers (76 percent) and traditional baskets by 24 percent of the tomato's farmers.Farmers with more experience and frequent contact with the agriculture department for advanced technology obtained higher yields. Mobile phone is commonly used to get price information, but due to low education, internet is not used by producers or intermediary traders. At the production stage, ICT is not used extensively, although the export-oriented firms use both mobile phones and the internet. The export chain of onion is more connected with ICT compared to growers and intermediaries, showing the vast digital division among players involved in the chain (Waqar et. al., 2018).Ahmad et. al., (2019) estimated the production and marketing cost of conventional tomato produced in KP. They separately estimated nursery cost raised for one acre of farm area. The cost amounting to Rs. 17,423 per acre included seed bed preparation, seeds, irrigation, pesticides, and labour cost. Average production cost including nursery raising cost was Rs. 90,933 per acre. The marketing cost of tomato included transportation, loading, and unloading, packing and empty wooden boxes costs and amounted to Rs. 14,086 per acre. The total cost, including both the production and marketing cost was Rs. 105,019. Total revenue was Rs.198,166 per acre, and hence net revenue was Rs. 93,146 per acre, leading to a cost-benefit ratio of 1:0.53. Total revenue is calculated as farm price multiplied by quantity and net revenue is derived by subtracting both production and marketing costs from total revenue. Qasim et. al., (2018) estimated the production cost of tomatoes in Sind, Punjab, and Baluchistan as Rs. 121,106, 125,615 and 101,485 per acre, respectively. The estimated respective total revenue was 254,620, 226,848 and 262,600 resulting in cost-benefit ratio of 1:0.48, 1:0.55 and 1:0.39, respectively. Hene, the cost-benefit ratio of tomatoes in Sind, Punjab and KP are in in the same range while it is low in Baluchistan.Recently, peach has been replacing apples in Swat. Apples have been facing pest infestation and the progressive producers searching for profitable crops shifted to peach due to suitable environmental features of the area. Khan and Khan (2014) reported that estimated the production and marketing cost for several peach varieties produced in Swat. The study reports that establishment of peach orchards require a sizeable investment. The average production cost was estimated as Rs. 34,100, marketing cost Rs. 94,955 and total revenue as Rs. 250,510 per acre. The estimated cost-benefit ratio was 1:0.38. The study shows that the revenue of early grand and carman varieties is higher as compared to others. The peaches of these varieties reach to market early when prices are higher. Production cost included pesticides, FYM, fertilizer, hoeing, pruning, irrigation and labour cost and marketing costs included empty cartons, picking and grading, transportation, loading and unloading, and commission agent charges. Hence, the production cost ignored orchard establishment cost and considering would reduce the cost-benefit ratio.Khair (2020) estimated and compared marketing costs and margins at the low and higher altitudes. The lower altitude ranged from more than 1400 to less than 1900 meters while more than 1900 meters was considered as the high altitude. The share of producers in consumers rupee at the high altitude gets almost double the share of producers at low altitudes. The share of contractors in the consumer rupee is higher in both low and high altitudes, however, it is very high for contractors located at the high altitudes. Retails prices are high at the high altitudes due to favorable climatic conditions for apple production as the produce gets chilling requirement. There is also less fruit drop, good color, less pest attack, more nutritional contents, and low post harvest losses at higher altitudes.Inadequate and timely market information in terms of demand for high quality fruit and value added fruit products in domestic as well as export markets and price available to farmers. The horticulture crop sector generally has a poor market information system and lack of transparency in the prices of fruits, vegetables, and their processed products as the prices of horticulture are rarely regulated and it largely depends on the marketing skills of the farmers. It is important to develop market intelligence information including new varieties in demand in domestic as well as international markets, sources of competition, consumer preferences, future outlook, and its timely dissemination to farmers as well as the private sector.Access to the price information can also directly affect earnings and can distribute profits among the market intermediaries. Knowing prices in different markets can provide more powers to producers and bargaining power of market intermediaries can be reduced. It can also reduce wasteful expenditure made on transportation cost by avoiding adverse market selection as producer once transport produce to a market is unable to move it to another market where prices are high and hence is forced to sell produce on lower prices.initiated a Firms Project named the \"Pilot for Information and Financial Mobile Solutions\" (PIFMS) in Northern Pakistan. The objective of the project was to improve the availability and communicate market and weather information to producers. The project was jointly launched with the provincial Agriculture Department and Mobile Network Operators in collection and dissemination of the information via mobile text SMS. The project was able to provide weather information but failed to disseminate market price. Such initiatives are vital in reducing information asymmetry and increasing producers' accessing price information in various markets of the country and hence helping them making an informed selling decision.The major fruit and vegetable markets in the country are in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Gujranwala. Fruits are supplied for auction to commission agent shops located at various fruit markets in the country. The price determination of fruits depends mainly upon the number of buyers (i.e., demand side) and the daily quantity supplied in the market. Due to the perishable nature of the product, high variations are observed in quantity demanded, supplied and resultant prices. For price formation of fruits and vegetables, an open bidding system/mechanism is prevailing in the whole country except for secret bidding in Islamabad fruit mandi for citrus and fruits having high demand in comparison to supply. In open bidding, the bidding of fruit is conducted for consignment of different sizes (30-50 boxes/consignment) depending on the quality of the fruit. From each consignment, two or three boxes are opened/checked randomly in front of the bidders and the initial price is determined, which is further pushed up by the bidders in competition. The highest bidder gets the consignment/lot which are delivered for auction by the Commission Agents/Arthis. Secret bidding takes place with the help of a handshake under a cloth covering locally known as chaddar or shawl which is recently introduced for fruits at some places. In secret bidding, the hand is shaken twice under a cover between the commission agents and buyers. The handshake is divided into 10 different units indicating figure of hundreds and tenth units. The first handshake indicates figures in hundreds (one hundred, two hundred and so on) while the second indicate the tenth units (ten, twenty, thirty and so on). When the tip of the fingers is held during the handshake, it indicates the initial unit of hundred/ tenth while full handshake indicates the thousand/hundred figures, respectively.The bidding activities in the commission shop/mandi are conducted by the commission agent or they hire brokers for the said purpose supervised by the commission agents. Bidding of products starts at the dust time or after the Morning prayers and long before sunrise. The bidding process lasts for 2 to 3 hours normally. However, for some products and some cases, it may end around 10 am and 12 pm. Low-quality citrus is also supplied in vehicles without any packaging and sold on basis of price per basket or packed in sheets having a quantity of around 5-8 dozen. The price of this low-quality citrus is decided by the commission agents in consultation with and then the commission agents have limited influence on price to decrease/discount in price.Commission agents are the most important stakeholders in the supply chain. Commission agent deal with limited products ranging from one to three fruits/vegetables at maximum. The market nature of commission agents or brokers can be identified as an oligopoly having some power on the supply and therefore an indirect influence on prices. For this purpose, they use cold storage facilities to store the product for some time depending on the market condition and on the perishability of the product. These commission agents also keep the produce in cold storage for the offseason to get a higher price. The commission agents also manipulate the supply at the farm to some extent depending on the nature of the product. If the price is favorable, they call the farmers for more supply even at unripe condition while if the market is cold then they delay the supply for some days even if the produce is ready for harvesting. Some of the commission agents/brokers have more hold/influence on the seasonal market supply by providing more advances/loans to farmers and contractors. These commission agents or Arthis provide loans to the farmers directly and through distributors and in return the growers/contractors sell their produce in their shops, and they charge a high commission in case of loan is given to the farmer, because the growers/contractors are bound to sell in their place/platform. Only those commission agents who are conducting business in large fruit markets provide loans to the growers/contractors. The local commission agents situated in or near the producing area like Swat, Timargara and Batkhela are not providing loans to the farmers and receive low quality produce. To attract more farmers to supply produce, the commission agents of Islamabad fruit and vegetable markets do not charge any amount from farmers. They charge a 7 percent commission from the buyers while in other fruit markets in the country, the commission agents take his commission in percentage from the growers or contractors ranging from 5 to 7 percent while it charges the buyer with the absolute amount per box (10 rupees per box).The fruit and vegetable sector in Pakistan is informal in nature having negligible government regulations in KP. Only the suitable locations are allocated by the respective district administration for the markets which are near and outside the major cities. Price, quantity demand, quantity supply, quality of products etc. are determined by the market forces. Even though some commission agents have business in millions at multiple locations, they do not contribute to the national exchequer. Certain agreements take place between different stakeholders in the supply chain, especially between the commission agents, contractors/middlemen/distributors, and farmers. But there are no formal government regulations regarding these agreements thereby allowing opportunistic behavior by parties. In violation of the agreement, some of the farmers do sell a portion of their produce at the market where the return is high as compared to other markets in the country.Farming needs credit for smoothening out seasonal fluctuations in earnings and investment. Since cash flows and savings in rural areas for smallholder farmers is not sufficient, they rely on credit for inputs and other consumption needs, such as education, food, housing, household functions, etc., and get loans from both formal and informal sources. However, more recently, a greater part of the demand for credit has been met from formal sources, such as Zari Taraqiyati Bank Limited, commercial banks, microfinance banks, and RSPs. In certain cases, farmers obtain loans from more than one agency. The credit limits and multifarious needs are the main causes behind using alternative or multiple credit sources.Governments through various policy initiatives are trying to improve credit availability to farmers to facilitate them to purchase inputs and services. It is also presumed that, with better credit, modern input and technology use would be enhanced and lead to greater farm productivity and profitability. In this regard, the State Bank of Pakistan has advised all banks to advance loans to farmers for different farm-related operations, including plough, tubewell installations, purchase of tractors, establishment and development of orchards, transportation of farm output, cold storage, land improvement, purchase of other farm machinery, and procurement of quality seed, etc. According to the latest data (2017-18) provided by the State Bank of Pakistan (Table 13), total agricultural credit and development loans were Rs. 32,580 million in Pakistan. Out of this amount, Rs. 40.39 million was advanced for ploughing farmland, Rs. 188.8 million for tubewells, Rs. 5,971.94 million for the purchase of tractors, Rs. 931.15 million for the establishment and processing time at banks compared to obtaining loans from commission agents. The largest amount of credit was obtained from commercial banks, followed by commission agents, ZTBL, Khushali bank and RSPs. The study further explained that clients of Khushali bank and RSPs had obtained loans from other agencies because of the insufficient amount to maintain the crop cycle. In terms of loans advanced across agencies, crop input financing was dominant by ZTBL, the commercial banks and commission agents. However, Khushali bank and RSPs had extended relatively more loans for livestock farming and small enterprises. It was also found that clients used borrowed money to meet social needs, including health, marriage expenses, debt servicing, and family education. Despite the exorbitant interest rate charged by commission agents, RSPs and the Khushhali bank, loan recovery was stronger for the RSPs, followed by commission agents, commercial banks and ZTBL. In case of crop failure or emergencies, some farmers had also sold assets to pay back borrowings from commercial banks, while the commission agent was more accommodative and extended payback periods. Because of higher flexibility in advancing and recovering loans, farmers prefer to borrow loans from commission agents. Therefore, they recommended modification of prevailing credit procedures to help include small, marginal, and remote areas in the borrowing base.Smallholders account for most of the agricultural population in KP. They lack the required capital for the purchase essential inputs, resulting in low agricultural output and increased vulnerability to food shortages and poverty. Access to adequate credit will play an important role in reducing rural poverty and enhancing food security, enabling them to adopt efficient technologies and create better resource allocation (WB 2008, Imai et al. 2010, Ellis 1992).The role of agricultural extension and advisory services cannot be underplayed in the transformation of subsistence farming to agriculture as an industry. The important role of agriculture extension services in tackling poverty in developing countries has been acknowledged in many studies. Agricultural extension not only provides the critical link between agricultural research and farmers, but also advances the cause of rural development by improving the livelihoods of rural communities. Its role in KP started with the USAID funded Village Agricultural and Industrial Development (V-AID) Program in 1952, and more recently the agriculture department offers Farm Service Centers as an approach for improving its advisory services. Farm Service Centers are primarily established to bridge the gap between farmers and quality agricultural inputs and services across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. By facilitating access to better inputs, knowledge, and tools, the centers are designed to empower farmers to shift from subsistence farming to a commercially oriented one, earn a better living, and improve food security and nutrition.On the research front, at least two major research institutes are serving the horticulture sector of the province. Agricultural Research Institute Tarnab, Peshawar and Agricultural Research Institute Mingora, Swat, provide fruit plants to farmers of KP for the promotion of orchards. However, fruit plants are mostly imported from Punjab and sold in the plant nurseries found in the vicinity of these institutes. Farmers typically visit the offices of the research staff located in these offices for technical insights and advisory services. The research staff also visit model and relatively big orchards when a problem is reported to them. The published evidence in support of advisory services of agricultural extension and research departments for harvesting, marketing and processing is very limited. The Agricultural Research Institute, Tarnab Peshawar has the services of a food processing unit, known as the Food Technology Section. Established in 1934, the section started production of a few value-added products (juices, jams, marmalades etc.) and typically sell these to the local community.A dedicated and very well-known project for fruits and vegetable promotion, funded by the Swiss government known as Malakand Fruit and Vegetable Development Project (Project for Horticultural Promotion) was launched in the Malakand division in 1988. The Technology Transmission Unit in the then Agricultural Research Station, North, Mingora used to transfer the latest agricultural technologies to fruit and vegetable growers. Ali and Rehman (2003) report that the unit published 36 agricultural extension messages, 24 advisory leaflets, 7 issues of horticultural newsletter quarterly, Baghban, 5 grading charts, 3 video films, 7 slide series and one poster. The project also established Pilot Application Centers for the propagation of the extension and training materials. The project directly worked with farmers to create awareness for overcoming the problems of marketing and storage of fruits and vegetables. The study reports that 53% of the respondents have used the published materials of the project in off-season vegetables, round gourd, onion, tomato, cucumber, mushroom, and peas production in the division. The project was instrumental in increasing nursery business by introducing new varieties of cherry, strawberry, and onion (Swat-I). The project established cold storages at their various business centers. The project played a key role in promoting various aspects of fruits and vegetables in the area and substantially increased farmers' skill and knowledge in orchards management.Pakistan has approximately 40 horticulture processing units and 2500+ food processing units. Most of the food industry in Pakistan is concentrated in Punjab (60%) followed by Sindh (30%), KPK (6%), Baluchistan (2%) and ICT (2%). Many of these units will need balancing, modernization, and refurbishment (BMR) as these units installed low-tech indigenous machinery. Most units process multiple fruits such mango, citrus, guava, apples, and other fruits to ensure maximum capacity utilization. Manufactured products from some of these firms utilize chemically preserved pulp, which is non-compliant with food laws and regulations. Only about half a dozen processing units produce products, including aseptically processed and frozen pulp and concentrates, in accordance with the international health safety standards. Amongst vegetables, tomato and potato are processed into puree, pulp, and ketchup, and fries and chips respectively. Despite domestic and international demand, tomato production is limited in Pakistan. Firms base their formulation of ketchup and sauces on the imported tomato paste. The perishable nature of fruits and vegetables, lack of controlled atmosphere containers, poor transportation facilities, ineffective storage and packaging facilities are the major reasons for this under development of industry. Share of fruits' export from Pakistan in the world markets is increasing annually that shows that the industry needs to improve the working capacity of already existed fruit processing plants. More recently, processing of vegetables based on IQF technology has been introduced by Fauji Fresh 'n Freeze to produce frozen peas, potato fries, strawberry, and some leafy vegetables. The firm is facing constraints in obtaining quality raw material suitable for industrial processing. 48A project for fresh fruit processing of citrus was evaluated to have an NPV around Rs. 39.22 million, with an IRR of 27% and a Payback Period of 4.84 years (SMEDA, 2014). SMEDA (2014) also reported that for commercial purposes, the establishment of processing for fruits has gained popularity among the business community. The medium size units for apple, citrus, and mangoes were proposed in the project area. The processing mainly involves waxing, polishing, grading, and packaging, which increases the quality of fruit and shelf life as well. The prefeasibility estimates show that the processing unit will have three tons per hour and 6,696 tons annually on a seasonal basis. The SMEDA feasibility study identified Southern Punjab, Interior Sindh, and targeted areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan for the establishment of processing facilities of fruits and vegetables.Horticulture Policy is part of the Executive Summary.48 Syed Amanullah Husaini and Jawad Rehman, (2020). Understanding the Bottlenecks and Opportunities in Value-Added Exports of Fruits and Vegetables, Pakistan Business Council, Karachi.","tokenCount":"14129"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9382906540.json b/data/part_1/9382906540.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1cf83ccee41b45fb3d0e75ffed25ab925b01998d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9382906540.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3d01d016f7893a476c5d78de8c75b2a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ac33c6d-01ed-41c8-be3b-a5b9a87fe8bb/retrieve","id":"176311012"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7fd64959-e06b-48d2-8a35-fee5bccb857e","pagecount":"1","content":"Food scares are an increasing phenomenon, related to the intensification and growing complexity of value chains, but also societal shifts associated with urbanisation, increasing wealth, improving literacy and growing connectivity: they can dramatically shift purchasing patterns and as markets become the most important sources of nutritious foods for the poor, this could influence nutritional outcomes. We report on a systematic literature review that investigates the evidence for this.• Since the year 2000, we found 30 major food scares.• We identified 990 articles and 12 met the criteria to be included in the review: 4 were assessed as high quality.• Food scares usually affect many more consumers than are directly made sick by incidents eliciting the scare.• Most studies found decreased consumption of the feared food; 5 studies found additional dietary changes, including food substitutions, avoidance, and reduction in dietary diversity.• Impacts were exacerbated by poor risk communication and amplified by media.• Although impacts were generally short-lived, long-run effects were also reported.• Two studies assessed nutritional outcomes, finding reasonable evidence of adverse effects. The complex pathways through which unsafe food may lead to bad nutrition and health outcomes.• More and better research is needed on food scares and their impacts on nutrition and health.• Existing evidence suggests that food scares are already important influencers of food consumption and likely to become more important.• As well as transiently changing consumption food scares may shift food systems in less healthy, directions.• Policymakers and risk communicators need to better manage information flows during a scare. Grace, D., 2016 ","tokenCount":"254"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9383245076.json b/data/part_1/9383245076.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5bcaab98da7d8303b29df52e3b7c034b3f336943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9383245076.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"26d6629ce879d2d947092e64d9faf196","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a190fd31-8140-4a14-bc81-615e3a2cd38c/retrieve","id":"418498807"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e24661c5-b24d-42d6-90e3-444a60c7b1f7","pagecount":"18","content":"Mradi wa kina cha tathmini ya mifugo na mazingira katika minyororo ya thamani (CLEANED  VCs)    2015Taarifa hii ni matokeo ya warsha ya wadau mbalimbali iliyoandaliwa na taasisi ya kimataifa ya utafiti wa mifugo (ILRI) na kufanyika mkoani Morogoro kwa lengo la kuendeleza mifumo ya wafugaji wadogo wadogo wa ng'ombe wa maziwa katika wilaya za Morogoro, Mvomero na Kilosa. Mifumo hii inahusisha ufugaji, uzalishaji wa malisho na vyanzo vyake, miundombinu inayosaidia kwa upatikanaji wa huduma za mifumo na masuala ya mazingira kwa ujumla wake. Takwimu zilipatikana kwa njia ya vikundi vidogo vya washiriki waliofanya majadiliano na kuanisha maeneo ya ufugaji, vyanzo vya malisho na miundombinu ya mifugo iliyopo kwa kutumia mfumo wa habari kwa jinsi ya ramani zilizochorwa kwa kutumia teknonolojia ya PGIS. Majadiliano hayo yaliwezesha kupata taarifa sahihi kutokana na kwamba wao ni wadau katika shughuli za ufugaji na wanaelewa vizuri mazingira ya maeneo ya wilaya walizotoka. Taarifa za kina na zenye kulenga matumizi sahihi zilizopatikana katika vikundi kwa njia ya majadiliano zimefupishwa na kuwasilishwa kwenye Jedwali 1. Matokeo ya utafiti huu yatakamilisha takwimu zilizokusanywa katika ngazi ya kaya na ufahamu wa wataalamu ikiwa ni uthibitisho wa dhana ya utekelezaji wa tathmini endelevu ya kina juu ya mazingira ya mifugo na samaki kwa uboreshaji wa lishe, ulinzi wa mazingira ya mifugo, viumbe vya majini na mpango kazi wa maendeleo endelevu wa raslimali hizo ujulikano kama \"CLEANED'' Jedwali 1: Muhtasari wa taarifa zilizoandaliwa wakati wa warsha, zikielezea hali ya mfumo wa uzalishaji wa maziwa na maliasili kati ya June-July 2014, kwa kuingiza katika muundo huu wa (CLEANED)Mifumo ya ufugaji mifugo:Tabia Tofauti nyingine za kufuga huria: Ufugaji huria Wafugaji wa mifugo hutembea umbali mrefu kutoka maeneo ya manjumbani mwao wakitafuta malisho ya mifugo kwenye maeneo ya jumuiya. Wanaweza kutumia msimu wote wa mvua au kiangazi bado wakiwa na mifugo mbali na nyumbani mwao, gali wakiendelea kusonga na kupiga kambi walipo machweo wakati wa usiku. (Transhumance / Kuhama kulingana na misimu)Mifugo huchungwa katika maeneo ya jumuiya yaliyo karibu wakati wa msimu ya mvua mpaka wakati ambapo nyasi na alafu tena mabaki ya mazao ya mimea yatakapoisha. Kwa msimu wa kiangazi, vijana wa umri wa makamo hutembea wakiandamana na mifugo yao kwa umbali wa hadi kilomita 20-30 wakitafuta malisho na kutengeneza makao yaliyozibwa na miiba wanamoishi kwa kupiga kambi wakati wa usiku badala ya kurudi kwa makazi yao. Tofauti nyingine za mifumo ya ufugaji ya nusu kufuga ndani: Nusu huria bila lishe ya ziada Mifugo huchungwa kawaida katika maeneo ya jumuiya siku nzima kisha huletwa nyumbani jioni kila siku. Hii hupatikana tu katika maeneo machache, kutokana na ushindani wa ardhi kati ya jamii ya wafugaji na wakulima wa mazao. Hata hivyo, baadhi ya jamii wametenga sehemu ya ardhi yao ya jumuiya kwa ajili ya kilimo cha aina hii Nusu huria, pamoja na lishe ya ziada Kilimo cha mchanganyiko cha uzalishaji wa mazao na ufugaji wa mifugo, ambapo mifugo huchungwa kwa mfumo wa huria malishoni wakati wa mchana nakuletwa nyumbani jioni. Wakati wa msimu wa ukame mifugo hulishwa wakiwa nyumbani kwa mabaki ya mazao ya mimea. Jinsi kadhaa tofauti za ukulima wa uzalishaji wa mazao huhusika katika mfumo wa aina hii. Mashudu ya alizeti, pumba ya mahindi, pumba ya mpunga / (pollard), molasesi (molasses), madini, keki ya mpumba Uzalishaji/vyanzo: Mabaki ya miwa na ya alizeti katika vinu/viwanda vya usindikaji, chakula kingine cha ziada kinachonunuliwa kutoka kwa wauzaji wa pembejeo.Nafaka hupandwa kwa mzunguko na maharagwe; mpunga na mimea ya mboga kama vile nyanya, mbilingani, kabichi na pilipili kali.Mchanganyiko wa ukuzaji wa mimea ya mazao, ingawa haujaruhusiwa madhubuti (kabisa), unaendelezwa kutokana na ukosefu wa nafasi: kwa kawaida mahindi na kunde, maharagwe ya aina ya lima na mahindi au alizeti na mahindi. Matumizi ya mbolea ya viwandani na dawa za kuua wadudu, dawa za kuua magugu na dawa za kuua kuvu Mbolea ya viwandani kama vile urea hutumika kwa mimea ili kuongeza mapato zaidi : Mimea ya nafaka (mahindi, mpunga) na mazao mengine ambayo iko katika eneo hili ni pamoja na mboga mboga kama vile nyanya, mbilingani, kabichi na pilipili kali.Hii mimea pia hunyunyuziwa dawa za kuua magugu na dawa za kuua kuvu (sana sana kawaida Rindomil; lakini sio na maharagwe) na dawa za kuuwa wadudu (kama vile Celtron, yakuchanganywa na maji).Mbolea hutumika katika bustani za mboga mboga, nayo hupatikana mashambani mwa wakulima, kutokana na kuku, nguruwe, mbuzi pamoja na ng'ombe na hutumiwa papo hapo bila kukawia kila siku. Kuna fursa ya kuvuna maji ya mvua na kujenga visima na mabwawa zaidi. Baadhi ya maeneo huwa na mafuriko kila mwaka, ambayo ina maanisha, hawatumiki wakati wa msimu wa mvua, Lakini hutumika kwa malisho ya kuchungia wakati wa msimu wa kiangazi. Kuna hatari ya upunguvu wa upatikanaji wa maji ya mifugo, kama ardhi zaidi iliyoko kyenye kando ya mito itanunuliwa na kuzungushia ua (fenced) na hatimaye kuzimba njia za kwenda mtoni.Udongo wenye rutuba unapatikana katika maeneo yanayoendesha shughuli za kilimo na ukanda wa malisho ya mifugo kutokea Mikumi, Kilosa na Turiani.Katika maeneo ambayo shughuli za kilimo na mifugo zinafanyika kwa pamoja hali ya rutuba ya udongo imepungua sana.Kilimo mbadala kwa kutumia mimea jamii ya mikunde na mboji husaidia kuongeza rutuba ya udongo.Maeneo yanayo zungukwa na mifugo mingi mfano, maeneo ya minada na njia za mifugo yanakabiliwa na upungufu wa rutuba. Upungufu wa rutuba pia husababishwa na mmomonyoko wa udongo, ambawo huchochewa na uchomaji mkaa na kilimo katika maeneo yenye mitelemko na kwa kutokufuata kontua. Uoto wa mimea Kuna aina mbili za uchomaji myoto: awamu ya kwanza/awari, ni nzuri na hutumika kwa ajili ya kusafisha mabaki ya mimea mwanzo wa msimu, husaidia ukuaji wa mimea, Uchomaji cheleweshi; husababisha uharibifu kwa mimea na ardhi, madhara haya hutokana na kuunguza mimea yote ardhini ikiwemo miti na huchangia kwa kiasi kikubwa kuleta upungufu wa rutuba katika ardhi.Uchomaji wa awari hutumika kwa baadhi ya mbuga za wanyama na hutumika pia katika kuboresha malisho katika maeneo yenye nyasi zilizokomaa kupindukia na kupoteza ubora. Myoto ya aina hii imekuwa ikishuhudiwa katika maeneo ya milima ya Nguru wa Ndege karibu na Morogoro.Ripoti hii inaeleza matokeo ya tathmini ya aina ya mifumo midogo ya uzalishaji wa maziwa katika eneo la Morogoro nchini Tanzania. Kazi hii ni sehemu ya mradi wa taasisi ya kimataifa ya utafiti wa mifugo inayojulikana kama tathmini endelevu ya kina juu ya mazingira ya mifugo na samaki kwa uboreshaji wa lishe, ulinzi wa mazingira ya mifugo, viumbe vya majini na mpangokazi wa maendeleo endelevu wa raslimali hizo na minyororo ya thamani (CLEANED VCs) Utafiti huu unachangia kwenye mradi wa Maziwa Zaidi 4 kwa kutathmini athari zinazoweza kutokea kutokanana na uzalishaji wa maziwa kwa kutumia rasilimali zilizopo.Mradi wa maziwa zaidi umelenga kuboresha maisha kwa wananchi kwa njia ya uzalishaji wa maziwa kwa sasa na katika siku zijazo (ILRI 2014) kwa kuhakikisha ni endelevu (kimazingira, kijamii na kiuchumi) Maboresho ya muda mfupi kwa shughuli za ustawi wa maisha yanayohusisha ufugaji wa ng'ombe wa maziwa ni yenye manufaa madogo kama rasilimali za mazingira haziwezi kudumisha maboresho hayo au kama shughuli zingine za kimaisha hazitakuwa na mtazamo chanya juu ya suala la uharibifu wa mazingiraWarsha ililenga wilaya za Kilosa na Mvomero mkoa wa Morogoro (Kielelezo 1).Kumbuka: kwamba mipaka iliyotumika katika ramani msingi iliyotumika kwenye warsha (Kielelezo 1) ni ya zamani, kutoka wakati Mvomero ilikuwa ni sehemu ya wilaya ya Morogoro. Hii iliyo kando, inaonyesha mipaka iliyo sahihi na pia itakayotumika kwenye ripoti hii.Takwimu zilikusanywa kwa kutumia njia shirikishi ya mfumo wa habari wa kijiografia (GIS) Hii ni njia ya kukusanya takwimu ambapo masuala yanayo tathminiwa yanajadiliwa na kuchorwa kwenye ramani na washiriki wadau ili maarifa yanayotokea iwe na mizizi kwa jamii na kujieleza wazi kinaganaga (Cinderby et al, 2011). Kwa mujibu wa warsha, wadau pia walitembelea maeneo ya wilaya za Morogoro D.C, Mvomero na Kilosa wakiongozwa na maafisa mifugo wenyeji wa wilaya hizo, walitembelea vituo vya kukusanyia maziwa, maeneo yanayofuga ng'ombe kwa mfumo wa huria na nusu huria, vyanzo vya maji na miundombinu yake, uzalishaji wa vyakula, ukusanyaji na usindikaji wa maziwa, maduka ya vyakula na madawa ya mifugo, vituo vya tiba za mifugo na mashamba ya mfano ya kuzalisha nyasi au malisho ya mifugo. Mbinu hii imeonyeshwa katika kielelezo 2.Kielelezo 2. Mbinu ya vikao shirikishi kwa wadau kutumia mifumo wa GIS na matokea ya liyopatikana kwa muudo wa CLEANEDKabla ya warsha, eneo la utafiti lilikaguliwa kwa njia ya kukusanya takwimu ngazi za kijiji na kaya. Takwimu za ngazi ya kaya zilikusanywa katika tafiti za awali kwa zaidi ya familia elfu moja (>1000) katika mikoa ya Morogoro na Tanga nchini Tanzania. Katika utafiti huu taarifa mbalimbali juu ya uzalishaji wa ng'ombe wa maziwa, malisho, ukubwa wa kundi la mifugo, mavuno ya maziwa, aina ya malisho yanayozalishwa na uwiano matumizi ya mbolea katika uzalishaji wa mazao. Muhtasari wa takwimu zilizokusanywa (Jedwali 2) zilitumika kutoa ufahamu juu ya aina za ng'ombe wa maziwa wanaofugwa katika eneo la utafiti kwa kulinganisha na ukanda mzima Ng'ombe wa kigeni (% ya kundi) 93.6, 100, 194 33.6, 100, 818 18, 100, 172 7.6, 100, 106 Ukubwa wa ardhi (hekta) 3.4, 36, 194 15.77, 1000, 818 32.45, 1000, 172 17.78, 300, 106 Wastani wa mavuno ya maziwa (kwa mwaka)* 1818, 6620, 194 433, 2950, 515 420, 2190, 124 354, 2920, 92 Walishwao kwa vyakula vyenye virutubisho vya ziada (kilo/mwaka) ^ Tofauti ya takwimu isiyo ya kawaida (inahitaji kurekebishwa/ kuondolewa) * Mavuno ya maziwa kwa mwaka imekadiriwa kwa kutumia kigezo cha maziwa yanayozalishwa wakati ng'ombe anapokuwa amezaa, maziwa yaliyokamuliwa siku iliyopita na kwa wastani wa kundi la ng'ombe wanaokamuliwa **Katika Tanzania, takwimu za watafiti zimechukuliwa katika maeneo ya wilaya za Lushoto, Mvomero na Kilosa Taarifa za kiutafiti zilizopatikana katika rejea mbalimbali zimesaidia kuongezea ufahamu katika utafiti huu ikiwa ni pamoja na: Ripoti za FEAST, kufanya tathmini ngazi ya kijiji na pia mapitio ya taarifa za tafiti katika sekta ya mifugo/maziwa zilizowahi kufanyika na wataalamu wengine.Warsha ya wataalam na wadau mbalimbali wa sekta ya mifugo ilifanyika kwa zaidi ya siku mbili kwa vikao kadhaa vya majadiliano kwa kutumia mfumo wa habari wa kijiografia kwa njia ya picha za ramani (PGIS). Washiriki waliwakilisha maeneo mbalimbali ya utaalamu wa mifugo na malisho na lengo likiwa ni kuwakilisha wadau wote. Washiriki walihusisha wenyeviti wa vikundi vya wakulima wanaozalisha maziwa , watoa huduma za pembejeo, maafisa ugani kutoka halmashauri za wilaya na wafanya biashara za maziwa na / au wachuuzi ambao hununua maziwa freshi kutoka kwa wakulima na kukusanya ama huuza kwa wenyeji walaji katika ngazi ya kaya au kwenye vituo vya kukusanyia maziwa na hata kwa wanunuzi wengine. Hii taarifa ilikuwa ni kuongezea ile iliyopatikana kupitia vikao shirikishi kwa kufanya mahojiano na wahusika wakuu kwa kutumia zana ya mfumo wa habari wa kijiografia kwa njia ya picha za ramani (PGIS), kutembelea maeneo husika na kujionea hali halisi na pia kwa kuchanganya maoni/uchunguzi wa washirika.Wakati wa warsha, palikuwa na vikao vitatu vya mazoezi shirikishi vilivyofanywa kwa muda wa siku mbili. Malengo kwa jumla ya mazoezi haya yalikuwa kutambua na kuweka kwenye ramani mifumo ya ufugaji wa ng'ombe wa maziwa, uzalishaji malisho na vyanzo vyake, maliasili na miundombinu iliyopo katika maeneo haya mawili.Makundi yote yaliulizwa maswali yaliyofanana na kutoa majibu yake, kila kundi kulingana na uhalisia wa eneo lake, kisha vikundi viliwasilisha muhtasari wa taarifa za matokeo ya kazi zao mwishoni mwa kila zoezi.Wakati wakuelezea mgawanyiko (distributions) wa mifumo ya mifugo, kwa mfano; washiriki waliweza kuyatambua vyema maeneo yaliyomo wilayani Kilosa na Mvomero kwa njia ya kijiji au kata.Ramani zilichorwa kwa kutumia mfumo wa digitali wa Q-GIS na uchambuzi wa kwanza wa ramani ulihusisha makundi mbalimbali. Mkanganyiko wa tofauti katika takwimu zilizochorwa ulitatuliwa kwa njia ya majadiliano ya pamoja ya washiriki. Msingi wa taarifa ya warsha hii ni kutokana na tafsiri ya kiingereza, maelezo ya bango kitita, ramani zilizo digitiwa na tafakari za washiriki.Kipindi cha kwanza: Mgawanyo wa uzalishaji wa maziwa mifumo ya uzalishaji wa maziwa na upatikanaji wa malishoNi lazima kutambua kwamba, ramani za msingi hazikuwa na mipaka iliyokuwa ya sasa na pia miji kadhaa na barabara hazikuwa sahihi au zilikuwa hazimo, kwa hivyo baadhi ya muda ulitumika mwanzoni wa zoezi hili kwa kurekebisha makosa na pia shinda zilizokuwa kwenye ramani kabla ya kuanza kuchora ramani wakilishi ya ufugaji na uzalishaji wa malisho. Baadhi ya washiriki pia walingangana kuyatambua maeneo waliyoyajua kwa sababu ramani msingi haikuwa na taarifa zilizokuwa sahihi.Sehemu nyingine za mnyororo wa thamani Kupitia mchakato shirikishi wa mfumo wa habari kwa uchoraji ramani (GIS), sekta ya uendelezaji ng'ombe wa maziwa na msingi wa mazingira katika wilaya za Morogoro D.C, Mvomero na Kilosa zilichorwa na kuoneshwa kwenye ramani. Mchakato huu pia ulithibitisha mabadiliko katika wilaya zote mbili ambayo yangehitajika yafanyike ili kutambua maono yaliyopo ya programu ya Maziwa Zaidi.Madhumuni na lengo kuu la kufanya shughuli hii, ilikuwa ni kutambua athari za mazingira kutokana na mabadiliko yanayohitajika kwa ongezeko la maziwa. Faida ya pili ya zoezi hili la kuchora ramani ni kuwapatia fursa wadau na watetezi katika sekta ya mifugo kufikiria malengo na mahitaji yaliyomo katika sekta hii kwa siku zijazo na kwa hivyo imetoa rasilimali na kujenga msingi imara na kuboresha mawasiliano . Matokeo ya taarifa hii inafanana na takwimu zilizokusanywa na hivyo zinaweza kutumika kwa madhumuni hayo.Mifumo ya uzalishaji maziwa pamoja na miundombinu inayohusika ilitambuliwa na kuchorwa katika ramani iliyohusisha wilaya za Kilosa, Mvomero na Morogoro. Hii ilihusisha idadi ya mashamba ya mifumo ya ufugaji wa ndani, nusu huria na pia vilevile maeneo ya vituo vya ukusanyaji wa maziwa, majosho na masoko ya mifugo.Rasilimali ya lishe ambayo wazalishaji hawa wa maziwa hutegemea pia zilichorwa kwa ramani, ikiwemo malisho, mabaki mbalimbali ya mazao na mikunde. Keki ya alizeti na molasesi zilipatikana kwa wingi katika maeneo haya kutokana na viwanda vya usindikaji vilivyokuwa vikifanya kazi.Hali na mwingiliano wa rasilimali za mazingira katika eneo hili ulikuwa wa kutatanisha. Kulikuwa na maeneo ya mwingiliano wa moja kwa moja kwa wafugaji wa mifugo, ikiwa ni pamoja na kushikamana kwa udongo, mmomonyoko wa udongo, migogoro ya wanyama pori na kuweko kwa mchanga katika mikondo ya maji. Zaidi ya hayo, kulikuwa na uvamishi wa kutoka nje uliogeuza hali ya mazingira na kuchochea athari za mifugo sana sana ule ulioonekana wazi ulikuwa ni uchomaji wa makaa.Washiriki wa warsha walitathmini matukio ya ongezeko la maziwa kutoka wastani wa lita 1-2 kwa siku hadi lita 5-8 kwa siku katika mfumo wa ufugaji huria na vilevile kutoka lita 4-8 kwa siku hadi lita 10-15 kwa siku katika mfumo wa ufugaji wa ndani. Kwa kuchambua tukio hili, rasilimali za maji na malisho zilipewa kipaumbele pamoja na shughuli zingine ambazo zinazohitajika katika kuelimisha na kutoa huduma katika sekta ya mifugo. Kutokana na mahusiano ya mazingira, Ramani ya 6 inaonyesha rasilimali zingine za maji na malisho zilizopendekezwa na washiriki.","tokenCount":"2395"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9395588381.json b/data/part_1/9395588381.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5341b3403b6eceb4d17b098f4d2e2598d2e97958
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9395588381.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a4c061d30e468e45b047c3aa9d8bb675","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5711447b-06d0-4321-a3cd-a4aba72296fc/retrieve","id":"887429877"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"92561988-eb38-4fb3-992c-3b3205e5543c","pagecount":"3","content":"The remote arid and semi-arid Lands of Northern Kenya are dominated by pastoralist livestock production and are constantly threatened by prolonged droughts. Destocking, restocking and moving their herd to grazing areas are a key coping strategy for herders. Yet in times of stress, herders often find themselves selling stock at low prices. The challenge of accessing information serves is a key constraint for pastoralist communities to make informed decisions and manage risks.A significant portion of the livestock farmers in East Africa and the greater horn of Africa are at risk due to the vicious never-ending drought, caused by climate change and climate variability. Droughts cause livestock health depletion and mortality, sell-off of livestock and reduced water and forage availability. The traditional adaptive capacity and resilience of pastoral communities are no longer tenable due to increased population pressure in combination with changing land tenure regulations. Perennial conflicts among pastoralists due to insufficient valuable resources such as water and greater incidences of diseases continue to strain livestock value chains. The pastoralists' main assets are their livestock and any form of threat to this key asset always turns out catastrophic.It is against this backdrop that CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operations), in partnership with Amfratech Ltd, East Africa's leasing Technology and Consulting Service Provider, and aWhere Inc., a US-based data collection and analysis company for Agricultural Intelligence, have set-up the CLIMARK (Climate Livestock and Markets) project.The objective of the CLIMARK project is to increase pastoralists' resilience by enhancing adaptive capacity. One of its strategies is to deploy a blended weather information management system, consisting of a functional, easy-to-use Agri-weather mobile-based application (Mobile-APP) and dashboard. During the pilot phase, running between December 2018 and March 2019, 200 pastoralists from Marsabit and Isiolo Counties will receive free actionable weather advisories via SMS on a weekly basis. The service will also be available to other stakeholders within this region through the dashboard and mobile application.The CLIMARK project addresses multiple significant information challenges across the East African livestock value chain with a primary focus on the lack of available localised and real-time ag-meteorological-driven information on forage and pasture conditions. The absence of such information affects decision making of the pastoralist community in regards to grazing (where and when and how many animals), resulting in cascading impacts on the other links in the value chain. For example, unplanned movement of animals to meet short-term cattle needs can result in long-term economic losses through unfavourable animal prices. Accessibility to vital agriweather information enhances awareness of weather patterns in the short term and enables pro-active actionable recommendations to safeguard pastoralist livelihoods in the long term. Amfratech has designed a cloud-based blended weather information service, which incorporates a weather dashboard, Mobile Application, and Short Message Service (SMS) subscription service for the Marsabit and Isiolo Counties in Kenya as an initial pilot phase between December 2018 and March 2019. In this design, Amfratech receives near-real-time agri-weather information from aWhere Inc. through Application Programming Interface (API) integration. This information is then analysed by experienced Agri-Climatologists and coded into a granular actionable format for the pastoralists to access via mobile phone and a computer-based web dashboard. The role of the Agri-Climatologists is to develop weather-based indicators with a view to issue early drought warning and ensure that this information reaches the stakeholders including pastoralists, County government, Insurance agencies, NGOs among others for early response. The drought early warning system is developed based on weather as primary indicator, followed by pasture, market prices and human health indicators. This agrometeorological early warning system entails acquisition of weather data (temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration (PET), humidity and wind), crop/pasture information, market information and anthropometric data. The actionable messages targeting pastoralists include logistical advisories on times to deliver hay and water, need to destock, avoidance of resourcerelated conflicts between communities and best times to buy livestock insurance.Based on feedback from the pilot, the weather system will be further developed. The CLIMARK team is in engagement with The Kenya National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) on this pilot and possible upscaling to other counties in Kenya. The NDMA is the agency of the Government of Kenya mandated to establish mechanisms which ensure that drought does not result in emergencies and that the impacts of climate change are sufficiently mitigated.This service has the potential of reaching over 20 million pastoralists when rolled out to other countries in the horn of Africa that are faced with similar climate challenges, suchThe CLIMARK project addresses multiple significant information challenges across the East African livestock value chain.as Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. The weather data from aWhere can further be customised for actionable crop advisory services to farmers, in order to achieve steady crop production and further appreciate the power of agricultural intelligence.The blended weather information management system is part of a mix of strategies the CLIMARK project employs to enhance pastoralist resilience. The project, for example, also focuses on scaling up livestock insurance and activities to boost livestock markets, trade and enterprises for women and youth. •The weather dashboard can be accessed via web on www.climark.org and targets the stakeholders within the CLIMARK region with sufficient access to internet. These stakeholders include the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Marsabit and Isiolo county Governments, Insurance Service Providers and Non-Government Organisations, who are key policy drivers in championing resilience interventions within the target population.The stakeholders can also access the same agriweather information via the Mobile Application \"MyAnga\", which is available in Google Play for android devices. \"MyAnga\" is a Swahili language connotation for \"My Weather\" and therefore resonates well with the pilot target group.The local herders can also access the weather information through the SMS service using a short code to receive weekly granular agri-weather information for their locality in English, Swahili and their preferred local language (Borana/Gabra, Samburu and Rendille).","tokenCount":"965"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9405765889.json b/data/part_1/9405765889.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9b379a085ba1aa97c882730f6c07aa1032725f15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9405765889.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2709f5751d2b06df845cbf4f078d1ffc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0bdf2e6d-0119-40b8-83bd-b3edd7276eb5/retrieve","id":"-1680135180"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a92d6b36-0160-4737-8f70-7fdd0780da0d","pagecount":"23","content":"-  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LISTE DES FIGURES -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LISTE DES TABLEAUX --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ABBRÉVIATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I.CONTEXTE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------2.1. Profilage de producteurs - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.2.Diffusion des conseils agrométéorologiques ----------------------------------------------------------------------------2.3. Mise en place de boite à messagerie ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.4. Formation des producteurs sur la méthode d'appel de la BAM --------------------------------------------------III. EVALUATION DES EFFETS DE LA CAMPAGNE ------------------------------------------------------------------------3.1. Objectifs de l'évaluation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.2. Méthodologie ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.3. Analyse et interprétation des résultats -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.4. Durabilité du service de conseils agro météorologiques ---------------------------  Dans le cadre de la mise en oeuvre du projet AICCRA, l' institut international de recherche sur l'elevage (ILRI) collabore avec l'entreprise Jokalante pour assurer la diffusion des informations climatiques et conseils agricoles en voix et en deux (2) langues locales auprès des producteurs.Ainsi durant la campagne agricole de Juillet a Decembre des conseils agricométéorologiques ont été diffusés auprès des producteurs à l'issue desquels une phase d'évaluation est jugée nécessaire pour recueillir la perception des bénéficiaires sur le service reçu mais aussi analyser les effets de ces services sur leurs activités agricoles. Les résultats de cette évaluation ainsi que les différentes activités de cette campagne font l'objet de ce présent document. Tableau 1 : Résumé des activitésDans le cadre du projet AICCRA, Jokalante a réalisé le profilage de 2 720 producteurs (Tableau La production des conseils agrométéorologiques a été faite à l'aide de la plateforme ISAT On note que le taux d'atteint par alerte varie entre 45 et 84%. Pour rappel, Jokalante fait 04 à 05 relances pour joindre ceux qu'elle n'avait pas pu joindre au premier appel. Toutefois, de nombreux paramètres doivent être pris en compte dans la réception du message au moment de l'envoi : le téléphone de la cible peut être éteint pendant longtemps, la personne peut être en communication ou bien un problème de réseau peut survenir, etc.Pour faciliter le feedback des producteurs par rapport aux informations qu'ils reçoivent et sur le projet de manière générale, une boite à messagerie a été mise en place avec un numéro dédié (338793010 Evaluation des effets de la campagneL'objectif général de cette évaluation est de déterminer les effets des informations climatiques et des conseils agricoles sur les activités culturales des producteurs. De façon spécifique, l'évaluation visait à :• Analyser la perception des bénéficiaires sur le canal de réception des conseils agrométéorologiques.• Ressortir les effets des conseils agrométéorologiques diffusés sur les activités culturales des bénéficiaires.Pour la réalisation de cette évaluation, une approche mixte a été adoptée. Il s'agit de la combinaison d'une analyse quantitative et celle qualitative afin de parvenir à une interprétation nette des données collectées. A cet effet, les actions suivantes ont été menées :• Enquêtes par questionnaire : un questionnaire a été administré à un échantillon déterminé à partir des individus qui ont au moins une fois écouté un message voix.Ainsi, le calcul de l'échantillon a été effectué en appliquant un niveau de confiance de 95% et la marge d'erreur de 5% sur la population mère de 2,720 producteurs ce qui a donné 342 personnes comme taille de l'échantillon. Ensuite, l'échantillonnage stratifié a été adopté avec comme critère de stratification basé sur la zone de résidence des enquêtés.• Entretiens semi-structurés : des entretiens individuels ont été réalisées avec des personnes ressources parmi les bénéficiaires afin d'affiner les données quantitatives collectées par questionnaire. Ainsi, 21 entretiens ont été réalisés via le téléphone avec les différents producteurs leaders du projet. Cette inégalité de représentation des enquêtés selon les communes et le sexe reflète la représentativité dans la base de données initiale.Pour la diffusion des informations agrométéorologiques, Jokalante utilise sa plateforme TIC.En effet, ces informations sont diffusées en voix et en langue locale directement sur les téléphones mobiles des bénéficiaires sous forme d'appel et cela ne nécessite ni du crédit téléphonique, ni de la connexion pour le réceptionniste. Ainsi, lors de l'évaluation finale de cette campagne, la perception des bénéficiaires sur ce canal de réception des messages est recueillie.   La question sur le niveau de partage des informations a été soumise aux producteurs qui recevaient les informations. Ainsi, il a noté que chaque producteur partage chaque information reçue avec en moyenne 13 personnes.Pour mesurer la contribution des informations et conseils diffusés sur le rendement des producteurs, une question de savoir « Pouvez-vous nous rappeler un conseil que vous avez suivi ? » leur a été posée. Ainsi, 230/342 producteurs interrogés nous ont rappelé un conseil.Ensuite, ces répondants à la question précédente ont été soumis à répondre à la question suivante : « Ce conseil a-t-il eu des effets sur votre rendement agricole ? » les résultats de cette question sont présentés dans la Figure 3 qui montre que 96,96% des producteurs ayant appliqué les informations reçus en ont connu des effets positifs sur leurs activités culturales.Ce qui reflète l'importance des messages voix diffusés.  • Réarticuler certains conseils par rapport à la situation sur le terrain.","tokenCount":"791"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9405972552.json b/data/part_1/9405972552.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d4f5e8973512af4abcc247aa1bf7e21ac9483fa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9405972552.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bf70785a7c8221130d51eb247537e9d4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c6b787e9-741a-4811-9db5-ec37d0cb9894/retrieve","id":"-1324428444"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf56a32a-2a3c-4872-9728-5f279e76ad06","pagecount":"13","content":"Note conceptuelle : Processus d'installation des clubs d'écoute : Un outil communautaire de monitoring des informations agro-climatiques. Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA)Son rôle sera de coordonner les activités d'écoute. Il/elle se chargera de la dissémination des podcast dans les canaux de communication (groupe Whatsapps, groupement associatif de femme, etc.) et du reportage des appréciations faites par chaque membre. Il/elle assurera donc le secrétariat du club et requiert de lui/elle de savoir lire et écrire en français ou en langues locales (Pulaar, Serere, Wolof). Les six (6) points focaux des radios communautaires seront constitués de personnels internes (affiliés aux radios communautaires) et de bénéficiaires externes (n'ayant aucune affiliation avec la radio). Ce critère de contraste permettra d'apprécier le dynamisme des clubs lorsque leurs activités seront évaluées ultérieurement (voir outil de reportage tableau 2).• Formation et renforcement des capacités. Les membres des clubs seront formés par l'équipe technique et scientifique du projet AICCRA pour répondre convenablement aux attentes sur leurs activités. Le renforcement de capacité concernera les techniques d'analyse de contenu, les supports de discussion, le remplissage des fiche de remontée des résultats pour chaque émission.• Dotation de matériels didactiques et logistique. Suivant l'expression des besoins, chaque club sera doté de matériels pour assurer le suivi des activités : radio, fiche d'appréciation, liste de présence, enregistreur, etc. Suivant l'accord trouvé avec ADID ou URAC, les participant.e.s de chaque club d'écoute bénéficieront d'un forfait de remboursement de transport et ou une collation pour chaque rencontre mensuelle.À l'issu des réunions, chaque club d'écoute devra fournir des informations concernant la présence des membres, le déroulement des échanges, le message clé retenu de l'émission examinée, les points positifs et/ou négatifs, les canaux utiliser pour la dissémination des conseils et le nombre de personnes touchées. ","tokenCount":"292"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9422750732.json b/data/part_1/9422750732.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9dcf48b238f6215d3b2abe9f6397b7acca9c3654
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9422750732.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82768ca10d3b05001fef3e91c0347394","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7b212cd8-692f-4fc0-9a38-6e57311aa4c0/retrieve","id":"1699057814"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"183579ce-8db3-40ed-aa5c-80b992549476","pagecount":"7","content":"IITA holds the copyright to its publications but encourages duplication of these materials for noncommercial purposes. 3URSHU FLWDWLRQ LV UHTXHVWHG DQG PRGL¿FDWLRQ of these materials is prohibited. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is hereby granted without fee and without a formal request provided that copies are not PDGH RU GLVWULEXWHG IRU SUR¿W RU FRPPHUFLDO advantage and that copies bear this notice DQG IXOO FLWDWLRQ RQ WKH ¿UVW SDJH &RS\\ULJKW for components not owned by IITA must be honored and permission pursued with WKH RZQHU RI WKH LQIRUPDWLRQ 3ULRU VSHFL¿F permission is required to copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists.We do not endorse, approve, or give any warranty on the content of this publication. All liability for loss and damage arising from your use of our content is excluded (except where death or personal injury arises from our negligence or loss or damage arises from any fraud on our part  L. Kumar ","tokenCount":"172"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9431422478.json b/data/part_1/9431422478.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b59782680a295433ceb2a93374da12434fdb6fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9431422478.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"893735c04a136012806886cfd9232ec0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1081a3f1-4d8d-428b-ac76-911104fb071b/retrieve","id":"1932871887"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f0ddb6b-af37-4146-be49-b52e67870cee","pagecount":"74","content":"and plenary sessions are reported as they were presented. It is not a synthesis report but a verbatim documentation of the proceedings and outcomes without interpretation.Key drivers for future food security identified by Group A Table 2 Key drivers for future food security identified by Group B Table 3 Key drivers for future food security identified by Group C Table 4 Scenarios identified by Group B Table 5 Scenarios developed by Group C Table 6 Storyline developed by Group A Table 7 Storyline developed by Group C Table 8 Storyline developed by Group D Table 9 CCAFS Next StepsAgriculture or Food Security in East Africa Figure 2 Factors that make effective teams Figure 3 Participants' expectations Figure 4 Participants' fears Figure 5 Definition of regional integration and good governance Figure 6 Collaborative Networks Figure 7 Key Partners Figure 8a Structure of Partnerships across the groups Figure 8b Structure of Partnerships across the groups vii Summary 'Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security' (CCAFS) is a Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Challenge Programs tackle complex issues of overwhelming global and regional significance. As no single research organization has the ability to tackle such a problem, Challenge Programs bring the complementary skills and expertise of a wide range of institutions to address the issues. CCAFS opens up opportunities to research the interactions between climate change, agriculture and food security. The partnership between the international agricultural research and Earth Systems science communities creates unique prospects for seeking solutions to the problem of food security in a changing climate.The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to discuss CCAFS theme objectives (risk, adaptation and mitigation) and possible strategies and approaches for achieving them. Participants identified key East African region specific research opportunities within the CCAFS nexus and actions areas.Essentially, there was a need to engage governments to influence policy, design and implement appropriate interventions strategy/plan for engaging in global discourse and actions, e.g. the development and effective use of such instruments as carbon markets. In addition, CCAFS should take stock of other initiatives involved in climate change, and develop strategies/plans for engagement. Attention was drawn to the fact that addressing climate change was not just about provision of access to knowledge, as the results must reach and be used by farmers. It was suggested that early warning systems be early and targeted. Participants felt that CCAFS opened an opportunity for addressing capacity gaps at all levels. Participants pointed out the need to engage communities in the identification of adaptation options. The need for improvement of water productivity, storage and integration with other components of agriculture was emphasized.The workshop was seen as a first step towards developing a set of scenarios for the East African region that are coherent with global assumptions to ca. 2030, and which reflect plausible agriculture and food security development pathways under changing climate at local and regional levels. Further, it provided an opportunity for participants to identify a team of regional and national stakeholders who would be mobilized and sensitized to climate change adaptation and mitigation issues in relation to agriculture and food security.Some of the major drivers with the highest level of uncertainties included: globalization; political stability; access to technology; access to land; access to water and markets. The four scenarios identified are summarized in the table below. Tentative names were assigned to these scenarios, but it was understood that firm titles will only emerge as the storylines get developed and characterization of attributes of each scenario begins to solidify. A process for further development of storylines on each scenario was initiated. A group of participants volunteered to continue with the storyline development for each scenario.The four scenarios identified: Extent of Regional Climate change is an immediate and unprecedented threat to the food security of hundreds of millions of people who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate change affects agriculture and food security; agriculture and natural resource use in turn affect the climate system. The complex and dynamic relationship between climate, agriculture and food security is influenced by economic policies and political economy. However, the relationships between all these factors and how they interact is not clearly understood. The objective of the workshop was to inform key regional stakeholders about the climate change, agriculture and food security program and seek inputs into the ongoing R4D initiatives in the region, including identifying potential new activities. This meeting provided a platform for participants to explore the priority research and development priorities, as well as opportunities for strategic collaborations to generate new ways of working and to broaden dialogue between science and policy. Participants identified main drivers and areas of uncertainty, and considered a number of potential adaptation options for climate change, agriculture and food security. A significant part of the workshop (2 out of 3 days) was dedicated to discussing plausible scenarios for the Eastern African regionThe meeting started at 0900 hours, with opening remarks from Hezron Mogaka. On behalf of ASARECA, the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security Programme (CCAFS) and the CGIAR Centers, he welcomed participants to the workshop. Hezron informed participants that ASARECA was hosting the meeting, which would explore key research opportunities in relation to climate change, agriculture and food security in East Africa. He pointed out that, consistent with planned CCAFS activities in the region, participants were from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. However, it was hoped that with time and depending on how the process evolved, there may be possibility to expand to other countries in Eastern Africa. Hezron asked the participants to feel free and enjoy the ambience at the hotel. He thereafter invited Eldad Tukahirwa, ASARECA Deputy Executive Director, to give his opening address.In setting the scene, Eldad provided an overview of ASARECA, a sub-regional organization which was set up fifteen years ago by the National Agricultural Research Institutions (NARIs), to facilitate the shared vision and goals for agricultural research in the sub-region. He informed participants that ASARECA coordinated and facilitated cooperation in agricultural research to produce regional public goods -networking amongst researchers in the sub-region. In addition, ASARECA facilitates cooperation in the ECA region in scaling out of agricultural technologies and innovations, mobilizing resources for research, and strengthening institutional and individual capacity for agricultural research.Eldad pointed out that climate change posed a major challenge which required a shared vision on how to deal with. Accordingly, the collective action, coordination and cooperation by all the stakeholders concerned were essential.Ultimately, the building of both institutional and individual capacities, must aim to share the outputs. Eldad informed participants that there was a great affinity with ASARECA's being, in relation to what CCFAS proposed to do in the East Africa region. In this regard, ASARECA was pleased to be a co-organizer of the meeting. Participants were encouraged to thresh out issues in depth, which would begin to define paths for addressing the challenges brought about by climate change.The facilitator invited Patti Kristjanson to explain the background and objectives of the workshop. Patti informed participants that she was a member of the CCAFS team and that she is an ICRAF staff member Whereas the participants would hear more about the programme from Sonja Vermeulen, Patti pointed out that the CCAFS programme was relatively new, and had been running for a few months. CCAFS was carrying out a series of events with various partners and in various places to try and bring people together around the Climate Change Challenge. The stated objectives of the workshop were to:Inform stakeholders about CCFAS and initial ideas; Share information on on-going initiatives; Discuss program objectives, expected outcomes, strategies and opportunities; Identify national and regional partnerships and capacity development opportunities; Introduce rationale and process for developing storylines and scenarios; Identify actors and actions for further development of storylines.Patti mentioned that a CD containing a lot of background information was in the participants' information pack. She hoped that participants would be able to use the large volume of information when they returned to their jobs. Patti stated that CCAFS was seeking new partnerships and new opportunities to work together in the region. As a result, they needed to know some of the priorities and needs in the region in relation to food security. The workshop would include exercises which involved the development of regional scenarios in day two and three, which John Ingram would talk about.Recognizing the fact that climate change was happening alongside global changes in democracy and demography, John stressed the need to begin to explore these range of uncertainties and how they interact, as well as to tease out elements of some plausible futures. He encouraged participants to begin to establish a structure of moving the process forward. Further, a lot of the process was about team building. However, although everybody would not be part of the team, John hoped that the outcome of the workshop would enhance communication, as well as help and explain to people that have to make decisions, given those uncertainties. Based on their extensive experience in scenarios, Andrew Ainslie, Polly Ericksen and John, would be responsible for developing the scenario exercise during days two and three of the workshop.The approach to the meeting was interactive, allowing room for an open, lively debate among participants in an informal environment. Maximum time was allocated for discussions in working groups as well as plenary discussions, with a focus on going in depth, advancing conceptual thinking, as well as sharing practical know-how.The facilitator introduced PICOTEAM as a coalition of organizations operating in several African countries, as well as in Latin America. He explained that PICOTEAM supported individuals and organizations in their efforts to bring about change and innovation for sustainable development. PICOTEAM focused on fostering participatory learning processes in organizations and amongst stakeholders towards enhancing their performance, creativity and adaptability. They led organizations through institutional reform and change processes and had a proven track record in building the capacity of operational, management and strategic teams to improve organizational and individual performance utilizing a variety of participatory training, mentoring and coaching methodologies.PICOTEAM envisioned a world in which people and their institutions bring out their full potential and creativity for their own prosperity and for a better society. A process steering group was formed; the group was tasked with co-managing the workshop, providing feedback on the process and helping ensure that things were on track, recalibrating the workshop program as necessary. It was envisaged that through this process, participants will take an active role; feel responsible for the success of the meeting and take ownership of the outcomes. The administration and logistics team was led by Hezron Mogaka.Working in groups, participants were asked to get to know each other. The task box guided the discussions. Participants identified factors that make effective teams (Figure 2)  Response: Today is about helping to make sure that the CCAFS programme is not dwelling at an intellectual and abstract level, but that it is responding to key policies. We would like to get input from people who understand the region to ground the programme on the realities on the ground. The next two days are about building scenarios for East Africa; what are the possible ways things may go.The main objective is to form strong partnerships which will help drive the CCAFS programme as it moves on.Ed presented the programme overview and stressed that as the meeting goes forward, it would be a kind of living agenda that would be flexible, allowing adjustments provide space for emerging issues to be addressed. The workshop programme is summarized in Annex I.In A lot of the discussions on climate change are at a global scale, yet some of the effects are actually solutions in some regions. For example, the use of fertilizer in Africa is an important tool in mitigating climate change, and this is not reflected in your presentation. Comment: The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has a significant presence, but ownership is not coming out. Ed: The three areas I hear you requiring clarification are: programme objectives; clear understanding of roles of participants in the process; and how we move forward from here. These will be flagged, and discussed after Phil's presentation.Phil defined risk, adaptation and mitigation, and described the importance of the research theme on integration for decision making. Activities outlined included vulnerability mapping, databases and tools and the evaluation of outcomes.Phil's presentation is in Annex III b.John explained that there were two types of scenario outputs. The first one consisted of formal outputs, which were sets of storylines developed around consensus. These storylines set the boundaries for what is possible from the adaptation point of view. The storylines help the CCAFS programme to define the bounds of possibility. The second output was based on a process of engagement which led to team building and partnerships. It involves the research teams which have a contribution to make and will also benefit from it. John stressed that whereas there were other collaborators who were not necessarily at the workshop, they would still be increasingly involved in the process, such as representatives of retails and the distributors of food storage. He stated that CCAFS would be looking to invite and engage them. The outcomes would be a whole range of different benefits including team building; communication methods to help the policy community understand the climate change phenomenon; as well as helping the research community understand how complicated the policy arena is. It was made clear that on the following day, participants would begin the process of developing these scenarios.Managing climate risks was the key message in Patti's presentation. This can be done by helping develop, and share existing field, farm and community level risk management strategies that buffer against climate shocks. In addition, developing tools and strategies which avail information for managing risk via food delivery, trade and crisis response was very important. Participants were given a description of risk, adaptation and mitigation research thematic areas according to the CCAFS programme, which included their objectives as well as possible risk management examples in the region. Patti's presentation is in Annex III c.Comment: Currently, China is examining carbon implications of adaptation pathways, in particular the effects of low carbon pathways.Similarly, EAf may be looking at something different, like increasing fertilizer use or other kinds of yield advancement. Our theme leader on mitigation sees this as the key hypothesis for this area of work, which is sustainable intensification. Comment: Land degradation and biomass growth for feed is very important, but for that to happen you must start with some sort of nutrients.Context specificity is a big issue for climate change and we should not generalize.Is there anything on capacity building in risk mitigation and risk adaptation? How many breeders do we need to train to ensure that we have all the varieties we need? Response: When we brainstorm on ideas or things which are needed, it is not purely about research rather it is about capacity needs, knowledge management needs as well as communication needs. Thus, we would like you to raise these issues. Comment: In Ethiopia there is an ongoing debate about the source of energy for domestic use. There is a high demand for firewood and charcoal in the urban areas. What are the options to supply energy, to reverse the pressure and demand on biomass or forest areas? Comment: The government of Tanzania is developing a national forest strategy document. They have carried out extensive stakeholder consultations, and have come up with a long list of challenges such as governance. How do you ensure that the money that comes from carbon markets trickles to the grass-root level? These are some of the issues which have to be addressed. The facilitator led the participants through a differentiation exercise whose purpose was twofold. First, the exercise would assist in mapping the stakeholder representation, whose contributions had implications on the workshop outcomes, including the implementation of those outcomes. Secondly, it would also bring out some issues that require more in-depth discussion to reach consensus. In order to get a feel of who was represented at the meeting and how this may have implications on the discussions, the participants were asked to move and group themselves according to the different categories, as indicated below: With regards to the roles of all the people getting involved, what is this thing and who owns it? The CCAFS programme will become clearer as we proceed. Likewise, the people who buy into the conversation and the delivery of the research become the owners of it. It is not owned by the University of Copenhagen (where the secretariat sits) or by the CG-Centers. This workshop is part of becoming engaged in the process. Comment: CCAFS is a virtual network of people and there is a programme to be implemented, however it is still being worked out with different people in this region. Ed: I hear one of the responses is that: You have been given an opportunity to be here, and this will spell whether or not you want to be engaged in the programme. Comment: What are the priorities of the EA region? How are we going to align this with the policy decisions so that they can be integrated with the process? Ed: Let me try to summarize what we have heard: There are other initiatives that exist, and we should be aware of them and see how what we are doing fits into it. The objectives are going to be clearer as we move forwards. Ownership is a result of your engagement which will lead to roles, which should be a lot clearer at the end of day three.Working in groups, participants were tasked with discussing one of the themes: risk, adaptation or mitigation. Secondly, they identified whether the objectives as presented were applicable or relevant for the region, giving reasons why or why not. Thirdly, participants listed what they saw as the key R4D gaps and opportunities in the region for each of the themes. The discussion on CCAFS adaptation objectives was divided into two groups.Objective 3 should be broadened to support disaster management by farmers and supporting agencies.There should be additional objectives to address policies and governance.Emerging pests and diseases; Build capacity for junior researchers (breeders and agroclimatologists); Inadequate information on the impact of climate (other than rainfall) on smallholder farming systems; Forecasting and weather predictions are too generalized; Indigenous knowledge and cultural beliefs and practices have not been captured; Old agricultural zones have not been updated.The Response: Not all the research team could be here. We do not mean to stress the genetic side of it too much, so intervention areas go beyond the presentation. Comment: CCAFS is supposed to be working on the intersection between agricultural science and climate science, which means we will not be doing breeding, but we shall be linking with other people who do breeding. We can contribute by identifying the limits in cropping systems, current cropping varieties, and helping the breeders' better plan in the future. The neglected crops idea is something that is good which we should take on because there are a lot of opportunities. These are the niches which can feed into the genetic side. Ed: The interface between agriculture and climate change is where the niche lies. Addressing the issue may come from breeding or other interventions Comment: I look at these three as physical things which one would do with regards to changes in practice. Using existing things differently is another thing. The third thing is actually making interventions. Comment: We are still going around in circles. The most important dimension of climate change for me is that there is either too much water or too little water. How can we manage our water better for short term and long term risks? Comment: All adaptation measures should be subjected to social and environmental impact assessments. Take for example irrigation, a successful irrigation scheme may be beneficial to one community but may have serious implications on communities downstream. Ed: Therefore what you are saying is that there is need to look at the impact of the actions you are taking, beyond just the geographical area you are examining?1. Inform decision makers about mitigation impacts of agricultural development pathways and options for low carbon livelihoods; 2. Develop better ways to measure emissions from different farming systems and landscapes, and to monitor, report and verify them; 3. Understand how smallholders and vulnerable groups can participate effectively in carbon markets and benefit from their hard work that helps mitigate the impact of climate change.Participants identified the following pathways and options for carbon livelihoods (mitigation)….. 1. Inter-sectoral harmonization of policies on green house gasses (GHS); 2. No agreed international framework for carbon trading; 3. Carbon markets should add value to agricultural projects and other objectives, e.g. increasing soil fertility, etc; 4. Means of verifying the amount of carbon sequestered in soils; 5. Limited methodologies for measuring the amount of carbon sequestered in the agricultural sector; 6. Thinking of other environmentally friendly activities e.g. beekeeping in the forests that would lead to better management of the agro-systems; 7. Focus has been more on the supply side without guarantee of the demand for the amount of carbon sequestered; 8. Weak benefit-sharing mechanisms; 9. Other environmental services e.g. water; 10. Capacity building and knowledge management.Comment: Each country must put in place a national policy framework and make rules and governance structures which will be a basis for carbon market. Ed: Overall, from these discussions, what are the things which have hit you as the main things which need to be emphasized? Let us look at some of these now.1. Need to engage governments to influence policy and actions (incl. providing research-based policy evidence); need for research into how decisions are made by governments; 2. Call for East African governments to get together and develop strategies/plans for engaging in global carbon market; 3. The program should take stock of other initiatives involved in climate change and develop strategies/plans for engagement 4. Improvement of water productivity, storage and integration with other components of agriculture; 5. Should we introduce adaptation options top-down or identify options with communities and scale out options so identified; 6. Addressing climate change is not just about provision of access to knowledge; results must reach and be used by farmers; 7. Strategy for addressing capacity gaps -at all levels; 8. Under-utilized crops provide opportunity for adaptation to climate change; 9. Early warning systems/interventions should be: a) early; and b) warnhence must be targeted; 10. There are many opportunities and gaps: priority-setting will be critical.Decentralized Partnership Network on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security by Moushumi Chaudhury and Kevin CoffeyParticipants were introduced to a network analysis or mapping exercise which would assist CCAFS in building a knowledge platform in East Africa. The presentation given by Moushumi and Kevin emphasized the difference between centralized and decentralized networks. A quick example of IRI-Columbia Network was presented, including four uses of a decentralized network map.The presentation is in Annex III d. A questionnaire was handed out to participants. The questionnaire (see Annex III e) served to collect information on the collaboration/partnership network represented in the workshop. The purpose was; 1) to demonstrate the network mapping approach; and 2) map the extent of networks that exist in the region. Results of the analysis were presented on day 3 (see section 4.3 below).Comment: We all work with a lot of people in collaborative process. The question you are being asked is if you think about the challenge we are talking about, who are the key collaborators that you are now working with?Participants were invited to an open space discussion, in order to share information on ongoing initiatives on who was doing what, where related to climate change, agriculture and food security R4D in East Africa. Working in country groups, and using maps as a reference, participants examined the criteria provided by CCAFS in the site selection process, and gave their input.Several people have asked questions about research modalities.Much of the research funding under CCAFS is going to be controlled at the regional level, and therefore until our Regional Facilitator, James Kinyangi is in place, decisions cannot be made.There will be some key long term research partners, both agenda setters and implementers of the research. ASARECA will be under this umbrella, and others will be established as we develop. By 2011 you should be able to see where the investment is targeted and who the key partners are. Today is not a meeting about defining research partners, we have not developed our modalities far enough in order to answer that. However if you are interested, kindly keep in touch with us, and once James is on board, he will be the key person to approach.To what extent will the regional people be involved in co-creating the process in the region? Will they just be consumers? Response: The Regional Facilitator has this title because of the vision, to facilitate the process under co-partners. Comment: We have not been very good in communicating research findings to the policy makers. We need to think about a strategy to make an impact on the ground, and the way people operate; we need an effective strategy to engage policy makers in these kinds of processes.In this session participants were introduced to scenario development and analysis within the context of the CCAFS programme. The sources of major uncertainties and knowledge gaps were identified, as part of a process to establish scenarios which reflect plausible agriculture and food security development pathways under changing climate at local and regional levels. The following presentations were made:  What are scenarios and how can they be helpful for thinking about agriculture and food security in the future? by John Ingram and Andrew Ainslie  Millennium Assessment Scenarios by Polly EricksenThe key expectation of the overall scenarios project within CCAFS was to improve the assessment of the spatial and temporal vulnerability of agricultural and food systems to climate change at the regional level. Whereas four participants had been involved in scenario analysis at some stage, the main expectation of day two, as stressed by John was to help everybody get on the same page in terms of understanding what scenarios was all about. This included the types of scenarios and their uses, how they were developed, including what one could get out of them. John envisaged that by the end of the day, all participants should be comfortable with scenario analysis, and begin to map out three to four scenarios for the future.It was made clear that this was the start of a process, and not just a one off workshop which would deliver a polished product. There would be a follow up meeting as well as a period of work in between. By the end of this workshop, the process drivers hoped to establish a strong skeleton for plausible future for food security and agriculture in East Africa, as well as identify some individuals who would take the process forward, and work with it and get full ownership of it.What are scenarios and how can they be helpful for thinking about agriculture and food security in the future? by John Ingram and Andrew AinslieAccording to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), scenarios are plausible and often simplified descriptions of how the future may develop, based on a coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about key driving forces and relationships. Scenarios are not forecasts of future events, nor are they predictions of what might or will happen in the future. The full presentation is in Annex III e. How much does it rely on the past? How does it link the past and future? Response: If one accepts that the stories we are developing are based on expert knowledge, as our knowledge is based on the past. They start today, and the conditions today have been determined by the past. Scenario is used by different people in different ways, but the purpose is to get us on the same page on, as to what we mean by scenarios in the context of CCAFS.We are familiar with using models for predictions and projections. How then can scenarios not be predictions or projections? Response: There are discrete methodologies for each one of them, and we can look at the examples of global level scenarios. Indeed, there are very many ways of doing scenarios, and every exercise takes a different approach. You can have a scenario that is a purely qualitative analysis or a quantitative analysis, or have a blend of both of them at various points of the exercise. The qualitative parts help to frame the debate, and the modeling comes later on. Newspapers present scenarios as normative ideas of what is good and bad. In the case of plausible futures, some will look better than others, but they will have tradeoffs. The storylines we seek to develop will not say this will be the perfect future, and the other will be a disaster. We have a few examples which I hope will help, and if they do not we will return to your questions at the end of this presentation.Polly We assume that we take this as given, that what Phil presented earlier is the situation we have with regards to the climate in the future. By 2030 there will not be those big differences, and there are no assumptions.Working in groups, participants were tasked with identifying the major driving issues and their uncertainties for East Africa's food security and land use. The task box below guided the discussions.What are the major driving issues and their uncertainties for EA food security and agriculture/land use? Identify 3 sets of top 5 drivers and nature and magnitude of uncertainty.Kindly unpack what the drivers and uncertainties are. Response: What has gotten us to where we are? What are the major drivers of agriculture, food security and land use? What are four things which determine food security in EA? What are the key things which have gotten us where we are in terms of land use? Does the EA community really get going such that pastoralists can get their livestock moving around? Comment: How do you want us to measure the uncertainties? Response: It is qualitative at this stage. Say we had population as a driver, and then we would say we are pretty confident that the numbers will go up.Suppose you ask slightly different questions will the scenarios be different? Response: Yes, absolutely. The scenarios would be different if the stakeholders were different. You know the key issues that you want to explore to achieve the CCAFS goal. Due to the fact that there are some unknowns then it is an opportunity to see what will happen with the plausible futures.Just to remind you all: We are not looking for the most correct, desirable or acceptable future.How often should we revisit the scenarios? Response: Over the next year or so we hope that this will produce all the outputs. Over that period of time there will be a chance to revisit the storylines and make corrections if you like. But we are talking about a visioning for the next twenty years, what we need to do is think about getting the best we can today at this workshop about exploring the plausible future given these sets of assumptions. You have identified governance and political stability; land tenure/resource tenure and access to resources, how is that going to change? Everything that has been said is very important, and directions of their change are known. The uncertainty is greater for some and lesser for others. We want to explore the plausible futures given that the drivers can go this way or that way. It is a question of how we distill may be three or four of those major drivers, where we just do not have a feel of how it is going to happen. The two that struck me were governance (political stability) and land tenure. Were there any others that people noticed as common across the working sessions? Ed:If you were given time to think about importance and uncertainty would you consider that to be a very difficult task? We can from this long list identify the main drivers as political stability, resource tenure, globalization and access to technology?Following the above discussion, the key drivers with the highest level of uncertainties were identified as……  Globalization  Political Stability  Access to technology  Access to land  Access to water  MarketsWorking in groups, participants were, in this second round, tasked with establishing two to four plausible futures for the East African Region. It was made clear that flexibility was necessary in the approach. Also, participants needed to think about the key messages coming out of this, and identify the similarities in the storylines. Thereafter, they would begin to flesh these out. The task box below guided the discussions.Establish 2-4 plausible futures for East African Region (EAf): What are the major features of each scenario? skeletons for 2-4 scenarios names for each scenarioThe group identified governance and political stability as the major drivers. If disintegration occurred for some reason, a host of things would happen. One pathway was no change; where there was much stronger political stability and generally things improve. Either government stayed the same or government gets better. Another major area was the interaction with the global community. Either East Africa basically looks inwards and concentrates on East Africa or the region looks outwards and engages with the global scene. The following scenarios emerged from this:Governance remains the same, EA looks inwards: Over the next 20 years the climate will change and there will be over 150 million people in the world, but those are not uncertainties. The sustainability is questionable, access to land is likely to go down; increased worry about elections, conflicts on resource utilization -the system is being run the same way, but being exposed to greater stress.Scenario 2: 'Nyama Choma' Governance improves, but there is still a notion of cultural identity: The EAC fully working, with fully functional governments across the region, and land tenure and the institutions are working and more regional accords come to play.Scenario 3: 'Carbon Markets' Regional emphasis: More concentration on regional markets; common currency, common markets for various products; investments are coming in and also the possibility of the cultural identify of EA is strengthened. In this scenario government gets a lot better and links to the carbon market.Scenario 4: 'Big Mac' Global Emphasis: Access to common markets; Opportunities for movement of people and ideas, improved communication and better technical transfer etc. In this scenario government stays the same and links to the international world.The group identified the most important driving factors as integration and governance. The table below summarizes the scenarios identified. The EA community is collapsing;The forces of globalization are stronger than ever but regulated by some polarization between countries in the region, in terms of global alliances and regional conflicts; Inefficient resource utilization -water, infrastructure, energy -more water depletion; domination by some countries; Conflicts between different nationalities who had settled in different countries; Some countries become dominant -Kenya and Ethiopia -individual countries may innovate and progress well, but most are left behind; Poverty levels will be very high; Limited foreign investment; Private sector will run away -shrinking markets; Negotiation power of the region has lessened significantly.There are expanding markets and market opportunities; There will be market dominance by the Asian Tigers (China and India) difficult to other foreign and locals to enter and compete; There will be more access to appropriate technologies and skills and transfer knowledge; Land, water, labor productivity for resources, access to land; Decrease in employment for locals; Less regional cooperation; Increased local skills; Increased income and taxes; Weakened regional cooperation; More corruption, less stability, dictatorship tendency; Weakening policies, restrictions; Influx of substandard products;Over exploitation of natural resourcesWhat is the assumed relationship with the international community in the case of the first scenario by the group? Response: We assumed that the region will not separate itself with the global community, it will continue as it is. Nonetheless, the changes will be in the region. Comment: Governance is part of regionalization. If there is bad governance there will be segregation. If there is good governance there will be strong regional integration.The group identified that political stability was critical, and so was regionalization. They examined whether governments were proactive about solving the issues related to access to land and water, and looked at how fast markets developed. The following table illustrates the storylines which emerged.Scenario 1: Blossoming  Political stability is being achieved, and it is not just business as usual, there is an improvement.  Regional integration happens and the EAf government is formed.  Access to water, land policy issues is sorted out, and there is rapid regional market development. Increase in political instability: Somalia unresolved -triggers civil and international unrest.  There is no regionalization.  Limited improvements in access to water.  Limited resolution of land issues.  Only weak national markets There is political stability but the egos of the EAf leaders prevent them from having regional markets however, there is cooperation on water.  National land policies sorted and implemented.  There is slow regional market integration (bilateral)  National markets develop Scenario 4: Not born yet  There is political stability and regional market integration. However, no cooperation on access to waterEd: Think about the similarities, and where there is internal consistency in the logic, as we try to get the best out of the mix. What hits you as some fantastic scenarios which you do not want to lose? Comment: Political stability is key factor which determines all the scenarios existing in EAf. Second group focused on regionalization and was embodied in the discussion. We should concentrate on stability as a significant driver and place the similarities then we can come up with scenarios. Comment: We were doing this with CCAFs, thus I was expecting to see more linkages to CCAFs agenda. In the first two groups, the scenarios hinge more on markets and not necessarily on food security. The third group at least mentioned the issues on land and water which are linked to the CCAFS agenda. Response: That is a valid observation. What we accepted yesterday, is that whereas there is a climate change signal, it is not uncertain, in fact it will be fundamentally embedded in all the scenarios. How that plays out is the question, although only a relatively small temperature increase is predicted over the next couple of years. It is evident that in some groups they started to talk about the consequences of the drivers, as opposed to the drivers. Some went a little further with the storylines. Comment: With issues related to land and water, the proactivity will decline or increase. In scenario three, by doing all this, conflicts will also increase. Unpacking this information is required. Comment: The component of technology and policies is not coming out clearly. They are important but missing. As we start articulating the landscape created by these scenarios, we need to see policy interventions playing out or not and likewise, if there is technology absorption or not. Comment: There is a similarity in terms of the logic. We are not doing this work out of context, but rather in order to start engaging with the governments and private sector within the EAf, which makes quite a lot of sense. We will be required to take home some explanation, thus they have to be relevant so that when we explain them they are accepted and not dismissed. So I can now see the animal emerging from the silhouette. Comment: Many of us are involved in strategic planning exercises where you have to carry out a SWOT analysis. This is a good use of using scenarios as a tool, in strategic planning. Comment: We discussed the five or six drivers, but stability was a determining factor. If stability is there, everything is positive. If it is not there all we have listed will not be augmented. That is what determines what will be implemented Comment: We can have four scenarios starting with political stability focusing on governance, then regional integration and globalization.I am a bit unclear about what the groups have placed inside the package of globalization. What is their understanding of globalization? Question:If you have globalization and stability in two axes. Given that we are about food security and agricultural development, will we miss the environment completely? It could be a huge contribution we would make. Response: We do not have to have two axes.Plus or minus axis, or proactive and reactive with regard to environmental and climate change issues? We will come back to the definition of globalization in a minute. Comment: Land and water were defined as drivers yesterday, but that does not equate with environment, because we equated them to rights. So we should take caution on that. Ed: It is important to better define the climate change dimensions which need to go in there. Comment: Its not the climate change dimension, it is the climate and environmental policy which is missing and that was noted yesterday. These need to be considered as we go forward. Comment: Policy is a big thing. There are policies about conservation, those in response to climate change, and land ownership amongst others. It is vital to make sure that you have the right policy focus in the dialogue. Comment: We emphasize so much about policies that we forget about the full set of instruments that are used as a package. We need to think about the way the document will find its way to implementation. Ed: Let us come back to the globalization issue. Comment: Our group discussed globalization importance in terms of the flow of ideas and markets. The regional integration can happen in a more or less globalized world. EAf is more inward or outward looking, but those are different decisions which have to be made.The globalization box has many things in it, 'BIG MAC' has arrived in town, that is enterprise, and movement of trade, information flows. However, the instruments that are global in nature are also functional, for instance Kyoto. Hence, it is not just entry into other peoples market, but vice versa, which includes the international community cooperating more, and addressing big issues in a systematic way. Is there anything else missing? Response: Partner relationships, East African entities and development partners outside the region . Comment: The region becomes strong and deals with the global perspectives to enjoy the benefits. Ed: On one hand there is the regional thing of people and governments working together, but there is also the issue of how globalization affects what is happening. This is not clear in the presentation. Comment: The African Union (AU) is not featured anywhere. The driver is political stability and the outcome is regional integration. Comment: We were globalized because of IT, and due to the fact that we are looking at one market and the issues in it. Thus, let us unpack it and define globalization. Ed: A well integrated regional entity and one that is not integrated has not been defined. One of the scenarios I've seen emerging is that we are comfortable with a future where there is a regionally integrated entity in the EAf. The other is either we stay the same or we really get better. Comment: I would just like to remind everybody of the purpose of scenarios.It is not the world we want to see or the one that we do not want to see. We want to organize scenarios whose contrasts are interesting to evaluate food security, agriculture and climate change.Where there is political disintegration is it a useful storyline to develop?Response: Investment related to Tigers, is happening in the region, the issue is how do we manage it? During the 21 st century, Europe and the US will become increasingly marginalized, and that is a given. The issue is how does the region react or respond? Comment: It is integral in this governance issue. Steady progress but nothing major in the next 20years. You get some really dynamic leaders they will put in place policies which will deal with the tigers. Ed: The proactive government will deal with a lot of issues concerned with the tiger attack, because they engage them, they can deal with it proactively. We can define proactive and reactive to include the other threats and opportunities in the region. Comment:For regional integration to increase, it comes with governance.There are two regionalization options and two governance options. I can see that proactive and reactive can be defined. It sounds that we need to have proactive and reactive to the tigers, and globalization as well as environmental issues. Ed: We must know where governance, good or bad lies. We must understand what proactive and reactive contains. I'd like this defined in groups right now in a buzz. Comment: Remember that you want to define proactive and reactive constructively to help develop two to four scenarios where we have interesting, contrasting outcomes for food security and agriculture.3.5.1 Definition of regional integration, good governance, status quo and proactive/reactive within the context of EAf Working in groups, the participants defined regional integration as…….  The region comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi.  In 2030, the region would be defined by eleven countries to make up the East African Government;  Having common markets and open borders;  Having joint agreements on conflicts. The outcomes of proactive/reactive were defined under the headings….. EnvironmentalWe need to split into these future worlds. We already have some valuable definitions. We are here to come up with coherent and internally consistent futures which are distinct from each other, and are explained in terms of where we sit in terms of these uncertainties. We need to achieve the beginning of the storylines that describe these future worlds. We do not need to complete it, but we need to leave this meeting with a common vision of what these four worlds will look like. We need to populate these quadrants with some characteristics of what this world will look like. None of them is perfect; they have all got good and bad, but we need to list their principle attributes. Try and stick as best as we can within these boxes. Polly: Talk about how you get started on that path and what it might look like in 2030. Look at the scenarios which were presented earlier, which should give you some ideas of how to frame the attributes you are looking for.Working in four groups, participants were tasked with developing storylines which reflect plausible futures for food security, agriculture/land use, which included listing their principle attributes.Participants in this group developed a storyline called Hedgehog East Africa. The table 6 below summarizes the principle attributes of this scenario. Governments making own policies that are working nationally, but conflict with one another regionally; 3. Some of the policies may be driven by awareness of EAC policy; 4.Civil Society groups recognize problems/issues and self organize as pressure management groups around public goods important to them.Countries establish food banks to strengthen/bulk in regional bank is lost; Commodity based private sectors self organize to take advantage of market opportunities but because of fragmentation/competition cannot gain good market access in region; Regional market access falls into the hands of large players, less informal partners; Increase in contract farming; Staple crops not reaching markets; Proliferation of bilateral agreements on critical issues e.g. diseases, pests across borders without benefits of full integration (markets); NGO proliferation and filling roles normally played by private and public sectors: food aid, soil conservation, conflict resolution. The group focused on political and economical regional integration. Proactive was identified as environments, livelihoods, food security, tiger attacks and globalization. In this scenario, institutions do not all function properly because they are reactive, hence they do not get the best deals in trade negotiations. In addition, the tigers are here and we are trying to react/respond to the negative consequences of their investment. Land grabbing/foreign investment causes conflict over land; pushes mitigation of the agenda; increase total food production, but much is exported ‚home‛. National policy still to be implemented for access to land, access to On day 1 of the workshop Kevin and Moushumi made a presentation on network mapping and analysis and asked participants to fill questionnaires on their institutional partners and collaborators. This was subsequently analyzed and results of the organizational networks analysis presented in this session. Kevin presented the results of the organizational network analysis. The purpose of the network analysis was to assist participants in the identification of key organizations working in the region. He pointed out that it would enable a better understanding of an organization's position within the set of organizations working on food security, agriculture, and climate change in the region.Similarly, he stated that the analysis would enable an understanding of where organizations are located in relation to key partners. It was also a start of a process for creating possible strategic linkages (See Figure 6). The following emerged from the analysis: 107 Key Partners; 89% of partners were within CCAFS network (94); 13 Organizations were outside of the network.  Reminding participants that CCAFS had two objectives -research and policy -Sonja informed participants that CCAFS was going through an internal (CGIAR) change process that will transform it from a 'Challenge programme' into a 'Mega programme'. The process is to be completed and CCAFS launched in December as a Mega Programme. In terms of research, CCAFS was undertaking baseline surveys, identifying sites, developing protocols and using ASARECA country studies for the theme work. The scenario write up was also a priority under research. Table 9 below highlights some of the key events relevant for CCAFS, especially its policy objective. CCAFS was preparing the background paper for food security, agriculture and climate change to be presented at the Hague conference. Sonja requested that those participants who would like things tabled or to attend, to kindly get in touch with them at the Secretariat. She pointed out that she had structured this information around events and communication products at the regional and international level. CCAFS hoped that they would engage at national and subnational levels in the future.It was pointed out that CCAFS was still narrowing its key research questions in the areas of risk, adaptation, and mitigation, as they were broad. Patti emphasized that CCAFS was not reinventing the wheel, but rather the initiative was building and adding value to existing research. She pointed out that the baseline survey was a bit misleading in the sense that it would go on for the next two years, and focus on households. She stated that CCAFS would start in a few sites in each of the four countries, and as their partnerships strengthened, they would figure out where the research questions are that need to be answered. Participants were requested to inform CCAFS of any exciting research questions which they thought was of importance to the region, or to their country. Patti pointed out that it was a process, and that participants had already been a lot of help to CCAFS through this workshop.CCAFS intended to share information from this workshop and build on it, thus they would put workshop reports up on CCAFS website and share it broadly with partners. Patti stressed that they wanted to get away from the traditional way of doing projects and disappearing thereafter. She urged participants to assist in putting together a framework for risk, adaptation and mitigation as a document for each country, which ASARECA was leading. Thereafter, IFPRI would flesh this out and add more data to the shell reports developed by ASARECA.At the end of the session, Ed informed participants that PICO would deliver the workshop report to ASARECA on the 10 th of September 2010. Further, he stressed that the documentation was meant to be a reference report capturing what was discussed and what came out of the workshop. As a result, it would not be synthesized, but would be a verbatim report. It would be submitted to ASARECA for onward circulation to participants and other stakeholders.The workshop evaluation was undertaken in the form of questionnaires. Each participant individually filled out a form individually. The responses received are highlighted in the section below:What I appreciated most about the workshop…..","tokenCount":"8741"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9444599646.json b/data/part_1/9444599646.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c2591a5023dc3955a9dcf75ca62c5c0d2cedeb1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9444599646.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6264c173083009ad32d4d998d170de4a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7d0d12a4-d45f-4196-b349-3575981e80c0/retrieve","id":"1723182383"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7daf0368-2864-4af0-8b48-621316c7c686","pagecount":"27","content":"CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.El objetivo de los talleres participativos fue: \"Caracterizar de manera participativa los sistemas agroalimentarios con énfasis en cacao y ganadería en los municipios de Montañita y Belén de los Andaquíes, en el departamento del Caquetá\". Para ello se implementaron diferentes herramientas participativas que permitieron conocer e identificar la percepción de los/las participantes sobre sus sistemas agroalimentarios, haciendo énfasis en ganadería y cacao, la situación actual de la seguridad alimentaria, su percepción sobre variabilidad climática asociada a diferentes riesgos para sus sistemas de producción y las necesidades de la población para lograr sistemas agroalimentarios sostenibles.En este documento se presentan los principales resultados de estos talleres tanto en Montañita como en Belén de los Andaquíes.La actividad tuvo un total de 36 participantes, 17 en el caso del municipio de Belén de los Andaquíes y 19 en el caso de Montañita. Como se presenta en la tabla 1, en el municipio de Belén hubo una mayor participación de hombres con una edad promedio mayor, mientras que en Montañita fue más preponderante la participación de mujeres más jóvenes: 13 mujeres de 20 participantes, con una edad promedio de 34,7 años.En el caso de Belén, estos 17 participantes representaban tres (3) organizaciones: Agrosolidaria, Asociación de Productores Alternativos de Belén (ASPROABELÉN) y el Comité Municipal de Ganaderos; también se contó con la presencia de una funcionaria de la alcaldía a cargo de la coordinación agropecuaria. La mayor participación entre los dos sectores abordados (cacao y ganadería) la tuvo el cacao, con 13 participantes de este sector. Fotografía 1. Participante taller DRP Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 14 y 15 de 2023.Low-Emission Food Systems Technical ReportEn el caso de Montañita, los participantes representaban 11 organizaciones, cinco de ellas lideradas por mujeres: AGROSOLIDARIA, Asociación de apicultores de la Montanita Caquetá (ASOPIM), Asociación de Mujeres emprendedoras de Mateguadua, Asociación agropecuaria Emprendedores del Triunfo (ASOGROEMPT), Comité de Ganaderos de Montañita (COMOGAN), Asociación de Mujeres Emprendedoras Generadoras de Oportunidades (ASMEGO), Comité de productores de cacao en sistemas agroforestales de la Unión Peneya (COPROPENEYA), Mujeres emprendedoras de San Isidro (ASMUJSAN), Comité de cultivadores de cacao en sistema agroforestales de la Montañita (COMOCAN), Asociación Las Triunfadoras, y Asociación de Mujeres Fénix de la Cordillera (ASMOFEN); además de algunas Juntas de Acción Comunal. En términos de sectores, hubo una participación de 8 productores de cacao (6 mujeres y 2 hombres) y 12 ganaderos y ganaderas (7 mujeres y 5 hombres).El perfil productivo del grupo es una herramienta que nos permite de manera colectiva identificar las actividades productivas a las que se dedican los/las participantes, y aquellas que en este momento les generan mayores ingresos. En ambos casos, los participantes reportaron diversidad de productos en sus fincas como sacha-inchi, caña, piña, cacao, plátano, yuca, café, huerta, frutales, leche, especies menores y apicultura (fotografía 2).Como era de esperarse, dado el perfil de los productores y productoras invitados, las actividades que les generan mayores ingresos son el cacao, la ganadería, el sacha-inchi y el plátano. En el caso de Belén también aparece el cultivo de peces para alimentación y peces ornamentales, y en el caso de Montañita, la apicultura. Los demás son productos que se destinan al autoconsumo, al mercado local en pequeña escala o al intercambio.La Asociación de Productores Agroforestales y Alternativos de Belén de los Andaquíes -ASPROABELEN-es la asociación que reúne los productores de cacao orgánico en el municipio; a través de esta Asociación se está comercializando el cacao orgánico de manera directa con la Empresa Alemana Dengel, especializada en chocolates finos. A diferencia de Belén de los Andaquíes, en el caso de Montañita son asociaciones de productores locales las encargadas de comprar el grano seco a sus productores (como en el caso de COPROPENEYA) y realizar la transformación o venderlo a otras organizaciones para su transformación. AGROSOLIDARIA comercializa productos transformados como el chocolate de mesa.La ganadería es principalmente dedicada a la producción de leche y sus derivados, siendo los principales compradores la empresa Nestlé y las empresas quesilleras de la zona. Estas empresas establecen una ruta para la recolección de la leche, la cual es llevada por los productores a los sitios donde se encuentran los tanques de enfriamiento. No obstante, cabe mencionar que la comercialización de la leche en las zonas de cordillera del municipio de Montañita es diferente, pues debido a la distancia y a no contar con vías de acceso adecuadas, lo que hacen los campesinos es cuajar la leche y venderla así en el pueblo. También está el caso de las familias que tienen la posibilidad de transformar la leche en quesos especializados, como la empresa de lácteos La Arboleda, que hace parte de la Ruta del Queso del Caquetá, y de la denominación de origen. Esta empresa vende el queso a otros municipios, tanto del departamento del Caquetá (ej. Florencia), como de otros departamentos (ej. Bogotá, Melgar, Pitalito).En ambos municipios el sacha-inchi es impulsado por Agrosolidaria, del cual se comercializan subproductos como el aceite, la harina y las semillas, entre otros. La comercialización de la mayoría de los productos (exceptuando el cacao orgánico en Belén) se realiza a nivel local y departamental siendo Florencia uno de los principales mercados.Fotografía 1. Perfil productivo Belén de los Andaquíes y Montañita, julio 14 de 2023.Después de elaborar el perfil productivo del grupo, se dividieron los participantes en grupos de trabajo para que cada uno de ellos elaborara una de las herramientas propuestas. En el caso de Montañita fue posible tener en un grupo a productores y productoras de cacao y en el otro a productores y productoras ganaderos, mientras que, en el caso de Belén, dado el mayor número de participantes de cacao, la división en grupos no pudo realizarse de acuerdo al sector productivo. A continuación, se presentan los resultados de las herramientas trabajadas por grupos.Respecto a recursos naturales como el bosque y el agua, se menciona una gran afectación en la época de colonización y reforma agraria y, posteriormente, con la llegada de los cultivos de hoja de coca. Desde la década de los 90, el municipio ha hecho un enorme esfuerzo por consolidarse como municipio verde y, específicamente en 1993, la Fundación Tierra Viva se ha convertido en un garante de la conservación en el municipio, con la gestión y la gobernanza de los parques municipales, y otras figuras de conservación. Resaltan también las actividades de educación ambiental que se han realizado a través de Radio Andakí, la cual fue fundada en 1990. En la actualidad perciben una mayor presión sobre las áreas de conservación, por la ampliación de la frontera agrícola y la ocupación ilegal de los predios.En cuanto al clima, indican que a partir de los 90 se percibe una mayor variabilidad climática, cambios que se traducen en inviernos y veranos más fuertes y prolongados. Para ellos, la temperatura ha incrementado bastante y han tenido fenómenos como las heladas, que eran poco comunes en décadas anteriores.Respecto a la ganadería, mencionan que este sistema productivo se fue ampliando sobre el territorio como parte de la consolidación de la colonización. Entre las décadas del 60 y el 80 se establecieron varios potreros dedicados a la ganadería extensiva; posteriormente, la economía de la coca amplió las áreas de ganado en la zona. En el municipio, la ganadería tiene como principal propósito la producción de leche y sus derivados. En los años 90 la ganadería se tecnifica, se mejoran las pasturas y, a partir de la década del 2000, algunos productores empiezan a establecer arreglos silvopastoriles en sus fincas. También desde el 2000 se empiezan a identificar problemas con la ganadería en las zonas altas de la cordillera, afectando los ecosistemas de la región. Desde la década de 2010 consideran que los productores han hecho esfuerzos para mejorar la tecnificación y sostenibilidad de la actividad, ampliando los bancos de forraje, estableciendo sistemas silvopastoriles y otras medidas de conservación, sobre todo en el área de planicie.Sobre los cultivos agrícolas, se menciona que en las décadas del 50 hasta el 70, se sembraban cultivos de \"pancoger\" (plátano, arroz, yuca, caña y frutales), la mayoría de ellos dedicados al autoconsumo dado que las opciones de conectividad y relación con los mercados era deficiente. Desde finales de los años 80 y comienzos de los 90, por la incidencia de los cultivos de uso ilícito, los cultivos de pancoger decrecieron notablemente; el plátano es el único que se ha mantenido en el tiempo y se constituye en una fuente de ingreso para muchas familias en la zona. En la década del 2000 empieza el auge de los frutales amazónicos y se incrementa su producción; pero desaparecen cultivos como el maíz y el arroz. Así mismo, disminuyen los cultivos de palma de aceite y de caucho, este último, al igual que el cacao, promovido como estrategia para la sustitución de cultivos de uso ilícito en la región. Del 2010 a la fecha, se mantienen algunos cultivos de pancoger y se están proyectando los frutales amazónicos, el café, el cacao, el sacha inchi, la castaña y la piña, entre otros.Sobre carreteras y vías, mencionan que han sido de gran importancia para el desarrollo de la región y para la economía de la zona por la articulación a los diferentes mercados. Hasta la década del 70, la conectividad se hacía por trochas, en mulas y a través de los ríos, los cuales eran navegables y tenían una gran actividad. Actualmente, si bien se reconoce que la Carreta Marginal de la Selva (Ruta Nacional 65) es una vía importante, mencionan que tienen muchos inconvenientes con las carreteras terciarias.Con respecto a los servicios públicos y domiciliarios se menciona que es a partir de los años 80 que inicia la cobertura de muchos de ellos en las zonas urbanas y rurales. A la fecha, el 85% de la población urbana y rural cuenta con energía eléctrica (aunque con baja potencia en algunas áreas); se tiene gas domiciliario en el área urbana y se cuenta con acceso a agua potable. Sin embargo, aún persisten problemas con el alcantarillado y las aguas residuales.Para terminar el gráfico, se hizo memoria de las entidades y organizaciones. En las primeras décadas, la presencia de jesuitas y capuchinos era notable; posteriormente, el INCORA (Instituto Colombiano de Reforma Agraria), el IDEMA (Instituto de Mercadeo Agropecuario) y la Caja Agraria hacen presencia. En la década de los 80, aparece el Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar familiar (ICBF) y se empiezan a conformar cooperativas y organizaciones de productores, al tiempo que se reconoce la presencia de instituciones de la iglesia católica como la Pastoral Social y la Vicaría del Sur. A partir de los años 90, y a pesar de las situaciones de conflicto armado, las organizaciones de productores y cooperativas se ha venido fortaleciendo y ampliando; Agrosolidaria Belén de los Andaquíes desde 2010 viene realizado un trabajo de fortalecimiento organizacional, mercadeo, educación ambiental y estrategias de conservación; así mismo se destaca la labor de ASPROBELEN en los procesos de apoyo a los cacaoteros del municipio. Con respecto al sistema productivo de cacao, los/las participantes en el taller mencionan que en la década de los 70 y los 80 tenían el cacao tradicional amazónico (cacao tipo forastero, calabacillo o criollo). A partir de los años 90, y con el apoyo de Fedecacao, se siembran cacaos híbridos y nuevos clones; actualmente se combinan los diferentes tipos de cacao. Sobre la historia de la ganadería, se menciona que está estrechamente ligada a los procesos de colonización de la zona y que, a partir de los años 90, los cultivos de hoja de coca y la ganadería se convirtieron en las principales fuentes de ingresos. Actualmente, la ganadería se dedica a la lechería y a sus derivados, producción que se ha visto afectada por la variabilidad climática. Como puede observarse, los procesos de disminución del bosque están ligados al proceso histórico de la ampliación de la frontera agrícola, los cultivos de uso ilícito y la ganadería extensiva.Con respecto a las organizaciones presentes en Montañita, se identifican en las décadas de los 70 y 80 las Juntas de Acción Comunal (JAC) y la Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos (ANUC). A partir de los años 90 y hasta la fecha, las JAC se mantienen en el territorio, identificando la década de los 90 como la época en la que se empezaron a consolidar diferentes organizaciones de productores y cooperativas. Así mismo, a partir de mediados del 2000, se reconoce la presencia de diferentes entidades tanto del Estado como de la cooperación internacional, esto debido principalmente a los procesos de paz (incluyendo el que dio como resultado la desmovilización de los paramilitares), pero particularmente a los acuerdos de paz firmados con las FARC.El calendario estacional para el cacao se realizó en ambos municipios. Para su elaboración, en primer lugar, se definen las actividades que hacen parte de la siembra, cultivo y cosecha del cacao e identifican los meses en el año en que se realizan dichas actividades (fotografía 6). Dichas actividades son las siguientes: 1) selección del terreno; 2) preparación de abonos; 3) selección de clones y semilleros; 4) siembra (abono y ahoyado); 5) sostenimiento del cultivo (control de plagas, control de arvenses y abonada); 6) calado, abono y podas; 7) cosecha y actividades de post-cosecha (fermentación, secado y venta); y 8) ciclo de resiembra de injertos y manejo.Es importante notar que, desde el establecimiento del cultivo hasta la primera cosecha, se estima una duración de 2 años y, una vez se inicia la producción se esperan seis meses para la maduración del grano y posteriormente se dan dos cosechas al año.Las actividades de mantenimiento del cultivo se llevan a cabo durante todos los meses del año.Un denominador común entre los productores, para la siembra y producción de cacao, es el estudio y la preparación del suelo (adecuación del terreno), debido a que revisar las cantidades de cadmio, acidez y humedad es vital para determinar la supervivencia y la producción de cacao; garantizar el sombrío para el cultivo también cuenta como preparación del terreno. Una vez hechos los análisis de suelos, la fertilización y abonamiento del sistema también hacen parte de la adecuación de suelos. Igualmente, para la fase de siembra y establecimiento de los árboles, algunos productores resaltan la importancia del tipo de material que se use para establecer la siembra, debido a que la supervivencia y futura producción de los árboles de cacao cambian dependiendo si se usan árboles con injerto o con hibridación. Algunos productores compran los árboles, algunos establecen sus propios viveros.Fotografía 5. Calendario estacional cacao Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 14 de 2023.Una vez finalizada la preparación del terreno y siembra de los árboles, sigue la fase de sostenimiento, que comprende la fertilización, el abonado, y el control de arvenses y plagas. No obstante, como se mencionó arriba, cabe aclarar que las primeras cosechas de cacao se darán de 1 a 2 años después de la siembra de los árboles. Por último, con la cosecha en marcha, los siguientes pasos que siguen son almacenamiento, extracción de la pepa, la fermentación, la compactación, el secado, la transformación, el empaque y la venta.De acuerdo a los productores y productoras participantes en el taller, las etapas para el establecimiento y el manejo del cacao, y los meses en los que se realizan son las que se listan a continuación:o Selección del terreno y análisis de suelos: se realiza en tiempo de verano, es decir, en los periodos entre los meses de diciembre y febrero y agosto y septiembre.o Adecuación del terreno: que corresponde a la limpia (marzo y abril) y el trazado (abril y mayo).o Preparación de los abonos: se hace en enero, julio y octubre (tres veces al año).o Selección de clones: se hace en febrero, y los injertos entre febrero y abril. Es importante explicar que el patrón es la planta adquirida por semilla, de la cual se sacan las \"varetas\" con las que se hacen los injertos. La principal fuente de información de provisión de los clones es la Asociación Departamental de Productores de Cacao y Especies Maderables del Caquetá (ACAMAFRUT).o Siembra: se hace entre los meses de abril a julio (dependiendo el clima) en Montañita y entre agosto y septiembre en el caso de Belén, teniendo cuidado de la distancia (3.5 a 4 metros) para hacer el hoyado, que también incluye el abonado. En el caso de Belén, los productores mencionaron que se acompaña el cultivo con bosque natural, plátano u otros maderables para el sombrío.o Sostenimiento: \"es lo más duro del cacao\" e incluye control de arvenses (diciembre, enero y febrero); la fertilización (calado y abonado) y la poda se hacen a partir de los dos años (en marzo-abril y septiembre-octubre), para hacer control de crecimiento. También incluye la preparación del abono y el ahoyado, así como el control de plagas y enfermedades que se hace cada mes. El calado se realiza con cal dolomita alrededor del ahoyado, al tiempo con abono líquido o sólido y la poda, dos veces al año. Es importante anotar que el control fitosanitario se hace durante todos los meses del año.o Cosecha: es la recolección del fruto, la cual se hace a los dos años de la siembra, en los meses de abril-mayo y septiembre-octubre.o Post-cosecha: se abona de nuevo la planta y se controlan las plumillas, monilla y otras enfermedades que pueden atacar el cultivo; se revisan los frutos y se hace el control. Esta actividad se hace en febrero-marzo y noviembrediciembre. Con el fruto se hace el proceso de fermentación y secado, para luego hacer la venta.Los productores evidencian vulnerabilidad climática dado que los cambios de temperatura son cada vez más fuertes, con periodos de lluvia y sequia más largos y extremos. Los productores enfrentan riesgos importantes ante los eventos climáticos, que afectan su producción y sus medios de vida:…Uno no sabe que es peor, en invierno las vías se vuelven nada y nos quedamos por donde sacar la producción, la que queda porque mucha se pierde con el invierno; y en veranos a veces no queda nada nos quedamos con poquita agua para regar los cultivos. Entonces pues sin ingresos nos vemos en muchos problemas\" (Participante Taller DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Antes de empezar a describir el calendario estacional para ganadería (fotografía 7), que solo se realizó en Montañita, vale la pena mencionar que algunos de los ganaderos están implementando sistemas agroforestales en los que se incluye el cultivo de cacao.Fotografía 6. Calendario estacional ganadería, Montañita, julio 14 de 2023.De acuerdo a los participantes en el taller, el establecimiento de la actividad ganadera tiene tres etapas importantes: aislamiento de potreros, producción y prevención. Cada una de estas tiene unas actividades específicas que se realizan en diferentes momentos en el año:o Aislamiento de potreros: que incluye la preparación de suelos (enero-febrero), la siembra de pastos (marzo), y la división de potreros (marzo-abril).o Etapa de producción: que está compuesta por la monta e inseminación, la gestación (que es de aproximadamente 280 días) y los partos 1 ; en términos del mantenimiento de los potreros está la fertilización de los potreros (mayo-junio), limpieza de potreros (mayo, julio, septiembre, noviembre) y la producción de leche como tal, que se da todo el año, pero principalmente en los meses de julio-diciembre porque durante abril-junio es invierno y la producción baja. o Etapa de prevención: vitaminización y purgas para la vaca (mayo-julio y octubre), vitaminización y purgas para el ternero (julio, septiembre y noviembre), destete (febrero), ceba (febrero-diciembre), preñez (octubre).Para los productores de la montañita, actualmente hay mayor variabilidad climática; en los últimos años, el verano se ha presentado en los meses de enero, febrero y diciembre y el invierno, con lluvias intensas, en abril, mayo y junio. Las enfermedades en el ganado se presentan entre los meses de enero y junio y las plagas y otras afectaciones en el pasto se presentan en mayo y junio, los meses de más lluvia.Teniendo como referencia las actividades del calendario estacional, para el caso del cacao se calcularon los costos de producción del cultivo de cacao por hectárea en el municipio de Montañita (fotografía 8). En primer lugar, está el costo de los estudios de suelo, que corresponde a $130.000 por hectárea y que se realiza antes del establecimiento del cultivo. La siembra requiere de la adecuación del terreno: limpia ($240.000/ha), trazado ($150.000/ha), ahoyado ($750.000/ha), abonado ($1.500.000/ha si es cacao convencional y $300.000/ha si es orgánico), establecimiento ($1.000.000/ha). Es decir, el costo del establecimiento es $2.440.000 si es cacao orgánico, mientras que es $3.640.000 si se trata de cacao convencional.Es importante mencionar que desde el momento en que se establece, hasta que sale la cosecha, pasa entre 1,5 y 2 años. En cuanto al sostenimiento, está el control de arvenses ($900.000/ha), la fertilización ($1.050.000/ha si es cacao convencional y $600.000 si es orgánico), y el control de plagas ($100.000ha). Es decir que los costos totales de sostenimiento son $2.050.000/ha si es cacao convencional y $1.600.000/ha si es cacao orgánico. Finalmente, el sistema de producción como tal requiere de poda ($750.000/ha), fertilización ($1.400.000/ha si es convencional y $700.000/ha si es orgánico), $1.200.000 (ha/año), control fitosanitario ($750.000/ha). Entonces los costos totales del \"sistema de producción\" son $4.100.000/ha/año si es cacao convencional y $3.400.000/ha/año si es producción orgánica.Fotografía 7. Costos de producción cacao, Montanita, julio 14 de 2023.1 En el caso de la ganadería, es necesario explicar algunos aspectos estacionales. Las vacas tienen 60 días abiertos en el año, y se demoran 9 meses en criar; después de esos 9 meses, dentro de 60-90 días se vuelve a preñar, para que críe cada año un ternero. Si las vacas no se hacen preñar durante esa ventana de 60 días, toca esperar a que se destete el ternero para que pueda volver a tener cría. Entonces, hay un parto por vaca por año, pero hay leche todo el año porque los tiempos de los partos no son iguales para todas las vacas.Es interesante cómo en los cálculos realizados por los/las participantes se diferenciaron los costos entre el cacao orgánico y el cacao tradicional, mencionando que este último, por el costo de los agroquímicos, requiere de mayor inversión.En cuanto a la ganadería (fotografía 9), los cálculos se hicieron pensando en el establecimiento de la actividad en 10 ha (una cabeza de ganado por hectárea) y el establecimiento de ganadería de doble propósito; se tomaron como referencia las actividades del calendario estacional.Esto incluye la etapa de alistamiento de potreros, que tiene un costo total de $27.000.000, la producción, con un costo total de $69.6000.000, donde el mayor costo está en la \"parición\" del ganado y, finalmente la etapa de prevención, con un costo de $4.700.000. También incluyen costos de prevención y tratamiento de enfermedades por $500.000, para un total de costos de $101.8000.000, en un sistema de 10 hectáreas.Fotografía 8. Costos de producción ganadera, Montanita, julio 14 de 2023.La matriz de vulnerabilidad permite identificar con los/las participantes en el taller, desde su percepción, los recursos que necesitan y los riesgos a los que están expuestos. A continuación, se presentan los resultados para cada uno de los sectores productivos: cacao (Belén y Montañita) y ganadería (Montañita).En el caso de Belén de los Andaquíes (fotografía 10), los participantes identificaron como recursos importantes a la tierra, la disponibilidad de mano de obra, las semillas, los insumos, las herramientas, el agua, los recursos económicos, los árboles, el transporte y la madera. Las amenazas que se identificaron fueron la variabilidad climática (entendida por los participantes como los cambios extremos de clima), la erosión del suelo, los vendavales, el incremento del costo de los insumos, la emigración de los campesinos unida al poco relevo generacional, la mayor incidencia de plagas y enfermedades en los cultivos, la insuficiente asistencia técnica, la caída e inestabilidad de preciso de los productos agropecuarios, la baja calidad del suelo, los incendios forestales y la carencia de sistemas de riego.Fotografía 9. Matriz de vulnerabilidad Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 14 de 2023.Para los productores de Belén, las amenazas que más afectan sus activos son el deterioro en la calidad del suelo que, entre otras cosas, tiene que ver con los daños que se produjeron como consecuencia de los cultivos de hoja de coca y principalmente con las fumigaciones. Igualmente, aparece la variabilidad climática, es la otra amenaza que aparece con alta frecuencia y que afecta negativamente a la mayoría de los activos: tierra, mano de obra, escases de semillas y de recursos hídricos y forestales.Los recursos más afectados por estas amenazas son la mano de obra y los recursos monetarios. Los productores mencionaron que recientemente han enfrentado una importante escasez de mano de obra que ha tenido que ver tanto con la migración de jóvenes fuera del municipio, como con los altos costos del jornal, que interpretan como un legado de la economía de la coca.Adicionalmente, mencionan que la insuficiente asistencia técnica los hace vulnerables para enfrentar diferentes afectaciones a sus activos como el deterioro del suelo, lo que se evidencia en el desconocimiento de muchos de ellos de las buenas prácticas para el manejo de los cultivos y para adaptarse al cambio climático. La asistencia técnica para cacao proviene principalmente de ASPROABELEN, lo que quiere decir que los demás cacaoteros del municipio que no son socios no han recibido ningún tipo de asistencia técnica. En cuanto al ganado, la asistencia proviene principalmente del SENA enfocados en el manejo del ganado tanto en producción como en enfermedades, pero sobre estas capacitaciones, la sensación para la comunidad es que son de difícil acceso en términos de espacios y tiempo Para los productores, todas las amenazas inciden en sus ingresos, los cuáles han venido disminuyendo en toda la región; mencionan que por ahora el precio del cacao es estable debido a que, en el caso de Asproabelén, tienen una relación comercial con Alemania, pero resaltan que esta dependencia también los hace vulnerables. La afectación en los ingresos provenientes de los cultivos genera problemas en la seguridad alimentaria, pobreza y aumento de la emigración.Los ingresos de los productores son altamente vulnerables a la variabilidad climática, dado que la pérdida de cosechas y cultivos cada vez es más alta debido a largos periodos de sequía o de lluvias. Adicionalmente, para los participantes en el taller la situación actual es mucho más compleja debido a la presencia de diferentes grupos armados y a las decisiones que estos grupos están imponiendo en el territorio.En el caso de Montañita (fotografía 11), los recursos que identifican son la tierra, el agua, las semillas, el recurso humano (mano de obra), los abonos, el dinero y los insumos (agroquímicos). Por su parte, las amenazas son: plagas y enfermedades, el cambio de clima, el uso inadecuado del suelo (ej. tala de bosques, uso de maquinaria, cultivos de uso ilícito), la escasez de recurso hídrico, la falta de asistencia técnica, el alto costo de insumos, y la deficiencia en las vías de acceso.Según la valoración del grupo, la mayor vulnerabilidad se da por la incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, el cambio en el clima, y el cambio en el uso del suelo o su uso inadecuado. También reconocen la vulnerabilidad en la escasez del recurso hídrico y la falta de asistencia técnica. Los ingresos económicos son los recursos más afectados por las amenazas, seguidos por la calidad del suelo y las semillas. Las plagas y enfermedades son una amenaza sobre todo para los productores que realizan manejo orgánico.Es interesante notar que, para el caso de Belén de los Andaquíes, la disponibilidad de mano de obra aparece como una de las amenazas más graves, en el caso de Montañita, no se trata de uno de los mayores riesgos, a pesar de que en el municipio hay amenazas importantes para la seguridad de los jóvenes, como el reclutamiento forzado.Fotografía 10. Matriz de vulnerabilidad cacao en Montañita, julio 14 de 2023.En cuanto a ganadería (fotografía 12), los recursos más importantes son la tierra, el agua, las semillas, los bancos mixtos, la monta directa y los recursos económicos. Las amenazas que destacan son las plagas en las pasturas, el pH de los suelos -el cual se ha visto afectado por los cultivos de hoja de coca y las fumigaciones -la ganadería extensiva, el alto costo de los insumos, la competencia en los mercados y la variabilidad climática.Al analizar la incidencia de las amenazas sobre los activos más importantes tenemos que la variabilidad climática es una de las amenazas que más los afecta y que hace más vulnerable sus activos. Se evidencia que las plagas en las pasturas y la alteración del pH de los suelos inciden también de manera negativa en sus activos. Nuevamente, es interesante notar que la disponibilidad mano de obra no aparece con una amenaza y que son los factores ambientales los que mayores amenazas imponen a los sistemas de producción ganadera.Fotografía 11. Matriz de vulnerabilidad ganadería en Montañita, julio 14 de 2023.La matriz de acciones individuales y colectivas para la conservación y el manejo de sistemas agroalimentarios se realizó en plenaria en cada uno de los municipios. A partir de una lluvia de ideas se identificaron las acciones o actividades de conservación que los campesinos y campesinas participantes en el taller realizan. Posteriormente se les pidió que mediante puntos señalaran cuales de ellas realizan en su predio de manera individual y cuáles realizan de manera colectiva.Las acciones que realizan en el municipio de Belén son educación ambiental, siembra de árboles, limpieza de surcos, cultivo de abejas, siembra de cultivos orgánicos, dejar y respetar áreas de reserva, monitorear la biodiversidad, no hacer cacería, reci clar y fertilizar el suelo, no hacer quemas, rotar cultivos y hacer restauración. La mayoría de las acciones se hacen de manera individual en sus predios; sin embargo, y por motivación de sus asociaciones de productores, realizan estas actividades también de manera colectiva, aunque con una menor frecuencia (ver fotografía 13).En el análisis de la matriz, mencionaron que las buenas prácticas de cultivo son muy importantes, al igual que la reforestación, la restauración, la educación ambiental y la protección y defensa de las áreas de reserva. Se destaca la importancia de la emisora Radio Andaquí en la promoción de estas acciones y de la educación ambiental en el territorio.En el caso de Montañita, las actividades o acciones que se realizan para el manejo de los recursos son: evitar la tala y la quema, reforestar, promover la educación ambiental y la concientización, manejar adecuadamente las basuras, no contaminar el suelo, cuidar los árboles y realizar actividades agroecológicas en los cultivos. Estas actividades las realizan tanto individualmente en sus fincas como de manera comunitaria a través de actividades que se realizan en las asociaciones, los comités y Agrosolidaria. Así mismo, se menciona la importancia que tiene la implementación de sistemas silvopastoriles, cercas vivas y callejones verdes, el uso de abonos orgánicos y el apoyo a propuestas como la Reserva Natural A la Orilla del Río y otras reservas de la sociedad civil.Para complementar la información y tener un primer acercamiento a la percepción de vulnerabilidad, se elaboraron tres mapas de vulnerabilidad por grupos: vulnerabilidad a remoción en masa, vulnerabilidad a inundaciones y vulnerabilidad por aumento en la temperatura. Por ser tan específicos de las características municipales, los resultados se presentarán para cada uno de los municipios.El mapa general de riesgo por remoción en masa y áreas de conservación (fotografía 14) se realizó, en primer lugar, ubicando las fincas de los/las participantes del grupo, las zonas más vulnerables y las acciones de conservación.Fotografía 13. Mapa de vulnerabilidad de remoción en masa y áreas de conservación Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 15 de 2023.Belén de los Andaquíes se ha destacado por sus acciones de conservación al tener declaradas diferentes figuras de conservación: nueve (9) parques municipales naturales, el parque Municipal Andakí (OMEC) -que cubren un área de 23.540 hectáreas -y parte del Parque Nacional Natural Alto Fragua Indi Wasi (17.693). En estas acciones de gobernanza y conservación se destaca el trabajo de la Fundación Tierra Viva, encargada del manejo de las áreas municipales (mapa 1).Con respecto al riesgo por inundaciones los participantes en el taller mencionaron; que en los mapas hay que diferenciar entre las fincas y habitantes ubicados en el Plan y los que están en cordillera; el mayor riesgo de inundación y falta de recurso hídrico en el tiempo serán los habitantes de las fincas ubicadas en el plan. Por eso la importancia de cuidar la cordillera, haciendo buen manejo de los cultivos y haciendo protección de los bosques.En los últimos años, según los/las participantes en el taller, la gente es más consciente y ha disminuido la ganadería en cordillera; sin embargo, la variabilidad climática es también un factor que aumenta el riesgo de inundaciones en el Municipio. Actualmente los participantes mencionan que la frecuencia de inundaciones se ha incrementado y de acuerdo a la época de invierno que la más fuerte se está presentando en abril, mayo junio y julio y también en noviembre comienzos de diciembre.Con este cambio climático hubo en noviembre una inundación muy fuerte, tuvimos una avalancha muy fuerte en noviembre-diciembre del año pasado, y los ríos se salieron de los cauces, dañaron cultivos y pastos; de la cordillera bajan palos y mucha agua y se inundaron las vegas (Participante taller DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Según los participantes ellos tratan de ir monitoreando la cantidad de lluvia y cuando perciben que está cayendo mucha agua en la cordillera y se empiezan a crecer los ríos sacan el ganado de las vegas y los llevan a otros potreros más alejados. Pero siempre hay perdidas.Para los/las participantes no hay ninguna prevención al riesgo; no hay estrategias ni para prevenir ni para solventar las pérdidas, a pesar de existir la defensa civil y bomberos y otros, pero no hay recursos del Estado. No hay prevención.En este tema nosotros hemos sido también culpables porque hemos talado, hemos quemado, hemos hecho malas prácticas, ahora nos toca empezar a cuidar (Participante taller DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Los/las participantes mencionan que es importante diseñar estrategias que ayuden a la conservación y tener incentivos para conservar. La gente hace acciones para mejorar la finca, conservar el agua, así como las buenas prácticas y dejar áreas para conservación, pero de manera voluntaria; por eso se necesita apoyo y ayuda.La gente aquí, en muchas fincas, siembra no maderables, cuida y reforesta los ríos y ojos de agua en sus fincas, pero para que esto resulte y se haga mitigación se necesitan proyectos grandes y ayuda y apoyo económico (Participante taller DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Con respeto al riesgo por aumento de la temperatura, los/las participantes en el taller mencionaron que en las dinámicas de temperatura también existen diferencias entre la cordillera y el plan. Se considera que la zona plana es la que mayor aumento de temperatura ha tenido; este aumento de la temperatura ha disminuido el caudal de los ríos, provocando sequía, y esto, provoca la pérdida de cultivos. Los meses de enero, febrero y marzo son los más secos y en los que más cambios de temperatura se han evidenciado.Todo el municipio es vulnerable al aumento de la temperatura y, en los últimos años, las personas que vivimos en el plan hemos sentido la pérdida de cultivos por la sequía y la disminución del recurso hídrico (Participante taller de DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Según los/las participantes ante el cambio climático las comunidades han tratado de implementar medidas de mitigación.(…) para la mitigación a esto del cambio climático la gente ahora usa polisombras o invernaderos para las huertas y algunos cultivos; se están implementando sistemas de riego en los cultivos, se hace ahorro de agua para destinarla a los periodos secos, eso es lo que hemos podido hacer (Participante en el taller de DRP, Belén de los Andaquíes).Para los participantes, los mayores desafíos están relacionados con el incremento de la temperatura y la variabilidad climática, en términos de producción y comercialización, debido a que en épocas de lluvia baja la productividad, aparecen las enfermedades y se hace más difícil la comercialización, especialmente para los productores que viven en zonas de cordillera.Hay una dificultad acá y es el tiempo, el clima porque en tiempo de invierno la producción merma mucho. En invierno las pasturas no crecen, las vacas no comen a tiempo por las lluvias, entonces una de las dificultades es el clima. Mucha lluvia frena el crecimiento de las pasturas y entonces también merma la producción, porque el ganado no se alimenta bien, no sé por qué las pasturas en esas temporadas no rinden. Y como mantiene enlagunado al ganado le da pereza salir a alimentarse (Comunicación personal, Montañita).Los caminos pues porque vivimos lejos y por lo menos en tiempo de invierno, tenemos las carreteritas para salir con moto, pero son prácticamente para salir de camino entonces se vuelven tenaz y por lo lejos no podemos sacar la leche porque la leche se vendería a mejor precio que el queso, pero no se puede por ese motivo por lo lejos por los caminos (Comunicación personal, Montañita).En cuanto a la remoción en masa, los principales riesgos están en la zona de cordillera y el piedemonte, mientras que los riesgos de inundación se concentran en la zona plana. En todos los casos, la época de mayores riesgos corresponde a los meses de invierno (abril-junio).Fotografía 16. Mapas de (A) riesgo por inundaciones, (B) riesgo por remoción en masa y (C) riesgo por incremento de la temperatura. Montañita, julio 15 de 2023.En cuanto a las medidas para reducir el riesgo, identifican las siguientes:o Riesgo por inundaciones: implementar acciones como la reforestación por parte de la UMATA en todo el municipio, el dragado y el manejo de la quebrada Montañita y el río San Pedro. o Riesgo por remoción en masa: implementar alarmas tempranas, la reforestación y protección de las fuentes hídricas y la limpieza de los afluentes. o Incremento en la temperatura: es considerado el factor de mayor riesgo para los sistemas agroalimentarios, para lo cual se plantean acciones como: compra de terrenos para la conservación, pago por servicios ambientales y conservación, implementación de corredores biológicos, reforestación y restauración. Consideran que las alcaldías y CorpoAmazonia deben liderar estos procesos.Para terminar el taller, se realizaron dos actividades complementarias que tenían como fin de identificar la sostenibilidad de las fincas y sistemas agroalimentarios con respecto a la seguridad alimentaria. La primera actividad fue la construcción del \"menú diario\" y la segunda, la \"olla\", en la que se determina, de acuerdo con los alimentos que se consumen, cuáles están disponibles en las fincas y cuáles deben ser comprados.En la zona, y respetando diferentes costumbres y culturas que provienen de la herencia de colonización, actualmente se distribuye la alimentación en siete momentos del día en el caso de Belén (fotografía 16) y seis en el caso de Montañita (fotografía 17).Fotografía 17. Menú diario Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 15 de 2023.\"¡Al despertar se toma tinto!\", ese es el primer momento. En el caso de Montañita, esta primera bebida del día también puede ser aguapanela, agua o chocolate. Luego, viene el desayuno, que es una de las comidas más importantes del día. Usualmente se preparan alimentos en los que se utilizan: carne, pescado o pollo, acompañados de arroz, plátano, yuca y papa o huevos, chocolate, café, panela, arepas, leche y queso. También se consumen huevos, calentado (mezcla de huevos con arroz, lentejas o frijoles y alguna proteína) o caldo. En el caso de Montañita aparece también el consumo de fruta, no en el caso de Belén.Luego, en la media mañana se toma el \"algo\" que puede ser avena, aguapanela o limonada; fruta, jugo o café.En el almuerzo tiene gran variedad de platos y alimentos: sancocho, sopas de arroz, caldos de pescado y en algunos hogares ensalada, en el caso de Belén; carne asada, papas, arroz, mazamorra, pollo, chorizo, lentejas, aguacate, pescado, sancocho u otras sopas, en Montañita. En la tarde se consume otro \"algo\" con chocolate, café o aguapanela con alguna torta, bizcocho o arepa; en Montañita, además de estos alimentos, también se menciona el consumo de fruta en el \"algo\". En Belén, la cena se compone principalmente de leguminosas, como frijoles, lentejas, arvejas, acompañadas con arroz; en Montañita se compone de cacharina (especie de hojuela de harina) con café, sopa de arroz, arroz con huevo y tamales, acompañado de café, agua o aguapanela. En Belén se hace una comida más, a eso de las 8:00 o 9:00 pm en la que se toma tinto, aguapanela, chocolate y cacharina.Como puede observarse del menú diario, las comidas más abundantes son el desayuno y el almuerzo, y están compuestas por variedad de alimentos. Sin embargo, se resalta la ausencia en el consumo de frutas y verduras en el caso de ambos municipios, pero principalmente Belén, y de leguminosas en el caso de Montañita. Tampoco es prominente el consumo de lácteos, a pesar de la importancia que tiene el sector para la economía de los hogares.Fotografía 18. Menú diario Montañita, julio 15 de 2023.El consumo de frutas en las familias campesinas entrevistadas y participantes del taller es bajo, puesto que la mayoría de las personas solo consumen la fruta que se da en la finca: arazá, naranjito, coco, guanábana y pepas de borojó; mientras que hay otras frutas que se deben comprar en el mercado lo cual no suele hacerse con mucha frecuencia.La olla es una herramienta que nos permite identificar aspectos sobre la seguridad alimentaria, al indagar sobre los alimentos que debemos echar a la olla para nuestra alimentación y, de estos, cuáles se dan en la finca y cuáles deben comprarse. Para ello, en el salón ubicamos una olla (fotografía 18) y del menú diario se escogen las tarjetas que van a la olla para preparar la alimentación, para luego dividir aquellos alimentos que producimos en la finca y los que debemos comprar.Fotografía 19. La \"olla\" en Belén de los Andaquíes, julio 15 de 2023.En primer lugar, los participantes reconocen que la mayoría de campesinos y campesinas producen en sus fincas una importante variedad de alimentos (fotografías 19 y 20) como cultivos de pancoger -cultivos que satisfacen algunas necesidades alimenticias de la familia como el plátano, la yuca, el maíz -así como algunos frutales, incluyendo frutos amazónicos; leche y sus derivados (queso principalmente); panela, cacao y café; especies menores (gallinas y cerdos), entre otros. Sin embargo, muchos de sus alimentos deben ser comprados en el mercado local o en Florencia (fotografías 19 y 21), debido a que cultivos como la hoja de coca y la producción ganadera desplazaron la producción de cultivos para autoconsumo. Un aspecto que se resaltó en el caso de Belén de los Andaquíes, es que pocas familias tienen huertas caseras debido a que no hay una cultura de consumo de vegetales y a que los programas e incentivos para tener huertas caseras no han sido sostenibles en el tiempo.\"Ahora, estamos tratando de rescatar semillas de arroz de frijol y de otros productos; no es fácil, pero es un trabajo que se está haciendo\" (productor de Belén de los Andaquíes). Para los/las participantes en el taller es más fácil comprar que sembrar algunos de los productos por los costos de tenerlos en la finca. Los alimentos que se compran son principalmente alimentos procesados, pastas, arroz, leguminosas, atún, aceites, condimento, café soluble, harina de trigo, pan, avena, azúcar, papa, remolacha y zanahoria, entre otros.En el caso de Montañita se mencionó que también se hace intercambio entre vecinos en las diferentes veredas, de alimentos como frutas (piña, banano, mango, coco guanábana, chontaduro, aguacate), plátano, huevos, leche, queso, carne y pescado (fotografía 19). En La Montañita hay una gran diversificación en la producción, como se identificó en el perfil productivo y en la disponibilidad de alimentos en las fincas y a través del intercambio.Fotografía 20. La \"olla\" en Montañita: alimentos para autoconsumo e intercambio, julio 15 de 2023.Fotografía 141. La \"olla\" en Montañita: alimentos que se compran en los mercados, julio 15 de 2023.Finalmente, en el caso de Belén de los Andaquíes emergió el tema del papel de las mujeres en la seguridad alimentaria, pues son las mujeres las encargadas de preparar los alimentos de la familia y, cuando hay trabajadores en las fincas, también las mujeres son las encargadas de proveer los alimentos. Sobre los trabajadores en las fincas se mencionó que actualmente el jornal a \"todo costo\" (es decir sin incluir alimentación) se paga a $70.000/día, mientras que si los propietarios proveen la alimentación se paga $50.000/día. En la ganadería la mayoría de los trabajos son asumidos por la mano de obra familiar.La última parte de los talleres se centró en dos preguntas, que se trabajaron bajo la metodología de lluvia de ideas:o ¿Qué necesitamos para tener un sistema agroalimentario sostenible? o ¿Qué dificultades tenemos para lograrlo?Los aspectos que se requieren para tener un sistema alimentario sostenible, identificado por los y las participantes se agruparon en torno a los siguientes temas, como se desprende de las opiniones de los participantes en la lluvia de ideas:o Bienestar en el hogar, teniendo la posibilidad de cultivar, tener seguridad alimentaria e ingresos. o Acceso a semillas para la producción de cultivos de calidad y ambientalmente sostenibles. o Acceso y conocimiento e implementación de buenas prácticas productivas con asistencia técnica y acompañamiento. La asistencia técnica fue un aspecto reiterativo, sobre todo en Montañita o Diversificación de los cultivos e implementación de prácticas sostenibles, como los abonos orgánicos, reciclaje y reutilización de recursos. o Conservación de la biodiversidad, incluyendo especies que puedan destinarse al consumo. o Política pública que beneficie campesinos y campesinas, y que promueva y valore las acciones de conservación. o Inversión pública en aspectos como sistemas de riesgo, viveros comunitarios, vías o Organización comunitaria. o Educación ambiental y sensibilización. o Condiciones adecuadas de mercado, precios estables y justos y consolidación de los mercados campesinos.En cuanto a las dificultades para lograr sistemas alimentarios sostenibles, tenemos:o Carencia de conocimiento y falta de información. o Poco apoyo y visibilización a los grupos de mujeres. o Poca valoración de la importancia de la seguridad alimentaria. o Debilidades y en algunos casos ausencia de asistencia técnica. o Pocos recursos económicos y baja agregación de valor a los productos. o Escasez de tierras aptas para cultivas y poco acceso a semillas nativas. o Poco apoyo gubernamental e ineficiencia de las políticas públicas para los campesinos. o Ausencia de estrategias para enfrentar el cambio climático (adaptación y mitigación): pocas estrategias de planificación predial y pocas capacidades locales para gestionar proyectos. o Incidencia de proyectos de cooperación que no reconocen los riesgos sociales, políticos, económicos y ambientales de la región. o Pocas vías de acceso y mal estado de las mismas. o Dificultades para la comercialización.La idea básica del enfoque de género es que \"las personas nacen mujeres u hombres, pero aprenden a ser niñas y niños que crecen como mujeres y hombres. Se les enseña el comportamiento y actitudes, los roles y actividades apropiadas para ellos/as, y cómo deben relacionarse con otras personas. Este comportamiento aprendido es lo que constituye la identidad de género y determina los roles de género.\" (Farah, 2010).Esta idea fundamental significa al menos dos cosas. Primero, el género es una construcción social, no natural, que identifica y valora las características, oportunidades, expectativas, derechos, responsabilidad y roles asignados a las personas dependiendo de su sexo (condición biológica). De esta manera, el género varía dependiendo del grupo cultural y social (por ejemplo, raza, clase, condiciones económicas, edad) y dado que estos son dinámicos, el género también cambia a lo largo del tiempo. Segundo, el género es relacional y, en este sentido, las características de una mujer están siempre moldeadas en relación con las características de otras mujeres y hombres en un tiempo y espacio específicos (Farah, 2010).Los dilemas ambientales y sociales presentan nuevos retos dada la multiplicidad de actores y por ende de intereses que interactúan en el manejo de los recursos naturales. Las comunidades locales usuarias directas de los recursos (de los que dependen económicamente y para su supervivencia, en la mayoría de los casos) deben enfrentar no sólo los intereses del Estado (regulador del recurso) sino que deben tratar con intereses, perspectivas y grados de poder diferentes al interior de sus propias comunidades. Esta heterogeneidad de los grupos ha sido analizada desde distintas disciplinas y desde diferentes categorías y perspectivas de análisis. Sin embargo, el análisis desde la perspectiva de género en la conservación de recursos naturales ha sido más reciente (Maya y Ramos, 2006).Mientras que la variable género ha sido considerada importante en el campo del desarrollo por mucho tiempo, los esfuerzos para incorporar el análisis de género en el campo de la conservación son más recientes. \"El creciente reconocimiento del importante papel que juegan las mujeres en los proyectos de organizaciones de base, todavía no se ve reflejado en estrategias que tengan influencia en las políticas, las instituciones y las alianzas de organizaciones para la conservación y el desarrollo. Menos aún, las iniciativas de conservación han adoptado los análisis fundamentales de las relaciones de género y sus implicaciones en el uso y manejo de recursos naturales.\" (Schimink, 1999) Teniendo en cuenta los roles productivos; reproductivos y comunitarios, un análisis desde una perspectiva de género permite identificar cómo se da el acceso y el control que tienen las mujeres y hombres sobre recursos y beneficios, y esto cómo influye en los procesos de conservación ambiental y a su vez cómo estos afectan los primeros. Acceso se refiera a la oportunidad que tienen hombres y mujeres de usar los recursos (por ejemplo, tierra, dinero, alimentos, agua, biodiversiad, bosques, recursos legales, organizaciones, educación, salud, etc.) para satisfacer las necesidades prácticas e intereses estratégicos tanto personales como colectivos. En otras palabras, el acceso puede ser entendido de una manera amplia \"como la habilidad para beneficiarse de cosas -incluyendo objetos, personas, instituciones y símbolos\" (Ribot y Peluso 2003: 153). Estos autores diferencian entre acceso y propiedad en el sentido que acceso se enfoca en la habilidad mientras que la propiedad se refiera a derechos. El control implica no solo tener la posibilidad de hacer uso de los recursos cuando se necesitan, sino también de tomar decisiones sobre ellos. No siempre el acceso significa control.Así mismo, un análisis de género identifica qué necesidades prácticas e intereses estratégicos de mujeres y hombres son considerados o tenidas en cuenta, o están siendo cubiertos o satisfechos explícita o implícitamente por las acciones de conservación y manejo de recursos naturales. Los intereses o necesidades prácticas están directamente relacionadas con las condiciones concretas que las mujeres y hombres tienen en la división sexual del trabajo. En otras palabras, las necesidades prácticas son aquellas referidas a las condiciones materiales, que son observables y cuantificables, como, por ejemplo, alimentación, vivienda, salud, educación, agua potable, entre otras. La satisfacción o no de las condiciones prácticas determinan la condición de una persona o un grupo de personas. Las necesidades prácticas son generalmente una respuesta a una necesidad básica percibida y, usualmente, no implica un objetivo estratégico en relación con el orden de género existente como es la emancipación de las mujeres o la equidad de género.La perspectiva de género aborda entonces las relaciones entre hombres y mujeres, y considera el análisis de los roles que cada sociedad asigna a hombres o a mujeres en los espacios domésticos, productivos, públicos y privados (roles productivos, reproductivos y comunitarios). La perspectiva de género también analiza aspectos como las posibilidades (para hombres y mujeres) del acceso y control sobre los recursos y beneficios del bien ambiental, el mejoramiento de la condición y la posición de hombres y mujeres en un contexto social determinado y el logro de necesidades prácticas o básicas e intereses estratégicos.A partir de las categorías de análisis, desde la perspectiva de género encontramos en los talleres participativos, que en el sistema de producción de cacao las mujeres tienen, en sus diferentes etapas de producción, mayor acceso y control; sin embargo, es importante destacar que en el caso de Belén de los Andaquíes la participación de las mujeres es menor que en el caso de La Montañita.En el caso del sistema de producción ganadero, hay menor participación de las mujeres en el ciclo total de producción; las mujeres adultas y jóvenes, participan en actividades de ordeño y procesamiento (derivados lácteos, especialmente queso); pero la mayoría de decisiones sobre este sistema de producción depende de los hombres; los hombres jóvenes participan también en todo el proceso. Tanto en Belén de los Andaquíes como en La Montañita existen organizaciones de ganadería lideradas por mujeres. Hombres, mujeres y jóvenes tienen acceso a los recursos productivos, sin embargo, es más evidente que los hombres tienen mayor control sobre estos sistemas; así mismo, se evidencia que estos sistemas productivos aportan a solventar las necesidades básicas de las familias, pero al no existir transformaciones en los roles visibles (reproductivo, productivo y comunitario) los intereses estratégicos para las mujeres aún no son equitativos.Para hombres, mujeres y jóvenes en los dos municipios lograr la implementación y consolidación de sistemas agroalimentarios sostenibles es de vital importancia. En ese sentido, es urgente la implementación de acciones para la mitigación y la adaptación al cambio climático, teniendo como base la concientización y la educación ambiental. Así mismo, se reclama mayor atención por parte del estado y políticas y programas que posibiliten un mejor bienestar social, económico y ambiental. La visibilización y valoración del trabajo y los aportes de las mujeres y los/las jóvenes a los sistemas de producción y a la conservación es también una tarea pendiente.A partir de los ejercicios del Menú Diario y La Olla, se evidencia que las familias campesinas de Belén de los Andaquíes y La Montañita disponen de alimentos en sus fincas para solventar la alimentación. No obstante, es más evidente la diversidad de alimentos disponibles en los sistemas de producción cacaotera que en el sistema ganadero.Los sistemas de cacao suelen estar más asociados a otros cultivos, por lo tanto, existe una mayor diversidad en las fincas, mientras que la ganadería aún sigue siendo de forma convencional. Esto se evidencia al hablar sobre alimentación con los productores, pues la mayoría de ganaderos aún consiguen muchos de los alimentos fuera del predio. En general, y de acuerdo a los talleres, Belén de los Andaquíes tendría mayor riesgo de inseguridad alimentaria.El rol reproductivo que tienen las mujeres es evidente frente a la seguridad alimentaria, dado que son ellas las que desde su rol se encargan de las huertas caceras, los frutales y las especies menores. También son ellas las que deciden qué y cómo se preparan los alimentos, teniendo acceso y control sobre estos recursos. Si bien la alimentación del hogar está liderada por mujeres, también las convierte en sujetos vulnerables, especialmente frente al cambio climático.Sin embargo, es importante resaltar que, en el municipio de Belén de los Anadaquíes, y a pesar de que los predios tienen una menor producción diversificada con respecto a La Montañita, tiene una vocación por la conservación que ha sido promovida por la Fundación Tierra viva y que ha resultado en la creación de las 19 figuras municipales de conservación. Esto ha estado ligado a la estrecha relación con el agua que han tenido a través de la historia y a la necesidad por conservar este recurso, en la que hombres, mujeres y jóvenes están comprometidos.Desde la percepción de las mujeres, los hombres y los jóvenes con los que se trabajó en los talleres, podemos mencionar que el cambio climático es asociado a la variabilidad climática; en el trabajo de cartografía realizado, los/las participantes identificaron diferentes riesgos de la variabilidad climática que asocian especialmente a la producción agropecuaria y a la afectación y disminución de recurso hídricos, así como a pérdidas económicas por afectación a la producción entre otros.En el caso de Belén de los Anadquiés podríamos mencionar que, al hacer un esfuerzo por la conservación de áreas, la reforestación y la restauración tienen mayores acciones para la adaptación y la mitigación al cambio climático. Se puede evidenciar en los talleres realizados un deseo por parte de las y los productores de explorar nuevas metodologías y practicas; sin embargo, esto no implica que se estén aplicando medidas concretas en la mitigación. A pesar de los proyectos y la intervención en la región, las estrategias se limitan principalmente al mejoramiento de prácticas existentes o a la adaptación, sin llegar aún a enfocarse en medidas que ayuden a mitigar los efectos del cambio climático.Este informe ha sido elaborado en el marco de la iniciativa One CGIAR sobre Sistemas Alimentarios de Bajas Emisiones (Mitigate +), llevado a cabo por el equipo de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana en coordinación con el equipo para Colombia de la Alianza Bioverity y CIAT, como parte integral del paquete de trabajo 3.Luz Angela Rodriguez, Assistant Profesor (PUJ), rodriguez.luza@javeriana.edu.co Martha Vanegas Cubillos, Senior Research Associate (ABC), m.vanegas@cgiar.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.To learn more about this Initiative, please visit this webpage. ","tokenCount":"9575"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9449951267.json b/data/part_1/9449951267.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..51491fb6105f3fd8a4db71c6aadee4b9c3726ec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9449951267.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f154a68f741c69b522852c5601ac7803","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f9d64a29-3495-4629-9975-bb21a0da6fbf/retrieve","id":"1810914489"},"keywords":["Common bean","QTL","Meta-analysis","biofortification","Iron","Zinc"],"sieverID":"7f3ad589-e941-4fc6-a943-0abbcbfeeff0","pagecount":"31","content":"Meta-QTL analysis of seed iron and zinc concentration in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume among the twenty that are commonly consumed in human diets (Joshi and Rao, 2017;Wilson et al., 2004).Common bean is a diverse crop in terms of morphological and seed variability, cultivation methods, environmental adaptation and consumer preferences and these factors have made it suitable for many different niches (Broughton et al., 2003). P. vulgaris was reported to have been domesticated independently twice -in Mexico and the Andes (Peru, Colombia) (Bitocchi et al., 2013). Members of the two genepools, Andean and Middle American, vary in seed size, seed nutritional quality, resistance to pathogens, yield, days to maturity, and other morpho-agronomic traits (Pérez-Vega et al., 2010;Blair et al, 2010a).Dry bean is an important dietary source of iron and zinc (Bouis & Welch, 2010;Carrasco-Castilla et al., 2012). It has been included as a target crop in biofortification programs for countries with widespread human nutritional deficiencies. Microelement deficiencies are among the most common and devastating global nutritional problems (Hirschi, 2009). In terms of seed micronutrient concentrations, bean germplasm from the Andean and Middle American gene pools show some variability, Blair et al. 2010a reported that Andean gene pool and inter-gene pool crosses tend to have higher concentrations of minerals than Middle American beans. The natural variability for seed Fe and Zn has been utilized in breeding programs based on phenotypic selection for seed mineral concentrations (Blair et al., 2010b). However, phenotypic selections alone are not leading to the genetic gains needed to make biofortification successful (Vasconcelos et al., 2017). Genomic tools are needed to help breeders to reach target concentrations in dry beans.One of the most common strategies to unravel quantitative traits are Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) studies. Several QTL analyses have been conducted in common bean to identify regions associated with seed Fe and Zn levels (Guzma-Maldonado, et al., 2003;Cichy, et al 2009;Blair, et al., 2010d;Blair, et al., 2011;Blair & Izquierdo, 2012;Blair, et al., 2013). The use of common markers across different maps make it possible to integrate such QTL in order to improve the accuracy of positioning and decrease the confidence interval using meta-QTL analysis.Meta-QTL analysis compiles information from multiple studies and improves QTL location by comparing individual experiments a n d narrowing down confidence intervals obtained from individual analyses (Goffinet and Gerber, 2000). Meta-QTL analysis has been conducted in several crops for various traits, including grain size and resistance to African gall midge in rice (Daware et al, 2017;Wu et al., 2016;Yao et al., 2016), grain traits in wheat (Tyagi, 2015), oil and protein in soybean (Van and McHale, 2017) and resistance to white mold in common bean (Vasconcellos et al., 2017). Various statistical methods have been developed for meta-QTL analysis. The software program Biomercator uses the transformed Akaike classification criterion (AIC) to determine the real number of QTL in a specific region (Arcade et al., 2004). To date, only one meta-QTL study for seed Fe and Zn has been published. That study was conducted with five maize populations and it resulted in the discovery of ten meta-QTL involved in Fe and/or Zn accumulation. The phenotypic variation contributed to the 10 MQTL ranged from 9% to 28 % (Jin et al., 2013). Genomic advances have led to the identification of several key nutrient-regulation related genes relevant to biofortification (Carvalho & Vasconcellos, 2013).The accumulation of Fe and Zn in seeds is determined through several mechanisms. Gene families involved in root mineral uptake include ZIP (Zinc/Iron-regulated transporter-related protein), ZIF (zinc induced facilitator), HMA (heavy metal associated), FRO (ferric reductase oxidase), and NA (nicotianamine) (Haydon & Cobbett, 2007;Curie et al., 2009;Haydon et al., 2012). Shoot transport gene families include ZIP, FRO, NA and MATE (multidrug and toxic compound extrusion) (Vert et al., 2002;Wintz et al., 2003, Bashir et al., 2006;Ishimaru et al., 2005Ishimaru et al., , 2011Ishimaru et al., , 2012) ) and seed filling genes include HMA and NRAMP (Natural Resistance Associated Macrophage Protein) (Connorton et al., 2017a;Mary et al., 2015;Carvalho & Vasconcelos, 2013;Lopez-Millan et al., 2016). Genes in the NA, IRT (iron regulated transporter), VIT (vacuolar iron transporter) and ferritin families have been used to increase the concentration of Fe and/or Zn in grain of wheat and rice (Borg et al., 2012;Moreno-Moyano, et al, 2016;Connorton., et al., 2017b;Singh et al., 2017).In this study, individual genetic maps and QTL for seed Fe and Zn concentration and content from seven populations were used to develop a consensus map and to identify Fe and Zn meta-QTL. These meta-QTL narrowed down confidence intervals of initial individual analysis' and the physical regions of the meta-QTL were identified. Furthermore, candidate genes within the meta-QTL intervals that belong to families of genes that have been reported in the literature in the process of uptake, transport and/or remobilization of Fe and Zn were selected.QTL information related to Fe and Zn in common bean seed was collected for seven populations, five of which have been previously published. We have summarized the details in Table 1. The seven populations include two Andean (AND 696 x G19833 (AG), G21242 x G21078 (GG2)), two Middle American (G14519 x G4825 (GG1), Black Magic x Shiny Crow (BS)), and three inter-gene pool (DOR 364 x G19833 (DG), BAT 93 x Jalo EEP (BJ), Cerinza x G10022 (CG)) populations of common bean. Additional description of field trials, statistical analysis, and molecular markers for the published studies have been previously reported in detail (Blair et al., 2009;Cichy et al., 2009, Blair et al., 2010c, Blair et al., 2011, Blair & Izquierdo, 2012, and Blair et al,. 2013). The description of field trials and the map development for BS has been previously reported (Cichy et al., 2014).The seven populations were planted in multiple years, environments, and locations. The  2). Two methods of mineral analysis were implemented in the studies, Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) as described in (Blair et al, 2009).AAS was used to quantify minerals in the AG population and ICP was used in the BS. The other studies used both methodologies to quantify Fe and Zn. All seven populations have data for seed Fe and Zn concentration. The CG and GG1 populations have data for seed Fe and Zn content, DG and CG have data for seed Fe and Zn concentration in cotyledon tissue, and CG also has seed coat Fe and Zn concentration data. The DG data on Fe and Zn concentration in cotyledon has not been published previously. For the analysis of cotyledon and coat were used the methodology described by Blair et al 2013 where 12g of seed were washed with sterile water and peeled by hand using a sterile scalpel to remove the seed coat from the cotyledons. The separate seed coat and cotyledon samples were dried before grinding. Seed coat and cotyledonary tissues were weighed out into two replicates of ∼0.25g dry weight each which were analyzed separately before averaging. Phenotypic data were analyzed using Pearson's correlations between traits and years using the software SAS, v 9.3 (SAS-Institute 2011).The seven populations range in size from 77 lines in AG to 138 lines in CG. The number of markers range from 114 in GG1 to 681 in BS. Eighty eight QTL for seed Fe and Zn concentration and/or content have been reported for the populations AG, CG, DG, GG1, and GG2 (Blair et al., 2009;Cichy et al., 2009, Blair et al., 2010c, Blair et al., 2011, Blair & Izquierdo, 2012, and Blair et al,. 2013). While the DG QTL study reported previously found 26 QTL for seed Fe and Zn concentration (Blair et al., 2009), the QTL data we present here is based on a reanalysis of the phenotypic data with a saturated genetic map of this population that became available following the publication of the original DG QTL study (Galeano et al., 2011). This new map provided high resolution for QTL detection, and for that reason we repeated the QTL analysis with the new genetic map. We conducted a new QTL analysis for the BS and BJ populations via composite interval mapping (CIM). This is a new analysis that has not been previously published. The QTL analysis was carried out using the program Windows QTL cartographer version 2.5 (Wang et al., 2012). To identify an accurate significance threshold for each trait, an empirical threshold was determined using 1000 permutations (Churchill and Doerge, 1994).In total data from 87 QTL were used for analysis (Table 1, Tables S1). In the population AG, all published QTL were used for meta-analysis except the QTL reported on chromosome 11.In AG chromosome 11 is comprised of 15 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), 1 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), and 1 simple sequence repeat (SSR). Due to the lack of sequence information for these markers it was not possible to use these QTL in the meta-analysis.The program Biomercator v3.0 (Arcade et al., 2004) was used to develop a consensus map and for subsequent meta-QTL analysis. The DG map was chosen as the anchor for the consensus map since it has a high marker density, including 499 molecular markers of which 462 are SSR or SNPs that have information about their physical position (Galeano et al., 2011). The other six populations were projected onto the DG map to integrate the seven populations into the consensus map. Six of the seven maps share common markers, the exception is that of the BS population which is composed of 681 SNPs (Cichy et al., 2014). The BS population was integrated in the analysis using the physical position of SSR and SNPs of the DG map in the P. vulgaris v.2.1 reference genome available in Phytozome v12 (Goodstein et al., 2012)  (Akaike, 1974), and the lowest value was considered the best fit model for meta-QTL prediction.The search for candidate genes was performed based on the physical positions of the meta-QTL regions. The most recent annotated version of the P. vulgaris reference genome v.2.1 in Phytozome was used to identify the physical position of the meta-QTL and genes contained in these regions (Goodstein et al., 2012). The candidate genes were selected on the basis of a literature review of genes that have been reported as having a role in root uptake, transport and accumulation of Fe and Zn in plants (Vert et al., 2002;Wintz et al., 2003;Ishimaru et al., 2005Ishimaru et al., , 2011Ishimaru et al., , 2012;;Bashir et al., 2006;Haydon & Cobbett, 2007;Curie et al., 2009;Borg et al., 2012;Haydon et al., 2012;Carvalho & Vasconcelos, 2013;Mary et al., 2015;Lopez-Millan et al., 2016;Moreno-Moyano, et al, 2016;Connorton et al., 2017a, b;Singh et al., 2017). In the case of bZIP family where has been reported that only two genes of that family have a relationship with the uptake of minerals on plants (Assuncao et al., 2010), the protein sequences of those two genes were aligned to the P. vulgaris reference genome v.2.1 using BLASTP in NCBI (https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/).This study combines 87 QTL for seed Fe and Zn concentration and content, including 39for Fe and 48 for Zn across seven common bean populations. It includes 56 QTL collated from previous studies within the AG, CG, GG1, and GG2 populations (Table S2). Additionally, 31 previously unreported QTL were identified with CIM analysis in the BJ, BS and DG populations (Table 1). Among the QTL identified with CIM, three were identified for Fe seed cotyledon and one for Zn seed cotyledon concentration were found in DG population.  S1).Phenotypic values for seed Fe concentration ranged from 28 to 114 ppm and for seed zinc concentration from 16 to 57 ppm (Table 2). Seed Fe and Zn concentration were positively correlated across the seven populations, and the average of those correlations was 0.66, 0.67, and 0.50 for the Andean (AG, GG2), Middle American (GG1, BS) and inter-genepool crosses (DG, BJ, CG) respectively. The average correlation between Fe and Zn concentration on the seven populations was 0.59.Chromosomes Pv01 and Pv06 contained the highest number of QTL while Pv10 was the only chromosome without a single QTL identified (Table S1). Individual QTL explained between 4 and 55% of the phenotypic variance. In total, 25 QTL had R 2 values greater than 20%, and therefore are considered major QTL. All QTL detected on Pv06 and Pv09 were detected only in intra-gene-pool populations, whereas the remaining chromosomes (Pv01 through Pv05, Pv08, and Pv11) contained QTL from both intra-and inter-genepool populations. Fifty five percent of QTL had an Andean source while the other forty five percent had Middle American sources. Pv02 had the most consistently detected QTL, such that QTL were detected in the same region in five out of the seven populations.The DG genetic map was used as a reference to develop the consensus map. The DG map is highly saturated and, with the exception of the BS population, it had markers in common with all maps that were integrated into this study. The consensus map consists of 1,038 markers with a total length of 2,012 cM and an average distance between markers of 3.6 cM. Of the 87 QTL that were identified in the 7 populations, 72 were projected on the consensus genetic map (Table S3). The remaining 15 QTL that were not projected were in regions that did not have sufficient common markers to make a reliable projection on the consensus map. For consensus QTL projection, the chromosomal position, LOD score, and R 2 of the individual QTL was taken into consideration. Chromosome Pv06 had the highest number of consensus QTL (18 QTL) and Pv02contained the highest number of QTL that came from different populations (5 populations) (Fig 1). The order of each chromosome was estimated with the physical position of SSR and SNP markers in the P. vulgaris reference genome v.2.1.The meta-analysis of the 72 QTL projected in the consensus map was performed in Biomercator 3.0, the AIC was used to select the best QTL model on each chromosome (Table 3).The meta-analysis resulted in a genetic model with 12 meta-QTL that covered 47 of the 72 individual QTL from the seven populations (Fig 2 and Table S4). The number of meta-QTL identified on each chromosome varied from one on chromosomes Pv01, Pv04, Pv09 and Pv11, and two on chromosomes Pv02, Pv06, Pv07 and Pv08. The mean R 2 of the MQTL ranged from 10.3 to 27.0%, while the 95% confidence intervals for the MQTL varied between 3.1 and 18.1 cM, with an average of 7.6 cM. The CI was narrower in all MQTL than the mean CI identified for the original QTL.  S5.In total, 12 candidate genes were identified related to mineral transport or storage. These were found within 5 of the 12 MQTL regions (Table 4). The gene families identified in the MQTL have been previously reported to function in various points in Fe and Zn acquisition, including 1)Root uptake (ZIP, FRO and NA), 2) Translocation within the plant (ZIP, FRO, NA and MATE), and3) Storage in seed (NRAMP). The name, position and family of each of the 15 candidate genes is reported in Table 4.ZIP family: In both MQTL_Fe&Zn_9.1 and MQTL_Fe&Zn_11.1 there is a single ZIP family gene. Members of this family participate in mineral uptake, transport to leaves and translocation to seeds, embryo, endosperm, and seed coat (Vert et al., 2002;Ishimaru et al., 2005). The ZIP genes in MQTL_Fe&Zn_9.1 and MQTL_Fe&Zn_11.1 have both been annotated in the reference genome as zinc/iron transporters (Goodstein et al., 2012). In addition, a bZIP transcription factor was found in MQTL_Fe&Zn_11.1. Although there are other bZIP elements in the MQTL, bZIP Phvul.011G035700 is the only one that aligned at the protein level with the genes bZIP19 and bZIP23 (e-value of 4 e-120 and 5 e-116 respectively) that have an important function in Zn uptake capacity in Arabidopsis (Assuncao et al., 2010).FRO family: Three FRO genes were identified within MQTL_Fe&Zn_6.1. FRO genes have important roles in iron uptake and in its transport in the vascular system (Wu et al., 2005;Kim & Guerinot, 2007). Furthermore other members of this family play an important role in chloroplast iron acquisition (Jeong et al., 2008).NA family: MQTL_Fe&Zn_1.1 contains an NA family gene. NA genes have been relatedwith mechanisms to acquire Fe and other minerals from the soil (Waters et al., 2006). NA chelates metal cations (Masuda et al 2009), and there is evidence that suggests that NA family play a role in the internal transport of Fe, Zn and other metals in plants (Takahashi et al., 2003;Schuler et al., 2012;Singh et al, 2017) MATE family: Members of the MATE family are involved in the efflux of molecules from the cytoplasm to the outside of the cell or into the vacuole, and it is likely that these genes products export an Fe chelator that allows the movement of Fe in the plant (Grotz & Guerinot, 2006, Rogers et al., 2009). One MATE gene was found in MQTL_Fe&Zn_6.1, and two genes were located in MQTL_Fe&Zn_4.1.NRAMP family: NRAMP Genes are involved in transport of metals out of vacuoles. In Arabidopsis, members of this family are required for iron mobilization in germinating seeds (Thomine et al., 2003;Lanquar et al., 2010;Gollhofer et al., 2014;Mary et al., 2015). NRAMP genes were located in MQTL_Fe&Zn_1.1 and MQTL_Fe&Zn_9.1.Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread nutritional disorders affecting billions of people around the world (Nestel et al., 2006;Zhao et al., 2009;Vasconcellos et al., 2017). To date biofortification programs have increased Fe and Zn content in several crops, however more efforts are still needed for at risk human populations to reach the recommended dietary requirements (Vasconcelos et al. 2017). Additional progress can be made through molecular breeding. Next generation sequencing information has allowed genome sequencing of the most important crops to human consumption. There has also been progress in identifying genes that are involved in the movement of Fe and Zn in plants and using these genes for biofortification of rice (Goto et al., 1999), cassava (Ihemere, 2012), wheat (Borg et al., 2012), maize (Kanobe et al., 2013), lettuce (Goto et al., 2000) and soybean (Vasconcelos et al., 2014).Seed Fe and Zn concentrations are quantitative traits with wide genotypic variability. As was reported by Beebe et al., 2001 andBlair et al., 2008, there is a difference in Fe and Zn concentration between the gene pools. Andean genotypes tend to have higher Fe but lower Zn than genotypes from the Middle American gene pool. Another important factor in the analysis of seed Fe and Zn concentration in common bean is the genotype-environmental interaction (GxE) (Araújo et al., 2003;Pereira et al., 2014). Beebe 2012 and Hossain et al 2013 reported that environmental factors such as soil characteristics and precipitation have an important influence in mineral accumulation in common bean.To unravel the genetic complexity of seed Fe and Zn concentration and content we collected data from seven populations over four locations, nine years, and with multiple methodologies being used for mineral quantification, including whole seed, cotyledon, and seed coat measurements. The seed mineral data from the seven populations was positively correlated among locations, years and traits (Fe-Zn). The average correlation between Fe and Zn concentration in the seven populations was 59%. The correlation between Fe and Zn support the well-reported observation that these traits are linked and if we increase the concentration of one of them, we will increase the other as well (Blair et al., 2010b;Blair and Izquierdo, 2012). The correlation may be related to the similar movement of Fe and Zn through the plant, ultimately to the seed. Many of the same genes are involved in both Fe and Zn transport (Kim and Guerinot, 2007;Bashir et al., 2013). The positive correlation between seed Fe and Zn concentrations has been reported in other crops as well, including chickpea (Diapari et al., 2014;Upadhyaya et al., 2016).In this study we used seven populations that involve the two major gene pools of common bean. We included four intra-and three inter genepool crosses. In total we tested 87 individual QTL detected in seven populations and were able to project 72 in the consensus map (41 have an Andean source, 25 have a Middle American source, and 6 have a wild Middle American source). The 72 QTL projected were distributed across all chromosomes except Pv10. The numerous QTL reflect the genetic complexity of the accumulation of Fe and Zn in common bean seeds.The consensus map generated from the seven maps has a size of 2,012 cM with 12 MQTL including two MQTL for Fe, two for Zn and 8 MQTL co-localized for Fe and Zn. It is interesting that of the nine QTL projected in the consensus map from the BS population, all but two clustered with QTL of other populations. All populations used in this study were planted in Colombia except the BS that was planted in Richville, MI -US, and although the environmental conditions are different (e.g. soil type, PH, average yearly rainfall), the BS-QTL are mainly close to the QTL of the other populations that have a Middle American genotype as a source. The proximity of BS-QTL with the Middle America QTL suggests that although there is a GxE interaction (Araújo et al., 2003;Beebe 2012;Hossain et al 2013 andPereira et al., 2014;) in the accumulation of Fe and Zn, the gene-pool origin has an important effect in the accumulation of these minerals in the seed of common bean.In this study we narrowed down the CI in all 12 MQTL regions that allowed us to identify 12 candidate genes that could be responsible for some of the differences in the seed Fe and Zn concentration/content in the populations included in this study. Out of the 12 MQTL, the eight Fe-Zn shared MQTL distributed over chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11 have major potential for molecular breeding because they are associated with both Fe and Zn concentration and/or content and could potentially be used to increase the content of both elements in common bean seed. In five of these eight meta-QTL there are 12 candidates for validation and subsequent application of allelic variation in breeding, e.g. by use of genetic transformation or allele screening in germplasm collections (ecoTilling). The genes Phvul.006G030500, Phvul.006G030550 and Phvul.006G030600 of the FRO family in MQTL_Fe&Zn_6.1 are of special interest, because genes of this family have been used successfully to increase mineral concentration in rice, wheat, and soybean (Goto et al. 1999;Borg et al. 2012;Vasconcelos et al. 2014). FRO genes are responsible for reducing iron at the root surface (Wu et al., 2005;Mukherjee et al., 2006). Dicots acidify the rhizosphere to acquire Fe from the soil. The roots release organic acids and phenolic compounds to increase Fe 3+ concentrations in the soil solution. These compounds chelate Fe 3+ which subsequently is reduced to Fe 2+ in the plasma membrane of root epidermal cells by ferric reductases which are encoded by members of the FRO gene family (Wu et al., 2005;Mukherjee et al., 2006;Connolly and Guerinot, 2002;Kobayashi and Nishizawa, 2012). We identified twelve candidate genes with the information available in the literature of the better-known gene families that have a relationship in the process to uptake, transport, and accumulation of Fe and Zn in plants. For the above, it is possible that we missed reporting some genes that belong to families that do not have a well-reported role in the movement of minerals in plants or genes that belong to families with unknown function.Quantitative traits are a challenge in plant breeding due to the genetic complexity that governs these traits, and the difficulty of stacking numerous alleles that control them. Meta-QTL analysis made possible the consolidation of 47 single QTL into 12 meta-QTL. These results showed a greater consolidation than a maize meta-QTL analysis for grain Fe and Zn, where 28 single QTL were consolidated into 10 meta-QTL (Jin et al., 2013). While we show that there are at least 12 regions that control the seed concentration/content of Fe and Zn in the common bean genome, the eight regions that associate with both Fe and Zn are most promising for focus in future studies. The stacking of eight independent regions in a single breeding line is challenging as there is a probability of one in 256 to stack the eight regions with the favorable alleles. The MQTL identified in this study have three potential uses, the first one is to generate markers for Marker assisted selection (MAS) for gene stacking breeding lines, the second way is the validation and subsequent use of the genes identified in this study in bean genetic transformation or eco-Tilling programs, and the last and perhaps most promising is the use of the MQTL regions in Genomic Selection (GS) models to increase the models accuracy in their use in bean breeding programs. Although this is a new study field, Spindel et al., 2016 reported promising results in rice using the regions identified by Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as fixed effects in GS models.The authors declare no conflict of interest.   ","tokenCount":"4203"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9469190412.json b/data/part_1/9469190412.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..42cf58e7ab6cc3234f62e0a13521be8c0c056a6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9469190412.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5d04115ed2464d607af36a56081850f4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f7c07be-97a4-40ed-a8a6-21f05881699a/retrieve","id":"956124782"},"keywords":["Traditional and Indigenous Fruits and Vegetables","genetic resources conservation","seed bank","school nutrition","school feeding"],"sieverID":"193be9e4-3846-45f9-a460-2cc30cbf8e44","pagecount":"44","content":"Agrobiodiversity conservation is an important aspect of sustainable agriculture and food and nutrition security; and schools can play a major role in promoting agrobiodiversity conservation among students and the wider community.Schools play a vital role in providing youth with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about their health and the environment. Schools can educate students about the importance of balanced diets and the role of different food groups in maintaining balanced diets. This can help the younger generation develop healthy eating habits with lifelong benefits.In the Philippines, the mean per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables is only 37 and 123 grams (g), respectively. It is less than 50% of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended fruit and vegetable intake of at least 400 g or five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. This is considered inadequate in terms of macronutrients and micronutrients even according to the Expanded National Nutrition Survey 2015.The importance of fruits and vegetables for balanced diets to prevent malnutrition and to reduce the risk of diseases, while conferring other benefits is well researched (FAO, 2020). Indigenous fruits and vegetables can make such diets more accessible to a variety of communities and could play a major role in fostering more diversified and sustainable food production systems (Ebert, 2014).Indigenous vegetables are defined as \"species that are locally important for the sustainability of economies, human nutrition and health, and social systems but which have yet to attain global recognition to the same extent as major vegetable commodities'' (Keatinge et al., 2014). In the Philippines, traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables (TIFVs) are grown smallscale, mostly in home gardens and marginal lands or simply gathered from the wild, cultivated fields, and fallow lands. Their resilience to pests and diseases and adaptability to low-input conditions makes them suitable for agricultural production in financially constrained rural communities. TIFVs are generally rich in micronutrients that can contribute to improving the nutritional quality of meals. They can make significant nutritional contributions to the diet by providing vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Incorporating indigenous vegetables into diets can promote dietary diversity and contribute to improved health and nutrition while indirectly helping to conserve vanishing genetic resources.The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology -Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) and, the Department of Education (DepEd) developed the Integrated School Nutrition Model (ISNM) in the Philippines with support from the International Development Research Center in Canada in 2016. This involved the establishment of a network of Lighthouse Schools 1 (LSs) and school-based Crop Museums 2 (CMs) which are located within the network of LSs. The CMs serve as seed banks fostering the multiplication and exchange of crop types and varieties across schools, and in some cases, broader local communities. The LSs serve as action research sites of the ISNM program where the integration of school feeding, nutrition education and school gardens are demonstrated, and evidence is established.There are currently 273 LSs (public elementary schools) nationwide representing 221 school divisions. These schools and associated CMs have been in operation for over 5 years and are proving very effective in promoting biodiverse garden systems, conservation, and availability of cultivars of traditional and locally adapted vegetables, fostering dietary diversity and improved consumption of nutrient-dense vegetables. They are also often linked with community gardens and homestead gardens to ensure the conservation and availability of traditional vegetables in school districts.This study provides evidence on the nature and state of TIFVs conservation efforts by schools in the Philippines. It also elaborates on opportunities for the promotion of agrobiodiversity conservation, specifically in support of sustainable healthy diets for students. The study findings contribute to the Work Package 2 of the Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) Initiative of CGIAR.The study sought to address the following research questions:1. What roles have schools played in promoting biodiverse garden systems, conservation, and availability of cultivars of traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables? 2. What are the vegetable crop species available in the school-based Crop Museums and Lighthouse Schools? 3. What are the preferred traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables that are grown in school gardens and utilized in school canteens and/or school feeding programs? 4. What are the threats and conservation gaps of promoting traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables?Data for this study were gathered through an online survey, followed by an online conference with a sample of schools from across the country. Both activities were conducted in collaboration with the Department of Education -Bureau of Learners Support Services (DepEd-BLSS); and were officially approved and endorsed through the issuance of DepEd. Memorandum No. 2022-03-3731 titled \"Conduct of Integrated School Nutrition Model OnlineConference'' by the DepEd Undersecretary for Governance and Field Operations -Revsee Escobedo.The study targeted those Lighthouse Schools (LSs) and school-based Crop Museums (CMs) that have conducted activities on the conservation and promotion of traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables (TIFVs) in their schools, adjacent schools, and within their local communities, for at least 1-3 years. See Figure 1 for the distribution of the schools that participated in the study.The online survey was administered using Google Forms from 19 December 2022 to 10 January 2023. LSs, CMs, and ISNM focal persons at the Regional, Division, and school-level were the target respondents of the online survey. Pre-testing was undertaken with 20 Department of Education Regional and Division Office representatives to check for questionnaire flaws, and to ensure that questions and choices were understood by the target respondents. Adjustments were made according to the online survey questionnaire.The online conference using Zoom (video conferencing software) was conducted between January 12-13, 2023, and was co-facilitated by the DepEd-BLSS and IIRR. Initial results of the online survey were presented and discussed in small groups, wherein participants also shared their strategies and recommendations to strengthen TIFVs conservation through LSs and CMs.Quantitative data were derived from the online survey. IIRR validated this data and elicited further explanations on responses to the online survey during the online conference. Further, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to show trends and presented in either tabular or graphical forms. Google Sheets was used as a platform for collaboration during data validation and cleaning; and data processing and analysis were performed using Microsoft Excel.This study analysed data gathered from the responses and discussions from the participating schools of the online survey and conference. Both were targeted to only those LSs, CMs and regional coordinators implementing the ISNM, that have cultivated and promoted TIFVs for over three years. Respondents of the online survey and participants of the online conference were ISNM focal persons, and project officers assigned to the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) 3 or school gardening program, School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) 4 , and Nutrition Education and Promotion Program (NEPP) 5 of DepEd at the Regional Offices, Schools Division Offices, and School Level from the seventeen (17) regions of the country. Regional and Division offices oversee monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of the GPP, SBFP and NEPP programs at the school level; while school-level representatives are the direct implementers of the listed programs. See Table 1 for the governance level and designations of the respondents.The Gulayan sa Paaralan Program aims at promoting food security and good nutrition among students, as well as teaching them the value of agriculture and environmental protection. Under this program, schools are encouraged to establish vegetable gardens within their premises, which will serve as a hands-on learning experience for students.The School-based Feeding Program (SBFP) aims at providing a daily nutritious meal to undernourished students in public schools. Under the SBFP, the DepEd. provides funding to schools to purchase ingredients and prepare meals that meet the children's recommended daily allowance for essential nutrients. The meals are usually prepared on-site by trained cooks and are distributed to eligible students on a daily basis. The program is designed to address the problem of hunger and malnutrition among school-aged children, which can have negative effects on their physical and cognitive development, academic performance, and overall health.The Nutrition Education and Promotion Program (NEPP) is a comprehensive program that promotes healthy lifestyles and good nutrition habits among students, teachers, and parents. It recognizes the important role of education in addressing the problem of malnutrition and its associated health risks and aims to empower individuals and communities to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing. One thousand one hundred fourteen (1,114) Regional, Division, and school level coordinators responded to the online survey as shown in Tables 2 and 3. Three hundred twelve (312 or 28.01%) respondents represent the Regional and Division coordinators, 358 (32.14%) are from the Lighthouse Schools, 422 (37.88%) are from the school-based Crop Museums, and 22 (1.97%) are from Satellite Lighthouse Schools (these are schools trained and/or adopted by a Lighthouse School).All regions were represented though it is important to note that there was under three percent representation from certain regions (target is at least 5% per region) i.e., CARAGA, CAR, Regions II, IVB, V, VI, IX, and XII. Distribution of participating schools is shown in the map (See Figure 1). A total of 215 out of the 273 Lighthouse Schools (79%) responded to the online survey. *Satellite Lighthouse School are schools trained and/or adopted by a Lighthouse School.Eight hundred fifty (850) Regional, Division, and school-level representatives participated in the online conference via Zoom. See Table 4   Agrobiodiversity conservation is the practice of preserving a wide variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms that make up agricultural ecosystems. This is important because it helps maintain genetic diversity, which can improve a field's resilience to pests, diseases, and environmental stresses. Incorporating agrobiodiversity conservation into schools is an effective way to provide students with the knowledge and skills to protect local plant varieties. Further, engaging the wider community to help conserve agrobiodiversity in school gardens can not only strengthen community ties but also the link between the formal and informal sectors in plant genetic resources' conservation and utilization.Agrobiodiversity conservation, particularly the conservation and sustainable use of the genetic diversity of crops includes the preservation and promotion of the use of traditional or locallyadapted crop varieties that have been cultivated by small farms and indigenous communities for generations. Most survey respondents support TIFVs conservation by promoting their planting (97.67%) and consumption (96.95%) in schools and communities. One thousand seventy-one (96.14%) grow them in their school and community, while seed saving is done by 982 (88.15%) and distribution of planting materials is done by 873 (78.37%). Seed collection (58.98%) and seed exchange events (53.95%) are other examples of TIFVs conservation activities in schools, as indicated in Figure 2.Promotion of planting and consumption of TIFVs in schools and communities creates awareness about the importance of TIFVs for food security, nutrition, and biodiversity conservation. School activities to promote planting and consumption of TFIVs involve organizing home gardening contests, cooking demonstrations, and educational campaigns.Museums propagate and distribute planting materials of nutrient-dense food crops. This complements the promotion of home gardens among students and parents and was especially important during the pandemic when access to food was limited. See Section 3.5 for more information on schools' planting materials distribution methods.Seed saving in schools includes selection of the healthiest, most resilient, and productive plant type and species that they want to maintain and grow for the following years. They use the traditional technique of storing seeds in airtight containers with desiccants i.e., charcoal, naphthalene balls.Seed collection missions refer to the occasional efforts of schoolteachers where they go out to remote areas, meet with local farmers and indigenous communities, in search of new crop varieties to grow in school gardens.Schools exchange seeds and share information about their collections. Schools prepare their seeds for the exchange by cleaning them, drying them, and labeling them. By partnering with other schools, community organizations, and local farmers, important and endangered local cultivars are promoted and conserved. The respondents of the online survey and online conference listed a range of specific strategies to promote agrobiodiversity in schools. These are listed in Table 5.School gardens can serve as an outdoor classroom and provide hands-on learning experiences for students. School gardens provide an excellent opportunity for students to learn about different crops, their adaptation to changing climates, and their importance in local food systems.Gardens can be used to conserve vanishing local plant varieties and their diversity. Their integration into curriculum and lessons emerged as an important method used by schoolteachers to promote TIFVs. Schoolteachers have also incorporated topics on nutritional value, cooking preparations, climate adaptability, and propagation of TIFVs in their lessons in various subjects (such as Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao at Pangkabuyan (EPP) and Science). Some school teachers promote them through integration into subjects like Mathematics, English, and Social Studies. Schools can incorporate agrobiodiversity conservation into various subjects and this can help to promote cultural and ecological awareness among students (Oro et al., 2018b).Awareness and education campaigns on TIFVs are also being undertaken by the school teachers. Schools' outreach programs such as Brigada Eskwela 6 , Nutrition Month activities, and community pantry (that involves the distribution of seeds, seedlings, fresh vegetables, posters, recipe booklets, and videos) are regularly undertaken to engage parents and other stakeholders. Social media and capacity building activities on the adaptability of crops and cultivars to environmental stresses; and the nutritional value and cooking preparation of TIFVs; during health, nutrition, and environmental campaigns and activities are being done as well.Incentivization-through awarding of certificates and grade incentives to students and parents-promotes planting and consumption of TIFVs in their homes and community. Volunteer parents engaged in school gardening and cooking activities are provided with fresh vegetables, seeds and seedlings, and cooked food from the excess meals of the school canteen or feeding program. During Division-level food exhibition events, school feeding teachers and canteen coordinators were encouraged to develop innovative recipes featuring and utilizing indigenous vegetables. Some of these nutritious recipes are served in school canteens to support income generation of schools. Growing TIFVs in school gardens where students and parents can see and learn about them.Integration of TIFVs into the school curriculum and lessons 1,070 Distribution of fresh vegetables 999Saving seeds of traditional crop varieties helps to preserve genetic resources and their diversity in agriculture. In addition, ecosystem services and food culture associated with this biodiversity is conserved. Traditional crop varieties have often adapted to local and changing growing conditions (such as climate). This means they are often more resilient (better suited to withstand environmental changes such as drought or pests). By saving and distributing seeds of these crops, schools and communities help conserve varieties that are proven to be well-adapted to local conditions (Ebert, 2014).Seed saving, particularly those of TIFVs, is done by schools for various reasons as shown in Figure 3. Lighthouse Schools and school-based Crop Museums save seeds mainly for the conservation and multiplication of useful varieties. Saving seeds also helps them sustain their school gardens with the assurance of seed availability for future planting. Saving seeds reduces their seed costs, since they can reuse the seeds from the previous year's crop instead of purchasing new seeds.Some teachers shared that they save seeds for their personal collection at home; for school exhibits to educate students and parents on local crop cultivars; and others use the seeds as a token of appreciation for school visitors. Schools organize seed exchanges and conservation programs where students can learn about seed saving and can be involved in the conservation of local plant varieties that are at risk of disappearing (Hunter et al., 2020) Crop diversification can provide a range of benefits in schools, including improved nutrition, soil health, climate resilience, education, and income generation. Diversifying the crops grown in school gardens provides a greater variety of fresh produce for school feeding programs.This can help improve the nutritional quality of school meals and promote better health among students.IIRR's Lighthouse Schools data from 2016 showed that the average number of crops grown by schools in the Cavite province was five-most commonly Pechay (Brassica rapa L.) which is a green leafy vegetable, talong or eggplant (Solanum melongena), kamatis or tomato (Solanum lycopericum and spp.), sili or chilli (Capsicum frutescens), and mustasa or mustard greens (Brassica rapa subsp. oleifera). In 2018, there was a recorded increase of as many as 20 types of vegetables grown in the schools mainly due to the introduction and promotion of traditional and indigenous vegetables. Improved garden resilience (attributed to diversification using traditional and indigenous vegetables) is now reported. GPP school coordinators have highlighted that this is because such crop cultivars can tolerate environmental stresses such as drought and flood and are resilient to pests (Oro et al., 2018a).Table 6 shows the online survey responses on the average number of crop types grown in schools. Three hundred eight (35.86%) of the survey respondents indicated that they grow 5-8 types of crops; while 230 (26.78%) expressed that they grow above 12 types of crops. As shown in Figures 4-8, a variety of vegetables are available in almost all school gardens and much of these are utilized in school feeding. Leafy vegetables are available in most schools but there is a variance in their consumption (See Figure 4). Some traditional and indigenous leafy vegetables like Lupo or sessile joyweed (Alternanthera sessilis), Himbabao or birch flower (Broussonetia luzonica), and Pako or edible fern (Diplazium esculentum) are only consumed in regions where it is associated with local food heritage and culture. Okra or lady's finger (Abelmoschus esculentus and spp.) is the most grown and consumed in almost all schools. Other commonly grown fruit vegetables include Sili Panigang or long green chilli (Capsicum annuum var. longum), Ampalaya or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), Upo or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and Kalabasa or pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima). As shown in Figure 5, many fruit vegetables are utilized in school feeding, but their cultivation in school gardens is relatively lower-this includes native varieties of Kamatis or tomato (Solanum lycopericum and spp.), Talong or eggplant (Solanum melongena and spp.), Patola or sponge gourd (Lufa cyclindrica), and bitter gourd. Indigenous vegetables such as Kundol or ash gourd (Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.) and Kapas-kapas (Telosma procumbens) are grown in some schools but need more promotion through distribution of seeds, and availability of information on its cooking preparations. Roots and tubers such as sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), taro (Colocasia esculenta), and Labanos or radish (Raphanus sativus) are commonly grown and consumed in most schools (See Figure 7). However, Bawang gulay or garlic chives, Lasona gulay or onion chives, and Ube or purple yam (Dioscorea alata) are grown in fewer schools than they are consumed in. As seen in Figure 8, fruit trees such as papaya (Carica papaya), calamansi (x Citrofortunella microcarpa), and Ubod ng saging or banana pith are generally available in all schools but a minor difference in their consumption is apparent. The same trend can be observed with Langka or jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Guyabano or soursop (Annona muricata), and Atis or custard apple (Annona reticulata). In contrast, Latundan bananas (Musa acuminata x M. balbisiana) are consumed in more schools than they are grown in. Listed in Table 7 are the fruits, vegetables, and herbs available in the community, grown in schools, and served in schools. Many are native fruits and herbs whose utilization in school feeding and canteens can be improved.Table 7: Fruits, vegetables, and herbs available in the community that are served in school feedingArum colocasia Linn.Coix lacryma-jobi.Homalomena philippinensis Engl.Ficus benjaminaMuntingia calabura Citrus aurantiifolia.Durio zibethinus L.Cyrtosperma merkusii (Hassk.) Schott Despite the many conservation activities on TIFVs conducted by schools, online survey respondents expressed that the availability of planting materials for TIFVs is still limited. As shown in Figure 9, Lighthouse Schools are the main sources of TIFVs seeds and seedlings among schools. Second, are seeds collected from local farmers particularly from Indigenous Peoples or Lumad with seeds saved from generations. Government agencies like the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); and organizations like IIRR, cooperatives, East West Seed Foundation, Gawad Kalinga Farmers, with initiatives on seed distribution are also sources of planting materials for the schools. Some teachers also mentioned buying seeds from the local agricultural stores.There is no direct link between schools and the country's formal Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) sector yet, but the potential to establish linkages with both the formal and informal PGR should be explored. Formal PGR institutions such as the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory in the University of the Philippines Los Baños can collaborate with schools on research projects that aim to conserve and utilize plant genetic resources. This can help schools introduce new crop varieties into their school gardens, improve the genetic diversity of their gardens, and develop new crop varieties that are adapted to local growing conditions and resilient to climate change. Further, the formal PGR sector can provide guidance on how to conserve plant genetic resources in school gardens, including best practices for seed saving and storage.Schools can contribute to local seed banks which can also be used by formal PGR laboratories for conservation and research purposes. The formal PGR sector can also aid in the proper identification of collected cultivars of the schools and track distribution of endangered crop species in some localities. This can help preserve rare or endangered plant varieties and ensure their availability for future generations (Plucknett et al.,1987;Lamola, 1992. Overall, by strengthening the link between schools and the formal and informal PGR sectors-especially by enabling the exchange of seeds between them-schools can access a wider variety of crops and enhance the diversity of the fruits and vegetables served in school canteens and feeding programs. Lighthouse Schools and Crop Museums utilize and distribute saved seeds to sustain school gardens and to share with parents and community members. This substantiates the reasons for saving seeds as shown in Figure 10. Seeds are also utilized during seed exchange events with other schools, and some schools generate income from selling their seeds. For seed exchange to other schools Not applicable, I do not save seeds.School activities to promote greater production and consumption of TIFVs, include the distribution of seeds and seedlings. Ass seen in Figure 11, most schools indicate that seed distribution is commonly done during the Brigada Eskwela, at the onset of the school year when school gardens are being restored. Another seed distribution activity is usually undertaken during the Parents-Teachers-Association (PTA) meetings that are scheduled every quarter, along with the distribution of report cards. Seed distribution is also integrated in EPP (Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan) and TLE (Technology and Livelihood Education) subjects where schools distribute planting materials to students and promote the establishment of home gardens.Further, seed distribution is incorporated in the school-based feeding program in which parents, volunteers and students who want to grow vegetables at home are given seeds and seedlings. Seeds are also shared during home visits to undernourished students who need assistance at home. Most school outreach programs (i.e., learning visits, seed exchange events with other schools, community plantries, local festivals) and capacity building activities (i.e., seminars on food preparations, campaigns on home gardening) include the distribution of seeds and seedlings to the community. Results from the online survey show that both the Lighthouse Schools (LSs) and Crop Museums (CMs) incorporate seed saving and seed distribution into school activities. Most of the CMs stated the provision of seeds and seedlings to 30 individuals or less, while a quarter of the respondents from LSs have provided seeds and seedlings to more than 95 individuals for the past three years (See Table 8). During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures and school garden abandonment, fewer seeds were distributed to individuals.  The selection of fruits and vegetables in schools for conservation, utilization and promotion should be based on factors that ensure they are nutritious, safe, locally available, culturally accepted, and appealing to students. By considering such factors, school feeding programs can provide nutritious and culturally appropriate meals that promote children's health and well-being (FAO, 2018;Hunter et al. 2020).Online survey respondents largely considered the availability of seeds and seedlings as a 'Very Important' factor for the conservation and promotion of traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables (TIFVs) by schools (See Figure 12). Second, in order of importance, was access to knowledge and information on the crop's nutritional value by schoolteachers. Third, was the use of TIFVs in school feeding and canteens; and fourth was the ease of production and management (i.e., less inputs required for plant growth and well-adapted to environmental stresses). Respondents largely considered market demand and taste (acceptability to students) only as 'Somewhat Important'.During the online conference, schoolteachers suggested improving the seed availability of the following fruits and vegetables: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), taro (Colocasia esculenta), moringa (Moringa oleifera), amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), Malabar nightshade (Basella rubra), jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata), mung bean (Vigna radiata), winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) and fruit trees like papaya (Carica papaya), and banana (Musa spp.). Improving the availability of the seeds of nutrient-dense and climate-resilient TIFVs that are already utilized in school-based feeding programs (some of which have been mentioned previously) is one option to support TIFV conservation and promotion by schools.  As seen in Figure 13, nutritional value, taste, availability in the school garden, and availability of recipes to follow were largely considered 'Very Important\" factors influencing the selection of TIFVs to utilize in school feeding and canteens. Meanwhile, largely considered 'Somewhat Important' were market availability, ease of preparation (cooking), and whether the TIFVs were organic.Fruits and vegetables identified by schoolteachers as nutrient-dense and recommended for improved utilization in schools included: drumstick tree leaves, water spinach or kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica), and amaranth for leafy vegetables; string beans and mung beans among legumes; okra, tomato (Solanum lycopericum and spp)., and eggplant (Solanum melongena and spp.) for fruit vegetables; and sweet potato among root crops. To ensure that TIFVs are grown and used in school meals and school canteens, there should be year-round availability and access to these vegetables in the school gardens and markets, along with access to information on how to cook them. Schools can play a crucial role in promoting agrobiodiversity conservation among students and in the wider community. By conserving agrobiodiversity in school gardens, teachers can educate students and the community on the importance of traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables for food security and nutrition-particularly to prevent malnutrition among schoolchildren.Lighthouse Schools (LSs) and associated Crop Museums (CMs) have been in operation for over 5 years and are proving very effective in promoting biodiverse garden systems, conservation, and availability of cultivars of traditional and locally adapted vegetables. Given their size, the LSs and CMs can easily be used to experiment with and promote sustainable agriculture practices, such as crop rotation, intercropping, and companion planting, to promote both inter-species and intra-species diversity. They also foster dietary diversity and have proven to improve consumption of nutrient-dense vegetables in schools and nearby communities.Access to and availability of seeds, information and education materials influences the type of traditional and indigenous crops that schools conserve, promote and utilize in school feeding. LSs and CMs also organize seed exchanges and seed collection missions between schools, District, and Division Offices supported by memoranda. By exchanging seeds, schools can access a wider variety of crops, which can help to enhance diversity of the fruits and vegetables served in school canteens and feeding programs. Through the provision of seed diversity kits and seed exchange events students, teachers and the wider community are now valuing the need for conserving agrobiodiversity while also promoting their sustainable use via techniques such as bio-intensive and regenerative agriculture practices.Having delivered multiple benefits for agrobiodiversity conservation since their introduction, LSs and CMs show great potential as scaling mechanisms to expand the conservation, promotion and utilization of traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables. However, more needs to be done to ensure they can significantly contribute to sustainable agricultural practices and the preservation of agrobiodiversity for future generations.The following are recommendations to leverage opportunities presented by the network of Lighthouse Schools (LSs) and associated Crop Museums (CMs) for agrobiodiversity conservation:1. Improve distribution of seeds and seedlings of nutrient-dense traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables (TIFVs). Nutrient-dense local plant varieties that are at risk of disappearing can be promoted for conservation by enhancing the availability of and access to planting materials. Seeds of crop cultivars that are nutritious, culturally accepted, locally available and climate resilient must be prioritized when determining the types of crop varieties to promote. The distribution of seed diversity kits with small amounts of diverse range of crop cultivars (at least 10 types) will promote the use of local and traditional crops and increase access to diverse crops and varieties. Seed distribution and promotion to communities can be incorporated into school programs such as Brigada Eskwela, nutrition month activities, and PTA orientation. In addition, intensive profiling and mapping of school's crop diversity can be used to locate local school sources of underutilized crop cultivars that can be promoted widely to other schools.Traditional and indigenous crops are often underutilized because of the limited information available on their nutritional value and cooking preparations. Simple and practical Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials on cooking, the nutritional value, propagation, and conservation practices of prioritized TIFVs need to be developed and distributed to schools. These can be in the form of modules, videos, infographics, brochures, crop labels in gardens, and trivia posters that can be incorporated in school curricula, posted on school bulletin boards where students can read and see, or distributed to students' parents. In addition, one of the factors influencing the selection of TIFVs for school utilization is the availability of recipes that the school teachers can follow. Availability of recipe booklets with standardized recipes that SBFP coordinators can serve in school feeding will be helpful to promote utilization of such crops.3. Promote the integration of agrobiodiversity into school curricula.Agrobiodiversity in education needs to be included in subjects like Health, Science, EPP (Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan) and TLE (Technology and Livelihood Education). Mainstreaming key issues on agrobiodiversity in education will enhance student awareness of the importance of conserving these species for their ecosystem functions, beyond food provision and for their potential role as a livelihood option. It could also encourage them to become stewards of agrobiodiversity. The mainstreaming, or integration, of agrobiodiversity in education programs is currently constrained by a number of institutional issues including the re-orientation of academic staff to facilitate agrobiodiversity learning. The lack of human capacity and expertise in agrobiodiversity among teaching staff and the tendency to emphasize teaching rather than facilitate learning is an issue for the effective mainstreaming of agrobiodiversity into education (Rudebjer et al., 2011).4. Institutionalize diversity fairs, seed exchange events and other conservation initiatives within DepEd programs. The network of LSs and CMs have proven successful in terms of organizing events that contribute to preserving genetic diversity, enhancing food security and nutrition, and empowering local communities. Seed saving is already practiced in schools with the objective of growing plant cultivars with best qualities and to ensure the availability of local varieties of seeds for future planting and for use during emergencies or disasters. Seed exchange and other conservation programs, while existing, can be better organized as an annual activity where schools can gain access to a wider variety of crops from other schools. Seed exchanges can also be improved to build on the transfer of local knowledge between educators and local communities, building solidarity around the preservation of traditional crop cultivars. To have maximum impact, seed exchange events must feature the use of these crops through food preparation and tasting events.5. Boost collaboration with multi-sectoral stakeholders for awareness campaigns.Collaboration with formal and informal sectors, through on-site or online platforms, for the conservation and promotion of agrobiodiversity is highly encouraged. These include learning visits or field trips to a LS or CM, seed exchange events, food fairs, workshops and cooking competitions between schools using traditional crops, as well as showcasing best practices on the cultivation and consumption of diverse range of crop varieties. Such activities, if implemented with the Local Government Units, private sectors, local farmers association, formal Plant Genetic Resources institutions, developmental organization, famous chefs, and youth advocates, can create awareness and garner multi-sectoral support for collective action.6. Establish links with formal and informal Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) institutions. PGR institutions can help schools introduce new crop varieties and improve the genetic diversity of school gardens. Researchers from formal PGR institutions can provide technical support, while local farmers can share their knowledge on the production and uses of the traditional crop varieties. As a result, LSs and CMs will receive holistic guidance on how to conserve plant genetic resources in school gardens, including best practices for seed saving and storage. Ultimately, by working together, schools and PGR networks can exchange knowledge and resources, promote biodiversity conservation, and help build stronger relationships within the community.Lighthouse Schools receive 20,000 pesos (USD 358) annually for the improvement of school gardens supporting school-based feeding programs and to strengthen nutrition education activities including the development of IEC materials. Such funds are not accessible to other non-Lighthouse Schools. However, at the school level, fund allocation for conservation and promotion of TIFVs and nutrition promotion activities is possible if identified in the school's Annual Improvement Plan (AIP) and School Improvement Plan (SIP). Allocation of funding support (along with complimentary guidelines) must be sustained to allow schools to continue their conservation programs. Joint memorandums from various government agencies and institutions should be considered to ensure that there is an integrated and holistic approach to promoting agrobiodiversity in schools, educating young generations to become stewards of traditional and indigenous plant genetic resources.","tokenCount":"5590"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9475728952.json b/data/part_1/9475728952.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4c6c0051d47204b315b774c1a5476ae80b57e39f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9475728952.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"31afcb29a9d79f930a501731c42f1004","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/081b09b2-a8ef-490c-bc10-367cc90325a9/retrieve","id":"238692394"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"546ab34f-d843-487b-8962-5f51518babc5","pagecount":"4","content":"Table 1. Numbers of global deaths each year from selected causes in the early 21 st century All deaths 57,000,000 Deaths from infectious disease 18,000,000 Child deaths in which malnutrition implicated 5,000,000 Diarrhoeal disease death (many zoonotic) 3,000,000 Tuberculosis death (a small percentage is zoonotic) 2,500,000 HIV (a disease emerged from animals) 2,000,000 Road traffic deaths 1,200,000 Fatal agricultural injuries 170,000 Rabies deaths 70,000 Cysticercosis (pig tapeworm) deaths 50,000 Trypanosomosis (sleeping sickness) deaths 40,000 Liver cancer deaths attributable to aflatoxins 35,000 Extreme weather related deaths 20,000Agriculture has huge impacts on human health, • both positive and negative;Agriculture has not been oriented to achieving • health outcomes;The livestock sector creates a disproportionate share • of risks and benefits;Health problems related to farming and food re-• quire solutions that include them.Agricultural innovation has allowed massive expansion of people and their animals. Yet as the world population passed 7 billion in October 2011, more than one billion people remain malnourished and more than 2 billion are sickened each year from the food they ate. Millions more die from diseases that emerge from, or persist in, agricultural ecosystems: zoonoses (diseases transmissible between animals and man) and diseases recently emerged from animals make up 25% of the infectious disease burden in least developed countries and kill one in ten people who live there.Other urgent health problems related to agriculture include fungal toxins (mycotoxins) in crops and animal source foods; plant toxins; use of wastewater for agriculture; misuse of agricultural chemicals and antibiotics; occupational hazards of food value chains; contribution of agriculture to climate change and impacts of this on disease; and, health impacts of agricultural alteration of ecosystems (such as irrigation practices that promote malaria). Table 1 shows the deaths caused by some diseases associated with agriculture along with other causes for comparison.Agriculture is exacting a heavy biological cost, but health policy and programs often stop at the clinic door while agriculture rarely has 'enhancing health' as an articulated objective. A consensus is growing that the disconnect between agriculture, health and nutrition is at least partly responsible for the disease burden associated with food and farming. Livestock agriculture is especially problematic as a generator of disease risks and a contributor to over-nutrition and ILRI has been involved in human health related research for over a decade. This research has helped conceptualize the relations between agriculture and health: multiple benefits and multiple risks are linked through complex feed back loops, highly dependent on context and system (Figure 2).We have also been successful in bringing epidemiologists, economists and sociologists together to work on complex health related problems. The One Health (and Ecohealth) thinking-now prominent in the health community sees multidisciplinary approaches as key to managing zoonoses and emerging infections. Likewise food-borne disease requires management throughout the field-to-fork risk pathway involving multiple disciplines. Food-borne diseases also imposes costs on the livestock and food sector. Inability to meet food safety standards threatens to exclude small producers from higher value markets and forces them to incur the transaction costs associated with work in the informal sector.Endemic zoonoses that prevail in poor countries are among the most neglected diseases. For example, echinococcosis is responsible for 1 million healthy life-years lost, illness related costs of $1.9 billion, and livestock losses of $2.1 billion. Sleeping sickness, rabies, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, brucellosis, and leptospirosis are zoonoses of similar impact.Most emerging diseases (75%) jumped species from animals to humans. HIV-AIDs, which originated in non-human primates, has probably sickened and killed more people than any other disease in the history of mankind.Many emerging diseases also lead to losses from bans on livestock trade as was the case in Rift Valley Fever and bird flu epidemics.Land change for agriculture can increase diseases such as malaria, schistosomiasis, and cryptosporidiosis.Agricultural practices can increase resistance to antibiotics and other drugs in pathogens.Agriculture is a major contributor to global warming which in turn can lead to changes in spatial distribution and incidence of disease.People working in agrifood systems are directly exposed to a range of biological, chemical, and physical hazards.From farm to fork, food is a gendered commodity: women and men have different roles in production, processing, and retailing that expose them to different health risks and offer them different benefits. Gender roles are also an important determinant of exposure to zoonotic disease, health-seeking behavior and ultimately health burden. ILRI has undertaken research on how gender and collective action influence food safety as well as more general reviews of women and livestock and sees this as a key ILRI contribution to future work.ILRI research has been able to bring pro-poor perspectives to public health problems with potentially farreaching benefits, as shown by a case study from Kenya.Driven by a combination of vested interests and genuine, although ill-founded, public health concern, the regulatory environment became increasing hostile to informally marketed milk. ILRI research showed that this imposed costs on milk traders and consumers-$33 million annually-without creating health benefits, as consumers boil milk before consumption). A coalition formed by ILRI was able to generate evidence and support advocacy for a new approach that is pro-poor and delivers superior food safety outcomes.Under the new CRP 4 on Agriculture for Enhanced Nutrition and Health led by the International Food Policy Research Institute, we are leading a component on the prevention and control of agriculture associated diseases.We have identified priority work areas (subcomponents) as shown in table 2.The CRP 4 component on diseases associated with agriculture uses a risk analysis framework to structure its impact pathway (Figure 2).An important activity is prioritization, that is • identifying which are the key problems where agricultural research can make a difference. Some priorities have already been developed based on existing understanding and track record and these will be reassessed in the light of growing evidence on priority constraints where agricultural research can make a difference.We will develop methods for assessing the multiple • burdens of agriculture associated disease across  health, income, livelihoods and ecosystems and apply these to priority diseases. We will also develop methods for assessing the health implications of agriculture programmes and interventions and to identify investment opportunities where agricultural research can contribute most to human health. Detailed value chain mapping, mathematical • models, risk factor studies and risk assessments will also identify control points where risk management is needed and help understand the incentives and so-cio-cultural factors that influence change in practice.Improved management of risk will come through • facilitating development and uptake of innovations (technological, organizational and social). These will be rigorously tested and assessed. Uptake will be facilitated through contributing evidence for the formulation of enabling policy, and building capacity for change.Capacity-building, communication and gender are • cross-cutting, integrated into all activities. ","tokenCount":"1107"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9487842285.json b/data/part_1/9487842285.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae2cae81ac0f62f127fc81e1ed8671d0c34a30cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9487842285.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"892fb7128d7936f5c262ff0fe03f5eb3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bab31f48-10b3-4406-baa9-1fa477de3435/retrieve","id":"-1005047285"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"12f8734c-1854-4db7-87e0-19b1012d0a06","pagecount":"44","content":"Pineapples may be planted at any time of the year. The cycle varies from 12-18 months. The desired harvest date is determined by the planting date and the weight of the propagules planted.Citric acid is extracted from it and used in the manufacture of certain pharmaceutical products, particularly those related to bronchitis. Starch can also be extracted, as can a variety of organic acids, wax, sterols, etc. The leaves and crowns, or even the whole plant, can be crushed and incorporated into livestock feed. The pineapple stem is used for its anti-inflammatory properties. Bromelain is used to aid post-operative or post-injury recovery and to treat, among others, venous diseases, contusions, arthritis, and dysmenorrhea. The fibres of the leaves are used in the production of luxury fabrics, rope, bags and special types of paper.In 2014, global pineapple production exceeded 24 million tons. Its world trade represents more than US$7 billion. Brazil, the Philippines and Thailand are the largest pineapple producers. In Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the leading pineapple producers, while Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are the largest African exporters.This manual on the production and processing of pineapples is intended for small and medium sized pineapple producers and processors, as well as extension agents in this subsector. While taking account of the extensive agricultural, pedological and climatic diversity of the world's pineapple-growing regions, it is important to give a broad outline of the traditional pineapple production process, at the same time recommending some pesticides and fertilisers that can be used in the production process.However, the decision to use a particular product or mineral fertiliser must be made, among others, on the basis of its effectiveness in reducing the impact of harmful elements of the plants, as well as its approval in both the country where it is grown and the country where it is sold, in the case of export.A herbaceous, perennial and heliophile plant, and a member of the Bromeliaceae family, the pineapple has significant nutritional, commercial and industrial potential.Mainly grown for its fruit, the pineapple can be consumed fresh, dried or processed into preserves, drinks or vinegar.The pineapple is a perennial herbaceous plant with shallow roots. The stem carries thick and prickly trough-shaped leaves grouped in a rosette formation, from which the inflorescence emerges supported by a peduncle (stalk).There are a number of pineapple species, including 'Comosus', which contains all the cultivars currently planted. The most popular variety is the 'Cayenne', whose leaves are much less thorny. The other varieties are: Queen, Spanish, Abacaxi and Perolera.The cultivation of pineapple is unique due to the artificial induction of flowering by humans. The treatment for floral induction (TFI) enables the farmer to group the flowerings, and therefore the harvest of a plot. This can be done every year, which makes it possible to plan production cycles and harvests.A plot is worked (from fruit production to propagule production) over a total period of no more than 20-30 months. The length of the production cycle (from planting to harvesting the fruit) is between 12 and 18 months. This depends on the local climate, the amount of propagules planted, the input used and the crop management process implemented. After the fruit has been harvested, the propagule production usually takes 8-12 months, depending on the climate, the parasitological conditions and availability of nutritional minerals. • When they are low, this results in the fruit being more acidic, with low sugar content, having poor colouring, and slower growth of both fruit and plants. • When they are too high, the fruit will be sunburnt and translucent, and there will be problems with the colour. Excessive translucence causes the fruit to become extremely fragile; in extremis this will lead to fermentation of the flesh, which may in turn result in foam being released.Oval and hollow fruit is usually due to a water deficit when the fruit is formed. 1,500 hours. To achieve this, avoid the presence of large trees in the planting area Planning agricultural work is crucial for its success, and the indicative timetable below can be used as a guide to enable producers to prepare their organisational framework. The land preparation stage is essential for the harmonious development of the plant. The length of the preparation period depends on the nature of the land (forest, uncultivated land, former pineapple fields, etc.). The preparation of a forest area, for example, requires more preparation than a former pineapple field.Thoroughly clear the site of all types of weed (any species other than that to be grown), stumps, shrubs, roots, etc.This can be done manually, chemically, or using machinery.The following tools are commonly used: machete, files, chainsaw, knives, pickaxe, dabas, hoes, guiding line (200 m), fork and backpack sprayer, and then a cart or wheelbarrow for transport. In a forest (a wooded area comprising one or more stands of trees, bushes and saplings) eliminating the trees is necessary.To do this:• Clear the ground with a machete, then cut down the trees and bushes with an axe or chainsaw. • Recover those trunks that can be recycled for planks, firewood and other uses. • Use a pickaxe to remove the stumps.• Burn the branches, foliage and other unusable elements on site and scatter the ashes to ensure the even development of the young plants. • Remove all roots with a pickaxe and burn them as well.Herbaceous vegetation is an area mainly covered with grasses (non-woody plants) and containing very few trees or bushes. In this case, use a machete or any other tool to cut and destroy the grass.Destroying the plant residues from the previous crop is essential, as these probably carry pests. Clearance by hand requires a significant amount of labour, as a significant amount of plant material remains after harvesting the propagules (100-150 t/ha).To destroy the remains by burning, first cause them to dry up by using a contact herbicide based on the following active substances: 200 g/l glufosinate-ammonium (Basta F1) or 720 g/l 2.4-D amine salt (Amistar 720 SL), at a ratio of 3 to 4 l of commercial product per ha. This practice will destroy most parasites. Then burn the plant remains and pull up any remaining roots or stems.This method of elimination is used for herbaceous vegetation. The grass must not be more than knee-height. In this case, a total herbicide should be used. The following active materials are recommended: • In the rainy season: glyphosate (Casse-tout), at a ratio of 1.5-3 l of commercial product per ha. • In the dry season: triclopyr 480 g/l (Garlon 4E), at a ratio of 2-3 l of commercial product per ha. • In the dry season on wet soil: triclopyr 480 g/l (Garlon 4E) and diuron (Action 80 DF), at a ratio of 1.7-2.2 l of commercial product per ha.Caution must be exercised when using phytosanitary products for pineapple cultivation Throughout this manual, active materials constituting phytosanitary products (herbicides, acaricides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, etc.) are suggested to eliminate pests attacking the pineapple crop. These active materials are dangerous and carry a risk of poisoning for farmers and the environment, and even for the health of consumers. Only use these active materials if they are approved in both the country of production and the country of destination.Certain active materials may be banned in some pineapple producing countries and not in others, which is also the case for destination countries. Other active materials that are authorised today may be banned in the near future. You must:• check that they are approved in your country and in the country to which your production is exported, before using phytosanitary products; and• comply with the instructions and recommendations when handling and using the products. For responsible use, you must use the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), protect the environment and the health of consumers, and comply with the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) and the Pre-harvest Interval (PHI) for the products. When using the pesticides, it is important to comply with the instructions on the labels, reading the useful information concerning they type of product (use), the user safety advice (PPE, storage), the instructions for use (dose, PHI, conservation of biodiversity and the environment), and the date of manufacture and expiry.Glyphosate must be used a long way from water sources and beekeeping areas, and the operator must use PPEThe destroyed vegetable matter must then be ploughed and buried, after which the soil needs to be loosened to help the plants put down roots.The equipment for mechanical preparation of the land is as follows: a bulldozer to clear forest areas, a rotary mulcher to crush plant cover and fill a former pineapple plot and a pulveriser (or cover crop) for tillage work.Next, for mechanised clearance, place the trees in windrows (rows of trees cut into piles), taking account of the future position of the pineapple plots, and burn them in stages.On uncultivated land or other herbaceous cover (previous pineapple plot, etc.), a rotary mulcher can be used to crush all plant cover, which will help with the burial of plant waste during the preparation of the soil.To clear a forest area (felling trees, windrowing plant remains, tilling the soil), there are a number of alternatives:• Fell all the trees with a special bulldozer.• Fell all the trees with a chain pulled by two bulldozers. • Cut down those trees that can be used for other purposes, then use the bulldozer or the chain for the other operations (grubbing, windrowing).The tilling consists of burying the weeds and organic material, then loosening the soil to enable the plants to take root more effectively. This can be done by hand or by machine.The equipment used for manual tilling comprises the daba, the fork and/ or the hoe.After cutting down large trees and undergrowth, mechanical tilling is often performed with the Rome Plow (the name given to the heavy pulveriser in Cameroon) for the initial preparation of the soil, before subsoiling (depending on the nature of the soil), which makes it possible to aerate the soil in depth.The finishing work comes next, comprising the dispersal of soil aggregates (if the planting is followed by furrowing) or ridging.A basal dressing of fertiliser and/or a pesticide to combat nematodes or symphylans (depending on the condition of the soil) could be incorporated into the soil during this stage.• Deep tilling to at least 30 cm • Burial of decomposed organic matter• Deep tilling to at least 25-30 cm and burial of organic matter • Second tilling 25-30 cm, crossing the first Dry the organic matter for at least 2 weeks before burying.A pineapple plantation is created only by replanting the propagules. A propagule is an offshoot of the main stem of the mother plant. Depending on availability, choose the following propagules, in order of preference, as the planting material: ratoon suckers, suckers, slips and crowns.• Ratoon suckers develop on the main stem: they are called underground propagules when they develop in contact with the soil. • Suckers originate in the leaf axils.• Slips grow from the fruit itself or along the stalk below the fruit; they are usually smaller. • The crown is the leafy top of the fruit.All four types of propagule can be used as plant material. However, each of them has its own characteristics in terms of growth, needs, vulnerability to disease, etc. For a good plantation, suckers and ratoon suckers are recommended.As the propagules constitute the future of a plantation, it is important to take particular care of this aspect, during their production (self-produced propagules) or their purchase (external acquisition).The supply of pineapple propagules is not always easy for someone wanting to grow pineapples on a large scale. If they can be found, they are often of variable quality. It is therefore necessary for the farmer to produce them himself, if he wants to get the best results.There are a number of methods to increase the number of propagules.Here are two that can easily be achieved by small-scale farmers:• Rapid multiplication of pineapple propagules • Direct maintenance of the plants after the fruit has been harvestedThis method is used by producers concerned about the origin and quality of their plant materials and who are keen to obtain a large quantity of propagules early in their farming project. The operating method is as follows:• 5-6 months after planting, carry out a treatment for floral induction (hormone treatment) on the developed plants, either with calcium carbide, at a ratio of 500 g in 150 l of water; then apply 50 ml/plant during the night, and repeat the treatment twice at 3-day intervals, or with ethephon (Callal 480 SL), at a ratio of 50 ml in 15 l of water, applying 50 ml of the mix per plant. • 1-2 months after the hormone treatment, carry out the ablation on the inflorescence after it emerges. • Immediately after the ablation of the flowers, trim the leaves. • Propagules will develop 3-4 months after the ablation of the inflorescence; collect those with an acceptable weight (300-600 g) after 8-12 months. • Continue to maintain the plot regularly throughout the propagule production period.This method consists of maintaining the original plants after harvesting the fruit at 8-12 months. To do this:• After the harvest, trim the leaves to reduce the plant's consumption of nutritious elements, which speeds up the production of propagules. • Weed the plot regularly to aerate the plants and reduce the humidity of the soil. • Every other month, spray an insecticide with a base of the active material chlorpyriphos-ethyl 480 g/l (Dursban 4E) at a rate of 1.5 l/ha. • Apply urea and potassium chloride (KCI) on a monthly basis at a ratio of 1 g of urea and 1 g of KCl per plant. • Harvest propagules with the desired weight (300-600 g) every month.Select the cultivar best-suited to the region by observing, if possible, what is happening in the area. The weight of the propagules to be planted in a single plot must be uniform and between 300-600 g. The size is irrelevant. The base of the propagules must be dry, with no trace of nematodes or rot, and the core must be clean and have no trace of insects.To enable the young plants to develop harmoniously, facilitate maintenance operations (application of fertilisers) and schedule the cutting (selling the fruit in one batch) for a given plot. You are strongly advised to plant propagules of the same weight in the same place. On the other hand, to obtain staggered production of the fruits and sell them in stages, it is advisable to use propagules of different weights. This approach carries all the same risks in terms of the technical care of the plot (the rational use of fertilisers, development of disease and pests, particularly core rot, nematodes, symphylans, etc.) due to the extended length of the production cycle of low-weight propagules.Calibration consists of grading the propagules in groups according to their size, weight and breadth. Whatever the origin of the propagules (selfproduced or external purchase), they must be placed in bundles on the floor, head down, so that they can be easily handled during transport and counting, and to facilitate the closing over of the base to reduce the risk of rot caused by black root rot (thielaviopsis).Calibration 500-600 g 400-500 g 300-400 g 200-300 gTrimming consists of removing the roots and flakes at the base of the propagule to reveal the eyes from which the new roots will grow.Soaking or disinfection is an operation that consists of disinfecting the plant material in a solution of fungicide and insecticide to prevent attacks by different insects (particularly cochineals) and Phytophtora diseases.After trimming, soak the propagules in water containing fungicide and/or insecticide (complying with the manufacturer's recommended doses and wearing protective gloves). Soaking can be done in a solution of fosetylaluminum (500 g of Aliette) and chlorpyrifos-ethyl (750 ml of Durban 4E) in 200 l of water for 20,000 propagules, making sure not to keep this solution for more than 24 hours. After this time, the solution becomes ineffective.Place the treated propagules in a standing position for 12 hours to ensure that the product is evenly distributed.The ridges must be correctly aligned. If the work is conducted by hand, stake out the plot in advance by marking the ground to identify the places to make a hole for planting. On slightly sloping permeable ground, mark out the lines at a right angle to the steepest slope. On heavy land with a steep slope, follow the contour lines.Planting density depends on the production goals, varieties, climate and technical skills of the producer. A variety of planting systems can be used:• A simple line on a ridge or border, in the case of a traditional crop in combination with other food crops grown in the locality. • A twin line on a ridge or border with variable distances, depending on whether the producer is a professional farmer or a beginner.The greater the planting density, the higher the risk of attacks (wilt, nematodes, symphylans, etc.), and the more complicated the technical aspect of the operation becomes (the rational use of fertilisers, managing pests).It is therefore preferable to begin pineapple production with a reasonable density of 45,000 plants/ha.It is also possible to use a tractor-drawn ridging plough. In this case, marking out is not necessaryIf this is a first-time operation, the lines of pineapples should be twinned so that the young plants are staggered. The planting density will be between 45,000 and 66,800 plants per ha for the smooth Cayenne variety.Lines Path Rows For planting:• Distribute the graded propagules on the plot.• Make holes (8-10 cm deep) with a machete or dibber at the places indicated. • Plant the propagules in slightly wet soil, fill in the hole, and then lightly tamp down the earth to ensure good contact between the stem and the soil.Place the rosette (where the leaves emerge) above the soil.For easier maintenance, do not plant the propagule too deep.Do not plant when it is raining.Do not plant in strong sunlight.Do not plant in strong wind.A -Correct plantingAfter planting, the plantation must be maintained and protected against parasites and diseases.The plants are counted by category of propagule, making it possible to identify what has not been planted. One month after planting, the dead or dried up propagules are replaced by others that are heavier. The replacement must stop two months after planting.Pineapples are sensitive to weeds during the first 4 months after planting. Weed removal can be mechanical or chemical.In the case of mechanical removal, weed by hand twice a month for the first 4 months, then once every 3 months for the rest of the cycle.For chemical treatment, apply herbicides at three stages of the cycle:• During the preparation of the soil: between two tillings, spray a contact herbicide with an active material (glyphosate, triclopyr, glufosinateammonium or diuron), using a backpack sprayer or a tractor-towed sprayer.Glyphosate 1,5-3 800-1,000Triclopyr 2-3 800-1,000Glufosinate-ammonium 3-4 800-1,000 Diuron 1,7-2,2 400-1,000• During planting: Use residual herbicides (e.g. diuron), first treating the ridges before planting the propagules. Then treat the furrows after planting, walking backwards, as it is not permitted to walk on treated ground for two weeks. During this time limit, there is a risk of destroying the protective film of the product covering the soil and encouraging the growth of weeds on those parts. This treatment should be applied on moist soil.Diuron 1,7-2,2 400-1,000• After planting: For 3 months following the first treatment of residual herbicide during planting, do not use a hoe or other tools (dabas), as turning over soil could cause weed germination in those places or bring seeds to the surface that could then grow into weeds. It is better to weed by hand.The second herbicide treatment of the plot should not be carried out before the fourth month. The products used at this time will be contact herbicides (glyphosate, triclopyr and glufosinate-ammonium). This operation will be carried out between the line spacings or furrows. These products must not touch the pineapple plants, as they could burn the leaves.In the case of treatment of the entire surface area, including the planted parts, use diuron (selective herbicide for pineapple) on wet soil. A 15 l backpack sprayer can treat an area of 315 m² (ridge and line spacing: 315 m x 1 m).The residual herbicides remaining on the soil after application prevent the regrowth of weedsA number of parasites and diseases affect pineapple crops.Nematodes (Rotylenchulus reniformis, Pratylenchus brachyurus, Meloidogyne javanica and incognita) alter the root system and affect the growth of the plant.• The plant will be small. • The leaves will become red and dry.• Use clean and healthy propagules.• Leave the land uncultivated for at least 6 months, then cultivate using the recommended doses of fertiliser (see section 5.4. Fertilisation).Application of nematicides:1 st application before planting • During the rainy season, use solid formulations of terbufos 150 g/plant (Counter 15 FC), at a ratio of 45 kg/ha and oxamyl 10% (Furadent Super 10 G) at 55 kg/ha; dig into the ridges with a hoe. • In the dry season, use the liquid formulation of oxamyl 240 g/l (Vydate L), at a ratio of 3-4 l/ha applied with a sprayer onto the ground around the young plants.• During the rainy season, use solid formulations of terbufos 150 g/plant (Counter 15 FC), at a ratio of 45 kg/ha and oxamyl 10% (Furadent Super 10 G) at 55 kg/ha, spreading it around the plants using gloves. • In the dry season, use the liquid formulation of oxamyl 240 g/l (Vydate L), at a ratio of 3-4 l/ha applied with a sprayer onto the ground around the young plants.Thielaviopsis is a fungus that causes:• Soft rot of the fruits. • Black rot on the stem of the propagule. • Leaf rot.Make sure that the base of the propagule is completely closed.Avoid impacts on the fruit during harvesting and packing. Ensure cleanliness of the harvesting and packing locations.Treatment carried out against Phytophtora with fosetyl-aluminium 80 g/kg (Aliette 80 WG) at a ratio of 7.5 kg/ha by spraying the mixture on all the leaves. This fungus (Fusarium sp.) causes black spot disease on the fruits.Sensitivity to black spot is increased by a wet period with little sunshine at the point when the inflorescence emerges, and by a sunny and dry period near to the harvest. Variations in the intensity of black spot are unpredictable and can be very severe. Bearing in mind the rapid development of black spot as the fruits ripen, bring the cutting forward to limit this problem.Regular observation of the fruits between the TFI interval and harvest make it possible to change the cutting date and preserve the quality of the taste of the fruit.Heart rot (cryptogamic disease) caused by two fungi (Phytophtora nicotianae and Phytophtora palmivora) results in the yellowing of the young leaves of the heart of the plants; these young leaves fall off easily and display a rotten base which gives off an unpleasant smell.• During the soaking of the propagules (see section 3.4. Quality of the plant material). • During vegetation: 2 days after planting, or 1 week after the TFI, plan a treatment using the active material fosetyl-aluminium 80 g/ kg (Aliette 80 WG) at a ratio of 7.5 kg/ha by spraying the mixture onto the heart of the young plants.Wilt, transmitted by the mealybug, is characterised by a violent, swift and usually irreversible withering, attacking isolated or neighbouring plants, and the curling of the edges of the leaves.Cochineal colonies located at the base of the fruit.• Burn and plough in the plant material of the previous crop. • Only harvest the propagules of healthy plants.• Destroy all plants showing symptoms of wilt.• Destroy plant with large colonies of cochineals or ants.Chemical actions: with insecticides containing chlorpyriphos-ethyl (Dursban 4E) at a ratio of 1-1.5 l/ha), cypermethrin 25 g/l (Cythrine 25 EC) at 2 l/ha, imidacloprid 20 g/l and cypermethrin 80 g/l (Cofresh P 100 EC) at 1.5 l/ha.• Treat the propagule plots regularly with insecticide using a backpack sprayer. • Soak the propagules in an insecticide solution.• Apply insecticide in the field every 2 months (particularly in the dry season). • If ethephon is used to improve the colour of the fruit, add an insecticide with a pyrethroid base (low endurance), for example cypermethrin 50 g/l (Cigogne 50 EC), to the ethephon, and then brush the fruit to prevent cochineals appearing at the base.Symphylans (Hanseniella spp.) are small 'centipedes' that live in the soil and feed on the roots of the pineapple.• You can see an even development in the vegetation, with strands of poor growth with a moth-eaten appearance alongside welldeveloped green plants. • A 'witch's broom' deformation appears in the roots.Treatments against symphylans involve the same products as those against nematodes, but using a double dose.Application of symphylicides 1 st application before planting • During the rainy season, use solid formulations of terbufos 150 g/plant (Counter 15 FC), at a ratio of 90 kg/ha and oxamyl 10% (Furadent Super 10 G) at 110 kg/ha; dig into the ridges with a hoe. • In the dry season, use the liquid formulation of oxamyl 240 g/l (Vydate L), at a ratio of 6-8 l/ha applied with a sprayer onto the ground around the young plants, spreading evenly all around the plants while protecting the hands with gloves.• During the rainy season, use solid formulations of terbufos 300 g/plant (Counter 15 FC), at a ratio of 90 kg/ha and oxamyl 10% (Furadent Super 10 G) at 110 kg/ha, spreading it around the plants. • In the dry season, use the liquid formulation of oxamyl 240 g/l (Vydate L), at a ratio of 6-8 l/ha applied with a sprayer onto the ground around the young plants.The pineapple needs quite a lot of fertilising. The production of one fruit requires 4 g of nitrogen (N), 112 g of phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), 2-3 g of magnesium (Mg) in the form of magnesium oxide (MgO), and 10 g of potassium (K) in the form of potassium oxide (K2O): these are the theoretical needs for a pineapple planted using TFI.Fertilisation must be calculated in accordance with soil analyses (mineral and PH content) and the local availability of fertilisers in formulation and form.You must not eat, drink or smoke when using pesticides.Pesticides must be handled with caution. After using pesticides, wash your hands and face and the rest of the body thoroughly with soap and waterThe nutritional needs of the plants can be covered by basal dressing (the application of P-and Mg-based fertilisers before planting), complemented by maintenance fertilisation (the application of N-and K-based fertilisers) during vegetation, or by maintenance fertilisation only (the application of N, P, Mg and K during vegetation).Basal fertilisers applied during the preparation of the soil can satisfy the P and Mg needs.For example, for 20,000 plants, the following basal fertilisers can be applied in accordance with the plant's theoretical needs.Commercial product Quantity (kg of commercial product for 40,000 plants) If the soil quality is poor, the addition of nutritional elements is essential.For good fertilisation, ensure that the plants absorb the active elements supplied by the fertiliser as well as possible. The plant lends itself more effectively to application by spraying (dilution of urea and K in water) before application. As it develops, the plant's nutritional needs grow. There are two possible application techniques:• monthly applications, on a set date, of increasing doses of fertiliser; and • application of identical doses at gradually shorter intervals.In addition to the basal dressing referred to above, fertilisation depends on the length of the cycle. The quantities of inputs can vary according to the cycle, bearing in mind the theoretical needs of the plant as defined above and the soil analysis. Keep in mind the ratio K:N = 2:2.5 (see the example of a fertilisation schedule in the table below). Apply by hand to the leaf axils at the base of the plant fertilisers in solid and granular form (urea and potassium sulphate, K2SO4) in the rainy season, and by spraying all the leaves in the dry season (dilution of urea and K2SO4 in water). In a region where the rainfall is below 1,200 mm or unevenly distributed, an additional form of irrigation (2-4 mm per day) is required to increase the yield. A temporary lack of water is not harmful to the plant.Nitrogen deficiency causes the leaves to turn yellow, slows growth, prevents the growth of slips and produces undersized plants. In the event of such a deficiency, improve the fertilisation by applying a N-rich fertiliser.Potassium deficiency causes the leaves to turn yellow and remain short and narrow; discoloured patches will appear on the leaves. The fruits will be small and unscented. In the event of such a deficiency, improve the fertilisation by applying a K-rich fertiliser.Magnesium deficiency causes the base of the leaves to turn blue and wilt.In the event of such a deficiency, improve the fertilisation by applying Mg.Calcium (Ca) deficiency causes the appearance of blotches and discoloured areas on the limb of the leaves. The leaves blister and the extremities dry up. In the event of such a deficiency, improve the fertilisation by applying Ca.Several TFI techniques can be used to group the production of fruits in a pineapple plot.Acetylene is obtained by the reaction of water on calcium carbide (CaC2). Add 500 g of CaC2 (in small pieces) to a 200 l plastic drum 3/4 filled with water. A volume of air must always be left in the container. The drum is immediately sealed and shaken vigorously for 10 minutes to ensure the release of gas and good dissolution. The resulting mixture is then poured into the heart of each plant in a sufficient quantity to drown it, which requires at least 50 ml. This can be done using a plastic cup or a modified backpack sprayer, from which all metal parts contained in the tanks and the pressurised hose have been removed, enabling the mixture to run through a pipe attached to the tank using gravity. Two treatments must be carried out with an interval of 3-4 nights. This technique is the most commonly used.Synthetic products releasing ethylene are commonly used. The best known is ethephon. Ethephon treatments are easier than those referred to above: one application per day is sufficient and small backpack sprayers can be used. The treatment is even more effective when urea is added to the solution.Treatment with ethylene-enriched activated carbon (C) powder is performed on young plants with an acceptable growth rate (size of the neck of the plant, leaf D: the largest leaf weighs between 50-70 g); growing stage between 7-13 months to bear fruits between 12-18 months. After planting, although it is necessary to wait for the plant to develop sufficiently, you must remain vigilant, as an over-developed plant will produce a small fruit.The activated C treatment can be carried out using the wet or dry method.• Place the ethylene-enriched activated C powder into the tank of a backpack sprayer. The activated C used in this case is preferably in 'powder' form (e.g. Pulsorb GW from Chemviron Carbon). • Mix the ethylene-enriched activated C powder with water in the tank of a backpack sprayer. It is best to use cold water to help the ethylene to dissolve and thus obtain better results. • Shake gently to ensure an even mixture.• Spray the heart of the plants through the hose (nozzle removed in advance) with a dose of 250 mg/plant.If the treatment is carried out correctly, the flowering rate could reach 100% after 8 weeks of treatment (250 mg/plant, repeated at 2-day intervals).as there is a risk of explosion due to the contact between CaC2 and certain metals (copper) that may be contained in some application devices. A gradual degassing must also be carried out when the CaC2 is dissolved in water. This treatment should therefore be carried out manually There is a risk of 'bottle fruits' being formed, which makes it difficult for the fruits to colourDry treatment is useful when access to water cannot be guaranteed. It is also less physically demanding than wet application.• Acquire activated C granules (e.g. Filtrasorb 400 carbon from Chemviron Carbon). • Place the granules in the doser (Hornady, Lock-n-load style). • Set the doser to the required dose.• Apply the activated C directly to the heart of the plant, observing the dose of 250 mg/plant.Used correctly, this technique produces a flowering rate between 85-90% after 10 weeks of treatment.Counting the inflorescences is done 45-60 days after the TFI to ensure the success of the operation. Once it appears, the young pineapple flower must be protected against bees and other insects. A box of chilli powder diluted in a sprayer with 15 l of water can efficiently protect at least 500 flowers.Whatever treatment technique is used, respect the following principles:• For it to be effective, carry out the treatment at night, early in the morning or in the evening (preferably in good weather). • Repeat the treatment twice at intervals of 3-4 days.• If it rains within 3 hours of the treatment, the application is invalidated.Activated C treatment is not always within the scope of the small producer due to the expense involved, the difficulty to acquire it and the complexity of the equipment required for its implementation. In addition, the enriched activated carbon is not available everywhere Birds and rodents pierce and eat the fruits. The plot must be cleaned and traps laid.To preserve the nutritional elements and organoleptic qualities of the fruit, harvest when the fruit is sufficiently ripe.The timing of the harvest is mainly dependent on climate conditions. It takes place approximately 160 days after the TFI, and between 145-174 days in extreme cases. The external colouring of the fruit is the most frequently used criterion to assess ripeness. The fruits are usually harvested at the stage of ripeness known as 'turning', which corresponds to the yellowing of the lower quarter of the fruit.• Cut the stalk with secateurs or a machete 10-15 cm from the base of the fruit. • Cut the crown to make packing easier and recover the plant material.This practice must be approved in advance by the customer. • Place the fruits on their sides in a staggered formation in the crate without piling them up. Harvesting pineapples Harvested pineapplesAn 'anti-impact' chain must be provided throughout harvesting and packing operations. The harvested fruits must be protected from sunlight in a cool and airy location. The packing of harvested fruit depends on a variety of subsectors: fresh fruit export, canning and the manufacture of sub-products (juice, dregs, etc.). Packing fruit for export requires skill and know-how. Weighing, calibrating, and assessing the size of the crown and the fruit are operations required to comply with international standards. The fruits are then labelled and placed in cardboard boxes.The fruit can be preserved by moderate refrigeration (pineapples do not react well to temperatures below 7°C).During storage and transport, particularly by ship, the interruption of the cold chain, resulting in an average temperature that is too low, creates physiological accidents leading to the internal browning of the fruit, which only becomes apparent when reheated. The taste of the fruit then becomes bitter.After harvesting the fruits, the farmer moves on to the production of propagules, as referred to in section 3.3Steps for peeling the fruit• Cut off the crown and the lower part.• Remove the rough external skin.• Cut the pineapple from top to bottom and if necessary remove the spine.• Slice the flesh for eating.• Collect the juice.• Prepare a pineapple as shown above.• Grate it or cut into cubes.• Wrap the grated or cubed pineapple in a clean cloth, then press to extract the juice, which should be put into a clean container. • Serve fresh.The remaining pulp can be dried for use in the preparation of doughnuts, bread rolls or cakes, or to flavour meat and fish dishes.• Select a fruit that is firm and not too ripe.• Peel it and cut it into slices 1 cm thick.• Remove the spine if it is too fibrous.• Place the slices in the sun or in a solar drier until they are dry. This normally takes 3 days. If possible, cover the fruit with a fine net to keep away flies. • If there is not enough sun, finish the drying in an oven at a very low heat.• Store in clean jars and seal hermetically, or in plastic bags.Dried pineapple can be used in meat and fish dishes or in desserts. This product can be preserved at room temperature for at least 6 months. The syrup is served mixed with water.• 1.50 kg of sugar • 1 l of pineapple juice obtained from four medium size pineapples","tokenCount":"6110"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9519313454.json b/data/part_1/9519313454.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..69eaab6afd5f1b517d6a05c79da6c5539dd9564f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9519313454.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82495228ff9a674a71beeab4ee1bb6cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7cf877b5-0985-4e31-a04f-97cc4a62f8a5/retrieve","id":"-1476618791"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"164a1403-6394-4c28-b6de-cae1983bca87","pagecount":"44","content":"• Safe PORK & ICT4HEALTH• Chicken genetic gains (regional)Population grow & livestock production• World population was estimated at 6.8 billion in 2009, with 5.6 billion living in the less developed regions (UN, 2009)• Will grow to 9.1 billion in 2050, with most of the growth occurring in developing countries (UN, 2009)• Jul 2022 we reached already 8 billion!• More than 70% of livestock derived food in Asia and Africa produced by small farms, often distributed in traditional value chains -food safety mitigation can be challenging• Food systems are rapidly changing in many developing countries, e.g., including Vietnam, Cambodia 3-5 % grow of livestock sector• These transitions are likely to be associated with more consumption of risky food• Milk, meat, aquatic products and crops• Food safety is an emerging public health problem worldwide, SE Asia region a known hotspot for disease emergenceHealth \" The absence of diseases\"\" A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity\" WHOis any illness resulting from the food spoilage of contaminated food, pathogens (Bacteria, viruses, or parasites) that contaminate food, as well as chemical, physical or natural toxins/particals.Health impact of diseases Information on health impacts are expressed in disease burden• Often quantified in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)• Expressed in health statistics as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability and early dead, which quantify the number of years lost due to disease or one lost year of healthy live• note that DALYs may not address sufficiently social impact of FBD e.g., trade impacts or losses in agriculture and food sectorGo to menti.com, and enter code PPT: 3341 2407What do you think is the health burden of food borne diseases globally compared to the \"big three\" infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis and HIV)? (click only one but most valid option) -About the same as each of the \"big\" three -Much higher -Much lower Among the three presented food commodities which do you rank as most important in health impact?-Contaminated meat (Salmonella) -Contaminated pork with Cysts -Mycotoxin contaminated cornGo to menti.com, and enter code PPT: 3341 2407Better lives through livestock• Science-based approach to manage risks • Estimate, evaluate and discuss risk of adverse events (e.g., Food borne disease, FBD) and their management ✓qualitative and/or quantitative (more data demanding) approach • Likelihood of occurrence of unwanted outcome AND magnitude of consequences given its occurrence  Process of deciding and implementing mitigation methods for the appropriate level of safety.NOTE there is usually no \"0\" risk.Food safety• What can be done to eliminate or reduce hazard?• How effective and feasible are options?• Can to options be scaled? (VIETGAP, only 5% uptake)• What is cost-effectiveness of control options?• What is the expected compliance of actors?• What impacts do options have• e.g. enforced closing of life bird markets during bird flu","tokenCount":"469"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9544698651.json b/data/part_1/9544698651.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e1a9f9b37fbf9f779d2d5c57e3abacbd865f300e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9544698651.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"98ab326918d20bd18d79375f04922ccf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0766790e-8eae-4882-bf2f-bbab9210e491/retrieve","id":"-614373076"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0cdbdfc7-0f45-475a-a303-db93137df360","pagecount":"29","content":"Decision analysis -Decision analysis is a normative method for selecting among actions that have uncertain outcomes. This outcome uncertainty can be characterized by probability distributions for variables that represent the key consequences of the considered actions. Monte Carlo simulation -Monte Carlo simulation performs risk analysis by building models of possible results by substituting a range of values -a probability distribution -for any factor that has inherent uncertainty. It then calculates results repeatedly, each time using a different set of random values from the probability functions. SIPmath TM -An open standard that codifies the storage of an uncertainty as a stochastic information packet (SIP), an unambiguous data array with provenance. Solar power as a remunerative crop (SPaRC) -Approaches by which farmers are able to earn money by selling solar power back to the grid. Stochastic -Having a probability distribution or random pattern that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely. Stochastic information packet (SIP) -An array of possible outcomes of some uncertainty. Stochastic simulation modeling -Simulation modeling that includes uncertainty.The results are sensitive to adoption rates, which are highly uncertain. The benefits of KUSUM-C are strongly dependent on maintaining subsidies and loans to farmers, maintaining tariff rates for sale of solar power back to the grid, and on strong local community and supporting organizations.A number of priorities are identified for further research and monitoring, targeted at areas of greatest uncertainty and largest effect on outcomes. Recommendations are given for further application, maintenance and improvement of the model as a research and policy learning tool.As part of an Outcome Evaluation of Climate-Smart Research on Solar-Powered Irrigation in India, a simulation model was constructed with the objective of developing a scenario-building model of the main factors influencing adoption, major costs, benefits and risks associated with solar-powered irrigation. The main focus of the evaluation was on the solar power as a remunerative crop (SPaRC) model, also known as KUSUM-C under the multibillion-dollar Kisan Urja Shakti evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) initiative of the Government of India. The main objectives of the simulation modeling component were to: (i) project income and environmental benefits of the SPaRC scheme over the next 20 years; (ii) identify variables to which benefits are particularly sensitive; (iii) run scenario analysis for different values of sensitive variables; (iv) pinpoint what further research or actions could help to enhance adoption and outcomes, and what variables should be closely monitored; and (v) provide a learning tool that can be used to compare what actually happens with projections over time and can be continuously updated.A decision analysis approach is taken, which is designed to cope with improving decisions under conditions of large uncertainty and limited data. The analysis is a probabilistic risk-return approach that quantifies the current state of uncertainty, including the costs, benefits and risks associated with a proposed intervention. The model is used to help answer evaluation questions tackled in the main report. All variables in the model are represented as probability distributions to reflect the current state of uncertainty in knowledge. The distributions are constructed based on data from available literature and reports, where available, and through elicitation from subject matter experts. Monte Carlo simulation is used to propagate the uncertainties through to the outcome variables. Different policy-relevant scenarios were simulated by changing the input values of key variables. A dashboard is provided that allows users to interactively change values and view the effect on outcomes.Simulations of incremental benefits to 2040, compared with non-solar alternatives, are made for KUSUM-C and a competitor model, KUSUM-A, which provides farmers with direct power for irrigation from substation-level solar power plants. The simulations are made for Gujarat State only in this report, but the model can be parameterized with input data for other states.Using the baseline assumptions, by 2040, KUSUM-C increased discounted net income at farm level by USD 13,000 (expected value) with a chance of income loss at farm level of 5%. There are significant upside opportunities for high levels of farm income in KUSUM-C. At farm level, KUSUM-C reduced water use by 14,300 m 3 /yr. The equivalent increase in farm net income in KUSUM-A was only USD 1,000 but with no chance of loss. Farm water use increased in KUSUM-A by 40,000 m 3 /yr.The baseline simulations project about 1 million farm households (expected value) will have adopted solar-powered irrigation by 2040, made up of 61% KUSUM-C and 39% KUSUM-A and 97% of these will have benefited from increased income. Electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) plus local government are projected to generate a net discounted income of USD 1,000 million in KUSUM-C with a 27% chance of loss, compared with a loss of USD 60 million in KUSUM-A with a 67% chance of loss. At a project level, discounted benefits from reduction in greenhouse gas emissions were USD 1,030,000 million (expected value) in KUSUM-C compared with USD 310,000 million in KUSUM-A.The simulation modeling component is in support of the Outcome Evaluation of Climate-Smart Research on Solar-Powered Irrigation in India (see main report). The objective was to develop a scenario-building model of the main factors influencing adoption, major costs, benefits and risks associated with solar-powered irrigation, with a special focus on the solar power as a remunerative crop (SPaRC) model, also known as KUSUM-C under the multibillion-dollar Kisan Urja Shakti evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) initiative of the Government of India. The main objectives were to: (i) project income and environmental benefits of the SPaRC scheme over the next 20 years (evaluation question 5); (ii) identify variables to which benefits are particularly sensitive; (iii) run scenario analysis for different values of sensitive variables; (iv) help pinpoint what further research or actions could help to enhance adoption and outcomes, and what variables should be closely monitored; and (v) provide a learning tool that can be used to compare what actually happens with projections over time and can be continuously updated.The overall modeling approach and main results are described in this report and the model details are described in the Excel model itself, available together with supporting publications at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4m989n35iybl817/AAD-bUbBrYve2ou75sgw6Dyla?dl=0.A decision analysis approach is taken, which is designed to cope with improving decisions under conditions of large uncertainty and limited data (Howard and Abbas 2015). The analysis is a probabilistic risk-return approach (Luedeling and Shepherd 2016) that quantifies the current state of uncertainty, including the costs, benefits and risks associated with a proposed intervention (Fenton and Neil 2018). The modeling approach (Table 1) is helpful in projecting potential impacts in relation to CGIAR intermediate and system-level outcomes. This decision analysis approach is designed to provide insights even in data-limited environments by taking a causal approach, representing uncertainty and incorporating expert knowledge (Fenton and Neil 2018). Sensitivity analysis is used to help identify what further research or actions could help to enhance adoption and outcomes, and what variables should be closely monitored. In this case, the model was built in Microsoft Excel using freely available tools. To improve the communication of results to researchers and stakeholders, a simulation dashboard was provided that allows interactive simulation of the influence of key policy parameters on outcomes.The model was built to help answer evaluation questions tackled in the main report. All variables in the model were represented as probability distributions to reflect the current state of uncertainty in knowledge. The distributions were constructed based on data from available literature and reports and through elicitation from subject matter experts as described by Luedeling and Shepherd (2016). Monte Carlo simulation was used to propagate the uncertainties through to the outcome variables. Different policy-relevant scenarios were simulated by changing the input values of key variables.Table 1. Key steps in the simulation modeling approach. There was iteration among the steps.1. Assemble background information on the intervention from literature and experts. 2. Define key decisions that the evaluation model may inform. 3. Specify the main model components and levels of disaggregation to be included, and the geographic scope. 4. Building on the scaling theory informed by ex-post work, assemble a causal model of the main factors influencing adoption, major costs, benefits and risks. 5. Program the model in Microsoft Excel. 6. Test and embellish the model through individual interviews of experts.1. Define data needs and design a data entry template. 2. Identify key data sources and experts who can provide estimates. 3. Train experts in subjective probability estimation and elicit estimates. 4. Fill data entry templates.Model testing and refinement 1. Test and review model output with experts. 2. Make model refinements and check errors 3. Define scenarios to be modeled.1. Run scenarios and sensitivity analysis 2. Review output with experts and stakeholders, including feedback from two virtual project workshops. 3. Identify key uncertainties, and develop insights into actions that could increase upsides and decrease risks. 4. Document the model, data sources, resources and insights.1. Identify and train experts in use of the model. 2. Identify a potential institutional home for hosting the model. Simulations were run in Microsoft Excel using freely-available SIPmath TM tools, 1 which allow calculations to be done in the same way as single numbers, but behind the scenes the calculations are performed on probability distributions, stored as an array of possible outcomes. In the SIPmath Standard, uncertainties are communicated as data arrays called SIPs (stochastic information packets). For example, the SIP representing the roll of a die would be expressed as thousands of outcomes, which can be stored in Excel or a database.The model input used metalog distributions (Keelin 2016), which are a flexible form of probability distribution that allow for easy input from disparate data sources and expert elicitation. Metalogs require users to only enter values for the 10 th , 50 th and 90 th percentile of a variable, and optionally upper and lower bounds.The model used an annual time step from present to 2040 and results were summarized in tabular and graphical form. Simulations for scenarios of interest to experts and policy makers were generated and displayed using a dashboard. The project team members were also able to interactively change input values and instantly view the outcomes.The ranges in the simulated results are subject to the input data ranges used and the assumptions included in the model. The model is intended as a learning tool with which to explore likely outcomes of different assumptions.Initially the model was designed to project the adoption and differential impacts of SPaRC (KUSUM-C) compared with other forms of non-solar irrigation in all of India. In other words, the decision being modeled can be framed as \"Is SPaRC a good bet compared with non-solar irrigation considering risks and net returns?\" However, iterative consultation with experts led to several revisions of the model scope as follows: Extension of the model to compare KUSUM-C with KUSUM-A, as a competing model. KUSUM-A is based on substation-level solar power plants that provide farmers with direct solar power for irrigation. Consideration in the model of areas that are groundwater limited compared with areas where groundwater is non-limiting. Restriction of the model to Gujarat State initially due to the diverse range of conditions in different parts of India, and the more plentiful data and experience in Gujarat. However, the model structure was made generic and can be parameterized with data for other states as required.The model structure was refined through iterative consultation with experts (Figure 1). The nested levels of aggregation of net benefits included in the model are: (i) farmers; (ii) aggregation of adopting farmers; (iii) distribution companies (DISCOMs) and local government; (iv) environmental; and (v) project level.Incremental costs and benefits at farm level are aggregated according to the number of farmers adopting solar. The aggregated farm net benefits, the DISCOM and local government net benefits and net environmental impact are aggregated to give the overall project net benefit. Environment includes costs of water and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The various costs, benefits and risks considered in the model are shown in Table 2 and the more detailed list of input variables is given in the next section in Table 3. These were derived from literature review and approximately 67 person-hours of iterative consultation with experts.  The target population of farmers is the number of farmers in the region of interest that have the potential to adopt solar irrigation. Adoption (Figure 2) is modeled using a Bass model, 2 which has been widely used to model technology adoption in industry, including photovoltaic systems. The Bass model has two parameters: the 'p' parameter determines the initial rate of adoption by 'innovators' and the 'q' parameter determines the subsequent adoption by 'imitators'. The Bass model determines the fraction of the target population that adopts each year. Its parameters are modified by various risk and enabling factors. In KUSUM-C, the main farm incremental cost is the capital cost of the solar panel and pump, modified by the fractions of the cost (i) subsidized by the government and (ii) covered by a commercial loan. The repayment period of the loan is specified. Additional reoccurring costs arise due to maintenance of the solar panel and pump, especially after the end of the loan period, when insurance expires.Benefits derive from power savings from more efficient irrigation and surplus power generated over and above irrigation requirements, which can be either sold back to the grid or sold to neighbors. More efficient energy use is assumed due to the added incentive of a feed-in tariff and there are also chances that irrigation pumping demand might reduce. There is no evidence yet that farmers will invest in efficient irrigation -efficient irrigation technologies have been promoted through high government subsidies throughout India, but have received a rather lukewarm response. One major reason for this may be that farmers have never had any incentive to become efficient irrigators. SPaRC may provide that incentive.Sales of power or water to neighbors are considered synonymous and the distribution of water yield per unit of solar energy is used as a conversion factor between the two. The partitioning of power between sale of power to the grid or to neighbors is conditioned on the relative prices of the feed-in tariff and the price of selling power to neighbors. Savings due to adoption of solar for pumping are due to the fact that farmers will not have to pay electricity or diesel fuel bills. For example, farmers in Gujarat may consume around 800 kWh per horsepower (hp) per year and with an average load of 11 hp, farmers pay around USD 80 every year in electricity bills.Farmers face various risks that may affect either adoption or income directly. KUSUM-C requires a well-established community structure to operate and where this is not in place then adoption may be reduced, and additional resources will be required to create such structures. Cooperatives are needed because (i) individual solar systems are very small and farmers are not expert enough to take care of maintenance issues; and (ii) when farmers form collectives, they can better explore buyers for their energy. Technical problems or theft can influence farmers' perception of solar irrigation and reduce adoption.Adoption rates are dependent on the feed-in tariff. Increases in tariff increase adoption rate, while reduced tariff reduces adoption rate relative to the baseline. Increases in water pumping risk further drawing down water tables in groundwater-limited areas and the model simulates an increase in the cost of pumping each unit of water as a function of additional pumping. Various other factors may enable more rapid adoption, such as promotional campaigns and financial incentives.DISCOMs or local governments incur the cost of subsidizing the capital costs of solar pump systems and the execution costs associated with maintaining feeders. DISCOMs make savings from taking farmers off the grid through the reduced supply of subsidized power to farmers. They obtain Renewable Energy Credits for each kWh of solar energy generated by farmers. The energy that was earlier supplied to farmers at a loss can now service industrial and domestic consumers -both of which add to DISCOMs' profits. DISCOMS also make savings as a result of a reduction in technical, distribution and commercial losses associated with providing power. For example, in Gujarat, reductions in transmission and distribution losses are as high as 40%. This benefit alone can finance KUSUM-C.The model allows water use to increase or decrease, depending on the price incentive to sell power/water to neighbors and the additional cost of water pumping due to water table drawdown. An 'environmental' water price is used to compute the environmental cost of water used. Reduction in GHG emissions through adoption of solar uses whole-lifecycle benefits versus the use of fossil fuel energy. A carbon price for CO2 equivalents is used to monetize this benefit.In KUSUM-A, farmers do not incur costs. The benefits accrue from an increase in income due to more reliable power, having additional power available and the sale of power/water to neighbors. More reliable power can increase income by avoiding damaging periods with no access to electricity during power cuts or rationing.Under KUSUM-A, farmers might use additional power because they will not be limited to the amount of energy generated from a small number of panels on their farm, as would be the case in KUSUM-C. Instead of getting 8 hours of power during the day for 15 days, and 8 hours at night for the next fortnight, under KUSUM-A, they will have 8 hours of daytime power every day. There will not be lower discharges of power in morning and evening because the solar plant will be much larger than their own pump size, and so they will have access to unlimited power. Hence, shifting from 8 hours per day/night supply to 8 hours per day supply may result in an increase in farmers' power consumption.In addition, solar plants will be located at substation level with a capacity of 2 to 10 MW at peak load.Farmers' income risks include power disruptions due to DISCOMs not maintaining feeders; power rationing by DISCOMs; and overpumping. A lack of incentive for DISCOMs to maintain feeders can occur if DISCOMs are compensated by state governments for energy used by farmers. DISCOMs are also under constant pressure from local and state-level politicians not to penalize farmers for any wrongdoing. DISCOMs can therefore see farmers as a nuisance, rather than as paying and valued customers. Power rationing by DISCOMs interrupts irrigation schedules and can reduce income.Overpumping will increase water pumping costs in groundwater-limited areas, as explained above. Farmers may generally have negative perceptions of DISCOMs due to factors such as rationing during the peak irrigation season and slowness in repairing transformers during the peak season. However, with time under KUSUM-A, a positive perception may develop. Adoption enablers are the same as for KUSUM-C.DISCOMs incur costs due to extra power consumption by farmers having unlimited access to daytime power, resulting in increased consumption. Field studies have shown that off-grid solar pump owners pump more groundwater than their diesel and electric counterparts. DISCOMs have a benefit of reduced cost of supplying electricity in KUSUM-A due to (i) the feed-in-tariff for new solar plants being lower than the average power purchase cost for most electricity utilities; and (ii) savings on HT transmission losses due to distributed generation.A risk for DISCOMs with KUSUM-A is the unavailability of land for substations. The opportunity cost of land will be very high as most of the substations are located in suburban areas. Renting or purchasing land near to substations on the scale of 5 acres of land for each megawatt of peak power is also difficult. Renting government land is even more difficult as it would require clearance from several departments. This constraint could increase the cost of energy generation.Environmental costs and benefits for KUSUM-A are represented in the same way as for KUSUM-C.All input variables and parameters are represented as probability distributions formulated from metalog distributions, where: p0 = the minimum possible value. p10 = the lowest likely value. The value is unlikely to be lower than this value 10% of the time or in 10% of cases. p50 = the median value. The value that is most likely. p90 = the highest likely value. The value is unlikely to be higher than this value 10% of the time or in 10% of cases. p100 = the maximum possible value.The input variables are listed in All model outputs are calculated as probability distributions and stored as SIPs with 1000 Monte Carlo trials. Results are summarized as expected values (EV), the 10 th and 90 th percentiles, or cumulative probability curves. A dashboard is available that allows users to enter p10, p50 and p90 values of selected variables and interactively view changes in key metrics graphically. This provides for simulating selected scenarios that experts had identified as being of particular interest during the feedback workshops.The simulations using the input distributions for the baseline situation projected that, on average, about 72% of the target population would have adopted solar irrigation by 2040 (Figure 3). KUSUM-C accounted for about 61% of adopters, while KUSUM-A accounted for 39% of adopters. This higher adoption of KUSUM-C is largely driven by its increased profitability compared with KUSUM-A. However, there was large uncertainty around these expected values due to the wide range of Bass p and q parameters used. There is currently little data with which to calibrate the Bass parameters and therefore monitoring of adoption rates will have high value for improving the prediction of outcomes.Net present values (NPVs) at different levels of aggregation at year 2040 are shown in Table 4.Expected values of farm-level NPV are over 10 times greater for KUSUM-C than KUSUM-A. The high net income in KUSUM-C is driven by sale of power back to the grid (about two-thirds of the income on average) and savings due to adoption of solar (about one-third of the income on average). The higher aggregated NPV for KUSUM-C reflects the higher farm income and the higher adoption rate. The farm-level distribution of NPV is much wider in KUSUM-C than KUSUM-A and there is a 5% chance of making a loss in KUSUM-C (Figure 4) due to combinations of lower income and higher discount rates in some trials. However, there is a large upside tail on KUSUM-C, with a 10% chance of obtaining over USD 30,000/ha discounted net benefit over 20 years. Further disaggregation of the downsides and upsides is warranted and would provide pointers to which policies may increase opportunities and reduce risks. NPV for DISCOMs plus local government (abbreviated to DISCOMs) has a positive expected value for KUSUM-C but negative for KUSUM-A (Table 4). There is a 27% chance of loss for DISCOMs with KUSUM-C compared with 67% in KUSUM-A and a large upside opportunity in KUSUM-C, largely determined by variation in the size of the savings from taking farmers off the grid (Figure 5). KUSUM-C saves water on average (Table 4) and there is no chance of an increase in water use using the default data inputs (Figure 6), whereas KUSUM-A has a 90% chance of increasing water use. The former is due to more efficient irrigation in KUSUM-C and the incentive to sell power to the grid as opposed to increased pumping for sale of water to neighbors. Reductions in GHG emissions are massive (Table 4), at over one trillion USD (long form) on average in KUSUM-C and one-third of this amount in KUSUM-A. Emissions are calculated using whole-lifecycle emission reductions with solar compared with fossil fuel power, and using a distribution of carbon prices based on the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing published by the World Bank (2019).Accounting for GHG benefits, either solar irrigation scheme gives little chance (0.5%) of loss at the project level and gives a return on investment (ROI) of over 122,000%. Given the current lack of GHG payment mechanisms, an option is included to omit GHG benefits, which then gives a project-level average ROI of 349% with a 15% chance of loss. Further investigation is warranted into what combination of factors lead to project-level losses.Stochastic sensitivity analysis was conducted by sequentially changing groups of variables to their 10 th and 90 th percentile values, with all other variables left as stochastic. The results are displayed as a Tornado diagram, which shows the change in project-level NPV relative to its expected value as a result of changing the target group of variables to their 10 th or 90 th percentile values.When GHG benefits are included (Figure 7), variation in project NPV is dominated by the variation in environmental benefits. Results are also sensitive to adoption parameters and the farm-level benefits of KUSUM-C, especially on their upside. NPV was also sensitive to discount rate, which ranged from 5% to 15%.When GHG benefits are excluded (Figure 8), NPV is no longer sensitive to environmental benefits, and sensitivity is dominated by the upside of farm-level benefits for KUSUM-C, with the downside of KUSUM-C costs also playing in. Adoption factors remain as an important influence. More detailed decomposition of the farm-level benefits of KUSUM-C and better estimates of adoption parameters are warranted.  NPVs were presented in Table 4. In this section the results for additional indicators at Year 20 are presented (Table 5). The wide (100-fold) range in the number of adopters reflects the wide range in the Bass model adoption parameters, which span the global range of adoption rates for photovoltaic technology. At the farm level, KUSUM-C incurs a small chance of loss, as previously described, whereas KUSUM-A has no chance of loss. Consequently, the number of farmers profiting is 97% of adopters on average. The wide range in irrigated area reflects the wide range of adoption rates and its distribution between KUSUM-C and KUSUM-A.There are opportunities for moderate water savings (farm water use of -14,300 m 3/ yr on average) with KUSUM-C, even at the 90 th percentile, compared with increased water use in KUSUM-A (40,000 m 3/ yr on average). The project-level ROI is very large on average, even without considering GHG benefits, but is slightly negative at the 10 th percentile. Including GHG benefits, the ROI is extremely high at all levels of probability. Several scenarios are simulated, identified by experts and through stakeholder workshops as of importance for policy decision making and supporting research. The choice of scenarios was also informed by the results of the sensitivity analysis.The Bass adoption model p and q parameters were allowed to vary widely, covering the range reported from a global review of photovoltaic adoption studies across 10 countries (Yang et al. 2018).Reducing the Bass model innovation parameter, p, to low (10 th percentile value) delayed pick-up in adoption until after Year 10 (Figure 9b) compared with the base case when all parameters are left as stochastic (Figure 9a). When the mimicking parameter, q, is set to low, there is a slow, steady increase in adoption. When both p and q parameters are set to low, there is virtually no adoption over the 20 years (not shown).  Currently, the capital cost of solar pumping equipment (solar panel and pump) in KUSUM-C is subsidized for farmers by both central government (30%) and local government (30%). The remaining 40% of the capital cost is taken as a loan by farmers from local banks over a period of six years. The profitability and adoption of KUSUM-C may be strongly influenced by the amount of subsidy and the loan period.When subsidy is completely removed (Figure 11b), overall adoption of solar irrigation is reduced by only about 10% by Year 20 compared with the base case (Figure 11a); adoption of KUSUM-C drops to a low level and adoption is dominated by KUSUM-A. This lower adoption of KUSUM-C is driven by the lower farm-level profitability, with expected NPV reducing from USD 13,500 to USD 8,000. The switch in adoption comes with a project-level environmental cost, increasing on average from USD 32 million in the base case to USD 149 million when subsidy is removed. This is due to reduction in water savings in KUSUM-C (-14,300 m 3 /year) combined with increases in water use in KUSUM-A (40,000 m 3 /year), and increased GHG emissions in KUSUM-A compared with KUSUM-C (Table 5). These translate into an increase in risk of loss at the project level, from 15% in the base case to 30% without subsidy. However, if farmers are able to take a 100% loan over 10 years, the average adoption dynamics are almost restored to those of the base case (Figure 11c). Varying tariff prices for the sale of power back to the grid is considered a key policy lever. The value of the sale of water to neighbors is also important as it can provide an incentive to use power to pump more water to sell as opposed to selling the power back to the grid. The balance in prices is likely to determine farmers' behavior. There is also large variation in the pricing of water for sale to neighbors: in some areas where high-value crops are grown, water prices may be high, but in other areas there is no demand for water purchasing.Adoption is not very sensitive to variation in tariff, although at a very low tariff the adoption rate of KUSUM-C converges to that of KUSUM-A (Figure 12b). However, farm water use in KUSUM-C switches from an average water saving of about 14,300 m 3 /year in the base case to an increase in water use of about 19,600 m 3 /year with very low tariff (Figure 13a,13b). A high tariff slightly increases the adoption rate of KUSUM-C relative to the base case.When the price for selling power to neighbors is set to zero, water savings in KUSUM-C increase to 33,700 m 3 /year, more than double the water saving of the base case. An extreme scenario of no selling of power to neighbors produces an environmental benefit of USD 64 million compared with an environmental cost of USD 32 million in the base case. Capacity to support KUSUM-C KUSUM-C requires a high level of community organization and competent local facilitating agencies to support its communication and roll-out. In Gujarat, there is already a high level of community organization from milk cooperatives and KUSUM-C has had a high level of promotion. However, in other states these structures may be less advanced and present an obstacle to the adoption of KUSUM-C. We would expect the adoption q factor to be reduced where there is less structure, which would result in a tendency towards the adoption pattern shown in Figure 9b, with a slow initial phase before adoption picks up. The length of the lag phase would be proportional to the time it takes to establish local community structures and local supporting organizations and develop capacity and community awareness.The risk of non-payment by DISCOMs in KUSUM-C was raised by stakeholders as a significant risk. This would reduce the confidence of both farmers and banks and result in reduced bank lending. Reduced lending would favor adoption of KUSUM-A over KUSUM-C. If loans were unavailable, the simulations show an average adoption fraction at Year 20 of 0.4 in KUSUM-A versus 0.19 in KUSUM-C. This would increase water use and the chance of a project-level loss as shown in the scenario of reduced tariff.A risk to the adoption of KUSUM-A is the difficulty DISCOMs may encounter in acquiring land for the solar banks. In cases where this risk is enhanced, the outcome is a lowering of the Bass model initiation parameter, q, which results in a tendency towards the adoption pattern in Figure 9b.In areas where existing groundwater levels are low, there may be large policy and farmer resistance to the adoption of solar irrigation due to the perception of increased groundwater depletion. Our simulations show potential for KUSUM-C to reduce water use, especially where feed-in tariffs are higher than the price of selling power to neighbors; in contrast, KUSUM-A is likely to increase water use. Therefore, the adoption of solar irrigation will depend heavily on communicating the benefits of KUSUM-C and ensuring supporting policies are put in place to favor its adoption.There have been local government proposals to provide daytime power to farmers. This may disfavor adoption of KUSUM-C by taking away the benefit of more reliable power offered by KUSUM-C. However, generating power on-farm is always going to be more reliable than depending on any grid supply, even with the promise of daytime power. Perhaps more prominently, a daytime power alternative may make the transaction cost of community building and communication with KUSUM-C more pronounced.With a daytime power scheme, farmers will need more convincing of the benefit of KUSUM-C and this may be reflected in a slower adoption rate for KUSUM-C (e.g., Figure 9b). The success of KUSUM-C will depend largely on how beneficial farmers perceive it to be.However, giving all farmers daytime grid power may be difficult, and costly. DISCOM operations are most efficient if their 'load curve' is flat (i.e., constant demand for electricity throughout the day and year). The best way to achieve a near-flat load curve is to schedule power supply to farmers when nobody else wants it. With providing daytime power to farmers, this will become very difficult to achieve, unless there is a very rapid increase in solar generation capacity. Such a policy decision would strongly favor KUSUM-A, which can be rolled out much faster than KUSUM-C.The simulations point to several implications for policy. Solar irrigation in general (whether KUSUM-C or KUSUM-A) provides the following expected values and risks by 2040 compared with non-solar alternatives, although the sizes of the value and risks vary according to the model or mixture of models:• Increased farm income (USD 1,000 to USD 13,000 per farm);• Water savings or increased water use at farm level depending on the model (saving of 14,300 m 3 /yr to increased use of 40,000 m 3 /yr); • GHG benefits (USD 310,000 million to USD 1,030,000 million at project level); • Chance of loss of 0 to 5% at farm level and 27% to 67% for DISCOMs + local government. Therefore, while farm income and GHG reduction benefits are universal, the profitability for DISCOMs (including local government) and impacts on water use are strongly dependent on the model that is implemented. The above projections are expected, or average, values and there is a wide range in possible values, which must be taken into account and are an area for further policy research.The differences in expected value and risks of KUSUM-C compared with KUSUM-A at 2040 are summarized in Table 6. Substantive increases in farm income and water savings only occur with KUSUM-C. However, as seen in the scenario analysis, these benefits are conditional on maintaining subsidies, or compensating for them through more favorable loan support, and maintaining tariffs for the sale of power to the grid. KUSUM-C is also a more attractive proposition to DISCOMs providing that mechanisms are found for providing the necessary level of institutional support. GHG benefits are three times higher in KUSUM-C compared with KUSUM-A.There is some debate on the future trends in tariff prices and whether providers will incur a cost of subsidizing these if prices fall when they have provided a 25-year guaranteed tariff under a power purchase agreement. The scenario analysis shows that a low buy-back tariff will not incentivize farmers to reduce groundwater pumping and KUSUM-A and KUSUM-C will be more similar in terms of the lack of incentives for saving groundwater. On the other hand, if the government decides that, in the interest of reducing groundwater pumping, farmers will continue to get a higher buy-back tariff, then the subsidy burden on DISCOMs/state government/ministry (whoever pays the buy back) will increase and could perhaps negate the main purported benefit for DISCOMs. However, on the other hand, the savings for DISCOMs are much higher than just the cost of buying power and may far outweigh the cost of tariff subsidy. In addition, if tariff prices did go down, then farmers could come together as an independent power producer and sell power to the commercial sector, becoming competitors to the DISCOMs. For example, dairy plants in Gujarat are already considering investing in solar power to meet their energy needs and could contract farmer cooperatives to supply their power. The simulation results point to several areas where further research would have high value for improving estimates of solar irrigation benefits and for supporting its adoption and favorable outcomes:1. Further literature review to narrow the Bass model parameter estimates using data for similar technology and regional situations. 2. India-wide research on causal factors determining tariff prices and incentives for selling water to neighbors. 3. Institutional mechanisms for supporting the adoption of KUSUM-C. For example, on which types of local institutions could be supported by local governments to build farm communities, liaise with DISCOMs and communicate potential KUSUM-C benefits. 4. Policy advocacy and communication strategies for conveying the potential income-water-energy benefits of KUSUM-C and conditions for its success to farmers, local government, DISCOMs and central government. 5. Factors that could reduce risks and enhance benefits for DISCOMs. 6. How to realize and distribute the GHG emission reduction benefits of solar power through payment or incentive schemes. Better estimates of how much fossil fuel solar irrigation is displacing versus other solar alternatives. 7. Run the model for other Indian states or diverse situations by adjusting values in the model input sheet and checking assumptions hold up in other states. Areas where there is groundwater stress and a weak history of community structures, in contrast to Gujarat, would be high-priority candidates. 8. Update the model to include any additional assumptions or comparisons that are of interest to researchers or policy makers, such as inclusion of a KUSUM-B/C hybrid, i.e., standalone microgrids in which surplus power is put to productive and paid use.There was an additional suggestion to include in the model the social gain created through buyingback power from farmers instead of developers. This could be done by thinking through what tangible benefits would be observed if there was social gain or not.Priorities for monitoring include:1. Adoption rates of different solar irrigation models and associated factors; 2. Trends in subsidies and loans; 3. Tariff prices and water sale prevalence and pricing;4. Additional farm incomes actually achieved, and water use patterns with solar irrigation. For example, case-control studies could be envisaged; 5. Types of local institutions supporting KUSUM-C and criteria for success; 6. Introduction of policies that could change incentives for the adoption of KUSUM-C and/or KUSUM-A (e.g., provision of daytime power).Adoption rate is the overriding uncertainty determining outcomes in the model and therefore has the highest value for further research and monitoring, both to narrow the uncertainty and to validate the causal factors affecting adoption. Of second priority are KUSUM-C benefits, especially factors that favor the upside opportunities for obtaining high farm income and large water savings, and actions that could further minimize the chance of loss. Of third priority is to better establish how to reduce risks for DISCOMs and exploit upside opportunities.The simulation model is intended to serve as a learning tool for researchers and policy makers. A simulation model dashboard is provided to make it easy for non-specialists to change values of key input variables (e.g., to low, 10 th percentile; medium, 50 th percentile; or high, 90 th percentile levels, or more extreme levels) and immediately observe the response of outcome variables in graphical form (Figure 14). The model's data input sheet is on a separate, linked worksheet to facilitate use and contains fields for documenting data sources.Ideally, ownership of the model would be taken over by an institution that could maintain, use and further develop it (see Recommendation 3 in the main report). Of particular interest is the potential to work with policy makers to show scenarios and results and help develop a better understanding of the benefits and trade-offs with alternative solar irrigation models. ITP has been proposed as one potential candidate for a hosting institution. Some financial and technical backstopping support may be required initially to make this happen and may be considered by WLE. The CGIAR Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Community of Practice (MEL) has shown interest in the decision analysis and modeling approach used in this study as an input to 'projected benefits' of CGIAR initiatives. The SIPmath TM open-standard approach used in this study could provide the foundation for a CGIAR enterprise-wide platform for representing uncertainty and including uncertainty and risk in cost-benefit analysis. SIPmath TM is readily accessible to everyone in Excel but is also applicable across platforms (e.g., R, Python). We therefore recommend this approach for consideration as a CGIAR-wide complement in ex-ante and ex-post impact evaluations, and for use in research project screening at various stage gates, based on projected benefits with increasing detail at each stage gate. WLE might share the results of this study with MEL and discuss its potential wider application (see Recommendation 4 in the main report).The simulations have indicated that promotion of solar-powered irrigation using KUSUM-C is a good decision in Gujarat State. Compared with non-solar alternatives, KUSUM-C has potential to substantially increase farm profits with low risk, reduce water use and substantially reduce GHG emissions, while providing an opportunity for DISCOMs and local government to profit. There are significant upside opportunities for farmers to profit.However, the benefits of KUSUM-C are strongly conditional on the maintenance of government subsidies, the availability of farmer loans and the presence of strong local community-based organizations and facilitators. Compared with KUSUM-C, promotion of KUSUM-A provides moderate GHG benefits but provides a lower level of net benefit to farmers, increases water use and poses a higher risk of DISCOMs and local government making a loss. KUSUM-A is more appropriate for areas with plentiful groundwater resources.Adoption is projected to be higher with KUSUM-C than KUSUM-A under current conditions in Gujarat, but this situation would flip if subsidies were reduced or removed. The combined adoption of KUSAM-A and KUSAM-C is projected to benefit about 1 million farm families by 2040 and increase income for 97% of them. However, overall water use is expected to increase unless adoption is restricted to KUSUM-C only.A number of priorities are identified for further research and monitoring, targeted at areas of greatest uncertainty and largest effect on outcomes. Recommendations are made for further application, maintenance and improvement of the model as a research and policy learning tool. These include (i) assisting ITP to take ownership of the model and (ii) the adoption of risk-return analysis, aided by SIPmath TM , as a CGIAR enterprise-wide standard for impact projection.","tokenCount":"7054"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9553964499.json b/data/part_1/9553964499.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d57cd449083b360092840269664f897a8dc9f948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9553964499.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"127fcaf5581159a3ee88704e339b72e3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fbce5ca6-08f3-440b-9104-cd4268729715/retrieve","id":"-1609123105"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"77b8d2d0-041e-42f4-902f-adb07384341f","pagecount":"22","content":"des résultats des enquêtes de base niveau ménage -site de Kaffrine, Sénégal. Programme de recherche du CGIAR sur le Changement Climatique, l'Agriculture et la Sécurité Alimentaire (CCAFS). Copenhague, Danemark. Disponible en ligne sur www.ccafs.cgiar.org Publié par le Programme de recherche du CGIAR sur le Changement Climatique, l'Agriculture et la Sécurité Alimentaire (CCAFS).Figure 1. Localisation du site de Kaffrine Figure 2. Distribution de la population au sein des ménages Figure 3. Proportion de ménages impliqués dans la production, consommation et commercialisation de produits issus de l'exploitation agricole Figure 4. Proportion des ménages qui consomment et/ou vendent des produits obtenus hors exploitation Figure 5. Répartition des tâches au sein et hors exploitation Figure 6. Sources de nourriture (au sein et hors exploitation) et periodes de soudure et de disponibilitéTableau 1. Pourcentage de la population totale par groupe d'âge Tableau 2. Niveau d'éducation Tableau 3. Plus haut niveau d'instruction atteint par un membre du ménage par type de ménage Tableau 4. Indices de diversificationCe rapport présente les résultats des enquêtes de base conduites au niveau des ménages de sept (7) villages du site de Kaffrine (Bassin arachidier Sud, Sénégal) dans le cadre du programme de recherche du CGIAR sur le Changement Climatique, l'Agriculture et la Sécurité alimentaire. L'objectif de ces enquêtes était de de collecter toutes les données et informations sur des indicateurs clés de base concernant les ménages notamment les moyens de subsistance, l'agriculture et la gestion des ressources naturelles, les besoins d'information sur le climat et la gestion des risques, et les pratiques d'atténuation et d'adaptation. La population du site pratique l'Islam comme religion. La gestion des ménages est principalement de la responsabilité des hommes (97% des ménages). La population active (5-60 ans) représente environ 71% de l'effectif total, et le niveau d'éducation est essentiellement le primaire (34% des ménages ont un membre inscrits). L'agriculture et l'élevage demeurent les principales activités économiques de production sur le site de Kaffrine. Les principales cultures sont le mil, maïs et arachide. La disponibilité de terres varie entre les ménages avec une prédominance d'exploitation de plus de 5ha (80,4% des ménages). Les intrants agricoles sont faiblement utilisés (engrais, semences et pesticides). La production agricole est fortement diversifiée avec plus de 90% des ménages enquêtés qui produisent entre 5 et 9 produits agricoles. Le niveau de commercialisation est cependant bas, ce qui indique qu'une majeure partie sinon la totalité de la production est destinée à la satisfaction des besoins alimentaires des ménages. Les produits d'origine agricole et animale qui entrent dans la couverture des besoins alimentaires proviennent essentiellement de l'exploitation propre. En plus de la production propre et hors exploitation, les autres sources de revenus sont essentiellement les affaires (19,9%), les emplois sur d'autres exploitations (14,7%) et les prêts formel et informel (26,2%). Plusieurs types de changements sur la gestion des cultures et de l'élevage ont été observés au cours des dix dernières années. Environ 57% des ménages ont effectués des changements dans la gestion des cultures notamment les changements de pratiques (introduction de variété, gestion des terres, utilisation des intrants, allocation du temps consacré aux activités agricoles, gestion des sols et agroforesterie). Les causes principales de ces changements sont surtout les marchés, la terre, le changement climatique et aussi la main d'oeuvre. L'élevage aussi a connu des changements notamment concernant la gestion des animaux (introduction de nouvelles races, alimentation, conduite des animaux). Les causes sousjacentes de ces changements sont aussi les marchés, le climat et les maladies/épidémies. Concernant la sécurité alimentaire, les analyses ont fait ressortir un fort pourcentage de ménages (94,2%) qui n'arrivent à satisfaire leurs besoins alimentaires pendant toute l'année. Plus de 90% des ménages ont indiqué recevoir des informations climatiques et météorologiques notamment les prévisions des événements extrêmes, de début de la saison des pluies, sur les maladies/épidémies, pour les 2-3 jours et aussi 2-3 mois. Les hommes sont les principaux récipiendaires de ces informations à travers principalement la radio, mais aussi la télévision, les amis et sources diverses (projets, ONGS, etc.). Les conseils et recommandations qui accompagnent les prévisions sont assez souvent suivis par les ménages et se traduisent par des changements dans les différents modes de gestion des ressources naturelles. On note une forte affiliation des ménages à différents groupes communautaires dont le groupe épargne et crédit, commercialisation des produits agricoles. Les principaux types de biens possédés sont la radio, le téléphone, la bicyclette avec cependant un niveau de base minimum.  Ce rapport résume les résultats des enquêtes conduites en Janvier 2011 sur un échantillon de cent trente-huit (138) ménages répartis sur neuf ( 9) villages du site de Kaffrine (Bassin arachidier Sud, Sénégal) (Figure 1). Le manuel, guide et questionnaire ainsi que les méthodes utilisées pour l'analyse des données et informations sont disponibles sur le site du CCAFS (http://ccafs.cgiar.org). L'échantillon d'enquêtés était composé d'environ 85% d'hommes et 15% de femmes. Les ménages dirigés par un homme (marié, célibataire, divorcé ou veuf) représentent 97% du total des ménages. La taille moyenne des ménages est de 14 personnes avec un écart-type de 7,4%. Environ 44% des ménages ont plus de 10 membres, 44% ont entre 4-9 membres et dans environ 12% des ménages, il y a environ 3 individus par ménage.La population totale de l'échantillon est de 1867 individus. Les ménages avec plus de 10 membres représentent 44% du total des ménages avec une population de 1210 individus. Dans 83% des ménages, environ 40% des membres ont un âge < 5 et > 60 ans. Ceux âgés de 5-60 ans et qui représentent entre 60-80% des membres sont dans environ 59% des ménages (Figure 2).La population active (5-60 ans) de l'échantillon enquêté représente environ 71% de la population totale (Tableau 1). La figure ci-dessous renseigne sur la production, consommation et vente de produits agricoles propres issus de l'exploitation agricole. L'agriculture demeure la principale activité économique de production et dont les ménages dépendent principalement pour leur subsistance. L'agriculture vivrière (céréales) est orientée principalement vers l'autoconsommation. Les cultures vivrières (mil et maïs) représentent l'essentiel des aliments de consommation au niveau de tous les ménages. Elle demeure diversifiée avec environ 87% des ménages qui produisent entre 7 et 9 spéculations, et ceux qui exploitent 10 produits ou plus représentent environ 2%. Le reste produit entre 1 et 6 produits. On note un recul de la culture d'arachide sur le site. Il y a aussi les cultures de rente qui sont pratiquées par environ 5.1% des ménages et aussi le maraichage (29% des ménages). La production de fruits et de légumes, commence à se développer 2,9% des ménages produisent des fruits, et 29% produisent des légumes avec le développement du maraichage.L'élevage (gros et petits ruminants) est fortement pratiqué, avec une forte proportion de ménages qui détient de petits ou gros ruminants. Les produits animaux contribuent aussi fortement à la consommation des ménages (Figure 3). La pêche n'est pas pratiquée, mais il y a une forte exploitation de bois (environ 90% des ménages).Concernant les ventes, elles touchent aussi bien les produits végétaux qu'animaux. En effet environ 87% des ménages vendent une partie des céréales produites et aussi environ 71% vendent des petits ruminants (35% vendent les gros ruminants et 26% les produits animaux) pour subvenir aux besoins monétaires du ménage. Pour les fruits & légumes, ce sont les légumes qui sont les plus commercialisés par près de 27% des ménages, contre 2% seulement pour les fruits. En ce qui concerne les sources de consommation hors exploitation, environ 67% des ménages consomment entre 2-3 produits provenant de l'extérieur de l'exploitation et environ 32% en consomment entre 4-6 produits. Les fruits et poisson sont aussi fortement consommés et proviennent généralement hors de l'exploitation. Très peu de ménages s'adonnent à la vente de produits hors exploitation pour assurer leur survie. Les quelques produits faisant l'objet de vente sont les fruits (5.7% des ménages) et le fourrage (1.4% des ménages).Concernant la consommation et la vente de produits hors exploitation, la figure ci-dessous donne le pourcentage de ménages à ce sujet (Figure 4). On constate que les produits issus hors exploitation sont principalement utilisés pour la consommation et non vendus. Ils contribuent à assurer la sécurité alimentaire des ménages. Un indice de diversification a été créé respectivement pour la production et la commercialisation des produits. L'indice de diversification de production se réfère à la somme de tous les produits issus de l'exploitation, et celui de la commercialisation, à la somme des produits issus de l'exploitation qui sont vendus.Pour la commercialisation 1 : faible diversification (1-4 produits) 2 : diversification intermédiaire (5-8 produits) 3 : haute diversification (+ 9 produits) 1 : pas de commercialisation de produits 2 : faible commercialisation (1-2 produits) 3 : commercialisation intermédiaire (3-5 produits) 4 : forte commercialisation (+ 6 produits Tableau 4. Indices de diversification Diversification de la production % de ménages Faible niveau (1-4 produits) 0,7 Niveau intermédiaire (5-8 produits) 53,6 Niveau élevé (9 produits et plus) 45,7 Diversification de la commercialisation Pas de commercialisation (aucun produit vendu) 0,7 Niveau bas de commercialisation (1-2 produits vendus) 28,3 Niveau intermédiaire de commercialisation (3-5 produits vendus) 63 Niveau élevé de commercialisation (6 produits vendus et plus) 8On constate une forte diversification de la production (avec notamment 53.6% de ménages caractérisés par une diversification intermédiaire et 45.7% caractérisés par une diversification élevée). Concernant la commercialisation, on note que dans 63% des ménages, l'indice de commercialisation est intermédiaire. Les produits concernés par cette commercialisation sont surtout l'arachide, le niébé, mais aussi les animaux élevés comme épargne sur pied. Cependant, on note aussi que 8% des ménages enquêtés ont un indice de commercialisation fort (+ 6 produits vendus).La figure 5 donne la répartition des tâches (travail) au sein et hors de l'exploitation. On note que 20 % des tâches sont effectuées au niveau de l'exploitation équitablement par les hommes et les femmes. Cependant les hommes réalisent la majorité des travaux (38%) de l'exploitation. Les femmes ne participent spécifiquement que 7% des travaux au niveau de l'exploitation. Le travail réservé uniquement à l'homme occupe une place importante dans les tâches de l'exploitation du ménage.Concernant la responsabilité des tâches hors de l'exploitation la figure 5 donne une illustration de la répartition des tâches entre les différents acteurs. En plus des tâches effectuées équitablement par l'homme et la femme (38%), chaque sexe a des tâches qui lui sont spécifiques. Les femmes interviennent de façon importante dans l'accomplissement des tâches hors de l'exploitation avec 37,5%.  Concernant l'élevage, on note une faible diversification avec très peu d'animaux introduits par les ménages au cours des dix dernières années. Le tableau ci-dessous indique les nouvelles espèces animales adoptées pendant les 10 dernières par les ménages enquêtés. Ainsi 2,9 % des ménages affirment n'avoir qu'un seul type de bétail pendant ces 10 dernières années. Tandis que la plupart des ménages du site, 83,3 % ont 2 à 3 type de bétail dont au moins 1 a été introduit durant les 10à dernières années. Cependant seul 12,3 % ont introduit 2 à 3 nouveaux types durant les dix dernières années.  L'indice de sécurité alimentaire est basé sur le nombre de mois pendant lesquels les ménages ont des difficultés d'accès à la nourriture quel que soit la source. Il ressort que seulement 5,8% des ménages arrivent à satisfaire à leurs besoins alimentaires annuels.Tableau 13. Indice de sécurité alimentaire Pourcentage de ménages ayant reporté Moins de 7 mois sécurisés (sans difficultés alimentaires) 7-11 mois sécurisés (sans difficultés alimentaires) Toute l'année sécurisée (sans aucune période de famine) 12,3 81,9 5,8Les sources d'eau pour l'agriculture (non pour usage domestique) sont mentionnées dans le tableau ci-dessous. Il ressort qu'environ 83,4% des ménages n'utilisent aucune des sources ci-après (irrigation, réservoirs, barrages, forages et pompes). Ils dépendent de la pluviométrie pour l'eau agricole.Tableau Les disponibilités en terres par ménages sont consignées dans le tableau ci-dessous. Environ 80,4% des ménages détiennent des terres de plus de 5 ha et 17,4% ont des terres de superficie comprise entre 1 et 5ha. Concernant les informations sur le climat et la météo, environ 90% des ménages ont indiqué recevoir ces informations à travers divers canaux.L'ensemble des membres des ménages (aussi bien les hommes que les femmes) reçoivent les informations sur le climat et la météorologie, à des degrés divers. En effet, les hommes ont le plus souvent beaucoup plus accès à l'information que les femmes. L'aide des groupements a surtout porté à la résolution des problèmes à travers l'aménagement des terres et sols ou l'irrigation (95%) ou par l'aide à la commercialisation (5%)5 catégories de biens/capitaux ont été identifiées et un indice de biens a été défini comme suit :  0 : aucun bien  1 : < 1 et > 3 biens (niveau intermédiaire)  2 : > 4 biens (niveau élevé)Il ressort que dans 59.6% des ménages, aucun bien n'a été recensé. Environ 40% des ménages possèdent entre 1-3 biens. Les types de biens possédés sont surtout la radio, le téléphone, la charrue, bicyclette. Ces biens appartiennent principalement aux hommes. Les biens les plus présents concernent tout ce qui tourne autour de l'information (radio, téléphone portable), de la production (charrue) et du transport (bicyclette, mobylette) et sont souvent sous la responsabilité des hommes.Il apparaît ainsi que ces exploitations agricoles ne disposent pas de richesses et sont très vulnérables. Le niveau de dégradation des moyens de production est très avancé ce qui se reflète sur la faible disponibilité des biens. Néanmoins, avec le développement des moyens de transport et de la communication (téléphone portable), ces populations sont de plus en plus informées des réalités du marché et de leur environnement en général, ce qui leur permet d'élaborer des stratégies plus durables pour faire face aux continuelles mutations observées.Tableau 27. Indice de biens Niveau de richesse % de ménages pas de biens (niveau de base) 59,6 1-3 biens (niveau intermédiaire) 40 4 biens et plus (niveau élevé) 0,4","tokenCount":"2289"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9564219328.json b/data/part_1/9564219328.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6df5b1acc9051f420046aa91aa2920ebb3969ae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9564219328.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f0ee6943ab8dd87a3b66a098d7cc156b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00f9ec92-9d09-4c7f-a238-622be016ed4e/retrieve","id":"1804603509"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86643b7c-e7fe-4aa7-bad3-bb7a1d26cfcb","pagecount":"2","content":"P1599 -Catalyzing farmer innovations and the adoption of promising management and technological options to facilitate the development of low-carbon cattle value chains in Latin America Description of the innovation: Chitosan is a polysaccharide found in the skin of squids, with antimicrobial capability against protozoa and Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, fungi, and yeasts, while naringin (NA) (skin of oranges) is a flavonoid with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. They have shown their capacity to reduce methane in in-vitro trials. This study investigated their effects as feed additives given to improve ruminal fermentation and nutrient utilization and decrease methane in crossbred heifers fed tropical grass.","tokenCount":"102"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9578620441.json b/data/part_1/9578620441.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..10edf16a3b9586baa830df5e46dfeb4236ef01d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9578620441.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4ccc258f6fb967c05baeaa23e1d72176","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/abae4add-6e8c-435d-82f7-958db913f12c/retrieve","id":"-766343705"},"keywords":["Dunbaria spp","Eriosema spp","Lentil Lens culinaris ssp","culinaris L","culinaris ssp","orientalis L","culinaris ssp","odemensis L","nigricans ssp","nigricans L","nigricans ssp","ervoides"],"sieverID":"6fca6a03-503d-4d4e-9f1c-06050239e55f","pagecount":"17","content":"The wild species of grain legumes are valuable gene pools, particularly for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. These have largely remained under-utilized due to crossability barriers, but there are some examples of successful introgression of genes into the cultivated species from their wild relatives, particularly those constituting primary and secondary gene pools. In chickpea, two closely related species, Cicer reticulatum and C. echinospermum, have been used for widening genetic base of the cultigen and introgressing genes for resistance/tolerance to phytophthora root rot, cyst nematode (Heterodera ciceri), root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp.), pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera), ascochyta blight, botrytis grey mould and low temperatures. Wild Cajanus species have been effectively exploited in developing cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) systems, which made commercial hybrids possible. In addition, resistance to Helicoverpa armigera and sterility mosaic has been introgressed from C. acutifolius and C. scarabaeoides. The high protein content trait has been introgressed from C. scarabaeoides. In Phaseolus beans, the cultivated species of the secondary (P. coccineus and P. dumosus) and the tertiary (P. acutifolius) gene pools have been used for the improvement of common bean (P. vulgaris). The congruity back cross system and its modifications have been especially useful for tapping the tertiary gene pool. In lentil, genes for anthracnose and wilt resistance and drought tolerance have been introgressed in the cultigen from L. lamottei. Presence of crossability barriers has restricted greater exploitation of wild species, particularly in tertiary gene pool.Concerted efforts are needed to overcome these crossability barriers. Cloning of desired genes from crossincompatible wild species and their transfer through transgenic approaches may also be considered.Food legumes like chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), faba bean (Vicia faba L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), pea (Pisum sativum L.) and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) are important sources of protein and calories in the semiarid regions of Asia and Africa. Food legumes are usually grown with minimal inputs and with minimal or no investments on control of insect-pests and diseases. Despite being neglected, the food legumes are an integral part of cropping system in the semi-arid tropics mainly because of their ability to produce something of economic value (food or fodder) under extreme conditions and their soil ameliorative properties.Food legumes generally have low and unstable yields compared to cereals, largely because they are grown in marginal environments and their productivity is seriously constrained by both biotic and abiotic stresses. The severity of some of the stresses like drought, heat and dry root rot, is further expected to increase due to consequences of climate change. These stresses not only limit the yield but also affect biological nitrogen fixation (Wery 1987) and quality of grain and fodder. Developing cultivars resistant/ tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses has always been and will continue to remain a major objective in legume breeding.Excellent progress has been made in breeding for resistance to certain diseases (e.g. fusarium wilt in chickpea) where sources with high levels of resistance were available in the germplasm of cultivated species. Developing cultivars with high level of resistance to some stresses (e.g. legume pod borer) continue to remain a challenge due to lack of adequate level of resistance available in the cultivated species. The wild species are known to have greater genetic diversity than the cultivated species. Since the wild species survive under adverse conditions in isolated geographical niches they possess genes for adaptation to these conditions, including resistance to various abiotic and biotic stresses. Thus, the wild species provide an opportunity for introgressing genes for new or diverse sources of resistance and other useful traits into the cultivated species.The major constraints that hinder the use of wild species of food legumes in breeding include lack of evaluation data on specific traits (heat, drought and salinity), barriers to interspecific hybridization and more importantly the extensive efforts that would be required to breed out the associated undesirable traits. Exploitation of wild species, particularly those belonging to the primary and secondary gene pools, for stress response traits deserves special attention. However, traits associated with survival of the wild species, like seed shattering, hard seed coat and seed dormancy need to be eliminated during introgression of useful traits into the cultigen from wild relatives. Hawkes (1977) emphasized the need to understand crossability barriers, chemotaxonomic relationships and cytogenetic affinities between the wild species and the cultigen before attempting gene introgression.This review provides an overview of the advances made in introgression of useful genes from wild species in major food legumes.The wild relatives of food crop plants can be classified into primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools based on ease or difficulty of gene flow from the wild relative to the cultivated species. The primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools of food legumes represent potential genetic diversity that can eventually be exploited in the background of cultivated types to overcome biotic and abiotic stresses (Table 1). Reproductive isolation, embryo breakdown, hybrid sterility, and limited genetic recombination are major obstacles in the exploitation of wild species beyond those within the primary gene pool. To overcome these crossability barriers, embryo rescue technique or cloning of desired genes from cross-incompatible wild species and their transfer through transgenic approaches may be considered. Wild species of Cicer include 8 annual and 34 wild perennial species. The low level of molecular diversity observed in the cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a major concern to plant breeders. The wild species offer opportunities for enhancing genetic variability and introgressing desired traits, particularly resistance to stresses, in the cultigen. Resistance to some of biotic stresses, such as seed beetle and cyst nematode, was found only in the wild species. Most studies on wild Cicer species have been confined to annual species because of crossability barriers and difficulties associated with propagation of perennial species. Some of the important traits associated with wild species are listed in Table 2. C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum are the two wild Cicer species that are cross-compatible with the cultivated species and have been used in chickpea improvement. These species have narrow ecogeographic adaptation and may therefore provide limited array of adaptive alleles. Use of more distantly related species, those in tertiary gene pool, may offer more allelic diversity (Badami et al. 1997). Due to limited cross compatibility, reduced chromosome pairing and differential seed set in the segregating populations, only a fraction of all the possible gametic/zygotic combinations can be recovered by the breeder.Resistance to ascochyta blight Collard et al. (2001) identified a number of resistant wild Cicer accessions in controlled environment, particularly those belonging to C. bijugum. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with seedling and stem resistance were detected in the F 2 population of a cross between a resistant accession of C. echinospermum and a susceptible accession of cultivated chickpea (Collard et al. 2003). Several QTL were clustered in LG 4, but there is also evidence for QTL on other linkage groups (Santra et al. 2000). Crosses between C. echinospermum accession L204 and susceptible chickpea parents have produced at least one line (90102-5Q-1103) with high level of resistance to ascochyta blight in field experiments in Australia (Ted Knights, unpublished data).Phytophthora root rot (Phytophthora medicaginis) is a major disease of chickpea in north-eastern Australia. Host resistance is the only practicable management option, however only limited resistance has been observed within the chickpea germplasm (Brinsmead et al. 1985). Extensive screening of wild annual Cicer species revealed existence of higher resistance in some C. echinospermum accessions. Further it was demonstrated that this resistance could be recovered fully in interspecific lines (Knights et al. 2008). Subsequently some of the resistant interspecific lines were backcrossed to chickpea parents, showing that the C. echinospermum resistance could be combined with the domesticated features of the cultigen (Ted Knights, unpublished data). Progeny lines obtained from a cross between C. echinospermum x C. arietinum were tested in a field nursery at Tamworth, NSW, Australia. The most resistant first-backcross lines had disease scores <2 (where 1=no disease; 9=all plants dead) compared to Yorker and Jimbour, locally adapted, resistant cultivars having a score of 6.6 and 7.8, respectively (Figure 1).Root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus) are significant pathogens of annual crops in Australia. Chickpea is a susceptible host and its role as a rotational crop in farming systems is compromised by the susceptibility of other species (particularly wheat) that precede and follow it in the cropping sequence. Genotypic differences in host reaction to both nematode species is known to exist between cultivars (J Thompson, unpublished data), but economically significant increases in the population of nematodes will still occur under cultivation of the least susceptible genotypes. Improved resistance, as measured by low nematode populations in the roots/soil under controlled inoculation is apparent within both C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum. In some greenhouse experiments nematode populations for interspecific lines were less than 1% for a range of chickpea cultivars (J Thompson, unpublished data). Much of this resistance has been recovered in backcross derivatives, and second backcross lines are now undergoing field assessment.In Australia, and potentially in other environments where chickpeas are autumn/ winter sown, floral abortion due to low spring temperatures can adversely affect yield. Berger et al. (2005) showed that some annual wild Cicer species (including C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum) were almost insensitive to the temperature range experienced during flowering at a strategically located cool site; interspecific hybrids, despite being selected for an unrelated trait (root-lesion nematode resistance) also showed a significant increase in chilling tolerance as reflected in a shorter interval from anthesis to pod appearance.There has been limited progress in breeding for pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera) resistance in chickpea due to unavailability of high level of resistance in the cultivated species. Screening of 32 accessions of annual Cicer species under greenhouse conditions indicated that some accessions of C. bijugum, C. cuneatum, C. judaicum, C. pinnatifidum and C. reticulatum have higher levels of resistance than the best sources of resistance available in the cultivated species. Larval weights on many accessions of these wild Cicer species were much lower than those on the cultivated species, indicating the existence of antibiosis mechanism of resistance in the wild species (Sharma et al. 2005). One of these species, C. reticulatum can be easily crossed with the cultigen and thus C. arietinum 0 C. reticulatum crosses are being used to enhance level of resistance by combing different mechanisms of resistance available in the two species.Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from ICC 4958 (Cicer arietinum) x PI 489777 (Cicer reticulatum) were evaluated for resistance to pod borer using detached leaf assay in the laboratory and under natural infestation in the field (ICRISAT 2008). The results indicated considerable variation in resistance to pod borer damage, growth and survival of the larvae. Several RILs (nos. 2,13,16,17,31,40,60,65,72,81,92,95 and 123) showed low leaf feeding and low larval weight gain at the vegetative and/or the flowering stages. These lines can be exploited in chickpea breeding programs.C. arietinum and C.echinospermum exhibit resistance to phytopthora root rot and root-lesion nematode. These have been systematically used in Australian chickpea breeding program. Interspecific lines, particularly those involving C. echinospermum, were well represented amongst elite lines tested in pre-release trials. A comparison of interspecific C. arietinum x C. echinospermum with C. arietinum desi lines did not show any significant difference in predicted yield, averaged over 39 trials during the period 1998-2001 (Knights et al. 2002). However, significant differences in seed quality were observed. Further, cooking time was faster whereas, dhal yield and water absorption were reduced.Successful utilization of C. reticulatum for increasing yield (up to 39%) was reported by Singh and Ocampo (1997). Yadav et al. (2002) developed a cultivar BG 1103 by using C. reticulatum in the backcross breeding.It is often said that pigeonpea has reached its performance plateau (Saxena 2008). Although ample morphological diversity is exhibited by pigeonpea as a crop the same is not true at the molecular level (Yang et al. 2006). A range of diseases and insect pests attack pigeonpea and sources of resistance for some of the stresses are lacking in cultivated germplasm. The crop has a rich source of variability in the form of wild species, which have played a major role in the introduction of genes for disease resistance, quality traits (high protein content), identification and diversification of cytoplasmic base of CMS system.The genebank at ICRISAT conserves 555 accessions of wild relatives of pigeonpea representing six genera and 57 species. Five unique CMS systems have been developed in pigeonpea by utilizing wild relatives. Amongst these, the A 4 cytoplasm from C. cajanifolius is currently being used to exploit heterosis in pigeonpea (Saxena et al. 2005). The system is stable across environments with very good fertility restoration.Crosses between C. cajan and C. acutifolius gave rise to A 5 CMS system (Mallikarjuna and Saxena 2005). The A 5 system is in developmental stages and will be available commercially in the near future. Open flower segregants were produced from crosses between C. platycarpus, a wild relative of tertiary gene pool and cultivated pigeonpea (Mallikarjuna et al. 2006). Some of the progenies were completely male sterile with white anthers. In the semi-fertile progeny, pollen shedding was not observed as the anthers had a thick cell wall. Self-pollination did not set seeds but seed set was observed when pollinated with a range of other cultivars. This may be another source of CMS in pigeonpea (N Mallikarjuna, unpublished data).High protein line ICPL 87162 was developed from a cross between C. cajan x C. scarabaeoides (Reddy et al. 1997). Dhal protein content of ICPL 87162 ranged from 30-34% compared to 23% in the control cultivar. More recently crosses between cultivated pigeonpea and C. acutifolius yielded progeny with high seed weight of 18 gm/100 seed compared to 8.0 gm/100 seed in cultivar ICPL 85010 (N Mallikarjuna, unpublished data). The relationship between seed weight and protein content is yet to be determined.C. scarabaeoides, C. acutifolious, C. sericeus, and C. albicans are some of the wild Cajanus species showing resistance to pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Sujana et al. 2008). C. acutifolius, a native of Australia, can be crossed with cultivated pigeonpea in a one way cross combination (using C. acutifolius as the male parent). But, in vitro interventions are necessary to obtain hybrid plants (Mallikarjuna and Saxena 2002). Advanced breeding lines from the cross involving C. acutifolius as the pollen parent have shown resistance to pod borer damage, variation for seed color and high seed weight (Mallikarjuna et al. 2007). Some of the lines showed high level of resistance to pod borer, pod fly and bruchids under unprotected field conditions. C. scarabaeoides (ICPW 94), which is resistant to all the isolates of sterility mosaic disease (SMD), was used in the crossing program and most of the progenies were resistant or moderately resistant to SMD. The resistant plants flowered and set seeds. The susceptible plants had mosaic disease symptoms with crinkled leaves and did not flower (N Mallikarjuna unpublished data).Wide crosses with distantly related species will give rise to novel variations not observed in the parents used in the crossing program (Hoisington et al. 1999). C. platycarpus was crossed (hormone aided cross pollination) with cultivated pigeonpea and aborting hybrid embryos obtained from the cross were rescued. Many peculiarities were noticed when the cross C. platycarpus x C. cajan was advanced to BC 4 generation. Some of the lines (F 1 BC 4 -A8-4 and F 1 BC4-A14-6) were partially male sterile with pollen fertility <30% and had non-dehiscent anthers. Non-dehiscent anthers coupled with high pollen sterility are desirable traits of a CMS source. Three lines F 1 BC4-A10-7, F 1 BC4-A17-8 and F 1 BC4-A14-6 had higher 100 seed weight than both the parents and these lines can potentially be a good source of large seed size. Protein content in all the hybrid lines was more than that in C. platycarpus, and F1BC4-A4 and F1BC4-A19-14 showed marginally higher protein content than the cultivated parent. All the lines were screened for Helicoverpa armigera (pod borer), Melanagromyza obtusa (pod fly) and Callosobruchus chinensis (bruchids) under unprotected field conditions. Damage due to H. armigera, in the wild parent C. platycarpus and cultivated parent ICPL 87 was <1% and ~ 69 % respectively. Damage in F 1 BC4-A derived lines ranged from 2 to 37 % with majority of them showing <15% damage. Significant differences were observed between the lines for pod borer/bruchid resistance and 100 seed weight. The results show that there is a good scope to transfer H. armigera resistance from C. platycarpus into the cultivated species.Screening thousands of germplasm lines for phytopthora blight, especially for the most virulent race P 3, has failed to identify resistant lines. But, screening of wild species has identified C. platycarpus showing resistance to all the isolates of phytopthora blight fungi. Although C. platycarpus belongs to tertiary gene pool, it has been successfully crossed and progenies generated (Mallikarjuna et al. 2006). Some progenies showed resistance to phytopthora blight under greenhouse screening, suggesting that it is possible to transfer resistance to phytopthora blight from C. platycarpus (Mallikarjuna et al 2007;Saxena et al. 2005).The genus Phaseolus is remarkably diverse, with five cultigens (vulgaris, coccineus, dumosus, acutifolius, and lunatus) and another 80 or so fully wild species (Freytag and Debouck 2002). Among these, there is a group of tall, short living perennial lianas with fibrous roots, epigeal germination, multi-flowered inflorescences, and medium sized multiseeded pods. Convergent information from interspecific hybridizations and maternally inherited molecular marker studies (Schmit et al. 1993;Delgado Salinas et al. 2006) has shown that these different species (Table 3) form a natural group referred to as section Phaseoli within the genus (Freytag and Debouck 2002). Although P. vulgaris is derived from the same ancestral stock, it appears to have adapted to a new environment (open and drier) and has become an annual species (Freytag and Debouck 2002;Gentry 1969). Muñoz et al. (2006) do not consider the inclusion of P. acutifolius nor P. parvifolius into the vulgaris group [contrast with Delgado Salinas et al. (2006)] due to their little compatibility and recombination in interspecific crosses. Although, these two taxa could have been part of this phylum very early on. As discussed elsewhere (Freytag and Debouck 2002), P. coccineus is also very close to the Phaseoli section, another case of early separation. P. glabellus, another wild species has no affinity with either of them (also confirmed by Delgado Salinas et al. 2006). Surprisingly, P. persistentus was recently shown to belong to the Phaseoli (Delgado Salinas et al. 2006, Delgado Salinas andCarr 2007). This is unexpected because P. persistentus is quite dissimilar morphologically from the tall lianas having large showy inflorescences that characterize the other members of Phaseoli. This result needs further confirmation, but it might be indicative of other members of this section yet to be identified.The cultivated species of the secondary (P. coccineus and P. dumosus) or tertiary (P. acutifolius) gene pool have mostly been used in the breeding program in spite of wide diversity of common bean. This knowledge can be utilized in using non-domesticated species in different gene pools (P. costaricensis and P. albescens; and P. parvifolius, respectively) that have comparable physiological and morphological traits.The growth characteristics of the Phaseoli are evidently an adaptation to the environment in which they have evolved. The tall lianas permit competition with the surrounding vegetation that ranges from weeds/bushes to tall trees. For instance, where Phaseolus dumosus exists as an escaped domesticate, it can grow to several meters in height through and above the competing perennial stands. Until it is well established, its survival depends more on vigorous vegetative growth than seed production. As a result, partitioning of photosynthates is increased towards vegetative parts, and seed production is scant with low harvest index. This trait is still expressed in a cultivated environment, and yields are normally low. Poor partitioning to grain and low harvest index are consistent problems with Phaseolus species expressing this pattern of growth, and also in the interspecific progeny derived from them in crosses with P. vulgaris. Recent experience with interspecific crosses between common bean and P. coccineus may shed light on strategies to employ these species for the improvement of common bean. Selection of drought resistance within common bean germplasm has produced lines with improved yield under both drought stress and in favorable conditions (Beebe et al. 2008). This improved yield performance across different environments was hypothesized to be due to improved partitioning to grain. One such drought resistant line, SER 16, was crossed with G35346, an aluminum tolerant accession of P. coccineus, and the F 1 was backcrossed to SER 16. The agronomic quality of the backcross progenies was substantially better than that obtained in other vulgaris -coccineus crosses, to the extent that yield was improved in relation to the drought resistant common bean parent, even under moderate intermittent drought (Table 4). We believe that the improved partitioning observed in SER 16 is a key to recovering superior progeny in these crosses, and this experience could be extended to crosses with other species of similar physiology. The tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) possesses multiple traits that are important for common bean breeding. Furthermore, this species is suitable for the production of transgenic plants through Agrobacterium transformation. However, crosses with the tepary bean, or its close relative, P. parvifolius, presents multiple problems. Tepary bean is characterized by good partitioning of photosynthates to grain (thus its problems are not those of the Phaseoli group cited above), but its phylogenetic distance from P. vulgaris gives rise to different postzygotic incompatibility barriers such as embryo abortion, presence of dominant lethal alleles, self or complete sterility of the resulting hybrids and incongruity of homeologous chromosomes. Through the use of embryo rescue and facilitator genotypes of both species, the production of viable hybrids and the transfer of resistance to bacterial blight (Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli) have been possible. However, the production of fertile progeny with other genotypes of tepary bean that carry resistance to drought, leafhopper (Empoasca kraemeri R. & M.) or the bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus Say) has not been possible using the above mentioned strategies.To overcome this problem, a unique breeding system called congruity backcrossing was suggested to improve chromosome pairing and recombination (Haghighi and Ascher 1988). In this system the F1 (normally employing P. vulgaris as female and source of cytoplasm) is immediately backcrossed to common bean and this backcross F 1 is in turn pollinated by tepary bean again. This is continued for several generations, alternating between the two parents, in the hope of obtaining inter-chromosomal recombinations that will improve chromosome pairing and fertility. A variant of this system employs a parallel crossing program to facilitate maintaining chromosomes of this species, and after several cycles, progeny from the parallel schemes are intercrossed. This intensive method has resulted in families with improved fertility and intermediate morphology, although more important economic traits have not yet been transferred to common bean.Seven taxa are currently recognized in the genus Lens. These include the cultivated lentil (Lens culinaris subsp. culinaris Medik), its wild progenitors (L. culinaris Medik. subsp. orientalis (Boiss.) Ponert, L. odemensis Ladiz., L ervoides (Brign.) Grande, L. nigricans (Bieb.) Godr. [Ladizinsky, 1993]) and two recent species, L. tomentosus Ladiz. and L. lamottei Czefr. The wild relatives of lentil are distributed around the Mediterranean basin and further East to Central Asia. The wild Lens species and the cultigen, L. culinaris are all diploid (2n = 14) and are predominantly self pollinators.All the wild Lens species are considered to be crossable to the cultigen (Ladizinsky et al. 1988), except in few cases where the hybrids are difficult to obtain. L. culinaris subsp. orientalis is readily crossable with the domesticated lentil, although the fertility of the hybrids depends on the chromosome arrangement of the wild parent (Ladizinsky 1979;Ladizinsky et al. 1984). Crosses between L. odemensis and L. culinaris subsp. orientalis yield partially fertile F 1 hybrids (Ladizinsky et al. 1984). Poor seed set has been observed in F 1 hybrids of L. odemensis x L. culinaris subsp culinaris cross (Goshen et al. 1982). Pod abortion takes place in the crosses involving cultivated lentil and L. ervoides or L. nigricans. Hybrids between L. ervoides and L. nigricans produce pods with seeds but at low frequency. Ahmad et al. (1995) reported that use of GA3 hormone produced viable hybrids in crosses of cultivated lentil with L. culinaris subsp. orientalis, L. odemensis, L. ervoides and L. nigricans. Thus, three crossability groups exist in Lens: (1) L. culinaris and L. odemensis, (2) L. ervoides, L. nigricans and L. lamottei, and (3) L. tomentosus.Wild lentils possessing substantial genetic diversity (Muehlbauer 1993;Ferguson and Robertson 1996) are potentially important source of genetic variation for improvement of cultivated lentil (Table 5). Their restricted use in breeding programmes is primarily due to lack of evaluation data for characters of economic importance. A portion of wild Lens collection has been evaluated at ICARDA for selected agronomic traits, biotic and abiotic stresses. Bayaa et al. (1991) systematically screened the ICARDA wild lentil collection for resistance to fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis and for resistance to ascochyta blight caused by Ascochyta fabae f. sp. lentis. Resistance to fusarium wilt was identified in 3 of 109 accessions of L. culinaris ssp. orientalis, 3 of 30 accessions of L. nigricans ssp. nigricans, and 2 of 63 accessions of L. nigricans ssp. ervoides. Resistance to ascochyta blight was identified in 24 of 86 accessions of L. culinaris ssp. orientalis, 12 of 35 accessions of L. culinaris ssp odemensis, 3 of 35 accessions of L. nigricans ssp. nigricans and 39 of 89 accessions of L. nigricans ssp. ervoides. One accession of L. nigricans ssp. ervoides, ILWL 138, had combined resistance to both the diseases.Resistance to anthracnose (caused by Colletotrichum truncatum (Schwein.) Andrus & W.D. Moore) races Ct1/Ct0 has been successfully transferred from L. ervoides to cultivated lentil (Fiala et al., 2009). The studies on genetics of introgressed resistance of interspecific hybrid (F 7:8 ) inbred line population identified 1-2 recessive genes controlling both the races of anthracnose (Ct1/Ct0).The cultivated species of several important legumes, such as chickpea and pigeonpea, show limited variability at the molecular level, despite the fact that high level of variability exists for morphological traits. The vast variability seen for morphological traits may be reflection of the expression of limited number of mutant loci. As the genetic variability is a perquisite for progress of any breeding program, efforts should be made to widen the genetic base of the cultigen by exploiting wild species. The wild species also offer opportunities of bringing novel alleles for important traits, particularly resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. There has been limited success in exploiting the species of tertiary gene pool. Concentrated efforts are needed to introgress desired genes from wild species, including cloning of genes and introducing these genes through transgenic approaches. There has been a rapid progress in development of molecular markers and molecular maps in many legumes. We are now better prepared for marker-assisted introgression of traits, using both foreground and background selection. This will greatly facilitate introgression of genes from the wild species.","tokenCount":"4490"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9585811632.json b/data/part_1/9585811632.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a6ea880983bc966e139a3b07aad02267736ae9ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9585811632.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"11ed8cf2fcb24a4419458a299945c4e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/64c8d102-a52a-4ccb-829e-53e953e0e1c8/content","id":"-1447706876"},"keywords":["Maize","Landrace","Diversity","Pre-breeding","Genomic selection"],"sieverID":"36f51f09-1e9f-46b4-a92e-d4ae4e4fba5b","pagecount":"15","content":"Background: The limited genetic diversity of elite maize germplasms raises concerns about the potential to breed for new challenges. Initiatives have been formed over the years to identify and utilize useful diversity from landraces to overcome this issue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proposed designs to initiate a pre-breeding program within the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative with emphasis on harnessing polygenic variation from landraces using genomic selection. We evaluated these designs with stochastic simulation to provide decision support about the effect of several design factors on the quality of resulting (pre-bridging) germplasm. The evaluated design factors were: i) the approach to initiate a pre-breeding program from the selected landraces, doubled haploids of the selected landraces, or testcrosses of the elite hybrid and selected landraces, ii) the genetic parameters of landraces and phenotypes, and iii) logistical factors related to the size and management of a pre-breeding program.This paper uses stochastic simulation to evaluate designs for initiating maize pre-breeding programs that harness polygenic variation from landrace populations for later incorporation into elite maize breeding populations. Today's elite maize germplasms have lower genetic variance than progenitor populations [1][2][3], because they were sourced from a limited set of ancestral populations [4,5] and to a smaller extent due to recent selection [6].Such a reduced genetic variance limits the potential to breed for new market demands, new pathogens, and changing environments [7][8][9][10][11]. These breeding goals would be easier to address if the vast genetic variation of progenitor populations would be accessible to breeders in a form they could use in their breeding programs (e.g., see [12] and references within).Extensive genetic variation is available in the diverse maize landrace populations around the globe [1][2][3] as a result of the open-pollinated reproductive system of maize and variation in its components [13], introgression from wild relatives [14], seed exchange between farmers, mutation, drift, and mild selection operating over a range of environments and time [13,15,16]. Some landraces are well adapted to extreme environments and it is likely they contain favorable alleles that could be used as a genetic resource to enrich the elite germplasms [17]. To use these resources breeders need to bridge the wide performance gap between landrace and elite germplasms, as landraces tend to have low performance, as well as high heterogeneity and negative genetic load. This process can be accelerated by using existing composite or recurrent selection populations, or even inbred lines derived from local landraces [12,18].A recent initiative to characterize and use a part of the untapped variation in landraces is Seeds of Discovery (SeeD; http://seedsofdiscovery.org) funded mostly by the Mexican government through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program (MasAgro; http://masagro.mx). SeeD aims to identify and enable use of favorable variation from landraces to develop bridging germplasm with 75 % or more elite and 25 % or less landrace genome (Fig. 1). This bridging germplasm is planned to provide donor lines carrying novel, landrace-derived genetic variation, to breed for high value characteristics such as nutritional quality, heat and drought tolerance, disease resistance, and tolerance to soil infertility. To this end the breeder's core of 4,000+ maize landrace accessions from the germplasm bank housed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) were genotyped with many markers and phenotyped for testcross performance (http://seedsofdiscovery.org). This resource provides one foundation for harnessing favorable variation from landraces.Since the traits targeted by SeeD are predominantly polygenic e.g., [11,19], data generated from this population can be approached both by genome-wide association mapping and by genomic selection. Genome-wide association mapping has and continues to be used in SeeD to highlight genomic regions with sizeable associations. Once such regions are identified and underlying alleles characterized, a limited number can be introgressed into elite germplasms following established forward breeding procedures [20][21][22][23].Genomic selection offers an alternative paradigm where favorable genetic variation can be targeted across the whole genome and deleterious variation deselected, without focusing on few genomic regions, which is of particular value for traits of higher genetic complexity. In the context of a pre-breeding program genomic selection could be used to enrich the starting germplasm (from here onwards called as the pre-bridging germplasm) with favorable polygenic variation [24]. Such an enriched pre-bridging germplasm can then be used as a source for crossing with breeder proposed elite lines from the same heterotic group to create a bridging germplasm that contains 25 % or lower exotic genome to provide donor lines for introgression into elite germplasms (Fig. 1).Despite the high potential value of genomic selection and forward breeding applications, there are many unknowns about how to initiate a pre-breeding program to optimize the outcome within the economic and logistical constraints. This is especially challenging in SeeD because of the vast genetic diversity addressed. An important opportunity for SeeD is the recent deployment of affordable high-throughput genomic tools for plant breeding [25,26], which enable powerful analysis of the collected genomic and phenotypic data. This resource is expected to enable accurate genomic selection with short breeding cycles [27][28][29], which is essential for speeding up the improvement of pre-bridging germplasm. Genomic selection has been shown to speed up improvement within adapted × exotic crosses with more exotic germplasm introgressed per unit of time in comparison with phenotypic backcross selection [30,31]. SeeD seeks to develop a bridging germplasm of donor lines for such crosses, but it is unclear how to use genomic selection paradigm to initiate such a pre-breeding program to harness sufficient amounts of polygenic variation from diverse populations, such as landraces.This study aimed to evaluate the proposed designs to initiate a pre-breeding program within the SeeD initiative with emphasis on harnessing polygenic variation from landraces using genomic selection. The design factors included: i) the approach to initiate a pre-breeding program from the selected landraces, doubled haploids of the selected landraces, or testcrosses of the elite hybrid and selected landraces, ii) genetic parameters of landraces and phenotypes of interest, and iii) logistical factors related to the size and management of a pre-breeding program.A pre-breeding program that would harness polygenic variation from landraces can be initiated in many possible ways. This research evaluated a preselected set of designs proposed within SeeD and quantified the effect of different design factors on the quality of the resulting pre-bridging germplasm (Fig. 1). We quantified the effect of each design factor by a stochastic simulation, which involved generating: i) genomes of landraces and the elite hybrid (Additional file 1), ii) marker genotype data using the genotyping-bysequencing (GBS) technology (Additional file 1), iii) trait genetic architecture (quantitative trait loci, QTL), true breeding values (TBV), and phenotypes (Additional file 1), iv) the discovery phase with a large landrace × elite training population and different approaches to initiate the pre-bridging germplasm, and v) the improvement phase with a synthetic population used to improve the pre-bridging germplasm. The simulation steps were performed by reusing the code base of AlphaDrop program [32], which lead to the development of AlphaSim program [33] available at http://www.alphagenes.roslin.ed.ac.uk/alphasuite/alphasim. The simulation outputs were analyzed using R [34].The aim of the discovery phase was to discover the best landraces and the best seeds within these landraces to initiate the pre-bridging germplasm. Ranking of landraces and seeds within a landrace was based on their estimated breeding value (EBV) for testcross performance inferred from the collected genomic and phenotypic information. This phase was conducted in three stages that involved i) generating landrace × elite training population, ii) selecting the best landraces, and iii) selecting the best seeds within the selected landraces. The first stage involved generating the training population by first growing one, three, or five sampled seeds from each of the 3,000 landraces, and then crossing them with the elite hybrid to get a population of 3,000, 9,000, or 15,000 testcrosses, respectively. The obtained testcross phenotypes were regressed on the corresponding landrace seed marker genotypes using ridge regression to train a genomic prediction equation [27,35,36]. The prediction equation was used to get an EBV for each planted seed per landrace and a mean EBV for each landrace, as well as EBV for nonphenotyped but genotyped seeds when required. The second stage involved selecting the best 40 or 80 landraces according to their mean EBV. The third stage involved genotyping 10, 20, or 40 random seeds from the selected landraces (in total between 40 × 10 = 400 and 80 × 40 = 3,200 seeds) and selecting the best 10 according to their EBV, with a restriction that only one seed per landrace was selected.The third stage, selecting the best seeds, followed one of the three different approaches of initiating the prebridging germplasm. The Landrace approach was based on initiating from the selected seeds of the selected landraces (Additional file 2: Figure S1). The LandraceDH approach was like the Landrace approach, but extended to initiate from the best doubled haploids of the selected seeds to get inbred starting individuals (Additional file 2: Figure S2). To start with the landrace genome segments introgressed into the elite background the LandraceElite approach was based on initiating from the selected testcross seeds of the selected landrace × elite crosses (Additional file 2: Figure S3).The aim of the improvement phase was to further improve the initiated pre-bridging germplasm from the discovery phase. This phase involved four stages with a breeding cycle within each. The first breeding cycle was started by planting the selected seeds from the discovery phase and crossing the resulting plants at random to initiate a synthetic population (Additional file 2: Figure S4). Ten seeds from each of the ten grown plants were sampled for genotyping (100 altogether) and their EBV were calculated using the available prediction equation. The best ten seeds were selected based on their EBV to start a new breeding cycle. A random sample of 0, 20, 40, or 60 of the remaining seeds were grown and crossed to the elite hybrid to obtain their testcross performance data for retraining the genomic prediction equation. The new prediction equation was obtained by regressing the obtained testcross phenotypes on the corresponding synthetic seed genotypes collected within a cycle using ridge regression as in the discovery phase. The discovery data were excluded from retraining. Since two generations were needed to obtain testcross phenotypes, the updated equation from a cycle could only be used in the next cycle.This study simulated and analyzed the effect of the following design factors: i. the approach to initiate the pre-bridging germplasm (Landrace, LandraceDH, or LandraceElite), ii. genetic parameters -the diversity of the founding population (effective population size (N e ) of 1,000 or 100,000), the diversity within landrace accessions (inbreeding coefficient (F) of 0.3 or 0.9), and the heritability of the selection trait (h 2 =0.25 or h 2 =0.50) and iii. logistical factors -the genotyping platform (high coverage GBS with 10,000 markers (GBS10x@10K) or low-coverage GBS with 100,000 markers (GBS1x@100K)), number of phenotyped seeds per landrace in the discovery phase (1, 3, or 5), the number of selected landrace (40 or 80), the number of tested seeds per selected landrace (10, 20, or 40), and the number of phenotyped synthetic seeds for retraining in the improvement phase (0, 20, 40, or 60).Altogether 3,456 different scenarios were replicated ten times. The simulation outputs are available in the R data file format [34] in the Additional file 3.For each scenario genetic merit, accuracy of genomic prediction, kinship with the elite hybrid, and heterozygosity of germplasm were collected in different stages of the discovery and improvement phases. Here germplasm represents a collection of individuals, i.e., landraces, selected landraces, or the whole pre-bridging germplasm. Genetic merit was expressed relative to the mean genetic merit of landraces as well as to the elite hybrid individual so that the mean genetic merit of landraces was zero and the genetic merit of the elite hybrid was one. This was achieved by first computing the mean TBV of landraces, which was subtracted from the mean TBV of a germplasm and from the TBV of the elite hybrid. Then, the subtracted mean TBV of a germplasm was divided by the subtracted TBV of elite hybrid. Accuracy was measured as the correlation between EBV and TBV. Kinship with the elite hybrid was measured as the proportion of 1 cM identical genome segments between a germplasm and the elite hybrid to determine uniqueness of the germplasm in comparison with the elite hybrid. Heterozygosity was measured as mean heterozygosity over segregating sites to determine the genetic diversity of the germplasm, which indicates its potential for further improvement.It was hypothesized that the approach of initiating the pre-bridging germplasm would substantially affect the genetic merit and uniqueness of such a germplasm and successful initiation of the pre-breeding program. Therefore, the analysis focused on the approach to initiate the pre-bridging germplasm as a main effect and on the interaction with the genetic parameters of landraces and phenotypes. These parameters described a range of possible landraces from which a pre-breeding program might aim to harness polygenic variation. Once the effect of the three approaches was determined, the most promising approach was analyzed in detail. The detailed analysis assessed the effect of different design factors on genetic merit in the final stage of the discovery and improvement phases for a subset of scenarios that are relevant for SeeD, i.e., a very diverse founding population (N e = 100,000), and high genetic diversity within landrace accessions (F = 0.3). The simulation output and the accompanying easy to use R code [34] in the Additional file 3 can be used to explore other subsets of scenarios.The effect of each design factor was first evaluated via a linear model [34,37]. Then a decision support system was developed using the regression tree analysis, which builds a decision tree by recursive partitioning the modeled variable according to the most influential design factor on each iteration, taking into account both main and interaction effects [38,39]. Both the linear model and regression tree analyses were based on modeling the genetic merit of pre-bridging germplasm in different scenarios as a function of heritability, genotyping platform, the number of phenotyped seeds per landrace, the number of selected landraces, the number of tested seeds per selected landrace, and the number of phenotyped synthetic seeds. Differences between the levels of design factors were declared significant at the p < 0.01 level in both the linear model and regression tree analysis.The approach to initiate the pre-bridging germplasm significantly affected the genetic merit of the resulting germplasm. The LandraceElite approach gave a pre-bridging germplasm with the highest mean genetic merit of 0.54 at the start of improvement phase (Fig. 2, Additional file 2: Table S1), which was mostly due to advancing half of the elite hybrid genome (the genetic merit of the elite hybrid individual was 1.00 by definition) and only 0.04 due to advancing the favorable genetic variation from landraces. In comparison, the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches both gave a pre-bridging germplasm with a mean genetic merit of 0.07 at the start of improvement phase. By the end of improvement phase, the genetic merit was 0.70 with the LandraceElite approach, 0.16 with the LandraceDH approach, and 0.15 with the Landrace approach.Two sets of LandraceElite scenarios had distinct trajectories of genetic merit throughout the improvement phase reflecting retraining of the prediction equation. The first set of scenarios, where re-training was omitted, showed a slow but continuous decrease in the mean genetic merit to 0.40, in contrast the scenarios where retraining was performed showed a steady increase in the mean genetic merit to 0.80.The influence of both diversity of founding populations and heritability did not show strong interactions . Genetic merit was higher when the diversity of the founding population was low (N e = 1,000), when the diversity within landrace accessions was high (F = 0.3) or when the heritability was high (h 2 = 0.50).The kinship with the elite hybrid was used to describe the distinctiveness of pre-bridging germplasm. For both the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches the mean kinship was only 0.02 in the training population and stayed at this level through all stages (Fig. 3, Additional file 2: Table S2). The LandraceElite approach increased mean kinship with the elite hybrid to 0.26 after selecting among the landrace × elite seeds and to 0.32 by the end of improvement phase. The kinship value after selection was close to the expected value of 0.25; the probability of choosing an allele identical by descent from the elite hybrid and its progeny is 25 %. These results indicate that the LandraceElite approach was increasing the frequency of the elite haplotypes throughout the improvement phase, i.e., it was reconstructing the elite genome. This was not the case for a set of LandraceElite scenarios with omitted retraining of the prediction equation; there the mean kinship with the elite hybrid decreased to 0.17 by the end of the improvement phase. When the prediction equation was retrained, the mean kinship with the elite hybrid increased to 0.38 by the end of the improvement phase. Apart from larger values when the diversity of the founding population was low, no strong interactions were found between the approach and the genetic parameters on kinship with the elite hybrid (Additional file 2: Figure S6). The larger kinship values with low diversity of the founding population can be attributed to a higher chance of seeing the same haplotype in both the elite hybrid and landrace accessions.The mean accuracy of genomic prediction was 0.42 in the training stage and 0.37 when selecting the best landraces (Fig. 4, Additional file 2: Table S3). For the training stage, accuracy was defined as a correlation between the EBV and TBV of phenotyped landrace (training) seeds, while for selecting the best landraces accuracy was defined as a correlation between the mean EBV of training landrace seeds and the mean TBV of the landrace accession seeds. The approach to initiate pre-bridging germplasm significantly affected the accuracy of selecting the best seeds from the selected landraces. The mean accuracy was 0.28 for both the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches and 0.18 for the LandraceElite approach. The approaches differ due to the elite hybrid haplotypes not being included in the training of the prediction equation, i.e., only landrace genotypes were included in the training population.Even larger differences in the mean accuracy between the approaches were observed in the first stage of the improvement phase; the mean accuracy was 0.16 for the Landrace approach, 0.14 for the LandraceDH approach, and −0.33 for the LandraceElite approach. Differences between the approaches reduced after the first round of retraining the prediction equation. The three approaches had comparable accuracies in the final stage of the improvement phase (0.32 with the Landrace approach and Fig. 4 Accuracy of genomic evaluation/prediction in different stages by approach. Discovery phase (training -T, the selected accessions -A, the selected seeds from the selected accessions -S). Improvement phase (the selected seeds in each of the four cycles -C1-C4). One line represents a mean over ten replicates 0.33 with both the LandraceDH and LandraceElite approach). Two sets of LandraceElite scenarios had distinct trajectories of accuracies throughout the improvement phase. The first set of scenarios showed no improvement in accuracy after the initial drop and stayed at the same value of −0.30 throughout the improvement phase because the retraining of prediction equation was omitted for these scenarios. The second set of scenarios showed a fast increase in mean accuracy to 0.54, which was due to retraining the prediction equation. The interaction between the approach to initiate pre-bridging germplasm, the diversity of the founding population, the diversity within landrace accessions, and the heritability affected accuracy of genomic prediction (Additional file 2: Figure S7). The pattern of change in accuracies was the same for the different combinations of genetic parameters (Fig. 4), but was more pronounced when the diversity of the founding population was high and the diversity within landrace accessions and the heritability were low, particularly for the LandraceElite approach. These differences were due to the effect of genetic parameters on the accuracy of genomic prediction and the elite hybrid haplotypes excluded from training. For example, with the LandraceElite approach the accuracy was −0.02 in the first stage of improvement phase when the diversity of the founding population was low (N e = 1,000), the diversity within landrace accessions was low (F = 0.3), and the heritability was high (h 2 = 0.50), while it was −0.54 when the diversity of the founding population was high (N e = 100,000), the diversity within landrace accessions was high (F = 0.9), and the heritability was low (h 2 = 0.25) (Additional file 2: Figure S7).The heterozygosity of germplasm was also influenced by the approach to initiate pre-bridging germplasm (Fig. 5, Additional file 2: Table S4). Landrace accessions had a mean heterozygosity of 0.17 and selecting the ones with the highest genetic merit did not change this measure of genetic diversity. Due to selection the heterozygosity decreased slightly (to 0.15) in the selected seeds for both the Landrace and LandraceDH approach. In contrast, the introgression of the landrace alleles into the elite background caused the heterozygosity to increase substantially (to 0.37) in the selected seeds for the LandraceElite approach. The heterozygosity increased in the first stage of the improvement phase with the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches due to the mixing of genomes of the different landraces and decreased thereafter due to selection. Heterozygosity decreased with the LandraceElite approach throughout the improvement phase because of selection. In the final stage of the improvement phase the heterozygosity was highest with the Landrace approach (0.19), followed by the LandraceDH approach (0.18), and then the LandraceElite approach (0.17).Some LandraceElite scenarios had comparable heterozygosity to the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches, due to inaccurate selection caused by the lack of retraining the prediction equation. The interaction between the approach to initiate pre-bridging germplasm, the diversity of the founding population, and diversity within landrace accessions affected heterozygosity (Additional file 2: Figure S8). The mean heterozygosity of accessions was expected to be low when diversity within accessions Fig. 5 Heterozygosity in different stages by approach. Discovery phase (training -T, the selected accessions -A, the selected seeds from the selected accessions -S). Improvement phase (the selected seeds in each of the four cycles -C1-C4). One line represents a mean over ten replicates was low (F = 0.9). However, the mixing of divergent genomes caused the mean heterozygosity to increase substantially in the selected landrace × elite seeds or in the first stage of synthetic seeds with the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches.The comparison of the different approaches to initiate pre-bridging germplasm shows significant differences between the LandraceElite and either the Landrace or LandraceDH approaches and only a small difference between the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches. The LandraceElite approach differs because the pre-bridging germplasm is initiated with the selected landrace × elite individuals that contain 50 % elite genome. Further improvement of this germplasm leads to the rapid reconstruction of the elite genome. This reconstruction limits the enrichment of pre-bridging germplasm with valuable landrace alleles and is thus unaligned with the goals of SeeD. Further analyses were focused on the effect of design factors using the Landrace approach only.The tested design factors affected the genetic merit of pre-bridging germplasm at the end of the discovery and improvement phases (Table 1). Higher heritability (0.25 vs. 0.50) gave pre-bridging germplasm with higher genetic merit (0.033 vs. 0.045 in the discovery phase and 0.098 vs. 0.130 in the improvement phase). Differences of similar size were observed when using larger numbers of GBS markers with low coverage (GBS1x@100K) in comparison with smaller numbers of GBS markers with higher coverage (GBS10x@10K). This suggests that initiation and improvement of pre-bridging germplasms should be done with more GBS markers even if they have lower accuracy of called genotypes.The number of phenotyped seeds per landrace also affected the genetic merit of pre-bridging germplasm. The mean genetic merit with one, three, and five seeds per landrace were 0.035, 0.042, and 0.040, respectively by the end of the discovery phase and 0.109, 0.117, and 0.116, respectively by the end of the improvement phase. The number of selected landraces and the number of tested seeds per selected landrace affected the end of the discovery phase, but this effect was diluted by the end of the improvement phase. Selecting more landraces initiated a pre-bridging germplasm with lower genetic merit (0.042 and 0.036 with 40 and 80 selected landraces, respectively), while testing more seeds per landrace increased the intensity of selection and initiated a prebridging germplasm with higher genetic merit (0.038, 0.040, and 0.041 with 10, 20, and 40 tested seeds per landrace, respectively). The number of phenotyped synthetic seeds in the improvement phase affected the genetic merit of resulting germplasm. When the synthetic population was unphenotyped and the retraining was omitted the resulting germplasm had low mean genetic merit (0.069). Phenotyping at least 20 synthetic seeds and retraining the prediction equation increased the genetic merit of the final pre-bridging germplasm to 0.116. Increasing the number of phenotyped synthetic seeds to 40 or 60 increased the genetic merit of the final pre-bridging germplasm to 0.131 or 0.139, respectively.Genetic merit of the pre-bridging germplasm was affected by many interactions between the design factors. The summary of the interaction effects on the genetic merit of selected seeds from the selected landraces at the end of the discovery phase is shown with the decision tree in Fig. 6. In that stage the design factor with the largest effect was the genotyping platform, followed by the trait heritability. The number of selected landraces, the number of tested landrace seeds, and the number of phenotyped landrace seeds interacted with each other and with the genotyping platform and the trait heritability in different ways. Despite the interactions a decision tree provides easy to follow guidelines. For example, the strategy to identify the best landrace seeds for a trait with the heritability of 0.25 was to use 100,000 GBS markers with 1x coverage, test more than 10 seeds from 40 selected landraces. The observed differences in genetic merit of the selected seeds are the result of differences in selection intensity and accuracy of genomic prediction when selecting landraces and seeds within these landraces (Additional file 2: Figure S9-S10). While many design factors affected the genetic merit of pre-bridging germplasm at the end of the discovery phase (Fig. 6), few factors had a lasting effect until the end of the improvement phase (Fig. 7). This suggests that some of the main effects and their interactions were canceled out during the discovery and improvement phases. The design factor with the largest effect on the genetic merit of final germplasm was the number of phenotyped synthetic seeds, followed by the genotyping platform and the trait heritability. The same design factors determined the accuracy of genomic prediction in the improvement phase (Additional file 2: Figure S11). The strategy to develop germplasm with the highest genetic merit for a trait with heritability of 0.25 or 0.50 was to phenotype more than 20 synthetic seeds and use 100,000 GBS markers with 1x coverage (Fig. 7). Such a strategy would lead to a germplasm with a mean genetic merit of 0.130 and 0.167 for a trait with heritability of 0.25 and 0.50, respectively; reducing the number of phenotyped synthetic seeds to 20 would lower the mean genetic merit to 0.109 and 0.146, respectively. Omitting phenotyping and retraining in the improvement phase would decrease the mean genetic merit to 0.083 and 0.107.Genetic variation for traits of interest is the fundamental building block of conventional crop improvement strategies. The limited genetic diversity in elite maize germplasms raises concerns about the genetic potential to address existing and new breeding goals. Several initiatives, such as SeeD, are addressing this problem by searching for favorable variation in diverse landraces. The SeeD initiative aims to identify and extract favorable variation from gene bank accessions in Mexico and develop a semi-elite bridging germplasm, which breeders can use for increasing diversity of their breeding programs. This study evaluated the proposed genomic selection designs to initiate a precursor of such a bridging germplasm, the pre-bridging germplasm, to be further improved and developed into the final bridging germplasm (Fig. 1). The study evaluated the effect of three categories of design factors on the genetic merit of Fig. 6 Decision tree for genetic merit in the final stage of discovery phase. With the Landrace approach, high diversity of the founding population (Ne = 100,000), and high diversity within accessions (F = 0.3) resulting pre-bridging germplasm. The first category consisted of three approaches to initiate pre-bridging germplasm from either the selected landraces, doubled haploids derived of the selected landraces, or testcrosses of the selected landraces and elite hybrid. The second category represented different genetic parameters of landraces and phenotypes. The third category represented logistical factors about the size and management of the pre-breeding program.The results show that the approach to initiate the prebreeding germplasm has a significant effect on the outcome. Highest genetic merit was achieved by initiation with testcrosses. However, this high merit was achieved by reconstructing the elite genome and not by utilizing the favorable variation in landraces and as such was contrary to the aims of pre-breeding. A potential way to avoid reconstructing the elite genome would be to randomly mate the initial landrace × elite individuals for several generations to recombine the elite and landrace segments, breaking the linkage between the favorable and unfavorable alleles in the landrace segments e.g., [12,30]. However, such mixing would take several generations. In addition, it will only partially solve the main problem, which is that the high frequency of favorable alleles from the elite genome mask the effect of those in landrace genomes [12]. While this is a minor issue when introgressing single alleles with major effects, it becomes a problem when the number of alleles increases, the effect of alleles decreases, and the gap between the landrace and elite germplasms widens. Thus, the common approach of mining for favorable alleles and introgressing them into the elite germplasms [40,41] is unfeasible for polygenic traits for at least two reasons. First, the power to identify loci underpinning polygenic traits is low with the currently available resources. Huge sets of phenotyped and densely genotyped populations will be needed to mine for such loci [42,43]. Until data sets of such size are available, selection of high merit individuals will be based on associations between variation in large genome segments and variation in phenotypes [29,[44][45][46][47]. Second, even if such loci and their alleles are identified, the main problem of bridging the wide gap between landrace and elite germplasms remains unsolved.The more promising approach of pre-breeding for polygenic traits is to avoid too early introgression into elite backgrounds by initiating a pre-bridging germplasm from the most promising landraces as proposed within Fig. 7 Decision tree for genetic merit in the final stage of improvement phase. With the landrace approach, high diversity of the founding population (Ne = 100,000), and high diversity within accessions (F = 0.3)SeeD with the Landrace or LandraceDH approaches. The pre-bridging germplasm should then be improved independently until the frequency of favorable alleles is increased. This approach is in line with existing experiences of introgressing exotic material into the adapted germplasms, i.e., introgression is generally more successful with an advanced exotic material than with the diverse landraces [12,18]. The Latin America Maize Project (LAMP) [48] and the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize (GEM) program [7,49] provide an example of such an approach. In LAMP many landraces across Latin America were tested and the most promising ones were used in the GEM program with the aim of releasing promising advanced material for further breeding [50,51]. The scope of our study aligns partially with the first phase of phenotypic screening for the most promising landraces in LAMP, but we used genomic selection for screening and further improvement of the prebridging germplasm.Improvement of the pre-bridging germplasm initiated from landraces can be slow and costly. An opportunity for SeeD is the recent emergence of affordable high-throughput genotyping for plant breeding [25,26], which complements phenotyping activities in SeeD. These resources provide a foundation for a genomic pre-breeding program with genomic selection and much shorter breeding cycles than with standard phenotype based programs [28,29,52]. In this study, the mean response to selection achieved with was equal to 2.52 genetic standard deviations (GSD) in 6 seasons with the Landrace approach, and 2.68 GSD in 9 seasons with the LandraceDH approach considering the generation of double-haploids (assuming one season of phenotyping in each case). In comparison, the LandraceElite approach was much better with 16.78 GSD above the mean of landrace accessions. However, given the large diversity of the founding population and among the landrace accessions and quite modest size of the training population for such a diverse setting, the responses achieved are considerable. The response per unit of time was 0.42 GSD with the Landrace approach and 0.30 GSD with the LandraceDH approach. Beside the smaller response to selection per unit of time in this study, the LandraceDH approach would have an additional drawback due to the high genetic load of recessive deleterious alleles in landraces, which would limit the success of generating doubled haploids. This suggests that at the early stage of pre-breeding the use of doubled haploid technology provides little benefit for breeding for higher additive genetic merit. However, doubled haploid technology can be effective in later stages for rapid development of the more advanced lines and for purging the (pre-)bridging germplasm of deleterious alleles before its further improvement or introgression into the elite backgrounds [53].The results show the power of genomic selection in diverse populations, e.g., landraces, and as such they expand the scope of previous genomic selection studies within a cross of elite [28] or exotic × adapted [30] material, and across crosses e.g., [29,46,54,55]. Indeed, this study covered a wide spectrum of settings that are of interest for evaluating the accuracy of genomic prediction in a diverse population from the discovery phase to the early generation synthetic population in the improvement phase. Seven stages across both phases had different settings that affected accuracy: training, selecting the best landraces, selecting the best seeds from the selected landraces in the discovery phase, and selecting the best synthetic seeds in the four stages of the improvement phase.The first stage, training, estimated parameters of a genomic prediction equation in a diverse landrace × elite training population by regressing the landrace × elite phenotypes on the marker genotypes of planted landrace seeds. Mean accuracy of evaluating the genetic merit of these seeds was 0.42, which is high for such a diverse setting, i.e., the effective population size of the founding population was either 1,000 or 100,000, but this is expected for individuals from within a training population.The second stage, selecting the best landraces, used the prediction equation from the first stage. Mean accuracy of predicting the mean genetic merit of landrace accessions was 0.37, which is also high for such a diverse setting and when the prediction is being done outside of the training population. High accuracy at this stage was achieved because group means vary less and more information was available to estimate them, making it is easier to predict the mean value of a group of individuals than the value of a particular individual within a group. The level of accuracy is in line with the accuracy in a set of wheat landraces [56].The third stage, selecting the best seeds from the selected landraces with the Landrace and LandraceDH approach or from the selected crosses with the LandraceElite approach, again used the prediction equation from the first stage. Mean accuracy of this prediction was 0.28 with the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches and 0.18 with the Land-raceElite approach. These results confirm that predicting an individual's genetic merit is indeed harder, especially if predicting the genetic merit of a preselected set of individuals, i.e., seeds from the selected landraces. These accuracies are higher than the theory of genomic prediction suggests it should be for a setting with so large genetic diversity [57,58]. This deviation from the theory was due to the close relationships between the training and prediction individuals [29,44,45,47], which the theory does not account for. However, the results are in agreement with the results of [59,60], where high accuracies were also found with diverse populations of training individuals and close related prediction individuals. Accuracy in our study was lower with the LandraceElite approach than with the Landrace approach, because the landrace × elite seeds were less related to the training population (the elite genome was excluded from training) than the landrace seeds.The fourth stage, selecting the best first-generation synthetic seeds, used the prediction equation from the first stage. At this stage, the difference in accuracy between the approaches was large. Mean accuracy at this stage was 0.16 with the Landrace approach and 0.14 with the LandraceDH approach. This large drop in comparison with the third stage was due to the further increase in distance from the training population. The small, but significant, difference between the Landrace and LandraceDH approaches was caused by the doubled haploid step, which changed the genetic variance of prediction population relative to the training population. Mean accuracy with the LandraceElite approach was, however, −0.33, i.e., individuals with high genetic merit got, on average, a low prediction. This stark drop in accuracy arose because the mixing of elite hybrid and landrace genomes \"broke\" associations between the markers and QTL estimated in the landrace training population. Accuracy was negative because the variation in landrace training population involved favorable and unfavorable QTL alleles in combinations with the marker genotypes, while the elite genome was enriched for favorable QTL alleles in different combinations with the marker genotypes. In other words, genetic variation in the landrace training population was on average in repulsion with the variation in the elite background. Consequently, the response to selection was negative in the first stage of the improvement phase with the Landra-ceElite approach and remained negative throughout the improvement phase if retraining was omitted.The fifth stage, selecting the best second-generation synthetic seeds, used the retrained prediction equation from the first-generation synthetic seeds. Mean accuracy at this stage was 0.26 with the Landrace approach, 0.33 with the LandraceDH approach, and 0.34 with the Land-raceElite approach. The Landrace approach had the lowest accuracy as a result of the higher genetic diversity. The LandraceDH had lower diversity due to selection of doubled haploids, while the LandraceElite had lower diversity due to the half of genome originating from the elite hybrid parent. These accuracies are somewhat comparable in value to those of selecting the best landraces (the second stage) and selecting the best seeds from the selected landraces (the third stage), but the setting was different. In the discovery phase the genetic diversity was high and the training population was large (3,000, 9,000, or 15,000 individuals), while in the improvement phase the genetic diversity was reduced due to selection and the training population was smaller (only 0, 20, 40, or 60 individuals).In the sixth stage, selecting the best third-generation seeds, and in the seventh stage, selecting the best fourthgeneration seeds, the accuracies with the three approaches were similar.Accuracy and the achieved genetic merit were affected by many pre-breeding program design factors evaluated in this study. Beside the approach to initiate prebridging germplasm and the stage of the pre-breeding program, there were also genetic and logistical factors. The genetic parameters affected accuracy in line with the theory [57,58] accuracies were higher with the higher heritability and with the lower effective population size. The logistical factors had variable effects throughout the simulation. The genotyping platform was based on GBS [25] with 10x coverage at 10,000 markers (GBS10x@10K) or with 1x coverage at 100,000 markers (GBS1x@100K) and the results showed that more markers with lower coverage gave higher accuracies in every stage of a pre-breeding program. This is an expected result because a large number of markers is required to capture the large genetic diversity in landraces [61]. The accuracy of called genotypes in GBS data depends on the coverage with higher coverage giving higher accuracy but also higher relative costs [25,62,63]. However, the results of this simulation show that low coverage (1x) genotype data can deliver accurate genomic predictions at low cost, as observed in [64,65].The effect of number of phenotyped seeds per landrace accession in the training set was in line with expectations with larger training populations leading to higher accuracies, but with large diminishing returns. Taking into account the costs it seems that of phenotyping only one seedling per accession might be enough as long as the total size of the training population enables accurate genomic predictions. It is unlikely that of phenotyping just one seedling per accession will represent a sizeable proportion of variation within each landrace, but this might provide some overlap between accessions to cover a fair share of total variation. The simulation suggests that a sizeable proportion of total variation was captured, as genomic predictions were accurate even for a setting with high diversity. However, these results might be too optimistic as the simulation of landraces was likely too simplistic [66].The number of selected best landraces and the number of tested seeds per selected landrace increased response to selection with more intense selection as expected. However, this effect did not extend to the last stage of the simulation. This can be explained by the fact that increased intensity of selection reduced diversity, which in turn reduced the long-term response to selection. This result indicates that pre-breeding programs might benefit by using optimum contribution selection, which balances the short-term response to selection and the loss of genetic diversity to maximize the long-term response to selection [58,[67][68][69]. While large responses in short time scales can be expected for traits affected by few loci with large effects, such large responses are impossible for polygenic traits. It might be tempting to increase the intensity of selection to maximize the response to selection when developing pre-bridging germplasm for polygenic traits. This may lead to a rapid loss of diversity and creation of selection bottlenecks e.g., [4][5][6], which would need to be addressed with a higher number of separate and diverse parallel prebreeding populations and higher costs. Finally, the results show that retraining the prediction equation is needed for the improvement of pre-bridging germplasm, as the accuracy of genomic prediction decreases rapidly with decreasing relationship between training and prediction individuals [29,44,45,47].Several design factors and their interactions affected the quality of pre-bridging germplasm. To create easy to follow guidelines in such a setting we used decision trees. A decision tree is estimated from the variation of a modeled variable (for example the genetic merit of germplasm) in relation to other variables (for example design factors) that might influence the modeled variable on its own or through a complicated interaction [38,39]. The estimated decision trees form an easy to follow decision support system for SeeD and similar initiatives in maize and other crops e.g., [70]. For example, a manager can use the decision tree to balance costs against expected gains to maximize return on investment.The developed decision trees suggest that only a small number of the design factors evaluated in this study significantly affect the resulting pre-bridging germplasm, in particular the amount of collected phenotypes in the improvement phase, heritability, and genotyping platform. This study evaluated only a small subset of possible designs to initiate a prebreeding program with a preselected subset of scenarios proposed within SeeD. Many more design factors than could have been evaluated in this study are likely to influence pre-breeding programs.The success of a pre-breeding program that aims to harness favorable polygenic variation from landraces will be largely affected by the approaches used to initiate the program. In particular interesting landrace haplotypes harboring polygenic variation should not be introgressed into elite backgrounds too early because the subsequent improvement will favor the elite haplotypes and limit the distinctness of resulting germplasm. Early introgression is feasible for loci with large effects, but not for polygenic loci. For the latter the focus should be put on genomic selection to increase frequencies of favorable alleles and with this bridge the gap between the landrace and elite germplasms. Pre-breeding programs are affected by many factors, whose effects can be summarized with decision trees to provide easy to follow decision support systems.","tokenCount":"7355"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9588462111.json b/data/part_1/9588462111.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f085923853314d3b4c47c402a311fbd27f896bb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9588462111.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9126643b81c01a0e31c29dceacee274c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5a356089-a738-49f5-b0f3-bd5421242e3b/retrieve","id":"202060628"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d6d3dca-0d29-49c1-8fd0-3eb6eedbec83","pagecount":"1","content":"Monitoring outcomes of climate-smart agricultural options at multiple levels:understanding adoption, synergies and tradeoffs• Household (T2): bigger sizes (>10 members), higher farm area (>9ha), additional income from remittance and accesses food from on-farm production.• Household (T3): smaller area (<6ha), don't own their land, get main income from remittance and food from community• Household (T1): heterogeneous farm size, higher number of members participating in on-farm activities and higher spouse education level• Top 5 practices: commonly adopted by male and women-headed households.• All household types: high adoption levels, T3: lower values for earth bunds and improved varietiesBoth men (78-96%) and women (74-100%) reported having control/access to CSA generated resources We deeply acknowledge all the CCAFS regional and local teams as well as our deeply engaged CSV partners and farming communities who provided their expertise and fruitful feedback to improve and tailor this tool to a wide range of environmental and social realities. Also Erika Mosquera for her support with the graphical design. Contact: Osana Bonilla-Findji (o.bonilla@cgiar.org)","tokenCount":"163"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9607660095.json b/data/part_1/9607660095.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..64811f89d64e60358c649e18493cc572a000f428
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9607660095.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b282c94f8487e62bd1d744bcdac6f058","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/404e503d-cbc7-48d2-83f7-c2aa9393ff83/retrieve","id":"2092238837"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f35d28e-c177-4cae-83a5-5819c5ca7481","pagecount":"55","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Editing, design and layout-What are \"best bet\" interventions?Step 1. Value chain overview: synopsis of the selected value chain and selection of focal sites for more detailed assessmentsStep 2. Value chain description: site specific description of value chain actors and identification of value chain opportunities and constraints vi Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitStep 3. Detailed assessment of specific value chain components to define or refine best betsStep 4. Monitoring, evaluation and learning 4.Tools descriptionGlossary vii Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitIn the past, CGIAR research on livestock and aquaculture typically focused on production or farming systems, with some attention given to the associated market systems. During the first decade of this century, researchers began adopting the emerging value chain construct to better recognize and understand how producers, market agents and consumers all interconnect within a very dynamic and complex system. When the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish were initiated in 2012, they explicitly targeted efforts to use research to transform selected animal source food value chains in several countries. The first task was to describe those value chains and identify how they might be improved to supply more highly nutritious food for low income consumers. It quickly became apparent that while much of our conventional methodology for characterizing production and market systems was still relevant, considerable adaptation and innovation was needed to work within the value chain framework. This manual is the fruit of that effort and will serve as a reference for future research in this area, alerting practitioners to the particular challenges they face in assessing value chains for animal source food. As noted by the authors, it should be treated as a living document to be updated as we continue to gain experience with applying the methodologies in new contexts.Director, CGIAR Research Program on Livestock Agri-food Systems viii Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkit 1. Introduction Demand for livestock and fish and their products is growing at very high rates in the developing world (Enahoro et al. 2019). This demand is expected to trigger increased production of these products, creating an opportunity for millions of small scale livestock and fish farmers as well as for the many low capital intensive inputs and services providers working in the livestock and fish value chains. However, depending on the structure of the value chains, their current performance and governance, as well as how consumer demand is structured, there is a risk that small scale farmers and value chain actors may not be able to tap into these opportunities. This is particularly the case for women as they face additional constraints participating in, and benefiting from, these value chains. Between 2010 and 2016, the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish worked with nine value chains to identify entry points for interventions through a process of problem identification, selection of promising interventions, testing and scaling. This toolkit describes the methods used during the problem identification stage. It is a living document that will be periodically revised.What are livestock and fish value chains?Value chains are defined as the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception through the different phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), delivery to final consumers and final disposal after use (Kaplinsky and Morris 2000). Because of the multiplicity of value chain actors, their geographical spread, their different and sometimes conflicting incentives, and the structure of value chains (in terms of types of actors), understanding their governance and measuring their performance are complex. It is therefore important to develop robust tools to understand them. In the past, most socioeconomic research conducted by CGIAR in value chains focused on the producer level, largely due to its historical context on developing technologies and practices for higher productivity. Gender disaggregated analyses were few and could not inform the broader research and development agenda. The CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish adopted a value chain approach, which required analysing other actors besides livestock and fish producers, including providers of inputs and services, traders, processors and retailers, as well as looking at consumer demand for these products. The tools commonly used at producer level were therefore of limited use and needed to be adapted. Livestock and fish value chains have unique features, as these products are relatively high value, bulky and perishable (and therefore their conservation and storage for use is not as easy as it is for other products such as crops). Moreover, the delivery of some inputs, like vaccines and veterinary drugs and improved genetics through breeding services, is costly as they require specialized expertise and often cold chains, elements that need to be captured in the analysis and therefore the tools. For women, the nature of these value chains means that their participation is more difficult. Another characteristic of livestock and fish value chains is their relatively informal nature, as few transactions enter \"official\" chains and processing is often limited. While this means that some of these value chains are short (with fewer actors involved) and possibly easier to analyse, other important challenges are raised with respect to sampling. For example, livestock traders and fish retailers are not easily identified because many operate outside the legal framework) and follow up surveys involving traders are difficult to conduct as most are mobile with no fixed business premises. The interview length needs to be kept short to minimize the time required of the value chain actors. In addition, production and demand peaks are seasonal, which requires the appropriate tools (questions) to capture multiple data points throughout the year.There are many value chain assessment toolkits already available and some tools from this toolkit are adaptations of existing tools like the ILRI Livelihoods and Gender Indicators document (Njuki et al. 2011). On the other hand, because of the unique features of fish and livestock products as described above, existing tools developed for crops are not well adapted. We therefore developed tools for the Livestock and Fish CRP's value chain assessments to capture the unique features of these products.The purpose of this toolkit is therefore to provide a set of tools to analyse livestock and fish value chains and to provide a process and associated tools to identify, monitor and evaluate best bet interventions, as per the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish CRP experience. The overall objective is to identify best bet interventions that improve value chain performance and gender inclusiveness.Chapter 2 describes methods that are common to many tools, including good practices on: design approaches (including sampling), people resources and associated skills and experience, data capture and management, data analysis methods and appropriate ethics and ethical approval. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the four main implementation steps, moving from tools for broad characterization at national level to more detailed and focused tools, with the tools in the last step used for best bet monitoring, evaluation and learning. The process of best bet identification is also discussed in this chapter. The fourth chapter lists all the tools, organized by step and provides tool objective, type (e.g. FGD), when and where to implement it, resources and expertise needed, expected implementation duration and any specific data analysis and interpretation, as well as sampling considerations. The information for each tool is provided on one page for ease of reading and comparison across tools. Also included are links to the tools, examples of tool implementation and how to use tool results. The last chapter provides some concluding comments.This toolkit does not provide information on how to select the target value chain (both in terms of livestock or fish product and geographic boundary of interest), rather it assumes that the research team and other stakeholders have already made a decision on this. In the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish CRP, criteria for selection of the nine value chains were determined at the proposal development stage and refined thereafter.For many of the tools, readymade analysis tools are not provided; for example, there are many ways to analyse the benchmarking household survey. For some tools, there are links to papers or reports describing how the data were analysed.The tools in this toolkit can be clustered into four different types:• Literature and secondary data review• Structured questionnaires (e.g. for producers, consumers, processors etc.) Each of these tool types requires different design approaches (including sampling), human resources and associated skills and experience, data capture and management, data analysis methods and appropriate ethics and ethical approval. This chapter provides some general suggestions and guidance on these key methodology aspects and specifically how they relate to each tool type:• Design approach -target population and geographic reach, hierarchy (e.g. stratification, clustering), sampling and sample size• Resource requirements (skills and experience) -related to implementation of the tool• Data capture and management -hardware and software, data management protocols, archiving and sharing of data The detailed sampling plans or protocols for each of the tools presented in this toolkit are designed to be adapted to each user, given differing objectives, steps of value chain assessment applied, indicators used etc. However, it is helpful to provide a simple checklist of issues that researchers should consider when using any of these tools, as they generally apply to both quantitative, qualitative and mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approaches.This toolkit focuses on the issues as they relate to sampling at different steps of a value chain assessment and of different populations (e.g. households, communities, specific groups of value chain actors, differentiation between women and men or by age groups etc.). However, as value chain research requires the integrated analysis of different actors, the design approach, including sampling methodology, should also consider the connectivity between these populations.The need for documenting the sampling processes in a sampling protocol each time one of these tools is used cannot be over emphasized. This encompasses the need for documenting an important component of the research design together with the need for transparency regarding the extent to which the findings may be applicable more widely than the environment within which the research is taking place. The documentation of sampling plans also focuses attention on the need to take account of hierarchical structures in the population studied and the variability arising at each level.This chapter does not include details on estimating sample size, as there are many resources on the subject and too many design options to cover all possible methods here. However, it is important to think about and be able to justify the sample sizes needed at each level of the design hierarchy, considering your research objectives, key indicators, stratification and clustering elements of the design, and to document the reasons for choices made and their limitations. This applies to both quantitative and qualitative data, even though the form of the justification may be different (e.g. other literature references, formal sample size equations etc.). In most cases, you will need to do as large a sample size as your resources (time/money) can manage!What are the objectives of my study? What is the overall design?The key objective(s) of the study (the reason for carrying it out) drive the design approach for the study and combined with our target population assist in defining our sampling frame from which we select the sampling and/or observational units (e.g. households, communities, key informants, value chain actors etc.).Most study design textbooks make a distinction between observational (no intervention, can look at observations at single or multiple timepoints) and experimental or quasi-experimental (intervention applied, look at changes influenced by the intervention) designs. This distinction will influence the design of the study, but in both cases we may use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and all tools in this toolkit can be applied across these different study types.What is the population (e.g. the people, animals, farming households, villages or other groups) to which the results are expected to apply?• Be realistic: to what population can the research results be generalized, while showing recognition and transparency as to the activity's limitations.• Be precise: define exactly what population your results can be applied to. For example, it is better to say, 'All mixed crop-livestock farming households in western Kenya owning less than 10 dairy cattle' rather than 'all livestock farmers in western Kenya'.• Be careful: we cannot claim a large breadth of coverage (e.g. results apply to all livestock farmers in east Africa) if the study is only taking place in a few sites or environments. The generalization cannot be supported when study sites do not capture the variation in environments. 1 A small sample size at site level in the hierarchy makes for limited generalization to other sites. Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkit What can we generalize?In some situations, the research findings are limited to only the study locations as case studies for the research. Depending on the objectives, this may be entirely valid, for example, in selecting hot spots to investigate resistance to the use of trypanocides, but likely less so in value chain research. The value of the findings may be in the richness and depth of details they provide about a specific situation (e.g. the how and why in gender transformative research), rather than in our ability or need to generalize.In some cases, it is not the research findings we want to generalize but the research methodology, for example, methodology for identifying the best pig breeds in smallholder production systems of southeast Asia. It is still important to be realistic about the conditions under which the methodology can be generalized, with possible adaptations to alternative environments. The same principles apply for proof of concept research.Do I need to conduct my study at all sites?If sites can be classified as homogeneous (i.e. similar in their key characteristics), then only a sample of sites may be studied. Unfortunately, experience with smallholder farming systems in Africa and Asia indicates that this is rarely true. Frequently, key variables vary across sites, e.g. local policy, market access, production system/agro-environmental situation etc. and these should be considered when selecting sites to study. However, unevenness in variables which are unimportant to the study and will not affect study outcomes do not need to be considered.In the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish CRP, a site selection process preceded the value chain assessment and three types of sites were identified based on discussions as to what may characterize different types of value chains (rural production to rural consumption, rural production to urban consumption and (peri) urban production to urban consumption). At least two areas (administrative units such as subcounty or sublocation in Uganda or Kenya) for each site type were then selected for the value chain assessment.What type of counterfactual do I need?For experimental and quasi-experimental studies, a counterfactual is used to explain the situation (the observed outcomes and impact) that would have occurred in the absence of the intervention. Since this can never be directly observed, alternative approaches are required that utilize appropriate comparison environments, the counterfactual. The type of counterfactual required (e.g. site, use of secondary data) depends on the study objectives, but in order to establish that the impact of the study on participants (before/after) is attributable to the study, some form of counterfactual must be used.Estimating before/after status of population of interest:• Establish population status before (study start) and after (study end) the study intervention.• When using a random sample of the target population, it may not be necessary to use the same farmers at the start and end of the study as all famers should be representative.• Collect only the data necessary to calculate the outcome indicators.Options for with/without comparison to show that changes are attributable to the intervention(s):• Use control sites: Is this realistic (given resources) and ethical? Are there sites which are similar enough in environment to be considered equivalent to the study sites?• Use control communities/markets/households within a site: Is there likely to be spillover effect of study activities to neighboring communities/markets/households? Is it confirmed that communities/markets/households will not join the study later or that the time lapse can be documented and the sites used as staggered controls (see below)?• Alternatives to control sites/communities/markets/households: What methods can I use to sample communities, markets, households or individuals (sampling units)?There is a large variety of sampling methods for selecting units to study, often called by different names and frequently, especially for complex surveys, involving a combination of methods! Some basic methods used to obtain a representative sample are outlined below along with a few comments on when they might be used.• If we have important variables where the study response is likely to differ between levels of the variable (e.g. female headed versus male headed households, traders in large markets versus small) then we stratify by this variable.• If we want to have a control population for the with/without comparison, then our stratification variable is with unit versus without unit.• We randomly sample units within each level of the stratification variable.• Sites can be one of our stratification variables if sites have varying characteristics.• As the name suggests, this involves a completely random sample of units within the site. We use this if we have no obvious stratification variable.Cluster random sampling (a.k.a. multi stage sampling)• Randomly select clusters within a site (e.g. districts, communities and/or markets within provinces)• Randomly sample units within each cluster• Often, clusters are stratified (e.g. by community size, population density).• The method is commonly used because resource constraints don't allow us to do completely random sampling.• We need to balance the number of clusters and number of units within a cluster. Our common principle is to maximize the number of clusters and minimize the number of units within a cluster, while ensuring that the units will give sufficient precision of variables within the cluster. This assumes that variation within a cluster is smaller than variation between clusters, although this aspect should be considered by each study as in some situations this may not be true.Sample size calculations using any of these methods are usually based on population data from secondary sources such as a census or a list of value chain actors.The section above describes sample methods to obtain representative samples. However, in studies where we are using tools for qualitative analysis (e.g. gender transformative analysis (GTA) tools), then we may interview a small number of respondents who represent diverse or extreme views to acquire depth of information. In this case we may want to purposely identify our respondents to be the most informative (rather than representative) people in the community. The value of the findings focuses on the depth of information in this case rather than representativeness. Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkit What is my sampling frame? How do I identify observation units for the study?Once you have defined your study and sampling design (all the elements above), the next stage is to identify the units to study. These are selected from your sampling frame (population of interest). The sampling frame contains all units who are members of your target population within the study site; e.g. villages in the site, all households, livestock owning households, traders in specific markets, members of a producer organization etc.We are often unable to obtain a physical list of units because of logistical restraints (e.g. no money/time for full census) or because the information is just not available. Cluster sampling often makes it easier to obtain the physical list, i.e. if you have already sampled communities within a site, then you only need to obtain the list of target households from the sampled communities. These often exist and can be obtained locally from key informants. If they do not exist, they can be constructed with input from key informants or from administrative lists. Care should always be taken, for example through triangulation of sources, to ensure that all units are included in the sampling frame.Alternative sampling in the absence of a physical list• Geographical sampling; e.g. Geographical Information System (GIS) random sample of points within a site. Note that there are certain biases associated with this type of sampling (e.g. households owning more land are more likely to get selected) but adjustments to the design can be used to minimize these (e.g. combine random point and random walk). Geographical sampling is a method that is relatively well suited for farming households and has been used in some bilateral studies mapped to the CRP, like the ILRI East Africa Dairy Development project (EADD).• The task is particularly difficult for mobile agents, for example milk, pig or fish traders. In this case, aim at getting a list that is as comprehensive as possible, using different information sources. Do not fully rely on official sources.• Another option is to study linked transaction flows. The starting point is to randomly select farm households and follow the value chain backwards and forwards by selecting the input and service providers the farmers purchase from, the traders that farmers sell to, and thereafter retailers. In this case, it is important that the starting points (in this example, the households) are randomly selected. This option could be combined with information from other sources e.g. extensionists, producers' organizations, local government staff etc. in order to validate the complete sampling frame for the traders and retailers. In some cases, value chain actors perform multiple roles in the value chain. For example, most pig traders in Uganda are also aggregators (bulk pigs from individual farmers or village middlepersons) who slaughter pigs and retail pork in pork outlets. Information on their roles at the different nodes of the value chain need to be captured in the sampling frame.• Participants in a livestock market form another difficult case (e.g. traders, brokers, livestock keepers selling own animals). Make sure you first list all the markets in the study area and if needed stratify (by size, frequency or other characteristics) to select a manageable number of markets. Within each market, if listing of all participants is not practical (too many, too mobile, unwilling to be listed), identify actor types (e.g. small versus medium versus large scale, or small ruminants versus cattle traders) and sample the different types. Make sure you document as much as possible.Specifics for literature and secondary data reviews An example of this tool type is the country level situational analysis. Basic research design components for this type of tool that should be defined include the geographical reach and target population of the activity.These aspects could include:• spatial reach; e.g. regional, national, subnational, etc.• agricultural or livestock production systems of interest; e.g. semi-arid areas only, mixed-crop livestock systems etc.• value chains of interest; e.g. commodity specific, includes exports outside the spatial reach etc.• population of interest; e.g. rural context only, commodity specific producers only etc.The design may also reference available datasets (e.g. FAOSTAT, World Bank indicators etc.). Examples of this tool type are the Value chain Assessment modules. FGD are used to obtain in-depth information on concepts, perceptions and ideas of a group. They may be used to focus research and development hypotheses by exploring the problem in greater depth, to inform the design of structured questionnaire surveys, to help design and/or understand unexpected problems in interventions, to characterize the study population and/or to explore controversial topics.In addition to defining the target population for FGD studies, we also need to consider the hierarchy of our design and appropriate sample sizes for the qualitative and/or quantitative data that will be collected. A study that covers multiple environments may apply stratification to ensure that FGD are conducted in all environments. It may be too difficult, logistically, to conduct FGD in all study communities hence the need to select a subset of communities that best represents the whole study area.Estimating the appropriate sample size for FGD (i.e. number to conduct) does not usually use classic equations but aims to ensure that the whole study area is represented and that patterns and trends or processes of interest may be understood from summaries of the results across FGD.For each FGD, you will need enough participants to provide a diversity of opinions while ensuring that the group is small enough for everyone to have a chance to talk. Commonly, 10-15 participants are appropriate although larger groups can be split into smaller groups for discussion. In some cultural contexts or for specific modules, it may be a good idea to split the group by gender, age categories or by role (e.g. different types of value chain actors, different levels of influence within the community). The method of selecting participants can vary depending on the objectives of the study; in most cases, the researcher requires a representative group but due to the cultural situation, including the hierarchical nature of communities, it can be challenging to achieve this. Dividing the groups as described earlier may help to mitigate this. Alternatively, in cases when FGD aim to explore a given issue in detail, then the best sampling approach to select participants may be a purposeful identification of the most informative respondents (rather than a random sampling for representativeness).Ritchie, J., Lewis, J. KII are often used to place context around the observations obtained from FGD and/or structured questionnaires.They can be used to obtain additional qualitative or quantitative information from a specific subgroup of the target population, obtain general information relevant to the topic of the research and gain insights on specific issues.KII follow the same design principles as FGD, ensure that the selection of interviewees covers the full target area and population of the study (representative) or conversely, that the interviewees are the most informative on the topic of the study. A value chain analysis for a specific commodity on site (e.g. subnational area) should interview informants all the way along the value chain from input suppliers to producers to market agents and from community to site level.Toolkit examples of this tool type are the producer, consumer and other value chain actors questionnaire. Structured questionnaires are used to collect quantitative data from individuals or households. These data may be used to characterize or baseline a population, provide indicators for monitoring and evaluation (e.g. changes in food security) and/or provide evidence of the performance of an intervention.The research design of a structured questionnaire study should incorporate all aspects described above and be documented in a design and sampling protocol. Particular attention should be made to the sampling process to ensure that the individuals or households surveyed are representative of the target population and the protocol should indicate analysis methods, including any post weighting adjustments required.Resource requirements, the skills and experience required to implement the tools, is usually specific to the type of tool being used and is described below.The main person responsible for this type of tool should have broad knowledge of the topic under review and be able to understand both the technical topic as well as other related areas, such as institutional (e.g. market) and policy issues when looking at value chain reviews. They should be an \"expert\" in at least one of these fields. If the exercise is large, they may recruit additional experts for certain areas or utilize research support to carry out some of the routine activities such as literature review or searching for relevant secondary data.Pautasso, M. 2013. Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. PLoS Computational Biology 9(7): e1003149.We recommend that a team of at least three people conducts FGD: a facilitator, observer and note taker (see below for details of each of their roles). At the least, the facilitator should have extensive experience in leading FGD and depending on the location, the whole team may need to be fluent in the local language of the community or preferably bilingual with knowledge of the national language and/or English. One of the key skills of an FGD facilitator is the ability to draw out the opinions of all participants in the discussion and enable key messages or insights and points of view to come out from these discussions. Recording disagreement is also important as well as details of the discussion that help provide depth of information.• Facilitator: explains and guides the discussion, cross checks the summary/data collection templates and writes down key notes on flipchart to be read by all the participants.• Observer: cross checks the summary/data collection templates and reminds the facilitator about missing issues.• Note taker: detailed documentation of the discussions, notes observations during the workshop, cross checks the summary/data collection templates and reminds the facilitator about missing issues.Structured questionnaires are usually implemented by teams of enumerators with field supervisors overseeing their work. Formal training of enumerators is needed, so they understand the questions clearly and how to ask them.The training situation also provides the opportunity to pilot test the tool, if not already done, and implement final adjustments. A training manual can also be a helpful resource to provide reminders to enumerators and as a quality assurance aid to the supervisors.Resource requirements may be less for KII, particularly if all interviews are conducted by the researcher but the above considerations to ensure standardization of the data being collected and quality assurance of the data remain the same. A data management protocol is not required unless managing a large amount of secondary data and the analysis includes synthesis and meta-analysis of the data, in which case the elements of metadata and ethical aspects relating to data confidentiality should be documented. In some studies, quantitative methodologies such as proportional piling or ranking may be used and in these cases the data may then be entered into a spreadsheet or database for analysis.A data management protocol for this type of tool is simple to design and will predominantly relate to how the information is managed to maintain the confidentiality of participants as well as relevant metadata for the FGD information.For structured questionnaires and KII, digital data collection tools such as tablets or smart phones are recommended.There is ongoing discussion on whether it is quicker than paper data collection and later data entry but digital is preferred for improving data quality and shortening the data cleaning process. This is due to the pre-validation and coding that can be used for digital data collection and the removal of transcription errors during data entry. Data entry in the field should be monitored by field supervisors and we recommend that reviews of the data are carried out at the end of each day in the field prior to data submission. Recommended software for data collection includes Open Data Kit (ODK) (ideal for Android tablets) or CsPro (best using netbooks or laptops, improvements ongoing to the tablet versions). Another option is Survey Solutions from the World Bank which provides an easier design framework for the tools where programming skills are not needed. All of these options are open source. Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitLiterature and secondary data reviews Formal qualitative or quantitative data analysis is not usually appropriate for these types of tools. Results will be presented as summaries of information collated including some critical review of the information.Specialized software is not usually required for these types of tools. However, meta-analysis of secondary data may utilize a generic statistical package such as SPSS. Spatial analysis software such as ArcGIS or Q-GIS may be used to incorporate maps into the report. In some cases, a qualitative software such as NVivo or Atlas may be used. Data analysis methods may be a combination of those for FGD and structured questionnaires depending on the nature of the data and the sample size.Data analysis should be driven by the research questions and hypotheses and/or by the indicators required for monitoring and evaluation. Analysis methods include both summary statistics and more formal analyses, or inferential statistics, such as regression modelling. There are many software programs available for these analyses; SPSS and Stata are both user friendly and provide most statistical methods that may be required. The R project platform is open source and highly recommended with a large community of package developers providing all the analysis options you may need.All tools in this toolkit should be implemented by following the principles of good research ethics (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice), maintaining confidentiality and obtaining consent before collecting data from individuals (Box 1). This also includes the implications for open access of data.Box 1: Principles of research ethics -common definitionsA research ethics committee's affirmation that the proposed research has been reviewed and may be conducted at the nominated institution according to the constraints set out by the ethics committee, the institution and legal requirements.Respecting the decision-making capacities of autonomous persons; enabling individuals to make reasoned informed choices.This considers the balancing of benefits of research against the risks and costs; the researcher professional should act in a way that benefits the research participant, their community and/or the public generally.Pertains to the treatment of information that an individual has disclosed in a relationship of trust and with the expectation that it will not be divulged to others without permission in ways that are inconsistent with the understanding of the original disclosure.The voluntary agreement of a person or group, based on adequate knowledge and understanding of relevant material, to participate in research. Informed consent is one possible result of informed choice, the other possibility is refusal. Oral consent may be used for persons who cannot read or feel uncomfortable signing forms for cultural reasons. In this case, a written text describing what will be told to subjects when oral consent is necessary should be provided.This concept concerning fairness or equity is often divided into three parts. Procedural justice is concerned with the fair methods of making decisions and settling disputes; distributive justice seeks to ensure fair distribution of benefits and burdens; corrective justice is concerned with correcting the wrongs and harms through compensation or retribution.Avoiding the causation of harm; the researcher should not harm the research subject. Where treatment involves some harm, even if minimal, but the harm should not be disproportionate to the benefits of treatment.Defined in terms of a person having control over the extent, timing and circumstances of sharing oneself (physically, behaviourally or intellectually) with others.This tool type typically utilizes publicly available information and data which do not require additional ethical approval in order to use or republish (recognizing that best practice is never to duplicate but to hyperlink to the original source of the information!).However, it is important to ensure you do not publish information or data which is not already publicly available. This situation may arise when a project partner shares information or secondary data which is not yet in the public domain.In this situation, we must maintain the same level of openness, i.e. not publish, unless we have a formal agreement in place with the information/data supplier stating that these will be published in the form they were supplied in. Where a partner is supplying information relating to individuals (i.e. personal information such as names, geographical location, religious or political affiliation, health status etc.) this information is NEVER to be shared or made open access unless there is explicit ethical approval from the individual.There does not usually need to be a plan for open access of data unless secondary data providers request the data be made open access; usually, these data already are open access through the original data owner and only hyperlinks need to be provided.Individual consent from FGD participants should be obtained before the discussion. Commonly, written consent is used where each participant signs the same form. In certain situations, the written consent may be waived for an oral consent that should be witnessed and formally documented. It is recommended that prior to the discussion, participants are issued with codes so that any written transcription refers only to codes. These transcripts should be kept separate from consent forms and forms where the participant is named alongside their code. The consent forms should follow the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki standards.When introducing the FGD to participants, it is a good idea to set out the ground rules for participants behaviour, such as not repeating what has been said outside the meeting; this is the aspect of ensuring the privacy of FGD participants.Open access FGD data should NEVER include identifying information for a participant, ensuring the confidentiality of FGD participants. The sharing of confidential data outside of the project team will depend on the consent provided by the participants and requires ethical approval of the recipient's organization in order to access these data. Data from FGD that will be open access should be anonymized summaries or transcripts.Individual consent for structured questionnaires and KII should be obtained before the interview as per the guidance above for FGD. It is similarly recommended that unique identifiers are given to each interviewee so that personal information can be removed from datasets prior to open access. Interviews should be conducted in private, where no one can overhear, ensuring the privacy of the interviewee. Open access of questionnaire data should NEVER include identifying information for a participant, ensuring the confidentiality of the interviewee. The sharing of confidential data outside of the project team will depend on the consent provided by the participants and requires ethical approval of the recipient's organization in order to access these data. Data from KII and structured questionnaires that will be open access should be anonymized.Example consent forms: https://www.irb.cornell.edu/forms/sample.htm http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/informed_consent/en/ https://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@raid/documents/doc/uow014904.pdfLivestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkit 3. Overview of the various steps involved in evaluating best bets by using the toolkitThis chapter describes the various steps involved in implementation of the toolkit and an overview of the associated tools. A fuller description of the various tools along with weblinks are given in Chapter 4. For value chains where prior assessments have not been performed, we recommend that all steps are implemented; however, in other cases where prior assessments have been performed, the initial step(s) may not be required.As discussed in the introduction, it is assumed that the focal value chain has been preselected, both by the livestock or fish product of interest and geographic focus (for example, the pork value chain in Uganda, the buffalo milk value chain in a state of India).Figure 1 presents the four steps and their expected results while Table 1 provides more details. The rest of this chapter is divided into four sections, one for each step.Figure 1: Overview of the four steps and expected resultsIs the information sufficient?Step 1: Value chain overview• How is the value chain structured? What are the broad opportunities and constraints? • What sites?Step 2: Value chain descriptionStep 3: Detailed assessment of specific value chain componentsStep 4: Monitoring, evaluation and learning• Identification of opportunities and constraints at site level • First identification of best bets Best bets are vetted along five dimensions or criteria using the available evidence (secondary or primary) at different steps and involve a range of stakeholders in the process. The stakeholder process involves selected value chain actors and other stakeholders such as policymakers, researchers and development agencies. Once sufficient evidence is gathered, the selected best bets are pilot tested and rigorously assessed (Step 4). If adaptation is required, the best bets are tested again, in an iterative way.What are the criteria used for best bet selection?To be selected, best bets are vetted against the five criteria described below, possibly with some sub-criteria. In many cases, there will be trade-offs to make, for example between economic and environmental sustainability. A scoring exercise can be organized for stakeholders to objectively look at the pros and cons of each best bet. Qualitative tools like EXTRAPOLATE can be used. If quantitative data are available, an ex-ante impact assessment provides a more quantitative and rigorous analysis; see how the Tanzania team used system dynamic modelling: http://ageconsearch. umn.edu/record/235242/files/Baker_%20D%20ppt.pdf (The Tanzanian example starts on page 16).Economic sustainability: In the absence of external funding, there must be a reasonable expectation that the best bet will not immediately collapse. Initially, a best bet need not be financially sustainable, although over time there must be sufficient evidence to suggest that it will be. The best bet must be, at least in the medium term, economically profitable for the actor using it.Gender and social equity: Best bets must show potential to contribute to enhancing gender and social equity.Interventions that show more potential to enhance gender and social equity must be given priority over those that show an increase in or reproduction of existing inequity patterns.Environmental sustainability: This is about a wide spectrum of potential environmental impacts such as water use and pollution, soil health, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. It may be regarded as satisfied if the impact is regarded as low, neutral or positive/beneficial.Social sustainability: Best bets must be socially acceptable within the broader national context. Best bets that are socially accepted only in exceptional circumstances or after a substantive public education campaign are unlikely to succeed on a large scale. However, it should be noted that in some cases a best bet challenges existing norms and attitudes that perpetuate inequality. This criterion therefore is not always valid.Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkit Political acceptability: A best bet must fit within the broader political norms of the national context. If a best bet will only work in an exceptional political context, then it cannot be expected to go to scale.Box 2: How the Uganda value chain team developed best bet interventions: An integrated approach to value chain transformation in a rapid inclusive growth systemIn 2011-2012, the Livestock and Fish CRP identified development of smallholder pig value chains in Uganda as a promising pathway to improve both livestock keepers' livelihoods, as well as the income of other actors along the value chains.Designed as an integrated approach to transform the whole value chain initial activities included a situational analysis of the pig sector, as well as participatory site selection with partners. The Program now works with 8,000 pig farmers and 500 pig value chain actors in five districts. A national-level multi-stakeholder platform was set up to identify systematic issues in the pig value chain, connect actors, engage policy-makers and support the sector find long term and sustainable solutions for inclusive and profitable pig value chains in Uganda. Updates and research outputs are online: http://livestockfish.cgiar.org/focus/uganda This approach of focusing and integrating efforts around a particular value chain in selected sites, building long-term relationships with partners, complementing on-the-ground gender-responsive pilot testing of interventions with high quality modelling work and upstream technology research, addressing systematic issues at a higher level and using evidence to adjust interventions when required, is a promising way to reach impact at scale (see Livestock and Fish CRP external evaluation report: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/52246)Step 1. Value chain overview: synopsis of the selected value chain and selection of focal sites for more detailed assessmentsOverview: the aim of this step is twofold: 1. To obtain a basic understanding of the selected value chain within the targeted geographical area, focusing particularly on value chain structure, governance and inclusiveness and performance; and 2. To identify sites of narrower geographic focus for further value chain assessments and implementation of potential interventions. Most of the evidence collated in Step 1 is from literature and outcomes of stakeholder engagement. As explained in the tools, stakeholder views are key to ensure that the broad interventions and selected sites match their priorities. This is applicable to public and private stakeholders and investors.Tools: there are two tools supporting this step, each for one aim. The first tool is the overall assessment of the value chain for the target geographic area (which is often-but not necessarily-national level) and where data is generally obtained from secondary sources and KII. The second tool is for the site selection process and will define areas of narrower geographic focus for further value chain assessment and potential intervention implementation. This tool is implemented in conjunction with stakeholders and draws both on published evidence as well as stakeholder knowledge and priorities.Use of results: the expected outputs of this step are:• A broad level understanding of the value chain;• Identified opportunities and constraints along the value chain that will be the subject of further assessments; and• Identified sites of narrower geographic focus for further value chain assessments and potential intervention implementation.The purpose of Step 1 is therefore to:• Provide an overview of the value chain environment (economic/social/policy);• Contextualize the value chain;• Identify potential challenges/opportunities in policy environment; and• Identify sites for action research.Step 2. Value chain description: site specific description of value chain actors and identification of value chain opportunities and constraintsOverview: the aim of this step is to obtain more detailed information on the value chain, focusing on the focal nodes and actors and narrower geographic sites identified in Step 1. This step is skipped in some cases, when researchers have gathered sufficient information from Step 1 to directly conduct detailed assessment as in Step 3. 3   A literature review and collation of secondary data, focusing on the selected sites, is advised before doing primary data collection. Use the tool described in Step 1, or a simplified version as limited information may be available at the site level.Tools: the tool for this step is called \"the value chain scoping tool\" and involves KII and/or FGD with representatives of all actors on: a) value chain mapping and description, b) key constraints and opportunities, reasons behind these and gender issues related to these, c) a visioning exercise and d) best bet interventions and entry points.Use of results: the expected outputs of this step are• A detailed description of the value chain for the target sites;• Priority constraints and opportunities at different nodes of the value chain for different actors, including difference between women and men;• Possible scenarios of likely evolution of the value chain in the next 15 or so years and drivers of change; and• In some cases, first identification of best bet interventions for value chain improvement or additional information needs (to identify the best bet interventions) identified, in conjunction with stakeholders.The purpose of Step 2 is therefore to:• Get an overview of value chain (mapping/actors);• Identify broad opportunities and constraints;• Identify new researchable issues (for proposal development);3. This would be the case when a large body of evidence is already available.• Inform authorities about the project;• First identification of best bets; and• If more evidence is needed, it also helps planning the value chain assessment (Step 3).Step 3. Detailed assessment of specific value chain components to define or refine best betsOverview: the aim of this step is to obtain further data in cases when additional information is required for best bet identification or for ex ante impact assessment of best bet options (the latter in cases where this is required to better define the intervention prior to the pilot testing).Tools: A set of tools is proposed to be used as a basis to formulate the specific tool(s) needed to fill the information gap(s) identified in Step 2. A modular approach is recommended, whereby a core module is suggested, and other modules are selected depending on the research questions.The starting point to adapt these tool(s) should be specific articulation of the research question to be answered and the underlying data required to answer the question. We strongly recommend that these are well thought out and documented prior to initiating the actual tool development.Use of results: the expected output of this step is best bet interventions identified or refined in conjunction with stakeholders. Data for this step is obtained from whatever source is most appropriate to fill the data gap-often this is FGD at community level, but this step could also include KII, household surveys, animal level surveys, or combinations of all three, if required.See Box 3 for the example of the Tanzania dairy value chain and the identification of the dairy business hubs (DBH) as a best bet after the detailed value chain assessment (Step 3) and how this led to the monitoring of the DBHs with tools similar to those presented for Step 4.The purpose of Step 3 is therefore to:• Obtain more in-depth analysis of the value chain at different nodes; and• Identify best bets to be piloted.Step 4. Monitoring, evaluation and learningOverview: the aim of this step is to facilitate monitoring, evaluation and learning. This is achieved by obtaining data on indicators prior to best bet interventions being implemented (often termed baseline data) and data on these indicators during and/or after intervention implementation. In some cases, it may be cost effective to combine this step with Step 3. The expected outputs of this step are assessments-performed in conjunction with stakeholders-of whether the best bets were the most appropriate to target and the performance of the implemented best bet. This should feed into an ongoing process of intervention reflection and refinement. Fewer indicators are tracked at this step compared to Step 4, since we now focus on a specific best bet.Tools: A set of tools for baseline exist-for various actors namely producers, consumers, input and service providers, traders and processor/retailers-as summarized in Table 1.Use of results: the expected outputs of this step are the baseline and subsequent values of the indicators selected to evaluate the best bet interventions. Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitThe purpose of Step 4 is therefore to:• Obtain baseline values for impact assessment at actor level and coordination in the value chain.Box 3: How the Tanzania value chain team identified best bets at different levels While the Step 1 assessment identified lack of coordination among actors as a major constraint, a possible best bet, namely the DBH approach, was identified following a detailed value chain assessment with different hub types to be tested depending on context and actor priorities. The identification was also made possible thanks to complementary work on dairy value chains in east Africa by ILRI and its partners. The identification of this best bet was done using tools similar to those presented under Step 3, Tanzania having skipped Step 2. Performance of DBH was thereafter monitored and evaluated within the MoreMilkiT project (Step 4), including analysing how best to structure the delivery of inputs and services through the hubs; see an analysis of the preferences of cattle keepers for DBH options in Tanzania. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/68494.This chapter provides a description of each tool as well as the weblink to the tool. Table 1 above provided the names of the tools in blue.Tool name Situational analysisThe main objective of the situational analysis is to assess the conditions within which the target value chain in the selected country operates. This assessment exercise involves overview of past trends, current status and likely future directions. The structure and content of the situational analysis follows stage by stage assessments of different segments of the value chain under study. Any data and analysis should include a gender dimension where possible. The tool provides an outline of the report.Secondary data collection and KII. The tool is simply the report outline.When and where to implement At the beginning of the engagement, at country level (or state in case of a large country like India). To be updated when the conditions in the value chain change significantly, for example the value chain structure has changed with the introduction of new players.Two to three months of expert's time to review the literature and hold a series of KII to complement existing evidence. The expert needs to have a bird's eye view of the value chain and be able to understand technical issues (e.g. feed) as well as institutional (e.g. market) and policy issues and be a recognized expert in one of these fields. In some cases, a team of experts is assembled, under the coordination of a team leader.Besides time, resources required are relatively limited (less than United States Dollar (USD) 5,000) and are needed for: 1. Costs related to literature review and 2. Conducting KII. At the end of the exercise, it is advisable to share the results with stakeholders to: a. Validate the information and b. Get buy in for next steps.Three monthsThe literature review may get complicated as most of it is \"grey\" literature. However, the process to search for and review references should be clearly documented.The literature review needs to be comprehensive and systematic.Check the situational analysis for Tanzania here, Ethiopia here, Bangladesh here and Egypt here How tool results can be used The results, together with those of the site selection tool, guide the identification of best bets in some of the livestock and fish countries.Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Situational analysis toolStep 1Tool name Site selectionThe tool provides a process to guide the selection of sites where the research and development activities will take place. Sites are defined as homogenous areas in terms of livestock and fish production systems, market infrastructures, policy etc. For example, the Tanzania team identified four districts as the focus sites, i.e. sites are defined as districts (administrative boundaries).Tool type There are four steps: the first step uses GIS layers and analysis methods; the second step is a stakeholder workshop; the third step uses KII; the fourth step is a data analysis stage and stakeholder engagement.When and where to implement The tool is implemented at the beginning of the research work for the country (or state) where the value chain analysis will occur. The process can be repeated if additional (or replacement) sites need to be identified.The resources needed depend on whether secondary data are available: the geographical spread, transport costs in that country etc. The expertise and costs vary by step:• The first step requires GIS skills, three weeks of a GIS expert, with possible additional cost of obtaining layers • The second and fourth steps require facilitation skills and resources for holding stakeholder workshops. It takes about one day. • The third step requires data collection skills and ability to triangulate information. Costs vary significantly by country; usually, costs are low (below USD5,000). It takes about one month. • The fourth step requires quantitative analysis skills at the intermediate level and no other specific costs. It takes about two weeks.The process takes about three months.As information from KII and secondary data are compiled, one needs to use triangulation techniques to increase level of confidence.Any specific considerations in relation to samplingLink to example of use of the toolThe Ethiopia example can be accessed here.How tool results can be used Same as above Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2, Site selection toolStep 1Tool name Value chain scopingThis tool aims at getting a good understanding of the value chains in terms of structure and some understanding of the value chain governance and performance in the target sites (selected in Step 1). We also identify constraints and opportunities for value chain upgrading. This evidence is used to identify best bet interventions for value chain improvement for each site and/or additional information needs (to identify the best bet interventions) for each site.Literature review, primary data collection and stakeholder workshops. Note that it is the only tool in Step 2.When and where to implement Use once sites have been chosen and broad issues identified through Step 1.Implemented at sites where research and development will take place and where best bet interventions will be piloted.Good facilitation skills expertise at site level as well as for the stakeholder workshop.At site level, teams can work in parallel if FGD are conducted separately for men and women.About two days per domain and district.With qualitative data, interpretation can be subjective; try and triangulate the information. Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Since the data are mainly qualitative, few villages to represent sites are usually selected and therefore document site selection carefully.Links to examples of use of the toolHow tool results can be used See blog on the stakeholders workshop of the project Assessing competitiveness of smallholder pig farming in the changing landscape of Northwest Vietnam: https://asia.ilri.org/2017/06/07/exploring-waysof-uplifting-pig-farmers-livelihoods-in-northwest-vietnam/ Links to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain scoping toolStep 2Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment at producer level. It is one of the mandatory modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to understand the composition of people's livelihoods (in terms of food and cash income) in the community and the role of the target livestock and fish commodity in it and to assess whether livelihoods have changed over the years.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) villages within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about 30 minutes.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers livelihoods toolStep 3Tool name Producers -Systems of production and purposeThis tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. It is one of the optional modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to identify the production systems in which the target livestock and fish species are produced and the main purposes for which households keep them. It also identifies whether the community has been successful in achieving these purposes and the reasons. It asks about community definition of small, medium and large-scale farmersWhen and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about one hour.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producer systems of production toolStep 3Tool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. It is one of the optional modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to learn about seasonality of rainfall, income from and workload for agriculture, livestock and fish production, off farm labour, non-agricultural activities and inputs of hired labour.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about one hour.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers seasonal calendar toolStep 3 Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. It is one of the optional modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to understand specific roles of men and women in the daily activities undertaken by household members at different times of year. Also, it can help to facilitate the discussion on changes in the gender division of labour and how this is relevant to livestock and fish activities.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet interventions; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about one hour.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers activity clock toolStep 3Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. It is one of the optional modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to identify the areas where men and women make decisions and the control they have over the income derived from different sources.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about 30 minutes.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology, with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers decision making toolStep 3Tool name Producers -Group membership/collective action Tool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. It is one of the optional modules of this assessment.The objective of this module is to identify the types of formal and informal groups that are active in the community and whether there are any barriers for men/women or other subgroups to belong to and participate in these groups.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about 30 minutes.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information. Step 3Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool objectives This tool is part of the detailed assessment, at producer level. The tool is in two parts: the core part, which is mandatory and the detailed part, which is organized by types of inputs and services. During the discussions of the core part, you will agree with the participants about which inputs or services require more discussion, i.e. where there are opportunities for improvement or challenges. Based on this, select one or more of the sections of the detailed part.The objectives of this module are to examine:• The composition of the value chain including the main actors, services and enablers, the main market channels and their relative importance and requirements, and geographical spread, to visualize linkages and demonstrate interdependencies in the chain. • The major sources of inputs and services and their accessibility to different types of producers.• The relative access to and control over the different market channels and services by men and women respectively. • The major constraints in selling products and buying inputs and accessing services.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes 1.5 hours for the core part and up to 1 additional hour for the detailed part.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers value chain mapping toolStep 3Tool name Producers -Breeding/seedThe objective of this module is to understand the different breeds that are kept, their characteristics and sources of breeding stock and any changes in breeds in the past five years.Tool type FGD-there are separate questions for livestock and fish.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about one hour.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers breeding toolStep 3Tool name Producers -Participatory epidemiology to understand animal health constraintsThe objectives of this module are:• Assess the role diseases play in constraining production (farmer perceptions of the importance of health constraints in relation to specific production parameters) • Facilitate problem analysis on health constraints (diseases, symptoms or syndromes) • Understand gender differentials in animal health management • Assess animal health services that are accessed.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about two hours.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers participatory epi toolStep 3Tool name Producers -Constraints and solutionsThe objective of this module is to identify opportunities for improving local livestock and fish production systems, to review and rank the constraints previously identified and identify potential ways of addressing these constraints. It is based on the constraints identified in the previous tools and finalizes the FGD.When and where to implementThe tool is used to guide the selection of a best bet intervention; it is done at selected (representative) village(s) within the selected sites.As per the standard FGD requirements.This module takes about one hour.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology with respect to design, implementation and interpretation of qualitative information.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.Links to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used N/A Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis producers constraints and solutions toolStep 3Tool name Producers and value chain actors: understanding choices and constraining gender norms Tool objectives Gender norms embody social expectations about the ways in which women and men, boys and girls are expected to behave in a given place. This shapes how people act and the choices they make and thus affect the ways women and men can engage in value chain opportunities as well as the way and extent to which they access and control resources, as well as benefit or bear costs from value chain innovations (such as best bets).This tool aims to explore the range and quality of choices that women and men have in the value chain and to investigate a particularly important, yet often overlooked, factor: the gender norms that may affect these choices.Identifying if and how gender norms may influence these choices (and gendered success in the value chain) is important because it will enable more effective design and thus outcomes of the best bet interventions that emerge from this value chain analysis. Specifically, this understanding can be applied in design so that best bets developed can, at a minimum, take a gender accommodative approach (working around constraining gender norms, such as by engaging women within the homestead sphere) or, more ambitiously, take a gender transformative approach (engaging women and men together in looking for ways to address constraining gender norms). The gender transformative approach seeks to-in a locally driven, locally appropriate way-increase awareness of and critical reflection regarding gender constraining behaviours and, conversely, build on existing norms that contribute to gender equality and to equitable engagement and outcomes. In a best bet relating to nutrition, for example, reflection and action-based sessions over an extended period of time that engage husbands and wives together with mothers-in-law and other decision-makers in the household or community. This will reveal how gender norms (such as women are solely responsible for cooking, women or girl children are least important) influence nutrition behaviours and family outcomes (excessive women's workloads, reduced health for women, less than optimal nutrition in family meals, low birth weight, stunting) and identify and try shifts in gendered norms and nutrition related behaviours (such as men and women share in learning about nutrition and share cooking, pregnant women and girls have equitable shares of food) could lead to more (locally) desirable outcomes (such as better nutrition for children).Tool type FGD as the method, using questions and tools within these (see Links to examples, below) oriented to surfacing gendered value chain choices and gender norms that shape these and their outcomes.When and where to implement This tool is used to guide the selection design of a best bet intervention so that the best bet can take into account both choices (which should shape selection) and gender norms (that need to be taken into account for effective, inclusive and equitable design).As above, note that if this tool reveals constraining gender norms then the best bet would either work around these to engage women (accommodative approach) or work to address these (gender transformative approach). Both, and the latter in particular, require gender expertise for effective design.Gender expertise is important as well as careful attention to local power dynamics. Questioning well established gender discriminating norms can cause backlashes towards those who are discriminated against.Between one and two hours for each tool.To avoid backlashes, findings need to be handled with careful attention to local power dynamics while guaranteeing full anonymity.Keep in mind that gender norms are one kind of gender barrier, specifically, they are a form of informal structural barrier. Other barriers will need to be assessed and strategies embedded in the best bet interventions if the interventions are to engage and benefit both women and men, for example, policy related barriers.Sampling may be done purposively (rather than randomly) to ensure that all relevant parties are involved as in the above example of a nutrition program (tool objectives).Step 3 Experienced field enumerator with some business acumen.Each interview takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Keep it short and focused, as these actors usually have little time.This tool is a specific example for the pig value chain so recoding will need to be done when used in another value chain.Identification and sampling of these actors are usually difficult as no list is readily available. The first step may consist of building a list, using information from KII and the other steps (in particular the producers FGD).Link to examples of use of the tool See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2017.1363873How tool results can be usedIn Egypt, poor rural consumers benefit from the aquaculture sector through access to small and medium sized farmed tilapia sold by informal fish retailers, many of whom are women. The report accessible here aims to inform current and future strategies to improve conditions in informal fish retail by understanding in more depth the similarities and differences in employment quality and outcomes across different fish retailers. This knowledge will help to design interventions to overcome gender-based constraints, as well as approaches that address shared obstacles and include both women and men in gender responsive ways to ensure that all of those involved in the sector benefit.In Uganda, the tool has been used to calculate gross margins accruing to pork retailers. In addition, constraints for pork retailers especially associated with pork handling and pig slaughter have been identified and have informed capacity development interventions (https://livestockfish.cgiar. org/2015/09/09/butchers-training-uganda/).Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Value chain analysis BM pork retailers UgandaStep 3Step 4Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool objectives The tool described here was used in Uganda. The overall objective of the survey was to assess households' food demand and nutritional security with considerations for intra household resource and food allocation. It focuses on the demand, availability, actual access to and control over adequate food especially pork and other animal source foods, by household members. There is a specific section on intra household dietary survey for children, men and women to assess how food is distributed within the household and if some members may be at higher nutritional risk than others.The tool is administered at individual level and is mostly quantitative.When and where to implement This is a common tool for Steps 3 and 4.Experienced nutritionist in charge of the survey design and implementation; experienced enumerators with expertise in human nutrition and gender.Expected implementation duration 1.5 hours.Any specific considerations in relation to samplingFor studies focusing on the nutritional status of children, the eligibility criteria in terms of the age of the child (usually 6-23 months of age) is key.Links to examples of use of the tool https://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/spvc-ouma2-jul2017-78035044 and https://cgspace.cgiar.org/ bitstream/handle/10568/51344/Uganda%20farmers%20pork%20consumption%20practices%20. pdf;sequence=2How tool results can be usedThe results can be used to assess the role of animal source foods in the diets of young children and adult men and women of reproductive age in the study population. In addition, the results can help to identify food consumption practices and inform potential interventions to increase animal source foods consumption.The WorldFish team in Egypt commissioned a study looking at consumption of fish, red meat and poultry among the resource poor households, as the lack of quality data about fish consumption preferences and practices was identified as a key gap. See here for a report on The role of farmed fish in the diets of the resource poor in Egypt.Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 BM consumers Uganda (two files)Step 3Step 4Tool name ProducersThe tool is designed to provide data for monitoring and evaluation indicators to evaluate the effects of a producer/household level intervention. It can be conducted at baseline, during implementation and/or at study end to monitor changes due to the intervention.Core module elements are designed to provide data and monitoring and evaluation indicators which are relevant across any intervention that aims to improve livelihoods of poor smallholders. This may include adoption indicators, changes in income, changes in food security or nutrition status or another livelihood measure. Note: only a few environment indicators are covered in this tool.Optional modules can then be selected depending on the interventions and the monitoring and evaluation indicators to be measured to track changes due to those interventions.Tool type Household level, quantitative.When and where to implementThe Step 4 Producer level tool should be utilized AFTER identification of value chain constraints/ opportunities and articulation of the interventions to be designed/tested/implemented in the value chain. It can be used to provide a baseline, progress during the testing of the intervention and/or for end of study assessment.Team(s) of enumerators, with a maximum of four enumerators per supervisor. Count on between two and three questionnaires per day per enumerator.Count on between two and three questionnaires per day per enumerator.Refer to Chapter 2 on methodology.In some cases, it is useful to sample only households keeping a certain species. In the EADD survey for example, only cattle keepers were surveyed and the results therefore can only be extrapolated to that population.Link to examples of use of the tool N/A How tool results can be used See https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/agr.21492 for how cattle keepers data were used to assess the effects of the types of processor linkages on the performance of the dairy farm enterprises in east Africa.Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 BM producersStep 4 40 Livestock and Fish value chain assessment toolkitTool name POSAThe tool is used to monitor selected indicators of financial and social sustainability at producer organization (PO) level for dairy. It therefore helps to identify activities for improved sustainability as well as provide a framework for comparison across time and POs. The tool is designed for dairy POs but can be adapted for other sectors. It is an output of EADD, (see https://livelihoods-gender. ilri.org/2014/05/21/tracking-the-progress-of-a-dairy-development-project-eadd-implements-use-ofthe-stage-gate-assessment-tool/). It was previously called the stage gate tool.The tool is administered at PO level based on records (e.g. financial reports) as well as a FGD with PO leadership and management team. It includes data entry and data analysis sheets in Excel.When and where to implementThe tool is used for POs that are part of a development intervention, to be used before the interventions, with the assessment conducted ideally on a yearly basis to track changes.At least two persons: one facilitating the discussion and the other person taking notes and checking veracity of answers based on reports, documents etc.About two to three hours per PO.This tool has been used extensively in the EADD project, with different versions used. Equity (gender and youth) indicators are quite sensitive to changes, see https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/78646 for details.All POs are assessed on an annual basis.This poster provides an overview of the tool use.The tool results have been used in two ways: first, as background information by the POs themselves and development agencies supporting them to assess progress (or lack of) towards maturity and secondly, to understand factors affecting PO progress towards sustainability or as inputs in research papers, as here.Link to tool http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset/livestock-and-fish-value chain-assessment-toolkit-version-2 Final POSA tool (one zipped file)Step 4With many tools and methodologies available, researchers and development actors are sometimes at a loss on how to conduct value chain assessment. Commodities specificities, like high value and perishability in the case of products from livestock and aquaculture, make the assessment more complicated. We synthesized the lessons learned during livestock and fish value chain analysis in this toolkit and we hope that these tools will be used and adopted widely.","tokenCount":"12752"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9612195848.json b/data/part_1/9612195848.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c289ec69c45ba0e8baf8a2cfda204e91b119f1ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9612195848.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"447b732c2a5b8439c8541494b8bcac1f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/07a40e87-e85c-4fa1-b245-8c8c9e4c781a/retrieve","id":"-526751009"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ca1aab4-2ddc-403b-a976-74472d2752b9","pagecount":"41","content":"Rice postharvest loss is a major challenge contributing to food insecurity and poverty in rice production countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In the evaluation of rice postharvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 and 2015 production seasons, the Africa Rice Center revealed that over 47.6% of the rice produced was lost at the operational steps from harvest to storage under farmer practices. This loss was further valued economically to a whopping 10.4 billion USD. In addition to the gravity shown in this study, it was also realized that rice postharvest is under researched and that postharvest research capacity in the countries was weak. In order to contribute to the capacity building of the postharvest domains in sub-Saharan Africa, the Africa Rice Center organized a training for 13 SSA countries, inviting twenty-seven participants (13 being women) with respect of gender inclusion.The overall aim of the training was to build the capacity of young researchers and technicians in sub-Saharan Africa to prevent postharvest losses along the rice value chain in their respective countries.The specific objectives were:1. Train participant to understand the physical, chemical, cooking and sensory quality traits of rice;2. Leverage theoretical and practical knowledge on improved rice postharvest technologies (equipment and practices) innovations, rice-based products and business opportunities that contribute to minimizing postharvest losses in rice sub-Saharan Africa;3. Conduct theoretical and practical sessions on mycotoxin control and the rapid detection of different mycotoxins in cereal grains using sensitive and reproducible methods; and 4. Promote experience sharing and networking among the different postharvest teams across the countries. The session was opened by Dr Aminou Arouna on behalf of the Mbe station Head of station at 10:08 am. He gladly welcomed the 26 participants from 13 countries across Africa, the two interpreters and the 7 members of the organizing team led by the head of the Grain quality and postharvest technology laboratory of Africa Rice, Dr Ndindeng Sali Atanga. Madam Dalie Lucie was in charge of logistics and housekeeping of the participants.In his welcome speech, the chair underlined the alarming food insecurity figures for Africa, mentioning that the number of undernourished people had rose from 32 M to 56 M in the last decade owing to pandemics and conflicts around the world. He further stated that this food insecurity is further aggravated by the huge food loss registered from harvesting to consuming, which measures up to 1/3 of the total food produced. In line with the commitment of the Africa Rice Center to contributing to the achievement of the sustainable development goals and more specifically the zero-hunger goal, one of the strategies to reach these is the reduction in postharvest losses. As such under the West and Center Africa Initiative project is to train rice value chain actors on effective strategies of reducing postharvest losses for all foods. He ended by wishing all the participants fruitful exchanges during the five days training and a good stay in Bouake.This was followed by introduction of the participants. The participants had rich and diverse backgrounds ranging from grain quality specialists, food science and nutrition scientist, food technologists, agricultural mechanization specialists and food quality certification specialists.Dr Ndindeng Sali Atanga on outlining the objectives of the program for the five days of training expressed immense gratitude to the Plant Health and Rapid Response to Protect Food Security and Livelihood, the Transforming Agrifood Systems in West and Central Africa and the CGIAR system for funding the training. The overall objective of bringing the participants together is to bring the rice postharvest loss problem to the forefront as it has been neglected in the past.It was emphasized that the objectives were flexible, and the organizers were opened to suggestions and any amendments.This was followed by the group photo and the first coffee break that lasted for 20 min.Rice Center, Bouake, Cote D'Ivoire.After the group photo and coffee break, the first module of the training was presented by Dr Ndindeng Sali Atanga; Head of the Grain Quality and Postharvest Laboratory at Africa Rice Center.The module was entitled: Understanding Rice Quality Traits Under this module, the presenter showcased the different types of rice in markets across Africa and the quality traits that are used for their description. The rice types were -Paddy -Brown rice, -Milled or polished rice categorized into white or parboiled rice.The first rice quality trait which was used to classify rice into different categories was the Length to width ratio (LWR) that segmented rice as a function of shape:-Slender; For slender grains, the LWR ratio has to be > 3 (unitless as it is a ratio). This is applicable in rough rice (paddy), brown and milled rice.-Medium; For medium grains, the LWR has to lie between 3 and 2 that is 3<LWR>2 -Bold; In the case of bold or round grains, the LWR is strictly less than 2 (LWR <2).In the markets, rice can also be described as low quality or high-quality rice. This applies to white or parboiled milled rice. Low quality rice is one that is not uniform in terms of color, grain dimensions, has damage grains and impurities with a high proportion of broken grains. On the other hand, high quality rice is one with uniform appearance in terms of color grain dimensions, in clean without damaged grains and is well packaged.Another quality trait that also permits the classification of rice into different types is color.Under this descriptor, rice can be defined as white, yellow, brown, red or black.Chalkiness is also another quality trait that can be used to define rice types. A rice variety can be chalky or not chalky. A chalky rice variety is one whose grains present white spots or marks on the belly or back of the milled grain. Chalkiness is a genetic trait, may occur in some varieties due to abiotic stressors that results in uneven filling of the starch granule but can disappear during appropriate parboiling.The presentation ended with Aroma as an important quality parameter that divides rice types into aromatic or not aromatic rice. Aromatic rice varieties generate a characteristic flavor as a result of the presence of volatile molecules in their chemical constitution.Under this session, it was also complimented that rice could be classified as a function of end user needs in relation to market price and more clarifications were thrown on rice shape description with the precision that cut offs for paddy, brown and milled rice were different for the slender, medium and bold categories. In line with the objective of the training, it was emphasized that low quality rice entails that actors have incurred losses at some point along the value chain. A question came up on whether or not the Africa Rice Center research was built to dispatch her technologies to users in the different countries to produce rice of the rightful quality.To this it was responded that the results from Africa Rice Center are geared to farmers to permit them produce rice that meets consumer demands in their respective countries. To the question on what basis can a rice variety be considered as of poor quality? It was responded that if a rice variety is good for a particular end product (e.g. bread, beer or cookies), it should not be regarded as of poor quality just because it isn't suitable for another (e.g. boiled rice). A question was asked on what can be done to ensure sustainability in rice quality at all levels? There is need to have a common definition for rice quality and to understand the methods of analysis, the norms (standards) and hold defaulters responsible for breaking the norms. To this, it should be noted that the prime role of postharvest specialist is to identify critical points of quality maintenance and to inform breeders on the specific traits to target in order to select the right rice varieties for the markets. After the Q&A session came the second module:The following parameters are used to evaluate paddy quality:1. Moisture content:Moisture content is the amount of water contained in a rice grain. Moisture content is analyzed through basically two methods; use of a moisture mete and drying oven method.Moisture content is an indicator for milling quality and suitable storage: A moisture content of 14% gives the highest head rice during milling. The MC of 12% is best for paddy destined for long term storage. If the MC is greater than 14%, the grain is too soft to withstand milling pressure and if the MC is less the 14% the grain becomes fragile and breaks easily during milling. An important factor to look at when dealing with moisture content in grains is moisture shrink which is measured as:Moisture shrink = (Initial MC-Final MC)/(100-Final MC)*100Moisture shrink is an indicator of weight loss and is important for millers and actors when buying paddy in the order of tons (large quantities). For instance, rice at 16% Mc indicates a loss of 4Kg for every 100Kg rice bought to be stored for long after drying to 12% MC. Moisture shrink can also be used to correct or standardize agronomic yield by always adjusting the MC to 14%. This is because agronomist tend to report yield immediately after harvest (18-22 % MC) most often without strict regards to moisture content, and millers evaluate turnover at 14% MC thus creating a huge gap that is seen as a loss incurred by the farmer. Therefore:-Farmers should be trained to know that moisture content affects price and over drying -If necessary, which is often very rare, farmers or millers should be able to equilibrate moisture which involves the combination of temperature and relative humidity (RH). This was in response to a question from one of the participants from Uganda who asked; \"How can moisture content be equilibrated to 14% if overdried to for instance 10% MC?The following parameters were presented as indicators to evaluate varietal purity:1. The LWR for grain shape 2. Based on 1000-grain weight Thus, to measure varietal purity, the actors should:1. Measure Length or width and calculate the percentage of grain with significant difference in length or width compared to the entire sample.2. Measure 1000-grain weight (constant for a variety) and determine the percentage difference in weight with respect to the reference sample (100% purity).If a line was of low varietal purity, it will lead to:-Low initial dehulling efficiencies, -A higher percentage paddy in the milled sample During the evaluation of impurities, always separate organic from inorganic impurities.In addition to impurities, cracked and damage grains, discolored and immature grains are also sorted and weighed during the evaluation of paddy quality.1. What are the strategies used to overcome the issues that deter with variety purity?Answer: The organization of the rice value chain to reinforce standards. This can be promoted for example through contract farming or new business models directly linking the farmers with the buyers 2. Can weight not be used as an important criterion on its own to define physical grain quality?Answer: Weight cannot be used a physical quality parameter because it is the denominator on which all other parameters are derived. It is from a defined grain weight that all quality parameters are evaluated, for instance, 1000-grain weight, 50 g to evaluate grain dimensions with the Rice statistical analyzer etc.Comment 1: There exist standards for the sampling of 100 Kg, 1000Kg, 5 tons etc. of rice stocks for quality analysis that all postharvest specialist should know, Comment 2: In Benin, rice paddy buyers already pay attention to MC control. This workshop has added other parameter that should also be considered like impurities, damaged grains, grain shape and varietal purity. I have also learnt that rice quality check should not be used only after milling.Comment 3: One of the participants from Nigeria made a statement on the situation in his country wherein there exist two supporting systems; specific weight evaluation that involves taking weight of individual grains and observing whether or not there exist wide variability and mostly used by breeders and secondly the 1000-grain weight for use by millers. After this the participant added that each country should take on itself to report or communicate the issues of rice quality in their respective countries following the adoption of the same standard protocols for the taskforce to be able to present the state of rice quality in Africa.3. On the issue of adopting international standards: Do we need to reduce or compromise our standards? Milling degree is a measure of percent bran removed from the brown kernel. Milling degree affects milling recovery and influences acceptance.Milling degree (%) = (Weight of milled rice/Weight of brown rice) *100Milling degree is not applicable to already milled rice from the market. For market samples, the surface oil content can be used as measure of the residual bran left on the polished rice.Head rice ratio is applied for market samples as:Head rice ratio (HRR, %) = (weight of whole grains)/weight of milled sample) *100Head rice yield is a measured of the quantity of whole grains obtained after milling a given quantity of paddy or rough rice. i.e.Head rice yield (HRY, %) = (Weight of whole grains)/Weight of paddy) *100Grain color moves with milling degree. Color is measure using a colorimeter and expressed as Lab where L = lightness, where 0 = dark and 100 = white; a is green (negative a-values) to red Amylose content plays a key role in determining eating and cooking quality because it intervenes with most of the cooking outcomes. It is a direct determinant of texture (stickiness and hardness) and taste and also influences the reaction of rice with other chemical components or food ingredients during transformation. For instance, when milled rice is washed with hot water, the surface amylose is lost and the grains do not stick during cooking and when rice is vaporized (rapid parboiling), the grains pregelatinize and becomes hard (retrogradation).Texture is defined by the degree of hardness/softness, stickiness/non-stickiness of cooked rice. Texture is measured with a texture meter (texture profile analysis),Viscosity is used to determine the end use of a given rice variety. For instance, high setback viscosity foods for infant food formulation. Viscosity profile simulates the cooking process and informs on the outcome of cooked rice after cooling.In conclusion, all the seven quality evaluators presented are used in defining product profiles.The participants visited the Grain Quality and Postharvest Technology of the Africa RiceCenter at Mbe Station led by the Head of the Laboratory. While in the laboratory, all the working posts, equipment and personnel were presented. The lab consisted of the Laboratory head, three technicians, three grain quality observers and a research assistant who was recently recruited to resume duty in January 2023. The standard approach used from sample reception through analysis to data sharing was presented.When samples are received, they are sent to the quarantine service for checks and when returned to the lab the samples are stored in hermetic bags to maintain the moisture content.The equipment in the lab was presented and the participants were urged to to pay attention to the serial number of references of the equipment as they were the standard equipment in the grain industry. For instance, the laboratory milling machine which takes 15s to dehusk 100g of paddy and 60s to polished the dehusked rice. The mill is a Zaccaria mill type.Milling demonstration with the Zaccaria mill was conducted by the lab technician. A sample of 100g paddy at 13.2% Mc was used. After milling, the weight of milled rice was 64.88g and after separation, the head rice yied was 62.8%. After this, the following equipment was presented:-The grinding machine (the cyclone mill),-The S21 Rice Statistical Analyzer which uses 50g sample to analyze chalkiness, length, width, LWR and varietal purity. This equipment is used to evaluate samples such as white rice, brown rice, parboiled rice, paddy and paddy residues. For demonstration, the milled sample was demonstrated for participants to see how the equipment operates.-The Near Infrared Kett equipment for moisture, amylose content and protein,One of the participants wished to know the requirements to send samples to the Africa Rice Rice Grain Quality and Postharvest Laboratory for analysis.Answer: The sample needs to be certified, dried to below 14% MC, packaged accordingly and the sending institution has to cover the shipping charges.2.2.1. First presentation: Nutritional quality of rice and mini-GEM parboiling system for enhancing rice quality in an environmentally and gender sound perspective.Objective: Maintain or reduce nutrient loss during processing which is an aspect often neglected when assessing postharvest losses. A detail presentation of the nutritional composition of different rice types (Brown, white and parboiled milled) was done and discussed, showing the decrease in some nutrients due to polishing and the conserving in some after parboiling. These values were contrasted with daily values required by an adult person for some of the nutrients like carbohydrate, protein, omega 3, omega 6 fatty acids, the ration of 3:6, mineral values for ZN, Fe Mg, P Ca and some vitamins. Significant changes were noted in some minerals like Fe due to parboiling while others like Zn, Mg, P and Ca remained the same. Most water-soluble vitamins decreased after parboiling and as a general role, brown rice had more minerals than white and parboiled rice. White milled rice lost much of the vitamins except for pantothenic acid. An understanding of the micronutrient dynamics in rice during milling, it was conceived that parboiled rice be promoted as a food in the treatment of micronutrient deficiency since brown rice storage is challenging. In the course of this presentation information and research result was also shared on rice demand and per capita consumption in Africa as reason to orientate consumers to more nutritional options, glycemic properties of rice, risk deficiency for Ca, Zn, I and Fe in Africa 1 ; a quick proposition that phytate might be the most important factor responsible for Fe deficiency in Africa. To end the presentation, the GEM parboiling system was presented as an effective option for nutritional quality and low glycemic index rice that should be scaled in Africa. The GEM technology was also presented as vehicle for the direct fortification of rice.Questions 1. Could you please explain more on rice fortification during parboiling and the chemistry behind the success of the fortification? Does the success of the fortification process depend on the rice variety?2. Explain the dynamics of minerals and vitamins during long-term storage.3. On the promotion of parboiled rice, a question was raised on the consumer preference which is not always positive for parboiled rice because of the process on taste.4. What happens to phytates during parboiling?5. What challenges have been faced so far during the scaling of the GEM parboiling technology and how can the technology be newly introduced in other countries?Comment:The data presented on the nutritional composition of the different rice types is both analyzed data from Africa Rice Center laboratories, collaborating laboratories and from the literature. On the promotion of low glycemic index foods in general and rice in particular, it is incumbent on African scientist to champion the campaign for healthy food choices as evidence from empirical studies are directly associating white rice and bread consumption to the incidence and persistence of diabetes.There was a virtual session with participants in Madagascar, thus the questions were reserved to be answered in subsequent sessionsThe components analyzed in white and parboiled rice in Madagascar were: lipid content, fatty acid profile, protein content, amino acid profile, total ash content, carbohydrate by difference and minerals. The results showed that total ash, phosphorus, Mg, Ca, and K increased for all the varieties after parboiling. There was no difference in the amino acid profile of parboiled and white rice.The key messages retained from this presentation were that:-The GEM parboiling technology has greatly enhanced rice productivity and consumption in Madagascar and is target as the major element to the fight against food security in the country,-The system highly contributes to adequate nutrient intake in children and to the economic empowerment of women in Madagascar, -In the past, parboiling was not a wide practice in Madagascar, and the few who practiced parboiling did so as a means to easily dry their riceTo evaluate the technical acceptability of parboiling in Madagascar, A sample size of 135 (70 being members of associations) producers and 126 traders were interviewed. From the study, it was seen that rice prices fluctuate through the months with four of the twelve months that make up a year expressing hikes in prices. Some 35% of traders found that the commercialization of parboiled rice was difficult because of its high price.After the second presentation from Madagascar, the First presentation of the day;\"Nutritional quality of rice and mini-GEM parboiling system for enhancing rice quality in an environmentally and gender sound perspective\" was repeated, this time in French for the benefit of the Malagasy who were online. The discussions that followed underlined that the promotion of parboiling in any country should be based on the economic gains, the role in the reduction of postharvest losses and the its capacity to increase the nutritional value of rice. Other studies still to be carried out in Madagascar are:-The physicochemical and microbiological analysis of parboiled rice, -Fill the gap of low access to modern technologies, -Effects of parboiling on storability and rice aroma and the need to define the steaming time for each rice variety.Comments: Through the presentation, the following points were raised:-Through modeling with large data sets, it has been established that domestic rice is of lower value compared to imported rice across African markets.-The value of rice in urban areas is greater compared to rural areas, -The quality attributes driving rice value in markets across Africa are: Head rice ratio, LWR, amylose content, Lightness and color intensity. High amylose rice has been linkedto a low value in most regions.Clustering of market samples using the driving attributes of rice value -clustering studies revealed that Nigeria has a lot of low-quality parboiled rice in the market compared to Kenya and other sub-Saharan African countries.-Through clustering, the markets were segmented as a function of dominance in driving attributes, and it was clearly established that:• Grain form was very important in Cote D'Ivoire and Nigeria,• In Madagascar, rice generally present the same characteristics from the urban and rural markets.• In Cameroon, head rice is the most important attribute driving rice prices,• In Uganda, LWR• In Benin and Ghana amylose content and texture are the most important attributes,• In Kenya rice is very expensive and head rice is the most important attribute,• It was revealed that slender and parboiled rice was most preferred in all the eight countries studied (Benin, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Uganda)• In addition to grain form, medium to soft texture rice, slightly sticky aroma and lightness are preferred in Cote D'Ivoire,Comment:The participant from Burkina Faso underlined that contrary to the report that the price of parboiled rice is higher than that of white rice, it is the opposite in Burkina Faso. How do we in Burkina Faso convince the population to understand that parboiled rice should be more expensive?Response:First and foremost, you have to understand that rice price is driven by its value. Rice value here entails overall quality (nutritional value and physical appearance). Once you ensure that the parboiled rice is of high quality, you can then develop channels to communicate information on the value of parboiled rice by either branding or strictly selling premium parboiled rice as a healthy or nutraceutical food. Of course, this means adequately investing in the communication.This session ended with the following assignment to all the participants:1. Each participant was charged to develop a strategy for the management of postharvest losses in their respective countries. Institutes. Through the presentation, quantitative assessment was done at harvest, threshing, drying, parboiling, milling and storage. The severity of the losses at each of the operations was presented and the overall sum of the quantity of rice was translated to an economic value of over 10 billion US dollars 2 . At the end of the presentation, the presenter reiterated that, there is need to look for funding and repeat the postharvest loss evaluation work in more countries.Lunch: 13H00 -14H00 2.2.5. Visits to all Africa Rice Center Research LaboratoriesKofi)The participants were received by the head of the Laboratory, who did the presentation of the laboratory. The core mandate of the laboratory is to conduct breeding operations in an efficient, cost effective and timely manner to identify genes of interest as demanded by agronomy, grain quality specialists etc.Questions 1. Do the breeding activities in the lab directly target grain quality indicators such as gelatinization temperature, aroma and chalkiness?Response:Yes, the laboratory screen down lines using molecular markers to be able to over varieties containing the desired traits by agronomist and grain quality specialists.2. Can the tools and methods in your laboratory identify the exact genes for cooking quality and specific end uses?Response:Our lab uses molecular markers specific to genes controlling several traits in rice including those linked to physical quality, eating and cooking quality and chemical quality. So, if a grain quality specialist is looking for a particular trait in a variety, we can run analysis and say whether or not the gene responsible for the expression of the trait in found in the variety.3. Is your lab interested in transgenic rice?Response: Not the mandate of the lab.The plant Pathology Laboratory does research in plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. The laboratory carries out the identification and isolation of pathogens. It was noted that each pathogen had a specific methodology of isolation and identification.In collaboration with the molecular biology laboratory, the plant pathology lab:-Screen rice varieties for disease tolerance, -The molecular characterization of pathogens to understand virulence Questions 1. Have you done any studies on the incidence and prevalence of diseases in relation to the deterioration of rice quality across Africa?Response: Thank you for your question. We have not yet conducted a study that directly looks at rice diseases and postharvest grain quality but we have evaluated the effects of fungal, bacterial and viral attacks on rice growth performance and yield. We have also discovered new rice pathogens that were not known before. In collaboration with the postharvest laboratory, we will certainly look at pathogens attacking rice grains and their effects on the quality of the grains.2. What is the most prevalent and/or virulent rice disease(s) from across countries in Africa?Response: For the past three years, we have not conducted regional wide studies acrossAfrican countries to identify the most virulent disease. However, In Cote D'Ivoire where we have done a lot of sample collection from the fields in almost all regions of the country, we are still isolating the pathogens after which we will identify and be able to able your question. Thank you.The Soil, Water, Fertilizer and Plant Laboratory (Head of Laboratory, Dr Saito)The laboratory was presented as one of the reference laboratories of soil analysis in the world and is one of the member labs of the GLOSOLAN consortium. The main objective of the consortium is to map the nutrient composition of soils around the world to permit agronomist to advice. Farmers on fertilizer related issues. In this lab, we do physical and analysis of soils. We also use spectra and XRF methods together with AAS to analyze soil minerals such as Fe, Zn, Mg Pb, As and all other heavy metals.Questions 1. Have you already correlate soil nutrients to the nutrient content in rice grains?Yes, we have already done such studies where we also looked out the nutrient content in rice biomass as a whole.2. Do results from your laboratory permit the recommendation of NPK fertilizer doses for soils from different countries?We do this through the use of a mobile App called RiceAdvice developed by the head of our lab.After this, the equipment in the lab was presented to the participants and included the Atomic spectroscopy and the XRF.This center harbors the largest genebank of rice varieties in Africa. The rice varieties are coming from all corners of the world. The current collection is estimated at 2285 accessions, 95% of which are from Africa. The Genebank lab is divided into different sections, with each section carrying out specific duties to permit the adequate sorting, analysis, packaging, labeling and storage of the accessions. The facilities we have can permit the conservation of samples for more up to a 100 year. For the long-term storage of samples, we clean the samples, evaluate the germination rate, dry to less than 6% Mc and store a < 2 C. At these conditions, the storage duration is estimated at 20 yrs.-Visit to the seed production fields. (Fields where the JT11 and Orylux 6 are under multiplication).-Demonstration plots of varieties already promoted in some countries like the Sahel lines which are tolerant to saline soils -Presentation of rice varieties resistant to submergence General comments after the field visit -Postharvest scientist should integrate seed health evaluation in their programs, -It was recommended that the postharvest task force been consolidated into a common network, through a WhatsApp forum for information sharing.-Need to create a mentorship scheme for the postharvest specialists, -Participants should endeavor to widen the scope of postharvest to render the domain dynamic -Participants were encouraged to form solid institutional postharvest research team, integrating researchers from the universities and academic institutions,Before the start of the session, participants were asked to present any housekeeping issues or special needs. To this, three participants raised the need to consider vegetarians during meals as there were limited options for them. -Varietal cropping cycle, -Observe that there is at least 85% yellowing of the panicles.-Measure the moisture content and ensure that it is at 18-22% Group 2 factors:-Use adequate harvesting equipment and methods.-Drain the fields before harvesting.The most important factors to control during rough rice drying are Drying temperature and moisture content. In the course of the presentation, tips were shared on proper practices during drying for both traditional and mechanical drying technologies.Information was shared on:-One stage milling (one step), -Two step milling -Multistage milling machines: The different steps in multistage type mills are: precleaning, dehusking, polishing, grading, separation, mixing, mist polishing, weighing and packaging of rice.Comment: The recommended MC for harvesting is 20-22% MC. It is not advisable for farmers to allow harvested panicles to dry in the field as this increase the risk of contamination by molds. For drying temperature, freshly harvested paddy should not be dried beyond 35 C to reduce the risk of crack formation and damage to the grains. It is the responsible of postharvest specialists to train farmers to follow guidelines and protocols to preserve rice grain quality. For instance, the use of moisture meters to respect MC levels. The focus of the postharvest taskforce is to contribute to the transformation of the food system in Africa through sustainable rice intensification. This by accompanying the farmers with the best skills, equipment and technology and obliging farmers to stick to adequate standards by following protocols.Storage is an important operation for both small-scale and large-scale farmers and they should be trained on important notions around storage facilities, storage conditions and the preparation of grains for storage. The effective control of grains during storage depends on the understanding of the equilibrium moisture content (EMC). The EMC depends on temperature and relative humidity which are the most important challenging factors faced during rice storage. The Best form in which rice should be stored as paddy, as paddy rice is less hydroscopic and demonstrates a long storage duration compared to milled and brown rice.Rice storage facilities are divided into bags, bulk and hermetic systems (further divided into cocoons, silos and superbags)1. Bag storage is of low capacity and can contain 40-80Kg of rough rice and is commonly practiced in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with the use of jute and woven plastic bags 2. Sealed or hermetic storage systems. These are the best systems that maintain rice quality including the preservation of aroma during long term storage. To promote hermetic storage in Africa, the Africa Rice Center has distributed over one million hermetic bags in some countries in West Africa and has plans to extend the distribution to other regions.The rice sector has witnessed limited subsidization compared to the cocoa sector and this narrative has to change if we need to reach self-sufficiency and to successfully transform our food systems.The new plan for the Postharvest taskforce is to develop a scheme where farmers can use commercialized hermetic storage facilities with large capacities as collateral to guarantee loans from the bank. Hermetic storage is most effective for rice storage because the system builds up carbon dioxide to 5% which is enough to kill all the insects in the bags. It also preserves aroma and grain viability. As a symbol of the Africa Rice system to promote hermetic storage in Africa, samples of hermetic storage bags will be shared to the participant to mark the start of the commitment.In the course of the visit, the following equipment were presented:-Improved harvesters including the reaper and motorized cutters as farmer friendly technologies.It was emphasized that for farmers to benefit from improve technologies which are literally expensive for small-scale farmers, the farmers should be clustered into groups and trained to invest in technologies. After investment, the farmers need to synchronize their farming activities and this means farmers of the same locality plant the same variety at the same time, weed, fertilize and harvest at the same time.-The ASI Thresher, already in use in Senegal, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali.- Why is it that only the GEM parboiling technology is promoted in all countries when other parboiling equipment also exist?The GEM parboiling technology is not imposed on its users. The technology is developed with the users at the center and modified to suite their demands. The technology has undergone 15 different innovations thanks to evaluation and comments of the users and is being scaled by private companies or enterprises who continue to do modifications as demanded by the users.Other technologies have so many limits that the GEM technology have been able to over this include the use of non-oxidizable and durable material in order to meet food quality transformation standards.The fourth day of training was on Thursday the 8th December. The day started at 09:07 and was chaired by Dr. Sali Ndindeng Atanga. A total of four topics were presented by Drs. Danbaba, Eyenga, Houssou and Ndindeng on rice based-products and packaging. Each presenter took about 20 min for the speech, which was followed by questions, answers and discussion. Some recommendations were also made during this day. He briefly compared rice flour and wheat flour in terms of gluten and size particles: rice flour does not contain gluten but can be well processed to obtain flour with very fine particles of more than 98% not larger than 212µm. Flour production following a modified method base on the Niigata technique, wet milling using attrition mills.The water soaking milling technique follow the following steps: Cleaning (winnowing and washing), soaking at ambient temperature for 4-6 hrs., repeated grinding, sieving, sedimentation, drying of the sediment, pulverization, sieving and packaging. The eight steps of rice flour production were explained. Galvanized metal is used for the production of this flour, for food safety reasons. Through the presentation, the presenter showcased a series of snacks derived from rice flour by women in Nigeria.Some rice flour snacks produced locally were presented. The production of rice flour in snacks uses very low market rice quality, with the following attributes to make high rice-based products and therefore increase of income. Rice starch and its products is easy to digest, Rice flour has a bland taste, Sparkling white color, Hypoallergenic properties, Low in fat, has high oil absorption capacity, Rice flour is gluten free, It can be made from broken rice fraction, therefore cheaper, Low in sodium and calories when compared when compared with wheat, Rice flour has high level of lysine. The presenter showed the steps of rice-based snacks preparation, from weighing and mixing the ingredients, rising or fermentation, kneading, shaping, baking or frying or steaming or toasting or extrusion and finally packaging. Packaging rice flour is done using available material, although studies are still needed for more improvement.Concerning the out-scaling of these snacks produced from low market value rice, thousands of women are actually involved in their production and selling locally.Questions/Answers/Comments -How is the milling of rice flour done? After soaking, wet milling is performed, using 1 volume of water for 2 volumes of rice.-Does it mean rice rejected for consumption is used for snacks production? No, the rice used is of low market value, but consumable and it is cleaned before processing.-In Japan for instance, rice bread is rather steamed, other alternative flour products can be used rather than wheat bread.-How can the production time of such snacks be reduced, while improving the quality? The soaking time can be reduced with the increase of temperature, furthermore, the particles size of the flour should be very small and wet milling should be done. Also, mechanized rice flour production is being progressively put in place, particularly for drying.-How was the best flour particle size obtained? Through the use of series of sieves analysis to measure particle size. In addition, a student is presently working on rice flour particles size and sieving, to improve the quality of small-scale snacks production.-Could we obtain a high nutrient snack from rice four? The lysine content in rice is higher than that of other cereals, the fortification can be applied for more complements.-Is it possible to develop a common recipe for different countries? The standardization seems a bite difficult as it depends on the processors.-What is the strategy developed for more out-scaling? Actually, planning to couple that with the GEM parboiling technology.-What is the self-life of rice flour produced from low market value rice? Have succeeded in storing such flour for than 7 years, although its quality has to be evaluated.-Clean document on rice based-products in different countries should be produced.-The nutritional analysis of baby food developed in different countries should be done, alongside with sensory analysis.-Baby food produced from rice should be completely gelatinized and should not have more than 30% of carbohydrates.-Teams will be made for the effective outscaling of these products, following a clear scientific prove of their respective quality and acceptability. This will ease the implication of the private sector to make these products found on shelves in supermarkets.-There is a funded project on healthy food outscaling and those participants with such products should indicate to be part of it.The chair of the presentation urged the presented to develop a technical workflow document of rice flour production and transformation to some of the products to be shared to the participants at a later date. As a general comment, it was suggested that since many innovations on rice transformation exist across the countries let country representatives document the innovation such that they can be compiled in a single document and published to the benefit of all interested in rice transformation. In addition to this, the nutrition facts of each product should be reported in order to ease the recommendation of the products to consumers.On scaling the innovations, it was stated that private companies should be targeted as a means to project the products on shelves in super markets.2.4.2. Second Presentation: Production and packaging of fortified rice-based composite biscuits Dr Eyenga Eliane introduced this topic with the importance of biscuits, their large acceptability among populations. She further presented the main characteristics of rice basedbiscuits, which are rich in carbohydrates, low proteins, can be made from low market value broken rice and low gluten content. To improve on the quality of these rice-based biscuit, in terms of proteins, minerals and vitamins and reduce the level of fats, safou (Dacryodes edulis) powder was used. The objective was to produced and package fortified rice-based composite biscuits, evaluate their physico-chemical properties and sensory analysis. The presenter showed the quality of safou, the steps of safou powder production, from safou pulp cleaning, drying, grinding, sieving, packaging and conservation. She further presented the steps of biscuits production: the simple biscuits made with wheat flour and those fortified either with sour safou powder or with non-sour safou powder. All the three types of biscuits were evaluated. Two packaging materials: polypropylene and aluminum were used to store the biscuits for 5 months for their evaluation.The acceptability of safou rice-based biscuits was higher, due to the high level of aroma and flavors from the safou powder. There was an increase in fats contents, but high level of proteins, an increase of amino-acids and minerals. After storage, biscuits produced from wheat flour were stronger than those from rice flour. The moisture content of all types of biscuits increased with time, although biscuits packaged with aluminum had lower moisture content as compare to those packaged with polypropylene. The peroxide index was low in biscuits produced with safou.-What are the features of safou fruits? They are rich is lipids, are either acidic or non-acidic.In Cameroon, this fruit is produced seasonally and is very abundant in local markets during the production season. Safou fruits are highly perishable, they can be dry and conserved as powder.This processing is particularly beneficial for acidic fruits, which are not accepted by consumers.-The water activity would have been evaluated for the self-life of biscuits; mean value would have been accompanied with standard errors also it would have been interesting to do a microbiological evaluation of the rice-based biscuits produced.-For new products, it is better to start with physico-chemical evaluations before sensory evaluation.-Was margarine completely replaced by safou powder during biscuit production? It was a partial substitution of margarine with safou powder.Coffee break. All participants took a coffee break from 11:02 -11:30 AM.The production and packaging of steamed rice bread (Ablo), by DrDr. Houssou presented ablo as a local maize-based product, produced and consumed in Benin, Ghana and Togo. Formally, the ablo was made from maize, but now rice is used for its production. But this production is usually done at a very small scale by women and from imported rice. The objective was then to produce ablo, using locally produced rice and at a medium to large scale by women. The presenter showed the 14 steps for the production of ablo, using locally produced rice, from the selection of rice variety, cleaning and washing, water draining, grinding, sieving, preparation of pap, cooling of the pap, mixing the pap with 2/3 of the rice flour, further mixing, fermentation, shaping, steam cooking and dressing. Twelve rice varieties produced locally were tested. NERICA2, NERICA6, or V82 rice varieties non-parboiled allowed the production of good ablo. The scale of ablo production was increased from one tray (traditionally made), to six trays (improved method).The implications of ablo production on the developmentThe technology of ablo production using rice is simple and allows to make light and good ablo, the use of improved steam cooker for ablo production is an efficient solution to address the low level of production using traditional method, the promotion of such technology to large scale consumers, including school canteens, hotels, restaurants, etc. will allow adding value to low market value rice, create micro-enterprise activities related to its production, etc.-What is the steam cooking duration? It varies with the number of trays in the steaming equipment. For the 6-trays cooking equipment, the cooking time is 30 min. The ablo is introduced after the water has started boiling, the last tray is well covered to conserve heat and allow homogenous cooking.-What is the level of ablo adoption? Ablo is highly adopted because it was formerly highly consumed. This technology has just improved on its production, by replacing the imported rice used with locally non parboiled rice. In addition, several public demonstrations have been madewith high success of acceptability from consumers.-Is there a quality analysis of ablo? Will now analyze the physico-chemical and nutritional quality of ablo.-How is ablo consumed? It is eating with stew, rich in proteins as will content either fish or meet.-What is the self-life of ablo? It is consumed hot, immediately after production and is not conserved.-Is it possible to improve on the packaging of ablo? Yes, it is; but actually, leaves from plants are used for the ablo packaging and are appreciated by consumers as they improve on its aroma.-What about the safety of the equipment used for ablo production? The tray used are stainless steel.-What is the size of flour particles used in ablo production? The particle size has not been evaluated, but the production of ablo does not need very fine particle size.-It is possible to use a mixture of rice flour and orange flesh potato, to improve on the nutritional quality of ablo? Yes, studies can be done to achieve that.-Participants can do an exchange visit in Benin to learn on ablo production.-Can evaluate the production of ablo from brown rice.-Think out of the box and transform the food system in our countries. For example, develop the best option of ablo packaging, which can cross boundaries.-In order to improve on the quality, ablo flour can be produced and packaged under vacuum sealing for its use as instant food for home consumption.-Can improve on the nutritional quality of ablo, by adding orange flesh sweet potato, cowpea, etc. to develop effective protein rich alternative food. Research proposals can be developed from such ideas, which can also be easily pick up by industries. Mycotoxins are poisons produced by fungi, it is a secondary metabolism.The determination of mycotoxins in the laboratory: A practical session using 10 market samples from Kenya and Uganda were used during a demonstration session to determine aflatoxin concentration. • Use of rice by-products for energy and mushroom production,• Rapid detection of mycotoxin in rice:• Practical sessions for innovations Strategies for postharvest loss reduction in grains in Africa, 1. Identify the losses, develop standards, measure the losses against the losses, implement (quantify) in the field to exactly have the value in terms of the reduction achieved. This will be carried out at the community level, considering practices (agronomic factors, AEZs, practices) along the whole value chain, ContributionsIt is certain that the magnitude of losses at specific operations is already known, thus attention should be paid on the actions necessary to reduce the losses by putting together all the technologies in place that can be applied at the level of each country.Three domains to develop the strategies: production, postharvest and storage.Keyword: available technologies, collaboration with institutions like CORAF, IITA, 2. Categorization of the strategies into three groups: short term strategies (rapid responses), medium-and long-term strategies. 3. Identify specificities at country level and the innovations involves (policy, technology) 4. Allocation of resources as a function of severity considering losses at all levels including nutrition and parboiling, 5. Capacity enhancement (identify the critical mass, identify gaps, and strengthen the capacity of the team) strategy of actors by mapping all the agents in the postharvest chain. Thus, will permit capacity building and putting and have countries represented at the same level. 6. Linking postharvest activities to the beneficiaries by directing the actions to those in needs. For example, the case of healthy foods developed in postharvest. Need to demonstrate through impact studies that the innovations documented are beneficial to the population. 7. Collaboration with other national institutions like universities to build the capacity that will be needed to achieve the impacts (this through networking), 8. Rapid response in case of crisis (pandemics, mass attack of grains, etc.) 9. Orientate strategies to be in line with global goals 10. Development of business models around postharvest innovations for the benefit of groups with clear consideration of gender responsiveness etc., 11. Reward quality through standards that will permit the sanctioning of defaulters, etc. 12. What are the opportunities, challenges and risks that will define a pathway for the team to develop effective interventions, 13. Rice model village;The case of rice: What are the specific strategies that can be adopted to reduce postharvest losses? 1. Short term innovations and actions/interventions at country and regional levels (where applicable)Approach: List the different operations or stages of postharvest activities and list the different innovations available at each step.Locally produced rice sometimes is considered inferior because the food preparers do not master the cooking methods (thus constitute a loss)1. Varieties: Assessment of all released varieties for physical, chemical, cooking and sensory quality to respond to consumer and market demands; 2. Good agricultural practices; 3. Communication of postharvest problems and developed solutions across TV, radio and other communication outlets (cross-cutting) ; 4. Training of the postharvest (all farmers as well) actors on good postharvest practices, (it is considered that 5. Development of indicators for optimum harvesting time, 6. Organization of seed systems to ensure that seed sources supply quality seeds on time to farmers, 7. Identification of the different actors along the whole value chain which constitutes institutional arrangements and policies to govern the whole value chain, 8. Accessibility of innovations that permit pest control including birds, pathogens, etc. 9. Synchronization and zoning of actions in the reduction of postharvest losses of rice.This involves the homogeneity or uniformity of farm practices by farmers in a particle production system in a give locality (site specificity). For more clarity; varietal zoning at specific rice production systems; 10. Data collection and gathering to permit the monitoring of evolution across all the areas,11. Adoption of harvesting reapers and coupling the innovations for optimum harvesting time; 12. Capacity building on the use of indices that will determine the right harvesting time;35. Appropriate packaging and labeling; 36. Control and certification of the developed products and innovations by linking up with quality assurance agencies and the interlinking of all the value chain actors with the certification agencies. This will involve mapping the actors in a given location and networking. 37. Rice model villages: The creation of such villages can be done by production systems to ensure homogeneity in all operations from varietal choice to fertilization etc, 38. Need to evaluate food wastages and develop strategies to address food wastages.  ","tokenCount":"8315"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9635639978.json b/data/part_1/9635639978.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..217130fac0a7033ac2e643c9c3d6fb429a1ab8d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9635639978.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5e3f095e635274fdce5274daf14eaf82","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/99d69b43-b2c3-4919-b3be-2bbbb90d2df3/content","id":"-618825394"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e5bca162-39e0-45f0-884e-77c60281bc8b","pagecount":"7","content":"La sembradora fertilizadora ML-2017-A diseñada para productores de pequeña escala es un implemento resistente, compacto y ligero. Cuenta con una barra portaherramienta donde van montados los paralelogramos de siembra. Cada paralelogramo presenta un sistema de tracción acortado para reducir la separación del bastidor al suelo y dar una mayor precisión a la caída de la semilla. Al mismo tiempo la estructura compacta del paralelogramo hizo posible la reducción del tamaño y el peso de los cuerpos de trabajo. También se incorpora una tolva de plato horizontal para la dosificación de semillas grandes como son maíz de diferentes tamaños, frijol y sorgo. Además, se incorpora una tolva de rodillo acanalado para la dosificación de fertilizantes granulados. Dimensiones (largo, alto, ancho) 1.80 m x 1.35 m x 2.30 m Masa total del implemento 390 kg Sistema de dosificación de semilla Plato horizontal Capacidad de la tolva para semillas 5 kg Sistema de dosificación de fertilizante Rodillo acanalado Capacidad de la tolva para fertilizante 50 kg Tipo de abresurco Cincel Diámetro del disco cortador -Perfil del disco cortador -Diámetro de la rueda de tracción 0.57 mEn la imagen 1 se pueden identificar los principales componentes de la sembradora fertilizadora de 2 surcos modelo ML-2017-A. a) Enganche de 3 puntos y barra porta-herramienta La sembradora fertilizadora ML-2017-A cuenta con un enganche de 3 puntos seccionado que brinda la flexibilidad de poder mover las conexiones laterales si es que el implemento agrícola requiere de mover un paralelogramo en la barra portaherramienta la cual consta de una barra agrícola de 2.30 m x 2-1/4\" en acomodo diamante. La conexión del enganche de 3 puntos al tractor de 4 ruedas se realiza por medio de los dos brazos hidráulicos laterales del tractor y su brazo central. Para su conexión es recomendable primero identificar el brazo fijo y el brazo móvil del tractor. El orden recomendado de enganche es: primero conectar el brazo fijo del tractor, después el brazo central ya que este nos permite alejar o acercar el implemento agrícola y por último el brazo móvil. b) Control de profundidad y posición de abresurcos El control de profundidad en la sembradora fertilizadora ML-2017-A se realiza por medio de la manipulación de la altura de los abresurco tipo cincel los cuales cuentan con barrenos que permiten ajustar el abresurco y regular la hondura de trabajo para la colocación de los insumos como semilla y fertilizante dentro del suelo. Además, cuenta con barrenos en el acople superior del abresurco que le permite el acomodo del cuerpo de trabajo a 6 cm de la línea de siembra para aplicación de fertilizante granulado.En cada paralelogramo la sembradora cuenta con una tolva de semilla grande con un sistema de dosificación de plato horizontal enfocado principalmente a la siembra de maíz. Cuenta con una variedad de platos dosificadores para diferentes tamaños de semilla. La selección del plato debe realizarse con mucha atención ya que de esto dependerá la precisión del trabajo del sistema de dosificación. La semilla para utilizar debe ser homogénea ya que la variación en forma y tamaño puede provocar una deficiente calidad en la siembra a causa de fallas o daño por quiebre dentro del sistema dosificador. Además, cada paralelogramo presenta un sistema de tracción acortado que brindan la transmisión y dan movimiento a los sistemas de dosificación de la máquina. Empotrado al sistema de trasmisión encontramos catarinas que permiten modificar la dosificación de semillas a colocar en una hectárea manipulando la combinación entre ellas.Imagen 4. Componentes principales de sistema dosificador de semilla: A. Tolva de semilla grande con sistema de dosificación de plato horizontal. 1) Tolva, 2) Concha, 3) Plato dosificador, 4) Base; B. Paralelogramo. 1) Rueda tracción, 2)Catarinas para manipulación de densidad de siembra.d) Sistema dosificador de fertilizante Para la distribución de fertilizantes granulados la sembradora cuenta con una tolva de doble salida con sistema de dosificación de rodillo acanalado de doble propósito. Se dice de doble propósito porque permite también la distribución de semillas pequeñas como el trigo, cebada y avena. Este sistema consta de dos partes, una parte lisa y una parte acanalada. Manipulamos el desplazamiento de dosificador de rodillo acanalado sobre el área de descarga de la buchaca por medio de una manivela que se encuentra en la parte lateral de la tolva.Imagen 5. Componentes principales de sistema de dosificación de fertilizante: A. Tolva de fertilizante con sistema de dosificación de rodillo acanalado: 1) Tolva, 2) Buchaca, 3) Manivela; B. Vista interior de buchaca: 1) Rodillo acanalado, 2) Rodillo liso, 3) Ceja reguladora.▪ Antes de iniciar alguna operación con la máquina es importante revisar que todas las partes de unión y fijación estén en perfectas condiciones (tirantes, tornillos, tuercas, etc.); revise también que estén bien puestas y apretadas. No use la máquina si los sistemas de fijación no están bien puestos y bien apretados.Verifique que los elementos giratorios como cadenas, engranes y bujes estén correctamente engrasados, use grasas multiusos de litio y lubricantes SAE 20. ▪ Si la máquina deja de utilizarse durante un período prolongado, es necesario almacenarla en un lugar protegido contra los agentes atmosféricos y cubrirla de manera que no sufra daños. ▪ Antes de guardarla se recomienda limpiar exhaustivamente toda la máquina y lubricar bien todos los órganos mecánicos para protegerla contra el óxido. ▪ Lavar bien las tolvas con agua, sobre todo las tolvas de fertilizante ya que los químicos producen un gran deterioro sobre el metal. ▪ Mantener limpios los órganos de siembra; las acumulaciones de tierra, piedras, raíces, etc.","tokenCount":"911"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9637019080.json b/data/part_1/9637019080.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c873a1d787ead3414168237649f3aa314b5118af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9637019080.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27d6e64ebedabbadf964974b2573edc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c60f8aa1-5415-45a4-b138-16666572ce26/retrieve","id":"-965238437"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"92799d71-013d-4fe5-8223-964045a920db","pagecount":"6","content":"In 2010 the research theme on Knowledge to Action (K2A) at CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) developed a plan of work, using a log frame structure. Our objective was to explore and jointly apply approaches and methods that enhance K2A linkages with a wide range of partners at local, regional and global levels. Since then, the K2A theme has supported a variety of projects with the potential to catalyse action from research-generated knowledge. These projects were cutting edge; high risk but with potential for real impact should they succeed.The success rate of individual projects was substantial. 1 What we found as a research theme, however, was that mechanisms were not in place to scaleout from these initial, project-based successes. We attributed this to the absence of a clear pathway to impact. Impact pathways were inherent in our log frame approach. However, explicit \"result chains\" connecting research products to development outcomes and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) strategies were missing. In 2013, we converted our log frame into an impact pathway with accompanying theory of change (TOC). This allowed us to shift from a project orientation to a focus on behavioral outcomes.Our log frame had one objective and four outputs. For our TOC we stated each of these as explicit outcomes with specific and measurable changes in next-user knowledge, attitude, skills and practice. Each output was converted into an impact pathway. CCAFS requires its research themes to achieve and report at least one outcome per year. Searching for ways to be innovative and clarify our outcomes-thinking process, we decided to summarize each of the specific stories we wanted to tell per behavioral outcome. Our overall Knowledge to Action outcome story became:CCSL Learning Brief No.9 The story is accompanied by four outcome stories representing each of our impact pathways. For example, our outcome story for the CCAFS regional socio-economic scenarios program 2 , completed in 2013, was:By the end of 2013, national and regional stakeholders in the five CCAFS regions are focusing on developing more appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies and policies using forward-looking climate change focused socio-economic scenarios. In at least two of our regions, economic communities and international organizations are collaborating to invest in this process for creating an enabling policy environment.The Knowledge to Action impact pathways also contain major output groups (MOGs) 3 , major research actions (MRAs) 4 and specific projects. Thus, the CCAFS Scenarios Program impact pathway contained the elements shown in Figure 1.MOG: By 2013, regional scenarios nalized in a process that includes developing capacity in regional agencies and other stakeholders Initially, we brainstormed monitoring and evaluation indicators based on what would be the most holistic and convincing evidence of progress along our impact pathways, and achievement of our outcomes. We identified progress 6 , change 7 and impact 8 indicators, paying particular attention to change and impact indicators that would provide evidence of contribution to the CCAFS intermediate development outcomesWe found, however, that these higherlevel indicators cut across themes and regions in CCAFS, and had to be arrived at through a time-consuming consultative process involving all CCAFS stakeholders (e.g. Flagship leaders, Regional leaders, Coordinating Unit, etc.). So we decided to work with the main partners in each impact pathway to identify indicators and develop an outcome-focused monitoring, learning and evaluation (ML&E) plan, specific to their pathways. We assume that these indicators will also provide evidence of progress towards and achievement of our overall outcome story.An example is the CCAFS Scenarios program monitoring, learning and evaluation system. Several meetings were held with the scenarios team to develop the system with the program's research question in mind. In 2010 we started with the double question: \"Can a participatory approach be used to develop regional socioeconomic scenarios for use in climate change and agriculture planning, and if developed will stakeholders use them?\" The impact pathway ended in 2013 with an external evaluation 10 using the ML&E indicators, providing the results in Table 1.Number of partner organizations that are participating in the scenarios process by region 240 organizations (governments, regional economic bodies, private investors, farmers' organizations, CSOs and NGOs, academia and the media) have participated in regional scenarios processes in the five CCAFs regions.The 240 organizations participating in the scenarios processes were represented by 361 individuals ranging from mid-level to senior individuals in their organizations.Increasing demand for scenarios process: number of actors that have requested or are supporting the scenarios process in the CCAFS regions 4 global partners (FAO, UNEP WCMC, Oxfam Great Britain and GFAR) are supporting scenarios processes. In the regions, 15 regional and national organizations (regional economic bodies like ECOWAS, EAC, ASEAN and SICA, governments, civil society organizations and NGOs) have provided active support for scenarios processes.Funds provided for scenarios process by partner organizations in CCAFS regions Global and regional partners have provided 660.000 USD (and an additional estimated 80.000 USD for smaller meetings) to the development of scenarios and their use for policy and investment guidance.Increasing use of scenarios in CCAFS regions; number of champions emerging; number and types of partners engaged in forward planning for climate change adaptation and mitigation 81 impact pathways to guide policy and investment were proposed to be taken forward by participants across the five regions, of which 24 have been initiated so far.The evaluation report refers to its regional outcomes where many success stories are underway. The report highlights 5. In addition to the indicators we are using for the case studies -policies under revision, improved capacity to plan from a systems perspective, credible planning, integrated perspectives and collaborative action, partner constellations, and changes in decision-making -we will monitor the indicators outlined in Table 2 along the impact pathway.Our theory of change for this research assumes that policy and institutional change occur because of the availability of objective, science- We need to support the capacity of stakeholders in the CCAFS regions to use the CCAFS socio-economic scenarios, combined with back-casting planning approaches as tools for guiding decision-making. In addition to monitoring indicators of progress and behavioral change, we also need to review our theory of change and impact pathway annually by asking ourselves, \"Given the experience of the past year, do these assumptions continue to hold true?\" and \"Is our strategy to support policy processes from the bottom-up enabling progress along our impact pathway?\"Achieving ","tokenCount":"1050"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9637510240.json b/data/part_1/9637510240.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eb1bc246778ddcf25c32541f5613dcd8c44c1d40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9637510240.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39417843386d3257db22124d7780a29b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/03312cb2-f707-4e1e-ab38-60f343eb2857/retrieve","id":"1005479435"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aa5cc008-c442-4fea-9210-b7ff174b5074","pagecount":"9","content":"Amid rapidly transforming urban food environments, Asia's cities are faced with the dilemma of ensuring food and nutrition security for their populations while also combatting food-safety concerns.The current food environment in Hanoi, Viet Nam, only provides a minimal level of diet quality for the urban poor. Modernization policies aim to improve food safety by promoting the closure of open-air markets in favour of supermarkets and convenience stores. Traditional open-air markets are the urban population's main source of food and ensure a healthy diet, but they do not offer formal food-safety guarantees. In contrast, modern retail outlets, such as supermarkets and convenience stores, provide foods with safety guarantees, but are not utilized by the urban poor for myriad reasons, including cultural shopping preferences, habits and convenience (hours of operation, formality, cost and perceived freshness). Though designed to increase the consumption of safe foods in Hanoi, these modern outlets may also stimulate the consumption of unhealthy ultra-processed foods and reinforce food-access inequality. The continued closure of traditional open-air markets in favour of modern retail outlets may be jeopardizing the future diet quality of Hanoi's urban poor. We recommend that food-safety policies embrace the existing diversity of local food retail systems and identify opportunities to improve food safety at open-air fresh food markets.Food and nutrition security have long been primarily a rural agenda. However, rapid urbanization and food-system transition present urgent challenges when it comes to the provision of safe, nutritious and sustainable food in cities (Tefft et al., 2017). Emerging economies of the Global South are experiencing this most intensely, particularly in Asia, where the rapid rate of urbanization has resulted in a concurrent rise in (i) non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (Abarca-Gómez et al., 2017;Boonchoo et al., 2017;Do et al., 2017); (ii) the urbanization of poverty (Asian Development Bank, 2014;Ravallion et al., 2007;Kanbur and Zhuang, 2013); and (iii) malnutrition (Mohiddin et al., 2012). For emerging Asian economies, food-safety concerns not borne by developed regions and western societies (Mylona et al., 2018) complicate these issues (Ortega and Tschirley, 2017;World Bank, 2017). These food-safety concerns are affecting food retailing policies. Across Southeast Asia, rapid economic development, accelerated by foreign direct investment, has resulted in the \"supermarketization\" -the closure of open-air markets in favour for modern retail outlets -of urban food environments (Reardon and Timmer, 2012;2014).The increased presence of modern retail outlets is also associated with food-access inequality, for two main reasons. First, supermarkets are unevenly distributed within cities (private supermarket companies mainly target middle-and higher-income areas), and replacing markets with supermarkets catalyses the gentrification of lowerincome areas (Moore, 2013;Cohen, 2018;Wertheim-Heck et al., 2015). Second, in Asia, the replacement of open-air wet markets with supermarkets has been shown to exclude lower-income populations, as they are either unaffordable, unsuitable or unwelcoming. The restricted affordability is not only down to supermarkets' higher prices, but also to parking fees for bikes and motorbikes, and the fact that supermarket shopping is often geared towards large-volume, weekly purchases. The urban poor tend to buy food daily, based on a daily food budget.What's more, supermarkets have restricted opening hours that do not fit with those daily, early-morning food-shopping practices. Shopping at supermarkets is also a time-consuming process if one takes into account parking, weighing of produce and waiting at checkouts, especially given the low-volume daily shop.Lastly, although the urban poor tend to visit supermarkets and malls to window-shop as a leisure activity at the weekends, they do not feel welcome in supermarkets, which generally have security guards and lack the personal vendor interaction of traditional outlets (Maruyama and Trung, 2007;Wertheim-Heck et al., 2015). Consequently, the right of access to safe and healthy food for all is being challenged.This modernizing transformation of the food environment has had mixed consequences for urban consumers, especially in Asia (Baker and Friel, 2016;Hawkes et al., 2017). Negative impacts on diet and health have been observed as a consequence of decreased consumption of fresh fruit, vegetables and traditional foods generally, coupled with the increased availability and consumption of ultra-processed and packaged foods (such as sausages, ready-to-eat meals and instant noodles), which are often high in salt, fat and sugar and have been associated with NCDs (Hawkes, 2006;Leite et al., 2018;Luiten et al., 2016;Moubarac et al., 2013;Hyseni et al., 2017;Popkin, 2014;Popkin and Reardon, 2018;Poti et al., 2017;Toiba et al., 2015).At the same time, there have been positive impacts, such as improved food safety and hygiene (Fuchs et al., 2011), greater convenience (by reducing the amount of food-preparation time for women) and better availability of nutritious foods, including animal-source foods, such as dairy and eggs. Improvements have also been observed in the quality of diets (Burns et al., 2004;Hawkes, 2006;Laraia et al., 2004;Popkin and Reardon, 2018).The cost of food has decreased in some contexts and increased in others (Latham and Moffat, 2007;Larsen and Gilliland, 2009;Liese et al., 2007;Goldman et al., 1999;Reardon et al., 2009), but there has been a visible increase in the inequality of access to food. The dietary and nutritional consequences appear to depend very much on context (regional, cultural, level of development/national GDP, urban or rural). Currently, we know little about the extent to which this transformation of the food retail environment has impacted shopping practices and diets, specifically those of the urban poor in Asia.These issues are often approached from a consumer-led \"rational choice\" perspective, which views food consumption as the outcome of conscious and deliberate choices by individual buyers. A novel approach to the transition of food systems is to view household food-shopping practices and consumption -and, hence, dietary intake -as inherent activities that make up everyday life. This approach combines dietary research with a social practice-oriented perspective by including the habitual nature of food consumption (Warde and Southerton, 2012) and assessing how this is affected in a transforming food retail environment. Dietary intake is core to the design of such a framework and is assessed as a dependent variable, first to food-shopping practices and then food retail provisioning and urban lifestyle. Food-shopping practices are measured as an independent variable to dietary intake, but assessed as a dependent variable in relation to food retail provisioning and lifestyle. Food retail provisioning and lifestyle are both considered independent variables.Viet Nam's Doi Moi economic reform 1 in the late 1980s and 1990s brought about significant changes in lifestyle and dietary patterns, including lower consumption of rice and traditional foods, fresh fruits and vegetables in favour of more protein-and fat-containing foods, such as meat and processed foods (Petracchi and Ha, 1999;Nguyen and Pham, 2008;Thang and Popkin, 2004).Hanoi authorities subsequently developed a master plan to transform the city into a modern metropolis (MoPI, 2011;MoIT, 2012), including the transformation of the local food environment through retail modernization that promoted supermarket development to gradually replace traditional food retail outlets (Moustier, 2006;MoIT, 2009;Dries, 2013;Wertheim-Heck and Spaargaren, 2016). This policy was supported by serious public health concerns over the agrochemical and bacteriological safety of the most commonly consumed fresh foods, as supermarkets implement private food-safety management systems and maintain food hygiene standards, unlike traditional food markets. Moreover, by national regulation, all vegetables entering modern retail outlets are required to carry official Vietnamese certificates attesting to their production in accordance with national safety regulations (Wertheim-Heck et al., 2014).Ensuring healthy and safe food access, together with food and nutrition security, in low-income urban groups is a critical challenge facing Vietnamese policymakers (Wertheim-Heck et al., 2015). Consumers and policymakers alike have to deal with the competing priorities of food safety and nutrition. Food safety is being prioritized, however, as evident by the recent transformations in urban food-safety governance towards \"supermarketization\" as a remedy for recurrent food-safety incidents -at the cost of the forced closure of traditional wet markets.Around one-third of Hanoi's population lives on less than USD 5 per person per day and 44 percent of household income is spent on food. These households heavily rely on wet markets to access fresh and nutritious produce.The forced closure of these markets is designed to channel consumers into supermarkets and convenience stores. An important element of Hanoi's urban planning is to transform traditional markets into shopping malls, with the aim of reducing 1Economic reforms introduced in Viet Nam in 1986 to create a \"socialist-oriented market economy\".the 67 permanent inner-city markets (as of 2010) to just 14 by 2020 (MoIT, 2009). In the meantime, supermarket development is spiralling, from just 2 in 2000, to 24 in 2010 and 800 in 2017, to an estimated 1 000 in 2025 (Wertheim-Heck et al., 2015).The increased cost of food and the dietary changes associated with supermarkets and exposure to ultra-processed foods (Monteiro et al., 2016) put food and nutritional security at risk. Shopping at supermarkets is associated with a rise in the consumption of ultra-processed foods and increased rates of obesity and NCDs, whereas wet-market shopping is associated with increased vegetable consumption (Kimenju et al., 2015;Banwell et al., 2013;Kelly et al., 2014).Vegetables are critical to good health and nutrition and are an integral part of the traditional Vietnamese diet. They are affordable and easily accessible. Yet, on average, Vietnamese people do not consume sufficient quantities to meet WHO recommendations (Bui et al., 2016). Unfortunately, these and other fresh foods are among those raising most concern by government and consumers alike in terms of food safety. The actual public health risk is low, however, and there is little evidence from food-safety and bio-contaminant analysis to date to support the contention that such foods sold in wet markets are unsafe. Consequently, the planned closure of almost all formal markets, which looks to be based on fear alone, may be unnecessary.The challenge is to identify strategies and opportunities to prevent potentially undesirable nutritional effects on the urban poor. This article addresses the impact of current policies on their diet quality. We make practical recommendations that may assist policymakers in preventing negative impacts on diet quality, while recognizing the urgent need for a more equitable and nutritious urban food environment in Viet Nam.Open-air markets offer multi-dimensional value to consumers beyond just providing access to food. These values contribute to the well-being and empowerment of local communities and are: • Cultural: for example, flexible shopping practices (preferred shopping). • Social: for example, places to meet friends and interact with neighbours. • Financial: for example, supporting local small business and livelihoods related to food. • Tourism: for example, food tours for visitors interested in experiencing traditional foods and markets. • Livelihoods: for example, local communities relying on vendor-related activities for income.A study was conducted to assess consumer food-access capabilities, by mapping Hanoi's food retail environment against the food-shopping practices, preferences and dietary intake of 400 households in Hanoi, with a focus on women who were primarily responsible for food provisioning and were of reproductive age. The sample size calculation was based on being able to detect a difference in micronutrient intake (mg of iron from previous research) of women across study strata, with a confidence interval of 95 percent, a statistical power of 80 percent and a design effect of 2 (Gorstein, 2007).Households were randomly selected using a door-to-door sampling strategy from four strata that were characterized by their proximity to supermarkets and wet markets (Figure 1), the two retail options that are the focus of Viet Nam's retail modernization policy (MoIT, 2009). The following inclusion criteria were applied: gender (women), age (childbearing age, born after 1966), residency (at least two years at their current address), household size (excluding single-person households), income (per capita daily income of less than USD 5.50) and a role in household food acquisition (primarily responsible).Five methods were used to collect data: (1) a food retail-outlet census, (2) a food-shopping practices survey, (3) price data-collection, (4) quantitative 24-hour dietary recall and (5) in-depth multigenerational interviews with a subset of women to gain more in-depth understanding of whether the transformation of the city's food system was impacting their food choices and, if so, how.The study found consumers were aware that nutrition was important, with 83 percent and 87 percent stating that under-and over-nutrition were serious issues, respectively, and 81 saying that diet diversity was important. Nutritional knowledge was limited and the understanding of nutrition concepts was basic. On average, 81 percent of women were able to correctly recall the purpose of the Vietnamese food pyramid, but could only correctly identify two out of the eight food groups. Overall, the diet quality of the urban poor was minimal. Women only consumed half of their daily nutrient requirements and 25 percent did not reach minimum dietary diversity (FAO and FHI 360, 2016). Foods purchased from traditional retail outlets (wet markets and street vendors) were mostly fresh, unprocessed foods that maintained a healthy diet and contributed most to daily nutrient intake: 70 percent protein, 56 percent energy, around 80 percent vitamin A and C, and about 70 percent calcium, iron and zinc.Modern retail outlets were largely used only to source ultraprocessed foods, such as instant noodles and porridge, sweetened beverages and packaged confectionery (such as biscuits, cakes, buns) that contained high quantities of salt, sugar and fat. Ultra-processed food consumption was still quite low, with a mean daily consumption of 60g, accounting for only 6 percent of daily energy intake. Convenience stores and supermarkets were the main sources of the ultra-processed foods, with 68 percent and 17 percent of the mean daily quantity consumed acquired from them, respectively.People were found to not be opposed to supermarkets.Although they considered them expensive (85 percent, compared with just 1 percent who found wet markets expensive) and too time-consuming (56 percent compared with 3 percent for wet markets), they also deemed shopping in supermarkets interesting (72 percent, though less than the 86 percent for wet markets) and food safe (68 percent compared with 60 percent for wet markets).Viet Nam's policy has been effective in providing safe vegetable outlets in lower-demographic areas where wet markets are no longer easily accessible. This has largely been in the form of convenience stores, which were more abundantly and equally distributed than supermarkets and offered a variety of safe and fresh vegetables (Uyen et al., 2017). However, there was still limited consumer trust in terms of safety guarantees, the prices were slightly more expensive than in the wet markets and opening hours did not match preferred shopping times. Consequently, the urban poor were largely excluded.Nearly all (90 percent) of households still preferred to shop at traditional (in)formal markets (wet markets and street markets), with 70 percent of their diet sourced from these outlets. The study revealed that supermarkets and convenience stores offered a higher percentage and wider range of ultra-processed foods than traditional open-air markets (65 percent and 25 percent, respectively) and that stores were frequented mainly to purchase and consume these less healthy foods. An overwhelming 99 percent of the urban poor did not use supermarkets or convenience stores for primary grocery shopping, even when a supermarket was located close to home (45 percent). In 83 percent of cases, when a wet market was beyond walking distance, consumers chose informal street markets rather than modern retail outlets. Unfortunately, street vending is unregulated and more unhygienic than formalized wet markets, so potentially carries greater food-safety risk.Hyper-/supermarketChain/\"mom and pop\" storesWet/street market 8% food 17% ultra-processed 70% food 7% ultra-processed 11% food 67% ultra-processed84% ultra-processed foods consumedThe main drivers of continued shopping in traditional (in) formal markets, even when far from home, was largely driven by preferred shopping practices, including the diversity and perceived freshness of products offered, convenient location, overall enjoyment of open-air market shopping, the availability of healthy foods, lower food prices and the perception of trusted food safety. Social considerations were also raised, including habitual nature and concerns about maintaining the culture and tradition associated with market shopping, and the influence on cooking of traditional dishes. Women explained that while their generation's dietary preferences had not yet shifted, they were starting to adapt their cooking practices to include new westernized dishes requested by their children in an attempt to appease their taste preferences, as food was one of few affordable treats, and to encourage them to eat. Amid food shortages and stunting, their reasoning was that children would eat more when they liked the food and would grow better when they ate more.Lastly, more than 40 percent of household income was spent on in-home food consumption. Vast differences in retail-outlet food prices were observed, particularly between traditional (in)formal markets and food-safety-regulated modern and hybrid outlets. Supermarkets were, on average, 35 percent more expensive, but still considered somewhat affordable. Furthermore, over 85 percent of households reported that the price of formal food-safety-regulated food items was too high and, when sold through specialized retail outlets, also unaffordable.The in-depth, multigenerational, qualitative interviews gave insights into women's perceptions and opinions on how the transforming food environment was impacting their and their family's diet. Women reported that they did not feel empowered in voicing their needs and concerns when it came to coping with food-safety and nutrition issues in everyday life. Consumers understood the government's rationalization that traditional wet markets were being closed due to hygiene and food-safety concerns and understood that food retail needed to modernize. However, collectively, they still wanted to keep wet markets as part of their daily food environment and expressed concern about the current, rather one-dimensional direction of food retail. They expressed ideas about more hybrid alternatives that involved co-sharing of responsibility in managing food safety at the markets.Nutrition and food-safety issues coexist and compete when it comes to food-policy governance in Hanoi. Traditional open-air markets remain crucial to maintaining a minimal level of diet quality for the urban poor, although they do not provide formal food-safety guarantees. No studies have yet been done to compare food-safety measures between foods with and without formal safety guarantees, however, it is generally assumed -reinforced by the Government -that formal guarantees mean safer food. Modern retail outlets provide formal food-safety guarantees, but the urban poor often cannot or do not access or use them as their primary source of food, even when traditional markets are beyond walking distance. When formal markets are not available, consumers turn to informal street markets, which are unregulated and pose even higher food-safety risks. Supermarkets are mostly used for purchasing ultra-processed foods, leading to unhealthy diets and jeopardizing the future dietary quality with the urban poor (Kelly et al., 2014).Viet Nam has made significant progress in decreasing its rates of undernutrition, however, obesity and the prevalence of NCDs is increasing -particularly in the urban areasputting pressure on public health systems (Development Initiatives, 2018;GBD, 2017). The trend of sourcing ultraprocessed foods mainly from modern and convenience retail outlets could suggest a risk to diet quality and nutrition if the modernization policy is completely effective in changing the primary food environment, so that it becomes wholly dependent on supermarkets. It could (i) drive people towards unhealthier diets, with greater consumption of ultra-processed foods and less consumption of fresh foods, which may lead to a rise in NCDs (Moubarac et al., 2013), and/or (ii) increase food insecurity due to the additional spending required to acquire the same fresh, unprocessed foods in modern retail outlets than from current, traditional markets in order to maintain diet quality.Although the often unhygienic conditions and lack of adequate control mechanisms of traditional open-air markets are not contested, the limits of pushing modernization and banning traditional retail structures without inclusive consultation of the urban poor is risking their food and nutrition security.A short documentary, entitled Retail Diversity for Dietary Diversity: Food Safety and Nutrition for the Urban Poor, was developed to give agency to the voice of the urban poor and give policymakers insight into their daily food realities (Fresh Studio, 2018).It can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZiZ2xSvffY&feature=youtu.be.Policy must focus on how to mitigate the undesirable economic access barriers of food-safety certification and \"supermarketization\" for the urban poor, so as not to degrade diet quality. Under current policy, supermarkets are expected to function increasingly as the primary food source. Consumer awareness campaigns are, thus, recommended to improve consumer trust in the food-safety guarantees provided by these outlets and to promote their use in the absence of wet markets rather than a reversion to informal street markets. These same campaigns should also educate consumers about the dietary and health risks associated with increased consumption of ultra-processed foods and emphasize the importance of the continued consumption of fresh foods.However, policymakers must acknowledge that wet markets are crucial to maintaining quality of diet of the urban poor. We would, therefore, recommend that food-safety policies be revised to recognize the importance of these types of retail outlet for diet quality and be designed to embrace and include retail-outlet diversity in urban food systems.Insufficient attention has been paid to identifying innovative policies and interventions to improve wet-market vendor hygiene and food-handling practices that guarantee food safety, such as community-based guarantee systems. Low-cost local food-safety control mechanisms and policy to renovate and upgrade existing informal fresh food outlets with deficient food-safety standards must be established and offered as an alternative to closure.Evidence demonstrating that these retail outlets can provide equivalent food safety to supermarkets could rebuild government and consumer trust in these outlets.The process should include the active consultation and participation of representatives from all socioeconomic strata, households and local authorities.To ensure that public authorities meet their dual mandate of improved access to diverse, safe and nutritious foods for the urban poor, current one-dimensional, ideal-type policies on food safety and public health need to become more diverse and participatory (Wertheim-Heck, 2018).Equitable urban food systems that empower all residents to access nutritious and safe food for a healthy diet require food-safety policies that recognize the importance of versatile and diverse food retail environments. There is an opportunity for the co-creation of an equitable and nutritious food environment with the active participation and involvement of (vulnerable) consumer groups, food producers, retailers and policymakers. Such an approach would generate new insights into the cultural, social and economic dimensions of food practices, habits, preferences and consumer needs.","tokenCount":"3642"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9645632352.json b/data/part_1/9645632352.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f8afccd98fc81732d79817580f1adfeabd414b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9645632352.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aec565a6f4fe623cc5f134f7905f20c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b52ae1c2-88bb-42cc-b646-b098d1059429/content","id":"519813575"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"84a6d25d-d3d9-44ce-b350-9daaba9e9af0","pagecount":"12","content":"This report describes the process carried out a pilot project to evaluate a scalable disruptive approach to integrating data for agronomy research that also incentivizes sustainable production and enables traceability using open data sharing protocol with self-sovereign identity (SSI).The purpose of the collaboration between CIMMYT and Bluenumber is to deploy a pilot project to evaluate a scalable disruptive approach to integrating data for agronomy research that also incentivizes sustainable production and enables traceability using open data sharing protocol with self-sovereign identity (SSI).This pilot project aims to introduce CIMMYT farmers to a Bluenumber platform they can use to claim and share data with their consent. This platform has end-to-end encryption (E2EE), allowing only the data's senders and receivers to access it. This platform will also give them entry to a data market where they can get economic incentives in exchange for data for qualified buyers.The objectives of this pilot project are the following:• To provide Bluenumber SSI to CIMMYT farmers and enable those farmers to materially benefit from permissioned use of data linked to or associated with their SSI.• To demonstrate a mechanism to the project participants (farmers) to give consent to (i) use data about or linked to them or their farms for research, (ii) extend the use of that data to evidence 'responsible sourcing' by matching production/yield information with origination person/place data, and (iii) enable that value-enhanced data to be shared with qualified buyers and thus create additional income to farmers by using that data.• To enable farmers to consent to their data being used for traceability, digital asset creation, and compensation/payment for data about demonstrated sustainability practices while retaining personal data privacy.• To enable CIMMYT to leverage Bluenumber technology to bridge sustainable producers with buyer companies seeking sustainable produce. Data collected for research purposes may be aggregated with data on 'responsible sourcing' that helps farmers increase yields and produce more sustainably; such data may be compiled under farmer SSI.• To develop and publish knowledge products from the project to offer relevant guidance to governments and partners on technology for similar use cases.• To actively work together on developing an economy of scale for SSI and open data interoperability costs with a target of delivering such technology infrastructure at the lowest possible costs. Accordingly, Bluenumber and CIMMYT will develop a business model to ensure full self-sufficiency of the system demonstrated by the project by anticipating income from off-taking corporates making a substantial contribution margin to support SSIs for more farmers within CIMMYT projects.• To encourage, where appropriate, each other's respective partners and stakeholders to recognize this collaboration between the Parties to avoid duplication of effort and multiply opportunities for awareness-building and outreach.The SSI platform is already part of the Bluenumber ecosystem. Currently, it is possible to create a Bluenumber for people, places, organizations, and things. This SSI creation is possible through other applications such as PMA and control tower. Since then, this has also been implemented in the CIMMYT web application.Bluenumber received data from the Agriba and Aguas Firmes projects, undergoing a comprehensive analysis and structuring process. This systematic approach involved categorizing project information based on data type, relevance, dependencies, and association with multiple parcels.The headers from the original Agriba and Aguas Firmes files, representing affirmations or questions for the data, were meticulously rewritten to enhance clarity. These headers played a crucial role in structuring helping assign representative attributes to individual data points. (Attributes serve to identify information in various applications.) Ultimately, leveraging this structured approach, all information from both projects was systematically organized and matched with the corresponding farmers. The CIMMYT web application, designed to empower farmers with data ownership, seamlessly integrates various functionalities to provide farmers with intuitive access to their information. This innovative application includes the following features:• Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) Creation: Enables farmers to effortlessly create their unique Bluenumber SSI, establishing a secure digital identity.• Personal Data Vault (PDV) Establishment: Establishes a PDV linked to the SSI, providing farmers with a confidential space to store and control access to their valuable data securely.• Data Transfer from CIMMYT: Facilitates the transfer of data collected by CIMMYT about farmers and their parcels to the farmer's PDV, ensuring transparency and consent-driven data handling.• Information Visualization: Empowers farmers to visualize all information provided by CIMMYT in an organized and easily comprehensible manner within the application.• Data Verification and Consent: Prompts farmers to verify the accuracy of the data and confirm ownership, ensuring the integrity of the information. Seeks explicit consent for the use of this data to generate comprehensive reports.• Economic Incentive Processing: Temporarily collects necessary information to facilitate the seamless transfer of economic incentives to participating farmers, with a commitment to data deletion upon payment confirmation.• Real-time Data Access: Provides farmers with on-demand access to the application, enabling them to visualize their data whenever needed.• Parcel Localization and SSI Assignment: Allows farmers to geographically localize their parcels, facilitating the assignment of SSIs to individual parcels for improved traceability.This application, having progressed beyond the prototype stage, exemplifies a usercentric design and underscores our commitment to empowering farmers through secure data management.Advancements have been achieved to enhance data management capabilities within the Bluenumber ecosystem.Although not yet integrated into the web application, these improvements set the stage for a more robust and feature-rich user experience.• Enhanced Survey Functionality: Revamped the survey system within the Bluenumber ecosystem by integrating the Open Data Kit (ODK) platform. Unlike the initial model, this advancement allows users to engage with a more diverse range of survey question types, including geo points, rankings, dates, signatures, triggers, and the ability to create survey sections. Instead of answering surveys directly within the app, users are redirected to a more dynamic environment for a better survey experience.• SSI Credentials with Trinsic Wallet: Upgraded the credentials system to incorporate Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) credentials using the Trinsic wallet. Although pending integration into the web app, this enhancement introduces a secure and efficient way for farmers to receive credentials from various organizations. SSI credentials empower farmers by providing a trustworthy and verifiable record of their identity and qualifications. This enhances data security and opens up opportunities for farmers to access services, incentives, and confidently participate in data transactions within the Bluenumber ecosystem.The Bluenumber-CIMMYT pilot workshop successfully introduced a web application empowering farmers with data ownership in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, Mexico. The collaborative initiative aimed to revolutionize agriculture by granting farmers control over their personal information. The application features a Bluenumber digital identity, a Personal Data Vault (PDV) for secure data storage, and future integration with the BCX data market.Workshop activities included presentations on digital identity, PDV usage, and hands-on sessions for application exploration. While the workshop received positive feedback, valuable insights for improvement were noted. Farmers expressed interest in streamlined parcel creation, automatic data loading, and user-friendly features. Technical issues, such as Single Sign-On (SSO) difficulties and data loading inefficiencies, were addressed for enhancement.Feedback highlighted farmers' enthusiasm for data ownership and participation in the BCX data market. Challenges were acknowledged, such as smartphone limitations and a lengthy registration process. The workshop served as a crucial milestone, affirming the application's potential to promote privacy and individual data rights.Recommendations for future improvements include exploring automatic app download, implementing a non-verbal captcha, enhancing QR code usage, optimizing data loading, and simplifying the main menu. The collaborative atmosphere allowed farmers to share preferences and expectations, emphasizing the need for user-friendly accessibility. The workshop's conclusion marked farmers' enthusiasm for data ownership and control.The application aims to empower agricultural communities with knowledge for sustainable growth. Ongoing collaboration with CIMMYT prioritizes farmers' perspectives, ensuring the application meets their needs. The vision is to democratize data, creating opportunities and prosperity for farmers worldwide.Leveraging existing relationships, CIMMYT has identified key organizations, established through ongoing collaborations and data-sharing initiatives. Having previously received farmer data through conventional means, these strategic partners are now earmarked for participation in the expanded Bluenumber-CIMMYT pilot. This proactive approach involves introducing these identified organizations to the innovative Bluenumber-CIMMYT web application. Rather than merely continuing the conventional data-sharing practices, CIMMYT aims to showcase the evolved system. By presenting the comprehensive pilot project to these organizations, CIMMYT highlights the enhanced benefits of the new approach. This emphasizes the direct involvement of farmers in data transactions, portraying the web application as a catalyst for more inclusive and farmer-centric data practices.Through this tailored engagement strategy, CIMMYT seeks to position the Bluenumber-CIMMYT web application as the preferred and advanced channel for data exchange. This approach ensures the continued flow of valuable agricultural data to donors and underscores their active role in empowering farmers. The initiative is significant in CIMMYT's commitment to sustainable agricultural development, aligning donor engagement with a more transparent, efficient, and mutually beneficial data ecosystem.In the ongoing efforts to streamline and optimize the payment process within the Bluenumber ecosystem, an upgraded payment system is actively being developed and tested. While effective, The reliance on manual transactions via Western Union for data exchanges poses challenges with high fees, particularly for smaller transactions. The enhanced payment system, aligned with the BCX development, aims to introduce a more efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly model, akin to modern online marketplaces. This improvement benefits the ease of transactions and ensures that farmers receive fair compensation for their data contributions.Initiating a collaborative effort with CIMMYT's accessibility evaluation team, a thorough examination of the current web application version is underway. The focus is enhancing user accessibility, ensuring the platform is seamlessly navigable for farmers with diverse needs. This assessment incorporates insights from CIMMYT's dedicated team and integrates valuable feedback from farmers during the workshop sessions. The forthcoming UI/UX improvements aim to make the application more intuitive, userfriendly, and tailored to the specific requirements of the agricultural community.A collaborative effort between CIMMYT and Bluenumber is underway to develop a comprehensive presentation deck. This joint initiative seeks to strategically introduce the project and its associated web application to potential partner organizations. The deck aims to provide a detailed overview of the project's core objectives, anticipated outcomes, and the diverse benefits it offers to participating organizations and the agricultural community. This collaborative endeavor aims to capture the interest of potential partners, effectively communicate the project's value proposition, and lay the groundwork for possible collaborations.In collaboration with CIMMYT, efforts are underway to identify key regions suitable for the pilot program, primarily in India and Mexico. The selection aims to target areas with significant agricultural activity, focusing on crops of high relevance, such as cotton, that generate substantial data. The rationale for region selection is centered on the potential for impactful data transactions, emphasizing crops that play a vital role in local economies and have broad-scale applicability. This strategic approach ensures the pilot program aligns with regional agricultural significance, facilitating meaningful data exchanges and fostering successful implementation.Plans are in place to elevate the web application to version 2.0, integrating crucial enhancements identified through accessibility assessments and user feedback. This advancement encompasses the seamless integration of ODK surveys for comprehensive data collection and an advanced credential system utilizing the SSI Trinsic wallet. The overarching goal is to improve user experience, address accessibility concerns, and align with the evolving needs of farmers, thus ensuring a more robust and functional platform.paper will encompass insights from the engagement with candidate organizations, the execution of the pilot, data trading dynamics, and the impact on farmers. It will serve as a valuable resource for sharing knowledge, promoting transparency, and providing a roadmap for future initiatives in agricultural data empowerment.The Bluechip Exchange (BCX) is an innovative data market powered by Bluenumber technology, providing farmers with a transparent and secure avenue for data transactions. Within this ecosystem, farmers, acting as data creators, can utilize the BCX to monetize their data while maintaining full consent and control over their information.Unlike conventional markets, the BCX ensures transparency by establishing a direct connection between data creators and certified buyers, eliminating intermediaries.The integration between the BCX and farmers' Personal Data Vaults (PDVs) is facilitated through an S3 Bucket, which serves as the container for the data. The BCX retrieves the address of the S3 Bucket, copies the metadata, and presents it within the market. Notably, the actual data never enters the BCX; instead, the BCX grants access to this data to certified buyers. This unique approach prioritizes farmers' privacy and reinforces their ownership of data.Certified buyers on the BCX gain access to pertinent information about the data points they intend to purchase, promoting transparency and informed decision-making. The market serves as a conduit for farmers to sell the data they consent to, ensuring they receive fair compensation for their contributions.As the BCX undergoes continuous development and enhancement, including integrating new features and projects, a temporary website offers insights into the initial market version. Please note that the current BCX website showcases the foundational version, and updates related to the MVP version, enabling actual data transactions, will be communicated in subsequent releases. The BCX exemplifies the commitment to transforming data trading, empowering farmers and fostering an equitable and just data ecosystem.","tokenCount":"2153"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9646801650.json b/data/part_1/9646801650.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e870a3ce4320190f7fe7fa9f1cdacaca64577184
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9646801650.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1e6a6c6bee2bc7458c611c4d76b4138","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2449d2c4-6ec5-4416-a6f9-e8023a642ace/retrieve","id":"1694923691"},"keywords":["www","climatesecurity","cgiar","org Africa Climate Crisis Security Observatory www","climatesecurity","cgiar","org Climate Security Observatory Series"],"sieverID":"c985647f-5baa-497d-8157-624dc443a3ae","pagecount":"7","content":"This factsheet gives answers on how climate exacerbates root causes of conflict in Sudan, using a network analysis. Results show that the base of the Sudanese network is underpinned by a pastoralist society and agricultural productivity and that increased evapotranspiration has direct impacts on net primary production.The main objective of this analysis is to quantify the underlying structure of the climate, socioeconomic and conflict system. Understanding how the three main themes (climate, conflict and socio-economic) are connected, is key to defining intervention and mitigating conflict. The main research question we aim to address is: What is the underlying structure of the climate, conflict, and socio-economic system in Sudan?Using network analysis, a statistical model is built to quantitatively display the connections between several variables pertaining to climate variabilities, security threats and socio-economic risks, in order to identify the underlying structure of this complex system of relationships.Climate variables were compiled using Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) data. 1 Conflict data were gathered from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Socio-economic data are collated from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).What is the underlying structure of the climate, conflict, and socio-economic system? Despite large stretches of desert and semi-desert environment, agriculture still constitutes a major source of livelihood in Sudan, employing about 50 percent of the labour force. 2 The country's dependence on rainfed agriculture translates climate extremes such as unpredictable rains into late harvests and crop losses. 3 In a country where agriculture is a major contributor to gross domestic product, foreign exchange earnings, and livelihoods, these changes are especially critical. 4 The threats from climate variability can therefore amplify and reproduce other socio-economic insecurities in the country. Indeed, Sudan has endured many tensions around access to resources such as land and water. 5 Government conflicts have also occurred such as the War of Darfur, while recent coups concerning military control continue. 6,7 Sudan therefore presents a complex system in which to explore the interrelationships between climate extremes, social insecurities, and risks as well as conflict.Among 20 variables, the network model retained 13 variables. Each category of variables is represented in the network model (different colours), suggesting the relevance of many sectors of the socioeconomic landscape to the climate-conflict nexus, for Sudan (Figure 1).The base of the Sudanese network is underpinned by pastoralist society and agricultural productivity (nodes 8, 9). However, these two elements are governed by education and other socio-economic metrics. Higher evaporation due to increasing temperatures can highly affect water supplies in ecosystems that rely on already limiting water access such as Sudan. 3,4 In the network structure it is evident how increased evapotranspiration (node 2), has direct impacts on net primary production (node 6). Over the last several decades the semi-desert region in Sudan has shifted southwards, expanding the current desert areas. 2 While semi-desert regions can be utilized by farmers and pastoral communities, fully desert regions become increasingly inaccessible. As these land resources dwindle, so too does competition increase between communities that rely on them for income and livelihoods. 8 These factors can exacerbate the risk of conflict between the farmers and pastoral communities, as they continue to compete (node 2 to node 6 to node 4). 8 Besides dwindling land resources farmers are also at risk of other climate extremes. The Nile Delta which is shared by ten countries (Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, D.R. Congo, and Kenya) is home to over 160 million people. 9 Many countries are highly dependent on the Nile's water, as they are situated in arid or semi-arid regions. 9 Communities are therefore often placed in close proximity to this valuable resource. Unfortunately, this also means that when torrential floods hit Sudan, floodwaters can swamp nearby communities causing mass destruction.The floods can destroy houses, crops, roads, and basic infrastructure, resulting in the displacement of people (direct link between nodes 3 and 11). 10 Such fragility in a system can cause mass economic and livelihood losses in a community, these contribute to local grievances which can heighten the risks of conflict events. Indeed, the network indicates further direct links between flood frequency (node 3) and conflict events (node 4).Moreover, climate-induced livelihood stress has culminated in maladaptation, whereby people engage in alternative strategies to survive. Resource scarcity and livelihood loss can drive population movements. Rural communities in the north of Sudan can be especially impacted by climate and conflict dynamics, which then act as a major push for migration. At the same time there are cross border disputes between Sudan and Ethiopia over the fertile border-lands. Sudan has recently displaced thousands of Ethiopian farmers from this area in December 2020. 11 Cross-border disputes, in fragile climate contexts can only exacerbate socio-political risks and further the complex conflict nexus.CGIAR aims to address gaps in knowledge about climate change and food security for peace and security policies and operations through a unique multidisciplinary approach. Our main objective is to align evidence from the realms of climate, land, and food systems science with peacebuilding efforts already underway that address conflict through evidence-based environmental, political, and socioeconomic solutions.","tokenCount":"852"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9654508436.json b/data/part_1/9654508436.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6dccd1f71f42e474780d6e4ff92650d519cddf57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9654508436.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"69300e08b24646aa4322cb1c42138208","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e3249ff8-8f85-408a-882c-1a983b29b080/retrieve","id":"-1228216932"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"48e11852-4cc1-436a-8772-af553ec67152","pagecount":"7","content":"Genomics-assisted breeding has significantly improved recurrent selection in cassava. However, challenges persist with the use of heterozygous parents, hindering efficient trait introgression to meet the needs of ever-changing markets and environmental conditions. To address this, we propose an innovative approach -inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding, aiming to transform cassava breeding by implementing backcrossing-based trait introgression, effectively purging deleterious mutations, and systematically exploring and utilizing heterosis. This perspective paper discusses the key drawbacks of heterozygous parent-based recurrent selection and outlines how the proposed approach overcomes these challenges. By leveraging the self-compatibility of cassava and advanced technologies like flower-inducing and doubled haploid technologies, along with genomics advancements and a global network, cassava breeding programs can achieve efficient, cost-effective, and accelerated inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding. In conclusion, we emphasize four crucial action areas to focus on for the initial phase to realize this transformation, i.e., understanding inbreeding depression, developing inbred or doubled haploid parents, purging genetic load, and identifying or creating heterotic pools. Through collective efforts and global collaboration, inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding will transform cassava breeding and production, ensuring resilience and adaptability to significantly contribute to ending hunger and reducing poverty during the climate crisis.Cassava is one of the most important crops for food security and income generation for small-scale producers in the tropics [1] , and it has increasing significance due to its climate resilience and productivity [2] . Despite its importance, the cassava research community has historically been relatively small, and innovation in variety development has lagged [3] . Recently, a substantial improvement has been made with the NextGen Cassava breeding investment, where genomicsassisted breeding is a primary component [4−9] .However, a substantial challenge persists in the necessity to cross heterozygous parents in cassava breeding. When using heterozygous parents, fixing essential traits, and introgressing new traits through backcrossing have been challenging due to inbreeding depression caused by high genetic loads [5,10−14] . Consequently, this constraint limits the efficiency of breeding programs and delays the development of cassava varieties with specific traits preferred by farmers and consumers [15] .In response to this challenge, an innovative initiative is proposed -inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding. This pioneering initiative aims to transform cassava breeding from a heterozygous-parent-based mutation-covering mode into an inbred-parent-based mutation-purging one. A similar transformation in maize, over a century ago, laid the foundation for continuous yield increase [16,17] , and this method has been proven successful in various crops such as sorghum, rice, canola, sunflower, and more recently, diploid potato [15] . Ongoing discussions on hybrid breeding in clonally propagated root and tuber crops underscore the potential of this transformative approach [4,18] .The transformation to inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding will significantly improve the predictive ability of breeders, enabling more accurate trait selection and informed parent crossing. Improved well-known cassava cultivars with specific desired traits can be quickly adopted by small-scale producers, thereby ensuring increased cassava productivity, and ultimately strengthening food security.In the tropics, cassava has significant advantages over corn in staple carbohydrate production. It can survive through long dry seasons and produce edible roots for small-scale producers. In terms of dry matter yield, cassava also outperforms corn in PERSPECTIVE tropical regions on a country-wide scale. For example, when considering 30% dry matter content in cassava and 87% in corn, in Nigeria, cassava yields 2.36 tons/ha of dry matter, compared with 1.68 tons/ha in corn on average from 2017−2021. Similarly in Vietnam, cassava achieves a dry matter yield of 5.90 tons/ha, while corn yields 4.17 tons/ha [19] . These advantages highlight the crucial roles of cassava in ensuring food security under climate change.Initiating inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding represents a transformative shift in cassava breeding strategies. Hybrid breeding will not only enhance the efficiency of the breeding programs but also increase breeding programs' adaptability to emerging biotic and abiotic stresses induced by climate change. Instead of waiting for 6−10 years required for improvement via recurrent selection, by introgressing essential traits using backcrossing, cassava breeding programs can respond quickly to the dynamic needs of ever-changing markets and environmental conditions. Although simulations suggest that inbred-hybrid breeding may not always outperform outbred recurrent selection for quantitative traits [18] , it is crucial to recognize the benefits of backcrossing for traits controlled by major genes or loci, for instance, cassava mosaic disease (CMD) resistance, waxy starch, and high beta-carotene content.Furthermore, inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding will also lead to substantial cost savings for breeding programs to develop multiple products for the diverse market demands. Instead of managing multiple large, separate breeding pipelines and populations for diverse products, breeding programs can concentrate on the improvement of a foundation population. By combining the foundation population improvement and line conversion techniques, breeders can efficiently develop varieties for specific market segments (Fig. 1). This foundation improvement and line conversion simplifies the development process, saving both time and resources. All the product development is built on the achievements of the foundation population, requiring much less effort and resources than managing separate pipelines.By enhancing efficiency, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness, inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding paves the way for sustainable and resilient cassava production, ultimately substantially contributing to ending hunger and reducing poverty during the climate crisis.The cassava breeding programs use conventional recurrent selection for new variety development [20,21] . Each breeding cycle has a single recombination event between heterozygous parents. The selected F1 progeny is then clonally propagated for further evaluation in breeding stages, and potentially, commercial release. Thanks to its simplicity, this approach has been widely adopted. However, breeders working with heterozygous parents encounter two major pain points [4,15,22−24] .First, within individual families (or progeny of individual breeding crosses), the progeny derived from heterozygous parents show considerable segregation, but between families, the variation is relatively small. This observation has been validated in different cassava populations in independent environments [24−30] . The relatively small between-family variation makes parent selection less effective, i.e., identifying superior parents for producing high-performance progeny. On the other hand, the large within-family variation requires extensive screening of large breeding populations, and the performance of selected progeny must be validated across multiple environments [31,32] , increasing the yield trialing cost and duration of the breeding process. Recently, genomic selection (GS) has been broadly tested in cassava breeding, which potentially increases breeding efficiency by significantly shortening breeding cycles [9,33,34] . However, releasing varieties to farmers' fields remains time-consuming, requiring multi-year and multi-location yield trials to validate their performance in yield stability, quality, and disease and insect resistance. Even with the advancements of the NextGen Cassava, it took eight years of extensive evaluation before the Game Changer variety Fig. 1 Transform cassava breeding through inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding. Currently, there are five products in global cassava production: 1) cassava with high dry matter yield; 2) cassava with good cooking quality for human consumption; 3) cassava with high betacarotene for human consumption; 4) cassava with specialty starch, e.g., waxy starch and small granule starch; 5) cassava with good processing quality for granulated and paste products for human consumption. Using conventional recurrent selection with heterozygous parents, to meet the unique needs of each product, breeding programs need to manage separate breeding populations to select the essential desired traits (left panel). The right panel shows the product development model using inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding. Instead of evaluating separated large populations for different products, breeders will manage one foundation breeding population, coupled with several separate line conversion pipelines to reformulate hybrids to address the unique needs of other products. Moreover, compared with the five full-time equivalent (FTEs) to manage five separate populations, the new product development model only needs 3.5 FTEs, with 1.5 FTEs for the foundation population and 0.5 FTEs for each line conversion pipeline. DM, dry matter; BC, Beta-carotene; CQ, cooking quality; WX, waxy starch; SG, small granule starch; PQ, processing quality; CBB, cassava bacterial blight; CMD, cassava mosaic disease; CBSD, cassava brown streak disease.(TMS13F1160P0004) was released in Nigeria in 2021, derived from crosses made in 2012.Second, the inbreeding depression associated with heterozygous parents make it impossible to integrate essential traits via backcrossing [5,22] . For instance, when developing CMD resistant varieties in Southeast Asia, the resistance controlled by a single dominant gene could not be quickly integrated into the local elite varieties due to the absence of backcrossing. This limitation resulted in a lengthy variety development period with at least two cycles of recurrent selection, spanning over 6 years and requiring evaluations across multiple environments [20] . On the contrary, if inbred-parent-enabled backcrossing is available, after 2−3 years of trait introgression with minimal field evaluation, breeders would be able to convert the most popular local varieties into resistant ones. Moreover, farmers, familiar with the existing varieties will be willing to adopt the resistant varieties, which amplifies the benefits of disease resistance. Thus, to achieve enhanced genetic gains in farmers' fields, we need to promote the use of inbred parents in cassava breeding, reducing complexity, shortening breeding cycles, and ensuring the rapid introduction of superior traits into farmer-preferred varieties.Using inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding, we have great opportunities to radically improve the rate of genetic gains while also significantly enhancing the market response of cassava.First, hybrid cassava varieties will be much more cost-efficient for farmers due to the clonal propagation, especially when compared with seed crops. Unlike seed crops that rely on hybrid seed production systems, cassava does not require such a complex and often costly procedure [35,36] . Moreover, with the ability to multiply desirable varieties directly on the farm, farmers can avoid the recurring cost of purchasing seeds every year. This cost-saving feature makes improved cassava variety more accessible to small-scale producers. However, for breeders, the use of botanical hybrid seeds is a necessary step in cassava hybrid development, offering significant advantages, as discussed below.Second, one of the primary advantages of inbred-parentbased hybrid breeding is to enable breeders to introgress desired traits quickly, so breeders can promptly respond to the dynamically changed market demands [37−39] . With the inbredparent-enabled backcrossing, adjustments can be made quickly and efficiently in the popular varieties that farmers and consumers are familiar with. The enhanced adaptability ensures that released cassava varieties meet the evolving needs of consumers and regional markets, which is even crucial in the agricultural landscape during the climate crisis.Third, inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding enables the establishment of a highly efficient product development model. Instead of evaluating separated large populations for different market segments, we will manage one unified breeding pipeline, coupled with several separate trait conversion pipelines to reformulate hybrids to address different regional markets and/or ever-changing market needs (Fig. 1). This process can be greatly facilitated by genomics tools and selfpollination, followed by establishing a doubled haploid (DH) system [40] . For instance, the large-effect phytoene synthase gene is used in biofortified cassava to increase beta-carotene content, while mutation of the granule-bound starch synthase I gene provides waxy starch in cassava [41,42] . This product development model will enhance resource optimization, redundancy reduction, and acceleration of market-targeted variety development.Fourth, during the development of inbred parents or doubled haploids, the genetic load in cassava breeding populations will be purged [5,10] . Unlike conventional breeding methods that hide deleterious mutations in heterozygous status, inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding actively removes harmful genetic elements. This process ensures that the developed hybrids possess a cleaner genetic background, and improved overall vigor, productivity, stability, and adaptability of hybrid varieties.Fifth, once heterotic pools are identified or created, the improvement within each pool will facilitate the systematic use of heterosis in cassava breeding. Heterosis, a phenomenon observed in multiple crops, leads to substantial improvements in yield and yield stability [43−46] . By effectively using heterosis, breeders can use complementary inbred parents to systematically cover up the remaining genetic loads in their genomes, dramatically improving the productivity and stability of cassava hybrid for small-scale producers.Sixth, inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding offers an advantage through genetically identical clean seeds of inbred. The botanical seeds facilitate germplasm sharing with breeding network partners, reducing the risks associated with spreading quarantine pathogens [47−49] . Moreover, the inbred seeds carrying improved breeding values can be directly used by partners for hybrid development, which is critical for collaborative breeding efforts and the global advancements of cassava breeding.Cassava is the second largest crop for starch production after corn. Also, like corn, cassava is self-compatible [50,51] . This feature makes it possible to self-pollinate and develop inbred parents, which is a fundamental requirement for inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding. Although inbreeding depression has been reported in cassava, the level of depression varies among cassava families [11,12] . Overcoming this challenge and reaching a high percentage of selfing or homozygosity can be achieved at least in some families. On the other hand, inbreeding depression and heterosis are generally considered as the two opposite sides of the same coin [52] . Thereby, heterosis can be expected to recover and boost yield and yield stability in hybrid.Cassava requires a long growth season, usually 10−12 months, for seed production in crossing nurseries. Obtaining flowers, especially for parents with erect plant architecture, has been challenging for cassava breeding programs [53] . Recent technological advancements have led to the best practice of flower-inducing technology, enabling the selfing of any cassava parent [53−57] . This technology empowers breeders to explore a Transforming cassava breeding wider range of genetic diversity for inbred parent development.In breeding programs, one cassava generation from seeds to seeds needs at least ten months, even with the flower-inducing technology [54] . Instead of developing inbred parents via 5−6 years of selfing, a promising option is to explore DH technology. DH technology, proven effective in multiple crops, can rapidly produce homozygous or inbred plants [58−60] . In hybrid cassava breeding, DH can dramatically reduce the timeline of inbred parent development from 5−6 years to 1−2 years. Recently DH technology has been used to produce pure lines from maize landrace to unlock their genetic diversity even though they have a heavy genetic load [59,60] . Nowadays, leveraging an AI-based high-throughput method, millions of microspores can be generated and screened for DH development (ScreenSYS, Freiburg, Germany). Exploring the potential of DH technology to develop inbred parents will increase the efficiency of cassava breeding, leading to faster improvements in cassava productivity and resilience.Moreover, advancements in genome sequencing have paved the way to a comprehensive understanding of cassava genomics. Cassava HapMap has been developed, and genome-wide deleterious mutations have been located and characterized [5,14] . Due to the reduced sequencing cost and relatively small genome size of 750 Mb [61] , whole genome sequencing can be used for the prediction and purging of deleterious mutations [10] .With the broadly adapted genomic selection in hybrid breeding, breeding programs will be able to accurately predict the performance and breeding value of inbred or DH parents. This accurate prediction enables GS-based rapid cycling between F1 and selfing or DH clones [4] . The rapid cycling will enhance the efficiency of purging genetic load and reducing deleterious mutations. Furthermore, using the genomic information of the parental lines, GS-based approaches could also be progressively tested and incorporated into the breeding pipeline for the eventual prediction of hybrid performance with relatively good accuracy. The potential of this tool to predict hybrid performance has been demonstrated in major cereal crops, including maize [62,63] , rice [64,65] , and sorghum [66,67] .The systematic cassava breeding started with the establishment of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the 1970s within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and later National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) joined the breeding effort such as India, Thailand, and Brazil [4,68] . As we transition into the era of One CGIAR, a global CGIAR-NARES cassava breeding network is currently in the development phase. This collaborative effort aims to bring together international and national breeding efforts under a unified framework with the same standard operating procedure. This harmonization will not only facilitate the breeding data sharing, and the determination of heterotic groups but will enhance the buildup of a strong heterotic pattern over time.Therefore, by leveraging self-compatibility, flower-inducing technology, DH technology, genomics advancements, and the global network, cassava breeders are empowered with tools to achieve efficient, precise, and accelerated inbred-parent-based hybrid breeding.To initiate inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding, we proposed four essential areas to concentrate on for the initial phase. By focusing on understanding inbreeding depression, developing inbred or DH parents, purging genetic load, and identifying or creating heterotic pools, we aim to accelerate the development of hybrid cassava breeding to enhance rapid adaptation to market demands and environmental stresses.First, understanding inbreeding depression and deleterious mutations in cassava. Cassava has a significant number of deleterious mutations [5] . Large-effect deleterious mutations can cause the failure of developing inbred parents or lead to low homozygosity rates in certain regions even after generations of selfing [13] . To pinpoint these large-effect deleterious mutations, we propose selfing dozens of elite breeding parents and investigating resulting populations using whole genome sequencing. Whole genome sequencing will facilitate the discovery of genome-wide markers and enable the prediction of deleterious mutations [15] . Moreover, by associating genome-wide markers with field performance, we can identify the loci of the large-effect deleterious mutations affecting growth vigor and yield, allowing breeders to select against these loci during inbred parent development.Second, developing inbred or DH parents. Using flowerinducing technology, we can self-pollinate any elite parents and their progeny. In the initial phase, breeding programs should prioritize elite breeding parents of the foundation pipeline (Fig. 1). At each selfing generation, whole genome sequencing will enable selecting against deleterious mutations and selecting for clones with high homozygosity rates [10] . Due to the concerns about the effect of inbreeding depression on flower fertility, flowering ability, along with growth vigor, plant architecture, and yield, will be the selection criteria for selfing clones. Considering that cassava's extended growth cycle required multiple years to develop high-homozygosity inbred parents, we should explore DH technology, especially the Albased high throughput method that can screen millions of microspores (ScreenSYS, Freiburg, Germany), ultimately accelerating the development of inbred-parent-based hybrid cassava breeding.Third, purging genetic load using GS-based rapid cycling. Due to the severe effect of inbreeding depression, it might be difficult to produce highly homozygous selfing progeny from some families [69] . To deal with the impact of inbreeding depression, we propose a strategy of rapid cycling between generations. S1 clones within families will be intercrossed to generate F1 clones, which, upon self-pollination, produce new S1 clones. Genomic selection will facilitate the rapid F1−S1 cycling, where the number of deleterious mutations and predicted agronomic performance in flowering, vigor, and yield serve as the primary selection criteria [10] . After heterotic pools are established, the S1 clones within each pool will be intercrossed to generate F1 hybrids, driving the rapid cycling of F1−S1 generations.Fourth, identifying or creating two distinct heterotic pools. Given the limited knowledge about combining ability and heterosis in cassava, we propose conducting test crosses between S1 selections and 4−6 diverse elite parents [70] . The progeny will be evaluated for general and specific combining ability, which will inform the presence or absence of heterotic pools in cassava. Furthermore, we recommend exploring the combining ability of selfing clones between different cassava breeding programs. If no clear heterotic pattern is observed, breeders will create heterotic pools based on the inheritance of essential traits [71] . For example, one heterotic group could emphasize early branching/flowering for rapid improvement, while the other may focus on late branching/flowering, providing erect plant architecture in the hybrid. We also want to emphasize that the determination of the two heterotic groups should be a collaborative decision within the global cassava breeding network. The effectiveness of the two heterotic groups relies on the collective commitment of cassava breeders working within the selected groups to build a strong heterotic pattern over time. Due to the current state of the mixed pools, it will likely take more than 10 years of collaborative effort from the global team to achieve the high heterotic potential of cassava.","tokenCount":"3303"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9690058222.json b/data/part_1/9690058222.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ffba795124ae91cc56c7195b1f533db9d262ddb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9690058222.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f3f3ee3e234fab4255a9976bd4b2828c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/PB22014.pdf","id":"-1362166226"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"850c96d8-a626-4b44-8553-21c7dc63d7eb","pagecount":"7","content":"The development of the Agroforestry Strategy for Kenya provided an opportunity for researchers to support policy development and at the same time gain a deeper understanding of how the researchpolicy gap can be bridged. A briefing note was developed outlining the study approach as well as preliminary findings of this process. 1 In this briefing, we consider the implications of the final results and highlight issues for further research.Policymaking is a complex process based on many factors, including values, experience, and resources, but evidence can play an important role. 2 Researchers and other stakeholders seeking to support evidence-based policy making can enhance the likelihood that evidence will be used effectively in decision-making by generating information that is salient (relevant and timely), credible (trusted and believable), and legitimate (fair and unbiased) from both the researchers' and decision makers' perspectives. 3 Ensuring that decision makers have access to relevant and timely research is an important step in supporting evidence-based policy making, but accessibility alone is not always sufficient for better decision-making where presented information cannot be understood and incorporated. 4 Presentation matters, as does process.Effective visualisation of data can improve decision-making quality and speed, while participatory processes for collective decision-making can improve the quality and legitimacy of decisions, building the capacity of participants for future decision-making. 5 While research evidence is continually being generated, it is often not used adequately to guide policy decisions.Decision makers from multiple government sectors and NGOs at national and subnational levels are working together in Kenya to develop a national agroforestry strategy.This work is being conducted in a typical group decision-making context that has been widely studied in the organizational behaviour literature. 6  Respondents were asked to...Propose which visualisations would be most useful for development of the Kenya National Agroforestry Strategy A week prior to the virtual workshops, participants were provided foundational information, including an evidence pack.The evidence packs, which focused on the topic of unsustainable woodfuel production and use (related to Pillar 3 of the Strategy), allowed the participants in both workshops to interact with critical evidence related to the focus issue of unsustainable woodfuel production and how best the Strategy could address this.The two three-hour virtual (due to Covid-19 restrictions) workshops were held in December 2020.In order for the behavioural research to be embedded within an active policy process, the design of the workshops selected one of the focal areas for the Strategy development, so that the workshops formed an active learning process within the Agroforestry Strategy consultation and development process, and not a standalone research-orientated activity. In order to understand how the process of facilitation can impact policy and strategy development, a workshop process was designed directly aimed at key technical officers within the Strategy development process.An Analytic Hierarchy Process analysis was conducted on the survey responses to determine the data visualisation preferences. Then it was rolled out for the strategy consultation and as part of Research Question 2.Research Question N o 1Understanding data visualisation preferencesUsing a quasi-experimental behavioural science approach, the research focused on two core questions.  The research findings have important implications for stakeholders wishing to address the research-policy gap. In order to analyse the differences between the two workshop formats, recordings of the workshops were first transcribed verbatim and spliced into individual topical statements that were usually one or two sentences long.In the first wave of categorization, analysts attempted to identify major topical themes as well as transition statements.In the second wave, the topics were refined further into more precise categories.to map the various conversational threads, including the statements that led to topic changes, referencing data or actual decisions. Regarding the second question, which explored the impact and influence of facilitation and peer learning, results show that facilitated working groups tended to be perceived as more inclusive, with stronger data integration and a better understanding of underlying causes by workshop participants compared to peerled working groups.While members of the peer-led working groups did feel that they were included, the facilitated groups showed a slightly greater level of inclusion.Group decision-making outcomes achieved through participatory processes consider the differences in knowledge, perspectives, opinions, values, uncertainties from all stakeholders. 9 In cases where groups are not well facilitated and are not inclusive, individual contributions may not be captured.An inexperienced facilitator that the group has nominated will have less experience ensuring inclusion.The peer-led groups covered more topics in their deliberations, often mentioning a given topic only once or twice, suggesting that the conversation and decision-making process was more fragmented than in the facilitated groups.Evidence in the facilitated workshop was shown by experts through a virtual evidence wall. Together with the role of the SHARED facilitator in prompting reflection on the evidence, this likely enhanced the integration of evidence in the objectives and strategies that were developed by the facilitated groups. While the peer-led groups did discuss the data, it seemed to not have been internalised or to have informed the outcomes of the group work to the same degree as in the facilitated groups.The root cause analysis process was used within the workshops to elicit different underlying causal relations within the wider systems and sustainable development dimensions such that identified strategies would address causes rather than missing symptoms. The facilitated groups tended to demonstrate a more complex analysis of the problem identified and reflected a greater number of dimensions of causes (e.g., economic, social, cultural, environmental, institutions and policy). The facilitated groups tended to have a greater number of strategies identified with substantive touch points that emerged from the causal analyses. The causal analysis in peer-led groups were limited in scope and more simplistic.The study was conducted with small sample of stakeholders working in Kenya in support of agroforestry scaling and adoption. A key challenge for research is the integration of relevant results into decisionmaking processes. There is a need to identify approaches that can enhance accessibility and understanding of data and integration for greater uptake and use.Efforts that intentionally bring data in preferred formats to decision-making processes and connect science, practice and policy through effective facilitated exercises, dialogue and negotiation, can lead to more inclusive, evidence-based and robust strategies.","tokenCount":"1015"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9702332082.json b/data/part_1/9702332082.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..399e244e2f04b39c2e4de52892708a020cb96cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9702332082.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ce44f7eb72289ae5b76624aff9e3ccf1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e18a0bd9-1229-482c-8a90-967099f803b8/retrieve","id":"2092883189"},"keywords":["assets","consumption expenditures","dietary diversity","Ethiopia","livestock","nutrition","poverty"],"sieverID":"28823368-e5c6-4e4f-a1e4-645bc98b5e21","pagecount":"36","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Over the past decade or two, governments, development organizations and donors have invested heavily in interventions that aim to improve the resilience of households or communities to shocks and stressors. While early empirical work in this area contained a multitude of definitions and measures of resilience, more recent work has organized these along three lines: (1) resilience as the capacity to withstand exposure to negative stressors or shocks; (2) resilience as return to equilibrium after a shock; and (3) resilience as a normative condition, the sustained capacity of an entity to avoid falling below some normative threshold standard of living (Barrett et al. 2021).While this improvement in understanding of the concept of resilience is welcome, two significant methodological issues have arisen. First, the manner in which resilience is operationalized affects the assessment of the extent to which households are seen to be resilient; further, these difference measures are often only weakly correlated (Upton, Constenla-Villoslada, and Barrett 2022). Second, assessment of resilience may vary depending on the well-being indicator(s) chosen and it is not obvious that any one indicator is superior to another. Because a household's productive asset holdings determine its stochastic conditional income distribution over time, some studies define development resilience with respect to productive asset holdings, measured in terms of livestock or an asset index (Cissé and Barrett 2018; Phadera et al. 2019; Scognamillo, Song, and Ignaciuk 2023; Yao et al. 2023).Because resilience measurement has commonly been tied to food security interventions, others anchor resilience measures to various food security or nutritional indicators (Upton, Cissé, and Barrett 2016; Knippenberg, Jensen, and Constas 2019; Vaitla et al. 2020; Upton, Constenla-Villoslada, and Barrett 2022). Still others tie resilience measures directly to consumption expenditures and official poverty lines (Abay et al. 2022; Premand and Stoeffler 2022; Upton, Constenla-Villoslada, and Barrett 2022).The choice of measurement method and indicator(s) matters because resilience measures constructed based on different indicators may not generate similar orderings of households. It also affects evaluations of the effectiveness of interventions intended to improve development resilience. Some interventions may be more effective in improving some dimensions of resilience than others.For example, Phadera et al. (2019) find that although a livestock transfer program in rural Zambia significantly improved short-term welfare outcomes, many households who received the treatment have a low likelihood of escaping expenditure-based poverty sustainably. Similarly, Sabates-Wheeler et al. (2021) concluded that while Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program has been successful in smoothing consumption shortfalls, it underperformed in building household assets and hence ultimate graduation out of poverty. Abay et al. (2022) likewise show that building household resilience may require significant transfers and continuous participation in safety net programs as well as complementary income generating programs.In this paper, we develop a novel method to address this second methodological issue. Specifically, we develop a family of multidimensional resilience measures. A feature of our measures is that they allow the researcher to make explicit the weight they give to different welfare indicators, and to assess how sensitive their measure of resilience is to variations in these weights. To do so, we draw on two existing methods: (1) the moment-based approach developed by Cissé and Barrett (2018), wherein one estimates the household-level conditional mean and variance of a relevant well-being indicator and uses the resulting estimates and an appropriate distributional assumption to estimate the conditional probability of attaining at least some minimal threshold value of that indicator; and (2) the literature on multidimensional poverty measurement (Alkire andFoster 2011; Alkire andSantos 2014).We apply this novel method to five rounds of household panel data collected in rural Ethiopia. We show that even using the same data and resilience estimation method, univariate household resilience indicators based on different well-being indicators are only weakly correlated. When we combine multiple indicators into a multidimensional resilience indicator, the household-level rank correlation coefficients among different resilience estimators become appreciably greater, implying that inferences for the purposes of targeting or impact evaluation are more likely robust to reasonable variation in the well-being indicators employed to assess resilience.The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the data used for demonstrating and constructing multidimensional resilience measures. Section 3 outlines the empirical approach we used for constructing univariate and multidimensional resilience measures while 4 discusses the main results. Section 5 offers concluding remarks and potential avenues to extend this analysis.We use five rounds of household-level panel survey data from rural Ethiopia fielded in the Highland regions of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray. They were collected biennially in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 as part of an ongoing evaluation of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). The PSNP was introduced in 2005 to respond to chronic and recurring food insecurity by providing regular transfers to food insecure households while also building community assets through labor-intensive Public Works (PWs) (Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 2004, 2010). Targeting used a mix of geographic and community-based targeting. The PSNP targeted historically food insecure woredas (districts) while the household level selection follows a series of criteria, including food insecurity, asset holdings (e.g., land, oxen) and income sources. The PSNP involves both public work (PW), through which about 80 percent of the PSNP beneficiaries participate in labor-intensive PW projects and a Direct Support (DS) component covering about 20 beneficiaries who lack labor needed for the PW and hence received unconditional transfers (Berhane et al. 2012; Coll-Black et al. 2011; Berhane et al. 2014; Sabates-Wheeler et al. 2021). In addition to receiving transfers, some PSNP received technical support and agricultural input services along with access to credit services through the Household Asset Building Programme (HABP) (Berhane et al. 2014).Within these regions, a sample of food-insecure woredas was selected in proportion to the overall number of chronically food-insecure woredas within that region and relative to the number of chronically food-insecure woredas in all four regions. Within each region, woredas were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS) based on the estimated chronically food insecure population; in total, 68 out of 190 woredas were selected. Within woredas, enumeration areas (EAs) where the PSNP was active were identified. Restricting the sample to EAs where the PSNP was operating in 2006, two enumeration areas per woreda were chosen using PPS sampling for Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR and three in Tigray. Using separate lists of PSNP beneficiary and non-beneficiary households, 15 PSNP beneficiary households and 10 non-beneficiary households were selected for the sample using simple random sampling (Gilligan, Hoddinott, andTaffesse 2009; Berhane et al. 2014). This yielded a sample of approximately 3,700 households. For the purposes of this paper, households are included if: (a) they were surveyed in 2006; (b) they were surveyed at least in two consecutive rounds; and (c) have non-missing values for the outcome variables we consider (consumption expenditure, Household Dietary Diversity Score, and Tropical Livestock Unit). (2) 2006 only. The distribution of the observable characteristics are comparable across the pooled sample and the baseline sample, except for some outcomes such as education and access to electricity which are expected to increase across rounds following the economic grow the country experienced in that decade. 1 The pooled sample shows that 76% of households are male-headed, farming is the primary occupation for about 84% of households and mean household size is 5.4 members. Table 1 shows that 46 percent of our year-households observations were PSNP beneficiaries. Table 1 shows that 36 percent of households in our sample benefited from the public work (PW) of the PSNP while another 9 percent received direct support (DS). On average, PSNP beneficiaries received 280 Birr per household member. Previous studies show that the attrition rates in these surveys are generally small and not systematically correlated with important characteristics of households, including PSNP participation (Berhane et al. 2014; Berhane et al. 2012).In this study, we employ three indicators to capture multiple dimensions of well-being and living standards. One is consumption expenditure, a widely used measure of well-being and living standards.Our second measure complements the usual consumption/income-based metrics using a measure that captures access to healthy diets, household dietary diversity (HDDS). HDDS is correlated with both household caloric acquisition (Hoddinott and Yohannes 2002) as well as access to micronutrients (Leroy et al. 2015). The third measure is livestock ownership. We chose livestock for two reasons.First, in Ethiopia livestock production and livestock assets are an important livelihood source. Rural households rely on livestock for generating income and for conducting their farming. Second, livestock sales serve as major insurance against shocks in many parts of rural Ethiopia (Dercon and Christiaensen 2011). Many rural households lack formal source of insurance and hence livestock is the most important liquid asset in rural Ethiopia (Dercon and Christiaensen 2011). This implies that households may face an important trade-off between satisfying their consumption and maintaining their livestock assets. If households are satisfying their minimum consumption by depleting their livestock assets, they may not be sustainably resilient. Thus, livestock captures households' risk bearing capacity.  We follow the literature conceptualizing resilience as a normative condition. This requires computing resilience as an individual's probability to achieve some minimal threshold which in turn requires us to identify a normative threshold for each indicator.Defining normative threshold for consumption and poverty-based measures of well-being is straightforward because we can assess these relative to Ethiopia's national poverty line. The poverty line for Ethiopia is estimated as the cost of food to satisfy the minimum daily caloric requirement as well as basic non-food items. As we are expressing all monetary values in in 2014 constant prices, we also need to apply the same procedure for the national poverty line. The national poverty line for Ethiopia was 3781 Birr in 2011 which is equivalent to 4930.4 in 2014 prices (The World Bank 2015).Although the minimum threshold for household dietary diversity is not commonly defined, FAO and FHI360 (2016) offers some guidance using women's dietary diversity outcomes. FAO and FHI360 (2016) sets that five or more food groups to be the minimum threshold for women's diet quality (micronutrient adequacy). We follow this benchmark and apply it to our sample. As shown in Figure 2 HDDS broadly follows a normal distribution.We build on two empirical and contextual patterns to define the minimum threshold for livestock holdings. First, rural households in Ethiopia and many other African countries use two oxen for ploughing land. Similarly, to maintain herd size, households need some minimum number of cows or heifers. 5 Consistent with this average livestock holding and considering the case of rural households in Zimbabwe, Hoddinott (2006) shows that households with one or two oxen(cows) were much less likely to sell than households with more than two of these animals. Following these contexts, Hoddinott (2006) argue that two oxen or two cows provide a minima \"threshold\" for successful asset or consumption smoothing. In a slightly different context, Balboni et al. ( 2022) identifies a similar level and value of livestock asset ownership threshold, above which households accumulate assets and grow out of poverty.Second, we empirically evaluate the relationship between livestock ownership and other measures of well-being to gauge the level of livestock that is positively associated with higher welfare. Figure 1 shows a nonlinear relationship between consumption and livestock assets (measured in Tropical Livestock Units, TLU): consumption is positively associated with livestock ownership but only after a minimum of two TLU. This confirms the contextual evidence that two oxen (or two cows) are needed to maintain minimum herd size. We note that our sample comes from the highland regions in Ethiopia, where households rely on mixed farming practices. 6 We replicate a few key analyses under different TLU thresholds to test robustness of our results.  2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. 5. The average TLU of Ethiopian households in 2012 was 2.4, which supports this hypothesis (FAO 2024) 6. Livestock ownership in pastoral communities and lowlands of Ethiopia are larger than the highland regions. These regions rely heavily on livestock production as source of income and livelihood. Thus, as shown by Lybbert et al. (2004) or Cissé and Barrett (2018) the threshold for these communities is likely to be higher than two TLU. However, only 2.6% of our observations reside in localities where pastoralism is the main source of income.  2 shows the temporal dynamics of our well-being indicators and welfare outcomes. The first column provides poverty dynamics using consumption expenditure and national poverty line. As expected, poverty rates are much higher than national averages because our sample comes from among the poorest areas of the country. The second column in Table 2 shows the share of households consuming below the minimum dietary diversity score. The third column reports the share of households owning below the minimum (2) TLU. All three indicators show improvement over time.All three outcomes are positively correlated with each other, but the magnitude of these correlations differs. Household consumption expenditure and the HDDS are only modestly correlated (0.33), the HDDS and the TLU are weakly correlated (0.17), and household consumption and TLU are very weakly correlated (0.09). These weak correlation patterns are consistent with the notion that these three outcomes capture slightly different dimensions of well-being.Figure 2 shows the distribution of consumption expenditure, HDDS and TLU. The log of expenditure is normally distributed. The HDDS is not sufficiently continuous outcome, but its overall shape is similar to normal distribution centered around its mean (3.8). The inverse hyperbolic sine of the TLU is approximately normal, except having a large share of households near 0. We begin by constructing a probabilistic moment-based approach of households' resilience for three outcomes (Cissé and Barrett 2018). Estimation involves three steps. First, we estimate expected outcomes (consumption expenditure, household dietary diversity score and tropical livestock units) of households \uD835\uDC56 in district \uD835\uDC51 in year \uD835\uDC61 (\uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 ) as a function of lagged well-being (\uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61−1 ), lagged outcomes squared (\uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC51 2 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61−1 ), a vector of household and community characteristics (\uD835\uDC4B \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 ) including household demographics (age, gender, etc.), socioeconomic status (education, farm size, etc.), PSNP/HABP status (participation and benefit received) and rainfall (average and deviation from 30-year average).We control for year and locality(district) fixed effects (\uD835\uDEFE \uD835\uDC61 and \uD835\uDF07 \uD835\uDC51 respectively.)Next, we model variation in the dispersion of welfare (the second moment). We use the same specification as that shown in equation ( 1) to characterize the variance of household well-being. Taking the residuals from the regression estimation of equation ( 1) and squaring them provides an estimate of the variance of household welfare (\uD835\uDF0E 2 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 = \uD835\uDC38[\uD835\uDF07 2 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 ]), given that \uD835\uDC38[\uD835\uDF07 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 ] = 0, which we characterize using the following empirical specification:where we use the predicted value σ 2 \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 as the conditional variance of household well-being. 7Finally, we estimate households' resilience (\uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 ) as the conditional probability that a households' outcome in each period lies above a normative threshold \uD835\uDC4A ̲̲̲̲̲̲̲:where We assess the robustness of the assumption used in the third step by replacing the normal distribution with a Gamma distribution. Specifically, we calibrate the Gamma distribution parameters using the method of moments such that), and construct the CDF \uD835\uDC39 \uD835\uDC4A \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC61 (⋅) with these parameters. As our resilience measures are predicted using observable characteristics, we compute and report bootstrapped standard errors in all regressions characterizing household resilience (Cameron and Trivedi 2010).Next, we construct multivariate resilience measures. Analogous to multidimensional poverty measurement, computing and aggregating different dimensions of resilience requires choice over how to aggregate the univariate measures of resilience. We follow Alkire and Foster (2011) by offering a 7. Table A2 in the Appendix reports the regression outcomes from the equation ( 1) and (2) from the three welfare outcomes: log of consumption expenditure, HDDS and TLU (IHS) family of multivariate measures. We present three approaches. First, we construct weighted average resilience measures of each possible combination of the M univariate measures used. In our case, one can use \uD835\uDC40 = 2 for any pair of consumption expenditures, HDDS, and TLU, or \uD835\uDC40 = 3 for all three together. (Note that one could use weights specific to each univariate measure, \uD835\uDC64 \uD835\uDC5A , if one dimension was assumed to be more important than others):We use equal weights, so that \uD835\uDC64 \uD835\uDC5A = \uD835\uDC64, ∀\uD835\uDC5A. This equally weighted average measure is intuitive, treating a probability point change in each measure as equally important.Second, we construct adjusted headcount ratio of resilience following the multidimensional poverty literature (Alkire and Foster 2011) as follows:\uD835\uDC66 = (\uD835\uDC66 1 , ..., \uD835\uDC66 \uD835\uDC51 ) is a vector of \uD835\uDC51 univariate resilience measures and \uD835\uDC58 is the number of univariate resilience measures below certain cut-off which determines households as \"non-resilient\". We use 0.5 as a cut-off for each univariate resilience measure and applied equal weights to them, but it is researchers' choice to choose the cut-off point depending on the context. For instance, \uD835\uDC58 = 1 implies that a household is defined as non-resilient if any of the univariate resilience in \uD835\uDC66 is below cut-off, and \uD835\uDC58 = \uD835\uDC51 implies that a household is defined as non-resilient only if all of the univariate resilience measures are below cut-off. \uD835\uDC3B(\uD835\uDC66, \uD835\uDC58) is the share of non-resilient households (or unadjusted headcount ratio), and \uD835\uDC34(\uD835\uDC66, \uD835\uDC58) is the average number of univariate resilience measures below cut-off among nonresilient households (or intensity of non-resilience).Third, we construct bivariate and trivariate resilience measures using the concepts of union and \uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC62\uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 in equation ( 6) captures the conditional probability that either welfare outcome is above the normative threshold, while \uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC5B\uD835\uDC61,\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC51\uD835\uDC61 in the equation ( 7) captures the conditional probability that both welfare outcomes are above their thresholds. Similarly, we estimate the trivariate resilience measures using equation ( 8) and ( 9). Figure 3 shows the distribution of three univariate resilience measures. The first is constructed using consumption expenditure; this is a measure of \"resilience in expenditure\", or \"expenditure resilience\". The second measure builds on dietary quality and hence we label it as \"dietary resilience\" (Zaharia et al. 2021). The third captures households' capacity to maintain minimum productive assets and hence we interpret it as \"resilience in livestock holding\", or \"livestock resilience\". 8 Figure 4 shows spatial distribution of 2008-2014 average univariate resilience measures, aggregated at district (woreda) level. Consistent with the weak correlation across the welfare measures, we do not observe significant spatial overlap exhibiting high (low) level of resilience across the three measures. For example, some areas showing high level of consumption-based resilience are characterized by low level of dietary resilience. Again, this reinforces the appeal for multidimensional resilience that captures different dimensions of capacity and resilience. 9 We find the regions with low dietary resilience tend to have higher livestock and consumption expenditure resilience.Figure 5 shows the distributions of welfare outcomes and their predicted values under two different distributional assumptions (normal and Gamma). Outcomes are similarly predicted under the two distributional assumptions, but Gamma distribution tends to generate extremely large predicted 8. Figure A1 replicates livestock resilience distributions under different TLU thresholds. 9. Figure A2, A3 and A4 show temporal changes in each univariate resilience measures.  Table 3 shows the temporal dynamics and distribution of the three univariate resilience measures. 10Households' expenditure resilience has significantly improved across time. Similarly, households' dietary resilience shows modest improvements across time. However, households' resilience and hence capacity to maintain a minimum level of livestock asset remained stagnant across rounds.  4 shows the unadjusted (column 1 to 3) and adjusted (column 4 to 6) headcount ratios. Column (1) shows that more than 92% of households are non-resilient with \uD835\uDC58 = 1 (at least one resilience measure is below 0.5), and 13% of households are non-resilient across all three resilience measures.10. Table A6 shows dynamics of livestock resilience under different TLU thresholds.Column (4) shows that non-resilient households with \uD835\uDC58 = 1 is non-resilient with 1.61 measures on average. We start by characterizing potential correlations between univariate resilience measures. Table 6 is the Spearman's rank correlation matrix among univariate resilience measures. 12 Although these measures are statistically correlated (all significant at 95%), the strength of the bivariate correlations appear to be weak. For example, the correlation between our livestock-based resilience indicator and expenditure-based indicator is only 0.11. This is not surprising given that rural households face significant trade-offs between maintaining consumption levels above the poverty line and livestock asset accumulation, mainly because livestock sales are major sources of insurance against consumption shortfalls (Dercon and Christiaensen 2011). These weak correlations suggest each metric captures a specific dimension of household resilience, and hence relying on these partial measures of household resilience would generate an incomplete picture of households' capacity and overall resilience.Figure 6 shows the distribution of multivariate resilience measures (average, union and intersection) of different combinations. Again, these patterns exhibit distinct distributions depending on how 11. We wondered if these patterns were robust to the exclusion of two zones that were agro-pastoral, Bale and Borena; results without these localities are found in Table A3 in the Appendix.12. Table A4 reports the rank correlation matrices among multivariate resilience measures.  we define the multidimensional resilience. As expected, while those measures based on the union and intersection show two extremes, average resilience estimates provide a middle ground. Depending on the specific purposes of empirical analyses, these metrics can capture additional dimensions of household resilience that are not captured in the univariate measures. Table 7 reports the regression of bivariate and trivariate resilience measures on a number of observable characteristics of households. 13 Again, these empirical regressions show two key insights and patterns. First, the way we aggregate the different dimensions of resilience: average, union and intersection, matters for the distribution of these aggregate outcomes across observable characteristics of households. Second, comparing the implication of program participation on univariate and multivariate suggests that influencing specific dimensions of household resilience may be easier than improving overall resilience.The last decade has seen major progress in the conceptualization, measurement and operationalization of resilience in international development programming. To date, however, resilience measures 13. Table A5 reports the regression of two other bivariate resilience measures. have considered just a single dimension of well-being, although the concept encompasses several dimensions of well-being. As a result, for example, resilience indicators that rely on income-based indicators and poverty thresholds may ignore households' dietary resilience and the resilience of their productive livestock holdings that form the basis for future, sustained capacity to generate a non-poor income and access a healthy diet (Hoddinott 2006). Much as unidimensional poverty measures may provide overly reductionist indicators of current well-being, thereby motivating the use of multidimensional poverty measures (Alkire and Foster 2011; Alkire and Santos 2014), so too might multidimensional resilience measures prove useful to analysts trying to target or evaluate interventions intended to build resilience among populations facing a range of imperfectly correlated deprivations.Using five rounds of household panel data from Ethiopia, we first evaluate the implication using alternative indicators of well-being for measuring household resilience using the probabilistic moment-based approach developed by Cissé and Barrett (2018). We then extend the existing univariate resilience measurement approach to capture multidimensional well-being indicators. We compute alternative aggregate resilience measures considering multiple dimensions and normative benchmarks (e.g., consumption expenditures-based poverty line, minimum dietary diversity, minimum livestock asset holding).Our analyses highlight three important findings. First, we find that univariate resilience indicators constructed using alternative normative well-being indicators (consumption expenditures, dietary diversity score, and livestock asset holdings) are only weakly correlated. This implies that households that can be classified as \"most resilient\" using one indicator and its associated normative threshold may not be classified as resilient by another metric. Where Upton, Constenla-Villoslada, and Barrett 2022 showed that such variation occurs using different resilience measurement algorithms, we show that even using a single algorithm one gets such variation just by varying the underlying well-being indicator.Second, the univariate and multidimensional resilience measures we construct exhibit significantly different distributions and orderings among households based on their estimated resilience. The variation inherent to one's choice of indicators can thereby influence targeting based on ex ante resilience estimates.Third, we find that univariate and multidimensional measures of resilience exhibit varying level of association with important observables, suggesting that indicators used for resilience estimation appear to matter to impact evaluation, not only to targeting.There are some important limitations to our analysis. Most notably,we assume that the alternative welfare indicators are normally distributed (after appropriate transformations), which may not always be true. A natural extension of our approach will allow greater flexibility for heterogeneous distributions among included indicators. Furthermore, the alternative welfare indicators we used in this analysis may not be relevant for all contexts and livelihoods. We also lack exogenous variation in our explanatory variables, including households' participation in social protection programs, implying that we can only provided correlational evidence, not rigorous multidimensional resilience impact analysis.  ","tokenCount":"4220"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9714929219.json b/data/part_1/9714929219.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..debe464a61407ad23b27affc48e40ad94afd5798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9714929219.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"66ef9feb7318efe6469892f8ca8737fc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f06b1eb-f399-42b7-8435-4e7b94ef023b/retrieve","id":"97055983"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"385e420f-ea70-4601-8705-0b1ecf0e5796","pagecount":"24","content":"The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU).CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.For more information on CTA, visit www.cta.int DISCLAIMER This work has been made possible with the financial assistance of the European Union. However, the contents remain the sole responsibility of its author(s) and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of CTA, its co-publisher or the European Union, nor of any country or member State. The user should make his/her own evaluation as to the appropriateness of any statement, argument, experimental technique or method described in the work. This work is the sole intellectual property of CTA and its co-publishers, and cannot be commercially exploited.CTA encourages its dissemination for private study, research, teaching and non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate acknowledgement is made:of CTA's copyright and EU financing, by including the name of the author, the title of the work and the following notice \"© CTA 2018 EU financing\", -and that CTA's or its co-publishers', and European Union's endorsement of users' views, products or services is not implied in any way, by including the standard CTA disclaimer.The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that food production needs to rise by at least 60% by 2050 to meet the demands of the growing population. Most of the extra food must come from existing farmland at a time when many farmers are already beginning to experience the impact of climate change.However, there are good reasons to be optimistic. Climate-smart agricultural innovations and policies are helping farmers to increase their resilience in the face of more frequent and adverse weather variabilities. As this booklet shows, projects supported by CTA in Eastern and Southern Africa are assisting pastoralists and smallholder farmers adapt to climate change by adopting a number of important measures. Access to accurate, geo-referenced weather information and agronomic tips is leading to better decision-making. The planting of drought-tolerant varieties of staple crops is increasing yields and incomes. Index-based insurance is helping farmers to survive droughts and other weather shocks. These projects show that climate-smart strategies can raise agricultural production and improve living standards.By promoting climate-smart technologies, innovations and policies in smallholder agriculture, CTA is helping to advance food and nutritional security and resilience in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.weather information and index-based insurance, can do much to protect pastoralists and farmers from climatic shocks, and in some cases help them to increase their productivity and incomes.The first chapter tells the story of CTA's Climate, Livestock and Markets (CLI-MARK) project in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. \"The CLI-MARK project aims to catalyse market-based responses to climate change and this in itself is a departure from past approaches,\" says Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, CTA's Senior Technical Adviser for Value Chains and Agribusiness. \"The project is improving pastoralists' preparedness for droughts, enabling livestock marketing and trade during droughts.\"During the first year of the project, 80 livestock-related enterprises and 10 markets benefited from training sessions that helped improve their business management. The project is also linking pastoralists to meat processors and live animal exporters. In addition to this, CLI-MARK is encouraging pastoralists to take out index-based livestock insurance and it is developing an information system which will provide real time weather updates to pastoralists. All of this will help to minimise the impact of drought on their herds.The second story describes the activities of CTA's regional flagship project for Southern Africa, 'Scaling up Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions for Cereal and Livestock Farmers'. During its first year, the project helped 75,000 smallscale farmers in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi to adopt strategies to help them cope with droughts and erratic weather patterns. It has four main components. Farmers receive access to weather information and advice on a wide range of agricultural topics through SMS messages on their mobile phones. Thanks to the project, many are now planting droughttolerant seeds and adopting mixed farming systems, combining crops with livestock, as a way of enhancing soil fertility. Finally, farmers are being encouraged to take out crop insurance.The last two chapters look at how seed fairs, held in Zimbabwe and Mali and supported by CTA, have helped research agencies and seed companies reach farmers in remote rural areas. Surveys conducted after the fairs found that large numbers of farmers are now planting drought-tolerant varieties of crops such as maize and groundnuts. The knowledge they gained at the seed fairs not only helped them to increase their yields and incomes, but improve their family nutrition as well.The stories told here involve what Oluyede Ajayi described as \"a coalition of strange bedfellows of organisations who traditionally do not work together.\" A collaborative approach, which has brought together government agencies, farmers' organisations, small-scale farmers, development agencies and private sector companies involved in insurance, telecommunications and seed production has done much to ensure the success of these projects.Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face. It is leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and threatening food security in some regions. Extreme weather events can destroy crops and reduce yields. Climate change can also have a devastating impact on pastoralist communities. Although the impact of climate change is felt across the globe, the worst affected areas tend to be in least developed countries, small island states and in fragile landscapes, such as Africa's drylands. In these areas, communities are particularly vulnerable and have the least capacity to adapt to climate change.However, this doesn't have to be a story with an unhappy ending.  alk to any pastoralist family in Eastern Africa and you will hear how droughts can devastate lives and livelihoods. In 2017, for example, many cattle herders in northern Kenya lost over 70% of their livestock. In Ethiopia, over 5 million people required emergency food aid and almost 2 million were displaced from their homes. Indeed, an increase in the frequency and severity of droughts, coupled with unpredictable weather patterns, is threatening the survival of some 20 million livestock keepers in this part of Africa.\"Traditionally, when there are serious droughts, governments and aid agencies move in with lots of resources,\" says Thomas Were, who manages CTA's Climate, Livestock and Markets (CLI-MARK) project, which focuses on northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia.\"But this approach is unsustainable. What we're trying to do is enhance the resilience of pastoralist communities.\" Launched in 2017, the two-year CLI-MARK project has three main components. The first is designed to link pastoralists to end buyers and encourage the establishment of new enterprises along the value chain. The second involves scaling up livestock insurance. Since the project began, support from CTA has helped two private insurance companies, whose story is told in the box on page 11, to sell many more policies. The other component, still in the development stage, involves the design of a weather information system which will provide pastoralists with the knowledge they need to make decisions about, among other things, where and when to sell their livestock.It is not just drought that is a problem for pastoralists, but the influence of brokers and middlemen who take a disproportionate share of profits. \"During severe drought you'll find pastoralists sell their animals at a very low price,\" explains Chrispin Mwatate, programme director for the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), which is responsible for CLI-MARK's value chain activities. \"One of the things we are aiming to do is reduce the influence of brokers so that pastoralists get a better price.\"In Kenya, CLI-MARK is focusing activities on the livestock markets in Isiolo, Kipsing, Merille, Oldonyiro and Moyale, with the aim of helping them to become vibrant business hubs. This has involved training activities for the organisations which run the markets and for 40 livestock-related enterprises, eight associated with each market and most managed by women and young people.By mid-morning, the livestock market in Isiolo is in full swing, with pastoralists and traders milling around some 300 cattle, 350 sheep, 250 goats and a few camels. Abdi Halake, vice-chairperson of Isiolo's Livestock Market Association (LMA) says that training provided by CLI-MARK has had a significant impact. \"We are now much more effective as an organisation in terms of the way we collect revenues and run the market,\" he says. \"We keep better records and we are attracting new buyers.\" CHAPTER 1He and four of his colleagues had recently been taken by CLI-MARK on a 'learning visit' to Baringo Market, a day's journey to the west. This is considered one of the best run markets in Kenya and Isiolo LMA is now adopting many of its management practices. Further north, in Merille, the LMA chairman Daniel Kapana says much the same. \"The trip to Baringo is changing the way we do business,\" he says. This will be good both for traders and pastoralists.Other learning visits have taken traders to Nairobi, where they spent time at abattoirs, meat processors and exporters. \"The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,\" says IIRR's Eric Mwaura. \"In the past, most traders from the north simply didn't understand what the market required, but now they know what buyers want in terms of volume, weight and so forth. We are hoping that this will help to reduce the number of middlemen in the business, and that these traders will now sell direct to the end buyers.\"If pastoralist communities are to flourish, they need to establish businesses which continue to trade during the hard times. To this end, CLI-MARK has been improving the skills, knowledge and organisational abilities of livestockrelated enterprises. Take, for example, Ismagal Women's Group, set up in 2009 by Somali women and one of eight organisations to benefit in Isiolo County. It was only after CLI-MARK training that the group began to fulfil its potential. \"Before we didn't really know how to save the money we made from buying and selling goats,\" says chairlady Abdia Mohammed. Following the training, the women set up a 'home bank' -a metal box with three padlocks -and each member now contributes 50 Kenyan shillings a day. \"We'll open it after a year, when we've saved 720,000 shillings [¤7,200]. We plan to buy land and build houses to rent,\" explains Abdia. Entrepreneurial activities such as this will help these pastoralists and their extended families cope much better with future droughts.By mid-2018, IIRR staff in Kenya had visited 37 of the 40 enterprises that attended CLI-MARK training. Frequently, they were able to provide more advice on the ground. For example, the Tulu Pasture Women's Group, which manages a plot of grassland in Sololo, near the Ethiopian border, made significant changes to the way it operates after a visit from IIRR's Maximillain Leinte. \"Max taught us the importance of weeding and how to improve the way we harvested grass,\" explains Gabriel Bagaja, one of the group's members.It's not just the group members who are benefiting, but the wider community. In the past, when there was a shortage of fodder, pastoralists in Sololo had to buy hay that came from Nanyuki, over 500 km away. The hay was expensive and poor quality. Now, they produce hay locally for half the price. \"Because of this, people round here will be in a much better position to survive drought in future,\" says Tumme Shan, one of the group's female members.If pastoralist communities are to flourish, they need to establish businesses which continue to trade during the hard times.In Ethiopia, CLI-MARK is promoting strategies to improve livestock value chains with the aim of increasing productivity and incomes. The project is focusing on Borana Zone, which is home to over three-quarters of a million people, the vast majority of whom depend on livestock. Erratic rainfall, frequent droughts, poor market infrastructure and political insecurity have conspired to make this one of the poorest regions in Ethiopia. The committee, whose secretary is IIRR field officer Dida Wako, meets once a month to coordinate livestock value chain activities. The project also established a Livestock Marketing Forum, whose quarterly meetings are attended by government officials, CLI-MARK project staff, local enterprises, NGOs and major livestock buyers. For the first time, the lead companies -most are based in Addis Ababa and many are involved in the export trade -have agreed to sign agreements with some of the enterprises established by the project.\"Before CLI-MARK began, the lead companies would send their own people from Addis Ababa to buy livestock, as the local traders and enterprises didn't really understand their requirements,\" explains Dida Wako. But that's beginning to change. The project took 47 youth and women's livestock enterprises to visit three companies in Mojo and Ziway, near Addis. Here they gained a good understanding of precisely what the market demands. Just as importantly, CLI-MARK training helped many enterprises gain a better understanding of how to buy and sell livestock.You can see the change when you accompany IIRR staff to local markets. Soon after we arrive at Elwaye market, we find Garbole Jaldesa, secretary of The following day we head for the market in Dubuluk woreda with Tume Huka, an eloquent young woman who owns a shop selling motorbike fuel as well as a herd of cattle, sheep and goats. She is also a member of a micro-enterprise which buys, fattens and sells livestock. \"Before the CLI-MARK training, we never kept any records and we didn't make much money,\" she says. \"Now, I have learned how to monitor prices in the market, keep proper records and work out the best time to buy and sell. As a result, we are making more money.\"If pastoralists increase their incomes, they will be in a better position to survive future droughts. But this is just one feature of the project. Several thousand people in Borana Zone have taken out livestock insurance this season (see box). This means that if the amount of forage falls below a certain level, they will receive the money they need to buy in feed. Pastoralists like Tume will also benefit from CLI-MARK's soon-to-be-launched weather information system. Taken together, these measures are expected to increase the productivity and incomes of some 50,000 livestock farmers.came after their animals had died. \"So we decided to establish a system where payments would be made before animals died and we introduced asset-protection contracts,\" explains ILRI research assistant Wako Gobu. When the level of forage falls to the 20 th percentile of the level in a good year, pay-outs are immediately made. This means pastoralists can buy fodder to keep their livestock alive.The number of pastoralists taking advantage of the insurance scheme has steadily risen in Ethiopia, from 271 in 2012, to 707 in 2016 and 2942 in 2017. Key players in this story are the village insurance promoters (VIPs) and sales agents. They are particularly active before and during the two annual sales windows which precede each dry season, and all of them receive intensive training from OIC twice a year. Since mid-2017, 220 VIPs and sales agents have benefited from two training sessions, both funded by CTA's CLI-MARK project. \"CLI-MARK has been extremely important for us,\" says Getaneh Erena, OIC's Senior Livestock Insurance Officer. \"The project joined us at a critical time when we were out of sponsors and needed support.\"In Kenya, CLI-MARK has worked closely with Takaful Insurance Company. \"One of the biggest challenges for us is reaching people living in remote areas, as we have just three vehicles to cover eight counties,\" says Abdiaziz Ibrahim, who coordinates Takaful activities in Isiolo County. Nevertheless, the number of pastoralists taking out insurance has steadily increased.Like tens of thousands of other pastoralists in southern Ethiopia, Dabasa Jaldesa and his family were severely affected by the drought in 2016. \"We've been the victims of drought oftentimes in the past,\" he says, \"but 2016 was a particularly bad year.\" He lost 17 of his 45 cattle and 25 of his 70 goats. \"It had a dreadful impact on my family and we even had trouble feeding ourselves. We almost lost hope.\"After the drought, representatives of Oromia Insurance Company (OIC) visited Dabasa's village in Elwaye woreda. \"They told us: your animals are always dying. We can help you.\" So he took out insurance on some of his animals and when the forage levels became perilously low the next dry season he received a pay-out of 15,000 Ethiopian birr (¤465). This not only paid for fodder to keep his animals alive; it provided him with sufficient funds to purchase two small bulls and to pay school fees. Index-based livestock insurance was first piloted in northern Kenya. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which devised the scheme, launched a similar programme in Ethiopia in partnership with OIC in 2012, focusing on Borana Zone. In simple terms, the scheme works like this. ILRI analyses satellite imagery provided by NASA to establish when fodder levels have fallen so low that livestock are likely to die. Instead of insurance agents having to go out and verify whether animals have died, the index triggers payments.When the livestock insurance team in Ethiopia held discussions with local communities in 2014, the latter frequently complained that pay-outsOne of the many people to benefit from index-based livestock insurance in Kenya is Habiba Jattan, a casual worker at a school in Isiolo and part-time pastoralist. In 2015, she paid 6000 Kenyan shillings (¤60) to insure three cows and three goats. When fodder levels fell below a certain level, she received a pay-out of 12,000 shillings (¤120), some of which she reinvested in an insurance policy for the next season. This time she insured 16 cattle and 20 goats, and received a pay-out of 150,000 shillings (¤1500) in August 2016. Asked what she would do if there were four or five years of good weather and no pay-outs, she replies: \"I would still take out insurance, because I have had a very good experience with it.\" So far, the insurance companies have paid out far more than they have received in premiums. For example, in 2016, a particularly bad drought year, Takaful made pay-outs which were eight times greater than the premiums it received. A similar story can be told for OIC in Ethiopia, whose livestock insurance has suffered losses of around 2 million birr (¤62,000)a figure which does not include the training, sales supervision and VIP commission and administration costs of approximately 750,000 birr (¤23,250), incurred twice a year. Nevertheless, both companies are guardedly optimistic and believe that over time index-based insurance will become a commercial success. CLI-MARK, which itself is a pilot project, is helping to make sure that the pilot insurance programmes reach a wider number of pastoralist communities.W hen Phineas Muyabi retired from the Zambian Army in 2001, he invested his lump sum payment in seeds and other agricultural inputs. However, drought destroyed his crops and over the next few years his family had to rely on food aid. His fortunes took a turn for the better in 2009. He began to practice conservation agriculture -a farming system which involves minimum tillage, crop rotation and keeping the soil covered throughout the year -and his yields steadily increased. \"From that time on, we've never gone hungry,\" says Phineas. Indeed, he is now doing so well from his farm in Chibombo District that he is building a new house.This year he has benefited from CTA's regional flagship project for Southern Africa, 'Scaling up Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions for Cereal and Livestock Farmers'. He has received training as a lead farmer and he receives regular weather alerts and farming tips. \"I have had over 20 SMS messages so far,\" he says, \"and they've been extremely useful.\" He cites, in particular, messages reminding farmers when to sow their crops; how to limit the damage caused to maize by army worm; how to reduce post-harvest losses; and when to consider selling crops. \"Information is power,\" says Phineas, \"and this is helping me to increase the productivity of my land.\"The CTA project seeks to build the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change. It consists of four main components. It is providing farmers with access to weather information and agricultural advice, which they receive on their mobile phones. It is advising farmers to plant drought-tolerant seeds. Farmers are also being encouraged to combine crops and livestock to diversify their livelihood options, enhance the quality of their soils and help them cope with climatic shocks. And it is promoting index-based weather insurance for crops: if crops fail, because of too little rain or too much, farmers with insurance policies will receive compensation. Some 75,000 small-scale farmers in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi were reached by the CTA project during its first year. By the time it comes to an end in early 2020, 140,000 farmers will have adopted a range of climatesmart strategies to help them cope with drought and erratic weather.Phineas Muyabi is one of many farmers to benefit from CTA's flagship project in Southern Africa.Reflecting on activities at a regional annual project review and planning meeting, held in Zambia on 28-30 August 2018, CTA's Oluyede Ajayi suggested that one of its highlights was the creation of a \"coalition of strange bedfellows of organisations who traditionally do not work together, due to an absence of common interests.\" Dr Kolawole Odubote, Dean of Agricultural Sciences at Zambia Open University (ZAOU), which manages the project in Zambia, agreed. \"It was tremendously important to involve both government and the private sector,\" he said. \"The government sees us as a valuable partner and this has given the project a high political profile.\" Just as significantly, the project has enlisted the help of the private sector. Seed merchants, agro-dealers, telecom providers and insurance companies are key to its future success. torrential rains afterwards, meant that instead of harvesting 600 bags of maize as anticipated, he got just 30 bags.Nevertheless, Malambo views the future with a degree of optimism. He says the SMS messages he receives are very helpful. \"They sometimes tell me things I already know, but might overlook, or things I hadn't thought of, which I'm now doing,\" he says. His close friend and neighbour, Absom Hangoma, says the texts he received advising him not to rush to sell last year's maize harvest were particularly important. \"If I'd sold straightaway, I would have got just 60 kwacha for a 50 kg bag of maize,\" he recalls. \"But I followed the SMS advice and waited till I got 75 kwacha a few weeks later.\" This meant that his 150 bags fetched 2250 kwacha (¤180) more than they would have done had he sold immediately after the harvest.Shortly after the project was launched in Zambia, ZAOU organised two seed fairs to foster greater awareness about the importance of using droughttolerant seeds. The fairs provided a forum for commercial seed companies, agro-dealers, extension workers and over 800 farmers. \"We were very happy to be invited,\" says John Muzondiwa, technical sales representative with Pannar Seeds, the second largest seed supplier in the country. \"We didn't sell much in terms of quantity at the events themselves, but fairs like this are a great way for us to meet large numbers of farmers and talk to them about products like drought-tolerant varieties of maize.\"The fairs were also appreciated by agro-dealers, who play an important role providing seeds and other inputs to local farmers. \"I just wish there were more of them,\" says Changwe Nkonda, whose company Lamko Agro is based in Chibombo District. \"The seed fair here was a real education for us and I think I'm now in a much better position to advise farmers about what sort of seeds and inputs to buy, according to their needs and soil type.\" Besides attending the seed fair, Changwe was one of some 400 agro-dealers to receive training from the CTA project on climate-smart practices.Regional projects such as this inevitably require a degree of devolution, with different consortia of partners operating in the three core countries. The Zambian Open University, MUSIKA Development Initiatives, a non-profit company that stimulates private sector investment in smallholder markets, and Professional Insurance (PICZ) lead project activities in Zambia. In Zimbabwe, the key players are the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and Econet Wireless, while in Malawi the National Smallholder Farmers Association is leading the work in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services and NICO General Insurance Company.Although farmers across the region face much the same challenges, with the vast majority being dependent on one increasingly unpredictable rainy season each year, the political circumstances vary, and so do some of the challenges. In Zambia, to give just one example, the government rolled out a weather-index insurance scheme under the nationwideFarm Input Support Programme (FISP). This meant that the CTA project confined its insurance activities to training CEOs on the potential importance of getting farmers to sign up to weather-index insurance schemes, rather than on promoting insurance schemes directly to farmers.In contrast, weather-index insurance has been at the heart of activities in Zimbabwe, where the project has benefited from existing services provided to farmers since 2015 by ZFU and Econet, the country's largest telecommunications service. These organisations have created a remarkable product, known as the ZFU eco-farmer combo, for which farmers pay US$1 a month. \"We call it the dollar that does miracles,\" explains Shadreck Hungwe, ZFU field and projects manager. The dollar is split three ways: $0.50 covers funeral insurance; $0.25 covers ZFU costs for a range of services, such as access to inputs at discounted prices and SMS messages providing weather information and advice; the remaining $0.25 provides farmers in high-rainfall regions with weather-index insurance.Between April and June 2018, 30 training sessions were held for the 200 ZFU agents in 10 districts in the three provinces where the CTA project operates, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Masvingo. One of their main tasks was to encourage farmers to adopt weather-index insurance. By the end of July 2018, over 10,725 farmers had signed up for the ZFU eco-farmer combo. By the time the project comes to an end, it is hoped that 30,000 farmers will be benefiting from the package of insurance and advice. Of these, 10,000 are expected to benefit from weatherindex insurance.In the past, the weather information sent to ZFU combo subscribers by SMS was based on data provided by terrestrial weather stations. \"This was often unsatisfactory, as there are long distances between many of the weather stations, and they are often far away from the farmers who receive the information,\" says Shadreck. \"That meant that the advice was often of limited use.\" Now, thanks to a partnership with aWhere, funded by the CTA project, satellite data is being used to provide targeted weather forecasts to combo subscribers. \"I am finding the texts very useful,\" says Winnieildah Hamamiti, a farmer from Mashonaland West who attended the mid-project meeting in Zambia. \"Guidance on when the rain is coming, and when to sow seeds and apply fertilisers, has helped me to improve my yields.\"Farmers get approximately 20 texts a month with weather alerts and farming tips. The tips are provided by a team which includes ZFU agronomists and livestock specialists, seed houses, stock feed suppliers and experts from the Ministry of Agriculture. The CTA project has enabled partners to increase the range of subjects covered in the texts. For example, farmers in the dry zone are now getting tips which cover all livestock, rather than just cattle, and in areas with higher rainfall, farmers now receive advice not just on maize, but other crops as well.The regional project review and planning meeting found that despite occasional setbacks -elections in Zimbabwe meant fieldwork was difficult for a couple of months and the project took longer to take off in Malawi than anticipated -much had been achieved. In the three countries, project partners had drawn up digital profiles of over 75,000 smallholder farmers. Just under 50,000 farmers were receiving weather and advisory services by text. Some 10,000 farmers had received information about drought-tolerant seeds. Over 400 agro-dealers had been trained in climate-smart agricultural practices. And increasing numbers of farmers were buying, or considering buying, weather-index insurance.The success of the project owes much to the collaboration between the public and private sectors and generators of knowledge on climate-smart agriculture. Oluyede Ajayi points out that all too often development projects fizzle out when donor support ceases. \"We want to change this narrative,\" he says. \"One of the best ways of doing that is to establish a strong partnership based on a solid investment case that addresses the interests of partners who were there before the project and will be there afterwards. That's why we've been keen to involve the private sector.\" If companies dealing in agricultural inputs and insurance have a financial interest in the project -and their enthusiasm was plain to see at the review and planning meeting -there is a much greater chance that its influence will continue beyond its lifetime.weather are among the greatest threats to the welfare and survival of smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Providing them with the knowledge and technologies to cope is one of the main aims of the plant breeding programmes conducted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).In September 2016, CIMMYT organised two seed fairs in Mutoko and Murewa districts in north-east Zimbabwe. Funded by CTA, the fairs were attended by over 1350 smallholder farmers, eight seed companies, dozens of extension agents, local politicians and traditional chiefs, as well as by researchers from CIMMYT, Zimbabwe's Department of Research and Special Services and HarvestPlus, an organisation which promotes more nutritious foods. The fairs were designed to entertain as well as enlighten, and the climate-smart agriculture theme was delivered through drama, poetry and dance, and by face-to-face encounters between farmers, seed companies, extension agents and researchers. \"I found the seed fair extremely educative,\" says Winnet Chiweshe, who grows 6 ha of arable crops in the rolling countryside in Mutoko District's Old Resettlement. She was one of 100 farmers to win the raffle competition, which meant that she received two packets of drought-tolerant maize seeds from five different seed companies. When the rains came, she planted these seeds, as well as larger quantities of three varieties of hybrid maize. \"The samples all turned out very well,\" she reflects. \"I was particularly happy with the orange maize and am planning to sow at least 0.5 ha next season.\"Orange maize, also known as biofortified Provitamin A maize, was first launched in 2012. It is not only droughttolerant and resistant to diseases such as maize streak, but also rich in vitamin A. When eaten as a staple, it can provide half the daily requirements of women and children. As vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of malnutrition and disease, orange maize could do much to improve nutrition, especially in remote rural communities.First, however, farmers had to be convinced that it was worth planting for its taste, as well as its health benefits. In the 1990s, during a severe drought, the government supplied farming communities with imported yellow maize after their crops failed. Most disliked its taste, considering white maize -which they traditionally planted -to be superior. At both fairs, CIMMYT provided lunch for all those who attended. A dish made from orange maize proved a great success, even though many had misgivings when they first saw its bright orange colour.Maize is consumed as a staple food in Zimbabwe, as porridge for breakfast and sadza, which is firmer than porridge, for lunch and dinner.\"I got good yields from the orange maize I planted after the fair,\" says one of Winnet's neighbours, Rose Hungwa, mother of six children, \"and my family really like the taste. To me it's as though the flour has been mixed with fried eggs.\" Indeed, many people who now grow orange maize consider it so tasty that they don't bother with a relish.CHAPTER 3Research institutions like CIMMYT are constantly developing new varieties, but they lack the capacity and funds to get them to large numbers of farmers. CTA believes that seed fairs can be one of the best ways of getting the private sector involved in their distribution. Following an approach by CTA's Oluyede Ajayi, CIMMYT seed systems specialist Dr Peter Setimela held discussions with seed companies, the government extension agency and NGOs. \"They were all very keen on the idea of attending seed fairs,\" he recalls. Despite the extra logistics involved, CTA believed the seed fairs should be held in rural areas to ensure maximum reach, rather than in Harare, the capital city. CIMMYT opted to hold the fairs in Mashonaland East province, where it wanted to build on progress made by its on-farm trials to develop drought-resistant maize.The local extension agencies, already skilled in organising field days and training sessions, drew up a list of people to attend the fairs. \"I instructed the extension agents in each of our 29 wards to identify which farmers to invite,\" explains Lawrence Makonyere, the District Agricultural Extension Officer for Mutoko. \"We tried to choose the best farmers who had the greatest influence, so they would be able to pass on messages about what they learnt to those who didn't attend.\"\"Every year, we develop around 20 new varieties of maize which are commercially viable,\" says Dr Setimela. \"The seed fairs gave us an opportunity to network with seed companies and meet large numbers of farmers in one place.\" Although maize has been the focus of most of CIMMYT's work, seed companies were encouraged to exhibit other crop seeds as well, including finger millet, pearl millet, sorghum, groundnut and sugar beans. Farmers were also provided with space to exhibit, and exchange, their own seeds.Over 650 women attended the fairs. According to Oswell Ndoro, CIMMYT maize breeder, women tend to be more knowledgeable than men when it comes to choosing which varieties to plant. \"They also have a different attitude towards nutrition,\" he says. \"In my discussions, I find that women tend to be keener on orange maize because it contains high levels of vitamin A. Men are more preoccupied with getting the highest yields.\" Under good conditions, orange maize can yield 4 to 5 tonnes per hectare, several tonnes less than some of the highest yielding hybrids, but still vastly superior to the average maize yield for Zimbabwe, which stands at around 1.0-1.5 tonnes per hectare.Feedback from farmers who attended the fairs has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying that they have now begun to use new varieties and, in some cases, expanded the area devoted to arable crops. Take, for example, Mary Sikirwai, a 70-yearold widow in Rimbi village, Murewa District. Mary had already developed a close relationship with her extension agents and CIMMYT researchers, having trialled a protein-rich variety of maize in the past. At the seed fair, she exchanged seed with other farmers and bought new varietiesfrom the seed companies, including orange maize. Just as importantly, she says, she learned how to improve her agronomic practices. \"I also discovered there was a good market for small grains as many people are eating more millet than they used to,\" she says. In the past, she used to grow around 0.25 ha of small grains. Now, she has increased the area to 2 ha. After the fair, she sowed 5 kg of orange maize and this yielded 2 tonnes. \"I like it very much,\" she says. \"It was quick to mature and I didn't have any disease problems. Next season I'm going to plant 0.4 ha.\"Informal discussions during the fairs suggested that farmers were keen to maximise both crop diversity and diversity within crops as a way of coping with the increasingly erratic weather patterns and the emergence of new pests and diseases. Like many farmers, Mary now plants several varieties of maize, including two hybrids and a popular open-pollinated variety (OPV) called Hickory King. OPVs do not give such high yields as the hybrids, but at least some of the crop is likely to survive if there is a severe drought or pest outbreak. This is because OPVs have greater genetic variability than hybrid crops. Furthermore, farmers can plant their OPV seeds the following year, without suffering the decline in yield that occurs if they use seed from their hybrid crops.The extension agencies are as fulsome in their praise of the fairs as the farmers. \"I think the seed fairs will help farmers to improve their yields and income, and ensure better food security in our district,\" says Douglas Makuvira, Muwera District Agricultural Extension Officer. \"The fairs have proved the best way of getting farmers to meet researchers and seed companies and I'd like to see more of them in future.\"The fairs also had a profound influence on the extension agents who work on the ground with farmers. For example, Shiela Kamoto Gambara, who provides advice to some 860 farmers in Mutoko District, says she is now changing her recommendations to farmers, thanks to what she learnt at the Mutoko seed fair. \"I'd never heard about orange maize before, but now I'm encouraging farmers to plant it, along with other varieties which I saw for the first time.\"Although Seed Co, Africa's largest seed merchant, has 20 depots across Zimbabwe, each supplying local retailers, as well as a network of motorised agronomists, it doesn't find it easy to reach farmers in remote areas. However, the seed fairs in Mutoko and Murewa meant its representatives could talk to farmers from all corners of these two districts. \"It was a very good platform to expose a whole range of our products,\" says product development manager Dean Muungani. \"The only expense for us was getting there and putting up our tent.\" Prime Seed Co, Seed Co's vegetable business, has been given responsibility for promoting the ZS242 variety of orange maize. \"The seed fairs were a big success from our point of view,\" says sales manager Masimba Kanyepi. \"We were able to talk to the farmers about the benefits of growing and eating orange maize and they could also taste it. The fact that it's rich in vitamin A is proving a very good selling point.\"Soon after the seed fairs, the Government of Zimbabwe announced that all maize flour should be fortified with vitamin A, iron and zinc. \"This adds extra expense for flour millers, but we see it as a business opportunity,\"A-rich variety developed in Mexico with local, drought-resistant varieties. \"It has been a time-consuming and expensive exercise, partly because we have to keep testing the vitamin A content of the crosses we develop,\" he says. When people complain that the new varieties of orange maize yield less than the best white maize hybrids, he points out that plant breeders have spent 50 to 60 years developing white maize hybrids, and just five years developing orange maize. \"Each year we see an increase in the yield potential of orange maize, and it's already reached more than 4 tonnes per hectare, which is good,\" he says.He believes that orange maize will be particularly important in the more remote rural areas. People in towns, and the better off, can afford to buy carrots, butternut squash and other vegetables which contain vitamin A, but many families in rural areas cannot. The great thing about maize is that the children of even the poorest families eat it in sadza and take snacks made out of maizeboiled or roasted in season; mixed with cowpeas at other times of year -when they go to school. All of this should help to reduce malnutrition and provide farmers with a profitable crop. Orange maize would really take off if large food processors and public institutions, such as schools and the army, decided to buy it.\"While there is much information about challenges and impacts of climate change, there is far less about the solutions that could benefit smallholder farmers,\" says Oluyede Ajayi of CTA. \"By supporting projects which promote better access to drought-tolerant seeds, such as the seed fairs in Zimbawe, CTA is demonstrating its commitment to providing solutions to the challenges of climate change.\" explains Rinos Mashongera of National Tested Seeds (NTS). \"Orange maize which has been bio-fortified through plant breeding might attract a premium price in future. It should also appeal to millers, as it will save them the expense of adding vitamins.\" It could prove particularly important in rural areas, where small-scale millers are unlikely to have the means to fortify their maize with vitamin A by chemical means.One company which benefited greatly from attending the fairs was Mukushi Seeds, established in 2014 by a former plant breeder from CIMMYT. The company is still a relatively small player, but it is growing rapidly. During the year up to November 2017, sales increased by 40%. \"The fairs definitely helped to increase our visibility, and although we didn't sell large quantities at the fairs, they led to an increase in orders afterwards,\" says finance manager Linnet Matinyori.So what of the future? \"We would certainly like to hold more seed fairs, not just here in Zimbabwe, but in neighbouring countries such as Malawi and Zambia,\" says Dr Setimela. \"There's no doubt that seed fairs are one of the best ways of communicating with farmers and involving the private sector and government.\"Over 200 million households in sub-Saharan Africa depend on maize for their food security and economic well-being. However, maize yields in the region are the lowest in the world, partly because farmers have been slow to adopt high-yielding varieties. Low yields are also a reflection of poor and erratic rainfall, degraded soils and poverty: many farmers simply can't afford to purchase high-yielding varieties and the inputs they require.For several decades, CIMMYT has been developing new varieties of maize which are drought-tolerant and resistant to some of the more common diseases. More recently, it has focused on improving the nutritional quality of maize, with the successful introduction of Quality Protein Maize (QPM), which is proving popular with farmers in West Africa, and Provitamin A maize in southern Africa. So far 11 varieties of the latter have been developed, and six are commercially available. Each year, CIMMYT scientists in southern Africa evaluate between 200 to 300 new varieties on-station and on-farm, and about 20 new varieties are made available to seed companies for registration and commercialisation. I n June 2016, Affou Berthé, a farmer from the village of Sirimana, attended a seed fair implemented by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and supported by CTA. In recent years, he had abandoned groundnut production as yields were poor, largely because of recurrent drought, and other crops, such as rice, were more profitable. However, following the seed fair, held in Sikasso, he began cultivating groundnut again.\"At the seed fair we were given four improved groundnut varieties [Fleur 11,ICGV 86015,ICGV 86024 and ICGV 86124] which have given us much higher yields than the traditional varieties we used to grow,\" he recalls. \"The new varieties are also much more resistant to drought.\" Many other farmers in his village had previously abandoned groundnut to focus instead on cotton, maize and rice; now, like Affou, they are growing groundnut again. \"We can all see that there's more profit in groundnut than rice,\" he says.Affou was one of over 500 farmers who participated in one of the two seed fairs in Mali, held in 2016. The first was in Sikasso, a city in the south of the country, on 20 and 21 June; the second took place immediately afterwards in Kayes, a city located to the Northwest of the capital Bamako. The fairs included plenary sessions, group discussions and stands where seed companies and others could exhibit their products and services. The fairs provided an excellent opportunity for networking, enabling farmers to meet representatives of government agencies, research institutes, NGOs, private-sector companies and district planners.\"The main objective of the fairs was to create awareness about the advantage of using improved varieties of groundnut and maize which are drought and disease tolerant,\" says Dr Ayoni Ogunbayo, who manages an ICRISAT project, 'Increasing groundnut productivity of smallholder farmers in Ghana, Nigeria and Mali'. \"Groundnut and maize yields could be greatly increased in the region if farmers had better access to improved varieties.\"According to Dr Ogunbayo, the seed fairs helped to create awareness about the importance of using improved varieties, and the potential of groundnut as a cash crop and source of nutrition. Approximately 400 farmers were provided with mini-packs of 200gm per variety of improved groundnut seeds. Two thousand copies of flyers with basic passport data of the improved groundnut varieties and 250 copies of brochures on groundnut production and aflatoxin management were also distributed. The materials were designed to be both a learning aid and a convenient reference source for those involved in the production and consumption of groundnut. Farmers attending the fairs also benefited from advice on good agricultural practices, including post-harvest technologies and efficient marketing.During recent years, climate change has had a significant impact on the yields of both groundnut and maize, two key crops for West African food security. It is estimated that droughts have depressed maize yields by some 15% and groundnut yields by 38%. This has frequently led to the exhaustion of local seed stocks, as poor farming families have used the seeds as food. It has also encouraged many farmers to abandon the production of groundnut in favour of crops like cotton and rice.At the seed fairs, farmers were introduced to four improved varieties of groundnut, all developed by ICRISAT. The fact that one of these varieties, Fleur 11, is affectionately known by local farmers as 'Alason', which means 'gift of God' in the local language, Bambara, shows how highly it is regarded. It is an early maturing variety and exhibits excellent drought and disease resistance. It is also capable of yielding up to 2 tonnes per hectare and gives higher yields than traditional varieties. The other three highyielding varieties of groundnut promoted at the fairs were also high yielding, early maturing and resistant to drought. One variety, ICGV 86024, shows particularly good resistance to foliar diseases which often attack fields of groundnut.Farmers planting improved varieties of groundnut have seen a significant increase in their incomes and also improved their nutrition and health. \"The profits I've made from groundnuts have helped me to meet all my needs, to pay for medical care and help my children and grandchildren,\" says Affou Berthé. In the past, he used to walk long distances to reach neighbouring villages and some of his fields. Now, thanks to the profits he has made from his groundnut production, he has been able to buy a bicycle, something he could not afford when his main crop was rice.According to Yaya Bengaly, another farmer in the village of Sirimana and the person in charge of the local cooperative, Agno Gnètaso, those attending the fairs now have a much better understanding of how they can benefit from groundnut production. \"We learned a lot of things that we used to ignore about the importance and usefulness of groundnut, as well as the advantages of using improved varieties,\" he says. \"The results are visible to the naked eye in our fields.\" Furthermore, the revival of groundnut production has proved very beneficial to the many women who attended the fairs and who are now planting improved varieties. They have increased their incomes and become less dependent on their husbands. \"The women are now in a better position to buy clothes and kitchen utensils and help their husbands with the family expenses,\" says Yaya.Fatogoma Bengaly did not attend the seed fair in Sikasso, but it still had a significant effect on his life. \"Several members of our cooperative went to the fair,\" he recalls. \"When they returned they shared information about what they had heard, as well as the seeds they received at the fair.\" Fatogoma estimates that yields with the improved varieties are almost double those of traditional varieties, even when the rains are sparse. In August 2016, the village received 286 mm of rain; a year later, during the same month, it received just 95 mm. Yet such are the droughtresistant improved varieties that farmers still achieved excellent yields.You will hear similar stories in other parts of the country. For example, farmers in the village of Tamala, which is situated just a short distance from Bamako, were supplied with improved varieties of seed by the seed company Faso Kaba. One of the beneficiaries was Drissa Coulibaly. \"We haven't had enough rain in our village this year,\" he says, \"but we have seen that with the new improved groundnut varieties that we planted, our fields haven't been much affected. We are expecting a good harvest.\"An evaluation of the impact of the seed fairs was carried out in two phases. The first phase, conducted by a team from ICRISAT between 16 August and 1 September 2016, focused on 14 fields in Sikasso region and 34 fields in Kayes region. A second evaluation took place the following March. During the course of the evaluations, 260 farmers, including 139 women, were interviewed about their use of improved groundnut varieties, adoption of good agricultural practices and the performance of the seeds. During recent years, Faso Kaba has collaborated with ICRISAT on the distribution and popularisation of new varieties of seed developed by the plant breeders. This has been undertaken with support from the US Agency for International Development's Feed the Future initiative, which focuses on three countries, one of these being Mali. Faso Kaba was able to promote droughttolerant varieties of groundnut at the two seed fairs and distribute flyers describing their passport data, production techniques and harvesting requirements. After the fairs Faso Kaba sold more than 50 tonnes of improved groundnut seeds to farmers. The largest orders were for Fleur 11, with many farmers telling the company that they particularly liked this variety as it had a short growing cycle and was resistant to drought.According to Mme Maimouna Sidibé Coulibaly of Faso Kaba, the fairs' success owed much to the fact that they were highly educative. There were many presentations to improve farmers' understanding about the importance of improved varieties and relevant production techniques. Scientists, technicians and farmers also discussed constraints, challenges and opportunities in seed production systems in West Africa. These include seed production techniques and the effect of abiotic and biotic stresses which attack groundnut and maize production in West Africa. The problems caused by aflatoxins, potentially lifethreatening toxins produced by fungi which grow on crops such as groundnut and maize when poorly stored, were also discussed during the programmes.Among the non-governmental organisations to attend the fair in Sikasso was GRAADECOM, which has been involved in various agricultural programmes in the region since 2001. These include a partnership with ICRISAT to promote improved varieties of groundnut under the Feed the Future project. According to its executive director, Fousseyni Dembele, local communities now have a much better understanding about how climate change is affecting their lives. \"In the past, the communities didn't really believe in climate change, but with the various things they've observed recently they now understand that it is a reality,\" he says. Farmers have begun to notice significant changes in the pattern of rainfall, with excessiveThe seed fairs introduced farmers to a wide range of technologies.precipitation at times, and none at all when rain is expected. \"The seeds which the farmers used in the past were traditional varieties which were not resistant to climate change,\" continues Fousseyni. \"The introduction of new drought-resistant varieties of groundnut is undoubtedly helping to break the cycle of vulnerability.\" He says that farmers have been unanimous in their praise for the new varieties of seeds. Indeed, some have even come into GRAADECOM's office in Sikasso with samples of the seeds they have produced as evidence of the quality of the seeds which they received at the fair. \"That's one way for them to show their satisfaction,\" says Fousseyni. \"The fair was a complete success and we would like to see more fairs in future.\"This project is evidence of CTA's commitment to finding workable climate-smart solutions for farmers. \"We collaborated with different partners in the field to ensure that smallholder farmers get the necessary support to access the various technological options that are available, as well as information about new seed varieties,\" says Oluyede Ajayi, Senior Programme Coordinator for Climate Change and Agriculture. \"This is helping farmers make informed decision as they cope with the challenges of climate change.\"Seed fairs provide farmers with a great opportunity to showcase their own produce.","tokenCount":"8738"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9761801664.json b/data/part_1/9761801664.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..44e9233c19f739c7a62e9b7d1bb81be74ea27d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9761801664.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04f6897f9bd0ef856019bc4c52481226","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ad87125b-03b7-42cc-b5ad-ad6b4fa8315e/retrieve","id":"-263736743"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf3ae1c7-6811-499f-949b-9b65e99329eb","pagecount":"16","content":"Through action research across six anchored countries in Africa, AICCRA aims at scaling access and use of enhanced climate information services (CIS) and evidence-based climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and innovations for effective climate risk management and sustainable productivity improvement in various agricultural value chains and sub-sectors.• FSRP is a World Bank Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach to improve food security and increase resilience in participating countries across Africa. A key aspect of FSRP is promoting the effective use of this new generation of climate information services to improve climatic and disaster risk management, and the application of CSA innovations to improve the agricultural productive base in West African food systems.• While designed across the same components, the FSRP regional level led by AGRHYMET (component 1) and CORAF (component 2) focuses mainly on capacitating FSRP countries with the best practice expertise i.e. state-of-the art approaches, tools, and knowledge they need to effectively operationalize project activities and achieve successful outcomes and impact. Fostering synergy between FSRP and AICCRA offers a great spillover opportunity to scale up climate services and climate-smart agriculture to benefit countries in West Africa and beyond.• As two World Bank-financed projects at both regional and national levels within the same geography and built under a long-term programmatic approach, FSRP and AICCRA are two unique programs to strengthen the institutional capacities of countries and make economy of scale while fostering cross-fertilization among IDA financed-projects in West Africa.• From an operational point of view, the active participations, and interactions of both projects' stakeholders to their respective activities, events and statutory meetings at regional and national levels bolster effectiveness of these synergies.• The synergies between these two sister projects pave the way for fostering not only the uptake but more importantly the effective use of science-evidenced CSA innovations and CIS by countries across West Africa and the Sahel. Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. About AICCRA Info Notes Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim research on the scaling of climate services and climatesmart agriculture in Africa, in order to stimulate feedback from the scientific community.The Food System Resilience Program (FSRP) and the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) are two World Bank's International Development Association (IDA)-financed projects that include West Africa and the Sahel as intervention region. While the first phase of AICCRA is planned for 2021-2023 with an approved 5-years additional financing from 2024 (Zougmoré et al., 2023), the FSRP is a multi-phase programmatic approach to build sustainable regional mechanisms and institutions with strong capacity at a regional level. This multi-phase approach will enable a set of countries with varying degrees of readiness to adopt consistent approaches and accede to regional systems at appropriately differential speeds. Phasing the accession of countries according to their readiness will allow regional mechanisms to operate with maximum effectiveness. While FSRP is aligned to the Economic Community of West Africa States Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) as the main framework for agricultural transformation and regional integration, and implemented through three major regional organizations, i.e., Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)'s specialized center AGRHYMET Regional Climate Center and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), AICCRA builds on 50 years of CGIAR climate research innovations, especially on the achievements of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) to contribute developing a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. More specifically, AICCRA works to upscale and make climate information services and climate-smart agriculture technologies more accessible to millions of smallholder farmers across Africa. In parralel, FSRP aims to strengthen regional food system risk management, improve the sustainability of the productive base in targeted areas and to develop regional agricultural markets.In view of the complementarity between the two projects, i.e., AICCRA being a potential provider of scientifically evidence-based innovations, tools and approaches, while the FSRP is a potential user of this knowledge and information, and at the same time both are working on the common topic of supporting resilient agriculture and food systems, the World Bank has fostered active synergy between the two projects since their design phases, in a way to promote a win-win cross-fertilization. Since the commencement of FSRP implementation, clear Program of Work and Budget has been developed, with strategic areas of collaboration in a formal document that will serve as implementing guide to both projects and inform other WB operations in IDA countries and regions in Africa and beyond. This Info Note provides a brief of AICCRA and FSRP projects and analyses collaboration domains for synergy and cross-fertilization between the two projects, with focus on FSRP's component 1 led by CILSS/AGRHYMET and component 2 led by CORAF.The FSRP Program Development Objective is to increase preparedness against food insecurity and improve the resilience of food systems in participating countries. The expected achievements include: (i) increase of the number of beneficiaries including women of the food system who have access to early warning services and hydro & agro-meteorological advisories; (ii) increase of areas under integrated land management practices; (iii) increase number of beneficiaries who adopted climatesmart technologies and agricultural services; (iv) reduction of % of persons, including women, in food crisis situation in targeted zones, and (v) increase of the part of intra-regional trade for certain value chains.The objectives of component 1 are: (i) to enhance decision support systems with demand-driven information services to increase the effectiveness of agriculture and food crises prevention and management, integrating data and leveraging cutting-edge science, innovation, and technologies, and (ii) to strengthen regional capacity, institutional sustainability as well as adaptive capacity to climate change. The expected outcomes are (i) an upgraded regional food crisis prevention and management systems leveraging stronger regional operational capacity of agro-hydro-meteorological services and impact-based early warning systems, and (ii) food system users accessing and using agro-and hydrometeorological information services in their decision making.The component 1 comprises: Sub-component 1.1, which objective is to upgrade and operationalize Regional Food Crisis Prevention and Monitoring Systems, with the aim of transforming the regional food security and agriculture information system in order to support risk management decision-making. Specific activities include: (a) Improve regional and national capacity to deliver reliable information services for food and nutrition security and vulnerability assessment; (b) Reorganize and improve regional and national pest and disease monitoring and management mechanisms;(c) Strengthen regional collaboration for food crisis prevention. Subcomponent 1.2, aims to strengthen and operationalize Digital Hydromet and Agro-Advisory Services for Farmers. It focuses on developing new services, improving the quality, and increasing access to and use of impact-based and location-specific weather, climate and hydrological (hydromet) information as well as their application to agriculture (agromet) tailored to the needs of the agriculture sector. A special focus is made on the needs of the most vulnerable groups, for instance women and young farmers and pastoralists. This will be achieved by strengthening operational linkages between CILSS/AGRHYMET and the national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs) in collaboration with key stakeholders such as disaster risk management agencies and the private sector. The envisaged activities are to: (a) Improve production of hydromet, climate, agromet and impact-based information by decision-makers, farmers, pastoralists, and other actors in the food system; (b) Support the timely delivery and use of essential agrohydrometeorological information; (c) Strengthen the financial and institutional sustainability of regional and national institutions providing hydromet, climate, agromet information.Component 2 aims to enhance the resilience of the food system's productive base and contribute directly to the Great Green Wall Initiative. It comprises two mutually supporting sub-components: subcomponent 2.1 Consolidate Regional Agricultural Innovation Systems and subcomponent 2.2 Strengthen Regional Food Security through integrated land management (ILM). Technologies and innovation to be upscaled flow from sub-component 2.1 to 2.2, and the land and water management research group set up under Subcomponent 2.1 will provide technical support and coordination between countries implementing landscape interventions. Expected outcomes include: (i) strengthened national and regional agricultural research systems; (ii) a strengthened policy environment for landscape governance (multisectoral inclusive policies and regulations to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation); and (iii) landscape units (LUs) under integrated management that can achieve multiple objectives sustainably (food production, provision of ecosystem services, protection of biodiversity, and improvement of local livelihoods). AICCRA development objective is to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed by targeted regional and national partners and stakeholders, to enhance transfer and access of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and validated climatesmart agriculture (CSA) technologies in support of scaling efforts in IDA-eligible countries in Africa. The project focuses on filling the \"missing middle\" by bridging the gap between the organizations that generate and make available climate information services (CIS) and CSA technologies and the organizations and individuals that take up, re-transmit, or otherwise make use of the climate knowledge and CSA technologies, for the purpose of enhancing the resilience of Africa's agriculture and food systems in the face of climate change. AICCRA expected outcomes are threefold: ( 1 FSRP and AICCRA are two WB-financed programs that intervene within the same sub-region, involving the same key implementing institutions, and focusing on the transformation of food systems in the context of climate change. Therefore, the contractual agreements between the CGIAR lead institution for AICCRA (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) and regional organizations namely AGRHYMET and CORAF, built on some potential areas of synergistic collaborations between the two programs. In the sections below, we expand on strategic areas of AICCRA-FSRP collaborations. It is to note that these strategic collaboration domains apply to both regional and national levels. While the regional level focuses on providing countries with their needs for technical assistance, up-todate knowledge, capacity strengthening, training programs and communication, countries are investing in the effective implementation on the ground of proven interventions that are tailored to their specific contexts.Katie Kennedy Freeman speaking during an AICCRA eventClimate Information Services (CIS): while AICCRA is feeding FSRP with start-of-art science and technology inputs to be used along the FSRP value chain of climate information services, AICCRA benefits from FSRP investment opportunities in regional organisations and countries to scale-up its evidenced-based tools, approaches and products on climate services.For example, through AICCRA, AGRHYMET Regional Climate Center has strengthened its technical capacity to produce new generation of climate services that are used to upgrade the outputs from the Regional Climate Outlook Forum (PRESASS and PRESAGG) in West Africa and the Sahel (Halidou et al., 2022). Through investments from participating countries, FSRP will build on these new generation of climate services to support farmers and other stakeholders to build resilience. These new products of seasonal forecasts will also enable the FSRP thematic expert group on CIS to assess and guide implementation of actions. AICCRA will benefit from the FSRP investment in hydromet and agromet data collection, automatization and sharing for further innovations in climate services.Capacity building of regional and national institutions for effective climate service systems: Both AICCRA and FSRP aim at strengthening the AGRHYMET institutional capacities. Indeed, AICCRA aims at supporting the mandates and ambition of AGRHYMET as the West-African regional leader in capacity building of national met and hydro services through training of trainers approach and in providing start-of-the art CIS to regional and national levels beneficiaries to contribute to its accreditation by WMO as the West African and Sahel Regional Climate Centre (Houngnibo et al., 2022;Ali et al., 2022a;Minoungou et al., 2022;Segnon et al., 2022a;Segnon et al., 2023a). On the other hand, FSRP plans to contribute developing a business model for AGRHYMET that can guarantee the sustainability of its services. Therefore, the two efforts are complementary as they will position AGRHYMET as the regional place-to-go in West Africa and the Sahel for climate information services. The acceleration of global warming is inducing a new era of hydroclimatic extremes in the Sahel (Bichet and Diedhiou, 2018;Panthou et al., 2018;Salack et al., 2016). Yet, AGRHYMET is still lacking capacity to track such types of rapid hazards. To fill this gap, FSRP and AICCRA are joining efforts to strategically enable AGRHYMET with a relevant watch room that will support countries' early warning systems. The goal is for AGRHYMET to sustainably strengthen the capacity of countries to develop operational and effective national climate service systems. It is in this framework that both AICCRA and FSRP target the training of National Meteorological and Hydrological services. One of the foci of FSRP is on degree training of NMHS professionals as well as an impact evaluation platform for the training programs. On the other hand, AICCRA provides state-of-the-art scientific tools, approaches, and knowledge to support the curricula of the different training programs. In addition, AICCRA supports short term trainings to NMHSs to complement the degree trainings and to be spill overed through FSRP investments throughout CILSS-ECOWAS member countries (Minoungou et al., 2022;Segnon et al., 2022a;Hansen et al., 2022).Channelling CIS to the last mile: AICCRA and FSRP consider communication as a strategic mean to support large-scale dissemination of knowledge products and to provide agroadvisory services through cascading to various levels of users (regional -national -subnational entities -last mile). AICCRA focuses on developing knowledge products to bridge the gap between science and policy, and to provide science-based evidence in response to various issues and needs. Through story stelling on the best experiences, AICCRA ensures upscaling of CIS to foster their use. Also, AICCRA strengthens the capacities of media and communication actors for their better understanding of the climate jargon used by scientists to translate and format climate information messages and for their contribution to codevelop communication products using the appropriate language (Mainassara et al., 2023). FSRP supports particularly the development of operational communication channels based on digital-led platforms to foster timely agromet and hydromet information delivery to beneficiaries. These digital platforms constitute a tool for FSRP to track and assess the impact of these services. Both FSRP and AICCRA make use of regional concertation frameworks such as the Regional Climate Outlook Forum (PRESASS, PRESAGG), PREGEC, RPCA to strengthen dialogue between national and regional stakeholders (Halidou et al., 2023).One of the key intervention areas of the FSRP is sustaining the productive base of the food system by investing in CSA at the farm and landscape levels. To enhance the resilience of food systems in priority landscapes, the FSRP has envisaged the delivery of farm/community-level packages of CSA technologies (including droughtresistant crops and specific soil management techniques to reduce water evaporation and enhance resilience). CORAF, as the regional lead of these areas, has defined 3 main strategic intervention domains to collaborate with AICCRA including capacity building, CSA innovation and e-extension to benefit FSRP countries and beyond.Capacity building: AICCRA trains FSRP countries' stakeholders to better understand concepts, approaches, tools and methods for sound prioritisation, implementation and use of climate-smart agriculture (Kpadonou et al., 2023a). In addition, AICCRA supports the setting up and training of a West and Central Africa community of practice on foresight analysis (Segnon et al., 2023b;Chesterman et al., 2022;Neely et al., 2022) which is a strategic objective defined in CORAF's strategy 2030 and endorsed in FSRP plans/objectives. This was followed by foresight application to various thematic areas of interest (e.g., pest and disease outbreaks) (Chesterman et al., 2022;Segnon et al., 2023c). AICCRA provides technical backstopping to CORAF in conceptualizing and in better framing of the scaling approach in order to support FSRP implementation across West and Central Africa (Kpadonou et al., 2022;Segnon et al., 2022b). In this way, AICCRA leverages FSRP as a springboard to deploy innovative research outputs and outcomes within FSRP countries.Climate-smart agriculture innovations: In line with CORAF goal of promoting access and exchanges of innovations, including CSA technologies, among FSRP countries, AICCRA through generation and mainstreaming of evidenced-based CSA technologies from its intervention countries, is contributing to various scaling mechanisms set up by CORAF such as: (i) the physical and virtual market of agricultural innovations and technologies (MITA), (ii) the virtual platform for West Africa Fertilizer and Seed Recommendations (FeSeRWAM) and (iii) the network of Agricultural Parks of Technologies (APT) for physical and live showcasing (Segnon et al., 2022b;Ganyo et al., 2022;Kpadonou et al., 2022).Also, AICCRA brings integrated approaches and tools such as the climate-smart village, the CSA prioritization methods to support sound selections of CSA technologies that are tailored to the specific contexts and needs of various value chains and beneficiaries of FSRP countries (Segnon et al., 2022c). Given AICCRA is providing transformative CIS under FSRP component 1, this will be leveraged to promote the bundling of CSA and CIS. Indeed, this will improve access by farmers and other value chain actors to climate-informed agricultural advisory services to inform decision-making about choice of technology and enterprise management for better climatic risk management and improved productivity.The FSRP is supporting the modernization of countries' extension services, 10 which is also an area of focus for AICCRA. Among the actions undertaken, CORAF is mapping in collaboration with AGRYHMET, the digital-led modern tools and approaches being piloted through AICCRA to promote the use by countries of the most evidenced as successful (Agali et al., 2022). Experiences from West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food security (CCAFS) in Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire provide relevant inputs to these e-extension initiatives (Partey et al., 2019).Both AICCRA and FSRP prioritise Gender and social inclusion as a cross-cutting topic across all activities and promote synergies and the principle of subsidiarity through public-private engagement (PPE) mechanisms.There is cross-fertilisation between FSRP and AICCRA through various initiatives such as (1) joint capacity building on specific skills to benefit actors of both projects (Ganyo et al., 2023a), (2) identifying and sharing best practices, experiences and strategies for gender and social inclusion in generation and scaling of CSA and CIS innovations addressing priorities and needs of different groups, in particular women, youth and under-represented groups in both project activities (Ali et al., 2022b, Ganyo et al., 2023b,c;Segnon et al 2023d), (3) developing a national gender and climate action plan in agriculture to identify and support concrete actions for gender empowerment at local level, (4) the inventory of gender-responsive CSA innovations in West and Central Africa for MITA platform (Ganyo et al., 2023b;Segnon et al., 2023d), (5) Identifying CSA business models through scaling of the Gender Smart Accelerator model developed in AICCRA to benefit ECOWAS member countries.• Public-Private Engagement Through public-private engagement, FSRP plans to (1) support the development of business models for the sustainability of regional and national institutions in charge of climate services and climate-smart agriculture, (2) develops regional platforms for exchange between public and private actors (e.g., capitalize on MITA experience to build a platform for a better contribution of private sector to climate services). On the other hand, AICCRA has been testing various PPP business models on the bundling of CSA and CIS that could inform the above objectives of FSRP. Similarly, the sustainable finance schemes piloted through AICCRA to support investments by small and medium enterprises are relevant to supporting FSRP initiatives on public-private engagement and business models development.  (Ganyo et al., 2022) can be more efficiently used if packaged based on climate information. This is where the component of FRSP led by AGRHYMET comes in through the timely delivery and use of essential agrohydrometeorological information to key users, including farmers and pastoralists from FSRP countries, by building their capacity, developing multimodal communication channels, and supporting the co-development of services by engaging users.• Bio-risks management CORAF is supporting the establishment of new national centre of specialisation for mechanization, bio-risk management in Togo, one FSRP country. AGRHYMET with its long experience in pest and disease monitoring and management mechanisms can work synergistically with CORAF to backstop this new centre. In terms of capacity building, AICCRA has supported CORAF to set up a community of practice in foresight analysis and a regional action plan for preparedness and rapid response has been produced to guide implementation actions against foreseen or emerged crop pest and disease outbreaks in the region (Segnon et al., 2023b;Chesterman et al., 2022).Training on Biorisks management in Togo, one FSRP countryOne of the major expected achievements through FSRP component 2 is the modernization of national extension services. Indeed, FSRP will promote modern approaches to extension, including by supporting the adoption of digital agriculture and e-extension services. Under the component 1 led by AGRHYMET, it is also expected to develop decision support tools and methods for improved, user-targeted agroadvisory services. Therefore, CORAF, AGRHYMET and AICCRA have jointly developed a concept note to map the modern advisory tools and approaches being promoted to identify bestpractice countries as examples for spillover across West Africa.In a bid to strengthen the collaboration with CORAF and AGRHYMET, AICCRA has signed partnership performance agreements with these two organizations to include them as major regional implementing partners and therefore, allocated dedicated funds to support both organizations for their spillover activity implementations. AICCRA has been actively contributing to the MITA and other CORAF-led events (Segnon et al., 2022b;Segnon et al, 2023d;Kpadonou et al., 2023b) through organizing specific sessions to share AICCRA success cases and experiences. Similarly, AICCRA has been contributing to the annual Regional Climate Outlook Forums (PRESASS and PRESAG) and the biannual scientific conference on climate in the Sahel organized by AGRHYMET (Zougmoré, 2022;Segnon et al., 2022a;Halidou et al., 2023;Mainassara et al., 2023).• Strengthen the active participation and contribution of AICCRA to key FSRP meetings including the steering committees and vice versa, such as the example of AICCRA chairing the FSRP component 1 Scientific & Technical Committee.• Promote join communication of the results of the two projects and their complementarities (Example of co-organization of a side event at COPs).• Further align AICCRA Additional Financing activities with FSRP.• Co-supervise academic trainings (Master, PhD) on thematic areas of interest to both FSRP and AICCRA.• Develop a long-term vision paper for both programs that shape their synergies and complementarities towards transforming food system and resilience in West Africa.","tokenCount":"3672"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9765434697.json b/data/part_1/9765434697.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..43f72e87f531e9bfa57c17e7fdadec60d27a59c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9765434697.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df684c948153f1414c5b2bb30e6f7f4f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2e83da0b-cde9-49a4-982e-423d72a75c23/content","id":"-122567298"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af8d0d1f-2919-43ec-b39d-d5c66bedb824","pagecount":"12","content":"This paper offers new insights into smallholder farmer's practices regarding acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato planting material in the Mwanza and Mara regions of Tanzania by examining three specific issues: (i) farmers' sources of planting material; (ii) factors that influence farmers' sourcing of planting materials outside their own farms and (iii) the types of transactions and social relations involved in farmers' acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato planting material. Data were collected using mixed methods, including a survey of 621 households across nine districts, semi-structured key informant interviews with 28 women sweetpotato farmers, and six focus group discussions. Findings show that farmers in the study area rely almost exclusively on informal seed systems, and that the majority (> 56%) produce their own planting material. Individual, household and community level factors influence farmers' acquisition of planting materials outside their own farms. The sources and mode of transaction related to acquisition/distribution of planting material are strongly influenced by the type of social relationship between the parties involved. Strong social ties facilitate the majority of local planting material acquisitions/distributions, and favor provision of locally available planting material as a gift/without payment. Weak social ties are primarily associated with the transaction modality of purchase/sale, and frequently help facilitate acquisition of new or exotic planting material. The findings provide entry points both for entities that seek to enhance small-scale farmers' access to improved, high quality sweetpotato germplasm, as well as broader efforts to strengthen research and development strategies for integrating formal and informal seed systems.Keywords Smallholder agriculture . Informal seed system . Vine access . Tanzania 1 The Marando Bora Project was a component of the Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA) program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.The problems of hunger and malnutrition are widespread in rural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and ensuring food security is a major development priority in the region. The bulk of food crop producers in SSA are smallholder farmers who have become the center of attention for development actors seeking to promote food security. In Tanzania, for example, smallholder farmers are supported by a range of actors to improve their household food security through the adoption of different sweetpotato (Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam) varieties. In the Marando Bora project (or Quality Vines project in Kiswahili), 1 the International Potato Center (CIP) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) together with local governmental (GOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provided farmers with quality planting material of improved high-yielding sweetpotato varieties. Based in the Lake Region of Tanzania, Marando Bora addressed issues associated with the availability and distribution of sweetpotato planting material, i.e., vine cuttings, by developing a sustainable Bseed system^2 for sweetpotato.The project's ultimate aim was to improve the food and nutrition security of subsistence farmers who rely on sweetpotato as a staple food and to increase the incomes of those who produce and sell vine cuttings or sweetpotato roots. By establishing a network of decentralized vine multipliers (DVMs) in the region, the project sought to ensure timely access to virus-free, quality planting material of improved sweetpotato varieties at the beginning of the rain season. DVMs were designed to be the residual sources of quality planting material in the project intervention areas.Sweetpotato can be produced through vegetative propagation either using the roots, or more typically, by the cutting and replanting of vine segments. An energy-dense food (Kapinga et al. 1995), sweetpotato matures fast and can grow under harsh and stressful conditions (Wolfe 1992). Thus, during periods of food scarcity, it can play a critical role in complementing other food crops and serving as a famine reserve when cereal crops fail (Namanda et al. 2012).A major challenge preventing the widespread production of vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs), including sweetpotatoes by smallholders in rural Africa, is the limited production of and access to good quality planting materials. From his research in Uganda, Gibson (2013) identified three systems for the distribution of sweetpotato varieties: (1) formal, (2) project-based and (3) informal. Describing the limitations of each system, he explains that the formal system lacks capacity to distribute released varieties, the projectbased system lacks sustainability and the informal system lacks access to improved varieties.Although often neglected in research and project interventions, the informal system continues to dominate sweetpotato production by smallholders in most parts of rural Africa. McGuire and Sperling (2016) used data of Seed System Security Assessments (SSSAs) collected between 2009 and 2012 in six countries: Malawi, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Haiti to show the source of farmer planting material for the most recent season, clustering by crop across sites. Analyzing a range of crops (cereals, legumes and VPCs), including sweetpotato, findings revealed that (i) 79.2% of sweetpotato cuttings were obtained from farmers' own stocks, (ii) 14.6% from friends, neighbors and relatives, (iii) 3.5% from the local market and (iv) 2.7% from NGOs.From a seed acquisition perspective, farmers' informal social networks are critical for VPCs, such as cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), banana (Musa acuminata Colla), sweetpotato and Irish potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), because formal market options remain limited in many countries (McGuire and Sperling 2016). Apart from producing one's own sweetpotato vines for planting, in many cases farmers' informal networks are often the only other source of planting material (Coomes et al. 2015). Indeed, according to Sperling et al. (2013), VPCs' formal seed system provides just one tenth of planting material. A key issue is that commercial seed companies tend to produce less planting material for VPCs, such as sweetpotato and cassava, which are deemed unprofitable (Moyo et al. 2004) and often lack quality control arrangements for VPCs able to operate at scale.Rather than build on existing informal systems for accessing sweetpotato planting material, the project-based system (applied in both Uganda and Tanzanian settings) has often created and operated through new groups of DVMs or farmer field schools (Stathers et al. 2005(Stathers et al. , 2013)), whose produce is typically purchased by NGO or government contracts and distributed free to farmers. However, as Gibson (2013) points out, the project-based model has in many cases been unable to sustain itself after donors end their financial and technical support.By contrast, a robust informal sweetpotato seed system (vines) exists in the Gulu region of Northern Uganda, where research conducted from 2013 to 2015 revealed a diverse set of actors, including local vine multipliers, traders, dry season root farmers, transporters and town sellers, all engaged in a vibrant marketing system of vines (Rachkara et al. 2017).The contributions and potential for improving the distribution of good quality planting material by seed enterprises can multiply seed of new varieties from the formal sector to distribute through their local networks (de Boef and Thijssen 2010; Louwaars and de Boef 2012;McGuire and Sperling 2013;Neate and Guei 2010;Rachkara et al. 2017;Samberg et al. 2013). In the case of maize, elements of social network analysis have proven useful for understanding how farmers acquire planting material and related information through direct and indirect network ties, as well as the effects of these relations on seed transaction mode (Badstue 2006). The work of Granovetter and others (Granovetter 1973(Granovetter , 1983(Granovetter , 1985;;Haythornthwaite 2002;Smith-Doerr and Powel 2005) on the concepts of strong and weak ties among social actors is particularly relevant to the efforts aiming to strengthen the integration of formal and informal seed systems. Whereas strong ties are associated with intimacy, frequent contact and reciprocal services between close friends, kin or colleagues, weak ties refer to relations of infrequent contact that lack intimacy, such as acquaintances (Granovetter 1973(Granovetter , 1983). We will return to these concepts in the results section to illustrate how farmers use social networks to acquire sweetpotato planting material both within and outside their communities.This article adds to this broad literature by presenting new insights from Tanzania on smallholder farmers' practices around the acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato planting material. It examines three specific issues: (i) farmers' sources of planting material; (ii) factors that influence farmers' sourcing of planting materials outside their farms; and (iii) the types of transactions and social relations involved in farmers' acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato planting material. The knowledge generated in this study can inform interventions seeking to strengthen small-scale farmers' access to improved, high quality sweetpotato germplasm; as well as research and development (R&D) strategies aiming to integrate formal and informal systems for accessing and distributing VPCs planting material.The study employed a mixed-methods research approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods, including (1) a structured household survey, (2) in-depth, semistructured interviews with women sweetpotato growers and (3) women-only and mixed focus group discussions (FGDs) with sweetpotato farmers.The 2010 CIP household survey dataset provided quantitative data for 621 households in nine districts from Tanzania's Mwanza and Mara regions. The sample households were selected using a stratified probability random sampling technique (Sindi and Wambugu 2012). The structured interviews in the survey followed a predetermined and standardized list of close-ended questions that were asked to all respondents in the same order. The questions covered many areas, including farmer sweetpotato vine sources; farmer practices of conserving planting material during the long dry period; the types and number of sweetpotato vine transactions; farmer knowledge of sweetpotato diseases; farmer perceptions around the quality of planting material; and sales of sweetpotato vines and/or storage roots.In addition, 28 women sweetpotato growers were interviewed in July 2010 and again in July 2011. The respondents came from three villages: Kitaramaka in the Bunda district of the Mara region, Matale in the Magu district of the Mwanza region, and Nyakanga in the Musoma Rural district of the Mwanza region. The three villages, all of which participated in the Tanzania CIP 2010 household survey, hold contrasting agro-ecological and socio-economic characteristics and conditions. All in-depth interview respondents were women small-scale farmers purposively selected from the CIP 2010 household survey sample.Finally, six FGDs were carried out in July 2012 in the same three study villages. In each community, FGDs were held with a women-only and a mixed-sex group. With the assistance of local key informants, focus group participants were identified based on the following criteria: marital status (a balance was made to ensure participation of married, widowed and divorced people) and socio-economic status assessed on the basis of housing conditions and cattle ownership. A household was considered to be poor if (i) the roofing material of the house was made of grass and the walls were made of mud and (ii) if the household did not own any cattle. Otherwise, the household was considered well off. For the distribution of focus group participants by gender and village, see Table 1.The FGDs included questions on: sources and practices for acquiring sweetpotato vines; reasons for seeking vines outside own farms; types of transactions used for acquisition/ distribution of vines; social relationship involved in vine transactions; the number of plots worked by women; and farmers' experiences with training in sweetpotato production and management. These questions were followed by several open-ended questions, in which the respondents provided rich, extensive answers.A process of member checking was systematically carried out to minimize potential bias resulting from time differences in data collection periods between the baseline survey conducted in 2010, in-depth interviews in 2010 and 2011, and FGDs in 2012. The diverse and complementary data collection approaches across the communities helped establish pockets of multilayer information within the general intervention area. The household survey data was coded in Excel and transferred to STATA for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze: (i) the characteristics of household heads and number of children in households under study (Table 2); and (ii) farmers' regular source of sweetpotato vines (Table 3). In addition, binary logistic regression was employed to determine the relationship between farmers' sourcing of sweetpotato vines (from their own farm or elsewhere) and a number of independent variables related to (i)  4). Lastly, descriptive statistics were also used to analyze farmers' primary transaction type for sweetpotato vine acquisitions and distributions (Table 5).Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and FGDs were transcribed and coded for textual analysis following the procedures outlined by Creswell (2007). The coding and analytical process aided in identifying themes and information used to elaborate, illustrate and clarify results from the quantitative household survey. From the in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women sweetpotato growers, we also analyzed the mode of transaction and social relations involved in household level sweetpotato germplasm acquisitions and distributions. To protect the respondents' anonymity, all study participant names have been replaced with pseudonyms.Of the 621 households in the CIP 2010 household survey, 490 or 79% were male headed and 131 or 21% female headed (Table 2). Household heads were 51 years old on average, with the average age of female heads 54 and of male heads 50. More than one fifth of household heads in the sample had no formal education, and the average level of educational attainment was five years (Table 2). On average, female household heads had three years of education compared to six years for their male counterparts. Average household size was eight people and the average number of children per household five. Residence was predominantly patrilocal and homesteads were situated close to each other.Overall, 62.5% of household survey respondents confirmed that they normally try to conserve sweetpotato vines during the long dry period, and the most common way of acquiring planting material is indeed from one's own farm, as reported by more than half of the respondents (56.2%, see Table 3). The second most common source of vines is from neighbors in the community (25.9%), the vast majority of which are female neighbors (22.7%). The third most common source of sweetpotato vines are vine multipliers located relatively far away from the farmers' fields (9.8%), followed by farmers along the lakeshore (5.3%), relatives (1.9%), farmer groups (0.3%) and NGOs (0.3%).Table 3 provides an overview of where farmers access sweetpotato vines.The household survey's null hypothesis suggested that there is no relationship between farmers seeking sweetpotato vines outside their own farms and individual, household and community-level characteristics. However, the analysis identifies eight factors indicating significant statistical association with farmers' sweetpotato vine acquisition outside their own farms. These include five individual factors (age, age squared, training in sweetpotato production and management, knowledge of sweetpotato diseases and whether agriculture is the farmer's principal or secondary activity), two household level factors (number of plots a woman household member has control over what is grown, and selling sweetpotato storage roots), and one community factor (the village road type) (Table 4).We did not find multi-collinearity in our variables, all of which registered variance inflation factors (VIFs) of less than 2.50. Below we explain in more detail the implications of the independent variables that have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable vine sourcing at the 5% significance level or below.Individual factors As farmers age, they are more likely to be seed savers than seed seekers and become less able to fully participate in farming activities, a finding that highlights the significance of life cycle effects. Moreover, the results imply that farmers whose main economic activity is agriculture are more likely to be concerned about conserving planting material on their own farm plots than farmers for whom agriculture is their secondary activity. Furthermore, farmers who have received training in sweetpotato production and management are almost twice as likely to produce their own planting material compared to those who have not received any training. Lastly, farmers who have knowledge about sweetpotato diseases are about twice as likely to produce their own planting material as those without such knowledge.The more plots the woman of the household manages, the higher the likelihood that she sources vines from her own farm. In addition, the results indicate that farmers who sell sweetpotato storage roots are twice as likely to produce their own planting material as those who do not sell sweetpotato storage roots.Situational/community factor For farmers residing in villages with a relatively good tarmac road, the odds of sourcing vines from their own farms decreases by almost half, relative to farmers who reside in communities primarily served by foot paths. In other words, farmers from villages that are passable only by footpaths and/or secondary earth roads are more likely to obtain vines from their own farms than farmers who reside in more urbanized villages.Overall, the findings from the above analysis indicate a relationship between the farmer's likelihood of seeking vines outside his or her own farm and some of the individual, household and community-level characteristics. The characteristics that appear to make farmers more likely to source vines from their own farm plots include: being an older or experienced farmer; having received training on sweetpotato production and management; having knowledge of sweetpotato diseases; selling sweetpotato storage roots; and being from a household where several farming plots are controlled by the woman of the household. On the other hand, according to the results in Table 4, farmers who treat agriculture as a secondary rather than as a primary activity, and who reside in a village with good/tarmac road infrastructures, are more likely to source vines from outside their own farm plots.Our findings show that saving or producing planting material on one's own farm is the most common practice in the study area. There are, however, occasions when farmers have to acquire sweetpotato planting material outside of their own In what follows, we take a closer look at how vine transactions take place in some of these situations. The household survey instrument only distinguished between two modalities for sweetpotato planting material transactions:(1) receiving/giving vines in return for payment (purchase/ sale) and ( 2) receiving/giving vines without payment in return (i.e., as a gift or free). The data analysis makes clear that the most predominant type of transaction was that of gift, both for farmers who distributed vines (84%) and for those who received planting materials from others (59%) (Table 5).Meanwhile, the exchange of payment in return for vines, or purchase/sale, was used in 16% of vine distributions, and 41% of the vine acquisitions reported in the 2010 household survey. The DVMs produce vines in large quantities for the purpose of selling them to other farmers. However, most of the CIP 2010 household survey data participants indicated that they did not source vines from DVMs; only 2% of respondents (10 out of the 508) who gave out or sold vines were vine multipliers.Contrary to the household survey, the in-depth semi-structured interviews and FGDs used open-ended questions, and in the data analysis seven different modalities or types of transactions were identified for farmers' acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato planting material: gift/free, purchase, inheritance, exchange, barter, labor for vines and vine poaching. The qualitative approach produced additional insights into the factors that influence informal sweetpotato planting material transactions.As already indicated in the household survey results, the most common modality for farmer-to-farmer vine transactions was that of receiving vines as a gift/for free, i.e., without a cash or in-kind payment in return. The four major reasons given by farmers to explain why one would distribute or receive vines for free included: i) the individual asking for vines is someone with whom one has a close social relationship, e.g., a neighbor, a friend or relative-in other words, a strong tie; ii) reciprocity, i.e., returning a favor previously received, or helping out because on another occasion one might need a favor oneself; iii) out of concern for other individuals in the community; iv) casual attitude (it is not a big deal, e.g., when the provider has plenty of vines for no other use). In line with the notion of economic relationships as embedded in other social institutions (Polanyi 1977), it is noticeable that the first three reasons reflect different variations of a social system with strong value on social obligations, a core element in many largely subsistence-based economies.Purchase, or the use of money in return for vines, is a form of transaction that appears to be less dependent on the social relationship or level of social obligations expected between the parties involved. Study participants noted that this type of transaction can involve any two parties, including strangers and acquaintances or weak ties. Data from individual interviews and FGDs revealed three main motives for a monetary transaction: i) to obtain money, ii) not having any social or kinship relations with the vine seeker and therefore no moral obligation to give for free and iii) paying for vines as a sign of appreciation (when acquiring vines). An in-depth interview with Salima, leader of the Uongozi group (one of the DVMs under the Marando Bora project), exemplifies the challenge of selling vines to people from her own small community. Salima started the business of producing sweetpotato vines in early 2011, but only sold vines to farmers from other communities. As she explained about people from her own village, BWhen they hear you are selling, they do not understand. People from the village also come to get vines, but they begask for them for free, whereas people from elsewhere, strangers, know they are strangers and therefore are prepared to pay.^However, the following year, Salima reported that now some farmers in her community understood that she was trying to run a business and paid for vines. The example illustrates how social relations and related moral obligations influence the type of transaction, and demonstrates the need for emerging commercial vine multipliers to be businessoriented and able to explain their endeavor to community members.Gifts and purchases accounted for the vast majority of the transactions recorded. In the following, we briefly describe the other types of transactions identified in the in-depth interviews and FGDs, before turning to the role of weak and strong ties in the case of two specific sweetpotato farmers.Children, foster children and daughters-in-law often obtain sweetpotato planting material through inheritance. This can happen while the parents are living, when the children become more independent of their parents and start to farm on their own, or when the parents pass on. In most cases, farmers who obtained vines through inheritance received them from their husbands' parents upon marriage.Farmers sometimes exchange sweetpotato vines of one kind for the same or a different quantity of vines of another variety. The transaction does not involve cash and happens at both parties' convenience. A different variation of this is bartering, where sweetpotato vines are given in return for some other in-kind good of use to the vine provider, for instance, beans, udaga (dried cassava flour) or maize seeds. Bartering is most common in communities where the agroecological conditions tend to challenge farmers' own conservation of planting material. This is for example the case in Suzana's village, Matale. Suzana traveled to the village of Nemba, a wetland in the Lake Zone region known as a place where farmers always have vines. Being poor, she did not have money to pay for the vines and instead negotiated with the vine provider to receive sweetpotato vines in exchange for maize. Yet another variation of exchange is labor for vines, when vines are obtained in return for work. This is the least common of all the vine transactions previously noted. One of the informants, Angelina from Nyakanga, described her experience with this, BI was hired by Mama Wambura to plant sweetpotato vines and at the end of the job, she gave me marando.^As the examples show, these modalities can serve as alternatives for those who are not able to pay cash in return for planting material. Finally, in-depth interview respondents and FGD participants in all three communities lamented that it is not unusual for people to take sweetpotato planting material from other farmers' plots without seeking permission. We refer to this as vine poaching. Zawadi from Nyakanga bravely shared the following, BWhen I first came to the village, I acquired my first batch of marando from the farms that are located next to my plot, without asking permission from the owners.^Since then, she herself has also been exposed to vine poaching. Farmers mentioned farm location (i.e., being far from the homestead) and the general perception of the low value of sweetpotato planting material, as compared to seeds of other crops, such as maize, as two main issues related to this. On the other hand, some farmers feel that there are so many marandos that vine poaching is not a matter to be taken seriously. However, Maria from Matale, where the supply of vines is often lacking at the time of planting, disagreed, BIt is not right for someone to cut [vines] on someone else's farm. One has to pay.3.4 The strength of weak ties and the role of strong ties: The cases of Ana and SalomeTo further illustrate the complexities in farmer-to-farmer sweetpotato vine transactions, we present a flow-chart analysis of planting material transactions of two female farmers, Ana Kanyagia from Nyakanga village (Fig. 1) and Salome Kapinga from Matale village (Fig. 2). The two flow diagrams represent the networks of vine exchanges among farmers, including the social relations involved, modes of transaction, reasons for acquiring the vines, quantity of vines acquired, time of vine acquisition for each transaction and in some cases the type of sweetpotato germplasm received. The bold arrows symbolize Bstrong ties^, meaning close social relationships Ana is a 28-year-old farmer and single mother of one child. She lives in the family homestead with her mother, who is a widow, and for whose care Ana is responsible for as the youngest child. An active farmer, Ana's secondary occupation is tailoring clothes. Figure 1 shows the incoming and outgoing flows of sweetpotato planting material from Ana's household, as reported during the in-depth interview.Figure 1 shows that in most cases, Ana's vine transactions take place directly between two actors. In several cases, the relationship between Ana and the vine receiver or provider is multi-stranded, meaning that in addition to being involved in mutual seed exchange, they are also neighbors, kin or friends. Ana for instance provided vines of the Mshindi 3 variety to her sister, who is also her neighbor. Furthermore, in all cases in which strong ties exist, money is not used as a mode of transaction. In contrast, with the exception of one case, vines are paid for with money when ties are weak. Sometimes farmers won't share planting material with people they do not perceive as serious or competent farmers (e.g., Badstue 2006). When Ana wanted to acquire vines of the Mshindi variety, she approached Loyce, a woman farmer in the village known for growing Mshindi.Ana and Loyce did not know each other beforehand, and according to Ana, Loyce thought Ana was lazy and not a serious farmer. Instead of selling vines to Ana, Loyce told her to go all the way to Mazani village, where Ana was to ask for a relative and friend of Loyce named Nyanzobe, who would sell her Mshindi vines. Ana eventually traveled to Mazani to buy Mshindi vines from Nyanzobe (weak tie), and she has since distributed Mshindi vines to several other farmers in her own village (strong ties) and beyond.Salome is a 48-year-old farmer and mother of five. With her husband seriously ill, Salome is her household's de facto head. Although farming is Salome's only economic activity, she is active in her community and heads her village's local women's self-help group. Figure 2 shows the incoming and outgoing sweetpotato vine flows from Salome's household. Like Ana, most of Salome's vine transactions occur directly between two actors, and multi-stranded relationships are observed in relation to several of the transactions. Similarly, gift was the most common type of transaction when conducted with strong ties. However, in the case of the Mwanamke wa mjini (local) variety transaction with her niece Kabula, Salome explained that she gave her niece money in return for the vines on two of the three occasions because she Bfelt sorry^. In addition to her local community involvement, Salome is a member of the HISA credit and savings group in another village. On one occasion, she learnt from Mr. Samson, a fellow member of the HISA group and hamlet leader in the other village, about an opportunity to access high quality germplasm of improved sweetpotato varieties from a DVM group under the Marando Bora project. Through her connection to Mr. Samson (weak tie), Salome managed to qualify for provision of quality planting material of New Polista and three improved OFSP varieties: Kabode, Jewel and Ejumula. Meanwhile, farmers from Matale village not in the HISA group did not receive this information or benefit from the opportunity. This example shows that weak ties can also be important; in this case, Mr. Samson exercised his influence to put a word in for Salome so that she could receive quality planting material.More than half of the small-scale farmers in the study area obtained all or most of their sweetpotato planting material from their own farms. Those who did not succeed in this, or who were not accustomed to conserving vines during the dry season, mainly obtained their planting material from other local farmers. According to the statistical analysis, older or more experienced farmers; farmers who were trained in sweetpotato production or have knowledge of sweetpotato diseases; farmers who sell sweetpotato storage roots; and farmers from households where the woman manages several plots, were more likely to obtain sweetpotato planting material from their own farms. In contrast, farmers from communities served by good/tarmac road infrastructure, and those for whom agriculture was a secondary activity, were more likely to acquire vines from others. In other words, the more knowledge about and experience with sweetpotato production farmers have, the more focus farmers place on agriculture as a livelihood strategy, and the more engaged farmers are in the sale of sweetpotato products, the less likely they will be to acquire sweetpotato planting material from other sources.A core element of the sweetpotato seed system in the study area is a self-sustaining dynamic, whereby most farmers produce their own planting material. If, or when, this fails, they rely on strong ties with other farmers through whom they acquire sweetpotato planting material on favorable terms, typically without having to pay. Providing planting material to others in this way forms part of the mutual exchange of favors between kin, friends and other community members, which makes life possible in poor and partly subsistence-based rural contexts. The local system for acquisition of sweetpotato planting material should therefore be understood as embedded in a social system of reciprocity, mutual support and social obligations. The vast majority of the vine transactions in the study communities took place as gifts, or for free, and the use of cash payment in return for vines was but the second most common transaction type (Table 5). As the qualitative data shows, other modalities for acquiring vines from other farmers without the use of money as payment exist, although they are less common. Nevertheless, in this socially embedded system the alternative transaction modalities (e.g., bartering or vines in return for labor) make it possible to acquire sweetpotato planting material, even for those who may not be able to pay for it with money. In this type of context, the introduction of a commercially based model for sweetpotato planting material provision would face challenges, as also clearly demonstrated above in the experience of Salima from the Uongozi DVM group under the Marando Bora project.At the same time, some farmers are curious and interested in trying out new things, and when opportunities present themselves (e.g., free samples of improved planting material), many farmers take advantage and plant it to see how it performs, as in the case of Salome who acquired quality planting material of four improved varieties via her acquaintance with Mr. Samson. Similarly, when in search of a particular kind of planting material, some farmers are willing to go far. When Ana acquired the Mshindi variety, she was short of planting material but could probably have acquired the amount of vines she needed through close social relations (strong ties). However-determined to try out the Mshindi variety and prepared to pay for it-she eventually traveled to Mazani and obtained it from a stranger (weak tie). Both Ana and Salome obtained exotic sweetpotato material through weak ties, and subsequently, shared these same materials with other farmers with whom they had strong ties, without demanding payment in return.As these examples illustrate, Granovetter's (1983) notion of Bthe strength of weak ties^, is useful to understanding informal seed systems and the challenges and opportunities related to the integration of formal and informal seed systems. In fact, as we have seen, a closer examination of the ways farmers in the study area traditionally source sweetpotato planting material reveals an informal, socially embedded system capable of reproducing and distributing sweetpotato planting material at very low cost. Under these circumstances, a feasible way of enhancing local farmers' access to improved sweetpotato materials would seem to be through subsidized targeted distribution of improved variety planting material to local farmers known to be vine providers and knowledgeable about sweetpotato cultivation. Via the complementarity of strong and weak ties, this approach could strengthen farmers' access to improved germplasm through existing local channels, while limiting the level of external investment needed for multiplication and free distribution of germplasm at regular intervals, i.e., every few years. While local dynamics for acquisition and provision of planting material would facilitate diffusion of the new improved varieties to other farmers, over time the quality the planting material would be expected to degrade due to virus pressure and other disease and pest factors, hence the need for renewed influxes of quality germplasm every few years. To mitigate the problem of virus affecting the production and quality of planting material, the development and diffusion of virus-resistant varieties would have strategic importance.Among the other dimensions to take into account when exploring ways to strengthen systems for provisioning of sweetpotato planting material is the overall goal of intervention. For example, if the objective is to improve food security and nutrition (e.g., Vitamin A intake through production and consumption of OFSPs), the subsidized targeted planting material distribution, or infusion approach, may be a justifiable and realistic option, where the local system for acquiring sweetpotato planting material is embedded in a social system of reciprocity and mutual help, as in the study area presented here. The low value generally associated with sweetpotato vines, and the level of market access and capacity, are other factors to consider. If market access and demand for sweetpotato roots is limited, subsidized infusion of improved varieties into the local system via local community organizations and locally recognized sweetpotato knowledge holders and vine providers may be the most feasible approach. However, where there are large or growing sweetpotato market opportunities for many smallholder producers; or regional NGO demand for sweetpotato planting material in bulk for input supply in community-level interventions, there may be a market for sweetpotato vines and hence potentially suitable conditions for support of a commercial, mainly informal system for provisioning of sweetpotato planting material. Similarly, where agriculture and sweetpotato production is a secondary or side activity for many (e.g., farmers near urban centers who depend mostly on off-farm income opportunities or who focus on a different crop portfolio), a commercially based system for acquisition/provision of sweetpotato planting material may have better prospects, as indicated by the finding that farmers from communities with good/tarmac road infrastructure, and those for whom agriculture is a secondary activity, are more likely to acquire vines from others (Table 4), and presumably, to pay for them, an assumption which would require testing.The question of sustainability is often raised when justifying interventions. In the study presented here, we observe a socially embedded informal system for acquiring sweetpotato planting material, which appears to be relatively well functioning in terms of its ability to maintain specific sweetpotato materials over prolonged periods of time and ensure supply of planting material to local farmers at low cost. As such, the system itself can be considered relatively sustainable, compared to the typical project model as referred to by Gibson (2013) that depends on external technical and financial support to establish and maintain a separate system for multiplication and distribution of vines. One can hypothesize that even with an initial subsidized infusion of high-quality planting material of improved sweetpotato varieties, repeated every few years, this approach for enhancing smallholders' access to improved sweetpotato varieties would be more sustainable and feasible compared to the more traditional project model (ibid.).In conclusion, our findings support the call for making use of or building on the existing informal seed system when seeking to strengthen the diffusion and adoption of improved sweetpotato varieties, as suggested by others (Rachkara et al. 2017;McGuire and Sperling 2013). However, when deciding how to proceed, a thorough understanding of the dynamics of the existing system, including information about local key knowledge holders and distributors of planting material, is needed. The aspects discussed in this section are topics to be considered for further research.","tokenCount":"6123"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9787858878.json b/data/part_1/9787858878.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0d66f4bc61aec207766566d5d0fefdeea9e9c9fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9787858878.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"856e7a96b58972cfb4b82419e0b4e47e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb753d2f-ef38-4136-8a23-a85302aebf17/retrieve","id":"-1993863765"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ad56b2ab-15d4-4a6c-b7dc-2058484bea56","pagecount":"26","content":"The bi.oc:ontrol. of diseases of different eraps has bee\" recorted as a feasible me.sure (Baker and CClok, 1974) • Investiºations cn the subject are c:arefully t.ken into consideration programs _rouno the world. increasing and are being in many p 1. ar,t pathology Research on the bioeontrol of cassav. pathogens inittated at GrAT in 1975 (CIAT~ 14 CaSS<i\\va F'rogr<i\\m. 521 p. ¡C¡nnual. Rsport 1983. CIAT, Cali,' Colombia, Centro Internacional de $gricultura Tropical (CIATI. 1985.Cassava Programo e i n prese).There are six species of ~cºm~~~á infecting e.55.va and other Euphor\"biaceae spec:ie$ (Laberry !@.!; !!.! . • , 1984).Their damage is generall.\" considered moderate and of low economic lmportance ILaberry, 1976), with the exc:eption of a few outbreaks reporteó in new cassav.a-growing areas of Br.asil íMuni z, 1981).A survey on endemic areas in 1975 indicated that arouno 95% of the rust pustul es eNcHnl ned were i nfec:ted by the myc:oparasite º!.C!..!dSª ii.!..!d(]).Surveys duri r19 rust outbreaks in nonendemic: areaS indicated that the percentage of parasitized pustules ranged from O to 21% of total examineó pustules/plant. º~ ii.!..!d(]) was probab1v a factor in maintaining !,!CQ!!!:;!S § § spp. 8t 1 e)\\>, inoculum potentia1 reducing óisease severity and economic 105ses.l.evels,The mycoparasite is an imperfect fungus that belongs to the Pycnidia are blac:k, spherical, ostiolate, superficial anó located in rust sori.Coniói\", are hyaline, two-celled, ellipsoid and tipped with mueous or bri st 1 el i ke appendagE~s at toe end~; (Barnett ano Hunter, 1972) •The mycc)parasi te i nfec:ts rust uredospores, dec:reasj. ng the inoculum potential of the parasite. 1t groNs on eommon labor•atc)I•\"Y media and utU.izes a variety oi c:arbor, and rlitrogen SDurces. lsolates are highly variable, but there seems to be no nutritional specifieity that would ac:count far the exclusive assoei.tion of this parasite with rust .fUrlqi (Barnett anó Binder, 1973).In .ddition to parasitism by Q& fi!wm, eassava rust uredospores are eaten by sev,-\"ral spec:ies (l.arvae stage) of b;g¡;;.í .. 9.9ill:iܺª § and !;;Qf;Ü!.:.U!l1.I.},.lÜ!,!![.-,• .. UnfortLl11atel y, research on relationahips between rust pathogens and these insect species is unknown, but further investigation is meritad .;~_ oc ontr o L_o'LBt her _~-,-ª?-?~Q a t. tH;>.9 ema _',:'.l.1LLi::L~efi c i al .. They can be e«si.ly iscilated from soil. or tha plant rhizospl1ere of many cr'op sp Str;¡;,ins of method 1 group b, which inducecl the highest  , 1986). St.rains of E:.. flWQ~. §~ªQ. (belon;ing to method 1, group el were also abl e to pr-otect cutti \"gs against º . . . . !!!ªo.i,.tlQ1;.i,. § (Taol e ::;anti 4) (CIAT, 1985;Lozano, 1987). The protective effect \",as evident when cuttings were tr-eated with the bacter-ial suspension b.,fore or \"\"fter fungal inocLtlations. P,..otection was rela.ted to sprouting of buds anci f ... .In,jal establishment, as \",el1 as inviaslon thr-ough the tissues of the cuttings (Table 31. This type of protectiorr \",as also evident fo,.. U-,,-ee c:lones  (Rosas, 1986;elAT, 1986).The aboye results suggest the possibility of using sb\"ains of both E:.. I:l.ldti.!;tª and E.:..  Estudio ta~ or1611li ca de espec:i es del género !dCQl'!\\:::i;;.!l\\ §. en y~lca lt!i!!lLtU2j;,.Fi topatol ogi a Brasi 1 er.s. 9: 525-536.Leisinger, T. and R.      ( 2)(1)** Dip treatments in suspensions of 5.8 H 10\" pycniospores/rnl of !h.. manihotis 01'\" 1 H 10'\" c:el1s/ml of P. flourescens (PF-88l.*** Wa'ter suspensi on of Cap•tan/BCM (3,000 ppm each).***•ItData taken from 40 cuttings/cl cne/source treated. The avel\"'age per\"centage of ti 5sue showing fungal invasion after tl\"'eatments Is given in par.ntheses. Readings were taken • month aftar growlng the cuttings in pats with steril. 5011s maintained un~er glasshouse conditions.    ","tokenCount":"582"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9805735304.json b/data/part_1/9805735304.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..333c71d07717d0c8fa3fc4c5435889bc8069dbc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9805735304.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04d449b108d048ecf5952236f44e5f08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4b54fba7-bd52-429f-abe9-dc525bd18930/retrieve","id":"1965474165"},"keywords":["Taro cultivars","in-vitro micro-propagation","benzylaminopurine","naphthalene acetic-acid","Murashige and Skoog"],"sieverID":"9e1f535f-312b-43a2-b420-810a3ab70802","pagecount":"8","content":"Taro leaf blight disease has recently been reported in Cameroon to cause between 50 and 100% yields loss of taro in most of the agro-ecological crop growing regions. This has led to a significant reduction in disease-free planting materials, edible crop and increased. The Meristem culture technique has been used to produce crop plants free of viruses and fungi especially in vegetative propagated colocassia plants. This aimed at applying in-vitro micro-propagation technique for sustainable production of four local taro cultivars in Cameroon. This study was conducted at the Root and Tuber Tissue Culture Laboratory, of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Bambui from April 2015 to November 2016. Micro-plants from four local taro cultivars were produced in vitro from apical meristem tips. The tip meristems were excised from corms of the four local taro cultivars. The excised explants were surface sterilized with alcohol and sodium hypochlorite in sequence steps at different concentrations. Meristems were cultured at establishment stage on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 30 g of sugar, 1.1 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine and 7 g of agar. Shoots proliferation was induced in MS with 2.2 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Result shows a significant difference at p≤0.5 in number of shoots, petiole length, open leaf and corm diameter among the cultivars and no significant variation in mean number of senescence leaf with respect to all the cultivars, at 60 days of shoot tip culture. At rooting stage, taro shoots were cultured on MS media supplemented with 10 ml of 0.1 mg/ml naphthalene acetic-acid (NAA). Roots were produced on all the cultivars with excellent mean growth rate of 14.7 ± 0.69 recorded in cultivar with dark green petiole and small leaves.Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] is a major staple food and remains an important crop to many cultural and agricultural traditions worldwide (Ooka and Brennan, 2000). It is consumed as a staple crop in West Africa, particularly in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon (Joshua, 2010). All parts of the plant including corm, cormels, rhizome, stalk, leaves and flowers are edible and contain abundant starch (Bose et al., 2003). Its leaves contain higher levels of protein and are also excellent source of carotene, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, iron, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, vitamin A, vitamin C and dietary fibres (Bradbury and Holloway, 1998). It is the fourteenth most consumed vegetable worldwide (Rao et al., 2010). Besides its nutritional value, taro is used as a medicinal plant and provides bioactive compounds used as an anti-cancer drugs (Kundu et al., 2012).Worldwide, the top producers of taro are Nigeria, China, Ghana and Cameroon (FAOSTAT, 2013). The world production of taro corms was estimated at 12 million tons, with Africa producing 7.1 million tons. Out of this total production in Africa, Cameroon produces 1.5 million tons as compared to Nigeria whose total production was estimated at 3.2 million tons (FAO, 2012).In Cameroon, taro is mostly propagated using vegetative material, grower's planting material, consisting of; (1) side corm, produced as a result of lateral proliferation of the main plant in the previous crop; (2) small corms resulting from the main plant in the previous crop; (3) Huli, the apical part 1 to 2 cm of the corm with the basal 15 to 20 cm of the petioles attached; and (4) corm pieces; resulting when large corms are cut into smaller pieces (Onwueme, 1999). These methods of propagation are not always suitable due to large quantities of seeds, high percentage of seed rotting and susceptibility to pathological agent. Taro is affected by viral diseases which decrease the yield (Ooka, 1994). Zettler et al. (1989) summaries several pathogen of quarantine importance including the viruses alomae (meaning the death of taro) bobone (meaning curled or folded leaf) and a disease caused by a small bacilliform virus, the insect taro beetle (Papuana ssp.), taro hopper (Tarophagus prosperina) and nematode (Hirschimaniella miticausa) and the fungi taro leaf blight caused by Phytophthora colocasiae. In Cameroon, Mbong et al. (2013) reported that the constraints to taro production are diseases and pests. The crop is susceptible to fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode infections (Gadre and Joshi, 2003). Among these various diseases, taro leaf blight disease is one of the major important economic diseases of taro because it reduces corm yield of up to 50% (Singh et al., 2006) and leaf yield of up to 95% in susceptible genotypes and favourable environmental factors (Nelson et al., 2011). P. colocasiae causes corms to rot both in the field and in storage, and this has led to heavy storage lost (Brunt et al., 2001). In 2010, taro leaf blight disease was reported in Cameroon and it caused between 50 and 100% yields lost of taro in most of the crop growing regions. This has led to a reduction in planting materials, food, house hold income, increase poverty and some farmers have abandoned their farms and are now growing other crops (Guarion, 2010;Fontem and Mbong, 2011).Despite reduction in planting materials and also disease planting material, in-vitro multiplication techniques of taro have given modest multiplication rates (Malamug et al., 1992). Meristem culture technique is used to produce plants free of viruses and fungi especially in vegetative propagated plants (Abo El-nil and Zettler, 1976). Plant tissue culture techniques have become a powerful tool for propagation of taro to overcome many problems facing traditional methods of propagation. Different explants were used to produce disease free planting materials (Hartman, 1973;Chung and Goh, 1994;Behera and Sahoo, 2008). The method for the production of four Cameroonian local taro cultivars micro-plants, described in this research is the first report to increase productivity of crop through the acquisition of pathogen-free cultivars in Cameroon, therefore the main aim of this study was to produce taro cultivars through invitro micro-propagation using shoot tip culture.The study was conducted in the field and Laboratory of Tissue Culture at Institute of Agricultural research (IRAD), Bambui, North West Region, Cameroon. The position of the experimental site was recorded using GPS mark Garmin etrex 20. IRAD; Bambui is situated at 32, 0627ʹ N latitude, 0659ʹ E longitude and altitude 1262 m above sea level.Stock solutions were prepared by dissolving the amount of ingredients in various volume of sterilized distilled water (Table 1) using a magnetic stirrer. The stocks were kept in the refrigerator at 4°C.The medium was prepared by putting 600 ml of sterilized distil water in a beaker and 30 g of sugar was to it while stirring on a magnetic stirrer until all the sugar was dissolved. Fifty millilitre of macro and 5 ml of micro elements were added to the solution, stir until dissolved. Five millilitre vitamins stock, 5 ml Fe-EDTA complex and 5 ml of ascorbic acid were measured, added to the solution and stirred. 1.1 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine was also added and stirred. The volume of the solution was made up to 1000 ml of distilled water. The pH of the medium was adjusted to 5.7 and 7 g of agar was added to the mixture and heated until the solution was clear. The clear medium was distributed (2 ml per tube) by means of sterile pipette into cylindrical test tubes of 13 mm in diameter and 100 mm in height. The tubes were sealed with aluminium foil or corks and medium was sterilized in an autoclave for 121° C, 103.4 *Corresponding author: E-mail: charlesfokunang@yahoo.co.uk. Tel: +237670902446.Author(s) agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License  (Murashige and Skoog, 1962). Ascorbic acid BAP 0.1 mg/ml 10 1 ml BAP 1 mg/ml stock NAA 0.1 mg/ml 50 5 mg NAA KPa for 15 min. The forceps, blades, cotton and paper napkins were wrapped in aluminium foil and sterilized alongside the medium. The medium was allowed to cool and solidify overnight.Only one type of medium was used for all the incubation stages of in-vitro culture (Murashige and Skoog, 1962).Four local taro cultivars of interest for preliminary yield trials screening (dark green petiole with small leaves, red petiole with small leaves, green petiole with large leaves and green petiole with small leaves) with young healthy off shoots of taro plants bearing rhizomes of 10 cm long were collected from IRAD Bambui experimental farms in the month of September 2015. These cultivars were 5 months old and carried to the tissue culture laboratory for surface sterilization. Cultivars were washed in running tap water. Roots and leaves were removed. Plants were trimmed into smaller pieces of plant material (explants). Explants were trimmed into 10 mm height; 3 mm at the base, with some corms measuring 3 mm in thickness attached using a knife. Corms were sterilized in 20% sodium hypochloride under an alcohol-swapped laminar air-flow chamber; the plants were immersed in 10% sodium hypochloride containing 2 drops of tween 80 per 100 ml in a closed vessel and were shaken for 45 min. The bleach was decanted and rinsed in sterile distilled water to remove all bleach. Explants were immersed in 70% Etoh alcohol for 2 to 3 min. Etoh alcohol was decant from explants and rinsed with sterile distilled water. Explants were immersed in 5% sodium hypochloride for 5 min, decant and rinse in sterile distilled water 3 times. Third and second leaf sheath were trimmed and explants were placed directly on a solidified cool Murashige and Skoog medium in sterile test tubes. Tubes were labelled with cultivars' names and placed in a growth room under light intensity (white fluorescent lamps) at 18°C. This was the establishment stage. The surfaced sterilized taro corms and sterilized taro corms in Murashige and Skoog medium were used for the study as indicated in Figure 1.Adventitious shoots or buds were produced 4 weeks after Explants were removed from the test tube and subculture on a rooting media to stimulate rhizogenesis. This media consist of the same media as above with 2.2 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine being replaced by 10 ml of 0.1 mg/ml naphthalene acetic-acid (NAA) in Murashige and Skoog medium. The numbers of shoot, roots, in each test were counted and petiole lengths, root length, diameter of corms were measured using a ruler. Weight of explants was taken by weighing each cultivar from the test tube with an electronic balance. Data on number of shoot, petiole length, number of leaf, senescence leaf, diameter of corms, number of roots, root length and weight of explants were recorded after 60 days of shoot tip culture (Hartmann and Davies, 1990).All data collected from number of shoot, number of leaves, senescence leaf, diameter of corms, number of roots, root length and weight of explants were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using statistical software (J M P 8). Mean variability amongst the cultivars were determined. Their treatment means were separated using Student's t test (STT) and the Least Significant Difference (LSD) at statistical significance of 95% confidence interval.The response of taro shoots cultured on MS medium with 2.2 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine on the number of shoots, petiole length, open leaf, senescence leaf and corm diameter after 60 days of shoot tip culture is shown in Table 2. Corms, shoots and leaves were produced on all the four cultivars in shoot tip culture with the longest number of petiole length and maximum number of open leaves, and corm diameter recorded on green petiole large leaves with mean values of 4.9 ± 1.21, 3.75 ± 0.20 and 0.59 ± 0.16, respectively. Cultivar red petiole small leaf recorded maximum number of shoot of 5.75 ± 0.59. The minimum mean number of shoots, petiole length, open leaf and corm diameter were also recorded with cultivars, dark green petiole small leaf, green petiole small leaf and red petiole small leaf with mean values of 1.7 ± 0.28, 1.8 ± 0.5, 2.35 ± 0.25 and 2.35 ± 0.25 respectively. There was no significant variation in mean number of senescence leaves with respect to all the cultivars at 60 days of shoot tip culture. The different taro cultivars corm shoots in proliferation under M and S media is indicated in Figure 2.    Roots were produced on all the cultivars with maximum number of roots and the longest length of roots produced by cultivar dark green petiole small leaf with mean value of 14.7 ± 0.69 and green petiole small leaf with mean value of 3.67 ± 0.17, respectively. The minimum number of roots and the shortest length of roots were recorded in cultivars red petiole small leaf with mean values of 7.65 ± 0.69 and 1.93 ± 0.1 (Table 3). The highest mean value weight of explants of 1.87 ± 0.15 was recorded in cultivar dark green petiole small leaf and the least weight of 1.03 ± 0.11 in cultivar red petiole small leaf. Cultivar red petiole small leaf recorded low performance in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 10 ml of 0.1 mg/ml NAA. There was a significant variation amongst the cultivars on number of roots, length of roots and weight of explants. There were differences in petiole length and senescence leaf amongst the cultivars. There were no significant variations in number of shoots, open leaf and corm diameter. Cultivar dark green petiole small leaf performed best in this medium (Table 4). Cultivar dark green petiole recorded the highest mean number of shoots of 0.45± 0.13 and least mean shoot number of 0.3 ± 0.15 was recorded in cultivar green petiole small leaf. A mean maximum petiole length score of 10.62 ± 0.58 was recorded in cultivar dark green petiole small leaf and a minimum petiole length of 2.80± 0.37 in cultivar red petiole small leaf. The highest mean number of open leaves of 3.5 ± 0.22 were observed in cultivar dark green petiole small leaf and the least lowest number of open leaves of 2.75 ± 0.27 in cultivar red petiole small leaf.    After rooting the taro shoots were presented as shown in Figure 3.Results obtained from shoot proliferation media indicated that there was a significant difference (p = 0.5) observed in number of shoots, petiole length, open leaf and corm diameter among the cultivars. This could be due to the genotypes of the cultivars. Reports from Toledo et al. (1998) states that different potatoes varieties respond differently to shooting due to genetic variability. The phenotypes of some the cultivars revealed that some have large leaves, long petiole and fast growing rates while others have small leaves, small petiole and slower growing rates. Shoots, leaves and corms were produced on all the cultivars when cultured on MS medium with 2.2 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine. This can be supported by report of Chung and Goh (1994) who reported that the addition of BAP into a culture medium enhanced growth and development of shoot auxiliary buds of Colocasia esculenta var esculenta. Seetohul et al. (2008) also reported that the highest multiplication rates of in vitro shoot tip of taro was recorded in MS medium supplemented with either BAP at 2 mg/l or thidiazuron (TDZ) at 0.9 mg/l. Reports from El-sayed et al. ( 2016) stated that higher concentration of BAP (kinetin, 6 mg/l)Dark green petiole small leaves Red petiole small leaves Green petiole large leaves Green petiole small leaves produced low number of shoots in comparison with lower concentration of BAP at 2 mg/l. This may be due to the toxicity of the high concentration of cytokines which caused a delay in shoot formation. 6-benzylaminopurine is a cytokines which plays an important role in plant at growth and development. It also regulates flowering and fruits formation by stimulating cell division (Kianamiri and Hassani, 2008). It is known that the multiplication stage requires cytokines during micro propagation of various plants. This requirement appears to differ depends on the type of crop plants, explants type, phase of development, the concentration of growth regulators, the interaction between growth regulators and environmental conditions (Yokoya and Handro, 1996).Roots were observed on all the cultivars when placed in MS media supplemented with 10 ml of 0.1 mg/ml NAA. Roots play a role in the mineral and water uptake of the plant.This can be supported by reports from Schiefelbein et al. (1997) which state that roots have an essential role in the functions of plants and development, supplying water and nutrients to the plants. Reports from Behera and Sahoo (2008) stated that the rooting of taro shoots was better in 0.5 MS medium + 1.5 or 2.0 mg NAA/1 than 0.5 MS medium + 1.5 or 2.0 mg IBA/1 after 15 days of culture. NAA is a synthetic auxin which when added to a culture stimulates root development from stem cuttings and cell elongation (Chambers, 2003). The significant variation amongst the cultivars on weight of explants could be as a result in growth rates in plants, where those with faster growth rate recorded higher weight and those with slower growth rates this could be due to genetic variability.No significant variation was detected among cultivars on number of shoots, open leaf and corm diameter when cultured in rooting media. This result may be attributed to the role of auxin for enhancement of rooting and not shoot, where the development of lateral buds is inhibited by auxin produced at the apical meristem and transported down the stem (Yokoya and Handro, 1996;Bhuiyan et al., 2011).All the four local Cameroonian cultivars multiplied when culture in MS medium supplemented with BAP and NAA during this experiment. Cultivar green petiole large leaves and cultivar dark green petiole small leaves performed best in both media respectively. Cultivar red petiole small leaves performed least when growth parameters such as number of shoot, leaves weight of plant and roots were taken in to consideration.","tokenCount":"2919"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9810751837.json b/data/part_1/9810751837.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0cd4c9888ea955ca581e85ec01d83e907a120f56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9810751837.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"49b662686ad2b02353f16dff5bb2c74a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f94c6cb0-39c7-40a8-ac4b-268c2b360eb6/retrieve","id":"943660974"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d6bdbe10-1552-425e-861f-5e1f1742d4e5","pagecount":"28","content":"La collection Pro-Agro est une coédition d'Ingénieurs Sans Frontières Cameroun (ISF Cameroun) et du Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA).Montage de la pompe 3 Fonctionnement de la pompe 4Coût de la pompe 5Cette pompe manuelle à piston est dite immergée, c'est-à-dire installée dans l'eau, et à motricité humaine car fonctionnant par la force de l'homme. Elle est fabriquée à l'aide de tuyaux PVC pression, de pneus usés et du bois. Son utilisation est recommandée pour des puits n'excédant pas 25 mètres (pas de test pour des profondeurs plus importantes). Elle débite environ 10 litres par minute. La disponibilité des matériaux pour sa fabrication, son faible coût de production et sa maintenance aisée rendent cette pompe accessible aux populations pauvres. Cette pompe est composée de plusieurs parties:• la crépine : partie inférieure de la pompe permettant d'aspirer l'eau du puits tout en bloquant les éléments solides.• la soupape d'aspiration : partie de la pompe qui régularise la circulation de l'eau. Elle empêche son retour dans la crépine.• le piston : partie inférieure de la tringle qui crée un appel d'eau dans la crépine, tout en la faisant monter dans la colonne.• la tringle : partie qui relie le levier au piston et lui communique la force de l'homme.• le tuyau de refoulement : colonne montante soudée à la crépine qui sert de canalisation à l'eau pompée.• la superstructure : partie de la pompe en surface qui lui sert de support et transmet l'énergie humaine au reste de l'équipement.L'accès à l'eau potable reste une priorité pour les populations africaines. Améliorer cet accès est une mesure nécessaire pour lutter contre les maladies hydriques. En zone rurale et périurbaine, si les populations parviennent tant bien que mal à creuser un puits, puiser l'eau pose un défi. Ainsi, les femmes et les enfants doivent déployer une énergie considérable pour tirer l'eau du puits. Un captage inapproprié peut devenir la principale source de pollution de l'eau et une activité dangereuse (chute dans le puits). C'est pour permettre à ces populations d'améliorer leur accès à l'eau qu'est proposée cette pompe manuelle fabriquée avec des matériaux disponibles localement. dans les zones rurales, sans électricité, on pourrait utiliser :• une pierre à meule ou une meule manuelle pour limer les couteaux et lisser les pièces ;• de simples couteaux taillés, adaptés à la coupe du caoutchouc et régulièrement trempés dans de l'eau pour faciliter la coupe ; ils peuvent jouer le même rôle que les cutters ;• un seau ou une assiette contenant de l'eau ;• une lime ronde pour lisser les parties internes, voire externes des pièces ;• un clou avec manche pour faire les trous à chaud.• un morceau de jante d'engin lourd usée de 20 cm x 60 cm pour la fabrication de la soupape ;• un morceau de chambre à air d'engin usée de 20 cm x 40 cm pour fabriquer le clapet ;• une planche de 6 m de longueur. Fabriquer une couronne de 10 cm de largeur qui fait un diamètre de 50 mm en coupant une bande de 10 cm de large, la ramollir au feu, l'enrouler autour de la colonne crépinée et laisser refroidir.Enduire la base inférieure de la crépine et le bouchon de colle, les coller. Enduire ensuite la couronne, et la coller autour du bouchon et la partie sans trou de la colonne, pour obtenir la crépine. Couper un caoutchouc rigide de 5 mm d'épaisseur. Tracer deux cercles de même centre de 4 mm de diamètre et 34 mm. Découper et enlever la partie de diamètre 4 mm. Tailler le caoutchouc au diamètre 34 mm et meuler. le piston a quatre trous de 15 mm de diamètre pour laisser passer l'eau. il est composé :-d'une rondelle en caoutchouc rigide d'épaisseur 20 mm, diamètre 42 mm pour l'étanchéité du piston ; -de deux tubes pleins en PVC pression de diamètre 41 mm, hauteur 30 mm donnant au piston la capacité de porter l'eau pompée ; -d'une tige de 10 mm de diamètre, hauteur 220 mm connectant le piston à la tringle ; -d'un clapet anti-retour en lamelle de 1 mm qui empêche le retour de l'eau se trouvant au-dessus du piston. C'est la partie supérieure du piston.Cla pe t an tiret ou rLe piston conditionne aussi bien le rendement de la pompe que sa réussite.Couper 30 mm de tuyau PVC pression de Ø 42/50. Constituer des tubes de diamètres décroissants en faisant entrer le tube fendu, ramolli au feu dans les tubes plus grands en coupant la partie qui déborde. Insérer les tubes les uns à l'intérieur des autres en reliant chaque pièce par collage. À l'aide de la mèche de 10 d'une chignole, on fait quatre trous centrés et équidistants (deux diamètres perpendiculaires).Assembler les tiges de longueur 220 mm par collage. Les modéliser par la meule en une tige de Ø 10.  Ils centrent la colonne dans le tuyau de refoulement de la pompe. Ils sont en PVC pression de diamètre 41 mm, épaisseur 4 mm, 16 trous périphériques pour laisser passer l'eau.Aplatir les morceaux de tuyaux PVC pression ramollis et tailler les pièces de diamètre 41 mm. Faire l'axe de 26 mm de diamètre par une chignole ou un clou chauffé et polir au papier de verre. Par la mèche de 5, faire 16 trous périphériques et équidistants (diviser quatre fois les angles formés par deux diamètres perpendiculaires à l'aide du rapporteur).Enduire de colle les axes des guides, de même qu'à chaque 50 cm de la colonne. Prévoir 50 cm entre le piston et le 1er guide et pas de guide audelà de la gorge du tuyau de refoulement. Coller les guides à la colonne. Elle est composée du levier et du bâti :>>> levier de la pompe C'est une barre en bois qui transmet l'effort humain pour porter la charge de l'eau. Choisir la face à lisser en premier et la dresser à l'aide de la dégauchisseuse. Ensuite, dresser l'une des faces perpendiculaires. À l'aide de la raboteuse, faire la mise en largeur et en épaisseur de la planche. Marquer une largeur de 15 cm. À l'aide d'une scie circulaire, fendre le bois dans le sens de la longueur.Marquer une longueur de 120 cm. À l'aide de la scie radiale, couper le bois par le tracé. Marquer 20 cm dans le sens de la longueur, ensuite 5 cm dans le sens de la largeur. Faire une courbe qui relie les points aux extrémités des délimitations sur la longueur et la largeur. La dalle est en béton armé de 1,8 m de diamètre, dosé à 350 kg/m3 (il faut 350 kg de ciment, 0,8 m3 de gravier et 0,4 m3 de sable pour obtenir 1 m3 de béton). Les fers de la dalle sont espacés de 15 cm. Les fers de 8 partent du rebord extérieur de la dalle vers le centre ; les fers de 6 font le tour de la dalle et sont liés aux fers de 8 par les attaches. L'épaisseur de la dalle est de 6 cm aux rebords extérieurs et 10 cm à la gorge du puits (trou axial du puits). La gorge est remontée par du béton sur 20 cm de hauteur.Le diamètre externe de la remontée est de 85 mm. Le diamètre du trou du puits est de 75 mm sur 10 cm à partir du sommet de la remontée. Ce trou est prolongé pour transpercer la dalle (20 cm de profondeur) avec un diamètre de 63 mm. Faire un autre trou de 40 cm x 40 cm sur la dalle avec un couvert en béton pour permettre l'entretien dans le puits.C'est un trépied en bois sur lequel l'on cloue deux planches. Chaque pied est constitué de deux poteaux de 10 cm x 15 cm, obtenus par dressage des faces des débités et mises en dimensions, suivant le procédé ci-dessus décrit.De la planche dressée, couper deux pièces de longueur 30 cm, largeur 20 cm et épaisseur 5 cm. À chacune des pièces, faire un trou de Ø 54 à l'intérieur duquel passera la pompe. L'axe du trou est à 15 cm du bout de la planche dans le sens de la longueur et 10 cm dans le sens de la largeur. Ceinturer les poteaux par des pièces en bois de 10 cm de largeur à 20 cm de la surface du sol pour former le cadre du bâti.L'implantation des poteaux au sol a deux possibilités. L'on peut faire couler une ferrure dans le sol à l'aide du béton, faire alors entrer le bois dans la ferrure et sceller par un système boulon écrou pour une implantation de longue durée. L'on peut aussi implanter directement le poteau au sol ou dans le béton pour une durée moins longue car l'humidité absorbée par le bois s'évapore difficilement. Clouer les deux pièces de dimension 30 cm x 20 cm sur les poteaux alignés de part et d'autre de la gorge, en gardant les trous des axes alignés.Enduire de colle tout autour de la soupape d'admission en s'assurant que le clapet est bien installé dans son siège pour éviter de le coller. Faire de même de la partie non percée du tube crépiné. Faire pénétrer la soupape d'admission dans le tube en laissant un espace de 10 cm.Enduire la partie inférieure de la tringle de colle. Faire de même pour l'axe du piston. Faire passer la tringle dans l'axe du piston tout en laissant sécher l'assemblage à l'air libre.As se m bl ag e tr in gl e-p ist on Insertion de la soupape dans la crépine Assemblage soupapecrépine TringleFaire passer la tringle à l'intérieur de la colonne à partir de la base inférieur, en s'assurant toujours que l'ensemble piston-tringle a une longueur supérieure à celle du tuyau de refoulement.Élargir le bout du tuyau de la colonne après ramollissement à la chaleur. Coller la crépine à l'intérieur de la colonne par la colle PVC et laisser sécher.  Il convient toutefois de noter que la mise en service du puits par l'équipement de surface n'est pas une garantie pour la potabilité de l'eau. Il faut des aménagements complémentaires. Pour ce faire, il faut capter les couches ou nappes d'eau non affectées par les souillures. La technique de captage utilisée doit permettre de préserver la qualité de l'eau à consommer.Production et transformation du rotin ","tokenCount":"1709"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9816261539.json b/data/part_1/9816261539.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..429813308a920d15c367398d33bd5569d55c4bbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9816261539.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8bc87d2bf50b8c8fccd356e08f2fde25","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/be087f80-efa2-4df3-b9a2-483c7acc4868/retrieve","id":"-1296994170"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aada9bee-2876-4451-9865-90a9ce054c39","pagecount":"6","content":"Between 2014 and 2017 the GSMA's mNutrition initiative brought together five global content partners (GCP) to deliver the content stream of the initiative across 12 implementing countries. Lead by CABI, GCP activities included: the development of a general framework for nutrition content creation, carrying out landscape analyses of nutritional needs in each implementing country, and identifying key factors for sustainable content services beyond the project. GCPs contracted and provided technical assistance to local content partners (LCP) so that they were able to partner with mobile service providers and/or mobile operators to either scale-up existing or develop, launch and market new mNutrition content services.2. Generic v specific contentwhich is more valuable?3. Working together: GCPs and LCPs 4. Content creation toolswhich are most effective?The focus of this brief is to provide the lessons learned related to the content model, processes and structures, specifically on:Lessons learned from the content development stream of the mNutrition initiative:The GSMA's findings from previous experiences highlighted that one of the key limiting factors to the development of agricultural, health and nutrition mobile content services was the lack of trusted partners in-country to provide high-quality content that met the needs of the local population, service providers and key stakeholders such as government authorities.Equally, content developed by trusted international organizations, while technically accurate, lack the insights into local needs, motivations and barriers to change which are required to bring about positive behaviour change. In order to strike the right balance, GCP and the GSMA agreed to employ local content partners (LCP) to create the content, following a well-defined content production process to ensure high-quality standards. The benefits of this are clear: local access to end users for acceptance testing, engagement with other key stakeholders such as government validators, translation into local languages and a much easier process flow at country level, whilst providing a globally applicable set of processes and structures to augment the capacity of the local partners to ensure high-quality outputs, during the project and beyond.In order to equip the LCPs with the necessary tools and knowledge, the GCP built the content production model. This provided a framework, which considers all of the necessary processes for successful content creation, including: sourcing quality reference material, validation, user testing, translation and quality assurance. However, it is essential that LCPs see the value in taking ownership for their outputs. Through training and support from the GCP, the capacity of LCPs improved over time. However, it became clear that the quality of some content was not meeting the expected standards in the expected timeframe.To address this, all content was put through Quality Control (QC) 'gateway', in which GCP and GSMA gave content the go-ahead for publication, or returned it to LCPs for further editing. With the implementation of the QCgateway came delays in content delivery due to redressing processes and steps in the content production model.Whilst the LCP model worked in many ways, the key lesson is that providing a robust content process and ongoing technical support is only half the story. Local content partners need sufficient time, practice and ownership of the processes and outputs in order to institutionalize these new ways of working. In doing so, their capacity, efficiency and credibility to continue in this field will be far greater.The approach to mNutrition content from the initiative's earliest days was to create technically accurate, generic content, validated by key governmental and technical experts and which would be adapted (stylized) to the targeted endusers by the service providers or a third party, based on findings from user-experience design experts.However, while this approach worked for the mAgri content due to the program design employed for this component, in the case of mHealth there was no stylization step included as part of the wider mHealth support package. This issue was addressed by the GCP as quickly as possible across wave 1 countries and before wave 2 began, in which the content process was aligned so that LCPs worked much more closely with a selected content service, and could provide specific content to meet their requirements.Developing strong partnerships between GCP members and LCPs benefited the implementation the project. The collaborations were based on a 'partnership' mode. This meant both groups could leverage support and flexibility from the other, building strong relationships based on understanding and respect.To select the LCPs, the two components to the project -mAgri and mHealth -followed two different methods: mAgri LCPs were recommended by the project MNOs and mHealth LCPs were selected by competitive tender led by GCPs. The GCP then assessed each of the potential partners against the same set of criteria and requested approval from the GSMA. Different types of LCPs, such as private companies, NGOs, government entities etc., were chosen across the project. By the end of the project there was no clear evidence of the superiority of one type of organization over another, considering quality, efficiency and sustainability of content production capacity.As the issue was addressed and resolved, another question arose: which of the two is more useful for the project? Generic content, as it offers the opportunity for additional mobile and nonmobile users to repurpose the content to suit their needs, or specific content, which assures a smoother, better-targeted process when a service requires content within a quick timeframe but is far less adaptable by future users?Ideally, the expectations, scope of content objectives, coverage, quantity and style should have been defined from the outset, especially if the content is destined for one content service.The answers to these questions should also be communicated to all stakeholders as early as possible, in order to provide clarity and opportunity for collaboration when it comes to designing content to better address end-users' needs, motivations and barriers.However, as a general experience, it was observed that LCPs who had extensive prior subject-matter expertise, experience with social behaviour change communication programming and linkages to relevant government entities delivered the highest quality content, had the most timely delivery and were the most efficient LCPs to work with.Summing up the lessons learned by working with different LCPs, it is clear that to maximize the outcomes of the collaborations, a true partnership model is helpful. The overall number of partners should also be kept to a minimum wherever possible, and a coherent approach and communication strategy should be in place at all levels to better aim at successful delivery. Lastly, working with local partners with skills and expertise in priority areas which are of critical importance for the project is a must to ensure the project's smooth implementation.The defined content production model necessitated multiple tools to support implementation. The content structures and tools were designed in a way that provided a coherent and systematic approach to content creation, harmonizing how content is categorized, produced, quality controlled and shared, regardless of the implementing country.The GCP created templates and trained LCPs on how to use these. The content produced by the LCPs had a dual purpose: to be used on a mobile service in each implementing country, and to be freely and openly available on the Nutrition Knowledge Bank for repurposing by a range of audiences. By employing standardized structures and tools, the process content upload to the Nutrition Knowledge Bank was streamlined and much more efficient.The lessons related to this section include: structures and tools used need to suit the needs of the given project or be sufficiently adapted to do so. Furthermore, new content structures should engage with stakeholders from an early stage and meet the needs of content developers in case the project is being implemented in multiple countries.Lastly, when working with tools and structures, spot checks are not only needed, but required to make sure that they are being appropriately implemented during early content development, and ongoing support is provided to ensure close adherence to these as the process continues.Implementation of the mHealth component was split into two waves, consisting of four countries per wave. During wave 1 implementation, it became apparent that there was little differentiation across mHealth content produced by the LCPs, except for the local language translations, as these were based on the same set of global recommendations. Producing this content, specifically the factsheets, which are the first outputs created, was time consuming for the LCPs, and which kept them from focusing more on creating messages. Wave 2 offered the perfect opportunity for the GCP to change this process so that LCPs' efforts were put into better localization of content.In wave 2 implementation, the GCP created a set of global factsheets on all interventions of the defined health structure, including dietary diversity, supplements, medical and public health interventions. The wave 2 LCPs were then tasked with focussing on methods which better enhanced content localization, such as creating end user personas, and more specifically on increasing the involvement of end-users themselves. As discussed earlier, these LCPs also worked more closely with the project's selected service provider, ensuring that messages were specific to the service and therefore able to be used by the service directly.The main lesson learned between mHealth wave 1 and 2 is that end-users, including thorough and iterative end-user testing, are key to localization and should be sufficiently budgeted for, in time and cost, and carried out at key points in the process. Furthermore, where possible, efforts should be diverted from creating globallyrelevant content, especially if this can be sourced or repurposed from elsewhere, so that emphasis is placed on measures to successfully localize content.","tokenCount":"1565"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9848046403.json b/data/part_1/9848046403.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5a1f2021662d3a54c29f31642d0bce321cb8e315
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9848046403.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c82811a25245779fb7454f67e06dc836","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/68f2778c-9eb3-4929-8c89-a10e07ff7855/retrieve","id":"-768803754"},"keywords":["COMESA","Food staples","Trade"],"sieverID":"18c0afc4-3723-440d-a081-aa43016941d7","pagecount":"25","content":"Shrinking productive land coupled with climate change has led to rising food insecurity in COMESA region. The situation has been exacerbated by the rise in food prices as witnessed in the vast majority of COMESA member countries and elsewhere in the world. Intra-regional trade in food staples offers prospects for enhancing food security through cross border trade and movement of food from surplus to deficit areas. The objective of the current study is to analyze the opportunities available in intra-regional trade in food staples in COMESA region. Using data for selected countries in COMESA region, the study finds that, while some countries, or even some regions within the same country, are food surplus, others are food deficit and literally lacking food to buy in some seasons. This creates a framework for a win-win situation-the food surplus countries/regions could get better prices for their products by selling to food deficit countries/regions while food deficit countries/regions could avoid food shortages and extreme food price volatility by allowing inflow of food staples from surplus countries/region. The regional diversity, differential rainfall patterns across the countries coupled with the phenomenon of staggered harvesting due to spatial climatic variability has and will continue to be major stimulus for cross-border trade from food surplus areas in one country to food deficit areas in neighboring countries. The study also finds that a more liberalized cross-border trade leads to reduced price volatility. Further, the analysis of the results shows that trade in staples has grown rapidly in the recent past in the COMESA region. Consequently the impacts of regional trade in food staples in the region cannot be debated. The region is also faced with numerous tariff/nontariff barriers, poor infrastructure and lack of market information which translates to increased transaction costs. The study recommends a regional approach to enhance food security and agricultural growth, rather than a national isolated approach. There is need for a clear follow up and monitoring of the implemented COMESA commitment of eliminating NTBs and prevention of entry of new NTBs. Regional approach is highly advocated to elimination of the NTBs as they are similar across countries in addition to investment in improved infrastructure.Despite improved economic growth in recent years, poverty levels and food insecurity remain unacceptably high in COMESA region. Hunger is still a major problem among COMESA member countries (Figure 1). This scenario has degenerated, especially in periods of food price crisis, 2007-2011. Further, fighting food insecurity is a cross-cutting issue related to poverty alleviation, education and health policies, as well as economic development. Agricultural growth has a critical role in food security and poverty reduction in the COMESA region (COMESA, 2009). But increasing agricultural production and productivity may not be realized in the short run. Thus, regional trade in food staples could be the easiest and the fastest mechanism for enhancing food security and curbing extreme food price volatility (Haggblade et al, 2008a). Further, regional trade is an important channel for the diffusion of technology which stimulates long-term growth and development. There are dual pathways through which regional trade enhances food security-indirectly by promoting economic growth, which improves income and, hence, the access to food and directly by augmenting domestic food supplies, thereby increasing the availability of food and pushing down food prices. Given population growth (Table 1) and growing urbanization, COMESA's market demand for food staples will grow dramatically in the coming decades, and this underscores the need to exploit the potentials in regional trade. Facilitating expansion of regional markets will, therefore, be critical efforts aimed at stimulating agricultural production, broad-based income growth and poverty reduction, and for ensuring food security of vulnerable populations in deficit zones. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: part 2 discusses the study conceptual framework, part 3 discusses the trends of production and supply of food staples in the COMESA region; section 4 examines trends and volatility of food prices; section 5 covers trade patterns, challenges and prospects among COMESA member countries before conclusion and policy recommendations are made in section 6.The potential of intra-regional trade with food staples is one very promising approach to enhancing food security in COMESA region. Intra-regional trade takes place formally and/or informally. Formally involves all trade that is officially traded and is recorded at the customs border points while informal trade accounts for all trade that is not officially recorded at the custom border. The two forms of trade create free movement of food staples in the region. The free movement of food commodities from a surplus to a deficit area can ensure that sufficient food is available. In this way, regional trade contributes to food availability. The supply of food via regional trade takes place either by ensuring ongoing trade flows or during limited periods in time when food is needed. The stability of food supplies can contribute to preventing food crises. Further, the free movement of food within a region may reduce the volatility of food prices. Consumers through open borders benefit from relative price stability in terms of purchasing power while producers benefit from the available cross border markets. However, for the potentials of intraregional trade to be felt, there is need for the political will in coming up and implementing open border policies.To achieve food security through regional trade, the demand and consumption of a specific food staple have to coincide between a food surplus country/area and a food deficit country/area to trigger cross-border trade. Furthermore, the produced and consumed food items have to correspond in the deficit and surplus areas. Otherwise production cannot meet the demand. There is also need for established trade relations between the trading partners in the different areas. For intraregional trade to function in the long run there is need for reduced transportation costs, seasonality and competitiveness in the trading partners. Differences in seasonality may contribute to the availability of food in cases of shortages, by trading across-borders. With regard to production costs, food surplus countries have to compete with other exporting countries and thus have to produce at competitive costs. In conclusion, the main contribution of intra-regional trade to food security is to enhance the availability, accessibility, and stability of food to consumers.This section examines the production and supply trends of food staples in the COMESA region.The main food staple in the COMESA region is maize. Production of the maize crop has, however, been quite erratic in most of the countries possibly due to over-reliance on the natural weather associated with erratic rainfall among other factors (Figure 2). Further, maize yields in a majority of countries in the COMESA region are very low and in most cases have been less than 2 tons/ha for many years, except for Egypt and Mauritius. This compares very poorly with other regions of the world such as Asia, Europe and North America (Figure 3). Despite maize being the key staple in the region, the yields are currently lower than they were at the beginning of the decade. Comparison of the maize yield figures for years 2000-2002 to those of 2006-2008, indicates that maize yields have declined in several countries (figure 3). The countries that registered a decline include Eritrea (59%), Tanzania (54%), Zimbabwe (42%), Swaziland (38%), Uganda (16%), Comoros (11%), Burundi (6%), Djibouti (4%) and DRC (2%). The countries that registered productivity increases were Sudan (115%), Madagascar (65%), Malawi (46%), Ethiopia (29%), Egypt (9%), Kenya (6%), Mauritius (5%), Libya (4%) and Rwanda (4%). The countries with low productivity can benefit from countries with high productivity which can be attained through open cross border trade. 3.2 Supply of food Food supply situation in the COMESA region has been relatively constant with only a slight increase over the 2000 to 2007 period (Figure 4). Figure 4 indicate huge differences in per capita cereal supply between countries-some countries like Egypt have over 200 kg per person per year while others such as Burundi, DRC and Rwanda have an average of less than 40 kg per person per year. Southern Africa region has more food supply than the Eastern Africa region, a manifestation of potential for food movement across countries. COMESA countries should put in place measures that would progressively ensure that food can move easily and cost effectively between countries and between regions within a country. Countries in the COMESA region were affected by the global food price crises of between 2006 and 2010, a period characterized by high and volatile food prices. The situation had a negative impact on the welfare of both producers and consumers. All countries in COMESA region were affected at varying levels by rising food prices. In the recent past, 2011-2012, the global and domestic prices of many food commodities increased substantially (Figure 5).   On the other hand, the year 2010 saw domestic meat prices in selected EA countries continue to increase (Figure 8). Over the period, first half of 2011, various countries in EA experienced drought in livestock producing areas: Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda which may have triggered the high bovine meat price due to reduced supply in the market. This creates an opportunity for cross border trade especially in times of disaster. Further analysis of the domestic food prices of selected countries in COMESA region shows that the food prices are much more volatile than the corresponding global prices (Table 2). Volatility refers to variations in prices over time. This was measured by the use of the coefficient of variation (CV).The CV is calculated as followsWhere, SD is standard deviation.The coefficient of variation of domestic prices of maize in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda is significantly greater than the coefficient of variation of the global maize price (Table 2). This indicates that the domestic food prices are more volatile than the global food prices.Rwanda reports the highest CV followed by Kenya, then Tanzania and Uganda. The CVs are different among the countries of focus. This implies that the severity of high food prices is different in different countries and that the price of a commodity may display different behavior in different countries in the region as also reflected by the trend analysis (see figure 6, 7 and 8). Further, the GARCH model was applied to time series analysis of maize prices in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and globally to show volatility of the maize prices. The GARCH model treats heteroscedasticity as a variance to be modeled, while allowing it to depend upon its previous lags and also predicting the variance of each error term. Specification of the conditional variance isWhere lnσ 2 t is the conditional variance to be modeled and ensures that σ 2 t is not negative even if the parameters are negative.γ measures asymmetry/leverage effect -price response to market shocks-unanticipated changes in prices α measures symmetric effect/ sensitivity of volatility to market events β measures persistence in conditional volatility irrespective of anything happening in the market; ω constantThe results of the GARCH analysis revealed that maize prices are more volatile in Kenya than in Tanzania and Uganda (Figure 9). The domestic maize prices in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are more volatile than the global maize prices. The extent of volatility is also observed to decline between 2006 and 2010. During this period, 2006 to 2010, the EAC custom union came into force starting 2005. One benefit of the custom union is the free trade. This indicates that liberalized trade in food staples ensures that the farmers in surplus regions/countries are able to sell their produce to deficit areas thus earns better returns for their output while consumers in the deficit regions/countries enjoy guaranteed availability of food staples at fair prices. Returns of maize prices were computed using logarithmic price relativesWhere p t is the monthly price at current time t and pt-1 is the previous price.The price returns also show volatility of the maize prices, where large positive changes are followed by large negative changes (see figure 10). Kenya reported large positive changes which are followed by large negative changes more than the other countries. The global maize pricesshow the least degree of change between the positive and negative changes (figure 10).  Trade in food staples is a key aspect in the agricultural sector. It has grown rapidly in the recent past in the COMESA region (Annex 2) due to population growth which has led to expanding markets, favorable economic prospects and rapid rate of urbanization in the region. The regional diversity and differential rainfall patterns across the countries has and will continue to be a major stimulus for cross-border trade from food surplus areas in one country to food deficit areas in neighboring countries. Further, year 2010 total value of food staples trade is estimated at US$ 394,961,000 (Annex 1) which comprises of both formal and informal trade in the region. COMESA region experiences informal trade activities which increase food access and the potential can be exploited through implementation of a more liberalized cross border trade devoid of tariff as well as non-tariff measures. This shows the existence of intra-regional trade whose potentials as mentioned can be exploited. 0 1,000,000,000 2,000,000,000 3,000,000,000 4,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 6,000,000,000 7,000,000,000 Several food security enhancing hotspots exist in Eastern Africa. Examples include most of Uganda, Rift valley region-Kenya, and Southern highlands of Tanzania (Figure 12). The map shows potential for cross border trade where maize can move from surplus to deficit areas within a country and within the region. In Eastern Africa, maize produced in Uganda and Tanzania can be supplied to the Kenyan market, and various other cross-border trade flows can occur in that region. The cross-border trade in food staples will stabilize food supply and food prices in the region through exploiting regional diversity.Source: ReSAKSS-ECA database Potential for cross-border trade lies in the diversity of factors that influence particularly agricultural production. Among the critical factors include the following:Heterogeneity in production due to differentiated harvesting season motivates cross border trade ensuring food access throughout the year. Diversity in agro-ecological zones implies diversified agricultural production; even where countries produce similar agricultural products, spatial climatic variability implies that supplies are available at different times of the year due to staggered harvesting in the region (Figure 13). This can also be explained by the high incidences of drought experienced especially in Eastern Africa. Areas with low food supply are able to receive food from areas with increased supply.Maize serves as the primary food staple in most COMESA member countries. However, there are reported evidence of consumption and substitution of maize with other staple foods. Empirical work in Mozambique shows high levels of cassava consumption as well as substitution between maize and cassava, even in urban areas (Tschirley and Abdula, 2007). In Malawi and Zambia, substitution with cassava is noted when maize is in short supply. Uganda's main staple food is bananas with reported high production of maize which is traded with the neighboring countries.The markets at the border are thus trading posts for the neighboring countries enhancing the movement of people in addition to the movement of food staples across countries from those countries with high supply and low prices to the neighbors with low supply and high prices.Source: Author compilation, 2011   36=Momkambo;37=Kasumbalesa;38=Mkumaniza;39=Nyamapanda;40=Machipanda;41=Kibondo;42=Kigoma;43=Elwark;44=Mpondwe;45=Rusumo;46=Manyovu;47=Dobley Individual countries in COMESA region have small domestic markets, high production costs, low production and deficient investment climates. The countries also report low economic growth rate as there is limited progress in poverty reduction and achievement of MDGs by individual countries. Thus regional diversity including integration will exploit combined resource endowments and potential for economies of scale leading to trade creation, mainly access to market and competition, investment facilitation and regional growth spillover benefits. Cross border trade will benefit the traders from the expanded market base from the COMESA region increasing population. Further, the cross border trade creates opportunities for crossborder investment. Trade can also moderate price shocks in the market (Haggblade et al, 2008b). During drought, staple food production falls and the domestic supply is affected negatively with the food prices going up. With open borders, trade takes place allowing for food imports at low prices to the areas with low food supply. The areas not affected by drought or even low supply can supplement the areas with a deficit provided governments allow food to flow freely across their borders. This may result in price capping. Therefore open borders can be said to offer a means of reducing domestic price volatility of staple foods and lowering the food prices which improves the welfare. When regional markets are functioning, they bear the potential of reducing the dependence from global market supplies and prices, strengthening regional cooperation. Regional cross border trade contributes to increased competitiveness of the region which is beneficial to trade. Promoting cross border trade in food products will not only contribute to reducing food insecurity in the region but will at the same time contribute to the economic development.Transport costs are very high in COMESA region due to high fuel costs and high vehicle maintenance costs due to poor road infrastructural system. This translates to high food prices. Reduced transportation costs translates to producers' increased profitability and competitiveness due to lower marketing costs, while consumers would benefit from lower prices due to reduced food prices. Transportation costs account for over 50% of the total transfer costs (Figure 15). Lack of information is rampant among all stakeholders despite the tremendous amount of information on food situation in COMESA region, both online and hard copies from research. Yet this information is rarely available where and when it is needed neither. In the region, the stakeholders in market value chain cannot tell the food surplus areas for opportunity exploitation.There are also access issues where those who require information most do not have access to it.Traders cannot exploit the areas of surplus and deficit, and farmers cannot exploit quick opportunities arising from high food prices due to lack of market information. It is not unusual to find that policymakers and public officials, NGO representatives and private sector players do not have high quality evidence-based information for making good decisions. This shows lack of link between research and development which affects food security in addition to affecting trade.During times of deficit, national governments impose export-import bans to protect the country's food security. This controls trade flows as food staples cannot be exported to other countries. For example, the export bans imposed by Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya during the food price crisis. Tackling export-import bans allows free movement of the foods thus reducing food price volatility which eases the food crisis.Agricultural sector is facing the impact of climate change with increases uncertainties in food production and subsequent market behavior. Monitoring regional and national food supply and demand projections in conjunction with increasingly accurate early warning information will allow timely planning for food supplies. FEWS NET has highly invested in early warning system in the region which needs to be enhanced.Under the EAC protocol, NTBs are defined as being laws, regulations, administrative and technical requirements other than tariffs imposed by a partner state whose effect is to impede trade (EAC, 2004). A recent study by Karugia et al. (2009)  Countries in the region experience high cost of agricultural production. Fertilizer and certified seed prices are very high resulting to low intensity of use which translates to declining land productivity. The low yields leads to most farmers being subsistence farmers with minimal surplus for sale even locally. However, if there is increased use of fertilizers and certified seeds, the land productivity is increased, yields increase with surplus for sale consequently increasing intra-regional trade.The SWOT analysis of regional trade was analyzed to assess the potential of intra-regional trade.The SWOT analysis is a method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The SWOT analysis may help the farmers to identify the potentials to increase production and for traders to intensify cross-border trade.As strengths, diversified climatic condition implies diversified agricultural production; even where countries produce similar agricultural products, spatial climatic variability implies that supplies are available at different times of the year due to staggered harvesting in the region (see section 5.3.1). The region has potential for cross border trade where food staples can move from surplus to deficit areas within a country and within the COMESA region. As opportunities, informal trade channels open alternative and more flexible markets to traders, the high food price levels in the region enables traders to generate higher income, and the high population at regional level offers increased market base. Existing market distortions, a high number of NTBs, ad hoc export ban and limited market information along the various food staples value chain are major threats for traders. In addition, the underdeveloped transport infrastructure increases the transaction costs threatening the potential of regional trade. One weakness noted is the mistrust among the traders. There is limited/minimal public private partnership in intraregional trade due to the mistrust among the two groups.From table 3, the intra-regional trade weaknesses can be converted into strengths and threats into opportunities. Source: Author compilation, 2012The role of regional trade is not debatable. Increasing regional trade in agriculture and especially in food staples has the potential to moderate the prices and increase availability of food, consequently stimulating agricultural development. However, trade barriers of various kinds impede regional cross border trade and create a less than favorable investment climate for all stakeholders. This is coupled with ad hoc trade policies like export bans that are occasionally imposed by some countries and affect regional trade flows.To increase regional trade and improve food security in COMESA region, this paper recommends:1. A regional approach to food security and agricultural growth, rather than a national isolated approach that does not exploit the regional opportunities in trade and investment. This can be obtained through consultations and consensus among the various governments 2. Clear follow up and monitoring of the implemented COMESA commitment of eliminating NTBs and prevention of entry of new NTBs 3. Enhance investment in early warning system 4. Improved flow of market information to all trade stakeholders and 5. Investment in improved infrastructure. ","tokenCount":"3655"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9850019787.json b/data/part_1/9850019787.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..24c8a7c2014fc0d0483b6ba4353bcd8687e37a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9850019787.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f7924972d443f78c4aa718d0acde0a00","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/89f3ecd5-7ba5-4542-8781-0ce3bb067018/retrieve","id":"395000275"},"keywords":["Nutritious diversified porridge","consumption determinants","informal settlements","children under five","women","East Africa"],"sieverID":"a49483f5-0ebe-470d-a95b-45e9833322c6","pagecount":"20","content":"Purpose: Malnutrition remains a big public health issue especially in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to analyze factors that influence consumption of nutrient-rich foods among children aged 6-59 months and women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in the urban informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. We use multi-composite soft porridge as an example of a nutritious product.Design/methodology/approach: A cross sectional survey was conducted with 574 households from urban informal settlements in Kampala and Nairobi. A systematic random sampling approach was used to select respondents and interviews were conducted on their socio demographics, porridge consumption and purchase behavior. Probit regression models were used for the analysis.Despite progress made towards achieving the sustainable development goals globally, prevalence of micronutrient malnutrition remains a major public health issue in most developing countries. More than two billion people still suffer from micronutrient deficiencies mostly due to inadequate intake of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamins (Development Initiatives, 2017). The deficiencies are particularly high among poor households whose diets are dominated by energy dense staples and low consumption of nutrient rich foods (Wanyama et al., 2019b;Bouis and Saltzman, 2017). The urban poor households are the most affected due to high dependence on markets for their food needs as well as increases in food prices (Ruel et al., 2010). Undernutrition including fetal growth restriction, sub optimal breastfeeding, stunting, wasting and deficiencies of vitamin A, iron and zinc cause 5.4 million deaths of children below five years (UNICEF, 2018).There are various interventions and attempts to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. These include fortification of staples and oils with micronutrients such as iron, vitamins and zinc; biofortification (e.g. breeding high iron/zinc beans); supplementation; behavior change interventions; and dietary diversity (Bouis and Saltzman, 2017). Biofortification, although cited as a cost-effective way of sustainably improving diets of households, it is more feasible in rural areas where consumer rely on own farm produce for their consumption and there is less reliance on markets (Bouis et al., 2011). Urban consumers would only benefit from bifortification when there is excess production that goes to the market and the consumers have economic capacity to purchase the commodities or products. Food fortification is an option for enhancing cereal-based foods, especially flours with micronutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and it is effective where food processing is centralized (Horton, 2006). At times, the fortified food are expensive and inaccessible to consumers especially the resource poor. Many countries use mixed approaches to fight malnutrition. For example in East Africa, nutritional supplements are provided to children at risk of malnutrition, and at the same time nutritional information campaigns and broader access to maternal and child health care approaches are used (UNDP, 2010). Mandatory food fortification has been adopted in a number of East African countries including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In Uganda, the Ministry of Health (MoH) established a multi-sectoral National Working Group on Food Fortification (NWGFF) in 2002 to lead the drive to reduce micronutrient deficiency. In Kenya, legislation on mandatory fortification was implemented in 2018 (MoH, 2019). Biofortified commodities such as organge-fleshed sweet potato, high iron/zinc beans and vitamin A rich maize are also widely made available to producers and consumers in many of the East African countries. When assessing all the options for reducing malnutrition, food basket approaches that promote dietary diversity are considered more favoured compared to dealing with a micronutrient-by-micronutrient approach (ISPC, 2014). Dietary diversity is a reliable source of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A that can potentially reduce deficiency diseases and help improve nutritional status and growth of infants (FAO & FHI, 2016). In the case of feeding infants and young children, composite porridge flour made up of cereals, legumes and other nutritious ingredients has been recommended as a sustainable and low cost supplementary food to help improve diets of children (Candace Jackson et al. 2013).Complementary feeding can contribute to improved growth, health and development of young children especially when foods are introduced at six months of life as recommended by World Health Organization (UNICEF, 2005). As a complementary food, soft porridge is mainly composed of cereals such as maize, millet, sorghum, and finger millet (Wanjala, et al., 2016;De Groote & Kimenju, 2012). The composite porridges supply high levels of protein and can address the evident protein gap among children 6 -23 months of age (KNBS, 2015). They are also an important source of most B vitamins, especially thiamin, riboflavin and niacin since they are largely cereal based (Kulp & Ponte, 2000), and contain appreciable amounts of vitamin E (McKevith, 2004). A composite porridge flour may include leguminous components such as beans, which are rich in proteins, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and folate (Messina, 2014) as well as vegetables rich in iron, zinc and vitamin A, all of which are important for child growth and development (WHO, 2013). Diverse studies have been conducted on soft porridge consumption in East Africa. However, most studies focus on the diversity of soft porridge in terms of ingredients and consistency (Wanjala, et al. 2016), consumer preferences for single cereal porridge made from maize (De Groote & Kimenju, 2012), and the effect of consumption of a fortified maize porridge on iron deficiency anaemia (Macharia-Mutie et al, 2012). De Groote & Kimenju, (2012) argue that socio-economic status plays a major role in the choice of flour products. While low-income households prefer whole maize meal flour from hammer mills, the middle income households go for more refined industrial products. Price, nutrients and hygiene were identified as the major determinants of choice of porridge flour products and outlets.Despite its popularity and importance as a low cost supplementary food, the consumption of composite porridge in East Africa, has not been adequately analysed. No studies were found assessing consumption patterns of porridge products with multiple ingredients, especially among infants and young children aged 6 to 59 months and women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) in the urban informal settlements of Africa. This study seeks to fill this gap by answering the question: What factors influence consumption of multicomposite porridge by children of age 6 and 59 months, and women of reproductive age in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda? The findings will contribute to knowledge and information for businesses as well as inform policy to address malnutrition challenges in the urban informal settlements of East Africa.This study uses primary data collected from resource-poor consumers (base of the pyramid-BoP) in the urban informal settlements of Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya. Kampala and Nairobi were selected as they are the most urbanized cities in the two countries with slum dwellers representing more than 50% of the urban population (Syagga, et al., 2001;World Bank, 2017).Multi-stage sampling strategy was used to select respondents for this study. First, four BoP study sites with lowest poverty levels were selected in each country based on the national statistics (KNBS, 2015;UBOS, 2014). In Kenya, Kibera, Mathare, Kawangware, and Mukurukwa-Njenga slums were selected while in Uganda Bwaise, Kawempe, Kawaala and Kamwokya slums were selected. The slums were further stratified into low base of pyramid and upper base of pyramid based on the indicated poverty levels. Within each BoP site, the village or zone, which is the smallest administrative unit in Kenya and Uganda respectively, were used as the primary sampling unit. Finally, households to be interviewed were selected using a systematic random sampling procedure. In total, 574 households were interviewed, 291 from Kenya and 283 from Uganda. The target respondent at the household level was the main decision maker on household food consumption, especially soft porridge. Prior to the start of the survey, the enumerators sought oral consent for the survey from each respondent. The enumerators explained the research to the respondent including how the data was to be used and by who and finally they were informed that their individual identifying variables would not be exposed in any way. The respondents were then given a chance to ask any questions prior to indicating whether they consented to undertaking the study or not.For a household to be include in the survey it had to be within the study sites and had to have at least one child 6-59 months. On the other hand, exclusion criteria into the survey included household with no child 6-59 months, single individual households, household outside the selected study sites and household that refused to participate in the study.Data were collected through surveys using structured questionnaires. A 24-hour recall dietary diversity questionnaire was used to collect food consumption data for children 6-59 months and women of reproductive age (15-49 years). The two age groups (children 6-59 months and women of reproductive age-15-49 years) were targeted because they are among the most vulnerable in terms of malnutrition. In Kenya, 26% of children below 5 years are stunted, while 61.8% are vitamin A deficient (KNBS et al, 2015). On the side of women, 82% of women of reproductive age are zinc deficient, 27% of pregnant women are vitamin A deficient and 68.3% are zinc deficient. Uganda has similar trends. Nearly a third (29%) of the Ugandan children under five are stunted, 11% underweight and 53% are anemic, and indication of insufficient intake of iron (UBOS and ICF, 2018). On the side of women, 32% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in Uganda are anemic.The questionnaires ware programmed in Computer Aided Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology and used in the study sites in Kenya and Uganda. The questionnaires from both countries were well tested prior to the actual survey. In addition, the data collection assistants were well trained to ensure they understood the questionnaires hence eliminating unnecessary data errors. Various types of data were collected including household demographics, household porridge consumption and decision-making, porridge flour choice and purchase behavior.Data were analyzed using descriptive and econometric models. We use Levene's test to check if our data fulfills the homogeneity of variance assumption and apply t-test and chi-square tests to make intercountry comparisons in descriptive analysis. Levene test results presented in Appendix 1 and 2, show non-significance (α=0.05) on key variables such as flour prices and slum residency, indicating equality of variance.We conduct women and children analysis separately, using Probit models to assess determinants of consumption of multi-composite (diversified) porridge among children aged 6 to 59 months and women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years). The Probit model is presented as follows:where PD is a binary dependent variable taking on a value of 1 if the target child or woman consumed porridge composed of two or more food groups and zero if they consumed porridges from one food group only. We use the 12 food group classification to determine the number of food groups in a given porridge type that had been consumed by the household. The 12 food groups are: cereals; white roots and tubers, and plantains; vegetables; fruits; meat; eggs; fish and other sea food; legumes, nuts, and seeds; milk and milk products; oils and fats; sweets and sugars; and spices, condiments, and beverages (FAO, 2011). The more the groups of foods consumed, the higher is the level of food security and dietary diversity.The porridge flour ingredients were categorized into food groups to determine the flour's level of diversification. Households that consumed porridge made up of ingredients from two or more food groups were considered to be consuming a diversified porridge compared to those who consumed porridge made of ingredients from only one food group.X1 to Xn are variables that influence the probability of consuming diversified porridge and they include demographic characteristics such as age of household head, gender of the decision maker on the type of porridge consumed in the household, access to nutrition information, and location dummies, among others. e is the random error term.The list of determinants of consumption of diversified porridge flour in the women and children models are grouped into seven factors. The first category of variables is related to age of children in months, which is captured as dummy variables presented in four age groups: presence of children in a household aged 6 to 11 months, 12 to 23 months, 24 to 35 months, 36 to 47 months and 48 to 59 months. Existing evidence in Africa shows that consumption of diversified diet increases with age. Younger children are less likely to consume diverse diets compared to the older ones (Mitchodigni et al., 2017;Gewa and Leslie, 2015). Even though the diversified porridge flour is not synonymous to diversified diet because porridge is used as complementary food, we hypothesize that children in the older categories are more likely to consume porridge with diversified ingredients compared to the younger ones.The second category of variables relate to physical access of the porridge flour. Here we capture information on source of porridge flour. Past studies show that physical access to diverse types of food in a given food environment influences what consumers can purchase and subsequently consume (HLPE, 2017). In the analysis, we include a variable on the sources of porridge flour consumed by the target consumers. The variable is captured as a categorical variable with three categories: own processing, informal sources (Mom& Pop shops, kiosks, street vendors or hawkers, open-air markets) and supermarkets.The third set of variables are related to economic access factors, which captures affordability of the food consumed. HLPE (2017) highlight the need for increasing affordability of nutritious food for them to play an important role in improving diets of vulnerable consumers especially the resource poor consumers. In this study, accessibility was captured using purchase price of the porridge flour and the category of household consumers by age, consuming porridge. We hypothesize that diversified porridge flour are highly priced and therefore BoP consumers may not afford them. In addition, we hypothesize that when several household members consume porridge, the household may not purchase diversified porridge flour due to the amount of flour required to prepare porridge for the large of consumers and the consequent cost. However, when the porridge is consumed only by children or only by women, the household may purchase more diversified flour for that specific consumer group since the amount of flour required and consequently the cost will not be as high as when purchasing for the entire household.The fourth factor relates to location differences, which captures the differences in consumption behavior across the two countries and the location variability. We use the country dummies and the two categories of the informal settlement (low and upper BoP areas) to capture the location differences. Previous studies have shown that Kenya and Uganda are different in terms of their social economic characteristics and culture, hence important to control for the country differences (Chege et al., 2019;Wanyama et al., 2019aWanyama et al., , 2019b)).The fifth factor captures variables related to household characteristics. We use household demographics variables such as age and education level of the child's caretaker, age of household head and age and education level of the reference woman of reproductive age in the household.Finally, we use a sixth factor which captures access to nutrition information. Nutrition information access is captured by the variables access to nutrition information and whether the porridge consumed is fortified. Data on access to nutrition information were collected at household level and we hypothesize that households with access to nutrition information are more likely to consume diversified porridge compared to those without access to such information. Previous studies have shown that consumers who have access to nutrition information are likely to consume more diversified food. In addition, a recent study showed that when BoP consumers have nutrition information about multi-composite nutritious porridge flour, they are even willing to pay a premium for that flour compared to other cereal based nondiversified porridge flour (Chege et. al., 2019).For ease of interpretation, we present the marginal effects of the predicted probabilities. The marginal effects from Probit models represent discrete change (how predicted probabilities change as the dependent variable changes from 0 to 1) in binary factor variables and instantaneous rate of change in continuous variables. Marginal effects for continuous variables can be difficult to interpret depending on how the data is scaled but in our case the continuous variables in the model are all expressed in single units in which case the instantaneous rate of change is similar to the change in P(Y=1) as Xn increases by one.Table 1 presents socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the study households in Kenya and Uganda, and for the pooled sample. We find significant differences between the study households in Kenya and Uganda for most of the demographic and social economic variables for example the household head characteristics, household income, and access to nutrition information. This is not surprising given that we expect the two countries to be different in terms of socioeconomic status. Furthermore, previous studies conducted in similar urban BoP area of Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda found these differences (Chege et al., 2019;Wanyama et al., 2019aWanyama et al., , 2019b)).The descriptive analysis also show some gender differences between the two countries in terms of household decision on the type of porridge consumed in the households; mostly females make the decision in both countries, although the percentage is significantly higher in Kenya (68%) than in Uganda (55%). The percentage of males who make the decision on porridge consumption is significantly higher in Uganda (40%) than in Kenya (28%). Only 5% of the household in both countries decide jointly on the kind of porridge to be consumed in the household.Table 2 presents analysis on the demographic characteristics of the target children and their porridge consumption behavior. The caretakers of the reference child in Kenya are relatively younger than those from Uganda. Their education level also significantly differs between the two countries.Our results further show that porridge consumed by target children across the two countries were made of ingredients from one to four food groups. However, most of the porridge flour consumed was composed of ingredient(s) from one food group (67% in Uganda and 35% in Kenya). Overall only 33% of households in the two countries indicated that their children consumed porridge made of ingredients from two food groups, and a much smaller proportion of households had children's porridge ingredients from three or four food groups (14% and 4% respectively).We also find that porridge flour consumed by children in the two countries is mostly nonfortified. Overall, only 32% of households reported their children to be consuming porridge fortified with important micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and calcium, and the percentage was slightly higher in Kenya (35%) than in Uganda (27%).In addition, households purchase porridge flour from different sources. Overall, 67% of the households in Kenya and Uganda obtain their porridge flour from informal sources such as kiosks, mom and pop shops, cereal shops, street vendors or open air market, 23% buy their porridge flour from supermarkets while 10% buy ingredients and process the flour themselves at the local hammer mills.Having found that overall about half of the children aged 6 to 59 months mostly consume porridge made of just one food group, we conduct further descriptive analysis to assess what kind of ingredients these are. Are they energy dense or more nutrient dense ingredients? Figure 1 provides results of this analysis.(Figure 1 about here)Our results show that in Kenya, the 35% of children who consume porridge made of one food group (as shown in Table 2), the ingredients are only cereals (maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat). In Uganda, out of the 67% of the children who consume porridge made of ingredients from one food group only (Table 2), 96% of them use cereals only (maize, millet, sorghum, wheat and rice), while 4% use pulses only (soybeans).Table 3 presents descriptive analysis of data on women of reproductive age and other variables related to porridge consumption by this consumer group. Our results show that the average age of the sampled women in both countries was 27 years. The Kenyan women have a significantly higher level of formal education (10 years) compared to their Ugandan counterparts (9 years).The trend of diversity of porridge consumed by target women in both countries is similar to what we found in the children's analysis. The highest percent of women consume porridge made of ingredient(s) from one food group (52%), and a smaller percent of women consume porridge made of ingredients from two food groups (33%). Only a 12 percent have their porridge made of ingredients from three food groups and 3% form four food groups. We also find that most of these women consume porridge, which is not fortified. Only 16% of the women overall indicated that the porridge they consumed was fortified, and the percentage was higher in Kenya (22%) than in Uganda (9%). Similar to the case of children porridge flour, the porridge flour consumed by the target women was mostly purchased from informal sources such as kiosks, and mom and pop shops (74% on average), while only 10% of the women consumed porridge flour that they processed in the local flour mills.(Table 3 about here) In terms of distance to porridge flour sources, the households source the flour from shops that are on average 4 kilometers away from their homes. Ugandan households get their flour from a further distance (6 kilometers) compared to the Kenyan households (2 kilometers). In terms of pricing, the porridge consumed by women from Kenya are more expensive (US$ 0.9/kg) compared to those consumed by women in Uganda (US$ 0.7/kg).In Figure 2, we conduct some additional analysis to understand the kind of ingredients used in the porridge types consumed by the target women. We conduct an analysis on the 37% of women that consume porridge flour made of ingredients from one food group only (Table 2). As shown in Figure 2, all the women in Kenya who consume porridge made of ingredients from one food group only (52% of the women), the porridge is made of cereals only, and these are maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat. In Uganda, out of the 69% of women who consume this kind of porridge, 97% of them use cereals only (maize, millet, sorghum, wheat and rice) while 3% use legumes only (soybeans and groundnuts).(Figure 2 about here)The descriptive results presented in the previous section sheds some light on the kind of porridge consumed by the target women and children, and provide some preliminary indications of what factors may be influencing consumption of various types of porridge flour. However, the analysis may not provide a conclusive understanding of the factors driving consumption of the diversified porridge because we do not control for other factors. In this section, we present an in-depth econometric analysis of factors influencing consumption of diversified porridge using Probit models. We present analysis for porridge consumption by target children and women separately under Table 4.Both the children and women's models show several factors that influence consumption of diversified porridge. Children who have older caretakers are less likely to consume diversified porridge compared to those who have younger caretakers, with a one-year increase in the age of the caretaker reducing the likelihood of consuming diversified porridge by 0.8 percent. In the contrary, we find that children that belong to households with older household heads are more likely to consume diversified porridge compared to those that belong to households with younger household heads.Both the children and women models show that children and women who consume diversified porridge flour pay a higher price, an indication that diversified porridge flour are priced higher than the non-diversified ones. In addition, we find that access to nutrition information is associated with an increased probability of consuming diversified porridge by 18 percent in the children models and 19% in the women's model. On the contrary, children and women who consume fortified porridge flour are less likely to consume porridge made of diversified flourwith more than one ingredient.Our results further show that children of different age groups consume diversified porridge, but the younger ones (6 to 11 months) are more likely to consume diversified porridge at 25% compared to the others. Finally, our results show that both children and women from Kenyan households are 23% more likely to consume diversified porridge compared to those from Uganda.Malnutrition in all its form (undernourishment, micronutrient deficiency, and overweight/obesity) is still a public health concern in most developing countries. Dietary diversity could assist in addressing these nutrition problems. Consumption of diversified diets by children under five is vital in improving their nutrition status (Dewey, 2013). However, most times resource-poor urban consumers do not have access to or cannot afford diversified diet hence they rely on cereal based-energy dense foods. Soft porridge is widely used for complementary feeding and consumption by adults in most informal settlements of Africa. Besides being utilized as a complementary food, most of the base of the pyramid (BoP) children in Kenya and Uganda wholly depend on soft porridge as their only meal for several days and weeks in their first 2 years of life. Unfortunately, the porridge consumed in those households are often cereal based, mostly made of maize alone or maize and millet. Given that the cereal based flour mixes are already available from the market, its' critical to upgrade the quality of the porridge and make them more nutritious (Mitchodigni, et al., 2017). Processor level interventions could therefore contribute in availing nutritious and affordable dry porridge flours which have been produced using locally available nutritious ingredients to contribute in addressing nutrition problem among consumers (Hotz, et al., 2015).This study seeks to identify factors that influence consumption of diversified and nutritious soft porridge, among the urban BoP consumers using quantitative data collected from urban BoP sites in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. Results from the children model show that demographics characteristics of the child's caretaker and the household head are important determinants for the type of porridge consumed by the target children. Children that belonged to households with older household heads were more likely to consume diversified porridge. This could be because household heads who are mostly the bread winner in the household, are likely to have accumulated wealth with time hence have more resources to purchase diversified porridge flour, which is more expensive than the non-diversified one. On the contrally, we find that children that belong to households with older care takers are less likely to consume diversified porridges. The younger care takers may have access to more nutrition information than the older care takers due to their exposer to social media and regular viewing of television and listening to radio and consequently, they are in position to translate this into better nutrition. Bilal et al., (2016) found that improved nutrition awareness of the caretakers (either father or mother) improves knowledge toward childcare and feeding practices and their nutrition situation. The women model shows that women who are in households that have a child aged 6 to 59 months are more likely to consume diversified porridge. This could be because such a household may be more nutrition conscious and therefore may prepare porridge that is more diversified hence nutritious, compared to households without children under five.Our analysis on the economic access of diversified flour shows that porridge flour purchased at higher prices are more likely to be the diversified flour compared to those priced at lower prices. These results are true for both the children and women models.This could be probably due to the belief that these are nutritious and they have several ingredients, hence they are priced higher than the non-diversified ones. Strikingly, consumers at the base of the pyramid are still purchasing diversified porridge flour, even at a higher price than the less diversified. This however is not surprising since a recent publication found that the BoP consumers in the slums of Nairobi and Kampala are willing to pay a premium for nutritious porridge flour and the willingness to pay is even higher for the consumers who have nutrition information about the porridge flour (Chege, et al., 2019;Wanyama et. al., 2019a). In a similar direction, we find that access to nutrition information increases probability of consuming diversified porridge for both children and women. Previous studies have attributed nutrition awareness to improved knowledge on nutritious foods and benefits of eating healthy, therefore influencing what consumers eat (Palwala, et al., 2009). Our findings are in line with those of Hirvonen and Hoddinott (2017) who found that access to better nutrition knowledge leads to considerable improvements in children's dietary diversity.The study findings additionally show that fortified porridge flour consumed by children is less likely to be diversified. This implies that when children consume fortified porridge, it is mostly made of just one ingredient or ingredients from one food group and the flour is additionally fortified with other nutrients. This finding is not surprising because there has been little effort to aggressively market diversified fortified porridge flours in low economic settlements due to their high cost which render these products unaffordable. Deliberate fortification efforts for flours for instance in Kenya have focused on maize and wheat (GoK, 1964). Therefore improving on access and use of fortified maize flour for child feeding (Leyvraz et al., 2018), with little focus on diversified flours. Given the trade-off between fortification and multicomposite ingredient four, it is important that if the flours are being fortified, they should be fortified with important micronutrient especially those deficient among women and children like iron, zinc, and vitamin A.Finally, our results indicate that both women of reproductive age and young children under 5 years from Kenya are more likely to consume diversified porridge flour compared to their Ugandan counterparts. This is probably due to the cultural and ethnic differences that exist among these countries that inherently influence consumers' food eating patterns. Ethnic groups have been shown to differ in dietary quality and nutrient intake and this may be due to the sociodemographic or cultural differences in the types of foods served and the methods of preparation (Patrick & Nicklas, 2005). The findings of our study reinforce that of Gewa and Leslie (2015) who found that children from Kenya had the highest dietary diversity scores when compared from those in Uganda and Tanzania.Our results have several implications for policy makers and private sector actors in the food system. First, importance of nutrition information in improving diets of the urban poor consumers in Kenya and Uganda is reinforced. Policy makers should play a role in ensuring nutrition awareness is increased among consumers in the informal settlements but also among other consumers as this will contribute to reducing malnutrition. In addition, business entities should consider dissemination of nutrition information as part of their business operations when introducing nutritious commodities in the market.Second, private sector processors should play a role in producing affordable nutritious convenient foods such as multi-composite porridge flour and other products and make them accessible to consumers including those in the urban informal settlements. Affordability of the products to all consumer categories can be achieved through direct sourcing of raw materials from farmer groups to bring down transaction costs.Third, we find a trade-off between multi-composite flours and fortification. Both policy makers and private sector companies involved in product development should ensure that the nondiversified flours are fortified with important micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A as these are identified as critical micronutrients lacking in most diets of children and women and contributing to high micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. Both Kenya and Uganda have mandatory fortification policies which are meant to increase intake of micronutrients by consumers. In Kenya, the policy requires fortification of wheat and maize flour, vegetable oils and fats by food processors and there are set standards for food processors to follow (MoH, 2018). Poor consumers may not always purchase the fortified commodities due to cost and in such times dietary diversity or consumption of multi-composite flours shouls be advocated.Finally, the private company processors should choose appropriate marketing channels and outlets to disseminate nutritious products. As our descriptive results study shows, the urban BoP consumers mostly buy their porridge flour from informal market outlets. There is therefore a need for the processors to identify the exact informal market outlets during dissemination of such products to ensure they are placed in the most appropriate outlet. Further research is required to identify most suitable marketing channels for nutritious porridge flour and other nutritious products specifically for the BoP consumers in the urban informal settlements.Notes: The Cereals in Kenya are maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat; while in Uganda the cereals are maize, millet, sorghum, wheat and rice and the pulses are soybeans only Results Tables   ","tokenCount":"5409"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9869386416.json b/data/part_1/9869386416.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bd3133d7857851e9720e4d726b9b050d43179a51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9869386416.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"76120e0e5dacf17398a367ba5854c396","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8360164d-607d-474c-8bbe-99cc8bd88637/retrieve","id":"-858829897"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe947e67-af7b-4591-b0a0-2e9b653bd213","pagecount":"98","content":"Annex 4: Letters of Support ł To train key stakeholders on approaches to in situ and on-farm conservation and on the development and implementation of management plans.The sustained conservation, management and use of agricultural biodiversity (see Box below) is critical to realizing the vision of the CGIAR Consortium. Improving conservation and increasing the availability of agricultural biodiversity will become more and more important, not only in the pursuit of improved crop performance, but also in the context of adaptation to climate change, greater resilience and improved nutrition, maintaining the socioeconomic balance of farming communities and the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems. The management and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity is also important to sustain the livelihoods of poor communities who practice traditional farming systems and who live under harsh environments, which include biodiversity-rich areas. Many of these biodiversity-rich areas are within Vavilovian centres of diversity and contain unique material with great potential for adaptation to the effects of climate change.Agricultural biodiversity, as a term, reflects the entire panoply of diversity that contributes directly and indirectly to food production, including livestock, pollinators, microbes etc. In this proposal we focus on the genetic diversity of farmer-maintained local livestock breeds, varieties or landraces of major crops (LR) and neglected and underutilized plant species (NUS) and their wild relatives (CWR), and the rangeland plant species so important to pastoralists and herders. Priority varieties, breeds and species will be selected with the full participation of all stakeholders, as detailed below. In this proposal, where appropriate we may refer to each of these classes separately, but more often we will refer to \"target agrobiodiversity\" to include selected priority plants and animal populations.There are currently a number of activities in the portfolio of CRPs that are related to the conservation and availability of agricultural biodiversity, particularly with respect to ex situ conservation of commodity crops. However, the report of the Scoping Study on Genetic Resources commissioned by the Consortium Board recognized that these should be complemented by promoting in situ conservation and sustainable use and by working on crosscutting issues of fundamental importance to global food security that are not addressed by the current portfolio of CRPs. The Consortium Board Chair requested that a component on agricultural biodiversity be developed to address three particular challenge areas identified by the Scoping Study: in situ conservation (including on-farm management of genetic diversity), knowledge and information about agricultural biodiversity, and policies to support conservation, availability and use of agrobiodiversity from local to global levels. This proposed Strategic Research Theme reflects the recommendations of the Scoping Study team and responds to the request from the Consortium Board Chair regarding these three interlinked areas (see section below on \"Origin and positioning of the component in the CRP Portfolio\" for details). It will promote in situ conservation, management and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity to complement ex situ conservation efforts and to ensure the dynamic conservation of a broad genetic base in terms of both species richness and intraspecific genetic diversity. This is needed to enable adaptation to evolving biotic and abiotic challenges, to respond to nutritional requirements and to continue to provide various ecosystem services.In addition to addressing the gaps in the CRP Portfolio identified by the Consortium Board, the proposed SRT also addresses areas of research that have been identified as priorities by GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research) and would support and contribute to the implementation of regional agricultural biodiversity initiatives, such as the Agricultural Biodiversity Initiative for Africa (ABIA) coordinated by FARA, the Suwon Declaration on Agricultural Biodiversity coordinated by APAARI and the regional strategy for conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in the Near East and North Africa region developed in collaboration with AARINENA. It will also contribute to implementing the regional and crop conservation strategies developed with support from the Global Crop Diversity Trust. The SRT additionally addresses the key research areas included in two binding agreements on biodiversity, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA, 2004), and permits responses to the needs of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) and the State of the World on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the United Nations Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization (CGRFA-FAO).Although located administratively within CRP 1.1, which focuses on dryland ecosystems, this component is global in coverage and will work in collaboratively-identified priority ecosystems, not all of which will be in the dry lands.We envision a future in which the knowledge of how best to conserve and manage agricultural biodiversity on farm and in-situ is meshed with information about conserved material in a fully supportive policy environment to enable all interested parties, including farmers, breeders and other scientists, to make the fullest possible use of agricultural biodiversity to deliver the CGIAR System Level Outcomes of reducing rural poverty, improving food and nutrition security, and sustainable management of natural resources.The CGIAR's Strategy and Results Framework recognizes the importance of agricultural biodiversity and many of the CRPs have included relevant research and conservation activities in their proposals to address the challenges agriculture faces. In many cases, the focus is on using existing agricultural biodiversity through breeding, as a source of traits for improved varieties and breeds that can deliver the productivity gains needed to cope with biotic and abiotic stress; such breeding is an historic forte of CGIAR research. Increasingly, however, breeding will require new traits sourced from a widening pool of genetic resources. Sustainability in agricultural production systems will also require more use of a wider range of agricultural biodiversity to contribute to system resilience and to reduce the need for economically and environmentally costly inputs. Ecosystem services, particularly regulating and supporting services, can be improved by increased use of agricultural biodiversity and will contribute to resilience and sustainability, and the genetic resources of local species will play a vital role in rehabilitating and restoring degraded ecosystems and farming systems. Additionally, and of direct relevance to rural farming communities, agricultural biodiversity can make vital contributions to nutrition security and continue to support the livelihoods of its custodians.It is important to note that agricultural biodiversity, while it is an essential component of agricultural ecosystems, contributing to provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services, is also a product of these same agroecosystems. It is shaped by multiple anthropogenic and environmental processes.In order to live up to its potential, agricultural biodiversity requires research to be carried out within five closely interwoven topics, each of which represents a series of outputs:ł Improved understanding of the status and trends of in situ conservation and diversity, especially on farm and for crop wild relatives, with a greater understanding of what is being conserved, where, how and why. 1ł The development of in situ conservation approaches, tools and methodologies, including the demonstration of various options for promoting community-driven in-situ conservation.ł New approaches to facilitating the management, use and deployment of agricultural biodiversity conserved in situ.1 The use of the term in situ is based on the definition in the Convention on Biological diversity (http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02 accessed 21 November 2011). Thus: \"In-situ conditions\" means conditions where genetic resources exist within ecosystems and natural habitats, and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.\"In-situ conservation\" means the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties. In this sense, \"on farm\" is equivalent to \"in situ\" and where we stress \"on farm\" is it in order to draw attention to the role of smallholder farmers in providing \"the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive characteristics\".ł Information about this material gathered and shared in ways that contribute to its management and use. Such research would complement the extensive work in ex situ conservation being done within commodity CRPs.ł A policy and legal environment that promotes and supports availability of agrobiodiversity to farmers and research and development organizations, linking users and conservers through practical mechanisms at local, national and international levels.To ensure that results from these outputs drive forward sustainable improvements in conservation and use, it will also be necessary to improve the livelihoods of the main custodians of agricultural biodiversity, to engage in awareness-raising activities with specific audiences, and to help develop the capacities of national bodies, including their ability to devise sustainable and realistic policy strategies for the enhanced management of agricultural biodiversity.A further important aspect of this SRT is that the activities in the research topics will to a large extent take place in the same geographical hotspots and will look largely at the same biological populations in each hotspot. These priority areas and priority varieties, breeds and species will be identified in close collaboration with national partners and other organizations, building on the experience of the centres, and will provide models for use in similar ecosystems and farming systems. It is anticipated that this deliberate overlap will strengthen the research outputs and add to both impact and global relevance.For the reasons given above, it is critically important to conserve agrobiodiversity, and to ensure its availability for use by researchers, breeders, farmers and pastoralists.Unlike ex situ conservation, in situ conservation does not focus only on biological material. The interventions by which in situ conservation is achieved are all targeted at factors and processes that affect farmers' decision making concerning their use of agricultural biodiversity (e.g. policies, markets, consumer preferences, access to diversity, etc), the dynamics of genetic diversity (including farmers' seed and breed management and formal and informal seed and breeding systems), and the maintenance of CWR populations (land use, landscape fragmentation, protected areas, etc).The efficiency of these interventions depends on how they fit the values and practices of involved stakeholders. Research for in situ management and conservation has therefore to consider not only the genetic make-up of the target agricultural biodiversity, but also those additional factors and processes that shape its diversity within agroecosystems. Furthermore, the services provided by agrobiodiversity in many cases result from a combination of intraspecific and interspecific diversity.Having this system-based approach in mind will permit the research to focus on the combination of an agreed set of agroecosystems selected to reflect various environmental and socio-economic conditions and changes, and an agreed set of priority varieties, breeds and species, selected on the basis of a variety of criteria for their importance within the agroecosystems. The target species will include: local breeds of livestock; landraces or farmer varieties of staple crops (LR); minor crops, which despite being labelled \"neglected and underutilized species (NUS)\" by many researchers are nevertheless very important locally; and their wild relatives (CWR). The SRT will furthermore work on designated rangeland plant communities of great importance to herders and pastoralists. All of these elements of agricultural biodiversity are threatened by over-exploitation, changes in land use, urbanization, accelerating rural emigration and in the longer term, by climate change (FAO, 2010b;FAO, 2011c). All also play multiple roles that contribute to the livelihoods of the poor and to the economies of developing countries ({Rege Anderson, 2003;Rege & Gibson, 2003). Despite their importance, however, they are currently under-represented in most conservation efforts. Furthermore, both because agricultural biodiversity is very frequently used in places other than where it occurs or is conserved and because lessons learned from specific crops in specific locations may have wider applicability, the problem of conservation and use assumes a global dimension and requires collaborative action.Ex situ conservation and knowledge and information systems relevant and specific to commodity crops are included in other CRPs, and arrangements are being made to obtain the secure funding of ex situ collections. Working closely with other CGIAR centres and partners, this component specifically seeks to expand and improve on the knowledge and information systems related to in situ conservation, and to enable these to be linked to data from material conserved ex situ, in order to contribute to a more comprehensive global information system. The focus of SRT5 research in this area is on gathering and making use of information about the target agrobiodiversity conserved on farm and in situ in order to manage these natural resources more sustainably and ensure that the priority species are able to contribute to reducing rural poverty and improving food and nutrition security. The SRT also recognizes that the social contexts that surround in situ conservation are complex (Russell & Harshbarger, 2003;Knowler & Bradshaw, 2007;Quaye, Adofo, Madode, & Abizari, 2009) and that the development of effective policies must acknowledge and respond to social contexts, not least the crucial role of women in the management of agricultural biodiversity, in order for conservation goals to be fully met (Warriner & Moul, 1992;Louette, Charrier, & Berthaud, 1997;Badstue et al., 2006). The SRT5 proposal responds to concerns in these areas through research with a wide range of partners within and outside the CGIAR system.The overarching objective of the SRT5 proposal, in addition to promoting enhanced management and on farm and in situ conservation of important agrobiodiversity within a supportive policy environment, is to ensure the enhanced flow of information and material in both directions, from farmers and natural environments to breeders and scientists and vice versa.A number of broad generic lessons have been learned from the experience of the CGIAR and partners in research on agricultural biodiversity. Some of these lessons are given below:The conservation of agricultural biodiversity as promoted by the CGIAR centres, the Global Crop Diversity Trust and other actors has tended to focus predominantly on ex situ genebank collections, with less attention paid to conservation on farm and in situ in natural habitats. Conservation in situ complements ex situ conservation in that it allows the continued evolution and, in the case of on farm conservation, selection of the diversity to adapt to changing environments (Vigouroux et al., 2011) and conserves a wider genetic base (Scarcelli et al., 2006). In the absence of continued evolution in situ, the so-called global system of conservation for use risks becoming static, without the built-in adaptability essential to respond to future challenges. Also, not all species, and especially not livestock and NUS, benefit from significant ex situ conservation efforts. The large number of those species and their importance suggests that in situ conservation approaches should be developed to target the agroecosystem level, in addition to the species level, and thus to encompass whole sets of domesticated and cultivated species and their wild relatives. For the farmers and communities whose efforts conserve the target agrobiodiversity, the management of these resources is an important element in their livelihoods and in their cultural identity and selfdetermination. Thus the sustainable management of agricultural biodiversity represents an important avenue for responding both to the challenges facing agriculture and to the needs of smallholder farmers.Threats to existing agricultural biodiversity require the development of global tools and methodologies that will be widely applicable for assessing and monitoring levels of and threats to agricultural biodiversity, identifying priority areas for conservation and ensuring effective conservation. Although the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognizes genetic diversity as one of the fundamental levels of biodiversity, actions to protect agriculturally important genetic diversity in situ are limited, little is known about the global status of agricultural biodiversity and there is no established process for routine global-scale monitoring of genetic diversity over time (Dulloo, Hunter, & Borelli, 2010). Several efforts under the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (http://www.twentyten.net) have been made to identify indicators useful to detect changes in species and ecosystem diversity, but there are only two initiatives that are explicitly working on developing indicators that deal with genetic variation for agricultural biodiversity. These include an indicator on ex situ crop collections (Thuillet et al., 2011) and the number of food production breeds of domestic animals, and both are still under development (Anon, 2007;Walpole et al., 2009). Indicators for on farm and in situ diversity are urgently needed (Brown 2008). With regard to information systems about agricultural biodiversity, there is an over-riding need to ensure that researchers of all kinds can find and interrogate data from disparate sources, including data derived from and concerning material conserved in situ. Ideally, this information can be used in conjunction with other sources, such as herbarium sheets and material conserved ex situ, to deliver more useful results. For example, geospatial information is essential to many kinds of data filtering. Such geospatial systems are being developed in other CRPs. The agroecosystem information system being developed in the \"Information system for land, water and ecosystems\" module of CRP5 represents a valuable source of geospatial data layers on which accession-level, variety-level and population-level information derived from material conserved in situ can be superimposed. CRP4 is collecting information about the nutritional qualities of local agricultural biodiversity. CRP7, too, is developing geospatial information systems, and this component will link closely with both of those CRPs and other partners. This component will gather and share information about target agricultural biodiversity, working closely with other CRPs to ensure that there is no duplication of effort and that the various sources and types of information can be brought together effectively.Information systems to harvest and share data about agricultural biodiversity conserved in situ are also important to allow that information to be used in geographically distant locations, and for this to be effective the information, including traditional and indigenous knowledge, needs to be available and integrated with other sources of information. For example, a Bioversity project (Seeds for Needs) has worked with local communities and genebanks in two pilot countries (Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea) to identify suitable material conserved ex situ in local genebanks and to trial the selected material with communities in order to identify accessions that are pre-adapted for predicted future climates. The adoption and upscaling of research outcomes to other locations and ecosystems would deliver greater impact if information gathered from on-farm trials were to be easily integrated with other sources of information and if projects such as this had access to in situ information from other geographical localities.Over the course of the past fifteen years, it has been increasingly difficult to access agrobiodiversity for use on farm and by formal sector research and development organizations. The combined high level of politicization of genetic resources issues, and low levels of certainty about the conditions under which they can be shared and used have contributed to a wide range of key actors being unwilling or unable to make agrobiodiversity available (Safrin, 2004). Farmers are unable to obtain adequate supplies of quality germplasm to make optimal use of agrobiodiversity on farm (Kuyek, 2002;Brush, 2007;Jarvis, Padoch, & Cooper, 2007); the CGIAR genebanks and breeders report unwillingness of some countries to allow joint collecting missions to introduce new diversity into the international collections they host (Halewood, López Noriega, & Louafi, In Press) and improved materials for inclusion in breeding programmes. While there have been a number efforts at the international levels to address this situation -most notably, the creation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture -to date, the situation is not, overall, improving, and in some parts of the world, for some components of agrobiodiversity, it is getting worse. Very importantly, there is growing evidence that the Treaty's multilateral system is not actually functioning to support introduction of new diversity, from in situ conditions, into globally accessible ex situ collections, with the danger that those collections remain largely static (Halewood, López Noriega, & Louafi, In Press). There is a risk that in situ and ex situ conservation efforts will therefore continue to operate in isolation from one another. There is also very little experience of materials being sent from the genebanks directly to farmers, or farmers' organizations, although there are documented cases of using indigenous range species to help rehabilitate degraded rangelands (Peacock et al., 2003) and wild fruit tree species in afforestation efforts (Amri, pers. comm.).Ironically, as more information about possible uses of agrobiodiversity is becoming available through genomics, proteomics, and international research consortia such as the Generation Challenge Programme (Glaszmann, Kilian, Upadhyaya, & Varshney, 2010;Varshney, Glaszmann, Leung, & Ribaut, 2010), the physical resources themselves are increasingly subject to restrictive controls. Divisions between agriculture and environment communities are among the factors contributing to this situation, with policies originally developed for the conservation and management of wild flora and fauna being foisted upon the agricultural sector (e.g., the access and benefit sharing policies under the Convention on Biological Diversity) (Singh, Fern, Harn, & Hui, 2009). In addition, there is a general lack of due attention to the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity in many national biodiversity strategies and action plans under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework on Climate Change.Significant expertise exists in different CGIAR centres building on past and ongoing research.ICARDA coordinated a UNDP-GEF funded project in Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Syria on community-driven in situ conservation of landraces and wild relatives of cereals, legumes, Alliums, forages and dryland fruit trees, which allowed the development of a holistic approach to promote the conservation and sustainable use of dryland agrobiodiversity. Between 1999 and 2005 the project conducted monitoring and trend analysis the target crops and species in 75 monitoring areas in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (Amri et al., 2005). Surveys of farming systems were also conducted in 26 communities in 2000 and 2004 to analyze diversity in terms of farming systems, species and landraces, livelihoods strategies and value chains (Mazid, Shideed, & Amri, 2005). Results from these and additional ecogeographic surveys and other data could be incorporated into a database that has been developed by ICARDA, which would be improved further to enable researchers and policy makers to assess the trends of biodiversity and its threats and to define high-priority areas for the conservation of agricultural biodiversity, including systems for improving and monitoring conservation. This project introduced management plans for promoting in situ and on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity, including low-cost technological packages, added-value technologies, alternatives sources of income, institutional arrangements and policy recommendations.In the context of implementing the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for Animal Genetic Resources (FAO, 2007;Hoffmann & Schaal, 2010), FAO, through expert consultations that included ILRI, developed several guidelines ({FAO, FAO, 2009;FAO, 2010a;FAO, 2011a; FAO, 2011b) at regional, community and national levels. In this context, the results of ILRI's research on the genetic characterization of indigenous livestock (http://dagril.ilri.cgiar.org) has contributed to the identification of hotspots and mapped diversity to global livestock centres of domestication (Hanotte et al., 2000;Hanotte et al., 2002;Muigai, 2003;Ndumu et al., 2008;Gorbach et al., 2010;Kugonza, Nabasirye, Hanotte, Mpairwe, & Okeyo, 2011;Kugonza, Nabasirye, Mpairwe, Hanotte, & Okeyo, 2011).Recently ILRI with partners has embarked on the development and application of methodologies for community-based and system-wide understanding of indigenous livestock diversity and options for their strategic and sustainable conservation and improvement (http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org). ILRI is also developing mapping, characterization and assessment frameworks, databases, database management expertise, and analytical tools which will make an important contribution to SRT5 (www.progebe.net; www.fangrasia.org). ILRI's networks and capacity are also important in this context and include: the BecA-ILRI Hub (http://hub.africabiosciences.org), state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and platform for livestock and crop research and capacity building for the eastern and central African region hosted at ILRI.; and the joint ILRI-Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences molecular laboratory (http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org) dedicated to molecular typing of animals and forages. These two facilities allow sharing of expertise and enable processing and genotyping of samples in a cost effective manner, besides providing unrivalled opportunities for capacity building for national partners (Ojango, Panandam, Bhuiyan, & Khan, 2010). ILRI has an extensive network of Advanced Research Institutions from Europe, Asia and the Americas, and not least, relevant national African institutions and individuals, to draw on in this particular research area.CIP has a long track record of scientific research on in-situ conservation of sweetpotato in Asia and potato as well as minor roots and tubers in the Andes (Brush, Carney, & Huaman, 1981;Prain, G., 1993;Prain et al., 1995;de Haan, Núñez, Bonierbale, & Ghislain, 2010). CIP has been working closely with farming communities in the Peruvian Andes over the past 15 years to implement a dynamic conservation strategy for native potatoes by linking ex situ with on-farm conservation as a single comprehensive effort. The activities include research on farmer-driven conservation (de Haan, 2009), indigenous food systems (Burgos, Amoros, Morote, Stangoulis, & Bonierbale, 2007;Graham et al., 2007;Scurrah, Amoros, Burgos, Schafleitner, & Bonierbale, 2007), farmer seed systems (Thiele, 1999), indigenous knowledge (Prain, G., Schneider, & Widyastuti, 2000;de Haan, Bonierbale, Ghislain, Núñez, & Trujillo, 2007), support for biodiversity seed fairs (Scurrah, Fernandez-Baca, Ccanto, Nunez, & Zúñiga, 1999), publication of regional catalogues of in-situ collections (CIP-UPWARD, 2003), and the publication of methods and tools (CIP-UPWARD, 2003). The CIP genebank has also been active with the repatriation of virus-free native potato accessions collected 30-50 years ago to the original communities where the accessions were collected, the establishment of community genebanks, the implementation of clean seed production for annual crop production and dissemination to neighbouring communities, and commercialization of potato production and eco-tourism (Ordinola, Bernet, & Manrique, 2007). The community at San Jose de Aymara in Peru Central Highlands is so successful that each year they regenerate the \"in trust\" clean tuber collection for CIP (Huaman, 2002). Another success story is the Potato Park in Cusco region, where the six communities of the Park have voluntarily included some 600 accessions of their native potato varieties in the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing under the ITPGRFA, and in the process have deposited a safety duplicate set in the  (Jarvis et al., 2007;Jarvis et al., 2008).These few in situ conservation projects have led the way to an important area of research, which will require multi-disciplinary inputs and the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including the empowerment of farmers, herders and women along the value-chain. The lessons learned can be shared and extended to other biodiversity-rich areas and to other species and the approaches developed can be further improved and tested in pilot areas within the different biodiversity-rich areas, mainly in the major centres of crop and livestock diversity.The CGIAR centres have participated actively as observers in the international negotiations for and implementation of the International Treaty, the Nagoya Protocol to the CBD and the multi-year programme of work of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The centres have made technical contributions highlighting the special nature of agrobiodiversity and the need to develop policies that support availability and use from farm to international levels (CGIAR & SGRP, 2009;Dedeurwaerdere, Iglesias, Weiland, & Halewood, 2009;Fujisaka, Williams, & Halewood, 2009;Beed et al., 2011). It is essential for the centres and national programmes to continue to fulfil their role.While much of the outputs of this component will deliberately be of global relevance and significance, the on-the-ground monitoring of status and trends in agricultural biodiversity will be focused on specific, collaboratively identified priority geographical locations, such as the Vavilov centres of diversity. This is where we can expect most genetic diversity of interest to agriculture to exist and where it will be most important to monitor for long-term changes, especially across environments that differ in terms of pressures on agricultural biodiversity, as has been initiated by ICARDA in the Fertile Crescent and CIP in the Andes. Several of these target areas or hotspots will coincide with areas of work of CRP1.1, but as this component is global in coverage others will be outside the dryland ecosystems of that CRP and will be identified with the assistance of CRP1.2 and CRP1.3.While the potential benefits of agricultural biodiversity are many, failure to realise those benefits is often a reflection of difficulties in obtaining and using appropriate material. This may be the result of an inability to locate information about specific genetic resources within agricultural biodiversity; in some cases, the existence of the agricultural biodiversity itself may be threatened. Even when the required genetic resources are known and available, there may be difficulties in obtaining access due to institutional or geographic characteristics, or even preferences that reduce the ability or willingness of farmers, organizations, governments and other entities to manage and conserve. The global \"system\" covering the exchange of material and information may thus be considered to have seized up. We therefore anticipate that as the elements of in situ conservation and policies are addressed, they will contribute to the lubrication of the entire system, which will then begin to function more smoothly. As it does so the beneficial outcomes of making wider use of agricultural biodiversity will be recognised by smallholder farmers and by the scientific community and this will then feed back and further improve the functioning of the system as a whole.Farmers and national systems will conserve more agricultural biodiversity in situ. Researchers, including scientists working with farmers, breeders and genebank managers, will make more characterisation and evaluation information from material conserved on farm and in situ available through enhanced information systems, and farmers will be empowered and become an integral part of this system, supplying information about the material they conserve and making use of information from others. Social scientists will help identify critical dimensions of the local and regional contexts that, if harnessed effectively, can catalyze conservation activities. Policy-makers will see the costs of conservation and sharing to be minimal compared to the potential benefits that would result from improvements in their own national systems. A virtuous circle will ensue, with the wider use of agricultural biodiversity helping agriculture to meet the challenges of population growth and climate change, to the ultimate benefit of poor smallholder farmers.Until now, research activities across the CGIAR have focussed on questions related to the scientific basis of in situ conservation, discovering, documenting and describing the dynamics involved through biological and anthropological assessments. Furthermore, past research of the CGIAR centres related to in situ conservation and use has been scattered and poorly coordinated, lacking the requisite scale and coordination mechanisms to achieve appreciable impact beyond local project sites. The research proposed in SRT5 takes advantage of the tools and knowledge developed in the past to focus on management planning, with a conservation research agenda at its core.This proposal breaks new ground by working on in situ conservation and management at a global level. As part of that effort, the proposal includes the following new activities and outputs:ł Monitoring systems will be established in different ecosystems worldwide, and will contribute new information on both the status and trends of in situ conservation.ł Contributions to the development of high level indicators to indicate the status of genetic diversity in situ.ł The capacity to provide synthesized information, drawing on research from globally distributed sites, on the state of agrobiodiversity in situ.ł Scaling up collective capacity to evaluate the contribution of protected areas to the conservation of crop wild relatives globally and identify opportunities for better management of CWR outside protected areas.ł Systematic characterization and evaluation of an agreed set of priority agrobiodiversity conserved on farm and in situ, including their wild relatives.ł Provision of key evidence towards a better understanding of adaptive ongoing evolution within in-situ conserved populations of target agrobiodiversity.ł A novel ecosystem-services approach to agricultural biodiversity that will strengthen the ability of the poor to use agrobiodiversity to improve livelihoods, nutrition and resilience.ł Development of information tools and methods concerning in situ management and management plans, including information from farmers, to enhance availability of knowledge, along with material, to users.ł Systematic analysis of how formal and informal seed and breeding systems, and in situ and ex situ conservation dynamics, can complement each other with a strategic research focus on how to improve functional links between formal research and development systems and informal mechanisms for technology generation and diffusion and update.ł Identification of institutional arrangements and policy mechanisms that will improve farmers' ability to adopt improved agrobiodiversity management practices, drawing on case studies and research sites from around the world.ł Scaling-up lessons learned and recommendations about in situ management through international policy fora.The project will work in a coordinated way with a globally distributed array of partners that has not previously worked together on in situ agrobiodiversity management issues. The demand for the outputs of the proposed research is also new. Climate change and the need for sustainable intensification of agricultural production have resulted in more immediate and well defined needs for agricultural biodiversity to be managed and conserved in-situ and to have the material and information about it available for wider use SRT5 includes several innovative elements that will enhance the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. Starting from an understanding of the selected priority systems, the SRT will focus on the systematic characterization and evaluation of an agreed set of priority breeds, varieties and species conserved on farm and in situ, including their wild relatives. Traits and qualities important to farmers as well as to breeders will be used, representing a new departure for information about genetic resources, and where appropriate such information will be linked to molecular data. In addition, the establishment of monitoring systems in different ecosystems worldwide will contribute new information on both the status and trends of biodiversity. This will add value to existing data already supplied from a few sites by the collaborating centres and in coordination with international bodies such as the CBD and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, will contribute in large measure to the establishment of high level indicators. Further value will be provided by the integration of research within specified target sites, and the availability of information gathered from the same sites by different disciplines will add to the richness of the observations from those sites. Richness of results will also be enhanced by working closely with experts in the management of natural resources in CRP 1.1 and other CRPs. A key element in realizing these benefits is SRT5's emphasis on the interoperability of information systems, ensuring that others can make full use of data gathered in SRT5 for their own purposes. Furthermore, we will use specifically adapted community-based tools for sharing local knowledge and information. Information and knowledge about the priority agricultural biodiversity will be linked to the services it provides in the agroecosystem.We have separated out five research topics in this SRT, but we must reiterate that these areas are mutually supportive and to some extent inseparable. We also know that links with other CRPs will need to be made on a crop-by-crop basis and with regard to specifics of each of the three broad research areas.Identifying priorities for conservation, at the levels of ecosystems, species, populations, varieties and sets of material, is vital in order to make optimal use of available and limited resources. Knowing what diversity is available where, and understanding the threats to that material, as well as its dynamics, are important first steps. In the end, the practical management and conservation of agricultural biodiversity on farm and in situ is a matter for national partners, which requires the development of tools and methods that internalise and reflect the global dimension of the conservation and management of genetic diversity. Directly and through regional groupings (for example through GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research), the Agricultural Biodiversity Initiative for Africa (ABIA) coordinated by FARA, the Suwon Declaration on Agricultural Biodiversity coordinated by APAARI and the regional strategy for conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in the Near East and North Africa region developed in collaboration with AARINENA, national partners have acknowledged the need for such tools and methods to help them identify priority species and geographical areas for such conservation efforts. This SRT will contribute to meeting these requests.From the perspective of crop and breed improvement, it will be important to understand the different types of value associated with particular wild relatives, breeds and landraces, and the timeframe over which threats may be expected to materialise. Drawing on studies of biological conservation, we will need to research how fragmentation affects the survival prospects of threatened populations. This includes not only ecosystem fragmentation but also the role played by informal seed and breeding systems and their spatial scale that affects the distribution of target agrobiodiversity. SRT5 will also build on existing efforts in order to capture long-term trends in the status of agricultural biodiversity. Many CGIAR centres have records that go back several years and research could help to make use of these to identify longterm patterns and promote future monitoring.Drawing on social science studies of the management and conservation of biological materials, we will research how institutional contexts can either facilitate or restrain conservation activities. It is expected that through the collection of some combination of interview, observation, transaction and survey data, it will be possible to understand how the CGIAR centres can most effectively promote and encourage in situ conservation through various diversity management options.It is important to be clear that in order to be successful SRT5 will focus its activities on carefully and collaboratively selected agroecosystems that are rich in agricultural biodiversity of global or regional importance; some will be within the Vavilovian centres of diversity and others in areas with unique agricultural biodiversity. Benchmark sites will be selected to represent major traditional farming systems and to include targeted species, a total of approximately 30 plant and animal species and their wild relatives, and the rangeland plant communities that support the livestock of herders and pastoralists. The vast bulk of the research activities of SRT5 will concentrate on these priority species in order to take full advantage of the synergies that will accrue if interdisciplinary efforts can be focused on a small but representative group of targets, in the full expectation that the research results will find wider applicability elsewhere.For location, a transparent and objective filtering mechanism, for example based on the prevalence of rainfed agriculture, poverty, and biological diversity will be used to select wide geographical zones in which to work, with the final selection of project agroecosystems, communities and sites to be agreed in full consultation with the other SRTs of CRP1.1 and with CRP1.2 and CRP1.3.For priority crops and species, SRT5 will draw on the collective experience of the proposal partners. From its earliest days Bioversity worked closely with local stakeholders to establish priority lists in each region. Such consultations were frequently conducted through local networks (for example WANANET Network, EAPGREN, CACT-PGR Network, ECPGR, EUFORGEN, etc), which played an important role in assisting NARS to identify priority species. These priority setting exercises were carried out with the participation of stakeholders, including representatives of research agencies, NGOs, CBOs and policy makers. For example, a major exercise organized in 1998 jointly with ICARDA and the WANANET Network was the priority setting conference for NUS dedicated to the Mediterranean region (Padulosi, 1999c) which was subsequently used in the development of the FAO State of the World Report (Padulosi, 1999b) and the debate over the inclusion of NUS into the FAO's Treaty for PGRFA (Padulosi, 1999a). (See Annex 1 for some outputs of this exercise.)Subsequent work has built on and strengthened these approaches to prioritysetting, most recently in the framework of an EU-ACP Project through two national workshops held in West and Eastern and Southern Africa. The project --to develop capacity for research on neglected and underutilized species in West Africa and Eastern/Southern Africa --is coordinated by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a network based in Uganda, in partnership with Bioversity International and six other national and international partners. A priority setting exercise took place in 2010 in order to focus the project's activities on the most important crop species and the most urgent research issues. (See Annex 2.)ILRI's past and on-going activities in Asia (Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and sub-Saharan Africa (Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Ethiopia and Kenya) have focused on the conservation of indigenous chicken, goat and sheep populations, selected and implemented in partnership with the respective national and regional partners. The proposed research would begin by focusing on areas of existing work that represent strategic locations relative to hotspots and current levels of threats to livestock diversity (Rege, Marshall, Notenbaert, Ojango, & Okeyo, 2011).As a result of these and many other similar exercises SRT5 can draw on extensive experience and expertise in establishing the criteria to be evaluated in the selection of priority species and several already agreed lists. We anticipate using these approaches during the inception workshops of CRP1.1, CRP1.2 and CRP1.3 to select priority target agrobiodiversity for each site. Wild relatives of species will be targeted not only within the selected sites, but also in other regions where they are distributed and are in need of research, conservation and management. Where they are important to community livelihoods, rangeland species will be a further subject for research.Four categories of agricultural biodiversity are of particular concern to this SRT: local and indigenous breeds of livestock; minor crops (neglected and underutilised species, NUS); farmer varieties or landraces (LR) of more major crops, and the wild relatives (CWR) of the priority species (and CWR of other species that may occur in the same habitats and that could benefit from conservation research). In addition, and where appropriate, the research will focus on rangeland species that support livestock of herders and pastoralists.Despite their importance for crop improvement, nutrition, resilience of agroecosystems, and adaptation to climate change, these categories of agricultural biodiversity are increasingly threatened by direct replacement with modern, genetically-uniform breeds and varieties and by changes in land use, over exploitation and climate change. While many crop-improvement CRPs (3.1-3.6) have a direct need for wild relatives and should incorporate their conservation and use in their research, collaboration through this component to develop widely applicable tools, methodologies and protocols to identify high-priority in situ conservation areas is clearly beneficial. In this regard, the conservation of natural habitats within the major centres of diversity of crops of global importance will be highly rewarding. For examples, as many as 39 species of wild relatives of major crops can be found sympatrically in Africa (Ramirez et al., 2009) and in the lomas of Peruvian coastal deserts wild potatoes, tomatoes, other solanums, oca, mashua, amaranths, maca, begonias and others coexist (see, for example, http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa42.htm); such regions would be worthwhile foci for the establishment by National partners of in situ conservation reserves as well as for multi-species collecting missions by CGIAR centres and concerned stakeholders. Similarly, the in situ conservation of dryland agrobiodiversity could continue to supply genes for adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change. Outside the classically understood centres of diversity, there are also areas that are geographically and culturally isolated, where levels of agricultural biodiversity might be expected to be both high and threatened, and we will undertake research to identify these and select some as target sites.There will be a need to pay more attention to the conservation of wild relatives and rangeland species in natural habitats and this will require the development of new partnerships with environmental agencies to ensure proper conservation and monitoring of CWR. Collaboration with CRP 6 will provide an opportunity for synergies in the development of tools and methods in support of more comprehensive conservation management strategies that include important genetic diversity of useful tree species including wild relatives and varieties of important tree crops. There is also a need to ensure that populations of CWR are included in global in situ conservation priorities and to ensure that conservation strategies are flexible enough to be able to cope with climate change.In this regard the proposal will complement the recently launched initiative to collect and enhance the use of endangered wild relatives of 26 species of food crop, being carried out by the Global Crop Diversity Trust in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, CGIAR centres and NARS institutions. This initiative focuses on ex situ conservation activities, including identification of gaps, collection and conservation of CWR and pre-breeding to make them more readily available to breeders. SRT5 will add value to that initiative by focussing on in situ conservation activities, including research on characterizing the growing environment and habitat ecosystem of the CWR.Results from this research will enable better prediction and modelling of individual species values, which will assist future breeding efforts to locate and use CWR.Similarly for neglected and underutilised species, which often represent important elements for nutrition, income generation and production buffering, a collaborative effort to research approaches that help to understand and manage on farm available biodiversity will be widely beneficial, as will efforts to work with wild species and introduce them into cultivation. Linkages with CRP 4, CRP 5 and CRP 7 will ensure that the research conducted under this SRT will be widely used for improved management of genetic resources. These activities will also contribute to filling information gaps on the state of biodiversity in the State of the World PGRFA and the Global Plan of Action PGRFA produced periodically by FAO, as well as contributing to the existing IUCN Red List for CWR and the development of a new Red List system for cultivated plants.Landraces, like NUS, are important elements in the livelihood strategies of smallholder farmers in many parts of the world (Jarvis, Hodgkin, Sthapit, Fadda, & López Noriega, 2011). These varieties are used, among others reasons, to adapt to marginal or specific agricultural ecosystems (Barry et al., 2007), to cope with environmental heterogeneity and climatic variability (Duc et al., 2010;Bellon, Hodson, & Hellin, 2011), for pest and diseases management (Finckh, 2008), for climatic risk management (Bhandari, 2009), to satisfy cultural and religious needs (Rana, Garforth, & Sthapit, 2008), and for their nutritional properties (Johns & Sthapit, 2004). A better understanding of the trends and amount of diversity available to farmers in different agroecosystems and the management of this resource will lead to better conservation and management strategies, which will help to ensure that this diversity will continue to evolve and adapt to changing conditions. Linkages with CRP 3, CRP 4, CRP 5 and CRP 7 will ensure that the LR traits will be used and managed by farmers and scientists.Conservation of the existing livestock diversity, particularly through links to improved use, has a role to play in securing the future (Gibson et al., 2006;Oldenbroek, 2007) and if well planned and implemented allows for immediate realization of benefits from these resources, as well as potential for integration in longer-term efforts to improve performance.Five research topics will form a coherent research strategy for in situ and on farm conservation and management:1.Status and trends of target agrobiodiversity: Understanding the status and trends of genetic diversity of varieties, breeds and species in centres of diversity and the threats to its maintenance and diversity, developing long-term monitoring tools and identifying biodiversity-rich areas for in situ conservation.Target species in systems: Development of in situ and on farm management approaches, tools and methodologies: Developing globally applicable methods, decision-support tools and intervention strategies for in situ management of agricultural biodiversity in identified biodiversity-rich areas. To include also the development and demonstration of technological, socio-economic, institutional and policy options for promoting communitydriven in situ conservation.Facilitating use of target agrobiodiversity: Characterising, evaluating and searching for useful traits and qualities in populations conserved in situ and on farm, of species important for diversification of farming systems and incomesInformation and knowledge supporting in situ conservation and management: Developing systems that gather and make available different kinds of information related to material conserved on farm and in situ, with a strong focus on indigenous knowledge and the involvement of farming communities as providers and users of information.Policy and strategies to support in situ management and availability of agricultural biodiversity: The need to understand how policies and the legal framework affect the in situ management and availability of agricultural biodiversity is an essential element in fostering good conservation management and in making use of plant genetic resources.Crucially, research topics 4 and 5 above are absolutely essential to achieving impact. We are not interested in conservation for its own sake, but only insofar as the conserved material, and information about it, can be managed and used, by farmers as well as by breeders and other scientists. For that reason these two topics will serve the needs of the others, and there will also be tight linkages between this agricultural biodiversity SRT and appropriate elements in CRPs 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and elsewhere.For each research topic, we provide overall and specific objectives, research questions, methods and research approaches and research outputs.Very little is known about the pattern of distribution of genetic diversity and how it is changing over time, despite the importance of this agricultural biodiversity for food security, nutrition and ecological and livelihood resilience. There is evidence that agrobiodiversity is globally under threat of genetic erosion and even extinction (Padulosi, Hodgkin, Williams, & Haq, 2002;Amri et al., 2005;Mazid et al., 2005;Maxted & Kell, 2009;Pilling, 2010). On the other hand, there are also well-documented cases where no erosion has been documented (Bezançon et al., 2008). Better information on the status and trends of in situ agricultural biodiversity is thus crucially necessary. This research topic will gather evidence on the status and trends of genetic diversity of target agrobiodiversity in priority ecosystems in a new global and collaborative effort. This approach will bring new information on the amount of functional and neutral genetic diversity and how it can be used to tackle the challenges facing agricultural production.The overall objective of this research topic is to gain a better understanding of the extent and distribution of the genetic diversity of selected agricultural biodiversity, to assess the degree of genetic erosion within priority genepools and to identify priority areas of high diversity for in situ and on farm conservation and use. The selection of priority geographical hotspots and priority species will be undertaken in close collaboration with national programme partners, including national advanced research institutes, farmer organizations and civil society organizations.Research under this topic will have the following specific objectives: ł To identify specific priority areas for conservation action in primary and secondary centres of diversity.ł To prioritise selected target agrobiodiversity for in situ and on farm management interventions using selected, agreed criteria.ł To investigate the extent, distribution and geographical location of genetic diversity of the target populations, using neutral and functional molecular markers and other technologies.ł To describe the dynamic behaviour of NUS and LR populations in their agroecosystems and the factors which affect it, including geneflow as a result of farmer selection and seed systems.ł To understand the dynamics of CWR populations in their natural environment, including threats and their impact on population genetics.ł To develop and test methodologies for benchmark establishment and strategies for periodic monitoring of the status of target agrobiodiversity globally.ł To train key stakeholders in the multidisciplinary analysis of target agrobiodiversity and its dynamics.Key research questions to be addressed include:ł How do we prioritise specific areas in primary and secondary areas of diversity?ł How do we prioritise target populations for in situ and on farm conservation in those selected agroecosystems? ł How to design a long-term monitoring system? How many observatories should be chosen and where? What variables should be recorded, considering the plant material and farmer practices?A number of different approaches can be used to set priorities for conservation including ecogeographic procedures (Guarino, Rao, & Reid, 1995;Guarino, Rao, & Goldberg, 2011), use-criteria systematic conservation planning (Margules & Pressey, 2000), gap analysis (Maxted, Dulloo, Ford-Lloyd, Iriondo, & Jarvis, 2008), surveys of traditional farming systems (Mazid et al., 2005) and the use of GIS/RS tools (De Pauw, 2005). These approaches are all concerned with assessing the distribution of target materials, the distribution of their genetic diversity, determining the socioeconomic importance of the material and analysing risks and threats to the sustained availability of this diversity. The Status & Trends research topic will use the most relevant methods to define criteria for identification of about 30 priority crops, breeds and species and 8 priority geographical areas for in situ and on farm conservation in different ecosystems and regions in order to ensure global coverage. Such criteria may include degree of threats, the representation of the different taxa in ex situ collections (using gap analysis), presence in protected areas, information about on farm conservation and breeding systems, among others.It should be noted that the criteria to select priority species are different for each category of target agrobiodiversity. While conservation status may be more important for CWR, importance to livelihoods and the cultural role played by the species in the selected sites is more relevant for NUS and LR. For prioritising sites, selection for areas exposed to higher threats, poverty and or malnutrition and those areas that contain genetic diversity of global importance will be considered. In addition, major centres of diversity (such as Vavilov centres of diversity or other secondary centres of diversity, often associated with geographical and cultural isolation) and areas with extreme environmental conditions (e.g. heat and cold, frequent droughts, salinity etc) will also be considered, because populations adapted to these conditions may be of particular value for breeding for current and future needs and for the rehabilitation of degraded systems. Although diversity might be low in extreme environments, these populations may possess adapted genes that are of global interest in view of climate change. Special attention will be given to southern and eastern Africa, given the recognition that Africa (except Ethiopia) has not been well sampled, and yet contains important centres of diversity for many of the target populations. The Status & Trends research topic will clearly need to have a global scope but will not cover species that are already covered in CRPs that contain elements of in situ conservation (e.g. CRP 1.1 for West Africa, CRP 6 for tree species).The comparative advantages of the participating centres in given regions will also be a determining factor in site selection, with each centre taking the lead in a specific region, but all centres will participate in other regions where justified, using common methodologies. In this respect, similar research activities will be carried out in each identified region to allow global analysis.Research under Status & Trends will produce a better understanding of the dynamics of loss of diversity and identify threats, making use of genetic erosion studies involving advanced molecular and innovative information tools as well as the use of historic information about collecting missions held by CGIAR and its partners. It is possible (with appropriate safeguards) to compare the molecular diversity in representative historical germplasm collections from a particular site with those still present in the sampled site (Vigouroux et al., 2011). In some cases, data on diversity and its dynamics can be linked to biotic, abiotic, social and economic factors. If significant correlations are found, these factors can form the basis for an early warning system to predict possible future losses of diversity. The research would also include the use of geographical information systems and remote sensing (GIS/RS) for assessing changes in land use and land cover and for monitoring diversity and its threats. Diversity indices will be developed using the results of eco-geographic surveys and the information from GIS/RS analysis.Understanding better the reasons why farming communities maintain or discard intraspecific and interspecific agrobiodiversity and the practices that result in the evolutionary dynamics of diversity on-farm is needed to design and implement efficient in situ management and conservation strategies. Developing this understanding will require the use of multidisciplinary approaches combining social and biological sciences. These challenging approaches need further improvement but have been developed and used by CGIAR centres and their partners (Barnaud, Deu, Garine, McKey, & Joly, 2007;Rana, Garforth, Sthapit, & Jarvis, 2007;Bazile & Weltzien, 2008). Although this has rarely been done in the past, there will be a need, and an opportunity, to assess the diversity of the set of crop species grown by farming communities, reflecting the fact that the planting area and variety choice for a specific crop will surely be influenced by choices made for other crops. Links will be established with other CRPs that are developing system approaches, because other changes in agricultural systems (such as intensification, increased market-orientation, farm size, etc) are likely to impact diversity on-farm. The research will help to identify the variables that need to be recorded for long term monitoring of in situ diversity.Understanding patterns of conservation and ongoing evolution from the standpoint of genetics and population dynamics, and at the landscape level, is essential to explain processes of adaptation and loss of genetic diversity in response to change and to predict the rate of future provision of ecosystem services originating from farmer-driven in-situ management of agrobiodiversity. Different components of ongoing evolution will be studied:I. Evolution of animal and plant populations and native model species through sexual pathways (gene flow, hybridization, introgression) and farmer management (selection).II. Influence of environmental stress and human management on the population dynamics and genetic integrity of species under domestication.In depth genetic and ethnographic studies will be conducted with model species such as wild, semi-wild and cultivated potato species complexes in Bolivia and southern Peru. Baseline inventories of agrobiodiversity in key hotspots will be documented in catalogues and atlases, so as to facilitate long-term future monitoring of the status of key in-situ populations. Methods will include gene-flow studies, high-throughput-genotyping using COS, SNP and SSR genetic markers, morphological characterization, sexual compatibility studies, phenology, cytogenetics, seed stock surveys, seed regeneration and population structure trials, genetic gap analysis, participatory GIS, household and field surveys, population dynamics and ecology studies, among others. The development of a vulnerability index that accompanies baseline documentation along the network of long-term conservation monitoring sites will be essential.Eco-geographic and botanic surveys will use transects and quadrats and other appropriate sampling methods with Corine 2 levels 2 and 3 will be used to assess land use and land cover. Sites and individual quadrats will be georeferenced to allow time-series data to be accumulated. GIS/RS will also be used to assess and visualize the threats to biodiversity and to determine areas with similar biodiversity by making use of environmental similarities. This work will be complemented with continuing analysis of existing protected and well-managed areas so that lessons learned can be applied more widely to contribute to the conservation of CWR and rangeland species. The information generated will be compiled in existing databases, for example the one developed by ICARDA (see above) and will be made available to other databases and knowledge systems, including those developed in CRP5 and CRP7. This work will also be complemented by the work done in CRP 6, specifically on the identification of the status of and threats to populations of priority tree species.Research will also be carried out to determine whether the target populations are viable or threatened and to determine their levels of neutral and functional diversity. Overall genetic diversity will be measured through phenotypic and molecular characterization. Extensive use of neutral molecular markers such as microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is envisaged to answer this question. This will allow assessment of the impact of genetic drift on genetic variation, of the level of inbreeding within populations, and of the amount of gene flow between or within populations. Analysis of livestock, LR and NUS will differ from CWR and rangeland species in that the former are subject not only to natural selection but also to human selection made by farmers when they choose reproductive material.All relevant CGIAR centres will work in partnership to develop common methodologies for assessing the extent and status of genetic diversity of priority crops and species, which will serve as model species. Standardized tools will be developed for aggregating data from different regions in order to develop global indicators that will facilitate monitoring status and trends, and these will serve as key inputs in models to predict future distribution. Easy-tomeasure and scientifically-sound indicators of conservation status will be developed using methodologies reviewed by Brown (2008) and validated with data from molecular diversity studies in order to become part of a global set of agricultural indicators. A methodology for assessing the endangerment level of cultivated NUS species, analogous to the IUCN Red List system, will be developed and NUS in target countries will be evaluated to provide lists of threatened species. Similarly, the feasibility of using sentinel species to monitor the status of NUS will be investigated.Finally, by focusing on both neutral and functional diversity in CWR and rangeland species, this research will contribute to shedding light on the role of processes such as environmental degradation, climate change and disruption of species and population interactions in species extinction, thus moving forward from a traditional perspective focused almost exclusively on the effects of drift and lack of geneflow associated with habitat fragmentation. The extent of the interaction between these non-genetic effects and genetic processes, summarized as genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions, is as yet largely unknown. How populations adapt to a changing environment, and what effects drift and inbreeding have on this process, are also to a great extent unknown.The research outputs of this topic will be relevant to CRP 5 and CRP 7, because a better understanding of the genetic diversity and the adaptive potential of varieties, breeds and species is important to enhance the resilience of agro-ecosystems and to use this diversity to adapt to and cope with climate change.ł List of prioritized target agrobiodiversity and priority areas for in situ and on farm conservation of these varieties, breeds and species.ł A network of key sites (hotspots) for documentation and long-term monitoring of in-situ populations established.ł Methodologies and tools developed for spatial analysis of diversity, in close collaboration with the spatial analysis efforts in other CRPs. NARS trained in their application and priority conservation actions identified.ł Methods to prioritize the diversity of genetic resources maintained by poor farmers.ł Better understanding of the genetic structure, functional diversity and the adaptive potential of LR, CWR and NUS in crops with different breeding systems.ł Better understanding of the impact of farmer choices in breeding and seed systems in the amount and distribution of genetic diversity and the dynamics of its changes.ł Extent of genetic diversity loss in situ documented for at least 30 varietes, breeds and species in 8 hotspots.ł Scientifically-sound indicators developed for assessing levels of genetic diversity conserved in situ and associated threat levels.ł Set of monitoring sites for target agrobiodiversity established across Vavilov and secondary centres of diversity and monitoring methodologies established.ł Evidence of ongoing evolution in populations of target agrobiodiversity as a response to environmental change.ł Lists of threatened varieties, breeds and species developedA variety of different approaches and tools are available to encourage the conservation and enhance the management of target agrobiodiversity in situ, and these need to be refined and better understood and disseminated to stakeholders who are enabled to use them. Management plans, to include low-cost technologies, added-value options, alternative sources of income, institutional arrangements and enabling policy options, will be included to allow the empowerment of local communities to enhance the conservation of local agrobiodiversity in selected areas. A better understanding of this genetic diversity will also be used to explore how it can be used for sustainable intensification.The ł How are the priority target populations currently managed in the identified hotspots? How do the hotspots match the Myers biodiversity hotspots, and are there opportunities for synergies in their protection?ł What is the role of gender in conserving target agrobiodiversity on farm and in situ? How do the roles of women and men differ, and how can they be better understood to promote effective management.ł What low-technology options, alternatives sources of income, added-value technologies, institutional arrangements and policy recommendations (management plans) are needed to promote community-driven conservation of target agrobiodiversity and agroecosystems?The knowledge and results generated by the research topic on Status & Trends will inform the development of long-term strategies, as requested by national partners, for maintaining populations of targeted agrobiodiversity for dynamic conservation in the face of different environmental challenges and threats, such as climate change and other drivers. This research topic will focus on investigating optimal conservation and management strategies and will promote interventions that would ensure the maintenance of the evolutionary capacity of the resources (Maxted, Ford-Lloyd, Kell, Iriondo, Dulloo, & Turok, 2008;Jarvis et al., 2011). These strategies will take into account the effective population sizes needed for continued evolution and the impact of fragmentation of populations on their long term survival. It will target species having different life histories, distribution patterns and ecological niches. Methodologies will include ecogeographic studies for priority model species, surveys and establishing a network of genetic reserves that will be representative of a broad genetic range of target species. The research will build upon the methodologies developed in previous projects led by the four centres on in situ and on farm conservation, for example the assessment and trend analysis for several crops species in 75 monitoring areas in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine for the period of 1999-2010 undertaken by ICARDA. This experience will be expanded to other target regions and priority species identified in the Status & Trends topic.A second set of research questions relates to the design and implementation of conservation actions and management plans and strategies such that conservation interventions are effective and efficient. Based on previous experiences of the in situ conservation of CWR (Hunter & Heywood, 2010), common in situ methodologies will be developed in partnership with communities (including children and women), protected area managers and policy makers, national institutions, NGOs, and the private sector. Research will develop and test management plans and strategies, methods and interventions to accomplish this at national levels. To date, research on dynamic conservation has consisted of unrelated case studies that focus on one or two key species and that use ad hoc methodologies and locations. The proposed research, by contrast, will take into account the interactions of multiple species in the systems where they coexist, and will ensure crosslearning that results in a toolkit that will be widely applicable to other species and conditions beyond those for which it was developed.It is also important to test and compare different management actions within and outside protected areas and investigate what is feasible. Management plans may include suitable technologies, added-value options, alternative sources of income, institutional options and enabling policies targeting the promotion of given species, an ecosystem, a landscape or a protected area. Proposed options could be implemented at any of several levels, from field or natural habitat through farm, community, national, regional to the global level. Such management plans need to be implemented at the community level, (with emphasis on the empowerment of women and local communities) and coordinated and harmonized at national and international levels. In some cases it may be more cost effective to conserve threatened populations ex situ, and links to ex situ conservation will be explored with the major crop CRPs in such cases. Linkages will be established with other CRPs (e.g. CRP 6) involved in developing best approaches for conservation of genetic diversity.Particularly for plant species, where ex-situ conservation in genebanks is more advanced, it is widely suggested that in situ and ex situ conservation should be complementary although there is much less clarity on what this means (Engels, Ramanatha, Brown, & Jackson, 2002). It would seem obvious that complementarity of some kind is desirable to achieve the most efficient use of resources, the conservation of the optimum level of diversity and a balance between static conservation and dynamic evolution and adaptation.Research under this topic will develop the required collaboration with national programmes so as to explore what constitutes effective complementarity for the priority crops in different environments and socio-economic contexts. The research would explore whether there is a subset of populations or varieties that need to be conserved both ex situ and in situ, what genetic content and population sizes are appropriate for effective complementarity, what are the differing effects of selection in situ and through genebank management practices on neutral and functional diversity, what are the flows of material are needed between in situ and ex situ conservation, in both directions. In some cases, analyses of threats to in situ CWR or crop populations may conclude that effective in situ conservation is impossible to implement, making ex situ conservation the only option. In other cases, the absence of sustainable ex situ conservation systems for some crops will make in situ conservation absolutely necessary. Such a research programme could be conducted in an extremely cost effective way through collaboration between centres contributing to CRPs1, 3 and 5. It would also need to bring in national programmes and botanic garden partners who play an important role in ex situ conservation of crop wild relatives. For example, Kew's Millennium Seed Bank may now have one of the largest collections of crop wild relatives in the world at the species level. The research would help stakeholders to design an optimal balance of actions in each arena for a given species under given circumstances and could explore how the approach might vary at national as compared with regional or global levels for conservation of a taxon.To promote on farm conservation of NUS, an analysis and understanding of the management of the target taxa in the selected sites is needed, bearing in mind the different roles of men and women (and other social stratifications). In particular, it will be important to understand the role these species play in farmers' livelihoods, what are the uses of those crops and how and when they are managed. This understanding will require collaboration with CRPs 4, 5 and 7. Some of the target species will require efforts to bring them to cultivation for the diversification of cropping systems and farmers' incomes and to reduce the over-exploitation of natural populations.Alternative sources of income and payments for agrobiodiversity conservation may be appropriate when on farm conservation is considered of high priority and there are no other incentives to promote such conservation. In this respect, collaboration with the other CRPs will be very important to identify non-monetary incentives for conservation (e.g. nutritional value, pest and disease control, adaptation to climate change or to particularly unfavourable environmental conditions). For wild relatives it will be important to understand whether and how they are used by farmers as food, medicines or to improve the cultivated varieties and breeds, thus interacting with the production system. Landraces too play various important roles in livelihoods and farm systems. The experiences of on-farm conservation conducted by ICARDA and CIP (see Lessons Learned section above) can be used to expand this methodology to other priority areas and to other priority agrobiodiversity and can be integrated with experiences from other centres (e.g. the global on-farm conservation initiative coordinated by Bioversity, which resulted in a heuristic framework for supporting the conservation of traditional crop varieties on farm developed by Jarvis et al. (2011)) and the economic and policy incentive mechanisms being researched in CRP2 and CRP5.In situ conservation requires an effective team to implement the activities and this research topic will also ensure that national stakeholders are trained effectively to manage the in situ populations of the targeted agrobiodiversity and in the development and implementation of management plans.ł Priority populations of wild relatives of genetic resources conserved in situ through the development of networks of genetic reserves across 8 hotspot areas and the development and testing of management plants in pilot areas.ł Catalogues with up-to-date indicators of conservation status and vulnerability of target agrobiodiversity in key hotspots published and maintained.ł Improved understanding of the link between poverty and genetic resource diversity and clarification of the dynamics and drivers of this link.ł Improved understanding of the role of women in the management of agricultural biodiversity in situ.ł Tool kit for in situ and on farm conservation of target agrobiodiversity produced, based on a thorough systematization of different R&D experiences during the past two decades in the Vavilov centres.ł Incentive strategies for dynamically maintaining genetic resource diversity targeted to the local communities tested and assessed in at least 8 hotspots.ł Decision support tools for deciding on the balance of ex situ and in situ conservation strategies ł The role of genetic diversity in sustainable intensification better understood.ł Economic methods, decision-support tools and incentive mechanisms tested and developed for supporting the valuation of genetic resources and the design of cost-effective, diversitymaximising conservation strategies.ł NARs scientists and other stakeholders trained on in situ conservation techniques.The conservation of agricultural biodiversity in situ is not a goal in itself and must be complemented with the sustainable use of these resources for improved production systems and livelihoods as well as crop and livestock enhancement through breeding. Making available information about conserved resources is vitally important, for farmers and breeders and scientists, and is a key element in this proposal, while making the material itself available is an element in this proposal's research topic on Policies and Strategies. This topic aims to help farmers, breeders and other scientists to make use of material conserved on farm and in situ.A key goal will be to research the interdependency of different kinds of ecosystem service derived from biodiversity. The conservation and evolution of existing and new genetic resources (i.e., cultivars and breeds, genes, and alleles) represent an essential supporting service with long-term global implications for crop and livestock improvement, bioprospecting, and gene mining, and for future generations to be able to confront unforeseen food security, medical, and (bio)technological challenges. Other ecosystem support services derived from biodiversity include the provision of habitats for endemic CWRs, wild food plants, and natural enemies of crop pests. However, these habitats are frequently under severe pressure and there is a need to scientifically demonstrate the evolutionary and economic value of their conservation. Furthermore, agrobiodiversity within patchy mountain and complex multi-strata forest agro-ecosystems provides numerous regulating services, ranging from conscious risk management by smallholders through the employment of varietal mixtures and field scattering to integrated pest and disease management (Power, 2010). Cultural services derived from wild and cultivated diversity, including the immanence of cosmovision or traditional environmental knowledge, are important drivers for on-farm conservation (Posey, 1999;Prain, G. et al., 2000). These services underpin the provisioning contribution of agrobiodiversity, the production of nutritious food (Hassan, Scholes, & Ash, 2005), including essential micronutrients, and economic benefits, which may potentially be derived from niche and novel food value chains (Ordinola et al., 2007;Brondizio, 2008).The social welfare and ecosystems implications of food systems are interconnected, especially when food systems prioritize the provisioning services of ecosystems (i.e., the production, processing, and marketing of goods at the expense of other services which in the longer term support that provisioning). This issue will be explored through proposed research on resilience. However, we also propose looking at tradeoffs between ecosystem benefits and the development of value chains. In particular, we will examine the potential of novel, niche-market and inclusive value chains based on agrobiodiversity to enhance rural income and at the same time improve the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems. Successful cases are known for the Andes and Amazon (e.g., Brondizio 2008, Ordinola et al. 2007).Lessons and principles can be drawn from these experiences to enhance value chains of other biodiversity-based high-value products such as fruits, essential oils and nuts.The overall objective of this research topic is to evaluate the potential of the in situ and on farm populations of target agrobiodiversity in providing goods and services. It will have the following specific objectives:ł To document local knowledge on uses and adaptive traits of target crops and species.ł To understand the operations of and constraints on informal seed systems and associated traditional knowledge, and interactions with the formal seed sector, and to make use of that understanding to improve the informal systems to support the use of agricultural biodiversity. The role of women in these systems will be of particular concern.ł To provide characterization and evaluation information of the target agrobiodiversity conserved in situ.ł To research adaptive traits present in selected target varieties, breeds and species to different biotic and abiotic stresses.ł To contribute to determining the relationships between the agrobiodiversity complexes in key agroecosystems and the capacity of associated food and livelihood systems to reduce poverty and food and nutrition insecurity.ł How can valuable indigenous knowledge about target agrobiodiversity be captured and integrated with classical descriptors?ł Based on their adaptive potential, which wild relatives of crops and which landraces are most valuable from the perspective of crop enhancement by farmers and breeders?ł What adaptive traits are present in the target livestock and how do they correlate with the other key productive and reproductive traits? This will inform how best can they be use in selective breeding programmes.ł Can ecosystem services provided through the in-situ conservation, management and evolution of local agrobiodiversity be enhanced as a pathway out of poverty?ł How do changes in food systems and their different components affect the three key outcomes of food systems: nutrition security, social welfare, and linked ecosystem functioning and services (Ericksen, 2008)?ł How can useful qualities be identified?Research under the Status & Trends topic examines the full range of genetic diversity of in situ populations of target agrobiodiversity through phenotypic and molecular characterization as well as the environmental and geographic characteristics of their sites. This information will be used in this research topic first to identify populations for initial work and to develop a catalogue for prioritization, making use of surveys of farmers, breeders and NARs. From this catalogue, partners will work to identify traits with adaptive potential for breeding, crop improvement and the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems. It is proposed to use the Focussed Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) approach (Mackay, Street, Mitrofanova, Konopka, & Berger, 2004) to identify plant populations likely to contain traits of value to user communities. Promising material will be characterized and evaluated for morphological and agronomic traits, using existing genebank descriptor sets and new descriptors and assessment tools to be developed, noting that GIS/RS information collected under the other research topics is an essential component of this evaluation. Once tested, information about the most promising varieties will be made available to CGIAR centres for crop improvement and breeding and directly to farmer groups to use in adapting their farming systems. Information on useful traits will be collated in a database and made available to all interested stakeholders (see Research Topic 4 Information & Knowledge).A further element in this research topic will be to develop platforms to allow the exchange of information from historical assessments and incoming streams of data derived from molecular biology and other advanced technologies. This area will require close collaboration with other CRPs and advanced research partners, bringing in scientists and information managers to contribute to a range of tools that will enhance the flow of information back and forth between farmers, conservation managers, breeders and other scientists.That on-farm conserved genetic contributes to creating greater ecosystem and socio-ecological resilience (its \"insurance value\") is generally not valued from an economic perspective nor is it visible to policy-makers. Quantitative interdisciplinary scientific evidence needs to be generated to demonstrate the resilience provided by agrobiodiversity. Three dimensions of ecosystem and socio-ecological resilience will be researched using integrated and interdisciplinary approaches:I. Stability of flow of goods contributed by intra-and infraspecific diversity of specific cultivar and species complexes under conditions of increased environmental stress.II. Ability of contrasting household economies (diversified vs nondiversified) and variable types of social networks in agrobiodiversity hotspots to overcome and recover from environmental stresses or shocks.III. Ability of endemic CWRs to cope with and adapt to conditions of environmental change (including climate change and habitat modification).Specific methods used will include time-series comparisons based on satellite images, modelling of probabilistic scenarios of environmental change, participatory GIS, intentional exposure trials, yield stability trials and assessments, seed flow surveys, social network mapping, EcoCrop modelling, multi-year studies of genetics and population dynamics, inventories of drivers of local change and mitigation plans, and development of CWR management plans.Research will include studies focusing on the food systems of different types of beneficiary groups: indigenous peoples and migrant populations. We will examine the cultural and nutritional contributions of diets high in locally acquired foodstuffs compared with diets based on exotic products. In the highlands of Peru and Bolivia these studies will also be undertaken in food systems based on root and tuber crops (linking with CRP3.3), especially comparing populations exposed to extensive migration and external influences.Value-chain methods will be used to compare the marketing of animal products and NUS and LR and to understand variability in economic and environmental costs and benefits. Participatory market chain assessment involves the assessment of the different actors involved in the market chain, from production to consumption, in a social and economic characterization of the linkages and identification of opportunities. The market opportunity appraisal assesses which fresh or processed products offer the best economic opportunities for producers and processors (Ostertag Gálvez et al., 2005). Market readiness analysis assesses assets and connectedness to markets and service providers, and levels of innovation as a predictive method for supporting value-chain engagement (Best, Lundy, & Ferris, 2009).Enterprise design involves development of mini-business plans as well as the establishment of market and service provider linkages. We will pay particular attention to the identification of iconic target populations, both for fair trade and in what we call \"eco-trade\"; that is, where the species makes a particular contribution to conserving ecosystems and their services. Expected outcomes of this research include the establishment of an incentive structure that favours the development of value chains that conserve genetic diversity and a wide range of ecosystem services. It is also expected that the public and private sectors will use the knowledge generated about value-chain actors and relationships, market opportunities, and the requirements for entering the market to establish enterprises that capture niche markets whilst conserving biodiversity.The mechanisms by which farmers acquire and exchange seeds and animals are key processes in the maintenance of and changes in agrobiodiversity (Badstue et al., 2007;Hodgkin et al., 2007;Aleman, Thomet, Bazile, & Pham, 2010). Informal seed systems and their connections to the conventional seed sector will be studied, as will the exchange of breeding animals. Projects that combine modelling and participatory approaches are under development (IMAS for example (Belem, Bousquet, Müller, Bazile, & H, 2011)) and the proposed SRT will make use of these.Linkages with other CRPs will be essential in ensuring that the conserved material is managed and also made more widely available to breeders and scientists for production improvement (CRP 3) and to farmers for nutritional traits (CRP 4), enhancing resilience (CRP 5) and adaptation to climate change (CRP 7).ł Innovative methodologies to collect farmers' knowledge in order to integrate it into more classical descriptors.ł Characterization and evaluation data and information on specific adaptive traits are made available for inclusion in information systems.ł Evidence to show that the ongoing evolution of plant genetic resources in ecosystems contributes essential supporting, regulating, cultural, and provisioning services that so far have been inadequately understood by science.ł The varied contributions of agrobiodiversity to livelihoods of different beneficiary groups in contrasting ecologies analyzed and strengthened.ł Environmental, social, and economic trade-offs between value chains based on wild and cultivated diversity are modelled and sustainable value-chain scenarios developed.ł Knowledge of seed and breeding systems can be used to foster the in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity through participatory approaches.To repeat, the conservation of agricultural biodiversity in situ and on farm is not a goal in itself and must be complemented with the sustainable use of these resources.The knowledge accumulated over several generations by farmers, no less than the information gathered over decades by researchers in agricultural biodiversity, is essential to improving conservation management and use in the future. This research topic processes and makes the information gathered by SRT5 widely available at the same time as providing essential support to the other activities in this component. A crucial element in the activities is to ensure that this information and knowledge is available to, and can be re-used by, other information systems, including the Knowledge Sharing Centres of CRP1.1 and by other information systems developed by other CRPs (e.g. CRP3, CRP5, CRP7) to support breeding strategies, identification of ecosystem services, early warning tools, etc. The role of communities in supplying their own indigenous knowledge and in being given access to the indigenous knowledge of other communities will also be central to this research topic. Documenting traditional knowledge in databases and registries of various kinds provides the potential to protect TK, avoid erosion and enable transfer and further innovation. To this end, some degree of codification of TK will be necessary. TK holders have announced a series of claims, for example to be identified as authors or inventors of their knowledge, to be able to control access to their knowledge, to be compensated for its use, to preserve national identity, and to preserve the organizational structure that enables the continuous production and use of their knowledge. As a result, public access to and use of this knowledge will necessitate the prior agreement of the communities involved and recognition of their authorship (Brahy, 2006). The harvesting, curation and distribution of a wide range of different kinds of information and knowledge from a wide variety of sources efficiently and conveniently, will improve the conservation, management and use of target crops and species not only by scientists but, equally importantly, by farmers and pastoralists and development practitioners. Traditional knowledge will be collected and made available respecting norms associated with farmers' rights, access and benefit sharing, and the protection of traditional knowledge. This research in this topic will be linked to the methodology applied in Research Topics 1, 3 and 5.Characterization and evaluation, already a key element in database systems for material conserved in genebanks, is an essential area in which the provision of information needs to be expanded. A crucial area for future research is how best to present formal characterisation and evaluation data for what might be termed \"farmers' traits\" for material conserved on farm and in situ, along with environmental and other variables associated with a particular set of material, in such a way as to maximise its usefulness. This will support the identification of functional roles of the target varieties, breeds and species within agroecosystems and will contribute to the upscaling of the research results. There is also a need to formalise and incorporate information that captures the conservation and cultural practices applied by communities to the agricultural biodiversity they work with, and the ways communities interact with informal and formal seed and breeding systems. Partnership with the crop CRPs will be crucial to expand the knowledge base and give access to data on the performance of CWR and NUS that have not been characterised through a classic breeders' evaluation process. In gathering such information, we will ensure that the key role of women as traditional knowledge holders is recognized and reflected in research designs, along with the definite role of women in management decisions and planting practices relevant to the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity on their farms (Feder, Just, & Zilberman, 1985;Knowler & Bradshaw, 2007).The overall objective of the Information and Knowledge research topic is to research and develop tools and systems that will allow the other research topics to present their work in ways that enhance the management and use of material conserved in situ. The topic will therefore be guided to a large extent by the needs of other scientists in the component. However, there are additional objectives, such as curating and making available different kinds of knowledge, making sure that the tools suit end users, ensuring interoperability with other information systems and adapting other protocols for use with in situ and on farm material, that have applications in all the research topics and beyond.Among tools and methodologies that need further development are:ł Support for recording and making available the data collected in SRT5 and ensuring the provision of fit-for-use data that support the methods for monitoring different approaches to in situ conservation, taking into account various kinds and levels of threat, and training for national partners.ł Tools to support characterization and evaluation of target agrobiodiversity to be performed in research topic 3 (Facilitating use), making use of farmers' and herders' criteria, including the uses and the functional roles of the species, and to link these with climatic and other environmental data.ł Information on the status of agrobiodiversity conservation in situ, including indigenous and traditional knowledge obtained from communities, for example as maintained in Community Biodiversity Registers, and data about causes of erosion. Enhanced socioeconomic data collected through available sources.ł In support of research topic 5 (Policy and strategies) attention will be given to documentation and knowledge about existing systems to facilitate the dissemination and adoption of selected varieties, breeds and species. Enhanced information regarding the status and distribution of wild relatives and, where appropriate, characterization and evaluation data, which will support gap analyses for conservation.The value of this work will continue to increase along with the power of the information systems, the amount of information available (including, for example, molecular, geographic and environmental data) and the expanding ways in which they can be combined. To these must be added increasingly powerful information systems, making use of citizen-science tools and gathering additional knowledge and information. Improving access and usability of information on in situ and on farm agricultural biodiversity, and making it available to other sources of information about material in ex situ collections world-wide, will provide a powerful tool to enable researchers and farmers to make full use of the total diversity available. As they struggle to adapt to climate change and find income opportunities, farmers will need more and better information about the diversity available to them. This component will research the kinds of information farmers need and can use, ways of enabling them to request such information and material, especially from other farming communities, and novel approaches to the capture and delivery of information to farmers, including channels such as remote sensing, citizen science tools and mobile telephony. Information systems also need to be able to inform policies to encourage benefit sharing with conservator communities.ł How can data on taxononomy, genetics, phenotypic expression, environmental data and community knowledge on target agrobiodiversity be brought together and made available in a meaningful way to farming and herding communities and scientists (including linkages with CRP 5 and CRP 7), while respecting norms for TK?ł How can the traits farmers use for the characterisation and evaluation of material important to them be gathered, documented, verified, linked to formal assessments, and shared?ł How can characterization and evaluation data be processed to contribute to the identification of functional traits or services that species bring to agroecosystems?ł Can the list of priority species be used as a model to develop methods for online connections among the various kinds of information and relate them to specific populations of target crops and species?ł How can historical records be used to assess distribution, erosion, threats and vulnerabilities of the target agrobiodiversity?ł Can citizen science tools be developed to be used by target communities to enhance the ability of farmers, field workers and communities to contribute knowledge and information on key aspects of target agrobiodiversity?Valuable and accessible sources of relevant data and knowledge will be identified for the priority species in order to assess gaps and the feasibility of filling them in order to build an adequate information system. Sources will be categorized and documented for their coverage, their accessibility and the role they can play in the information and knowledge system of this SRT. A process to capture and publish the new data will be implemented in collaboration with farmers' communities and scientists. Surveys conducted together by scientists and communities to collect the information on farmers traits and traditional practices will have to be developed in collaboration with research topic 4 to guarantee seamless insertion into the databases, registries and knowledge base. These activities will extend to characterization and evaluation data from in situ and ex situ sources, including legacy data.Existing standards and tools for collecting and sharing data on in situ conservation will be assessed and applied where appropriate. The adaptation of descriptor lists, trait ontologies and other ex situ information management standards and principles will be performed in order to standardize access to the information and make it comparable with breeders' data. The existing crop ontology (Shrestha et al., 2010) will be assessed as a model for an expanded trait knowledge base. The selected and adapted standards will then be tested with a selection of citizen science tools with the objective of up-scaling data collection and sharing across communities. Norms concerning the protection of traditional knowledge have been evolving relatively rapidly at local, national and international levels. One of the challenges, and important outputs, of the research will be to work with representatives of communities to develop mutually acceptable mechanisms for sharing, documenting, and publishing traditional knowledge into the public domain. These issues are also reflected in research topic 5.In addition capacity development activities will be undertaken with partners and stakeholders to ensure that in future they are better placed to provide high-quality data and knowledge to this information system and elsewhere.Research on in situ conservation and use will require combining data captured at several scales --individuals, populations, species, communities, and ecosystems -using time series and geo-referenced data where available. Quality improvement of geo-references and access to historical records will therefore be an important pursuit. Traditional knowledge concerning the value or management of target agrobiodiversity varies from place to place, and the value of a plant or animal for a particular purpose may, for example, be realized only in a small part of its geographic range even though such knowledge may be important elsewhere. This supports the importance of making documentation on local use available globally. To this end, public domain data on community use and management practices will be mapped, with the support of experts in traditional knowledge GIS, in order to help identify places where the species could be possibly useful for other communities. This would provide a toolset for use in cultural preservation, natural resource management, and economic development. To avoid any charges of misappropriation of TK, knowledge that can be disclosed and considered public with correct and agreed citation of the community will be identified in collaboration with research topic 5. Protocols governing access to the databases and information tools will be clearly stated and agreed with the TK holders and users. Information tools will include advisory notes stating the recognition of the rights of TK holders as recommended in a report from UNU-IAS (Bhaati, Hardison, & Neumann, 2003). Multidisciplinary approaches will be required, bringing together many different sets of expertise. This research topic will therefore explore strategic partnerships with projects such as 'Sud Experts Plantes,' Pl@ntNet and regional networks to gain local expertise on local diversity, to acquire the critical mass of human resources needed to translate collected knowledge and to gain access to national knowledge inventories.The Status and Trends and Tools and Methodologies research topics will produce several outputs in the form of assessment applications, which will need to be made widely available for use by others. This research topic will provide the support needed to ensure that these applications can be easily found and that they are linked to the species and to the potential uses to which they may be put. In relation to this and other outputs, it could prove fruitful to research the production of an online reference list of traits and characteristics and link it to population identifiers to enable the annotation of data relevant to the priority varieties, breeds and species, thus promoting the integration of scattered information. Such a tool will enable communities to access the reference lists for data annotation and also to contribute content.ł Expanded knowledge system with additional functionality, including a trait knowledge base, is developed to contain and make available information and knowledge on priority species to support in situ conservation and management of agrobiodiversity.ł Relevant additional data (including molecular data) sourced and made available to other appropriate information systems contributing essential components of the International Treaty's Article 17 global information system.ł Enhanced access to identified genetic variation by all potential beneficiaries -including smallholder farmers, seed networks, breeders and research communities, development practitioners etc.ł Tools and utilities to allow users to begin to analyze data across information systems to create their own subsets of target trait accessions.ł Tested tools for contributions from citizen scientists in communities made available to be deployed on other problems.This Research Topic addresses two very closely related issues: policy support for in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity, and policy support for increased availability of agrobiodiversity to be used by a range of actors, including farmers, and extending to agricultural research and development organizations and genebanks. Farmer management of agrobiodiversity depends on their ability to access and use diversity from numerous sources. Similarly, agricultural researchers and genebanks depend upon access to materials that are continually evolving in farmer-managed areas. So while the main point of entry for work in the Research Topic is in situ management, it necessarily requires engagement with a broader range of issues related to the question of availability.Policies directly and indirectly affect how national governments, research organizations, companies and farmers make agricultural biodiversity available, and how they conserve and use it once obtained. Ultimately, policies affect the extent to which agrobiodiversity is allowed to continue to evolve in agricultural ecosystems by influencing management decisions at various scales. National policies on variety registration, seed certification, subsidies for seed production and distribution and for inputs such as fertilizers and machinery can have significant impacts on what materials are effectively available to farmers, and the choices farmers make in their management and use of agricultural biodiversity in production systems. Agricultural research policies have a direct impact on which crops receive priority treatment in terms of use and conservation. Policies concerning genebanks are gaining increased attention. Better functioning links between farmers and community genebanks on one hand, and national and international genebanks on the other, have the potential to positively affect the diversity of materials and information flowing in both directions, making more diversity available to farmers from ex situ collections, and more new materials for ex situ collections (and breeders) from farmers. To date, the actors that need to be proactively engaged in such coordinated activities, including policy makers, have shiedaway from committing themselves, their organizations and their countries to the dynamic functioning of such systems of access and exchange.Administrative and policy restrictions have been allowed to evolve that ossify disincentives for proactive engagement. Research on the positive and negative effect of institutions and policies in this domain is essential to identify mechanisms to 'unblock' germplasm and information flows.Given the widely different socio-economic, legal, political and geographic environments in which farmers around the world operate, a major challenge is to identify which policies affect the ability of farmers to manage and make use of biological diversity, and how. Some work has already been undertaken (Vernooy, Jingsong, & Li, 2010), but a more systematic approach to analysing the impacts of different policies on farmers' decision-making is necessary in order to propose sound options (Jarvis et al., 2011). It is important to note that this work is not limited to formal sector actors, but extends to how policies impact on the viability and development potential of informal seed systems which continue to play an important role in many developing countries. In this context, it is important to investigate which policies and laws could further strengthen and improve functioning informal system systems, recognizing that different approaches will be necessary depending upon the crops, agroecosystems and capacities of actors involved. Examples of such research would include identifying options for making national seed control and certification schemes as well as variety release regulations more amenable to farmers' seed production and marketing. Formal and informal seed systems should not be seen as necessarily separate and mutually exclusive; research efforts will include consideration of how farmers and research organization are embedded in both formal and informal seed systems. As stated in Research Topic 2 (Tools and methodologies), gender, age, ethnic identity and economic status can be important variables influencing the ways farmers manage agrobiodiversity. It is important to identify ways in which policy options can be 'scaled down' to respond to these factors in situations where their influence is manifest across large numbers of people, or significant geographic scales.There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence that intellectual property and access and benefit-sharing policies (and the problems that arise when these policies are not clearly defined) are having significant negative impacts on agricultural research organizations' ability to obtain and use agrobiodiversity (Atkinson, Beachy, Conway, & Cordova, 2003;Ruiz & Vernooy, 2011) but the extent of that problem has not been well documented. Scientists working with plant genetic resources are well aware of the fact that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture leaves a wide range of questions unanswered, which has given rise to a whole new set of policy questions that the centres need to address in their daily work. So far, the Treaty's multilateral system does not appear to be overcoming the traditionally 'siloed' approaches to ex situ and in situ conservation; since it has come into force, there has been very little new material introduced into internationally available ex situ collections from new collecting missions (Halewood, Sood, Sackville-Hamilton, & Amri, In Press). These same policies also restrict farmers' and local communities' capacities to access agrobiodiversity, for example, when newly developed materials are being protected through intellectual property claims, or when materials housed in genebanks around the world are inaccessible to them. Considering the importance of the CGIAR as a central player in the global genetic resources landscape, the CGIAR is expected to play a leadership role in informing international policies that affect the availability of genetic resources, as can be seen from the inputs provided by the Secretariats of the International Treaty, the CBD and the FAO CGRFA in Annex 3.acquisition, use and distribution of agrobiodiversity in light of the evolving international legal framework?Research will be organized in sites where it is possible to simultaneously investigate farmer household decision-making and national policy mechanisms and institutional arrangements and CGIAR centres' (and their partners') experiences obtaining, using and distributing agrobiodiversity. This will be done through a combination of knowledge systems' and social actor approaches (Vernooy & Song, 2004). The former focuses on the institutional and organizational structures and mechanisms through which knowledge is generated and divulgated from higher to lower levels of society. It analyzes management rules, responsibilities and roles, decision-making, and division of labour in relation to knowledge generation and dissemination. The latter focuses on how social actors, including women and men small farmers, entrepreneurs, local authorities, staff of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), researchers and policymakers actively take part in and make decisions about the use, management, and conservation of agricultural biodiversity. Such a combined approach allows for a deeper understanding of how policy processes are being shaped by the both macro and micro level political and socio-economic forces and how policy processes in turn influence social change.Regarding farm-level decision making in particular, new information gathering activities will be integrated into the research activities associated with the other SRT5 research topics, where possible in the same sites, and with many of the same partners. The research may also involve revisiting sites where ICARDA, CIP and Bioversity and partners have previously engaged in in situ conservation projects to take advantage of previously collected data for time series comparisons. The scope of this investigation will include the extent to which policies have supported cooperation of conservation and use related activities between farmers at local levels and other relevant actors with roles to play in conservation.Regarding the impact of policies on availability of agrobiodiversity to research and development organizations, information will be gathered from:ł CGIAR centre scientists directly engaged in conservation (ex situ and in situ) and breeders.ł Centres' research partners who are collaborating in relevant activities.ł A representative sample of national agricultural and private-sector organizations that are not linked to the CGIAR centres. Their feedback will be used to compare to centres' own accounts of how policies are affecting activities related to the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. It will also provide insights into how germplasm and related information moves in streams parallel to those in which the Centres are directly involved. The information gathered will also be used to identify possible means by which the centres could align themselves with a broader constituency of actors in attempting to influence policies that would have a positive impact on all actors.Research and supportive capacity development concerning the harmonized implementation of international agreements will involve, when appropriate, partners from NAROs in countries where other SRT5 activities are taking place. Research in this area will involve identifying the networks of actors involved in policy making at national levels (taking into consideration the links of national actors to international processes) and assessing the relative strength and importance of links between key actors and stakeholder groups.Research and related capacity-building activities will be designed to involve participation of a range of representatives from NARS, from technical experts in conservation science to policy makers; it will build upon the strength of existing connections between some actors, and increase the strength of strategic linkages between others. Centres' policy experts will work with competent national authorities, national universities, representatives of affected stakeholder groups, secretariats of international conventions and international development agencies to identify mechanisms to implement international environmental conservation, and agriculture and food securityrelated obligations in mutually supportive ways that emphasize the important contributions of agrobiodiversity. One example of this work is the development of options and models to simultaneously implement the access and benefit sharing provisions of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity/Nagoya Protocol in mutually supportive ways. Another example concerns integrating agricultural biodiversity conservation and use into National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans (NBSAPs) under the CBD, and in National Action Programmes for Adaptation (NAPAs) under UNFCCC. Priority will be given to developing model approaches (with flexibilities and options to adapt to individuating circumstances), monitoring their implementation in test cases, and raising awareness among centres' partners in NARS and international policy-making fora with respect to the precedents developed. The CGIAR centres are natural research partners with NARS in this research area, given the fact that the centres are the source of benefits associated with participation in the Treaty, including germplasm, information, capacitybuilding, technology transfer, and so on.All of the forgoing work will contribute to identifying policy options for centres' own best practices and policies when it comes to implementing their obligations under international laws. Over the next 3-5 years, primary focus in this area will be on how centres should be implementing their responsibilities subject to their agreements with the Governing Body of the International Treaty, and policies for how they should most appropriately address grey areas associated with the Treaty. Examples of issues that will be addressed in this context are the conditions under which centres may distribute material from genebanks for non-food and non-feed purposes, or under what circumstances they may distribute materials for direct use in cultivation. Other areas of practice and policy that will be addressed in this context will be options and best practices for accessing, managing and distributing genetic resources that are not among the 64 crops and forages included under the International Treaty's framework, and which fall instead under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Another important area will be developing research agreements with national partners, farming communities and farmers to promote transparency, trust, equitable benefit sharing and the ability to use and share the resources and information (including traditional knowledge) obtained from those sources in conservation, research and breeding. This work will build upon centres' own efforts with project partners to develop agreements on the exchange of reproductive materials and information in the context of in situ conservation projects (Lapena, López Noriega, & Turdieva, In Press). It will also build upon the very successful track record of the Inter-Centre Working Group-Genetic Resources as a mechanism for sharing information about centres' genetic resources policyrelated challenges, and for consulting with respect to the development of policy responses. However, the focus of issues engaged in this component extends beyond genebank-related challenges to conservation in situ and on farm. As a result, the range of specialists to be involved in consultation would need to be expanded to include policy and technical experts engaged in relevant activities both from within the CGIAR and from organizations involved in project activities under this component.Many of the research results generated will be directly relevant to international policy making fora, such as the conferences of the parties to the CBD/Nagoya Protocol and the UNFCC, the Governing Body of the International Treaty and the CGRFA and the CFS, and to several of the ad hoc open-ended working groups that those bodies create. Research results and policy recommendations will be 'ratcheted up' through submissions to those bodies.ł Institutional arrangements and policy mechanisms identified that affect farmers' ability to adopt improved agrobiodiversity management practices.ł Factors identified that influence the dynamic transfer of agrobiodiversity between in situ and ex situ sources, at local, national, regional and international levels.ł Actor networks and their dynamics identified that shape the development and implementation of polices affecting the in situ management of agrobiodiversity. Component to be added to CRP5 to address three important area that were missing in the CRP portfolio: 1) in situ conservation, 2) information and knowledge, and 3) policy aspects, from local to international.Following discussions among the Lead Centre, the Consortium Office and Bioversity, it was agreed that Bioversity would take the lead in developing such a component. Subsequently, a letter was sent to all Centre DGs asking for expressions of interest in contributing to the proposed component. As a result, four Centres collaborated in the development of the Agrobiodiversity Component: CIP, ICARDA, ILRI and Bioversity.In the course of the development of the component and discussion of its links to the different CRPs, it was recognized that the content formed a coherent whole, but did not easily fit in CRP5. While agrobiodiversity is an important contributor to ecosystem functions addressed in CRP5, the themes identified by the Consortium Board go well beyond this and are global in nature. The conclusion of the analysis of the current portfolio was that in order to integrate this component, it would be necessary to make a pragmatic decision and choose the CRP where there is most affinity, recognizing that there will not be a 100% fit. As an alternative to CRP5, it was felt most logical to integrate the agrobiodiversity component into one of the elements of CRP1 (integrated systems for dry areas, humid tropics and aquatic systems). Indeed, the agrobiodiversity component is relevant to all three, but it would not make sense from a management point of view to divide this global component into three parts. It is therefore suggested that a decision be made to incorporate the agrobiodiversity component into one of them, recognizing that it is global in nature and therefore not be limited to the ecosystems included in that particular CRP. The Lead Centre of CRP1.1 on Integrated agricultural production systems for the dry areas welcomed the inclusion of the Agrobiodiversity component, recognizing its global nature.It is therefore proposed that, after review and approval, the revised Agrobiodiversity Component, which addresses the changes most recently recommended by the Consortium Board, be integrated in CRP1.1 as an additional Strategic Research Theme.Enhancing the in situ management of agricultural biodiversityApproaches and models for strengthening innovation systems, building capacity and linking knowledge to policy actionsReducing vulnerability and managing risk, leading to resilient dryland agroecosystemsSustainable intensification for more productive, profitable and diversified dryland agricultureMeasuring impact and crossregional synthesis Reducing vulnerability and managing risk will be a key element in the development of in situ management plans.The proper management and use of SRT5 target crops and species will ensure their conservation and also reduce vulnerability and risk.Use of in situ conserved and managed material in improvement and domestication feeds into sustainable intensification, participatory breeding etc.Information and knowledge on insitu material will be essential for SRT2 systems.Information and knowledge on in situ material will be essential for SRT3 systems.Policy research in SRT5 will enhance the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity, including its use to improve the stability of production systems, reducing vulnerability, enabling sustainable intensification and enhancing livelihoods.The Agrobiodiversity Component will be added to CRP1.1 as a fifth strategic research theme (SRT5) under the overall management and governance of CRP 1.1, with appropriate recognition of the global nature of SRT5. We will take part in the CRP1.1 inception workshops planned in each region in order to work closely with partners to identify priority crops and geographic areas for in situ conservation and management research as outlined in the proposal, working within CRP1.1's selected areas of focus. Staff working in SRT5 in a particular dry area focus region will join the respective interdisciplinary team.For work outside the target dry areas of CRP 1.1 the same priority setting process will be used to select priority species for implementation in the areas of focus of CRP1.2 and CRP1.3. Capacity development activities will be carried out in the context of SRT1 and impact assessment activities as part of SRT4. Monitoring and Evaluation activities will be fully integrated in the CRP1.1 M&E framework. (See table above.)Throughout the description of this agrobiodiversity component, some linkages with other CRPs have already been mentioned. Here we recapitulate some of the most important ones, recognizing that as we move into the more detailed planning process, after approval, further linkages are likely to be identified.Because of the global nature of the work proposed, strong linkages will be established with CRPs 1.2 and 1.3.We reiterate that in situ management and conservation is not an end on its own and that the use value of these resources is a key element in prioritizing the target agrobiodiversty. The use of conserved material is an important element of the research in SRT5, results from which will provide (and make available) relevant information on the priority target genetic material. However, it is important to note that there are other uses for genetic diversity, and that these that are to be investigated in other CRPs. Therefore, it is important for SRT5 to establish linkages with CRPs in which a use value for the genetic diversity is envisaged, i.e.:ł CRP 3 for crop improvement based on the specific traits of landraces and CWR, ł CRP 4 for the importance of agricultural biodiversity to improve health and nutrition ł CRP 5 for the importance of agricultural biodiversity in providing ecosystem services, and ł CRP 7 for using agricultural biodiversity to adapt to climate changes.Collaboration with CRP 6 is envisaged to address methodological issues related to questions of complementarity among on farm, in situ and ex situ conservation.For each of these potential linkages there is a need to develop collaboration along three major lines: how the other CRPs can benefit from the results of this research agenda on agrobiodiversity; how this agenda can benefit from outputs in other CRPs; and what research can be done together.Regarding conservation, research on ex situ conservation is already included in some of the crop specific CRPs and should be included in those where it is not yet included in order to ensure that this research is adequately covered in the portfolio. Research on the Status and Trends of diversity research topic will provide valuable information to the crop-specific CRPs regarding areas for priority collection for ex situ conservation. The identification of important adaptive traits in landraces of major crops will be another important contribution from SRT5 to the crop-specific CRPs for those crops and species that are not already targeted within the CRPs.CRP4 aims at improving nutrition and health, one of the system-level objectives of the CGIAR. One of the proposed ways to improve nutrition and health is through agricultural diversification for nutrition, focusing on the contribution of local biodiversity to diets (CRP 4 component 1). SRT5 will provide useful information on the potential relevance of biodiversity, in particular NUS and LR, for health and nutrition. This information will need to be validated by CRP4 in order to properly assess its relevance for health and nutrition, and working with CRP4 in the same geographical areas and communities will help to fully exploit this potential.CRP5 aims at sustaining the environment and natural resource base in different environments. The ecosystem component of CRP5 in particular aims to ensure that agricultural intensification makes use of and enhances ecosystem services. There is a clear linkage in determining which elements of agrobiodiversity can contribute to the CRP5 goals. SRT5 will provide relevant information on the diversity available and its characteristics that could be important to enhance ecosystem services. While CRP5 focuses on the ecosystem level, SRT5 focuses on elements of biodiversity within the ecosystems.CRP6 is about forest, trees and agroforestry, and its component 2 has a significant element on biodiversity, in particular on tree diversity. There are opportunities to collaborate to develop the tools to assess status and threats of priority species and to develop and share some of the GIS/RS tools required for the conservation action envisaged by this proposal for SRT5. This should also include the conservation of wild relatives of important tree crops (coffee, cocoa, coconut and dryland fruit trees).CRP7 on climate change addresses one of the big challenges farmers face in their production system. CRP7 aims to develop practices to adapt agricultural systems to these changes and to reduce the risks associated to climate changes. While the actions will be different in different ecoregions, depending on the specific threats, one common element recognised by CRP7 is the role played by genetic diversity to reduce vulnerability to new biotic and abiotic stresses. There is a clear role for the SRT5 in linking to CRP7 to provide important information on the adaptive traits required to adapt to climate change. More detailed information on the required genetic diversity to increase system resilience will benefit the practices developed by CRP7 to help farmers to adapt to climate changes.There will be strong collaboration with other Strategic Research Themes of CRP1.1. In particular, CRP1.1 envisages an important role for agricultural biodiversity in order to increase the resilience and productivity of agriculture in dry areas. In order to achieve this goal, collaboration with its agrobiodiversity SRT will be relevant in order to gain knowledge about the required genetic diversity. The same considerations of the importance of agrobiodiversity for resilience and productivity apply in the humid tropics (CRP1.2),For the policy research, linkages will be established with all relevant CRPs as well as with all CGIAR centres to gather baseline information and to share experiences. The policy research activities included in CRP7 will be closely linked to the work in this component, as they will be complementary to each other, with CRP7 focussing on the climate change dimensions, while this component takes on a broader global dimension.58CRP1.1 SRT5 will be integrated into CRP1.1. It will therefore be part of the overall CRP1.1, even though it will have a global reach in its activities, and will therefore operate outside the mandate zones of CRP1.1.The scope of research collaborations and linkages will be intense for SRT5 activities in the dry areas, as indicated in the table above.SRT5 will be fully involved in planning meetings, M&E activities and capacity-development activities of CROP1.1.The component will participate in the planned inception workshops to be organized in each of the 5 target regions of CRP1.1.The inception workshops will be used to gain deeper understanding and involvement of all CRP1.1 partners in SRT5. The workshops will provide a locus for participatory priority setting of geographical areas and target crops and species.CRP1 There are opportunities to collaborate on the development of tools to assess status and threats, and to develop and share some of the GIS/RS tools that will be needed for the management and conservation actions envisaged by the agricultural biodiversity component. This will include the conservation of wild relatives of important tree crops, such as coffee, coconut and cocoa.Regular consultations across the two programmes. Participation in relevant activities such as planning events and project development.There is a clear role for SRT5 of CRP1.1 to link to CRP7 in respect to the use of agricultural biodiversity to adapt to climate change. The agricultural biodiversity component will also provide important information on the traits required to adapt to climate change.Regular consultations across the two programmes.The agricultural biodiversity component will be a party in the implemention of CRP7. This will include participation in planning events and project development and analysis.A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanism is embedded in the proposal in order to assess what changes will occur as a result of the interventions of enhanced in situ conservation and use, effective information support, and conducive policies, to guide how research outputs may achieve research and development outcomes and eventual contributions to impact. This will provide process information to assist research managers in managing the component. M&E of impact will thus be an integral element of the research agenda within the component Through a participatory process that involves all research partners at all levels (farmers, breeders, other scientists, policy makers) we expect to understand how the planned research activities will lead to the expected impact. Network mapping analysis, including all research partners and beneficiaries, will be conducted to understand how research outputs, once adopted and used by the beneficiaries can also be \"institutionalized\" by policy makers at different levels.Specific, measurable, attributable, realistic and timebound indicators, as well as baseline data will be required in order to be able to measure changes occurred as a result of the adoption and use of outputs generated by the component. Coordinated research aiming at providing globally applicable methods, decision support tools and methodologies, intervention strategies for in situ and on farm conservation of rangeland species, landraces, CWR and NUS, as well as greater access to a wider range of information about existing agricultural biodiversity and a policy environment at all levels from international to local, that permits and encourages the strategic conservation, exchange and use of agricultural biodiversity will lead to more functional systems that can contribute to reducing rural poverty, improving food and nutrition security and sustainable management of natural resources.Capacity development has a dual purpose under this SRT. It will equip research teams, in particular national partners, with specific competences and opportunities to carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder research on the key topics of this SRT: in situ conservation, information on plant genetic resources, and policies that support availability and use of agricultural biodiversity. Secondly, it will facilitate and enhance impacts of the SRT and contribute to mainstreaming the specific research results into local, national, and regional institutions and programmes.Although agricultural biodiversity has become an accepted and well-known concept among policy makers and specialists over the past 15-odd years, the awareness among the broader range of stakeholders of the specific topics relating to this SRT is generally weak. Raising awareness and capacity in areas such as in situ conservation of crop wild relatives, on-farm conservation of landraces and NUS, and policy processes on plant genetic resources are central to achieving the expected outcomes and contribute to anticipated impacts of this SRT.Very few universities offer courses or programmes in the core areas of this SRT (Rudebjer et al., 2011). This, in turn results in graduates with limited experiences in research methods such as participatory biodiversity management or the assessment of status and trends of agricultural biodiversity. The slow implementation at the national level of the ITPGRFA is partly attributed to capacity limitations regarding plant genetic resources policy. Similarly, biodiversity conservation specialists have had limited exposure to the conservation of agricultural biodiversity in production landscapes. The integration of in-situ conservation of crop wild relatives into national biodiversity conservation strategies is therefore lagging behind.Often, the scaling-up of results of agricultural biodiversity research requires new collaboration across disciplines and sectors.The capacity development activities under this SRT will therefore enhance individual capacities for R&D, and influence institutional capacities for mainstreaming research results from local to regional levels. The SRT will also strengthen individual research capacity, especially among young scientists, for multidisciplinary approaches that combine biological and social sciences in agricultural biodiversity, by providing opportunities such as thesis research, research fellowships and visiting scientist schemes. These will allow young scientists to work under the mentorship of senior scientists within the SRT. Co-publishing jointly with international scientists will boost their scientific records.Bringing research into use to achieve impact on peoples' livelihoods and on the environmental services of agroecosystems requires partnership with a range of intermediary organizations. These include, among others, conservation organizations, universities and university networks, regional and national research organizations, including networks, as further detailed in the Partners section. Working jointly with a distinct, selected set of such partners, this SRT will develop strategies and capacities for mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity into policies and programmes, such as university curricula, and national or regional agrobiodiversity conservation strategies, including for example the Suwon Agrobiodiversity Strategy and the Agrobiodiversity Initiative for Africa mentioned above.The continued monitoring and evaluation of the global status and needs for capacity development in the field of agricultural biodiversity will also be an important activity.The role of women as custodians of agricultural biodiversity and as a key element in food security is now well recognised. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women are responsible for roughly 80% of farm production, and around the globe among rural people their contribution generally outweighs that of men. In particular, women do most of the work of producing, gathering, processing and marketing of the food plants essential for family nutrition and livelihoods. Women are most likely to take action to diversify food supplies in their plots and family diets and to cope with market shocks and food shortages (Raney, 2011).Of particular interest to this SRT, women play a vital, and often unrecognised, role in the management of agricultural biodiversity. The traits and qualities they value in crop varieties differ from those preferred by men, and often encompass aspects such as cooking qualities, taste and nutrition (Eyzaguirre & Linares, 2004). Within their communities, women tend to be the experts on edible plant diversity on their farms and in the wild. They are the innovators, selecting new varieties and developing new foods. The experience they accumulate as managers of local biodiversity for food security, family nutrition and livelihoods constitutes a body of knowledge that is essential for future conservation and use. The proposed research will help to gather and share this knowledge, which also offers the opportunity for women in communities to add new appropriate information from other communities that have faced similar challenges.Furthermore, women often have a responsibility in their families and their communities for selecting and storing seed and in decisions of what to grow. For these reasons, and others, all of the research in this SRT will place importance on gender in design and implementation and will seek to understand the complexity of gender roles as they affect the conservation and use of crop and species diversity. Each research topic will reflect an awareness of the links between gender and the management, conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. The capacity development activities that are embedded in each topic will use gender as a criterion in selection for participation in order to empower women at all levels, from farming families to collaborating scientistsPartnerships in this component will consist of four key types: relevant CGIAR centres; national agriculture research systems in developing countries, which are especially important for the implementation of in situ and on farm conservation; Advanced Research Institutions; and global agencies, NGOs and international organizations working on agricultural biodiversity.The four participant CGIAR Centres will all be involved in most aspects of SRT5 research. Other CGIAR centres that collect and manage information about agricultural biodiversity will be vital partners in the Information and the Policy research topics.Agropolis (Cirad, IRd, Inra, Montpellier \"SupAgro\"), EMBRAPA, NBPGR and CAAS, who have each expressed an interest in contributing to a component on agricultural biodiversity, will be important partners. The French institutions have expressed an interest in both research and capacity development activities.Partnerships with FAO, CBD, IUCN and national conservation authorities will strengthen in-situ conservation both in terms of policies and with reserves in the field, such as through the Satoyama Initiative. Such partnerships will help to extend the range of conservation options for farmers' varieties and for crop wild relatives. Advocacy will be required to widen the purview of conservation organizations to include species and landscapes of direct economic importance.The expertise of other scientific organisations, such as Birmingham University, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanic Gardens, New York Botanic Gardens, USDA National Herbarium and other national herbaria will be important in identifying crop wild relatives and helping to designate potential areas for in-situ conservation.NGOs such as LI-BIRD, MSSRF, PROINPA, CIRMM and others will be very important for working in the field with farming communities. International Organizations such as Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy are also expected to show an interest.GFAR, FARA and APAARI have already expressed their strong support for the proposed Agrobiodiversity Component and will facilitate the participation of NARS in the research agenda. It is expected that similar engagement will emerge from other regional fora.In the course of developing the ideas that have resulted in this proposal, we have consulted with several organizations, among them Agropolis, USDA, NBPGR, EMBRAPA, CAAS, universities, national partners and others. We have given undertakings to continue to involve them in the implementation of the SRT.Annex 1: BudgetsThe proposed three year budget (2012-2014) for the program is estimated at $49.7 million. Five research topics are represented in the investment of US$ 49.665 million.The annual budget figures presented are based on current best assessment of the activities required to implement the program according to the timeline specified in the proposal. These figures will need to be adjusted on a pro rata basis according to the precise start date of the program. The main cost categories used in preparing the budget are described below.Personnel includes all CGIAR personnel that will be involved directly in delivering the program.Travel includes all international and local travel for CGIAR staff.Operating Expenses include non-equipment items or services purchased specifically to carry out the projects. It includes the costs of websites & publications.Training & Workshops include major workshops and training events, including those to be used for scoping, planning and review of program implementation. It includes costs (travel, per diems, etc) of participants and presenters. It excludes costs of time of CGIAR and partner personnel.Collaborators/Partnership Costs includes all of the costs of engagement by institutional partners in the research dimensions of the program for which funding will be channeled through the program's management structure. This will include costs of partners' staff, their travel, and other operating costs. It does not include these costs in those instances where they are covered by matching funds that the partners bring to our partnership. It also does not include any consultancy costs.Capital and other equipment includes large specific capital items including cars, motorbikes, and other equipment required for research.Contingency is included to cover unforeseen extra costs.Institutional overhead covers the institutional costs that are not directly attributable to this program. They include the costs for each Center of the Director General's office, Board of Trustees, Corporate Finance and HR and other costs of a general nature.Personnel, operating and partnerships costs account for 42%, 22% and 13% respectively. This program will engage many partners outside of the CGIAR. Bioversity has a long history of engaging with partners outside of the CGIAR and has both the management capacity and corporate structure to manage such partnerships. As can be seen from  Funding by Research Topic:The total funding by research topic is contained in Chart 1.  Outputs from the 1998 CWANA conference on Priority Setting for underutilized and neglected plant species of the Mediterranean region.In the course of the conference participants identified the limiting factors that prevent the full exploitation of the regionʼs most important neglected and underutilized species, along with a list of priority actions needed for their sustainable promotion. In addition, participants identified those species that were particularly valuable for the whole region and were thus recommended as priority species for future initiatives.Recommended species selected by the participants attending the conference on neglected and underutilized crop species. Species were selected on the basis of their contribution to: 1. Food security, 2. Ecosystem conservation and 3. Poverty alleviation in the central and west Asia and north Africa region. It should also be noted that the consolidated reports to the Governing Body prepared by the CGIAR Centres concerning their experiences working under the Treaty framework (which include information on centres acquisitions and transfers of genetic resources under the Treaty) are not only much appreciated by the member countries, but also represent a major contribution to demonstrating the importance of the treaty. The Secretariat very much hopes that the centres will be able to continue providing such critically important technical inputs to the Governing Body in the future. It is worth noting that at its last session earlier this year, the Governing Body created an inter-sessional working group to consider policies to support the sustainable use of PGRFA. It is certainly our hope that the CGIAR will make collective scientific contributions to the Governing Body to assist it in this important area of work.For all these reasons, it is important that the CGIAR maintains and strengthens its genetic resources policy research capacity, as an important contribution to the successful implementation of the Treaty.With best regards, Dr. Shakeel Bhatti Secretary International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture","tokenCount":"22241"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9874136773.json b/data/part_1/9874136773.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..12b06791dde8b15e8a8bfe922fd07e5840224d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9874136773.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"40bd9b2609536ae1a5deb9ac7aafea94","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a3e6fed8-2cd2-43ef-9370-9f192e5c67ec/retrieve","id":"983332806"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"be472763-6fa2-49f1-aebc-81ec8a3f4308","pagecount":"36","content":"or from Bioversity's Web site (www.bioversityinternational.org).The European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) is a collaborative programme among most European countries aimed at contributing to national, sub-regional and regional programmes in Europe to rationally and effectively conserve ex situ and in situ Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and increase their utilization. The Programme, which is entirely financed by the member countries, is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries and a number of relevant international bodies. The Coordinating Secretariat is hosted by Bioversity International. The Programme operates through nine networks in which activities are carried out through a number of permanent working groups or through ad hoc actions. The ECPGR networks deal with either groups of crops (cereals; forages; fruit; oil and protein crops; sugar, starch and fibre crops; vegetables) or general themes related to plant genetic resources (documentation and information; in situ and on-farm conservation; inter-regional cooperation). Members of the working groups and other scientists from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme.The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Bioversity or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the texts and taxonomic definitions in these proceedings reflect the views of the respective authors and not necessarily those of the compilers or their institutions.Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information.María José Díez, Chair of the Working Group (WG) on Cucurbits of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) opened the meeting by thanking all those present for their participation. She reminded the Group that Phase VII of ECPGR was reaching its end this year (2008). The Vegetables Network Coordinating Group had met in Wageningen, The Netherlands, in June 2008, with the objective of making coordinated plans for the new Phase VIII (2009VIII ( -2013)). Some of the decisions taken at that meeting were explained later by the Vice-Chair.The ECPGR Steering Committee had met in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in September 2008. One of the aspects discussed during that meeting was the implementation of \"A European Genebank Integrated System\" (AEGIS). The role of the Working Groups (WGs) would be crucial for the implementation of AEGIS during Phase VIII. This ad hoc meeting of the Cucurbits WG had been organized with the aim of updating the members and starting the selection of the Most Appropriate Accessions (MAAs) from the collections in the member countries. The specific objectives of the meeting were: (1) to inform all WG members about the Vegetables Network's plans for Phase VIII, (2) to continue with the discussions about several practical aspects of the mode of operation of the WG, and (3) to start with the implementation of the AEGIS by the WG. M.J. Díez thanked the Leafy Vegetables WG members for acceding to the request for utilization of their funds, if needed, for the organization of this meeting.Katarzyna Niemirowicz-Szczytt introduced two of her colleagues, Prof. M. Rakoczy-Trojanowska, Head of the Department, and Dr A. Korzeniewska, who work on cucurbits. The host organization, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW (WULS-SGGW), is among the premier institutions of higher education in Poland. It offers wide-ranging programmes of study-from biological and technical, through medical, to economics and humanities-with a view to forming experts for the needs of the biosphere in a broad sense.The University is held in high repute both within and outside Poland. As a result, the number of applicants taking the entrance test far exceeds the number of seats available. Enrolment in 2008 stood at about 25 000 students for all 27 majors and 62 areas of specialization. The University's research and education potential, its modernity and openness to the outside world attract interest in collaboration from more and more research centres from around the world. The number of foreign students is also growing because, among other factors, the University recognizes the European Credit Transfer System and offers a range of 80 professional courses in English.K. Niemirowicz-Szczytt welcomed all the participants visiting the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and invited them to acquaint themselves with its potential in education, research, and consulting, and its contribution to national culture.After the introductory welcome, all participants were invited to introduce themselves briefly.The agenda was then approved without modifications.Willem van Dooijeweert presented the structure and plans for Phase VIII (2009VIII ( -2013) ) of the ECPGR. These plans were discussed and approved by the Steering Committee at its Eleventh Meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2-5 September 2008.After its Tenth Meeting, the Steering Committee had indicated that it wanted the Networks to prioritize again the Working Groups (WGs) in Phase VIII. Only higher-priority WGs could receive up to 25% additional funds to carry out activities such as evaluation, collecting, etc. During the second meeting of the Vegetables Network (VEGNET) on 26-28 June 2007 in Olomouc, Czech Republic, it was decided that the Network would not prioritize its WGs. In its letter to the Steering Committee, it justified its decision by explaining that the Network preferred its WGs to work as colleagues and not as competitors. One of the main reasons was that the prioritization in Phase VII had not demonstrated that higher-priority WGs had achieved more results than the lower-priority WGs. The Network argued that WGs should be on the same level in Phase VIII to benefit from each other by implementing AEGIS, which was the main objective.VEGNET had also requested that the Network Coordinating Group (NCG) include all Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the WGs. The Steering Committee approved these requests. The budgets for the Network and for the Cucurbits WG were presented. The country quota system would be maintained during Phase VIII and reports would be available only in electronic form through the ECPGR Web site. The ECPGR Secretariat would assist only in editing the discussions and recommendations. Country reports could be uploaded as separate files, but they would no longer be edited.A VEGNET meeting was planned for 2009 or 2010, when AEGIS topics would be discussed. The Steering Committee had allocated a budget to special AEGIS-related projects; the budget included additional funds such as a Competitive Grant Scheme for these projects. The procedures to access these funds were still to be defined. The budget amounted to € 103 000 for the five years of Phase VIII (2009VIII ( -2013)).Considering the small size of some WGs, the Steering Committee had requested the Network Coordinating Group to study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of merging some of them.The priority topics of Phase VII would be retained in Phase VIII, with emphasis on task sharing:• Task sharing and capacity building (safety-duplication, identification of duplicates/unique accessions, regeneration, collection management strategies) The Network goals and working mode for Phase VIII would be followed by the Cucurbits WG.Responding to questions after the briefing on Phase VIII, W. van Dooijeweert stressed again that all the work conducted in Phase VIII would be in accordance with AEGIS. In the discussion on the financing of the work to be done by the WG members, it was clarified that in the spirit of ECPGR, it was expected that the work would be done as input in kind. Only small budgets would be available for specific tasks to implement AEGIS. W. van Dooijeweert thought that in the long run collection holders would benefit if they had to focus on only a set of accessions in their collection.M.J. Díez presented the work carried out by the WG since its first meeting held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in September 2005, 1 during which attending members had agreed on a workplan.In June 2007, during the second meeting of the Vegetables Network held in Olomouc, Czech Republic, 2 six members of the Cucurbits WG attended the parallel meeting. In this meeting, the workplan for the second half of Phase VII was discussed and agreed upon, taking into account the four priority areas of ECPGR for this Phase (Task sharing and capacity building, Documentation, Characterization and evaluation, and In situ and on-farm conservation), and including the first steps for the implementation of AEGIS. The workplan for Phase VIII was also defined and agreed.Following the indications of the Steering Committee, the Vegetables Network had prepared a budget proposal for Phase VIII. The total budget for Phase VIII was € 188 156, of which 75% was allotted for meetings and 25% for project activities. In this proposal, each WG would receive the same amount of money, € 21 360, to be used according to the 75/25 ratio above.The following activities were proposed by the Cucurbits WG: (1) Implementation of safety-duplication, (2) Development and implementation of specific algorithms to facilitate the identification of duplicates, (3) Strengthening of collaborations with the In situ and On-farm Conservation Network, and (4) Organization of a regular WG Meeting. The Project proposal of the Cucurbits WG for Phase VIII is presented in Appendix I (pp. [19][20][21][22].K. Karlová informed the Group that changes had occurred regarding Slovak membership in the Vegetables WGs, which would be confirmed through the ECPGR Secretariat. Presented by Liliya Krasteva Bulgaria carried out collecting expeditions in 2007-08 in cooperation with China, Korea and Slovakia. The collected material is not made available to other institutes for research; the WG was, however, shown the diversity of the collected material.Presented by Katerina Karlová K. Karlová informed the Group that since the genebank is to be reconstructed during the coming year (2009), the regeneration capacity in isolation cages will be reduced to half. Although according to the National Coordinator all regenerations were complete, this is not the case for many vegetables. Regeneration of material will take much longer as capacity will be halved; as a result, many accessions will die. As of October 2008, 22% of Cucurbita spp. and 65% of cucumber have been regenerated. The institute organizes annual exhibitions to inform the public about genetic resources.The genebank in Hungary has been undergoing extensive reorganization but it still maintains its former responsibilities. Collections are held by various institutes in Hungary; 2861 cucurbit accessions. are held in Tápiószele. Half of the collection originates from Hungary. The base collection is held in long-term storage but is not safety-duplicated. A quality management system for regeneration and storage has been adopted by the genebank. All passport data present in the European Plant Genetic Resources Catalogue (or European Internet Search Catalogue, EURISCO) will be updated in November 2008.The Cucurbit section of the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) is located in Newe Yaar Research Center, the northern branch of the Volcani Center.The cucurbits collection at the Newe Yaar Research Center comprises nearly 2000 accessions: 1000 Cucumis melo, 500 Citrullus lanatus, 340 Cucurbita pepo, 100 C. maxima, 50 C. moschata. They are stored as an active collection and maintained at 4ºC and 5-6% RH. Most of the Cucurbita spp. collection has been regenerated and characterized. The melon collection is partially characterized (~60%) while the watermelon collection is significantly less characterized (~20%).All collections are maintained as breeders' collections and not as a genebank. Most accessions are introductions and material collected from outside Israel, except some unique melon and watermelon accessions collected in Israel. There are no duplicated accessions in the Cucurbita collections but both melon and watermelon collections include duplicates because several contributors had supplied similar material. Most passport data are recorded in Excel format in the Newe Yaar computer system.Only Cucumis sativus and Cucumis melo originated in Latvia are preserved in the national collection. There are only a few accessions of these species.The Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN) holds two Cucurbit collections. The Cucumis sativus collection includes 922 available accessions. In 2007 and 2008, duplicates were removed on the basis of passport data. The second collection consisting of 100 Cucumis melo accessions of old Dutch varieties, material from the former Institute for Horticultural Plant Breeding (Instituut voor de Veredeling van Tuinbouwgewassen, IVT) not found in other ex situ collections, and original material acquired during collecting missions in Pakistan and Egypt. The material is being regenerated with the help of breeding companies. The second collection is not yet available.For characterization, CGN uses only the minimum descriptor list developed by the WG. The complete cucumber collection has been evaluated for certain diseases. CGN is actively requesting evaluation data from users of the material, sending automatically generated letters. All relevant data are entered into the database and made available through the Web site. More photographs of the accessions were added and shown on the Web site.The Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology has a total staff of 35 people (14 academic staff, 11 research and technical fellows, 10 postgraduate students).The main fields of research concern cultivated species of cucurbits (Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita pepo), as well as Solanaceae (Capsicum annuum, Lycopersicon esculentum and Physalis ixocarpa) and Secale cereale in Poland.More than 1000 cucurbit accessions are stored in the genebank of the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute, Radzików. Teresa Kotlińska, the representative of the genebank, is also responsible for this collection. Samples are collected through expeditions organized once a year within and outside Poland. Sometimes material is obtained through donations.There are two main institutes in Portugal dealing with genetic resources: University of Vila Real (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, UTAD) and the Portuguese Genebank in Braga (Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal, BPGV). In total, about 650 accessions of cucurbits are conserved including 164 C. melo accessions and 110 Cucurbita spp. accessions. All material originates from Portugal.The material is conserved in the active and the base collections stored in the Genebank in Braga. About 150 accessions of different species were characterized using IBPGR descriptors. 3 There are no duplicates. All passport data are stored in Excel format; the genebank data are in Access. Passport data will be uploaded in EURISCO at the end of 2008. Approximately 79% of the collection has been regenerated and characterized. The descriptors used are based on those developed by IPGRI (now Bioversity International). All the minimum descriptors developed by the Cucurbits WG for each species are included in the lists. Photographs of plant, fruit and seed were taken for all the accessions characterized.The seeds are stored as an active collection, conserved in a climatic chamber at 3-4º C and 5-6% RH. Cold chambers for long-term conservation are under construction. Passport and characterization data are computerized. During the past 5 years, nearly 500 samples have been sent to organic farmers and traditional growers, research centres and to several research programmes on cucurbits carried out at the Institute.Among the subjects of cucurbits research conducted at COMAV are: \"Construction of core collection of C. pepo, C. moschata and C. maxima\" and \"EcoTilling for identifying allelic diversity on disease resistance and fruit quality genes in a core collection of melon from all over the world\". COMAV is also involved in a project for phenotyping and genotyping landraces collected in the Castilla-La Mancha Autonomous Community; the aim is to register them as different and unique high-quality varieties. A new project was initiated for increasing the availability of high-quality molecular markers for the study of Cucurbita genetic resources. For this purpose, the transcriptome of accessions belonging to the two C. pepo subspecies is being sequenced. The aim is to identify new EST-SSRs and EST-SNPs which are polymorphic in the genus Cucurbita and suitable for diversity studies. A population of Recombinant Inbred Lines (RIL) derived from different crosses useful for mapping desirable traits is also being developed.  The ECCUDB also includes information about cucurbits taxonomy, links related to cucurbits information, information about on-farm activities conducted in Spain with cucurbits crops and the core collection of C. pepo constructed with the COMAV collection. As of 2008, the core collection included 56 accessions, representing 14.3% of the total collection of 391 accessions. Characterization data of this core collection are available on the Web page (http://www.comav.upv.es/eccudb.html); they include 2 plant descriptors, 12 for fruit and 5 for seed as well as links to images of all the accessions.Characterization data belonging to COMAV's C. lanatus and C. sativus collections were uploaded to the ECCUDB and are available online.A new field indicating if the accession had been selected as an MAA was added to the Database.The ECCUDB uses Microsoft Access because it provides for easy development and data entry. The characterization and evaluation data are stored using a relational database management system (RDBMS). Active Server Pages (ASP) scripting is used for online database queries. The query results can be downloaded in .csv format.After the presentation, M.J. Díez asked all the partners to send characterization and evaluation data to improve the quality of the ECCUDB and to facilitate the selection of MAAs needed to implement AEGIS in future. K. Karlová was unsure whether it was appropriate to upload characterization data gathered in just one year without replication. There was some discussion about this question, and the Group agreed that this is acceptable because in genebank management it can take a long time before an accession is grown again. Participants agreed to send observations of one year to the ECCUDB and that these data should be supported with others on the year, country, locality and methodology used for regeneration.M.J. Díez showed parts of the Database. A new section on in situ and on-farm conservation has been added to the homepage. Addresses of institutes, companies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in this field are given by country. All partners were asked to provide additional addresses. M.J. Díez suggested that the addresses could be easily obtained from the representative of the ECPGR In situ and On-farm Conservation Network.The Group agreed to modify the ECCUDB in order to indicate the \"status\" of each accession. The Database Manager will add new fields for \"unique accession\", \"duplicate accession\", \"duplication group\", \"MAA\" and \"AEGIS\".Background, goal, scope Presented by W. van Dooijeweert During the second half of Phase VII the concept of \"A European Genebank Integrated System\" (AEGIS) had progressed significantly. W. van Dooijeweert presented the background and the goal of AEGIS to the WG members.In Europe many collections of crops are maintained by genebanks, universities, research stations, breeding companies and NGOs. It takes a lot of effort to maintain all these collections. W. van Dooijeweert explained that there were more than 1.1 million accessions held in Europe but many were duplicates, entailing a waste of time and money when these accessions are made available free of cost.The idea of AEGIS is to establish a virtual genebank containing unique and economically important accessions defined as the \"Most Appropriate Accessions\" (MAAs). The concept is described as follows:• Conserving safely and in the long term the genetically unique and important accessions for Europe, at the same time ensuring their genetic integrity, viability and availability for breeding, research and education; • Each collection holder conserves its own MAAs in its own genebank (virtual genebank); • MAAs must be made available under the \"Standard Material Transfer Agreement\" (SMTA) of the International Treaty (IT).The benefits of implementing AEGIS are: The first step to be taken will be an official agreement among the countries that want to be members of AEGIS. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was developed and it was approved during the Eleventh Meeting of the Steering Committee. The MoU should be signed by the member country's representatives. An Associate Member Agreement should be signed between individual genebanks wishing to participate in AEGIS and the concerned National Coordinator. The MoU will enter into force after it has been signed by ten countries, after which AEGIS will be formally operational. A member of the Steering Committee expected this could take 1-2 years; the Secretariat expects an earlier formal start of AEGIS.EURISCO and the CCDBs must be adapted to document which accessions are part of AEGIS and of the Multilateral System (MLS). Two new fields for \"MLS status\" and \"AEGIS status\" have already been integrated in EURISCO. Fields to indicate unique or duplicate accessions must be added in the CCDBs.Details of the AEGIS concept are spelled out in the \"Strategic Framework\" document available on the AEGIS Web page. An overview of the updated AEGIS concept was given and discussed point by point. The members of the WG discussed the requirements for the MAAs, safety-duplication, use of the CCDBs, quality standards, legal status and possible financing for the work to be done. As the AEGIS concept is still being refined, participants are encouraged to read the information posted on the AEGIS Web page (http://www.aegis.cgiar.org/). Specific tasks such as defining MAAs, crop conservation guidelines and a quality management system for the Cucurbits WG were mentioned; they were discussed in a later session of the meeting.During the discussion, some partners stated they had heard about AEGIS but were not informed about recent developments. Others found the whole concept to be still confusing. There were many questions about the way collection holders could or should take part in the initiative. There was general consensus about moving in the direction of AEGIS, but participants felt they were hampered by insufficient funding. W. van Dooijeweert stated that in the spirit of ECPGR most of the work should be done as part of routine genebank management. He explained that collection holders could eventually save funds if they did not have to manage accessions that were maintained by and available from partner institutions.All agreed that additional funding at the beginning would help in moving AEGIS forward. The WG should therefore find additional funds through, for instance, EU projects. The topic was discussed in a later session of the meeting.Presented by M.J. Díez AEGIS will comprise the \"Most Appropriate Accessions (MAAs)\", selected on the basis of a list of binding \"selection requirements\" and a number of \"selection criteria\" that would be determined by the WG.The \"selection requirements\" are: a. Material under the management and control of the member countries and their associate members, in the public domain and offered by the associate members for inclusion into AEGIS b. Genetically unique within AEGIS, to the best available knowledge (assessment of genetically distinct accessions to be based on available data and/or on the recorded history of the accession) c. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as defined in the International Treaty, as well as medicinal and ornamental species d. Germplasm of European origin or that is introduced, which is of actual or potential importance to Europe (for breeding, research, education or for historical and cultural reasons).The different ECPGR Crop Working Groups will determine the \"selection criteria\" that will be used when deciding which accession should be accepted among two or more duplicates or groups of very similar accessions. These criteria will include aspects such as the comprehensiveness of existing passport data, number of regeneration cycles, health status, existence of characterization and evaluation data, whether the accession is maintained in the country where it was collected or originated, and others.Presented by M.J. Díez M.J. Díez explained the role of the ECPGR Crop Working Groups. The definitions given in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) were read and discussed.Point (d) of Article 5 (\"Relationship of AEGIS with ECPGR\") of the MoU for the establishment of AEGIS, defines the role of the ECPGR Crop Working Groups as follows:The ECPGR Working Groups will provide technical support for the implementation of AEGIS, including:• adopting crop-specific criteria that are consistent with the general requirements adopted by the ECPGR Steering Committee for the selection of the accessions to be proposed for registration as European Accessions; The Brassica WG chose B. rapa as the model crop for a case study to highlight problems in the identification of MAAs. Two members performed this exercise separately to check if the same results were obtained when using the same selection criteria. The Brassica report of the Radzików meeting 5 , in which the working method is explained, was distributed among the members of the Cucurbits WG. The participants discussed the recommendations and concurred that the databases should be updated to contain as many data as possible because it was currently impossible to select MAAs due to insufficient data. In the Brassica case, the subjectivity of the selection criteria posed another problem; it resulted in different sets of MAAs selected by the two members, although they used the same criteria.The participants discussed whether the methodology used by the Brassica WG could be applied by the Cucurbits WG or whether another approach was needed. They concluded that parallel and independently to the selection of MAAs, the work on identification of unique and possible duplicates in the ECCUDB could be started.To illustrate the selection of MAAs in a collection of cucurbits, M.J. Díez explained a case study conducted with the C. pepo collection held at COMAV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV). Prior to the selection of MAAs, a study of the general characteristics of the collection has to be carried out. COMAV's C. pepo collection consists of a total of 391 accessions, for the most part of Spanish origin. The entire collection is fully documented with passport and characterization data (molecular characterization only partially conducted but not necessary for the selection of MAAs). A core collection was built. Accessions were collected in 37 provinces and 194 localities. No more than seven accessions were collected in the same locality (most often only two or three). Completeness in COMAV´s database was checked for the following fields and presented as initial information: ACCENAME, ORIGCTY, SAMPSTAT, COLLSITE, COLLNUMB, OTHERNUMB, DONORNUMB and DONORCODE.Subsequently, the following steps were taken for selecting MAAs:• Elimination of non-Spanish accessions: 391-94 = 297.• Sorting of the accessions by province and locality.• Checking the field \"ACCENAME\" and also the characterization data. In this collection the common name included in the field ACCENAME is \"calabaza\", a generic Spanish term for \"pumpkin\". Therefore, the field ACCENAME is not very informative and useful for selecting MAAs. Instead, characterization data and other information included in \"Notes\" are useful. • Exclusion of the duplicated accessions based on the above information.• Taking the following into account for excluding accessions:-Completeness of passport data -Number of regenerations -Health of seeds and other criteria.The accessions originating from other countries (accessions collected by the holder in other countries) can be reviewed after this first selection.This completes the selection process conducted by the holding institute. A Committee of experts composed of some selected members of the Cucurbits WG, including the Database Manager, has to be created. The list of MAAs selected by the holding institute is then sent to the Cucurbits WG Committee, which checks the list for duplicates in the ECCUDB. The revised list is sent to the holding institute and finally approved.After the explanation of this example, the pros and cons of this methodology were discussed, also considering as examples collections with different characteristics. M.J. Díez stressed the importance of the first selection of MAAs, which should be conducted by the curators of holding institutes, given their deeper knowledge of their own materials. M.J. Díez, together with W. van Dooijeweert, will examine more case studies, taking into account the different characteristics of the cucurbit collections of the WG members. After consulting J. Engels and L. Maggioni at the ECPGR Secretariat about these case studies, they will forward them to the WG members to help them in the selection of MAAs in their collections.The idea of AEGIS was still confusing to the partners even after the presentation of the concept of MAA selection and the case studies. All partners were willing to implement the concept, but stressed the need to start with a small pilot project. They agreed that Cucumis melo would be a good case study, since almost all partners hold accessions of this species. Collection holders will start by identifying MAAs in their own collection. To facilitate this exercise the Chair and Vice-Chair will adapt the flow chart developed by the Brassica WG by incorporating the \"Selection Requirements\" approved by the Steering Committee and the \"Selection Criteria\" to be agreed by the WG. The flowchart will be sent to partners tentatively before December 2008. Partners will indicate which problems they had encountered while using the flowchart. The results would be sent to M.J. Díez by the end of March 2009.It was decided that a small group of experts (maximum four persons) would be formed for each crop. V. Carnide thought that experts should be drawn from different regions. The nomination of experts was postponed until the results of the pilot project were made available. The formation of expert groups will be done through email.Establishment of minimum descriptor lists for each crop M.J. Díez distributed the draft minimum descriptor list for Cucurbita that she had developed in collaboration with E. Křístková, from Czech Republic. The participants discussed each descriptor and decided whether or not to include it in the minimum list. According to the WG experts, all descriptors were needed and could be kept in one list. The list was even extended to 29 descriptors. Although this is a large number, the descriptors were considered necessary and approved by all the participants. B. Schmidt presented the list for Lagenaria, which was used at IPK for Cucurbita and Lagenaria. A hardcopy was distributed to all members. Experts on Lagenaria will send their comments on it to M.J. Díez before mid-December 2008. It was stressed again that it should, if possible, be a minimum list with 10-15 descriptors. The first draft will be developed by M.J. Díez on the basis of the comments received.Y. Tadmor presented a few slides showing the morphological variation in Momordica spp. It is known that this crop holds many health-beneficial traits such as insulin production and resistance traits such as the antifungal activities of leaf extracts. Research on these traits and evaluation of resistance to Fusarium, Alternaria and powdery mildew is under way in Israel. Y. Tadmor will work with Y. Burger to produce the first draft of a minimum descriptor list for Momordica, which will be sent to M.J. Díez by mid-November 2008.The three draft lists of minimum descriptors will be posted on the Web site.W. van Dooijeweert introduced the topic. It is widely known that regeneration is needed to enlarge collections and to produce healthy seeds in sufficient quantity. Some collection holders have no problems in regenerating seeds, but for others it is almost impossible due to different reasons. Each member's situation was discussed and possible solutions for problems were suggested.The Institute for Plant Genetic Resources \"K. Malkov\" (IPGR) has problems with regeneration of its material. Half of the collection should be regenerated to have enough seeds with good germination percentage. IPGR intends to start using isolation cages.Regeneration of the Cucurbit collection is under way; 40% has been completed. Due to new policy decisions, the capacity of isolation cages has decreased to 50%. Consequently, only 20-30 accessions can be regenerated each year, placing many accessions at risk. Thirty Cucurbita spp. accessions did not germinate anymore. The genebank does not envisage seeking assistance from other institutions; however, K. Karlová plans to raise this issue once again for internal discussion. Fortunately, the accessions of Czech origin have already been regenerated.The genebank in Georgia is new. Only 28 accessions have been collected to date and are in good condition.IPK has enough capacity to regenerate all its material. The Momordica collection is however a problem, since it has to be regenerated every 4 years due to rapid loss of germinability. B. Schmidt is seeking protocols to store the material for a longer period.The status of Cucurbits in Hungary is acceptable. Only 96 accessions need urgent regeneration, which can be handled by the institute.The genebank in Israel focuses only on endemic species. Other collections such as the Cucurbits have to be maintained by the holder. Although there are no funds for regeneration, the Ministry does not allow assistance from private companies. This is a big problem for the C. melo and C. lanatus collections. Y. Tadmor is seeking solutions for saving the collections.The Latvian genebank is relatively new. It contains only a few accessions of Latvian origin, which were included in the genebank in 1980. Although there is no national support, the genebank does not face any problems.The Netherlands CGN has no problems in regenerating material; 99% of the collection is available thanks to the support from Dutch companies. They also help in regenerating material if it does not meet the seed quality requirement of CGN anymore. Some companies indicated they were also interested in regenerating material for other genebanks, as input in kind.Poland has no problems in regenerating accessions. Since 13 years, funds have been provided by the government for regenerating the collection, which is considered a continuing exercise. The collection is in good shape.The cucurbit collection in Vila Real is in good condition. As the samples are small, no regeneration is needed at the time. Some project funds are available for collecting, but the institute has no funds for maintaining genetic resources and will have to seek project funds for regeneration. The genebank in Braga has no means for regeneration either.For the collections of COMAV there are no problems. The genebank works together with 13 institutes for regenerating material.Regeneration of the Cucurbita collection is needed. The C. melo collection is the only one that has been regenerated. Regeneration of the other Cucurbits is planned.The institute holds 6000 accessions but only 100 are in long-term storage. The material is in good condition. The only financial support from the government is in the form of salaries.The institute has good facilities, but no funds for fertilizers, fuel, pesticides, etc. The only way to safeguard the collection is to produce many varieties, which could generate income for the institute.W. van Dooijeweert commented on these reports from the different countries. Funding was apparently the most common problem. He reminded participants of the offer made by some private companies for regeneration. Material could also be regenerated at a partner's genebank. This solution is sometimes cheaper, provided the genebank ensures the required quality. It could be profitable for both parties: one genebank could get more regenerations for the same amount of money and the other could earn income to do (extra) regenerations.Y. Tadmor mentioned that some wealthy individuals also offered support for regeneration, as in the case of Amy Goldman from USA for C. melo.Presented by W. van Dooijeweert Safety-duplication and the availability of hosting \"black boxes\" are high priorities of ECPGR and the Cucurbits WG. To avoid the loss of valuable germplasm due to lack of storage facilities, disasters, etc., germplasm must be stored in a second place, preferably outside the country, under long-term storage conditions. This practice was stressed again in relation with the AEGIS principle. There are two possibilities for storing safety-duplicates: in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and under black box arrangements in a partner's genebank. Bulgaria, Germany (20 000 accessions, of which 300 Cucurbits) and The Netherlands (20 000 accessions, of which 950 Cucurbits) have sent safety-duplicates to Svalbard. Czech Republic is planning to send its cereal collection. The table on the status of safety-duplication (p. 9, report of the first meeting in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, September 2005) was reviewed. All partners were asked the same three questions about the level of safety-duplication, long-term conservation facilities and availability for hosting black boxes. The results of the survey are presented in Table 1. The WG's efforts to improve safety-duplication have to date resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between CGN, The Netherlands, and IPGR, Bulgaria. WG members were encouraged to review their own level of safety-duplication and urged to make arrangements with partners' genebanks when necessary.The representatives of Georgia and The Netherlands agreed to investigate the possibility of sending safety-duplicates of the small collection in Georgia to the Netherlands. During the VEGNET meeting held in June 2007 in Olomouc, Czech Republic, it was agreed that all WGs would work towards the implementation of AEGIS. Successful implementation required the adoption of a Quality Management System (QMS) by all collection holders having accessions recorded into the system. The Brassica WG, one of the AEGIS \"model crop\" groups, developed a survey, with the help of which all the procedures used by the WG members could be inventoried. Using the survey of the Brassica WG as a model, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Cucurbits WG sent a questionnaire to all WG members; only three members replied. The reason for this low response was discussed, as well as the participants' opinions of the QMS.It was agreed that the questionnaire should be resent to all partners before the end of 2008; it had to be returned to W. van Dooijeweert by the end of March 2009. A preliminary overview would be prepared, but decisions on common procedures would be postponed until the next meeting.The Cucurbits WG has already developed minimum guidelines for regeneration (Appendix II of the report of the first meeting in Plovdiv, 2005). A printout of the list posted on the AEGIS Web site, including all the procedures for regeneration and storage, was distributed to all partners. The results of the above-mentioned survey will be discussed at the next meeting. Only then can the first steps be taken for establishing extended regeneration and storage protocols.Y. Tadmor introduced a project on molecular markers and phenotypic description. One of the partners is J. García Mas from Spain. Y. Tadmor indicated that the project had already been written but it could still be possible to incorporate a minor budget for regeneration and rationalization of collections. This could help the WG to move forward. Melon was chosen as the crop under study. The draft would be sent to the Chair and Vice-Chair.Y. Tadmor is also involved in another project on high-throughput facilities for measuring metabolism products. This project has already been running for some time, and the facilities should be used, possibly for one of the WG's collections. He will mention this opportunity to the other project partners at the next project meeting in half a year's time. All the participants expressed interest, although some would need the approval of their organizations.In the closing remarks, M.J. Díez expressed satisfaction with the discussions at the meeting. Not all the topics could be discussed but several agreements had been reached. Some partners were aware of AEGIS; some had learned about it for the first time. Discussion on this topic familiarized all participants with the AEGIS principles.The meeting was very well arranged by the local organizer K. Niemirowicz-Szczytt, and the visit to the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute in Radzików gave the Group a good overview of the management of genetic resources in Poland. K. Niemirowicz-Szczytt was thanked with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the whole Group.A. Zubiashvili indicated that the Georgian Institute of Farming would be happy to organize the next meeting. The meeting was then closed.Phase VIIIThe Steering Committee, at its Tenth Meeting held in Riga, Latvia (September 2006), defined the four priority areas for Phase VIII: \"Task sharing and capacity building\", \"Characterization and evaluation\", \"In situ and on-farm conservation and management\" and \"Documentation and information\". Additionally, it stated that all activities would have to focus on the implementation of AEGIS. The Cucurbits Working Group suggested some activities for Phase VIII at the second meeting of the Vegetables Network held in Olomouc, Czech Republic (June 2007), to prepare the involvement of the WG in the implementation of AEGIS. The activities agreed on each of the four priority areas were:• Task sharing and capacity building implementation of safety-duplication promotion of the participation of seed companies in regeneration and characterization activities selection of a group of members to help in the selection of accessions to be included in the AEGIS project.• Characterization and evaluation characterization of accessions in each genebank identification of taxonomical experts to help in the classification of unclassified accessions uploading of characterization data to the European Central Cucurbits Database (ECCUDB).• In situ and on-farm conservation and management compiling of information on in situ and on-farm conservation of cucurbits in Europe elaboration of specific descriptors for testing the suitability of the accessions to cultivation in organic conditions integration in the ECCUDB of characterization data of accessions cultivated in organic conditions.• Documentation and information uploading of the ECCUDB with passport and characterization data identification of possible duplicates selection of the Most Appropriated Accessions (MAAs) in each genebank.Given the tasks already planned for Phase VIII, the proposal will focus on three specific aspects.The objectives proposed are:1. To implement safety-duplication 2. To develop and implement specific algorithms to facilitate the identification of safetyduplicates in the ECCUDB 3. To strengthen collaboration with the In situ and On-farm Conservation Network.The Cucurbits WG reported on the status of safety-duplications at its previous meetings. The need for safety-duplicates was evident for the Institute for Plant Genetic Resources (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) and the Research Centre for Agrobotany (Tápiószele, Hungary). The situation was not clear for some countries not represented at the meetings. After the meeting, Israel informed about the need for safety-duplication for part of its collection. One of the most important objectives of the Working Group is the implementation of safety-duplication. It has to be a continuing exercise to avoid the risk of losing entire germplasm collections. Currently, i.e. at the end of Phase VII, this is being carried out for part of the collections of Bulgaria and Israel, but available funds will not allow preparing the safety-duplicates of the complete collections.The proposed actions are:-The Chair and Vice-Chair check the level of safety-duplication of individual collections.Agriculture Ministries for permission to arrange black boxes for safety-duplicates. -Agreements are formalized between the sending and recipient countries.-Detailed information about the preparation of black boxes is made available by the Chair and Vice-Chair to the interested countries. -A cost estimate is prepared for the collections involved.-Black boxes are prepared and sent to the holding institutions.-More precise data about the level of safety-duplication in all the collections -Increased level of safety-duplication of the European cucurbit germplasm collections.-Year 1 of Phase VIII: sending to all WG members a survey questionnaire requesting details about the level of safety-duplication -Year 2: implementation of safety-duplication.personnel and consumables (package material, dispatch cost): € 5365.The involvement of the Working Groups in the implementation of AEGIS has been defined in the current AEGIS Discussion paper (2008). The WGs have to apply the MAA concept and identify the list of tentative accessions to be accepted and registered as European Accessions. This has to be done in collaboration with the respective holders. The accessions proposed by each country as MAAs have to be corroborated by the Database Managers, who have to check them for possible duplicates. A semi-automatic management of the data would facilitate the process, making it less complicated and time-consuming.As in 2008, the ECCUDB holds passport data of nearly 25 000 accessions of cucurbits crops. Currently the completeness of the Database is being verified; complementary data will then be requested from the collection holders. However, the quality of the Database cannot be improved substantially due to the lack of information in the original databases. The data stored in the ECCUDB has to be managed well to detect possible duplicates and select the MAAs as accurately as possible. The Avena Database Manager, C. Germeier (Federal Centre for Breeding Research of Cultivated Plants, BAZ Genebank, Quedlinburg, Germany), has developed several algorithms to identify probable duplicates. We propose a visit of the ECCUDB manager to Germany to learn and transfer these algorithms to the ECCUDB.-Visit of the ECCUDB manager to the BAZ Genebank. Duration: 2 days -Implementation of the algorithms in the ECCUDB -Selection of possible duplicates.-Training of the ECCUDB manager -Improvement of the quality of the ECCUDB.-Year 1 of Phase VIII: 2-day visit of the ECCUDB Manager to the BAZ genebank -Year 2: development and implementation of tools for the identification of possible duplicates-2-day visit, one person: € 825 -Implementation in the ECCUDB: input in kind by COMAV-UPV.The Cucurbits WG has not undertaken any important on in situ and on-farm conservation activities until now. However, cucurbits are cultivated organically in some European countries. With a view to collaborate more closely with the different Crop Networks, the In situ and On-farm Conservation Network has offered to organize a meeting that will allow it to know the Networks' needs and to find solutions. The Cucurbits WG is interested in attending this meeting.-Chair and Vice-Chair attend the meeting -A workplan is developed in collaboration with the In situ and On-farm Conservation Network -These plans are communicated to the Cucurbits WG members by email and at the WG meeting -Planned activities are implemented.-Workplan for on-farm cultivation of cucurbit crops -Reinforcement of on-farm activities in the Cucurbits WG.-Year 1 of Phase VIII: participation in the meeting and elaboration of the workplan -Year 2 of Phase VIII: communication to the Cucurbits WG members and implementation of the activities.-2-day meeting, two persons: € 1650.The activities proposed in the project will be coordinated by the Chair and Vice-Chair.Information will be requested from the members when needed, and decisions will be communicated to the members by the coordinators.- ","tokenCount":"7491"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9885152411.json b/data/part_1/9885152411.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..652404824339d7cd904672daed115a2da3d2f87f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9885152411.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c20abbe743cce0130c90933171fbddb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ba19eb2-11b6-4e41-8a06-8b0a62cd7203/retrieve","id":"1717617734"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"038da43d-d3ec-4c9d-95f7-6d71251271c7","pagecount":"10","content":"Doyogena climate-smart landscapes had reduced agricultural income in the year 2019, mostly due to climate-related shocks (80%). Impacts were lower in female-headed HH (53%).◼ About 41% of the HH made changes in their cropping activities. Male-headed HH made changes to crops twice more often than femaleheaded HH.◼ Climate shocks were the main driver of change, particularly in female-headed HH (100% of the changes to crops). For male-headed HH, climate induced 87% of the changes to crops but also 73% of the changes to livestock. Autonomous changes were only reported by male-headed HH.◼ Roughly 1/3 of farmers (but twice more male than female), accessed climate information services and the majority (>70%) used it in decision-making. Seasonal forecasts triggered cropping system changes on half of the farms. This synthesis presents an analysis of the results from the 2019 monitoring implemented as a contribution to Activity 1.2 Assessment of climate-smart agricultural options in the Doyogena Climate-Smart Village (CSV), in the context of the CCAFS-EU-IFAD grant reference 2000002575 for the research project \"Building livelihoods and resilience to climate change in East & West Africa: Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) for largescale implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture\" led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.◼ Adoption of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices tested and promoted in Doyogena was reported by 135 male (99%) and 131 female (96%) farmers. It was lower in female-headed (82%) than in male-headed HH (100%).◼ Of the 11 practices tested, five showed high adoption rates (>60%): controlled grazing, cut and carry, terraces and Desho grass, and agroforestry. Four practices registered medium levels of adoption (30-60%): improved wheat and potato varieties, crop rotation, residue incorporation and manure. The lower adoption (<10%) was associated with improved beans and improved livestock breeds, that was reported by only male-headed HH.◼ On average between 73% and 98% of adopting farmers reported positive outcomes of the practices in all the CSA dimensions: additional income, enhanced food access and diversity, and improved climate resilience. For more than 50% of the farmers, these practices (except for terraces) did not entail additional labor time.◼ Most male and female farmers agreed that they jointly decided on the implementation of the high and medium-level adoption practices. They only disagreed about agroforestry and improved livestock breeds where about 50% of the male farmers reported that they decided alone but female farmers mentioned that it was done jointly.◼ About 2/3 of male and female farmers reported equal contribution to the implementation of six of the practices. In the case of terraces, agroforestry and improved wheat, the male farmers reported doing most of the work while female farmers reported equal contribution.◼ The level of participation and/or control of income generated by the practices was consistently high (above 80% of male and female farmers).In the context of the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its learning platform on \"Participatory evaluation of CSA practices and technologies,\" farmers in Doyogena district (Ethiopia) have been implementing climate-smart land management options that can build sustainable livelihoods and increase their resilience to climate shocks. The climate-related risks the farmers face include increasing rainfall intensity and variability, water stress, soil erosion, deforestation, severe land degradation and fragmentation, declining soil fertility, shortage of livestock feed, and increased incidence of crop and livestock diseases and pests (Tadesse et al. 2018). To support a standard and robust evaluation of these technological options and build context-specific evidence on their adoption drivers and related outcomes at household level, CCAFS developed the CSA monitoring framework.  The CSA monitoring framework proposes 17 core indicators and an additional set of complementary extended indicators linked to specific survey questions gathered in different thematic modules and hosted in the Geofarmer App.The Data collection associated with the CSA monitoring was done between November 2-10, 2019 (Ambaw et al. 2019). The main objective of this monitoring was to assess farmers' adoption/implementation of CSA practices and technologies over the last 12 months and the perceived effects of their implementation on: food security, crop productivity and income, adaptive capacity and gender aspects (labor, participation in decision making, access/control over generated resources). The monitoring survey targeted two persons of the opposite sex involved in on-farm activities from a sample of households located in seven villages within Doyogena climate-smart landscapes. Those included: Tula (01), Suticho (02), Gewada (03), Cholola2 (04), Tachignaw Genjo (05), Duna (06), Gatame1 (07). The households in the first six villages were direct beneficiaries of the CCAFS project whereas the ones visited in Gatame1 were non-beneficiaries or \"additionals\" (potentially nonadopters). All the core indicators determined for Doyogena were calculated using R-Scripts. The following section presents a synthesis of the key results.A total of 273 farmers were covered by the monitoring: 137 male and 136 females. They belong to 140 HH (12% female-headed) with average productive farm areas of 0.78 ha. A large majority depend on agricultural income (96% of males and 90% of females) largely generated onfarm (97% in male-headed and 100% in female-headed HH).Consistent with the national land use traditions, nearly all HH (100% of female-headed and 81% of male-headed) own all the land they cultivate (Figure 1).In 2019, 74% of the HH reported reductions in their agricultural income, and around 80% of these cases were associated with climate shocks (Figure 2). Income for female-headed HH were less affected (60%) as were the impacts from climate events (53%). These events included heavy and irregular rains (84% and 38% respectively), and in much lower frequency (< 5%) frost, drought, and storms or strong winds.Main food source: On-farm production was the main source of food for 93% of the HH. Only 4% of maleheaded HH reported mainly purchasing it from the market. External support was the main source of food for 2% of male-headed and 6% of female-headed HH (Figure 3).In 2019, 62% of male-headed and 65% of female-headed HH suffered from some degree of food access insecurity. November) 39% of the HH were food secure 1 , another 39% moderately food insecure 2 and 20% severely 3 food insecure. Female-headed HH reported lower levels of both food security (35%) and severe food insecurity (18%) conditions; a larger proportion accounted for moderate food insecurity compared to male-headed HH (Figure 4).Nearly two-thirds (67%) of Doyogena's farmers were able to make savings from their agricultural income, although this capacity was higher in males (75%) than in females (55%). On-farm investments were frequent (above 80%) and in about 50% of the cases they were driven by the intention to recover from or prevent the negative impacts of climate shocks. Gender differences were registered in access to agricultural credit (26% of male and 18% of female) and 43% and 41% of them, respectively, were \"climate-driven\" (Figure 5). The main source of credit for both male (69%) and female (64%) farmers were the cooperatives or microcredit institutions. About 22% of males accessed community saving groups while females looked at both the saving groups and the family and friends support (14%). A small proportion of farmers (9%) got their credits from private lenders.Coping strategies: The most frequent response from the HH to overcome the negative economic impacts caused by climate shocks included the use of savings (83%), reducing expenditures (47%) and selling assets (23%), with higher frequencies observed in femaleheaded than in male-headed HH (Figure 6). Male-headed HH, used other strategies although in a lower degree, such as borrowing money (12%), looking for new income sources and skipping meals (8%), using loans and saving or shifting from on-farm to off-farm work (6%).meals, rarely or sometimes. It does not experience any of the three most severe conditions. 3 A household that experiences one of these three most severe conditions: running out of food, going to bed hungry, or going a whole day and night without eating, even as infrequently as rarely.   Risk mitigation actions: About 41% of the HH reported having made changes in their cropping activities.Male-headed HH reported twice more changes related to crop production (44%) than female-headed HH (18%) and were the only ones making changes to a less extent (9%) in their livestock (Figure 7).Innovative changes: About 10% of the HH reported innovative changes (never undertaken before in their farms), 9% in male-headed and 1% in female-headed HH.Climaterelated stocks were the main driver. In female-headed HH, they induced 100% of the changes made in their crop production activities. In male-headed HH they accounted for 87% of the changes made to crop and 73% of the changes made to livestock production activities (Figure 8).Figure 8. Drivers of changes made by male and femaleheaded households to their cropping activities.In maleheaded HH, the climate-induced changes were mainly associated with pasture/feed (88%) and crop (51%) management practices. In 26% and 21% of the cases, they substituted varieties or crops, and to a lower extent (12%), they diversified their animals. On the other hand, climate induced changes led to female-headed HH making changes in crop management practices (75%) and the substitution of crops (25%). The female-headed HH made more frequent crop related changes than maleheaded HH (Figure 9).About 36% of the farmers reported having accessed CIS in 2019. Gender wise, this access, however, was twice higher for males (48%) than females (24%). It consisted mainly of weather and seasonal forecast information. None of the females and only a small fraction (14%) of males who accessed seasonal forecasts also received associated agro-advisories (on crop, livestock, and pest and diseases management).Besides the relatively low access to CIS, the majority of the farmers (> 70%) accessing CIS and slightly more males than females, reported having the capacity to use this information in decision-making (Figure 10). For about 50% of the farmers that accessed seasonal forecasts, this triggered changes in their cropping activities and in their livestock activities (17%). Those changes were largely related to crop and pasture management. The specific constraints to the use of CIS differed between males and females and among the type of information service. The main constraint to use weather forecasts was the lack of trust (43% in males and 75% in females) and resources to act (36% of males, 12% of females) after making decisions. For the seasonal forecast, the major challenges for males were understanding and trust (40%) as well as the ability to translate it into action (20%). The females clearly reported that the main constraint was understanding the forecast (43%). Trust and translation into action were also reported by females but in a lower extent than males (29% and 14% respectively). Those clear gender differences might be explained, in part, by the fact that none of the females reported having access to any type of training of CIS against 50% of males.This study showed that in 2019, the level of CSA adoption was very high both at the individual and household level: 266 farmers (97%) and 132 households (98%) from the seven villages surveyed were implementing one or more of the 11 promoted practices. In terms of gender, adoption was lower in female-headed HH (82%) compared to 100% in male-headed HH (Figure 11).Specific CSA practices: Overall, except for cut and carry, adoption was lower in female-headed than in maleheaded HH. Of the 11 practices tested, the top five that showed high adoption (>60%) were controlled grazing, cut and carry, terraces and Desho grass, and agroforestry. The four practices that registered mediumlevels of adoption (30-60%) were improved wheat and potato varieties, crop rotation, residue incorporation, and manure use. Those practices were much more often implemented in male-headed than in female-headed HH.The lower adoption (<10%) was associated with improved beans and improved livestock breeds, and only reported by male-headed HH (Table 1).Table 1. Frequency of adoption of the specific CSA practices promoted in Doyogena, at the individual and household level.Average CSA area/practice: In the Doyogena site covered by the monitoring, the total productive area dedicated to CSA practices accounted for 113 ha and it mostly corresponded to controlled grazing (27 ha), terraces (20 ha), cut and carry (19 ha), improved wheat (13 ha), crop rotation (12 ha) and agroforestry (11 ha). At farm level, the share of area dedicated to CSA practices was different. The biggest share was dedicated, on average, to improved breeds (1 Ha) and terraces (0.67 ha) and in similar proportions to controlled grazing, cut and carry, agroforestry, improved wheat and crop rotation (Figure 12). Farmers used about 0.5 ha for implementing residue incorporation, manure, improved potato and beans.    Adoption drivers: The main factor stimulating adoption of the 11 practices was learning and access to training (53%-78% in males and 41%-79% in females). The second key driver (except for agroforestry) was the intention to respond to climate impacts and this was systematically more frequently cited by female farmers, e.g. 48% of females adopting crop rotation versus 35% of males (Table 2). Market opportunities were only a driver associated with the adoption of improved potato (10%) and wheat varieties (6% in males and 3% in females). Farmers reported that it was also an important driver for improved breeds (21%-33%), although this was the practice less adopted according to the monitoring results.Table 2. Practice specific adoption drivers in male and female farmers.Dis-adoption: Despite a very high adoption rate, 44% of the farmers and 49% of HH reported that in 2019 they stopped implementing some CSA practices. Looking at the specific practices, however, the data suggest that most of the dis-adoptions (about 1/3) were for improved beans (also only adopted by 6% of the farmers and 10% of the HH). Improved potato was the second CSA option that had been dis-adopted but at a very low rate (10% of farmers and 13% of households). All the other practices had dis-adoption rates below 10%. Female-headed households, however, did show higher dis-adoption at about 35% for improved beans, 24% for improved potato and cut and carry and 12% for improved wheat, controlled grazing and agroforestry (Table 3).Table 3. Practice specific dis-adoption by male and female farmers.For improved beans, the most abandoned practice (about 1/3 of farmers), about 50% of male and 60% of female farmers reported that the main reason for stopping was related to the workload required.For improved potato, the primary cause of dis-adoption was that it did not generated economic benefits (50% of male and 67% of female). In the case of crop rotation, 75% of males and 67% of females reported other causes, although for 33% of females another driver was the high labor effort required. Although terraces and Desho grass  were dis-adopted at a low rate (<10%), 75% of females and 33% of males that stopped using them argued that the reason was the high cost of constructing them (Figure 13).The participatory testing and evaluation of contextspecific CSA practices has been at the core of the CCAFS Climate-Smart Village research for development (CSV AR4D) approach. It has been promoted as one of the elements of suitable technical interventions, that combined with CIS, capacity building and training, and access to financial services, can improve smallholders' farmers' abilities to cope and adapt to the negative impacts of climate variability and change.Together with the testing of institutional options for dealing with climate change in agriculture, the CSV AR4D approach aims to gather evidence for scaling up and out appropriate options drawing lessons for policy makers from local to global levels.The results of the 2019 monitoring showed that farmers had positive perceptions regarding the effects of CSA practices on improving yield, generating additional income, enhancing food access and diversity and climate resilience (Table 4).Table 4. Farmers' perception of the outcomes of CSA practices on: improving yields, generating additional incomes, enhancing food access and diversity, capacity to respond to or recover from climate related shocks and labor time.-In the case of the practices with high adoption rates (controlled grazing, cut and carry, terraces and agroforestry), the positive perceived effects on the CSA dimensions were above 90%: On average, 93% of the farmers reported enhancement in terms of climate resilience and food access, 92% reported that they generated additional income and around 90% improvements in food diversity and yields. For more than 50% of the farmers, these practices (except for terraces), did not entail additional labor time.-For the practices with mid-adoption rates (improved wheat and potato, crop rotation and residue incorporation), the highest benefits perceived were the generation of additional income and improved food access (98%) followed by improved yields and food diversity (96%) and to a slightly lower extent, the reduction of vulnerability to climate shocks (86%). For more than 70% of the farmers, the implementation of those practices represented the same level or less labor time.-Finally, the CSA practices with the lowest adoption rates (green manure, improved beans and improved livestock breeds) were associated in 97% of the cases with the generation of additional income. To a lesser extent, about 86% of the cases were associated with improved yield, food access and diversity and lastly with improving resilience to climate shocks (77%). For most of these practices, implementation was associated with less or the same level of labor time, except for improved beans by females (only 25%) and green manure by males (62%).Overall, the results of this analysis suggest that enhancing adaptive capacity does support the adoption of CSA practices, as does the possibility to increase food access and generate additional income. Decision making on implementing the practices: Most male and female farmers (average 60%) agreed that they jointly decided on the implementation of the high and midadoption practices. They only disagreed about agroforestry and improved livestock breeds where around 50% of males reported that they decided alone but the female farmers mentioned that it was done jointly (about 50% and 78%, respectively).Decision making on dis-adoption: All dis-adopting male and female farmers reported participation in the decision to stop implementing cut and carry and improved potato. Only female farmers were involved in the decision to disadopt controlled grazing, agroforestry, improved wheat and crop rotation, while 50% of male farmers reported being involved in the decision to stop implementing terraces.Participation in CSA implementation: About 2/3 of male and female farmers reported equal contribution to the implementation of six of the practices: controlled grazing, cut and carry, improved potato, crop rotation, residue incorporation and green manure. In the case of terraces, agroforestry and improved wheat, the male farmers reported being the ones doing most of the work while female farmers reported an equal contribution.Participation/control of income generated through CSA: The level of participation and/or control over income generated by the practices was consistently high (above 80% of male and female farmers). There were no gender differences in the participation and/or control over finances generated from improved breeds and beans, improved wheat, cut and carry and terraces. Male farmers reported slightly more access (99%) than female farmers (95%) to the incomes associated to agroforestry and female farmers reported slightly more than male farmers accessing/controlling resources generated from controlled grazing, improved potato, crop rotation and crop residues incorporation (on average 94% vs 90%).The implementation of the CSA monitoring framework provides a useful snapshot of climate related challenges facing smallholder farmers in Doyogena district. The challenges associated with climate variability (heavy and irregular rains) account for 80% of their agricultural income losses and 60% of food insecurity. The results indicate that climate is the key driver of risk mitigation actions undertaken by both male and female-headed HH that consist of on-farm investments, access to credit, changing crop/pasture management practices and to a lesser extent changing crop types and crop varieties. Also, 50% of the farmers that accessed seasonal forecasts, made use of the information to make changes in their farming systems. Due to learning and training, as well as to be better able to increase their adaptive capacity, 100% of male-headed and 82% of femaleheaded HH implemented CSA practices and reported that they systematically improved yields, income, food access/diversity as well as resilience to climate shocks. Knowing specific information on factors determining adoption/dis-adoption and gender-related gaps provides valuable information for tailoring the design of future interventions aiming at scaling CSA as a path toward improved and \"climate proofed\" livelihoods.","tokenCount":"3333"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9894027121.json b/data/part_1/9894027121.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ce6867beded0a51354c2c7866e2d839fe87a719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9894027121.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28ecce1aee71eb391a4aa42eafcf93b1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4bdb900d-3159-4b5a-8780-d35b17e65771/retrieve","id":"954350200"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"188dc89e-d6b5-47c2-bf80-56e0f315fb9f","pagecount":"52","content":"Working towards a regional approachThe Community of Practice of Latin American and the Caribbean Genebanks Benefits from Participating in the Community of Practice -LAC• We are sharing DSI and metadata• Each crop has a team doing the analysis and interpretationBenefits of using DSI for conservation• Conservation as a regional effort − Sharing DSI -pursuing analysis of crop genetic diversity at a regional scale (megadiverse region)− Identifying common accessions -Backups − Opportunity to create a regional core collections − Connections between core collections• Could benefit also Identifying accessions that are not conserved in the bank (in situ conservation)Using DSI for crop improvementAugust 13, 2024 Carolina Sansaloni (CIMMYT)Loss of the diversity through the genetic bottlenecks of domestication, selection of landraces and modern plant breeding• Genome-wide analysis highlights areas of positive selection.• This analysis identifies genomic regions known to be associated with key agronomic traits, but also uncovers other regions that could help explain the recent history of modern wheat breeding and indicate specific alleles for future breeding.Preharvest sprouting gene TaMFT in chromosome 3APre-breeding phase: understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype ➢ Environmental Genome-wide association studies \"EnvGWAS\"• To date7-8% of variation associated with potential adaptation to drought and heat prone environments in maize are unique to landraces and 12-17% very rare (<1%)• \"Novel\" variation found in multiple accessions from different regions and countries   ","tokenCount":"221"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9897455722.json b/data/part_1/9897455722.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..47651d2b2510e25c831c53e228b2450d468744cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9897455722.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f6a135222bde75493c0cad6ea69d9c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3322de02-6c18-488c-ae8b-76891111b080/retrieve","id":"-279940215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"319a911d-96e8-4ede-838f-fd93aa9320bd","pagecount":"4","content":"The banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar, 1824) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an important pest of banana, plantain and ensete. The adult weevil is black and measures 10-15 mm. It is free living, though most commonly found between leaf sheaths, in the soil at the base of the mat or associated with crop residues. The weevil is nocturnally active and very susceptible to desiccation. Adults may remain at the same mat for extended periods of time, while only a small proportion will move > 25 m within 6 months. The weevils rarely fly. Dissemination is primarily through infested planting material.The banana weevil is a \"k\" selected insect with long life span and low fecundity. Many adults live 1 year, while some survive up to 4 years. On moist substrates, the weevil can survive without feeding for several months. The sex ratio is 1:1. Oviposition rates of more than 1 egg/day have been recorded, but, most commonly, oviposition has been estimated at 1 egg/week. The female places its white, oval eggs singly into holes made by the rostrum. Most oviposition is in the leaf sheaths and rhizome surface. Flowered plants and crop residues are favoured stages for oviposition.The emerging larvae preferentially feed in the rhizome, but will also attack the true stem and, occasionally, the pseudostem. The larvae pass through 5-8 instars. Pupation is in naked cells near the surface of the host plant. Developmental rates are temperature dependent. Under tropical conditions, the egg to adult period is 5-7 weeks. Egg development does not occur below 12°C; this threshold may explain why the weevil is rarely encountered above 1600 masl.Adult banana weevils are attracted by volatiles emanating from host plants. Cut rhizomes are especially attractive. Therefore, it can be difficult to establish a new crop in previously infested fields or near stands supporting heavy infestations. Banana weevils are attracted to cut rhizomes, making suckers used as planting material especially susceptible to attack. Loss of more than 40% of the plant crop to banana weevil has been recorded.Banana weevil attack has been reported to interfere with root initiation, kill existing roots, limit nutrient uptake, reduce plant vigour, delay flowering and increase susceptibility to other pests and diseases. Yield reductions are caused by both plant loss (plant death, rhizome snapping, toppling) and lower bunch weights. Toppling, more commonly attributed to nematodes, has been observed under conditions of high weevil attack in the absence of nematodes.Banana weevil levels are often low in a newly planted field. With low oviposition rates, population build-up is slow and weevil problems are most often encountered in ratoon crops. In one trial, yield loss increased from 5% in the plant crop to > 40% in the third ratoon. In areas where bananas or plantains are replanted after 1-3 years, weevil populations may not have time to build up to pest levels, even in the presence of susceptible germplasm.The banana weevil evolved in Southeast Asia and has spread to all banana and plantain production regions in the tropics and subtropics. Weevil problems appear to be most severe in plantains, highland cooking bananas and ensete. The weevil has contributed to the decline and disappearance of highland cooking banana in parts of East Africa. Pest status may vary across sites and farms: in one study, 100-fold differences in weevil densities were found among farms in a single watershed. Weevil pest status in other groups of bananas is variable. In commercial Cavendish plantations, the banana weevil has been reported to be relatively unimportant.Control methods for banana weevil are likely to vary from system to system and reflect the importance and pest status of the weevil. In commercial plantations, chemical control is the most widespread method for controlling the weevil. Cultural control is very valuable in preventing the establishment of the weevil and is the only means currently available by which resource-limited, small-scale growers can reduce established populations. Biological control agents (including arthropods and entomopathogenic fungi) are under study and may become important in the development of integrated strategies for the management of the weevil. Resistant clones are known which may ultimately provide genetic sources of resistance for plantain and highland banana breeding programmes.Control in commercial banana plantations is mainly chemical, using nematicides with insecticidal activity and specific insecticides applied close to the base of the mat. Insecticides are fast acting and efficient. Cyclodiene insecticides were once widely used but eventually abandoned with the development of resistant weevil populations and because of environmental concerns. Less persistent organophosphates are available but these are more expensive and more toxic to the handler and therefore less suitable for smallholder production systems. The banana weevil has now shown the ability to develop resistance to most classes of chemicals.Botanical compounds may serve as substitutes for pesticides. Dipping suckers in a 20% neem (Azadirachta indica) seed solution at planting protects the young suckers from weevil attack by reducing oviposition through its repellent effect on adult weevils. Egg eclosion rates may also be lowered in neem-treated plants.Wherever possible, new production areas should be established in uninfested fields using clean planting material. Tissue cultured plantlets are widely used in commercial banana plantations for pest and disease control. Where tissue culture is not available, farmers should pare suckers to remove weevil larvae and eggs. Badly damaged suckers should not be used for planting. Hot-water treatment has also been widely promoted for weevil and nematode control. Recommendations suggest immersing pared suckers in hot-water baths of 52-55°C for 15-27 minutes. These baths are very effective in eliminating nematodes, but kill only a third of the weevil larvae. Thus, clean planting material is likely to provide protection against weevil for several crop cycles only.Systematic trapping with pseudostem or rhizome pieces may be effective in reducing populations of adult banana weevils. However, trapping is labourdemanding and often limited by available materials. Crop sanitation (i.e. destruction of residues) is also believed to eliminate weevil refuges and breeding sites and to reduce weevil numbers. Currently, no data are available on the relationships between different methods of crop sanitation and weevil status.The banana weevil is most important where it is an introduced pest (e.g. Africa, Australia, the Americas), suggesting that classical biological control may be possible. A number of predaceous beetles have been found feeding on banana weevil larvae in the insect's area of origin in Southeast Asia. However, attempts to introduce these natural enemies into other banana growing regions have largely met with failure. Research on endemic predators (beetles, earwigs) in Africa suggest only limited potential for control under field conditions. By contrast, the myrmicine ants Tetramorium guinense and Pheidole megacephala have reportedly contributed to the successful control of banana weevil in plantain in Cuba. The ants can be encouraged to nest in pseudostem pieces that can then be used for their dissemination. Myrmicine ants are widespread and may also be important predators on the weevil in other localities.The use of entomopathogenic fungi (e.g. Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) for the control of banana weevil has been studied since the 1970s. Numerous strains have been screened for activity against banana weevil adults and many of these effect mortality of > 90%. However, few data are available on the performance of candidate strains of entomopathogens under field conditions. Therefore, the development of efficient and cost-effective field delivery systems is probably the most critical area of research at this time. The entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinerma and Heterorhabditis spp., attack both adults and larvae in the field, but economic cost and efficacy only under high weevil population densities limit their use on a larger scale for the moment. Screening trials, surveys and clonal comparisons suggest that plantains are the most susceptible group to banana weevil attack. East African Highland cooking banana and ensete also appear to be highly susceptible. Primary sources of resistance seem to be found in Yangambi Km5, FHIA-03 (or its parents) and some IITA diploid hybrids (TMB2x8075-7, TMB2-7197-2 and TMB2x6142-1). The banana weevil is readily attracted to and will freely oviposit on resistant clones. Host plant resistance appears to be primarily due to antibiosis mechanisms causing high mortality rates in the larval stage.The pest status of the banana weevil is poorly defined and few yield loss studies are available. The impact of crop management on the ecology of weevil populations and severity of attack needs to be clarified. Research results on population dynamics need to be linked to an understanding of the efficiency of control strategies. Economical thresholds should also be defined according to the cropping system and socio-economic context.Research on non-chemical control measures is imperative in order to develop strategies for integrated pest management. Intensive searches in Southeast Asia should be undertaken to clarify whether effective natural enemies (especially egg parasitoids) may exist. Additionally, the role of ants in controlling banana weevil merits further investigation.Effective and cost-efficient delivery systems for entomopathogens are required. The use of semiochemicals may enhance trapping systems and also serve as means of aggregating weevils for delivery of entomopathogens.Standardization of methodologies for varietal screening is necessary, as well as additional work in identifying resistant or tolerant reference genotypes. Breeding for resistance can offer a safe and longterm control strategy for the banana weevil within the framework of integrated pest management. It is important to study mechanisms of resistance to make it possible to define selection criteria which can be applied earlier than the harvest stage in order to make breeding experiments less time consuming.","tokenCount":"1557"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9904658109.json b/data/part_1/9904658109.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..69bf6108558f628344b39709191779cf16f6e814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9904658109.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28f5498974ecd275792840768426dc54","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/UKRSQB/MRU5LP","id":"-1972379395"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f54c9a4-620f-4820-b307-aa982f4f12c6","pagecount":"158","content":"xi 5.1 Factor mobility and utilization for short-run and long-run scenarios 5.2 Types of technological change 5.3 Shift from natural to planted pasture, by region, 1985-1995 5.4 Increase in annual yields in two regions 1985-1995 (%) 5.5 Replicating productivity improvements for the period 1985-1995: A retrospective scenario (% change) 5.6 Change in per capita agricultural income associated with non-Amazon technological change: Scenario replicating innovation for 1985-1995 5.7 Percent change in income to different types of producers based on the tax and subsidy scenario 6.1 A qualitative comparison of the impacts of technological change in the Amazon A.1 Definition of parameters and variables in the CGE model A.2 Model equations B.1 Regional production by commodity, 1995 (R$ billion) B.2 Factor intensities for Amazon agriculture in the base (in terms of output) C.1 Model elasticities D.1 Short-run changes in production with currency devaluation, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.2 Short-run effects of currency devaluation on per capita income, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.3 Short-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with currency devaluation, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.4 Long-run changes in production with currency devaluation, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.5 Long-run effects of currency devaluation on per capita income, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.6 Long-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with currency devaluation, balanced-adjustment scenario (%) D.7 Short-run changes in production with currency devaluation, capital-flight scenario (%) D.8 Short-run effects of currency devaluation on per capita income, capital-flight scenario (%) D.9 Short-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with currency devaluation, capital-flight scenario (%) D.10 Long-run changes in production with currency devaluation, capital-flight scenario (%) TABLES v D.11 Long-run effects of currency devaluation on per capita income, capital-flight scenario (%) D.12 Long-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with currency devaluation, capital-flight scenario (%) E.1 Short-run changes in production with reduction in transportation costs (%) E.2 Short-run effects of reduction in transportation costs on per capita income (%) E.3 Short-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with reduction in transportation costs (%) E.4 Long-run changes in production with reduction in transportation costs (%) E.5 Long-run effects of reduction in transportation costs on per capita income (%) E.6 Long-run changes in macroeconomic aggregates with reduction in transportation costs (%) F.1 Wage impact of technological change in the Amazon (% change) F.2 Short-run impact of technological change on different producer types (%) G.1 Change in per capita regional agricultural income for non-Amazonian technological change: Decomposing the impact of innovation on producers by type of activity vi TABLESwish to thank Steve Vosti, Sherman Robinson, and John Boland for the support and training received during the elaboration of this report. I am also grateful to Chantal Line Carpentier, Julie Witcover, and Monica Scatasta for their considerable input and valuable insights, which helped shape this research. Participants in brown-bag seminars in the Trade and Macroeconomics and the Environment and Production Technology divisions at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) also provided useful suggestions. I am especially grateful to Peter Hazell for his helpful comments as IFPRI's internal reviewer. To the external reviewers of the manuscript, Tom Tomich and an anonymous referee, I also owe a particular debt of gratitude for a comprehensive evaluation. Their constructive criticism and extensive list of suggestions have vastly improved the quality of the work.12 Change in deforestation rates for non-Amazon technological change: What if innovation in livestock had not occurred?5.13 Change in deforestation rates for non-Amazon technological change: Decomposing the impact of innovation among activities and regions where it occurs 5.14 Change in per capita regional agricultural income: Decomposing the impact of innovation by type of activity and region where it occurs 5.15 Impact of tax and subsidy scenarios on deforestation, logging, and extractive activities 5.16 Impact of tax and subsidy scenarios on extractive activities and government revenue (R$ billion)viii FIGURESalancing environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation is particularly challenging in the rainforests of the Brazilian Amazon. Therefore, in line with its mission to identify and analyze policies that help meet the food needs of hungry people without further degrading the natural resource base, IFPRI undertook a three-year research program in the Brazilian Amazon, as part of the CGIAR's initiative on alternatives to slashand-burn agriculture. This research is also highly relevant for an understanding of long-term climate change linkages.Although the Brazilian government has recently eliminated policies that inadvertently offered incentives to clear the land, deforestation rates have not decreased. This suggests that there are additional causes of deforestation. From a broad perspective, this research looks at the links between different types of agricultural producers, the logging industry, and the overall institutional setting. It examines these interactions at different levels of geographic aggregation, ranging from survey-based research on small farms in the Western Brazilian Amazon to more aggregate regional and macroeconomic scales relying on secondary data. This report illustrates the economic and environmental effects of macroeconomic and Amazon-wide policies, considers them within a consistent framework, and shows how the Amazon fits into the rest of the Brazilian economy.To do this, a model was developed to simulate the effects on the Brazilian economy of policy changes, currency devaluation, land tenure regime changes, infrastructure development, and the adoption of new agricultural technologies. The effects of these changes on deforestation and the welfare of farmers and loggers are analyzed in depth. The interesting results, which are at times counterintuitive, shed new light on why slowing deforestation in the Amazon is so difficult, and on the trade-offs between environmental and economic goals.While this report looks at the Amazon-wide mechanisms at work behind deforestation, a companion IFPRI research report, Agricultural Intensification by Smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: From Deforestation to Sustainable Land Use, examines several smallholder settlements on the agricultural frontier. Together, these two reports offer a comprehensive look at an important set of issues around valuable, related resources.Director General, IFPRI ix x• Livestock technology improvements appear to yield the greatest returns for all agricultural producers in the Amazon and should improve food security in the region, but deforestation increases dramatically in the long run.• Perennial crop technology improvements could theoretically reduce deforestation rates considerably, but this is unlikely to happen. Small farmers stand to gain the most from such improvements, but they are averse to the risks inherent in perennial crops. Large farmers are unlikely to adopt the new technologies because their gains would be small.• Annual crop technology appears to have little potential. Income gains would be quite small. Before reaching the high land intensity required to reduce deforestation rates, there would almost certainly be a period in which deforestation would increase substantially.Outside of the Amazon, the agricultural technological change that took place during 1985-95 affected deforestation in drastically different ways. Overall, deforestation rates were 15-35 percent lower than if improvements had not occurred outside the Amazon, largely as a result of innovation in livestock technologies. In fact, improvements in annuals and some perennials alone would have led to a 20 to 27 percent increase in deforestation rates. Regionally, the Northeast and Center-West were the regions to gain in income from technological change.The income distribution gap apparently decreased in the Northeast and increased in the Center-West as a result of technological change outside the Amazon.To take into account the nonmarket benefits and costs stemming from different land uses, the report considers both taxes and transfer payments. In spite of the link between logging and deforestation, it finds that applying a logging tax in the Amazon would not lead to a decrease in the deforestation rate, but it would negatively affect the logging industry. A deforestation tax would be more effective: a tax of R$50 per hectare deforested would reduce deforestation rates around 9,000 square kilometers a year, with logging only minimally affected. The Introduction T he primary objective of this research is to identify the links between economic growth, poverty alleviation, and natural resource degradation in Brazil, with particular emphasis on land use and deforestation in the Amazon. This report focuses on the impact of potential macroeconomic policy shifts in Brazil on deforestation and economic welfare, compared with the consequences of technological change in agriculture. The following set of policy questions are applied to Brazil:• What impact does a macroeconomic shock, such as currency devaluation, have on the movement of the agricultural frontier in the Amazon?• What will be the economic and environmental impact of forthcoming technological changes in agricultural production inside and outside the Amazon region?• What are the effects of lower transportation costs resulting from government investments in physical infrastructure in the Amazon?• What policy mechanisms are most effective in limiting deforestation without hindering economic development? Policies considered are (1) fiscal incentives to account for the forest's value in providing public goods, and (2) the modification of acquisition of property rights in the Amazon agricultural frontier to eliminate inefficient speculative behavior.The Amazon rainforest covers an area of approximately 5.5 million square kilometers. Sixty percent-3.6 million square kilometers-is located inside Brazil, encompassing nearly 40 percent of the country's territory. In this report the Brazilian Amazon is defined as the North region of Brazil plus northern Mato Grosso and western Maranhão. This specification captures the ecological and agricultural characteristics typical of the tropical forest region. The Amazon so defined, however, still comprises a complex mosaic of forest (72 percent of land area), savanna (15 percent), inundated lowlands (8 percent), and ecological transition areas (5 percent). The savanna areas are important because large areas have been used for mechanized soybean cultivation and for pasture, despite generally poor soils.The geographic expansion of the Brazilian agricultural frontier has certainly been the most important activity directly involved in the Amazon deforestation process. Agropastoral land uses, particularly cropping and cattle ranching, have been the main cause of deforestation. Timber extraction, charcoal production, mining, and hydroelectric dams have been minor contributors, compared with agriculture, but to the extent that they stimulated agricultural settlements, they have played important causal roles.Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon occurs mainly along a band, varying in width between 200 and 600 kilometers. This band stretches from the northeastern state of Maranhão, through Pará and Mato Grosso and includes colonization areas in Rondônia (Figure 1.1). The frontier expansion areas and the government-sponsored colonization areas came into being in the 1960s and 1970s. However, there are areas in the floodplains of the Amazon basin and upland regions in northeastern Pará that were brought into agricultural production in the 19th century. These latter forms of agriculture have adapted over time to the environmental conditions. However, with the onset of roads, floodplain agriculture located along the riparian transportation system lost its attractiveness.In the state of Pará, upland agriculture is a dynamic and diverse sector of the economy but geographically constrained; therefore, deforestation for agricultural purposes in this report implicitly refers to the frontier expansion areas and the government-sponsored colonization areas.Since colonial times, the settlement of new frontiers has been undertaken to open access to land and other natural resources. It is assumed that relative product prices, factor availability, and transportation costs are the main economic factors affecting the movement of a frontier. In this publication, the approach taken is the same as that adopted by Findlay (1995), in which frontier movement is described as the process of incorporating a \"periphery\" into an economic center through \"a network of trade, investment, and migration.\" In the Brazilian context, high transportation costs between the Amazon and the rest of the countryleading to high agricultural input costs and limited interregional trade-characterize the frontier environment. This economic intuition is confirmed by the work of Pfaff (1997), who finds that greater distance from markets south of the Amazon leads to less deforestation.In Brazil, macroeconomic policies, credit and fiscal subsidies to agriculture, and technological change in Brazilian agriculture have all acted as push factors in the migration process. Regional development policies have pulled economic resources through fiscal incentives for agropastoral projects to attract investment, the expansion of the road network to stimulate trade, and colonization programs to facilitate migration (Binswanger 1991). While some of these policies are directed toward reducing poverty, the most harmful ones from an environmental perspective are not driven by equity concerns. The most important example is the fact that agricultural income has been taxed at lower rates than nonagricultural income (a 1.5-6.0 percent tax rate on agricultural income versus a 35-45 percent corporate tax rate in manufacturing and services), thereby converting agriculture into a tax shelter. Small farmers and poor individuals have been negatively affected because the market price of land includes a component capitalizing these tax preferences. This implies that the poor must cut consumption below the imputed value of family labor to pay for the land. Such a policy leads to an increase in deforestation because it creates an incentive for urban investors and corporations to compete for land at the frontiers of settlement as well as in areas of well-established settlement, and because it encourages poor individuals to move to the frontier in search of unclaimed land.At an intraregional level, several interesting distorting provisions have been reported in the literature, including (1) rules of public land allocation that provide incentives for deforestation because the security of a claim is determined by land clearing (Binswanger 1991); (2) a progressive land tax that encourages the conversion of forest to crop land or pasture (Almeida and Uhl 1995); and (3) a tax credit scheme aimed toward corporate livestock ranches that subsidized inefficient ranches established on cleared forest land (Browder 1988). The fiscal incentives for agricultural production in the Amazon, however, were withdrawn in the late 1980s in response to domestic fiscal concerns plus international criticism of Amazon policy (Lele et al. 2000). With diminished federal support, it was expected that some ranchers, where productivity was low, would abandon their lots, as livestock producers have done in other regions of Brazil. However, profits for pasture systems persisted even with less government support (Faminow and Vosti 1998;Hecht 1993;Mattos and Uhl 1994;Valentim and Vosti forthcoming). While some have argued that intensifying pasture systems could remove pressure to deforest (Mattos and Uhl 1994;Arima and Uhl 1997), they did not always take explicit account of all farm resources (Faminow, Pinho de Sa, and de Magalhães Oliveira 1996) or long-run effects.Other work at the regional level has emphasized the combined role of expanding road networks and rising agricultural demand in prompting population growth and deforestation (see, for example, Pfaff 1997), while documenting some role for government policy. Using county-level data, Pfaff confirms the importance for deforestation of some of the trends coming out of the policy push to develop the Brazilian Amazon. For instance, development projects were linked to deforestation in the 1970s but not the 1980s (but no robust relationship regarding credit emerged). Closer proximity to markets to the south of the Amazon as well as higher road densities were associated with more deforestation, and early arrivals to a region-not simply higher population densities-had greater impact on the environment. Andersen (1996) similarly found that the importance of federal policy for deforestation faded in the 1980s in the face of local market forces-economic growth, population growth, and locally funded roads. Schneider (1994) argued that increased road density in already settled areas and fewer roads reaching into new forest areas would help provide sustainable livelihoods for forest inhabitants while protecting further encroachment on the forest. Some studies point to the importance of property rights in Brazilian Amazonian deforestation, including a role for land speculation (Alston, Libecap, and Mueller 1999;Kaimowitz and Angelsen 1998). Still others have found that climatic conditions, principally high precipitation levels, in effect prevent conversion of forest to agriculture (or promote abandonment of that land) even controlling for some market linkages, and that agriculture offers low private returns where practiced (Chomitz and Thomas 2000).At the local level, an issue open to debate is whether deforestation is primarily carried out by smallholders or by large farm enterprises, and whether the smallholder's goal is to plant crops or install pasture. According to Homma et al. (1998), each of the 600,000 smallholders present in the Brazilian Amazon clears, on average, 2-3 hectares of forest and cultivates it for two to three years. This implies that smallholders clear approximately 600,000 hectares annually. An alternative view holds that commercial ranching has been the largest contributor to the deforestation process. How-ever, as Mahar (1989) points out, some of the deforestation attributed to livestock operations may have been caused by the spread of small-scale agriculture, since land devoted to annual crops is often converted to pasture after a few years when yields decline.The Brazilian Amazon, with a population of 16 million (61 percent urban), depends to a large extent on local production marketed by both small-scale farmers and large-scale enterprises. While the movement of the agricultural frontier is the major contributor to the deforestation process, the role of agricultural producers in ensuring food security for the region requires a careful analysis of how to reduce deforestation rates without negatively affecting farmers' livelihoods and the regional food supply. Agricultural technologies play an important role in determining agricultural development and deforestation. The relative profitability and land intensities of different activities, combined with soil productivity and sustainability limits, are all factors that affect agricultural producers' incomes and determine, in part, the pressures on forests. The results to be presented in this report compare the magnitude of these effects relative to those of economic processes and policy changes occurring outside the Amazon.kilometers-more than one-fifth of all tropical forest lost worldwide during that time. Nevertheless, South America maintains vast areas of intact tropical and temperate forest. The northern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield house the largest tropical frontier forests anywhere. In fact, the annual deforestation rate for South America, in percentage terms, is lower than the average in the developing world.Addressing deforestation at a systemic level requires the removal of both market failures and policy failures. While some issues may be addressed at the international level others are best solved at the national level. The data in Table 2.1 concerning standing forests and deforestation highlight the future role that a few countries like Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo can play in reducing deforestation rates. These four countries include within their borders approximately 42 percent of standing forest in developing countries and account for 39 percent of all deforestation. Since policy solutions need to be tailored to specific national political and economic environments, it makes sense to focus on those countries that own the largest shares of standing forest and, in particular, on Brazil. 2   Official estimates of Brazilian deforestation rates are released on an annual basis with a delay of one-to-two years. Forest conversion to agriculture is readily monitored from space using imagery from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellites, permitting the development of deforestation maps of large regions at a reasonable cost and speed. As can be seen in Table 2.2, there is considerable variation from year to year and across states. After a substantial decline during 1989-91, the trend in deforestation appears to have spiked sharply in 1995. There is some debate, however, about whether deforestation rates did indeed \"spike\" in 1995. A possible explanation is that forest losses that took place over the previous two years or so did not register on aerial images due to cloud cover or other complexities of interpretation. If so, what is perceived to be a rapid rise in deforestation in 1995 would instead be a cumulative effect. 3 Another possibility might be that the increase in deforestation during 1993-95 was mainly the result of accidental forest fires (Lele et al. 2000).In the second half of the 1990s deforestation rates varied between 13,000 square kilometers per year in 1996/97 to 18,200 square kilometers per year in 1999/2000. Although the average deforestation rate in the second half of the decade (approximately 17,000 square kilometers per year) is much lower than the 1994/95 peak (Table 2.2), it is apparently increasing and may return to the 1977-95 historical average of about 19,400 square kilometers per year.The state-by-state information in Table 2.2 indicates that Pará, Mato Grosso, and surveys. In the 1995/96 survey, 30 percent of the area of study was not observed because of clouds. Cloudcovered areas appeared predominantly in Amapá, Roraima, and some areas near the Atlantic Ocean in Maranhão and Pará. The state of Amapá was excluded from the present analysis because of frequent cloud cover over 60 percent or more of its territory.  Rondônia have consistently been the states with the largest areas being deforested throughout the 1990s. Where deforestation is occurring is important to this research because, given the aggregate nature of the analysis, it would be ideal to include in the representation of the Brazilian Amazon only those areas that are along the current arc of deforestation or likely to face deforestation pressures in the future. Alves (2001) presents the geographic distribution of deforestation over the period 1991-96 using a 1/4º grid cell decomposition of the Amazon. These cells are divided by the author into three major \"deforestation intensity\" categories (high, medium, low), based on the extent of deforestation that occurred during 1991-95 (Figure 2.1). The high intensity cells, for example, are defined as the group of 1/4° grid cells representing 33 percent of total deforestation, that is, the set formed by the cells that represented the most deforested area and amassed 33 percent of total deforestation. The other categories are similarly defined. In Figure 2.1 one can see that a small subset of cells accounted for a large share of deforestation. Alves (2002) reports that approximately 25 percent of the total observed deforestation can be accounted for by just the 3.8 percent of grid cells with the most deforestation while 9.7 percent of the cells accounted for 50 percent of total deforestation. Furthermore, 75 percent of the total observed deforestation is accounted by 19.4 percent of these cells. This shows that the deforestation process tended to be concentrated over an arc extending from Acre and Rondônia in the west, through northern Mato Grosso, into Pará and Maranhão in the east.Since this report is focused on the deforestation frontier and how it interacts with the rest of the economy, the regional distribution of deforestation presented by Alves was influential in determining the regional disaggregation adopted in the model presented here. In particular, the areas of Mato Grosso, Maranhão, and Tocantins to be included as part of the Amazon were determined by including all cells with high intensity deforestation occurring and the majority of the medium intensity cells (compatibly with the definitions of micro-regions adopted by IBGE). 4 The reason this criterion was adopted is that for modeling purposes, given the aggregate level of analysis, the Amazon should include only economic activities on land that is still forested or along the arc of deforestation. The deforestation frontier shown in Figure 2.1 is an approximate representation of what is considered here to be the border of the Amazon in terms of areas facing deforestation pressures.Although the deforestation rates reported in Table 2.2 are referred to throughout this report, the exact rate at which the Amazon forest is presently being destroyed is not known. Besides the margin of error associated with ambiguous scenes and cloud cover, the classification by Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) reflects a dichotomy between forest and nonforest that is indeed useful for capturing the main human effects on tropical forests (such as deforestation by ranchers and farmers). But it neglects those forest alterations that reduce tree cover but do not eliminate it, such as logging and surface fires in standing forests. The forest openings created by logging and accidental surface fires are visible in Landsat TM images, but they are covered over by regrowing vegetation in one to five years and are easily misclassified without accompanying field data. Although logging and forest surface fires usually do not kill all trees, they severely damage forests. Log-ging companies in the Amazon kill or damage 10-40 percent of the living biomass of forests by harvesting trees (Verissimo et al. 1992). Based on field surveys of wood mills and forest burning across the Brazilian Amazon, Nepstad et al. (1999) find that logging crews severely damage 10,000-15,000 square kilometers per year of forest that is not included in deforestation mapping programs. 5 While this additional forest area is not explicitly included in the results presented here on the effects of human use, it is taken into consideration when the complementary relationship between logging and deforestation is modeled. This is an important aspect of the modeling effort, given that robust domestic timber demand combined with the exhaustion of forest in Southeast Asia mean logging in the Amazon is likely to grow in the near future. Therefore, even though logging has been determined to be a historically less important factor in Brazilian Amazonian deforestation than agriculture, its role in the region is becoming more significant (Lele et al. 2000;Reis and Margulis 1991).Evidence is building in the scientific community that the continued release of greenhouse gases (GHG) threatens to raise the temperature of the earth and disrupt the climates we depend on. Most of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations has come from the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy, but 20-25 percent of the increase over the last 150 years can be attributed to changes in land use: for example, the clearing of forests and the cultivation of soils for food production. This contribution is confirmed by Estimates of the emissions from deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon vary according to the accounting framework adopted: (1) net committed emissions refers to the long-term total of emissions and uptakes set in motion by the act of deforestation, and it is calculated only for the area cleared in a given year (for example, the 13.8 x 10 3 kilometers 2 cleared in 1990); (2) annual balance refers to the emissions and uptakes in a single year (such as 1990) over the entire landscape (the 415.2 x 10 3 kilometers 2 cleared by 1990). The current best estimate for 1990, according to Fearnside (1999), is 267 x 10 6 tons of carbon for net committed emissions, or alternatively, 353 x 10 6 carbon tons for the annual balance from deforestation (plus an additional 62 x 10 6 carbon tons from logging). 7 The magnitude of these emissions can be appreciated by comparison with global emissions from automobiles: the world's 400 million automobiles emit 550 x 10 6 carbon tons  annually (Flavin 1989). If one compares Brazil's emissions from land use and cover change with those from fossil fuels (approximately 75 x 10 6 carbon tons), one realizes the importance deforestation has in determining Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, in the future Brazil may stand to gain financial benefits from reducing deforestation if the international community decides it is a viable tool for limiting global warming.It is now widely accepted that one of the main problems, if not the main problem, for attempts at maintaining forest cover is that it is only rarely a viable financial proposition-while forest exploitation, like one-off logging and deforestation, continue to be highly profitable activities. The global externality associated with greenhouse gas emissions associated with deforestation can be viewed as a case of missing markets for environmental services such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. International payments, transferring financial resources from consumer nations in recognition of the global public good values of forests, appear to have real potential. Examples of such mechanisms are the Global Environment Fund (GEF), set up in 1991 as a financing mechanism for the International Conventions on Climate Change and Biological Diversity, and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) defined under the Kyoto Protocol. 8  This report considers two categories of corrective actions: one exploits fiscal mechanisms that create disincentives to deforest; the other provides payments (either national or international funds) to compensate producers for the forgone profits associated with reduced emissions. These issues are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5.his chapter presents a regionalized computable general equilibrium (CGE) model in which Brazil is subdivided into regions compatible with the major administrative subdivisions adopted by the Brazilian government: Amazon, Northeast, Center-West, and South/Southeast. For the Legal Amazon, the following processes are considered: (1) conversion of forests to cleared land (which depends on agents' economic decisions), and (2) transformation of land from cleared land to grassland, and (3) subsequent transformation from grassland to an unproductive state.The starting point for the regionalized CGE model is a nationwide model developed in 1995-96 as an ongoing collaborative effort between the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES).The regional model has two components: a CGE model, which represents the behavior of economic agents, and a land transformation model, which is a simplified representation of biophysical processes affecting land productivity. This chapter begins with a brief survey of the approaches that have been adopted to address deforestation issues using CGE models, followed by a description of the characteristics of the CGE model used for this research and a description of how the biophysical processes are represented.In general equilibrium theory, the goal is to formulate a model of simultaneous equilibrium in competitive markets for all commodities that is a precise logical representation of the interaction of consumers and producers. The simplest form of general equilibrium model is the inputoutput model pioneered by Leontief (1941). In the static input-output model, there is no joint production, only one technique exists for producing each output, and all technologies have constant returns to scale. Input requirements for each unit of output are given by fixed coefficients, and final demand is exogenous. The appeal of this approach is its conceptual simplicity and the tractability afforded by computing equilibrium prices by matrix inversion. The scheme of using matrices to keep track of flows between sectors persists to this day within more complex models of general equilibrium. Isard and Kaniss (1973) give a good account of the uses and shortcomings of the input-output model.Activity analysis generalizes the production structure by representing it in terms of alternative activities, that is, combinations of inputs and outputs where the ratios between inputs and outputs are fixed in each instance but vary between activities. Joint production is permitted in activity analysis, and there may be more than one activity producing the same output (Koopmans 1951;Dorfman, Samuelson, and Solow 1958). Within the linear programming environment, prices are assumed exogenous, multiple consumers are not permitted, and the model contains no price distortions. Under these conditions it could be proved that shadow prices coincided with market prices CGE modeling originated with the work of Johansen (1960). He was the first to introduce a feedback from production levels and endogenous prices to final demand. Johansen solved the general equilibrium model for growth rates by linearizing the model in logarithms and applying matrix inversion techniques. He introduced nonlinear neoclassical substitution possibilities in production and consumption and endogenous determination of market-clearing product and factor prices. The Johansen approach was further developed by Dixon et al. (1982) in their multisectoral ORANI model for the Australian economy. Darwin et al. (1995) and Hertel (1990Hertel ( , 1997) ) are also in the same tradition.A technique that is becoming widely adopted is to recast equilibrium problems as mixed complemetarity problems (MCP). The MCP is a fundamental problem in optimization that encompasses many of the continuous optimization problems, such as quadratic programming and nonlinear programming, as special cases. It is useful for expressing systems of nonlinear inequalities and equations. A common representation of an MCP has two components: the first represents a set of underlying conditions defined by a system of nonlinear equations, and the second constitutes the complementarity conditions that are only applied to some of the variables and functions. The problem can be specified as follows: given a nonlinear function let I and J be a partition over {1, 2,…, n} such that Where the perpendicular notation \"⊥\" signifies that, in addition to the stated inequalities, the equation x T J F J (x) = 0 also holds. For existence and uniqueness of the solution to this problem, see Ferris and Kanzow (1998).The connection between traditional optimization techniques in economics and this wider problem class was first made by Cottle and Dantzig (1970). A natural connection was also the use of mathematical programming methods in partial equilibrium models pioneered by Samuelson (1949). For a review of papers on the formulation and solution of computable equilibrium problems such as MCP, see Manne 1985;Cottle, Pang, and Stone 1992;Ferris and Pang 1997. An area that has received wide attention in the field of complementarity problems has been the development of robust and efficient algorithms for solving large-scale applications efficiently. Along with the research in the design of algorithms came the linkage of these algorithms with programming model languages such as the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). The research results to be presented here have been obtained using the PATH solver (available with GAMS), which uses a search method that is a generalization of a line search technique (Dirkse and Ferris 1995).CGE models have been categorized from analytical through stylized to applied (Robinson 1989). Analytical and stylized :, find annumerical models explore the magnitude of the effects of particular causal mechanisms and usually do not provide sufficient detail to analyze and support specific policy recommendations. Applied models consist of a more detailed specification of the institutional side of the country-specific economy under study. Although applied models allow for detailed analysis, there is a danger of concealing the basic causal mechanisms of the model without enhancing its empirical significance, a fact that should be kept in mind when choosing detailed features for an applied model specification (Devarajan, Lewis, and Robinson 1994).In the domain of the applied models, the detailed nature of CGE models is driven by concerns about policy objectives, external shocks being imposed, and the policy tools being considered to meet the objectives and face the exogenous shocks (Figure 3.1). The combination of these three factors determines the adequate geographic and sectoral aggregations and indicates the appropriate way of representing time. More importantly, the underlying theoretical paradigm will also be affected by these factors.Although the core of CGE models is neoclassical microeconomic theory, combined with the multisectoral intermediate input links adapted from input-output models, modelers have had to abandon some of the strict neoclassical assumptions in order to meet the imperfections of the actual economies under observation. Instead of perfect competition with perfectly flexible prices and free product and factor mobility, applied CGE models often incorporate structural rigidities, which seek to capture nonneoclassical behavior, macro imbalances, and institutional rigidities typical of developing economies. 9 The relevant theoretical features that describe macro adjustment, political economy, uncertainty, incomplete markets, and temporary equilibrium are not directly incorporated into the models, but imposed through ad hoc constraints, which are not directly related to the agents' endogenous rational behavior.CGE models can be divided into subnational, single-country, and multicountry models. All are open-economy models and incorporate the \"rest of the world\" as an integral component that permits the consideration of worldwide capital and commodity flows and consequently their influence on the economy under observation. The analytical focus of the study to be carried out determines the geographic aggregation to be applied. Single-country models are used for analyses with a single, national focus. Multicountry models are used to address questions such as global trade liberalization, regional trade agreements, interregional migration, and climate change issues. 10  Although less common, the focus is sometimes at a subnational level. In such cases one can choose among a spectrum of options for capturing the regionality inside the country. If there are several economically distinguishable regions to be fully represented, a separate CGE model can be constructed for each region connected by flows of factors and commodities as in the multi-country models (Robinson, Hoffman, and  Subramanian 1994) . 11 Lofgren and Robinson (1999) present a spatially disaggregated national CGE model that incorporates interregional and national-regional feedbacks to analyze the spatial impacts of economic policies. On the other hand, if regionality is relevant only to a subset of the economic process, such as the presence of a regionally specified activity or factor or both it may be sufficient to maintain a national specification for the model as a whole, while distinguishing the few relevant regional characteristics (Coxhead and Warr 1991;Coxhead and Jayasuriya 1994).Another reason to model at the subnational level is that the interest is in a natural resource base that is geographically defined. In such cases modeling the single regions, for example, a watershed, may be the appropriate solution (Mukherjee 1996). Isard et al. (1998) present a detailed overview on applied general interregional equilibrium models.If the focus of the analysis is comparative statics, the appropriate approach is a singleperiod model in which all time flow is collapsed into the time before and after an exogenous, unexpected shock. In this case time plays a limited role, agents' expectations are assumed static, only impacts on flows are considered and not impacts on stocks, and the timeframe for adjustment is generally captured by the mobility of factor markets expressed in the model closure. 12  While this approach may appear to be an 9 These deviations from the Walrasian paradigm and their corresponding methodological problems are criticized in Srinivasan 1982; Bell and Srinivasan 1984; and Shoven and Whalley 1984.   10 For surveys on this matter refer to Shoven and Whalley 1992;Brown 1992;Goldin, Knudsen, and van der Mensbrugghe 1993;OECD 1990. 11 In this case care has to be taken because the different regions share a common exchange rate. oversimplification, it is a useful indicator of the order of magnitude of the impact of a shock or policy measure over an approximate timeframe. At the opposite extreme of the single-period model, there are perfect foresight, intertemporally specified CGE models. This type of model is appropriate when the main focus is the transition path associated with a shock. This interest may arise from a concern with the distribution of income over generations, associated for example with an aging population, or from inefficiencies that could arise from fluctuations in the tax burdens over time. In cases like these, dynamic CGE and other models are best suited to compare the long-term gains of a policy and its short-term costs.Between the two extremes of static and rational expectations models there is a broad spectrum of options. A deeper treatment of time in CGE models reflects mainly on the stock-flow relationships and the assumptions about agent behavior over time. First, if a model is to be intertemporal, an equation of motion has to be specified to update the factor stocks for labor through population growth, for capital through investment, and for the natural resource base through degradation/regeneration. Second, one must represent the agents' expectations concerning prices and projected incomes. The latter point can be dealt with in a variety of ways ranging from backward-looking expectations (which can be solved recursively) to perfect foresight models (Dixon and Parmenter 1996). The recursive approach is often considered the appropriate choice for capturing the transition path and, in fact, it is often used for forecasting purposes. There are two approaches to macro forecasting in a CGE framework: the first option is to rely on CGE-generated macro implications, and the second is to rely on exogenously supplied macro forecasts, using the CGE model to carry out structural forecasts (Dixon and Parmenter 1996). 13  The perfect foresight approach is appealing for its model-consistent expectations. Forward-looking models will generally have four distinguishing characteristics. First, consumption is represented as part of life-cycle behavior of consumers. Household behavior is determined by the maximization of an additively separable, time-invariant, intertemporal utility function subject to a lifetime intertemporal budget constraint. Households can be represented as being constituted by overlapping generations or as infinitely lived agents. 14  Second, firms are assumed, first, to maximize their market value, which is equal to the present value of their dividend streams, and second, to face imperfect capital mobility due to adjustment costs (q-theory). 15  Third, the government faces an intertemporal budget constraint, and if the government is allowed to run deficits, the debt path is endogenously determined (Pereira 1988;Pereira and Shoven 1988). Finally, the balance of trade and international capital flows have to be specified; not much has been done in this area, and most models assume balanced trade and no capital flows. 16  Infinite-horizon formulations face severe computational problems when used in applied models. Another drawback of this type of approach is that the baseline to which the simulations will be compared is a balanced growth path (which may or may not occur in reality). Finally, the discount factor, which is generally specified exogenously, will often generate an unrealistic sequence of savings rates (Ginsburg 1994). A good compromise is to build a two-period intertemporal model for a policy measure or shock that takes place during the first period (Erlich, Ginsburgh, and Van der Heyden 1987;Persson 1995).For an early survey on dynamic CGE models (concentrating on tax policy evaluation), see Pereira and Shoven (1988). In the final part of a book edited by Mercenier and Srinivasan (1994), four contributions by different authors are concerned with modeling intertemporal trade-offs. Azis (1997) compares the impacts of economic reform on rural-urban welfare in a static and a dynamic framework and thereby focuses not only on the economic objectives of the study, but also on the differences of its results with respect to the different methodological approaches. In this vein, Abbink, Braber, and Cohen (1995) demonstrate under what assumptions a simple static CGE model can be extended to a dynamic CGE specification, and they apply both versions simultaneously. Very few applications show explicit interest in and specification of intertemporal aspects of the development process, such as the multisectoral CGE with overlapping generations and intertemporal optimization presented by Keuschnigg and Kohler (1995). 17 Another example is Go (1995), who highlights the intertemporal trade-offs of tariff reforms when examining the sensitivity of investment and growth to external shocks and adjustment policy. Dynamic CGE models are very useful in order to simulate the overall economic development path of an economy. Diao, Yeldan, and Roe (1998) construct a dynamic applied general equilibrium model of a small open economy in order to investigate the transition path and convergence speed of out-of-steady state growth paths in response to trade policy shocks.Since the 1970s there have been numerous applications of CGE modeling to energy and natural resource issues. Models relating to energy range from those with highly disaggregated specifications of the energy sector, allowing for substitution between energy sources and specifying different demand types, to those focusing more on the rest of the economy, containing a simplified representation of the energy sector. 18 The latter generally focus on the differential impact of a natural-resource boom or crisis on the tradable and nontradable sides of the economy (Benjamin1996; Martin and van Wijnbergen 1986). As an example of the former, Hudson and Jorgenson (1974) constructed an econometric general equilibrium model that captured the interrelationships between energy policies and economic growth. The authors examined the role of energy taxes in promoting conservation and how to employ the price system to adapt to changes in the availability of energy resources.The role of taxation to compensate for environmental externalities and its general equilibrium effects are fertile topics for CGE analysis both because the societal costs of such a tax can be estimated through its effect on prices and income (positive analysis), and because optimal taxes may be computed (normative analysis). Jorgenson and Wilcoxen (1990) examine the costs to the economy of emissions regulation and the implications of a carbon tax. 19 For a period there was debate over the so-called \"double-dividend\" hypothesis, postulating that if the revenue from emission charges is used to reduce the tax on wage income then positive employment effects can result in \"second-best\" situations with preexisting distortions (Terkla 1984). While this debate has not been resolved, the hypothesis seems to hold only in the short run and under restrictive assumptions (Carraro, Galeotti, and Gallo 1996;Scholz 1998). An interesting development, as the theory of market incentives evolved, was to include markets for tradable emission permits where the equilibrium prices of permits reflect the marginal costs of emission control (Bergman 1991). In reality, the problem with this approach is that a tradable permit program, compared with taxation, has no revenue-raising mechanism to cover the high monitoring costs. 20  Because of the local and global externalities associated with tropical deforestation, the results presented in the previous paragraphs are important in the context of the research described in this report; however, deforestation occurs mostly on privately owned land. This implies that the economic agent owning the land will view it as an input to production, either agricultural or for timber where externalities are not taken into consideration, or maybe for conservation if externalities are fully internalized. It is therefore important to understand how land as a factor of production is represented in CGE models.Land is a heterogeneous factor in agricultural production and this poses interesting challenges and possibilities from a modeling standpoint. The productive possibilities of a given hectare of land depend on soil type, drainage, declivity, and climate. These characteristics affect the yield for any specific crop given labor and capital inputs, and therefore determine (along with considerations of the other factors) the most suitable economic activity on a parcel of land. A CGE model focusing on agriculture must manage to capture the constraints on supply response arising from land heterogeneity. Perhaps the simplest method available is to segment the land market along land types that can be put to similar uses. For example, rice and corn can be substituted in production if the land is good, but a producer cannot switch from mediocre pasture to producing rice or corn on that land. This approach implies that activities are either perfectly substitutable or not substitutable at all. A more flexible approach is that adopted by Robidoux et al. (1989) who also differentiate between land types and land uses, but the land types substitute imperfectly in the production of a given crop. 21 In both approaches the land-specific rental rate must be equal across uses. An alternative approach is that adopted by Hertel and Tsigas (1988); they specify a transformation function that takes aggregate farmland as an input and employs it in various uses based on the elasticity of transformation and relative rental rates.Unlike labor and capital, land is geographically immobile. Regional or climatic differences can be expressed in a number of ways. If farmland is represented as an aggregate input as in Hertel and Tsigas (1988), regionality is difficult to incorporate unless it is embedded in the crop specification. To portray regionality appropriately, land types have to be differentiated along geographic or climatic lines as in Darwin et al. (1995). Land classes are then employed differentially across sectors according to current patterns of production.This section concludes with an overview of the use of CGE models to analyze issues relating to forestry and deforestation. Following Xie, Vincent, and Panayoutou (1996), CGE models dealing with forest resources can be broadly classified into three groups. The first group consists of applications of standard CGE models that include a forestry sector alongside the other production sectors of the economy (Cruz and Repetto 1992;Coxhead and Jayasuriya 1994;Coxhead and Shively 1995). The second group considers the dynamic nature of forests' reaction to economic processes and resolves the intertemporal forest harvesting problem by modeling a steady state (Dee 1991;Thiele and Wiebelt 1992;Wiebelt 1994;Thiele 1994). The steady-state specification assumes that foresters choose an economically optimal harvest pattern. The limitation of this approach for deforestation in tropical areas such as Brazil is, first, that logging is closer to an extractive process, as opposed to a sustainable, managed forest operation. Second, deforestation is driven mostly by land clearing for agricultural purposes. The third group of models differentiates land uses and types and introduces property rights considerations (Persson and Munasinghe 1995;Persson 1995). They include logging and squatter sectors and therefore markets for logs and cleared land. The model adopted in this paper extends the approach of Persson and Munasinghe (1995) to include land degradation as a feedback mechanism into the deforestation process. A more in-depth review of CGE model applications to deforestation can be found in Kaimowitz and Angelsen (1998).In their comprehensive review of economic models of deforestation spanning theoretical constructs and scales, Kaimowitz and Angelsen (1998) note some commonality in findings-that ease of access to forest and to long-distance trade paths as well higher agricultural and timber prices or lower rural wages increase deforestation rates. However, problems at each scale of analysis contribute to what Kaimowitz and Angelsen highlight in their review as inconclusive or ambiguous findings about the effects on deforestation of macroeconomic forces, population and migration, changes in productivity and input markets (including land markets and tenure security), and household wealth-or poverty. Since that review, Barbier (2001) has collected papers analyzing deforestation that emphasize economic modeling techniques or that incorporate spatial features and institutional factors (including placement of parks and reserves).In the standard approach to CGE models, one first distinguishes between different agents, such as producers, consumers, and government, and then between goods and factors and the associated markets through which agents interact. The behavioral assumptions of agents are rooted in conventional microeconomic theory: producers maximize profits subject to certain technological constraints (nonincreasingreturns-to-scale production functions) while consumers maximize utility subject to budget constraints, all within the framework of competitive markets. Equilibrium in this type of model is characterized by a set of prices and levels of production such that the market demand equals supply for all commodities. Factors are either fully utilized with flexible market-clearing wages or rent, or alternatively, the wage of a factor has a lower bound below which there is excess supply of that factor. The intersectoral allocation of factors is endogenously determined. The model is specified as a system of nonlinear simultaneous equations. The basic elements of the model can be represented by the circular flow diagram of the economy presented in Figure 3.2. The starting point for the development of this model is a standard CGE model as described in Dervis, de Melo, and Robinson (1982), and the structure of the model draws most directly on Robinson, Kilkenny, and Hanson (1990) and Robinson (1990).Factor incomes generated by production activities are divided among households in factor-specific shares representing factor ownership. Total household income is used to pay taxes, save, and consume. Government revenue comes from the collection of ad valorem direct taxes and indirect taxes. Government transfers income to households, and expenditure is a fixed share of total absorption. The rest of the world supplies imports and demands export goods. Brazil is treated like a \"small country\" in the sense that the export demands and import supplies that it faces are infinitely elastic at prevailing prices (with the exception of coffee and sugar).The macro system constraints (or macro closures) determine the manner in which the accounts for the government, the rest of the world, and savings and investment are brought into balance. On the spending side of the savings-investment balance, nominal aggregate investment is either a fixed share of total absorption, or it adjusts according to the households' savings rate. On the savings side, if investment is fixed, the average household saving rate adjusts to achieve the level of savings that matches the exogenously specified level of investment. In the government account, total nominal government expenditure is a fixed share of total absorption, and government saving is endogenously determined by the model. Foreign savings is exogenous and the exchange rate adjusts the current account balance.In the modeling approach adopted here, a regionalized CGE model is developed in which Brazil is subdivided into regions compatible with the major administrative subdivisions adopted by the Brazilian government: Amazon, Northeast, Center-West, and South/Southeast. 22 For the Amazon the following processes are considered: (1) conversion of forest to cleared land (depends on agents' economic decisions), (2) transformation of cleared land to grassland, and (3) subsequent transformation from grassland to unproductive states. 23  The overall model has two components: the CGE model, representing the behavior of economic agents, and the land transformation model, which is a simplified representation of biophysical processes affecting land productivity.The model allows for two-way trade (cross-hauling) assuming that imports and domestic demand as well as exports and domestic supply are imperfect substitutes (Armington assumption). Producers maximize profits with respect to their nested constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production functions, and households maximize utility with respect to Cobb-Douglas household consumption. 24  The model is nonfinancial because it does not explicitly include money and asset markets. This choice is based on the assumption that the types of shock considered (changes in the nominal exchange rate, transportation costs, and agricultural technologies) affect most directly the real side of the economy, such as quantities of production and commodities consumed, rather than monetary effects, inflation, and interest rates. While the above hypothesis is somewhat unrealistic in certain situations, the lack of data on the functioning of financial markets necessary to integrate supply and demand variables for money and assets is a limiting factor in modeling financial intermediation of the savings and investment process. 25  The model is static and solves for a new equilibrium within a single period, given a specified external shock, internal shock, or policy change. The previous section on dynamic CGE models provides some insight into the pros and cons of examining change over time via CGE models used for different analytical purposes. The underlying motivation for choosing a comparative statics approach is that the issues of interest here do not depend on intertemporal optimization by agents, whether it be firms' investment behavior or households' life-cycle saving patterns. The scenarios to be analyzed involve one-time shocks or policy measures to which the structure of the economy must adjust in order to return to equilibrium. In terms of expectation models, the shock is a \"surprise,\" requiring adjustments to reestablish the macro balance of the economy.A complete CGE model also includes a number of closure rules. Closure rules place aggregate constraints on the economic activity simulated in the CGE model. They pertain to how the major macroeconomic accounts (government, trade, labor and capital accounts) adjust to regain equilibrium in response to changes in economic activity. When specifying the model, the system will be overdetermined and one of the constraints of the model must be relaxed to find a solution. Choosing a particular closure rule means precisely deciding which constraint should be dropped. There is no clearcut theoretical justification for the choice of a particular closure rule except the modeler's general view of an underlying macroeconomic behavior that is assumed exogenous to the CGE model. The closure rules have been shown to have a considerable impact on model structure and the policy conclusions reached (Lysy 1982;Dewatripont and Michel 1987;Robinson 1991). The macroeconomic closure rules of the model and the specification of its factor markets (presented in detail in a later section) will determine the short-, medium-, or longterm character of the model.The present approach incorporates a number of distinctive model features in order to capture the mechanisms underlying deforestation and agricultural development in a complex setting like Brazil. First, the research is centered on the role of land as a factor of production; therefore, different land classes, with distinct productive possi-bilities, are specified based on geographic location and vegetative cover. Land in each region is differentiated according to its land type on the basis of cover: (1) forested land, (2) arable land, (3) grassland/pasture, and (4) degraded land. 26 Second, an important characteristic of the marketing process in developing countries with insufficient infrastructure in transport and communication services is the prevalence of high transport and marketing costs. The present approach takes into account this particular characteristic of the economy by incorporating specific marketing margins that are associated with each of the four regions present in the model. This specification allows for detailed analysis of both the economy-wide and regional effects of investment to improve infrastructure. Third, the model incorporates a detailed regional specification of agricultural technologies in the form of multi-output-production functions. The model can therefore take into consideration the ease or difficulty farmers have in shifting production from one crop to another.The approach is especially useful when considering the impact of technological improvements in agriculture: if an improved technology is not a \"substitute\" relative to the crops already in production, the impact of technological change will be limited. Fourth, deforestation has been introduced as an explicit economic activity producing cleared land that is demanded by the investment account. For the purpose of this study, this characteristic of the model is of crucial importance because it links agricultural production to the equilibrium demand for deforested land. Demand for deforested land is assumed to be perfectly elastic with the price paid to deforesters determined by the asset value differential between newly cleared land and forested land, which, in turn, depends on the difference in land rent and on the biophysical degradation affecting the returns to land over time. Fifth, having differentiated land as a factor of production into forested land, arable land, and grassland, each with distinctive productive possibilities, the model keeps track of the stocks of these different land types by factoring in biophysical degradation that transforms arable land into grassland, and grassland into degraded land.This research is centered on the role of land as a factor of production. Close attention is paid to feedback effects of different environmental states on the economy. Therefore, the principal criteria for identifying land heterogeneity should be the extent to which economic agents' decisions are affected by different environmental states. At this point, the modeler/researcher is faced with an important decision: can the environmental state be described in discrete terms or should it be represented as a continuous process? In other words, does an economic agent react to step-wise or continuous variations in resource quality? This is an important decision from a methodological standpoint because it entails different modeling approaches.If agents respond to step-wise changes, then it is appropriate to differentiate the resource into a finite number of states, with each of these states having a well-defined role in the economy's production possibilities. This could apply, for example, to qualitative changes in land conditions: a farmer has different options depending on whether the land is forested, cleared, or infested by weeds. In this case three land states can be defined: forest, cleared, and grassland. These would appear as factors of production in different economic activities (for example, forest land in agro-forestry, cleared land in grain cultivation and pasture, and grassland in pasture). Marginal action by the economic agent cannot alter the state of the land. Alternatively, if the agent's productive possibilities are affected in a continuous fashion by changes in resource quality, then it is necessary to incorporate a continuous variable in the production function for each activity, which affects productive possibilities. Where land has no distinct state, but rather its productivity varies along a spectrum based on nutrient levels, then nutrients would be included in the production function. In this case, a marginal action by the economic agent, such as applying fertilizer, would have an impact on production.As nutrients are depleted in soils of the humid tropics, weeds move in. Weed infestation associated with nutrient depletion marks the threshold of a succession to grassland. Therefore, farmers' production possibilities are affected from one year to the next. The fact that soil degradation is a nonmarginal effect, even though the underlying process is continuous, justifies the assumption that land conditions for agricultural purposes can be expressed by discrete states.To better describe the approach taken here, it is useful to define some terms and concepts. The differentiation of land into four land types on the basis of cover is shown in Figure 3.3. These distinctions are based on the qualitative characteristics that economic agents perceive as making these factors fit for use in distinct economic activities. For example, if land is covered in forest, farmers are able to extract timber or other forest products, but they cannot use the land to plant annuals or perennials, or for pasture, until the land is cleared. Similarly, if the land is cleared and weed infestation has not begun, the land is classified as arable, and can be used for annuals, perennials, or pasture. If the weed infestation has passed a threshold beyond which annuals and perennials are no longer viable, it is classified as grassland and can only be used for pasture. Degraded land is unproductive land and can only be left fallow.  Land transformations are transitions between land types as a result of physical processes, given certain economic uses. For example, cleared land where rice is cultivated is transformed into grassland.Land conversion describes a transition between two land types brought about intentionally by economic agents. Usually the agent incurs a conversion cost. In the simulations in this study, farmers cut down trees to plant annuals or perennials or for use as pasture.The activities considered in the model are presented in Table 3.1, along with the factors employed in production and the commodities being produced by these activities.Agricultural production is disaggregated by region (Amazon, Center-West, Northeast, Rest of Brazil); by activities (annuals, perennials, animal products, forest products, and other agriculture); and by size of operations (smallholder, large farm enterprise). All factors employed by agriculture are region-specific. Producers are assumed to maximize profits given their technology. Agricultural technologies by sector are specified as two-level production functions assuming separability between the two levels. At the lower level, real value added is a CES function of the primary factors of production; output by activity is a fixed coefficient function of real value added and intermediate inputs. The lower level of production technologies is summarized in Figure 3.4.The Armington assumption is used to capture the choice between imports and domestic output under imperfect substitutability. All domestic demands (including intermediate demands as shown in Figure 3.4) are for the same composite commodity, with the mix between imports and domestic output determined by the assumption that domestic demanders minimize cost subject to imperfect substitutability, captured by a CES aggregation function. This assumption grants the domestic price system a certain degree of independence from import prices and dampens import responses to changes in the producer environment.The output of the agricultural activity is transformed, at the second level, into commodities, according to a smooth concave transformation frontier described by a translog function obtained as a productionside analogy of the Almost Ideal Demand System (Deaton and Muellbauer 1980). Convexity of the production set was checked according to Hasenkamp (1976). In effect, each agricultural activity produces a number of agricultural commodities (QA a ➔ QXAC a,c ) (Figure 3.5). For example, a farm producing annuals in the Amazon may have beans, manioc, and rice as output. This specification allows for the possibility that farmers consider certain agricultural commodities as substitutes and others as complements in the production process. The technology captures both price responsiveness, through own-price elasticities, and technological constraints in transforming agricultural output from one commodity to another through substitution elasticities. Values for these elasticities were obtained by distributing a survey among IFPRI and Embrapa researchers with expert knowledge about the production process in Brazilian agriculture. The results are presented in Table 3.2. The default option assumes high substitutability in production; at the extreme, it approximates the linear programming farm model approach to production by shifting production to the most profitable crop. If, alternatively, the experts believe that farm-ers weigh price signals with other factors when making this decision, then substitution elasticities would be lower. Possible factors being considered are (1) relative risk associated with the crops, (2) subsistence requirements, (3) crops requiring similar soil characteristics (substitutable) or different soil characteristics (less substitutable), (4) common practice (habit), and (5) whether intercropping is common for two crops (in this case, at the extreme, there would be very low substitutability).The general flow from production activities to final commodities is presented in Figure 3.5. The notation for price and quantity variables can be found in the next section on model specification. The diagram starts out at the far left following the contribution of different activities (QA 1 , …,QA m ) to the production of a single commodity (QX c ) and, moving to the far right, shows Notes : The elasticity ranges used are: low = 0.1 to 0.3, low-medium = 0.7 to 0.9, medium = 1.0 to 2.0, medium-high = 2.0 to 4.0, and high = 4.0 to 8.0.how the domestically produced commodity is affected by the export and import markets.Outputs are treated similarly to the combination of imports and domestic products. Outputs produced by different regional activities, for a same commodity, are treated as imperfect substitutes in demand in a manner that parallels the treatment of imports and outputs of domestic origin (QXAC a,c ➔ QX c , using CES aggregation). The result is that regional activities are allowed a degree of independence from their competitors in other regions of Brazil. This protection arises from the fact that they may produce slightly differentiated goods. Even though only one aggregate national market is considered for each commodity (due to data limitations on interregional flows of commodities), it can also be interpreted that the producers are in reality selling to different market segments (for example, along geographic lines). This allows regions facing higher production or transportation costs in the market for a specific commodity to continue producing.The allocation of domestic output between exports and domestic sales is determined on the assumption that domestic producers maximize profits subject to imperfect transformability between these two alternatives, expressed by a constant elasticity of transformation (CET) function. This assumption grants the national price system     )) 27b.Conservation of total factor supply (for factors that are \"connected\" through conversion)a certain degree of independence from export prices and dampens export responses to changes in the producer environment.The definitions of the terms used in the model are listed in Table 3.3, and a simplified version of the model used for the simulations is presented in Table 3.4. To highlight the special features of the model, this version ignores intermediate demands, which are treated in a standard way in the full model.The first set of equations defines prices in the model. On the import and export sides, the model incorporates the \"small country\" assumption, which states that world prices are exogenous. In the two parts of equation ( 1), the domestic price of imports and exports is the world price times the exchange rate, with domestic import prices also  Saving-Investment balance Source: Compiled by author.including a price wedge expressed by the import tax rate (tm c ). The prices of composite commodities (made up of imports and commodities from domestic producers) are defined as a weighted average of domestic and imported commodity prices adjusted for the consumption tax (equation 2). In a parallel manner, for any commodity, the aggregate producer price is a weighted average of domestic sales and export prices (equation 3). The model makes a distinction in equation 4 between price paid for a commodity to an activity based on whether it is at producer prices (PXACP a,c ) or whether it includes indirect taxes (PXAC a,c ). The (gross) price paid for any activity (revenue per unit of the activity) is a function of output and commodity prices (equation 5).Equations 6-15 show the quantity equations for commodities and factors that are related to production and foreign trade (the latter only for commodities). Equation 6defines the CES production function, which, for each activity, determines the relationship between the quantity produced and the use of primary factors. Equation 7 is the demand function for factors, derived from the first-order condition for profit maximization subject to equation 6. Equation 8defines the demand at the national level for the commodities produced at the regional level. Equation 9 is the first order condition for cost minimization and captures competition between multiple activities (distinguished by their specific technologies) producing a single commodity. Outputs from different activities are imperfect substitutes, an application of the Armington approach (commonly used for international trade) in a domestic setting. In addition to the standard one-to-one mapping between activities and commodities, equation 10 permits multiple outputs for any given activity. More specifically, equation 10 defines aggregate output as a translogarithmic function of output disaggregated by the commodity produced. Equation 11 is a first-order condition derived from costminimization subject to equation 10 and a fixed aggregate output demand level. This approach is particularly useful in the context of this project to take into consideration the ease or difficulty farmers have in shifting production from one crop to another.Equation 12 provides the CET function that transforms domestic output to commodities for exports and domestic sales. Equation 13 is derived from profit maximization subject to equation 12 and a fixed level of domestic output; it defines export supply as a function of relative prices. Equation 14shows how imports and domestic output sold domestically generate the composite commodities that are demanded by all domestic users. Equation 14is the Armington function, which is the CES aggregation function for imports and domestic output sold domestically. Equation 15gives the import demand functions of the relative prices of imports and domestic commodities; it is derived from cost minimization, subject to equation 14 and a fixed level of composite commodity demand. Figure 3.5 summarizes the flow of commodities from production activities to the domestic market and exports. It should be noted that the commodities QXAC, QX, QD, and QE are distinct and associated with separate prices (PXAC, PX, PD, and PE, respectively). Imports (QM) and domestic goods (QD) are also distinct from their composite (QQ) with separate sectoral prices.Institutional income flows are extremely simplified in this reduced version. The model institutions are households, government, the savings/investment account, and the rest of the world. Factor income, as a function of factor demand and factor prices, is channeled to the households, and remittances from abroad are also assigned to households (equation 16). Government revenue is defined in equation 17 as the sum of revenue from household taxes, indirect taxes, and import taxes. Total saving, defined in equation 18, is made up of government savings, foreign savings, and household savings.Domestic final demands are composed of private consumption and investment demand. For each household, consumption is determined by a Cobb-Douglas function, distributing marginal budget share across commodities (equation 19). Similarly, equations 20 and 21 assure that government demand and investment demand are, respectively, allocated across commodities in fixed value shares.The supply of nonmigrating factors depends on the initial stock, physical transformation, and conversion (equation 22a). Transformation is allowed from arable land to pasture/grassland and from grassland to degraded land. Conversion is allowed from forested land to arable land, and from unemployed arable land to pasture/grassland. In the long run scenarios, interregional mobility of labor and rural capital is assumed. This entails updating factor stocks (equation 22b) based on the balance of inmigration and out-migration for the factor (equation 23). Migration is assumed to rise when there are interregional differences in factor wages, therefore, the average wage of a factor over all activities in which it is employed is defined in equation 24. Keeping in mind that factors are differentiated based on whether they are employed in urban sectors or employed regionally for agriculture, migration is required to maintain the wage ratio between regions in a reasonable range. This is expressed in equation 25 where the wage ratio imposed between two factors is in the neighborhood of a fixed value wfratf 1 ,f 2 . The neighborhood of variation for the wage ratio is defined in equation 26, which is specified as a mixed complementarity problem: the wage differential is written as an inequality and linked to the migration variables in the complementary slackness conditions. To allow for interregional differences in the propensity to migrate, the wage differential threshold in the inequality (below which migration does not occur) depends on both the receiving factor (f 1 ) and the factor providing the migrant flow (f 2 ). To conclude the migration block, equations 27a and 27b express the conservation of factors, meaning that the net migration and conversion of factors summed over all factors have to balance out to zero.The equilibrium conditions for factor markets are defined in equations 28a and 28b. It is assumed in the short run that all factors except capital may go unemployed. In the long run only arable land may go unemployed, in which case it is converted to grassland/pasture. Flexible average factor prices perform the task of equilibrating each market. In equation 29, if the lower bound for a factor price becomes binding, a share of the factor will not be employed (UESHf). To the extent that it is demanded by different sectors, each factor of production is assumed to be sectorally mobile inside its region.To conclude the section on factors, the demand for deforestation (producing arable land), expressed by equation 30, will be derived in detail in a later section dedicated explicitly to quantifying the demand for deforested land. In general terms, it expresses the price for arable land as being determined by the returns to agricultural land, which is in turn affected by land degradation. For tenured land, the net returns to deforestation will also depend on the profitability of standing forest (last term in equation 30).Equation 31 is the equilibrium condition for composite commodity markets: supply is set equal to the sum of final demands; flexible composite commodity prices assure that this condition is satisfied. Equation 32 specifies the equilibrium condition for the current account of Brazil's balance of payments. The domestic price index is chosen as numeraire. Foreign savings is fixed (the current account deficit), and the real exchange equilibrates the current account. Absorption is defined in equation 33 as the sum of final demands (investment and government and consumption spending). This definition is drawn upon in equation 34a, which determines the nominal values of investment spending as a fixed share of absorption, and in equation 34b, which similarly determines government spending. Equation 35 defines the final macro closure condition, imposing equality between the values of total savings and total investment.The price for arable land, P ar , is determined by the returns to agricultural land. In an infinite horizon framework, the flow return from an asset divided by the asset price must be equal to the rate of interest in the steady state. What is obtained by going down this path is a perfectly elastic demand for cleared land (which is a reasonable assumption since the investment in newly cleared land is a negligible share of aggregate investment). This implies that the price of arable land for a squatter, assuming a fixed rental rate, would be This expression takes into consideration that an agricultural producer's decision to buy arable land depends on the tenure regime: if the land is subject to insecure property rights, the planning horizon will be finite. A limitation of the expression is that it does not take into account that the rental rate may vary with time due to decreasing or increasing productivity.For the purpose of this analysis, it is reasonable to assume that arable land is transformed through degradation to grassland, which can be used only for pasture.Let the degradation rate equal µ a (the indices are dropped to simplify notation) and let r gr equal the rental rate of grassland, then the price for 1 hectare of newly deforested land, if the planning horizon is assumed to be T, is given by the following equations. Assume so that then the solution being:The interpretation of the last equation is straightforward: the first term represents the value derived from the use of one hectare of land before it degrades to grassland; the second term represents the value derived after conversion to grassland. If there is no land transformation, r gr drops out of the third equation above and the expression simplifies into the first equation. As the degradation rate, µ a increases the value of a hectare of arable land approaches that of a hectare of grassland.The above expression, however, does not take into account that the use of grassland for livestock purposes is not agronomically sustainable in many regions of the Brazilian Amazon. To take this additional degradation process into consideration, one must proceed in a manner similar to that adopted to compute the effect of degradation of arable land: if grassland area in livestock use degrades exponentially (after being generated through transformation of arable land) according to then the expression for the price of newly arable land becomes This is the expression for the price of arable land used in the simplified model (first three terms in equation 30 in Table 3.3). The first term, expressing the value derived before transformation to grassland, has not changed. What has changed, as one would expect, is the value derived from use after conversion to grassland: the limited returns resulting from the degradation of grasslands have now been factored in. As a special case, if µ g is equal to zero (no grassland degradation) then the equation reverts to the previous case.The deforesters, being the suppliers of arable land, are faced with this price and the amount of land that will be deforested will depend on P ar , on the returns from forested land (last term in equation 30), and on the squatters' profit-maximizing behavior and technology. The behavior of agents carrying out the land clearing can be differentiated according to whether the forest is an openaccess resource or whether property rights governing the use of the forest resource are well defined. For the purpose of this report, it is assumed that the returns to the deforestation activity are based both on acquiring property rights to unclaimed land and on the future returns to agriculture. The net returns to deforestation are different depending on whether land is titled or not; if the land is tenured one must subtract the returns from forested land in the computation. An average return is computed here by taking into consideration that about one-third of agricultural land in the Amazon has been reported to involve fraudulent titles (Brazil, Ministry of Agrarian Development 1999).Therefore, the parameter indicating the share of deforestation occurring on tenured land (α in equation 30) is assumed to equal 2 / 3 . By assuming the planning horizon to be sufficiently long when using arable land, we allow agents to acquire property rights through deforestation.One last complication, which has not been considered in equation 30, is that arable land can go unemployed and be used as grassland/pasture. If this happens, then the expected returns from agricultural land will be affected, as well as the price paid to deforesters for cleared land. The modified equation 30, as it appears in the full model, taking into consideration the fact that unemployed arable land earns returns equal to those of grassland pasture, isThe equation takes into consideration that the land will be transformed gradually into grassland/pasture (every period a share of land, µ a , is transformed to grassland). If arable land is fully employed (UESH \"ar\" = 0), the last term in the equation is zero, and the equation reverts to Equation 30. If arable land is not fully employed, UESH \"ar\" > 0, the price of newly cleared land is a weighted average of the price of grassland and arable land, and as the share of unemployed land increases, the returns to arable land approximates that of grassland. In the extreme case, where all arable land goes unemployed (UESH \"ar\" = 1), all newly cleared land will be used as pasture; in this case the price of a hectare of deforested land equals the net present value of a hectare of grassland.CHAPTER 3(1 ) This research considers the biophysical processes related to crop sustainability. Among these processes are some that can substantially reduce agricultural productivity, such as soil degradation and weed infestation-problems that usually appear after the first few cropping cycles when a plot is cleared. The biophysical component of the modeling framework affects the equilibrium stocks of the different land types by computing the extent of land transformation given the land uses arising from the simulation. This framework is a first step in linking biophysical changes that occur with a certain land use to the economic incentive for agents to modify existing land use patterns. Including a representation of physical processes in the economic framework is important, because these processes are a major constraining factor for regional development in the Amazon region.Different productive activities will have different effects on land quality over time. This process belongs to a class of problems that has been studied extensively in the research area known as landscape ecology (Shugart, Crow, and Hett 1973;Horn 1975;Baker 1989;Acevedo, Urban, and Ablan 1995). This research attempts to exploit the analogy between the models developed in landscape ecology, which focus on the succession of ecological states, and the current analysis of the succession of land types given existing land use.A variety of criteria could be used to distinguish models of land-type change. Perhaps the two most important are the level of aggregation and the use of continuous or discrete mathematics. Models could also be distinguished by the kind of data sources, the method of defining states, and a number of other criteria. A critical research choice that will have to be made early in the research process is the defini-tion of land types. This will likely vary by agro-climatic region. For example, in forest areas and at the forest margins, a possible disaggregation of land types would include pristine forest, arable land, grasslands, and degraded lands, with each type further divided into rich soil and poor soil. In lowland agriculture, the basic division could be between irrigated and rainfed land, with these types further subdivided by soil nutrient status.The level-of-aggregation criterion refers to the level of detail with which the process leading to changes in land type is modeled. Baker (1989) describes three kinds of models. First are whole landscape models, in which the value of a variable in some region is modeled. Second are distributional landscape models, in which the distribution of values of a variable in some region is modeled. For example, taking all the land in the region under analysis, one might model the number of hectares falling in each land category (thus losing the differentiation by location). Finally, in the most detailed form are spatial landscape models, where the outcome of individual subareas of the landscape and their configuration are modeled. In such spatial models, for example, one could consider the number of hectares in each land category for each farm in the region (ideal if GIS data are available). For this study, a distributional model applied to land types under a given land use is attempted. This choice is necessary because the economic counterpart will consider land use decisions at a regional scale.Both continuous and discrete mathematics have been used for the time dimension in these models, but there may be little difference in the application of these two approaches. For example, the average response of a stationary Markov process can be obtained by using the corresponding linear constant-coefficient differential equation (Shugart, Crow, and Hett 1973). 27  The matrix approach may still provide an easier framework for modeling changes in variance along with changes in mean. In most cases, empirically based models use estimates of change determined by resampling the landscape at discrete time intervals. The model is in discrete time and the intervals considered are years. The state space is also discrete because a finite number of states in which land can be classified are considered.Assuming that the process that affects land quality through land use can be described by a land transformation matrix for any farm plot, which can be defined as where p fgi is the conditional probability that an area of land of type f will be transformed into land of type g under activity i between two points in time. Initially, the dependence of the probabilities on the plot's history of land use will be ignored.The above specification at the plot level is not useful in the context of a model where the unit of analysis is a region like the Brazilian Amazon. To perform the necessary leap in geographic scale, the assumption is made that the regional land stocks by type follow the same transformation pattern. 28 Let L t be a row vector that specifies total hectares in each land type at time t, then { } , 1 ,2, , 1, 2, ,This equivalence in treatment is utilized in this report to the extent that the problem is presented in discrete time for estimation purposes of the transition probabilities, but the representation in the model adopts a continuous time specification (equation 30 in Table 3.3).where L t+1 is a projection at time t+1 of land stocks by type as predicted by the model of the physical transformation process. This is not to be confused with the conversion of land arising from rental differentials in the CGE model. The former expresses a natural physical process (given a fixed land use), while the latter embodies a decision by economic agents to put land to a different use, requiring a physical conversion in land type. With respect to the land types specified in the CGE model, the feasible transformations and conversions are expressed in Figure 3.3.Technically, the natural transformation process is modeled as a first-order stationary Markov process, with land use entering as an exogenous variable (Baker 1989;Burnham 1973). 29 As shown in Figure 3.6, the system has four biophysical states (forested land, grassland, degraded land, and arable land); the latter, arable land, is divided into two different \"exogenous\" uses-annual or perennial cultivation-for a total of five states. The probability of remaining in or leaving a particular state is shown in association with the respective arcs (p a,a, . p a,g , p ,g,g , p g, d , p d,d, p d,f, p f,f ). The probabilities are assumed to be constant for all times into the future. The dashed arcs have no associated probabilities because they are linked to economic decisions that are exogenous to the biophysical component.The Markov chain approach is reconciled with the static CGE approach by assuming that over an area like the Brazilian Amazon, the probability of transformation can be assumed to correspond to the average transformation. So for example, if p a,a (annuals) in Figure 3.6 is equal to 0.33, this means that at any time 33 percent of the arable land in annuals is being transformed to grassland. Unless there are unexpected shifts in sectoral production from one year to the next, which is improbable, approximating the transformation processes by using the expected value is a valid approach. The probabilities presented here can therefore be used to obtain flows between the stocks of different land types, thereby affecting the equilibrium level of land as a factor of production (equation 22a in Table 3.3). The model solves simultaneously for these flows and for the production pattern, which reflects agents' correct expectations about land degradation processes.he empirical foundation of a CGE model can be obtained from three sources: (1) econometric methods may be used to estimate parameter values when sufficient time series or cross-section information is available; (2) engineering information may be used to supplement input-output (IO) data to determine technical coefficients of production as well as resource levels; and (3) a comprehensive accounting system may be used to bring all data needed for model simulation into a framework that is consistent with the model specification. For the development of the model for this research all three sources are tapped: estimation methods are used to determine migration parameters and biophysical degradation parameters and engineering information on agricultural technology is incorporated into the database. However, central to the database (and most commonly used in CGE modeling) is the development of a social accounting matrix (SAM). A SAM represents flows of payments between the various actors in the economy. It integrates sectoral, institutional, and national income and product accounts into a unified framework that can be used to analyze the important economic links between factors of production, sectors, and macroeconomic variables.The structure of a simple SAM is given in Table 4.1. Each cell represents a payment from a column account to a row account. Activities pay for intermediate inputs and factors of production and receive payments for exports and sales to the domestic market. The commodity account buys goods from activities (producers) and the rest of the world (imports) and sells 40 The matrix of column coefficients from such a SAM provides raw material for much economic analysis and modeling. The intermediate-input coefficients correspond to Leontief input-output coefficients. Column coefficients provide the starting point for estimating parameters of nonlinear, neoclassical production functions, factordemand functions, and household expenditure functions. Given that so many of the model parameters depend on the flows in the SAM, it is necessary to understand thoroughly the data framework.The micro SAM developed in this study is in many ways standard. In constructing the SAM, the general approach presented by Pyatt and Round (1985) has been followed. This SAM incorporates disaggregated agricultural flows in its description of the Brazilian economy, and, in so doing, fills a gap in Brazilian IO data. Agricultural production is differentiated by region. The study uses the 1995 IO table for Brazil, Embrapa data on agricultural production technologies, and incorporates agricultural census data for 1995-96 (IBGE 1995(IBGE , 1998a)).The SAM for this research starts with a large amount of detail on the production side (205 activities). With 23 agricultural categories, differentiated by small farms or large estate production for each of the four regions adopted in the model (184 activities), a deforestation activity, and 5 foodprocessing activities, the agricultural sector is extremely well represented. The population of Brazil is 24 percent rural, with regional peaks of 40 percent in both the Amazon and the Northeast (IBGE 1998b); the majority of the rural people depend upon agriculture for their livelihoods. Consequently, detail in the agricultural sector is highly desirable for analyzing poverty alleviation, development strategy, and deforestation.Trade and transport margins are also important for commodities in an interregional context. Because distances are large and transaction costs high, the difference between the market price and the price at the farm or factory gate can be significant in certain regions of Brazil. Domestic marketing margins are explicitly broken out here for each regional activity in the micro SAM.Several household types are taken into consideration so that welfare implications on different income groups of different policy scenarios can be analyzed. In addition to the producers and the households, the other actors in the economy are the government, investors, and foreign demanders or suppliers.The main central government agency involved in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of such information is the Brazilian statistical institute, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE), which reports to the Ministry of Science and Technology and consists of a number of national directorates responsible for data collection. Current IBGE national accounts are based primarily on the following sources.• The 1991 demographic survey, which provides IBGE with information regarding total population by region and the distribution of employment between activities• Household surveys (1987 and 1996) taken for nine major urban areas in Brazil. Because resources are limited and population density low outside the cities, neither survey ventured deeply into rural areas. It is a considerable drawback that the standard of living and consumption patterns of rural households are only partially represented within the sampling frame of the major cities surveys.• External trade data based on customs declarations• Available government accounts. The informational content of these data are limited by the fact that recurrent expenditures and investment expenditures are not presented separately. The value added in the government sector consists of compensation paid to employees.• Agricultural production surveys. The Agriculture Division of IBGE produces estimates of total production of basic food crops and marketed production of other important agricultural commodities.• Industrial data collection. Industrial data are available from a variety of sources including labor force and salary surveys, industrial production surveys, surveys of the construction industry, intermediate consumption and inventory measurements, and a business enterprise survey. These data are collected at regular intervals (some monthly, some by trimester, and some annually).• Trade margins are calculated as the difference between the price on goods sold and the cost of purchasing the goods (by the wholesaler or retailer). This information consistently indicates a high trade margin.The data are compiled in accordance with the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) to as great a degree as possible. Useful information from a variety of different institutions, which will be referred to in more detail in subsequent sections, are also drawn together.IBGE's estimation of gross domestic product (GDP) is based on the commodityflow approach. This relies on the supply and demand for 100 product groups. The breakdown of total demand into intermediate demand, final demand, and capital formation is based on estimated technical coefficients. While potentially inaccurate, the technical coefficient approach is necessary since actual data are not available (IBGE 1997b).Despite the shortcomings associated with piecing together data from different sources, the IBGE national accounts are the best set of information available. It is true that much desirable information is either unknown or of uncertain quality. It is also true that much is known about basic production structure (in agriculture as well as industry), consumer habits, government spending and revenue, structure of imports and exports, and financial flows to Brazil. In developing the 1995 Brazil SAM for this study, efforts were made to maintain as close a correspondence to IBGE national accounts as possible.The year 1995 was chosen as the benchmark because, with the release of the 1995/96 Agricultural Census, it is the most recent year for which comprehensive and reliable data are available (the previous agricultural census was for 1985). And 1995 can certainly be considered a more normal year than any year in the previous decade. In 1995, a comprehensive stabilization plan (Plano Real) helped check inflation in Brazil, and no exogenous shocks such as drought hit the economy. Finally, by 1995, the process of removing distorting government policies was under way and privatization of state enterprises had begun in earnest. The tangible differences in the economy between 1994 and 1995 and the superior quality of some statistics, provide ample reason for using 1995.MACSAM entries are in the form of macroeconomic aggregates. In a SAM, rows track receipts, while columns track expenditures. Hence, row sums represent total receipts and column sums represent total payments by a given account or institution. In the tradition of double-entry accounting, row sums must equal column sums. A complete discussion of the economic relationships embodied in a SAM can be found in Pyatt and Round (1985).Table 4.2 lists data sources and a brief description of how the value of all the relevant entries (cells) in the macroeconomic SAM were found. With the original values, the MACSAM for Brazil balances exactly (row sums equal column sums) by establishing certain cells as residuals (Table 4.3).To allow for more detailed policy experiments and to establish the basis for a microeconomic CGE, the MACSAM developed in the previous subsection must be disaggregated. The procedure applied here strives to develop a balanced micro SAM, BRASAM, while maintaining as close a   1997b). These sources are integrated with the agricultural census data for 1995-96 (IBGE 1998a) to yield a regionalized representation of agricultural activities. Household data are obtained from the national accounts and the household income and expenditure surveys (IBGE 1997c and1997d). For technology coefficients in agriculture, the SAM relies on information from an Embrapa database with detailed regional specification of technologies by crop type.The cell entries in the raw BRASAM present a picture of the economy in 1995, which is taken as prior information. However, as a result of missing information, data inaccuracies, incompatibilities between micro and aggregate data, and accounting discrepancies, the row and column sums of the raw BRASAM do not balance, even if the macro totals implied by the raw BRASAM satisfy the values in MACSAM.A general point to be kept in mind throughout this section is that the totals in the 205 activity columns, which are evidently of critical importance since only 28 sectors are identified in the national accounts, were established as follows for the raw BRASAM:(1) Down the columns, total costs of production (including factor use and output taxes), that is, total payments, are directly available from the national ac-counts for all activities at a national level of aggregation, except for 12 agricultural activities that are not present even at the national level. Data for the 20 activities where direct mapping is possible are therefore entered into the raw BRASAM in unchanged form.(2) For the 11 agricultural activities available at the national level, total national sales figures (disaggregated totals in the activity rows) are available in the national accounts. These totals are subdivided into 44 regional activities through the use of the agricultural census regional production surveys for the Amazon, Northeast, Center-West, and South/Southeast Brazil. The column coefficients, representing the regional technology, are obtained from a weighted average of coefficients provided by Embrapa at a microregional level.(3) For the 12 agricultural activities not available even at the national level, regional production surveys are again used and the total for each of these activities is subtracted from the \"other agriculture\" activity total. The primary source of discrepancies between row and column sums in the raw BRASAM developed in this section stem from the elements in the activity columns, which contain information on IO relationships, factor use, and output taxes.An intermediate consumption or IO matrix shows activities in the columns and commodities in the rows. Each activity purchases commodities to operate. Thus, total payments of each activity for commodity inputs are represented by the column sums of the IO table. The payment entries for intermediate consumption are measured at market prices. Since there is no available IO for 1995 that spans the array of activities of interest in this study, it is necessary to construct a new IO on the basis of available information. As previously mentioned, the IO column coefficients for the sectors available in the 1995 published IO table are made as consistent as possible with the data published in the national accounts and with the Embrapa technological coefficients where available. A judgment has to be made for the intermediate demand for newly introduced agricultural activities: it is assumed that the coefficients are equal to those of reasonably similar technologies; otherwise the coefficient for other agriculture is used as an input times the share of the new agricultural activity relative to the other agriculture activity in the IBGE IO table.For the agricultural activities that are not available in the IBGE IO table and for which no technological coefficients are available, it is assumed that the column coefficients are the same as for the activity called other agriculture in the IBGE IO table.In the context of the SAM, trade and transportation activities provide inputs (in the row) to the commodities column. Thus, goods at the farm and factory gate are transformed into goods that form part of total supply by including marketing and transportation to the stylized national commodity market.The value added matrix in the SAM shows labor, land, and capital in the rows, and activities in the columns. Each activity purchases labor and capital to operate alongside intermediate inputs. The value added entries are measured at factor cost. Agricultural activities employ agricultural labor from their region, while nonagricultural activities, including trade and food processing, employ nonagricultural labor. The labor and capital use data have to be disaggregated for the agriculture sectors along the activity row, as is the case for intermediate consumption inputs. For other activities, data are immediately available, due to the low level of disaggregation. Total labor, land, and capital value added are allocated across the agricultural activities based upon the agricultural census.The output taxes vector shows output taxes paid by each activity. In the 1995 na-tional accounts, data on output taxes only exist for 25 nationwide activities. Further disaggregation of the agricultural activities is therefore needed to go to the regional level and for the agricultural activities that are previously not included. For the agricultural sector as a whole, output taxes were negative indicating subsidies to the sector. These subsidies are relatively small, amounting to about 1 percent of the value of agricultural production. The subsidies are allocated across regional agricultural activities according to activity shares in sector sales.The domestic sales cells are also referred to as the \"make matrix,\" as it is here that the results of individual activities (in the rows) are combined to form domestic supply of marketed commodities (in the columns). Domestic sales are identical to total sales values (the row totals). Since there are four regional agricultural activities mapping into each agricultural commodity, domestic sales for these commodities are calculated by summing the row totals for the corresponding agricultural activities.The domestic sales also contain information on marketing margins. These margins are from transport costs as well as wholesale and retail trade margins. For local production destined for the domestic market, they represent the difference between the factory or farm gate and consumer prices. Margins enter each column of the domestic sales matrix along the trade and transportation activities rows. National accounts data provide information on marketing margins, but they do not discriminate between margins associated with activities being located in different areas of the country. Since the four regions taken into consideration in the analysis have varying degrees of infrastructure, regional marketing margins are important. These regional margins are estimated by calculating the average distance to the closest market and using the ratio of these values relative to the industrial South to multiply the trade and transportation coefficients of each agricultural sector as obtained from transportation cost surveys (ESALQ 1998).Imports and import tariffs appear, respectively, in the government row and in the rest of the world row under the commodity columns; there are 2 rows and 44 columns with entries pertaining to imports and import tariffs. The national accounts data give sufficient information to establish the imports and tariffs for all of the commodities of interest except the nine agricultural commodities that are separated out of other agriculture. Data for these commodities are obtained from the INTAL database available on-line through the Inter-American Development Bank. A similar approach is taken with the export of these commodities.The SAM contains several household categories to support the analysis of the welfare implications for different income groups of different policy scenarios. The categories are high income, urban medium income, urban low income, rural medium income, and rural low income. The information on household characteristics is incorporated by using the results of the 1996 National Household Survey (IBGE 1997c;IBGE 1997d). The private consumption of the marketed commodities matrix shows commodities in rows and consumption values for each household column. In the same way, the government consumption vector shows commodities in rows down the government column. Currently, these entries reflect total consumption of services by government. The savings and investment demand vector appears in the commodities rows down the capital column. In the national accounts and in BRASAM investment and changes in inventories are treated separately.The labor column in MACSAM is disaggregated into agricultural and nonagricultural labor. It is further differentiated as skilled or unskilled labor, while the capital column is divided into several land categories and capital; agricultural labor and land categories are specified regionally.Gross profits for the agricultural activities are allocated to the capital row, except for a share going to land based on the return to land being used by the activity (FGV1998).The remaining entries in the raw BRASAM correspond exactly to the entries in MACSAM. These are scalar entries that require no disaggregation.To achieve a strict balance in BRASAM, which is required by construction, a minimum cross entropy-balancing procedure is applied, as set forth in Golan, Judge, and Robinson (1994). In the next section a summary of the structure of the Brazilian economy is presented with data from the balanced version of BRASAM.Even though the objective of this research is to represent the interactions in the Brazilian economy as a whole by focusing on deforestation and agricultural economic development, the analysis is inextricably linked to the agricultural sectors of the Brazilian economy. Table 4.4 shows that agriculture contributes 10 percent to net national income (value added)-14 percent if the food processing sectors (4 percent) are included. This relatively small share is consistent with the common view that Brazil is an economy with a well-developed industrial sector (21 percent), and services sector (44 percent includes government services). For the purposes of this report, it is interesting to observe that the marketing margins expressed by trade and transport add up to 11 percent of total value added. This implies that approximately one-tenth of the market price paid for the average commodity can be ascribed to transportation and transaction costs. This number can be misleading because it is a national average, whereas transportation costs and trade margins are strongly dependent on location. This is particularly relevant to this research project because at transportation costs are much higher in the Amazon region than in the South/Southeast region, where infrastructure is very well developed.Agriculture (along with services) stands out as the sector with the highest ratio of value added to output (approximately equal to 0.6). This means that it is the sector in which households (as the owners of the factors of production) get the highest return for each dollar of output produced. Agriculture appears then to be a good income-generating sector. One should, however, take care in drawing conclusions from this ratio: first, some sectors are subsidized, thereby inflating the value added measure by distorting the price system; second, Brazil is known to have one of the worst income distribution statistics in the world, and this is particularly true in rural areas where land ownership is concentrated among a few large landowners. For these reasons, the initial statement has to be qualified in order to examine poverty alleviation options. An indepth analysis of agricultural activities is required-one that takes into consideration that different activities in different regions have different effects on income distribution. For example, Gasques and Conceição (1999) report that land ownership is less concentrated in the Amazon than in the Northeast and Center-West regions of Brazil.Table 4.5 provides a schematic representation of the structure of the Brazilian commodity markets at a national level. It shows that more than one-third of the total value of agricultural production occurs in the meat and dairy sectors (R$35 billion). Production of annuals has the same order of magnitude (R$36 billion). The remaining production is distributed among perennials, logging, and other agriculture (mainly fishing), with coffee standing out as the major perennial crop.The processed food sector is very important in the context of this analysis because it processes the major agricultural export products such as coffee and sugar.These products are exported only after processing. For this reason, many agricultural products in Table 4.5 do not appear to have exports; in fact, they are intermediate inputs to an export-producing sector (R$11 billion from the export of processed foods). Soy is the major crop to be exported in part in its unprocessed form, along with products from the other perennials and other annuals categories. On the import side, small import shares relative to output are the rule, with the exceptions of other annuals, which includes wheat, and forest extraction, which has considerable two-way trade because of the heterogeneity of the goods included under it. Analogous to agriculture, the foodprocessing sector can be identified as an export-driven sector with small import shares. This is not true of the other nonagricultural sectors, which either exhibit strong twoway trade (oil and mining and manufacturing, for example) or are nontraded goods (construction and trade and transportation).As a first step toward understanding the regional structure of Brazilian agriculture, Table 4.6 subdivides farms into large and small operations according to whether they exceed 100 hectares (with the exception of the Amazon where a large farm is assumed  to exceed 200 hectares.). Animal production plays a prominent role throughout Brazil, cutting across farm sizes. Value added in animal production, depending on the region, accounts for 42 to 62 percent of small-farm value added. For large farms, this ranges from 40 percent for South/ Southeast to 86 percent in the Amazon.Other activities, such as annuals and perennials, vary in importance depending on the region and farm size. In the Amazon, production of annuals is important to smallholders but not to large farm enterprises. Quite the opposite is true in Center-West, where annuals are important to large farms (due to soy production) but not to small farms. Production of perennials is economically relevant to both farm sizes in the Northeast and South/Southeast and to small farms in the Amazon, whereas it is virtually absent in the Center-West.It is worthwhile to point out the commodities being produced by the economically relevant activities (see Appendix B, Table B.1). Production of annuals by smallholders in the Amazon is geared mainly toward manioc, rice, and beans. In the Northeast, smallholders produce those same staple goods, but maize, other annuals, and horticulture also constitute a considerable share of annuals production. The more diversified production in the Northeast relative to the Amazon may be explained by the different soil characteristics or by riskspreading behavior adopted by small farms in the drought-prone Northeast. The main annual crop for large farms in the Northeast is sugarcane. In the South/Southeast, production of annuals is quite diversified, both at the small-and large-farm levels, with the small farms mainly producing maize, horticultural goods, and other annuals, and large farms producing sugarcane, maize, rice, soy, and other annuals.With respect to perennials, smallholder production in the Amazon and the Northeast largely consists of other perennials (which include mango, avocado, papaya, coconuts, bananas, citrus, apples, pears, and the Amazonian fruits, cupuaçu and caju). Coffee, traditionally an important sector in the South/Southeast (for both small and large farms), has become an important product in the Amazon region with the de-velopment of coffee-producing areas in Rondônia. Coffee contributes as much as 23 percent of the value of smallholder production of perennials in the region. The remaining tree crop, cocoa, is produced mainly in the Northeast by both small and large farms.Animal product activities on large farms generally focus on beef and pork production, followed by milk production and poultry. Milk's share is larger at the small-farm level than the large. There is also more regional variation in terms of what is produced: for example, poultry constitutes an important share of animal products in the Northeast and South/Southeast but not in the other two regions.According to data from IBGE (1998a), approximately 5 million farm enterprises exist in Brazil. Of these, 47.9 percent are in the Northeast, 38.1 percent in the South/Southeast, 9.3 percent in the North 30 , and 4.9 percent in the Center-West. Most of these farms (74 percent) are operated by the 50 CHAPTER 4 30 Some data are more readily available for the North than for the definition of the Amazon in this report. For this reason, and given the large overlap between the two geographic specifications, the North is used here as a proxy for the Amazon when farm and income distribution numbers are presented in the context of a qualitative discussion. While in all regions a broad majority of producers operate small farms, medium and large farms account for most of the land, indicating an unequal land distribution throughout Brazil. Estimates by Gasques and Conceição (1999) of the Gini Index for land concentration in the different regions of Brazil indicate that land ownership has historically been concentrated among a small group of wealthy landowners (Table 4.8). The Northeast remains the region with the most unbalanced land distribution, while at the other extreme the South and Southeast regions have relatively lower Gini coefficients. The Northern region, which includes a large part of the Legal Amazon, has apparently entered a period of reconcentration in land ownership, after having had a steady decrease in the Gini coefficient during 1975-85.The government of Brazil has tried to address the inequality in land ownership by introducing gradual land reform; by September 1998, it had allocated land to 359,000 families on an area of more than 17 million hectares. Even so, the potential demand for land reform exceeds by far what the government has been able to provide: depending on the methods used, estimates for the number of \"clients\" of land reform usually vary from 2.3 million to 4.5 million families, requiring up to 160 million hectares.Land reform is relevant to the Amazon and to deforestation because it has relied heavily in the past on land in the Legal Amazon. This can be seen in Table 4.9, which illustrates the number of families that were settled by the Instituto Nacional de CHAPTER 4Colonização e Reforma Agraria (INCRA): before 1985 approximately 70 percent of the families being assigned land were located in the Northern region, highlighting how initially the land reform program was oriented toward opening new lands rather than redistribution. The role of the Amazon agricultural frontier has subsequently declined to 36 percent of families during the period 1986-94, and then to 22 percent during 1995-96 period. This coincided with a greater emphasis on land reform in the Northeast, implying a shift toward reallocation of existing agricultural land rather than relying on frontier areas. Nonetheless, the role the Amazon has played in providing opportunities to the landless (by providing cheap land) must not be overlooked. This highlights the potential conflict that may arise in the future between income distribution, environmental objectives, and the government's budgetary constraints if the current estimates requiring160 million hectares to complete the land reform process are correct.Background Land reform can be viewed as only one among a number of factors influencing internal migration in Brazil, whether rural-urban or rural-rural migration. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the broader context in which migration occurs.According to Perz (2000), the rural exodus in Brazil revolves around the capitalization of agriculture, employment growth in urban industries, and the high rate of natural increase in rural populations (excluding migration). These factors, however, have had different roles in different periods of recent Brazilian economic history. Between 1970 and 1980, there was a state-led  economic expansion with all three factors contributing to rural-urban migration; during that period 38 percent of the 1970 rural population moved to urban areas (Goldin and Rezende 1990). Between 1980 and 1985, when a debt crisis led to a withdrawal of state incentives to large farms, an industrial downturn, and an urban wage decline, it seems likely that rural-urban migration slowed (Perz 2000). 31 Macroeconomic reforms, following in the wake of the debt crisis, had a positive influence on agro-industrial expansion: (1) an exchange rate devaluation of the Brazilian currency made agricultural exports more profitable, (2) trade policy favored processed agricultural goods through tax exemptions, and (3) the government introduced minimum price guarantees to reduce the uncertainty of returns to agriculture (Goldin and Rezende 1990). Demographic data for 1991 and 1996 indicate that the rural population declined from 36 million to 34 million during that period. While the debt crisis may have temporarily slowed rural-urban migration, it seems that the recovery of the urban economy and the increasing importance of agroindustrial exports after the crisis caused the flow of migrants from the countryside to continue.Migrants from rural areas might go to urban areas or to the agricultural frontier. As Martine (1990) points out, frontier growth has become progressively less meaningful in terms of population absorption. But even though only a small share of total migrants chose the agricultural frontier, in labor-scarce areas of the Amazon, they could have a considerable impact on deforestation rates by providing the labor necessary to cut down trees. Table 4.10 shows the gross migration between regions from 1991 to 1996.To understand the migration patterns within Brazil, it is important to recognize substantial regional differences in agricultural technologies adopted, infrastructure, and relative sizes of rural population. In the Legal Amazon, as more and more land was used to raise cattle, diminishing labor requirements along with rapid urban growth spurred a substantial intraregional ruralurban urban shift. However, the Legal Amazon also attracted many rural-rural migrants from other regions, which somewhat counterbalanced this effect.Many came from the Northeast, where the rural population is large and income distribution historically skewed. More than 40 percent of all net rural outmigration to  Perz (2000) 1986-91and with early work by Reis and Schwartzman (1978).other regions of Brazil can be attributed to the Northeast. The Southeast, with a large urban population and an expanding services sector, has consistently been the main rural-urban receiving area, while the South has sustained a mainly localized ruralurban shift (Perz 2000).To consider migration mechanisms in this analysis, one must identify the determinants of internal migration in Brazil. At the aggregate level, several studies were carried out during the 1960s and 1970s that attempted to relate regional and sectoral wage differentials and internal migration. Sahota (1968), using an econometric model, measured the responsiveness of migration to differentials in earnings and other variables. In the same vein, Graham and Buarque de Holanda (1971) estimated net migration for each state from 1872 to 1970 and found a significant association between relative state income and rates of migration. A number of studies analyzing migration at a more local level have shown that a broad mixture of \"push\" and \"pull\" factors is necessary to explain the decision to migrate (Brito and Merrick 1974;Duarte 1979;Perlman 1977). However, as Martine (1990) points out, both aggregate and local survey data show the predominance of economic motives of migration in Brazil.After constructing the model and performing an initial set of sensitivity analysis runs, it became apparent that interregional migration paths in the model have a major impact on a subset of the simulations (in particular the ones linked to macroeconomic or interregional changes). 32 There is almost no recent literature on internal migration in Brazil, the exception being a survey by SENAR/FGV (1998) investigating the propensity to migrate to urban areas. The study examines the propensity to migrate between families and their offspring in different regions (South, Southeast, Center-West, and the states of Pernambuco and Ceará), but no attention is paid to rural-rural migration or to the economic determinants of migration. Since the research presented here focuses on the economic determinants of migration to the agricultural frontier, the estimation must first determine rural areas of origin and destination and then link migration to differences in income. For this reason, wage differential threshold parameters are introduced to characterize migration mechanisms, and they are estimated using data on interregional wage differentials and migration from one rural area to another and between rural and urban areas.The wage differential threshold parameter indicates how much the relative interregional wage differential for a factor must shift between two regions before migration from one region to the other begins to occur. The principle behind this approach is that migration to certain regions may be preferred over others. It is hoped that estimation of these thresholds will capture a diverse set of motivations that may affect the decision to migrate, such as the risk involved in moving to an area (Harris and Todaro 1970), family support networks in the receiving region, or simply climate and infrastructure conditions of the receiving region relative to the area of origin.For the purpose of the threshold parameters estimation, it is assumed that migration between two regions is described by a piecewise-linear relationship between the interregional wage differential and the number of people migrating (Figure 4.1).The relationship in Figure 4.1 can be expressed as where the share of population migrating from f 1 to f 2 (migrsh f 1 f 2 ) is obtained by multiplying the propensity to migrate of the population in f1 (PROMIG f 1 ) by the excess wage differential between the two regions (DWG) relative to the threshold (dwt f 1 , f 2 ). This expresses a disequilibrium adjustment process, which causes factor returns to converge. It is completed when the wage differentials between regions are equal to the thresholds. To be able to use this expression to characterize migration between Brazilian rural regions and rural-urban migration, the thresholds and the propensity to migrate out of regions have to be estimated. 33  To estimate the parameters, a cross entropy estimation method is adopted as pre-sented in Golan, Judge, and Miller (1996). The problem is to find a new set of DWT coefficients that minimize the entropy distance between an assumed prior -DWT and the new estimated coefficient matrix. The aim is to minimize the expected information value of additional data, given what is known (sample and prior). In mathematical terms the problem can be presented asIt is subject to with PROMIG f 1 and DWT f 1 f 2 being the parameters to be estimated. The estimation data focus on migration occurring betweenMigration from region A to B (Wage differential between A and B) 33 The model used for the analysis in this report analyzes the movement from one equilibrium to another following a shock or a structural change in the economy; therefore, the wage differential thresholds (rather than the propensity to migrate once the threshold is exceeded) will be central in determining the outcome of the scenarios being analyzed., , min ln .) 1991 and1996. Table 4.11 includes the population shares that migrated either between rural areas or from a rural area to an urban setting and the average wage differential during the period.To compute the share of the population migrating, the net migration flows are obtained from Table 4.10. The results, which are presented in Figure 4.2, highlight the population size in each category (size of circle) and the volume of migration between categories (along the arches).The solution to this problem would typically be obtained analytically by setting it up as an unconstrained optimization problem; however, the problem has to be solved numerically because no closed-form solution exists. The outcome combines the information from the data and the prior DWT. For the prior, a uniform wage differential of 10 percent is assumed before migration occurs. If the data are noninformative, then the solution will simply coincide with the prior. In this case, however, the results from the estimation deviate substantially from the prior. This indicates that a wage differential threshold for migration from any agricultural region to an urban environment between 7 and 8 percent is substantially lower than the prior (10 percent) (Table 4.12).What also emerges is that migrants from the Northeast make strong distinctions among regions, as expressed by the smallerCHAPTER 4   wage increase required as an incentive to move to preferred areas. They prefer to migrate to urban areas (7.1 percent wage differential), followed by migrating to agricultural areas in the South/Southeast (8.6 percent), and the Center-West (15.1 percent). The Amazon is a distant last choice as a destination for Northeastern migrants, requiring a 19.4 percent wage differential before migration along this route begins to occur. In other words, migrants would only consider migrating to the Amazon if they thought they could increase their wages by 19.4 percent. Interestingly, the Amazon is the preferred destination for migrants from the sparsely populated Center-West, where migrants require a wage differential threshold of only 5.5 percent. This may be a reflection of the fact that Center-West is attracting migrants from the South/Southeast (who require only a 7.4 percent differential) and the Northeast (15.1 percent) and in the process its agricultural frontier is being pushed into the Amazon.Further information that is obtained from the estimation (which is not used in the CGE model) is the propensity to migrate when out of equilibrium. This highlights the fact that regional differences are not fully accounted for by the wage differential thresholds. Instead, once these thresholds are exceeded, the extent of migration occurring relative to the excess wage differential will differ by region of origin. Similar to the SENAR/FGV (1998) study, this study finds that the Northeast has the lowest propensity to migrate, with Center-West and South/Southeast having considerably higher propensities and the Amazon falling somewhere in between (first column in Table 4.12).Biophysical processes related to crop sustainability are important topics for farmers in the Brazilian Amazon. Among these processes are some that can substantially reduce agricultural productivity. When a plot is cleared, soil degradation and weed infestation begin to appear after just a few cropping cycles. Land degradation affects the stocks of available agricultural land, thereby affecting agricultural producers' decisions, especially given that different productive activities will require different land types and have different impacts over time on land quality.The framework presented in the modeling section is a first step in linking biophysical changes occurring with present land uses to the economic incentive for agents to modify existing land use patterns.Including a representation of physical processes in the economic framework is important because these processes are a major constraining factor for regional development in the Amazon region. Continuous time and discrete time models of these processes can be used interchangeably with similar results (Shugart, Crow, and Hett 1973). In most cases, empirically based models use estimates of change determined by resampling the landscape at discrete time intervals. The model is in discrete time, and the intervals considered are years. This is the approach adopted for the estimation here. The state space is also discrete because a finite number of states in which land can be classified are considered.For a first-order stationary Markov process with exogenous land use, the transition probabilities are usually derived from a sample of transitions (conditional on land use) occurring between two points in time. Depending on data availability, the transition probabilities can be estimated using different data sources. The results here rely on data collected through farm surveys by IFPRI researchers in Acre and Rondônia (Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier 2002). Depending on data availability, the transition probabilities could be estimated using land use maps or by running Monte Carlo simulations using crop models adapted to tropical areas.The estimation problem can be represented as a network in which the nodes represent the stocks of the different land types and the parameters to be estimated are the flows linking the stocks over time (Figure 4.3). These flows can be interpreted as probabilities once the ratio of flow to stock is obtained. For a regional application, ideally the data should include plot history for a wide variation of farms. In general, however, it is difficult to find longitudinal timeordered data that describe individual plot movements from state to state. Instead, for each t there might be a limited number of transitions for aggregate land use data (from land use maps) that show either the number of outcomes or the corresponding proportions in each of the Markov states in each time period. Alternatively, farm surveys may have a cross-section of plot level data but as a subjective probability of transition elicited from the farmer rather than time-ordered observations.An estimation problem is said to be ill posed if there is not enough information in the data to permit the recovery of the transition probabilities by traditional estimation methods. The ill-posed aspect may arise because the data are mutually inconsistent or there are not enough data points. If traditional estimation procedures are used in situations with very few data points, the problem is said to be underdetermined, leading to highly unstable estimates and arbitrary parameters. In a recent book, Golan, Judge, and Miller (1996) suggest a variety of estimation techniques using what they describe as \"maximum entropy econometrics,\" which can be applied when dealing with illposed problems. These techniques may turn out to be very useful in the estimation of the land transformation matrix. Indeed, there is a section of their book that analyzes an illposed stationary Markov inverse problem. That it would allow the adoption of farmers' subjective probability of transformation as a Bayesian prior in the estimation process makes it even more appealing for this research. These data could not be otherwise incorporated into a standard estimation technique.A maximum entropy formulation of the estimation problem (similar to that adopted in the section on the estimation of migration thresholds) was developed using reported degradation times for the Amazon from farm surveys and agricultural extension studies as priors. Based on this formulation, it took 2-4 years for the transition from arable land to grassland under annuals, and 8-15 years to go from grassland under pasture to degraded land that is either abandoned or left fallow (Vosti et al. 2001;Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier 2002;Fearnside 1997;Weinhold 1999). Selected estimates from these ranges were used as priors and combined with data from the agricultural census for the period 1970-96 at the Amazon-wide level of aggregation, but there was not enough information in the census data (at that level of aggregation) to observe any deviation from the chosen prior. For this reason, an estimate of 3 years was adopted for the transition from arable land to grassland under annuals and 8 years for the transition from pasture to degraded land (which appeared to be reasonable given the literature). Forest recovery (from a farmers perspective) was ignored at this phase of the modeling effort; however, it will be incorporated in the model in the future so as to include fallowed areas in the land use decision process.Deforestation in 1995 was assumed to equal average deforestation between 1992 and 1996 (in hectares). The coefficients for deforestation technology were obtained from Carpentier, Vosti, and Witcover (forthcoming). Timber production in the Amazon and in the rest of Brazil was obtained from the agricultural census. The economic rent to timber was based on a technological specification proposed by Stone (1998).Elasticities of substitution between production factors were taken for industry from Najberg, Rigolon, and Vieira (1995). For agriculture, the substitution elasticity between land and capital was set at 0.4 for smallholders and 0.8 for large farm enterprises. These values are judgment-based estimates, assuming farm enterprises can substitute more easily between factors. The substitution elasticities in the production process of agricultural commodities were obtained through surveys. Sensitivity analysis was performed for the elasticities that were judgment-based, and although in some instances substantial deviations oc-curred relative to the results reported here, most implications drawn for the different scenarios concerning deforestation and income distribution were found to be valid (see Appendix C for more details).To conclude this section, several limitations in the data and model formulation must be noted. First, due to the uncertainty surrounding the elasticities, the results of the simulations are meant to clarify the sign and order of magnitude of the effects of regime shifts and should not be interpreted as precise quantitative measures. 34 Second, the model developed here is essentially static, and the results represent the impact of different policy experiments in a timeless world. A dynamic version of the model is being developed, but for the purpose of this analysis, which compares the effects of technological changes in a controlled environment, a comparative statics framework is more appropriate.34 To better understand the robustness of the results presented in the simulation sections, a small sensitivity analysis section is included in Appendix C. A full sensitivity analysis, using Monte Carlo simulation techniques will be performed soon and will appear in future publications.The Effects of Macroeconomic, Interregional, and Intraregional Change A diverse set of indirect causes-macroeconomic, interregional, and intraregional-has driven deforestation in the Amazon. First, this chapter will consider macroeconomic and interregional aspects of the Brazilian economy that have had immediate policy relevance for deforestation: (1) a devaluation of the real exchange rate, (2) a 20 percent reduction in transportation costs, and (3) technological change in agriculture in the Northeast, Center-West and South/Southeast regions of Brazil.At the intraregional level, the chapter investigates the impact on income distribution and deforestation rates of (1) different types of technological change in Amazon agriculture, (2) modification of tenure regimes, and (3) fiscal incentives or disincentives introduced to reduce deforestation rates. The main purpose of this comparative exercise is to determine what policy options are available, what trade-offs between environmental and developmental objectives are likely, and whether policymakers should focus on interregional or intraregional policies when considering development and deforestation in the Amazon.An important distinction when analyzing the underlying causes of deforestation, besides the geographic level of aggregation, is differentiation between types of distortions leading to excessive deforestation. Box 5.1 shows the distinctions between market failure, policy failure, and institutional failure. It is important to distinguish between these types of failures in order to determine the types of corrective measures required. An overvalued currency and poorly planned infrastructure are examples of potential policy failures, missing markets for environmental services provided by standing forest are an example of market failure, and inadequately specified tenure regimes represent institutional failure.As of mid-1998 there was speculation, fueled by the recent Asian financial crisis, of a possible devaluation of the Brazilian currency. The agreement reached in October 1998 between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Brazilian government seemed to dispel the uncertainty over Brazil's future. In January 1999, however, the possibility of default by the state of Minas Gerais worsened the already difficult economic position the Cardoso government was facing. The widespread rumor that other states might follow suit sent foreign investors fleeing from the Brazilian capital market. The government, having to choose between making a stand for its overvalued currency or deciding not to intervene, opted in mid-January for a compromise 8 percent devaluation, which was not sufficient to reduce the outflow of capital.In the end, the government decided to float the exchange rate. The effect was a 70 percent peak nominal devaluation over a period of three weeks. The exchange rate faced an adjustment process that may still be evolving to this day given the uncertain economic situation. It appeared, however, that by mid-2000 the real exchange rate had stabilized at approximately 50 percent of its value relative to 1995. 35 The simulations presented in this section assume that 20-50 percent is a reasonable range for a devaluation (in real terms) once the market adjustment is complete. A series of devaluations that range from 10 to 40 percent are simulated. Results are presented for four different devaluation scenarios, differentiated by the macroeconomic closure describing howCHAPTER 5Market failure occurs when markets are absent, distorted, or malfunctioning, so that forest goods and services are undervalued or not valued at all. Major sources of market failure include• externalities in which the effect of an action on another party is not taken into account by the perpetrator;• missing markets for environmental services and other \"open-access\" public goods; and• market imperfections that cause uncertainty, such as a lack of information and knowledge.Policy failure occurs both when the state fails to take action to correct market failures and when policies are implemented that act as disincentives for sustainable management.Common examples of policy failures believed by most analysts to encourage deforestation are• subsidized inputs and credit for land-extensive agriculture and livestock production;• protection of forest industries through trade restrictions such as log export bans;• poorly planned transport infrastructure; and• devaluation, which may encourage agricultural expansion. Extra-sectoral policy impacts, especially those coming from macroeconomic policies or adjustments, give rise to various social, environmental, and economic effects. In many cases these policies may be necessary for a healthy economy. Thus corrective environmental policies are politically complex.Institutional failure, if institutions are interpreted broadly to include legal rules, organizational forms, norms of behavior, and enforcement mechanisms, can take on many forms, including• legal specifications that introduce distortions, such as property rights to land being acquired through deforestation;• weak state control over a territory leading to illegal logging or land clearing; and• incentives encouraging corruption. 35 Brazil faces renewed difficulties in 2002, in part because it continues to have a high level of public debt, but also because (1) the 2001-02 crisis in the Argentine economy had a contagious effect in terms of capital flows to the region, and (2) Brazil is in the middle of a presidential campaign whose outcome may produce important economic policy changes.agents react to the crisis to balance the flows in the economy and by the time horizon assumed. On the macroeconomic closure side, the following definitions apply: balanced adjustment describes a balanced contraction of demand under a financial crisis scenario defined by government consumption and investment spending imposed as fixed shares of total demand. Capital flight represents the extreme case in which both the government and consumers do not respond to the crisis, in which case the resulting capital flight acts completely on the investment side of demand. In the first scenario, given the determination of the investment value, the burden of achieving a balance between savings and investment falls on the savings side, affecting the savings rates for the different household categories.In the second scenario, the savings rate and government expenditure are fixed at the initial pre-crisis level, and investment reflects in full the reduction in foreign capital inflows occurring during the crisis.The scenarios are distinguished by the time horizon of the process of adjusting to Notes: When unemployment (unem) is allowed, factor utilization (utiliz) becomes the adjusting variable. Structural rigidities may also be expressed by a wage threshold: until it is reached, it is the wage that adjusts; beyond the threshold, it is the utilization of the factor that adjusts (these cases are denoted by wage/utiliz). SR is short run and LR is long run; Y is yes, N is no.Devaluation (%) Devaluation (%) the crisis in the following way: The shortrun scenario assumes that wages are rigid, and therefore excess supply in the labor market is possible; it also assumes that in the short run, labor migration between regions is not possible. The long-run scenario assumes wages are flexible and migration between rural areas is allowed. The results presented below are for four scenarios: balanced adjustment in the short run, balanced adjustment in the long run, capital flight in the short run, and capital flight in the long run.Table 5.1 illustrates the difference in factor mobility and utilization between short-and long-run (SR and LR) scenarios. It is hoped that by considering these four extreme scenarios, any future development arising from the devaluation can be bracketed and a range identified for the values certain critical variables will assume as a result of the devaluation. 36  Changes in the exchange rate reverberate through the economic system by affecting the relative prices of goods. On the supply side of the economy, prices of export goods rise relative to nontraded goods sold domestically (services and construction, for example). This implies that production shifts toward sectors that produce goods with a high export share. Conversely, on the demand side, the rise in the price of imported goods leads to a greater demand for domestic substitutes of the imported goods. These two countervailing effects lead to a price adjustment on the market for domestically produced goods, which allows all markets to clear. As is to be expected, wages are also affected by this process. The advantage of adopting a general equilibrium framework is that it allows us to take all these processes into consideration at the same time. Given enough microeconomic detail in the model, it is possible to follow the reverberations of a macroeconomic shock throughout the economy-in this case to regional agricultural production sectors and logging. Results of the model's devaluation scenarios are presented in Appendix D, Tables D.1 to D.12.Both the short-and long-run implications of a devaluation in real terms (as opposed to nominal) of the Brazilian currency on deforestation for agricultural purposes and logging in the Amazon are analyzed (Figures 5.1 and 5.2). In examining these effects, the welfare implications of the devaluation are taken into consideration.The interesting result that emerges from simulating the devaluation under different macroeconomic closures is how deforestation for agricultural purposes and logging react differently as sectors under the different assumptions on how the economy reacts to the shock. Logging in the Amazon increases uniformly across simulations, with the capital-flight scenario leading to slightly greater increases in logging, compared with the balanced-contraction scenario. This considerable increase in logging arises from a substantial increase in exports from the industry sector that includes processed wood. From a policy standpoint, the only option for avoiding this increase would be to place an export tax on processed wood; however, the price distortion introduced by Deforestation to clear agricultural land is quite sensitive to the aggregate behavior of the economy. On the one hand, the balanced-contraction scenario, with a reduction of private consumption, government demand, and investment, would lead to a reduction in deforestation in the short run and a small positive increase in the long run. On the other hand, the capital-flight scenario, where government expenditures and household savings rates are left unchanged (meaning investment will decrease drastically) would lead to a small increase in deforestation in the short run and a substantial increase in the long run. A devaluation of 40 percent causes, in the long run, a 20 percent increase in deforestation, leading to an increase of approximately 4,000 square kilometers in the yearly deforestation rate.For deforestation, the mechanism underlying the different reactions to the devaluation depends on the returns to agriculture relative to nonagricultural activities. This can best be understood by comparing the changes in output in the long-run scenarios (Appendix D, Tables D.4 and D.10). From the production levels, one can infer that the majority of the agricultural sectors expand more under the capital-flight scenario than under the balanced-contraction scenario. This is a consequence of the strong contraction of the nonagricultural sector as a whole, in particular the sectors producing nontraded goods. The reason this effect is stronger in the capital-flight scenario is that investment is more adversely affected than in the balanced-contraction scenario, thereby causing a drastic contraction of the construction sector. This leads to a larger migrant pool of displaced workers who move into agriculture and in so doing affect the movement of the agricultural frontier in the Amazon. In the short run, without migration, this effect is less pronounced, although the general principle still applies.The income distribution effects are quite different in the short run than in the long run. In the short run, for both the balanced-contraction and the capital-flight scenarios, rural households stand to gain and urban households to lose from the devaluation. This result is reversed in the long run. The short-run result is intuitive to the extent that agriculture can shift production between exportable and domestically consumed goods, while some nonagricultural sectors cannot (Appendix D, Tables D.2 and D.8). This implies that rural households can adapt better to the crisis than urban households. If agriculture is more attractive, the per capita income of rural households should also increase in the long run (Appendix D, Tables D.5 and D.11). However, this does not occur for a reason that can be explained by taking factor migration into consideration. By allowing labor-but not capital-to migrate from urban to rural areas, it becomes implicit that only the poorest (those without any capital) will migrate to rural areas. This skews the per capita income measure in favor of urban households, because those that stay are the ones that in their income category are not the worst off. The flow of income, in fact, increases for rural areas and decreases for urban areas, but this is not true in per capita terms, since the worst off are the ones who migrate.Finally, in aggregate growth terms, the crisis affects GDP substantially no matter what course of action is taken. Where the two macro scenarios differ is in who will be affected: if the contraction is balanced, all components of demand will shrink to compensate for the loss in foreign investment arising from the crisis. This balanced macro adjustment limits the long-term effects of the crisis. If, alternatively, the capital-flight scenario takes place, private consumption is not affected much; however, by not adapting the savings rate, future growth will be slower. The dynamic effects of savings and investment decisions are not captured by this model; however, they can be deduced quite easily.In this section the impact of a reduction in transportation costs is analyzed. The policy relevance of such a scenario stems from the changes occurring in infrastructure in the region. The Brazilian government has revisited its policy toward Amazonian development as part of its Avança Brasil (Forward Brazil) plan. This is an ambitious program for development in the Brazilian Amazon, involving infrastructure investments of US$45 billion over eight years (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006). The plan emphasizes road paving, river channeling, port improvements, and expansion of energy production. If implemented, it will add 6,245 kilometers of paved highways to the region's road network, including the Santarém-Cuiabá and Humaitá-Manaus highways, which cut through the core of the region. Combined, the two roads cut through 1,800 kilometers of forests with low population density. These areas are now almost inaccessible because the condition of the roads is so poor most of the year. To put the extent of this undertaking in perspective, one must note that the current road network has approximately 7,000 kilometers that are paved. The main justification for paving these roads is to provide agro-industrial grain producers in Brazil's Center-West region with a way to reduce transportation costs for their grains.Traditionally, grain producers have brought their product to ports in the South/Southeast using trucks on unreliable roads. In 1997 a port facility in Rondônia (Porto Velho) was completed allowing grains to be transported from the Center-West to Porto Velho on highway BR-364 and then shipped to Manaus, with a re-ported savings in transportation costs of 20 percent. If the infrastructure improvements in the Avança Brasil program go forward as planned, producers may have several options, with even greater savings, ranging from rail transportation to Santos (Ferronorte Project) to transport on the Santarém-Cuiabá road, once it is paved, to shipping along the Amazon River to Belem.Besides improvements in roads in the interior of the country, Brazil has also pursued the expansion of paved roads to borders with neighboring countries in the Amazon Basin. This is aimed at increasing economic integration between countries in the Basin. It is exemplified by the paving of the Manaus-Boa Vista highway (BR-174) connecting to Venezuela, BR-401 connecting Boa Vista to the Republic of Guiana, and BR-156 connecting Amapá and French Guiana. The incentives that shape current land use patterns in the area may therefore undergo considerable shifts.To the extent that the projects mainly involve paving existing roads, rather than opening new roads in virgin areas, it seems reasonable to set aside spatial considerations in this analysis and to just look at the average cost reduction for transportation. However, one must consider that the results from these scenarios cannot tell us where the deforestation is going to occur. In all scenarios analyzed, a reduction in costs for transportation between the Amazon and the rest of Brazil increases deforestation rates (balanced plan closure). A 20 percent reduction in transportation costs for all agricultural products from the Amazon increases deforestation by approximately 15 percent in the short run and by 40 percent in the long run (Figure 5.3). Results of the model for transportation cost reduction are presented in Appendix E.In terms of hectares deforested per year, reducing transportation costs would lead in the long run to approximately an 8,000 square kilometer increase in the annual deforestation rate. The reason for such a dramatic increase in the deforestation rate as transportation costs decrease is that transportation is a major cost component of producing agricultural goods in the Amazon. Therefore, infrastructure improvements have a large impact on profitability in agriculture. As agricultural production in the Amazon becomes more profitable, the price of arable land increases, thereby increasing the incentive to deforest. A 20 percent reduction in transportation costs leads to a 24 percent increase in the return to arable land in the short run and a 92 percent increase in the long run.The increase in profitability leads, in the long run (with mobile agricultural labor and capital), to a 24 percent increase in production by smallholders and a 9 percent increase in production by large farms. However, welfare effects at the national level are very limited (rural households at the national level gain 0.6-0.9 percent in real income. This is because the increase in Amazonian production, except for the share that is exported, replaces previous production from other regions; therefore, the positive regional impact on development in the Amazon is offset by the negative impact on other agricultural areas of Brazil (Appendix E, Tables E.1-E.6).The results of the analysis indicate a cumulative increase in deforestation of 160,000-240,000 square kilometers over the next two or three decades, for a 20 percent reduction in transportation costs. This result is in the same range (120,000-270,000 square kilometers) as that reported by Carvalho et al. (2001) for the impact on deforestation of the current government programs to expand infrastructure in the Amazon.The simulations presented here could be further refined. It is assumed that transportation costs decrease for all Amazonian agricultural products; in fact, different products are affected differently by infrastructure improvements. An example of this effect is the port being built in Rondônia, which will reduce costs for grains but not for other products (at least initially). Another assumption is that smallholders, in the long run, will have perfect access to agricultural capital (and are on the same footing as large farms in terms of access to credit), which accounts for the good performance of smallholders in these results. In reality, smallholders may be constrained in their access to credit, which combined with the increases in land prices (implied by the higher returns), may put them at a disadvantage compared with the large farms.Having tried these simulations, however, the overall order of magnitude of a reduction in transportation costs on deforestation, whatever form it may take, remains unchanged. If the reduction in transportation costs is more precisely targeted to specific activities, the cost reduction will be greater than the 20 percent that is assumed across the board. But if one subset of producers is constrained from taking advantage of the cost reduction, another subset will.In an unprecedented survey, the Brazilian government has mapped the country's land ownership structure in order to locate, one by one, cases of fraud and forgery of landownership titles. All over the country, the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária (INCRA) called upon landowners with properties greater than 10,000 hectares to prove their claims; if they could not, the land in question would return to public ownership. The investigation involved controlling registry documents for 93 million hectares. The result was that about 40 million hectares, mostly in the Amazon basin, were found to be fraudulent, and the titles were cancelled. The right of ownership of 22 million hectares is still undetermined (the deadline for landowners to appeal was December 31, 2001).Of the total area of the state of Amazonas (157 million hectares), 27 million hectares were held illegally; 11.4 million hectares in the state of Pará and 1.3 million hectares in Amapá were owned illegally (Brazil, Ministry of Agrarian Development 1999). The cases of illegal land appropriation were usually characterized by changes introduced in original tittles of possession or ownership to increase the area of properties. Illegal land appropriation normally happens with the collusion of officials of real-estate registration notary offices. After obtaining registration in a real-estate public notary office, forgers repeat the same procedure at the State Land Institute, at INCRA's Registry Office, and at the relevant office of the Inland Revenue. Their goal is to obtain cross-registrations that support their fraudulent deeds and provide an appearance of legitimacy.Fraud has historically been facilitated by institutional loopholes, such as the nonexistence of a single registry. Landrelated organizations at the three levels of government (federal, state, and municipality) are not connected with one another.Contrary to what happens in other countries, in Brazil there are no special specific registration procedures for large areas. Data from the federal and state registries are not crosschecked and the federal registry, under the legislation now in force, is based upon the statements of owners. However, this is set to change soon: a law was passed in August 2001 that requires the development of a unified land registry system and more rigorous controls and penalties for land fraud.The recent actions undertaken by the government on the combined front of investigating past frauds and avoiding future ones have the potential to truly change the land tenure mechanisms, as well as the perception of those considering fraud that they have a good chance of succeeding. This section analyzes the impact such changes may have on deforestation rates.The economic literature linking deforestation to tenure regimes has either adopted a partial equilibrium approach (Mendelsohn 1994) or an econometric approach, based on the explanatory power of measures of tenure security using crosscountry data (Deacon 1994;Alston, Libecap, and Schneider 1996;Deacon 1999). The approach adopted here is similar to Mendelsohn's partial equilibrium description; however, the context in this case is one of general equilibrium. Whereas, in the partial equilibrium setting, deforesters had the choice between sustainable forest uses and a destructive agricultural process with decaying physical output, in a general equilibrium framework deforesters have an array of additional choices. They can work for wages on large farms, or migrate to urban areas, or simply cultivate the already cleared land.The assumptions made in simulating changes in tenure regimes have to be laid out. First, it is assumed here that deforestation is exclusively to clear land for agricultural purposes. Second, in the reference equilibrium, it is assumed that the returns to the deforestation activity are based both on acquiring property rights to unclaimed land and on future returns to agriculture. 37  In the case of de facto property rights being acquired through deforestation, it is interesting to analyze the impact of a change in tenure regimes such that these property rights are made insecure through eviction. This change can be represented in one of two ways: as an increase in the discount rate equal to the probability of eviction (Mendelsohn 1994), or as a decrease in the expected time of residence on the plot before eviction. In the analysis that follows the latter of the two options is adopted. 38  The results presented in Figure 5.5 show the percent change in the deforestation rate as a function of the expected time to eviction. The area between the two curves represents the domain of possibility described by a variability range in the dis-count rate of 15-30 percent, assumed here to bracket the true discount rate of farmers in the Amazon. The lower boundary is reached when the discount rate is 15 percent (low_disc). The upper boundary describes the impact if the discount rate is 30 percent (high_disc). The lower boundary shows a slow decrease in the deforestation rates, reducing the expected time of residence on the plot from 22 years to as low as 14 years (-7 percent) and decreasing more rapidly from there on (-12 percent for 12 years). The deforestation rate levels off at around 78 percent of its original value when the expected time of residence is reduced to 10 years.The leveling off occurs because, as the risk of being evicted increases, it becomes more convenient to deforest previously tenured forest land than unclaimed land. The regime switches from deforesting as capitalization on acquisition of property rights (even if unsecured) to deforesting for the value added that comes from agricultural activities. Without considering global externalities, and given the 1994-96 average, the decrease in the deforestation rate is likely to be in the order of 5,000 square kilometers. This decrease, far from arresting deforestation, would still be a considerable improvement relative to the current trend, suggesting that the mode of tenure acquisition and enforcement should be top priority issues. If, on the other hand, the discount rate is higher than 15 percent, one can expect the leveling off point to be reached if the expected time to eviction is less than 10 years (the upper boundary, using a discount rate of 30 percent, reaches the leveling-off value in 7 years).Previous results (Cattaneo 2001) assumed that all current deforestation occurs on unclaimed land, thereby causing results to overemphasize the impact of regulating tenure (a 63 percent reduction in deforestation rates). The simulations presented here take into account that only about one-third of the deforestation appears to be occurring on illegally claimed land. What is observed then is that if a share of the deforestation is already occurring on tenured land, this raises the \"floor\" on the deforestation rate because this component will not be affected by changing tenure regimes. Since data are not available on exactly how much deforestation is occurring on land without proper title, the results presented here (as those of Cattaneo 2001) are meant to capture the relative importance of tenure regime specification in determining deforestation rates.Since, by construction, the analysis begins from an equilibrium point, the hypotheses in the literature that tenure leads to more deforestation can neither be validated nor contradicted (Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier 2002). Nor can it be said that it leads to less deforestation (Deacon 1999). All that can be said is that relative to the 1995 base structure of the economy, assumed to be an equilibrium point, if unclaimed land is being deforested, then increasing the probability of eviction will decrease the deforestation rate to the point where it is profitable to clear only previously tenured land. In this respect, the results contradict the partial equilibrium results of Mendelsohn (1994), stating that the possibility of eviction leads to destructive land uses.After looking at the effects on deforestation of the exchange rate crisis, the improvement in infrastructure, and the tenure regimes, the study proceeds to analyze the impact of technological innovations in agriculture. Can technological changes in Amazon agriculture counterbalance the trend toward increasing deforestation rates? If so, do factor intensities of the technological innovation matter in determining deforestation rates? Are there differences between short-and long-run effects of such innovations? Last but not least, what is the impact on deforestation in the Amazon of technological change occurring outside the Amazon? As the numbers for regional total factor productivity (TFP) gains during the period 1985-95 testify, all regions experienced substantial productivity improvements during this time. These estimates were computed based on data provided in Gasques and Conceição (2000). In relative terms, the greatest overall technological change occurred in the Center-West region, followed by the Amazon, the Northeast, and the South/Southeast. Given the premise that substantial technological change in agriculture has occurred in all regions of Brazil, and will likely occur in the future, it is worthwhile to investigate in some detail what the impact of different incarnations of technological change might be on deforestation and income distribution.At the local level, much has been done to examine the effects of technological change in the Amazon. Different farming and cattle-raising systems have been analyzed, with particular attention paid to the different dimensions of the issue, such as profitability, credit requirements, sustainability, and other factors that determine the adoption of any one specific technology (Toniolo and Uhl 1995; Mattos and Uhl 1994;Almeida and Uhl 1995;Serrão and Homma 1993;White et al. 2001;Vosti et al. 2001). The approach taken in this section refers to the impact of technological change as it occurs at the Amazon Basin level; more specifically, it expresses a modification in the structure of the producing sector as a whole in the region. 39 Technological change is assumed exogenous and, although the values express a reasonable range of possible change, they are not based on case studies.Simulations include technological change in production of annuals, perennials, and animal products. For each activity, different types of technological change are analyzed: in a reference run, TFP is increased up to 70 percent in 10 percent increments (disembodied technological change). The other simulations replicate the productivity increase of the TFP case by acting on the productivity of specific factors (embodied in technological change). In the factor-specific cases, the extent of the factor productivity increase is inversely proportional to the factor's value share in production (to replicate the TFP case). For comparison purposes, the TFP index associated with an instance of technological change is defined as the TFP increase used as the reference for the simulation. 40 The different types of technological change are compared across simulations by representing the results relative to the TFP indices. Table 5.2 shows the different types of technological change in the simulations:The simulations are carried out for the short run (1-2 years), in which agricultural labor and capital are confined to their regions, and for the long run (5-8 years) by allowing these factors to migrate interregionally. Results are obtained for terms of trade for Amazon agriculture, factor rentals, deforestation rates, and value added associated with smallholdings and large farm enterprises. This value-added differentiation is a proxy for income distribution in the region. It also serves a second purpose: it may indicate which forms of technological change are more likely to be adopted by different producer types. Due to space limitations, only the short-run results for value added are presented. The underlying assumption is that migration is triggered after the initial adoption of a new technology; therefore, it is desirable to find out if a technology is profitable at low TFP indices and without migration. Value-added shares are good proxies for income distribution in the short run because migration is not allowed. Additional results for the technological change scenarios can be found in Appendix F, Tables F.1-F.3.In the short run, increasing the productivity in annuals cultivation may increase or decrease the deforestation rate depending on the type of technological change (Figure 5.5). The TFP case, in which factor productivity in annuals is increased by the same amount for all factors, appears to lead to the greatest deforestation, followed closely by capital-intensive technological change (CAP_INT). The reason these two forms of innovation have the strongest push toward deforestation is that arable land appreciates considerably as a consequence of the productivity improvement (Appendix F.1, Table F.1). For the TFP scenario, this effect is direct because land productivity improves; however, for the CAP_INT scenario, an even greater indirect appreciation of arable land is observed, as a result of derived demand for factor inputs in annuals (a very large improvement in capital productivity is required to replicate the TFP caseCHAPTER 5  because the capital-intensity of annuals in the Amazon is low).The price of pastureland, in the short run, acts as a dampening factor that proves to be important in the labor-intensive (LAB_INT) and land-saving (LABCAP) cases. In these two cases, arable land also appreciates considerably; however, the price of pasture decreases accordingly, making it less attractive to deforest since the newly deforested land will soon be transformed to grassland.Increasing the productivity of labor in annuals is equivalent to an increase in the endowment of labor in the sector, and consequently resources are attracted to annuals. This result implies that there is a lower demand for pastureland as a factor, since it cannot be used in the production of annuals. This effect can reduce the incentive to deforest to the point of slowing deforestation; however, this occurs only after a certain threshold of technological innovation is adopted by the producers. In the simulation presented here, this threshold is 20 percent in TFP terms (TFP index = 2).In the long run, allowing for migration of labor and capital between regions, the results change drastically (Figure 5.5). Technological improvement in annuals production leads to higher deforestation rates, unless highly land-intensive technologies are widely adopted. Even if such a case were to materialize, in the early stages of adoption (TFP index 1-3), deforestation would increase. The LAB_INT scenario is particularly interesting given that it appeared to be very promising in the short run. The difference is that in the long run the annuals sector attracts labor and capital from outside the Amazon, and arable land becomes a scarce resource. This causes a large increase in the value of arable land. Furthermore, the dampening factor of the decreasing pasture prices is reduced because resources no longer have to be diverted only from other Amazon agricultural activities but from the Brazilian economy in general.The land-intensive scenario (LABCAP) performs well, in deforestation terms, in the higher range of the TFP index. This can be attributed in part to the finite amount of rice, manioc, and beans that the national market can absorb from the Amazon: land is less of a constraining factor under this technology, and the greater increase in production that it makes possible causes terms of trade to deteriorate. This feedback mechanism causes a reduction in migration flows relative to the labor-intensification case. The adjustment outside the Amazon to this greater production in annuals has an impact on the terms of trade for livestock produced in the Amazon, lowering the return to pastureland and thereby helping reduce the incentive to deforest.The impact of improved sustainability of annuals (DG_LBK) combined with intensified land use proves to be interesting in the long run. There are two countervailing processes linked to sustainability: the first is a stock effect, whereby less degradation means a greater stock of arable land, which reduces the demand for deforestation. The second process depends on producers' expectations about the revenue flows to be had from arable land: if agriculture is more sustainable, high revenues from annual cultivation can be obtained for a longer period of time, increasing the demand for arable land. In the simulation presented here the stock effect is minimal: when a TFP index is more than 4, the expectation effect clearly dominates (as can be observed by comparing DG_LBK to LABCAP).Given that annuals production is laborintensive, improving labor productivity is clearly a welfare-increasing option, particularly for smallholder agriculture (Figure 5.6). In fact, it is the only option among the possible changes in annuals technology that improves conditions for smallholders. This occurs because capital markets are segmented in the short run. Smallholders cannot implement any technology requiring more capital because they do not have access to it. Therefore, large farm enterprises  5.2.having access to capital stand to gain from improvements involving the use of capital (CAP_INT, LABCAP, and DG_LBK), while smallholders do not.Labor-intensive technologies also considerably improve large farms' value added (they can hire off-farm labor), but the best option for farm enterprises is land-intensive innovation (LABCAP and DG_LBK in Figure 5.6). This occurs because their production of annuals balances labor and capital, thereby reducing the diversion of capital to the livestock sector observed for smallholdings.In both the short and the long run, increasing productivity in perennials cultivation has a generally positive potential for reducing the deforestation rate (Figure 5.7). In the short run, any factor-embodied technical change has the effect of lowering the price of pasture and the counterintuitive effect of decreasing the demand for arable land (the lower bound for arable land rent becomes binding), letting arable land be used as pasture. The underlying cause of this shift is that perennials make intensive use of labor and capital per hectare cultivated (more than annuals). This result implies that as resources are drawn to perennials, there will be less overall demand for arable land. A second reason for the decrease in deforestation is that perennials, as opposed to annuals, do not cause transformation of arable land to grassland; therefore, there is a stock effect whereby the amount of available arable land increases, tending to reduce the demand for deforestation.In the short run, where the factor productivity in perennials is increased by the same amount for all factors, the TFP appears to have almost no impact on deforestation because the reduction in demand for arable land is offset by the increase in land productivity, which raises the return to arable land. All factor-specific improvements lead to a substantial decrease in the deforestation rate. Given the different deforestation rates associated with the landsaving and TFP scenarios, it is important to distinguish in practical terms the difference between these two forms of innovation. The land-intensive case for perennials assumes that each unit of capital and labor has become more productive: for example, a variety of coffee that allows more trees to be planted on a hectare would be more productive, but more capital and labor inputs would be required for it to be successful. The increased demand for these factors comes at only a slightly lower cost than the revenue increase from the productivity gain. The TFP case assumes that the improvement is not exhausted by the increased payments to labor and capital, and therefore, a share of the value of the increased production is associated with land. An example of a TFP improvement might be a technology that makes each tree more productive but maintains the same tree density. Labor and capital costs associated with planting this new variety may be higher per tree, but the number of trees is unchanged: an extra surplus, to put it in Ricardian terms, is associated with the productive possibilities of land.In practical terms, the chances are that a technological improvement in perennials will always have some spillover to the value of land. In any case, as long as the improvement in the productivity of land does not exceed the improvement in the productivity of the other factors, deforestation will decrease in the short run.In the long run, the results are still encouraging for perennials. However, more care needs to be taken in determining the form of technological change to be adopted. In the long run, the labor-intensive innovation brings further improvement in deforestation, because, with migration, even more substitution of production of annuals for perennials may be carried out. The landintensification scenario changes slightly from the short run to the long run. Although the underlying process is unchanged, with migration, there is no surplus arable land to be used as pasture; in fact, arable land increases in value. However, deforestation is still reduced due to the dampening effect of lower returns to pasture land, which occurs as factors shift toward the production of perennials. This dampening effect is also present in the TFP and the capital-intensive scenarios; however, it is not enough to offset the prospect of higher returns from arable land. Therefore, deforestation increases in the long run in these two cases.In the short run, small farms appear to gain relatively more income than large farm enterprises when production is shifted to perennials (Figure 5.8). This result arises, in part, from the fact that smallholders are already producing the majority of perennials in the Amazon ($620 million, compared with $130 million for large farms).The implication, in this framework, is that fewer resources have to be diverted  from other activities for this productivity push to be felt. This may actually not be the case in the real world because the smallholder capital in perennials consists mainly of trees, which in the case of technological change may have to be replaced for the productivity improvement to occur. The gain for smallholders may, therefore, be overstated in the results. To summarize, laborintensive change appears to be the best option for smallholders as a whole because of their capital constraints. Conversely, capital-intensive technological change is the best option for large farm enterprises.  5.2.There is an expectation that improved pastures in the Amazon, by allowing for a more land-intensive production system (combined with appropriate regional policies), will reduce deforestation (Mattos and Uhl 1994;Arima and Uhl 1997). These expectations appear to express a short-run view, in that they do not take into consideration the long-term effects of a more profitable ranching sector in the Amazon. In fact, in the short run, all improvements not directly affecting the productivity of land do lead to a reduction in deforestation, but this result does not hold true in the long run (Figure 5.9). With no migration of labor or capital allowed, understanding what happens is straightforward: some arable land is used for pasture as the livestock sector becomes more profitable. This is the least-cost solution in the short run. In fact, with a TFP index equal to 3, demand for arable land is reduced by 70-80 percent in all scenarios except the TFP case. Here too the results may overstate reality, since farmers' food security constraints are not considered, and capital is assumed to be mobile for both large farms and smallholder farms. In reality, capital in the livestock sector is embodied by the herd, which has a natural growth rate that cannot be adjusted in the short run.In the long run, as resources can be attracted from outside the Amazon, the increased demand for pasture is met by increasing deforestation. The surprising result is that not only does the return to pasture land increase substantially, but the price of arable land also increases. The increased price of arable land comes about because production of annuals leads to land degradation and subsequent use of the land as pasture; as keeping the land in pasture becomes more attractive, the demand for arable land increases in expectation that it can be used as pasture in the future. In fact, in all the long-run scenarios, production of annuals increases alongside that of live-stock (although at a lower rate). Although perennials are also produced on arable land, they do not cause degradation, do not expand, and may actually be reduced. In all scenarios, improving livestock productivity in any way will substantially increase deforestation in the long run.From a farmer's perspective, improvement in livestock technologies is a top priority. The returns from capital-intensive technological innovation or from land intensification in livestock would be extremely high for all producers in the Amazon, compared with improvements in annuals or perennials (Figure 5.10). Returns from TFP improvements would also be significant but less pronounced.To return to a familiar theme, improving the productivity of the intensive factor for an activity is bound to reinforce the expansion of the activity. Furthermore, in a regional economy like the Amazon, where labor scarcity is a major constraining factor, livestock is a very attractive option, and in fact, it is already well established as a productive activity. This is reflected by the wage change for unskilled labor associated with technological change (+9 percent for TFP index = 3 in LABCAP for livestock, compared with 47 percent for the same type of change in annuals, as shown in Appendix F, Table F.1).To conclude this section, the impact of different types of technological change in the Brazilian Amazon are summarized and compared in order to determine if there is a trade-off between developing agriculture and reducing deforestation. The best option, in deforestation terms, is technological change in perennials, which may also have positive effects on income distribution by favoring smallholdings. However, from a purely revenue-driven perspective, livestock is the best alternative for both small and large farms. This leads to an unfortunate dilemma because any form of technological improvement in livestock will lead to greater deforestation rates in the long run. Improvement in production of annuals, while possible in certain parts of the Amazon, would probably bring higher deforestation rates with returns of about the same magnitude as perennials; therefore, improvement in annuals does not seem particularly appealing.Care must be taken in analyzing the effects of the possible technological innovations available in any specific activity. There are differences in short-versus longrun effects and also among the different factor-specific productivity changes. In the short run, TFP scenarios always lead to the greatest deforestation rates. However, this result does not carry over to the long run for annuals and livestock, for which laborintensive change leads to greater deforestation rates. Land intensification performs well in reducing deforestation in all scenarios, except livestock in the long run, in which case it leads to the highest deforestation rates observed in the simulations. 41The policy relevance of technological change occurring outside of the Amazon lies in the past as much as in the future. Past modifications in agricultural technology in the South/Southeast region of Brazil are thought to have led to migration in the 1960s and 1970s and therefore played a role in the opening of the Amazon frontier. In the 1980s and 1990s technological improvements in agricultural production in the Center-West, particularly in soy production, reportedly displaced livestock producers from that region. The livestock producers decided to sell their land to soy producers and move their livestock operations to frontier areas (Schneider 1992). Future technological change in agriculture will likely have an impact on deforestation and income generation.This section tries to interpret the past and, drawing on this first step, analyzes the implications of ongoing and future technological change. Thus it is divided into two components: the first analyzes retrospectively the impact on deforestation and income of agricultural technological change that occurred outside the Amazon during 1985-95. The second part, analyzing the impact of different types of possible technological change, focuses on each type of change separately rather than analyzing the overall effect as in the first step. The rationale behind this approach is to first evaluate the statement that the technological change occurring during the period was a factor in increasing deforestation in the BrazilianCHAPTER 5 Source: IBGE 1998a. 41 The results for technological change in the Amazon presented in this section are consistent with those in Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier (2002) for the Western Brazilian Amazon. In both studies technological innovation in livestock has a positive effect on income but increases deforestation, while perennials are good for small-farm income and for reducing deforestation.Amazon. Having qualified such a statement, the analysis shifts toward the isolated impact of different types of technological change that may occur in the future.To undertake the first step, a scenario was constructed based on measures of agricultural technological change reported in the literature for the period under consideration. The scenario relies on data from Gasques and Conceição (2000) for TFP in agriculture at the state level, Evenson and Avila (1995) for TFP changes in annual crops in selected states, and the 1995/96 Agricultural Census (IBGE 1998a) for shifts from natural pasture to planted pasture as a proxy for technological change in livestock activities.To obtain the productivity changes with the regional specification adopted in the model, the estimates at the state level had to be aggregated to the regional level by weighting the productivity change according to the states' share of agricultural land in their respective regions. This resulted in the estimates reported in Table 5.3. What emerges from the aggregated estimates is that, except for the Northeast, all areas had large increases in the area in planted pasture (mostly substituting natural pasture), indicating substantial technological innovation among livestock technologies. 42  The data on annuals shown in Table 5.4 summarizes Evenson and Avila's (1995) findings by presenting the range of productivity improvements in terms of lower and upper estimates of productivity improvement for a set of annual crops (in Evenson and Avila, different states in region had dif-ferent levels of innovation occurring). Although the South/Southeast region had noticeable increases in productivity of annuals, the Center-West, with the exception of wheat, has had greater technological improvement and consistently higher productivity. This is probably due to the improvements in adapting these crops to climatic and soil conditions in the cerrado, a type of savannah primarily found in the Center-West.To conclude the data used in the construction of the retrospective scenario, the estimates of regional improvements of TFP in agriculture as a whole are computed from the data provided in Gasques and Conceição (2000) for the 1985-95 period. In relative terms, the greatest overall technological change occurred in the Center-West (54 percent), followed by the Amazon (30 percent), the Northeast (24 percent), and the South/Southeast (22 percent). These data, along with the rest of the information in Tables 5.3 and 5.4, were used to construct the retrospective scenario presented in Table 5.5. The scenario was conceived to capture the relative changes in technology that occurred from 1985 to 1995, and not as an accurate representation in absolute terms. The improvements reported in Table 5.5 were obtained by considering what the overall regional TFP improvements in agriculture were, and in what activities these were likely to be occurring. What the scenario captures, in relative terms, is (1) the great improvement in the production of annuals among large farms in the Center-West and South/Southeast regions, (2) a considerable improvement in livestock productivity in all three regions, and (3) technological innovation in perennials production in the Northeast (as reported in an anecdotal manner in Gasques and Conceição 2000). In absolute terms, the magnitude of regional technological change obtained by aggregating the sectoral innovation (using a value-ofproduction weighted average of innovation rates), was made to match the regional technological change obtained based on Gasques and Conceição (2000). 43  As expressed in the previous section on technological change within the Brazilian Amazon, innovation outside of the Amazon can also take on different forms in terms of what factors are affected. Although, simulations were run for the same combinations of technological change as in the previous section, the results presented here cover only the \"balanced\" TFP improvement and the combined labor and capital productivity improvement (LABCAP). Limiting the results to these two cases is sufficient in that these simulations are less sensitive to which factor's productivity is increased and more dependent on which activities are being affected and their impact on terms of trade for Amazonian products. In other words, because innovation in the Amazon creates a \"pull\" on factors, the form of technological change matters. But the impact of extra-Amazon innovation on the Amazon is mainly through its impact on activities because the \"push\" of any losing factor is diluted by the many paths that migration can take (with the path to the Amazon being simply one among several options).What emerges quite clearly from the simulation, as one can observe in Figure 5.11, is that overall technological change outside the Amazon did not cause greater deforestation; in fact, it may have led to a reduction in deforestation rates of 15-35 percent. Since considerable uncertainty exists about what type of technological change occurred, whether small farms took part in these innovations, and the extent of innovations in the Northeast, Figure 5.11 presents a range of possibilities of what may have occurred in 1985-95. The results indicate that accounting for all the productivity changes in Table 5.5 (considered here to be the \"historical scenario\") would have led to a 27-35 percent decrease in the deforestation rates. This reduction is less pronounced if the Northeast or small farms or both are excluded from the innovation that took place during the period; with these limitations, deforestation rates would be reduced 15-27 percent, depending on the type of technological change.Letting aside the uncertainty on the magnitude and form of technological innovation that occurred, it appears that innovation in the Northeast, among small farms, and even among the large farms in the Centerwest and South/southeast contributed to limiting deforestation. If innovation in the Northeast is taken away in Figure 5.11, deforestation in the Amazon decreases by 24 percent instead of 27 percent. The reason a lack of technological improvement in the Northeast leads to a smaller decrease in the deforestation rate is that some capital is moved out of the Northeast and into largefarm livestock production in the Amazon.CHAPTER 5 Small farm innovation contributed to limit deforestation by avoiding relocation of small farms to the agricultural frontier; therefore, when small farm innovation is re-moved the decrease in deforestation rates is just 15 percent. Technological change outside the Amazon appears to limit deforestation independently of whether large or small farms innovate, and where the innovation occurs outside the Amazon. However, the production technology being innovated, whether livestock, annuals, or perennials, is a determining factor of the impact innovation has on deforestation. At first glance it would appear from the results in Figure 5.11 that the general statement that \"technological improvement in Brazilian agriculture caused movement to the agricultural frontier\" is incorrect; however, the qualified statement that improvement in annuals-soy in particular-caused deforestation is correct (Kaimowitz and Smith, 1999). This can be seen in Figure 5.12, where the same simulations were performed without improvement in livestock technologies. The  Note: Numbers represent percent change over the whole period. These can be converted to annual rates of change. For example, a 63 percent improvement in annuals in the Center-West is equivalent to an annual rate of change of 5 percent.deforestation results are reversed: technological improvement in annuals, if not complemented by innovation in livestock, causes major increases in deforestation rates.Taking away livestock innovation from the historical scenario leads to an increase in deforestation of 22 percent to 27 percent depending on what form the technological change takes. This highlights the finding that terms-of-trade effects favor production of livestock in the Amazon when production in other regions shifts toward annuals and perennials as a result of technological improvement. Technological innovation in the Northeast, if livestock technology innovation had not occurred in Brazil, does not play a significant role in determining deforestation rates. This is implied by the very small reduction in deforestation rates in Figure 5.12 when Northeast technological change is removed. This limited role is due to the fact that removing innovation in the Northeast has two counterbalancing effects: the first is to push resources toward other regions (Amazon included), while the second is to depress the Amazon terms of trade for livestock goods because Northeast resources will shift toward livestock production if no innovation occurs in the region. These two effects are similar in magnitude and effectively cancel out in determining deforestation in the Amazon.Combining a lack of livestock improvements with the assumption that no innovation occurs among small farms has a considerable impact, limiting the increase in the deforestation rate to between 6 and 8 percent. This phenomenon occurs mainly because there is a substantial share of livestock being produced on small farms (especially in the South/Southeast, see Table 4.6). Therefore, if technological improvements occur on small farms (but not in livestock activities), a substantial amount of resources will be drawn away from livestock in those regions, thereby improving the terms of trade for Amazonian livestock. When these improvements are taken away, this diversion of resources no longer occurs, and so deforestation rates do not increase as much as in the \"historical without livestock\" scenario.The final scenario (without livestock, Northeast, and small farms) which is a combination of the two scenarios above, is somewhere in between the two in terms of deforestation rates. This scenario predictably balances the two effects found in the previous scenarios. The lack of innovation in the Northeast causes capital to migrate to the Amazon; however, the terms of trade for Amazon livestock are not as good when there is no technological improvement among small farms outside the Amazon, and none in the Northeast in general.It is clear from these results that the process of technological change in agriculture could potentially affect deforestation in drastically different ways. It is interesting to analyze whether this also applies to agricultural income generation. The effects on income of such widespread technological change in agriculture will occur mainly through terms of trade for agricultural goods produced in the different regions. If production of one good is greatly increased in one area of Brazil, it will likely replace production from another region through price repercussions. For this reason, the overall impact of innovation on income generation at the national level is less dramatic than what happens at the regional level (Table 5.6).Looking first at the historical scenario, one observes that technological change outside the Amazon has a negative impact on agricultural income generation in the Brazilian Amazon (Table 5.6). This result is not surprising, considering that in this scenario other regions are becoming more effi-cient, while the Amazon is assumed not to innovate. The decrease in Amazon agricultural value added is in the range of 22 to 26 percent. Large farms would be particularly hard hit if the Amazon were to lag behind in innovation relative to the rest of the Brazil. The regions that gained from technological innovation as it occurred are the Centerwest, and, surprisingly, the Northeast.In the Center-West the growth in agricultural income does not come as a surprise given the large productivity improvements in annuals that has been reported in the region. Of the two types of innovation presented in Table 5.5, the more capital-intensive innovation is better suited to transformation of the annual and livestock activities in the Center-west, leading to the highest regional increase in agricultural income (13.6 percent). Technological change in the Center-west favors mainly large farms, and in this respect the growth that has occurred appears to favor land concentration in a region of Brazil with already the most concentrated land ownership in the country.What does come somewhat as a surprise is that the improvement in income in the Center-west is not larger given the magnitude in productivity improvements in annuals and livestock. The reason for the limited increase in income is linked to the improvements that occurred contemporaneously in the South/Southeast region where the agricultural returns decrease. In these two regions the deteriorating terms of trade for both small and large farms, resulting from the contemporaneous increase in productivity in annuals, limits the income generation impact of the productivity improvements. Given that the products are highly substitutable, the market-clearing price decreases markedly as technological improvement occurs. In the South/Southeast the overall impact is to reduce small farm incomes by 5-6 percent, and large farm incomes by 15-17 percent.The increase in income in the Northeast, which ranges from 2.3 to 3.7 percent depending on the type of technological change (balanced or capital and skilled labor efficiency improvements), is due to the fact that the innovation that occurred (in perennials and livestock production) is not in competition with the innovation in annuals that occurs in the other two regions. Independently of whether the innovation is balanced in factors or labor&capital improving, small farms appear to perform better even though small and large farms in the Northeast experienced similar rates of technological change. This disparity is due to the assumption we make that capital markets are segmented: small farms and large farms compete for different pools of capital. In the historical scenario, it appears that small farms are able to attract capital from other regions, whereas large farms are not competitive when compared to other large farms (that are also innovating). The uneven income distribution, which is a hallmark of the Northeast, improves under the historical scenario.Given that livestock innovation outside the Amazon played such a prominent role in limiting deforestation rates, it is worthwhile to analyze what impact livestock innovation had on income generation in agricultural areas. By looking at the third and fourth columns in Table 5.6, one can see that if innovation in livestock had not been introduced, compared to the historical scenario all regions except the Center-west would have been better off in terms of agricultural  income, and the outcome would have been more equitable in the Center-west and South/Southeast. If no livestock innovation were to occur in Brazil, the Northeast, which had smaller but more diversified productivity gains than other regions, would experience a considerable increase in incomes for both small and large farms. The income growth in the Northeast would be driven in this case by a shift of resources towards the production of perennials. The large differences in deforestation and income between the scenarios with and without livestock innovation indicate that policymakers are faced with trade-offs to the extent that the desirable environmental outcome associated with technological improvement in livestock outside the Amazon is attained at a cost in both income generation and income distribution objectives.The type of development that occurred in the Northeast, on the other hand, appears to have been beneficial for both the environment and for income generation. It would lead to less deforestation and greater incomes in Brazil as a whole (besides the obvious increase in income in the Northeast).This can be deduced from columns 5 and 6 in Table 5.6, which show the change in value added that would have occurred if innovation in the Northeast had not taken place: a 17-19 percent decrease in Northeast agricultural income and a 7.6 percent decrease in Brazilian agricultural income relative to the 1995 observed values. Even if no livestock innovation were to occur in Brazil it appears the impact in environmental terms of innovation in the Northeast would be inconsequential. From the results presented, one may state that innovation in the Northeast could potentially be a winwin scenario, with the extent of the environmental improvement depending on the degree of innovation in livestock that may occur.Small-farm technological change outside the Amazon played an important role in achieving both income and equity objectives. The last two columns of Table 5.6 il-lustrate what would have happened to agricultural income if large farms alone had innovated, leaving small farms behind: there would have been a predictable decrease in small-farm income but also a decrease in national agricultural income, relative to the historical scenario. Here too policymakers may have an appealing option to the extent that stimulating technological innovation among small farms would generate income, improve income distribution, and reduce deforestation.To conclude this section, it is important to highlight the importance of livestock technological innovation in determining the outcome both in terms of impacts on incomes and on deforestation. Technological improvements in the Northeast and among small farms are potential win-win scenarios; however, the deforestation reductions are contingent on innovation in livestock production occurring. Without innovation in livestock outside the Amazon, deforestation would increase even with improvements in other technologies in the Northeast and among small farms. At the same time, innovation in livestock has negative impacts on agricultural income. It therefore appears that this is an unavoidable tradeoff, albeit one that may not be under the policymakers' direct control.The previous section highlights how agricultural technological improvement outside the Amazon was greatly diversified both regionally and in terms of the activities used to carry out the improvements. Different improvements had conflicting effects on the deforestation rate and on income. In particular, livestock improvements were crucial in avoiding the increase in deforestation rates that accompanied technological improvement in annuals in Center-West and South/Southeast. However, this containment of deforestation rates came at a cost in equity and income-generation objectives. This illustrates how decomposing the impact of technological change by region and by activity may help in understanding future effects of agricultural technological change on deforestation and agricultural income.The simulations performed in this section consider technological change separately by type of activity and region. Figure 5.13 presents the impact on deforestation rates of each type of technological change (annuals, perennials, and livestock) by the region where innovation takes place (Center-West, South/Southeast, Northeast). Innovation occurring simultaneously in all regions is also considered, along with innovation occurring at the same pace in all activities. The results show quite clearly that where technological change occurs outside the Amazon has less weight in determining the rate of deforestation than the type of activity in which it occurs. So, for example, improvements in livestock technology outside the Amazon consistently decrease deforestation no matter where they occur, whereas innovations in annuals or perennials outside the Amazon appear to have the opposite effect on deforestation, leading to an increase in deforestation rates.The reason behind the importance of the type of innovating activity, rather than where the innovation is occurring, is that the mechanism transmitting the productivity shock lies mainly in the terms-of-trade effects that arise for Amazonian products as a consequence of the resource shifts induced by technological change outside of the Amazon. For example, if the South/Southeast innovates in the production of annuals, resources will be attracted away from South/Southeast livestock and perennials, causing terms of trade for these activities to improve in the other regions. Since livestock in the Amazon makes such extensive use of land, the change in the terms of trade will cause demand for pastureland to increase, and therefore deforestation will increase. For the same reason, but in reverse, if technological change oc-curs for livestock production outside the Amazon, the terms of trade for livestock producers in the Amazon will deteriorate and demand for pastureland in the Amazon will decrease, ultimately causing deforestation rates to decrease.Given the conflicting effects of improvements in livestock, as opposed to those in annuals or perennials, one would expect that innovation occurring at the same pace in all three activities would lead to an outcome for the deforestation rate that is in between the decrease associated with livestock improvement and the increase encountered with annuals improvement. However, this is not the case: when all three types of technological change occur simultaneously, the effect is to consistently decrease deforestation even more than the livestock improvement scenario. This occurs because (1) the terms of trade for all Amazonian agricultural products deteriorate due to increased production in the region where the innovation takes place, and (2) the region where innovation occurs now attracts factors interregionally, rather than redistributing them internally. Therefore, the reason that this option is effective in slowing deforestation is that no single factor or activity is pushed into the frontier.To conclude, it is clear from the results that \"balanced\" technological change outside the Amazon, where all factors become more productive in all agricultural sectors, is the option that most reduces deforestation rates. At the extreme, if balanced change were to occur at the same pace in all regions outside the Amazon, it would translate into a substantial decrease in deforestation rates, given that there is a 2 percent reduction in the deforestation rate for every 1 percent improvement in TFP (Figure 5.13). However, one must consider the effects on income of such widespread technological change in agriculture, and this will occur mainly through terms of trade for agricultural goods produced in the different regions. On the income side, innovation in perennials consistently has the best income potential, generating a gain in national agricultural income independent of where it occurs (Figure 5.14). It has the most positive effect, however, when it occurs either in the Northeast or in all three regions at the same time. This is because perennials production in Brazil is quite diversified and produces regionally specific commodities. These commodities, by reason of their regional nature, are less substitutable than annual or livestock commodities that are produced in all regions; therefore, the increased production reverberates less on the terms of trade. Furthermore, the internal reallocation of resources to produce more perennials where the innovation occurs improves the terms of trade for other goods both in the innovating region and elsewhere. This causes regions that do not innovate to increase their agricultural income.For improvement in annuals, the effect on agricultural income is quite different (Figure 5.14a). Because annuals are highly substitutable, the terms of trade of commodities such as rice, soy, and manioc, which are produced throughout the country, are negatively affected by the goods being produced with improved technologies. This implies that the efficiency gains are counterbalanced by the lower prices paid to producers, leading to very small gains in income in the innovating regions and usually losses in the other regions (which also produce annuals). The internal reallocation of resources mentioned in the perennials case, which improves the terms of trade for the other goods, is not enough to counterbalance the negative impact on income of the price of annuals.The results indicate that improvement in livestock technologies has a negative effect on agricultural income at the national level, even more so than improvements in annuals. Regionally, if the innovation occurs in the Northeast or the Center-West, it has a considerable (10 percent) positive impact on agricultural income in those regions; otherwise the impact is negative (Figure 5.14c). This supports the general conclusion of the previous section that, although livestock technology improvement outside the Amazon reduces deforestation, it also comes at a cost in terms of forgone agricultural income. Whereas the previous section looked at the impact of removing livestock from the historical (or business-as-usual) technological change, here the scenario analyzes the impact of isolated changes in livestock technology. The greater detail, in terms of what region innovates livestock technologies, indicates that the statement mentioned in the previous section has to be qualified: regional income may improve in some regions depending on how regionally concentrated the innovation is. What also emerges, as long as livestock technologies improve outside the Amazon for both small and large farms, the income distribution may actually improve (see Appendix G, Table G1).The improvement scenarios consider in detail the possible changes arising from innovation in a single type of activity, whether annuals, perennials, or livestock technologies, but they do not take into consideration the interaction that occurs when multiple activities are innovating. In Figure 5.14d, the impact of this interaction is accounted for by annuals, perennials, and livestock technologies improving at the same time and by the same amount. In this case, the results are similar to those in the livestock improvement scenario of the preceding paragraph (Figure 5.14c). The only difference is that, when the innovation is regional and in three activities, rather than just one, the region gains an extra advantage over regions that are not innovating. However, even though there are regional income gains for the innovating regions, the overall impact on agricultural income at the national level is negative. Finally, the tradeoff between reducing deforestation and meeting income objectives is an important aspect of any policy decision that may affect technological change outside the Amazon.It is often argued that compensatory mechanisms, either in the form of taxes or transfer payments, are necessary to sustain natu-ral forest management (NFM) 44 and conservation market values because there are at present insufficient incentives for long-term forest uses (Richards 2000). The lack of incentives for NFM enables alternative land uses, including one-off logging and conversion to agricultural land, to seem more attractive. A recent assessment of forestry options in Latin America by Southgate (1998),CHAPTER 544 Guidelines for NFM provided by the Rainforest Alliance state that forest operations must maintain environmental functions, management planning and implementation must incorporate sustained yield concepts, and all activities must have a positive long-term impact on local communities. Carbon \"leakage\" and project permanence are two common objections to the use of forestry sinks that arise from these unresolved issues. Leakage occurs when carbon is lost elsewhere in the system as an indirect result of a carbon offset project. A typical example is when a conservation project leads to an increase in deforestation outside the protected area. In this case the net mitigation believed realized by the initial protection project is reduced or eliminated.Permanence relates to the concern that a particular land use or forestry condition may be subject to rapid carbon releases. A new forest that is created to sequester carbon could quickly release carbon, either intentionally, through timber harvesting or land clearing, or inadvertently, as with a fire. This problem can be overcome by a contractual arrangement for the credits to be provided on a short-term basis through adoption of a ton-year accounting system, where credit would be given for the number of tons of carbon held out of the atmosphere each year, rather than on the basis of \"permanent\" sequestration. This would allow comparisons to be made between forest reserve creation and policies to slow deforestation. Ton-year accounting is also needed to compare the amounts of fossil fuel emissions avoided through silvicultural plantations and other mitigation options in the forest sector (Moura Costa and Wilson 2000). The general concept of the ton-year approach is in the application of a factor to convert the climatic effect of temporal carbon storage to an equivalent amount of avoided emissions. In this context, avoided CO 2 emissions from averted deforestation are assumed to be equivalent to avoided CO 2 emissions from industrial sources. Carbon accounting systems for the two types of avoided emissions should therefore be commensurable.including \"high-value\" nontimber forest products, bioprospecting deals, ecotourism, and so forth, concluded that NFM and conservation are not competitive with other uses even at low discount rates. High discount rates associated with high risks encourage forest mining as opposed to NFM. In the Brazilian Amazon, forest management was found to be unattractive at any discount rate above 1 percent (Verissimo et al.1992). Another problem is the slow growth in forest product prices. Southgate (1998) points out that timber prices in the Amazon are depressed because the supply of timber, much of it illegal and from unmanaged natural forests, is still so abundant.Two categories of corrective actions for deforestation are considered here. In the first, fiscal mechanisms create disincentives to deforest, while in the second, payments compensate producers for the forgone profits associated with reduced emissions. Fiscal instruments, such as a tax per ton of carbon emissions or a tax on logging, aim to correct market incentives, so that the externalities involved are taken into account. A transfer payments approach involves the transfer of costs between different stakeholders: it mainly compensates landowners, whether public or private entities, for conserving forest. These payments can be made either from domestic sources as payment for national public goods or as international transfer payments for global positive externalities of forest conservation. For the purposes of this report, market or trade-based solutions are included in this category.Taxes reflecting the nonmarket benefits and costs stemming from different types of land cover encourage users to move toward more sustainable resource management.Several possibilities are available to legislators:(1) land use taxes incorporating the benefits or costs from different land use systems can be adopted; a carbon tax or subsidy based on the carbon emitted or sequestered by each land use can be considered an example of this approach, as can a logging tax;(2) taxing land as an asset can discourage deforestation linked to land speculation by raising the cost of holding land as a hedge against inflation or as a source of capital gains (Kaimowitz, Byron, and Sunderlin 1998).The tendency of land use taxes, where they exist, has unfortunately been in the opposite direction; in the past Brazil's rural land tax, which was designed to stimulate rural productivity, was found by Almeida and Uhl (1995) to be light on ranching, thus encouraging deforestation. A law was introduced in 1996 that corrected these distortions by exempting untouched forest areas from entering the taxable base. However, there are still no explicit incentives for loggers, ranchers, and farmers to make productive use of forested land using sustainable management techniques, rather than just leaving it unproductive. Few countries have tried land or capital gains taxes due to the large amounts of information required, the high potential for evasion, and the likely political opposition (Kaimowitz, Byron, and Sunderlin 1998). 45Payment schemes for producers adopting sustainable forest management techniques aim to obviate the opportunity cost of forgoing more profitable activities, which would otherwise lead to deforestation. As mentioned in the introductory section of this chapter, the financial backing may be domestic or international.An example of a domestic approach is the Brazilian ecological value-added tax (VAT), introduced by four states since 1992, following state legislation to reallocate the VAT according to environmental criteria. The ecological VAT is distributed to municipalities according to the extent to which they favor land uses that encourage conservation and water protection (Seroa de Motta 1997). For example, in the state of Rondônia, 5 percent of the VAT has been distributed to municipalities that protect forests. The mechanism explicitly recognizes the need to compensate municipalities for forgone income, and payments are linked to well-publicized environmental performance indicators. Large increases in municipality participation in the program, resulting in greater funds, have been reported by Seroa da Motta (1997).There is a wide array of possible international transfer payment arrangements. These can be subdivided into market and nonmarket transfers of financial resources. The latter transfer resources from consumer nations to conserving nations, recognizing that forests are a global public good. The former is driven by profitability once the public good component of forests has been internalized in financial markets.Among the available nonmarket mechanisms are (1) the Global Environmental Fund, which is responsible for the financial implementation of the International Convention on Climate Change and Biological Diversity. It has provided Brazil with approximately US$30 million, and another Fund project, to begin in 2002, is expected to contribute another US$30 million; (2) the World Bank, which set up a $150 million Prototype Carbon Fund, is buying carbon emissions reductions in the amount of US$13.6 million;and (3) the Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forests, funded by the G-7 countries, the European Union, the Netherlands, and Brazil itself, has provided about US$340 million for the period 1992-2002, out of concern for the deforestation of Brazil's humid rainforests.Among the market-based approaches, biodiversity prospecting and carbon trading are the two main options. Biodiveristy prospecting has generated considerable hope in recent years, but it appears that initial estimates of the commercial value of conserving forests for pharmaceutical purposes were overoptimistic. The expected value per hectare of bioprospecting is reported to be an order of magnitude smaller than the opportunity cost of holding land (Aylward 1993;Simpson, Sedjo, and Reid 1996;Southgate 1998). Overall, the approach does not appear to present substantial opportunities for conservation in the Brazilian Amazon because of the uncertain financial returns, the large area involved, and because funds would probably be directed to the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil, which is at higher risk.There has been increasing optimism surrounding carbon trading based on the accelerating political process of establishing binding carbon emission limits. In December 1997 a number of countries agreed to reduce their carbon emissions as a first step toward halting global climate change. The Kyoto Protocol, once ratified, will be the first legally binding international agreement that sets targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol gave a major boost to carbon trading by establishing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM was included in the Protocol as a proposal from the government of Brazil to create a means whereby countries not accepting binding emissions limits could cooperate on a project-specific basis with countries that had agreed to limitations (Annex I countries) in reducing emissions. The CDM calls for real, additional, and cost-effective reductions of net carbon emissions. The forest sector in Brazil offers considerable scope for activities within the CDM, including opportunities for private sector investors. However, a number of institutional and policy mechanisms must be established by the government and international agencies to ensure that these activities meet the objectives of the CDM. In particular, there is continuing dissent among the parties concerning carbon sinks (areas such as forests that store or hold carbon) in general and whether forestry will be included in the CDM, given that it is not specifically mentioned in Article 12. 46Any reduction in the rate of deforestation has the benefit of avoiding a significant source of carbon emissions […] Limiting deforestation forgoes the opportunity to utilize the land for other purposes, such as agriculture or other developed uses, therefore would potentially be subject to the same opportunity costs that might arise with afforestation and reforestation.-Land use, landuse change, and forestry: A special report of the IPCC (Watson 2000) The discussion that follows explains the place of Brazil in combating global warming, outlining opportunities presented by the country's forest sector, and the obstacles that must be overcome to turn these into global warming response options. Unsettled issues in assigning credit for carbon include deciding whether carbon is counted on the basis of permanent sequestration versus carbon ton-years, agreeing on methods for crediting forest reserve established, applying discounting or other time-preference weighting systems to carbon, and deciding whether credit will be based on avoided emissions or on stock maintenance (see Box 5.2).Two approaches are frequently mentioned in proposals to use tropical forest maintenance as a carbon offset. One is to set up specific reserves, funding the establishment, demarcation, and guarding of these units. Monitoring, in this case, consists of the relatively straightforward process of confirming that the forest stands in question continue to exist. In the Brazilian Amazon, where large expanses of forest do still exist, the reserve approach has the logical weakness of being completely open to \"leakage\": that is, with the implantation of a forest reserve, the people who would have deforested the area established as a reserve will probably clear the same amount of forest somewhere else in the region.The second approach is through policy changes aimed at reducing the rate of clearing in the Amazon region as a whole (not limited to specific reserves or areas of forest). This second approach has the great advantage of addressing more fundamental aspects of the tropical deforestation problem, but it has the disadvantages of not assuring the permanence of forest and of not resulting in a visible product that can be convincingly credited to existence of the project. In order for credit to be assigned to policy change projects, functional models of the deforestation process must be developed that are capable of producing scenarios with and without different policy changes.The manner in which carbon credits are calculated can determine whether policy change mitigation options are subject to leakage or negation of the carbon benefits by events outside a given project area set in motion by the mitigation activity. Because the policy change approach focuses on national-level totals (whether these totals be of flows or of stocks), no leakage can occur through changes in the spatial distribution of deforestation activity within the country, as by movement of potential deforestation from a reserve to another forested area. Displacement of deforestation in time, however, can result in leakage if the accounting procedure requires permanent sequestration in either specific areas of forest or in the forest sector of a whole country. In essence, credit for efforts to combat deforestation will require (1) acceptance of contributions to larger programs, rather than restricting recognition to free-standing projects, and (2) adoption of a ton-year accounting system for carbon so that contractual arrangements for credits could be provided on a short-term basis.The previous sections looked at the available options for reducing the gap between private and social benefits of maintaining forest stocks. This section compares the impact of the different policy options on both deforestation rates and income distribution. The options are(1) fiscal instruments to account for the externalities involved:! a deforestation tax at rates of R$30, R$40, and R$50 per hectare is imposed (this is equivalent to a carbon tax rate of R$0.14, R$0.20, and R$0.25 per carbon ton);! a tax on logging output from the Amazon region is introduced in 5 percent increments (5, 10, and 15 percent);(2) transfer payments involving the transfer of costs between different stakeholders for conserving forest: in the simulation this is represented as a government subsidy to the extractive component of forest-related activities. These payments could, in fact, be made either from domestic sources (as payment for national public goods) or as international transfer payments for global positive externalities of forest conservation. The forest subsidy scenarios are obtained for 10 percent increments in the subsidy rate (10, 20, and 30 percent subsidies on value of extractive activities).For fiscal instruments to be set correctly to be effective and equitable, research is needed on the difference between the private and social costs of the different winners and losers, and on the marginal costs of the resource users (Markandya 1997). This section provides some insight into the effectiveness of these different measures. When interpreting the results, one should remember that the measures under investigation also demand considerable administrative capacity including monitoring, enforcement and collection, and the need for wide public consultation prior to their introduction, which are not part of the analysis here.From the results presented in Figure 5.15, it appears that a tax on logging activities (for tax rates up to 15 percent) does not lead to a decrease in the deforestation rates, even though the model takes into consideration the link between logging and deforestation. On the contrary, the reduction in logging causes resources to be shifted toward deforestation for agricultural purposes; however, this effect is only minimal due to the complementary nature of deforestation and logging. As one would expect, this policy has a considerable negative impact on the logging industry and raises substantial revenue. A 15 percent tax rate on logging output would reduce output by R$80 million, while raising fiscal revenue by R$53 million (Figures 5.15,and 5.16). It is interesting to observe that the negative impact at the local level is somewhat compensated for by improved terms of trade for logging in the other regions of Brazil (Table 5.7). Overall, if the objective is to reduce deforestation rates in an equitable manner, introducing a logging tax will not accomplish the goal.The deforestation tax scenario appears more promising than a logging tax, as is to be expected because it is a more targeted approach, linking directly to the externalities arising from deforestation. If the tax on deforestation activities was set at R$50 per hectare, the yearly deforestation rate would be reduced about 9,000 square kilometers, with logging being only minimally affected. Extractive activities would stand to gain from this tax and would expand output by about R$60 million-a 25 percent increase (Figure 5.16). The revenue-raising potential, assuming such a tax could be collected effectively, is similar to that of the logging tax presented previously. At the highest rate considered (R$50 per hectare), the revenue generated by this fiscal measure is R$60 million (Figure 5.17). The results of this scenario are different from the logging tax scenario in several respects: a substantial decrease in the deforestation rate occurs with the deforestation/carbon tax, but the negative welfare effects of introducing a deforestation tax are considerably higher (see the change in regional agricultural value added in Table 5.7).As reported in Richards (1999), tax rates correcting for negative externalities have often been set too low, possibly as a result of political resistance and lack of research, but also of confusion between the incentive and revenue objectives. An incompatibility of these objectives is pointed out by Karsenty (2000): in order to achieve an environmental impact by correcting economic behavior, the charge needs to be set at a high enough level and it must be nar-rowly targeted, whereas for revenue generation a lower charge and a broad tax base are better. An example of this incompatibility is the deforestation \"contribution\" levied by the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (IBAMA) on small operations consuming less than 12,000 cubic meters of forest raw material (as opposed to carrying out the mandatory forestry reposition equivalent to the consumption level). 47  Such a policy aims only to achieve revenue generation objectives, with part of the revenue diverted to reforestation activities; however, the required payments (US$4.00 per cubic meter) were not high enough to modify deforesters' behavior (Seroa da Motta 1997). Stone (1998) reports prices ranging from US$24 to $82 per cubic meter: therefore, the tax is equivalent to a 5-15 percent tax rate depending on wood quality. The taxed activity-effectively logging (since what is being taxed is volume of wood abstracted)-has only an indirect link with deforestation for agricultural purposes, making it an ineffective policy for reducing deforestation rates. It is much more effective to target hectares that are being deforested for agricultural purposes, because such a low value-added deforestation activity can be deterred even by politically feasible tax rates, in this case even without forgoing any revenue-raising potential. (The monitoring and collection of the tax may be difficult to accomplish, however.) To understand the efficiency of a deforestation tax in the context of carbon emissions reduction, it suffices to say that a tax of R$50 per hectare is equivalent to a carbon tax of R$0.25 per carbon ton, which is much smaller than any tax rate being proposed in developed countries to curb emissions. It therefore appears that, if such Amazonwide reduction in deforestation rates were to be allowed under the Kyoto Protocol, there would be interesting options for CDM trades.The third and final scenario aims to support forest conservation by subsidizing nontimber forest product extraction in the Amazon region. Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier (2002) report that subsidizing forest conservation on small farms with payments of R$100 per hectare would reduce the deforestation rate substantially on these farms (by 36 percent on average). In the broader Amazon context of the model presented here, the results indicate that a higher subsidy would be required to obtain comparable reductions in deforestation rates. The results represent a 10, 20, and 30 percent subsidy for nontimber forest products. These are equivalent to a R$150, R$240, and R$360 per hectare subsidy per hectare of forest spared. In particular, it would take a R$240 per hectare subsidy to obtain a 30 percent reduction in deforestation (a R$150 per hectare subsidy would lead to only a 12 percent reduction). The discrepancy between Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier (2002) and the numbers reported here may be imputed to several factors: (1) the deforestation carried out on larger farms is also considered here; (2) the speculative component of deforestation, included in the model, has an impact on the effectiveness of the policy (only tenured farmers would be entitled to subsidies); and (3) the simplistic approach to time in the model presented here may account for part of the difference (the deforestation rate in Vosti, Witcover, and Carpentier 2002 had to be averaged over time to obtain a rate reduction comparable to the one in the results presented here). These differences notwithstanding, conservation subsidies would be a popular policy and could lead to substantial reduction in deforestation rates.From a welfare standpoint, all regions stand to gain from the subsidies: the Amazon as the direct beneficiary but the other regions indirectly as a result of the decrease in the volume of wood coming out of the Amazon (Table 5.7). Benefits accruing to the Amazon with a 30 percent subsidy, after accounting for price changes caused by the subsidy, are in the range of R$213 million, while indirect benefits to the other regions from increased output in logging activities are R$268 million. Hence the subsidy expenditure, which appears high at R$388 million, is more than compensated for by the R$481 million in market benefits to be accrued nationwide. However, the opportunity cost of raising the money to pay for the subsidies is not considered here, which would almost certainly be considerable. This is not a crucial point, however, since foreign funding, linked to deforestation's  From the previous section on transfer payment options open to Brazil, it appears that over the last decade a substantial amount of funding has been made available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, in terms of annual payments, the amount translates into less than US$50 million, which would not substantially reduce deforestation rates, according to the results of this study. As in the case of the deforestation tax, if an Amazon-wide reduction in deforestation rates were allowed under the Kyoto Protocol, the introduction of the conservation subsidy would provide interesting options for CDM trades. The subsidy is equivalent to a payment of R$1.21 per carbon ton, which is again much smaller than the marginal cost of reducing emissions in developed countries.T he policy implications of the research presented in this report are far-reaching. The first set of simulations, devaluing the Brazilian real (R$) from 10 to 40 percent, finds that logging in the Amazon would rise with a fall in the currency, because the increase in wood exports would more than compensate for the decrease in demand for wood in the domestic market. The only way the government could avoid such a crisis in the wake of a devaluation would be to address this issue directly by imposing taxes on wood exports or extending the ban on certain types of hardwoods to more species.In reaction to a currency crisis, however, deforestation to clear agricultural land would be very sensitive to the aggregate behavior of the economy. The balanced-adjustment scenario, with a reduction in equal shares of private consumption, government demand, and investment would lead to a reduction in deforestation in the short run and a small positive increase in the long run. The capital-flight scenario, where government expenditures and households savings rates are left unchanged (which would decrease investment drastically) would lead to a small increase in deforestation in the short run and a substantial increase in the long run. Under this scenario, a 40 percent devaluation would cause, in the long run, a 20 percent increase in deforestation, meaning an increase of approximately 4,000 square kilometers in the annual deforestation rate.In the short run, in both the balanced-adjustment and the capital-flight scenarios, rural households would stand to gain and urban households to lose from a currency devaluation. The short-run result is intuitive to the extent that agriculture can shift production between exportable and domestically consumed goods, while some nonagricultural sectors cannot. In the long run, it is still true that incomes would rise in rural areas and fall in urban areas; however, rural per capita income appears to decrease, since those who are worst off in the urban sector of the economy would be the ones to migrate. From a policy standpoint, the balancedadjustment scenario, which contains final demand, would be less likely to redirect resources from the urban to the rural side of the economy. This is a desirable effect because it shows that the productive capacity present in the urban side of the economy would not be dismantled: instead the savings rate would adjust to the exit of foreign capital. In aggregate growth terms, the crisis affects GDP substantially no matter what course of action is taken. The results indicate that a devaluation of 30 percent would lead to a 3.5-4.0 percent reduction in GDP in both the short and the long run.The remaining sets of simulations are intended to investigate possible changes in the current structure of the economy that would be pro-active rather than reactive to a crisis. These changes could be directed either toward developing the economy or reducing deforestation, or ideally both. First, the policy relevance of a reduction in transportation costs for agricultural goods produced in the Amazon stems from the changes presently occurring in the region's infrastructure. In all cases, a reduction in transportation costs increases deforestation rates. A 20 percent reduction in transportation costs for all agricultural products from the Amazon increases deforestation by approximately 15 percent in the short run and by 40 percent in the long run. To recast these numbers in terms of hectares deforested per year, a reduction in transportation costs would lead, in the long run, to an increase of about 8,000 square kilometers deforested annually. The return to arable land would increase, thereby increasing the incentive to deforest. A 20 percent reduction in transportation costs would lead to a 24 percent increase in the return to arable land in the short run and a 92 percent increase in the long run.The increase in profitability of Amazonian agriculture would lead, in the long run (with mobile agricultural labor and capital), to a 24 percent increase in production by smallholders and a 9 percent increase in production by large farms in the Amazon. Welfare effects at the national level, however, are quite limited (nationally rural households would gain 0.6-0.9 percent in real income). This is because the increase in Amazonian production, except for the share that is exported, replaces previous production from other regions; therefore, the positive regional impact on development in the Amazon is offset by the negative impact on other agricultural areas of Brazil.With the changes that are under way at the national level in macroeconomic policy and transportation costs, it appears that deforestation rates will continue to be high or perhaps even increase in the future. However, since policies at the local level may play an important role in determining deforestation rates, this research looks for local solutions to issues of deforestation and development. The report also analyzes the impact of tenure regimes, agricultural technological change in the Amazon, and possible incentives to reduce deforestation. It concludes that there is no single solution to the issue of deforestation and development in the Amazon, but rather a package of options that could be adopted.At the Amazon policy level of analysis, regulating tenure regimes and enforcing them is a likely means of reducing deforestation, considering that the Brazilian government has reported extensive fraudulent land claims in the Amazon. This implies that much of the current deforestation is occurring at the hands of untenured deforesters who are cutting down trees in order to occupy the land and thus acquire informal tenure. If land claims were verified by the government and violators evicted, the incentive to deforest to acquire informal property rights would decrease. As the probability of eviction increases, only tenured landholders would have an incentive to deforest, and their motivation would not be speculative but rather the value added that comes from agricultural activities. By removing the speculative incentive to deforest, the deforestation rate could be reduced up to 23 percent.Whereas tenure regime enforcement aims to remove an institutional distortion, technological change in the Amazon addresses deforestation and development from the standpoint of productivity and the factors of production that are employed in agricultural production. The relative profitability and land intensities of different activities, combined with soil productivity and sustainability limits, are all factors that affect farmers' incomes and determine, in part, the pressures on forests. The adoption of technological change can be influenced and directed by policymakers through the allocation of research and extension funds. To the extent that these simulations represent technically feasible innovations, they are extremely relevant to policy. It is encouraging that the offsetting potential of technological change in terms of deforestation is of the same order of magnitude as the interregional effects on deforestation, if the technologies are carefully chosen. Table 6.1 summarizes the findings on the technological front.The food security conclusions are based on the author's judgment concerning the production structure after technological change occurs. According to the criteria adopted, if there is specialization in activities with small domestic (Amazonian) markets or prices are volatile, food security would decrease. But if the increase in production is in Amazonian staples, then food security in the region would improve. The best option in terms of food security is innovation in livestock technologies, which increases production of both annuals and livestock. Technological change in annuals is also a good option for food security because the production of staples such as manioc and rice greatly increases, while livestock production is not adversely affected. In this context, perennials are considered risky. The decrease in production of perennials is dramatic only when labor intensification in annuals occurs (which may decrease perennials production by more than 50 percent for high levels of technological adoption). Conversely, technological innovation in perennials leads to specialization in perennials and substantial reductions in the production of annuals and livestock. The perennials land-saving scenario, in the long run, causes a 20-25 percent reduction in annuals and a 30-40 percent reduction in livestock for high levels of technological adoption.As Table 6.1 shows, the trade-off between forest conservation objectives and agricultural growth is significant in the Amazon. Improvements in livestock technology appear to offer the greatest returns for all agricultural producers in the region, and such improvements should also improve food security. However, improvements in livestock technology would increase deforestation dramatically in the long run.The alternative would be to pursue improvement in technology for perennials,  because a switch to perennials would intensify labor requirements, which could reduce deforestation rates considerably. The equity effects from improving perennials would be progressive because small farmers would gain the most. If this technology were adopted widely, however, food security would suffer, since fewer farmers would be raising staple food crops. (In addition, farmers would be more exposed to the risks associated with perennial production.)The perennial option has theoretical potential, but the fact that large farms would not be likely to adopt it because their gains would be small, and smallholders would be reluctant to adopt it because they are risk-averse would probably limit the effectiveness of this solution. But even if the option of improving perennials was adopted only in part, it would still help reduce deforestation rates. Improvement in production of annuals appears to have little potential: in the long run it would reduce deforestation only if land use was greatly intensified, and income effects would be quite small. Before the high level of land intensity required to decrease deforestation rates could be reached, there would almost certainly be, in the early phase of adoption, a period in which these rates would go up substantially.On a more theoretical note, the results indicate that the type of factor intensification alone does not determine whether deforestation rates will increase or decrease. The factor intensity in the activity being improved is what matters, compared with other activities. Furthermore, the striking difference in deforestation rates between the short and the long run points to the fact that interregional flows of labor and capital play a crucial role in determining the expansion of the agricultural frontier.Having observed the impact that technological change occurring within the Amazon region can have on deforestation and incomes, it seems appropriate to return to the broader interregional scale to analyze what role technological change outside the Amazon might have played in the past and what significance it may have in the future. The results indicate that, contrary to expectations, the type of agricultural technological change that occurred outside the Amazon during 1985-1995 did not cause an increase in deforestation. In fact, it limited deforestation. This reduction was mainly the result of innovation in livestock technologies outside the Amazon (improvements in planted pasture and in confined animal feeding operations), which occurred alongside improvements in annuals and perennials. The theme underlying this finding is that if production of a good associated with deforestation (such as livestock in the Amazon) is increased outside the Amazon through technological improvements, the terms of trade for the same good produced in the Amazon deteriorates, leading to less deforestation. Along similar lines of reasoning, but in reverse, the increase in productivity of annuals or perennials outside the Amazon causes an increase in deforestation rates.The impact on per capita income of the type of technological change that occurred outside the Amazon from 1985 to 1995 was that the Center-West and Northeast regions clearly gained in terms of regional income. The income distribution gap apparently decreased in the Northeast and increased in the Center-West as a result of technological change outside the Amazon. The surprising decrease in returns to agriculture in the South/Southeast region was associated with declining terms of trade in annuals.When considering technological change outside the Amazon occurring separately by region and activity, improvements in livestock or perennials in the Northeast emerge as a win-win outcome in terms of environmental and income objectives. Another option, technological change occurring at the same pace for all agricultural activities outside the Amazon, would cause the largest decrease in the deforestation rate of all, but it comes at the expense of agricultural income. This option is effective in slowing deforestation because no single factor or activity is pushed into the agricultural frontier, but it also has the effect of substantially lowering agricultural prices, with negative consequences for agricultural income.All the policies discussed up to now apply to the functioning of the Brazilian economy without any reference to the global externalities associated with deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. However, real opportunity exists for Brazil if an Amazon-wide reduction in deforestation rates were allowed under the international agreement to reduce carbon emissions known as the Kyoto Protocol. A conservation subsidy payment equivalent to a R$1.21 per carbon ton, which is much smaller than the marginal cost of reducing emissions in developed countries, would substantially reduce deforestation rates-by 30 percent-while providing benefits to all regions in Brazil either directly or indirectly. The alternative would be to pursue improvement in technology for perennials, especially labor-intensive technological change, which could reduce deforestation rates considerably.According to the findings of this report, the Brazilian government, confronted by economic crisis in 1999, has moved in the right direction to contain the damage of the ensuing recession, to attenuate the negative income distribution impact of the crisis, and to limit the adverse environmental effects of the devaluation in terms of deforestation. Nonetheless, the urban sector of the economy suffered considerable income losses as a consequence of the crisis. On the environmental front, logging in the Amazon is likely to increase, while the planned expansion of infrastructure linking the Amazon to the rest of Brazil will increase deforestation for agricultural purposes. However, adoption of a package of provisions combining enforcement of property rights in the Amazon (already under way), technological innovation in perennials within the Amazon and in livestock outside the Amazon (especially in the Northeast), and further provision of subsidies for conservation of forested area in the Amazon would reduce deforestation rates and provide development opportunities. Technological change, while not a policy variable, will affect different producers in different ways and may either increase or reduce deforestation rates. Policymakers should pay attention to what types of technological change are viable and try to facilitate the adoption of those technologies that are compatible with their objectives.          ( )    Notes: The units express: for labor, the number of workers involved in producing R$ 1 million in the activity; for capital, the monetary equivalent in thousands of R$ of physical capital involved in producing for R$ 1 million; for land, the number of hectares required to produce R$ 1 million worth of output. Only cells in the same row can be compared because the units of measure are different.Elasticities and Sensitivity Analysis T he The elasticities used in the model are presented in Table A5. These include trade substitution elasticities which describe, on the demand side, the degree to which imported and domestically produced goods are substitutes in consumption, and, on the production side, the extent to which goods produced for export or for the domestic market are interchangeable in the production process. Trade substitution elasticities are critical when the simulations to be performed affect the price of traded goods relative to non-traded goods (for example, a devaluation). For the technological innovation scenarios, changing these elasticities does not change the results.Factor substitution elasticities were obtained from partial equilibrium estimates and adapted for agriculture to the different regions in Brazil and to the different types of producers. The underlying rationale is that large farms can substitute more easily between factors, and that Amazon production has a more restricted set of substitution possibilities relative to the other regions. Here too, the elasticity values do not affect our deforestation estimates in a significant way (a ± 30% change in the elasticities leads to a ± 4% change in the deforestation results, and does not affect the policy implications of the results described in the paper).The elasticities that really make a difference to our analysis are the ones relating to the access of regional products into the national commodity market. These were assumed to be high for all agricultural products, implying that Amazon products could easily be absorbed by the Brazilian domestic and export markets. When the simulations were performed with lower elasticities (elas.= 2 for all agricultural products) the deforestation results changed considerably.With lower absorption by the national commodity market, the highest increase in deforestation rates was a 15% increase when land-saving, sustainability-improving, technological innovation in annuals is adopted. The lower elasticity dampens the results presented in the body of the report because the terms of trade are more sensitive to increased production associated with technological improvement in the Amazon.      ","tokenCount":"39887"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9916695442.json b/data/part_1/9916695442.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..da0751126d1aa91b61b933498066e17a3a4bd68d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9916695442.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"01c6e5f85f64ed9775f56ac7cd6710a0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e3851d12-92ee-4207-91e6-2cc35b8dbcc8/content","id":"-535932557"},"keywords":["Trigos","producción agrícola","adopción de innovaciones","modelos","Pakistán. Códigos de categorías AGRIS: E70","E14. Clasiflcación decimal Dewey: 338.17311 Trigos","producción agrícola","adopción de innovaciones","modelos","Pakistán. Códigos de categorías AGRIS: E70","E14. Claslftcación decimal Dewey: 338.17311"],"sieverID":"80f55cec-08c9-4db2-8139-de0f4ea5bd20","pagecount":"118","content":"i c e 0 ode osa '0 efectos glotlaleos de 10 cambro ecnol . gi os obre I dis r\"bucion de 10 lngresos e a bien cr produccion Ivor do argl ales de Pak\"stan i e e o cde ose 'o efectos glot¡aleos de ID cambto ecnol . gi os obre I dis r\"buc¡ón de la lngresos e a bien cr producción Ivor do argl ales de Pak\"stán Mitch Renkow* Modelos de los efectos globales de los cambios tecnol6gicos sobre la distribuci6n de los ingresos en ambientes de producci6n favorecidos y marginales de Pakistaniv Efectos de una innovación tecnológica en zonas favorecidae sobre diversos factores de la producción y sobre grupos de la población Superficie, rendimiento y producción de los principales cultivos de Pak.ietán Efectos sobre los rendimientos de trigo y el U80 de ineumos causados por algunas tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos actualmente di8ponibles en Pak.ietán Jornales reales (rupias de 1980/día) percibidos por los trabajadores ocasionales y por los contratados en forma permanente en el Punjab Utilidades reales por hectárea (rupias de 1980 conetantes/ha) generadae por la producción de cultivos en el Punjab, 1965Punjab, -1987 Ingresos reales (rupias de 1980 conetantes por familia) de la famili8l!l campesinas en el Punjab, 1965Punjab, -1987 Mediciones de la distribución relativa de los ingresos entre las familias campesinas en el Punjab, 1965Punjab, -1987 Efectos netos del fitomejoramiento (FM) y del 50% de adopción de la labranza cero (LC) y el control químico de la maleza (M) sobre el empleo de insumos durante 10 años en las zonas irrigadas Efectos netos del fitomejoramiento (FM) y del 50% de adopción de la labranza profunda (LP) sobre el empleo de ineumos durante 10 años en las zonas de temporal Caeo base de situaciones en lae que el precio del trigo es endógeno Desarrollo regional equilibrado: 50% de adopción de tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos aún no aprovechadas y fitomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años en las zonas de temporal y las irrigadas Desarrollo de las zonas irrigadae: 50% de adopción de tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos aún no aprovechadas y fitomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años sólo en las zonae irrigadae Desarrollo de las zonas de temporal: 50% de adopción de tecnología de manejo de loe cultivos aún no aprovechad8l!l y fitomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años eólo en las zonae de temporal Figuras I Figura 1.1Distribución regional de la pobreza en 108 paÍ8e8 en desarrollo Figura 1.2 Distribución regional de la pobreza por zona geográfica Figura 2.1 Efectos de 108 cambios tecnológicos sobre el mercado de product08: caso de la economía abierta Figura 2.2 Efectos de los cambi08 tecnológicos sobre el mercado de productos: caso de la economía cerrada Figura 2.3 Efectos de los cambios tecnológicos sobre el bienestar de las familias de los agricultores de semiautoconsumo Figura 2.4 Efectos interregionales de los cambios tecnológicos sobre 108 mercad08 de mano de obra Figura 3.5 Indices de las rentas y los precios reales de la tierra en el Punjab, 1968Punjab, •1989 Figura 3.6 Utilidades agrícolas reales por hectárea en el Punjab, 1976Punjab, •1987 Figura 3.7 Ingresos reales de 108 campesinos sin tierra en el Punjab,1965Punjab, -1987 Figura 3.8 Ingresos reales de las familias campesinas en el Punjab,1965Punjab, -1987 Figura 3.9 Componentes de los ingresos de las familias campesinas en el Punjab, 1965Punjab, -1987 Figura 3.10 Ingresos reales relativos de los distintos tipos de familias campesinae el Punjab, 1965Punjab, -1987 En muchos países en desarrollo, la difusión de tecnologías mejoradas para la producción de granos alimentarios básicos ha sido el factor más importante que ha influido en el desarrollo agrícola en los últimos decenios. Hoy día generalmente se concuerda en que en la mayoría de esos países esas tecnologías han tendido a aumentar los ingresos de los agricultores que las adoptan, ya sea en términos absolutos o en comparación con los ingresos que hubieran tenido sin el progreso tecnológico. Más controvertidas son las consecuencias para los habitantes de las zonas donde la adopción de las tecnologías mejoradas ha sido lenta (o nula).Esta cuestión es de considerable interés para los centros internacionales de investigación agrícola como el CIMMYT, por dos razones importantes. En primer lugar, el grueso del germopwma mejorado ha sido más apto para loe ambientes favorecidos de producción, en particular las zonas irrigadas con pocos factores abióticos adversos; los ambientes de producción más marginales, como las zonas de temporal más áridas, no han alcanzado el mismo grado de aumento de la productividad. En segundo lugar, comúnmente se piensa que los habitantes de los ambientes marginales suelen ser más pobres y, por consiguiente, necesitan más los ingresos adicionales. Si esto es cierto, las diferencias interregionales en la tasa de aumento de la productividad pueden haber tenido un sesgo desfavorable para los pobres al ampliar la brecha entre los ingresos de los habitantes de las zonas favorecidas y los de las marginales.Este estudio investiga los efectos de la difusión de tecnologías mejoradas para la producción de trigo sobre la distribución interregional de los ingresos en Pakistán. También genera información sobre cómo la difusión diferencial de esas tecnologías afecta a diversos sectores de la población de ese país. Para ello, se establece un marco analítico que va más allá de los efectos directos iniciales sobre los agricultores que adoptaron la tecnología y considera la transmisión de los beneficios (o los costos) desde las zonas a las cuales están orientadas esas tecnologías hacia el resto de la economía.El análisis se concentra principalmente en los mercados de productos y de trabajo, ya que son las principales vías a través de las cuales se transmiten esos efectos indirectos.Se seleccionó a Pakistán para este estudio por tres razones: primera, en Pakistán se observaron aumentos espectaculares de la productividad del trigo gracias a la Revolución Verde de los 60 y los 70. Desde que se introdujeron en 1966 las variedades de trigo semienano de alto rendimiento (o variedades modernas, VM), los incrementos de los rendimientos han promediado el 3.0% anual y se ha más que duplicado la producción nacional del cereal. Segunda, el trigo es el producto agrícola más importante en Pakistán (en términoe del valor agregado total). Es producido por prácticamente todos loe agricultores pakistaníes y constituye el principal alimento básico en la mayor parte del país. Tercera, en Pakistán existen ambientes de producción muy distintos que son adecuados en diversos grados para la difusión de tecnologías mejoradas de cultivo del trigo. Las variedades lanzadas inicialmente estaban adaptadas a las zonas irrigadas de la cuenca del río Indo y la rápida adopción y los notables aumentos del rendimiento característicos de la Revolución Verde se limitaron en gran parte a esas zonas. Posteriormente, se generaron variedades mejoradas más aptas para las condiciones de temporal, que fueron lanzadas a mediados del decenio de los 70. En las zonas de temporal con una precipitación bastante elevada, los aumentos del rendimiento vinculados con esta segunda generación de VM fueron considerables, pero mucho menores que los registrados en las zonas irrigadas. Hoy día, en lo concerniente tanto a la adopción como al rendimiento, las zonas de temporal continúan rezagadas con respecto a las irrigadas.viiiUn análisie parcial del equilibrio revela que varios factores determinan la medida en que los efectos indirectos de loe cambioe tecnológicoe afectan el bieneetar de divereoe grupos socioeconómicoe. Loe efectoe que ea transmiten a travée de los mercadoe de productoe dependerán mucho de la forma en que se determinan los precios y de la condición de determinados tipos de agricultores como productores netoe o consumidores netoe del producto en cuestión. Si el precio es determinado por las condiciones de la oferta y la demanda internas, un incremento de la oferta provocado por loe cambioe tecnológicos dieminuirá el precio del producto. En el caso de un importante alimento básico como es el trigo en PakiBtán, los consumidoree netos del producto -los no productores, como los habitantee urbanos, y los productores para quienes lae neceeidadee de consumo euperan su producción anual-ee benefician considerablemente con un precio más bajo. Además, como los consumidores pobres suelen gastar en alimentos una mayor proporción de SUB ingresos, ee probable que este efecto del precio los beneficie en mayor medida que a aquellos consumidores que gozan de una mejor situación económica. Para los productores netos que adoptan la nueva tecnología, una reducción del precio puede o no contrarrestar el efecto positivo sobre SUB utilidades causado por la mayor productividad. Sin embargo, para los productoree netos que no adoptan la nueva tecnología, habrá una indudable disminución de sus utilidadee e ingresos.Por el contrario, si el precio es determinado por factores externos -ya sea por el mercado mundial o por la política gubernamental de precios subordinada a factores que no son la oferta y la demanda internas-los cambios tecnológicoe únicamente beneficiarán a quienes adopten la tecnología mejorada. Para una determinada familia, esos beneficios serán proporcionales al volumen de su producción; es decir, los agricultores en gran escala tenderán a beneficiaree en mayor medida que loe minifundietas. En este caeo no será afectado el bienestar de los consumidores, ya que el precio no está vinculado directamente con las modificaciones de la oferta global.Además de aumentar la producción, las innovaciones tecnológicas como lae VM a menudo exigen mayores cantidades de mano de obra para la cosecha, la trilla y el cuidado del cultivo. Si no es ilimitada la oferta de mano de obra agrícola, la mayor necesidad de ésta elevará loe salarios (así como las utilidades implícitas del trabajo familiar de loe productores de autoconsumo). La cantidad en que aumentan los ealarioe es una función de la respuesta de los trabajadores a las modificaciones de los ealarioe. Los salarios más altos obviamente tendrán efectos positivoe sobre los ingresos de los campesinos pobres que dependen más del trabajo agrícola. Por otra parte, ~sos aumentos de los salarios no están necesariamente restringidos a las zonas donde se adoptan tecnologías que requieren mano de obra intensiva si las diferencias interregionales de los ealarios provocan la emigración de trabajadores deede las zonas con salarios bajos a las que tienen salarios altos.Los cambios tecnológicos y los ingresos rurales en Pakistán, 1965Pakistán, •1987 En los últimos 25 años, la producción de trigo ha aumentado en forma continua en Pakistán. Alrededor de dos tercios de esos aumentos son resultado del incremento de los rendimientos, y el resto es consecuencia de la expansión de la superficie cultivada.Este crecimiento constante de los rendimientos se puede atribuir principalmente a ix tecnologías mejoradas como la semilla y el fertilizante, la mayor explotación de loe mantos freáticos, la mecanización (en particular el empleo de tractores para preparar la tierra) y, en algunos casoe, la adopción de prácticas adecuadae de manejo de cultivoe.Tanto en lae zonae irrigadae como en lae de temporal, la rentabilidad del cultivo del trigo -por hectárea y por finca-creció conetantemente entre 1965 y mediadoe de loe 80.No obetante, durante loe 80 disminuyeron las utilidades agrícolas, muy probablemente como coneecuencia de la tasa menor de aumento de loe rendimientoe, combinada con las políticae gubernamentales de precios que han afectado a .loe productores. En todo este período, la producción de trigo en lae zonas irrigadas ha sido doe o tree veces más rentable que en las zonas de temporal.Es interesante observar que, mientras que lae zonas irrigadal!l de Pakistán eistemáticamente han superado a lae zonas de temporal en cuanto a los aumentos de la productividad del trigo (y de la agricultura en general), el crecimiento de los ingresos rurales en general ha eido mayor en las zonas de temporal, en particular desde mediados de los 70. Si bien los agricultores en gran escala siempre han tenido los ingresoe más altoe en lae zonae tanto irrigadae como de temporal en los últimos 25 años, en la mayoría de los casos el crecimiento de loe ingresoe reales durante eee período ha eido mayor entre loe minifundistae y loe campesinoe ein tierra. Es particularmente notable el rápido crecimiento de loe ingreeoe de las familiae más pobree en las zonas de temporal. Loe coeficientee de Gini indican que la dil!ltribución de los ingresos en lae zonas rurales mejoró coneiderablemente entre 1965 y 1987.Relativamente poco del crecimiento de los ingresos observado puede atribuiree a los efectos indirectos de los cambioe tecnológicoe. En Pakietán, como en la mayoría de los demás países en desarrollo, el gobierno siempre ha desempeñado una función activa en el establecimiento de los precios al productor y al coneumidor de trigo y harina. El mecanismo mediante el cual el gobierno establece esoe precios no es muy afectado por la oferta y la demanda internas. En coneecuencia, a pesar de que los precios al productor y al coneumidor del trigo y sus derivados han seguido una tendencia descendente en los últimoe 25 años, esa tendencia no puede atribuiree directamente a los cambios tecnológicos en la producción.Los datos disponibles muestran que los ealarios agrícolas realee en lae zonas irrigadas y de temporal de Pakistán realmente ee han incrementado en forma conetante en el transcureo del tiempo. Eeto concuerda con el argumento de que la mayor necesidad de mano de obra impueeta por las tecnologíae de producción ha tenido efectoe positivos para loe trabajadoree agríeolas. Sin embargo, es importante señalar que, en casi todos los sectores de la economía, loe salarios ee han elevado en forma espectacular deede mediados del decenio de los 70. Este fenómeno coincide con el comienzo de la emigración en gran escala de pakistaníee hacia el Medio Oriente, lo cual creó eecaeez de mano de obra en muchos sectores claves -de la economía de Pakietán (incluido el sector agrícola).La emigración al exterior parece ser la principal explicación del patrón de modificaciones de loe ingreeoe de loe habitantes rurales de lae zonae de temporal desde mediados de los 70. En particular en el caso de los campesinos sin tierra y de los pequeños agricultores, una proporción creciente de los ingresos familiares totalee ha provenido de fuentes no agrícolas (lae más importantes son los envíoe de dinero desde el exterior). Entre 1965 y 1971, alrededor del 65% de los ingresos de los minifundioe dex temporal provenía de actividades agrícolae; entre 1984 y 1987, caei el 90% de esoe ingreeoe ea originaba en fuentes no agrícolae. Loa datos correspondientes a loe campesinos sin tierra y loe agricultores en gran escala de lae zonas de temporal revelan tendenciae similares (aunque menos radicales) en la composición de loe ingreeoe familiares.En lae zonae irrigadae, la composición de loe ingresos familiares de todoe los tipos de campesinos ha permanecido relativamente constante deede 1965. Por consiguiente, en eetae zonae la eituación de los habitantes rurales parece ligarse de manera más directa con la rentabilidad de la agricultura. .En síntesi!!, al parecer el crecimiento de los ingresos rurales observado en las zonae de temporal ha obedecido principalmente a la capacidad de loe habitantes de aprovechar oportunidades generadorae de ingresos fuera del sector agrícola. El hecho de que la taea de crecimiento de los ingresos en las zonas de temporal haya sido mayor que en las irrigadae en los últimos 15 años, indica que esas oportunidades no agrícolae reeultaron aun más remunerativas que las oportunidades agrícolas en 1815 zonas irrigadas. De esto se deduce que 1815 diferencias en la productividad del trigo en los distintos ambientes de producción pueden haber constituido un incentivo importante para que los habitantes de 1815 zonas de temporal, menos productivae, extendieran sus actividades generadoras de ingresos máe allá del sector agrícola.En Pakistán, como en la mayoría de los países en desarrollo, muchas familiae rurales son al mismo tiempo productoras y consumidoras del alimento básico principal (el trigo). Además, si bien la mayor parte del trabajo de la finca normalmente es efectuado por integrantes de la familia, la mayoría de esae familias también interactúan en los mercados de trabajo rural como compradores o vendedores de mano de obra (o ambos). Las fuerzas económicas desencadenadae por una tecnología mejorada de producción tendrán entonces efectos múltiples en la familia; por tanto, para determinar el efecto global de loe cambios tecnológicos se requiere un modelo que sintetice esos efectos individualee en un marco unificado.Con este propósito, se establece un modelo de mercadOl!l múltiples que captura los efectoe directoe sobre la productividad y los efectos indirectoe que se transmiten a travée de loe mercados de trigo, de otros productos y de la mano de obra. Se uea el modelo para simular las repercusiones de la adopción de tecnologíae actualmente disponibles en Pakistán. Las simulaciones miden el efecto a largo plazo sobre los ingresos reales de ocho grupos socioeconómicos -los agricultores en gran escala, los minifundistae y los campesinos sin tierra en las zonas irrigadas y de temporal, y 1815 familiae urbanas pobres y no pobres-con precios controlados y no controlados del trigo. Los datoe empleados para inicializar el modelo se extrajeron de diversas fuentes, desde encuestae en el micro nivel sobre el manejo de las fincas haeta estadísticae gubernamentales globales.Las simulaciones indican que, si el gobierno de Pakistán continúa estableciendo los precios, los productores netos serán los principales beneficiarios del futuro progreso tecnológico en la producción del trigo. Esos beneficiarios incluyen a los agricultores en xi gran escala de las zonas de temporal y a loe agricultores en gran escala y loe minifundistas de lae zonae irrigadae. También habrá cierto crecimiento de 105 ingreeos de loe trabajadoree agrícolas producido por la mayor neceeidad de mano de obra de las nuevas tecnologíae (y loe cOlU5iguientes aumentoe ealariales), pero eee crecimiento será pequeño en comparación con loe efectos directoe eobre la productividad de 105 productoree de trigo. Por el contrario, si el gobierno pakistaní permitiera que loe precioe fueran determinadoe por la oferta y la demanda intemae, loe principales beneficiarioe de los cambioe tecnológicoeeerían loe cOlU5umidoree netos: loe pequeños agricultores de lae zonae de temporal y lae familiae no productorae de lae zonas tanto ruralee como urbanas. En este caso, el precio del trigo eeria menor en comparación con una situación de baee donde no ee producen cambios tecnológic05, con lo cualee tralU5fieren beneficios cOlU5iderablee (indirectos) a el!lal!l familiae. Este efecto del precio sería baetante mayor que el efecto indirecto del aumento de la productividad sobre la rentabilidad de la producción de trigo o los incrementos ealariales causadoe por la mayor demanda de mano de obra.Loe análisis de las simulaciones permiten esclarecer cómo distintae asignaciones de los recureoe de la investigación entre lae zonas irrigadae y lae de temporal influirán en la distribución interregional de loe ingresos. La creciente productividad del trigo en lae zonae irrigadas se revela como la forma más promisoria de aumentar la producción interna de trigo. Los análisis también indican claramente que la intelU5ificación de la productividad en lae zonas irrigadas (acompañada o no de aumentoe de la productividad en las zonae de temporal) promete tener los efectoe más favorables sobre el incremento de los ingresos globalee. Por último, se observa que los cambios tecnológicos en las zonae irrigadas serían tan equitativos (y en algunoe casoe más equitativos) como los cambios tecnológicos limitados a las zonas de temporal, cualquiera que sea la forma en que ee determinen los precioe del trigo.Estos resultados indican que la asignación de la mayor parte de los recureos de la investigación de trigo al mejoramiento de la productividad en lae zonas irrigadas continúa siendo una estrategia razonable para los administradores de la investigación en Pakistán. Es evidente que una reasignación drástica de los recureos a las zonas de temporal fomentaría menos el crecimiento de los ingresos globales y no se puede justificar por razones de equidad. No obstante, no es razonable inferir de estos resultados que Pakistán debería abandonar los esfuerzoe por aumentar la productividad agrícola de eWl zonae de temporal. El motivo de que el progreso tecnológico en estas zonas no ofrezca muchas esperanzas de intensificar el crecimiento de loe ingres05 globalee ee en gran medida el resultado de loe mayoree incrementoe de la productividad en lae zonae irrigadas de Pakistán. Por fortuna, la capacidad de las familiae de lae zonas de temporal de aprovechar las oportunidades de empleo no agrícola ha hecho que las diferencias interregionales en lae taeae de aumento de la productividad no se traduzcan en desigu~ldadesinterregionales más pronunciadae en los ingresoe. Sin embargo, existen riesgos inherentes en confiar en la expansión continua de las actividades no agrícolas, sobre todo los empleos fuera de Pakistán. Con el fin de minimizar esos riesgos, están justificados los esfuerzoe continuos por mejorar la viabilidad de la agricultura en condiciones de temporal en Pakistán.xiiEn muchos paÍ8es en desarrollo, la difusión de tecnologías mejoradas para la producción de granos alimentarios básicoe ha eido el factor que más ha influido en el desarrollo agrícola en los últimos decenios. Las tecnologías como la semilla y el fertilizante, cuya difusión produjo la Revolución Verde, los constantee incrementoe del potencial de rendimiento y de la resistencia a lae enfermedades de las variedadee modernas (VM), así como la investigación continua eobre las prácticas agronómicas para aumentar los rendimientos, han contribuido coneiderablemente a elevar la productividad de la agricultura en todo el mundo en desarrollo. Para sufragar el costo de generar esas tecnologías nuevas, numerosos recu1'8OS han sido movilizado por una serie de institucionee, como loe sietemas nacionales de investigación agrícola, loe organísmoe de ayuda bilateral y loe centroe internacionales de investigación agrícola vinculados con el Grupo Coneultivo eobre la Inveetigación Agrícola Internacional (CGIAR).En el pasado, el grueso de los incrementos de la productividad resultantes de las innovaciones tecnológicae ha ocurrido con mayor frecuencia en zonas irrigadas o con agua suficiente, que gozan de condiciones topográficas y agronómicas favorablee. En contraete, los ambientee menoe favorables o \"marginalee\" por lo general se han rezagado en cuanto a la adopción de tecnologías mejoradae y los consiguientes efectoe eobre la productividad (Morris, Belaid y Byerlee, 1991). Eeto ha eido en parte consecuencia del reto intrínsecamente mayor de generar tecnologíae nuevas aptas para loe medios marginalee más dificilee. En muchos casoe, presumiblemente también ee el reeultado de estrategiae institucionalee orientadae a aumentar al máximo la recompensa potencial de lae actividadee de inveetigación. Cualquiera que eea la razón, pe1'8ieten hasta el momento diferenciae bien definidae en la difueión de lae tecnologías mejoradas en loe ambientee de producción.Deede que ee inició la Revolución Verde, los eepecialistas en cienciae eociales han discutido cómo las tecnologías agrícolas afectan el bienestar de diversos grupos socioeconómicos en los países donde se producen cambioe tecnológicoe rápid05. 1 Este debate ha originado numerosos (y a veces polémicos) eetudios que inve5tigan los efectos de tecnologías como la semilla y el fertilizante que ee utilizan en la producción de granos alimentarioe. La mayoría de esoe e5tudi05 ee han centrado en grUpo5 socioeconómic05 de zonae donde ee adoptaron las nuevas tecnologíae, y examinan eue efectos sobre 105 ingres05 de diversos tipos de familias (agricultore5 en gran escala, minífilndistae, trabajadoree 5in tierra) y eobre las utilidadee de dive1'8oe factores de la producción (la tierra, la mano de obra, el capital).Un aspecto menos investigado de la distribución general de 105 beneficioe y las pérdidas de bienestar causad05 por 105 cambios tecnológicos han 5ido loe efecto5 regionales diferenciales de esos cambi05. Algunos estudios han 5ubrayado efectos menoe inmediatoe que influyen en el bienestar de las poblacionee que adoptan la tecnología y de lae que no la adoptan al alterar lae condicionee en loe mercadoe de productoe y de factores de la producción (en particular la mano de obra). Otroe trabajoe han analizado el estímulo para loe eectoree no agrícolae (ruralee y urbanoe) proporcionado por los cambios tecnológicoe, pero haeta el momento no se ha intentado establecer un marco analítico para examinar loe efectoe directos (de productividad) e indirectoe (o del mercado) de los cambios tecnológicos regionalmente diferenciados a través de todae las regionee y grupoe eocioeconómicos. 2 ,3En eete estudio se eetablece un marco analítico de ese tipo y se le emplea para investigar loe efectoe de lae tecnologíae mejoradas de producción sobre la distribución interregional de los ingresoe en Pakietán. Loe análisis presentados tienen el propósito de generar información sobre cómo un \"choque\" tecnológico (por ejemplo, una variedad mejorada de trigo) afecta a distintos sectores de la población de un paíe en desarrollo. El análisis va más allá de los efectos inicialee o de ''primera ronda\" y considera la tranemisión de loe beneficios (o costos) de lae nuevas tecnologíae deede lae zonas a lae cualee estaban destinadae eeae tecnologíae hacia el resto de la economía. El problema clave aquí ee la medida en que loe efectos inicialee causados por loe cambios tecnológicos son atenuados o amplificadoe por lae modificacionee eubeecuentes en los mercados de productos y de factores.La cuantificación de la magnitud y la orientación de los efectoe de primera y segunda rondas caUBados por innovacionee tecnológicae específicae permite una compreneión más completa de las repercUBiones de los cambios tecnológicos en el bienestar de diversos grupos socioeconómicos. Con esto y la información sobre la distribución de los ingresos en un determinado momento, ee puede estimar ei esae innovacionee tienden a mejorar o empeorar lae desigualdades exietentes en la distribución de loe ingresos. &os datos serán útilee para los administradores de la investigación que son seneiblee a las consecuenciae para la equidad que tienen lae tecnologíae generadae por eue instituciones.La motivación para este estudio ee originó principalmente en doe problemae que preocupan al Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT) y a la comunidad de centroe internacionalee de inveetigación agrícola de la cual forma parte el CIMMYT. En primer lugar, ei bien eetoe centr08 han contribuido coneiderablemente a aumentar la productividad agrícola en loe últimoe 25 añoe, el grueeo de loe incrementos de la productividad se ha limitado a los ambientes de producción favorecidos. Se tiene conciencia de que esta asimetría ha sido injusta en el sentido de que a) 108 agricultores de los ambientes más marginales sil!!temáticamente se han vil!!to privados de los beneficios de la investigación efectuada por 108 centros; y b) las desigualdades interregionales en la productividad agrícola l!!e han ahondado.El segundo problema, muy relacionado con el primero, es la preocupación de que la intensificación de las diferencias regionales en la productividad también ha provocado un acrecentamiento de las discrepancias interregionales en los ingresos. Si, como comúnmente se piensa, los habitantes de los ambientes favorecidos de producción estaban inicialmente en mejores condiciones, entonces los programas de investigación de los centros internacionales han tenido (quizás en forma inconsciente) un l!!esgo desfavorable para los pobres.Este estudio aborda diversos aspectos de esos dos problemas. Señalaremos al comenzar algunos puntos generales que revelan la complejidad de los problemas. Con respecto a los programas de investigación de la mayoría de las institucionel!! que forman parte del CGIAR, cabe destacar que, debido a los limitados recursos económicos, es necesario decidir hasta qué grado es posible concentrar la investigación en cada ambiente de producción. 4 En el caso particular del CIMMYT, una institución conocida principalmente por su éxito en el fitomejoramiento, la concentración en ambientes favorecidos de producción presumiblemente se relaciona con las mayores probabilidades de lograr buenos resultados donde hay pocos factores abióticos y agronómicos desfavorables. Es decir, es más probable que un programa fitotécnico tenga éxito (en términos de aumentos del rendimiento) en 10l!! ambientes favorecidos de producción.El panorama se complica por el hecho de que a los centros internacionales como el CIMMYT se les han asignado investigaciones que, implícita o explícitamente, incluyen también problemas de equidad. Por ejemplo, el más reciente presupuesto quinquenal del CIMMYT enumera los \"efectos sobre los pobres\" como un criterio bien definido para asignar los recursos de la investigación (CIMMYT, 1989b), a pesar de la gran controversia sobre si la ventaja comparativa de trabajar para los ambientes favorecidos es compatible o no con el mejoramiento de la situación de los pobres. La meta básica de este estudio es determinar la medida en que la eficiencia y le. equidad son metas institucionales complementarias o contradictorias. El énfasis en analizar los efectos de segunda ronda mediante los cuales los beneficios de las innovaciones tecnológicas se transmiten a zonas diferentes de aquellas a las cualel!! estaban orientadas las innovaciones, se justifica por el hecho de que normalmente hay personas pobres en todae las zonas (incluidaslae zonae rurales favorecidae y marginales y las zonae urbanae).Por último, cabe mencionar que eete estudio investiga eeos problemae en el contexto de un solo país, Paki8tán, que se elegió porque ahí a) la difusión de las tecnologías mejoradas (especialmente lae variedades de trigo semienano) ha llevado a grandes aumentos de los rendimientos medios y la producción nacional; b) el efecto de lae VM ha variado notablemente en los distintos ambientes de producción (en cuanto a la adopción y los aumentos de rendimiento); y c) es fácil establecer la distinción entre ambientes de producción favorecidos y marginalee. Sin embargo, es importante señalar que la generalización de los resultados del eetudio se ve limitada por el hecho de que difieren mucho en los distintos países los patrones regionales de los cambios tecnológicoe, la distribución geográfica de la pobreza e, incluso, la distinción adecuada entre ambientes de producción \"favorecidos\" y \"marginales\". En eee aspecto, este trabajo constituye un estudio de casos de cómo los beneficioe y los costos de los cambioe tecnológicos ee transmiten por toda una economía, y de cómo se distribuyen esos beneficios entre los distintos grupos socioeconómicos. Tal vez la contribución más importante del estudio sea establecer una metodología que permite a los administradores de la investigación comprender mejor cómo repercuten sobre la equidad lae diversas asignaciones de los recursos de la inveetigación.En todo intento de clasificar loe ambientes de producción como \"favorecidos\" y \"marginalee\" habrá cierto grado de subjetividad. Una serie de factores podrían intervenir en los criterios aplicados y, obviamente, la importancia relativa de esos factores variará según la región geográfica o el país que ee cOMideren. Aun así, en un país dado por lo general se pueden establecer zonas de producción bastante bien definidae según ciertos criterios comúnmente aceptados (aunque a vecee no expresadoe). 5Suele haber una fuerte correlación entre la productividad agrícola y el riego o una precipitación pluvial adecuada y eegura. En consecuencia, la disponibilidad de agua ee probablemente el factor más obvio que determina la idoneidad de un determinado ambiente de producción. Esto no quiere decir que el riego y/o la precipitación segura sean en todoe loe casos sinónimoe de una agricultura muy productiva; no obstante, la disponibilidad adecuada de agua es sin duda una condición necesaria para una elevada productividad.En ciertas zonas, la topogratia es un factor crítico que determina la capacidad productiva de la tierra (por ejemplo, la región andina en América del Sur). Otrot!l factores importantes que hacen que un ambiente de producción sea marginal 80n las temperaturas extremas, las enfermedades y los insectos, las carencias o las toxicidades de nutrimentos, el anegamiento y la salinidad. Con una perspectiva aun más amplia, se podría incluir también la calidad de la infraestructura que sirve a los habitantes de una región. Si bien estoe factores pueden ser importantes en muchos casos, la dieponibilidad de agua -específicamente la presencia o la ausencia de instalacionee de riego-se usará en este estudio como \"línea divisoria\" para determinar si un ambiente de producción ee favorecido o marginal.La distribución regional de la pobrezaAl evaluar las repercusiones para los pobres que tiene la adopción regional diferenciada de las tecnologías mejoradas, es fundamental reconocer que, en la mayoría de las naciones en desarrollo, la pobreza existe en todas partee: en las zonas rurales favorecidae y marginales y en lae zonae urbanae. Hay una tendencia frecuente a asociar los ambientes marginales pobres en recursos con una mayor incidencia de pobreza. De hecho, ese es el caso en algunas partes del mundo, por ejemplo en las tierras altas andinas y en el Sahel en el oeste de Africa (Banco Mundial, 1990).Figura 1.1. Distribución regional de la pobreza en 108 países en desarrollo. Fuente: Mellor (1988).Sin embargo, la pobreza está muy dispersa en loe tres tipos de zonae que noe interesan, como ee evidente en las Figuras 1.1 y 1.2. Baeadae en una revisión de estudios del Banco Mundial sobre la pobreza que efectuó Mellor (1988), esas figuras muestran la distribución regional relativa de la pobreza (definida en términoe de la incapacidad de alcanzar un estándar nutricional mínimo). En todo el mundo, un porcentaje ligeramente mayor de los habitantes rurales pobree viven en zonas marginales, mientras que el 20% de los pobres de todo el mundo se encuentran en las zonas urbanae (Figura 1.1). No obstante, la distribución de la pobreza varía de un lugar geográfico a otro (Figura 1.2). En comparación con otras partes del mundo, una proporción mucho mayor de los pobres latinoamericanos viven en ciudades. Aproximadamente el 75% de los habitantes rurales pobres de América Latina y el este de Asia viven en zonas marginales; en Africa y el sur de Asia, las proporciones de pobres que viven en las zonas favorecidas y en las marginales son aproximadamente iguales.Es claro entonces que exi8ten concentraciones considerables de la pobreza en los tres tipos de zonas delineadas en aete trabajo. No es evidente de inmediato, al menos para mí, cuál es la forma más eficaz para que los administradores de la investigación elijan (45%) Mrlca (40%)[]] Zonas rurales marginales ~Zonas urbanas m Zonll8 rurales favorecidas Figura 1.2. Distribución regional de la pobreza por zona geográfica. Fuente: Mellor (1988). entre distintas opciones de inversión en investigación con el fin de lograr el máximo efecto de esa inversión para aliviar la pobreza. El reto de este estudio es esclarecer esa elección.El marco analítico establecido para investigar los efectoe sobre el bieneetar provocadoe por los cambios tecnológicos diferenciadoe según las regiones ee aplicará al caso de las VM de trigo y tecnologías afines en Pakietán. Este paÍ8 conetituye una elección particularmente apropiada por variae razones. En primer lugar, en Pakistán se produjeron aumentos notables de la productividad del trigo gracias a la Revolución Verde en loe decenioe de los 60 y los 70. Desde que se introdujeron las variedades modernas de trigo semienano en 1966,6105 incrementos de loe rendimientos han promediado el 3.5% anual y se ha más que duplicado la producción nacional del cereal.En eegundo lugar, el trigo es el producto agrícola máe importante en Pakistán (en términoe del valor agregado total). También es el principal alimento bál5ico en la mayor parte del paÚ!. En consecuencia, el tremendo crecimiento de la producción y la productividad ha tenido repercusionee importantee en el bieneetar de loe consumidoree y productores de trigo y sus derivadoe.Por último, en Pakistán existen distintoe ambientes de producción, aptos en diversoe grados para la difusión de las tecnologías mejoradae. Lae primerae variedades de trigo que se lanzaron eetaban bál5icamente adaptadas (y orientadae) a lae zon&e irrigadae de la cuenca de río Indo y la rápida adopción y los aumentoe eepectacularee del rendimiento a causa de la Revolución Verde ee limitaron en gran parte a eeae zon&e. Posteriormente, se generaron y lanzaron a mediados de los 70 variedades mejoradas más aptae para las condiciones de temporal. En algunae zonae de temporal (en particular las que tienen una precipitación pluvial bastante elevada), los aumentos del rendimiento producidos por la segunda generación de VM fueron considerables, aunque mucho menores que los registrados en las zonas irrigadas. En cuanto a la adopción y al rendimiento, lae zonae de temporal continúan rezagadae con reepecto a lae irrigadae.En el Capítulo 2 se describe el marco empleado para analizar los efectos sobre el bienestar de los cambios tecnológicos diferenciados según lae regiones. Se usa un análisis del equilibrio parcial de los mercados de productos y de trabajo para ilustrar los efectos teóricos del cambio tecnológico sobre diversos grupos socioeconómicos. Después de un breve examen de la forma en que lae políticas y las medidas gubernamentales podrían modificar los resultados previstos de un cambio tecnológico que aumenta el rendimiento, se presenta un modelo de mercados múltiples del cambio tecnológico diferenciado según lae regiones. Este modelo constituye una forma de explicar, y en cierto sentido ''totalizar'', los efectos múltiples del cambio tecnológico sobre distintos tipos de familiae que viven en zonae donde se ha adoptado o no la tecnología nueva. Se examina el modelo en términos no técnicos y en el Apéndice A se presenta la derivación matemática formal.El Capítulo 3 proporciona la historia de los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en la producción del trigo en Pakistán en los últimos 25 años. Se utilizan datos globales y de micronivel provenientes de encuestae para elaborar diagramae del comportamiento de las variables precios y cantidad, de la adopción de diversae tecnologíae y de la dinámica de los ingresos familiares en distintae localidades y tipos de familiae de Pakietán. Este capítulo también examina ciertoe aspectos claves de la intervención gubernamental en el mercado interno de trigo y loe posiblee efectoe eobre la producción de tecnologías actualmente no aprovechadae en Pakistán.En el Capítulo 4, se usa el modelo de mercados múltiples descrito en el Capítulo 2 para simular los efectos de diversas situaciones del cambio tecnológico sobre los ingresos familiares y la distribución general de ingresos. Se efectúan dos grupos de análisis. El primero evalúa las repercusiones a largo plazo del cambio tecnológico suponiendo que los precios del trigo se ajustan libremente a la oferta y la demanda, mientras que el segundo investiga los efectos a largo plazo con precios controlados al productor y al consumidor. Los resultados de este capítulo permiten sacar ciertas conclusiones respecto a los efectos sobre los ingresos y la distribución de éstos, provocados por distintos patrones regionales de progreso tecnológico en la producción del trigo.El Capítulo 5 sintetiza los resultados del estudio y formula conclusiones acerca de las consecuencias para la equidad que tienen distintos patrones regionales de cambio tecnológico. Se analiza lo que implican estas conclusiones para los administradores de la investigación en Pakistán, junto con las posibilidades de aplicar los resultados del estudio en otros paÚles.Este capítulo proporciona un marco para analizar los efect05 de una tecnología que aumenta el rendimiento, orientada a un determinado ambiente de producción, sobre diversos grupos socioeconómicos de zonas que adoptan o no adoptan la tecnología. Se comienza con un examen de las vías más importantes a través de las cuales se transmiten los efectos indirectos del cambio tecnológico: los mercados de productos y loe mercados de trabajo. Se emplea un análisis del equilibrio parcial para delinear la orientación y la magnitud de las modificaciones en est05 mercad05 provocadas por el cambio tecnológico. Se muestra que los efectos últimos del cambio tecnológico diferenciado según las regiones dependen en gran medida de que la economía sea abierta o cerrada con respecto a los mercados mundiales, de que las familias sean consumidoras netas o productoras netas del producto en cuestión y del grado en que la mano de obra se desplace de una región agrícola a otra.En la segunda sección de este capítulo se examina la función del gobierno en modificar las repercW!liones del cambio tecnológico pronosticadas con el análisis del equilibrio parcial. Este examen es motivado por la observación de que, mediante su elección de políticas, un gobierno puede alterar considerablemente la transmisión de los efectos indirectos. Se destaca la regulación de los precios al consumidor y al productor como la política más frecuente de ese tipo.El análisis del equilibrio parcial, si bien es útil para comprender aspectos aislados del proceso de cambio tecnológico, es inadecuado para estimar los efectos generales de una innovación particular sobre los diversos grupos socioeconómicos de una economía. En especial en los países en desarrollo, los agentes económicos no son eimplemente consumidores o productores, trabajadores o terratenientes. Más bien, son una combinación de algunas o todas esas categorías y, por tanto, las fuerzas económicas desencadenadas por una innovación tecnológica pueden tener consecuencias positivas y negativas para una determinada familia.La síntesis de nuestro conocimiento de los resultados del equilibrio parcial en mercados individuales exige un modelo de mercados múltiplee que abarque estas consideraciones del equilibrio general. En la tercera sección de este capítulo, ee describe en términos bastante generales un modelo de ese tipo que es esencialmente una forma de totalizar los diversos efectos (tanto negativos como positivos) sobre distintos grupos socioeconómicos. Para los lectores interesados en los aspectos técnicos del modelo, se presenta su derivación matemática en el Apéndice A.Las dos vías más importantes a través de las cuales se transmiten los efectos indirectos de los cambios tecnológicos son los mercados de productos y de trabajo. El análisis en esta sección considera los efectos sobre el equilibrio parcial en cada uno de esos mercados, causados por una innovación hipotética que incrementa el rendimiento. Para facilitar la exposición, se supone que la innovación supuesta es adoptada sólo por los agricultores de un ambiente definido (\"favorecido\") de producción y que esa adopción es instantánea y completa. En consecuencia, el análisis muestra una versión estilizada del proceso de cambio tecnológico en la cual existe el grado más extremo de diferenciación regional. El examen de los mercados de productos supone además que 1) el país de interés es un importador neto del producto para el cual se produce el cambio tecnológico; 2) la zona agrícola favorecida es exportadora neta de ese producto a otras zonas del país; y 3) la otra zona agrícola ''marginal'' ee importadora neta del producto en cuestión.Efectos sobre el mercado de productos Existe una extensa literatura que considera la distribución de las repercusiones de diversos tipos de innovaciones tecnológicas, reeultantes de los efectos sobre los precios en loe mercados de productos. Loe primeroe eetudios en esta área se orientaron a determinar las utilidades socialee de la inveetigación agrícola (por ejemplo, Akino y Hayami, 1975;Ayer y Schuh, 1972). Esoe estudios deetacaron los efectoe relativos del cambio tecnológico sobre los productoree y consumidoree ueando conceptos marshallianoe corrientes del excedente. El mensaje básico de eetos análisis ee que, en las economías abiertas, los productores reciben la parte más grande de los beneficioe del cambio tecnológico en forma de rentas para los innovadores, mientras que en lae economías cerradas son loe consumidoree quienes ee benefician máe, gracias a los efectos sobre loe precios en loe mercados de productos.Al ampliar el análisis para incluir patronee de adopción diferencialee en los distintoe ambientee de producción se alteran ligeramente eetas conclueionee en el caso de la economía cerrada, pero no en el de la economía abierta. Lae Figuras 2.1 y 2.2 muestran los efectos de un aumento de la oferta de un determinado producto en una zona dada sobre diversos mercados regionales del producto en cuestión. Para facilitar el análisis, supongamos que el producto en cuestión es el trigo.En una economía abierta (Figura 2.1), el precio del trigo es determinado en forma exógena o externa, ee decir, por condiciones del mercado mundial y (cuando se trata de un país importador) por los costos de transporte desde el país de origen. El desplazamiento de la curva de la oferta en la región favorecida de e a 5' no es entonces acompañado de una modificación en el precio recibido por los productoree; en consecuencia, los productores de la región favorecida indudablemente ganan con el desplazamiento de la oferta. La cantidad del aumento del excedente para los productores está indicada por el área ABen. Como en la zona marginal no cambian los precios ni la producción, allí no se modifica el bienestar de los productores o consumidores. Los consumidores urbanos tampoco son afectados por el desplazamiento de la oferta. Sin embargo, hay una modificación en la cantidad de importaciones necesariae para satisfacer la demanda urbana, es decir, la mayor producción de trigo en la zona favorecida sustituye a las exportaciones de trigo. 1 10 proceso de cambio tecnológico en la cual existe el grado más extremo de diferenciación regional. El examen de los mercados de productos supone además que 1) el paíe de interés es un importador neto del producto para el cual se produce el cambio tecnológico; 2) la zona agrícola favorecida es exportadora neta de ese producto a otras zonas del país; y 3) la otra zona agrícola ''marginal'' ee importadora neta del producto en cuestión.Efectos sobre el mercado de productos Existe una extensa literatura que considera la distribución de las repercusiones de diversos tipos de innovaciones tecnológicas, reeultantes de los efectos sobre los precios en loe mercados de productos. Loe primeroe eetudios en esta área se orientaron a determinar lae utilidades socialee de la inveetigación agrícola (por ejemplo, Akino y Hayami, 1975;Ayer y Schuh, 1972). Esoe estudios deetacaron los efectos relativos del cambio tecnológico sobre los productoree y consumidores ueando conceptos marshallianoe corrientes del excedente. El mensaje básico de estos análisis es que, en las economías abiertas, 105 productores reciben la parte más grande de 105 beneficioe del cambio tecnológico en forma de rentas para los innovadores, mientras que en lae economías cerradas son loe consumidoree quienes ee benefician máe, gracias a 1015 efectos 150bre loe preciol5 en loe mercadol5 de productos.Al ampliar el análisis para incluir patronee de adopción diferenciales en los distintoe ambientee de producción se alteran ligeramente eetas conclueionee en el caso de la economía cerrada, pero no en el de la economía abierta. Lae Figuras 2.1 y 2.2 muestran 1015 efectol5 de un aumento de la oferta de un determinado producto en una zona dada sobre diversos mercados regionales del producto en cuestión. Para facilitar el análisis, supongamos que el producto en cuestión es el trigo.En una economía abierta (Figura 2.1), el precio del trigo ee determinado en forma exógena o externa, ee decir, por condiciones del mercado mundial y (cuando se trata de un país importador) por los costos de transporte desde el país de origen. El desplazamiento de la curva de la oferta en la región favorecida de e a 5' no es entonces acompañado de una modificación en el precio recibido por loe productoree; en consecuencia, los productores de la región favorecida indudablemente ganan con el desplazamiento de la oferta. La cantidad del aumento del excedente para los productoree está indicada por el área ABen. Como en la zona marginal no cambian loe precios ni la producción, allí no se modifica el bienestar de los productores o consumidoree. Los consumidores urbanos tampoco son afectados por el desplazamiento de la oferta. Sin embargo, hay una modificación en la cantidad de importaciones necesariae para satisfacer la demanda urbana, es decir, la mayor producción de trigo en la zona favorecida sustituye a las exportaciones de trigo. 1En el caso de una economía cerrada donde loe precioe son determinadoe por la intersección de las curvas de la oferta y la demanda globales, el análisis se vuelve más complicado (Figura 2.2). Con el aumento de la oferta de trigo en la zona favorecida de s a s', la oferta global (1a suma de las curvas de la oferta en la región favorecida y en la marginal) se desplaza de S a S', haciendo que el precio caiga de Po a P 1 .2 En las zonas urbanas, los consumidores se benefician ya que la caída del precio produce sin lugar a dudas una mejora del bieneetar (medida por el área P~NP1).En la región marginal, los consumidores también se benefician con la reducción del precio. Al mismo tiempo, los productores -para quienes no se ha modificado la tecnología de producción (según la hipótesis)-son perjudicadoe por el menor precio de su producción. Además, con el nuevo precio se produce menos trigo. En general, hay un aumento neto del excedente total igual al área IJKL, ee decir, el aumento en el excedente para el consumidor (PoKLP1) menoe la reducción en el excedente para el productor (P o JIP 1 ). región marginal fuera exportadora neta de trigo, ya que entonces la reducción en el excedente para el productor sería mayor en términos absolutos que la disminución en el excedente para el cOMumidor.En la región favorecida, los resultadoe son máe ambiguoe. Al igual que en lae las zonas urban8l!l y la región agrícola marginal, loe coneumidoree ganan con el precio má.e barato del trigo. No obstante, no se puede determinar en forma inequívoca si loe productoree ganan o pierden en forma neta, ya que el efecto negativo de la caída del precio ee contrarrestado por un aumento de la producción. Por coneiguiente, es indeterminado el efecto último sobre los productores, porque depende de lae pendientee (el8l!lticidades) de las curvas de la oferta y la demanda y de la cantidad de desplazamiento de la oferta (es decir, la distancia horizontal de s a s').En 18l!l dos zonas agrícolas, para determinar cómo la modificación de lae condiciones en el mercado de trigo afecta el bienestar de determinados grupos socioeconómicos se debe tener en cuenta el hecho de que la mayoría de las familias productor8l!l de trigo, si no tod8l!l, también COMumen el cereal (Hayami y Herdt, 1977). Para eS8l!l famili8l!l de semiautoconeumo, una modificación del precio (en cualquier dirección) tiene efectos al mismo tiempo positivos y negativos. Cuando un incremento de la oferta provoca la caída del precio, los efectos negativos sobre 18l!l utilidades agrícolas son contrarrestados por el abaratamiento del precio del alimento. De este modo, el elemento crítico para determinar los cambios netos del bienestar de una familia de semiautocoMumo es que ésta sea productora neta o consumidora neta del producto en cuestión. 12 región marginal fuera exportadora neta de trigo, ya que entonces la reducción en el excedente para el productor sería mayor en términos absolutos que la disminución en el excedente para el coneumidor.En la región favorecida, los resultados son máe ambiguos. Al igual que en lae las zonas urbanae y la región agrícola marginal, los coneumidoree ganan con el precio máe barato del trigo. No obstante, no se puede determinar en forma inequívoca si los productores ganan o pierden en forma neta, ya que el efecto negativo de la caída del precio es contrarrestado por un aumento de la producción. Por coneiguiente, es indeterminado el efecto último sobre los productores, porque depende de lae pendientee (elaeticidades) de las curvas de la oferta y la demanda y de la cantidad de desplazamiento de la oferta (es decir, la distancia horizontal de s a s').En lae dos zonas agrícolas, para determinar cómo la modificación de lae condiciones en el mercado de trigo afecta el bienestar de determinados grupos socioeconómicos se debe tener en cuenta el hecho de que la mayoría de las familias productorae de trigo, si no todae, también coneumen el cereal (Hayami y Herdt, 1977). Para esae familiae de semiautoconsumo, una modificación del precio (en cualquier dirección) tiene efectos al mismo tiempo positivos y negativos. Cuando un incremento de la oferta provoca la caída del precio, los efectos negativos sobre lae utilidades agrícolas son contrarrestados por el abaratamiento del precio del alimento. De este modo, el elemento crítico para determinar los cambios netos del bienestar de una familia de semiautoconeumo es que ésta sea productora neta o consumidora neta del producto en cuestión. En varios estudios se ha argumentado que existe un vínculo entre los cambios tecnológicos en la agricultura de 1015 paÍ8es en desarrollo y 1015 precios máe bajos de 1015 alimentos (Akino y Hayami, 1975;Mellor, 1975;Evenson y Flores, 1978;Scobie, 1979). Ademáe, existen ciertos datos empíricos sobre la distribución de los efectos de un cambio tecnológico diferenciado según las regiones, específicamente la introducción de variedades modernas de arroz con alto rendimiento destinadas a las zonas irrigadas de Colombia (Scobie y Posadas, 1978;PiIll5trup-Andersen, 1970). En estos últimos estudios se corroboran las predicciones de los análisis del equilibrio parcial presentados anteriormente, y se concluye que la introducción de las VM de arroz benefició principalmente a los consumidores (en particular a 1015 de bajos ingresos) y a los productores que adoptaron la tecnología, mientras que fueron afectados en forma negativa los ingresos de los productores netos de arroz en zonas no irrigadas.Como los alimentos normalmente constituyen una proporción mayor de los gastos de las familias máe pobres (Pinstrup-Andersen, 1985), a menudo se argumenta que el abaratamiento de loe precios de los alimentos mediante el progreso tecnológico ha eido el máe importante efecto favorable para 1015 pobres causado por innovaciones del tipo de lae de la Revolución Verde (Ruttan, 1977;Lipton y Longhurst, 1989). No obstante, es importante obeervar que este reeultado depende de que los mercados de los productos en cuestión estén al menoe parcialmente cerrados al comercio exterior. También hay que señalar que loe análisis que apoyan esa conclusión en general no han tenido en cuenta las políticas gubernamentales de estabilización y de precios, que pueden tener profundos efectos sobre la distribución intrarregional e interregional de los ingresos, efectos que probablemente se extiendan a la transmisión de 1015 beneficios y los costos originados por el cambio tecnológico. Estas cuestiones se examinarán más adelante.Efectos sobre el mercado de trabajo Hay numerosas pruebas de que las tecnologías de la Revolución Verde como la semilla y el fertilizante en general llevaron a incrementos cOIll5iderables de la demanda de mano de obra (Ruttan, 1977;Jayasuriya y Shand, 1986;Lipton y Longhurst, 1989). Muy frecuentemente esos incrementos se han relacionado con aumentos del trabajo en la cosecha y la trilla como resultado de los rendimientos más altos, y con la mayor intensidad de cultivo facilitada por las variedades de ciclo máe breve (Barker y Cordova, 1978). Siempre que la oferta de mano de obra sea menos que perfectamente elástica, esas modificaciones de la demanda de mano de obra inducirán aumentos salariales en 1015 mercados locales de trabajo, con lo cual resultarán afectados los ingresos de todas las familias de las zonas que adoptan la tecnología para quienes el trabajo agrícola es una fuente de ingresos.'Los efectos de una tecnología nueva que requiere mano de obra sobre los mercados de trabajo pueden extenderse fuera de la zóna en la cual se adopta la tecnología cuando los trabajadores en las zonas que no la adoptan se desplazan de una zona a otra. La teoría que sustenta esa posibilidad es directa. Si, a cauea de la mayor demanda de mano de obra, los salarios reales se elevan lo suficiente para cubrir el costo de cambiar de localidad, los trabajadores de las zonas que no adoptan la tecnología a veces emigran 14En varios estudi08 se ha argumentado que existe un vínculo entre los cambios tecnológicos en la agricultura de los países en desarrollo y los precios más bajos de los alimentos (Alcino y Hayami, 1975;Mellor, 1975;Evenson y Flores, 1978;Scobie, 1979). Además, existen ciertos datos empíricos sobre la distribución de los efectos de un cambio tecnológico diferenciado según las regiones, específicamente la introducción de variedades modernas de arroz con alto rendimiento destinadas a las zonas irrigadas de Colombia (Scobie y Posadas, 1978;Pinstrup-Andersen, 1970). En estos últimos eetudios se corroboran las predicciones de los análisis del equilibrio parcial presentados anteriormente, y se concluye que la introducción de las VM de arroz benefició principalmente a los consumidores (en particular a los de bajos ingreeos) ya 1015 productores que adoptaron la tecnología, mientras que fueron afectados en forma negativa 1015 ingresos de 1015 productoree netos de arroz en zonas no irrigad88.Como los alimentos normalmente constituyen una proporción mayor de los gastos de las famili88 más pobree (Pinstrup-Andersen, 1985), a menudo se argumenta que el abaratamiento de los precios de 1015 alimentos mediante el progreso tecnológico ha sido el más importante efecto favorable para los pobres causado por innovaciones del tipo de las de la Revolución Verde (Ruttan, 1977;Lipton y Longhurst, 1989). No obstante, es importante observar que este resultado depende de que 1015 mercados de 1015 productos en cuestión estén al menos parcialmente cerrados al comercio exterior. También hay que señalar que los análisis que apoyan esa conclu5ión en general no han tenido en cuenta 188 políticas gubernamentale5 de estabilización y de precios, que pueden tener profund05 efectos sobre la distribución intrarregional e interregional de 105 ingresos, efectos que probablemente 5e extiendan a la transmisión de los beneficios y los costo5 originados por el cambio tecnológico. Est88 cuestiones 5e examinarán más adelante.Efectos sobre el mercado de trabajo Hay numerosa5 prueba5 de que 188 tecnologías de la Revolución Verde como la semilla y el fertilizante en general llevaron a incremento5 considerables de la demanda de mano de obra (Ruttan, 1977;JaY88uriya y Shand, 1986;Lipton y Longhurst, 1989). Muy frecuentemente esos incrementos se han relacionado con aumentos del trabajo en la cosecha y la trilla como resultado de los rendimientos más altos, y con la mayor intensidad de cultivo facilitada por las variedades de ciclo más breve (Barker y Cordova, 1978). Siempre que la oferta de mano de obra sea menos que perfectamente elá5tica, esas modificaciones de la demanda de mano de obra inducirán aumentos salariales en los mercados 10cale5 de trabajo, con lo cual reeultarán afectados los ingresos de tod88l88 familias de 188 zonas que adoptan la tecnología para quienes el trabajo agrícola es una fuente de ingresos. 4Lo5 efectos de una tecnología nueva que requiere mano de obra sobre los mercados de trabajo pueden extenderse fuera de la zóna en la cual se adopta la tecnología cuando los trabajadore5 en 188 zon88 que no la adoptan se de5plazan de una zona a otra. La teoría que sustenta esa posibilidad es directa. Si, a cau5a de la mayor demanda de mano de obra, 105 5alarios reale5 se elevan lo 5uficiente para cubrir el costo de cambiar de localidad, los trabajadores de la5 zonas que no adoptan la tecnología a vece5 emigran para aprovechar lae mejores oportunidades de empleo. Además de transferir algunos de los beneficios de la nueva tecnología a los individuos que emigran, la emigración también impulsará el ascenso de los salarios en las zonas que no adoptan la tecnología y, por consiguiente, también allí se beneficiarán los trabajadores.Esto se ilustra en la Figura 2.4. Inicialmente, existe un salario de equilibrio, W o ' en las regiones marginal y favorecida. ll La adopción de tecnología que requiere mano de obra en la región favorecida desplaza la curva de la demanda de mano de obra desde dd a d'd', elevando el salario existente en la región de W o a W 1 • La diferencia entre los salarios de las dos regiones hace que parte de la fuerza de trabajo de la región marginal emigre a la región favorecida. El ingreso de trabajadores desde la región marginal desplaza la curva de oferta de mano de obra en la región favorecida (de ir a ff) y hace descender el salario en esta región. Al mismo tiempo, la emigración de trabajadores eleva el salario existente en la región marginal (a causa del desplazamiento de la oferta de mano de obra de mm a m'm'). Este proceso continúa hasta que se establece un nuevo salario de equilibrio en W 2 • Es ampliamente reconocido el potencial de la migración de una zona rural a otra de transferir algunos de los beneficios (en forma de salarios más altos) de los cambios tecnológicos a las familias de trabajadores agrícolas de las zonas que no adoptan la tecnología (  Acharya, 1989). En las Filipinas, Otsuka et al. (1990) proporcionan datoe de que las taeas diferenciales de adopción de lae VM de arroz en loe ambiente8 favorablee y desfavorablee de producción provocó una coneiderable migración interregiona1. Por último, economistae vinculados con el Inetituto Internacional de Inveetigaciones sobre el Arroz han emprendido recientemente una eerie de eetudioe eobre loe efectoe de lae variedadee modernae de arroz en loe mercadoe regionalee de trabajo (Otsuka et al., 1990;Upadhyaya et al., 1990;H08sain y Akaeh, 1990;Ievilanonda et al., 1990;Gunawan et al., 1990). Esos estudios corroboran la hipóteeie de que la migración y el poeterior emparejamiento de los salarioe han actuado para traneferir parte de los beneficioe del cambio tecnológico deede loe ambientes favorecidoe a loe ambientee marginalee que no recibieron un aumento tan grande de loe beneficioe directoe de la productividad.Debemoe agregar aquí variae condiciones de la eituación preeentada en la Figura 2.4. En primer lugar, si bien los salarios reales máe altoe podrían parecer el resultado obvio de la mayor demanda de mano de obra a cauea del cambio tecnológico, hay poca confirmación empírica de eeto. Máe bien, loe datoe indican que, en la mayoría de lae zonae donde ee adoptaron lae VM con rapidez, hubo un estancamiento o, en el mejor de 105 ca80e, pequeñ08 aumentoe de loe ealarioe realee (Lipton y Longhuret, 1989). Lae posibles explicacionee de eeto incluyen loe altos gradoe de deeempleo o eubempleo en lae zonae de adopción antee de que se produjera éeta, las was elevadae de crecimiento demográfico y la inmigración de trabajadoree en las zonas de adopción. Es importante destacar que ninguna de esae explicacionee contradice la idea de que la remuneración de loe trabajadoree agrícolas mejoró con lae VM, en comparación con la que hubieran recibido en aueencia de la tecnología nueva.Una segunda condición deleencillo análieie presentado anteriormente ee que la migración interregionaleuele produciree gradualmente durante un período largo, ya que eon coneiderablee loe costoe de emigrar (aunque sea traneitoriamente) de un lugar geográfico a otro. En coneecuencia, parece razonable coneiderar que la mano de obra ee geográficamente inmóvil a corto plazo pero móvil a largo plazo. La naturaleza dinámica de la migración como equilibrio compensador hace baetante dificil la tarea de identificar la medida en que la migración contribuyó a la tranemieión de beneficioe potenciales a loe trabajadoree (en forma de ealarioe más altoe y mayor demanda de mano de obra) deede lae regiones que adoptaron la tecnología a lae que no la adoptaron. Finalmente, debemoe mencionar la emigración deede zonae ruralee a zonae urbanae. Si bien la emigración de una zona rural a otra puede eer en verdad una fuerza importante que influye en el bienestar de las claeee trabajadorae ruralee, en la mayoría de loe caeoe ee probablemente menor en magnitud que la emigración de los habitantee rurales a las ciudadee. 6 Sin embargo, es poeible que lae modificacionee de lae condicionee de loe mercados ruralee de trabajo (como loe cambios vinculadoe con la difueión de lae VM) puedan haber alterado los flujos de mano de obra de las zonas rurales a lae urball88, en comparación con lo que hubiera sucedido de no producirse esos cambios, ya que loe salarios mú altos y la mayor demanda de mano de obra en las ZOIl88 de adopción vuelven menos atractivas las oportunidades de empleo urbano. En realidad, lu diferencias en las tasas de emigraci6n de las zonas rurales a las urball88 causadas por la adopción diferencial de tecnologías mejoradas generarían en esencia loe miemoe efectos sobre el bienestar que se producen en loe caeos en que la tecnología provoca la emigración de una zona rural a otra, si bien la dinámica ~e esos efectoe (en términos del momento del desplazamiento de los trabajadores) probablemente sería algo diferente.En el Cuadro 2.1 se sintetizan las predicciones de los análisis del equilibrio parcial del cambio tecnol6gico que intensifica la productividad, tanto en economías abiertas como cerradas. Las situaciones de las economías abiertas y cerradas son útiles como punto de partida para analizar las repercueiones del cambio tecnológico. Sin embargo, en realidad estos casos ideales simplemente proporcionan límitee aproximados dentro de los cuales se encuentran las consecuencias distribuidas reales. Sucede esto porque es probable que la intervención gubernamental, en particular en loe mercados de productos, altere la distribución de loe resultadoe de una determinada innovación. Cuadro 2.1. Efectos de una innovación tecnolóFCB en ZOD&8 favorecidas IIObre dlvel'll08 factonw de la producción y IJ'Upoe de la población. En especial cuando se trata de aliment08 báeicoe como el trigo o el arroz, los gobiernos de los países en desarrollo normalmente intervienen en los mercados con el fin de alcanzar ciertoe objetivoe socialee y políticos. Estos objetivos incluyen mantener bajo el precio del alimento para loe coneumidores urbanos, fomentar la autosuficiencia nacional (''la eeguridad alimentaria''), elevar los ingresos de los productores y estimular un deearrollo regional equilibrado. Los instrumentos políticos ueados con más frecuencia para alcanzar esos objetivos incluyen los subsidios a los alimentos para los consumidores y loe precios de apoyo para los productores. La aplicación de una o, máe comúnmente, ambae políticas, abre en realidad una brecha financiada por el sector público entre los precios al consumidor y los precios al productor (Pinstrup-Andereen, 1985).La Figura 2.5 muestra los costoe para el erario de loe subsidioe a loe precios al consumidor y al productor en un paíe importador. El diagrama (b) de la Figura 2.5 presenta el caeo en que loe consumidores pagan el precio mundial (Pe = Pw) y loe productores reciben un precio euperior al precio mundial. Aquí, el coeto para el gobierno ee igual a la diferencia entre el precio (subsidiado) al productor y el precio mundial multiplicada por la cantidad producida. En este caso, un incremento de la oferta sí tiene un efecto sobre el costo total para el gobierno, ya que, después del desplazamiento, el subsidio por unidad se aplica a una cantidad mayor que antes. En el ejemplo presentado en la Figura 2.5(b), el aumento de los costos para el erario corresponde al área ABCD. Nótese que loe precios al productor fijados por debajo del precio mundial de hecho gravan a los productores. En ese caso, un incremento de la oferta aumenta este gravamen efectivo en una cantidad igual a la cantidad de incremento de la oferta, multiplicada por la diferencia entre el precio mundial y el precio al productor.Los gobiernos de los países en desarrollo comúnmente intervienen en ambas partes del mercado de alimentos básicos, manteniendo los precios al coMumidor por debajo de los niveles de paridad de importación y subsidiando o gravando a los productores. Los efectos independientes de estas dos políticas son acumulativos. Cuando tanto los productores como los consumidores están subsidiados, un incremento de la oferta representa una mayor merma de los recursos fiscales. En esos casos, las tecnologías que inteMifican la productividad hacen más difícil para el gobierno mantener el mismo grado de subsidios en las dos partes del mercado. Por el contrario, cuando las políticas de precios subsidian a los consumidores y gravan a los productores, un incremento de la oferta aumenta el gravamen efectivo sobre los productores, mientras que no se modifica el grado en que están subsidiados los cOMumidores. En esta situación, es menor la merma de los recursos fiscales ya que los productores ahora financian una proporción del subsidio a los cOMumidores aun mayor que antes del aumento de la oferta.El mecanismo mediante el cual las comisiones de precios establecen los precios al productor y al cOMumidor de los alimentos básicos a menudo es misterioso. Los encargados de formular estas políticas tratan de equilibrar el problema práctico de trabajar dentro de restricciones presupuestarias con el problema político de limitar las importaciones y, al mismo tiempo, mantener bajos los precios de productos que con frecuencia son los componentes más importantes de los gastos de grandes grupos de electores. No hay forma de saber a priori como responderá la política de precios a una restricción del presupuesto f15cal o a un cambio de las condiciones del mercado, como el desplazamiento de la oferta interna o la modificación de los precios mundiales. Dado que los cOMumidores urbanos normalmente ejercen más poder político que el electorado rural, la política de precios en los países en desarrollo a menudo (pero no siempre) tiende a favorecer más a los cOMumidores que a los productores.En los casos en que el gobierno ejerce un control considerable sobre los precios tanto al productor como al cOMumidor -situación bastante frecuente en relación con los alimentos básicos en los países en desarrollo-se pueden considerar esos precios como fijos a corto plazo. En el contexto de u,na tecnología que aumenta la oferta total, no hay diferencia esencial aquí con las situaciones de una economía abierta descritas anteriormente, ya que en ambos casos los precios son independientee del comportamiento de los productores y los consumidores.Sin embargo, con el tiempo los precios sí se moverán, en parte en respuesta a las fuerzM políticas pero también en respuesta a la oferta y la demanda en loe mercadoe interno e internacional, así como a 1M restricciones fiscales del gobierno. En variae situacionee posibles, las fuerz88 polítiC88 y 188 económicas podrían en cierta medida complementarse. Por ejemplo, cuando un gobierno fija precios de apoyo al productor que superan el precio mundial, una tecnología nueva que aumente la oferta podría ejercer una presión ill80stenible en los recursos gubernamentalee. Un resultado probable de esta situación sería que los precios al productor caigan en una forma más o menos similar a la señalada en la situación de la economía cerrada que se describió anteriormente. 8 Otro ejemplo de esto se da cuando el gobierno tiene un presupuesto fijo, los precios mundialee van en aumento y los grupos de consumidores son relativamente más fuertes que los grupos de productores en la batalla por los recursos gubernamentalee (fijos). En este C880, se puede esperar que disminuyan los precios al productor, en particular si esos precios fueran f¡jos y hubiera un cambio tecnológico que generara ganancÍ88 inesperad88 para los productoree, situación que también ee similar a la del cambio tecnológico en una economía cerrada.Finalmente, hay que destacar que las polític88 de precios al consumidor y al productor no son los únicos mecanismos mediante los cuales los gobiernos de los paÍ8es en desarrollo podrían modificar la distribución de los efectos del cambio tecnológico o de cualquier otro choque exógeno para los mercados de productos. En el contexto de la agricultura de Pakistán, los subsidios a insumos tales como los fertilizantes y los tractores, constituyen ejemplos importantes de esos mecanismos. En teoría, los subsidios a los insumos tienen efectos similares a los precios de apoyo al productor. Es decir, un aumento de la oferta provocado por una reducción de los COst08 unitarios de los insumos llevará a una mayor demanda de un insumo subsidiado, elevando el costo de ese subsidio para el gobierno. Como ese costo tendrá que ser financiado en alguna forma por el limitado presupuesto gubernamental, el desplazamiento de la oferta provocará una reducción por unidad de otros subsidios y/o una mayor deuda gubernamental.Los análisiB del equilibrio parcial presentados en las secciones anteriores son útiles para comprender aspectos aiBlados de cómo el cambio tecnológico afecta diversos mercados, y también destacan los diferentes efectos que éste puede tener sobre distintos tipos de familias en una economía. Se ha comprobado que la magnitud y la orientación (positiva o negativa) de esos efectos dependen mucho de que 188 familias adopten o no adopten la tecnología nueva, sean productor88 net88 o consumidoras netas de los productos afectados y de que contraten o vendan mano de obra.En Pakistán, como en la mayoría de los paÍ8es en desarrollo, la mayoría de las familiae rurales son productoras y consumidoras -del alimento básico principal (el trigo). Además, aunque gran parte del trabajo en 188 finc88 es realizado por miembros de la familia, la mayoría de 188 familias interactúan también en los mercados rurales de trabajo, ya sea como compradoras o vendedoras de mano de obra (o amb8l5 COMS). Las fuerZ8l5 económicas desecadenadas por una tecnología mejorada de producción tendrán entonces efectos múltiples sobre una determinada familia. En consecuencia, para determinar el efecto global del cambio tecnológico se requiere un modelo que sintetice esos efectos individuales en un marco unificado. En un apéndice de eete trabajo (Apéndice A) ee establece formalmente un modelo de este tipo. Los program815 de computadora que apoyan el modelo (y la documentación completa) pueden solicitarse al Programa de Economía del CIMMYT. En esta eección se describe el modelo en términos generales y ee indican sus ueos y limitaciones.El modelo presentado aquí en muchos 815pectoe es similar a loe modelos teóricos empleados por Quizon y Binswanger (1983Binswanger ( , 1986) ) para analizar los efectos eobre la dietribución de loe ingresoe provocados por loe cambios tecnológicos en la India. Sin embargo, a diferencia de esoe trabajos, nuestro modelo considera explícitamente loe efectoe de diversae cl8I5es de factoree en 1815 zon815 rurales no afectadas directamente por una supueeta innovación tecnológica. Si bien el modelo incluye un sector urbano, no llega a ser un modelo completo del equilibrio general porque la mayoría de loe factoree que afectan a 1815 familiae urbanas ee consideran como exógenoe. En eeta forma, se aeemeja al modelo de ''mercadoe múltiplee\" ueado por Braverman y Hammer (1986) y Braverman et al. (1987).La metodología básica que sustenta eeta claee de modelos es clara. Primero se caracterizan matemáticamente los r8l5gos sobresalientes de una economía anotando un conjunto de relacionee funcionales generalee que gobiernan los mercados de interés. La manipulación algebraica de esae ecuaciones permite entoncee expresar el sistema en forma log-lineal, relacionando loe cambios porcentuales en un conjunto de variablee endógenas (cantidadee y precios) con los cambioe porcentuales en un eubconjunto de variablee exógenae, de acuerdo con un conjunto de parámetroe subyacentes (elaeticidades y cuotae de participación). Expresado en esta forma, el modelo permite eimular loe efectoe de loe cambioe de variablee exógenas clavee de interée (por ejemplo, un \"choque\" tecnológico) eobre variablee endógenae de interés (por ejemplo, loe ingreeoe realee de diversoe tipoe de familiae).El modelo actual considera ocho tipos distintos de familias en treelocalidades geográfic815 diferentes, que incluyen: 1) agricultores en gran escala, minifundist815 y campeeinos ein tierra en zon815 favorecidae; 2) agricultores en gran eecala, minifundistae y campeeinos ein tierra en zon815 marginales; y 3) famili8l5 pobres y no pobres de zon815 urbanas. Se supone que todas 1815 famili8l5 consumen dos productoe, un alimento básico (el trigo) y otro producto más. Se considera que las demandas de eetos productos en las familiae dependen de los precios de éstos y de los ingresos familiares realee.Las familiae de los agricultores eon productoras de semiautoconsumo, que consumen una proporción considerable del trigo que cultivan. Se supone que eS815 familias producen trigo y otro cultivo más usando dos insumos variables (mano de obra y fertilizante) y uno ()jo (1a tierra). Las ofertae de los productoe y 1815 demand8l5 de los insumos son funciones de los precioe de los productos y de los insumos variables.También se considera que la producción de trigo y 1815 demand815 de los ineumos variables dependen de una variable tecnológica específica para la región que, en forma exógena, incrementa la oferta de trigo y la demanda de insumos. Las utilidades agrícolae se consideran iguales a las utilidades residuales de la tierra, es decir, el valor total de los productos menos los costos variables.Se supone que todae lae familiae rurales proporcionan mano de obra agrícola y que la oferta de trabajo familiar depende del salario agrícola real. Loe ingree08 familiares nominales se determinan sumando las utilidades netae de todos 108 factores que la familia arrienda, incluyendo lae utilidades agrícolae, ingreeoe por el trabajo familiar y otros ingresos exógenos. Se derivan entonces los ingresos reales efectuando la deflación de los ingresos nominales de acuerdo con índices de precios específicos para determinados tipos de familiae.Para cerrar el modelo se requiere formular hipótesis de cómo se compensan los mercados de productos y factores. Como indicaron los análisis anteriores, estas hipótesis son importantes dadas las diversas consecuenciae para el bienestar que tienen lae distintae caracterizaciones de esos mercados. Se consideran tres variantes de solución del modelo. La variante 1, una solución a corto plazo, supone que el precio del trigo se determina en forma exógena (por ejemplo, por los mercados mundiales o mediante políticas gubernamentales de precios) y que la mano de obra es inmóvil. 9 En este caso, los mercados regionales de mano de obra agrícola se compensan en forma independiente unos de otros y el salario se determina como aquel que iguala la oferta regional de trabajo con la demanda regional. Como en esta variante los precios del trigo son fijos, las modificaciones de la oferta y la demanda en el mercado de trigo están constituidae por cambios en las importaciones (que son endógenas).Las variantes n y 111 son soluciones a largo plazo en las que se supone que la mano de obra es móvil. Esa movilidad implica que los salarios están equilibrados en todas las regiones de tal modo que los salarios en distintae regiones son proporcionales entre sí y esa proporcionalidad es determinada por los costos de transacción de la migración.10 La variante n supone que el precio del trigo es determinado en una economía cerrada. En este caso, la cantidad de importaciones controladas por el gobierno se determina en forma exógena. La variante nI supone que el precio del trigo se determina en forma exógena. Como en el caeo a corto plazo, esto hace que las importaciones sean endógenas.Para cualquier cambio en un subconjunto de variables exógenas, el modelo resuelve simultáneamente los cambi06 en las variables endógenae de la cantidad y los precios, con lo cual determina la producción, el consumo, la demanda de insumos, la oferta de mano de obra, los ingresos nominales y teales y los índices de precios para cada uno de ~Todas las variantes suponen que los precios del fertilizante y de artículos que no sean el trigo se determinan en fonna ex6gena.los ocho grupos familiares cOIl8iderados. De este modo, el modelo permite simular los efectos de los cambios en variables exógenas claves sobre esas variables endógenas. Serán de particular interés en este caso los efectos simulados sobre los ingres08 reales que tienen tres patrones diferentes de cambio tecnológico, d08 en los que la adopción de la tecnología se limita exclusivamente a la zona favorecida o a la marginal y uno donde el cambio tecnológico se produce en ambas zonas.Si bien 108 efectos de los choques tecnológic08 de diversOl5 tipos serán el punto central de 108 análisis de simulaciones efectuados usando el modelo, se pueden alterar todas las combinaciones de variables exógenas. Por cOMiguiente, se puede usar el modelo para examinar diversas combinaciones de políticas de precios, subsidios a los iIl8umos, modificaciones de los ingresos no agrícolas y distintas tasas de crecimiento demográfico,l1 con o sin un cambio tecnológico concomitante.modelo. Como aquí la meta máe importante es formular observaciones acerca de los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos sobre distintos grupos socioeconómicos, se considera un número bastante grande de tipos de familias, y se mantienen muy sencillae las relaciones económicas que gobiernan el comportamiento de esas familias (por ejemplo, dos insumos y productos en la producción, dos productos consumidos).Por último, como ya se ha señalado el modelo es estático y permite una comparación de los equilibrios en dos momentos distintos en el tiempo. Por consiguiente, no esclarece la interesante cuestión de cómo una economía pua de un equilibrio a otro. Esto es de lamentar, ya que un cambio tecnológico es un fenómeno de desequilibrio que a menudo entraña importantes ajustes sociales y económicos en una economía. No obstante, el modelo puede proporcionar información sobre los efectos \"puros\" del cambio tecnológico, es decir, los efectos que se producirían si no ocurren cambios estructurales en la economía que los contrarresten.3Este capítulo proporciona cierta perspectiva histórica de los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en la producción de trigo de Pakistán en los últimos 25 años. Se intenta examinar los efectos de las tecnologí8l!l nueV8l!l sobre diversos mercados de productos e insumos, y las consecuencias para los ingresos de distintos tipos de familias que interactúan en esos mercados. Fueron tres las razones que impulsaron este estudio. En primer lugar, el examen de la historia reciente de la agricultura pakistaní proporciona valiosos conocimientos sobre los resultados que podría dar la intensificación de la productividad del sector en el futuro. En segundo lugar, es instructivo determinar la medida en que las predicciones teóricas de los análisis presentados en el capítulo anterior se han reflejado en acontecimientos ocurridos en Pakistán desde el comienzo de la Revolución Verde. Por último, el análisis señala factores bastante alejadoe de la producción de trigo (o, incluso, de la agricultura) que, en ciertos aspectos, han dominado el bienestar de 105 habitantes rurales de Pakistán. Esto tiene importantes implicaciones para el conocimiento del potencial y lae limitaciones del progre50 tecnológico en la agricultura como fuerza para mejorar el bienestar de distintoe grupos socioeconómicos.La agricultura es el sector más importante de la economía de Pakistán, pues, por sí solo, representa aproximadamente el 25% del producto interno bruto. De loe principales cultivos producidos -el trigo, el algodón, el arroz, el maíz y la caña de azúcar-el trigo es el más importante, ya que ocupa el 45% del total de la superficie cultivada y aporta el 30% del valor agregado total de 105 productoe agrícolas. También es el principal alimento básico para la gran mayoría de los pakistaníes, con un promedio de consumo per cápita anual que fluctúa entre los 115 kg en las zonas urbanas y los 147 kg en las ruralee (Hamid et al., 1988).El trigo es un cultivo importante en casi todos los sistemas agrícolae de Pakistán. En las zonas irrigadas, se producen dos cultivos cada año, por lo general un cultivo de la temporada de lluvias y luego el trigo. Las rotaciones de cultivos más frecuentes en las zonas irrigadas son la de arroz-trigo, algodón-trigo, maíz-trigo y caña de azúcar-trigo. En las zonas de temporal, los agricultores normalmente siembran trigo seguido de un c.ultivo de la temporada de lluvias (cacahuate, sorgo o mijo) en un año y al siguiente año dejan los campos en descanso después del trigo. Principalmente gracias a su euministro más seguro de agua, las zonas irrigadas de Pakistán son mucho más productiv8l!l que las de temporal. Según los datos del censo agrícola de 1980, las zonas irrigadas representan el 63% del total de la superficie cultivada, el 90% de la producción de trigo y el 94% del valor agregado de otros cultivos. Los rendimientos medios del trigo irrigado casi duplican los del trigo cultivado en condiciones de temporal. 25 3Este capítulo proporciona cierta perspectiva histórica de los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en la producción de trigo de Pakistán en los últimos 25 años. Se intenta examinar los efectos de las tecnologías nuevas sobre diversos mercados de productos e insumos, y las consecuencias para los ingresos de distintos tipos de familias que interactúan en esos mercados. Fueron tres las razones que impulsaron este estudio. En primer lugar, el examen de la historia reciente de la agricultura pakistaní proporciona valiosos conocimientos sobre los resultados que podría dar la intensificación de la productividad del sector en el futuro. En segundo lugar, es instructivo determinar la medida en que las predicciones teóricas de los análisis presentados en el capítulo anterior se han reflejado en acontecimientos ocurridos en Pakistán desde el comienzo de la Revolución Verde. Por último, el análisis señala factores bastante alejados de la producción de trigo (o, incluso, de la agricultura) que, en ciertos aspectos, han dominado el bienestar de los habitantes rurales de Pakistán. Esto tiene importantes implicaciones para el conocimiento del potencial y las limitaciones del progreso tecnológico en la agricultura como fuerza para mejorar el bienestar de distintos grupos socioeconómicos.El ceneo demográfico máe reciente (1980) indica que alrededor del 62% de la población rural de Pakietán vive en zonae irrigadae. 1 A nivel nacional, la dietribución de la propiedad de la tierra ee aeimétrica. Mientrae que trae de cada cuatro fincae tienen menoe de 5 ha, las grandee explotacionee repreeentan más del 60% de la euperticie cultivada total.2 Las fincae trabajadae por arrendatarios conetituyen el 25% de la totalidad de 1821 fincas. En promedio, lae fincas de lae zonae de temporal eon algo más pequeñae que 1821 de las zonas irrigadae. Los datoe reunidoe por Maqbool y Smale (1987) indican que loe minifundios conetituyen algo menoe del 80% de lae fincae de temporal y el 72% de 1821 de riego.En el Cuadro 3.1 ee presentan datos eobre la euperticie, loe rendimientoe y la producción de los principales cultivoe en eeÍB períodoe desde 1960. Se han regÜltrado cOIUliderables aumentos de los rendimientos de trigo, algodón y arroz desde 1960, los cuales pueden atribuirse al notable progreso en las tecnologías de producción de estos cultivos. A continuación se examinan las más importantes de esas tecnologíae.El trigo Bemienano Junto con la India y México, Pak.i5tán fue uno de los primeros beneficiarios de la Revolución Verde. Como consecuencia de su mayor potencial de rendimiento y mejor respuesta a los fertilizantes químicos en presencia de una proVÍBión asegurada de agua, las variedades semienanas han tenido grandee efectos sobre la productividad del trigo en Pakietán. La difusión del cultivo de la primera variedad l5emienana, Mexipak, ee inició en el ciclo de cultivo de 1966-1967 y, en consecuencia, para 1971 casi se había duplicado la producción de trigo (HaIUlon et al., 1982). Mexipak estaba báeicamente adaptada a lae zonae irrigadae de Pakietán, donde la provieión aeegurada de agua permitió realizar todo el potencial de la variedad. La adopción de las VM en lae zonas irrigadas avanzó con rapidez, comenzando en la cuenca del río Indo en lae provinciae de Punjab y Sindh y paeando luego a otras zonas irrigadas del paíe. Para 1971, se cultivaba trigo semienano en el 75% de la superficie irrigada total cultivada con trigo (Figura 3.1). Hay numerosae pruebae de que la adopción de las VM y tecnologías afines se produjo primero en las explotaciones grandes, pero, en unos años, loe minifundios ya habían alcanzado loe miemoe nivelee de adopción y de empleo de ineumos por hectárea (Eckert, 1970;Lowdermilk, 1972). En la actualidad, prácticamente todo el trigo cultivado en tierras irrigadae son variedades semienanas. La difusión de las VM en las zonas de temporal comenzó a mediados de loe 70 con el lanzamiento de la variedad Lyallpur-73. s La adopción avanzó a un ritmo algo más lento que en las zonas irrigadas y 1015 aumentos del rendimiento fueron considerablemente más pequeños} También variaron mucho las tasas de adopción, principalmente de acuerdo con la cantidad y la variabilidad de la precipitación anual. En las zonas con una precipitación más segura, la adopción fue relativamente rápida. Por el contrario, el cultivo de las variedades tradicionales, de menor rendimiento pero más tolerantes a la sequía, es aún bastante frecuente en una proporción cOI18iderable de la superficie cultivada con trigo en sitios con una precipitación anual escasa o variable. 5Las investigaciones titotécnicae subsecuentes han llevado al lanzamiento de un gran número de variedades desde 1971 (32 eólo en el Punjab). Después de las graves epifitiae de roya ocurridas en el decenio de 1015 70, se hizo gran hincapié en aumentar la resistencia de las variedades a los agentes patógenos en constante evolución. Además, la mayor intensidad de cultivo en 1015 síetemas de cultivo doble provocó demoras en la siembra del trigo y estimuló la generación de variedadee mejor adaptadae a la siembra tardía. Por último, el fitomejoramiento en Pakietán y en otrae partes ha contribuido al continuo acrecentamiento del potencial genético de lae variedades en Pakíetán que fueron lanzadae despuée de la Revolución Verde. El aumento anual del 1% de loe rendimientos de estas variedades, si bien muy inferior a lae tasae elevadae de incremento logradas durante el período de la Revolución Verde, ha sido muy respetable según los criterios mundialee (Byerlee y Siddiq, 1990).Las variedades mejoradas de arroz y algodón El decenio de los 80 fue escenario de la generación de variedades de arroz y algodón que modificaron mucho la productividad de esos cultivoe y los patrones de cultivo en 1015 síetemas agrícolae donde ee producen. Estos eíetemae -la zona de arroz-trigo del Punjab y las zonas de algodón-trigo del Punjab y Sindh-representan caei el 60% de la producción de trigo irrigado en Pakíetán.En la zona de arroz-trigo del Punjab, el arroz B88mati de alta calidad es un importante cultivo comercial producido por la mayoría de los agricultores. Una variedad de alto rendimiento y ciclo corto (B88mati-385) fue introducida por primera vez en 1986. Su adopción fue muy rápida y, dentro de loe tres años posteriores a su lanzamiento, aproximadamente dos tercer88 partes de la superficie total de arroz en 188 zona de arroz-trigo del Punjab estaban sembraw con B88mati-385 (Sharif et al., 1991). Esta variedad rinde h88ta el 50% más que las variedades B88mati lanzadae anteriormente, a causa de su mejor respuesta al fertilizante nitrogenado. Como es de ciclo corto, permite una siembra más oportuna del trigo e incrementa también la producción de ese cereal.En la.e zon88 de cultivo del algodón, se han lanzado desde 1980 tres variedades de algodón de madurez precoz. Estae variedades producen rendimientos más altos y tienen un ciclo de cultivo más breve que las variedades anteriores; por tanto, han sido adoptadae por c88i todos los agricultores. Su difusión ha acelerado la tendencia a una mayor intensidad de cultivo en los sistemas algodón-trigo. Esta tendencia se inició con la introducción de trigos semienanos de ciclo más corto que el de lae variedades tradicionales de trigo, pero parece haberse intensificado con el lanzamiento de las variedades de algodón de ciclo más breve (Tetlay et al., 1990).El empleo de fertilizantes Junto con la generación y la difusión de los trigos semienanos, el fertilizante fue un importante componente de la revolución del trigo en Pakistán a fines de los 60. Como se muestra en la Figura 3.2, el consumo de fertilizantes aumentó en forma espectacular a partir del momento en que se introdujo Mexipak. Antes de ese momento, el empleo de fertilizantes había sido mínimo en la mayor parte del país. Entre 1966 y 1976, el 90% del fertilizante químico aplicado en Pakistán era nitrogenado. Posteriormente, aumentó bruscamente el empleo de fertilizantes fosfatados; para 1986, estos fertilizantes representaban el 40% del total de nutrimentos aplicados al trigo (Byerlee y Siddiq, 1990).El patrón de adopción de los fertilizantes por los agricultores de 188 zon88 irrigadas y de temporal fue similar al de las VM de trigo. La difusión del empleo de fertilizantes en lae zon88 irrigad88 se produjo un poco antes que en las zon88 de temporal. Asimismo, los agricultores en gran escala en general fueron los primeros en adoptar la tecnología, si bien pronto se les unieron los minifundistas (Eckert, 1970).6 En la actualidad, el empleo de fertilizantes tanto nitrogenados como fosfatados en el trigo ee entre moderado y alto en la mayor parte de Pakistán, aproximadamente 45 kg de nutrimentos totales por hectárea en las zonas de temporal, y de más de 150 kg por hectárea en 188 irrigad88 (Sharif, comunicación personal).7Entre 1964 y 1976, se duplicó la disponibilidad de agua de riego en la temporada posterior a las lluvias. La conclusión de las presas de Tarbela y Mangla produjo un aumento del 50% en el agua de 108 canales de irrigación durante este período. Aún más espectacular fue la explotación de los mantos freáticos, ya que se elevó súbitamente la cantidad de pozoe entubados privados (Figura 3.2). Para 1976, el agua subterránea proporcionaba casi la mitad de la provisión de agua poeterior a la temporada de lluviae.La explotación de los mantos freáticos ha continuado hasta el presente, si bien la instalación de nuevoe pozos entubados disminuy6 durante loe SO. Hoy día, el agua de los pozos entubados representa el 60% del total de la provisión de agua después de la temporada de lluvias (de la cual alrededor delSO% se uea para el trigo).La expansión de la infraestructura de riego en Pakistán ha tenido en diversas formas efectos importantee sobre la producción de trigo y otros cultivoe. Gran parte del aumento de la provisión de agua sirvió para convertir tierras de temporal en irrigadas. También hubo una mayor disponibilidad de agua para los cultivos de riego. 8 Por último, Figura 3.2. Uso de fertilizantes, tractores y pozos entubados en Paldstán. 1966Paldstán. •1988. . Fuente: Economic Survey, 1988-1989. los pozos entubados han influido mucho en la intensidad de cultivo en varios de los sistem8l!l agríc018l!l máI!I importantes de Pakistán (Lockwood, 1983;Tetlayet al., 1990).El aumento de la intensidad de cultivo ha provocado efectos mixtos. Por una parte, se ha producido un aumento de la producción total de tod08 los cultivos en 108 sietem8l!l de cultivo doble. Por otra, ha tendido a retr8l!laree la siembra del trigo en algunos de 108 sistem8l!l agríc018l!l máI!I importantes de Pakistán (en especial, los sistem8l!l arroz-trigo y algodón-trigo del Punjab). Este conflicto ha tenido repercusiones negativ8l!l para 108 rendimientos de trigo en esas zon8l!l.La Figura 3.2 muestra también el continuo incremento de la cantidad de tractores en Pakistán. Para el decenio de los 80, los tractores se habían convertido en la principal fuerza motriz para la preparación de la tierra. Además, se usaban los tractores para mover 18l!l trilladoras mecánicas estacionarias; ést8l!l actualmente llevan a cabo el 97% de toda la trilla del trigo (CIMMYT, 1989d).No hay prueb8l!l de que los tractores hayan contribuido al aumento de los rendimientos de trigo en Pakistán (McInerney y Donaldson, 1975). Sin embargo, varios estudios indican que el empleo de tractores en el sur de Asia en general llevó a modestos incrementos de la intensidad de cultivo, que llegaban al 10% o menos (Binswanger,  1978; Jayasuriya et al., 1986; Tetlay et al., 1990). Aun 8I!Ií, el efecto más importante de la difusión de los tractores fue el aumento de la cantidad de tierra que un solo agricultor podía cultivar y, al mismo tiempo, la reducción de la cantidad de mano de obra por hectárea. Una consecuencia de esto fue el significativo desplazamiento de trabajadores y arrendatarios (McInerney y Donaldson, 1975). Esta situación fue agravada por el programa del Banco de Desarrollo Agrícola de Pakistán que proporcionó préstamos para la adquisición de tractores. Una parte desproporcionada de esos préstamos se asignaron a los agricultores en gran eecala; como resultado, la propiedad y el empleo de tractores se restringieron a esos agricultores durante un período mucho más prolongado que en el caso de insumos máI!I divisibles (por ejemplo, la semilla y el fertilizante). Con el tiempo, se deearrollaron mercados de renta de tractores y se ha ampliado el acceso a la tracción mecánica (Hobbs et al., 1991). Actualmente los tractores son el principal instrumento para la preparación de la tierra en el 75% de las finc8l!l de Pakistán (CIMMYT, 1989d).Las prácticas del manejo de cultivos En un estudio reciente (1990), Byerlee expresa que se han agotado los aumentos relativamente fáciles de la productividad obtenidos con las tecnologías de la Revolución Verde, como la semilla y el fertilizante, y que los futuros incrementos del rendimiento tendrán que provenir de la mayor eficiencia técnica en la utilización de 108 recu1'5Os. Este argumento destaca la importancia de la modificación de las prácticas de cultivo que podría genera1'5e mediante las investigaciones agronómicas. En Pakistán, tree prácticas prometen aumentar considerablemente los rendimientos de trigo y/o reducir el coeto de su producción: 1) la labranza cero; 2) el empleo de herbicidas químicos para combatir la maleza; y 3) la labranza profunda usando el arado con vertedera. En el Cuadro 3.2 se sintetizan los efectos que estas prácticas pueden tener sobre los rendimientos y el uso de insumos.La labranza cero e8 apta para loe ei.etemas agrícolas irrigadoe donde la mayor inteneidad de cultivo ha provocado retras08 en la eiembra del trigo,9 entre e1108, loe de arroz-trigo y de algodón-trigo en el PuIÜab. En eneayoe efectuadoe en vari08 años en la zona de arroz-trigo del PuIÜab, Aslam et al. (1989) encontraron que la labranza cero incrementó los rendimientoe como promedio en un 24% y, eimultáneamente, redujo en 87% los coetoe de preparación de la tierra. La labranza cero actualmente es practicada por muy pocos agricultores del Punjab.Por razones no muy bien conocidas, en el decenio de loe 80 se produjo una gran propagación de malezas (en especial Phalaris minar) en muchoe de loe si.etemae irrigad08 de Pakietán. En esas zonas, hasta un tercio de loe campoe pueden estar muy infeetad08, lo que cauea pérdidae del rendimiento de haeta 500 kg/ha. Se ha comprobado que los herbicidas químicos son muy eficaces para eliminar esas malae hierbae, con lo cual los rendimientos se incrementan en haeta el 34% (Aelam et al., 1989). Sin embargo,los agricultores actualmente emplean muy poco el control químico de la maleza, aunque la práctica parece estar ganando popularidad.En lae zonae de temporal, la labranza profunda con arados con vertedera ha llevado a considerables incrementos de los rendimientos en las zonae donde se ha usado aeta práctica. Sus consecuencias benéficae para los rendimientos son básicamente atribuibles al mejor arraigamiento que resulta de daebaratar el suelo compactado debajo del pie de arado y a la mayor conservación de la humedad. En ensayos a largo plazo efectuados en fincae entre 1982 y 1987, Razzaq et al. (1990) encontraron que, en promedio, la labranza profunda aumenta loe rendimientos en un 28.6%. Al mismo tiempo, la práctica reduce los costos de la preparación de la tierra, ya que la labranza con un arado con vertedera requiere menos paeee que cuando se usan arados tradicionales. En la actualidad, se estima que el 28% de los agricultores de la zona de poca precipitación del Punjab utilizan arados con vertedera; sin embargo, no se encuentra esa práctica en otrae zonas de temporal (Hobbs et al., 1991).Las políticas de intervención en el mercado de trigoTradicionalmente el gobierno de Pakistán ha desempeñado una función importante en el mercado de trigo, afectando la transmisión de los efectos indirectos de loe cambios tecnológicos a divereoe tipos de familias. El gobierno ha intervenido en tres formas báeicae: 1) adquiriendo trigo a un precio de compra garantizado; 2) otorgando subeidioe a insumos clavee usadoe en la producción de trigo y otroe cultivos; y (3) subsidiando el precio de la harina de trigo para los consumidoree urbanoe. A continuación se examinan la naturaleza y loe efectoe de esas intervenciones.Políticas de subsidios a los precios al productor y a los insumos El gobierno de Pakistán por lo general adquiere alrededor de la mitad de todo el trigo comercializado.10 El precio de compra del trigo por el gobierno normalmente se anuncia en el momento de la eiembra. Ee un precio mínimo, en el eentido de que los agricultores no están legalmente obligados a vender su producción al gobierno. Sin embargo, daede loe comienzos de la Revolución Verde el precio de compra gubernamental ha dominado el mercado de trigo en las zonae irrigadas, ya que el precio de compra privada (al mayoreo) del trigo rara vez ha diferido mucho del precio de compra gubernamental (Pinck.ney, 1989).El precio de compra es determinado cada año por el gobierno de acuerdo con la recomendación de la Comisión de Precios Agrícolas. Varios factores intervienen en la determinación final de este precio, como el costo medio de producción, lae tendencias previstas en los precios mundiales,lae cantidades de las existencias de trigo y, presumiblemente, la cantidad de recul'5OS f18cales de que dispone el gobierno. Algunos autores opinan que, de esos factores, el costo de producción es el más importante (Momon, 1988;Thobani, 1983). Según eete punto de vieta, el precio de compra se b8l!la principalmente en una estimación del costo medio de producción más cierta cantidad que representaría una utilidad 'justa\" para los agricultores.Los precios realee de compra en Pakietán también parecen haber reflejado las condiciones exietentee en el mercado mundial de trigo, en particular en el período poeterior a la Revolución Verde. La Figura 3.3 mueetra las tendenciae del precio real de compra y del precio real del trigo No. 2 Hard Red Winter (F.O.B. en puertos del Golfo) convertidos a rupiae al tipo oficial de cambio. Durante todo el período poeterior a la Revolución Verde (1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989), ambos precios han dieminuido eegún una t8l!la de alrededor del 1% anual, y exiete una correlación positiva b8l!ltante fuerte entre amboe precios (equivalente a 0.66). No obstante, el precio de compra sietemáticamente ha sido inferior al precio mundial, con la excepción de dos años a mediados de los 80. Además, como 185 importaciones yexportacionee de trigo eon controladas exc1ueivamente por el gobierno, loe comerciantee privadoe no pueden intervenir en el arbitraje en los mercados mundiales para facilitar la tranemieión de loe precioe mundiales a los productoree. Eeto explica la pereietencia de la diferencia entre loe precioe de compra y loe precios mundialee deede 1976.Loe productoree de Pakietán ee han beneficiado con loe subsidios a los fertilizantes, los créditos, el agua de riego y la electricidad, 85í como con 185 invereionee gubernamentalee en infraestructura para el riego. Sin embargo, la dietribución de loe beneficioe de esos subeidioe ha sido deeigual. Obviamente, los subeidioe y 185 invereiones gubernamentalee vinculad85 con la irrigación no han beneficiado a los agricultores de 185 ZOn8/!l de temporal, excepto en loe C&3oe en que ee proporcionó riego a ZOn8/!l donde antee no existía. Gran parte de loe créditoe eubeidiadoe otorgadoe por el Banco de Deearrollo Agrícola de Pakistán fueron préetamoe para la adquieición de tractoree. Como ya ee mencionó, una parte deeproporcionada de eeoe préetamoe ee 85ignó a Precio (milee de rupias de 1980/t) 4.5 agricultores en gran escala, sobre todo cuando se inició el programa. Se supone que el fertilizante subsidiado está al alcance de todos los agricultores, aunque en general existen algunos problemas con la distribución y la disponibilidad oportuna. l1Por lo común, los subsidios a los insumos no han compensado a los productores por los gravámenes representados por el precio de compra gubernamental inferior al de paridad y el tipo de cambio sobrevaluado. Webb et al. (1990) estiman que, entre 1982 y 1987, el gravamen neto a los productores de trigo representó el 30% del precio medio que recibieron. Incluso si no se tiene en cuenta el gravamen implícito resultante de la sobrevaloración de la rupia, el gravamen neto para los productores de trigo durante ese período representó un poco menos del 14% del precio de compra.La política de precio. al consumidor Hasta 1988, el gobierno de Pakistán operó un sistema de tiendas de racionamiento que ofrecía la harina de trigo a precios muy subsidiados. Las familias recibían cupones para una cantidad específica de harina racionada que podían comprar cada mes. La harina racionada era adquirida predominantemente por los consumidores urbanos, quienes tenían más fácil acceso a las tiendas de racionamiento (Alderman et al., 1988). En 1988 se desmanteló el sistema de tiendas de racionamiento.Antes de 1988, la harina de trigo para el consumo familiar que excedía la cuota de racionamiento se adquiría en mercados al menudeo a precios controlados por el gobierno; desde 1988, casi toda la harina usada por los consumidores urbanos ha sido adquirida en esos mercados. 12 Tradicionalmente se ha subsidiado en diversas formas la harina vendida al menudeo. Los costos de comercialización -incluidos los de transporte, molienda y distribución-del trigo comprado en Pakistán son totalmente absorbidos por el gobierno. La harina obtenida del trigo importado también está explícitamente subsidiada cuando, como ha sucedido casi todos los años, el precio al menudeo se mantiene por debajo de los precios de paridad de importación. El mantenimiento de un tipo de cambio sobrevaluado implícitamente ha subsidiado también a los consumidores.• El mercado de mano de obra agrícola T.W. Schultz (1975) ha señalado que los cambios tecnol6gicoe en la agricultura provocan un período de desequilibrio, cuando los productores y los trabajadores pasan de un conjunto de relaciones de producción a otro. En el caso de Paltistán, la Revolución Verde representa uno de esos episodios que ha tenido efectoe profundos a medida que los trabajadores agrícolas y los mercados de tierra se ajustaban a las condiciones cambiante8. En esta sección se investiga el comportamiento dinámico del mercado de mano de obra agrícola en los últimos 25 años. Se examinan primero los efectos profundos de la adopción amplia de tecnologías mecánicaS y bioquímicas durante la Revolución Verde. l3 Luego se analizan los efectoe del auge del empleo en el exterior del!lpués de 1976. Por último, I!le consideran lal!l diferencias interregionalel!l en los I!lalarios y la emigración de una zona rural a otra.El periodo de la Revolución Verde Hay pruebas considerables de que las tecnologías bioquímicas examinadas anteriormente llevaron a un aumento del empleo de mano de obra por hectárea (Chaudhry, 1982;Eckert, 1970;Lowdermilk, 1972). Loe tremendos incrementos de los rendimientos en los campos sembradol!l con trigo I!lemienano entrañaron un empleo considerablemente mayor de mano de obra para el cuidado de los cultivos, la cosecha y la trilla. El aumento del UI!lO de fertilizantes yagua implicó más demanda de mano de obra para aplicar esos insumos. Loe incrementoe de la intensidad de cultivo facilitadol!l por las variedades nuevas y la expansión del riego mediante pozos entubados elevaron la demanda de mano de obra para todal!l las operaciones. Chaudhry (1982) estima que, en las zonas irrigadas, la cantidad de mano de obra por hectárea aumentó según una tasa del 2.6% anual entre 1964 y 1976. Aproximadamente la mitad de esos aumentoe fueron resultado de una mayor intensidad de cultivo, y la otra mitad, de lal!l mayores exigencias de mano de obra debido a tecnologías como la semilla y el fertilizante.Loe efectos de la mecanización sobre la demanda de mano de obra I!lon más controvertidos. Está bien documentado que, en las etapas iniciales de la difusión de los tractores, fueron desplazados muchos arrendatarios porque los tractores permitieron a 101!l propietarios cultivar por sí mismos mayores extensiones de tierra (McInerney y Donaldeon, 1975). También hay pruebas de que se produjo un cambio sustancial en la composición de la fuerza de trabajo agrícola durante la Revolución Verde, en el cual los trabajadores contratados en forma ocasional y la mano de obra familiar reemplazaron a los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente (Chaudhry, 1982). Estas modificaciones se reflejan en la caída de los salarios reales recibidos por los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente entre 1966 y 1974 (véase el Cuadro 3.3, más adelante). Esta tendencia ha sido vinculada con la mecanización por algunos autores (por ejemplo, Irfan y Amjad, 1986), pero la reforma agraria de 1972, que rel!ltringió la cantidad de tierras que podíán ser operadas por propietarios ausentistas, probablemente también fue responsable de esa, tendencia. u La relaci6n de causalidad entre las cambiantel.!l condicionel.!l de arrendamiento y lal.!l dispol.!licionel.!l contractuales por una parte y la rápida di.fusi6n de tractorel.!l por otra, ha sido el tema de un gran debate en Pakil.!ltán. A riel.!lgo de efectuar una simplificaci6n excesiva, podemOl.!l decir que en el debate intervienen dOl.!l opinionel.!l contrapuel.!ltas: una, que la diful.!li6n de lol.!l tractorel.!l fue inducida por cambiOl.!l ex6genol.!l en la demanda de mano de obra, y la otra, que el mayor empleo de tractores fue caul.!lado por políticas que distor8ionaron los preciol.!l relativos del capital y la mano de obra. Parece existir algo de verdad en ambos puntol.!l de vista. Ofrecemol.!l aquí otra per8pectiva que incluye elemen-tOI.!l de ambol.!l puntos de vista y que se refiere a los diver8ol.!l gradOl.!l en que lol.!l mercados de arriendo de la tierra y de mano de obra se ajustaron al desequilibrio creado por los rápidOl.!l aumentos de la productividad. En el momento de la Revolución Verde,la aparcería era la forma predominante de arriendo de la tierra, mediante la cual los propietarios y los arrendatarios recibían proporcionel.!l fijae de la producción (normalmente 50% para cada parte). Con el tiempo, una creciente proporci6n de los contra-tOI.!l de arrendamiento I.!le basaron en el pago en efectivo (Renkow, 1991).15 No obstante, la evoluci6n de los contratol.!l de arrendamiento de la aparcería a la renta fija se produjo con relativa lentitud, preeumiblemente porque los contratos de arrendamiento se basaban en una tradición muy arraigada. Por el contrario, loe mercados de trabajo se ajustaron con bastante rapidez, como lo demuestran loe bruecos incrementoe de los salarios reales (véase más adelante). Esto implica que, en ese período de desequilibrio, los propietarios que afrontaban rigideces institucionales en el mercado de arrendamiento de tierras comenzaron a cultivar más tierra por sí mismos, en parte ueando mayores cantidades de mano de obra familiar y contratada y en parte sustituyendo el trabajo efectuado por los bueyes y el hombre por maquinaria. 16 La mecanizaci6n fue sin duda facilitada por las políticas que fomentaban la adquisici6n de tractores, como los préstamos subsidiados. Sin embargo, parece probable que las distor8iones políticas s610 aceleraron el proceso, en lugar de inducirlo.Si bien la demanda de mano de obra creci6 según una tasa del 2.6% anual durante el período de la Revolución Verde,la oferta de mano de obra se incrementó en alrededor del 1.7% anual. El resultado fue una presi6n 8l!lcendente en los salarios reales. Chaudhry (1982) presenta datos que indican que los ealarios reales de los trabajadores ocasionales crecieron en un 8% anual entre 1964 y 1969 yen un 6.3% entre 1969 y 1974. También informa que, para 1974, la escasez de mano de obra hacía dificil para los agricultores contratar suficientes trabajadores para diver8as operaciones.El auge del empleo en el exterior A partir de mediados de los 70, un gran número de pakistaníes comenzaron a emigrar a 1015 países productores de petróleo del Medio Oriente. Varían las estimaciones de la cantidad de emigrados en el extranjero. Irfan et al. (1982) hicieron una encuesta de varias de eS88 estimaciones y concluyeron que, en 1979, 1.8 millones de pakistaníes habían trabajado en el exterior y que 2.3 millones de pakistaníes trabajaban fuera del país en 1981. El flujo de emigrantes parece haber aumentado a mediados de los 80, a juzgar por la cantidad de envíos de dinero provenientes del exterior (Figura 3.4).De acuerdo con las estimaciones oficiales, loe envíos deede el exterior promediaron $2.5 mil millones anuales entre 1979 y 1988, cantidad equivalente al 8.5% del PIBY La infusión masiva de divisas resultante del auge del empleo en el exterior caueó profundos efectos en todos loe sectores de la economía de Pakistán. Aproximadamente el 60% del total de emigrantee provenían de las zonae rurales (Irfan et al., 1982). Aun cuando la mayoría de loe ingreeoe aportadoe por loe envíos se uearon para gastos de consumo y la adquisición de bienee durablee, una cantidad considerable de recureoe ingreeó en el eector agrícola en forma de invereionee en maquinaria y la adquisición de tierras cultivablee y de insumoe para mejorar la tierra. En el Pu~ab se eetima que el 13.4% y el 3.4% de loe ingreeoe por envíoe ee uearon para eeos prop6eitos en 188 zonae irrigad88 y de temporal, reepectivamente (Rahman, 1981). o~~~~:\"\"\"\"\"\"---'r--r--'--~\"\"---'I\"\"\"\"\"\"\"T\"--'--~\"\"---'r--T\"~1 El éxodo de trabajadores de las zonas rurales exacerbó la escasez de mano de obra agrícola, como refleja el continuo incremento de los salarios reales percibidos por los trabajadores oC8l!lionales a partir de mediados de los 70 (Cuadro 3.3).18 Es importante destacar que este crecimiento de los salarios reales en el período posterior a la Cuadro s.s. Jornalea realea (rupia de 1980/día) percibidoe por 108 trabaJadores ocaionalea y por los contratadoe en forma permanente. en el PunJab. Revolución Verde probablemente se produjo después de que el mercado de trabajo ee había ajuetado a lae condiciones de desequilibrio creadae durante la Revolución; ee decir, ee atribuible principalmente a un choque por completo exógeno para el sector agrícola. Junto con el ingreso de fondoe para invereión, el éxodo de trabajadoree sin duda contribuyó mucho a la difueión de tractoree y trilladorae.La emigración de una zona rural a otra Una cuestión que hay que coneiderar ee el grado en que lae diferenciae interregionalee en el crecimiento de la productividad agrícola contribuyeron a la emigración de una zona rural a otra en Pakietán. En particular, ee intereeante determinar la medida en que se produjeron emigraciones considerables de trabajadores de lae zonae de temporal a las irrigadae durante el período de la Revolución Verde, cuando la adopción de tecnologíae como la semilla y el fertilizante estaba limitada principalmente a lae zonae irrigadae.Son limitados los datos sobre la migración interna en Pakietán. La mejor fuente de información sobre el tema es un estudio realizado por el Instituto de Economía del Desarrollo (PIDE) de Pakietán en 1979Pakietán en (lrfan et al., 1982)). Este eetudio reunió datos sobre la migración interna de todo tipo (de una zona rural a otra, de zonae ruralee a urbanas, de una zona urbana a otra y de zonas urbanae a rurales). Se encontró que la emigración de una zona rural a otra representó la mayor proporción (alrededor del 40%) de la migración interna durante 1965-1973 y 1972-1979. Excluyendo la emigración de mujeree por el matrimonio, el 62% de la emigración de una zona rural a otra se produjo dentro de cada distrito, mientras que el 33% fue entre distritos y sólo en el 5% de los casos se atravesaron los límites provinciales.El estudio del PIDE no establece lae razones de la migración; tampoco contiene información sobre la emigración de lae zonas de temporal a lae irrigadae. 19 Una forma de deducir esa información sería comparar el comportamiento de los salarios en lae zonas de temporal y en lae irrigadas para ver si se produjo con el tiempo una reducción de las diferencias entre los salarios, preeumiblemente como coneecuencia de la equilibración de los mercados interregionales de trabajo. Tampoco se dispone de datos desglosados sobre los salarios de los trabajadoree ocaeionales. Sin embargo, los datos de encuestae anuales sobre el manejo de las fincas efectuadae por el Instituto de Inveetigaciones Económicae del Punjab (PERI) contienen información sobre los salarios de los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente en lae zonas de temporal e irrigadae del Punjab. 20 En el Cuadro 3.3 se presentan esos datos. Entre 1966 y 1974, los salarios reales de los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente tendieron a descender en ambos tipos de zonas y los percibidos en las zonae de temporal permanecieron en alrededor del 80% de los de las zonas irrigadae. En el período posterior a la Revolución Verde, desaparecieron en esencia las diferencias interregionales de loe ealarios de loe trabajadores contratados en forma permanente, ya que el crecimiento de loe salarios en las zonas de temporal superó al observado en las irrigadas.Combinado con las pruebas de que en Pakistán se produce una considerable emigración de una zona rural a otra, el emparejamiento en todas las regionee de loe ealarioe de la mano de obra contratada en forma permanente apoya en forma limitada la hipótesis de que la emigración de loe trabajadores contribuyó a distribuir loe beneficioe del crecimiento diferencial de la productividad desde las zonas máe productivas a las menos productivas. No obstante, como ee carece de información eobre loe ealarioe de los trabajadores ocasionales, en el mejor de los casos se puede considerar como sugerente esa evidencia. Al menoe otros dos factores podrían explicar la dinámica de los salarios de los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente. En primer término, el período posterior a la Revolución Verde corresponde al período de difusión de tecnologías vinculadas con la semilla y el fertilizante en las zonas de temporal. En consecuencia, el crecimiento de los salarios reales en estas zonas puede haber semejado las modificaciones del mercado de trabajo en las zonas irrigadas durante la Revolución Verde. En segundo lugar, es probable que, en la determinación de los salarioe agrícolas, los efectos del auge del empleo en el exterior en los salarioe realee en amboe tipoe de zonas hayan predominado sobre los efectos de la demanda de mano de obra agrícola.Está muy difundida la idea de que la mayor proporción de los trabajadoree que emigraron al exterior procedía de las zonal!! de temporal (Rahman, 1981). Si ee así, se podría esperar que la escasez de mano de obra (y los consiguientes aumentoe de loe salarios reales) hubiera sido más pronunciada en las zonas de temporal con reepecto a todae las categorías de trabajadores.Por último, es instructivo comparar el comportamiento dinámico de los salarios agrícolas realee en Pakistán con las tendencias de eeos salarios en la India. En este último paÚ!, durante la Revolución Verde 105 rápidos incrementoe de la productividad en las zonas irrigadas de los estados de Haryana y Punjab, productoree de trigo, indujeron grandes deeplazamientos de trabajadores temporalmente migratorioe deede otras partes del país (Dhar, 1980). Si bien loe salarios realee crecieron en forma sustancial en el Punjab y Haryana durante las primeras etapas de la Revolución Verde, eeos salarioe permanecieron constantes (o, incluso, se redujeron) entre 1970 y 1984 (Acharya, 1989;Jose, 1988;Sidhu y Byerlee, 1991). Presumiblemente esto obedeció en gran medida al ingreso de trabajadores temporalmente migratorioe y a la mecanización.La situación en la India contrasta notablemente con el caso de Pakistán, donde loe ealarioe reales han aumentado de manera continua en todas las zonae deede mediados de los 70. Es muy probable que la razón más importante de eeta diferencia haya sido los profundos efectos del auge del empleo en el exterior eobre 105 mercados de trabajo pakistaníee.La difusión amplia de tecnologías mejoradas puede tener consecuencias importantes para loe valores de la tierra, tanto los precios como las rentas de ésta. En teoría, la difusión de una tecnología sostenible que aumenta las utilidades por unidad de tierra representa un incremento del valor previsto de los ingresos actuales y futuros generados por la tierra. Por consiguiente, la difusión de la tecnología impulsará la 41 posterior a la Revolución Verde, desaparecieron en esencia las diferencias interregionales de 108 salarios de los trabajadores contratados en forma permanente, ya que el crecimiento de los salarios en las zonas de temporaleuperó al obeervado en las irrigadas.Combinado con las pruebas de que en Pakistán se produce una coneiderable emigración de una zona rural a otra, el emparejamiento en todas las regiones de los salarios de la mano de obra contratada en forma permanente apoya en forma limitada la hipóteeis de que la emigración de 108 trabajadoree contribuyó a distribuir los beneficios del crecimiento diferencial de la productividad desde las zonas más productivas a las menos productivas. No obstante, como se carece de información sobre los salarios de los trabajadores ocasionales, en el mejor de loe casoe se puede considerar como eugerente eea evidencia. Al menos otros dos factoree podrían explicar la dinámica de los salarios de loe trabajadoree contratados en forma permanente. En primer término, el período posterior a la Revolución Verde corresponde al período de difusión de tecnologías vinculadas con la semilla y el fertilizante en las zonas de temporal. En coneecuencia, el crecimiento de los salarios reales en estas zonas puede haber semejado las modificaciones del mercado de trabajo en las zonas irrigadas durante la Revolución Verde. En eegundo lugar, es probable que, en la determinación de los salarios agrícolas, loe efectos del auge del empleo en el exterior en los salarios reales en ambos tipos de zonas hayan predominado sobre los efectos de la demanda de mano de obra agrícola.Está muy difundida la idea de que la mayor proporción de los trabajadores que emigraron al exterior procedía de las zonal!! de temporal (Rahman, 1981). Si es así, se podría esperar que la escasez de mano de obra (y los consiguientes aumentos de los salarios reales) hubiera sido más pronunciada en las zonas de temporal con respecto a todas las categorías de trabajadores.Por último, es inetructivo comparar el comportamiento dinámico de los salarios agrícolas reales en Pakistán con las tendencias de esos salarios en la India. En este último país, durante la Revolución Verde los rápidos incrementos de la productividad en las zonas irrigadas de los estados de Haryana y Punjab, productores de trigo, indujeron grandes desplazamientos de trabajadores temporalmente migratorios desde otras partes del país (Dhar, 1980). Si bien los salarios reales crecieron en forma sustancial en el Punjab y Haryana durante las primeras etapas de la Revolución Verde, esos salarios permanecieron constantes (o, incluso, se redujeron) entre 1970 y 1984 (Acharya, 1989;Jose, 1988;Sidhu y Byerlee, 1991). Presumiblemente esto obedeció en gran medida al ingreso de trabajadores temporalmente migratorios y a la mecanización.La situación en la India contrasta notablemente con el caso de Pakistán, donde 108 salarios reales han aumentado de manera continua en todas las zonas desde mediados de los 70. Es muy probable que la razón más importante de esta diferencia haya sido los profundos efectos del auge del empleo en el exterior sobre los mercados de trabajo pakistaníes.La difusión amplia de tecnologías mejoradas puede tener consecuencias importantes para los valores de la tierra, tanto los precios como las rentas de ésta. En teoría, la difusión de una tecnología sostenible que aumenta las utilidades por unidad de tierra representa un incremento del valor previsto de los ingresos actuales y futuros generados por la tierra. Por coneiguiente, la difusión de la tecnología impulsará la demanda derivada de tierras de tal modo que se elevarán la8 rentas de ésta. Ademá8, como los precios de la tierra son en gran medida el valor capitalizado de las utilidades actuales y previstas generadas por la tierra (es decir, las rentas), éstas también se elevarán con los cambios tecnológicos.Para un estudio reciente, el Programa de Economía del CIMMYT reunió series cronológicas de datos sobre los preci08 de las tierras cultivables y las rentas de ella8 en dos regiones del Punjab, una zona de temporal en la parte occidental de la provincia y la zona irrigada de arroz-trigo (Renkow, 1991). En la Figura 3.5 se sintetiza el comportamiento dinámico de 108 precios y las rentas reales de la tierra en esae dos zonae. Se puede ver que en ambae zonae los aumentos de la productividad han llevado a mayores utilidades generadae por la tierra en forma de rentas reales más altas y que éstas se han capitalizado en precios reales más elevados de la tierra.En la Figura 3.5 también es evidente la divergencia de los precios y lae rentas de la tierra, en particular desde mediados de los SO. Esta divergencia es coneecuencia de factores ajenos a la productividad que elevaron el precio de las tierras cultivables. Esos factores podrían incluir la demanda especulativa de tierra para usos no agrícolas y la adquisición de tierras cultivables como inversión cuando se dispone de fondos para ello. Se encontró que, desde 1967, loe factoree ajenoe a la productividad han originado el 30% de loe incrementoe de loe precioe de la tierra obeervadoe en ambae zonae. Un factor ajeno a la productividad particularmente importante que probablemente haya elevado los precioe reales de la tierra en el período poeterior a la Revolución Verde ha eido la utilización de los envíoe de dinero provenientee del exterior para adquirir tierrae cultivables. 21   A peear de la importancia de los factoree ajenos a la productividad, ee evidente que loe continuoe incrementoe de la productividad agrícola han desempeñado una función clave en el conetante asceneo de loe precios de la tierra, al menos en lae zonas del Punjab incluidae en el estudio. A juzgar por la cronología de los aumentoe obeervadoe de 108 precioe y las rentas, parece que la mecanización, la semilla mejorada de trigo (y de arroz en la zona de arroz-trigo), el mayor empleo de fertilizantee en las zonas irrigadae y las modificacionee de las prácticae agronómicas en las zonas de temporal han contribuido a elevar los precios reales de la tierra. Esta valoración a largo plazo de eeos precios ha aumentado la riqueza de las familias ruralee propietarias tanto en las zonae de temporal como en las irrigadas.La dinámica de los ingresos rurales en Pakistán, 1965Pakistán, •1987 En lae seccionee anteriores de este capítulo se describió la naturaleza de loe cambios tecnológicos en la agricultura y el comportamiento de mercados agrícolas clavee en Paki8tán en los últimos 25 años. En la presente sección, nos concentraremoe en los efectos sobre loe ingreeos de lae familiae rurales. Para el análisis se utilizan datoe de publicaciones anuales del PERI sobre el manejo de las fincae y loe presupueetos familiares, que contienen información sobre loe costos y las utilidadee de la producción de cultivos en las fincae pequeñas y grandee de las zonas irrigadae y de temporal del Punjab. Esos datos también permiten calcular los ingreeos provenientes de diversae fuentes (la producción de cultivos, el trabajo de la familia y otras actividades) de lae familiae propietarias y las sin tierra. Los datoe son algo discontinuos en cuanto a los añoe en que se dispuso de información y la profundidad de la cobertura de los ambientes de producción y loe tipos de familiae de interée para eete eetudio. 22 No obetante, revelan importantee tendencias a largo plazo de 105 ingresoe ruralee en Pakietán.Las utilidades de la producción de cultivos En el Cuadro 3.4 se muestran las utilidades reales por hectárea originadas en la producción de cultivos entre 1965 y 1987. Esas utilidades se calcularon como el valor de la producción total menos los costos variables. Estoe costos incluyeron todos loe iI15umoe adquiridoe menoe el valor imputado de la mano de obra familiar y del estiércol de corral producido y usado en la finca. El valor imputado de la renta correspondiente a la tierra en el caso de los propietarioe no ee incluy6 en los costos variables. En cOI15ecuencia, los valores del Cuadro 3.4 repreeentan las utilidades por hectárea originadas por la tierra y el manejo.Si bien las utilidades por hectárea fueron muy variables en todos los grupos -sin duda en gran medida a causa de lae variaciones anuales del clima-son evidentes algunas tendencias claras. En todo el período de 1965-1987, las utilidades por hectárea crecieron según una tasa anual del 2.7% en lae fincas grandee de lae zonas irrigadas y de tempora1. 23 Las utilidades por hectárea disminuyeron ligeramente en los minifundios con riego, y cOI15iderablemente en loe minifundioe de temporal (si bien ninguna de esas tendencias fue significativamente distinta de cero en el nivel del 10%). iIll5umoe adquiridoe menoe el valor imputado de la mano de obra familiar y del estiércol de corral producido y usado en la finca. El valor imputado de la renta correspondiente a la tierra en el caso de los propietarioe no se incluyó en los costos variables. En cOIll5ecuencia, los valores del Cuadro 3.4 representan las utilidades por hectárea originadas por la tierra y el manejo.Si bien las utilidades por hectárea fueron muy variables en todos los grupos -sin duda en gran medida a causa de las variaciones anuales del clima-son evidentes algunas tendencias claras. En todo el período de 1965-1987, las utilidades por hectárea crecieron según una tasa anual del 2.7% en las fincas grandes de las zonas irrigadas y de temporal.2 3 Las utilidades por hectárea disminuyeron ligeramente en los minifundios con riego, y cOIll5iderablemente en los minifundios de temporal (si bien ninguna de esas tendencias fue significativamente dÜltinta de cero en el nivel del 10%).Cuadro n/d =no se dispuso de datos.• Basado en regresiones semilogarítimicas de la tendencia. Los dos asteriscos indican significancia en el nivel del 5%.Está bien documentado el incremento de las utilidades agrícolu en las ZOn8l5 irrigadas de Pakistán durante el período de la Revolución Verde. Chaudhry (1982) señala que, entre 1966 y 1970, la rentabilidad por hectárea cui se duplicó en las fincas pequeñas y se elevó en mM del 50% en las grandes. Observa además que 1815 fincu de temporal tuvieron aumentos similares de la rentabilidad, hecho que atribuye a la mecanización y al clima favorable en esu zonas durante esos años.La Figura 3.6 muestra la rentabilidad por hectárea en el período posterior a la Revolución Verde (1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987). Tanto en las zonas irrigadu como en 1815 de temporal, las utilidades por hectárea siguieron una tendencia ascendente hasta mediados de los 80, la cual se revirtió antes de concluir el decenio. En un trabajo de Ahmed y Chaudhry (1987) se ha señalado la disminución de la rentabilidad agrícola en el Punjab durante el decenio de los 80. Estos autores la atribuyen a la combinación de la reducción de los precios reales de los productos agrícolas, el aumento del nivel general de los precios y un ritmo más lento del progreso tecnológico. La Figura 3.6 también indica que la rentabilidad por hectárea de los minifundios ha caído más bruscamente que la de 1815 explotaciones grandes durante el decenio de los 80, en particular en las zonas irrigadu. Una posible explicación de esto es que las fincas pequeñas, que utilizan más mano de obra, fueron afectadas en forma más negativa por los aumentos salariales que acompañaron el auge del empleo en el exterior durante este período. 24   Zonas de temporal I\"'_---__. . 23 Estas tendencias positivas fueron significativas en las fmcas irrigadas pero no en las de temporal.24 Se observa que existe cierta disparidad entre las trayectorias crono16gicas de las rentas de la tierra presentadas en la Figura 3.5 y las utilidades por hectárea de la Figura 3.6. Esto sucede especialmente en las zonas irrigadas en el período posterior a la Revoluci6n Verde, cuando las rentas se elevaron durante todo el período mientras que las utilidades descendieron después de 1982. No obstante, hay que tener en cuenta que los datos sobre las rentas de la tierra usados se aplican 15610 a la zona de arroz-trigo, en la cual la adopci6n de Basmati-385 incrementó mucho la rentabilidad (y presumiblemente el valor medio de arriendo de la tierra). Por el contrario, los datos sobre las utilidades se aplican a toda la zona irrigada del Punjab.Los ingreso. de las familias rurales El Cuadro 3.5 presenta series cronológicas de datos sobre loe ingresoe medioe reales de los campesinos sin tierra, loe minifundistas y loe agricultores en gran escala de las zonas irrigadas y de temporal. En las zonas irrigadas, loe ingresoe familiares de los agricultores en gran escala superaron por un amplio margen a loe ingresos de todoe loe otros tipos de familias. Asimismo, los ingresos de las familias minifundistas sistemáticamente han sido mayores que loe ingresos de los campesinos sin tierra, n/d =no se dispuso de datos.• Basado en regresiones semilogarítmicas. Uno, dos y tres asteriscos indican significancia en los niveles del 10%,5% Y 1%, respectivamente.aunque aeta diferencia se ha reducido en el período posterior a la Revolución Verde. En la5 zonas de temporal, 108 nivelee relativOl!l de los ingreeos reales de todOl!l los tipos de familia5 5e asemejaron a 105 de las zonas irrigadas durante la Revolución Verde.Sin embargo, deede 1976 108 niveles de ingresos de las familias sin tierra en general han sido tan altos (o más) que los de las familias minifundietas y, en algunos añOl!l, han euperado 108 ingraeos de la5 familias de loe agricultores en gran eecala. Ee intereeante destacar que, deede 1982, loe ingresOl!l de los agricultores en gran eecala y loe minifundietaa (y, en la mayoría de loe añoe, loe de 108 campeeinoe ein tierra) en las zonas de temporal han eido euperioree a loe ingreeOl!l de los minifundietae de las zonas irrigadas.Las Figuras 3.7 y 3.8 mueetran las tendencias de loe ingreeoe realee de todoe loe tipoe de familias. La Figura 3.7 revela diferencias regionalee bien definidas en lae trayectorias cronológicas de loe ingreeoe de loe campeeinoe ein tierra.    Revolución Verde, pero han permanecido bastante col18tantes desde 1976. Por el contrario, los ingresos reales de loe agricultores sin tierra en las zonas de temporal fueron relativamente cOl18tantee durante el período de la Revolución Verde, pero se han elevado en forma eepectacular deede 1976. 25   Una probable explicación de estas diferenci8l!l interregionalee en el período poeterior a la Revolución Verde es que la participación de loe integrantes de 18l!l familwein tierra de las zonas de temporal en los mercados de trabajo no agrícola fue mayor que la participación de ese tipo de familias en 18l!l zonas irrigadas. En general, se cOl18idera que 18l!l familias más pobres de las zonas de temporal han cOl18tituido la mayor proporción de los trabajadores que emigraron durante el auge del empleo en el exterior a finee de los 70 y durante los 80 (lrfan et al., 1982). Por cOl18iguiente, tal vez loe envíos deede el exterior repreeenten una parte cOl18iderable del crecimiento observado de 101' \\ ingresos reales de las familias sin tierra en 18l!l ZOn8l!l de temporal. Además, estas zona.e tradicionalmente han sido más importantes que las irrigadas como fuente de mano de obra para los sectores no agrícolas de la economía de Pakistán (Rahman, 1981). En cOl18ecuencia, estas familias probablemente se beneficiaron con la expal18ión general de la economía en mayor medida que las familias sin tierra de las zonas irrigadas. La Figura 3.8 muestra el sorprendente crecimiento de los ingresos reales de las familias rurales en las zonas de temporal durante el período posterior a la Revolución Verde. Durante este mismo período, el crecimiento de los ingresos reales de los agricultores en gran escala de las zonas irrigadas fue mucho más modesto, mientras que disminuyeron los ingresos de los pequeños agricultores en estas zonas. Sumado al hecho de que las utilidades agrícolas se han reducido en el período posterior a la Revolución Verde, esto indica que las fuentes no agrícolas de ingresos de las familias rurales de las zonas de temporal han sido más importantes que en las zonas irrigadas.Esto ee confirma en la Figura 3.9, que mueetra los componentes de los ingresos familiares de los agricultores en cuatro períodoe distintoe entre 1965 y 1987. En las zonas irrigadas, las utilidades generadas por las actividades de cultivo han sido la principal fuente de los ingresos familiares totalee en todos los períodos y representan el 50-61% de los ingresos de los minifundistas y el 50-66% de los ingresoe de los agricultoree en gran escala. En las zon8l!l de temporal, la proporción de los ingreeos familiares aportada por la producción de cultivos se ha reducido sistemáticamente desde 1971 tanto para loe pequeños agricultores como para los agricultores en gran escala. Si bien las actividadee de producción de cultivos repreeentaron alrededor del 50% de los ingreeoe de los agricultores en gran eecala deede 1968 a 1971, este Revolución Verde, pero han permanecido bastante col18tantes desde 1976. Por el contrario, los ingresos reales de los agricultores sin tierra en las zonas de temporal fueron relativamente cOl18tantes durante el período de la Revolución Verde, pero se han elevado en forma espectacular desde 1976. 25   Una probable explicación de esw diferenciae interregionalee en el período posterior a la Revolución Verde es que la participación de loe integrantes de lae familiae sin tierra de las zonas de temporal en los mercados de trabajo no agrícola fue mayor que la participación de ese tipo de familias en lae zonas irrigadas. En general, se cOl18idera que lae familias máe pobres de las zonas de temporal han cOl18tituido la mayor proporción de los trabajadores que emigraron durante el auge del empleo en el exterior a fines de los 70 y durante los 80 (lrfan et al., 1982). Por cOl18iguiente, tal vez loe envíos desde el exterior representen una parte cOl18iderable del crecimiento observado de 101'\\ ingresos reales de las familias sin tierra en lae zonae de temporal. Ademáe, esw zona.l!l tradicionalmente han sido máe importantes que las irrigadas como fuente de mano de obra para los sectores no agrícolas de la economía de Pakietán (Rahman, 1981). En cOl18ecuencia, estas familias probablemente se beneficiaron con la expal18ión general de la economía en mayor medida que las familias sin tierra de las zonas irrigadas. La Figura 3.8 muestra el sorprendente crecimiento de los ingresos reales de las familias rurales en las zonas de temporal durante el período posterior a la Revolución Verde. Durante este mismo período, el crecimiento de los ingresos reales de los agricultores en gran escala de las zonas irrigadas fue mucho más modesto, mientras que disminuyeron los ingresos de los pequeños agricultores en esw zonas. Sumado al hecho de que las utilidades agrícolas se han reducido en el período posterior a la Revolución Verde, esto indica que las fuentes no agrícolas de ingresos de las familias rurales de las zonas de temporal han sido máe importantes que en las zonas irrigadas.Esto se confirma en la Figura 3.9, que mueetra los componentes de los ingresoe familiaree de los agricultores en cuatro períodoe distintos entre 1965 y 1987. En las zonas irrigadas, las utilidades generadas por las actividades de cultivo han sido la principal fuente de los ingresos familiares totalee en todos los períodos y representan el 50-61% de los ingresos de los minifundistas y el 50-66% de los ingresoe de los agricultoree en gran escala. En las zonae de temporal, la proporción de los ingreeos familiares aportada por la producción de cultivos ee ha reducido sistemáticamente desde 1971 tanto para los pequeños agricultores como para los agricultores en gran escala. Si bien las actividades de producción de cultivos representaron alrededor del 50% de los ingresos de los agricultores en gran escala desde 1968 a 1971, este  ---,-----41'\"_   -----------.,--,,'-  Fuente: PERI. porcentaje había caído al 21% en 1984-1987. Eeta tendencia ee aun máe notable en lae fincae pequeñae de lae zonae de temporal; para eetae familiae, la proporción de loe ingreeoe totalee aportada por la producción de cultivoe ee redujo del 58% en 1968-1971 a eólo el 5% en 1984-1987.La revelaci6n de que la proporción de loe ingreeoe no agrícolas en lae zonae de temporal ha eido tan alta en loe últimos añoe ee en extremo importante. Ee muy poeible que loe habitantee de eetae zonas hayan buscado empleo fuera de lae fincae como reeultado de las limitadae oportunidadee dentro del sector agrícola que, en cierta medida, son consecuencia de la escaea difusión de las tecnologíae mejoradas en eetoe ambientes de producción.Consecuencias para la distribución de los ingresos En general se considera que la distribución de loe ingresoe en Pakietán ee muy desigual (Guieinger y Hicks, 1978). Los datoe presentados sobre el comportamiento dinámico de los ingreeoe realee indican una tendencia ordinariamente progreeiva en la dietribuci6n de loe ingresoe rurales durante loe últimos 25 añoe, tanto dentro de cada regi6n como entre las regionee. Se puede observar esto en la Figura 3.10, que mueetra los índicee de loe ingreeoe reales durante cuatro periodoe entre 1965 y 1987. Con la excepción de loe minifundioe de lae zonas irrigadas, el crecimiento de loe ingreeoe realee ha eido mayor para las familiae que inicialmente eran más pobres.En un intento de cuantificar esos cambioe, en el Cuadro 3.6 ee presentan doe medicionee de la dietribución relativa de loe ingreeos en loe dietintoe tipoe de familias: la diferencia abeoluta media entre loe nivelee medios de ingresos de todos los tipos de familias y loe coeficientel!l de Gini de la deeigualdad de loe ingrel!lOl!l. Ambas mediciones revelan mejorae considerables en la distribución relativa de loe ingreeoe ruralee en el traMcureo del tiempo. Hay que recordar que estae mediciones disfrazan diferencias dentro de loe grupos y, por cOMiguiente, subestiman lae disparidades generalee en la distribución relativa de los ingresos en toda la población rural. Es probable que las diferenciae dentro de los grupos sean bastante grandes, como lo demuestran las diferenciae entre los ingresos medios de divereos tipos de familiae sin tierra que se indican en la Figura 3.7. • Los coeficientes de Gini se calcularon suponiendo que cada tipo de familia campesina representaba una proporción constante de la población. b Media de las diferencias absolutas entre las participaciones de cada grupo en los ingresos rurales totales al comparar en forma cruzada todos los tipos de familias.La mayor productividad agrícola originada en los cambios tecnológicos parece haber tenido poca o ninguna influencia en esta mejora de la distribución de los ingresos, la cual dependió más bien de la capacidad de las familias más pobres de aprovechar las oportunidades fuera del sector agrícola. Aunque el crecimiento de los ingresos durante el período de la Revolución Verde fue considerable para todos los tipos de familias, no se modificaron notablemente los niveles relativos de ingresos entre los grupos. En el período posterior a la Revolución Verde, las utilidades reales generadas por las actividades de producción de cultivos disminuyeron o permanecieron relativamente constantes para todos los grupos. Las familias de las zonas de temporal -cuyos miembros han participado en los mercados de trabajo internos y (especialmente) del exterior fuera del sector agrícola en forma más amplia que los integrantes de las familias de las zonas irrigadas-gozaron de un eustancial crecimiento de los ingresos realee, mientras que los ingreeoe reales en las zonas irrigadae ee redujeron o (en el caso de loe agricultoree en gran escala) crecieron ligeramente.De eetae observaciones surgen doe conclusiones. En primer lugar, los continuos aumentos de la productividad agrícola no siempre ee traducen en incrementoe de la rentabilidad agrícola. La intervención gubernamental en la economía agrícola de Pakistán ha eubeidiado efectivamente a los consumidoree a expensas de los productores. Esto no eignifica que la mayor productividad no haya beneficiado a las familiae rurales de Pakistán; por el contrario, sin los impresionantee aumentos de la productividad logradoe gracias al progreeo tecnológico sin duda las utilidadee agrícolas hubieran sido mucho más bajas de lo que fueron. Sin embargo, parece que el efecto acumulativo de las políticas agrícolas gubernamentales ha sido obstaculizar la capacidad de las familias campesinas de mejorar eu bienestar.4En este capítulo, se usa el modelo de mercados múltiples desarrollado en el Capítulo 2 para simular los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en distintas situaciones en Pakistán. El análisis apunta al futuro y aborda el siguiente interrogante: Dada la naturaleza actual de la economía de Pakistán, ¿cuáles serían los efectos sobre los ingresos y la distribución de éstos que originarían diversos patrones regionales de progreso tecnológico en la producción de trigo?1 La respuesta a este interrogante permitirá sacar ciertas conclusiones en cuanto a las consecuencias para la equidad provocadas por distintas asignaciones de los recursos de la investigación entre los ambientes de producción irrigados y de temporal de Pakietán.Se efectúan dos grupos de análisis que estiman los efectos a largo plazo de distintos patrones regionales de la adopción de tecnologías en comparación con una situación de base sin ningún cambio tecnológico. En el primer grupo se supone que los precios del trigo son libres de adaptarse a los cambios de la oferta y la demanda interna5; en el segundo, el gobierno controla 105 preci05 al productor y al consumidor de trigo y harina.La aplicación del modelo de mercados múltiples requirió reunir un conjunto considerable de parámetr05 que capturan 105 ra5gos sobresalientes de la economía pakistaní. Es característico de estos modelos que su exactitud al simular los efectos de los cambios en un subgrupo de variables exógenas depende en gran medida de la preci5ión de los parámetros usados para inicializarlos. 2 Todos los parámetros usados para inicializar este modelo se tomaron de las fuentes secundarias existentes, desde estudios en el microniv\"! sobre el manejo de las fincas hasta estadísticas globales publicadas por el gobierno de Pakietán. Lo5 dat05 a nivel de finca se reunieron en el Punjab; los datos má5 globales se referían invariablemente a Pakietán en general. 3 Se 4En este capítulo, se usa el modelo de mercados múltiples desarrollado en el Capítulo 2 para simular los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en distintas situaciones en Pakistán. El análisis apunta al futuro y aborda el siguiente interrogante: Dada la naturaleza actual de la economía de Pakistán, ¿cuáles serían los efectos sobre los ingresos y la distribución de éstos que originarían diversos patrones regionales de progreso tecnológico en la producción de trigo?1 La respuesta a este interrogante permitirá sacar ciertas conclusiones en cuanto a las consecuencias para la equidad provocadas por distintas asignaciones de los recursos de la investigación entre los ambientes de producción irrigados y de temporal de Pakietán.Se efectúan dos grupos de análisis que estiman los efectos a largo plazo de distintos patrones regionales de la adopción de tecnologías en comparación con una situación de base sin ningún cambio tecnológico. En el primer grupo se supone que los precios del trigo son libres de adaptarse a los cambios de la oferta y la demanda internae; en el segundo, el gobierno controla loe precioe al productor y al consumidor de trigo y harina.La aplicación del modelo de mercados múltiples requirió reunir un conjunto considerable de parámetroe que capturan loe raegos eobreealientes de la economía pakietaní. Ee característico de estos modelos que su exactitud al simular los efectos de los cambios en un eubgrupo de variables exógenas depende en gran medida de la precisión de los parámetros usados para inicializarlos. 2 Todos los parámetros usados para inicializar este modelo se tomaron de las fuentes secundarias existentes, desde estudios en el microniv\"! sobre el manejo de las fincas hasta estadísticas globales publicadas por el gobierno de Pakistán. Los datos a nivel de finca se reunieron en el Punjab; los datos máe globales se referían invariablemente a Pakietán en general. 3 Se intent6 reunir información paralela sobre los parámetroe de interée para loe ambientes de producción tanto favorecidos como marginales. En todos los casoe, se usaron loe datoe correspondientee a lae zonae de temporal como representativos de loe ambiente8 marginales de producción, mientras que los datos sobre las zonae irrigadae sirvieron como representativoe de los ambientes favorecidoe.Gran parte de la naturaleza cualitativa de loe resultadoe de loe análisis de simulaciones se debe a varias caracteríeticae claves de la economía de Pakietán, caracterÍ8ticae que han sido bien capturadas en la configuración paramétrica del modelo. En primer término, entre los tipos de familias consideradas, los agricultores en gran escala de las zonas de temporal y este tipo de agricultores y los minifundistae de las zonae irrigadas son productores netos de trigo, mientrae que los pequeños agricultores de lae zonae de temporal son consumidores netos del cereal (Apendice B, Cuadro B.l)} En consecuencia, si no hay diferenciae de otro tipo, una innovación que reduzca el precio del trigo (por ejemplo, mediante un incremento de la oferta de trigo) tenderá a producir un efecto más positivo sobre los ingresos de los campesinos sin tierra, los grupos urbanos y los minifundistae de las zonae de temporal, es decir, los consumidores netoe.En segundo lugar, aproximadamente el 84% de la producción de trigo de Pakistán se origina en las zonas irrigadas. Por consiguiente, el aumento de la productividad en esas zonas tendrá un efecto sobre aspectos claves como la producción, la demanda de mano de obra y el precio del trigo, proporcionadamente mayor que el que resultaría del aumento de la productividad en las zonas de temporal.En tercer lugar, las utilidades generadas por la agricultura son un componente de los ingresoe totalee de las familiae campesinae de lse zonas irrigadae mucho más importante que en lae zonas de temporal (Apéndice B, Cuadro B.7). Además, dentro de cada región la proporción de los ingresoe familiares totales correspondiente a las utilidades agrícolae ee mayor para los agricultores en gran escala que para los pequeños agricultores. En consecuencia, toda innovación tecnológica que aumente las utilidades tenderá a afectar más a los ingresos de los agricultoree en gran escala y a las familias que viven en lae zonae irrigadas. Por otra parte, los datoe disponibles indican que la producción de las fincas en las zonas irrigadas es algo más sensible a las modificacionee de los precios (Apéndice B, Cuadro B.9). En las eimulaciones donde los aumentos de la oferta ejercen una presión descendente sobre el precio del trigo, eso atenúa loe efectos globalee sobre la producción causados por los cambioe tecnológicos en las zonae irrigadae.Por último, los patrones de la utilización de loe insumos en fincas de todoe tamaños, si bien similaree considerados por hectárea, varían mucho entre lae fincae pequeñas y las grandes (Apéndice B, Cuadro B.4). E5pecialmente en el caso de los insumos que no son la mano de obra, los efectos sobre la utilización global de insumos son afectados por lae respuestas de las fincas grandes con más fuerza que por las de las fincas pequeñas. Al mismo tiempo, el grueso de la mano de obra agrícola es proporcionado por lae familias de las fincas pequeñas (en particular en las zonas de temporal). Por lo tanto, una modificación de los salarios reales producida por una tecnología nueva afectará a loe ingresos de los pequeños agricultores en mayor medida que a loe otros tipos de familias. 6En esta sección se examinan los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos cuando el precio del trigo es determinado en forma endógena por las condiciones de la oferta y la demanda. En esencia, este análisis supone que la economía del trigo es cerrada, si bien se consideran los casos en que el gobierno \"inyecta\" trigo importado en el mercado. Estas inyecciones sirven para disminuir el precio del trigo en el mercado. Como estas son situaciones a largo plazo, también se supone que la mano de obra es móvil en todas las regiones.El análisis se concentra en los efectos de las tecnologías que todavía no se aprovechan adecuadamente en Pakistán. Las tecnologías consideradas son las examinadas en el Capítulo 3 e incluyen: 1) variedades de trigo con mayor potencial de rendimiento gracias al fitomejoramiento; 2) la labranza cero en las zonas irrigadas donde el cultivo doble ha provocado la siembra tardía del trigo; 3) el empleo de herbicidas químicos en las zonas irrigadas infestadas por malezas; y 4) la labranza profunda en las zonas de temporal. Se escogió arbitrariamente un marco temporal de 10 años para el análisis.Se supone que los aumentos del rendimiento gracias al fitomejoramiento llegan al 0.75% anual en las zonas irrigadas y al 0.3% anual en las zonas de temporal (7.8% y 3.0% en 10 años). El porcentaje correspondiente a las zonas irrigadas fue calculado por Byerlee y Heisey (1990) y se basa en una tasa estimada del 1% de incremento anual del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento, ajustada hacia abajo para reflejar las diferencias entre los rendimientos en las estaciones experimentales y los obtenidos en los campos de los agricultores. El porcentaje correspondiente a las zonas de temporal equivale a la mitad de la tasa de aumento del rendimiento generado por el fitomejoramiento en las zonas de temporal de Australia (CIMMYT, 1989a).6 Para las tres prácticas de manejo de cultivos consideradas, se supone que, al final de 10 años, los niveles de adopción han llegado al 50% en las zonas donde es aplicable la práctica. En el caso de la labranza cero, esto incluye las zonas irrigadas donde se cultiva el trigo deepués del algodón o el arroz (que repreeentan aproximadamente el 60% de la euperficie irrigada de trigo a nivel nacional). En el caeo de loe herbicidas, ee supone que el 20% de loe campoe de lae zonae irrigadas están infestadoe con malezae. 7  Por último, ee eupone que el empleo de la labranza profunda ee expande de eu actual nivel de adopción en el 3.2% de las tierrae de temporal para abarcar el 50% de toda la euperficie de temporal.Loe aumentoe del rendimiento que ee dan en 10 años como resultado de lae taeae eupueetae de mejoramiento y de adopción de prácticae de manejo de loe cultivoe eon del 13.8% en lae zonae irrigadae y del 16.4% en lae de temporal. Loe Cuadroe 4.1 y 4.2 muestran lae coneecuenciae de eeae tecnologíae para el ueo de la mano de obra y de otroe ineumoe. En general, la adopción de tecnologíae de manejo de loe cultivoe implica un aumento neto del empleo de mano de obra y una reducción neta de la utilización de Cuadro 4.1. Efectos netos del fltomejoramiento (FM) y del 50% de adopción de la labranza cero (Le) y el control químico de la maleza (M) sobre el empleo de insumos durante 10 años en las ZODB81rr1gadas.Modificación Proporción del Modificación uso total de porcentual del uso uso de otros porcentual del uso mano de de mano de obra c insu-de otros insumos Total r -0.9 4.5 2.4 5.9 -3.4 0.8 0.9 -2.3• Tomada de Rauf et al. (1984).b Basada en datos del PERI para 1986 y 1987 sobre el costo de la producci6n de trigo en las zonas irrigadas, suponiendo que los insumos distintos de la mano de obra representan el 75% y el 25% de los costos de la siembra y de la cosecha, respectivamente. e Basada en estimaciones de Aslam et al. (1989) de 108 efectos de la labranza cero y el control de la maleza sobre 108 costos de 108 insum08 y 108 rendimientos, y suponiendo: 1) una adopci6n del 50% de la labranza cero y el control de la maleza; y 2) una tasa anual del 0.75% de crecimiento de 108 rendimientos causado por el fitomejoramiento en el transcurso de 10 añ08. d Incluye la preparaci6n de la tierra y la siembra. e Incluye la cosecha y la trilla. r Las columnas ''Proporci6n del empleo total de mano de obra\" y ''Proporci6n del empleo de otros insumos\" sumadas no dan uno porque s610 un subgrupo de las operaciones agrícolas totales es afectado por las tecnologías consideradas.otroe ineumos en lae zonae para las cualee son aptae. La labranza cero y la labranza profunda dieminuyen coneiderablemente el empleo de mano de obra y otroe ineumoe en lae operaciones de siembra (preparación de la tierra y siembra), pero aumentan la utilización de insumos para las operaciones de la coeecha (incluida la trilla). Loe mayoree rendimientos resultantee del mejoramiento genético incrementan el empleo de ineumos para la cosecha, en particular en las zonas irrigadas. Asimismo, el control químico de la maleza acrecienta el empleo de mano de obra y otros ineumoe, especialmente en las operaciones de la coeecha.Situación de base Para comprender los posibles efectos de las tecnologías actualmente disponibles, es necesario tener una idea de la situación que existiría si no se hubiera logrado un progreso tecnológico en la producción del trigo. Con este propósito, en el Cuadro 4.3 se presentan loe resultados claves de una situación de base, en la cual se supone que 1) la población y los sectores no agrícolas de la economía continúan creciendo a largo plazo según tasas del 3.1% Y el 2.6% anual, respectivamente;8 2) loe constantes aumentoe del empleo de fertilizantes y las mejoras de la eficiencia técnica en el manejo del agua y el Cuadro 4.2. Efectos netos del fitomeJoramiento (FM) y del5K de adopción de la labranza profunda (LP) sobre el empleo de insumos durante 10 años en las zonas de temporal.Proporción del uso total de mano de obra-Modificación porcentual del uso de mano de obra\" Proporción del uso de otros insu-Modificación porcentual del uso -3.7a Tomada de los datos del PERI para 1982 sobre el costo de la producci6n de trigo en las zonas de temporal. b Basada en estimaciones de Razzaq et al. (1990) de los efecctos de la labranza profunda sobre los costar. de la siembra y los aumentos del rendimiento, y suponiendo: 1) una adopci6n del 50% de la labranza profunda y 2) una tasa anual de 0.3% de aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento en el transcurso de 10 años. \" Incluye la preparaci6n de la tierra y la siembra. d Incluye la cosecha y la trilla. \" Las columnas ''Proporci6n del empleo total de mano de obra\" y ''Proporci6n del empleo de otros insumos\" sumadas no dan uno porque s610 un subgrupo de las operaciones agrícolas totales es afectado por las tecnologías consideradas.fertilizante provocan el crecimiento (exógeno) de la producci6n agrícola según tasas del 1%Yel 0.5% anual en las zonas irrigadas y de temporal, respectivamente;\" y 3) no hay cambios tecnol6gicos en la producci6n del trigo u otros cultivos. • Se supone un crecimiento demográfico del 3.1~, un crecimiento de loe ingreeoe ex6genoe del 2.6% y una expansi6n continua del empleo de insumoe durante 10 añoe, sin cambios tecnológícoe. La expansi6n de loe insumoe implica las siguientes tasas de crecimiento anual: producci6n, 0.5% en las zonas de temporal y 1.0% en las irrigadas; empleo de mano de obra, 0.3% en las zonas de temporal y 0.8% en las irrigadas; atrae insumoe, 0.1% en las zonas de temporal y 0.4% en las irrigadas.En el Cuadro 4.3 se muestran los efectos sobre la producción regional de trigo y de otros cultivos, las utilidades agrícolas realee, loe ingresos reales par cápita, el ealario agrícola real, el índice general de precioe y el precio real del trigo.10 Es evidente que, por dos razonee básicae, si no hubiera progreeo tecnológico en la agricultura se vería muy afectado el bienestar de la mayoría de las familias pakistaníes (en términos de los ingreeos realee per cápita). La primera razón ee que, si continúan las tendencias actuales, el crecimiento demográfico sobrepasará el crecimiento de los sectores agrícola y no agrícola de la economía. La segunda, es que el aumento de la demanda de trigo causado por el rápido crecimiento demográfico entrañaría un brueco incremento del precio del trigo -aun cuando se duplicara la cantidad actual de las importaciones-que provocaría una elevación del costo de la vida.En el sector agrícola, la mayor preeión demográfica se reflejaría en nivelee málS altoe de la demanda de trigo y un brusco aumento de la oferta de mano de obra agrícola, que a su vez provocarían un precio máe alto del trigo y un salario real máe bajo. El precio máe alto del trigo y elealario real más bajo incrementarían la producción de trigo en las zonas tanto irrigadas como de temporal, pero se anularían mutuamente con respecto a la producción de otroe cultivoe. Lae utilidades de todas las familias campeeinas se elevarían mucho. En las zonas ruralee, las familias que eon productoras netas de trigo tendrían cambios relativamente mayoree (ee decir, menoe negativos) en sue ingresos reales. No obstante, aun en el caso de estas familias el aumento de la rentabilidad de la agricultura no contrarrestaría los efectoe negativos de las menores utilidadee generadas por el trabajo familiar, un costo de la vida málS alto y una dieminución de los ingresos no agrícolas realee.Todos los grupoe de familias sufrirían reducciones de los ingresos reales per cápita en la situación de base y las familias ein tierra en ambos tipoe de zonas y los pequeños agricultores en lae zonas de temporaleerían los más afectados. A cauea del precio más alto del trigo, caería el consumo per cápita del cereal. En la mayoría de los grupoe, también disminuiría el consumo de otroe productoe, ya que loe efectos sobre loe ingreeoe tenderían a predominar eobre los efectoe de la suetitución en la determinación del nivel general de la demanda de estos productos.Loe resultados simuladoe de la eituación de base describen una perspectiva algo eombría para el futuro de Pakietán en aueencia de un progreso tecnológico continuo en la producción del trigo. ¿Cómo afectarían a los distintos grupoe de familiae diversoe patronee de cambioe tecnológicos en el transcurso de 10 años?El Cuadro 4.4 presenta loe efectos simuladoe de una situación donde se da un desarrollo regional equilibrado, y en ía cual se supone que las tecnologías aún no aprovechadas se difunden tanto en zonas irrigadas como de temporal. Se muestran los efectos sobre variables claves, tanto en forma absoluta como en comparación con la situación de base.u Con los grados proyectados de cambios tecnológicos en el transcuJ'l!lo de 10 años, una gran proporción de la mayor demanda de trigo sería satisfecha por la producción interna. En consecuencia, el precio real del trigo sí aumentaría, pero no tanto como lo haría si no hubiera progreso tecnológico. En términos abeolutoe, loe ingresos per cápita realee dieminuyen para todos loe grupoe de familias. Sin embargo, en comparación con la situación de base las familias consumidoras netas ee benefician con el incremento de la producción interna de trigo mientrae que loe productores netoe se perjudican.Cuadro 4.4. Desarrollo regional equilibrado: C50% de adopción de tecnologías de manejo de loe cultivos aún no aprovechadu y fttomejoramlento continuo durante 10 año. en lae zonu de temporal y lu irrigadu. • Se suponen tasas de aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento de 0.75% y 0.30% al año en las zonas irrigadas y de temporal, respectivamente.Loe beneficios relativos para las familias consumidoras netas son atribuibles a un aumento menor del precio real del trigo a cauea del incremento de la oferta global y (para laa familias ruralee) una disminuci6n menor de los Alarios reales resultante del incremento de la demanda de mano de obra, vinculado con la adopci6n de tecnología. Es interesante que las familias productorae netas sufran pérdidas netas después de los cambios tecnol6gicos. Esto obedece principalmente al hecho de que la demanda de trigo en Pakietán ee menos eláetica con reepecto al precio que la oferta de trigo; por consiguiente, el efecto negativo (indirecto) sobre las utilidades que tiene un precio relativamente más bajo supera al efecto positivo (directo) de un aumento de la productividad inducido por la tecnologfa. Esto concuerda con el análieie de los efectos netos de los cambios tecnológicOl!l sobre lae familias que 108 adoptan, presentado en el Capítulo 2.Loe Cuadroa 4.5 y 4.6 permiten ver cómo los cambios tecnológicos confinadoe a I!IÓlo uno de 108 dOl!l ambientee de producción afectarían a divereoe grupos de familiu. El Cuadro 4.5 presenta los efectos simulados de una situaci6n de deearrollo en las zonu irrigadu en la que ee supone que 108 cambiOl!l tecnológicos ocurren únicamente en 81!181!1 ZOn8l!l. Loe resultadOll!l de esta situación son butante similares a 108 de la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado y reflejan el predominio de las zonu irrigadae en la producci6n nacional de trigo de Pakietán. Como en el C8I!IO del deearrollo regional equilibrado, las familias cONlumidorae netas se benefician mientras que las familiu productoras netas se perjudican en comparación con la situación de base. N6teee que la producción nacional de trigo en lu zonu irrigadae ee mayor en la situación de deearrollo de estas zonu que en la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado. Esto se debe a que el aumento de la oferta global de trigo ee menor de lo que sería si en lae zonu de temporal también hubiera cambiOl!l tecnológicos; en consecuencia, el precio del trigo disminuye en menor medida y los productores de las zonu irrigadae responden a aeta situaci6n produciendo cantidades relativamente mayores del cereal.El Cuadro 4.6 presenta los efectos simulados de una situación de desarrollo de lu zonae de temporal en la que 108 cambiOl!l tecnol6gicoe tienen lugar sólo en estaa zonae.Dada la pequeña participación de las fincu de temporal en la producción agrícola total, la oferta global de trigo y la demanda global de mano de obra no eerían muy afectadae por loe cambios tecnológicos confinados a las zonu de temporal. Por consiguiente, lae modificaciones del precio del trigo y de los salariOl!l agrícolae no son muy düerentee de las obeervadae en la situación de baee y los efectos positivos para las familiu no agricultoras (es decir, las familias urbanas y las familias ruralee sin tierra) son coNliderablemente menores que en las situaciones donde los cambiOll!l tecnol6gicos se producen en lu zonae irrigadu.En la situación de deearrollo de lae zonas de temporal, lae utilidadee en eetas zonae aumentan gracias a los cambios tecnológicos. Para las familias de los agricultoree en gran escala, esto lleva a un efecto sobre los ingresos per cápita reales más positivo que en las otrassituacionee, resultado que es razonable dado que lae familias productoras netaa ee benefician con loe suetanciales incrementos de la productividad sin un marcado cambio del precio del trigo o del costo de los insumoe. Loe ingreeoe per cápita realee de las familiu minifundietas de lae zonae de temporal también se incrementan en comparación con la situación de bue. Sin embargo. estos aumentos son ligeramente menores que en la situación de desarrollo de las zonas irrigadas porque, como consumidoras netas, estas familias se beneficiarían más con un precio más bajo del trigo y salarios más altos que con un incremento de la productividad del trigo.Los efectos absolutos sobre los ingresosSe pueden sacar dos conc1ueiones importantes de los análisis presentados hasta el momento. En primer lugar, si el precio del trigo tiene libertad para responder a la oferta y la demanda internas, la duueión de las tecnologías actualmente disponibles beneficiaría a los consumidores netos de trigo en mayor grado que a los productores netos. Sucede esto básicamente porque la demanda de trigo en Pakistán es poco Cuadro 4.f5. Desarrollo de las zonas irrigadas: f50% de adopción de tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos aún no aprovechadas y fttomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años sólo en las zonas lnigadas. a Se supone una tasa de aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento de 0.75% anual en las zonas irrigadas. y ningún aumento en las zonas de temporal.elástica y, en cOlUlecuencia, los efectos de una mayor oferta sobre los precios serían sustanciales. En segundo lugar, aun con los cambios tecnológicos, todos los grupos sufrirían pérdidas netas en los ingresos reales per cápita durante los 10 años siguientes, principalmente a causa de la tasa muy elevada de crecimiento demográfico en Pakietán.Para comparar los efectoe eobre los ingreeoe que reeultan de lae eituacionee examinadas anteriormente, en el Cuadro 4.7 ee preeentan doe indicadoree de cómo ee dietribuyen las modificacionee de loe ingresoe reales. El primero es un índice de la diferencia absoluta media en las modificaciones de loe ingresos de todas las 2.1 -0.4 30.7 18.7 -3.5 a Se supone una tasa de aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento de 0.30% anual en las zonas de temporal, y ningún aumento en las zonas irrigadas.combinacionee por parejae de 105 ocho grupoe familiaree conl!lideradOl!l. Ese índice mide la uniformidad de la8 modificacionel!l de loe ingreeoe realee de todOl!l loe grupoe de familiae y loe valoree mál!l pequeñoe indican una di!Jtribución máI!l uniforme de ee8l!l modificacionee. Para facilitar la8 comparacionee, todoe loe valoree eetán indexadOl!l a la eituación de base en la cual se mantienen cOnl!ltantee lae importaciones. El segundo indicador es la modificación porcentual media de 105 ingrel!loe reales de todoe loe grupoe familiaree, ponderada eegún la proporción de la población total que correeponde a cada grupo. Ese indicador mide el efecto medio eobre loe ingresos realel!l que resulta de los dietintoe patrones de cambios tecnológicoe en la8 diversae situacionee.Los rel!lultados presentados en el Cuadro 4.7 indican que 18l!l modificacionee de los ingresos en 18I!l situaciones de cambios tecnológicos en la8 zonas irrigad8l!l eI!ltán distribuidas de manera más uniforme y producen las modificaciones medi8l!l de los ingresos menos negativas. La diferencia absoluta media en 18l!l modificacionee de los ingresos es más baja en la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado. El promedio ponderado según la proporción de la población indica que hay muy poca diferencia entre la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado y la de desarrollo de 18l!l zon8l!l irrigad8l!l, y que estae I!lituaciones predominan sobre las demál!l.El resultado de que los efectos medios sobre los ingresos son más favorables cuando los cambios tecnológicoe ee producen en las zonae irrigadae se origina en el hecho de que los efectos indirectos de los precios son máe importantes que loe efectoe directoe de la productividad en la determinación del crecimiento abeoluto de 105 ingrel!lOl!l. Lae famili8l!l consumidor8l!l netas se benefician mucho cuando disminuye el precio del trigo a • Todas las mediciones están indexadas a la situación de base. b Diferencia absoluta media entre las modificaciones porcentuales de 108 ingresos per cápita reales en todas las combinaciones por parejas de 108 tipos de familias.combinacionee por parejae de loe ocho grupos familiaree coneideradoe. Eee índice mide la uniformidad de lae modificaciones de loe ingreeoe realee de todoe loe grupoe de familiae y loe valores máe pequeños indican una dietribución máe uniforme de eeae modificaciones. Para facilitar lae comparacionee, todoe los valores eetán indexadoe a la eituación de base en la cual se mantienen conetantee las importaciones. El segundo indicador es la modificación porcentual media de loe ingresos reales de todos los grupoe familiaree, ponderada según la proporción de la población total que corresponde a cada grupo. Eee indicador mide el efecto medio eobre los ingreeos reales que resulta de los dietintoe patrones de cambios tecnológicos en lae divereae situacionee.Los resultados presentados en el Cuadro 4.7 indican que lae modificacionee de los ingresos en lae situaciones de cambios tecnológicos en lae zonas irrigadae están distribuidas de manera más uniforme y producen las modificaciones mediae de los ingresos menos negativas. La diferencia absoluta media en lae modificacionee de loe ingresoe ee más baja en la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado. El promedio ponderado según la proporción de la población indica que hay muy poca diferencia entre la situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado y la de deearrollo de lae zonae irrigadae, y que estae situaciones predominan sobre las demáe.El resultado de que los efectos medios sobre los ingresos son máe favorables cuando los cambioe tecnológicos se producen en lae zonae irrigadae ee origina en el hecho de que los efectos indirectoe de los precios son más importantes que loe efectoe directoe de la productividad en la determinación del crecimiento absoluto de loe ingree08. Lae familiae consumidorae netas se benefician mucho cuando disminuye el precio del trigo a a Todas las mediciones están indexadas a la situación de base.b Diferencia absoluta media entre las modificaciones porcentuales de los ingresos per cápita reales en todas las combinaciones por parejas de los tipos de familias.causa del incremento de la oferta. Como las familias consumidoras netas constituyen aproximadamente el 65% de la población total de Pakistán,12 el aumento de la oferta global de trigo produce los efectos absolutos más favorables sobre los ingresos. La mejor manera de fomentar incrementos de la oferta es mediante los cambios tecnológicos en las zonas irrigadae.Con respecto a esta conclusión, hay que hacer dos advertencias importantes: en primer término, no ee han tenido en cuenta las diferencias en la adopción de las prácticas de manejo de loe cultivoe dentro de cada zona, ya sea irrigada o de temporal. El porcentaje eupueeto del 50% de adopción de eeae prácticae en el transcul'8O de 10 añoe probablemente sea realista, ya que loe agricultoree dependen considerablemente de actividadee ajenas a sus aldeae para la producción y distribución de los insumoe que utilizan (sembradoras para la labranza cero, arados con vertedera, herbicidas).13 No obstante, el 50% de adopción implica que la mitad de loe agricultores de lae zonas aptas para lae tecnologiae nuevae no reciben los beneficioe de éstae. Además, en el caeo de las zonae irrigadas, una proporción considerable de las fincas están situadae en zonas no aptae para la adopción de lae tecnologíae de manejo de los cultivoe consideradas en este análisis.En segundo lugar, las simulaciones presentadas en esta sección suponen que el precio del trigo ee ajusta a la oferta y la demanda internas. Haeta aquí, la única forma en que se ha permitido que la intervención gubernamental modifique el precio del trigo es mediante el aumento de lae importaciones. Esto no es totalmente realista ya que el gobierno de Pakistán históricamente ha ejercido un control considerable eobre los precios del trigo por medio del establecimiento de los precios de compra y de menudeo para los productores y los consumidores. Se considera esta cuestión en la sección siguiente.En eeta sección se preeentan los efectos simuladoe a largo plazo de los cambios tecnológicos con precios controlados al productor y al consumidor. Cuando el precio del trigo es resultado de la política de precios gubernamental, las importacionee de trigo ee vuelven endógenae, ee decir, se determinan de tal forma que compensan el exceso de la demanda o de la oferta causado por los precios al productor y al consumidor determinados en forma exógena.El nivel proyectado de progreso tecnológico considerado aquí ee idéntico al de loe análisis anterioree (en los cuales el precio del trigo era endógeno) y ee adopta el mismo marco temporal de 10 años. Se presentan loe reeultados obtenidoe con doe nivelee supuestos de modificación del precio nóminal del trigo: ninguna modificación y un incremento del 20%. En todos loe caeos, se supone que lae modificaciones de los precios al productor y al consumidor son las mismas. Como en los análisis anteriores, 188 simulaciones incluyen: 1) un caso base donde se supone el crecimiento de la población y los ingresos no agrícolas, junto con un aumento exógeno de la producción agrícola causado por las continuas mejoras de la eficiencia técnica en la utilización de los fertilizantes y el agua; 2) un C880 de desarrollo regional equilibrado, en el cual se supone que los cambios tecnológicos ocurren tanto en las zonas irrigad88 como en las de temporal; 3) un caso de desarrollo de las zonu irrigadas, donde se supone que los cambios tecnológicos se producen únicamente en esas zonu; y 4) un caso de desarrollo de las zonas de temporal, en el cual se supone que los cambios tecnológicos ocurren sólo en esas zonas.El Cuadro 4.8 presenta los resultados de las simulaciones en la situación de base. Si no ocurriera ningún cambio tecnológico ni se modificara el precio del trigo, todas las familias sufrirían reducciones netas de los ingresos reales, por tres razones: en primer término, el crecimiento sustancial de la población impondría una presión ascendente sobre los salarios realee. En segundo lugar, si bien las utilidades agrícolas globales aumentarían en todos los casos (a cauea de la disminución de los salarioe agríco188 y el crecimiento exógeno de la productividad), lae utilidades agrícolas per cápita se reducirían para las familias rurales productoras netas. Por último, como la tasa proyectada de crecimiento demográfico supera la tasa proyectada de crecimiento de los ingreeoe no agrícolas, loe ingresoe de todas las familias -en particular los de loe cOlU5umidoree netos-serían afectados en forma negativa.Con los precios controlados, la mayor demanda de trigo provocada por el crecimiento de la población y de los ingresos no agrícolas no origina precioe más altos del trigo (según eleupuesto). Más bien, el exceso de la demanda tendrá que ser satisfecho mediante grandee incrementos de 188 importaciones de trigo. El aumento de 188 importaciones necesario para satisfacer la creciente demanda de trigo se reduciría considerablemente si ee elevara el precio del cereal; no obetante, aun con un incremento del 20% en el precio del trigo se requeriría un aumento del 140% en las importaciones para eatisfacer esa demanda.El incremento del precio de trigo haría que se elevaran las utilidades agrícolas para todas las familias agricultoras. En comparación con el caso en que permanecen constantes loe precios del trigo, esto provocaría aumentoe suetanciales de los ingresos reales de las familiu productoras netas y sólo modestas disminucionee de 1015 ingreeos reales de las familias consumidoras netas. Caerían los ingresoe reales de la mayoría de los grupoe familiares, si bien lae familias minifundietas y de loe agricultores en gran escala de 188 zonu irrigadas lograrían incrementos de sue ingresos realee.El Cuadro 4.9 presenta los resultados de 1a situación de desarrollo regional equilibrado.Aumente o no el precio del trigo, los cambios tecnológicos en 188 zonas tanto irrigadas como de temporal llevan a un salario agrícola más alto y mayores utilidades agrícolas que en la situación de base. El efecto sobre los salarios obedece al aumento de la demanda de mano de obra causado por las tecnologías mejoradae, mientras que los incrementos de las utilidades agrícolas son consecuencia de la rentabilidad inherente a las tecnologías consideradas. Los cambios tecnológicos también reducirían mucho el incremento de las importaciones de trigo necesario para satisfacer la demanda interna.En col\\iunto con un aumento del 20% en el precio del trigo, 108 cambi08 tecnol6gicoe en las zonas tanto irrigadas como de temporal de hecho reducirían las importaciones de trigo por debajo de 108 niveles actuales.En el ceo en que se mantiene constante el precio del trigo, todas le familias nuevamente sufren pérdide neta8 en SUB ingreeoe reales. Sin embargo, en comparación con la situación de bee, 108 cambi08 tecnol6gic08 benefician a 108 producto1\"e8 netoe en mayor medida que a 108 consumido1\"e8 netos. Un aumento del 20% en el precio del trigo incrementaría mucho le utilidades agrícole para tode°las familia8 agricultoras. En este caso, 108 producto1\"e8 netos de la8 ZOn&8 irrigadas obtendrían incrementoe absolutos de los ingresos reales. Como en la situación de base. un aumento del precio del trigo acrecienta cODl!liderablemente los ingresos de las familias productoras netas y disminuye en una cantidad relativamente más pequeña los ingresos de las familias coDl!lumidoras netas.Los Cuadros 4.10 y 4.11 presentan los resultados de las simulaciones del desarrollo de las zonas irrigadas y del desarrollo de temporal. Esas simulaciones indican que los cambios tecnológicos que ocurrieran exclusivamente en las zonas de temporal llevarían a pequeñas reducciones de los ingresos de las familias agricultoras de las zonas irrigadas (en comparación con la situación de base), mientras que los cambios tecnológicos limitados a las zonas irrigadas producirían pequeños incrementos en las zonas de temporal (nuevamente en comparación con la situación de base).Cuadro 4.9. Desarrollo regional equillbrado con precios oontl'olad08. • Se supone una adopci6n del 5()'f, de las tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos no aprovechadas y el fitomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años en las zonas tanto irrigadas como en las de temporal. Las tasas supuestas del aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento son de 0.75% y 0.30% en las zonu irrigadas y de temporal, respectivamente.Dos factores explican estos resultados asimétricos. En primer lugar, las utilidades generadas por el trabajo familiar representan una proporción mayor de los ingresos totales de las familias de las zonas de temporal que en las familias de las zonas irrigadas, mientras que las utilidades agrícolas constituyen una proporción mucho mayor de los ingresos de las familias de las zonas irrigadas. En segundo lugar, los aumentos de los salarios vinculados con el incremento de la demanda de mano de obra serían más grandes en el caso de los cambios tecnológicos que ocurrieran exclusivamente en las zonas irrigadas.u Por consiguiente, para las familias de las • Se supone una adopción del 50,. de lu tecnologíu de manejo de los cultivos aún no aprovechadas y el tltomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años s610 en lu zonu irrigadas. La tua supuesta del aumento del rendimiento causado por el fitomejoramiento es del 0.75\" anual.zonas de temporal las mayores utilidades pneradae por el trabajo familiar en la situación de desarrollo de las zonas irripdu superarÚln loe efectoe negativoe de loe salarioe más altoe sobre las utilidadee agrícolas; por el contrario, para las familiaa de las zonas irrigadu loe efectoe negativoe sobre las utilidadee agrícolas caueadoe por loe salarioe más altoe en la situaci6n de deearrollo de lu zonas de temporal sobrepaearian 1u mayores utilidadee pneradu por el trabajo familiar.A partir de loe resultadoe contenidoe en loe Cuadroe 4.10 y 4.11, ee evidente que loe beneficios netos de los cambios tecno16giCOt!l se sienten mucho más en las zonas de adopci6n, en particular entre las familiu productoraa netal!. • Se supone una adopción del 50% de las tecnologías de manejo de los cultivos aÍlIl no aprovechadas y el fitomejoramiento continuo durante 10 años sólo en las zonas de temporal.La tasa supueeta del aumento del rendimiento cauaado por el tltomejoramiento es de 0.30% anual.directos sobre la productividad y las utilidades. También sucedi6 esto con los efectos de los salarios en las simulaciones donde se determin6 el precio del trigo en forma end6gena. Sin embargo, en esas simulaciones se encontr6 que los efectos (indirectos) del precio del producto predominaban sobre los efectos directos de la productividad.Por último, como el precio del trigo se determina en forma ex6gena en las situaciones con precios controlados, los cambios tecno16gicos no tienen ningún efecto sobre los ingresos de las familias urbanas en comparaci6n con la situaci6n de base. lll Es decir, con precios controlados los efectos sobre los ingresos de 1815 familias urbanas son únicamente el resultado de la política de precios al cOll8umidor. No obstante, hay que señalar que la determinaci6n del precio del trigo al coll8umidor en Pakistán se vincula eetrechamente con decisionee eobre las importaciones de trigo. Una cOll8ecuencia clara de las eimulaciones con precios controlados es que es probable que las importacionee de trigo aumenten coll8iderablemente en el futuro. También ee evidente que ya sea los mayores precios al productor o los cambios tecno16gicoe en la producci6n de trigo (en particular cuando se producen en las zonas irrigadas) pueden limitar mucho la cantidad de importacionee necesarias para satisfacer la creciente demanda de trigo.Si bien el modelo de mercados múltiplee deja de lado la cueeti6n de c6mo el gobierno generará los recureos necesarios para importar trigo, es importante tener en cuenta c6mo las opciones que tiene el gobierno para financiar las mayores importaciones de trigo afectarían a los distintos grupoe familiares. Una de esas opciones eería reducir los subsidios al consumidor de la harina de trigo. Esto peIjudicaría básicamente a loe cOll8umidoree urbanos y 1015 efectos negativos recaerían más en las familias más pobree.Como la reducci6n de los subsidios al cOll8umidor podría no ser viable desde el punto de vista político, el mantenimiento de los subsidios existentes al coll8umidor aumentaría la presi6n sobre el presupuesto gubernamental, que s610 se podría aliviar reasignando recureos de algún otro sector de la economía o mediante políticas monetarias que provocarían niveles más altos de inflaci6n. Los efectos de la mayor inflaci6n se distribuirían entre todos los tipos de familias, mientras que la reaeignación de recureos tal vez fuera más selectiva (dependiendo de dónde se originaran esos recureos).Los resultados también indican que elevar los precios al productor podría ser una medida eficaz para limitar los aumentos de las importaciones de trigo. En la situación de los máximos aumentos proyectados de la producción (el caso del desarrollo regional equilibrado), un aumento del 18% en loe precios al productor y al cOll8umidor de trigo mantendría las importaciones del cereal en los niveles actuales. l6 Como en el caeo de la reducci6n de los subsidios al cOll8umidor, el aumento de los precios al productor tendría repercusiones para el bienestar de divereos grupos de familias, las cuales dependerían de cómo financiara el gobierno ese aU-plento.Efectos absolut08 sobre los ingresos con los precios controlados El Cuadro 4.12 presenta dos mediciones de los efectos sobre la distribución de los ingresos que implican las cuatro situaciones de cambios tecnológicos con precios controlados. Esas mediciones son las mismas que se presentaron en el Cuadro 4.7 para el análisis de los efectos absolutos sobre los ingresos con precios determinados en forma endógena. Con el fin de facilitar la comparación con ese análisis, el Cuadro 4.12 contiene también los resultados anteriores.En las simulaciones con precios controlados, las dos situaciones en las que se producen cambios tecnológicos en las zonas irrigadas (el desarrollo regional equilibrado y el deearrollo de lae zonas irrigadas) generalmente predominan sobre las otras situacionee, ee suponga o no que ee modifica el precio del trigo. La única excepción es que, cuando ee a Diferencia absoluta media entre las modificaciones porcentuales de los ingresos par cápita reales de todas las combinaciones por parejas de los tipos de familias, indexada a la situación de base.Efectos absolut08 sobre los ingresos con los precios controlados El Cuadro 4.12 presenta dos mediciones de los efectos sobre la distribución de los ingresos que implican las cuatro situaciones de cambios tecnológicos con precios controlados. Esas mediciones son las mismas que se presentaron en el Cuadro 4.7 para el análisis de los efectos absolutos sobre los ingresos con precios determinados en forma endógena. Con el fin de facilitar la comparación con ese análisis, el Cuadro 4.12 contiene también los resultados anteriores.En las simulaciones con precios controlados, las dos situaciones en las que se producen cambios tecnológicos en las zonas irrigadas (el desarrollo regional equilibrado y el desarrollo de las zonas irrigadas) generalmente predominan sobre las otras situacione8, se suponga o no que se modifica el precio del trigo. a Diferencia absoluta media entre las modificaciones porcentuales de los ingresos par cápita reales de todas las combinaciones por parejas de los tipos de familias, indexada a la situaci6n de base.eupone que el precio del trigo aumenta en un 20%, la eituación de b88e tiene loe efectoe eobre loe ingreeoe de 188 familiu distribuidos con máe uniformidad (como lo indica el índice de la diferencia abeoluta media).Son evidentee diferenciae considerablee en loe efectoe abl501utoe eobre loe ingreeoe entre loe caeoe en que el precio del trigo ee constante yaquelloe donde aumenta. Loe índicee de las diferenci88 abeolutas mediae eon invariablemente menores en 188 situaciones en que ee constante el precio del trigo, mientr88 que loe promedioe ponderadoe eegún la proporción de la población de lae modificacionee de loe irigreeoe son menoree cuando ee eleva el precio del trigo. Por lo tanto, loe efectoe eobre loe ingreeoe eetán dietribuidoe de manera menoe uniforme pero en promedio máe favorable cuando ee incrementa el precio del trigo, reeultado que coincide con 188 pruebas de que loe precios máe altoe del trigo benefician a lae famili88 productorae netae en mayor medida que lo que perjudican a 188 familiae consumidorae new.Por último, la comparación de loe reeultadoe correepondientee a lae eituacionee con precioe controlados con loe reeultadoe obtenidos en lae situacionee con precioe endógenoe revela que 188 modificacionee de loe ingreeoe medioe eon mayoree (ee decir, menoe negativae) en lae situaciones con precioe controladoe donde ee eleva el precio del trigo en un 20%. Nuevamente, esto parece atribuible al hecho de que loe efectoe poeitivoe de loe precioe máe altoe del trigo eobre 188 familiae productorae netae eon mucho máe grandee que eue efectoe negativoe eobre lae familiae consumidorae new.Se pueden eacar variae conc1ueionee importantee a partir de loe análieie de simulación preeentadoe en eete capítulo. En primer término, ei no hubiera un progreeo tecnológico continuo en la producción de trigo en Pakistán, existe la probabilidad de que haya aumentoe eustancialee de las importacionee y una reducción de loe ingreeoe realee de la mayoría de lae familiae. El principal factor reeponsable de eeta eombría perspectiva ee la elevada taea de crecimiento demográfico en Pakietán.En eegundo lugar, loe cambioe tecnológicoe en la producción podrían limitar mucho loe probablee aumentoe de 188 importacionee necesariu para eatisfacer la creciente demanda de trigo. Dado el predominio de lae zonae irrigad88 en la producción total de trigo de Pakistán, la mayor productividad en eeas zonae continúa eiendo la fuente máe promieoria de incrementoe de la producción interna.En tercer lugar, el aumento de la productividad de trigo en 188 zonae irrigadae (con o ein incrementoe eimultáneoe de la pr~ductividaden lae zonae de temporal) ee deetaca como el elemento con efectoe abeolutoe más poeitivoe eobre loe ingreeoe realee. Eeto ee aplica tanto cuando loe precioe del trigo eon determinados en forma endógena por la oferta y la demanda internae, como (como es máe probable) cuando loe precioe son controladoe en forma exógena por el gobierno. Si loe precios eon endógenos, loe efectoe indirectoe de loe cambioe tecnológicoe sobre los precios del trigo predominan sobre loe efectos directoe de la productividad. Por el contrario, ei loe precioe se determinan en forma exógena, loe efectoe directos de la productividad para lae familiu productorae netae exceden con mucho a loe efectoe indirectos sobre loe ealarios agríco188.La conclueión de que los cambios tecnológicos en las zonas irrigadas llevan a mejores resultados con respecto a loe efectos absolutos sobre los ingresos tiene importantes implicaciones para el interrogante planteado al comienzo de este capítulo en cuanto a las consecuencias sobre la distribución de los ingresos que tienen distintos patrones de progreso tecnológico. Sin embargo, también son intereeantee las repercusiones de loe cambios tecnológicos en la distribución relativa de loe ingreeos. Para investigar eeto, sobre la base de los resultados de las simulaciones se calcularon loe coeficientes de Gini para la distribución de loe ingresoe rurales (Cuadro 4.13). En las situaciones en que el precio del trigo es endógeno, la clasificación de las cuatro situaciones en términoe de la distribución relativa de los ingresos es idéntica a la clasificación en términos de los efectos absolutos sobre los ingresos. Se incrementen o no las importaciones, la situación del deearrollo regional equilibrado produce coeficientes de Gini ligeramente inferiores a los de la situación de desarrollo de las zonas irrigadas y estas dos situaciones predominan sobre las otras en que no se producen cambios tecnológicoe en las zonas irrigadas. En las eituaciones con precioe controlados, hay muy poca diferencia entre loe coeficientes de Gini obtenidoe con las cuatro situacionee. Por consiguiente, loe cambios tecnológicoe en las zonae irrigadas (con o sin cambioe tecnológicoe eimultáneoe en las de temporal), llevan a patrones de la distribución relativa de los ingreeoe que no son menos equitativos (en algunos caS08 son hasta más equitativos) que loe que hubieran resultado si 105 cambioe tecnológicos hubieran ocurrido sólo en las zonas de temporal.La producción agrícola es un componente má5 importante de los ingreeos familiares en las zonas irrigadas que en las de temporal. En consecuencia, el aumento de la productividad de la agricultura de riego producirá efectoe sobre los ingreeos mucho más profundos que los del incremento de la productividad en la agricultura de temporal. .241....253 cambioe tecnológicoe que en 18l!l zonas de temporal. Junto con loe resultadoe respecto a los efectoe absolutos sobre los ingresoe que tienen loe distintos patronee de cambioe tecnológicos, esto tiene importantes coI18ecuencias en relación con la asignación óptima de los recursos de la investigación de trigo en Pakistán. Tradicionalmente, la mayor parte de la investigación se ha orientado hacia lae zonae irrigadae. Los resultados presentados aquí indican que ésta es una estrategia razonable para loe administradores de la investigación en el futuro. Suponiendo que el gobierno continúe desempeñando una función predominante en el establecimiento de los precios al productor y al cOI18umidor, toda reasignación espectacular de los recursos de la investigación con el propósito específico de aumentar la productividad de trigo en 188 zon88 de temporal parece poco conveniente en estos momentos. Los cambios tecnológicos que ocurran exclusivamente en estas zonae evidentemente serán inferiores en términos del fomento del crecimiento general de los ingresos y, al mismo tiempo, no pueden justificarse en términos de una mejor distribución relativa de los ingresos.Sin embargo, hay buenas razones para no abandonar los esfuerzos por incrementar la productividad de trigo en lae zonas de temporal. En gran medida, los efectos absolutoe y relativos simulados sobre los ingresos reales dependen de dos factores claves: que loe ingresos agrícolas representan una proporción relativamente pequeña de loe ingresoe totalee de 188 familias de 18l!l zonas de temporal y que 18l!l zonas irrigadas actualmente predominan en la producción total de trigo. En parte, eeos factores reflejan la mayor euperficie y población de 188 zon88 irrigadae de Pakistán. No obetante, probablemente también sean un elemento importante las diferenciae regionales históric88 en el progreso tecnológico. 17En lae zonas de temporal, el ritmo relativamente más lento con que aumentó la productividad en el pasado probablemente haya estimulado a los habitantee rurales a buscar fuentes de ingresos fuera del sector agrícola. El análisis efectuado en el CapítuloEete eetudio ha generado información eobre cómo las diferencias en el crecimiento de la productividad causado por el progreeo tecnológico se reflejan en la distribución absoluta y relativa de loe ingresos, tanto dentro de un ambiente de producción como en divereoe ambientes. Para ello, se ha analizado la distribución de los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en la producción de trigo de las zonas irrigadae y de temporal de Pakistán. Los análisis incluyeron un panorama histórico de los cambios tecnológicos y la distribución de los ingresos y un análisis orientado al futuro de simulaciones de los probables efectos de las tecnologías actualmente disponibles.El panorama histórico revela que, desde 1965 (pero especialmente durante el período más reciente poeterior a la Revolución Verde), el crecimiento de los ingresos de divereoe tipos de familias (ein tierra, minifundistas y agricultoras en gran escala) de las zonae de temporal de Pakietán en general ha euperado al de las familias similares en lae zonas irrigadae. Como lae familias de lae zonas de temporal inicialmente eran más pobres que lae de las zonae irrigadas, esto ha provocado una mejora general de la distribución relativa de los ingresos en lae zonas rurales de Pakietán. Es importante que el análisis de las modificaciones de la composición de los ingresos de divereos tipos de familias rurales mostrara que una proporción relativamente pequeña del aumento del bieneetar de las familias de las zonas de temporal ha sido el resultado de los efectoe directos o indirectos de la mayor productividad. Más bien, eee aumento parece haber sido consecuencia principalmente del mayor grado de participación de eeas familias en loe mercadoe de trabajo no agrícola, en particular en el exterior.El deecubrimiento de que loe habitantee de las zonas de temporal de Pakietán han podido lograr un impresionante crecimiento de loe ingresos reales contradice la opinión común de que los habitantes de loe ambientes de producción marginales que tienen escasos recureos (como lae zonas de temporal de Pakistán) son en general más pobres que los habitantee ruralee de los ambientes de producción más favorecidos (como las zonas irrigadae de Pakietán). Esto demuestra que, al considerar el bienestar de las poblaciones ruralee, hay que examinar toda la gama de oportunidades de que disponen, no sólo el potencial agrícola de las zonas que habitan. En muchas regiones del mundo, loe habitantee de los ambientee de producción con escasos recureos tal vez no tengan otras opcionee fuera de la agricultura con las cuales aumentar sus ingresos; no obstante, no ha eucedido esto en Pakietán.Loe análisis de lae simulaciones investigaron los poeibles efectos futuroe de las tecnologías de trigo actualmente disponibles sobre la distribución de los ingresos. Las simulaciones indican que, además de ser.la forma más promisoria de elevar la producción nacional de trigo, el aumento de la productividad en las zonas irrigadas de Pakietán (con o sin incrementos simultáneos de la productividad en las zonas de temporal) también promete causar los efectos más favorables sobre los ingresos generales. Por otra parte, se encontró que los cambios tecnológicos que ocurrieran en lae zonas irrigadas serían tan equitativos (yen algunos casos más equitativos) como los cambios tecnológicos limitados a lae zonae de temporal.Eetos resultados indican que la tradicional asignación de la mayor proporción de los recureoe de la investigación de trigo a incrementar la productividad de las zonas irrigadas continúa eiendo una eetrategia razonable para loe adminietradoree de la inveetigación en Pakietán. Una reasignación radical de los recureos de la investigación hacia las zonas de temporal sería inferior en términos del fomento del crecimiento general de los ingreeos y. al mismo tiempo, no ee justifica por motivos de equidad. Sin embargo, no ee razonable inferir de eetoe reeultados que Pakietán debería abandonar loe esfuerzos para intensificar la productividad agrícola de eus zonae de temporal. La causa de que el progreso tecnológico en estas zonas no prometa aumentar el crecimiento general de los ingresos es en gran parte consecuencia de que hietóricamente ha habido mayor incremento de la productividad en las zonas irrigadas de Pakistán. Por fortuna, la capacidad de las familias de las zonas de temporal de aprovechar las oportunidades de empleo no agrícola ha hecho que las diferencias interregionales en las tasas de crecimiento de la productividad agrícola no se traduzcan en desigualdades interregionales cada vez más grandes en los ingresos. Aun así, exieten riesgos inherentes en confiar en la expansión continua de las actividades no agrícolas, en particular las actividades vinculadas con el empleo fuera de Pakietán. Para minimizar esos riesgos, se justifican los esfuerzos permanentes de mejorar la viabilidad de la agricultura de temporal en Pakistán.Los patrones regionales de los cambios tecnológicos y la distribución geográfica de los grupos de población varían considerablemente de un país a otro. Por consiguiente, hay que ser cautelosos al evaluar el carácter general de los resultados presentados en este trabajo. Sin embargo, se han obtenido algunos conocimientos útiles que pueden ser aplicables fuera de Paki.etán. El hecho de que las fuentes no agrícolas de ingresos constituyan una proporción mucho mayor de los ingresos familiares que los ingresos agrícolas para la mayoría de los habitantes de las zonas de temporal probablemente se cumple en los ambientes marginales de producción de numerosos sitios del mundo. Los datos obtenidos en Paki.etán ü:ican que, en la medida en que las familias de los ambientes marginales de producción puedan obtener ingresos de fuentes no agrícolas, tal vez sean limitadas las consecuencias negativas de las diferencias interregionales en el crecimiento de la productividad.Otro hecho importante revelado por los análisis de las simulaciones es que las consecuencias de los cambios tecnológicos sobre la distribución de los ingresos dependen mucho de que el precio del producto en cuestión sea determinado por el mercado o controlado por el gobierno. Los datos de Paki.etán apoyan la opinión común de que, si el precio del trigo es determinado por el mercado, las familias consumidoras netas serán las principales beneficiarias de los incrementos de la productividad logrados con los cambios tecnológicos. No obstante, en el caso de productos básicos importantes como el trigo o el arroz, los gobiernos por lo general sí intervienen en los mercados internos. Los análisis de las simulaciones demuestran en forma convincente que, en una situación de precios controlados al productor y al consumidor, las familias productoras netas de las regiones que adoptan las tecnologías son las principales beneficiarias de los cambios tecnológicos.Por último, hay pocos indicios de que los mercados de trigo y de mano de obra de Pakistán hayan sido (o lleguen a ser) vías importantes para transmitir los beneficios de las tecnologías mejoradas de trigo. La función preeminente del gobierno pakistaní en la determinación de los precios al productor y al consumidor obstaculiza los efectos positivos sobre los precios que, según la hipótesis de algunos economÜ!ltas, acompañarían los incrementos de la oferta global de trigo. Si bien los salarios agrícolas realmente se han elevado en las zonas tanto irrigadas como de temporal, parece que factores externos al sector agrícola son los pricipales responsables de ese fenómeno. Es decir, los incrementos salariales han sido el resultado de\" la limitada oferta de mano de obra rural más que de la creciente demanda de ésta. En consecuencia, el incremento directo de la productividad mediante la difusión de tecnologías mejoradas parece haber tenido una repercusión mucho más profunda en el bienestar de los pakistaníes que los efectos secundarios de los cambios tecnológicos. Además, mientras el gobierno de Pakistán ejerza una función predominante en la determinación de los precios del trigo, eeos efectos secundarios continuarán influyendo poco en la transmÜ!lión de los beneficios de loe cambioe tecnológicos a loe sectores de la población que no adoptan la tecnología.Apéndice AEl modelo siguiente intenta capturar en un marco analítico unificado la transmisión a diversos tipos de familias en una economía de los efectos causados por cambios tecnológicos diferenciados según las regiones en la producción de un importante alimento básico. La configuración del modelo en muchos aspectos se deriva de los modelos teóricos de Quizon y Binswanger (1983;1986). Sin embargo, a diferencia de esos modelos, en éste se han incorporado explícitamente los efectos sobre diversos tipos de agentes de las zonas rurales no afectados directamente por las innovaciones supuestas. Además, si bien incluye a un sector urbano, no llega a ser un modelo del equilibrio general porque se consideran exógenos la mayoría de los factores que afectan a las familias urbanas. De este modo, el modelo es similar a los modelos de \"mercados múltiples\" usados por Braverman y Hammer (1986) y Braverman et al. (1987).El modelo supone que hay dos regiones agrícolas y un sector urbano. En cada una de las regiones agrícolas existen tres tipos de familias: los campesinos sin tierra, los minifundistas y los agricultores en gran escala. Estos dos últimos grupos son agricultores de semiautoconsumo ya que producen una proporción sustancial del principal alimento básico de sus dietas. Se puede considerar que las dos regiones agrícolas corresponden a los ambientes de producción favorecido y marginal que se examinan en el texto.El sector urbano está compuesto por familias pobres y no pobres. En el modelo, los cambios tecnológicos afectan a las familias urbanas únicamente mediante modificaciones del precio del artículo afectado por el cambio tecnológico y la consiguiente modificación del costo de la vida (es decir, modificaciones de los índices de precios al consumidor específicos para el grupo). No se consideran las modificaciones de los patrones de emigración de las zonas rurales a las urbanas ni los efectos de las modificaciones del precio del alimento en los salarios urbanos. Se reconoce que éstos son en muchos casos importantes efectos secundarios de los cambios tecnológicos. Su omisión obedece en gran medida a la necesidad de mantener manejable el modelo. 1Supongamos que las familias de cada región agrícola producen dos artículos: Ql es el producto de un cultivo alimentario básico (por ejemplo, el trigo) afectado por una innovación tecnológica que aumenta el rendimiento, y Q2 es un artículo alternativo. 2 Se modela la tecnología como una variable exógena,\"t, que incrementa tanto la oferta del artículo 1 como la demanda de insumas variables. Las ofertas de 1 Además, en el caso específico de Pakistán, la emigración hacia el exterior (en particular al Medio Oriente) ha cumplido una función predominante en la determinación de los salarios urbanos durante al menos los 10 últimos años (Husain, 1990, p. 15). Por esta razón, se considero que no tomar en cuenta la emigración de las zonas rurales a las urbanas no comprometía mucho las posibilidades de aplicar el modelo.los productos y las demandas de los insumos dependen de los precios de esos dos artículos (PI Y P 2 ), los precios de los insumos variables y, excepto en el caso de Q2' la tecnología incrementadora. Se supone que la mano de obra (L) y el fertilizante (F) son los únicos insumos variables en la producci6n;s que la tierra (Z) es el único insumo fijo; que los insumos variables no están diferenciados según el cultivo; que las familias de ambas regiones agrícolas afrontan el mismo precio del fertilizante detenninado en fonna ex6gena <O y que los salarios regionales (W) se detenninan en forma end6gena en mercados de trabajo competitivos. Al comienzo, se supone que los mercados regionales de trabajo se compensan en fonna independiente el uno del otro. Posteriormente se suaviza ese supuesto.El sistema de funciones de la oferta de los productos y de la demanda de los insumos variables para cada tipo de familia• se puede escribir de la siguiente manera:Esto implica las siguientes relaciones para cada regi6n y grupo en la notaci6n de las tasas de cambio (donde 1\\ indica la tasa proporcional de cambio, es decir, X= alnX/at):(1)(2)Frg =fl r1rg PI + fl F2rg P2 + fl FLrg W r + fl FFrg f + E,rgo ~quí E ikrJ Y fl jkrg son elasticida?es e~pecífic~para la región/grupo del producto i o el Insumo J con respecto al precIo k (¡ = 1, 2; J = L, F; y k = 1, 2, L, F), Y Ekr¡r (k = 1, L, F) es el aumento proporcional (ex6geno) con el tiempo de la oferta del producto o la demanda del insumo, causado por la nueva tecnología, por ejemplo, t1\"lr = (alnQ1J a-t)(a-t/at).Las modificaciones de la producción regional total se expresan con la suma de las modificaciones de la producci6n específicas para cada grupo ponderadas según la participación del grupo en la producción regional total «~,):Asimismo, las modificaciones regionales en las demandas de los insumos están expresadas por:(6)A A L' = 1:1' \" L and F = Iel> F-, r g \"'rg rg r g rg '15donde ~y el>\"lr son las cuotas de participaci6n en las demandas regionales totales de mano de obra y de fertilizante correspondientes al grupo g.En el caso de las familias rurales, se considera que la oferta de mano de obra familiar (le) es una funci6n del salario real (w r = W;nrg' donde IT\"lr es un índice de precios al consumidor específico para la regi6n/grupo), es decir, l~=l~(w,.). Al indicar la población del grupo familiar g en la región r como N r¡' la oferta de mano de obra específica para la región/grupo es sencillamente L =l\"lrx N\"lr' Suponiendo que ELrg sea la elasticidad del salario de la oferta de mano Je obra familiar, las modificaciones proporcionales de la oferta de mano de obra familiar se expresan con:(7)Nuevamente se puede totalizar esto para derivar las modificaciones de la oferta regional de mano de obra:(8) donde 'P\"lr es la proporci6n de la oferta regional de mano de obra correspondiente al grupog.Se supone que todas las utilidades agrícolas residuales no atribuibles a insumos variables se acumulan como utilidades generadas por la tierra. Suponiendo que Srg sea la tasa unitaria de arriendo de la tierra y Zrg la cantidad de tierra cultivable perteneciente al grupo g en la regi6n r, Suponiendo que no existe ninguna modificación en la distribución de las propiedades de tierra (2; = O), donde las 3t¡... son las participaciones en las utilidades específicas para la región/ grupo correspondientes a los productos y los insumas variables (positivas en el caso de los productos y negativas en el de los insumas).Se supone que se consumen dos artículos, el alimento básico afectado por los cambios tecnológicos y un artículo alternativo (A). La demanda familiar (indicada por una c minúscula) es una función de los precios de estos artículos y los ingresos reales (y.):Como en el caso de la oferta de mano de obra, el consumo específico para la región! grupo del artículo (indicado por una C mayúscula) es simplemente el producto de las demandas familiares y la población, es decir, C q = c q x N.... Las modificaciones del consumo están entonces expresadas por:A \" ' ' ' \"e lrg = Tl 11rg PI + Tl IArg P A + Tl IYrg Yrg + Nrg (11) 6Arg = Tl A1rg l\\ + TlAArg 1\\ + Tl AYrg yrg + Ñ..., donde '1 .... es la elasticidad específica para la región/grupo de la demanda del artículo ~con respecto al precio del artículo j. Suponiendo que u q sea la proporción del consumo regional del artículo k correspondiente al grupo g, las modificaciones del consumo regional son:Los ingresos nominales para cada grupo dentro de una región C'l.) son la suma de las utilidades netas generadas por todos los factores arrendados por ese grupo. Esos factores incluyen los ingresos por mano de obra, las utilidades agrícolas y fuentes exógenas (X) como el trabajo no agrícola y el trabajo artesanal:rg r r g rgrg rg Supongamos que 6 q indica la proporción de los ingresos específicos para la región/ grupo atribuible a la fuente de ingresos k (k = L, Z, X). Suponiendo nuevamente que no hay ninguna modificación en la distribución de las propiedades de la tierra, las modificaciones de los ingresos reales (y = y /Il) están dadas por:(13) donde nuevamente rr es un índice de precios al consumidor específico para la región/grupo. Las moJificaciones de este índice de precios se expresan como:k =1,A donde OOJus es la proporción de los gastos específica para la región/grupo correspondiente al artículo k.Para cerrar el modelo es preciso especificar las condiciones en las cuales se compensan los mercados del artículo 1 y de la mano de obra. Según el análisis expuesto en el texto, la especificación de esas condiciones de compensación del mercado dependen básicamente de tres factores: 1) que el mercado del artículo sea abierto o cerrado con respecto al mercado mundial; 2) la naturaleza de la intervención gubernamental en el mercado; y 3) que la mano de obra sea suficientemente móvil para que se equilibren los salarios en todas las regiones. Lo que hicimos fue establecer tres variantes de solución del modelo que en general corresponden a los equilibrios a corto y largo plazos en los mercados de trigo y de mano de obra de Pakistán (Cuadro A. 1).En la variante J, se supone que PIes determinado en forma exógena (ya sea por el gobierno o por el mercado mundial) y que la mano de obra es inmóvil. Este es en esencia un caso a corto plazo en el cual el precio del artículo 1 es controlado por el gobierno. La condición de compensación del mercado para el mercado del producto está dada por la identidad C l = Ql + G, donde C l es el consumo nacional total, Ql es la producción nacional total y G es la cantidad del artículo 1 generada por las cantidades emitidas por el gobierno en el mercado (ya sea mediante importaciones netas o alteraciones de las existencias estabilizadoras del gobierno). En la notación de la tasa de cambio, esta condición se vuelve Cuadro A.l. Descripción de tres variantes de solución del modelo de mercados múltiples.Variante  Como se supone que la mano de obra es inmóvil en la variante 1, los mercados regionales de mano de obra se compensan en forma independiente unos de otros.Por consiguiente, los salarioe regionales se determinan igualando la oferta y la demanda de mano de obra o, de manera equivalente, las modificaciones de la demanda de mano de obra y las de la oferta de mano de obra:En la variante n, se supone que el precio del artículo 1 es determinado por la intersección de la oferta y la demanda y que la mano de obra es móvil en todas las regiones. Esto es en esencia un caso a largo plazo de economía cerrada, donde el precio del artículo 1 es el resultado de las fuerzas del mercado (más que de la política gubernamental), Como en la variante 1, la ecuación (15) gobierna la compensación del mercado en el mercado de producción. No obstante, a diferencia de lo que sucedía anteriormente, G es exógena y P 1 es endógeno.Como se supone que la mano de obra es m6vil en la variante n, se supone que los salarios se determinan a nivel nacional (en lugar de a nivel regional). La condición de compensación del mercado es entonces:o, en la notaci6n de la tasa de cambio, (16b) I (L/L) i~= I (LjL) i:. r rN6tese que esta formulación no tiene en cuenta las diferencias en los salarios entre las regiones, originadas en los costos de transacción de trasladarse de una zona a otra. Como se analiz6 en el texto, esto supone implícitamente una diferencia proporcional constante en los salarios. Nótese también que esta formulaci6n no considera la dinámica de pasar de un equilibrio a otro. En lugar de esto, permite la comparación de dos equilibrios estáticos que ocurren en puntos diferentes del tiempo.Por último, la variante 111 es una solución a largo plazo con precios controlados. Supone que el precio del artículo 1 se establece en forma ex6gena (como en la variante 1) y que la mano de obra es móvil (como en la variante 11). En consecuencia, las condiciones de compensación del mercado están dadas por las ecuaciones ( 16) y (l6b).El modelo, constituido por las ecuaciones (1) • ( 15) más ( 16a) o (16b), se puede expresar en la forma HU = K, donde H es una matriz de los parámetros (elasticidades y cuotas de participación), U es un vector de las variables endógenas (los cambios proporcionales en Q, e, F, L, ,y, Wy G o P 1 5 para cada región y grupo), y K es un vector de las variables exógenas (los cambios proporcionales en E, N, f, P 2 , PA' X y G o P 1)' Multiplicando previamente ambos términos de la ecuación por H-¡ se obtiene una solución para U para valores esPecificados de las variables exógenas en K.Para un grupo determinado de valores paramétricos, se pueden efectuar diversos \"experimentos\" conmocionando el sistema con alteraciones en un subgrupo de las variables exógenas. De particular interés en nuestro caso es el efecto de los choques tecnológicos que tienen distintas repercusiones en las dos regiones agrícolas (en términos del incremento inicial de la oferta del producto y/o la demanda de insumos). Por ejemplo, se podría comparar una situación en la cual una tecnología nueva aumenta la oferta en el ambiente favorecido de producción pero no en el demanda de artículos a: consumo E: oferta de productos l;: demanda de mano de obra lJ: demanda de insumos La aplicación del modelo de mercados múltiples presentado en el Capítulo 2 exigió reunir un conjunto cOIl5iderable de parámetros que, en gran medida, describen los rasgos sobresalientes de la economía pakietaní. Es característico de los modelos de este tipo que su capacidad de simular con exactitud los efect08 de una situación particular depende en gran parte de la precisión de los parámetros usados para inicializar esos efectos. Por cOIl5iguiente, se trabajó mucho para calcular esos datos de Pakietán.A continuación se describen los procedimientoe ueados para calcular los parámetros del modelo. Esos parámetros ee pueden agrupar en dos categorías generales, parámetros de lae cuotas de participación y elasticidades. En todos loe caeos, ee hicieron los cálculos ueando las fuentes eecundarias existentee. En Pakietán se dispone de muchas fuentes de ese tipo, que abarcan desde microencuestas a nivel de finca haeta estadísticas gubernamentales globales; en la mayoría de los caeos se pudieron extraer 108 datos necesarios de esae publicaciones. El cálculo de algunos de los parámetros requirió hacer ciertas conjeturas, en particular con respecto a las diferencias interregionales e intrarregionales en los parámetros de las cuotae de participación de loe distintos tipoe de familiae. A continuación se describe la naturaleza de los supuestos que hubo que hacer con el fin de llenar eeas lagunas. Además, no se disponía de algunas de las elasticidades de la oferta de productoe y de la demanda de iIl5umos correspondientes a Pakistán, en gran medida porque los datos necesarioe para calcularlae no existen o no son de la calidad adecuada. En estos CasOl5, se usaron las elasticidadee estimadas para la India.La mayoría de los datoe globalee correepondían a todo Pakietán. Loe datoe a nivel de finca se obtuvieron de informee sobre el manejo de fincae publicadoe anualmente por el IIl5tituto de Inveetigaciones Económicas de Punjab (PERI) y, por lo tanto, ee refieren sólo al Punjab. 1 Como el Punjab ocupa un lugar tan deetacado en la producción agrícola en general y en la producción de trigo en particular, ee peneó que loe datos obtenid08 de esos informee ee pueden generalizar razonablemente para el reeto de Pakietán. Finalmente, en todoe loe casoe la distinción entre ambientes de producción irrigadoe y de temporal se basó en que la zona estuviera o no irrigada.Los datos sobre las cuotas de participación ueados en el modelo definen la distribución interregional e intrarregional de la producción y el coneumo, la demanda de ineumoe, la oferta de mano de obra y los gastoe, aeí como la proporción de los ingreS08 familiares y (en el caso de lae familias agricultoras) lás utilidades agrícolas atribuibles a divereas fuentee.Se pueden obtener del Ministerio de Agricultura y Alimentación seriee cronológicas de datos sobre la producción de trigo en fincas de riego y de temporal. Para otros artículoe, el Informe de la Comisión Nacional para la Agricultura contiene datos sobre el valor agregado de todoe loe cultivoe deede 1983 a 1986, mientras que Estadísticas agrícolas de Pakistán (1983) proporciona datos sobre las diferencias en el valor agregado entre las zonas irrigadas y las de temporal. La proporción de la producción nacional de trigo y otros cultivoe correspondiente a las zonas irrigadas ha sido relativamente eetable durante loe 80, con porcentajee de alrededor del 90% y el\" 95%, respectivamente. En el modelo se W!laron las cifras correspondientee a 1985.Se calcularon las cuotas de participación en la producción intrarregional W!l8ndo loe datos del ceNlO agrícola de 1980 (señaladoe en Estadísticas agrícolas de Pakistán de 1983 y el Suplemento estadístico de la encuesta económica [1988][1989]. Estos datos indican que el 62% de la superficie cultivada total de Pakistán corresponde a fincas grandee (> 12.5 acree o 5 ha) y el 38%, a minifundios. Se SUpW!lO que eeta distribución era la misma en las zonas irrigadas y las de temporal.La fórmula básica W!lada para calcular las cuotas de participación en la producción intrarregional fue: = Q donde al =proporción de la superficie cultivada total según la clasificación tamaño de finca (CTF) i; w¡ =proporción de trigo de la superficie cultivada total para la CTF i; Yy¡ =relación del rendimiento medio para la CTF i con el rendimiento medio en la región.Los datos sobre 108 patrones de cultivo y los datos del rendimiento contenidos en los informee del PERI de 1986 y 1987 indican que hay muy poca diferencia entre w l y YI entre las CTF dentro de una determinada región: una diferencia del 5% en los rendimientoe de trigo (mayor en las fincas pequeñas) y prácticamente ninguna diferencia en w¡ (ligeramente mayor en las fincas grandee). Si bien eeos informee también contienen información sobre la superficie cosechada media para cada CTF,loe datos son tan variablee en los distintos años que se concluyó que no eran tan representativos de la a¡ \"real\" como loe promedios nacionalee del censo agrícola (la descompoeición en 38% y 62%). En cONlecuencia, se W!laron eetas últimas cifras para a¡ en ambas regionee ruralee.En el caso de los artículos distintos del trigo (\"otros cultivos\"), se aplicó el mismo procedimiento a loe datos sobre el valor agregado de cultivos distintos del trigo en el Informe de la Comisión Nacional para la Agricultura. Nuevamente, se detectaron pequeñas diferencias intrarregionalee entre las CTF en cuanto a loe patronee medios de cultivo y los rendimientos medios. En el Cuadro B.1se presentan las cuotas de participación en la producción usadas en el modelo. Se calcularon lae cuotae de participación en el consumo usando datos del censo demográfico de 1980, de la Encuesta sobre los ingresos y los gastos familiares (HIES) de 1984 y de los informes del PERI para 1986 y 1987. Loe datos del censo demográfico indican que la di5tribución de la población por regionee es la 5iguiente: el 27% en las zonae de temporal, el 45% en lae zonas irrigadas y el 28% en las zonae umanae. En las zonae urbanae, se consideró ''pobres'' a loe d05 quintiles de ingresos más bajos y \"no pobres\" a 105 tre5 quintiles de ingresos más altos. En lae zonas rurales, 105 tamañ05 de la5 submue5tras u5adas para los informes del PERI se baearon en la participación de cada tipo de familia en la población regional total. Esto da como resultado la descomposición básica de la población en las regionee y tipos de familias presentados en el Cuadro B.2. .45.28Para el trigo, se Wlaron las cifras del consumo per cápita medio de las familias ruralell indicadas en los informes del PERI de 1986 y 1987 para calcular las cuotas relativas de participación en el consumo de 108 tipos de familias rurales, y los datos de la HIES para calcular la diferencia media entre el consumo rural y el urbano. Se siguió el siguiente procedimiento: 1) calcular el promedio simple del consumo par cápita de trigo informado para los doe añ08; 2) calcular un índice relativo para 108 menores consumidores (loe campe8il108 sin tierra de las zonas irrigadas); 3) multiplicar el índice por las cuotas de participación en la población señaladas ante8 para capturar las diferencias intrarregionalee entre loe tipoe de familias, luego reescalonar las cifras resultante8 de tal modo que la participación del consumo rural en el consumo nacional total siguiera eiendo el mismo; 4) multiplicar toda8 las cifras rurales por 1.25 (la diferencia entre el consumo per cápita medio de trigo en las zonas ruralee y eee consumo en las urbanae, indicad08 por la HIES) y luego reeecalonar todas las cifras según una proporción constante de tal modo que el total general fuera 100%. Se efectuaron 108 pasos 1 a 3 para las familias urbanas Wlando 108 dat08 de la HIES. Las diferencias entre las familias en cuanto al consumo de trigo fueron mínimas en lae zonas urbanae; en promedio, el consumo per cápita de trigo de las familias pobres fue s610 aproximadamente un 2% mayor que el de las familiae no pobres.Se siguió el mismo procedimiento con 108 artícul08 distintos del trigo. Como era de eeperar, las diferencias tanto intrarregionalee como interregionalell en el consumo de esoe artículoe fueron mucho mayorell que en el caso del trigo. En promedio, el consumo per cápita de artículos distintos del trigo por 108 habitante8 urbanos fue alrededor de 1.4 veces superior al de 108 habitantes ruralell, y el consumo per cápita de 81!108 artículos por loe grupos urbanoe no pobres fue aproximadamente un 90% mayor que el de 108 grupos urban08 pobres. El Cuadro B.1 contiene las cuotas de participación en el consumo Wladas en el modelo.Participación en la demanda de mano de obra y Notro. iD8Umo.\"Se dispWlO de d08 fuente8 de datos a nivel de tinca para examinar las cuotas de participación en la demanda de insumos: 108 informes anualell del PERI sobre el manejo de las fincas y una encuesta de 2,002 fincas de riego efectuada en 1976 por la Dirección de Deearrollo de la Energía y el Agua (WAPDA). Se usaron los datos del PERI por las siguiente8 razones:• Los datos del PERI son bastante reciente8 (se utilizaron los promedios comunicad08 para 1986 y 1987), mientras que los datos de la WAPDA resultaban algo atrasados.• Los datos del PERI permiten efectuar una descomposición entre las zonas irrigadas y las de temporal.• Los datos del PERI sobre los iIUlumos son muy detallados, mientras que loe datos de la WAPDA incluyen información sólo sobre la utilización del nitrógeno, el fósforo y los iIUlecticid88.Las desventajas de loe datos del PERI son: 1) corresponden sólo al PuI\\iab y 2) parecen subestimar a 188 fincas muy grandes. La primera desventaja probablemente no sea dem88iado seria, dado el predominio del PuI\\iab en la producción agrícola en general y en la producción de trigo en particular. Para evitar el problema de la subestimación, los cálcul~se baearon en loe valores por hectárea (en lugar de por finca) para la utilización de los ineumos.La media del empleo por hectárea de mano de obra y otroe ineumoe correepondiente a cada CTF ee multiplicó por la euperficie cultivada total (a nivel nacional) repreeentada por cada uno de las cuatro CTF (minifundios de temporal, finc88 grandee de temporal, minifundioe de riego y fincae grandes de riego). Eeta última descomposición se efectuó a partir de los datos del ceneo agrícola sobre la euperficie cultivada en lae fincas pequeñas y grandee, y a partir de loe datoe del censo de población de 1980 sobre la superficie cultivada en 188 zon88 irrigad88 y de temporal (para 1981) (vé88e el resumen en el Cuadro B.3). En el Cuadro B.4 ee presentan 188 cuot88 de participación en la demanda de ineumoe usadas en el modelo.Cuadro B.3. Superficie cultivada en las zonas de temporal y las irrigadas.Claslflcación de tamaño de finca Minifundios de temporal Fincas grandes de temporal Minifilndioa de riego Fincas grandes de riego Superficie cultivada (millones de ha)2.25 3.68 3.77 6.17 Participación en la oferta de mano de obraComo en el C880 de lae cuot88 de participación en la demanda de ineumoe, ee uearon loe datoe del PERI para 1986 y 1987, loe datoe del ceneo agrícola (en eete caeo, el número de finc88 para cada cl88ificación de tamaño de finca) y loe datoe del ceneo poblacional de 1980 para calcular 188 CUOt88 de participación en la oferta de mano de obra. En el Cuadro B.5 ee preeenta una líeta de la cantidad de fincae por CTF.Se multiplicaron eeae cifrae por 188 medi88 por finca de la mano de obra familiar, la mano de obra contratada en forma permanente y la mano de obra oC88ional ueadae por finca. Se calcularon luego 188 cuotae de participación en la oferta regional de mano de obra euponiendo que: 1) la mano de obra contratada en forma permanente ee proporcionada exc1ueivamente por loe campeeinos ein tierra y 2) la mano de obra oC88ional ee proporcionada por los campesinos sin tierra y los pequeños agricultoree (en proporcionee iguales) (Cuadro B.4).Como verificación, se aplicó el mÍl!lmo procedimiento a loe datos de la WAPDA para tod88 lae zon88 irrigad88. Se obtuvieron resultados virtualmente idénticoe para la participación de lae famili88 ein tierra en la oferta de mano de obra (0.192 y 0.199). La participación de loe minifundios fue alrededor del 20% mayor ueando los datoe de la WAPDA (0.595 y 0.496), Y eucedió lo contrario en el caeo de los agricultores en gran escala (0.212 en contraste con 0.305).3Cuadro B.5. Número de fincas en cada clasificación de tamaño. Participación en los gasto. Lal!l cuotal!l de participación de 10l!l grupol!l urbanol!l en 10l!l gutol!l en trigo l!le tomaron directamente de 10l!l datol!l de la HIES de 1984 (Cuadro B.6). El!la encuel!lta indicó que la cuota media de participación en 10l!l gaetol!l correepondiente a 10l!l grupol!l ruralee en todo Paki8tán fue de 0.112. Con el fin de del!lcomponer lae cuotae de participación rural en los gaetol!l según los l!leie tipol!l de familiae rurales, l!le Ul!laron 10l!l datOl!l de 1015 informes del PERI de 1986 y 1987. Esos datos indican cuotu de participación en 1015 gastol!l algo elevadas (entre 0.18 y 0.19 para 1015 campesinos sin tierra y 1015 minifundistas, y entre 0.15 y 0.17 para 1015 agricultores en gran escala). Al parecer, los datos del PERI sobre el consumo de trigo eetán afectados por un sesgo por exceeo (cuya razón l!le desconoce), ya que indican nivelel!l extraordinariamente elevados de consumo per cápita de trigo (como de 180•200 kg al año). Por este motivo, se redujeron lu cuotu de participación en 10l!l gastos obtenidu con 10l!l datos del PERI de acuerdo con una proporción constante, de tal modo que el promedio rural global fue de 0.112. Este procedimiento mantuvo las mismas diferencias proporcionales relativae entre los tipos de familias rurales y, al mismo tiempo, hizo concordar las cifras con los promediOl!l ruralel!l globales indicados por la HIES. Por supueeto, las cuotu de participación en los gutos de los artículos distintoe del trigo equivalen sencillamente a uno menOl!l 1813 cuotal!l de participación en los gastos en trigo.Participación en las utilidade. y lo. ingreso. Se calcularon 1813 cuotae de participación en los ingresos y lu utilidades Ul!lando los datos comunicados por el PERI para 1985, 1986 y 1987. Est08 son los mismOl!l parámetros examinados ampliamente en el Capítulo 3. Se calcularon los totales en tres añoe de loe ingreeoe, 188 utilidadee y sus componentes, y se usaron para formar cuotae mediae de participación en loe ingreeoe y lae utilidadee para el período de Lae elasticidadee de la demanda de cOMumo,la oferta de productos,la demanda de iMumoe y la oferta de mano de obra contenidae en el modelo indican los comportamientos de las familias en respuesta a lasmodificacionee de loe precios que afrontan como coMumidores, productores y trabajadoree.Elasticidades de la demanda de consumo Fue necesario establecer la elasticidad precio y la elasticidad ingreso de la demanda de trigo y la elasticidad precio de la demanda de otroe artículos para poder aplicar el modelo. A partir de ellas, se derivaron las elaeticidades precio cruzadae y las elasticidades ingreso de otros artícul08, de tal modo que se cumplieron las condiciones de agregación de Cournot y Engel.En estudios efectuados por Alderman (1988) y Ahmad y Ludlow (1988), se indican las elasticidades de la demanda para PakiBtán.• Esos autores usaron los datoe de la HIES para 1979, pero difieren en cuanto a la forma funcional utilizada para estimar los siBtemas de ecuaciones de demanda. En general, esae ecuaciones indican que la demanda ee bastante inelástica en todoe los grupoe de familias. Se emplearon las elasticidades precio de la demanda de Ahmad y Ludlow y las elasticidadee ingreso de Alderman. 5   Hay poco en esos estudioe que permita diBtinguir diferencias intrarregionales en lae respuestas de demanda de los distintos tipoe de familias, o diferencias interregionales entre las zonas irrigadas y las de temporal. Los resultadoe de Alderman indican que las respueetas de precio e ingreso de la demanda son más elásticae en loe grupos de menoree ingresos; la diferencia entre las elasticidades en loe grupos de escasoe ingresos y el promedio general es de aproximadamente 0.1 en el caso de las elasticidades ingreso, y de 0.2 en el de las elasticidades precio de la demanda. Esto coincide con los datos correspondientes a otros países en desarrollo (PiMtrup-Andereen, 1985). Por cOMiguiente, las elasticidades para las familias minifundiBtas se establecieron como equivalentes al promedio general, mientras que las elasticidades correspondientes a los campesinos sin tierra y loe agricultores en gran escala fueron algo mayores (máe bajas). Del mismo modo, las elasticidades para los grupoe urbanos pobree (y no pobree) se fijaron arbitrariamente como ligeramente superiores (más bajas) al promedio urbano general.Por último, como no parecía exiBtir a priori ninguna razón para esperar diferencias cOMiderables en la respuesta de demanda en las dos zonas rurales, se supuso que esas respueetas eran las miBmas para los tipos eimilares de familias. En el Cuadro B.a se presenta el conjunto de elasticidades de la demanda usadas en el modelo. Elasticidades de la oferta de productos y de la demanda de inaumos En el transcureo de los años se han efectuado numerosos estudios econométricoe de la respuesta de la oferta en Pakistán. AH (1988) presenta los resultados de varios de ellos en un trabajo en el cual estima un si5tema eimultáneo de ecuaciones de oferta. La mayoría de esas ecuaciones calculaban lae elaeticidades precio de la oferta de trigo y otros cultivos (descompuestae en divereos grados), así como las elaeticidades precio cruzadae con respecto a los precios del trigo, otros cultivos y los fertilizantee. En general, ee ha encontrado que las elaeticidadee precio de la oferta y las elasticidadee precio cruzadas eon algo bajas en Pakistán.Recientemente, Pinclmey (1989) estimó la reepuesta de la oferta en nueve ZOnal! de producción diferentee. El estudio de Pinclmey es el único en el cual se puede di5tinguir la respuesta de la oferta en las regionee de temporal de la de lae regiones irrigadas. Encuentra que las elasticidades de la producción en las zonae irrigadas son alrededor del 60% mayoree que en las ZOnal! de temporal. Además, tanto AH como Pinclmey estimaron las elasticidades a corto y a largo plazo usando un método nerloviano. En todoe los estudios citados por Ali se eetimaron elasticidades a corto plazo.El método usado para establecer lae elasticidades de oferta utilizadas en la aplicación del modelo es el siguiente. Se calculó el promedio eimple de las elasticidades a corto plazo para todo Pakistán eetimadas por Pinckney, AH y todos los estudios citados por AH que se publicaron en el decenio de los 80. Usando estas cifras como referencia, se ajuetaron lae elasticidades para las zonas irrigadas y de temporal de tal modo que las relaciones entre ellas fueran iguales a las encontradas por Pinclmey, conservando al mi5mo tiempo el promedio nacional. Se calcularon las elasticidades medias a largo plazo multiplicando esas elaeticidades a corto plazo por un factor ajustador equivalente a la diferencia proporcional entre lae elasticidades a corto y a largo plazo encontradas por Pinclmey para las zonas irrigadas y de temporal (1.23 y 1.28, respectivamente).No existen en Pakietán eetudioe que hayan estimado lae elaeticidadee salario de la oferta de productos. Ademáe, ninguno de loe eetudioe examinadoe logró estimar en forma confiable la8 eluticidadee de \"otros cultivos\" con reepecto al precio del trigo. En coneecuencia se W!Iaron estimacionee de eeu elaeticidadee para toda la India publicadu en el eetudio de Quizon y Binewanger (1986). En eetos caeos, ee emplearon los mismoe métodoe descritos anteriormente para determinar lae eluticidades a corto y a largo plazo y las diferencias interregionales en la respuesta de la oferta.No conozco ningún estudio que haya estimado sistemas de ecuaciones de demanda de mano de obra y de otros ineumos para Pakietán. Sin embargo, Quizon y Binewanger han estimado un eistema de ese tipo para la India, que ee usó como base para las elasticidades de la demanda de insumas empleadu aquí. Nuevamente, ee utilizaron los métodos antes descritos para derivar diferencias interregionales e intertemporales en la respuesta de la demanda.Por último, no exi8tía ninguna razón evidente para suponer que las elasticidades de la oferta de productos y de la demanda de ineumos diferían en las CTF eituadas dentro del mi8mo ambiente de producción. Por consiguiente, se supuso que lae elasticidades eran las mismas para las familias minifundistas y de las fincas grandes en cada zona. En el Cuadro B.9 ee presentan los grupos de elasticidadee de la oferta de productos y de la demanda de insumos usadas al aplicar el modelo.Cuadro B.9. Elasticidades de la oferta de productos y de la demanda de insumOll usadas en el modelo.A Nota: E U es la elasticidad de la oferta (en el caso de los productos) o la demanda (en el caso de los insumos) del artículo i con respecto al precio del artículo j. Loe subíndices indican lo siguiente: 1 =trigo, 2 =otros artículos producidos, L =mano de obra y F =otros insumas.Elasticidades de la oferta de mano de obra Al igual que en el C8l30 de la demanda de insumos, no hay estudios que hayan estimado las elasticidades de la oferta de mano de obra agrícola en Pakistán. Por tanto, como se pensó que la oferta de mano de obra debe ser b8l3tante inelástica en Pakistán, se fijaron las elasticidades de esa oferta usadas en el modelo en 0.5 para tod85 las familias rurales.Como indica el análisis anterior, hubo que hacer una serie de supuestos al establecer 108 parámetros usados en la aplicación del modelo de mercados múltiples. Fue entonces importante conocer la sensibilidad del modelo a los parámetros elegidos. Por esta razón, se efectuó un análisis de sensibilidad en el cual se duplicó cada parámetro. La comparación de los reeultados simulados ueando los valores modificados del parámetro con los resultados obtenidos con el parámetro real utilizado en 1813 simulaciones preeentadas en el Capítulo 4 permite determinar cuán perjudicial es la elección \"equivocada\" de 105 valoree paramétricos.Los resultados de este ejercicio indican que, en general, el modelo no es eensible a ninguna elasticidad particular. La duplicación de las elasticidadee de la oferta de productos nunca produjo una alteración que superara el11% en ninguna de las modificaciones eimuladas de 1813 variables endógenae, mientr813 que la duplicación de las elaeticidades de la demanda de insumos, la demanda de consumo y la oferta de mano de obra no alteró ninguna de las variables endógen813 en máe del 2%. En todos los C8l30S, 1813 consecuenci813 en cuanto a modificaciones de los ingresos reales fueron bastante insensibles a la alteración de cualquiera de las elasticidades. 6   Se encontró que el modelo era muy sensible a la magnitud de las cuotas de participación en las utilidades correspondientes a las familias de agricultores. En particular, las utilidades agrícolas fueron las más afectadas por las modificaciones de la participación en las utilidade5 del trigo (pero en ningún caso una modificación del 100% en este parámetro provocó una alteración de má5 del 20% en las utilidade5 agrícoI8l3).Por suerte, 5e consideró que los parámetros de la participación en las utilidades se contaban entre lae estimaciones máe conf18blee, ya que estaban basadas en una fuente muy fidedigna (los datos del PERI). La alteración de otros parámetJ\"08 de la participación no produjo una modificación de máe del 10% en cualquiera de las variables endógenas, y 1813 modificaciones simuladas de los ingresos reales nunca superaron el 3%.En síntesÍ5, 105 reeultados del análisiB de eeneibilidad indican que ninguno de loe eupueetos báeicoe implícitos en la configúración paramétrica del modelo tuvo un efecto particularmente importante en los resultadoe de loe análieiB de 185 eimulaciones preeentados en el Capítulo 4. Por el contrario, el modelo parece ser muy sólido y conetituye un inetrumento sin duda útil para los propósitos para los cuales se creó.","tokenCount":"38861"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9925864227.json b/data/part_1/9925864227.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..66594f1bc17464a9c960365514136d802377b3d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9925864227.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0b314d218f9671b629738fee7c7d2c24","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6b6500e4-ab9c-4a8f-97db-e613b9840990/retrieve","id":"1044974667"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"901aa99f-4224-4711-9c6f-bcd67550bab9","pagecount":"20","content":"Cette publication est enregistrée par le International Potato Center (CIP). Il est autorisé à utiliser sous la licence internationale Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Le Centre international de la pomme de terre (CIP) voudrait remercier tous les bailleurs de fonds et organisations qui lui apportent un appui global à travers leurs contributions au CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders …à la première bouchée NATURELLEMENT RICHE EN VITAMINE A 4ème Edition: Octobre 2018 Ecrite par Jan W. Low Conception graphique par CIP-CPAD Imprimée avec le soutien financier du projet SASHA Traduite en français par Koussao Some et Paul Demo www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org www.cipotato.orgLa vitamine A est l'un des micronutriments essentiels à un système immunitaire fort et à une bonne vue. Les enfants dépourvus de quantités suffisantes de vitamine A risquent davantage de tomber malade et même de mourir que ceux dont le corps contient suffisamment de vitamine A.Les patates douces à chair orange (PDCO) sont l'une des sources naturelles les plus riches en bêta-carotène (BC). Le corps humain convertit le BC en vitamine A (rétinol) en équivalents d'activité du rétinol (EAR). Des études ont montré que 13 unités de BC se convertissent en une unité de rétinol (vitamine A). Il existe de nombreuses variétés de PDCO. Plus la couleur orange de la chair est intense, plus la racine contient de bêta-carotène. Les racines des variétés de PDCO en Afrique subsaharienne (ASS) contiennent 3.500 à 16.000 unités de BC pour 100 grammes (grammes) de poids frais. En moyenne, 20% de BC est perdue lors de la cuisson. L'ajout d'une cuillère à thé d'huile à une bouillie à base de PDCO augmente l'absorption de vitamine A de 50%. Il est prouvé que l'introduction de la PDCO parallèlement à l'éducation nutritionnelle au niveau communautaire améliore considérablement l'absorption et l' état en vitamine A chez les jeunes enfants 1 . La patate douce est une culture importante pour la sécurité alimentaire en ASS. La patate douce est connue comme la culture qui est là quand le maïs échoue. C'est un aliment de base fournissant les calories nécessaires au régime. Lorsqu'un aliment de base contient une grande quantité d'un micronutriment essentiel comme la vitamine A, nous l'appelons biofortifié. Les PDCO sont sélectionnées de manière conventionnelle. En surface, la partie aérienne de patate douce est composée de feuilles et de tiges. Les plus jeunes feuilles de patate douce peuvent être consommées comme légume-feuilles. Les longues tiges sont coupées en «boutures» de 20-30 cm et plantées pour la prochaine récolte de patate douce.Les tiges de patate douce constituent également un excellent complément alimentaire pour les animaux laitiers et les porcs. Les vaches laitières produisent du lait qui peut être converti en beurre, une autre source riche en vitamine A.Les tiges et les racines hachées de patate douce peuvent être combinées avec de la mélasse ou d'autres résidus de récolte et fermentées pour en faire de l'ensilage. L'ensilage peut être stocké pendant des mois, fournissant des aliments pour le bétail pendant la saison sèche. Une brochure sur la fabrication de l'ensilage est disponible à l'adresse suivante: www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org.   Des systèmes de semences véritablement durables doivent fournir de boutures ou de «semences» de qualité en quantités adéquates au moment où les agriculteurs sont prêts à planter. De nombreuses démonstrations sont en cours afin que les agriculteurs puissent voir l'avantage de l'utilisation de semences «saines». Dans plusieurs pays, les agriculteurs sont maintenant prêts à payer pour des boutures initiales de qualité.Au cours de la dernière décennie, les technologies de tunnel et de mini-serre ont été développées pour aider les multiplicateurs de semences de base formés à maintenir leurs propres stocks de boutures.Les sélectionneurs des programmes nationaux peuvent vous mettre en contact avec les producteurs de boutures de qualité des variétés qu'ils recommandent. En outre, le portail de connaissances sur la patate douce (www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org/ sphi-dashboard) contient des listes de multiplicateurs formés et décentralisés dans des pays sélectionnés.Dans les zones où la saison sèche dure plus de 4 mois, il est recommandé d'utiliser la méthode Triple S, à savoir stockage des racines dans le sable, puis germination, afin d'assurer des quantités suffisantes de boutures de qualité adéquate au début des pluies. Des outils détaillés pour utiliser cette approche sont disponibles sur le portail de connaissances sur la patate douce. Quand vous cuisez la PDCO à la vapeur avec la peau et puis et puis on fait de la purée, vous créez la purée de PDCO. Les PDCO peuvent remplacer 20 à 60% de la farine de blé dans les produits de boulangerie courants en leur donnant une couleur dorée. Cela peut être fait à la maison, mais pour une entreprise, on utilise généralement une machine à râper / réduire en purée pour assurer une purée sans grumeaux. Si la peau reste en place, vous obtenez une purée à haute teneur en fibres.La purée de PDCO est beaucoup plus moins chère à fabriquer que sa farine et contrairement à la farine de PDCO, elle est généralement plus moins chère que la farine de blé. Pour faire que la purée de PDCO soit aussi facile à utiliser comme la farine, CIP a mis au point une purée de PDCO emballée sous vide qui utilise des conservateurs aux prix abordables et disponibles localement pour permettre un stockage à une température égale ou inférieure à 25ºC pendant 3 mois. Cela aidera les boulangers à s'approvisionner toute l'année en PDCO.Antonio Magnaghi, technologue en alimentation chez Euro-Ingredients, a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec au le CIP pour adapter les recettes existantes du pain, des biscuits, du chapattis (pain plat) et Au Rwanda, les femmes représentent 75% des agriculteurs liés à Urwibutso Enterprises, qui produit des biscuits dorés, basés sur les PDCO. Les agricultrices disposant de moins de ressources ont été organisées en groupes afin de garantir un approvisionnement constant en racines pour la transformation. Elles ont reçu une formation supplémentaire pour augmenter le rendement de racines de PDCO. Sur leurs petites parcelles de terre, les femmes généraient 277 USD par an et par ménage provenant de la vente de racines de patate douce en 2014. L'introduction de boutures (semences) de qualité de variétés performantes a été essentielle pour générer un surplus à vendre.En outre, de nombreuses femmes fabriquent des produits transformés de la PDCO pour les vendre sur les marchés locaux et dominent les ventes au détail de racines de patate douce.Pour faire la différence en matière de santé et de richesse, des agents de changement qualifiés sont nécessaires dans chaque pays pour collaborer avec les agriculteurs, les commerçants, les transformateurs et influencer les consommateurs. Pour vulgariser les dernières connaissances issues de la recherche, un cours de dix jours pour la formation des formateurs sur «Tout ce que Vous Avez Toujours Voulu Savoir à Propos de la Patate douce » a été mis au point et une institution locale a été identifiée en Tanzanie, au Mozambique, au Nigéria, au Burkina Faso et en Éthiopie comme organisatrice officielle du cours de formation. Les dates du cours sont annoncées sur le portail web de connaissances sur la patate douce. Les manuels couvrent 13 sujets et proposent des exercices pratiques. Les formats numériques sont disponibles en anglais, Français, portugais, kiswahili et amharique sur www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org.En outre, nous avons élaboré un guide d'investissement afin de fournir des informations détaillées sur le coût d'une intervention intégrée axée sur les PDCO dans les domaines de l'alimentation et de la nutrition. À cela s'ajoute un guide demise en oeuvre permettant de concrétiser l'intervention proposée. Il existe également une trousse d'apprentissage en cinq volumes intitulée « Planification, mise en oeuvre, suivi et évaluation d'un projet (sensible aux deux sexes) de patate douce à chair orange », qui couvre tous les aspects de l'élaboration de la proposition et de la mise en oeuvre du projet. Un manuel contenant neuf outils de suivi clés spécifiques aux projets de diffusion de la patate douce est également disponible. L'apprentissage est un processus continu et nous encourageons les organisations à parrainer leur personnel technique afin qu'il rejoigne les groupes de travail techniques de la communauté de pratique (CdP) de leur intérêt. Chaque CdP se réunit une fois par an. Les groupes de la CdP sont:  ","tokenCount":"1346"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9926996490.json b/data/part_1/9926996490.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..da0edb7515137f9cc6449bdbe4cf31799245efb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9926996490.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27d4b616f901d97491bfb49c3488608a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f6ebc083-85bb-442e-845d-ee845f79a199/retrieve","id":"888941216"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"801ff289-caff-4366-acba-09e22ea13490","pagecount":"22","content":"The ILAC initiative fosters learning from experience and use of the lessons learned to improve the design and implementation of agricultural research and development programs. The mission of the ILAC Initiative is to develop, field test and introduce methods and tools that promote organizational learning and institutional change in CGIAR centres and their partners, to expand the contributions of agricultural research to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  Table 1.    There is a growing need for facilitation skills throughout the international agricultural research-for-development community. This is because agricultural research and development organizations increasingly work collaboratively with diverse partners, and managing diverse and often geographically disbursed teams with members from different cultures and backgrounds represents a challenge -one that requires facilitation skills for research managers and team leaders. The As part of a mid-term review of the ILAC Initiative (Kommerell, 2010 1 ) a follow-up study was conducted to assess the outcomes from the facilitation training. This report presents background information on the training, describes the training methods employed, characterizes the individuals trained, assesses the training outcomes and identifies possible areas for future training.The The first two workshops were three-days in length, but after reflecting on the course content, a fourth day was added to include more information and practice on building sustainable agreements and reaching closure. The fourth day also provided the opportunity for site-based application, practice, and refinement of skills learned earlier in the course.The four-day workshop was structured as shown in Table 1 below. The workshop was conducted in an interactive learning environment where brief explanations were followed by practical, participatory exercises designed to contribute to sharing participants' experiences and gaining practical skills. This learner-centric approach involved active practice followed by review, reflection, and the refinement of the skills acquired.Active communication, individual practice and personalized attention from the trainers were assured by limiting participation to no more than twenty in each course.Each trainee was provided with a copy of the book The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, co-authored by trainers Sam Kaner and Sarah Fisk with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, and Duane Berger. The book provides the tools to put democratic values into practice in groups and organizations by introducing grounding principles, fundamentals of facilitation, building sustainable agreements and reaching closure.The purposes of the evaluation were to assess the usefulness of the skills gained during the training course, who has been applying those skills and what has changed in meeting processes by introducing facilitation tools/techniques. Key questions included:• To what extent were the skills learned in the training being applied?• If the skills were being applied, did this result in improved participatory processes and better decision-making? • Did trainees' regard for the course change over time and if so, why?• Did other benefits occur besides use of the skills learned, such as increased use of professional facilitators or other changes? • To what extent are trainees still actively engaged in participatory projects?A mixed-method approach was used to enable triangulation of information from different sources to draw conclusions. The methods included document and archival record review and a follow-up survey of former trainees. The list of documents reviewed is in Annex 1 of this report.A web-based survey provider, Survey Monkey 2 , was used to administer the follow-up survey.Participants were asked to respond to seven questions, of which four were choice questions (yes/no or Likert scale questions) and three open ended questions requiring a written narrative response. The survey is included in Annex 2 of this report.All former trainees were invited to respond to the survey, which was available online for a period of four weeks in November 2009. Three reminders were sent within this period. Sixtytwo of the 139 participants completed the survey, a 44% response rate. In order to increase understanding of follow-on activities organized by participants after the course, independent of ILAC, individual interviews were conducted with Community At Work and with some course participants.Each course had a limit of 20 participants. The number was capped by the trainers in order to assure the quality of the training, by enabling personalized interaction between trainer and participants and opportunities to practice and take part in role plays. All courses were filled to capacity, except for one that had a last-minute drop out. Of the 139 people trained, one-third were female and two-thirds male. Most were Project Managers and Research Scientists from African countries. Participants represented 31 different organizations. The CGIAR was well represented, with 14 centres having participated (all centres except for the Africa Rice Center WARDA) and five Inter-Centre Initiatives, including:• Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF)• Gender and Diversity Program (G&D)• Central Advisory Service on Intellectual Property Rights (CAS-IP)• Collective Action and Property Rights Initiative (CAPRi)• Information, Communication Technology-Knowledge Management (ICT-KM)An effort was made in later courses to include members of partner organizations, and in total twelve non-CGIAR organizations were represented. Among the partner organizations were Visayas State University, Lusotho District Council, Kenya Diary Board, and African Crop Science Society. Over the five year period the course was run, 89% of the participants were from CGIAR and 11% from other partner organizations.As shown in Figure 1 below, most participants came from CIMMYT, Bioversity, ILRI, IRRI and ICRAF. These centers also hosted the training so were in the position to benefit from more spaces and the fact that the course was run on their own premises and thus physically more available to their staff. Hosting is discussed in Section 4.2 on overall investment in the course.The majority of participants were of African origin (44 people) and working in African countries (51 people) as illustrated in the following table 3 . The course targeted professionals with responsibility for coordinating participatory projects, networks or meetings. The participant selection process evolved over time. In later years a more detailed assessment was made of the extent to which participants had responsibility for managing participatory work. In addition, centers, especially hosting centers were largely given the responsibility for selecting their own participants based on broad guidance from ILAC (for example the target group was identified in the course brochure). Former trainees were also notified of upcoming courses and encouraged to help stimulate the interest of the persons most likely to benefit from the course.The follow-up survey asked participants if they are currently involved in collaborative work. Ninety three percent responded that they are involved in some sort of partnership (with NARS, ARI, NGOs, CSOs or others). Thus the course appears to have been well targeted.A complete list of facilitation course alumni, along with group photos from each course can be found at http://www.cgiar-ilac.org/content/facilitation-training-workshopEach course was fully evaluated through an on line survey conducted several weeks after the end of the course. The reports of each evaluation are available on the ILAC web site: http://www.cgiar-ilac.org/content/evaluations. The evaluations did not use exactly the same questions but assessed reactions to training delivery, learning and objective achievement. In order to compare evaluations across the different courses, an average score was calculated for all questions related to each of the three variables (delivery, learning objectives and achievement) and then those scores were averaged in order to generate an overall average for the variable. Figure 2 below shows the average score for each variable for the seven evaluations. Scoring was done on a four point scale of strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree with \"strongly agree\" being the highest rating.As shown below, the overall reaction to the workshop was very positive in all seven end-ofcourse evaluations. Most respondents strongly agreed (score greater than 3) that objectives were met, the training was effectively delivered and much was learned. Most course participants rated most of the topics addressed in the course as \"useful\" or \"very useful.\" Those that received a score of \"very useful\" by the majority of respondents are shown in the following table. Table 5. Course topics rated \"very useful\"At the end of the workshop, participants were asked to make closing statements on the training. Most stated that they were very satisfied with the skills they learned and hoped to share them with others. One of the comments -\"It was the best workshop I've ever attended\" -reflects how much of an impact this workshop had on participants. Other comments from participants are shown below.\"This was exactly the type of training I was looking for to enhance my capacity as a leader.\"\"I was just amazed how many managers must be using ineffective tools to communicate or to facilitate communication in their day to day work -and just how sub-optimal these are.\"\"I was a little reluctant about taking the course because I wasn't sure how useful it was going to be. After taking the course I was very happy that I decided to take the time to take the course.\"\"I've learned a lot that I can directly apply in my professional and personal life.\"Respondents to the follow-up outcome survey were asked to what extent they were practicing the facilitation skills they learned, either by facilitating regular work meetings, or large events, using flipcharts as a tool to help in decision making or helping others to facilitate their own meetings. As shown below in Table 6, most have used the skills learned in various ways.Nearly 90% reported having facilitated regular work meetings and writing charts of meetings. Over half reported having facilitated large workshop events or being called to facilitate other meetings outside their own group. Participants were asked to rate the extent to which meetings have improved due to the introduction of facilitation techniques (Figure 3). The findings indicated that better agreements are made (96% strongly agree/agree), meetings are more productive (96% strongly agree/agree), meetings produce more creative solutions (94% strongly agree/agree), agendas are more realistic (93% strongly agree/agree), and there is more participation (92% strongly agree/agree). Respondents also indicated that the use of flipcharts for capturing ideas is very positive (96% strongly agree/agree). Thirteen respondents reported obstacles to implementing the new skills gained. Of those reporting obstacles, several reported resistance from more senior staff. Others reported difficulties in balancing their roles as process facilitator with their roles as content expert and thus had difficulties not becoming engaged in content discussions.\"I'm often involved in substantive issues of the meeting, and so it's difficult to focus on process management\" \"I still find it difficult as facilitator not to express my views\" \"Conflicts between partners and project coordinators (people in charge)\" \"Unrealistic agendas (too many objectives)\"In addition to implementing the skills learned in the training, other follow-on activities were carried out that extended the benefits of the training to others (Table 7). Most respondents did relatively simple things like discuss the course with or recommend it to others. Over half however actually carried out training for others to build the skills of their colleagues. A few course participants arranged for Community At Work to conduct similar training in their own organization.In 2008, the Gender and Diversity Program developed a concept for a program that became known as AWARD (African Women in Agriculture Research and Development). In the proposal Community At Work was included as a partner and funding was requested a multiyear facilitation training program. The proposal was approved but with a 25% reduction from amount requested. Thus, the multi-year facilitation program was eliminated from the design but AWARD staff participated in an ILAC sponsored course in 2008 and then followed up with Community At Work directly afterwards to sponsor their own course.Thirty respondents made general comments on the facilitation training. Most of these were positive and related to the usefulness and relevance of the course. There were also a few criticisms and suggestions, mainly related to methodology and approaches. ","tokenCount":"1931"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9927292449.json b/data/part_1/9927292449.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..abcfdba99432cf976f105b5528f90c5709bf4a3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9927292449.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2a63e73a3e5001857bd26b9e574febec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1b2a80ee-2a55-4581-b04a-1d070969f98e/retrieve","id":"1638823793"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"98096726-11d5-4ba7-8cab-2d92a4346b88","pagecount":"13","content":"and women  Agriculture a major employer (82% and 63% of employed women and men respectively) supply most of labor (Hjelm et al, 2016;MINECOFIN,2014). Steps to market oriented agriculture started in 2000 with Rwanda vision 2020, and later with the country' involvement with CAADP in 2007  Focus was on intensification of production systems, professionalization of producers, improvement of farmer's access to markets and development of institutional framework. Social equity in to increase participation and equality among women and men smallholders promoted (MINAGRI, 2010;Verhofstadt & Maertens, 2014). However, more women than men farmers still remain in subsistence production and their number has increased in the last decade (MINAGRI,2013).The study.This study, sought to explain this of persistent traditional phenomenon farming. Specifically: (1) examines the degree of farmers' market participation with a gender perspective(2) Explores gender related issues limiting the participation of women farmers in agricultural commercialization.  Findings:\"There are villages, near the forest where it is known and indisputable that potato crop are men's property, and beans are for women. When a woman has planted beans, a man won't ask about it and for potato, the wife will not ask the husband\" \"Yes, she can sell a proportion of the beans and reserves others, as they are purposively to feed the family, but she can sell some beans in order to buy like salt \". FGD, Burera Men's crops, women's crops?Women's crop: lower level of commercialization Findings:\"\"…after spending the whole day together in the field, the time use differs between wife and husband. From the field, women go at home to fulfill other responsibilities. Women work many hours than men\". Inequalities in outcomes sharing \"..there are times when money from the harvest is given, the husband takes it and does not even give his wife a single coin, and forgets that she is the one who struggled hard with the land.That is an impediment\" FGD, Women (Burera)Findings:Inequalities in outcomes sharing \"...not all women have access to the production which they sweated for. after harvest, men take on and push women aside. some women look as if they are just there as employees while they should enjoy all the profits of the land as spouses. this mentality of men degrades women, and it is an impediment to household development\" FGD, Women (Burera) 2. Potato grown for market with well structured marketing channel is a men's crop.3. Women, though highly participating in farming activities have limited linkages to input and output markets. This can have negative impact on production.4. Both women and men supply labour but the agricultural income is not equally shared. Women consider this as an impediment to agricultural development.","tokenCount":"438"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9937373759.json b/data/part_1/9937373759.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a04e0328a891247daf02604801f0d28dbcf3057a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9937373759.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea13db4d0a923da8efe9b74c44ff3f5a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/23ee931e-3e1e-4fb3-b027-0d9696044a87/retrieve","id":"-484658712"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7f8921ff-9574-4530-ac7a-a3f21f98bda7","pagecount":"188","content":"The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.C o n t e n t s 1 A farmer-inclusive value chain development approach is a powerful formula for developing sustainable market linkages in the Pacific. At the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), we believe that investments in innovations in agriculture will help to catalyse development.Agribusiness, climate smart agriculture and digitalisation with a strong focus on women and youth are CTA's priority intervention areas in the Centre's strategic plan, 2018-2020 and can help countries to drive progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.We need to apply new thinking to modernising and sustaining agri-food systems as the impacts of climate change, unpredictability in global trade, migration and conflicts threaten progress towards the goals of zero hunger and end to poverty and malnutrition. Innovation in all aspects of the agrifood system, from production to processing, financing and marketing as well as in how producers organise themselves to address these challenges is critical.To foster the transition into modernised food systems that provide sustainable incomes and nutrition for farmers/ fisherfolk and rural communities, we need new and or improved technologies, business models, laws and policies and empowered farmers and producer organisations. Strengthening public-private-producer partnerships and the linkages between agri-SMEs, financing institutions and governments is key. A shift of mindset is needed that values farmers as entrepreneurs and farming as a business.The \"Agricultural Value Chain Guide for the Pacific Islands -Making Value Chain Analysis a Useful Tool in the Hands of Farmers, Traders and Policymakers\" that was first published by CTA in 2014, has proven to be a valuable resource for farmers. Combined with the training workshops conducted by PIFON, it has contributed to raising awareness on the importance of enhancing farmers' engagement in all aspects of value chain development. This has had direct impacts on changing farmers' way of thinking and their businesses have benefitted. Increase in production and sales and responsiveness to market demands, have been reported.The agricultural sector is rapidly evolving, creating many opportunities for producer organisations and agribusinesses. This updated version of the value chain guide for farmers, features lessons learnt, successful case studies and new approaches and tools including the \"Optimising the Performance of Producer Organisations\" approach and tools. It is therefore very timely.I hope this updated publication will continue to make a difference for thousands of farmers and other agri-entrepreneurs who are committed to transforming value chain development in the Pacific.CTA looks forward to continued cooperation with PIFON and our many other partners in the Pacific region. The contribution of Dr. Andrew McGregor to the development of this updated guide is acknowledged.After taking the lead role in developing version 1, Andrew was involved in the piloting of the guide with farmers and farmer organisations in Fiji and Vanuatu in partnership with the Pacific Island Farmer Organisation Network. Based on these successful experiences conducting value chain training using this guide a number of key improvements were identified which have now been brought into this version 2. The contribution of Livai Tora as a passionate value chain trainer is acknowledged and has helped to refine and simplify this version 2. The production of the manual in its final form would not have been possible without the contribution of numerous Pacific island farmers, traders and exporters (value chain exporters). These key drivers freely shared their knowledge and informed us of what they wanted from the manual. A number of these people are mentioned by name in the manual itself and we hope that we have been able to meet their expectations.A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s I n t r o d u c t i o n t o A g r i c u l t u r a l v a l u e C h a i n s i n t h e P a c i f i c 1 Since 2006, several development partners have promoted value chain analysis in the Pacific region. In 2007, FAO hosted the first regional workshop on Value Chain Analysis, held in the Solomon Islands. This was followed by a paper entitled 'Participatory value chain analysis for improved farmer incomes, employment opportunities and food security\" 1 .In 2012 the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation [CTA] commissioned studies in several countries on issues relating to green and inclusive chains that had been established by the private sector, including in the Pacific with funding from FAO. Local consultants through Koko Siga Pacific [KSP] undertook a series of value chain assessments.In 2013, SPC with support from CTA, launched the Pacific Agricultural Value Chains Portal -AgLInks, developed as a one-stop shop for the latest information and tools on linking smallholder farmers to markets.In 2014 CTA published several publications, including:• The above mentioned guide was intended to provide a simplified approach to value chain analysis and therefore make it useful in the hands of 'farmers, traders and policy makers'.Between 2014 and 2017 PIFON has been running value-chain training sessions with its farmer organisation members as an initial piloting of farmer-orientated value chain training in the Pacific.CTA is currently implementing a project entitled 'Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific Islands ' [2016-2020], in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD] and the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation [PIPSO]. Under this project, CTA has partnered with PIFON to prepare a study to assessing lessons learned from initial piloting of farmer-orientated value chain training in the Pacific along with a video 4 . CTA has also supported this present publication.an agricultural value chain is a way of describing the different 'links' required to take a product from the farm to the end consumer.Definition of value chain actors value chain actors are the people at each link along the chain required to move a product from the farm to the consumer.it can be said that there are really two categories of actors in the value chain, these are: main actors -those who buy and sell product as it moves along the chain supporting actors -those who provide services help move the product along the chain Definition of value chain analysis value chain analysis is a tool for looking at every step and actor along the value to identify both weaknesses to be resolved and opportunities for increasing profits for all involved in the chain.value chain awareness is a tool for highlighting the key messages coming out of value chain analysis to help actors to be more informed about each other's role along the chain.The value chain approach is orientated toward the market and what consumers want.By analysing the value chain, information is obtained that should lead to better decision making by those involved [farmers, traders, etc.] and those wanting to support the value chain [policy makers, donors, etc.].The result of better decisions is higher and more sustainable income for those participating in the chain.a. Value chain analysis can identify all of the people [actors] involved in getting the product from the farm to the consumer b. Value chain analysis can identify the contribution, [the share of value added] and the risks faced by each actor involved.Farmers and other actors along the chain often do not realise how many people are involved, and what they do, in getting the final product to the consumer. A simple value chain map can illustrate this: Example: \"Fiji Red\" papaya from the seedling nursery to consumers in Auckland.Individual actors along the value chain, and policy makers, often don't appreciate:• The contribution each actor makes in getting the final product [value added] to the consumer;• The share [reward] each actor receives from the value of final product in the hands of the consumer [share of retail price]; • The risk each actor takes in trying to obtain their share of the value of the final product.The actors need this information to get the most from and contribute most to the value chain.Why is Value Chain Analysis and Awareness Important? The price of papaya loaded on the aircraft (fob price) minus the farm gate price of the papaya.Using the 'Agricultural Value Chain Guide for the Pacific Islands', PIFON and its partners have been conducting training on value chain analysis and awareness across the Pacific since 2014.Through support from CTA, PIFON carried out a study to assess impacts and document the lessons learnt from these trainings. The report explores a range of impacts of the initial piloting of value chain training in the Pacific.These included:• The beginnings of a change in the mind-set of the actors in the value chain -particularly farmers The beginnings of a change in the mind-set of the actors in the value chain -particularly farmers Interviews with 25 participants and trainers involved in the various VC training sessions revealed that 100% of the participants reported having a change in mindset related to the other actors in the value chain. This was reportedly directly related to the exercise of systematically looking at the actor in terms of: what the actor contributes to the final product, the cost of the actor's contribution, the reward the actor receives and the actor's risk.A significant impact of this type of training is that it helps participants think more critically about the business of agriculture and ask themselves the right questions.Participants further reported that, as a result of the training, they had developed a new perspective on their role in the value chain and in relation to the actors. In some cases the farmers had felt as if they were the most important person in the chain and that everything should revolve around their needs. After participating, they had realized that actually the customer is the most important person and everyone else is working together to give the customers what they want.All of the farmer organisations that participated in the piloting of value chain training reported that the value chain approach has been incorporated into their normal extension activities and extended to other crops that they are working on. Farmer organisation staff have reported that even without detailed value chain analysis they are able to guide the discussion with farmers and buyers to be more analytical and think about the different actors, what they contribute, their costs and returns.A female participant reported the following story:\"I attended the training on a Thursday. When I went to do my family's shopping on Saturday, I picked up a packet of Watties® frozen mixed vegetables and as I was about to put it into my cart, I was thinking to myself:• If this packet costs me $5.95 for 500 grams, I wonder what the farmer must receive?• I wonder how much it must cost to run a factory that chops and freezes these vegetables?• I wonder how much it costs to keep these vegetables frozen all the way from the factory in Australia until they reach Fiji? • I wonder what the mark up of the supermarket is?Improving relationships and better collaboration A common and important impact across several of the value chain training sessions has been the improving relationships and better collaboration between actors in the value chain -particularly farmers and buyers. The improving relationships are due to the sharing of information about each other's role in the value chainwhat they contribute, their costs, their returns and their risks. This impact was reported by four different traders who participated in the various value chain training sessions and by ten different farmers.Interviews with traders involved in the training revealed that it led to increasing supply of produce. In particular, an exporter involved in the Fiji papaya value chain training reported that several growers had commenced to expand their papaya planting following the training. The spices buyer/processor involved in the Vanuatu spices value chain training reported an immediate increase in the supply of pepper following the training.An important impact reported by several of the farmer organisations is that they have translated/adapted and incorporated value chain training materials into their own programmes.Nature's Way Cooperative (NWC) has incorporated elements from the CTA guide into a new publication entitled \"Fiji Export Procedures for Selected Crops -Guidelines for 'Team Fiji' to bring back the 'Gold'. This publication has been used widely by NWC, MoA and BAF as a training resource. testimonials \"The VC training was carried out on the small island of Malo near Santo. We took the training to groups of vanilla and pepper farmers along with the processor. During the training the farmers found out the importance of their role as the farmer and also why the buyer pays a certain price per kilo, because it is not an easy thing and also there is a long process. During the training the farmers gained a better understanding about the whole value chain.\"Farm Support Association (Farmer Organisation) \"I was directly involved in the Vanuatu Spices Value Chain training and it was particularly good because the buyer himself was involved. He could talk to the farmers directly and walk them through the whole process. The response was very good. Immediately there was an increase in supply because they knew who he was, there's a better understanding of what he did and what he contributed. Any increase in knowledge and information is going to improve markets.\"Agricultural Economist, Value Chain Trainer \"The VC training allowed the farmers to see how the products are being handled from farm to the middleman and to the factory. And when we visited the factory there was a big impact. We saw the change in their mind-set and we could see them smiling. They saw that the ginger had to be washed and dirt taken out, the factory has to peel the skin and, especially for processed ginger, has to chop it up in cubes. They saw then that there is wastage, and from there they started to know this was the reason why we are getting these high prices per kg overseas whereas in Fiji ginger sells for $0.95 -$1.\"Fiji Crop and Livestock Council \"The training was very beneficial to the growers and now they understand how things start and where they end and also the costing from the nursery up to the market. Right now, since we had just established the industry, this work helped to guide us in our activities and in setting prices. When we finally set our price the growers will have a better understanding about how we got to this price, what are our costs and what everyone along the chain receives\".Growers Federation of Tonga (Farmer Organisation) \"Most of us did not really have any idea of the intermediaries along the chain. We understood that the dalo went to the middleman, the middleman sold to an exporter and the exporter exported it. That was our basic knowledge. There's a lot of mistrust between farmers and the middlemen. So this VC training was really useful as it gave the farmers an idea, well it gave us all an idea of all the different links in the chain before it reached the market and even what our market was. Most of us had no idea where our dalo was going…who bought our dalo.The VC training was held in 2014. We invited all our champion farmers -farmers that are lead farmers in our farm groups. We have approximately 16 farm groups based all over Taveuni. The training resources were very good….very basic, straight to the point. Farmers understood it very well. The feedback from the farmers after the training was they really appreciated it. You know the diagrams are really simple and you could understand the whole message of that value chain and how important each link in the chain was…where our part was as farmers.\"\"Before the VC training, I only thought about what was in it for me. I didn't care about the others. If their produce went bad that's theirs to deal with. I just needed to make my money. Something I've learned from the VC training is to take care of all my produce so my buyers business also benefits.\"Taro Farmer \"Generally before the VC training, we really did not know what was going on, what the costs were and who was doing the handling and who was doing what at what stages. So with the VC we really know how many actors were involved…. who is clearing it, how it goes to the buyer, what is costed, the hidden costs, what are the hidden costs of the exporters, Bio Security has its costs. So all these things are very important in planning.After the training we see that the farmers really understand what their role is so it makes them work smarter, makes them make more money, the production goes up. The one who is selling 100 kilos perhaps will sell 300 kilos. They are planning…these are the fruits for the market, this is for the export…they are thinking like business people making those decisions.The VC training did strengthen our relationships. Before we were just doing our work and like everybody was doing theirs and we thought that is his job, and this is my job. t h e S t e p s i n V a l u e C h a i n A n a l y s i sThere are many approaches to value chain analysis and numerous tools to help make this analysis meaningful. This guide outlines the six recommended steps for practical value chain analysis.Step1: Drawing a value chain map Step 2:Putting real and accurate information into the map Step 3:Identifying the services each actor provides and returns received for these services Step 4:Assessing the market Step 5:Assessing strengths and weaknesses for all actors along the chain and ways to capitalise on strengths and minimise weaknesses Step 6:Developing a plan to improve the value chainIn support of each of these steps is a list of helpful tools that can be used by those analysing the value chain.We have used the example of the 'Fiji Red' papaya export value chain to New Zealand as an example for each of these steps.The steps for value chain analysis are best carried out by a group of the actors who are themselves involved in various links of the value chain.This is called a 'participatory value chain approach'. In this approach, it is often helpful to assign someone to be the 'facilitator' which involves the writing up of all of the information drawn out from the different steps above. It is usually desirable for the facilitator to have some experience and training in value chains. This facilitator can also be tasked with chasing up additional information the group require to finalise their work. More than one meeting of the group is usually required. • This exercise is best done with a very specific value chain, that is, a real product from a specific location to a specific customer [wholesaler, retailer or hotel]. More general value chain maps can be quite difficult. • This exercise is best done with a group of people who are directly involved in the supply chain.• Using a whiteboard or butcher paper for 'brainstorming' is useful.• When drawing your map, you should start with placing all of your 'main actors' in their places and then adding in your supporting actors.What's involved 1. List down all of the people involved in getting the product from the farm to the plate of the consumer. The people you have listed can also be called 'actors'. You may decide to divide your list into main actors and supporting actors, with the main actors being those who buy and sell the product as it moves along the chain and the support actors being those who provide services to facilitate the movement of the product along the chain. 2. Arrange these people in order of how the product moves [the map] starting from the farm all the way through to the consumer.The main value chain for the papaya being exported to New ZealandStep 1: Drawing a Value Chain mapStep 2: Putting facts and figures into the mapThis step involves adding as much 'relevant' information as possible to your value chain map in the form of real and accurate facts and figures. This step can also be called 'quantification of the chain' or adding numbers to the value chain map.Some things to think about at each step of the chain are: How many people are involved, what is the cost of the activity, what is the transport distance, pricing, margins, losses or wastage and risks.This step is best done with a group of stakeholders gathered together because different people will have different bits of information.After a group has filled in as much information as they can, one person could be assigned to try and find missing information.Pricing and statistics can sometimes be sourced from government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture or Trade.  • Market studies tend to be far more useful if you already have a product to discuss with buyers rather than just an idea or a concept.• Market studies are often undertaken by consultants. It can be far more useful if the exporter is also involved which allows actual buyers and sellers to meet.• Good to have somebody involved in this step who regularly handles the product at the retail side -deals with customers.• If you don't have a recent market study or access to a retailer, you may try sending a questionnaire to the wholesaler or retailer asking them to provide the information for the table above.• Try sending what you have already worked on to the wholesaler and retailer to provide their comments. Sometimes you will have to send them several requests in order to get a responsebe persistent.• Some Pacific Island exporters have found repeated participation in trade and fine food fares to be very useful. However, for small niche markets such participation may not be profitable unless sponsored by donors.• Formal consumer taste panel tests undertaken by professionals can be very useful.• In-store promotions can also provide useful information -but these can be expensive. Fruit taste 9 -Feedback is that consumers in New Zealand love the taste of 'Fiji Red' papaya and it is superior to other products on the market. However, there are some cases where seed purity has been lost and the consumers get a less tasty and yellowish fruit.Quality (disease and physical damage) 7 -Physical damage is a problem for Fiji papaya because there are so many steps in the chain where the fruit is handled and generally it has more marks on the fruit than the competition. Disease in the form of post-harvest rots can be a problem in Fiji's wet season [November -April].Health benefits 10 -Fiji papaya is a healthy product like all papaya. However, Fiji papaya has the added advantage that consumers often envision that it is produced in a healthy, \"pristine\" environment.Price 7 -Fiji papaya in New Zealand is more expensive than the competition.Packaging and labelling 5 -Most exporters do not use any fruit stickers and retailers do not use special labelling or displays that indicate it is a 'Fiji Red' product. VC analysis has identified the need to patent the \"Fiji Red\" brand.Step 5: Assessing strengths and weaknesses along the chain and identifying actions required • Consider what can be done to reduce the weaknesses and make recommendations for the appropriate action. This would take account of threats and risks along the chain.• First undertake a preliminary analysis before working in a group.• Present preliminary draft findings to meetings with actors along the chain for verification and refinement. • To be completed with an industry-wide meeting for endorsement of findings and ownership of recommendations that forms the basis of developing the plan to improve the value chain [step 6].Example from 'Fiji Red' papaya export value chain to New Zealand • Poor cross-pollinated seed being used by some farmers and seedling suppliers.• The implementation of a seed certification scheme. • Excellent inherent agronomic conditions for growing \"Fiji Red\" papaya.• Ability to produce high quality organic papaya at a competitive price.• Vulnerability to natural disasters • Most farmers don't have access to irrigation • Inadequate attention given to drainage.• Some farmers not using selected \"Fiji Red\" papaya seed.• A susceptibility to postharvest rots • Priority given to undertaking sea freight trialsStep 6: Developing a plan to improve the value chain What's involved• Take the findings from Step 5 to develop a plan to improve the value chain.• This should involve both short-term and longer-term plans.• There can be plans for the individual actors and plans for the entire value chain.• Short-term plans [things to be done that will have a quick impact -to take advantage of \"low hanging fruit\"]. • Longer-term plans [things to be done, the impact of which will be felt further into the future] • It is important to identify a key driver in the value chain that can take a leading role in implementing the value chain improvements.In this step we are converting our value chain analysis to real value chain development. This step leads to what is often referred to as the upgrading strategy.• In developing plans, set priorities taking into account what is achievable and what are the costs and expected benefits. Cost-benefit analysis is an important tool in setting priorities [see 6.1]. • Present draft plan to actors along the chain for their verification and inputs.• Present plan(s) to industry-wide meeting for endorsement and ownership.• Remember what is being proposed may require external funding assistance. This could involve a bank loan, being part of a public private sector partnership with the government or aid donor assistance. If so, you will need to take into account the requirements of these external entities in preparing your plan.Example from 'Fiji Red' papaya export value chain to New Zealand Actor Short-Term Plan Longer-Term PlanSeedling supplier [SA]• The training of selected farmers in \"best practice\" seed collection techniques.• Facilitating the establishment of seed and seedling supply enterprises• Papaya planting material only to be supplied by certified private nurseries.• A concerted extension effort advising farmers of the adverse consequences of collecting their own seed but to instead purchase seedlings from recommended nurseries.• Introduce improved field practices to reduce rots.• The development of papaya production \"best practice\" for disaster and climate change mitigation.• The adoption of wrapping fruit in newspaper to reduce costs.• Development of appropriate contract farming in new production areas.• Negotiate reduced treatment holding time with New Zealand quarantine authorities.• Install equipment to reduce post-harvest rots.• Increasing throughput to reduce unit treatment costs.• Industry negotiating with BAF and Ministry of Agriculture to reduce treatment charges.• Focus attention on improving market access and the Bilateral Quarantine Agreement [BQA].• Reform of the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji [BAF] to improve service, reduce cost and improve efficiency.• Industry negotiations with Fiji Airways and other airlines, to reduce freight charges.• Undertake applied sea freight research.• Develop an industry marketing plan for \"Fiji Red\" papaya to be sold in major supermarket chains [how to compete with Dole papaya from the Philippines].•Develop an industry marketing plan for niche speciality \"red\" papaya [organic/specialty markets].• The implementation of the industry market plans.V a l u e C h a i n C a s e S t u d i e s 3 1. high grade copra sold on the domestic market in the Solomon Islands: the Chottu Coconut Products (CCP) case study Step 2: Drawing the map of how the product flows and placing each actor in their correct place along the chainTen households grow coconuts and make copra that is sold to CCP. Coconut plantings range in size from 5 to 25 hectares (ha, with an average planting density of 160 palms/ha). CCP's current copra buying price is $4/kg farm gate (CCP collects the copra).CCP uses two Tinytech oil mills with a combined capacity to produce 2,200 ltres (2,400 kg) of CNO per day from 4,000 kg of copra (equal to 50 bags of copra). All of CCP's coconut products (coconut nut oil (CNO), soap and copra meal for livestock) are sold on the local market.All retailers are small-scale market vendors, and are mainly located in the Honiara Market. As yet, locally produced CNO is not sold in supermarkets and other stores although some supermarkets do sell small amounts of locally produced VCO.Most buyers are Solomon Island women. Some 80% to 90% of the oil is used for hair and skin with the balance used for cookingBuys 30-L containers of CNO from CCP and repacks into 5-L and 20-L, and 300-ml bottles to on-sell to retailers. The selling prices to retailers are: 300-ml bottle = $10 (retailed by the wholesaler), 5-L bottle = $80 (sold to retailers), 20-L bottle = $320 (sold to retailers). The oil is sold either as pure coconut oil or has neem, or various scents and perfumes, added for use as skin and hair products. A 20% to 50% margin is added for scented products Sells to around 20 women retailers at the Honiara Market and also has her own retail business at the market. The various products are retailed in 300-ml bottles. Prices range from $10 to $20/300-ml bottle, depending on the additives used. The reward to the farmer/ copra maker is the farm gate value of the copra, minus the cost of labour and other inputs. • Pests such rhinoceros beetle.• Labour not available to make the copra.• CCP does not having cash available to purchase the copra as soon as it is made.However, has the option of selling to Honiara at a lower price. Transforms the copra into usable oil.Processes 2,400 L of CNO and 1,650 kg of copra meal to on-sell to the wholesalers• Makes a substantial investment in processing equipment.• The cost of buying the copra, operating the processing facility, developing the market and marketing to the wholesale buyers. The determinates of domestic market demand for the CCP CNO productStep Quality 9 -CCP's CNO is generally regarded to be of good quality by buyers in the Honiara Market. However, it is mainly sold as a skin and hair product.Overall, copra oil is regarded as an inferior product for cooking purposes.The current CCP product is seen to be of better quality, but probably still not up a consistent quality standard to achieve a substantial expansion in demand. The problem is seen to liewith quality of the copra being processed, with some adjustment CNO processing likely to be necessary.4 -Substantial health and nutritional benefits exits for using CNO as a cooking oil rather than oil palm and soya oil. Howwever, these are hardly recognised by consumers. This needs to changeif there is to be a substantial increase in demand for quality edible CNO.5 -The packaging and labeling of the CCP CNO sold by Honiara Marketing retailers is seen as reasonable. However, there will need to be a significant upgrading if the product is to complete with imported vegetables oils sold in supermarket and stores. There will be no place for using recycled bottles. Bulk imports of suitable containers, or the establishment of a plastic bottle manufacturing plant in the Solomon Islands, will be needed. It will also be necessary to improve labeling to the standard of Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands VCO, or Ocean Soaps CNO imported from Fiji.Step 5: Assessing strengths and weaknesses along the value chain and identifying action required Actor The participant in the value chainFarmers/copra maker • Experienced copra producers • Most of the coconut trees are still of a reasonably productive age, having been planted in the late 1970s and early 1980s.• Most farmers are in reasonably close proximity to the CNO processor, and with a reasonable main road.• A strong network of farmers linked to the Processor.• Strong representation of women in the network.• Insufficient copra being produced to meet projected demand.• A significant number of plots are poorly maintained.• Labour shortage • Rhinoceros betel pest.• Some driers are not up to the standard required to produce the quality copra required [7% moisture and no smoke contamination]• Encouragement of intercropping [cocoa, betel nut] for more efficient labour utilisation in weeding.• Assistance with sourcing appropriate wheel barrows to increase labour productivity.• Existing Projects to assist with the provision of improved copra driers [with steel pipes and chimney] that are already being manufactured in Solomon Islands.• Providing farmers with appropriate field moisture meters.• A demonstration solar drier and/or combination hot air be established at CCP.• Kastom Gaden Association to provide training in high-quality copra making.• A country-wide subsidised coconut replanting programme needs to be established, CCP farmers being one of the demonstration focus groups.• The CCP farmer network needs to be actively involved in rhinoceros beetle mitigation programmes.The CNO Processor -CCP• A well-respected, long standing west Guadalcanal enterprise.• Substantial two generations of family involvement provides a basis for sustainability and minimises the risk of key person dependency.• Proven ability to successfully operate the Tinytech processing equipment.• Able to achieve a high recovery rate of good quality CNO, provided the necessary condition of good quality copra • Closely linked to copra suppliers [holds regular monthly meetings] and wholesale buyers. Church network has been important.• Inadequate copra supply to minimise unit processing costs.• Insufficient working capital to be able to always buy the copra on offer.• High debt servicing due to high interest loan for the initial purchase of equipment.• Quality of CNO is dependent on the quality of copra supplied by farmers.• Other copra buyers, less concerned with quality, are attracting supply and are a disincentive to make good quality copra.• Increase the copra supply base: initially within the existing farmer network; expand the farmer network in west Guadalcanal; and eventually beyond Guadalcanal.• Working capital support through the banking and financial system.• Project support for major capital investment items to minimise debt servicing constraints.• A concerted programme to improve copra quality, as listed above for farmers. Demonstrations to be provided at the CCP nucleus. Technical assistance to CCP to improve its processing procedures so that CNO quality can be improved.• The development of a contract farming system, including practical value chain training. The foundation has already been laid with the monthly meetings of the CPP supply network.CNO wholesalers • Several active entrepreneurial wholesalers purchase CCP CNO, and are strongly linked through the Catholic Women's Network. The wholesalers in turn have strong linkages with women retailers selling in the Honiara Market.• Have successfully developed a range of value added skin and hair care products.• Insufficient working capital to always buy CNO from CCP when it is required by the market.• Have not developed market linkages with supermarkets and other stores.• Not in a position to develop export markets.• Working capital support through the banking and financial system.• Support with improved labelling and packing to facilitate the development of markets for edible CNO in supermarkets and stores.• Encouraging the entry of new wholesalers who focus on the supplying local super markets and possibly eventually niche export markets.• A significant number of market vendors sell a range of CNO valueadded products. They have also been innovative in developing new hair and skin products [such as coconut oil with neem]• It is a highly competitive marketing system that has kept prices down for consumers, which has helped expand the market.• Only a small proportion of the CNO sold in markets is labelled and promoted as an edible product.• Market vendor retailers do not have access to bulk supplies of bottles and labels. A high percentage of second hand bottles are used, which is not appropriate for edible product.• Supermarkets and stores are currently not involved in selling locally produced CNO.• More high-quality CNO has to be made available to market vendors so they can market it as cooking oil.• Market vendors need to be convinced of the virtues of quality CNO for cooking so that they, in turn, will promote the product.• Market vendors need access to bulk supplies of new bottles to develop the market for edible CNO.• Supermarkets and stores need to be persuaded of the value of selling quality locally produced CNO for cooking.• Long-established tradition of using CNO for skin and hair care and a willingness to accept new value-added products based on coconut oil.• A large number of consumers buy CNO products from the Honiara Market.•Consumers generally regard coconut oil as an inferior cooking product and prefer to use imported palm oil and soya bean oil.• Difficult to compete pricewise with imported palm oil -although CNO already competitive with other imported oils.• The reputation of CNO as a cooking oil will be spoiled by the selling inferior-quality CNO as a cooking oil• Education is needed regarding the health and nutritional benefits of using quality CNO for cooking rather than imported oils.• Demonstrating the positive taste achieved from cooking with quality CNO.• With increased production [thus lower unit cost], there is a need to decrease the retail price of edible CNO.Actor in the value chainFarmers/copra maker • Training in: copra quality improvement; the CNO value chain held at CCP; and farm-level rhinoceros beetle mitigation.• Assistance in: establishing improved copra driers and demonstration units at CCP; supplying copra moisture meters; supplying appropriate wheel barrows to increase labour efficiency.• A Solomon Islands-wide coconut replanting programme, with CCP being one of the demonstration focus groups.The CNO Processor -CCP• CCP to expand its copra supply sourced from: i) its own plantation; ii) the existing farmer network; and iii) extending to other farmers on Guadalcanal.• Providing access to a working capital financing facility for key value chain enterprises such as CCP.• Technical assistance for: CCP to improve CNO quality, together with quality testing and certification • CCP to diversify the product line to achieve better utilisation of the processing plant and to enhance viability.• The development of a contract farming system supported by practical value chain training for the CCP network.•CCP to extend its copra supply sources beyond Guadalcanal.• Assistance for: replacing and expanding equipment and other Infrastructure.• Encourage the development of CNO refining to expand the local edible market.• Wholesalers extending their buyer network to supermarkets and other stores.• Providing access to a working capital finance for key strategic value chain enterprises such as CCP.• Assistance for bulk imports of bottles and labels.• Encourage wholesalers to develop niche export markets.• To increase the quantity of quality CNO that is made available to retail market vendors and sold as edible oil.• Educate retail market vendors on the commercial opportunities for selling quality CNO as cooking oil and to provide assistance with appropriate labeling.• Facilitate the availability of reasonably priced food grade bottles for retail market vendor.• Encourage the entry of supermarkets and other markets into the sale of quality CNO as high cooking oil.• Establish grading and labeling standards for the retailing of cooking oils in Solomon Islands.• Changing the negative attitude of consumers through: consumer awareness campaigns [media and schools] on the health and nutritional benefits of cooking with quality coconut oil compared with imported oils; and cooking demonstrations using quality CNO.•Establish grading and labeling standards for the retailing of cooking oils in the Solomon Islands.• Review the tariff structure for imported vegetable with a view to encouraging domestic edible oil production.Step 6: Developing a plan to improve the value chain Step 1: List of actors involved in the value chainFairtrade  This is still a competitive price as compared to products from other countries, although the target market is primarily the Polynesian community, hence this is still affordable for the consumer.10 -The whole process in producing of Krissy coconut cream ensures these 3 main qualities which are sought out by the targeted consumer are exhibited by the final product.These qualities make all the difference in the final product of their intended use, whether it is for baking or cooking purposes.Packaging 7 -There are current research efforts to venture into aseptic packaging as compared to the current use of aluminium cans.The current 400 ml can form it is being packaged in presents the decent volume required for normal daily cooking.It is anticipated with the packaging methods being explored for aseptic packaging will greatly enhance the quality of the final product at the same time increasing its value.Labeling 10 -The use of the Fairtrade label guarantees the final product has complied with all of the Fair trade standards with which appeals to most consumers that are concerned with the way the product is produced and the actual source of the product and its benefits to farmer/ producers. This labelling method also opens up the market opportunity to those outside of the normal Pacific community, and hence attracts additional consumers for the product.In Australia and New Zealand 2% of the total sales is the obligation in the utilisation of its Fairtrade logoStep 4: Assessing the marketStep 5: Assessing strengths and weaknesses along the chain and identifying way to take advantage of strengths and minimize weaknesses • Roll out marketing and promotion of coconut cream and related products in collaboration with processor and retailer.• Education on health and benefits of coconut cream compared to dairy alternatives • Demonstration on cooking using coconut cream Retailer •Roll out marketing and promotion of coconut cream and related products in collaboration with processor and retailer.• Education on health and benefits of coconut cream compared to dairy alternatives • Demonstration on cooking using coconut creamStep 6: Developing a plan to improve the value chainNusi Maualaivao is a cocoa farmer and processor located on Upolu. Nusi Maualaivao processes their own cocoa and also buys wet bean from surrounding farmers to process into the Koko Samoa.Nusi Maualaivao sells Koko Samoa direct to customers through their own retail shop and also supplies other retail outlets.Step  Makes the product available to the customers.Cost of operating a shop/supermarket.The difference between the wholesale and the retail price.Low: Poor quality product resulting in customer returns or complaints. Price fluctuations.Consumer The most important person in the chain, purchasing the product and keeping everyone in business.Low: Poor quality product, contamination of product.Step Consumers appear to be content at a retail price of around $15/ cup, anything over that becomes prohibitive to many families and they may choose an imported alternative.9 -Generally the Koko Samoa is processed in a manner that yield these desirable characteristics.There are some suppliers that are inconsistent in their processing which leads to poor quality product.Some customers are able to differentiate between the variety of cocoa beans used to make Koko Samoa.The preferred variety is the local fine flavour trinatario [known as Koko Samoa maoi], this is desirable because of its taste and the fact that you have to use less sugar.The higher yielding bulk amelando variety [known as koko Solomona] is considered inferior in taste due to its bitterness.9 -Koko Samoa is sold by the cup and therefore customers generally want uniformity in the size cup.Most producers are standardized using a 6 oz cup however some producers will use smaller or larger cups depending on availability.Traditional, non-caffeinated and natural 10 -Much of the demand for Koko Samoa is coming from members of the LDS and SDA churches which are discouraged from consuming caffeine.Many consumers also regard Koko Samoa as being more natural and unadulterated compared to imported alternatives such as milo and dried cocoa powder.Serving Koko Samoa to guests [especially overseas visitors] is regarded as part of the Samoan culture and is desirable as a host.Step 4: Assessing the marketStep 5: Assessing strengths and weaknesses along the chain and identifying way to take advantage of strengths and minimize weaknesses 10 -The ability to be available 24/6 at the roadside and to always have fresh coconuts in stock is marked high, there was only one instance where stock was low due to Cycone Gita, but stock has since picked up because of the variety of coconuts on the plantation where the dwarfs were not affected and could continue to provide nuts Price 6 -The roadside price for a fresh green coconut is $2 Tala, this is the price locally except at hotels or restaurants. As fresh coconuts are always readily available, the price is not a serious factor and it is competitive enough against fizzy drinks and retail drinks which encourages locals to drink green coconuts regularly. $2 is very affordable also to school children who stop on the roadside on their walk home after school to also purchase green nuts to drink.Packaging 6 -The natural look for the green coconut is preferred, with a clean straw, the occasional flower for the tourist is on-hand to make the coconut look a little bit more dressedStep 4: Assessing the marketStep 5: Assessing strengths and weaknesses along the chain and identifying way to take advantage of strengths and minimize weaknesses Step 6: Developing a plan to improve the value chainAruligo suppliers are an informal group of farmers and traders from mainly three settlements; Duidui, Horabao, Vatukulau on the north west of Honiara.A majority of these farmers are originally from the Weather Coast on Gudalcanal Island; following a natural disaster in that district in the 1970s, many families were relocated to Aruligo.The main crops produced by this group are pineapple, watermelon, rock melon, cocoa, copra; other minor fruit crops include carambola, improved Thailand guava, and mango. Pineapple and watermelon represent the majority of supply.The pineapple value chain was chosen as it is applicable to a majority of the farmers at Aruligo and it is easily replicable for other crops.There are around 12 primary farmers that make up this informal group. Production and handling practices of the group are of a relatively high standard which is evident in the final product that is delivered to the market; this is despite the many stages of transport of the fruit.Many of the technologies applied seemed to have originated from a lead farmer in the group John Marle. The use of field crates by Aruligo farmers is further evidence of their desire to produce high quality fruit. The group said that the crates were invaluable in the arduous task of moving the produce from the farm down to the main road for transport into Honiara.The outlets in Honiara appreciate the superior quality of the fruit that is delivered by the group and as such the Aruligo name is quite renowned for good quality and good flavour. More than 90% of the group's produce is sold on the Honiara Central Market [HCN]. 6 -The taste and sweetness of the local pineapples available at the market is taken for granted so there is not much emphasis on the taste because according to customers, all pineapples taste alike and are all sweet alike, it doesn't affect their options of purchase especially if the clients know that the pineapples are from the Aruiligo area. It is expected that all pineapples from this part of the Solomons taste sweet.• High demand for pineapples and other fruits from the Aruligo area • The Aruligo area is well known for production of fruits with farmers producing year round supply to the HC Market • Ready market at HCM that farmers know their produce will be always be sold The three businesses process chips at their own sites in Nuku'alofa. The three processing businesses are very young. 150 Snacks and Tupu'anga have been processing since 2015. BIG began processing in 2016.All three processors make cassava chips weekly, two of the processors also make breadfruit chips in season.One processor makes chips from cassava, breadfruit and sweet-potato. None make chips from bananas/ plantains or taro. Purchase of product -Key and final person in the whole chain being pushed to process more cassava chips as dictated by the local market. The Process have increased their production to continue to meet the local market demand however there are systems and methods that they can invest in to increase their production and working with farmers to increase cassava production.Packaging 7 -Originally, the packages were in clean plastic bags, and inferior quality compared to imported snacks but this didn't make an impact on its sales volumes with clients still preferring it and purchasing it because of its taste, and that it's a local product made by Tongans in Tonga.6 -Packed and labelled domestically by cottage industry processing (ie Family run processing centres based in the processors own land in their own residential housing ) The packing is manually packed and labelling is manually affixed to the snack packs, but this is secondary still to the clientele. There are opportunities for processing fruits and vegetables in Fiji. These include pawpaw (jam & juice), tomatoes (tomato juice and canning of peeled tomatoes), pineapple (juice and fruit canning), coconut products (cream, timber, and specialty oil), Grain Sorghum Stalk (duruka), mixed vegetables, guava (jam), mango jam/juice, herbal kava products. The raw materials are available in large quantities locally during seasons throughout the year.The local fruit industry is dominated by mango, papaya, breadfruit, pineapple which requires a lot of cold storage support and value adding. To meet the growing demand for fruits and vegetables in the tourism sector, major hotel operators import from Australia and New Zealand as local producers are unable to meet the quantity and quality requirements. (Fiji 2020 Agriculture Sector Policy Agenda). Agrana Fruit (Fiji) Ltd produces a range of fruit juices. They buy from farmers, bananas, mangoes, guava, citrus, passionfruit's, pineapple and process them into juices and puree. There is a high demand from the hotel sector for juices and purees but farmer production to Agrana is their main issue despite the fact that there are seasonal fruits in plentiful supply year-round at the market During peak production season, Agrana employs up to 90 staff. Agrana exports approximately 95% of its banana puree to the EU markets. Agrana is working with a non-government organisation, Partners in Community Development Fund (PCDF) to train some identified farmers to supply fruits to Agrana. It is an Australian headquartered company with a Fiji office operating out of Sigatoka, they lease a bulk house where it runs its processing operations from, they have an extension officer who works with farmers on agronomy practices for the fruit crops they require and a quality control officer who also visits farmers to advise on quality of products and post-harvest management. 10 -The taste of a local fruit drink with its freshness makes the difference to the clients as opposed to imported fruit juices, the natural sweetness and flavour is a key selling point for Agrana, also the fact that the juices are made from organic fruits adds to the attractiveness with the element of supporting local farmers and communities strikes a cord with customers Packaging 6 -This product is a wholesale product that can be repacked for a different market or served bulkily in more attractive looking serving jars / jugs / dispensers by hotels. For re-packaging, a distributor repacks it into 250ml sachets for easy sales to school canteen for children's drinks, this packaging is convenient for the school children and is easily disposable with a drinking spout to the side of the sachet, offering convenience with bright colours to attract the school children market.Labelling 6 -Served in cans in 850ml and 5 litres is meant for the wholesale bulk market where hotels in Fiji serve these drinks to their guests by pouring it into glass dispensers for display purposes hence the rating is low however, the labelling with a local name and local image of local fruits is attractive to the local market with its 'Made in Fiji' and 'Grown in Fiji' trademarks that sets it aside from imported juices assists the local market with distinguishing it when it is on the retailers shelf.  The key lessons are:1. The most successful value chains have been built around niche markets and/or seasonality. 2. Gradual stepwise development is a feature of successful niche market value chains.3. Bulk commodities are now shifting slowly toward niche market exports. 4. Premium quality products are imperative for the commercial viability of niche market exports from small remote locations. 5. In successful value chains, agribusinesses \"pull\" the products through the chain. 6. There is a need to respond to the \"tyranny of isolation\" and diseconomie of scale, if farmers from outerisland and interior locations are to benefit from value chains. 7. Technology plays an important role in providing market access and improving efficiency. 8. There is a need to provide smallholder farmers with the necessary information and technical skills. 9. Market access constraints for export market value chain development are very difficult to resolve. 10. There is a role for public-private partnerships in value chain development. 11. Longer term financial viability can depend on more sustainable production practices being adopted. 12. Continuing donor and technical assistance is likely to be needed for many chains to reach sustainable profitability.Key Lesson 1: the most successful Value Chains in the Pacific Islands are likely to be built around niche markets and/or Seasonality Smallholders from the outer islands of Vanuatu can produce premium quality pepper. However, they cannot compete in European markets with bulk pepper producers from Kerala in India or Sri Lanka.Volumes from Vanuatu are too low and costs are too high to compete in the pepper commodity market. For the Vanuatu pepper value chain to survive, it requires a selling price three [3] times higher than bulk pepper from Sri Lanka and India.To compete, Vanuatu's pepper exporters must offer a small part of the pepper market something special that enables them to secure a much higher price for the small volume of pepper supplied.To achieve this, Vanuatu offers selected buyers a premium quality product that is beautifully packaged and certified [organically grown, food-safe pepper sourced from the romantic islands of Vanuatu].A niche market is a small but different part of the overall market for the product. Fiji Red papaya, with its unique quality characteristics, has been able to develop niche markets in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and hopefully in the future, the United States. The development of these markets was facilitated by the establishment of a non-chemical quarantine treatment facility owned and operated by the industry. Premium quality provides the basis for establishing and expanding these markets. The key lessons from these examples are:• Building products and markets is an incremental step-by-step process involving continuous feed-back between seller and buyer. • The importance of long-term exporter/buyer relationships -a close relationship based on trust must be developed.• Successful value chains need to be market driven, but you first need a product to develop a market. The skill of the entrepreneur is to be able to first identify and finance products that the market will want. These products can then be tested in the market and adjusted and developed accordingly. Pacific Islands commodities such as cocoa, coffee and coconut products have been traditionally sold on bulk international markets. On these markets it is the interaction of numerous anonymous buyers and sellers that determines the price. If you supply the minimum quality [usually a sea freight container load -10 tonnes], you receive the price that has been determined at that time for a specified quality standard [different quality standards receive different prices].If you have the product, you deal with a commodity trader [not the end user] and you get the international market determined price on offer. The marketing study requirements are limited to knowing who the traders are, where they are located, their shipping requirements and the quality requirements of the market. For such bulk markets, an incremental growth strategy for the value chain is not relevant. The quicker the exporter can move from supplying one container [10 tonnes] to 100 containers [1,000 tonnes] the better. The market can absorb all that can be shipped at the prevailing market determined price.Bougainville cocoa being shipped to the world market example 1: Bougainville Cocoa Sold on World marketThe price for bulk traded cocoa is determined by numerous buyers and sellers trading in New York. It is not necessary for a cocoa exporter based in Bougainville or Malekula to establish a relationship with these traders.(1) Organically certified cocoa beans from Malekula Vanuatu ready for shipment to French chocolate maker(2) Fiji cocoa being marketed to tourists French chocolate maker selling the Vanuatu 'name' directly to the retailer and the final customerRecent years have seen a shift in some Pacific Island commodity chains toward extending through to the end user to obtain a higher price for the relatively small volumes exported. Niche markets are created by differentiating Pacific Island products for final consumers through origin, fair trade and organic certification, and further processing or packaging, such as producing Pacific Island chocolate from Pacific Island cocoa or packing beans in individual packets.example 1: niche market Cocoa from malekula VanuatuBy selling directly to end users, significant value can be added. This should flow on to all the actors in the value chain. However, unlike bulk commodity markets, success depends on establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with the buyer who markets your product at the end of the value chain. For example, the French organic chocolate brand, Kaoka, had established a long-term relationship with the Vanuatu Organic Cocoa Cooperative Association [VOCCA] to supply organically certified cocoa beans.These beans were manufactured into Vanuatu origin chocolate -with the name Vanuatu featuring prominently on the retail label (McGregor, Wotas and Tora 2009). At its peak, over 200 tonnes of organically certified cocoa were exported to France. Regrettably, the Vanuatu organic cocoa value chain collapsed when this relationship broke down, which in turn led to the collapse of the Cooperative. Vanuatu has now returned to selling its cocoa on bulk commodity markets at significantly lower prices.Key Lesson 4: Premium Quality Products are Imperative for the Commercial Viability of niche market exports from Small remote LocationsTransport costs for Pacific Island products are high along the entire value chain due to factors such as isolation, poor infrastructure, diseconomies of scale and lack of competition. These costs tend to be the same regardless of the quality of the shipped product. The only way profits can be made along the value chain is to sell high quality products that can secure the highest possible price. Profitability can be further enhanced by adding value through such things as packaging and various forms of certification [organic, fair trade, origin, food safety] sought by the market.Key Lesson 6: there is a need to respond to the \"tyranny\" of Isolation and Diseconomies of Scale if Farmers from outer-island and Interior locations are to Benefit from Value ChainsIn countries like PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, a high percentage of the people are isolated from the main urban centres and international ports and airports. The \"tyranny of isolation\" means that many of these people do not participate in agricultural value chains. The Vanuatu spices value chain case study has shown that it is possible to overcome this \"tyranny of isolation\" provided the following three necessary conditions are met:• the right product [high unit value and non-perishable];• the right type of marketing and processing enterprise [\"pulling\" the product through the value chain] and, In Fiji, further down the value chain, the ready availability of plastic field crates has substantially reduced postharvest losses and increased the returns from the growing and marketing of papaya. The adoption of this simple technology would benefit all fresh produce industries throughout the region -including those servicing domestic markets.In Fiji, the access to air freight capacity sharply deteriorated in 2013 and costs rose, threatening the viability of fresh export industries. Applied collaborative research has illustrated that it is technically and economically feasible to sea freight papaya to New Zealand and the research focus has now shifted to sea freight to Australia. Reliance on air freight for exports is always risky when flights are used primarily for tourists. Natural disasters or political disruptions can affect the number of visitors and reduce the number of flights and, hence, cargo space availability.The development of the Fiji breadfruit value chain requires technology to move from wild harvesting to fruit grown in small commercial orchards. In-field and mass propagation techniques are being developed together with appropriate orchard management systems.The introduction of new sustainable land management technologies has been necessary for the Fiji taro value chain in the face of deteriorating soil fertility. The viability of Vanuatu's spice exports has depended on the introduction of state-of-the-art value adding and packaging technology for vanilla that is being sourced from village-based farmers in the remotest locations.Pallets of 'Fiji Red' papaya ready for a sea freight trial to New Zealand. The problem of access for Fiji taro, papaya and ginger to the Australian market illustrates the difficulty in developing value chains based on exporting to large neighbouring countries that have domestic industries producing the same product or other products that might be susceptible to pests or diseases found in the exporting country. Substantial and appropriate technical assistance is required to allow for even a modest degree of \"playing field levelling\" in dealing with quarantine related market access issues.Sustainable successful value chains in the Pacific Islands have been without exception, private sector driven. However, the Fiji papaya and breadfruit value chains illustrate the need for effective public-private sector partnerships. In the context of the Pacific Islands, the public sector includes both national governments and donor agencies. Public sector involvement has been necessary due to large capital and resource requirements relative to the size of the agribusiness entities involved. The example of quarantine treatment facilities is highlighted in the case studies. The adoption of a \"green growth\" approach by the value chain is an imperative for long run commercial survival as demonstrated by the pictures below illustrating unsustainable and sustainable ginger and kava production.Kava has in recent years become a major income generating industry in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. The kava price boom was the result of severe cyclones in Vanuatu and Fiji and the rapid growth in demand from the United States. Responding to the high prices, many farmers have been quick to chop down all the trees and are intensively planting kava hoping to maximize their income.These farmers are now enjoying unprecedented profits. However, these profits will soon evaporate unless the farmer adopts proven sustainable production practices. Kava, like taro, is a heavy miner of nutrients from the soil. What has been removed has to be replaced -otherwise the yield for the next crop will fall sharply.. Worse still, the crop destroyed by disease [kava die-back]. Adopting sustainable kava production practices insures that the farm household to continue earn worthwhile income from their land.Step K e y m e s s a g e s f o r P a c i f i c V a l u e C h a i n A w a r e n e s s Whereas, fixed costs are the same regardless of how much is produced [e.g. rent for the land you are leasing, or repayment on a bank loan is the same regardless of how much is produced].Fixed costs are not included in measuring the GM for a particular enterprise -but should be included when considering the profitability of the total farm.Farm management manuals often suggest that gross margins are expressed in terms of unit of land area [e.g. GM/hectare]. However, remember Pacific Island smallholders are probably more concerned with the returns from the work effort of the household [if the household does so much work on the production of a particular farm product how much money will we earn?].Thus a better measure of \"profitability\" of a particular farming activity is the GM per unit of household labour effort [e.g. GM/day of household labour]. This can then be compared with alternative uses of the farmers time [including leisure and meeting cultural obligations].The key training message: A value chain is only as strong as its weakest link -each link has to be profitable for the chain to survive.Key points to consider when undertaking grower gross margin analysis• Realistic and accurate input-output estimates are essential [yields, inputs used to produce the product]. This is often not the case with generic gross margin reports which results in a misleading picture of profitability. Projects and companies trying to encourage farmers to grow new crops also have a tendency to exaggerate potential yields. • Product and input prices are always changing so GM calculations must be updated regularly.• Returns to labour are the most important consideration for smallholder farmers in the Pacific Islands (if I do so much work how much money will I make for my household compared with what else can I be doing with my time?). • For some products, you will need to incorporate risk (eg. some years vanilla won't flower, in some years there will be no papaya sales because of a cyclone or a flood).• Is the enterprise profitable to the farmer when prices are low? Are the profits in the high price years sufficient to offset the low profits (or losses) in the low price years?See the following example of PNG vanilla.The At the time of the price peak in 2003 there were over 50,000 people growing vanilla country wide in PNG. Today there are probably less than 1,000 growers remaining and these are located in areas most agronomically suited to vanilla. Most growers left the industry when they found growing vanilla only gave a sufficient return to their effort when prices were extremely high. Marketing margins and profits Some definitions• Total marketing margin: The difference between the average price paid by consumers for the finished produce [retail price] and the price received by farmers for the equivalent quantity of the raw material of the product [farm gate price]. This is expressed as a percentage. • Exporter marketing margin for the product: The difference between the fob price [the price loaded on the aircraft or vessel] and the price paid to farmers for the equivalent quantity of the raw material of the product [farm gate price]. This is often expressed as a percentage of the retail price. • Exporter \"profit\" for the product: The exporting marketing margin less the cost of getting the product from the farmer onto aircraft or vessel. This is the equivalent to farmer's gross margin and is sometimes called the exporters' marketing gross margin. • Wholesaler/importer marketing margin for the product: The difference between the price the product is sold to the retailer [the wholesale price] and the fob price for the product. This is often expressed as a percentage of the retail price. • Wholesaler/importer \"profit\" for the product: The wholesaler/importer marketing margin less the cost of getting the product from the exporting port [airport] to the retailer. • Retailers marketing margin for the product: The difference between the retail price and the price paid to the wholesaler/importer. This is often expressed as a percentage of the retail price. • Retailers \"profit\" for the product: The retailer marketing margin less the cost of getting the products from the wholesaler into the hands of the final consumer.A value chain analysis may find that a particular value chain is profitable for all the actors. However, you need to determine if parts of the chain are environmentally vulnerable and what are the implications for long term sustainability of the value chain.A Pacific Island Development Program [PIDP] study of the Fiji fresh ginger export industry found this to be a highly successful value chain that provided an example of the successful development of a non-traditional export industry [McGregor 1988].All actors along the chain received a good return from their participation. The farmer's gross margin was over $35/person per day of household labour used in growing this short term crop. This exceeded the returns from growing most other crops at the time. The exporter's gross margin usually exceed 20% of the fob price of ginger [the price of ginger loaded on the ship in Suva].However, the PIDP study identified a major weakness in the value chain that threatened its long term sustainability.To ensure adequate drainage and to minimise labour inputs, farmers grew ginger on steep land planting up the slope [rather than planting along the contour with rows of soil conserving vetiver grass].This farming system initially provided the farmer a very high return to labour. However, within two [2] to three [3] plantings, yields fell dramatically due to soil erosion and many of these farmers are now out of business.Farmer packing fresh fruit in buckets and sacks. Farmer packing fresh fruit in crates sourced from Nature's Way Cooperative.• Brief background and description of proposed product.• Existing products and consumer attitudes to those products.• Strengths and weaknesses of competitors.• Existing market size in target area, by type of outlet, by product, by container or package size, etc. with estimates of the potential market for new product(s). • Important characteristics of the market, such as price, quality and packaging, and your ability to compete.• Consumer response to tasting panels.• Distribution methods recommended for your product and costs of distribution.• Promotional techniques used by competitors.• Promotional tools preferred by the distribution chain.• Conclusions regarding suitability of your product for the market, with recommendations of the best ways to price, promote and distribute it.Published market data is a good starting point for undertaking market studies.Examples of published market data: Marketing consultants are often hired to undertake market studies. Consultants are usually hired by donor entities to undertake market studies on behalf of the entire industry. For example the EU funded Facilitating Agricultural Trade [FACT] project funded the New Zealand, Australian, US and Japan papaya market studies on behalf of Fiji and other future Pacific Island papaya industries. A particular value chain or individual exporter may hire a consultant to undertake a market study. However, this rarely happens in the Pacific Islands because of the high costs relative to the size of the enterprises involved.Remember: A high quality consultant's report can provide a very useful guide to the market that is being targeted by the value chain. However, a consultant's study is no substitute for exporter[s] going to the market with an actual product in \"hand\". It can enhance the credibility and the value of a consultant's study if people who will be actually involved in selling the product are involved.A good consultant's market study can be a useful start and guide. However, there is no substitute for actual sellers going to the market and talking to actual buyers. An exporter can find out first-hand what the importer/ wholesaler wants and can see what the competitors are doing. The importer/wholesaler can see that there is a real person with an actual product. If at all possible, give potential buyers the opportunity to see and sample your product. This personal contact is how the all-important long term relationship between buyers and sellers is created.In the 1990s the Samoan Fruit Tree Development Project introduced an Aimproved variety of rambutan into Samoa. In terms of New Zealand quarantine standards, rambutan was shown to be a non-fruit fly host and was likely to be granted market access if a formal market access request was made. In advance of a request being made, formal consumer taste panel tests were undertaken to determine the actual nature of the market. (Samoa Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Meteorology 2001).It was expected that Samoan rambutan would be a luxury fruit sold to consumers with higher disposable income.These were identified: HortResearch (NZ)'s Sensory and Consumer Science Unit were commissioned to undertake a consumer acceptance assessment of Samoan rambutan amongst higher income consumers. In February 2001, 15kgs of various Samoan rambutan varieties were sent to HortResearch in Auckland under a special quarantine arrangement. The consumer acceptance panel involved 62 consumers from the Auckland area. These were mostly of European descent, of whom 21% had previously tried rambutan.The results: Those that had previously eaten rambutan judged the samples to be \"be about the same quality as previous rambutans they had experienced\". Overall, rambutan received a score lying between \"like slightly\" and \"like moderately\". The opinion of the colour, appearance, flavour and texture all scored between \"like slightly\" and \"like moderately\". Most of the consumers found rambutan inconvenient to eat. These reactions would suggest that it would take time to develop the market for this new exotic fruit.More significantly, 80% of the consumer panel indicated they would like to purchase rambutan. The major reason for purchasing rambutan would be for special occasions and most consumers would use rambutan on a \"fruit platter or cheese board or as garnish/decoration\". The majority of these consumers indicated that they would expect to purchase rambutan from an Asian fruit and vegetable store and would expect to pay $NZ3.50 for a punnet of 5 rambutans (approximately $NZ17.5/kg).Clive Wickham of Carter and Spencer International (CSI) thought a wholesale price of $NZ4-5/kg (retailing at $NZ12.95/kg) would be a reasonable price for planning purposes. Wickham observed the Samoan rambutan sent to HortResearch for market testing, and commented: \"The variety that is popular is the one where the seeds come away from the meat easy.Given that the market should be good\". The Samoan rambutan industry now had basic price information for planning export market development.the taste panel test of the potential market for Samoan rambutan in new ZealandRemember: The Pacific Islands has a long standing reputation of being the \"Land of Samples\" in our traditional Pacific Rim markets. The exporter needs to establish credibility in a somewhat sceptical market. Face-to-face contact between buyer and seller can be an important first step in creating this credibility and for the exporter to be taken seriously. The Forum Secretariat's Trade and Investment Offices in Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo and Beijing can be helpful in identifying potential buyers and arranging meetings (www. forumsec.org/pages.../ forum-trade-offices) .Trade missions and trade fairs Government and regional agencies often organise trade mission to existing and potential markets. Such missions are usually led by Ministers of Trade or Foreign Affairs and even Prime Ministers, with senior civil servants participating. It is common for business leaders and other representatives of the private sector to participate. A broad range of industries is usually covered in these missions. Participation in such missions can be useful in terms of \"networking\" and making contracts. However, they tend to be too generalised and too politically orientated to be of much value for most niche market orientated Pacific Island value chains.On the contrary, participation in industry and product focussed trade fairs can be particularly useful in evaluating and establishing a market. The value of these business orientated trade fairs is that they assemble in one place the type of business who will buy your product. As illustrated by Case Study 4 (Vanuatu Spices) participation in the annual Australian Fine Food Fair has been important for emerging Pacific Island niche market exporters wishing to penetrate the Australian market (www.finefoodaustralia.com.au/ about.asp?id=53). As Jeremy Grennel, Export Services Manager for the Pacific Islands Trade and Invest notes \"Such fairs are a very cost effective sales and marketing platform. With their tightly focused profiles and carefully targeted audiences they represent an ideal opportunity to match the needs of buyers and sellers (Fiji Times May 27 2014).The Vanuatu spices experience has shown that repeated involvement in such fairs is necessary to have sustained impact.Once you have a reasonably good idea about what you think consumers want in your product it can sometimes be useful to conduct consumer taste panel tests to determine more precisely:• who are your most likely buyers;• what are they looking for in the product; and,• how does your product compare with that of competitors.Taste panel tests are undertaken by specialist experts following clearly defined scientific and statistical procedures. While yielding valuable information, such studies can be expensive relative to the size of small Pacific island industries. Thus its important to consider the benefits and costs of such studies. The box shows the example of the use of a consumer taste panel to evaluate the potential market for Samoan rambutan in New Zealand.In-store promotions Once you are confident you have a product that that meets the requirements of the consumers you are targeting in the market, consideration can be given to in store promotion to boost the demand for your product. This should be done in collaboration with your wholesaler and retailer.• You need to be confident of the quality of your product, including labelling and packaging. A negative reaction from consumers will be a serious set-back for the development of the value chain. • You must have the supply to meet the jump in demand that will result from a successful in-store promotion.Not being able to meet the orders that you hope will arise, will undermine your credibility and will be a set back for the development of the value chain.You should err of the side of caution and delay in-store promotions until you are really ready, even if donors are willing to provide funding support.Useful resource on the subject Shepherd, Andrew, 2003. Market research for agroprocessors. Marketing Extension Guide No. 3, FAO. ftp://ftp. fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y4532e/y4532e00.pdfRemember: Being able to take advantage of exotic and/or desirable origin usually requires considerable investments in certification (origin, organic,\"fair trade\", etc.), promotion, labelling and packaging. In your value chain analysis you need to consider if the benefits of this investment are sufficient to justify the costs (benefit cost analysis).Most PICs are developing value chains for virigin coconut oil targeting niche export markets based on premium quality and exotic product origin. Solomon islands also has had a type 2 competitive advantage compared with other Pacific Island exporters based on lower labour costs, and thus VCO producers have been willing to accept a lower price for oil (AusAID 2006).Samoan taro exports to New Zealand before taro leaf blight Samoa dominated the New Zealand market in taro prior to the arrival of taro leaf blight in 1993. Samoa produced a variety preferred by the market. However, Fiji could also produce the same variety. Samoa dominated the market because it is a lower cost producer and could offer the product to the market at a lower price. The arrival of taro leaf blight in Samoa meant that Samoa could not produce this particular variety, enabling Fiji to take over the market.The Pacific has a long history of value chain developments that have not been sustainable (see Shepherd et.al 2013). A number started out successfully with rapid expansion only to contract just as rapidly and in some cases to go of business altogether. Some prominent examples are:• Fiji fresh ginger exports to the US (competitive advantage based on seasonality -competive advantage lost due the entry of lower cost ginger becoming available in Thailand and China and disease problems in Fiji. Fiji no longer exports fresh mature ginger to the US) • Tongan squash exports to Japan (competive advantage based on seasonality -this was substantially reduced due largely to production problem in Tonga. A minimal amount of Tongan squash now exported to Japan) • PNG vanilla exports (During 2003-04 PNG became the 3rd largest vanilla exporter in the world. World price collapsed and most growers left the industry and PNG is now an insignificant exporter) • Samoan taro exports (competitive advantage based on product quality in terms of market requirements and costs of production was lost by taro leaf blight). • Vanuatu organic cocoa exports to France (competive advantage based on exotic and/or desirable product origin). The value chain collapsed when the relationship between the importer and cooperative collapsed and Vanuatu now only exports cocoa to the bulk markets.This section will discuss some of the potential risks that need to be taken into account in analysing value chains and how these factors can be incorporated into the profitability analysis and enterprise planning strategies for the various actor's. Farmers are still often partially involved in the design and implementation of value chain development programs.Farmers are entrepreneurs and their organizations are key VC actors and business partners.Through collective action, farmers and their organisations can better access agro-inputs and credit, improve production/productivity, create added value, access more remunerative markets and lobby and advocate for a more enabling policy and business environment. The aim is to build teams of private and public sector actors that work together for designing and implementing farmer-inclusive value chain development programs.Routan Tongaiaba, Senior Agricultural Officer, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Development (MELAD), Kiribati explaining the importance of data collection as basis for applying the OPPO tools and developing a farmerinclusive business case.What you need to do: Review the points of attention for the 16 dimensions. This could be done in dialogue with the farmers' organisation, by preparing a questionnaire and ask farmer organisation members to fill it out. After entering assessment scores in the related Excel tool, the assessment can be visualized in a graph.4. Sub-sector, value chain and market system and stakeholder mapping About the tool: Any value chain development case requires the collaboration of many players. Four actor groups are distinguished: VC operators (main actors), VC supporters and enablers (supporting actors, from private and public sector) and externally funded facilitators (like donors and projects). The tool 'Market system stakeholder mapping' helps to identify these actors, to reflect on current roles and on option to improve stakeholders' performance and collaboration.For whom and why:• Farmer Organisations, Public or private organisations, donors Identify options for market prospection and access strategizing; market power and bargaining; operational management capacities; collaborating and coordination of chain actors and involvement in policy development and advocacy. Identify all the stakeholders that are directly and indirectly important for the business case.PART 2: Moving from Analysis to ActionStrategic orientation tool provides the first step in the transition from analysis to action. Well formulated strategic orientations are important for strategic planning of farmers/SMEs and farmer organisations. The tool builds on outcomes from the previous steps and tools (1)(2)(3)(4) The central question that should be taken into account is: How can farmers earn more to improve living conditions? For whom and why:• Farmer Organisations, Public or private organisations, donors: Reflect on what is the organisation already doing, what are weak or missing links between stakeholders, reflect on external forces.• Individual Farmers/SMEs: Reflect on comparative advantages, production, products and quality, processing and market reach challenges and opportunities, additional ideas to develop the business case further.What you need to do: Make a stocktake of the current situation and the potential situation, formulate clear strategic orientations, as SMART as possibleAbout the tool: This tool leads to the development of a 'basket of options' to improve access to agro-inputs, finance and markets, to innovate production and post-harvest activities and to partake in strategic decision-making processes.• At the production side, two intervention areas are important: improved access to agro-inputs and effective application of good agricultural practices. • At the post-harvest and market side, two other intervention areas are crucial: the promotion of postharvest value creation and improved market relations and sales. • Two intervention domains are cross-cutting: improving the access to agri-finance (both for production, value creation and marketing) and lobby and advocacy for a more enabling policy and business environment.For whom and why:• Farmer Organisations and public/ private organisations The intervention areas are pillars for integrated agro-economic development programmes and they are also the six service areas that are generally distinguished for farmers' collective action. In each of the intervention areas, farmers have to work together with stakeholders, and those stakeholders have to collaborate with farmers and farmers' organizations.Together identify, strategize and decide on concrete actions for each intervention area.This tool explains how farmer organisations, based on the thorough","tokenCount":"13885"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9943002244.json b/data/part_1/9943002244.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..896304002b3b9c010c1734306b9fb49d4167e734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9943002244.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8c1bbb65d80d0825735dd2273f7c7d6b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/426663e2-716b-497e-83c7-7bb5e79d1e7d/retrieve","id":"1828478141"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"379cae8a-2b2f-446b-820e-2174a054f71d","pagecount":"27","content":"Seven shrubs' species were evaluated in this study including:• 3 Leguminous species: Medicago arborea, Colutea istria and Coronilla glauca• 3 Atriplex species: A. canescens, A. nummularia and A. undulata• Spineless cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica)All these species were integrated within field crops consisting of wheat, vetch and barley in Mushaqqar Research Station (Jordan).Each crop was planted in strips measuring 10m wide and 100m long, while the shrubs intra line spacing was 2.5m.icarda.org 10Benefits:▪ Is excellent feed for livestock due to its high protein content ▪ High palatability ▪ Long lived (at least 25 years) ▪ Improve soil fertility It is an evergreen plant and has blue-grey, pinnate leaves 1 m high, grow in light, moderately fertile, welldrained soils. It is cold and frost tolerance (greater than Medicago arborea), flowering period: February to April Benefits:▪ Highly palatable ▪ Melliferous species with yellow flowers that are highly attractive to bees ▪ Grows in semi-arid areas (400 600 mm) ▪ High feed values ▪ Improves soil qualityEvergreen shrub, mature plants range from 0.3 to 2.5 m in height while leaves are simple, 0.5-5 cm long. It is dioecious plant species and fruit has winged utricle that becomes yellow when ripe▪ It has high vegetative vigor ▪ Grows well under saline-sodic conditions ▪ High drought tolerant ▪ Excellent species for erosion control ▪ Crude protein content (leaves) ranges from 12.5 to 15.7% ▪ Moderate to high palatabilityFour-wing saltbush icarda.org 14To get maximum profit from the runoff, seedlings were transplanted in constructed microcatchments, with a spacing of least 1.5 m apart.Due to the steepness of the slopes, spacing between rows varied between 2 to 3 m. The micro-catchments were established using tools that are readily available and can be implemented on land slopes with variable soil depth.▪ Drought resistant ▪ Can grow in areas with high salinity (max 300 mM)▪ Is a good maintenance feed when other feed sources are depleted ▪ Is grown in arid areas all over the world ▪ Adequate source of crude protein  With different magnitudes according to species, shrubs are of vital importance for the accumulation of nutrients and maintenance of soil fertility Functional characteristics of shrubs directly or indirectly affect their foraging patterns, determine how naturally fit into grazing and make predictions about grazing responseGrowing appropriate shrubs that their seasonal growth and the rationale for integrating forage shrubs into grazing systems could partially help filling the seasonal forage gaps Forage nutritive value plays a significant role in the formulation of the livestock diet and maintaining sustainable ecosystems, and grazing managementWe came up with a list of criteria to determine priorities and assign a bigger value to those we think are more important criteria to consider through our decision making Overall based on all the criteria and all the weight A. canescens is the better choice• Atriplex species (A. canescens) performed well and can be an ideal species for establishing alley cropping under WA conditions. • The multiple benefits of alley cropping can only strengthen resilience of the production system to sustain livelihood of the agrosilvopastoral communities.","tokenCount":"506"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9943341077.json b/data/part_1/9943341077.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..53ba55c30927749640669622a15ced82c72dfd1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9943341077.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c679a6130cdc3ae91d45035c0cc47a54","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e8362082-8edf-496e-a088-f13cc4585040/retrieve","id":"14165045"},"keywords":["Anemia","biodiversity","conservation","ecosystem services","Millennium Development Goals","poverty alleviation"],"sieverID":"e427c89c-6393-4c6f-9697-ad323f9cf5b2","pagecount":"10","content":"Background. Malnutrition affects a large number of people throughout the developing world. Approaches to reducing malnutrition rarely focus on ecology and agriculture to simultaneously improve human nutrition and environmental sustainability. However, evidence suggests that interdisciplinary approaches that combine the knowledge bases of these disciplines can serve as a central strategy in alleviating hidden hunger for the world's poorest.Objective. To describe the role that ecological knowledge plays in alleviating hidden hunger, considering human nutrition as an overlooked ecosystem service.Methods. We review existing literature and propose a framework that expands on earlier work on econutrition. We provide novel evidence from case studies conducted by the authors in western Kenya and propose a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration to alleviate hidden hunger, increase agricultural productivity, and improve environmental sustainability.Results. Our review supports the concept that an integrated approach will impact human nutrition. We provide evidence that increased functional agrobiodiversity can alleviate anemia, and interventions that contribute to environmental sustainability can have both direct and indirect effects on human health and nutritional well-being.Conclusions. Integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are critical to reaching development goals. Ecologists must begin to consider not only how their field can contribute to biodiversity conservation, but also, the relationship between biodiversity and provisioning of nontraditional ecosystem services such as human health. Likewise, nutritionists and agronomists must recognize that many of the solutions to increasing human wellbeing and health can best be achieved by focusing on a healthy environment and the conservation of ecosystem services.Adequate nutrition lies at the heart of the fight against hunger and poverty [1]. Great strides in reducing hunger through increases in agricultural productivity have been made worldwide; however, more than 1 billion people remain chronically underfed, i.e., do not have proper access to food to continuously meet dietary requirements [2]. It has long been known that malnutrition undermines economic growth and perpetuates poverty [3]. Healthy individuals contribute to higher individual and country productivity, lower healthcare costs, and greater economic output by improving physical work capacity, cognitive development, school performance, and health [4]. Unrelenting malnutrition is contributing to widespread failure to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); moreover, if malnutrition is not eradicated, most of the other MDGs-improving maternal health, reducing the child mortality rate, combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, achieving universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and empowering women-will be difficult to achieve [3]. Yet the international community and most governments in developing countries continue to struggle in tackling malnutrition.Malnutrition has many dimensions, including not Fabrice A. J. DeClerck, Jessica Fanzo, Cheryl Palm, and Roseline Remans Fabrice DeClerck is affiliated with the Division of Research and Development at CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica; Jessica Fanzo is affiliated with Bioversity, Rome; Roseline Remans is affiliated with Leuven Sustainable Earth at K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; all authors are affiliated with the Tropical Agriculture Program of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York Please direct queries to the corresponding author: Fabrice A. J. DeClerck, Division of Research and Development, CATIE 7170, Turrialba, Costa Rica 30501; e-mail: fdeclerck@ catie.ac.cr.only an insufficient amount of food and calories, but also lack of essential nutrients, poor absorption, and excessive loss of nutrients. It is increasingly recognized that the current global crisis in malnutrition has roots in dysfunctional agricultural and food systems that do not deliver enough essential nutrients to meet the dietary requirements of everyone [5,6]. Agricultural practices are almost always directed at maximizing production while minimizing costs. Recently, preserving the environment has become a more prominent goal of agriculture worldwide; however, maximizing the micronutrient output of farming systems has never been a primary objective in modern agriculture, human health, or public policy.Increased crop production during the Asian Green Revolution prevented mass starvation in many nations. The focus, however, was primarily on cereal crops (rice, wheat, and maize), which are mainly sources of carbohydrates and contain only modest amounts of protein and a few other nutrients essential to meet human nutritional requirements. The change in agricultural production from diversified cropping systems toward ecologically more simple cereal-based systems may have contributed to poor dietary diversity, significant micronutrient deficiencies, and resulting malnutrition [5].Malnutrition involves many different nutrient deficiencies. The current global nutrition gaps cannot be corrected by increasing the supply of only one or a couple of foods and nutrients. The role of micronutrients in human health and the synergies in their physiologic functions are recognized and support the concept that nutrient deficiencies rarely occur in isolation [7]. The challenge is to provide the diversity and adequate amount of nutrients required for a complete human diet. This urges a multidimensional approach.One of the dimensions often not recognized as part of malnutrition is ecology, the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. Yet the relationship between organisms, in this case humans, and resource acquisition (nutrients) is fundamentally an ecological question. We suggest that human nutrition is one of the most important, but often overlooked, ecosystem services. Ecologists work in multidimensional systems, composed of organisms, energy, and the physical environment interacting at various spatial and temporal scales, which can be described in terms of composition, structure, functions, fluxes, resilience, or other dynamics [8,9]. Increasingly, ecologists have focused on the impact of communities and their interactions on ecological processes, functions, and ecosystem services. These studies, known as biodiversity and ecosystem function studies, explore the relationship between the numbers and kinds of organisms in a community and the ecosystem services that are derived from them. Though many ecologists have focused on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, there has been little focus on the role that ecosystems play in providing the essential elements of human diets. How does the combination of environment, communities, and species and human modification of these assemblages impact human nutrition? How can ecological knowledge of species-environment interactions be used as a means of improving human nutritional well-being? What is gained through increased interactions among ecologists, agronomists, and nutritionists?The environment is a critical determinant of which species occur in an area, and the interactions among species result in a local assemblage of species or communities. As humans modify their environment, they select and protect some species and exclude and eradicate others to achieve management goals and to maximize the provisioning of ecosystem services. The same concept can be applied to managing agroecosystems for the provisioning of human nutrition, particular in areas of extreme poverty. Optimizing for nutrient diversity can be presented schematically as maximizing the various arms of an ecological spider diagram, as illustrated in figure 1, where increasing species richness increases the capacity of the agroecosystem to meet the entirety of human nutrition needs.The notion that nutrition, human and agricultural productivity, and environmental sustainability are interrelated was discussed by Deckelbaum et al. [10] and has been described as \"econutrition. \" Deckelbaum et al. argued that in tackling malnutrition much can be gained by linking agriculture and ecology to human nutrition and health. Biodiversity hotspots and hunger hotspots almost directly overlap, and although the intellectual paths of agronomists, ecologists, and nutritionists rarely cross, their geographic extensions are the same. The areas where there is hunger, loss of biodiversity, and a need for improved agricultural systems are largely identical. Cyclical feedback between declining soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, decreased food production, and malnutrition can be identified and needs to be turned around through an interdisciplinary approach [1,10]. Indeed, these disciplines share a common concern, notably the rapid loss of biodiversity that typically accompanies agricultural intensification. Although ecologists tend to focus on nondomesticated species, agriculturalists on improving yields of a few crops, and nutritionists on the availability and utilization of food crops and specific nutrients, there is no reason to think that lessons learned by ecologists about the functional consequences of species losses [11] should not apply within a nutritional framework.In the past, food-based interventions in developing countries have been mostly single-nutrient oriented [7]. This approach may in part be attributed to a lack of knowledge in earlier years of the interactions among nutrients in human physiology and metabolism. From various recommendations for high-protein diets [12] and later for high-carbohydrate diets [13,14], to more recent efforts directed at the elimination of micronutrient deficiencies [15], attention was generally concentrated on single-nutrient approaches. The introduction of crops focusing on single nutrients serves as an important means to address specific nutrients (macro-or micronutrients), but caution must be exercised, as any single crop, including a fruit or vegetable crop, does not address the complex nutritional needs of humans [5]. The importance of nutrient diversity for human well-being, as discussed above, calls for dietary diversification.Dietary diversity is often defined as the number of certain food groups consumed by an individual or family. Many studies conducted on people of different age groups show that an increase in individual dietary diversity is related to increased nutrient adequacy of the diet. Dietary diversity has been positively correlated with the micronutrient density of diets of nonbreastfed children, adolescents, and adults [16][17][18][19][20][21].Research is ongoing by Bioversity International, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and others to improve the understanding of the association between dietary diversity and micronutrient uptake.One means of assuring adequate dietary diversity for all would be to manage agroecosystems in ways that will result in a plentiful and diversified nutrient output of farming systems. Achieving such dietary diversity in agroecosystems is likely to be best achieved through interdisciplinary collaborations among nutritionists, agronomists, ecologists, and local communities, as we demonstrate below.Agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity illustrate the nexus of nutrition and ecology. Ecologists have studied the effects of removal or addition of species in ecological communities. For instance, several large-scale grassland studies in the United States and Europe have demonstrated that as the number of species in a grassland area increases, so does the net primary productivity. In addition, increasing species richness has increased the stability of the community; as indicated during drought years, species-rich communities exhibited less reduction in biomass produced than species-poor communities [22].The mechanisms that drive these relationships between species richness and enhanced ecological performance are still heavily debated but are largely due to two processes. The first is known as the sampling effect, and argues that as you increase the number of species in a plot, the probability of including a highly productive species is greater. From a nutritional point of view, this is analogous to considering that as you increase the number of crops produced on a farm or in a region, the probability that one of those crops will be high in a particular nutrient, for example, vitamin A, also increases. Thus, simply by chance, if we increase the number of crops available to local communities, we increase the probability that the communities will obtain the 1. Ecological spider's web presenting nutrient diversity requirements in a human diet. Nutrient composition of an ideal diet (A) that meets all nutritional needs is shown in dark gray. An example of nutrient composition of a diet that meets carbohydrate demand but lacks protein and micronutrients or trace elements is shown in light gray. Nutrient composition data of three food crops (B) are shown as percentages of daily requirement. The dark gray line represents one cup of white corn (166 g), the light gray line one cup of black beans (194 g), and the black line one cup of pumpkin (116 g) (nutrition facts from www.nutritiondata.com). The spider diagram shows the complementarity among the three food crops for carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fiber, and vitamin A nutrients needed for healthy, productive lives.The second mechanism is known as the complementary effect, in which interactions between species result in a yield or function greater than that expected by chance, also called overyielding. There are numerous possible interactions that can lead to complementarity; these interactions range from resource partitioning, in which different organisms use resources differently, thus reducing competition, to symbiotic and mutual interactions, in which a species facilitates the presence or success of another.Probably one of the best-known examples of such ecological complementarity that also results in net nutritional benefit comes from the Mesoamerican \"three sisters. \" The combination of corn (a grass), beans (a nitrogen-fixing legume), and squash (a low-lying creeper) maximizes trait differences for growth and resource use efficiency between species [23], resulting in higher yields than those obtained from three monocultures of these crops. The corn is a grass species that is particularly efficient at maximizing photosynthesis in warm environments. In structure, the corn grows straight and tall, adding a vertical dimension to the system. The vine-like bean takes advantage of the growth form of the corn for structural support, which also enables it to reach more sunlight. The beans are also unique in their capacity to bring atmospheric nitrogen into the system by symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and this nitrogen becomes available to the corn in subsequent cropping seasons. The interaction between corn and beans is an example of complementarity, in which the overyielding is due to a positive interaction between the species. The third member of this assemblage, squash, does not perform as well as corn in direct sunlight and thus occupies the remaining space near the ground where light is somewhat reduced and humidity is increased, thus reducing photorespiration [24]. The addition of squash can decrease the amount of soil lost to erosion as a result of its low-lying form and broad leaves, which ensure greater soil coverage. The added productivity from the squash comes not so much from positive interactions with the beans and corn, but rather from the capacity of squash to use a resource (light) that is not captured by the corn and beans, an example of resource partitioning.It is notable that these crops are complementary not only ecologically but also nutritionally. Corn is an important source of carbohydrates and some amino acids. The addition of beans completes the set of essential amino acids for a human diet and makes important contributions of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins B 2 and B 6 , zinc, iron, manganese, iodine, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Squash can be an important source of vitamin A, depending on the variety. It is important to note that each of these crops can make an important contribution to the human diet, but none of these crops alone provides total nutrition.Why is there an association between crop diversity and human nutrition? The question can be rephrased as why is there such a great diversity of nutritional compounds within the plant world? The evolution of nutritional traits by plants is purely a function of rewarding us or other animals for dispersing their seeds, as in the case of almost every piece of fruit we consume, a defense against plant pests, as in the case of chili peppers and mint, or ensuring that their seeds are best prepared for the ultracompetitive world of seedlings, as in the case of beans. The point is that ecological interactions are at the heart of the nutritional content of most species we consume.Members of the genus Capsicum, more commonly known as chili peppers, are frequently consumed in the tropics and enjoyed by many in either their sweet or their spicy form. Why are these chili peppers so pungent? Birds consume the fruit and facilitate the dispersal of chili seeds, apparently unaffected by the spiciness, unlike mammals. However, recent research [25] has shown that plants with greater rates of insect piercing on the fruit have higher levels of the phytochemical capsaicin, and that the plant uses this chemical primarily as a defense against fungi that enter the fruit on the backs of insects to consume the seed. From a nutritional point of view, Capsicum has among the highest levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, and β-carotene of crops commonly consumed in poverty hotspots. Capsaicin has been shown to have an antibacterial function [26][27][28], and some researchers propose that the prevalence of spicy foods in tropical regions is no coincidence but rather a means of preserving food or killing off bacteria in food [26,29].Another example of ecological application in human nutrition is the use of nitrogen-fixing plants in agricultural systems. Nutritionists, development specialists, and most farmers recognize that legumes, such as common beans, groundnuts, and soybeans, are important sources of protein. This comes as no surprise to agronomists or ecologists, who recognize that all three of these food items come from a unique and third largest plant family, the legumes or Fabaceae. This plant family is also a major player in the nitrogen cycle in terrestrial ecosystems and is recognized as a driver of several ecosystem functions, including primary productivity in natural systems. From a nutritional point of view, legumes contain 5 times more highquality protein than maize and 18 times more protein content than potatoes and are also superior to cereals as a source of micronutrients [30].It is worth exploring the ecological foundation of these high protein levels. Manufacturing protein has a high nitrogen demand, and although 80% of our atmosphere is composed of nitrogen (N 2 ), none of this is available to plants. To further exacerbate the problem, most soils are nitrogen-limited. Many species in the legume family have developed a unique symbiotic association with Rhizobium, a soil bacterium found in the roots of most legumes that allows the plant to convert atmospheric dinitrogen gas into ammonium, which the plant then uses to form amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The plant in return provides the bacterium with photosynthetic sugars. This relationship is energetically expensive to legumes; however, this cost provides unique access to nitrogen, one of the nutrients most limiting to primary production in terrestrial ecosystems. This access to nitrogen allows legumes to colonize soils that are inhospitable to many other plant families or to outcompete other plants in nitrogen-poor environments. The high protein content of legume seeds provides the plants' progeny with a competitive advantage for growth in systems low in nitrogen [31,32]. Humans have learned to take advantage of this high nitrogen content for our own nutritional well-being, as well as a natural source of organic nitrogen fertilizer.Legumes are often advocated in diets because of their beneficial effects and because they are a low-cost source of protein [33]. However, compared to other food crops, legumes have high contents of secondary metabolites with antinutritional effects, such as amylase inhibitors, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors, which can cause adverse physiological responses or diminish the availability of certain nutrients [34,35]. This raises the question of why legumes combine such attractive nutritional characteristics as high protein and mineral contents with relatively high contents of antinutritional factors? Secondary metabolites, including antinutrients, have been shown to provide natural mechanisms of defense for plants against microbes, insects, and herbivores [35,36]. In many agricultural crops, which have been optimized for yield, their original lines of defense have been selected out because the underlying metabolites are unpalatable or toxic for humans or livestock. But in legumes, the numerous nitrogencontaining metabolites with antinutritional properties appear to function both as chemical defenses and as nitrogen storage compounds that facilitate germination in low-nitrogen systems. Legume genotypes selected for low to no amounts of antinutrients have reduced germination power and thus reduced general selective advantage [35,37]. During germination, however, these antinutrients are degraded to a lower level by the action of several enzymes, resulting in improved digestibility of bean sprouts for humans, compared to dry beans. This example illustrates how enhanced knowledge of underlying ecological functions can benefit human nutrition.Although we tend to consider humans outside of natural systems, the examples above demonstrate that interactions between species are literally the spice of human life. Long-term interactions between plants and animals and the active selection of plants from various families by humans have resulted in a large diversity of nutritional traits. It is proposed that the long-term approach toward diversification of nutrient-rich crops will address the significant deficits in micronutrients among the diets and the particular nutrition needs of communities.Community ecology has demonstrated that increases in biodiversity can lead to increases in plant community productivity when species complement each other or use resources differently, as discussed above. Though ecologists have increasingly focused on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, there has been very little focus on the capacity or role that ecosystems play in providing the essential elements and nutrients of the human diet. Many studies of biodiversity and ecosystem function have demonstrated that there is much variance that cannot be explained by species richness. This leads to the question of the relationship between the taxonomic identity of a species and its functional identity. For example, does it matter that an ecosystem has five species, or would it be more important that a system has five different functional groups? Is a field with maize, rice, wheat, sorghum, and millet the equivalent of a field with maize, beans, squash, sweet potato, and guava? Both have five species, but the latter contains five functionally distinct species from a nutritional point of view in contrast to the former, where all of the species are from the grass family, which are high in carbohydrates but poor in essential nutrients.To illustrate, a field survey of 30 farms in western Kenya identified over 146 plant species, including 39 edible species important to the local diet. Edible plant diversity was relatively high in farm fields, with an average of 14 edible plants per field, ranging between 5 and 22 species. Rather than simply looking at the relationship between crop diversity and nutrition, we classified the edible species according to their content of seven important nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, zinc, and folate. In this classification, species high in protein (beans, peanuts, and amaranthus) form a distinct cluster in the dendrogram, species high in vitamin A (sweet potato and chili) form a second important cluster, and species with high carbohydrate content (sugar, sorghum, and maize) also form a unique cluster (fig. 2).Using this same dendrogram, in which functional diversity is measured as branch length (see Petchey and Gaston [38] for details), we regressed functional diversity (FD) against species richness for each of the 30 farms. Several patterns became apparent through this regression. The first is that there is a relatively strong relationship between functional richness and species richness. That is, as the number of edible species increases, the functional richness of the farm also increases. This confirms the notion that increasing farm agrobiodiversity increases the capacity of the farm to provide a multitude of nutritional functions to its owner. The second notable pattern is that although species richness and functional richness are correlated, it is possible for a farm to have many species but low nutritional diversity or for a farm to have fewer species but greater nutritional diversity, in addition to the general trend of increasing nutritional functional diversity with species richness. For example, figure 3 shows that an important cluster made up of amaranth, soybean, and mung bean is entirely missing from farm A and that the absence of this cluster suggests that an important nutritional function may also be absent from this farm.Why is there a relationship between species richness and functional richness and human nutrition? It would be reasonable to expect that nutrients would be normally distributed among the crops grown in this example, with a few species that have low contents of any particular nutrient, many species with moderate nutrient levels, and a few species that have high nutritional values. However, this is not the case, and as with many ecological variables, nutritional content for any particular element is log-normally distributed, with most species containing low levels of any particular nutrient and few containing high levels. The other distinct pattern in nutrient distribution among these species is that there is little redundancy of plants that have the same nutritional content and there is no single species that is capable of providing all the nutrients needed for a human diet. Although a single species may be good at providing a single nutrient, there are no crop species capable of providing all essential nutrients. The importance of a diversified diet increases with the number of nutritional functions we expect agricultural systems to provide.Correlating agricultural diversity with human nutrition remains difficult for numerous reasons, including ethical constraints on working with human subjects and the complexity of human societies. For example, wealthy landowners may have reduced agricultural diversity but better health because of the ability to purchase a more nutritionally diverse diet and focus their production efforts on cash crops. In contrast, poorer community members may rely more heavily on diversified diets to compensate for lack of purchasing power. However, in the Kenyan village example, the anemia of an individual, as measured by hemoglobin levels, was tested against several measures of crop diversity, including species richness and the functional diversity of crops based on their iron content. Crop species richness was not related to hemoglobin (r 2 = 0.06, p = 0.2932; fig. 4); however, we did find a positive and significant relationship of crop functional diversity with iron content and hemoglobin levels (r 2 = 0.22, p = 0.0353; fig. 4) without taking into consideration external variables. Community members who had low agricultural functional agrobiodiversity had significantly higher levels of anemia, whereas when functional agrobiodiversity increased, anemia became absent. These results support the notion that in poor communities, increased access to crops with greater nutritional diversity can alleviate hidden hunger.Focusing on those nutritional elements most severely missing in many developing countries-energy, protein, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and zinc-and based on the findings from this village survey, corn is the greatest provider of carbohydrates; beans and amaranthus are the greatest providers of iron, protein, and folate; orange-fleshed sweet potato is the greatest provider of vitamin A; guava is the greatest provider of vitamin C; and amaranthus is the greatest provider of zinc. In order to be sufficient in these essential nutrients, a family would have to consume at least five different plant species, but more importantly, not just any five species, but those five species that belong to the different nutritional functional groups that together make a nutritious diet.Because plants obtain their nutrients from the soil, soils play a critical role in fueling the entire food chain [39]. Soils are ecosystems unto themselves with numerous ecological interactions of important consequences for the capacity of crop plants to be both productive and nutritious. Management interventions that alter the soil environment have an impact on these ecological interactions and can change the nutritional value of crops. The use of farmyard manure and other forms of organic matter can increase plant-available micronutrients by changing both the physical and the biological characteristics of the soil [40,41]. These changes improve soil physical structure and water-holding capacity, resulting in more extensive root development and enhanced soil microfloral and faunal activity, all of which can increase available micronutrient levels in soils, which impact plants and then humans [42,43]. However, the increased provisioning of food from crops and livestock in the past four decades has come with important tradeoffs that include degradation of soils and loss of many of the regulatory and supporting ecosystem services soils provide, such as the regulation of hydrological and nutrient cycles. These tradeoffs between provisioning and regulatory services can ultimately undermine the ability of the ecosystems to provide the essential nutrients for human diets [44]. Agriculture as practiced in many poor regions without replenishing nutrients soon results in soils that for crop production are deficient in nitrogen, available phosphorus, and to a lesser extent potassium and sulfur. In addition, Sillanpää [45] estimated that of the important agricultural soils of the world, 49% are deficient in zinc for crop production, 31% in boron, 15% in molybdenum, 14% in copper, 10% in manganese, and 3% in iron. These figures may be compared with corresponding figures for the human population that depends on the same soils. Many of those countries, where human micronutrient deficiencies are a problem, are also the countries that have large areas of micronutrient-poor or -deficient soils [5,46,47].Plants are able to supply all the known essential minerals for human diets, even though they may not necessarily require all of them for their own growth. In particular, plants contain selenium, iodine, and cobalt in concentrations high enough to fully satisfy human requirements if the soils on which they grow are not too poor in these same elements. However, probably half of all soils are deficient in one of these Comparison of the effect of crop species richness (dark gray circles) measured as a proportion of 22 species, the greatest species richness found in local farms, and crop functional diversity (light gray circles) measured with iron content of the crop as the primary species functional trait using Petchey and Gaston's [38] dendrogram-based measure of functional diversity. Both species richness (dashed line) and crop functional diversity (solid line) were positively correlated with hemoglobin levels; however, the relationship was significant (p = .0353) only with crop functional diversity three ultramicronutrients (with daily requirements about 100 times less than those of iron and zinc), and although plant production is not restricted by this deficiency, human diets based on the crops grown on these soils can be deficient. \"Linking unhealthy people and unhealthy soils\" was emphasized by Sanchez et al. [1] in reference to integrated approaches to tackling hunger in Africa. The critical point is that crop diversity alone may not be sufficient to meet nutritional needs. The health of the soils in which these crops are grown can play an important role in ensuring human health.The global health crisis of malnutrition afflicts massive numbers of people and urges changes in global food systems to provide adequate nutrition for all.In this paper we argue that ecological knowledge, tools, and models have an important role to play in efforts to direct food systems at improved human nutrition. Malnutrition has many dimensions, and the complex nature of human nutrition calls for dietary diversification. If agricultural practices are directed at improving the nutritional quality and diversity of their output, they must encompass a holistic system perspective to assure that the intervention will be sustainable. It is here where ecology, through studying interactions between species and their environment, can identify synergies and tradeoffs between agriculture and nutrition and have an important role to play in guiding agricultural interventions for improved human nutrition. Agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity illustrate the nexus of nutrition and ecology. Examples in community ecology, biogeochemistry, and soil ecology described in this manuscript pertain to the linkages among ecology, nutrition, and agriculture and are only a beginning in the use of ecology to improve food systems for human nutrition.A clear understanding of which species have specific nutritional, as well as ecological, functions shows tremendous promise for managing agricultural systems that provide numerous functions by identifying and combining species assemblages that maximize functions. If we aim toward a truly new Green Revolution in agriculture, we' d better invite ecologists to the table.","tokenCount":"5130"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9943725377.json b/data/part_1/9943725377.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fa65d5170c2269baea67371280760264bd1a3e3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9943725377.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fb0c769883eb032e5b2a35ed4cba0ce8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/16bcabbc-296d-4530-8566-d2ae12abf35a/retrieve","id":"1210581054"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db3a6678-d9ed-4879-9ebe-6c696fed5bd0","pagecount":"18","content":"Las publicaciones del CIP contribuyen con información importante sobre el desarrollo para el dominio público. Los lectores están autorizados a citar o reproducir este material en sus propias publicaciones. Se solicita respetar los derechos de autor delEl proceso de validación de la normativa, corresponde a una secuencia de acciones desarrolladas de manera conjunta con las instituciones que vienen formando parte del Consejo Regional del SGP de Lima.Consejo regional del SGP tuvo dificultades para desarrollar los procesos de certificación que durante 15 años había desarrollado, principalmente por la publicación del DS 002-2020-MINAGRI, que impedía a las organizaciones públicas, sean parte del consejo, debilitando la estructura organizacional del SGP, impidiendo que se continúe con los procesos de certificación para pequeños agricultores. Ante esta dificultad se promulgó el DS 003-2023-MIDAGRI, en donde menciona, que los consejos regionales del SGP, también pueden ser constituidos como entidades de certificación, mediante un reconocimiento de la autoridad regional.Ante este nuevo contexto legal, el Consejo Regional del SGP de Lima, reactivó sus actividades, planteando una ruta para lograr dicho reconocimiento ante el gobierno regional y consecuentemente gestionar la autorización ante el SENASA.Hasta la fecha, ya se ha presentado el informe técnico a sub región agraria del Gobierno Regional Metropolitano de Lima (SRA GRML), el cual viene siendo revisado y se espera la respuesta mediante un Acto Resolutivo. El reconocimiento del CR del SGP Lima, permitirá acceder a la solicitud de autorización ante el SENASA, para poder certificar a las organizaciones de productores ecológicos, un proceso donde Lima podría ser la primera región en lograr esta certificación de productores bajo el marco legal.Este estudio realizado por la ONG IDMA, en coordinación con el CIP, como parte del Paquete de Trabajo 2 sobre mercados inclusivos de la iniciativa Ciudades Resilientes del CGIAR durante el 2023.En el Perú, se han venido desarrollando los procesos del SGP en varias regiones (Lima, Huánuco, Apurímac, Ayacucho, entre otros), para ello, se fomentaron diversas iniciativas de reconocimiento del SGP tanto a nivel regional como provincial y distrital, a pesar de los esfuerzos del gobierno central para generar una base legal que reconozca al SGP en el Perú, en ese sentido, se presenta la base legal que el Perú ha venido desarrollando para el SGP Y la producción orgánica.En el Perú se tiene dos grandes normas que rigen la producción orgánica o ecológica.-La Ley N° 29196, también conocida como la Ley para la Promoción de la Producción -LEY N° 30983, Ley que modifica la Ley 29196, Ley de Promoción de la Producción Orgánica o Ecológica, a fin de desarrollar la certificación de productos orgánicos producidos por pequeños productores. En el 2019, se aprobó esta nueva ley que amplía las disposiciones relacionadas con la certificación de productos orgánicos producidos por pequeños productores mediante la implementación de sistemas de garantía participativa -SGP.-Decreto Supremo N°044-2006-AG, Reglamento Técnico para los Productos Orgánicos.-Decreto Supremo N°010-2012-AG, que corresponde al Reglamento de la Ley N°29196, conocida como la Ley de Promoción de la Producción Orgánica o Ecológica, regula las disposiciones de esta ley. Entre las regulaciones se destaca la creación del Comité Nacional y Regional de Productos Orgánicos, a los cuales se les asignan funciones específicas relacionadas con la promoción y el fomento de la producción orgánica.-Decreto Supremo N°002-2020-MINAGRI, modifica el Reglamento de la Ley 29196, Ley de Promoción de la Producción Orgánica o Ecológica, aprobado por Decreto Supremo N°010-Orgánica.-El Decreto Supremo N° 003-2023-MIDAGRI introduce modificaciones importantes relacionadas con el Sistema de Garantía Participativo (SGP) en la producción orgánica. Estas modificaciones incluyen la definición de un Consejo Regional del SGP, compuesto por entidades públicas y privadas orientadas a la producción orgánica y reconocidas por el gobierno regional en su jurisdicción. Además, se incorporan los principios del SGP, que incluyen la participación, la naturaleza social y solidaria, la transparencia, la confianza, la horizontalidad, el aprendizaje y la mejora continua.En el Perú, se ha implementado el SGP en más de 14 regiones (Huánuco, Junín, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Lima, Cusco, Puno, Ucayali, Ancash, Pasco, Cajamarca), involucrando a más de 4,000 productores. Se ha logrado implementarla con el apoyo de proyectos de cooperación internacional, organizaciones de productores, ONG´s, universidades e instituciones públicas. En varias regiones en los últimos años la participación de las DRA (Dirección Regional Agraria), Estaciones del INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria), gobiernos locales y regionales se ha incrementado. Asimismo, el proceso del SGP cuenta con un Manual de Procedimientos, Guías, módulos de capacitaciones, algunas sistematizaciones que han documentado el proceso y una estructura organizativa nacional, regional y local.-Ordenanza Regional N° 082-2010-CR-GRH, El Gobierno Regional de Huánuco, reconocen al \"Sistema de Garantía Participativo\" como alternativa viable y económica para garantizar la producción ecológica de pequeños productores en el ámbito de la Región Huánuco, 26 de enero del 2010.-Ordenanza Regional N° 337-2016-GOB.REG-HVCA/CR, El Gobierno Regional de Huancavelica, reconoce y legalizar al Sistema de Garantía Participativa como alternativa viable técnica, económica, social y ambiental para garantizar la producción ecológica de los pequeños productores de la Región Huancavelica, 07 de abril de 2016 -Ordenanza Regional N° 007-2017-GRU-CR, El Gobierno Regional de Ucayali, reconoce y legalizar al Sistema de Garantía Participativa como alternativa viable técnica, económica, social y ambiental para garantizar la producción ecológica de los pequeños productores de la Región Pucallpa, 12 de junio de 2017 -Ordenanza Regional N° 337-GRJ/CR El Gobierno Regional de Junín, reconoce al Sistema de Garantía Participativo SGP, como alternativa de desarrollo sostenible y competitivo para promover la producción orgánica en la Región Junín, diciembre de 2020.-Ordenanza Municipal N°640-2023-Municipalidad Provincial de Oxapampa, reconoce y legaliza al Sistema de Garantía Participativo SGP, como alternativa viable y económica para garantizar la producción ecológica u orgánica de pequeños productores y para promover ecoferias y la comercialización sostenible en el ámbito de la Provincia de Oxapampa, 21 de marzo 2023.El proceso de validación de la normativa corresponde a una secuencia de acciones desarrolladas de manera conjunta con las instituciones que vienen formando parte del Consejo Regional del SGP de Lima.Así mismo, los miembros del consejo regional, buscan su reconocimiento y autorización para su funcionamiento, sin embargo este proceso debe ser conducido de manera organizada y participativa, con la finalidad de fortalecer la organización, así como de desarrollar un modelo sostenible para la organización.Para ello, se describen las principales acciones realizadas:A partir del 2020, el consejo regional del SGP, tuvo dificultades para desarrollar los procesos de certificación que durante 15 años había desarrollado, principalmente por la publicación del DS 002-2020-MINAGRI, el cual formalizó al SGP como entidades de certificación, sin embargo, los consejos regionales en el Perú están conformadas por organizaciones públicas y privadas, por lo que su formalización ante el marco legal, es prácticamente imposible, debilitando la estructura organizacional del SGP, impidiendo que se continúe con los procesos de certificación para pequeños agricultores, ante esta dificultad y gestionando ante la autoridad competente (SENASA), se planteó modificar el marco legal, surgiendo el DS 003-2023-MIDAGRI, en donde menciona, que los consejos regionales del SGP, también pueden ser constituidos como entidades de certificación, mediante un reconocimiento de la autoridad regional.Ante este nuevo contexto legal, el Consejo Regional del SGP de Lima, reactivó sus actividades, planteando una ruta para lograr dicho reconocimiento ante el gobierno regional y consecuentemente gestionar la autorización ante el SENASA.Para ello, se han venido desarrollando las siguientes acciones:  Realizar el proceso de elecciones de directiva del CR SGP -Lima. Informar de los avances del proceso de reconocimiento del CR, ante el Gobierno Regional Metropolitano de Lima. Informar del proceso de autorización del CR, ante la autoridad competente (SENASA Lima). Otros: participación en el encuentro nacional del Ancash 21 personas (10h/11m) Como parte de las acciones realizadas, se planteó la ruta de la gestión, donde se indicó que la autoridad regional, debe emitir un acto resolutivo para el reconocimiento del consejo regional del SGP, para ello, el proceso viene siendo avanzando de la siguiente manera:Hasta la fecha, ya se ha presentado el informe técnico a sub región agraria del Gobierno Regional Metropolitano de Lima (SRA GRML), el cual viene siendo revisado y se espera la respuesta mediante un Acto Resolutivo.Para elaborar el informe técnico, se tomó como referencias los marcos normativos para la producción orgánica, así como las ventajas y necesidades para las organizaciones de productores de continuar con los procesos de certificación orgánica mediante el SGP, con la finalidad de sustentar la importancia del reconocimiento del CR SGP Lima.Para ello, el informe consta de la siguiente estructura:• Esquema de la organización:Así mismo, el SGP en el Perú es un sistema desarrollado desde el 2005, para lo cual, durante los últimos años generó una estructura organizacional y un modelo de procedimientos, sin embargo, esta estructura organizacional, no es considerada en el marco legal actual.Cuadro 1: comparativo de los modelos de estructura organizacional del SGP.Como producto de las reuniones generadas por el consejo regional, se ha planteado realizar un proceso de elecciones de la nueva directiva. Sin embargo, según el manual de organización, es necesario cumplir con un paso previo a las elecciones y es la acreditación de los miembros del CR SGP, en el cual las instituciones que forman parte BIBLIOGRAFÍA: del consejo regional deben emitir una carta indicando el nombre de sus representantes (titular y alterno) ante el consejo regional.Para ello, por acuerdo del consejo regional, se planteó ampliar el proceso de elecciones hasta el 19 de diciembre, con la finalidad que todas las instituciones emitan sus cartas de acreditación. Hasta la fecha se tiene 09 instituciones que han emitido sus respectivas cartas. En esta misma línea, se ha acordado incorporar nuevos miembros al consejo regional, así como sacar a aquellos miembros que ya no participan o que no logran acreditarse con sus respectivas cartas.• Se cuenta con un informe técnico presentado ante el gobierno metropolitano de Lima, pendiente de aprobarse para emitir reconocimiento del CR SGP Lima.• Hasta la fecha se han emitido 9 cartas de acreditación, donde participan instituciones públicas como privadas, por lo que el CR SGP Lima, está cumpliendo uno de los requisitos para ser reconocido por el gobierno regional.• Se cuenta con un consejo regional fortalecido, ya que uno de sus logros es haber solicitado la sede del próximo encuentro nacional del SGP 2024.• Se cuenta con los manuales de organización y procedimientos en calidad de borrador, a la espera de ser validado y aprobado por el consejo regional del SGP Lima, con lo cual se cumpliría con el siguiente requisito para solicitar la autorización ante el SENASA.o Las cartas de acreditación son de importancia para darle mayor fortalecimiento a la estructura de la organización del SGP, ya que de esta manera se está poniendo en práctica el manual de organización.o El reconocimiento del CR del SGP Lima, permitirá acceder a la solicitud de autorización ante el SENASA, para poder certificar a las organizaciones de productores ecológicos, un proceso donde Lima podría ser la primera región en lograr esta certificación de productores bajo el marco legal.o Seguir fortaleciendo al consejo regional, ya que el 2024 tendrá la responsabilidad de desarrollar el encuentro nacional, así como de continuar su proceso de autorización como entidad de certificación ante el SENASA.","tokenCount":"1835"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9947274793.json b/data/part_1/9947274793.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c8de5c14f39315a686bea6c263fd85b4d6c7987a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9947274793.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e88f516429647154f26fb39c76b79976","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/50c80a8b-195c-4216-9354-a442ec6287db/content","id":"-909292600"},"keywords":["Triticum aestivum L.","fusarium head blight resistance","Fusarium verticillioides","QTL mapping","genomic prediction"],"sieverID":"36fcd66c-cee1-48cf-8ebb-ebb47d0d9df4","pagecount":"16","content":"Fusarium head blight (FHB), is one of the destructive fugue diseases of wheat worldwide caused by the Fusarium verticillioides (F.v). In this study, a population consisting of 262 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from Zhongmai 578 and Jimai 22 was used to map Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) for FHB resistance, with the genotype data using the wheat 50 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. The percentage of symptomatic spikelet (PSS) and the weighted average of PSS (PSSW) were collected for each RIL to represent their resistance to wheat head blight caused by F.v. In total, 22 QTL associated with FHB resistance were identified on chromosomes 1D, 2B, 3B, 4A, 5D, 7A, 7B, and 7D, respectively, from which 10 and 12 QTL were detected from PSS and PSSW respectively, explaining 3.82%-10.57% of the phenotypic variances using the inclusive composite interval mapping method. One novel QTL, Qfhb. haust-4A.1, was identified, explaining 10.56% of the phenotypic variation. One stable QTL, Qfhb. haust-1D.1 was detected on chromosome 1D across multiple environments explaining 4.39%-5.70% of the phenotypic variation. Fortyseven candidate genes related to disease resistance were found in the interval of Qfhb. haust-1D.1 and Qfhb. haust-4A.1. Genomic prediction accuracies were estimated from the five-fold cross-validation scheme ranging from 0.34 to 0.40 for PSS, and from 0.34 to 0.39 for PSSW in invivo inoculation treatment. This study provided new insight into the genetic analysis of resistance to wheat head blight caused by F.v, and genomic selection (GS) as a potential approach for improving the resistance of wheat head blight.Wheat head blight, a disastrous disease found in temperate and subtropical areas around the world, results in severe yield losses, grain quality reduction, and even food safety crises (Buerstmayr et al., 2020). Its outbreaks have become more serious and more frequent in recent decades all over the world, especially in China, which has expanded greatly from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the entire Yellow and Huai River Valleys region (Chen et al., 2017;Zhu et al., 2021). Fusarium graminearum Schwabe (F.g) and Fusarium verticillioides (F.v) are the two major fungal species, which can cause wheat head blight (Bai and Shaner, 1994;McMullen et al., 1997;O'Donnell et al., 1998). Extensive genetic research has been carried out on the resistance of wheat head blight caused by F.g. However, few research have been done on F.v-induced wheat head bligh. With the rapid extension of the special maize-wheat rotation and straw-returning farming method in the Yellow and Huai River Valleys region, the total amount of F.v in this area shows a dramatically increasing trend in recent years (Liu et al., 2019). Hence, further research on F.v is needed to obtain a better understanding and solution (Sun et al., 2015).The complex resistance mechanisms have been divided into five types (Mesterházy et al., 1999) including evaluating the resistance to the initial infection (type 1), spread rate along the rachilla (type 2), mycotoxins accumulation (type 3), kernel damage rate (type 4), and host tolerance to the disease (type 5), respectively (Schroeder and Christensen, 1963;Miller et al., 1989;Mesterházy, 1995). The resistance of type 2 was usually inoculated and assessed on the live plant in the field by the single-floret inoculation (Mengist, 2013) and evaluated by the percentage of symptomatic spikelet (PSS) (Bai and Shang, 2004). However, all aforementioned studies were for F.g-induced FHB, therefore, more inoculation and assessment methods should be used to make the research on F.v more precise.Currently, the main method of control for FHB is still chemical pesticides, which not only cause environmental pollution but also increase production costs. Therefore, it is very important to improve the effective resistance of wheat varieties to FHB (Ma et al., 2020). To date, seven resistance genes to FHB have been studied, including Fhb1, Fhb2, Fhb3, Fhb4, Fhb5, Fhb6, and Fhb7 (Bai et al., 1999;Cuthbert et al., 2007;Qi et al., 2008;Xue et al., 2010Xue et al., , 2011;;Cainong et al., 2015;Guo et al., 2015). Besides Fhb1, a new FHB resistance gene Fhb7 was cloned recently from Thinopyrum elongatum, a distant wild relative of wheat (Wang et al., 2020). Using genetic mapping populations and association mapping, so far more than 500 FHB resistance-related QTL have been reported, distributed across all 21 chromosomes of wheat (Handa et al., 2008;Buerstmayr et al., 2009;Liu et al., 2009;Löffler et al., 2009;Steiner et al., 2017;Jia et al., 2018;Chen et al., 2021), among which most are derived from Asian sources including 'Sumai 3' and 'Wangshuibai', with the contribution from European and South American wheat varieties like Arina, Renan, Fundulea 201R, and Frontana (Gervais et al., 2003;Shen et al., 2003;Steiner et al., 2004;Buerstmayr and Buerstmayr, 2015). Nevertheless, seldom QTL was associated with wheat head blight caused by F.v. Moreover, coming from non-adapted backgrounds, the incorporation of such QTL into breeding programs have often resulted in the simultaneous transfer of other undesirable plant architect characteristics, low yield, and decreased seed quality, particularly in environments where these sources of resistance are not adapted (Buerstmayr et al., 2009;Liu et al., 2013;Prasanna et al., 2021). Therefore, it is highly desirable to identify, characterize and deploy local widely used sources of genetic resistance.As a new technique to Marker Assisted Selection Breeding (MAS), especially for improving complex traits, genomic selection (GS), also known as genomic prediction (GP), offers significant prospects in wheat (Sandhu et al., 2021). GS predicts individuals' genomic-estimated breeding values (GEBVs) by evaluating the effects of genome-wide markers (Xu et al., 2020). Therefore, GS captures a greater proportion of the genetic variation of the target trait than MAS (Cao et al., 2021) and it has been widely used in gain yield (Velazco et al., 2019), gain quality (Sehgal et al., 2020), and their relative traits (Tsai et al., 2020), and disease research in wheat (Herter et al., 2019;Muqaddasi et al., 2019Muqaddasi et al., , 2021)). Medium to high prediction accuracies were reported in these studies, which suggested that GS is a potential genomic tool for improving complex traits.Fusarium head blight caused by the F.v has not been selected as an important breeding trait in traditional wheat breeding programs, however, the research progress has not been reported. Thus, in this study, wheat head blight caused by F.v were conducted in a Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) population crossing by ZM578 and JM22 including 262 lines, genotyped with a wheat 50 k SNP array, and phenotyped in four environments with ex-vivo or in-vivo inoculation treatments. The objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate the effectiveness of ex-vivo and in-vivo inoculation treatments in a RIL population screened for wheat head blight in multiple location trials; 2) detect QTL conferring type 2 FHB resistance caused by F.v, and identify major and stable QTL across inoculation treatments and environments by different evaluation methods; and 3) investigate the effectiveness of GS for improving F.v caused wheat head blight resistance. used varieties with wide adaptability and excellent agronomic traits. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population consisting of 262 lines was derived from the cross between ZM578 and JM22, using the single seed descent (SSD) method. The genotype data of the F 5 generation were used for further QTL mapping and GP analysis.The RILs and their parents were planted in the experimental fields in Luoyang (34 °32′N, 112 °16′E, LY), Xinxiang (34 °53′N, 113 °23′E, XX), and Shangqiu (33 °43′N, 114 °49′E, SQ), Henan province in 2020-2021 cropping season. The meteorology records of that cropping season in each location were shown in Supplementary Table S1. In each location, a randomized block design with three replications was applied, and each plot had one 1 m row spaced by 20 cm between rows. Fifteen seeds were sown evenly per row. The field management followed the local practices.The F. v (Shi et al., 2017) with strong pathogenicity, which was isolated from 123 strains of Henan province where this study was conducted, kindly provided by Prof. Hongxia Yuan from the college of plant protection of Henan Agricultural University, was used for inoculation. Two inoculation treatments were applied, i.e., inoculation on the ex-vivo panicles in the lab and in-vivo panicles in the field at the early flowering stage.Single-floret Inoculation was applied at the early flowering stage as described by Mengist (2013). To generate the inoculum, F. verticillioides were grown in potato dextrose broth, and spore concentrations were adjusted after 7-10 days using a hemocytometer. Details on preparing conidia suspension were previously described (Xia et al., 2022). Conidia suspension (approximately 2×10 6 spores per ml) of F. verticillioides was injected into the far-right floret of the fourth or fifth spikelet from the top of each spike (Duan et al., 2022), with a volume limited to 10 µl.For the ex-vivo inoculation, three spikes of each line in RIL population and their parents were collected from each location in LY and SQ, and inoculation was applied at the laboratory. All inoculated spikes were placed in buckets with water and sealed with a black plastic bag on the top to provide a dark environment and high humid conditions favorable for wheat head blight infection. Wheat head blight severity was assessed 7 days after inoculation.For in-vivo inoculation applied in the field, the infection and expansion conditions for each spike were controlled artificially to avoid the effect of the weather. To see whether other pathogens existed, the glume and grain have been cultured before and after inoculation, and the results demonstrated that there was no F. graminearum or other fungi that can cause ear disease. After which, three spikes of each RIL and their parents at the early following stage were selected and inoculated in the same way as the ex-vivo single-floret inoculation, and the spikes were covered with a plastic bag for moisturizing. The plastic bags were removed 72 h later, water was sprayed on the spikes for moisturizing for 18 days. The inoculated spikes were mistirrigated twice per day, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Wheat head blight severity assessments were evaluated 21 days after inoculation.In the present study, the combination of location (LY, XX, SQ) and inoculation treatment (ex-vivo inoculation and in-vivo inoculation) was treated as one environment. In total, each RIL was evaluated in four environments. Meanwhile, PSS and PSSW were treated as two target traits.Both PSS and PSSW were used to assess wheat head blight severity for both ex-vivo and in-vivo inoculation. The evaluation unit of PSS is the spikelet, whereas, that of PSSW is the kernel. The weighted factor depended on how many kernels were infected in the three kernels of each infected spikelet. The information of the number of the total spikelet (N TS ), the spikelet with three kernels infected (N 3k ), the spikelet with two kernels infected (N 2k ), and the spikelet with only one kernel infected (N 1k ) was collected. The formulas for calculating PSS and PSSW are as follows:Where 1/3 referred one kernel was infected in the three kernels of each infected spikelet, 2/3 referred two kernels were infected in the three kernels of each infected spikelet, and one referred all three kernels were infected in each infected spikelet.Pearson correlation analysis on PSS and PSSW of different environments was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 (IBM, United States).MEATA-R software (Alvarado et al., 2015) was used to analyze the multi-location trials using a mixed linear model to estimate the best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE) and heritability (H 2 ). BLUE value of genotype in and across environments for further analysis. The mixed linear model was applied as follows:where Y ijk is the target trait, µ is the overall mean, G i , E j , and GE ij are the effects of the ith genotype, jth environment, and ith genotype by jth environment interaction, respectively. R k E j is the effect of the kth replication within the jth environment. E ijk is the residual effect of the ith genotype, jth environment, and kth replication. Genotype is considered as a fixed effect, whereas all other terms are declared as random effects.Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) of each environment was calculated usingwhere V G is the genotypic variance, V G×E is the variance component of the genotype-by-environment interaction, V e represents the residual variance, n is the number of environments, and r is the number of replicates in each environment.Genomic DNA for SNP assays was extracted from young leaf tissues by the CTAB method (Clarke, 2009). The 262 RILs and two parents were genotyped using 50 K SNP assay (Sun et al., 2020). Markers with non-polymorphism, missing data greater than 10%, and minor allele frequency less than 0.30 were excluded from the further linkage mapping analysis using TASSEL v5.0 (Bradbury et al., 2017). The \"BIN\" function in QTL IciMapping 4.1 software (Meng et al., 2015) was used to remove the redundant markers. Linkage groups were constructed with the \"MAP\" function in QTL IciMapping 4.1, and the chromosome information of the linkage maps was distinguished by using the physical position of SNPs on the Chinese spring reference genome (IWGSC) RefSeq v1.0. (The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Conosrtium, 2018).QTL mapping was conducted using the \"BIP\" function in QTL IciMapping 4.1 (Meng et al., 2015), and the algorithm of inclusive composite interval mapping was selected. The walking step for QTL detection was set as 0.1 cM, and the LOD score threshold was set as 2.5, which was used to declare the putative QTL. The additive effect (Add) and phenotypic variation explained (PVE) of each QTL were estimated. Each QTL detected from each individual and the combined environment was defined as an individual QTL, whereas the QTLs located in the same physical position was defined as a unique QTL. The QTL with a PVE value greater than 10% was defined as major QTL, and the QTL detected in at least three environments was defined as a stable QTL.The sequence information of the left and right markers of the stable QTL were used to blast to the Chinese spring reference genome on the website EnsemblPlants (http:// plants.ensembl.org/Multi/Tools/Blast) and to identify the physical interval on the reference genome. Within the physical interval of each stable QTL, candidate genes were identified based on the information on the Wheat Gmap website (https://www.wheatgmap.org/tools/ gene/information/), and the functions of the candidate gene involved in disease resistance were annotated as well.In silico expression analysis of candidate genes was to see if there are any reported expression for these genes against fusarium in wheat, which was done on Wheat Expression Browser website (http://www.wheat-expression.com) (Borrill et al., 2016).Genomic prediction analysis was implemented in the rrBLUP package (Endelman, 2011) to estimate the prediction accuracy of PSS and PSSW within each environment and in combinedENV. All the 1,507 SNPs used in the genetic map were applied for genomic prediction analysis (Zhao et al., 2012). Details of the implementation of rrBLUP were described earlier (Endelman, 2011). A five-fold cross-validation scheme with 100 replications was used to generate the training and validation sets, and to assess the prediction accuracy. The average value of the correlations between the phenotype and the genomic estimated breeding values was defined as genomic prediction accuracy (r MG ).The Fv. Inoculated kernels had obvious brown spots (red arrows shown in Figures 1A-C), which was the main symptom of the glume. The infection area spread and expanded around the inoculation site (blue arrows shown in Figures 1B,C), leading to the shrunk grains (yellow arrows shown in Figure 1D). The disease development process in 7 days, 14 days, and 21 day after inoculation was shown in Figures 1A-C. The symptom of the highest resistance (HR) line and highest susceptible (HS) line in this population were shown in Figure 1C. Detailed temperature and rainfall records of each location could be found in Supplementary Table S1, which indicated that minor differences were shown in the temperature conditions, whereas the total quantity of rainfall was more in LY and SQ almost twice that in XX. However, the artificial microenvironment, like covering the plastic bag on each spike to ensure the infection condition and mist-irrigation twice per day to ensure the high moisture for expansion, ensured that  Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org the experiment would not be affected by the external environment.For the ex-vivo single-floret inoculation treatment on the spike at the early flowering stage in the LY location, PSS of JM22 was extremely significantly lower than that of ZM578. In the SQ location, the same trend was observed. In both LY and SQ locations, broad variations were observed in PSS, ranging from 0.00 to 0.98 with an overall mean of 0.63 in the LY location, and from 0.11 to 1.00 with an overall mean of 0.66 in the SQ location (Table 1; Figure 2).The same trend was observed for PSSW as that for PSS. JM22 has lower PSSW than that of ZM578 both in LY and SQ locations, with a highly significant and significant difference, respectively. A wide variation was observed in PSSW, ranging from 0.00 to 0.69 with an overall mean of 0.35 in the LY location, and ranging from 0.04 to 1.00 with an overall mean of 0.58 in the SQ location (Table 1; Figure 2).In the in-vivo single-floret inoculation treatment, PSS values of JM22 were also lower than those of ZM578 in all the locations. The values were 0.56s ± 0.04, 0.38 ± 0.04, 0.43 for ZM578, 0.51 ± 0.05, 0.30 ± 0.06, and 0.39 for JM 22 in LY, XX, and CombinedENV, respectively. The mean PSS values of all the RILs were 0.44.0.34, and 0.34 in LY, XX, and CombinedENV, respectively. The PSS values of all the RILs ranged from 0.10 to 0.84, from 0.00 to 0.82, and from 0.24 to 0.54 in LY, XX, and CombinedENV, respectively. The heritabilities of PSS in-vivo single-floret inoculation treatment were moderate ranging from 0.40 to 0.52 in individual location and CombinedENV.ANOVA indicated that both PSS and PSSW were significantly influenced by genotype and genotype by environment interaction effects, with the genotype by environment interaction contributing the most (Table 1). A similar trend was observed for PSSW (Table 1).The distribution and the results of Pearson correlations between PSS and PSSW, as well as those for the same trait between different environments, were shown in Table 2. In the ex-vivo inoculation experiments at the early flowering stage, very low correlations between locations were observed for both PSS and PSSW, as well as between PSS and PSSW from different locations. Within the same location, correlations between PSS and PSSW were very high and greater than 0.90.In the in-vivo single-floret inoculation experiments, the correlation coefficient for the same trait between locations was 0.347 and 0.3 for PSS and PSSW, respectively. For both PSS and  PSSW, the correlation coefficients between individual location and CombinedENV were relatively high, i.e., greater than 0.73. While the correlation coefficients for the same trait between different locations were not high, which was between 0.35 and 0.30 for PSS and PSSW, respectively. The correlation coefficients between PSS and PSSW in individual location ranged from 0.88 to 0.93. The correlation coefficients between PSS and PSSW ranged from 0.68 to 0.80 between the individual locations and CombinedENV, while the correlation coefficient between PSS and PSSW was 0.913 between two CombinedENV.Linkage map of this population constructed by selected 1,507 markers, all of which were assigned to 39 linkage groups (Table 3). The total length of the genetic map was 2,413.84 cM, with an average distance of 1.60 cM between markers. The distance between the two linked markers ranged from 0.36 to 6.01 cM in the A genome, from 0.26 to 3.18 cM in the B genome, and from 0.41 to 8.91 cM in the D genome. The number of SNP differed greatly among genomes and chromosomes. Compared to A and B genomes, the D genome had fewer SNPs. Genome A, B, and D had 568, 545, and 394 SNPs, respectively. The maximum number of SNP was found on chromosome 7B having 155 SNPs, and the lowest number of SNP was mapped on chromosome 6A having 11 SNPs.In total, twenty-two individual QTLs were detected for wheat head blight resistance to F.v (Supplementary Table S2). In the exvivo inoculation experiments, three individual QTLs were detected (Supplementary Table S2), including one individual QTL for PSS from the LY location, and two individual QTLs for PSSW in both LY and SQ locations. In the in-vivo inoculation environments, 12 individual QTLs were detected including six individual QTLs for PSS in LY and XX locations, and six individual QTLs for PSSW in LY and XX locations. The rest of seven individual QTLs were detected in CombinedENV, in which 3 individual QTLs for PSS and four individual QTLs for PSSW. Finally, 11 unique QTLs have been detected (Supplementary Table S2).The distribution of the detected QTLs on each chromosome was shown in Supplementary Table S2. For PSS, 10 individual QTLs were detected and mapped on chromosomes 1D (4), 4A (2), 3B (1), 7B (1), 5D (1), and 7D (1) (Supplementary Table S2). On chromosome 1D, four individual QTLs were detected in individual locations and combinedENV, which were considered as a stable QTL across environments. Two individual QTLs were detected on chromosome 4A, while only one individual QTL was detected on chromosome 3B, 7B, 5D, and 7D, respectively.For PSSW, 12 individual QTLs were detected and mapped on chromosomes 1D (3), 7A (3), 7D (2), 4A (2), 2B (1), and 5D (1) (Supplementary Table S2). On chromosome1D and 7A, three individual QTLs, one unique QTL was detected in individual locations and combinedENV on each chromosome, which was considered as a stable QTL across environments. Two individual QTLs were detected on chromosomes 7D and 4A respectively, while only one QTL was detected on chromosomes 2B and 5D, respectively.The QTLs have been detected in more than two environments were shown in Table 4 and Figure 3. The environments where the QTLs were detected were distinguished in different colors on the right of the linkage groups in Figure 3. The stable QTL on chromosome 1D was detected across all three individual locations and CombinedENV(Table 4; Figure 3). The LOD values of these seven QTLs ranged from 2.90 to 4.91, and their PVE values ranged from 3.82% to 5.81% (Table 4). However, the genetic and corresponding physical positions of these seven QTLs were different and divided into three genomic regions, namely Qfhb. haust-1D, Qfhb. haust-1D.1, and Qfhb. haust-1D.2. Moreover, Qfhb. haust-1D.1 was also repeatedly detected for both traits of PSS and PSSW.The main QTL on chromosome 4A was detected in one individual location and CombinedENV. The LOD values of these three QTLs ranged from 5.38 to 6.36, and their PVE values ranged from 6.69% to 10.56% (Table 4). However, the genetic and corresponding physical positions of these three QTLs were different and divided into two genomic regions, namely Qfhb. haust-4A and Qfhb. haust-4A.1, respectively. Moreover, Qfhb. haust-4A.1 was the one with the highest PVE among all repeated QTL we detected. Therefore, it could be considered a major QTL. As a result, the consequence gene screening should be done on Qfhb. haust-1D.1 and Qfhb. haust-4A.1.The unique QTL on chromosome 7D was detected in one individual location and CombinedENV. The LOD values of this unique QTL ranged from 3.12 to 3.51, and their PVE values ranged from 3.93% to 5.68% (Table 4). One unique QTL on chromosome 7A was detected in one individual environment and CombinedENV as well. The LOD values of this unique QTL ranged from 2.95 to 5.18, and their PVE values ranged from 4.06% to 6.02% (Table 4). However, the favorable allele of this loci was shown to arise from different parents. The rest six unique QTLs for wheat head blight resistance caused by F.v were detected in less than three environments, explaining 3.82%-6.98% of the phenotypic variance, with the LOD value ranging from 2.66 to 4.80.In silico expression analysis for putative candidate genes associated with wheat head blight resistance Based on the candidate gene analysis, the physical position of Qfhb. haust-1D.1 was mapped on chromosome 1D in the interval of 434.03 Mb-436.14 Mb with a distance of 2.11 Mb (Figure 4A). Qfhb. haust-4A.1 was mapped on chromosome 4A in the interval of 714.855 Mb-717.97 Mb with a distance of 3.12 Mb (Figure 4B). In total, 192 candidate genes existed in these two intervals, and 95 genes were left after removing ones with low confidence (LC). Based on the annotation information of these candidate genes, 47 putative candidate genes were selected with the potential of their functions being involved in response to disease. Among the 47 genes, 22 candidate genes were in the interval of Qfhb. haust-1D.1, and the rest 25 candidate genes were in the interval of Qfhb. haust-4A.1 (Figure 5). Sixteen potential functions were covered (Figure 5), from which NBS-LRR disease resistance protein, Leucine-rich repeat protein kinase family protein, and receptorlike protein kinase were the largest three proportions accounting for 23.4%, 17.0%, and 12.8%, respectively.The 47 candidate genes were used to do the in silico expression analysis. The RNA-seq data of these genes are represented using a heatmap (Figure 6). Based on the in silico analysis of gene expression data and gene annotations, nine candidate genes, including TraesCS1D02G346800, TraesCS1D02G349400, and TraesCS1D02G349900 underlying on Qfhb. haust-1D.1, and TraesCS4A02G448800, TraesCS4A02G448300, TraesCS4A02G448400, TraesCS4A02G448900, TraesCS4A02G452400, and TraesCS4A02G452600 underlying on Qfhb. haust-4A.1, were reported expression against fusarium several hours after inoculation.The prediction accuracies of wheat head blight resistance estimated from the five-fold cross-validation schemes were shown in Figure 7. In the ex-vivo inoculation experiments, the prediction accuracies were close to 0 for both traits in all the environments. In the in-vivo inoculation experiments, the average prediction accuracies ranged from 0.34 to 0.40 for PSS and 0.34 to 0.39 for PSSW. The accuracies estimated from the combinedENV were higher than those estimated from individual environment for both traits, which was consistent with the heritability result.Comparison of the ex-vivo and in-vivo inoculation treatmentsThe quantitative nature of this complex trait brings inherent difficulties in the phenotyping of wheat head blight resistance due   Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org 11 to the confounding effects of the volatile environment and the various genetic background. To achieve more reliable phenotypic data, an artificial inoculation (single-floret inoculation) was used in the present study to keep high humidity during the whole infection period and repeat the experiment in different locations. In addition, in-vivo inoculation in the field and ex-vivo inoculation were also conducted in the laboratory. While the in-vivo inoculation was a classic approach to utilize, the temperature and moisture in the lab for inoculation on exvivo panicles could be easier to control. It could potentially save a lot of labor if it works.It is expected that Ex-vivo inoculation should produce more stable and repeatable results. However, our result suggests it is not the case. The speculative reasons might include: 1) A large number of materials were placed together and covered in the bucket, and as a result, the moisture may be too high and not even; and 2) Mutual infection between adjacent spikelets made the results not reliable enough. The data quality of the ex-vivo inoculation experiment in the present study was not sufficient, and it is unlikely to be a suitable way to assess the severity of wheat head blight caused by F.v.Identifying and verifying available FHB resistance genes of different pathogenic is essential for resistance improvement in wheat breeding (Carpenter et al., 2020). In this study, two QTL were identified associated with wheat head blight caused by F.v, compared with the previously reported QTL associated with F.g-In silico expression analysis for candidate genes. Nine genes were reported expression against fusarium several hours after inoculation. and editing. YP, ZZ, DZ, and LZ participated in field trials, trait evaluation, and software analysis. XZ and YZ provided resources and extensive revision of the manuscript. All authors read the final version of the manuscript and approved its publication.","tokenCount":"4597"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9969665348.json b/data/part_1/9969665348.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e7e009c238482e362c144e55b97edaba4bdab16b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9969665348.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c8e3a1080392353acf3e5056d4b72626","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93d45b96-4fca-4b95-b914-431872270b55/retrieve","id":"-1270973837"},"keywords":["sustainable livestock intensification","enteric methane emissions","livestock feed resources","genetic innovations","management innovations Canavalia brasiliensis","in-vitro fermentation","Leucaena sp.","nutritional quality","Urochloa brizantha cv. Toledo","Urochloa hybrid cv. Cayman agricultural research and development","priority setting","technological change","economic surplus analysis","decision making","funding allocation for research","sustainable intensification (SI)","conservation sustainable intensification","silvo-pastoral systems","cattle","forage legumes","meliponiculture","ecosystem services","pollinators","nature-based solutions climate change","forage legumes","adoption","economic evaluation","risk analysis (RA)","land-use change (LUC) forages","grassland","Guinea grass","livestock","Panicum sustainability","Monte Carlo simulation","silage","oat","dairy system edible insects","food security","sustainable development","business models","entomophagy policies ecological niche modeling","climatic change","pest distribution","future risk","Aeneolamia","Zulia","Prosapia","Brachiaria methane mitigation strategy","methanogenic potential","sward structure","tropical grass","forage nutritive value","grazing management greenhouse gas emissions","gender roles","employment creation","innovation","policy","milk productivity leaf to stem ratio","farmer evaluation","forage quality","dry matter yield","forage grass improved forages","research and development","AIS","technology adoption","sustainable intensification public policies","sustainable intensification","cattle","silvo-pastoral systems","climate change Stylosanthes guianensis (Aubl.) Sw.","salinity tolerance","differentially expressed genes","transporter","hormones"],"sieverID":"9e3a0cc0-e42b-4993-a4a5-f2eb052a7c5a","pagecount":"226","content":"Frontiers is more than just an open-access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to realize our grand goals.Editorial on the Research Topic Realizing livelihood and environmental benefits of forages in tropical crop-tree-livestock systems Ruminant livestock, such as cattle, can convert biomass into high-quality, nutrientdense foods (Broderick, 2018). This ability enables livestock to play a critical role in increasing the productive utilization not only of fertile but also of marginal lands unsuitable for crop production (Wang et al., 2021). In the tropics, the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems plays a critical role in supporting rural livelihoods and meeting food security and environmental goals (Herrero et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2015). Despite its importance, less is known about the productivity and environmental impacts of tropical livestock systems compared to livestock production systems under other climatic regimes (i.e., temperate climate). This knowledge gap limits our ability to inform actions that lead to sustainable intensification in the tropics. However, it is unambiguous that the intensification of livestock systems in the tropics heavily depends on availability and access to quality feed since the limited previous studies have generally reported higher levels of animal production when feed supplements are included in livestock diets. Specifically, feed options such as cultivated forage legumes, crop residues and improved grasslands represent necessary feed resources, which can be accessible to tropical farmers with limited investments and better organization.The papers in this collection, which explored livestock production systems in Latin America, Africa and Asia, all suggest the possibility of increasing livestock productivity by adopting innovative policies, technologies, and management practices. The presented evidence suggests that the inclusion of legumes in grazed pastures has the potential to increase cattle production (Valencia et al.), reduce methane emissions (Quintero-Anzueta et al.) and increase the persistence of forage grasses (Valencia et al.). Including feed supplements such as Altoandina oat silage was reported to be an economically viable option for increasing the productivity of Colombia's High-Altitude Dairy Systems (Enciso, Castillo et al.). Management options that optimize rotational pasture grazing based on simple metrics such as sward height may increase livestock productivity and reduce enteric methane emissions from grazing cattle (Marín et al.).Besides the adoption of better pasture management systems, genetic innovations can be used to overcome challenges such as droughts (Carvajal-Tapia et al.), soil salinity (Liu et al.) and low biomass accumulation (Mwendia et al.).An additional emerging use of tropical forages is their potential as a food source for edible insects (Bawa et al., 2020;Oonincx et al., 2020). Buitrago et al. share their perspectives on this aspect and suggest that integrating tropical foragebased diets in edible insect production systems represents lowcost feed sources for insects and supports transiting to circular economies. On the other hand, as Hernández et al. highlight, tropical forage production systems must be protected from harmful insects such as Spittlebugs. Narjes Sanchez et al. also provide critical insights into the possible role of tropical forage legumes in pollinator conservation efforts, income generation, and closing the forage legume seed bottleneck that still limits further advances in sustainable intensification efforts of the cattle sector as of today.In addition to providing food, the livestock sector can generate ecosystem benefits such as increased on-farm agrobiodiversity, soil restoration, mitigation of GHG emissions and more efficient use of nutrients and water resources. Narjes Sanchez et al. showed that silvopastoral systems have the potential to support the provision of ecosystem services such as pollination. In a separate study, Notenbaert et al. used previous studies to demonstrate the multiple potential benefits of managed livestock production systems. They further demonstrate linkages between managed livestock production systems and agroecology and how the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems can contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology.From this paper collection, it appears there is clarity on what needs to be done to sustainably intensify tropical livestock production systems to meet livelihood, food security and environmental goals. Nevertheless, the slow progress appears disproportionately attributable to non-technical aspects such as a disconnect between institutions and other actors along livestock value chains resulting in insufficient synchrony of efforts to support the adoption of critical innovations (Enciso, Triana et al.). While the need to sustainability intensify livestock production systems at the national and global levels is frequently well articulated, connections between policies and investments and, thus, actions on the ground largely remain weak (Lerma et al.). Chirinda et al. emphasize the need to create inclusive and creatively organized livestock value chains that improve stakeholder linkages, information flows and equity. Cattle and other ruminant livestock are a significant food source for the global human population and are good at converting fibrous species indigestible by humans into highly nutritious food (Wilkinson, 2011). This metabolic conversion is possible due to rumen-dwelling microorganisms that can break down low-quality fibrous plant material, with the formation of gases (methane [CH 4 ] and CO 2 ) that are expelled into the atmosphere, plus energy-rich compounds that are required to perform vital functions for both the population of rumen organisms and the host animal (Hyland et al., 2016;Cammack et al., 2018). However, this symbiosis between microorganisms and ruminants is negatively affected by the consumption of diets that are low in protein and high in insoluble fiber (Figueiras et al., 2010). Therefore, in the search for suitable diets based on tropical forages that simultaneously meet the nutritional needs of livestock and decrease their impact on the environment, mixed production (i.e., agro-pastoral, silvopastoral, and agrosilvopastoral) systems are proposed as a viable option (Arango et al., 2020). In these systems, forage grasses and legumes are combined toward a process of sustainable intensification of livestock production, aiming at not only improving available feed for ruminants but also to restore degraded lands and increase system resilience to more frequent droughts and floods that are associated with climate change (Rao et al., 2015;Ku-Vera et al., 2020a). Furthermore, if properly managed, grass-legume tropical pastures can potentially accumulate large amounts of soil organic carbon; improve chemical, physical, and biological soil health characteristics; fix atmospheric nitrogen; inhibit soil nitrification; improve animal productivity and animal welfare; and reduce CH 4 emissions per unit of livestock product (Peters et al., 2012;Rao et al., 2015;Aynekulu et al., 2020;Ku-Vera et al., 2020a;Vazquez et al., 2020).Despite the multiple benefits of silvopastoral systems (SPS), the use of grass-legume associations is limited in tropical agricultural systems by several factors. These include reduced plant growth associated with interspecies competition and shading, the potentially low palatability of legumes, the reluctance of farmers to adopt new species due to a general lack of awareness of the benefits of these systems, and the limited availability of legume seeds (Karsten and Carlassare, 2002). However, the specific effects of each association depend on the plant species involved.A widely studied species in the tropics is the shrub legume Leucaena sp., which when planted in SPS provides multiple benefits to grazing livestock, including the provision of high quality protein throughout the year without the need for nitrogen inputs from synthetic fertilizers (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Cook et al., 2020), increased forage biomass (Naranjo et al., 2012;Gaviria et al., 2015), improved voluntary forage intake (Cuartas Cardona et al., 2015;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2015), increased animal productivity (Cuartas Cardona et al., 2014), and reduced CH 4 emissions (Molina et al., 2015;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020). Canavalia sp. is a herbaceous legume that can grow in various Latin America locations by direct seeding, alone or in combination with tropical grasses, characterized by high concentrations of protein and high digestibility. However, the relationships between CH 4 emissions (in vitro) and nutritional quality of the legumes Leucaena diversifolia (more information is available on Leucaena leucocephala) and Canavalia brasiliensis have been little studied despite their potentials when associated with tropical grasses such as Urochloa, which is an important forage grass genus that is widely used in Latin America, Australia and parts of Asia (Low, 2011).This work aimed to evaluate the effect of mixing different ratios of relevant tropical grasses (Urochloa sp. cv. Cayman and Toledo) and legumes (Canavalia brasiliensis and Leucaena diversifolia) on diet nutritional quality, rumen degradability, and net in vitro total gas and CH 4 production. In addition, using optimization analysis, we aimed to find out the ideal proportions of grass and legume(s) to not only reduce net gas production (as a possible indicator of CH 4 ) at the rumen level but also to increase crude protein (CP) content in the diet.Forage samples were collected in the rainy season between April and May of 2016 from a silvopastoral experiment established at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia (3 • 30 ′ 17 ′′ N and 76 • 21 ′ 24 ′′ E) at an altitude of 965 meters above sea level. Soils are mollisols, with a pH of 7.2. During sample collection, average temperature was 25.4 • C, average relative humidity was 65%, and total precipitation was 231 mm (5.5 mm day −1 ) and these conditions allowed good regrowth of forage for 56 days.The tropical forage species evaluated were the two grasses Urochloa hybrid (CIAT BR02/1752) cv. Cayman (UHC) and Urochloa brizantha (CIAT 26110) cv. Toledo (UBT), the herbaceous legume Canavalia brasiliensis (CIAT 17009) (CB), and the shrub legume Leucaena diversifolia (ILRI 15551) (LD). Forage materials were planted 2 years before the start of the experiment (2014). The forage crops did not receive any fertilizers, pesticides or irrigation. One kilogram of each of UHC, UBT, and CB were collected at the vegetative stage of development before the beginning of flowering (after 6 weeks of regrowth), by cutting at 10 cm above soil level. Young leaf and stem samples (2:1 ratio) of LD were also manually collected. Two gas production experiments were conducted at two different times: one with UHC, CB, and LD forages, and the other with UBT, CB, and LD. In each experiment the individual forages were evaluated alone (100% UHC or 100% UBT, 100% CB, and 100% LD) and in mixtures with different proportions of DM of grasses and legumes. We used the order (UHC or UBT) -CB -LD, on a DM basis, with the treatment proportions of 0-50-50; 50-50-0 and 50-0-50 which correspond to a mixture in equal proportions (50%) between two species, either a grass with one of the two legumes or with both legumes without UHB or UBT. The treatment denoted 70-30-0 corresponds to the incubated mixture of 70% grass DM plus 30% CB DM, while 70-15-15 refers to the DM proportions 70% UHC or UBT plus 15% CB and 15% LD. Finally,, indicates a mixture in equal DM proportions of 33% of the forages (UHC or UBT): CB: LB. A total of nine different treatments were evaluated in each of the two experiments. The proportions of the forages incubated were determined in order to perform a simplex-centroid mixture design.Samples were evaluated at the Forage Quality and Animal Nutrition Laboratory of CIAT. Samples were dried in a Memmert R UF 750 forced air oven at 60 • C for 72 h and until constant weight was achieved. Samples were ground using a cutting mill (Retsch R SM 100, Haan, Germany) with a 1 mm sieve. The content of acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) was determined using an Ankom 2000 fiber analyzer (Ankom Technology Corp., Macedon, NY, USA) following the method of Van Soest et al. (1991). The ash content was determined using the AOAC method (Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 1990); organic matter (OM) content was calculated as 1,000-ash concentration in g kg −1  DM. Gross energy (GE) density was determined using a Parr 6400 (Parr Instrument Company, Illinois, USA) isoperibol calorimeter in accordance with International Standardization Organization, 1998: ISO 9831:1998 specifications. Acid detergent lignin (ADL) content was determined using the method of ANKOM (2016). Total nitrogen content was determined using an autoanalyzer (Skalar Analytical B.V. Breda, Holland) after digestion with sulfuric acid and selenium (Krom, 1980;Searle, 1984). Crude protein (CP) content was estimated as 6.25 × total nitrogen content. Total phenol and tannin contents were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu's method (Makkar, 2003). The metabolizable energy (ME) was calculated according to Lindgren (1983) from the in vitro digestibility value obtained at 96 h.The methodology of Theodorou et al. (1994) was employed for in vitro gas production. Rumen fluid was drawn and mixed from two rumen-fistulated Brahman steers, grazing on a star grass (Cynodon plectostachyus)-dominated pasture with ad libitum access to mineralized salt. Briefly, ∼1.0 g of dried/ground samples were placed in individual Wheaton bottles and inoculated with a rumen fluid/buffer solution mixture. After inoculation, all bottles were depressurized (at time 0) and placed in a water bath set at 39 • C. Thereafter, pressure and volume measurements were taken at 3,6,9,12,24,36,48,60,72, and 96 h of incubation. After each reading, the bottles were gently shaken and placed back in the water bath. Pressure measurements were taken using an 8,40,065 wide-range pressure gauge (Sper Scientific, Arizona, USA) and a PS100 2-bar pressure transducer (Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co. Ltd., Taipei, Taiwan) connected to a three-way valve. The first output was connected to a 1 ′′ 22 G needle (25 mm × 0.7 mm), the second output to the transducer, the third to a 60 mL syringe, making it possible to record the gas volume removed at each time point required to reduce the bottle internal pressure to atmospheric pressure and to save gas samples for subsequent chromatographic analysis. Upon completion of the test, the contents of the bottles were filtered and dried in a forcedair oven at 105 • C for 24 h to determine DM loss. Dry matter degradability (DMD, g kg −1 ) was calculated for each sample as the change in sample DM weight following incubation, divided by the starting sample DM weight, multiplied by 1,000.Accumulated gas production (AGP) curves were fitted to the Gompertz model, as proposed by Lavrenčič et al. (1997), using the CurveExpert Professional R software, version 2.4.0 (Hyams, 2016). This model was used to evaluate the gas production points using the following equation: AGP(mL g −1 OM) = ae −e b−ct (1) Where a, b, and c are the equation parameters [a, maximum gas production; b, the difference between initial and final gas at time x; c, specific gas accumulation rate; and t, time (hours; h)], the accumulated gas production results were expressed on an organic matter (OM) basis. Other biologically significant values were calculated based on parameters a, b, and c. These included the time at inflection point (TIP, h), gas volume at inflection point (GIP, mL), maximum gas production rate (MGPR, mL h −1 ), and lag phase (LP or microbial settlement, h). These values were estimated using the following formulas:where \"e\" is Euler's number, ca. 2.72.Methane concentration was quantified in all gas samples collected at the Greenhouse Gas Laboratory of CIAT using a gas chromatograph (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a flame ionization detector. A three-meter long HayeSep N column was used and the mobile phase was high purity nitrogen at a flow rate of 35 mL min −1 . The oven, injector, and detector temperatures were 250, 100, and 325 • C, respectively.The nutritional quality, DMD, and CH 4 production data were analyzed using a randomized complete block design, where each treatment had three replicates at each time the readings were taken and three inoculums, the latter being the blocking factor. Mean comparisons were made using Tukey's test when a significant treatment effect (P < 0.05) was identified. To check for the normality of data distribution, the Shapiro-Wilk test was conducted on the original residuals using PROC GLM. To determine the correlations among the above variables, type II linear regressions were carried out using the bisector model linear functional relationship procedure of Genstat 18th Edition (VSN International Ltd., Hemel Hempstead, UK). All analyses were conducted using SAS R 9.4 Software (SAS Institute, 2012). The completely randomized model was:Where: Yij: observation of the j-th repetition of the i-th treatment; µi: mean value of the i-th treatment, eij: experimental error of unit ij The linear regression model employed was:Where: Yi: observation of the i-th variable response, corresponding with the i-th value xi of the x predictive variable (dependent variable); β 0 and β 1 are the regression parameters; xi is the independent variable; and e: experimental error of unit i.Regression analysis of nutritional quality data (NDF, CP, ADL, GE, and ME) against AGP and DMD parameters was carried out to identify an optimal mixed-diet in which the nutritional quality could be improved (specifically CP) while at the same time reducing gas production. A simplex-centroid mix design was run, using the special cubic model as a response adjustment model using the StatPoint Technologies Inc., 2010: Statgraphics R software (Centurion XVI,version 16.1.18).The complete simplified special cubic model was:Where (y) is the crude protein (CP g kg −1 ) response variable or accumulated gas production (mL g −1 OM), x 1 , x 1,2 , x 1,2,3 are the regression coefficients for individual ingredients and mix interactions; G, C, and L are the relative ratios of forage components (grass, CB, and LD).The CP content of LD was 3.5 times greater than that of both grasses (Tables 1, 2 for UHC and UBT, respectively) and it was also greater than that of CB (P ≤ 0.05). The NDF contents ranged from 492 (CB) to 700 g kg −1 DM (100% UBT) (P < 0.0001) while the concentrations of ADF were less variable, ranging between 344 and 399 g kg −1 DM. For the treatments where different proportions of legumes and grasses were mixed, in both experiments it was observed that the CP content decreased as the proportion of grasses increased, however, the opposite occurred with the NDF content. The lignin content of CB was similar to that of UBT, whereas the lignin content of LD was similar to that of UHC. Legumes, especially LD, have higher GE contents than that reported for 100% grasses treatments or when grasses are replaced up to 30% by legumes (P = 0.001), however, this trend is reversed when ME is calculated, since LD treatments or the combination of legumes in equal proportions (50% LD + 50% CB) obtain the lowest values of ME. Much higher concentrations of phenols and tannins were measured in LD compared to both grasses and CB, and the concentrations of both of secondary metabolites were also higher in CB than in both grasses.The total volume of gas produced during the fermentation process ranged from 150 to 255 mL g −1 OM (Tables 3, 4 for UHC and UBT, respectively). The diet combinations from both systems had a very fast fermentation rate, as evidenced by the low TIP and LP values. The lowest total accumulated gas production values at 96 h occurred with the LD-only treatment in both systems, a value that was almost 0.6 of that from the diet comprising UHC, LD, and CB in a ratio of 70:15:15 and UBT-only diet, respectively (Figures 1, 2).The highest (inverse) correlation was observed between the content of CP and the AGP values (R 2 = 0.919; Table 5). In contrast, ME content and gas production were positively related, i.e., the higher the ME content, the higher the gas production (R 2 = 0.907). Other strong inverse relationships were observed between the concentration of ADL and DMD g kg −1 , GE density and DMD g kg −1 , and between T and AGP, and T and DMD.The correlation analysis results provided the basis for carrying out the optimization objective of selecting the best forage combination for increasing the CP concentration of a dietary mix while decreasing AGP. In the case of the UHC-based treatments, the percentage variance accounted for by these two parameters was 87.9% for CP and 84.3% for AGP. In the UBT-based treatments, the percentage variance accounted for CP and AGP was 87.8 and 87.9%, respectively. Table 6 shows the restrictions used for obtaining a suitable inclusion of grasses and legumes, as well as the ratio of the best mix found (optimized) and the CP and AGP obtained with the specific mix.When incubated alone, CH 4 production from CB started declining rapidly after 60 h in measurements of both grasses (Tables 7, 8 for UHC and UBT, respectively). The same CH 4 accumulation trend was observed with the other diets for 96 h. It is worth noting that the largest production of CH 4 in the UHC diets came from the 70% UHC: 15% CB: 15% LD diet. The incorporation of legumes into the UBT system contributed to decreased CH 4 production compared to the 100% of UBT diet.Feeds intended for livestock are typically evaluated individually to determine their nutritional values and not integrated with a diet (Tang et al., 2008). Evaluations of individual forages does not allow us to determine interactions with other dietary components in the digestion process (Moss et al., 1992). Although the values of some nutritional parameters of diet components are additive (e.g., CP concentrations), there are possible interactions and synergies between different feeds in a diet and their nutritional values (e.g., energy yield and CP concentrations) that could not be evaluated independently (Tang et al., 2008). This situation can be explained at the rumen level, because depending on the type of diet, some synergy or antagonism may develop due to co-existence of nutrients and their interactions with different microorganisms (i.e., bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and methanogenic archaea) in the rumen (Cammack et al., 2018).In this investigation, great variability in nutritional composition was found among the different forage diets. For example, the legumes contained twice as much CP as the two grasses evaluated, and the grasses had higher concentrations  a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i Mean values in a column with a different letter are statistically different (P < 0.05).UHC, Cayman grass; CB, Canavalia brasiliensis; LD, Leucaena diversifolia; DM, dry matter; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; ADF, acid detergent fiber; ADL, acid detergent lignin; CP, crude protein; GE, gross energy; ME, metabolizable energy; TP, total phenols; T, tannins; EMS, error mean square.  a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i Mean values in a column with a different letter are statistically different (P < 0.05).UBT, Toledo grass; CB, Canavalia brasiliensis; LD, Leucaena diversifolia; DM, dry matter; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; ADF, acid detergent fiber; ADL, acid detergent lignin; CP, crude protein; GE, gross energy; ME, metabolizable energy; TP, total phenols; T, tannins; EMS, error mean square.of NDF than the legumes. Similarly, concentrations of phenolic compounds were lower in the grasses than the legumes. These findings concur with data reported in the literature for these tropical species (Lee, 2018;Cook et al., 2020;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020), where CP values for grasses can range between 40 and 140 g kg −1 DM, and for both legumes studied here, shrub and herbaceous, ranged between 190 and 250 g CP kg −1 DM. However, the CP content obtained in the present study was slightly lower than that reported by Peters et al. (2002) for U. brizantha cv. Toledo who stated that under optimal conditions CP content ranges between 90 and 120 g kg −1 DM. Likewise, the NDF content was within the range of 600 and 800 g kg −1 DM reported for U. brizantha sp. (Cook et al., 2020;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020). However, forage quality has been shown to be closely related to pasture age (Vendramini et al., 2014;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020) and the time of the year (Demarchi et al., 2016;Abdalla et al., 2019). The ADL content of Urochloa grasses was 86 and 157 g/kg DM, both values were between the ranges reported by Wassie et al. (2018), according to these authors ADL content can vary between 91.2 and 186.9 g/kg depending on ecotype, regrowth age (60, 90 and 120 d) and altitude of the sowing site (1,230, 1,774, and 2,650 masl). It is noteworthy that little information is available on the ADL content of Urochloa hybrid cv. Cayman. The ME values found for the legume L. diversifolia are slightly lower (8.6 MJ ME kg −1 DM) than the results reported by Geleti et al. (2013), while the ME for grasses are above those obtained by Nguku (2015) for 9 grasses of the genus Urochloa, whose values ranged between 6.6 and 5.9 MJ ME kg −1 DM. However, this variable, as well as the rest of the nutritional components of the diet, can vary according to the TABLE 3 | Accumulated gas production (AGP; mL g −1 OM), dry matter degradability (DMD), and profiles of the adjustment made using the Gompertz model for UHC, CB, LD, and their mixes.Mix UHC-CB-LD AGP (mL g -1 OM) DMD (g kg -1 ) Gompertz model a b c TIP (h) GIP (mL) MGPR (mL h -1 ) LP (h) 100-0-0 231.5 a 712 a 215.05 a 1.11 a 0.06 c 17.09 a 79.09 a 5.12 cd 1.63 a 0.600 ,b,c,d,e,f,g Mean values in a column with a different letter are statistically different (P < 0.05).UHC, Cayman grass; CB, Canavalia brasiliensis; LD, Leucaena diversifolia; AGP, accumulated gas production; OM, organic matter; DMD, dry matter degradability; a, maximum gas production (mL); b, difference between initial gas and final gas at an × time; c, specific gas accumulation rate; TIP, time to the inflection point, h; GIP, gas at the inflection point, mL; MRGP, maximum rate of gas production, mL/h; LP, lag phase, h; EMS, error mean square.TABLE 4 | Accumulated gas production (AGP; mL g −1 OM), dry matter degradability (DMD), and profiles of the adjustment made using the Gompertz model for UBT, CB, LD, and their mixes.Mix UBT-CB-LD AGP (mL g -1 OM) DMD (g Kg  ,b,c,d,e,f,g Mean values in a column with a different letter are statistically different (P < 0.05).UBT, Toledo grass; CB, Canavalia brasiliensis; LD, Leucaena diversifolia; AGP, accumulated gas production; OM, organic matter; DMD, dry matter degradability; a, maximum gas production (mL); b, difference between initial gas and final gas at an × time; c, specific gas accumulation rate; TIP, time to the inflection point, h; GIP, gas at the inflection point, mL; MRGP, maximum rate of gas production, mL/h; LP, lag phase, h; EMS, error mean square.age of the species and time of year (Givens et al., 1993, Nguku, 2015). In the present investigation, there were differences in ME content between legumes and grasses, contrary to what was reported by Evitayani et al. (2004), who found average values of 7.6 ± 0.14 and 7.3 ± 0.12 MJ ME kg −1 DM for grasses and legumes, respectively. Likewise, the highest ME concentrations were for the treatments: 100-0-0, 70-30-0 or 70-15-15, this may favor the synthesis of microbial proteins at the rumen level (Krizsan et al., 2020).For the in vitro analysis, the highest gas production and degradability rates were obtained for samples of both grasses that were individually incubated and when 30% legumes were added to these grasses. Despite this, there was a clear pattern and as the level of inclusion of legumes increased, gas production and degradability decreased. Blümmel et al. (1997) suggested that a feed consisting of a mix of different kinds of ingredients can result in asynchrony in releasing nutrients, thus changing both the biomass of microorganisms produced and gas produced by them. In addition, one factor that can affect the fermentation and gas production of feeds is the configuration of their cell wall polysaccharides (Molina-Botero et al., 2020, Valencia-Salazar et al., 2021). Therefore, the digestibility values depend upon their composition of structural carbohydrates, including the concentration of lignin (Barahona and Sánchez, 2005) and FIGURE 1 | Modeled mean accumulated gas production (mL g −1 OM) for UHC, CB, LD, and 6 dietary mixtures. UHC, Cayman 100%; CB, Canavalia 100%; LD, Leucaena 100%; CB50LD50, Canavalia 50% + Leucaena 50%; UHC50CB50, Cayman 50% + Canavalia 50%; UHC50LD50, Cayman 50% + Leucaena 50%; UHC33.3CB33.3LD33.3, Cayman 33.3% + Canavalia 33.3% + Leucaena 33.3%; UHC70CB30, Cayman 70% + Canavalia 30%; UHC70CB15LD15, Cayman 70% + Canavalia 15% + Leucaena 15%.the protein included in the diet or treatment evaluated. This postulate agrees with the high correlation values obtained in this study between nutritional compounds such as CP or ADL and variables such as DMD or AGP. Similar results were reported by Lee (2018) where 136 forage plant species or hybrid cultivars grown in 30 countries were evaluated, finding that parameters such as ADF, NDF, ADL content had a correlation >0.7 with DMD or OMD. Although Lee (2018) affirmed that there is a positive correlation (0.62, respectively) between CP and DMD, in the current study there was an inverse correlation between both parameters, perhaps due to the concomitant increase of the content of anti-nutritional compounds associated with the inclusion of CB and/or LD, which could potentially mask the full expression of a diet rich in CP and GE, as was also reported by Jayanegara et al. (2011).It is clear that to increase our understanding of the nutritive value of forage mixtures composed of tropical forages, the action of the various secondary metabolites (i.e., tannins, saponins) that are present in some legumes must be taken into consideration (Tiemann et al., 2008a,b;Lascano and Cárdenas, 2010). The effect of secondary metabolites depends on their concentration or proportion to the substrate with which they interact. For example, tannins can be found both in the cell wall and inside the cytoplasmic vacuoles of some legumes, primarily in the form of condensed tannins (McAllister et al., 1994;Patra et al., 2017) and their effect depends on their concentration or ratio with the substrate with which they interact. High concentrations of tannins, such as the ones found in diets containing legumes (CB and LD) can delay the digestion of forages by reducing the activity of fibrolytic enzymes (Archimède et al., 2016;Henke et al., 2017;Ku-Vera et al., 2020b). This phenomenon is related to the microbial degradation of structural polysaccharides, and the rate and extent of forage degradation (Archimède et al., 2016;Henke et al., 2017). Likewise, a negative effect has been shown on protein degradation when tannins encapsulate it at low rumen pH (Hess et al., 2003;Archimède et al., 2016). The described tannin effect could explain our results obtained in this study, as in the treatments with an inclusion between 50 and/or 100% of some of these two containing-tannin-legumes (15.2 and 47.5 g kg −1 DM for Canavalia and Leucaena, respectively) and total phenols (46.2 and 101.1 g kg −1 DM) a reduction in digestibility variables and therefore in gas production was observed. These results are in contrast to the 100% grass treatments where the values of tannins and total phenols did not exceed 1.07 g T kg −1 DM and 24.2 g TP kg −1 DM. This observation is consistent with the study of Seresinhe et al. (2012), where a strong inverse relationship was found between tannin concentration and gas production. Tolera et al. (1998) reported condensed tannins content ranging from 7.1 to 13.5% in LD. This concentration of tannins could have bacteriostatic effects on some populations, FIGURE 2 | Accumulated gas production (AGP; mL g −1 OM) for UBT, CB, LD, mixed diets. UBT, Toledo 100%; CB, Canavalia 100%; LD, Leucaena 100%; CB50LD50, Canavalia 50% + Leucaena 50%; UBT50CB50, Toledo 50% + Canavalia 50%; UBT50LD50, Toledo 50% + Leucaena 50%; UBT33.3CB33.3LD33.3, Toledo 33.3% + Canavalia 33.3% + Leucaena 33.3%; UBT70CB30, Toledo 70% + Canavalia 30%; UBT70CB15LD15, Toledo 70% + Canavalia 15% + Leucaena 15%. leading to lower digestibility of the fermented material (Tavendale et al., 2005). Evaluation of the AGP and CP content in a mix of the three dietary components (grass, CB, and LD) yielded an optimal diet ratio of 60% grass (UHC or UBT), 30% CB, and 10% LD. It should be clarified that although a reduction in gas production was pursued as a measure to reduce CH 4 production and emission, it was never intended to be zero. This expectation is because gas production is of great importance to maintain ideal conditions inside the rumen. For example, in the case of cattle it is important that the formation and utilization of metabolic hydrogen is synchronized (Calsamiglia et al., 2005) in the metabolic pathway that is responsible for glucose oxidation (glycolysis). This is required to regenerate the reducing power   of cofactors such as NAD+ and FAD+, while increasing the synthesis the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate, promoting the growth of other microbial species (e.g., fibrolytic) and helps to regulate the osmotic pressure inside the rumen (Yokoyama and Johnson, 1993;Calsamiglia et al., 2005). Regarding the proportions established in the evaluated diets, this is consistent with the observations of Rojas et al. (2005), who suggested that the percentage of legumes should range from 30 to 40% in mixtures of grasses and legumes to improve the quality of the diet and have an optimal protein:energy balance at the rumen level. Moreover, these proportions coincide with those found in experiments with ruminants fed with tropical legumes that are rich in tannins and whose results affirm that DM intake was reduced when the amount of CT exceeds 50 g kg −1 DM (Patra and Saxena, 2011). Likewise, cattle systems where the diet is composed of 100% low quality grasses, have low productive indexes due to the low CP concentration, required by ruminal microorganisms for the breakdown of carbohydrates, in addition to a reduction in DM intake due to the high content of structural carbohydrates (Krizsan et al., 2010).Enteric CH 4 emission rates are associated with the physicochemical characteristics of the diet (e.g., CP and NDF contents), which have a direct impact on diet intake (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020) and eating frequency (Grant et al., 2015). Several studies have evaluated the effect of adding a legume to a grass on CH 4 production both in vitro (Tope et al., 2013;Molina-Botero et al., 2020) and in vivo (Molina-Botero et al., 2019a,b;Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the conclusions drawn from these studies are unclear, as in some cases the addition of a legume increased in vitro CH 4 production (Carulla et al., 2005;Molina-Botero et al., 2020), but in others, it had the opposite effect (Lee et al., 2004). In our case, net CH 4 production per kg of DM did not differ between treatments containing legumes (up to 30% inclusion) and grasses alone, but less gas was produced when 100% legumes were incubated. A similar trend was observed for CH 4 production per unit DMD, being most noticeable for the treatment of 100% CB. When comparing both legumes, we observed that CB was characterized by containing less NDF and ADL than LD, contributing to improved digestibility and therefore higher gas production. This finding coincides with the conclusion reached by Hess et al. (2003), who stated that the difference in in vitro CH 4 production among various kinds of forages could be accounted for by the differences between the ratios of digestible carbohydrates and cellulose. Likewise, Patra and Saxena (2010) proposed that the presence of secondary metabolites can affect methanogenesis. However, this was not observed in the present study, because the inclusion of up to 30% of legumes did not reduce in vitro CH 4 production. In addition, a greater reduction would be expected with the LD treatment alone, since it contained a greater amount of total phenols and tannins compared to CB alone. These results can be explained by indirect effects of other secondary compounds present in these species, such as mimosine, alkaloids, saponins, steroids, among others that were not evaluated (Hu et al., 2005;Oseni et al., 2011). With our results, it should not be ignored that the in vitro technique, despite being an artificial system, is a viable option to initially simulate possible dietary combinations of forages (Danielsson et al., 2017) that can then be validated using ruminants. This is why we highlight the importance of including legumes in cattle diets as a strategy to reduce CH 4 emissions.Although it was not the primary aim of this study, the use of herbaceous and shrub legumes was shown to have potential positive environmental benefits besides improving nutritive values of diets for ruminants. Vazquez et al. (2020) showed how combining the three types of forages tested here clearly improved chemical, physical and biological soil health characteristics. In addition, the use of shrubs and trees in silvopastoral systems have shown the capacity to sequester greater amounts of carbon at a system level (Aynekulu et al., 2020).Diets that combined legumes (CB or LC) with grass (UHC or UBT) had higher protein contents and gross and metabolizable energy densities, as well as decreased concentrations of NDF and lignin. Metabolizable energy and nutritional compounds such as NDF, T, and CP had a high correlation with net gas production, while ruminal digestibility was affected by CP, ADL, GE, T, and other unidentified compounds provided by CB and/or LD.Optimal ratios of dietary components in both systems were found with mixtures consisting of 60% grass (either UHC or UBT), 30% CB, and 10% LD. The system containing UHC yielded the best combination in terms of an increase in CP and a decrease in AGP. However, this ratio did not result in a decrease in methane production. Therefore, further characterization of the content and activity of other secondary metabolites, perhaps present in both legumes, is required to better explain the behaviorThe Cattle Sector in the Colombian Orinoquía Cattle production is one of the main agricultural activity in Colombia and plays a major role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the region, as it holds a large potential for economic, social and environmental improvements. The Colombian cattle sector contributes with 21.8% of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product of the country and generates approximately 6% of the national and 19% of agricultural employment, respectively (FEDEGAN, 2018). Its importance also lies in its impact on a social level. Cattle farming is mainly carried out by small-scale farmers (81% of the cattle farms in Colombia possess less than 50 animals, with an average of 18 animals per farm) (ICA, 2020). Additionally, it is estimated that 44% of the cattle producer households live in conditions of poverty (DANE-CNA, 2014;UPRA, 2019UPRA, , 2020)). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2018), the sector has the potential to contribute to the goals of income and poverty reduction, reducing the environmental footprint, enhancing the provision of ecosystem services and promoting peace and social stability, among others. Over 20% of the total agricultural production from developing countries comes from this sector, and the increasing demand for animal source foods, coupled with changing diets and decreased availability of suitable land, pose major pressures on increasing the efficiency of the sector in ways that are inclusive, environmentally responsible and improve food security. In Colombia, its environmental relevance is primary, as cattle production generates 16% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the Colombian Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector (AFOLU), and is also one of the principal activities associated with deforestation and the expansion of the agricultural Frontier (IDEAM and MADS, 2016).The Orinoquía region is of special importance for the country's cattle sector, as it holds approximately 20% of the total national cattle inventory (ICA, 2020), with nearly 55% of its agricultural land destined to cattle grazing (UPRA, 2015a; UPRA, 2015b; UPRA, 2015c). Although the average farm size in the region is rather large (534 ha), this is biased by a small number of large-scale farmers while the region is dominated by small-scale cattle farms with an inventory of less than 50 animals (ICA, 2020). The sector faces important challenges, as the expansion of cattle production threatens biodiversity and strategic ecosystems in the region, such as natural savannas, gallery forests, foothills or flooded forests. Additionally, forage supply is highly dependent on the marked water seasonality of the region (excessive rainfall and drought), directly affecting cattle production and making the sector more vulnerable to climate change. Investments in more intensive cattle production systems, considering the specific environmental conditions, water dynamics and presence of strategic ecosystems in the region, therefore, have been the main approach for achieving a sustainable development of the regional cattle sector (CIAT and CORMACARENA, 2018).To advance towards sustainable intensification of cattle farming in the Orinoquía, institutions such as the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation (AGROSAVIA, before Corpoica) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have been commissioned to carry out research on new forage materials. Government and research institutions consider the region as strategic for forage research and development (R&D), due to high soil acidity and low fertility -both key for carrying out adaptation and productivity trials with new and promising materials (Peters et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2015). Research has been aimed at identifying new forage materials with better productive characteristics, a greater range of adaptation to extreme conditions and higher resistance to local pests and diseases. Among the released materials, the grasses Brachiaria humidicola CIAT 679 cv. Humidicola, Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26110 cv. Toledo and, more recently, Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26124 cv. Agrosavia Caporal stand out as superior alternatives to the traditional Brachiaria decumbens cultivars mainly used in the Orinoquía (Miles et al., 1996).Processes of identification and release of new forage materials represent the first step towards sustainable intensification (improving efficiency without the need to further expand pasture areas), increasing food security and decreasing environmental trade-offs (including greenhouse gas emission intensities of the cattle sector). Under the right enabling conditions (e.g., subsidized credit, technical assistance, protective tariffs and land tenure security), sustainable intensification can help in achieving the objective of liberating areas with potential for crop cultivation, reforestation, conservation or landscape recovery.Research on new varieties for the agricultural sector is recognized as a powerful instrument to accelerate economic growth and development (The World Bank, 2008;Stads and Beintema, 2009), but this process requires steady financing to maintain and enhance the necessary scientific, technical and technological capacities and infrastructure. In particular, most resources for agricultural research come from public funds, making it of special importance that the technologies derived from R&D processes are profitable and viable. Ex-ante impact evaluations allow estimating the possible benefits of R&D investments, providing information for prioritization and more strategic decision-making (Maredia et al., 2014).Studies on the evaluation of impacts generated by the development of new forage materials in Colombia are scarce and date back to the 1990s and early 2000s. They focus on new Brachiaria hybrids and accessions adapted to different regions of the country (e.g., Vera et al., 1989;Seré et al., 1993;Rivas andHolmann, 2004a, 2004b), providing consistent results on the positive economic impacts derived from the adoption in cattle systems. No recent studies, however, evaluate the potential benefits of new forage materials. New grasses and legumes -including cv. Agrosavia Caporal, the most recent technology to be delivered to Colombia's cattle producers-lack economic evaluation. B. brizantha cv. Agrosavia Caporal will be the third Brachiaria brizantha material released in the country, after the La Libertad (CIAT 26646) and the Toledo varieties released in 1987 and2002, respectively. This material has been evaluated since 1986 and was identified as a promising alternative to improve cattle production in well-drained soils of the Orinoquía. In this sense, the objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of R&D and adoption of the new variety Brachiaria brizantha 26,124 cv. Agrosavia Caporal (Agrosavia Caporal from here on) in the Colombian Orinoquía region, with emphasis on the beef raising and fattening production system. For this purpose, we applied models at two aggregation scalesthe micro and macro level. At the micro or farm level, a costbenefit analysis was performed using a discounted free cash flow model and a Monte Carlo simulation analysis. This model was used to evaluate and analyze potential impacts on the primary producer and to determine if the adoption of the technology is economically feasible. At the macro level or the regional scale, an economic surplus model was used in order to estimate and analyze the potential added benefit for the society and its distribution among two different social groups: producers and consumers. The economic surplus model is the most widely used model for measuring ex-ante impacts of technological innovations, providing a consistent theoretical basis with minimum data requirements. Although there are other more precise models (e.g., the IMPACT model), we aimed at maximizing the precision of our estimates, considering budget limitations, time constraints and access to available data.Agrosavia Caporal has already been developed, but it is not yet available to producers (planned year of release: 2022). One of the aims of this study is, therefore, to not only guide the decisionmaking process of investing in the development of future varieties, but to also provide evidence on the potential benefits of other endeavors with similar contexts. This study also attempts to highlight some of the minimal conditions in terms of adoption levels and expected benefits, necessary to make such investments profitable both at the individual and social levels. The article is structured as follows: First, we present the theoretical framework on adoption processes at the micro and macro level, a literature review on previous studies on the subject and the empirical methodology we applied. In Section Results, we present our results. Section Discussion discusses these results considering previous studies on the subject and on-going adoption processes in the region. The final section presents the conclusions of the article.In the context of adopting improved forages, impact evaluation studies were conducted mainly at the end of last century, and especially regarding Brachiaria hybrids and accessions in different regions of Latin America (e.g., Seré and Estrada, 1982;Rivas and Holmann, 2004a;Rivas and Holmann, 2004b). Seré and Estrada (1982) evaluated the profitability of cattle fattening under different feeding scenarios (with improved forages) in various locations of the Orinoquía, finding Internal Rates of Return (IRR) of between 10.7 and 30.4% (Vera et al., 1989). calculated that the use of Antropogon gayanus (Carimagua I) is 33% more profitable than traditional (naturalized) forages in the Orinoquía region and 78% the northern Caribbean of Colombia, respectively. Seré et al. (1993) examined the profitability of tropical forages released by CIAT and its local partners in Latin America, identifying an IRR of between 20 and 100%. Rivas and Holmann (2004a) evaluated the potential impact of new Brachiaria hybrids resistant to spittlebug in the eastern Orinoquía region and the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and estimated benefits for 2004 of US$960 million, which was equivalent to 43% of the country's meat and milk production value in 2003 (direct impact on the livestock sector). More recent studies on the subject were found for the African continent, where the impact of higher-yielding Brachiaria varieties was estimated. Elbasha et al. (1999), for example, evaluated the impact of different planted forages in West Africa during the period from 1977 to 1997 and estimated economic benefits of approximately US$11.8 million, which represents an internal social rate of return on investments of 38% over a 20-year period. Schiek et al. (2018) evaluated the potential economic impact of the development and release of improved Brachiaria varieties in six East African countries, using an economic surplus model. According to their results, investment in a forage research program is a low risk endeavor with a high probability of obtaining positive results at a minimum adoption rate of 10%.Most of the described studies used the economic surplus method as main approach for impact evaluation. In general, across all reviewed studies, positive results were found regarding the benefits of research on forage alternatives with better productive characteristics as strategy for intensifying cattle production. Although some of the past studies focused on the impacts of improved forages in different regions of Colombia, neither more recent ex-ante evaluations were found, nor particular studies regarding the species Brachiaria brizantha or micro-level studies that include quantitative risk assessments, which give more robust results and improve decision-making at the primary producer level. This document is intended to be a contribution to the literature in that sense, and provides useful information to donors and decision-makers regarding the potential yields of investing in forage research for the Colombian Orinoquía.Productivity data for the Agrosavia Caporal variety were obtained from field trials carried out by AGROSAVIA and CIAT in the Colombian Orinoquía region. Evaluations were carried out at the Taluma experimental station and the Carimagua Research Center under well-drained soil conditions. The average temperature at the site is 26 °C and the average annual rainfall 2,500 mm. Productivity was calculated as the average of the accumulated live weight gain over a year in a cattle raising and fattening system. These measurements were carried out on a monthly basis between 2011 and 2015, with six groups of young crossbred bulls in a rotational grazing design, with 14 days of occupation and 28 days of recuperation. Information on the traditional technology (reference technology) used in the region was obtained through interviews with AGROSAVIA researchers and from past field evaluations conducted in the region. The ex-ante impact analysis seeks to compare a novel technology with a technology traditionally used in the study region. In our case, Brachiaria decumbens as monoculture is the technology with the largest area in the Colombian Orinoquía, with important characteristics in terms of productivity and adaptability to well-drained soils in the region (Rincón et al., 2010). The grass Brachiaria decumbens, was introduced and used massively in the country in the 1970s. The scenario assumes adequate management practices in terms of fertilization and rotation, to avoid overestimating the benefits associated with the adoption of the new variety.Information related to economic and technological assumptions, as well as the R&D costs used in the economic surplus model, was obtained through expert consultation and literature review. Section 2.6.1 shows the data sources corresponding to each parameter used. The establishment and management costs of the evaluated technologies were calculated based on the economic information collected during the trials, which was adjusted with the help of forage and livestock experts according to the conditions of a typical beef cattle raising and fattening farm in the Orinoquía region. Prices were updated to 2018 according to the price bulletins of the Colombian Price Information System of the Agricultural Sector SIPSA/DANE (2020) and databases of the Colombian Cattle Farmer Federation, FEDEGAN, (2019a).B. brizantha cv. Agrosavia Caporal is a new forage alternative coming directly from the species Brachiaria brizantha, which was collected in Karuzi (Burundi, Africa) in 1985. CIAT researchers collected this material in collaboration with the Burundian national agricultural research institution (ISABU) (Rincón et al., 2021). Agrosavia Caporal is a perennial grass that grows in clumps, with decumbent stems of a height of 60-150 cm, capable of rooting in the ground and favoring soil coverage, persistence and lateral displacement of the grass. Its leaves are lanceolate with little pubescence, reaching up to 60 cm in length and 2.5 cm in width. It grows well in tropical conditions up to altitudes of 1,800 m above sea level. It develops best at temperatures between 20 and 35 °C, with the highest forage production occurring during rainy season and in conditions with annual rainfall between 1,600 and 3,500 mm (Rincón et al., 2021). Although the variety was targeted to the Orinoquía region, it holds the potential for broader adoption in other regions of Colombia, given its adaptation potential to different climates (humid and sub-humid tropics) and soils (medium to good fertility) (M. Sotelo, personal communication, May 17, 2020).The first evaluation records of B. brizantha cv. Agrosavia Caporal in Colombia date back to 1986, when antibiotic resistance to spittlebug was evaluated among 400 accessions of Brachiaria. Accession 26,124 was part of a group of 27 materials which were selected for presenting greater resistance compared to the commercial material Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandú (CIAT, 1991). In 1997, it was one of the materials selected for presenting better drought resistance in trials established at the Carimagua research station in the Colombian Orinoquía (CIAT, 1997). In 1999, it was introduced for agronomic evaluation in different locations across Colombia (CIAT, 1999), and in 2000, in the Orinoquía (CIAT, 2001). In a participatory evaluation exercise, Agrosavia Caporal was selected by producers as a promising material for cattle production in the Orinoquían savannas, due to its good stem-leaf ratio, soft leaves, rooting behavior and rapid recovery after grazing (CIAT, 2001).In 2011, in an inter-institutional agreement between AGROSAVIA and CIAT, forage germplasm evaluations under well-drained soils were started in the Orinoquía with the establishment of 58 materials and the aim of selecting the five most promising ones. The Agrosavia Caporal accession was identified as one of these materials, and was included in animal feeding trials carried out at two locations in the Orinoquía (Taluma experimental station and Carimagua Research Center), where it was compared with Brachiaria decumbens -the control material predominant in the region. The main characteristics that made Agrosavia Caporal an outstanding alternative for animal feeding, and especially compared to other evaluated accessions such as Toledo (Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26110), are its high forage productivity and quality, drought resistance (i.e., avoiding cattle weight losses during dry season) and grazing persistence (Rincón et al., 2021). B. brizantha cv. Agrosavia Caporal also shows good tolerance to water stress during the rainy season, as well as to different spittlebug species (Aeneolamia varia and Zulia pubescens) present in the region (Rincón et al., 2021).Table 1 provides a summary of the main productive indicators of cv. Orinoquía, as well as the reference technology (Brachiaria decumbens) for comparison. The adoption of Agrosavia Caporal increases the total available forage biomass by 23% and the protein content by 28% compared to the reference technology, reflected also in the animal response, with average annual live weight gains per hectare of 226 kg for Agrosavia Caporal versus 198 kg for Brachiaria decumbens. According to the daily live weight gain data, the raising and fattening cycle until reaching the final sales weight (from 200 kg to 450 kg) is 19 months for Agrosavia Caporal and 24 months for Brachiaria decumbens.Through a cost-benefit analysis, we estimated the impact of investing in the establishment of Agrosavia Caporal in a cattle raising and fattening system at the micro level (from a primary producer's point of view) in the Colombian Orinoquía. This methodology was used as it allows to analyze the market viability of an investment project in a reliable way, considering all the relevant costs and benefits in a process of technology adoption at the farm level, the lifespan of the technology, productivity flows and relevant market prices. Such analysis is being applied when a comparison has to be made between a traditional technology and a new one, in order to determine the changes in costs and income associated with the new technology. In our case, the comparison is made with the reference technology-a monoculture pasture of Brachiaria decumbens (A. Rincón, personal communication, February 12, 2021).The cost-benefit analysis is based on a discounted free cash flow model to estimate financial profitability indicators and to determine the viability of the different investment options. Profitability indicators include the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) and investment payback period (PRI). The model includes a systematic categorization of the variable costs and benefits associated with the two evaluated options. Specifically, the following per hectare cost categories have been considered: establishment costs, renovation and maintenance costs, opportunity costs of capital during the establishment period (3 months, from establishment until first grazing), and operating costs (e.g., purchase of animals, animal health, supplementation, permanent and occasional labor). On the other hand, the benefits are derived from beef production in a cattle raising and fattening system, according to the obtained animal response indicators (Table 1). For the construction of the cash flow we assumed constant prices and an evaluation horizon of 10 years according to the estimated lifespan of pastures (Riesco and Seré, 1985). The cost of financing is chosen as the discount rate according to the rural credit lines of the Colombian Fund for the Financing of the Agricultural Sector (FINAGRO), and considered as the opportunity cost of capital, associated with a risk factor present in the activities of the rural sector. The following discount rate was, therefore, established: Fixed-term deposit rate (DTF) + 5% effective annual interest rate. The investment is assumed to happen in year 0, and from year one to year 10, the income and expenses associated with each technology are generated. It is important to mention that, although data were obtained at an experimental level, we expect the differences to the real conditions of the region to be insignificant, if the producers follow the technical recommendations for pasture management (e.g., fertilization plans, periods of pasture occupation and recovery) and if the material is established under agroecological conditions similar to those recommended (e.g., altitude, soil type, precipitation regime). In addition, at a methodological level, different scenarios are applied for the returns of each of the evaluated technologies (Table 2).To include risk and uncertainty levels and consider different scenarios, a quantitative risk analysis was performed using a Monte Carlo simulation with the software @Risk (Paladise Corporation). In this simulation, values of the variables identified as critical (meat price, live weight gain, establishment costs) are randomly assigned, according to their probability distribution functions, to later calculate the determined profitability indicators (model outputs). This process is repeated numerous times to obtain the probability distributions of said outputs (Park, 2007). In our study, 5,000 simulations or iterations were carried out, where the variables live weight gain (per animal and day), investment costs, and sales price (per kg live weight) were randomly combined. The simulation used a 95% confidence interval. The probability distributions for the input variables are presented in Table 2.The decision criteria are the mean values and the variations of the profitability indicators resulting from the simulation, as well as the probability of success (NPV>0). The use of the mean value criterion is based on the law of large numbers, which states that if many repetitions of an experiment are carried out, the average result will tend towards the expected value (Park, 2007). Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed using a tornado diagram, which displays each variable according to its impact on the variance of the model result. The diagram identifies the variables defined as critical and those with greater effects on the profitability indicators.The equation system for the economic surplus model is based on Alston et al. (1995) (Figure 1). It proposes to model and measure the economic effects of technological changes induced by research in market environments, through parallel and linear  a Prices in US$-/US$/COP XRT: Average 2020; 1 This triangular distribution is an average of the three values and is recommended to specify situations that involve costs and investments; 2 A PERT distribution is a weighted average of the three values with greater emphasis on the center of the distribution and was selected by judgment of the researchers according to data availability.shifts of the supply and demand curves. In this case, the product in question (beef) is a perishable good that is not closely linked to international markets and therefore, equations for a closed economy are used.The annual change in total surplus is defined as:where P 0 and Q 0 are the equilibrium prices and quantities, respectively; Z t is the proportional price decrease in year t, defined as:and K t is the supply displacement factor associated with technological change, and its value is variable over time, depending on the dynamics of the adoption process; n is the absolute value of demand elasticity and ε the supply elasticity:where E(Y) is the average proportional yield increase per hectare, with ε being the supply elasticity used to convert the gross output effect of R&D-induced performance changes into a gross unit production cost effect; E(C) is the average proportional change in variable costs per hectare required to achieve the increased yield; p is the probability of success in the technology adoption process; δ t is the depreciation factor of the technology; A t is the adoption rate in year t, and is determined by a logistic curve:Amax is the maximum adoption rate, and the parameters α and β control displacement and slope, respectively and are determined by both the duration of research and adoption.The annual change in consumer surplus is defined as:The change in producer surplus is defined as:The economic benefits associated with the change in surpluses are expressed as annual flows of net benefits and the NPV is estimated. The NPV of the new R&D technology is calculated as:The aggregate IRR was calculated as the discount rate that equates the aggregate NPV to zero as follows:Additionally, for the estimation of the ex-ante evaluation model, the following assumptions are considered (Alston et al., 1995): 1) There are no policy distortions such as subsidies, production quotas, or others; 2) markets are competitive; 3) the supply equals the demand for the good, since prices are adjusted to reach equilibrium quantities, 4) the change in total surplus is a measure of the change in social welfare; and 5) the shift in the supply curve is only the result of technological change.To estimate the social benefits of forage varieties by means of the surplus model, it is necessary to consider different technical and economic parameters. Technical parameters allow identifying the magnitude of the shift in the supply function and the behavior of the adoption curve over time and are related to: 1) changes in productivity levels, 2) year of technology launch and duration of the diffusion period, 3) speed and intensity of the adoption process, and 4) R&D levels. The economic parameters define the markets under analysis in terms of: 1) type of economy, 2) initial equilibrium quantities and prices, and 3) price elasticities of supply and demand.Table 3 presents a summary of the parameters related to both the market and the technology used to estimate the model in the basic scenario, as well as the respective data sources. The impact calculations at the national level were made assuming values of productivity increases and a potential area determined by the current rate of adoption of the Brachiaria brizantha species at the national level, given its high adaptation potential. Technology adoption behavior and the estimation of R&D costs are further explained in the subsequent sections. R&D costs occur from the initial year of research until the release of the new technology (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022). After its release, the technology is acquired by the private sector (in this case a seed production and marketing company from Brazil) who assumes the subsequent costs associated with seed production, marketing and distribution. As these costs do not correspond to public research institutions or governmental institutions, they are excluded from the calculations in our study.In order to examine the sensitivity of the model results, three analysis scenarios have been considered: basic (B), optimistic (O) and pessimistic (P). The parameters that vary between scenarios are productivity, maximum expected adoption rate, and probability of success (Table 4). The probability of success is defined as the success of developing a technology for commercial use, as well as the annual adoption rate being met at a defined percentage. Although Agrosavia Caporal has already been developed, it is not yet commercially available to producers. According to preliminary agreements with seed producing companies, it will be commercialized in 2022. Additionally, heat maps were elaborated to analyze the effect of the variation simultaneal of the first two variables on the IRR indicator.The R&D costs for the evaluation and selection of the new Agrosavia Caporal variety were estimated according to the requirements of scientific personnel in a process of improvement by selection, and the annual budgets approved under the macroproject Evaluación y desarrollo de materiales forrajeros para integrarlos a los sistemas de producción ganaderos de la Orinoquía, financed by the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), and executed by AGROSAVIA and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). In this project, 58 forage accessions were evaluated in the Orinoquía region in order to identify five promising varieties adapted to the local edaphoclimatic conditions. The R&D period was 5 years, from 2011 to 2015. The project had an annual budget of US$65,000, where 30% was allocated for the evaluation of Agrosavia Caporal. This included  operational expenses for the establishment, maintenance and evaluation of the trials, such as agricultural inputs, agricultural services (e.g., labor for field work), equipment and machinery, transportation, travel expenses, and laboratory analysis. Personnel requirements were estimated from the percentages of time devoted by scientists, researchers, technicians and workers in a process of improvement by selection. This process consists of five main stages: 1) evaluation of the visual characteristics of the materials (height, coverage, dynamometer, vigor, pests and diseases); 2) evaluation of visual characteristics, dry matter production (DM) and nutritional quality (e.g., protein content, digestibility, neutral detergent fiber) of the pre-selected materials in (i); 3) evaluation of plant-animal interaction of the materials identified in (ii), which are established on a larger scale to determine palatability, material persistence and animal productivity (meat or milk); 4) evaluation of the plant-animal interaction of the materials identified in (iii); and 5) establishment of the selected materials in different locations depending on whether they are for release at the regional or national level. Prior to these stages, the costs associated with processes of application, reception, and field establishment of the seed for multiplication, as well as institutional costs and equipment depreciation were also included. The total duration of the evaluation process was five consecutive years (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). Since 2016, some evaluations have continued, mainly at the Taluma experimental station, with an approximate annual budget of US$2,708. This includes the costs associated with the maintenance of the trials and administrative expenses. In the years 2014-2016, multiplication of basic seed was carried out CIAT's facilities in Palmira, Colombia, and the associated costs were also included. The total estimated R&D cost for the variety was estimated with US$563,243.Before any economic impact associated with technical change can occur, a process of adoption and diffusion of the new technology needs to happen. By adoption we mean, in the context of technological innovations, the individual decision-making process about the acceptance of a previously unknown innovation, which implies learning through the acquisition of information and its incorporation into the production function. On the other hand, diffusion refers to the process of acceptance of a technology by a set of individuals in time and for a given region (Rogers, 2003).Empirical evidence on adoption/diffusion processes of new agricultural technologies shows that it normally follows a logistic or sigmoid pattern (Mansfield, 1961;Mahajan and Peterson, 1985). On the subject of pastures, although literature is scarce, the studies of Jarvis (1981) confirm that adoption adjusts to a logistic model, meaning that the adoption curve is characterized by three stages: 1) early adoption, 2) exponential growth, and 3) the transition phase. In the first stage, the technology has a low adoption rate since only the least risk averse producers, or in other words, those who are more innovative, decide to invest in a new technology (in our case a new forage variety). After that, the benefits of the new technology begin to be known and a stage of rapid growth starts, characterized in turn by two sub-stages (2a) an early majority and (2b) a late majority. In the latter stage, adoption continues to grow, but each time at lower rates, as the process approaches its upper limit.To estimate the adoption curve, we make use of ex-post data on the adoption of varieties similar to the new Agrosavia Caporal. Data were obtained from a nationally representative adoption study carried out by Labarta et al. (2017) in Colombia. Their results indicate that 2.2 and 2.8% of the total area, respectively at regional and national levels, are planted with the variety Brachiaria brizantha cv. La Libertad. Considering that this grass was introduced to the country 50 years ago, it is plausible to assume that the adoption-diffusion process is already in a maturation stage. This rate is considered, therefore, as the maximum level of adoption for the basic scenario. For the pessimistic and optimistic scenarios, we expect the adoption rate to be 50% below/above the maximum adoption rate expected for the basic scenario, indicating a minimum rate of 1.11% and a maximum rate of  1.027 1.029 Net income (average US$ ha −1 yr −1 ) 5112 941Maintenance is carried out every 2 years and includes weed control, fertilizing with half the dose used for establishment; 2 Estimated: 2.5 permanent jobs required for every 100 animals in a cattle raising and fattening system (FEDEGAN, 2003), and a legal minimum wage in force plus benefits in 2020 of US$375. 3 Supplementation with mineralized salt at a rate of 50 g ha −1 d −1 . 4 Unit cost of production: dividing total cost of the product by total production. 5 Net income: total income (sales price x yield) minus total costs. a Mean value of the NPV obtained in the simulation (5,000 iterations). b SD: Standard deviation of the NPV with respect to the mean value. c IC: Minimum and maximum values with a 95% confidence interval.3.3% at the regional level, and a minimum rate of 1.4% and a maximum rate of 4.2% at the national level, respectively (Figure 2). In both cases, the aim is to examine the changes in the net social benefits when a successful dissemination process is assumed or when a process with serious difficulties is considered. However, much higher rates could be expected in an optimistic scenario, given adoption rates for other Brachiaria species, such as Brachiaria dictyoneura cv. Llanero and Brachiaria decumbens, which register adoption levels of 10.7 and 12.87%, respectively (Labarta et al., 2017). Nevertheless, in order to avoid, as far as possible, the overestimation of potential benefits coming along with adopting the new Agrosavia Caporal variety, we preferred to make more conservative estimates.The total period of diffusion and adoption is 27 years (2022-2048), the maximum adoption rate will be reached in year 20 (2041), and from there on, a constant behavior is assumed.Table 5 provides an overview on the per hectare costs and income for both the Agrosavia Caporal and the reference technology.Regarding the direct production costs, the purchase of animals, pasture establishment and labor make up the highest shares.  These three items participate with more than 80% of the total value. The unit cost per kilogram of beef produced was US$1.027 for the Agrosavia Caporal variety and US$1.029 for the reference technology. As a result of the better animal response indicators of the Agrosavia Caporal, the average gross income per year increased by 28% and the net profit by 19%.The summary of the main financial results of the simulation is presented in Table 6. Under the assumptions used in this model, Agrosavia Caporal proves to be financially profitable and allows the improvement of all risk and performance indicators when compared to the reference technology. For Agrosavia Caporal, the model estimates an average NPV of US$328 and an IRR to equity of 21% per hectare. Regarding the probability of not obtaining financial feasibility of the evaluated technologies, Figure 3 shows the NPV indicator distributions, which reflect the amplitude of its variation. For the reference technology, the indicator could range between US$-90 and US$540, with a probability of obtaining negative values of 13%. For Agrosavia Caporal, the improvement in productivity allows a shift to the right of the distribution curve, reducing the probability of losses to 0%, with values ranging from US$52 to 708.The contribution of the input variables to the NPV variance is shown in the tornado diagram in Figure 4. The correlation coefficients calculated between the input values and the NPV variance show that profitability is affected mainly by two variables: liveweight gain and beef sales price. Increases in these variables have a positive effect on the variability of the indicator as follows: changes in the animal productivity variable modify the variance of the indicator by 89 and 90% for the new variety and the reference technology, respectively. Similarly, changes in the beef sales price lead to changes in the variance of 9 and 6%, respectively. Under the reference price of US$1.24 kg −1 , animal productivity below 0.174 tons ha −1 year −1 (equivalent to a live weight gain of 126 kg AU −1 year −1 ) are not profitable for Agrosavia Caporal. Under the same reference price, the threshold for the base technology is a productivity level of 0.155 tons ha −1 year −1 (equivalent to a live weight gain of 129 kg AU −1 year −1 ).The results of the economic surplus model are presented in Table 7. At both the regional and national levels, the potential benefits of Agrosavia Caporal are positive in the three analyzed scenarios. Under the basic scenario, at the regional level, a total benefit of US$3,165,000 is estimated, which represents an internal social rate of return on investments of 19%. At the national level, the results are similar to the ones at regional level, except that their magnitude is greater as a result of the increase in the expected adoption rate and affected production volume. The distribution of benefits is concentrated on the producers, who would receive 62.5% of the surplus. In the absence of international trade, the surplus production generated by the use of the new variety must be absorbed by the domestic market. Given that the demand curve is elastic (E D 1.17), the new equilibrium point is reached through small price variations, increasing beef sales and producer incomes significantly while reducing consumer prices. The increase in production and reduction in consumer prices, in particular, favor low-income consumers who are more sensitive to price changes and thus contribute to improving food and nutritional security of the population.Under the optimistic scenario, the new variety could achieve productivity increases of 16%, and cover 3.33% of the total Orinoquía region, respectively 4.2% of the national territory, leading to expected benefits of US$6,786,000 and US$40, 768, 000, respectively. Under this scenario, the investments in the development of Agrosavia Caporal would be very profitable, since the IRR would be >30% and the benefit/cost ratio would indicate that around US$108 are generated from every US$ invested. Under the pessimistic scenario, changes in yields of 12%, a regional adoption rate of 1.11% and a probability of success of 70% were considered, which would yield total benefits of US$1,186,000 for the Orinoquía region. Likewise, the estimated profitability would be 11% and thus lower than the social discount rate of 12%, meaning that the total surpluses generated at the regional level would not be sufficient to compensate the spent R&D costs. These results show a latent risk that the R&D investment spent for developing the material might not exceed the additional benefits and, therefore, in such scenario, an investment would not be recommended. For an investment to become socially and economically profitable, a series of requirements must be met that go beyond the R&D phase and the release of a material with outstanding characteristics, such as the development of efficient technology promotion and dissemination strategies (including the availability of commercial seed, distribution networks, communication strategies and competitive costs) that lead to both higher adoption levels than the projected 1.11% and productivity changes superior than 12%. In addition, since a probability of success of >70% is necessary, it is important that the developed technologies, in addition to their differentiating technical characteristics, are cost efficient and provide sufficient seed for multiplication. At the national level however, the IRR would be 19% given the higher overall adoption and total production affected by potential yield increases, suggesting that the R&D investment would be profitable at the national level-even under the pessimistic scenario.To verify the robustness of the estimates for impacts and return on investment estimates, a sensitivity analysis was carried out with respect to the reference scenario. In particular, the variables of maximum expected adoption rate and productivity level were examined. Table 8 shows heat maps corresponding to the changes of these variables and their effects on the IRR under basic scenario assumptions (probability of success of 80%, 2.8% adoption rate at regional and 2.2% at national level, respectively). The results suggest that, at the regional level, the technology is profitable when productivity increases greater than 5% occur and with an adoption rate of 1%. Although the results of the analysis are clearly sensitive to these two variables, investing in this alternative is highly profitable under most of the assigned values.The material Brachiaria brizantha 26,124 cv. Agrosavia Caporal was identified as a promising variety for release, given its good characteristics in terms of nutritional quality, biomass production and persistence during dry season. Planting the variety leads to beef yield increases of around 14% when compared to Brachiaria decumbens (reference technology). This is consistent with the findings of Pardo and Pérez (2010), and Lascano et al. (2002), who have shown the potential of integrating new Brachiaria brizantha accessions in different areas of the Colombian Orinoquía to increase cattle productivity. These studies conclude that, compared to traditional technologies, the new accessions allow increasing meat production per hectare between 9 and 100%. According to our results, the higher productivity can improve the net returns of beef cattle production at a farm level by an average of 19%, as consequence of higher daily live weight gains, which reduce the length of the fattening cycle and generate faster and more frequent income flows. This translates into better financial indicators compared to the reference technology, with a 79% increase of the NPV and a 16% increase of the IRR, respectively. With an average NPV of approximately US$328 and an IRR of 21%, the technology appears as a viable alternative to improve both efficiency and profitability of the region's cattle farms.Agrosavia Caporal also presents a reduction in the probability of obtaining economic losses (0 versus 13% for the reference technology), resulting from its higher productivity and lower yield variability (between 199 and 262 kg ha −1 year −1 ). This is essential for regions such as the Orinoquía, where high water seasonality affects cattle production and the general availability of food. The region is projected to experience important difficulties due to climate change, with reductions in annual precipitation as well as increases in maximum temperatures (IDEAM et al., 2015). These increasing risks, coupled with changes in market conditions (e.g., sales and input price variations), substantially affect long-term investment decisions at the producer level, such as the adoption of new technologies. In this sense, forages that can guarantee a lower risk-such as Agrosavia Caporal-provide additional incentives for adoption (Marra et al., 2003). It is important to note that for both evaluated technologies, the productivity parameters used assume adequate pasture management. Inadequate management will inevitably translate into pasture degradation and affect the feasibility of the system, undermining the technology's potential as a promising material and affecting the environment by increasing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. According to Rincón (2006), degraded pastures in the region cause a reduction in beef and dairy production of more than 50%, directly associated with a loss of biomass production, soil compaction, weed invasion and erosion, among others, making it essential to provide training to the primary producer through specific extension and technology transfer programs, focusing i.e., on establishing and maintaining the pasture.Despite the previously mentioned benefits, pastures under monoculture remain significantly exposed to changes in production and quality throughout the year (Tedonkeng et al., 2007). The association of improved grass varieties with trees and legumes should be promoted as a technological package, since they can reduce heat stress in animals, contribute to increasing pasture persistence (due to nitrogen fixation) and improve the provision of ecosystem services (e.g., contribution of organic matter to pastures, improvement of soil quality and soil carbon accumulation, temperature regulation) (Harrison et al., 2015;Reckling et al., 2016;Dubeux et al., 2017). Cohn et al. (2014) found that policy instruments, such as taxes on cattle from conventional systems or subsidies for production in diversified, more sustainable systems, might be effective methods to promote such technological and cultural changes among farmers and strengthen the long-term sustainability, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At a macro level, the results from the economic surplus model show that, on average, investing in the development of more productive forages, such as Agrosavia Caporal, can be highly profitable from a social point of view, given the significant performance gains and the particular conditions of the cattle sector in both the Orinoquía and Colombia. We found that, if adopted, the forecasted productivity increases obtained with Agrosavia Caporal could generate a shift in beef supply, associated with significant economic benefits. The estimated NPV of the social benefits for the period from 2022 to 2048 would be approximately US$903,000 and US$11.3 million at the regional and national levels, respectively. These results are consistent with other studies that evaluated the impact of improved forage varieties in the country and identified internal social rates of return on investments of up to 100% (Vera et al., 1989;Rivas andHolmann, 2004a, 2004b). The results of the economic surplus model depend mainly on the variables maximum expected adoption rate and productivity. Under the pessimistic scenario, with an adoption rate of <1.11% (equivalent to 144,000 ha in the Orinoquía) and yield increases of <10%, the R&D investment would become unfeasible at a regional level. This has important implications both the R&D and dissemination processes. The use of new forage varieties that do not provide sufficient benefits at a social level may be economically feasible at a farm level but not justify a new R&D process. Even if reasonably larger productivity and risk reduction gains were to be expected, a strong dissemination process should be ensured so that the expected adoption levels can be reached. This includes a strong seed system that also focuses on communication, information and training. Success in that regard will depend entirely on the capacity of and coordination among institutions, which include actors from the public, private and mixed sectors. To ensure adoption, other barriers that need to be addressed include the access to credit and inputs, land tenure insecurity, market instability and inadequate infrastructure (e.g., Lapar and Ehui, 2004;Wunscher et al., 2004;Dill et al., 2015).Regarding the social distribution of potential benefits, our study shows that they are mostly concentrated in the primary sector (supply side). Within the primary sector, it is not clear, however, how these benefits will be distributed among or concentrated within different segments (e.g., small, medium or large producers). Given that the micro level analysis reveals that the investment can be feasible even at minimum scales (1 ha), and considering the producer typology in the Orinoquía (53.4% of the producers have <50 animals (ICA, 2020)), we assume a large share of the potential beneficiaries will be small producers. These results, however, may be ambiguous: Labarta et al. (2017) describe a direct relationship between the adoption of improved forages in the region and the access to resources (e.g., credit, labor, level of wealth), making resource-rich producers the main group of potential adopters. Yet at the same time, when it comes to actual adoption, large producers are described as less likely to adopt, presumably due to scale limitations, security concerns, and lack of infrastructure. To the above-mentioned considerations, a series of structural factors can be added, such as land prices or local wage levels, that may or may not encourage the adoption of improved forages in the region.Regarding environmental aspects, greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation are the main concerns for the Orinoquía cattle sector, with widespread adoption of improved forages potentially contributing to generating positive outcomes. But these improved forages also pose additional challenges and risks. Cattle production is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from the ruminant digestion process that generates methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide emissions (CIAT and CORMACARENA, 2018). Higher quality forages allow increasing animal productivity and feeding efficiency (conversion of forage to animal protein), reducing CH 4 emissions per unit of product (Knapp et al., 2014;Zubieta et al., 2021). Cardoso et al. (2016) estimate that increased quality and quantity of forage can potentially decrease greenhouse gas emissions per kg carcass weight by 50%, principally resulting from a reduction of CH 4 emissions. The expansion of areas for cattle production is one of the main drivers of deforestation, a process that also generates high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and is particularly problematic in the Orinoquía region, which holds various key ecosystems, such as natural savannas, flooded forests, humid forests or foothills (CIAT and CORMACARENA, 2018). In this regard, the effects of increasing productivity of agricultural systems on forest conservation can be ambiguous: it can incentivize the expansion of production in the agricultural Frontier through the clearing of forest areas, but it can also be used as an indirect tool to reduce the pressure of expanding the agricultural Frontier, an idea known as the Borlaug effect.In the Orinoquía, the introduction of Brachiaria grasses since the end of the 1960s (Brachiaria decumbens, Rincón et al., 2010) has been a subject of debate, mainly in environmental terms. The adoption of these varieties occurred spontaneously and massively by the producers and was associated with several desirable traits that increased productivity, such as a high biomass production and nutritional quality, adaptation to marginal lands and low fertility soils (Rao et al., 1998). Different studies for the region have reported that the adoption of Brachiaria varieties resulted in productivity increases from 18 to 37 kg ha −1 year −1 (no adoption) to 294-402 kg ha −1 year −1 (with Brachiaria), resulting in important impacts at the productive, economic, environmental and social levels (Pérez and Vargas, 2001;Rincón et al., 2010). Positive impacts include the reduction of land degradation and pressure on the native savanna, methane emissions reductions due to increased feeding efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with native savanna burning (Smith et al., 1997), better soil cover and improved soil quality parameters (better water infiltration and reduced soil erosion), and higher nitrogen and carbon fixation to the soil (Boddey et al., 1998). These positive impacts are, however, often conditioned to the (proper) management of the pastures. Negative impacts are mainly associated with the degradation of native savannas, threats to biodiversity, soil erosion, deforestation for expanding grazing areas and increased greenhouse gas emissions (Peñuela et al., 2011;Peñuela et al., 2014;CIAT and CORMACARENA, 2018). Various studies evaluated the conditions in which both scenarios are more likely to occur. In Brazil (Cohn et al., 2014), and De Oliveira Silva et al. (2016) have estimated a large greenhouse gas mitigation potential through cattle ranching intensification when coupled with no deforestation scenarios, taxes on conventional pastures and subsidies for semi-intensive systems. Some studies have found that land use changes derived from agricultural intensification are strongly linked to the characteristics of a particular area and the land tenure conditions. Decreasing deforestation patterns were found when intensification occurs in consolidated agricultural regions, and increasing deforestation when it occurs on marginal lands (Maertens et al., 2006;Barretto et al., 2013) and land with unclear land tenure (Kubitza et al., 2018). A meta-study of 60 cases conducted by Rasmussen et al. (2018) found that there are scant cases where agricultural intensification has had simultaneously a positive effect on well-being and ecosystem services. These studies suggest that holding the sustainability claims of cattle ranching intensification would likely require a combination of various policy and market mechanisms, such as effective monitoring and control, law enforcement, taxes, subsidies and land tenure rights, among others. In areas where land is not a constraining factor, as is the case of the Colombian Orinoquía, there is a greater pressure to expand, making this a major threat and topic to consider. While there are initiatives in the country seeking to prevent deforestation derived from the cattle sector (such as the National Zero Deforestation Agreements), it is still too early to provide evidence that can support their effectiveness, and further research is advised.As mentioned in the methodology section, our evaluation is based on a partial equilibrium model and does therefore neither include potential impacts on other economic sectors nor on natural resources. Our study demonstrates, however, the importance of new pasture technologies, their high potential to produce social benefits, and the need to develop mechanisms to take advantage of this potential. Both our study and other previously conducted ex-ante studies (reviewed at the beginning of this document), were carried out after the investments in R&D have already happened and just before the release of the particular technology. It is recommended, however, to conduct such studies before making decisions on R&D investments, so that the results can serve in the decisionmaking process and for the allocation of ever scarce funds. Despite this, our results still provide insights into the potential benefits at the regional level and serve for justifying future R&D processes of new forage varieties for other regions of the country. When interpreting our results, it is important to bear in mind that the economic surplus model used is a minimum data approach that simplifies reality. Given data limitations, production estimates affected by technical change are based on average yields at the regional and national levels. Likewise, the model assumes that yield increases are the same for all producers, without considering existing heterogeneities among them, e.g., in technological terms. Transaction costs that occur once the variety is released, i.e., related to its adoption, dissemination and promotion, and that are assumed by the private seed sector were ignored in our study, since they are not part of the publiclyfunded R&D process. These simplifications can lead to an overestimation of the estimated net benefits. To mitigate such limitations, we made conservative estimations based on expert consultations. Our model does not consider additional benefits that could derive from, e.g., an increase in milk production (since we evaluated the technologies in a dual-purpose system) and other technical parameters in the region (e.g., interval between births, birth rates). Nevertheless, these could substantially increase the benefits of the new variety for the region. Hence, research should be conducted to quantify such additional benefits.As mentioned before, the variety Agrosavia Caporal is the third Brachiaria brizantha variety released in the area after Toledo and La Libertad. These cultivars, together with the new variety, are materials with characteristics superior to the traditional technology predominantly used in the area (Brachiaria decumbens). There are, however, differences between them in both desirable forage characteristics and limitations. Toledo, for example, has shown to present better dry matter yields compared to Agrosavia Caporal (Lascano et al., 2002), and better characteristics in terms of tolerance to humidity, recovery after grazing, and vigor of the plant compared to La Libertad (Lascano et al., 2002). Agrosavia Caporal, on the other hand, has shown resistance to different species of spittlebug, while Toledo and La Libertad are more susceptible (Lascano et al., 2002), and has better palatability and drought tolerance in the dry season (A. Rincón, personal communication, August 06, 2021). In this sense, they are materials with differentiating characteristics that could also have different economic impacts associated with their adoption. It is recommended, therefore, to evaluate each of these technologies to determine their viability in terms of R&D and to identify the forage attributes that could have the greatest economic impact.Our study shows the economic feasibility both at the primary producer level and at the social level of adopting a new forage technology with superior productive characteristics. The new Agrosavia Caporal variety, which will be released in 2022, shows very good animal response parameters that increase the economic viability of cattle raising and fattening systems in the Colombian Orinoquía region. At the social level, technology adoption could generate an outward shift in the supply of meat, which would be associated with important benefits at both the regional and national levels. However, the potential success of Agrosavia Caporal, as well as of other potential new varieties with superior characteristics, is highly conditioned to the adoption level and to proper technology management that allows maintaining expected productivity levels. Therefore, it is essential to develop adequate support mechanisms during the release and adoption process, in order to provide farmers with solid extension strategies and training programs that focus, for example, on planting and cultivar management. Likewise, it is crucial that commercial seed availability of the material is guaranteed in the release, adoption and diffusion processes.The cattle sector in the Colombian Orinoquía region is not only important at an economic or social level but also plays a significant role at an environmental level. It is recognized for being one of the main contributors to the country's greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the main drivers of deforestation, affecting the different strategic ecosystems present in the Orinoquía. The sector is also highly dependent on and affected by water seasonality, a situation that could further aggravate under the forecasted climate change scenarios for the region. Sustainable intensification of the cattle sector is considered to be the route to reducing negative environmental impacts while improving per area productivity, and forages with superior characteristics play an important role in this sense. The inclusion of trees and legumes in cattle systems, which improve the provision of ecosystem services and animal welfare, however, should be considered as add-on in order to move towards more sustainability and away from grass monocultures. The superior nutritional characteristics of Agrosavia Caporal can have positive effects on the environmental impacts of the local cattle systems. Reduced CH 4 emissions and the release of areas can be expected, given the higher intensification and better digestibility. In order to achieve the economic, social and, above all, the environmental benefits of this new technology, coordinated efforts of the involved actors will be required. Extension campaigns need to provide information on the importance of sustainable intensification (focused on liberating areas for conservation) and conserving strategic ecosystems present in the region. Public policies and monitoring systems are needed in order to prevent an unwanted spread of the new technology (and any other new technology in the future) to protected areas or ecosystems of the region.The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/ restrictions: Data is from another project/institution and still restricted. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to SB, s.burkart@cgiar.orgThere is a growing demand for livestock products (Bernabucci, 2019). Intensification of cattle production systems (i.e., increase in production per unit of available resource) is proposed to meet market requirements (Sakamoto et al., 2020), increase economic returns and reduce environmental impacts (Cassman and Grassini, 2020) including land use (Martha et al., 2012) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Eckard et al., 2010;Herrero et al., 2013;Ruviaro et al., 2015;Cardoso et al., 2016). Traditionally, cattle production systems in Tropical Latin America rely on grazing animals that feed upon planted or naturalized pastures. For intensification in this region, pastures tend to be dominated by a single species of a high yielding grass (da Silva et al., 2020), and subject to practices aimed to improve their productivity and nutritional quality. This includes aspects such as grazing management and the application of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides (Gerssen-Gondelach et al., 2017). However, evidence indicates an association between intensified pastures and biodiversity loss (Bobbink et al., 2010;Fontana et al., 2016), including the decline of insect pollinators (Potts et al., 2010).Insect pollinator decline is a major concern. Overcoming this declination is essential for global food security and ecosystem functioning (Van der Sluijs and Vaage, 2016;Van der Sluijs, 2020). The inclusion of legumes (fabacea) is a nature positive action to increase plant diversity within a pasture. Most legumes are pollinated by insects (Suso et al., 2016), suggesting that legume inclusion in pastures might provide ecosystem services coming from pollination. Orford et al. (2016) showed that modest enhancements to pasture diversity can improve the provision of pollination services to surrounding habitats. Furthermore, the inclusion of legumes brings other benefits to improve the efficiency and sustainability of cattle production systems (see sustainable intensification of livestock production systems, Rao et al., 2015). Benefits of legumes introduction include: (1) increases in quantity and quality of livestock feed and (2) soil improvement as a result of biological nitrogen fixation, soil stabilization and nutrient recycling (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018). There is a wide variety of legumes available for cattle production (i.e., forage legumes). Forage legumes can be annual or perennial plants with different growth habits and various forms (i.e., herbaceous, shrub and tree legumes). The use of legumes in cattle production systems is not restricted to their inclusion in pastures as a grass-legume system. They are also used as forage banks (i.e., plant material used to supplement animal diets) or within silvopastoral systems (SPS).SPS consist of diverse agroforestry arrangements that combine herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees for animal nutrition and complementary uses like timber or fruit production (Murgueitio et al., 2011). In particular, SPS with tree legumes are a promising nature-based solution to reduce the environmental impact of cattle production, while increasing its productivity, especially in Latin America (Dubeux et al., 2017;Chará et al., 2018;Landholm et al., 2019;Arango et al., 2020;Lira Junior et al., 2020). SPS arrangements might be in the form of scattered trees in pastures, pastures within tree alleys, living fences and windbreaks surrounding a pasture, to name a few (Murgueitio and Ibrahim, 2001;Murgueitio et al., 2011;Chará et al., 2018). SPS promote biodiversity by creating complex habitats that support a diverse above-ground flora and fauna, harbor a richer soil biota and improve connectivity between forest fragments (Ibrahim et al., 2006;Cubillos et al., 2016). At a landscape level, they provide more ecosystem services than open pastures (Calle et al., 2009;Murgueitio et al., 2011). In Brazil, the conversion from pasture monocultures to SPS has increased the abundance, richness and diversity of insects, including pollinators (Auad et al., 2015;Paiva et al., 2020).Through its Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture, the FAO has joined efforts with governments, research institutions and academia to coordinate the global implementation of the International Pollinator Initiative (IPI) (FAO, 2021). The IPI's plan of action offers guidelines for the improvement and development of practices that promote the conservation and sustainable use of pollinator diversity, restoring pollinator habitats in agriculture and related ecosystems (Byrne and Fitzpatrick, 2009;CBD, 2018). Since its launch at the 5th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2000, the IPI has catalyzed the development and implementation of several other initiatives both at the regional (e.g., the African Pollinator Initiative) and national (e.g., the Brazilian and Colombian Pollinator Initiatives) levels. For instance, the Colombian Pollinator Initiative (CPI) recognizes the contribution of pollination services to food security through the role pollinators play in the production of both crops and livestock, also identifying the expansion of cattle ranching as a major threat to pollinator habitats (Nates-Parra, 2016), building on a national strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of pollinators. Currently, Colombia's National Congress is considering a bill that establishes mechanisms for the conservation of pollinators and fosters the husbandry of native bee species. Although not explicitly stated in the CPI, its roadmap presents an opportunity for pursuing synergies with Colombia's COP21 Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) for the cattle sector.Aligning national and/or regional pollinator initiatives with national efforts to reduce GHG emissions from cattle production may contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Pollinators can indeed be protected (i.e., UN-SDG 15: Life on land), by taking climate protection and adaptation concepts into account (i.e., UN-SDG 13: Climate action), while generating opportunities for employment and additional income in rural areas (i.e., UN-SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth) and pursuing other sustainable development goals. Costa Rica's Cattle NAMA, for example, seeks to achieve an eco-competitive sector that reconciles the goals of employment generation, biodiversity conservation and gender equality (UN-SDG 5) through the implementation of SPS (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2019). It recently completed its pilot phase, which preceded a first scaling effort aimed at reaching 5% of Costa Rica's cattle farms. By 2030, Costa Rica expects upscaling to 27% of its farms (Climate Clean Air Coalition, 2020). NAMAs are one of several public policies that have seen advances promoting SPS as a silver-bullet solution for the sustainable intensification of the cattle sector, such as has been the case of Colombia (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2019, 2020), Argentina (Presidencia de la Nación Argentina, 2018) and Costa Rica (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2011). A limited availability of legume seed, which depends on animal-mediated pollination for its production, may nevertheless hamper scaling efforts for sustainably intensified cattle systems and thus limit their potential to deliver ecological, environmental and socioeconomic benefits at larger scales (Rao et al., 2015;Rubyogo et al., 2019;Arango et al., 2020).This perspective paper provides an overview of forage legumes and agroecosystem management tools, available to cattle systems for the conservation of insect pollinators, optimization of crop-pollination services and tackling legume forage-seed bottlenecks. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of integrating principles of pollinator ecology and native beekeeping into SPS and artisanal and largescale propagation of legume forage-seeds. Finally, we provide interested stakeholders, policy-and decision-makers with a perspective on how such agroecosystems may be designed as mosaics or scaled into multifunctional landscapes. This article is structured as follows: The Forage Legume Seed Bottleneck section provides an overview on the limitation that a forage seed bottleneck currently imposes on the widespread adoption of SPS and grass-legume systems, and the role that pollinators can play in tackling this challenge. In Benefits of Bee Pollination on Legume Seed Production section, we present a list of interventions that can be implemented at the farm and landscape levels. We continue in the Proposed Interventions Section discussing macro-level conditions required to enable the implementation and guarantee the sustainability of the proposed interventions. Finally, the Required Enabling (Macro) Conditions Section offers concluding remarks and recommendations.The benefits of introducing forage legumes into cattle production systems have been highlighted in numerous occasions (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018 and references therein). However, widespread adoption of forage legumes in Tropical Latin America is very low (see Muir et al., 2017). Seed scarcity is one of the reasons limiting a wider use of forage legumes into cattle production systems in Tropical Latin America. This hinders the implementation of more sustainable, yet intensified, cattle production systems in the region. Several projects, such as the Sustainable Colombian Cattle Project, support and promote the use of SPS through establishing pilot/reference farms for scaling, and although these projects have made significant advances, e.g., the establishment of 35,500 hectares of SPS in Colombia (Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible, 2018), once they end, a widespread adoption of these systems may be limited by legume seed scarcity.Even though there is a strong private tropical forage seed sector in Brazil and Mexico, its focus is set on Gramineae seed production, which leaves legume seeds largely neglected. This bottleneck could thus be tackled by having these companies add legume seeds to their portfolio. Alternatively, artisanal on-farm legume seed production could be integrated into the overall design of sustainably intensified systems (Peters et al., 2003;Chakoma and Chummun, 2019;Philp et al., 2019;Rubyogo et al., 2019), taking advantage of the numerous possible interactions between legume cultivars and local plant-pollinator networks (Palmer et al., 2009;Boelt et al., 2015;Suso et al., 2016;Cong et al., 2020). This approach offers the potential added benefit of income diversification and employment creation among smallholders.The role of pollination in legume seed formation and yield depends on these plants' species-specific reproductive systems. While many forage legumes require insects (i.e., bees) for their pollination (i.e., out-crossing plants), others, including most tropical forage legumes, are self-pollinating (Kumar et al., 2020). Many self-pollinating legumes, however, exhibit an increased seed formation when their flowers are visited by bees (Palmer et al., 2009).With the exceptions of trees in SPS, both forage banks and grass-legume systems are intensively managed to minimize flowering of plants (i.e., no pollination service). In contrast, the set-up of legume seed production sites allows the creation of gardens for wild and managed bees (i.e., both introduced, such as Apis mellifera, and native). Tropical forage legumes are numerous and highly diverse (see www.tropicalforages.info; Cook et al., 2020). The large diversity of tropical forage legumes allows the design of diverse garden blends that can provide a rich source of nectar and pollen for bees. The inclusion of several forage legumes for seed production can also support differences in flowering times, thereby offering foraging sites throughout the year for a higher bee diversity. Pollination gardens are a doublee win, since they (i) enhance the abundance, diversity, and community composition of bees and other pollinators, whose populations are threatened to decline due to agricultural intensification (Kovács-Hostyánszki et al., 2017) and climate change, especially in the tropics (Forrest, 2017); and (ii) increase pollinator visitation rates of bees to legume flowers, resulting in higher seed yields (Suso et al., 2016). Table 1 offers a list of herbaceous and tree legumes known to be self-pollinated but with increased out-crossing when visited by different bee species. National Development Plans and other policies, e.g., in Colombia, Argentina or Costa Rica, increasingly outline the need for establishing SPS and other legume-based options as strategies for sustainable intensification of cattle farming, creating a demand for forage legume seed production (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2011; Presidencia de la Nación Argentina, 2018; Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2019Rural, , 2020)). Such demand is crucial for establishing large- The names of the bee species and the corresponding interaction types that are listed on this table were obtained from Nates-Parra (2016).or small-scale seed production systems that integrate local plant-pollinator networks. These policies, however, lack the inclusion of pollinators and the ecosystem services they provide. Likewise, payment schemes for ecosystem services, such as for the establishment of SPS (e.g., Diaz et al., 2019a,b), do not include forage legume seed production models and pollinator ecosystem services. Sustainable intensification strategies are a subject of algid debate. Despite the positive impacts of incorporation of forage legumes on cattle production systems (e.g., GHG emission reductions, animal welfare, biodiversity or land sparing) (Jansen et al., 1997;Rivas and Holmann, 2000;Peters et al., 2001;Valentim and Andrade, 2005;Enciso et al., 2019), an increased profitability of the system could be a driver for further expansion of the agricultural frontier at the expense of forests or protected ecosystems (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008;Peñuela et al., 2011Peñuela et al., , 2014;;CIAT and Cormacarena, 2017). This is likely to happen on marginal lands (Maertens et al., 2006;Barretto et al., 2013), cheap lands (White et al., 2001) or where land tenure is unclear (Kubitza et al., 2018). To counteract such developments, public policies (e.g., the Zero-Deforestation Agreements in Colombia and Brazil or the Brazilian Forest Code) (Presidência da República, 2012; Gibbs et al., 2015;FAO, 2016;Alianza Colombia TFA, 2021), safeguards and comprehensive monitoring/control mechanisms are required. Other instruments such as taxes, subsidies and land tenure rights are also needed (Cohn et al., 2014;de Oliveira Silva et al., 2016).Investing in sustainable intensification strategies, smallholder legume seed production systems and meliponiculture require access to credit and inputs. Some advances stand out, such as credit lines destined to the establishment of SPS in Colombia (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2020). However, more access to credit is still missing for the establishment of seed multiplication plots and integrated meliponiculture. Resolving this bottleneck is crucial for assuring continuous seed supply, ecosystem services and the scaling up of SPS. Supporting the Organizing framework that structures the development and evaluation of efficient and flexible crop pollination strategies around the use of managed pollinator species in combination with farm management practices. It focuses on integrating and diversifying pollinators, after balancing the pros and cons of using a single managed bee species, or mixtures of managed bee species and/or wild pollinators. In addition to the use of wild and managed bee species, ICP encompasses various strategies that enhance the farm environment for pollinators, including directed habitat management and pesticide stewardship. These strategies can be combined and adapted to the economic constraints of each specific farm by using decision support tools that consider crop value, yield benefits and the costs of adopting each alternative ICP component and practice Garibaldi et al., 2017;Isaacs et al., 2017 Maximization of economic returns from pollinator-dependent crops, resilience to crop-pollination threats, additional income from hive product revenues, benefits from other enhanced farmland ecosystem services, reduced health risks from occupational and dietary exposure to pesticidesIn addition to the introduced European honeybee (A. mellifera), other bees that can be managed for their hive products and crop pollination include many stingless bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini), which constitute the most diverse group of eusocial tropical bees, the Asian honeybee (A. cerana) and a few Bombus species that are only reared for their crop pollination services. The integration of meliponiculture (i.e., keeping and managing native stingless bee species) in legume seed production systems can benefit farmers directly, through revenues from selling hive products, and indirectly due to an improved crop pollination, including that of legume forages.Beekeeping may also help raise the awareness of farmers with regard to the importance of adopting pollinator-friendly farm practices (e.g., sowing annual flowering plant strips to offer floral resources for pollinators throughout the year, integrated pest management, reduced insecticide application and minimizing pollinator poisoning by limiting insecticide applications to periods of low pollinator activity)Income diversification and additional income (hive products, legume seed sales and increased yields of other pollinator dependent crops), home production and consumption of honey and propolis with characteristic physicochemical properties linked to traditional medicine, preservation of traditional knowledge and practices, employment creation (including the establishment of a local industry of handcrafted wooden beehives and the commercialization of other beekeeping supplies), benefits from other enhanced farmland ecosystem services and opportunities for women and youth in rural communities, which can help preventing rural exodusThe versatility of SPS allows matching plant functional groups-including multiple leguminous herb, shrub and tree species-with pollinator functional groups Fontaine et al., 2006;Woodcock et al., 2014 Promote biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services beyond carbon sequestration Phelan et al., 2015;Suso et al., 2016;Wu et al., 2017;Otieno et al., 2020 Public Another financing model could be a cooperation amongst seed producers/beekeepers and companies who wish to green their image and are willing to finance the establishment of local seed production plots with integrated meliponiculture. The establishment of seed multiplication plots, seed marketing and beekeeping also require access to different knowledge sets, such as legume seed production, treatment and marketing, beekeeping, and honey production, or product differentiation. Already existing knowledge should be integrated into the rural extension system, which also needs to be strengthened in reach and content (i.e., harmonization of different approaches to assure homogeneity of concepts and avoid confusion among producers) (Bravo et al., 2018;Charry et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018). Knowledge that helps to put the innovations into practice and facilitates scaling processes should be generated through research, i.e., regarding the adaptation to and selection of legumes for specific agro-ecological conditions and seed production, bee species for integrated meliponiculture, the ecology of plant-pollinator interactions, or pollinator diseases and invasiveness. Likewise, research should focus on the additional environmental and productive benefits of legume seed production with integrated meliponiculture, e.g., regarding GHG emissions, biodiversity, soil health, profitability or risk.There is a vast diversity of forage legumes, of which a sample is safeguarded in the CGIAR gene banks (i.e., over 22,000 accessions of 72 species). Although the CGIAR gene banks hold the world's largest collection of tropical forage species (Alliance of Bioversity International-CIAT, 2020), this remains as a largely unexplored source of genetic material, key for the evaluation of legumes for sustainable intensification scenarios, seed production and integrated meliponiculture.Regarding meliponiculture, legislation and codes of practice, such as those established by Colombia's Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Southern Amazon (Corpoamazonia, 2016), must be set in place and enforced in order to avoid the overexploitation of native stingless bees, while promoting their sustainable use and propagation by smallholders and beekeepers. This is important considering the threat that the extraction and relocation of stingless bee colonies from their habitats imposes to their wild populations, not least because of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the parasites and diseases they carry. Additionally, research efforts need to be directed at harmonizing quality standards and export requirement specifications for the diversity of stingless bee honeys, in order to meet their increasing global demand as food and/or medicine, which could be seen as an additional opportunity for improved and diversified rural livelihoods.Compared to grass monoculture pastures, which when largely expanded are associated with a homogenized vegetation and the application of insecticides and herbicides, silvo-pastoral systems improve biodiversity and offer promising results regarding the restoration of habitats and pollinator populations in agroecosystems, especially if combined with integrated crop pollination and native beekeeping. Nevertheless, research and adaptive farm management efforts should be considered for each agroecological context in order to leverage the potential pollinator conservation synergies from the interaction between traditional management practices and the natural regeneration processes of legume populations in legume-based silvo-pastoral systems.The development of pollinator friendly environments, based on forage-legumes and SPS and their introduction into cattle systems, brings several benefits, including the (i) provision of habitats for pollinators on decline, and (ii) promotion of legume seed yield considered as barrier to the wider adoption of grass-legume, forage banks, or tree legume systems such as SPS. Higher seed yield makes it easier for seed producers to establish a business model to supply others to intensify or renew their forage-based cattle systems. It also allows the creation of different revenues such as those coming from bee farming (i.e., meliponiculture). The benefits from the interplay of pollinators and forage legumes can be further extended to the landscape level, affecting positively the yield of nearby pollinator-dependent crops. Furthermore, benefits of pollinators from cattle production systems can extend upon nearby ecosystems that might be fragmented or under decline due to several factors. For these pollination-based benefits to occur, enabling conditions, including policies, payment schemes for ecosystem services, incentives or new value chains, must be in place.Seed availability is a bottleneck for the inclusion of legumes in cattle production systems at scale. It is noteworthy, however, that small scale cattle producers in Tropical Latin America often use and conserve native legumes in their production systems. These small-scale producers can be considered guardians of legume diversity and related knowledge (e.g., management and synergies/antagonism between grasses and legumes). Sadly, this knowledge is often neglected by topdown approaches driven by researchers or business interests. To counteract this shortcoming, approaches are needed that recognize small cattle producers' knowledge, and that foster their strategies for integrating legumes into their local farming systems in a sustainable and profitable manner. Likewise, increasing the forage legume seed availability might not result in impacts at scale unless measures are introduced and disseminated among farmers to ensure pasture management that favors the inclusion of legumes. In this sense, research and incentives are needed regarding, for example, rotational grazing and grazing pressure, weeding, burning, the use of agrochemicals, and the selection of Gramineae compatible with legume species.In many parts of the foothills of the Orinoquía region of Colombia, cattle production takes place on poorly drained soils. The region is dominated by extensive grazing systems of Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola, a grass with high adaptation potential under temporal waterlogging conditions. Inadequate management practices and low soil fertility result in degradation, however, with important negative effects on pasture productivity and the quality and provision of (soil) ecosystem services-a situation that is likely to worsen in the near future due to climate change. Against this background, AGROSAVIA (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria) selected Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro (Centauro) as a promising alternative for the sustainable intensification of livestock production and rehabilitation of degraded areas. This study assesses dual-purpose milk production in the foothills of the Colombian Orinoquía from an economic perspective. We compare two production systems: the Centauro-Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola association (new system) and Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola as a monoculture (traditional system). We used cashflow and risk assessment models to estimate economic indicators. The projections for economic returns consider changes in forage characteristics under regional climate change scenarios RCP (2.6, 8.5). The LIFE-SIM model was used to simulate dairy production. Results show that the inclusion of Centauro has the potential to increase animal productivity and profitability under different market scenarios. The impact of climatic variables on forage production is considerable in both climate change scenarios. Both total area and potential distribution of Centauro could change, and biomass production could decline. Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola showed better persistence due to higher nitrogen levels in soil when grown in association with Centauro. The legume also provides a number of ecosystem services, such as improving soil structure and composition, and also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This helps to improve the adaptation and mitigation capacity of the system.In many parts of the foothills of the Orinoquía region of Colombia, cattle production takes place on poorly drained soils. Consequently, extensive grazing systems characterize the region and Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola is the most common feed option to be found. It was introduced in the 1970s in order to improve the production of the region, due to its high adaptation potential under temporal waterlogging conditions and good forage production (ICA, 1987). As a result of inappropriate management practices and low soil fertility in the region, however, most of these pastures are, today, in some state of degradation (Rincón et al., 2018). This has led to a significant reduction in pasture productivity, as well as negative effects on the quality and provision of soil ecosystem services (Fonte et al., 2014;Galdino et al., 2015), generating important economic and ecological implications for the region. Cattle and dairy production are considered to be one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions, derived from the digestion process of the animals (methane and nitrous oxide emissions), the use of nitrogen fertilizers, as well as the expansion of productive areas through deforestation or the invasion of protected areas (CIAT CORMACARENA, 2018). The cattle sector is therefore considered one of the key sectors for interventions with great potential for climate change mitigation. In this sense, achieving intensive livestock farming in a sustainable way has become one of the main approaches for sector development in the Orinoquía.In short, this means more efficient cattle farms which consider, protect and sustainably use existing water and environmental resources, allowing for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation levels. This focus is particularly important for the Orinoquía, which is recognized for its strategic environmental importance with ecosystems of high conversation value, such as natural savannas, flooded forests, humid forests, foothills, estuaries and wetlands. The need to achieve more efficient cattle farming without affecting natural ecosystems is enshrined in the most recent Regional Climate Change Plan for the Orinoquía (CIAT CORMACARENA, 2018), which is aligned with the national approaches defined in the Strategic Plan for the Colombian Cattle Sector from 2019 (FEDEGAN, 2018) 1 .This context is likely to aggravate under a climate change scenario that would accelerate soil degradation processes (Olsson et al., 2019), especially when combined with unsustainable land use or poor management practices (Sattler et al., 2018). According to the climate projections for the Orinoquía to 2100, annual precipitation will decrease and maximum temperatures will increase, leading to periods of more extreme heat and heat stress (IDEAM, 2015). These forecasts would affect livestock production mainly through (i) changes in biomass production and quality of forages, which translates into a decrease in milk and meat production, and (ii) heat stress in animals, which leads to significant losses in production, growth, development and reproduction (CIAT CORMACARENA, 2018). Furthermore, not only projected mean changes can have an impact, but also changes in the variability and strength of extreme weather events, leading to significant consequences for livestock production (e.g., increased frequency of heat stress, drought events and floods; Thornton et al., 2009). The effect of these climatic phenomena is also reflected at the macroeconomic level via prices, because when faced with climatic events, food prices tend to vary, generating transitory inflationary pressures (Melo et al., 2017). As a result of reductions in precipitation levels caused by the El Niño phenomenon, for example, a reduction in agricultural supply is generated, which in turn leads to temporary price increases (Melo et al., 2017).Apart from the climatic impacts on local production systems, the increasing demand for animal source food (OECD/FAO, 2020) creates pressure on livestock producers to extend production areas. In the case of the Orinoquía, this can cause increasing rates of deforestation and a penetration of important local ecosystems (such as native savannas), leading to irreversible changes within, and losses of, local ecosystems, biodiversity and cultural heritage, aggravating climate change even further.In this sense, there is an increasingly pressing need to implement sustainable production systems with greater capacity for adaptation and mitigation to climate change, systems that contribute to maintaining, improving and protecting local ecosystems. One of the most promising alternatives to achieve the previous objectives, as well as to restore degraded areas, is the use of forage legumes in livestock systems (Fisher et al., 1994;Shelton et al., 2005;Murgueitio et al., 2011;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018). Their high protein content improves nutritional values and the efficiency of animal feed, which in turn reduces enteric methane emissions (Dickie et al., 2014). Legumes also contribute Nitrogen (N) to the soil through symbiotic N fixation that improves both soil fertility and forage persistence (Rao et al., 2014;Villegas et al., 2020). According to Fisher et al. (1994), the association of deeprooted grasses with nitrogen-fixing legumes has three important effects, namely (i) increased nutrient cycling, (ii) improved animal production, and (iii) increased soil biological activity, and thus play a key role in restoration, stabilizing the global carbon cycle and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to that, they provide many other ecosystem services, such as improved soil structure, water infiltration, increased carbon accumulation, favored biological activity, and contributions to weed control and soil conservation (Jensen et al., 2012;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018).As part of the research efforts to identify forage legumes adapted to the specific conditions of temporary water saturation in the Orinoquía foothills, AGROSAVIA started evaluating 22 promising legumes in 2013. After 3 years of agronomic evaluations, Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro (Centauro) was selected as the most promising material for release. It presents desirable characteristics in both productive terms (e.g., good nutritional quality, less weed presence, greater foliar area, absence of pests and diseases) and environmental terms (e.g., better soil coverage and, consequently, less susceptibility to soil erosion) and has high potential for integration in silvo-pastoral systems (shade tolerance) (Rincón et al., 2020). These characteristics make Centauro a good alternative for the purposes of sustainable intensification and restoration of degraded pastures in the region. When it comes to new technologies, however, land-use and adoption decisions by the livestock producer are mainly based on the profitability promises that the technology can generate (Pannell et al., 2006). Profitability is a fundamental attribute to incentivize or generate adoption, information which, in many cases, is not available to the livestock producer or the extension agents supporting decision-making processes. Profitability is not, however, the only measure since other factors exist that contribute to incentivizing or discouraging the adoption of new technologies, such as cultural, behavioral or environmental factors.Regarding economic studies on the inclusion of Arachis pintoi in livestock systems, limited advances have been made so far. Most of them were carried out by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Latin America more than two decades ago. These studies mainly dealt with measuring the effects on different economic indicators of the inclusion of Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434 in grazing systems. Rivas and Holmann (2000) evaluated changes that occurred between 1986 and 1997 in productive and economic indicators in farms in the Colombian Caquetá Department that were early adopters of the Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434 variety. According to their results, production levels of both meat and milk more than doubled with the inclusion of the legume, reflected in higher gross yields per hectare (6%) and animal (20%). Based on these results, the same authors carried out an ex-ante evaluation estimating an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of between 19.3 and 21.1% resulting from the inclusion of the legume-which equates to an increase compared to the traditional production system (IRR = 12%). Evaluations in Costa Rica estimated a 30% reduction in production costs per kilogram of milk associated with the inclusion of Arachis pintoi and Cratylia (Peters et al., 2001). Also in Costa Rica, Jansen et al. (1997) estimated an IRR of 122% in a well-managed grass-legume association of Brachiaria brizantha and Arachis pintoi. For the Amazon region of Brazil, Valentim and Andrade (2005) estimated a gross profit per year of US$ 4,000 generated by the adoption of Arachis pintoi by ∼1,000 cattle producers. According to our literature review, neither more recent economic analyses nor any quantitative risk assessments or climate change impact estimates were found for Arachis pintoi, nor the new CIAT 22160 Centauro variety. Our study therefore contributes to closing an important knowledge gap and provides updated information on the new Centauro variety, released in 2020, in order to facilitate dissemination and adoption processes for the actors involved (e.g., cattle producers, extension agents, development agencies or donors).In this sense, the objective of our study is to evaluate the economic viability of milk production in a dual-purpose cattle system in the foothills region of the Colombian Orinoquía under a grass-legume association with Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola and Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro (grasslegume association). We compare these results with a traditional production system under a Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola monoculture (grass monoculture). In order to estimate economic indicators, we used a cashflow model and conducted a risk assessment using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The projection of economic returns is carried out considering changes in forage characteristics (dry matter production) for both production systems as a response to changes in projected climatic variables, according to the climate change scenarios for the Representative Concentration Pathways of the region (RCP 2.6 and 8.5;IDEAM, 2015). It also includes potential effects on price variations as a consequence of recurring climatic events (El Niño and La Niña). With this information, profitability indicators for each system (e.g., Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return) are calculated and help in the identification of the treatment with better adaptability under climate change scenarios.Historical Review: Technical Evaluation Processes of Arachis pintoi in ColombiaThe evaluation of Arachis genotypes in Colombia began in 1978 with the introduction of 45 accessions from germplasm collections in the U.S. [i.e., from the University of Florida and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)] by CIAT to its Carimagua Research Center in the Orinoquía region (Rincón et al., 1992). These accessions have been wild-collected since 1981 by USDA, EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) and CIAT (Valls and Pizarro, 1995). Arachis species are present in countries such as Brazil (more than 60 wild species), Bolivia (15), Paraguay ( 14), Argentina (6), and Uruguay (2) (Valls and Pizarro, 1995).From 1987 to 1990, CIAT (in collaboration with other institutions) worked on the selection of Arachis pintoi germplasm with potential for adaptation to acid soils and to restore large areas of degraded pastures in the Colombian Caquetá Department. The grass-legume association of Arachis pintoi with various species of Brachiaria was identified as the most promising solution (Lascano et al., 2005), and after several years of research, the variety Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434 (perennial forage peanut) was released in 1992. The variety is characterized by its good adaptation to climate and soil conditions in the Colombia Orinoquía but also has some important limitations such as slow establishment, low forage production during the first 2 years and high defoliation rate in the dry season (Rincón, 2001). In an attempt to solve these problems, the evaluation of new Arachis pintoi accessions was taken up in 1994 in various South American countries (Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). The accession CIAT 22160 was among the evaluated materials. This accession is native to Brazil, was found in the eastern Andes, between the Amazon and La Plata rivers, and was collected in 1992 by the researcher Wantuil Werneck and delivered to the CIAT gene bank by EMBRAPA (Brazil).The first evaluations of this material were made in Brazil in 1994 together with another 49 Arachis pintoi accessions. CIAT 22160 stood out for presenting high persistence during the dry season (CIAT, 1994). In Colombia, the earliest evaluation records of CIAT 22160 were documented by Moreno et al. (1999), Cárdenas et al. (1999), andPeters et al. (2000) as part of a multilocational trial with several Arachis pintoi accessions. The objective was to find alternatives to Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434 (perennial forage peanut) with higher adaptability. The evaluated accessions were acquired by CIAT between 1993 and1994 from EMBRAPA-CENARGEN (Brazil) and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA, Argentina) (CIAT, 1994). The experiments were established between 1994 and 1995 in different locations: (i) 39 accessions in a tropical dry forest (Moreno et al., 1999), (ii) 41 accessions in a very humid premontane forest (Cárdenas et al., 1999), and (iii) 61 accessions in a very humid forest ecosystem (Peters et al., 2000). Accession CIAT 22160 was identified as promising material for very humid tropical forests, with superior characteristics to the control variety (Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434), such as greater rooting, faster growth, higher dry matter production and a more efficient use of Phosphorus (CIAT, 2002). The first evaluation of CIAT 22160 in the Colombian Orinoquía was conducted by Rincón (2001) with 11 Arachis pintoi accessions (Arachis pintoi CIAT 17434 as control variety). Rincón (2001) established two experiments at the CORPOICA (now AGROSAVIA) research center La Libertad in the Meta Department on poorly drained soils, leading to a preselection of the three best performing accessions according to their agronomic performance: Arachis pintoi 22160, 18748, and 18744. All three accessions stood out for their high dry matter production (>1 ton/ha) and level of soil cover (>70%) (Rincón, 2001).In 2013, CORPOICA (now AGROSAVIA) started the evaluation of Arachis pintoi under temporary flooding conditions in the Orinoquía (Rincón and Pesca, 2017). Trials were established at the research center La Libertad in the Meta Department under medium drainage conditions and included 22 Arachis pintoi accessions. Each accession was established in plots with an area of 6 m 2 , in a complete random block design with three repetitions. From 2013 to 2014, a series of agronomic evaluations were carried out that led to the preselection of four accessions (22160, 18748, 18744, and 17434) which were then evaluated at the agronomic level during both the dry and rainy seasons. After another year of evaluation, the Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 was selected for grazing trials as a result of its outstanding attributes of soil cover, persistence, competition with weeds, forage production and nutritional quality.The grazing trials were carried out from February 2016 to April 2017 at the farm Los Arrayanes, and from October 2019 to February 2020 at the farm El Recreo, both located in the Orinoquía region and presenting temporary flooding conditions. The accession CIAT 22160 was established in August 2015 in both locations with vegetative material, in an area of 2000 m 2 and in association with the grass Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola (grass-legume association). Productivity results were compared with data obtained from a monoculture grazing trial with the grass Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola (grass monoculture). Animal productivity was measured in lactating cows under a dual-purpose system. The animals were supplemented, in both treatments (grass monoculture and grass-legume association) with 8% mineralized salt at an amount of 80 g AU −1 d −1 throughout the year. Cut grass silage was supplied during the daily milking time at an amount of 2 kg/animal/d for ∼180 days a year. In order to maintain pasture productivity levels, maintenance fertilization and weed control were performed once a year for both treatments. Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) (100 kg ha −1 ) and Sulgamac (100 kg ha −1 ) were applied for the grass-legume association. For the grass monoculture urea (100 kg ha −1 ) was added to DAP and Sulgamac. The results of these measurements (biomass production, nutritional quality and animal response) for each treatment are presented in Table 1, since our economic analysis is based on these technical parameters obtained in the study by Rincón et al. (2020), previously described.Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 was identified by AGROSAVIA as a promising material to improve the quality of cattle feed in the Colombian Orinoquía, especially under poorly drained soil conditions (Rincón et al., 2020). It was released in 2020 under the common name Centauro (Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro), but its commercialization will only begin in 2022 in accordance with private sector seed production schedules.Centauro is a perennial herbaceous forage legume with prostrate growth. It has an average height of 20 cm and a leaf-stem ratio of 1.4 (60% leaves and 40% stems) (Rincón et al., 2020). Its flower is generally self-pollinated but can also be cross-pollinated by bees. The first flowers appear at a plant age of 14-55 days (Simpson et al., 1995). Centauro has a wide range of adaptation, from low acid soils to high fertility soils, with a soil texture ranging from sandy loam to clay loam and with good or poor drainage. In addition, it grows well in tropical regions from 0 to 1,800 m elevation and with an annual rainfall between 1,200 and 4,000 mm. It is characterized by a high biomass production and forage quality (Table 1), and its leaf crude protein levels vary between 15 and 18%. It adapts well in association with invasive Gramineae or in silvo-pastoral systems (good shade tolerance), has strong persistence, competes with weeds, and is tolerant to several pests and diseases. Its prostrate and invasive growth results in soil cover levels of >90%, favoring the reduction of soil compaction and erosion (Rincón et al., 2020).Potential Ecosystem Services of Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. CentauroThe inclusion of Centauro in forage-based livestock systems has high potential regarding the provision of ecosystem services. In grazing systems, different studies have shown a high persistence of Arachis pintoi with positive effects on soil conservation and improving soil conditions (Rincón, 1999;CIAT, 2004;Castillo-Gallegos et al., 2005;Robertson, 2005;Valentim and Andrade, 2005). These positive effects are mainly associated with high production of seed below ground, a prostrate growth habit that invades bare soil, as well as tolerance to trampling and defoliation, protecting the arable soil layer and, therefore, avoiding degradation and erosion processes (Rincón, 1999;Rincón et al., 2020). Under animal grazing trials, grass-legume associations with Arachis pintoi have not shown signs of degradation after several years of grazing (e.g., Lascano, 1994;Rincón, 1999;Valentim and Andrade, 2005). Arachis pintoi has positive effects on the soil organic matter content and soil biodiversity (Rincón, 2001), improving the physical, chemical and biological soil conditions and avoiding erosion associated with overgrazing, but may reduce above ground biodiversity.Arachis pintoi can also improve the persistence of the associated grasses resulting from a symbiotic nitrogen fixation to the soil, which is then used by the grass (Villegas et al., 2020). For example, Dubeux et al. (2017) estimated a range of 123 to 280 kg ha −1 yr −1 of fixed nitrogen in six Arachis pintoi accessions, and Pereira et al. ( 2019) evaluated beef production in an associated system of Brachiaria brizhanta and Arachis pintoi (cv. Belomonte), estimating a minimum nitrogen fixation of 120 kg ha −1 yr −1 . The higher contribution of nitrogen not only represents a strategy for the restoration of degraded pastures, but also contributes to reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizers and, therefore, to reducing nitrous oxide emissions. Other studies focused on estimating the effect of Arachis pintoi accessions on carbon levels and other elements in the soil. Nutrient uptake in Brachiaria humidicola monoculture pastures and in grasslegume associations of Brachiaria humidicola and Arachis pintoi in acid soils with low fertility was, for example, measured in the Orinoquía, showing that the inclusion of Arachis pintoi increased the nitrogen, calcium, potassium and phosphorus availability in the soil by 130, 133, 19, and 13%, respectively (CIAT, 1994). In evaluations in the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica and the humid forest of the Colombian Amazon, different grass-legume associations with Arachis pintoi showed statistically higher levels of carbon reserves in the soil than in the native forest (Amézquita et al., 2004). In the Orinoquía, the inclusion of Arachis pintoi in a Brachiaria humidicola pasture notably increased the amount of carbon in the soil (CIAT, 1994). Arachis pintoi also helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with ruminal fermentation processes (higher nutritional quality of the forage) and the application of nitrogen fertilizers, while contributing to the intensification of cattle systems through productivity and increases in animal carrying capacity (Rincón et al., 2020).The present study's economic analysis is based on a discounted cash flow model and the estimation of profitability indicators, such as Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). These indicators are obtained assuming the most probable values of the model variables (associated with benefits and costs). The analysis is carried out by comparing the profitability indicators for the grass-legume association and the grass monoculture. The cash flow allows ordering and synthesizing the sequence of income, costs and investments associated with the evaluated technologies. The following cost categories were considered: total costs of establishment and maintenance of each treatment, opportunity costs of capital and operating costs (animal health, supplementation, permanent and occasional labor). The benefits are derived from milk production in a dualpurpose system, according to the animal response indicators obtained for each treatment (Table 1).For the construction of the cash flow it is necessary to establish different economic and technical assumptions. The following sections provide detailed explanations for each of them.Given that productivity was measured only for daily milk production (see section Research on Arachis pintoi in the Neotropics), the other technical indicators are assumed to be the same for both treatments and were described by consulting average values reported for the study region: (i) 550 days calving interval; (ii) calf age of 9 months and weight of 150 kg at weaning; and (iii) lactation time of 8.5 months. AGROSAVIA researchers verified these indicators for the region.The evaluation horizon is established according to the expected lifespan of a technology under evaluation. For the evaluation of the grass-legume association and the grass monoculture, a period of 10 years (2020-2029) was defined, which is in accordance with the productive lifespan for improved pastures (Riesco and Seré, 1985). It is, however, worthwhile mentioning that improved pastures can have a much longer productive lifespan if managed adequately (e.g., in terms of grazing and fertilization).The cost of financing is chosen as the discount rate according to the rural credit lines of FINAGRO (the Colombian Fund for the Financing of the Agricultural Sector). This financing cost is considered the opportunity cost of capital and is associated with a risk factor present in the activities of the rural sector. The following discount rate was therefore established: DTF (fixedterm deposit rate) + 5% effective annual interest rate. The projection of the discount rate in the corresponding periods was made following the DTF projections according to the Annual Report on Economic Projections Colombia 2020 (Bancolombia-Dirección de Investigaciones Económicas, 2020).The required permanent labor is defined according to the weighting factors for labor established by FEDEGAN (2003). In a dual-purpose cattle system, 4.8 permanent jobs are needed for every 100 animals. The minimum salary for 2019 was used, including transportation assistance, contributions to social security, and social and parafiscal benefits, adding up to US$ 422 per month. For salary projections during the period of analysis (2020-2029), the following was assumed: Variation of the minimum salary (in %) = expected inflation (in %) + observed variation of workforce productivity (WP, in %). A WP of 1% is assumed, according to historical estimates from national statistics (DANE, 2020a).Inflation is considered for estimating revenue and cost streams during the evaluation period. For revenues, the projection of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) estimated by Bancolombia-Dirección de Investigaciones Económicas (2020) for the period 2020-2023 was considered. For production costs, the Producer Price Index (PPI) estimated by DANE (2020b) was used. Milk Price. Price information was obtained from the Milk Price Monitoring Unit (USP) for the predefined Region 2, where dual-purpose production systems predominate (MADR/USP, 2020). The prices were projected according to the CPI projections. Additionally, we included projections for the effect of extreme climatic events (El Niño and La Niña phenomena) on milk price variations. Abril et al. (2017) quantified climate impacts on food inflation in Colombia. According to their results, after the occurrence of an El Niño or La Niña phenomenon, food inflation increases significantly between four and 5 months later (increasingly when the intensity of the phenomenon is strong), and its response is asymmetric depending on the impacts and size of the shock. This directly affects the income received by producers and household purchasing power in Colombia. Regarding milk prices, variations have been >7% in the years with such climatic events, compared to variations of <1% in years without (DANE, 2020a,b). The variation margin of the CPI was assumed for the occurrence climatic phenomena as follows: (i) the spread of the CPI vs. the CPI of milk in 2018 was assumed as the spread that the price of milk would have against the national CPI for a scenario where no climatic phenomenon occurs; (ii) the spread of the CPI vs. the milk CPI of 2015-2016 was assumed as the spread that the price of milk would have against the national CPI for a scenario where a climatic phenomenon occurs; (iii) variations in the CPI of 7% with a climatic phenomenon and <1% without are considered (Figure 1); and (iv) both the CPI and CPI for milk were obtained from DANE (DANE, 2020b,c).Risk is defined as the possibility that the real return on an investment is less than the expected return (Park, 2007). Profitability is therefore associated with the variability of revenue and cost streams, and these in turn depend on the randomness of the main variables of the investment project (e.g., yields, market prices). Rural investment projects involve particular risks, and their results depend on a broad set of variables which, in many cases, cannot be controlled by the investor/producer (e.g., climatic factors). In this sense, it is necessary to incorporate risk levels associated with the profitability indicators for each of the evaluated investment alternatives. For this purpose, we apply a Monte Carlo simulation model. The accuracy of simulation models depends on the quality of the input data. In this study, for example, the milk production data under each treatment was derived from onfarm measurements carried out during representative periods (i.e., rainy and dry seasons; section Evaluation of Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 Under Temporary Flooding Conditions). We consider this data reliable, reflecting the distribution and real behavior of the variable observed by the technical team. Cost data and possible variations of its values were constructed with experts from AGROSAVIA according to the real conditions of cattle producers in the region in terms of prices and quantities used.Monte Carlo simulation is a method in which a random sample of results is generated for a specific probability distribution (Park, 2007). This method allows potential investors or decision makers to see all the possible results and to evaluate the impact of risk on profitability indicators in investment projects. To perform the simulation, it is necessary to determine the random input variables (those that can have more than one possible value) and the possible range values for each. These variables are assigned a probability distribution, to later calculate the determined profitability indicators. Monte Carlo simulation was performed with the software @Risk (Paladise Corporation). For the evaluated treatments, 5,000 iterations were performed with a confidence level of 95%.As decision criteria, the mean values and the variance of the profitability indicators resulting from the simulation are used: Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) [Equations (1,2)]. The use of the mean value criterion is based on the law of large numbers, which establishes that, if many repetitions of an experiment are carried out, the average result will tend toward the expected value (Park, 2007). The variance of the indicators determines the degree of spread or dispersion on both sides of the mean value (Park, 2007). That is, the lower the variance, the lower the variability (loss potential) associated with  (1)Where, E (FCt): Expected value of the net profit flow for period t Var (FCt): Net profit flow variance for period t. r: Real discount rate r * : Internal rate of return t: Evaluation horizon of the project The NPV at risk indicator (VaR) is also estimated and the probability of success of the evaluated investments is estimated (Prob NPV (mean) > 0). The VaR is defined as the maximum expected loss that the project could suffer from investment in a time interval and with a certain level of confidence (Park, 2007). The probability of success is defined as the proportion of positive results of all interactions (NPV > 0, the project is economically viable). A sensitivity analysis was performed using a tornado graph, which sensitizes each variable in order to measure its impact on the profitability indicators and to identify within the critical variables those with the greatest effects on the profitability indicators.The study considers how sensitive the economic results are to changes in the main variables of the model. Table 1 shows the variables identified as risk variables and the distributions and parameters used for modeling them. For modeling the milk production variable for the grass-legume association and the grass monoculture, a distribution adjustment of the data was performed with @Risk.Economic Evaluation Under Climate Change Scenarios RCP 2.6 and 8.5The effect of climate change on livestock productivity was determined by comparing forage biomass production under a baseline (current) scenario with estimated levels under climate change scenarios. We used two climate change scenarios for the region: RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 (Armenta et al., 2015). To identify the main environmental factors that affect the productivity of the evaluated treatments, as well as the magnitude of the effect, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. The delta identified in both climate change scenarios was applied to each of these environmental factors, to estimate the monthly biomass production per hectare. This delta refers to the change in climatic variables between one scenario and another. It is important to note that the model is only considering changes in the climatic variables of the RCP, keeping constant the assumptions of pasture and soil management, level of technology, investment in labor and animal characteristics.In addition to possible changes at the productive level of the forage species, the change in environmental conditions under climate change scenarios can alter the potential distribution of plant species. In other words, the species would tend to modify their distribution toward latitudes and altitudes different to those where they are currently found (Walther et al., 2005). To identify this possible effect, the maximum entropy model Maxent (version 3.4.1;Phillips et al., 2021) was used. The model makes it possible to estimate the extent of future environments and to determine, in the case of the legume Arachis, if and where conditions similar to the current environments exist.The Maxent model requires two input streams: (i) points of presence (distribution) of the species throughout the world and, (ii) bioclimatic variables. The current distribution points of Arachis were downloaded from Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org, 2020) with more than 600 points of presence which, after cleaning outliers and anomalous data, reached just over 300 total points. The second input of the Maxent model were the bioclimatic variables for RCP 2.6 and 8.5 obtained from Navarro-Racines et al. (2020). These variables represent annual trends (e.g., mean annual temperature and precipitation), seasonality (e.g., annual ranges of temperature and precipitation) and extreme or limiting environmental factors (e.g., temperature of the coldest and warmest month, precipitation of humidity).Based on the forage production estimates under climate change scenarios (section Potential Ecosystem Services of Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro), milk production estimations were performed in the LIFE-SIM model (version Dairy 15.1), developed by the International Potato Center (CIP; León-Velarde et al., 2006). In this model, milk production estimations are based on the characteristics of the animals, forages and climatic conditions (temperature, humidity and wind speed) (León-Velarde et al., 2006). Tables 2, 3 and 4 present the information used in the model. The analysis did not consider episodes of heat stress in the animals, which could also affect milk production. Weight after delivery (kg) 380Birth weight (kg) 28Weight loss during lactation (%) 8Expected weight at next delivery (kg) 412.2Fat content of milk (%) 3Protein content of (%) 3.1Non-fat solids content of milk (%) 8.7Animal fur thickness (mm) 2Based on the results of milk production under the climate change scenarios ( Table 5 shows the average costs and revenues for the grasslegume association and the grass monoculture, respectively. The models include the variable costs and revenues associated with  the establishment of each technology under a dual-purpose production system. The revenue results from the sale of raw milk and the sale of weaned calves (150 kg) every 550 days (calving interval). According to average daily milk production, the inclusion of Centauro in the system (grass-legume) allowed an increase in milk production per hectare by, on average, 52% when compared to grass in monoculture. Particularly during the months of minimal rainfall (dry season from January to March), grass-legume showed greater persistence and, consequently, a more stable milk production. The average production was 2,373 l ha −1 yr −1 for the grass-legume association and 1,560 l ha −1 yr −1 for the grass monoculture, respectively. This is equivalent to a gross income from raw milk sales of US$ 822 and US$ 518, respectively, representing a 58% increase for the grass-legume association.Regarding production costs, labor (63%) makes up the largest share, followed by inputs for pastures (21%), supplements (8.5%), drugs (1.2%), and other costs (5%). The unit production cost of milk is US$ 0.23 for the grass-legume association and US$ 0.31 for the grass monoculture, respectively, representing 35% lower costs for the grass-legume association. The average net profit for the year is US$ 212 for the grass-legume association and US$ −6.95 for the grass monoculture. Under these assumptions, production under the grass monoculture is unprofitable, a consequence of the low productive indicators associated with this alternative. It is important, however, to highlight the social connotation of dual-purpose systems in the country: given the cash flow provided by the sale of raw milk, its high nutritional value and the relatively low barriers for getting involved in the business, it is still an attractive alternative for many producers, from which they derive the subsistence for their family. This exercise includes the required labor costs (permanent and occasional), valued at the minimum salary (plus benefits). These costs could, however, reflect the opportunity cost of family labor that, in many cases, is not accounted for within the cost structures, but rather represents part of the household income.TABLE 5 | Summary of main costs and revenues for the grass-legume association and the grass monoculture.Grass-legume association Grass monocultureMilk production (l ha −1 y −1 ) 2,373 1,560Gross income from milk sales (US$ ha −1 y −1 ) 834.2 548.6Gross income from weaned calf sales (US$ ha −1 y −1 ) 489.5 257.0Pasture establishment costs (US$ ha −1 ) a 642 450Production costs (US$ ha −1 y −1 ) 787.9 699.7Net income system (US$ ha −1 y −1 ) 212.0 −7.0a Includes the costs associated with soil analysis, machinery rental, inputs and labor required for soil preparation, fertilization, weed control, and planting of the material for both treatments.Vegetative material and labor costs for planting the legume are added to the items required for the establishment of a grass in monoculture. The summary of the main financial indicators obtained from the Monte Carlo simulation is presented in Table 6 Under the assumptions used in the model and according to the indicator coefficient of variation (CV) and VaR, the inclusion of Centauro in the grass-legume association allows better economic and lower risk indicators to be obtained when compared with Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola as a monoculture. The results indicate that the investment in the establishment of the grass-legume association is profitable, with an average NPV of US$ 121 and an IRR of 12.2%. Regarding the probability of not obtaining financial feasibility, the results of the NPV probability distribution are presented in Figure 3 and reflect the amplitude of the variation for the NPV indicator. For the grass-legume association, in 60.9% of the scenarios generated during the simulation, an NPV > 0 was obtained, whereas for the grass monoculture, the investment was not profitable under any of the generated scenarios.Figure 4 shows the contribution of different input variables to the NPV variance as result of the simulation. These graphs represent the correlation that each input variable simulated in the model has with the NPV profitability indicator. As can be seen, the profitability of the treatments measured by the NPV indicator is highly sensitive to changes in the milk production variable for both treatments. The correlation between the NPV indicator and the milk production variable is positive, which means that changes in daily production affect the indicator by more than 90% for both treatments. This results from the high dependence on the income generated from milk production and the productivity levels in this system.Economic Evaluation Under Climate Change Scenarios RCP 2.6 and 8.5The estimates for dry matter production for the evaluated climate change scenarios are presented in Figure 5. According to the results, changes in the climatic variables in the RCP scenarios have notable impacts on the productivity of both treatments. For the grass-legume association, biomass production was reduced, on average, by 7.74 and 16.62% under RCP 2.5 and 8.5, respectively. For the grass monoculture, the reductions were 14.95 and 35.27% under RCP 2.5 and 8.5, respectively. The most influential environmental factors on productivity were average temperature and bio3 2 for the grass-legume association and precipitation7 3 and bio3 for the grass monoculture.In addition to the possible changes at the productive level of Arachis, projected changes in environmental conditions under climate change scenarios can alter its potential distribution. According to the results of the Maxent model, under RCP 2.6 (until 2050) a shift of suitable areas for Arachis toward higher altitudes would occur (Figure 6), meaning a decrease in their suitability for lower altitudes like the foothills or savannas. Under RCP 8.5, in addition to the described shift of suitable areas, a total reduction of the potential area for Arachis would occur (Figure 6).The effects of the climate change scenarios on forage biomass production translate into a strongly marked decrease in milk production for both treatments (Table 6). For the grass-legume association, during the first 3 months of the year (dry season) and compared to the current scenario, a decrease of close to 23% would occur under RCP 2.6 and 33% under RCP 8.5, respectively. These reductions are less marked during the rainy season but are still relevant for the low production volumes under this system. 3 precipitation 7 is a continuous variable representing the amount of rainfall per m 2 at a geographic point during the seventh month of the year (July).In the case of the grass monoculture, the change in climatic variables would cause a reduction of milk production during dry season of 63 and 67% for RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5, respectively. During rainy season, the effect on productivity would be above 40% for both RCP scenarios.The reduced milk production under both climate change scenarios leads to a leftward shift of the distribution curves for the NPV indicator in both treatments, when compared to the current scenario (Figure 7). The net income is reduced by 60 and 90% for the grass-legume association, and 113 and 131% for the grass monoculture under the scenarios RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5, respectively. Although including Centauro in the system has highly positive effects at the productive level and therefore on the economic performance, both climate change scenarios would affect the system in such a strong way that the investment in any of the treatments would not be profitable.The inclusion of the legume Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro in a monoculture of Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola allows an improvement in the technical parameters of the production system and results in better economic indicators. At the productive level, this association increased daily milk production by 14% on average and the animal stocking rate by 33% compared to the monoculture. This results from the higher crude protein content of the diet (39%), the higher dry matter production (14%) and the lower proportion of Acid Detergent Fiber that favors digestibility and, therefore, a better use of the available forage (Rincón et al., 2020). The higher milk production level in turn helps to improve the financial indicators of the association compared to the monoculture base scenario.These results (i.e., the increased milk productivity by 52% and the related increased income from milk sales by 58%) are consistent with (and even surpass the results of) different studies that have evaluated the potential of Arachis pintoi accessions (mainly CIAT 17434) in integrated grass-legume systems for livestock production in the tropics. These studies highlight, in comparison with monoculture pastures, improvements in both forage quantity and quality, a strong compatibility with aggressive Brachiaria species, as well as higher meat and milk production levels and stocking rate (Peters et al., 2011;Crestani et al., 2013;Pereira et al., 2019;Boddey et al., 2020;Villegas et al., 2020). Other studies show average increases in milk production of 31% in Colombia (Rivas and Holmann, 2000), 7 and 11.4% in Costa Rica (Peters et al., 2001;Romero andGonzález, 2004), and20% in Peru (Lara andReategui, 2004). In addition to milk yield increases, Romero and González (2004) found differences regarding the milk composition: both the milk protein (3.66 vs. 3.54%) and total solid contents (13.89 vs. 13.73%) were higher in a grass-legume association with Arachis pintoi than in a grass monoculture with Brachiaria. Regarding the animal stocking rate, the reported increases are between 33 and 50% in Colombia (1.5-2 AU ha −1 vs. 1 AU ha −1 ; Holmann, 2004), 29% in Brazil (2.26 vs. 1.6;Vasques et al., 2019), 50% in the Peruvian Amazon (4.13 vs. 2.07; Lara and Reategui, 2004), and 25% in Costa Rica (4.6 vs. 3.7; Romero and González, 2004). Other studies highlight successful cases of early adoption of Arachis accessions in livestock systems, e.g., in western Brazil (Valentim and Andrade, 2005), in the Colombian Caquetá Department (Lascano et al., 2005) and in northern Costa Rica (Wunscher et al., 2004), suggesting the relevance of, and the potential for dissemination, across different regions, for the technology evaluated in our study.The improvements in the economic indicators resulting from the inclusion of Centauro are also associated with improvements in the risk indicators. The probability of obtaining economic loss was reduced from 100 to 39.1%, for example. The sensitivity analysis shows that the daily milk production variable has the highest impact on the economic performance indicators. The monoculture is more sensitive to small reductions in milk production as when associated with Centauro. Changes of just 1% in milk production lead, however, to changes in profitability indicators of more than 90% in both systems. Since different empirical studies have shown that risk factors (perception of risk about future returns from implementing a new technology, and level of risk aversion of the producer) are determining factors in technology adoption (e.g., Marra et al., 2003;van Winsen et al., 2014;Trujillo-Barrera et al., 2016), there is reason to believe that the lower risk levels resulting from the inclusion of Centauro in the cattle production system will enhance technology adoption.The inclusion of different climate change scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5) in our models revealed the substantial impact that climatic variables have on forage production, both in terms of geographic distribution and available forage biomass. Until 2050, the available forage biomass would reduce in both systems, the grass monoculture and the grass-legume association. For the latter, however, reductions would be of a lower magnitude (maximum reduction of 16.6 vs. 35.3% for the monoculture). The highest losses are to be expected during dry season from January to March. These effects on forage productivity are the result of a combination of increased temperatures, variations in precipitation levels and atmospheric CO 2 concentrations caused by climate change (Thornton et al., 2009;Rojas-Downing et al., 2017). Not only would forage productivity be affected if the favorable environmental conditions changed but also the potential distribution of Centauro and other Arachis varieties. Centauro would migrate to higher altitudes more favorable for its development and the overall potential area for distribution would decrease. This could pave the way for the arrival of new (invasive) species or native grasses with a better adaptation capacity to the conditions projected for 2050. Although in our model we only made projections for Centauro, the impacts of climate change in the Orinoquía would also affect the distribution, quantity and quality of other forage species by up to 60% according to estimates provided by CIAT CORMACARENA (2018), putting livestock production in a difficult position.Although the modeled impacts from the climate change scenarios were relevant for both alternatives, the grass monoculture and the grass-legume association, the latter shows a better adaptation capacity. This can be attributed to the symbiotic effect between the legume and the grass associated with the contribution of nitrogen-fixing (Dubeux et al., 2017;Pereira et al., 2019;Villegas et al., 2020). The higher availability of N improves both the yields and persistence of the grass, and comes with the co-benefit of mitigating GHG emissions through reducing (i) methane emissions (as a result of an improved diet), and (ii) synthetic fertilizer use (resulting in lower N 2 O emissions). Simultaneously, Arachis has positive impacts on the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and contributes to increasing both soil microfauna and organic matter (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018). Arachis accessions in particular, offer dense soil cover and, therefore, prevent soil erosion problems (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018).The effects of climate change on forage biomass production would lead to a strong decrease in milk production in both systems. The grass-legume would, however, be less affected (-19%) than the grass monoculture (−56%). This in turn would lead to significant economic losses in the dual-purpose production systems in the region. Given the low productivity levels and values of technical indicators in dual-purpose livestock systems, profitability margins are inherently sensitive to small changes in production levels. The effects of climatic variations on livestock production have been identified in the literature as one of the main impacts (e.g., Garnett, 2009;Thornton et al., 2009;Nardone et al., 2010;Henry et al., 2012). The severity or level of the impact varies significantly between regions, however (Rojas-Downing et al., 2017). For the Orinoquía region, CIAT CORMACARENA, 2018 predict that the impact of climate change would lead to significant losses in cattle live weight gains and dairy production, and lower birth and increased mortality rates. As mentioned in the methodology, our study only considers changes in dairy production as a result of the impacts of climate change on pasture productivity. Production could also be affected, however, by other possible effects not considered in our study, such as effects on health, growth and reproduction, water availability, and the distribution of pests and diseases (Garnett, 2009;Thornton et al., 2009;Rojas-Downing et al., 2017). In particular, periods of heat stress could become the main source of loss at the productive level in the livestock sector (Garnett, 2009;Nardone et al., 2010). This scenario does not, however, consider potential technological changes nor the inclusion of other (new) species better adapted to the predicted regional climate change scenarios. Likewise, our study does not include any potential benefits that might be derived from culled cows on the beef market.Despite the benefits of including Arachis pintoi and other legumes in cattle systems, adoption levels remain low. Several studies have identified some of the factors that limit the adoption of Arachis accessions in countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica, including a lack of commercial seed availability, high establishment costs of planting material, limited technical information on the establishment and management of the material in pastures, a lack of promotion and little knowledge about its benefits (CIAT, 2004;Wunscher et al., 2004;Lascano et al., 2005). A particularly important issue is seed supply, which also continues to be a restriction in the dissemination and adoption processes for the new Centauro accession. In this sense, it is necessary to develop focused strategies, for example, artisanal seed production by cattle producers, as this could not only contribute to generating higher technology adoption levels. Focused strategies could also play an important role in providing additional income, assuring income diversification, and opening new business alternatives for young people and women. In the long run, this would strongly contribute to supporting both the rural economy and sustainable intensification processes in the region. In addition, the increased demand and adoption of the legume could generate interest from the private sector for seed production.In addition to the above-mentioned limiting factors, there are structural conditions that could slow down or discourage sustainable intensification. The prevailing tradition of extensive production systems and low land prices, for example, make it more efficient to acquire more (new) land than to intensify existing land (White et al., 2001). In particular, in regions such as the Orinoquía, where land is relatively abundant and are prices low, producers continue to favor more extensive systems at the cost of deforestation processes. Even if the costs of implementing new technologies are below land prices, cattle producers may not reduce the area, since one of the main reasons for land expansion is to secure land ownership rights (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008). This may be favored by speculation processes in land prices, where a high price generates additional incentives for extension, given the increase in the value of capital gains (Smith et al., 1997). These speculation processes could also, however, promote intensification if the amount of land that can be acquired is reduced, for example by regulations (Smith et al., 1997). Unfortunately, in most cases producers may not be willing to intensify until land is scarce and most forests are gone (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008). Similarly, if producers have few alternatives to invest their savings other than cattle production, this can contribute to the expansion of pasture areas. This situation is further aggravated by the precarious controls on land tenure and the lack of monitoring and control regarding the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Positive advances have been documented in Costa Rica, where the agricultural frontier cannot be expanded any further as a result of the little remaining forest area and high land prices, forcing cattle producers to use their land more efficiently, e.g., through incorporating Arachis pintoi in their pastures and adopting Cratylia protein banks (White et al., 2001). The opposite was documented in Peru, where land is still abundant and cheap, and market access is limited. Producers failed to adopt legumes such as Arachis in Peru, given the higher level of investment required (White et al., 2001).Intensification strategies in the Orinoquía have been a subject of debate, mainly in environmental terms, since the introduction improved forages (Brachiaira species) in the 1970s. On the one hand, different studies have reported positive impacts associated with intensification processes with improved forages, such as (i) lower incidence of degradation of native savannas in intensified areas with improved forages, since they reduce the pressure to produce animal feed in the native savannas (Smith et al., 1997); (ii) reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning native savannas (Smith et al., 1997), carried out to increase grassland and savanna productivity in the short term at the expense of eliminating vegetation cover and nutrient availability in the long-term (Peñuela et al., 2014); and (iii) reduction of nitrous oxide emissions, associated with Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) in Brachiaria humidicola pastures (Subbarao et al., 2009(Subbarao et al., , 2017;;Moreta et al., 2014). On the other hand, however, negative effects have also been reported and include (i) the loss and degradation of native savannas and threats to biodiversity (decrease in bird, animal and fish species), with gallery forests being the ecosystems under the greatest threat in the most intensified areas (Smith et al., 1997); (ii) increases in deforestation levels to expand grazing areas with introduced forages and, therefore, compromising ecosystem stability and functions (e.g., altering microclimates and shifting the rates of consumption and supply of light, water and mineral nutrients), and increasing greenhouse gas emissions due to land-use changes (Williams and Baruch, 2000;Reid et al., 2010;Peñuela et al., 2014;CIAT CORMACARENA, 2018); (iii) a displacement of native species given the aggressive growth characteristics, invasive behavior and fire resistance of Brachiaria species, particularly Brachiaria humidicola in savannas and highlands (Peñuela et al., 2014); (iv) increased soil erosion processes (Peñuela et al., 2011); and (v) increased frequency and intensity of fires due to establishment and management processes and the large standing necro mass left by grasses of African origin (such as Brachiaria) at the end of the dry season that facilitate the combustion (Williams and Baruch, 2000). In the case of the new Centauro variety, although its introduction into livestock systems provides a strategy to restore degraded areas, improve productivity and provide ecosystem services, it could also be a technology that promotes deforestation processes and has negative impacts on protected ecosystems. The higher profitability associated with new technologies, such as Centauro, could, for example, lead producers to increase their herd size and hence their pasture area. Likewise, profitable technologies can also provide farmers with the additional capital they need to finance livestock expansion (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008).In this sense, diffusion and adoption processes of new technologies like Centauro must be accompanied by land use governance and management policies. These policies require a multidimensional approach that includes the development of coordinated land tenure security policies, specific economic incentives aimed at promoting sustainable intensification (e.g., special credit lines, conservation requirements to access benefits or credits), integrated planning and zoning of land use, protection of forests and ecosystems, and tracking and monitoring of land use change, particularly at the agricultural frontier. This also implies greater institutional coordination and coordination between national policies (e.g., related to land use, agriculture, rural development), partnerships between the public and private sectors, and local communities that increase the effectiveness of policies and other instruments. Brazil for example, has reported a notable reduction in deforestation rates in the Amazon region, which has been the result of a combination of multiple public and private mechanisms for the protection of forests (FAO, 2016). For example, the new Brazilian Forest Code (Federal Law No. 12,651/2012;Presidência da República, 2012) obliges rural land owners to submit data with geographic coordinates for the registration of private rural properties, certify their intention to comply environmental regulations, and in cases where this does not occur, land owners are subject to administrative, civil or criminal processes and charges. Commercial banks are required (in accordance with the Forest Code) to request rural land owners and holders to provide a registration certificate from the Rural Environmental Registry before granting loans for agricultural purposes. Zero deforestation agreements for livestock signed by major beef companies have helped in reducing deforestation in certain parts of Brazil (Gibbs et al., 2015) and the Brazil Green Bag Initiative (Presidência da República, 2012) is a conditional cash transfer program with a commitment to responsibly manage resources and conserve ecosystems (FAO, 2016).The results of this study suggest that integrating the legume Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro in a Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola monoculture has great potential to improve both productive and economic indicators in the dual-purpose cattle production system of the Orinoquía region. Not only that, Centauro also helps in generating important ecosystem services with positive effects on, for example, the quality and persistence of the associated grass (restoration of degraded pastures), the soil system and biodiversity. Centauro improves the system's resilience to climatic variations, which is especially important considering the rather pessimistic climate projections for the region. These attributes make the inclusion of Centauro in the production system a key alternative for sustainable intensification in the region, and thus also contributes to achieving other environmental objectives such as the liberation of areas for reforestation purposes or the protection of local ecosystems.It is important to mention, however, that, despite their numerous environmental benefits (see section Potential Ecosystem Services of Arachis pintoi CIAT 22160 cv. Centauro) and because of their economic and social benefits, forage technologies that are selected for intensification purposes (even if sustainable such as Centauro), bear a risk of misuse in regions and contexts where neither grasses nor legumes should be planted. This could lead to results contrary to the objectives of sustainable intensification and could therefore negatively affect local landscapes with significant ecological consequences. In the case of the Orinoquía region, this includes for example the promotion of deforestation or the penetration of important local ecosystems (such as native flooded savannas). The Orinoquía has a high degree of vulnerability to changes generated by human actions, which include transformations of productive models that are ignorant of the natural cycles threatening the ecosystem balance. The continuous search for productivity increases has led to significant changes in the productive models of the region, including, for example, the introduction of improved pastures in floodable savannas (Peñuela et al., 2011). This situation is likely to worsen considering the imminent effects of climate change, and threatens the savanna ecosystem as it could become subject to desertification processes as a consequence of inadequate natural resource management (Peñuela et al., 2011). To avoid such unwanted consequences, effective technology diffusion approaches need to be applied (which include extension and training programs), involving institutions relevant to the region within a context that helps to close information and monitoring gaps. In the case of Centauro, the focus of such information efforts should be on the correct establishment and management of the legume, highlighting both potential economic benefits and environmental threats. This needs to go hand in hand with strong inter-and intra-institutional coordination, and the development of public policies and comprehensive monitoring and control mechanisms. National and regional multi-stakeholder platforms, such as the Colombian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and Dairy (MGS) and its regional sub-roundtables, can fill some of the gaps-at least in short-to medium-term, e.g., through providing targeted information campaigns and trainings or developing indicators and frameworks for sustainable intensification of the sector. In the long term, however, and based on the abovementioned efforts of multi-stakeholder platforms, comprehensive public policies need to be developed, applied and monitored.Accelerating climate change will also affect the Orinoquía region. Our study suggests that variations in the local climatic conditions would have significant impacts on the economic viability of the dual-purpose cattle systems of the region. It is necessary, therefore, to implement regional climate change adaptation and mitigation measures that include specific strategies for the local context. Among others, animal breeding strategies that improve cattle by crossing with rustic breeds, silvo-pastoral systems or scattered trees in pastures for heat stress reduction, and water harvesting for animal consumption, can significantly increase the adaptation potential of dual-purpose systems, particularly during dry seasons.  Pannell, D. J., and Abadi Ghadim, A. (2003). The economics of risk, uncertainty and learning in the adoption of new agricultural technologies: where are we on the learning curve? Agric. Syst.75, 215-234. doi: 10.1016/S0308-521X(02)00066-5 Melo, S., Riveros, L., Romero, G., Álvarez, A., and Diaz, C., Calderón, S. (2017). Efectos económicos de futuras sequías en Colombia: Estimación a partir del Fenómeno El Niño 2015. Arch. Econ. 466, 1-34. Available online at: https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Estudios%20Econmicos/466. pdf (accessed September 14, 2021). Moreno, I. R., Maass, B. L., Peters, M., and Cárdenas, E. A. (1999)  Arango, J., Sotelo, M., Vergara, D., Rincón, A., Ishitani, M., et al. (2014). Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) in Brachiaria pastures: a novel strategy to improve eco-efficiency of crop-livestock systems and to mitigate climate change. Trop. Grassl. 2, 88-91. doi: 10.17138/TGFT(2)88-91 Murgueitio, E., Calle, Z., Uribe, F., Calle, A., and Solorio, B. (2011). Native trees and shrubs for the productive rehabilitation of tropical cattle ranching lands.For. Ecol. Manage. 261, 1654-1663. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.09.027 Nardone, A., Ronchi, B., Lacetera, N., Ranieri, M. S., and Bernabucci, U. (2010). Effects of climate changes on animal production and sustainability of livestock systems. Livest. Sci. 130, 57-69. doi: 10.1016/j.livsci.2010.02.011 Navarro-Racines, C., Tarapues, J., Thornton, P., Jarvis, A., and Ramirez-Villegas, J. (2020). High-resolution and bias-corrected CMIP5 projections for climate change impact assessments. Sci. Data 7:7. doi: 10.1038/s41597-019-0343-8 OECD/FAO (2020). OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2020-2029. Paris: FAO, Rome/OECD Publishing. Olsson, L., Barbosa, H., Bhadwal, S., Cowie, A., Delusca, K., Flores-Renteria, D., et al. (2019)  Peñuela, L., Fernández, A. P., Castro, F., and Ocampo, A. (2011). Uso y manejo de forrajes nativos en la sabana inundable de la Orinoquía.Convenio de cooperación interinstitucional entre The Nature Conservancy (TNC) y la Fundación Horizonte Verde (FHV) con el apoyo de la Fundación Biodiversidad de España y la Corporación Autónoma Regional de la Orinoquía (CorpOrinoquía) (Bogota, DC). 66. Peñuela, L., Solano, C., Ardila, V., and Galán, S. (2014). Sabana inundable y ganadería, opción productiva de conservación en la Orinoquia. Bogotá: Asociación Red Colombiana de Reservas Naturales de la Sociedad Civil, Fundación Natura, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, y Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Pereira, J. M., Rezende, C. P., Ferreira, A. M., Homem, B. G. C., Casagrande, D. R., Macedo, T. M., et al. (2019). Production of beef cattle grazing on Brachiaria brizantha (Marandu grass)-Arachis pintoi (forage peanut cv. Belomonte) mixtures exceeded that on grass monocultures fertilized with 120 kg N/ha. Grass Forage Sci. 75, 28-36. doi: 10.1111/gfs. 12463 Peters, M., Franco, L., Schmidt, A., and Hincapié, B. (2011). Especies Forrajeras Multipropósito: Opciones para productores del trópico americano. Cali: Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT); Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ); Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Peters, M., Horne, P., Schmidt, A., Holmann, F., Kerridge, P. C., Tarawali, S. A., et al. (2001).  Van der Hoek, R., Peters, M., and Castro, A. (2014). Tropical foragebased systems for climate-smart livestock production in Latin America.Simpson, C. E., Valls, J. F. M., and Miles, J. W. (1995). \"Biología reproductiva y potencial para la recombinación genética de Arachis, \" in Biología y Agronomía de Especies Forrajeras de Arachis, ed P.C. Kerridge (Cali: Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical), 46-55. Available online at: https://hdl.handle.net/ 10568/54798 Smith, J., Cadavid, J. V., Rincón, A., and Vera, R. (1997). Land speculation and intensification at the frontier: a seeming paradox in the Colombian Savanna. Agric. Syst. 54, 501-520. doi: 10.1016/S0308-521X(96)00 088-1 Subbarao, G., Nakahara, K., Hurtado, M., Ono, H., Moreta, D., Salcedo, A. F., et al. (2009). Evidence for biological nitrification inhibition in Brachiaria pastures. PNAS 106, 17302-17307. doi: 10.1073/pnas.090369 4106 Subbarao, G. V., Arango, J., Masahiro, K., Hooper, A. M., Yoshihashi, T., Ando, Y., et al. (2017)  Arango, J., Obregon, K., Rao, I. M., Rosas, G., et al. (2020). Urochloa grasses swap nitrogen source when grown in association with legumes in tropical pastures. Diversity 12:419. doi: 10.3390/d1211 0419 Walther, G., Beibner, S., and Burga, A. (2005). Trends in the upward shift of alpine plants. J. Veg. Sci. 16, 541-548. doi: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2005.tb02 394.x White, D., Holmann, F., Fujisaki, S., Reategui, K., and Lascano, C. (2001). \"Will intensifying pasture management in Latin America protect forests-or is it the other way around?\" in Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, eds A. Angelsen and D. Kaimowitz (Wallingford: CABI Publishing), 91-113. Williams, D. G., and Baruch, Z. (2000). African grass invasion in the Americas: ecosystem consequences and the role of ecophysiology. Biol. Invasions 2, 123-140. doi: 10.1023/A:101004052 4588 Wunscher, T., Schultze-Kraft, R., Peters, M., and Rivas, L. (2004) The diversity and use of tropical forages for cattle feeding are the protagonists in livestock systems. The production and nutritional quality of forages represent a strategy of continuous research in animal feeding to help mitigate the environmental impact generated by tropical livestock. The objective of this study was to classify the nutritional behavior in contrasting seasons and the relationship with agronomic traits of a collection of 129 CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) accessions of Megathyrsus Maximus established in the Colombian dry tropics. By means of the near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technique, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were determined under rainy and dry seasons as fixed effects. We measured plant height, dry matter biomass (DMB) and flowering in field. Aspects such as plant height and DMB did not show correlation with nutritional aspects, whereas flowering was correlated with the content of structural carbohydrates. Despite genotype and precipitation affecting nutritional value, there is relative nutritional steadiness in NDF, ADF, and IVDMD between seasons for some accessions. According to the cluster analysis carried out for each season, it was evidenced that from the total collection, 51.2% of the accessions during the dry season and 19.4% of the accessions during the rainy season were classified with a better nutritional profile, thus, showing a higher number of materials with better nutritional behavior in the dry season. Both the genotypic characteristics of M. maximus and environmental conditions during contrasting seasons are factors that might influence the variability of the nutritional content, productive parameters, and flowering. Additionally, fodder material classification under Hotelling's T-squared test and Nutritional Classification Index suggests accessions that might be promising for resilient nutritional quality and adequate DMB, which proves that M. maximus could become an alternative for animal feeding and sustainable livestock production during critical dry periods in tropical agroecosystems.The expansion of the agricultural frontier with crops and pastures in tropical regions of developing countries for food production requires implementing production strategies with an eco-efficient focus to sustainably meet the increasing demand for food (Rao, 2013).The major part of livestock activity in intertropical regions is carried out under grazing systems and mixed model systems (concentrated pastures), (Gerber et al., 2015). Food for these livestock systems based on pastures is developed through the production of forages, which depends on the rainfall pattern (Castañeda et al., 2015;Gándara et al., 2017;Marcillo et al., 2021), which is influenced by the consequences of climate change. The instability in forage production brings along with it an increase in production costs because of the use of supplements (concentrates), (Morales-Vallecilla and Ortiz-Grisales, 2018) and nutritional variables that influence productivity (Cooke et al., 2020), thus, compromising both cattle feeding efficiency and the sustainable management of herds (Paul et al., 2020).The diversity and use of tropical forages for livestock feeding are protagonists in tropical livestock systems. Characteristics such as biomass yield and nutritional quality depend on genetics, environment, and some other factors (Paul et al., 2020). Investigating and evaluating these characteristics will contribute to the development of forages adapted to the specific edaphoclimatic conditions of the tropics and identifying genotypes capable of producing \"more with less, \" which, according to Rao (2013), is important for advancing toward an eco-efficient livestock system.Megathyrsus maximus-Panicum maximum (Cook and Schultze-Kraft, 2015) is an African species that has been widely distributed in the warm areas of Colombia. Under edaphoclimatic conditions of the Colombian dry tropical forest, the response in terms of production is adequate during low-precipitation periods. Also, this grass has short recovery periods, tolerance of shade and moderate drought periods, tolerance of short flooding periods (Morales-Velasco et al., 2016;Matínez-Mamian et al., 2020), and an adequate response in association with forage legumes (Matínez-Mamian et al., 2020) and with silvopastoral systems (Barragán- Hernández and Cajas-Girón, 2019). This grass is promising for environmental management of cattle because of its potential for biological nitrification inhibition (IBN), (Carvajal-Tapia et al., 2021) and is outstanding for its nutritive value, perenniality, and adaptive potential, and for showing diversity among cultivars in terms of yield, forage quality, and response to nutrient fertilization (Benabderrahim and Elfalleh, 2021).The nutritional quality of M. maximus in terms of protein and fiber content, and digestibility, has a wide range of values generated by different edaphoclimatic, genotypic, and management conditions. The attributes of adaptation to edaphoclimatic limitations, forage quality, and seed production facilitate the development of superior cultivars in current grass breeding activities (Rao, 2013). However, identifying the nutritional behavior of the species in a potential livestock area can help to find a versatile feeding alternative for the establishment and development of eco-efficient livestock production or to select material with improved fodder quality (Ramakrishnan et al., 2014).The nutritional quality and association with the productive parameters of a broad range of accessions of M. maximus in Colombian tropical regions have not been described in detail or correlated with climatic factors. This is a relevant aspect in the identification of resilient forage species, particularly for the agricultural sector that faces the consequences of climate change. Therefore, we propose the hypothesis that the rainfall pattern that determines two contrasting seasons (rainy and dry) in tropical regions influences not only the agronomic behavior of the collection of M. maximus but also the nutritional composition and at the same time can be related to the productive variables of forages.NIRS (near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy) is a fast and accurate technique with an eco-friendly technology to diagnose the nutritional quality of tropical forages (International Organization for Standardization ISO 12099:2017., 2017;Parrini et al., 2018;Mazabel et al., 2020). Since 2015, the CIAT forages and animal nutrition quality laboratory has worked on the development of NIRS predictive models, in particular, for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein (CP), and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) for tropical forages.With the purpose of helping to identify promising forage crops for tropical areas and to classify potential germplasm for smallholder farmers or plant breeding programs, the object of this study was to classify the vegetative material of M. maximus established in the Colombian dry tropics according to nutritional behavior using NIRS methodology during contrasting seasons and the relationship with plant height, forage production, and flowering with nutritional quality.The experiment was conducted in a tropical dry forest agroecosystem in the Patía Valley, which is located in the department of Cauca in southwestern Colombia, with an average temperature of 27.9 • C and bimodal cycle with average annual precipitation of 1,414 mm (Figure 1). To guarantee the process of establishing experimental plots, we used water irrigation and mechanical weed control.The local soil is a medium-fertility Mollisol. Chemical analysis in the 0-to 20-cm layer showed pH of 6.26, organic matter content of 4.50%, phosphorus content of 6.3 ppm, and calcium, magnesium, and potassium content of 14.58, 6.91, and 0.59 cmol/kg, respectively. 1 year after establishment of the experimental plots, we applied fertilizer only once at a rate of 150 kg N/ha and 95 kg P/ha.For the agronomic and nutritional evaluation in December of 2015, 129 accessions of M. maximus, including commercial varieties provided by the germplasm bank of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and two improved   622,688,691,692,693,6,526,6,536,6,571,6,890,6,891,6,893,6,897,6,898,6,900,6,901,6,903,6,906,6,912,6,915,6,918,6,923,6,981,6,982,6,983,6,984,6,986,6,990,6,996,16,003,16,004 y 16,005 Tanzania 6,927,6,928,6,929,6,944,6,945,6,948,6,949,6,951,6,954,6,955,6,960,6,963,6,967,6,968,6,969,6,975,16,011,16,017,16,018,16,019,16,021,16,023,16,025,16,027,16,028,16,034,16,035,16,036,16,038,16,039,16,041,16,044,16,046,16,048,16,049,16,051,16,054,16,055,16,057,16,058,16,059,16,060,16,061,16,062,16,064,16,065,16,068,16,069 y 16,071 Unknown 673,685,6,094,6,095,6,171,6,175,6,461,6,497,6,500,6,501,6,525,6,658,6,784,6,787,6,796,6,799,6,805,6,831,6,836,6,837,6,839,6,840,6,842,6,843,6,855,6,857,6,864,6,866,6,868,26,723,26,906,26,911,26,917,26,923,26,924,26,925,26,936,26,937,26,939,26,942,26,944  Urochloa species (U. brizantha cv. Toledo and hybrid cv. Cayman) as controls (Table 1), were established in plots using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental units (plots) measured 4 m 2 , and the plants had 10-12 tillers. The distance between plots was 1 m, and the distance between blocks was 2 m (Figure 2).To determine the number of regrowing days and provide homogeneous conditions for all accessions, a standardization cut was applied. It was a mechanical cutting of plots at a residual height of 30 cm above the soil. Seasonal conditions in the field area and harvesting age are shown in Table 2.We measured (a) plant height according to the methodology of Toledo and Schultze-Kraft (1982) and (b) flowering (FW). We used observations and calculated the percentage of flowering present in the experimental plot in a range of 0-100% at the time of evaluation. For dry matter biomass (DMB), we estimated the availability of green forage (GF) after cutting at the height of 30 cm from the ground and measuring the weight per plot in the field. Out of all the GF, we weighed subsamples of ∼200 g. These were dried in an oven with controlled ventilation at a temperature of 60 • C (140 • F) until reaching constant weight (48 to 72 h). With the final weight of the subsamples, we estimated dry matter.The subsamples obtained in the field to determine DMB were analyzed in the CIAT forages and animal nutrition quality laboratory, where they were pulverized using a Retsch SM 100 (Retsch GmbH, Haan, Germany) with a 1-mm bottom screen. For NIRS processing, we used a Foss 6,500 model and ISIS software (IS-2,250) version 2.71 (FOSS and Infrasoft International, USA, 2005). For each sample, duplicates of the spectra were taken in separate quartz cells of 3.5-cm internal diameter and 1-cm thick. The wavelength range was from 400 to 2,500 nm.The values obtained through wet chemistry were used to build chemo metric models (Mazabel et al., 2020) and generate predictive equations in NIRS. Chemical analyses were performed in duplicate for each accession in both seasons (rainy and dry) under the guidelines of the 21st edition of the Official Methods of Analysis of (AOAC International, 2002). Crude protein content was determined using the FOSS Kjeltec TM 8,100 (Foss Company, HillerØed, Denmark). An ANKOM 2,000 fiber analyzer (ANKOM Technology Corporation, Macedon, NY, USA) was used for NDF and ADF (Van Soest et al., 1991) and for IVDMD (Tilley and Terry, 1963).The results of the reference chemical analysis and the spectral signals of each sample were processed using Win ISI software version 4.0. Then, the results were incorporated in equations generated at the CIAT forages and animal nutrition quality laboratory, as follows: R 2 of 0.93, 0.98, 0.85, and 0.98 and standard error for cross validation (SECV) of 2.11, 1.22, 2.78, and 0.61 for NDF, ADF, IVDMD, and CP, respectively (Molano et al., 2016). This increases the action range and accuracy of the model.Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient for every season were obtained with SAS Statistical Software (Statistical Analysis System) version 9.4 (2018) (SAS, 2016). Figure of correlation was obtained with package corrplot in R (Wei and Simko, 2017). Cluster analysis was used, and principal components were calculated using the library \"FactoMineR\" and package \"Factoextra\" (Kassambara and Mundt, 2020) with the variables NDF, ADF, CP, and IVDMD for every season. Figures were created in R using the package \"ggplot2\" (Wickham, 2016). Wilcoxon sum rank test was used to compare differences between means in terms of the season for each of the variables in R version 4.0.3 (R Core Team, 2020).To find a classification index for the fodder material according to nutritional content, multicriteria weighted indices were adapted (Contreras et al., 2004). To obtain a level  where NCI is the Nutritional Classification Index, IVDMD R is the in vitro dry matter digestibility rainy season, IVDMD D is the IVDMD dry season, CP R, is the crude protein rainy season, CP D is the CP dry season, NDF R is the neutral detergent fiber rainy season, NDF D is the NDF dry season, ADF R is the acid detergent fiber rainy season, and ADF D is the ADF dry season.To select accessions without significant changes in nutritional composition in the evaluation from one season to the next, the Hotelling T-squared test was performed using the Hotelling library and package corpcor in R (Schafer et al., 2017).The contrasting seasons present in the Colombian dry tropics might explain the differences found in this research regarding the agronomic and nutritional behavior of M. maximus. Flowering, plant height, BDM, and CP decreased during the dry season compared with the rainy season at 64.8, 57.8, 43.1, and 27.7%, respectively (Table 3). Low precipitation, the lowest relative humidity, and the highest temperature (Table 2) were determining factors for the changes observed mainly in the agronomic variables. The average NDF, ADF, and IVDMD contents of the M. maximus collection differ from 1 to 2% from one season to the other. The Wilcoxon test for comparison of means indicates statistical differences when the accessions are under different rainfall conditions (Table 3).Commercial cultivars of M. maximus show a similar nutritional behavior as the rest of the studied collection. During the dry season, NDF content increased slightly except in  3). Analysis using Pearson's correlation coefficient shows that different degrees of associativity exist, highlighting values highly significant and superior (r ≥ 0.3). Among the agronomic measurements, plant height is directly related to DMB in a positive manner (r = 0.41 and 0.48, rainy and dry season, respectively), whereas with flowering, it is related in a negative manner in the rainy season (r = 0.39). This could be interpreted as a high forage yield being estimated for the tall accessions in the rainy season during 42 days, and not presenting flowering or having low flowering upon finalizing the cutting period.The positive relationship existing between flowering and structural carbohydrate content is evidenced in the two seasons. This suggests that physiological traits such as flowering could have a stronger relationship with the nutritional parameters in the M. maximus collection under the edaphoclimatic conditions of the Colombian dry tropical forest. Likewise, in Figure 4, a higher degree of associativity is noted among the traits estimated in the nutritional evaluation.In both seasons, the structural carbohydrate content of M. maximus influenced CP content in a negative manner. The correlation is higher for ADF content.In the rainy season, ADF (r = 0.65) shows a moderate and negative correlation with IVDMD, higher than when we refer to NDF (r = 0.49). NDF and ADF have an evident positive correlation, resulting from the use of NDF content in the ADF calculation (Figure 4).For the cluster analysis, three clusters (Cl) were defined (Table 4 and Figure 5) considering the degree of resemblance in specific characteristics of the accessions for each cluster. For both seasons, the best nutritional composition corresponds to accessions of Cl 1; some accessions and material of genus Urochloa have lower NDF and ADF and higher CP and IVDMD, contrary to what Cl3 shows, with accessions having lower nutritional content with higher NDF and ADF and lower CP. Cl2 materials are characterized by having an intermediate composition between Cl1 and Cl3 (Tables 4, 5). In dry and rainy seasons, 51.2 and 19.4% of the collection, respectively, stands out for its nutritional profile. Therefore, a higher number of accessions have a great nutritional profile during the dry season in the tropics and are available for further study.The distribution of the clusters (Figure 5) shows the description of the correlations and the different nutritional behavior from Megathyrsus and Urochloa species, during both seasons. Also, during the rainy season, the response of Tanzania stands out.In each season, the following accessions stand out for being part of the 41.9% of the collection with DMB above average at 5.9 and 3.4 t/ha in the rainy and dry season, respectively, and being classified in the cluster with the best nutritional profile (Cl).In the rainy season, accessions CIAT 6,501,6,842,6,868,16,004,16,023,16,048,16,062,16,071,and 26,723 stand out; in the dry season, accessions CIAT 693,6,171,6,497,6,658,6,836,6,891,6,898,6,903,16,005,16,011,16,025,16,027,16,034,16,035,16,036,16,038,16,039,16,044,16,049,16,058,16,059,26,936,26,937 and Massai stand out.For the NCI, the highest indices correspond to accessions 685 (199.05) and 6,864 (197.30), belonging to Cl1 in both seasons. Accession CIAT 26,911 had one of the highest values for NDF, also standing out for its value in NCI (198.91).On the other hand, Hotelling's multivariate T-squared test showed that accessions 6,968, 26,360, and 26,947 did not feature  Edaphoclimatic stress factors are abiotic indicators that become important in the search for forage material adapted for intensive production in a sustainable manner (Rao, 2013). In the Patía Valley region, a representative dry tropical agroecosystem, the evaluations set up in this research during contrasting seasons allowed us to compare the agronomic and nutritional behavior of a collection of M. maximus, helping to identify physiological mechanisms and the association of flowering with nutritional traits, which contributes to the selection of interesting traits. This provides tools so that breeding programs can broaden their research when seeking forage material resilient to climate change.Plant height, flowering, DMB and crude protein of the collection were higher during the rainy season, contrasting with stress, growth, and production limitations during the dry season (Hare et al., 2015), which indicates that the water supply favors agronomic characteristics and protein content (Larsen et al., 2021). Weather characteristics have an effect on agronomic and nutritional parameters for M. maximus (Machado, 2013;Lemos et al., 2017;Maranhão et al., 2021;Marcillo et al., 2021).The mean values for plant height and DMB reached by the M. maximus germplasm were similar and superior to those registered in other tropical regions (Machado, 2013;Benabderrahim and Elfalleh, 2021), with fertilization (Braz et al., 2017) or higher rainfall (Macedo et al., 2017).Studies with commercial varieties suggest that, at 70-to 90cm height, a higher quantity of biomass is generated with adequate grassland recovery for the next grazing (Soares Filho et al., 2015;Carvalho et al., 2017). In the rainy season, the entire collection reached the mínimum value of the range; whereas, in the dry season, this was obtained only by accessions 16,035,691,6,982,6,960,and 6,915 (Supplementary Material). For DMB, an important variable for adoption processes by farmers in tropical countries (Mwendia et al., 2019), the mean and maximum values (5.8 and 9.5 t/ha, respectively) of the collection during the rainy season were similar to those reported in previous studies in the same zone with commercial cultivars (6.3 and 9.8 t/ha, every 45 days) (Vivas-Quila et al., 2015). In spite of the dry season, the average and maximum values of DMB declined notably (3.3 and 5.3 t/ha, respectively). The values obtained were also higher than those obtained with naturalized species in the Patía Valley region, and in different tropical regions such as Brazil (Macedo et al., 2017) and Cuba (Machado, 2013). These values were improved only in Thailand with nitrogen fertilization (Hare et al., 2015). In addition, the positive correlation between plant height and DMB (Figure 4) might indicate that the evaluated collection presents adequate DMB yield under the edaphoclimatic conditions of the Patía Valley.  Megathyrsus maximus is usually described as drought resistant (Rodríguez et al., 2017) with adaptation to varied edaphoclimatic conditions because of its clumps and strong root system (Kissmann and Groth, 1995;Benabderrahim and Elfalleh, 2021). However, it expresses its productive potential during the rainy season. Under the edaphoclimatic conditions of the Patía Valley and during the rainy period, it is possible to consider a recovery period of about 35 days, and it is advised to consider irrigation during the dry season to reach the potential of the species.Flowering is a determining variable for plant breeding technology adoption processes. It is related to forage yield (Casler et al., 2018;Casler, 2019). Flowering determines nutritional composition (Gusha et al., 2019), specifically in this research with NDF and ADF content and persistency in the field. Light intensity might also affect flowering (Tavares de Castro and Carvalho, 2000). During the dry season, no flowering occurred, or it was lower than 10% for accessions: 622,688,693,6,094,6,175,6,299 Tobiatá,6,497,6,500,6,525,6,658,6,796,6,837,6,857,6,868,6,897,6,901,6,906,6,918,6,923,6,927,6,928,6,948,6,962,6,963,6,968,16,003,16,017,16,023,16,027,16,028,16,034,16,035,16,036,16,038,16,039,16,048,16,049,16,051,16,055,16,061,16,062,16,069,16,071,26,360,26,900 vencedor,26,906,26,923,26,924,26,925,26,937,and 26,939 (39.5% of the collection), and during the rainy season for accessions 6,299 Tobiatá,6,962 Mambasa,6,963,16,027,16,028,16,035,16,044,16,051,16,061,16,069,16,071,26,723,and 26,925. Flowering was the variable that declined the most when it was evaluated in the dry season vis-à-vis the rainy season. Lower flowering in germplasm during the dry season despite better light conditions in the tropics could be associated with hydric stress (Wilson and Ng, 1975) and high evaporation, with the possibility that this could generate a negative hydric balance for forage production and the production process of grasses (Rao, 2013). According to (Atencio Solano et al., 2018) , there is an evident effect of the dry season on vegetative development, which influences flowering of the species. This matches the negative correlation between flowering and plant height in the rainy season (r = 0.39).Factors such as management, regrowth age, fertilization, cut height, phonological aspects, growth under shade, and season might have a significant effect on the nutritional value of forages (Van Soest, 1982;Velásquez et al., 2010;Santiago-Hernández et al., 2016;de Vasconcelos et al., 2019;Schnellmann et al., 2020;Tesk et al., 2020), which affects digestibility in animals (Valente et al., 2010). Variability in structural carbohydrates (NDF, ADF) in the M. maximus collection might be influenced by characteristics related to the accessions' own physiological and metabolic aspects such as the conversion efficiency of nitrogen and flowering rate (dos Costa et al., 2017), which might generate a wide range of available accessions and could be used in plant breeding programs (Deo et al., 2020) to produce or select materials with the best IVDMD (Barahona-Rosales and Sánchez-Pinzón, 2005).The protein content decline during low precipitation periods, similar to that found by Larsen et al. (2021), might be caused by the lack of production of new leaves and tillers. Also, the senescent material decreases cellular content, in particular, protein (Vargas Junior et al., 2013). M. maximus shows a higher protein content during the rainy season and under shady  Girón, 2019). In contrast, other authors argue that higher values for protein can be found during the dry season (Rodríguez et al., 2017). The preservation of beef cattle is an important goal in the Patía Valley region, where animals lose weight and mortality increases because of the lack of water and good-quality feed. Considering the challenging hydric conditions of the tropical zone during the dry season, the average protein content of 7.3% and the maximum of 10.5% in M. maximus stand out. These nutritional values contribute to preserving rumen functionality. A relevant consideration to keep a functional rumen in bovines is the minimum required nitrogen amount equivalent to 8% of CP (Gaviria et al., 2015). Also, considering that in this region most of the plants for a complementary diet are grasses, fodder legumes, and other plants rich in protein, the contribution of M. maximus could be ideal to avoid a loss of rumen functionality and to support livestock production during the dry season.A high negative correlation exists between structural carbohydrate content and digestibility (Jung et al., 1997) in the M. maximus collection in the rainy season. This might have incremented IVDMD by 1.86% during the dry season. Therefore, the results of this parameter highlight the potential of this species as an alternative during low-precipitation periods, for both biomass production (Morales-Velasco et al., 2016) and steady relative quality.During the dry season, Tobiatá, Mombasa, Tanzania, Vencedor, Massai, and Coloniao had protein content of 7.09, 6.24, 6.13, 6.72, 7.82, and 8.30%, respectively. These values were higher than those found in commercial cultivars in important tropical livestock areas (dos Costa et al., 2017;Silva et al., 2017;da Silva et al., 2018). However, in the same research location where this experiment took place, and with a similar number of regrowing days and average height in Massai, Ruiz et al. (2015) showed 14.20% CP. This could possibly be due to fertilization at establishment and evaluation during the rainy season.In tropical regions of Colombia, productive differences exist between commercial cultivars and genotypes of the evaluated collection in this research, which could be associated with aspects inherent to morphology (Patiño- Pardo et al., 2018) and nutritional profile. These are advantageous characteristics in terms of adaptation to different livestock systems.Some studies suggest that in vitro and in vivo digestibility of organic matter increases with the rainy season (Vargas Junior et al., 2013;Silva et al., 2017), and others show that water stress did not significantly affect organic matter digestibility (OMD), (Fariaszewska et al., 2020). The findings in this research suggested that ADF decreased similar to that reported by Larsen et al. (2021) and IVDMD increased slightly during the dry season vis-à-vis the rainy season. This condition might be related to the average height of germplasm of 130.7 vs. 55.2 cm during the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. Therefore, growth in height could result from a decrease in leaf material and the respective digestibility (Kalmbacher et al., 1980), and drought stress might delay maturity, which can improve the OMD of forages (Fariaszewska et al., 2020). The correlations found in the M. maximus collection were similar to those reported by Stabile et al. (2010) with commercial cultivars.The classification of the accessions under multivariate tests (by cluster analysis and Hotelling's T-squared test) and NCI shows that the genotypic and physical characteristics specific to each accession (not included in this study) as well as morphological aspects (Santos et al., 2010), leaf-to-stem ratio (Homen et al., 2010), and maturity or metabolism rate (dos Costa et al., 2017) may have influenced the classification of materials with a low or high nutritional profile.This classification shows that some accessions respond to prolonged tropical dry periods and possibly show promise for resilient nutritional quality with adequate DMB. In addition, M. maximus outperforms other forage species used for grazing under semiarid or dry tropical conditions (Coêlho et al., 2018). For a diversity of agronomic parameters and nutritional composition related to genetic aspects, M. maximus shows promise for breeding programs.Agronomic and nutritional analysis, in general terms, allows us to learn about a large group of Megathyrsus maximus accessions as potential options for the establishment and management of productive and efficient cattle raising under the agro ecological conditions of the Patía Valley, thus, contributing to the agricultural development of the region and the quality of life of its producers.The M. maximus collection contains several materials that stand out for their nutritional value (CP, NDF, ADF, and IVDMD), which, although they did not show a relationship with DMB, have sufficient productive yield. They also have adaptation potential for drought or low-rainfall conditions in tropical regions. Therefore, they represent a suitable option for sustainable livestock systems. Furthermore, they help subsequent plant breeding programs to contribute to finding alternative materials to maintain adequate feeding efficiency for cattle and mitigate the effects of climate change.Both the genotypic characteristics of M. maximus and environmental conditions during contrasting seasons are factors that might influence the variability of nutritional content, productive parameters, and flowering of the evaluated germplasm. This allows a classification of forage material according to specific or preferential criteria of farmers and plant breeders.In the Colombian high-altitude tropics (2,200-3,000 m.a.s.l.), Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus) is the main feed source for the dairy system. This grass species has good characteristics regarding adaptability and productivity, but is affected by frost, grass bugs (Collaria spp.) and precipitation-related production seasonality. Forage deficits might thus be a problem at several times in a year. As a strategy to maintain production stable, dairy farmers use commercial feed concentrates increasing their production costs. Agrosavia, as a response to this, started in 2005 with the evaluation and selection of new forage species for the Colombian high-altitude tropics. The oat Avena sativa AV25-T was identified as promising alternative to supply the requirements of dry matter in times of deficit and released as cultivar in 2018 under the name Altoandina. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic viability of Altoandina in Colombia's high-altitude dairy systems. Altoandina (Aa) was provided as silage in two different diets: 35%Aa−65% Kikuyu (Yellow Diet) and 65%Aa-35% Kikuyu (Red Diet). The diet for comparison was traditional grazing with 100% Kikuyu grass (Blue Diet). All diets were supplemented with 6kg commercial feed concentrate, 0.5 kg cotton seeds and 0.5 kg Alfalfa meal per cow/day, respectively. To estimate economic indicators, we used a cashflow model and risk assessment under a Monte Carlo simulation model. Including Altoandina incremented productivity per hectare by 82.3 and 220% in the Yellow and Red Diets, respectively. According to the results of our economic model, the Yellow Diet is the best alternative. Its average Net Present Value (NPV) was superior in >80% and showed a lower variability. The indicators Value at Risk (VaR) and probability (NPV < 0) show the Yellow Diet to have the lowest risk for economic loss under different yield/market scenarios. The Yellow Diet also has the lowest unit production costs and uncertainty of productive parameters. According to our findings, supplementation with Altoandina at 35%, i.e., during critical times, has high potential to improve efficiency and profitability. This information is key for the decision-making process of dairy farmers on whether to adopt this technology.The livestock sector and, particularly the cattle subsector, is a critical component of food systems since it provides food with high quality protein (i.e., 14% of the calorie and 33% of the protein intake of the global human diet comes from livestock) that is in most cases produced on marginal lands not suitable for crop production. Additionally, livestock provides people with incomes, assets, alternative energy, animal draft power, and livelihoods (FAO, 2018). Especially, dairy production is crucial for income generation and food security, mainly in (the rural areas of) developing countries where the dairy sector is dominated by smallholder production systems (World Bank, 2005;Reisinger and Clark, 2018). Globally, there are around 300 million poor people whose livelihoods depend on the daily income and nutrition provided through milk production (World Bank, 2005). The dairy sector is of great economic and social importance in Colombia. It contributes with 36.7% to the national livestock and 12% to the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP), respectively, and generates 20% of the jobs in the agricultural sector (MADR, 2020). According to the Colombian Cattle Federation (FEDEGAN, 2018), there are about 319,000 milk-producing families in Colombia, and the dairy sector is predominated by small-scale or subsistence producers (with less than 10 animals). Milk production in the country happens under two differentiated systems linked to specific environmental conditions. First, the specialized dairy systems, located in the higher tropics (>2,000 m.a.s.l.), mainly in the departments of Antioquia, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, and Nariño, which provide 45% of the total national milk supply and use only 6% of the total cattle inventory (1.72 million heads) (Carulla and Ortega, 2016;FEDEGAN, 2020b). Second, the dual-purpose production systems, located in the lower tropics (<1,200 m.a.s.l.), which contribute with 55% of the national milk supply using 39% of the total cattle inventory (10.08 million heads) (FEDEGAN, 2018(FEDEGAN, , 2020a)).The dairy sector has had high growth rates in the last two decades, with an increase in total milk supply of 35% between 2000 and 2019, which is equivalent to a production of 5,295 and 7,257 ml, respectively (FEDEGAN, 2020b). Production and productivity, however, are strongly linked to the local climatic conditions present in the production areas (FEDEGAN, 2018), making the dairy sector dependent on rainfall regimes and periods of drought that affect the availability and quality of the forages used as animal feed (FEDEGAN, 2018). Because of climate change, this situation has been aggravating in recent years, given the progressive increase in global and local average temperatures and variations in rainfall patterns. This is directly affecting cattle production through impacts on pasture availability, animal comfort (heat stress), water availability and biodiversity (Rojas-Downing et al., 2017). In addition to the above, the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme climatic phenomena in the country, such as La Niña and El Niño, causing heavy rainfall, flooding, and extreme droughts, makes the situation even more critical, particularly when it comes to milk production, since dairy cows are more susceptible to heat stress (SIPSA/DANE, 2016). This is evidenced by milk production decreases of on average 4.9% in years with presence of the El Niño phenomenon [UNGRD (Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres-Colombia), 2016].In the specialized dairy systems of Colombia, the predominant feed base is grazing of Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus) and the use of supplementation with commercial concentrates, the latter representing a significant percentage of the total production costs (∼37%) (Cárdenas, 2003;Campuzano et al., 2018;Castillo et al., 2019). Kikuyu grass, although with good characteristics in terms of adaptability and productivity (biomass production), is affected by frost and grass bugs (Collaria scenica) (Campuzano et al., 2018). It also has nutritional limitations that can affect the production and compositional quality of milk, such as high levels of soluble nitrogen and low levels of non-structural carbohydrates (Correa et al., 2008). In addition, the production systems based on Kikuyu are associated with deficient pasture management, mainly in terms of fertilization (Campuzano et al., 2018), and residual grass management, restricting both levels of production and productivity. This leads to impacts at the environmental level, since soil and water are being contaminated with nitrogen (N) that is not usable by the animal and released with the urine (given the levels of soluble N in Kikuyu, the inadequate management of grazing and low levels of supplementation) (J. Castillo, Agrosavia, personal communication).Consequently, there are important bottlenecks related to the deficit of forage at different times of the year, high production costs of animal feed and negative effects at the environmental level. Considering the climate change scenarios for the region, this situation is likely to worsen: The Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) forecasts for the Departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, and Antioquia (which make up 40% of the national dairy production mainly under specialized dairy systems) increases in precipitation levels of more than 4% and in temperature of at least 2 • C until the year 2100 (IDEAM, 2015). This would lead to a lower water use efficiency and possibly greater water stress for the Kikuyu grass (Vargas-Martínez et al., 2018) and largely affect dairy production in those regions.In this sense, the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation (ICA and CORPOICA before, now Agrosavia) has conducted forage research to improve the efficiency and reduce the seasonality of milk production in the higher tropics of Colombia. These studies have focused on seeking strategies for soil recovery and renovation of pastures, establishment and management of forage grazing systems, and production of forage crops for ruminant feeding systems (Castillo et al., 2019). Although there is no germplasm improvement and evaluation program specifically for the higher tropics, the research processes carried out by Agrosavia have led to the release of six oat cultivars in the country since the 1960s: ICA Bacatá (Avena fauta) (1963), ICA Soracá (Avena byzantina) (1965), ICA Gualcalá (Avena byzantina) (1968), ICA Cajicá (Avena sativa) (1976), Avena Obonuco Avenar (Avena sativa) (2003) and Avena Altoandina (AV25; High-Andean Oat) (2018) (Bustamante, 1965;Arias et al., 1972;Bolaños-Alomía et al., 2003;Campuzano et al., 2018). Despite its release over 45 years ago and the release of other cultivars thereafter, ICA Cajicá still predominates on the market and is one of the most used oats for animal feeding (through silage). It is, however, susceptible to rust (Puccinia spp.) which is predominant in many parts of the Colombian higher tropics. The cultivar Altoandina, released in 2018, is the most recent oat made available to dairy producers, and is the result of an evaluation process which began in 2005. Compared to the previously released materials and commercial oats used in the region, Altoandina stands out for its higher biomass production, better nutritional quality, and greater resistance to rust and overturning (Campuzano et al., 2018(Campuzano et al., , 2020)), making it a promising alternative for supplying the forage deficit of the prairies in times of scarcity (drought) and improving the productivity of the specialized dairy systems in the Colombian higher tropics. In general terms, oats stand out as a forage crop widely used as a source of animal nutrition throughout the world, especially in European countries and the United States (Fraser and McCartney, 2004;Suttie and Reynolds, 2004;Harper et al., 2017). Avena sativa is predominant there and used either in grazing systems or as supplement in the form of hay and silage. In South America, a harvested area of 806,000 hectares was registered for 2019, with an average annual growth rate of 8% between 2010and 2019(FAOSTAT, 2021)), indicating the interest of dairy producers in this material. In Colombia, oats are mainly used as basis for silage production in the higher tropics, but, to a limited extent also for grazing in the lower to medium tropics. Using oats has been gaining importance in cattle production, especially in the technified dairy systems in the higher tropics, but adoption rates remain low on farms with less technical level (FEDEGAN, 2012).The technical evaluation of oats in Colombia is being led by Agrosavia, which has focused on evaluating the effects of using it as a supplementation strategy in critical times (through silage) on the production and composition of milk in the higher tropics (Barahona et al., 2003;León et al., 2008;Mojica et al., 2009;Campuzano et al., 2018Campuzano et al., , 2020)). Although variable effects on production have been reported, most of these studies have shown how the use of oats allows maintaining milk production stable when compared to feeding strategies solely based on Kikuyu grass (León et al., 2008;Mojica et al., 2009;Campuzano et al., 2018Campuzano et al., , 2020)). Studies on the economic viability of including oat varieties in cattle systems were, however, not conducted yet for Colombia. Even though oats (due to their beneficial characteristics such as higher biomass availability, maintenance of production levels in critical times, and reduction in the use of commercial concentrates) have positive impacts on economic viability and economic indicators, it is also evident that the implementation of feeding strategies based on oats imply higher costs at the productive level compared to grazing systems, making it necessary to provide information on the profitability of these technologies in order to facilitate dissemination and adoption processes.In this sense, the present study aims to evaluate, from an economic perspective, the viability of the oat Avena AV25-T (Altoandina) as a feeding strategy for dairy systems in the Colombian higher tropics. Altoandina (Aa) was provided as silage in two different diets: 35%Aa−65% Kikuyu (Yellow Diet) and 65%Aa−35% Kikuyu (Red Diet). The diet for comparison was traditional grazing with 100% Kikuyu grass (Blue Diet). Through a discounted cash flow model and a quantitative risk analysis using a Monte Carlo simulation, we provide economic indicators, such as Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Benefit-Cost Ratio (B/C), that help in identifying the best diet for the system under evaluation. This document is structured as follows: after this introduction, the main characteristics of the evaluated variety are presented [Section Description of the technology: Avena AV25-T (Altoandina)]. The methodology, assumptions, and data sources used are explained in Section Materials and Methods, the results are provided in Section Results and discussed in Section Discussion, and conclusions and recommendations for various stakeholders are presented in Section Conclusion.In 1992, the oat accession with the experimental name AV25 was introduced to the National Germplasm Bank System for Food and Agriculture of Colombia (SBGNAA) managed by Corpoica (now Agrosavia). The accession was delivered by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from Mexico. The evaluation process of this accession began in 2005 with the aim of offering forage alternatives for the cattle systems in the Colombian higher tropics. In total, 18 oat genotypes from New Zealand, CIMMYT, SBGNAA and commercial national varieties were evaluated. The AV25 genotypes were selected for presenting high Dry Matter yields, tolerance to overturn and resistance to leaf and stem rust (Campuzano et al., 2020). From 2016 to 2017, agronomic evaluations were carried out in eight locations in the Colombian Andean region, selecting the cultivar AV25-T (Altoandina) as most promising material for covering the feed requirements of the high-altitude dairy systems during critical times (Campuzano et al., 2018), particularly for milk production in the subregions of the savannas of Bogotá, upper Chicamocha, the Ubaté and Chiquinquirá valleys, and the highlands of the Nariño Department (Campuzano et al., 2018).Altoandina is a forage oat with a semi-erect growth habit with an average height of 108-143 cm and an average density of 27 leaves per plant. It adapts well to altitudes between 2,600 and 3,000 m.a.s.l. and to soils with a moderately acidic to neutral PH value. Compared to other commercial oats (e.g., Cayuse), Altoandina has a shorter flowering time (92-107 days compared to 110-150), being considered an intermediate cycle oat. The average harvest period until a state of milky to pasty grains [7.9 points on the Zadoks growth scale (Zadoks et al., 1974)] is reached, varies between 130 to 140 days. It is characterized by high biomass production (up to 64.9 t ha −1 of green forage and up to 25 t ha −1 of Dry Matter, depending on the management and environmental conditions), resistance to overturning (5.2% compared to 30% for commercial varieties), low incidence of leaf and stem rust (Puccinia spp.) (<20% compared to 60% for commercial varieties), and higher crude protein values in the milky to pasty grain state, where starch levels are at their highest point and improve the nutritional quality of the forage (59% higher than for the commercial varieties Cayuse and Cajicá) (Campuzano et al., 2018). A summary of the characteristics of Altoandina is provided in Table 1. Altoandina was released by Agrosavia in 2018 and is commercially available to cattle producers since then.In the present study, Altoandina was evaluated as silage for supplementation in times of feed scarcity in the higher tropics of Colombia. The evaluation considered two different silage supplementation percentages of the total diet: 35% (Yellow Diet) and 65% (Red Diet) of Altoandina silage. This was compared with a traditional grazing scenario with 100% Kikuyu grass (Blue Diet) (see Table 2). Prior to the entry of the animals to the systems, the chemical composition of the Kikuyu grass and the Altoandina silage were measured. In the case of the Altoandina silage, the levels of Crude Protein were 8.7%, Neutral Detergent Fiber 51.5%, and Total Digestible Nutrients 52.6%, respectively. For the Kikuyu grass, the levels of Crude Protein were 17.8%, Neutral Detergent Fiber 58.1%, and Total Digestible Nutrients 24.7%, respectively (J. Castillo, Agrosavia, personal communication). The composition of the diet presented in Table 2 refers to the percentages available and supplied to the animals. The actual consumption of the animals, might differ since animals were offered voluntary feed intake. To ensure that each cow ate the planned amount, the silage was supplied individually, and the silage surplus was weighed daily. The residual silage did not reach higher levels than 3.9 and 3.6% for the two evaluated diets (65 and 35% of Altoandina silage) (A. Albarracín, Agrosavia, personal communication).In the three diets, additional supplementation was carried out with Standard 70 feed concentrate, cotton seed and Alfalfa flour, at an amount of 6, 0.5, and 0.5 kg AU −1 d −1 , respectively. These amounts are assumed as constant throughout the year and are identical for the three evaluated diets. The productivity data for Altoandina were obtained from field evaluations carried out by Agrosavia in 2008 in the municipality of Tibasosa in the Boyacá Department in Colombia (5 • 44 ′ 53 ′′ north latitude and 72 • 59 ′ 56 ′′ west longitude, at an altitude of 2,528 m.a.s.l.). The experiment was carried out between July and August 2007, during the dry season of the second semester of the year. The average temperature there is 13 • C with fluctuations between 0 and 20 • C and a relative humidity of 80 to 85%. Frosts occur in the area in the months of January, February and early August, the average annual rainfall is 528.9 mm. Altoandina was sown in an area of 5,500 m 2 , on soils with moderate to strong acidity (PH 5.9), medium percentages of organic matter, medium levels of Phosphorus (P) and Sulfur (S), and a low level of Boron (B).The oat harvest for silage production was carried out 119 days after sowing when 70% of the crop was in the state of milky to pasty grains, with an approximate Dry Matter production of 20 t ha −1 . Animal productivity was evaluated in 15 Holstein cows in a specialized dairy system under conditions of the higher tropics (2,200-3,000 m.a.s.l.). The animal productivity evaluations were performed in a crossover design with three treatments, where the experimental unit consisted of five Holstein cows in the first third of the lactation period. Each treatment involved three groups each of five cows who had between three and five calvings in the past. The silage supply was offered individually in the pasture with portable feeders, dividing the daily amount of silage into two fractions supplied after each milking process. The total evaluation period was 21 days, with daily milk yield measurements in sevenday blocks. To determine grazing area in each diet, the total available forage was calculated, and to determine the dry matter intake, the weight of the cows was measured. The measurements of forage availability were made before and after grazing to determine the consumption of Kikuyu grass. For the Blue Diet (100% Kikuyu grass), forage was provided to the animals through grazing on a daily plot size of 241 m 2 and the total area used was 4824 m 2 . For the Yellow (35% Altoandina silage) and Red (65% Altoandina silage) Diets, Kikuyu forage was provided to the animals through grazing on a daily plot size of 140.1 and 69.9 m 2 , and the total area used was 2802 and 1398 m 2 , respectively.A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was carried out to determine the viability of the different interventions with Altoandina as a supplementation strategy in critical times. The CBA is based on a discounted free cash flow model and a quantitative risk analysis. The analysis was carried out by comparing the profitability indicators of the technology in different diets (Red Diet and Yellow Diet) and the traditional scenario (Blue Diet) for the study region. For each case, the economic costs and benefits were determined. Regarding the cost categories, the following have been considered (per hectare): total costs of establishment and maintenance, opportunity costs of capital, and operating costs (e.g., for animal health, supplementation, permanent and occasional labor). The benefits are derived from the production of milk in a specialized dairy system, according to the animal response indicators obtained for each diet. The estimated profitability indicators include the total production costs, the gross income, the net profit, the profit margin per liter of milk, and financial indicators such as the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR).For the construction of the cash flow, it was necessary to establish different economic and technical assumptions, which are in detail described below.Since animal productivity was only measured in terms of milk production per day, the other technical parameters are the same for the three diets according to the average indicators for the study area: (i) a milk production period of 305 days; (ii) a calving interval of 401-450 days; and (iii) a productive lifespan of dairy cattle of 6 years. The purchase price of dairy cattle (US$ 812 AU −1 ) was amortized for the period of analysis and the price for culled cows was adjusted for inflation at 6 years and added in the last year (US$ 406 AU −1 ).Altoandina is sown twice a year-in March/April and October/November. Oat silage is prepared and offered to the animals in periods of frost or drought to cover the supply of forage required in the diet-usually from December to February and July to September. In other words, oat supplementation is assumed for a total of 180 days per year for the Red and Yellow Diets. It is necessary to emphasize that the planting of Altoandina must be linked to a farm development plan to fulfill this assumption. If the supply of forage is low, two sowings are planned, otherwise the producers sow oats, especially between March and April.The renewal is assumed once every 2 years, according to the trend in the region (J. Castillo, Agrosavia, personal communication). This is done to improve the physical and chemical quality of the soil, as well as to recover the productive capacity and quality of the Kikuyu grass.The evaluation horizon is established according to the lifespan of the main assets for each diet. In the case of Altoandina, an evaluation period of 6 years was considered (from 2020 to 2025), according to the productive lifespan of the Holstein cows used in the specialized dairy system in the Colombian higher tropics (M. Sotelo, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, personal communication).The financing cost is chosen as the discount rate in accordance with the rural credit lines of the Colombian Fund for the Financing of the Agricultural Sector (FINAGRO). This financing cost is considered the opportunity cost of capital and is associated with a risk factor present in the activities of the rural sector. Therefore, the following discount rate was established: Fixedterm deposit rate (DTF) + 5% effective annual interest rate.The projection of the discount rate in the corresponding periods was carried out following the DTF projections, according to the Annual Report of Economic Projections Colombia 2020 (Bancolombia, 2020).The need for permanent labor was established according to the labor weights of FEDEGAN (2003), referring to a need of 7.8 permanent workers for every 100 animals in specialized dairy systems. The 2019 basic salary, transportation assistance, social security contributions, social and parafiscal benefits were considered for establishing the cost of one permanent farm worker, which is US$ 422 per month. For the projection of wages during the period of analysis, the universal rule was assumed: Variation of the minimum salary (in %) = expected inflation (in %) + observed variation of workforce productivity (WP, in %). A WP of 1% is assumed, according to historical estimates derived from the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia (DANE, 2020a).Income tax was considered as dictated by law 2010 of 2019 (Congress of the Republic, 2020). Here a rate of 32% was established for 2020, 31% for 2021 and 30% for 2022, remaining fixed at the latter value for the subsequent years.Inflation was considered to estimate income flows and costs in the evaluation period. In the case of income, the projection of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) estimated by Bancolombia (2020) for the period 2020-2023 was considered. For production costs, the Producer Price Index (PPI) provided by the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia (DANE, 2020b) was considered.Price information was obtained from the Milk Price Monitoring Unit for Region 1, where specialized dairy production systems predominant (MADR/USP, 2020). The prices were projected according to the CPI projections. Additionally, this projection included variations in milk prices, associated with the presence of extreme weather events such as El Niño and La Niña. According to Abril et al. (2017), the occurrence of these phenomena caused a significant increase in food inflation, particularly when the phenomenon is of a strong category. In Colombia, milk prices have had variations of more than 7% in the years with the presence of these events, compared to variations of less than 1% in the years without phenomenon (DANE, 2020b,c).Risk is defined as the possibility that the real return on an investment is less than the expected return (Park, 2007). Therefore, profitability is associated with the variability of the flows of benefits and costs, and these in turn of the randomness of the main variables of the investment project (e.g., yields, market prices). Investment projects at the rural level pose a high risk, resulting from a dependence on a wide set of variables, in many cases, not controlled by the producer (e.g., climatic factors). In this sense, it is necessary to incorporate risk levels associated with the profitability indicators of each of the diets evaluated.For this, a Monte Carlo simulation model was carried out. The simulation was performed for a total of 5,000 simulations or iterations, with a 95% confidence level, with the software package @Risk (Paladise Corporation). The objective of this analysis is to determine the standard deviation mean values of the profitability indicators through the variable parameters: price per liter of milk, milk production per day in each of the diets, fertilization costs, variation in the discount rate and in the CPI indicator. These variables are assigned a probability distribution according to their empirical behavior, literature or based on expert interviews. The yields were modeled according to expert knowledge and the best fit in @Risk following a Pert distribution, where the predominance of values in the most probable range was assumed.In the case of costs and price variations, a triangular distribution was assumed according to the reported minimum and maximum values and assigning a greater probability to the extremes.Table 3 shows the simulated variables, the range values, and the probability distributions used. In the simulation, values of the variables identified as critical are randomly assigned, according to their probability distribution functions, to later calculate the determined profitability indicators.As decision criteria, the mean values and the variance of the profitability indicators resulting from the simulation are used. The use of the mean value criterion is based on the law of large numbers, which states that if many repetitions of an experiment are carried out, the average result will tend toward the expected value (Park, 2007). The variance of the indicators determines the degree of spread or dispersion on both sides of the mean value (Park, 2007). In other words, the lower the variance, the lower the variability (loss potential) associated with the indicators.Where, E (FCt) = Expected value of the net profit flow for period t Var (FCt) = Net profit flow variance for period t r = Real discount rate The NPV at risk indicator (VaR) and the probability of success of the evaluated diets [Prob (NPV (Medium)>0] were also estimated. The VaR is defined as the maximum expected loss of the investment project in a time interval and with a certain level of confidence (Manotas and Toro, 2009). Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed using a tornado graph, which sensitizes each variable in order to measure its impact on the profitability indicators and to identify within the critical variables those with the greatest effects on the profitability indicators.Figure 1 shows the information corresponding to the technical indicators of animal productivity for each of the evaluated diets. These indicators show that the inclusion of Altoandina silage in a percentage of 35% (Yellow Diet) allowed to increase the daily milk production per cow by 5.8% and per hectare by 82.3% compared to the Kikuyu grazing system (Blue Diet). When the percentage of silage in the diet increased by 65% (Red Diet), daily milk production per cow was reduced by 7.7% and per hectare increased by 220% compared to the Blue Diet. The higher per hectare milk production is associated with the higher availability of forage and, therefore, an increase in the animal stocking rate of 42% and 71% for the Yellow and Red Diets, respectively. In addition, the inclusion of Altoandina silage makes it possible to reduce the rate of milk production decline in critical times and, in the end, to increase milk production per unit area. It should be noted that, of the evaluated diets, the highest variability in animal production is observed for the Red Diet, measured by the standard deviation indicators and coefficient of variation. It is important to highlight that, as mentioned in the methodology, the data were collected during the dry season of the second semester and were used to estimate the total annual production under each diet. However, given that production levels tend to be higher in rainy seasons, which is associated with the better forage availability, the data estimations used in this study could be underestimating production levels for the whole year. In this sense, better annual milk yields could be expected. Table 4 presents the summary of the average costs and income for each of the evaluated diets. The cash flow models include the variable costs and revenues associated with the establishment of each technology (Altoandina, Kikuyu). The income results from the sale of raw milk under a specialized dairy production system, according to the technical parameters presented in Figure 1. The average annual milk yields are 31,522, 57,316 and 101,543 L/ha for the Blue, Yellow and Red Diets, respectively. This results in a gross income for the sale of raw milk of US$ 10,091 for the Blue, US$ 18,335 for the Yellow, and US$ 32,483 for the Red Diet, respectively. Regarding production costs, animal feed and labor costs are the most significant items in this production system, making up 52 ± 3% and 23 ± 1% of the total cost of each diet. The costs corresponding to inputs for pastures, animal health, and others add up to the remaining 25%, which results in a production cost per liter of milk of US $0.31 for the Blue, US$ 0.29 for the Yellow, and US$ 0.34 for the Red Diets, respectively. The feed cost includes those costs related to supplementation with Standard 70 concentrate, cotton seed and Alfalfa flour, at an amount of 6 kg, 0.5 kg, and 0.5 kg AU −1 d −1 , respectively, adding to a total cost of US$ 2.34 AU d −1 and US$ 836 AU y −1 . This  however, the Yellow Diet turns out to be the more efficient one with lower unit production costs and higher daily milk productivity per cow. Therefore, a higher profit margin can be obtained per liter of milk produced. The cost of establishing one hectare of Altoandina is estimated at US$ 886, which includes the costs required in its establishment and for ensilaging. The green forage yield is 46,545, the amount silage obtained from that is 41,891, and the DM production is 14,155 kg ha −1 , respectively. The cost per kg of DM produced is estimated at US$ 0.06.The summary of the main financial indicators obtained from the Monte Carlo simulation is presented in Table 4. Under the assumptions used for the modeling, all diets result in economically viable alternatives (NPV>0). The best indicators are, however, associated the Yellow Diet. Its mean NPV is 128% and 55% higher than the ones of the Blue and Red Diets, respectively, and a lower dispersion of the indicators is observed according to the Coefficient of Variation (29%, compared to 41% and 76% for the Blue and Red Diets, respectively). Regarding the probability of not obtaining financial feasibility of the three diets, the results of the probability distribution of the NPV are presented in For all three evaluated diets, the economic viability indicators are highly sensitive to changes in the daily milk production variable, meaning that 70, 62.9, and 60% of the variations in the NPV indicator of the Blue, Yellow and Red Diets can be explained by variations in daily milk production. The second most impactful variable is milk price, which explains on average 30% of the variations in the NPV. The Red Diet is the most sensitive to changes regarding milk price (38.7%), which suggests that it would pose a greater risk in the face of market conditions that cause price reductions (Figure 3).The use of Altoandina as a supplementation strategy in times of food scarcity proved to be a viable alternative at both the technical and economic levels in specialized milk production systems in the Colombian higher tropics. The higher availability of feed in the evaluated diets based on Altoandina silage allow to increase milk production per hectare substantially (82 and 220% for the Yellow and Red Diets). The daily milk production is, however, 7.7% lower for the Red Diet (which has the highest share of Altoandina silage with 65%) than for the Blue Diet (control scenario, 100% Kikuyu), which is associated with the lower nutritional quality of the silage compared to the higher quality of Kikuyu grass. According to literature, although the effects on milk production can be highly variable, most studies have reported how the use of oats has allowed to maintain and even improve production in critical times. For example, some studies report that the supplementation with oat silage has allowed increases in the production and percentage of milk fat, without detriments to protein and total solids (Campuzano et al., 2018). This increase is associated with the greater supply of forage available in diets that include silage, which balances a diet rich in protein and energy (J. Castillo, Agrosavia, personal communication). Mojica et al. (2009) found a higher milk production in cows fed with Kikuyu grass with a supply of oat silage (Avena sativa) of 0.7 kg DM per 100 kg of live weight (equivalent to a supplementation of 17.5% of the total diet), although this increase in production was statistically similar to the diets where only Kikuyu grass was fed. Similarly, León et al. (2008), Harper et al. (2017), Burbano-Muñoz et al. (2018), and Castro-Rincón et al. (2020) report no significant differences in the DM consumption, milk production and composition for supplementation diets with 10-35% oat silage (Avena sativa). These results show that the inclusion of oat silage in low percentages of the diet does not affect the nutritional value of forage and, therefore, production is maintained. On the contrary, León et al. (2008) and Mojica et al. (2009) reported reductions in milk production when up to 1.4 kg DM of oat silage per 100 kg liveweight were incorporated into the diet (33-36% of the total diet). This effect was associated with a possible negative effect on the nutrient balance since DM consumption was similar with respect to the diet based only on Kikuyu grass. Barahona et al. (2003), however, reported an optimal level of silage utilization for supplementation of up to 75% of the total diet, with acceptable and profitable levels of milk production. In general, these variable results regarding the effects of oat silage on milk production can be associated with multiple factors, such as nutritional quality and cutting age of the oat (variation in the amount of nutrients), the type of silage and its interaction with the grass feed base, lactation (differences in nutritional requirements), availability and level of DM consumption, and level of energy consumption (Bhandari et al., 2008;León et al., 2008;Mojica et al., 2009;Harper et al., 2017).At an economic level, the results indicate the Yellow Diet as the best alternative, yielding an average NPV higher than for the other alternatives and a lower variability for said indicator. Similarly, the risk indicators VaR (Value at Risk at 95% confidence) and Prob (NPV < 0) are more favorable for this diet. These results are associated with greater efficiency in terms of production costs, which allows for increasing the profit margin per liter of milk produced. The Yellow Diet with 35% Altoandina silage can therefore be considered the best alternative from an economic point of view under different performance scenarios and market conditions. Sections 1 and 2 of this article evidenced the lack of economic studies regarding the implementing of oat supplementation strategies in the Colombia.In fact, the only study we found was conducted in the highlands of Mexico (Burbano- Muñoz et al., 2018). According to the results, production costs per kilogram of milk increased by 25 and 50% for inclusion levels of Avena sativa cv. Chihuahua oat silage of 3 and 6 kg DM per cow and day, respectively. Since there were no significant differences in yields or milk composition, the diet with only Kikuyu grass had the highest profit margin. This study, however, highlights the importance of this feeding strategy to maintain production levels in places where grazing conditions are limited. Likewise, the use of oat silage makes it possible to reduce the use of feed concentrates or expensive by-products for feeding animals-which are mainly imported at high prices and are subject to often strong price fluctuations. Both are also important attributes observed in our study. In addition, Altoandina has tolerance to rust (Puccinia spp.), higher drought tolerance and resistance to frost, which make it an option less likely to be affected by specific climatic conditions and pests present in the Colombian higher tropics. Altoandina can also be conserved for up to 3e years when proper oat conservation processes are guaranteed (silo, silage), which helps in reducing production seasonality and improving productive parameters.Given the presence of periods of drought or frost that reduce the biomass supply in grazing systems in the Colombian high tropics, alternatives, such as supplementation with oat silage, that allow to maintain milk production levels stable throughout the year, are of great importance for the dairy sector. Achieving stable milk production would improve the income level of producers, contributing to their livelihoods, but also to food security and a better nutrition in the region. Although there is a visible trend toward using feed supplementation strategies in dairy farms in the high tropics (e.g., hay and silage in critical times), this rather applies to the more technified farms. Farms with low to medium technification are more reluctant resulting in low levels of adoption of such supplementation strategies, which is evidenced by less than 5% and 20% of the producers using hay and silage supplementation, respectively (FEDEGAN, 2012). Among the main barriers that limit the adoption of supplementation strategies are the lack of equipment to chop the silage (Reiber et al., 2010(Reiber et al., , 2013;;Bernardes and do Rêgo, 2014), and the lack of labor (Bernardes and do Rêgo, 2014). On the other hand, factors that favor the adoption of supplementation strategies are financial and agricultural resources, continuity and intensity in rural extension, access to demonstration farms and the participation of key innovators, the lack of alternative feeds for the dry season, the perceived benefits of silage feeding, and the presence of a favorable milk market (Reiber et al., 2010(Reiber et al., , 2013)). This highlights the importance of providing support in the diffusion processes of these technologies in terms of training and education on the use of supplementation strategies as well as their technical and economic benefits. Likewise, facilities for producers to access the required equipment (e.g., machine rings) can help in technology adoption and diffusion processes.The inclusion of oat silage in animal diets can also have positive effects at the environmental level, given the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the specialized dairy systems of the higher tropics. In Colombia, those systems present a high level of emissions of both Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) (León et al., 2008), which is associated with the levels of conventional fertilization with N used for the maintenance of (Kikuyu) pastures (around 400 kg N ha −1 y −1 are used), the high levels of protein consumption (e.g., 17-21% of protein levels in Kikuyu), and the consumption of P (through mineralized salts) not fully used at the ruminal level (León et al., 2008).Different studies have proposed the use of cereal silages rich in starches as a strategy to reduce the consumption of N and P, increasing the efficiency in the use of these minerals and, therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emission levels. For example, León et al. (2008) evaluated the balance of N and P in 18 cows under grazing of Kikuyu grass and compared the results with a diet based on the inclusion of oat silage (Avena sativa). According to their results, the decrease in nutrient consumption through supplementation with oat silage decreased the excretion of N in the urine and reduced the P balance. On the other hand, it increased the excretion of N in feces which is associated with the lower degradability of the silage compared to Kikuyu grass. The above-described changes were not affecting milk production levels and composition. The authors state that the reduction of N in the urine significantly contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, since it degrades faster than fecal N. Dhiman and Satter (1997) observed that the total excretion of N to the environment was reduced from 6 to 15% with diets that contained corn silage. Ramin et al. (2021) described that a higher inclusion of oats linearly reduced CH 4 emissions from 467 to 445 g d −1 , and the intensity of CH 4 from 14.7 to 14.0 g per kg of milk, without having adverse effects on productivity or energy balances. Other studies have confirmed that reducing the level of protein in the diet (i.e., from 18% to 15%) does not affect production, but reduces the excretion of N into the environment (Wattiaux and Karg, 2004;León et al., 2008). In summary, including grain silage, such as Altoandina, into the cattle diet may help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without affecting productivity levels and thus, has positive effects on the environment when compared with traditional diets based on grazing (of Kikuyu) and feed concentrates. To achieve the maximum benefits in this regard, it is, however, important to ensure that the oats are being harvested at the optimum time (milky-pasty grains) and that the grains are being mixed with the forage.The results of this study suggest that supplementation with Altoandina oat silage is an efficient alternative to meet feed requirements in critical times of milk production in the Colombian higher tropics. The inclusion of Altoandina silage as supplement into the Kikuyu dairy cattle diet in a 35% :65% proportion (Yellow Diet) results in the best per animal milk productivity indicators, whereas in a proportion of 75:25% (Red Diet), daily milk production declines. This is associated with the loss of nutritional quality of the forage at a level of 75% oat silage supplementation, affecting the nutrient balance and, therefore, the daily per animal milk productivity. This is consistent with other studies, which suggest oat silage supplementation as a promising alternative to maintain milk production levels in times of forage scarcity. Prior to the planting forage crops such as oats, it is, however, important to conduct technical and economic evaluations focused on the use of supplements to lower the excess protein levels that Kikuyu grass could present, according to the productive potential of the animals and the goals proposed in farm development plans. In addition, we recommend including the supply of supplements, such as Altoandina oat silage, into forage budget calculations (feed budget) to estimate the actual supply and demand of feed of the dairy herd, and to assess production costs for grass and supplements. Finally, it is important to carry out or publish results of the protein-energy balance in the Colombian higher tropics, focusing on the efficiency and importance of balancing diets based on forage crops such as oats.According to the economic evaluation, the Yellow Diet turned out to be the best alternative to improve efficiency and profitability at the farm level when facing problems of seasonality in dairy production and increasing the income of producers. The evaluation also shows that implementing this diet is less risky than implementing the traditional diet based on Kikuyu (Blue Diet) and, considering the risk aversive behavior of many dairy farmers, this is a key aspect to promote diffusion and adoption. Altoandina also shows tolerance to stem rust (Puccinia ssp.) and drought, as well as resistance to frost, which makes it a valuable option for specific climatic conditions and pests in the Colombian higher tropics that can contribute both to reducing the seasonality of production and improving production parameters. Likewise, when there is an excess of protein in the pasture (as in the case of the 100% Kikuyu grass diet), supplying oat silage with high starch levels helps balancing the protein:energy ratio and thus, improves the efficiency of the system.The use of supplementation alternatives such as oats contributes to achieving more sustainable food systems, through improving the efficiency of animal feeding. This leads to an increase in the availability of milk for consumption, which is key to nutrition and food security, and to improvements in the livelihoods of the producers. Commercial seed for growing oats is easily accessible and the establishment of the materials is relatively easy for the producers, making supplementation an attractive alternative to them. The use of Altoandina as supplementation thus helps improving the feeding efficiency by either maintaining the same production levels but reducing the use of more expensive feeds (e.g., concentrates) or producing more milk at lower per unit costs. This stabilizes the income flow of the dairy producers and, therefore, improves their livelihoods. The increased availability of milk for consumption also contributes to improving food security and the nutrition of, above all, the rural population. In addition, oats can also be a nutrient-rich food source for human consumption and contribute to the nutrition of the producer households. Likewise, the use of oats as a supplementation strategy also contributes to the reduction of N and P emissions to the environment, since oats, in their milky to pasty grain state, increase starch levels and balance the protein:energy ratio, and thus, contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving economic efficiency. This makes oat supplementation a triple win alternative: more efficient production, increased livelihoods, reduced emissions. Although the experiments used as a basis for this study were carried out in the Boyacá Department of Colombia, it is important to note that they served as an important input for technology scaling processes and further evaluations in other high-altitude regions of the country with similar specialized dairy systems, such as in the Nariño (Castro-Rincón et al., 2020), Cundinamarca, and Antioquia Departments as well as in other areas of the Boyacá Department (J. Castillo, Agrosavia, personal communication). Likewise, the economic results obtained in this study have been key to identifying the percentage of the diet with the best economic viability at the producer level and helped to define a pathway for scaling this technology package in larger areas of the high-altitude tropics of Colombia. In this sense, Agrosavia in 2021 has been working on a plan for promoting Altoandina at the regional level, by providing dairy producers with technical recommendations and supporting them in increasing the planted areas. It is recommended, however, to conduct further trials and analyses in other countries with similar conditions (e.g., Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia) to support technology release and adoption processes there, too.We also recommend including measurements at the environmental level in future studies on Altoandina, so that the technology's potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be quantified and other potential ecosystem services identified. Such measurements should be included in the agronomic evaluations, which would then allow for accounting greenhouse gas emission reductions in the economic valuation exercise and to project them as additional benefits derived from the dairy system. Likewise, we recommend evaluating the use of Altoandina as dual-purpose crop, meaning in a mixed grazingcutting system, where the animals graze the oat in the stuffing state, and after that fertilizer is being applied and the oat is being harvested for silage production once the grains reach the milky-pasty state. This approach could increase system efficiency and land use optimization. In addition, Altoandina is frost resistant, and intercropping with Kikuyu grass could help mitigating the effects of frost on the production system through improving the total on-farm DM availability. We thus recommend evaluations for determining the intercropping potential of Altoandina and its effects when it comes to the adaptation to climate change.Rapid population growth, climate change, and environmental degradation have put food security and nutrition at risk, especially in the global tropics. The need to feeding a growing population has resulted in the exploration of new food sources for humans, livestock, and fisheries. In recent years, insects have been proposed as an alternative food source for humans and livestock. Food derived from insects is considered more resource efficient (needing less land and water) than traditional livestock production systems (Payne et al., 2016). Several studies highlight the benefits of edible insects for human and animal health. Crickets (Orthoptera), flies (Diptera), and beetles (Coleoptera) do not differ significantly in their nutritional composition from traditional protein sources such as beef, chicken, and pork (van Huis et al., 2013;Payne et al., 2016;Frigerio et al., 2020;Stull, 2021). The use of insects as food for humans or feed for livestock is, however, not a new concept. Humans have used insects in their diets throughout history (van Huis et al., 2013).More recently, insects have been seen as viable and sustainable protein sources for livestock (Chia et al., 2019). The increased relevance of insects as feed is reflected by a rapid increase in the number of patent applications related to insect food processing methods; a growing number of companies offering insects for human and animal consumption; and increased research on edible insects and greater social acceptance of such (Müller et al., 2016;Kim et al., 2019). The boom in interest in insects as food and feed is tracking attention across the globe as evidenced by the development of legislative frameworks for insect-based products (European Food Safety Authority, 2021); and projected increases in the global market volume from US$ 400 million to between US$700 million and US$1.2 billion by 2024 (Dunkel and Payne, 2016).In this perspective article, we provide a viewpoint of how different tropical forage crops available from international gene banks and grown on farms can support the current insect farming industry, and how their incorporation in insect diets has potential for addressing food safety concerns while maintaining the high nutritional quality of insects for human and animal nutrition. The article is structured as follows: section Insect Farming as a Food Source in the Tropics provides an overview of insect farming as a feed and food source in the tropics; section Tropical Forages as a Feed Alternative for Farmed Insects focuses on feeding insects with tropical forages; section Examples of Successful Projects provides insights into some successful pilot projects; and section Toward Responsible Insect Farming in the Tropics sheds light on how to move toward responsible insect farming in the tropics. Section Concluding Remarks and Forward Look provides concluding remarks that help interested stakeholders in developing forage-based insect value chains in the tropics.Leakey (2020) projects increasing food insecurity and environmental degradation in the tropics if the businessas-usual scenario continues. As a result, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift where environmental sustainability, dietary diversity and productivity have equal value. Insect farming to produce food is a promising intervention. Compared to traditional livestock production systems, insect farming uses 50-90% less land per kg of protein produced and 40-80% less feed per kg of edible weight; produces 1.2-2.7 kg less greenhouse gas emissions per kg of live weight gain; and uses 1,000 L less water per kg of live weight gain (Payne et al., 2016). The tropics, where most insect species occur (Chapman, 2005), are very favorable for insect production since the edaphoclimatic conditions assure a steady production throughout the year under constant environmental conditions, and the natural occurrence of a broad variety of insect species eliminates the need to introduce non-native species that represent a risk of biological invasion (Jansson et al., 2019;Bang and Courchamp, 2020). Currently, most farmed insects at the industrial scale, however, belong to few species (Jansson et al., 2019), 12 in total, despite the existence of around 2,100 edible species (Jongema, 2017). This can exacerbate problems that exist in other food chains (e.g., crops, livestock) (Tisdell, 2001;Fanzo and Mattei, 2010;Bruford et al., 2015), such as diversity loss from overexploitation (Ramos-Elorduy, 2006;Malinga et al., 2020) and the risk of biological invasion in non-native regions, as well as create genetic erosion if no preventive measures are taken.Insects also constitute a feasible alternative for animal feed, such as soybean and fishmeal, which is generally the largest expense in livestock production, representing 60-70% of the total production costs (Alqaisi et al., 2011;van Huis et al., 2013). As a result, small-and medium-scale farmers need alternatives that are both effective and affordable (Chia et al., 2019). Several cost factors are involved in insect farming, including facilities (i.e., laboratories and other infrastructure and resources), labor requirements (e.g., natural oviposition vs. artificial larvae infestation in the substrate), lifecycles and diets of insects (Chia et al., 2019).For insects to be considered viable as a food for humans or livestock, they must be provided with an adequate diet. Most often, small-scale farmed insects are herbivores that rely on crop residues (Chia et al., 2018;Jansson et al., 2019). Largerscale insect farming is sometimes based on feeds that are in direct competition with human diets (e.g., maize, soybean, oats, wheat; see Table 1), and may contain ingredients with associated environmental impacts (Miglietta et al., 2015). For instance, some commercial diets for crickets include grains and fish meal to supply protein requirements, decreasing the sustainability of the entire chain (Lundy and Parrella, 2015;Bawa et al., 2020). Based on that, we propose that tropical forages can be used as an additional feed source in insect production. Industry-scale farmed insects for food and feed aGryllodes sigillatusZophobas morioBlack soldier flies Hermetia illucensPachnoda marginata peregrinaSource: own elaboration based on a Jansson et al. (2019).Tropical forages refer to planted grasses and legumes that are used to feed livestock in the tropics and include species such as Megathyrsus maximus (syn. Panicum maximum), Urochloa spp. (syn. Brachiaria spp.) or Arachis pintoi (see Table 1). Most often, tropical forages are used in places where other crops cannot be produced (e.g., on low-fertility and marginal soils). Among the common features of this group of plants are their relatively high biomass production and adaptation to continuous clipping, browsing, or grazing from animals, followed by vegetative regrowth (Capstaff and Miller, 2018). Tropical forages can supply enough biomass and serve as a steady supply of vegetative material to feed herbivore and omnivorous insects over one to several seasons. Tropical forages can also be conserved when there is a production surplus, e.g., as hay or silage with potential for insect feeding.It is possible to enhance the nutritional content of insects by using tropical forages (Oonincx et al., 2020). Recent studies report that the protein content of crickets increases according to the protein supplementation of feed. Feeding for example dry pumpkin pulp or enriched flaxseed oil increases the vitamin B and omega 3 and 6 contents, respectively (Bawa et al., 2020;Oonincx et al., 2020). Tropical forages have better nutritional values than e.g., crop residues, and herbivore insects prefer most often soft (e.g., green leaves from forage crops) over hard plant material (e.g., stubble from crop residues) (Caldwell et al., 2016). Additionally, insects fed with tropical forages would not compete with food production for human consumption as is the case with grain-based insect feeds. In Uganda, the edible cricket Ruspolia differens (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) was found feeding on 19 grasses, including Megathyrsus maximus, Urochloa ruziziensis, Chloris gayana, Cynodon dactylon, Setaria sphacelate, and Pennisetum purpureum, preferring inflorescences or seeds over stems or leaves and showing a variability in host plant preference through the different life stages (Opoke et al., 2019). Also, diets based on grass inflorescences from different species influence maximal weight, survival, shorter development time and content of fatty acids of R. differens, being U. ruziziensis, P. purpureum, S. sphacelata, and C. gayana efficient for rearing insects for food and feed in sub-Saharan Africa (Rutaro et al., 2018;Malinga et al., 2020).However, there is significant uncertainty about what constitutes optimal diets for farmed insects. Insects can compensate for the detrimental effects of an unbalanced diet through different physiological and behavioral mechanisms. Adequate food ingestion with the proper protein and carbohydrate ratios, however, results in better insect performance (Barragán-Fonseca, 2018). The nutritional requirements vary for each insect species and diets determine their nutritional content. For omnivorous farmed insects, these are complex and difficult to determine because of the broad variety of feed sources and substrates, but this characteristic also allows for more versatile diets to ensure their growth and development (Cortes Ortiz et al., 2016;Barragán-Fonseca et al., 2017;Hanboonsong and Durst, 2020).There exists a large diversity of tropical forages, with great variation in terms of forage yield, agricultural suitability, nutrient content, and production constraints (Martens et al., 2012;Lee, 2018). An important collection of tropical forage diversity is safeguarded in the CGIAR gene banks of the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), with over 22,000 accessions of tropical forage grasses and legumes from over 75 countries (The Alliance of Bioversity International CIAT, 2021). This diversity is a forage resource yet to be explored and used in insect farming. Table 1 provides an overview of commonly farmed insects and Table 2 on the forages that could potentially be used as diet, based on the comparison of the nutritional contents of commonly used diets and tropical forages. For crickets, Andropogon spp. could potentially replace whole yellow corn flour, mealworms could be fed with Megathyrsus maximus instead of white wheat, and sun beetle diets could be changed from brewer's yeast to Arachis pintoi, among others. Creative approaches are needed to identify the best-suited forages and to mix them in adequate ratios to supply insects with the required nutrients, increasing their productivity, and thereby, contributing to the sustainable intensification of animal-source food production systems.Tropical forages available in the international gene banks, but also on farms, have the potential to become a part of the diets of farmed herbivorous insects. Forage-based insect diets would also contribute to the transition to circular economies for the agricultural sector. Insects produced with such diets can be used for both human consumption and as feed for poultry, swine, or fish. This would lead to numerous benefits and opportunities, such as the creation of new industries, small-scale businesses and jobs, income diversification, more balanced human diets, the protection of endangered species and ecosystems (e.g., marine ecosystems or forests), the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, increases in above-and below-ground biodiversity and the protection of water resources, and thus contribute to achieving some of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2021), i.e., those related to ending poverty, zero hunger, climate action, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, responsible consumption and production, life below water and life on land (Chia et al., 2019).Two projects in Kenya and Colombia show the impact of insect production as feed in small and medium-sized farms. In Kenya, the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and Wageningen University trained more than 1,000 farmers on the production of black soldier fly larvae in organic waste substrates for feeding their animals and selling larvae to feed mills, resulting in 37 new insectbased enterprises and the establishment of cost-effective modular insect production systems (Dicke, 2019;Barragán-Fonseca et al., 2020). In Colombia, the National University of Colombia implemented different projects related to insect production for replacing 15% of traditional fish feed by black soldier fly larvae, with ex-combatants of the FARC-EP guerrilla in the Tolima Department, also addressing SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions (Barragán-Fonseca et al., 2020). Currently there are research initiatives led by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), academic institutions (e.g., University of Copenhagen, Wageningen University) and governmental institutions (e.g., The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research), such as GREEiNSECT and ILIPA, which aim at producing scientific evidence for insect production in small-, medium-and large-scale industries and developing the commercial potential for food and feed, contributing enormously to the growth of this sector in the tropics. Apart from their use as food and livestock feed, insects can also be sold (alive or processed) on other niche markets with price premiums, such as to zoos or pet owners, generating additional income for producers. Processing methods range from more artisanal (e.g., sun and oven drying, smoking, curing, grounding) to more refined industrial techniques (Melgar-Lalanne et al., 2019). New products are being developed constantly to satisfy the increasing demands of different niche markets. For human diets, a broad range of insect-based ingredients and products are already available on the market, which include cricket powder and food coloring or oils, as well as dishes in restaurants and snacks. For instance, in Thailand, where most of the sector is on a small-scale in rural areas, new market opportunities in gourmet restaurants and gastronomy tourism allowed the development of edible crickets and silkworm products and their industrialization in the main cities of the country (Halloran et al., 2016). Foragebased insect diets help to reduce the microbiological and chemical hazard (i.e., microorganisms, viruses, prions, pesticide residues) associated with substrates like animal or agriculture by-products or kitchen waste (EFSA Scientific Committee, 2015;Dobermann et al., 2017;Gałecki and Sokół, 2019), resulting in higher food safety of the derived products for both human and animal consumption.The European Union (EU) followed by the United States and Canada leads the global edible insect market and industry (Bermúdez-Serrano, 2020). Consequently, the most complete and strict legislation related to the use of edible insects is found in the EU, where the insects (whole or parts of) are considered a novelty food that can be marketed throughout the region. Policies that regulate the type and quality of insect feed, insect commercialization, and more recently, the safety of specific species for human consumption are decreed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EU member countries, and Switzerland (Der Schweizerische Bundesrat, 2021). In January 2021, dried larvae of the species Tenebrio molitor (mealworms) were declared safe for human consumption by the EFSA, highlighting that the levels of contaminants will depend on those present in the substrates used as insect feed. A review by Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al. (2017) showed that, despite the increasing number of companies involved in the development of insect-based products and the growing insect market, the United States, Canada, China and Mexico lack regulations regarding the safety of insect food and feed products. Australia and New Zealand have regulations in the Food Standard Code for the species Zophobas morio, Acheta domesticus, and Tenebrio molitor, without clear definitions regarding food and feed safety (Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al., 2021). A high quantity of biological, chemical and allergenic risks are associated with this industry, as with any other kind of food (EFSA Scientific Committee, 2015), highlighting the urgent need for research on this matter. In addition, the participation of non-governmental institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is necessary to guarantee the safety of insect products and to establish an international market, yet no such standards are included in the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al., 2021).In tropical countries in Asia and America, legislative frameworks for insect production, commercialization and consumption are either insufficient or non-existent. In several countries, insects are not even considered food, undermining their potential role in the diets of humans and animals (Bermúdez-Serrano, 2020). In Thailand, the use of edible insects is an ancestral practice and although there are no food safety policies, licenses are needed to establish large-scale cricket farms, which are issued by the Food and Drug Administration of Thailand. Also, governmental institutions have released guidelines for cricket farming (Halloran et al., 2015(Halloran et al., , 2017;;FAO, 2021). The situation is similar in Mexico, where insect production is regulated by the organic products law, which focuses on the promotion, conservation and avoidance of overexploitation of only four species: Aegiale hesperiaris, Liometopum apiculatum, Cerambycidae larvae and ant eggs (Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al., 2021). Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia, Brazil, or Argentina, do not have explicit regulations in this regard and tend to follow the Codex Alimentarius Commission standards. In contrast, there is legislation in place regarding edible insects in most tropical African countries (Grabowski et al., 2020). Kenya and Uganda are the two counties currently leading the setting up of standards for the use of insects as food and feed on the African continent (Egonyu et al., 2021). However, such standards still need to fully facilitate the potential of edible insects as an industrial endeavor (Musundire et al., 2021).Insects are a viable option for supplying the growing demand for protein in the tropics, especially given the need to adapt to and mitigate climate change, potentially contributing to the UN's 2030 agenda. The advantages of insect farming in the tropics include a greater biodiversity, production throughout the year under stable environmental conditions and the contribution to at least 8 Sustainable Development Goals. This has led to the development of an emerging industry through initiatives based on black soldier fly production for fisheries in Kenya and Colombia. Organic residues and substrates, commonly used for this purpose, may, however, represent a hazard for both fishery and human health. We propose a new approach for insectbased value chains by integrating tropical forage-based diets in edible insect production systems, given the yet untapped forage diversity in international gene banks and on farms. Compared to commercial diets, tropical forages are a low-cost feed source for insects, with high dietary versatility, that provide opportunities for the transition to sustainable, circular economies. We found the main bottlenecks in the lack of specific regulations, the dependence on few species for large-scale industrial insect production and consumer food safety.Further studies should focus on assessing several species of tropical forages to be included in the diets of commonly farmed insects Also, studies comparing the ease of using tropical forages as insect feed against that of conventional feed (commercial diets or organic waste) need to be performed. There also exists a need to further harmonize rearing, mass production, genetic diversity and harvesting of insects with consumption practices and strengthening of value chains and legislations. Knowledge from communities traditionally using insects as feed and food need to be considered since they can provide valuable insights. The synergies of these approaches will help the development of alternatives to feed both humans and livestock in a nutritious, secure and sustainable way.Livestock are critical for incomes, livelihoods, nutrition and ecosystems management throughout the global South. Livestock production and the consumption of livestock-based foods such as meat, cheese, and milk is, however, under global scrutiny for its contribution to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water use, pollution, and land/soil degradation. This paper argues that, although the environmental footprint of livestock production presents a real threat to planetary sustainability, also in the global south, this is highly contextual. Under certain context-specific management regimes livestock can deliver multiple benefits for people and planet. We provide evidence that a move toward sustainable intensification of livestock production is possible and could mitigate negative environmental impacts and even provide critical ecosystem services, such as improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and enhanced biodiversity on farms. The use of cultivated forages, many improved through selection or breeding and including grasses, legumes and trees, in integrated crop-tree-livestock systems is proposed as a stepping stone toward agroecological transformation. We introduce cultivated forages, explain their multi-functionality and provide an overview of where and to what extent the forages have been applied and how this has benefited people and the planet alike. We then examine their potential to contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology and find that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. More research is, however, needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in the sociological and process aspects of agroecology. We make the case for further genetic improvement of cultivated forages and strong multi-disciplinary systems research to strengthen our understanding of the multidimensional impacts of forages and for managing agro-environmental trade-offs. We finish with a call for action, for the agroecological and livestock research and development communities to improve communication and join hands for a sustainable agri-food system transformation.Keywords: tropical forages, improved forages, cultivated forages, agroecology, mixed crop-tree-livestock systems, environmental co-benefitsEven though the role of animal based proteins as part of a sustainable twenty-first century food system is a highly debated topic (Meybeck and Gitz, 2017), the livestock sector currently plays a key role in food and nutrition security, particularly in developing countries. Livestock products (meat, milk and eggs) contribute 15% and 31% of the global per capita calorie and protein supply, respectively (Godde et al., 2021). Large regional differences characterize the nutritional contributions of livestock, with low intakes of animal-source food in the Global South compared with excesses in the Global North (Meyfroidt, 2018). Livestock are kept by more than half of rural households (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021)), with more than 844 million people worldwide receiving some income from agriculture, and the livestock sector contributing about 40% of the value-added in agriculture (Gontijo de Lima et al., 2015).In general, family farming-often by smallholders cultivating less than two hectares-is still the predominant form of livestock production in the global South, in terms of numbers as well as occupied area (Lowder et al., 2021). On these family farms, livestock production mainly occurs in mixed crop-livestock systems (Herrero et al., 2010), where livestock has a multitude of functions, ranging from the provision of food, nutrition, income and risk reduction to farmers as well as the contribution of essential nutrients and draft power to reduce drudgery and improve crop productivity. The farms are further connected to-mostly local, regional, and national-markets where they generate a plethora of other jobs along livestock value chains (Lie et al., 2017;Bravo et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018).In response to increasing demand for livestock products, these traditionally mixed systems increasingly intensify and are thereby replaced by specialized livestock production systems with spatially decoupled crop and livestock production and high levels of resource depletion and/or environmental pollution (Garrett et al., 2017a;Jin et al., 2020). For instance, about 51% of total feed nitrogen (N) in China was imported in 2015, greatly increasing energy requirements for transport, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions abroad, and causing nutrient surpluses in China (Du et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2020). The spatial decoupling of crop and livestock production is further associated with smaller fractions of manure returned to cropland and larger losses of manure N to surface and ground waters and GHG emissions (Bai et al., 2018). Hence, specialized crop production systems increasingly rely on synthetic fertilizers, and have higher environmental costs per unit of crop product (Zhao et al., 2017). Lastly, the proportion of grain-based feed ingredients and thus direct competition with human nutrition typically increases in the specialized livestock production systems. At the same time, their dependence on antibiotics and growth promoters is harmful for public health (antibiotic resistance, foodborne, and zoonotic diseases) (Peterson et al., 2020).Globally, the livestock sector has a huge environmental footprint. It is responsible for emitting 14.5% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions (Adegbeye et al., 2020), 33% of the total reactive nitrogen emissions (Mueller and Lassaletta, 2020), and is utilizing 30% of the total ice-free land area (Havlík et al., 2012). While large regional differences exist, many of the current livestock production systems in the tropics are responsible for undesirable environmental effects. Expansion of grazing land for livestock is a major driver for deforestation especially in Latin America, leading to about 57% of pasture land replacement with forests over the last decades (Graesser et al., 2015). Overgrazing in pasture and rangelands has resulted in severe soil degradation through compaction and erosion (Martinez and Zinck, 2004), especially in the drylands, with SOC losses creating a large carbon deficit in soils globally (Sanderman et al., 2017). In addition, livestock production is associated with biodiversity loss and high water use (Alkemade et al., 2013;Heinke et al., 2020) Among the most recognized and studied side effects of livestock production related to environmental damage in the tropical areas are: GHG emissions contributing to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, high water use, and land/soil degradation (Martinez and Zinck, 2004;Alkemade et al., 2013;Chirinda et al., 2019;Boddey et al., 2020;Butterbach-Bahl et al., 2020). Widely publicized recent reports, such as EAT-Lancet (Willett et al., 2019), prompted a wave of media outreach arguing that one of the main solutions to the climate change and human health crises, globally, is to eat no or little animal-source foods (Paul et al., 2020a). Although we concur that the growing demand for livestock products presents a threat to environmental sustainability, we question the notion that stopping livestock production altogether is the most suitable or feasible option. Firstly, the political will is lacking and the necessary behavioral change of the majority of consumers is unlikely to occur (Winders and Ransom, 2019). Under these circumstances, it is important to have complimentary strategies that do not eliminate livestock but instead transform its production to reduce the environmental damages from the livestock sector. Secondly, livestock is not only of vital importance for low-income societies in socioeconomical terms, but-when managed well-also plays various complex and often positive environmental and social benefits (Paul et al., 2020b). To reduce the consumption of animal source food could be a valid option for the Global North where diets show an excess in protein and energy consumption, but not for low and middle income countries where most people are under recommended nutrition standards. There, it is, thus, critical to identify sustainable management strategies. These strategies should be applicable to the local context, socially-acceptable, economically viable and avoid the environmental degradation that in the long-term undermines their existence.Agroecology has been put forward as a solution to modern crises such as climate change and malnutrition, contrasting with the dominant industrial agricultural model based on the use of external inputs (Wezel et al., 2020), while improved forages have been proposed as an important entry point for the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems (Rao et al., 2015). This paper takes a closer look at and links up both these proposed solutions. It explores the benefits of including improved forages in integrated crop-livestock-tree systems and investigates the role of such forage-based systems in agroecological transformation. We thereby specifically focus on mixed cropping systems and cultivated forages in the tropics, i.e., crops that are specifically grown as animal feed, be it for grazing or cut-and-carry purposes; and exclude from our analyses the native and naturalized pastures and rangelands.Based on a review of literature and expert opinion, we aim to demonstrate the importance of cultivated tropical forages, with their emerging environmental co-benefits, for ensuring sustainable livestock production based on agroecological principles. In section The Agroecological Framework, it starts by briefly introducing agroecology as (i) a science, (ii) a practice and (iii) a movement supporting the application of 13 principles-and their underlying values-to the design of farming and food systems. The next section, section Ensuring System Sustainability Through Integrating Improved Forages in Mixed Crop-Tree-Livestock Systems in the Tropics, summarizes how cultivated forages have been put into practice by farmers in the global south and how this provides benefits across different sustainability domains and barriers to further adoption at scale. Section Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation proceeds by (i) outlining through which pathways and mechanisms this practice is in line with each of the agroecological principles and (ii) assessing to which extent applying these principles is covered in the scientific literature about forage-based livestock production systems in the tropics. Based on field experience and literature review, we summarize our understanding of the mechanisms and pathways through which the integration of forages in animal production systems can contribute or has shown to contribute to each of the 13 agroecological principles. Based on this understanding, search strings were developed for agroecology as a whole and separately for each principle. They were combined with a general search string capturing the integration of cultivated forages in smallholder mixed crop-tree-livestock systems in the tropics (see Supplementary Material). We report the number of hits in Web of Science as a metric for the availability of evidence of this contribution from the perspective of the scientific community. After reviewing the science at the forage-agroecology nexus, section Future Outlook finally identifies critical knowledge gaps and recommends the next steps for scaling up the contribution of cultivated tropical forages to the agroecological transformation of agri-food systems.The principles of agroecology have evolved in history, from agriculture-centered to a holistic food system approach (Gliessman, 2018;Wezel et al., 2020). The most common definition of agroecology, \"the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems, or the science of sustainable agriculture, \" has recently evolved into an integrated concept bringing the three dimensions of sustainability-ecological, economic, and social-to all parts of the food system. The approach is grounded in ecological thinking where a holistic, systemslevel understanding of food system sustainability is required (Gliessman, 2018). An agroecological perspective on agri-food systems links the nutritional value of food and dietary choices to the environmental and social impacts of food production (Lamine and Dawson, 2018). Hilbeck et al. (2015) write that \"agroecology is neither a defined system of production nor a production technique. It is a set of principles and practices intended to enhance the sustainability of a farming system, and it is a movement that seeks a new way of food production. Scholars thereby agree that the term incorporates three components (IFOAM EU, 2019). First, it is a scientific discipline, studying the ecology of agricultural systems. Second, it has evolved into a set of agricultural practices. Finally, it has turned into a movement that incorporates social justice, food sovereignty and the preservation of cultural identities (Méndez et al., 2013). As such, it operates at different levels and engages different stakeholders ranging from scientists to farmers and communities in the context of the sustainable agri-food systems.As happens with multi-dimensional concepts, operationalization often ends up focusing on one or a few components and fails to maintain a holistic approach. While promoting unidimensional agroecological practices, often mainly technical, still contributes to an agroecological transformation, these approaches are less sustainable as they often lack the sociopolitical support needed e.g., to reverse the power balance with conventional agriculture (Le Coq et al., 2020). Practically, neglecting the multidimensionality of the agroecology concept results in confusion with other concepts like organic agriculture, conservation agriculture, nature-positive agriculture or the more recent regenerative agriculture. Organic and conservation agriculture are based on simple principles around soil fertility management at plot level, aiming at avoiding the use of agrochemical and protecting the soil through permanent soil cover. The two differ in their market orientation, with organic agriculture strongly driven by product certification. Regenerative agriculture proposes a more holistic approach, trying to reconcile agroecology and sustainable intensification under the same banner, but seems to generate just more confusion (Giller et al., 2021). Nature-positive solutions, in turn, are less specific and englobe anything where nature works to address societal challenges, in agriculture or other sectors (Seddon et al., 2021), which includes the agroecology concept. The difference would be that nature-positive agriculture focusses on practices, whereas agroecology focusses on processes. But a common feature between all these different concepts is their meager integration of the livestock component. Until 2015, only 5% of indexed studies concerning agroecology dealt with livestock (Soussana et al., 2015).As the concept gains prominence as a way to sustainably transform agriculture and food systems, particularly in a post-COVID world (Altieri and Nicholls, 2020), attempts to recognize all its dimensions and make it operational have culminated recently with the development of a clear framework and evaluation tool (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021;;Mottet et al., 2020). The framework is composed of ten interlinked and interdependent elements: (i) diversity, (ii) synergies, (iii) efficiency, (iv) resilience, (v) recycling, (vi) co-creation and sharing of knowledge, (vi) human and social values, (vii) culture and food traditions, (viii) responsible governance, (ix) circular, and (x) solidarity economy. The first five describe common characteristics of agroecological systems, the sixth and seventh describe foundational practices and innovation approaches, and the last three describe context features and enabling environment (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021)). These 10 elements imply a series of requirements for farming system management that can be articulated in 13 principles: recycling, input reduction, soil health, animal health, biodiversity, synergy, economic diversification, co-creation of knowledge, social values and diets, fairness, connectivity, land and natural resource governance, and participation (Wezel et al., 2020). A farming system that scores high in these principles can be seen as transitioning toward a sustainable food system via agroecological transformation. Figure 1 presents a schematic overview of the different agroecological principles at play in a mixed crop-treelivestock farm.In section Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation, we assess the role of improved tropical forages as a potential catalyst for enabling livestock systems to contribute to the 13 principles and support an agroecological transformation. As a background, the next section defines improved forages, summarizes documented uptake, the multi-dimensional impacts of this uptake and barriers to more wide-spread uptake.Livestock production in the global South takes place in a variety of livestock production systems. The grassland-based systems, in which crop-based agriculture is minimal, cover the largest areas (Robinson et al., 2011), while most production (i.e., meat, milk, eggs) occurs in mixed crop-livestock systems (Herrero et al., 2010). Cultivated forages include a wide variety of sown or planted grasses, herbaceous legumes, trees and shrubs (mostly legumes) that are integrated in a variety of mixed systems, including intensive or extensive mixed agricultural systems with grazing or cut-and-carry systems, agro-pastoral and silvopastoral systems (Rao et al., 2015). In Latin America and the Caribbean, permanent pastures are the most common use of forages, while in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia cut-andcarry systems prevail.There exists a large diversity of forages allowing adaptation to various production contexts. The so-called genetic improvement of tropical forages is relatively recent and was for several decades relying heavily on the agronomic selection of wild relatives. The agronomic/genetic evaluation of forages has been focused not only on productivity and feed quality but also on tolerance to biotic (insects, diseases) and abiotic (low soil fertility, aluminum toxicity, drought, waterlogging) stress factors. Through this selection from the wild it was possible to identify superior germplasm which resulted in substantial and sustainable productivity gains (per head and per unit area) as well as enhanced resilience (e.g., Peters et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2015;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018). Recently the importance of bred forages has increased (Jank et al., 2014) and this has allowed attention to specific constraints, where diversity in the natural populations reached limitations in identifying productive, nutritive and stress-tolerant materials. For example, in well-drained environments in Latin America and the Caribbean with a wide distribution of Urochloa (previously known as Brachiaria; Cook et al., 2020) decumbens, resistance to a major insect, spittlebug, became an issue to be addressed by the breeding efforts, while for waterlogged environments there remains a scarcity of high-quality forages (Argel et al., 2007). Bred forages with a combination of desirable traits (e.g., productivity, quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors) are also attractive to seed suppliers for targeting specific agro-ecological niches, allowing a greater market differentiation providing incentives for development of the forage seed sector. For example, in the case of crop-livestock systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), we see expanding demand for forages requiring soil fertility management and greater attention to environmental concerns. There is also an increasing demand for shade-tolerant forages for silvopastoral systems with high resilience to vulnerable climates with extreme and unpredictable weather conditions. Throughout the rest of this paper we will use the term \"improved forages\" when we refer to forages that have gone through a process of agronomic selection from wild relatives or breeding and selection leading to genetic gain in desirable traits.At first sight, such improved forages seem similar to the high yielding crops such as wheat and rice, widely promoted by the international agricultural research centers in the 1960s and 1970s and adopted as part of the Green Revolution (Byerlee and Lynam, 2020). We do, however, not expect the well-documented drawbacks, such as high input prices, environmental pollution and increased inequality, of the green revolution to re-occur with improved forages. First, the technology in itself differs significantly, with the improved forages not requiring intensive application of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers. On the contrary, many have been selected or are specifically bred for their capacity to perform well in marginal areas facing climate variability and change, low fertility or acid soils, water logging, and for pest and disease resistance. In addition, they are being promoted as a component of mixed cropping systems to improve the overall system performance and efficiency in using local resources. Finally, a wide variety of forage species and varieties, including indigenous trees and so-called neglected or orphan crops, are considered for system improvement.Decades of efforts to promote cultivated forages for their productivity and environmental benefits have contributed to widespread adoption, particularly grasses in LAC (White et al., 2013;Baptistella et al., 2020, REDE ILPF ref). It is worthwhile to have a closer look at some successful scaling examples. Maass et al. (2015) estimated that the adoption of hybrid Urochloa cultivars in East Africa was about 1,000 hectares (20,000 households). Labarta et al. (2017) and ISPC (2018) reported that adoption of improved Urochloa cultivars in Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras occurred on approximately 7.9 million hectares. According to White et al. (2013), Stylosanthes varieties (from the CGIAR genebank) have been adopted on at least 200,000 hectares. Valentim and Andrade (2005) estimated the early adoption of Arachis pintoi for the Amazon region of Brazil to have reached 1,000 cattle producers and to have generated a gross profit of US$ 4,000 per year per producer. Wunscher et al. (2004) and Lascano et al. (2005) reported a successful early adoption of Arachis pintoi in Colombia and Costa Rica.The benefits of integrating improved forages in livestock production systems have previously been described as part of the LivestockPlus concept (Rao et al., 2015). The authors describe how the sustainable intensification of forage-based systems, combining genetic, ecological and socio-economic intensification processes, increases the efficiency of the systems, has the potential to improve livelihoods, and yields a range of environmental co-benefits-including improved soil health, reduced erosion, reduced GHG emissions and improved GHG balances (emissions vs. carbon accumulation/life cycle), and improved adaptation to climate variability and change. Figure 2 illustrates how forages can be integrated in mixed crop-treelivestock systems and summarizes how this positively impacts on livelihoods and the environment.The relatively wide adoption of improved tropical forages in LAC has convincingly demonstrated their capacity to increase productivity while reducing livestock-related GHG emissions per unit product. On one side, their ability to increase soil carbon sequestration has been demonstrated (Fisher et al., 1994) while the ability of certain grasses (e.g., Urochloa and Megathyrsus) to modulate the rhizosphere interactions through biological nitrification inhibition has proven to reduce soilborne N 2 O emissions up to 60% (compared to similar genotypes without this ability) either after fertilization or urine deposition (Subbarao et al., 2009;Byrnes et al., 2017). Another strategy is the improvement of cattle diets through supplementation with forage legumes, which has the potential to reduce up to 67% cattle enteric CH4 emissions based on a legume (i.e., Leucaena) inclusion proportion of 36% when compared to a grass alone diet (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020).In addition to these environmental co-benefits there is a huge body of evidence about their economic benefits. Zooming into forage grasses, the implementation of improved foragebased cattle production systems in Latin America, for example, increases the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 1 by 10-100% compared to traditional grazing systems (Seré and Estrada, 1982;Seré et al., 1993). The implementation of improved Urochloa brizantha cultivars in Colombian beef cattle systems is expected to reduce the producer's risk of obtaining economic losses and lead to economic benefits of US$ 11.3 million at the national level (2022-2048) from which 62.5% would fall on the producer and 37.5% on the consumer. Supplementation by 35% with the forage oats (Avena sativa AV25T cv. Altoandina) in a Kikuyu grass dairy system increases the net present value (NPV) 2 by >100% when compared with a Kikuyu monoculture and leads to an 1 The IRR is a financial indicator for estimating the profitability of potential investment projects. Although the IRR calculations are based on the same formula used for estimating the Net Present Value (NPV) of an investment project, it does not estimate the actual dollar value of the project but the expected annual return. Those potential investments with the highest IRR are generally the ones most desirable. 2 The NPV is an economic indicator that describes the difference between the present values of cash in-and outflows over a defined period of time and is used in investment planning for analyzing the profitability of a potential investment. The NPV considers the time value of money, is used to compare different investment alternatives, and relies on a discount rate related to the cost of required capital for making the investment. Investment options with a negative NPV are most likely not profitable and should be neglected.IRR of 49.9% (Rivas and Holmann, 2000). The implementation of spittlebug-resistant Urochloa hybrids was estimated to have potential benefits equivalent to 43% of Colombia's beef and dairy production volume of 2003 (Rivas and Holmann, 2004a,b). The implementation of different planted forages in West Africa during the period from 1977 to 1997 was estimated to result in an social internal rate of return 3 on investments of 38% over 20 years (Elbasha et al., 1999).Examples also abound around the dual economicenvironmental benefits associated with forage legumes. The introduction of forage legumes in the crop-livestock systems of Nicaragua has proven benefits to tackling degradation and restoring land and soil health. When introduced into the smallholder traditional crop-livestock production system of the Nicaraguan hillsides, Canavalia brasiliensis derived on average 69% of its N from the atmosphere by symbiotic N 2fixation, and increased the soil N balance when used as green manure (Douxchamps et al., 2010). In this case, 12% of the N from Canavalia was recovered in the subsequent maize crop (Douxchamps et al., 2011). However, when used as forage to increase milk yields and annual net income, Canavalia bears the risk of triggering soil N depletion, unless animal manure is recycled. Therefore, biophysical and socioeconomic tradeoffs must be carefully balanced at the farm level to maximize nutrient use efficiency and ensure a sustainable farming system intensification (Douxchamps et al., 2014). Pastures on highly weathered soil in forest margins in Caquetá, Colombia increased dry matter and N/protein yield in farmers pastures containing legumes; because of additional N input via symbiotic N 2 fixation; greater P uptake in productive grass-legume than grass-alone pastures in spite of low plant available P in soils, which likely resulted in greater P recycling (Villegas et al., 2020). Furthermore, the inclusion of the legume Arachis pintoi in grasslegume associations in the same study area doubles beef and milk production and leads to an IRR of between 19.3 and 21.1%, which is significantly higher than for a traditional production system (Rivas and Holmann, 2000). For Costa Rica, grass-legume associations with Arachis pintoi and Cratylia argentea (Rivas and Holmann, 2000) lead to an estimated 30% reduction in production costs per kilogram of milk (Peters et al., 2001). Profitability evaluations in Costa Rica, Michoacán (Mexico) and the Colombian Caribbean region report an IRR that oscillates around 33% for a Leucaena leucocephala-grass association (Jimenez-Trujillo et al., 2011;González, 2013;Murgueitio et al., 2015). The inclusion of Leucaena diversifolia in a Urochloa brizantha cv. Cayman hybrid production system in Colombia is financially profitable and improves all risk and performance indicators when compared with Cayman as a monoculture. This legume increases the Net Present Value (NPV) and the IRR and decreases the minimum area required for generating two basic salaries, the payback period and the risk of obtaining economic loss (Enciso et al., 2020). Also in south-east Asia, forage legumes have proven to play multiple roles, supporting at farm level an increase of N recycling intensity, of N balances and of land productivity. However, the magnitude of the effects there depends strongly on the type of farming system, with more important effects where potential for improvement was high (Epper et al., 2019). While in Queensland, Australia, Leucaena leucocephala has been identified as the most productive and profitable legume, doubling the gross margin (expressed per unit of area), when compared with perennial grasses. At the regional level, economic benefits from the adoption of L. leucocephala have been estimated to be more than US$ 69 million/yr for 2006 in a planted area of 150,000 ha (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Bowen et al., 2016).Also tree-based forage species have been demonstrated to have multiple benefits. Pilot sites in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, for example, show that more successful restoration outcomes are achieved when combining slow-growing indigenous trees or shrubs with fast growing native fodder species for livestock (Sacande and Berrahmouni, 2016). Fodder species have been used to incentivise restoration for example in Burkina Faso (Vinceti, 2020) leading to more resilient restoration outcomes and great adoption of restoration by farmers. Dry forest species can provide critical reserves during extreme drought offering important food and fodder for communities (Valette, 2019). Early effects of silvopastoral systems with improved forages also show improved soil health and increased abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna as documented by e.g., Barros et al. (2003), Lira et al. (2020), andVazquez et al. (2020). Mixed systems with a strong tree component are thus gaining prominence because of their true multiple environmental wins: increased soil quality, GHG emission mitigation, higher biodiversity and improved water use efficiency.As a final example, cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) is gaining increasing interest across the globe because of its unique features that could help alleviate hunger in arid regions thanks to its ability to survive in harsh conditions. This spineless species is not invasive and is used as livestock feed that can improve meat and milk production for cash earnings, while helping to reduce groundwater use through its high-water use efficiency (species with CAM photosynthetic pathway). Furthermore, its evergreen cladodes can provide \"at any time of the year\" high palatable green fodder with a high Ca to P ratio. Despite its low crude protein and fiber content, the cactus pear cladodes are high in water, sugars, ash and vitamins A and C representing a digestible energy-rich feed when incorporated into livestock diets (Rocha Filho et al., 2021). Because of their high-water content, cactus pears also reduce the need for livestock watering. In fact, cactus pear is a very versatile, resilient crop. It is very easy to establish and able to grow on lands where no other crops can grow. Cactus pear is a multi-functional plant that can be utilized to restore degraded land, control soil and water erosion, regulate climate through carbon sequestration, and its fruits and cladodes are consumed by humans (Inglese et al., 2018;Hassan et al., 2019).Even though the research on gender and social benefits has started later, good evidence on positive impacts in that dimension of sustainability is also emerging. A case study from Kenya shows that the adoption of improved planted forages in dairy systems leads to additional roles of women in feed and dairy production and thus more control over the derived incomes from the production system, but also to higher labor burdens, which might affect technology adoption (Lukuyu et al., 2021). Ba et al. (2013) report an average of 50% reduction in amount of labor and time spent by smallholder farmers in supplying forages to their animals in south Central Vietnam. The adoption of Urochloa hybrids and other improved forages in Ugandan pig production systems has led to time savings among male and female farmers (reduced time for collecting feed) and thus made it possible for the producers to engage in other economic activities (e.g., farming, small-scale enterprises). It also changed the decisionmaking structures in the households and empowered women to join their husbands in the decision on which forage to adopt and how to grow and manage it (Lukuyu et al., 2020). In Ethiopia and Kenya, women and youth are increasingly starting to engage in forage businesses, from which they retain income, and which is a promising pathway for women's economic empowerment (Njuguna-Mungai et al., under review).Despite the growing evidence on the multiple benefits of integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems and some successful scaling examples, overall the adoption rates of improved forages remain relatively low, especially outside Brazil and Latin America. Many of the determining factors for the adoption of forage technologies have been studied and include risk factors (perception of risk about future returns from implementing the technology, risk aversion of the producer) (e.g., Marra et al., 2003;van Winsen et al., 2014;Trujillo-Barrera et al., 2016), the availability of commercial seeds, forage establishment costs, the availability of technical information on the establishment and management, the promotion and availability of knowledge about potential benefits and risks (CIAT, 2004;Wunscher et al., 2004;Lascano et al., 2005), labor requirements (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), farm size and farm management, the proximity to input markets (ISPC, 2018), the growth of output markets (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), as well as the general access to productive inputs (e.g., fertilizer, manure, pesticides), capital (e.g., credits, payments for ecosystem services, product differentiation) (e.g., Charry et al., 2019), and extension/technical assistance (Ruiz et al., 2016;Bravo et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018;Charry et al., 2019), social capital, and membership of farmer groups (Oulu, 2020). Likewise, structural conditions can influence the adoption of improved forages, such as the prevailing extensive nature of the cattle production systems, low land prices (which can lead to an expansion of area instead of intensification) (White et al., 2001), land tenure rights (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), land speculation (Smith et al., 1997), political violence and warfare (ISPC, 2018), and missing regulatory and monitoring frameworks. When it comes to promoting the adoption of forage technologies, it is also important to analyze and understand how livestock producers make their decisions and how their decisionmaking process is influenced by factors such as trust (in the information provided or in its sources), social networks and socio-cultural contexts (e.g., Jones et al., 2013;Martínez-García et al., 2013;Rossi Borges and Oude Lansink, 2016;Ambrosius et al., 2019;Hidano et al., 2019).As partly demonstrated in the previous section, integrating improved forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems is associated with a wide variety of practice changes. These changes include agronomic and animal husbandry practice change, awareness creation, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder engagement approaches to actions associated with the broader food systems, such as waste reductions and dietary shifts. As amply described in the scientific literature (see Table 1), they thereby align well to all 13 agroecological principles.The first principle, recycling, prescribes to use local renewable resources as much as possible and close as far as possible resource cycles of nutrients and biomass. Forages take up nutrients available in the system, including from deep soil layers, and make these available to livestock. This results in improved nutrient use efficiency. More options to close nutrient cycles through animal manure also exist. In terms of input reduction, the second principle, forages are associated with a reduced need for external inputs, such as feeds, agro-chemicals and water. First, they are associated with a reduction of the need for commercial feed/supplements/concentrates through higher feed efficiency and quality. Well-managed high-quality forages can eliminate or minimize the need for concentrates by moderate producing animals, because intensive utilization of forages (cutting or grazing at the right moment of the phenology) increases the production of metabolizable energy and protein per unit of area. Second, they often are associated with a reduction of the need for off-farm manure or chemical fertilizers. This is facilitated through symbiotic N 2 fixation by forage legumes and the use of forages (partly/fully) as green manure. In addition, there is higher availability of on-farm animal manure because of increased livestock productivity (through higher stocking rates and betterfed animals) and increased availability of crop residues for soil amendments as they can be replaced by forages in the feed basket. Third, the use of forages as a cover crop reduces the need for weeding and chemical weed control, while the use of forages with Recycling Andriarimalala et al., 2013;Epper et al., 2019;Paul et al., 2019;Dias et al., 2020;Dahlin et al., 2021 A. Reduction of the need for commercial feed/supplements/concentrates through higher feed efficiency and quality:genetic tolerance against certain pests and diseases or the use of forages in the push-pull system replaces chemical pest control measures (e.g., against stemborer and striga). Fourth, forages are associated with decreased water requirements. Increased soil water retention and infiltration is observed as a result of forages used as a cover crop or green manure to improve soil structure and limit run-off and in the case of improved forages established in areas previously covered by degraded pastures. Drought-tolerant and water-saver forages reduce dependence on water for irrigation compared to currently used forages grown in similar conditions.Integrating cultivated forages in the systems enhances different dimensions of soil health, the third principle. The chemical soil health is improved through root exudation or forages used as green manure, through the stimulation of nutrient cycling, soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation, increased soil carbon stocks and sequestration. The physical soil properties are improved as a result of increased soil aggregation, improved soil structure and aeration, increases in particulate organic matter in soil, roots remaining in soil after harvest/grazing, forages as green manure or cover crop, or the use of forages to prevent soil erosion. Below-ground biodiversity and biological activity is increased through increased soil microbial diversity and activity, presence of rhizobia. Diverse pastures (mix of various species) of diverse functions (secondary compounds, root system) improve the conditions for biological activity at deeper horizons, while increased use of tree-based forages can improve soil quality through improved mycorrhizal networks. The integration of forages, with their capacity to sequester and store carbon in the soil and to inhibit biological nitrification, finally, can significantly enhance the climate change mitigation function of the soil.Different mechanisms are at play for improving animal health and welfare, the fourth agroecological principle. High-quality forages (incl. legumes) in the systems improve the overall quality and quantity feeding and thus animal health, amongst others through enhanced immunity and resistance to pathogens. The conservation of forages (e.g., hay, silage, pellets) thereby increases the availability of feed during seasons where scarcity of feed leaves the animals most vulnerable to disease. Forages from diverse pastures (a mix of various species) complement each other in their contents of critical nutrients for the animal and secondary compounds. Some can, for example, be more efficient in utilizing P or pumping Cu or Mg, providing balanced nutrients and secondary compounds (antibloat, antiparasite agents), while recent results indicate that bioactive tanniniferous plants represent a valuable option as an alternative to commercial drugs for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes. Animal welfare is increased in silvopastoral systems. The trees/shade create more favorable microclimatic conditions and reduce heat stress, which has in turn been associated with more stable social/hierarchical behavior. In addition to animal health and welfare, also positive indirect effects on human health have been documented. Improved plant health, including those of forages, under minimal use of agrochemicals improves animal and human health through reduced exposure to chemical residues. Well-fed animals require less antibiotics thus reducing the need for antibiotics and risk of antimicrobial resistance. Well-fed and healthy animals cause a lower pathogen load in manure that can be transmitted through the food chain and feeding healthy forages can reduce feeding of feeds with high aflatoxins such as maize in East Africa.The fifth agroecological principle, biodiversity, can be enhanced by increasing biodiversity across the landscape. Enhancing land productivity, through high-yielding forages, can spare land for biodiversity conservation and prevent the need for further land conversion to agriculture. The introduction of alternative forage species increases the diversity of species and genetic resources at farm and landscape level as compared to grass monocultures or degraded/intensivelymanaged pastures. This can include the use (and in-situ conservation) of local/neglected species. The broader variety of forage species in combination with reduced use of chemical weed/pest control is likely to attract/maintain wider diversity of e.g., pollinators and below-ground fauna. such well-managed pastures increase the natural introduction of native plant species with desired feeding value and resilience to extreme environmental conditions. In silvopastoral systems, the presence of shrubs and trees has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on biodiversity by creating complex habitats for wild animals and plants and harboring a richer soil biota as compared to conventional grazing systems. Cultivated forages enhance positive ecological interactions and complementarities among system components at the interface between the system's soil, plant, and animal components and thus align well with the sixth agroecological principle of synergy. Using for example tree-based forages can help to increase on-farm above and below ground carbon storage, leading to additional climate mitigation benefits. Different mechanisms contribute to economic diversification, the seventh principle. In first instance, forages enable further commercialization of livestock production. Feed represents the highest cost of production in any livestock system and cultivated forages can substantially reduce the feed input costs. In combination with enhanced productivity, this results in increased rates of return and opens opportunities for income diversification with cattle fattening or commercial milk production. Also the forages in themselves allow for income-diversification. Incomegenerating opportunities along the forage value chain include forage seed supply, marketing and distribution, the sale of hay, silage, pellets and timber or fruits in the case of forage trees.Approaches that encourage co-creation of knowledge and horizontal learning used in research and development efforts around cultivated and improved forages include: on-farm variety trials and participatory monitoring and evaluation, capacity building and knowledge exchange activities such as field days and farmer exchanges. These approaches promote farmer-tofarmer contacts as well as more equal relationships between farmers and researchers. This encourages sharing knowledge and skills and triggers innovation in combination with encouraging community-level seed production and \"passing on the gift, \" the existing technology (and associated management practices) scale out quickly.In terms of social values and diets, principle number nine, animal sourced foods (ASF) are an important source of proteins and readily available micro-nutrients, especially important for improving the nutritional status of especially young children and pregnant and lactating women. Integrating cultivated forages in livestock production systems can increase both the quantity and quality of ASF production. The forages also enable the production of sustainably produced ASF, with simultaneous social, economic and environmental benefits.Efforts to ensure the affordability of quality and environmentally-friendly animal products and the creation of opportunities for smallholders, including for women and youth align well to principle ten, fairness. Forages support dignified and robust livelihoods along the livestock value chains. In line with connectivity, the eleventh principle, local feed, seed, and ASF production allow re-embedding food systems into local economies. Actors along the forages and ASF value chains have more proximity and confidence and are better connected to markets. Principle twelve, land and natural resources governance, prescribes to strengthen institutional arrangements to improve, including the recognition and support of family farmers, smallholders and peasant food producers as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources. Forages create a need for land-use planning and offer opportunities for development of new resource management strategies, for instance to mitigate soil degradation (e.g., fanya juu terraces). Participatory land-use planning processes can ensure the optimal use of land areas that would not be suitable for crops, use in rotation/intercropping/life barriers/under trees and at times promote land use options for carbon-neutral agriculture. In line with the last principle, participation, the Forage community has started to apply a wide array of participatory approaches. Through participatory system dynamics modeling and participation in multi-stakeholder innovation platforms or round-table discussions, farmers can be included in the design of livestock and forage sector strategies. These approaches promote equal relationships and balanced powers between farmers, researchers and policy makers.Between 2005 and 2021, a total of 1,183 peer-reviewed publications addressed the use of cultivated forages in smallholder systems. The most studied principles concerning the forages are economic diversification, social values and diets, biodiversity, and recycling, all illustrated by more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, mostly at farm scale. Animal health renders 126 hits, then the other principles with less than a hundred. Connectivity was the least represented, with only five hits. These results show that the most evident agroecological impact of forages, according to the scientific community, can be observed in terms of market opportunities and income diversification. The high number of hits for social value and diets illustrates how high the topic of animal-source food and vegetarianism is currently on the global agenda. The principle of biodiversity includes particularly papers reporting options to include forages in rotation or intercropping with different types of systems and pastures' diversity. Finally, the capacity of forages to provide options to close nutrient cycles at the farm level was well-documented. The scientific community's interest in these topics has evolved: social values and diets are high on the agenda since 2012, recycling emerged a bit later in 2015, while economic diversification and biodiversity display a sawtooth but generally increasing interest (Figure 2). Besides connectivity and participation, which are both only sporadically addressed, the documentation of the other principles increased during the period 2005-2020, with some promising peaks for animal health and synergy. More research is needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in agroecology, particularly on sociological and process aspects, which are both at the core of the four principles less documented. This also indicates a yet to be filled opportunity for forage experts to engage more with the agroecological movement and make forages part of sustainable agri-food system transformation. The finding that despite the existence of scientific literature about cultivated forages and each of the agroecological principles, only 38 out of the 1,183 publications in our WoS search explicitly mention agroecology corroborates this action gap.As illustrated in sections Ensuring System Sustainability Through Integrating Improved Forages in Mixed Crop-Tree-Livestock Systems in the Tropics and Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation, there is increased research interest and understanding of the economic, social and agroecological dynamics related to improved forages and their integration in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems. However, several knowledge and technology gaps still exist. At the actual technology level, it is important to continue the genetic improvement and identify or develop forage varieties tolerant to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stress factors. Supported by state-of-art genomics and phenomics, this can be done more efficiently and rapidly than before (Chang et al., 2019). Ensuring genetic diversity at forage level provides an insurance with respect to the impact of biotic and abiotic stress factors on yield and quality (Finckh, 2008). Livestock production, however, does not only take place in heterogeneous agro-climatic conditions, but also in a wide diversity in farm systems, and socioeconomic or policy contexts (Umunezero et al., 2016). To guide the choice of forage species and their integration into farming systems more systems agronomy is needed to produce robust socio-ecological niches for various systems that can be scaled (Paul et al., 2020c). This must be combined with increased research investments in the forages-soil health nexus which seem to have remained stable but low, with <100 WoS hits in total (Figure 3).Further research is also required to strengthen our understanding of the multiple interacting impacts of improved forages at the food system level. An increased understanding of particularly the social dimension has a lot to offer, also in terms of understanding the drivers, underlying causes and impacts of changes linked to the productivity, economic, environmental and human dimensions (Rietveld et al., 2021), while our WoS search results show a low coverage of these issues in the scientific literature. Based on empirical data, foresight analyses and farming systems modeling can be used to estimate multidimensional impacts of forages and for reducing agro-environmental trade-offs (Groot et al., 2012;Paul et al., 2020c). In addition to developing context-specific data on the potential trade-offs associated with integrating forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems, a better understanding of what drives uptake of improved forages, especially within agroecological initiatives, is needed for guiding large-scale investments and supporting the decision-making processes around that.At a more immediate action level, to ensure agroecologicalbased farming sustainability, there is a need for demand for the resultant products driven by sufficient public attention. To achieve the level of attention that results in changes in policy and consumer demand, there is a need for influential communication targeting policymakers and the different publics. Raising awareness at different decision-making levels should aim to differentiate, label and promote livestock products derived from agroecosystems based on agroecological principles. Concurrently, cultivated forages should be promoted as a versatile and multi-purpose crop through public campaigns (social media, workshops, leaflets, lobbying) (Louhaichi et al., 2018). However, from the literature search (Figure 2) these aspects seem to be understudied which would imply limited innovation in awareness raising. Yet, by highlighting the evidence-based benefits of integrating cultivated forages in agroecosystems, we can increase the visibility of crop-livestock systems and inform the flow of scaling-up investments. In addition, promotional and educational activities, along with results from further research involving farmer participation, in combination economic incentives, such as payments for ecosystem services and the development of inclusive business models, should be further explored (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018).The environmental and social consequences of the prevailing agri-food system have sparked a lively societal discussion on how to feed an increasing population in a socio-ecologically sustainable and equitable way. In response, agroecology has been presented as a practice, scientific discipline, and socio-political movement that applies ecological concepts in the sustainable management of agricultural systems. Although some literature highlights the important role livestock play in sustainable food systems and specifically agroecology, the prevailing narrative, especially so in the popular media, argues that one of the leading solutions to climate change and human health crises is to eat no or little animal-source foods.In this paper, however, we point out that the narrow climate/diet framing misses the valuable role livestock can play, especially for family farmers in the south. Integrated systems present an opportunity to improve livestock production, support livelihoods, enhance and protect biodiversity, close nutrient loops etc. and forages play a key role in catalyzing this transformation. Scientific literature and documented practice change by farmers indicate that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. We, therefore, have reason to believe that livestock production in the tropics based on improved forages can boost the sustainability indicators of this system, moving toward an agroecological transformation of the food system. It is, however, clear that a lot of this promise is yet to materialize and calls for an urgent coming together of the agroecological and livestock research and development communities. The specific role of the scientific community is therein to generate and use nuanced evidence on what is possible and what is not (taking multi-scale trade-offs into account). As part of the overall movement, they can help ensuring that forages gain more prominence in agroecological initiatives and that more investments are made in sustainable agri-food system transformation with explicit livestock and forage components. from the CGIAR Fund to Donors and bilateral funding agreements (https://www.cgiar.org/funders).Villegas, D. M., Velasquez, J., Arango, J., Obregon, K., Rao, I. M., Rosas, G., et al. (2020) Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) are the main tropical pests in Central and South America of cultivated pastures. We aimed to estimate the potential distribution of Aeneolamia varia, A. lepidior, A. reducta, Prosapia simulans, Zulia carbonaria, and Z. pubescens throughout the Neotropics using ecological niche modeling. These six insect species are common in Colombia and cause large economic losses. Records of these species, prior to the year 2000, were compiled from human observations, specimens from CIAT Arthropod Reference Collection (CIATARC), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), speciesLink (splink), and an extensive literature review. Different ecological niche models (ENMs) were generated for each species: Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), generalized linear (GLM), multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS), and random forest model (RF). Bioclimatic datasets were obtained from WorldClim and the 19 available variables were used as predictors. Future changes in the potential geographical distribution were simulated in ENMs generated based on climate change projections for 2050 in two scenarios: optimistic and pessimistic. The results suggest that (i) Colombian spittlebugs impose an important threat to Urochloa production in different South American countries, (ii) each spittlebug species has a unique geographic distribution pattern, (iii) in the future the six species are likely to invade new geographic areas even in an optimistic scenario, (iv) A. lepidior and A. reducta showed a higher number of suitable habitats across Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador, where predicted risk is more severe. Our data will allow to (i) monitor the dispersion of these spittlebug species, (ii) design strategies for integrated spittlebug management that include resistant cultivars adoption to mitigate potential economic damage, and (iii) implement regulatory actions to prevent their introduction and spread in geographic areas where the species are not yet found.In the neotropics wide areas are planted in grasses, being Urochloa spp. P. Beauv. (syn. Brachiaria spp.) the most extensive forage monoculture (Ghimire et al., 2015;Worthington et al., 2021). Its economic impact is estimated at USD12.4 million in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil, the largest contribution comes from U. brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster cv. Marandu in Brazil with USD 6.3 million (White et al., 2013). The major biotic stress affecting forage production and its quality in this region is caused by spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae). A large group of species causes severe damage in susceptible grasslands (Cardona et al., 2004) with economic losses estimated at USD 840-2,100 million per year in all host crops (Thompson, 2004).Although spittlebugs are found in most terrestrial ecosystems, the tropics are the most diverse ecozone harboring 70% of known species (Thompson, 2004;Dietrich, 2009). In the Neotropics, species are reported from the southeastern United States to northern Argentina (Peck and Thompson, 2008). Different spittlebug species coincide in each country. The main species that occur in Brazil are from the genus Mahanarva (Distant, 1909), Notozulia (Berg, 1879) and Deois (Fennah, 1949) (Resende et al., 2012). In Mexico, the species Aeneolamia albofasciata (Lallemand, 1939), A. contigua (Walker, 1851), and A. postica (Walker, 1858) are major pests of sugarcane and grasses (Cardona et al., 2004;Thompson and León González, 2005;Parada Domínguez et al., 2019). Whereas in Colombia the predominant species are A. varia (Fabricius, 1787), A. lepidior (Fowler, 1897), A. reducta (Lallemand, 1924), Prosapia simulans (Walker, 1858), Zulia carbonaria (Lallemand, 1924), and Z. pubescens (Fabricius, 1803) (Peck, 2001).Climate change can modify the distribution of species by expanding their presence to new locations and disappearing from previously suitable areas (Hughes, 2000). Anthropic movement, land-use change, environmental degradation (e.g., habitat loss and fragmentation) and biotic interactions (e.g., competition, species introduction, and plant host distribution) produced by the on-going climate change are factors that influence this distribution (Wagner et al., 2021). Insects are well-known for being particularly susceptible to environmental changes of temperature, humidity, radiation, and resource availability driven by those factors (Larson et al., 2019). Processes that homogenize and simplify the landscapes as extensive agriculture, allow the growth of pests over native species (Cardoso et al., 2020). Several studies in recent years have warned about the decline of insect populations to extinction caused by changes in the seasonality and, consequently, in their life cycles. This reduction in the populations has great impact over the ecosystems as the loss of abundance and richness of species continue to occur (Hallmann et al., 2017;Goulson, 2019;Halsch et al., 2021).Despite insect pest outbreaks are expected for the short term (Heeb et al., 2019;Liu and Shi, 2020), its severity may not be evenly increased due to the narrow environmental niche requirements, physiological tolerances of insects, and differential effects of climate variables on their life cycle (Lehmann et al., 2020). Previous models show an increase in suitable areas for pest species in Europe, e.g., Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), under climate change scenarios (Grünig et al., 2020). Thus, characterizing the effect of climate change in Colombian spittlebugs geographic distribution and identifying niches where these species would become key pests is important in the transition to more sustainable livestock systems.In this context, ecological niche models (ENMs) provide an approximation to estimate potential geographical zones with environmental conditions that a species requires to maintain its populations (Peterson et al., 2011). This tool is widely used in insect pest management programs to anticipate unknown distributional areas, geographic potential of invasive species, and response to changing environmental conditions (Peterson and Soberón, 2012). ENMs can be built based on occurrence data (inductive or correlative niche models; Elith and Leathwick, 2009) or based on physiological data [deductive or mechanistic niche models; (Kearney and Porter, 2009)]. For spittlebugs associated with grasses, we identified only two studies focused on changes in suitability of geographical areas under climatic change scenarios. The first, based on physiological data of Mahanarva spectabilis (Distant) (Fonseca et al., 2016), and the second, based on occurrence data of four Mahanarva species (Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020).This paper responds to the need to know whether A. varia, A. lepidior, A. reducta, P. simulans, Z. carbonaria, and Z. pubescens are potential key pests in new sites under climate change scenarios that consider the impact of human activities. Hence, spittlebug ENMs contribute to the development of adaptation strategies for tropical America climate-smart perennial grasslands, and sugarcane production, by addressing the need for shift toward more sustainable pest management practices (Macfadyen et al., 2018). For instance, adoption of cultivars with host plant resistance incorporated in high suitability predicted areas, or establishment of susceptible crops in low suitability sites, within intensive livestock and agriculture systems.Our main objective was to determine the current distribution of these six species and estimate the potential distribution under two future climate scenarios via ecological niche methods based on presence-only data.Information about occurrence records of A. lepidior, A. reducta, A. varia, P. simulans, Z. carbonaria, and Z. pubescens were collected from a variety of sources: (1) human observations, (2) CIAT's Arthropod Reference Collection (CIATARC), (3) websites Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org., 2020a,b,c,d,e) and speciesLink (https://splink.cria.org.br/), and (4) from extensive scientific papers revision (Hamilton, 1977;Avila de Moreno and Umaña, 1988;Peck, 1998;Sáenz et al., 1999;Cardona et al., 2000;Peck et al., 2001;Rodríguez Chalarca et al., 2002;Rodriguez Chalarca et al., 2003;Ferrer et al., 2004;Castro et al., 2005;Castillo, 2006;Valbuena, 2010;Figueredo et al., 2012;Matabanchoy Solarte et al., 2012;de la Cruz-Zapata et al., 2016;García-González et al., 2017;Paladini et al., 2018). Human observations data were obtained from CIAT historical records. These were captured by CIAT'S entomology department expert sampling in different locations. To georeference records from CIATARC without coordinates but with known location data, first, the geographic information available was verified and corrected according to National Statistics Offices (e.g., DANE to Colombia) and GeoNames (https://www.geonames.org/), second, coordinates were obtained via GoogleMaps (https:// www.google.com/maps). A cleansing process was performed to this first base, removing the duplicates (i.e., more than one occurrence record in 10 km 2 ) and the records after the year 2000 to preserve the same temporal distribution between distribution data and climate data.Elevation layer and 19 bioclimatic layers (bio_1 to bio_19) were obtained from Worldclim from 1970 to 2000 using raster::getData function. For the current climate data, the Version 2 Bioclimatic variables with a spatial resolution of 2.5 min were selected (Fick and Hijmans, 2017) with the aim of maintaining the same spatial resolution of the species georeferenced (Sillero and Barbosa, 2021). To extract values from the bioclimatic layers, the extract function was used. Finally, the species names were combined with coordinates (latitude, longitude), bio_1 to bio_19, and elevation values into a single data.frame.All analyses were performed in R studio version 4.1.0 (R. Core Team, 2021) according to Naimi and Araújo (2016) methodology (https://www.biogeoinformatics.org/), using the package sdm (Naimi and Araujo, 2019; R. Core Team, 2021).To prevent any multicollinearity-related bias in the models, a collinearity test among bioclimatic variables was performed using the vifstep function. Collinearity describes the situation where two or more predictor variables in a statistical model are linearly correlated (Alin, 2010). Therefore, it could inflate both the standard error and the confidence intervals, and prevent the determination of the significance of each variable on the dependent variable (Quinn and Keough, 2002). Variables with VIF (Variance Inflation Factors; Chatterjee and Hadi, 2006) values < 0.7 were selected for the subsequent analyzes. We created a sdmData object including species and previously selected variables, which means low collinearity, as predictors. Approximately 1,000 'pseudo-absences' points were randomly selected over the study geographical area for each species using argument method='gRandom'. Pseudo-absence refers to cells in which the species has not yet been recorded, not to cells in which the species is necessarily absent (Phillips et al., 2009).We used four species distribution models to predict the distribution of each spittlebug species under study. All models were based on presence and pseudo-absence data: Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS), and Random Forest (RF) models. MaxEnt was used as default settings since it has shown the ability to achieve good performance as a default (Phillips and Dudík, 2008). Models are fitted with sdm function using two replication techniques (subsampling and bootstrapping) establishing 70% of the occurrence data as training data and 30% as test data. This process was repeated 3 times. As a result of our methodological procedure, a total of 24 different projections (4 models * 2 replication techniques * 3 repetitions) were generated for each species.We consider the accessible area of species under study as the entire neotropical ecoregion and that the species do not have restrictions since in this ecoregion there is a large pasture monoculture for livestock and it has a wide sugarcane planted area where cercopids can be established (Jank et al., 2014;Schöbel and Carvalho, 2021). The hypothesis was that climate change will impact or lead to an increase of future potential distributions of the species under study. Models obtained were used to estimate the current distribution in South America using the predict function from the sdm package. This function allows making a raster object with predictions from several fitted models (Naimi and Araújo, 2016). All 24 predictions were ensemble in one using the ensemble function which provides a consensus of multiple models. By combining projections from different models, errors tend to be canceled out thus aiding predictive accuracy (Diniz-Filho et al., 2010).To evaluate model outputs, we used the receiver operated characteristics, analyzing the area under curve (AUC) (Fielding and Bell, 1997) and the true skill statistic (TSS) (Allouche et al., 2006). The AUC value is a standard method to assess the accuracy of predictive distribution models, AUC values below 0.7 were considered poor, 0.7-0.9 moderate, and >0.9 good (Araújo et al., 2005). TSS compares the number of correct forecasts, minus those attributable to random guessing, to that of a hypothetical set of perfect forecasts. TSS values close to one denote an ideal prediction; values of zero or less denote a prediction that is not better than random (Allouche et al., 2006). For each species, the relative importance of bioclimatic variables selected based on multicollinearity analysis and AUC metric were plotted.To build future potential distribution, we used the BCC-CSM2-MR global climate model from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 [CMIP6; available for use in the WorldClim (https://www.worldclim.org/data/cmip6/ cmip6climate.html); (O'Neill et al., 2016)] and two shared socio-economic pathways [(SSP); (1) SSP126: an optimistic scenario increasing shift toward sustainable practices with low greenhouse gas concentration levels and (2) SSP585: a pessimistic scenario that assumes an energy intensive, fossil-based economy with increasing greenhouse gas emissions over time (O'Neill et al., 2017;Riahi et al., 2017)] in a 2.5-min resolution. Habitat suitability was modeled using selected previously bioclimatic layers under each SSP scenario. In this study, only one time period was used for near future prediction: 2050 (average for 2041-2060). To quantify the change between current and future distribution, maps were converted from probability of occurrence to presence and absence. For this, the mean threshold (occurrence probability values) was used in the ifelse function which allows reviewing the probability values. If the probability values are greater than or equal to the average threshold, the new value assigned is 1 (presence) and if the probability value is less on the average threshold, the new value assigned is 0 (absence). Later, the current distribution raster was subtracted from the future distribution raster, as a result, possible extinction and invasion were plotted.In total 590 occurrence records were obtained: 115 from human observations, 299 from CIATARC, 108 from GBIF, 24 from SpeciesLink, and 44 from literature review. After data cleansing, 48, 186, 19, 71, 55, and 120 points were used for A. lepidior, A. reducta, A. varia, P. simulans, Z. carbonaria, and Z. pubescens, respectively. Maps showing the occurrence records, estimation of current distribution and future potential distribution (2041-2060) under SSP126 -SSP585 scenarios, and comparison between current and future scenarios (change SSP126 and SSP585) are presented in Figures 1-6. Suitable areas and suitability values as well as bioclimatic layers selected based on multicollinearity analysis differed according to the species in the study (Figure 7). Consequently, probability of occurrence (i.e., suitability) in the niches of each species as a function of two most representative biovariables (Figure 8) varied according to species. In general, the ensembled models reached acceptable values for metrics used to evaluate ENMs accuracy (see Supplementary Table S1). The most used, AUC and TSS metrics, showed high scores for all species under study indicating robust performance (Figure 9).A. lepidior occurred in southern and central Costa Rica, central Panama, and northern Colombia. The ENM estimated a suitable area in central and north Colombia and some areas of Venezuela (AUC 0.97 ± 0.05, TSS 0.80 ± 0.1) (Figure 1). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were isothermality (bio_3) and temperature seasonality (bio_4), showing high suitability with high values of bio_3 (>70 %) and low values of bio_4 (<77.45%) (Figure 7). Averages of AUC and TSS (± SD) were 0.97 ± 0.05 and 0.80 ± 0.1, respectively (Figure 9, Supplementary Table S1). A considerable increase in suitability is expected for large areas of Amazonas ecoregion of Peru, Venezuela, and the north of Brazil even in the optimistic scenario, with possible invasions in those sites and western Ecuador, northeastern Peru and northern Bolivia (Figure 1). Also in Panama, Costa Rica, and, in the pessimistic scenario, in Guatemala and Belize. Small areas in a few sites of the Pacific coast of Central America and tropical South America show a decrease in suitable areas for this species.A. reducta occurred in Costa Rica, central Panama, and central and northern Caribbean Colombia. Fewer records were obtained in northwestern Venezuela and northern Brazil. The ENM estimated a suitable area in southern Costa Rica and Panama, as well as Eastern Ranges and Caribbean coast in Colombia, and Andean Venezuela (Figure 2). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were minimum temperature of coldest month (bio_6) and isothermality (bio_3), showing high suitability with high values of both bio_6 and bio_3 (Figure 7). Average of AUC and TSS (± SD) was 0.94 ± 0.01 and 0.88 ± 0.05, respectively. An increase in suitable areas and possible invasions are expected for the future optimistic scenario in Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos and Colombian Caribbean region. In the pessimistic scenario, Amazonas ecoregion of Peru and Brazil, along with some sites in southern Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Mexico are predicted to be susceptible to new invasions (Figure 2).A. varia occurred in central and southwestern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. The ENM estimated a suitable area in Amazonas ecoregion of Colombia, Venezuela, and northern Brazil, and a smaller region in northern Peru (Figure 3). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were precipitation of the coldest quarter (bio_19), temperature seasonality (bio_4), and precipitation seasonality (bio_15) (Figure 7). Average AUC and TSS (± SD) was 0.97 ± 0.01 and 0.89 ± 0.05, respectively. A decrease in suitable areas is expected for future scenarios compared to the same sites in current sites. Also, extinction is predicted in a few areas of Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos (Figure 3).P. simulans was the most widespread species in this study. Occurrence records were obtained mostly from North America (Mexico) and Central America, with fewer records in western Colombia (Figure 4). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were precipitation of the wettest month (bio_13) and precipitation of the coldest quarter (bio_18), showing high suitability with values <1,060 of bio_18 and values between 468 and 900 of bio_13 (Figure 7). Average of AUC and TSS (± SD) was 0.91 ± 0.06 and 0.73 ± 0.12, respectively. ENMs showed more habitats in South America and a small area in the Pacific Coast of Central America but with low suitability. An increase in suitability and possible invasions for small areas of Brazil Cerrado in both scenarios, along with Venezuelan Llanos in the optimistic scenario, and a noticeable decrease in Costa Rica is expected (Figure 4).Z. carbonaria has been recorded only in western Colombia, across central Andes. The ENM estimated higher suitability in Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes (middle tropic) and the Amazonian Piedmont of Colombia, decreasing its values to zero in Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos (low tropic) (Figure 5). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were isothermality (bio_3) and precipitation seasonality (bio_15), showing high suitability with values close to 40 of bio_15 and high values of bio_15 (Figure 7). Average of AUC and TSS (± SD) was 0.99 ± 0.02 and 0.93 ± 0.07, respectively. A decrease in suitability for the Amazonian Piedmont of Colombia and the Andes is expected (Figure 5).Finally, Z. pubescens occurred widely in western and central Andes of Colombia, northern Ecuador and western Brazil, including Amazon and Cerrado biogeographic zones. Fewer records were obtained in southern Peru and northern Suriname         (Figure 6). Bioclimatic layers with high contribution were temperature seasonality (bio_4) and precipitation seasonality (bio_15), showing high suitability with low values of bio_4 (<10) and values close to 40 of bio_15 (Figure 7). Average of AUC and TSS (± SD) was 0.89 ± 0.03 and 0.66 ± 0.09, respectively. An increase in suitability is expected for some areas of Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil in both climate change scenarios, being greater in the pessimistic scenario (Figure 6).In our study ENMs of the occurrence data had a high grade of accuracy given the sample size of five species, except for A. varia, for modeling (>25 records) (van Proosdij et al., 2016;Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020). Despite small sample sizes methodologies based on calculation p-values through Jackknife are implemented in the SDM R package used in this study (Naimi and Araújo, 2016), more records may increase the model accuracy (van Proosdij et al., 2016). Low records for spittlebugs were previously reported for Mahanarva in Brazil (Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020) being underrepresented in occurrence databases. This phenomenon was also observed for the six species studied as most of the records were obtained from CIATARC collection and expert's reports through the years (human observation).The ENMs also revealed differences in the distribution and ecological niche of the six spittlebug species in South America showing that these species ecological niche varies widely in the Neotropic, and has the potential to invade large areas, where livestock systems coincide. A. reducta y A. lepidior have great potential to impact grassland mainly in Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos where susceptible pastures (e.g., Urochloa decumbens) and sugarcane are planted in large areas. Another ecoregion where these two species have high suitability is the Amazonian ecoregion in Colombia and Brazil, where livestock extensive systems are increasing indiscriminately.The evidence showed that Z. pubescens is distributed in a wide altitudinal range (8-3225 m.a.s.l) but with a local reduced temperature seasonality. Elevation has been reported as the most important variable with the highest contribution in the ENMs in other spittlebugs (Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020). Few species have such a wide altitudinal range, which allows us to propose two hypotheses: (1) Z. pubescens presents extreme thermal limits and (2) the species presents geographically separated populations. A case of biotypes is observed for the spittlebug Calitettix versicolor in China, which diverged in two lineages consistent with biogeographical regions separated by Hengduan Mountains (Yang et al., 2016). Similarly, this could be happening with Z. pubescens influenced by the Colombian Andes. Although the species is reported in Brazil (27 occurrence records; average of 400 m.a.s.l), the suitability values are lower than in Colombia and Ecuador (93 occurrence records; average of 1079 m.a.s.l.). The higher number of records in the highlands of Colombia and Ecuador could be causing an overestimation of the occurrence probability at these areas over the records of Cerrado places in Brazil, this would explain the current potential distribution estimated, and also could be reflecting the possible existence of, at least, two populations with different ecological niches.The position of a species within an ecosystem is determined by the interactions with their biotic and abiotic environment (Polechová and Storch, 2019). Tropical spittlebugs have a seasonal dynamic strongly synchronized with rainfall patterns. For instance, Z. carbonaria and A. reducta in Colombia, P. simulans in Colombia and Venezuela, D. flavopicta in Brazil, as well as A. contigua and A. contigua in Mexico, reduce diapause rates and a higher abundance of nymphs is observed after rain season start (Peck et al., 2001(Peck et al., , 2002;;Sujii et al., 2002;Olán-Hernández et al., 2016). Hence, a strong effect of the biovariables 12 to 19 in the models, related with precipitation, in the models was expected but in our estimations, the distribution of habitat suitability of these six species also involved environmental variables related to temperature suggesting that variables derived from temperature has a strong effect on the biology of these species. For P. simulans, precipitation was more important than temperature to determine its distribution with a relative importance over 0.4 for precipitation of the wettest month, thus, greater probabilities of occurrence happen in precipitation between 500 and 940 mm. In general, the habitat suitability estimated for two-dimensional niches was low as the biovariables' relative importance varied among all the species with values below 0.4 (Figure 8). Similar results were obtained by Schöbel and Carvalho (2020) in ENM of four Mahanarva species showing that most of the WorldClim variables did not contribute to their analysis and that for M. fimbriolata and M. spectabilis the biovariables had contribution percentages from 15 to 27%.Regarding the climate change scenarios proposed, we found that these have a significant influence on the potential distribution of the species in study, increasing the suitability value and suitable area for some (mainly for A. reducta and A. lepidior) or decreasing them for others (A. varia). Previous studies showed a declining tendency in suitability for Mahanarva across Central and South America (Fonseca et al., 2016;Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020) and Philaenus spumarius in North America (Karban and Huntzinger, 2018). Global warming and longer drought periods contribute to accelerate this phenomenon as spittlebug biology is highly dependent on plant water status. Being xylem feeders, they require excessive amounts of sap which flow is subject to transpiration (Novotny and Wilson, 1997). Under water stress conditions transpiration rates decrease as well as food availability for spittlebugs, particularly in the nymphal stages. Besides, these conditions may affect nymph thermoregulation by foam or \"spittle\" production, composed mainly of excreted semi-digested plant fluid, fatty acids, carbohydrates, mucopolysaccharides, and proteins produced by Malpighian tubules (Rakitov, 2002;Tonelli et al., 2018). Since the six species are Urochloa spp. key pests, a future limitation of ecological niche in future scenarios in livestock production zones should be taken into account as improved resistant grasses to spittlebug attack and increase the number of forage species are considered a sustainable strategy for the livestock systems under climate change (Rao et al., 2016;Schiek et al., 2018). Competition can influence species future distribution as well. Despite reaching the spittlebug habitat's food limits is unlikely (Schöbel and Carvalho, 2020), the variation among species' life cycles may determine the success of one species over others. A. reducta was reported for the first time in 2019 in Cauca River Valley, Colombia (Hernandez et al., 2021) where A. varia is a key pest of sugarcane and P. simulans of signalgrass [Urochloa decumbens cv. Basilisk; (Rodriguez Chalarca et al., 2003;Gómez, 2007)]. In Colombian Caribbean coast, A. reducta's entire life cycle is shorter (45.2 days) compared with A. varia (62 days) or P. simulans (71.9 days) in Cauca River Valley conditions (Peck et al., 2002;Rodriguez Chalarca et al., 2003;Castro Valderrama et al., 2011). Thus, A. reducta can coexist or even displace these two species in sugarcane and signalgrass for potentially having more generations per year in the region where ∼208 thousand ha of sugarcane was harvested in 2018 (Asocaña., 2019).The current study contributes to the ecological knowledge of spittlebugs, which will be useful in the development of prevention and control strategies for this pest in South America. Finally, we suggest carrying out studies of physiology and genetics of populations to determine the thermal limits of the species and to corroborate if there are genetic divergences between geographically separated populations.Highly digestible forages are associated with an in vitro low-methane (CH 4 ) rumen fermentation profile and thus the possibility of reducing CH 4 emissions from forage-based systems. We aimed to assess the in vitro ruminal fermentation profile, including CH 4 production, of the top stratum of Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus -Hochst. ex Chiov) harvested at different sward heights (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 cm). Herbage samples (incubating substrate) were analyzed for their chemical composition, in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), and morphological components. In vitro incubations were performed under a randomized complete block design with four independent runs of each treatment. Gas production (GP), in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), CH 4 production, total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, and their acetate, propionate, and butyrate proportions were measured following 24 and 48 h of incubation. Herbage samples had similar contents of organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, and crude protein for all treatments. However, a higher acid detergent fiber (ADF) content in taller sward heights than in smaller sward heights and a tendency for metabolizable energy (ME) and IVOMD to decrease as sward height increased were found. Similarly, the stem + sheath mass tended to increase with increasing sward height. Amongst the nutrients, ME (r = −0.65) and IVDMD (r = −0.64) were negatively correlated with sward height (p < 0.001) and ADF was positively correlated with sward height (r = 0.73, p < 0.001). Both the GP and IVDMD were negatively related to the sward height at both incubation times. Sward heights of Kikuyu grass below 30 cm display an in vitro profile of VFAs high in propionate and low in acetate, with a trend toward lower methane production of CH 4 per unit of IVDMD. These findings are important to aid decision-making on the optimal sward height of Kikuyu grass and manage animal grazing with the opportunity to reduce CH 4 production.Livestock is under fire of critics for its major share in the environmental impact of the agricultural sector. Total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock (animals, manure, feed production, and land-use change) are estimated to account for 14.5% of total anthropogenic emissions (Gerber et al., 2013). Among livestock production systems, grassland-based ruminants are the most controversial in the present-day literature (Teague et al., 2016;Gerssen-Gondelach et al., 2017). On the one hand, ruminants produce methane (CH 4 ) as a natural byproduct of microbial fermentation of feed in the rumen, contributing approximately 6% of the global anthropogenic GHG emissions (40% of all livestock emissions; Gerber et al., 2013;Beauchemin et al., 2020). On the other hand, grazed pastures which are the basis of those systems, when properly managed, potentially improve the sustainability of livestock production (Lobato et al., 2014;Elgersma, 2015;French et al., 2015), provide many social and environmental services (Werling et al., 2014;Mottet et al., 2017;Horrocks et al., 2019;Zubieta et al., 2020), and improve soil health indicators in tropical systems (Teutscherová et al., 2021). Hence, current grazing systems are being redesigned to link animal production with environmental management (Boval and Dixon, 2012;Carvalho, 2013) in light of current demands for sustainable agricultural production around the world (Herrero et al., 2010;Mottet et al., 2017).The profitability and sustainability of forage-based dairy systems depend on efficient management (Herrero et al., 2000). In this regard, grazing management is of particular importance since when properly managed, it can improve the quantity and quality of herbage consumed by the animals and ultimately reduce CH 4 emissions (Congio et al., 2018;Savian et al., 2018Savian et al., , 2021)). Previous studies have shown that the sward height is a useful and reliable tool to optimize pasture management (Carvalho et al., 2011;Kunrath et al., 2020). The literature suggests that under moderate-to low-intensity grazing management, animals ingest a diet with high nutritive value composed primarily of leaf lamina from the top stratum of the sward (Savian et al., 2018(Savian et al., , 2020;;Zubieta et al., 2021). Likewise, it is well known that diet digestibility declines from the top to the bottom of the sward, showing a vertical quality gradient of forages (Delagarde et al., 2000;Benvenutti et al., 2016Benvenutti et al., , 2020)). Moreover, as pasture matures, the sward height increases and the nutritive value decreases (Benvenutti et al., 2020). High forage digestibility is associated with a fermentation profile in the rumen that is unfavorable to CH 4 production (Hristov et al., 2013;Muñoz et al., 2016). Therefore, if grazed herbage is the main source of nutrients for animals, it is pivotal to offer a highly digestible forage that may have a high potential for mitigating enteric CH 4 emissions.Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus -Hochst. ex Chiov), widely known as Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst, is a highly productive subtropical grass of African origin that is well adapted to the forage-based dairy systems of some countries of Latin and Central America (e.g., Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico) and Oceania [e.g., Australia and New Zealand; (García et al., 2014;Sbrissia et al., 2018;Marín-Santana et al., 2020)]. When managed correctly, Kikuyu grass is recognized for its moderate to good quality and high yield potential, especially in high-fertility soils (Reeves et al., 1996;Fulkerson et al., 2006;García et al., 2014). Commonly, grazing management goals of Kikuyu grass are based on plant characteristics associated with the regrowth age, phenological state, leaf stage, critical leaf area index, among others (Reeves et al., 1996;Fulkerson and Donaghy, 2001;Schmitt et al., 2019b). Currently, and for several forage species, including Kikuyu grass, the sward height is proposed as an easy-to-use grazing management criterion and a key performance predictor (Marin et al., 2017;de Souza Filho et al., 2019;Kunrath et al., 2020), as there is a strong relationship with the quantity and quality of the herbage that animals ingest. On the other hand, in vitro studies may predict enteric CH 4 production with reasonable accuracy and precision (Danielsson et al., 2017) and can help to identify promising strategies for in vivo studies oriented to reduce the environmental impact of livestock (Danielsson et al., 2017;Valencia Echavarria et al., 2019;Molina-Botero et al., 2020). Previous studies examined the effects of stage of regrowth on the nutritive value of whole plants of Kikuyu pastures and on the in vitro fermentation parameters (Ramírez et al., 2015;Vargas et al., 2018). Basic and key information regarding the sward height relationship with the nutritive attributes of Kikuyu grass and the main ruminal fermentation parameters, including CH 4 production, has not yet been established.We hypothesized that the top stratum of the Kikuyu grass harvested at intermediate sward heights (15, 20, and 25 cm) has highly digestible leaves and displays an in vitro low-CH 4 rumen fermentation profile with similar chemical and sward structural characteristics. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effect of the sward height of Kikuyu grass from herbage samples of the top stratum (incubating substrate that reflects the potentially grazed stratum) on the in vitro ruminal fermentation profile. We also evaluated the in vitro CH 4 production and identified the sward heights that may offer the largest opportunity to mitigate enteric CH 4 production from grazing cattle fed with Kikuyu grass.Herbage samples for the in vitro incubations were produced within a grazing trial with dairy heifers at the Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), municipality of Lages, S.C., Brazil (27 • 47 ′ 10.5 ′′ S, 50 • 18 ′ 20.5 ′′ W, 937 m a.s.l.). According to Köppen's climate classification, the region is humid subtropical under oceanic influences. It has an annual average temperature of 17 • C and annual average precipitation of 1460 mm (Alvares et al., 2013). The soil was classified as Humudept (with an umbric epipedon) according to the USDA Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2014). The soil is developed from sedimentary rocks (sandstone and siltstone) and has an acidic pH, high aluminum content and low sum and base saturation (Rauber et al., 2021).The grazing trial was carried out in a 5000-m 2 permanent pasture of Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus -Hochst. ex Chiov) established in the early 1990s and grazed by dairy and beef cattle since then. The whole area was mowed homogeneously until 5 cm of height and divided into ten paddocks of 500 ± 5 m 2 . Fertilizers were split into two applications depending on rainfall occurrence and considering a two-period evaluation. The pasture received one application of 250 kg/ha of fertilizer (N-P-K, 9-33-12) and 135 kg/ha of urea on 26 January 2017 (first evaluation period). On 22 March 2017, 67.5 kg/ha of urea was applied (second evaluation period). Due to the frost event and low temperatures in winter and sometimes in spring, the Kikuyu growth season is from the final period of spring and early autumn (Sbrissia et al., 2018); therefore, the herbage collection in both periods lasted from 28 Feb to 15 Apr 2017.Treatments consisted of herbage samples from the top stratum of Kikuyu grass harvested at five sward heights (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 cm). The grazing trial was conducted in a randomized complete block design with two spatial (paddocks) and two temporal (morning or afternoon) replicates. The blocking criterion was the time of day due to differences that may exist in the herbage chemical composition and dry matter yield within a day (Delagarde et al., 2000;Gregorini, 2012). Each sward height of the Kikuyu grass was randomly assigned in two paddocks, each one evaluated once in the morning and once in the afternoon (two periods of evaluation), in an alternated scheme with random start. Once target sward height was achieved after the initial mowing and before to start a grazing assessment, herbage sampling was performed (i.e., in the morning, period one). After that, the sward was mowed again to half of the treatment sward height (residuals were retired), and when it reached the set sward height again, a second herbage sampling was conducted (i.e., in the afternoon, period two). A total of four herbage samples from the top stratum per treatment were collected for in vitro incubations.The in vitro incubation experimental design was carried out through four independent runs of each treatment, two ruminal liquids from steers (unmixed), and two independent sets corresponding to 24 and 48 h of incubation. In addition, four blanks (no substrate) for each incubation time were included.The sward height was measured at 150 random points per paddock using a sward stick (Barthram, 1985). When the treatment sward height of individual paddocks was confirmed, metallic quadrants (0.25 m 2 ) were placed at three random sites; average sward heights were calculated from five readings taken inside the quadrants with the sward stick to perform herbage clipping at half of the canopy height (samples representing the grazing stratum). Half of the herbage samples were separated into morphological components (leaf lamina, stem + sheath, and dead material) and dried in a forced-air oven at 55 • C for 72 h. The dry weights of morphological components were used to calculate total herbage mass (kg DM/ha) as the sum of each component's mass. The other half was also dried and then pooled per paddock and time of the day for chemical analysis and in vitro incubations.The herbage samples were analyzed in duplicate for dry matter (DM, method 930.04;AOAC, 2016), ash (method 930.05;AOAC, 2016), and for neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (Van Soest et al., 1991) by using an Ankom 200 fiber analyzer without heat-stable alpha-amylase. ADF and NDF procedures are not ash-free. Samples were also characterized for N content by the Kjeldahl digestion. The crude protein amount was calculated as N × 6.25 (N, method 984.13;AOAC, 2016). The two-stage Tilley and Terry (1963) technique (incubation with rumen fluid followed by acid-pepsin digestion) was used to estimate the in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). The total digestible nutrient (TDN) concentration of the simulated grazing samples was estimated as a percentage of IVOMD (Moore et al., 1999). The metabolizable energy (ME) were estimated using the following equations of NRC (NRC, 2001) Procedures involving animals were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines, regulations, and requirements of Colombian law No 84/1989 and the following protocol, approved by the Ethics Committee of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).The in vitro incubations were conducted according to Theodorou et al. (1994) in the Forage Quality and Animal Nutrition Laboratory (certified by the FAO-IAG proficiency test of feed constituents 2017 including in vitro gas production) at CIAT located in the Valle del Cauca department, Colombia (3 • 29 ′ 34 ′′ N, 76 • 21 ′ 37 ′′ W, 965 m a.s.l.). Rumen fluid was collected at 7:30 am from two rumen-fistulated Bos indicus Brahman steers with an average body weight of 720 ± 42 kg, which were grazed on Cynodon plectostachyus (star grass) pasture, with free access to water and mineral salts.The rumen fluid was filtered using a 250 µm nylon pore size cloth, dispensed into two thermal flasks prewarmed to 39 ± 0.5 • C, and immediately transferred to the laboratory. The time between rumen fluid collection and inoculation did not exceed 30 min. Five-hundred milligrams of each herbage sample (DM basis) was incubated in 160 mL glass bottles, prewarmed in an incubator at 39 • C, with 20 mL filtered rumen fluid mixed with 80 mL rumen medium in a 1:4 ratio (Menke and Steingass, 1988), and dispensed with continuous flushing of CO 2 . The bottles were slightly stirred, sealed with rubber stoppers and aluminum caps, and incubated in a water bath at 39 • C in two different sets corresponding to incubation times of 24 and 48 h. Four blanks of rumen medium (bottles without substrate that contained only inoculum and medium) per each set were also incubated. The gas production was measured at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, and 48 h using a pressure transducer (Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co. Ltd., Taipei, Taiwan) connected to a digital widerange manometer (Sper Scientific, Arizona, USA) and a 60 mL syringe through a three-way valve (Theodorou et al., 1994). After each measurement, the gas of the bottles was released to avoid partial dissolution of CO 2 (Tagliapietra et al., 2010) and possible disturbance of microbial activity (Theodorou et al., 1994). Cumulative pressure values were converted into volume (GP, mL) from measured pressure changes at incubation times and after correction for blank pressure values using the ideal gas law and expressed per unit of dry matter incubated (DMi) and in vitro dry matter degraded (IVDMD) (López et al., 2007).Methane (CH 4 ) analyses were carried out in the Greenhouse Gas Laboratory CIAT. A gas sample in the headspace was collected into a 5 mL vacuum vial (Labco Ltd., High Wycombe, England) at 24 and 48 h. The CH 4 concentration was determined using a gas chromatograph (Shimadzu GC-2014, Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a Hayesep N packed column (0.5 m × 1/8\" × 2 mm ID) and flame ionization detector (FID). The operating temperatures of the column, detector, methanizer, and valves were 80, 250, 380, and 80 • C respectively. Ultrahigh purity 5.0-grade N was used as the carrier gas with a linear velocity of 35 mL/min. The CH 4 concentration was calculated using a standard of 10% CH 4 balanced in N (Scott-Marrin Inc., Riverside, CA) and corrected for the CH 4 blank values. The volume of CH 4 (mL) produced at the end of each incubation time (24 and 48 h) was calculated as a product of the total gas produced (mL) multiplied by the concentration of CH 4 (%) in the analyzed sample, as described by Lopez and Newbold (2007).Following 24 and 48 h of incubation, the fermentation was stopped by dipping the bottles in cold water with ice and then processing to determine volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and the in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDMD). Ruminal fluid samples (10 mL) were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min at 4 • C. The supernatant (1.6 mL) was transferred into a 2 mL Eppendorf tube, and 0.4 mL of metaphosphoric acid (25% w/v) was added for VFA analysis. Samples were then stored frozen at −20 • C and later analyzed for acetate, propionate, and butyrate concentrations by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an SPD-20AV UV-VIS detector (SHIMADZU, Prominence UFLC System) fitted with a BIO-RAD Aminex HPX-87H, 300 × 7.8 mm Ion Exclusion Column. The total VFA concentration was calculated as the sum of the individual VFA concentrations in the ruminal fluid and was corrected for the blank values. Based on the obtained results, the proportion of each VFA in the total VFA amount was calculated. The acetic: propionic ratio was also calculated. All contents remaining in the bottle were finally filtered through preweighed sintered glass crucible pore number 1 (Pyrex R ) and dried in a forced-air oven at 105 • C for 24 h to determine the IVDMD.All statistical analyses were performed using R 3.5.3 (R Core Team, 2018). Herbage chemical composition and sward characteristics were analyzed with ANOVA in a randomized block design: Yijk = µ+ αi+βj+εijk, where: Yijk is the response variable, µ is the overall mean, αi treatments (herbage samples from the top stratum), βj is the effect of the block (time of the day), and ǫijk is the residual error. HSD Tukey's test was used to compare means among treatments; significance was declared at p ≤ 0.05 and tendencies at 0.05 < p ≤ 0.10. The nutritive value (NDF, ADF, CP, ME, IVDMD) and in vitro fermentation parameter (GP, acetate, propionate, and butyrate) results were submitted to Pearson's correlations and visualized using the R package corrplot (Wei et al., 2017).The in vitro fermentation data were analyzed as linear (Y = β0+ β1SH+ ε), quadratic (Y = β0+ β1SH+β2SH 2 +ε), and a double linear function of sward height, where Y is IVDMD, GP, in vitro CH 4 , VFA (acetate, propionate, and butyrate), f is the min or max function, v and p are the coordinates of the crossing point of sward height, SH are the observed values of sward height, and a1 and a2 are the slopes of the component lines adapted from Mezzalira et al. (2017). Linear and quadratic regression models were fitted by using R lm{stats} function and double linear models were fitted by deviance minimization with the optim{stats} function.After fitting a regression model, the residual plots were checked and the Shapiro-Wilk test was carried out using the R function shapiro.teststats. The best model was selected by the smaller value of Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The objective of the regression analysis was to understand how the nutritive value of the top stratum of Kikuyu grass, harvested at different sward heights, influences the in vitro ruminal fermentation profile.The sward heights obtained were close to the nominal treatment heights and different between treatments (p < 0.001, Table 1). Herbage mass in 10 cm swards was less than in the 30 cm swards but did not differ among the other sward heights. The 25 and 30 cm sward heights resulted in a higher green leaf mass than the 10 cm sward height (p < 0.01) but did not differ between 15 and 20 cm (p > 0.05, Table 1). The stem + sheath mass tended to increase with increasing sward height (p = 0.09, Table 1).No differences were found for OM, NDF, and CP contents (p > 0.05, Table 2), however, the ADF concentration was greater at 30 cm sward heights than at 10 cm sward heights, but not different from other sward heights (p = 0.02, Table 2). The IVOMD and ME tended to decrease with increasing sward height (p = 0.16 and p = 0.10, respectively; Table 2).The correlation values among the sward height, nutritive value and in vitro fermentation parameters at 48 h are presented in Figure 1. The sward height showed a moderate negative correlation with IVDMD (r = −0.64), GP (r = −0.46), CP (r = −0.45), and ME (r = −0.65). Conversely, a high and positive correlation (r = 0.73) between the ADF (g/kg) and sward height was observed (Figure 1). The GP exhibited a high positive correlation with IVDMD (r = 0.74) and ME (r = 0.62), and at the same time, IVDMD was highly and positively related to ME (r = 0.84) (Figure 1). The total CH 4 had a moderate and positive correlation with GP (r = 0.39); however, it was poorly related to the other variables evaluated. In addition, acetic acid had a strong negative correlation with propionic acid (r = −0.79, Figure 1). Pearson's correlation of dataset at 24 h (Supplementary Figure 1) and the correlation matrix at 24 and 48 h (Supplementary Tables 1, 2, respectively).The GP, expressed as milliliters per unit of dry matter incubated (mL/g DMi), and IVDMD (g) linearly decreased with sward height at both incubation times (24 and 48 h are shown in Figures 2A,B, respectively). However, when the GP was expressed as milliliters per unit of in vitro digestible dry matter (mL/g IVDMD), it was not related to the sward height either at any incubation time (data not shown). There was no relationship between the total in vitro CH 4 production, expressed in terms of milliliters per dry matter incubated (mL/g DMi), and the sward heights studied at any incubation time (data not shown). However, after 24 h of fermentation, the in vitro CH 4 production expressed as milliliters per unit of in vitro digestible dry matter (mL/g IVDMD) fitted a double linear trend model (p = 0.060). The minimum value of CH 4 production at 24 h (15.4 mL/g IVDMD) occurred at 21.3 cm (Figure 3A). CH 4 production, first described a straight line slightly inclined but not different between 10 and 20 cm (a1 = −0.22 g mL/IVDMD/cm, p = 0.32), and then increased with the sward height (a2 = 0.61 g mL/IVDMD/cm, p = 0.02) (Figure 3A). Likewise, CH 4 production (mL/g IVDMD) at 48 h tended to increase linearly as a function of sward height (Figure 3B). Meanwhile, the total VFA (mM/L) concentration did not differ between treatments for any incubation time, but it was close to double at 48 h relative to 24 h (data not shown). The main VFA proportions, acetate, propionate, and butyrate (mol/100 mol), were unrelated to sward height at 24 h (data not shown) but significant changes were found after 48 h of incubation. Overall, the acetate, propionate, and acetate: propionate ratio following 48 h of fermentation showed that the minimum methanogenic profile occurred below 30 cm (Figures 4A,B,D). The acetate and propionate molar proportions and the acetate: propionate ratio were well described by a double linear model (Figures 4A,B,D, respectively). The relationship between acetate (mol/100 mol) and sward height first described a straight line slightly inclined (a1 = −0.09 mol/100 mol/cm, p = 0.06) and after 28.4 cm tall, it showed a steeper line with a higher and more significant slope (a2 = 1.55 mol/100 mol/cm, p < 0.0001). Conversely, the propionate (mol/100 mol) first increased (increasing slope, a1 = 0.20 mol/100 mol/cm, p = 0.002) until 28.42 cm and then decreased (decreasing slope, a2 = −1.34 mol/100 mol/cm, p < 0.0001) with sward height. The butyrate showed a negative and linear fit as the sward heights increased (p < 0.0001, Figure 4C). The acetate: propionate ratio subtly decreased with sward height between 10 and 28.8 cm (decreasing slope, a1 = −0.013 units/cm, p = 0.004) and then increased at sward heights taller than 28.8 cm (increasing slope, a2 = 0.14 units/cm, p = 0.0001, Figure 4D).Moderate to low-intensity grazing management strategies favor animals to select bites of the top stratum of plants, whose diet is mainly composed of highly digestible leaves with high CP and low fiber content (Savian et al., 2018;Zubieta et al., 2021). This study assessed the effect of the sward height of Kikuyu grass from herbage samples of the top stratum on the in vitro ruminal fermentation profile and its relationship with the chemical composition and IVDMD. The key finding was that the sward heights of Kikuyu grass below 30 cm display a profile of VFAs high in propionate and low in acetate, with a trend toward lower CH 4 production per unit of IVDMD. Although the chemical composition between the treatments was similar, the tendency for stem and sheath mass to increase led to an increase in ADF contents and a tendency to decrease the IVOMD with sward height, shifting the fermentation profile toward an in vitro rumen environment more favorable to CH 4 production at sward heights above 28 cm. The chemical composition of herbage from the top stratum of the Kikuyu grass showed many similarities between the sward heights. The overall tendency to decrease IVOMD and increase ADF contents with sward height is consistent with the changes in the relative proportions of the leaves and stems + sheath within the top stratum as the sward height increases. In swards of Cenchrus clandestinus, Schmitt et al. (2019a) observed that NDF and ADF contents of herbage samples from the upper stratum did not change between 10 and 25 cm heights. Previous studies on the vertical distribution of chemical composition and digestibility of a perennial ryegrass sward showed little variation in NDF and organic matter digestibility at different regrowth ages and at different times of the day (Delagarde et al., 2000). Regardless of the regrowth age, leaves were located mainly in the top stratum, while steams were present mainly in the bottom stratum of Kikuyu pastures; consequently, CP decreased, and NDF and ADF increased with age of regrowth and from top to bottom of the swards (Benvenutti et al., 2020). For a given stratum of the sward, the differences between regrowth age are commonly more marked between vegetative and reproductive stages (Schmitt et al., 2019a;Benvenutti et al., 2020). In the vegetative stage, the nutritive value differs little among plant parts (Laca et al., 2001;Benvenutti et al., 2020).The results concerning the NDF, ADF, CP, ME, and IVOMD are consistent with those values found from the upper stratum of the Kikuyu sward (Benvenutti et al., 2020). However, CP exhibited higher values than usually reported for the whole plant (Correa et al., 2008;García et al., 2014) or the upper stratum of this species (Schmitt et al., 2019a). Nonetheless, when the nutritional value was evaluated by strata through the vertical distribution, the observed CP values were consistent with the CP content of the upper layer of the plant (Benvenutti et al., 2020). Previous studies have shown that the CP contents of leaves change significantly with anatomical characteristics along the length of leaf blades (Garcia et al., 2021). In addition to the high CP content of the upper stratum due to green leaves, the higher N levels due to fertilization could have influenced the results. According to Correa et al. (2008), the higher CP content (true protein and nonprotein nitrogen (NPN)) in highly fertilized Kikuyu swards is closely related to the higher amounts of ruminal ammonia (N-NH 3 ) and lower N use efficiency. Even though high N fertilizer rates are common for Kikuyu ryegrass pasture systems, animal excreta on pasture can negatively affect the Nitrogen efficiency of the cows (Marais, 2001;Viljoen et al., 2020) and contribute to nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions (Maire et al., 2020).The strong and positive correlation between GP and the IVDMD at 48 h and the high and positive correlation between ME and GP and IVDMD were expected once GP was directly related to the amount of OM fermented by rumen bacteria, which is consistent with the principles of the in vitro gas production technique (Theodorou et al., 1994;Mauricio et al., 1999). It is widely known that GP can be a good index of forage ME content and provides an effective method for assessing the nutritive value of the feeds (Menke and Steingass, 1988). On the other hand, the negative correlation between sward height and GP and chemical components such as ME, IVDMD, CP and at the same time the positive correlation between sward height with the ADF is an interesting result; since the sward height has a consistent correlation with herbage mass and it is a practical and reliable indicator to optimize grazing management (Carvalho et al., 2011;Kunrath et al., 2020).The chemical composition of forages is influenced by several factors, including sward structure, stage of maturity, season of harvest, and stratum harvested (Benvenutti et al., 2020;Marín-Santana et al., 2020). In general, the correlations between pasture chemical components and in vitro fermentation parameters in this study are consistent with previous studies with tropical grasses (Bezabih et al., 2014;Kulivand and Kafilzadeh, 2015), and with other studies using different types of feeds and forages (Getachew et al., 2004). However, unlike expected, CH 4 production had a poor and negative relationship with NDF and ADF content. This discrepancy is probably due to the high variability of CH 4 data at both incubation times. The highly significant correlation between ME and butyrate and the negative relationship between ADF and butyrate indicate the contribution of these components to VFA production (Ungerfeld, 2015). The sward height of Kikuyu grass influenced its nutritive value and in vitro rumen fermentation profile. Since the stems + sheath mass tended to increase and IVOMD tended to decrease as a function of sward height, the GP and IVDMD also decreased. As stated above, in vitro gas production is a suitable indicator to predict the carbohydrate degradation of forages (Menke et al., 1979;Theodorou et al., 1994;Danielsson et al., 2017). It is widely accepted that the higher the IVDMD is, the higher the GP (Durmic et al., 2010;Meale et al., 2011). Consistently, taller sward heights (>28 cm) displayed a higher methanogenic profile than shorter (10 cm) and intermediate (15, 20, and 25 cm) sward heights due to the changes in morphological components and chemical composition, which resulted in a higher acetate: propionate ratio at 48 h of fermentation. The highest methanogenic profile of sward heights of Kikuyu grass above 28 cm, is due to the tendency of more stems + sheath with the sward height, and the tendency of the ME and IVDMD diminished with the sward height. CH 4 production in an in vitro gas system is strongly associated with the fermentation of structural carbohydrates. It has been previously reported that decreasing the digestibility of herbage and increasing the fiber content with advancing plant maturity influences not only total VFA production but also the molar proportions, with greater acetate and lower propionate, and therefore a higher acetate: proportionate ratio and higher CH 4 production per unit of degraded dry matter (Boadi et al., 2002;Beauchemin et al., 2008;Navarro-Villa et al., 2011;Purcell et al., 2011). In our study, the GP reduction as a function of sward height may reflect a higher structural carbohydrate content at taller heights than at shorter heights. Likewise, the trend toward lower in vitro CH 4 production with sward height is explained by the lower IVDMD as a function of sward height. Assessing the in vitro CH 4 output from different maturity stages of Kikuyu grass, other studies have shown a lower CH 4 production per unit of degraded organic matter (Vargas et al., 2018) and per gram of digestible dry matter (Ramírez et al., 2015), in the youngest forages than in the most mature forages.The end products of in vitro ruminal fermentation, such as the acetate, propionate, and butyrate proportions, are consistent with the data published by other authors (Burke et al., 2006;Marín et al., 2014;Ramírez et al., 2015;Vargas et al., 2018) who also evaluated the in vitro fermentation of Kikuyu grass. The lack of differences found in the total VFA concentration and the molar proportions of the main VFAs measured at 24 h may be associated with subtle changes in the fermentation pathways during the first h of fermentation. In agreement with (Meale et al., 2011), batch culture in vitro fermentation has a low sensitivity to elucidate small differences between the same type of substrate (e.g., herbage) in the early fermentation. However, prolonged incubation in a closed system potentially favors VFA production changes and their proportions (Ungerfeld and Kohn, 2006), as observed at 48 h. The high molar proportion of acetate and the low of propionate in Kikuyu pastures harvested above 28 cm of sward height matched with a tendency toward more in vitro CH 4 output (mL/g IVDMD) and suggested a low in vitro rumen fermentation efficiency at tall sward heights. It is also widely known that forages that increase propionate and decrease acetate are often associated with reducing ruminal CH 4 production (Moss et al., 2000;Beauchemin et al., 2009;Meale et al., 2011). Nevertheless, the lower proportion of propionate at smaller heights was unexpected due to the similarities of the chemical composition and IVDMD at sward heights below 25 cm. A possible explanation of this finding could be related to the increase in butyrate concentration at the expense of propionate, as the sward height increases. In this study, the butyrate seems to have acted as an alternative H 2 sink (Moss et al., 2000;Ungerfeld, 2015), which is also in agreement with the trend toward lower CH 4 production per unit of IVDMD (mL/g IVDMD) at sward heights below 28 cm. Changes in the fermentation pathways could be associated with superior CP concentrations and, probably, with the higher nitrate concentration in the evaluated Kikuyu structures as a product of the high N fertilization of the Kikuyu, as suggested by Lovett et al. (2004). Nitrate is an alternative H 2 sink and an effective inhibitor of methanogenesis (McAllister and Newbold, 2008;Van Zijderveld et al., 2010;Yang et al., 2016;Patra et al., 2017). Other studies have suggested that the inclusion of nitrate in in vitro ruminal fermentation could increase the molar proportion of acetic acid and reduce the molar proportion of propionic acid (Navarro-Villa et al., 2011).The similar chemical composition of herbage samples from swards heights of 10, 15, 20, and 25 cm in this study suggests an in vitro rumen environment less favorable to CH 4 production, therefore the possibility of flexible grazing management. However, Kikuyu swards managed with the 10 cm sward height target could result in low herbage and green leaf mass, which may affect herbage intake and animal performance (Marin et al., 2017;Schmitt et al., 2019b). Therefore, grazing managers must make strategic decisions considering a holistic management framework.Another important consideration is that in vitro CH 4 production may not reflect the in vivo conditions and should be interpreted with care (McAllister et al., 2011;Klop et al., 2017). Therefore, it is recommended to carry out long-term grazing studies that include in vivo CH 4 and dry matter intake measurements (Yáñez-Ruiz et al., 2016).We conclude that Kikuyu grass harvested below 30 cm displays an in vitro profile of VFAs high in propionate and low in acetate, with a performance less favorable to CH 4 production per unit of IVDMD. Our findings suggest that grazing management sward height targets of Kikuyu grass at intermediate sward heights (15 to 25 cm) may be a promising strategy to reduce CH 4 emissions. Further studies based on in vivo measurements may be necessary before practical application.The Zimbabwean dairy industry is massively underperforming, as evidenced by a reduction in milk yield from 262 million liters in 1990 to <37 million liters in 2009 and a steady but slow increase to 82 million liters in 2021. The current demand for milk in Zimbabwe stands at 130 million liters, and there is a national capacity for processing 400 million liters per annum. This study used literature, stakeholder inputs and expert knowledge to provide a perspective on practical options to reduce the national milk deficit and, simultaneously, accelerate the transition to a sustainable dairy value chain in Zimbabwe. Following a discussion on the key barriers and constraints to developing the milk value chain, we explored opportunities to improve the performance of the underperforming smallholder and medium-scale dairy farmers. Specifically, we discussed innovative management, creative policy instruments and alternative technological options to maximize milk production in Zimbabwe. We also highlight the need for an inclusive and creatively organized dairy value chain to optimize stakeholder linkages and improve information flow and equity. Examples of crucial investments and incentive structures for upgrading the existing value chain and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and carbon uptake are discussed. Furthermore, the socio-economic effects (i.e., profitability, women empowerment and employment creation), milk quality, safety and traceability issues linked to a better organized and performing dairy value chain are highlighted.The agricultural sector in Zimbabwe supports the livelihoods of approximately 70% of the population and contributes approximately 17% of GDP (FAO, 2021). In a baseline survey conducted by Transforming Zimbabwe's Dairy Value Chain for the Future Action (TranZ DVC) (2019), income from milk and milk by-products were reported to contribute only 0.3% of the total GDP, and the milk processing component of the dairy value chain was reported to employ 282 male and 86 female youth (<35 years). Moreover, of the total number of jobs that offer a fair income and social protection (descent jobs), along the dairy value-chain, 39.5% and 23% were reported to be held by women and youth, respectively (Transforming Zimbabwe's Dairy Value Chain for the Future Action (TranZ DVC), 2019).From the mid-90s, the dairy cattle herd decreased due to recurrent droughts, economic contraction, and the land reform programme that disrupted large-scale dairy operations responsible for >95% of the national milk pool (Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012). The land reform programme, which involved redistributing land from the large-scale commercial sector to households from the overcrowded communal areas, and the resultant lack of clarity in the security of land tenure were probably the most important factors that negatively impacted the dairy sector (Mzumara, 2012;Marecha, 2013). The difficult operational conditions created by the factors mentioned above resulted in a decrease in the number of registered commercial dairy farmers from 559 in 1987 to 165 in 2012 (SNV, 2012). Over the same period, 1987-2012, the dairy herd decreased from 113,006 to 27,400 resulting in the underperformance of the value chain, as evidenced by a reduction in milk yield from 262 million liters in 1990 to <37 million liters in 2009 (Dairy Services, 2020).Although recent public and private sector interventions contributed to a steady but slow increase in annual national milk outputs, which stood at 80 million liters in 2019 (Dairy Services, 2020), these are below the national capacity for milk consumption which is 130 million and the capacity for the processing which is 400 million liters per annum (Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, 2016). Since national milk demand stands at 130 million liters (Dairy Services, 2020), milk deficits are covered by importing milk and dairy products (TrendEconomy, 2020). Meeting this demand through local production instead of imports presents an opportunity to improve the welfare of producers and support sectors through increased income and employment generated along the value chain. This perspective article is aimed at exploring practical options for reducing Zimbabwe's milk deficit by improving the performance of smallholder (<200 liters per farm per day) and medium-scale (200-500 liters perfarm per day) dairy farmers. To achieve this objective, in early 2021, we reviewed existing literature (e.g., scientific articles, databases, gray literature) and sought inputs from key stakeholders and experts with knowledge on the dairy value chain in Zimbabwe (most of them involved as co-authors). With these inputs, we provide our perspective on (i) how milk production is organized in Zimbabwe, (ii) where and how milk is being processed and marketed, (iii) who the key stakeholders along the dairy value chain are, (iv) what the environmental impacts of dairy production are, and (v) the barriers and constraints for improving the performance of the dairy value chain. Based on this, we then provide a discussion where we suggest key interventions that could help improve the dairy value chain performance and improve the livelihoods of various value chain actors.Zimbabwe is divided into five agro-ecological regions (AER) based on the amount of received rainfall. Large-scale commercial dairy production is mainly conducted in AER I (>1,000 mm, 1,100-2,600 masl), AER IIA and IIB (750-1,000 mm, 1,100-1,800 masl), AER III (650-800 mm, 1,100-1,200 m) [Marongwe et al., 1998;FAO, 2006a;Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), 2013]. Mean annual temperatures in areas supporting large-scale dairy production range between 15-18 • C, 16-19 • C and 18-22 • C in AER I, II and III, respectively (Mugandani et al., 2012). Smallholder dairy farmers are located in all AER, including the dry regions (<650 mm annual rainfall), AER IV (600-1,200 masl) and AER V (300-900 masl). A visual representation of the spatial distribution of the AERs is given by Kashagura (2014).Smallholder farmers, with an average of three cows per farmer, generally practice dairying for household consumption and sales of excess production to informal markets (Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012). While milk production levels vary between different farms, low milk yields (<200 liters per farm per day) in the smallholder sector contribute to their small share of the national milk pool (∼2-3%) (Hanyani-Mlambo, 2000;Munangi, 2007). Therefore, while smallholder production is essential for food security, low milk yields partly due to reliance on low-yielding local breeds and cross-breeds (4-6 L per cow per day) result in their contribution to the national milk pool being largely invisible (Chinogaramombe et al., 2008;SNV, 2012). The contribution of medium-scale farmers (200-500 L per farm per day) to the national milk pool is variable as some of these farmers have a large number of animals with low milk productivity. This variability in production levels was one of the reasons that led to dairy farmers now being classified based on total milk yields per day rather than cattle numbers. Currently, natural grasslands and crop residues are the primary feed resources used by smallholder and medium-scale dairy producers (Gwiriri et al., 2016). Consequently, the low milk yields experienced in the smallholder and some medium-scale farms are partially due to low yielding cattle breeds, seasonality in the availability of quality and adequate feed resources (Ngongoni et al., 2006).Large-scale commercial dairy producers (>500 L per farm per day) that contribute to >95% of the national milk pool are primarily located in AERs receiving relatively high (>650 mm) rainfall and relatively high (>1100 masl) altitude. The large dairy producers mainly use pure exotic cattle breeds (e.g., Holstein-Friesian breeds, Red Dane, Jersey, Guernsey), with a productivity range of 14-25 liters per cow per day (Mandiwanza, 2007;Matekenya, 2016). Besides high yielding cattle breeds, the high productivity of cattle in the large-scale producers is partially due to access to extensive grazing areas and financial resources to buy supplementary stock feeds during dry periods (Matekenya, 2016).Viable markets are crucial for incentivizing the increased competitiveness of any commercial enterprise. A major challenge that needs to be tackled in the dairy sector is that smallholder and medium-scale farmers (<500 L per day) are underperforming, thus not significantly contributing to the national milk pool. There are milk collection centers (MCCs) strategically located in the milk-producing regions for easy access to dairy farmers. Farmers deliver their milk to these centers, where it is tested for quality before being added into bulk milk tanks. In 2020, 17 operational farmer-owned MCCs were reported to have received milk from 386 farmers [Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust (ZDIT), 2021]. Several MCCs (e.g., Nharira and Honde Valley) have ventured into small-scale value addition producing products such as yogurts and cheese and increased their profitability (Kandjou, 2012). Otherwise, medium and large-scale (e.g., Dairibord) processors collect bulk milk from the milk collection centers and transport it to their processing factories. Smallholder farmers' contribution to the national milk pool was about 1.1 million liters (2% of national production) in 2012. In the same year (2012), only six smallholder producer associations were reported to have produced sufficient quantities of milk to deliver to a major milk processor (Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012). In 2019, a study conducted across 60 districts in the country's ten provinces reported monthly milk production levels of 1,703,666 liters per month and 5,020,034 liters per month in the large-scale commercial sector (Transforming Zimbabwe's Dairy Value Chain for the Future Action (TranZ DVC), 2019).Milk processing is dominated by five out of the eight registered large-scale dairy processors (see Table 1) that are processing 85% of the milk [Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust (ZDIT), 2021]. On the other hand, 27 registered small-scale and 12 medium-scale processors correspondingly process 8% and 2% of the milk [Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust (ZDIT), 2021]. Dairibord Holdings (2019), a major dairy processor in Zimbabwe, reported that about 3.4 million liters of the raw milk processed in 2019 were collected from smallholders. The increase in quantities of smallholder milk annually sold on the formal market (i.e., 1.1 million liters in 2012 to 3.4 million liters in 2019) signify progress in overall milk production (SNV, 2012). However, relative to their current annual production levels (∼20 million liters), the amount of milk entering formal markets from smallholder and medium-scale dairy producers is still low.Cattle production heavily relies on natural resources and has a substantial environmental footprint due to methane and nitrous oxide emissions from enteric fermentation and manure; ammonia loss during manure handling and storage; deforestation and biodiversity loss when clearing land for grazing; and degradation linked in review to poor pasture management, overgrazing and soil erosion (FAO, 2006b;Gerber et al., 2013). Studies on the environmental impacts of dairy production systems in Zimbabwe are limited. For example, we only found one study on greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Zimbabwe. A drawback of the study was that Tier 1 (default) IPCC emission factors were used to quantify GHG emissions. These default emission factors are mainly determined using studies almost exclusively conducted in Western countries (Goopy et al., 2018), which have enormous uncertainties for African livestock systems. In the study by Svinurai et al. (2018), which covered 35 years, 58-75% of total annual emissions from livestock were estimated from the smallholder sector. The smallholder sectors' low productivity is associated with high GHG emissions per unit of milk. A study conducted in Kenya, under similar low intake dairy production systems, shows that increased feed intake increases milk production and the total GHG emissions from enteric fermentation (Ndung'u et al., 2018).If herd sizes grow to meet the demand and reduce the milk deficit, the total GHG emissions and water use are also likely to increase. To counteract this, herd growth needs to co-occur with productivity increases to reduce GHG emissions and water use (e.g., Douxchamps et al., 2021;Hawkins et al., 2021) per liter of milk. Increased productivity has to go hand-in-hand with increased land and water productivity (more animal nutrition per area of land and liter of water) and feed efficiency (more animal product per unit of feed), to avoid clearing of more land to produce feed, and enhance milk production per unit animal, water and land, respectively. A range of resource-useefficient and climate-smart practices (e.g., forage production and conservation, water management, manure management) exist, but adoption is low due to various financial, communication and socio-economic factors (CIAT and World Bank, 2017).Addressing productivity challenges should coincide with tackling the environmental impacts of the dairy sector. Land degradation, water scarcity and climate change should be addressed through pursuing management practices with environmental co-benefits. Generally, most technologies and practices that reduce GHG emissions have economic benefits as they often increase productivity (Gerber et al., 2013). In addition, Svinurai et al. (2018) showed that current livestock populations, production and emissions trends suggest that even if Zimbabwe's national livestock herd doubled in 2030, relative to 2014, methane emission intensities (per capita) would be similar to those observed in 1980. Therefore, there is potential to increase productivity and reduce the milk deficit without significantly increasing GHG emissions.Several previous studies have mapped the key public, private and civil society actors along the dairy value chain (Marecha, 2009;Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012;Matekenya, 2016). Based on this already existing information, a summary of the roles different value chain actors play is presented in Table 1.It is unambiguous that the Zimbabwean dairy value chain is far from optimal performance resulting from multiple factors affecting local milk production. At the farm level, low milk yields and calving rates, late age at first calving and long calving intervals prevail and are directly related to nutritional aspects, the use of inappropriate breeds, poor farm management, limited disease control and poor extension (Smith et al., 2002;Ngongoni et al., 2006;Munangi, 2007). The already limited availability of suitable farmland and water are declining due to climate change and climate variations (Brown et al., 2012). Changing rainfall patterns, heat waves or droughts (e.g., 2015-2017) lead to poor pasture conditions, feed and forage seasonality, yield decreases and price increases (resulting in difficulties for animal breeding; Masama, 2013), and high susceptibility to pests and diseases-all having immediate adverse effects on milk yields and production costs. At the macro and value chain level, extreme climatic conditions are causing damages to infrastructure (i.e., water and energy supply), resulting in higher costs for milk cooling, disruptions in the transport of perishable goods such as milk (Chari and Ngcamu, 2017a), increased processing and transport costs, consumer prices, vulnerability and food insecurity (Chari and Ngcamu, 2019). In our view, the dairy sector requires strategic investments along the value chain to achieve its full potential, e.g., in cooling facilities, milking machines or road and transportation infrastructure. Zimbabwe, however, has high burdens (bureaucracy, complex procedures) for accessing financing (Hahlani and Garwi, 2014). In addition, credit providers are reluctant to lend money to farmers who do not possess collateral (Chari and Ngcamu, 2019); their credit rates are high (up to 14%; Commercial Farmers Union, 2014) and more oriented toward short-term investments. Long-term investment projects, such as establishing improved forages or purchasing milking machines, cannot be readily financed under these conditions (Chari and Ngcamu, 2017b), discouraging farmers from technology adoption.Furthermore, productive inputs are expensive in Zimbabwe, affecting the dairy value chain. For example, both the purchase of heifers and on-farm breeding are costly (Hahlani and Garwi, 2014), forage seeds are often unavailable, high labor costs reduce returns along the value chain, and electricity is expensive and frequently disrupted, boosting the use of less efficient and more expensive energy sources for production and processing (SNV, 2012). Regarding policy-based constraints, Zimbabwe was facing a phase of instability from 1998 to 2000, followed by a fast track land reform program that affected the dairy sector. Large dairy farmers lost their farms, and land titles for the resettled farmers are still unclear (Marecha, 2013), and this, combined with unresolved land disputes between farmers, leads to low longterm investments in farm improvement plans (Marecha, 2013;Chari and Ngcamu, 2017a). Compared to other countries (e.g., South Africa, Kenya), raw milk prices are substantially higher in Zimbabwe (Kawambwa et al., 2014), probably due to the described production constraints and inefficiencies (Gadzikwa, 2013). The lack of infrastructure, technologies and adequate management affect milk quantity and quality, the latter being a major bottleneck for milk processing (Chari and Ngcamu, 2019). The situation is further aggravated by limited technical assistance schemes provided to dairy farmers (Smith et al., 2002). Gender inequality is a significant constraint in the development of the dairy value chain. Men, women and youth play essential roles in the livestock sector, but the level of participation differs significantly. Although the situation is gradually changing, men continue dominating livestock production, mainly for cultural reasons, overshadowing women's ownership of livestock, decision-making and control (Chawatama et al., 2005;Daniels, 2008;Mupawaenda et al., 2009). Gender roles are based on dynamic cultural beliefs for which the pace of change is determined by increased awareness and incentives. Thus, targeted social awareness campaigns, combined with appropriate policies and incentive mechanisms, can harness the perspectives and capacities of men, women, and youth to improve value chain performance and gender equity.In Table 2, we present a range of interventions to improve the performance of the dairy value chain in Zimbabwe. Briefly, the interventions are disaggregated based on value chain links. While needed interventions are primarily known, the challenge is on ensuring that the needed actions for their actual implementation are taken. Taking the needed actions is not an easy task as smallholder dairy farmers, who include many underperforming farmers, are mainly resource-constrained and, at times, located in remote areas with limited supporting infrastructure. Postland reform, the government of Zimbabwe has targeted the • Availability and access to affordable improved forage seeds (including vegetative propagation) to increase the supply of forage/forage quality • Support local feed and forage seed production and seed distribution• Where necessary, support local businesses that import seeds of improved grasses and feedstock that cannot be produced locally due to physiological constraints• Accelerate the speed of input importation and the registration of new varieties• Feed conservation and associated business models • Improved mechanization of dairy systems for improving efficiency in feed production, feed processing, cattle management, milking and milk processing.• Adoption of cattle breeds with high milk production potential (which need to go hand in hand with):• Good on-farm feed and animal management practices • Improve farmer access to information (e.g. price information systems; information fora, multi-actor platforms)• Support more collective actions, e.g., cooperatives, bulking of milk and guaranteed prices• Product differentiation and niche markets (e.g., denominated origin, quality attributes, environmental attributes, fair trade, animal welfare)• Consumer awareness campaigns on milk and milk products• Increase consumer promotional material Programme (ZAGP) to address weaknesses and gaps in livestock value chains. This programme aims to increase investments, propose institutional reforms and policy alignment to support the dairy sector [Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP), 2019]. However, over-reliance on external funding to revive the dairy sector may not be a sustainable solution; shifting to more local and continuous investments may be a more prudent approach (Washaya and Chifamba, 2018). The Zimbabwean diaspora, estimated at four million [International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2015], presents a vast potential source of capital investment in the dairy sector (Madziva et al., 2018). However, the government may need to highlight challenges and investment opportunities along the dairy value chain, create proper incentives, and develop regulatory mechanisms to protect investments. In addition, by creating spaces for national discussions, including the diaspora, the country could also tap into their experiences and expertise to innovate along the dairy value chain.It would be strategic for the public and private sector to increase research investments tailored to generate knowledge on technologies and practices that result in efficiency gains along the dairy value chain. For instance, due to high costs for feed, limited access to affordable finance and insecure land holdings, most farms have dairy animal herds below their potential [Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust (ZDIT), 2021]. Therefore, besides focusing on efficiency gains along the dairy value chain, investments need to increase the dairy herd in smallholder and mediumscale farms. For example, smallholder farmers with an average of 3 cows per farm (Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012), with each cow producing 5 liters per day (Chinogaramombe et al., 2008). Even if the average milk productivity per cow were to match the higher end of cows on large-scale farms (25 liters per day; Matekenya, 2016), their production levels would remain small-scale (<200 liters per farm per day). Therefore, to transition from a small to a medium-scale or a large-scale dairy producer, the initial focus should be on increasing dairy herd sizes per farm.After increasing the dairy herd per farm, the next step would be to find creative, feasible and context based-solutions to overcome the low and seasonal supply of high-quality animal feed. Improved feed availability could be done by introducing and promoting improved forages tolerant to abiotic (excess and scarcity of water) and biotic (pest and diseases) stresses as the basis of feeding. Although the planting of improved forages is considered to be scale-neutral, meaning that the technology can be used by smallholders as well as medium-to largescale producers, the private forage seed suppliers estimate that mostly smallholder to medium-scale livestock producers adopt them to sustainably intensify their production systems (Labarta et al., 2017;Fuglie et al., 2021). Forages compete less with human nutrition, e.g., grain crops, and have the co-benefit of maintaining soil fertility, enhancing carbon accumulation and improving GHG balances and Water-Use-Efficiency. However, this would require functional seed systems, ensuring seed availability, accessibility, and affordability (Peters et al., 2021).With appropriate training and the proper incentive mechanisms, the estimated 8% of youth unemployed (World Bank, 2021) can be engaged to co-explore solutions to improve on-farm productivity. For instance, in the case of improving feed supply, a practical solution could be for the youth to receive support for establishing local seed supply systems (i.e., for forage legumes). The local seed supply systems could improve dairy farmers access to affordable, high-quality seed to sow on their private or communally owned pasturelands. This forage-based basal diet can be complemented by strategic supplementation with several crops grown in the rural areas (i.e., maize, groundnut, sunflower, pearl millet, sorghum and cowpea). Dependence on local crops presents farmers with an opportunity for cost-effective feed-level interventions that can improve market competitiveness and productivity of their systems (Murungweni et al., 2004;Ngongoni et al., 2006;Gusha et al., 2013;Mashanda, 2014;Gwiriri et al., 2016;Chifamba et al., 2018). To overcome periods of feed scarcity, high-quality forages and feed crops could also be conserved as hay or silage and become the basis of densified feeds; densification may allow an easier transfer from one region to another (Dey et al., 2021, unpublished).Youth could establish feed processing businesses based on high-quality feed mixes based on local grains to provide dairy farmers with local high-value supplements or concentrates (Chifamba et al., 2018). We expect local sourcing to reduce feed costs and increase the profitability of dairy operations. In addition, youth can be trained as para-extension agents that can support artificial insemination programmes to improve the local breeds and veterinary services to support animal health (Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012). The engagement of youth (as local entrepreneurs) to supply improved seeds, deliver animal health services and improve cattle breeds will contribute to employment creation and the intake of quality feed by healthy and high yielding cattle breeds and ultimately improve milk supply and quality from smallholder and medium-scale dairy producers. Youth participation in the local economy may also prevent their migration to crowded urban areas. Mhlanga et al. (2018) projected that without a global reduction in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and the resultant high air temperatures would reduce feed availability and the area suitable for dairy farming and have devastating impacts on the local dairy industry. To maintain milk yield stability even during dry periods, dairy farmers may need to consider drought-tolerant forage crops that better use available moisture. One example of this is Cactus pear (Opuntia spp.), which efficiently converts water into dry matter (Galizzi et al., 2004). Opuntia species are known for developing physiological, phenological and structural adaptations (Guevara et al., 2011), making them productive in these drier environments (Nobel and Zutta, 2008). On average, the biomass production from cactus per unit of water is about three times as high as with C4 plants and five times as high as with C3 plants (Snyman, 2013), making Opuntia cladodes a valuable option for successfully balancing parts of the cattle diet (Einkamerer et al., 2009;de Waal et al., 2013). From a well-managed cactus pear plantation of 800 to 1000 plants/ha, around 10 t/ha cladode dry matter and 20 t/ha fruit biomass can be obtained, but values vary with genotype (Fouché and Coetzer, 2013). To improve the adoption of Opuntia, investments are needed in research and awareness-raising on its use and potential benefits. In addition, investments in technical support for establishing fodder banks with Opuntia, could stimulate its adoption as a feed option during dry and drought periods (Makumbe, 2010).The smartphone penetration rate is 52 per 100 inhabitants (∼7.7 million users) (Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, 2020). However, considering that several inhabitants may have more than one smartphone, while the exact number of smartphone users is uncertain, it is probably lower than 52%. On the other hand, mobile subscriptions are very high (90 per 100 inhabitants; ∼ 13 million subscribers) (ITU, 2021). To support the complete transition toward digital agriculture, government and private sector actors need to innovate and improve smartphone affordability and reduce the cost of mobile data. These actions may incentivize the adoption of digital tools that will have cascading benefits across the dairy value chain. For instance, tools like smartphone applications and online platforms can help connect dairy value chain stakeholders and improve farmer participation, actor coordination, and information flow across the value chain. Other benefits include reducing the length of the value chain (by avoiding unnecessary intermediaries and associated costs), improving milk traceability and monitoring milk quality, using digital records to for credit, supporting decision-making, and optimizing farm operations (Born et al., 2020).Several previous studies and reports have presented what needs to be done by the different actors to create a sustainable and inclusive dairy value chain, yet progress remains limited. While there are certainly no silver bullets, actions that support improved performance at different value chain stages are needed. Moreover, increased productivity in the dairy sector could return Zimbabwe to being a net exporter of dairy products and contribute toward meeting the ambitious national goal of transforming the nation into a middle-income country within a decade (by 2030). In our opinion, to sustainably solve challenges along the dairy value chain, more attention should be placed on the underperforming smallholder and medium-scale dairy farmers and supporting value-chain interventions that creatively balance investments, livelihoods, and profits within the local context.Livestock productivity has remained low in sub-Saharan African countries compared to other places on the globe. The feeding component is the major limitation, in both quantity and quality. Among other inputs, feeding takes 55-70% of the costs involved. Livestock play a major role especially in smallholder mixed farms through provision of household nutrition and income through milk and meat. Equally, fertilization of cropland benefits from livestock manure, and livestock often act as insurance and savings by providing liquidity for unforeseen and urgent financial needs. Increasing livestock productivity would enhance the fore-mentioned benefits contributing to well-being and livelihoods. Toward this endeavor and with smallholder dairy farmers' participation, we undertook an evaluation of 10 selected forages from Urochloa Syn. Brachiaria and Megathyrsus syn. Panicum genus and compared them with Napier grass, i.e., Cenchrus purpureus Syn. Pennisetum purpureum commonly grown by farmers. For detailed and robust evaluation, we established the species in eight trial sites spread in four administrative counties in Western Kenya (Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, and Siaya). In each site, the forages were established in plots in a randomized complete block design, replicated three times. Each site was linked to a group of farmers interested in dairy. For 2 years, dry matter production, plant height, and leaf-to-stem ratio was determined across all sites. Further, we guided farmers to generate participatory forage evaluation criteria, which they later administered across their respective forage demonstration sites individually on plot-by-plot basis to generate preference rating compared to what they normally grow-Napier grass. The results showed significant differences across the forage types within and between the sites. Cumulative dry matter yields ranged 13.7-49.9 t/ha over 10 harvestings across forage types and the counties, while values for crude protein were 1.85-6.23 t/ha and 110,222-375,988 MJ/ha for metabolizable energy. Farmer preferences emerged that highlighted forages with likely better chances of adoption with weighed scores ranging 5.5-7.6 against a scale of 1-9, across the counties. The observations provide additional and well-performing forage options for the farmers and possibly in similar production systems and ecologies. Awareness creation targeting livestock and dairy producers would be key, reaching, and informing them on alternative forage options, with potential to increase livestock productivity.Tenacious low livestock productivity in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is by and large due to inadequate feeding (Alejandro et al., 2007). Feeds and forages account for up to 70% of costs in livestock production (Odero-Waitituh, 2017). Hitherto, meat and milk demands in SSA are growing at 3.4 and 2.9% annually, respectively (Latino et al., 2020). As such, the estimated consumers' demand of 35 and 83 billion tons for meat and milk, respectively, by 2050 (World Bank, 2014) will remain a challenge unless livestock feeding is addressed. Land as a production resource is limited especially in intensifying smallholder systems, and it is no longer possible to allocate land for free grazing. However, cultivated forage presents a realistic avenue to meet ruminant roughage requirements under such circumstances. Albeit extensive forage catalogs exist, efforts toward forage improvement through selection and/or breeding are limited compared to food crops globally. In SSA this has resulted in use of non-nutritious crop residues (FAO, 2018) and limited forage options developed decades ago. Use of low nutritious roughages in turn results in undesirable high emission of methane gas per unit of product, associated with global warming (Makkar, 2016).Therefore, there is need to identify and deploy improved forage technologies in SSA to bolster livestock productivity. Use of grasses from genus Brachiaria (now Urochloa) and Panicum (now Megathyrsus) present realistic options toward quality and quantitative roughage production. For example, use of Urochloa hybrids has been successful in Latin America, supporting improved livestock productivity, especially beef (Rivas and Holmann, 2005). With temporal and spatial variations to environments, matching forage genotypes to biophysical environment and agricultural context remains unsatisfactory in SSA. We therefore set out to evaluate the performance of selected grass lines from Urochloa and Megathyrsus under farmers' context in western Kenya. Involving farmers who are the end users is desirable as participation brings to the fore farmers' perspective on attributes/characteristics they use on choice of forages to grow and therefore guide on forage breeding and selection in order to meet desired traits. The importance of participatory approaches have been underscored (Abeyasekere, 2001), and for example, Mwendia et al. (2017a) used the same to evaluate oat varieties for forage production in central Kenya. Largely, western Kenya is moving toward intensified livestock production owing to high and growing human population coupled with land subdivision over generations reducing areas of free grazing (Waithaka et al., 2002). As such, there is limited grazing on natural pasture and there is a buildup on cattle in confinement under cut-and-carry systems. The genotypes Urochloa and Megathyrsus trace their origin in tropical Africa and only improved through selection and/or breeding (Cook et al., 2020). Therefore, the forages stand a good chance in fitting under cut-and-carry intensified systems. We hypothesized variable performance of these grasses under different locations and varying farmers' preference, results that would have potential to influence wider scaling of these grasses in western Kenya and beyond.Four counties in western Kenya were selected based on their high bio-physical potential for dairy and commercialization, namely, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, and Siaya (Figure 1). Despite the areas being in mid-altitude 900-1,800 m, they differ agroecologically (Jaetzold et al., 2006). In addition, soils we analyzed from the specific trial sites showed significant differences in key soil attributes (Table 1). With a soil auger, we collected soil samples at 0-50 cm depth, and 3 samples along a replicate, hence 9 samples per site, and 72 samples from the 8 sites. In partnership with Send a Cow Kenya (SACK), a development partner, in these sites we linked up with farmer groups that have been engaged in SACK initiatives on improving human nutrition and incomes and selected two farmer groups with a keen interest in dairy per county, resulting in eight trial sites (Figure 1). Soil sample analysis was done at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, focusing on pH, total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus and contents of clay, sand, and silt.At the start of the project, we sensitized the selected farmer groups on dairy improvement and the importance of animal feeding. Consequently, we offered them to try out several forage options with potential to grow well in the region. In the end, the groups offered land where we established demonstration trials. While the project provided forage seeds and technical advice, farmers agreed to provide labor for land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, and monitoring the performance of the grasses. We selected 10 forage grasses covering 3 hybrids and 4 cultivars from genera Urochloa. The hybrids include Cayman, Cobra, and Mulato II and the cultivars Basilisk, Piata, Xaraes, and MG4. Xaraes and MG4 are also known as Toledo and La Libertad, respectively. For Megathyrsus genera, we included cultivars Mombasa, Tanzania, and Massai. Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus Syn. Pennisetum purpureum) from the farmers' farms was included as a control. The trial design was a randomized complete block design with three replicates per site and in eight sites. Farmers manually prepared the land by digging with hoes to about 0.2 m depth. To get sufficiently fine seedbed, farmers broke down big soil clods to the required soil tilth. Using wooden pegs, we marked out 15 m 2 plots (3 × 5 m) with 33 of them per site, to allow 3 replicates of the 11 grasses selected. Therefore, in the 4 counties we had 8 sites and 264 plots in total. Because of acidic soils in western Kenya (Kanyanjua et al., 2002), we applied lime at 2 t/ha prior to planting. At planting in May 2018, we randomly allocated the grasses to the prepared plots. We used the recommended seed rate for each genus, i.e., 6 kg/ha for Urochloa (Njarui et al., 2016) and 3 kg/ha for Megathyrsus, while for Napier grass we used splits spacing at 1 × 1 m grids (Mwendia et al., 2017a,b). We applied NPK inorganic MEA fertilizer R (NPK fertilizer 23:23:0) at the rate of 50 kg N/ha. Because of small seed size in Urochloa and Megathyrsus, shallow hills of about 0.02 m depth, 0.3 m  between hills in a row, and 0.45 m row-to-row for Urochloa were used, and shallow furrows of about 0.02 m depth spaced at 0.3 m row to row for Megathyrsus. After planting, farmers manually maintained plots weed-free as necessary. The grasses took 3 months to establish, and standardization cut was done in September 2018.In each of the counties we selected one group (Nasietike, Joy, Mowar Jorit Kiye, Isongo B) to undertake participatory evaluation at the demonstration sites. The evaluations took place when the forages had established well and just before the third harvesting (described below). We guided each of the four farmer groups in developing criteria that describe the attributes they prefer in a forage grass. On a scale of 1-9, the farmers as a group scored each criterion where 1 = least important and 9 = most important (Mwendia et al., 2017a). Subsequently, each farmer was provided with a printed sheet containing 33 plots numbered serially in a column and the criteria developed by the group earlier along the topmost row. At the demonstration site, each farmer scored each plot across all the criteria, until all the plots were complete. We collected all data sheets for later weighted score analysis (Abeyasekere, 2001).For dry matter yields the first harvest after standardization was January 2019. We allowed growth cycles of about 8 weeks (Njarui et al., 2016) after which the grasses were harvested at a stubble height of about 5-10 cm. Before cutting, we randomly selected and measured plant height of five tillers in each plot from the soil level to the tip of the topmost standing height. Fresh yield weight was measured with a digital weighing balance (KERN CH 50K50 with 10 g precision) and recorded on plotby-plot basis each measuring 15 m 2 . A sample of about 450 g per plot was randomly selected after mixing thoroughly the whole harvested biomass from each plot, for dry matter content determination. The sample as weighed and put inside a sample bag labeled and taken to the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) sample processing room in Kisumu, western Kenya. Samples were manually separated into leaves and stems, labeled, and dried in an oven at 65 • C for 48 h to determine dry matter content and leaf: stem ratio. Corresponding leaf and stem samples were combined back for further nutrition analysis (described below). The process was repeated for 10 consecutive cuttings, running in 2019 and 2020 except for nutritional analysis done only for the third harvest that had undergone rain season.Dried samples were ground to pass through 1 mm sieve, packed in plastic zip-lock bags and sent for near-infraredsystem (NIRs) analysis at Crop Nutrition Laboratory Services Ltd, Limuru, Kenya (https://cropnuts.com/service/animal-feedanalysis/). Analysis targeted metabolizable energy (ME), crude protein (CP), and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD).All data were managed in Microsoft Excel, and statistical analysis was carried out in GenStat 18th edition. We carried out repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) where fixed variables included harvest number/time, site/location, and test forage grasses, while response variables included plant height, dry matter yields, leaf:stem ratio, ME, CP, and digestible organic matter, with the means separated by least significance difference (lsd). For the participatory evaluation we pooled individual scores by farmers and multiplied with the criteria scoring by the group, to generate weighted scores (Abeyasekere, 2001;Mwendia et al., 2017a) and subsequent ranking of the forages on countyby-county basis.Significant differences were found in all traits for both county and forage grass type (Table 2). Where interactions were observed, we focused on their means for results and discussion.The soils were significantly acidic in Siaya (p < 0.05) than Bungoma and Kakamega (Table 1). Busia had greater carbon and nitrogen content than the other counties but had the least phosphorus content, only similar to Siaya. By the proportions (%) of clay, sand, and silt, soil types in the sites were found to be as follows: sandy-clay-loam, clay, sandy-clay-loam, and sandyclay for Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, and Siaya, respectively. The mean dry matter per harvest showed significant differences across the harvests and interactions between sites and harvest, forage genotype and harvest, and sites and forage genotype (Table 3).The second and third harvests showed the least and greatest dry matter yields, respectively. In Bungoma and Busia sites, the second and fourth harvests presented the least and greatest dry matter yields, respectively, unlike in Kakamega and Siaya where the greatest biomass yield was in the third and seventh harvests, respectively. On forage genotype-harvest interaction, forage type producing the most dry matter yield varied across the harvestings. In the first harvest, Basilisk produced most, and Napier grass in second and third. From the fourth to the tenth harvests, Massai dry matter yield surpassed all the others except in the ninth harvest wherein Napier grass produced the most. On site-forage interaction, the most dry matter production was from Xaraes in Bungoma and Massai for Busia, Kakamega, and Siaya. Cumulative dry matter yields over 10 cuttings showed interaction between the county and the grasses. Generally, across the counties the order of dry matter yield was Bungoma > Kakamega > Busia > Siaya (Figure 2). In Joy group site in Bungoma, Napier grass produced more biomass than Mulato II, MGA, and Basilisk but similar to the other grasses. This was different for Nateo group in the same county, where Napier grass only produced more than Mulato II but significantly less than Cayman, MG4, Xaraes, Piata, Tanzania, Mombasa, and Massai. In this site, Xaraes accumulated the most biomass significantly greater than all the grasses, except similar to Massai cultivar. In Busia County and at Nasietike group site, Napier grass produced the least biomass against all the other grasses. Megathyrsus cv Massai produced the most, significantly greater than all grasses, except similar to Basilisk and Mombasa. In Busia the second site, Nasira group, maintained the yield pattern for the grasses. Although Napier grass accumulated the least, it was similar to all the other grasses except for the three Megathyrsus species, Cayman, and Basilisk that produced significantly greater biomass. In Kakamega County and at Isongo A group site, Basilisk accumulated greater biomass than all grasses except for Megathyrsus cv Massai which had similar biomass. Among Urochloa hybrids, only Cayman had similar biomass to Napier grass. At Kakamega second site, Isongo B, Napier grass produced similar biomass to Mombasa and Massai, and the rest had  significantly lower biomass (Figure 2). In this site, Megathyrsus cv Massai accumulated most dry matter significantly. In Siaya County and at Mowar Jorit Kiye farmer group site, Megathyrsus cv Massai accumulated the greatest biomass only similar to Napier grass but significantly greater than all the other grasses.The three Urochloa hybrids accumulated significantly low biomass than all the Urochloa cultivars, Megathyrsus cultivars, and Napier grass. In the second site of this county, Megathyrsus cv Mombasa accumulated greater biomass than all the other grasses, while the three Urochloa hybrids accumulated the least (Figure 2).Plant Height, Leaf-Stem Ratio, Crude Protein, and Metabolizable EnergyPlant height significantly varied across counties and forage grasses (Table 4). Napier grass and Mulato II consistently had tall and short plants, respectively. However, the order was Napier grassLeaf:stem ratio varied within and between counties. Across the counties, only Mulato II hybrid, Xaraes cultivar, and the three Megathyrsus attained leaf:stem ratio of 2. In Bungoma and Busia Counties, Mulato II attained the highest, Megathyrsus cv Mombasa in Kakamega, and Megathyrsus cv Massai in Siaya. The least leaf:stem ratio was by Napier grass in Bungoma and Basilisk in the other three counties. CP yield (t/ha) varied across the grasses and within and between counties (Table 4). In Bungoma most of the grasses produced statistically similar CP yield including Piata, Massai, Mombasa, Tanzania, Xaraes, Basilisk, MG4, Cobra, and Cayman. Mulato II and Napier grass accumulated statistically low CP yield compared to Piata. In Busia County, there was a change in the order. Napier grass produced the most that was statistically similar to those of Cayman, Cobra, Basilisk, Tanzania, Mombasa, and Massai. Only Mulato II, MG4, Xaraes, and Piata have statistically low CP yield compared to Napier grass. In Kakamega, cultivar Piata accumulated the most CP yield statistically greater than all the other grasses except for Napier grass and Megathyrsus cv Massai. In Siaya, Megathyrsus cv Massai yielded the most CP that was statistically greater than for all the other grasses (Table 4).Cumulative ME yield (MJ/ha) varied cross the counties and among grasses (Table 4). In Bungoma, Xaraes accumulated the most that was statistically greater than all the grasses except for Piata and Massai. In Busia County, Megathyrsus cv Mombasa accumulated the most that was statistically greater than those of Piata, MG4, Mulato II, and Napier grass but similar to the other grasses. In Kakamega County, Basilisk accumulated statistically greater ME than all the grasses except Megathyrsus cv Massai. Hybrid Cobra produced the least in the county compared to other grasses. In Siaya County, Megathyrsus cv Massai accumulated statistically greater ME than all the grasses except Napier grass, while Mulato II produced the least.On cumulative digestible matter in Bungoma County, Xaraes produced the most and statistically more than Napier grass and Mulato II (Table 4). Although Mulato II had the least, it was similar to that of Napier grass and Basilisk. In Busia County, the order was different. Megathyrsus cv Mombasa had the most digestible organic matter, statistically greater than those of Napier grass, Mulato II, MG4, Xaraes, and Piata. This was unlike in Kakamega County where Basilisk had the most and statistically greater than all the other grasses except for MG4 and Megathyrsus cv Massai. In Siaya County, Megathyrsus cv Massai accumulated the most and similar to Napier grass. The values for Mulato II were the lowest in this county and by 3.4 times compared to Megathyrsus cv Massai.To connect biophysical performance of the grasses with endusers, we undertook farmers' participatory evaluation. Farmers from the counties and linked to the trial site's groups developed criteria that were closely related as follows. Nasietike from Busia identified disease tolerance, fast germination, fast regrowth, high germination rate, leafiness, more milk, softness, upright growth, drought tolerance, high biomass, and palatable as key considerations. This was similar for the other groups except Bungoma Joy group, which did not identify upright growth while Siaya's Mowar Jorit Kiye and Kakamega's Isongo B groups identified greenness that was not identified by Nasietike or Joy. Pooled ratings across the groups and by grass type varied (Figure 3). According to Nasietike group the order of preference emerged as Cayman >Xareas > Cobra ≈ Mombasa > Tanzania > Piata Massai ≈ Mulato II > MG4 > Napier ≈ Basilisk. For Joy group the order started the same as Nasietike for the first two but followed by interchange of the subsequent grasses. The order was Cayman > Xaraes > MG4 ≈ Mombasa > Piata > Basilisk > Cobra > Massai ≈ Tanzania > Mulato II > Napier. In Siaya by Mowar Jorit Kiye group the order sorted differently as Isongo B further presented a different order as MG4 ≈ Mulato II ≈ Massai > Basilisk > Cayman ≈ Cobra ≈ Piata ≈ Tanzania > Napier > Mombasa > Tanzania (Figure 3).The overall objective of identifying performance of the different forages in different locations and engaging the end users was met. Indeed, in western Kenya with trial sites characterized by temporal and spatial differences, the sites equally showed variable performance (Tables 2-4) and farmers' ratings (Figure 3). The results present important information that would connect well with intensions of improving forage production in the region, to contribute to improved livestock productivity especially cattle under the smallholder mixed farming in the area. The importance of matching forage with biophysical environment and agricultural context is reported in previous research efforts (Tilman et al., 2011;Mwendia, 2015), and this work adds onto the basket of options toward this endeavor.Dry matter yields realized in the study show the grasses and performance in the different sites. Clearly, a grass doing well in one location did not necessarily do so in another location. This is governed by grass genotype-environment interaction with environmental attributes including soil type, and rainfall coming into play. Even within areas that are in close proximity, differences are likely to emerge because of transient conditions that may exist in one site and not the other. For example, while Napier grass at the Joy site in Bungoma accumulated significantly greater biomass than other grasses (Figure 2), this was remarkably reversed in Nateo site in the same county. The essence of placing the grass technologies in an agricultural context, therefore, serve to get the actual performance to inform recommendations, rather than providing generalized recommendations, but advise based on empirical evidence derived. As such, it would not be advisable to grow Urochloa hybrids in Siaya and other areas similar to the site, but the Megathyrsus or Urochloa cultivar stands a better chance. While Napier grass is the most grown fodder in the study counties (Khan et al., 2014), results here show that it does not produce well in Busia compared to the Urochloa and Megathyrsus varieties considered in this case study, indicating the latter two could successfully be used for livestock by producers in the area. However, in Joy and Mowar Jorit Kiye sites, Napier grass would be more advantageous especially on dry matter quantity than either Cobra, Mulato II, MG4, Basilisk, and all the other grasses except Massai for the two sites respectively. The suitability of the Megathyrsus and Urochloa grasses in the current study clearly emerged. Specifically, in Busia County, Cayman, Cobra, Massai, Tanzania, and Mombasa are better options than Napier grass, especially in Nasietike site. In Kakamega and similar ecologies to the study sites, Basilisk could be a grass of choice at Isongo A site and Megathyrsus cv Massai in Isongo B. Equally, Massai would also be a cultivar of choice at Mowar Jorit Kiye and Mombasa at Pionare site, both in Siaya County. Choice of cultivar could make a huge difference in bridging the forage quantity gap, which is often characteristic in intensified mixed smallholder systems in SSA (FAO, 2018). As observed in Busia, the cultivar Massai nearly doubled the biomass of Napier grass, which means providing roughage for nearly double the number of feeding days of Napier grass. Similarly, in Bungoma, Mulato II and Xaraes outperformed Napier grass (Figure 2). Any extra biomass production from the same unit of land is preferable, demonstrating improved resource-use efficiency, key especially in the face of global warming (Makkar, 2016). Extra feeding days for dairy producers translate into extra milk yield and a clear livelihood benefit.While all the forage grasses in this study follow the C 4 photosynthetic pathway, being tropical grasses, their differences in performance could most probably be explained by physiology and/or adaptations that were not measured in the current study. For example, the grasses doing well in the relatively dry areas are likely to have better stomatal control when faced with limited soil moisture, exhibit osmotic adjustment, or may be accumulating greater root biomass to aid in nutrient and water exploration (Mwendia et al., 2013). Having greater leaf area index could also be beneficial in intercepting more light for photosynthesis and hence growth. Equally, some of the grasses have better nutrient and water use efficiency. This is an area worth investigating further in a physiological study to unravel key drivers responsible for the differences observed.While plant height is positively correlated with biomass, and inversely with forage quality (Tessema et al., 2010), plant height also has implications especially where manual forage harvesting is practiced in smallholder farms (Mwendia et al., 2017a,b). For the 11 grasses evaluated, none exhibited prostrate growth habit, and all had upright tillers. Tall plants facilitate easier handling/grasping when cutting to the required stubble height. In this regard, Napier grass, the Megathyrsus and Urochloa cultivars, and the hybrids, in that order, would suit manual harvesting by farmers. However, there is a need to compromise and ensure forages are not allowed to overgrow as quality deteriorates. Although we did not report neutral detergent fiber, it is usually negatively correlated with organic matter digestibility (Roche et al., 2009); thus, the lower values for digestible organic matter (Table 4) suggest greater neutral detergent fiber.Mulato II with slightly less than a foot height would be relatively difficult for proper hand grip during harvest, which may make it less attractive in smallholder cut-and-carry systems. However, Mulato II's leafiness, an attribute important in ruminants, as they select for leaves as opposed to stems (Mwendia et al., 2017b), is preferable. Short forages could fit better in systems where cattle graze directly without trampling that could lead to forage wastage/losses. Forage improvement, e.g., breeding, should therefore take into consideration the traits that fit under a given agricultural context as explained, in smallholder cut-and-carry systems.Despite the low plant height for Mulato II, its great leaf:stem ratio compensates for its relatively low biomass yield, as most nutrients are in the leaves, and in effect the CP yield, ME, and digestible organic matter were similar to most of the grasses, e.g., in Kakamega and Bungoma. As such, Mulato II presents good quality also often a challenge in livestock production, and breeding for leafiness in forage would be preferable. While harvesting could pose a challenge to smallholder livestock producers dealing with Mulato II, its good quality should warrant investigating and devising cheap tools that could help in harvesting and make it friendly to grow.The ratings by farmers (Figure 3) largely relied on what they could discern phenotypically, and it is interesting to note that this assessment is fully in line with the quantified physical and laboratory assessment. For example, in the Nasietike group from Busia where they ranked Cayman, Xaraes, Cobra, and Mombasa highly, we see that the same varieties also did well on leaf:stem ratio, plant height, CP and ME yields, and digestible organic matter (Table 4). This underscores the importance of including farmers' preferable traits in forage selection and breeding, to end with products that adapt to not only ecological niche but agricultural content under consideration. Participatory evaluation would indicate high chances of adoption, while good biophysical characteristics ensures that this adoption also has a positive impact on livestock productivity.In situ evaluation of the forages revealed how the forages perform on biomass production, quality, and farmers' preferences. A mixed order of performance emerged from the study sites. While Napier grass is the prevalent forage grown across the study sites, evidence we show here reveals that there are alternative forage grasses that can be grown and provide great and quality roughages for ruminant production. In Siaya, which is relatively dry, the Megathyrsus, Napier grass, and Urochloa ecotypes are better suited. However, in Busia, Napier grass is least suitable with options of Urochloa hybrids (Cayman and Cobra) and the three Megathyrsus cultivars being better possibilities. All the grasses except Mulato II performed well in Bungoma, of which the farmers prefer Cayman, Xaraes, MG4, and Mombasa. In Kakamega, both the farmers' selection and agronomic performance indicate the virtuous grasses would be Megathyrsus cv Massai, Urochloa cultivars Basilisk and MG4, and Urochloa hybrid Mulato II. It is paramount that future forage selection and breeding take into consideration farmers' preferable traits in a given agricultural context. Following forage evaluation for 2 years and farmers' involvement, the inferences we believe provide a strong basis for practical implementation and promotion of the forages in the areas and by extension in other similar ecologies. The ultimate success occurs only when endusers make effective use of a technology-a link constantly interrupted. Agricultural innovation requires complex processes of interaction in which knowledge is shared amongst organizations involved in the Agricultural Innovation System (AIS), namely: suitable links, attitudes, practices, governance structures, and policies. The objective of this study is to identify limitations and opportunities in R&D, adoption, and diffusion of forage technologies in Colombia from an AIS perspective. Particularly, we present a study case pertaining to research institutions only, to (a) map the involved actors and describe their roles and links, and (b) identify the events that marked the evolution of the AIS and the course of forage R&D in its research-related components. We applied a qualitative methodology based on focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, literature review, and historical analysis. Results show that the complex nature of institutions and the interactions between them determine the historical transformation of diffusion of forage technologies. The lack of connection between institutions and the weak intensity of the relationships, prevent the convergence of interests and objectives, leading to vicious cycles that hamper technology adoption. Insufficient synchronization between institutions of different nature (and even between those that share similar objectives) results in efficiency losses due to an unnecessary repetition of activities and processes. We provide recommendations for policy-and decision-makers that will help in both a restructuration of the AIS and a better allocation of funds for R&D, and thus support the development of more effective pathways for forage adoption and scaling.It is no secret to anyone that the livestock industry is constantly growing and evolving. It is estimated that by 2027, the demand for livestock products will increase by 15.5% worldwide in response to population growth, urbanization and increased incomes in developing countries (OECD/FAO, 2020). It is also well-known that Latin America and the Caribbean at large hold an essential place and role in the livestock sector worldwide, as they contribute more than 25% of the production of beef and 10% of milk (CEPAL, 2017). This activity generates internal and external benefits, guaranteeing to a certain extent food security goals in countries, boosting their economies. This livestock trend in the region is not only historically traceable, but is projected into a promising future. According to the Inter-American Development Bank-BID ( 2018) and based on world population growth, it is projected that by 2050 meat consumption will increase by 100%, a scenario that would favor Latin American producers given its geographic location and access to human and natural resources. Hence, the supply response to this increase will be located mainly in developing countries (where forage-based systems predominate), according to the availability of resources and the possibilities of increasing productivity (OECD/FAO, 2020). Although historically larger livestock production numbers have been achieved in comparable periods (for example, it tripled between 1980 and 2002 according to Rajalahti et al., 2008), the context has now radically changed. There is a growing scarcity of natural resources (e.g., soil fertility, water and soil availability), as well as political pressure on the incorporation of better environmental practices. This constant political and social pressure seeks to promote actions aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of the livestock sector, being then the main challenge of tropical ranching to increase the efficiency of productive systems, mitigate the environmental impact, and advance in adaptative efforts in the advent of climate change. In addition to this, other impacts and improvements in the livestock industry and its actors become urgent, not only at the primary producer level (in terms of the promotion and implementation of sustainable intensification practices) (Rao et al., 2015), but also in the more equitable and environmentally sustainable value chain structuring processes, as they encourage the elaboration of differentiated products (Charry et al., 2019). Currently, a multiplicity of actors and sectors, political, economic, and academic, are promoting livestock agendas toward sustainability.In a context of urgent reinvention and growing demand, the livestock industry finds it decisive to implement agricultural innovations, such as improved forages. The deficiencies in the quality of the forages appear as a constant in the tropical territories where cattle activity takes place (Peters et al., 2012). Improving said quality, as well as the availability of food, has been established as one of the key strategies to increase productivity and reduce the environmental footprint (Gerber et al., 2013;Herrero et al., 2013). Thus, and as a result of the Research and Development processes in Latin America (R&D) (some of which we address in this article), 26 cultivars have been released in Colombia, including grasses and legumes that have shown to have better characteristics in terms of quality, forage supply, adaptation to different soil and climate conditions, and various environmental benefits (Peters et al., 2012;Rao et al., 2015;Enciso et al., 2019).However, and despite the fact that there is little evidence in this regard, low levels of adoption of these forage technologies have been observed (Shelton et al., 2005;White et al., 2013;Labarta et al., 2017). This shows, at least partially, that while research processes are a necessary condition, they are not sufficient to guarantee agricultural innovation. The success of R&D processes occurs when producers make effective use of technology, a link that still falters in the Colombian case. Globally, the impacts on adoption have been evaluated for less than half of the 118 million hectares (Mhas) documented to have improved forages (White et al., 2013). In the Colombian case, the national forage adoption rate is around 62% with respect to the total area in pastures in the lower tropics, being the varieties B. humidicola and B. decumbens (pastures introduced in the 70s) the most adopted (Labarta et al., 2017). Yet, many of these areas are in some state of degradation (IDEAM UDCA, 2015;Rincón et al., 2018). An adoption of <1% is estimated for the case of hybrids of the Brachiaria genus, as a result of the breeding work carried out by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia (Labarta et al., 2017).The analysis of forage technology adoption processes in Colombia indicate decisive elements in the understanding of the causal relationship between producers and their adoption behavior, but to date there are no explanatory studies that offer a macro perspective to understand the barriers in the access to technology and dissemination mechanisms (see Vera and Seré, 1989;Seré et al., 1993;Rivas and Holmann, 2004; and more recent approaches in White et al., 2013 andLabarta et al., 2017). Available literature has explained, to a certain extent, the factors that limit or promote the adoption of technologies from the perspective of the primary producer, delving into the socio-demographic characteristics of the unity, and the conditions of the enablers, such as access to credit and technical assistance (e.g., Lapar and Ehui, 2004;Jera and Ajayi, 2008;Dill et al., 2015). Some revised studies mainly describe adoption processes in regions of East Africa and Latin America, focusing on the identification of adoption factors mostly from a primary producer's perspective with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Although still privileging primary producer's perspectives, qualitative studies have done more to document and unveil the experiences and lessons learned related to the adoption of improved forages, taking analysis one step further (e.g., Reiber et al., 2013;Gil et al., 2015;Ashley et al., 2018). Although theoretically and methodologically vital, here we point out that these studies lack deeper perspectives that allow historical decision-making, and thus highlight the complex relationships between agents and institutions that participate in the adoption and diffusion of agricultural technologies. Although it is undeniable that the scientific and research sector plays a fundamental role in the creation of technologies that help to increase productivity, mitigate the effects of climate change, and improve the quality of life of small producers (especially when working in partnering with the public sector and non-governmental organizations), these investments turn out to be insufficient to enable agricultural innovation. This process requires the existence of broader competencies, links, enabling attitudes, practices, governance structures, and policies that facilitate the productive use of the knowledge generated (The World Bank, 2006). This comprises the set of all organizations and people (public and private) involved in the generation, dissemination, adoption, and social and economic use of new agricultural technologies (The World Bank, 2006;Hambly et al., 2012). The network formed in this process, and the conceptual lens of this study, is called the Agricultural Innovation System (AIS).The AIS approach recognizes that innovation is a dynamic and complex process of interaction between different activities, actors and relationships associated with the creation and transmission of innovation to its productive use (The World Bank, 2006). This approach recognizes the role of actors, markets, institutions, political contexts, and networks in the adoption of new technologies and, therefore, in the evolution of innovation in a system (Rajalahti et al., 2008). Different authors have used the AIS approach as a framework to identify conditions that limit or promote the adoption of technologies in the rural sector (e.g., Spielman et al., 2011;Kebebe, 2018). Among the factors commonly mentioned are: (1) the scarce presence of public policies on innovation and agriculture; (2) problems related to asymmetries in communication; (3) weak links and lack of trust between actors; and (4) norms and cultural attributes of society that impede development and innovation processes, as well as behaviors, practices and attitudes that condition the roles and interactions between actors.Taking into account the comprehensive nature of the AIS approach, the objective of this study is, through the use of it, to identify limitations and opportunities in the process of development, adoption, and diffusion of forage technologies in Colombia for the case of the actors related to the research/science component. For this we have decided to integrate qualitative approaches when addressing the phenomenon, with the intention of providing a detailed analysis that addresses the nature of inter-actor relationships and the contingencies that determine their transformations. To do so, we rethink the processes of adoption and diffusion of forage technologies through a historical perspective, highlighting the variables and actors that participate in said processes. In addition to highlighting the importance and delving into the investigative component, this article identifies some of the main events that have directed the course of research and dissemination of forage technologies in the country; and maps the actors that are part of the innovation system, describing their roles, links and attitudes, and the way in which they have catapulted or hindered forage innovation processes.As mentioned before, the network formed in this process is called the Agricultural Innovation System (AIS), a network of actors and institutions that we are just beginning to elucidate. Thus, identifying the limitations and opportunities in the process of development, adoption and diffusion of forage technologies in Colombia implies an understanding of the dynamics that shaped inter-institutional relations, as well as their internal functioning mechanisms. This document is then structured as follows: first, it specifies the methodological tools used for the analysis. Subsequently, it delves into the historical context that has directed the course of research and dissemination of forage technologies in the country, laying the foundations for the analysis. Thirdly, links and levels of influence between the different actors and institutions of the research component are analyzed and mapped. The last two sections expose the bottlenecks and main obstacles that stand in the way of the proper development of the innovation and diffusion processes in general, and provide some ideas on future steps to follow in the matter.In order to identify the factors that limit or promote the development, diffusion, and adoption of forage technologies in Colombia, this study used qualitative methodologies, including: literature review, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The Netmap tool was used to identify actors, their roles and importance in the AIS. The qualitative data generated was analyzed using the following tools: (i) transcription of interviews and focus group meeting; (ii) coding and categorization of key aspects; and (iii) interpretation of the information. The analytical purpose of the instruments used is explained in detail below.Net-map is a participatory mapping research method developed by Schiffer (2007), and has been applied in different agricultural research problems to analyze networks and power dynamics in the promotion of technologies (e.g., Aberman et al., 2015;Ilukor et al., 2015;Daum and Birner, 2017;Lubungue and Birner, 2018). In the present study, the application of the tool was carried out through a focus group session, made up of five participants (active researchers from CIAT's Tropical Forages program), in-depth interviews, and a review of secondary sources. The application of this tool was directed to the research component of the AIS of forage technologies. Thus, the following objectives were proposed for the focus group discussion: (i) identify the actors that are part of the AIS in forage technologies at the national level, and (ii) describe the roles, links, and attitudes of the agents involved in the activities of the AIS.The Net-map process was divided into two main activities. First, the participants identified the main people, institutions, and organizations that participate in the process of development, dissemination, and adoption of forage technologies in Colombia. Each participant wrote the name of the identified actors on separate cards (one actor per card), also writing down information about the role they play within the process and their level of influence in the AIS. The latter was defined as the actor's ability to influence the specific problem. The measurement of the level of influence was established using a Likert-type scale from 0 (no influence) to 4 (greater degree of influence). At this point, it should be mentioned that the participants in the group session are part of the population under study, and each one has experienced the process from different perspectives. For this reason, different colored cards were assigned to each participant, in order to identify the responses of each one. Next, the cards were collected and grouped according to the different components and distributed on a sheet of paper. During this activity, various questions for discussion and reflection were generated among the participants, related to the absence of actors in some component, and the divergences between roles and influences presented by the participants.Second, the links, influences, and attitudes of the actors identified in the previous activity were identified. In this section, an open discussion was held among the participants, based on the following questions posed by the facilitator: which of the identified actors have any link to each other? What is the direction of the link (one-way or two-way)? What is the type of exchange (information flow, use of resources, planning, training, etc.)? And what is the strength of this relationship (weak, medium, strong)? According to the response of the participants, arrows were drawn, indicating the existence of a relationship and its characteristics. In the development of this activity, various discussion questions were generated associated with the characteristics of the relationships perceived between the actors, about the attitudes and practices that have restricted and/or promoted the interaction, and about the possible limitations that may have hindered or restricted the linking activities between the different actors. The full program of the focus group session and an implementation guide for the facilitator are presented in the Supplementary Material.Based on the focus group session and the review of secondary sources, some of the different actors that are part of the AIS were identified, which belong to various components. This information was organized in a spreadsheet, grouping the actors according to their membership in each component. Based on this information, the people to interview were selected, according to their experience and relevance within the processes of development, dissemination, and adoption of improved forages. The in-depth interviews (12 in total) were conducted between September 2019 and March 2020. Of these interviews, six focused on relevant actors in agricultural research (CIAT, Agrosavia, CIPAV), five on private sector agents (PAPALOTLA, ALQUERIA, MATSUDA, SEMILLANO, SAENZ FETY) (to understand their relationship with the research component and its actors) and a relevant actor in the field of politics in agriculture in Colombia that offered a general panorama on the matter (ICA). The interviews followed a logical format of open questions, each one lasting ∼1.5 h. For each interview, between 5 and 7 questions were selected from a comprehensive guide that included relevant topics for this research, previously carried out by the authors. This guide contains a general list of questions that are grouped into the following categories: (i) roles, attitudes, and practices, (ii) historical moments, (iii) patterns of interaction between actors, (iv) facilitating environment, and (v) gender inclusion. The selection of the questions was made according to the profile of each actor to be interviewed, prior to the interview. Six of the 12 interviews were conducted remotely, and the remainder in person.Regarding secondary sources, long-standing studies were integrated on the establishment of livestock in Colombia and the continuous state and private searches to promote through the use of selected pastures) a productive and extensive and continuous livestock sector throughout the Twentieth century . This selection was focused in the existing literature regarding livestock, livestock practices in Colombia and Latin America at large, and improved forages. Our query included reports published by research institutions, peer-reviewed articles and databases. The search included documents published from 1980 to 2020. Conducting in-depth interviews allowed the integration of issues related to the change of research institutions and agendas, while delving into the gradual transformation of social relations that determine the course of research programs and projects. Choosing as informants subjects with a long history in their respective institutions enabled us to obtain a more precise overview of the changes over time of the institutions and professionals linked to the research field in livestock.Scientific literature conceptualizes improved forages as species that present superior agronomic characteristics compared to native forages and that, in addition, adapt to the agroecological conditions of a given region (Shelton et al., 2005;White et al., 2013;Labarta et al., 2017). These forages are the result of improvement processes, which may include: (i) selection of materials from germplasm banks according to a previous evaluation of visual characteristics, adaptability, forage production, seed, nutritional quality, and animal response (e.g., Brachiaria, Megathyrsus, Cenchrus, Leucaena, Cratylia, Arachis, among others); and (ii) genetic improvement of a material in which desirable characteristics of the parents are combined (e.g., Brachiaria hybrid CIAT 36061 cv. Mulato I, Brachiaria hybrid CIAT 36087 cv. Mulato II, and Brachiaria hybrid CIAT BR 02/1752 cv. Cayman). In general terms, the process of multiplication and diffusion of the seeds/vegetative materials of varieties already formally released, usually follows two routes: formal and informal.In the formal route, cultivars are developed by a national research institution (e.g., Agrosavia) or private company (e.g., Papalotla) based on a release proposal (breeding by selection or plant breeding). Some materials in this group are: Brachiaria brizantha cv. Toledo, Brachiaria humidicola cv. Humidicola, Arachis pintoi cv. Forage Mani. Under this route, 26 cultivars have been released in Colombia, mainly for low-tropical conditions. In Table 1, we present a list of the total improved forages released in Colombia. On the other side, in the informal route, the cultivar is introduced to the country by an individual and/or national seed company which initiates the distribution and/or dissemination. As an example, there are materials in commercial use such as: Decumbens grass (Brachiaria decumbens CIAT 606), Tanzania 1 grass (Megathyrsus maximus CIAT 16031), Maralfalfa grass, Guinea Massai grass (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Massai), Stylosanthes cv. Campo Grande (Mix between Stylosanthes capitata and Stylosanthes macrocephala), Pennisetum cv. Cuba 22, and Pennisetum cv. Clone 51.At the national level, we find that there is an adoption level of 34.97% of fodder released under formality channels. Of this percentage, 34.89% corresponded to introduced species of the genus B. humidicola and B. brizantha; introduced ∼30 years ago (Labarta et al., 2017). In relation to hybrid forages (Mulato I and Mulato II) an adoption level of 0.08% was registered (Labarta et al., 2017), while the varieties released informally such as B. decumbens, M. maximus cv. Tanzania, and cv. Mombaza report an adoption percentage of 0.98, 0.29, and 1.61%, respectively (Labarta et al., 2017).Different studies have carried out, during the last nine decades, documentations of the benefits and costs associated with the adoption of improved forages (see Table 2). These studies show the potential of improved forages to improve animal production and contribute to the sustainability of production systems at different scales. In particular, CIAT developed the LivestockPlus concept, demonstrating how the introduction of improved forages in the tropics can lead to sustainable intensification, producing multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits (Rao et al., 2015). These benefits are mainly associated with the increase in the availability and quality of pastures, which results in better indicators of animal development, productivity, and profitability of the livestock activity. In addition, improvements in the quality of feed allows improving the ruminal fermentation process and, therefore, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and achieving greater intensification of the livestock activity (Oliveira et al., 2007;Hristov et al., 2013). It is necessary to clarify that these potential benefits of the use of improved forages depend on the appropriate agroecological and management conditions.The introduction of technologies to improve the livestock sector has taken place for more than a century (Van Ausdal, 2012). Between 1850 and 1950, the nascent cattle ranchers of Colombia made significant efforts to improve their agricultural practices through the introduction of new breeds and bovine crosses, the improvement of fences and farm care, as well as the introduction of Africanized pastures [e.g., Pará (Brachiaria mutica), guinea (Panicum maximum)], among others (Rao et al., 1998;Rincón et al., 2010). Since the introduction of pastures of the Brachiaria genus, there has been a rapid and sustained growth of grazing areas in the country: by 1900 there were already two million hectares sown in Pará and Guinea, and by 1958 this number amounted to 10 million, this is, one third of the grazing land of the entire national territory (Van Ausdal, 2012). Said dissemination and adoption processes were spontaneous and massive, they did not follow established guidelines or regulations. They obeyed, rather, to the commercial need to establish a solid industry (especially meat) with an export industry that was never consolidated (Rao et al., 1998;Rincón et al., 2010;Van Ausdal, 2012; Ponce de León-Calero, 2019).Two historical moments stand out as decisive in regards to R&D processes: the so-called \"green revolution\" and the advent of neoliberal economic policies in developing Latin American countries (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017). The first moment took place between the 1960s and 1970s, and was marked by an increase in agricultural investment and marked concerns about productivity and quality of life in rural settings, triggered by the need to promote agricultural development in a world increasingly unequal caught up in the political ups and downs of the Cold War (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017; Ponce de León-Calero, 2019). The flourishing and consolidation of programs such as CIAT's Tropical Forages and Agrosavia (Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation former CORPOICA, in Colombia) are also highlighted here, which shows a growing multilateral interest in promoting agricultural innovation processes (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017).The second moment is framed by the political and economic agendas of Latin American governments (including Colombia) at the beginning of the 1990s, within the framework of neoliberal transformations and economic flexibility (Tirado-Mejia, 1997;Palacios and Stoller, 2006;Van Ausdal, 2012; Ponce de León-Calero, 2019). Previously solid institutions dedicated to research (such as Agrosavia) underwent important restructuring processes due to budget cuts limiting their research possibilities, the continuation and monitoring of ongoing projects and adequate and complete process of technological diffusion. The changes and contingencies experienced by institutions such as Agrosavia show that, as far as agricultural research processes and actors are concerned, continued state funding is necessary. From the interviews carried out with the actors in agricultural research circuits, we were able to establish the causality between state funding and the success or continuity of research programs, as several of the interviewed informants narrated the processes of transformation and historical decline of their scientific agendas because of budget cuts. Untimely budget reductions, as well as the relegation of investigative processes to second place, have undoubtedly been determining factors for efficient dissemination processes, thus affecting the viability of adoption processes. It should be noted that since the 1980s the national research institution Agrosavia has released new forage species, grasses, and legumes, previously evaluated by CIAT. Among these, the cultivars of Brachiaria dictyoneura (cv. Pasto Llanero, 1987), B. brizantha (cv. La Libertad, 1987), and B. humidicola (cv. Humidicola, 1990) stand out. Likewise, the creation in 1979 of the International Tropical Pasture Evaluation Network Foundation (RIEPT) stands out as a fundamental milestone to promote research in the subject and discuss the use of methodologies for evaluating forage technologies (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017). The existence of the RIEPT originated an invaluable database of forages studied and analyzed in detail and allowed the distribution of germplasm among researchers dedicated to the matter, materializing the advances of their research and strengthening institutional relationships between various groups and scientific niches (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017).Below are explained in more detail (i) key processes and their influence on the R&D processes of forage technologies in Colombia and (ii) the agents of the process and their respective interactions. Effects at different scales References Direct benefit Impact Farm Regional GlobalIncrement in the availability and nutritional quality of forage Increment in milk and beef production Rincón et al., 2010;Rao et al., 2014Rao et al., , 2015;;Maass et al., 2015 Higher number of animal heads per unit areaBetter productive parameters of animal development (e.g., mortality and birth rate)Social impact: improvement in income, food security and nutrition.Reduction of enteric methane emissions (CH 4 )Reduction of GHG emissions per unit of livestock product, given the improvement in feed efficiency.Mitigation and adaptation to climate change Oliveira et al., 2007;Hristov et al., 2013;Peters et al., 2013;Herrero et al., 2016 Increase in atmospheric nitrogen (N) fixation (legumes) Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Reckling et al., 2016 Carbon (CO 2 ) accumulation in the soil Oliveira et al., 2007;Soussana et al., 2010;Peters et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2015 Reduction of nitrous oxide (NO 2 ) emissions, associated with Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) Subbarao et al., 2009Subbarao et al., , 2017;;Moreta et al., 2014;Karwat et al., 2017;Nuñez et al., 2018 Improvement of soil quality indicators Improvement of the biological conditions of the soil (increase of biological indices of diversity of micro and macro fauna) Rousseau et al., 2013;Lavelle et al., 2014;Rao et al., 2015 Improvement of the physical conditions of the soil (reduction of erosion, compaction, and apparent density)Establishment of materials (increased use of inputs, labor, equipment) Carey and Zilberman, 2002;Pannell et al., 2006 New knowledge and skills to maintain the technologies Thomas and Sumberg, 1995;Lapar and Ehui, 2004 Development of appropriate extension and training packages Reiber et al., 2013 High perceived risk/uncertainty of technology Marra et al., 2003 Own elaboration based on the references mentioned.The information collected shows that the AIS in Colombia for improved forages includes actors from both public and private sectors. Table 3 presents the list of actors and functions of the AIS for improved forages in Colombia, according to secondary sources, the focus group, and interviews. These actors can be grouped into the following six main components: (i) Politics; (ii) R&D; (iii) Extension, training and information; (iv) Supply of seeds; (v) Financing, and (vi) Primary producer. Each organization can fulfill one or different functions within the system: generation of knowledge, coordination, supervision and control of dissemination processes, bridging, or intermediary institutions, generation of spaces for the articulation of actors, or support structures at the institutional and political level (Figure 1). The component of R&D consists of a total of 11 institutions dedicated to research on tropical forages. It includes national, regional, international and private research institutions. Among national research, Agrosavia, is the main public organization dedicated to research in the sector. It has 13 regional research centers (CIR) spread throughout the country, as well as offices in 10 locations. Of the total number of Agrosavia centers, eight include livestock and forages within their research lines. Mainly, Agrosavia has had a great impact on the development and release of new forage materials through the evaluation and selection of germplasm. At the international level, the Tropical Forages program of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) stands out for its role in the development of plant breeding hybrids, evaluation of materials, and the promotion of concepts of sustainable intensification through improved pastures. Likewise, CIAT has one of the largest collections of forage accessions in its germplasm bank, estimated at 22,694 accessions (from 75 countries). Historically, both CIAT and Agrosavia were identified as vital agents and leaders within the improved forage development processes. At the regional level, public universities have played a fundamental role both in the evaluation of technologies and in their application and promotion, through specific scaling-up projects. Among these,    the following stand out: The National University of Colombia and the University of Nariño (research conditions of the high tropics).Bridging organizations or intermediaries, in particular, extension and training services, seed supply, and producers' organizations, facilitate interaction and/or link knowledge generation of R&D agents with users of technologies. Extension services for agricultural production in Colombia go back to the 1950s. At that time, the international trend for the creation of agricultural research institutes and extension services began to grow. From that moment, rural extension services have been through important transformations and organizational arrangements toward a decentralized technical assistance at the territorial level. Currently, the national technical assistance has a framework in the law 1876 of 2017 and the guidelines for the formulation of departmental plans of agricultural extension (PDEA, as per its acronym in Spanish).PDEA are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR, as per its acronym in Spanish) in the resolution 407 of 2018. According to these guidelines, there are key stakeholders for delivering extension services such as local units of technical assistance for agricultural production (also known as UMATAs, as per their acronym in Spanish), provincial centers of agrobusiness management (CPGA, as per their acronym in Spanish), the national service for vocational education (SENA, as per its acronym in Spanish), professional associations of the sector, unions, associations, and communitybased organizations.Regarding the national seed supply of improved pastures, it is carried out by commercializing companies that import seeds from Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Canada (comparative advantages from geographical conditions). Figure 2 shows the network of importing and exporting companies of improved forage in Colombia. These companies can be divided in two All stakeholders are influenced by a context of agricultural policy, institutions, and informal general practices that might support or limit innovation processes. Stakeholders here recognize the role of the MADR for its relevance in the formulation, coordination, evaluation of agricultural and rural development policies, sustainable livestock production policy, and financing of programs and/or projects related to the development of forage technologies. Furthermore, stakeholders highlight the role of MADR in the establishment and regulation of the national policy of technical assistance for agricultural production.Here, a linkage mapping exercise is presented, in which CIAT's relationships with other actors (that CIAT recognizes as key agents in the development and dissemination processes of improved pastures) in Colombia are analyzed. The following results are based on the focus group discussion.Relationships between R&D institutions mainly occur for collaborative research as part of specific projects. The links are strong between some institutions (e.g., Agrosavia and CIAT and their Forages Network). In most cases, however, we observe weak links that generate duplication of research efforts and competition for resources. There are not many strong links between R&D institutions and intermediary agents such as seed supply companies. CIAT, as exemption, has a strong link with Papalotla regarding the financing, co-development, and exchange of information on forage hybrids. The lack of other possible examples denotes a relational crisis between institutions that still needs to be overcome. Seed companies play a key role in providing technical assistance and training to primary producers, although mainly at the regional level. National universities have a high level of influence regarding the application of technologies (e.g., University of Cauca, University of Antioquia, Amazonia University, and National University of Colombia). However, this is done through specific scaling projects and requiring allies. In the interviews, it was pointed out that the impacts of dissemination processes depend on the collaboration among institutions, and that the competitive nature of funds increases the participation of universities in R&D processes.Milk and meat trading companies have high potential in terms of technology diffusion due to their direct relationship with producers. Although these companies are key players in accompanying producers, they require a better communication with technical knowledge research and development institutions that effectively bring technological innovations closer to their target populations, harmonizing concepts, and reducing the circulation of confusing information. Currently, there are initiatives and approaches between private companies and research institutions (e.g., Fundación Alpina and CIAT). Associations and/or cooperatives of producers are recognized as having a strong role in the processes of diffusion and scaling of forage technologies. Among the roles they can fulfill are the collaboration with the research component and/or in the selection of pilot farms for the evaluation of technologies, the dissemination of information on technologies, supply of inputs, as well as training and extension among associated producers.The MADR is identified as an actor with high influence within the processes of development and diffusion of forage technologies. This influence is associated with its role in the construction of a sustainable livestock policy at the national level, the financing of research programs in forage technologies, and the contribution to the Colombian Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle (MGS-Col). In recent years, the MADR and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) have increasingly aligned their agendas supporting sustainability more strongly. Thus, the lack of association between most of the innovation actors and the support structures has resulted in the existence of a generally weak innovation system. However, it is important to highlight outreach initiatives to strengthen institutional links and communication between actors that have been taking place in recent years, such as the participation of the main actors of the livestock sector in multi-actor platforms such as the MGS-Col, and approaches of the sector private sector and research institutions. The Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA) has a growing level of influence on livestock policy given the zoning exercise they conducted for livestock production in the country.The mapping exercise carried out here allows us not only to identify the complexity of the AIS research component in the field of forages, but also provides insights to deepen and contextualize the existence of serious and persistent bottlenecks that affect agricultural innovation in forage matters. Below we describe the limitations that have had a direct impact on the technology adoption and diffusion processes, identified by the actors interviewed during the study.Structural conditions are evident factors in discouraging sustainable intensification and, along with it, the adoption of improved species. For example, for traditional extensive ranching it is much more efficient (cost-effective) to acquire more land for the establishment of the crop than to intensify the use of a certain amount of land through the adoption of technologies. Deforestation as a result of livestock activity, an increasingly critical and urgent topic, also stands as one of the bottlenecks as far as livestock is identified as one of the main culprits behind the invasion of conservation/protected areas for the agricultural exploitation. The low cost of land in pastoral areas, and the still precarious controls over land tenure due to long-standing historical dynamics in which a fragile state predominates, favors land accumulation. This not only encourages sustained land accumulation by illegal actors (who have monopolized or decades large tracts of land, some of which are indeed dedicated to extensive livestock projects) but also encourages small livestock producers to upsurge agricultural areas instead of intensifying their production. In this way, a trend toward the purchase of land or expansion of the agricultural frontier is promoted.Budget cuts in the 1990s limited Colombian scientists and researchers, both in the formulation and in the follow-up and monitoring of ongoing projects. The paradigm shift in funding brought new consequences: scientists, who were dedicated solely to research work, now have as their main mission a systematic procurement of resources. This led to important distortions in the development of research agendas, fragmented personal and institutional relationships, and weakened sustained advances in the matter (e.g., programs such as the International Network for the Evaluation of Tropical Pastures -RIEPT) were eliminated. Even today there are certain misunderstandings derived from the new role of the scientist/extension worker.On the one hand, technology transfer processes were affected as a consequence of the various dynamics of the armed conflict between the Colombian state, guerrillas, and paramilitary groups. Concrete examples of this correlation are found in the narratives about kidnappings and threats to research personnel, as well as in the uncertainty in the arrival of seeds to conflict zones. The manifest weakness of the state in disputed territories, as well as the fluctuating (and violent) political order in certain areas of the country has, without a doubt, affected the adequate implementation of extension projects, leading seed supply companies to register large economic losses. On the other hand, the consequence of the illegal drug trafficking market and the scarce state regulation of the seed market led, between the 80s and 90s, to the importation of large quantities of them for money laundering. The existence of a poorly regulated industry facilitated its use as a \"facade\" between drug traffickers and cartels, which resulted in the importation of large quantities of seed with low quality standards, affecting the domestic market.With the help of donors, research entities aim to evaluate and release forage seeds. However, seed production is determined primarily by their own perspective on actual demand and profitability. This disparity causes the processes of diffusion and releasement of seeds to be distorted, and that results in turn in a low impact on the adoption processes: materials are released without commercially available seed, or else, these materials are not suitable for the territories in which they are that are traded informally.Absence/Weakness in the Social Support of the Research According to informants, the average duration of projects for the promotion and adoption of forage technologies is 3 years. This period constitutes a limitation because it makes it difficult to adequately measure the impact and scope of the introduction of a new species, and furtherly impossible to obtain accurate data about the adoption of technologies. Scarce times hinder the evaluation of the sustained use of new species, so a complete picture on the adoption of improved pastures at the national level remains a long way off. The foregoing is also a consequence of the disarticulation between different areas and research professionals, as well as between centers and entities in charge of formulating and executing technological innovation projects.The geographical and climatic conditions of the country limit the production of forage seeds, making Colombia dependent on seeds from its Brazilian partner, the main producer in the world. This high level of dependency makes Colombia susceptible to suffering from internal shocks to the economy in Brazil; that is, in the face of a change in the perception or in the projections about the profitability of a certain crop (e.g., sorghum, corn, soybeans) or between forage varieties, companies may prefer to produce seeds of the crop or a certain variety of pasture perceived as more profitable in the short term. These changes not only occur between substitute varieties but also between crops that are not directly related to livestock, which greatly limits the options of the demanding countries. Thus, changes in the Brazilian supply derived from speculative processes lead to an impact on the price level and availability of seeds in Colombia, so that a producer can in turn vary the level of preferences without having been able to evaluate the effectiveness of a previously acquired species.Personal relationships are key in the scaling of technologies (insofar as they allow or hinder the interaction of various agents and entities, the continuation of projects and their follow-up); they prevent or facilitate access to information and resources and at the same time chain inter-institutional relations to the personal sphere. Expedited and transparent interpersonal relationships facilitate scientific praxis, while rivalries, budgetary struggles, and fragile ties hinder the viability of a given project. The interviews carried out shed important light in this regard, where testimonies or narratives such as \"our relationship was not good\" or \"relations between institutions depend on those who work in it\" were a constant that allowed us to elucidate the importance of assertive interpersonal relationships for the development, achievement and continuity of research projects and initiatives that, by default, affect the processes of diffusion and adoption of agricultural technologies.The neoliberal reforms of the 1990s (e.g., protectionist and decentralization policies at municipal and departmental levels) also weakened the key components of the national technical assistance system, which led to its progressive exhaustion and disarticulation. The lack of permanent updating in knowledge, methodologies, and technologies is highlighted in the UMATAS (Municipal Units of Agricultural Technical Assistance), and later, in the CPGA (Provincial Centers of Agribusiness Management) and EPSAGROS (Providers of Agricultural Technical Assistance Services). This has generated a knowledge gap between the generation of technologies and demanding users. In addition, the creation of EPSAGRO led to the attraction of resources and to the detriment of the quality of the service provided. To this is added that the service has focused primarily on agricultural issues, leaving aside the components of livestock development. All of the above is reflected in an institutionally weakened extension system where access to information, particularly on livestock technology issues, is seen as an important bottleneck.The actors recognize the importance that credit has had for agricultural development in the country, however, they highlight key bottlenecks associated with the low provision of credit in rural areas, information asymmetries that mainly affect small producers, and credit orientation rather toward productivity than sustainability. Despite the fact that the Fund for the Financing of the Agricultural Sector (FINAGRO) has established Special Credit Lines (LEC) for the promotion and renovation of pastures, as well as productive intensification through silvo-pastoral systems (e.g., Colombia Siembra, Livestock Sustainability), a pronounced effect has not been observed in the application of these lines, as the credits for livestock are mainly oriented to the purchase of animals. This has been accentuated as a consequence of credit dynamics such as growth in the substitute portfolio, where resources have been directed toward links in the chain with less risk than toward small producers (e.g., transformation and commercialization). The previous dynamics suggest that the spirit of agricultural credit is being lost, as it works more to attenuate the asymmetries and inequalities between the actors of the Colombian rurality. However, it is important to note that, in recent years, credit institutions have established mechanisms for adoption such as the Rural Capitalization Incentive (ICR), whose objective is to help subsidize up to 40% of the debt of small producers that request credits for the establishment of silvopastoral systems.The aforementioned issue clearly indicates, in the voice of some of the main agents and historical moments that play a role in the processes of diffusion and adoption of forage technologies, the difficulties that persist and hinder the way of a sustained and successful technification. Despite the many advances obtained in the matter and the valuable and decisive work of research institutions, there is still a long way to go, not only in the transformation of livestock landscapes in Colombia and the efficient implementation of improved pastures, but also in the understanding and study of agricultural innovation systems as historical processes, contingent, subject to change, and deeply affected by inter-actoral relationships. In closing, here are some possible insights on how these R&D processes can be refined.Although mapping the interactions and dialoguing with key agents allowed the identification of the main actors and their interactions in the research and dissemination of forages in Colombia evidence important findings that we explain in detail, trends in academic literature show the changing historicity of R&D of agricultural technologies, its challenges and opportunities and the complex nature of inter-actoral relations and the contexts under which it takes place. This discussion is then framed taking into account these three key elements. We first address the historical context and the main transformations of the AIS. Next, we delve into the conceptualization of interactoral relations and their importance within the AIS, and lastly, we discuss the main bottlenecks found to be key in the AIS in Colombia. Investments in agricultural research have had important changes over time with relevant effects affecting the development of research processes. For example, in the case of the CGIAR, research funding has changed dramatically: it went from being historically constituted in the long-term and directed through central institutions that were in charge of coordinating and managing projects, to being based on short-and mediumterm programs, oriented to smaller projects, and of less scope. The mode of financing has also been significantly transformed, moving from unrestricted institutional allocations to concrete projects with concrete deadlines and strict budgets (Beintema and Echeverría, 2020). In turn, the thematic focus of the research has expanded significantly, with much more emphasis on politics, the environment, and biodiversity conservation (Beintema and Echeverría, 2020).Both research and extension components have been oriented more toward the direct involvement of the producers in the identification of their demands, making rural subjects participants of their own transformation (Ardila, 2010). This has been due to theoretical transformations and methodologies on how to think, intervene, and transform rural livelihoods, a trend that has been growing since the late 1990s known as participatory research (World Bank, 2012). In the case of the CGIAR, the budget (in inflation-adjusted terms) remained fairly flat between 1980 and 2000, even though its mandate was broadened to cover a wide range of research topics. As a result, the continued search for sustained funding for public agricultural research at the global and national levels remains one of the main challenges (Beintema and Echeverría, 2020). The data indicate that, in general, the participation of the private sector in agricultural research in Latin American countries has been increasing over time, and currently it is private companies that supply most of the seeds and animal genetics to farmers in the region (Stads and Beintema, 2009).Regarding one of our main findings, which is the explicitness that most of the intra-actoral exchanges registered are weak, unidirectional and without feedback loops, several authors refer to the existence of weak links between national agricultural research institutions and rural extension actors in most developing economies (e.g., Anderson, 2004). It is noted that the information used by extension institutions is not necessarily accurate or generated by research institutions, and research priorities do not necessarily align with the needs of extension institutions. Also, on many occasions both types of organization compete for resources (Anderson, 2004). A study carried out by FAO/BID (2016) illustrates this problem. This study evaluated the technical assistance service in South America. For the case of Colombia, 117 surveys were applied to service providers and 38 to producers. According to the results, 38% of the organizations stated that they had weak ties with other organizations, 30% had moderate ties, and 20% had close ties (11% did not respond). The strongest links are with local government agencies and banks and microcredit institutions (31%). In the case of Colombia, a manifested weakness is evident in the relationship between the organizations that provide technical assistance (UMATA, EPSAGRO, NGOs, or unions) and the organizations that can contribute to the provision of the service. For example, the link between research centers and UMATA and EPSAGRO was considered by 50% as weak, and only 43% of the unions consider it strong (FAO/BID, 2016).Thus, a key to improving rural extension is the articulation between the actors that provide technical assistance services with the research actors, and so is strengthening of their capacities (Garrido-Rubiano et al., 2021). Therefore, one of the greatest challenges is to achieve coordination between the actors (Garrido-Rubiano et al., 2021). Problems related to weak links and lack of trust between actors, as well as asymmetries in communication between them, are recognized as factors commonly mentioned in the literature that uses the AIS approach to examine the problems of adoption of agricultural technologies (e.g., Spielman et al., 2011;Kebebe, 2018).Although there is a historical presence of national and international institutions promoting research and innovation in agricultural technologies (forages for the example that concerns us here), we find that the assertiveness of interpersonal links has determined immensely the adoption processes. For example, in this case-study, CIAT plays a leading role in the development of new and improved technologies for the country. However, the prominence of institutions has not translated into a higher adoption rate or a more expeditious path toward the goal, insofar as, as mentioned above, personal relationships directly influence inter-institutional ones.Literature on this subject defines how the domain of intermediaries and/or bridging institutions (e.g., extension services that facilitate the transfer of knowledge and information between domains) is essential in the case of a successful AIS, which for the Colombian context, as mentioned, is in deficit. Thus, new technologies resulting from R&D processes in the agricultural sector have improved the quantity and quality of production and, therefore, have contributed to economic development, agricultural development, and poverty reduction in Latin America (Stads and Beintema, 2009). However, properly designed national agricultural research systems and adequate levels of investment are important prerequisites for agricultural development, food security and poverty reduction in all countries in the region (Stads and Beintema, 2009). Some recent research indicates that problems at the institutional and policy levels explain the low adoption of technology by small producers more than aspects of the producer (e.g., Birner and Resnick, 2010;Schut et al., 2016).Widely discussed bottlenecks, such as extensive livestock farming, reductions in research budgets, weakness of the extension processes in the promotion of forage technologies, the low impact of agricultural credit lines, scarce articulation between R&D institutions and seed companies, as well as unpredictable speculation in the Brazilian seed market, have largely affected the Colombian context. First, the extensive nature of livestock can be explained here from structural conditions that discourage sustainable intensification, since in many cases, it is more efficient to acquire more land than to intensify. Low land prices, as well as the predominance of a fragile state to control access to it, have played a decisive role. Thus, structural factors that affect extensive livestock are (i) the higher profitability associated with new forage technologies that could lead producers to increase their herd size and hence the pasture area (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), and (ii) low land prices in many regions (e.g., Orinoquia) that make acquiring new land more efficient than intensifying existing land (White et al., 2001). Likewise, profitable technologies can also provide farmers with the additional capital they need to finance livestock expansion (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008). Thus, if one of the main reasons for planting pastures is to have secure land tenure, the forest conversion to pasture can (and will) continue (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008). This can be favored by price speculation processes, where acquiring more land would increase capital gains (Smith et al., 1997;Van Ausdal, 2012;Gutiérrez-Sanín and Vargas, 2017; Ponce de León-Calero, 2019).In the research component, budget reductions experienced during the 1990s were decisive. Different reports of the ASTI (Indicators of Agricultural Science and Technology) (Stads and Beintema, 2009;Stads et al., 2016) evaluate trends in R&D in Latin America, pointing out the reduction of resources in all countries of the region in the 1980s and 1990's. These reports highlight direct effects of this reduction in research centers, such as the elimination of several long-standing research programs, and the deterioration of facilities and laboratories. Similarly, changes in the financing model since the 1990s (from longterm to short-term projects) and the constant struggle to obtain resources affected institutions such as the CGIAR, which in turn transformed the way of doing research and research and duration and impact of the projects themselves (Beintema and Echeverría, 2020).In Colombia, the most relevant reform associated with technical assistance services was related to the State's decentralization processes, through which the National Government delegated the provision of this service to the territories. However, the limited capacity of the municipalities to assume obligations of such magnitude was not considered. Most local governments did not have the required capacities, the necessary administrative procedures, the external financing mechanisms, or the sufficient skills for the investment project management process (such as planning, monitoring, and evaluation) (FAO/BID, 2016). According to the National Agricultural Census (DANE, 2014), only 16.5% of the producers have access to extension services. Thus, among the bottlenecks identified in the technical assistance service in the country are the lack of capacities installed in the regions, the institutional disarticulation among those who generate, disseminate and accumulate knowledge, the low levels of associativity of producers, the loss of confidence of the latter in the effectiveness of the service, and a deficient monitoring and evaluation system (Hurtado et al., 2020).Another element worth bringing to the discussion is that of credit lines. Although actors recognize the importance of credit for agricultural development in the country, they also highlight key bottlenecks associated with the low provision of credit in rural areas, asymmetries in access to information that mainly affect small producers, and a credit orientation more geared toward productivity than toward sustainability. Different studies have found empirical evidence where access to credit has a positive and significant effect on the adoption of new technologies and practices in the livestock sector (e.g., Lapar and Ehui, 2004;Turinawe et al., 2012). According to DNP calculations (2015), FINAGRO condition credits only reach 38% of the rural producers in Colombia, and credit lines have been directed toward profitability instead of sustainability in the livestock sector. According to FINAGRO's accountability figures (FINAGRO, 2020), credit applications from the livestock sector at the national level have been mainly channeled toward the purchase of animals, machinery, or the payment of the labor force, while credit applications designed to promote sustainable intensification systems, such as pasture renewal or the establishment of silvopastoral systems, have been very limited. This orientation is more pronounced in small and medium producers with participation percentages of 96.5 and 75.75%, respectively. For its part, the investment dedicated to sowing forages does not exceed 2% (FINAGRO, 2020). The advance of the substitute portfolio constitutes a problem in the accentuation of inequalities in the rural sector: despite the fact that the resources for agricultural credit lines have increased over time, the majority of resources have been directed toward other links in the value chain with a lower level of risk. Regarding total credit by type of producer, there has been a decrease in the share of credit granted to small producers, and an increase for large producers. While in 2010 small producers participated with 26% of total credit, for 2019 this percentage was 23% (FINAGRO, 2020). For their part, the large producers in 2010 participated with 28%, while in 2019 this participation increased to 59% (FINAGRO, 2020).Besides this, a poor coordination between national R&D institutions and seed companies is also profoundly telling. As institutions of diverse nature, both have different goals, and in many opportunities the release of materials is carried out without being able to guarantee the availability of seed at a commercial level. To illustrate, materials such as Andropogon gayanus cv. Carimagua 1, Brachiaria dictyoneura cv. Llanero, and Brachiaria brizantha cv. La Libertad, released by ICA (now AGROSAVIA) in the 1980s, failed despite promotional efforts due to the lack of basic and commercial seed supply (Ferguson, 1993). The low articulation between research institutions and seed companies was a priority issue during the workshops carried out by the International Network for Tropical Pasture Evaluation (RIEPT for its acronym in Spanish) (Ferguson, 1993), which denotes that the research sector identified a poor relationship with seed companies as one of the great obstacles to generating an impact on the adoption of improved forages.Finally, speculation in the Brazilian market stands as one of the main bottlenecks, applicable to the Colombian case due to its high dependence on market conditions in the neighboring country. According to Legiscomex (2020), of the total imported seed in Colombia, more than 90% comes from Brazil, from where varieties mainly of the Brachiaria and Panicum species are imported. Forage seed production began in Colombia in the 1970s, a period in which seed production and marketing companies emerged (Ferguson, 1993). At this time, companies such as Semillano Ltda. directly produced seed in the company of farmers and in their own lots for varieties such as B. decumbens, B. dyctionerura, Stylosanthes capitata, and Arachis pintoi. Only a small amount of seed was imported from Brazil to meet the demand. However, the forage seed industry in Brazil took an important advantage. This was mainly favored by the environmental conditions that are particularly conducive to seed production, such as the altitudinal level that allows longer periods of light and, therefore, greater flowering and better synchronization (Hopkinson, 1981). These comparative advantages allowed the Brazilian industry to specialize and become one of the most important producers, consumers, and exporters of forage seed worldwide.By way of conclusion, we highlight firstly and as a constitutive and conclusive element of this research, the importance of institutional alliances as a cross-cutting element in the adoption of agricultural technologies. We believe that, in addition to the relationships between institutions, it is urgent to promote greater communication and exchange between them, though research, dissemination platforms in which they present results, trends, and research proposals (future and ongoing). The temporary exchange of personnel, as well as guided visits between entities, could play vital roles in strengthening ties, increasing bonds of trust and maintaining this symbiosis over time. We also consider it essential to promote articulation between research and dissemination institutions and distributors of improved seeds, companies, and actors that are part of sustainable livestock strategies (e.g., Sustainable Livestock Table Colombia, zero deforestation agreements) in order to improve the dissemination and opening channels of communication between them, establishing dialogues that facilitate the development of public policies for the sector and contributing to the development of institutional and field capacities. Likewise, and as far as \"third parties\" are concerned, we maintain that it is of the utmost importance to take advantage of the potential of the milk processing industries to reach the primary producer: the direct link that has been created between these companies and producing communities can be useful for disseminating technologies through training and education programs. Since companies do not have the technical knowledge related to forage management, it is important to promote projects in association with research and extension institutions.Solid relationships with policy makers, in which the benefits (economic, productive, competitive, and environmental) that the country has from promoting plans and projects that contribute to the implementation of forage technologies in Colombia is also a necessity for the sector. The involvement of public institutions with private actors in the development of technologies should be established in the agendas, not only of universities and research centers, but also between them and government agencies. Said dialogues could be aimed at consolidating strategies that allow the articulation at municipal, departmental, and national levels of each of the local initiatives where the nascent extension system can play an important role. It is well-known in academic literature that producer cooperatives and associations are fundamental actors in technology diffusion processes. Here, we propose to encourage the creation of these institutions in territories where they do not yet exist or in territories where existing ones are located far away from the producers. This can be done during vaccination periods or during technical visits by control bodies (e.g., ICA). It is also useful to point out that, in those consolidated associations, the sharing of experiences and cultural practices in the management of pastures and properties is encouraged. Together with extension agents, knowledge about scientific innovations can be addressed, thus generating fertile and lasting exchanges.Through the creation of innovation networks (such as the Forages Network between CIAT and Agrosavia), alliances between research institutes, higher training centers, rural extension services, and producer associations can also be fostered in order to advance faster in technology adoption processes. Another possibility for improvement and transformation of the R&D system lies in the promotion of incentives for adoption. The creation of credit instruments for the adoption of technologies and the articulation of agricultural credit lines with extension services, can positively transform the panorama in terms of the adoption of improved forages. This is important not only for forage technologies but also for silvopastoral systems, which tend to be long-term investments as well.Finally, the strengthening and prioritization of livestock production chains in the Departmental Agricultural Extension Plans (PDEA) in those territories where livestock predominates and there are high levels of deforestation and low adoption of forage technologies is a fundamental and unquestionable axis. The training that is established for this purpose should not only involve the management of pastures and forages; For success to be sustainable over time, we are convinced, extension strategies must include a holistic campaign in which producers are interested in the effective use of support information, social appropriation of knowledge, and problem solving, mainly through open or collaborative innovation, participatory research, and the use of Information and Communication Technologies.Latin America and the Caribbean plays an essential role in the global cattle industry since it contributes with more than 25% to the global beef and 10% to the global milk supply (CEPAL, 2017). The cattle sector generates both external and internal benefits, as it supports both the region's and global food security and contributes to the economy of the countries, highlighting the need to increase the efforts to preserve the growth of the sector (Núñez et al., 2015). Cattle production in the region not only goes back a long way, but also appears to be facing a promising future.The Inter-American Development Bank (BID, 2018) projects a growth in global meat production by 100% until 2050, considering the global population growth-a scenario that would favor Latin American cattle producers due to the region's geographical position, experience, and human and natural resources.Despite the importance of the sector for the region and its growth potential, the environmental effects of traditional or conventional cattle production systems are multiple and include e.g., impacts on water sources, soil resources, a loss of biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions (IDB, 2018). The principal greenhouse gases generated by the cattle sector are methane (CH 4 ), produced in the enteric fermentation process of cattle, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), resulting from land-use and landuse changes, and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), emitted during manure and slurry management (Rao et al., 2015). The cattle sector contributes significantly to global warming and climate change because of deforestation for feed and forage crops, degradation of pastures and greenhouse gas emissions from cattle production (Abbasi et al., 2015).This has led to discussions about the transition from a conventional to a sustainable cattle sector. A sustainable cattle sector is characterized as economically viable for farmers, respectful of the environment, and socially accepted (Varijakshapanicker et al., 2019). Related to this is the concept of sustainable intensification, understood as an approach that uses innovations to strengthen agricultural productivity, while reducing the environmental footprint (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions), promoting ecosystem services (e.g., soil quality improvements, reduced erosion, increased biodiversity) and supporting social development of rural communities (Rao et al., 2015).The challenge is to provide quality food for a growing human population, while managing to reduce the negative environmental impacts caused by food production (Tedeschi et al., 2015). In this regard, sustainable intensification is not reduced to specific practices, but rather involves heterogeneous processes and therefore, its implementation requires adjusting to the different agricultural systems and socioeconomic conditions of the target populations (Xie et al., 2019).To achieve sustainable intensification, it is necessary to implement a broad set of different actions and innovations, such as the use of environmentally responsible technologies, the implementation of silvo-pastoral systems, or good animal husbandry practices, among others (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística, 2015). Silvo-pastoral systems are defined as the integrated use of grasses, legumes, forage shrubs and trees in livestock production systems. There exist different types of them, which include e.g., trees in pastures (living fences, scattered trees, and forest area), protein banks and shrubs, or the integration of fruit and timber trees. The benefits of silvo-pastoral systems are diverse and range from productivity increases (more forage biomass and higher nutritional quality), animal welfare (e.g., reduced heat stress, better diet), income increases and diversification (e.g., more meat and milk, fruits or timber), to environmental benefits such as better rainwater capture, soil protection and recovery, biodiversity conservation, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, among others (IICA y Ministerio de Agricultura de la República Dominicana, 2016;Buitrago Guillen et al., 2018). Murgueitio et al. (2014) add that the presence of trees and shrubs contributes to mitigating climate change through mechanisms such as increased carbon deposits in the soil and lower nitrogen losses. They also state that the use of silvo-pastoral systems can increase beef production levels by 12 and 4.5 times, compared to extensive grazing and improved pastures without trees, respectively, while methane emissions per unit beef product are 1.8 times lower.The implementation of such actions or innovations requires the commitment of different actors along the beef and dairy value chains, service providers (e.g., for credit, extension), and, above all, the support from the public sector. In this regard, this study differentiates between governmental policies and public policies. Governmental policies are all the actions carried out by a government at different levels (e.g., national, departmental, or municipal) in response to social problems, without considering citizen participation. Public policies, although part of the previous ones, are more complex processes that involve a strong intervention of the communities and involve four stages: (i) identification of the problem, (ii) design of the policy, (iii) implementation, and (iv) evaluation (Arias and Herrera, 2012). Yalmanov (2021) delves into this differentiation by pointing out that public policies cannot be reduced to a technical function of governments, but rather are complex dynamics influenced by socio-political forces that alter both processes and results. Likewise, it is necessary to consider the existence of individuals and groups that try to shape public policies in search of their particular interests, thus constituting a power struggle (Cochran and Malone, 2014).To understand how governments support and manage such processes, it is necessary to have an in-depth look at how they have responded to social demands in the past, i.e., through the implementation of policies. This is precisely the objective of this article: to identify successes and difficulties in the implementation of public policies for the development of a sustainable cattle sector in Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica between the years 2010-2020. The selection of these countries takes into consideration that they present different social and economic realities, which allows for a comparative analysis. The countries were also selected because of the strong efforts they already made toward the transition to a sustainable cattle sector, evidenced by the existence of e.g., multi-actor platforms for sustainable cattle (in Colombia and Argentina) or the carbonneutrality objective set by the Costa Rican government. It is worthwhile to answer the question why this study is justified. Primarily, because it adjusts to the reality of a global climate crisis that requires concrete actions, such as public policies, for both adaptation and mitigation. Likewise, the study is justified to the extent that the evaluation of such policies generates knowledge that can allow their reformulation in the medium-and long-term, overcoming the difficulties identified in pursuit of sustainability objectives. The study thus serves as a reference document for various actors, such as national and local governments, cattle producers, and value chain actors, and helps in the design, implementation, and evaluation of existing and future policies. This article is structured as follows: Section Materials and Methods explains the methodological approach used; Section Results provides first insights into the successes and difficulties of implementing policies in the three countries of analysis, namely Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica; Section Comparative Analysis and Discussion deals with the comparative analysis of the results among the three countries and a corresponding discussion; in Section Conclusions the conclusions of this study are presented; and Section Recommendations for Public Policy provides useful recommendations for a broad set of stakeholders.The Latin American cattle sector currently faces a series of circumstances that determine its development and, consequently, the public policies that govern it. Among these, productivity increases to meet the growing demand for animal-source food, climate change and the search for environmental sustainability stand out (CEPAL, 2015;FAO, 2019).Regarding cattle production and productivity increases, beef production in the western hemisphere had a recent displacement toward South America, resulting from a reduction in cattle numbers and several years of droughts that affected both the United States and almost all of the Central American countries, mainly El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, but also to a lesser extent Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Between 2000 and 2013, Latin America doubled its beef exports, with exemplary cases such as Uruguay and Paraguay that exported almost two-thirds of what was produced (CEPAL, 2015). However, this contrasts with the situation on Argentina over the same period, whose cattle sector was affected by the 2008 drought and the sale of cattle in 2009, which caused a 44% drop in its beef exports (CEPAL, 2015), although with a notable recovery since 2015 (Cano, 2019). Although the United States have managed to overcome the drought-related crisis and are now again an important competitor at the global level, beef production volumes are almost 70% higher in Latin America. For their part and despite the signing of free trade agreements, the competitiveness of countries in Central America are lagging behind due to a negative perception of their animal health and food safety systems (CEPAL, 2017). Brazil is the beef export leader in the region, contributing 19.3% of the global beef trade (SAGARPA, 2018). The highlighted increases in beef production and exports in Latin American countries has also led to a greater co-responsibility for mitigating climate change. Regarding the adverse effects of cattle production on the environment, the fact that the region generates 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the global cattle sector stands out (FAO, 2019). This is further aggravated by the on-going deforestation, which, in addition to contributing to generating greenhouse gas emissions, causes the extinction of hundreds of species of flora and fauna and the destruction of ecosystems. In Central America the situation is particularly worrying since the forest area had a reduction of 40% between 196040% between and 200040% between (FAO, 2010)). Regarding Latin America as a whole, the scenarios vary depending on the climatic, historical, political, and economic conditions of each country. While in Brazil, for example, there still exist large forest areas in the Amazon (which at the same time is one of the global deforestation hotspots), forests have almost disappeared in El Salvador (Sanhueza and Antonissen, 2014).Apart from the abovementioned implications of the cattle sector on climate change and environmental degradation, climate change itself is also affecting the cattle sector, resulting in a need for climate change adaptation strategies and policies. Changes in the global climate affect the quality of water and animal feed, influence the physiological conditions of cattle, and lead to extreme climatic events (e.g., drought, flooding), among others, all contributing to variations in productivity and a reduction of areas suitable for cattle production. These ambivalent interactions between cattle farming and climate change, in addition to environmental problems caused by other economic sectors, have led the Latin American countries to adhere to environmental commitments, such as the Paris Agreement in 2015. In general terms, the treaty seeks to control the future temperature increases, protect food production systems, and promote sustainable agricultural production systems (FAO, 2019). The Latin American countries have also subscribed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) promoted by the United Nations, which contain 17 goals that aim at guaranteeing prosperity at a global level. All goals set for the 2015-2030 period include components related to the livestock sector, in particular sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, climate action, and life in terrestrial ecosystems (ONU, 2021).It should be noted that, beyond the aforementioned factors, the livestock sector in the region is complex and affected by multiple elements. These range from the economic liberalization processes of the 1980s and 1990s that still lead to repercussions, such as job insecurity and the excessive use of natural resources (FAO, 2013;Rojas Villagra et al., 2015), to issues such as political uncertainty, foreign investments, production technologies and animal diseases (CEPAL, 2017).To address the proposed objective, we decided to write a review article with a qualitative-descriptive approach. Literature review was used as the main data collection technique. In the analysis we related fragmented knowledge, contrasted different sources, and updated the existing literature, aiming at clarifying the state of the art of public policies that have promoted the development of a sustainable cattle sector. We selected three Latin American countries, namely Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica and focused on the analysis of policies implemented during the years 2010-2020. This selection corresponds to the efforts made by the countries to develop a sustainable cattle sector: all of them have ratified the Paris Agreement and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and both Colombia and Argentina have implemented roundtables for sustainable cattle. For its part, Costa Rica has set out the goal of achieving carbon neutrality, which stands out at the Latin American level. It is also noteworthy that, despite the efforts mentioned, in the three countries the agricultural sector is the main cause of GHG emissions (Banco Mundial, 2014), which shows the importance of investigating their public policies to understand how they have faced both this and other environmental problems. Brazil is excluded from the study despite being the largest exporter of beef in the region (SAGARPA, 2018), since it still has excessively high figures of deforestation and GHG emissions (Observatorio do Clima, 2020), which contrasts with the progress made by the three selected countries, where, despite room for improvement, a relatively favorable outlook is observed. This, however, does not state that Brazil does not have laws or public policies oriented toward achieving sustainability of its cattle sector, but rather that the study prioritized slightly more successful experiences that allow it to be a point of reference for other countries.Data collection was carried out from January to May 2021 and prioritized three types of data sources: (A) Scientific articles, which were especially used for defining concepts and theoretical principles regarding sustainable cattle, particularly but not exclusively in the introduction. (B) Government reports and other official documents, which include publications of national and local governments, ministries, secretaries, congresses, and other public entities of the respective countries. National and local public policies were searched in these documents (including budget figures and intervened areas), and the legislation promoted in each of the contexts addressed. They were used in both the results and analysis sections. (C) Publications by international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Such sources were consulted to contrast the official figures and positions of the countries, specifically in the analysis section. Among the three categories, 115 sources were cited. With the aim of presenting a picture as complete as possible of each of the studied scenarios, the results considered five factors, namely (i) the context, (ii) National Development Plans, (iii) legislative advances, (iv) multi-sector initiatives, and (v) regional policies. At the end of the section corresponding to each country, a table-summary of successes and difficulties in the implementation of public policies is presented (Tables 2, 4,  6). These arise from the authors' own interpretation, considering the five elements previously exposed, while at the same time allowing the formulation of a set of recommendations for the development of the different stages of the policies (Table 7). Regarding the analysis, to evaluate the impact of the public policies described in each of the three scenarios, figures related to deforestation, GHG emissions and conservation of natural areas were consulted. Hernández et al. (2014) describe that in qualitative studies, the research process is holistic, since it is not reduced to the analysis of the parts, but rather addresses the whole picture. This was especially important for the present study, as it sought to understand how the set of policies have contributed to the transition toward a sustainable cattle sector. Despite the qualitative focus of this research, the importance of quantitative information was not neglected. In turn, it is necessary to point out that, due to the breadth of identified policies and the complexity of exposing them in their entirety, those with the greatest impact in terms of budgets, intervened areas, and importance of the regions they are aimed at for respective national cattle sector of each country were selected.Unliske many other Latin American countries and despite the internal armed conflict that lasted for more than 60 years, Colombia has a relatively stable political and economic system. The first neoliberal reforms were presented in the 1980s and consolidated in 1989 with the Washington Consensus, including elements such as a reduction of the role of the State in social intervention, privatizing public institutions and promoting private ownership and enterprises (Tejedor Estupiñán, 2012). With a more or less rigorous application of these principles, all national governments have since then followed the same guideline, without making abrupt changes. It is within this framework that the various economic sectors have developed, including the agricultural and livestock sectors.Regarding the cattle sector, its contribution to the national economy is highlighted by generating 1.1 million jobs, which is equivalent to 6% of the national employment (Fedegán, 2021). With ∼35 million hectares, the sector uses most of the available land for agricultural purposes, most of it under extensive cattle ranching systems (Banco Mundial, 2019). In relation to this figure, the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA, 2015) has stated that the sector exceeds the maximum amount of land use by 15 million hectares, making it necessary to rethink the rural land use. Colombia is the 17th largest beef producer in the world and contributes with 1.2% of the global beef supply. Exports to countries from the Middle East, Russia, and Vietnam, however, make up only 4% of the overall production volume while the rest is consumed domestically (Venugopal et al., 2021). Despite the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fear of its implications on the sector, beef export figures showed a positive development at the end of 2020, with 3,247 tons of beef exported in September, exceeding the figures in the same months of 2019 (1,681 tons) and 2018 (1,899 tons) (Fedegán, 2021).To this extent, the public policies addressed are located in a scenario where two characteristics stand out: (i) the stability of the political-economic model for more than three decades, and (ii) a cattle sector that, despite its limited international importance, is fundamental at the national level in terms of job creation and food security.During the last decade, the different national governments of Colombia have indicated the importance of environmental protection as the basis of their policies. In this regard, the National Development Plan 2010-2014 stated that environmental sustainability should be a priority and an essential practice for the wellbeing and equity of future generations (DNP, 2011). For the 2014-2018 period, this premise continued, emphasizing more strongly the importance of protecting natural reserves, regulating land use and preventing socio-environmental conflicts (DNP, 2015). The current National Development Plan for the period 2018-2022 adds to that a long-term project perspective, which allows achieving the SDGs by 2030 (DNP, 2019).Although the legislative framework for the cattle sector is very broad and involves elements such as animal welfare and marketing there are three regulations that stand out in the period of analysis for their influence on the sector in terms of sustainability:• Decree 870: Establishes the framework for payments for ecosystem services, in addition to other incentives for conservation (Presidencia de la República de Colombia, 2017). As a further effort to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change, multi-sector initiatives have emerged in Colombia, such as the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change and the Colombian Strategy for Low Carbon Development (ECDBC). In the same sense, but focusing entirely on the cattle sector, the Colombian Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle (MGS-Col, made up of one national and 12 regional roundtables, was established in 2014 and is an inter-institutional space where the public and private sectors, academy and NGOs converge with the aim of being a benchmark in the design and implementation of sustainable cattle programs and policies, capacity building in rural areas, inter-institutional exchange and link with global initiatives such as the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) (Figure 1). Recently, the MGS-Col presented a technical proposal for the formulation of a national level sustainable cattle policy to the Ministry of Agriculture, which is now under revision. Among the objectives of this proposal is the promotion of the cattle sector from the green growth paradigm and the Another multi-sector initiative was the Sustainable Colombian Cattle Project (GCS), executed from 2010 to 2019 and financed by World Bank, the Global Environment Fund, the Government of the United Kingdom, which aimed at strengthening the Colombian cattle production through the integration of environmentally friendly practices. Among the specific objectives of this project were e.g., the transformation of 35,500 hectares of traditional production systems into silvopastoral systems, the preservation of 15 hectares of native forests, the development of payment schemes for ecosystem services, the creation of forage nurseries, and technical assistance for 3,900 cattle farms to support sustainable intensification efforts (Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible, 2018). The Integral Program for Productive and Environmental Reconversion of the Cattle Sector (PIRPAG), whose objective is to support the transition of the national cattle sector toward sustainability over a period of 30 years, is another example of multi-actor initiatives in Colombia. It focuses on the modification of traditional cattle landscapes into more productive systems that include environmental commitments, allowing for a reduction and capture of greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative works in several selected regions, such as the humid and dry Caribbean and the foothills of Magdalena Medio and the Orinoco, where pilots have been carried out on integrating live fences, forage hedges and mixed forage banks into the traditional livestock systems (Lozano, 2020;Colombia Sostenible, 2021).Finally, as one of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), the Colombian Sustainable Cattle NAMA is being developed among a broad group of stakeholders. This future policy will be focused on involving public-private sector participation, addressing the mitigation of climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well as an increase of carbon sequestration (Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, 2019). Its actions will impact 434 municipalities and 3.6 million hectares (Banco Mundial et al., 2021).Parallel to the above-mentioned initiatives, there also exist various public policies implemented at the regional level. Among these, the Departmental Agricultural Extension Plans (PDEA) stand out, which, although they are still in the initial phase of design and implementation, are macro level policies that define the provision of agricultural extension at departmental level (Table 1). For the transition toward sustainable cattle systems, credit is needed. The Colombian government launched a credit line program for silvo-pastoral systems in 2020, which is being implemented at a regional level (mainly in 82 municipalities) and seeks to promote sustainable practices, such as the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of water and soil resources, in the different cattle regions of the country. The credits are directed to the purchase and planting of tree species and the implementation of living fences, among others, and is the first initiative in this regard (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2020).In 2019, the 2018-2022 Agricultural and Rural Development Policy: a field for equity was launched. This policy aims at promoting agricultural competitiveness and productive transformation based on three pillars: (i) rural development, (ii) productivity + profitability = competitiveness, and (iii) modern and technical institutions. The sustainability component is in the second pillar and has the objective of positioning the country as leading actor at international level, boosting employment, diversifying the productive offer, and encouraging environmentally responsible production practices. To achieve this, farm planning, the establishment of silvo-pastoral systems, the division of pasture areas and the use of aqueducts that prevent contamination of water sources by animals, are the most prominent approaches. The National Conversion Strategy focuses on three main objectives: (i) technology (access and implementation), (ii) agricultural extension (in correspondence with Law 1876 of 2017), and (iii) financial instruments. In addition to these objectives, the policy aims at establishing a pilot cattle farm in each of the country's cattle regions (Antioquia, Boyacá, Caquetá, Cauca, Humid Caribbean (Córdoba and Sucre), Coffee Triangle and northern Valle del Cauca, Guajira, Magdalena Medio, Nariño, Orinoquía (plains), Orinoquía (flooded savannas), and Tolima-Huila), and at strengthening the 12 regional roundtables. Once the initial network has been completed, progress will be made so that in 2022, the implementation of silvo-pastoral systems on 75,000 ha in 25,000 properties will be achieved (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2019).From the reading and analysis of the aforementioned policies, it is possible to identify a set of successes and difficulties in their implementation (Table 2). Successes and difficulties arise both from the political and economic context, as well as from the content of the policies and the relationship between them. The existence of macro policies stands out, such as the National Development Plans and legislative advances, but also do regional programs with specific objectives, facilitating short-term implementation, monitoring and evaluation. One of the main successes is the promotion of silvo-pastoral systems, which is strengthened by the creation of a specific credit line. Financial resources are precisely one of the main problems since some policies show a lack of clarity on how to finance their objectives.In recent decades, the political, economic and social narratives for development pathways of Argentina have been determined by two clearly differentiable and opposed development models: the first, established between 1990 and 2002, gave a fundamental role to foreign investment and was characterized by an outwardoriented economy; the second, between 2003 and 2015, appealed to a state with greater regulation of markets, internal savings, food production with social inclusion and strengthening of commercial ties at the regional level (Taraborrelli, 2017). Since  (Morresi and Vicente, 2019), while in 2019, the path that started in 2003 was resumed (Scaletta, 2020).Regarding the cattle sector, a reactivation was sought in 2015 with the lifting of various obstacles, such as export controls and interventions in the internal market (Patrouilleau et al., 2017). According to recent figures, the Argentinian cattle herd counts approximately 53 million heads (Secretaría de Gobierno de Agroindustria de la Nación, 2019). Despite the increase in beef sales on the international market, particularly to China, and the decline in domestic demand for beef due to high inflation and lower wages, domestic consumption continues to be the basis of the sector. Argentina has recovered its privileged position in the global beef market, occupying the fifth place in production and fourth in exports (Cano, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic, although having effects on the sector, did not slow the growth rate significantly and by October 2020, 730,000 tons of beef had been exported (Villamil, 2020). An additional aspect to highlight is the expansion of the agricultural frontier, particularly resulting from plantations of monocultures such as soy. Their growth has displaced livestock, pushing it to less productive lands and into forests (Pincén et al., 2010).In summary, a context is revealed in which the changes in the political model and economic instability are elements of great influence on the cattle sector, despite the preservation of growth and export levels making Argentina one of the global leaders for beef.The Participative Federal Agri-food and Agroindustry Strategic Plan for 2010-2016 presented some of the challenges the Argentinian cattle sector was facing, such as a water deficit and drought in 2008, which obliged cattle farmers to sell their animals earlier than planned (lack of feed and water) and led to lower calf birth rates in 2009, among others. To counteract these problems, the plan proposed that by 2015 all national policies should integrate the principles of sustainable development and thus reverse the loss of natural resources (Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Pesca, 2010). For its part, the Territorial Strategic Plan (PET), launched in 2011, recognized the cattle sector as cause of desertification, particularly through pasture overgrazing. Although the plan did not delve into the cattle sector, it proposed that all citizens need to achieve environmental sustainability and included the promotion of a sustainable productive development in the guidelines for territorial and land-use planning in rural areas (Ministerio de Planificación Federal Inversión Pública y Servicios, 2011). The National Policy and Strategy for Territorial Development and Planning, launched in 2016, defined the achievement of an environmentally sustainable society as the main objective, for which it proposed a series of strategies, such as improving knowledge about natural resources and including the environmental dimension as a transversal axis in public territorial policies and actions at the federal, provincial and local levels (Ministerio de Planificación Federal Inversión Pública y Servicios, 2016).Although there are several laws that directly and indirectly influence the Argentinian cattle sector and its sustainable development, three stand out in this regard: One of the principal multi-sector initiatives is the Argentine Sustainable Beef Board (MACS), an association of public and private entities, NGOs, academia, and other organizations (e.g., input and service providers), with the aim of promoting sustainability policies for the cattle sector (Figure 2). It currently has more than 40 members committed to the development of specific goals, such as proposing innovations in inputs and services, anticipating the response to market trends, and promoting the improvement of the beef value chain (MACS, 2021). Another multi-sector initiative is Carne del Pastizal, which has the objective to stimulate cattle production based on practices that respect biodiversity, in addition to generating positive impacts in economic and social terms. One of its main achievements was the export of certified grass-fed beef to Europe (INTA, 2014). At this point, it is worth mentioning that there exists no policy for the cattle sector yet that properly responds to the NAMA concept, although (see subchapters below) there are various actions aimed at reducing the sector's greenhouse gas emissions according to the NDCs defined at the COP21 in Paris in 2015 (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, 2019).Regarding the traditional cattle provinces in Argentina, it is necessary to refer to four important policies (Table 3).In these, the importance of protecting grasslands, good animal husbandry practices, and sustainable grazing stand out.Likewise, the policies consider the quality of life of ranchers and productivity, jointly exposing a sustainability project in which economic benefits and environmental guarantees are integrated.With the aim of finding solutions to make forests profitable for their owners and, at the same time, provide goods and services to the society, the    As highlighted in Table 4, the aforementioned policies present both individually and collectively a diversity of successes. The presence of a sustainable beef board, as well as the inclusion of an environmental component in the National Development Plan and legislative advances, configure a context for the development of the cattle sector in accordance with international treaties. The policies implemented at the regional level are contributing significantly to achieving sustainability of the sector, since they set specific objectives and focus on results. Nevertheless, there also exist some difficulties, which mainly respond to conjunctural factors, such as inflation, unemployment, and the reduction of consumption, which are largely dependent on the national government in power and can vary positively or negatively in the medium-and long-term, making it difficult to determine how they will affect the cattle sector. Faced with this uncertain panorama, the international treaties signed, and the legislation developed to date become more relevant, guaranteeing that the sustainability of the sector can be preserved.Costa Rica has shown continuous economic progress over the last 25 years because of opening up to foreign investments and trade liberalization. The balance between political stability and sustained growth is reflected in human development indicators and one of the lowest poverty rates in Latin America (Banco Mundial, 2021). Costa Rica's economy has focused on the export of goods and services and is characterized by low inflation and stable exchange rates, as well as an internationally competitive export sector. However, there are lags in infrastructure, which affect the different productive sectors and, particularly, green economy efforts (Gobierno de Costa Rica, 2019). The Costa Rican cattle sector is present all over the country, with major concentration in the regions Huetar Norte (34%), Chorotega (22%) and Central (15%), while Brunca (12 %), the Caribbean (9%), and the Central Pacific (8%) regions are less important (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2019). The cattle sector generates annual profits of close to US$ 1.5 billion and involves 500,000 people, highlighting its social and economic importance (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2017). According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC, 2020), the country's cattle herd counts with ∼1,600,000 animals, out of which 15.4% correspond to dairy cattle, 62.7% to beef cattle, 21.7% to dual-purpose cattle and 0.2% to cattle used for farm work. In terms of beef exports, China and the United States are the most important buyers. In 2019, China imported 14,014 tons of beef with a value of US$ 56.72 million, representing 57% of Costa Rica's beef export volume (Barquero, 2020). The United States bought 23% of the beef export volume in the same year for a value of US$ 26.5 million (Procomer, 2020). It is important to mention that the livestock sector remains stable despite the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is due to factors such as the productive system, local consumption, and the use of national productive inputs (Garza, 2020).Consequently, the sector operates in a stable political and economic situation, which has allowed its development and the opening of important international markets. However, Costa Rica has not yet established itself as a fundamental actor on the global beef market, generating contributions mainly at the national level in terms of employment and food security.The 2011-2014 National Development Plan sets out environmental protection as one of its main objectives. It suggests the incorporation of fundamental elements of sustainable development into the national policies and the reversion of natural resource degradation, while promoting an economy with minimum levels of greenhouse gas emissions in search of carbon neutrality by 2021 (Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica, 2010). This last goal is reiterated in the 2015-2018 National Development Plan, as well as the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation actions of the agricultural sector (Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica, 2014). For the period of 2019-2022, these precepts are continued by proposing specific measures, such as interventions on cattle farms applying the NAMA model and the strengthening of the capacities of micro-producers through silvo-pastoral system and agroforestry models (Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica, 2019). The regulations regarding environmental sustainability are very broad in Costa Rica, but there exist two important decrees with direct effects on the cattle sector 1 :• Executive Decree 37.017: authorizes the use of cattle slurry to improve the chemical, physical and microbiological characteristics of the soil (Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica, 2012). In connection with the previously described policies, the Costa Rican Cattle NAMA stands out as an example for multisector initiatives (Figure 3). The strategy was developed in 2013 and aims at transitioning the cattle sector toward productive efficiency, adaptation to climate change and greenhouse gas emission reductions. The mitigation potential of the NAMA is understood from the promoted practices, being mainly increased forest cover, rational grazing, living fences and improvement of pastures and fertilization (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2019). In turn, the NAMA is expected to improve the quality of life and income of ranchers, while raising consumer awareness of the need to reduce GHG emissions from the cattle sector (UNFCCC, 2014).In 2015, the design of Regional Livestock Development Plans started, which respond to local problems, but conform to the national purpose of carbon neutral cattle production. These plans are being carried out in Central Oriental, Central Sur, Central Occidental, Brunca and Huetar Norte, while Chorotega, as well as the Central Pacific and the Caribbean regions show delays (Table 5).In addition to the aforementioned initiatives, Costa Rica started the National Strategy for Low Carbon Cattle 2015-2034, which, among others, proposes the promotion of cattle production in areas with less exposure to climate vulnerability, an increase the establishment of silvo-pastoral systems, and a set of lowcarbon technologies, which e.g., includes living fences, improved pastures, forage banks, rational grazing and the moderate use of slurry (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2019). These purposes continue with the National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050, whose ninth axis 2 exposes the importance of consolidating the eco-competitive cattle production model based on productive efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Gobierno de Costa Rica, 2018). The Costa Rican Policy for the Agri-Food Sector and Rural Development 2010-2021 incorporates climate change and agri-environmental management as one of its four pillars. It also refers to the need of promoting sustainable production systems through an ecosystem approach, for which payment schemes for ecosystem services were adopted as an instrument (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2011). The Policy for the Agricultural Sector and the Development of Rural Territories 2015-2018 emphasizes on some mitigation strategies, such as economic incentives for producers that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or the promotion of silvopastoral systems (Secretaría Ejecutiva de Planificación Sectorial Agropecuaria, 2015).  As shown in Table 6, the political and economic stability of Costa Rica, in addition to the commitments acquired through the Paris Agreement and the 2015-2030 SDGs, has allowed continuity to a set of governmental initiatives focused on sustainable production models. The commitment to achieve carbon neutrality is also reiterative, which is promoted at both the national and regional levels. However, the absence of a sustainable cattle roundtable or any similar initiative stands out as an important bottleneck, despite its potential to contribute to the articulation of public policies, information exchange and validation, and the promotion of new practices and technologies.From the elements raised, it is possible to identify relationships between the studied countries Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica. To this extent, macro and micro aspects are highlighted that allow understanding the public policies developed, while evaluating their impacts through e.g., figures on deforestation or greenhouse gas emissions, among other indicators, taking into consideration an international scenario from which environmental sustainability strategies are formulated and results from the individual governments are demanded.As has been outlined, public policies involve a set of stages that go from the identification of the problem to the evaluation of the implemented actions. Macro-level factors intervene in this process, such as the political will of the state institutions, understood as an ideological commitment to respond to the demands of citizens (Goldfrank, 2006), the articulation among the involved actors or the continuity and linkage of the programs. At the same time, micro-level factors related to the perception of the unions, associations and producers about sustainability strategies become relevant. To understand the policies outlined in this document, it is necessary to delve into both aspects.At the macro-level, the National Development Plans and legislative advances of the three countries show a willingness of state institutions to promote a sustainable cattle sector. This circumstance is expressed in their National Development Plans and legislative advances. The strategies proposed by all are quite similar, focusing on the need to reverse the loss of natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stop deforestation, and promote the use of silvo-pastoral systems. Although these documents usually contain general lines regarding the problems, often without being expressed in tangible indicators or results, it is necessary to recognize that they have also been the starting point for large-scale initiatives. In relation to this, the carbon-neutrality objective proposed by Costa Rica stands out, a commitment that has made the country an international benchmark for sustainability. The political will of the three countries is also expressed by the existence of national and regional multi-sector initiatives. In this regard, the capacity for articulation among the actors stands out, linking public, private, academic, and various other entities to achieve a common goalthe sustainability of the cattle sector and value chains. This aspect is fundamental since it responds to the very concept of public policy where decisions are not made by a top-down decision but are the result of collaborative efforts. It should be noted that the Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle in Colombia and the Argentine Sustainable Beef Board have had a preponderant role in the processes, since they are considered as important pools of national and international actors with different institutional backgrounds. Both institutions support the sharing of feedback and experiences made by their members with sustainable cattle practices. In the case of Colombia, its main contribution has been the creation of a base document for the formulation of a National Public Policy on Sustainable Cattle, which is currently under review by the Ministry of Agriculture and would not have been developed without the initiative of the Roundtable.Regarding the continuity and association of the programs, disparate circumstances are evident. In the case of Costa Rica, the carbon-neutrality objective has been preserved by the different governments and National Development Plans, as well as in the multi-sector and regional initiatives, such as the Cattle NAMA. In Argentina, although not as well as defined as in Costa Rica, national policies have managed to articulate with the provinces, i.e., regarding the adoption of silvo-pastoral systems.The situation in Colombia, however, has not been so favorable, since for many years, there was no public policy that coordinated local sustainability efforts, and thus, they rather developed independently and in a disorderly manner.These macro-level factors, which are related to the actions of governments and institutions, converge with the way in which producers perceive the public policies that seek to integrate them. In relation to silvo-pastoral systems, Braun et al. (2016) describe their numerous advantages, but also warn of their disadvantages and, consequently, occurring preventions of producers toward the implementation of related policies. Some of these difficulties refer to the lack of familiarity with the new strategies, in addition to the need for higher initial investments and a certain level of complexity compared to traditional cattle farming systems. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 2019) reaffirms these arguments, adding that new technologies including silvo-pastoral systems, face a conservative attitude by the producers, which is due to risk aversion, minimal interest in on-farm investments, and a lack of available information. In the studied scenarios and countries, micro-factors are present to a stronger or lesser extent, with the common denominator of difficulties in financing and training for change, which leads producers to perpetuate their traditional practices. The continuation of the public policies developed in Costa Rica and Argentina, however, suggests a gradual overcoming of these barriers, while they are still more present in Colombia.The convergence of macro-and micro-level factors has made the implementation of public policies a complex process in different regards, which highlights the importance of strengthening collaborative actions among state institutions, private sector, and other organizations, since this helps overcoming the fears producers have regarding sustainabilityrelated policies.There exist various high-level environmental commitments that involve Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica, such as the Paris Agreement and the SDGs 2015-2030. These agreements are mechanisms of the international community to put pressure on national governments to regulate their production systems, beyond political or economic interests. This is how the adhesion of the countries to these initiatives, although voluntary, is not precisely due to a genuine interest, but to an imperative to which it is necessary to respond. To understand how the analyzed countries have acted in the face of such international demands by developing and adjusting their public policies and, at the same time, analyze their impact, it is important to consider some figures. In this regard, reference is made to factors such as forest cover, deforestation, and GHG emissions, which offers an overview of the current situation in terms of sustainability advances. 3  Argentina currently counts with 53,654,545 hectares of native forest (Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible de Colombia, 2021). As indicated by the Dirección Nacional de Bosques (2021), however, the loss of forest land for 2020 was 333,222 hectares, a rather worrying figure, and 27.8% of this deforestation corresponds to agriculture and livestock sector (only surpassed by fires, with 57.3%). According to the latest National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases, the country's total emissions for 2016 were 364 million tons of CO 2 , of which 21.6% correspond to the livestock sector (Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable, 2019).In Colombia, the achievements in terms of environmental sustainability are mixed. For the 2018-2022 period, the national government intends to implement 150,000 hectares of silvopastoral systems, agroforestry systems, productive reconversion, and fish farming (DNP, 2019), a low figure when compared to other countries. It has also set the goal of planting 180 million trees by the end of the period, an initiative to which the departmental governments have adhered (Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible de Argentina, 2021). Beyond these objectives, which will have to be evaluated in due course, recent figures are worrying: By 2020, according to official figures, the country generated approximately 298 million tons of CO 2 across all economic sectors (Gobierno de Colombia, 2021). Likewise, deforestation affected 2.8 million and 159,000 hectares of forest land from 2000 to 2019 and in 2020, respectively (CONPES, 2020). Although the causes of this phenomenon are multiple, including the exploitation of timber, the construction of roads, illicit crops, among others, extensive cattle farming has a share of this responsibility, and as Kaimowitz (2019) points out, largely explains the destruction of ecosystems both in Colombia and in the rest of Latin America. The author also states that cattle farming is a placeholder for guaranteeing land possession, which is much more lucrative than the production of beef or milk. This scenario is worrisome, since if sustainability initiatives in many cases have little effects on real cattle farmers, much less will they have effects if cattle farming is not the main activity. Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, with the aim of ending the internal armed conflict that lasted for over 60 years. Contrary to what might be expected, the Peace Agreement intensified the already existing environmental problems, including deforestation, since the State has not taken control of the territories abandoned by the guerrilla, and reconfigured the relationships between the actors who dispute the land (e.g., landowners, peasants, illegal armed groups) (Armenteras, 2019).Costa Rica exhibits both a stable political system and significant progress in terms of sustainability: Between 2011 and 2016, CO 2 emissions were ∼7 million tons per year (Gobierno de Costa Rica, 2020) and in 2018 11.7 million tons (RAND Corporation, 2020), very low figures compared to Colombia and Argentina. For its part, it should be noted that deforestation continues to be a major problem, mainly linked to the cattle sector, an activity that occupies a large part of the affected areas (MINAE et al., 2018). Between 2000 and 2016, however, the country's forest cover has increased permanently, going from 46.53 to 54.56% in this period (OCDE, 2020). There are also notable advances related to the payment of ecosystem services, which between 2010 and 2020 supported the protection of 585,945 hectares of forest land (FONAFIFO, 2021).Consequently, the elements exposed for the three countries configure a mixture of successes, difficulties, and contrasts. In the first place, it should be noted that external demands must be understood in positive terms, since they allow the development of strategies that would not be carried out spontaneously. In other words, the importance of international organizations and treaties is recognized in a role of oversight of national governments so that they respond, through public policies and legislative advances, to the demands and problems of their citizens. Likewise, it is important to recognize that international organizations not only exercise a controlling role over national governments, but also promote financing mechanisms for the benefit of developing countries. Deforestation and GHG emissions continue to be a common problem in the three countries, although with more worrying figures in Colombia and Argentina. This highlights that those public policies that are more closely coordinated with each other and implemented over a long-term period are reflected in more encouraging processes and impacts, such as in Costa Rica.The sustainable development of the cattle sector is an unquestionable need. International demands, in addition to the role of different actors, deny any possibility of continuing with traditional production practices. This scenario commits the national governments to take forceful actions, which are not always reflected in the same ways, since each country has particularities that determine the processes and, therefore, the results. Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica demonstrate such contrasts, and understanding their public policies implies going beyond the figures, taking into consideration their social and economic conditions.To this extent and although the three countries express a political will to promote sustainable cattle practices, they are at different stages. This does not mean, however, that the realities are completely opposite to each other. On the contrary, the general perception is relatively similar insofar as they are all in a process of evolution and still have many objectives to achieve in the framework of the commitments made at the COP21 in Paris in 2015 and with the SDGs 2015-2030. Even though the results achieved so far are not fully satisfactory, the implemented policies should not be abandoned, but rather persist and be expressed in tangible effects. It is necessary to strengthen both the articulation between the initiatives and their actors, while overcoming the fears producers to adhere to the transition process toward sustainability.It is important to point out that the public policies analyzed in this document have positive impacts in at least two senses. In the first place, their contributions to the environment stand out, fostering the protection of natural resources for present and future generations. These include, for example, the implementation of a significant number of silvo-pastoral and agroforestry systems in Colombia, the conservation of forests in Argentina, or the advances in carbon neutrality in Costa Rica. Second, they lead to the benefits for the cattle sector, making it essential that producers understand that they favor themselves when implementing the strategies. This is because environmentally responsible measures prevent problems such as climate change and land degradation, phenomena with direct impacts on cattle production. In the short term, the attitude of certain international markets reluctant to buy beef and dairy products from deforestation areas stands out: sustainable practices can capture new buyers and contribute to the economic profitability of the sector at a time when socially responsible consumption is gaining strength worldwide, meaning that consumer choices are being made increasingly by considering environmental and social repercussions products and services might involve (Izquierdo et al., 2018). Finally, it is emphasized that although the policies achieved so far provide valuable contributions, it is necessary to assume them as a first stage in a long-term process. As such, it is critical to support their continuity and increase their scalability, to achieve the goal of a wider adoption of sustainable production alternatives, such as silvo-pastoral systems. This process implies the contribution of all actors, from international organizations to public entities, cattle producers, unions and associations, the private sector, academia, and society.We recommend that for all the evaluated countries, public policies should be developed that contain clear objectives and budgets, facilitating their development, application, and evaluation. The national extension systems and technical assistance programs need to be strengthened to provide the involved actors (i.e., cattle producers) with required information and knowledge and stimulate the transition toward sustainable cattle farming. For Argentina, we recommend the state institutions to increase their efforts regarding deforestation policies, mainly for the Gran Chaco region. Colombia should formulate more ambitious objectives in terms of the implementation of silvo-pastoral systems, and in Costa Rica actions of national and international institutions should be articulated with the objective of establishing a multisector platform for sustainable cattle (like the Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle in Colombia or the Argentine Sustainable Beef Board). Such platforms stimulate sharing the different experiences made within the sector and thus help in both their achievement and in coordinating common objectives at the national level. Likewise, we recommend that in Colombia, the advances made with the Colombian Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle should continue, since they allow for the consolidation of efforts and, in the future, the monitoring of the National Public Policy of Sustainable Cattle. For all countries, we recommend the consolidation of using technological innovations that contribute to the monitoring of deforestation. Finally, communication channels should be established between the studied (and other Latin American) countries that support knowledge exchange, mutual learning and the sharing of successes and difficulties in the implementation of public policies related to the sustainable intensification of the cattle sector. Table 7 proposes more specific recommendations for the three countries, considering the difficulties identified (Tables 2, 4, 6) in our study. Common problems are highlighted, such as the lack of economic resources to develop public policies and enforce laws, for which some financing options are proposed. Likewise, the importance of promoting citizen participation in each of the stages of the policies is highlighted, achieving not only that the objectives are consistent with the needs of the territories and communities, but also that the processes carry out an adequate management of public resources. It should be noted that, while the differences between the three countries are recognized, such recommendations fit all of them, whether in the national context or in local settings. In turn, due to the economic, cultural, and political similarities in Latin America, the points made are relevant at the regional level.The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.Soil salinity is a major limiting factor in agriculture in terms of yield and productivity (Munns and Tester, 2008). Most forage species are salt sensitive; the effect of NaCl on forage is caused by both the reduction of water availability caused by high Na + concentration and the toxic effect of Na + and Cl − on plants. Elucidating salinity-tolerant mechanisms, mining salinity-tolerant genes, and improving crop salinity tolerance are good strategies to deal with increased saline soil (Deinlein et al., 2014). Research on the salttolerant mechanism of plant includes forage, improvement, and utilization of saline soil, which have become the focus of recent studies (Abiala et al., 2018;Zelm et al., 2020;Zhao et al., 2020).Stylo (Stylosanthes spp.) is an important forage legume that is grown in tropical and subtropical areas, mainly used for pasture and green manure. The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) introduced more than 500 Stylo accessions to China from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) or other countries since the 1960's. Stylo has become a very important tropical forage legume in tropical areas of China. Till now, CATAS has cultivated 15 nationally approved Stylo varieties (Huang et al., 2017). Stylosanthes guianensis (Aubl.) Sw. is one of the most important species in Stylosanthes spp., a subshrub with height ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 m and a stem diameter of 0.3-0.8 cm, which grows well in tropical and subtropical climates, and is adapted to acid and drought soils. S. guianensis also has the earliest origin, the most branches, the richest genetic diversity, and the widest distribution in Stylosanthes spp. Almost half of stylo accessions in the CATAS seed bank are S. guianensis (249 accessions) (Jiang et al., 2017).Coastal saline soils and tidal flats are distributed in vast areas in tropical regions (Ivushkin et al., 2019), and have an adverse effect on tropical forage yield and quality. Screening of salinity-tolerant tropical forage such as Stylo is a sustainable and economical viable option of improving and utilizing such coastal saline soils. Previous studies have shown the high variation of salinity tolerance in 67 accessions from 23 species of Stylosanthes spp., S. erecta P.Beauv. CIAT11900, and S. hippocompoides Mohlenbr. Fine stem, S. hamata (L.) Taub. CIAT1010, S. fruticosa (Retz.) Alston CIAT11052, S. debilis M.B. Ferreira & Sousa Costa CIAT11927, and S. hamata Verano have the relatively best salinity tolerance with 200 mM NaCl for 15 days. Only 10 S. guianensis accessions were evaluated for their salinity tolerance and most of them had intermediate-or above-level performance (Liu et al., 2017). Considering the high biomass advantage and the high diversity of S. guianensis, it is essential to evaluate the salinity tolerance of S. guianensis in a wider range of accessions and explore the molecular mechanism of response to salinity stress.The objectives of this study were to (1) Examine the salinity tolerance of 84 accessions of S. guianensis; (2) Clarify the performance of salinity-tolerant and salinity-sensitive S. guianensis with different salinity concentrations; and (3) Explore the salinity-tolerant mechanisms and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by transcriptomic analysis.This study was carried out in the greenhouses of CATAS, Danzhou, Hainan, China. A total of 84 S. guianensis accessions were screened for their salinity tolerance (Supplementary Material 1). About 6-to 8-cm-long stems of each S. guianensis accessions were taken from the field gene bank of CATAS, wrapped with sponge, and planted on a foam board. The foam board was floated in a plastic box (110 × 90 × 20 cm) filled with 40 L Hoagland solution. Pumps supply with oxygen to each plastic box. The equivalent of water lost through evaporation and transpiration was supplied into the plastic box every day, and solutions were changed every week. Salinity treatment was conducted with 200 mM NaCl after 2 months' cultivation when the height of seedlings reached 20-25 cm; NaCl concentration was gradually increased to 200 mM by adding 50 mM NaCl per 12 h to avoid sudden death. Withered leaf rate (WLR) was measured at 15 days of salinity treatment; and a few yellow leaves were removed before salt treatment to avoid impact of WLR. WLR (%) = number of leaves with withered symptoms more than 50%/total number of leaves × 100 (Liu et al., 2017).A split plot design was used with salt stress treatments as the main plots and the accessions as the subplots. Each treatment had 3 replicates. The 84 S. guianensis accessions grown in the plastic box were randomly placed.Experiment 2: Physiological Responses of 2 Accessions of S. guianensis to Different Salinity Levels and Transcriptomic Analysis Two S. guianensis accessions, CIAT11365 (salinity tolerant, ST) and FM05-2 (salinity sensitive, SS), were selected based on experiment 1. Seeds of both accessions were sowed into plastic pots with 20 cm diameter and 24 cm height, filled with sand. Plants were maintained in the greenhouse for 2 months and then treated with 100, 200, 300, and 400 mM NaCl. Both accessions were irrigated daily with 400 ml of Hoagland solution or salt solution for 15 days, and the redundant solution at the bottom of the pot was drained to avoid salinity accumulation. Each treatment had 4 replicates. The exposure of plants to increasing salt concentration allowed a gradual acclimation to salinity conditions to avoid sudden death at high salt concentration. Leaf samples were collected at 5 days with 200 mM NaCl for transcriptomic analysis.WLR, relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and photosynthetic rate (Pn) were estimated in this experiment. SPAD value was measured on upper-middle leaves with a SPAD meter (TYS-B, Zhejiang, China); Fv/Fm was estimated with a chlorophyll fluorometer (PAM-2500, Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany) after leaves were dark-adapted for 15 min, and Pn was measured using a portable photosynthesis system (Li-6400 XT, LICOR, Inc, Lincoln, NE, USA).Total RNA and mRNA Isolation Total RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, CA, USA) purified using the RNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's protocol. RNA purity was checked using the kaiaoK5500 R spectrophotometer (Kaiao, Beijing, China); RNA integrity and concentration were assessed using the RNA Nano 6000 Assay Kit of the Bioanalyzer  2100 system (Agilent Technologies, CA, USA) and agarose gel electrophoresis.A total amount of 2 µg of RNA per leaf sample was used for the RNA sample preparations, sequencing libraries were generated using NEBNext R Ultra TM RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina R (#E7530L, NEB, USA) following the manufacturer's recommendations, and index codes were added to attribute sequences to each sample. mRNA was purified from total RNA using poly-T oligo-attached magnetic beads. Fragmentation was carried out using divalent cations under elevated temperature in NEBNext First-Strand Synthesis Reaction Buffer (5X). Firststrand cDNA was synthesized using random hexamer primer and RNase H. Second-strand cDNA synthesis was subsequently performed using buffer, dNTPs, DNA polymerase I, and RNase H. The library fragments were purified with QiaQuick PCR kits and eluted with EB buffer, and then terminal repair, A-tailing, and the added adapter were implemented. The aimed products were retrieved, PCR was performed to complete the library. Preliminary quantification of RNA concentration of library was obtained using Qubit R RNA Assay Kit in Qubit R 3.0 then diluted to 1 ng/µl. Insert size was assessed using the Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 system (Agilent Technologies, CA, USA), and qualified insert size was accurately quantified using the StepOnePlus TM Real-Time PCR System (Library valid concentration >10 nM). The clustering of the index-coded samples was performed on a cBot cluster generation system using HiSeq PE Cluster Kit v4-cBot-HS (Illumina) according to the manufacturer's instructions. After cluster generation, the libraries were sequenced on an Illumina platform and 150-bp paired-end reads were generated.De novo assembly was employed to construct transcripts from these RNA-Seq reads because of the absence of reference genomic sequences. Trinity software was used for de novo assembly of the Illumina reads. For a quality control before subsequent analysis, raw data were processed with Perl scripts. The raw reads were processed by removing reads containing adapter, the adaptorpolluted reads, the low-quality reads, and reads with number of N bases accounting for more than 5%. The obtained Clean Data after filtering will be subjected to statistics analyses on its quality, including Q30, data quantity and quality, base content statistics, etc.The software Trinity was used for de novo assembly, which was developed at the Broad Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Trinity represents a novel method for the efficient and robust de novo reconstruction of transcriptomes from RNAseq data. Trinity partitions the sequence data into many de Bruijn graphs, each representing the transcriptional complexity at a given gene or locus. Each graph was processed independently to extract the full-length splicing isoforms and to tease apart transcripts derived from paralogous genes.Trinotate was used for performing the functional annotation of unigenes and ORFs. Trinotate is a comprehensive annotation suite designed for automatic functional annotation of transcriptomes, particularly for de novo assembled transcriptomes, from model to non-model organisms. Trinotate makes use of a number of different well-referenced methods for functional annotation including homology search to known sequence data (BLAST+/SwissProt), protein domain identification (HMMER/PFAM), protein signal peptide and transmembrane domain prediction (singalP/tmHMM), and comparison to current annotation databases (EMBL Uniprot eggNOG/GO Pathways databases). All data were subjected to analysis of variance (SAS 8.1; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Differences among the mean values were assessed by the least significant difference (LSD) test at p = 0.05.WLR showed that S. guianensis accessions had large variation in salinity tolerance (Figure 1). Schofield, L1-82, CIAT25, NF01078, Fitzory, Oxley, TPRC90139, ReyanNo.5, CIAT11365, CIAT10594, USF873015, and CIAT10390 had relatively lower WLR (<14%) at 15 days of 200 mM NaCl stress, and these accessions were considered to be salinity tolerant. In contrast, CIAT74, GC1557, GC1480, FM05-2, CIAT11369, E9, TPRC87, CIAT11279, CIAT75, GC1517, CIAT2950, and CIAT2659 were considered to be salt-sensitive accessions with a relatively higher WLR (>96%) at 15 days of 200 mM NaCl stress.Based on WLR (Figure 1), two accessions, CIAT11365 (salinity tolerant, ST) and FM 05-2 (salinity sensitive, SS), were selected for physiological responses at different salinity levels, and the result showed that ST can survive at 15 days of 200 mM treatment (WLR = 46.67%) whereas SS almost have no green leaves left (WLR = 100%) (Figures 2, 3). WLR, SPAD, Fv/Fm, and Pn showed that ST and SS had a decline trend under 100-400 mM NaCl treatment, but ST had a significant higher value of WLR, SPAD, Fv/Fm, and Pn at 15 days of 100-200 mM NaCl treatment than SS (Figure 3).An overview of the RNA-Seq reads is presented in Supplementary Material 2. A total of 151,356 contigs were obtained from the clean reads with a mean length of 1,118.6 bp and length ranging from 201 to 16,419 bp (Supplementary Material 3). Among the 151,356 contigs, 74,515 unigenes were obtained with an average length of 879.4 bp. The length of a unigene ranged from 201 bp to 16,419 bp; N50 was 1,617 bp and N90 was 320 bp. RNA-seq data from this article can be found in the NCBI SRA database under the BioProject ID: PRJNA771864.The unigenes were annotated by searching against the seven public databases (Supplementary Material 4). A total of 38,426 unigenes (51.57%) were matched in the NR database, 30,953 For GO analysis, there were 29,963 unigenes divided into three ontologies (Figure 4). \"Cellular process\"-, \"metabolic process\"-, and \"single-organism process\"-related genes were mainly included in the biological process category; \"cell part\"-, \"organelle\"-, and \"organelle part\"-related genes were mainly included in the cellular component category; for the molecular function category, \"binding, \" \"catalytic, \" and \"transporter\" were the main genes. There were 14,313 unigenes assigned to KOG classification divided into 26 function classes (Figure 5). The top 4 classes were \"General functional prediction only\" (2,143), \"Translation, ribosomal structure, and biogenesis\" (1,973), \"Posttranslational modification, protein turnover, chaperones\" (1,555), and \"Energy production and conversion\" (1,252), respectively.DEGs (p adj < q ≤ 0.05 and log2FoldChange|log2_ratio| ≥ 1) were identified between 4 comparisons, including A (control ST_control SS), B (salt ST_control ST), C (salt SS_ control SS), and D (salt ST_salt SS). The number of DEGs detected in A, B, C, and D were 6,892, 1,199, 2,080, and 4,706, respectively (Figure 6). DEGs are clustered by hierarchical clustering using up and down gene regulation and gene enrichment analysis (Figure 7). The blue color represents low gene expression quantity, and the yellow represent high gene expression quantity. Figure 6 showed that more DEGs were detected in comparison A and D than in B and C, suggesting that there are more DEGs in different accessions than in the same accession, and more up-expressed genes in salt and control of ST than in salt and control of SS (Figure 7).Venn diagram analysis revealed the unigenes were overlapping between the four comparisons (Figure 8 Heatmap of KEGG pathway enrichment analysis for DEGs showed that circadian rhythm-plant was a special pathway in comparison to salt ST_control ST; pentose phosphate pathway, glutathione metabolism, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, and oxidative phosphorylation were special pathways in comparison to salt ST_salt SS; and plant hormone signal transduction was a common pathway in comparison to control ST_control SS, salt SS_ control SS, and salt ST_control ST but not enriched in salt ST_control ST (Figure 9).To validate the data from RNA-sequencing, 41 DEGs mainly including salt response genes from 74 (a), 282, 18, 74 (b), and 58 groups of Venn diagram were selected for realtime RT-PCR analysis in ST and SS accessions in response to salt stress (Figure 8). The primers of selected genes are listed in Supplementary Material 5. The qRT-PCR results showed a strong correlation with the RNA-seq-generated data (Table 1). Among the 41 DEGs, 14 had a significant difference between salt ST and salt SS according to the RT-PCR result (Table 4 in Supplementary Material 6), 12 DEGs in salt ST had a significant increase compared to salt SS,   and 2 DEGs in salt ST had a significant decrease compared to salt SS. The functions of the 12 increased DEGs are mainly ion transporter (c25614_g1, c34374_g1, c34262_g1, c34502_g2, and c34262_g2), plant hormone (c38854_g1 and c40459_g1), antioxidant enzyme (c41938_g5), transcription factor (c32634_g1), aquaporin (c18276_g1), and other functions (c41881_g1 and c32133_g1). The functions of the 2 decreased DEGs are mainly redoxin (c33369_g1) and disease resistance protein (c33712_g1).High Variation of Salinity Tolerance in S. guianensis AccessionsHigh variation of salinity tolerance in 84 S. guianensis accessions was observed according to WLR, ranging between relative salinity tolerant (ST) with 13.0% WLR at 15 days of 200 mM NaCl stress and relatively salinity sensitive (SS) with 100% WLR. The high variation of salinity tolerance may come from the high genetic diversity of S. guianensis (Tang et al., 2009;Jiang et al., 2017). Based on our previous study, WLR is a good physiological parameter for the screening of salinity-tolerant Stylosanthes spp. (Liu et al., 2017). This study showed that WLR is also a good parameter for S. guianensis accessions. WLR can reflect the salinity stress symptoms from the whole plant level. Other physiological parameters such as chlorophyll content or SPAD, Fv/Fm, Pn, EL and RWC are conventional and reliable.Salinity Tolerance of S. guianensis Accessions Ranged From 100 to 200 mM NaClThe phenotype of two S. guianensis accessions ST and SS under different NaCl concentrations (100-400 mM) for 15 days confirmed that the screening result from WLR is reliable. SPAD, Fv/Fm, and Pn were further proof of different salinity tolerance between ST and SS, as these physiological parameters were consistant with WLR. Previous studies showed that the salinity-tolerant ability of Stylosanthes spp. is between 0.9% and 1.2% NaCl (Wu et al., 2013;Dong et al., 2017). In this study, phenotype and physiological parameters showed that salinity-tolerant S. guianensis ST can endure 100-200 mM NaCl, which confirms the findings of former studies, so that ST could be applied in moderate saline soil of tropical areas.Ca 2+ is one of the very important intracellular second messenger molecules involved in many signal transduction pathways in plants (Seifikalhor et al., 2019). The latest research showed that glycosyl inositol phosphorylceramide (GIPC) sphingolipids in the plasma membrane act as Na + receptors for sensing Na + in the apoplastic and then gate Ca 2+ influx channels in plants (Jiang et al., 2019). Increased concentrations of the Ca 2+ activate the classical salt overly sensitive (SOS) signaling pathway (SOS1, SOS2, and SOS3) (Zhang et al., 2021). The activity of the SOS1 exchanger is regulated through protein phosphorylation by the SOS2/SOS3 kinase complex; SOS2 is a Ser-Thr protein kinase belonging to the SNF1-related kinase (SnRK) family and SOS3 is a myristoylated Ca 2+ sensor (Manishankar et al., 2018). Annexins are calcium-dependent lipid-binding proteins spread through the fungi, plants, animals, archaea, and prokaryotes, which exhibit the conserved core domains in their protein structure (Yadav et al., 2018). Annexins are Ca 2+ and phospholipid binding proteins, facilitate Ca 2+ conductance across the plasma membrane, and sense the Ca 2+ changes in the cell (Saad and Ben Romdhane, 2020). Ca 2+ transmembrane transport (c34262_g2) and annexin (c34262_g1) showed a significant increase in salt ST compared to salt SS, indicating that higher Ca 2+ accumulation in ST cytoplasm may lead to activate SOS pathway or other salinity tolerance pathways in ST, which contribute to the high salinity tolerance of ST. Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) are one kind of upstream signaling molecules and act as sensing stress signals and responses to various abiotic stresses in plant (Zhang et al., 2018). About 37-170 members of the CRK family in monocots and dicots were found, but their physiological roles and functions on a biochemical and cellular level remain largely uncharacterized. A previous study found that the extracellular domains of typical CRKs contain two unknown function 26 (DUF26) configuration of conserved cysteines C-X8-C-X2-C, the DUF26 domain has antifungal activity and plays a crucial role in salt stress resistance (Zhang et al., 2009). Cysteine receptor-like protein kinase 25 (c41881_g3) showed a significant increase in salt ST compared to salt SS, indicating that CRK may contribute to the salinity tolerance of ST.Maintaining a dynamic balance of ions under salinity stress is an important strategy for plants, salinity-tolerant plants maintain the ion balance by excreting Na + out of the cell or compartmentalizing Na + into the vacuole to avoid salinity damages (Zhao et al., 2020). Plasma membrane and vacuolar membrane transporters or ion channels such as Na + /H + antiporters (NHX), Ca 2+ /H + antiporter (CAX), highaffinity K + transporter (HKT), Ca 2+ -activated vacuolar channel (TPK1/VK), and slow anion channel-associated 1 (SLAC1) play a leading role in mediating the excretion or deposit of Na + in plants (Pantoja, 2021). In this study, cation/H + antiporter (c25614_g1), nodulin MtN21/EamA-like transporter family protein (c34374_g1), and vacuolar amino acid transporter (c34502_g2) were significant increased in salt ST compared to salt SS, indicating that salinity stress upregulated many ion transporters, which led to a better ion homeostasis in ST.Response to salinity stress requires the integration and coordination of multiple hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), gibberellic acid (GA), ethylene (ET), salicylic acid (SA), cytokinin (CKs), and auxin (Ryu and Cho, 2015).Auxin plays a major role in regulating plant growth and development. Some studies report that high salt stress is linked with greatly remodeled root architecture by altering auxin accumulation and its redistribution (Petersson et al., 2009;Wang et al., 2009). In this study, auxin-induced protein (c40459_g1) had a significant increase in salt ST compared to salt SS, indicating that auxin may increase in ST than in SS and contribute to salinity tolerance of ST. CKs are involved in many physiological and biochemical processes in plants, including cell division, reproductive capacity, leaf senescence, and adaptation to abiotic stresses; however, CKs play negative roles in plant salt tolerance (Yu et al., 2020). Cytokinin dehydrogenase (CKXs) is the key enzyme involved in CK metabolism and can effectively reduce the CK concentration in plants, an increase of CKXs has been shown to cause sensitivity to salt stress in Arabidopsis (Nishiyama et al., 2011). RT-PCR showed that CKXs (c38854_g1) had a significant increase in salt ST, and that in consequence zeatin biosynthesis KEGG pathway showed that CKX was significantly increased as well in salt ST compared to salt SS (Figure 10). A reduction of cytokinin biosynthesis in the root system and the subsequent reduction of the cytokinin supply in the shoot could alter the gene expression network and could elicit appropriate responses to ameliorate salinity stress (Tran et al., 2010;Nishiyama et al., 2011).NAC transcription factors (TFs) belong to a unique class of transcription factors in plants, which play important roles in multiple biological processes including salinity tolerance (Dudhate et al., 2021). A recent study found that NAC TFs could cause the accumulation of proline and glycine betaine to alleviate or avoid the negative effects of ROS in soybean (Li et al., 2021). RT-PCR showed that NAC-like transcription factor (c32634_g1) and peroxidase (c41938_g5) had a significant increase in salt ST compared to salt SS, suggesting that high antioxidant ability may play an essential role in salinity tolerance of salt ST. Interestingly, overexpression of the annexin gene TdANN12 in transgenic tobacco improves stress tolerance through ROS removal (Saad and Ben Romdhane, 2020).There was high variation of salinity tolerance in S. guianensis accessions, CIAT11365 was a relatively salinity-tolerant accession, which can survive between 100 and 200 mM NaCl. Transcriptomic analysis showed that an increase of Ca 2+ signal transduction and Na + transport ability, salinity tolerance-related transcription factors and antioxidant ability, as well as an increase of auxin, and inhibition of cytokinin may contribute to the salinity tolerance of CIAT11365. In consequence, CIAT 11365 could be utilized in moderate saline soil of tropical areas.","tokenCount":"95086"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9976110975.json b/data/part_1/9976110975.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a8ca0b38dd2663121efe557adb8b492870623ba5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9976110975.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee81d9846b9cd322a6c27fa293346003","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6779df39-b738-406c-b554-6af257d296cb/content","id":"-1747810068"},"keywords":["Aerial surveillance","Genomic prediction","Quantitative trait loci","Triticum aestivum"],"sieverID":"32e5b90c-8ed3-46ad-9042-fe6d63f94547","pagecount":"12","content":"Background: Plant height is an important selection target since it is associated with yield potential, stability and particularly with lodging resistance in various environments. Rapid and cost-effective estimation of plant height from airborne devices using a digital surface model can be integrated with academic research and practical wheat breeding programs. A bi-parental wheat population consisting of 198 doubled haploid lines was used for time-series assessments of progress in reaching final plant height and its accuracy was assessed by quantitative genomic analysis. UAV-based data were collected at the booting and mid-grain fill stages from two experimental sites and compared with conventional measurements to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying plant height.Results: A significantly high correlation of R 2 = 0.96 with a 5.75 cm root mean square error was obtained between UAV-based plant height estimates and ground truth observations at mid-grain fill across both sites. Correlations for UAV and ground-based plant height data were also very high (R 2 = 0.84-0.85, and 0.80-0.83) between plant height at the booting and mid-grain fill stages, respectively. Broad sense heritabilities were 0.92 at booting and 0.90-0.91 at mid-grain fill across sites for both data sets. Two major QTL corresponding to Rht-B1 on chromosome 4B and Rht-D1 on chromosome 4D explained 61.3% and 64.5% of the total phenotypic variations for UAV and ground truth data, respectively. Two new and stable QTL on chromosome 6D seemingly associated with accelerated plant growth was identified at the booting stage using UAV-based data. Genomic prediction accuracy for UAV and ground-based data sets was significantly high, ranging from r = 0.47-0.55 using genome-wide and QTL markers for plant height. However, prediction accuracy declined to r = 0.20-0.31 after excluding markers linked to plant height QTL.Plant height is an important agronomic trait and it was reduction in plant height that enabled the Green Revolution [1]. Although plant height has been reduced to around 75-80 cm for irrigated wheat with high yield potential, its control remains a very important aspect in breeding programs. Two major genes, Rht1 (or Rht-B1b) and Rht2 (or Rht-D1b) confer reduced plant height without detrimental effects on grain yield potential in varying environments [2]. Rht genes also have confounding effects on anther extrusion: a major trait for hybrid wheat production [3,4], resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) [5,6], and resistance to at least one insect pest [7]. Therefore, fine-tuning of plant height for a target environment is not only important for pure-line breeding but can also be important in hybrid wheat breeding where tallness of the male parent is required for efficient production of hybrids [8]. However, the association of Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 with undesirable traits, for example shortened coleoptile length, has caused wheat researcher to seek alternate dwarfing genes with less adverse effects. Recently, Rht24 was reported as new gene for reduced plant height but affecting floral architecture and response to FHB [8,9]. It was also reported to increase kernel weight [10]. Reports of some other reduced height genes, such as Rht4, Rht5, Rht7, Rht8, Rht9, Rht12, Rht13, Rht14, Rht16, Rht18, Rht21, Rht23, and Rht25, also offer other possibilities for wheat improvement [11].Marker-assisted selection based on quantitative trait loci (QTL) or functional genes can enhance the selection accuracy and ultimately increase genetic gain in each breeding cycle [12,13]. Wheat has determinate growth habit thus plant height progressively increases during vegetative growth until the reproductive stage. Conventionally, plant height is measured once, after anthesis when full height potential has been reached. Therefore, temporal characterization of plant height could provide a better understanding about the mechanism of plant growth and underlying genetics [14]. Quantitative methods, such as QTL analysis and association mapping, can give an insight about the genetic loci and genomic prediction analysis help in selection of genotypes with strong genetic basis for trait of interest [15,16].Multi-location characterization of wheat germplasm is essential to evaluate adaptability of genotypes and patterns of G × E interaction for trait stability [17]. Fieldbased phenotyping tends to be laborious, with high likelihood of error and represents a major bottleneck for genome-to-phenome knowledge [18]. High throughput phenotyping platforms have higher capability for high precision, non-destructive characterization of quantitative traits [19]. Recent advances in proximal remote sensing using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with RGB (red, green, blue) and multi-spectral imaging have made it possible to create high throughput, cost-effective and accurate quantitative phenotyping datasets [12,20]. UAV platforms can easily acquire multi-point data for complex traits such as biomass, normalized difference vegetation index, plant density, early emergence, rate of senescence rate, and plant height [20][21][22][23][24][25]. These platforms are low cost compared to traditional and recently advanced ground-based phenotyping platforms [25].UAV-based plant height has been estimated using digital surface models (DSM). High correlations with ground-based reference measurements have been made for barley [21], wheat [26], poppy [27] and sorghum [28]. DSM gives information of altitude in the form of raster values. The drawbacks of previous approaches were that estimations were made of the average heights of whole canopies, including not only the heights of ears, but also the heights of lower leaves and even the elevation of bare ground patches within canopy gaps [29]. Furthermore, accurate assessment of the ground surface elevation imposes a major restriction factor data acquisition for UAV-based phenotyping of plant height in crops such as wheat with dense canopies. These limitations have made UAV-based platforms more complex and timeconsuming by increasing the workload such as flights before planting and post-imaging quality control analysis [30]. This kind of data noise can adversely affect genetic analyses and genome-based selection. Previously, DSMderived plant height data had been applied for genomic prediction in sorghum [24]. Therefore, there is a need to standardize UAV-based data for accurate and error-free characterization of plant height for quantitative genetic studies and selection of advanced lines in breeding program. To date, there is no report on the use of UAVderived plant height data for quantitative loci analysis in wheat.The major objectives of the present study were to (1) standardize a rapid method for plant height estimation using a UAV platform, (2) identify quantitative trait loci for plant height using UAV and ground-based measurements, and (3) assess genomic prediction accuracy for plant height in wheat.A set of 198 doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross Yangmai 16/Zhongmai 895 were used to evaluate a UAV-based platform for measuring plant height and its application in QTL analysis and genomic prediction. Yangmai 16 and Zhongmai 895 are elite varieties that have been widely cultivated in Yangtze River, and Yellow and Huai Valleys regions, respectively. Experiments were conducted during 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 at Xinxiang (35°18′0″N, 113°52′0″E) and Luohe (33°34′0″N, 114°2′0″E), both in Henan province. The DH lines and two parents were planted in randomized complete blocks with three replications (200 genotype × 3 replications) at each site. The size of each plot was 3.9 m 2 (1.3 m × 3 m) with six rows at 0.30 cm spacing and the plant density was maintained at 270 plants/m 2 . Both sites were irrigated at same developmental stages according to local agricultural practices.An auto-operational DJI Inspires 1 model T600 (SZ DJI Technology Co., Shenzhen) carrying a Sequoia 4.0 camera (https ://www.micas ense.com/parro tsequ oia/) was used for aerial imagery. Sequoia has a 16-megapixel RGB camera and 4 monochrome sensors (NIR, Red, Green and Red-edge). Flight missions over the targeted field were controlled by flight planning software Altizure DJI version 3.6.0 (https ://www.altiz ure.com). Images were acquired in sunny conditions from 30 m altitude while maintaining 85% forward and 85% side overlapping between images to ensure enough ground sampling distance. Pix4D Mapper (PIX4d, Lausanne, Switzerland) (https ://pix4d .com/) was used for orthomosaic and DSM generation using world geographic coordinates of GCPs as previously reported by Hassan et al. [20]. Pix4D has the advantage of auto-processing in feature point matching and point cloud generation. All correspondence between overlapping images estimated from their geographical coordinates and pixels were used to detect the accuracy of matching points to minimize spaces between point clouds. The image resolution or ground sampling distance at 30 m was 2.5 cm/pixel.As wheat canopies are relatively dense at maturity, there are lower possibilities of error in detecting bare ground patches within the canopy, especially if plants densities are maintained at 270 plants/m 2 . For more accuracy, ortho-mosaic images with Red and Green bands were used to classify the vegetation and bare ground soil [27]. Visual classification of bare soil patches and separation between plots were also done by RGB images. DSM generation was based on the World Geodetic System (1984), which does not reflect the actual height of canopies. The digital terrain model (DTM) was generated through raster values of bare ground along the edges of each plot; this gave information on the altitude of the ground surface [21]. For this, polygon shapes were sketched on bare ground surfaces across the experimental area to determine the lowest and highest ground elevation points in each zone, to minimise overall surface curvature using QGIS 1.18.15 (www.qgis.org). The PHM was calculated by subtracting the DTM from the DSM (Fig. 1).After construction of the PHM, a workflow program reported by Hassan et al. [20] was followed for segmentation of the PHM into specific genotypes representing plots by sketching polygon shapes using QGIS 1.18.15 (www.qgis.org). For precise segmentation, ortho-mosaic images generated sequentially with DSM were used for segmentation. In order to avoid over-lapping of plants from adjacent plots, plant heights were estimated from a trimmed section of the plots to overcome expected (1) PHM = DSM − DTM data noise at the plot margins. UAV-based plant height was averaged from pixel values obtained at the highest and lowest points in the upper boundary of the canopy to avoid detection of low pixel values from lower canopy boundaries. The lower boundary of the canopy might include the elevation of gaps between plants and leaves. Lower and upper elevations of each plot from PHM were estimated by zonal statistics of polygon shapes using QGIS 1.18.15 (www.qgis.org). Small polygon shapes within each plot were sketched randomly to obtain upper and lower boundaries of the canopy top assuming a 10 cm difference while rejecting the extreme lower values that could not be spike height. Individual plant heights were calculated as the mean of randomly estimated upper and lower boundaries of the canopy and used for validation and statistical analysis (Fig. 1).H is plant height estimated from PHM, where U is the highest point and L is the lowest point of the upper boundary of the canopy at specific location.UAV-based plant height was validated through groundbased measurements using a ruler at mid-grain fill. Plant height was averaged from 10 plants of each plot representing a DH line. A total 600 of plots were measured in 2 days at each experimental site. Average height error was calculated as the difference between ground measurements and plant height estimated from the UAV platform. The root means square error (RMSE) was also calculated along with the regression fit for validation of UAV platform measurements.The Yangmai 16/Zhongmai 895 DH population and parents were genotyped at Capital Bio Corporation (Beijing, China; http://www.capit albio .com) using the commercially available Affymetrix wheat 660 K SNP array.Previously, This array was used for genome-wide QTL mapping studies [30][31][32]. IciMapping 4.0 was used for linkage map construction using Kosambi mapping approach. Inclusive composite interval mapping-additive (ICIM-ADD) method was used for the QTL analysis at LOD threshold of 2.5 [33]. To assess the accuracy of identification of QTL from UAV-based remote sensing, we cross-validated our results with ground truth data obtained at mid-grain fill. For this, the averaged data from 2 years (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) at both experimental sites was used for quantitative genomic analysis. For temporal assessment of genomic variation, plant height was phenotyped at booting and mid-grain fill. QTL with overlapping confidence intervals were considered to be the same. Differences between the (2)phenotypic variances explained by QTL from both data sets were detected as validation for UAV-based QTL.We evaluated whether ground-based measurements can be replaced by UAV-based remote sensing for future genomic prediction of yield-related traits. For this, rrB-LUP (http://cran.rproj ect.org/web/packa ges/rrBLU P/ index .html) was used to detect the genomic prediction accuracy of UAV-based plant height by comparison with ground-based reference data. To estimate genetic values for traits measured across environments, the following model was used for genomic best linear unbiased prediction (G-BLUP);(3)where phenotypes are viewed as the sum of a random effect representing genomic signals (u i ), marker effects (x g ) and a model residual (ε i ) [34].We cross-validated UAV-based data through estimating predication accuracy by removing markers and chromosomes linked with major plant height reducing genes.Linear regression was calculated to evaluate the relationship between UAV-based plant height and groundbased manually measured data. A mixed linear model where Y is the response demonstrated by fixed (β) and random (μ) effects with random error (ε) and X and Z indicate fix and random effects, respectively.Furthermore, for better understanding of G × E interaction combined heritabilities across environments were calculated:where σ ge 2 is genotype × environment interaction variance, e is number of environments and r indicates total replicates for each genotype [35]. The R packages such as \"lme4\" (https ://CRAN.R-proje ct.org/packa ge=lme4) and \"car\" (https ://CRAN.R-proje ct.org/packa ge=car) were used for all statistical analysis [36].Regression analysis showed high R 2 values (0.96) at both sites between UAV-based and ground-based plant height measurements at the mid-grain fill stage (Fig. 2). High correlations (R 2 = 0.84-0.85 and 0.80-0.83) were also obtained between booting and mid-grain fill from UAV and ground-based data sets, respectively. An accurate DTM with low error noise ranging from ± 3.5 to 4.5 cm across both sites was generated from the spaces adjacent to each plot (Fig. 3a). UAV-based single plant height was (4)measured instead of whole canopy height through averaging highest points randomly detected from the canopy. Plant height was under-estimated but without probability of noise due to avoidance strategy for lower boundary of canopy and bare ground estimation. The average difference between predicted plant height from UAV and that observed from ground measurement was approximately 14.02 cm with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 5.75 cm across sites. Chances of error probability in estimation of UAV-based plant height were on average higher (15.83 cm) from plots with higher canopy elevations from ground level as compared to low elevation plots (11.08 cm)(Fig. 3b).The average ground measurement-based plant heights of Zhongmai 895 and Yangmai 16 were 71.11 and 85.66 cm, respectively. While UAV-based plant heights of parents and DH lines are given in Fig. 3c. Plant height showed continuous variation across the DH population and followed normal distributions at both growth stages (Fig. 2). Both UAV and ground-based data sets showed similar patterns of phenotypic variation among genotypes and G × E interaction at the mid-grain fill stages (Table 1). Significant variation (P < 0.0001) among the DH lines was also observed at the booting stage from the UAV data set. The standard deviation was 20.44 cm for UAV and 18.29 cm for ground-based data in DH population. Heritabilities were very high at both developmental stages, i.e. 0.92 at booting and 0.90-0.91 at mid-grain fill for UAV and ground-based plant height, respectively (Table 1).  Identification of QTL was performed using UAV-based phenotypic data collected at the booting and midgrain fill stages and validated through ground truth data at mid-grain fill. Five QTL were identified from UAV and ground-based phenotypic data sets at both developmental stages and sites (Fig. 4a). Stable major QTL on chromosomes 4B and 4D were identified from UAV-based plant height data and were also detected with ground-based reference data across sites (Fig. 4b and Additional file 1: Table S1). These two QTL significantly reduced plant height in the DH population at both developmental stages (Fig. 3b). Genotypes of the DH lines are given in Additional file 1: Table S2.Another two QTL for plant height on chromosome 6D identified at the booting stage from UAV-based data explained 9.0-10.2% of phenotypic variation (Fig. 4c and Additional file 1: Table S1). For validation of QTL predicted from UAV-based plant height data, their contribution to phenotypic variance was compared with ground truth results at mid-grain fill. The phenotypic variances explained by the QTL located on chromosomes 4B and 4D were almost the same for both data sets, i.e. 61.3% for UAV-based and 64.5% for ground-based data with very high heritabilities of 0.90 and 0.91, respectively (Fig. 4c). These two major QTL were also identified for plant height at the booting stage, explaining 73.1% of phenotypic variance for the UAV-based data. The QTL on chromosomes 4B and 4D corresponded to reduced plant height alleles Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b, respectively. Gene-specific KASP markers (Rht-B1_SNP and Rht-B1_SNP) for Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b confirmed these results. Distributions of these alleles in the DH population are given in Fig. 5a and Additional file 1: Table S1. The QTL identified on chromosome 6D from UAV-based observations at booting showed a similar trend in variation and explained 1.50 and 1.97% of the total variation in plant height at each site (Fig. 4c). Accuracy of booting stage data for plant height was validated with markers for the Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b alleles (Fig. 5b).Genomic prediction accuracy was calculated through correlations between genetically estimated breeding values observed from a training population and was then tested by cross validation. Our results provided further validation of the accuracy of UAV-based plant height by showing similar trend regarding genomic prediction ability for both UAV and ground-based data. The correlations between observed and predicted genomic values for UAV and ground-based data sets ranged from r = 0.47-0.53 for UAV-based plant height at mid-grain fill, but slightly lower than ground-based truth observations of 0.54 and 055 across sites. Genomic prediction accuracy was higher ranging from r = 0.56-0.57 at booting when estimated from UAV-based plant height data. Prediction accuracy was significantly reduced to r = 0.20 and 0.31 when markers linked with QTL on chromosomes 4B, 4D and 6D were removed. Genomic prediction ability fell to 75% and 95% when all markers on chromosomes 4B, 4D and 6D were removed. (Fig. 6).UAV is a promising platform to predict time-series development of crop canopies, and further use this data to understand the genetic basis of phenotypic variation [28]. Previously some studies have been reported different workflows for the estimation of plant height using UAV platform [21,26,28] The UAV-platform requires far fewer images and less computing capacity to construct the digital elevation model compared to groundbased imaging platforms [37]. Ground-based LiDAR technology has been reported more accurate [38], but it has some limitations such as in coving large and multilocational trials. Aerial estimation of plant height could be error-prone due to low efficiency in pre-and postimagery processing methods such as altitude of imaging platform, accuracy in DTM construction, and height extraction strategy from images [21,28,29]. High altitude of the UAV flight is likely to generate low pixel resolution of images casing increased data noise. UAV flights were taken at low altitude (30 m) to minimise probability of error due to low pixel numbers. DTM gives information about the elevation of the ground surface. DTM accuracy is an important factor, and low accuracy in DTM can lead to high over-or under-estimations of canopy elevation [21,27]. The precision in estimating depends on number and distribution of bare ground patches across experimental sites if the terrain is to geographically variable. In crops with dense canopies like wheat, it is difficult to generate accurate DTM from DSM images at later growth stages acquiring time-points to develop PHM from single flights. Terrain and distribution of bare ground can be handled through better experimental design and management. Our trial field was well managed with enough spacing between and along the plots to be used to estimate ground elevations across the field. DTM generated from both experimental sites at booting and mid-grain fill had low errors varying from ± 3.5 to 4.5 cm, similar to a previous report on a poppy crop [27] (Fig. 3b). It also reduced the computing load and time required for preplanting flights to generate DTM of bare fields as done in other reports [24,27,28]. Our method also overcame the problem of data noise in height extraction from PHM due to the detection of lower parts of the canopy such as elevation of leaf from gaps between plants. Using this method, height of a single plant from a particular position of the experimental plot can be measured even in the case of a thin canopy. Higher correlations (R 2 = 0.96; 5.75 cm RMSE) were estimated between ground and UAV data sets at mid-grain fill. Our results were better than previous reports where correlations were slightly lower between UAV-derived plant height and reference observations (0.85-0.90) in wheat and barley [26,29] (Fig. 2). This was due to the better strategy of measuring pixel values from the highest points of the imaging to be the upper boundary of the canopy rather than mean values from the whole canopy as previously done in wheat, barley and sorghum [21,24,26]. Both data sets showed transgressive segregation among DH lines relative to the parents with significant phenotypic variation and high heritability. Moreover, high heritability and no significant G × E allowed detection of stable quantitative loci for plant height.Height reducing homoeoalleles Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 on the short arms of chromosomes 4B and 4D are GA-insensitive and major plummeting factor for wheat height by reduced GA response mechanism [39,40]. Plant height in wheat is a developmental trait and the genetic basis underlying for its development over time is still being unmasked from a number of potential quantitative loci [11]. Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b were already reported in parent cultivars Yangmai16 and Zhongmai895, respectively [41]. UAV-based plant height accuracy was confirmed by identification of QTL corresponding to these Rht genes, high correlations between ground truth data and UAV-based data sets, and consistent identification of the same QTL in both UAV-based and ground-based datasets (Fig. 4). UAV-based phenotype data successfully verified the dynamic presence of these two major genes as previously reported by Zhang et al. [41]. Two new QTL with minor phenotypic effect of 1.50-1.97% was identified on chromosome 6D using UAV-based booting data from both sites. QTL were also identified 6D at under heat and drought condition which help plant for adaptation without confounding agronomic effects [42]. While in our study, these QTL might be involved in seedling vigour, but further validation is required. The QTL on chromosome 6D at booting is likely to affect the plant growth. The phenotypic validation of Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 on plant height measured by UAV confirmed the accuracy of this platform and proved that UAV has potential for genetic studies.In quantitative genetics, erroneous phenotypic data is a major bottleneck [19]. Probability of error in UAV-based data can influence the QTL analysis and other genomics studies. In our study, accuracy of QTL detected from both data sets was also validated from multi-location trials. The identification of chromosome 4B and 4D QTL underpinning plant height was consistent across sites (Fig. 4b and Additional file 1: Table S1). Similarly, QTL with less phenotypic variation ranging 1.50-1.97% at booting was also consistent at both sites confirming the accuracy of the UAV-based platform for reliable quantitative genomic analysis. The new QTL on chromosome 6D identified using UAV-based data indicated that the UAV platform was effective in detecting genetic variation. These results indicated the potential high efficiency of UAV-based remote sensing for major QTL identification as well as temporal genetic dissection of traits.Genomic prediction is regarded as a relatively new breeding strategy to better exploit quantitative variation in crop breeding and in increasing selection accuracy by optimization of resource allocation in breeding programs [13,43]. In revolutionizing phenotyping platforms for capture of data at lower cost, accuracy for true genomic selection cannot be compromised [44]. Therefore, UAV platforms have potential to contribute in enhancement of genomic prediction accuracy cos-effectively. Rutkoski et al. [44] used UAV-based multispectral secondary traits and reported their high prediction accuracy (r = 0.41-0.56) for traits related to grain yield in wheat. Here we demonstrate the use of plant height data captured by a UAV-based aerial platform for high accuracy genomic selection. Similar trends in prediction ability were obtained with and without consideration of the QTL across the data sets. The prediction accuracy declined as markers linked with the QTL were excluded in both data sets. However, remaining genome-wide SNPs predicted accuracy ranged from r = 0.20-0.31 (Fig. 6). Our results indicated the presence of an additional gene with minor effect that was not detected in earlier QTL mapping. Our findings also indicate that the use of UAV platforms for genomic selection of quantitative traits could improve prediction ability by continuous capture of cost-effective phenotypic data from multiple environments.This study describes a UAV-based method for plant height estimation in wheat and its application in quantitative genomic analysis and functional gene characterization. Traditionally, plant height is measured only once, despite the fact that progression to final plant height may differ among genotypes. Our UAV-based approach facilitates rapid, cost-effective, high-throughput capture of plant height data at different growth stages. High R 2 between UAV and ground-based data sets indicated that UAV-platforms could be used for quantitative genomic analysis. This technique can also be applied in practical breeding after adjustment of UAV data according to the average difference (in this case, 14.03 cm) calculated between UAV and ground reference observations. The potential of UAV-based high throughput plant height phenotyping not only reduces the labour costs but is also capable of providing time-lapse reproducible data from large breeding trials to identify the underlying genetics and permit genomic selection for complex traits such as plant height.","tokenCount":"4264"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9977160778.json b/data/part_1/9977160778.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a49eee0610756377c434da5366a2f08ae444a3fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9977160778.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"46c7743a2b1603e74c9124bd8932757d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ff3ea3-77b3-4a1d-ba63-84d270a265fd/content","id":"751625065"},"keywords":["Spring wheat","Resistance breeding","Phenotyping","Puccinia striiformis","Microphenotyping","Deep learning"],"sieverID":"a779381b-50fc-4473-bc2d-1e6c3fc30a7c","pagecount":"15","content":"consisted of a line with the functional resistance gene and a sibling with its non-functional allele. All APR genes showed significant effects against the Pst races Warrior and Warrior (-), and a race of the highly aggressive strain PstS2. The effects of Yr18 and Yr46 were especially substantial in slowing down disease progress. This effect was apparent in both Denmark, where susceptible controls reached 100 percent disease severity, and in United Kingdom where disease pressure was lower. We further validated field results by quantifying fungal biomass in leaf samples and by micro-phenotyping of samples collected during early disease development. Microscopic image analyses Abstract Yellow rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) is one of the most important wheat diseases. Adult plant resistance (APR) genes have gained the attention of breeders and scientists because they show higher durability compared to major race-specific genes. Here, we determined the effect of the APR genes Yr18, Yr29 and Yr46 in North-West European field conditions against three currently important Pst races. We used three pairs of sibling wheat lines developed at CIMMYT, whichCereal rusts are among the most significant constraints on wheat production worldwide. Stem rust, yellow rust, and leaf rust are caused by biotrophic fungal pathogens from the genus Puccinia. The fungal pathogens are characterized by infecting and colonizing the cereal host and subsequently producing pustules on the plant surface. Pustules produce masses of spores that are released to the environment, able to infect the cereal host. This may result in cycles of reinfections that can lead to epidemics. The spores are also capable of a long-distance dispersal, allowing the disease to spread over large areas every growing season. When rust diseases are not regulated, the severely infested field's yields are reduced (Roelfs et al. 1992).Yellow (or Stripe) rust of wheat is caused by P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst). This pathogen's worldwide populations have undergone significant changes during recent past. An adaptation to warmer climate and a higher aggressiveness can be seen in the closely related strains PstS1/S2 that have caused severe epidemics since 2000 in e.g., United States, East Africa, and Australia (Hovmøller et al. 2008;Milus et al. 2009). Such changes in the pathogen's biology increased the geographical reach and the ability to cause more substantial economic losses (Beddow et al. 2015). In the case of Europe, incursions of genetic groups PstS7 with the Warrior race and PstS8 with the Kranich race replaced the previous populations after 2011 (Ali et al. 2017). These races probably emerged from the Himalayan region by sexual recombination on the alternate host (Hovmøller et al. 2016). Currently the European Pst landscape is dominated by the PstS10 genetic group including the typical Warrior (-) race (Ali et al. 2017).The most sensible protection from rusts is to grow resistant cultivars. The resistance genes that are present in such cultivars can be categorized based on several criteria (Wang and Chen 2017). Most commonly a distinction is made between all-stage resistance and adult plant resistance (APR) based on the growth stage during which the resistance is effective. All-stage resistance is based on single race-specific genes (R-genes), most often with major qualitative effects, whereas APR is quantitatively inherited and often polygenic. Another important factor of resistance is the race-specificity-some resistance genes are race-specific while others are seemingly effective against all known races of the pathogen (Ellis et al. 2014). APR is usually considered non-race-specific and more durable, but this is not a general rule, as it was demonstrated on APR quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that lost their efficacy against novel Pst races in Europe (Sørensen et al. 2014). Individual APR genes provide only partial resistance but often with additive effects. APR is influenced by environmental factors and effects can be difficult to measure accurately. Therefore, breeding lines are usually tested in different locations for evaluation of APR effects, such as in the case of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) breeding program (Singh et al. 2011). By combining APR genes with additive effects in the same cultivar it is possible to achieve high resistance levels that are stable across environments (Singh et al. 2011).As combining APR genes is important to achieve durable resistance in the field, this category attracts considerable attention from scientists and breeders. Three of the most studied genes Yr18, Yr29, and Yr46 are pleiotropic and effective against multiple pathogens including all three wheat rusts and powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici). Their more complete designations are Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38, Lr46/Yr29/Sr58/Pm39, and Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46, respectively. A leaf-tip necrosis is a typical phenotypic trait that can be observed in lines harbouring these genes. Yr18 was successfully cloned and was shown to encode an adenosine-triphosphate binding cassette (ABC) transporter (Krattinger et al. 2009). It is present in world wheat germplasm in the form of distinct alleles in both spring and winter wheats; however, it is most common in cultivars developed at CIMMYT where it descended from 'Mentana' and subsequently 'Frontana' wheats (Kolmer et al. 2008). Yr46 encodes a sugar-transporter protein (STP) and is present in historical CIMMYT germplasm. Its resistance allele seems to have disappeared from wheat breeding along with the effort to produce semi-dwarf varieties during the Green Revolution (Moore et al. 2015). Yr29, first identified on chromosome 1B in the cultivar Pavon 76 (Singh et al. 1998), is yet to be cloned but preliminary studies suggest a different mechanism than Yr18 (Lagudah 2011). The understanding of molecular mechanisms behind these APR genes suggests that they are fundamentally different to major R-genes and that they also differ from each other.At times of rapid and worldwide rust population shifts, this study aims to further expand the knowledge about pleiotropic APR genes and their ability to provide a general defence in wheat under different environmental conditions, against yellow rust strains of economic importance. In inoculated field trials in Denmark and the United Kingdom (UK), we tested the effect of the APR genes Yr18, Yr29 and Yr46 in spring wheat against races of the important Pst genetic groups PstS2, PstS7 and PstS10.Three pairs of spring wheat sibling lines from CIM-MYT were selected for field trials (Table 1). Each pair comprises a line with a functional APR gene and a susceptible sibling control line. The APR genes under investigation were Yr18, Yr29, and Yr46. Additionally, cv. Avocet S was included as a control susceptible to all pathogen isolates used and cv. Morocco was used as a disease spreader. Field trials were carried out at research centre Flakkebjerg, Aarhus University (AU), Denmark (N 55° 19′ 30 E 11° 23′ 25) and at NIAB, Cambridge, UK (N 52° 15′ 41.8 E 0° 01′ 13.3) during the 2021 season.To avoid the masking effect of any potential allstage resistance genes, the wheat lines were initially tested in the greenhouse against Pst isolates representing the genetic groups PstS0-PstS14 (Hovmøller et al. 2023). Inoculation and assessment were done according to Hovmøller et al. (2017) and results given in Supplementary File 1. Based on this, Pst isolates DK46/14 and DK66/02 were selected to be used in the Danish field trials and isolates UK16/035 and UK19/215 were selected for the UK field trials. DK46/14 and UK16/035 represent the Warrior (-) race and belong to the genetic group PstS10. DK66/02 represents the genetic group PstS2, and Isolate UK19/215 represents the Warrior race and belongs to genetic group PstS7. Pathogen inoculum was produced in the greenhouse. For the AU trials, seedlings of susceptible cv. Morocco were grown in 7 × 7 cm pots (15-20 plants per pot) and inoculated after emergence of second leaf using the airbrush method (Sørensen et al. 2016). After inoculation, the plants were incubated at 10 °C for 24 h and transferred to spore-proof greenhouse cabins until the sporulation was sufficient and the plants were ready to be used. Inoculum for different genotypes was always kept separately. For the UK trials, seedlings of the susceptible cv. Warrior (for UK16/035) and KWS Extase (for UK19/215) were grown in 51 × 33 cm multi-trays containing 35 cells per tray (15 plants per cell). and the plants were inoculated after emergence of the second leaf with urediniospores suspended in talcum powder at the spore:talcum powder ratio of 1:16. The inoculum was applied to leaves using compressed air and a spinning platform. After inoculation plants were incubated in the dark at 8 °C for 48 h and transferred to spore-proof growth chambers with a temperature regime of 18 °C day, 11 °C night with a 16 h daylength until sporulation was sufficient. Inoculum for different genotypes were kept separately.Field trials at AU and NIAB followed the same experimental design. The wheat lines were sown at the end of March 2021 in one square meter plots, each consisting of six rows. In each plot, two rows were one test line, two rows a second test line, and in between test lines were two spreader rows of cv. Morocco. The total plots were distributed according to a randomised complete block design with three replicates. Trials for different rust races were sown at separate locations, repeating the same block design on the two locations. Spreader rows were inoculated at tillering stage on a day with suitable weather conditions using the previously prepared diseased plants from the greenhouse. The diseased plants with spores were gently swept across all plants in the spreader rows in one direction, and this process was repeated on the next day in the opposite direction to ensure sufficient infection. Plots were closely monitored, and disease assessments started shortly after first symptoms began to appear. Disease severity was assessed four times during the growing season seven-eight days apart using the modified Cobb Scale (Peterson et al. 1948). In the UK trials, disease assessments were done at growth stage 47, 55, 60 and 65/69 and in the AU trials, plants were assessed at growth stage 59, 65, 73, and 80 according to Zadoks et al. (1974). The upper three leaves were rated for all plants in a row and an estimate average was recorded for each replicate. In the AU trials, all spikes of the tested lines were harvested at maturity and bulk threshed. Thousand-grain weight (TGW) was estimated by weighing a thousand randomly chosen kernels per replicate. TGW was similarly measured for greenhouse-grown and disease-free control plants of all lines.The flag leaves for fungal biomass quantification were collected in the AU trial on the first date of disease scoring and again 15 days later. Sampling was not done at the latest scoring date because the leaves were too senescent and clearly secondary fungal infections had started to appear. On each date, five whole flag leaves were sampled per treatment from each of the three biological replicates. Fungal biomass in infected leaves was quantified by staining fungal chitin in the infected leaves with fluorescein conjugated wheat germ agglutinin (WGA-FITC) according to Ayliffe et al. (2013). Each sample was weighted in the laboratory and stored submerged in 1M KOH in 50 mL falcon tubes until further procedure. After discarding KOH, the tissue was submerged in five times its weight of 0.05 M Tris-HCl (pH 7.0). The tissue was homogenized using a laboratory tissue homogenizer (IKA-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Staufen, Germany). Three individual 100 µL repetitions of each sample were stained in PCR strips or plates with 5 µL WGA-FITC (1 mg/mL) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) for 1 h at room temperature (RT). Samples were then washed three times in 0.05M Tris-HCl (pH 7.0) before measuring fluorescence using a Biotek Synergy 2 microplate reader (BioTek Instruments, Inc., Winooski, VT, USA) in a suitable microplate. The settings were 485 nm for excitation and 530 nm for emission, the reads were repeated three times.Three flag leaves were sampled per replicate (in total 9 leaves per wheat line) in the PstS2 field trial at AU on the same date as the first disease severity assessment. It was done to compare the effect of the Page 5 of 15 107Vol.: (0123456789)individual APR genes on fungal growth and to estimate the match between early disease establishment in the leaves and the final disease level. Only a few pustules were visible on the flag leaf at sampling. Fungal colonies in the leaves were stained according to the WGA-FITC method (Ayliffe et al. 2013) with a few modifications. In brief, leaves were submerged in 1M KOH in 50 mL falcon tubes and heated to 80 °C for 30 min in a water bath. The KOH solution was poured off and replaced with 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) to neutralize the samples. Samples were shaken for 20 min and the neutralisation step was repeated three times. Finally, fresh Tris-Hcl buffer was added to cover the leaves, and 10 µL of WGA-FITC (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) per mL buffer was added from a working solution of 1 mg/ mL. Samples were left in the refrigerator at 5 °C until observation under the microscopy. Leaf samples were mounted on glass slides in 50% (w/w) glycerol with a cover glass and viewed under a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope equipped with a Colibri 7 LED light source (Zeiss). Samples were observed at 5× magnification using 475 nm LED light and filter set 90 HE LED (Zeiss). Forty-eight images in a 12× 4 matrix with 10% overlap were recorded per leaf parallel to the leaf veins. Image acquisition was done in approximately the same central part on all leaf samples to ensure unbiased sampling. All images were captured with an Axiocam 705 colour camera (Zeiss). The 48 images per leaf were stitched together using the grid/ collection stitching plugin in Fiji (ImageJ) (Schindelin et al. 2012). The stitched image covered a leaf area of approximately 2.9 × 1 cm (Length × width).For further analysis, the stitched images were converted to 8-bit format. Since only fungal tissue was stained and emitted fluorescent light in the images, a simple threshold function in Fiji was used to quantify the amount. Any pixels in the value range of 25-255 were assumed to show fungal tissue and subsequently the histogram function was used to extract the leaf area under infection.To quantify the area of uredinia in the stitched images, first a training set of 150 images containing uredinia was created from the dataset, with a uniform size of 1024 × 1024 pixels (px). For this training set, a corresponding set of masks covering the uredinia (area with visible sporulation) was created by hand. This training set was used to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) model with U-Net architecture (Falk et al. 2018) via the ZeroCostDL4Mic platform (von Chamier et al. 2021). Advanced settings for training were left to default (batch size = 4, patch size = 512 × 512 px, pooling steps = 2, and 10% of patches used for validation) and no image augmentation was used to enhance the training set. After training, the model was tested on an unseen set of 12 images and model predictions were compared to human-made masks. The final model was then used for segmentation of the whole microscopy dataset using ZeroCostDL4Mic platform. Only images containing at least 1% of fungal tissue were processed, as the model showed false results when there was no fungal tissue present at all. Predictions generated by the model were saved and processed in Fiji using the threshold function set for range 245-255. Background noise in the predictions was cleaned up using Mor-phoLibJ (Legland et al. 2016) filters with the same settings for all images. The accuracy of the predictions was visually checked after each step. The ratio of area with sporulation against total leaf area was then extracted from each image using the histogram function. Evaluation of the model training including training and validation loss plots can be seen in Supplementary File 2. The model was published online (https:// zenodo. org/ depos it/ 82606 61) for further use or re-training.Means of disease severity evaluations from the four different time points were used to calculate area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) (Wilcoxon et al. 1975). For biomass and the image-based parameters, a mean was calculated across technical replicates or repeated leaf measurements within replicates, respectively, and used as experimental unit in the statistical analysis. Statistical comparison between the resistant and the susceptible line in each sibling pair were for all parameters done by t-tests using the t-test function in R (R Core Team 2021). Before comparisons, tests for equal variance were done using the var. test function. In case of equal variance students t-tests were performed, otherwise Welch's t-tests were used. Tests for normal distribution in each data set as a prerequisite for performing a parametrical t-test were done by Q-Q (quantile-quantile) plots of standardized residuals resulting from a one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) in R. One-way ANOVA was 107 Page 6 of 15 Vol:. ( 1234567890) done individually for each race using wheat line as the only factor since pathogen race factor levels were not crossed in the experimental design. All graphs in the article were plotted in R Studio using the ggplot2 package (Wickham 2009).Transfer of disease via the spreader row into the experimental plots was successful in all trials although disease progression was slower in the NIAB trials resulting in lower final disease levels (Table 2). At both locations four disease assessments were recorded seven-eight days apart in the period from 22 June to 14 July 2021. The individual lines showed different phenotypes recorded on the third assessment of the AU trials (Fig. 1). As expected, the Avocet S susceptible control recorded some of the highest disease severity in the experiments, reaching a final 100 percent disease severity in the AU trials (Fig. 2) and 13-19 percent in the NIAB trials (Fig. 3), showing a much slower disease progression under the NIAB conditions. The AUDPC values in AU trials ranged from 103.29 recorded for Yr18 line infected with Warrior (-) to 1,559.02 for the PstS2-infected Avocet S (Table 2). Since the pairs of lines do not have the same genetic background, it only made sense to compare values of the lines within pairs. AUDPC was always lower for the resistant line compared to the susceptible control line in both the AU and NIAB trials, except for the Yr29 line against the Warrior race in the NIAB trial. The differences were statistically significant under the high disease pressure in the AU trials but in most cases not significant in the NIAB trials. In the AU trial Yr18 and Yr46 caused more than 75% reduction of AUDPC values over their susceptible siblings when infected with either pathogen races. Under the lower disease pressure at NIAB, the Yr18 and Yr46 caused more than 75% reduction against the Warrior race and more than 50% reduction against the Warrior (-) race. The reduction in AUDPC was less apparent for Yr29 against all three pathogen races across the two trials, although a 65% reduction was observed against the Warrior (-) race in the AU trial.The final disease score on the resistant line was always lower than the susceptible line in all trials without exceptions, and in most cases the difference was statistically significant (Table 2). Again, the strongest effects were observed for Yr18 and Yr46 across trials, and Yr18 was the most effective gene under the high disease pressure. Under the lower disease pressure Yr18 and Yr46 appeared a little less effective on final disease score against the Warrior (-) race than against the Warrior race. Highest final disease scores were recorded for Yr29 under high disease pressure with a final score of 83 percent against the PstS2 race and 35 percent against the Warrior (-) race, again indicating a lower effect of this gene. In general, the effect of the genes was increasingly apparent with each consecutive scoring (Figs. 2 and  3).Mean TGW values only recorded in the AU trials were always higher for the Warrior (-) inoculated trial compared to the PstS2 trial. Furthermore, TGW was always higher in the lines harboring resistance genes when compared to their susceptible siblings but not always statistically significant (Table 2). The TGW values of disease-free control plants grown under greenhouse conditions were much higher than field values (Table 2). In all cases control values were statistically different between sibling lines. For Yr18 and Yr46, however, values recorded on the susceptible line in the greenhouse were higher compared to the line with the APR gene. For Yr29 the resistant line had higher control values but the difference to the susceptible line was much lower compared to the difference observed in the field.The level of fungal biomass was measured as relative fluorescent units (RFU) on a spectrophotometer after staining fungal structures with the fluorescent dye WGA-FITC. On both dates RFU was always lower in the resistant line against both pathogen races, but the differences were not always statistically significant (Fig. 4). As for AUDPC and final disease score, the greatest reductions in fungal biomass were found on the Yr18 and Yr46 resistant lines. Opposite to disease severity, differences were more apparent at the early assessment date. Stitching fluorescent microscopy photos from the PstS2 trial yielded images with a size of approximately 26,000 × 7000 pixels. Representative images for each wheat line are shown in Fig. 5. The total amount of fungal infection in the images was determined with a threshold function and was up to 39.93% of the leaf area. In six images the area of fungal infection was below 1% and in those cases the images were not analysed with the U-Net model to estimate the area of uredinia (Fig. 6). They were only checked visually and evaluated with zero as no uredinia were found. In the rest of the images, the model predicted areas with sporulating uredinia, which covered as much as 13.56% of the area. Results show that means of total infected area were significantly lower on the line with the APR gene and sporulating areas were also reduced although not significantly on the Yr18 line (Fig. 7). Thus, image analysis confirms the effect the APR genes in slowing down the disease progress in the early stages of development. As for other parameters, the strongest reduction was observed on lines with either the Yr18 or Yr46 resistance gene.Field trials in our study were inoculated separately with Pst races from three distinct genetic lineages, all with very recent importance in the pathogen's epidemiology. The Warrior (-) race of the genetic group PstS10 were repeated in the Danish and the UK trials. The PstS2 race only used in the Danish trials belongs to the genetic group PstS2 that emerged around 2000 and spread around several continents in the following years causing significant epidemics (Ali et al. 2017). The speed of this spread was facilitated by its increased aggressiveness and adaptation to warmer ecological conditions (Hovmøller et al. 2008;Milus et al. 2009). Indeed, our results also showed that the severity of disease in artificially inoculated wheat was always higher for this very aggressive isolate compared to Warrior (-) (PstS10). It is worth noting that our disease trials were undertaken in Northern Europe, and PstS2 never became dominant in the European continent like it did in West Asia and North Africa and partly East Africa, probably because of effective resistance genes in European cultivars (Hovmøller et al. 2008). As the two races are compared here, we can also see that PstS2 would potentially cause more severe decrease in TGW in the field. Although this indicator varies substantially between the individual lines, the mean TGW loss in PstS2-inoculated plants was > 5% higher compared to those inoculated with Warrior (-). The Warrior race only used in the UK trials belongs to the PstS7 strain which emerged in Europe in 2011 and became dominant in the following years. Since then, the Warrior (-) races have taken over and are now the most prevalent races in Europe. In the NIAB trials higher disease levels were generally recorded in the Warrior (-) trial which could indicate that this race is more aggressive or better adapted to the North-West European environment. However, in our experimental design individual trials were carried out for each pathogen race and therefore race comparisons should be done with caution. It is, however, important to test APR genes against distinct pathogen races because even though such genes are usually considered non-race specific, they may in fact be overcome by newly emergent rust strains, and as indicated here, the effect may also depend on pathogen aggressiveness. Race-specificity of APR was previously demonstrated in Pst-wheat (Sørensen et al. 2014) and Puccinia hordei-barley pathosystems (Marcel et al. 2008). Our results show that Yr18 and Yr46 have a good effect against all three races used across trials, whereas Yr29 in general   Sivasamy et al. 2014;McCallum and Hiebert 2022). The lower effect of Yr46 was also seen in our trials where AUDPC and final disease score were higher than for Yr18 across all trials. Again, comparison should be done with caution since the APR genes were tested in different genetic backgrounds, which may contain additional unknown minor APR genes. The Lr46/Yr29/Sr58/Pm39 is considered to have a similar, but weaker phenotype compared to Lr34/ Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 (Kolmer 2015), which our results also indicated. The lower effectiveness of Yr29 was also demonstrated by assessment of fungal biomass, but the stronger effect of Yr18 compared to Yr46 was less apparent in this analysis. Relative difference between the resistant and susceptible lines were larger and more significant for biomass assessment on the first sampling date. This inconsistency of WGA results may be attributed to a lower accuracy of the method, especially when used for plants grown outside. The method is not specific to one fungal species, and it is expected that other fungi might be present, especially in the older leaves. In disease-free controls in greenhouse, the susceptible plants recorded higher TGW values in case of Yr18 and Yr46. This may be due to the fitness penalty of the functioning resistance genes (Singh and Huerta-Espino 1997;Brown and Rant 2013).Thanks to the cloning of two of the resistance genes, Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 and Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/ Pm46, we know that the coded proteins are different. Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 encodes an adenosin-triphosphate binding cassette (ABC transporter) (Krattinger et al. 2009) which acts as an abscisic acid transporter (Krattinger et al. 2019). Abscisic acid can trigger many mechanisms in plants including disease resistance and Krattinger et al. (2019) suggests that abscisic acid transported by the Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 protein might in fact trigger the same mechanisms that underpin Yr46 resistance, since they are so phenotypically similar. Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46 encodes a sugar transporting protein that belongs to STP13 class as described in Arabidopsis (Moore et al. 2015). It has been reasoned that the resistance allele TaST-P13GR in wheat could confer resistance by the loss of glucose transport ability when compared to the functional glucose-transport allele TaSTP13, as this could mean there are less nutrients available for the fungal growth (Milne et al. 2019). A similar effect was observed in barley with orthologous resistance allele HvSTP13GR which is deficient in glucose transport and confers resistance to P. hordei (Skoppek et al. 2022). Microscopic observations of Skoppek et al. (2022) show that the rust development is not slowed down until haustorial mother cells are formed and the transport of nutrients from plant to pathogen is established. Milne et al. (2022) in their most recent study argue that the resistance in TaSTP13GR in wheat is in fact a gain-of-function phenotype rather than a sideeffect of the reduced sugar transport ability. Interestingly, the team also points out that the resistance phenotype (together with leaf tip necrosis) cannot be usually observed in greenhouse or cultivation chamber conditions unless the mechanism is induced by applying NaCl to the plants. Therefore, it appears that the resistant reaction is not dependent on the pathogen detection by plant. Our microscopic phenotyping results showed that all three genes strongly reduced early leaf colonisation and pustule formation, but again with a lower effect of Yr29.Phenotyping of adult plant resistance is currently considered a bottleneck in studies of quantitative resistance in crops, and there is a need for more accurate phenotyping methods to complement the Page 13 of 15 107Vol.: (0123456789) large amounts of genotyping data (Cobb et al. 2013). Development of image analysis methods with the use of artificial intelligence is required for high-throughput, automated phenotyping (Zhao et al. 2019). In this study, we demonstrate a phenotyping method incorporating fluorescent microscopy and image analysis with machine learning. Stitched microscopy images allowed us to cover relatively large portions of leaves and thus provide representative samples. With image analysis, we quantified area of the leaf colonized by the fungus, but also the area of sporulating uredinia. Training a deep learning model enabled automation of the second part of the process and this can be easily upscaled for larger dataset sizes. By measuring growth of fungal colony and its sporulation separately, we can now effectively separate individual components of resistance. Sporulation intensity is one of the monocyclic disease processes that influence the resulting epidemics in the field, and epidemiological models calculate with relative resistance to sporulation intensity (RRSP) as one of the components of resistance (Willocquet et al. 2017). deep learning to quantify this component of resistance provides high level of automation and will hopefully inspire more future analysis.Since APR genes are recommended to be combined or stacked with other genes to achieve sufficient resistance, it is appropriate to study their interactions. For example, McCallum and Hiebert (2022) demonstrated that Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46 specifically does not increase leaf rust resistance of Lr13 like Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 does. On the other hand, both genes substantially increase leaf rust resistance of Lr16 which is insufficient on its own. Cultivars with Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46 or a combination of Lr34/ Yr18/Sr57/Pm38 and Lr46/Yr29/Sr58/Pm39 showed a range of responses in CIMMYT disease trials (Huerta-Espino et al. 2020) where further resistance alleles affected the results. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the genes further in genetic backgrounds where they are to be adopted. It is also worth noting that while the genes have a pleiotropic effect, the strength of their resistance may differ against the individual diseases. When tested against all three wheat rusts in CIMMYT trials, some cultivars with these APR genes performed better against leaf rust and yellow rust but were still moderately susceptible to stem rust (Huerta-Espino et al. 2020) and similar results were shown for Lr46/Yr29/Sr58/Pm39 specifically (Kolmer et al. 2015), therefore more minor effect genes might have to be used to control stem rust than the other diseases.Our experiments demonstrate the individual effect of the three APR genes Yr18, Yr29 and Yr46 in spring wheat against yellow rust under North-West European field conditions. Lines containing these genes were tested against yellow rust races that have been recently causing damage on wheat. The disease resistance was observed and quantified in artificial inoculation field trials and results indicate that Yr18, Yr29, and Yr46 can be recommended for breeding for North-West European conditions, ideally to be stacked with other resistance genes.","tokenCount":"5136"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/part_1/9986792610.json b/data/part_1/9986792610.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f196b92abaa36de0211b223a21334530e96767ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/part_1/9986792610.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed174e84a8619309a972763737df95ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.revistafitotecniamexicana.org/documentos/43-3/12a.pdf","id":"-538949519"},"keywords":["Pennisetum ciliare","characterization","diversity","ecotypes","forage","seed"],"sieverID":"568b9f20-038a-4626-80a2-3eec60b93e56","pagecount":"6","content":"Buffel grass (Pennisetum ciliare L.) is an important forage species. It is necessary to continue exploring the natural variability of this grass and select materials with potential for livestock. Currently, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ethiopia preserves ex situ 157 buffel materials; it is important to characterize them to identify materials with productive potential. The objective of this study was to determine the phenotypic diversity of 147 ecotypes and 10 cultivars of buffelgrass to identify materials with potential forage and seed production. The study was conducted in 2014 at the Zwai Experiment Station in Ethiopia. Materials were established in the field with 36 plants per plot. Variables indirectly measured to identify ecotypes with potential for seed yield were: panicles per plant (PP), spikelets per panicle (SP), caryopses per panicle (CP) and days to 50 % flowering (DF), while for forage production variables were plant height (PH, cm) and forage height (FH, cm). Cluster and discriminant analyses were performed. The buffelgrass collection showed large variability in all measured characteristics. The plant and forage height ranges were: from 34 to 139 and from 24 to 118 cm, respectively. Variation of PP ranged from 6 to 322, SP from 13 to 285 and CP from 3 to 113. The standardization cut at 50 % flowering ranged from 48 to 71 days. A high correlation coefficient (r = 0.98) was observed between plant height and forage height and there was a negative correlation (r = -0.62) between panicles per plant and days to 50 % flowering. Four groups (P < 0.0001) were identified for the 157 materials. With the exception of FH, the rest of variables significantly contributed to the separation of groups. The buffelgrass collection presented high variability in the measured characteristics; also, ecotypesThe main limitation of livestock production in Africa is the instability in yield and low quality of native forage species (Pamo et al., 2007). Buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link] is a C 4 , apomictic species, common in the Africa subtropics. It has been introduced into arid and semiarid areas around the world, as Argentina (Carloni-Jarrys et al., 2018) because of its high forage production potential, soil erosion control, and drought tolerance (Quiroga et al., 2013). Genetic diversity for forage traits in buffelgrass offers an opportunity to make selection and to develop new varieties with good production to face the challenges of climate change. There is currently a high demand for forage to feed livestock in areas with low precipitation, thus justifying plant breeding programs (Carloni-Jarrys et al., 2018) to improve forage production, forage quality and seed yield. There are morpho-agronomic characteristics associated with forage production and seed yield, which can be measured to get a better understanding of the potential within the species (Ribeiro et al., 2019;Wassie et al., 2018). Exploring the natural variability through a morphological characterization could be used to select the best accessions with some characteristics of interest (Alves et al., 2014). The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) holds a collection of 157 accessions of buffelgrass in its field genebank in Ethiopia; thus, it is necessary to perform a phenotypic characterization of this germoplasm to identify novel sources of variation, as well as outstanding plant material. The objectives of this study were to determine phenotypic diversity of 147 accessions and 10 cultivars of buffelgrass in Zwai, Ethiopia, and to identify the best accessions with characteristics for forage and seed production.The study was carried out at the Zwai Experiment Station of ILRI in Ethiopia, located at 7° 54' N, 38° 44' E and altitude of 1640 masl. The average annual precipitation is 600 mm and the peak concentration of rainfall is recorded between July and September. The average annual minimum and maximum temperatures are 13 and 27 °C, respectively. Soil is loamy sand with 0.5 m depth and pH from 8.1 to 8.4.Accessions were planted at least ten years before this study and each accession was established into a 2 × 5 m unreplicated plot, 36 plants per plot with 50 cm separation. The accessions and cultivars maintained in the field genbank came from 10 African countries (Table 1). Some accessions and cultivars were donated by other programs and their origin was unknown. Plots were irrigated five times during the dry season only for maintenance, and 200 kg of nitrogen and 60 kg of phosphorus per hectare were applied.On June 16th, 2014, all plants were cut at a height of 150 mm above ground, characterization began on July 16th and finished on December 5th. Six descriptors were recorded from eight plants located at the center of the plot (Van de Wouw et al., 1999); plant height (PH) was measured in cm from the ground level to the tip of all inflorescence, forage height (FH) was also measured in cm from the ground level to the tip of leaves, panicles per plant (PP) was the number of inflorescences per plant. Eight panicles were randomly taken to count the number of spikelets per panicle (SP) and caryopses per panicle (CP). For days to 50 % of flowering (DF), the whole group of plants in the plot was observed and the number of days from cutting until half of the plot reached flowering was registered.The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated with the CORR procedure (SAS Institute, 2011) to observe the relationship among variables. Furthermore, a hierarchical cluster analysis using the CLUSTER procedure (SAS Institute, 2011) by the Ward clustering method was performed. Groups were chosen based on PST2 (pseudo-T 2 statistic). To determine the variables with higher discriminating power the STEPDISC procedure (SAS Institute, 2011) was used. The discriminant function for the probability that an accession belonged to a particular group was analyzed with the DISCRIM procedure (SAS Institute, 2011). Also, if a difference between groups was recorded (P ≤ 0.05), a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with the Wilks' Lambda statistic was calculated (SAS Institute, 2011).The 157 accessions of buffelgrass showed a high degree of diversity in all agro-morphological characteristics measured. Plant and forage height varied from 34 to 138 and from 24 to 118 cm, respectively. Panicles per plant ranged from 6 to 322, days to 50 % flowering were from 48 to 71, spikelets per panicle ranged from 13 to 285 and caryopses per panicle from 3 to 113. The results obtained for plant height were similar to those of previous studies (M 'Seddi et al., 2002). In general, our collection showed higher variability in the rest of the traits compared to results reported by Mseddi et al. (2004). This discrepancy could partially be attributed to the higher number of accessions in this collection than the 51 accessions in the aforementioned study, perhaps due to the selection of a broader range of eco-geographical locations.The results obtained reveal a significant potential of this collection to be used in plant breeding programs. High correlation coefficients (P ≤ 0.0001) were observed between plant height and forage height (r = 0.98), and between panicles per plant and days to 50 % flowering (r = -0.626). The rest of the correlation coefficients were weak. Most advanced accessions showed a higher number of panicles per plant, which agrees with the result in the previously mentioned study of 52 accessions of buffelgrass (Mseddi et al., 2004). Morales et al. (2012) found that in Arizona cottontop [Digitaria californica (Benth.) Henr.] forage height is more closely related to yield than plant height. It might be possible to extrapolate from these results and propose that buffelgrass accessions with large plant height could be used for forage production.Hierarchical cluster analysis assigned the 157 buffelgrass accessions into four groups (Table 1, Figure 1). Also, MANOVA with Wilks' Lambda statistic showed differences among these groups (P ≤ 0.0001). Group I included 57 accessions along with Karasberg, Nunbank and Viva cultivars. This group was characterized by early flowering, large plant height, and forage height traits. Group II included 50 accessions and the cultivars Biloela, Boorara, Gayndah, Kongwa and Towoomba. This group was characterized by late flowering, low number of panicles per plant and caryopses per panicle. Group III consisted of 44 accessions and the cultivars American and Molopo, with a larger number of panicles per plant, early flowering and small size. Group IV included six accessions; this group was the tallest one and contained the largest number of spikelets per panicle and caryopses per panicle.Discriminant analysis demonstrated that most traits, except FH, contributed to separate clusters (P ≤ 0.05), (Table 2) and the probability that an accession belonged to a particular group was higher than 95 %. The results on days to 50 % flowering and plant height agree with those of previous studies (Griffa et al., 2012;Jorge et al., 2008); however, some groupings among cultivars were different which could also be related to the location and the period when experiments were performed, as plant characteristics are influenced by environmental as well as by genetic factors. Plant height has been shown to positively correlate with yield forage in buffelgrass (Mansoor et al., 2012;Mseddi et al., 2004 ); hence, Groups I and IV can potentially be used for silage or hay production.In some species, characteristics such as number of panicles per plant and total number of seeds per panicle have been shown to be related to seed yield (Youssef and Hansson, 2019). Since Groups III and IV have the largest number of panicles per plant and caryopses per panicle, respectively, accessions in these groups could be used to select for improved seed yield in a plant breeding program. The accessions in Group IV could be selected as new cultivars as they have good productivity and seed yield; nevertheless, it should be noted that it is necessary to perform research focused on seed yield and production (Morales-Nieto et al., 2017), as well as on forage quality. It  ","tokenCount":"1626"}
\ No newline at end of file